《Ending Maker》 Chapter 0 - PROLOGUE

Chapter 0 - PROLOGUE

[Outboxer009 has logged in] Romantic Cat: Oh, the stagnant water is here. Outboxer009: Aren¡¯t we all stagnant water that are already rotting in this unimportant game? Why are you guys still ying here? It¡¯s been more than 10 years since this game wasunched. (Trantor¡¯s Notes [T/N]:?Stagnant water?(???) is a Korean ng used by the younger generations. It means that someone has yed a certain game for a long time that they¡¯ve mastered the game. Rotting/rotten water?is an extreme version of?stagnant water, meaning the stagnant water has pooled for too long that it had gone bad/rotten.?Rotten water?is higher in level than?stagnant water, meaning they have spent time far longer than?stagnant water, and are considered game pros, legends, or veterans.) Source:?Korean ng of the Day -Reddit Cowabunga:?Look in the mirror first and ask yourself. Outboxer009 ¨C Kang Jin-houghed at the reply that came from beyond the screen monitor. Legend of Heroes 2. It has already been 10 years since the game wasunched, and a third installment was even released. However, it was still a ssic game among veteran yers. But why do people y games that are more than 10 years old? ¡®Because it¡¯s fun.¡¯ What other reasons do they need to y the game? In fact, there was one more decisive reason. Kang Jin-ho was one of the longest-ying users of?Legend of Heroes 2?¨C No, he has reached the highest level and gained status as a rotten water. He was a ranker. And in this chat room, there was one more rotten water who as bad as Kang Jin-ho. Yellow Storm: Are you here, Boxer? Are you ready toe down to 2nd?ce? Outboxer009: Oh, you¡¯re still dreaming? Please, don¡¯t even look up at trees that you can¡¯t climb. Yellow Storm: Bullsh*t. This time, I¡¯ll be first ce. Outboxer009: Yes, yes. Everyone has the freedom to dream. You¡¯re allowed to dream. Romantic Cat: Both of you shut up. This month¡¯s rankings are up. Legend of Heroes 2?announced server rankings every month by adding up various points earned in the game such as time attacks. And this leaderboard that has been running for a long time has be the battlefield for the rotten waters. [1st?ce: Outboxer009 ¨C 315,234,999 points] [23 months in a row!] [2nd?ce: Yellow Storm ¨C 315,234,125 points] [22 months in a row!] [3rd?ce¡­] Yellow Storm: F*ck! Wht the f*ck is tis? Is this brokenn! AAA: Look at all the typos. You must have had a mental breakdown. Romantic Cat: I think I can hear the sound of trembling! It seemed like he could really hear a trembling sound. After swallowing nervously and then sighing in relief at seeing the results, Kang Jin-ho burst out intoughter from the depth of his lungs. Outboxer009: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Did you see it? Outboxer009: You¡¯re eternally 2nd?ce! E etc.! Second-ss! Number 2! Yellow Storm: sdlkghiosdghsodighsdighiofsdoighiosd AAA: Oh, it¡¯s here. Mental breakdown. Cowabunga: It¡¯s more fun to tease because he reacts like that. *shakes head* Outboxer009: Ah, it was fun. I¡¯m going to have a good night¡¯s sleep. Good night to you too, Yellow second-ss. Try harder next month. Yellow Storm: Hey! Why is the difference between us only 800 points?! Outboxer009: Right. I don¡¯t know why you couldn¡¯t get that 874 points. Ah, is this the difference between 1st?and 2nd?ce? Yellow Storm: The use of abusivenguage is subject to sanctions. Yellow Storm: The use of abusivenguage is subject to sanctions. Yellow Storm: The use of abusivenguage is subject to sanctions. Yellow Storm: The use of abusivenguage is subject to sanctions. Yellow Storm: F*** is an exmation, not a curse! Outboxer009: Anyway, I¡¯m going to sleep. Good night. Dream of me ? Yellow Storm: The use of abusivenguage is subject to sanctions. A few minutester¡­ When a new conversation did not appear in the chat room, the other rotten waters holding popcorn in one hand and watching the monthly event started to speak again. Romantic Cat: What, did they really go to bed? Cowabunga: Did Norfolk go to bed? Doesn¡¯t he have any other words? T/N: Norfolk came from baseball yer, Yoon Suk-min¡¯s nickname, ¡°Norfolk Wars¡±. Yoon was in a ¡°war¡± with another Korean baseball yer, and he was losing in the war while he was at the Norfolk Tides baseball team. So, Yellow Storm is ¡°Norfolk¡±, as she had lost the war in the server rankings. More info about Norfolk can be found before the start of episode 8. Source:????? AAA: They¡¯re permanently first and second ce in order together. Like a married couple that grows old together. Cowabunga: It¡¯ll be published as a dark BL novel. AAA: Oh, shit. I imagined it. Romantic Cat: What happened? I don¡¯t know about Boxer, but if it¡¯s Norfolk, it¡¯s normal for him to act rashly and talk nonsense. Did the two of them really go to bed? . .. ¡­ [Outboxer009 has logged out.] [Yellow Storm has logged out.] . .. ¡­ [Kang Jin-ho has entered Pleaides.] [Hong Yoo Hee has entered Pleiades.] Chapter 1 - EPISODE 1 – PLEIADES (1)

Chapter 1 - EPISODE 1 ¨C PLEIADES (1)

Count Bayer. It was once a famous family of swordsmen, and its head was the Margrave of the S?len Kingdom¡¯s northern frontier, but that was all in the past, as they are now just an old family n. But even so, they were the Bayer family. Even if the father and son fell and their family declined in approximately 3 years, they still maintained their position at the bottom ce of the 12 northern families. In the mansion of such Count Bayer¡­ There was a struggling man in the second son¡¯s room, who was called the ¡®anguish of Count Bayer.¡¯ ¡°Kkeuoeo¡­eoo¡­eoo¡± It was a boy in histe teens who held his head and let out strange groans. He had dark blue hair, a white and slender face, and a pair of mysterious green eyes that all blended together to show off his good looks, but now, he was thinking of his situation as he looked at himself. The boy was named Jude Bayer, who was also known as the second son of Count Bayer and was now thinking as he stared nkly at the mirror hung on the wall. ¡®Is this likeness totally real?¡¯ Is everything that he could see in the mirror real? The fact that Jude Bayer is now Jude Bayer. The sentence was like a y on words, but Jude was serious. He would be, too, because he was both Jude and Kang Jin-ho at the same time. ¡®No matter how I look at it, this is the world of?Legend of Heroes 2.¡¯ Two days have passed since Jude ¡°awakened¡± his memory as Kang Jin-ho. And that time of two days was not short. The name ¡®Jude Bayer.¡¯ The situation of Count Bayer. The S?len Kingdom and its surrounding circumstances. None of them were inconsistent with?Legend of Heroes 2. ¡®Pleiades.¡¯ A world that is the background of the entire series of?Legend of Heroes. ¡®Let¡¯s face it. This world is Pleiades, and I am Jude Bayer. It felt a little different from simply entering a game, which wasmon in novels and manhwa ics). Rather, the situation felt like he was born as Jude Bayer, and then remembered his ¡®past life¡¯ as Kang Jin-ho. So, even though he had be Jude, it almost didn¡¯t feel out of ce. Because from the very beginning, he was both Jude Bayer and Kang Jin-ho at the same time. Jude raised his head and looked at the mirror again. He saw the beautiful view of a handsome looking boy with superior looks, sitting down in front of the mirror. ¡®I am handsome.¡¯ He wasn¡¯t just handsome¡­he was exceedingly handsome. Jude rose from his seat and looked around the room. It was spacious, nice, and clean. It seemed to berger than the vi he had lived in when he was Kang Jin-ho, and though the furniture showed signs of age, one cannot deny that the all the furniture were luxury items. Jude considered his situation objectively. The difference between the days of Kang Jin-ho and the days of Jude. He was young again, a dozen times more handsome than before, and he had be a golden spoon noble. It was absolutely perfect. It was an upgrade to the point where he felt like apuding. But then Jude thought. ¡®Isn¡¯t this f*cked up though?¡¯ It wasn¡¯t because of Jude. Although Jude Bayer was character with some ws among the characters of?Legend of Heroes?2, the bigger problem lies in the fact that this was the world of?Legend of Heroes 2?itself. The background setting of?Legend of Heroes 2?was not a peaceful fantasy world. No, it was a world of great tribtion ¨C demons descended from the demon world, and angels came down to fight against them ¨C all the countries and races of the continent were embroiled and killed in the war. In short, it was a world destined for Apocalypse. ¡®I was fortunate that it wasn¡¯t the third installment.¡¯ Legend of Heroes 3?dealt with the aftermath of the war between the angels and demons, where all human nations had copsed. If he had entered?Legend of Heroes 3, he wouldn¡¯t be sitting and looking in the mirror like this, but he would¡¯ve been bitten and torn apart by monsters. ¡®As expected, there¡¯s only one way.¡¯ He must be strong. So that when the times of great tribtione, he could endure it. And if possible, he must be strong enough to protect himself and those around him. In the real world where Kang Jin-ho lived, there were clearly limitations for humans in bing strong, but this was Pleiades, the world of?Legend of Heroes. It was possible for an individual here to demolish mountains and be an absolute power that can shake the sky. ¡®Well¡­the authenticity of that is questionable, but moving on¡­¡¯ For a while, he looked at his slender forearm, but soon made up his mind and clenched his fist again. ¡®Let¡¯s do it.¡¯ He can do it. He must do it. Jude himself is Outboxer009. Wasn¡¯t he the rotten water that kept the top spot in the server ranking list for a staggering 23 months! So, Jude decided to consider Jude Bayer¡¯s situation first. Jude Bayer. The second son of Count Bayer. He hails from the Bayer family, which has produced outstanding warriors for generations, but he himself hasn¡¯t mastered even one of the sword basics. Of course, he wasn¡¯t just a useless guy as he was one of the yable characters. Jude certainly had a talent. It wasn¡¯t just an ordinary talent but a truly iparable talent. Cheonmujiche (Heavenly Martial Body). As the name implies, it¡¯s a heavenly talent for martial arts. ¡®But there¡¯s a trap card here.¡¯ Jude was born with an abnormality in the Yin meridians of his whole body, particrly called, Gueumjulmaek (Nine Yin Severed Meridians). (T/N: Gueumjulmaek is a fictitious congenital disease seen in Korean martial arts novels, like The Schr¡¯s Reincarnation. To quote its description from the above series, ¡°it is being innately born with Yin energy but with blocked meridians. Treatment is very difficult and most people with this disease die very early.¡± It means that the Yin energy is so strong that the meridians are blocked, and the cirction of qi/chi does not work properly.) ¡®Short-lived, weak, inability to use mana, but possessing a tremendous amount of yin energy.¡¯ These were roughly the effects of Gueumjulmaek. He was an unlucky genius born in a body with both Cheonmujiche and Gueumjulmaek. That was the boy named Jude Bayer. ¡®Couldn¡¯t I just have been Leon? Or Maximilian?¡¯ In?Legend of Heroes 2?where various yable characters existed, it was Maximilian who was the main character of the game. A cheat character born with a great talent in both sword and magic. It was the so-called title character prepared by the production team to allow beginners to see the ending of the game. ¡®Then, Maximilian will be here too, right?¡¯ Maximilian wasn¡¯t the only one. There was a high possibility that all the characters in?Legend of Heroes 2?existed here. ¡®It¡¯s making me excited for no reason.¡¯ He had justmented that he had fallen into this world, but this was?Legend of Heroes 2. His heart began to throb when he thought that he would be able to meet the characters of the materialized?Legend of Heroes 2. ¡®Okay, if that¡¯s it, all I have to do is treat my Gueumjulmaek.¡¯ Then the heavenly martial body will start to bloom. Of course, it was not an easy task to cure Gueumjulmaek. The evidence was that Count Bayer had not been able to do anything about Jude¡¯s Gueumjulmaek even up to this day. ¡®But there is a way.¡¯ As the rotten water of Legend of Heroes 2, he was a yer who knew several treatments for Gueumjulmaek. However, knowing and executing it were different. Is it possible to secure a remedy with his current body, which is itself weak because of Gueumjulmaek? No matter how much he thought of it, it was impossible. It wasn¡¯t something he could do alone. But that was not the case if he could leave it to others. All of the methods he could think of were quiteplicated, and he wondered if the Bayer family members would even believe in Jude¡¯s words. ¡®I need allies.¡¯ Someone who will believe and carry out Jude¡¯s words. Someone who will be on Jude¡¯s side anytime and anywhere. But it was then. ¡°Young master, may Ie in?¡± The voice he heard from outside the room was Maja, Jude¡¯s exclusive maid. ¡®Exclusive maid.¡¯ Although it was a world where a great tribtion was predicted and he had a body with Gueumjulmaek, Jude thought that his life was much better now than when he lived as Kang Jin-ho. After his briefpse of thought, Jude immediately raised his head and said. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s all right.¡± With his permission, Maja opened the door silently and entered. She was a woman in her early twenties with her blue hair tied neatly, and her cold expression belied her attractive beauty. As soon as she entered the room, Maja bowed to Jude and said immediately. ¡°Lady Cordelia Chase, your fianc¨¦e, is here to visit you.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± Visiting a sick person. Come to think of it, he thought, it was worth iting here. When he awakened his past memories as Kang Jin-ho, he remembered a lot of nonsensical stuff. Moreover, wasn¡¯t Jude usually considered a sick person here? ¡®What should I do¡­¡¯ He had awakened Kang Jin-ho¡¯s memories, but Jude¡¯s memories did not disappear. In other words, meeting his fianc¨¦e, Cordelia, didn¡¯t pose any problems. ¡®Cordelia.¡¯ She was an iparably beautiful girl with red hair close to pink. Wasn¡¯t the ratio of handsome and beautiful people here too high? Then again, wasn¡¯t the original game characters all like that? Anyway, if it¡¯s Cordelia Chase, Kang Jin-ho knew quite a lot about her. ¡®Chase, the famous family of wizards.¡¯ If Jude¡¯s family, the Bayer¡¯s, were a famous family of swordsmen, the Chase family were a famous family of wizards. Of course, both families were now weakpared to the past. In any case, Cordelia Chase was a wizard character, born with a fairly outstanding magic talent. She didn¡¯t have a natural-borne talent like Jude, but instead, shecked a weakness like Gueumjulmaek, making her easier to handle in the game. ¡®I¡¯m nervous.¡¯ He didn¡¯t think he would meet his fianc¨¦e who¡¯s also a yable character in?Legend of Heroes 2. ¡°Young master?¡± ¡°Huh? Oh, yes, okay. I¡¯m going to see her right now.¡± When Jude willingly answered, Maja hesitated for a moment, but soon nodded and stepped back. ¡°She is waiting in the drawing room.¡± After Maja said that, she began to take the lead as she guided him to the ce. ¡®I am a real nobleman.¡¯ It was a new experience for him, but as he stepped out of the hallway, Jude realized that this was a noble family¡¯s house, a residence that once boasted great power. It was a hall that emphasized practicality rather than splendor, but it was so big and grand that it felt like he was walking in a big castle rather than a mansion. ¡°Mr. Jude Bayer has arrived.¡± Maja, who raised her voice once they were in front of the drawing room door, opened the door with a restrained movement. Unlike the hall which gave a stark impression, the drawing room was well-decorated. Inside, there was a girl with red hair close to pink, and a female knight right next to her who served as an escort. ¡®Cordelia Chase.¡¯ Jude Bayer¡¯s fianc¨¦e. Jude swallowed deeply as stepped into the drawing room. He faced Cordelia with a natural smile. But right after¡­ The moment he made eye contact with Cordelia¡­ Jude widely opened his eyes. And so was Cordelia. The two shouted almost at the same time. ¡°¡°Why are you here?!¡±¡± Chapter 2 - EPISODE 2 – PLEIADES (2)

Chapter 2 - EPISODE 2 ¨C PLEIADES (2)

¡°Young master?¡± ¡°Miss?¡± Maja and Cordelia¡¯s escort, a knight, said almost simultaneously. That¡¯s because Jude and Cordelia looked at each other out of the blue and said strange things. Why are they here? ¡®Didn¡¯t wee here to meet the visitor?¡¯ ¡®Isn¡¯t it because we came here to visit?¡¯ At a time when Maja and the female knight were thinking rationally, Jude calmed his astonished self and thought of the girl in front of him. And like himself, Cordelia was full of emotions too, such as embarrassment, surprise, and so on. ¡®What? Why is Yellow Storm here?¡¯ The girl in front of him, Cordelia, was so beautiful that the word ¡°great beauty¡± could be attached. The 2nd?ce Yellow Storm had nothing to do with Jude¡¯s own fianc¨¦e. But it was strange. When their eyes met with each other, the yer named Yellow Storm came to his mind. It was good to say that it was an absolute feeling. Moreover, it was important that the opponent showed a simr reaction to him. ¡®No way.¡¯ Is she really that Yellow Storm? It was a dizzying story, but it wasn¡¯t impossible. In the first ce, Outboxer009, who was Kang Jin-ho, also became Jude Bayer. ¡°Hmmm, uh, well. Excuse me for a moment.¡± ¡°Uh¡­ Me, me too.¡± When Jude mumbled first, Cordelia also mumbled. However, the way he looked at her side was also unusual. ¡°First¡­ Please sit down.¡± ¡°Uh¡­ yeah.¡± Once he sat down¡­ Maja and the female knight tilted their heads at the awkwardness of the two, but it was only for a short time. Maja brought out the newly prepared tea, and Jude continued to exchange awkward nces with Cordelia. ¡®Let¡¯s test her.¡¯ He didn¡¯t know if only he felt something, but he thought that she would have felt something simr too. If the opponent really is Yellow Storm like he felt, it would seem like a catastrophe hase, but if it really is, he would likely understand. ¡°No, no.¡± Hi, Yellow Storm. Jude¡¯s voice trembled because he was embarrassed to say it out of his mouth. But her reaction was good. Cordelia flinched for a moment and her eyes opened widely. ¡°Ah¡­Aha.¡± Hi, Outboxer. Cordelia also spoke quietly, and at the time when Maja and the female knight tilted their heads again, Jude drove a wedge in. ¡°Hey¡­you too?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­me too.¡± ¡°Young master?¡± ¡°Miss?¡± Maja and the female knight¡¯s face now had a rather serious look of concern. Why are the two suddenly acting like that? But Jude couldn¡¯t care less about the reaction of those two. ¡®Crazy! Are you really Yellow Storm?!¡¯ When he spoke with his eyes, the other returned a simr answer. Jude took a deep breath for now. He wanted to ask a lot of questions right away, like what happened and when did she became Cordelia, but there was Maja and the female knight here. Therefore, Jude tried to turn around. ¡°Coop reset 9:00 3-9.¡± One of the contents of Legend of Heroes 2 is the coop mode that resets every night at 12:00 ¨C meaning it was reset at midnight. 9 o¡¯clock refers to the 9 o¡¯clock direction, and 3-9 meant 9 blocks down ¨C that is, 18 meters below the entrance coordinates. Therefore, the interpretation of Jude¡¯s words was as follows. ¡®Let¡¯s meet at midnight in the corner of my garden.¡¯ Honestly, it would be difficult for a normal?Legend of Heroes 2?yer to understand what he meant, but it would have been understandable if it was the rotten water Yellow Storm. And indeed, Cordelia nodded and said in a whisper. ¡°Roger that.¡± It was a radio term meaning ¡°understood¡± and is one of the most distinctive phrases of Yellow Storm. ¡°Hmmm, I¡¯m d you¡¯re healthy. It¡¯s alreadyte today, so I¡¯ll see you next time.¡± ¡°Hmmm, it was nice to meet you. I look forward to seeing you next time.¡± They couldn¡¯t have a proper conversation here. So, after deciding on when and where to meet, they quickly ended their meeting. When Cordelia and Jude stood up after talking to each other, it was Maja and the female knight who were confused again. ¡°Eh, you¡¯re going already?¡± ¡°Miss?¡± She was so surprised that Maja¡¯s usual expressionless face was now full of surprise. However, Jude and Cordelia had already reached an agreement and exchanged their greetings. Judeughed awkwardly and saw off Yellow Storm ¨C no, Cordelia, who likewise walked out with an awkward smile and a quick walk. ¡°Young master? This is¡­¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s it.¡± What the hell is going on here? But one thing was certain. The appearance of an ally who would be on his side and believe Jude¡¯s words. Looking at the entrance of the drawing room where Cordelia had left, Jude clenched his fist. *** Jude Bayer¡¯s father, Count Bayer, was out on a northern expedition with his sessor, Ga?l Bayer, who is the older brother of Jude. It was a small-scale expedition, called the Northern Monster Subjugation, which was like an annual event, and the period from departure to return was one month. In any case, the quiet part of the house was now even quieter. This is because most of the vassals here went on the expedition following his father and brother. Having finished dinner alone in the room, Jude waited impatiently for midnight toe. And finally, the deepest of night, midnight, came. Jude sneaked out of his room and hurried to the garden. It was still summer in terms of time, but the night air was cold as they were in the northern part of the country. ¡®You¡¯ll be able to find me, right?¡¯ Standing under a big tree, the promised ce, Jude looked up at the night sky with a worried face. ¡®It¡¯s a real Pleiades.¡¯ There were two moons in the sky. Selene and Helene. Twin goddesses illuminating the night sky. In fact, the two moons were even more beautiful and mysterious looking than when they were seen through the monitor screen. ¡°Hey.¡± It was at that moment. With a very small voice that came out of nowhere, Jude became alert and looked up the wall, and identified the owner of the voice. The owner of the voice was a red-haired girl wearing a hard-pressed brown hood reminiscent of monk¡¯s robes. ¡°Yellow Storm.¡± ¡°Outboxer009.¡± Speaking quietly, the same little voice came back. And,?whoosh¡­ Cordelia crossed over the wall using magic and looked at Jude with a face full of mixed feelings. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes, really.¡± They just confirmed each other¡¯s nicknames. ¡°It¡¯s really something.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I¡¯m madly pleased to see you.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s words, Jude nodded. It was the same with himself. He thought that he had fallen alone in apletely different world, but he knew a face ¨C no, he was d to see another person like him. ¡°Since when?¡± ¡°Two days ago. What about you?¡± ¡°Two days ago, too.¡± ¡°It happened suddenly when you opened your eyes?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Jude and Cordelia squatted under the tree then and looked at each other with saying anything first. It was Cordelia who first opened her mouth. ¡°Hey, aren¡¯t you supposed to be a guy? How did you get a girl to go over the wall of a man¡¯s house?¡± ¡°What is this sexism all of a sudden? And don¡¯t you know Jude? Jude Bayer. Gueumjulmaek. How am I supposed to cross the wall?¡± Come to think of it, it wasn¡¯t just that. ¡°And since when did you be a woman?¡± ¡°From birth.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°From birth, you crazy guy.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s confession, Jude rubbed his eyes and soon spoke in an embarrassed voice. ¡°Yellow Storm was a woman?¡± ¡°Then were you a man?¡± ¡°I was a man.¡± ¡°I was a woman.¡± ¡°Yes, yes.¡± Then again, they¡¯ve known each other for five years, but they¡¯ve never talked with each other in themon voice chat. When they met in the game, they met as game characters, so there was nothing for them to recognize about the other¡¯s real sex. ¡°That¡¯s not what really matters now.¡± When Jude spoke, Cordelia nodded, though she frowned a little. What mattered was that Outboxer009 became Jude, and Yellow Storm became Cordelia, and that this world was the world of?Legend of Heroes 2. Jude decided to try toy the basics first. ¡°So do you? I mean¡­rather than feeling that I¡¯m inside the game, it was more like my past life was ¡®Outboxer.¡¯ So¡­it seems to be the same for you too, ¡®Yellow Storm.¡¯¡± ¡°Me too. I feel the same.¡± At first nce, there may be little difference, but in fact, there was a decisive difference between the two. Whether or not they could return. If you were really reincarnated in Pleiades, the world of?Legend of Heroes 2, ¡®Log Out¡¯ would not exist. You were reincarnated in the first ce, so where are you going to go? But neither Jude nor Cordelia thought deeply about it. Though they felt strongly about the fact that they were both Jude and Cordelia now, there were also more important issues that they had to resolve. ¡°¡°The Great Summons.¡±¡± An event where the angels and demonse down in earnest. At first, he only thought about being strong enough to survive in a time of great tribtion, but that was not enough. They had to stop the Great Summons itself, which would bring destruction to this world. Of course, it was a vague story. The advent of angels and demons was indeed the fate of the world of Pleiades. No matter how much of a rotten water he was, it was too much for him to do it all alone. But if he¡¯s not alone. If it was also with those who ranked as the 1st?and 2nd?ces in the server rankings together. ¡°I like our picks.¡± Jude Bayer and Cordelia Chase. Both were non-mainstream characters that were far from weak ones, but the picks that she spoke about weren¡¯t just about character performance. Cordelia said with a bitter smile. ¡°Perfect for sharing.¡± ¡°Bingo.¡± Jude was a warrior, and Cordelia was a wizard. As with all goods in the world, there was a limit to the number of various gifts and items that existed in Pleiades. If Jude and Cordelia were characters who walked the same path, they would inevitably interfere with each other¡¯s growth. But they were both warrior and wizard, so they could share the goods of the Pleiades with each other. ¡°I never thought I¡¯d have a party here that I haven¡¯t had in five years.¡± ¡°I know, this world is so weird.¡± It¡¯s ridiculous to be reincarnated in the world of games, but he couldn¡¯t believe he reincarnated with the forever 2nd?ce girl. Moreover, they were also engaged. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯d like to ask you to cooperate on this.¡± ¡°What cooperation?¡± ¡°We¡¯re going to have to treat my Gueumjulmaek.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t it automatically heal with an event?¡± Indeed, it was true. In the game, after starting as Jude Bayer and somehow spending half a year, an event was supposed to take ce where Count Chase would send to Count Bayer the cure of Gueumjulmaek. In other words, it meant that if he just waited calmly, he couldpletely cure the Gueumjulmaek. But at Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude said, kicking his tongue. ¡°That¡¯s why you¡¯re still?second ce?even in a thousand years.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Hey, be honest. You¡¯ve never yed Jude, have you?¡± ¡°No? I¡¯ve tried? I know it gets cured because I¡¯ve yed him.¡± ¡°But do you agree to that? To just wait for half a year to get treated?¡± There are 6 months in half a year, 180 days in 6 months, and 4320 hours in 180 days. It was a such a waste of a long time. Cordelia frowned back at Jude¡¯s point. ¡°Then what will you do?¡± ¡°I need to treat it before that. Using all kinds of tricks.¡± In a way that only they who have climbed over the stagnant water and reached the stage of the rotten water can do. ¡°Come closer.¡± Jude, who beckoned to Cordelia, began to talk. Chapter 3 - EPISODE 3 – PLEIADES (3)

Chapter 3 - EPISODE 3 ¨C PLEIADES (3)

Terms used in this chapter: Reading a Korean book?¨C (??? ??) it refers to monotone acting. It came from students reading aloud the Korean textbooks indifferently without showing any emotion. This expression is usually used for those who can¡¯t act, so they end up saying things in a monotone manner. Gueumjulmaek refers to a constitution in which the inner Yi energy is so strong that an abnormality urs in the whole meridians and the cirction of qi is not properly achieved. Therefore, in order to treat Gueumjulmaek, it was necessary to relieve the Yin energy that were blocking the meridians at once. ¡°Do you know what Jude will eat in half a year?¡± ¡°I know. It¡¯s the Sunfire Carp.¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s not 2nd?ce anymore.¡± ¡°Hmmm, I¡¯m a little¡­rather, why do you keep saying?second,?second ce?¡± Cordelia warned sharply, but Jude justughed. It was fun when he teased her in the chat window, but now that Yellow Storm had be an iparably beautiful girl and showed her expressions, it had be more interesting. ¡°Well, as you know anyway, the Sunfire Carp is a carp that possesses extreme Yang energy.¡± ¡°So, let¡¯s go fishing to catch it?¡± ¡°Are you really the second in the server?¡± ¡°I am? I¡¯m the second in the server?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m the first.¡± When Cordelia trembled and clenched her fists, Jude moved on to the next topic. Controlling the degree of anything was important. ¡®And¡­this person was a little different from me.¡¯ They were Outboxer009 and Yellow Storm that had ranked 1st?and 2nd?on the server back-to-back, but in fact, it was not an exaggeration to say that their ystyles tookpletely different paths. ¡®I was an attacker, and she was a fighter.¡¯ If Outboxer009 was an attacker who gained points for achievements by digging into the limit of characters, events, and items that exist in the game, Yellow Storm was the ultimatebat fighter that raised scores by hunting a lot. Of course, both were rotten waters, so Outboxer009 is also a good fighter, and Yellow Storm also knew enough about?Legend of Heroes 2, but their majors were different. ¡®Whatever.¡¯ Jude, who erased the distractions from his head, spoke quickly. ¡°If we can get in our hands an item with powerful Yang energy, we can treat the Gueumjulmaek much faster.¡± ¡°I know that, but was there something like that?¡± Cordelia frowned and groped her memory. Although there were quite a lot of items with Yang energy other than the Sunfire Carp that Jude had mentioned, it was questionable if Jude and Cordelia could find it for themselves now. ¡°There is one. Near that, too. You know what I¡¯m talking about, right?¡± ¡°Huh? Uh¡­ Well¡­ Oh, that¡¯s it. That. Well, there was that.¡± Cordelia nodded, as if awkwardly reading a Korean book. ¡°Yes, that. So please help me deal with it. That¡¯s what I need to prepare.¡± ¡°Oh, I know. Yes, I know.¡± What does she know? Jude couldpletely see that she didn¡¯t know anything. Jude shook his tongue and decided to give the right answer. It was fun to tease her, but time wasn¡¯t infinite. ¡°You can just wear the Sun¡¯s Ne that Leisegang has.¡± ¡°Yeah, if you wear the Sun¡¯s ne of Leisegang¡­Leisegang?! Demon Leisegang- Eep!¡± A startled Cordelia jumped up from her seat and tried to raise her voice, but fortunately, she was able to cut it in the middle. Jude, who hurriedly shut Cordelia¡¯s mouth, said in a low voice. ¡°Hey, we¡¯re meeting each other in secret, remember?¡± It was midnight, a quiet time for the entire ce. It was a good thing that most of the people in the house followed Jude¡¯s father and were out. Otherwise, someone would havee by after hearing the sound. ¡°Be serious, okay? I¡¯ll take my hand off only when you¡¯ve calmed down, okay?¡± Cordelia nodded at Jude¡¯s reminder. ¡°Okay, here.¡± ¡°Fuuhua-! Hey, are you really talking about that Leisegang? The Red Moon Demon Leisegang?¡± As soon as Jude pulled his hand out, Cordelia asked quickly in a low voice. She looked dumbfounded. ¡°Yes, the Red Moon¡¯s Leisegang.¡± ¡°Are you crazy? How will you defeat him? Don¡¯t you know that its level is like a bully to us right now?¡± The Red Moon¡¯s Leisegang. A demon sealed in the north of the S?len Kingdom, and one of the mid-bosses that appeared in the middle of?Legend of Heroes 2. Outboxer009 and Yellow Storm were rotten waters, but no matter how much rotten Cordelia was, it was impossible to defeat him with her current power, which is as if she had just started the game. Jude also admitted it. ¡°Yes, how do we defeat it? But this is really like you, Yellow Storm. You can only hold your head tightly.¡± ¡°You said you needed the Sun¡¯s Ne. That¡¯s the Leisegang drop item.¡± Five hundred years ago, it was the Sun Pdin Gallus who sealed the Red Moon¡¯s Leisegang. Leisegang took Gallus¡¯ life at hisst attack just before being sealed, and in the process, the Sun¡¯s Ne, the relic of the sun god that Gallus possessed, was sealed with Leisegang. Because Gallus was already dead, the priests of the sun godpleted the seal, believing that the nature of the Sun¡¯s Ne would weaken the power of Leisegang, and thanks to this, the Sun¡¯s Ne became the drop item of Leisegang. ¡°We won¡¯t kill the demon. We¡¯ll just steal the item.¡± ¡°How? And don¡¯t you have to unseal it in the first ce to get to Leisegang? What are you going to do with that? I¡¯m still only a 1-star wizard.¡± ¡°Yes, and I have a disease, so I can¡¯t even be viger A. So, we use Bestin¡¯s Magic Circle.¡± ¡°Bestin¡¯s Magic Circle?¡± ¡°Bestin¡¯s Magic Circle. If you use it, it¡¯ll be possible to call out Leisegang for some time while maintaining the seal¡¯s power. We just need to take the Sun¡¯s Ne away from the one who can¡¯t move because of the seal, and then seal it again.¡± ¡°Say¡­ It seems to be that¡­¡± Bestin was a powerful wizard who appeared in thetter half of the heroic period. With proper application of his chain magic, it would be possible to call out the main body of the bound demon for a while, as Jude had said, while maintaining the seal of Leisegang. ¡°That¡­ But.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°That¡­ Wasn¡¯t it reallyplicated? The magic circle?¡± Cordelia had once visited the walkthrough website. It was rumored to be the perfect magic circle for sealing a demon, but she found it tooplicated to draw now even if it was right beside her, so she had abandoned the thought of using it. At Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude nodded. ¡°Of course, I know. I¡¯ve already ripped off the item a few times from Leisegang. Oh, can¡¯t you draw?¡± ¡°Ah, no? I can draw it too? How many times have I drawn it? Because I memorized everything too?¡± ¡°Right? Yeah, I think so. It¡¯s 2nd?in the server. Don¡¯t tell me you can¡¯t memorize that one.¡± Cordelia smiled awkwardly with a tearful face as Jude patted her shoulder and gave her a trusting look. ¡®Wow, it¡¯s all over her face.¡¯ He now knew why she didn¡¯t use the voice chat. She seemed like the type who could never lie. ¡°Yes, since the wizard is you, I¡¯ll ask you to draw it. Really reliable, reliable. I will only believe in you, Yellow Storm.¡± ¡°Uh¡­ Yes. Trust me, only me. Yes. Only me¡­¡± The appearance of Cordelia, who smiled with no confidence, was indeed spectacr. ¡°Then let¡¯s take the Sun¡¯s Ne that Leisegang has as our first quest target.¡± ¡°But isn¡¯t it a little far away? I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to make a short trip at night.¡± The ce where Leisegang was sealed was an abandoned temple in the middle of the Belkain Mountains. It was a half-day drive from the frontier city where Count Bayer and Count Chase lived. ¡°Yes, so I thought about it. There¡¯s a solution for this, too.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°You and I are engaged for now, aren¡¯t we?¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s true?¡± Cordelia slipped back at the word of ¡°engagement¡±, and Jude also felt awkward by it. Yellow Storm and engagement. Meaning a promise of marriage. It seemed like he was going to feel dizzy thinking of it, but in any case, using anything avable was the mindset of an attacker. ¡°So, let¡¯s go on a date.¡± ¡°Date?¡± ¡°A date in a carriage.¡± ¡°Who? You, you and me?¡± ¡°You and I. Outboxer and Yellow Storm. 1st?ce and 2nd?ce.¡± What would the people in the chat room say when they see this situation? Cordelia had already made her white face even whiter ¨C a creepy look in a word, and she hardened, and Jude had a simr expression. ¡°Oh, it seems like the time limit ising.¡± ¡°Time limit?¡± ¡°Yes, my Gueumjulmaek.¡± After a long time in the night air, his hands and feet were already cold, and it seemed that the night dew would continue to spread throughout the ce. ¡°Are you okay? Would you like a ?¡± ¡°I¡¯d appreciate it. But the way, how do you use magic? What about magic usage? Is it okay? It¡¯s a little different from the game, right?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a lot different. It¡¯s amazing. Well, it¡¯s really fantastic.¡± Unlike Jude Bayer who was born with a disease, Cordelia Chase was a wizard who had been well-established from the beginning. She used magic to cross over the fence just ago. Since arriving at the garden, Cordelia had felt tired and weak from being swayed around by Jude. But now, she was smiling confidently. ¡°Fufufu, take this .¡± ¡°Yes, yes.¡± Cordelia put her hand on Jude¡¯s forehead, closed her eyes and chanted the spell. The beautiful appearance of Cordelia and the green lighting from her hands werebined, making it a truly spectacr sight. ¡°What do you think? Did it work?¡± ¡°Yes. It¡¯s a little easier to breathe now.¡± Jude thought he could get back to his room safely. ¡°Then I¡¯ll go back for now.¡± Cordelia put the hood on again. Although Count Bayer and Count Chase were neighbors, but they weren¡¯t right next to each other, so it would take some time to get back. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, if I can treat my disease, I¡¯ll try to cross over the fence of your house.¡± ¡°No thanks? I¡¯m fine with just the date n, okay?¡± A date request. ¡°Hey, shouldn¡¯t we just call it the quest for Leisegang?¡± ¡°Yes, yes. That would be good for our mental health.¡± Jude and Cordelia stood side by side and awkwardly bade each other farewell. ¡°Then, go. Good night.¡± ¡°Yeah, good night to you too. Dream of me.¡± Cordelia, who answered with a middle finger to his habitual greeting, flew up and crossed the wall. ¡°Ha, that¡¯s real magic.¡± The world where angels and demons exist, as well as magic. Looking at the wall where Cordelia had disappeared for a moment, Jude turned in the direction of the Belkain Mountains. Red Moon¡¯s Leisegang and the Sun¡¯s Ne. It was the beginning of their ns. Chapter 4 - EPISODE 4 – PLEIADES (4)

Chapter 4 - EPISODE 4 ¨C PLEIADES (4)

The next morning. Jude thought as he woke up with a groan. ¡®I¡¯m really weak.¡¯ Although he was healed by Cordelia, his Gueumjulmaek was still there. When he woke up, he felt heavier and dizzy than usual. ¡®I must hurry too.¡¯ He couldn¡¯t bear to wait for a month, let alone half a year. He had to cure his disease as soon as possible. ¡®We don¡¯t have time.¡¯ There was still a few years left until the Great Summons, but the problem wasn¡¯t just the Great Summons. Various events and items that appeared in?Legend of Heroes 2. They were literally left unattended. In other words, it meant that there was every possibility that anyone other than Jude and Cordelia could get their hands on it. In the first ce, even in?Legend of Heroes 2, if a certain deadline was missed, there were many cases where a person who didn¡¯t participate in an event or collect an item wouldn¡¯t have a chance to do it again, so it would be even more true in this world where everything had be reality. Even a little night walk in the garden was beyond his limits with the current Jude¡¯s body that¡¯s in a bad shape. After curing his disease and gaining a healthy body, he had to start training and optimizing it. ¡®Okay, first, the?date¡­ Let¡¯s start by applying for a quest instead of a?date.¡¯ After Cordelia epted his offer and tried to maintain their peace of mind from the word?date, Jude got up from the bed and began his morning routine. Wake up, wash up, and eat. Usually, there would have been a greeting for his parents here, but both his father and mother were away from home. ¡®Thanks to that, it¡¯s easy to apply for a quest.¡¯ A full-fledged day outside while riding the carriage ¨C No, it¡¯s a pic, so it would usually be difficult to get permission because of Jude¡¯s weak body. ¡®Of course, it¡¯s not going to be easy now.¡¯ Upon returning to the room after the meal, Jude nced to the side. Maja looked differently at him than usual, because she was thinking of his mysterious conversation with Cordelia yesterday. Her eyes were mixed with worries, concerns, and doubts that the young master might have something wrong with his brain. ¡®In the meantime, should I say I want to offer Cordelia a carriage date?¡¯ ¡®In the meantime, how should I say that I want to ask out Cordelia for a carriage date?¡¯ How should he even apply for a date? He knew that they couldn¡¯t just meet on the same day after deciding where to meet, unlike in the past life where they could use a messaging app. ¡®No, isn¡¯t there a simr method?¡¯ ording to Jude¡¯s memory, he could write a letter asking for a date and send it to Count Chase, and if Count Chase and Cordelia agreed, we could then go on a date. ¡®It¡¯ll take about two days.¡¯ But he couldn¡¯t help it. Although they were engaged, they were both minors and even one side was weak with a disease. ¡°Hey, Maja.¡± ¡°Yes, young master.¡± ¡°That¡­ I am.¡± ¡°Yes, young master.¡± ¡°That¡­ Yellow¡­ No, I¡¯m requesting a quest from Lady Cordelia ¨C No, I mean a date¡­ Do you have any sites to suggest? That¡­ Well, like going out for some drinks in a nice ce near the mountain¡­ Uh, yesterday! That¡¯s right, we couldn¡¯t talk properly during her visit yesterday.¡± Why does he have to say that he wanted to go on a carriage date with Yellow Storm? Jude was currently in deep agony, but what mattered most right now was Maja¡¯s help, not the anguish of his heart. Even if his parents were away, it was not possible to do everything ording to his will. It was impossible to go out of the mansion without Maja¡¯s help, who is practically his elder sister, and is famous and recognized in the family. Therefore, Jude looked at Maja¡¯s lips with nervous eyes. He had done a lot of ¡®nonsensical¡¯ stuff in the past few days, but what if he was told to just stay home and get drunk here? ¡®Please¡­please, Maja! Don¡¯t make me say that I want to date Yellow Storm again!¡¯ Did Jude¡¯s earnest heart reach her? Maja nodded with a subtle smile instead of a cold expression. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s get ready.¡± And then Maja smiles again, with her face expressing her following thoughts¡­ I see, you actually wanted to get closer to Cordelia. You did it because you were embarrassed yesterday, and I thought you were all grown up, but you still haven¡¯t. No, is this because you¡¯re a grown up now? Ufufu ¨C I think I can see the true intentions of your heart. ¡®No, it¡¯s not. It¡¯s not what I¡¯m thinking.¡¯ However, Jude was in a position where he could not deny it openly. ¡°Then let¡¯s write an invitation to Lady Cordelia. In the first sentence, how about?To my Dear Lady Cordelia whom I deeply love?¡± Maja Tantalotte. Jude Bayer¡¯s exclusive maid. She is usually called the Ice Princess because of her cold expression, but in reality, she is a broad-minded woman. ¡°Yes, yes¡­¡± epting with a long sigh, Jude lifted his pen and began to write a love letter to Cordelia. *** Two dayster. The carriage that departed from Count Chase¡¯s manor and stopped at Count Bayer¡¯s was now running smoothly over the road leading to the Belkain Mountains. Four people were inside the carriage. The first two was Count Bayer¡¯s youngest son, Jude Bayer, and his exclusive maid, Maja Tantalotte, and the other two were Count Chase¡¯s daughter, Cordelia Chase, and her escort knight, Dahlia Ale. The people of both families took their ce in the form of facing each other. In other words, Cordelia sat opposite Jude. ¡®Do you not like it? I hate it too.¡¯ Cordelia also had to reply to Jude¡¯s love letter. Cordelia¡¯s letter was also a love letter, as it was about going out on a date in a carriage and drinking together. ¡®Yes, I know how you feel.¡¯ He felt the same way when he wrote the letter. But instead of sighing, the corners of Jude¡¯s mouth raised slightly. It was because of the sight of Cordelia in front of him. ¡®It¡¯s aplete full set, perfect for a date.¡¯ She was going to see flowers with her fianc¨¦. She wore a wide-brimmed hat to keep the sun out and her white and heavy dress, with a long skirt filled withces, made her pinkish-red hair stand out. Of course, itpletely looked good on her. Anyone would admit that Cordelia was a very beautiful girl. Honestly, if you separate the fact that she was Yellow Storm, her appearance was pretty and cute enough to the point of apuse. ¡®Yes, if only she was not Yellow Storm.¡¯ As the pretty girl in front of him was also letting out looks of admiration at his looks, and as he thought that she was Yellow Storm, he couldn¡¯t help giggling and letting out augh. ¡®Well, I¡¯m in the same situation.¡¯ Jude also came here dressed in the best clothes for a date. Furthermore, Jude also had an Adonis kind of look. So, Cordelia who saw him, was blushing. ¡®As expected of Yellow Storm. You¡¯re true to your instincts. It¡¯s just a beast, a beast.¡¯ ¡®No, I¡¯m not? It¡¯s not like that? Aren¡¯t you the one whose eyes are wide open?¡¯ They only exchanged nces once and they felt like they could hear each other¡¯s thoughts. Then Maja and Dahlia looked at the two, each with a happy face. ¡®They¡¯re a good match.¡¯ ¡®You¡¯re both cute.¡¯ As the pair looked at each other, snarling andughing, the other two who misunderstood their behavior as embarrassment, smiled warmly. And half a day passed by. The carriage finally reached their destination, the middle of the Belkain mountain range. *** ¡°Hey, isn¡¯t the weather nice?¡± ¡°I know. The flowers are very pretty. No, not as much as Cordelia, of course.¡± ¡°Oh, dear heavens! No. If you make fun of me like that¡­¡± The two walked for a few minutes while exchanging words awkwardly as if reading a Korean book. The pair, barely keeping their distance from Maja and Dahlia who looked pleased, sighed at one point. ¡°F*ck, I really can¡¯t do this.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care how much you curse but do it with a smile. Because I can see your face.¡± ¡°Oh, f*ck. Really f*ck. I can¡¯t f*cking do this.¡± Jude felt dizzy and tried to speak, but at the same time, he felt a sense of self-destruction that he was thrilled with the appearance of a beautiful girl who kept cursing. ¡°By all means, hold it in. We¡¯ve alreadye all the way here.¡± ¡°But what are we going to do now? It¡¯s still quite some distance from here to the seal.¡± ¡°I have an idea. Did you bring all the supplies?¡± ¡°Excuse me, of course. Who do you think I am?¡± ¡°Yellow Storm who¡¯s 2nd?in the server.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m the server¡¯s¡­ DIE! No, should I just go back?¡± ¡°Aww, don¡¯t be upset being second. Don¡¯t lose your smile even when you turn around, okay? Now, smile?¡± Cordelia, who gave him a middle finger instead of a smile,ughed as she red at Jude, who said after coughing in vain. ¡°At least, you¡¯ve got the items.¡± ¡°Huh, did you know I was troubled hiding it inside my skirt?¡± As she said that, she lightly shook her skirt. ¡°Good. As expected, it¡¯s Yellow Storm. I believed in you. That¡¯s my Yellow Storm.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really want to be?your?Yellow Storm, so tell me the n first. How do you intend to go from here to the seal?¡± It was just the two of them here, so Maja and Dahlia were watching with their eyes wide open. Jude stealthily moved his body,pletely turning his back on Maja and Dahlia, and said in a quiet voice. ¡°It¡¯s simple. See that cliff over there?¡± ¡°I see it. It¡¯s the end of the flower field.¡± ¡°Once we get there, you carry me and jump off.¡± It sounded crazy, but Yellow Storm was convinced of his n. She could tell that Outboxer009 could say this to her because he had a ¡®map.¡¯ ¡°Is there a secret passage under the cliff?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a secret passage, but about 10 meters downwards, there¡¯s a path under the cliff. We¡¯ll go that way to the seal.¡± Jude had checked the terrain on his way here. And he was sure of one thing. Although there were some slight differences, if one looks at the big picture, the terrain of this world and that of?Legend of Heroes 2?matched. Of course, remembering the way was possible because he was the one who had reached rotten water status from just stagnant water. ¡°Will Maja and Dahliae after us?¡± ¡°Because it¡¯s 10 meters down, they won¡¯t be able toe down quickly. And we have a solution for that too.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± Instead of answering Cordelia¡¯s question immediately, Jude took a moment to pause. At the time that Cordelia, who as always tried to interject him, he opened my mouth. ¡°Just make one promise first.¡± ¡°What promise?¡± ¡°The promise to hear me and not be angry. Don¡¯t even hit me.¡± ¡°¡­what are you going to say?¡± ¡°Is that a promise?¡± ¡°Yes, so what the hell is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s this¡­¡± Jude started talking in a low voice. After a while¡­ At the edge of the flower field. Jude looked behind his back and signaled to Cordelia. ¡®Now!¡¯ As promised in advance, Cordelia suddenly held Jude¡¯s hand. Maja and Dahlia, who saw the bold skinship, let out surprised voices, but there was still more to be surprised. ¡°Run!¡± Jude and Cordelia ran towards the cliff edge and leapt without any hesitation. ¡°Young master?!¡± ¡°Miss?!¡± No, what are the things that those who are already engaged doing now? It¡¯s not that their love is unachievable in this life that they¡¯re trying to achieve it in the next life. Either way, the surprised Maja and Dahlia reached the cliff edge in the blink of an eye. And they both breathe a sigh of relief. This is because they witnessed the sight of Cordelia, who carried Jude in her arms,nding on the ground with magic. ¡°Young master!¡± ¡°Miss!¡± Maja and Dahlia, who both raised their voices, looked around helplessly. They were trying to find a way down. ¡®As expected!¡¯ Dahlia did not know how to use magic. Jude hurriedly urged Cordelia, and Cordelia shouted with apletely red face. ¡°I want to spend time together with Ju-Jude! We¡¯ll be back before dinner, so just wait! Don¡¯t worry about us!¡± ¡°Miss!¡± Dahlia shouted out of panic, and Jude urged Cordelia again. ¡°Quickly! Quickly, the next line!¡± ¡°We¡¯re not going to do anything weird! So, don¡¯t worry! Ju-Jude is a gentleman!¡± This was enough. Maja and Dahlia were the only ones here anyway. Count Chase¡¯s coachman was taking a nap in a faraway ce, so if only Maja and Dahlia were to shut their mouths, the coachman would not know. Either way, they seeded in getting away from Maja and Dahlia, and they also finished making excuses to earn time. Now, the only thing left was to head for the seal quickly. ¡°Let¡¯s go! Quickly!¡± Cordelia reacted quickly to Jude¡¯s prompting. It was also because she felt like she wanted to hide herself in a mouse¡¯s hole. After a few minutes. Once they could no longer see Maja and Dahlia, Cordelia burst into anger. ¡°Oh really! Why did I have to do it! No, carrying you while jumping off a cliff, making excuses, and then I felt like you tried to hit me!¡± She said that with a terrible face. For such a Cordelia, Jude exined in his calmest possible tone. ¡°I¡¯ve already said it once, I have Gueumjulmaek. I can¡¯t carry you with this slender arm. And how will I hit you? It doesn¡¯t make sense if I hit you. Why, I¡¯m a man with a disease.¡± ¡°That Gueumjulmaek! Gueumjulmaek! Just heal that Gueumjulmaek! ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll hug you so that you¡¯ll feel better, I¡¯ll also hit you.¡± ¡°No thanks? What is this crazy guy saying?¡± ¡°Yes, yes. Anyway, are you feeling better now? Then let¡¯s hurry up. We don¡¯t have much time.¡± The possibility that Maja and Dahlia would really wait for them was zero. They had to finish their job before the two finds them. ¡°Ha, really. Just heal that Gueumjulmaek.¡± ¡°Yes, as soon as it gets better, I¡¯ll bake or boil or do whatever you want, so let¡¯s go to the seal first.¡± ¡°Take the lead.¡± ¡°Come along then.¡± Looking back on the surrounding terrain, Jude strode along. Chapter 5 - EPISODE 5 – PLEIADES (5)

Chapter 5 - EPISODE 5 ¨C PLEIADES (5)

¡°Haa¡­haa¡­haa¡­.¡± How long has it been since I started walking? At first, it seemed like Jude, who was well ahead of her, was walking side by side with Cordelia at some point, but now he waspletely behind and panting. Eventually, the worried Cordelia turned around and asked. ¡°Hey, are you okay?¡± ¡°Haa¡­ haa¡­ No, it¡¯s okay. Not good¡­ haa.¡± I fell and barely continued talking, but it was at that moment that I felt like vomiting. At the sight of the sweat-soaked Jude, Cordelia said with a slightly dazed face. ¡°You¡¯re really weak.¡± ¡°Haa¡­ Don¡¯t talk big¡­ Come on,e on.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll ask you. Time¡­ in¡­ I have to go¡­ Haaa.¡± Jude, who sat on the ground, stretched out his hands like a zombie. ¡°Haa¡­ quickly.¡± ¡°Whoa, really.¡± As Jude fluttered his arms again, Cordelia sighed and walked to the front of Jude, turning her back and sitting. ¡°Here.¡± ¡°Haa¡­¡± Jude buried himself on Cordelia¡¯s back, almost as if he were falling. The sweaty Jude smelled and didn¡¯t feel very good, but Cordelia was more surprised by something else. ¡°Hey, you have to gain some weight. Why is a man so light?¡± ¡°Gueum¡­julmaek.¡± ¡°Just use Muan Sweet Water, Muan Sweet Water.¡± T/N: Muan Sweet Water (????) is a Korean meme that originated from a religious group in Muan which imed that their ¡°sweet water¡± was miraculous. However, it was not sweet tasting, and upon actual testing, it was found to be just seawater. It became a parody that if you¡¯re suffering from troubles, just throw/sprinkle Muan Sweet Water, wish for a miracle, and vo, your troubles will end. A famous parody of it is that throwing Muan Sweet Water to a roon will allow it to be able to walk upright like a human. Source:?Namu.wiki,?Librewiki Cordelia, who stood up from her sitting position, adjusted her position as she raised Jude. This is because it was difficult for her to lift Jude properly without supporting his buttocks. ¡°Hey¡­ don¡¯t sneakily touch strange ces.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you too? Where are you cing your hands?¡± Cordelia, who struck down Jude¡¯s protest, strode again. She didn¡¯t need any guidance because they were on a single track anyway. After a few dozen minutes. Cordelia, who looked at the distance, asked Jude behind her back. ¡°Hey, is that it? I think we¡¯re almost there. Don¡¯t sleep.¡± ¡°Huh? Uh¡­ Yes, there it is. It¡¯s almost the same as what you saw in the game.¡± At the end of the winding path next to the cliff, there was a cave entrancerge enough for several people, and although it was damaged by rain and wind, it was a structure that was easily touched by human hands. ¡°Let¡¯s hurry. Giddy up, giddy up.¡± ¡°This is real.¡± It was a low growling Cordelia, but for now, she was in a hurry. She wanted to get in quickly once she saw the entrance. ¡°The Temple of the Sun God¡­¡± ¡°The pdins protected this ce two hundred years ago, right?¡± ¡°I suppose so.¡± Two hundred years ago. The denomination of the Sun God, who had always been at the forefront in the battle against the demons, suffered a devastating blow from the Great Demon Anguirus, and was virtually destroyed. Thanks to this, even the temple, which seals the powerful demon of the Red Moon¡¯s Leisegang, was now in such a forgotten ruin. ¡°Now drop me off.¡± ¡°Should I go inside more first?¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± ¡°If so, then.¡± Cordelia let down Jude from her back, cast a Light spell, and stepped into the cave first. At that moment. ¡°Oh, can you feel it?¡± Cordelia looked back and asked, and he nodded with his eyes wide open. ¡°Oh, I can feel it. You too?¡± ¡°Uh, me too.¡± The moment they passed through the cave entrance, the air around them changed. To be precise, it felt like ¡®sacred power¡¯ was filling the cave. ¡®Oh, this is how it feels.¡¯ In the game, there was one line that said, ¡®I can feel the divine power of the sun god.¡¯, but it was not something that I could only express in words. ¡°I think my heart is being purified.¡± As Cordelia looked around and spoke with sparkling eyes, Jude also nodded. ¡°I think it¡¯s going to be the same as the game. I don¡¯t think you have to worry about monsters.¡± The divine power of the sun god had the power to drive out monsters belonging to the demons. As Jude said that, Cordelia agreed, and he took the lead again. ¡°From here onwards, I know the way, so I¡¯ll take the lead.¡± ¡°Be careful just in case.¡± ¡°Yes, watch your step too.¡± The inside of the cave was wider than expected, and sculptures of the sun god were all over the ce, leaving Jude and Cordelia in amazement. ¡°Why do all the divine creatures look scary?¡± Cordelia who was ahead, said in a quivering voice. It felt like I was in a haunted house because there were pieces of scary divine creatures in a dark cave. ¡°Come on, we¡¯re almost there.¡± Moreover, unlike the sculptures, the Red Moon¡¯s Leisegang was a real demon. Even if it was trapped in a seal, the fear would be iparable to that of a divine creature statue. ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± We arrived at a fairlyrge hemispherical room on the way through the winding outer path. Is this where the Red Moon¡¯s Leisegang was sealed? Strangely enough, unlike elsewhere, there was subtle glow all over the room, so it was not dark at all. ¡°The whole room is a facility for sealing.¡± Cordelia said, squinting her eyes. As a wizard, she was much than the current Jude at detecting paranormal energy. However, Jude had knowledge of it in?Legend of Heroes 2. After a nod, I looked at the magic circles engraved on the ceiling and the floor. ¡°Okay, it¡¯s the same as what I saw in the game.¡± When I came here, I was honestly uneasy. Install a magic circle and call out the demon. It was so dangerous and special that it was iparable to checking the geography or maintaining human rtionships. ¡®Let¡¯s be confident. I¡¯ve already checked several things on the way here, haven¡¯t I? Moreover, Cordelia can use magic. So, it¡¯s possible. There is magic in this world.¡¯ Jude, who spoke to himself as if he were admonishing himself, looked back at Cordelia after he had hardened his mind. ¡°Cordelia, the supplies.¡± ¡°Just look over there and wait.¡± All the supplies were inside her skirt. When Jude turned around awkwardly, Cordelia separated the skirt itself, andid out the items she had tied to her thighs and calves on the floor. ¡°I¡¯m done.¡± ¡°Wow, you¡¯ve been hiding all this in your skirt? It looks like Doraemon¡¯s pocket.¡± ¡°It was so hard, so thank you. Don¡¯t be ignorant of grace like Nobita.¡± T/N: To those unfamiliar with it, Doraemon¡¯s pocket refers to the magical pocket of the Japanese character Doraemon that can store any item regardless of size. ?And Nobita is the main character who always gets helped by Doraemon with his items. The two who exchanged whispers began preparations for drawing the new magic circle. ¡°The best method is to draw it on the ceiling and carve it in the floor, but that¡¯s difficult. So, let¡¯s draw a magic circle using a magic drug made by mixing catalysts.¡± ¡°Here, the magic drug.¡± Cordelia pours a fourth of a red liquid into a spacious paper bowl. At first nce, it looked like blood, but it was a pure magic drug mixed with various medicinal ingredients. ¡®I¡¯m d Cordelia¡¯s a wizard.¡¯ Otherwise, it would¡¯ve been difficult to get the ingredients to make the drug. ¡°Give me a pen.¡± ¡°I secretly brought my father¡¯s, so don¡¯t break it. Okay?¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Cordelia checked her items and brought out a pen made of griffon feathers. ¡®We¡¯re definitely Jude and Cordelia.¡¯ Yellow Storm did not possess Cordelia¡¯s body. Cordelia had remembered her memories as Yellow Storm. The image of Cordelia worrying about being scolded by her father right away proved it. ¡°You¡¯re not picking it up?¡± ¡°You should get it.¡± Instead of making fun of Cordelia, Jude received a pen without a hitch. No matter how fun it was to tease Cordelia, he had to consider the ce and that their time was limited. ¡°Let¡¯s get started.¡± ¡°Yes, fighting.¡± From now on, it was Jude¡¯s solo stage. Cordelia, who shook her fist as she cheered ¡®fighting¡¯, sat down in the corner and watched Jude¡¯s actions. He had to draw arge magic circle that had to use almost the entire floor, so he shouldn¡¯t be disturbed. One hour after. Jude gestured to Cordelia as he sweated after having finished drawing the magic circle. ¡°Let¡¯s get started. Come this way.¡± ¡°Huh? Ah, yes!¡± At Jude¡¯s call, Cordelia came up with a startled face. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just¡­¡± Actually, it wasn¡¯t just. Cordelia was admiring Jude ¨C to be exact, to Outboxer009. ¡®As expected, he¡¯s Outboxer009.¡¯ Now that we¡¯vee this far, it¡¯s only natural, but I never thought he really memorized Bestin¡¯s magic circle. ¡°Why? Are you respecting me now? This is how I got into first ce, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not? Because I can do it too? You were ying around too much, so I just stepped back to make a fool of you.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m sure you will.¡± Jude grinned, and Cordelia somehow became awkward and pouted her lips. ¡°Let¡¯s start then. I need your help again. I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t have much mana in my blood.¡± ¡°Huh, okay. I just drop it over there, right?¡± ¡°Yes, I don¡¯t need a lot, so don¡¯t hurt it too much. Scars will remain.¡± ¡°Wow, were you worried about me?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± In fact, both Jude and Cordelia were extremely nervous. The Red Moon¡¯s Liesegang was a powerful demon that could only be defeated in the mid- tote half of the game. No matter how many times I have done it in the game, my hands and feet trembled when I¡¯m going to do the same thing in this world. That¡¯s why we spoke more misceneous words than usual. ¡°Let¡¯s do it then.¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s do it. I¡¯m sure we can do it.¡± Cordelia, who strengthened her heart, stood in the area corresponding to the ¡®inlet¡¯ of the newly drawn magic circle, took out the needle and poked her fingers. ¡°Activate, Bestin¡¯s magic circle.¡± There was a reaction as soon as the low-pronounced Cordelia lost her blood. The magic circle drawn by Jude glowed red, and the whole air inside the seal began to vibrate. ¡°Cordelia! Get back!¡± Jude shouted, looking at the center of the seal, and Cordelia stepped back and stared at the seal¡¯s center too. The seal was being opened. In addition to Jude¡¯s magic circle, the magic circle on the floor and ceiling of the seal began to shine too. It was a brilliant golden glow reminiscent of the sun. ¡°Jude! Get back!¡± This time, Cordelia eximed. This is because the mana density of the seal increased rapidly. The air inside the seal would¡¯ve been poison to the current Jude, who is worse than viger A. But Outboxer009 wasn¡¯t a rotten water for no reason. In the first ce, Jude, who had been predicting the current situation, quickly took out the mask he had prepared at home and covered his mouth and nose. It was simr to a simple oxygen respirator used on airnes, but the Bayer family had a few items like that, as they frequently battled against monsters. ¡°Here ites!¡± Shouted Jude. At the same time, the space at the center of the seal began to break. A crack formed in the air, and soon a huge presence emerged with dazzling light. The Red Moon¡¯s Leisegang. Undead ¨C Among them, the mighty blood demon that invokes vampires! A red and giant creature with a bat¡¯s head and wings spread out a red glow towards Jude and Cordelia. Chapter 6 - EPISODE 6 – PLEIADES (6)

Chapter 6 - EPISODE 6 ¨C PLEIADES (6)

Jude was bogged down by the sight before his eyes. For a moment, I forgot how to breathe. A huge being. Despite its kneeling and crouching posture, the hideous bat head touched the ceiling. The wings that rose behind its back covered the entire floor, making its presence clear. The Red Moon¡¯s Leisegang. Demon Prince that covets blood. I couldn¡¯t evenpare it to when I saw it in the game. The appearance itself was the same, but the pressure was different. The limbs had been bound. A chain that seemed to be thicker than Jude¡¯s waist covered the entire body of Leisegang. Nevertheless, I felt afraid. Just by facing it, Jude felt like his own existence was trampled and crushed. ¡°Get a hold of yourself!¡± Just then, Cordelia shook Jude¡¯s shoulders. Unlike Jude, who can¡¯t handle mana itself because he had Gueumjulmaek, she was a true wizard, even though she was only a one-star. She put the ne she prepared in a hurry on Jude¡¯s neck. ¡°Are you okay? Is your mind okay?¡± It was a magic tool that slightly raised one¡¯s magic resistance. I brought it just in case, but I think it was a good thing that I did. Jude¡¯s eyes began to refocus. ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s me! Get a hold of yourself! Huh?¡± Jude blinked. Took a breath. He was so nervous that he could feel the enormous presence behind his back. ¡°Leisegang of the Red Moon¡­¡± It was real. The mighty Demon Prince was before us. ¡°You can do it.¡¯ Jude thought. The seal of the sun god was still working. Bestin¡¯s magic circle was also ying its part. The given time is about 3 minutes. More than that, the Bestin¡¯s magic circle could not hold out. ¡°There it is. Over there, by the waist.¡± Cordelia said in a tense voice. Leisegang¡¯s waist. To be exact, the Sun¡¯s Ne hung on the handle of the sword, which was worn at the waist. ¡°Huu¡­¡± Jude, who once again sighed, swallowed again. Leisegang¡¯s eyes were still closed. It fell asleep on its own to endure the time it was trapped by the seal, but as the seal itself was being maintained, it did not seem to know that it had temporarilye out. ¡®It¡¯s a chance.¡¯ Take only the Sun¡¯s Ne and immediately release Bestin¡¯s magic circle again. Then get out of its sight. ¡®You can do it. You can do it.¡¯ It was the moment when Jude took a step forward. ¡°Hey.¡± ¡°Heuk-?!¡± When Cordelia suddenly reached out and grabbed his shoulder, a startled Jude let out a bizarre sound, and the surprised Cordelia also jumped back and screamed. ¡°You scared me!¡± ¡°I was really surprised!¡± Why all of a sudden? When Jude looked at her, Cordelia swung a baton that was slightly shorter than her forearm. Then the baton expanded by five times in a second. ¡°Here.¡± It was not magic, but an assembled baton that could be pushed inward in the first ce. Jude was puzzled for a moment, but soon understood Cordelia¡¯s intentions. ¡°You want me to take this?¡± ¡°It¡¯s better than sticking to it yourself, right?¡± It¡¯s definitely better. Jude gave a sincere look of gratitude, and Cordelia gave a merry, pleasant snort. In any case, time was ticking along in the midst of all this. With a baton, Jude crept to the side of Leisegang. ¡°Here it goes.¡± I stretched out the baton and somehow reached the distance. Jude used the baton to poke between the strings of the ne and lifted it carefully. ¡°Good, good. Almost done.¡± Speaking very quietly, Cordelia nodded and swallowed slowly. And immediately after. The moment I finally took the ne out of the handle! Jude was frozen once again. The same was true of Cordelia this time. And the two almost instinctively raised their heads and looked up to the heights. The Red Moon¡¯s Leisegang. It was opening its eyes. It red at Jude and Cordelia and let out a red glow like when it first appeared in the seal. One second like that. No, it felt like an eternity. ¡°Take it!¡± ¡°Bounce back!¡± Cordelia and Jude shouted almost simultaneously. Jude quickly pulled the baton and backed away greatly. He grabbed the Sun¡¯s Ne that came down along the baton. [NO!] Said Leisegang. It opened its mouth, and the roar shook not only the seal but also the entire cave. Jude stumbled and fell. Leisegang gave strength to its arm to hold onto such Jude. Kaduk! But there was a chain. The seal of the sun god still held tight on Leisegang. ¡°Hurry up!¡± Cordelia yelled. Jude stood up staggeringly, and Leisegang spoke again. And at that moment. Jude once again witnessed an incredible sight. A small light burst. In the open mouth of Leisegang. To be exact, an arrow of light flew towards the mouth of Leisegang and exploded. The most basic attack magic that 1-star wizards can cast from the beginning. It was Cordelia. No, it was Yellow Storm. The moment Leisegang tried to attack Jude, her instinct as a fighter to the bone was triggered. ¡°Hey! Crazy¡­?!¡± As he was about to shout loudly, Jude blinked in surprise. And so was Cordelia. ¡°Level¡­up?¡± Cordelia was enveloped in a ring of white light. The level-up effect that I¡¯ve seen countless times in?Legend of Heroes 2?was clearly seen. ¡°Ah.¡± Cordelia spoke out. Then she shouted again. This time, together with Jude. ¡°Ah!¡± We understood it. It was an embarrassing situation, but the two who were rotten water immediately understood the current situation. In?Legend of Heroes 2, levels existed. However, for NPCs of?Legend of Heroes 2, the status window does not exist, so they had to somewhere like a level temple to measure their level. The important thing was that levels itself existed in this world, and it was also possible to be strong through leveling up. Then why did Cordelia level up at this moment? ¡®Combat experience.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t necessary to kill the enemy to gain experience. The act of attacking the enemy itself could gain experience points. Of course, thetter was far too insignificantpared to the former. But with Cordelia and Leisegang. If you¡¯ve just started as a 1-star wizard and fought against a mighty demon that you can only be dealt with in the second half of the game. A vast gap in levels. If it was the original game, a person would never even attempt an attack. That¡¯s why thebat experience was amplified! [Vermin garbage!] Leisegang roared again. But it was still stuck in chains and unable to move. Cordelia and Jude looked at each other and understood the moment they exchanged nces. The fact that their gamer brains started to turn. ¡°!¡± Cordelia fired a magic missile with a cheerful cry. Instead of fear, it was a face of joy. Bang! Bang! Bang! A series of magic missiles exploded. It was simply a ticklish little magic for Leisegang, but somehow, the attack was an attack. ¡°Oh yeah!¡± After three shots, a white ring appeared again around Cordelia¡¯s body. It was the second level up. ¡°I, I will level up too!¡± Outboxer009¡¯s gamer brain crushed his fear. It was unforgiveable as Outboxer009 to miss out on these easy level up points. ¡°Here we go!¡± At one stroke, Jude, who narrowed the distance to Leisegang, swung the baton like a sword. ¡°Ugh!¡± I swung hard, but it was as if I had knocked on steel. Rather, the bacsh was likely to damage Jude¡¯s wrist. ¡®But as long as you¡¯re leveling up!¡¯ Even if it¡¯s painful- ¡°Huh?¡± But nothing happened. No white rings were formed. ¡°Well¡­ Ah!¡± Like rotten water, Jude soon figured out the cause of the problem. That¡¯s why Cordelia burst outughing. ¡°¡°Too weak!¡±¡± He was. Jude was too weak. He was so weak that Jude¡¯s attack was not even recognized as an attack on Leisegang. It wasn¡¯t even itchy, literally! [Which vermin dares to¡­] Boom! Boom! Leisegang¡¯s voice was ovepped by the sound of magic missile¡¯s explosion. Cordeliaughed and created another stretch of magic missile. It was proven that the seal of the sun god was firm, and there was no reason to hesitate. ¡°Oh yeah! Level up!¡± Cordelia once again leveled up. The impatient Jude thought over and over again. I couldn¡¯t be left behind like this here. Somehow, he had to make an effective hit to gainbat experience. But how do you do that? But what¡­ ¡°Bingo!¡± Habitually shouting, Jude threw the baton and clenched his fist after letting the decorative part of the Sun¡¯s Ne rise on his fingers. ¡°May the great sun god Sri¡¯s blessing be with us, O Sun that illuminates the morning, O Light that drives the night away, Arise, Let fire light at my fingertips!¡± As I recited the prayer of the sun god Sri, the ne of the sun god began to shine in a golden color. Of course, the effect was negligible because he was not a believer of Sri, but it was also a prayer that was recited by Jude, who had no mana. But even so, it was the power of Sri, the sun god who destroys monsters and burns injustice! ¡°Haaa!¡± The sound of Jude running,?dododo, echoed as he struck Leisegang¡¯s shin with his fist. Like Cordelia¡¯s Magic Missile, it was a tickling attack for Leisegang, but it was still an attack. ¡°Level up!¡± A white ring appeared in Jude¡¯s body. And Jude could feel it. It was a little, but he became stronger. His overall physical ability rose. [These vermin!] Leisegang roared again, but Jude and Cordelia did not stop. The rotten waters¡¯ desire to level up overweighed their fear at this moment. ¡°We don¡¯t have time!¡± ¡°One more shot!¡± Bestin¡¯s magic circle has a three-minute time limit. Cordelia made magic missiles while drinking mana potions, and Jude sweated and shook his fist like a boxer hitting a sandbag. [Keuaa! These bugs! I¡¯ve remembered your faces! I¡¯ve imprinted your souls in my brain! On the day I am released! I¡¯ll let you suffer pain worse than death ¨C these vermin! Hear me! Listen!] Jude and Cordelia did not listen to it. The time left now was only 10 seconds. I had to hit one more before the easy points passed. And 10 secondster. A fifth ring arouse simultaneously around the waist of Jude and Cordelia. It was Cordelia who first started to attack, but it happened because the experience effectiveness of Jude, who was a raw level 1, was better in the first ce because he had Gueumjulmaek. Once 10 seconds passed, Bestin¡¯s magic circle took effect. As the space began to close again, Leisegang vented his anger as he red at Jude and Cordelia. [Vermin! I¡¯ll see you again! Watch my words!] ¡°Yeah, see you again at Act 7.¡± ¡°It was nice meeting you, and I¡¯ll see you again next time.¡± When Jude and Cordeliaughed and waved their hands, Leisegang, who was close to having Hwabyeong, grunted and closed its eyes. If its hands and feet were free, it would¡¯ve caught them by the scruff of their necks. T/N: Hwabyeong (??) is a Korean somatization disorder, a mental illness which arises when people are unable to confront their anger as a result of conditions which they perceive to be unfair. It is known as a Korean culture-specific syndrome. Source:?Hwabyeong And light shone again. The golden color symbolizing the sun god Sri filled the seal, and the Red Moon¡¯s Leisegang disappeared again to the far side of space. ¡°Haa.¡± ¡°Whoo.¡± When Leisegang¡¯s huge presence disappeared, Jude and Cordelia undoubtedly sighed. And then they burst intoughter ¡°Ha, really. I always knew it, but you¡¯re a crazy bastard.¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯re not sane either.¡± Even if it was sealed, we ignored the warnings of the great demon and attacked it. Jude and Cordelia looked at each other again and cheerfullyughed. This quest had been a great sess. ¡°Are you feeling better now?¡± ¡°It will take some time, but I will get better.¡± Unlike the Sunfire Carp, the Sun¡¯s Ne couldn¡¯t cure the Gueumjulmaek at once. I had to melt away the excessive Yin energy blocking the meridians with the Yang energy of the Sun¡¯s Ne little by little. But that was enough. It was clear that things would get better day by day. ¡°Please get better.¡± ¡°Yes, yes. When I get better, I¡¯ll give you a hug, I¡¯ll hit you, and I¡¯ll cross your wall.¡± ¡°What is this crazy guy saying?¡± Cordelia, whoughed small, stretched her shoulders once and suddenly pushed her fist straight forward. It was one of the moves the characters take when they clear the quest in?Legend of Heroes 2. Therefore, instead of sitting down, Jude walked towards Cordelia. Then he bumped fists with Cordelia. ¡°Fine y.¡± ¡°Fine y.¡± It was a little childish, but they did it like in the game. Jude and Cordelia faced each other and smiled. Not only did they get the Sun¡¯s Ne as nned, but they also raised their levels by 5, so it was a great sess. ¡°Let¡¯s go now.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll be in a lot of trouble, right?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll get scolded.¡± Even if they were engaged, an unmarried young man and woman said that they want to have time alone, so they went on a midnight ¨C no, daytime flight. ¡°Ugh¡­¡± Cordelia stretched her shoulder as if she was worried, and Jude held down her shoulder in one arm. ¡°What, what are you doing?¡± ¡°Please carry me.¡± Because I¡¯m exhausted. At that outrageous moment, Cordelia asked dazedly. ¡°Didn¡¯t you level up?¡± ¡°Why do you think I¡¯m asking for a piggyback?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Cordeliaughed as she gave Jude a piggyback ride, and the two stepped in good harmony side by side. And at that night. Jude and Cordelia, who had returned home, were grounded for 10 days. Chapter 7 - EPISODE 7 – DUNGEON BOOK (1)

Chapter 7 - EPISODE 7 ¨C DUNGEON BOOK (1)

The amount of martial arts terminologies in the first half of this chapter drove me crazy. I feel like I went to a crash course of Korean martial arts with all the terms. Because of that, I ended up making some changes to the previous chapters to correct several mistakes or rify some ambiguous words. Here are the changes: I¡¯ve also edited phrases rted to extreme power, as it actually meant extreme/powerful Yang energy. The previous ones were quite ambiguous as you may wonder what kind of power it was referring too. There¡¯s also the fact that the sun is associated with yang energy, so the Sunfire Carp and Sun¡¯s Ne having lots of yang energy to curebat Gueumjulmaek¡¯s excessive yin energy makes sense, as yin and yang are dual opposites. And if you¡¯re curious what Gueumjulmaek (????, ¾Åꎽ~Ã}) means, it¡¯s Nine Yin Severed Meridians. The name is too long, so I¡¯ll still call it Gueumjulmaek in the following chapters. Count Bayer. The Bayer family is one of the 12 northern families that defend the northern part of the S?len Kingdom and is famous for producing powerful knights for generations. Victor Cromwell, a long-time vassal of the Count and now a retired knight, reddened his eyes with tears at the sight in front of him. ¡°Haa¡­. Kuhaa¡­. Kuhaa¡­¡± Jude Bayer, who was called the anguish of Count Bayer because of his Gueumjulmaek disease that even disrupted his daily life, was now running in the training courtyard. Though he gasped for breath as if he was going to die soon. ¡°It is indeed a gift of the heavens¡­¡± During Jude¡¯s and his fianc¨¦e¡¯s tryst¡­ no, their ¡°daytime escape¡±, they got the sun god Sri¡¯s divine item, which helped in the treatment of his Gueumjulmaek. A literal entricity that is too coincidental to be seen as a coincidence but can only be seen as a coincidence. ¡°O Askantor, thank you for watching over the Bayer family.¡± Victor, who prayed to Askantor, the god of war, looked back at the training courtyard with a smile. A red-faced Jude was turning around the corner toplete thestp. 10ps around the training field. For ordinary knights, it was only a warm-up and a barely possible amount of exercise, but for Jude, it was simply a great development. Just a week ago, he couldn¡¯t even properly run ap around the training field. ¡°Haa¡­ Haa¡­ Kuhaa¡­¡± Jude, who managed to keep the running form itself, copsed in ce almost as soon as he finished thestp. ¡°Kuhaa¡­¡± The sky seemed to be spinning. I didn¡¯t think of anything as if my head were empty. ¡°Kuhaa¡­¡± I ended up lying down. I sweated so much that my whole body was wet as if I were drowning. ¡°Haa¡­¡± How long has it been since Iid down? When my breath calmed down to some extent, I was able to think. ¡®I¡¯m dying.¡¯ 10ps around the training field. Considering the distance, it is just over 1 kilometer? It wasn¡¯t that short, but it wasn¡¯t that long either. ¡®Still.¡¯ A smile began to spread on Jude¡¯s face. I could clearly feel that I was getting better little by little. ¡®Sun¡¯s Ne.¡¯ The ne of the sun god, Sri, was still hung on Jude¡¯s neck. Unlike the Sunfire Carp, which injects an enormous amount of Yang energy at once, the Sun¡¯s Ne slowly but continuously supplied Yang energy. Gueumjulmaek meant a blockage of the meridians due to the immense Yin energy. The Yang energy little by little had melted the excessive Yin energy, thus the symptoms of Gueumjulmaek began to ease. Moreover, that was not the only effect of the Sun¡¯s Ne. As the energies of Yin and Yang met to covet each other, the result was the creation of a clear and pure energy. Right now, the mana training method ¨C in other words, the inner Qi cultivation method, was something that Jude couldn¡¯t properly train yet so he couldn¡¯t use the pure energy that was created, but that didn¡¯t mean the energy disappeared. All these pure energies remained in Jude¡¯s body, so if he fully absorbs themter, he could achieve great achievements at once. ¡°Young master.¡± As I rolled my eyes at the call, I could see Victor with a face full of smiles. Having retired after reaching the age of sixty, he didn¡¯t follow Count Bayer¡¯s expedition, but his will to continuously reform/train himself knows no bounds. ¡°I saw you achieve your goal without giving until the end. The Count will be very pleased when hees back.¡± What he said wasn¡¯t just ttery. Jude had managed to finish running 10ps around the field even though he suffered and had a hard time breathing. Even though Jude¡¯s body was still in the process of being restored, Victor appreciated his strong will. ¡®As expected, Jude is also a Bayer.¡¯ Gueumjulmaek was no different from a curse when it was appeared, but the spirit of Count Bayer, the master of the warriors, was also continuing to Jude. ¡°If you recover a little more, you¡¯ll also be able to master the family¡¯s martial arts. Young master, I do you think you¡¯ll be able to unfold the Bayer family¡¯s martial arts¡­ Hoho, I may be old, but it gets my heart pounding. It was Victor who was not very eloquent. But what he said was good, so Jude ended up smiling. ¡®Count Bayer¡¯s Mugong (martial arts).¡¯ Like a yable character, Jude was also given his own growth points. One of them was Count Bayer¡¯s Mugong. The Bayer family now barely upies the lowest level among the 12 northern families, but at one time, Count Bayer was the head of the 12 families and held the margrave position. The Mugong that have been passed down through generations never declined. ¡®It¡¯s Mugong.¡¯ It was not just a martial art, but something superhuman that uses inner Qi, that it is not an exaggeration to say it is magic in a sense. There was nothing strange about the world where not only angels and demons but also magic existed, but I felt amazed every time I felt it again. ¡°Now, young master. That¡¯s enough for today. It¡¯s not good if you overdo it. Don¡¯t forget that getting enough rest is part of the training.¡± After Victor helped him stand up by holding him with his giant-like hands, Jude nodded and took another breath. ¡®One week.¡¯ It had been a week since I got the Sun¡¯s Ne from the Red Moon¡¯s Leisegang. In the next three days, the ban on going out would end, so it was time to prepare for the next step. ¡®If I were alone, I wouldn¡¯t have dreamed of it.¡¯ Attempting to get it after the Sun¡¯s Ne. The ultimate goal of Jude and Cordelia was to protect the world from the armageddon of angels and demons by stopping the Great Summons, but they haven¡¯t made any progress yet. ¡®We¡¯re still powerless.¡¯ It was obvious to say that it was impossible with thebination of a 1-star wizard and a guy who can barely run 10ps. For now, they had to suppress their impatience andy the foundations for growth. ¡®We can do it together.¡¯ I hadn¡¯t intended to do so, but I had leveled up thanks to Leisegang, and so with Cordelia, I¡¯ll be able to proceed to the next step right away. ¡®But¡­¡¯ How to contact Cordelia. It was not that he hadn¡¯t had a means ofmunication. It was just a burden. ¡®Maja would like it¡­¡¯ Afterst week¡¯s flight, she was happy with her eyes even though she scolded me. ¡®Dearest Yellow¡­ No, Lady Cordelia.¡¯ Recalling the first verse of the letter to his fianc¨¦e, Jude became a face of misery without realizing it. *** The next morning, at Count Chase¡¯s. Cordelia, who was training in meditation to raise mana hearts, suddenly opened her eyes shaking. Because I had an ominous feeling. ¡®What, what is it?¡¯ Since her time as Yellow Storm, her senses were good enough to beat Outboxer¡¯s. I can¡¯t believe it¡¯s so sinister that I can¡¯t help but wake up in meditation. However, there was no need to worry for a long time. This is because I saw someone who is believed to be one of the causes of her premonition. ¡°Miss.¡± Dahlia Ale, Cordelia¡¯s escort. She was approaching with a suspicious, no ¨C rather, an ominous smile. ¡°Dah¡­lia?¡± Why? Why is she smiling like that? In fact, she had a rough idea for the reason. I¡¯ve seen her several times in the past week, and the name ¡®Jude Bayer¡¯ always came out when she looked like that. ¡®It wasn¡¯t the act of a chaste maiden, but I support your love.¡¯ Dahlia came up to her and said it to her, who had received a restraining order. Her words were creepy enough that I could remember it without a mistake. ¡®Why, why are youughing like that again?¡¯ You¡¯re going to say something strange this time again. When the anxious Cordelia smiled awkwardly, Dahlia nodded as if she understood everything and said in a soft tone. ¡°Miss, you have half a face. I understand.¡± T/N:?Half a face?came from the Korean idiom, ??? ??? ??, which literally means, to be half faced. It means to look very haggard from sickness or pain. Source:?Tutor-k ¡°I¡¯m telling you. I¡¯ve been training hard. It¡¯s not for any other reason.¡± ¡°Haha¡­if you insist.¡± She said she understands it, but her eyes say otherwise. It was clear that she was thinkingpletely different things. ¡®Oh, really.¡¯ This was all because of Jude. If it wasn¡¯t for that day, or those shameful lines and dialogue, Dahlia wouldn¡¯t have misunderstood this much. In fact, Cordelia wasn¡¯t the only who got punished for her weekly run with Jude. Dahlia was also given a pay cut for failing to escort her properly, but she was still taking the same attitude. ¡®That¡­ she¡¯s like a sister.¡¯ If Maja was like a sister for Jude, for Cordelia, Dahlia was like a sister she had grown up with since childhood. ¡®No,e to think of it, isn¡¯t this an act of revenge?¡¯ While Cordelia was doubting her, Dahlia spoke again. ¡°Anyway, miss. There is good news for the troubleddy.¡± ¡°Good news?¡± ¡°Yes, good news.¡± ¡°What, what is it?¡± ¡°Ufufu¡­it¡¯s news from Mr. Jude Bayer.¡± Dahlia smiled briskly, took out a letter from her arms and held it out. ¡°It¡¯s a letter full of warmth from Mr. Jude Bayer.¡± Letter. Love letter. The moment she heard it, Cordelia got goosebumps all over her body, but she also felt d. It was because she received news from Boxer after a week. ¡°Come on and read it.¡± When Dahlia urged her with shining eyes, Cordelia had aplex and subtle expression as she opened the letter. To my Dear Lady Cordelia whom I truly yearn for. I couldn¡¯t stand it from just the first line. But still, Cordelia swallowed her breath and firmly prepared herself. I had to read anyway. Moreover, it couldn¡¯t have been just a letter. There could be some hidden message. ¡®Is it a vertical drip?¡¯ Or a diagonal drip. T/N: Vertical drip (????) is the Korean version of an acrostic cipher. An acrostic cipher or code is when the first letter or syble of every word, line, or paragraph spells out a secret message. Vertical means that the message is hidden vertically. A variation of it is diagonal drip, meaning the message is hidden diagonally. Source:????? Cordelia, who painfully read a letter full of sweet sentences from Maja¡¯s corrections, widened her eyes suddenly. It wasn¡¯t because she found a vertical or diagonal drip. At the end of the letter full of words of love. One line of Hangul that is written honestly, without any finesse. Two dayster, let¡¯s meet at the temple of Varuna at 2pm. ¡®Oh, you¡¯ve used your brain?¡¯ The only ones who can recognize Hangul in Pleiades are Yellow Storm and Outboxer. At this rate, it was almost a perfect code. ¡®More than that, Varuna¡¯s Temple?¡¯ It was two dayster, when the ban on going out was over, so I understood the date itself, but the temple of Varuna was on my mind. Varuna, the god of the mirror wall. A guardian and watcher of secrets. There was a temple of Varuna in the border city where Count Bayer and Count Chase lived. It wasn¡¯t that big, but as the god that governs ¡®secrets¡¯, people visited the temple to make confessions. ¡®Is there anything there?¡¯ If you¡¯re asking me to see you there, there must be something. Cordelia traced her memories for a moment, but nothing came to mind. ¡®Anyway, the problem is¡­¡¯ Cordelia, who folded the letter after reading everything, nced slightly towards Dahlia. And as expected. Dahlia¡¯s brightly shining eyes greeted Cordelia. ¡®I hate to say it. I really hate to say it.¡¯ But I still had to. I had to take Dahlia with me to go out in broad daylight, whether the ban is over or not. ¡°Dahlia.¡± ¡°Yes, miss.¡± ¡°That¡­ two dayster.¡± ¡°Yes, miss. Are you going to have a secret love affair with Mr. Jude Bayer a day after the ban ends two dayster?¡± ¡°Eh¡­huh? Se-secret love affair?¡± ¡°Haa¡­Mr. Bayer must have been very sweet. I can¡¯t believe he¡¯s asking you out as soon as the ban ends.¡± At that moment, Cordelia¡¯s mind went nk, but she nodded her head for now. I had to go anyway. The misunderstanding was a bit annoying, but I couldn¡¯t help it. ¡°Ah, anyway. I¡¯m going to the temple of Varuna in two days.¡± ¡°Oh, even the ce looks pretty good. Having a secret love affair at the temple of the god of secrets. Don¡¯t run away this time. I¡¯ll make time for you two.¡± Dahlia, who finished talking with a smile, even winked. What should I say? It¡¯s definitely a helpful story, but I feel like I¡¯m strangled. Cordelia closed her eyes once and took a very long breath. It was for her peace of mind. But Dahlia¡¯s views on it was different. ¡®You¡¯re very relieved.¡¯ The fact that I can finally meet my beloved Jude. Didn¡¯t Cordelia focused on training for the past week to suppress the pain of not being able to meet him? It is not known when love has be so deep, but in nature, instantmunion was more important than absolute time between men and women. ¡®Miss, I¡¯ll help you a lot. Fighting!¡¯ Dahlia looked at Cordelia with warm eyes, and Cordelia who had just opened her eyes, thought with astonishment. ¡®What, what¡¯s wrong with her? What are you delusional about!¡¯ But I didn¡¯t ask out loud. Because I was afraid of what to say. ¡°Ah, anyway. Two dayster. Keep that in mind.¡± ¡°Yes, miss. Two days is not short but hang in there. Okay?¡± She said it cutely, but it wasn¡¯t cute. Why do I have to endure this? ¡®I¡¯d rather die than suffer.¡¯ With a dry nod, Cordelia drooped her shoulders. Chapter 8 - EPISODE 8 – DUNGEON BOOK (2)

Chapter 8 - EPISODE 8 ¨C DUNGEON BOOK (2)

Ifst chapter I got stuck with martial arts terms, this time it was baseball. I¡¯ve also made some changes to the previous episodes: Norfolk?came from baseball yer, Yoon Suk-min¡¯s nickname, ¡°Norfolk Wars¡±, when all in one year, he tried to make it big in the US but got transferred to the minor league team, Norfolk Tides, because of his poor performance and thus ended up going home. The?wars?in the nickname came from his ¡°war¡± with another baseball yer, Yang Hyeon-jong, whose sess or failure was inversely proportional to Yoon every baseball season. In 2014, when Yoon was fighting a losing war in Norfolk, Yang was winning the war and making records. So if Yellow Storm is called as Norfolk, it meant she is like Yoon and is losing the war (server rankings) against Outboxer009. In the afternoon two dayster. Cordelia, wearing a wide-brimmed hat and a big skirt, went out of Count Chase¡¯s mansion with Dahlia. Ttak-ak-ttak-ak. The sounds of the horse pulling the carriage and of the rolling carriage wheel could be heard. And as if to match it, Dahlia hummed. It seemed that it was Dahlia, not Cordelia, who was going on a date. ¡®No, it¡¯s not a date. It¡¯s not a date.¡¯ It was just a business meeting. It was just a business meeting. Because it is important, Cordelia, who repeated it twice, turned away from Dahlia¡¯s high tension and looked out of the window. The site of the temple of Varuna was located in the outskirts of the border town, but there were many people and buildings. Varuna¡¯s temple was built not only in the S?len kingdom, but also anywhere on the continent ¨C to be exact, it was erected where there was arge floating poption, and the reason was simple. To hide the tree, hide it in the forest. The best way to hide a secret was to make people not interested in the secret itself. If there were many visitors, those who visited the temple of Varuna could easily conceal themselves. ¡°Miss, we¡¯re almost there. You can meet him now.¡± ¡°Yes, yes¡­¡± Cordelia, with a forced smile, hoped the carriage would arrive quickly. Rather than wanting to meet Jude, I wanted to escape from this awkward space and the excited gaze of Dahlia. ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± And finally, the carriage stopped. The heavy voice of the coachman relieved Cordelia, who let out a breath of relief, and Dahlia continued her own misunderstanding this time again. ¡®You are nervous. How cute.¡¯ It was Cordelia who could tell what Dahlia was thinking just by looking at her sparkling eyes, but she tried to turn away this time. It wasn¡¯t something I could deal with right now. ¡°Anyway¡­let¡¯s go!¡± ¡°Yes, miss!¡± Cordelia got off the carriage with Dahlia and looked around. Perhaps because it was afternoon, so the believers of Varuna stood out all over the ce. But it was then. ¡°Hello! Is sister called Cordelia Chase? A child squatting in the corner of the temple rushed to ask. He was a little boy around 5 to 6 years old and held a small folded note in his hand. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Although her strange appearance was only seentely, Dahlia was ostensibly an escort knight of Count Chase. After reflexively blocking the child¡¯s ess, she asked with a low voice, and the frightened child replied hesitantly. ¡°Thi-this! A very handsome brother told me to deliver this!¡± It was the note the child was holding. It was a very suspicious item, but Dahlia¡¯s face loosened at that moment. Because the name of Jude was written on the outside of the note. ¡°Miss.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± When Cordelia gave her permission, Dahlia took the note from the child. ¡°Then I¡¯ll go. I¡¯m sure I told you!¡± Perhaps because he was scared of Dahlia, the child ran out of the temple as soon as he gave the note. But Cordelia and Dahlia had long lost interest in the child. ¡°Come on and open it. Hurry.¡± ¡°Ye-yes.¡± At Dahlia¡¯s prompting, I opened the note, and the content was simple. See you in the confession room. Confession Room. It is one of the reasons why the cult of the god of secrets, Varuna, is enjoying poprity. In Varuna¡¯s temple, there was a confession room where you could confide and keep any secrets. Varuna didn¡¯t perform any miracles for those who told secrets, but the fact that there was a ce to confide secrets to those who lived under the weight of secrecy was bound to beforting. ¡°Oh my, is this a love affair in the confession room? Fufu, how cute.¡± At that moment, Cordelia was worried that Dahlia¡¯s brain had gone haywire, because she kept rting all of Cordelia¡¯s actions to a maiden in love, but she couldn¡¯t protest against it. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Yes, miss.¡± In the temple of Varuna, I had memories that I had visited here several times previously before my memories as Yellow Storm awakened. As Cordelia moved to the eastern section of the temple where the confession room was located, a middle-aged priest, who appeared to be in charge of the confession room, approached and guided the way. ¡°He is inside.¡± He didn¡¯t tell who, but it was obvious who was there. The priest retired with a smile, and Dahlia stopped at the door and smiled brightly. ¡°I¡¯ll stay here.¡± And a wink. It was Dahlia¡¯s helpful consideration, but I feel like I¡¯m falling into a quagmire. ¡°¡­I¡¯ll be back.¡± ¡°Yes, miss. Good luck.¡± ¡°Ye-yes.¡± After responding awkwardly, Cordelia entered the confession room as if she was running away. And it was at that moment. ¡°Yo, long time no see.¡± In the confession room, where a small desk and two chairs were ced, there was Jude was waiting as expected. This side suffered from all kinds of misunderstandings, but the face on the other side seemed to be well fed and well-off. ¡°Haa, I¡¯d rather die than suffer.¡± ¡°Yellow Storm?¡± Instead of answering, Cordelia asked Jude. ¡°How did you borrow this ce?¡± ¡°Ha?¡± ¡°The temple¡¯s confession room. Have you caught the priest¡¯s weakness?¡± Outboxer009 was someone who knew the inner workings of the big and even the small NPCs in the streets. The priest seemed to have quite a weakness, given that he hade all the way to meet her. At Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude blinked once and soonughed lightly. ¡°What is the weakness¡­it¡¯s money.¡± ¡°Money?¡± ¡°Yes, money. He lent it to me because I gave him money.¡± Why would he threaten him with weakness? I have money. ¡°You seem to forget, but I¡¯m the son of a Count.¡± He is also the son of Count Bayer, one of the 12 northern families. Even though they were weaker than they used to be, the Bayer family was still one of the most prominent families. ¡°What, I¡¯m a daughter of a Count, too?¡± ¡°I know.¡± As the awkward Cordelia grumbled for no reason, Jude smiled small and offered her a seat, while Cordelia, opposite Jude, asked, slightly opening her eyes. ¡°How is your Gueumjulmaek?¡± ¡°I¡¯m recovering little by little.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± Perhaps because I heard the story, it did seem that Jude¡¯splexion was better than before. ¡°What about you? Any aplishments?¡± ¡°I think there¡¯s a little more before I be a 2-star. I leveled up a lotst time.¡± A smile spread across Cordelia¡¯s face when she recalled the ¡°fight¡± against Leisegang. I wanted to do it one more time at heart, but unfortunately, Bestin¡¯s magic circle was good for one use only. If we forcibly summoned Leisegang again, there could have been some problems with the seal this time. ¡°Why did you call me anyway? There¡¯s nothing here.¡± ¡°Why not? You know.¡± ¡°Huh? There is?¡± ¡°Oh, there is. Hidden event.¡± In Jude¡¯s response, Cordelia blinked. Because I could not understand. ¡°No way¡­that¡¯s not possible. There was nothing on the walkthrough sites.¡± I wasn¡¯t talking about a typical walkthrough site. She was talking about ¡°Legend of Heroes Wall,¡± a site created by arge number of rotten and stagnant water, including Yellow Storm. Did Cordelia forget about it? But that was not it. Yellow Storm¡¯s memory was correct. The cause of the problem was with Outboxer009, not Yellow Storm. ¡°No wonder there isn¡¯t.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Because I¡¯m the only one who found it.¡± The first discovery notice came up when it was discovered. And Jude kept this event in his mind. No, why would you post hidden event information that you¡¯ve struggled to find on the walkthrough site? ¡°Wait, you didn¡¯t post on the ¡°Legend of Heroes¡¯ Wall¡± walkthrough site?¡± ¡°I do post, I did post, but only the things that everyone knows.¡± Secrets can only have value when they¡¯re kept secret. ¡°What, so you just put it all up? Really?¡± Cordelia didn¡¯t answer, but you could tell the answer by just looking at her face. ¡°Yes, so you¡¯re 2nd?ce. No wonder you always came in second.¡± ¡°F*ck, you jerk. I knew there was something fishy. I struggled and couldn¡¯t catch up.¡± ¡°Our Norfolk is na?ve. I never imagined stealing the base.¡± (T/N: For Norfolk, please see the exnation I wrote before the beginning of this chapter. As for ¡°stealing the base¡±, that¡¯s a baseball terminology. Yeah, the author¡¯s a baseball fan¡­) Source:????? But in fact, I had just guessed it. While I was having fun browsing at people¡¯sments, I saw a clue buried in the guides¡¯ posts. ¡°So, what is it, what is hidden here? Is it yours again?¡± When Cordelia asked with a pout on her lips, Jude hid hisughter and continued to speak. ¡°There is mine, and there is yours too. Do you know the dungeon book?¡± ¡°I know. Is there a dungeon book hidden here?¡± ¡°It¡¯s hidden. The rewards are pretty good.¡± Dungeon Book, as its name suggests was a virtual dungeon that could be entered by using the book. ¡°What¡¯s the reward?¡± ¡°Mine is a mugong (martial art). Yours¡¯s probably magic.¡± ¡°Skill Book?¡± ¡°Skill Book.¡± Using the skill book, you could acquire the skill at once without having to learn it. The tempted Cordelia leaned towards Jude and asked. ¡°What kind of mugong and magic is it in detail?¡± ¡°For mugong, it¡¯s a footwork, but I don¡¯t know for magic.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you know?¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t broken it yet as a wizard.¡± ¡°Sure enough.¡± It was a valid exnation. I had to break it to know. ¡°Rank? It wouldn¡¯t be too high if we could challenge it in the beginning.¡± ¡°B-rank.¡± ¡°B-rank?¡± ¡°B-rank.¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyes widened. She would have, as it was B-rank. Of course, if you looked at?Legend of Heroes 2?as a whole, B-rank wasn¡¯t that great. But if you had just begun, it was not an exaggeration to say that B-rank was a rank above the sky. Originally, what you could get at this point was usually E or D, or C- at best. ¡°Uh¡­um, then the magic would be B-rank?¡± ¡°Perhaps?¡± A bright smile came over Cordelia¡¯s face. ¡°Good! Then let¡¯s settle it quickly! Where is it? Where is it hidden?¡± ¡°Here.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Here. I¡¯ve already found it.¡± It was located in a secret room deep in the temple library, but I came in the morning to find it. That was why I asked to meet Cordelia in the afternoon in the first ce. ¡°Time is gold, right?¡± Saying that with a smile, Jude brought out a thin book from his arms and put it on the desk. Varuna¡¯s Dungeon Book. Cordelia stared at the cover of the red book, raised her head and asked. ¡°Right now?¡± ¡°Right now.¡± No further consultation was necessary. Jude opened the book and recited the spell, and pure white light filled the confession room. Chapter 9 - EPISODE 9 – DUNGEON BOOK (3)

Chapter 9 - EPISODE 9 ¨C DUNGEON BOOK (3)

Dungeon Book. There were quite a variety of types, but the use itself was all the same. ¡®Move the person who opened the book into the dungeon.¡¯ There were times when the dungeon was a virtual space like a virtual reality game, and there were times when it was real dungeon, but in a big way, it was also the key to teleport. Jude slowly opened his eyes. The pure white light faded, and what came to sight was not the narrow and dark confession room, but a ck sky and white floor ¨C to be exact, arge space covered with pure white cloth. ¡®I¡¯vee to the right ce.¡¯ The dungeon book with an unknown author and title, was hidden in the temple of the Varuna, the god of the mirror wall. In?Legend of Heroes 2, this was the key to the conquerable dungeon ¨C no, Outboxer009 was the only one who got in and conquered it. ¡®There¡¯s a reason why I held on for more than 10 years.¡¯ The world of?Legend of Heroes 2?continues to grow. What it meant was that even now, around 10 years after its release,?Legend of Heroes 2?had not stopped its periodic update. It was not only the story of the 2nd?episode¡¯s main story for the single-yer gamey, but also the story between the second and third main stages of the multiyer gamey system. Each character¡¯s story, the various quests that result from it, and the unthinkable rtionships between NPCs, etc. Moreover, the number of stories was never small. Rumor has it that the AI using big data continues to create stories, though I don¡¯t know if it was real, but a huge quantity of stories was created with each update. Despite the fact that the game is full of rotten waters such as Outboxer009 and Yellow Storm,?Legend of Heroes 2?has not beenpletely conquered yet. ¡®Because there are still elements that I do not know.¡¯ Of course, the fact that there is an realm of ¡®mystery¡¯ here, where you don¡¯t know whether it¡¯s in the?Legend of Heroes 2?or the world like the?Legend of Heroes 2, was not something to be happy about, as it was closer to a demerit than a merit. What matters now, was the fact that Jude himself had entered the dungeon. ¡®What about Cordelia?¡¯ ¡°Oww, I have a headache. Is this teleport motion sickness?¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s voice came from behind his back, as if to answer. When I turned around, I saw Cordelia holding her head with a painful expression. ¡°Are you okay, Cordelia?¡± ¡°Uhhnn¡­it¡¯s not okay. Are you all right?¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m all right.¡± ¡°Why are you okay?¡± ¡°Why aren¡¯t you okay?¡± ¡°I know.¡± Perhaps because of motion sickness, Cordelia, who responded like a fool, trembled. ¡°Anyway, hooo¡­. This is the dungeon in the dungeon book. Looks like¡­ a virtual dungeon type?¡± The biggest difference between a virtual dungeon and a real dungeon was the presence or absence of death. If it¡¯s a virtual dungeon, even if you die inside the dungeon, you don¡¯t really die. Though you felt pain, you were deported from the book and no injuries were left. Of course, there were penalties besides pain. ¡®Retry is impossible.¡¯ Once kicked out, they cannot return to the virtual dungeon. ¡®It¡¯s much better than dying though.¡¯ There were two reasons why Jude originally chose Varuna¡¯s Dungeon Book at this stage. One was the reward was good, as I had told Cordelia, and the other was to experience actual battle without the risk of life. ¡®Legend of Heroes 2?is a fighting game, after all.¡¯ The journey to stop the Great Summons was also apanied by battles. ¡°Haa.¡± Once again, Jude, who had cleared his mind, looked toward Cordelia, and soon had a little smile on his face. ¡°Wow¡­it¡¯s really real.¡± It was a ce where I went in and out countless times in the game, but in this reality, this was my first time. It was strangely interesting and mysterious, so I looked around with my eyes wide open. ¡®That¡¯s it anyway.¡¯ Jude turned to his left hand and smiled again at Cordelia. ¡°Bingo.¡± As nned, he held arge bag in his left hand. It was a bag he deliberately held just before opening the book. Even in the game, the dungeon book also took inside all the items I was holding. Jude smiled and opened the bag. As the size of the bag wasrge, there were quite a variety of items inside. ¡°I should have brought my bag too.¡± Cordelia said, lifting her skirt slightly. It seems that she has been carrying many things in her skirt again. ¡°What did you bring?¡± ¡°Just the basic stuff.¡± Cordelia, answering Jude¡¯s question, looked around again and said, pouting her lips. ¡°Don¡¯t look back until I tell you.¡± ¡°Should I just turn my back and sit?¡± ¡°That¡¯s good, then.¡± Cordelia, who had said so far,ughed, and Jude quickly turned around and then rummaged through the things in his bag again. ¡°By the way.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°What tech are you specializing on?¡± ¡°You mean magic?¡± ¡°Yes, magic.¡± ¡°First, elemental. I¡¯m going for the me types.¡± ¡°What about buffs or debuffs?¡± ¡°I have to get it. But the base is elemental. Because I¡¯ll need firepower.¡± ¡°Well, what a typical Yellow Storm answer.¡± A life-risking battle maniac. In response to Jude¡¯sments, Cordelia replied with a small smile. ¡°Because that¡¯s me. You can turn around now.¡± ¡°Then without hesitation.¡± Sitting around again, Jude¡¯s eyes widened, and soon smiled again. ¡°It¡¯s our Yellow Storm, as expected.¡± Cordelia, who had just been wearing a wide skirt and a dress full ofce, was wearing her ownbat uniform at this moment. Body-fitting blouse and leather trousers, a dagger in the waist, and a short magic wand shaped like a baton in her hand. Her shoes were not dress shoes but leather boots. ¡°Did you know you wereing here?¡± ¡°No, but I thought something must have happened when you called me, so I brought it in my skirt.¡± ¡°Can you show me the inside of that skirtter? I¡¯m curious about the internal structure.¡± ¡°What is this crazy bastard saying?¡± There was a stream of abuse, but Cordelia was smiling. Jude also shrugged once, and then approached Cordelia with some of the things he took out of his bag. ¡°Come on, put this on, too.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t hesitate.¡± What Jude brought was a leather vest with chains, and hard gaiters and cuff guards made of oiled leather. ¡°There¡¯s also a helmet and a shield.¡± Again, it was made of leather. Jude, who ced the helmet with old aviator googles over Cordelia¡¯s head, smiled contentedly, and Cordelia, looking around at the round leather shield she had somehowe to hold in her hand, squint her eyes wide open. ¡°Outboxer.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°If my eyes weren¡¯t wrong, isn¡¯t this the only armor set in the bag?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°But why are you putting this on me?¡± ¡°That¡¯s because you¡¯re the line.¡± ¡°Front row?¡± ¡°Yes, front row.¡± ¡°The battle line in front of you in battle?¡± ¡°The battle line.¡± ¡°You¡¯re a warrior and I¡¯m a wizard?¡± T/N: Warrior refers to ¡°muin¡± or ¡°musa¡±. In Korea, they¡¯re people trained in martial arts. If you¡¯ve seen a Korean historical battle drama, they¡¯re the ones fighting in the battles. They¡¯re something like the Korean equivalent of Japan¡¯s samurai warriors. So, if you see the word ¡°warrior¡± in this series, like the escort Dahlia or Count Bayer¡¯s warriors, they¡¯re referring to muin. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s wrong with you? I¡¯m a man with Gueumjulmaek. How can I stand in the front lines now? I¡¯m standing behind the line.¡± ¡°You got the Sun¡¯s Ne.¡± ¡°Will it be treated in 10 days? There¡¯s something you overlook, even if it does.¡± ¡°There is?¡± ¡°Even without Gueumjulmaek, Jude is still weak.¡± The limbs were weak, and the body weight was light. Perhaps the muscle mass is even less than Cordelia. ¡°How conscientious it is, though. They¡¯ll dress you in your only armor to stand in front of you.¡± Jude grinned, and Cordelia said with a bright smile, too. ¡°F*ck.¡± ¡°Yes, yes. If my Gueumjulmaek is healed, I¡¯ll give you a hug, hit you, cross the wall, and even stand in the front row.¡± Jude smiled and raised his thumb again, while Cordelia stood still. ¡°Hey. Yeah, I¡¯ll be in the front line for now. Then what are you going to do in the back row?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to use this.¡± Jude walked back to his bag and took out a bunch of papers he packed inside. ¡°Magic circle?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve made them avable at our level.¡± Originally, Jude had experimented with several magic circles first in order to find out how to start and use Bestin¡¯s magic circle. ¡°Let me see.¡± ¡°Here it is. Take your time.¡± On the paper slightlyrger than the size of a palm, drawings of quiteplex patterns could be seen. ¡®Crazy ba-¡¯ Cordelia, who looked at the magic circles, had no choice but to vent her admiring curses. The number of magic circles that Jude gave out was thirty pages. One-star magic circles were drawn, but the reason Cordelia cursed was simple. ¡®Did you memorize all of this?¡¯ Bestin¡¯s magic circle was amazinglyplex, but well, it was a very special magic circle. However, the magic circles in front of them were not so great. Of course, it would¡¯ve been easy to memorize because it was simple, but with these many, he memorized all these figures? ¡°That¡­¡± ¡°That?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing.¡± At that moment, Cordelia wanted to ask how many more things he memorized, but she decided to hold it in. ¡®I¡¯ll definitely memorize it all.¡¯ And you¡¯ll tease me if I can¡¯t memorize it. ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°Well, good. This should be good enough. There are many different kinds of magic circles.¡± ¡°Yes, so please inject some mana on it.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°No, you have to inject mana into the magic circle to use it.¡± ¡°What about your mana?¡± ¡°Hey, this again. I have Gueumjulmaek¡­¡± ¡°F*cking bastard, bad guy, son of a b*tch.¡± ¡°Woof woof.¡± Of course, thest one who said that was Jude, and this time, Cordelia growled like a dog. And an hourter. Cordelia, who finished injecting mana into the magic circles by drinking the mana potions she had brought, was copsed on the floor. ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­¡± I haven¡¯t started yet, but I want to spread out on the floor. But it wasn¡¯t the time to be spreading. ¡°The speed of time is doubled by how much¡­ huuuu, tell me?¡± ¡°It was one is to 20 times in the game.¡± Cordelia grumbled and asked, and Jude answered refreshingly as he packed up the magic circles. 20 times. In other words, here ¨C 20 minutes inside the dungeon book meant 1-minute outside. ¡°No matter how long much confession we¡¯re having, after half an hour, Maja and Dahlia will be worried. So, let¡¯s finish it before that.¡± ¡°Wait, half an hour? How long does it take to attack here?¡± ¡°Hmm, I don¡¯t know. At our level now, roughly eight hours if you include the resting time?¡± ¡°Crazy. What¡¯s in here?¡± ¡°As I have already exined, B-rank mugong and magic skill books. Of course, we¡¯re going to have to suffer first?¡± At the snap of the answer, Cordelia thought she was rolling her eyes, but soon closed her eyes and gave up a sigh. ¡°You just have to use those stinking magic circles.¡± ¡°No way.¡± Jude, who answered leisurely, sat in front of Cordelia and unfolded arge piece of paper. It was a map of the dungeon drawn in advance based on his memories. ¡°I remember all the roads, but you should know them for now. We should also talk about the monsters that wille out inside¡­why?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing.¡± What can a guy who can even memorize Bestin¡¯s magic circle not memorize? Once again impressed, she and Jude began to talk in earnest about their dungeon strategy. How long had it been since then? After a rough discussion, Jude and Cordelia stood side by side in front of arge arched door. If the ce you are now in is a safe zone, beyond that was a dangerous ce for monsters to appear. Jude took a long breath, then looked at Cordelia, and she also looked back at him. ¡°Shall we get started?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s get started.¡± Varuna¡¯s Dungeon Book attack. The two who stood side by side, took their first steps. Chapter 10 - EPISODE 10 – DUNGEON BOOK (4)

Chapter 10 - EPISODE 10 ¨C DUNGEON BOOK (4)

The top scorer of?Legend of Heroes 2?was Outboxer009, who ranked No.1 in the server rankings. However, the one who hunted the most in?Legend of Heroes 2?was Yellow Storm, the No.2 in the server rankings. ¡®If you count the numbers of monsters you¡¯ve hunted, Yellow Storm has twice as more than Outboxer¡¯s.¡¯ She was the one who had experienced the most battles in?Legend of Heroes 2. However, Cordelia had not experienced an actual battle. ¡®Leisegang is not counted.¡¯ It couldn¡¯t even move because of the seal, and frankly, at that time, Cordelia herself and Jude went crazy because of the level up. Anyway, this was our first real battle. Therefore, although Cordelia was more nervous than expected, she was able to carry out the battle with ease. ¡®It¡¯s sofortable.¡¯ Varuna¡¯s dungeon book was never easy. Basically, there were goblin monsters in the early stages, but they weren¡¯t ordinary. Goblins with different attributes appeared in each room, and their levels was not low either. In terms of?Legend of Heroes 2, it was around level 10 or so. Monsters that were almost twice the level of Jude and Cordelia appeared with different attributes and abilities, so it was not an exaggeration to say that the difficulty was in Nightmare Mode. Nevertheless, Cordelia feltfortable. ¡®The hands and feet are so in sync.¡¯ I don¡¯t want to admit it, but I did. Furthermore, Outboxer009 was the most perfect support y ever experienced by Yellow Storm. As soon as the ck masked goblins with darkness attributes appeared ¨C no, even before they appeared, Jude was already tearing up the magic circle of the light attribute to counter the darkness attribute. When the goblins appeared, they began to feel heavy fatigue as soon as they stepped on the floor with light attributes, and Cordelia bombarded them with magic missiles before they could even approach them properly. Of course, this wasn¡¯t the only one. Jude saw exactly what Cordelia needed. If you run out of mana, mana potions came flying from behind, and if you needed a certain magic circle, Jude came close behind her back and gave the magic circle to her. As a result, the nature of Jude and Cordelia¡¯s hunt was quick and sophisticated at the same time as the surgery of a doctor and nurse who had been working hand and foot for many years. But nevertheless. The sound of ¡®wa-rak¡¯ had Cordelia broke out in anger. ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t just eat thest hit!¡± The average level of enemy monsters was 9 to 10. Nearly twice as many as Cordelia¡¯s, it was almost impossible to knock it down in one shot, and the number of those scurrying to the brink of natural death was also considerable. And every time those guys showed up, Jude put in a gruesomely perfect hit. ¡®When did you also bring a bow and a hand axe!¡¯ Moreover, his hit rate was significant. Because of his Cheonmujiche, Jude was proficient in moving his body. ¡°Kkieek!¡± The goblin, who was hit in the chest by a hand axe, copsed with a scream. It was reeling from a magic missile from Cordelia. When Jude seasons and Cordelia feeds shots, Jude finishes it up again. T/N: For those who don¡¯t get it, they use the word ¡°eat¡± here, as they consider monsters as ¡°food¡± (exp/experience points), so eating food meant getting/receiving exp. The seasons (seasoning) refer to Jude¡¯s support, like he used a light magic circle to counter the enemy¡¯s dark attribute. Cordelia feeding shots is her hitting magic missiles, and Jude finishes is him eating (dealing) thest hit (killing blow). Their breathing was sort of perfect, but why does it feel like it was not Jude but Cordelia herself who was ying support? In any case, the experience itself was the structure in which the person who hit thest hit ate the most. ¡°Here hees again!¡± Jude, who pulled out the hand axe stuck in the goblin¡¯s chest, shouted as he looked straight ahead. The hobgoblin, which is about twice the size of the goblins that have appeared so far, came rushing and screaming. ¡°!¡± Cordelia cried, pointing to the ground. The hobgoblin, who had been rushing recklessly, suddenly stepped on the slippery floor and fell in grand style, and once again, Jude shouted and ripped the magic circle. ¡°!¡± An invisible rope tied the limbs of the fallen hobgoblin. Considering the strength of the hobgoblin, it wouldn¡¯tst long, but it wasn¡¯t a long time anyway. Jude let out a short breath. As he grasped his axe and rushed forward, Cordelia quickly cast a spell instead of looking at such a Jude. ¡°Eurassha!¡± (T/N: Eurassha (???) is a variation of eurachacha (????), which is an onomatopoeic sound. It is a shout of energy when a person lifts or moves something heavy literally or figuratively (lifting yourself up when you¡¯re feeling down). In Jude¡¯s case, it¡¯s his body.) Sources:?????,?HiNative Jude did not lie to Cordelia. Thanks to the Sun¡¯s Ne, his Gueumjulmaek was being treated, but he still had a weak body. Even so, he still possessed minimal strength. If so, it would have been enough to attack a ce where even that minimal strength could strike a critical hit. ¡°Kkeuaaaaaa-!¡± The hobgoblin screamed when an axe hit in between its crotch. The struggle was so severe that the magic was shattered at once. ¡°Oops!¡± Although he was the attacker, Jude who was rolling on the floor to avoid the kick of the hobgoblin, put his hands between his groin without realizing it. And Cordeliapleted her spell. ¡°!¡± Unlike the non-attribute , was of the fire attribute. For Cordelia who was still a 1-star wizard, it was a magic that required time in casting. ¡°Kkeuaa!¡± The arrows of the me fell again between the groin of the hobgoblin, and the fluctuating hobgoblin stretched out at one moment with a crackling sound. It was a shock caused by a series of shocks. ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­ha¡­¡± Cordelia, wrapped in a ring of white light, copsed with a wild breath, and Jude let out a breath of relief too. ¡°It¡¯s the end of the monster waves. Now, only the boss room is left.¡± Hearing the words of Jude who was stretched out on the floor, Cordelia closed her eyes and wiped the sweat off her forehead. Five hours. It was the time it took to get here. Of course, we took a break from time to time. However, it was evident that this forced march was incredibly tiring. ¡®Indeed, it¡¯s Yellow Storm.¡¯ Jude, who sat down as he raised his upper body to soothe his breathing, looked at Cordelia and smiled. Perhaps, if it was someone other than Cordelia who came along, I would not havee here in five hours. ¡®No, I guess I didn¡¯t have to n at all.¡¯ Anyway, I¡¯vee here. It was a virtual dungeon where you never die, so the experience was poor, but because of the level gap between monsters, the level of Jude himself reached 7 just before 8, and Cordelia was 8. ¡®It¡¯s possible.¡¯ Jude, who counted the number of remaining magic circles, nodded. We consumed less than expected against the enemies, so this much was enough to challenge the boss room. ¡°Cordelia, are you exhausted?¡± In response to Jude¡¯s question, Cordeliaid down instead of answering, so Jude decided to take a little more rest. An hourter. Jude and Cordelia, who recovered their physical strength and mana through their respective respite and meditation, stood side by side at therge ck door, which is the entrance to the boss room. T/N: Respite (????, ungijosig, ß\šâÕ{Ï¢) is a term in fictional martial arts that refers to the act of generating energy and controlling the flow through breathing in the pores. It literally means moving (ß\) qi/energy (šâ) to regte (Õ{) breathing (Ï¢). In the game Mabinogi, respite is described as using your inner willpower to restore health and stamina. Sources:?????,?Mabinogi World Wiki ¡°What¡¯s going toe out?¡± ¡°Fury Wolf.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a goblin?¡± ¡°Fury Wolf. Its movement is fast. You and I have to constantly move.¡± ¡°What¡¯s our n of action?¡± ¡°I tie him up, you beat him. But¡­¡± ¡°But?¡± ¡°You focus on evading until I give the signal. I have some preliminary work to do. Why?¡± When Jude asked, Cordelia narrowed her eyes once instead of answering immediately. ¡°Are you trying to do something weird?¡± ¡°What¡¯s weird? The two of us are on the verge of catching them when we work together.¡± ¡°Hmm, alright. If you insist.¡± The determined Cordelia rxed lightly and then jabbed at Jude, who opened the door of the boss room. *** The moment I opened the door, silence fell. The atmosphere itself has changed. And covered with white cloth under a ck sky. In the middle of it stood a giant wolf. With its green fur and clear yellow stripes, its eyes lit up yellow and it gave out a hot breath. The distance is about 30 meters. It was never close, but it wasn¡¯t a safe distance either. Jude had a side nce at Cordelia, and so did Cordelia. The two gradually distanced themselves from each other after they exchanged looks. The Fury Wolf did not move hastily. With hot drooling, it alternately between Jude and Cordelia, and at some point, it bristled up its hair and gave strength to its limbs. Right after. When Cordelia exhaled. Kwang! The Fury Wolf kicked the ground. It rushed at Jude, and Jude, who had predicted it in advance, threw his body without dy and rolled on the floor. ¡°Cordelia!¡± Instead of answering, Cordelia tore up the magic circle that she had taken over during the break. The magic struck the Fury Wolf, and in the midst of it, Jude who stood up also ripped a magic circle. It was again. ¡°Keo-heong!¡± The Fury Wolf roared. Cordelia¡¯s was destroyed by the wolf¡¯s roar, but Jude¡¯s tied its body down. ¡°!¡± Cordelia unfolds the magic again. It was between Jude and the Fury Wolf, and the wolf who released the binds by force, slipped on the floor. Jude threw an axe towards the Fury Wolf. He tore up the magic circle without even looking at whether it hit or not. Kwa-kang! It wasn¡¯t a this time. The first one was a that he had saved, and the second one was . A pool of water generated in the air hit the Fury Wolf. Then a single bolt of lightning struck the wet wolf¡¯s head. ¡°Keo-heong!¡± The Fury wolf roared in pain. But Cordelia felt a sense of ipatibility at that moment. ¡°Jude?!¡± She screamed and moved away at the same time. This is because the Fury Wolf rushed towards Cordelia. It was also faster than ever! ¡°Not yet!¡± Jude stomped on the floor and tore another magic circle. Then again, a ray of lightning struck the Fury Wolf. And Cordelia was convinced. Jude wasn¡¯t attacking the Fury Wolf now. Rather, he was strengthening it! ¡°Crazy! Lightning attribute!¡± To the Fury Wolf, the lightning attribute spell was nothing more than a nutritional supplement that strengthens it. Nevertheless, Jude hit it with twice to strengthen it. Why, what for! ¡°Bingo!¡± At the time of Jude¡¯s cry, the Fury Wolf roared into the sky. At the same time, a huge horn shot up between its forehead. Pa-ji-ji-jik-! Lightning shed along its horn. And Cordelia understood. In the first ce, this was Jude¡¯s goal. Strengthening the Fury Wolf to bring out its hidden powers. It was a hidden piece to get the B-rank skill book. ¡°F*ck! I knew something was weird!¡± From the beginning, he had said that it was ¡°safe¡± for a dungeon that gives a B-rank skill book! Enhanced dungeon boss. The horns that grew on its forehead was not the only change in the Fury Wolf. The size itself felt much bigger than before. ¡°Good! It was awakened properly!¡± As Jude shouted in a jubnt voice, Cordelia immediately cursed. ¡°Crazy bastard! Can we catch that?!¡± ¡°We have to catch it! What? Can¡¯t you catch it?¡± ¡°Evil bastard! Damn it, you bastard!¡± In the midst of all this provocation! Cordelia hurriedly swept her hair aside as she fixed a magic wand that looked like a baton. Judeughed hard as held a bunch of magic circles in his left hand and an axe in his right hand. ¡°It¡¯sing.¡± As Jude said that, the Fury Wolf rushed forward. Chapter 11 - EPISODE 11 – DUNGEON BOOK (5)

Chapter 11 - EPISODE 11 ¨C DUNGEON BOOK (5)

The Fury Wolf and other ¡®wolf¡¯ race monsters shared one characteristic. ¡®Straight line attack.¡¯ Use a powerful angr force to rush forward like a bullet. However, the trajectory of the attack was as simple as that. Therefore, I could avoid it as much as I could with the right timing. The Fury Wolf kicked the ground. Roughly pushing the ground with its hind legs, the whole body of the Fury Wolf shot forward at the moment. Cheu-pa-hak! Lightning rose from the horns. It burst sharply, and the sound ripples was pierced through by the Fury Wolf. A speed that was hard for the eye to chase. The same was true of Jude. He was level 8, but it was only 8. It was impossible to capture the movement of the Fury Wolf with the eye of Jude. But there was something he could do. The moment it departed. When the Fury Wolf hit the ground, Jude also began to move. He threw himself to the left without any hesitation. Kwa-jik! The Fury Wolf had prated the spot where Jude stood. Jude had rolled down the floor, and Cordelia screamed. ¡°Outboxer!¡± It wasn¡¯t that I was mistaken that Jude allowed a valid strike. Cordelia knew. The memories of Yellow Storm shouted. The consecutive attackes. The Fury Wolf, who prated the air, hit the ground. It rotates and spins simultaneously with a terrifying angle. Jude was rolling on the floor. He had not even been able to get up yet. So, it cannot be avoided. This attack will end up hitting him! Cordelia raised her wand. I tried to invoke magic by instinct without thinking. The target area is the empty space between Jude and the Fury Wolf. It is impossible to hit the Fury Wolf. So, I directed the attack between it and Jude! ¡®Please!¡¯ The spell has been activated. This was not a magic that had a properposition, but an attack that simply sends out magical power. But that¡¯s why it was fast. She was able to push the explosion of mana between Jude and the Fury Wolf. Kwa-jik! But there was no explosion. Lightning broke out from the horn on the Fury Wolf¡¯s forehead, and the mana agglomeration, which was hurriedly created by Cordelia, broke down into pieces. ¡°Keo-heong!¡± The Fury Wolf pierced through the remnants of mana. Cordelia screamed out loud, and Jude raised his upper body. The Fury Wolf struck Jude. Cordelia could see it then. The Fury Wolf¡¯s sharp teeth will tear off Jude¡¯s neck at once! Bang! But it was not. Instead of Jude¡¯s scream, instead of the gruesome sound of broken bones and flesh, a small?pang?sounded. Just before the Fury Wolf reached Jude. Between the moments created by Cordelia to break through the agglomeration of mana. ¡°Ke-kaeng!¡± The Fury Wolf suddenly rolled on the floor in a painful cry. Far from biting Jude, it went further and struggled. How. How the hell! ¡°The smell of dogs is thousands of times that of humans!¡± Cried Jude. Thanks to him, I held my breath and struggled for a short time. Cordelia understood. Without thinking about it, I found out what he did the moment I saw it. ¡®Smell!¡¯ It was as Jude said. The dog¡¯s sense of smell was a thousand times than that of humans. Furthermore, the opponent is the Fury Wolf. All abilities were superior to ordinary dogs. It was a paper envelope that Jude had burst. It was a special odor bomb created bybining various items! He had nned for this from the start to the end. He had to level up first in the dungeon, so he couldn¡¯t beat the Fury Wolf with the frontal attack method (attacking fairly without using tricks) when he first nned this. Thus, he aroused its sense of smell. Evading the first straight line attack and then detonating the odor bomb during the second turn attack. Thereby temporarily neutralizing the Fury Wolf. An intolerable smile spread over Cordelia¡¯s face. Sheughed and clenched her fists. Yes, this is Outboxer. He¡¯s the #1 in the server rankings that I¡¯ve never won against! ¡°Kuhak! Kak! Cordelia!¡± Jude coughed as he shouted, and Cordelia did not miss his cry. No, she was already on the move when Jude started yelling. It wasn¡¯t only Jude who had prepared a number of hidden provisions. Cordelia had prepared for the moment too! ¡°!¡± Cordelia activated the magic stone in her left hand. Like the piece of paper inscribed with the magic circle used by Jude, the stone was filled with mana. It was created by Count William Chase, who was the Chase¡¯s family head at that time before Cordelia¡¯s father. The spell was activated. It was a pit with 3 meters in diameter and 3 meters in depth, which was formed with the Fury Wolf at the center, who was still tormented by the smell. ¡°Kke-ching?!¡± The Fury Wolf that was suddenly stuck in the pit made a sneezing sound, but Cordelia did not stop. As soon as I stopped in front of the pit, I wielded the wand to invoke magic this time. ¡°!¡± ¡°!¡± ¡°!¡± Most of the beginners of?Legend of Heroes 2?always chose attack magic as the first magic to learn. It was not strange. Attack magic was needed to deal damage to the enemy. However, attack magic was not the only way to attack the enemy. Moreover, the wizard was not just an artillery unit that fired off attack magic. ¡®The wizard is the one who controls the situation.¡¯ Among the rankers of?Legend of Heroes 2, it was Cordelia who risked her life more than anyone else, but she did not forget the most important fact. The wizard was not just an artillery unit. They were the ones who controlled the situation. They were the ones who made it possible to win fights that could not be won. Therefore, Cordelia was not obsessed with attack magic. I learned to make the floor slippery. I learned to dig a pit that can transform the battlefield. ¡°!¡± It couldn¡¯tpare to Count Chase¡¯s . However, it worked because it was used four times in a row on an existing pit. 7 meters deep. If it¡¯s only this deep, the Fury Wolf can somehow escape. But it was okay. Because Cordelia knew it. Because Yellow Storm believes it. ¡°Outboxer009.¡± As soon as she was exhausted and fell on her lips, Cordelia said quietly. And in response to her call, Jude, who had been running, tore up all the remaining magic circles in the pit. ¡°Bingo.¡± Immediately after speaking in a low voice. Jude threw himself at Cordelia. He fell almost at his stomach, and at that moment the ground shook with a loud roar. Kwagagagagagak-! mes, lightning, and wind were rampant. The magic in the narrow space influenced each other to create a greater explosion. Kwagwang! Thest roar. Jude and Cordelia raised themselves up almost simultaneously. The two of them slid their heads into the pit side by side, and soon smiled contentedly. ¡°The level has gone up.¡± Jude spoke loudly, and white rings of light swirled round the bodies of Jude and Cordelia in session. One, two, three. Jude¡¯s level was 11, and Cordelia¡¯s level was 10. And that was not the end. [You acquired the title ¡®Caught the Fury Wolf before level 10¡¯.] [Permanently increases all stats by 1.] The phrase came into my mind. I couldn¡¯t open the status window, but I felt a new surge of energying up like when I level up at the moment. ¡°Title.¡± Bonus points you can get when you achieve something. Jude held out his fist to Cordelia. ¡°Fine y.¡± ¡°Fine y.¡± Cordelia who bumped fists with him, replied with a smile but only for a moment. ¡°Ugh, the smell! Hey, get away first! You smell like shit right now!¡± When the odor bomb was burst, the smell had ng to Jude too. In response to Cordelia¡¯s reproach, rather than feeling sad, Judeughed and leaned towards Cordelia. ¡°Ugh, I¡¯m suddenly feeling anemic because of my Gueumjulmaek¡­¡± ¡°Hey! I can see you¡¯re acting!¡± But still, Cordelia reflexively supported Jude. Jude leaned on against such Cordelia and pointed his chin at the sky. ¡°I guess it finally came out.¡± ¡°It¡¯s true¡­ Wow!¡± Cordelia who was trying to push Jude away, opened her eyes wide and admired. I had no choice but to. ¡°B-rank skill book.¡± Two columns of light formed in the shape of a book and floated in the air. Jude and Cordelia exchanged looks, and a bright smile spread across their faces. *** Skill book. As the name implies, it is a book which you use to acquire skills, and it¡¯s the most popr means to acquire skills in?Legend of Heroes 2. ¡®Because it¡¯s easy and simple.¡¯ Using the skill book, you could acquire the skill right away without having to learn it. Of course, each skill has its own skill level, so it was impossible to master it as soon as you learn it, but its biggest advantage was being able to use it right away. ¡®Learning from the NPC or self-studying by reading from a book takes time to learn.¡¯ However, one drawback to this skill book is that it was a one-time use only. When you get the skill, the skill book disappears. Therefore, it is impossible to share it with others. ¡°Wow, it¡¯s really B-rank, B-rank. Can you see that border color? Is our suffering worthwhile?¡± Pointing at the silver border surrounding the skill book, Cordelia smiled brightly. It was the same in the game, but whenpensation time came, Yellow Storm really liked it like a child. ¡®I¡¯m raring to see the reward.¡¯ The number of skill books is two. Moreover, one was martial arts and the other was magic, so there was no need for Jude and Cordelia to quarrel with each other in the first ce. ¡°This was my favorite time.¡± ¡°What? When opening the item?¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m just nervous about what¡¯sing out.¡± Cordelia who showed a charming girl like an absolute beauty, brushed the dirt off after standing up and then reached towards the sky. Then the B-rank skill book slowly flew towards Cordelia. ¡°Whoa, it¡¯s a real B-rank. Hehe, what wille out? But is this a confirmed item? Do you know what wille out?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s a confirmed item. Mine is footwork as I¡¯ve said before.¡± Jude also reached out to the sky to get the skill book. The color of the cover changed ording to the rank of the skill book, and red symbolized the B-rank¡¯s color. Skill book with a red cover and a silver border. Cordelia turned to Jude, embracing her share of the skill book. ¡°So, what is it? What footwork?¡± ¡°Cheonhasamsip-yukbo (Thirty-Six Worldly Steps).¡± ¡°Cheonha-what?¡± ¡°Cheonhasamsip-yukbo.¡± T/N: Cheonhasamsip-yukbo (??????, ÌìÏÂÈýÊ®Áù²½) literally means world (??) thirty-six (???) steps (?), so it¡¯s ¡°World¡¯s Thirty-Six Steps¡±, but ¡°Thirty-Six World Steps¡± sounds better. I¡¯ll be spelling numbers in their word forms (Thirty-Six) instead of their numerical value (36) because it¡¯s more formal-looking for a technique name. In response to Jude, Cordelia frowned and was puzzled. I thought I¡¯ve heard it from somewhere, but clearly nothing came to my mind. ¡°It¡¯s a B-rank Mugong. Besides, you like magic more than martial arts.¡± When Jude shrugged and made excuses instead, Cordelia strained her lips, but she didn¡¯t pretend to know. ¡°So, what is it after all?¡± ¡°As the name suggests, it is a footwork technique made of 36 steps. It specializes in evasion.¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°Hey, this is B-rank?¡± Looking at Cordelia¡¯s eyes to see what more she wanted to know, I nodded. ¡®There is actually more to it.¡¯ The reason why Thirty-Six World Steps is so specialpared to other B-rank mugong. ¡®This is an upgrade.¡¯ The Thirty-Six Worldly Steps was just the foundation. When learned perfectly, the door to the next stage was opened, and the number of steps that make up the footwork decreased as the stages progressed. A-rank footwork technique, Twenty-Four Gale Steps (Jilpung-isibsabo). S-rank footwork technique, Twelve Faith Steps (Sinloesib-ibo). And the so-called ultimate fantasy footwork technique, EX-rank footwork technique, Nine Celestial Steps (Cheon-gugubo). ¡®Can you hide from the sky in nine steps?¡¯ In fact, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is the king and end goal of all existing footwork techniques in?Legend of Heroes 2, and even for Outboxer009, he only knew of the footwork technique but never got to learn it. ¡°Thirty-Six World Stepse to think of it, it has a simr name to the Twelve Faith Steps you often used.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Jude, who responded moderately to the naively talking Cordelia, grinned andughed before pointing to Cordelia¡¯s chest ¨C to be exact, the skill book she held in her hands. ¡°Yours?¡± ¡°Huh? You really don¡¯t know?¡± ¡°I really don¡¯t know. I told you I¡¯d never woken up as a wizard.¡± ¡°Heh, really? So, it¡¯s really your first time opening it? I¡¯m excited.¡± Cordelia smiled brightly like a child with a gift box in front of her and opened her skill book. Then the title appeared on the cover. [Fire Missile ¨C B-rank] ¡°Oh! This is good. I like this one.¡± As Cordeliaughed and stroked her skill book, Jude nodded unconsciously. ¡®It¡¯s custom-made.¡¯ The reason why Yellow Storm could stay 2nd?in the server rankings, whose knowledge of?Legend of Heroes 2?was less than Outboxer009 ¨C no, it was even less than the guys in the top 30. Yellow Storm lived in dealing damage, and mainly yed as a wizard who was good at dealing damage with the highest efficiency, clearly showing why her nickname was ¡°storm¡± in each battle. ¡®The baptism of magic bullets that swept like a storm.¡¯ While others deal with ten at the same time, she was literally creating a storm, dealing hundreds of magic bullets that were difficult to handle at the same time. Having the me attribute of magic bullet in such a Yellow Storm¡¯s hands was like giving the artisan a perfect tool. ¡°Okay, both of us seem to be satisfied. Shall we slowly get ready to go back?¡± Jude looked back at where the Fury Wolf first appeared. A billowing spatial door to escape the dungeon, which was shaking like the surface of a windyke, had appeared. ¡°Wait a minute, let¡¯s change clothes first. We do smell a little. Dahlia will definitely ask.¡± ¡°Well, I suppose so.¡± In fact, Jude had also brought a change of clothes. It was in his intentions to use an odor bomb in the first ce. ¡°Don¡¯t look back.¡± ¡°Just you.¡± Jude and Cordelia, who turned their backs on each other, hurriedly began to change clothes. ¡°By the way.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°The title in on, right?¡± ¡°It came up.¡± ¡°There is no status window, but the title itself is there and its benefits should be applied, right?¡± ¡°Maybe.¡± As soon as I answered, a smile was drawn on Jude¡¯s face. This is because I have a few titles in my head that I can use right now. ¡°Well, then.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°You and I are both over level 10, right?¡± ¡°No more.¡± ¡°Do you have anything in mind for the next step?¡± ¡°Yes. What about you?¡± ¡°Me too.¡± The rustling stopped for a moment. Instead of looking back, Jude opened his mouth again, grooming his clothes. ¡°Shall we speak at the same time?¡± ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°One.¡± ¡°Two.¡± ¡°¡°The Devil¡¯s Hand.¡±¡± Jude and Cordelia spoke the same words at the same time, and both smiled. ¡°You¡¯re good at it?¡± ¡°Just you?¡± Devil¡¯s Hand. I wasn¡¯t talking about items or new skills. In ¡®Cordelia¡¯s Main Scenario¡¯, it was the roaring antagonist ¨C in short, it was the name of a group of demon followers. Legend of Heroes 2?had a variety of yable characters, each with their own main scenario. The main scenario of Cordelia was half a year earlier than Jude¡¯s main scenario, but the day of its beginning was approaching. ¡®About 15 days in the future?¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s main scenario began when she traveled to join a social gathering of children from the 12 northern families. ¡®The main event in the beginning is that the Devil¡¯s Hand attacked the gathering of the 12 northern families.¡¯ Because of that event, some of the children of the 12 northern families were killed or injured, and some were kidnapped by the Devil¡¯s Hand and even brainwashed. ¡®In the game, I had to be contented that Cordelia alone managed to run away¡­¡¯ But this was not a game anymore. Moreover, there were two people who knew what was going to happen in the future. ¡®We should stop the Devil¡¯s Hand.¡¯ In the first ce, Jude and Cordelia¡¯s purpose was not to follow the scenario of?Legend of Heroes 2?as it was. The promised bad ending of Armageddon would be waiting for them then. Make a new ending. Stop the Great Summons and the world destruction that lead to?Legend of Heroes 3. Stopping the Devil¡¯s Hand was the first step in that journey. ¡°There, so to speak¡­¡± ¡°To speak?¡± ¡°That¡­¡± ¡°That?¡± When Jude asked again, Cordelia pouted and got angry. ¡°You know, right?¡± What Cordelia herself is trying to say now. Still, Jude shook his head deftly. ¡°No, I don¡¯t know. I¡¯d have to hear it myself.¡± ¡°Hey, just now, you already know the answer, right?¡± Judeughed pleasantly. It was as Cordelia said. ¡°But can¡¯t you just tell me first? That¡¯s how I get motivated.¡± ¡°F*ck, I really can¡¯t.¡± Cordelia, who mumbled quietly, took a big breath once and then said in a small but clear voice. ¡°Let¡¯s go together.¡± The social gathering of the 12 northern families will be held at the northern heart of Langesthei. ¡®Jude Bayer¡¯ did not originally go to Langesthei. It was because long-distance travel was impossible due to his Gueumjulmaek. But now it was different. If you are the Jude now, it was possible to go together. ¡®It was why I was in a hurry in the first ce.¡¯ It was one of the reasons for hastening the treatment of Gueumjulmaek. ¡°If my beloved Lady Cordelia wishes for it.¡± On Jude¡¯s answer, Cordelia shuddered for a moment, but only for a short time. After smiling brightly, she finished the hem of the skirt, turned around and said. ¡°Okay, you can turn around.¡± ¡°I¡¯m already looking.¡± ¡°F*ck?¡± Jude, whopletelyughed at Cordelia¡¯s blushing face, walked towards the spatial door and said. ¡°Anyway, hurry up. Time is gold, right?¡± ¡°Just talk, only talk.¡± Cordelia, who was grumbling and pouting her lips, stood beside Jude, and the two took a step at the same time after looking back at each other. The two began their first steps towards a new ending. Chapter 12 - EPISODE 12 – COUNT CHASE (1)

Chapter 12 - EPISODE 12 ¨C COUNT CHASE (1)

The kingdom of S?len, which ispeting for supremacy with the Argon Empire for the position of the continent¡¯s most powerful nation, had three major territories. The north, connected with the unexplored northern region, and of severe cold and barbarism. In the center, the Ctes ins which was called the continent¡¯s breadbasket. And the southern region extending its influence on both the ind and foreign seas. The north was like another kingdom that existed within the S?len Kingdom, which protected the kingdom and the entire continent from the barbarians beyond the unexplored regions for many years. For generation, the king of S?len entrusted the rule and defense of the north to the northern margrave, and the northern margrave cooperated with the famous northern families in protecting the borders. Just as the Margrave seat was transferred from Count Bayer to Count Hr?svelgr, the northern families also differed in number or organization from generation to generation, with twelve families upying seats at the present time. ¡®Count Bayer, the famous family of warriors.¡¯ Now that the power of the house had declined, he has handed over the Margrave position to Count Hr?svelgr, but it was still a family whose power cannot be ignored. In particr, the Count Bayer family head was one of the S?len teenage swordmasters and a member of the Northern Sagang (??, Four Rivers), a strong man with the title ¡®Sword General¡¯. ¡®Count Chase, the famous family of wizards.¡¯ Count Chase had the smallest manor out of the 12 northern families. T/N: Manor as innded estate, not a mansion. Red Dawn Tower. One of the five magic towers in the north. At that time, Count Chase was one of the three 7-star wizards in the north and served as the Tower Master of the Red Dawn Tower. ¡¯10 other families.¡¯ It was too long to list each one. In any case, Count Chase, who was practically withoutnd, built a mansion and settled in the frontier city of Bailon. Then, Count Bayer, who had stepped back from the margrave position, returned to his hometown of Bailon. Thus, the present situation of two families residing in one manor was created. ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­haa.¡± Jude, who was breathing fast and loudly, ran through the training courtyard. His entire body was sweaty, and his face was red, but he didn¡¯t stagger or breathe like a person who was about to die. 10ps around the training field. Just ten days ago, it was almost a life-threatening challenge, but now it was different. ¡®Just, it¡¯s just f*cking hard.¡¯ My mind had gone nk. I was sweating so much that I felt like I had fallen into the water. But my breathing was regr. My limbs were sore, but they didn¡¯t look like they were going to break. ¡®Kuhaa¡­¡¯ Once Jude stopped running, he breathed loudly. Instead of lying down, he bent his upper body, took his breath, and slowly stabilized his breathing. ¡®There¡¯s a result.¡¯ His stamina increased. A lot of it. ¡®Because he was so weak at the beginning.¡¯ But still it was that. His visible growth was enough to inspire motivation. ¡®This one too.¡¯ Jude stabilized his breath to some extent and sat upright, as he closed his eyes and focused on his consciousness. Mana training method. In other words, it was to operate the Inner Qi cultivation method. Legend of Heroes 2¡¯s Inner Qi cultivation method was somewhat different from the Inner Qi cultivation method that usually appears in martial arts. It was the same in its use of the three Dantian, but there was no need to move or stick to a specific posture during training. (T/N: Dantian, loosely tranted as ¡®sea of qi¡¯ or ¡®energy center¡¯, are the Qi focus flow centers, important focal points for meditative and exercise techniques such as qigong and martial arts. It has three categories: the upper, middle, and lower dantian.) Source:?Wikipedia Should I say that it is close to practically the same if I pick it out? Jude tried to use the basic F-rank cultivation skill he learned from Victor. ¡®Feel it.¡¯ I felt the warm and lively energy that was as big as a bean. Moreover, it was pure. It was not an exaggeration to say that the pure energy created by thebination of Yin and Yang energy was the crystallization of purity. ¡®But it¡¯s still tough.¡¯ The Gueumjulmaek hasn¡¯t beenpletely healed yet. There were still many blocked or cramped ces in the big and small meridians, so it was difficult to cultivate properly. But Jude was not in a hurry. Just as his stamina was increasing, his Gueumjulmaek was steadily improving. His stamina was the initial proof that his Gueumjulmaek was being treated. ¡®I¡¯m looking forward to it.¡¯ When you use the right mugong. Though it was a little childish, I honestly wanted to try using mugong at least once properly. You¡¯ll be able to fly halfway using Qinggong or use Neigong to shoot powerful air waves. T/N: Qinggong and Neigong aremon skills in wuxia stories. In wuxia,?Qinggong?allows you to circumvent gravity to fly, cover tremendous distances in a single stride, run across surfaces of water, mount trees, and jump over or scale high walls. Neigong?is building up and cultivating the qi/energy and use it to attain skills such as superhuman strength, speed, stamina, durability and healing as well as the ability to project energy beams and elemental forces from their bodies. Source:?Wuxia-Skills and abilities Wouldn¡¯t it be like those superhumans in a hero movie? ¡®I mean, it¡¯s amazing.¡¯ Not only mugong (martial arts) but magic too. And the world itself, where all that is possible. There are levels, and there are level ups. There is no status window, but titles exist. But this is not a game. This is reality. Even at this moment, Jude himself is alive and breathing. ¡®Yes, that¡¯s the most important thing.¡¯ The fact that I am alive. The fact that I am trying to live. It was not a matter of consideration such as the reason for entering the world of?Legend of Heroes 2, and the reason for the existence of a real world like that of?Legend of Heroes 2. Therefore, Jude decided to focus on the immediate reality. ¡°Good job.¡± Hearing the voice full of satisfaction, Jude opened his eyes and turned his attention. Victor Cromwell, the old knight in charge of Jude¡¯s physical training, stood with a smile on his face. ¡°Your physical strength is increasing every day. If you keep going¡­by the time the Count returns, you¡¯ll be able to learn the Bayer family¡¯s mugong. Victor said with joy, as if it were his own business. In fact, it was only natural. He was the one who had been watching the whole process of Jude growing up from Jude¡¯s birth up to the present moment. The child who had always suffered and been frustrated by the curse of Gueumjulmaek is now growing up day by day, so why would he not be happy? ¡®The tiger cub is a tiger.¡¯ Victor also liked Jude¡¯s attitude. In terms of Jude¡¯s standard, which are much weaker than the average person, the training itself was conducted faithfully without any tricks. ¡®It¡¯s a blessing for the Bayer family.¡¯ It really was. Because the sincere and faithful Jude had outstanding talents. It had only been twenty days since he began to treat the Gueumjulmaek with the Sun¡¯s Ne, but it wasn¡¯t only Jude¡¯s physical strength. Almost all body functions such as muscle strength, agility, flexibility, etc. have changed beyond recognition. ¡®That¡¯s because I leveled up.¡¯ Level 1 became level 11 now, so it was natural that it would be different. But anyway, whatever it was, what was good was good. I mean, Victor¡¯s gaze of admiration also felt pleasant. ¡°Young master is talented. So, you don¡¯t have to be disappointed or frustrated to yourte initiation to Mugong. You know what I mean, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Yes, Sir Victor. I will keep that in mind.¡± When Jude answered positively again, Victor smiled with a mixture of joy and sorrow. It was a fact that Jude was now seventeen, and that he was toote to begin his training. ¡®Even so, you look so bright¡­ I didn¡¯t realize it wille so soon¡­ No, have you forgotten the reality in the joy of being able to learn mugong?¡¯ Dark emotions were back in Victor¡¯s deep blue eyes, but the concerned party, Jude, was thinking simply. ¡®Having Cheonmujiche is naturally awesome. Age doesn¡¯t matter.¡¯ Cheonmujiche (Heavenly Martial Body). It¡¯s a cheat talent that makes the main character into a hero. ¡°Young master, please cheer up. Young master, you¡¯ll definitely be able to do it.¡± ¡°Yeah? Ah, yes. I¡¯ll do my best.¡± It was the time when Victor and Jude were working together but having different thoughts. ¡°Young master! Young master Jude!¡± At the urgent call, Jude¡¯s and Victor¡¯s eyes turned at the same time. It was Jude¡¯s exclusive maid, Maja. However, the atmosphere was different from usual. She was always cold and calm-looking but was now approaching at a pace with a face that reminded me of when I was running. ¡°Maja?¡± Jude, as well as Victor, were surprised. Maja¡¯s quick steps meant that much. ¡°What happened?¡± At Victor¡¯s question, Maja picked up her breath first before looking at Jude and saying. ¡°Young master, a letter came from Count Chase.¡± ¡°Oh, from Count Chase. Did our cutedy send you a letter?¡± Victor asked with an openly sparkling face. The rumor that the love between Jude and Cordelia had deepened has even reached the Count. ¡®Hehe, our young master is good at it too.¡¯ Cordelia Chase was an absolute beauty that everyone had to admit. Victor¡¯s face, in which he imagined Cordelia shyly writing words of love while thinking of Jude, was filled with a delighted smile. But it was not. There can be no such thing that Yellow Storm is thinking about Outboxer009 and worrying about writing words of love. ¡°It¡¯s not Lady Cordelia.¡± It wasn¡¯t Cordelia who sent the letter. In Maja¡¯s words, Victor¡¯s eyes flickered, while Jude frowned. At this point, there were only two people from Count Chase that will send a letter to Jude himself. One was, of course, Cordelia Chase. And the other one was¡­ ¡°It¡¯s a letter from Count Chase.¡± Arthur Chase. The present Count Chase. It was the summons of his (future) father-inw. *** ¡°Young master, please don¡¯t be too nervous. He¡¯s Cordelia¡¯s father. And the engagement was decided by Count Bayer and Count Chase together, so your rtionship with her is literally approved. So, a slight deviation will be fine.¡± Slight deviation. The daylight runaway where Jude and Cordelia said that they needed to spend some time alone together. Jude swallowed his saliva unconsciously. ¡®I¡¯m nervous.¡¯ Very much. That¡¯s strange enough. In fact, it was natural. How will he not be nervous when the son-inw is going to see his father-inw? Moreover, the daylight runaway incident was enough to make even Maja, who was called the Ice Queen of the Bayer family, talkative. It was natural to be nervous. ¡°Huu, huu, huu.¡± In a carriage that rattled faster than usual, Jude gathered his breath to stay calm. I closed my eyes and focused on my thoughts. ¡®Arthur Chase. Count Chase.¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s father. He is one of the Northern Four Rivers and is one of the best battle wizards in the S?len Kingdom. In fact, his role in the original scenario wasn¡¯t that big. In ¡®Cordelia¡¯s main scenario¡¯, there were few appearances, and in ¡®Jude Bayer¡¯s main scenario¡¯, his presence was also small. ¡®Because Jude and Cordelia¡¯s engagement eventually fizzled out.¡¯ In Cordelia¡¯s main scenario, the two had be estranged because of Jude¡¯s struggle with Gueumjulmaek. ¡®Because the two rarely met.¡¯ Although the two started in the same city, but when you followed their main scenarios, the areas where they were active were in opposite directions. To be precise, both were active in the north, but when one was in the east, the other was in the west. ¡®In Cordelia¡¯s story, it became out of hand.¡¯ There was nothing else that came to mind in other respects. ¡®Well¡­why did he call for me? Is it because of the daytime runaway?¡¯ But then, why now? Over ten days have passed since the ban on going out was lifted. ¡®Calm down, calm down, Outboxer009.¡¯ It was unusual. My head did not work properly because I was strangely nervous. No, why are you so nervous in the first ce? It¡¯s not a problem¡­right? Isn¡¯t he Cordelia¡¯s father? ¡®Hmm¡­father-inw.¡¯ It was a time that I screamed silently at the strangeness. ¡°Young master, we¡¯ve arrived.¡± When Jude opened his eyes to Maja¡¯s words, he saw Count Chase¡¯s mansion when he looked out the carriage window. The wall that I promised to cross over someday was s¡­high and was?too?high. If Count Bayer¡¯s mansion was the knight¡¯s castle, Count Chase¡¯s mansion was the wizard¡¯s model garden. After arriving at the front door of the mansion past the well-decorated spacious garden, Jude swallowed down. The reality that I¡¯ve visited the house of my soon-to-be ¡°wife¡± dawned on me. ¡°We wee your visit. Pleasee this way.¡± Following the butler¡¯s guidance, Jude admired the atmosphere of Count Chase¡¯s mansion, which was clearly different from Count Bayer¡¯s mansion. It was bright, radiant, and splendid. The direction itself felt different from that of Count Bayer¡¯s mansion, which was in and somber that it was reminiscent of the castle on the border. But it was just when I entered the long hallway. Cordelia and Dahlia, as if they had been waiting in advance for a long time while standing restlessly in the hallway, approached Jude. ¡°Butler Norton, please give us a moment.¡± Dahlia smiled and pressured Norton, and Cordelia pointed at the corner of the hallway with an urgent nce. Her eyes suggested that before going to the boss room, they should have a little operational meeting. Jude was also in a situation where he desperately needed information, so it was not something to refuse. Quickly following her, Cordelia suddenly opened her mouth when the decor hid them from sight. ¡°What are you going to do?¡± ¡°Give¡­please give me your daughter?¡± When Jude replied reflexively without thinking, Cordelia covered her face with both hands. ¡°What is this crazy b*stard saying?¡± ¡°No, why did you call for me in the first ce? Do you know anything?¡± ¡°No. It was just a sudden call.¡± ¡°After all, is this because of the daytime runaway?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, do you think he¡¯ll mention it?¡± ¡°Ha, why did you overdo it¡­¡± ¡°Crazy b*stard, you ordered it! You!¡± ¡°Anyway, now¡¯s not the right time to argue what¡¯s right and wrong.¡± ¡°I want to argue, I want to argue like mad.¡± But it wasn¡¯t really the time to argue what¡¯s right and wrong. If you think about it, the father-inw only called for his son-inw, so maybe he didn¡¯t have much purpose. ¡°Regardless, I¡¯ll do my best.¡± ¡°Okay, I don¡¯t know what to do but good luck. Figh-fighting!¡± After receiving Cordelia¡¯s timid cheering, Jude nodded and approached Butler Norton, and asked to be guided again. And so, in what briefly felt like a minute. ¡°Mr. Jude Bayer has arrived.¡± Butler Norton raised his voice. The boss room ¨C no, Count Chase¡¯s drawing room door was opened. Chapter 13 - EPISODE 13 – COUNT CHASE (2)

Chapter 13 - EPISODE 13 ¨C COUNT CHASE (2)

Like the rest of the mansion, Count Chase¡¯s drawing room was brightly and beautifully decorated. The ceiling, paired with a white, clean marble floor, was white, and the wall with severalrge ss doors leading to the garden was turquoise, giving it a cool feeling. A carpet with a bold use of red and yellow colors to give off a sense of splendor, and luxurious furniture with a bright overall tone. A foreign presence stood alone in a ce where it would seem more right for beautifuldies to have a tea party here. ¡°Have youe?¡± Arthur Chase. Count Chase. He is a member of the Northern Four Rivers and a 7-star wizard, and one of the most prominent battle wizards in the north. And as if to reveal that fact with his whole body, he was big, scary, and sharp-looking. If I canpare it to a sword, should I say he¡¯s like a ymore? ¡®Red Storm.¡¯ Count Chase¡¯s nickname. He is also known as the ¡®Red Monk¡¯, and always wore blood-like red robes, as he is now. ¡°Mr. Jude Bayer greets Lord Chase.¡± When Jude showed proper decorum, Count Chase who was standing facing the garden, turned around. He had short-cut red hair and a height nearing 2 meters tall. Strong broad shoulders and rock-like muscles presumed to be honed on the battlefield. In addition, sharp piercing eyes that could see through the opponent, and the overall impression was truly overwhelming. I felt more like facing a mighty warrior than a wizard. ¡®The mother¡¯s genes worked hard.¡¯ All three children of Count Chase, including Cordelia, were good-looking men and women that were as beautiful as flowers. Of course, Count Chase didn¡¯t have an ugly face. Rather, he had a thick, dark, and manly handsome face. It was like the time when I went to Leisegang. All the big talk in my head went out because of my nervousness. ¡°Sit down.¡± Count Chase spoke low again and sat down at the head of the table. Jude took a bated breath after Count Chase sat in his seat of authority. If this was an ordinary meeting, the maids would havee in and served tea and cookies at this point, but only the deep and heavy silence was set between Count Chase and Jude. As such, a dozen or so seconds passed. Around the time the cold sweat began to flow along Jude¡¯s back, Count Chase opened his mouth again. ¡°I heard a few stories.¡± It hase. Count Chased looked down at Jude while maintaining a straight posture, and Jude swallowed nervously as he faced Count Chase¡¯s chilly gaze. Frankly, I¡¯m scared. Simr feelings sprang up in my heart like when I first saw Leisegang. But I did not turn away. I mustered up and endured Count Chase¡¯s gaze. A few seconds passed then. Count Chase, who looked at Jude with ssy eyes, opened his mouth and said again. ¡°I heard about your actions during the deviation.¡± Deviation (weekend getaway). It was Count Chase who came in hard from the start. However, Jude kept hisposure. What Count Chase mentioned was not just the deviation. ¡°You were lucky to get the Sun¡¯s Ne.¡± Count Chase could not have known that he had obtained the Sun¡¯s Ne. But Jude didn¡¯t answer, and instead took the Sun¡¯s Ne that he had put in his clothes and put it on the table. ¡°It¡¯s the Sun¡¯s Ne.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± A golden ne engraved with the crest of Sri, the sun god. Count Chase¡¯s gaze, which had been focused on Jude, shifted to the Sun¡¯s Ne. He stroked the ne a few times with his thick, coarse fingers and nodded. ¡°By all means, is it an item that constantly radiates Yang energy? You got a great start.¡± The Sun¡¯s Ne was the divine item used by the sun god Sri¡¯s champion Gallus, and not anyone else. It was not an exaggeration to say that it was a divine treasure of the denomination, so it was natural for Count Chase to admire it. ¡°Whatever.¡± Count Chaseid down the Sun¡¯s Ne. He once again looked at Jude as if searching him before suddenly pulling out a small box from his bosom, pushing it to Jude, and speaking. ¡°This is of no use to me. But I already brought it, so take it.¡± What the hell is it? When Jude sent a nce to ask if he could open it, Count Chase said with a snort. ¡°Hmph, I¡¯m telling you in advance, but it¡¯s not much.¡± It was a little vague, but I thought it was okay to open it, so Jude carefully opened the box and soon opened his eyes wide. ¡®It¡¯s a big deal!¡¯ What was inside was a Yang Earth Pill, which possessed a powerful amount of Yang energy. I just opened the box, but the fragrant aroma seemed to fill the drawing room. It wasn¡¯t something that cure Gueumjulmaek at once like the Sunfire Carp, but it was still a valuable item that would be of considerable help to the treatment. ¡°And.¡± Count Chase spoke again before I could even express my gratitude for the Yang Earth Pill. Once again, he asked, looking at Jude with fierce eyes. ¡°I heard that Cordelia carried you when you jumped off the cliff. Was it true?¡± ¡°¡­it¡¯s true.¡± ¡°Tsk, how foolish.¡± Count Chase who clicked his tongue in disapproval, searched his arms again and held out a small box. ¡°It¡¯s a fruit that strengthens muscle strength. All I have around me is a bunch of wizards who just need the strength of a cane, that¡¯s why it¡¯s useless to us, so take it. ¡®The Fruit of Strength?!¡¯ Jude once again looked in surprise. The Fruit of Strength was an item that permanently increases muscle strength a little, and it was hard to obtain this in the beginning, as all of these kinds of items do. From the Yang Earth Pill to even the Fruit of Strength. ¡®H-he¡¯s actually a very nice person?¡¯ No, maybe he¡¯s very fond of Jude himself? He seemed to be displeased with the fact that Cordelia carried Jude herself in their weekend getaway rather than the weekend getaway itself. It¡¯s because he has a fierce impression and he¡¯s awkward at expressing himself, but he¡¯s actually a good person. Jude looked up and saw Count Chase. He still had a scary face, but somehow, he looked different from before. ¡°And.¡± He began to talk once again. Now, rather than being afraid of what he¡¯ll say next, Jude began to look forward to it. ¡°I¡¯ve heard that you¡¯re going to join Cordelia in the uing social gathering.¡± Children of the 12 northern families ¨C specifically, it was a social gathering of underage children who have not yet started official duties. This time, Jude had given his word to Cordelia that he would participate too. Jude replied with a little expectation. ¡°Yes, I will.¡± ¡°You need stamina to go a long way.¡± It was absolutely right. Jude quietly waited, and Count Chase did not disappoint this time either. I thought he was throwing up a cough, but once again he took out a small box from his bosom. ¡°Everyone around me is just a bunch of geeks stuck in theb, that¡¯s why it¡¯s useless, so take it.¡± ¡®The Fruit of Stamina!¡¯ As the name suggests, it was an item that gives a small increase to stamina permanently. For Jude who had poor stamina, it was a treasure as valuable as the Yang Earth Pill. ¡°And.¡± ¡°Yes, father.¡± When Jude quickly answered, Count Chase coughed up again and said, putting his hand in his inner chest pocket. ¡°When you say you¡¯re going on a trip, that meddlesome old man, Count Bayer, will do something stupid like a test. It¡¯s not much, but this will help.¡± I didn¡¯t say anything this time, but the size of the box gave me a rough idea. It was clear that it was one of the fruit series. ¡®Ah, father. Ah, father.¡¯ If I can do?Legend of Heroes 2?again, I¡¯ll try to dig into Count Chase somehow. He¡¯s like a treasure goblin ¨C No, a treasure father. T/N: Treasure goblins came from the game Diablo. They are small demons that steal loot and everything that glitters, carrying said treasure in sacks over their shoulders. Attacking them will make them drop loot while running away and killing them will grant you all items it had. Source:?Diablo Fandom Wiki Count Chases, who snorted once again as Jude shone with deep gratitude, stood up and said. ¡°Hmph, the business is done. Now get out of here.¡± ¡°Thank you very much.¡± ¡°There¡¯s a bag under the table, so put it in there.¡± The small-spoken Count Chase turned to the garden, as he had when I first came in. It meant there was nothing more to talk about. It was a bit rude, but Jude didn¡¯t mind. What more do you want from the treasure father who even packed your bag? When Jude quickly packed up the boxes into the bag and left the drawing room, the people who were waiting ¨C to be exact, Cordelia, approached him. ¡°Hey, are you okay? Did anything happen? What did father say? Did you get scolded a lot? Di-did he tell you to break off our engagement?¡± She looked a bit scared. Before answering, Jude looked over Cordelia¡¯s shoulder, and smiled at the figure of Maja and Dahlia standing there restlessly. ¡°Hey, what did you talk about? Huh?¡± ¡°Father.¡± ¡°Father?¡± ¡°He wants me to carry you around from now on. So, don¡¯t carry me.¡± ¡°¡­what?¡± Cordelia opened her eyes widely as if asking what he meant, and Judeughed cheerfully. *** At Count Chase¡¯s garden. Jude and Cordelia walked through the beautifully decorated flower garden, and Maja and Dahlia stood side by side and looked at the two such figures. So, Cordelia said in a small voice, covering her mouth with a hand fan. ¡°So, did father gave and packed you with items?¡± ¡°Yeah, he told me to eat, cheer up, and carry you around. Don¡¯t carry me.¡± When Jude spoke again, Cordelia lightly blushed and snorted. ¡°Well, that¡¯s a relief anyway.¡± ¡°You¡¯re your father¡¯s daughter. That snorting.¡± ¡°What the hell?¡± ¡°It worked out really well anyway. If I eat everything your father has given me, I¡¯ll be in a much better condition than I am now.¡± It was really an unexpected luck. The condition of the Gueumjulmaek is better than it is now, and if I eat the fruits of strength and stamina ¨C and the fruit of agility given to mestly, with a little exaggeration, I¡¯ll be 1.5 times stronger than now. ¡®Of course, it¡¯s not very good right now.¡¯ Either way, 1.5 times is 1.5 times. The mere sight of the bag made me smile. ¡°By the way.¡± ¡°Oh, are you going to give me something too? I love you, Ms. Banker. Please call me anytime.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not? Hey, anyway, are you starting that now? ¡®Father¡¯s Test¡¯ quest?¡± ¡°I suppose so.¡± Father¡¯s Test. The first main quest that appears in the main scenario of ¡®Jude Bayer¡¯. As the name implies, it was an event where my father, Count Bayer, recognizes that my Gueumjulmaek is cured and that I¡¯m ready to leave the city. In the game, after beingpletely cured of the Gueumjulmaek with the Sunfire Carp event, I could challenge it if I practiced mugong for a month or two, but despite it being the first main quest, it boasted an uneven level of difficulty. ¡®It was one of the reasons why Jude is a non-mainstream character.¡¯ As a matter of fact, I startedter than other characters, but I had to waste more time because of my ¡®Father¡¯s Test¡¯ quest. Furthermore, unlike other quests, it was a quest that had no particr trick. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. This is why I got the Thirty-Six Worldly Steps. I¡¯ll be able to go with you to Langesthei.¡± ¡°Hmph, I¡¯m not saying that I want to go with you together to Langesthei.¡± ¡°Well, what should I say. It¡¯s a typical dialogue, but it works well with your good appearance.¡± ¡°What¡¯s this crazy b*stard saying?¡± Cordelia blushed like a character with a typical dialogue, and Jude had a smallugh. And Maja and Dahlia, who looked at the two from a distance, also smiled warmly. From afar, they were a cute couple shyly whispering love. ¡°When does it start anyway? First of all, we¡¯ll be leaving after the fortnight.¡± ¡°My father¡¯sing in ten days at thetest¡­so there won¡¯t be a problem with the time.¡± After passing his ¡°Father¡¯s Test¡± quest and preparing for his trip, he¡¯ll head to Langesthei with Cordelia. ¡°Can I trust you?¡± ¡°Just make sure you¡¯re well-prepared for the trip. There are things to pack on the way.¡± This was enough. It was Cordelia who understood exactly what Jude was saying as a rotten water. ¡°Then I¡¯ll be waiting for the news.¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll see you again soon.¡± The two who bumped their fists like a habit, moved towards Maja and Dahlia. And a weekter. Count Bayer is back. Chapter 14 - EPISODE 14 – COUNT CHASE (3)

Chapter 14 - EPISODE 14 ¨C COUNT CHASE (3)

The mornings in Count Bayer¡¯s mansion were originally quiet. However, it was different today. Led by Barone, the long-serving butler of Count Bayer, all of the servants of Count Bayer¡¯s mansion has been very busy since morning. This is because the news that Count Bayer, who had been away for more than two months on an expedition, will arrive three days earlier than scheduled. It was the return of the Lord of the Bayer family after their annual expedition to reduce the number of monsters in the Bailon area prior to winter. After all, the preparations for the reception could not be neglected. While sitting in a sunny spot and looking at the bustling servants, Jude turned to his side and asked. ¡°But why are you here?¡± ¡°I know.¡± Cordelia, who was dressed up and sitting next to Jude, answered with a slightly absentminded voice. In fact, both of them knew why Cordelia was here now. ¡°I didn¡¯t realize that your father was this great until today.¡± ¡°He is great, isn¡¯t he?¡± Count Chase. It was because he had appeared with Cordelia today. Count Chase and Count Bayer wererades who have experienced life and death several times. ¡®Is father-inw in my house to give greetings?¡¯ As Jude looked at the front gate as if he were weing Count Bayer¡¯s return, he was secretly feeling stressed as he thought on what would happen once word gets out that he had made Cordelia act rashly. ¡°You know what?¡± ¡°Huh.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t our situation too peaceful?¡± About a month after awakening the memories of a ¡®past life¡¯. At Cordelia¡¯s words, Jude turned his head, and soon heughed. ¡°Ah, enjoy it now. You know we haven¡¯t started the main scenario yet, right? It¡¯s hard work when we leave home, hard work.¡± ¡°Ugh, I know, right?¡± ¡°Is that the look of a person who knows that?¡± When Jude kicked his tongue, Cordelia wanted to refute it, but she had nothing to say, so her lips were puffed up. As Jude said, once the main scenario began, the hardship gate would be wide open. ¡®Because the attack of the Devil¡¯s Hand is very hard.¡¯ It was a brutal event where several children of the 12 northern families were killed and kidnapped. Even in the game, there were only three routes for Cordelia: be kidnapped by the Devil¡¯s Hand and sacrificed, be killed on the spot, or be in a struggle to survive by barely escaping. In the first ce, Jude¡¯s main scenario began with a trip to find out the whereabouts of the missing Cordelia in Bailon, and if it really went as the original, the future of Cordelia was itself a path of mes that crossed the thorny road. ¡®I¡¯m not going to let that happen.¡¯ They have to change the original story and create a new ending. Changing Cordelia¡¯s main scenario was the beginning. ¡®Well, it¡¯s not because of that.¡¯ When Jude suddenly smiled, Cordelia said with a startling look. ¡°What is it? Those sad eyes?¡± ¡°Jude¡¯s eyes are worrying about the Lady Cordelia he yearns for?¡± ¡°Hey, I got goosebumps. That, aren¡¯t you getting too used to it?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°That.¡± ¡°That what?¡± ¡°You know, that one?¡± ¡°Yearn for? Dear? The cute and lovely Lady Cordelia who is the apple of my eyes?¡± Cordelia shuddered and blushed as Jude spoke shamelessly. ¡°Wha-what is this crazy bastard saying?¡± ¡°Because your father ising.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Father.¡± Cordelia also understood. When she looked back, Count Chase was walking their way. ¡°Lady Cordelia, you¡¯re beautiful again today.¡± ¡°Oh, my goodness, I¡¯m so embarrassed. Thank you, Mr. Bayer.¡± By the time Cordelia responded with a clumsy smile, Count Chase, who had arrived before the two, looked at Jude and said with a disapproving look. ¡°Tsk, you¡¯re still skinny.¡± He had a dissatisfied expression, disagreeing eyes, and was clicking his tongue. But Jude was not afraid at all. Because he knew the next words. ¡°This isn¡¯t much but eat this up.¡± ¡°Thank you, father.¡± When Count Chase pulled out a small box, Jude quickly epted it and thanked him. He was a very precious treasure father. Meanwhile, Cordelia blinked her eyes with a nk face. She had heard it the other day, but it was indeed a strange sight. ¡°Hmm.¡± Count Chase, who looked at the two for a moment to see if he could tell their inner thoughts, said as he turned his eyes. ¡°He¡¯sing.¡± It was pretty straightforward, but Jude and Cordelia immediately understood. Beyond the main gate. Count Bayer wasing back. *** It was the Count of Bayer who would normally lead and improve the order of the knights, but today he was only apanied by a few subordinates and his eldest son, Ga?l Bayer. Because he hurried home when he heard news of Jude. Count Bayer¡¯s servants lined up in front of the main gate, and Jude stood alongside Cordelia. And how much time had passed? ¡°Jude!¡± Called out a knight riding a red horse that sped up and arrived at the main gate. It was Ga?l Bayer, Jude¡¯s older brother and the next Count of Bayer. With blue hair and blue eyes, he jumped off the horse at once and for a moment, hugged Jude tightly but did not forget the situation. ¡°I greet Lord Chase.¡± ¡°It¡¯s been a long time.¡± It was a hard and cold tone, but Ga?l was more familiar with Count Chase than Jude. After epting it with a big smile, he looked back at Jude. ¡°You¡¯ve be really healthy. I can tell just by looking at your face.¡± Ga?l¡¯s face, which resembles Jude, showed no sense of self-interest. Ga?l Bayer. He is a brother who is ten years older than Jude Bayer. As Outboxer009, Jude was reminded of Ga?l Bayer in?Legend of Heroes 2, but only for a short time. Because he was Outboxer009 and Jude Bayer at the same time. A smile also spread on Jude¡¯s face. Ga?l Bayer was a really good brother. ¡°Jude Bayer¡± remembered a number of anecdotes that were not described in?Legend of Heroes 2. A genuine brother. One who has faced Jude¡¯s seventeen years of life. ¡°You were lucky, you were really lucky. No,e to think of it, is this all thanks to Lady Cordelia? It is said that they found the Sun¡¯s Ne when they went out to see the flowers together.¡± Ga?l, who spoke pleasantly, looked at Cordelia again. He looked like Jude ¨C but with a more masculine face and a picturesque smile. ¡°Thank you very much, Lady Cordelia. Meeting you would be the luckiest thing for Jude. You are the goddess of luck for Count Bayer.¡± ¡°I¡¯m ttered. Oh, brother-inw.¡± Ga?l smiled again as Cordelia managed to answer. It was because she was so cute when she was shy. ¡°What a lucky thing you are. I envy you.¡± Ga?l, who even winked at Jude, stood aside with a big smile. Because today¡¯s true protagonist has arrived. ¡°Jude.¡± Count Bayer. Count Bayer, riding a ck horse, jumped off the horse. With a tall height and broad shoulders that were second only to Count Chase, he was a ck-haired, blue-eyed beauty. Although he did not make a fuss like Ga?l, Count Bayer¡¯s eyes were also filled with joy. ¡°You have a lot of stories to share. Let¡¯s go in.¡± ¡°Yes, father.¡± It was Jude who reflexively answered, but the moment he answered, he felt like his heart was shaking. It was because he could clearly feel his father¡¯s heart, Count Bayer, who cared and worried about Jude himself. ¡°I guess I¡¯m invisible.¡± ¡°How can I not recognize a man as big as you? Thank you foring.¡± Count Bayer, whoughed and tapped Count Chase on the shoulder, also did not forget Cordelia. ¡°Ga?l already said it but thank you very much. Thank you so much.¡± If it weren¡¯t for the daytime runaway, I wouldn¡¯t have found the Sun¡¯s Ne. Ga?l, nodding his head as if he agreed, spoke out. ¡°Father, the love between Jude and Lady Cordelia caused a miracle.¡± ¡°Ha-ha, it really is true, but let¡¯s stop it. Isn¡¯t Cordelia embarrassed?¡± Cordelia was really embarrassed at the father and son¡¯s exchange of words. Her face was red, and she looked helpless, so she eventually tugged the hem of Jude¡¯s shirt. ¡®Hey! Do something!¡¯ ¡®Ha-ha, this will alle to pass.¡¯ To Cordelia¡¯s desperate eyes, Jude answered with tranquil eyes, and everyone who watched the small actions between the two smiled warmly. ¡°Let¡¯s go in for now. Barone?¡± ¡°Yes, my Lord. The banquet is ready. We sincerely wee your return.¡± As Barone, the butler who had been taking a step back, stepped forward, things proceeded quickly. Inside the banquet hall of Count Bayer. Like other ces in the mansion, it was a ce that felt like a hard fortress, but it still looked good because of the various delicacies that were on therge table. At the head of the table was Count Bayer, and at each side were Count Chase and Ga?l. Jude and Cordelia were seated next to Ga?l at a table full of gloomy men, and the pretty boy and girl sitting side by side stood out more than Count Bayer sitting at the top. ¡°What a happy day, a happy day.¡± Count Bayer, who had a drink with Count Chase, spoke with a pleased face, and all those around him nodded their heads, with eyes gathered not on Count Bayer, but on Jude and Cordelia. ¡®Fu-f*ck. I can¡¯t even eat.¡¯ ¡®Ha-ha, this too shalle to pass.¡¯ When he answered Cordelia, who had sent a desperate gaze, his eyes were like that of those who attained Nirvana. Jude then looked at Count Bayer and said. ¡°Congrattions on your safe return, father.¡± ¡°Yes, this expedition was a great sess, with no one dead, even though there are injured people. Your brother, Ga?l, was also very active.¡± ¡°Ha-ha, so are you, father. I¡¯m embarrassed in front of Lady Cordelia.¡± He said so, but he was really happy that his mouth was full of smiles. ¡®Hmm, don¡¯t tell me Ga?l likes Cordelia?¡¯ Based on the original story, Ga?l had a fianc¨¦ whom he was about to marry. By the time Jude was on guard, Count Bayer opened his mouth again, looking at Jude. ¡°Jude, I heard from Victor. You said you wanted to join Cordelia in the social gathering, right?¡± ¡°Yes, father. I¡¯d like to join Lady Cordelia.¡± When Jude decisively answered clearly, the eyes of the knights and retainers of the Bayer family were pervaded with delight, and Count Chase also smiled a little with a humming sound. Count Bayer nodded. ¡°Yes, you are a son of our Bayer family, so you deserve to participate. But Jude, our Bayer is a family of warriors. Therefore, in order to leave the house, one must pass a test that proves one can protect one¡¯s own body. You know that, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I know, father.¡± Father¡¯s Test quest. When Jude gave an outspoken answer this time, Count Bayer, who became happier, stood up. ¡°I¡¯d have to set a date for the test, but that would dy the journey. What do you say, Jude? Would you like to be tested right now?¡± It was a sudden offer, but Jude was not embarrassed. As the preparation was already done, the earlier the test schedule, the better. ¡®Can you do it?¡¯ ¡®I can do it.¡¯ Jude, who answered Cordelia with his eyes, took a breath once and stood up from his seat. ¡°I¡¯ll take the test, father.¡± Thest hurdle to start the main scenario. It was a natural conversation, but Jude knew the correct answer. Chapter 15 - EPISODE 15 – COUNT CHASE (4)

Chapter 15 - EPISODE 15 ¨C COUNT CHASE (4)

Count Bayer¡¯s test for leaving home was simple. Seed in dealing a strike against an opponent, who is at the standard of an ordinary knight, in a duel. Although it was very simple and clear, there was little room for the so-called tricks. Testing only your abilities in a fair manner. Count Bayer passed the test when he was at the young age of twelve, and Gale, though he wasn¡¯t naturally gifted and as good as his father, passed the test at thirteen, younger than the average age. Jude¡¯s age is seventeen. The truth is, at this time, applying for the test was close to irrational because his age was two years older than the average age of passing the test for the Bayer family, which is fifteen years old. ¡®One month at the most.¡¯ Before he got the Sun¡¯s Ne, let alone having proper training, even training his physical strength was difficult for Jude. No matter how long Jude tried to catch up on his training period, it was only a month ago that he got the Sun¡¯s Ne and started his treatment, of which his martial arts training time was less than 15 days. Furthermore, Jude¡¯s condition, as of now, was notpletely cured. His Gueumjulmaek was getting better and he was gradually getting closer to having normal strength, but if you look at it from the knight¡¯s standard, he was still on the weak side. ¡®However.¡¯ Count Bayer did not intend to humiliate Jude in front of everyone. Of course, he also had no intention of conducting a sloppy test on purpose for his child. ¡®Victor, I believe in you.¡¯ A day before he arrived home, there was a phrase in thest letter that came from Victor, the family¡¯s old knight. The young master will pass the test. I believe it if Victor said so. He was not one to speak at length groundless stories. ¡®But even so.¡¯ Count Bayer was also a man. His curiosity grew. What was it that gave confidence to Victor that he came to the point in his report? Perhaps it was a stupid idea that Jude did not have talent, and that maybe, Jude actually had a talent that even surpasses his? His heart was pounding. It must have been Count Bayer himself who waited for the current test more than anyone else in this ce. ¡°Father.¡± Ga?l said in a low voice, as he handed a wooden sword to Count Bayer who took his ce in the middle of the indoor training area. Count Bayerughed at Ga?l¡¯s bitter eyes that asked whether the Count even needed to y the role of the opponent himself, but Ga?l eventually abandoned the thought and shook his head, saying in a low voice. ¡°Go easy on him.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± He was no one else but Count Bayer, one of the S?len Kingdom¡¯s teenage swordmasters. Restricting his swordsmanship to the level of an ordinary knight was quite easy. Count Bayer, who received the wooden sword, pleasantly looked at Jude preparing for the test at a distance ¨C to be exact, at Jude and Cordelia. Likewise, Ga?l who looked at the same ce,ughed and said with a smile. ¡°They¡¯re a really well-matched pair, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s really a nice sight. I think it was not to that degree before I left for the expedition¡­but in the meantime, they¡¯ve significantly be closer.¡± ¡°Because they had a good time together.¡± A man taking the test and the fianc¨¦ worrying about such a man. What a beautiful sight it was. Surely, they must be exchanging pretty and sweet words. ¡°Hey, you crazy bastard. Count Bayer directly came out. Ask him to at least change your opponent.¡± ¡°Hey, I¡¯m certain he¡¯ll adjust the level.¡± ¡°And if you lose? You mor about your Gueumjulmaek day in day out.¡± ¡°If I lose, you¡¯re going to Langesthei alone. Main scenario, Fighting!¡± ¡°What¡¯s this crazy bastard saying?¡± Cordelia, who said those pretty and sweet words in a hushed whisper, said with a sigh. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll believe in you. You¡¯re Outboxer, so you¡¯ll do it somehow. Still¡­¡± ¡°Still?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t overdo it and get hurt. Okay?¡± ¡°Yellow Storm.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°You really resemble your father.¡± ¡°Of course, who else will I resemble but my father?¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Jude, who wrapped up the conversation with a gigglingugh, stretched his shoulders and exhaled a long breath. Finally, he looked back at Cordelia and said. ¡°Let¡¯s go together.¡± To Langesthei. To reform the main scenarios of Jude and Cordelia. Jude grinned, and Cordelia snorted, shaking her fist lightly as if cheering. ¡°Fighting.¡± This was enough. Jude fixed his wooden sword and stepped forward, while Cordelia retreated to where Count Chase stood. ¡°Miss, are you all right?¡± When Dahlia asked in a small voice, Cordelia nodded. ¡°He¡¯ll be fine.¡± Outboxer009 said so. Holding back her backbiting, Cordelia looked at Jude as if to observe how he¡¯ll do it, and Jude stood before Count Bayer. ¡°Let¡¯s begin.¡± There was no need to prolong it. Count Bayer spoke at the moment they faced each other, and as soon as Jude took a stance, heunched an offensive. It was the Kingdom Swordsmanship that Count Bayer and any knights who used swords had learned. Count Bayer kept his word. The speed of the wooden sword and the strength he used was at the level of an ordinary knight. But even so, the swordy he wielded was the one of the 10 swordsmanship attack styles. It was an attack that was like the standard of the Kingdom Swordsmanship. And so¡­ ¡®I can do it.¡¯ Jude averted Count Bayer¡¯s sword. In a way, it was a simple avoidance, but in the eyes of the observing knights, it was conspicuously reflected at that moment. Half the step of a footprint. It was the distance that Jude moved to avoid Count Bayer¡¯s sword. He evaded Count Bayer¡¯s sword with minimal movement. Count Bayer¡¯s sword struck in session. The swordy simr to the kingdom swordsmanship continued, and Jude avoided all the Count¡¯s attack without a single one hitting him. Seven times. The moment he avoided the swordy seven times, admiration burst out between the knights. Count Chase¡¯s eyes shone, and Ga?l almost looked like he was going to cheer. And Cordelia understood. What made Jude so confident? ¡®You memorized it.¡¯ The Kingdom Swordsmanship. The pattern of the attacks unfolded by the test examiners of Count Bayer, which has been handed down from generation to generation. If this was an indiscriminate sparring, it wouldn¡¯t work. But it was a test, and in order to be a fair test, the examiners had limited patterns of swordy and attack. ¡®What the hell is in your head?¡¯ It was so absurd that she almostughed. But it was true that Jude was familiar with the pattern for one reason or another. Moreover, it was not the only thing that was great. ¡°He¡¯s better than expected.¡± Said Count Chase. He and Count Bayer were already somewhat aware of the fact that Jude memorized the pattern. And in fact, memorizing the pattern itself wasn¡¯t that great. It was a test that has been passed on for several generations anyway. Memorizing the pattern was not enough. It was not enough to pass the test. Ninth. Jude avoided it this time again. The sword passed him just a step away. Ga?l, who was watching, clenched his fist. Jude had a talent for martial arts. It was a tremendous martial arts talent. Otherwise, it was impossible to urately avoid such a rushing sword in front of you. Count Bayer also smiled. This is because he felt more clearly than anyone else in this room that Jude¡¯s talent was genuine. But Count Bayer thought at the same time. Avoiding is not enough. You can neverplete the test conditions just by avoiding it. ¡®Approach more.¡¯ Prate it, don¡¯t just avoid. Don¡¯t just stay outside but step inside. Count Bayer caused his sword to swing wildly. Jude evaded by stepping sideways, and at that moment, Count Bayer¡¯s sword rushed towards Jude as if it were chasing him. Consecutive attacks. It was one attack to another attack, so the attacking side should eventually be overwhelmed by the amount. Jude knew it. I¡¯ve been waiting for this moment only. Thud! He kicked the ground. It wasn¡¯t a simple takeoff. Thirty-six World Steps. It was the footwork skill. The sword cut through the air. Jude slipped forward. Instead of prating in front, he turned to the left and pierced the gap of Count Bayer. Kwajik! Count Bayer moved his left hand and caught Jude¡¯s sword. Soon after, Jude let go his sword and smiled with a sweaty face. ¡°One jab.¡± That one strike just now. An ordinary knight couldn¡¯t block it. Count Bayer, one of the ten swordmasters, blocked it. A moment of loud silence filled the training area. Count Bayer looked at Jude, and soon burst into a boisterousugh. ¡°I lost.¡± ¡°Ooooh!¡± ¡°Young master!¡± Cheers erupted from all over the ce. Victor¡¯s eyes reddened with tears, and Ga?l ran at once to Jude and hugged him. ¡°Hmph, it was impressive.¡± When Count Chase said that, Jude was in Ga?l¡¯s arms and saw Cordelia, and she snorted and slightly smacked the air with her fist. ¡®Fine y.¡¯ Judeughed again. And Count Bayer, who stopped his continuous and spiritedugh, turned to Count Chase and said. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Arthur, but I¡¯m going to dy the departure by three more days.¡± Originally, I was going to start right away tomorrow, but I changed my mind. I¡¯ve seen Jude¡¯s talent. I didn¡¯t realize he was never an ordinary child. ¡°Hmph, I¡¯ll wait.¡± Count Chase allowed it, and there was no one who dissuaded him. And at that moment, the rotten water Yellow Storm understood. The reason why Count Bayer changed it into three more days. The reason why Jude was more pleased with the fact that Count Bayer came forward himself. ¡®Additional rewards?¡¯ The only thing Count Bayer could teach for three days was Mugong (martial arts). Cordelia saw Jude and this time he responded. He knocked through the air with his fist slightly clenched. *** Time has passed. In the morning four dayster. Instead of dressing up like she was on a pic, Cordelia was dressed in horseback riding clothes. She stood in front of the carriage, slightly tilted her head, and soon made arge smile. ¡°Have you had some sess?¡± ¡°I have.¡± It was only four days, but Jude, who seemed to have be more manly than before, answered with a grin. At Count Bayer¡¯s gate. One big carriage and four horses prepared by Count Chase. There were four people in the carriage: Jude, Cordelia, the exclusive maid Maja, and the escort warrior Dahlia. And two escorts each from Count Bayer and Count Chase. The social gathering of the 12 northern families in Langesthei was literally a social gathering. Moreover, since it was to gather the minor children together, there was no reason to set up a grand procession that boasted of their family¡¯s power. ¡®But we still havepanions.¡¯ Jude nced at Cordelia, who nodded very small. It was a sign that she was ready for ¡°something to take with you on our way to Langesthei,¡± which he mentioned prior to the trip. ¡°I¡¯m very happy to be with you in going to Langesthei.¡± ¡°Me too. I¡¯m looking forward to the trip with Mr. Bayer.¡± Because they were in front of Maja and Dahlia, the two, who pretended tough ¡®Haha¡¯ and ¡®Hoho¡¯, each settled in the carriage. And Maja and Dahlia, after exchanging warm looks, took their ces beside them. ¡°Then, let¡¯s go.¡± We have already finished the greetings for both our parents, so our departure wouldn¡¯t take any longer. ¡°Jude! Have a pleasant journey!¡± Ga?l, who was in the garden, raised his voice, and Count Bayer nodded. Count Chase snorted as usual. ¡®You do know ¡®how to pay¡¯, right?¡¯ T/N: The ¡°how to pay¡± phrase that I used here is actually ¡°N?,¡± which is a Korean ng for a paying system where the total cost is divided by the number of people and then paid. For example, five people had dinner at a restaurant and the total sum was $100, so each person has to pay $20 because $100 divided by 5 people is $20. This system is called N? (N-ppang). Source:?Openng Dictionary Cordelia¡¯s gaze turned to Jude¡¯s waist. It was because she saw the money bag that Count Chase gave to Jude when he said hello earlier. Jude shrugged his shoulders, pretending to not know the answer, and then looked out the opposite window. To the northeast. Towards the heart of the north. ¡°Hiyaa!¡± The carriage set off with the cry of the horseman. It was the start of the main scenario. Chapter 16 - EPISODE 16 – SACRED ROD (1)

Chapter 16 - EPISODE 16 ¨C SACRED ROD (1)

A night when the very bright moon hid the stars. Sitting under the dark blue night sky, with her angel-like beautiful face, Cordelia spoke. ¡°F*ck, f*ck, f*ck.¡± ¡°The use of abusivenguage is subject to sanctions.¡± ¡°What is this crazy bastard saying?¡± ¡°Yes, this is an exmation, not a curse. Anyway, decide quickly.¡± Cordelia wasn¡¯t the only one sitting under the fantastic moonlight. Deep in the mountains. The two were facing each other at the ce where the sound of the valley river¡¯s ripples were heard. Cordelia, who was almost about to cry, said as her shoulders drooped. ¡°Hey, do we really have to do this?¡± ¡°You have to do it. You have to.¡± Cordelia¡¯s main scenario was harsh from the start. In order topletely defend and not just hinder the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s attack on the social gathering, a holy relic, which possesses power that is ipatible with the demons, is needed ¨C the sacred rod, Moonlight. ¡°Yellow Storm.¡± ¡°Why.¡± When Yellow Storm answered lifelessly, Jude coughed once and took a step. He ced his hands over Yellow Storm¡¯s shoulders and said with a serious face and voice. ¡°Only you can do it. Only you can do this.¡± ¡°¡­even if you say it nicely, your nature remains the same.¡± ¡°Err, if you don¡¯t like it, you can stop. Is this my event? It¡¯s your event.¡± The event to get the sacred rod was for Cordelia only. ¡°F*ck, I really hate the game crew.¡± It was Cordelia who spit out curses again, but she seemed to have given up resisting because she was in low spirits. Jude let out a sigh full of various emotions and then tapped Cordelia¡¯s shoulders again. ¡°If you¡¯re going to do it, let¡¯s get ready. We don¡¯t have time. We have to do our best, but we can¡¯t miss the event because we missed the timing, right? ¡°Haa¡­I¡¯d rather die than suffer. Yes, I¡¯ll do it. I¡¯ll do it very perfectly.¡± Jude, who smiled and gave a thumbs up, took a step back and looked at the night sky again. It was the incident on the road to Langesthei two days ago that started all of this. *** A day after leaving Count Bayer. Their travel schedule was generous in the first ce, so the party was not in a hurry. We advanced slowly to let the horses rest, but when we stopped somewhere and rested, Maja and Dahlia went out of the carriage and took a break. It was to get out of the stuffy carriage and breathe some fresh air, but rather, it was to give both Jude and Cordelia some alone time. ¡°How should I say, we¡¯re very considerate?¡± ¡°They¡¯re a really good couple. Doesn¡¯t it make you want to cheer for them?¡± At Dahlia¡¯s self-praise, Maja replied with a smile. The hearts of the two were the same. In the first ce, the promise toe out and make time for the two whenever the carriage stopped was not something discussed in advance. It naturally happened because of the consideration of the maid and escort who really thought of their masters. Sitting in the shade of a tree, Dahlia, who took the offered teacup from Maja, continued whileughing ¡®Ufufu¡¯. ¡°Originally, they were a good-looking man and woman who got along well, but¡­their rtionship has suddenly improved sincest month?¡± ¡°Yes, especially at the daytime runaway¡­no, after they¡¯ve had their time alone together.¡± ¡°Ha, I¡¯m only telling you this¡­but just before, the youngdy was feeling a little hurt. So, I was really worried, but I guess it was a good thing now because it could¡¯ve been worse in the future.¡± ¡°Oh my goodness, the youngdy too?¡± When Maja blinked as if she was surprised, Dahlia spoke along with an ¡®Aha!¡¯ exmation. ¡°Come to think of it, even the young master at that time was feeling troubled too?¡± ¡°Yes, a little¡­¡± In fact, Maja was just talking nonsense and making a fuss, but even so, Dahlia is an escort to his fianc¨¦e ¨C no, rather, it wasn¡¯t something to reveal because she was a person in that position. And it was the same with Dahlia. When Cordelia was feeling hurt a month ago, she did a lot of nonsensical stuff as well as spilling a storm of curses that surprised all those who were listening. ¡®What it was really back then¡­¡¯ A prettydy that looked like a doll was pouring out such vulgar curses out of her mouth. Indeed, it was a sight I would never want to see again. ¡°But it worked out really well. The young master¡¯s body is getting better, and they¡¯re going to the social gathering together.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± After looking at each other, theughing maid and escort gazed at the carriage again. What are the two people inside talking about? Is it my imagination that the two were smiling cutely and exchanging sweet words of love? ¡°Hey, be humane and ¡®pay¡¯ properly?¡± ¡°Eh, your father gave me this, who do I have to ¡®pay¡¯?¡± T/N: ¡®pay¡¯ ¨C they¡¯re talking about the paying system ¡°n?¡± that I exined in the previous chapter. ¡°It¡¯s the money my father gave me to buy me something delicious.¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll properly budget it and buy you something delicious.¡± Both Cordelia and Jude, who had an unsatisfactory conversation about the stuffed money bag that Count Chase gave before the trip, did some stretching exercises. The magical carriage boasted of afortable ride even though it was running on the road, but because they were stuck inside, they were feeling frustrated. ¡®But it¡¯s better than ying the fianc¨¦e role in front of everyone.¡¯ Even though it was a bit frustrating, it was much easier and better to be alone together like this. ¡°Anyway¡­let¡¯s have a productive conversation now.¡± ¡°What? Like the future schedule?¡± ¡°Yes, schedule. Especially¡­what¡¯s really going to happen in the future¡­about that.¡± A month after awakening the memories of Outboxer009. Jude has already confirmed several times that this world is almost the same as?Legend of Heroes 2. However, only the elements that make up the world have been confirmed so far. Those that just exist, such as people, terrain, history, and objects. ¡®Will the story itself proceed just like the?Legend of Heroes 2?¡¯ Of course, it would¡¯ve been like the beginning if it were to proceed. If Jude and Cordelia intervene in this and that, the story itself would change due to the butterfly effect. But even so, ¡°what¡¯s going to happen¡± had a great meaning. ¡°First of all, our departure date is almost the same as that of Cordelia in the original.¡± ¡°If it goes exactly the same as the game¡­¡± ¡°The bridge at the front of the road we¡¯re going on now has copsed, and the road is blocked.¡± In the original work, there were two options. Take a detour by using the mountain path or go south to get a boat for the river. In Cordelia¡¯s main scenario, it was the first multiple choice options a yer encounter. And most of those who were stagnant water chose the detour route here. ¡°That¡¯s the only way to get the hidden event.¡± ¡°Ugh.¡± At the time Jude spoke, Cordelia had an unwilling expression. It was because of the contents of the hidden event. But it was then. ¡°Young master, there¡¯s an issue I have to report. Would you mind for a moment?¡± A young knight¡¯s voice came from outside the carriage. It was a knight named ¡°Jun,¡± whom Count Bayer assigned as an escort for the trip, and he had made quite a brilliant contribution to the expedition despite it being his first campaign. ¡°Yes, I don¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°Excuse me for a moment.¡± When Jude responded, Jun opened the carriage door. For a moment, he nced at Jude and Cordelia sitting face to face, before looking back at Jude and continuing his words. ¡°There were some peopleing back from the road ahead, so I asked them, and they said that the bridge has copsed, and that the road is blocked. It couldn¡¯t be helped, but I think we should take a detour.¡± ¡®As expected.¡¯ Something happened. Jude nced back at Cordelia, who frowned and nodded her head. ¡°All right. Then are we going to take the mountain road?¡± ¡°Yes, Mr. Bayer is knowledgeable of the nearby geography.¡± ¡°Because it was my first trip, I did some studying in advance.¡± ¡°Ah¡­indeed. Yes, we¡¯re going to take the mountain road as young master had said. I¡¯m afraid the schedule will be dyed by a day or so¡­but I think it¡¯s the best we can do right now.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s do that. There¡¯s plenty of time in the original schedule, so we can afford not to hurry.¡± ¡°Thank you for understanding.¡± When Jude appeared as decent and kind, Jun¡¯s face, which was quite stiff at first, was loosened. He seemed to like Jude more now. ¡°I look forward to working with you, then.¡± ¡°Okay. Although the road we¡¯ll use is off our itinerary, we won¡¯t have any problems with the safety of the two of you.¡± Jun, who dered proudly as a knight, bowed again to Jude and Cordelia and closed the carriage door. And immediately after. Jude said to Cordelia. ¡°It happened.¡± As in the game, the road was blocked, and a detour was taken. The significant of this event was quite great, and in local terms, the basic conditions for beginning the hidden event were in ce. Cordelia stretched her shoulders and said. ¡°Hey, by the way.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°In the game, the event automatically urs when you go to the mountain road and head to a certain area, right?¡± ¡°It will ur.¡± ¡°But even if we head to a certain area, the event won¡¯t ur automatically here, right?¡± ¡°Of course it won¡¯t ur.¡± Legend of Heroes 2?was a game with a very high degree of freedom, but it was still a ¡®story RPG.¡¯ In other words, when certain events urred, the characters were supposed to take certain actions that were out of the yer¡¯s control. But in reality, the story was different. There was no way for him to suddenly move his body spontaneously and recite a set line just because he went to a certain area. ¡®If that exists, it¡¯s a problem.¡¯ In any case, the important thing was to trigger the event. If so, what should we do. How can I trigger an event in the game and get the same rewards? It was actually a simple story. Both Jude and Cordelia already knew the answer. ¡°You have to recreate the event.¡± As we saw in?Legend of Heroes 2, they perform certain actions in certain ces. As if, like a y. ¡°Please do a good acting, Yellow Storm.¡± Jude winked and Cordelia raised up her middle finger. And two dayster. The time of promise finally arrived. *** ¡°F*ck, f*ck, f*ck.¡± ¡°The use of abusivenguage¡­¡± ¡°Fahk, fahk, fahk.¡± ¡°Ok, I give up. It would be good if you could focus on acting because you¡¯ve rxed your mind by cursing.¡± Near a valley where you can pass by the mountain route. Jude, who had kept his back on the cursing Cordelia, had opened a watch he received from Ga?l and counted the remaining time left. ¡®It¡¯s midnight when the event starts.¡¯ Dahlia¡¯s bedtime was from 11 pm to 1 am, and in these two hours, only Jude and Cordelia were here. It was the only time possible. Maja was a maid in the first ce so she was out of the night vigil, and if we ask the other knights to give us time alone, it would not have worked. ¡®The current time is 11:50.¡¯ There were only 10 minutes left until the event was started. ¡°Are you ready?¡± ¡°W-wait! If you look back, I¡¯ll kill you.¡± ¡°You¡¯re all dressed up anyway.¡± ¡°F*ck. All right, you can turn around now.¡± When Cordelia gave her permission, Jude turned around and unconsciously let out his admiration. ¡°Wow.¡± To be honest, I was surprised. I¡¯ve known before that she was pretty, but should I say that I realized it again? Before Jude¡¯s eyes, Cordelia, wearing only arge towel, stood barefoot with her hair untied. ¡®Of course she¡¯s wearing clothes under the towel.¡¯ Anyway, what should I say? Standing with her hair down under the fantastic moonlight, Cordelia was so beautiful that it was such a mysterious sight. ¡°If youugh, I¡¯ll kill you. I¡¯ll kill you if you turn your eyes around. If you even keep looking at me, I¡¯ll kill you.¡± Of course, if she hadn¡¯t opened her mouth. ¡°Hey, where the hell do you want me to look then?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­anyway, I¡¯ll start now, so hide well. Okay?¡± ¡°I understand, ma¡¯am.¡± Finally, the two, who exchanged nces, took a deep breath and moved to their respective designated positions. This was the beginning of the event. After using the mountain path, Cordelia finds a valley with a river during her journey, and bathes in the river to wash off the sweat around midnight, away from people¡¯s eyes. ¡®Should I call it¡­the service event?¡¯ Actually, there was a simr event for Jude too. Either way, Cordelia, who was taking a bath, sings against the beauty of the moonlight¡­ ¡°Aah, the water¡¯s f*cking cold. Are you crazy? Why would I even go into the valley river in the middle of autumn, not in the summer?¡± Cordelia, who dipped her feet slightly in the water, shuddered, and Jude, who hid in the bushes, sent the sign in a miserable mood. It was a sign to roughly begin to sing. ¡°Ha, really. Cordelia¡¯s totally crazy.¡± Cordelia, who was criticizing her game character, shuddered in the water and opened her lips as she looked at the moon. In fact, at this point I could understand why Cordelia was singing. When I went into the wide valley river alone in the darkness of night, I knew Jude was looking at me, but I was scared. How should I say it¡­it feels like something¡¯s about to pop out of the water? If I didn¡¯t sing, I couldn¡¯t withstand it. ¡°Twinkle little star~ Shining beautifully~¡± When Cordelia began to sing timidly, Jude sent a sign again. It was a sign to sing the original song, but Yellow Storm was not Outboxer009. How am I supposed to memorize a song that briefly yed in the event? ¡®It¡¯s roughly the same as a song about stars, so it should work.¡¯ How long has it been since I continued to sing with that thought? Beyond that, under the fantasy moonlight. There were those who responded to the song. Chapter 17 - EPISODE 17 – SACRED ROD (2)

Chapter 17 - EPISODE 17 ¨C SACRED ROD (2)

The original event was like this. The beautiful song of Cordelia softly spread across the tranquil valley. The small animals that went down the valley to quench their throats tilted their ears to the clear voice and fine tunes, and even the fairy people that lived nearby started to react. The gathered fairies in twos and threes were first surprised by Cordelia¡¯s songs, and second, they were surprised by the dazzling appearance of Cordelia, who boasted a goddess-like beauty under the fantasy moonlight. And among them, one opened their mouth and spoke. ¡®Let¡¯s invite her to the Queen¡¯s night banquet.¡¯ ¡®The Queen will be happy, too.¡¯ ¡®We can¡¯t be the only ones to hear it. It¡¯s such a beautiful song.¡¯ Although Cordelia was briefly embarrassed by the appearance of the fairies, she soon had the intention to ept the invitation of the cute and lovely fairies. And¡­ ¡®I wonder if it could lead to that.¡¯ Jude, who was watching the situation while hiding in the bushes, looked at the valley with a terrible face. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Yeah, well, the song from the original event was about stars. The present situation was simr to the original event because both songs were about stars and had a person singing. But unlike the original where it sounded beautiful and mysterious, instead, it sounded cute and lovely, so it was still nice to hear. ¡®Huh¡­my taste has gone bad.¡¯ Yellow Storm is cute and lovely. Shaking his head to regain his senses, Jude¡¯s anxious eyes stared further away. And at some point. When she had sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in full three times, Cordelia, who was soaked up to her shoulders, shivered in the water¡¯s coldness. ¡®It¡¯s here.¡¯ Small lumps of light began to appear. At first nce, it could have been mistaken for a firefly, but the light was too bright and beautiful. Jude sent a sign out of the bush, and Cordelia nodded after seeing Jude¡¯s sign. In fact, she had already noticed. ¡°In the western sky~ In the eastern sky~ Twinkle twinkle little star~¡± Cordelia sang and slowly raised her body which had been deeply immersed in the water. She was still wrapped in a towel, but when she rose from the water, she felt a chill and shivered unconsciously. But this wasn¡¯t the time to be coughing here. Cordeliamitted to singing with a little more emotion under the beautiful moonlight. ¡°She looks beautiful~¡± The lumps of light approached. Blue light, yellow light, green light. They were slightlyrger than the palm, but the fairies were almost no different in appearance from adult women except for the butterfly wings on their backs. They numbered five in total. The fairies, who came to Cordelia¡¯s side, flocked to each other and raised their voices a bit loudly. ¡°It¡¯s a cute song.¡± ¡°Why is she wearing a towel while taking a bath? How do you take a bath like that?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, rather, her voice is beautiful.¡± ¡°She has a pretty face too.¡± ¡°It¡¯s thrilling, it¡¯s always fresh, and being pretty is the best.¡± All the other fairies nodded their heads as if they agreed to thest fairy¡¯s words. ¡®It¡¯s the same as in the game.¡¯ The world¡¯s best-looking race is probably a fairy. Either way, they approached Cordelia, who was pretty and a good singer, without hesitation. Rather, it was Cordelia who was surprised. ¡®Cu-cute.¡¯ As the fairies were small like the palms of her hands and they moved in front of her eyes, Yellow Storm couldn¡¯t help but feel her girl¡¯s heart was stimted. ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°What is your name?¡± ¡°Would you like to y with us?¡± ¡°The queen¡¯s night entertainment will begin.¡± ¡°The queen likes pretty girls.¡± Cordelia grinned at the fairy¡¯s suggestion, and Jude, who was hiding and listening, let out a sigh of relief. I was worried because the song was different, but it seemed to have gone smoothly. ¡®Maybe Cordelia¡¯s appearance is a fact more important than just singing?¡¯ If you listened carefully to what they just said, they¡¯re inviting you only because you were pretty. Anyway, the process changed a bit, but things started to go ording to the original event. Because of this, Jude erased his idle thoughts and set his eyes somewhere than Cordelia and the fairies. The next sequence in the original event. Cordelia hesitated for a moment, but eventually decided to ept the fairies¡¯ invitation. But right after that¡­ ¡°Kkeheong!¡± A beast¡¯s roar burst. The roar was close to that of a wolf¡¯s, but it wasn¡¯t a wolf. Bicorn. Also called a corrupted unicorn, it is ascivious monster in the form of a horse with two horns. The appearance was on schedule. But not everything was the same as the original. ¡°Cordelia!¡± As he jumped up from the bushes, Jude shouted. He had no choice but to do so. He ran towards Cordelia and shouted again. ¡°Get out of the water!¡± The roar of the Bicorn resounded. But there was nothing at the spot where the Bicorn appeared in the original event. I looked around in a hurry, but it was the same. What it meant. It showed up, but the Bicorn didn¡¯t know where it was. There was something that came to my mind at the moment. It was intuition. That¡¯s why Jude yelled to Cordelia to get out of the water. ¡°Kkeheong!¡± The moonlight reflected on the water¡¯s surface was broken. The Bicorn spurted right on the water and rushed towards Cordelia. ¡°Cordelia!¡± Jude kicked the ground. And at the same time, the Bicorn with purple hair and a red mane rammed Cordelia with its head. It was a sudden collision. The fairies shrieked and scattered, and Cordelia soars upwards instead of being bounced off, and was thrown straight over the Bicorn¡¯s back. It was telekinesis, one of the specialties of the Bicorn. ¡°Kkehihing!¡± As soon as it captured Cordelia, itughed pleasantly and burst out of the water, trying to leave as its eyes scattered a red re. But Cordelia did not tolerate it. ¡°Stop!¡± Cordelia twisted her body. She struggled fearlessly on the Bicorn¡¯s back and threw herself into the water, away from the telekinesis. At the moment the water sshed hard with a thud, Cordelia, who fell plop into the water, rose up and floundered. The Bicorn saw such Cordelia. The fairies screamed, and Jude sprinted towards Cordelia and the Bicorn. And Cordelia yelled. ¡°Out-!¡± It was an urgent cry. Shouting without a chance to add ¡®-boxer¡¯, she hurriedly took off the towel she was wearing. Red leotard. There was nothing to be embarrassed about because it¡¯s actually a one-piece swimsuit. Cordelia spread out the towel. The fairies looked at the towel reflexively, and so did the Bicorn. But Jude didn¡¯t. The moment Cordelia had cried out, Jude understood. Because he figured out why Cordelia was calling him and what she was asking him for! ¡°Light!¡± Inside the towel was arge drawn magic circle. A 1-star magic that only illuminates light at best. However, the magic circle was not drawn for no reason. Several forms amplified the magic. The mana that Cordelia poured covered the whole ce with a pure and intense light. ¡°Kyaa!¡± ¡°Kkeheong!¡± The fairies and Bicorn who were exposed to the vast amount of light closed their eyes and groaned. It was just a moment, but it waspletely blinding. And it was the same for Cordelia, who kept her eyes open to focus the light on the Bicorn. But only one person. Jude didn¡¯t close his eyes when Cordelia shouted. At the moment when the fairies¡¯ scream was cut off, Jude took off from the ground. Thud! Thirty-Six World Steps. The footwork skill using inner Qi elerated Jude. The distance between Jude and the Bicorn was quickly reduced. The Bicorn opened its eyes. But it still couldn¡¯t see properly. Jude rushed at the monster and swallowed his breath. For a moment, he cut off his breath and gave strength to his clenched fist. ¡®ughter.¡¯ It doesn¡¯t stop at driving it away. Now that he¡¯se this far, he has to take him down. Jude did not pull out the ceremonial sword from his waist. He used the Sun¡¯s Ne to give strength to his hands that were wrapped around like a knuckle. Bang! Jude¡¯s fist hit precisely in the middle of the Bicorn¡¯s forehead. It let out a shriek, but it was not yet over. Using the Thirty-Six World Steps, Jude poured a series of attacks on the Bicorn¡¯s head. ¡®Lightning Punch!¡¯ One of the mugong taught by his father in that three days. It was seven consecutive strikes made up of the first four hyper-punches and ater three hyper-punches, which meant seven quick punches in the span of one lightning strike. T/N: I¡¯ll be honest¡­I have little idea what those ¡°first four hyper-punches¡± or ter three hyper-punches¡± are. They were written in the chapter as ??? and ???, and my best guess is those are some kind of punches. The original text was this: ? ? ??? ? ??? ?? ?? ??? ?? ???? ????, ???? ???? ????????? ???. Papapak! Jude¡¯s fist continuously struck the Bicorn¡¯s forehead and cheeks. If it was an ordinary punch, it wouldn¡¯t even damage the Bicorn, who canpete with the bear with its strength, so what Jude used was mugong powered by his inner Qi. Moreover, the sacred power of the Sun¡¯s Ne did not tolerate the existence of the Bicorn belonging to the demons. ¡°Kkeheongheong!¡± All seven consecutive strikes hit, but it was, after all, a Bicorn. It stumbled for a moment before it shook its head and tried to hit Jude. It was quick and powerful. But at the same time, it was the attack Jude had been waiting for. Hnng! The Bicorn¡¯s horns struck the air. Jude, who gained distance by using the Thirty-Six World Steps, was satisfied. It wasn¡¯t because I was proud of myself for just evading the attack. Because I¡¯ve done my job. I¡¯ve made enough time. A short time. Jude exhaled. He smiled at the voice he looked forward to. ¡°!¡± Cordelia. The dashing red magic missile burned through the darkness. As it burned its way forward, it exploded at the same time it hit the head of the Bicorn! Boom! Boom! Boom! There was a roar. In the aftermath of the explosion, not only the surrounding air but also the surface of the water were shaken, and the fairies screamed. But instead of letting out an exmation, Jude and Cordelia immediately prepared for the next step. Because neither side experienced a level-up effect. It was very likely that it was still alive! ¡°!¡± Cordelia continuously chanted spells. She, who stalled the Bicorn¡¯s feet and made it fall, clenched her teeth instead of preparing for the next magic. She had a headache. It was unreasonable to chant magic continuously in the aftermath of using the fire missile. The Bicorn did not miss the gap when Cordelia staggered. With a burning tumultuous glow in its eyes between its burnt and messed up head, it rushed towards Cordelia. ¡®As nned.¡¯ It was true that she had a headache. It was no lie that it was too much to chant magic continuously. However, chanting magic wasn¡¯t the only thing that she could do. ¡°!¡± Cordelia shouted as she stretched out the magic stone. The magic stone was made by Count Chase himself and contained the magic of . It was originally given to her to use if Jude does some bullshit, and the magic stone boasted a very powerful and sturdy ability as it contained her father¡¯s heart. ¡°Kkewo-euk!¡± The Bicorn that was tied by the translucent golden string, fell into the water and struggled to regain its footing. ¡°Ugh.¡± Cordelia was not entirely unharmed either. She was already staggering, and the ssh of water caused by the Bicorn when it struggled and kicked made her fall down. But now she was in battle. Yellow Storm¡¯s head did not stop for a moment. ¡®About 10 seconds.¡¯ The time when the can withstand the Bicorn¡¯s struggle. ¡®About 15 seconds.¡¯ The time needed for Cordelia to use the spell again. It was enough. Time was not running out. ¡®Right? Outboxer009.¡¯ One of the two things passed down by Count Bayer. Something I already heard in the carriage. That¡¯s why I was looking forward to this moment. Outboxer did not disappoint Yellow Storm¡¯s expectations. When Cordelia caught the Bicorn¡¯s attention, he was already in preparation. ¡®I learned two things.¡¯ Count Bayer properly recognized Jude¡¯s talent. At the same time, he also did not make a mistake of overlooking Jude¡¯s physical condition because he was blinded by Jude¡¯s talent. Therefore, he taught only two things for three days. ¡®Continuous strikes for normal use.¡¯ Lightning Punch. It was a good technique. The power was not weak either, because a sessful strike lets you pour seven consecutive punches in the blink of an eye. But in the end, it was just a normal attack skill. ¡®One shot for the killing hit.¡¯ In fact, it wasn¡¯t the right skill for the current Jude. The preparation time for using one shot took too long. Moreover, during the preparation time to concentrate the power, he had to be virtually defenseless. But that¡¯s why it was so powerful. Lightning Punch could not evenpare to it in terms of power. Cordelia flopped down into the water and looked at Jude. She smiled at the golden sh of light centered on Jude¡¯s fist. ¡®Lightning Strike Fist.¡¯ Lightning burst from his fist. Jude advanced forward. A lightning bolt dropped over the Bicorn¡¯s head. Chapter 18 - EPISODE 18 – SACRED ROD (3)

Chapter 18 - EPISODE 18 ¨C SACRED ROD (3)

Kwakwang! A spray of water soared with the lightning strike. As the water surface broke down, the water that soared upwards poured down like a shower. Cordelia gasped while she sank to her knees in the water, and afterwards, breathed a sigh of relief. ¡®We killed it.¡¯ We defeated the Bicorn. The level-up effect has not yet emerged, but the situation was different from before. It¡¯s practically finished. ¡®We killed it.¡¯ A smile spread across Cordelia¡¯s face. Yellow Storm herself admitted that deep down, she was a simple-minded person. Because of that, she fought with the Bicorn and was very happy with the fact that they killed it. ¡®He¡¯s a little bit cool, isn¡¯t he?¡¯ In front of Cordelia. She could see Jude standing with his fist still in a hitting position. Just as Cordelia was an absolute beauty, Jude was an iparably handsome boy. What she had seen was a handsome-looking Jude standing in a cool posture, so it was quite a nice scenery. ¡®If he wasn¡¯t Outboxer, my heart would have been pounding.¡¯ Cordelia giggled as she swept up her wet hair because of the water that poured, and then opened her mouth. She was going to ask for help in standing up. But right after that. ¡°Kuheok!¡¯ Jude, who had stiffened while still in his punching position, suddenly gasped for air and then copsed. ¡°Ou-outboxer?!¡± The startled Cordelia hurriedly stood up and forced the drooping Jude to rise. ¡°Hey, are you okay? Hey?¡± ¡°Kuhak¡­kak¡­¡± Jude was panting heavily as his mouth tried to say something, but it was hard to understand at that moment. Therefore, Cordelia held and dragged Jude as they got out of the water. ¡°Kuha¡­haa¡­Sun, Sun¡¯s Ne¡­¡± When sheid him down on the ground, it became more difficult to tell whether his condition slightly improved, or he was squeezing hisst breaths. His right hand, that held on the Sun¡¯s Ne with strength, was about to droop. At that moment, Cordelia widely opened her eyes, shook her head and shouted. ¡°Hey! No! You can¡¯t die! I¡¯m not getting any mementos!¡± ¡°Tha..that¡­kuhak¡­ Che¡­chest.¡± Jude made a gasping sound again and drooped his arm, and Cordelia blinked at that moment as she understood what Jude was trying to say. Bring the Sun¡¯s Ne back to his chest. Cordelia hurriedly unraveled the Sun¡¯s Ne that Jude was holding and hung it around his neck. ¡°Don¡¯t die. All right? Huh?¡± As she continued talking while using and checking if it was effective, Jude¡¯s fast breathing lessened and got calmer. ¡°Haa¡­I, I thought¡­I was dying.¡± Jude stuttered as he touched the Sun¡¯s Ne in his chest and panted. Lightning Strike Fist. The principle was really simple, it was quick and powerful like the strike of a lightning. ¡®Gather strength in one ce and then hit.¡¯ To be exact, it was a simple but powerful technique that gathers strength from all over the body into one ce and then strikes the enemy. Although he was sessful in somehow defeating the Bicorn due to the power of the Lightning Strike Fist added to the anti-demon effect of the Sun¡¯s Ne, the aftermath of using Lightning Strike Fist was not small. Though Jude had used the footwork skill and mugong, he has yet to fully recover from his Gueumjulmaek. ¡®This is what happens if I use the inner Qi.¡¯ I didn¡¯t know exactly what the effect was, but I felt like my heart was going to stop because of the chill in my whole body. Fortunately, Cordelia was next to me, or I would have died holding the Sun¡¯s Ne in my hand if there was no one else here. ¡°Haa, you¡¯re not some Iron Man.¡± Understanding the situation at a nce, Cordelia flopped down next to Jude. It was because the rough tension had broken thanks to the fact that Jude was safe now. But at that exact moment. Several white rings of light emerged around the bodies of Jude and Cordelia. It was the level-up effect. ¡°Ah, we killed it.¡± Cordelia said absentmindedly and Jude nodded. Perhaps the Bicorn, which lost consciousness after being hit by Jude, finally stopped breathing due to its injuries and breathing difficulties ovepping. ¡°Let me see, is it level 14 now? Yours is 15.¡± When Cordelia asked, counting her fingers, Jude answered with only a nod. Since there was no status window, it was hard to know the level unless they memorized it or have it measured at the level temple. ¡®Anyway¡­it¡¯s improving a little.¡¯ Levelling up fully restores your health and mana ¨C no, there was no such kind of service, but somehow, the stats have increased. Whether it was due to a rise in physical strength or a cebo effect, it felt like the recovery was faster. ¡®Then next is¡­¡¯ In the original event, Cordelia protects the fairies and drives out the Bicorn, and the impressed fairies invite Cordelia to the Fairy Queen¡¯s night banquet. ¡®Since I was the one who killed it, wouldn¡¯t they more or less give me more rewards?¡¯ It was when I was thinking about it. ¡°Wow! They killed the Bicorn!¡± ¡°I have to report to the queen!¡± ¡°But who else is this?¡± ¡°Handsome!¡± ¡°It¡¯s thrilling, it¡¯s always fresh, and being handsome is the best!¡± The fairies, who fled and ran away, gathered next to Jude and Cordelia and squealed again. Because Jude was not in a position to speak properly, Cordelia cleared her throat and spoke. ¡°This is my fianc¨¦. He was keeping watch for any danger while I took a bath.¡± The lines were prepared in advance in case he got discovered. After hearing Cordelia¡¯s exnation, the fairies looked around among themselves and said. ¡°She¡¯s engaged!¡± ¡°You were watching? You didn¡¯t steal a nce?¡± ¡°But is she really taking a bath while wearing clothes?¡± ¡°Hey, this is not the time. We have to let the Queen know quickly.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right.¡± Fortunately, there was someone who seemed to be smart. The one with green butterfly wings flew close to Cordelia¡¯s face and continued to talk. ¡°Hey, hey, you, what¡¯s your name? I¡¯m Adele.¡± ¡°Adele, I¡¯m Yello¡­Cordelia. This is Jude.¡± ¡°Yellocordelia?¡± ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Okay, Cordelia. Anyway, you and your fianc¨¦ killed the Bicorn who was always bothering us. I was going to invite you because you were so pretty, but now I have to absolutely invite you. Come with us to see the Queen. You will be rewarded by the Queen.¡± It was the flow we wanted. Cordelia seemed to be yelling as she pumped her fist and then looked back at Jude, and Jude nced back with eyes that seemed to be proud of their hard work. ¡°Are you going with us?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll go with you.¡± As Cordelia smiled and answered beautifully, Adele simultaneously smiled, as if she was in a good mood. ¡°Yes, then follow us with your fianc¨¦. You have to go into the water to get to where the Queen is.¡± The fairies were called a race that could be found everywhere and nowhere. It was because they were beings that crossed the walls of dimension and space. ¡°Can you go?¡± ¡°Roughly.¡± When Cordelia asked quietly, Jude nodded his head and raised himself up. ording to the original event, time would not pass so much in the Fairy Queen¡¯s residence, but in any case, this incident caused a littlemotion so a group led by Dahlia will soone. It was good to finish the work before that. ¡°Grab my hand, I¡¯ll help you up.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± Jude entrusted her to help him stand up by holding her hand. ¡°This way.¡± As theughing fairies got ahead, Cordelia who was diligently chasing them, spoke. ¡°By the way.¡± ¡°Uh.¡± ¡°You defeated the Bicorn?¡± ¡°I killed it.¡± ¡°Then the horns wille out, right?¡± ¡°If you pull it out, it wille out.¡± In the game, the horn was dropped as soon as I defeated it, but this was reality here. ¡°One is mine.¡± ¡°Yes, the remaining one is mine.¡± Fortunately, the Bicorn had two horns. Like the unicorn¡¯s horn, it had many uses, but the mostmon use was to smelt it to make a dagger. The items made from the Bicorn¡¯s horns could cause a variety of status conditions, including confusion, charmed, etc. After their business with the Fairy Queen is over, she¡¯ll ask Dahlia and the escorts to take care of the Bicorn¡¯s corpse. Just imagining it made her feel better, and Cordelia smiled. ¡°It¡¯s so clear.¡± ¡°What? The water?¡± Instead of answering, Jude just smiled, and Cordelia followed the fairies into the water after tilting her head a few times. *** I can breathe in the water ¨C something like that did not happen. I just closed my eyes and when I opened them, I was in apletely different ce. It was arge open space nestled amongrge and small trees. It was a ce that felt very cozy despite the fact that it was in the woods, because the soft and warm yellow light melted the darkness like the moonlight. Dozens of fairies were gathered in the open area, and they were dancing, singing, and bustling about, as if the night banquet was already in full swing. ¡°I feel like I¡¯m in the country of dolls.¡± Cordelia blushed slightly and spoke quietly, but Jude decided to ignore her for now. It was because this was not the online chat, and it was kind of hard to make fun of her offline now. In any case, giants appeared at the ce where palm-sized fairies gathered and yed, forcing everyone¡¯s eyes to naturally focus on the two. ¡°What is it, what is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a human.¡± ¡°But she¡¯s pretty. And he¡¯s handsome.¡± ¡°Are you today¡¯s invited singer?¡± ¡°They¡¯re soaking wet.¡± As they were chattering among themselves, Adele stepped forward and shouted to everyone. ¡°We have to take her to the Queen. They defeated the Bicorn!¡± As they stepped forward, a group of four fairies also stepped forward and pushed the other fairies away. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go. This way.¡± Moving behind Adele, the road opened up among the fairies like the miracle of Moses. And how far along did we go? Strangely enough, the surroundingndscape changed little by little every step. The surrounding fairies diminished and became fewer every meter, and the gap between the trees narrowed, as if we were walking on a narrow corridor. And a few steps again. When we stopped, Adele, who had taken the lead, was also gone. We were in a small round room. Instead of a ceiling, a dark night sky was above, and the moonlight that came down gently lit up the surroundings beautifully. ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since I¡¯ve seen a human child in person.¡± The Fairy Queen was young and beautiful. She had colorful butterfly wings with various colors, and blue eyes and a brilliant blonde hair as if it was made by melting gold. With white skin, she was wearing a grass-green dress and holding a cane studded with jewelry in her hand. ¡°I greet the Fairy Queen.¡± When Jude bowed and greeted, Cordelia was flustered and greeted too, and the Fairy Queen seemed to smile cutely. Like all fairies, she was only the size of a palm, but the Queen is still a queen. You could feel the aura unique to those who are leaders of a group. ¡°I heard the story from Adele.¡± For the fairies that could even freely cross space, even time was not apletely forbidden realm. At a time when Jude and Cordelia were taking a few steps, the Fairy Queen had met Adele and talked to her in a gap of time. ¡°The Bicorn has been one of our oldest troubles. I can¡¯t help but award you for taking care of it.¡± At the Fairy Queen¡¯s words, Jude was slightly nervous. In the original event, the focus was on the fact that Cordelia devotedly protected the fairies, rather than the fact that she kicked out the Bicorn. ¡®What if she gives her something else?¡¯ Because what Jude and Cordelia needed right now was the Sacred Rod, Moonlight. However, unlike Jude, Cordelia¡¯s eyes were glistening with anticipation without thinking of anything else. ¡°Cordelia, I think this would be good for you, the wizard.¡± When the Fairy Queen shook her hand elegantly, the roots of the trees covering the floor opened, and a wooden stick with silver jewels, short to be called a rod, but long enough to be a cane, came out. ¡®Moonlight!¡¯ Jude and Cordelia cheered almost simultaneously in their hearts. ¡°It¡¯s an unusual item, but it¡¯s too big for us to use. It would be better to be in the hands of those who have good hearts than to be left in a ce like this. Take it.¡± Fortunately, it was a line simr to the original event. Jude was relieved, and Cordelia smiled and reached out to the Moonlight. ¡°And Jude, I will reward you too.¡± By the time Cordelia was happy to hold the Moonlight tightly in her hands, the Fairy Queen looked back at Jude and spoke. From this point on, it was not in the original event, but Jude had more expectations than worries. ¡®If I get anything, it¡¯s a plus.¡¯ It is different from Moonlight. Originally, I shouldn¡¯t have received anything, but honestly, it was a profit no matter what I will receive. ¡®What will the fairies give me? Fairy Stone? Fairy Whispers?¡¯ It was the time to think of these and other items in my head. ¡°Take it.¡± When the Fairy Queen waved her hand gracefully again, this time, a branch automatically moved and held out a silver ring to Jude. Soon after, Jude¡¯s eyes opened wide. ¡®Don¡¯t tell me?¡¯ The identity of the ring. Cordelia was also surprised. If Moonlight was a B-rank item, the item in front of us was actually an A-rank, but in a sense, closer to an S-rank. ¡®Fairy Steps!¡¯ The effect was simple. The number of daily uses varies from one to three depending on the user¡¯s ability, but the user can jump over space. In fact, from the game¡¯s perspective, it was a rather vague exnation. However, the walkthrough site, Legend of Heroes Wall, summarized the Fairy Steps as follows. Ignore enemy attacks. The moment the attackes in, you will be temporarily moved to another space topletely avoid the attack. What was different from normal evasion was the fact that there was no need at all to move on the spot. It was indeed a tremendous effect, even if there was a daily limit in the number of uses. ¡®You¡¯re giving me this?!¡¯ Of course, defeating the Bicorn was not an easy task. Maybe the Bicorn caused more trouble to the fairies than I could have imagined. But even so, the reward felt a bit excessive. ¡°This has the same reason as the Moonlight. Moreover, the Fairy Steps were originally made to be used by other races.¡± And it wasn¡¯t just that. The Fairy Queen, who can transcend space and even time, felt a strong fate from Jude and Cordelia, though it was limited. ¡®It¡¯s touching.¡¯ The fate of the world. The fate of these two wasn¡¯t going to just end with an individual¡¯s destiny. ¡®If I had been a little stronger, I would have known more.¡¯ The Fairy Queen in this world wasn¡¯t just one, and she was still a young Fairy Queen. But she was definitely a queen, and it was also true that she felt a strong fate. Therefore, the Fairy Queen did not hesitate to pass on the Fairy Steps and Moonlight to Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Thank you.¡± When Jude carefully epted the ring and bowed to her, the Fairy Queen smiled gracefully and then looked at Cordelia. I¡¯m happy to get an unexpected high-end item, but in a word, I was envious and slightly upset because Jude received a higher-than-expected item. Though her appearance was cute, but the Fairy Queen made a deeper smile. ¡°There¡¯s a reason why this is the reward.¡± Cordelia flinched at the Fairy Queen¡¯s words, but soon nodded. In fact, Cordelia roughly knew the reason. She was a wizard, and Jude was a warrior. It was only natural to give a wizard a magic wand, and an evasive item to a closebat warrior. But the Fairy Queen suddenly shook her head. She knew what Jude and Cordelia were thinking, and it wasn¡¯t wrong, but there was actually one more reason. ¡°I like a handsome man more than a pretty woman.¡± The Fairy Queen was a fairy after all. The Fairy Queen wore an elegant smile in front of Jude and Cordelia who looked at her with a nk expression. Chapter 19 - EPISODE 19 – SACRED ROD (4)

Chapter 19 - EPISODE 19 ¨C SACRED ROD (4)

Time had passed, and when Jude and Cordelia opened their eyes, they suddenly found themselves sitting in the valley at midnight instead of the fairies¡¯ banquet hall. ¡°Achoo!¡± We were in a daze for a while, but when Jude suddenly sneezed, Cordelia came to her senses and looked around. ¡°The valley? Are we back? The banquet¡¯s over, right?¡± They had been desperate earlier, but now, Jude nodded to herment. ¡°That¡¯s right, it¡¯s the valley. The banquet is over. It¡¯s over!¡± ¡°Wow! It¡¯s over! It¡¯s finally over!¡± Cordelia jumped up and down in the water and hugged Jude. He embraced Cordelia too, as they both felt emotional and relieved. For twelve hours, Jude and Cordelia spent their time at the fairies¡¯ banquet hall after their meeting with the Fairy Queen. ¡°Ah, f*ck. I will never sing?Little Star?again.¡± Cordelia shuddered as she was fed up with it. She was made to sing it not just 6 times but more than a dozen times. Moreover, it wasn¡¯t just?Little Star. ¡°Yellow Storm.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Do you only know the nursery rhymes?¡± She had sung?Three Bears?after?Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Cordelia said with a snort. ¡°No, it¡¯s not? I know a lot of other songs. I adjusted it to that of a fairy¡¯s level, okay?¡± ¡°Okay¡­well, it was cute.¡± In fact, Jude himself could only sing in full a handful of popr Korean songs. Judeughed and moved on, and Cordelia pushed Jude away from their hug and then grumbled. ¡°Moving on, I really thought I was dying. In the game, I didn¡¯t understand the true meaning of the line, ¡®Time has passed,¡¯ that was said in passing. But now, I realize that this isn¡¯t something a normal human couldpletely do.¡± ¡°I agree.¡± ying with dozens of fairies felt like taking care of dozens of beagles at the same time. Cordelia was made to sing endlessly, but both also had to struggle hard among the fairies, especially Jude, who was well liked because of his handsomeness. ¡°The Fairy Queen too, was a fairy.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Jude could still remember in his eyes the elegant-looking figure of the Fairy Queen smiling and even encouraging the fairies trying to undress him. If the Fairy Queen hadn¡¯te out in person, I would¡¯ve been very thankful to her. ¡°Haa¡­¡± ¡°Huu¡­¡± Sighing almost at the same time, Jude and Cordelia soon sneered andughed. ¡°Regardless.¡± ¡°Mission clear.¡± The two did a high five before looking at their own loot. Cordelia got her hands on the sacred rod, Moonlight. Moonlight is an item that can be recharged by converting moonlight into mana. It was a very useful tool for wizards who always had to suffer from constantly running out of mana. ¡®It has a built-in lethal move too.¡¯ It was the true reason why Jude tried to get the Moonlight. It would clearly y a big part in their fight against the Devil¡¯s Hand. ¡®And the Fairy Steps.¡¯ Looking at the silver ring on his right index finger, a smile was drawn on his face. The number of uses was limited to once per day at Jude¡¯s current level, but that alone was something to be very grateful of. In essence, it was like having another life. ¡°Hehe, the Bicorn¡¯s good too.¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s good.¡± Twelve hours have passed at the fairies¡¯ banquet, but in reality, only ten seconds have passed. Jude and Cordelia looked back in the direction where the Bicorn copsed. With faces mixed with joy and awkwardness, they looked at the Bicorn¡¯s corpse floating halfway in the water. The reason was simple. ¡°Umm¡­I suppose we¡¯ll have to pull it out from there?¡± At Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude nodded. ¡°Because it doesn¡¯t drop like in the game.¡± But it was also a good thing. When you defeat the Bicorn, you can get two horns. In the game however, it was very natural for it to be an umon drop. ¡®I defeated it, but I only got one horn or didn¡¯t get any at all.¡¯ Whereas in reality, you could obtain not only the horns but everything else too. ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much. The knights would do the collecting.¡± ¡°Oh yeah. We¡¯re the children of counts, right?¡± Cordelia felt the sweetness of power again. ¡°Miss! Young master!¡± ¡°Where are you! Young master!¡± ¡°Miss!¡± From afar came the voices of the knights. It would be strange for them to not notice the bursting of a tremendous amount of light and the roaring sounds. ¡°Miss! Where are you! Lady Cordelia!¡± ¡°Young master Jude!¡± Dahlia and Maja¡¯s voices gradually approached. Cordelia made a long face and said while looking at Jude. ¡°We are¡­¡± ¡°Yes, we are.¡± ¡°¡­in a lot of trouble, right?¡± ¡°In a lot of trouble.¡± We¡¯ll certainly not be scolded¡­ It didn¡¯t stop at the two of us stealthily sneaking out, but we also fell into the water and made a mess of ourselves. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Huh? Do you perhaps have a n so that we won¡¯t get scolded?¡± ¡°No, just¡­¡± ¡°Just?¡± ¡°If you give up, it¡¯s easy.¡± Jude smiled refreshingly, and Cordelia gave him a middle finger. *** Jude and Cordelia were exceedingly scolded. Sir Zebeck, a knight from Count Chase, was in charge of the party¡¯s journey. Count Bayer and Count Chase had put him up as their proxy, and so, he issued Jude and Cordelia a ban on going out of the carriage. ¡°If the young master and miss would find it necessary to spend some time alone together, this humble knight would offer to make it possible.¡± In front of Sir Zebeck who spoke very seriously, Jude and Cordelia could only bow their heads. But it wasn¡¯t really that bad for them. In the first ce, there were no more matters that we persistently need to go out and take care of in our journey to Langesthei. Rather, it was good for the two to discuss their future ns while being alone together in the carriage. ¡®I¡¯m sorry for Dahlia, but¡­¡¯ Sir Zebeck severely scolded Dahlia for forgetting her escort duty and exposing the two to danger. He imposed on her a pay cut measure as punishment. Cordelia worked hard to defend her, but it was inevitable. ¡®However¡­is it fortunate that our public opinion is favorable?¡¯ The public opinion referred here was the knights of Count Bayer and Count Chase. In reality, they now didn¡¯t find it surprising for the two to go to the valley. It was because of the circting rumors about how Jude and Cordelia deeply yearn for each other sincest week¡¯s daytime runaway. What the knights paid attention to, was the fact that Jude and Cordelia defeated the Bicorn together. ¡°Young master, you¡¯ve be very strong.¡± ¡°Ha, the young master inherited the count¡¯s talent after all.¡± In the memories of Count Bayer¡¯s retainers and knights, Jude was always sick and couldn¡¯t even freely go outside. They were naturally thrilled that Jude was not only healthy now, but that he could also defeat not just a goblin, but a Bicorn. Especially in Jun¡¯s case, as he was delighted and in a hurry to write and send a letter to the Count. Count Chase¡¯s knights rejoiced in a slightly different sense, focusing more on the fact that ¡®Jude has be stronger,¡¯ than on the fact that Cordelia defeated the Bicorn with Jude. Cordelia was Count Chase¡¯s youngest child, and a pretty woman that everyone in the family sincerely loved. Since Cordelia was going to marry an always sick man like Jude, no one had spoken openly. However, a few were concerned and worried, and there was also a lot of dissatisfaction. Well, how can you not be happy now that Jude was showing quite a reliable figure? Sir Zebeck also immediately wrote a letter to Count Chase after scolding Jude and Cordelia hard. ¡°I like him now.¡± It was a short and boldment, but it really was Sir Zebeck¡¯s respectful feelings. Anyhow, it was sorted out to some extent, and half a day passed. Jude was lingeringly sick inside the carriage. ¡°It¡¯s a cold.¡± As Cordelia had brieflymented, Jude caught a cold. It was caused by having fallen into the valley water on an autumn night, but the biggest cause was wandering around while wet. ¡°Brrr¡­¡± Jude was covered with a nket and had a wet towel on his head. He was half-asleep as he was lying on the carriage seat, and Cordelia clicked her tongue. ¡°I didn¡¯t get sick.¡± What about it? It was the perfect time for Jude to talk back to her, but he had to agonize over his headache. ¡°I¡¯ll change the towel.¡± Cordelia personally changed Jude¡¯s towel, and wiped the sweat off on visible parts like his forehead and neck. ¡°Th¡­thank¡­¡± ¡°Yes, yes.¡± ¡°If¡­Gueumjul¡­maek¡­healed¡­¡± ¡°Yes, yes, I¡¯ll carry you, hit you, cross the wall, stand in the front line, and nurse you when you¡¯re sick, right?¡± When Cordelia spoke fluently, Jude had a nk look, and she soon had a littleugh. ¡°I remember everything, so be prepared?¡± At any rate, she was very happy to have fought back against Jude. ¡°For now, just go to sleep without thinking.¡± Cordelia arranged the towel and sat down again, opening a book. Jude looked at her for a moment before closing his eyes. Late in the afternoon, Jude barely opened his eyes and stood up. He shook Cordelia who was dozing off on the opposite side. ¡°Hey, hey. Wake up. Stop drooling.¡± ¡°Uh?¡± Cordelia quickly lifted her head and wiped off her drool while floundering. ¡®She¡¯s really pretty.¡¯ She was pretty even though she was drooling and floundering. After a moment¡¯s thought, Jude looked outside the carriage window and continued to talk. ¡°Let¡¯s get down to business.¡± ¡°Uh, oh. Huh¡­are you okay?¡± Cordelia shook her head and came to her senses. She opened the lid of the water bottle and asked. ¡°Oh, after a good night¡¯s sleep, I think I feel better. This guy¡¯s also effective.¡± When he lifted the Sun¡¯s Ne from his neck, Cordeliaughed and spoke. ¡°What¡¯s the 2nd?cure to Gueumjulmaek?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°It¡¯s Muan Sweet Water.¡± After a certain amount of big talk, the two became ready to discourse. Jude sat down and opened the lid of his water bottle as he said. ¡°Perhaps if we go like this, we¡¯ll arrive at Langesthei in three days.¡± Even if they slowly traveled and run for several days by carriage, their destination was still quite a distance to reach because they both came from the faraway town of Bailon. Cordelia used her fingers to count the days and said as she blinked her eyes. ¡°Uh, so is it about four days before the event starts?¡± ¡°Perhaps.¡± Jude and Cordelia were currently a day ahead of the Cordelia in the main scenario. The events in Langesthei were more than ten, fromrge events to small ones. But Cordelia was talking about only one event now. The first main event in Cordelia¡¯s main scenario was ¡®The Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s Attack.¡¯ This is how the original story unfolds. Minors from the 12 northern families gathered in themercial city of Langesthei. Not all children from the 12 families gathered, like Jude who was absent in the original scenario. There were quite a few families who have been absent for reasons such as ack of minors or being busy at home. In Cordelia¡¯s main scenario, the number of families that participated was only half, or six. With Jude added to this, seven families were now gathered. ¡°Langesthei does not belong to any of the 12 families.¡± It was the reason why it was chosen as the social gathering ce of the 12 families¡¯ members. But not all 12 families in the north were on good terms. After all, it was just the 12 strongest families in the north, and not because they had a great bond or solidarity amongst each other. Depending on the location, there were some families that werepetitors, and in severe cases, had hostile rtions. ¡®We are the exception.¡¯ Engagement and political marriages weremon amongst the 12 families, but there was only a handful of families that really got along, like Count Bayer and Count Chase. ¡°In addition, as you know, this event is very hard from the start. To undergo pain from the beginning of the story¡­that is to say, how the scenario urs.¡± As for the conclusion, the attack of the Devil¡¯s Hand seeded. They killed some of the children from the 12 northern families, and after kidnapping some, they evenmitted brutalities like using the victims as a sacrifice for summoning the devil. The world of?Legend of Heroes 2?was moving towards Armageddon. In short, it was a world moving towards the end, and one of the starting points was the attack of the Devil¡¯s Hand. ¡°Can we really stop this?¡± The story was a little strange, but Cordelia liked the character Cordelia. That is, she yed as Cordelia several times when she was Yellow Storm. Therefore, Yellow Storm knew the severity of the attack of the Devil¡¯s Hand. The number of enemies mobilized in the immediate attack exceeded 100 by a ridiculous margin. Even though she now possessed Moonlight, she wondered if they could stop the event with just the power of Jude and herself. ¡°Isn¡¯t it better to just cancel the event itself?¡± ¡°How?¡± When Jude asked back, Cordelia opened her lips, but soon shut it again. It was because she couldn¡¯t think of anything. It was doubtful if people will believe Jude and Cordelia if they talk about the attack of the Devil¡¯s Hand. However, it was too much to create a mess in the social gathering itself just for an excuse to cancel it. If that happened, it was highly likely that Jude and Cordelia would be kicked out of the social gatherings. There was no clear evidence that there would be an attack by the Devil¡¯s Hand. Furthermore, it was possible that the story would get messed up if it was dismissed carelessly. The Devil¡¯s Hand could have attacked the 12 families individually. ¡°Ugh.¡± As Cordelia racked her brains and was distressed, Jude clicked his tongue and unfolded a paper. ¡°I have an idea.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°A good idea.¡± ¡°F*ck.¡± When Cordelia got angry, Judeughed and continued to talk, moving his pen on the paper. ¡°First of all, let¡¯s do this.¡± It was a n that the two rotten waters, Jude and Cordelia, can pull off in this world. Jude began to exin, and Cordelia listened attentively. She soon opened her eyes wide. Cordelia had a bright smile on her face. Chapter 20 - EPISODE 20 – DEVIL’S HAND (1)

Chapter 20 - EPISODE 20 ¨C DEVIL¡¯S HAND (1)

Terms used in this chapter (in case you didn¡¯t know): Oppa?¨C what a female calls her biological older brother. It can also be used to call a male friend older than her within the boundary of 10 years. The schedule went smoothly. It¡¯s been three days since the fairies¡¯ night banquet. In the carriage running towards Langesthei, Jude kept his eyes slightly open and looked at the front. Cordelia and Dahlia sat close together, chatting in small voices. ¡®They look like real sisters.¡¯ I already knew that in?Legend of Heroes 2,?the rtionship between the two were more than an escort warrior and an escort target. However, seeing it in reality now feels new to me. ¡®It¡¯s a relief.¡¯ Cordelia wasn¡¯t the only one worried about the troubles she continuously caused to Dahlia ever since the daytime runaway. Back then, Cordelia had said this in my presence with a tearful face. ¡°What should I do if Dahlia hates me?¡± It was her Cordelia self that was more than her being Yellow Storm too. For Cordelia, Dahlia was not just an escort but a real older sister. If you think that you are hated by such a person¡­ ¡®It¡¯s a huge relief.¡¯ Dahlia forgave Cordelia again this time. Of course, Dahlia was not an infinitely virtuous person, so she scolded Cordelia properly this time. Recalling the image of Cordelia who wasughing after being scolded, Jude unwittingly smiled and turned his eyes to the side at that moment. ¡°Ufufu.¡± Jude¡¯s exclusive maid, Maja, was like a real older sister to him. She was curiously watching Jude looking at Cordelia, and her elegant smile was reminiscent of the Fairy Queen. She seemed to be holding back what she wanted to say. ¡®Don¡¯t talk to me, don¡¯t talk to me.¡¯ I could almost tell what she wanted to say. Jude turned away from Maja¡¯s gaze and closed his eyes. And twenty minutester, around the time Jude was blinking and about to fall asleep¡­ ¡°Miss, we have arrived. This is Langesthei!¡± Dahlia¡¯s bright voice suddenly woke Jude up as he opened his eyes and looked around. Cordelia was sticking her head out of the carriage window. ¡°Wow, it¡¯s real!¡± It was Cordelia¡¯s first time in Langesthei. Of course, Yellow Storm had gone in the city back and forth dozens to a hundred times, but just as how Jude felt when he saw Cordelia and Dahlia, there was also an insurmountable gap between the game and reality for her. ¡°Young master should look too.¡± When Maja suggested it, Jude rose from his seat pretending he couldn¡¯t win against her and stuck his head out of the window on the other side. ¡°Wow.¡± It was just as I saw in the game, but in a much grander and more realistic form. The symbol of Langesthei was the huge gate with the 10-meter tall knight statues on the gate¡¯s left and right. People filled the wide road that could fit a couple of carriages at the same time. At the sunlight that broke and scattered throughout the city, Jude took a deep breath. ¡®Langesthei.¡¯ It was the beginning city where Jude and Cordelia¡¯s main scenarios started. It was the same this time. The form and timing were a little different, but the journey to create a new ending will also begin in this city. ¡®Ah, I think I can hear the BGM.¡¯ When you arrive at Langesthei back in the game, the merry theme song of Langesthei would then be ying. As I came back to my seat casually humming, I heard Cordelia humming as well. ¡®Hey, you too?¡¯ ¡®Hey, me too.¡¯ No more words were needed. The two exchanged nces andughed at the same time. Maja and Dahlia who were watching them were puzzled, but they eventually smiled pleasantly. *** ¡°First of all, I have to sell my father.¡± No, this was not a human trafficking story. It was a measure to stop the Devil¡¯s Hand. Jude had prepared an operation that was divided into three stages. As soon as he arrived at Langesthei and took up quarters, instead of lying down, resting, or going shopping in themercial district, he led his entire party, except for Maja, to the Knight Order¡¯s headquarters in the center of the city. ¡®The Order of the Blue Lion.¡¯ The 12 families, led by the margrave, Count Hr?svelgr, were practically self-governing the north, but that did not mean it was an independent area of the kingdom. In cities like Langesthei that do not belong to any of the 12 families, knights dispatched from the royal pce were in charge of public security. ¡°I¡¯m the second son of Count Bayer, Mr. Jude Bayer. I would like to see the knightmander.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± They were in the lobby of the building which was like that of therge top branches rather than the headquarters of the Knight Order. Everyone was bewildered by what Jude had said in front of the squire, who seemed to be handling various applications. ¡°Young master?¡± When Jun asked quietly, as if to rece Maja who was left in their lodgings, Jude raised his hand a little and exined it to the squire. ¡°My father, Count Bayer, wrote a letter to the knightmander. He told me to deliver it myself.¡± When Jude spoke with a low voice, the squire of a simr age to him was surprised. The name of Count Bayer, one of the ten swordmasters of the S?len Kingdom, was a magical word that made the hearts of swordsmen jump, regardless of their nationality. However, that Count Bayer had said that he had asked his son to personally deliver the letter, so it was enough to let Jude meet themander without an appointment. ¡°Please wait for a moment.¡± The squire hurriedly got up and went inside, and Jun asked again. ¡°Young master, was this a secret order of the Count?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not to the point of secrecy.¡± Jude said with a smile, and Cordelia tried hard to conceal her uneasy expression. ¡°Pleasee in. He said he would meet you right now.¡± When the squire came back and spoke, Jude took a small deep breath and turned towards Cordelia. She was the only one here who knew the truth, so she asked with an eye gesture. ¡®Can you do it?¡¯ ¡®I can do it.¡¯ It was just the beginning. The determined Jude told the party to wait and then followed the instructions of the squire to the knightmander¡¯s office. *** The story was simple. Count Bayer identally bumped into a group of demon followers on his way back from the expedition, which resulted in the discovery of a document. It was a cryptographic document, but when interpreted, pointed to a specific ce in Langesthei. ¡°There was nothing else except for a listed ce, so perhaps it¡¯s got something to do with the demon followers.¡± The Blue Lion¡¯smander, who was a typical middle-aged knight, Sir Barua nodded at Jude¡¯s words. He had always respected Count Bayer, and because the count was entangled with the demon followers, which can be said to be the kingdom¡¯s enemies, it was necessary to search that ce. ¡°Well, I understand. I¡¯ll try to move as soon as possible.¡± ¡°Thank you. By the way¡­¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°There is something I would like to ask for.¡± ¡°Tell me.¡± ¡°It¡¯s an immature story, but can Ie with you?¡± ¡°Mr. Bayer?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m ashamed to tell you, but I¡¯ve always been in the house because of my illness, Gueumjulmaek, so I¡¯ve never been involved in a proper family affair. So¡­at least, I would like to participate in this work that my father entrusted to me. What¡¯s more, it¡¯s the Order of the Blue Lion which my father usually praised in many ways, so I think I¡¯ll have a lot to learn¡­¡± As Jude spoke in an earnest tone, he caught a glimpse of Sir Barua¡¯s reaction, which was not bad. Especially in the part where Count Bayer praised the Order of the Blue Lion, the corners of Sir Barua¡¯s mouth was raised. Of course, if Cordelia was here, rather than focusing on the illness, she would havemented on how good of a scammer he was. In any case, Lord Barua hid his delight with a cough, and opened his mouth again. ¡°Hmm. But Mr. Bayer, it can be dangerous.¡± ¡°Yes, I will take the risk. Of course, if it gets really dangerous, I¡¯ll take a step back with Count Bayer¡¯s and Count Chase¡¯s knights so that I won¡¯t cause trouble for the Order of the Blue Lion.¡± ¡°Ah¡­indeed, there was a social gathering of the 12 families.¡± Sir Barua nodded as if his thoughts had gone crazy over hearing Count Chase¡¯s name too. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll allow you to apany me. But like you said, you should just follow us. Do you understand?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind. Thank you very much.¡± When Jude smiled broadly, Sir Barua also smiled pleasantly. Having a connection with Count Bayer in any way was quite a pleasure for any warrior. After two hours has passed. ¡°Let¡¯s start!¡± ¡°Oooh! In the name of the Blue Lion!¡± If this was Korea, it would have had to go throughplicated procedures such as getting warrants, but not in the S?len Kingdom. Members of the Blue Lion, led by the knightmander, Sir Barua, rushed into the building located in the suburbs. Soon, the sounds of fighting, including yelling and screaming, were heard loudly. The knights of Count Bayer and Count Chase, who came all the way here, were somewhat embarrassed, but their eyes changed when the knights began the battle. ¡°Do you think it will work out?¡± ¡°It will work out.¡± As we watched the start of the operation from quite a distance, Cordelia asked in a whisper. In fact, the most important thing was from now on. In Langesthei, the Devil¡¯s Hand gathered in twelve ces. Because more than a hundred people could not be gathered in one ce, they were divided into small groups to lie low. It was only one ce that the Order of the Blue Lion raided. ¡®I only know the locations of six more ces.¡¯ The game did not reveal the locations of all 12 ces. ¡®The problem is how to deliver the locations of the six more ces I know.¡¯ Of course, there was a way to give out the other six locations, saying that Count Bayer found them in some documents, but there were some problems. It was strange that Count Bayer did not immediately give out all seven locations. And the documents that were obtained unexpectedly contained not only the gathering locations but also the information of all the key members of the attack. All of that would seriously feel out of ce. That¡¯s why I prepared this. ¡°It seems to have been sorted out.¡± Jun said when the sound of fighting inside the building stopped. Now that we are going to start searching the ce in earnest, we had to move as well. ¡°Let¡¯s go in too.¡± Cordelia followed Jude as he dered and strode in, and the knights followed them after a moment¡¯s consideration of whether to dissuade him or not. ¡®Okay, let¡¯s start.¡¯ The inside of the building was bizarre, unlike the outside that looked fine. It was because of the symbols and ornaments of demon worship scattered everywhere. As the Blue Lion scoured around the building for more information, Jude slipped in and spotted a box that looked adequate, so he winked at Cordelia. ¡®Now?¡¯ ¡®Now.¡¯ When Jude sent her a sign, Cordelia suddenly ced her hand on her forehead and pretended to stagger. ¡°Aaah, dizzy¡­¡± ¡°Miss?!¡± ¡°So-sorry. I¡¯m a little dizzy¡­¡± It was a performance that was close to reading a Koreannguage book as usual, but the effect was good anyhow. This is because not only their group but also the knights around them were looking at the beautiful and fragile Cordelia, who was dizzy at the sight of the devil¡¯s bust. And in the meantime, Jude quickly moved his hand. As soon as he opened the lid of the box, he lifted up the documents he had brought in his pocket. ¡°Sir Barua! I think I found something!¡± When Jude shouted, Sir Barua and his aides who were looking around the ce rushed to him. The same was true of Jude¡¯s party. ¡°I found these in the box. I think it¡¯s some important documents.¡± Sir Barua received the documents that Jude presented. His expression hardened immediately and then nodded his head. The documents contained information on important members as well as other gathering locations of the Devil¡¯s Hand in Langesthei. ¡°Did it help?¡± ¡°Of course. It was a great help. Your father will be happy too.¡± ¡°I¡¯m d to hear that.¡± Jude breathed a sigh of relief with a bright face at Sir Barua¡¯s loud praise, and Cordelia¡¯s lips cringed. ¡®Wow, that fraudster. Look at him lying through his teeth.¡¯ It was a natural reaction, because Jude had created the documents in the first ce. ¡®Diminish their power.¡¯ He shakes off seven out of the twelve locations. Even if some failed due to information that leaked along the way, it was enough to hurt the Devil¡¯s Hand group in Langesthei. With Sir Barua at the forefront, the Order of the Blue Lion rushed back to their headquarters, and Jude and his party headed back to their quarters. Perhaps some good news will be delivered today or tomorrow. However, the operation is not yet over. ¡°Do you think they¡¯ll give up?¡± ¡°No, because they¡¯re fanatics.¡± The Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s members were the exact definition of a fanatic. In the first ce, they didn¡¯t care about using humans as sacrifices for summoning demons, so they wouldn¡¯t give up easily even if their power diminished. Therefore, Jude looked back at Cordelia and said refreshingly. ¡°So, let¡¯s sell your father now.¡± ¡°What is this crazy bastard saying?¡± In truth, it was far from real selling. Rather thanmitting fraud using Count Chase¡¯s name, it was about getting help. The outline of the second stage of the operation was also simple. ¡®Call up the wizards from the Red Dawn Tower.¡¯ If the Devil¡¯s Hand actually pushes ahead with the attack, we would eventually have to rely on force at the end. That is why we cut the enemy¡¯s power and increase our allies¡¯ strength. In order to defeat ¡°Demonic Human Minos,¡± the attack¡¯s boss, we desperately needed the help of the me Wizard ¡°Ronin.¡± Cordelia, Count Chase¡¯s biological daughter, visits the wizards of the Red Dawn Tower to ask for help. ¡®Demon followers have appeared in Langesthei! Can you help us during the social gathering in case they attack?¡¯ It was a request made by a beautiful girl, who was also the daughter of the Tower Master. In fact, the Order of the Blue Lion were in the middle of rushing around Langesthei, so if you were an ordinary wizard, you¡¯d definitely reply to Cordelia asking for a favor. Because as Sir Barua said, the demon followers were the enemy of the S?len Kingdom. ¡®I had prepared in case they didn¡¯t listen.¡¯ Cordelia took out the letter she had kept in her inner chest pocket and opened it. It was a summons signed by Count Chase, but it was actually fake and not real. It was a felony to counterfeit official documents with the signature of the Tower Master, so it was made to be used in the worst-case scenario. ¡®Wow¡­how did he make this look so real?¡¯ I¡¯ve already admired it several times, but the more I looked at it, the more amazing the forgery skill was. Not only did he copy Count Chase¡¯s signature almost perfectly, but the contents of the letter were just as good as Count Chase¡¯s. No matter how much data and information his biological daughter, Cordelia herself, provides, this was impossible. This is absolutely not the skill of an ordinary citizen A. ¡®Was he really a scammer?¡¯ There was the almost perfect forgery skills, the cunning acting performance, and in the first ce, the idea that you can forge documents. ¡®It¡¯s possible!¡¯ The excited Cordelia exhaled loudly from her nose and clenched her fist. Then, Jude spoke, poking her side. ¡°Hey, I can totally see your delusions. For your information, I was aw-abiding good citizen who paid my taxes well.¡± ¡°Tax? You paid taxes?¡± ¡°Then, will you evade taxes? Stop talking nonsense and let¡¯s begin.¡± We needed time for the wizards near Langesthei toe all the way here. We also had to hurry so that we could meet the schedule of the social gathering. But it was then¡­ ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°Huh? Ah, yes.¡± When Cordelia, who was intently thinking about something, suddenly looked up and answered, Jude looked at her in suspicion for a moment. ¡°Let¡¯s hurry.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± However, it was unreasonable to sneak out, so Jude thought he should take Dahlia and Jun too. Looking at Jude¡¯s back who lead the way, Cordelia continued her delusion that was temporarily interrupted. Tax. Pay taxes. Member of society. Real adult. ¡®O-oppa?¡¯ I had never thought about Outboxer¡¯s age. ¡°Hey! Aren¡¯t youing?¡± ¡°Eh?! N-no¡­ Yes! I¡¯ll go!¡± Cordelia answered hurriedly to Jude¡¯s urging, hastening her footsteps. Chapter 21 - EPISODE 21 – DEVIL’S HAND (2)

Chapter 21 - EPISODE 21 ¨C DEVIL¡¯S HAND (2)

Terms used in this chapter: Tech tree?¨C in strategyputer games, it is a hierarchical visual representation of the possible sequences of upgrades a yer can take. Girin?¨C Also known as?Qilin?in Chinese, or?Kirin?in Japanese. It is an imaginary and mysterious animal in the East which is said to appear when a saint is born in the real world. Many things had happened overnight. Recognizing the seriousness of the problem, the Blue Lion¡¯smander, Sir Barua, mobilized not only the knights, but also the general soldiers of the Langesthei Guard, to simultaneously strike all six branches of the Devil¡¯s Hand. Because of that, the Devil¡¯s Hand didn¡¯t have a way to resist the simultaneous raids. Although more than a hundred people had sneaked in Langesthei, the group had been scattered into twelve branches, with around ten people per branch. The Devil¡¯s Hand were overpowered and literally defeated by the human-wave strategy of the knights and soldiers. As a result, six branches were destroyed. Even though one branch noticed the situation and fled, it was already a huge achievement that six out of seven branches were destroyed. This meant that the Devil¡¯s Hand had suffered a huge blow. ¡°Wha-what the hell happened?¡± In a forest near Langesthei, a middle-aged man, with a bulging and protruding belly, burst into an angry voice inside a forest ranger¡¯s cabin. He is Baron Edgar, a man of wealth among the three fingers of the Devil¡¯s Hand, and one of their longtime sponsors. ¡°Seven branches were robbed overnight! Do you know how much money I spent trying to hide those guys?¡± Moreover, the guys that had hidden this time were not just all sorts of people. All werebatants, so the damage caused to the Devil¡¯s Hand was enormous. ¡°I apologize. We¡¯re still trying to figure out the cause.¡± The demon follower, disguised as a forest ranger, bowed his head at the end of Baron Edgar¡¯s gaze. In fact, he was also bewildered. The Order of the Blue Lion knew the location of the branches too urately. ¡°Oh, damn it! What happened to the rest of the branches?¡± ¡°It¡¯s more dangerous to move right now, so they¡¯ve been hiding somewhere else outside the branches.¡± ¡°Ah¡­my blood pressure¡­ Lord Minos, can we still proceed with this?¡± Baron Edgar, who had raised his anger over the forest ranger, asked as he looked at thest person seated inside the cabin. He is Demonic Human Minos, a distinguished figure from the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s headquarters and is inmand of the entire attack. With a pale skin and bluish-silver hair, he looked like a 20-year-old man. However, Demonic Humans who epted the demons into their bodies cannot be judged just by their appearances. Minos was disguised as Baron Edgar¡¯s nephew, and was dressed in a young nobleman¡¯s attire. He then said with a cold smile. ¡°It¡¯s not whether we can or cannot proceed, Baron Edgar. We will proceed as per my orders.¡± Five of the twelve branches still remain. Their troops were more than halved, but there was no option of not carrying out the attack. As he involuntarily flinched at Minos¡¯ glistening eyes, Baron Edgar shut his mouth and stepped back. He had thought that he¡¯d be hit if he insisted in talking about it any longer. Minos had a smallugh at Baron Edgar¡¯s behavior. Edgar was a loud and frivolous man, but the one thing Minos liked about him was that he could read the atmosphere well. ¡°First of all, we¡¯ve managed to obtain information from our side.¡± At Minos¡¯ words, Baron Edgar pricked his ears again and showed interest, but just as it was before, he kept his energy down and did not pressed Minos to talk. The forest ranger gulped and waited for Minos to talk too. Minos continued his story with a slight frown. ¡°Count Bayer¡¯s son, Jude Bayer, and Count Chase¡¯s daughter, Cordelia Chase, arrived in Langesthei this morning.¡± In the first ce, Minos came to Langesthei to attack the 12 northern families¡¯ social gathering. It was only natural to pay close attention to the entry and exit of the 12 families¡¯ children. ¡°As soon as they took up their quarters, they headed for the Blue Lion¡¯s headquarters. Then the Blue Lion¡¯s raid on the branches began.¡± The timing was too perfect to dismiss it as separate events. Baron Edgar raised a fuss, saying. ¡°Ha, you mean that chap and bitch handed over our branches¡¯ information to the Blue Lion? How the hell did they know?¡± Count Bayer and Count Chase resided in the remote and distant Bailon, which was several days away from Langesthei even by carriage. How did the two Counts there get information on the branches of the Devil¡¯s Hand that hid in Langesthei? Minos couldn¡¯t figure out either, so he thought and spoke. ¡°Bring them alive.¡± Jude and Cordelia. Find out how the two got the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s information. Minos was the only one who knew the exact locations of the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s branches that were hidden in Langesthei. But seven locations, if not all, were exposed. How did they find out? What means did they use to find out? ¡°We¡¯ll figure out when we catch them.¡± There were plenty of ways to y with the human¡¯s feeble mind. Furthermore, Cordelia was originally, one of the two most important targets of the attack. It was just a matter of waiting until the day of the social gathering to capture their prey at once. ¡®I¡¯m looking forward to it.¡¯ What secrets do they hide? What kind of scream will ady born and raised finely in the 12 families have? Minos smiled brightly as he straightened his posture. As he told Baron Edgar himself, there was no option to cancel the raid. It was his duty to carry out the mission stamped by headquarters at any cost. ¡°Two nightster, we will execute the n as scheduled.¡± Speaking with a little modtion in his voice, Minos looked out the window as his ss-like eyes glistened in the moonlight. *** Cordelia looked up at the sky. The clear night sky was full of stars, as if dimming the moonlight. ¡°Haaa¡­.¡± However, what came out of Cordelia¡¯s mouth was not a voice of clear and pure admiration. It was a weary sigh. ¡°My legs hurt.¡± I¡¯ve been walking around all day. In the morning, they and the Order of the Blue Lion raided the branches, and in the afternoon, they met the wizards of the Red Dawn Tower. Not to mention the wizard, Cordelia, but even the trained knights, Jun and Dahlia, were exhausted. As for the other person¡­ ¡°There¡¯s no response. It¡¯s like a corpse.¡± Poking the shoulders of Jude, who had copsed and seemed to have fallen dead on the balcony¡¯s bench, Cordelia giggled freely, and Jude said as he tried to stretch out. ¡°Did you fall behind?¡± ¡°Look at you talk. You have a really foul mouth.¡± Cordelia clicked her tongue, and Jude opened his eyes in chagrin. ¡°Hey, who has a foul mouth?¡± ¡°You.¡± Cordelia replied shamelessly, pushing away Jude¡¯s legs as she sat down at the end of the bench. ¡°I¡¯m d it went well though.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± The wizards of the Red Dawn Tower were more cooperative than expected. Not only did all four wizards we met today promised to cooperate, but they also offered to spread the word around. ¡°Is this the sweetness of money and power?¡± Thebination of things such as being a beautiful girl, her identity as the Tower Master¡¯s daughter, andstly, the Count¡¯s wealth, all gave us more results that we could have imagined. ¡°Maybe they helped me because they were just worried.¡± ¡°That¡¯s better then.¡± It definitely couldn¡¯t have been that. Well, I¡¯m sure they feltpassion for a beautiful girl¡¯s pleading, but if it wasn¡¯t for Cordelia¡¯s status and the money offered by Jude, not even one of the four would have responded. The wizard was a job that belonged to the social elite, so in order to move them, a corresponding price was required. ¡°What¡¯s important is that the second stage was also sessful.¡± Among the four wizards we persuaded today was ¡®me Wizard Ronin¡¯. When you choose the wizard tech tree in?Legend of Heroes 2, he is someone you¡¯ll meet at least once. And as his nickname suggests, he is a promising wizard in me-based magic. Was he around 30 years old? It was quite a sight to see him flustered at Cordelia¡¯s pleas as if he was weak against women. ¡°Minos handles ice and cold air, so Ronin is the best wizard against him.¡± Strictly speaking, Minos was not a wizard. He epted the demon into his body and became a demonic human, so he could use the different abilities he received from the demon. ¡°He¡¯s close to a battle mage. Can Ronin handle it?¡± ¡°Well, Ronin is not the only one here.¡± Sir Barua, the Blue Lion¡¯smander, wasn¡¯t a weakling. The search operation of the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s branches would make him be suspicious of Langesthei¡¯s security, so he definitely wouldn¡¯t overlook the social gathering of the 12 families. ¡®The social gathering won¡¯t be cancelled, so he¡¯ll send a few knights on that day.¡¯ The knight wasn¡¯t just a knight for no reason. Even Dahlia right now could handle more than 10 ordinary soldiers alone. ¡°Besides, there are other children from the 12 families.¡± Rather than the children, they were talking about the escorts that would have been sent by their families. The 12 northern families weren¡¯t just the strongest in name, so they¡¯ll definitely attach talented people as escorts. Cordelia nodded at Jude¡¯s words, but she soon shook her head and said as she clenched her fist. ¡°But don¡¯t let your guard down. In the game, everyone had escorts attached to them, but in the end, the escorts were all shaken off.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s a good mindset. But don¡¯t worry too much. We knew that in the first ce, so we prepared for stages 1 and 2, right?¡± Cut the enemy¡¯s forces in half and reinforce our allies¡¯ forces. Both the 1st?and 2nd?stages went smoothly, so it was a much better situation than the game. ¡°Okay, then let¡¯s do stage 3 now.¡± Cordelia asked as her glistening eyes were full of expectations. It was no wonder, because Jude haven¡¯t told her what the 3rd?stage is yet. ¡°Well¡­that¡¯s the thing.¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s what?¡± ¡°How should I say it¡­ the third stage is actually almost over?¡± ¡°Huh? What¡¯s stage 3?¡± When Cordelia became confused, Jude replied with a bitter smile. ¡°Guess it.¡± ¡°Guess?¡± ¡°Uh, in the original scenario, the attack itself was literally a raid, and there were a lot of Devil¡¯s Hand members, right?¡± ¡°Oh, I think I know what you mean. You mean their target?¡± ¡°Yes, the target of their attack.¡± In the original story, the number of children from the 12 families that were at the social gathering were six, including Cordelia, and the Devil¡¯s Hand targeted all six of them. ¡°The ultimate goal of these guys is to summon demons after all.¡± It was only a secondary goal to kidnap the children of the 12 families and cause confusion in the north. The easiest way to summon the demon was a human sacrifice, but simply having arge number of sacrifices did not mean that a high-ranking demon will be summoned. ¡®Because the rank should match.¡¯ In order to summon a high-ranking demon, it was necessary to offer a worthy sacrifice. And in terms of human sacrifices, the children from the 12 families were all appetizing prey. ¡®It¡¯s because there is, more or less, angel¡¯s blood flowing in the 12 families¡¯ blood.¡¯ The nobles of Pleiades were really special beings, not just nobles in name. However, though they had the blood of angels, that was already over hundreds of years ago. The angel¡¯s blood may be diluted now, but it was still the blood of angels. asionally, there were people born with a strong awakening of the angel¡¯s blood because of atavism (a recurrence of traits of an ancestor), even among the 12 families¡¯ members. ¡°Their power is only half now. So they won¡¯t be able to go after all the 12 families¡¯ children just like in the game. They will focus all their power on the one person they need to secure.¡± ¡°And we stick to that one person?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s stage 3.¡± To weaken the enemy, to strengthen the allies, and to focus on defending the enemy¡¯s target ¨C those were the three stages. ¡°So who is it? You said it was almost over?¡± At Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude smiled bitterly and looked at Cordelia again as he spoke. ¡°As you already know, if you consider the original development and their goal, they will target two people.¡± Two people. At this point, Cordelia finally guessed it. She let out a long sigh and said as she frowned. ¡°Cordelia and Lucas.¡± ¡°Correct.¡± If Jude was born with Gueumjulmaek and Cheonmujiche, Cordelia was born with a clear, noble soul and the blood of a high-ranking angel. It wasn¡¯t a prominent talent like Jude¡¯s, but it was the ability to have a high endurance depending on Cordelia¡¯s development. At any rate, in terms of offerings for summoning the demon, Cordelia wins as an A-rank prize. The other is Lucas Hr?svelgr. He is a sword genius called the Girin of Hr?svelgr and is one of the yable characters in?Legend of Heroes 2. ¡°Eh, I don¡¯t like Lucas.¡± ¡°Huh? Why?¡± Yellow Storm had yed all kinds of characters, but she had yed Lucas less often. She had never written a capture strategy for him. It was more like she just saw the character¡¯s ending for the sake of being a rotten water. ¡®He¡¯s handsome?¡¯ If Jude was absolutely good-looking boy, Lucas was a cool-looking man. It¡¯s not that his personality was bad, so why does she hate him? When Jude tilted his head sideways as if he was clueless, Cordelia said with pouting lips. ¡°If you y as Lucas, Cordelia bes a demonic human.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± I thought I knew. Cordelia and Lucas will both be targeted by the Devil¡¯s Hand at the social gathering, but if you went the Lucas route, he¡¯ll be the main character and Cordelia will be captured by the Devil¡¯s Hand. ¡®She was used as a sacrifice, but became a demonic human afterwards, and eventually became a demon.¡¯ Because she was born with a strong angel¡¯s blood, she had be something like a fallen angel. ¡°You really like Cordelia.¡± ¡°Because she¡¯s my favorite in?Legend of Heroes 2.¡± And now she has be her favorite character. ¡®Was Jude my favorite?¡¯ I yed this character the most, but I don¡¯t know if he¡¯s my favorite character. Anyway, now was the time to put aside personal likes and dislikes. ¡°Then, let¡¯s protect both. You do know that if you leave one alone and they got taken away, it will be really difficultter on, right?¡± ¡°I know. If you chose Cordelia¡¯s route, it was really terrible because he blocked the road ahead.¡± Just as Cordelia became a demon on the Lucas route, Lucas became the demon on the Cordelia route. And because his inborn talent for the sword itself was colossal, he became a terrifying monster. ¡°Let¡¯s protect them both.¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s protect Cordelia and Lucas.¡± Cordelia suddenly giggled, as she found it funny to say it with her own mouth. She, who was Cordelia herself now, was talking in the 3rd?person perspective to protect ¡°Cordelia.¡± And it was at that moment¡­ ¡°Young master.¡± ¡°Miss.¡± Beyond the balcony window came the voices of Maja and Dahlia. It was a call that implied that they should finish their secret time together ande in now. ¡°I should go to sleep now.¡± ¡°Yes, I think I¡¯m going to sleep very well tonight.¡± It¡¯s been a while since we¡¯ve been to a luxurious amodation, and we¡¯ve had a hard time today. Cordelia had a littleugh at Jude¡¯s answer as she stood up and brushed the dirt off her behind, before grabbing the balcony door¡¯s handle and saying. ¡°Now then, good night.¡± ¡°Yes, dream of me too.¡± In their same exchange as usual, Cordelia smiled and raised her middle finger. She opened the balcony door, but Jude looked up the night sky for a moment instead of following her in right away. ¡°Lucas Hr?svelgr.¡± He is the heir to the Hr?svelgr family, who is the current head of the 12 families. In?Legend of Heroes 2, he and Maximilian were the two greatest heroes talented in the sword. ¡®Well, I¡¯m looking forward to Sylvia rather than Lucas.¡¯ Sylvia was an iparably beautiful woman, and belonged to the Crossbell family, one of the 12 northern families. As a man, it was in his nature to expect for an absolute beauty more than a handsome man. ¡®Fairy Queen, you were right.¡¯ As I recalled the Fairy Queen¡¯s graceful smile, I heard Maja¡¯s voice again. ¡°Young master!¡± ¡°Uh, I¡¯ming in.¡± After taking one more look at Langesthei¡¯s night view, Jude opened the balcony door and entered. In the afternoon two dayster, the social gathering of the 12 northern families began. Chapter 22 - EPISODE 22 – DEVIL’S HAND (3)

Chapter 22 - EPISODE 22 ¨C DEVIL¡¯S HAND (3)

Social gathering. The name reminded me of a social gathering in a bar, but the scale was different when the main participant were the children of the 12 northern families. The social gathering of the 12 northern families was not just a gathering of their children but was also a banquet attended by various people. These people attended the social gathering every year, and those include people who wanted to associate with the 12 northern families, Langesthei¡¯s influential people, celebrities whom the children were usually interested in, etc. As such, the social gathering was one of the big events expected every year for themunity near Langesthei, and one¡¯s evaluation in high society also changed depending on whether they were invited to the social gathering or not. Anyway, for that reason¡­ ¡°¡°Wow.¡±¡± Jude and Cordelia were in pure admiration after the two came out of their respective rooms and faced each other in the drawing room. This is because of the eye-opening beauty of an iparably beautiful girl and an absolutely handsome boy that have made every effort in dressing up for the social gathering. ¡®Beautiful.¡¯ If the Cordelia I saw in the valley was as mysterious as a fairy, the Cordelia today was as beautiful as a goddess. She had pinkish, slightly curled red hair that not only gently fluttered but even glistened, and a lively whiteplexion. She was wearing a red dress. Cordelia usually looked much younger than her age because of her innocent face but wearing a mature dress that totally revealed her shoulders made her hidden seductive beauty be seen. The skirt width was quite narrow unlike the usual wide skirt, and the beauty of her leg lines and her slender legs captivated the eyes of every person at first nce. Of course, Jude looked great too. It was only a month ago, but thanks to eating the various kinds of miraculous medicine that Count Chase gave him, his Cheonmujiche, and his sweating from physical exercise, his skinny body that had once lost weight was rapidly improving. With his naturally good body shape plus his recent body improvements, his clean suit stood out properly. However, Jude proved that thepletion of all fashion is in the face. His face had strong-willed, mysterious green eyes that lie between his gentle facial lines. When the two looked at each other and were fascinated for a while, Dahlia and Maja, who were mesmerized together, soon exchanged nces with a warm smile. ¡®You did great.¡¯ ¡®You too.¡¯ ¡®In fact, he naturally looks good in any clothes.¡¯ ¡®She does too.¡¯ Either way, they were both very satisfied. Furthermore, a smile was drawn on their mouths when they thought that the two would enter the banquet hall together. Should I say I can¡¯t wait to see other people¡¯s reactions? ¡°Let¡¯s go now.¡± ¡°Young master, you have to escort her.¡± ¡°Ah, oh.¡± With Maia¡¯s urging, Jude reached out to Cordelia, who came to her senses too and took Jude¡¯s hand. ¡®Wow, seriously. My heart would have been throbbing if you weren¡¯t Outboxer.¡¯ ¡®You too? It¡¯s the same for me too.¡¯ After exchanging nces, the two smiled as if they felt the same, and entered inside the carriage after passing by the knights who could not hide their admiration. ¡°Huu¡­¡± ¡°Haa¡­¡± Rather than therge four-wheeler carriage they used on the trip, the two rode on a small carriage that operated inside Langesthei, while Maja and Dahlia were going to ride another carriage. Thanks to this, there were only the two inside, and as soon as the door closed, Jude and Cordelia¡¯s straight postures copsed. ¡°You¡¯re very much dressed up.¡± ¡°You too.¡± Cordelia snorted, looked back at herself in the carriage window¡¯s reflection, and grinned. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because she¡¯s pretty. Cordelia is the prettiest.¡± ¡°Oh, narcissism. Don¡¯t do that in front of others.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s true that Cordelia is pretty though. She¡¯s pretty even when you look at it, right?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s pretty but¡­it¡¯s a relief.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°When I saw you talking in third person, it woke me up.¡± My heart is pounding at seeing Yellow Storm¡­is something that shouldn¡¯t have happened. Jude breathed a sigh of relief as he watched Cordelia who wasughing loudly and snorting. He straightened his posture and said. ¡°Moving on, let¡¯s not get carried away. Because today¡¯s an important day.¡± ¡°Did you get some rest? You went through a lot yesterday.¡± He had worked hard yesterday. If I have to say, it¡¯s not stage 4, but stage 3.5. At Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude looked sad for a moment because he remembered what happened yesterday, but soon smiled bravely. ¡°Well, it¡¯s worth the trouble. Though, it¡¯s best not to use it at all.¡± If things went well, I wouldn¡¯t be able to use it. Cordelia nodded her head as if agreeing with Jude, and then reached out her hands to Jude. ¡°Wait a minute.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Stay still.¡± As she approached with a serious face, Jude unconsciously felt nervous, but he soon found out her purpose. ¡°The tie is crooked.¡± Cordelia grabbed the bow tie that Jude wore, and smiled contentedly after straightening it with a few touches. ¡°Okay, there we go. It looks right now.¡± Cordelia patted Jude¡¯s chest with a thud and sat down again, and Jude tried to clear his throat. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± ¡°Why¡­ Are you shy?¡± ¡°F*ck.¡± ¡°Oh, you had such a cute side?¡± Should I say that her ¡®ufufu¡¯ughs resembles that of the Fairy Queen? ¡°Let¡¯s focus, focus. It¡¯s a very important day. You know, right?¡± ¡°I know.¡± It was like the time I met Leisegang. The tension he felt like back then made them continue talking nonsense to each other. Jude took a breath and looked out the carriage window. The sun¡¯s red glow spread as it slowly set. *** The social gathering was held in one of Langesthei¡¯s most famous restaurants, which was a ce owned and funded by Count Hr?svelgr. Despite the fact that the social gathering had not yet begun, the banquet hall was crowded, and there were a few ces where people were especially crowded. ¡®The children of the 12 northern families.¡¯ There was Lucas Hr?svelgr, the host of this social gathering and the Hr?svelgr heir, whose family currently leads the 12 northern families. There was Sylvia Crossbell too, daughter of Count Crossbell, whose family boasted immense wealth. Among the children of the 12 families who gathered today, they were the two people who were particrly prominent, and as evidenced by this, there were many people who gathered around them. ¡®Well, there some children who are marginalized.¡¯ The 12 families were not equal in power. On the left wall, among her escort knights, stood a dreary-looking girl with a dejected face. She was Vi Langue of Viscount Langue. She spent most of the year in the mansion, or in her own room. However, she was afraid of people, so she couldn¡¯t speak properly in a ce where people gathered. ¡®If you survive, you¡¯ll be a good friend of Cordelia.¡¯ To be exact, they would be like older and younger sisters. Jude turned his gaze again. The male twins of Count Dahut were gazing at Lucas with discontented eyes. Felix Durant of Marquis Durant, the oldest child in this social gathering, was sending a passionate gaze to Sylvia. Therefore, a total of 8 people, including Jude and Cordelia, were the children of the 12 families who attended this social gathering. ¡°Oh, Lady Cordelia. Perhaps the person next to you is your fianc¨¦, Mr. Jude Bayer.¡± When Jude turned reflexively to the voice he heard from his side, he saw a young nobleman of Langesthei talking to Cordelia. Cordelia tried to remember the young man in her dim memories, but soon smiled widely and started reading the same Koreannguage book as usual. ¡°He is my fianc¨¦, Mr. Jude Bayer.¡± ¡°Oh! As expected! Count Bayer!¡± In an instant, the banquet hall stirred with the appearance of the new face, Jude, who had never made an official appearance before. ¡°That guy?¡± ¡°He has an ideal beautiful face like the rumors.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t he look fine despite being called the Count¡¯s anguish?¡± ¡°Has he recovered from his disease?¡± There were lots of chattering here and there in small voices. The scattered children of the 12 families moved towards Jude and Cordelia, and the way opened at once as if it was split like the Red Sea. Cordelia nced at theing Vi from afar. Jude chuckled at the approaching twin brothers and looked at Lucas and Sylvia after moderately turning away from Felix¡¯s gaze, who will not appear at the social gathering next year. ¡®They both stand out.¡¯ While Cordelia still retains her girlishness, Sylvia has grown mature not only in her eyes but also in her small gestures, even though they were only a year apart. Of course, her body had distinct curves too. She had long sky-blue hair and was wearing a snow-white dress, and with her blue eyes full of curiosity, she looked at Jude and Cordelia. And Lucas Hr?svelgr. Today¡¯s most important figure, a blond attractive-looking man, strutted his way to their side. Although he was 16 years old and younger than Jude, he was much taller by almost a head. He has been training since he was young, so his body was firm. ¡°It¡¯s been a long time, Cordelia.¡± ¡°It¡¯s been a long time, Sylvia.¡± When Sylvia smiled and spoke to her, Cordelia answered with a slight blush in her cheeks. Sylvia¡¯s beauty was so alluring that even people from the same sex were enchanted. ¡®But it¡¯s surprisingly bearable?¡¯ Jude had prepared his heart firmly if he ever gets caught up by her beauty, but surprisingly, he felt like he was just watching a Hollywood actress in a movie. ¡®Maybe I¡¯m used to seeing an iparably beautiful girl.¡¯ Sylvia was also an iparably beautiful woman. In any case, Jude was able to introduce himself in a calm manner in front of Sylvia, a woman of great beauty. ¡°I¡¯m Mr. Jude Bayer of Count Bayer. It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you.¡± ¡°Me too, Mr. Bayer. I was very curious about what Cordelia¡¯s fianc¨¦ would be like.¡± Sylvia gracefully smiled at Jude with a slight but observant look, but unfortunately, now was not the time to talk to Sylvia. After entrusting Sylvia to Cordelia, Jude saw Lucas approaching and about to greet him. Lucas opened his mouth first as expected. ¡°I¡¯m Lord Lucas Hr?svelgr of Count Hr?svelgr.¡± He put out his hand as if he were asking for a handshake, but his blue eyes did not contain any emotion. It¡¯s not that he¡¯s indifferent, but it¡¯s just a feeling of weing new guests? ¡®Well, Jude was rumored to have a body unable to master martial arts due to a chronic illness.¡¯ As a person who had a great talent for swords, Lucas enjoyed being strong himself, so he had a bad habit that once he met someone, his degree of interest changed depending on whether they were strong or not. ¡®Is he¡­too?¡¯ There is another reason Jude left for the social gathering and paid attention to Lucas. ¡®yable character.¡¯ The yable characters Jude and Cordelia were the reincarnation of Outboxer009 and Yellow Storm, respectively. So what about other yable characters? Maybe Lucas is someone¡¯s ¨C for example, the reincarnation of the 3rd?rank in the server rankings? ¡®I can¡¯t figure it out by just looking at his eyes.¡¯ If his opponent was a ranker of?Legend of Heroes 2, he would¡¯ve had simr thoughts. What¡¯s more, the mysterious sensation I felt when I first met Cordelia was not at all felt when I met Lucas. ¡®Psst, I can¡¯t help it.¡¯ I have no choice but to experiment as I did when I first met Cordelia. ¡°I¡¯m Mr. Jude Bayer of Count Bayer.¡± Jude smiled and held Lucas¡¯ hand, and then said with his upper body slightly forward. ¡°Hey, you too?¡± ¡°Mr. Bayer?¡± Lucas, who was shaking hands, was puzzled and looked at Jude as if he was strange. He was thinking along the lines of ¡®What are you talking about suddenly while shaking hands?¡¯ ¡°Ah¡­um, no. I abruptly spoke some absurd words for a moment. My Gueumjulmaek is notpletely cured yet¡­¡± ¡°Ah¡­is it because of the chronic illness?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve shown you my embarrassment. It¡¯s gradually getting better, so it won¡¯t happen anymore.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s an illness. I hope you fully get well.¡± Lucas had a handsome guy¡¯s cool-looking smile on his face. Cordelia who was watching from the side, said with her eyes. ¡®You¡¯re a fool, but isn¡¯t this too much?¡¯ ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Jude had nothing to else to say, so he hid his embarrassment with a cough. ¡®But there are results.¡¯ Lucas wasn¡¯t a ranker of?Legend of Heroes 2. He didn¡¯t feel anything special when he bumped into Cordelia, and I was genuinely embarrassed by what I just said. ¡®I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s unfortunate or fortunate.¡¯ There were pros and cons for both rankers and non-rankers. ¡®Because the yable characters are not just one or two.¡¯ Legend of Heroes 2?has over 10 yable characters. What if more than 10 rankers start moving with different ideas? There was no guarantee that the rankers would unite with one mind like Jude and Cordelia. Moreover, he did not enter?Legend of Heroes 2?as a ranker, but he lived as a?Legend of Heroes 2?character and awakened his ranker¡¯s memory. Among the yable characters, there are not only viins but also demon followers, so there was a possibility that rankers might be powerful enemies blocking Jude and Cordelia. ¡°I¡¯m Lord Felix Durant.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Mr. Jude Bayer.¡± Jude also greeted the other children of the 12 families in a perfunctory manner. The twins of Count Dahut, who disliked Felix and Lucas and were obsessed with Sylvia, didn¡¯t have much impact in the scenario¡¯s progress, even if they lived or died in the social gathering attack. ¡®Of course I¡¯m going to save them all.¡¯ Thinking moderately, Jude looked around the banquet hall. A total of six wizards, including two newly joined wizards who were convinced by the original four on the first day, were scattered around. They were under the leadership of Ronin, and it seemed like they had decided on an area to cover. In addition to them, more than 30 knights were guarding the banquet hall,bined with the 6 knights from the Order of the Blue Lion that were sent by Sir Barua, and the escorts brought by each member of the 12 families. ¡®This is much better than the original.¡¯ What¡¯s left is when theye in. There was no guarantee that they would attack at the same time as the original because Jude had already shaken the board a lot. ¡®In the first game, it just disyed the lines, ¡®Time has passed¡¯.¡¯ And time did pass. Has it been more than an hour since the banquet started? Suddenly, the music that was flowing in the banquet hall changed, and Jude and Cordelia realized that what wasing hade. ¡®Dance time.¡¯ It was a scene that was depicted in?Legend of Heroes 2. I danced with Sylvia when I went to Lucas¡¯ route, and I danced with Lucas when I went to Cordelia¡¯s route. But today was different. ¡®Do you feel it?¡¯ ¡®I feel it.¡¯ Maja and Dahlia¡¯s eyes are looking at our side with eager eyes. In particr, Dahlia¡¯s gaze was stinging because she was really showing a lot of excitement for the two of us. Actually, it wasn¡¯t just the two of them. A lot of people showed interest in the engaged couple from the 12 families who first appeared together at the banquet hall. ¡°Lady Cordelia, will you give me the honor to dance with you?¡± ¡°My pleasure, Mr. Bayer.¡± Cordelia answered with an awkward smile, and small cheers and apuse came from around. Moving to the center of a naturally made stage, Cordelia said quietly. ¡°Hey, do you know how to dance?¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you? Have you forgotten that I have Cheonmujiche?¡± Jude smiled and answered gently, cing his hand on Cordelia¡¯s waist and gently grasping her hands, which were flinching for a moment. ¡°Let¡¯s dance.¡± ¡°Hmph.¡± Cordelia, who snorted like Count Chase, entrusted herself to Jude¡¯s guidance, and the two began to dance in rhythm. No, we were just about to start. Bang! Bang! Boom! The whole building shook with a loud roar. Losing their bnce for a moment, Jude and Cordelia leaned at each other and hurriedly turned their eyes. There was a loud roar, an explosion, and a huge amount of smoke in the air. ¡°Kyaaa!¡± Dozens of unidentified men wearing ck masks broke into the balcony windows and walls as people screamed. At the same time, the escorts everywhere also pulled out their swords. ¡°Miss!¡± ¡°Young master!¡± It wasn¡¯t just Dahlia and Maja. The escorts called out the names of the children they served, and fighting began everywhere. In a fleeting moment, Jude and Cordelia had the same idea at the same time. Even if we had gone to the center of the banquet hall to dance, our eyes had still chased the position of a certain person. ¡°Lucas!¡± Lucas Hr?svelgr. As a sword genius, he tried to fight in the current situation by pulling out his own sword. And there was another person. He looked at Lucas the same way, and their eyes crossed with each other. Beyond the broken wall, the demonic human, Minos, was standing. Chapter 23 - EPISODE 23 – DEVIL’S HAND (4)

Chapter 23 - EPISODE 23 ¨C DEVIL¡¯S HAND (4)

Terms used in this chapter: Rhodos?¨C the goddess wife of the Greek sun god, Helios. She is also the personification of the Rhode Inds in Greece. Demonic human Minos. He was a result of the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s efforts in unifying a human and demon. Minos was not just given powers by the demon, but was united with the demon itself, boasting a power that was different from ordinary demon followers. In?Legend of Heroes 2, Minos reigned as the ¡®unbeatable boss.¡¯ In the social gathering attack event, the premise of the story was to lose to Minos in the first ce, so winning was impossible no matter what you tried to do. The condition for continuing the game was not to defeat Minos, but to escape from his hands. ¡®However.¡¯ This was reality. It was different from the game. Furthermore, the time of Minos¡¯ appearance was different from the game. Originally, he was supposed to appear near the end of the event like game bosses do, but he has now appeared at the same time as the start of the attack. Jude and Cordelia thought and moved at the same time when they encountered demonic human Minos. ¡°Lucas!¡± Cordelia called Lucas¡¯ name loudly. Demonic human Minos possessed a ¡®soul tracking¡¯ ability, allowing him to identify and track the souls of beings located in his close proximity. It was this ability that made him distinguish Lucas at once. Therefore, it was not a problem to him whether you¡¯re noticeable or not. What was important to him was to secure Lucas. As he couldn¡¯t attend the banquet while armed, Lucas pulled out a dagger he had for self-defense and turned to Cordelia after hearing her call him. But at that moment, Minos started moving. ¡°La Kusaru Pio.¡± The demonguage flowed from the mouth of the man wearing a white mask without any pattern. His eyes shined blue, and a great amount of cold air began to rise in both of his hands. Jude felt like he was being suffocated. It was because of the pressure of facing an absolutely powerful being, just like the time when he had faced Leisegang. But it was a little different. When he met Minos¡¯ eyes for a moment, Jude felt that his spiritual and physical body were bound. ¡°Outboxer!¡± Cordelia shouted as she hit Jude¡¯s back, and thanks to her, Jude was released from the bondage and he gasped for breath. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Cordelia shouted again. She ran towards Lucas and grabbed his arm to Lucas¡¯ bewilderment. ¡°Lady Cordelia?!¡± ¡°Cordelia?!¡± Sylvia, who was by Lucas¡¯ side, also raised her voice, but Jude saw Minos instead of the three. Minos took a step. The cold air from his arm began to take shape. However¡­ ¡°O fierce mes of Rhodos! Strike down my enemies!¡± me wizard Ronin rushed at Minos, invoking his magic spell. Two beasts of mes materialized beside him and flew towards Minos. ¡°Young master!¡± ¡°Miss!¡± Jun and Dahlia shouted from a distance. Due to the nature of the banquet, they were only waiting outside and couldn¡¯t stay by Jude and Cordelia¡¯s side. Even now, they tried to run and shout, but there were people rushing towards them with swords, so it wasn¡¯t easy to get out of their situation. Jude made a quick judgment. The original n was to move after joining Dahlia, but now that Minos had appeared, there was no time for it. ¡°Lucas! We have to run! This way!¡± Sylvia nodded immediately when Jude shouted, but not Lucas. As a sword genius and the heir of Count Hr?svelgr, the head of the 12 families, he spoke confidently. ¡°What do you mean! Running away from the enemy! As a knight, I must face¡­¡± ¡°What is this crazy bastard saying! !¡± Lucas¡¯ words did notst until the end. Cordelia showed her true colors and used Paralyze magic that caused him to be knocked down. ¡°Co-Cordelia?!¡± Sylvia was terrified, but it wasn¡¯t the time to worry about that. Cordelia picked and grabbed one of the fallen Lucas¡¯ arms and shouted to Jude. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Jude understood right away. Holding Lucas¡¯ other arm, he said to Sylvia. ¡°Lady Sylvia! This way!¡± ¡°Yes?! Ah, yes!¡± Besides, the entire banquet hall had turned into a battleground. Sylvia didn¡¯t have a reason to refuse because she was going to run and not fight back in the first ce. ¡°At..this¡­dis¡­¡± Lucas mumbled as he was notpletely paralyzed, but Jude and Cordelia didn¡¯t care. He may be a sword genius, but his power now was just like in the beginning of the game. He only had a dagger, not a proper sword, so if he tried to fight with a dagger, he¡¯d only be kidnapped. His mumbles made it evident that Cordelia¡¯s magic was currently working. ¡°Young master!¡± The knights of Hr?svelgr shouted, but like Dahlia and Jun, they couldn¡¯t easily pull themselves out because of the enemies in front of them. Moreover, as the fight between Minos and Ronin began in earnest, the inside of the banquet hall truly became a mess, making it difficult to even discern the surroundings. ¡°This way!¡± Jude moved to the corner of the banquet hall and activated a secret door. The restaurant that was used as a banquet hall was originally a mansion of a great nobleman, and as such buildings usually had secret rooms, Jude was well aware of the secret rooms because he was Outboxer. ¡®Stage 3.5.¡¯ Jude and Cordelia had entered the secret room yesterday and made some preparations in advance. It was a kind of panic room. ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­here?¡± Sylvia panted and asked, but Jude and Cordelia continued to move instead of answering. As soon as the still-paralyzed Lucas wasid down on the floor, Cordelia used magic to light up the ce. Jude went to the left corner, removed the carpet, and opened a lid a littlerger than an adult¡¯s upper body. ¡°This way!¡± Unfortunately, it wasn¡¯t a secret passage that led outside. It was a pit that Jude and Cordelia had dug with Dig magic yesterday. ¡°Hurry up!¡± Cordelia urged him, and Jude took out the items he had ced inside. The items kept there were the sacred rod, Moonlight, and various armor, swords, shields, magic circles, etc. ¡°Sylvia, go in. You¡¯re not an important target, so you¡¯ll be fine hiding.¡± ¡°Huh? I¡¯m not an important target?¡± Sylvia had always lived in the center of people¡¯s attention since she was born, so she was surprised at being told that she was not an important target. Cordelia had a bitter smile as she helped Sylvia into the pit, and Sylvia hid herself while being embarrassed at somehow being treated like a burden. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s arm ourselves.¡± Jude handed Moonlight to Cordelia as he wore a leather armor over his tailcoat and held the Sun¡¯s Ne like knuckles. No matter how much talent his body possessed because of Cheonmujiche, he had yet to learn proper swordsmanship, so using a fist was stronger and morefortable for him. ¡°¡± Cordelia swung Moonlight to release the Paralyze spell that she had used on Lucas. ¡°Lord Lucas should ept this too.¡± When Jude quickly handed over to him a sword and armor, Lucas looked at Cordelia fiercely, even as he was arming himself with his less paralyzed hand. ¡°Lady Cordelia! What the hell is this-¡± ¡°!¡± The effect of Silence magic was awesome. He was like the main character in a silent movie, as Lucas shouted with his mouth wide open, but his voice did note out. Cordelia came close to such Lucas, staring straight at him as she said. ¡°Hey, listen up. It¡¯s an emergency right now. Didn¡¯t you just get neutralized with one magic shot? Stop being unruly. The enemy is stronger than you. You should be alert and not nervous. Do you understand?¡± The cold and sharp truth was much more intense than foulnguage. Lucas bit his lips and nodded, and Cordelia, who was fiercely staring at Lucas, smiled brightly. ¡°Don¡¯t be too scared though. Let¡¯s do well together.¡± Tapping his shoulder, she took a long deep breath and exhaled, before boldly ripping off the hem of her skirt. ¡°Wow.¡± ¡°Why? Are you going to fall in love again?¡± ¡°F*ck.¡± The light exchange was also beneficial to the two. In the midst of all this, the sounds of people crying and struggling from the chaos outside were heard, so no matter how much they had predicted the situation, it was inevitable for them to be tense. ¡°Will hee here?¡± ¡°It¡¯s best if he doesn¡¯te, but maybe he will.¡± The range of Minos¡¯ soul tracking ability was quite short, but it was still enough to cover the entire banquet hall. After defeating Ronin, it was clear that he would head here. ¡°Ah¡­I¡¯m nervous.¡± It was different from that time with Leisegang. Demonic human Minos is an unsealed being who could show off all his abilities to his heart¡¯s content. ¡°You can do it. We are prepared, right? And if we can do it¡­it¡¯ll be a first.¡± ¡°Defeating Minos?¡± ¡°Yes, defeating Minos.¡± It was something that countless rotten waters have not achieved, so defeating him would be a great achievement. ¡°Will we be in a feature article of?Legend of Heroes?¡± ¡°It¡¯ll be a hot article.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll get lots of likes?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll totally be bombarded by likes, right?¡± ¡°Hey.¡± Cordelia had a bright smile as she imagined it, and Jude also had a pleasant smile. It was just nonsensical stuff, but they had missed those times and thus enjoyed imagining it. ¡®You told me not to be nervous, but I¡¯m just standing around.¡¯ Lucasined, but because he was still enchanted by the Silence magic, it was just a silent mor. And a few seconds passed. A few minutes passed. At the moment when their cold sweat came. Bang! A roar broke out outside the secret room. Screams and shouts followed, and the sound of fighting swords became even sharper. ¡°It¡¯sing.¡± The door of the secret room froze when Jude instinctively spoke. The chilly air spread along the wall, and soon, the whole wall turned into cold ice. Demonic human Minos. Ruler of the extreme cold! Bang! Bang! Bang! I thought there was just a crack in the frozen wall, but it all copsed at once. The messy banquet hall and thebatants of the Devil¡¯s Hand suddenly came into view, and a bloodstained Minos with a pair of horns on his forehead came in the room. ¡®Ronin.¡¯ Ronin was defeated. But he didn¡¯t just lose. He had seeded in dealing a huge blow to Minos because of their opposing elements. Jude recalled the banquet hall¡¯s map in his mind. He instantly grasped the situation. Their side has prevailed. But the situation was not good. The Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯sbatants were blocking the way, and Minos overpowered Cordelia and Lucas. For him, it was easier to defeat them than to wring a child¡¯s wrist. As if to prove this, a deep smile was drawn around Minos¡¯ mouth. ¡°The rats were hiding here.¡± Minos took a step. Lucas, who was feeling nervous, flinched unconsciously. Cordelia grasped the Moonlight with clenched teeth. ¡®It¡¯sing. He¡¯sing.¡¯ Jude thought. I gave a final look to Cordelia and then stepped forward. Thud! Jude¡¯s footpletely shot forward. At the same time, Minos responded. His eyes followed Jude¡¯s movement before sending a st of extremely cold air towards Jude. ¡°!¡± Jude tore the magic circle to generate heat. However, it was only a 1-star magic at best. The cold air stalled for a moment before quickly hitting Jude, and Minos took another step. Following Jude, he tried to defeat Cordelia and Lucas. And at that moment¡­no, during the time when Jude had stepped forward first. Cordelia cut her palm with a de she had prepared in advance. At the same time as she bled, she struck the floor with the tightly grasped Moonlight. ¡°Such trivial magic!¡± A powerful demonic energy rose and burst from Minos¡¯ body. It was to tear apart Cordelia¡¯s magic formation with his powerful mana. Indeed, it was a terrifying energy. Facing it felt like you were being choked to death. However, Cordelia smiled. It was a bitter smile because of the pain in her palm, but she definitely smiled. As expected of Outboxer009, everything went in the prescribed order. Cordelia had released mana, but it wasn¡¯t magic. She simply released pure mana with her blood that flowed down to the floor through Moonlight, which then triggered the magic circle. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh-! A brilliant light lit up the ce. The emitted light clearly revealed the magic circle hidden by the carpet that had covered the entire secret room¡¯s floor. ¡°What is this-?!¡± Minos stopped talking. No, he couldn¡¯t continue talking. He was choked. His whole body seemed to be entangled in chains. He seemed to be thinking, ¡®Why, no, what the hell is this?!¡¯ ¡°What the f*ck is this? Of course, it¡¯s Bestin¡¯s magic circle!¡± Cordeliaughed cheerfully as she shouted. Bestin¡¯s magic circle boasted of a terrifying power against the demons. Minos had released a strong demonic energy, and so the chains caught his ankles. The stronger the demon¡¯s power is, the stronger the Bestin¡¯s magic circle bes. Of course, there were limitations. We didn¡¯t have the power of the sun god Sri¡¯s seal like that time with Leisegang, so all the power that was used came from Cordelia¡¯s mana. The time to maintain it is, at most, a few dozen seconds. Even so, Cordelia had to do her best to make itst longer. It was too short, but Cordelia did not lose her smile. Though she felt like she was going to die from the hardship, she broke into a cold sweat and shouted again. ¡°Outboxer!¡± Bang! He hit the ground. Thirty-Six World Steps. Jude appeared before Minos¡¯ nose. Minos thought it was impossible. Minos¡¯ chilled air wasn¡¯t just an ordinary chilled air. It was Yin energy that consumed the body and soul. Even if ordinary humans endured the cold, the body would not have been able to move freely because of the Yin energy. But it wasn¡¯t the case for Jude. ¡®Because I¡¯m used to it.¡¯ Gueumjulmaek was a disease that urs due to being innately born with excessive Yin energy. The Sun¡¯s Ne also helped Jude in this situation because of the ne¡¯s opposing Yang energy. Shock spread over Minos¡¯ face. Cordelia copsed as she clung to the Moonlight, before giving Minos a middle finger. Lightning Punch. Seven strikes in the span of a lightning bolt struck Minos¡¯ whole body. Chapter 24 - EPISODE 24 – DEVIL’S HAND (5)

Chapter 24 - EPISODE 24 ¨C DEVIL¡¯S HAND (5)

Minos lost his senses for a moment. The seven strikes poured like a bombing, aiming at the fatal points of the human body such as the sr plexus (pit of the stomach), philtrum (the area between the nose and upper lip), and the temples (area between the ears and eyes). Although he was called a demonic human, he was still a human now. Since demonic humans maintain a human body and shape, their vital ces were also like humans. But at the same time, it was a demon. Minos lost his senses for a moment because of Jude¡¯s attack, but he did not copse at once. ¡®There is a difference.¡¯ No matter how low level the demonic human was in the game¡¯s beginning, a demonic human was still a demonic human. Their physical abilities and endurance were beyond that of a human being¡¯s. However, he had already expected this. Moreover, Minos was exhausted from his fight against Ronin today and was also weakened from the binding of the Bestin¡¯s magic circle. Jude didn¡¯t stop. Once again, he used the Lightning Punch. Wham! Wham! The sun god Sri¡¯s power from the Sun¡¯s Ne and the demonic energy from Minos¡¯ body shed, and a roar broke out. The Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯sbatants were surprised to see Minos being beaten unterally and tried to intervene. However, they too had the power of the demons, though much lesser. So it was impossible for them to enter because they were blocked by Bestin¡¯s magic circle. ¡°Young master!¡± ¡°Miss!¡± Moreover, beyond the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯sbatants were the 12 families¡¯ escort knights. It was a daunting situation to just stop the escort knights from pushing their way in front of them. ¡®It¡¯s only a matter of time.¡¯ After using Lightning Punch in session, Jude calcted the numbers in his head. The time for Cordelia to maintain Bestin¡¯s magic circle. The time it takes for the escorts to break through the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯sbatants. The time when demonic human Minos adjusts to Bestin¡¯s magic circle and bes able to move. It was all a few seconds apart. It was only a dozen seconds at most, but by those dozens of seconds, lives coulde and go. Thud! Jude stepped forward again and used Lightning Punch for the third time. He felt his breath being choked from the technique¡¯s excessive use, but he couldn¡¯t stop. Wham! Bang! Lightning Punch struck again. But this time, not all seven consecutive strikes were sessful. Thest strike was blocked. Minos desperately moved to stop the attack. ¡°Ra-kuhaa!¡± When the bloody Minos burst out into a roar, lightning sparked all over his body. It was a phenomenon caused by the sh of demonic power and the binding power of Bestin¡¯s magic circle. And it was at that moment¡­ ¡°Lucas! Help us too!¡± Cordelia shouted while she was clinging to the Moonlight with her posture down. ¡°Use the Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword!¡± Cordelia¡¯s cry was almost like a scream at the end. And that had awakened Lucas, who was surprised by the Bestin¡¯s magic circle and Minos. The Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword was said to be handed down by an ancient swordsman and was only used against the enemies of Count Hr?svelgr. As the current heir, Lucas also knew how to use the Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword. His skill may still be at a low level, but it was still the Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword. It was the sword of Graham, the Sage King who built the Holy Kingdom by cutting down five great demons, and it had a powerful effect against the demonic humans who use the power of demons. Lucas¡¯ breathing changed. He raised and activated his whole body at once, as his feetpletely flew towards Jude and Minos. Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword: Sr Eclipse ¨C Holy Sword. Lucas¡¯ sword shone in pure white. It was a holy light that was powerful against demons. When Cordelia shouted Lucas¡¯ name, Jude pulled himself out as he gasped and widened his distance from Minos at the same time. Thus, Lucas dug into the gap that was created. ¡°Kuaaak!¡± Minos screamed as his chest was cut by a holy sword, and ck blood gushed out from his chest. But it was not yet over. In the beginning of the main scenario, Jude and Lucas¡¯ strength was nearly the same. It was difficult for Lucas to defeat Minos by himself. ¡°You lowly beings!¡± Minos shouted in anger and exerted his strength even though he was still bounded, and Lucas had a cold sweat facing such Minos. Jude returned to Cordelia¡¯s side as he supported her and asked. ¡°Can you do it?¡± ¡°I can. Instead, haa¡­I cut it off.¡± Cordelia groaned and answered. It was a difficult to understand conversation at first nce, but not for Jude and Cordelia. What Jude had asked for was the power hidden in the Moonlight. However, the moment she used it, Bestin¡¯s magic circle will be released in a few seconds. Cordelia¡¯s mana was still too weak to operate both Moonlight and Bestin¡¯s magic circle at the same time. Jude calcted it. Cordelia felt it instinctively. Thus, the two reached the same conclusion. ¡°¡°Let¡¯s do it.¡±¡± Will Bestin¡¯s magic circle be maintained until the escorts defeat the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯sbatants? No¡­ the question was how long can Cordelia be able to hold on? After all, it was unreasonable. Minos was faster and could recover his strength by a hair¡¯s breadth. In the first ce, Bestin¡¯s magic circle was not all-around. It was due to a number of realistic problems that Jude had to set up Bestin¡¯s magic circle in the secret room. Renting the entire banquet hall to draw the magic circle was impossible, and so was activating a huge magic circle that covered the entire banquet hall. However, if you draw a small magic circle, it was another problem on how to guide Minos precisely above the magic circle. That is why I chose a secret room. It¡¯s literally a secret room, so if you sneak in the ce, no one will disturb you while you¡¯re drawing the magic circle. Because the room itself is not veryrge, installing a magic circle that covers the entire room eliminates the problem of guiding Minos to a specific area. ¡®It¡¯s the best solution.¡¯ In the first ce, the current situation itself was the best situation that I made with every effort. So let¡¯s try again. Instead of vaguely hoping to seed, let¡¯s struggle in hitting him one more time. Lucas and Minos shed. Lucas groaned at the shock caused by the collision of the Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword and the demonic power. On the other hand, blood spilled out of the nose of Cordelia who was forcibly maintaining Bestin¡¯s magic circle. Jude did not hesitate anymore. As he grabbed and modified the Sun¡¯s Ne¡¯s position, Cordelia clenched her teeth and stood up. The important thing is the timing. In that narrow moment, he needs to urately strike in that gap. Jude calcted again. Cordelia felt it instinctively once again. 1 second. 2 seconds. When Lucas¡¯s sword cut Minos¡¯ chest once again¡­ ¡°O glory of the moonlight! Arise, wake up from your slumber and shine!¡± Cordelia removed the Moonlight from the magic circle. She lifted it up and chanted, releasing from the Moonlight the moon¡¯s mana which had been stored and umted for over a hundred years! There was light. It was a subtle light that spreads in the darkness, and not a light that breaks the darkness. The moonlight filled the secret room. It did not stop there, as it delivered its powerpletely into one ce ¨C the Sun¡¯s Ne, causing it to begin shining too. A light that contained the sacred power of Sri. The mana of the moon umted over a hundred years was not small. From the Sun¡¯s Ne, an equal amount light was emitted like when it was with Gallus, Sri¡¯s champion. ¡°Keuhak-?!¡± Minos winced at the moment the moon¡¯s mana pressed his whole body and closed his eyes with a painful groan. Lucas opened his mouth in surprise. Thud! Jude rushed in. He had to finish it before the effect of Bestin¡¯s magic circle, which had lost its power source, disappeared. ¡°!¡± It was a simple yet fatal magic that came from the magic circle drawn on his left hand¡¯s glove. Minos who had stepped back as his eyes were closed, slipped and fell on the floor. And Jude got on top of him and pulled his fist. He only had one chance. His current blow should deal the most fatal blow. Jude held his breath. Using the power of the sun condensed by the moonlight for his attack¡¯s power source, the Lightning Strike Fist exploded at once. Boom! Lightning and thunder exploded. His fist that hit like lightning struck Minos in the chest. Moreover, it was not just a physical blow this time. The divine power of the sun god Sri prated Minos¡¯ chest. ¡°Aaaghhh!¡± Minos screamed in pain. Dozens of cracks appeared in his entire body. Spirit Stone. Located in the chest, it is an organ that reces the heart of a person who has be one with the demon and turned into a demonic human. It aggregates mana supplied from the outside like a demon¡¯s horn and is what makes a demonic human exist as a demonic human. That spirit stone broke. With the golden light of Sri adding to him being weakened by Bestin¡¯s magic circle and the continuous blows, the weakened spirit stone finally shattered. ¡°No! No!¡± Mana poured out from the cracks in his entire body. Minos struggled. Jude pulled his fist again. ¡°Gobble it up.¡± Is it an illusion that I heard Cordelia¡¯s voice? Jude fiercelyughed. He used the remaining mana of the moon on the Sun¡¯s Ne as his own. As he roared, he dealt thest blow into Minos¡¯ chest. Kuhaaa-! The light burst. As he was struck in the chest once again, Minos¡¯ whole body began to break. The demonic power rose like a smoke and dispersed in all directions. And right after that, a series of white rings of light surrounded the body of Jude. It was not only that. A phrase came into his mind like when he first attacked the dungeon book. [You acquired the title ¡®The One Who Made the Impossible Possible.¡¯] [All stats increased by 5%.] A boss that could not originally be beaten. A scenario designed on the premise of losing. But we overcame it. We became victorious. Jude clenched his fist. Like when he first got 1st?ce in the server rankings, the sense of aplishmenting deep inside his heart made him shout in joy. Cordelia felt the same. Despite her bleeding nose, she raised her arms high and shouted in joy too. ¡°Young master!¡± ¡°Miss!¡± The voices of Jun and Dahlia was heard in session. Jude took a long breath. A pleasant smile was drawn on his face. *** ¡°Haa¡­Haa¡­I-I¡¯mpletely wiped out. It¡¯s enough to faint, so please do me a favor.¡± Right after they defeated Minos, Cordelia spoke as she caught her breath and was on the verge of fainting. On the other hand, Jude crawled halfway to Cordelia¡¯s side and responded. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯ll go first, I-I¡¯m going to faint too.¡± ¡°F-f*ck?¡± ¡°Gueum¡­julmaek¡­kekk-¡± Jude, who was lying next to Cordelia, fainted after making a?kekk?sound. Both of them leveled up a lot, but the stamina and mana consumed were so great. ¡°F-f*cking bastard.¡± Cordelia swore a little, as she copsed on the floor too. Using thest of her mental strength to stay conscious, she told Lucas. ¡°Settle¡­the aftermath¡­please¡­¡± And that was it for Cordelia too. The iparably beautiful girl, who was bleeding from her nose, lost consciousness too. Lucas, who was asked to take care of the aftermath, tried to shout. No, he wanted to shout ¡®How!¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s Silence spell was still in effect. Furthermore, it was difficult to take care of the aftermath because there were so many things that Lucas didn¡¯t even know about. What was that magic circle installed in the secret room? What were the active roles of Jude and Cordelia who defeated the enemy at the end? ¡®A-and the f*cks too.¡¯ An iparably beautiful girl who kept swearing ¡®f*ck¡¯. Wasn¡¯t she a Count¡¯s esteemed daughter? In a sense, the biggest impact of today¡¯s events was Cordelia¡¯s true colors. Untilst year, she was pretending to be an innocent girl, but she was actually different inside. Lucas shuddered unconsciously as he looked over the copsed wall. The escort knights had overpowered the demon followers and wereing in groups. ¡°Miss! Miss!¡± Count Chase¡¯s escort, Dahlia, burst into tears at the sight of Cordelia bleeding from her nose, and Count Bayer¡¯s escort hurriedly took Jude¡¯s pulse. ¡°Young master, are you all right?¡± Lucas nodded to his escort who had a deathly pale face, and then turned to Jude and Cordelia. He looked at the two who had fainted besides each other and had satisfied smiles in their faces. As he recalled how they worked back-and-forth and how Cordelia pleaded to him before fainting, Lucas unwittingly smiled. ¡®Really¡­they¡¯re a fantasy couple.¡¯ No, have I gone mad? As Lucas swallowed his words and thoughts that Jude and Cordelia would have denied had they heard it, he looked back at his escort. He diligently pointed to his mouth andined that he was under Silence magic. Chapter 25 - EPISODE 25 – DEVIL’S HAND (6)

Chapter 25 - EPISODE 25 ¨C DEVIL¡¯S HAND (6)

Terms used in this chapter: Unnie?¨C Means older sister in Korean, and is used by girls to call another girl who is older than them, or to a girl whom they admire. Time has passed. Just as what a person does when they wake up from a deep sleep, Jude slowly opened his eyes halfway. A lot of things, including the ceiling, came in his blurry vision, but everything was blurred, and he couldn¡¯t properly recognize the shapes. ¡°Ooouuuh.¡± With a voice close to groaning, Jude closed and opened his eyes repeatedly, and the blurriness began to disappear. ¡°Haaa¡­¡± A few seconds¡­no, maybe a dozen seconds after, Jude was finally fully awake and looked around. He was in a well-decorated and luxurious bedroom. It was evident to him that this was the high-ss amodation that he had stayed in when they first came to Langesthei. ¡°Young master! Are you awake?!¡± Just then, he heard Maja¡¯s voice. It was a voice close to a scream that was mixed with anxiety and joy. ¡°Maja.¡± ¡°Young master.¡± In the Bayer family, Maja was often called the Ice Queen, but she often smiled in front of Jude. But now she wasn¡¯t just smiling. Maia was both crying andughing now. ¡°Young master.¡± ¡°I¡¯m okay, Maja. What about you? Did you get hurt?¡± Maja was like a family to Jude, but outside Count Bayer, she was only an exclusive maid in the end. She was the only one who was ufortable when she was forced to attend the banquet, so Jude had sent her back earlier to their amodation. Of course, this was because he had predicted the attack. ¡°I¡¯m all right. In the first ce, I was staying in the amodation. Rather than that, young master¡­ah¡­¡± As Maja shed tears again, Jude was feeling restless and puzzled on what to do, so he awkwardly reached out his hands and hugged her. ¡°It¡¯s all right. I¡¯m safe.¡± ¡°Young master.¡± After a few minutes, Maja calmed down from her crying storm, and Jude patted her back and asked. ¡°Maja, what about Lady Cordelia?¡± ¡°She¡¯s all right.¡± Maja wiped away her tears and took a breath as she adjusted her posture, and then spoke with a light smile. ¡°She overworked herself, so she¡¯s still lying down, but she has regained her consciousness a little earlier than young master. The doctors said that she was just too tired and that there was no harm to her health.¡± ¡°Haa.¡± Jude breathed a sigh of relief, and then began stretching. He was worried about her one way or another. ¡°Young master, if you don¡¯t mind, would you like to go see Lady Cordelia?¡± As Maja smiled and said that, Jude immediately nodded. ¡°Please.¡± ¡°As you wish, young master.¡± With Maja¡¯s help, Jude got up and left the room after roughly washing and grooming himself. Their rooms were on the same floor, so after passing the drawing room between their rooms, he was now in front of Cordelia¡¯s bedroom. ¡°Lady Cordelia, Mr. Jude Bayer hase to visit.¡± Count Chase¡¯s knight was guarding Cordelia¡¯s bedroom and greeted Jude with a very weing face. He immediately reported to Cordelia about Jude¡¯s visit. Without waiting for too long, Cordelia¡¯s bedroom door opened wide. ¡°Mr. Jude Bayer.¡± Dahlia, who had tear marks on her face like Maja, greeted Jude with a smile. And in the room was Cordelia lying on a bedrge enough to wrestle. ¡°Lady Cordelia.¡± Instead of answering Jude¡¯s call, Cordelia simply nodded once. Her condition seemed much worse than Jude¡¯s, as she had a pale white face and eyes that had no strength that it seemed like she¡¯ll fall asleep anytime soon. ¡°Dahlia, I apologize, but may we be alone for a moment?¡± ¡°Yes, Mr. Bayer. Please take care of thedy.¡± Dahlia readily epted and left the room together with Maja after bowing to Cordelia. After a few seconds, when the door waspletely closed, Cordelia spoke. ¡°I think I¡¯m going to die.¡± ¡°Yes, me too.¡± Coming to the edge of the bed with a wobbly gait, Jude flopped on the chair where Dahlia had sat on earlier. ¡°Is your condition not good?¡± ¡°I used too much mana. My head is so heavy, and I feel like it¡¯s going to break.¡± ¡°Oh, is it simr to a hangover?¡± ¡°A hangover?¡± ¡°Yes¡­oh, maybe it is?¡± Cordelia awkwardly answered as she slouched her shoulders. ¡°I feel sick, tired and about to die.¡± ¡°Well, you really don¡¯t look well.¡± She wasn¡¯t the Yellow Storm that would always whine and retort in front of Outboxer. ¡°Hey, shouldn¡¯t you feel good though? You saw the title too, right?¡± ¡°The One Who Made the Impossible Possible?¡± A smile bloomed like a flower on Cordelia¡¯s face, who was a while ago, had tears on her face and saying that she felt so tired to death. She felt really good that she beganughing ¡®hehehe¡¯ like a fool. ¡°The?Legend of Heroesmunity wouldpletely be turned upside down.¡± ¡°The chat window¡¯s going to be a mess.¡± ¡°Will?Hero Soft?contact us?¡± ¡°Maybe?¡± ¡°It was an impossible story, but that¡¯s why it¡¯s pleasant we changed it.¡± Cordelia took a long breath before speaking again. ¡°Dahlia told me that Vi and Felix are safe. And so are the twin brothers.¡± Originally, they were those who would have been killed or kidnapped in the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s attack. But they didn¡¯t die. They weren¡¯t kidnapped, and they were alive. ¡°I feel excited for no reason.¡± The title was good, and the sense of aplishment from twisting the main scenario as intended was also good, but Cordelia was happier that she had saved many people including the children of the 12 families. ¡°Oh dear~ look at how nice our Yellow Storm is. I feel so proud of you.¡± As Jude smiled happily and stroked Cordelia¡¯s hair, her eyes narrowed. ¡°You will be killed by me. Why are you f*cking petting me?¡± ¡°This is our Yellow Storm.¡± Jude replied as he smiled, feeling satisfied, before leaning on the chair¡¯s back. ¡°With this, we¡¯ve passed over a hump.¡± ¡°What should we do now?¡± ¡°Well, we¡¯ve twisted the main scenario, but we still have to follow it.¡± In Cordelia¡¯s main scenario, she was destined to be kidnapped in the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s attack event no matter what she did. Wasn¡¯t her second mission to escape from her kidnapped situation? If she sessfully escapes, the survival route opens. But if she fails, she bes a sacrifice and it would be game over. The survival route was as follows. ¡°Cordelia escapes from an unknown Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s branch and wanders around a deep and dark forest to escape her pursuers and monsters. She then meets the witch¡¯s soul as if she were led by fate.¡± Cordeliaughed when Jude recited the summary of the story in?Legend of Heroes 2. ¡®Are you for real¡­no, are you even a human?¡¯ How can a person remember all those things? She didn¡¯t care if he was a rotten water, but Jude¡¯s memory was far beyondmon sense. ¡®Should I ask him?¡¯ If I ask, he might answer me unexpectedly. At the time Cordelia was contemting for a moment, Jude continued to speak whether he knew what she was thinking. ¡°Because she had not been kidnapped by the Devil¡¯s Hands, Cordelia wouldn¡¯t wander around the woods¡­but she has to go. You have to meet the witch¡¯s soul.¡± The meeting with the witch¡¯s soul was not a hidden event like the Moonlight acquisition event. It was one of the main events that was absolutely necessary to continue the game. ¡®Because I have to do a spec-up.¡¯ After all,?Legend of Heroes 2?is a fighting game. Aside from hunting, if you steadily follow the main events, you will be stronger. ¡°Uh¡­the forest was probably north of Langesthei, right?¡± ¡°Yes, so we have to go north.¡± It wasn¡¯t just because of Cordelia. Jude¡¯s main scenario, which had not yet begun, was also concentrated in the north. ¡°Well, what should I do?¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°You see, Dahlia told me something earlier, but it¡¯s only been a day since we came to our senses. Not all the news have been spread to each family yet, but the escort knights must have decided on a policy.¡± ¡°What kind of policy?¡± ¡°There may be additional attacks, so it seems like everyone is gathering togetherter in the evening to exchange information on this incident. We¡¯ll have to wait until someonees to pick us up though.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± Given that the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s attack was prevented, the remaining problem was our exnation on the various preparations we made and the fight that urred yesterday. ¡®There¡¯s also the Blue Lion.¡¯ We need a solution regarding the part about Count Bayer¡¯s intervention, which was the lie that Jude made to move the Blue Lion knightmander, Sir Barua. Now that things have grown this big, Count Bayer will definitely hear the story about the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s attack and the Blue Lion¡¯s surprise attack on the branches. ¡°So what should we do? Wouldn¡¯t we need some excuse to go north without going home?¡± Apart from settling the aftermath, we also need measures on how to move forward. Jude answered Cordelia¡¯s question with folded arms. ¡°First of all, I have some ideas.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°First, you and I have to kiss*¡­no, that¡¯s not what I mean? Anyway, we¡¯ll have the people around us to help out.¡± *T/N: This is a pun, based on the idiom ?(?) ???, which can mean 2 different things: Jude was talking about the first meaning but realized that Cordelia could interpret it as the second meaning, so he says ¡°that¡¯s not what I mean¡± afterwards. ¡°Who was around us?¡± ¡°Of course, Luca¡­wait.¡± Jude suddenly stopped talking, as he frowned and tilted his head. He felt like he hadpletely forgotten something important. ¡®What is it?¡¯ We defeated Minos. The kidnapping case ended in failure, and Jude and Cordelia are safe. ¡®Lucas is safe too.¡¯ ording to Cordelia, Vi, Felix and the twin brothers are also safe. Then¡­ ¡°Ah!¡± Jude sprang up from his seat, and at the same time, Cordelia opened her eyes wide too. It¡¯s because the two remembered the same thing and the same person at the same time. ¡°¡°Sylvia!¡±¡± *** ¡°Uwaaah! Howe¡­how could you forget? Me here¡­me here alone¡­uwaaaah¡­..¡± In the secret room in the corner of the banquet hall, which is now the scene of the incident¡­ Sylvia, who was trapped inside the pit for one day, burst into a sad cry in Cordelia¡¯s arms. ¡°Unnie, I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m really really sorry.¡± Although Cordelia¡¯s face still had a sickly appearance, she repeatedly apologized after facing Sylvia. ¡°I was scared¡­it was dark¡­there was no sound¡­*sniff*¡± Sylvia blew her nose with a handkerchief that Jude gave at the right time, as she kept sniffling. Seeing the confident, pretty, and iparably beautiful woman crying out sadly like a child and revealing her inner thoughts, she really must have been scared over the past day. ¡®The pit did a great job.¡¯ We had worked hard to turn the pit in the secret room into a panic room just in case. I even drew a Silence magic circle inside the pit, in the fear of being caught because of the sound. Because of that, Sylvia, who was forcibly dropped into the pit, didn¡¯t know what was happening outside because everything was in perfect silence and there was no light. ¡°Unnie, unnie, I¡¯m sorry.¡± She was Cordelia now before she was Yellow Storm. She was sincerely sorry because she was now Cordelia, who had always admired the beautiful and elegant Sylvia. ¡®Lucas, what the hell did you do?!¡¯ Cordelia herself and Jude had fainted at that time. It was the very reason that Cordelia had asked him to settle the aftermath after they¡¯ve fainted. ¡®I¡¯ll kill youter!¡¯ At the time when Cordelia made a firm resolve, Jude slightly pulled Cordelia¡¯s skirt to tell her to distance herself from Sylvia. Sylvia had to be entrusted to the knights of Count Crossbell. ¡°Miss, let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Ughhh, okay.¡± Sylvia, who had be very obedient, left the room with the knights, and Dahlia said cautiously as Jude and Cordelia sighed. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Both of you didn¡¯t seem to be stable yet, so we couldn¡¯t tell you the news of Lady Sylvia¡¯s disappearance.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s all right. It¡¯s not Dahlia¡¯s fault. It¡¯s all Lucas¡¯ fault.¡± Cordelia clenched her fists in rage as her fighting spirit was inmed. However, Jude couldn¡¯t join Cordelia. ¡®I have to stop her to avoid causing a problemter on.¡¯ We needed Lucas¡¯ help to get to the north. Jude¡¯s n was as follows. Lucas¡¯ home was located in the northernmost front where Count Bayer stayed in the past, and where the current margrave, Count Hr?svelgr, now lives in. It was located near the fortress of Thunder Doom, which borders the barbard. ¡®A Sunflower that possess Yang energy can be found there.¡¯ It was one of the several means to heal Gueumjulmaek. Jude had already obtained the Sun¡¯s Ne to treat Gueumjulmaek, but it was still not cured. ¡®We head to the north on the pretext of getting the Sunflower and speeding up the treatment of Gueumjulmaek!¡¯ And in order to do so, we had to naturally bring out the story of the Sunflower to Lucas and at the same time, lead the story of inviting us to the north. ¡°Wait, hey, wait.¡± When we had returned to our amodation, Cordelia frowned after listening to Jude¡¯s exnation. Aside from the mission to draw out the story you want from Lucas, and the Gueumjulmaek that is evolving day by day into some all-around excuse, there was one more important part that was missing from Jude¡¯s story. ¡°What about me then?¡± Jude will go to the north to cure his disease, but what excuse can Cordelia give to go there too? At Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude cleared his throat once and said while turning his head as if to avoid looking at her. ¡°That.¡± ¡°That what?¡± ¡°Come on, you should already know.¡± How Cordelia will follow Jude. In an instant, Cordelia had a tearful face. Afterwards, she lets out a long sigh before raising her middle finger to Jude. *** ¡°I want to go with my beloved Jude Bayer! We-we¡¯re inseparable!¡± Chapter 26 - EPISODE 26 – DEVIL’S HAND (7)

Chapter 26 - EPISODE 26 ¨C DEVIL¡¯S HAND (7)

¡°I want to go with my beloved Jude Bayer! We-we¡¯re inseparable!¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s perfect. That¡¯s all you have to do.¡± Jude pped his hands, and Cordelia closed her eyes tightly with a red face and threw up a curse. ¡°Oh, really.¡± ¡°Yes, I understand. I understand.¡± Cordelia¡¯s face flushed even more when Jude sympathized with her. It was not from shame but because of anger. ¡°Hey!¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Why!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Why is it me again? You, you can do it! That¡¯s right! It doesn¡¯t necessarily have to be me!¡± Cordelia¡¯s argument was that Jude and Cordelia love each other and not that Cordelia loves Jude one-sidedly. As if she came to a great realization, Cordelia¡¯s eyes sparkled in excitement, but Jude shook his head. ¡°Hey, that¡¯s not it.¡± ¡°Why¡­what¡­why is it not you? Is this because of Gueumjulmaek again?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not because of Gueumjulmaek. Just think it through withmon sense.¡± Jude made some big gestures with his two hands to calm her down, and then stood up and continued to speak. ¡°Who of us has business in the north? You or me?¡± ¡°You.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, it¡¯s me. So it¡¯s a situation where Cordelia wants to ¡®follow¡¯ me, right?¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°If I say that I don¡¯t want to be separated from Cordelia here, and that I want to ¡®take¡¯ Cordelia with me because we¡¯re in love, it sounds different, right?¡± Jude had an awkward and bitter smile, and Cordelia was in tears again. It was as Jude said. There was a huge difference between Jude ¡®taking¡¯ Cordelia, and Cordelia ¡®following¡¯ Jude. ¡°So, if you think about it rationally, it¡¯s a situation where Cordelia has to appeal to follow Jude. I would have done it had I been in the opposite situation. Really. Cross my heart.¡± Cordelia frowned when Jude put his hand on his chest as if he really swore. ¡°I hate you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I love you.¡± ¡°What is this crazy bastard saying?¡± ¡°I just told you, okay?¡± Jude slyly smiled as he sat back down, and the pouting Cordelia sat down too. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s say that we¡¯ll solve that problem with that. However, we still need to coordinate our stories for the information exchange and so on that will happenter tonight.¡± ¡°Is it because we defeated Minos?¡± ¡°Yes, Lucas helped us, but no matter how you think of it, it was still too much for the three of us to defeat Minos.¡± If Minos had only fought with Jude¡¯s party, he could¡¯ve said, ¡°Minos was just weak.¡± The problem was the fact that Minos defeated none other than the me Wizard Ronin in front of everyone. Everyone would have thought it was strange if Jude and Cordelia had defeated such a strong man. ¡°Hmm¡­how about we say that he was tired and weak because he fought with Ronin?¡± ¡°That will work, but I even sold my father¡¯s name¡­so to draw a big picture, we need to y another card.¡± ¡°Another card?¡± ¡°Come closer for a second.¡± Jude suddenly looked around as he spoke in a small voice, and Cordelia blinked her eyes and sat closer to Jude. ¡°So¡­¡± As Jude exined in a small whisper, Cordelia quietly listened and at some point, nodded. It¡¯s because she thought that it was a usible story. ¡°Hey¡­by the way.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Do we really have to talk in whispers?¡± There was the only the two of us in the room in the first ce. ¡°No, I did it unconsciously. I just went along with the ambience.¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyes narrowed in anger, while Jude made an awkwardugh. ¡®Sometimes I don¡¯t know if he¡¯s stupid or smart.¡¯ I¡¯m sure he¡¯s crazily smart, but he has a clumsy side to him too. ¡®Indeed, Outboxer is a human too.¡¯ Cordelia convinced herself as she nodded and quietly smiled, while Jude continued his words as if to change the topic. ¡°Do you somehow understand it? I¡¯ll go ahead with the whole story, so you can match with my rhythmter.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± They have to pull off their n this evening. Jude and Cordelia looked at each other and nodded. *** Treigian, one of Langesthei¡¯s leading luxury lodgings, was much more crowded than usual. This is because all the children from the 12 northern families who were staying in Langesthei moved to Treigian. And at night, guests from various ces gathered there too, including the knights. While the Order of the Blue Lion and the Langesthei Guard fiercely guarded Treigian, the Blue Lion¡¯s knightmander, Sir Barua, and the Langesthei Guard¡¯s captain were inside. Langesthei¡¯s mayor and the wizards of the Red Dawn Tower, led by me Wizard Ronin, also visited Treigian. And at 8pm, in the conference room located in Treigian¡¯s 1st?floor, Jude stood and started talking to everyone. ¡°We met the Fairy Queen.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Fairy Queen. The queen of the fairies. Oh, of course, the fairies have many queens just like humans. It¡¯s not just one.¡± Everyone in the conference room looked around at each other in confusion to Jude¡¯s exnation. Wasn¡¯t he going to talk about how he defeated the demonic human? Why did he talk about the Fairy Queen all of a sudden? Moreover, he met the Fairy Queen? ¡°Are you confused? I understand, but it¡¯s true. Me and Lady Cordelia met the Fairy Queen a few days before arriving at Langesthei.¡± The atmosphere in the conference room shifted to ¡°Let¡¯s hear it for now¡± as Jude calmly spoke. A satisfied Jude continued to speak. ¡°It was a fantastic night with a very beautiful moon. The fairies fell in love with Lady Cordelia¡¯s dazzling appearance and asked her if she wanted to participate in the Fairy Queen¡¯s night banquet.¡± Jude pointed to Cordelia as he spoke, and everyone¡¯s eyes turned to her. Cordelia¡¯s face instantly blushed red and she lowered her head. ¡®W-what¡¯s the crazy bastard saying?¡¯ It was true, but it was still embarrassing. However, Jude asked Cordelia indifferently. ¡°Isn¡¯t it true, Lady Cordelia? The fairies approached and said that Lady Cordelia was so beautiful, and that you were invited to the Fairy Queen¡¯s night banquet, right?¡± ¡°Uh¡­yes¡­¡± Cordelia responded with a despondent voice, but everyone in the room did not doubt her sincerity. It was indeed true that Cordelia was a very beautiful girl. Furthermore, it was cute to see her blushing in embarrassment. ¡°In the meantime, a Bicorn suddenly appeared and attacked us. The fairies said that the Bicorn always bothered them.¡± The word ¡°Bicorn¡± lit up the eyes of the wizards, including Ronin. The Bicorn was a monster that was hard to see like the Unicorn. ¡°This is the horn of the Bicorn we defeated at that time. Me and Lady Cordelia fought together to bring it down, and we took one horn each.¡± Wonder and amazement spread among the wizards as Jude gently shook the Bicorn¡¯s horn he held in his hand. ¡°Wait, can you show me that for a moment?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± In response to the wizard¡¯s request, Jude handed over the Bicorn¡¯s horn through Jun, who was next to him. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s real.¡± ¡°It¡¯s real. It¡¯s clearly the Bicorn¡¯s horn. It¡¯s filled with chaotic energy.¡± The atmosphere in the conference room changed a little when the wizards admired the horn. It slowly became an atmosphere ofplete trust in Jude¡¯s words. ¡°When the Bicorn was defeated, the fairies wanted to invite us more to the fairies¡¯ banquet hall. So they guided me and Lady Cordelia there, and we met the Fairy Queen.¡± ¡°Wow.¡± Sylvia let out a word of admiration. She may be an iparably beautiful woman, but she was also a young maiden of eighteen years and still a girl at heart. If this was a private meeting, she would have approached us right away and asked questions about the Fairy Queen. Jude described the Fairy Queen¡¯s appearance in quite detail for such Sylvia, and then looked back at Cordelia again. ¡°The Fairy Queen gave us one gift for defeating the Bicorn. It¡¯s the Moonlight.¡± It was now Cordelia¡¯s turn. Cordelia gulped before she got up from her seat while holding Moonlight and then stood next to Jude. ¡°This is the Sacred Rod ¡®Moonlight.¡¯ It possesses a powerful amount of the moon¡¯s mana.¡± When Cordelia raised the Moonlight forward, not only the wizards, but also the knights, showed their interest. Jude was satisfied with everyone¡¯s reactions. He had seeded in creating the atmosphere. From now on, whatever he said would sound quite credible as long as he did not make excessive ims. ¡°Moonlight has umted the moon¡¯s mana for the past 100 years. In the fight against the demonic human, Lady Cordelia released its power all at once¡­ As a result, we were able to defeat the enemy, who had been greatly exhausted from his battle with Ronin.¡± There was no need to mention the Sun¡¯s Ne or Bestin¡¯s magic circle. ¡®Lucas doesn¡¯t know much about Bestin¡¯s magic circle anyway.¡¯ Like a swordsman, he¡¯d only think I used some magic and not think about it too much. ¡°I see¡­ so that was what happened.¡± Sir Barua, the Blue Lion¡¯smander, gave Jude the answer he wanted the most, and everyone in the room began to look convinced, as if a line of dominoes copsed. ¡®Okay, it worked.¡¯ The majority were also convinced when Lucas, who actually participated in the fight, had also nodded to their story. Now, no one will raise an objection to this matter. ¡®It would be nice if my exnation for my father¡¯s involvement works well too.¡¯ It was the reason why Jude chose to use the Fairy Queen¡¯s name. ¡®The Fairy Queen told me.¡¯ Something big is going to happen in Langesthei. She said it was a ce where an ominous force was gathered, and she also taught me the ce. ¡®I had no choice but to use my father¡¯s name because I thought you wouldn¡¯t believe what the Fairy Queen said. I¡¯m really sorry. I will ept any deserving punishment.¡¯ Sir Barua had said the source of their information was Count Bayer, so it was clear that Count Bayer would question Jude on where he got such information. That¡¯s why I used the Fairy Queen as the source, as she is someone who cannot easily be found if you want to verify the information. ¡®It¡¯s also important that we managed to stop it.¡¯ Thanks to Jude¡¯s information, they were able to capture close to seventy demon followers, and as a result, we were able to minimize the damages from the attack as well. Count Bayer judges a person¡¯s merits and demerits fairly, so the contributions that I made will be enough to cover the fact that I sold his name. ¡®Perfect.¡¯ As Jude smiled with satisfaction, Cordelia was staring from the side with eyes full of suspicion. His ability to create a story by mixing truth and falsehood, and his acting ability to lie without faltering in front of so many people made her suspicious. Was it really possible that Outboxer009¡¯s job was a scammer? ¡®There is a possibility!¡¯ It was when Cordelia snorted and was getting excited¡­ ¡°Hey, I can see what you¡¯re thinking. Anyway, let¡¯s get back to our seats.¡± Jude slightly nudged the stiff Cordelia who squealed from his nudging. The two then descended from the tform and returned to their seats. After that, the story went on as Jude had thought. ¡°Since the purpose of the attack is still unclear, I would like the children of the 12 northern families to stay only at their lodgings, even if it¡¯s a little ufortable, until reinforcements from the families arrive.¡± The enemies¡¯ purpose was unclear. Only Jude and Cordelia knew that the Devil¡¯s Hand was aiming at Lucas and Cordelia. They wouldn¡¯t know because the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯sbatants were not informed of the attack¡¯s purpose in the first ce, and Minos, who knew their purpose, unexpectedly died. No matter how many times they tortured and threatened the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯sbatants that they had captured, nothing woulde out. ¡®It¡¯s better that their true purpose is hidden after all.¡¯ If it bes known, it will be more difficult to move with Cordelia. It was decided in the meeting that they should prepare for any future attacks of the Devil¡¯s Hand, but frankly, it would be difficult for the demon followers to execute arge-scale operation again when they¡¯ve failed once already. ¡°That is all. The Order of the Blue Lion will be stationed on the 1st?floor, so please feel free to contact us if you need help or have any questions.¡± After Sir Barua¡¯s words, the meeting was virtually over. However, only Sir Barua¡¯s party left the conference room. Most of them wanted to talk with each other, and some wanted to talk to Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Thank you so much. I lived thanks to the two of you.¡± The first person that came to Jude and Cordelia was Sylvia. When she, an absolutely beautiful woman, thanked them with tears in her eyes, even Jude¡¯s face was bound to turn red from the sight. Cordelia made a ¡®hmph¡¯ sound at seeing Jude blushing, before she held Sylvia¡¯s hands and said. ¡°No, unnie. You were very scared, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, but even Cordelia herself fought. It was really great. And¡­¡± As Sylvia slightly slurred at the end of her sentence, Cordelia tilted her head and waited for her next words. She was Cordelia, who only showed her Yellow Storm side when she was with Jude. But in front of others, her Cordelia Chase self was more active. ¡°Can we talk a little more? The story of the fight with the demonic human is scary¡­but I¡¯d like to hear more about the fairies.¡± ¡°Of course, unnie. I¡¯ll tell you everything.¡± This time, Sylvia slightly blushed when Cordelia smiled brightly. It was because Cordelia¡¯s beautiful smile was like that of a blooming flower. ¡°Vi,e here too. Let¡¯s talk together.¡± ¡°¡­yes, unnie.¡± Whilst in the corner, Vi trembled at Cordelia¡¯s beckoning. However, when she saw Cordelia¡¯s slightly excited voice and eyes, she was very happy that Cordelia called her. ¡°So, it was a very beautiful night with the moon.¡± As Cordelia began to talk, the twins and Felix slipped in, and the wizards and knight who were interested in the Fairy Queen also gathered. ¡®Okay, let¡¯s leave that side to Cordelia.¡¯ Instead of going to Cordelia, Jude turned to Lucas, who was still present in the room. Their eyes met with each other, whether by coincidence or that Lucas was already looking this way in the first ce. ¡°Mr. Jude Bayer, can I talk to you?¡± Lucas got up from his seat and asked Jude after approaching. It was a wee situation for Jude, who also had something to say to Lucas. ¡°Of course, Lord Lucas. I want to talk about the fight that day. I¡¯ve managed to live because of Lord Lucas¡¯ help.¡± Lucas had a bitter smile as Jude spoke smoothly. Lucas had eyes that could make an urate evaluation of people and things. So he knew that it was Jude and Cordelia who led the fight that day, not Lucas himself. ¡®Now, how do I do this?¡¯ Jude pondered as he sat down with Lucas. As he had told Cordelia, he had to inform Lucas about the Sunflower and at the same time, draw out a story that I wanted to invite him to the north. ¡®Let¡¯s start talking about the fight.¡¯ Starting with the fight against Minos, he spills the story of his Gueumjulmaek, and tells the story of an implicit cure. It was the moment when Jude had roughly finished nning in his head and was about to open his mouth. ¡°Mr. Jude Bayer.¡± ¡°Yes, Lord Lucas.¡± When Jude responded smoothly, Lucas thought Jude was picking his breath, and said in a slightly lowered voice. ¡°By any chance, have you ever heard of the Sunflower?¡± Sunflower. A gentle smile was formed on Jude¡¯s face. Chapter 27 - EPISODE 27 – DEVIL’S HAND (8)

Chapter 27 - EPISODE 27 ¨C DEVIL¡¯S HAND (8)

Sunflower. Beyond the northernmost border of the S?len Kingdom, at the entrance to thend of barbarians, lies a historic site called Frost Anvil. The most prevalent theory is that it is the ruins of an old kingdom built by the Frost Dwarves. However, the important thing about the Frost Anvil area is that it was an extremend with the harshest temperatures. ¡®What¡¯s the coldest ce on the continent? It¡¯s Frost Anvil of course.¡¯ In fact, it wasn¡¯t just a cold ce. It was a ce where if you sprayed water in the air, it would be icicles. Opinions were divided on why this extreme zone was created, with some saying that the Frost Dwarves¡¯ device was still in operation, and the theological view that it was created because of a god¡¯s curse. ¡®There is one legend in Frost Anvil.¡¯ Once every 20 years, somewhere in Frost Anvil, a ¡®Sunflower¡¯ blooms with Yang energy. A flower rich in Yang that blooms in an extremend. And this story was a fact, not a legend. ¡®In a way, it¡¯s more useful than the Sunfire Carp.¡¯ Among the items with Yang energy that appeared in?Legend of Heroes 2, the king of items was obviously the Sunfire Carp, but in fact, the Sunfire Carp was an item that didn¡¯t have any other uses except for its Yang energy. On the other hand, the Sunflower may have less Yang energy than the Sunfire Carp, but it had a function that increased the overall abilities of the body, and also transformed the body of the person absorbing it into having a special physical constitution. ¡®Lucas had said it first.¡¯ In the original story, the Sunflower event didn¡¯t happen until the main event. It was close to a hidden event like ¡°Cordelia and the Fairies¡¯ Banquet,¡± and it could be said to be an event prepared for Lucas, although any character in the north, including Jude and Lucas, could trigger it. ¡®Well¡­Lucas only knows that the Sunflower is a flower with Yang energy.¡¯ There is a saying that those with too much Yin or Yang energy can be rather harmful to the body because the energy is biased towards one side. An example is Gueumjulmaek. ¡°I have heard of it. It¡¯s a flower with Yang energy, right?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s a flower that is passed down like a legend in the north. But¡­¡± Lucas suddenly lowered his voice and approached Jude a little closer before speaking in a low voice. ¡°It¡¯s a fact, not a legend. Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s records show the story of a man who discovered the Sunflower 20 years ago.¡± ¡°Ooh¡­¡± Although Jude had already known it, he acted like he didn¡¯t knew. The listener¡¯s interest was the best way to open up a story. ¡°This is now the 20th?year. Winter ising soon in the north¡­it is timely too.¡± At this point, it was obvious what Lucas intended to say about the Sunflower. It was a situation in which he was rmending the Sunflower to Jude. ¡®The question is why is he doing this.¡¯ No, he already has an idea why. Jude already knew what kind of person Lucas Hr?svelgr was. ¡°That¡¯s an interesting story.¡± Jude said, gulping down his saliva. Pretending to be uninterested but making it look like he is actually interested¡­it was the kind of acting that Cordelia couldn¡¯t do, but Jude could. Lucas¡¯ dark blue eyes glistened in excitement. ¡°Mr. Jude Bayer, would you like to go to the north with me?¡± ¡®Bingo!¡¯ Jude, who was cheering inside, did not hide his feelings. He yed the role of a young master who was still immature by expressing joy all over his face and then hurriedly calming himself down. ¡°You mean¡­to the north?¡± ¡°Yes. If you are fine with it, Mr. Bayer, I would like to invite you to Count Hr?svelgr. If you want, you can even take Lady Cordelia with you.¡± ¡®Oh, Lucas. Oh, Lucas.¡¯ He was very useful in the fight against Minos. Jude tried to suppress his desire to kiss Lucas¡¯ forehead, and continued his acting by speaking with quivering lips. ¡°Really¡­I¡¯m very grateful for the offer. But¡­why though?¡± The rtionship between Count Bayer and Count Hr?svelgr was neither good nor bad. At first nce, it would seem that there was a bad rtionship between the two because Count Hr?svelgr took over the margrave position, which was previously monopolized by Count Bayer, but in fact, there was one more family between the two. ¡®From Count Bayer to Count Pael before to Count Hr?svelgr.¡¯ It was nearly 50 years ago that the Count of Bayer held the margrave position. Due to the death of that time¡¯s Count Bayer from arge-scale battle with the northern barbarians, the position of Margrave was transferred to Count Pael. However, it wasn¡¯t long before another tragedy happened, and the newly appointed margrave, Count Pael, unexpectedly died. Therefore, the center dispatched Count Hr?svelgr, who was a talented man and at the forefront of the ten swordmasters at that time, and from then on, Count Hr?svelgr maintained his position as the head of the 12 northern families. ¡®We¡¯re not enemies, but that doesn¡¯t mean we¡¯re on good terms.¡¯ Should I say we¡¯re just friends? At Jude¡¯s question, Lucas¡¯ face slightly turned red as he looked away and said. ¡°Because¡­I thought I met a good rival.¡± ¡®As I expected.¡¯ Jude felt like hisughter would leak out at the expected answer, but he kept a serious expression. ¡°You mean¡­your rival?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m a little embarrassed, but up until this day, I¡¯ve never met someone my age who was a good match against me.¡± Lucas was a sword genius. He wasn¡¯t born with Gueumjulmaek like Jude, so he grew up demonstrating his brilliant talent from childhood. ¡°I have no peers I canpare with¡­that may sound good, but in fact, I¡¯ve always felt lonely. An existence that can stand on equal footing with me and move forward with me¡­I¡¯ve always longed for such a rival.¡± Lucas¡¯ face and voice was full of sincerity. He looked like a handsome and attractive-looking man out of a painting, so the listening Jude had to use his all to maintain a serious face. ¡®Ah, really. It¡¯s so cheesy.¡¯ I already knew it from Lucas¡¯ character settings but listening to it in person felt new in many ways. ¡°Mr. Jude Bayer.¡± ¡°Yes, Lord Lucas.¡± When Jude barely answered in time, Lucas stared at Jude with a serious face and abruptly grabbed Jude¡¯s hand. ¡°I was convinced when I saw Mr. Bayer fighting. It became clear to me that Mr. Bayer was my long-aspired rival.¡± ¡®Well, Maximilian was originally his rival, but Jude has Cheonmujiche, so I¡¯m worthy of being his rival. But why is he holding my hand?¡¯ Jude barely suppressed his inner thoughts as he faced Lucas¡¯ strong gaze head on. ¡°So I thought. Let¡¯s heal Mr. Bayer¡¯s disease as soon as possible.¡± If that happens, Jude can use his talents properly. In fact, after we defeated Minos, Lucas¡¯ mind was filled with thoughts of Cordelia. It was not because he fell in love with Cordelia, but because her true colors were so shocking. But as time went by, Jude¡¯s fight kepting to his mind. The movement shown by Jude. His unmatched fighting method. A talented genius that can be recognized by a fellow talented genius. ¡°Mr. Bayer, let¡¯s go to the north together. I will help you find the Sunflower.¡± It was an unexpected proposal. But this time again, instead of answering right away, Jude paused and took his time. It was to keep Lucas in suspense. ¡®Hmm, this should be okay.¡¯ Was it roughly 20 seconds already? During that time, Lucas¡¯ eyes shook, before Jude finally responded in a heavy yet serious tone, as if he was opening his mouth after careful consideration. ¡°Thank you very much. However¡­rather than asking to find the Sunflower together, I am more touched that Lord Lucas, who is called the Girin of Hr?svelgr, regards me as a good rival. I have just begun walking the path of martial arts, but I want to live up to Lord Lucas¡¯ expectations.¡± ¡°Mr. Bayer, your words are¡­¡± ¡°Yes, I will go with Lord Lucas.¡± When Jude spoke with a big smile, Lucas breathed out in relief and brightly smiled too. ¡°I look forward to going north with Mr. Bayer.¡± ¡°Yes, I look forward to it too.¡± Once the story came to an end, Lucas rose from his seat with a happy face and returned to the knights of Count Hr?svelgr. Seeing that Lucas¡¯ lingering excitement could be seen in his steps, Jude thought he was still a young boy of sixteen years. ¡®He¡¯s a heroic novel enthusiast.¡¯ The current situation itself was almost the same as the beginning of ¡®Biltwein the Hero,¡¯ one of Lucas¡¯ favorite hero novels. The words that Jude said in the end, about being happier that he became Lucas¡¯ rival more than the Sunflower, was almost the same words that Catn, the rival of the main character Biltwein, said. Lucas must have felt like he was Biltwein during our conversation. ¡®So, does that solve one thing?¡¯ Jude¡¯s shoulders lightly drooped as he turned to Cordelia. Cordelia was even using body movements in telling Sylvia and Vi, who were so absorbed in the story, about the fairies¡¯ banquet. ¡®After all, her Cordelia self bes stronger except when she¡¯s with me.¡¯ Jude and Cordelia have awakened their memories of their previous lives. And as a result, many things have changed. With the sudden addition of twenty or so years of memories to a life that has only lived for more than a decade, his Outboxer009 self was a little more prominent than his Jude self. And it got even worse as he faced Cordelia who equally had memories of her previous life as Yellow Storm. Although Jude and Cordelia were engaged, they were originally in an indifferent rtionship. But it was not for Outboxer009 and Yellow Storm. It¡¯s been 5 years since I¡¯ve known her, and nearly 3 years since we¡¯ve been arguing with each other in the chat rooms every day, so when we¡¯re together, our identities as Outboxer and Yellow Storm were more prominent than our Jude and Cordelia selves. The proof was that we still call each other by our past lives¡¯ nicknames rather than our present lives¡¯ names. ¡®The affection for our previous lives that only the two of us share¡­maybe it¡¯s something like an obsession.¡¯ Of course, as time goes by, it would change little by little. Right now, the memories of Jude and Outboxer mixed with each other, so his personality has changed as well. The current Jude was close to a new person who was a little different from the existing Jude and the previous life¡¯s Outboxer Kang Jin-ho. ¡®The way we address each other will also change someday.¡¯ Since the first meeting, the frequency of calling each other¡¯s nicknames has gradually decreased. The day maye that we¡¯ll call each other with new nicknames that have special meanings. ¡°Someday.¡± Jude stood up and walked to Cordelia who was still excitedly talking. *** Time has passed, and it¡¯s been two days since the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s attack. The first to arrive was Count Dahut, who was the closest in geographical location. The Golden Deer Knights, the pride of Count Dahut, quickly left Langesthei with the twin brothers. The next to arrive were Count Crossbell and Viscount Langue¡¯s knights. ¡°Cordelia, this social gathering was scary, but it was really nice to meet you. I look forward to next year¡¯s social gathering.¡± ¡°Me-me too. Cordelia-unnie.¡± They were two people who sincerely regretted breaking up with Cordelia because they had be close in thest few days. ¡°I look forward to it too. I¡¯ll miss the two of you so much.¡± Cordelia hugged Sylvia and Vi in turn, and the hug of an iparably beautiful girl made the absolutely beautiful woman and cute girl blush their cheeks. Three days from the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s attack, Sylvia, Vi, and Felix have left. Now, only three people were left in Treigian: Jude, Cordelia, and Lucas. ¡°My family¡¯s knights will be joining halfway through our journey.¡± Lucas, who had been in touch with his family for thest few days, smiled as he said that. The Thunder Doom Fortress, where Count Hr?svelgr is located, was too far from Langesthei. It meant that if Jude and Cordelia were together, then Count Bayer and Count Chase¡¯s escort would be together too, so there would be no problem in terms of escorts. It would be all right for Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s knights to join in the middle. ¡°Are we the ones left?¡± They from Count Bayer and Count Chase. And in the next morning, the group from the two counts finally arrived in Langesthei. *** ¡°Hmph, you¡¯re still weak and frail.¡± ¡°Fa-father?¡± Surprisingly, it was Count Chase himself, not anyone else, who came from the Count Chase side. ¡°Hahaha, Jude. I heard the story. You¡¯ve be incredibly strong in just a few days.¡± It was Ga?l Bayer, the next Count of Bayer, who came from the Count Bayer side. ¡°Count Chase himself went, so shouldn¡¯t our side match their assortment?¡± Ga?l whispered to Jude with a smile. Since it was Count Chase himself who went, Count Bayer¡¯s heir would at least be approximate to match Count Chase¡¯s group assortment. Count Chase looked at Jude with a stern face as usual, as he said with a snort. ¡°You fought against a demonic human?¡± ¡°Yes, thanks to Lady Cordelia and the wizards of the Red Dawn Tower, we were able to take it down.¡± ¡°Hmph, you¡¯re still weak if you can¡¯t take it down alone.¡± Count Chase¡¯s harsh criticism embarrassed those around him, but not for Jude. He had a happy smile when he saw Count Chase, who was now searching for something in his inner pocket. ¡°You¡¯re too weak that my mind can¡¯t be at ease. This isn¡¯t something big so take it.¡± ¡°I love you, father.¡± Jude took the pitch-ck bracelet from Count Chase without hesitation and smiled again. It was because the C-rank dark bracelet had a blessing to increase one¡¯s magic defense. ¡°Tsk tsk, you still look dried up as before. This is something I bought by chance on the way here. Take it.¡± Jude looked back and saw Count Chase¡¯s knight with an awkward smile, who lifted up a paper bag he was holding in his arms. It was clear that the contents were healthy food that was good for the body. ¡°I didn¡¯t really prepare it for you, so don¡¯t be mistaken.¡± ¡°Of course, father.¡± It was at that time when Jude¡¯s eyes were sparkling. Cordelia stealthily peeked at Jude¡¯s side. ¡®Why? Do you want us to properly divide this again?¡¯ ¡®This crazy bastard¡­it¡¯s not that. You know, that one.¡¯ ¡®Ah, that one.¡¯ Aftermunicating with their eyes only, Jude and Cordelia looked back at Count Chase together, and Jude cleared his throat and adjusted his breath before opening his mouth. ¡°Father and brother. I have something to tell you.¡± He then told the story of the Sunflower and of Lucas¡¯ invitation. He also added about Cordelia joining him. ¡°I-I want to go with my beloved Mr. Jude Bayer. I-I don¡¯t want to be separated from hi-him.¡± Cordelia held Jude¡¯s arm tightly as she said that with a flushed and tearful face. She was embarrassed by her act, but in the eyes of others, she seemed like a girl who was strongly in love with him that she even had tears in her eyes because she wanted to be with her fianc¨¦. ¡®My brother will say okay for sure.¡¯ Ga?l was staring at Cordelia with a fully satisfied smile. Jude turned to Count Chase with his arm held by the clinging Cordelia as he gulped unconsciously. Count Chase¡¯s gaze was too scary. But it was only for a moment. Count Chase snorted as he searched around in his inner pocket again and said. ¡°I wonder if this weak guy can protect Cordelia.¡± The way he spoke was aggressive, but there was a new item in his hand already. ¡°These are trivial items, but still take it.¡± What Count Chase offered was a pair of rings. It looked like he casually bought and prepared it for Jude and Cordelia, but it seemed to be items that he had carried for a long time, as one could feel the energy of powerful mana emanating from the rings. It was at that moment. ¡®Please take care of Cordelia.¡¯ Jude heard those words in his mind from magic. As Jude raised his head, Count Chase turned around with a cold expression. ¡°Now that I¡¯ve finished my business, I¡¯m going home. I¡¯ll tell that old man, Count Bayer, well, so make sure to get back safely from the north.¡± ¡°Thank you, father.¡± ¡°Father! I¡¯ll be back!¡± Count Chase replied by raising his hand at the greetings of Jude and Cordelia, as he settled down in the drawing room because he had other business before leaving Treigian. His business with Jude and Cordelia was over, but there were still other things to do, such as meeting with Ronin and the other wizards of the Red Dawn Tower. ¡°Hmph, do your work.¡± When the slightly red-eared Count Chase turned his head and waved his hands, the Count¡¯s knights went to Sir Zebeck, who was in charge of the journey and began to coordinate this and that. Because we were going on a long trip again, there were a lot of things to discuss, which included theposition of escorts. ¡°Father won¡¯t say much either, so don¡¯t worry and leave.¡± Ga?l spoke without hesitation, as he personally arranged the escort group who¡¯d follow Jude. As for the remaining two, Cordelia was fiddling with the ring Count Chase gave her, as she slightly pouted her lips and looked at Jude. ¡°Well¡­what the hell just happened?¡± Jude was invited by Lucas, and I got permission from my father. There¡¯s even a couple ring¡­no, we got a magic item. ¡°It¡¯s a great sess.¡± Jude smiled in satisfaction as he held out his fist to her. Cordeliaughed and snorted as she bumped her fists with him. The next morning, the three groups of Count Bayer, Count Chase, and Count Hr?svelgr set off for Thunder Doom Fortress, in the northernmost part of the S?len Kingdom. Chapter 28 - CHAPTER 28 – WITCH’S FOREST (1)

Chapter 28 - CHAPTER 28 ¨C WITCH¡¯S FOREST (1)

Terms used in this chapter: Mutually assured destruction?¨C a?military?strategy?in which two opposing military forces are powerful enough topletely destroy each other. The attacker must think that he will be destroyed with his?victim?if he attacks. The theory is that no state would start an attack if attacking its enemy means its own destruction. Jude uses this term to refer to Yellow Storm¡¯s destructive storm-like attacks, which could backfire on her (remember that she bled from her nose and fainted in thest chapters). A day before leaving Langesthei, Jude and Cordelia came to the balcony to have their ¡®t¨ºte-¨¤-t¨ºte,¡¯ which had be a regr event now, and the two immediately began their operational meeting. ¡°Let¡¯s begin with checking our harvest.¡± Jude wasn¡¯t just talking about the things that Count Chase gave them. The two had made their own preparations in their short stay at Langesthei. ¡°I got a couple of potions. These are D-rank potions. Physical strength, mana recovery, detoxification¡­and stimnts just in case.¡± As amercial city, Langesthei had an abundance of magic items. Cordelia did not spare in spending money to secure supplies, as evidenced by the fact that she wasn¡¯t called the ¡®biggest hunting king¡¯ in?Legend of Heroes 2?for no reason. ¡°So I¡¯m almost out of money.¡± ¡°Do you not care much about saving money?¡± ¡°Hmph, my father gave me money though. You saw it all, right?¡± She was right. Before Count Chase left, he gave us a bag of gold coins, saying it was to add to our travel expenses. ¡®Thank you, father.¡¯ Jude, who was grateful to Count Chase, changed the topic before Cordelia talks about proper division of money (N?, n-ppang) again. ¡°I got some equipment. Fortunately, the cksmiths in Langesthei were very good.¡± ¡°Oh, knuckles. Youpletely bought something exclusive for you. You¡¯ve gone the martial arts route and not the swordsman route?¡± Until now, Jude had been fighting by holding the Sun¡¯s Ne like knuckles whenever necessary, but it was too much to properly call it knuckles. There were also concerns that the Sun¡¯s Ne might be damaged. Therefore, Jude had a cksmith forge some kind of specialized knuckles that can fit the Sun¡¯s Ne, so that he could fully utilize its divine power. ¡°Well, if you consider your equipment and so on, yourbat power is higher on the martial arts side right now.¡± ¡°Hmm, I have Cheonmujiche, so it¡¯ll be okay.¡± Jude won¡¯t lose that much even if he changed routes on the way. Cordelia was convinced, and soon looked at the other items that Jude had taken out. Most of the items were protective gear. ¡°This is usually worn outside the clothes. Isn¡¯t it good because it¡¯s thin?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a very thin chain mail. Wouldn¡¯t it hardly increase your defense?¡± ¡°But this is reality. It would be much better than nothing. You wear it so that you can avoid directly getting hurt when you get stabbed or cut by a sword in the first ce.¡± ¡°Well¡­sure.¡± Cordelia nodded as she looked at the chain mail made of thin chains and shaped like a T-shirt. ¡°Now, let¡¯s move on to today¡¯s highlight.¡± It was the items given by Count Chase. Jude pointed to the ck bracelet he wore on his right wrist. ¡°You¡¯ve known this bracelet once, right? Magic Defense ¨C This is a C-rank bracelet that is especially useful in blocking dark magic.¡± ¡°Che, give me one too.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll use it reasonably instead.¡± Jude had a wily smile as he next raised his left hand. ¡°Next is the ring.¡± ¡°Are you wearing it already?¡± ¡°Huh? Yes. Why?¡± ¡°I-it¡¯s nothing. Just¡­¡± Cordelia mumbled at the end of her words, before she took out a handkerchief from her pocket and carefully unfolded it. Inside it was a ring that looked exactly like Jude¡¯s. ¡°Put it on your left hand¡¯s ring finger. It¡¯s a couple ring to begin with.¡± ¡°I-I know that, okay?¡± Cordelia took a deep breath and swallowed deeply. And as soon as she was about to pick up the ring¡­ ¡°Give me your hand.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Give me your hand.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± When Cordelia held out her hand reflexively, Jude immediately picked up the ring and naturally put it on her left ring finger. ¡°Well, good. Is it because your hands are pretty? Uh¡­Cordelia?¡± ¡°Huh? Ah, yes. O-of course. Cordelia¡¯s pretty.¡± Cordelia snorted and quickly pulled her hand back, pretending to be calm, and Judeughed at the sight. ¡°Why¡­why¡­¡± ¡°No, just.¡± Jude shrugged once and turned the topic around for Cordelia. ¡°Before your father left, he gave me the instructions.¡± ¡°About the ring?¡± As Cordelia asked while fiddling with her left ring finger, Jude nodded and answered. ¡°First off, there are two effects.¡± ¡°What effects?¡± ¡°The first is that the magical effect of the rings be stronger if it¡¯s worn by two people.¡± ¡°By how much?¡± ¡°1.1 to 1.2 times.¡± ¡°Oh¡­is that good? Does that make attack or curse magic stronger?¡± Both were generally magic, whether it¡¯s attack or curse. At the idea that was truly Yellow Storm¡¯s, Jude showed the rings¡¯ magic circle as he said. ¡°Let¡¯s refrain from talking about mutually assured destruction. Okay?¡± ¡°Che, you¡¯re not even a wizard.¡± He was a martial arts fighter by profession, but if Jude could use magic like an ordinary wizard, it would be a p to the cheek for Cordelia. ¡°What is the second effect?¡± ¡°When the rings are close together, the built-in magic bes stronger. Mine is recovery magic, and yours is defense magic. When we are close to each other, it oveps with the first effect, which greatly enhances its power.¡± Cordelia looked at the ring and found the built-in magic in the ring. ¡°What do you think? It¡¯s faithful to the concept of rings, right?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± The effect is stronger when it¡¯s worn by each other and its performance improves when we¡¯re together. These strangely cute magic effects were precisely made by Count Chase himself¡­ ¡°Hmm, hmm.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°No, I just had a little rude thought.¡± In front of Cordelia who tilted her head while wondering what he was talking about, Jude recalled Count Chase¡¯s stern face, and after taking several deep breaths, he was able to regain his calmness. ¡°Well, that¡¯s it for our harvest inspection, so let¡¯s move on to our operational meeting.¡± ¡°You mean the way to the witch¡¯s forest?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s both in the north, but if we go straight to Count Hr?svelgr, we won¡¯t pass by the witch¡¯s forest. So we need to create a reason.¡± Moreover, monsters even appeared in the witch¡¯s forest. We needed a pretty much good reason to convince the escorts who¡¯d make the safety of our journey to Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s territory their top priority. ¡°So, what do you have in mind? Seeing that you¡¯re talking about it at this point, don¡¯t you already have a n?¡± Cordelia was already familiar with Jude even before they came to Pleaides. Jude wasn¡¯t a person who¡¯d bring up a story like this without having any ns. Indeed, he had a n, so Jude grinned and answered. ¡°Of course I have. Do you remember what I told you during ourst information exchange meeting?¡± ¡°Uh¡­the story of ying another card to draw a big picture?¡± ¡°Yes, the time hase for a new Muan Sweet Water.¡± It would be a new all-around?excuse?medicine following Gueumjulmaek. A dark smile was drawn on Jude¡¯s face. *** ¡°Did the Fairy Queen say that?¡± ¡°Yes, the Fairy Queen said that. The witch¡¯s forest has an influential connection that will benefit Cordelia, so make sure to stop by if you need to go to the north.¡± When Jude spoke with a very serious face, Lucas turned to Cordelia and she nodded while having the same serious face as Jude. ¡°I¡¯m serious, Lord Lucas.¡± It was indeed true that there was an event for Cordelia in the witch¡¯s forest. ¡®What are they going to do if we said the Fairy Queen said that? Are they going to check it? By what means?¡¯ It was what Jude had saidst night. Jude and Cordelia met the Fairy Queen. It was certainly true, and the Moonlight proved it. ¡®No one else can meet the Fairy Queen.¡¯ In the first ce, the reason why the Fairy Queen¡¯s night banquet was an exclusive event for Cordelia was simple. The fairies invited Cordelia to their night banquet because they found her incredibly pretty and admirable. Sylvia is the only other person we¡¯ve met who has the potential too. You need to have a beautiful girl, go to a fixed date, a fixed time, and a fixed ce to take a bath. Lucas and our party knew nothing about the date, time, and ce, so there was no way for them to check even if they wanted to. ¡®And we¡¯re going to add something extra here. You know Lucas¡¯ character settings, right?¡¯ A heroic novel enthusiast. He is a young 16-year-old boy who wants to live a life like the heroes in novels. ¡°When I close my eyes even now, the day I met the Fairy Queen vividlyes to my mind. It was a really fantastic and beautiful night.¡± As Jude spoke with his eyes closed, Cordelia continued, covering her mouth with both hands. ¡°I-it¡¯s a memory I¡¯ll never forget.¡± It was true. It was a really crazy night where we got harassed by dozens of fairies. Even now, Cordelia breaks into cold sweat when she closes her eyes and thinks of that time. ¡®All right, it¡¯sing across to him.¡¯ Jude slightly opened his eyes and peeked into Lucas¡¯ eyes that became filled with various emotions. Meeting a mysterious entity like the Fairy Queen was one of the ssic situations in hero novels. ¡°Maybe we can have a simr experience this time.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. The Fairy Queen said it on purpose, so I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll have a mysterious experience.¡± It was something like meeting the soul of a witch, so it was bound to be mysterious. Although Cordelia¡¯s acting ability was at the level of reading Korean books, her acting was more natural than usual because what they were talking about was a ¡®fact¡¯ in the first ce. ¡°We may have to fight monsters like when we fought the Bicorn, but that¡¯s also part of the adventure.¡± ¡°Oh my¡­I¡¯m scared, Mr. Bayer.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, Lady Cordelia. If anything happens, I¡¯ll risk my life to protect you. Lord Lucas will also be with us.¡± A knight protecting a beautifuldy. Looking at Cordelia being scared but at the same time, looking forward to it, Lucas inhaled and swallowed his breath for a moment. Lucas had already witnessed Cordelia¡¯s true colors the other day, but even taking that into consideration, the current Cordelia is¡­ to be precise, her pitiful yet iparably beautiful appearance certainly had a tremendous power. ¡°Hmmm¡­it¡¯s only natural that it¡¯s a knight¡¯s mission to protect thedy.¡± When they saw the corner of Lucas¡¯ mouth slightly raise as he politely answered, Jude and Cordelia thought at the same time. ¡®That¡¯s something he had always wanted to say.¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s a wish he wanted to achieve¡­a wish fulfillment.¡¯ The two exchanged nces and gave the final blow. ¡°Lord Lucas, a heart-pounding adventure awaits us.¡± ¡°Ah¡­I¡¯m getting excited because it¡¯s like a heroic novel.¡± Let¡¯s go through the witch¡¯s forest. Let¡¯s enjoy the adventure the Fairy Queen presented us. Lucas swallowed deeply again. Jude and Cordelia. They¡¯re two people who have already experienced a story-like adventure, such as defeating the Bicorn and meeting the Fairy Queen. These two were now reaching out for a new adventure. It was too much of a temptation to refuse. ¡°That¡­¡± ¡°That?¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be dangerous?¡± ¡°It¡¯ll be fine if we have escorts. And¡­I guess, a little risk is the real taste of adventure.¡± ¡®A little risk is the real taste of adventure¡¯ is a frequent line from the novel?Biltwein the Hero. Eventually, Lucas nodded with flushed cheeks. ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s go through the witch¡¯s forest for Lady Cordelia.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Thank you very much, Lord Lucas. An exciting adventure awaits us.¡± Cordelia made quite an unusual impressive performance, perhaps because she was influenced by the atmosphere. And she wasn¡¯t the only one who got into the mood. Lucas¡¯ cheeks twitched at the word ¡®adventure¡¯ once again, and he suddenly stood up from his seat as he said. ¡°I¡¯ll be back after talking to my escorts. Both of you should also talk to your escorts.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be going then.¡± As Lucas left his seat in a hurry, Jude and Cordelia exchanged looks before cheerfully bumping their fists together. Chapter 29 - EPISODE 29 – WITCH’S FOREST (2)

Chapter 29 - EPISODE 29 ¨C WITCH¡¯S FOREST (2)

Terms used in this chapter: Noona?¨C Korean term on how younger boys address their older sister or a female older than them. Cordelia uses it to address herself as she is older than Lucas. Trefalgar?¨C This is a reference to Trafalgar, which is an actual ce. I don¡¯t know if the author misspelled Trafalgar, or if it was a deliberate misspelling, because many people get the spelling of the ce wrong too. The witch¡¯s forest¡¯s official name was Trefalgar Forest, a region belonging to a northern viscount, and is located in the northwest of Langesthei. ¡®However, no one really manages it.¡¯ The forest was an important ce beyond one¡¯s imagination. It was a ce where you could get firewood as well as food. Therefore, most lords that have forests in their territory manage it by hiring forest rangers. However, half of Trefalgar Forest was no different from an abandoned forest. ¡®Because monsterse out of the forest.¡¯ There was a clear difference between monsters and wild beasts, such as bears and wild boars, though they were all dangerous. ¡®Enmity against humans.¡¯ Most monsters hated humans. Rather than for any specific reason, it was simply just an instinctive hostility. Moreover, most monsters were smarter than the wild beasts. Even goblins, the epitome of the weak monsters that can be found anywhere on the continent, knew how to use their brains in a clever way, such as digging traps andunching surprise attacks with a group. It¡¯s okay to go to the outskirts of the Trefalgar Forest. However, it¡¯s dangerous to go deep into the ce called the Witch¡¯s Forest. ¡°Frankly, I don¡¯t like it.¡± When he heard that we were going to pass through the witch¡¯s forest, Sir Seornn, a handsome knight of Count Hr?svelgr, frowned. Now in his early thirties, he was the strongest and highest-ranking knight among Lucas¡¯ escorts, and had taken the role of leading the escorts from the three counts for their journey to Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s territory. If he objected, it would be impossible to go through the witch¡¯s forest no matter how much Lucas wanted to. Lucas was only Sir Seornn¡¯s escort target and not his master, Count Hr?svelgr. ¡°But Sir Seornn¡­¡± ¡°Yes, I understand. If the Fairy Queen said we had to stop by, then there must be a good reason.¡± When Sir Seornn spoke with a bitter smile, Lucas¡¯ restless face brightened up a little. ¡°Sir Seornn, then¡­¡± ¡°All right. Let¡¯s go through it. However, there will be conditions.¡± ¡°Condition?¡± ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be at the forefront. Basically, the young master should bear in mind that you are being escorted. Do you understand?¡± ¡°¡­I understand.¡± Lucas answered reluctantly, and Sir Seornn smiled and continued to talk while drawing his face a little closer. ¡°And there¡¯s one more condition.¡± ¡°One more?¡± ¡°Yes, please protect Count Chase¡¯s esteemed daughter like a courageous and honorable knight. Ah, of course, you shouldn¡¯t take the role of Mr. Jude Bayer too much. Do you understand?¡± When Sir Seornn gave a little wink at the end, Lucas¡¯ face brightened at once. ¡°Okay, I promise.¡± ¡°I believe you, young master.¡± Sir Seornn patted Lucas¡¯ shoulder as if treating him like a younger brother and straightened his lowered posture. On the other hand, Lucas turned around with a bright smile and hurriedly ran towards Jude and Cordelia who were standing at a distance. ¡°He looks so innocent while running.¡± Dame Thilion, a murky blonde-haired female knight and adjutant of Sir Seornn, spoke with a frown, and Sir Seornn replied with a bitter smile. ¡°He¡¯s at that age.¡± ¡°Well, I first killed someone when I was 15 years old. My first experience was younger.¡± ¡°Why are youparing based on misfortune? You are different from him.¡± As Sir Seornn, a former mercenary, looked back at Dame Thilion, she looked away and said. ¡°It¡¯s because I¡¯m worried.¡± ¡°I know. You may talk tough, but you care about young master Lucas just as much as we do.¡± If Cordelia was the youngest and loved by everyone in Count Chase¡¯s family, Lucas was the only child born to Count Hr?svelgr, who didn¡¯t have a child for a long time since he got married. He was also a precious child born with a tremendous talent for the sword. It was not an exaggeration to say that among the people of Hr?svelgr, there was no one who didn¡¯t cherish and love Lucas. ¡°He¡¯s finally making friends his age, isn¡¯t that good?¡± ¡°What if it bes a sticky love triangle?¡± ¡°Well, our young master is a little attractive.¡± Sir Seornn began to boast about their young master, but it was fine since there were only knights of Count Hr?svelgr gathered near them, who also shared simr thoughts with him. Dame Thilion also nodded with a serious face and nced at her beloved and innocent young master who was with Jude and Cordelia. *** Since the short trip to Langesthei had turned into a journey towards the northernmost end of the S?len Kingdom, there had been a considerable change in theposition of the escorts. First of all, Maja, Jude¡¯s exclusive maid, was not included in the party. ¡°I¡¯d like to go with you if possible, but¡­¡± ¡°No, go back home, Maja. Your skin has already be rough, right?¡± ¡°Young master, that¡¯s¡­¡± At Jude¡¯s will, Maja eventually lost her stubbornness and returned to Count Bayer¡¯s territory with Ga?l. ¡®Because it¡¯s too dangerous.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t just the witch¡¯s forest. If they n to follow the main story¡¯s flow, it was not an exaggeration to say that the party¡¯s future lies on a path of thorns. It was unreasonable for Maja, who was not a knight, to be with them. ¡®Should I call the rest as numerical reinforcements?¡¯ There are three knights from Count Bayer, and one squire who¡¯ll do the chores. There are three knights from Count Chase, which included Dahlia. There are five knights from Count Hr?svelgr, and two squires. An ordinary knight can bepared to ten infantrymen, so in terms ofbat power, a powerful convoy of more than a hundred infantrymen was formed. ¡°I n to use the carriage until we get near the northern territory, and then walk on foot from the Trefalgar Forest. The carriages will be sent separately to the northern territory.¡± ¡°Afterpleting our adventure, we should give our greetings to the northern viscount.¡± ¡°Yes, I stopped by on my way to Langesthei, and he was a kind and nice man.¡± No northern lord would stay still if a child from the 12 northern families passed by their territory. The children of the 12 families also had to meet the lord in order to be polite, except for times when they had some pressing and urgent matters. ¡®You explicitly emphasize the word?adventure.¡¯ Cordelia stared at Jude suspiciously, while Jude responded to Lucas who was exining their schedule with a bright face. Should I say that my suspicion about Outboxer009¡¯s job is getting deeper day by day? ¡®Well, I¡¯m an aplice now.¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s lips pouted, and soon she smiled and began supporting Jude. ¡°It¡¯s a little scary that monsters wille out¡­ but it¡¯s reassuring when I think that Mr. Jude Bayer and Lord Lucas is here.¡± ¡°Hahaha, don¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t let them touch even a single fingertip of Lady Cordelia.¡± ¡®Huh¡­have you not seen Cordelia fighting Minos back then?¡¯ Cordelia was capable even if she had only supported them from the rear back then. After swallowing the few questions he had in his mind, Jude took a deep breath and started talking about what was necessary. ¡°Lord Lucas, it¡¯s very important to have information before going on an adventure. We have to figure out in advance where we are going, what kind of ce, what enemies wille out, and what are their strengths and weaknesses.¡± Jude had very much felt responsible for Lucas because he had tricked him. Even though Lucas was a sword genius, he was still a young and innocent sixteen-year-old boy. ¡°Well, that¡¯s what I learned.¡± It was another simr phrase that appeared in?Biltwein the Hero. Jude looked back at Cordelia and continued his words. ¡°In the witch¡¯s forest, a poor witch¡¯s soul is sealed. An evil being is suppressing the witch¡¯s soul. The Fairy Queen said she wished to set the witch free.¡± ¡°Such a secret story¡­¡± Like a story that would only appear in hero novels, Lucas naturally admired it as hepletely got sucked in by Jude¡¯s story. And that story now was bing true. While listening to Jude¡¯s story, Cordelia briefly recalled Cordelia¡¯s main story. ¡®After she was obviously kidnapped and managed to run away¡­¡¯ Cordelia desperately escaped through a gap that the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s guard had neglected, and she wanders through the Trefalgar Forest. Cordelia was not only chased by the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s pursuers, but also by the monsters living in the forest. She had frequent brushes with death, and when her mind and body finally reached their limits, she heard the witch¡¯s voice. ¡®The evil being was surely Asmodeus¡¯ subordinate, right?¡¯ Asmodeus was the monarch of lust and one of the five great demons in hell. As one of the enemies in the entire?Legend of Heroes?series, he was one of the greatest demons that could only be dealt with in?Legend of Heroes 3. In any case, the summary was as follows. The witch¡¯s soul is sealed, and Asmodeus¡¯ subordinate, a white-eyed demonic monster, is guarding the seal. ¡®With the guidance of the witch¡¯s soul, the seal is released. The liberated witch¡¯s soul defeats the monster, and Cordelia gets the witch¡¯s power from the witch¡¯s soul afterwards.¡¯ Although she wasn¡¯t as good as Jude in remembering all the story¡¯s lines, Cordelia still had an urate understanding of the game¡¯s story. ¡®But I still have to be careful.¡¯ Well, the battle with monsters was inevitable, and as this was not a game but reality, so it was possible that other variables could appear. Cordelia raised her head as she listened to Jude¡¯s story. She clenched her fist when she saw Lucas. ¡®Noona will protect you.¡¯ Like Jude, Cordelia also felt responsible for Lucas. ¡°I¡¯m really looking forward to it.¡± Lucas smiled naively, and Jude and Cordelia looked at each other. The two exchanged nces of guilt and responsibility. *** The journey to Trefalgar Forest was smooth, and not much changed after entering the witch¡¯s forest. ¡°Uh, it¡¯s a little different from what I imagined.¡± When Lucas spoke quietly, Jude and Cordelia exchanged bitter smiles. The current situation was different from the thrilling adventure that Lucas imagined. ¡®There are eleven knights.¡¯ If you include the squires, it bes 14. Whether it was a wild beast or monster, they at least possessed basic intelligence. Fourteen armed personnel were moving forward with a threatening atmosphere, so only a few ones were dumb and reckless enough to attack first. Very often, unlucky and stupid ones like the forest goblin appeared, but they were cut down instantly. ¡®It¡¯s peaceful.¡¯ In the original Cordelia¡¯s story, the forest was like hell. Everything was hard for Cordelia, who was injured and exhausted from running away. Even a single goblin could threaten her life, so she was extremely nervous that a small sound or a glimpse of a shadow could make her heart jump. But now. ¡°Uh¡­uh¡­¡± Jude was surprised at the appearance of Cordelia who was clenching and opening her fists. So he whispered to her ear. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s wrong? Are you feeling sick?¡± Cordelia frowned at Jude¡¯s question and whispered back. ¡°Something, something is missing.¡± It was a vague exnation, but Jude understood it. ¡®You¡¯re frustrated.¡¯ It must be painful for a hunting king toe to the hunting ground and watch other people hunt. ¡®Well, this is unexpected, but she¡¯s not normal either.¡¯ ¡°What, what were you thinking? Did you think I¡¯m weird?¡± ¡°No, not really. Stay still like that.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Stay still.¡± When Cordelia tilted her head in confusion and stopped walking, Jude loosened the cord from his waist, wound it around her waist, and held the end firmly. ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°If you suddenly run and leave, I can catch you. You¡¯re not allowed to bite anyone.¡± ¡°Shall I bite you first?¡± It was when Cordelia growled like a dog. ¡°Mr. Jude Bayer? What¡¯s going on? Why is Lady Cordelia¡¯s waist¡­¡± ¡°The fog is getting thicker. When the view is blocked, there is a risk of us being scattered, so we used this to connect each other. If it¡¯s fine with Lord Lucas, will you like to join us as well?¡± ¡°Oh¡­I see. Yes, I¡¯ll tie it up too.¡± Lucas nodded and approached Jude, who quickly tied the cord to his waist and handed the remaining cord to Lucas. Cordelia thought while looking at them. ¡®It had an authentic reason?¡¯ I thought of the reason for tying the cord. I think I¡¯ve head stories that when people climb ces like snowy mountains, they use cords to tie themselves and stay connected with each other. Cordelia was alone in the original, but not now. ¡®The fog is thick.¡¯ The fog that had been up to my ankles at first had now suddenly rose to my waist. When the fog finally came at the top of my head¡­ ¡°Wait.¡± When Jude, who was in the middle, suddenly stopped, and not only Lucas, who was in the lead, but also Cordelia, had no choice but to stop. Cordelia, whose mind was wandering while walking behind them, hit her forehead on Jude¡¯s back. She then asked while touching her forehead. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°The soil has changed.¡± ¡°What?¡± Instead of answering, Jude turned the soil and showed it to them. He sat down, rubbed the soil, and exined to Lucas and Cordelia, who came close to him. ¡°The soil had changed. The smell, particle size, and theposition are different from the soil of Trefalgar Forest.¡± At Jude¡¯s sudden words, Lucas blinked, and Cordelia sat down too and touched the soil, but she couldn¡¯t tell the difference. She didn¡¯t even know what the soil of the Trefalgar Forest was like in the first ce. ¡°Dahlia! Jun!¡± Jude suddenly shouted loudly, but no one answered back. Lucas flinched and also called the names of Seornn and Thilion, but it was the same too. Cordelia realized at that moment. ¡®I was too rxed.¡¯ I didn¡¯t even think of the escorts until Jude cried out. They had just walked without thinking, even though they lost sight of their escorts. ¡®Barrier.¡¯ It was an independent space like the Dungeon Book. The story fell into ce. The knights that suddenly disappeared. Apletely different soilposition. If they hadn¡¯t tied each other with a cord, not only Lucas, but Jude and Cordelia would also have been scattered. Cordelia quickly turned to Jude, and he nodded. ¡®This is certainly a barrier.¡¯ It was the same as the original, but also different. In the original, Cordelia wandered through the forest alone, so she didn¡¯t even notice the existence of a barrier. But it wasn¡¯t for the party. Several people were heading straight towards the target without wandering through the forest. That was what made the difference. And perhaps, it was a change due to the butterfly effect that urred as a result of stopping the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s attack. ¡°Mr. Bayer? Lady Cordelia?¡± When Lucas asked with a tense face, Jude took a deep breath and stood up. He told Lucas and everyone to untie the cords that were tied to their waists, as they had already entered the barrier. ¡°Lord Lucas.¡± ¡°Yes, Mr. Bayer.¡± ¡°It seems like¡­a real adventure has started.¡± A real adventure where they had no idea of the oue and process. Tension, anxiety, indescribable joy and anticipation spread simultaneously on Lucas¡¯ face, and Jude and Cordelia looked back at each other. Amidst their concerns and responsibilities, they were prepared to fight. Chapter 30 - EPISODE 30 – WITCH’S FOREST (3)

Chapter 30 - EPISODE 30 ¨C WITCH¡¯S FOREST (3)

Terms used in this chapter: Owlbear?¨C a fictional creature originally created for the?Dungeons & Dragons?fantasy?role-ying game. It is depicted as a cross between a bear and an owl, which ¡°hugs¡± like a bear and attacks with its beak. Wereboar?¨C a fictional creature capable of polymorphing into a boar-humanoid hybrid or into a boar, or back into its true form, which is humanoid. When moving in groups, it was very important to have a proper line and formation. Jude spoke, looking at Lucas and Cordelia. ¡°I¡¯ll take the lead, Lady Cordelia will be in the middle, andst will be Lord Lucas.¡± At Jude¡¯s words that he would be at the front line, Cordelia eximed an ¡®Oooh¡¯ in admiration, but Lucas had a slightly dissatisfied look. ¡°Mr. Bayer, me too¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s not because I see Lord Lucas as someone to protect. I entrusted the rear to you as it is as important as the front.¡± ¡°The rear?¡± ¡°Yes, we are in a ce where we don¡¯t know where the enemy wille from. The rear is as important as the front. Please protect Lady Cordelia by keeping an eye on the back.¡± ¡°Okay, leave it to me.¡± Lucas nodded with a serious face. Although he was excited that it was a real adventure, Lucas realized the seriousness of the situation after listening to Jude¡¯s exnation. ¡°Maybe the other knights are also wandering inside the barrier. The best way to ovee the current situation¡­is to free the witch¡¯s soul.¡± ¡°The witch¡¯s soul dispels the barrier?¡± ¡°Probably.¡± Because of the emergency situation, Cordelia¡¯s usual way of speaking reemerged. Jude briefly responded and then spoke to Lucas again. ¡°First of all, we¡¯re going to keep moving in the same direction. We may have entered the barrier, but it¡¯s possible that the way itself remains the same.¡± ¡°Yes, I understand.¡± Lucas energetically answered and immediately drew his sword and prepared to enter into battle. After swallowing his breath at the sight of Lucas, Jude approached close to Cordelia and said. ¡°Frankly, I don¡¯t know the way or where to go. I¡¯ll trust in you.¡± ¡°I know. Are you talking about the witch¡¯s voice?¡± Cordelia likewise kept their faces close and whispered. The voice of the witch was what helped Cordelia in the original story. While she was wandering through the forest, she heard the witch¡¯s voice who guided her on the correct direction. ¡°Keep your ears open.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll keep it wide open. Though about the battle formation, can you change my position?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll let you do other things sooner orter.¡± ¡°Hmph, I¡¯ll look forward to it.¡± After they wrapped up and ended their conversation, Cordelia increased her distance from him. Jude put the Sun¡¯s Ne inside his specialized knuckles and looked through the fog. ¡°Let¡¯s get started.¡± Jude slowly proceeded, being wary of his surroundings, and Cordelia and Lucas followed Jude¡¯s footsteps with three steps apart between each of them. How far have they gone? They took a short break when Jude stopped under arge tree. For some reason, despite being in the middle of the forest, the gap between the trees was very far. ¡°I¡¯ll take a look at the surrounding environment for a moment.¡± Jude spoke in a low voice as he began to carefully observe the soil on the ground or the trees nearby. And Cordelia thought at that time. ¡®What did you do?¡¯ His observation of the surrounding environment was strange. Frankly, Cordelia couldn¡¯t figure out how Jude did it. ¡®It was the same when he said the soil has changed.¡¯ In other words, when we first entered the forest, he was already observing the soil, which was unthinkable for Cordelia. ¡®What did you really do in the past?¡¯ Not to mention the fact that he noticed that the soil has changed while walking. Even if he was number one in the server rankings, his actions were already impossible to exin in words. ¡®Something, there is something about him.¡¯ It was not an exaggeration to say that his memory had exceeded the normal limits. He thought differently than ordinary people and had excellent acting skills. In addition to this, he even had great observation skills. ¡®It smells suspicious.¡¯ It was when Cordelia sniffed once for no reason. ¡°Lady Cordelia.¡± ¡°Huh? Ah, yes?¡± A startled Cordelia turned her head and saw Lucas. But somehow, she felt unpleasant with his smile. ¡°Lord¡­Lucas?¡± ¡°Ah, sorry. Lady Cordelia¡¯s gaze on Mr. Bayer was so touching¡­it was such a profound love. I wanted to experience that kind of love too.¡± When Lucas¡¯ face turned slightly red as if he was really envious, Cordelia thought. ¡®What is this crazy bastard saying?¡¯ Fortunately, the situation was not as urgent as it was in the fight against Minos, so it was possible to prevent the words froming out of her mouth. ¡°Fu-¡­. hohoho¡­I-is that so.¡± Cordelia barely stopped the swear word froming out andughed gracefully, while Lucas wiped his nose in embarrassment. It was at that moment. Cordelia, who wasughing awkwardly, suddenly stood up. Lucas looked around sharply too, though he was slow by one beat. The air has changed. To be exact, they felt piercing sharp gazes directed towards them. ¡°Lady Cordelia.¡± Instead of responding to Lucas¡¯ call, Cordelia grabbed the Moonlight with both hands and shouted. ¡°Jude!¡± The piercing gazes were in front of him. There was a rattling sound that could be heard from the thick fog. It was not one, but many. ¡®Let me think, let¡¯s remember.¡¯ In the original story, there were quite a few monsters that Cordelia met when she wandered through the witch¡¯s forest. In the forest outskirts, it was mainly forest goblins. Deep in the forest, it was savage beasts like the Owlbear and Wereboar, which one must consider fleeing unconditionally when facing them. And in the vicinity of the seal¡­ ¡®Skeleton!¡¯ The power of the seal holding the witch¡¯s soul was not weak. Containing the power of Asmodeus, the monarch of lust, it affected not only the witch¡¯s soul but also the surrounding area. Because of this, death was no longer an eternal rest in the depths of the witch¡¯s forest. Those who have died here were reborn as undead monsters. ¡°Lucas! Sheathe your sword! Hitting is more effective on skeletons!¡± As Cordelia quickly shouted, Lucas hastily returned his sword to the scabbard despite his surprise. The skeletons finally appeared. ¡®Eight.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t a small number. The tottering skeletons were wearing worn-out white clothes that was strangely familiar. ¡®What? Was it like this in the original?¡¯ Cordelia clenched her teeth in worry. ¡°The Guardians.¡± Jude suddenly came to her side and said. The Guardians of the Holy Cross. They were a group of humans who fought against the demons and were influential across the whole?Legend of Heroes?series. If you think of the past broadly, the Pdin Gallus and Sri¡¯s priests, who sealed the great demon Leisegang, were also Guardian members. Considering the situation, it was highly likely that they entered the forest to destroy Asmodeus¡¯ subordinate, died and became undead. ¡°The Guardians? Then?!¡± ¡°There should be one more.¡± The Guardians of the Holy Cross moved as a group of nine people. And as if answering Jude and Cordelia, a new skeleton appeared behind the back of the scattered skeletons. Likewise, it was wearing worn-out clothes, but the skeleton was also wearing a distinctive robe with the Guardians of the Holy Cross¡¯ emblem. It was probably the leader of the group. ¡°Mr. Bayer! They are-!¡± Lucas fully shouted in a tense voice. This is because the skeletons that appeared began to form a battle formation. ¡°The Guardian Extermination Formation.¡± It was the Guardians¡¯ most basic battle formation created for the purpose of all-out battle. Moreover, as if it couldn¡¯t get any worse, a red battle aura began to emerge in their hands. They may have be undead monsters, but it seemed that they could still use the Guardian¡¯s skills. ¡°F*ck.¡± Cordelia finally let out a curse and swallowed deeply, and Jude quickly said. ¡°Their pattern is simple. Tie them down with Lucas. I¡¯ll deal with the boss.¡± In the Guardian Extermination Formation, eight would take the form of a defensive fortress, and the leader would strike the enemy by moving inside and outside the battle formation. Therefore, in order to break down the battle formation, we had to tear apart the leader from the Guardian Extermination Formation. Cordelia was convinced by Jude¡¯s exnation. It was a theoretically perfect n. However, there was always a gap between theory and reality. ¡°Hey, wait a second!¡± Cordelia shouted in a hurry, but Jude had already kicked the ground. The skeletons in the Guardian Extermination Formation slowly marched forward, and the leader went out of the formation as if chasing Jude and kicked the ground in the same way. ¡°You evil bastard! Am I you? I¡¯m not you!¡± The pattern is simple. If you know the pattern, you can easily break it. ¡®I¡¯m not you who memorized everything!¡¯ There were numerous monsters in?Legend of Heroes 2, so their patterns that naturally appeared numbered in the hundreds to the ridiculous thousand mark. Who else but Outboxer can memorize all those patterns? ¡°Lady Cordelia?!¡± ¡°Here ites! Stay where you are!¡± Cordelia shouted reflexively as she stamped on the floor with Moonlight while invoking the spell. She first spread magic in a wide area to prevent the enemies from directly approaching, and then shouted to Lucas again. ¡°Start from the right! Up, up, down!¡± ¡°Yes?!¡± Lucas shouted in confusion, but he wasn¡¯t a sword genius for nothing. As if avoiding the magic that Cordelia had spread, hepletely evaded the pressing attacks of the skeletons. ¡®Seriously!¡¯ Up, up, down. Front, front, rear. The three skeletons attacked one after another just as what Cordelia said. ¡°Lady Cordelia!¡± ¡°This time, it¡¯s on my side! Middle, middle, down!¡± Cordelia casted magic on herself and then quickly moved to widen her distance from Lucas. It was to avoid being surrounded. ¡®Ho-how did I memorize this?¡¯ Cordelia soon realized it. Her head doesn¡¯t know, but her body knows. It was hard to say that her body knew because she had reincarnated, but somehow, the subconscious of Cordelia, who had gone through hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands of hunting as Yellow Storm, remembered the pattern of the Guardian Extermination Formation. ¡°Lady Cordelia!¡± ¡°Middle! Up, down, up, down, middle! At the same time!¡± Cordelia, who shouted reflexively, did not try to use her memory. She left her body to her hunting instincts as she said the words out of her mouth. ¡°Up, up, down!¡± Thump! As if piercing through Cordelia¡¯s loud voice, Jude struck the ground hard. Looking at the leader skeleton rushing from the front, he thought with his head instead of his instinct. ¡®Monk. Guardian leader. The grade is low in terms of color. Maybe 7th?grade. If so, it can use God¡¯s Fist!¡¯ The Monk martial arts belonged to the immediate higher level of the basic guardian skills that one must learn to be officially recognized as a monk of the Guardian Corps. Just as Thirty-Six World Steps can reach Nine Celestial Steps after several rank-ups, monks start from the basics too as they improve and reach higher levels of martial art skills such as God¡¯s Fist. ¡®Because it had be an undead, its sacred battle aura has weakened.¡¯ Mana, Inner Qi, Sacred Battle Aura. All of them were simr concepts in the end, but there was a slight difference. Sacred Battle Aura is the addition of the Life Force to the inner Qi. Therefore, it was not a power that undead monsters could properly handle. The monk had forcibly used fighting spirit as a substitute for life force, but it was clear that it would not be as powerfulpared to using life force. Moreover, the monk had no blood or flesh now. The movement of its sacred battle aura could be seen over its pale bones. Thump! Thump! Thump! Jude¡¯s footsteps hit the ground in session. There wasn¡¯t a set pattern like the Guardian Extermination Formation, but Jude couldpletely evade as if he knew all of its attack patterns. ¡®Because I can see it.¡¯ He could see the flow of the sacred battle aura moving along the skeleton¡¯s body. That¡¯s why he could predict what kind of attack would unfold next. Of course, it was a skill that an ordinary person couldn¡¯t pull off whether they saw the flow or not, but it was possible for Outboxer. What¡¯s more, he as Jude had something now that he didn¡¯t have before. ¡®Cheonmujiche!¡¯ The skeleton leader was not weak. Although it was poorly using its sacred battle aurapared to when it was alive, the God¡¯s Fist was still quick and urate. But Jude was also quick. His levels surpassed 20 when they defeated Minos, and his overall physical abilities were also greatly improved. And there was one more added to it. Jude didn¡¯t simply stop at avoiding attacks. He also didn¡¯t stop in thinking of the next attack naturally. Cheonmujiche. A heavenly talent for martial arts! Tsu-hwaak! The mes of a pure white sacred battle aura rose from Jude¡¯s fist. Sacred battle aura. It was the addition of the life force that everyone has to the inner Qi. He figured it out from watching the movement of the sacred battle aura. At some point, how to use the sacred battle aura naturally came to his mind. And the result was¡­ Jude held his breath. He could see the sacred battle aura of the skeleton rushing from his front. He moved the center of his body as he felt the trajectory of the skeleton¡¯s attack. Cheuhwak! The skeleton¡¯s fist pierced the air. The sound of the strike was heard, and Jude, who dodged the attack, clenched his fist. He drew a picture on his head. The attacks the skeleton leader unfolded several times. The unhidden flow of sacred battle aura that he saw several times. All of it became one, as everything naturally connected in his mind. And that¡¯s why Jude was able to unfold his next attack. ¡®God¡¯s Fist.¡¯ The Holy Cross Punch. On Jude¡¯s fist, a pure white sacred battle aura took the form of a cross. With a violent hitting sound, the skeleton leader¡¯s chest was crushed. Chapter 31 - EPISODE 31 – WITCH’S FOREST (4)

Chapter 31 - EPISODE 31 ¨C WITCH¡¯S FOREST (4)

Terms used in this chapter: Zhuge Liang?¨C a famous Chinese strategist during the Three Kingdoms period. He is recognised as the greatest and most aplished strategist of his era, and has beenpared to another great ancient Chinese strategist,?Sun Tzu. Li Mu?¨C a prominent military general during the Warring States period of Chinese history. He was named by Chinese historians as one of the four greatest generals of the Warring States period. The pure white cross burst into light. The skeleton leader¡¯s ribs and spine shattered, and it fell and copsed. Jude kept his punching posture for a while before his arms slumped down. ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­haa¡­¡± Holy Cross Punch was one of the skills of God¡¯s Fist and as its name suggests, the sacred battle aura takes the shape of a cross that directly hits the enemy with a powerful punch. ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­¡± After taking afortable posture, Jude¡¯s rough breathing continued. Though he had improved his body with continuous level-ups, the technique still used inner Qi that caused a burden on his body. His body still had a lot of small and narrow meridians that were blocked. ¡®But¡­it paid off.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t just the white ring of light that surrounded his body. There was also the God¡¯s Fist and the Holy Cross Punch. The remnants of the sacred battle aura scattered in the air as Jude happily smiled and turned to Cordelia. As he expected, Cordelia¡¯s side was almost finished as well. ¡°Break away! Defend! Prate the core!¡± Cordelia issued rapid-firemands before gliding on the ground. It wasn¡¯t an ordinary move. She slipped between the skeletons without any hesitation and swung the Moonlight enchanted by a magic to smash their neck bones. With her actions, the battle formation was destroyed. This is because, as Cordelia herself said, she prated the core of the Guardian Extermination Formation. ¡°Oooh! Ooooh!¡± Lucas, who quickly understood Cordelia¡¯smands and guided the skeletons towards himself, cheered with a bright face. There were already three skeletons that had fallen down to his sheathed sword. ¡°Let¡¯s finish this!¡± Cordelia refreshingly smiled as she glided on the ground again. She was like a figure skater that swiftly glided smoothly on the ice. ¡®She¡¯s really Yellow Storm.¡¯ Instead of running to help, Jude admired the sight as he stretched his arms. Cordelia¡¯s movement right now wasn¡¯t just an ordinary move. ¡®You¡¯re using magic to move on a floor applied with magic?¡¯ It was generally not possible. is a magic that causes one to fall on their back, and not a magic that is used to glide like it was ice. But Cordelia could pull it off. ¡®She¡¯s like a real wild animal sometimes.¡¯ If Jude was the type who handled everything through calctions and thinking, Cordelia was the type who entrusted her body to instinct. That phenomenal movement was the result of acting ording to her instincts, and not because of thinking. ¡°It¡¯s the end!¡± Cordelia moved among the skeletons as if she was dancing and swung the Moonlight like a baseball bat. The skeleton¡¯s lower back bones were smashed, and it fell and copsed on its back. ¡°Oooh! That was amazing! Lady Cordelia!¡± ¡°Hehe, V!¡± As Lucas admired her and Cordeliaughed while making a V-sign with her fingers, Jude suddenly smiled as he recalled an old event. ¡®It¡¯s understandable why the guild leaders don¡¯t like her.¡¯ Yellow Storm was a disaster itself in massive battles between guilds. ¡®Damn it! I can¡¯t predict how it¡¯ll move!¡¯ It was a natural reaction. Once she entered the battle, Yellow Storm didn¡¯t do what the others were thinking. ¡®Could it possibly be a genius? Or else, how can it show up like that!¡¯ There was no knowing when, where, or what she¡¯ll do, but strangely, Yellow Storm always appeared in times of need. It was basic of her to stab the enemy¡¯s sore spot, and as she had just showed in the battle against the skeletons, she was also good at destroying the enemy¡¯s camp itself by prating the core of the formation. Therefore, people unfamiliar with Yellow Storm thought of her as a ¡®genius tactician.¡¯ She was like Zhuge Liang and Li Mu, who could see the entire battlefield at a nce and get in the way of their enemies. But Jude knew the truth. ¡®It¡¯s just¡­feeling?¡¯ The words that Yellow Storm spoke in her battle earlier. She simply did it without thinking. Yellow Storm was not the type to stab the enemy¡¯s sore spots by using high-level tactical thinking. ¡®How do I say it, I just do what I feel like I should?¡¯ It was literally a feeling or sense. She feels like she have to do that somehow. At first, Jude thought that Yellow Storm was lying. However, after spending a long time with her, he finally understood it in the end. ¡®It¡¯s instinct.¡¯ Yellow Storm was a genius. She was a genius in the side of battle sense/feeling, and not on the intelligence side. She didn¡¯t calcte the ever-changing situation of the battlefield. She just understood instinctively. And the result was what was shown. What she should do. Where she should attack. Plus one more talent of hers. The reason why Yellow Storm engraved her existence as a true ¡®human storm,¡¯ and her unique ability that even Jude couldn¡¯t imitate. ¡®Incredible spatial perception and multitasking.¡¯ Normally, in?Legend of Heroes 2, the highest-level mage could generally use around twenty to fifty magic spells at the same time. But Yellow Storm was different. ¡®274.¡¯ It was the highest record of the number of magic spells that Yellow Storm could use at the same time. She advanced alone with hundreds of magic shots at the same time, making her known as a human storm indeed. She wiped the guild units from the hunting ground by herself, and even smashed the guild alone. ¡®Well, I¡¯m still 1st?ce though.¡¯ Jude ended his thoughts with a grin as he looked straight ahead again. He saw Cordelia run to Lucas and push her palm out. ¡°High five!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°High five!¡± As Cordelia waved her hand again, Lucas blinked and soon raised his hand timidly and high fived with Cordelia. ¡°As expected of Lucas, good job. Truly a sword genius. The best.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem¡­Lady Cordelia was amazing too. It was unexpectedly impressive.¡± Lucas said with a slight blush in his cheeks. It was also because of Cordelia, but his heart was pounding at the high five itself. ¡®There is a simr scene in?Biltwein the Hero.¡¯ Nodding his head alone, Jude approached the two teenagers who were so excited that they were jumping around. ¡°It looks like the battle¡¯s over.¡± ¡°Yes, I think it¡¯s over too, Mr. Bayer. Hohoho¡­¡± Cordelia said as she pretended to be coy when she saw Jude¡¯s face and read his thoughts. At her sudden change in tone, Lucas smiled and turned his eyes away, as if he deliberately didn¡¯t know Cordelia flirting with Jude. ¡°Lord Lucas, are you hurt anywhere?¡± ¡°I¡¯m okay, thanks to Lady Cordelia.¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid to say this¡­but I¡¯m d that the other side were the Guardians of the Holy Cross.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Lucas blinked his eyes, and soon widely opened them as he asked back. ¡°You mean the Guardians of the Holy Cross? The ones that protect the continent in the shadows?!¡± ¡°Yes, the clothes that the skeletons were wearing¡­and more than anything, the Guardian Extermination Formation itself were all proof of that.¡± Jude answered calmly and ce his hand on Cordelia¡¯s shoulder, who decided to shut her mouth tightly instead of interrupting him. ¡°Count Chase had a bit of connection with the Guardians of the Holy Cross. Thanks to that, Cordelia and I were able to learn about it.¡± ¡°Guardian Extermination Formation¡­¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s the most basic battle formation used by the Guardians of the Holy Cross. It¡¯s notparable to Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s Sage King¡¯s Cross, but it¡¯s a very sturdy formation. Right, Lady Cordelia?¡± ¡°Eh? Oh¡­yes, it is.¡± Cordelia smiled awkwardly and nodded. With her clear smile, she looked like apletely different person than when she swung the Moonlight. ¡°Whatever the circumstances, it seems that a group of Guardians became undead monsters after they were trapped in the barrier.¡± ¡°The Guardians became undead monsters¡­is it the power of the barrier?¡± Lucas asked with a slightly frightened face, and Jude nodded slowly. ¡°It¡¯s highly likely. But don¡¯t worry too much. If we find the witch¡¯s seal and break the seal, everything will be fine.¡± When Jude answered softly, Lucas nodded with a stiff face, and soon made another expression. ¡®Let¡¯s handle this like an adult.¡¯ To Lucas, Jude had acted like the reliable Sir Seornn, even though he was only a year older than him. So in order to be a good rival, Lucas himself thought that he had to look mature. But it was only for a while. Lucas suddenly frowned, as he looked back at the destroyed skeletons and said. ¡°Mr. Bayer, Lady Cordelia. It may be a little unreasonable, but¡­I¡¯d like to ask the two of you a favor.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Can we bury them? If they are members of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, who have worked hard for the peace of the continent, leaving them like this is a little¡­¡± Somehow, Cordelia agreed with Lucas¡¯ words. ¡°With magic, I can easily make a pit¡­how about making argemon grave?¡± She was talking to Lucas, but her gaze was on Jude. Jude looked at her and nodded. ¡°I agree. I also think that it¡¯s not right for the members of the Guardians of the Holy Cross to be left in such a ce.¡± ¡°Mr. Bayer, Lady Cordelia. Thank you very much.¡± Lucas smiled brightly as he quickly put away his sword and began gathering the skeletons¡¯ remains. ¡°I¡¯ll look for a ce.¡± Cordelia briefly said as she looked around and soon settled down in a ce that seemed to be okay and fired her magic. After a dozen minutes, the group buried the skeletons in one ce and erected a tombstone with a sword. They then had a brief moment of silence as they remembered the dead. ¡°May the blessing of the Holy Spirit be with you.¡± It was the brief moment after Jude recited a prayer in silence. ¡°Ah¡­¡± Lucas sighed in admiration. Blue lights had risen like fireflies from the grave of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. Cordelia unconsciously spoke. ¡°There are nine.¡± It was a group of lights with the same number as the Guardians of the Holy Cross buried in the grave. As if greeting them, the group of lights circled in front of Jude, Cordelia, and Lucas and then flew towards one ce. And after they flew in a circle again, the lights soon scattered and disappeared. ¡°Aah¡­the members of the Guardians of the Holy Cross¡­¡± Lucas was moved by the sight as he muttered quietly. On the other hand, Jude shouted inwardly as he clenched his fist. ¡®Bingo!¡¯ There were no events in the original story where Cordelia fought the Guardians of the Holy Cross who had be undead monsters in the witch¡¯s forest, but there were quite a lot of events of a simr kind. ¡®It¡¯s a clich¨¦ that souls who have achieved their wish and can finally rest, would tell you where important objects are hidden.¡¯ In fact, if Lucas didn¡¯te forward first, Jude himself was going to make an offer to do it too. ¡®Cordelia must have had a simr idea.¡¯ ¡°That¡¯s great. It turned out really well.¡± When Jude turned to Cordelia, she spoke quietly with a flushed face. It seemed that she was relieved at the souls¡¯ fortunate circumstances, seeing that her eyes were slightly red. She would too, because Cordelia didn¡¯t actually consider making a grave like Jude did. It was just a skeleton in the game, but this ce was reality. There really was a group of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, and they wandered through the witch¡¯s forest and became undead monsters. How can she not feel sorry for them? ¡°I¡¯m d¡­I¡¯m d¡­¡± The souls of the Guardians of the Holy Cross have finally found eternal rest. With moist and wet eyes, Cordelia saw the lights scattering away. Meanwhile, Jude cleared his throat, somehow unknowingly became the bad guy who didn¡¯t get swept up by the mood. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± ¡°Huh? Why? Are you not feeling well?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just¡­you are kind, cute, and lovely.¡± ¡°What is this crazy bastard saying? Do you have a fever?¡± Cordelia frowned in worry, but Jude simply shrugged and tapped the shoulder of Lucas who was still moved by the sight. ¡°Lord Lucas, the Guardians of the Holy Cross seemed to have left theirst gift there.¡± ¡°Gift¡­ah! Indeed! They let us know!¡± With his eyes wide open in wonder, Lucas ran straight to the ce where the group of lights had gathered. It was under a big tree with roots that were half-exposed, and it seemed like a good ce to hide something underneath. ¡°Let¡¯s dig.¡± ¡°Yes, Mr. Bayer.¡± Lucas was excited by the hero-like development, and he took the lead in digging up the ground. Soon, a well-sealed wooden box was dug out. Looking at the cross pattern engraved on the box¡¯ surface, it was clearly an item of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. ¡°Lord Lucas should open it.¡± ¡°Me?¡± ¡°Yes, it was Lord Lucas who offered to make a grave for them. So you should open it.¡± Cordelia rmended it following Jude¡¯s statement, so Lucas¡¯ cheeks were flushed as he nodded at the two. ¡°Then, I will open it.¡± Though it was well-sealed, it was simply just a paper seal pasted on the wooden box. Lucas took out a knife and opened the lid after tearing off the paper seal. What came out was a parchment inscribed with aplex form. ¡°This is¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s a technique of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. It¡¯s an attack skill that destroys demons¡­it seems that the Guardians of the Holy Cross hade here to repel the demonic hordes that were sealing the witch¡¯s soul.¡± Lucas nodded seriously at Jude¡¯s exnation, before looking at Cordelia and asking. ¡°Lady Cordelia, can you use it?¡± ¡°Uh¡­yes, maybe.¡± Honestly, she wasn¡¯t confident, but there was also Jude, so she thought that it would somehow work. ¡°There¡¯s also a book about the God¡¯s Fist. Lord Lucas, can I take this?¡± ¡°Of course. I use a sword, so I¡¯ll pass.¡± When Lucas responded inly, Jude smiled and took the martial arts book. It wasn¡¯t a skill book like the one he got from the dungeon book, but it wouldn¡¯t take a long time to learn it because of Jude¡¯s memory and his Cheonmujiche. ¡°If the evil energy here is very strong enough to create undead monsters, then it seems that we¡¯re moving in the right direction. We¡¯ll be able to reach the center of the seal if we walk a little further.¡± It was then when Lucas nodded at Jude¡¯s exnation. ¡°Wait, wait a second.¡± Cordelia quietly said as she suddenly jumped from her seat and started walking in one direction. And Jude understood why she did so. ¡®The voice of the witch.¡¯ The witch¡¯s soul was sealed at the center of the forest. Cordelia turned to Jude as if to answer him. She nodded as her clear blue eyes shined. ¡°I can hear a voice.¡± The call of the witch. Cordelia raised her hand and pointed over the fog. Chapter 32 - EPISODE 32 – WITCH’S FOREST (5)

Chapter 32 - EPISODE 32 ¨C WITCH¡¯S FOREST (5)

While wandering through the witch¡¯s forest, Cordelia hears the voice of the witch and reaches the seal under her guidance. In other words, hearing the voice of the witch was like getting a ¡®navigator¡¯ to their destination. ¡®However¡­¡¯ Jude frowned unconsciously. It was not because Cordelia found the wrong way, or the witch¡¯s directions were unclear. Cordelia steadily moved forward, even if she sometimes stopped halfway. [Come to the direction of therge tree with exposed roots.] A clear and pure voice was echoing in his head, though it was somehow faint. ¡®The witch¡¯s voice¡­right?¡¯ As Jude nced back at Cordelia, she was looking around and saw arge tree with exposed roots as mentioned. ¡®It¡¯s correct, but¡­¡¯ Why is Jude himself hearing it too and not just Cordelia? ¡®Can you hear it even if it¡¯s not necessarily Cordelia?¡¯ In the original story, Cordelia heard the voice because she was alone. But it didn¡¯t seem to be the reason. The whole time Cordelia was looking for the way, Lucas was just standing with a nk expression. ¡®Hmm¡­for the time being, let¡¯s keep this a secret.¡¯ It was very clear on what would happen if I told them that I could also hear the voice of the witch. Cordelia would be pouting, and Lucas would be feeling gloomy because he was the only one who couldn¡¯t hear the voice. ¡°This way.¡± ¡°Oh, okay.¡± Cordelia had small smile on her face as she spoke in short words and pointed the direction. She seemed to like the current situation in which she became the main character of the episode, as it was in her nature to like getting attention. ¡®Hmm¡­yes, I should hide it.¡¯ I didn¡¯t have to reveal the truth and break that smile. ¡®But why am I really hearing it?¡¯ Is there a separate condition on why I could also hear the witch¡¯s voice? What does Jude himself and Cordelia have inmon. A characteristic that we do not share with Lucas. ¡®Beautiful¡­and handsome?¡¯ Although Lucas was a handsome man of the manly and gant type, he couldn¡¯tpare to Jude and Cordelia, whose looks are always described as ¡®iparable.¡¯ ¡®Well¡­no way, right?¡¯ The witch is not a Fairy Queen. There must have been something else. ¡®Age? Memories of the previous life¡­though if you say this, it doesn¡¯t exin why Cordelia hears it in the original story.¡¯ As I stepped forward while considering these and other hypotheses, the fog began to fade at some point. ¡°There¡¯s a seal in that cave.¡± Rather than a small and narrow proper entrance, Cordelia had pointed to a crack that had risen from the passage of time. As she exined to Lucas, Jude looked around. He saw the dense trees that have grown more than 10 meters and havepletely obscured the sky. Beyond the small rocky mountain where the cave was located, a demonic monster was guarding the seal. ¡®We¡¯re almost there though.¡¯ Now, if we go in and release the seal, it would be the end of the mission. The soul of the witch released from the seal will solve the problem of the monster. ¡®Cordelia gets the power of the witch, and I get some of the by-products.¡¯ Like the Bicorn, the demonic monster will also leave a body. As Jude had a delighted smile, Cordelia looked at him suspiciously as she approached him and said. ¡°You look like a pervert.¡± ¡°¡­which side?¡± ¡°Just¡­in many ways.¡± Like always, Cordelia said some silly things before she took the lead and went into the cave. The crack was small and narrow but there was no problem with Cordelia, whose build was small and slender, and Jude, who was still quite thin. Lucas struggled, but he also somehow passed. [You¡¯re almost here. Come this way.] Upon entering the dark cave, he not only heard the witch¡¯s voice, but also saw a bunch of green lights, that looked like a group of fireflies, appearing in front of them. [This way.] It was a small cave, so after walking for a minute or so, a fairlyrge cavity appeared with huge steel doors on one side, and on the center, the party was able to discover the witch¡¯s seal. On arge stone pir in the center of the cavity was a block of ice that was almost the size of a human being. Inside the ice was the naked body of a beautiful ck-haired woman, though it looked blurry. [Children, release my seal. To unlock the seal¡­] ¡°We weaken the sealing stones at the corners with holy water and draw a magic circle of unsealing in the center, right? Okay, witch.¡± [Eh? Uh¡­yes. How did you know?] When Cordelia answered quickly, the witch responded with a flustered voice. Lucas, who didn¡¯t know the conversation of the two, let out an ¡®oooh¡¯ in admiration. Cordelia grinned and then approached Jude and said. ¡°I¡¯ll sprinkle the holy water on the sealing stones, so I¡¯ll leave the magic circle to you.¡± ¡°Okay, ma¡¯am.¡± Jude and Cordelia had already obtained holy water at Langesthei. Unlike the original story, they didn¡¯t have to wander through the forest to collect the things that the witch needed for her rescue. [The figure of the magic circle¡­are you a wizard specializing in seals?] The witch didn¡¯t even exin what kind of magic circle it was, but Jude was drawing it well already. Instead of answering the witch¡¯s question, Jude quicklypleted drawing the magic circle. [Uh¡­next¡­you already know, right?] Jude and Cordelia replied in actions to the slightly quivering voice of the witch. Jude took Lucas as they withdrew to the outside of the magic circle, and Cordelia drew a knife and wounded her palm. ¡°Ugh.¡± She groaned with tears in her eyes, clenched her fists, and finally dropped the blood on the magic circle. Blood was needed to get through to the soul. Cordelia¡¯s mana was transmitted to the magic circle through the drop of blood and soon, a bright blue light filled the cavity. And it was at that moment¡­ ¡°Kuooooo!¡± A terrifying roar came from outside the cave. It was evidently the roar of the demonic monster guarding the seal. The tense Lucas hurriedly pulled out his sword spontaneously, but Jude and Cordelia only focused on the witch¡¯s seal. The witch would solve the problem if the seal was released anyway. [Aaaah! Aaaaaaah!] The witch screamed as if to match the monster¡¯s roar. The ice that was sealing her quickly cracked, and the entire cave shook. ¡°Kuooooo!¡± The sound of the monster¡¯s roar grew louder and closer. Cordelia¡¯s lips felt dry as she ced her palms directly to the magic circle and poured more mana into it. And finally, the ice that was sealing the witch broke into hundreds of pieces and scattered. Bang! The doors let out a loud noise. The steel doors, which were actually the front doors of the seal, becamergely indented. The steel doors couldn¡¯t be opened because it was originally intended for sealing, but the demonic monster was now trying to destroy it. Jude recoiled at the deafening roars, but soon braced himself. It flowed simrly in the original story. [It was an excessively long time since I was sealed. Thank you for releasing my seal, children.] The witch¡¯s voice was clearly heard through the banging sounds of the doors. At the center of the seal, a beautiful woman, whose naked white body was covered by her long ck hair, floated in the air. She was in a semi-transparent state because she was a soul, and she looked down at Cordelia affectionately. Bang! The doors let out a loud noise again. Through the dented steel doors, they could see the monster¡¯s red eyes. Jude nervously gulped as he recalled the original story. Right after breaking the witch¡¯s seal, the witch without a body temporarily descends to Cordelia, defeats the demonic monster, and then clears the barrier. Through Cordelia freeing her by breaking the seal, the witch¡¯s soul that was sealed for hundreds of years finally ascended. And Cordelia, who harbored the witch¡¯s soul for a while, learns a part of the witch¡¯s power called the ¡®Witch Transformation.¡¯ It was a great scene that most users who yed Cordelia remembered, because the production crew gave all their effort to that part by expressing the series of situations into a cinematic video. And now¡­ [Danger is upon you. Dear child, I¡¯ll lend you my strength to get rid of the crisis.] It was flowing like the original story. When Cordelia nodded as if she knew, the witch closed her eyes and recited the spell. The demonic monster seemed to be stimted by the witch¡¯s actions and thrashed the steel doors more violently. Bang! Bang! Bang! Just before the steel doors was torn off, the witch¡¯s soul was scattered with a green light. At the same time, a green light glowed all over Cordelia¡¯s whole body, and her clearly bright red hair turned ck. Her sky-blue eyes also became a mysterious green like that of Jude. It was the witch¡¯s advent. Now, all she had to do was to defeat the demonic monster with the witch¡¯s power. However¡­ ¡°Eh? Eeeeh?!¡± Cordelia looked at herself and was stunned as she blinked her eyes, and Jude realized it at that moment. He understood what happened. ¡®Reproduction of the event!¡¯ In a broader sense, it was like the bathing event in the valley. In the original story event, the fight to defeat the monster by using the witch¡¯s power was expressed in a video. That was why not only Cordelia, but even Jude, missed this detail. She wasn¡¯t a witch. Cordelia, who acquired the power of the witch, was supposed to defeat the demonic monster. ¡°Fu-f*ck?!¡± So Cordelia understood the situation and was embarrassed. She didn¡¯t know how to fight. She didn¡¯t know how to exactly use the witch¡¯s power! Bang! The steel doors were finally smashed to pieces. Two crumpled doors were scattered on the floor, and Asmodeus¡¯ demonic monster, which looked like a huge red gori with horns on its head, came into in view. Despite being in a crouched position, it was as tall as 4 meters as the monster violently smacked its fists. Cordelia looked at Jude, and he looked back at her. The alone Lucas looked at the two as he grasped his sword tightly. It was an unexpected situation. This time, there was no Bestin¡¯s magic circle. Neither was it a battlefield that was prepared in advance. But they still had to fight. ¡°I believe in you!¡± Jude raised his pure white sacred battle aura as he rushed towards the monster. He used the Thirty-Six World Steps, and Lucas also added light to his sword with the Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword. I believe in you. I believe that Cordelia can use the witch¡¯s power. So she had to find a solution before we get crushed by the monster. ¡°Kuoooo!¡± The monster roared as if the rushing Jude was just an insignificant existence. It kicked the ground, and it seemed like it teleported as it had suddenly appeared in front of Jude, and then swung its fist. Smash! The ground was smashed in one blow. Jude barely avoided the attack by rolling on the floor, as he added Sri¡¯s power to his knuckles. He then flew towards the broken steel doors, trying to lure the monster to him. Lucas roared loudly to also draw its attention and ran towards the opposite of Jude. The monster kicked the ground again. It attacked on Jude¡¯s side again. ¡°Cordelia!¡± Jude used Thirty-Six World Steps again. After narrowly avoiding the monster¡¯s fist, he yelled as he struck the monster¡¯s arm with the Holy Cross Punch. ¡°Kuoooo!¡± The monster shrieked in pain, but its steel-like forearm did not budge. Instead of attacking again, Jude kicked the ground and quickly pulled back. At that moment, Cordelia closed her eyes and tried to focus. She tried to use her instinct or whatever to utilize the witch¡¯s power. However, it wasn¡¯t easy. Although she had closed her eyes to block the view, she was still nervous as she could hear the continuous roars and kept thinking of Jude¡¯s current crisis. ¡®Please, please!¡¯ Guide the mana. Use it naturally. It was right at that moment¡­ [What? Don¡¯t you know how to use it?] Cordelia heard the small and tranquil voice of the witch, and she opened her eyes. She shouted spontaneously. ¡°Tell me!¡± What to do. How to use the power of the witch. Before Jude dies. No, before Jude gets hurt! [This is how you use it.] The moment the witch spoke, the witch¡¯s power moved inside Cordelia¡¯s body and soul. Through it, Cordelia understood. She realized it instinctively. She realized how to use the power of the witch. Cordelia¡¯s eyes glistened and shed green. Chapter 33 - EPISODE 33 – WITCH’S FOREST (6)

Chapter 33 - EPISODE 33 ¨C WITCH¡¯S FOREST (6)

Once upon a time, there lived a girl. The child was sold by her parents for nine copper coins and soon became a sacrifice for summoning demons. However, thanks to the demon¡¯s whims, instead of ending up as a handful of blood, she became a ve of the demon. The fate of ves were harsh. Rest did not exist for those whose souls were captured by the demon. It was their fate to live being manipted as the demon¡¯s ything, and when they die, to struggle in pain for eternity. And so it was for the girl. That was her destiny. But the girl did not conform to her fate. Instead of bowing down and epting it, she stood up and eventually changed her fate. She is- ¡®I know! I already know this!¡¯ It was the story of the witch. It was the legend of the witch who started as a demon¡¯s ve and ended up subduing the demons. But that wasn¡¯t important now. How to use the witch¡¯s power was more important than the witch¡¯s past. [¡­you know this again.] The witch spoke in a somewhat sulky voice, so instead of showing to Cordelia her past like a flitting film, she directly manipted the body and soul of Cordelia to use her power. Cordelia couldn¡¯t use the witch¡¯s power naturally because it wasn¡¯t hers to begin with. Although the original Cordelia acquired and used the ¡®Witch Transformation,¡¯ it was the future Cordelia and not the present Cordelia. It was like if you want to get a driver¡¯s license in the future, you have to learn how to drive first. Moreover, it was not a situation where magic could be used by pressing a single skill button like in the game, so the know-how to use the witch¡¯s power was necessary. The witch¡¯s power moved. The power of the great witch that subdued demons, spread throughout Cordelia¡¯s body and spirit. Just once, but that was enough. Cordelia instinctively realized how to use the witch¡¯s power, and she opened her closed eyes. ¡°Jude!¡± At the moment Cordelia shouted and her eyes shed, an intense green-colored air wave swept through the entire ce. The tremendous power not only swept away the monster who tried to attack Jude, but even Jude and Lucas who bounced off too. ¡°Oww!¡± ¡°Gaakk!¡± ¡°Kuaaaakkkk!¡± Although the monster was greatly pushed back, it managed to hold its ground and yelled in anger. On the other hand, Jude and Lucas couldn¡¯t stand their ground and ended up rolling on the floor. Especially in the case of Jude, since he was near the wall, he even hit the wall once. Right after her power was released, the seal¡¯s area came into the view of Cordelia¡¯s shining green eyes. She saw the monster holding its ground and yelling in anger. She saw Lucas using his sword to stand up. And she saw Jude lying on the ground and letting out a painful groan. Cordelia¡¯s eyes were filled with rage. She took a step forward and bellowed. ¡°How dare you!¡± You hurt Jude. You knocked down Jude. I cannot forgive¡­ I will not forgive you! [Umm, you actually did that¡­] The witch¡¯s voice did not reach Cordelia. Overwhelmed by her rage, she roughly swung her arms and exerted her power once again. It was the witch¡¯s power again. A kind of telekic power became green smoke and spread out. It became a giant hand and then struck the monster! ¡°Kuooo!¡± The monster was roughly hit. But it didn¡¯t just stand there and do nothing. It turned around in the air and changed directions, kicked the wall and rushed towards Cordelia. ¡°Kuaahh!¡± It opened its mouth widely. There was a red sh in its abyss-like mouth, which soon became a huge pir of light that fired towards Cordelia. ¡°Breath?!¡± By the time Lucas cried out, Cordelia had already reacted. Shergely swung her right hand to make the green smoke strike the monster¡¯s chin, which forcibly changed the direction of the breath attack. Booooom! The ceiling was directly hit by the monster¡¯s breath attack and the rocks broke off and fell down. And Cordelia took advantage of it. She swung her left hand and snatched the rocks with green smoke and caused a whirlwind to collide with the monster. ¡°Kuaaaahh!¡± The rocks became like des and cut the whole body of the monster. But it was still standing. The demonic monster¡¯s skin was thick, and its eyes still glowed red. ¡°Kurrraahh!¡± When it roared with its arms wide open, the whirlwind itself was crushed. ¡°Die!¡± But Cordelia didn¡¯t just watch. When it crushed the whirlwind, she raised her right fist and struck the chest of the roaring monster with green smoke. Booooom! The wall and the monster collided, causing a tremendously loud sound. The impact was so strong that the whole cave shook. ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­haak-¡± Blood came out of Cordelia¡¯s nose. Not only that, but her eyes were bloodshot as tears of blood flowed down. Sweat dripped from Cordelia¡¯s whole body. She only used it for a short time, but the witch¡¯s power was so powerful that it even hurt Cordelia. [Not yet.] The witch spoke, and Cordelia knew it too. It couldn¡¯t have been defeated with just that attack. In the original story, Cordelia borrowed the power of the witch and created a huge magic spear. She was able to finish the monster only when she had pierced it. [Use the Spear of Cmity.] Just as the witch spoke, Cordelia took a breath and waited for the witch to tell her the spell. 1 second passed. And then 2 seconds¡­ ¡°Tell me!¡± [You don¡¯t know this too?] The moment when Cordelia and the witch¡¯s words ovepped¡­ ¡°Kuooo!¡± The monster with hair over its whole body roared once again and kicked the ground. It narrowed the distance with Cordelia in an instant, as if cutting through space. ¡°F*ck!¡± Cordelia roughly released the witch¡¯s power. She somehow pulled away from the monster trying to punch her, as she rolled on the floor and distanced herself from it. ¡°!¡± Cordelia mixed her mana with the witch¡¯s power. Thus, the witch¡¯s power was added into the magic spell that she usually used. Boom! As if it were a ballista¡¯s arrow, a huge was formed in an instant and was fired towards the monster, creating a massive explosion. ¡°Kuhak-!¡± However, the bacsh of using the spell hit Cordelia. At that moment, she bent her body as blood poured out of her mouth. [It¡¯s still impossible to use my power as yours. Use my magic, not your magic.] The witch¡¯s power was not like normal mana. Since the legendary great witch¡¯s power was originally the power of the demon that she subdued, one had to use the spells that the witch had ingeniously created to properly cast spells. Otherwise, if one uses the witch¡¯s power in the usual magic spells as Cordelia did, a bacsh would ur. [Listen carefully.] The witch quickly began to cast the spell. But the monster didn¡¯t give her time to do so. ¡°Kuoooo!¡± Thanks to being hit by the , the monster¡¯s hair was scorched and its whole body was covered with blood, but it was still alive. It narrowed the distance at once and tried to smash the barely standing Cordelia, as it greatly swung its right arm. ¡°Uoooo!¡± Just then, Lucas roared and threw his sword. The sword with the power of the Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword flew like a lightning sh and seeded in grabbing the monster¡¯s attention even for a moment. Thud! Jude used his Thirty-Six World Steps. He desperately ran towards Cordelia and kicked the ground at some point as he hugged Cordelia. But there was not enough time. He tried to escape with Cordelia, but the monster¡¯s attack was faster than him. Boooom! The monster¡¯s hand devastated the ground, as it broke from the tremendous force. ¡°No!¡± It was when Lucas screamed. ¡°!¡± The magic spell exploded once again. The monster was struck on its side and staggered as it let out a painful groan, and Lucas was able to see what had happened. On the ground, Cordelia and Jude were entangled together and had copsed. Cordelia was underneath and had used magic, while Jude breathed a sigh of relief on such Cordelia. Fairy Steps. He hugged Cordelia and activated it at the same time, so thanks to it, he was able topletely evade the monster¡¯s attack. ¡°Kuhak-!¡± However, Cordelia vomited blood again. Jude¡¯s eyes opened wide in surprise, and the witch¡¯s voice came to them. [It¡¯s her limit. The bacsh caused by her unreasonable use of my power is too much. Anymore would be dangerous.] The witch¡¯s tone was soft, but her voice was full of concern. Jude quickly looked at Cordelia, and Cordelia looked back at Jude. At the moment they made eye contact¡­ ¡°Kuaaaaa!¡± The monster stood up while limping, as it roared in anger. Despite having a big wound at its side, it rushed towards Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Noooo!¡± Lucas picked up the sword that fell on the ground as he turned towards the monster. Cordelia opened her lips and whispered to Jude. ¡°Kuhaaaa!¡± The monster jumped. It quickly passed over Lucas¡¯ head and then descended as it punched with its fist. Bang! The magic that Cordelia used from Count Chase¡¯s ring was shattered at once. The monster thatnded on the ground pulled its fist again, and Cordelia saw the monster. Instead of using magic again, she raised her middle finger while looking at the monster with her clear blue eyes. Did she give up? Was thest thing that she did was to swear? It wasn¡¯t that. When the monster had pulled its fist, Cordelia¡¯s hair had returned to its red color. At the same time, Jude, who was on top of Cordelia as if protecting her, suddenly grew his hair quickly. Cordeliaughed with her mouth full of blood. She opened her lips again and said. ¡°Finish it.¡± She realized it the moment their eyes met. The fact that Jude can also hear the witch¡¯s voice. So Cordelia acted and handed over the witch¡¯s power to Jude. ¡°Uoooo!¡± Jude loudly shouted as he raised himself. The witch moved her power to Jude, and he straightly activated the Guardians of the Holy Cross¡¯ technique. [You will get hurt.] There would be a strong bacsh. But Jude didn¡¯t care. He didn¡¯t have time to listen to the witch¡¯s spell now. The current method was the best for him. Jude¡¯s eyes glowed green. The witch¡¯s power triggered the technique, and the pure white light burst. Tsuhuaaaaa! The giant Golden Cross. It was formed from the pure white light. Jude moved forward and tried to strike the monster to burn its body. ¡°Kuooooo!¡± But the monster wasn¡¯t pushed out very easily. It exploded its power to counter the Golden Cross. Dozens of lightning sparks arose as the dark red demonic power collided with the sacred power of the Golden Cross. Blood flowed down from Jude¡¯s mouth. Both of his arms that activated the technique trembled like a leaf and sweat poured down like rain along his forehead. It was a tense and violent sh. No, little by little, Jude began to be pushed back. The cause was not the technique itself but rather Jude who maintained the technique despite his physical limitations. [No, if this situation continues¡­] The witch groaned. But Jude did not give up. Because I trusted her. Because I believed in her. ¡°Cordelia!¡± When Jude screamed, Cordelia was reflected in the monster¡¯s red eyes. Pure white mana was concentrated on the tip of her finger. . It was very small and weak, but it was enough to break the bnce. Cordelia moved her finger as she smiled in pain. The that was about the size of a finger, flew like an arrow and struck the eyes of the monster! ¡°Keaaakkkkk!¡± The pain from the attack broke the bnce. A crack appeared from the demonic power that the monster was using, and Jude did not miss it. Boooom! The monster¡¯s scream and the roar caused by the attack burst at the same time. The Golden Cross promptly pushed back the monster, and the monster flew almost over a dozen meters and crashed into the wall. But that wasn¡¯t the end. The Golden Cross dug into the monster¡¯s body. It did not stop burning until it utterly destroyed the monster. ¡°Aaaahh!¡± With itsst scream, the red glow disappeared from its eyes. Starting from the chest, the monster¡¯s whole body was wrapped in a pure white fire, and it soon became ashes that scattered around. ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­haakk-¡± As he watched the whole scene of the monster burning, Jude thought that he was only breathing roughly, but he soon vomited blood just like Cordelia. Unlike Cordelia, Jude had a poorpatibility with the witch¡¯s power. He had only used it once, but his condition was as bad as Cordelia, who had used the witch¡¯s power several times. [I will withdraw my power. Don¡¯t strain yourself or you will copse.] Jude nodded at the witch¡¯s gentle voice, as his nose bled, and he felt like falling down. He soon copsed besides Cordelia. ¡®The level¡­has risen.¡¯ Several pure white rings surrounded them. Moreover, he heard in his head a voice saying that he got the title of Demon yer. ¡®All abilities +3 and a 5% increase to attacks against Great Demons¡­.¡¯ While on the verge of fainting, Jude thought that he had to take care of things first before passing out. And it was the same with Cordelia. ¡°F*ck, the reward¡­was good.¡± Half of her face was bloody because of the fresh blood from her nose, but even then, her smile was beautiful. ¡®She¡¯s indeed an iparably beautiful girl.¡¯ And that was it. Unlike thest time he fainted, Jude couldn¡¯t even mention about his Gueumjulmaek because he had already lost consciousness and fainted. Cordelia saw such a Jude once again and smiled while mentally swearing. She soon clenched her teeth to keep herself awake. It wasn¡¯t yet the time for her to faint now. There was something else that she had to confirm. ¡°Lady Cordelia! Mr. Bayer!¡± As she saw Lucas running towards them, Cordelia finally sighed in relief. Lucas was also safe. The demonic monster was defeated, and the barrier was probably broken now. So it was okay for her to faint now. ¡°The aftermath¡­please¡­¡± Cordelia spoke quietly as she lost her consciousness, and Lucas nodded at this d¨¦j¨¤ vu scene again. ¡®As expected, they¡¯re a fantasy couple.¡¯ From demonic human to demonic monster. The chemistry of the two was really fantastic. Alternating between Jude and Cordelia as if he was envious, Lucas then reached out and properlyid down the two on the ground. And the witch¡¯s soul looked down at Lucas, blinked her eyes several times and said. [Umm¡­I can¡¯t ascend yet, right?] The witch frowned as she looked at Jude and Cordelia¡¯s faces, but soon, just like Lucas, she casually had a warm smile on her face. Chapter 34 - EPISODE 34 – FULL MOON (1)

Chapter 34 - EPISODE 34 ¨C FULL MOON (1)

[If you can hear my voice, open your eyes. Wake up and look at me.] Jude slowly opened his eyes at the faintly heard voice. What he saw was a warm light and a cozy space. His eyes then caught the face of a witch with long ck hair and green eyes. [You¡¯re finally awake.] In front of him was a white-faced beauty around thirty years old. The witch wore a ck dress decorated with ck bird feathers, and a wide-brimmed cone hat on her head, which were the typical symbols of a witch. ¡°This ce is¡­¡± [This is the world of my consciousness. Your body was overwhelmed and has fallen into a deep sleep. So I woke you up here to share my story. Now, hold my hand and get up.] In a daze, Jude stood up holding the witch¡¯s hand. And on the other side, he could see Cordelia standing up while holding the witch¡¯s hand as well. ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°Jude?¡± [It¡¯s so nice to see you two taking care of each other here too.] The voice who spoke was not from the two witches standing in front of the two, but rather, from the rocking chair in front of the firece. There was another witch sitting there. [Now, both of you,e here. It¡¯s warm in front of the firece.] When the witch in front of the firece beckoned, the witches in front of Jude and Cordelia suddenly became haze and vanished. Jude and Cordelia looked at each other spontaneously and exchanged nces, and then nodded. ¡®Let¡¯s go for now.¡¯ The witch will not likely harm us. As Jude and Cordelia stood in front of the firece, the witch also stood up from the rocking chair. [First of all, I need to talk about my story. But I¡¯ll ask you in advance, so please answer me. Do you know why I¡¯m sealed here?] She was asking if we knew the real reason why the witch was sealed. In the eyes of the witch who was inwardly full of expectations, Jude hesitated and pretended to not know, while Cordelia nodded without thinking. [I see¡­ You know this again¡­ You know¡­] The witch became openly sullen, drooping her shoulders as she pouted a bit. The real reason why the witch was sealed¡­ Despite being a lowly ve, the witch brought down numerous demons, and the existence of such a witch was enough to offend the five great monarchs of Hell. Eventually, the witch shed with Belial, known as the monarch of corruption, and one of the five great monarchs of hell. She suffered a crushing defeat at the overwhelming power of the great monarch. But just before Belial¡¯s mespletely extinguished the witch¡¯s soul, another monarch stole the witch¡¯s soul, and that was Asmodeus, the monarch of lust. ¡®Asmodeus thought that the witch¡¯s soul, who overthrew countless demons, could be a dagger to stab other great monarchs.¡¯ Asmodeus sealed the witch¡¯s soul deep in the forest of Trefalgar in order to hide the witch¡¯s soul from the other monarchs until the day it would be useful, as well as to make the witch¡¯s soul submissive to him. ¡®That is why the great witch¡¯s soul was sealed in the human world, and why there was only one demonic monster that protected the seal.¡¯ If the witch¡¯s seal was in hell, or even if it was in the human world and had a lot of guardians protecting the seal, it was highly likely that the other monarchs would notice it. Having said that, when the witch made a sullen face, Cordelia hurriedly opened her mouth and said. ¡°Ah, no¡­about that¡­well, I don¡¯t know! Please tell us more about it!¡± [Really?] ¡°Yes, really.¡± The witch was enchanted by Cordelia¡¯s words and bright smile, and soon, a smile spread on the witch¡¯s face too. And Jude thought at that time. ¡®You must have been lonely.¡¯ It was understandable since she was trapped alone in the seal for hundreds of years. [So¡­to begin¡­] The witch began telling her story clearly and softly, and Cordelia¡¯s eyes sparkled as she became a good listener. After four hours or so¡­ [And that¡¯s how it happened.] The witch widely smiled with a satisfied face, while Cordelia and Jude nodded with exhausted faces. It was briefly summarized in the game, but it was a really long story if you heard the full story directly. [Ha, that was refreshing. Now then, let¡¯s get to the main point.] ¡°What?!¡± You¡¯ve been talking for four hours and you¡¯re only starting to get to the main point now?! Cordelia was surprised and asked back, and the witchughed and came close to her. [I¡¯ve finally finished telling you about the past. So let¡¯s talk about the future.] In fact, there was no such conversation in the original story. The witch who had possessed Cordelia¡¯s body and defeated the monster, immediately ascended afterwards. [Cordelia, you¡¯re a lovely child. You contained my soul for a moment, and I have seen the potential of your soul and body. The potential that you have the same power as mine.] Unlike before, the witch who has spoken so far had a crafty smile, and then she kissed Cordelia¡¯s forehead, eyes, cheeks, neck, chest, and the back of her hands in order. ¡°Wi-witch?¡± [I left my mark on your soul. Remember my feelings when you use my power. Increase your own strength through that.] The witch whispered in Cordelia¡¯s ear, and after deeply swallowing, Cordelia recited the spell taught to her by the witch. She changed in a moment. However, it was a little different from the previous Witch Transformation made by the witch herself. Cordelia¡¯s hair was dyed ck, but the tips were still red. Instead of both eyes turning green, her usual blue eyes became more vivid. [Go and increase your strength.] Cordelia¡¯s Witch Transformation. It is a reinforced transformation spell with a time limit, and when in the witch state, all magical abilities are greatly increased. As Cordelia nodded and looked at herself, the witch affectionately kissed her forehead one more time. [Look carefully at the ce where I was sealed. There should be a spell book that I wrote there.] It was a spell book that contained all of the witch¡¯s magic spells. ¡°Thank you very much, witch.¡± As Cordelia bowed her head in greeting, the witchughed and hugged Cordelia. And Jude, who watched all these, cleared his throat. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± A cough that meant ¡®You don¡¯t have anything for me?¡¯ Unlike the original story, Jude had also met the witch, so shouldn¡¯t he get something too? Of course, this journey had already given Jude the skills of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, but wasn¡¯t there a saying that stated that ¡®the more, the better?¡¯ At Jude¡¯s appeal, the witch narrowed her eyes and said with a slight lick on her lips. [Jude, you¡¯re notpatible with me. Rather¡­you possess other possibilities.] Jude turned at her unexpected words. ¡®Another possibility?¡¯ In the original story, after the treatment of his Gueumjulmaek, Jude became a powerful warrior with the help of his Cheonmujiche. But now, the witch¡¯s words didn¡¯t seem to be talking about that. [You don¡¯t know much about yourself yet. But don¡¯t you worry. Fate will guide you to it.] Jude blinked his eyes in curiosity, and the witch smiled strangely, acting as if she didn¡¯t know, as she stroked Cordelia¡¯s head. [Find the ce where the demonic monster lived. There must be something that can help the both of you.] And that was it. The witch released her hand from Cordelia and then stepped back, cing both Jude and Cordelia in her sight. [You¡¯ve been dyed for too long. I think I should leave now. But Cordelia and Jude¡­] The witch¡¯s body floated in the air. The area in front of the cozy firece, as well as the surrounding areas, turned into a dark and ck space. [¡­we will meet again.] It was words that implied a reunion, not an eternal parting. Jude and Cordelia were surprised for a moment at the different dialogue from the original story, but that was it. Before they could even speak out, their vision was tinged in darkness. *** ¡°¡°Ah.¡±¡± Jude and Cordelia opened their eyes at the same time and raised their upper bodies simultaneously. ¡°Young master.¡± ¡°Miss.¡± The voices they heard almost at that same moment belonged to Jun and Dahlia, respectively. Jude and Cordelia blinked their eyes and looked at each other before realizing that they were still inside the witch¡¯s sealing area. ¡°Oh, you¡¯vee to your senses!¡± Lucas, who was standing at the side and talking with the knights, came to them with a bright face. ¡°The witch guided the knights. I¡¯ve told everyone about what happened here.¡± ¡°Uh¡­what happened here?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve conveyed everything I saw without exceptions.¡± Lucas proudly stretched his shoulders and taps his chest, and the knights¡¯ facial expressions were as unusual as him. Everyone was looking at Jude and Cordelia with happy and warmhearted expressions. ¡®What¡­what the hell did he say? Why is Dahlia looking like that?¡¯ Cordelia quickly asked Jude with a nce, but instead of answering her, he closed his eyes. Jude had a rough idea on what happened. ¡®As it is, it¡¯s better not to ask.¡¯ However, Lucas already opened his mouth as if not thinking about Jude¡¯s feelings. ¡°The moment when the monster¡¯s attack was about to hit Lady Cordelia! The sight of Mr. Bayer flying towards Lady Cordelia was really amazing. It was a proof of true love that didn¡¯t even fear death.¡± Like a heroic novel enthusiast, Lucas began to speak strangely about what happened. The knights, led by Dahlia, all looked at Jude and Cordelia happily again, and Cordelia looked at Jude. Jude then quickly said with a nce. ¡®No, it¡¯s not? Will they believe me if I told them it¡¯s the Fairy Steps?¡¯ ¡®I know, right?¡¯ The two exchanged a conversation by just looking at each other, and they tried to get over the situation by coughing and clearing their throat as if they had promised each other. Fortunately, Lucas didn¡¯t bother the two too much. ¡°All the knights are fine. The witch said that both of you were very tired, but that there were no problems with your health.¡± Although we were covered in blood, it was as Lucas had said, that we were just tired and had nothing wrong with our bodies. ¡°We¡¯ve decided to stay here overnight and leave the forest early tomorrow morning.¡± ¡°Yes, that sounds good.¡± We had to bring the witch¡¯s spell book and a helpful item that was in the monster¡¯s nest. Of course, we were also tired and exhausted. Jude closed his eyes for a moment and thought about the flow of the original story. ¡®Cordelia having obtained the Witch Transformation¡­¡¯ Two facts came to light when she repelled the pursuers of the Devil¡¯s Hand in the witch¡¯s forest. One fact was that the Devil¡¯s Hand kidnapped the children of the 12 families to use them as a sacrifice for demon summoning. The other fact was that the ce where the demon summoning ritual was held and what date the ritual was supposed to take ce. There wasn¡¯t enough time to go back to Count Chase to announce the crisis, so in the end, the troubled Cordelia decided to head north to save the children of the 12 families and stop the ritual. ¡®That scenario is already gone though.¡¯ The Devil¡¯s Hand couldn¡¯t kidnap any of the 12 families¡¯ children. Even if Cordelia escaped in the original story, they still carried out the ritual because they used characters such as Lucas and Sylvia as sacrifices. But now, it was questionable if the ritual would be held when none of the children were secured. Moreover, the attack of the Devil¡¯s Hand was enough to raise the awareness of the northern cities. It would be impossible to hold arge-scale attack now that the vignce against the demonic followers have increased. ¡®But there is still a chance.¡¯ The purpose of Jude and Cordelia was not just to follow the main scenario. Their goal was to twist the main scenario and create a happy ending that did not originally exist. ¡®Let¡¯s go to the north.¡¯ If the ritual is held, stop it. He must also twist Jude¡¯s main scenario, ¡®The Northern Barbarians¡¯ Great Attack,¡¯ from its very roots. When Jude made up his mind and opened his eyes, Lucas continued to exin. ¡°First, we n to stop by the northern viscount¡¯s mansion and stay for a day or two as scheduled. And¡­I think the people from my home will meet us there and join us in our journey to the northern ce.¡± At Lucas¡¯ exnation, Jude and Cordelia looked at each other simultaneously, and they exchanged nces. The reason was simple. ¡®Who ising?¡¯ There was no event in the original story where a number of people were sent to meet each of the 12 families¡¯ children. In other words, the arrival of Ga?l and Count Chase to pick us up earlier was also different from the original story. Who wille to meet us from Count Hr?svelgr? As Jude began to think of the people of Count Hr?svelgr with a serious face, Cordelia just shook her head and looked at Lucas as she asked. ¡°Lord Lucas, do you know who ising?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s someone that I really admire that ising. It¡¯s a bit embarrassing, but it¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve seen him, so I¡¯m looking forward to meeting him again.¡± Jude and Cordelia¡¯s curiosity grew even greater when Lucas spoke with sparkling eyes like he did when talking about adventures. Who is it? Who is it that Lucas had such a reaction? When Jude and Cordelia showed their keen interest, Lucas said with a proud face. ¡°You¡¯ve both heard of the ¡®Red-Haired Warrior,¡¯ right?¡± Jude and Cordelia nodded together. They obviously have heard of him. Red-haired warrior. The Red me Landius. He was one of the five main characters of?Legend of Heroes 1. However, in?Legend of Heroes 2, he no longer appeared because his setting was to die in the beginning. Chapter 35 - EPISODE 35 – FULL MOON (2)

Chapter 35 - EPISODE 35 ¨C FULL MOON (2)

The content of the?Legend of Heroes?series grew in scale for every seeding work. In the first episode of the series, there are a total of five yable characters. The stage of the story was also limited to a small country located between the S?len Kingdom and the Argon Empire. ¡®The queen of the Paragon Kingdom was brainwashed by the demon followers, and summons a demon by offering a prince as a sacrifice¡­¡¯ The summoned demon, Demon Prince Baikazel, kills the king and turns the entire pce into a demon¡¯s den. The story of?Legend of Heroes 1?was about bing one of the five main characters, and defeating Baikazel, who took over the Paragon Kingdom. ¡°The story of the second episode takes ce in the S?len Kingdom and Argon Empire¡­¡± ¡°The story of the third episode takes ce in a world devastated by Armageddon and is about settling the fight between the angels and demons.¡± Inside one of the rattling carriages, Jude and Cordelia wereying side by side on a temporarily made bed as the two carriages headed to the northern viscount¡¯s mansion. They weren¡¯t lying on the same bed, but on two beds with a low partition in between. The two carriages were prepared in a hurry by Lucas for their group after they wandered through the witch¡¯s forest. ¡°Landius of the Red me.¡± ¡°He is one of the five main characters in the first episode. Landius, along with Sword Noble Kamael, are considered to be the de facto main characters of the episode. He is the son of the Paragon Knightsmander, and after defeating Baikazel, he is wandering around the continent looking for the demon followers who were behind everything.¡± ¡°Good job,?JudeWiki.¡± As Cordelia pped and apuded like an idiot, Jude was somewhat embarrassed but continued his words. ¡°First of all, depending on which character you yed in the first episode, the hero was different¡­so based on the game¡¯s history, it was either Landius or Kamael who defeated Baikazel.¡± ¡°Search?¡®Kamael,¡¯?Enter.¡± Cordelia spoke, pretending to type in the air, and Jude narrowed his eyes, but soon opened his mouth again. ¡°Kamael the Sword Noble. He is the illegitimate son of King Paragon who was murdered by Baikazel. He is a main protagonist of the first episode and is the only one who survived and is active in the second episode.¡± If the main characters of the first episode, who have already be stronger, yed an active part in the second episode, it would be difficult for the main characters of the second episode to stand out. Perhaps because of this, the five main characters of the first episode all met a miserable end in the second episode. ¡°Umm¡­Landius was killed by a demonic human, right?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s a story that doesn¡¯t actually appear and only exists as a setting¡­but he was killed by demonic human Duke, the chief executive of the Devil¡¯s Hand.¡± In fact, the context of this situation was not perfectly revealed in the series. It was a guess made by the users because demonic human Duke carried Landius¡¯ sword, the ¡®Sr de.¡¯ ¡°So you¡¯re saying that he¡¯s not dead yet?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s exactly the important thing.¡± Landius is not dead yet. In the original story, Landius meeting with either Jude or Cordelia was something that did not exist. However, the two had crushed the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s kidnapping plot, causing the current situation to happen. Lucas was not kidnapped, and Count Hr?svelgr asked Landius, who had ties to them, to pick up Lucas from the northern viscount¡¯s ce. Thus, the encounter between the main characters of the first and second episodes, which was not originally possible, was about to be realized. ¡°Can we¡­save him?¡± Cordelia raised her upper body and turned to Jude, as she asked with expectant eyes. Save Landius. Prevent the death of the physically strongest main character in the first episode and make him active in the second episode. ¡°We can save him. No, we must save him.¡± After all, the goal of Jude and Cordelia was to create the ultimate happy ending. There was also a fact that having a strong man alive like Landius, could be a disaster for the demon followers. So we must save him. We had to somehow create the Landius survival route with our uing meeting with him. ¡°Awesome.¡± Cordelia spoke quietly as she lied down again and smiled. ¡°I wanted to save Landius.¡± ¡°Do you like him?¡± ¡°Yes, he¡¯s my second favorite character among the main characters in the first episode.¡± ¡°Who was your most favorite? Lena?¡± ¡°Yes, Lena.¡± She was the wizarddy and the only woman among the five main characters of the first episode. Lena was a disciple of the Paragon Kingdom¡¯s Royal Wizard, and she also faced a miserable end in the second episode. ¡°Can we save Lena too?¡± ¡°We can save her. It was rtively clear when and where Lena dies.¡± He had not talked to Cordelia about it in detail yet, but Jude already had a rough n on how to save Lena. ¡®Because there¡¯s so much work to be done in the north.¡¯ The Sunflower event for curing his Gueumjulmaek. The perfect blockage of Jude¡¯s main scenario, ¡®The Northern Barbarians¡¯ Great Attack.¡¯ The rescue of Lena, one of the main characters in the first series. And at this moment, the mission called ¡®Saving the life of Landius¡¯ was added. ¡°Since Landius is strong, just telling him his weaknesses will dramatically increase his chances of survival.¡± ¡°That¡¯s highly likely.¡± Jude replied and nodded. He then turned to Cordelia in silence and she tilted her head in confusion. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just that your enthusiasm is vastly different from when you were about to meet Lucas.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because Landius is cool.¡± ¡°Is Lucas not cool?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­how should I say it¡­he¡¯s a cute one?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t seem to hate him anymore.¡± ¡°Because he¡¯s cute.¡± Should I say that he¡¯s like a puppy? At Cordelia¡¯s evaluation, Jude wryly smiled, and then turned his gaze back to the ceiling. But this time, Cordelia sat up again, tilted her head in curiosity as she turned to Jude and asked. ¡°Erm, well¡­Jude.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Can I ask you a question?¡± Cordelia lightly assumed an air of cuteness as she asked, and Jude unwittingly flinched at her suddenly acting cute and charming. ¡°Wha-what are you going to ask?¡± ¡°No, well¡­it¡¯s not a big deal¡­¡± As the end of her words became a little unclear, Cordelia leaned against the partition and spoke. ¡°Well, I mean.¡± ¡°Uh, you mean what?¡± ¡°So¡­uh¡­umm¡­darn it! Hey, what did you do?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°What did you do? Outboxer¡¯s job, your previous job. You couldn¡¯t have been a real boxer.¡± Cordelia, who had been agonizing over how to say it, gave up thinking and almost shouted. ¡°Why are you suddenly asking about my job?¡± ¡°Something¡¯s weird. No, I¡¯m also curious.¡± Cordelia straightened her sitting position as she continued while pointing her finger at him. ¡°First of all, your memory is ridiculously good.¡± ¡°Maybe it¡¯s yours that¡¯s just bad?¡± ¡°Hey, grab a hundred people passing by and ask. Whether I¡¯m the one who¡¯s normal or you are.¡± Cordelia snorted as she continued pointing her finger. ¡°You said that the soil has changed while we¡¯re walking, but where can you find a person that notices that the soil has changed, unless you¡¯re paranoid and checked the soil when entering the forest?¡± ¡°Here¡¯s that person.¡± ¡°Would you please stop talking?¡± ¡°Yes, yes. So, what else?¡± ¡°From the very idea of scamming and the tremendous forgery skills, and even telling lies skillfully without disying any nervousness¡­it¡¯s not normal no matter how I think about it.¡± Cordelia nodded as she was intoxicated by her own words and said again while she looked straight into Jude¡¯s eyes. ¡°It was a previous life anyway, so it¡¯s okay. Ipletely understand. Then, were you a scammer? Am I right?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not? I was an exemry citizen who paid taxes well, even local taxes, national pension, and health insurance.¡± ¡°Local tax? Health insurance?¡± ¡°Why? Did you not pay? You are¡­¡± ¡°Ah, no? I know about it too? I mean, I paid it too?¡± Cordelia quickly answered as she clenched her fist and tapped on the partition. ¡°Whatever! What if you weren¡¯t a scammer? Then what? Tell me. Okay?¡± ¡°What is with this cute act?¡± ¡°A,e on.¡± ¡°Aw, f*ck.¡± Jude unintentionally cursed as he recoiled and retreated, but Cordelia brought her face closer to Jude. And Jude involuntarily broke into a cold sweat. Because Cordelia was an iparably beautiful girl. Her cute act had a destructive power beyond imagination. ¡°Hwoooo, I can¡¯t help it then.¡± ¡°Wow! Are you finally telling me?¡± ¡°I am¡­¡± ¡°You are?¡± ¡°I used to be a spy. Until¡­¡± Cordelia became wide-eyed at him suddenly speaking in the Englishnguage, blinked in surprise and then asked back. ¡°Spy? Undercover agent?!¡± Jude did not answer and just looked at Cordelia, and she eximed ¡®Ah!¡¯ and nodded. ¡®That¡¯s¡­possible!¡¯ He was simr to the main character of the spy drama that she watched before. Excellent acting skills to hide their disguise and identity. Trained forgery skills for the sake of forging various documents. Excellent memorization, concentration, observation, and so on. ¡°Oooh, ooooooh.¡± When Cordelia was finally convinced as her eyes shined, Jude stifled hisugh but soon burst intoughter. ¡°What spy? Hey, no. No, so don¡¯t have such a strange delusion.¡± ¡°F*ck! Then what really was your job?¡± ¡°Then what¡¯s yours?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°You. What about yours? Isn¡¯t this give and take? If you tell me first, I¡¯ll let you know mine.¡± ¡°That¡¯s so mean.¡± ¡°Hey, isn¡¯t it mean to just ask me but not let me know yours too?¡± ¡°Sh*t¡± Jude¡¯s logic was right, but Cordelia didn¡¯t want to talk about herself. ¡®I might have to call him?oppa!¡¯ I don¡¯t know what Jude¡¯s job is, but it seemed like he was older than me. We can let it pass now that we¡¯ve reincarnated with a simr age and that we don¡¯t know each other¡¯s past, but once we talk about it and express it clearly, the atmosphere between us would be strange. Cordelia pouted as she lied down and said again. ¡°You know what, can you just tell me one thing then?¡± ¡°You just can¡¯t tell me your job.¡± ¡°Not that. Your memory.¡± ¡°My memory?¡± ¡°Yes, your memory. It really doesn¡¯t make sense to me. Just teach me that. How did you do it?¡± When Cordelia stuck her face out of the partition again and asked, Jude frowned a little and then nodded. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll teach you that.¡± ¡°Oh, is this something secret?¡± Cordelia stuck her head out even more in her excitement. Jude was struck by Cordelia¡¯s hair spilling over his head, so he moved over to the side. ¡°There are two things.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°First of all, I¡¯m highly intelligent.¡± ¡°F*ck.¡± What kind of secret is that? Cordelia impulsively curs¡­no, that was just her saying an interjection, but she did not deny Jude¡¯s statement. She already knew that Jude was smart from the time when he was still Outboxer. ¡°And¡­do you know of the Memory Pce?¡± ¡°Memory Pce? Uh¡­ah! I know that! That¡¯s the one Sherlock used, right?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s a mnemonic system that has been passed down since ancient Greece.¡± The Memory Pce. It was a method developed in the ancient times when the means of recording was trivial. It is a mnemonic system where one imagines a virtual space and store memories in the ces they have walked step by step. So, when one needs to remember a certain memory, they ¡°walk¡± through that ce to remember it. T/N: Here¡¯s another definition of it. The?memory pce, aka the?Method of Loci, is a method of memorizing information by cing each item to be remembered at a point along an imaginary journey. The information can then be recalled in a specific order by retracing the same route through the imaginary journey. And regarding Sherlock Holmes, the Memory Pce was only mentioned in the BBC¡¯s 2010 TV series, ¡®Sherlock,¡¯ and not in the original novels written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Source:?Method of Loci The ancient Greek philosophers said that they memorized the content of speeches or books through the Memory Pce. It was a technique that seemed like a superpower at first nce, but it was a skill that ordinary people could acquire through training. ¡°Of course, there are individual differences, and I belong to the special cases, but for the present, I¡¯m using the Memory Pce.¡± ¡°Wow¡­then, are you putting it in something like a library in your head, just like what Sherlock did?¡± ¡°It¡¯s simr. But mine is a bit old-fashioned.¡± ¡°Amazing.¡± Cordelia looked at Jude with pure admiration, and Jude cleared his throat as he was somewhat embarrassed. ¡°Do you want me to teach you?¡± ¡°Really? Can I do it too?¡± ¡°Although repetitive learning is necessary. And Cordelia must be smart.¡± ¡°Well, of course¡­hey! Yellow Storm is smart too.¡± ¡°If you say so.¡± It was when Judeughed a little¡­ ¡°Kya?!¡± At that moment, the carriage shook and rattled greatly. Cordelia, who was leaning over the partition, lost her bnce and fell on top of Jude. ¡°Ugh. Hey, are you okay?¡± ¡°Ah, yes.¡± At the time Cordelia¡¯s head fell on top of Jude¡¯s chest and she responded with a groan¡­ ¡°You¡¯re both fine¡­umm, you¡¯re all right. Have a good time.¡± Lucas had quickly opened the carriage door to check on them after the carriage shook, but soon retreated and closed the door with a red face. Jude and Cordelia sighed, instead of getting angry. ¡°How do I say it¡­wasn¡¯t there a scene like this in novels or manhwas ics)?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­I know.¡± The two sat up andy down on their respective beds again, and the carriage continued to shake. More than an hour passed like that. The carriage finally arrived at the northern viscount¡¯s mansion. Chapter 36 - EPISODE 36 – FULL MOON (3)

Chapter 36 - EPISODE 36 ¨C FULL MOON (3)

¡°I am d to greet you again, Northern Viscount.¡± ¡°Oh, I heard the story on what happened at Langesthei. I¡¯m really d to see you safe.¡± ¡°Thank you for your concern. Let me introduce you to mypanions, Mr. Jude Bayer from Count Bayer, and Lady Cordelia from Count Chase.¡± With the introduction of Lucas, the old and white-haired Northern Viscount turned to Jude and Cordelia, and the two bowed and greeted in respect. ¡°Mr. Jude Bayer greets the Northern Viscount.¡± ¡°Lady Cordelia Chase greets the Northern Viscount.¡± ¡°Oh, the two of you are a good-looking couple as I¡¯ve heard. I am the Northern Viscount. It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you.¡± ¡°Thank you for your generous wee.¡± Even though Jude, Cordelia, and Lucas were children of the 12 northern families, they were still nothing but ordinary nobles who did not possess any titles yet. So it was natural for them to show respect to the Northern Viscount, who is their senior and possessed a noble title. ¡°The atmosphere of the mansion is very nice.¡± Cordelia spoke as she looked around the old but not worn-down mansion that was well-maintained, and the Northern Viscount replied with a smile. ¡°It¡¯s a mansion that has existed for three generations. It¡¯s small and old¡­but it¡¯s a precious ce where I was born and raised.¡± The Northern Viscount responded warmly to Cordelia and did not dillydally any longer as he ordered the maids to assign each of them a guest room. ¡®Do you think he¡¯s a good person?¡¯ ¡®He doesn¡¯t look like a bad person, I think?¡¯ In the original story, the Northern Viscount was a person who was mentioned only once, so Jude and Cordelia knew very little about him. They couldn¡¯t fully investigate the Northern Viscount¡¯s background because they were both stuck in the carriage throughout the journey. ¡®Well, I¡¯m sure there would be no problems.¡¯ Although the viscount said that it was small, it was only small whenpared to the mansion of counts, and the mansion itself was not really small. Like the mansion of a nobleman with a manor, it had several guest rooms. Having been assigned rooms on the second floor, they then had dinner with the Northern Viscount, and went back to their respective rooms early to get some rest. And in the balcony of the guest room, Jude and Cordelia began to have their alone time together as usual. ¡°Ah, it¡¯s nice. After a long time, I could finally eat delicious food, take a good bath, and sleep in a proper bed.¡± Cordelia, who was wearing a nightgown, mumbled as she hummed and stroked her hair flowing down over her shoulders. Her hair was very shiny after she had finished her bath. ¡°Well, I did like the bathroom.¡± ¡°It¡¯s great, but do you really have to say it that way?¡± ¡°Moving on¡­¡± The two sat next to each other on the balcony chair as they looked up at the night sky. They saw the usual two moons shining with the stars. Jude was the first to start the conversation. ¡°I think Landius will arrive tomorrow. He will be with us for a while.¡± ¡°Would it be enough to tell him to be careful with Duke?¡± ¡°First¡­we have to give him some hints about Duke¡¯s weaknesses and attack styles. Once he knows that, Landius Gavrail will remember about our usefulness whenever he thinks of us.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­should we be intimately acquainted with Landius first then? That way, he¡¯ll be able to trust in our words and we can deliver more information to him.¡± ¡°You¡¯re probably right.¡± The best situation was for Landius to not fight with Duke at all. ¡°Can we get him to travel with us together? Landius is a wandering warrior. He¡¯s not affiliated with the Guardians of the Holy Cross like Kamael.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right but¡­well, we have to try first.¡± If they could get Landius to travel with them, they¡¯d be able to solve more easily most of the events that would happen in the north. ¡®But¡­it won¡¯t be easy.¡¯ Landius was chasing a demon follower after the fall of the Paragon Kingdom. To be exact, he was chasing after the archbishop Manu, who had deceived the queen of Paragon to summon Baikazel. Since Landius had a clear goal, it was close to impossible for them to make him give up his chase and everything else just to follow Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Well¡­we¡¯ll figure it out once we meet him.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. Since the second episode takes ce ten years after the first episode¡­Landius must have changed a lot, right?¡± ¡°He must have changed. I think he¡¯ll be in his 20¡¯s to 30¡¯s? Kamael covers his bare face with a mask, but their faces should be the same.¡± ¡°It gets me curious though.¡± Legend of Heroes 1¡¯s main characters, Landius and Kamael, were both outstandingly handsome guys. Kamael was an iparably handsome young man with a neutral beauty like Jude, while Landius was an orthodox good-looking guy with bold and intense facial lines like that of Maximilian, the main character of?Legend of Heroes 2. The second episode takes ce ten years after the first episode. Kamael bes an executive of the Guardians of the Holy Cross and fights against numerous demons. In the midst of that, he became addicted to the demon¡¯s power itself and his appearance changed quite a bit. Surprisingly though, there were many fans who preferred his appearance in the second episode. ¡®Was it because it added¡­a beauty of corruption to him?¡¯ Jude scratched his chin as he turned his thoughts to Landius again. ¡°Well, it¡¯s something to look forward to.¡± Even when Kamael and all the protagonists of the first episode fell into despair in front of the mighty power of Baikazel, Landius was the man who obstinately stood up and gave everyone hope. In fact, Jude also liked Landius because he didn¡¯t talk very much. His heart was thrilled at the thought of meeting the real life Landius. ¡°We¡¯ll meet him tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, right? I¡¯m looking forward to it.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Jude responded with a nod and stood up as he said. ¡°We¡¯ll be having a difficult time, anyway, so let¡¯s get some sleep for tonight at least.¡± ¡°Oh, okay. Good night to you too.¡± ¡°Dream of me.¡± ¡°Yes, yes. I¡¯ll dream of you.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have a risqu¨¦ dream.¡± ¡°What is this crazy b*stard saying?¡± Cordelia left the balcony after their usual banter, and Jude looked back at the night sky. It was a much brighter moonlit night than usual. *** It was a deep, deep night that was nearing dawn when Jude opened his eyes. The reason he suddenly opened his eyes was simple. Boom! Jude woke up to the sound of an explosion and sprang up from the bed as he looked out the window where he heard the sound. The windows were broken thanks to the traps he had habitually installed earlier, which was triggered when an intruder came in. That intruder was a ck-masked man that was now groaning and bleeding on the balcony. It was an attack. At that moment, one thing came into Jude¡¯s mind. ¡°Cordelia!¡± The moment he equipped the knuckles on his bedside, two more masked men appeared on the balcony. And Jude realized it. ¡®The Devil¡¯s Hand!¡¯ The ones who failed in Langesthei attempted to attack them once again. Though this was quite troublesome. The fact that they¡¯ve attacked Jude¡¯s group even though they knew how much power Jude¡¯s side has could only mean that they¡¯ve sent enough troops to handle it. ¡®I wascent.¡¯ He thought that they wouldn¡¯t attempt a second attack because they had suffered a lot of damage in Langesthei. Each of the two maskedbatants held a small knife. Behind them, another masked man showed up. ¡®I have to avoid them.¡¯ It was a bad idea to deal with these people when he had no idea how many they were. He had to hurry up and join Cordelia first to ensure her safety. And at that very moment¡­ ¡°Jude!¡± The door exploded as a thunderous sound echoed into the air. And what appeared after was an iparably beautiful girl. No, it was a witch with a fluttering ckish red hair, dressed in a nightgown. ¡°Get out of here!¡± The moment Cordelia yelled at the masked people, two magic missiles quickly flew and hit the masked people. ¡°Jude! Come on!¡± He wanted to save her but ended up as the one being saved. However, the important thing was that they have joined up and are now together. Jude hastily ran from the bed as he asked Cordelia. ¡°What about Dahlia?¡± ¡°On the first floor! The knights said that they were having a drink together!¡± That was certainly possible. But the moment he heard Cordelia, Jude suddenly thought. ¡®A trap?¡¯ If you think about it, they were knights on an escort mission. It was an unreasonable for such knights like Dahlia and Jun, to go drinking with a ss or two in someone else¡¯s mansion. Even more when one considers the character of Sir Seornn, the leader of Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s escort knights. This could not have happened if perhaps, the Northern Viscount did not offer them drinks first. If so, there was one possibility. The Northern Viscount himself trapped them. It may be the Northern Viscount¡¯s own work, or some of his servants, but there definitely is someone who was in touch with the Devil¡¯s Hand! ¡°Let¡¯s go quickly!¡± Go to the first floor. To save Dahlia. ¡°Let¡¯s find Lucas before that!¡± It was Lucas and Cordelia that the Devil¡¯s Hand were after. Jude rushed out into the hallway, and Cordelia followed and asked. ¡°But what was that explosion?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°That sound of explosion!¡± She was asking about the sound of explosion in Jude¡¯s room. Jude shouted as he kicked on Lucas¡¯ door. ¡°It¡¯s a trap! I installed it on the windows every day!¡± ¡°Were you really a spy?¡± ¡°No!¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°There¡¯s no one!¡± Lucas¡¯ room was empty. But they didn¡¯t see any signs of an intrusion. ¡°The first floor?¡± Could it be that he slipped in the knights¡¯ drinking party? Or he went to the toilet? It didn¡¯t take him long to think, because they heard the sounds of fightinging from the first floor. ¡°Let¡¯s hurry!¡± ¡°!¡± At the moment Cordelia shouted, five magic missiles simultaneously formed and flew through the hallway. It headed towards the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯sbatants who had infiltrated through the window of Jude¡¯s room. ¡°You turned off the Witch Transformation?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t use it for a long time!¡± He understood then. Jude took the lead and started running, and they found their party on the side of the central staircase. ¡°Dahlia! Jun!¡± ¡°Miss!¡± ¡°Young master!¡± Dahlia and Jun answered at the same time. However, there were only the two of them and some knights. The other knights such as Sir Seornn and Dame Thilion, and above all, Lucas, were not visible. ¡°Where¡¯s Lucas?!¡± ¡°Outside!¡± That was the end of their conversation. More than a dozenbatants of the Devil¡¯s Hand poured in from all sides of the first floor and attacked the knights, and on the second floor,batants attacked and aimed at Jude and Cordelia. It was clear that at least dozens ofbatants were mobilized for this attack. ¡°Cordelia! Hold on to me!¡± Jude held Cordelia by her waist in a hurry as he kicked the ground and jumped down from the central staircase. And Cordelia hugged Jude¡¯s neck. But instead of screaming and going ¡®Kya!,¡¯ she stared at the back and fired magic missiles in session. Boom! Boom! Boom! Thud! The sound of the magic missiles exploding and the noise of Judending on the floor erupted simultaneously. Jude carried Cordelia and kicked the ground once again. ¡°Outside!¡± ¡°!¡± Cordelia, who was still in Jude¡¯s arms, formed a huge me arrow. The knights perfectly understood Jude¡¯smand and formed a wedge-type formation with the two in the center as they rushed towards the central entrance. Boom! The fired by Cordelia destroyed the front door and burned it. At the same time, arrows poured out from all sides. ¡°!¡± Count Chase¡¯s ring activated immediately. A translucent hemisphere wrapped around Jude and Cordelia, and the knights swung their swords in respond to the rain of arrows. ¡°Ack!¡± But it was impossible to stop all the arrows. Several arrows pierced the arms and shoulders of the knights. ¡°Dahlia!¡± ¡°Outside!¡± Cordelia screamed when she saw Dahlia with an arrow in her left thigh, but Dahlia promptly replied and moved forward. They had to get out of the mansion first before the next rain of arrows poured down. ¡°Valiant Charge!¡± Jun¡¯s body was suddenly enveloped in a subtle golden light when he shouted loudly. He then charged like a bullet towards the front door. It was ¡®Chivalry,¡¯ the magic of the knights. Papapapapapa! Arrows rained down on Jun who fiercely advanced, but the golden light caused most of the arrows to bounce or deflect. ¡°Ugh!¡± However, there were limitations. Jun who had charged forward, copsed and fell down. And Jude could see the outside. Lucas and his party were besieged and fighting against thebatants of the Devil¡¯s Hand! ¡°Lucas!¡± After passing through the front door, Jude put down Cordelia, and at that moment, Cordelia began to chant. She was going to use the witch¡¯s spells she learned from the witch¡¯s spell book. The knights who went through the front door in session set up a formation to protect Jude and Cordelia, and a shout was heard from Lucas. ¡°Mr. Bayer!¡± ¡°The enemy is the Northern Viscount!¡± At the time that Sir Seornn shouted¡­ Within a short moment, powerful magic flowed through the entire ce in front of the main entrance. Among those in this ce, it was Jude who instantly recognized the familiar magic while Cordelia was still in the middle of chanting. ¡°Magic circle!¡± It was simr. Just as Jude had prepared a magic circle in advance to fight against demonic human Minos, the Devil¡¯s Hand also prepared a trap. The light of the magic circle rose. The purple lines seemed to be intricately drawn on the ce, and it soon began to suppress everyone, including Jude. It was as if gravity had be several times stronger. ¡®!¡¯ As the name suggests, it was a magic circle that suppresses a group of people through the heavy pressure of gravity. Cordelia who was chanting the spell, fell down and screamed at the sudden pressure. The knights fell into a crooked posture as they were unable to move. ¡°Hahaha! You fools!¡± As Jude turned his gaze after hearing the stereotypical viin lines, the one who was hiding on the garden grounds finally appeared. It was the Northern Viscount. His face had a distorted look, as if his good face earlier had been a mask, and his eyes glowed red. ¡°It¡¯s over. Even if you break through the prepared , there is no hope for you.¡± When the Northern Viscount spoke in theatrics and waved his hand,batants of the Devil¡¯s Hand appeared not only in the garden but also in the mansion. At first nce, they numbered over thirty. Moreover, there weren¡¯t just ordinarybatants. ¡°We still can¡¯t let down our vignce against them because they¡¯re the ones who killed Minos, even if it was by chance.¡± A new demonic human emerged on the side of the Northern Viscount. Unlike the Northern Viscount who was only mentioned once, this new demonic human was a viin whose presence was revealed at the beginning of the original story. ¡®Demonic human Varus.¡¯ In the Devil¡¯s Hand, he was a demonic human equal to Minos. He was the demonic human in charge of transporting the kidnapped children of the 12 families to the ritual site. As opposed to Minos who used ice, he was a demonic human who used hellfire. ¡°Jude.¡± Cordelia groaned as she quietly spoke. There were two demonic humans and thebatants were close to forty, so even if there was no , they were all tough enemies to deal with. ¡®I believed in the original story too much.¡¯ Jude didn¡¯t think that the Northern Viscount was a demonic human. He also viewed the possibility of a second attack as too low. But it was all bted regrets. They had to first ovee their current crisis. ¡°I just need the children of the 12 families. Kill all the knights.¡± Thebatants ordered by Varus stepped into the magic circle. Thanks to the special engraving on their bodies, they were able to move freely in the magic circle. ¡°Jude.¡± Cordelia called Jude again. And at that point, Jude realized what Cordelia wanted to do. Make the witch¡¯s power run out of control. It was for a short time, but the released tremendous power would be enough to destroy the . But her method was close to self-destruction. There were still a lot of enemies even if they destroyed the , and more importantly, Cordelia would fall into a state of near death. Jude saw Cordelia, and Cordelia helplessly grinned. She closed her eyes and began to draw out the witch¡¯s power. Jude instinctively reached out to stop Cordelia. Because Jude knew. There was no way to ovee their current crisis. The fact that Cordelia¡¯s chosen method was the only solution she could offer to resolve their current crisis even though she knew the consequences. ¡®Bu-but suppose that¡­even if were so¡­even so¡­¡¯ As Jude was thinking, that suddenly happened. Bang! Boom! Boom! Boom! The terrifying and huge loud sound reverberated and instantly erased all the sounds in their surroundings. No, Cordelia¡¯s power did not run out of control. Even Cordelia, who was in the midst of drawing out the witch¡¯s power, opened her eyes in astonishment, and she saw the current scene. The scene of the night sky being torn. The scene of a red sh cutting through the darkness. ¡°What is that?¡± The moment she unconsciously spoke¡­ Baaang! A thunderbolt struck from the sky. A red sh came to the ground like a lightning bolt. Booom! The shockwave struck both the heavens and earth. A strong wind rose and pushed away the surrounding air. And the one who stood at the center of it all. A person with bright red hair. He was a man shining like the sun in the dark. Red me Landius. The warrior of the sun who never sumbs to any despair! However, Jude and Cordelia were puzzled by his appearance. It was not because of his dramatic entrance like those in the movies. ¡°¡°La-Landius?!¡±¡± 10 years after?Legend of Heroes 1. His changed appearance that no one knew because he didn¡¯t even appear in the second episode. Landius was originally tall. He was close to a gigantic 190 cm. But now he was bigger than that. No, even if he was big, he was too big now. To put the case very mildly, he had be close to 2.3 meters without any difficulty. Landius¡¯ body was in good shape. He originally had a good body with broad shoulders that the yers gave him the nickname ¡®Captain Paragon.¡¯ But now, his body was good, or more like, it was too good. Even if he had broad shoulders, it was too broad now. Even though he had hard muscles, it was too hard now. He was indeed a moving body of steel. He was a gigantic existence. In the midst of this, his face was as handsome as it was in the first episode. His red hair fluttered in the wind like a lion¡¯s mane. His face remained the same, but his size almost doubled. Furthermore, he was not holding the Sr de he used in the first episode but was now bare-handed. ¡°Sir Landius!¡± Lucas cried out, and Landius had a manly smile. Landius loudlyughed as he roughly moved his foot. Thud! That was it. Just a single kick shook the earth¡¯s axis, creating dozens of cracks above the ground. The mana that was forming the magic circle was quickly scattered. ¡°Wh-what happened?¡± When Cordelia spoke, the demonic humans of the Devil¡¯s Hand moved. Combatants fired their crossbows at the same time to create a rain of arrows. And Landius saw it all. He struck the sky with his fist. It was like a st from an explosion. The surrounding air shook with the shock wave centered on Landius¡¯ strike and swept away all the flying arrows. ¡°Crazy! Die!¡± Varus eximed as he urgently shot a huge fireball. It was hellfire, created with his mana as a demonic human. Landius scornfullyughed at the fireballing towards him. He shouted out loud as if he didn¡¯t need to use his hand. ¡°Break!¡± His outrageous Qi-loaded cry was like the roar of a lion itself. The fireball was extinguished in an instant rather than burning Landius. It wasn¡¯t just Varus who was bewildered. Jude and Cordelia, as well as everyone on the mansion grounds, were in shock. His level of strength was truly convincing. Because Landius was the protagonist of the first episode. He was the super strong man who had defeated the Demon Prince with a human body that has now be stronger over the course of a decade. ¡®No¡­no way¡­to be like that¡­¡¯ At the time when even Jude was confused, Landius finally took a step. He crossed the space with a light step and swung his clenched fists. Bang! Bang! Bang! It burst out. It was not a special martial arts skill. Thebatants of the Devil¡¯s Hand exploded with his sheer fists. It was the result of the tremendous physical force his fists generated. It broke the sky and cut the ground. In the literal sense. Several punches that Landius exerted turned the thirty-somethingbatants into a handful of blood. He broke the arms and legs of thebatants by force alone, at a level that his violent blows made the air itself copse. It wasn¡¯t much different for the demonic humans. The Northern Viscountpletely lost his mind to the overwhelming power, and Landius easily seized him by his neck and decapitated him. Varus who was out of his wits also suffered a simr fate. The moment he turned his back to escape, Landius swung his fist. The fearsome air wave did not stop at cutting him into two but evenpletely crushed him. ¡°Weak ones. I don¡¯t even need to use a sword.¡± Landius mockinglyughed, and Jude and Cordelia thought. ¡®Wh-what is that. I¡¯m scared.¡¯ Pleiades was a world of superhumans. Just as the nickname of Yellow Storm was ¡®human storm,¡¯ it was also possible for a strong superhuman to face against hundreds or thousands of people. But even so, there was a limit. It was the difference between the game and reality. There was a difference between seeing in the monitor a warrior cutting dozens of monsters and seeing with his real eyes a person bursting from a punch. ¡®Duke¡­killed him?¡¯ That person? How? Isn¡¯t it more probable that Duke just picked up the Sr de that Landius threw away? While Jude blinked his eyes in surprise, Landius turned. He first looked at Lucas before turning his gaze towards Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Ho.¡± Landiusughed and began walking, while Cordelia unwittingly grabbed Jude¡¯s arm. Jude also hid Cordelia in his back and swallowed nervously. ¡®Something¡¯s not right.¡¯ The meeting with Landius that he and Cordelia thought of was different. No, it was also of what they thought Landius looked like. 2 meters and 30 centimeters tall. The giant¡¯s shadow, which was several timesrger than Jude in size,pletely covered Jude and Cordelia. Even though she had never been afraid when she faced against a demonic human, Cordelia¡¯s shoulders were now shaking, while Jude¡¯s breathing became rough. Landius squinted his eyes as he looked at Jude and Cordelia. He looked at Jude¡¯s whole body with a piercing gaze. ¡°You, Cheonmujiche.¡± A fierce smile spread on Landius¡¯ face. He raised his big hands. And Cordelia responded. Just like when they first met Leisegang, she naturally raised her mana. Jude also flinched as he tried to use the Thirty-Six World Steps, althoughte. But he realized then that Cordelia was just right behind his back. Landius¡¯ hand then grabbed Jude¡¯s shoulder. The aura rising from his whole body scattered Cordelia¡¯s mana at once. ¡®I¡¯m going to die.¡¯ Jude unconsciously thought at that moment. Landius opened his mouth and said something that Jude didn¡¯t even think of. ¡°Be my disciple.¡± ¡°¡­yes?¡± ¡°Be my disciple, boy with Cheonmujiche.¡± Landius of the Red me. The warrior of the sun. ¡°I will pass on to you the Gucheongumun (Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors).¡± Jude looked at Landius with a nk face, and Landius revealed a manly smile. Chapter 37 - EPISODE 37 – NINTH HEAVEN’S NINE DOORS (1)

Chapter 37 - EPISODE 37 ¨C NINTH HEAVEN¡¯S NINE DOORS (1)

Terms used in this chapter: Ninth Heaven ¨C this is the highest levelyer in heaven in Chinese cosmology. For more information on why the Chinese call it Ninth Heaven or their fascination for the number ¡®nine¡¯ Gucheongumun. The Ninth Heaven and Nine Doors. This wasn¡¯t the first time he had heard of it. ¡®I¡¯ve certainly heard of it before. But where?¡¯ He was certain that it was not a martial art technique that appeared in the first episode. It was when Jude tried to enter his Memory Pce out of habit. ¡°Ah!¡± Behind him, Cordelia suddenly eximed. Jude automatically looked at his back and Cordelia moved her lips to convey a silent message. He then understood when he read her lips. ¡®Third episode.¡¯ That was what Cordelia silently said. Thanks to her, he finally remembered. Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors was a fantasy martial art that appeared in the third episode, or to be more precise, in thest expansion pack of the third episode. ¡®It¡¯s simr to Nine Celestial Steps.¡¯ Its existence was known, but the martial art did not appear in the game. But now, rather than anyone else from the third episode, it was Landius, one of the main characters of the first episode, that had spoken of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. ¡®Did Landius learn it? Sometime in the past 10 years? Or perhaps Landius himself created that martial art?¡¯ Either way, it didn¡¯t matter to him for now. Just that it was clear that the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors was the highest in rank for that martial art skill tree, simr to Nine Celestial Steps. ¡°I¡¯ll say it for thest time, boy. Be my disciple. With your Cheonmujiche, you can learn the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors.¡± At Landius¡¯ words, Jude swallowed in excitement. He admitted it. His heart was pounding. Among the numerous rotten waters in?Legend of Heroes, there was no one else who had the opportunity to learn and master that fantasy martial art skill, and this fact got him excited. Furthermore, he would be the disciple of the sun warrior Landius, his favorite character in the first episode. There was no way he¡¯d ever refuse that offer. ¡°Ha.¡± Landius smiled in satisfaction as he read the eyes of Jude, and soon, Jude opened his lips. He was about to say that he would be his disciple. But right at that moment¡­ ¡°Wa-wait a second!¡± Cordelia unexpectedly raised her voice while pulling Jude¡¯s arm. Because of that, everyone¡¯s gaze on Jude and Landius turned to Cordelia. Landius looked at her, seemingly wondering what was going on, and Cordelia herself was surprised at her actions and hesitated to open her mouth. It seemed like her voice popped out without her realizing it. ¡°Th-that¡­¡± ¡°Tell me, girl.¡± When Landius spoke magnanimously, Cordelia looked at Jude once and soon plucked up her courage as she spoke. ¡°That Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors¡­if he learns it¡­¡± ¡°If he learns?¡± ¡°Will Jude¡­get bigger?¡± Everyone went nk at Cordelia¡¯s timid question, but soon nodded in understanding. Because Landius was indeed abnormally huge. Even Jude, who just before was thrilled at the thought of bing Landius¡¯ disciple, was startled as he looked at Landius. He was definitely big. Extremely big. ¡°Hmm.¡± Landius touched his chin in amusement, and asked Cordelia again, who was hiding behind Jude¡¯s back. ¡°Girl, what is the rtionship between you and the boy with Cheonmujiche?¡± ¡°He¡¯s my¡­fianc¨¦.¡± ¡°Sure enough, it¡¯s something worth worrying about. Mm-hmm, it is a very important question. An important issue.¡± Landius nodded in understanding, and the knights sporadically cleared their throats as everyone¡¯s faces, except for Lucas, turned red. ¡°Huh? What¡¯s wrong with everyone?¡± ¡°Young master, for a moment.¡± Immediately after, Sir Seornn hastily pulled Lucas¡¯ hand. Landius happily gazed at thepletely red-faced Jude and Cordelia, and thenughed as he spoke. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, girl. It¡¯s not because of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors that I am huge.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not because of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors?¡± Cordelia blinked in surprise as she asked again, and Jude became surprised too, as he looked at Landius. Landius in the first episode was definitely around 190 centimeters tall. It was impossible for his growth period to suddenlye back in histe 20¡¯s, so it must have been due to some acquired cause. But if it was not due to the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, what other reason could it be? ¡°I have the blood of Giants flowing through my body. I used the Ancestral Regression technique to draw out the power of my ancestors.¡± ¡°Ancestral¡­Regression technique?¡± ¡°Yes, the Ancestral Regression technique. It¡¯s a technique to awaken the ancestor¡¯s physical and spiritual powers sleeping in the blood, and regress in a form simr to one¡¯s ancestor.¡± At Landius¡¯ exnation, the knights had faces expressing that they¡¯ve haven¡¯t heard of it, but not for Jude and Cordelia. This is because it was a technique that had appeared several times in?Legend of Heroes 2. ¡®In the immediate future, Cordelia also wakes up her angelic blood through the Ancestral Regression technique.¡¯ That was why the two understood Landius¡¯ words. If the blood of the giant had been awakened through the Ancestral Regression technique, it would indeed make sense that Landius¡¯ size had greatly increased. ¡®I never thought that the blood of giants flowed in Landius.¡¯ Although it was a sudden character setting, it was understandable. Landius had an overwhelming physique from the start. ¡°That¡¯s why, girl, even if the boy with Cheonmujiche learns the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, he will not be as big as me. So don¡¯t worry.¡± ¡°Uh¡­yes, I see.¡± As Cordelia faltered and shut her lips tightly, Landius focused on Jude again. ¡°Now answer, boy with Cheonmujiche. Will you be my disciple?¡± A fantasy martial art called Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. A disciple of Landius, one of the main characters of the first episode. It was a very different development from the original story, but there was no reason for him to refuse it. To begin with, Jude¡¯s goal was to destroy the original ending and bring about a perfect happy ending. ¡®Will you do it?¡¯ ¡®I will do it.¡¯ Jude exchanged looks with Cordelia before looking up at Landius and finally replied. ¡°I will be your disciple, Master.¡± ¡°Ha, good. You are my disciple from today. So answer my questions, disciple.¡± ¡°Yes, master.¡± When Jude responded nervously, Landius asked with a magnanimous face. ¡°First of all, what is your name? How old are you? If you have a fianc¨¦e, are you a noble?¡± It was the most basic questions. Though they had be master and disciple, they had yet to mutually introduce themselves. With a dazed look on his face for a moment, Jude opened his mouth and answered the questions of his overly considerate master. *** The next morning. The group had spent the night in the now ownerless mansion of the Northern Viscount. There were opinions that it was still dangerous, but Landius¡¯ presence was the answer to all of their concerns. While preparing to leave in a hurry, they also delivered the news to Langesthei. The fact that a nobleman with a manor was a demon follower, and even became a demonic human, was a very serious matter. ¡°If we go by the standard procedure, we should stay here and cooperate with the investigation¡­but as there had been two attacks already, I think it¡¯s for the best to return to the count as soon as possible.¡± There was a second attack, so there could be a third attack. So it was best to return quickly when Landius was with them. Jude knew that Landius was traveling all over the continent in search of the archbishop Manu. Landius only epted the job this time because he also had to meet and deal with Count Hr?svelgr. So if they got dyed for a long time, he was more likely to leave. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s do that then.¡± Lucas replied to Sir Seornn before enviously looking at the carriage where Jude and Cordelia was in. ¡®I¡¯m really envious.¡¯ He wasn¡¯t talking about Jude having a perfect and harmonious teamwork with a fianc¨¦e that is an iparably beautiful girl. It was because of being Landius¡¯ disciple. Landius had the personality that Lucas longed for, as his visuals and strength seemed to have been torn from a heroic novel, and that Landius had demanded Jude first to be his disciple. That did not happen when he was with Lucas. ¡°Young master, Sir Landius¡¯ martial arts are of a form that cannot be mastered without having a special bodily constitution. It is not because of young master¡¯sck of talent. Landius himself didn¡¯t pay attention to that. If it¡¯s only the talent for the sword, young master is already on par with Sword Noble Kamael.¡± ¡°Yes¡­yes, but¡­¡± He knew that. But he was still envious of what he highly desired. The training of Sir Landius. The training from the red-haired warrior. While Lucas stared at the carriage, Jude was lying at death¡¯s door. ¡°Aaa¡­ugh¡­aagh¡­haak¡­aaah¡­¡± Lying on a remodeled bed in the carriage, Jude wriggled his body and let out groans while Cordelia sat down at the bedside of Jude and took care of him. ¡°Does it hurt that much?¡± ¡°It hurts, f*ck. It f*cking hurts. I really think I¡¯m going to die. It wasn¡¯t even like this when I was in Afghanistan. Aa¡­aaaah¡­.¡± It was unlike the usual Jude as he uncontrobly kept popping out curses in just one day. No, it wasn¡¯t just a day but from the few hours of training in the middle of the night that made his whole body scream in pain. ¡®I have to leave again when we arrive at Count Hr?svelgr. I can¡¯t take you with me, so I¡¯ll teach you the basics while we go to the count¡¯s territory.¡¯ It was good so far. He fully understood that. But the training that followed was far beyond Jude¡¯s expectations. ¡°Ah, I didn¡¯t learn like this from my father¡­¡± There was quite a difference from when he learned Lightning Punch and Lightning Strike Fist. He would react like that because Landius overworked all the muscles of his whole body. It wasn¡¯t martial arts training, but some kind of physical training¡­ No, it felt more like physical abuse. Moreover, Landius made him do all possible exercises, or more like continuous abuse, by repeating adequate rest and training that is just right for Jude who didn¡¯t have enough physical strength yet because of his Gueumjulmaek. ¡°So¡­do you know exactly what the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors is?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, but¡­based on the training, it doesn¡¯t strengthen the body itself¡­aah, aaa¡­f*ck, it f*cking hurts. It hurts even if I stay still. Aagh¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t just say f*ck twice.¡± ¡°F*ck.¡± Their positions were reversed from their usual conversation when the door suddenly opened. ¡°Hmm, you look fine. It¡¯s Cheonmujiche, indeed.¡± When Landius spoke with a pleased face at the sight of Jude stretched out on the bed, Jude¡¯s soaring anger burst at that moment. ¡®Are you sane saying that I am fine!¡¯ Fortunately, he still held some degree of reason so he could only shout in his mind. Landius said as he nodded his head in satisfaction. ¡°Let your body rest until lunch. We¡¯ll start the training again every time the carriage stops. Ah, girl. Feed this to my disciple.¡± Landius took a pouch from his waist and threw it to Cordelia. When she opened the pouch, there were a lot of pills inside that were the size of a thumbnail. ¡°Physical¡­no, to be exact, those are pills that helps the muscles recover. From now on, feed those pills at the end of every training session. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Ah, yes.¡± ¡°All right, then see you at lunch.¡± Landius smiled refreshingly as he closed the door and left, and Cordelia turned to Jude with a face full of concern. ¡°Uh¡­umm¡­ Do you want to say ¡®Ah¡¯ first? I¡¯ll give you the pills. Ah~¡± Cordelia had somehow be so eagerly nice to Jude as she pretty much spoke in a gentle voice, and Jude trembled as he opened his mouth. And those unforgettable hellish days continued to Jude for five more days. *** ¡°Aagh¡­ugh¡­ugh¡­¡± On the sixth night after meeting Landius, Jude trembled and fell down in ce after having finished doing squats. ¡°Ma-master.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°M-my legs won¡¯t move¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯re right, your lower body needs to rest a bit now. So let¡¯s train your upper body now.¡± Landius wasughing ¡®hahaha¡¯ as he helped Jude sit in ce before handing him his handmade exercise equipment. ¡°Be quick. We don¡¯t have much time. You need to train your muscles during breaks too. Don¡¯t cry. You¡¯ll lose the water in your body.¡± As he trembled in various ways, Jude began working out his upper body. And after two hours like that, Jude hadpletely used all of his body muscles as he copsed while looking out of breath. ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s good. Repeat the entire training course even when I¡¯m not here in the future. Okay?¡± ¡°O-okay¡­¡± They¡¯ll be arriving at Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s territory tomorrow. ¡®It¡¯s liberation, I¡¯ll finally be free now.¡¯ Jude was flushed with tears, and Landius chuckled as he said. ¡°Don¡¯t be too sad, my disciple. I¡¯m only going to take care of some urgent business beforeing back to see your training. So stop those tears or you¡¯ll lose the muscles you¡¯ve gained.¡± Jude trembled instead of answering, and Landius continued his words. ¡°Now then, there¡¯s only one day left, so let¡¯s start the training for Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors.¡± ¡°Yes¡­what?¡± Jude asked as he looked up and raised his head, even if his body had copsed. What Landius said was too absurd. Start? Training for Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors? So what had he been doing so far? ¡°What is it? It¡¯s muscle training. My dear boy, you¡¯re too weak even without Gueumjulmaek. So work hard repeatedly to build up your body.¡± Landius clicked his tongue, and Jude had a stunned look as he blinked. Simple muscle training, not training for Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. When he thought about it, he agreed too. The training was so hard that he didn¡¯t properly think about it, but in retrospect, it was all pure physical training that had nothing to do with martial arts. It was also true that Jude was weak, even if he didn¡¯t have Gueumjulmaek. But, but even so! ¡®Fu-f*ck!¡¯ Fortunately again, Jude only shouted in his mind. Landius sat Jude upright as he spoke. ¡°From now on, I will teach you the oral passage of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. Learn it by heart.¡± ¡°All I have to do¡­is memorize it?¡± ¡°For now, yes.¡± At that moment, Jude was mortified as a few tears came out of his eyes, but he decided to endure it for now. He had to learn the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s get started.¡± The oral passage of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. Jude closed his eyes and focused on Landius¡¯ voice. A new memory was added to his memory pce. For a while, the oral passage settled down at one point in Jude¡¯s head. It then naturally became one with Jude. And only then did Jude realize. Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors was not abat technique that consisted of attack and defense like Lightning Punch or God¡¯s Fist. However, it wasn¡¯t inner Qi cultivation either. Make nine doors to one¡¯s body and soul. Every time a door is opened, new possibilities are unlocked. All of these will lead the body and soul to reach a higher level. It is a soul training method that is a mixture of both martial arts and magic. It makes the soul evolve. Jude felt the location of the bottommost door as the door was created. The first door. It couldn¡¯t have been this fast originally. But his Cheonmujiche made it possible. In the first ce, Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors itself was one with Cheonmujiche. It was a martial art that could not be properly learned without having Cheonmujiche. Sweat poured down from Jude¡¯s whole body. He forgot the passage of time, and the first door was finallypleted after what felt like an eternity. And at that moment, Jude realized. One of the martial arts that Jude himself had reacted to the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. It advanced to a higher rank. ¡®Thirty-Six World Steps.¡¯ Jude¡¯s footwork technique. Can he reach the ultimate fantasy footwork technique, Nine Celestial Steps, by the end? But why? Why does the Thirty-Six World Steps respond to the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors? The first door opened. The first evolution began in the depths of Jude¡¯s body and soul. And at the same time, the Thirty-Six World Steps took on a new form. ¡®Twenty-Four Gale Steps.¡¯ Jude opened his eyes and faced Landius. Chapter 38 - EPISODE 38 – NINTH HEAVEN’S NINE DOORS (2)

Chapter 38 - EPISODE 38 ¨C NINTH HEAVEN¡¯S NINE DOORS (2)

I made one change to the previous chapter.?Oral passages?has been changed to?mnemonic chant. The Korean words used had multiple definitions, but mnemonic chant made more sense in this chapter, so I changed it. ¡°Ju¡­ Ju¡­ De¡­ Ah? He heard a voice. However, he couldn¡¯t hear it properly because it was garbled. Perhaps it was Landius¡¯ voice. His sight returned though it was still blurry, and at that time, he clearly heard an audible voice near him. ¡°Jude? Are you all right? You okay?¡± ¡°Cordelia.¡± His sight became clear the moment he unwittingly spoke. He immediately saw the faces of Cordelia, whose white and pretty face was right in front of him, and Landius, who was looking down at him from a distance. ¡°Are you awake? Do you know how many these are?¡± When Jude suddenly spoke, Cordelia flinched but she soon waved two fingers with a joyful face. ¡°Two. Just like you.¡± ¡°What?¡± Cordelia growled but her eyes seemed to be smiling though. She seemed to be very happy that Jude had woken up. ¡®Did it take a long time?¡¯ Since he began memorizing the mnemonic chant of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, he no longer felt the passage of time. Judging by Cordelia¡¯s reaction though, it looked like a considerable amount of time had passed. ¡°You must be fine if you¡¯re whispering sweet words with the girl.¡± Clicking his tongue as he grinned, Landius approached him and Cordelia stepped aside. Landius spoke again. ¡°It seems to me that you¡¯re not yet aware of it, but it¡¯s been a day since you began memorizing the mnemonic chant.¡± ¡°A day?¡± ¡°Yes, a day. It was night when you closed your eyes, but it¡¯s still night, right?¡± Jude unthinkingly nodded before inspecting his body. Maybe because he was now aware of it, he felt that his whole body was weak and that he was hungry. ¡°That¡¯s why the girl came. Her fianc¨¦ whom she loved more than her life, has not woken up for the entire day, so she was suffering from a heartache¡­ isn¡¯t that right? That¡¯s what Lucas said.¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s right. Yes.¡± ¡°Uh¡­yes! I couldn¡¯t do anything because I was worried that my beloved Mr. Bayer hadn¡¯t opened his eyes for the whole day. Yes, that¡¯s right.¡± When Landius asked with narrowed eyes, both Jude and Cordelia answered quickly. However, Cordelia¡¯s answer was a problem, because as always, her acting was monotone. ¡°Hmm, okay. Moving on.¡± Luckily, the magnanimous Landius didn¡¯t care about such trivial stuff. Moreover, it was true that Cordelia was here because she was worried about Jude. ¡°Disciple, if my eyes are correct¡­you seemed to have opened the first door. Is that correct?¡± ¡°Yes, I think so.¡± Jude carefully answered as he ced his hand over the lower part of his belly. It was the ce where the first door was installed. Cordelia just looked at Jude¡¯s belly as she thought that nothing had changed, but it was a little different for Landius. He had a feeble smile as he looked dumbfounded, but soon burst out into a heartyugh. ¡°Sure enough, indeed. Is this the work of Cheonmujiche?¡± ¡°Master?¡± ¡°You¡¯re fast. It took me over a month to open the first door.¡± But Jude opened the first door in just one day. ¡°As expected¡­was the Cheonmujiche the divine inspiration of the transcendent beings¡­¡± Both Jude and Cordelia focused on what Landius muttered. The divine inspiration of the transcendent beings. Those were words that did not exist in both?Legend of Heroes¡¯ first and second episodes. ¡°Master, what you called transcendent beings¡­¡± ¡°Yes, you have the qualifications. First¡­¡± Landius¡¯ words slurred at the end of his sentence as his gaze headed to Cordelia, and she flinched and then stood up from her seat. She thought that Landius was reluctant to talk because of her presence. ¡®Well, Jude will tell meter about it.¡¯ But then, Jude grabbed Cordelia¡¯s hand. ¡®Why?¡¯ Cordelia asked with her eyes, but instead of answering, Jude looked at Landius and said. ¡°Master, Lady Cordelia and I are no different from one body. Lady Cordelia also has the right to know about what happened to my body. Please let us hear it together.¡± ¡°Hmm, you¡¯re right. My disciple and the girl are engaged, so they¡¯re as good as one body.¡± ¡®No, it¡¯s not? Me and Jude are two different bodies, right?¡¯ Thest thought belonged to Cordelia, but only Jude could guess her thoughts by looking at her eyes. ¡°All right. I¡¯ll tell the girl the story too.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Uh¡­thank you.¡± For a moment, Cordelia was dazed but expressed her gratitude afterwards as she quietly sat down next to Jude. Landius began talking after sitting in front of the two. ¡°Disciple and girl. Do you know anything about the great monarchs of hell?¡± ¡°Uh¡­yes. Are your referring to the five great demons of hell?¡± When Cordelia said in response, Landius nodded. ¡°Yes, the five great demons. Asmodeus of lust, Belial of corruption, Belphegor of cruelty, Behemoth of violence, and Lilith of love and hate. But the truth is, the great monarchs of hell were originally seven, not five.¡± Jude and Cordelia also knew of this story. ording to the setting of?Legend of Heroes, two of the original seven great monarchs had disappeared, leaving only five. ¡°A long time ago ¨C in what we call the ancient times, two of the seven great monarchs came down to the human world. Numerous human nations were destroyed by the two mighty demons, and some races even went extinct.¡± The High Dwarves, the higher race and ancestors of the current Dwarves, virtually went extinct, and the Elves lost their great empire, which was the most prosperous on the continent. ¡°All the races living on the continent joined forces to confront the demons¡­and after countless sacrifices, they were able to win.¡± They knew of this story up to this point. Ordinary people didn¡¯t know it well, but it was a story that was known to some knowledgeable wizards, schrs, and priests. ¡°If so, then who was it? Who were the people with transcendental powers that defeated the great monarchs?¡± Landius¡¯ gaze turned to the sky. He continued the story as if he was talking to himself, and not to Jude and Cordelia. ¡°I was curious about it. Because I thought that knowing who and how they defeated the great monarchs would greatly help in the future fight against the demons.¡± Unlike the Sword Noble Kamael who joined the Guardians of the Holy Cross, Landius wandered all over the continent alone. ¡°After a long search, I was able to find a record in the ancient ruins where the Guardians of the Holy Cross first began. It was a record of the heroes who defeated the great monarchs.¡± Jude and Cordelia simultaneously swallowed in their excitement. This was the first time that the two had heard of this story. ¡°There were seven heroes, who were neither angels nor demons, but possessed divine powers. It was a really impressive formation. The dwarves¡¯ strongest warrior, the elven queen, the sun god Sri¡¯s champion, the best assassin of the continent, and so on¡­each and every one of them was worthy of the title of Great Hero.¡± And there was one of them that caught the interest of Landius. ¡°The transcendent being. The ancient guardians called them a transcendent being, whose name, age, and gender were unknown. And that being used a special martial art.¡± ¡°That¡­¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors.¡± Landius¡¯ gaze returned to Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Only the mnemonic chant remained. And the mnemonic chant wasn¡¯t perfect either. But I couldn¡¯t give up on the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors.¡± After having acquired an iplete mnemonic chant, Landius did not worry alone. Together with his formerrade, the Sword Noble Kamael, they asked for help from their colleagues who defeated Demon Prince Baikazel. Each of them began their research and investigation on the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors and the heroes of the ancient times. ¡°The current Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors was restored by Kamael, me¡­and Lena together. And in the process, we concluded that we needed a special talent to fully master the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors.¡± There was no need to say what it was. Cheonmujiche. The manifestation of martial arts talent from the heavens. ¡°In thest thousand years, fewer than ten have been born with Cheonmujiche. So I was on the verge of giving up¡­until I met you.¡± That was why Landius told him to be his disciple, even without having introduced themselves first. Jude and Cordelia were thrilled by the story that was muchrger than they thought. The two looked at each other, and Cordelia opened her mouth first. ¡°Um¡­Landius. What kind of martial arts is the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors specifically?¡± ¡°It is a martial art that allows the body and soul to rise to a higher level. Well, to put is simply, to be a being that transcends humans ¨C it¡¯s a way to be a transcendent being.¡± Jude nodded at Landius¡¯ words. Because he had felt it during the process of opening the first door. ¡°Jude, what changed happened when you opened the first door?¡± ¡°It felt like my soul expanded. My body too¡­I think it got better.¡± The simple story about the soul and such came suddenly, but his body did actually get better. Landius nodded his head. ¡°As its name suggests, Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors consists of nine doors. Every time a door is opened, one bes closer to the transcendent being, and the body and soul itself are reinforced. Many different abilities also appear as an additional effect.¡± ¡°Abilities?¡± ¡°Yes, opening the fifth door gave me the ability to see through things.¡± Landius said, and Jude peeked at Cordelia and she narrowed her eyes. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°No, just¡­¡± Landius cheerfullyughed. ¡°It can only be used when the door is opened, and it is very obvious too. When you open the fifth gate, a red energy rises like a me, so if you use the ability to see through, other people can tell with their eyes.¡± ¡°That¡¯s too bad.¡± As Jude sighed, Cordelia¡¯s eyes narrowed at him. ¡°The doors are always open up until the fourth door. From the fifth door and above, the doors are only opened whenever it is necessary. It¡¯s because after the fifth door, the burden on the body is so great that it is difficult to maintain it for a long time.¡± It was a convincing story. ¡°I have opened up to the seventh door. In fact, I turned towards the Ancestral Regression technique to get a clue on how to open the eighth door.¡± Landius, who had talked so far, suddenly had a generous smile as he stood up and said. ¡°The only one who can open the doors of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors is the one who has it. That is why there is nothing more that I could teach you about the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. I can only give you a bit of advice. Ah, of course, that doesn¡¯t mean that I won¡¯t be a teacher. What I can teach you about are a lot of things besides the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors.¡± As he finished his rather long talk, Landius unted his muscles to Jude, while Jude unconsciously flinched when he realized what other things Landius could teach. There was silence for some time. Jude soon regained his reason as he likewise stood up and said. ¡°Master, I have something to tell you.¡± ¡°What is it? Do you think you¡¯re having muscle loss after sitting around all day?¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s not it¡­it¡¯s about the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors.¡± In response to the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, the Thirty-Six World Steps had advanced a rank. ¡°It¡¯s a martial art that I identally got from a Dungeon Book¡­¡± As Jude talked about the Thirty-Six World Steps, Landius¡¯ eyes became very serious. ¡°It responded to the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors¡­so perhaps, the Thirty-Six World Steps is also a martial art of the transcendent being that you¡¯ve mentioned.¡± It was a possible story. Nine Celestial Steps and Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. The fantasy martial arts whose existence itself was unclear. ¡°Okay, then tell me more about it.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°The Thirty-Six World Steps.¡± Landius said in his most excited tone. He really wanted Jude to teach him about it right now. ¡°Uh¡­I understand. It would take some time to tell you both the movement and the mnemonic chant, so I¡¯d like to share a story before that.¡± ¡°What is that?¡± Jude turned to Cordelia for a moment rather than answering right away. ¡®Are you going to tell him now?¡¯ ¡®Now is the only time to do so.¡¯ For six days, hepletely forgot about it because he underwent a hellish physical training, but their original purpose of meeting Landius was not to learn the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. Saving the life of Landius. Warning him on how to deal with Duke. ¡®The question is¡­will it be necessary though?¡¯ Frankly, the current Landius doesn¡¯t seem like he¡¯ll be killed and die if Duke tries to kill him. But there was still a chance. There was nothing to lose in telling him. ¡°This is a story when we met the witch¡¯s soul in the witch¡¯s forest.¡± After the Fairy Queen, it was now the witch¡¯s soul. What if an ancient witch left a prophecy about Landius? Will he be able to verify it? How would he do it? ¡°The witch¡¯s soul said that a great danger would befall the sun warrior we would meet in the future. The danger is that there is a high chance of being poisoned by the red scorpion¡¯s poison, so they shouldy down preventive measures topletely prepare for it.¡± Duke was someone who often uses poison. In particr, the red scorpion¡¯s poison that he used was a poison so deadly that even a graze could kill a person. ¡°Hmm¡­I see. I¡¯ll prepare an antidote then.¡± Jude was worried that Landius would just snort, saying that he was not afraid of poison, but Landius unexpectedly epted Jude¡¯s story seriously. ¡°Well, are you done with your story then?¡± Jude looked at Cordelia at Landius¡¯ question, and she swallowed once before raising her hand to ask. ¡°Sir Landius, may I ask you just one thing?¡± ¡°Ask, girl.¡± ¡°That¡­didn¡¯t you originally use a sword? Like the Sr de or something.¡± One of the reasons why Landius is called the warrior of the sun is because of the Sr de. Landius heartilyughed at Cordelia¡¯s question. ¡°I still use it now. I just don¡¯t use it to train myself.¡± ¡°Training?¡± ¡°Yes, Kamael said that. When you understand the principles, you can use swordsmanship without a sword.¡± It was the so-called intangible sword or the heart of the sword, a state which one reaches when their sword art is above a certain level. But isn¡¯t it more like Landius is using fist-fighting techniques now rather than using swordsmanship without a sword? ¡°Uh¡­so you don¡¯t use a sword?¡± ¡°I¡¯m testing this and that.¡± ¡°Uh¡­yes.¡± With that, their questions were solved. Given that he talked about the Sr de, the treasured item of the Paragon Kingdom, he seemed to still have it. ¡®So that¡¯s it, right?¡¯ ¡®Just¡­for now?¡¯ It would be strange to ask him to show to them the Sr de here. As Jude and Cordelia exchanged nces, Landius smiled as he found them cute, and then he said. ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s good then. It looks like the story is over. Now then, Thirty-Six¡­no, wait. I was so excited that I forgot something important. I¡¯m still not good enough.¡± Landius abruptly stopped his words and reproached himself, before looking over Jude¡¯s whole body and saying. ¡°Eat your meals first. It¡¯s focused on protein. Since you haven¡¯t eaten all day, let¡¯s fill you in with nutrients first, before learning about the Thirty-Six World Steps. When you starve and lose weight, you lose your muscles before your fat.¡± Because muscles are precious. At the urging of Landius, Jude began to eat. The menu was chicken breast meat. Chapter 39 - EPISODE 39 – COUNT HR?SVELGR

Chapter 39 - EPISODE 39 ¨C COUNT HR?SVELGR

There were three protectors in the S?len Kingdom. The Knights of the Golden Lion protected the Ctes ins, which has been the biggest battleground against the Argon Empire for generations. The invincible fleet of the 7 southern families dominated the southern waters. And thest one was the Jackdaw Brigade, which blocked the northern barbarians for over the past 300 years. ¡°The Northern Margrave is the head of the Jackdaw Brigade, and Thunderdoom Fortress is the nest of the Jackdaws.¡± If the Knights of the Golden Lion were the king of pitched battles on the ins, the Jackdaw Brigade were experts in fortress defense. The Jackdaw Brigade have always had 10,000 people at all times and built numerous legends together with the Thunderdoom Fortress. In the great invasion 150 years ago, ck Eagle, the legendary chieftain of the barbarians, led more than 150,000 troops against the 10,000 troops of the fortress. Despite the fact that the enemies were ten times more than their own troops, the Count Bayer of that time not only stopped the overwhelming enemies seven times, but also made a record of beheading the enemy ¡®Wild Lion.¡¯ However, Count Bayer was killed, and this great invasion was called the ¡®Tragedy of the Jackdaws.¡¯ ¡°If you live in the north, always thank the Jackdaws. They are the ones protecting your life, your family, and your loved ones.¡± Those statements weren¡¯t wrong, because many northerners do harbor feelings of goodwill and gratitude to the Jackdaw Brigade. And it was when the Count of Hr?svelgr became the margrave, that such feelings of pride and dignity truly reached its peak. Thunderdoom Fortress was not only the nest of the Jackdaws but was also the ce where the Count of Hr?svelgr, ¡®The First Jackdaw,¡¯ lived. ¡®The situation feels delicate now that I¡¯vee here.¡¯ Jude himself was a man from the Bayer family. 50 years ago, the head of the Jackdaws was the Count of Bayer. It was a time before the current Count Bayer was born, and only a few people, including the old knight Victor Cromwell, remembered the days when the Bayer family was a Jackdaw. Moreover, the former Count Bayer was not so much talented in the sword, which was unlike the current Count Bayer, who was such a powerful swordsman that he ranked among the top ten swordmasters of the S?len Kingdom. The current Count Hr?svelgr was also one of the ten swordmasters so it was inevitable that a delicate rivalry rtionship was formed between the two. Well, it didn¡¯t matter to Jude what the actual thoughts between the two counts were. ¡®I only came here because I needed to, and as for Lucas¡­he is someone who¡¯s truly pure of heart.¡¯ In the first ce, it was Lucas who invited him here, and Jude had readily epted it. Of course, Cordelia was also here because she had clung to her beloved fianc¨¦, insisting that she would follow him. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°No, I just suddenly felt like I¡¯ve lost.¡± Cordelia tilted her head in confusion, sniffing as she replied to Jude, and Jude inwardly admired her. ¡®She¡¯s Yellow Storm indeed.¡¯ Her senses were really sharp that she could somehow sense what Jude was thinking of her. ¡®Moving on¡­¡¯ Jude looked at the front again. The group had not actually arrived at the Thunderdoom Fortress. Lucas and Jude¡¯s destination from the very beginning was right here, the trading city of Vedrfolnir, located at the entrance of Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s territory. ¡®Because the Thunderdoom Fortress is literally a fortress.¡¯ So the count¡¯s mansion couldn¡¯t be inside the fortress. Thus, while Count Hr?svelgr almost lived in the Thunderdoom Fortress, his family settled in Vedrfolnir, the most developed city in the Hr?svelgr territory. ¡°My disciple, I¡¯ll be parting with you for a while here.¡± Landius strode over as he said. He was originally on the move to meet Count Hr?svelgr, so he was now going to part with them here and head to the Thunderdoom Fortress. ¡°Disciple, don¡¯t show your tears. Tears are useless¡­¡± ¡°Because it causes muscle loss?¡± ¡°Yes, the time I taught you was short, but you learned really well. That¡¯s Cheonmujiche, indeed.¡± With a satisfied face, Landius heartilyughed and then patted Jude on his shoulder. ¡°But don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll meet you again after I¡¯ve met with Count Hr?svelgr and dealt with some urgent matters. It¡¯ll be a few monthster when we see each other again.¡± ¡°Yes, master. I look forward to the day of our reunion.¡± ¡°Yes, and don¡¯t forget to exercise. Be healthy and let¡¯s meet again.¡± Landius tapped on Jude¡¯s shoulder before turning to Cordelia. ¡°Girl.¡± ¡°Yes, Sir Landius. ¡°Please take good care of my disciple and do what I asked you to.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Cordelia modestly answered and Landius heartilyughed again. Jude had a curious look on his face as he stared at Cordelia. ¡®What did he ask you to do?¡¯ ¡®Please replenish him with a protein diet every day.¡¯ When they had their usual conversation with just their eyes, Landius looked at them happily. ¡°What a nice and loving couple. They¡¯re indisputably soulmates.¡± ¡°I think so, too.¡± Lucas, who had been somehow trying to get involved in their conversation, cut in when he got the chance. Unfortunately, the conversation had already reached its end. ¡°My disciple, I look forward to seeing you again. May the muscles always be together.¡± ¡°Ma-master too.¡± Jude awkwardly smiled as he couldn¡¯t say the same about muscles being together. Landius heartilyughed again and lowered his posture. ¡°Then, disciple, girl, Lucas, and the others! May you be healthy until the day we meet again!¡± Boom! Landius kicked the ground and soared up. A dozen meters ¨C no, he soared at almost tens of meters high, and then he kicked again into the air and became the red sh that they saw on the first day. Boom! Boom! Boom! They didn¡¯t hear it wrong. That was the sound of Landius tearing through the air as he soared up the sky. ¡°Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!¡± They nkly stared at the sky for a few seconds while listening to the faint sound of Landius¡¯ughter. Cordelia was the first to open her mouth. ¡°He alone¡­is in a different genre¡­¡± ¡°¡­I agree.¡± Jude strongly agreed as he looked far at the northern sky. *** ¡°You must have umted a lot of fatigue from traveling, so take a good rest for today. If there is something youck or need, please tell us right away. You don¡¯t have to feel burdened about it.¡± ¡°Thank you, Lord Lucas.¡± ¡°Thank you very much.¡± After Lucas guided them directly to the guest rooms, he smiled and left. Jude and Cordelia ate, took a bath, and had a break before having their alone time together as usual. ¡°They¡¯re surprisingly cooperative.¡± ¡°Well¡­we¡¯ve already spent so much time alone together. It must be a routine for the knights now.¡± It was at a level where the knights left the two alone now even though they haven¡¯t said anything yet. Moreover, the phenomenon elerated further after Dahlia returned to Count Chase¡¯s territory because of her injury. They didn¡¯t have any knights closely attached to them now. ¡°Doing that is good, but do you really have to do that now?¡± ¡°It¡¯ll be over soon. I¡¯ll just do one more set.¡± After exercising every day for the past six days, it had be awkward for Jude to not continue his daily exercises. ¡®Disciple, remember. All the strength of a manes from a stable and strong lower body. It is alreadymon sense that the circumference of the thigh is directly proportional to one¡¯s lifespan.¡¯ Jude wanted to ask whosemon sense was that, but he did agree to the fact that training the lower body was important. ¡®Because a person is an animal that stands on the ground with both feet after all.¡¯ The whole body was stable only when the lower body was stabilized, and the whole body had to be stable in order to move the body properly. ¡°Ah, it¡¯s hot. I¡¯m sweating.¡± Cordelia wrinkled her nose as she spoke. She was making a special juice with the help of magic. It was what Landius asked for before he left. ¡°But you must have gotten a lot better with your Gueumjulmaek. You can now exercise that long.¡± ¡°I think the physical part has somehow been solved. It¡¯s also thanks to the opening of the first door.¡± After having finished his squatting exercise, Jude took a deep breath and received the juice from Cordelia. ¡°Look forward to it. Once my Gueumjulmaek is healed, I¡¯ll carry you, cross over the wall, and care for you. I¡¯ll even do all of it as a set.¡± ¡°What is this crazy bastard saying?¡± After their usual exchange, the two sat facing each other and started talking seriously. ¡°Well, we¡¯vee all the way here, so let¡¯s organize our future schedule.¡± ¡°First of all, is our top priority the Sunflower?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, because the Sunflower will bloom in the next 15 days.¡± As legend has it, the Sunflower was a flower that bloomed only once every twenty years and fell on the third day. ¡°We have to get the timing right.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll have to leave in a week at thetest.¡± They had to consider the time to get to Frost Anvil, and the time to travel through all kinds of obstacles to get to the ce where the Sunflower is located. ¡°Eating the Sunflower will almost cure my Gueumjulmaek. In addition, I can also get my hands on a special constitution.¡± ¡°What did you get when you ate it as Jude?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, because I haven¡¯t eaten it when I yed as Jude. It was physically impossible then.¡± Jude¡¯s main scenario happens a yearter after Cordelia and Lucas. When Jude¡¯s scenario began, it was after the Sunflower had already wilted. ¡°Hmm¡­if Cordelia eats it, it will damage her body instead.¡± The Yang energy¡¯s extreme energy was like a poison to ordinary humans. ¡°You¡¯ve be a witch. So it¡¯s my turn this time.¡± ¡°What about the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors?¡± ¡°That¡¯s that.¡± ¡°I hate you.¡± Jude sneakilyughed at Cordelia¡¯s words, and said as he raised his palms as if to calm her down. ¡°But I¡¯m not going to let it go after all. Just as I got the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors this time¡­there¡¯s no rule that says that we have to move ording to the original story.¡± Cordelia tilted her head at Jude¡¯s words, but soon understood it. She spoke with a smile on her face. ¡°Ancestral Regression technique.¡± If Jude was born with Cheonmujiche, Cordelia was born with the very strong blood of a high-ranking angel. Therefore, just as Landius acquired the power of a giant through Ancestral Regression technique, Cordelia could also gain the power of an angel. ¡°It¡¯s an event that only takes ce after the middle part of the original story, but¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have to wait until then?¡± ¡°Exactly. Because I¡¯m here.¡± The Ancestral Regression technique required a very special magic circle and various materials, but the problem of the magic circle could be solved right now. It was proudly stored in Jude¡¯s memory. ¡°JudeWiki is the best. It¡¯s really convenient.¡± ¡°Please use it anytime, ma¡¯am.¡± Jude did an old-fashioned bow like those in ys, and then spoke to Cordelia who wasughing lightly. ¡°But, as you know, you have to collect the ingredients first. Do you know the materials necessary for the Ancestral Regression technique?¡± ¡°I have JudeWiki, so do I have to know?¡± ¡°That¡­you¡¯re right, but do you know though?¡± ¡°I know it. You¡¯re talking about that now, right? The most important material that cannot be reced and varies for each Ancestral Regression target.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± The Ancestral Regression technique was a ritual to awaken the power of the ancestors hidden in the blood, which is the way to go through the soul. And in order to make the ritual a sess, they needed the blood of the target ancestor. ¡°Landius must have conducted the ritual with the blood of a giant. Though he had to go to a remote area to find the giants, it wasn¡¯t that difficult as he could still meet them.¡± But Cordelia was different. She needed the blood of an angel. ¡°Uhhh¡­is there any way to get the angel¡¯s blood early on?¡± ¡°It didn¡¯t exist in the original story, but it should still be possible now.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not¡­ Ah! Lena!¡± She is one of the five main characters in the first episode of?Legend of Heroes?and is the only woman among the main characters. In the original story, Jude or Cordelia never met her, let alone prevent her death. But this time, it was different. There were two people who nned to meet her in person and save her life. And Lena had the blood of an angel. At the end of the first episode of?Legend of Heroes, she was awakened as an angel through the Ancestral Regression technique. ¡°As expected, it¡¯s Lena. We must get it. By all means.¡± ¡°Yes, but we don¡¯t even know where she is right now, so we would only be able to get it at the right time period that we know.¡± There have already been many changes due to the butterfly effect, but Lena¡¯s death event takes ce in the barbard beyond the borders. Like the Sunflower, it was an event that urred in conjunction with a special event with a fixed time period, so it was highly likely to proceed as scheduled. ¡°Then, let¡¯s sort them in order.¡± ¡°Okay. First of all is the Sunflower event.¡± ¡°After obtaining the Sunflower, we will work on twisting the main scenario, ¡®The Northern Barbarians¡¯ Great Attack,¡¯ from its very roots.¡± ¡°I think I know what you¡¯re thinking.¡± ¡°Oh, really?¡± ¡°Really.¡± Cordelia was the second ce in the server rankings after all. Jude cheerfullyughed and said. ¡°Yes, in the middle of our work on the main scenario, we will save Lena and get the angel¡¯s blood.¡± Then Jude himself will carry out the Ancestral Regression technique to awaken Cordelia as an angel. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to for it to happen.¡± When one awakens as an angel, wings made up of light are formed and it bes possible to fly. ¡°Give me a ride when you awaken.¡± ¡°What is this crazy bastard saying? What are you talking about?¡± ¡°Moving on.¡± ¡°Moving on?¡± ¡°Yeah, moving on¡­in order to do that, we have to first finish the Sunflower event well. One of the materials needed for the Ancestral Regression technique can be found in Frost Anvil.¡± ¡°That¡¯s killing two birds with one stone.¡± ¡°Yes, we achieve two things by just going to Frost Anvil.¡± And as usual, the two then quickly began to make detailed ns for their future schedule. But during the next afternoon, an emergency report from Thunderdoom Fortress threw all their ns into the gutter. ¡°Because we¡¯ve been attacked¡­twice.¡± There had been two attacks from the demon followers that aimed at the children of the 12 northern families. What was even more problematic was the fact that only Jude, Cordelia, and Lucas were attacked for the second time. ¡°Fortunately, Lady Sylvia, Miss Vi, Lord Felix, and Count Dahut¡¯s male twins were not attacked.¡± Some of them had already arrived home, like Count Dahut¡¯s twins, but there were some who weren¡¯t attacked even though they were on the way home, like Sylvia and Felix. And these facts only suggested one thing. ¡®The target of the Devil¡¯s Hand were the three children ¨C Jude, Cordelia, and Lucas ¨C or at least, one of them.¡¯ Therefore, Count Hr?svelgr gave a strict order to Lucas when he returned home. ¡®Stay quietly at home. With the guests.¡¯ Upon hearing Lucas¡¯ entire exnation, Cordelia urgently turned to Jude, who cautiously asked. ¡°Then, Lord Lucas¡­what about the Sunflower?¡± ¡°My father said that he would give a separate order to his subordinates in finding the Sunflower. But before that¡­he said that a major search for the Devil¡¯s Hand was necessary first.¡± At Lucas¡¯ words, Jude and Cordelia looked back at each other again. ¡®Is this for real?¡¯ ¡®Yes, I think it is.¡¯ ording to Lucas, the search operation for the Devil¡¯s Hand must bepleted first before they begin the work for the Sunflower. However, if this happens, there was a high possibility that they would miss the Sunflower¡¯s blooming period. Moreover, if Jude and Cordelia do not directly go to Frost Anvil, the necessary materials for the Ancestral Regression technique would not be obtained. ¡°If we¡¯re in Vedrfolnir, we¡¯re free to go out because my father gave us his permission¡­so, would the two of you like to go sightseeing around the city together?¡± Lucas sweetly offered with an apologetic face. ¡®What should we do?¡¯ ¡®Let¡¯s get out of this one first.¡¯ The two made up their minds and came up with a n without any further discussion. ¡°I understand your concerns well. Thank you for your kindness, Lord Lucas.¡± ¡°It¡¯s our first time in Vedrfolnir, so I¡¯m very excited. I look forward to working with you tomorrow.¡± When Jude and Cordelia responded with a smile instead of disappointment, Lucas became visibly relieved and then continued. ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll be in charge and guide the two of you around Vedrfolnir¡¯s attractions. It¡¯ll be fun. By all means.¡± ¡°I look forward to it.¡± ¡°My heart is already pounding.¡± Cordelia smiled while lightly pressing on her chest, and Lucas unconsciously blushed and hastily said. ¡°Um, then I¡¯ll go now to prepare for tomorrow¡¯s tour. Please have a good rest.¡± ¡°See you tomorrow.¡± ¡°See you tomorrow, Lord Lucas.¡± Jude and Cordelia acted like a married couple as they warmly received Lucas¡¯ offer, and Lucas immediately left the room with a bright face. ¡°Hey, what should we do? If we agree to this, we¡¯ll be stuck in this ce.¡± It was as Cordelia had said. If they followed Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s orders and went sightseeing around Vedrfolnir, they wouldn¡¯t be able to save Lena, as well as get the Sunflower. ¡°I can¡¯t help it. We have no choice but to do that.¡± ¡°That? Is there something we can do?¡± ¡°You know, the usual solution.¡± Jude seriously spoke as he ced his two hands over Cordelia¡¯s shoulder and gave her a deep and quiet look. ¡°Wh-what is it? Why are you looking like that?¡± ¡°Cordelia, do you trust me?¡± ¡°What is this crazy bastard sa-¡± Her words were cut off. Cordelia realized it at that moment. What the usual solution that Jude had mentioned was. Moreover, Dahlia wasn¡¯t here right now. ¡°F*ck.¡± Cordelia cursed, and Jude took out the stationery. *** ¡®I¡¯m going on a honeymoon trip with my beloved Mr. Bayer. We¡¯ll be back in a few days, so please don¡¯t bother looking for us, okay?¡¯ A letter was found on the bed of Cordelia¡¯s room the next morning. It was obviously written by Jude and Cordelia, but by that time, the two had already run off. Chapter 40 - EPISODE 40 – HONEYMOON (1)

Chapter 40 - EPISODE 40 ¨C HONEYMOON (1)

Ten hours before Cordelia¡¯s letter was found in Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s guest room. Cordelia ced the stationery on the bed and pouted. ¡°But you know¡­¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Why does it have to me again?¡± When they jumped off the cliff in the middle of the Belkain Mountains, when she said that she wanted to go to Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s territory with him, and now, they were eloping¡­no, they were just running away together, or more like they just want to get out of here. ¡°Well, that¡¯s how it is.¡± ¡°That what?¡± Cordelia asked as her eyes narrowed. If there was no good reason, the look in her eyes seemed to clearly say that he should be prepared for the consequences. Because of that, Jude unconsciously gulped, but soon said with a cunning smile. ¡°Cordelia, imagine it in your head. There¡¯s a beaker full of ink, and there¡¯s a ss rod.¡± ¡°I¡¯m imagining it.¡± ¡°Yes, now dip the ss rod into the beaker and then take it out. What will happen then?¡± ¡°The ss rod will turn ck, right?¡± It¡¯ll be covered in ink. ¡°Yes, then dip it in one more time and take it out. What will happen again?¡± ¡°It¡¯s still ck, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°That¡¯s correct.¡± ¡°That¡¯s no-¡­f*ck?!¡± ¡°I mean, the first offense stood out in the past, so if we do it three or four more times¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s all you wanted to say? You¡¯re all talk!¡± The enraged Cordelia began to seriously smack Jude¡¯s back with her palm. ¡°Hey! It hurts! It really hurts!¡± ¡°It hurts when I hit you? Really?¡± Cordelia, who had been pping Jude¡¯s back, tried to kick Jude¡¯s shin, but he was faster. Pak! Twenty-Four Gale Steps. At that moment, there was a gust of wind as Jude¡¯s foot became blurred, and Cordelia¡¯s kick only hit the air. ¡°Hey! What dirty trick are you using to avoid it? Is that your new skill?¡± ¡°It hurts when I get hit, okay?¡± Cordelia¡¯s hand was more painful than he thought. As Jude shifted his position with an urgent look on his face, Cordelia sighed and said as she ced her hands on her hips. ¡°Anyway, this is extremely embarrassing.¡± ¡°But you¡¯re pretty much used to it now¡­ah, no! It¡¯s not something to get used to.¡± Jude cowered and Cordelia sighed again, then approached Jude and asked. ¡°By the way, what were you nning to do?¡± It doesn¡¯t end with just simply leaving Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s territory. They had to prepare many things for their journey to Frost Anvil. And the Jude that Cordelia knew was not a man who acted without any ns. ¡°First, we ought to be prepared. Measures to protect against the cold are necessary, and in order to get out of Vedrfolnir safely, we need a way to cross the city walls, horses for the two of us, and various travel supplies.¡± It was a reasonable n. But there was a problem. ¡°We don¡¯t have any money.¡± The money from home had already been spent on hiring wizards at Langesthei. The money that Count Chase gave them when they left Langesthei had almost been spent because they bought various kinds of equipment. Moreover, money was not their only problem. It was midnight now. There was only one business type that was open even after the sun sets, which was the entertainment district where one can enjoy various kinds of entertainment, such as drinking and gambling. They didn¡¯t have the time to wait until morning too. The time Lucas gave to Jude and Cordelia for their tour was only a few hours ahead. ¡°So,e closer.¡± ¡°You¡¯re doing it again. It¡¯s just the two of us here in the first ce.¡± ¡°Well¡­it¡¯s the mood.¡± ¡°Regardless of the mood¡­¡± Cordelia grumbled but she soon got closer to Jude and brought her ears closer. And after a while, a bright smile spread over Cordelia¡¯s face when she heard Jude¡¯s words. *** Mick was a professional crook. His specialty was marriage fraud. With his natural-born handsome face, flowerynguage and eloquence that he gained through years of training, he specialized in wheedling innocent virgins and widows suffering from loneliness. And he was now thrown down and being trampled by an iparably beautiful girl. ¡°H-how did you know where I am-!¡± ¡°From the victims of fraud ¨C among them, you can get clues by talking to the redhead, Marybelle. There was also the neighborhood rascal he picked a fight with on the day he first met Mick. The name of that neighborhood scoundrel was Vic. If you look a little around the back alleys of Vedrfolnir, you can meet him, and when you beat him, he tells an interesting story about Mick. Of course, that alone doesn¡¯t tell Mick¡¯s whereabouts. Mick is a shrewd guy. But it doesn¡¯t mean he has very little ie. Marriage fraudsters do not stay in one ce for long, and Mick is one of the few guys who came from another ce. Of course, these guys need the help of the locals in order to adapt to the city. Vic is the guy who teaches him how to contact the locals. The local¡¯s name is Kaal. Insane Knife Kaal. Now then, if you grill Kaal, he will tell you about Mick. Where he came from, and where he is now. But it takes too long to go through all of that process, so I just straight up came here.¡± Listening to that long story stupefied the minds of those present there. And Cordelia spoke with a dizzy expression. ¡°JudeWiki is weird.¡± ¡°The important thing is that we caught him.¡± After hearing Cordelia¡¯s words, Jude squatted in front of Mick, whose head was on the floor, and spoke. ¡°If you catch Mick, you have two choices. One is to put him in jail, and the other is to continue the new linked quest. Vedrfolnir is a bustling city, and like a thriving city, a lot of criminals are also gathered, and one of them wants Mick. To be exact, that person wants him as a gift to the head of the Thieves Guild in Langesthei.¡± ¡°Wh-what?¡± ¡°Marybelle is the youngest sister of the head of the Thieves Guild in Langesthei.¡± Jude¡¯s bright smile made Mick¡¯s handsome face turn pale, and Cordelia immediately spoke after casting magic on him. ¡°Jude.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°You just wanted to do that, didn¡¯t you?¡± Narrating line by line the entire process of catching Mick. ¡°What¡­ Maybe it¡¯s a habit?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Well, we caught him, so let¡¯s go. We don¡¯t have much time.¡± They had to leave Vedrfolnir before dawn at thetest. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go.¡± To Fabian¡¯sir, one of Vedrfolnir¡¯s gangs. The two then hastened their movements. *** Fabian was a sessful transport dealer. People, money, letters, drugs, dangerous goods, and so on. It was good to say that he would transport anything as long as it makes money. And he was now facing in front of him, while still in his pajamas, an absolutely handsome boy and an iparably beautiful girl. ¡°So, you¡¯re going to give Mick to me as a present?¡± ¡°Yes, Fabian.¡± Jude immediately answered. However, his gaze was not on Fabian, but on Fabian¡¯s living room and his men that he urgently summoned. To be exact, it was towards the blonde woman sitting by the window. ¡°Where are you looking¡­¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s okay. I think he already knows.¡± The blonde woman said with a smile as she stood up from her seat. And at her hand gesture, the big-bellied middle-aged man who was the fake Fabian, bowed once and stepped back. The real Fabian was a blonde beauty in her mid-twenties. Among the characters that appeared in Vedrfolnir, she became very popr because of her extraordinary beauty, but in Jude¡¯s eyes, her beauty was nothing. ¡®Cordelia is much prettier.¡¯ Jude unconsciouslypared her to Cordelia as he maintained a calm andposed expression. The real Fabian made a bubbly smile as she spoke while showing her hands. ¡°So, how did you know that I¡¯m the real Fabian?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a clich¨¦. And our Wiki is freaking awesome.¡± Cordelia replied with a smile as she trampled on Mick. Fabian frowned as she wondered what the other was talking about, before speaking with a smile again. ¡°Humph, I think I know the two of you too? No, should I say that you are nobles? You¡¯re members of the 12 families.¡± ¡°Do you know us?¡± They¡¯ve never seen Fabian before. Moreover, it was their first time in Vedrfolnir. When Cordelia blinked in surprise and asked, Fabian shrugged and answered. ¡°Jude Bayer and Cordelia Chase. A ck-haired and green-eyed absolutely handsome boy and an iparably beautiful girl known to be madly in love with each other. The two of you actually look more beautiful than the rumors. But frankly, I didn¡¯t know until you two showed up.¡± She would not have been sure if only one of them showed up. However, a noticeable absolutely handsome boy and an iparably beautiful girl suddenly appeared together, so she couldn¡¯t help but think of the two people from the rumors. Their hair and eye colors were also the same. When Fabian pointed it out, Cordelia was ttered at first, but soon had an anxious look on her face. ¡®Hey, what do we do?¡¯ She wasn¡¯t talking about Fabian figuring out their identities. The problem was the fact that people would figure out where they went, based on their identities. After all, they were currently running away at night. ¡®Don¡¯t worry about it, because we can just disguise ourselves.¡¯ Jude replied with a nce that seemed to say that it wasn¡¯t a big deal, before he looked back at Fabian and spoke. ¡°Okay, since you know who we are, it¡¯ll be easier to talk to each other. Let¡¯s speak without reservations and not drag this out. I¡¯ll hand over Mick, so give us what we want.¡± ¡°What does the young master and miss want¡± ¡°Before dawnes, we want a means to cross the walls of Vedrfolnir and a horse to ride around, plus some basic travel supplies, and in travel clothes to change into. You¡¯re a transport dealer, so you can do all of these, right?¡± This was the reason why Jude chose the ¡®Marriage Fraudster Mick¡¯ among the various events in Vedrfolnir. It was only Fabian, the transport dealer, who was able to surely and quickly prepare the things that Jude had wanted at this time of night. ¡°I can do it.¡± ¡°Then, please.¡± ¡°Well then¡­ Now that I think about it, the children of the 12 families wouldn¡¯t be in a situation where theymitted a sin and needed to run away. Are you two going on a honeymoon trip then?¡± ¡°No, we¡¯re not?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Cordelia and Jude simultaneously gave conflicting answers, and Fabian burst intoughter. ¡°How cute.¡± Fabian nodded again after alternately appreciating the sight of a red-faced Cordelia and Jude who cleared his throat. ¡°Good, I like it. I¡¯m talking about the gift too. I¡¯ll prepare what you asked for right away. Rather than be on bad terms, it would be better if the children of the 12 families are indebted to me.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a debt though? Isn¡¯t it a deal?¡± ¡°Then, let¡¯s call it a friendship.¡± When Cordelia refuted it, Fabian cheerfully spoke again as she looked at her with affectionate eyes, before looking back at Jude and asking him. ¡°Hey, she¡¯s so lovely. Can I hug thedy just once?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine with it but, you¡¯ll have a hard time asking her to.¡± Jude shamelessly replied and Cordelia snarled at their stupid talk, while Fabian burst intoughter again. ¡°Ah, really. I like the two of you so much. More than the rumors.¡± Cordelia asked with an upset face when she heard Fabian mention ¡®rumors¡¯ again. ¡°Hey, what were those rumors that came about?¡± ¡°If I remember, it was about how you¡¯repletely like a parakeet couple who can¡¯t stay away from each other and will die if they can¡¯t live together? Ah, there¡¯s also a story that thedy is more active than the young master. Is that true?¡± Instead of answering, Cordelia stared at Jude with cold eyes, and Jude cleared his throat and said. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯d like you to hurry up.¡± ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll get started right away.¡± Fabian pped her hands and nced at her subordinates, and the preparations proceeded quickly. After all, Fabian and her men were professionals. ¡°I¡¯ll specially guide you myself.¡± Vedrfolnir was a trading city, and like most trading cities were, there were many ces in the wall that were neglected except for the main gate. Arriving on the outskirts of the city with Jude and Cordelia, Fabian passed through the dog hole in the wall, hidden between wooden boxes. ¡°There¡¯s only one horse, but he¡¯s a sturdy one, so it wouldn¡¯t be a problem if two people ride on him. The luggage bag is filled with basic travel items such as sleeping bags, water bottles, tableware and so on. I also filled it with three days¡¯ worth of food.¡± In front of a small hut outside the walls stood arge saddle-mounted horse and Fabian¡¯s men. ¡°I rmend that thedy sit in front.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Cordelia was already agonizing over who should sit in front, so she curiously asked Fabian, who replied with a big smile. ¡°It¡¯s more romantic because you¡¯ll be in the young master¡¯s arms.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll ride in the back.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s good too, because thedy will be the one doing the hugging.¡± ¡°¡­can¡¯t you just get one more horse?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a joke, so don¡¯t be swayed by it.¡± Jude cut off the conversation between the two and approached Fabian as he said. ¡°It¡¯s a deal, but I¡¯m grateful for the fact that it was a good deal.¡± ¡°Because you and the youngdy are likely to be good trading partners.¡± As she had said before, it would be better for her to not be on bad terms with the children of the 12 families. Despite her attitude, Jude still liked Fabian, so he decided to show her some kindness. ¡°Fabian,e closer for a second.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t thedy watching you?¡± ¡°Just stop the nonsense.¡± Fabian smiled with her eyes and brought her face closer, and Jude whispered to her. ¡°Gilto is a traitor. He¡¯s holding hands with Batu behind the scenes to hit you in the back.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Fabian widely opened her eyes. Her eyes were full of questions about how he knew, but Jude didn¡¯t bother answering her. ¡°Look into it. It will be as I said.¡± That was the end of their conversation. Jude lightly got on the horse and reached out to Cordelia. ¡°Get in front.¡± ¡°Hmph.¡± Cordelia snorted after her resistance failed, and soon sat in front of Jude, who took the horse¡¯s reins. As they were children of nobles, both Jude and Cordelia knew how to ride on horses. However, Cordelia suspected that Jude already knew how to ride on horses in his previous life. ¡°I¡¯ll be going then. May good fortune always be with you.¡± ¡°Not muscles?¡± As if to stop Cordelia¡¯s small murmur, Jude immediately got the horse to move. Fabian stood with a stiff face as she saw the two off, and soon loosened her expression. ¡°They¡¯re just like the rumors.¡± They really were a fantasy couple. Fabian shrugged before ordering her subordinates to investigate Gilto¡¯s actions behind the scenes. Chapter 41 - EPISODE 41 – HONEYMOON (2)

Chapter 41 - EPISODE 41 ¨C HONEYMOON (2)

Terms used in this chapter: Molecr gastronomy?¨C a subdiscipline of food science that that seeks to investigate the physical and chemical transformations of ingredients that ur in cooking. Ramyeon?¨C Korean word for instant noodles. It¡¯s the Korean version of the Japanese¡¯s ramen. It is made by boiling a precooked and dried noodle block with voring powder or sauce. Binyeo?¨C a Korean traditional hairpin used to hold a woman¡¯s hair bun in ce. (The white hairpin in the picture.) Qinggong?¨C this had been mentioned in previous chapters, but here¡¯s a recap. It¡¯s a martial art skill in wuxia stories that allows you to circumvent gravity to fly, cover tremendous distances in a single stride, run across surfaces of water, mount trees, and jump over or scale high walls. For this chapter, Jude used the ¡®cover tremendous distances in a single stride.¡¯ The next morning, after Cordelia¡¯s letter was found in Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s guest room, the count tried to respond as calmly as possible. ¡®I have to find them.¡¯ Whether they left on their own or not, if some ident happened to Jude and Cordelia, Count Hr?svelgr had no choice but to take responsibility for it. In any case, the two were minors, so Count Hr?svelgr ideally had the responsibility to protect the two who were invited as guests. ¡®Why? What the hell did you do while the kids left the house? Are the walls of Count Hr?svelgr that low?¡¯ Of course, it was unlikely that Count Bayer or Count Chase would say such words themselves, but they would put the me on him with a roughly simr remark. The potential discord among the 12 northern families wasn¡¯t the only problem. ¡°What should we do? If those two get caught by the Devil¡¯s Hand¡­¡± Lucas spoke to everyone with a face full of worry, and the faces of Count Bayer¡¯s and Count Chase¡¯s knights all turned miserable. ¡°They couldn¡¯t have gone that far. Let¡¯s steadily find them around the city.¡± When one of Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s knights intentionally spoke in a lively manner, the other knights were also motivated. Regardless, they had to find the two people first. But contrary to everyone¡¯s expectations, Jude and Cordelia had already gone quite far. *** Five days from their ¡®elopement,¡¯ Count Hr?svelgr was still searching the viges near Vedrfolnir, but Jude and Cordelia had reached near the northwestern border where Frost Anvil was located. ¡°That smells delicious.¡± It was morning, and Cordelia sniffed in front of the campfire while still in her sleeping bag. She had just woken up, her hair was untidy, and she had no makeup on, but as an iparably beautiful girl, she was still pretty and lovely. ¡°Are you awake?¡± ¡°Uh, I¡¯m awake. What is it for this morning?¡± Cordelia faintly smiled as she saw the hard-working Jude cooking in front of the campfire. When Jude and Cordelia left Vedrfolnir, Fabian gave them only one luggage bag, but in thest five days, their household items have pretty much increased. ¡®Magic ze, expansion bag, special insect-repelling incense.¡¯ The Magic ze, also called a portable burner, was received in exchange for helping Koblo escape. The expansion bag, which can store double its size, was received in exchange for finding the memento of Yinsen¡¯s lost mother. The special insect-repelling incense was made from ingredients that Jude had collected during their trip. And there were many other items. Five days ago, they were bare-handed when they left Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s territory, but now, Jude and Cordelia were unbelievably well-supplied for their journey. ¡°A man who has the ability to maintain a livelihood is the best. The number 1 ideal husband.¡± ¡°Uh, okay. Anyway, for this morning, we have French toast, bacon, and cream soup.¡± Jude responded without even looking at Cordelia, but she was already satisfied. It was because Jude¡¯s gaze was focused on the frying pan. ¡°Where did you learn how to cook?¡± ¡°Here and there.¡± ¡°Where is that here and there?¡± ¡°France, Italy, Ennd, China, the Czech Republic, Russia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia¡­it¡¯s literally so on and so forth.¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyes sparkled at Jude¡¯s words, but she pouted by the end of it. At first, it was possible if he had gone to one or two countries, but she didn¡¯t think that he¡¯d really been to all those countries. ¡®Well, he¡¯s good at lying.¡¯ But the important thing was that he was good at cooking, so Cordelia quickly regained her usual expression and used her nose to sniff again the smell of the savory bacon. ¡°Did you learn how to make bacon abroad?¡± ¡°Oh, I learned this from my friend who lives in America.¡± ¡°I heard that cooking is a skill.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s more about urate measurement.¡± ¡°Measurement?¡± ¡°Baking time varies depending on the intensity of the fire. The amount of salt added depends on the amount of ingredients. Of course, it also depends on the person¡¯s preferences.¡± ¡°Is it molecr gastronomy or something?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s simr.¡± Jude, who had spoken so far, suddenly raised his head to look at Cordelia and then shook his head in resignation. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°No, I just remembered the first dish you cooked three days ago.¡± ¡®No, can you even call that cooking?¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s face turned red in proportion to Jude¡¯s miserable face, and she pouted her lips. ¡°Hmph, I have a dish that I¡¯m good at cooking too, okay?¡± ¡°Lying about your weakness¡­¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not? I¡¯m really good at cooking ramyeon.¡± ¡°¡­isn¡¯t ramyeon an instant food?¡± As Jude¡¯s expression became even more miserable, Cordelia¡¯s face turned even more red. ¡°Really. It¡¯s because you haven¡¯t tried it. If you eat the ramyeon I cooked, you¡¯ll fall in love too? If you ask for it, I¡¯ll cook it for you every day.¡± ¡°Yes, yes. If you insist, so be it.¡± ¡°Tsk, I¡¯m serious.¡± Cordelia pouted again, but she soon smiled and said. ¡°Well, someone said that there¡¯s a right talent for the right ce, so in the future, it¡¯ll be good to divide our tasks like this. You¡¯re the cook, and I¡¯m the taster.¡± ¡°F*cking bullshit. I¡¯m in charge of cooking and you¡¯re in charge of washing dishes.¡± ¡°Hey, he said that if his Gueumjulmaek is cured, he wouldn¡¯t even let a drop of water get into my hands.¡± ¡°When did I say that? He said that he¡¯ll carry you, hit you, cross over the wall, and also care for you.¡± ¡°I think something is missing.¡± ¡°Anyway, we¡¯re going to eat now, so go and wash your face. Wash your hands too.¡± ¡°Yes, mom.¡± ¡°Phooey, is that whom I¡¯m going to marry?¡± Cordelia stood up as she giggled, and Jude shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ll be right back.¡± ¡°Yes, don¡¯t skip or you¡¯ll trip.¡± ¡°Who do you think is a kid?¡± After Cordelia arranged her long hair into a bun and secured it with a binyeo made by Jude, she began walking with a light gait. She walked towards a nearby stream. ¡®It¡¯s definitely winter now, so it¡¯s really cold.¡¯ Moreover, they had arrived near the northernmost part of the S?len Kingdom. If the weather got a bit colder, the stream itself might freeze. ¡®I¡¯m not sure if we¡¯ll be okay then.¡¯ Frost Anvil would be much colder than this ce. Although they diligently packed items that protected them against the cold, Jude still couldn¡¯t help worrying about it. ¡®It¡¯s a shame. If we had a little more time, we would¡¯ve gotten the winter blessing.¡¯ It was a blessing that could only be obtained through a special event called ¡®Winter Blessing.¡¯ It helped by maintaining one¡¯s body temperature and not hindering one¡¯s movement in the cold. The problem, however, was that the event was a random urrence. ¡®If you consider the circumstances, it seems to be near here¡­¡¯ Jude raised his head and looked around, but he didn¡¯t see the area where he thought it would happen. No matter how great JudeWiki was, he couldn¡¯t figure out the parts that were left out in the game. ¡®Damn, it can¡¯t be helped.¡¯ The encounter with the person who told the event location was really random. Even if they had enough time, they still didn¡¯t know where it was, so they couldn¡¯t wander around here just to get the winter blessing. And it was at that moment. ¡°Kyaa!¡± ¡°Cordelia?!¡± Jude heard the screaming sound and spontaneously shouted as he stood up by kicking the ground and simultaneously using the Twenty-Four Gale Steps. Although it was a footwork technique, the Twenty-Four Gale Steps could be used as Qinggong depending on its application. ¡°Cordelia!¡± If she had been attacked, his current shout would be able to draw the enemy¡¯s attention away. Jude shouted loudly once again, as he ran like a gale towards the stream. And when he reached the stream¡­ ¡°Oh, uh¡­ Hello?¡± Cordelia uttered as she stood by the stream with an awkward face, and Jude looked past Cordelia and saw arge man who had fallen down with his head in the stream. ¡°What happened here?¡± ¡°No, that¡­it was a reflex.¡± Cordelia made some small gestures, narrating how she was so surprised that she instinctively used attack magic. ¡°Just like me, you¡¯re not normal either.¡± She was an iparably beautiful girl who would shoot attack magic by reflex. ¡°No, I mean¡­he suddenly came out from the bush, so I was really surprised¡­¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s okay. This is better than if you got hurt.¡± ¡°Mmmmnnn¡­¡± In the midst of Cordelia¡¯s embarrassment, Jude pulled the man who had fallen in the stream andid him down right away. ¡°Is he okay? I didn¡¯t use a strong magic. It was just .¡± ¡°Fortunately, it¡¯s not .¡± Jude tactfully answered as he checked the man¡¯s pulse and breathing. As Cordelia had said, he was simply paralyzed, but because his magic resistance was low, her magic seriously affected him. ¡°What do you think? Did he get hurt when he fell?¡± ¡°He¡¯s all right. Your luck is good.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m talking about you.¡± Jude spoke as he nced at Cordelia who tilted her head. ¡°Look closely. You recognize him, right?¡± It was the face of a man in histe twenties. He had a face that had no special features other than being in-looking, but Cordelia immediately recognized him. ¡°The lumberjack Bambino.¡± ¡°Yes, he¡¯s exactly the person we need.¡± *** Bambino was both a lumberjack and an herbalist. There was no lord who imed ownership of the forest in the northernmost part of the S?len Kingdom, and because of that, whoever took the wood or herbs was the rightful owner. Of course, it was a dangerous ce where not only beasts, but also monsters, would asionally appear as no one managed this ce. One day, while Bambino was walking around and working hard in the forest mountain, he experienced something dreamy and fantastic. He witnessed the scene of a gathering of angels taking a bath. ¡°Angel?¡± Bambino opened his eyes and nkly stared at Cordelia as he spoke. Jude frowned and Cordeliaughed like an idiot as she held out her hand and said in a whisper to Jude. ¡°I won, right? Isn¡¯t Cordelia the prettiest?¡± ¡°Damn.¡± After handing over the copper coin without anyints, Jude spoke to Bambino, who was still in a daze. ¡°We are not angels, but schrs who came from the center to explore Frost Anvil.¡± ¡°Are you guys¡­schrs?¡± ¡°Yes, although we¡¯re still students. We belong to the Royal Academy.¡± When Jude assumed an identity as a disguise without faltering in his acting, Cordelia stealthily turned away and concealed her facial expression. Unlike Jude, Cordelia was not good at lying. In any case, Bambino nodded at Jude¡¯s words. He thought that Jude and Cordelia did not appear to bemon people. ¡®They must be real nobles.¡¯ This was the S?len Kingdom, where there was no deep conflict between the nobility and themon people, but even though they were not nobles with a title, nobility was still nobility. Bambino¡¯s attitude became a little more careful. ¡°You don¡¯t have to be so nervous. What¡¯s your name? I¡¯m Shoot, and she¡¯s Felicia.¡± ¡°Uhh¡­I¡¯m Bambino.¡± ¡°I see, you¡¯re Mr. Bambino. Nice to meet you.¡± ¡°What¡­happened? I don¡¯t remember¡­¡± ¡°Miss Felicia found you lying in the woods here. We don¡¯t want to sound boastful, but Miss Felicia did save Mr. Bambino¡¯s life.¡± ¡°Ah¡­thank you very much.¡± ¡°N-no. Hoho¡­I¡¯m d that you¡¯re okay¡­¡± Cordelia awkwardly answered and quickly averted her gaze again. She was feeling embarrassed. ¡®How can he be so brazen?¡¯ While Cordelia had the same questions in her mind as always, Jude continued to speak. ¡°By the way¡­are you Mr. Bambino who lives in Hobbus vige down here?¡± ¡°Uh, yes. I am that Bambino.¡± ¡°Oh, I must be really lucky. As a matter of fact, I wanted to meet Mr. Bambino.¡± ¡°Me?¡± ¡°Yes, they said that you saw the angels appearing here.¡± ¡°Ah¡­yes, no one believed me¡­but I really did see it. The sight of the little angels gathering¡­and taking a bath.¡± Bambino¡¯s words were true. While he was walking through the forest mountain as usual, he witnessed the scene of angels gathering and bathing. Bambino was fascinated by the fantastic and beautiful sight, so he visited the same ce several times, but it was all in vain every time. ¡°Can you tell where that ce is?¡± ¡°But¡­I¡¯ve been there a few times, but nothing happened.¡± ¡°It¡¯s all right. There might be some traces left. Of course, I¡¯m going to give you somepensation.¡± Bambino¡¯s face glowed when Jude smiled and lightly tapped a pouch full of silver coins. ¡°Please, Mr. Bambino.¡± ¡°Follow me. It¡¯s not that far from here.¡± Bambino unhesitatingly answered and began to take the lead, while Jude sent Cordelia a wink. *** The ce Bambino guided them was a valley located at the foot of the mountain. Looking at the half-frozen valley water, it was a ce where one would freeze to death if they took a bath. ¡°Here it is.¡± ¡°I see. Thank you. If somethinges out of our investigation, I¡¯ll also inform Mr. Bambino. We have to go through the Hobbus vige anyway.¡± ¡°I¡¯d really appreciate it if you did. Because no one believed what I said¡­¡± ¡°Hahaha, now, here¡¯s yourpensation.¡± Moderately cutting off Bambino¡¯s words, Jude sent Bambino away after paying him two silver coins. And a few secondster, when only the two were left, Cordelia said in a firm tone. ¡°I will absolutely not take a bath.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to. You know this event too.¡± What Bambino saw was not the angels. What he saw was the forest fairies. ¡°Winter fairies.¡± ¡°Yes, they¡¯re fairies after all.¡± The two had bitter smiles as they unpacked their luggage near the valley and set up their camp. And that night, under the shining night sky where so many stars shined brightly. ¡°You¡¯repletely handsome. Do you want to y with us?¡± ¡°She¡¯s very pretty too!¡± It was the reason why Bambino couldn¡¯t see the winter fairies even though he had visited this ce many times. And it was also the reason why Jude and Cordelia could meet them in a day. ¡®Indeed, it was the fairies.¡¯ ¡®Yes, it¡¯s the fairies.¡¯ In front of the absolutely handsome boy and iparably beautiful girl who exchanged nces, the white-haired winter fairies gathered in groups of twos and threes. Chapter 42 - HONEYMOON (3)

Chapter 42 - HONEYMOON (3)

Some changes I made to the previous chapters: Terms used in this chapter: Minonyeon?¨C Korean word that refers to an old man (60y/o and above) with a beautiful face/looks. Mainly refers to men, but sometimes used on women too. ¡°It¡¯s thrilling, it¡¯s always fresh, and being handsome is the best.¡± ¨C This is a famous quote/answer from Korean actor Jung Woo-sung when he was asked in an interview if he ever gets tired from being called handsome. I only found out about it when I was tranting this chapter. Most of the yable characters in?Legend of Heroes 2?wereposed of handsome men and beautiful women. Even Keynes, the only elderly character, was a very dignified, charming, and beautiful old man (minonyeon). ¡®It sounds like a curse.?Minonyeon.¡¯ T/N: The Korean word for ¡®beautiful old man¡¯ is ???, which is read as ¡®mi-no-nyeon.¡¯ Its pronunciation is simr to the curse word ???, read as ¡®mi-chin-nyeon,¡¯ which means ¡®crazy b*tch.¡¯ Among these yable characters, there were the Four Great Kings of Beauty, which included the absolutely handsome boy, Jude, and the iparably beautiful girl, Cordelia. There was also the main character, Maximilian, who was not only born with a beautiful face, but also with character, ability, talent, connections, and a golden spoon. Andstly was the transcendental beauty, Adide, who always wore a mask because it was impossible to embody her exceeding beauty with an illustration. ¡®Lucas sort of feels like the minimum standard to enter that beautiful people category.¡¯ It could also be said that Lucas is the lower limit if one wanted to be invited by the fairies. Although he was a manly, handsome, and attractive-looking man, he slightly didn¡¯t conform to the fairies¡¯ preferences. Now then, two of the Four Great Kings of Beauty, whom the fairies couldn¡¯t stop loving, were gathered here together, so it was natural that an enthusiastic response erupted among the fairies. ¡°He¡¯spletely handsome.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll get tired of looking at you all day.¡± ¡°So pretty. Pretty. Her eyes are like jewels.¡± The breaths of the winter fairies surrounding Jude and Cordelia grew restless as they continued expressing their thoughts. Unlike the fairies that Jude and Cordelia met before who yed with them like they were dolls, the winter fairies seemed to have more interest in appreciating beauty. ¡®This is seriously embarrassing.¡¯ Cordelia had lived her life being poured out words saying that she was the prettiest, but now that she was surrounded by dozens of fairies pouring outpliments, it seemed that her growing embarrassment could even pierce the sky. ¡°Look at how shy she is.¡± ¡°Cute.¡± ¡°I want to bite her.¡± Cordelia became more embarrassed from the admiration of the winter fairies, and she could only look at the ground while at her wit¡¯s end. But Jude waspletely different. ¡°It¡¯s thrilling, it¡¯s always fresh, and being handsome is the best.¡± ¡°Kyaa!¡± ¡°Tell me this too, this too.¡± ¡°Not theirs but mine! Read mine!¡± The winter fairies were jumping around and wavingrge pieces of paper in their hands, which were the size of a business card for humans. Each piece of paper was filled with lines that were cheesy and sweet, and the space and time seemed to shrink the moment the fairies heard Jude say the lines. ¡°Now, wait in line, line up. Okay, let¡¯s read this one this time.¡± Jude answered leisurely and chose a piece of paper, and the fairies wildly screamed again. ¡°Kyaa! That¡¯s it, that¡¯s it!¡± ¡°He read that famous line perfectly.¡± ¡®What the hell is he doing?¡¯ As Cordelia turned her head in curiosity, Jude saw Cordelia, and at that moment he wickedly smiled ¨C no, he handsomely smiled. ¡®Cordelia, help me.¡¯ ¡®Huh?¡¯ ¡®What do you want? No, what do you want me to do here?¡¯ ¡®Because I need someone who¡¯ll y the opposite role.¡¯ ¡®Someone who¡¯ll y the opposite role?¡¯ ¡®Just stand still.¡¯ After their almost telepathic conversation, Jude approached Cordelia, who flinched for a moment and froze. And at the same time, dozens of winter fairies shut their mouths. It was to immerse themselves on what was about to happen. ¡®Stay still.¡¯ Jude spoke with his eyes again as he slowly stretched out his hand and gently stroked Cordelia¡¯s beautiful hair. He then brought his face closer to her. ¡®Wh-what is this crazy b*stard doing!¡¯ But Jude didn¡¯t stop. He drew his face closer to a distance she could feel his breath, and while looking straight at Cordelia¡¯s blue eyes, he said. ¡°I can¡¯t do that. Because I¡­¡± ¡®What are you-!¡¯ ¡°You¡­¡± Jude¡¯s eyes moistened, and Cordelia unconsciously gulped. And so did the winter fairies. Jude caressed Cordelia¡¯s cheek. He spoke as if whispering and had a face that seemed to shed tears at any moment. ¡°Because I love you.¡± ¡°Kyaaa!¡± ¡°Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!¡± The winter fairies wildly screamed and lost their minds. It was a scene in the story ¡°Romance of the Fairy Queen and the 9th?Circle Archmage.¡¯ The Fairy Queen had destroyed the lifelong wish of the Archmage because of a decisive mistake, so she asked him to kill her. But the Archmage wailed, saying and begging that he couldn¡¯t kill her because of love. And what Jude acted out were the lines that the Archmage had said to the Fairy Queen. ¡°Did you record it? Did you record it?¡± ¡°I even took a video!¡± As the winter fairies went into a frenzy, Cordelia kicked Jude in the shin once. ¡°Aah!¡± ¡°What is this crazy b*stard doing!¡± ¡®My heart was pounding! No, not that¡­¡¯ Cordelia kicked Jude a few more times to suppress her embarrassment and then took a deep breath. And the winter fairies worked hard to take another video, saying that it was good in its own way. ¡®Haa¡­seriously. Was he an actor?¡¯ The way he expressed emotions through his eyes was not normal. When she thought about it, his acting intonation when he read the lines presented by the fairies were a little different each time. ¡®What did you really do?¡¯ As Cordelia was absorbed in questioning Jude¡¯s real job, the winter fairies who were begging them to read their lines again, suddenly shut their mouths and fell silent. It wasn¡¯t because Jude¡¯s new performance began. ¡°Open the way!¡± Unlike the other fairies in mini dresses that were close to one-piece swimsuits, one fairy who was wearing armor and a helmet, shouted loudly, and the entire banquet hall became silent at once as if the fuss so far had been a lie. ¡®Fairy Knight.¡¯ It was the strongest fairy that protected the Fairy Queen. It was the onlybat force that existed among the fairies who rarely went into battle. ¡°Jude Bayer and Cordelia Chase. The Queen is calling for the two of you.¡± At the fairy knight¡¯s deration, most of the fairies¡¯ faces and shoulders drooped. It was a deration that the banquet was virtually over. ¡°Follow me.¡± As the fairy knight spoke with dignity and turned around, the winter fairies stepped aside and opened the way for Jude and Cordelia. ¡°It was fun.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s y againter.¡± Jude responded with a smile to the fairies who only said a few words and sent Cordelia a look. ¡®The real thing starts from now on.¡¯ The only one who could give the winter protection was the Fairy Queen, the head of the winter fairies. However, Jude and Cordelia were aiming for more than that. ¡°This way.¡± As they walked following the guidance of the fairy knight, the trees lined up in a narrow line, creating a corridor-like space. It was almost the same structure as the home of the fairies whom they had previously visited. And after a few steps, the same thing happened again this time. Their vision seemed to blur for a moment, and suddenly, Jude and Cordelia had arrived at the Queen¡¯s room. ¡°I greet the Fairy Queen.¡± ¡°I greet the Fairy Queen.¡± When Jude bowed while greeting her, Cordelia quickly followed suit and bowed while greeting her too. ¡°You are polite children.¡± On top of the icy throne sat the Fairy Queen in a white dress with a bluish glow. If the Fairy Queen they met before had blonde hair, the Fairy Queen now had tinum hair close to silver. She also gave off a much colder impression perhaps because of the color of her dress. ¡®But still, the Fairy Queen is a fairy.¡¯ Jude took a deep breath and straightened his posture, before looking straight at the Fairy Queen. ¡°You are handsome indeed.¡± The Fairy Queen showed a fairy-like reaction with a slight blush on her cheeks as she smiled. She turned to Cordelia for a moment, before returning her gaze to Jude. She had seen the silver ring on the ring finger of Jude¡¯s right hand, which Jude had deliberately lifted towards his chest. ¡°The Fairy Steps?¡± ¡®As expected.¡¯ She recognized it. Or more like, she had no choice but to recognize it. The Fairy Steps was umon. Moreover, the Fairy Steps that Jude was wearing now belonged to the ¡®Fall Fairies.¡¯ ¡®Fairies have ssifications too.¡¯ Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. The fairies symbolized the four seasons. Broadly speaking, they were all the same fairies, but there were some differences, just like how humans ssified each other by race and country. The fairies that Jude and Cordelia met before were fall fairies, and the winter fairies, or to be more exact, the Winter Fairy Queen, held their existence to be of a considerable significance. ¡°Did Lorelei give you this?¡± The Fall Fairy Queen had said that she liked a handsome man more than a pretty woman. ¡°Yes. She gave this to thank us for participating well in the banquet.¡± He had received it as a reward for defeating the Bicorn, but Jude deliberately hid that fact. ¡®Because we didn¡¯t do anything special here, except for ying.¡¯ Of course, they didn¡¯t forget to mention the Moonlight either. ¡°This sacred rod was also given by Lorelei.¡± When Jude softly spoke and gestured to Cordelia, she quickly lifted the Moonlight that she had taken out beforehand. ¡°Moonlight?¡± ¡°She definitely said that it was her hospitality for the guests¡­and we thought that it was too much of an item to give, but nheless, we were grateful.¡± When Gerd, the Winter Fairy Queen, heard Jude¡¯s answer, her expression becameplicated. She thought that she should at least do what Lorelei did. Otherwise, she felt like she had somehow lost to Lorelei. ¡®A fairy is a fairy after all.¡¯ They were a race that were written as cute, lovely, and mischievous, and can be easily read like a child. ¡°Ummm¡­ummmmmm.¡± The Fairy Queen Gerd groaned for a moment, before clenching her fists as if she had reached a decision. ¡°The Winter Fairies cannot fall behind the Fall Fairies.¡± ¡°You¡¯re absolutely right. Seeing it in person like this¡­really¡­ah, no. It wouldn¡¯t be polite to Lorelei or to Gerd either.¡± Gerd¡¯s blue eyes were filled with various emotions when Jude purposely spoke. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? What were you trying to say?¡± ¡°That is¡­¡± ¡°That is?¡± ¡°Because you look to be more beautiful than Lorelei¡­ I¡¯m sure that your heart is more beautiful too.¡± At Jude¡¯s tant lines, Cordelia quickly lowered her head to conceal her expression. ¡®Why is he not embarrassed?! I mean¡­his hidden intentions are just too visible!¡¯ But Jude¡¯s words were effective. The Fairy Queen was also a fairy after all. His straight-forwardpliments made her cheeks blush slightly, and then she smiled. ¡°That¡¯s right, isn¡¯t it? I¡¯m a bit prettier than my sister Lorelei, right? Hehehe.¡± Gerd¡¯s hands fluttered in her happiness, but she soon straightened her face and cleared her throat as she said. ¡°Ahem, ahem. I have seen you please my children. So I will give you a reward like Lorelei.¡± ¡°Thank you very much.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Jude and Cordelia quickly expressed their gratitude at her courtesy, and the pleased Gerd pped her hands. ¡°Bring the Fairy¡¯s Bonds.¡± At that moment, Jude and Cordelia looked at each other, and the two had the same thoughts. ¡®Bingo!¡¯ ¡®For real?!¡¯ They both eximed. The Fairy¡¯s Bonds was a valuable item. It wasn¡¯t an item on the level of an S-rank item. And it was unlike the Fairy Steps which had a direct effect on its user. However, if one considered its prospects, it was actually one of the ¡®end-stage¡¯ top three items that could be obtained from the fairies. ¡®It¡¯s a bracelet that can hold the protections of the fairies from the four seasons.¡¯ Originally, the protection given by the fairies did notst for a long time. It was like a disposable sticker tattoo. However, the situation changed if the protection was ced on the Fairy¡¯s Bonds. Not only has the effect of the protection became much stronger, but the duration and number of times that it can be used have also significantly increased. ¡®But the real deal is once you¡¯ve collected all the protections.¡¯ By obtaining all the protections of the fairies from the four seasons, a special protection called the ¡®Great Protection of the Four Seasons,¡¯ could be activated. And if onebined all the protections of the fairies from the four seasons into one protection, the ¡®Fairy King¡¯s Protection,¡¯ one of the strongest protections in?Legend of Heroes 2, would be created. ¡®It¡¯s a total scam if you collect everything.¡¯ The effect of just the Great Protection of the Four Seasons was so powerful. Those who received the Great Protection of the Four Seasons could not only freely use the power of the fairies of the four seasons but were also recognized by the world as one of the fairies and enjoyed various privileges. ¡®It¡¯s a bit of a problem that it¡¯s just a silver bracelet if it doesn¡¯t have any protections, so I guess, we¡¯ll just have to collect it all.¡¯ Rather, the question was whether it was Jude or Cordelia who would get the Fairy¡¯s Bonds. It was a very useful item for either of them. But fortunately, Gerd eliminated those concerns. ¡°The two of you get along well with each other like a couple. So it would be nice if you wore something together.¡± What she revealed then was a couple bracelet. Looking down at the pair of beautifully crafted silver bracelets, Jude and Cordelia brightly smiled as if a flower bloomed on their faces. ¡°Hahaha.¡± ¡°Hohoho.¡± Because their happiness was truly pure. At the sight of the two, Gerd proudly raised her chin and carefully asked as if she was talking to herself. ¡°Lorelei can¡¯t keep up with me, right?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°We really appreciate it.¡± At that moment, Jude and Cordelia resumed their pretensions and answered. Gerd then said after feeling better. ¡°I¡¯m going to give you the winter protection, so hold out your arm with the bracelet.¡± Jude and Cordelia immediately followed her instruction. The winter protection granted by the Winter Fairy Queen. Thanks to the protection being incorporated into the Fairy¡¯s Bonds, the two had felt that they had gained a resistance to the cold. ¡°Well then, tell us more of your stories. How did youe all the way here to this distant ce?¡± Just like the Fall Fairy Queen, the Winter Fairy Queen was also strongly curious about the outsiders. Jude replied that they were on the way to Frost Anvil because of the Sunflower. ¡°Ah¡­I see. I hope that you find the Sunflower. So that you can carry your fianc¨¦e, be hit by her¡­wait, what did you say?¡± ¡°Cross over the wall.¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s it. Cheer up, pretty child. Your beloved will definitely get the Sunflower and then take care of you.¡± ¡°Uh¡­yes. I¡­look forward to it. Hoho.¡± Cordelia was skeptical about Jude¡¯s statement, but she still answered with a smile to the Fairy Queen. ¡°Hmm¡­that¡¯s it. If you¡¯re going to Frost Anvil, I think I can give you a little more help.¡± Gerd nodded her head once as if she had made up her mind, and then said to the fairy knight who was also listening to their conversation. ¡°Ada, go and bring the Fairy Feathers.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡± As the fairy knight politely bowed and left, Gerd looked back at Jude and Cordelia and said. ¡°Do you know about the Fairy Feathers?¡± ¡®Yes, of course I do.¡¯ However, unlike his innermost thoughts, Jude showed an ignorant expression, so Gerd exined with a smile. ¡°The Fairy Feathers are a mysterious item that allows you to traverse space. It¡¯ll let you get to Frost Anvil at once.¡± ¡°Wow, really?¡± Gerd nodded as Cordelia chipped in their conversation. ¡°It¡¯s true. The ancient dwarves, who built Frost Anvil, and us, winter fairies, were once very close. The ancient dwarves gave us the magic coordinates so that we could get into Frost Anvil at once to y with them anytime.¡± In fact, the ancient dwarves gave it to control the fairies whom they didn¡¯t know when and where the fairies would suddenly pop out, because it was the easiest way to satisfy both the dwarves, who were annoyed at the fairies suddenly appearing, and the fairies, who wanted to just y. Jude decided to keep that truth in his mind rather than uselessly pointing it out to the fairies. However, there was a problem. ¡°Your Majesty, there is only one feather left.¡± At the fairy knight¡¯s words, Gerd slightly frowned. The feathers of the Fairy Feathers were one-use items, and only one person could use one feather. ¡°Umm¡­well, it should still be okay. Just use that trick.¡± ¡°That trick?¡± Cordelia curiously asked. One feather per person was needed, so she wondered what trick the Fairy Queen was talking about. ¡°It¡¯s simple. The two of you should tightly hug each other and then use it.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Then the two of you will be able to move together.¡± Gerd smiled as she thought that it was a really easy solution. Cordelia turned to Jude and he said. ¡°Umm¡­well, it can¡¯t be helped.¡± ¡°Why do you have a wicked smile then?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not? I wanted to use one feather per person too, okay?¡± As he whispered in a small voice, Gerda happily looked at them before turning to the fairy knight and saying. ¡°Tell the children to gather. We¡¯ll be sending off our guests.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡± Shortly after the fairy knight answered, the space seemed to fluctuate, and Jude and Cordelia suddenly found themselves standing in the center of the banquet hall, surrounded by dozens of fairies. ¡°Hug, hug.¡± ¡°Free hugs?¡± ¡°Bear hug.¡± ¡°Who¡¯s that crazy kid saying ¡®hug, hug?¡¯ It should be?love hug.¡± The winter fairies chattered among themselves and some even resolutely lifted their video recording equipment. Gerda then said with a smile. ¡°Human children, I wish that you¡¯ll get what you want from Frost Anvil. Be happy.¡± ¡°Happy!¡± ¡°Live well!¡± ¡®What does a teleport to Frost Anvil have to do with being happy?¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s face turned miserable in the midst of the continuous support from the winter fairies, and she said to Jude. ¡°Let¡¯s go quickly.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Jude was starting to feel embarrassed too. ¡°Me? Or you?¡± ¡°Me.¡± Cordelia immediately understood what he meant. She took a deep breath before crossing her arms in an X-shape in front of her chest and standing straight. Afterwards, Jude very awkwardly hugged Cordelia. ¡°Wow!¡± ¡°Kiss! Kiss!¡± ¡°Kiss!¡± He couldn¡¯t bear it any longer. Jude urgently activated the Fairy Feather and the two crossed through the space. *** Frost Anvil was one of the seven cities of the great kingdom founded by the ancient dwarves. ¡°Gasp¡­haa¡­haa¡­¡± ¡°Huuhh¡­.huuhh¡­¡± The two safely arrived inside a dim room, and they spent some time roughly breathing before raising their heads and looking at each other. ¡°Fairies.¡± After the fallen two sighed and then took a deep breath, they quickly began moving. Cordelia lit up the darkness with a magic light and Jude took out the Frost Anvil map he had drawn in advance. ¡°Frost Anvil?¡± ¡°It looks like we¡¯re inside. Cordelia, can you shine the light over there?¡± ¡°Here?¡± ¡°Yes, there.¡± When she shone the light to the spot indicated by Jude, there were somerge characters inscribed on the wall. ¡°It¡¯s the ancient dwarf text.?JuGgle Trantor, what does it say?¡± ¡°JuGgle Trantor?¡± ¡°Do you prefer the?GooDe Trantor?¡± T/N: If you don¡¯t get it,?Judebined with?Google?will result in either ¡®JuGgle¡¯ or ¡®GooDe.¡¯ ¡°¡­JuGgle is better. Anyway, just wait. Let me ¡®search¡¯ my memories first.¡± ¡°You sound like a pervert when you say ¡®grope.¡¯¡± ¡°¡­let me ¡®check¡¯ my memories then.¡± T/N: It¡¯s a pun. ??? (deodeumtta) can both mean ¡®to search¡¯ and ¡®to grope.¡¯ When Cordelia pointed it out, Jude used another word for ¡®search,¡¯ which is ???? (salpyeodboda), meaning ¡®to search¡¯ or ¡®to check.¡¯ Jude quickly corrected his words and closed his eyes as he opened his Memory Pce. Even if Jude¡¯s memory was superior, it was impossible for him to remember everything right away. After a few minutes, Jude interpreted the ancient dwarf text based on his memories. ¡°Frost Anvil. 1st?floor. Lobby.¡± ¡°Oh, we¡¯re really inside.¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s the room right next to the entrance. What a huge relief. Because it¡¯s not easy to pass through the entrance.¡± Frost Anvil was an underground city built by the ancient dwarves. There was only one entrance called the ¡®Great Gate.¡¯ The entrance itself wasrge and solid, but it was not an easy ce to pass through because various monsters gathered near it. ¡®It¡¯s good to be lucky.¡¯ Thanks to the winter fairies, they easily broke through one of the obstacles to this ce. ¡°It¡¯s cold even though the winter protection is activated.¡± ¡°Because this ce ispletely no different from a freezer. Zip up your cor and let¡¯s start right away. We¡¯ll take a break once we¡¯ve moved to the lounge on the 1st?floor.¡± The full-scale exploration activities started from the underground¡¯s 2nd?floor onwards, which were infested with monsters, traps, and so on. Cordelia nodded at Jude¡¯s suggestion and increased the brightness of the magic light a little. The two then began walking together. And at that same time, in apletely different ce. The executives of the Devil¡¯s Hand gathered together. Chapter 43 - EPISODE 43 – FROST ANVIL (1)

Chapter 43 - EPISODE 43 ¨C FROST ANVIL (1)

EPISODE 43 ¨C FROST ANVIL (1) There were numerous demon followers in Pleiades. Their history began with the descent of the two great monarchs of hell. More than a thousand years have passed, but even now, they persistently continued to exist. ¡®The demon followers are not just one group.¡¯ Contrary to public perception, they were not all on the same side. Because the great monarchs they served were different. The demon followers antagonized andpeted with each other, as the great monarchs of hell did, and in severe cases, they did not hesitate to shed blood in their shes. The Devil¡¯s Hand is a group who served Asmodeus of lust, one of the five great monarchs of hell. Their ultimate goal is to have Asmodeus descend and take over the world through the realization of her hell, Sabbath, on the real world. ¡°The sacrifice had left the eagle¡¯s nest.¡± At the headquarters of the Devil¡¯s Hand, located at the center of the S?len Kingdom, the key executives of the Devil¡¯s Hand were all gathered in one ce. One was physically present, while others used phantoms that appeared through magic. The eyes of the key executives who stood in each corner of a hexagonal star were all focused on the ck-haired woman, demonic human Saluzia, who was in charge of the northern part of the S?len Kingdom. The sacrifice left the eagle¡¯s nest. Cordelia Chase had escaped from Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s protection. ¡°How did that happen?¡± It was a woman¡¯s low voice that made the listeners feel at ease. She was the leader of the Devil¡¯s Hand, and at her question, Saluzia exined the details of the situation. ¡°Cordelia Chase went on a honeymoon trip with her fianc¨¦, Jude Bayer.¡± ¡°Even though they were ambushed twice?¡± When demonic human Koros, who stood on one corner of the hexagonal star, asked with a wry smile because he found it absurd, the other executives somehow also had the same facial expressions as they too found it to be iprehensible. The first and second attack pretty much stated that the goal of the Devil¡¯s Hand was Cordelia and Lucas. However, there was still more to be dumbfounded about. ¡°Furthermore¡­¡± ¡°Furthermore?¡± ¡°The two had escaped to go on a journey. Count Hr?svelgr have currently dispatched people everywhere to find the couple.¡± ¡°Crazy.¡± The other executives also nodded at Koros¡¯ sentiments. Then, Koros added a few more words to try to lighten up the conversation. ¡°Are you saying that they¡¯re teenagers who have nothing in their brains because they are so blinded by love?¡± ¡°For now¡­I think so.¡± Saluzia answered with a little difficulty before looking back at their leader again and continuing her exnation. ¡°Cordelia Chase¡¯s destination is presumed to be Frost Anvil.¡± ¡°On what grounds?¡± ¡°The very purpose of Cordelia Chase¡¯s visit to Count Hr?svelgr in the first ce was to acquire the legendary Sunflower that blooms in Frost Anvil. That flower is a special medicine which would heal the chronic disease of her fianc¨¦, Jude Bayer.¡± ¡°They went on a trip looking for a drug to cure her fianc¨¦¡¯s illness? I see, so that¡¯s what they were thinking when they left.¡± When Koros spoke quietly again, Saluzia frowned but did not deny his words. Saluzia had thought the same too. But there were two reasons why Saluzia frowned. One was the fact that Koros jumped in her conversation with their beloved leader. The other was the fact that they had already lost three demonic humans and more than a hundredbatants because of those immature and empty-headed teenagers. Saluzia was the one who had nned both operations, so if she looked at it from a broader perspective, she had failed twice because of those immature teenagers. ¡°This is noughing matter. We¡¯ve already lost three demonic humans because of those children.¡± Minos, Varus, and the Northern Viscount were all low-ranking demonic humans, but even so, they were still demonic humans. They had to invest a considerable amount of time, effort, and assets to create them. Moreover, the loss of the Northern Viscount was more painful than the previous two. Before he was a demonic human, he was a nobleman who officially had a manor in the kingdom. ¡°If not for that iron man, we wouldn¡¯t have lost those demonic humans. The two were just merely lucky.¡± The iron man he was referring to was Landius. Koros grumbled a bit as he spoke, and their leader had a gentle smile. ¡°You¡¯re right. Certainly, if that iron man hadn¡¯t intervened, Saluzia¡¯s second operation would not have failed. But don¡¯t forget the fact that those children defeated Minos too.¡± Furthermore, it wasn¡¯t just that. Although they were helped by the witch¡¯s soul, the demonic monster of Asmodeus, who was asleep in the Trefalgar Forest, also died at the hands of those children. They weren¡¯t children that could be easily dealt with. ¡°Saluzia, do you have any other reasons on why you think they¡¯re going there?¡± ¡°Yes, I have. We¡¯ve looked at civilians on the route from Vedrfolnir to Frost Anvil, and we¡¯ve found a small number of people who saw what is believed to be Cordelia Chase and Jude Bayer.¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°Kanos¡¯ foresight also pointed to Frost Anvil.¡± Kanos was one of the few demonic humans with the power of foresight, and was in fact, appointed as the sessor to Saluzia. ¡°The disadvantage of Kanos¡¯ foresight is that you can¡¯t get it whenever you want¡­but it is urate once it appears.¡± As if to help Saluzia, one of the executives spoke in a small voice. It was Nemea, a demonic human active in the Argon Empire. The leader of the Devil¡¯s Hand, who had long blue hair, closed her eyes once. She was silent for a moment as she organized her thoughts, before she opened her eyes and said. ¡°Saluzia.¡± ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡± ¡°What¡¯s your n?¡± ¡°Considering their speed of movement so far, it will take two more days for Cordelia Chase to arrive at Frost Anvil. So before that, I n to deploy troops at the Great Gate, the only entrance to Frost Anvil, to capture the two.¡± It wasn¡¯t a bad n. Moreover, the iron man Landius had already left Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s territory and was heading towards the capital. There would no longer be any unexpected intrusions. ¡°Saluzia, I will trust you once again.¡± ¡°Thank you. I will surely live up to your expectations.¡± Saluzia replied, bowing her head deeply when their leader gave her permission. Koros scornfullyughed at her voice mixed with tears, but in fact, all the executives including him, were deeply fascinated with their leader. If he were in the same situation, Koros would have reacted simrly. ¡°Now that the conversation is roughly over, let¡¯s wrap up today¡¯s meeting. May Asmodeus¡¯ favor be with everyone.¡± ¡°May her favor be with you.¡± As their leader spoke, the executives spoke in one voice. And after a few seconds, the other executives and everything else disappeared. Saluzia slowly drew her breath and opened her eyes. In front of her was arge podium instead of a hexagonal star, and her subordinates waiting for her return. ¡°Master Saluzia.¡± Saluzia slowly nodded at the call of Kanos, a demonic human who was so tall that he was nearly two meters in height. ¡°Our head gave us her permission. But this is ourst chance. We have to mobilize all our strength to secure Cordelia Chase.¡± Cordelia Chase was clearly a valuable sacrifice to summon a high-ranking demon. But now, it wasn¡¯t just a simple matter of securing the sacrifice. In order to keep their leader¡¯s trust and maintain her status among the executives, Cordelia must be captured. ¡°Demonic humans Farragut and Vilkay, and the demon Sisioth have already reached the vicinity of Frost Anvil. They¡¯re probably building a strongpoint in front of the Great Gate by now.¡± They needed to secure the Great Gate before Cordelia Chase arrives, so they had already finished preparation to some extent. ¡°We must seed this time.¡± ¡°We will definitely seed. The only entrance to Frost Anvil is through the Great Gate. Moreover, two demonic humans and even a demon have been mobilized this time¡­so it¡¯s hopeless for them unless the iron man appears again.¡± Saluzia agreed with him. What else could they do if they were ambushed at the only entrance? Would they be teleporting to get inside Frost Anvil then? ¡®That¡¯s ridiculous.¡¯ The ancient Dwarven kingdom copsed more than a thousand years ago. Who in this world would have the teleport coordinates that lead to such ancient ruins? Moreover, teleport magic wasn¡¯t a magic that could be used easily. Unless they were the legendary fairies who could freely travel through time and space, it was not possible. ¡°Carry out the n. May Asmodeus¡¯ favor be with you.¡± ¡°May her favor be with you.¡± Kanos replied with a smile, and Saluzia had a small smile too. *** Meanwhile, at the corridor of Frost Anvil¡¯s 1st floor. Jude suddenly said as he looked at the Great Gate, or more specifically, the inside part of the Great Gate. ¡°As you know, the monsters wille flocking here.¡± ¡°Is it because of the Sunflower?¡± ¡°Yes, because the blooming period of the Sunflower is imminent. Most of the monsters in the vicinity mush have already gathered near Frost Anvil.¡± The Sunflower gave off a unique scent. It was impossible to properly smell it with a human¡¯s sense of smell, but it was not the same for monsters. In addition, the unique scent of the Sunflower had the power to attract monsters. As the blooming period approached, the scent became thicker, so in the next few days, countless monsters would rush into Frost Anvil. ¡°The best thing to do is to leave some troops at the Great Gate and defend¡­¡± ¡°But that¡¯s impossible because there¡¯s only the two of us here.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, so there¡¯s only way left.¡± They would take advantage of the fact that Frost Anvil was constructed with only a single passage leading to a certain floor. ¡°If wey down a bunch of traps on that passage, they¡¯ll die along the way.¡± It was a simple but clear answer. Jude had been drawing magic circles throughout their journey in preparation for today. ¡°We shouldn¡¯t be disturbed during the time when we harvest the Sunflower, so don¡¯t spare on the magic circles. Let¡¯spletely spread it out.¡± ¡°You do know that I¡¯m the one who puts mana in the magic circles, right?¡± ¡°I know, ma¡¯am. So I prepared a lot of mana potions.¡± ¡°I hate you.¡± Jude and Cordelia chatted as usual as they set up magic circles on almost the entire first floor passage. Afterwards, they took a break on the lounge in the 1st floor. ¡°From this point on, the outline of our n is simple. All we have to do is go down to the 7th basement floor where the Sunflower will bloom.¡± ¡°Do we drop by the armory on the way?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Their progression was a little different from the original story. They would go down to the 7th underground floor to get the Sunflower like the original story, but because of the powerful boss monster that could be encountered on the 7th floor, their n was to go to the 7th floor only after securing a weapon in the armory to defeat the boss monster. ¡°We already know what will happen, so we don¡¯t need to walk back and forth.¡± First, they would stop by the armory and secure the ¡®Power Weapons¡¯ that were the legacy of the ancient dwarves. ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to the power weapons.¡± ¡°In the original story, we could only take the one we needed.¡± But this was reality now. They would certainly be able to pick out and take several items that could be of use to them now. ¡°New equipment is always wee.¡± ¡°It¡¯s the virtue of RPG to go shopping first when you enter a new town.¡± ¡°Oh, you understand that much?¡± ¡°It¡¯s one of the pleasures of RPG after all.¡± ¡°Yes, mom. Mom is right.¡± ¡°Yes, so listen well to what mom has to say.¡± The two bantered as always while they securely packed their bags before they finally looked at each other. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± The two spoke together as they began walking forward alongside each other. And at the same time again, in front of the Great Gate, Frost Anvil¡¯s entrance. ¡°Don¡¯t even let a rat pass.¡± Under themand of Farragut, a demonic human with an unusually huge right arm, thebatants of the Devil¡¯s Hand quickly moved and began setting up traps all over the Great Gate. Demonic human Vilkay, a witch of detection, stared at the south with narrowed eyes. The demon Sisioth, whose whole body was entangled with a seal, creepilyughed. Capture Cordelia Chase and Jude Bayer at the Great Gate. ¡®Saluzia will be pleased. And this time, I will go beyond that bastard Kanos and gain Master Saluzia¡¯s favor.¡¯ Farragut leaked out a lowugh as he stood in front of the Great Gate¡¯s firm door and looked south to where Cordelia and Jude would appear. But three dayster, what appeared in front of demonic human Farragut were countless monsters and not an iparably beautiful girl and an absolutely handsome boy. Chapter 44 - EPISODE 44 – FROST ANVIL (2)

Chapter 44 - EPISODE 44 ¨C FROST ANVIL (2)

Terms used in this chapter: Silpi (??)?¨C Literally means ¡®loss of blood,¡¯ but ¡®Blood loss¡¯ sounds better. It is a Korean gaming term which meant that the yer/character¡¯s HP is seriously low. Games that use HP bars for their characters, e.g. Pok¨¦mon, have HP bars that turn red in color when the HP is low. And HP is tied to the character¡¯s life, so ¡®red + life = blood.¡¯ Baby Shark?¨C a Korean children¡¯s song about a family of sharks, that went viral worldwide. Its lyrics usually have ¡®doo doo doo doo doo¡¯ in the end. ¡°The flock is endless!¡± ¡°Master Farragut!¡± ¡°Ahh! Save me!¡± The screams of thebatants were heard throughout the cold and harsh winds of Frost Anvil. Demonic human Farragut red straight ahead as he roughly breathed. There was a red re in his eyes as he had already activated his demonization, and Farragut saw the monsters hidden among the rushing snowstorm. ¡®Too many.¡¯ There were hundreds to perhaps, even thousands or more monsters. There were also various types. The monsters weren¡¯t just divided into several species. Among them was a type of monster that even Farragut had never seen before. ¡°Master Farragut!¡± He heard a scream again that came from his back and not in the front. It was because the flying monsters known as Winter Harpies, stormed through the back of Farragut¡¯s battle formation. ¡°Lowly monsters!¡± Farragut yelled in anger and struck his right fist. A terrifying shock wave then rose and spread out, hitting the Winter Harpies. The strength of his attack¡¯s power made the blizzard and gale covering the whole area disappear for a moment. Bang! The Winter Harpies hit by the shockwaves became a handful of blood that scattered in the area, and some of the survivors ran away in horror. But it was only for a short time. Soon, the blizzard struck again, and monsters came flocking too. ¡°Damn it!¡± It wasn¡¯t like this from the beginning. At best, it started with a few Snow Goblins appearing, so it wasn¡¯t strange. Frost Anvil was a snowfield area, and Snow Goblins lived in snowfields. But as time went by, things got weird. The number of Snow Goblins kept increasing as if they were moving in groups, andter, Winter Bears who were the Snow Goblins¡¯ predators, also appeared. Several hours have passed since then. ¡°Master Farragut! I can¡¯t hold on any longer!¡± Thebatant¡¯s heartbreaking scream proved to be true. However, it wasn¡¯t possible for them to leave this ce. ¡®We can¡¯t get away!¡¯ The monsters were too many. There was no way for them to escape because the monsters endlessly came like turbulent sea waves. ¡°Master Farragut! Master Vilkay!¡± Farragut turned his gaze as he smashed the head of a Winter Bear that came right behind his back. He could see Vilkay in the distance surrounded by countless monsters, as she rose to the sky by spreading her wings. Her eyes glowed red and released a terrifying magic power. Booom! An intense red wave swept around Vilkay and the surrounding area. It instantly created a huge vacant lot that was 20 meters in diameter, with its inside filled with the blood of monsters. ¡°Gaak-!¡± However, Vilkay did note out unharmed. After using too much mana in session, she copsed on the floor and vomited dark red blood. ¡°Vilkay!¡± Farragut roughly kicked on the ground. The monsters attacked Vilkay again as if their sense of fear was paralyzed. ¡°Farra¡­gut¡­¡± The horns protruding through Vilkay¡¯s red hair gradually became smaller. Her demonization was released because of excessive use. ¡°Uoooh!¡± In one fell swoop, Farragut struck with his huge fist the monsters rushing at Vilkay, before quickly holding her by the waist using his left arm. ¡°We have to get out.¡± It was unreasonable to hold on to this position any longer. They had to escape somehow. ¡°Let¡¯s fully unseal Sisioth.¡± ¡°Then¡­¡± ¡°He¡¯ll run wild, but it¡¯ll buy us some time.¡± It wasn¡¯t that the demons summoned by the Devil¡¯s Hand were perfectly manageable. Most of the time, they formed partnerships through contracts, but the other party was a demon after all. There were some demons who one-sidedly exploited the Devil¡¯s Hand too. Sisioth was a demon belonging to thetter. Therefore, their leader sealed some of Sisioth¡¯s power with the power she received from Asmodeus, making Sisioth a ve of the Devil¡¯s Hand. ¡°For now, we must live.¡± ¡°If Sisioth goes mad, he¡¯ll kill us first.¡± It was true. Farragut struck the ground with his fist, causing a shockwave again. He then saw thebatants desperately fighting in front of the Great Gate. They had brought close to a hundred people, but only thirty people were left. ¡°We can¡¯t run out there.¡± The monsters endlessly came in droves. If the number of monsters exceeded one¡¯s imagination, even Farragut would get swept away by the monster waves and be killed. Farragut knew of that fact too, so he said with a heavy breath. ¡°Let¡¯s go inside.¡± Inside the Great Gate. Go inside, seal the doors and unseal Sisioth. ¡°The door?¡± Vilkay asked in confusion. The Great Gate was tightly sealed. Count Hr?svelgr had newly installed a huge seal to prevent thieves from entering Frost Anvil. ¡°I will open it. If I use all my remaining power, it would be possible to break the seal and open the door.¡± Go inside, close the doors, and unseal Sisioth. Let Sisioth deal with the monsters while they rest inside to restore their strength. Removing the seal would make it conspicuous from afar so Cordelia might feel that something is strange and not approach this ce out of concern, but now wasn¡¯t the time for them to think about that. ¡°After we¡¯ve recovered, we just need to seal Sisioth again. Even Sisioth would be exhausted from dealing with all those monsters.¡± ¡°Okay, I agree to that.¡± Vilkay nodded. Farragut took a deep breath and gathered all his remaining mana into one ce, and he strongly kicked the ground again. ¡°I¡¯ll open the doors! Evacuate inside!¡± As he shouted loudly, he threw up Vilkay into the air towards thebatants. As soon as thebatants scurried and caught Vilkay, he pulled his fist and focused all his strength on one point. It was not a technique or skill, but just the manifestation of pure power. The moment he punched the doors, a red sh of light struck the Great Gate. The entire Great Gate, which stood at 20 meters high, shook greatly. Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s golden magic seal that was spread out on front of the Great Gate was shattered all at once. ¡°Uoooohhh!¡± Farragut didn¡¯t stop. The Great Gate was slightly opened from the shock, so he inserted his hands on the gap and opened the doors with all his might. ¡°Uuoooooh!!!¡± The Great Gate boasted an enormous weight as much as its size. Despite all his efforts, the gap he created was only enough to fit a couple of people. ¡°Hurry up!¡± Farragut was the first to enter as he shouted, and thebatants followed behind Farragut, rushing inside the doors. ¡°Master Farragut!¡± ¡°We too!¡± ¡°Ahhhhh!¡± Thebatants, who stood at the very back of the formation and stopped the monsters, all cried out to Farragut, but he ignored them. About tenbatants were dying in the struggle while Farragut closed the Great Gate with all his might. Boom! With a dull sound, the doors were closed together. At the same time, Vilkay finished the ritual to release Sisioth¡¯s seal. ¡°Haaa¡­.haaa¡­¡± Farragut roughly breathed as he broke into a cold sweat. Beyond the doors, he could feel the powerful magic of Sisioth that had been unsealed. ¡°Farra¡­gut¡­¡± Vilkay was covered in sweat as she called Farragut. There was a mixture of terror and fear in both their eyes, and a sense of relief that they lived at the same time. Farragut spoke. ¡°Let¡¯s go inside.¡± ¡°Inside?¡± ¡°A little more inside. It¡¯s dangerous to be right in front of the doors.¡± Since the seal was gone, anyone could open the doors as long as they have muscle strength. Whether it was the monsters or Sisioth going crazy, it was equally dangerous. So they should go inside and hide themselves. Make a fire to drive away the cold and eat anything to restore their stamina. ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Nodding her head, Vilkay ordered thebatants to move forward and then supported Farragut, who had sat down on the floor. ¡°Cordelia is probably dead already.¡± ¡°Yes, they must have died.¡± So many monsters flocked to this ce. They would have probably been eaten by the monsters that flocked near Frost Anvil. ¡°I have no idea why this happened.¡± The reason why the monsters suddenly gathered here. The Sunflower was kind of a legend. Therefore, the fact that monsters flocked to the Sunflower when it blooms was not widely known in the world. No one lived near Frost Anvil in the first ce. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Yes, we have to recover our strength.¡± Kill a fewbatants and absorb their souls and vitality, and their strength will return to some extent. It was at that time when Farragut and Vilkay were having simr thoughts. At a certain point. Exactly when they entered a certain point in the corridor. Farragut felt something. Vilkay was the same. ¡°What is this?¡± Right after the words came out. Magic mes shot up from the ceiling, walls, and the floor. *** ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Jude and Cordelia looked at each other. A ring of pure white light had suddenly surrounded each of them. ¡°Level up?¡± ¡°Ah, did the monsters get caught in the trap?¡± ¡°Wow, is this the range of experience that we gained thus far?¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t they almost close to the borderline? We¡¯re on the 3rd?floor now.¡± The magic circles that were installed in the corridor on the 1st?floor were a joint work of Jude and Cordelia, so it was natural that they gained experience together. However, Cordelia tilted her head again as she wondered. ¡°Uh¡­by the way, isn¡¯t this indirect hunting very effective in gaining experience?¡± Didn¡¯t they level up at once? Aren¡¯t they already level 20? ¡°Well, it¡¯s just a small profitpared to the number of magic circles we installed. Haven¡¯t the monsters triggered most of it already?¡± It was at that moment when Jude had said those words. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± Once again, a ring of light surrounded the two. They leveled up again. Moreover, three rings have appeared in a row this time. At this point, Jude had no choice but to look confused. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°Maybe a big fish got caught?¡± ¡°I made it myself, but I don¡¯t think the magic circles are enough to catch a big fish though?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe it¡¯s ¡®Silpi¡¯ and then they got hit by the magic circle and went?aaahh.¡± T/N: ¡®Aaahh¡¯ refers to one¡¯s death cry. At Cordelia¡¯s assertion, Jude¡¯s eyes widely opened and then said as he clenched his fist. ¡°It¡¯s possible!¡± ¡°Uh, that¡¯s my line.¡± ¡°What are you saying?¡± ¡°On another note, it¡¯s nice that we¡¯ve leveled up. I¡¯ve been running out of mana nowadays.¡± The performance of ¡®Witch Transformation¡¯ is dramatically improved the more mana one has. As a magic-specialized character, Cordelia¡¯s mana grew greatly every time she leveled up, so this level up was like the long-awaited rain for a drought. Furthermore, the effect of level up did not simply stop there. The witch¡¯s spell book had a structure in which the number of pages that could be opened were increased every time one reached a certain level, so if she increased by one more level now, Cordelia could open a new chapter. When Cordelia bubbled over with joy, Jude¡¯s expression naturally rxed. He spoke in a serious tone again afterwards. ¡°I find it nice too¡­but we¡¯d better hurry. The monsters have entered the 1st?floor after all.¡± ¡°Okay, let¡¯s hurry.¡± After agreeing with Jude, Cordelia walked for a while before stopping again. ¡°Ah, I think I know the way from here. We can go that way, right?¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right. There is a secret passage over there that leads you to the 5th?floor.¡± Originally, they had to fight with various monsters that lived in Frost Anvil between the 3rd?and 5th?floors, but the two decided to skip them all for now. ¡®Because you can get a weapon that can help in defeating them.¡¯ It would be a lot easier to defeat monsters after they¡¯ve grabbed power weapons from the armory. It was not an option for the two who were rotten water, to pass by without defeating the monsters, who were the treasure trove of experience points. ¡°Po~wer weapon doo doo doo doo doo~ It¡¯s so sweet~ doo doo doo doo doo~ In the Anvil ~ doo doo doo doo doo~ Power Weapon!¡± ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°What am I doing? It¡¯s a song of joy.¡± In the original story, they got a Power Spear to defeat the giant White Snake that guarded the Sunflower, but this time, it would be different. She wondered what else is there. She thought about what she could bring. ¡°It¡¯s so sweet~ doo doo doo doo doo~ Power Weapon!¡± Cordelia took the lead as she hummed, and Jude thought as he unconsciously giggled and smiled. ¡®She¡¯s cute.¡¯ She¡¯ll growl if he said it, so Jude kept his thoughts to himself. ¡°What are you doing! Come quickly!¡± ¡°Yes, yes. Doodoodoodoo Power Weapon.¡± ¡°Doo doo doo doo doo.¡± ¡°Doodoodoodoodoo?¡± ¡°Doo doo doo doo doo.¡± ¡°Okay, doo doo doo doo doo.¡± ¡°Hmm, good.¡± Cordelia smiled in great satisfaction, and Jude grinned too as he began walking again. And 30 minutester, the two arrived in front of the ancient dwarves¡¯ armory. Chapter 45 - EPISODE 45 – ARMORY

Chapter 45 - EPISODE 45 ¨C ARMORY

Terms used in this chapter: Gathering dirt to make a big mountain?¨C a proverb/expression which means that even very small things can be huge if they umte. An English equivalent would be ¡®many a mickle makes a muckle.¡¯ Eat it raw/eat something raw?¨C an idiom which means to do or have something without making any effort. So if you see the word ¡®eat it raw¡¯ter in this chapter, it refers to this idiom and not the literal meaning (Edit: And not the lewd one in English too, hahaha). The ancient dwarves were superior in many ways to the current dwarves, and the two had significant differences, especially in terms of physique. ¡°The ancient dwarves were quite tall.¡± ¡°Rather than being tall, aren¡¯t they just bulky?¡± ¡°Well¡­at any rate, they¡¯re grossly big.¡± If the bulky adults of the current dwarves were about 130 to 140 centimeters tall, the ancient dwarves reached an average height of 170 centimeters. ¡®As Cordelia had said, rather than being tall, they are bulky.¡¯ The body type of the ancient dwarves were the same as the current dwarves. They have short limbs, broad shoulders, and quite arge head. Their body type remains the same, but as their height grows, the other parts of their body also grow bigger. They have big hands, big feet, and a big head. Incidentally, all these facts were quite useful for Jude and Cordelia at the present moment. This is because the position of the panel that opens the door to the armory is just at a right height for human use. ¡°Hmm.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°No, I just thought you¡¯re a little big.¡± ¡°Big? Do you mean my height?¡± ¡°Ah, is it because you¡¯re slowly being healed from Gueumjulmaek? Based on when they awakened their past lives as the starting point, Cordelia¡¯s height was about 165 cm, and Jude¡¯s height was around 166-170 cm. Therefore, their differences in height was not enough for her to look up to Jude, but now that they¡¯ve stood parallel to each other, Cordelia had to raise her head quite a bit to make eye contact. ¡°Well¡­there are some cases where Gueumjulmaek hindered growth. In the first ce, the character ¡®Jude¡¯ willter grow to almost 180 cm. So I¡¯ll grow up too.¡± ¡°Hmm, 180.¡± Cordelia took a step back as she evaluated Jude by looking at him up and down. ¡°Hmm, not bad.¡± ¡°Thank you for your kind consideration, ma¡¯am.¡± ¡°Yes, mom. Anyway, just open the door.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t ¡®dad¡¯ better than ¡®mom¡¯ though?¡± ¡°You want to be called ¡®dad¡¯? Do you want me to call you ¡®Papa¡¯ from now on then? Okay, Papa. Your taste is unique.¡± ¡°Just call me Mom.¡± After they¡¯ve exchanged a silly conversation, Jude brushed off the umted dust on the panel that was attached to the wall. It was a panel of numeric keys that wasmon everywhere, and the door was only opened after entering a nine-digit password. In the original story, they had to find the notebook of the ¡®forgetful manager¡¯ hidden somewhere on the 5th?floor to find out the password, but this time, they didn¡¯t have to. ¡°Open it quickly, quickly. Doo doo doo doo doo.¡± ¡°Wait, let me search my memories.¡± Cordelia pretended to listen as she hummed, while Jude checked his Memory Pce. A few minutes after, when the password was sessfully entered, the seal of the armory¡¯srge steel door was released with a rattling sound. ¡°My heart is pounding.¡± ¡°Me too.¡± Jude replied to Cordelia, and then pushed the steel door that opened sideways to open the armory. ¡°It¡¯s the same as the original.¡± Cordelia spoke small as her cheeks reddened and she looked inside the armory while remembering how the armory in the original looked. It was a square room about 10 meters long on each side, but it was not like a frozen freezerpared to the other rooms in Frost Anvil, perhaps because it was sealed for a long time. ¡°The real deal is further inside, right?¡± ¡°Yes, so let¡¯s take a look here before that.¡± Cordelia quickly nodded as Jude pointed to the shelves on the wall. ¡°Right, right. I really wanted to take these whenever I yed the game.¡± Taking the other items was a pipe dream because they couldn¡¯t be acquired in the game, but now, it was no longer a pipe dream anymore. ¡°Is this a basic armor set?¡± Cordelia ran to the shelf and looked. She then found a set of gloves, shoes, a vest, and a round helmet that could all be equipped as a set. ¡°Umm, sort of. After all, rather thanpletely being an armory, this is a storage room for equipment.¡± ¡°Why? Why do you say that?¡± ¡°No, that is¡­.those are work clothes.¡± ¡°Work clothes?¡± ¡°Yes, because Frost Anvil was an underground city, and it was a ce where mining and expansion were continuously being carried out. So those are a safety helmet, safety shoes, safety gloves¡­stuff like that?¡± But even so, it was the legacy of the ancient dwarves. Moreover, the work clothes were strong and firm in the first ce, so it was perfect to use as an armor. ¡°But it¡¯s too big.¡± It was just an average-sized safety helmet in the ancient dwarves¡¯ standards. Whereas when Cordelia used it, the safety helmet became like arge pot that was flipped over. Jude tried to hold back hisughter that was about to leak out, and afterwards, he likewise rummaged through the shelves. ¡°Look carefully. Even if those are work clothes, it¡¯s a safety set, so there should be ones for children too. The gloves and shoes¡¯ size will be adjusted automatically. ¡± As Jude had said, there were several safety sets prepared for children in the corner of the shelf. ¡°Pfft, you look like a chick.¡± ¡°Hey, aren¡¯t you wearing the same clothes as me?¡± The safety hat, safety shoes, safety gloves, and vest were all yellow. As it was work clothes, it was made to stand out. ¡°Are there anybat uniforms?¡± ¡°It wouldn¡¯t fit even if this ce have those.¡± Children obviously wouldn¡¯t havebat uniforms. ¡°Besides¡­I think this is good enough?¡± Like the equipment of ancient dwarves, both the gloves and shoes were enchanted with magic. ¡°The gloves increase muscle strength¡­does the shoes increase agility?¡± Cordelia said as she jumped in ce. She jumped much higher than usual to check if it really worked. ¡°Good, I like it. This should be enough for a while.¡± After Jude tried his footwork skill, he looked down at his feet with a satisfied look. Safety shoes weren¡¯t usually sturdy, but with these shoes, the attack power of his kicks would now be much stronger. ¡°Let¡¯s open the inside quickly.¡± The Power Spear used to defeat the White Snake in the original story was stored behind the second door, which was the true armory. ¡°Okay, just wait for a second.¡± Jude immediately opened the door by operating the number panel of the second door. And then, the original story¡¯s event urred. [This is Jamu, the person in charge of the armory. Please listen to my story.] A translucent ancient dwarf appeared right in front of the door and spoke in a dignified voice. It was a holographic image, not a ghost, and as Jamu said, he was a kind of artificial intelligence that managed the armory. ¡°It has no physical body, so let¡¯s just pass through it. Besides, his story is just the armory¡¯s general story.¡± Jude said that and tried to pass through Jamu. ¡°Wait, wait a second.¡± Cordelia held Jude¡¯s hand and looked at Jamu with a troubled look for a moment. Afterwards, she immediately spoke to Jude again. ¡°Don¡¯t do that. Let¡¯s listen to his story.¡± ¡°Story?¡± ¡°Uh, this was like that in the witch¡¯s forest. You remember how I went through a lot when I just skipped it, right? In addition, there was a cinematic movie at the event when you get the Power Spear. Wouldn¡¯t it be difficult for us if there was something that was not known in the video again?¡± Cordelia¡¯s words were quite reasonable. Therefore, Jude nodded without hesitation. ¡°It¡¯s possible!¡± ¡°Hey, wasn¡¯t that my line?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s listen to it then. We have plenty of time anyway.¡± Having made up his mind, Jude took a vest from the shelf, spread it out and made it as a mat. ¡°Ma¡¯am, please sit down.¡± ¡°Yes, dad.¡± Cordelia squatted next to Jude before looking up at Jamu, while Jude prodded Jamu to begin talking. ¡°Jamu, tell us your story.¡± [May I talk to you?] ¡°Yes, we¡¯d like to hear your story.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Jamu looked to be quite moved. Although it was an artificial intelligence, it seemed to possess some emotion and ego. [Ahem, ahem, I understand. You have an excellent eye for showing interest in my story. So this story begins in Frost Anvil 004, when I first opened my eyes in the armory.] When Jamu hurriedly began to talk, Cordelia unconsciously turned to Jude, and Jude looked back at Cordelia. Somehow, the two had an ominous feeling in the beginning, as if they had heard of this somewhere. And five hourster, their prediction became a reality. *** ¡°It looks like my ears are bleeding¡­¡± Cordelia said with a dying face after hearing all of Jamu¡¯s stories for five hours. If they dozed off in the middle, Jamu repeated the story again from that point, so they were forced to concentrate. Looking back at Cordelia leaning her head with a tearful face, Jude spoke in surprise. ¡°Hey! Your ears are really bleeding!¡± ¡°Re-really?¡± ¡°Is it just me?¡± As Jude clicked his tongue, Cordelia regained her energy and began hitting Jude¡¯s back. ¡°It hurts! It hurts!¡± ¡°I told you before, right? It hurts when I hit you, right? I¡¯m going to hit and hit you again, okay?¡± In any case, the two began stretching before they stood up from their seats. ¡°In the end, it was just some meaningless chat.¡± ¡°No, well¡­it wasn¡¯t really that unhelpful.¡± They heard a summary on how to use the weapons stored in the armory. ¡°Furthermore¡­Jamu seems to be satisfied too.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± As Jude had said, Jamu had a refreshing expression while he stood with his eyes closed, as if he had solved a thousand-year-old problem. If it was not an artificial intelligence but a ghost, it would¡¯ve already ascended immediately. ¡°Now then, let¡¯s go quickly. I¡¯m feeling sleepy.¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s just grab the weapons and take a rest for today.¡± The two entered the true armory while yawning, but it was only for a short time. ¡°Uwaah¡­there are five Power Spears.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t these be useful for us too?¡± While Cordelia admired the Power Spears that she saw lined up on the wall, Jude spoke as he looked at the daggers. ¡°Look at this, there¡¯s knuckles too. Try it on to see if it fits your hand.¡± ¡°Rather than knuckles¡­it¡¯s more like a Power Fist?¡± Jude put on the gauntlet that covered the back of his arm, and then clenched and opened his fist several times. There weren¡¯t any decorations as the ancient dwarves had a in taste. And at the moment Jude wore the gauntlet, it reminded him of the first time he had lifted a gun, which had the distinctive heavy feel of a lethal weapon. ¡°What do you think? Do you think you can use it?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s good. Does it have a left arm too?¡± ¡°Here.¡± Cordelia ran like a squirrel grabbing acorns, and then she brought a Power Fist from the other side of the room. ¡°Hmm, good. This will make it easier to use the Power Spear.¡± ¡°Is that right? How much do you think your attack power has increased? Is it about 1.2 times of your muscle strength? What about the options?¡± ¡°How should I say this¡­you¡¯re really a rotten water.¡± ¡°Tsk, on that subject, I¡¯ve be ¡®oil.¡¯¡± T/N: Just like how ¡®rotten water¡¯ is higher leveled than ¡®stagnant water,¡¯ there are also other Korean terms to signify how long a person ys and masters a game. Other terms include ¡®skeleton water,¡¯ ¡®fossils,¡¯ ¡®oil,¡¯ ¡®asphalt,¡¯ etc. So Cordelia is pretty much saying that she¡¯s already reached the ¡®oil¡¯ level and no longer just ¡®rotten water.¡¯ Cordelia grumbled, but she soon smiled brightly and looked inside the armory again. Because the ancient dwarves were mostly warriors, there wasn¡¯t much useful stuff for Cordelia who was a wizard, but she looked happy in just finding equipment for Jude to use. ¡®Is it the feeling of changing the items of a fellow character in RPGs?¡¯ Jude giggled and then looked at the Power Spears again, which were the reason why the armory existed. The spear¡¯s outer appearance had a simple design in which a huge spear de was attached at the end of the long spear, but its internal structure was quiteplex. ¡®It emits the charged psionic energy through the spear¡¯s de.¡¯ The output was also freely adjustable, and when fired at maximum power, it was more like a beam gun rather than a spear. ¡®In fact, it can only be used once per spear, but there are five spears here.¡¯ Jude nodded with a cheerful face as he took the Power Spears, while Cordelia groaned as she brought stuff like a hammer, mace, and a great sword. They didn¡¯t have anyone that could use those stuff right away, but she thought that it was such a waste to leave those behind. ¡°You¡¯re like a real squirrel.¡± ¡°Huh? Me?¡± ¡°Yes, you¡¯re like a hamster.¡± She stuffed her mouth with food that she would eatter. T/N: Hoarding is a typical hamster behavior in which a hamster will stuff as much food as it can in its cheek pouches and run off to store the food in a hiding ce where it would eat the foodter. So Cordelia hoarding the items made Judepare her to a hamster. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s apliment, so let me hit you once first.¡± ¡°Hey, you can¡¯t do that. For now, let¡¯s take a break here today, eat breakfast tomorrow morning, and go straight to the power room where the Sunflower will bloom.¡± ¡°There was also a secret passage there, right?¡± ¡°There was.¡± The flow from the original story was as follows. On the 7th?floor, the main character and their party encountered the White Snake and identally discovered a secret passage during their fierce battle. Once the party entered the secret passage to avoid the White Snake, they obtained clues about the armory from the dead bodies of the ancient dwarves, and then used the secret passage to enter the armory and secure a Power Spear that could defeat the White Snake. ¡°So if we use the secret passage, we can go straight to the power room where the White Snake and Sunflower is.¡± ¡°But we won¡¯t be using the secret passage now, as we¡¯ll be going up and down the 3rd?floor to conduct a straightforward attack first, right?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± If they defeated the White Snake now, their levels would rise a few times, but the experience points efficiency of the misceneous monster mobs between the 3rd?and 6th?floors would only get worse. The experience points system of?Legend of Heroes?was somewhat mixed with absolute and rtive values/points. The system calctes the basic absolute points granted based on the level differences of the yer and the enemy. So if the yer¡¯s level is low and the monster¡¯s level is high, the yer can get more experience points depending on how far the difference in levels between the two have. ¡°We have to think about gathering dirt to make a big mountain.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right.¡± The thoughts of the two were in perfect harmony with each other. ¡°Because it¡¯s not that urgent. Even if we sweep the monsters from the third floor down, the White Snake will still be in hibernation.¡± As its name suggests, the White Snake is a white snake. To be exact, it was the demonic monster of Leviathan, the ancient great monarch who drove Frost Anvil into ruins, but in any case, the fact that it was a snake did not change. ¡®And the snake is a cold-blooded animal that is sensitive to cold temperatures.¡¯ The White Snake was the true reason on why Frost Anvil became a freezer in the first ce. ¡®The temperature was extremely lowered in order to confine the White Snake in Frost Anvil.¡¯ They couldn¡¯t let the demonic monster out of this ce. So they decided to confine the monster here. It was a heroic decision made by an unknown ancient dwarf. Even if it was in a weakened state due to not getting proper nutrition for a thousand years, the White Snake was a demonic monster that possessed an extremely powerful strength. So when it invaded Frost Anvil during its prime, the powerful and imposing White Snake was said to be truly terrifying. ¡°The White Snake that was normally asleep would wake up for a while to consume the enormous amount of Yang energy that is generated when the Sunflower blooms ¨C isn¡¯t that the setting?¡± ¡°Yes, so it would be asleep for now.¡± In the game, they reached the 7th?floor a day after the Sunflower had bloomed, but in their current situation, they could arrive there a few days ahead. ¡°So let¡¯s thrust and bang the Power Spear into the head of the hibernating bastard!¡± Even if its body was several tens of meters long, the monster wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything if it was in hibernation. ¡°Wow, we¡¯ll really ¡®eat it raw.¡¯¡± ¡°So you don¡¯t like it?¡± ¡°No, I love it. ¡®Eating it raw¡¯ is the best. I want to ¡®eat it raw¡¯ every day. Please let me ¡®eat it raw.¡¯¡± ¡°Me too.¡± Jude and Cordelia looked at each other and broadly smiled, as the two hummed and exited the armory. In the morning three dayster, the two reached the 7th?floor after wiping out all the monsters that existed between the 3rd?and 6th?floors¡­and the giant White Snake that had terrified the entire Frost Anvil for a long time suddenly met a mysterious death. Chapter 46 - EPISODE 46 – SUNFLOWER (1)

Chapter 46 - EPISODE 46 ¨C SUNFLOWER (1)

Terms used in this chapter: Macgyver?¨C the title character and protagonist of the American TV series?Macgyver. MacGyver is shown to possess a?genius-level?intellect, proficiency in multiplenguages, superb?engineering?skills, excellent knowledge of?applied physics, military training in?bomb disposal?techniques, and a preference for non-lethal resolutions to conflicts. New Year¡¯s Eve bell?¨C In Seoul, a popr event is the bell-ringing ceremony at Bosingak Belfry on the New Year¡¯s Eve. ?People count down together to the New Year and the bell at Bosingak Belfry is struck 33 times to celebrate theing of the New Year. Form is temporary, ss is permanent?¨C a famous sports quote from Bill Shankly. It means that a yer¡¯s form (physical status, recent performance) is temporary and can change, but their ss (natural abilities, talents, skills) is permanent. I won¡¯t borate further about the quote, as it is mostly sports-rted, but in this chapter, the quote is used to mean that even if the enemy is exhausted, their natural abilities are still there (they¡¯re still strong). Leviathan, the great monarch of destruction who drove Frost Anvil into ruins, summoned the giant White Snake in hisst-ditch move. Solid scales that bounced off any weapon of the ancient dwarves, a poison strong enough to melt the body just by being near, and magical eyes that paralyzed anyone it made eye contact with ¨C the White Snake was the fall of Frost Anvil itself. Countless ancient dwarves lost their lives. However, they didn¡¯t just die powerlessly. After driving the White Snake into the deepest power room of Frost Anvil, they chose to die with the demonic monster. ¡®May our deaths be worth it.¡¯ The ancient dwarves destroyed Frost Anvil¡¯s temperature control system by making the magical power furnace runaway. As a result, Frost Anvil became a frozennd dominated by extreme cold as its name implies. ¡°And a thousand yearster. The White Snake had weakened in the constantly flowing passage of time. Its scales, which used to be an invincible shield, was no longer the same as it used to be, and its physical strength and mana had be so weak amidst its long hunger. And¡­the coldness of Frost Anvil was also better than before.¡± Because the Frost Anvil from a thousand years ago was truly a hell of extreme cold. The ancient dwarves who made the power furnace runaway would have be ice sculptures without ever feeling any pain. ¡°White Snake.¡± The demonic beast of Leviathan, the great monarch of destruction. The fall of Frost Anvil. A real monster that reached several tens of meters in length. ¡°But now it¡¯s just our experience.¡± In front of the White Snake with its partly destroyed head, Cordelia nodded and then stretched out her left hand as she started taking a selfie. It was a portable magic camera of the ancient dwarves that they had found along the way. And Jude said as he watched the scene. ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°Commemorative snapshot. Do you want to take a picture together?¡± ¡°I knew it already, but it still feels new seeing you have a strong stomach in such a strange ce.¡± She was an iparably beautiful girl who was pretending to be pretty and taking a selfie in front of a giant monster with a partially destroyed head. Nevertheless, the snapshot was important. Nodding his head, Jude quickly approached Cordelia and took a selfie together. ¡°It came out well. From now on, I¡¯ll take it every time I defeat a boss.¡± ¡°Well, what should I say¡­ It reminds me of a poacher who kills a lion and poses on top of it.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t this be poaching when you look at it broadly?¡± They killed a wild snake. Cordelia surprisingly agreed with him and nodded, while Jude was momentarily speechless before he just nodded his head. ¡°Now then, let¡¯s go and eat.¡± ¡°Yes, dad. What side dish are we having today?¡± ¡°Snake side dish.¡± ¡°It¡¯s always a snake!¡± ¡°My princess, you can¡¯t be picky, okay?¡± ¡°Hey, eating only snakes every day is a rather unbnced diet.¡± ¡°It can¡¯t be helped. We only have a snake to eat.¡± The monsters that existed between the 3rd?and 6th?floors were mostly humanoids like Snow Goblins. It was impossible for him to think of eating something humanoid, even if it was a monster. Though, he wouldn¡¯t know if he could do so when he had nothing else to eat. In the end, Cordelia had a long sigh, and as they walked towards the tent, which was their home, she asked Jude. ¡°Jude, Jude. When does the Sunflower bloom?¡± ¡°Tomorrow¡­it will bloom at exactly midnight today.¡± A few days have already passed since they killed the White Snake. At Jude¡¯s answer, Cordelia turned to look at therge flower located in the center of the power furnace. A Sunflower with apletely closed bud. In the original story, the Sunflower was literally a yellow and crimson flower, but now, it was a purple that is close to blue. ¡°I hope it blooms quickly.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°If you eat that, your Gueumjulmaek will be cured, right?¡± ¡°Maybe. I¡¯ll be almost cured, I think?¡± ¡°Just be well.¡± ¡°What are you going to do if I¡¯m healed?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll do everything that have been dyed then.¡± Cordelia hummed and stepped faster as they got closer to the tent. It was not an exaggeration to say that it was more of a house than a tent, because Jude had added various materials that he had gathered up to this point to make the tent. ¡®Because there¡¯s a dining room and a bathroom.¡¯ She didn¡¯t expect that Jude was really skilled with his hands. ¡°My nickname was the Korean MacGyver.¡± ¡°Who is that?¡± ¡°He is the main character of the ssic American drama that foreign kids love. You must¡¯ve heard of the song, right?¡± ¡°Song?¡± ¡°Tat tt~ tla~ tllll~l~l~ tla~ tla~ tla~¡± ¡°What is that?¡± ¡°O-okay.¡± When Cordelia¡¯s face became sullen, Jude who was unconsciously absorbed in singing, opened the dining room door with an embarrassed look. Since the entire Frost Anvil was like a refrigerator, it was a kind of heated room built to preserve the warmth of food. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s eat.¡± ¡°Yes, dad. It¡¯s not much but enjoy your meal.¡± ¡°Hey, I¡¯m the one who?set the table?¡± ¡°So reflect on it.?Come to your senses. I mean,?wake up.¡± ¡°I¡¯m dying from my illness.¡± T/N: These two like using puns. ??? (charida)?can both mean ¡®set the table¡¯ and e to one¡¯s senses.¡¯ Jude meant the first meaning, but Cordelia jokingly interpreted it as the second meaning. So in the next sentence, Cordelia used??? (gaksseong), which both mean e to one¡¯s senses¡¯?and ¡®awaken/wake up.¡¯ And then Jude pretended that he was dying because he was ¡®losing his senses¡¯ and no longer staying ¡®awake.¡¯ And the puns doesn¡¯t end here. ¡®I¡¯m dying from my illness¡¯ could also be read as ¡®I would rather die than suffer,¡¯ which is a Korean proverb. I won¡¯t exin the meaning of that proverb, as it doesn¡¯t make sense in their conversation. Well, their entire conversation was ¡®nonsense¡¯ in the first ce. The two exchanged nonsensical words as always, and they sat down facing each other on the table made by Jude and started eating afterwards. And that night, Jude and Cordelia squatted in front of the Sunflower after having taken a nap in advance. The two, who had big and shining eyes, waited for the moment when the Sunflower blooms. ¡°Not yet?¡± ¡°It¡¯s about time. Shall we count down?¡± ¡°It¡¯s like I¡¯m waiting for the New Year¡¯s Eve bell.¡± Somehow, Cordelia spontaneouslyughed as she looked at the seconds hand of Jude¡¯s pocket watch that he had taken out. Within a second, she opened her mouth again. ¡°5.¡± ¡°4.¡± ¡°3.¡± ¡°2¡­¡± The two counted down in abored and brusque manner as they stared at the Sunflower, and after they¡¯ve counted to two, they opened their mouths again and shouted. ¡°¡°1!¡±¡± The Sunflower¡¯s bud opened. The violet petals gradually turned yellow, and the bud itself began to have a faint glow like that of the moonlight. ¡°Wow¡­¡± It was beautiful. It couldn¡¯t even bepared to the blooming of tulips that she had watched all night long because she had to write an observation journal in elementary school. As the faint light gradually became stronger, the sight was like a sunrise lighting up the surroundings. ¡°Beautiful.¡± When Cordelia¡¯s bright eyes shined as she happily smiled, Jude saw Cordelia instead of the Sunflower, and he also smiled. ¡°Good, this would be a great help in curing my Gueumjulmaek.¡± ¡°Will you be eating that?¡± ¡°To be exact, I¡¯ll be absorbing its energy. You¡¯ve known it in the original story, right?¡± ¡°I know, but¡­it¡¯s somehow regrettable.¡± ¡°The flower will wilt in 3 days just the same.¡± ¡°Even so¡­¡± The Sunflower¡¯s blooming continued even during their conversation, and when it was finally in full bloom, the entire power room was filled with warmth. ¡°The flower of the sun.¡± The essence of an extreme Yang energy that rose in the extreme cold. Jude took a deep breath and walked towards the Sunflower, while Cordelia stood up but stopped in her ce and just stared at it. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°When I absorb the energy of the Sunflower, I probably won¡¯t be able to move for a while.¡± ¡°Should I doodle on your face?¡± ¡°¡­I¡¯d like you to refrain from doing it if possible¡­ Anyway, I¡¯ll be trusting you.¡± ¡°You can trust in this noona (elder sister). I will keep you safe.¡± As Cordelia thumped on her chest, Jude smiled and stretched out his hands toward the Sunflower. ¡°I trust in you, Cordelia.¡± Jude¡¯s two hands touched the Sunflower bud. And at that moment, the Yang energy of the Sunflower converged in Jude¡¯s hands. The Yang energy of the Sunflower reacted to the extreme Yin energy of the Gueumjulmaek. ¡°Aaah, aaaaahhhhh¡­.!¡± The moment when Jude let out a hot breath and yelled, the light burst. The warmth of the Sunflower prated into Jude¡¯s whole body once, and the blue and yellow energy mixed together and began to swirl in Jude¡¯s fallen body. ¡°The extreme Yin and the extreme Yang¡­¡± It was a phenomenon caused by the extreme Yin energy that gradually melted to the extreme Yang energy that was pushed inside his body by the Sunflower, andbined with the Sun¡¯s Ne¡¯s Yang energy too. ¡®Even if it looks dangerous, just leave it alone. It¡¯s the treatment process.¡¯ Recalling what Jude had said, Cordelia nervously gulped as she stood in ce and watched over Jude. Time passed, and it was around the time that the bored Cordelia had squatted and began to scribble on the floor. ¡®Wiiiiiing-!¡¯ An rm rang in her head. It was clearly the sound of the magic circle that Jude had installed in the several passages leading to the 7th?floor. Cordelia¡¯s mind cleared and she raised her head as she thought. ¡®Who could it be?¡¯ They had clearly hunted down all the monsters that existed from the 3rd?to the 6th?floor. Was there one that was hiding? Or is it somethingpletely unexpected? Now was not the time for her to worry. A new rm went off. It was proof that it was approaching to this ce. ¡°Jude.¡± The blue and yellow lights were still mixing and swirling. She couldn¡¯t even guess when it would end. Cordelia closed her eyes once. She took a deep breath and after a moment, she suddenly stood up and moved forward. Protect Jude. She would prevent whoever it was from even approaching the power room. Armed with the yellow work clothes of the ancient dwarves, Cordelia grabbed the Moonlight. She began to run and follow the sound of the rm. *** Farragut was not dead. All of thebatants and his colleague, witch Vilkay, died, but he was still alive. It was all thanks to his quick thinking at that moment. The moment the magical mes burst, he used Vilkay as a shield and destroyed the magic circle with all of his remaining energy. After Vilkay died, he absorbed her soul and remaining mana in the safety zone that he made with great difficulty. Of course, it was far from enough to fully recover his strength. Therefore, he also used thebatants who barely survived from the magic circle as his own nourishment. ¡®It¡¯s not the ancient dwarves.¡¯ These weren¡¯t traps nned from the time of design, as those were usually camouged into the surrounding area. These were new traps made by someone who added magic circles into the area. Because Sisioth would have gone on a rampage outside the Great Gate, Farragut moved a little further inside. And then he found it. ¡®The traces of a fire.¡¯ Traces were left everywhere of what seemed to be somebody camping. Leftover food scraps. Burnt firewood. A strand of long red hair found in a safety zone constructed from various objects. ¡°Kuku..kukukuku¡­¡± He involuntarilyughed. There was only one conclusion he could think of. He didn¡¯t know what methods they used, but Cordelia was already in Frost Anvil. After installing a trap on the first floor, they had moved deeper in search of the Sunflower. ¡®Then there¡¯s only one thing that I have to do.¡¯ Capture Cordelia. Kill Jude who was with her and absorb his strength. If the Sunflower is in bloom, absorb it too. Farragut followed their trail. From the 3rd?to the 6th?floor. It was not easy to find his way in the cold and dark Frost Anvil. But Farragut was not in a hurry. After patiently moving for several days, he finally reached the 7th?floor. And now they faced each other at this moment. ¡°Cordelia.¡± He saw the image of a beautiful girl with bright red hair. Farragutughed in satisfaction again. It was time to hunt. *** It wasn¡¯t as much as Jude, but Cordelia also knew a lot about?Legend of Heroes 2. So she could tell the moment she faced him. ¡®Demonic human Farragut.¡¯ He was the strongest among the low-ranking demonic humans of the Devil¡¯s Hand. The cold air seemed to be a lie, as a cold sweat ran along her back. Apart from her knowledge, her instincts knew it. Because her senses were telling her. ¡®He¡¯s strong.¡¯ Jude and Cordelia had defeated three demonic humans so far, but in reality, demonic human Minos was the only one they properly fought. And even then, they wouldn¡¯t have been able to win against Minos without the help of Bestin¡¯s magic circle, a magic circle close to a cheat. How would she fight him now? It wouldn¡¯t be easy too. Even if he was a low-ranking one, a demonic human was still a demonic human. They were the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s tactical weapons made bybining humans and demons. Moreover, the Farragut in front of her was stronger than Minos. He seemed quite exhausted ining all the way here, but as the saying goes, ¡°ss is permanent.¡± ¡®However.¡¯ She still had to fight. She must lure him away so that the aftermath does not affect Jude, who is stabilizing his body at the moment. Cordelia thought then on where they should fight. Farragut had a big build. On the other hand, Cordelia herself was slim. ¡®So why don¡¯t we fight in a ce with many obstacles?¡¯ She then rejected it. Farragut was a demonic human who boasted of a superhuman strength and was an expert in hand-to-handbat. He could smash at once the light obstacles, and the cramped ce would rather restrict her retreat. A spacious ce. A ce where Cordelia herself can make full use of her mobility. Cordelia didn¡¯t think. Instead of using reasoning like Jude, she used her intuition. And that¡¯s why it didn¡¯t take her a long time to make a judgment like Jude. At the moment her intuition worked, she started to move. ¡°All right!¡± Farragut shouted loudly and kicked the ground. At the same time, Cordelia moved forward with magic casted on herself. She had not yet used the Witch Transformation. If she had already used the Witch Transformation, which consumed a lot of mana, she wouldn¡¯t have the time to properly turn it offter. ¡°Hahaha! You¡¯re like a rabbit!¡± Farragut¡¯s mana became stronger. Cordelia did not look back, but she knew. He must have grown horns on his head. It was the demonization that Minos had showed. A state when the demonic human has drawn out its true power. A chill run up her spine while she was running. Farragut¡¯s powerful mana and malice seemed to be stabbing her back. Cordelia did not stop. Like a deer chased by a predator, she moved her feet endlessly. The map of the 7th?floor. No matter how hard she tried, Jude was abnormal for having thoroughly memorized it. However, Cordelia could also remember to some degree, a hunting ground that she had passed once. Arge room in the corner of the 7th?floor. She didn¡¯t know what it was originally used for, but it was a wide and spacious open area. She entered. It was dark. But the darkness didn¡¯t matter to her. And it was the same for Farragut. ¡°Hahaha! It¡¯s a dead end!¡± Like a rushing tank that broke the ground, Farragutughed aloud, and the brightness of his eyes shone even more. It was the eyes of the demonic human who saw through the darkness. Cordelia exhaled. Instead of being scared and cowering in vain, she activated the Witch Transformation. ¡°Pa-!¡± An intense mana wave rose in the air like a storm around Cordelia. Her hair was dyed ck, and her eyes glowed blue. Farragut¡¯s smile slightly cracked. It was because of Cordelia¡¯s mana which exploded the moment she triggered the Witch Transformation. ¡°Bring it on.¡± Cordelia said, and Farragutughed again. He then rushed towards Cordelia at a terrifying speed! Boom! A loud noise broke out. The floor and walls were smashed. It was a mere difference. Farragut¡¯s fist brushed past Cordelia¡¯s side and carved arge crack in the wall, and Cordelia activated the magic again. A triple casting that ovepped on herself. Regardless of whether the body can withstand it, no ordinary wizard had ever attempted it. Their reason was simple. They couldn¡¯t adapt to the speed of a triple . It was a speed that was too much for an ordinary human. But Cordelia did. And she adapted to it. Papapapapapapak! Cordelia moved at a tremendous speed. The physically adept demonic human Farragut also aimed for Cordelia by speeding up, but his attacks couldn¡¯t hit her. Cordelia wasn¡¯t just simply fast. She was reading Farragut¡¯s attack. ¡®How?!¡¯ They were in a high-speed battle. It was almost impossible to predict the next attack based on Farragut¡¯s own fine movements. And she couldn¡¯t do so, in fact. Even Jude wouldn¡¯t be able to immediately read the next attack in the fight against Farragut at the present moment. But Cordelia could. Because she didn¡¯t calcte it from the very start. An intuition beyond reasoning. A talent to get immediate results. Cordelia felt it. Farragut¡¯s attack. She had a hunch as to what kind of attack would be carried out next. Boom! Boom! Boom! The heavy pressure crushed the walls, ceiling, and floor. Cordelia danced like a butterfly under the rushing pressure like a storm. A breathtaking dance where she would likely be killed at any moment. If she allowed even a single blow, her small self would likely be crushed at that time. But Cordelia was not broken. She continued to dance like a butterfly in the storm. ¡°Foolish human!¡± Farragut¡¯s mana became even more violent. And he thought. Change tactics. If he can¡¯t hit her, then widen the scope of the attack. Even if it misses the mark, she will be caught up in the aftereffect of the attack. An attack to the side, not on a point. Cordelia felt it. And she interrupted Farragut in a way that only Cordelia could. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! A bee¡¯s sting was added between the butterfly¡¯s dance. In the midst of the breathtaking three-dimensional maneuver, a dozen magic missiles was added to the dizzying dance. Farragut¡¯s whole body was struck without mercy. ¡°Crazy?!¡± Farragut was astonished. It wasn¡¯t because of the magic missile¡¯s damage. ¡®Are you saying that you used dozens of magic missiles at the same time as you dodged while fighting against me?¡¯ She also didn¡¯t simply fire the missiles. Cordelia controlled the magic missiles. Farragut had goosebumps at that moment. A shudder rose along his spine. It was a crazy talent. Apart from being a quality sacrifice, Cordelia herself had an immeasurable value. If the girl continues to grow like this. If powerful mana is added to thatbat talent that could only be called crazy. ¡°Kuuooooh!¡± It was not the time for him to admire it. It sounded crazy, but Cordelia was getting stronger in the current battle. He materialized in reality something that would only appear in a heroic novel. ¡°Ga!¡± Farragut loudly shouted. It was sonic attack that overpowered all aspects. Cordelia¡¯s dance was stopped for a while because it was so effective. She faltered, and Farragut did not miss that opportunity. ¡°Die!¡± He no longer thought about capturing her. His all-out blow struck towards Cordelia. It can¡¯t be avoided. Blocking it was ridiculous. Cordelia realized it. So she opened her eyes straight and faced the fist. But his fist just went through her. She had rushed past Farragut as if she was a phantom! ¡®How?!¡¯ Farragut did not understand. But Cordelia understood it. No, she was aiming for it in the first ce. Because Jude was paranoid. Moreover, he was a rational person who valued efficiency very much. ¡®You will wear it.¡¯ Jude couldn¡¯t move while he¡¯s absorbing the energy of the Sunflower. It was much more efficient for her, the onlybatant, to use it. ¡®Fairy Steps.¡¯ Cordelia passed through Farragut and turned around beautifully. She stretched out her arms toward Farragut¡¯s empty back, and the remaining mana of the Witch Transformation was released all at once! Booooooom! The wave of red and clear mana swept not only Farragut, but also nearly half of the open area. The power was so strong that even Cordelia, who fired it, was greatly pushed back to a point. ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­haa¡­¡± Cordelia managed to avoid sitting down, and she roughly breathed as her sweat dripped. A mixture of red air and dust clouds obscured the view. In addition, it was unreasonable for her to see in the dark now that the Witch Transformation had been released. But Cordelia could tell. So she closed her eyes tightly. ¡°Nooo!¡± Farragut¡¯s whole body was covered in blood and he yelled in anger. In the midst of being hit, he exploded his mana to offset some of Cordelia¡¯s attack and somehow managed to endure and barely stand. He then rushed towards Cordelia and drew his fist. Smash. Crush that small body. Farragut madly felt pleasure in thinking of the time he¡¯d stain the pure white snow. And Cordelia raised her head again. She smiled unconsciously. Boom! The wall was broken. Cracks spread not only to the wall, but also to the floor and ceiling because of the attack¡¯s terrifying power. And that was it. Cordelia was not broken. Farragut¡¯s fist pierced only the air. ¡°I said I¡¯d carry you, didn¡¯t I?¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyes widely opened to that shameless voice, and she finallyughed. She faced and hugged the neck of the man who held her in his arms. And what was activated at that moment. Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors ¨C Second Door. No further exnation was needed. Chapter 47 - ENDING MAKER – EPISODE 47

Chapter 47 - ENDING MAKER ¨C EPISODE 47

Apparently, the series ended yesterday at 360 episodes, but the author said that they¡¯ll continue to post extras/side stories for the series. The point-of-view of this chapter was a bit confusing, so I?italicized?Farragut¡¯s thoughts to make it more understandable. And I kind of made up Sisioth¡¯s true name, from what little I could understand from the Hangul¡­ Jude Bayer. The second son of Count Bayer. He was the anguish of Count Bayer and was born into a famous family of warriors, but due to his chronic illness, he was unable to properly learn martial arts for the seventeen years of his life. These were the facts that the Devil¡¯s Hand knew about Jude, and there was nothing wrong about these facts. That was why Farragut was unable toprehend the current situation even more. ¡®How?¡¯ A gale rose just before his fist struck. A gust of wind took Cordelia away. A footwork skill. A flurry that rose high and was by no means ordinary. And Jude Bayer had used it. He was the anguish of Count Bayer, the fianc¨¦ of Cordelia, and someone who was sick all the time and could not learn martial arts because of his chronic illness¡­yet he be a gale and was able to save her. ¡®Did he hide his skills?¡¯ Had he been hiding the fact that he could use martial arts? For what reason? What the hell would he gain from that? Generally speaking, there was only one possible reason. He had recently learned martial arts. He began to train in martial arts after he became fit enough to travel. ¡®It doesn¡¯t make sense.¡¯ If I think about it, it was a couple of months at best. Are you saying that it is possible for a martial arts amateur to reach that level in just a couple of months? At the time when Farragut had fallen into confusion, Jude and Cordelia looked at each other instead of the demonic human who had lost his senses. It was impossible to properly see in the pitch-dark darkness, but nevertheless, the two could discern each other¡¯s faces clearly. ¡°For now.¡± ¡°For now?¡± ¡°Close your eyes.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia blinked her eyes. She wondered what his words meant. Normally, she would have understood it with her eyes, but it was so dark that understanding it was currently impossible. ¡®N-no way?¡¯ If she closed her eyes while she was hugging him¡­ ¡®That isn¡¯t true, right? We¡¯re in the middle of a fight, right? That¡¯s just ridiculous, right?¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s face turned light red as she tackled that in her mind, and she tried hard to keep calm before closing her eyes. And it was at that moment. Pa! Pa! Pa! Sharp high-pitched sounds rang one after another, and the darkness of the room disappeared at once. The light pouring down from the ceiling was so bright that they lost their sight for a moment. ¡°Ah! My eyes!¡± However, it was only Farragut who yelled and groaned. Cordelia had soon closed her eyes, and Jude was also prepared in advance because he had turned on the lights through the operation of a remote control. ¡°Aaaaaahh!¡± Farragut shouted angrily and wildly swung his fist randomly. Rather than an attack, it was a struggle to block Jude from approaching him. Instead of rushing to such a Farragut, Jude corrected his position of carrying Cordelia in the so-called princess hug, as he carefully observed him. And only then did Cordelia, who opened her eyes, said in a small voice. ¡°Put me down.¡± ¡°Not yet.¡± He couldn¡¯t because Cordelia was exhausted. He had not yet figured out what Farragut could still afford to do. And¡­ ¡°You!¡± At the same time he shouted, Farragut struck the ground and rushed like an angry bull. He rushed in a straight line. Cordelia instinctively crouched while Jude hugged her more tightly as he kicked the ground as well. Twenty-Four Gale Steps. The wind blew. A tiny but powerful whirlwind rose at the same time, and Jude became like the wind. Boom! Farragut¡¯s huge fist punched the innocent floor. Jude carried Cordelia while he run from Farragut for a long time, stopping almost 10 meters away each time as he watched Farragut. Widen their distance to each other. Instead of moving efficiently by dodging enemy attacks with little movements, Jude maintained more than a certain distance from Farragut, even if it was somewhat wasteful. There were two reasons. One was to ensure the safety of Cordelia, and the other was¡­ ¡°You little rat!¡± Farragut lunged at him again. And Jude became a gale again. And several attackster¡­ Jude had evaded all of it. Or rather, the expression ¡°ran away¡± was more appropriate. He kept a considerable distance as if they yed tag. And at some point. ¡°I¡¯ll put you down.¡± Jude said to Cordelia, and she blinked her eyes. Cordelia was neatly curled up in Jude¡¯s arms so as not to fall, and Jude added in a whisper. ¡°I think it¡¯ll work now.¡± Jude had observed him enough. He had entered the pattern in his head. Even Cordelia couldn¡¯t immediately understand what Jude was talking about now. But still, she somehow felt relieved. Because the current Jude was reliable. She really thought that it would work if Jude had said so. Before Cordelia could even answer, Jude carefully put her down on the floor. Farragut saw them both. He clenched his fist again and kicked the ground. Cordelia looked at Jude. Jude smiled at such Cordelia. It was a reversal. Jude turned around and used the Twenty-Four Gale Steps again. But he didn¡¯t run away this time. He headed straight for Farragut. And Farragut¡¯s attack came to naught. ¡°Ah?¡± The attack of Farragut itself was perfect. A straight punch loaded with superhuman strength. A simple but very quick powerful attack. But Jude diverted it. With a little bit interference, he made the attack¡¯s direction deviate as if he knew how the attack would stretch out. And it continued. Jude received all of Farragut¡¯s attacks. Not only did he evade and divert it, but he even stopped some of the attacks from even starting. How did he do it? It was a little different from Cordelia¡¯s sense. Cordelia instinctively sensed what kind of attack woulde and immediately responded ordingly. She used her intuition on Farragut. Jude was different. He didn¡¯t rely on intuition like Cordelia. ¡®He anticipated it.¡¯ There were clear limitations on the movements that humans with limbs could perform. Their individual habits also added to it. So a pattern was inevitably created. Moreover, Farragut was in a state of extreme exhaustion. Due to his injuries and fatigue, his attacks were simpler than usual. Therefore, Jude could anticipate the next attack. Farragut¡¯s next movement was caught and blocked in advance, as if he had run a simtion beforehand. It was something ridiculous. It seemed usible, but it was extremely difficult to implement it in reality. But it was possible for Jude. Due to his Cheonmujiche and the opening and understanding of the 2nd?door in the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, he made it possible. As a matter of fact, his excellent intelligence had gotten better. Hisputational power greatly increased. And Cordelia thought, while looking at such a Jude. ¡®Cheonmujiche is too much of a cheat.¡¯ If Jude had heard of her thoughts, he would have shouted that her intuition to reach a result at once without any calctions was a cheat itself. He would also have appealed that his current actions were a result of calcting all possibilities¡­or that¡¯s what Cordelia had thought so. And Farragut further burst into anger. ¡°Aaaahh!¡± From Cordelia to Jude. Who the hell are these bastards? Why do these bastards with pretty and handsome faces even have battle talents that could pierce the sky? Farragut could tell because he directly fought them. Jude was also a monster. Like Cordelia, he was fearful of what Jude would be when he grew up. ¡®I must kill him now.¡¯ Fortunately, he was not aplete monster yet. There was still a side that he could stab. Farragut gradually regained hisposure. Little by little, he borately attacked from the front, forcing Jude to tenaciously block it as he aimed at vital spots such as the neck and sr plexus. Farragut made Jude focus his attention on him. He had Jude pay attention to the defense of his vital spots like the sr plexus. He made Jude forget about Cordelia and be fully aware of him. Because if Jude had done so, an opportunity would be created! ¡®Cordelia!¡¯ Jude looked at Cordelia at that perfect moment. At the same time, Farragut also recalled the existence of Cordelia. It was for a moment, but the two simultaneously turned their eyes to Cordelia. And Cordelia¡¯s eyes blinked in front of the two. ¡°Eh?¡± ¡®Why me? Is there something on me?¡¯ At her lightly dazed and innocent look, Jude frowned while Farragut manicallyughed. ¡°How careless!¡± Did you think your fianc¨¦e would be ready for a fatal blow if you turned your attention? Yes, I admit your talents. You are monsters. You are geniuses. But you¡¯re still young. Youck experience. You¡¯re not yet there! Farragut loaded all his remaining mana into his fist. He drew his fist in an attempt to kill the flustered Jude. And at that moment. When Farragut had truly andpletely erased Cordelia from his head¡­ ¡°It¡¯s fake, you idiots.¡± In a quick whisper, Cordelia stretched out her hand hidden behind her back. In order to deceive the enemy, she had to deceive her ally too. . It was the witch¡¯s spell with a very simple name. But it was powerful. She had secretly prepared it during the deadlock between Jude and Farragut, and so, the spell flew like an arrow and prated Farragut¡¯s back. ¡°Kuaaaah!!!¡± Farragut screamed at the horrible pain. And Jude also moved. As he disced Farragut¡¯s fist, he poured out a series of attacks as swift as an arrow. Bang! Bang! Bang! He repeatedly struck Farragut¡¯s whole body with Lightning Punch and Lightning Strike Fist. Seeing the staggering man after being hit in the chin, Jude drew his fist again. This time, it was the turn of the God¡¯s Fist. The Holy Cross Punch. He struck Farragut¡¯s sr plexus. At the same time, Cordelia controlled the embedded on him and then clenched her fist. ¡°Kaaaaah!!!¡± The Dark de exploded inside Farragut. Not only did it tear apart his internal organs, but it even hit his spirit stone. ¡°Kuaaah! Aaaah!!!¡± The Holy Cross Punch blew away Farragut to the opposite side as he ended up hitting the wall. He then copsed to the floor, suffering from the attack¡¯s damage as he vomited blood afterwards. It was too much for him. The cracks that began from Farragut¡¯s sr plexus spread out to his whole body, and the tips of his limbs gradually became dust and disappeared. ¡°Ridi¡­culous¡­¡± He couldn¡¯t believe he was beaten by mere teenage rookies. He couldn¡¯t believe that even though he was a low-ranking demonic human, he waspletely defeated. But it was only for a short while. Farragut soon acknowledged his death. And once again, he burst into manicughter. ¡°Kuku¡­kuhahahahahaha!¡± He was dying. Now that the spirit stone was broken, there was no room for him to survive. But he wasn¡¯t alone. Cordelia and Jude would soon follow him in the end. ¡°You will die in despair and fear.¡± Sisioth held his ground in front of the only exit, the Great Gate. The unsealed demon was waiting for them. ¡°The demon of the de¡­you¡­¡± And at that moment¡­ When they heard Farragut, Jude and Cordelia exchanged nces and spoke in unison. ¡°If it¡¯s the demon of the de, is it Sisioth?¡± ¡°Is that so? It¡¯s enough for us if he¡¯s on the level of a low-ranking demonic human.¡± ¡°If it¡¯s Sisioth, it¡¯s wind attribute, right?¡± ¡°Yes, he¡¯s a demon that specializes in meleebat and transforms both his arms into des.¡± Although Farragut was in the midst of dying, he unknowingly had a stunned expression. What? Did I ever mention Sisioth¡¯s name? ¡°Seeing that you didn¡¯te together, did you release the seal?¡± ¡°Release the seal? Oh, right. He was sealed, right?¡± ¡°If he¡¯s unsealed, he must have gone mad.¡± What? Why do you know? How do you know the seal, and how do you know about the unsealed status too? ¡°It looks correct from his facial expression.¡± ¡°Uh¡­if it¡¯s Sisioth, we won¡¯t be able to win with our current level, right?¡± ¡°Normally but¡­if we reseal him, the chances of winning will increase.¡± ¡°You need to know its real name to seal it.¡± ¡°Yes, we need its real name.¡± Farragut felt like his emotions disappeared, but he soon carelesslyughed again. Yes, one way or another, it doesn¡¯t change that Jude and Cordelia would die. But he was wrong. Typing in the air, Cordelia asked in a cheerful voice. ¡°JudeWiki, what¡¯s the real name of Sisioth then?¡± ¡°Juncathergo Sisiono Zirvanston.¡± Because he was one of the few demons whose real name was revealed in the game. In response to Jude¡¯s answer, Cordelia looked back at Farragut to confirm, and Farragut answered Cordelia¡¯s question with a look as if he was possessed by a ghost. ¡°Looks like it¡¯s right.¡± ¡°Of course it is.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve thought about it before, but you¡¯re a bit like an uncle, you know?¡± Farragut was unable toprehend the current situation. What¡¯s going on? How do they exactly know Sisioth¡¯s real name? ¡°You know the sealing ceremony, right?¡± ¡°I know.¡± Why would you know that? But that was it. A crack spread all over Farragut¡¯s dying body, and Farragut left the world bearing a face full of questions. Shaaaaaaa¡­. As Farragut¡¯s body turned into dust and scattered, several rings of light appeared around the bodies of Jude and Cordelia. Three for Jude, and four for Cordelia. In an instant, a bright smile spread over Cordelia¡¯s face. ¡°Last hit! I struck the killing blow!¡± ¡°Are you happy?¡± ¡°I¡¯m happy.¡± Cordelia answered with a giggle, before feebly copsing like that. Because she really didn¡¯t have the strength to spare in standing now. ¡°Haa¡­my strength is gone.¡± ¡°What, did you faint? Should I give you artificial respiration?¡± ¡°Why would you give me artificial respiration, you crazy bastard. I¡¯m still breathing, okay?¡± At theid down and panting Cordelia¡¯s response, Jude smiled and approached her. ¡°Make a choice.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Should I give you a piggyback, or just carry you in my arms?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I mean, we have to go back for now. We must also take measures against Sisioth. And now that I¡¯m telling you, I haven¡¯tpletely absorbed the Sunflower yet, okay?¡± It was the truth. He had seeded in opening the second door thanks to the Sunflower¡¯s energy, but he had not yet absorbed all of the extreme Yang energy. ¡°Is that okay?¡± ¡°Well¡­the energy inside my body isn¡¯t going anywhere, so I can absorb it againter. And it can¡¯t be helped, right? Because our princess was in a dangerous situation.¡± ¡°Sob, sob, dad is the best.¡± ¡°So what¡¯s your choice?¡± Jude asked once again, and Cordelia gave an answer after a little hesitation. Chapter 48 - EPISODE 48 – SUNFLOWER (3)

Chapter 48 - EPISODE 48 ¨C SUNFLOWER (3)

Terms used in this chapter: Dolswe?(??)?¨C one of the popr male servant names of the Joseon dynasty in Korea. It is often used in Korean traditional or historical dramas. Princess Maker?¨C a series of life simtion games developed by Japanesepany Gainax. In this fantasy game, the yer raises a young girl (daughter) to adulthood, having her learn skills and gain personality attributes through attending sses and working part-time jobs. How she is raised will depend on the yer¡¯s actions and will decide what ending she gets. The best ending of course, is bing a princess or queen. I feel like the author yed this game so much because they have two series (Dungeon Maker, Ending Maker) with the ¡®maker¡¯ word in the title, hahaha. Ghostde?¨C This was previously tranted as ¡®Sword Noble,¡¯ which I thought was just part of Kamael¡¯s nickname. However, I found out today that it is based on a unique ss from the game?Dungeon Fighter Online. Because of that, all the previous trantions with the words ¡®Sword Noble¡¯ have now been changed to ¡®Ghostde.¡¯ ¨C Source:?Dungeon Fighter Online wiki Pair annihtion?¨C this is something physics-rted and is a reaction that urs when two opposing forces collide with each other, causing both to disappear and release energy. Yin and Yang are opposite forces/energies, so if these two arebined, it will cause total annihtion/extinction. ¡°Giddyap, giddyap! Run, run!¡± When Cordelia shouted cheerfully as she rode on Jude¡¯s back, Jude¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°Ma¡¯am.¡± ¡°What is it, Dolswe?¡± ¡°Please be conscientious and give me some carrots before telling me to run.¡± ¡°Carrot is bullsh*t. Rather than that, how about a whip? Don¡¯t you think I¡¯ll be good at it?¡± At Cordelia¡¯s words, Jude momentarily imagined Cordelia using a whip. Though the outfit was a little tight-fitting, he felt that it was quite fitting for an iparably beautiful girl. ¡°Hey, you¡¯re imagining something strange, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not true. Rather than that, my princess, this dad never raised his child to be like that.¡± ¡°Then how did you raise her?¡± ¡°Something like the?Princess Maker?¡± ¡°Congrattions. It¡¯s the Queen ending. She is very good at whipping. The time hase for you to be punished for luxuriously enjoying the money your daughter got from the part-time job you made her do.¡± ¡°We have returned.¡± ¡°We¡¯re back.¡± While they were exchanging their usual nonsensical conversation, they had arrived at the power room. Jude corrected his carrying posture again before asking Cordelia. ¡°Can you stand up?¡± ¡°I can, but since we¡¯vee all the way here, please carry me to our lodgings.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Though Cordelia was talking cheerfully, herplexion was pale. It was caused by her overworking herself. When Jude had a worried expression, Cordelia smiled and patted him on the back again. ¡°Let¡¯s go quickly, giddyap.¡± ¡°Neeeiiigh.¡± Jude danced to her tune and quickened his steps. And about a minute or so again. While lying down on the camp bed, Cordelia abruptly let out a smallugh. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just that I¡¯ve stayed here for a few days, but I felt relieved as if I hade home.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re a homebody. You were born with it, huh.¡± ¡°I am.¡± Cordelia giggled as she stretched her body once more before forcibly closing her eyes. She couldn¡¯t easily fall asleep because the immediate future was too serious. ¡°Sisioth.¡± ¡°The demon of the de. Wind attribute. A monster that specializes in meleebat and is famous for being outrageously wicked when the seal is released.¡± Originally, it was a demon that they met in the middle of the game when they directly confronted the Devil¡¯s Hand. But at the present moment, they were still early in the game. If they calmly looked at it, Sisioth wasn¡¯t an enemy that Jude and Cordelia could fight with. In terms of ability, they were stillgging behind Farragut. ¡°Out of the frying pan into the fire.¡± They were able to defeat the White Snake easily, but they now had to face Sisioth after Farragut. Jude said with a bitter smile as he consoled Cordelia. ¡°Even so, I know its real name and the sealing ceremony¡­or to be exact, the restriction control technique, so there exists a chance of winning. Moreover, if my guess is correct, there will be allies outside the door.¡± ¡°Count Hr?svelgr.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, because if you considered the situation, Farragut must have destroyed the seal on the Great Gate.¡± Count Hr?svelgr had installed arge seal on the Great Gate. In the original story, most of the monsters couldn¡¯t enter inside Frost Anvil because of the seal on the Great Gate. It was to the extent that some of them found a side road or a hidden road in order toe in. But this time, the situation was different from the original. The Devil¡¯s Hand, which originally should not havee and appear in Frost Anvil, hadpletely destroyed the seal on the Great Gate. ¡°If that seal is broken, the wizard would instantly know. Because the seal is that important. I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll send troops to investigate on what had happened here.¡± Furthermore this time, there was the incident of Jude and Cordelia¡¯s ¡®elopement.¡¯ From Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s perspective, the possibility that Jude and Cordelia had destroyed the Great Gate¡¯s seal would also be considered, so he had no choice but to send troops one way or another. Cordelia¡¯s expression became serious at Jude¡¯s words. It was not because she was worried about being involved with Count Hr?svelgr again. ¡°The damage will increase if he sent a few rangers to investigate.¡± Their opponent was the demon Sisioth after all. When Cordelia was worried about the possible casualties, Jude shook his head and said. ¡°It¡¯s all right. I¡¯m sure that Count Hr?svelgr would have realized the monsters¡¯ abnormal movements. He would have dispatched more than a certain size of troops.¡± ¡°Is¡­that so? That¡¯s a relief then.¡± Cordelia smiled as she felt relieved, and Jude smiled with her too, but he had other thoughts inside him. ¡®The damage must already be significant.¡¯ He must have dispatched ten or so rangers together if it was over a certain size of troops. And on that scale, they wouldn¡¯t stand a chance against Sisioth. He could reasonably guess the high likelihood that more than 10 victims have already been reported. If they met Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s forces outside the Great Gate, they would be the second dispatched unit, and not the first one. However, Jude held back this thought to himself. He¡¯d rather not disturb Cordelia¡¯s mind at the moment. ¡°Anyway, there is one thing that we need to do right now.¡± As Jude deliberately spoke cheerfully, Cordelia was influenced by his cheerful words and smiled too. ¡°Is it about the preparation for that restriction technique?¡± ¡°Yes, I have to do that too. But before that, we have to finish the power-up.¡± He hadn¡¯t been able topletely absorb the Sunflower¡¯s energy yet. At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia spoke and beat on her chest though she was lying down. ¡°I¡¯ll protect you this time as well. Trust in this noona.¡± ¡°Yes, but this time, you have to do it too.¡± ¡°Huh? Me too? Do I also have to eat the Sunflower?¡± Cordelia blinked her eyes, wondering what he was talking about, and Jude said after impulsively pinching her cheek. ¡°No, you¡¯re doing something else.¡± ¡®What are you talking about?¡¯ Cordelia thought as she then pinched Jude¡¯s hand that was pinching her cheek. *** ¡°It¡¯s the spirit stone of the White Snake. If I had to give it a name, perhaps it¡¯s?Snake Heart?¡± ¡°It somehow looks weak for a?Snake Heart, so let¡¯s just use?spirit stone.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Jude and Cordelia were looking at the red stone in front of the heart, located in the torso near its head, which was about one-fifth of the giant White Snake¡¯s body. It was the spirit stone of the White Snake that they had taken out of its heart. ¡°There¡¯s not much left as it had used up most of the stored mana for the past 1000 years¡­but it¡¯s still the spirit stone that the demonic monster of Leviathan possessed. It would be very much helpful at Cordelia¡¯s current level.¡± ¡°But in the original, wasn¡¯t it revealed that it can¡¯t be used?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, because it¡¯s the demon¡¯s spirit stone.¡± Using the White Snake¡¯s spirit stone was impossible for Lucas or anyone else. ¡°The demon¡¯s mana is poisonous to ordinary humans. Absorbing it can cause a major abnormality in the body¡­and in the worst-case scenario, they may be a demonic human and a demon¡¯s puppet.¡± ¡°It¡¯s amazing every time you speak like that. Like, how can you recite all that?¡± ¡°In any case, like what the lines ofpanion A said, the spirit stone is generally not absorbable. That is why it didn¡¯t drop as an item in the game after all. But Cordelia, if I¡¯m correct, you would be able to absorb it. Because¡­¡± ¡°Because of the Witch Transformation.¡± Cordelia nodded afterpleting Jude¡¯s words. She had often passed all the thinking to Judetely, but that didn¡¯t mean she wasn¡¯t thinking herself. The power of the witch, which is the source of the Witch Transformation, originally came from the demons. If she used the Witch Transformation, it would be possible for her to absorb the spirit stone¡¯s power. ¡°But just in case, if you feel that something¡¯s weird, stop right away. Okay?¡± ¡°Yes, dad. Don¡¯t worry.¡± Cordelia nodded her head after answering, as her hand then carefully touched the red stone which was about the size of a human head. She could feel the strong mana pulsating inside. ¡°Okay¡­it might be difficult right now, but I¡¯ll try it as soon as I transform into a witch.¡± ¡°All right, then I¡¯ll be going back to our lodging and finish absorbing the Sunflower¡¯s energy. If it¡¯s within my expectations¡­I¡¯ll be opening my eyes again by tomorrow morning.¡± ¡°So will your Gueumjulmaek be cured this time?¡± ¡°I would like it if that happened, but maybe not. I had stopped midway, so I have to absorb it again. It would be better if I had done it all at once, but it couldn¡¯t be helped.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s too bad.¡± ¡°Well, it would be closer to a state of being almostpletely cured. So even if you want to hit me, just be patient a little more, my princess.¡± ¡°What is this crazy bastard saying?¡± Cordelia kicked Jude¡¯s ass, but he easily dodged it using Twenty-Four Gale Steps. ¡°Then, let¡¯s meet again tomorrow morning.¡± ¡°Be strong ande back.¡± ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡± The two smiled and headed to their respective work. And that night¡­ Or more like, at dawn, when the morning approaches. After sitting cross-legged and reciting the mnemonic chant of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors while he absorbed the Sunflower¡¯s energy, Jude suddenly opened his eyes. He understood it. That was all that he could absorb right now. He could only absorb around 50 percent of the Sunflower¡¯s energy. But thanks to that, more than 70 percent of hisrge and small meridians, which had been blocked by Gueumjulmaek, were finally opened. His lower abdomen that housed his inner Qi became several times bigger than before, tripling the amount of inner Qi that he possessed. And there was one more thing that he gained from this. A voice was heard in his mind, like the times when he got a title. ¡°Yin-Yang¡­Body?¡± There were several unique physical constitutions in?Legend of Heroes 2. There was Cheonmujiche (Heavenly Martial Body), the manifestation of martial arts talent from the heavens. There was Ghostde, the absolute talent of swordsmanship that Lucas and Kamael possessed. There was Manbyeonsinche (Innumerable Illnesses Body), a constitution that lets one understand innumerable illnesses, which the main character Maximilian was born with. Although the name was strange, the performance itself can only be described as crazy. T/N: I¡¯m not 100% sure of Manbyeonsinche, and what it is capable of. Personally, I interpret that ¡®understand innumerable illnesses¡¯ part as him being immune to all diseases because his body ¡®understands¡¯ all diseases, thus giving him immunity. We¡¯ll just have to see in the future chapters if this is borated more. None of the yable characters were born with the Yin-Yang Body physical constitution. However, if one expanded it to the entire Pleiades, there is one more person born with the Yin-Yang Body. ¡®Archbishop Manu.¡¯ Landius¡¯ target and a powerful enemy who exerted a powerful influence throughout the entire?Legend of Heroes?series. Manu freely handled both of the opposite energies which a normal person could not use simultaneously. In particr, the spell, which deals both Yin and Yang energies to cause pair annihtion, was Manu¡¯s signature spell, and one of the strongest magic in the?Legend of Heroes?series. ¡®Yin-Yang Body.¡¯ A body that can freely handle the two opposing energies of Yin and Yang. Jude didn¡¯t know much about it right now, so he thought that it was necessary to study on how to use it first, but that didn¡¯t keep him from smiling though. ¡®Well, it¡¯s a trait that the final boss enemy has.¡¯ And isn¡¯t it the unwritten rule of RPGs for the traits/characteristics of final boss-ss enemies to be too overpowered/broken? ¡°This is good.¡± Yin-Yang Body and Cheonmujiche. He was a little sorry for Lucas, but acquiring the Sunflower event was a rewarding oue for him. ¡®Did Cordelia do well too?¡¯ Jude became curious and quickly looked at Cordelia¡¯s camping bed on the other side, but it was no different from yesterday. It seemed like she had spent the night outside. ¡°Cordelia?¡± Jude went outside as he repeatedly called her name, and afterwards, he finally found Cordelia. But instead of continuously calling her name, his face went nk as he stared at her. She was at the spot where the Sunflower bloomed. Cordelia was beautifully seated as if she had reced the Sunflower. Her ck hair fluttered like waves, and a soft blue light enveloped Cordelia¡¯s whole body. She looked at ease and had a small and faint smile on her face. She somehow reminded him of the witch¡¯s soul and the Fairy Queen, as her goddess-like elegance was unimaginable if it was the usual Cordelia. How many seconds has it been since Jude stared at her like that? The goddess opened her eyes. But instead of an elegant one, she spoke in a cheerful voice. ¡°Did you wake up?¡± ¡°Ah¡­I woke up.¡± When Jude answered rather awkwardly, Cordelia tilted her head, but she soon smiled and took a step after standing up. And at that moment, the Witch Transformation was released. Her hair color returned to a vivid red, and the blue light surrounding her whole body also dissipated. She was back to the usual Cordelia¡­or not. Jude could feel something different about her. ¡°Yes, something has changed.¡± Cordelia also said it. Jude opened his eyes wide at the faded appearance of the spirit stone, which had rolled about when she stood up. ¡°Wait a minute, did you really absorb it all?¡± ¡°Oh, it was a little difficult at first, but after some back and forth, it gradually became easier.¡± As Cordelia answered with a faint smile, Jude blinked again. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I feel like I¡¯m seeing a cheat character.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I wanted to say though?¡± No matter how you look at it, Jude¡¯s memory was a cheat. But Jude¡¯s words weren¡¯t wrong either. Cordelia was not only gifted inbat. Strictly speaking, thebat talent was from Cordelia¡¯s previous life, Yellow Storm¡¯s Hong Yoo Hee. The Cordelia of this life was born with an overwhelming ability to adapt to mana. Thinking that these two talents were added, Jude had no choice but to imagine something simr to Farragut. ¡®How much of a monster will you beter on?¡¯ Of course, the more she became a monster, the better for them. ¡®Because Cordelia is our monster.¡¯ The convinced Jude nodded his head alone, and Cordelia said while knitting her brows. ¡°It seems like you¡¯re imagining something strange, so I won¡¯t ask. Instead, when are we leaving?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll leave right away after having breakfast and a little rest.¡± ¡°What about the restriction technique?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll draw it after eating breakfast.¡± At Jude¡¯s reply, it was Cordelia this time who looked strange. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I feel like I¡¯m seeing a cheat character.¡± Cordelia knew it because she was a wizard. The magic circles that Jude usually drew were not something one could simply draw if they had a good memory. Understanding it was also needed together with memorization. Even though he was not a wizard, Jude had understood all theplex forms of the magic circles. ¡°Well, the more of a cheat character he is, the better for us.¡± Cordelia weakly mumbled, and she nodded her head as if she was convinced. On the other hand, Judeughed. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just¡­ Anyway, let¡¯s go and eat first.¡± ¡°Yes, dad.¡± And that afternoon. After finishing theirst meal at Frost Anvil, the two reached the 1st?floor lobby. Chapter 49 - EPISODE 49 – SUNFLOWER (4)

Chapter 49 - EPISODE 49 ¨C SUNFLOWER (4)

Farragut thought that there was only one entrance to Frost Anvil, which is the Great Gate, but that wasn¡¯t the case. There were several dog holes. And in one of them¡­ The moment they came out of the vent, Jude and Cordelia became nervous. The strong and rotten smell of blood irritated the tip of their noses. In front of the Great Gate, it was not an exaggeration to say that the bodies of many monsters had covered the entire snowfield. Fortunately, this was near Frost Anvil where the temperature was cold. If it had been elsewhere, they would have found it hard to breathe because of the rotting bodies¡¯ smell. And the demon stood there. Sisioth stood with his two ded arms hanging down, as if he was guarding the front of the Great Gate. On his skinny body, pitch-ck shells were connected in session, forming a shape that was like an armor. He remained motionless with his head slightly lowered, as if he fell asleep while standing. Although the restriction technique casted by the leader of the Devil¡¯s Hand had been released, that didn¡¯t mean that he waspletely free. Until his consciousness damaged by the Devil¡¯s Hand was restored, he stayed around the Great Gate, bringing death to all those who faced him. And on his opposite side. As Jude had expected, there were some people who could be considered as their allies. ¡°Are they¡­trying to seal him?¡± Jude nodded at Cordelia¡¯s question. About a dozen meters away from the quietly standing Sisioth, six wizards wearing the robes of the Guardians of the Holy Cross were maintaining the seal. However, that was only buying them time. Moreover, even that time seemed to be running out. ¡°It¡¯s the g of Count Hr?svelgr.¡± Jude turned his gaze following Cordelia¡¯s voice, and saw an outpost built some distance away. There were four knights of Count Hr?svelgr and around thirty soldiers. Instead of saying something, Jude closed his eyes once. Considering the general arrangements of Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s troops and the Guardians of the Holy Cross, it seemed that they had already suffered considerable damage as he had expected. ¡°Let¡¯s join them.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s words, Jude nodded. Technically, the Devil¡¯s Hand came here because of Jude and Cordelia. Of course, the two were also victims, so they did nothing wrong, but that did not mean they were free from responsibility. Hunt the demon. Knock it down. After all, it was a path they must pass in order to get to the perfect happy ending. And right at that moment¡­ ¡°It¡¯s going to break.¡± Cordelia abruptly said. Her intuition felt at that moment the slight change in mana. And right afterwards¡­ Jude pounced on Cordelia. He pushed her down to the ground and made her lie down, and at that same time, the air let out a howl. Cordelia¡¯s intuition was correct. The space between Sisioth and the Guardians of the Holy Cross copsed like breaking ss. The moment the invisible wall was destroyed, Sisioth swung his arm. One sh. A huge sh split the space. ¡°Get down!¡± Shouted someone from the Guardians of the Holy Cross. The knights moved and shouted too, but not everyone managed to react. Two of the Guardians of the Holy Cross who were near Sisioth lost their heads. None of the soldiers lost their lives because of the distance, but most of them were terrified, and couldn¡¯t move. The seal of the Guardians of the Holy Cross was broken. Sisioth began to move again. Out of all times, it had to be at this time. No, it was rather fortunate. If it had been before Jude and Cordelia appeared, everyone would have been massacred! ¡°Go!¡± Jude said to Cordelia who was under him. Cordelia responded, and Jude became a gale. Twenty-Four Gale Steps. Cordelia followed the whirlwind that Jude created, as she moved forward and unleashed the witch¡¯s power! ¡°Aaaahh!¡± Cordelia had activated the Witch Transformation. She had yelled out loud. Sisioth reacted with the destructive power of a demon. As he was about to deal a second sh, he turned to Cordelia, but a gale suddenly struck him. Demon Sisioth. He was notparable to demonic human Farragut. His physical ability was truly a wonder itself. Sisioth saw Jude. His pupils turned into slits, like that of a cat, as his yellow eyes caught the sight of Jude. ¡°!¡± Cried Cordelia. Sisioth wildly swung his second sh and Jude evaded it at a close distance. The sh was so fast that without Cordelia¡¯s , Jude wouldn¡¯t have been able to avoid it. ¡°!¡± Cordelia casted in session. Ovepping the use of was in a sense, poison. Not only did it ce a considerable burden on Jude¡¯s body, but it was also possible that like everyone else, Jude would be unable to adapt to the speed that had be too fast. And it was true for Jude. Jude was not Cordelia. It was too much for him to adapt to the speed that had suddenly elerated. So Jude calcted it. His own body. His movements. His speed. The trajectory he wanted to draw! Jude critically avoided Sisioth¡¯s attack. A smile spread over Sisioth¡¯s face, and Cordelia shouted again. ¡°Don¡¯t just watch!¡± At the same time as her cry, she activated her magic. Dozens of magic missiles rushed like a storm towards Sisioth, and the Guardians of the Holy Cross regained their senses at Cordelia¡¯s cry. They turned to each other and began to chant their spell. And Jude¡¯s Cheonmujiche shined. Because of Jude¡¯s calctions, he was able to adapt to the speed that had gradually increased. Their operation was simple. Narrow the distance. Cordelia or the Guardians of the Holy Cross somehow slows down Sisioth¡¯s movement. And Jude himself will strike and thrust the restriction technique on Sisioth¡¯s body. ¡°Kahahahahaha!¡± Sisioth burst into a fiendishughter and began to swing both of his arms simultaneously. Jude deliberately turned his back on the Great Gate, and more than ten attacks shed through the space where he had been, which then collided with the Great Gate. Kaaaaak! His shes were so sharp that several deep lines were drawn on the thick and hard Great Gate. Jude held his breath. Even the movement of exhaling or breathing was a luxury for the current Jude. He focused and concentrated again. His understanding of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors further developed with the opening of the second door, giving Jude a wider and more sensitive sense. The scary thing about Sisioth was the fact that his range of?Space-Breaking sh?was very vast. Therefore, it was rather bad to widen the distance. This is because if he deals Space-Breaking sh one after another, Jude wouldn¡¯t be able to avoid it. So Jude must fight at a close distance. He must create a situation in which he can avoid Sisioth¡¯s attacks one at a time. The spell of the Guardians of the Holy Cross waspleted. Dozens of golden chains stretched out toward Sisioth. Sisioth used Space-Breaking sh again. He rotated his body and split the space several times, breaking the golden chains. But that was enough for the two. Because Sisioth had turned around. Because he had attacked somewhere other than Jude. It was just a moment. It was too short a time. But there was someone who squeezed into that short time. Cordelia¡¯s cut through space. It flew at the right timing and prated Sisioth¡¯s blind spot. An explosion urred. It wasn¡¯t Cordelia. It was the result of Sisioth exploding the mana surrounding his whole body. The air shook. Cordelia¡¯s was crushed, and the Guardians of the Holy Cross and the soldiers standing far away were unable to withstand the aftermath and fell down. Cordelia clenched her teeth. The moment the was crushed, she withstood the rebound of mana andpleted another magic. It was the power she gained from absorbing the spirit stone of the White Snake. It could only be used at the moment when the eyes of her and the opponent met. Their eyes met. Because Sisioth had crushed the . Because the demon¡¯s mana detection identified who threw the . It was as she desired. As soon as her eyes met with Sisioth, Cordelia¡¯s blue eyes turned like that of a snake. She activated the , a power which the White Snake once possessed. ¡°Aaahh!¡± Cordelia screamed. Blood trickled down from both of her eyes. But Cordelia did not close her eyes. She forced herself to endure it. And the result was that Sisioth stopped. For a very short moment. However, it was infinitely longpared to the moment when Jude turned around to deal a blow. A whirlwind. There was a gale. A golden sh of light rose from the Power Fist covered with a sheet of paper inscribed with the restriction technique. ¡°Juncathergo Sisiono Zirvanston.¡± Said Jude. As he recited that very long name, Jude¡¯s fist reached Sisioth¡¯s chest. Cordelia eventually closed her eyes. She copsed, covering her eyes with both of her hands. But nothing happened to Sisioth. Jude had a bewildered look. Why is it not working? ¡°This should work!¡± As he tried to figure out why it didn¡¯t work, Jude spread out his palm. He raised his palm to the golden-colored restriction technique engraved on Sisioth¡¯s chest and shouted again. ¡°Juncathergo Sisiono Zirvanston!¡± ¡°Aaaahhh!!!¡± Sisioth screamed. The golden light engulfed him, and the terrifying mana he had on his entire body shrank in an instant. Jude swallowed his breath. He shouted as he pulled his fist. ¡°Cordelia!¡± The Holy Cross Punch exploded on Sisioth, and he couldn¡¯t respond properly because it was right after the restriction technique bound him. Sisioth¡¯s jaw turned to one side and Jude used the Lightning Punch in session. It struck Sisioth¡¯s whole body and Jude cried once again. ¡°Cordelia!¡± He called her. And Cordelia responded to him. With her eyes still closed, she stretched out her hand. While she was in the Witch Transformation state, Cordelia¡¯s ability to detect mana wasparable to a low-ranking demon even though it was still underdeveloped. She sensed the mana. She thrust it into the mana that she sensed there. The cut through space again. It prated into the back of Sisioth, who was being beaten up into a mess. ¡°Kuaaaahh!¡± Sisioth let out a shriek. And Jude pulled both of his fists. His next move was based on the Holy Cross Punch. Make a Holy Cross in both hands. Ovep the two Holy Crosses to raise the power more than twice. Double Cross Punch. The attack was great. But it didn¡¯t stop there. Just like Cordelia, Jude also used his newly acquired power. Yin and Yang. On his right hand, the Holy Cross emitted Yin energy. On his left hand, the Holy Cross emitted Yang energy. ¡°Uuoooooh!¡± Jude¡¯s two fists struck Sisioth¡¯s chest. Two Crosses prated his body, opposing each other as the two collided before finally exploding. Booooooom! It was notparable to Manu¡¯s spell, but the two energies of Yin and Yang collided with each other, creating a more destructive power than the Double Cross Punch. ¡°Gaak-!¡± Jude wasn¡¯t uninjured either. Both of his arms became hot red as if he was burned, and a streak of fresh blood flowed down his lips. But that was enough. Sisioth no longer moved. A ring of pure white light surrounded Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Did we kill him? Did I deal thest hit?¡± Cordelia was still sitting with her eyes closed, fumbling in the air as she asked, and Jude wiped the blood at the corner of his mouth and counted the rings of light. Five for Jude himself and four for Cordelia. However, Jude was a man who knew how to tell a white lie. ¡°Oh, you hit it. You got thest hit.¡± ¡°Nice! Last hit! Last hit!¡± It made her happy. Jude felt a strange sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu as he saw the appearance of Cordelia feebly copsing with a happy face, and he looked back. If he could, he wanted to appreciate the newly acquired title, but he had to prioritize handling something first. That something was the Guardians of the Holy Cross and the knights of Count Hr?svelgr. As he expected, they had mesmerized faces when he saw them, and one of Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s knights suddenly eximed. ¡°Jude Bayer! Cordelia Chase!¡± Jude nodded his head. It was just as the knight said. He was thinking of revealing their identities first before talking to them. But the knight¡¯s words weren¡¯t over yet. ¡°Crazy-¡­no, it¡¯s not that! It¡¯s?fantasy?couple!¡± T/N: There¡¯s a pun here. The knight was about to say ¡®hwan-jang-ui¡¯ (???), which means ¡®crazy.¡¯ However, what he wanted to say was ¡®hwan-sang-ui¡¯ (???) which means ¡®fantasy.¡¯ So he mixed up the ¡®jang¡¯ and ¡®sang¡¯ in both words. This pun continues in the conversation of the knights after this note. ¡°Gasp! For real?¡± ¡°They¡¯re the very?crazy?couple?!¡± ¡°Fantasy, it¡¯s?fantasy. The young master warned us to be careful with those words.¡± ¡°Ah,?fantasy. Yes,?fantasy.¡± What the hell was their conversation? And is Lucas the young master they¡¯re talking about? ¡®Lucas?¡¯ What the hell did you say to them? And ¡®crazy couple.¡¯ What is that? You warned them to be careful about it because they got confused too often? ¡°Ahem, ahem, my name is Phil Reiner, Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s knight.¡± One of the knights who seemed to be their leader came forward, and then a woman from the side of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, who quickly came to their senses, also spoke to Jude. ¡°I¡¯m Joan from the Guardians of the Holy Cross.¡± Phil Reiner was a big knight who looked to be in his early thirties, and Joan was a woman in herte twenties with such gorgeous golden hair that it was disappointing for her hair to be just short. ¡°¡­as you know, I¡¯m Jude Bayer. I¡¯d like to talk to youter once I take care of my fianc¨¦e first.¡± There were also victims on the side of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. All of their groups needed time to settle things first. Jude ran to Cordelia, and one of the knights who saw them, spoke again. ¡°A couple of the century who would die if they cannot live with each other¡­! That¡¯s what the young master said. It¡¯s just as the young master said.¡± Lucas. What the hell did you say to them? Jude only looked forward as he repressed the urge to look back, and soon, he saw Cordelia covering her face with both hands and expressing her embarrassment with her whole body. Chapter 50 - EPISODE 50 – FANTASY COUPLE

Chapter 50 - EPISODE 50 ¨C FANTASY COUPLE

Dad?is now?Daddy?¨C someone pointed this out, and ¡®daddy¡¯ does make more sense than ¡®dad¡¯ in the context of this chapter (because of its childish and sexual connotations). Northern Barbarians¡¯ Great?Attack?¨C I changed ¡®Attack¡® to ¡®Invasion¡® as it was an invasion and not just an attack. After defeating Sisioth, the story went as Jude had expected. First was the reason why the Guardians of the Holy Cross and Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s knights were here. The Guardians of the Holy Cross had detected the awakening of the demon and thus dispatched some of their troops. As for Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s troops, they were the second unit dispatched after the annihtion of the first unit that was dispatched first, as Jude had predicted. ¡°We entered Frost Anvil to obtain the Sunflower and were attacked by the Devil¡¯s Hand. But we were able to get the demon¡¯s real name and the restriction technique from them. These were the things they used to control the demon.¡± It was Jude¡¯s smooth response to Joan¡¯s question on how he knew the real name and the restriction technique. He did not forget Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s knight either. ¡°I apologize that we¡¯ve caused a lot of trouble to Count Hr?svelgr. We obtained the Sunflower and my illness has improved, so we¡¯ll be going to Count Hr?svelgr ourselves to talk about what had happened and ask for his forgiveness.¡± Phil Reiner just nodded his head at Jude¡¯s words that he said effortlessly again. Because he had nothing else to say to Jude. ¡®After all, they were not the knights who were looking for me and Cordelia.¡¯ From Phil¡¯s standpoint, Jude and Cordelia were their benefactors who suddenly popped out and saved them. He was just grateful and had no such dissatisfaction towards them. So he was just thinking of finishing things up and going back to Thunderdoom, as he really didn¡¯t have any idea on what to do with Jude. But Joan seemed to have different thoughts. ¡°Mr. Bayer, would you like toe with us?¡± It was an invitation to the Guardians of the Holy Cross. In the original story, it was an event that urred after being involved with the Guardians of the Holy Cross several times, but Jude shook his head for the time being. ¡®Going to the Guardians of the Holy Cross is good, but we have to do something about the Northern Barbarians event first.¡¯ They also had to save Lena. ¡°I think we should visit Count Hr?svelgr first. I would be handing over the restriction technique that we got, so I¡¯d like to postpone our visit to the Guardians of the Holy Cross for now.¡± ¡°¡­I see. Our side will contact you again then.¡± Joan said with a look of regret, and with that, their talks were over. ¡°Then I will go back to take care of my fianc¨¦e, Lady Cordelia. You said that the departure is on the morning the day after tomorrow, right?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s the n. Although you¡¯ve already told us some things¡­we still need to do some investigation ourselves.¡± ¡°I understand. Then I¡¯ll be going back. Have a good night.¡± After finishing his words with a smile, Jude left Phil¡¯s tent. ¡®Hmm¡­the morning on the day after tomorrow.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t bad. Rather, it was even a perfect time. Jude nodded alone as he looked inside the tent. There was a new tent added to the several existingrge tents set up here. ¡®But I¡¯m d.¡¯ Because none of the soldiers were dead. Although there were some victims from the Guardians of the Holy Cross, it was good to say that they did quite nicely in fighting against the enemy. Of course, listening to their story, the sacrifices were already significant. Particrly in the case of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, six out of nine died, and only three survived, as many people died while trying to seal the movement of Sisioth. However, it could be said that they were still fortunate. When Sisioth went on a rampage in the original story, dozens of people from the Guardians of the Holy Cross and nearly a hundred soldiers died. ¡°Huuu.¡± But counting people by number also made him feel bitter. Jude thought of the old days for a while, sighing before he headed to the tent where Cordelia was waiting. ¡°Is that you, Daddy?¡± As soon as he entered the tent, he heard Cordelia¡¯s cute voice. She was lying down on a camp bed, with a bandage around her eyes. Jude reflexively looked around, before saying in a small voice. ¡°Hey, hey, what are you going to do if it¡¯s not me?¡± ¡°What am I going to do¡­you¡¯ll be rumored to be a pervert who makes his fianc¨¦e call him ¡®Daddy.¡¯¡± ¡°Uh¡­wouldn¡¯t that be bad for both of our reputations?¡± ¡°I¡¯m kidding, I¡¯m kidding. I knew that it was you.¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°Umm¡­just by feeling?¡± ¡°That¡¯s quite consoling.¡± As Jude spoke with a sour face, Cordelia burst into a giggle. ¡°Anyway, did you have a good conversation?¡± ¡°Yes, I did well. Rather, are you all right?¡± ¡°I¡¯m all right. I¡¯ll be all right. The Guardians of the Holy Cross also took a look at me earlier, and they said it¡¯s just a little strain.¡± The White Snake¡¯s Evil Eye. It was Cordelia¡¯s newly acquired power in Frost Anvil. Even though it was a low-ranking demon, it was powerful enough to overpower the demon who was at its peak and running wild. ¡®But still¡­¡¯ Later on, if Cordelia¡¯s mana bes stronger, she could use it without difficulty, but for now, it was too much for her. Moreover, it was a skill that causes strain not only to her eyes but in other parts of her body too, so he couldn¡¯t help but get worried. ¡°Don¡¯t overuse it.¡± ¡°Oh my goodness, are you worried about me?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m worried.¡± As Jude¡¯s voice became serious, Cordelia¡¯s lips cringed for a moment before she snorted. ¡°Hmph, the sun will rise in the west tomorrow.¡± ¡°Hey, isn¡¯t your face red now?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not red at all.¡± While saying that, Cordelia lightly touched her cheeks. Jude smiled a little again before he approached Cordelia¡¯s side. Then Cordelia, who felt his presence, suddenly sat up and fumbled in the air as she said. ¡°Um, Jude.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Come over here and hold my hand.¡± ¡°Hand?¡± ¡°Yes, my hand.¡± Jude wondered on what was going on all of a sudden. However, Cordelia¡¯s expression was quite serious, so Jude approached withoutint and grasped Cordelia¡¯s hand. ¡°I¡¯m holding it.¡± ¡°Yes, I caught it, you bastard.¡± Cordelia suddenly raised her voice, pulled Jude¡¯s hand, and she began randomly hitting Jude with her empty left hand. ¡°Hey! Hey! It hurts! It hurts!¡± ¡°It hurts when I hit you? Hey, did you think I wouldn¡¯t know? You¡¯re the one who got thest hit, right? Right?¡± ¡°N-no!¡± ¡°No sh*t!¡± Even though she couldn¡¯t see, herbat sense remained, so Cordelia hit him exactly where it hurts. ¡°H-how?¡± ¡°Because the feeling was vague.¡± ¡°Feeling?¡± ¡°Yes, there¡¯s a unique feeling when I get thest hit, but it wasn¡¯t there.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s words, Jude¡¯s face became nk. Feeling. He couldn¡¯t believe she noticed it just because she didn¡¯t have that unique feeling she usually got when she dealt thest hit. ¡°Cordelia, you¡­¡± ¡°What about me?¡± ¡°Are you an animal? Are you not a human?¡± ¡°Woof! Woof!¡± Cordelia barked like a dog and hit Jude more, and Jude was convinced. He didn¡¯t know if there was anything else different, but he was sure that Cordelia¡¯s?feeling?(instinct) was on the level of an animal. ¡°Haa, moving on. There is one more thing I wanted to say.¡± Cordelia said, having been tired of hitting him for some time, so she lightly stretched her shoulders and let go of Jude¡¯s hand. Jude quickly removed his hand in reflex before he asked. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t do that from now on. And don¡¯t even think about giving up thest hit.¡± ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°Because it¡¯s a real fight at stake. Defeating the enemy is definitely more important than anything else. Do you understand?¡± ¡°¡­okay, I understand.¡± Jude nodded at her unthinkable maturity, and Cordeliaughed again. ¡°Of course, that doesn¡¯t mean that I will give up aiming for thest hit. I will gain it with my own hands.¡± The way she grinned and clenched her fist was very charming. As Jude unknowingly stared at her nkly, Cordelia pretended to notice something with her unique feeling again. ¡°Why? Did you think that you fell in love again?¡± ¡°No, I never fell in love in the first ce though?¡± ¡°Yes, Daddy. If you insist.¡± Cordeliaughed as she lied down before continuing her words. ¡°What happened to your talks anyway?¡± ¡°They said we would be leaving in the morning the day after tomorrow.¡± ¡°Then we¡¯ll have to run away tomorrow night at thetest?¡± ¡°That¡¯s correct.¡± They couldn¡¯t go back to Count Hr?svelgr now, even though he had sweet-talked in front of Phil. ¡®The great invasion of the Northern barbarians¡­¡¯ There were still a couple of months left until the start of Jude¡¯s main scenario, but it would be toote to wait until then. Jude and Cordelia were going to twist Jude¡¯s main scenario, ¡®The Northern Barbarians¡¯ Great Invasion,¡¯ from its very roots. ¡®We can do it.¡¯ At this point, intervention was still possible. The development of the main scenario was as follows. And of barbarians existed across the border guarded by the Jackdaws. The barbarians who lived there weren¡¯t actually one. They were divided into dozens ofrge and small tribes, among which there was a tribe called Angry Bull. A tribe that is neither weak nor strong, and whose power is just in the middle. On a blizzard day, a prophet covered in rags visited the Angry Bull tribe and said. ¡°A great king wille from the Angry Bull. He who will be king, receive the power of the great one and sweep the world.¡± The chieftain of the Angry Bull tribe epted the words of the prophet with a mysterious power as correct and prepared the requested ritual to receive the power of the great one. ¡°It was a story where the Angry Bull tribe that had grown so strong, unified the barbarians under one leadership and moved southwards, right?¡± ¡°Yes, the prophet was a demonic follower, and starting from the Angry Bull tribe, all of the northern barbarians were corrupted by the power of the demon¡­it was such a story.¡± Even in the whole?Legend of Heroes 2, it was a very important event. Not only did the invasion brought down the northern borders of the S?len Kingdom and killed countless people, but it also sprawled demonic followers in every corner of the world. ¡°The Devil¡¯s Eye.¡± They were the group of demon followers who were behind the prophet. If the Devil¡¯s Hand served Asmodeus, the great monarch of lust, the Devil¡¯s Eye served Belial, the great monarch of corruption. ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking about it in the past, but don¡¯t you think the names of their organizations are too roughly named?¡± ¡°You¡¯re not the only one who feels that way.¡± Because it wasn¡¯t just the hands and eyes of the devil. Among the groups of demon followers that will appear in the future, there was also the Devil¡¯s Mouth and the Devil¡¯s Horns. ¡°Regardless, the best way is to prevent the invasion itself. In other words¡­¡± ¡°We prevent the unification of the barbarians itself?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s correct.¡± The barbarians had to be unified first before they could invade. And the way to prevent the barbarian invasion was simple. ¡°We need to create an opposing force that canpete against the Angry Bull tribe.¡± ¡°It¡¯s quite simple.¡± ¡°Well, if you start from zero, attempting it would honestly be difficult, but you also about know that, right? The fact about the unfortunate hero.¡± ¡°Red Wind¡¯s father.¡± Red Wind was the only barbarian among the yable characters. Red Storm, her father and the chieftain of the Great Storm tribe, was an outstanding hero who was not corrupted and resisted the demon¡¯s temptation to the very end. In the original story, he faced a tragic death when he was still alive. So they needed to keep him alive. They would make him stand tall as the hero of the barbarians who would confront the corrupted barbarians. ¡°If we seed, we will be able to drastically change the flow of the original story.¡± ¡°That¡¯s exciting.¡± Just imagining it was quite satisfying. Moreover, they also had a very desperate reason this time. ¡®Because if it followed the original story, my father and her father will die in the great invasion too.¡¯ Count Bayer and Count Chase. Jude recalled the two people for a while, especially Count Chase¡¯s face, and he clenched his fist. ¡°We must save them.¡± ¡°Yes, we have to save them. We will be able to save them.¡± When Cordelia nodded with a bright face, Jude suddenly grasped Cordelia¡¯s hand again. ¡°In order to do that, there is something that is absolutely necessary.¡± ¡°Wh-what is it? Is it something that we can do by holding hands?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not that.¡± Jude withdrew his hand and brought his face closer instead as he said. ¡°To save Red Storm, we must cross the border and head to thend of the barbarians.¡± ¡°I know, in order to do that, we must meet Red Wind who had secretly went south in search of a drug to cure Red Storm¡¯s illness.¡± Cordelia answered as she slightly moved her head away from Jude, while Jude immediately continued. ¡°Yes, so in order to do that, we have to get out of here first.¡± At this point, Cordelia had no choice but to notice it. What Jude was trying to say to her. Or rather, what Jude was iming to be necessary now. ¡°Wait, wait, wait, wait.¡± ¡°Yes, wait.¡± ¡°You need a letter now, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°We can¡¯t just vanish into thin air, right? We have to leave a story about being healthy after eating the Sunflower.¡± ¡°Okay, good. Up to there, I can understand. But this time, I don¡¯t necessarily have to be the one to leave it, right?¡± ¡°Well, that¡­¡± ¡°Besides, I¡¯ve already left a record, right?¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem, it¡¯s just as you say.¡± As Cordelia had said, it was not necessary for her to leave a letter. ¡°Actually, your reputation is almost established and irreversible already.¡± ¡°Hmm? What?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing.¡± With a shameless smile, Jude said to Cordelia who tilted her head. ¡°Well then, shall I write it this time?¡± ¡°Yes, you write it. You must write it. Okay?¡± ¡°Well¡­then. I¡¯ll write it this time.¡± ¡°Hehe, how exciting.¡± He should try it too. Cordelia smiled so brightly, and Jude shrugged with a poker face. And the day after tomorrow. As nned, the two had escaped from Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s camp and stopped for a moment on a snowfield devoid of other humans. ¡°Good, good. In a little while, people will find the letter, right?¡± ¡°Yes, they will.¡± It was a letter from Jude. The contents were as follows. ¡°Dear Lord Lucas, I will further continue my honeymoon trip with Lady Cordelia, whom I dearly love more than my life. Please do not worry too much, because I¡¯ve gotten healthier from eating the Sunflower. We are also very sorry to have troubled Count Hr?svelgr because of our reckless behavior. P.S. I am really happy now.¡± As Jude recited the contents of the letter with a wretched face, Cordelia excitedly jumped from her spot. ¡°So?good, it¡¯s so much?good.¡± ¡°Is it so much?good?¡± ¡°It¡¯s so much?good!¡± ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t know that you?love?me so much¡­¡± ¡°What is this crazy bastard saying?¡± T/N: Pun again. Jo-ta (??) can both mean ¡®good/nice¡¯ and ¡®in love with/fond of.¡¯ ¡°Well, moving on. If the Madam is satisfied, this Dolswe is simply happy. There is a long way to go, so let us hurry up.¡± Jude who had spoken so far in a splendid acting like that in a y, began to take the lead afterwards. And Cordelia thought as she looked at the back of such a Jude. ¡°Something isn¡¯t right.¡± It was what Cordelia herself had expected. ¡°Aren¡¯t youing?¡± ¡°I¡¯ming!¡± Cordelia yelled at Jude who was already far ahead, as she pouted her lips before hurriedly stepping forward. Chapter 51 - EPISODE 51 – INTERSECTION (1)

Chapter 51 - EPISODE 51 ¨C INTERSECTION (1)

Terms used in this chapter: Lankebuste?¨C this is something I made up. There are simr words to it in German or Norwegian, but they¡¯rebinations of twopletely different ces/words. In German, there¡¯s Lanke + B¨¹ste, while in Norwegian, there¡¯s L?nke + buste. I¡¯ve considered using the Norwegian one as Hr?svelgr and Vedrfolnir are Norse in origin, but frankly, I¡¯m toozy to type ¡®L?nkebuste¡¯ every single time, so ¡®Lankebuste¡¯ it is. No more diacritics or ents please. Demonic humans Farragut and Vilkay died, and the demon Sisioth was extinguished. Demonic human Saluzia, who oversaw the northern branch of the Devil¡¯s Hand in the S?len Kingdom, stared at the Demon Record with a stunned face. ¡°No way.¡± The Demon Record recorded the names of the demons and demonic humans that belonged to the Devil¡¯s Hand, and it also had a special function. If a demon or demonic human that was recorded in it was extinguished or killed, a red line was drawn in the middle of their name. Saluzia stared at those red lines that remained the same no matter how many times she looked at them. ¡®They failed? No, were they exterminated?¡¯ There were two demonic humans and one demon, and even close to a hundredbatants. It was generally impossible. Could it be that the iron man, Landius, had appeared once again? No, that couldn¡¯t be. The iron man¡¯s trail was found in the center of the S?len Kingdom. He was not in the north now. ¡®Jude Bayer and Cordelia Chase.¡¯ There was something about the two of them. If she only considered their skill, the possibility that they extinguished Farragut, Vilkay, and Sisioth waspletely zero, but she couldn¡¯t ignore the connection of the two. In the first ce, the troops were dispatched to aim for the two. ¡®There is no such thing as a god of disaster.¡¯ As she thought about it, five demonic humans have already died because of those two. On top of that, up to two hundredbatants and one demon died too, so the damage caused by them was very serious. ¡®It cannot be like this.¡¯ They had suffered so much damage. Moreover, since she failed three times in a row, there was no way that the other executives would stay still. They would somehow disparage and harass her. It wasn¡¯t the only thing that she was afraid of. Because there was something else that truly scared her. ¡®What will the leader think of me? If she thinks I¡¯m useless and drive me out¡­¡¯ Just imagining it was horrible. Being alive would be painful for her as she thought of their leader looking at her with eyes full of scorn. ¡®I have to somehow make up for it.¡¯ Recovering was already impossible. The expression ¡®settlement¡¯ was more appropriate. Capture Jude Bayer and Cordelia Chase alive. Give those two young ones hellish pain. Sacrifice them to summon a demon much more powerful than Sisioth. ¡°Haa.¡± Saluzia closed her eyes. She closed the Demon Record and stabilized her breathing before slowly getting up from her seat. ¡°Kanos.¡± ¡°Yes, Master Saluzia.¡± Kanos¡¯ answer came back quietly in the pir¡¯s long-casted shadow. Saluzia continued to talk as Kanos prostrated on her feet. ¡°Find the whereabouts of Cordelia Chase. This time, I will move myself. We will mobilize all the power of the northern branch.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± Even Kanos recognized the seriousness of the situation, so he didn¡¯t say anything else. The only exoneration given to Saluzia and himself was to capture Jude Bayer and Cordelia Chase regardless of the means or method. Saluzia looked away from him. She red towards the north where Frost Anvil was located. *** ¡°Thank you for your hard work. Take care of yourself.¡± ¡°Yes sir, yes ma¡¯am. Thank you for employing me.¡± They were in the entrance of Lankebuste, thergest trading city in the Hr?svelgr territory. At the first alleyway after passing through the gates, Jude and Cordelia handed over to a big man hispensation. He was a man living in a vige near Lankebuste, and they had met him yesterday and hired him for a day. ¡°Please keep it a secret.¡± ¡°Of course I will. Even if a knife is held to my throat, I will keep it a secret.¡± The man thumped on his chest and guaranteed it, beforeughing as he left the alley. And Cordelia said. ¡°He won¡¯t keep it a secret, right?¡± ¡°If someone asks him in exchange for a bit of money, he¡¯ll tell it. It¡¯s okay though. It¡¯s not the kind of information that you can actively sell.¡± There was nothing else to be noticed, except the fact that they were a very pretty woman and a handsome young man. Moreover, the two were currently in disguise. ¡°Will we be seen as a brother and sister because of our simr hair color?¡± ¡°When our pursuers listen to the hearsay, they will shake even the smallest information about us. So having a disguise is better than having nothing.¡± The two had dyed their hair in the same brown color and had pretended to be siblings. ¡°Count Hr?svelgr will be looking for a young man and woman. So if you add one more person to our party, it would be hard for them to properly find us.¡± It was the reason why they hired a young man from the neighborhood, so that they could pass through the gates together. ¡°Will they really be fooled so easily?¡± ¡°We are two people who will die if we can¡¯t live together. Take a step back and think about it. How many times do two people who¡¯ve run away from home, saying that they¡¯ll go on a honeymoon trip, will include another person on their journey?¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia thought about it, and she was convinced eventually. ¡°I understand, but it just feels sad.¡± It was about their reputation in public. ¡°Me too.¡± Jude was behind the creation of that reputation, but he nodded his head in agreement too before continuing talking about something different. ¡°Well then, let¡¯s hurry. There¡¯s a high likelihood that the Devil¡¯s Hand will move again.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­.wouldn¡¯t Saluzia move herself if we had caused this much damage to them?¡± ¡°It¡¯s highly likely.¡± She was a high-ranking demonic human who¡¯s in charge of the northern branch, and one of the six executives of the Devil¡¯s Hand. Cordelia remembered her for a moment, and then held the back of her neck as she said. ¡°You know what?¡± ¡°Yes,?what?¡± ¡°We¡¯re getting stronger much faster than in the game, but the enemies are also getting stronger much faster¡­or rather, that¡¯s the feeling that I get.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not just your feeling, as it¡¯s correct. And perhaps, this situation will continue to happen in the future.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Why? Because we¡¯re defeating the people whom we are supposed to lose to and breaking the flow of the original story because we got ahead of the situation.¡± They defeated demonic human Minos in order to neutralize the kidnapping attempt of the Devil¡¯s Hand, and as a result of defeating several demonic humans of the Devil¡¯s Hand, they were in a situation where Saluzia was forced to appear much earlier than the original story. Perhaps this phenomenon will continue in the future. ¡°Out of a frying pan into the fire.¡± ¡°So we have to get stronger quickly.¡± ¡°Sob, sob, but what do we do if Saluzia trulyes at us? We can¡¯t beat her if she¡¯s a high-ranking demonic human.¡± Cordelia¡¯s worries were reasonable. Therefore, Jude nodded and replied in a rather serious tone. ¡°It¡¯ll be fine if our travel schedule is not too slow. Thend of the barbarians beyond the border is the realm of the Devil¡¯s Eye. Even the northern branch¡¯s head of the Devil¡¯s Hand will not be able to chase us beyond the border.¡± The Devil¡¯s Hand and the Devil¡¯s Eye were rival groups who served under different great monarchs. If an important figure and the high-ranking northern branch head, Saluzia, moved, the Devil¡¯s Eye would likely respond. So once they¡¯ve crossed the border, they could shake off their worries about the Devil¡¯s Hand. ¡°I feel like I¡¯m going into a tiger¡¯s den just to avoid a lion.¡± ¡°Well¡­it¡¯s not wrong because we have to deal with the Devil¡¯s Eye too.¡± For a moment, Jude shrugged, and Cordelia sighed again. She shook her body as if she was full of energy, and then spoke in a lively voice. ¡°Okay, so moving on, we have to meet Red Wind now.¡± ¡°Did you like Red Wind?¡± ¡°Yes, she¡¯s about next to Cordelia?¡± ¡°I¡¯m just asking, but how much did you like Jude?¡± ¡°Second from the bottom? Because he¡¯s the bum who tried to take Cordelia.¡± ¡°O-okay.¡± Was it fortunate that he isn¡¯t at the bottom¡­was what Jude was thinking. At Jude¡¯s reply, Cordelia burst intoughter and said. ¡°By the way, at this point¡­ she¡¯s probably stuck in a ve auction house?¡± ¡°Yes, considering the time of her appearance, she should be locked up by now. She probably got caught about a week ago.¡± Because Red Wind was one of the yable characters, Cordelia also pretty much knew about her early actions in detail. Red Wind had infiltrated across the border to Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s territory in the S?len Kingdom, in order to get medicine for her father, Red Storm. However, it was unreasonable for her in the first ce to sneak into the territory, when she had only lived in thend of the barbarians all her life. Eventually, Red Wind¡¯s identity was discovered early on, and she got caught by ve merchants and became a ve. ¡°Because Red Wind is pretty.¡± ¡°After all, the Great Storm tribe were elves.¡± The northern barbarians consisted of dozens of tribes, some of which, were made up of different races itself. The Great Storm tribe was a tribe that inherited the blood of the Forest Elves, specifically, the Winter Elves. ¡°Because the early scenario of Red Wind was to run away from the ve auction house¡­are we helping her to escape then?¡± Cordelia smiled happily at the thought of it as she talked, but Jude shook his head. ¡°No, we¡¯re not going to do that.¡± ¡°Why are we not doing that? Are we not going to save Red Wind?¡± ¡°We have to save her. But as I said before, we have an urgent schedule. The reason why Red Wind was able to escape was because of the raid on the ve auction house, but we have to wait for another month for that event to happen.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t we just sneak in ourselves and rescue her?¡± ¡°It won¡¯t be easy. It¡¯s going to be dangerous. The ce where Red Wind is locked up is in thergest ve auction house in the north.¡± ¡°Then, what are we supposed to do?¡± ¡°Red Wind is a ve now.¡± ¡°She is a ve.¡± ¡°Yes, so why not buy her?¡± ¡°You won¡¯t help Red Wind escape?¡± ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s buy her with money peacefully. Without fighting.¡± As if it was a clear solution, Jude even showed a bright smile, but Cordelia pouted her lips. ¡°There¡¯s something I don¡¯t like.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just¡­¡± She had imagined the future of bing Red Wind¡¯s benefactor by punishing the vicious ver. On top of that, she found the situation itself, where Red Wind served as Jude¡¯s ve, as somehow unpleasant. ¡°Come to think of it, there is one more thing that bothers me.¡± ¡°One more thing?¡± ¡°How are we going to get the money?¡± As Cordelia had said, Red Wind was beautiful, so she would be priced very expensively. The two had enough funds from resolving minor events that they encountered on the way, but that was only in terms of travel expenses. Cordelia had remembered that Red Wind¡¯s product rating was in the upper middle. To buy such a woman, they simply needed a huge fortune. But at Cordelia¡¯sment, Jude had an evil grin instead of being discouraged. ¡°Hehehe¡­if that¡¯s the case, I¡¯ve already prepared some measures, Madam.¡± ¡°W-what is it?¡± Cordelia asked as she took a step back without realizing it, but Jude grabbed her wrist instead of answering. ¡°Follow me. You¡¯ll find out right away.¡± She wondered on what the hell was he talking about. Cordelia then nodded with an anxious face. And 20 minutester¡­ In front of a luxurious and enormous building, Cordelia¡¯s eyes blinked as she stood there with a nk face, and soon turned her head to Jude. ¡°Is this our means of making money?¡± ¡°It is.¡± At Jude¡¯s confident answer, Cordelia faced the front again, and read the letters on therge signboard. Lankebuste Casino. Where dreams and hopese true. She had nothing else to say. Cordelia turned around right away and began hitting Jude¡¯s back mercilessly. ¡°It hurts! It hurts! That hurts more! It hurts more!¡± Cordelia dragged Jude into an alley to avoid people¡¯s eyes and yelled after hitting him a few more times. ¡°Hey, you fool! You brought me there to make money at a gambling house? Ha, I can¡¯t believe you!¡± ¡°Heeyy¡­it¡¯s okay though?¡± ¡°That okay is sh*t! Let¡¯s break off our engagement! Break it off! Gambler is out!¡± Cordelia opened her mouth as if to bite him, and Jude took a step back from her and then raised one hand forward like a trainer trying to calm an animal as he quickly said. ¡°It¡¯s really okay. You know who I am, right?¡± ¡°A gambler?¡± ¡°¡­I¡¯m Outboxer009. The indisputable 1st?ce in?Legend of Heroes 2¡¯s rankings.¡± ¡°I suddenly want to hit you more.¡± ¡°Anyway, trust me. Have you seen me talking nonsense?¡± Jude earnestly spoke as he looked directly at her, and Cordelia seemed to scowl, before she eventually sighed, and her shoulders sank. ¡°Can you really do it?¡± ¡°I can do it.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll believe in you.¡± ¡°Thank you, Madam. I¡¯ll make you lightning-rich soon, so please look forward to it.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t spend it all, don¡¯t waste our money. If you do so, I¡¯ll break off our engagement immediately. Do you understand, fianc¨¦?¡± ¡°I understand. Soe with me.¡± Jude reached his hand out to Cordelia as if escorting her, and Cordelia held Jude¡¯s hand with a dissatisfied look. ¡°Now then, shall we win the jackpot?¡± ¡°You can¡¯t just win it like that.¡± ¡°Hey, don¡¯t worry. And frankly¡­don¡¯t you believe in me?¡± Because he was Jude and not anyone else. ¡°Hmph, I do not?¡± Cordelia snorted right away, but he could tell from her eyes. After all, she would have opposed it to the very end if she didn¡¯t believe in him in the first ce. ¡°I will live up to your trust, mydy.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t say that.¡± In the end, the two walked towards the casino side by side. *** And at that same time. A very important meeting was taking ce in Bailon, the border city in the southernmost part of the northern region. ¡°I can no longer set it aside and wait and see.¡± Speaking in a very serious tone was Count Bayer, Jude Bayer¡¯s father and one of the ten swordmasters in the S?len Kingdom. ¡°If the current situation continues, Count Hr?svelgr will have no choice but to put them in the wanted list. And that¡­that would be the worst situation.¡± Three counts were searching all over the north to catch the two youths who have eloped despite the fact that their engagement was already recognized by both of their families. There was nothing disgraceful about their rtionship, yet the two did that. Moreover, the movement of the Devil¡¯s Hand weighed on his mind too. They had to secure the two before something really big happened. ¡°It would be nice if either you or I could move in person¡­ but that would be impossible.¡± At the words of Count Bayer, Count Chase nodded his head in silence. Whether it was Count Bayer, who ruled Bailon, or Count Chase, who was in charge of the Red Dawn Tower, it was unreasonable for them to go all the way to the distant territory of Count Hr?svelgr. They would most likely be away for more than a month. ¡°So I¡¯m thinking of sending Ga?l instead.¡± Ga?l Bayer. The eldest son of Count Bayer and the older brother of Jude. In fact, Count Chase nodded at the strongest hand that Count Bayer could take out. ¡°On my side, I¡¯ll be sending Adelia.¡± ¡°Adelia? Isn¡¯t she in the center now?¡± Her situation was different from Ga?l, who had stayed with Count Bayer to inherit the territory. Count Chase¡¯s eldest daughter was one of the seven heads of the Royal Guard Magic Corps. ¡°She came here to this faraway ce after she took a vacation. She seemed to have a lot ofints on what happened recently between Jude and Cordelia.¡± Jude, that parasitic younger brother, it¡¯s clear that he¡¯s toying around with the kind, innocent, and angelic Cordelia!?¨C Those were his eldest daughter¡¯s words that Count Chase had omitted. ¡°Ga?l and Adelia¡­should be enough.¡± ¡°They should be enough.¡± ¡°When will they depart?¡± ¡°It¡¯s possible for him to do so right now.¡± ¡°This side too.¡± They could no longer stand by and watch Jude and Cordelia cause trouble to Count Hr?svelgr. Furthermore, they were fathers who were very worried about the safety of the two. And an hourter. Ga?l Bayer and Adelia Chase left the border city of Bailon to arrest the crazy couple. Chapter 52

Chapter 52

Some trantion mistakes: I used to refer to Count Bayer as one of the S?len Kingdoms ¡®teenage swordmasters,¡¯ but that is incorrect. He is actually one of the ¡®ten great swordmasters.¡¯ The Korean word they used here is Geumho (??), which can literally be tranted to sword (geum) + great (ho). An interesting trivia: Outboxer009 is a reference to real-life pro gamer ¡®BoxeR,¡¯ Lim Yo-hwan. After he retired from eSports, he became a professional poker yer. Terms used in this chapter: Side card?¨C also known as ¡®kicker,¡¯ it is a card in a poker hand that does not itself take part in determining the rank of the hand but may be used to break ties between hands of the same rank. Discard from the family register?¨C South Korea used to have a family register system called ¡®Hoju.¡¯ It has since been abolished since 2008 because it was highly patriarchal and opposed by many groups. Nowadays, it is used by adults as an expression to scold and threaten their children, with an implied meaning that they¡¯ll be ¡®kicked out¡¯ of the family, or ¡®disowned¡¯ if they continue to behave badly. Ga?l Bayer. 27 years old. He is the eldest son of Count Bayer, and the next Count of Bayer. As the sessor of Count Bayer, one of the ten great swordmasters, he was a master of the sword who had gained fame since his childhood. Even though the eldest sons of other counts already had two to three children, there were many reasons why he was still a bachelor. But the truth is, most of those reasons were just a pretext, and there was only one reason why Ga?l was still unmarried and lived alone. Adelia Chase. 24 years old. She is the eldest daughter and the middle child of Count Chase, who had one son and two daughters. She was a genius wizard who joined the Royal Guard Magic Corps of the S?len Kingdom at the age of 19. And after 5 years, she became one of the heads at the young age of 24. ¡°It¡¯s been a long time, Lady Adelia.¡± ¡°It¡¯s been a long time too, Lord Bayer.¡± Ga?l didn¡¯t wear his armor as he wasn¡¯t going on a battlefield, but he was wearing a knight¡¯s usual attire under his coat. And as for Adelia. As the sister of Cordelia, she was also an iparably beautiful woman who resembled their mother and had dark blonde hair. She was dressed in a wizard¡¯sbat attire with the emblem of the Royal Guard Magic Corps on it. It was a luxurious and gorgeous outfit with gold thread embroidered on her ck clothes that fit her perfectly. ¡°Although the reason we¡¯ve met like this is not very good¡­still, it¡¯s good to see you in good health.¡± ¡°Me too.¡± Ga?l was smiling nicely as always, while Adelia answered him a little brusquely as she made a ¡®hmph¡¯ sound before speaking again. ¡°You may have already heard it roughly, but I¡¯ll say it again. The n is simple. First of all, regardless of night and day, we¡¯ll race towards Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s territory until we reach somewhere near the northern border.¡± ¡°Will you use magic after that?¡± Adelia nodded when Ga?l asked as he climbed up on the horse. ¡°I have the ring my father gave me, so we can track them down.¡± ¡°How far is the scope of the magic?¡± ¡°It¡¯s quite wide, as it¡¯s about the size of a small manor. If it¡¯s asrge as Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s territory, we¡¯ll only be able to search it in parts.¡± ¡°Still, it¡¯s reassuring. After all, it¡¯s Lady Adelia.¡± ¡°Hmph, it¡¯s not something to be praised about though?¡± Adelia snorted as she gathered her hair and tied it up, before holding and fixing the horse¡¯s reins. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go. I will take the lead.¡± ¡°I am more familiar with the nearby geography, so I will take the lead. Everyone! I¡¯ll be back!¡± Despite Adelia¡¯s sharp attitude, Ga?l smiled and answered, before greeting those who came to see them off. Afterwards, he made the horse start moving by nudging it with his foot. ¡°Giddyap!¡± As Ga?l had great horseback riding skills, he looked impressively cool as he run ahead, but it wasn¡¯t for Adelia. She looked at Ga?l, who had run ahead, with a displeased face as she made a ¡®hmph¡¯ sound and then looked back at the people sending them off. ¡°I¡¯ll be back.¡± She coldly spoke as she spurred her horse and followed after Ga?l. Though, if one looked at her momentum, it seemed like she was in a race, rather than being hispanion. As for those left behind, among them was Maja and Dahlia. The two looked at each other naturally and smiled awkwardly. ¡°It will¡­be fine, right?¡± ¡°Ah¡­maybe?¡± Ga?l Bayer and Adelia Chase. With a somewhat ominous premonition, Maja and Dahlia looked at the two people who had already gone far. *** Someone had said. ¡°Do you know what a gambling house and a luxury buffet have inmon? It is the fact that the store wins in the end.¡± It was exactly what he said. No matter how much one eats in a luxury buffet to get their money¡¯s worth, all they¡¯ll have in the end was an upset stomach. And no matter how hard one tries at a gambling house, in the end, the visitors were bound to lose their money. ¡°Of course, that¡¯s an average story, and overall, it¡¯s just the casinos that make money, but there are certainly a minority who make money, whether it¡¯s small or huge.¡± Otherwise, no one will go to the gambling house if they didn¡¯t make any money. ¡°So you¡¯re that minority?¡± ¡°I was always the winning minority. I even had the status of being in the ban list of three Las Vegas casinos.¡± Before going to the casino, they stopped by a nearby amodation and were currently in the middle of changing clothes. At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia blinked as she arranged the skirt of her fabulous red dress. ¡°Ban list?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s kind of a cklist. If you go there, you will not be allowed to enter.¡± As Jude talked a little proudly, Cordelia stopped arranging her skirt. She then touched her chin and soon said as she clenched her fist. ¡°As expected! You were a scammer as expected! Humbug! Am I not right? Right?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not? I never cheated, okay? I was just so good at gambling that I was denied entry, okay?¡± ¡°F*ck, who the hell are you then? How can you continuously win if you didn¡¯t cheat then?¡± ¡°It¡¯s nice to hear you saying ¡®f*ck¡¯ after a long time.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t change the subject.¡± ¡°Well, turn around for now.¡± ¡°Have you finished dressing up?¡± ¡°Oh, you¡¯re all dressed up.¡± ¡°This person¡­fu-¡­didn¡¯t I tell you not to turn around?¡± ¡°I just turned around. Come closer. I¡¯ll tighten the straps on your back.¡± ¡°Dahlia used to do it.¡± ¡°Dahlia isn¡¯t here right now.¡± It was as Jude had said, so Cordelia came near Jude and showed her back, and Jude tightened the dress straps one by one as he continued talking. ¡°Do you know about card counting?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°¡­it¡¯s literally counting cards. You remember all the revealed cards and infer which cards haven¡¯t been revealed yet. And based on that, you calcte the probability for each situation and make the best choice.¡± ¡°It¡¯s hard to listen to just that, but if you do that, can you unconditionally win?¡± ¡°No, the win rate is just a little over 50%. In modern casinos, a lot of various techniques have been developed to invalidate card counting so that it isn¡¯t effective. I¡¯m done tightening it.¡± When Jude had tightened all the dress straps, Cordelia turned around and looked back and forth on her own body before picking up the necktie. ¡°So, why were you cklisted? As expected, didn¡¯t you cheat by counting? Don¡¯t move and stay still.¡± ¡°Card counting is basic, and there are a few other techniques. And basically, the game is yed with a dealer, right? Unlike machines, humans disy a lot of information even if they are just quietly standing.¡± And in fact, Jude¡¯s specialty was in poker games like Texas hold ¡®em. ¡°Do you mean, you were a professional poker yer then?¡± ¡°I wonder.¡± In response to Jude¡¯s shameless answer, Cordelia pouted her lips and deliberately tied up Jude¡¯s tie tightly. ¡°Gak-! Hey!¡± ¡°Hmph, I¡¯ll tie it up again.¡± The dexterous Cordelia soon nicely tied up his tie again. ¡°I don¡¯t know about anything else, but I think you¡¯re the best at this.¡± ¡°There are a lot of things that I¡¯m good at too, okay?¡± Despite the fact that she snorted, the corners of Cordelia¡¯s mouth were raised, and her mood became better at hispliment. ¡°In any case, are you confident about this?¡± ¡°I am confident. It¡¯s not even a modern casino that has prepared several preventive measures.¡± ¡°You have a wicked smile.¡± ¡°You will soon love this smile, mydy.¡± ¡°I bet I won¡¯t.¡± Nevertheless, Cordelia was somewhat relieved at his confident appearance. ¡°Well then, shall we go and win some money?¡± ¡°Yes, Daddy. I only trust in Daddy.¡± ¡°Daddy will make our princess rich today.¡± ¡°I¡¯m so excited.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s do this.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± The two stopped their conversation, looked at each other, and took a deep breath before they left the amodation together. And two hourster. ¡°ckjack.¡± The dealer facing Jude turned pale, and Jude had a gentle smile as he looked back at the coins piled up in front of him. ¡®It¡¯s about time.¡¯ After an hour of observation and an hour of winning and winning again, the time hase for the store to put on the brakes on him. ¡®As expected, it¡¯sing.¡¯ A giant man dressed in a high-quality suit was approaching him in big strides. He¡¯ll moderately tell Jude to ¡®get out of here¡¯ in a refinednguage while exaggerating his words and speaking at length. ¡®Well, should I slowly withdraw now?¡¯ Even if he exchanged the coins now, it would already have exceeded Red Wind¡¯s price by 1.5 times. ¡®Okay, this is enough.¡¯ Having made up his mind, Jude turned his head towards the giant and brightly smiled. But without even looking at Jude¡¯s smile, the giant continued to walk away and stopped at an unexpected ce. ¡®What?¡¯ Jude unconsciously blinked his eyes before getting up from his seat and looking at the ce where the giant stopped. It was the roulette ce, and now that he saw it, nearly half of the casino guests were gathered in addition to the supervisor. ¡°I¡¯d like to exchange the coins into money, please. This is a tip.¡± After handing a coin to the dealer, Jude got up and walked towards the roulette ce. And it was at that moment. ¡°Kyaaa!¡± ¡°Oooooooh!¡± ¡°She got it right again!¡± ¡°Awesome!¡± Thunderous exmations of amazement broke out among the audience. They had such enthusiastic reactions that he wondered why he didn¡¯t hear of their sounds before. And in the center of all that enthusiasm was an iparably beautiful girl with long brown hair, wearing a red dress. ¡°Cordelia?¡± Jude unintentionally said her real name while she was going ¡®kyaa¡¯ and being happy. Cordelia then looked back at Jude with a bright face and hugged him. ¡°I got it again! It¡¯s incredible!¡± What? What the hell did you get? And what is this flow? Jude lightly pushed Cordelia away first before seeing the roulette board. He then saw a mountain of coins piled up in front of Cordelia. At first nce, it seemed to be twice or three times as many as what Jude himself had. ¡°Oh¡­little sister?¡± The two had disguised themselves as brother and sister. Cordelia came to her senses at Jude¡¯s words, and said after she widely spread out her shoulders. ¡°Oppa, oppa, I¡¯m totally awesome, it¡¯s awesome.¡± Jude could read from the flow that Cordelia had hit the jackpot in roulette. But how the hell did that happen? ¡°Wow, she¡¯s such an incredible Miss. It¡¯s not a?side card?but just one red and ck match, yet she¡¯s earned as much as I did.¡± The man who was watching right beside himughably said as if it was his business, but the other nearby spectators also added some words. ¡°I¡¯ve seen her got it 10 times in a row.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t she get it 12 consecutive times?¡± ¡°It¡¯s exactly 17 consecutive times!¡± ¡°17 consecutive?!¡± Thest one was Jude. Cordelia was perfectly satisfied at Jude¡¯s totally startled and utterly bewildered face. ¡°That¡¯s right! 17 times in a row!¡± To win in roulette, the yer determines whether the ball stops in the red or ck pockets. The probability is ?. The dividend of betting on one is the lowest, but it¡¯s a different story if it¡¯s 17 times in a row. ¡®If you bet on only one, the dividend is doubled if you win. But if it¡¯s the 17th?win of 2¡­¡¯ 131,072 times. T/N: Frankly, I don¡¯t understand much about roulette, but this is the best exnation I can give. In roulette, you can bet on one or several numbers, and if the ballnds on your bets, your payouts/dividends are determined by the number of your bets. Betting on one only means that you¡¯re betting on either even or odd numbers, or you¡¯re betting on either red or ck. Betting on one only gives you a 50% chance of winning, but the dividend is the lowest, as it only doubles your dividend/payout. Every time you win, your dividend is doubled. So, if you win 17 times in a row, your dividend bes 131,072 times. It¡¯s not 17 times 2, but 2 raised to the 17th?power, so the form is?217?= 131,072. Even if she started with the cheapest coin, which is one copper coin, it would increase to a tremendous amount if it was around 130,000 times, so it was natural that a mountain of coins was piled up in front of Cordelia. On the other hand, the probability of winning 17 times in a row could also be said to be one in 2 raised to the 17th?power. That is, your chances in winning is 1 in 131,072. ¡°Uh¡­how did you do it?¡± Since he remembered his past life before he came to Pleiades, or rather, in both his current and past lives, Jude had never been as surprised as he was now. Cordelia widely smiled at Jude¡¯s face that seemed to have witnessed the mystery of the universe, and then she spoke in a triumphant tone. ¡°With feeling.¡± ¡°With feeling?¡± ¡°With feeling.¡± ========== ¡®Somehow, I feel that it would stop in red this time.¡¯ ¡®ck this time.¡¯ ¡®ck again this time.¡¯ ¡®Looks like it¡¯s red this time?¡¯ ========== ¡°Are you a real animal¡­¡± ¡°I can hear you.¡± However, Cordelia didn¡¯t hit Jude¡¯s back because of her good mood. She didn¡¯t even try to bite him. ¡°A-anyway! Let¡¯s finish it at this point.¡± ¡°Why? The more money we have, the better.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s end it. It¡¯spletely enough now.¡± At Jude¡¯s remark, Cordelia pouted her lips, and the onlookers around them began booing him. But Jude didn¡¯t pay them any attention. ¡°Let¡¯s go now.¡± Jude strongly spoke, and Cordelia thought for a moment before nodding her head. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Aah!¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you y another round, Miss?¡± ¡°One more round!¡± The spectators around them shouted hardly, and the giant, who seemed to be on the casino¡¯s side, also tried to do something. It now seemed to Jude that he didn¡¯t want to stop the game, but rather, to somehow keep it going. ¡®Because he wants us to eventually lose.¡¯ 17 consecutive wins was undeniably a miracle. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but my brother is strict. Hehe.¡± Cordelia responded with a cute smile to the onlookers , and after exchanging the coins they had, she left the casino with Jude. Jude was very nervous that they would not be able to exchange their currency or be prevented from leaving, but it ended with a strong request to visit again tomorrow and an invitation to the auction house because the amount of money the two had was not enough for the casino to directly pay. ¡®They¡¯re telling us to spend some money in any way.¡¯ The ve auction house, general auction house, and this casino were all owned by Bern, who was called the king of Lankebuste. ¡®Well, it¡¯s not bad. Since there is an invitation to the auction house, participating in the auction would look natural.¡¯ Jude sighed in relief and drooped his shoulders, while Cordelia looked up at the sky with a cheerful face and said. ¡°It¡¯s a beautiful night.¡± Of course it was. Even by the standards of the two as children of the 12 families, they had earned a huge amount in just two hours. ¡°Wow, we are rich now. The casino was a fun ce. It¡¯s a ce full of hopes and dreams.¡± ¡°Hey, it¡¯s funny that I¡¯m telling you this now, but the casino is a pandemonium, okay? You should just go with the thought of spending money and having fun, because it¡¯s usually a ce where people ruin themselves from gambling, okay?¡± ¡°Hmph, it was a nice ce, so why?¡± ¡°No gambling, no gambling. Gambler is out. Okay? Let¡¯s break off our engagement! Break it off!¡± The positions of the two had reversed nowpared to before they entered the casino. And Cordelia had a simr reaction to that of Jude two hours ago. ¡°Heeyy, can¡¯t you trust in noona?¡± ¡°Please.¡± ¡°Okay, okay. Anyway, it was exciting. Red Wind is mine now.¡± Cordelia had grumbled before that it wasn¡¯t good to buy Red Wind with money, but she hadpletely changed her mind. Jude suddenly grabbed Cordelia¡¯s wrist tightly as he spoke again. ¡°I¡¯m saying this out of concern for you, but just think that today was a truly miraculous and lucky day. Do you understand? Okay?¡± ¡°It hurts, it hurts, Cordelia won¡¯t do it again¡­okay, okay. I¡¯ll stop here. I understand. It¡¯s not like days like thise often.¡± ¡°Haa¡­Just don¡¯t make me say that I¡¯ll?discard you from the family register.¡± ¡°Yes, Daddy.¡± Cordelia replied like a good child as she took the lead, and Jude followed Cordelia closely while being wary of thieves. Faintlyughing at Jude¡¯s worried appearance, Cordelia tied her long hair together and then asked him. ¡°By the way, Jude, when are we going to the auction house?¡± ¡°By chance, it will be opened tomorrow, so we don¡¯t have to wait for long.¡± ¡°Are there any good items for sale besides Red Wind? We are rich now.¡± In the original story, there was no opportunity for Jude and Cordelia to properly participate in the auction house. Cordelia was busy from being chased by the Devil¡¯s Hand in the beginning of her scenario. On the other hand, when Jude¡¯s scenario began in earnest, the entire north was in a mess because of the barbarian invasion. ¡®It goes without saying that Red Wind was locked up at the auction house at that time.¡¯ Moreover, it was presently an auction that will happen a month before Red Wind¡¯s scenario began at the auction house. In other words, it was an unknown ce for both Jude and Cordelia. ¡°I¡¯m suddenly looking forward to it.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. It¡¯s like I¡¯m looking forward to what would be there? It feels like we¡¯re entering a new town and visiting a weapons store, right?¡± ¡®What items could be there?¡¯ ¡®Perhaps it would be possible to get a jackpot item?¡¯ ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to tomorrow. We¡¯ll meet Red Wind, and also go to the auction house.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡®Maybe we¡¯ll find items that are really necessary.¡¯ And in the next evening. ¡°Seriously, it actually happened.¡± ¡°We have good luck.¡± Cordelia was in front, and Jude was at the back. An unexpected meeting was waiting for the two. Chapter 53 - EPISODE 53 – INTERSECTION (3)

Chapter 53 - EPISODE 53 ¨C INTERSECTION (3)

Great Monarch?is now?Overlord?¨C Technically, ¡®great monarch¡¯ is a correct trantion, but ¡®overlord¡¯ sounds more viinous and gives off ast boss vibe, so ¡®Overlord¡¯ it is. Terms used in this chapter: Nodachi?¨C Arge and long Japanese sword, having a long handle suitable for multiple two handed grip positions. The Lankebuste auction house had one special rule. ¡®All participants must cover their faces with masks.¡¯ Partial masks that could somehow make it easier to recognize the face was not allowed. Only masks covering the entire face was permitted. Of course, sex and age could be inferred to some extent from one¡¯s height and body type, but the existence of masks were bound to guarantee considerable anonymity. ¡°They¡¯re selling stuff that you can¡¯t buy if your face is revealed?¡± ¡°Well¡­there are quite a few items that are considered shady. Right now, it¡¯s buying those kinds of ves.¡± In the S?len Kingdom, very was somehow regarded as an old-fashioned evil practice that was slowly disappearing. Moreover, most of the ves traded in Lankebuste were not ves forbor, but ves for dirty and shady purposes, such as ythings for sexual entertainment, subjects for body experiments, andbat ves for diatorpetitions. ¡°I want to save her quickly.¡± Although Jude did not give a specific example, Cordelia already knew the truth to some extent. That is why she wanted to save Red Wind as soon as possible. ¡°It¡¯ll be all right. We¡¯ve got enough money. Let¡¯s not struggle in a vain bid, but just buy her promptly with an immediate offer.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, because it¡¯s exhausting to participate in apetition just to fail.¡± ording to the flow of the original story, Red Wind was sold once at this point of time. And then she came back as a returned item. ¡®Whatever the reason may be, it just meant that there was a buyer.¡¯ There was the concern of getting tired in a fruitlesspetition as Cordelia said, and it would also draw people¡¯s attention unnecessarily. In any case, Jude and Cordelia were ¡®fugitives,¡¯ so it was better to do things as quietly as possible. ¡°Hmm, good. I tied it well today. As expected of me.¡± Cordelia smiled and praised herself after tying up Jude¡¯s tie neatly, while Jude thanked her without anyints and then took out the masks they would be using. They were white masks that covered the entire face and did not have any patterns drawn on them. ¡°I dyed my hair too, so if I wear this, no one will recognize me.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t usually wear a pink dress, but dyeing my hair was worth it.¡± Cordelia said something a little unrted, and after wearing her mask, she looked at Jude who gave a small p. ¡°It looks good.¡± ¡°My face is all hidden, but I still look good.¡± Cordelia answered with a giggle and led the way as if she wanted to go quickly. Jude stared at the back of Cordelia and admired her again even though he already knew it. ¡®Pretty, she¡¯s really pretty.¡¯ She wore a mask that covered her entire face, but he still felt that she was beautiful. Cordelia wasn¡¯t just an iparably beautiful girl for no reason, as her qualities and body itself were pretty. ¡°Of course, I¡¯m an absolutely handsome boy.¡± ¡°What are you saying all of a sudden?¡± ¡°Recharging my confidence?¡± ¡°Juste quickly and stop with the nonsense.¡± ¡°Yes, Madam.¡± Jude quickly answered as he wore his mask and caught up with Cordelia. A dozen minutes passed like that. Jude took a deep breath once they entered the auction house right next to the casino. ¡°Hwoooo¡­haaaaa¡­ good, it smells great.¡± ¡°What smell?¡± ¡°The smell of treasure.¡± At Jude¡¯s remark, Cordelia snorted and sniffed in the same way. She then blinked her eyes and said. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s real.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°It smells like treasure.¡± Jude unconsciously became nervous at Cordelia¡¯s words. Because it was Cordelia¡¯s words and not anyone else. ¡°Where is it? What¡¯s the grade? Is it perhaps Myth grade?¡± ¡°What is this crazy bastard saying? I was just kidding. How can a human smell treasure anyway?¡± ¡°You¡¯re an animal.¡± Cordelia tried to naturally open her mouth to bite Jude, but it was useless because of her mask that covered her mouth. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s stop this nonsensical talk for the moment and get Red Wind first.¡± Of course, they were going to search for treasure, but their top priority was to secure Red Wind. Nodding at Cordelia¡¯s words, Jude spoke as he looked back at the auction house¡¯s interior. ¡°There are two possible ways that you can choose in Lankebuste¡¯s auction house.¡± ¡°Are you talking about the market and the proper bidding ceremony?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s not precisely the correct term, but it¡¯s roughly correct.¡± In front of Jude and Cordelia right now were the items to be sold in the auction. They were disyed in regr intervals like that of an art gallery or museum. ¡®If there¡¯s an item a person wants, they write down their bid first, and after a certain period of time, the item is handed over to the person who had ced the highest bid.¡¯ It was a simple and clear but very time-consuming auction method. ¡°We¡¯re not going to participate in the proper auction?¡± ¡°Yes, because it¡¯s going to draw us some attention. We also don¡¯t know if we really want the items that wille out.¡± The auction was scheduled to be held in the next two hours, in which the moderator introduces the item, and each purchaser attempts to bid by raising their panel, just like what wasmonly seen in movies. ¡°Let¡¯s buy everything that we want and then get out of the auction house.¡± ¡°Are we also getting out of Lankebuste then?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s correct.¡± Jude¡¯s mind was troubled by the Devil¡¯s Hand, aside from Count Hr?svelgr. It was best to cross the border before being spotted by any of them. ¡°Okay, moving on, let¡¯s go and buy Red Wind first.¡± ¡°It¡¯s probably this way.¡± Thinking of Lankebuste¡¯s auction house that he remembered when he yed Red Wind, Jude seemed to be taking some cautious steps forward first, but he soon led Cordelia with a confident manner. 1st?basement floor. Unlike the bustling atmosphere of the 1st?floor, the ce had a gloomy, dreary, and subdued atmosphere. Inside the ss cases erected at regr intervals, the ves for sale were almost in the state of being naked. ¡°I don¡¯t like it.¡± Cordelia clicked her tongue and stepped forward at once in big strides as they headed to the ce where Red Wind was. ¡°Red Wind.¡± Jude¡¯s eyes finally saw her. A girl from the Great Storm tribe that was 16 years old this year. As she inherited the Winter Elf¡¯s blood, her pure white ivory skin and azure hair reminiscent of the clear blue sky were very memorable. Her long hair that came down to her hips, were deliberately tied to the back to make her long ears visible. Cordelia gritted her teeth as she saw the chains tied to Red Wind¡¯s slender ankles, before looking at Red Wind¡¯s face again. Perhaps because she was confined in a case where she could only see the inside but not the outside, there was a deep fear in her blue eyes that couldn¡¯t hide her anger and hostility. ¡°Let¡¯s buy her right away.¡± ¡°Yes, so just calm down a bit, okay?¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Cordelia gave a short answer as she looked up at Red Wind again, and Jude immediately filled in their purchase price in the bidding column ced next to the case. ¡°The auction house staff wille now.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia tightly shut her mouth instead of answering, because she didn¡¯t want to cause any unnecessary trouble. And after a few seconds. A neatly dressed auction house employee approached them as Jude had expected. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s an excellent choice. It¡¯s hard to find such a beautiful woman among the northern barbarians. However, she¡¯s a little fierce, so please be careful about that part.¡± Cordelia reflexively lost her temper at the auction house¡¯s employee¡¯s words, and Jude quickly blocked Cordelia with his body and shamelessly smiled as he said. ¡°The fiercer she is, the more delicious it is to tame her.¡± ¡°Haha, that¡¯s right. That¡¯s the true pleasure of rearing.¡± The auction house employeeughed and smiled, and then handed out some documents to them. After checking Jude¡¯s ability to pay, he spoke again. ¡°It takes some time to pack, so why don¡¯t you look around for other items in the meantime? Between the next 20 minutes from the start of the auction and until its end, you cane to the sales office on the first floor.¡± ¡°Yes, I will do so. Thank you for your kind guidance.¡± ¡°Thank you very much. We hope you enjoy your shopping.¡± When the employee made a gesture after politely bowing down to them, the light in Red Wind¡¯s case went out. Perhaps they were going to take out Red Wind through the ss case¡¯s floor or through the wall behind it. ¡°Now then, shall we go too?¡± ¡°¡­okay.¡± Cordelia answered in a low voice, and Jude grasped her hand as they hurried up to the first floor. ¡°Hooo, okay. Now that we¡¯ve finished the trade without any problems, let¡¯s really enjoy the auction. There must be a lot of good items.¡± When Jude intentionally spoke in an energetic voice, Cordelia pouted her lips several times before she nodded. She was angry because of Red Wind¡¯s situation, not because of Jude. But she couldn¡¯t unreasonably vent out her anger on this ce. ¡°Since we¡¯vee here, let¡¯s find the true treasure. I will trust in your?feeling.¡± Jude added some words again, so Cordelia also spoke in quite a cheerful voice to match his rhythm. ¡°Do you mean, something like a treasure with a stupendous performance, but others don¡¯t know its true value because of its outward appearance, like what ismon in novels and manhwa?¡± ¡°That¡¯s correct.¡± Of course, such an urrence couldn¡¯t have been reallymon. The people at the auction house weren¡¯t fools either. After all, they had a group of experts working for them. But it was just at that moment that they had thought so. ¡°Ah, isn¡¯t that the Heavenly Judgment?¡± ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right.¡± Jude unknowingly replied in a nk manner as he promptly opened his eyes wide. And it was the same for Cordelia. ¡°¡°Why is that appearing here?!¡±¡± The two rotten waters spoke almost at the same time, and they approached the ss case in hurried steps while trying to be inconspicuous as possible. ¡°I¡¯m sure of it, it¡¯s currently in the state before its seal was released.¡± Cordelia blinked her eyes at Jude¡¯s words. It wasn¡¯t because the Heavenly Judgment suddenly appeared before her eyes. It was because Jude spoke in Korean instead of the continent¡¯s officialnguage. ¡°Ko¡­rean?¡± It¡¯s been a long time since she used it, so Cordelia nodded and spoke Korean with a slightly awkward pronunciation. ¡°Because no one else can understand it.¡± It was like the time he used the Koreannguage as a password substitute when he first wrote a letter in the past. The only people who could understand Korean in Pleiades were Jude and Cordelia, so it was a perfect counterintelligence measure. ¡°Ah, it¡¯s somewhat awkward and strange. Moving on, I¡¯m sure that it¡¯s the Heavenly Judgment.¡± ¡°I wandered around, trying to find it prior to when the seal was released, and now, it was actually here.¡± Jude admired it again as he recalled the Heavenly Judgment¡¯s setting. ¡°Heavenly Judgment.¡± It was one of the hundred swords that the Archangel of Judgment, Auriel, forged for her warriors. She was one of the Four Archangels of Heaven, symmetrical with the Five Overlords of Hell. As a sword forged by an archangel, the sword¡¯s performance itself was tremendous and amazing, but the true value of Heavenly Judgment was unlike any other. ¡®Day of Judgment.¡¯ It was the name of the Ultimate skill inherent to the Heavenly Judgment and could only be used by the Heavenly Judgment. Although there were some differences in the power or range depending on the user¡¯s abilities, if the user uses it, the day of judgment will arrive as its name suggests. Numerous des of light woulde pouring down from the sky like a heavy rain. It did not cause any damage to heavenly beings, but it was not an exaggeration to say that it was a skill that rained down death from the heavens for the opposite existences of the heavenly beings, which were the demons and the undead. ¡°The long war between heaven and hell had destroyed most of the hundred swords, leaving only a few¡­¡± ¡°And one of them is here.¡± Cordelia and Jude simultaneously gulped. ¡°I¡¯m d that it was sealed. It seems like its appearance was just recognized as a ceremonial dress relic.¡± ¡°We must buy this one.¡± The Heavenly Judgment in front of them was sealed, so it was nothing more but a little fanciful ceremonial sword as Jude had said. Its de was blunt so it was no different from a club, and the decorations were excessively shy, which would interfere with its use. ¡°But it will all change once you unseal it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, and it is only a heavenly being who can release that seal.¡± Heavenly being. Angel. And what that implied¡­ ¡°Cordelia can unseal it.¡± Of course, it was a story after she awakened as an angel through the Ancestral Regression technique, but the fact that it could be solved was somehow important. ¡°Hahahaha, I want to buy it quickly. I¡¯ll buy it and hug it every night when I sleep.¡± Jude strongly agreed to Cordelia¡¯s words, and he hurriedly looked into the bidding board. There was no immediate purchase price, but without any hesitation, Jude promptly wrote down twice the original purchase price. In the eyes of others, it was just an ordinary ceremonial sword, so there was no one who would challenge this amount of money. ¡°Let¡¯s look around other ces quickly. I really think that there would be more like this.¡± ¡°Yeah, it really smells like treasure.¡± Sniffing with her nose, Cordelia headed to a certain direction, as if she was a person being lured by the treasure with her ¡®senses.¡¯ And about an hourter¡­ ¡°The Cursed Reaper¡¯s Garment, the Ancient Crest, and even the Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword.¡± Cordelia had a silly snicker behind her mask, and Jude said as he abruptly hugged Cordelia. ¡°We hit the jackpot.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, Daddy. We hit the jackpot!¡± Cordelia likewise hugged Jude and rejoiced with him. Because they really hit the jackpot. As its name suggests, the Cursed Reaper¡¯s Garment was a garment that was cursed. However, if the curse was removed, it could be used as a Reaper¡¯s Garment, and the effect of the Reaper¡¯s Garment was as follows. ¡®He who wears the garment of the reaper will exude the force of the reaper. Those who attack a person wearing the reaper¡¯s garment will fall under the reaper¡¯s curse.¡¯ In a word, it was a defensive gear that caused a weak Fear effect to a wide area, and applied debuffs to those who attacked. Since it was a fluttering robe, it was perfect for Cordelia to wear it. ¡®It goes well with the witch series.¡¯ Whether it was a witch, a reaper, or a demon, they were all associated with the power of hell. ¡°The Ancient Crest is a necessary item for the Ancestral Regression technique¡­and this Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword is also really good.¡± What was in Jude¡¯s hands was something like a Nodachi that was much longer than a normal longsword. As its name suggests, it was a fantasy item from the Eastern continent that existed across the continent where the S?len Kingdom was located. The performance of the sword itself was outstanding, but what was important was the fact that it also had an inherent Ultimate skill like the Heavenly Judgment. ¡°Hell¡¯s Blood sh.¡± It was a powerful skill with an impressive name, but it was a skill that he couldn¡¯t use even if he got itter because at this point in the early half of the scenario, the skill wasn¡¯t that good and was even overkill. ¡°It¡¯s a real jackpot, and most of them are cursed or sealed, so their prices are cheap.¡± ¡°Yeah, and even though we¡¯ve bought this much, we still have some money left.¡± The Reaper¡¯s Garment was cursed, and since the ancient crest was kind of a puzzle, it would not function unless it was solved with the proper solution. The Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword was also sealed, so a ceremony was needed to release the seal. ¡°JudeWiki, can you do it?¡± ¡°Of course I can, Madam.¡± It was the time when Jude answered with a smile. ¡°But Jude.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Are you¡­going to continue using fist and foot techniques?¡± ¡°Fist and foot techniques?¡± ¡°Yes, you¡¯ve been continuously focusing on punches when fighting.¡± When Cordelia pointed it out, Jude reflected on himself. As she had said, the weapons that Jude had used recently involved the use of his two fists, which included the Lightning Punch, the Lightning Strike Fist, and the God¡¯s Fist of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. ¡°Why don¡¯t you take this opportunity to slowly change to a sword? Landius is also a swordsman.¡± Despite Landius¡¯ shocking appearance, he was also a swordsman. ording to him, he would only use his sword in a real crisis. Moreover, Jude was the child of Count Bayer, one of the ten great swordmasters in the S?len Kingdom. Most of the warriors of the Bayer family were also swordsmen, and most of the treasures that were handed down were rted to the sword. In other words, it was right to use a sword to receive the family¡¯s favor. ¡°Hmm¡­is that so? But in the original story, Jude also used everything from swords, spears, to fists.¡± ¡°Because of his Cheonmujiche.¡± His Cheonmujiche made him be good at everything that he did with his body. Even in the original story, Jude was a multi-weapons user who could handle virtually any existing weapon, just like Maximilian. ¡°I see¡­you¡¯re right, Cordelia. Since I already got the Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword, I can slowly take the swordsman route.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good, that¡¯s good. If it¡¯s a sword, it will be easy to change items.¡± The mostmon weapon in the?Legend of Heroes?series was the sword. Even the Heavenly Judgment they got right now was a sword. At Cordelia¡¯s words, Jude spoke after he pondered for a moment. ¡°Umm¡­Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Would you like to learn?hand-to-hand martial arts?¡± T/N: The term that Jude actually used is Che-sul (??), which means body technique/skill. However, in Japanese, it ismonly known as ¡®Taijutsu.¡¯ Using the word ¡®Taijutsu¡¯ in a Korean novel felt weird, so I opted for a short description of Taijutsu, which is ¡®hand-to-hand martial arts.¡¯ ¡°Hand-to-hand martial arts?¡± ¡°Yes, hand-to-hand martial arts. Maybe a little swordsmanship too.¡± They were two people who had already disrupted the original story. Then, it wasn¡¯t no longer necessary for them to follow the flow of the original story as well. Unlike the original Cordelia, the present Cordelia had a sense ofbat that could only be described as crazy. Meleebat was not possible for the original Cordelia, as it was sealed in the game for bnce adjustment, but it would be possible for the present Cordelia. ¡°Uh¡­you want me to learn Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors?¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s impossible. It¡¯s a martial art that can¡¯t be learned unless you have Cheonmujiche or have crazy muscles like Master Landius.¡± He could tell that now since he had opened the door. Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors was a new technique developed solely for Cheonmujiche. Unless the person was an iron man like Landius, one wouldn¡¯t be able to ovee the burden of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, and the person¡¯s body would be ruined. ¡°Since Twenty-Four Gale Steps seems to be rted to Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, I¡¯ll exclude it from the list, and teach you how to protect yourself with Count Bayer¡¯s footwork techniques. It will be helpful.¡± ¡°Swordsmanship too?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll be magic swordsman Cordelia. Isn¡¯t that cool?¡± After hearing Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia imagined it for a moment, and soon had a faint smile. And Jude thought while looking at such Cordelia. ¡®I feel like a real princess maker.¡¯ Of course, no matter how crazy Cordelia¡¯s sense ofbat was, it was impossible for her to develop as an expert swordsman like Lucas. This is because the inner Qi of the warrior and the mana of the wizard were simr but also different. Even if Cordelia learned the basic footwork techniques or ordinary martial arts, she would not be able to properly learn higher martial art techniques. So she should focus on her magic first. Then he¡¯d develop her into a ¡®wizard capable of closebat¡¯ by adding hand-to-hand martial arts and swordsmanship into her main skills as a wizard. ¡°My daughter, Daddy will also let you learn ¡®Mushindo.¡¯¡± T/N: I just said that I didn¡¯t want to use Japanese words here, but Jude kept using it so¡­here¡¯s the definition of Mushindo. Mushin in Japanese trantes to ¡°no-mind,¡± which is a mental state that martial artists are said to enter duringbat. It is a condition in which ego and emotions are absent and the warrior reacts intuitively and moves instinctively.?¡®Do¡¯ means method/way, so it¡¯s ¡®no-mind method¡¯ or something like that. ¡°Yes, Daddy. I only trust in Daddy.¡± One way or another, the two were rotten waters of?Legend of Heroes 2. For them, the growth of their characters were more enjoyable than anything else. ¡°Now, let¡¯s go quickly. I¡¯ll let you know the methods and direction of the Tempest Step technique, which is the footwork technique of Count Bayer.¡± ¡°Yes, Daddy. Let¡¯s go quickly.¡± They would be stronger. They would also strengthen themselves with means that they could not originally use when it was still a game. The two rotten waters excitedly and hurriedly left the auction house after taking the Heavenly Judgment, the Reaper¡¯s Garment, the Ancient Crest, and the Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword. And around twenty minutester. When the two arrived at their amodation, they simultaneously remembered one fact. ¡°¡°Red Wind!¡±¡± The reason why they went to the auction house in the first ce. The two hadpletely forgotten her existence because of their unexpected jackpot, and hurriedly turned their way back. Chapter 54 - EPISODE 54 – CROSSING POINT (4)

Chapter 54 - EPISODE 54 ¨C CROSSING POINT (4)

Some changes I¡¯ve made: ¡°As expected, you¡¯re an expert in rearing. Being neglected and having her sight and hearing sealed for a long time must have left her weaker and dejected.¡± The employee said with a smile after they had gone back to the auction house¡¯s sales office in a hurry. He was the man they met on the 1st?basement floor, who specialized in the ve business. Cordelia frowned as she was peeved from hearing the man¡¯s words, but fortunately, her face was covered by a mask, so no one noticed it. However, Jude could guess how she felt just by looking at Cordelia¡¯s small gestures. He then slightly moved to hide Cordelia from the employee¡¯s gaze, before he turned towards Red Wind. She was blindfolded with arge leather eye covering, and her hearing and speech were blocked by a special seal. And just as she was before, she stood upright while being almost naked. There were short handcuffs on both her arms, and her legs were bound by short chains that were barely long enough for her to walk. ¡®Had she been left for more than an hour in that state?¡¯ Even the most dauntless person would be depressed and dejected. In fact, Red Wind¡¯s shoulders were badly drooping, reflecting her depressed state. ¡°I¡¯ll take her then.¡± ¡°Yes, I hope you have a pleasant rearing.¡± Nodding a bit to the smiling man, Jude hurriedly stepped forward as he took therge robe he brought beforehand and used it to cover Red Wind. ¡°Let¡¯s go back to our amodation before releasing her. Okay?¡± Nothing good wille out if she stood out. Moreover, the two didn¡¯t have any significant emotional interaction with Red Wind yet. If they released her here, she would most likely try to escape. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go quickly.¡± Cordelia responded in a low voice and walked closely to Red Wind, who slowly trod out of fear. And thirty minutester. Upon arriving at their amodation, Jude and Cordelia firstid Red Wind in the bedroom before they came out to the living room and started talking in Korean. ¡°First of all, we have to be friends with Red Wind.¡± Jude nodded his head at Cordelia¡¯s insistence. Their future journey would take ce across the border, so the help of Red Wind, who was a local to that ce, was absolutely necessary. And what they needed was a rtionship built on friendship and trust, and not on a coercive master-ve rtionship. ¡°But we¡¯recking in time.¡± The situation where Cordelia and Red Wind became friends was something that could be easily done. From Jude¡¯s point of view, no, even from the point of view of his previous life as Outboxer, Cordelia was kind, pretty, and even honest. Furthermore, Cordelia liked Red Wind. Red Wind herself didn¡¯t exactly have an unfriendly personality, so they could easily be friends soon. ¡®But that soon would at least take more than a month.¡¯ They didn¡¯t meet in a normal way but met in the form of a purchase in the ve market. It would take a considerable amount of time to ease Red Wind¡¯s wariness. ¡°So the way I thought of is¡­why is your expression like that?¡± ¡°Because it looks like you¡¯re plotting something evil.¡± ¡°Heeyy, what evil plot¡­ It¡¯s just a white lie.¡± ¡°In the end, you¡¯re going to deceive her.¡± Just as Jude knew Cordelia well, Cordelia also knew Jude well. As Cordelia¡¯s eyes narrowed, Jude cleared his throat but did not exactly withdraw his statement. They really didn¡¯t have time. And that fact was well known to Cordelia as well. ¡°What¡¯s your way?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a good way.¡± ¡°F*ck.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s sweet to hear that after a long time.¡± When Cordelia recoiled at his response that was smooth like flowing water, Judeughed as if he was aiming for that in the first ce and beckoned to her. ¡°Come closer. I¡¯ll tell you.¡± ¡°You¡¯re always telling me toe closer for a long time.¡± Cordelia grumbled as she moved closer to Jude, and Jude exined his n in a whisper. *** Red Wind swallowed her dry saliva as she was lying down on the bed. She was pretending to stay calm, but she was honestly scared. What will happen now? What kind of people are those who bought me? I need to find a way to cure my father¡¯s illness. What will happen to my father if I can¡¯t return? No, what will happen to me right now? She was scared and afraid. She frequently tried to hold it in, but honestly, she felt like crying. ¡®I have to be strong.¡¯ I have to be strong. I¡¯d rather die than be a northern bastard¡¯s ything. No, I can¡¯t just die. I¡¯ll kill and kill them. Red Wind strongly clenched her teeth, but it was only for a while before her negative feelings disappeared. Because she was suddenly overwhelmed with tremendous fatigue. ¡®I¡¯m feeling sleepy¡­hungry¡­¡¯ Come to think of it, how long had it been since I¡¯ve lied down in a soft and cozy bed? Her feelingspletely changed because of her drowsiness. And it was at that moment. ¡°Wake up, child of the Storm.¡± A woman¡¯s strong and pretty voice made Red Wind suddenly open her eyes. There was no eye covering. She could see ahead of her. But Red Wind immediately closed her eyes again, because of the dazzling light that filled her surroundings. ¡°Do not be afraid, child of the Storm. I am Great Storm.¡± Red Wind held her breath at the voice that resonated like a voice from the heavens. She stood up from her spot, bent down, and respectfully bowed. ¡°Aah! Great Storm!¡± It was a reflexive action. And the voice did not give Red Wind a chance to doubt it. ¡°Red Wind, daughter of Red Gale. The brave child who went on a journey to cure her father¡¯s illness.¡± Red Wind held her breath again. It was real. The pronunciation was a little bad, but that was only a minor problem. The proof was that it knew everything from her father¡¯s name, to the reason why she came across the border and into the southerner¡¯snd. She had never mentioned her father¡¯s name since she came down to the south. Great Storm. It was the guardian deity that the Great Storm tribe worshiped and obeyed. In the?Legend of Heroes?series, it was one of the beings called the barbarian gods. ¡°Red Wind, a great crisis ising throughout the entire tribe, and even across the Great ins.¡± Red Wind recoiled. Perhaps her father¡¯s illness was also rted to the great crisis, she thought. ¡°Your thoughts are correct. My child, Red Wind, daughter of Red Gale. I gave a divine revtion to two southern humans. Thus they have saved you, so join them. Help them. They will break down the crisis in the north.¡± ¡°Southern¡­humans?¡± Red Wind raised her head and asked. She still couldn¡¯t open her eyes properly because of the dazzling light, but she could vaguely see a person¡¯s silhouette. It was a very beautiful silhouette of a woman. ¡°It is a man and a woman. The woman¡¯s name is Cordelia. The man¡¯s name is Jude. The red-haired woman is very beautiful and good-natured, but sometimes fierce. She¡¯s like an animal. The good man is a handsome, fine, and nice person, who always sincerely understands the animal-like woman. For your information, the woman ispletely in love with the man¡­¡± Why do I somehow have a strange feeling with these lines? What on earth is the content about? Cordelia, who was acting as Great Storm, asked Jude with her eyes, but Jude was consistently ying dumb. She didn¡¯t even know what the written message was about, as Jude had only written down the Korean pronunciation of the northern barbarians¡¯nguage that she was now reading. ¡°Child, trust in those two. Help the two people. The two will be your friends.¡± That was it. As soon as Cordelia finished reading the lines, Jude pushed into the room again the magic created bybining the magic circle and the magic circle. Red Wind, who had low magic-resistance, fell into a deep sleep again. ¡°Good, let¡¯s quickly tie her up again.¡± Cordelia, who was on top of the magic circle that projected light, quickly came down from her spot in the room. There were various magic circles activated in the room to deceive Red Wind¡¯s senses. Each one was a low-level magic, but there were a lot of magic circles, so it made quite a dreamy effect. ¡°If she woke up in a state of being restrained, like before she fell asleep, she will think of this moment as just a dream.¡± ¡°To such a Red Wind, we¡¯ll approach her, saying that we received Great Storm¡¯s divine revtion, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. Then Red Wind will trust us.¡± Because it was the guidance of Great Storm who protected the tribe, and not anyone else. ¡°Eh¡­it makes sense, but I¡¯m somehow ufortable.¡± ¡°It¡¯s for the great cause. Hang in there.¡± ¡°This is sort of¡­isn¡¯t these just the lines that viins would say in games or movies?¡± Saying thus and thus about the just and great cause to protect their selfish desires. ¡°Hey, it¡¯s not. It really is for the great cause. Anyway, let¡¯s quickly restrain her and put away the magic circles.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± Cordelia reluctantly nodded and began to restrain Red Wind who was in a deep sleep, while Jude hastily removed the magic circles. And after about an hour or so. ¡°Hey, can you hear me?¡± Red Wind woke up to the soft and gentle voice. She tried to open her eyes right away, but she could see nothing but ck, because of her blindfold. ¡°Wait a second, I¡¯ll untie it for you immediately.¡± It was the continent¡¯s officialnguage. It was the words used by the humans guarding the wall. Red Wind was not skilled with it, but she was capable of speaking it even though she stammered. She was quite good in listening to it though. ¡®O Great Storm¡­¡¯ Was it a dream, or was it really a divine revtion? As if to calm down her anxiety, Red Wind swallowed hard, and at that moment, her visibility was set free. ¡°Uh¡­¡± She groaned and adjusted to the light, and her eyes caught the faces of two people. She both saw a girl and boy whose beauty was to the point that made her eyes open wide. Great Wind unconsciously began thinking of Great Storm¡¯s words, and Cordelia struck the final blow to her. ¡°Hello, that¡­I am called Cordelia. This is my fianc¨¦, Jude.¡± Cordelia and Jude. The names spoken by Great Storm! ¡°I, Gre¡­¡± That was it. Red Wind tried to hastily say Great Storm¡¯s name, but instead, she was helped in sitting up in a crooked posture. The shackles on her hands and feet were gone. ¡°You don¡¯t have to be so vignt. Great Storm guided us to you. That¡¯s why we bought you at the auction house.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia nodded and then grabbed the hands of Red Wind. ¡°You were really scared, right? It¡¯s okay now. We¡¯re here to help you.¡± Great Storm. The divine revtion. Cordelia¡¯s warm hands and moist eyes. Her warinesspletely disappeared. Ever since she had crossed the border and up to now, Red Wind had been trying to maintain a strong mind, but it was impossible for her now. She felt relieved. Her tension disappeared. Her tears burst and came pouring down from her eyes like a dam. ¡°Uwaaah!¡± Because she was only a sixteen-year-old now. ¡°It¡¯s okay, it¡¯s okay.¡± Cordelia tightly hugged Red Wind who burst into tears, but rather than her tears stopping, it only increased further. However, it was all right. Cordelia hugged Red Wind tightly, and Red Wind sadly cried for a long time in Cordelia¡¯s arms. And as he intensely watched the entire scene, Jude thought. ¡®Bingo.¡¯ He thought like that while the two were in the midst of warmness, and he continued to think that they had seeded in breaking down Red Wind¡¯s wariness. They could now be friends with Red Wind without wasting any time or trouble. ¡®All is good if the results are good.¡¯ ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Jude spoke as he excused himself and looked at Cordelia and Red Wind with a satisfied face. *** ¡°I-I know. A ce to cross the border. Neglect of surveince. Gap. Blind spot?¡± The next morning. Red Wind was exhausted from crying and had fallen asleepst night. She was now eating a sandwich that Jude had ordered from the room service, as she spoke in a stammer. ¡°Can you guide us?¡± ¡°The way only our tribe knows. It¡¯s a secret. But I tell. Cordelia is my friend. Jude is Cordelia¡¯s man.¡± At the end of Red Wind¡¯s words, Cordelia¡¯s faint smile looked somewhat cute, but she tilted her head once and looked back at Jude. ¡°Are we going to start right away?¡± ¡°I guess so. We¡¯ve been her for two days already, so whether it¡¯s Count Hr?svelgr or the Devil¡¯s Hand, our pursuers will catch up to us.¡± ¡°We¡¯re fugitives.¡± When the two had their own conversation, they both spoke in Korean. Because of that, Red Wind was confused as she didn¡¯t understand what they were talking about. Cordelia then looked back at her and said. ¡°We¡¯re going to eat and then go. We¡¯ll ask for your guidance. Do you know how to ride a horse?¡± ¡°I ride horses well. I will guide you.¡± Red Wind energetically answered, finishing her meal as she ate the remaining sandwich in one mouthful and then gulped down the milk. ¡°Okay, then let¡¯s start right away.¡± Their baggage was already loaded on the horse. With the Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword on his back, Jude took the lead, while Cordelia had the Heavenly Judgment on her back and carried the sacred rod as a cane. She stepped forward as she looked after Red Wind. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, just keep it on until we cross the border.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. We can¡¯t help it. I understand.¡± It was because of the ve ne that Red Wind was wearing around her neck. Red Wind with her snow-white hair and long ears were as prominent as Jude and Cordelia. If a northern barbarian walked around without a ve ne, everyone would see it as strange. ¡°Uh¡­who will ride in front this time?¡± As soon as theypleted the check-out procedure and came out, the stableman had already brought forward the horses of Jude and Cordelia. Since there were three people, two people had to ride together, so Jude asked Cordelia, and she replied with a wink. ¡°Shall I ride in front?¡± ¡°As the Madam wishes.¡± But it was at that moment. ¡°Cordelia rides with me. I am lighter than Jude. That¡¯s good for the horses.¡± That was correct. Somehow, Jude had grown tall and started to gain musclestely. ¡°Uh¡­is that so?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± The two somehow unconsciously spoke in an awkward manner, and they all rode on the horses, with Red Wind behind Cordelia. And just before their departure¡­ ¡°Ah!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Cordelia looked back at Red Wind who suddenly raised her voice as if she realized something, and Red Wind spoke with an apologetic look. ¡°I forgot. From now on, I will take a hint. I will not forget.¡± ¡°Uh¡­?¡± You¡¯ll take a hint? What are you talking about? However, Red Wind didn¡¯t speak anymore, and Cordelia was feeling doubtful but didn¡¯t ask any more questions. Why did I get a strange feeling? As for the other person. ¡°¡­well then, let¡¯s go.¡± Jude smiled bitterly as he took the lead, and the three started racing towards the north. And at the same time, at the former northern viscount¡¯s territory. Ga?l and Adelia were frowning as they faced each other. The two had ran and ran again through all sorts of means, such as using magic to relieve the horses¡¯ fatigue. ¡°Are you saying that they headed north?¡± ¡°Yes, they¡¯re still moving north.¡± Adelia also tilted her head as she found it strange. Thest ce that Jude and Cordelia were discovered was in Frost Anvil. It was located at the northwest end of the country, so there was nowhere else they could possibly go if they went north. If they headed north, there would be the bustling city of Lankebuste, and if they go further, there would be Thunderdoom Fortress, the nest of the Jackdaws. But it was strange. Even if they had headed to Lankebuste, it was impossible that Jude and Cordelia would have headed to Thunderdoom Fortress. Moreover, it was the direction the tracking magic pointed to. On the map, the two were heading somewhere other than Thunderdoom Fortress. Where are they going? Are they trying to cross the border? ¡°Kidnapped.¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°Maybe they were kidnapped? Like being caught by the Devil¡¯s Hand and being forced to move¡­¡± Ga?l, who had been speaking so far, stopped talking as he flinched. Because Adelia had a terrifying expression. ¡°There is a possibility.¡± ¡°Hey, Lady Adelia? That was just my guess¡­¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go quickly.¡± Adelia didn¡¯t seem to wait for Ga?l¡¯s answer as she immediately climbed on the horse and started running. Ga?l followed Adelia in a hurry too. And again in another ce¡­ In a deste forest. ¡°They¡¯re heading north. We¡¯ll meet them at the end of the north.¡± At the words of Kanos, who had hidden himself in the shade, Saluzia nodded. The chances of activating Kanos¡¯ foresight was infrequent, but once activated, it boasted of a significant uracy rate. ¡°We go to the northern border.¡± This time, they will catch the two. The demonic humans led by Saluzia began to move. And one more person¡­ Unlike what Jude and Cordelia and everyone else had in mind, the person moved and headed north. Chapter 55 - EPISODE 55 – WINTER FLOWER (1)

Chapter 55 - EPISODE 55 ¨C WINTER FLOWER (1)

About 300 years ago, there was a king who was called the Civil Engineering King. He built a great wall across the northern border to prevent the invasion of the northern barbarians. It was an enormous andrge-scale construction project. The construction, which began in the fifth year of the Civil Engineering King¡¯s reign,sted more than 30 years and was finally finished in the third year after the Civil Engineering King¡¯s death. The northern wall was guarded by the Jackdaws. However, neither the wall nor the Jackdaws were perfect. As it stretched across the entire border, the entire wall did not have a uniform height, thickness, and defense. There was also a limit to the number of Jackdaws, so it was impossible to keep a close watch on the entire border. Hence, inevitable gaps urred. There were areas were the defense was left only to the wall. ¡°This way.¡± It was the very ce where Red Wind crossed the border. Jude followed Red Wind¡¯s guidance without anyints, while Cordelia dozed off with her head in front of Red Wind as they rode on the horse together. About half an hour passed again like that. In a ce where human traces were scarce and it was deserted and out of sight, Jude decided to take a break. ¡°If the patrol passes by, they¡¯ll see our traces.¡± Because their footprints could be clearly seen on the snowy field. But they didn¡¯t worry about that for now. Jude properly swept the snow under a tree to create a ce to sit. ¡°Cordelia, please.¡± ¡°Huh? Okay.¡± Cordelia was half-asleep and had a sleepy face, but she sluggishly nodded and heated the water canteen to make the cold water lukewarm. No matter how infrequent the ce was from humans, it was still within the surveince area of the Jackdaws. If they started a fire, there was a risk of being caught right away because of the smoke. ¡°Here, beef jerky.¡± ¡°The jerky is hard.¡± Cordelia grumbled, but she knew well that they didn¡¯t have much of a choice. After he gave some to Red Wind as well, they started to chew on the beef jerky. They continued to eat for a long time without saying a word. Suddenly, Red Wind tugged Cordelia¡¯s sleeve. ¡°Huh? What is it?¡± When Cordelia asked with a smile, Red Wind hesitated for a while as if she was choosing her words, before she spoke again. ¡°Cordelia, I, curious about one thing, that.¡± ¡°Yes, what is it?¡± ¡°Fack? F*ck? What does that mean?¡± ¡°¡­huh?¡± Cordelia asked again with a stunned face, and Red Wind said again. ¡°Cordelia, often, you say it. Jude and secret words, words of love, that you share.¡± It was something that was not in the continent¡¯s officialnguage. ¡®Words of love¡¯ that were often used by the two. When Red Wind carefully listened, ¡®f*ck¡¯ was a word that came out very often. ¡°N-no. Wait, wait a second.¡± Cordelia was embarrassed. She was so embarrassed that she didn¡¯t even think about thement on the words of love. ¡°H-how do I exin?¡± It had been quite some time since the two had began talking in Korean, and her old habit had revived. Cordelia groaned and looked back at Jude, and Jude replied with his eyes. ¡®It¡¯s karma, karma. Who told you to swear so much?¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s not a curse? It¡¯s an exmation?¡¯ But it was a useless quarrel. Cordelia turned to Red Wind again instead of the unhelpful Jude, as she said as calmly as possible. ¡°That¡­what ¡®f*ck¡¯ means is¡­¡± ¡°Yes, f*ck.¡± Cordelia flinched at Red Wind saying that with a smile. It felt like the Red Wind that she liked so much was swearing at her. ¡°Ah¡­well, that is. That is¡­an exmation.¡± ¡°Exmation?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­exmation. So cool! Wonderful! Amazing! Well¡­something like that?¡± It didn¡¯t sound like her exnation worked, but when one thought about it, Cordelia had in fact, used that very word for that kind of purpose. Upon hearing Cordelia¡¯s desperate exnation, Red Wind¡¯s eyes sparkled and then she said with a broad smile. ¡°F*ck Cordelia. F*ck Jude. Both of you are f*ck!¡± Red Wind brightly shouted before she sent an impatient gaze to Cordelia. It seemed her eyes were asking for an answer. ¡°Ye-yes¡­Red Wind is f*ck.¡± ¡°F*ck Cordelia, so good, f*ck!¡± As Red Wind hugged Cordelia and cursed, or rather, repeated the ¡®exmation,¡¯ Jude finally couldn¡¯t stop himself fromughing. ¡°Kuku¡­ku¡­haha, haha¡­is this karma?¡± Although Red Wind brightly using foulnguage was shocking, it seemed to be helpful in some?way. That?way?would be Cordelia reducing her use of exmations in the future due to education issues. And indeed, when Cordelia tried to exim in session by reflex, she tightly shut her mouth and was in distress. ¡°Ah, this is so funny. It¡¯s so much fun.¡± ¡°Jude, is this funny?¡± ¡°Uh, I¡¯m d that the two of you are having fun.¡± Jude roughly evaded Cordelia¡¯s angry look and said to Red Wind again. ¡°Red Wind, are we entering the valley like this?¡± ¡°Yes, but the valley is rugged. It¡¯s narrow. The horse can¡¯t go.¡± At Red Wind¡¯s words, Cordelia was surprised as her eyes widely opened, while Jude nodded. Because Jude had already roughly guessed it. ¡®It would be natural as it is a ce where the surveince of the Jackdaws is negligent.¡¯ ¡°Jude, what about the horses then?¡± At the same time he was thinking, he heard Cordelia¡¯s voice. Jude replied with a shrug as they had no other choice. ¡°We have to release them.¡± ¡°They¡¯ll be released?¡± ¡°Oh, they¡¯ll be wild horses¡­or some lucky person will find them.¡± Cordelia had a very unwilling expression at hearing Jude¡¯s answer, as she found the fact to be really hard. ¡°Let¡¯s release them at this point. If we take them deep into the valley, we¡¯ll have troubleing out too.¡± ¡°¡­I understand.¡± Cordelia replied with a gloomy voice before standing up from her seat and releasing the saddle of the horse she had been riding on so far. There was a sense of regret in each of her touch, as if she held a lot of affection for it. ¡®Somehow, you¡¯re very affectionate.¡¯ Jude happily watched her before he rose from his seat too, unfastened the saddle of the horse, and brought together their small luggage. And the time of parting finally came. Jude and Cordelia made the horses run forward by pping the horses¡¯ butt. The two horses began running on the white snow field. ¡°Farewell, Jude.¡± ¡°Farewell, Cordelia.¡± The two who spoke at the same time looked back at each other and said immediately again. ¡°Cordelia? You named the horse?Cordelia?¡± ¡°Yours is?Jude?¡± ¡°No, it was a male horse.¡± ¡°In that case, me too. It was a female horse.¡± Red Wind burst out into augh at hearing the two¡¯s words. ¡°You¡¯re of the same mind. You two. Really f*cking fantastic.¡± She had a bright, innocent, and pretty smile. ¡®Do something about her.¡¯ ¡®I-I¡¯ll work hard.¡¯ After finishing their conversation with just their eyes, Jude and Cordelia tried to stop Red Wind who was trying to use her newly learned vocabry, as they urged her to step forward again. *** Time had passed. In the afternoon, the group was able to reach the valley¡¯s entrance after passing through the storming blizzard that started. ¡°It widens after passing here. Just have to struggle a bit.¡± Red Wind said as they passed a narrow path that one person could barely pass through, while Jude wondered if they should camp-out tonight or move overnight. And Cordelia suddenly stopped. ¡°Cordelia?¡± Jude discovered it toote as he turned around and asked, but Cordelia didn¡¯t immediately answer. She looked behind her back with a frown. ¡°Hey, it¡¯s a strange story¡­but I don¡¯t have a good feeling here.¡± She had been feeling something ominous since a while ago. It was as if someone was stabbing a spear from behind. If it were someone else¡¯s words, he would have let it go. But it was Cordelia¡¯s words. ¡®Cordelia¡¯s sense is special.¡¯ Her sense was simply great ¨C it wasn¡¯t something that ended at that level. Various abilities existed in Pleiades, the world of?Legend of Heroes. In fact, it wasn¡¯t just Cordelia, as Jude¡¯s own memory and calction abilities were in a stronger statepared to the days when he was on Earth and even before he awakened here and opened the 2nd?door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. The same could be said of Cordelia¡¯s?sensitivity. Perhaps it was a power that belonged to something that was close to foresight. In fact, Cordelia¡¯s sense had been much more urate than before, since she had learned the Witch Transformation. ¡°I don¡¯t see anything.¡± Said Red Wind. As she possessed the blood of winter elves, her vision was superior than that of humans, so she couldn¡¯t see any enemies within her sight nearby them. But Jude believed in Cordelia¡¯s sense. ¡°Let¡¯s hurry up.¡± Jude started to walk as if he was almost running, and Cordelia also increased her speed. Thus, Red Wind had no choice but to run and follow the two people. The narrow path ended, and a wide road came into sight. It was a basin terrain surrounded by steep cliffs. There was still no one near them. It was a quiet ce with only the three of them here. But Cordelia kept looking back. Her ominous feeling kept getting stronger and stronger. The sensation of being stabbed in the back also grew stronger. ¡°Owooooh!¡± At that very moment, the roar of a beast came over their heads. Above the valley. Threerge dogs came down from the steep wall. With dark red fur and yellow eyes, they were definitely not ordinary wild animals. ¡°Hellhound!¡± A demonic dog. It didn¡¯t end with the three. More demonic dogs appeared from above the valley. ¡°Run!¡± The screaming Jude promptly threw away the luggage he was carrying and then carried Red Wind on his back. Cordelia also immediately activated the Witch Transformation and cast magic on herself and Jude. ¡°Owooooh!¡± ¡°Awooh!¡± More than ten Hellhounds came down from the wall in a rush. Jude clenched his teeth and focused only on running. Intercepting multiple enemies was Cordelia¡¯s specialty, and not that of Jude himself. ¡°Get away from us!¡± As Cordelia¡¯s dark red hair fluttered, she released her magic. More than ten magic missiles struck the middle of the Hellhounds¡¯ foreheads as if they were guided missiles. It was a really marvelous skill. In the entire S?len Kingdom, one could barely count in their hands those who can show that level of control while in the middle of running with activated. The Hellhounds who were struck in the middle of their foreheads fell off at random. Cordelia continued to cast in session over a wide area as she caught up with Jude. And while all that was happening, she spit out some strange words. ¡°Something, I can feel there¡¯s something more!¡± A feeling that she found difficult to exin herself. Jude ran and looked back. Thanks to the area with , the Hellhounds were held back and stranded at the pretty much wide area. ¡®They¡¯re the advance party.¡¯ No matter how deserted the ce was, they couldn¡¯t have brought ten Hellhounds from the beginning, so it was evident that they were summoned nearby. And that meant one thing. Saluzia had moved. She, the branch head, had finallye and struck them here. But how did that happen? It was normally not possible. Even if they had noticed that the group¡¯s purpose was to cross the border, it was impossible for them to attack their group in such a deste ce as if it was an ambush. The group didn¡¯t specify their location to anyone else, nor did they give a clue to infer their purpose, as was the case with the Sunflower. There was something. Something that Jude himself didn¡¯t know. Jude cut off his thoughts there. What was important was the fact that Saluzia was somewhere nearby. Jude kept running and thinking. Cordelia¡¯s sense. There was another thing that she felt. It wasn¡¯t Saluzia. Saluzia was with the pack of Hellhounds. It was an ambiguous feeling in the first ce, but that did not mean that it was something chaotic. The other one. The other one that Cordelia felt. ¡°Caaww!¡± Jude and Cordelia simultaneously looked at the sky. They saw a crow. And at that moment, Jude realized it. Cordelia also had a hunch. That was it. That another thing that Cordelia felt. They had to follow that crow to get out of their current crisis. ¡°Jackdaw?!¡± Red Wind who btedly spotted the crow, said in a voice mixed with fear. For her, a northern barbarian, the jackdaw was a bad omen among all the bad omens. But it wasn¡¯t. Thepletely jet-ck bird was different from a jackdaw. It was a pure crow. As for what that meant¡­ ¡°Owooooh!¡± The Hellhounds managed to get out of the area with with some difficulty and began to speed up and bark again. Instead of looking at them, Jude looked up the sky. The crows were increasing. They seemed to increase one by one, and before he knew it, the crows covered the sky. The sound of their pping wings in the sky alone seemed to be ear-splitting. Red Wind was very frightened and shrank her body. Moreover, her eyes saw the direction they were heading to now. ¡°A cliff!¡± It was a cliff. But Jude didn¡¯t stop. Rather, he ran faster. The Hellhounds noisily cried behind his back. ¡°Owooooooh!¡± ¡°Awoooo!¡± Jude saw Cordelia. So did Cordelia, and she nodded. She refreshingly smiled. One could count in their hands the characters in?Legend of Heroes?who had such a splendid entrance. Or rather, there was only one person that the crow symbolized in the first ce! ¡°Hug me!¡± Jude stretched out his hand. Cordelia threw herself at Jude, and he barely carried Cordelia in his arms while Red Wind was on his back. Together, he threw themselves over the cliff. ¡°Kyaaaaa!¡± Red Wind screamed, but it was for a short time. The pping sound of the wings made by the dozens, or rather, hundreds of birds, swallowed up all the surrounding sounds. The flock of crows shrouded Jude and Cordelia. Cordelia tightly hugged Jude¡¯s neck as she closed her eyes. So did Jude. And time passed. The sound of the wings that seemed to never end gradually died down. Solid ground. A ce where they could step on and stand. Jude staggered for a while, but soon regained his bnce. He slowly opened his eyes, confirming the existence of Cordelia, whom he held tightly in his arms. They were still in a ce covered with white snow. The crows that flew into the sky scattered in all directions and disappeared. And in the front. A person looked at Jude and Cordelia who were supporting each other and breathing roughly. That person had dark blue eyes, pure white hair and a white face, but everything else was jet-ck. Jude knew that person, who was wearing a long ck robe over his head. Therefore, he put that person¡¯s name on his mouth first. ¡°Jude Bayer greets Kamael.¡± The Ghostde Kamael. One of the six heads of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. The protagonist, who together with Landius, were the two giant stars of?Legend of Heroes 1. ¡°Landius¡¯ disciple.¡± Kamael spoke in a low voice, responding to Jude¡¯s call. And then stepped towards Jude and Cordelia. Chapter 56 - EPISODE 56 – WINTER FLOWER (2)

Chapter 56 - EPISODE 56 ¨C WINTER FLOWER (2)

An exnation regarding the chapter¡¯s title: Winter Flower refers to the ¡°Camellia¡± flower. And in somenguages, Camellia sounds simr to ¡°Kamael,¡± so the Winter Flower is indirectly referencing the character Kamael. Why that is so is something the author only knows. Maybe his parents named him after the Camellia flower and because he¡¯s a guy, it became Kamael? I don¡¯t know, but that¡¯s the closest exnation I could give. When one thinks of the word ¡®fantasy,¡¯ it conjures up thoughts of swords and magic. Thus, numerous swordsmen existed in Pleiades, the world of?Legend of Heroes. More than half of the characters used swords, and there was also a high proportion of swordsmen among the yable characters. In particr, the main characters of each episode, such as Landius and Kamael in episode 1, Maximilian in episode 2, and Luichel in episode 3, all used swords as their main weapon, so it could be said that among all the characters, those who were called ¡®heroes¡¯ used swords. ¡®Thus, it can be said that the Four Great Swordsmen symbolized the strongest people in?Legend of Heroes.¡¯ These Four Great Swordsmen were chosen by yers among the many swordsmen characters. The Four Great Swordsmen was not a title that existed in the setting, as it was a kind of mememonly used like the Four Heavenly Kings and the Four Great Kings, but because it was so widely used in?Legend of Heroes, the title was virtually treated as an official setting. ¡®Kamael, Maximilian, Luther, and Scarlet.¡¯ There was a lot of discussion on who among the four was the strongest, but in any case, Kamael took the lead among the Four Great Swordsmen and the allies and enemies altogether. ¡®He was also the only character that appeared in the entire?Legend of Heroes?series.¡¯ That was why some say that Kamael was the true main character of the?Legend of Heroes?series. ¡®He had a lot of fans ever since he appeared in the first episode.¡¯ Although Jude himself liked Landius more, Kamael was in the top range if he ranked in sequence all the characters that had appeared in the game. ¡®Now then, about Kamael.¡¯ The Ghostde. He was the strongest in the Guardians of the Holy Cross if you exclude Elendia, their leader, who waspletely shrouded in mystery. As one of the Four Great Swordsmen, he owns the extremely cold magic sword ¡®Almace,¡¯ one of the 7 famous swords in?Legend of Heroes. Unlike Landius, who underwent a shocking visual change in 10 years, Kamael remained the same familiar character when he appeared in the second episode. He was dressed in ck with a hood covering his pure-white hair. He had a beautiful face that heavily exuded a neutral charm, and infinitely cold blue eyes that were like gems. As if it was his character setting, he had a stiff facial expression and rarely smiled except when he¡¯s with Landius, who had been with him since the first episode. He quietly stared at Jude before he opened his mouth and spoke again. ¡°I was observing your movements at the request of Landius.¡± Jude nodded a little at Kamael¡¯s words. Because Landius was a magnanimous person and not a foolish one. He wasn¡¯t a person who would leave his disciple unattended. ¡°In fact, I tried to somehow end my observation here in the north, but I couldn¡¯t. Because Saluzia moved.¡± It was Saluzia, one of the six branch executives of the Devil¡¯s Hand. The power of a high-ranking demonic human wasparable to the heads of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, and even as one of the heads of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, he had no choice but to be focused and stay alert in order to immediately respond against her. ¡°I found and saved you while I was tracking down Saluzia¡¯s whereabouts.¡± It was a roughly understandable story. And it was really like Kamael to start an exnation and not care about introductions. To put it simply, he was not interested in anyone other than Landius and his colleagues in the first episode. ¡°Where were you going? If you keep moving north, there wouldn¡¯t be any other ce except outside of the border.¡± It was a low but beautiful voice. Jude pointed towards the trembling Red Wind behind Cordelia and said. ¡°She is Red Wind, a member of the Great Storm tribe. In order to cure her father¡¯s illness, we were crossing the border¡­and on our way to thend of barbarians.¡± Because Red Wind was with them and listening, Jude was reluctant to use the word ¡®barbarian,¡¯ but there was no other different term for it that he could use right now. At Jude¡¯s exnation, Kamael knit his brows. ¡°How is a child from the 12 northern families and a barbarian girl rted?¡± ¡°There was a divine revtion from the barbarian god, Great Storm.¡± When Cordelia stepped forward and spoke, Kamael¡¯s eyes were filled with curiosity. ¡°Barbarian god?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Cordelia replied once again and secretly nced at Jude afterwards. Because it was her asking for help, Jude also spoke. ¡°Great Storm is the barbarian god of the wind who watches over the Great Storm tribe. And¡­I heard that the illness of Red Wind¡¯s father, Red Gale, seems to be rted to the power of demons.¡± Red Wind was startled and surprised by Jude¡¯s words as her eyes widely opened, but on the contrary, Kamael¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°Indeed, that is something worth investigating.¡± Kamael didn¡¯t know much about the demon followers that settled down in thend of the barbarians beyond the border. However, Kamael was someone who had willingly dered an oath to eradicate all the demon followers that existed in this world. His eyes, which had been indifferent until now, were now filled with emotions for the first time. ¡°I see, your purpose is to cross the border. As Landius¡¯ acquaintance, I¡¯ll help you up to there.¡± ¡°Before that, Kamael, I¡¯d like to ask you one question.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s about the movement of the Devil¡¯s Hand. Does one of our enemies have the ability of foresight?¡± First of all, to the best of Jude¡¯s own knowledge, there was no one in the Devil¡¯s Hand who possessed the ability of foresight. However, the Devil¡¯s Hand were their enemy, and not their ally. Naturally, he couldn¡¯t identify all their secrets during the time when he yed it as a game. ¡®They appeared as if they were waiting for us.¡¯ The Hellhounds of the Devil¡¯s Hand. It was only during Frost Anvil that their location was specified, as it was possible for them to gather clues and track them down because Jude had a clear motive to go to Frost Anvil in order to search for the Sunflower. But now, this ce was a snowfield where there were few to entirely no people. It was possible to follow the trail, but it was impossible to predict where they would go in order to set up an ambush. At Jude¡¯s question, Kamael considerably looked at Jude in interest before asking. ¡°Why do you think it¡¯s a foresight ability?¡± ¡°Because it¡¯s hard to exin the ambush if there was no foresight ability. And¡­my guess is, their foresight ability seems to be imperfect.¡± Judging from Kamael¡¯s reaction, it seemed that there was indeed a foresight ability within the members of the Devil¡¯s Hand. But fortunately, it was very likely that the ability was imperfect. Hearing Jude¡¯s words, Kamael¡¯s face became like that of a teacher testing their student. ¡°Why do you say it¡¯s imperfect?¡± ¡°Because of the appearance of Hellhounds.¡± If it was a perfect foresight ability, it would be Saluzia and the demonic humans who would appear in that position instead of the Hellhounds. But it was the Hellhounds that appeared. It could only infer one thing here. Their foresight was imperfect. And because it was not a perfect foresight, they released the Hellhounds over a wide range, and one of them encountered Jude¡¯s party. Kamael had a very faint smile at Jude¡¯s hypothesis, and then he whispered in a low voice. ¡°Are you really the disciple of Landius?¡± Jude wondered on what the connection was between his reasoning ability and Landius, and also wondered why Cordelia was casually humming all of a sudden. But Kamael himself was convinced and had a stiff expression again as he said. ¡°That¡¯s right. In the Devil¡¯s Hand, there¡¯s a middle-ranking demonic human called Kanos who has an imperfect foresight ability. ording to my investigation so far, it seems that his foresight could only tell the rough location. And given that he hasn¡¯t frequently used it, I think that he cannot freely control the ability itself.¡± ¡°Indeed, so it was like that.¡± Imperfect foresight. With that in mind, Jude also understood on what happened at Frost Anvil. They knew that Jude and Cordelia were going to Frost Anvil, but they didn¡¯t exactly know when and what route the two were going through. And that was why they made a mistake when they held their ground and waited for the two on the 1st?floor. ¡®Is this the price for being too lucky at the casino and auction house?¡¯ There was no such thing as aw of total luck, so it was natural to think that it was crazy when their foresight that they could not freely control, suddenly seeded in session. ¡®Whatever.¡¯ It was bound to be annoying if there was a foresight ability on the enemy side. Crossing the border would get them out of the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s area, so they wouldn¡¯t have to pay much attention to the enemy by then, but when theye backter, they would have to resolve that issue. But it was then. Cordelia suddenly tugged the edge of Jude¡¯s sleeve and sent him a quiet nce. ¡®It¡¯s strange.¡¯ ¡®What?¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s just a little strange.¡¯ Kamael was strange. It was a groundless story, but Cordelia¡¯s words bothered him. And at the exchange of the two, Kamael had a faint smile again. ¡°Your sense is good, girl.¡± ¡°¡­it¡¯s Cordelia.¡± Kamael had a simr way of speaking like his friend Landius. He turned back to Jude and said again. ¡°It is my clone who is in this ce now.¡± A clone made from the secret arts of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. Since it had appeared several times in?Legend of Heroes 2, Jude was first surprised but was soon convinced. ¡®No, wait. It¡¯s a problem if he¡¯s a clone.¡¯ The strength of the Ghostde Kamael, one of the Four Great Swordsmen, was different from the other heads of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. Two higher-ranking demonic humans like Saluzia was not enough, and three of them must be gathered before they could have a chance at confronting him. However, the story was a little different if it was a clone. ¡®It would be possible for Saluzia to fight against him.¡¯ At his current status, it was certainly possible. If they properly fought, Saluzia was more likely to win. ¡°This clone will now be heading north to strike Saluzia.¡± The Guardians of the Holy Cross was not only active in the S?len Kingdom. As they were active throughout the continent, Kamael did not always stay in the S?len Kingdom. ¡®That¡¯s another reason why he¡¯s using a clone in the first ce.¡¯ ¡°Do not worry too much. I will not leave alone those who have received the barbarian god¡¯s divine revtion. I will protect you until you reach the border.¡± Kamael straightly said that when Jude¡¯s expression became serious. But Jude shook his head. ¡°No, I think it would be better for us to move separately.¡± Do not let Kamael apany them. At Jude¡¯s words, Red Wind blinked her eyes, but not for Cordelia. Because she understood Jude¡¯s real intention. ¡°The only one who can stop Saluzia is Kamael. On the other hand, Saluzia is absolutely necessary on their side in order to stop Master Kamael.¡± ¡°So?¡± Rather than being really curious, his eyes had a testing look again. Therefore, Jude exined in detail like a student making a presentation. ¡°When Master Kamael shows up, Saluzia has no choice but to move. It¡¯s good if they mistakenly think it¡¯s your real body and hide their tails between their legs and run away immediately, but it isn¡¯t bad if they notice that it¡¯s a clone too. Saluzia will not be able to neglect Master Kamael. They will surely think that my group is hiding together with the real Kamael. If it doesn¡¯t work though, Master Kamael can attack Saluzia then.¡± A confrontation between the strongest person of each side. Have the white queen and ck queen engage with each other to prevent each side from moving. Kamael now understood Jude¡¯s real intention. So he asked as his gem-like eyes narrowed. ¡°Can you do it?¡± What Jude meant was simple. As long as it¡¯s not Saluzia. The two can pass through all the other enemies through their own efforts. That is why they needed to separate Saluzia in advance, as she¡¯s the greatest risk factor. They¡¯ll remove Saluzia herself from the battlefield so that they could move. ¡°If the two of us are together, we can do it.¡± When Jude held Cordelia¡¯s hand as he spoke, Cordelia seriously nodded her head too. If the two are together, they can do it. Red Wind, who was not included in their deration, had a gloomy expression, but Kamael only saw Jude and Cordelia. And soon, he smiled. ¡°It reminds me of Landius.¡± If the two of us are together, we can do it?¨C It was what Landius habitually said during their hardships in the Paragon Kingdom. And indeed, Kamael and Landius did it. So Kamael nodded his head. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll move along with your n. But before that¡­¡± The end of Kamael¡¯s words trailed off, as he walked straight towards Jude and stopped in front of him. Kamael then asked, looking straight into Jude¡¯s eyes. ¡°I heard that you ate the Sunflower. But was there any problem while you were ingesting it?¡± At Kamael¡¯s question, Jude nodded after a little hesitation. Because it was true. While in the middle of absorbing the Sunflower, he had quit once and went to battle in order to save Cordelia. However, Jude did not look back at Cordelia. Because he was somehow worried that Cordelia would feel burdened. But Cordelia¡¯s hand, who was still holding on Jude¡¯s hand, slightly twitched. Kamael said again. ¡°Indeed, it was not absorbed properly. It wasn¡¯t that you couldn¡¯t absorb all of it¡­but that it couldn¡¯t fully settle down in your body. But thanks to that, your Gueumjulmaek is almost cured.¡± Kamael, who had spoken so far, ced his hand on Jude¡¯s shoulder. He looked down as he said. ¡°It¡¯s impossible topletely cure it right now. However, the distortion caused by the interrupted flow during absorption can be corrected.¡± Cordelia¡¯s face instantly brightened at Kamael¡¯s words. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes, indeed.¡± Because he was Landius¡¯ disciple, and not anyone else. If it was someone else, Kamael would have ignored it even if Jude had properly absorbed it or not. ¡°I¡¯ll correct the distortion. Then the Cheonmujiche would be able to properly exert its power.¡± ¡°Wait, its proper power?¡± Cordelia asked again. If so, what the hell was that Cheonmujiche that we had seen so far then? ¡°Cheonmujiche is the heavenly talent for martial arts. Even if I correct the current distortion, it is still not possible for it to exert its full power. Because the Cheonmujiche had been suppressed by the Gueumjulmaek for a very long time.¡± In short, what he was saying was that Jude¡¯s current Cheonmujiche was not yet the full power of the true Cheonmujiche. It would still not be at its full power, even after the treatment that Kamael said he would do. ¡®Cheonmujiche ispletely a cheat.¡¯ Cordelia absurdly looked at Jude, but soon, her face brightened up again. Because Jude wasn¡¯t someone else¡¯s cheat, but?her side¡¯s?cheat. T/N: The word that Cordelia actually used is uri-jip (???), which can mean ¡®my house,¡¯ ¡®our home,¡¯ or ¡®our ce.¡¯ ¡®Uri¡¯ is usually used when addressing your own family members. So technically, Cordelia was sort of unconsciously (?) acknowledging Jude as ¡®belonging to her house/home,¡¯ or that he is hers already, hahaha. I used ¡®her side¡¯ though, as using ¡®my home¡¯s cheat¡¯ looked weird. ¡°We don¡¯t have time. Can I start right now?¡± ¡°Yes, please.¡± Jude couldn¡¯t refuse this opportunity. Or rather, it was the main character of the first episode who had offered him this much opportunity, so he couldn¡¯t refuse. When Jude agreed, Kamael said with a little mischievous smile. ¡°It will seriously hurt like hell.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± That was it. An excruciating pain suddenly struck Jude¡¯s whole body. Chapter 57 - EPISODE 57 – WINTER FLOWER (3)

Chapter 57 - EPISODE 57 ¨C WINTER FLOWER (3)

I forgot to rify itst chapter, but Kamael¡¯s ¡®clone¡¯ is something like a doppelg?nger. And not some scientifically-made clone. It¡¯s a bit close to Naruto¡¯s shadow clones (kage bunshin). Saluzia stood on the cliff, where Jude and Cordelia had jumped, and clenched her fists. She was crushing the crow¡¯s ck feathers within her grasp. ¡°Kamael, the Ghostde.¡± It was unlikely that it was his real body. It was only 15 days ago that he was spotted in the southern part of the S?len Kingdom. Even if he suddenly appeared and disappeared like a ghost to hide his movements, he would still be not be able to quicklye to the northernmost part from the southernmost part within 15 days. ¡°Don¡¯t give up. I can still capture her.¡± As the branch head herself, she couldn¡¯t leave this ce without delivering any results. Talking to herself, she threw the crow feathers she had crushed into a mess onto the ground as she thought. ¡®Catch Cordelia.¡¯ In addition, she¡¯ll eliminate the clone of Kamael, one of the main forces of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, which was her organization¡¯s enemy. This much would be a considerable achievement. It was still too early for her to give up. And that was the moment. ¡°Caaw!¡± Saluzia immediately raised her head at the crow¡¯s shrill cry. A flock of crows were moving fast in the air from afar. As if it were luring and provoking her. ¡°How funny, Kamael.¡± Saluzia sharpened her eyes at the flock of crows as she red at it with a piercing look. She couldn¡¯t just let that flock of crows leave. Because there was a possibility that Cordelia was with him. She couldn¡¯t just let Kamael¡¯s clone leave as it is. ¡°I won¡¯t let you escape.¡± Splendid and enormous deer-like horns sprouted from Saluzia¡¯s head. At the same time, devil¡¯s wings spread out from behind her back. It was the demonization of the high-ranking demonic human. That alone shook the atmosphere of the surrounding area. A purple evil aura rose like mes from Saluzia¡¯s whole body as it tainted the ground and sky. The snow in the snowfieldpletely melted. Saluzia flew up. As she pursued the flock of crows, she mulled over. ¡®It was you.¡¯ The one who defeated Sisioth at Frost Anvil. The one who wiped out the demonic humans and monsters. She understood it now. It was impossible for Jude and Cordelia to defeat Sisioth with the full power that they disyed in Langesthei. Because those two were no match to the low-ranking demonic humans that she had dispatched together. In fact, even Lucas who was widely known as the Girin of Count Hr?svelgr, couldn¡¯t even properly fight against a low-ranking demonic human. ¡®He¡¯s just a rookie who had only began to learn martial arts.¡¯ In fact, if Jude fought her, he wouldn¡¯t be able to hit her even if he used all his power. It was Cordelia whom she looked out for, but in the end, Cordelia was just an inexperienced novice wizard. It didn¡¯t make sense for such two people to defeat the demon and demonic humans in session. ¡®It was you, Kamael.¡¯ You were hunting the Devil¡¯s Hand with the two as bait. Saluzia¡¯s suspicion soon turned into a conviction. She was worked up as her pursuit became faster. Dozens of light des rose from her purple evil aura and suddenly attacked the flock of crows, but the flock of crows magnificently danced in the air and soon became one as itnded on the ground. The Ghostde revealed his appearance among the dozens of crows. ¡°Kamael.¡± Saluzia also settled down on the ground. Kamael drew a magic sword from the air and faced Saluzia with an indifferent look. ¡°Are you alone? That¡¯s stupid. Did you think Cordelia could run away if you held me back?¡± Saluzia herself did note alone. Among the branch¡¯s troops, only the elite came and gathered here. Kamael knew it too. While he was flying on the way here, he saw Saluzia¡¯s subordinates scattered all over the ce. The Jackdaws guarding the north were looking out beyond the border, and not those who were inside the border. Moreover, it was almost impossible to get the help of the Jackdaws as this was a deserted ce with very few people. Therefore, Jude and Cordelia could only break through the siege of the Devil¡¯s Hand with their strength alone. Impossible. Something like that couldn¡¯t happen. What could those two children do at best? Saluzia¡¯s arguments weren¡¯t generally wrong. They were correct statements. But Kamael replied with a calm expression. ¡°They said yes.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°They said they could run away.¡± Or rather, it wasn¡¯t just that. Jude had said that he would definitely break through. And one more thing. An important fact that he learned while correcting the distortion of the Sunflower. ¡°Yin-Yang Body.¡± He was an existence who had the potential to inherit and possess both Landius¡¯ extreme Yang energy and Kamael¡¯s extreme Yin energy. That was it. Kamael didn¡¯t drag it any longer. Like when he was with Landius, he showed a faint smile and held the sword he had pulled out. He said in provocation to Saluzia. ¡°Come.¡± I will fight you alone. Saluzia burst into anger at the eyes that belittled her. She charged towards Kamael. *** Jude ran. A simple action of moving forward by spurring on the ground with his two feet. But it was different. The feeling itself has changed from before. His hands and feet felt free. There was a pleasure that came from the fact that he can move his own body in the way that he truly wanted. It wasn¡¯t just that. His whole body was overflowing with strength. The cirction of Qi energy became faster. He thought that all the martial arts he had used so far were fake. ¡°Chu-pa-ha!¡± Yelling a cry with an unknown meaning, Jude stepped forward. With a bright smile, he carried out the Twenty-Four Gale Steps. It was the genuine Twenty-Four Gale Steps! Baang-! The air burst. More than ten gusts of wind spread out in all directions, and in the meantime, Jude became a gale. Without hesitation, he swept towards the enemies in front of him. Bang! Bang! Bang! Peals of thunder burst out. In the ce where the gale swept, the heads and necks of the Hellhounds were broken. And then without fail, a golden whirlwind rose and swept around. Cordelia couldn¡¯t even see him properly. In her eyes as a wizard, it was impossible to urately observe Jude¡¯s movement. He swiftly moved and faced head-on. He faced the Hellhound head-on. The Hellhound tried to bite Jude off, but it was impossible. Like the wind, he passed by the Hellhound¡¯s attack. At the same time, a golden whirlwind interrupted the Hellhound¡¯s movement. A peal of thunder burst again. A thunderbolt strike broke the Hellhound¡¯s whole body. Bang! The sound burst! Jude looked back. He checked Cordelia and Red Wind before he became a gale again and ran straight to the front. ¡°Beast.¡± Cordelia unconsciously said. In her Witch Transformation, she ran and used the magic de to deal thest hit to the enemies that Jude had knocked down. At the same time, she identified the pursuers who were gathering. ¡°Haa! Haa!¡± Red Wind was just running and following behind Jude. Thanks to a forbidden elixir made by mixing various potions, it became possible for her to run at Jude and Cordelia¡¯s speed. But as expected, she was still new to it. She was running out breath from just following them. ¡°Haa!¡± Jude ran forward and made a Holy Cross. The huge golden Holy Cross, which was twice as big as before, stretched out and moved towards the front. It was an attack simr to the Holy Cross he had used in the witch¡¯s forest. It was thanks to the inner Qi amplified by the Sunflower. Moreover, Jude could feel it. This was not it. There was still a way to make it more efficient. With it, he can use a stronger and faster sacred battle aura. Cheonmujiche. A heavenly talent for martial arts! The incarnation of martial arts! Boooooom! The monster in front of him collided with the Holy Cross and was shattered. It was a natural urrence for Snow Golems to frequently appear along the northern border. Jude ran through the monster¡¯s shattered body. Cordelia then shouted behind him. ¡°They¡¯re rushing from both sides! 7 o¡¯clock! 2 o¡¯clock! Trees blocked the view of those ces. However, Cordelia¡¯s sense after entering the Witch Transformation was almost as good as a radar. Jude immediately understood Cordelia¡¯s words. She even pointed out the direction, so he easily dealt with the situation. Whirlwind. The continuous gale. And a peal of thunder burst out again! ¡°Yaaaah!¡± Jude cried out, and Cordelia thought again. ¡®You always say I¡¯m an animal or beast, but you¡¯re more of a beast!¡¯ But it was good. Cordelia somehow found herself repeatedlyughing. The only one who couldn¡¯tugh was Red Wind. But she could see them too despite hurriedly running after them. The fact that the power of the two far exceeds that of her peers. It was the reason why the Great Storm chose these two people! ¡°There it is!¡± A piercing roar came from the front. It was the loud cry of someone with purple skin and a giant build. Jude and Cordelia simultaneously saw him. And identified him. ¡°Baras!¡± ¡°Synthetic demonic human made from monsters, not demons!¡± ¡°Specialty is rushing!¡± ¡°Attribute is me! But he doesn¡¯t use attribute attacks, so you can ignore it!¡± ¡°Can only attack in a straight line! Attacking the side is the rule!¡± ¡°Magic defense is unusually high!¡± ¡°Weakness against sh!¡± ¡°Vicious killer!¡± As they shouted back and forth, Baras instantly fell into confusion. ¡°H-how!?¡± Have you ever met me yourselves? No, even if we had met, how do you know me so much! At the time that Baras was bewildered, Jude and Cordelia have alreadypleted their attack on Baras. ¡°!¡± ¡°!¡± Jude and Cordelia shouted in turn. magic bound Baras¡¯ ankles, and at that moment, he lost his bnce and fell on the slippery ground with magic. His high magic defense meant that he was strong against magic damage, not that he could interfere with magic itself. So and would work well enough for him. ¡°Agh!¡± And they continued. Cordelia ran past him and stretched out her hand. With the power of the witch, she used a blue telekic power to flip him over the slippery floor. ¡°Ack!¡± Baras was turned upside down as if he was rolling over ice. Of course, as a synthetic demonic human with the power of a monster, he immediately used his strength to destroy the magic. He sessively enveloped his whole body with mana to increase his defense. Jude just disregarded it. Baras thought that the attacks would continue, so he stood up in a fluster, but he could only see it then. Jude was standing in front of him. He saw the figure of Jude drawing his sword while wrapped around by a whirlwind that had still not disappeared. Jude carried out one attack. The deadly strike of the Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword that he remembered. ¡®Hell¡¯s Blood sh.¡¯ The Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword made a loud noise. At the same time, Cordelia met eyes with Baras. With one eye closed, she used the to paralyze him and interrupt his movement. It wasn¡¯t aplete eye contact, because she was worried about the bacsh. In fact, she had used it weakly just to distract him, but that was enough. A huge red sh split Baras¡¯ chest. ck blood that was unique to a synthetic demonic human spurted out, and a ring of pure white light emerged around Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Haaaaa¡­haaa¡­¡± When Red Wind caught up with the two, Baras fell with a thud, and Cordelia looked straight ahead. She could see a wall that was around 10 meters tall. ¡°We are here!¡± It was the border. Now all they had to do was to cross that wall. But how. There was no time to think. Because Jude had already moved. With Red Wind in one arm and holding the waist of Cordelia in his other arm, he used the Twenty-Four Gale Steps. ¡°I said I¡¯d carry you, right?¡± ¡°Hmph.¡± Cordelia snorted, and Red Wind blushed in embarrassment. But neither Jude nor Cordelia saw Red Wind. Jude kicked the ground again. Cordelia hugged Jude¡¯s neck, and a whirlwind paved the way. The gale reached the top of the 10-meter wall in one fell swoop, and at the end, he made an extraordinarily high leap. They were in the air. Jude and Cordelia saw it. And of the barbarians that widely spread out beyond the wall. And the overwhelming splendor of nature. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Jude spoke again as he kicked the wall. They crossed the border to smash the northern barbarians¡¯ invasion scenario. Chapter 58 - EPISODE 58 – DIVINE REVELATION (1)

Chapter 58 - EPISODE 58 ¨C DIVINE REVELATION (1)

g/Event g?¨C A condition in game programming that causes a variable to change. Event gs are set off when certain events take ce, like?boss battles,?cutscenes,?leveling up,?or anything that¡¯s important to the plot or to the character¡¯s stats. gs can also trigger anything, from changing a character¡¯s status to activating sub-quests or side-plots to adjusting what sort of?random encounters?show up. Frog in the well?¨C a Chinese idiom that refers to a narrow-minded person who doesn¡¯t see therger world around them. An English equivalent would be ¡®small/little fish in a big pond.¡¯ Carry?¨C used to refer to a high-level yer who tanks for and kills strong enemies for a lower level yer to level up. They are thus carrying the low-level yer until they get stronger, mooching off their kills to get XP and loot. Oh yeah, if you see an italicized ¡®my¡¯ or ¡®her,¡¯ it¡¯s the ¡®uri-jip¡¯ word again, which meant ¡®my house,¡¯ ¡®my home,¡¯ or ¡®our home.¡¯ Someone in thements said that it could also mean ¡®my family.¡¯ It has a possessive meaning, implying that someone/something is part of one¡¯s family/home. In the original version of?Legend of Heroes 2, or specifically, its first released version, there were a total of 11 yable characters. ¡°Four in the S?len Kingdom, five in the Argon Empire, and two in the barbariannds.¡± As the two major powers in the continent, there were many characters from the S?len Kingdom and the Argon Empire. And in the case of the S?len Kingdom, it was quite distinct that the hometown of the yable characters were concentrated in the north. ¡°Except for Kajsa, the other three ¨C Jude, Cordelia, and Lucas, were all from the 12 northern families.¡± So, why was it like that? Kajsa is from the south, which meant that there was no one in the center at all. Wouldn¡¯t it have been better to distribute them evenly in the north, the center, and the south? ¡°And when the main story was released, everyone understood it.¡± It was because of ¡®The Northern Barbarians¡¯ Great Invasion¡¯ event that had a great impact on the S?len Kingdom as well as the entire?Legend of Heroes 2. Because of the big event in the north, it was naturally reasonable for there to be many people from the north. Added to this were the yable characters from thend of the barbarians, Red Wind and Kirara. Both of them were naturally barbarians, so they had no choice but to be connected with ¡®The Northern Barbarians¡¯ Great Invasion¡¯ event. ¡°In the end, five out of the eleven yable characters, or about half, had a direct connection with the Great Invasion event.¡± The remaining six people were indirectly affected a lot too. It was a great event that would shake up the S?len Kingdom, one of the two major powers. ¡°So if we canpletely destroy this event, we can get closer to the ending that we want.¡± A world with a truly happy ending where there was no Great Summons and no massive war urring between the angels and demons, did not originally exist. So they must take good care of that person without fail. The most important key person who could change the Great Invasion itself into nothing. ¡°Red Gale.¡± Red Wind¡¯s father. The chief of the Great Storm tribe. They had to save him. *** ¡°Ya-ha!¡± A few minutes after they¡¯ve crossed the border. After he ran like a gale and hid themselves in a crevice of a rocky mountain, Jude raised both his arms high and shouted. What should he call this feeling? A sense of freedom? A genuine feeling of being alive? ¡°I think you¡¯re a little crazy.¡± Having sat down on the ground, Cordelia frowned and spoke, and Jude guffawed like Landius and said as he looked back at Cordelia. ¡°On another note, I kept my promise, right?¡± ¡°Promise?¡± ¡°I told you I would cross over the wall.¡± Wall. The great wall built at the border was also a wall when viewed from a broad perspective. Though it was excessively high and broad for a wall. ¡°Let me see, I hugged or carried you, I crossed over the wall, I also stood in the front line¡­I¡¯d like to nurse or care for you, but I can¡¯t let you get sick, right?¡± ¡°Yes, you can¡¯t.¡± Jude seriously spoke as he counted with his fingers and Cordelia threw a snowball. Sheughed a few times and then cocked her head to one side. And just like that, she looked up at Jude and said. ¡°You¡¯re like a beast.¡± He acted recklessly while panting. It wasn¡¯t just her impression of Jude being nimble so far, but he was really like a beast when in battle. He was like a big cat or savage beast running wild in excitement. At Cordelia¡¯s words, Jude nodded his head and then said with a serious face. ¡°Madam, tonight, your servant¡­¡± ¡°Stop saying that.¡± ¡°Yes, Madam.¡± Jude obediently gave up joking and squatted in front of Cordelia as he said. ¡°But I¡¯m really overflowing with energy. It feels like my energy is constantly surging?¡± ¡°Have you properly absorbed the Sunflower?¡± ¡°I think so. As Kamael said, it feels like my Cheonmujiche finally opened its eyes.¡± If he thought about it, this kind of growth seemed to be fitting because he ate a flower that bloomed once every 20 years and was also a flower full of Yang energy that bloomed in an area full of Yin energy. And Cheonmujiche. It was difficult for people who were geniuses from birth to realize their own genius because all the talented things they did felt so natural to them, but it wasn¡¯t for Jude. He had memories of a previous life, so it was also possible that it was self-objectification, but as Kamael pointed out, his previous Cheonmujiche was no different to a fake whenpared to his current Cheonmujiche. ¡°It may sound like nonsense, but I can feel it. Jude is a real genius.¡± ¡°It really is nonsense.¡± However, there was a bright smile on Cordelia¡¯s face. Be it a cheat, a genius, or a beast, he was?her?Jude. ¡°Is it possible that the awakening of Jude, which was scheduled for thest expansion pack of the third episode, was the awakening of the Cheonmujiche?¡± ¡°Perhaps. In the original story, Jude never ate the Sunflower and never met Kamael too.¡± But the current Jude was different. He ate the Sunflower, met Landius, and learned the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. On top of that, he met Kamael and even resolved the distortion. ¡®There¡¯s also the Yin-Yang Body.¡¯ What would happen if he could use both the Yin and Yang energy at the same time? What new heights would he reach? ¡®Kamael¡¯s extreme Yin energy and Landius¡¯ extreme Yang energy.¡¯ Since he had already built a rtionship with the two, he hadid down the groundwork for resolving his gs. ¡°Huhuhu¡­huhuhuhu¡­¡± ¡°You sound like a pervert.¡± Despite Cordelia¡¯sment, Jude did not stopughing. He saw the road to bing the strongest which didn¡¯t exist before, so how could he, a rotten water, not be happy? ¡°Anyway, this still isn¡¯t yourplete awakening, right?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s why I¡¯m so excited.¡± It meant that he would awaken to an even greater genius in the future. ¡°Cheonmujiche is a cheat.¡± ¡°Huhuhu, and when you use the Ancestral Regression technique, you¡¯ll be a cheat character. And so is your Witch Transformation.¡± Wasn¡¯t it an excellent bnce? Cordelia was not born with a special talent like Jude or Lucas. She didn¡¯t have a unique physical constitution like Kajsa. However, Cordelia had Witch Transformation and Ancestral Regression. ¡®Although Lucas is also able to use Ancestral Regression, it is different from Cordelia.¡¯ Because Cordelia¡¯s Witch Transformation ability originated from the power of demons. If Jude had a Yin-Yang Body that could handle both Yin and Yang energy, Cordelia was able to transform into an existence capable of handling the power of angels and demons at the same time. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to see the Fallen Angel mode. You¡¯ll be like a real powerful monster.¡± ¡°Why do you want to see it when it¡¯s mine?¡± ¡°Because Madam is?my?monster?¡± At Jude¡¯s assertion, Cordelia snorted, but soon smiled andughed. Because Cordelia herself was looking forward to her Ancestral Regression. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to do it.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s work hard in collecting the ingredients and shorten the time it would take uspared to the original story.¡± ¡°Yes, Daddy. I only trust in Daddy.¡± Jude and Cordelia looked at each other andughed ¡®hahahoho¡¯ in harmony, before finally realizing that there was one more person with them. ¡°Huuuk¡­ugh¡­argh¡± At a corner some distance away. Red Wind, who had been gasping and lying on her stomach ever since Jude released her, eventually couldn¡¯t stand it and threw up. It wasn¡¯t because she found Jude and Cordelia¡¯s ¡°disys of affection¡± nauseating, but it was a side effect from the intake of the forbidden elixir/drug. ¡°Red Wind! Are you all right?¡± ¡°Haa¡­ugh¡­it hurts. Stomach hurts. Painful.¡± Red Wind said with a crying face after having thrown up everything in her stomach. She truly looked pitiful with her tears and runny nose. ¡°Sorry, sorry. We¡¯ve arrived here now, so it¡¯s okay. Let¡¯s rest here and then go.¡± Cordelia said as she hugged Red Wind, while Jude quickly cleaned up Red Wind¡¯s vomit before looking around to find a better ce to rest. And immediately after. Red Wind in Cordelia¡¯s arms suddenly burst into tears. The tears she shed was different from her tears of exhaustion from before. ¡°Red Wind?¡± ¡°Different. So different.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Two people. Different. So strong. Much more than me.¡± Red Wind was someone who was confident in her strength. She believed that there were few people, at least within her age, who would be stronger than herself. But she was wrong. Jude and Cordelia were in a different level than Red Wind herself. Although they were older by one year, it didn¡¯t feel like there was a one-year difference between them. She was a frog in the well. Saying that she¡¯ll cure her father, she went to the south alone with just that kind of ability, so it was natural that she got caught and became a ve. If the Great Storm hadn¡¯t seriously pitied her, would it have chosen Jude and Cordelia, who were both foreigners? Of course, aside from her being a member of the tribe and the chieftain¡¯s daughter. ¡°Huuuu¡­huu¡­¡± Her sadness, self-reproach, and disappointment in herself suddenly flooded and made her cry uncontrobly. Red Wind started bawling, and Cordelia, with an awkward face, turned to Jude. ¡®Do something!¡¯ It was an unreasonable demand, but like most men who were asked to take measures, Jude was troubled. Though his troubles were slightly off the point from most men¡¯s troubles. ¡®First of all, it can¡¯t be helped.¡¯ Red Wind was crying because, frankly speaking, she was weak. But there was no way to resolve this. Strictly speaking, Red Wind had not even started her own scenario yet. In a word, she was a beginner. She was in a pure state and had not gone through any events or power-ups yet. However, they couldn¡¯t just take her while they leveled up, or the so-called ¡®carry.¡¯ ¡®Because it¡¯s only me and Cordelia.¡¯ It was a fact he learned as a result of experimenting when he was with Lucas several times. First of all, only Jude and Cordelia could see each other¡¯s level-up effect. Even if they hunted together, it was also only Jude and Cordelia who gained experience points as a party. ¡®It seems like in this world, you can gain experience by defeating a strong enemy, but¡­I and Cordelia are the only ones who could form a party.¡¯ Since the menu itself does not exist in this world, it was impossible to use something like a ¡®party request¡¯ to properly share experience points except for Jude himself and Cordelia, who were considered as a party from the beginning. ¡®It¡¯s a little questionable why only the two of us were a party from the very beginning.¡¯ There seemed to be some cause. Maybe it was because they shared memories of their previous lives, or perhaps they were connected with something like the red thread of fate. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Jude unwittingly cleared his throat as he saw Cordelia, and Cordelia said again with her eyes. ¡®Do something somehow!¡¯ ¡°Well.¡± Jude began to be troubled again. What should he do? As the most obvious solution of a fast level-up was not possible, he eventually had no choice but to choose the next best solution. ¡°Red Wind, it¡¯s all right. You¡¯ll soon be stronger quickly too.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Red Wind raised her head in the midst of crying. She was in the middle of crying because she was sad at herself for being weak, so it was natural for her to react to Jude¡¯s words that she¡¯ll be stronger. Jude squatted in front of Red Wind and then pat her head as he spoke. ¡°Great Storm said this. Red Wind was born with the qualities of a great warrior. She has the talent to be the most powerful?spirit?warrior in the Great Storm tribe.¡± (T/N: I used the word ¡®spirit,¡¯ but it can also mean ¡®elemental.¡¯) ¡°¡­really? Did Great Storm said that?¡± Red Wind sniffled and asked, and Jude nodded his head. ¡°Really, I¡¯m not the only one who heard it. Cordelia, you heard it too, right?¡± ¡°Eh? Yes! I heard it too. Great Storm certainly said that.¡± Once Red Wind went through the original route, she would be a powerful spirit warrior. Moreover, the Great Storm tribe was supposed to perish during the great invasion of the northern barbarians, so Red Wind had no choice but to be the best warrior of the tribe whether she liked it or not. ¡°Great Storm¡­¡± Red Wind¡¯s crying gradually stopped. She also slightly smiled. ¡°Great Storm is looking forward to Red Wind¡¯s growth.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, Great Storm is looking forward to it. They really care about Red Wind.¡± The smile on Red Wind¡¯s face gradually became bigger as Jude and Cordelia talked back and forth. Red Wind had be pessimistic of the future due to suffering from a lot of hardships, but it was still before the original story began. Moreover, since she had escaped from the ve auction even before suffering from hardships, her purity had remained intact. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll work hard. Be stronger. I live up to Great Storm¡¯s expectations.¡± ¡°Yes, we¡¯ll look forward to it too.¡± When Cordelia hugged her tightly, Red Wind hesitated for a moment, but soon after, she hugged Cordelia back. ¡®It¡¯s nice and warm, heartwarming¡­¡¯ It was when Jude looked satisfied. ¡®Hey, are you sure this is okay?¡¯ Cordelia asked with her eyes, and likewise, Jude asked with his eyes. ¡®What are you talking about?¡¯ ¡®No, can we just pretend like this?¡¯ ¡®It will work.¡¯ There was no way Great Storm would be able to say anything about this. Moreover, Great Storm, or rather, the existence of the barbarian gods themselves were unclear. In the game, only their names were mentioned as the subject of the barbarians¡¯ faith, but not a single barbarian god actually appeared. ¡®And we already spoke of it.¡¯ Since they first met Red Wind, Jude and Cordelia had worked hard and eagerly used Great Storm¡¯s name to their advantage. ¡®Well, that¡¯s true.¡¯ Convinced, Cordelia focused on Red Wind again, and Jude rose from his seat and then looked southwards. ¡®Kamael must have taken care of it and escaped.¡¯ Because he wasn¡¯t one of the Four Great Swordsmen for no reason. And frankly, Jude thought that Kamael was the strongest among the Four Great Swordsmen. Perhaps his clone alone might have defeated Saluzia. ¡®We can do well.¡¯ Although the northern barbarians¡¯ great invasion event was an important event throughout the?Legend of Heroes?series, the circumstances were not fully revealed. What was fully revealed in the game was the great invasion, and not the war of the Angry Bull tribe to unify the barbarians before the great invasion. Therefore, their information was limited. Not much was known about thend of the barbarians. ¡®But we can do it.¡¯ Or rather, we must pull it off. Jude steeled himself as he gazed to the north. *** ¡°I think I know where we are. After two more days, it¡¯s thend of my tribe.¡± Right after sunset. Red Wind spoke in a small voice inside the igloo created with Cordelia¡¯s magic and Jude¡¯s design and skill. They had thrown away all their luggage while they were running away, so they didn¡¯t have their sleeping bags, but in the first ce, Red Wind was a local who inherited the blood of the winter elves, while Jude and Cordelia had the Winter Protection. In addition, they had stones heated by magic to warm themselves, so it was not an exaggeration to say that there was no risk of them freezing to death. ¡°Yes, yes, you had a difficult time today, so let¡¯s go to bed early.¡± ¡°I understand. Good night, Cordelia. Jude too.¡± Red Wind spoke in a small voice again, as she lied down next to Cordelia and closed her eyes. ¡°Good night.¡± ¡°I feel like a baby.¡± As soon as she closed her eyes, she fell asleep, and Cordelia kissed the forehead of Red Wind before looking towards Jude and saying. ¡°Let¡¯s go to sleep too. We don¡¯t exactly need to do a night watch, right?¡± ¡°Because there¡¯s an magic circle.¡± Even in Frost Anvil, they were able to escape the hell of a double-shift night watch thanks to the magic circle. After almost blocking the entrance, Jude lied down and spoke after a long time. ¡°Good night, dream of me.¡± ¡°Yes, you dream of me too.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have a risqu¨¦ dream.¡± ¡°Bullsh*t.¡± Cordelia smiled as she raised her middle finger, before she kissed Red Wind¡¯s forehead once again and then closed her eyes. And a few seconds, a few minutes. Jude also fell into a deep sleep. *** The surroundings were all white. A white night. A white snowfield. While he was walking aimlessly, Jude realized it at some point. ¡°It¡¯s a dream.¡± Now that I realize it, I guess it¡¯s a lucid dream. Jude looked around again. He was afraid that it was not a dream because everything was a mess before he came to his senses. The sun and the moon were hanging together in the sky, and above the snowfield, countless fish were swimming in the air as if they were in some kind of sea. Then Cordelia appeared. ¡°Uh.¡± The Cordelia that he usually knew was thrown into confusion as she stood among the swimming fish, but suddenly, she widely opened her eyes. ¡°Ah! It¡¯s Jude!¡± The Cordelia in his dream looked his way and came running with a very happy face. And Jude seriously contemted. ¡°What do I do¡­now that it¡¯s like this, should I dream a really erotic dream?¡± ¡°Hey! I can hear everything?!¡± Cordelia¡¯s low kick hit him, and Jude thought. ¡°It¡¯s surely Cordelia. She¡¯s violent even in my dreams.¡± ¡°You haven¡¯t been hit enough.¡± Again, Cordelia hit Jude on the back, and Jude realized. ¡°It hurts?¡± ¡°Of course it hurts if I hit you! Be hurt more! Be hurt more!¡± It really hurt. Because of that, Jude understood it. ¡°It¡¯s not a dream.¡± At least it wasn¡¯t an ordinary dream. The Cordelia in front of him was not a fake created by his own dreams. ¡°How did this happen?¡± Why are our dreams connected with each other? Were our minds connected? At Jude¡¯s question, Cordelia stopped hitting him and said seriously. ¡°I don¡¯t know either. I just slept well, and at some point, I opened my eyes and I was here. I came running because I saw you.¡± Jude first looked at himself before he alternately looked at Cordelia. Now that he saw it, their clothes were different from usual. Each of them were wearing the stylish clothes they wore when they were with their families. ¡°Dream.¡± This was not reality. It was some space in their minds. The minds of Jude and Cordelia were connected. Why? Howe? And who? It was right at that moment. Cordelia suddenly raised her head. Over some distance away, at the sky. The wind blew. It was a small and weak wind. But it soon grew stronger and became a storm. A boy appeared. A white-haired boy with wind all around his body. With his impressively golden eyes shining like stars, the boy looked down at Jude and Cordelia. His eyes quietly narrowed, and his smile was like that of a mischievous boy before he spoke. ¡°You continuously used my name as an excuse quite well.¡± A child¡¯s voice. However, his strong presence shook the entire surrounding area. Like the imposing majesty of a god. ¡°Really?¡± Jude said, and Cordelia nodded her head. Her senses were wildly shouting. Barbarian god. Due to the Great Storm tribe being still alive, it was a being who had not yet lost its power because the power of Belial, the overlord of corruption, had yet to widely spread over the barbariannds. ¡°Nice to meet you, children from the south. I am Great Storm.¡± The barbarian god beyond the northern border. He settled down on the ground. And stepped towards Jude and Cordelia. Chapter 59 - EPISODE 59 – DIVINE REVELATION (2)

Chapter 59 - EPISODE 59 ¨C DIVINE REVELATION (2)

God. A transcendental being. Unlike in their past lives where there were many arguments of whether it exists or not, gods existed in Pleiades. But strictly speaking, the gods of Pleiades were far from the omnipotent god that they knew in their past lives. They were clearly powerful beings with well-defined limits. They were called immortals, but it was possible for them to disappear. ¡®If I had to bepletely honest, you could say that they possessed stupendously strong supernatural powers.¡¯ But still, these gods were?gods. They were the targets of faith and were great existences that human beings dare not to approach. ¡®There are three main kinds of gods in Pleiades.¡¯ First was the heavenly creator called L¨², the god who created the world. However, he or she was close to a conceptual existence, whose existence was even questioned. It was the four archangels who led the heavenly realm, and not the creator god L¨². ¡®The angels were called gods.¡¯ They were originally angels and not gods, but due to human ignorance, they became beings worshipped as gods. Among them was Sri, the sun god, who was their representative figure. Originally, the heavenly archangels only saw humans as livestock that needed rearing, but Sri, the seventh archangel, was different. She regarded humans as young children or younger brothers and wanted to guide and look after them. ¡®Sri wasn¡¯t alone. There were many angels who joined her will, and they descended to the human world and were worshipped as gods by humans.¡¯ But it was all a story of the past. Because of the long-standing war with the demons, these gods on earth ceased to exist. ¡®Thest one were the outside gods.¡¯ They were transcendental beings who existed in the third world, which was neither heaven nor hell. However, their influence in this world was insignificant. It was not an exaggeration to say that the degree of their influence was at a level where people only knew that outside gods existed. ¡®And the wild gods (barbarian gods).¡¯ They were beings that do not belong to any of the three kinds listed so far. ¡®At present, neither the S?len Kingdom nor the Argon Empire recognize the existence of wild gods.¡¯ For political reasons, both countries somehow recognized wild gods as fictional existences created by the primitive folk religions of the barbarians. ¡®Even those who acknowledged their existence only thought of them as spirits who possessed strong powers.¡¯ And Jude also thought simrly. The reason was simple. ¡®Because they do not appear in the original story.¡¯ These wild gods were asionally mentioned in manuals, settings books, item descriptions, and so on, but they never made a direct appearance. ¡®There was a theory that they all died because of Belial, the overlord of corruption¡­¡¯ In any case, that was all a story after the great invasion of the northern barbarians. There was a possibility that at the present moment, which was a point in the past before the event urred, they were still alive. ¡®No, they are alive.¡¯ In front of him right now, there was a being who proimed himself as a wild god. Great Storm. The wild god of the wind who was worshipped by the Great Storm tribe. ¡°You seem to be thinking of something rude?¡± Unlike when he first appeared, Great Storm¡¯s manner of speaking was slightly less serious, perhaps because he looked like a boy. Jude said hurriedly in denial. ¡°No, it¡¯s not. I was just so surprised that I couldn¡¯t think of anything else.¡± In fact, it wasn¡¯tpletely a lie. Because he was really that surprised. He never thought that Great Storm would really appear. And in this way too. ¡°Hmph, you¡¯re a smooth talker.¡± The boy somehow reacted like Cordelia before he made a rock rise from the ground by pointing several of his fingers and then sat down on it as he said. ¡°Well then, I am Great Storm. You have diligently and continuously used my name as an excuse.¡± He talked mischievously with a raised chin, as he tly yed innocent with his eyes and facial expression resembling that of a rascal. ¡®First of all, I don¡¯t think he¡¯s really upset.¡¯ If he was really angry, he would have tried to punish them first for using the name of a god in a deceiving manner. ¡°Uh¡­ahem, ahem, it¡¯s an honor to meet you, Great Storm. My name is Cordelia Chase. This is my fianc¨¦, Jude Bayer.¡± As Jude was in the midst of hesitation and unsure of what to do, Cordelia stepped forward and spoke. Great Storm smiled in satisfaction at her polite manner of showing respect. ¡°But the girl knows what manners is, I like it. If you meet a god, you shouldn¡¯t nkly look at them but reveal your names first. Girl.¡± At the end of his words, he clicked his tongue. Cordelia seemed to have caught his fancy, but not Jude. Instead of being shaken, Jude showed his manners as he politely said. ¡°O Great Storm, I ask of you to listen to our story.¡± ¡°Tell me.¡± His response was within Jude¡¯s expectations. Great Storm did not reveal himself to punish them. ¡®If so.¡¯ Jude took a deep breath and steeled himself. From now on, he had to deceive, no, tell a white lie to a wild god, and not just a fairy queen or a witch. ¡°Beyond the border in th-¡± ¡°Wildnds. That¡¯s what we call it. Not thend of barbarians.¡± Great Storm made ament one step ahead of him, and Jude resumed after expressing his thanks. ¡°I¡¯ve heard of stories that danger was approaching the wildnds.¡± ¡°From whom?¡± ¡°From the fairy queens and the soul of a witch in the south.¡± To begin with, there was no connection between the fairy queens and the wild gods as far as Jude knew. However, instead of specifically pointing out who they were in case Great Storm didn¡¯t knew of them, he showed the Fairy Steps and Fairy¡¯s Bonds he received from the fairy queens. Although his outfit had changed because he was in a dream, the two items were still in his arm. ¡°Hmm¡­setting aside the fairy queens, but a witch¡¯s soul?¡± ¡°Yes, it is the soul of a great witch who fought against Asmodeus, the overlord of lust, for many years.¡± ¡°What did they say?¡± ¡°They told us about the threat of demons that were approaching the wildnds. In particr, the witch¡¯s soul told us about an organization called the Devil¡¯s Eye who seemed to have done something harmful to Red Gale, the chieftain of the Great Storm tribe.¡± Great Storm furrowed his brows at Jude¡¯s exnation. And Jude was certain of it then. ¡®It¡¯sing through.¡¯ As expected, Great Storm didn¡¯t know who the witch¡¯s soul was or what she did. But there was a mixture of truth in Jude¡¯s words. Devil¡¯s Eye. They were doing something harmful to the wildnds. Red Gale was dying from an illness of an unknown cause. ¡°So that¡¯s what the witch¡¯s soul said.¡± ¡°Yes, and my fianc¨¦e here, Cordelia, is the witch¡¯s sessor, who inherited some power from the witch¡¯s soul. Because of this, the witch asked me and Cordelia to go to the wildnds to stop the plot of the demon followers.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Great Storm turned to Cordelia, who blinked her eyes and quickly nodded. ¡°Yes, that is correct.¡± After she answered a little stupidly, Cordelia¡¯s face reddened, but Great Storm felt that appearance to be rather trustworthy, so he said while scratching his chin. ¡°Then, to sum it up, is it something like this? The fairy queens and the witch¡¯s soul warned of the dangers in the wildnds. In particr, the witch¡¯s soul even told you about my tribe and told you to go and help.¡± ¡°Yes, that is correct. On our way to the wildnds, we heard of a story about someone with the blood of the winter elves¡­a girl from the Great Storm tribe, who was caught and held in the ve auction house, so we rescued her. She is Red Wind.¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± Great Storm scratched his chin again and Jude inwardly smiled. Because there were no holes in his story. On their way to meet the Great Storm tribe, they saved a girl from the Great Storm tribe. Can he even find any faults in their story? Jude waited for a while before he hit the nail on the coffin. ¡°We had willfully used Great Storm¡¯s name to win over Red Wind, who had be distrustful after being caught and turned into a ve. I kindly hope you will forgive us.¡± Jude deeply bowed from his waist, and Cordelia, as if by telepathy, bowed her head at almost the same timing. At the courteous apology of the two, Great Storm made a groaning sound before nodding his head. ¡°All right, well, because I¡¯m a little benevolent, I will forgive you two for now.¡± ¡°Thank you very much.¡± ¡°Thank you, Great Storm.¡± Jude and Cordelia promptly expressed their gratitude to Great Storm who decided to actually forgive them. And Jude took it even one step further. ¡°O Great Storm, this humble one dares to ask of you to listen to a little more of my words.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I would like to repay your kindness for forgiving our great sins. I hope that you will allow me and Cordelia to fight for the Great Storm tribe. I would like to be a warrior of Great Storm.¡± It sounded like he was saying that he wanted to volunteer, but the truth waspletely different. ¡®Our self-promation bes official.¡¯ At the moment Great Storm allowed it, Jude and Cordelia would be real warriors of the wild god Great Storm. ¡®We¡¯ll be actively moving in the wildnds anyway.¡¯ In order to reach a happy ending, the two needed to stop the Devil¡¯s Eye and the Angry Bull tribe. Then, wouldn¡¯t an official warrior be better than a self-proimed warrior? If they got a proper certification from Great Storm, their activities in the wildnds would be much easier. ¡®And if we be official ones, he¡¯ll give us something.¡¯ There was no way that a being named god would just appoint them as warriors and solely profit from it. ¡°Ummm.¡± Great Storm narrowed his eyes at Jude¡¯s request and made a grunting sound. He didn¡¯t have a good feeling about it, as he was sure that Jude was up to something, but he couldn¡¯t figure out what was wrong. ¡®It looks bad if I just send them back.¡¯ Because it was true that the demon followers were starting something in the wildnds. In fact, it was the reason why Great Storm appeared to Jude and Cordelia. ¡®Ummm, I feel like they¡¯ll squeeze me dry.¡¯ But he couldn¡¯t do much about it. Great Storm nodded his head after some careful consideration. ¡°Okay, I will grant your request. From today onwards, you two are my warriors.¡± It was at that moment that Great Storm dered it. An intense light suddenly rose from Jude and Cordelia¡¯s right upper arms. It was for a moment, but a deep pain followed it. As they endured the pain that was like a hot iron touching their skin, Jude and Cordelia quickly rolled up their clothes to confirm it and saw a tattoo on their right arms. The pattern of a thunderbird surrounded by the wind. It was the emblem symbolizing the wild god, Great Storm. And the moment they confirmed the emblem¡¯s existence, Jude and Cordelia thought like rotten water. ¡®Aren¡¯t there any special effects?¡¯ ¡®No options?¡¯ Because they didn¡¯t feel any immediate changes. Jude and Cordelia looked at each other and checked each other¡¯s emblem afterwards. And they soon realized it again. ¡®Different?¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s different?¡¯ Jude¡¯s was silver, while Cordelia¡¯s was golden. The two simultaneously looked back at Great Storm, and he said with a smile. ¡°This is my emblem. Show it to my tribesmen and they will recognize you as my warriors.¡± ¡®No, this one¡¯s more important.¡¯ ¡®What¡¯s the difference between silver and gold? The golden one¡¯s better, right?¡¯ Jude and Cordelia enthusiastically spoke with their eyes, and they continued talking as if ignoring Great Storm. ¡°Now that you two have be my warriors, there is something I would like to entrust to you.¡± It was the real reason why Great Storm appeared in this ce. If this was a game, it was the moment a quest was about to begin. However, Jude and Cordelia were more interested in the emblem they acquired right now rather than the quest that was about to start. It was all the more so since it was split into silver and gold. ¡®Shall we just ask?¡¯ ¡®Are you going to cut him off from what he¡¯s going to say?¡¯ It was the moment they exchanged nces. Great Storm finally figured out why the two were so fretful and said with a guffaw unlike that of a boy¡¯s. ¡°What, are you curious about the emblem¡¯s power?¡± ¡°¡°Yes.¡±¡± Great Stormughed again when Jude and Cordelia immediately answered at the same time. ¡°The wind will be on your side from now on, as it is an emblem enchanted with the wind that I control.¡± ¡®Is this something that increase wind attributes?¡¯ ¡®Can we control the wind?¡¯ While Jude and Cordelia were trying their best to interpret it, Great Storm continued to speak. ¡°In the silver emblem, there is the protection of the wind barrier. When used, the wind barrier will spread out and block projectile attacks. In the golden emblem, there are the protection of the wind barrier and the blessing of the wind. If you use the blessing of the wind, you will be able to freely control the surrounding wind for a while.¡± Even if he was a wild god, it doesn¡¯t change that he was a god. The protection of the wind barrier alone was useful, but the blessing of the wind was a very great ability that had a lot of room for application. ¡°Wow! Thank you so much!¡± Cordelia brightly smiled in delight as she re-examined the golden emblem on her arm, and Great Storm smiled in satisfaction too at the pretty sight of such Cordelia. But Jude was different. ¡®Howe?¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s was golden but Jude himself was silver. Was there a numerical limitation? In times like this, don¡¯t they just give you the same thing? Just like the Winter Fairy Queen that fairly gave the winter protection. Jude¡¯s questions were reasonable, and that was why Great Storm could also easily guess Jude¡¯s thoughts. He then said with a smile. ¡°It¡¯s a simple reason.¡± The reason why he gave a golden emblem to Cordelia and a silver emblem to Jude¡­ ¡°I¡¯m a man, so I like a pretty, kind, cute, and honest girl much better than a deep-ck cunning man.¡± Jude blinked at his very honest answer, and Cordelia brightly smiled again. *** ¡°Well, it¡¯s not just that, actually.¡± As Jude had guessed, there was a limit to the number of golden and silver emblems, so it was impossible to give both of them a golden emblem. ¡°Somehow, I have a good wavelength with that girl. It¡¯s quite strange, if I have to say it.¡± ¡®Is it because they¡¯re both?storm?¡¯ Great Storm and Yellow Storm. Cordelia nodded repeatedly with a smile as if she had a simr thought. ¡°That¡¯s right, Great Storm. I think I fit well with Great Storm.¡± ¡°Right? I think so too.¡± It was a conversation between Cordelia and Great Storm, who had be more friendly. Jude tried hard to swallow down the sense of alienation that he felt, and then proceeded to talk again. ¡°O Great Storm, would you tell us what you wanted to entrust us?¡± ¡°Ah, yes. I was talking about that.¡± Great Storm pped his hands and corrected his sitting position on the rock as he began talking again. ¡°As you had said, the demon followers seem to be doing something. Strange phenomenon are urring in the various sacred grounds that exist in the wildnds.¡± ¡°In the sacred grounds?¡± ¡°Yes, each of us wild gods have our own areas. That area is called the sacred grounds (sanctuary).¡± It could be said that the wild gods were simr to Korea¡¯s local mountain gods. They select a sacred ground within their area, and then build their strength in that sanctuary. Because of that, they could exert enough power to be called a god within their area, but if they go outside their area, their strength will sharply decrease. ¡°There is a ce in the nearby area that used to be a sanctuary. It¡¯s a ce where the wild god, Violent Avnche, used to live. Instead of looking after a tribe, he became one with nature. Anyway, even after he disappeared, the power of the wild god remained, and it continued to function as a sanctuary.¡± It was thanks to the sanctuary, which was full of blessings from the wild gods, that the barbarians could continue to live in the extremely cold areas of the wildnds. ¡°But I think something has gone wrong there. The energy of nature is twisted, and it seems like even monsters have begun appearing.¡± It was a story that they knew somehow. Great Storm continued his words. ¡°As I said for the first time, it seems that it isn¡¯t just one or two sanctuaries that have a problem. In the midst of this, I couldn¡¯t leave the sanctuary, so I sent some of the tribesmen to investigate, but the results weren¡¯t good.¡± None of the warriors who went to the Violent Avnche¡¯s sanctuary came back. Normally, he would have sent Red Gale, the best warrior in the tribe, but it was impossible because he had been sick for several years. ¡°The distortion of the erroneous sanctuaries have begun to gradually affect my own sanctuary. So, children of the south, my warriors. Please investigate the Violent Avnche¡¯s sanctuary.¡± Jude and Cordelia looked at each other. In?Legend of Heroes 2, the wildnds did not properly make an appearance. Naturally, the quests rted to the wild gods also did not exist. Therefore, it was highly likely that what would happen onwards would be unknown territory even for Jude and Cordelia, the rotten waters of?Legend of Heroes. There was a fear in the unknown. It was a fear that they could not know on what would happen next. But even so. ¡®It sounds a little strange, but it feels like a new expansion pack was released.¡¯ Cordelia said with her eyes, and Jude agreed. His heart was pounding a little with excitement too. And in fact, they had foreseen this. Because the goal of Jude and Cordelia was to destroy the scenario in?Legend of Heroes 2. ¡®Furthermore¡­it¡¯s not like we do not have any information at all.¡¯ Although the wildnds did not appear on the stage, the Devil¡¯s Eye and the corrupted barbarians clearly appeared in?Legend of Heroes 2. The information about them was in Jude¡¯s head. ¡®There¡¯s got to be rewards too.¡¯ A wild god was still a god. Like how he gave them the emblems, he would give them appropriate rewards. ¡®It¡¯s simple.¡¯ It was something that they needed to do anyway, so shouldn¡¯t they do it unconditionally if they could get some rewards? ¡®Let¡¯s do it.¡¯ This time, Jude said that with his eyes, and Cordelia agreed. The eyes of the two headed to Great Storm. Chapter 60 - EPISODE 60 – GREAT STORM (1)

Chapter 60 - EPISODE 60 ¨C GREAT STORM (1)

Terms used in this chapter: Wasp waist?¨C Wasp waist?is a women¡¯s fashion silhouette, produced by a style of?corset?and?girdle, that has experienced various periods of poprity in the 19th and 20th centuries. Its primary feature is the abrupt transition from a natural-width?rib cage?to an exceedingly small waist, with the hips curving out below. It takes its name from its simrity to a?wasp¡¯s segmented body.?¨C Source:?Wikipedia Yondu?¨C a fictional character in Marvel¡¯s Guardians of the Gxyics. Through a series of whistles, he is able to control an arrow made of a special sound-sensitive metal. Depending on the tone and intensity of the whistle, the speed, strength, and direction can be controlled. The arrow is capable of prating anything and seems capable of moving at a speed of Mach 5 at least. ¨C Source:?Marvel Fandom ck card?¨C a highly regarded and exclusive credit card issued through invitation only for bank customers with high ies and A+ credit. The card entitles its holders to VIP ess, upgraded flights, event tickets, and special treatment at stores, etc. In Korea, the ck card is also known as the Hyundai Card. There were two yable characters from thend of the barbarians, but in fact, it was extremely rare for thend of the barbarians to be the stage in the game. The reason was simple. It was because the stage of both Red Wind and Kirara¡¯s main activities were not in thend of the barbarians. ¡®Red Wind is in S?len, while Kirara is in Argon.¡¯ Red Wind began her scenario after escaping from very in the northern part of the S?len Kingdom. She had only been active in the S?len Kingdom up to the middle of her scenario, before she fought against the corrupted barbarians to avenge her father. ¡®Kirara started in the far eastern section of the barbariannds, and as soon as she was finished with the tutorial, she went straight to the Argon Empire.¡¯ She was not affected by the great invasion of the northern barbarians because she had transferred to the Argon Empire and not the S?len Kingdom. Kirara had never thought of going back as the reason why she left her hometown in the first ce was because she had run away. Therefore, in?Legend of Heroes 2, there were only two events where thend of the barbarians appeared with great importance. One was the ¡®Homing¡¯ event, where Red Wind mourned at the sight of her hometown that had already be deserted ruins, and the other was ¡®Lena¡¯s Death¡¯ event. *** ¡°Okay, for more details such as the location of the sanctuary and so on, the tribesmen will deliver it. When Jude and Cordelia said that they will take on the investigation of the sanctuary, Great Storm spoke with a sigh as if he had been relieved. Great Storm didn¡¯t want to make it obvious, but he was actually under heavy stress. It was quite difficult for Great Storm, a young wild god, to connect the minds of Jude and Cordelia, who were not his tribesmen, and to also appear before the two. ¡°Then, let¡¯s organize everything for now. When the investigation is over, then¡­¡± ¡°Please wait!¡± Cordelia quickly stopped Great Storm who was trying to stand up from his seat. Because there was still something left to talk about. ¡®Right?¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s right.¡¯ The two had obviously not discussed in advance on what they should do and talk about if they met Great Storm. However, Jude and Cordelia had already talked about how to proceed when they arrive at thend of the barbarians. There was one more important thing that they have yet to tell. ¡°O magnanimous Great Storm. We have some information we must tell you.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± When Jude assumed a very serious expression, Great Storm was curious, so he sat down again. Instead of talking right away, Jude took a deep breath before he spoke in a calm tone. ¡°It concerns the illness that Red Gale contracted.¡± ¡°¡­Tell me.¡± Great Storm¡¯s gaze sharpened. Because Great Storm was also well aware that the illness Red Gale had contracted was unusual and was actually some kind of curse. ¡°The illness, or rather, the curse¡¯s name is ¡®Blue Spider Lily,¡¯ and it¡¯s a spell that followers of Belial, the overlord of corruption, likes to use.¡± T/N: Yes, ¡®Blue Spider Lily¡¯ was the trantion of ?? ???. How a fictional flower from ¡®Kimetsu no Yaiba¡¯?ended up bing the name of a curse or spell in this series is beyond me. Shouldn¡¯t the author have named it as ¡®Blue Spider Lily¡¯s Curse¡¯ or something? The author also called it a curse, but frankly, ¡®poison¡¯ would make more sense. Anyway, I¡¯ll call it the ¡®Curse of the Blue Spider Lily¡¯ from now on, so that it would make more sense. The Curse of the Blue Spider Lily was not a curse to kill the enemy. It was a curse that made its target powerless in order to make them easier to corrupt. The person who contracted the Curse of the Blue Spider Lily would be weak in both body and mind, and eventually be unable to do anything. The one who cursed him was Haraken, a witch doctor and also an executive of the Devil¡¯s Eye. Seven Horns, the chieftain of the Angry Bull tribe, was the first person to be cursed in thend of the barbarians. As the strongest warrior in the Angry Bull tribe, he became very weak in just a month as his condition was no different from a withered tree, and after half a year, it became impossible for him to do anything without the prophet Haraken¡¯s help. And in the seventh month, he was sacrificed by Haraken, ascended as one of Belial¡¯s kin, and was reborn as aplete demon. ¡°The effect of the Curse of the Blue Spider Lily gets stronger the closer the target is to the caster. Fortunately, Red Gale is quite far from the witch doctor, so the illness¡¯ progress is rtively slow, but in the end, he will bepletely helpless.¡± ¡°Is there no other way?¡± Great Storm inquired with a fretful face. As he cared for the tribe, tribal chief Red Gale was like a child to him. ¡°There is only one way to get rid of the curse. You must kill the caster who cast the curse.¡± In fact, there was a much simpler solution. It was to purify Red Gale with a stronger power than Belial¡¯s curse. But that was impossible. Among the wild gods, Great Storm belonged to the fairly strong group, but the opponent was Belial, one of the five overlords that ruled hell. Comparing the two was pointless. ¡°He clearly contracted it when he attended the meeting of the chieftains. It¡¯s obvious that one of the people who attended the meeting was the culprit!¡± Great Storm burst into anger, and Jude nodded. It was highly likely that Haraken attended the meeting of the chieftains and cast the curse on Red Gale, who would be an obstacle to the unification war. ¡°O Great Storm, please calm down your anger. I have a way to improve Red Gale¡¯s condition.¡± ¡°Is that true?¡± Hearing Jude¡¯s words, Great Storm jumped from his seat and asked. Jude nodded his head and took out the Sun¡¯s Ne hidden under his clothes. ¡°Anyone who contracted the Curse of the Blue Spider Lily will be eternally exposed to hellish chills. Therefore, if we get rid of the chill using Yang energy, the progress of the curse will slow down, and his condition would improve.¡± T/N: Yin energy symbolizes coldness, or chills, while its opposite, Yang energy, symbolizes hotness or warmth. So something with ¡®Yang energy¡¯ is needed to counteract the curse¡¯s chill effect. In the first ce, the reason why Red Wind came down to the south was to obtain the Sunflower. ¡®The Sunflower loses its effectiveness the moment it is plucked out of the ce where it bloomed, so it cannot be used to treat illnesses in the first ce.¡¯ Jude had the Sun¡¯s Ne. If a person was sick, Sri¡¯s item that continuously gave off Yang energy would be able to stop the Curse of the Blue Spider Lily. ¡°Ooh¡­then we can give the ne to Red Gale.¡± ¡°Yes, he can borrow it. I will lend it.¡± He didn¡¯t care if he lent it, but it was absolutely impossible for him to entirely give it away. Moreover, Jude wasn¡¯t willing to give it to him for free. ¡®Because the situation has changed.¡¯ If it was before Great Storm appeared, Jude would have lent the ne for free to save Red Gale, but there was Great Storm now. If so, wasn¡¯t it proper to receive a rental fee? ¡°The Sun¡¯s Ne is a must-have item for me to cure my chronic disease. It¡¯s like a lifeline to me.¡± When Jude emphasized the importance of the Sun¡¯s Ne, Great Storm knit his brows. ¡°Chronic disease? Don¡¯t you look healthy?¡± Jude was clearly in good shape. At Great Storm¡¯s question, Jude shook his head and suddenly let out a cough before speaking. ¡°No¡­cough. Even if I look like this, I¡¯m quite weak. Isn¡¯t it? Cordelia?¡± Cordelia suddenly came to her senses when Jude called her, and she immediately stepped forward and said. ¡°That¡¯s right, my Jude is quite weak. Look at that pale skin. His blood vessels are visible. Not so long ago, I carried him on my back.¡± It was true that his skin was clear enough for his blood vessels to be visible and that he was carried on her back. ¡°No, I think he looks healthy¡­¡± ¡°Look at his forearm here. He has a thin waist too. It¡¯spletely a wasp waist, a wasp waist. What should I do? My Jude is so pitiful¡­¡± Perhaps thanks to having traveled together with Jude, Cordelia¡¯s acting skills have rapidly improved. It was obvious that her crying was fake, but the beautiful girl¡¯s tearful acting was enough to shake the heart of the viewer. ¡°Ummm¡­but I am a god of the wind. There is no way for me to provide Yang energy.¡± ¡°It¡¯s all right. If that is so, anything rted to the wind will be of help too.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. Although Jude is weak, it¡¯s not to the point he¡¯ll die right away if he didn¡¯t have the ne.¡± Jude and Cordelia spoke together, and eventually, Great Storm conceded to his inevitable predicament of being scammed by the scammer couple despite being aware of it. ¡°¡­All right, then I will award you the most powerful one among the new items that I have.¡± ¡°Thank you very much.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll use it well. Great Storm is so cool. Handsome. The best.¡± Cordelia was just saying whatever words that came to her mind, but to Great Storm, it sounded nice. Great Storm burst intoughter and summoned a blue-colored arrow in the air. ¡°It¡¯s the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow.¡± The whole arrow was pure white, as if they were looking at an ice crystal. ¡°It can be manipted ording to the user¡¯s will.¡± ¡°Will?¡± ¡°Yes, the user can manipte it to move in the air through their will.¡± As if responding to Great Storm¡¯s words, the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow began flying through the air at a truly terrifying speed. ¡°Wow! Yondu!¡± ¡°Yondu?¡± Great Storm asked again, but Cordelia just smiled and turned to Jude, who spoke with a serious face. ¡°Because?Jude?uses it like- Ouch!¡± ¡°Dad joke Out!¡± T/N: It¡¯s a pun. ¡®Yondu (??)¡¯ and ¡®Yudeo (??)¡¯ sound simr in Korean. ¡®Yudeo¡¯ is how Jude¡¯s name is pronounced in Korean. I¡¯m not a 100% sure about this one though, because Cordelia cut him off before he finished his ¡®dad joke.¡¯ As for Cordelia¡¯s ¡®Dad joke Out!¡¯, it¡¯s based on baseball¡¯s ¡®Out!¡¯ that umpires shout when a batter or baserunner is taken out of y. Umpires usually shout ¡®Out!¡¯, ¡®Batter, Out!¡¯ or something like that, so in this case, Cordelia reced ¡®batter¡¯ with ¡®dad joke¡¯ to tell Jude to stop using dad jokes or that his dad joke is ¡®out.¡¯ Cordelia smacked Jude in the back and thanked Great Storm again. ¡°Thank you very much. We will use it well.¡± ¡°Yes, it will be a weapon that suits you well. It¡¯s good for wizards to at least have one long-ranged weapon like that.¡± ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right¡­eh, wait a minute. Are you giving it to me? Not to Jude?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m giving it to you?¡± Great Storm spoke as if it was natural for Cordelia to receive it, and Jude said in surprise. ¡°Wa-wait a second! The Sun¡¯s Ne is the cure for my illness-¡± ¡°So what? I want to give it to her. Are you going to take the stuff I gave to your fianc¨¦e?¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s not it¡­¡± No matter how Jude tried, he couldn¡¯te up with anything else to say. And it was true that the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow was also a weapon that suited Cordelia more than Jude. Eventually, Jude gave up and his shoulders slumped, and Great Storm brightly smiled and said. ¡°When you arrive at the vige, head to the altar. I will put it there.¡± ¡°¡­Okay.¡± ¡°Thank you so much!¡± There was a difference in temperature between the responses of Jude and Cordelia, and after Cordelia thanked him, Great Storm stood up from his seat. It was time for him to return them. But not yet. There was still some things left that they could rip off from Great Storm. ¡°Wait! Please wait! There¡¯s onest thing we have yet to say!¡± ¡°What is it again?¡± ¡°It¡¯s really important.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, it¡¯s really, really important.¡± Cordelia didn¡¯t know what it was about but stopped Great Storm anyway as she sent a gaze to Jude asking about it, and Jude began talking to both Great Storm and Cordelia. *** ¡°Haa!¡± ¡°Haa!¡± Jude and Cordelia¡¯s minds suddenly became clear and they opened their eyes at the same time. They were inside the white igloo. Red Wind was still fast asleep, and the morning dawn shone through a small gap in the entrance. ¡°Haa¡­¡± ¡°Huu¡­¡± Jude and Cordelia first took a deep breath before they simultaneously rolled up their sleeves to confirm the emblem. ¡°It¡¯s real.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t a dream either.¡± They met Great Storm and became his warriors. They also ripped off a bunch of items from him. ¡°Hehehe, gold is gold.¡± As Cordelia stroked her emblem and spoke, Jude¡¯s expression naturally turned sour, and Cordelia¡¯s smile grew even deeper. ¡°Sil-trash, Sil-ronze, Deep sea person.¡± T/N: The above three terms are Korean ng words in League of Legends (LOL). LOL has rankings, and the lowest is the iron tier. Above it are the Bronze, Silver, Gold, tinum, Diamond, etc. ¡®Deep Sea¡¯ refers to those near the bottom tiers, so if you belong to the Iron tier, you are at the deepest of the sea. It¡¯s arguable where the surface of the deep sea is, since it could be Diamond, tinum, or lower. ¡®Deep sea person¡¯ refers to a yer stuck in the ¡®deep sea.¡¯ ¡®Sil-trash¡¯ is abination of the words ¡®silver¡¯ and ¡®trash.¡¯ ¡®Trash¡¯ is a derogatory ng referring to people of low social status or ss. And ¡®silver¡¯ refers to LOL¡¯s Silver tier. So if you¡¯re Sil-trash, you¡¯re someone who belongs to the low-ranking/low ss Silver tier. ¡®Sil-ronze¡¯ is abination of ¡®silver¡¯ and ¡®bronze.¡¯ It refers to people who are constantly going up and down the Bronze I and Silver IV tiers. Meaning they¡¯re always stuck in either of those two tiers. So why is Cordelia using this? Because she got the ¡®gold¡¯ emblem and Jude only got the ¡®silver¡¯ emblem. Gold tier is higher than Silver tier, and since Jude got silver, she called him all these three terms to emphasize that he¡¯s lower than her. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± ¡°Pretending not to hear me, huh?¡± ¡°You were saying silver or gold.¡± ¡°Yes, next time, Sil-ronze wille out for you.¡± It was a squabble that he couldn¡¯t win from the very beginning. Jude gave up before he got to his feet and removed some of the snow blocking the entrance. He looked outside and said to her afterwards. ¡°Let¡¯s just eat enough for this morning and then depart. We¡¯ll have to reach the vige by tomorrow night.¡± They had thrown away all their luggage while running away, but fortunately, he had carried some portable rations on him. It was enough for two days as long as the three ate in moderation. Cordelia nodded at Jude¡¯s words, and said as she rummaged through her pockets. ¡°I want to go quickly. I¡¯m really looking forward to what the store would be selling.¡± It was the norm in RPGs to go to the store first when one stops by the vige. But what was good this time wasn¡¯t just because they were expecting to upgrade their equipment. ¡°It¡¯s free, free.¡± It was what Jude had demanded from Great Storm. ¡°We needed a free pass.¡± ¡°Free pass?¡± ¡°In other words, a ck card.¡± Wasn¡¯t it reasonable for Great Storm¡¯s warriors to receive equipment that they would use to fight for Great Storm? Shouldn¡¯t they support the warriors on their journey to uphold Great Storm¡¯s will by handing over supplies and covering their expenses? ¡®It¡¯s because we actually don¡¯t have any money.¡¯ It was doubtful if the S?len Kingdom¡¯s currency would be epted in the wildnds, and in the first ce, Jude and Cordelia had lost almost all of their money when they escaped across the border. They weren¡¯t exploiting them just for their own benefit, as it was a rather necessary measure. ¡°Jude the Scammer, King of Rip-offs. A vicious man who even ripped a god off.¡± ¡°So you don¡¯t like it?¡± ¡°I love it! A man who has the strong ability to maintain a livelihood is the best! He was?her?scammer, and not someone else¡¯s scammer. ¡°Daddy, daddy. You¡¯re so cool. You¡¯re a man of this generation who can turn a crisis into an opportunity.¡± ¡°If it¡¯s for my princess, I¡¯d even cheat a god.¡± The two exchanged warm whispers whileughing, and after they woke up Red Wind, they hurriedly prepared for their departure. And on the following night. Not long after the sun had gone down. The three finally arrived at the vige of the Great Storm tribe. Chapter 61 - EPISODE 61 – GREAT STORM (2)

Chapter 61 - EPISODE 61 ¨C GREAT STORM (2)

Terms used in this chapter: Monster Hunter?¨C ?a hack and sh, strategy adventure game. Unlike traditionalputer role-ying games, a yer¡¯s Hunter does not grow and has no intrinsic attributes whatsoever. Rather, the Hunter¡¯s abilities are instead defined by the specific weapons and armor they select prior to leaving on a mission. ¨C Source:?Wikipedia ¡°Big.¡± ¡°Huge.¡± Jude and Cordelia said as they stood in front of the huge main gate, which was around 5 meters high. The vige of the Great Storm tribe was bigger than they had expected. At this level, they wondered if calling it a city was more appropriate than calling it a vige. ¡°More than 10,000 people live here.¡± Red Wind spoke with a smile on her face, as Jude and Cordelia¡¯s reactions somehow made her feel better, and Jude came to understand it. ¡®The reason why the Devil¡¯s Eye specifically paid attention to this tribe.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t just the fact that Red Gale himself was a great hero, but also because the power of the Great Storm tribe itself couldn¡¯t be ignored. ¡°Who are you!¡± ¡°Red Wind?!¡± A cautious voice and a delighted voice was heard beyond the main gate at the same time. Red Wind smiled bitterly, and she stepped forward and raised her voice. ¡°It¡¯s Red Wind! I¡¯m back now! I want to see my father!¡± She was bad at speaking the officialnguage of the continent, but naturally, she was fluent in thenguage of the barbarians. ¡°What were they talking about?¡± ¡°Uh¡­I think she¡¯s saying that she¡¯s back? It seems like she wanted to see Red Gale.¡± Cordelia asked in a low voice, and Jude replied in a low voice too. Although Jude was able to read and write in thenguage of the barbarians, he wasn¡¯t fluent enough to speak it naturally. After all, Jude had only memorized the text in the game. ¡®It¡¯s mysterious if you think about it.¡¯ It was a game created for amusement, but the severalnguages that appeared in the game can actually be used like a realnguage. Of course, there weren¡¯t that many fictitiousnguages in the game like those created in the Lord of the Rings or Star Trek, as the game¡¯s fictitiousnguages could be counted in one¡¯s hand. ¡®There are other really mysterious things apart from that.¡¯ This world is identical to the world of the?Legend of Heroes?series. He didn¡¯t think that they had really entered the game. It was more realistic to think that a world, which was identical to the game¡¯s world, existed somewhere, and that the two were reborn in that world. ¡®If so, why were they identical?¡¯ The reason why this world was so identical to the world of the?Legend of the Heroes?series. Did the production crew of?Legend of Heroes?imitate this world? Or was there something else? It was an interesting point to think about for his amusement, but he couldn¡¯t continue his thoughts. Because the main gate was opened. ¡°Red Wind!¡± ¡°Blue Wave!¡± A blue-haired girl appeared after the main gate opened, and she widely opened her arms as Red Wind quickly ran and hugged the girl. ¡°I know her.¡± When Cordelia spoke quietly, Jude also nodded his head. She was the girl who appeared in Red Wind¡¯s ¡®Homing¡¯ event. Her body waspletely frozen and became an ice statue, and the scene of Red Wind hugging her while wailing was still clear in their memories. ¡°Good. Really good.¡± Because it did not turn out like the original. Because they could meet each other again alive andugh like that. With her eyes red with tears, Cordelia turned to Jude and said. ¡°Let¡¯spletely change it.¡± The fate of the two people. The future of the Great Storm tribe, who were destined to be destroyed. ¡°Yes, let¡¯spletely change it.¡± Jude and Cordelia had already changed many futures. As a result, more and more situations that werepletely unknown to them had increased, and the dangers had ordingly increased too, but the two had no intentions of stopping their actions. ¡°Let me introduce you to my friends. They saved me.¡± When Red Wind pointed to Jude and Cordelia, Blue Wave had a wary look but soon smiled widely and extended her hand. ¡°Red Wind¡¯s friend is my friend. Wee to our vige. The chief told me you wereing.¡± Cordelia blinked her eyes while Jude carefully interpreted it in his mind, and Red Wind said with a smile. ¡°Blue Wave wees you. My father said you wereing.¡± Great Storm seemed to have informed about them in advance. ¡°Okay, then let¡¯s go quickly. We have to stop the illness from progressing.¡± Cordelia prodded on, and Red Wind nodded her head vigorously. She had left the vige in the first ce to cure her father, Red Gale. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Red Wind energetically shouted. And 20 minutester¡­ Red Wind burst into tears. ¡°I was wrong! I¡¯m sorry! Uwaaah!¡± It wasn¡¯t tears of deep emotion that she shed in Red Gale¡¯s hug. It was a cry that was 20% shame and 80% pain. Spank! Spank! Pak! Pak! Red Gale was spanking her butt. To describe it more urately, she was lying with her stomach on Red Gale¡¯s knee and was getting spanked in the butt by his palm. Regardless of whether others saw them or not, her pants were lowered as she was spanked, and there was a clear and bright red palm mark on her buttocks. ¡°She left home because of him¡­¡± Cordelia¡¯s words were somehow persuasive as it seemed like Red Wind had left her home for apletely different reason. ¡°¡­but is he really sick?¡± Red Gale was spanking Red Wind. First of all, he was huge. He wasn¡¯t as big as Landius, or rather, his palms were muchrger than Red Wind¡¯s butt, and Red Wind who was on his knee looked like a doll, so he was an enormous person that might beparable to Landius. And he wasn¡¯t just huge. Like Landius, he was a man with tightly packed muscles, and his upper arms were thicker than Cordelia and Jude¡¯s waist. ¡®He¡¯s also needlessly good-looking like Landius.¡¯ Red Gale also inherited the blood of the winter elves who were known to be good-looking. His clean face without a beard gave off a neutral charm that felt closer to Kamael than Landius, though because of his huge build like Landius, it felt different. As Cordelia thought to herself while nodding, Red Gale ended his punishment and withdrew his hand. ¡°For the next month, you are grounded.¡± At the somehow familiar words, Jude and Cordelia reflexively recoiled in surprise, but fortunately, Red Gale¡¯s focus was on Red Wind. He spoke in a very grave tone, before he moved his chin as a gesture to Blue Wave who was waiting in the corner. Blue Wave quickly ran like a squirrel and supported Red Wind, because Red Wind couldn¡¯t even properly walk due to her butt being spanked. ¡°Huhu¡­I hate you, Dad!¡± ¡°Hmph! Take her away.¡± Red Wind didn¡¯t just run out of her vige but even crossed the border. Generally, it was normal for someone to not return in that situation. In fact, Red Wind was caught and confined at the ve auction house. Violence was not good, but Jude understood the feelings of Red Gale who scolded her harshly. ¡°Haa¡­¡± When Blue Wave and Red Wind left, Red Gale let out a sigh, and his face was mixed with concern and relief. Although he looked to be healthy at first, he was worried about what kind of hardships she had suffered across the border. But now wasn¡¯t the time to continue worrying about his daughter. Red Gale adjusted his seating position and then said. ¡°Thank you very much. For saving my daughter. Great Storm told me. Please understand that I can¡¯t get up because I¡¯m unwell. Really, thank you.¡± It was a rather crude pronunciation of the officialnguage, but they had no problems in understanding it. Jude smiled and replied. ¡°It is thanks to Great Storm¡¯s guidance.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Great Storm¡¯s warrior. You are Great Storm¡¯s warriors too. You will help, Great Storm said.¡± While he was seated, Red Gale rolled up his sleeves to show the golden emblem on his right upper arm. ¡°I have one too. But Jude¡¯s emblem is silver.¡± Cordelia was very happy as she showed her emblem, while Jude quickly proceeded with the conversation instead of taking the trouble of showing his arm. ¡°As Great Storm said, you are under a curse now, and not an illness. This ne will stop the progression of the curse.¡± When Jude handed over the Sun¡¯s Ne, Red Gale spoke with a very serious face. ¡°He said that it was necessary to cure your disease. I¡¯m really thankful to you for handing over this valuable item.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. I¡¯m just lending it to you until the curse has been resolved. Please return itter.¡± Jude rified that it was a rented item, and not a gift, before he continued his words. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for the rush, but we¡¯d like to hurry up and get ready for our departure.¡± ¡°Ah! I understand. Great Storm said to help you. You may take anything from our tribe. But there are conditions. I want to wee you today. Prepare now and leave the departure to tomorrow morning.¡± They were strangers, but at the same time, they were his daughter¡¯s benefactors, and Great Storm, the guardian deity of their tribe, had made them his warriors. Moreover, they even presented a solution to the illness he was helpless against, so whether they were strangers or not, Jude and Cordelia were already friends of the Great Storm tribe. It wasn¡¯t just because Red Gale was a mighty warrior that Haraken, an executive of the Devil¡¯s Eye, attempted to get rid of him. His human charm, derived from his honest and upright personality, and his strong bond with the wild gods, were enough to make him the central figure of the barbarians. ¡°Okay. We will do so.¡± ¡°Good. White Frost will guide you.¡± After speaking, Red Gale pped his hands several times, and the young man who was waiting outside the door, entered. He was a handsome young man with white hair like his name. ¡°Guide them to the items storage. Give them whatever they want.¡± ¡°I will do so. Pleasee this way.¡± As soon as he replied to Red Gale, White Frost spoke to Jude and Cordelia as he took the lead, and Jude and Cordelia headed for the items storage in excitement. And 30 minutes after¡­ ¡°Wow, there are a lot of amazing items.¡± ¡°Because barbarian weapons were quite rare in the?Legend of Heroes?series.¡± Most of the items they first saw were equipment. ¡°Let¡¯s change our armor first.¡± ¡°Yeah, because the dwarf items are too conspicuous.¡± The performance of the ancient dwarves¡¯ work clothes from Frost Anvil were excellent, but their color was a problem. They will have to wander around like mad on the white snowfield in the future, so the yellow color was too eye-catching. ¡°Most of them are made from bones or fur.¡± ¡°It¡¯s like the equipment that appeared in Monster Hunter.¡± Thanks to the Winter Protection, they were rtively free from the cold, so they chose equipment that considered mobility rather than wearing heavy clothes. A dozen minutes passed like that. Cordelia suddenly spoke in a lively voice. ¡°This! This is it! This is the best!¡± ¡°What is it?¡± Jude unintentionally looked back and swallowed his breath in an instant. ¡°How is it, Daddy? Isn¡¯t it cute? It¡¯s so cute that you can¡¯t even breathe, right?¡± Cordelia coquettishly said, and Jude neither affirmed nor denied it. Because she was really cute. Cordelia had white rabbit ears attached on her head. To be exact, it was a headband with rabbit ears attached to it, and it was a cute essorymonly seen in games like JRPG (Japanese Role-ying Game). ¡°The barbarians use animal-shaped equipment to draw out shamanistic power, so this must be real. Equipping the rabbit set increases agility and jumping power. It¡¯s a good choice.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t change the subject. Here¡¯s yours too.¡± Cordelia yfullyughed and held out one more rabbit ears headband to him. ¡°Me too?¡± ¡°Yes, you too.¡± As Jude hesitated, Cordelia said while clicking her tongue. ¡°It¡¯s okay, it¡¯s okay. Because Jude is a handsome boy. It will suit you.¡± ¡°I was handsome in my previous life too, okay?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡± Cordelia somewhat swept his hair back and put the rabbit ears headband over the hesitating Jude¡¯s head. ¡°Wow, it suits you. It perfectly suits you. My Jude is so pretty.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not convincing if you say that with a face that looks like you¡¯ll die fromughing, okay?¡± ¡°But¡­pfft¡­its power is¡­kuku¡­good, right?¡± She was right. Though it was a little embarrassing. ¡°It¡¯s okay, Daddy. I¡¯ll wear it too. There¡¯s nothing to be embarrassed about if we wear it together.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡± Jude sourly replied and looked for other items, but unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t find any equipment that was better than the rabbit set. ¡°Let¡¯s stop looking for armor and begin checking out the weapons.¡± ¡°Is there anything better than the Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword? Barbarians don¡¯t use swords very often.¡± Rather than swords, the barbarians preferredrge weapons such as axes and spears. ording to their settings, Red Wind specializes in the spear, while Red Gale uses a giant halberd. ¡°It¡¯s free though.¡± ¡°Yes, that is why we have to find something.¡± Most of the weapons wererge, so they couldn¡¯t find anything that could be used as a main weapon. Instead, Jude and Cordelia took several useful daggers and hatchets. ¡°Because I have Cheonmujiche.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, Uncle Cheonmujiche is good at anything he does with his body. Lastly, you wear this equipment.¡± Cordelia held out a white, round, and furry item. ¡°What is that?¡± ¡°Rabbit tail.¡± It was the finishing touch to the rabbit set. Jude¡¯s face darkened, while Cordelia¡¯s face brightened in contrast to him. *** Afterwards, their schedule went smoothly. Jude and Cordelia went to the altar of Great Storm and took the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow. They joined in the simple banquet held by Red Gale, and by the next morning, they left the vige of the Great Storm tribe. ¡°It would be good if you learned me Spirit summoning. Great Storm also said that you have an aptitude for it. Your spear skills are good but try practicing archery too. You¡¯ll have good results.¡± Numerous rankers of?Legend of Heroes?created Red Wind¡¯s strongest tech tree as a result of various experiments. At Jude and Cordelia¡¯s earnest request, Red Wind nodded her head several times while saying that she understood it. And a dozen minutester¡­ Jude suddenly stopped walking and looked back as he said. ¡°Lady Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes, Daddy.¡± ¡°Why do you keep walking behind me?¡± ¡°So that I can see Daddy¡¯s tail well.¡± When Jude¡¯s expression stiffened, Cordelia cheerfullyughed and said. ¡°Okay, okay. I¡¯ll take the lead for a while. Rx by looking at my tail.¡± ¡°I¡¯m okay with it though?¡± ¡°Why are you walking behind me when you said you¡¯re okay with it then?¡± ¡°For fairness?¡± ¡°Bullsh*t.¡± In the end, the two walked side by side as usual. The task that Great Storm had assigned them was to investigate Violent Avnche¡¯s sanctuary. But the two had one more purpose. ¡°Are we also going there?¡± ¡°We should stop by there.¡± In?Legend of Heroes, there were few opportunities to travel through thend of the barbarians. It was possible in the early stages of Kirara¡¯s scenario and in the part of Red Wind¡¯s homing, but even in the homing part, the ces they could go to were limited. ¡®They said that all areas will be opened in thest expansion pack.¡¯ And perhaps it was the reason why there were several areas that they couldn¡¯t go then, even though it was obvious that something was there. There was one line that Jude and Cordelia had taken note of. In Red Wind¡¯s homing event, there was a line that said, ¡®There seems to be something.¡¯ However, that area couldn¡¯t be visited despite that fact. That area just near the road to Violent Avnche¡¯s sanctuary, so they thought that they should stop by there first. ¡®If my hypothesis is correct¡­Sri¡¯s ruins would be in that ce.¡¯ The ruins of Sri, the sun god. There were certain patterns in the ruins of Sri located throughout the continent, so in Jude¡¯s hypothesis, several ruins of Sri must have also existed in thend of the barbarians. And as if it was obvious, the ces that they couldn¡¯t go to in the game and the ces that Jude suspected to have the ruins of Sri were both located in the same position on the map. ¡°Let¡¯s go quickly.¡± ¡°Yes, Daddy.¡± However, the two only pretended to walk and did not take a step forward. Because both of them were intending to walk behind the other. ¡°What¡¯s with those intentions?¡± ¡°Are you talking about you or me?¡± Eventually, the two walked side by side again. And at the same time, in apletely different ce¡­ There was a male and female pair who were likewise squabbling. *** ¡°What did you just say?¡± ¡°They must have crossed the border.¡± Adelia appeared in front of Ga?l, who was doing his morning training in their amodation¡¯s yard, and she said with an agitated face. ¡°The signal keeps moving away. They¡¯re still moving north even at this moment.¡± Ga?l and Adelia were now in Vedrfolnir, considered as the entrance of Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s territory. Considering that Jude and Cordelia spent nearly fifteen days traveling from Langesthei to Vedrfolnir, Ga?l and Adelia¡¯s traveling speed was seriously fast. But it was not enough. Jude and Cordelia were still so far away. And what was worse here was the fact that theypletely crossed the border. ¡°Are you saying that Jude and Cordelia crossed over to thend of the barbarians?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯ve been saying! I¡¯ve already told you that a few times!¡± Adelia loudly shouted, before she took a deep breath, puffed out her chest, and then said. ¡°This isn¡¯t the time to argue about this and that. We have to cross the border too.¡± There was a huge difference between wandering within the S?len Kingdom and wandering in thend of the barbarians beyond the border. Thend of the barbarians. It was thend of the savage and cruel barbarians. The S?len Kingdom had been fighting these barbarians for hundreds of years already. ¡®Jude, you evil bastard!¡¯ Going to a nice ce wasn¡¯t enough for you when you took her around, so you dragged Cordelia to such a living hell? No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn¡¯t forgive him. Even if Cordelia objected or her father opposed it, she would have their engagement called off without fail once she caught the two. ¡°I¡¯ll even go by myself, just so you know.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s hurry then.¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s hurry up then.¡± Ga?l didn¡¯t end it with just words alone. He went right back to his room, and within a few minutes, he packed all his luggage and came down. ¡°First of all, we must keep it a secret that Jude and Lady Cordelia have crossed the border. Count Hr?svelgr will somehow get in the way if he knew that we¡¯re trying to cross the border too.¡± Count Hr?svelgr was the margrave that guarded the border. The head of the Jackdaws wouldn¡¯t easily let them cross the border. ¡°Wait, we¡¯re sneaking through?¡± ¡°Were you thinking of openly crossing then?¡± When Ga?l asked in return, Adelia was instantly speechless and blinked her eyes. Because it was as what Ga?l said. Several procedures were needed to legally cross the border. Moreover, it was unlikely that Count Hr?svelgr, who had already been disgraced by Jude and Cordelia, would obediently let them create a new problem. It would be a huge blow to Count Hr?svelgr if he eventually allowed Ga?l and Adelia to cross the border and then some ident happened to them there. Still, Adelia had no choice but to be flustered. ¡°Will that be okay?¡± ¡°Oh, how do you cross the border then? You don¡¯t have to worry about it. Count Bayer knows everything about the border that separates the north. If it¡¯s a route to secretly cross the border, there are about 10 routes that we know.¡± ¡°N-no, that¡¯s not it.¡± It wasn¡¯t just crossing over the wall next door. It was a situation of crossing over the northern wall that bordered thend of the barbarians. During their travel together in thest few days, Adelia had thought that Ga?l was an upright and sincere man. He was a man of integrity himself who did not skip training every morning even during a trip, did not show signs of hardship no matter how hard it was, and solved everything ording to the set rules, whether other people spoke ill of him or not. But this man was trying to sneak across the border. It was also through a secret route that Count Bayer knew. ¡°Do you have any other problems then?¡± ¡°That¡­no, it¡¯s not a problem.¡± He naturally knew that she would object. Or go to Count Hr?svelgr and ask for help. ¡°Let¡¯s start right away then.¡± Before she knew it, Ga?l had already brought out the horses from the stable. The dumbfounded Adelia suddenly found herself riding on the horse and running after Ga?l. She thought it was an unexpected action for him. He was a man who was not fully sincere. No, he was a sincere man, but he could discern the gravity of the situation. ¡°We¡¯re going to change horses in Lankebuste! I¡¯ve contacted them in advance, so we won¡¯t suffer from any dys!¡± In addition, he was a man who was thoroughly prepared. ¡®How reliable.¡¯ He somehow resembled her older brother. Adelia slightly raised her assessment of Ga?l as she unconsciously smiled a little, before she focused on riding again. Their horses continued running towards the north. Chapter 62.1 - EPISODE 62 (1/2) – RUINS (1)

Chapter 62.1 - EPISODE 62 (1/2) ¨C RUINS (1)

The reason why the S?len Kingdom did not expand its influence on thend of the northern barbarians was simple. ¡°Because it¡¯s hard to live here.¡± They didn¡¯t stop at Thunderdoom Fortress just for no reason. There were two main reasons why thend of the barbarians was difficult to live in. One was the harsh natural environment, and the other was the monsters that appeared everywhere. ¡°It¡¯s cold and barren, and there are many monsters, so it¡¯s not a ce for people to live.¡± That was why the barbarians strike the northern border every few years. The north was hard to live in, while the south was habitable. It was to find a better ce to live. ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­this is tough. There¡¯s really nothing but snow as far as I can see.¡± Cordelia panted as she left deep impressions of new footprints on the pure white snowfield without a single footprint. At first, she liked that it was beautiful, but its beauty was only for a while as she began hating the snowfield that spread out endlessly while she walked. The environment in thend of the barbarians was really harsh. The vige of the Great Storm tribe was still a bit livable, as it felt like a vige located in the northernmost part of in Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s territory. However, as soon as they left the vige area, it was slightly like a worse version of Frost Anvil. Blizzards ruthlessly stormed as heaps of snow piled up everywhere. Had it not been for the Winter Protection, it would have been difficult to even breathe properly. ¡°The barbarians are¡­haa¡­really¡­haa¡­the reason¡­haa¡­is¡­¡± Living in this environment naturally made them stronger. No, the weak would not survive in the first ce. Unlike Cordelia, who was gasping and saying whatever she wanted to say until the end, Jude closed his mouth and just checked their direction with apass. They were in the northwest direction from the vige of the Great Storm tribe. After measuring the distance in his head, Jude soon sent a hand signal to Cordelia. ¡°What? Do we have to go a little longer? Hasn¡¯t it been¡­haa¡­like that¡­haa..since a while ago?¡± Jude responded with a hand signal again instead of answering, and Cordelia lost her temper. ¡°Ah, fu-! It¡¯s better if you just say it with your eyes!¡± It was easier for her to understand than a hand signal she didn¡¯t know about. ¡®It¡¯s amazing when I think about it. How did you do that? Is this like an animal¡¯s instinct? As expected of a beast, huh?¡¯ ¡°A beast?¡± Cordelia somewhatprehended Jude¡¯s gaze and hit him hard on the back. Jude continued to speak with his eyes. ¡®It¡¯s really just a little further. Can you see that slightly raised side over there? There is a way down there. An underground cave, I think?¡¯ Seeing Jude¡¯s gaze, Cordelia frowned and groaned as she repeated her question. Because his words were too long, it seemed that she couldn¡¯t properly understand it. ¡°Uh¡­so there¡¯s a way down there?¡± ¡®That¡¯s right.¡¯ ¡°F*ck, just say it yourself. Talk in words. Say it in words, Daddy!¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Jude briefly responded to her whining and began to take the lead again, and Cordelia gasped for breath and continued following Jude. In terms of physical strength, the rtionship between the two waspletely reversed due to the Sunflower. And around 5 minutester¡­ Jude and Cordelia finally reached the entrance of a huge cave. As Jude had said, it was arge cave that stretched downwards, and it was like the entrance to a dungeon. ¡®This ce was in the original story.¡¯ There seems to be something?¨C now that that short line in the game had appeared in front of them, it was impossible for them to not enter this ce. Jude swallowed down and had a small smile. Because his heart was beating at the thought of going to a ce he had never been before and taking a step towards the unknown. Unlike Jude however, Cordelia strongly reacted in surprise as she stood in her spot and then said. ¡°Say, let¡¯s get in there quickly. I don¡¯t want to be exposed to a blizzard again. It would be better once we get in.¡± ¡°¡­But there¡¯s no romance.¡± ¡°Romance and so on is worthless if you¡¯re not warm andfortable. What kind of romance is that when we¡¯re freezing?¡± Cordelia rapidly spit out words without dreams or hopes as she quickly made a magic light and took the lead as she began to go down. ¡°Be careful.¡± ¡°Yes, you too.¡± As soon as they started going down, Jude naturally took the lead. He was three steps ahead of Cordelia. He could feel Cordelia openly gazing at his tail, but from here on, it was not the time to stop and walk side by side. He stood in the front line and protected Cordelia who was in the rear. He became a shield that would protect Cordelia from any danger. ¡°A little reliable, huh?¡± ¡°Ha?¡± ¡°No, your tail is cute.¡± Instead of getting angry, Cordeliaughed and looked around with a little curiosity because the blizzard had disappeared. The cave that led downwards had a very high ceiling, and strangely enough, it widened as it went downwards. ¡°Uh¡­I think I¡¯m getting scared.¡± Nearly 30 meters down, the cave became sorge that it could not be seen with her small magic light. A dark and humid cave where one had no idea on what¡¯s around. The sound of water droplets dripping from afar seemed to be heard regrly, and soon, the sound of a buzzing bug was heard. ¡°Cordelia, can you increase the light a little more?¡± ¡°Yes, wait a second.¡± Increasing the intensity of the light naturally increased the mana consumption but securing their visibility of the surroundings was a priority. When Cordelia added more mana to her spell, the magical sphere that emitted the soft light doubled at once, and the light intensity was more than tripled. Paa-! At that moment, the light devoured the darkness as if they had turned on the light in a dark room. The surroundingndscape was revealed more clearly, and at that instant, Cordelia almost screamed. There were dozens of pairs of eyes in all directions. A surprisinglyrge number of monsters were watching from the sides of the walls and ceiling, and she wondered why they had not noticed so far. ¡°Cordelia! Begin!¡± Jude instantly shouted and Cordelia immediately understood it. She turned around and stood back to back with Jude, while Jude clenched both of his fists instead of drawing out the Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword. The numbers were estimated to be around twenty to thirty at most. Fortunately, the monster itself was a known species to them. ¡°Snow Goblin!¡± ¡°Live in big groups! White skin with a bluish glow! Blue eyes!¡± ¡°Obviously ice attribute!¡± ¡°Poisonous nails and teeth!¡± ¡°Timid and seriously coward personality! If they¡¯re a bit disadvantaged, they run right away!¡± Jude and Cordelia shouted in turns. However, they had no choice but to correct their words. ¡°Hey! Their eyes are red!¡± ¡°Fallen version! If they have that, they won¡¯t run away!¡± ¡°Berserk Mode!¡± The situation had changed for the Snow Goblins who had been corrupted due to their exposure to the power of Belial, the overlord of corruption. They were poisonous species who rushed and fought until thest one died. ¡°Here ites!¡± ¡°Believe in me!¡± When Jude cried out, Cordelia confidently shouted as the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow in her waist flew into the air. Immediately, she used the Witch Transformation and then yelled. ¡°I¡¯ll wipe them all away!¡± ¡°Yondu!¡± Jude looked at the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow in anticipation, and after taking a so-called swordsmanship pose, she deftly moved her hand to control the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow. Shaa-! The Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow seemed to fly at a terrifying speed with a piercing sound and it flew precisely between the forehead of the Snow Goblin in front of Jude. ¡°Kaaa!¡± The monster who was hit in the head fell. Jude cheered as he expected the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow to prate the others in session like what he saw in the movie. But there was nothing more. The Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow was blocked by the Snow Goblin¡¯s skull and couldn¡¯t go any further. ¡°Uh¡­this isn¡¯t it.¡± Cordelia said, and at that moment, the Snow Goblins roared and began to rush towards them. ¡°F*ck! I knew it would be like this!¡± ¡°Great Storm, you fraud!¡± Spitting out an insult after a long time, Jude held his breath and used Twenty-Four Gale Steps. A strong gust of wind was created and quickly swept the area around Cordelia at the same time. He prevented them from approaching Cordelia. He knocked down the enemies with one blow and steadily reduced their numbers. Boom! Boom! Boom! Roars broke out in session, and four of the Snow Goblins that approached in advance and swarmed on all sides, had their heads, necks, and chests smashed before they fell down. However, it was only four of them. The Snow Goblins lunged at them without care like a sea¡¯s surging waves. ¡°Let¡¯s run!¡± Each of them were weak, but there were too many of them. So Jude thought that they should at least change their location for the fight. Jude quickly grabbed Cordelia¡¯s waist at that instant and carried her on his shoulders like a sack. Normally, Cordelia would have said something about it, but she didn¡¯t say anything because they were in the middle of a battle, and at that moment, Jude kicked the ground as he soared up high. ¡°Guaaa!¡± Snow Goblins swarmed into the ce where Jude once stood as they ferociously roared, while Jude stepped on their heads and tried to go back to the path they originally came down from. But it was impossible. Because a new group of Snow Goblins had already appeared and blocked their retreat. ¡®Was it a settlement from the beginning?!¡¯ Snow Goblins often formedrge colonies than the other goblins. If it was really a proper settlement, their numbers could exceed a hundred. ¡®We need to go to a high ce.¡¯ Jude looked for a ce with a higher ground to avoid being surrounded by them. And it was at that moment. ¡°Don¡¯t! I¡¯ll use it again, so carry me on the back! Ah, no! Carry me in your arms!¡± Cordelia abruptly shouted, and Jude automatically followed her words. He shifted her position of being carried on his shoulders to the so-called princess hug. ¡°Go!¡± Cordelia eximed. At the same time, an intense wind swept around Jude and Cordelia. Shaaaaaaaa-! It was the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow. It came out from the head of the monster it first defeated and then passed through the Snow Goblins at a terrifying pace. No, it wasn¡¯t just that. ¡°Kaah!¡± ¡°Ack!¡± ¡°Kiiee!¡± The arrowhead of the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow tore and wound the skin of the Snow Goblins¡¯ neck, waist, and so on. ¡®Crazy.¡¯ Her control skills were truly terrifying. If she couldn¡¯t prate it, then tear and wound them. The theory itself was simple, but it was an arrowhead and not just anything else. Moving it at such a rapid pace and wounding their skin was close to an acrobatic feat. ¡®However.¡¯ It was meaningless if it was just a scratch. The Snow Goblins weren¡¯t that weak enough that they¡¯d kick the bucket from just that. Cordelia was also aware of that fact. So she had added one more measure. ¡°Kuuk!¡± ¡°Kiiee!¡± The Snow Goblins who were wounded by the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow suddenly let out their dying breaths. The reason was simple. ¡°Poison!¡± ¡°That¡¯s it!¡± . With the witch¡¯s spell, Cordelia had added a highly toxic poison to the arrowhead. Moreover, Cordelia¡¯sbo didn¡¯t end there. Because there were new spells that she had learned due to repeatedly leveling up. ¡°Explosion!¡± Cordelia released the spell and clenched her fist. The Snow Goblins¡¯ wounds seemed to swell and soon burst out into something purple. . In a word, it was an explosion of poison. It was a magic that exploded the poison on the enemy, and the greater the amount of poison on them, the greater the power of the explosion was. Boom! Boom! Boom! Dozens of explosions followed one after another as if they were one. Cordelia¡¯s was weak because she had just learned it, but she had already calcted it to that extent, or rather, Cordelia had instinctively understood it. The Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow did not wound them just anywhere. It only targeted ces where even a small explosion could be fatal. ¡°Kiiee!¡± The Snow Goblin with a torn throat choked and fell down, and the one next to it couldn¡¯t even scream properly because its groin exploded. Some of them couldn¡¯t properly move due to their waist and ankle injuries. ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­ha¡­h-how is it?¡± Cordelia had used up a lot of mana and her concentration at once, and as she turned to Jude while breaking out into a cold sweat, Jude first looked around. Over a dozen Snow Goblins had entirely fallen and were making groaning sounds. ¡®She¡¯s Yellow Storm indeed.¡¯ At least in the area of one-to-many hunting, she overtook Jude himself and was said to be the strongest in?Legend of Heroes 2. ¡°As expected of the Massacre King.¡± ¡°No¡­it¡¯s not. Even the strong guys are good¡­at ughtering?¡± And that was it. Cordelia painstakingly spoke as blood dripped from her nose and hernguid arms fell down. ¡°I¡¯ll deal thest hit, so just rest for now.¡± ¡°Fu-f*ck¡­¡± With a resentful cry, Cordelia fainted from overexerting herself. ¡®Still, it was incredible.¡¯ Jude and Cordelia had just reached level 30. At this level, Cordelia was probably the only one who can create a scene like that. ¡®I look forward to the future.¡¯ How strong would she be in the future? Jude smiled while looking at the fainted Cordelia¡¯s face, before he began dealing thest hit to the struggling goblins. *** Chapter 62.2

Chapter 62.2

Terms used in this chapter: Podaegi?¨C a Korean baby sling/carrier with a medium torge rectangle of fabric hanging from a very long strap. Traditionally the rectangle is quilted for warmth and wraps around the mother¡¯s torso, while the straps are wrapped snug under the baby¡¯s bottom and tied around to the front to support and secure the baby on the mother¡¯s back. ¡°Ah.¡± Cordelia opened her eyes. She had a headache and her whole body had no strength. ¡°Uh.¡± She uttered again. She then heard a familiar voice. ¡°Did you wake up?¡± Instead of answering, Cordelia firmly closed her eyes once, before she opened them and looked around. They were still in the cave. She was on Jude¡¯s back. ¡°Uh¡­where are we?¡± ¡°Inside the cave. The deeper we go, the less Snow Goblins there are.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°¡­Isn¡¯t it obvious?¡± ¡°My head hurts. I don¡¯t want to think.¡± Cordelia whined and hit Jude¡¯s shoulder several times with her chin, and Jude said after clicking his tongue. ¡°The divine power is getting stronger. That, do you remember the Leisegang¡¯s seal? It¡¯s simr here.¡± ¡°So, we¡¯re in the right ce?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m certain there are ruins of Sri here.¡± ¡°Hey, that¡¯s exciting.¡± Cordelia weakly responded and then looked at herself. She soon realized that she was tied to something like a podaegi and was hanging on Jude¡¯s back. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I couldn¡¯t find a diaper.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t go too far.¡± Instead of creating a magic light, Cordelia stared at the torch Jude was holding before she spoke. ¡°So, how much longer do we have to go?¡± ¡°I think we¡¯re almost there.¡± It was as Jude said. When Cordelia looked straight ahead, she could see something like a door in that ce. ¡°Sri¡¯s crest.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a mere ruin. It¡¯s simr to a grave.¡± Jude brought the torch closer to the crest engraved on the stone door and scrutinized it once before he spoke. ¡°Cordelia, are you able to walk by yourself?¡± ¡°Perhaps?¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll let you down first.¡± When Jude untied the podaegi, Cordelia seemed to somewhat wobble, but soon seeded in standing on her own feet. ¡°Huu, Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow consumes too much mana.¡± ¡°Its power was a little weak. But its mobility was amazing.¡± ¡°Mana¡­it seems that its power will increase if I pour more¡­but to do that, I think I need to raise my level a lot more.¡± After she said that, Cordelia took out the mana potion from her waist pocket and gulped it down. ¡°Uh¡­bitter. Anyway, let¡¯s go in now.¡± Sri¡¯s historical ruins. If this was a grave, it would certainly have items that would be helpful in fighting demons in the future. ¡°Wait a second.¡± Jude lightly loosened his shoulders before carefully opening the stone door. ¡°Wow.¡± It was like a cave even beyond the stone door, but its appearance waspletely different. Far from being dark and dreary, jewels that emitted a blue light were embedded here and there, creating a mysterious atmosphere. Moreover, the water stream flowing down the wall was so clear that one could see the water about a meter deep. ¡°This is clearly Sri¡¯s power.¡± Thanks to the Sun¡¯s Ne, Jude was familiar with Sri¡¯s divine power. ¡°Can you figure out whose tomb is this?¡± Rather than immediately answering Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude shifted his gaze towards the end of the sarcophagus (stone coffin) some distance away. It was a huge sarcophagus measuring 1.5 meters high and 4 meters long. In addition to Sri¡¯s crest engraved in the coffin, there were several sacred texts inscribed on it. ¡°Oh my god.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the tomb of Galleon.¡± At Jude¡¯s reply, Cordelia blinked before her eyes widely opened and she asked back. ¡°Galleon? The disciple of Gallus? Saint Galleon?¡± ¡°Yes, Saint Galleon.¡± Gallus, Sri¡¯s champion who sealed the Demon Prince Leisegang, had three disciples who inherited his skills. They were Saint Galleon, Pdin Berfa, and Crusader Amelia. T/N: The word ¡®Saint¡¯ in Saint Galleon refers to the ¡®saint¡¯ in the Saint Seiya series, and not the Catholic saints. Saints in the Saint Seiya series are also something like holy fighters. As fo ¡®Crusader¡¯, it means ¡®holy warrior¡¯ in the literal trantion of its Korean word, but I used ¡®crusader¡¯ because Diablo 3 used that word for the Korean trantion of its crusader character ss. ¡°Wow, isn¡¯t there something great here then?¡± ¡°Perhaps?¡± Galleon was also a named person in Sri¡¯s denomination. Cordelia¡¯s eyes began to sparkle. ¡°Let¡¯s quickly open it.¡± If there was something here, it would be inside the sarcophagus. Moreover, Saint Galleon was the progenitor of the God¡¯s Fist used by the Guardians of the Holy Cross. There was a high possibility that it contained useful stuff for the present Jude. ¡®Though if you think about it, isn¡¯t this a tomb robbing?¡¯ It wasn¡¯t a sealed demon or a viin, but a saint¡¯s tomb. ¡°Well, we can¡¯t help it right?¡± They were two people who were likely to sh with the Devil¡¯s Eye during the time that they would be examining the condition of Violent Avnche¡¯s sanctuary. In order to prevent the future that would escte into a catastrophe, they needed a power to fight the demons. ¡°But let¡¯s at least offer a prayer first.¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s offer a silent prayer.¡± It was different from the game. Jude and Cordelia prayed to Sri together and held a moment of silence for Galleon. And after one minute¡­ Jude and Cordelia smiled after looking at each other before they touched the coffin. Trembling in excitement at the thought of finding apletely new item, they tried to lift the seal that locked the coffin. And it was at that moment. [Who dares touch the tomb of the holy fighter!] A rough and angry voice violently shook not only the inside of Jude and Cordelia¡¯s heads but also the entire cave. ¡°Jude!¡± When Cordelia covered her ears using both of her hands, Jude grabbed Cordelia¡¯s waist. He immediately used Twenty-Four Gale Steps to leave the spot where they were standing, and at that very moment, lightning bolts fell from the ceiling and struck the ce where Jude was standing. Craaack¡­Boom! It was a blue thunderbolt. Blue light continuously gathered over Galleon¡¯s tomb and soon took the shape of a winged leopard. [He who defiles the tomb! Ye cannot avoid Sri¡¯s retribution!] A giant leopard with blue fur stood at the top of the coffin and stared at Jude and Cordelia. It was clearly the guardian of the tomb, who often appeared in historic ruins rted to Sri. ¡°Tomb Guardian.¡± ¡°The lowest ranked angel.¡± ¡°No intelligence. Virtually a gargoyle. It¡¯s highly likely that its words are pre-recorded.¡± ¡°Holy attribute. Sri¡¯s angel with an additional sr attribute.¡± ¡°What should we do?¡± ¡°We have to fight.¡± It seemed like prayers and silent tributes were not enough. Whether they had wanted to open Galleon¡¯s coffin or run away, they had no choice but to fight now that it hade to this. Furthermore, their party had one more reason to fight it. ¡°By the way.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Is that an angel?¡± Angel. It was the lowest of the angels, but it was still an angel. It may be simr to a gargoyle, but in the first ce, it was a being made up of flesh and blood. ¡°Angel¡¯s blood.¡± Cordelia said, and Jude nodded his head. The eyes of the two rotten waters began to brightly shine. Chapter 63 - EPISODE 63 (2/2) – RUINS (2)

Chapter 63 - EPISODE 63 (2/2) ¨C RUINS (2)

¡°It¡¯s sort of strange that it¡¯s really waiting for us.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a good boy. That angel.¡± The Tomb Guardian looked down at them with a solemn expression, and Jude and Cordelia spoke some short words before they inhaled at the same time. Afterwards, they slowly exhaled as they prepared themselves for battle. A golden sacred battle aura rose from Jude¡¯s body. Cordelia¡¯s hair turned ck, and her blue eyes glowed. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°!¡± eleration magic was cast on Jude¡¯s whole body. Jude then used Twenty-Four Gale Steps, and the Tomb Guardian reacted to Jude as he shot forward like an arrow. ¡°Aaa-!¡± Sacred Echo. It was a kind of sonic attack that spread out over a wide range. The effect of this debuff lowered the stats of the enemies that got hit with it. The Tomb Guardian always began its attack with Sacred Echo, so Jude was already prepared for it. ¡®Holy Cross Punch.¡¯ A huge golden cross appeared from Jude¡¯s fist and acted like a shield as it blocked the front of Jude. It collided with the Sacred Echo, and at that moment, the Tomb Guardian flew up. Pah! Jude ran forward. The Tomb Guardian¡¯s second attack, Wild des of Light, was a wide range attack. It poured down des of light from the ceiling like rain, and the best way to prevent it from reaching Cordelia was to change the starting point of the light attack itself. Papapapapa! The des of light rained down towards the swiftly moving Jude as he had expected. With his sharpened senses, Jude quickly used Twenty-Four Gale Steps. He avoided the des of light and let the des of light hit the whirlwinds and the Wind Barrier that he got from Great Storm. Boom! Boom! Boom! The des of light crashed into the ground and exploded. As it exploded inside the whirlwind, Jude counted down in his head and then shouted. ¡°Hurry up!¡± ¡°Here it goes!¡± Cordelia moved her hand, and at that moment, the witch¡¯s flew into the air and rushed towards the Tomb Guardian. The Tomb Guardian turned towards the and at the same time, activated a Light Barrier. Paaa! The from the power of darkness, and the sacred Light Barrier shed with each other, causing lightning sparks. And Cordelia smiled. ¡°Bingo.¡± It was one of Jude¡¯s speaking habits. The rushed to the front while the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow that flew as if it were crawling on the floor, soared upwards as it aimed at the Tomb Guardian¡¯s back. It then pierced the Tomb Guardian¡¯s back before it could even react! ¡°Kaah!¡± The power of the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow was weak. Its pration power was also uncertain, to the point that it was blocked by a goblin¡¯s skull. However, Cordelia did not use the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow for attacking in the first ce. The Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow was simply a means to move something. Its real purpose was to move the Bicorn¡¯s horn tied to the arrowhead of the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow. ¡°Kuuuaah!¡± The Bicorn¡¯s curse prated into the Tomb Guardian¡¯s body. But not yet. It was not enough to bring down a heavenly being. ¡°So we prepared one more shot.¡± At the moment Cordelia spoke, Jude threw another Bicorn¡¯s horn. The Bicorn¡¯s horn flew at a terrifying speed and pierced the side of the Tomb Guardian who lost its concentration, and the Bicorn¡¯s curse doubled. ¡°Keuuuuoh!¡± The Tomb Guardian violently charged towards Jude. Cordelia chanted the witch¡¯s curse and the dark energy that came from the Bicorn¡¯s horns bound the Tomb Guardian¡¯s whole body. ¡°Kuaaaaaah!¡± But it was a Tomb Guardian. The heavenly being endured the pain and opened its mouth wide, and a huge wave of light left from its mouth. It was the Tomb Guardian¡¯s strongest attack, Holy Breath. ¡°Jude!¡± Cordelia urgently cried at the terrifying wave of light that covered her eyes, and Jude reminded Cordelia of the one thing that she had forgotten. Using the Fairy Steps, he passed by the wave of light itself and rushed towards the Tomb Guardian! Thud! He kicked the ground hard. Jude flew to the Tomb Guardian¡¯s side and at the same time, he drew his fist. The Tomb Guardian¡¯s gaze headed towards Jude. But it was toote. Jude¡¯s fist was already halfway to hammering the Bicorn¡¯s horn, or to be precise, it was on the verge of hitting the dagger made by processing the Bicorn¡¯s horn. Boom! A roar burst again. Jude¡¯s fist struck the dagger made from the Bicorn¡¯s horn, and as if a hammer struck a nail, the Bicorn¡¯s horn prated deeply into the Tomb Guardian¡¯s body. ¡°Kuaaaaaah!¡± The Tomb Guardian twisted its body. It randomly swung its feet towards Jude, and sharp ws cut through the air. Jude calmly responded. He used the Twenty-Four Gale Steps, and as he evaded its attacks, he prepared for his next move. He counted the numbers in his mind. ¡®The Bicorn has two horns.¡¯ All the heavenly energy that surrounded the Tomb Guardian¡¯s body had been removed. But this was not enough. They had to bring it down a little more. What was the best way to defeat a heavenly being? The answer could be found in ssical literature. Turn it corrupt. Bring it to ruin. Bring down the heavenly being to the ground. Curses poured out from the Bicorn¡¯s horn. And at that moment, Jude found a way through its random attacks. He flew as he prated through the whirlwind, and once again seized on the opportunity to attack. Fist attack. But it wasn¡¯t an ordinary fist attack. A few months had already passed since he opened his eyes in Pleiades. During that time, Jude learned many things and came into a conclusion. There was no need for him to move like this was still a game. Because this was reality. It was a ce where he could do things that were systematically impossible in the game. So he was going to do it. He would use everything that he could to increase hisbat power. Bang! Jude¡¯s fist struck the thigh of the Tomb Guardian¡¯s hind leg. At the same time, a change took ce in the specially made knuckles Jude had requested from the cksmith of the Great Storm tribe. One of the magic circles that had been rolled into the front of the fist, was set aze. What he used was a basic curse magic that slightly reduced the enemy¡¯s stats. He nned to directly hit the magic circle from a close distance. If he had to give it a name, should it be a physical curse? ¡°Kuaaah!¡± The curse gnawed at the Tomb Guardian. Jude continued to punch without stopping. Bam! Bam! Bam! The magic circles, which were loaded like bullets, continued to burn. ¡°Curse! Poison! Curse! Poison!¡± It wasn¡¯t a strong magic, but the Bicorn¡¯s horns had already removed the heavenly protection the Tomb Guardian had. When the curses and poison ovepped, its condition became noticeably worse. Moreover, Jude knew the basics ofbat. He hit the spot where he had once hit. He further damaged the damaged area. ¡°Kuuu¡­.kuu¡­¡± The Tomb Guardian was hit on the thigh one after another, and it copsed when it could no longer stand properly. Since it couldn¡¯t properly attack now, it hurriedly pped its wings and flew away. ¡°Keuuuuuah!¡± It flew up and used its Holy Breath once more. Jude threw a hatchet and a dagger from his waist to the flying one in session. The Light Barrier that it suddenly created again, blocked the primitive weapons that he threw, but it didn¡¯t matter to him. After all, his only purpose was to get its attention. ¡°Isn¡¯t this enough now?¡± At Jude¡¯s question, Cordelia responded to it through her actions. Cordelia shouted towards the enemy that waspletely distracted by Jude. ¡°!¡± It was one of the witch¡¯s spells. Covered in sweat, Cordelia grasped in her right hand a long and huge mass of ck light. The Tomb Guardian hastily turned towards Cordelia, but it was toote. Cordelia threw the towards it, as she bled from her nose. Shaaa! It wasn¡¯t fast. But it wasn¡¯t something that could be avoided. The Tomb Guardian hurriedly opened its mouth to let out an echo of light, but it had lost most of its heavenly powers due to the ovepping debuffs. The echo of light was shattered like ss. The rushed forward and struck the face of the Tomb Guardian! ¡°Kuaaaaah!¡± The pierced its open mouth. Then it continuously burned the enemy¡¯s body with ck mes. Thud! The Tomb Guardian crashed to the ground. Cordelia sank to her knees and panted, and Jude drew the Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword, but it was no longer necessary. Rings of pure white light. The rings surrounded Jude and Cordelia in session. Information about new titles also came into their minds. ¡®You acquired the titles ¡®The one who attacked the heavens¡¯ and ¡®Angel Killer.¡¯ When fighting an angel, all stats increase by 1%. You also gain a weak resistance to an angel¡¯s mind attacks.¡¯ The enemy might be of the lowest rank, but it was still an angel. Jude grinned as he counted the rings of light. ¡®Indeed, it was a level 40 enemy.¡¯ Satisfied with the three rings of light that he had, Jude took a deep breath and then turned to Cordelia. ¡°Uh¡­are you satisfied with this now?¡± ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­f*ck.¡± Without even thinking about wiping off the blood from her nose, Cordelia fell on her back, but her face was smiling. ¡°I got thest hit.¡± ¡°Congrattions, Madam.¡± Jude pped his hands, and instead of approaching Cordelia who was wrapped in four rings of light, he approached the body of the Tomb Guardian. ¡®I¡¯m d it¡¯s like a gargoyle.¡¯ If it was an intelligent angel, it would have been a very difficult fight. ¡®No, if that was so, we wouldn¡¯t had to fight at all.¡¯ Because they might have been able to persuade it. Well, they defeated it somehow. Jude retrieved the Bicorn¡¯s horns and hurriedly collected the angel¡¯s blood into a water bottle at once. ¡°It¡¯s sparkling.¡± It was red, but it was filled with a faint golden glow. ¡°Do you think¡­we can use it?¡± At the feeble voice that came from afar, Jude said as he slightly frowned. ¡°I¡¯ll need to do some experiments first before you take it.¡± It would be possible to use it for the Ancestral Regression technique, but it would be better to use the blood of a high-ranking angel. ¡®She¡¯ll turn into a beast more than she is now.¡¯ After all, it was the blood of a beast-type angel. Jude widely smiled as he thought for a moment the Cordelia that would be more of a beast than now. Because he thought that it unexpectedly suited her. ¡°Ah, it¡¯s time.¡± The body of the Tomb Guardian became light and disappeared. Just as demons became ashes when they died, so did angels be light. Jude approached Cordelia after he had collected all the angel feathers the Tomb Guardian dropped. ¡°Madam, please wake up.¡± ¡°Quickly¡­help me¡­¡± Cordelia panted as she answered and stood up while holding Jude¡¯s hand. ¡°Will you be okay? Do you want to just lie down and rest some more?¡± ¡°I¡¯m tired, so I¡¯ll take some more rest. Let¡¯s just check the contents of the sarcophagus.¡± One wasn¡¯t a rotten water, or even a gamer itself, if they didn¡¯t check the reward after defeating a boss mob. Jude agreed as he carried Cordelia whopletely had no strength left to stand. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Madam.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go, Dolswe.¡± Upon reaching the sarcophagus, Jude put Cordelia down on the floor before he took a deep breath. It was the sarcophagus of Galleon, who was one of the three disciples of Sri¡¯s strongest champion, Gallus, and was also a saint who defeated numerous demons. They wondered what exactly could be inside the sarcophagus. ¡°I¡¯ll open it?¡± ¡°Wait, wait a sec. Give me a piggyback. I want to see it the moment it is opened.¡± ¡°Do you think you can hold on to me?¡± ¡°No, so use a Podaegi.¡± ¡°What a very demanding maiden.¡± Though Jude clicked his tongue, he still obediently followed Cordelia¡¯s wish. After he carried her through a Podaegi, he stood in front of the sarcophagus again. ¡°Let¡¯s open it?¡± ¡°Okay!¡± Cordelia spoke with an expectant face, and Jude slowly opened the sarcophagus as he calmed down his beating heart. And what they found inside waspletely out of their expectations. In a good way. *** Meanwhile at Count Chase¡­ Count Bayer and Count Chase were sitting face to face and enjoying a chat after a long time. ¡°Come to think of it, it¡¯s about time for Ga?l and Adelia tomunicate to us.¡± ¡°It seemed like it took some time because Jude and Cordelia were at the end of the north, but that wouldn¡¯t be a problem for Ga?l and Adelia.¡± ¡°I suppose so.¡± Both of them trusted their eldest son and eldest daughter very much. It was no wonder as their two children had distinguished themselves in their respective fields since their childhood. ¡°Perhaps sooner orter, they¡¯ll bring Jude and Cordelia back.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll also have to write an apology letter to Count Hr?svelgr.¡± ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be a bad idea to increase our exchanges at this opportunity.¡± Count Bayer slowly nodded at Count Chase¡¯s words. The public thought that Count Bayer resented Count Hr?svelgr for losing his margrave position. But no, they only thought so, as Count Bayer himself held no regrets over Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s position. It was a feeling that he handed over the margrave position rather than it be taken away from him. ¡°You¡¯re like a warrior from , no, I mean, a knight.¡± At Count Chase¡¯s words, Count Bayer shrugged his shoulders once and enjoyed his tea. He found the smell of ck tea better than usual perhaps because he was less worried about Jude and Cordelia now. But shortly after that¡­ Rough and thumping steps were heard from outside the door, and soon, the door burst open. It was Norton, Count Chase¡¯s butler. He was not one to have an unsettled appearance, but for some reason, he had an urgent look on his face. ¡°What happened?¡± With a slightly surprised face, Count Chased asked him, and Butler Norton delivered the urgent news after he swallowed down his breath. ¡°We¡¯ve lost contact with Lady Adelia.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°We lost contact with Lady Adelia. It seems like she deliberately stopped contacting us due to some circumstances.¡± Count Chase couldn¡¯t understand it for a moment. Why would Adelia cut off their contact? And as if the timing was right, Count Bayer¡¯s knight hurriedly ran and entered from the door that was already open. As soon as he saw Count Bayer, he shouted. ¡°We lost contact with Lord Ga?l!¡± It was not just Adelia. They also lost contact with Ga?l. What happened? For what reason? ¡°He disappeared after they were heading towards Lankebuste.¡± ¡°Lady Adelia also disappeared after she contacted me that she was heading to Lankebuste.¡± Butler Norton said following the knight¡¯s words. It made sense that they lost contact in the same ce, since the two were acting together in the first ce. But why? For what reason? ¡°No way.¡± Count Bayer unconsciously said at that moment, and Count Chase turned to Count Bayer. And Count Chase also unconsciously said. ¡°Perhaps?¡± It was hard to imagine that Ga?l, who was already Count Bayer¡¯s sessor, and Adelia, who was one of the heads of the Royal Guard Magic Corps, might have been beaten by someone. Then, the remaining answer was that they intentionally disappeared. A young man and woman suddenly disappeared while traveling together. Weren¡¯t they familiar with this situation? ¡°N-no way.¡± ¡°I-it can¡¯t be.¡± The truth was that it was an extreme measure taken by the two for fear that those at home would oppose to them crossing the border, but the two counts were unaware of such a situation. Even their eldest son and eldest daughter followed their second son and second daughter. The two counts facing each other were thrown into distress and confusion. Chapter 63.1

Chapter 63.1

1st part of chapter 63. This isn¡¯t exactly half of this chapter, but I tranted it so that the content of 62.2 and 63.1 would be equivalent to one chapter. Edit: Since it¡¯s Sunday tomorrow and that¡¯s my usual break day, there won¡¯t be any releases then. Next chapter (63.2) would be released on Monday. All of the angels were ssified into nine ranks, and the Tomb Guardian in front of them was a ninth-ranked angel belonging to the lowest rank. However, even though it was of the ninth rank, it was still a heavenly being. If only its natural skills were taken into consideration, it was a superior existence iparable to that of human beings. Jude and Cordelia recalled the Tomb Guardian that they had encountered in the original story. It would have been possible for them to fight and wipe out an entire army of tomb guardians if it was their original game characters, but now, they were only two level 30 humans. ¡°In terms of level, we can never win.¡± The Tomb Guardian was virtually treated as a level 40 monster. Moreover, this ce was a historic ruin saturated with Sri¡¯s power. Calcting the buff effect that the Tomb Guardian will receive, the two had a long way to go if they wanted to win. However, the tenacity of rotten waters couldn¡¯t easily be extinguished once it had begun to catch fire. ¡°Should we still do it?¡± ¡°We should. We should at least get some blood.¡± Jude had said that they shouldn¡¯t leave the opponent, and Cordelia nodded. ¡°Then we have to defeat it.¡± ¡°We have to defeat it.¡± Literally obtaining the blood was just the minimum. The two looked in front again and saw the Tomb Guardian sitting in a posture full of dignity on top of Galleon¡¯s sarcophagus. Its appearance looked really strong due to the golden light wrapped around its body that came from Sri¡¯s buff. ¡°It reminds me of the old days.¡± ¡°When?¡± ¡°When I first yed?Legend of Heroes 2.¡± For the Cordelia who was a newbie that had just started, the Tomb Guardian was definitely a terrifying boss that was the embodiment of despair itself. ¡°Yeah.¡± Jude also remembered his newbie days. He started ying?Legend of Heroes 2?by chance after his retirement. ¡®If I hadn¡¯t met that person, I wouldn¡¯t have been here for this long.¡¯ There were two reasons why Jude¡¯s past life, Outboxer009, was crazily immersed on?Legend of Heroes 2. One was for fun, and the other was¡­ ¡°Why? You¡¯re thinking of something weird, aren¡¯t you? You have a wicked look in your eyes, you know?¡± ¡°Maybe.¡± ¡°What?¡± Jude smiled again. After somehow winning 1st?ce, teasing the 2nd?ce Yellow Storm became one of his life¡¯s pleasures. Even Jude himself honestly found it to be really childish. If his former colleagues knew what he was doing, they would have disappointed expressions. But still, he couldn¡¯t help it. He could say that Yellow Storm¡¯s existence made?Legend of Heroes 2?really fun. ¡°It¡¯s because of you.¡± He had been ying?Legend of Heroes 2?for so long that he had put in his head all those different and unusual knowledge that were useless in real life. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s wrong with you! We¡¯re in a situation where we have to fight the boss, okay?¡± At Cordelia¡¯s prodding, Jude nodded and looked towards the sarcophagus again. The Tomb Guardian was not like a mob with the name and title of ¡®guardian¡¯ who attacked first. Unless the other side attacked first, it would just sit on the sarcophagus and only watch. ¡°In other words, we still have time to prepare.¡± ¡°We can¡¯t cast strong spells in advance. Because it reacts to spells.¡± ¡°I know, so let¡¯s do this.¡± Cordelia frowned at Jude¡¯s nce before she nodded. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s do that.¡± ¡°Did you understand what I wanted to say?¡± ¡°Roughly. Plus¡­the number of times I¡¯ve defeated the Tomb Guardian was twice as many as you¡­no, was it triple?¡± There were things that the current Jude and Cordelia could do with the power they had. After all, in terms ofbat, it could be said that Cordelia was a natural at it. Jude nodded again and said to her. ¡°Okay, then let¡¯s begin right away.¡± No matter how good they were in having a telepathic conversation with their eyes, the two still had some parts that they had to directly put into words. The two exchanged a quick conversation while they began working at the same time, and within a minute or so, they had finished all their preparations. Chapter 63.2

Chapter 63.2

¡°It¡¯s sort of strange that it¡¯s really waiting for us.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a good boy. That angel.¡± The Tomb Guardian looked down at them with a solemn expression, and Jude and Cordelia spoke some short words before they inhaled at the same time. Afterwards, they slowly exhaled as they prepared themselves for battle. A golden sacred battle aura rose from Jude¡¯s body. Cordelia¡¯s hair turned ck, and her blue eyes glowed. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°!¡± eleration magic was cast on Jude¡¯s whole body. Jude then used Twenty-Four Gale Steps, and the Tomb Guardian reacted to Jude as he shot forward like an arrow. ¡°Aaa-!¡± Sacred Echo. It was a kind of sonic attack that spread out over a wide range. The effect of this debuff lowered the stats of the enemies that got hit with it. The Tomb Guardian always began its attack with Sacred Echo, so Jude was already prepared for it. ¡®Holy Cross Punch.¡¯ A huge golden cross appeared from Jude¡¯s fist and acted like a shield as it blocked the front of Jude. It collided with the Sacred Echo, and at that moment, the Tomb Guardian flew up. Pah! Jude ran forward. The Tomb Guardian¡¯s second attack, Wild des of Light, was a wide range attack. It poured down des of light from the ceiling like rain, and the best way to prevent it from reaching Cordelia was to change the starting point of the light attack itself. Papapapapa! The des of light rained down towards the swiftly moving Jude as he had expected. With his sharpened senses, Jude quickly used Twenty-Four Gale Steps. He avoided the des of light and let the des of light hit the whirlwinds and the Wind Barrier that he got from Great Storm. Boom! Boom! Boom! The des of light crashed into the ground and exploded. As it exploded inside the whirlwind, Jude counted down in his head and then shouted. ¡°Hurry up!¡± ¡°Here it goes!¡± Cordelia moved her hand, and at that moment, the witch¡¯s flew into the air and rushed towards the Tomb Guardian. The Tomb Guardian turned towards the and at the same time, activated a Light Barrier. Paaa! The from the power of darkness, and the sacred Light Barrier shed with each other, causing lightning sparks. And Cordelia smiled. ¡°Bingo.¡± It was one of Jude¡¯s speaking habits. The rushed to the front while the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow that flew as if it were crawling on the floor, soared upwards as it aimed at the Tomb Guardian¡¯s back. It then pierced the Tomb Guardian¡¯s back before it could even react! ¡°Kaah!¡± The power of the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow was weak. Its pration power was also uncertain, to the point that it was blocked by a goblin¡¯s skull. However, Cordelia did not use the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow for attacking in the first ce. The Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow was simply a means to move something. Its real purpose was to move the Bicorn¡¯s horn tied to the arrowhead of the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow. ¡°Kuuuaah!¡± The Bicorn¡¯s curse prated into the Tomb Guardian¡¯s body. But not yet. It was not enough to bring down a heavenly being. ¡°So we prepared one more shot.¡± At the moment Cordelia spoke, Jude threw another Bicorn¡¯s horn. The Bicorn¡¯s horn flew at a terrifying speed and pierced the side of the Tomb Guardian who lost its concentration, and the Bicorn¡¯s curse doubled. ¡°Keuuuuoh!¡± The Tomb Guardian violently charged towards Jude. Cordelia chanted the witch¡¯s curse and the dark energy that came from the Bicorn¡¯s horns bound the Tomb Guardian¡¯s whole body. ¡°Kuaaaaaah!¡± But it was a Tomb Guardian. The heavenly being endured the pain and opened its mouth wide, and a huge wave of light left from its mouth. It was the Tomb Guardian¡¯s strongest attack, Holy Breath. ¡°Jude!¡± Cordelia urgently cried at the terrifying wave of light that covered her eyes, and Jude reminded Cordelia of the one thing that she had forgotten. Using the Fairy Steps, he passed by the wave of light itself and rushed towards the Tomb Guardian! Thud! He kicked the ground hard. Jude flew to the Tomb Guardian¡¯s side and at the same time, he drew his fist. The Tomb Guardian¡¯s gaze headed towards Jude. But it was toote. Jude¡¯s fist was already halfway to hammering the Bicorn¡¯s horn, or to be precise, it was on the verge of hitting the dagger made by processing the Bicorn¡¯s horn. Boom! A roar burst again. Jude¡¯s fist struck the dagger made from the Bicorn¡¯s horn, and as if a hammer struck a nail, the Bicorn¡¯s horn prated deeply into the Tomb Guardian¡¯s body. ¡°Kuaaaaaah!¡± The Tomb Guardian twisted its body. It randomly swung its feet towards Jude, and sharp ws cut through the air. Jude calmly responded. He used the Twenty-Four Gale Steps, and as he evaded its attacks, he prepared for his next move. He counted the numbers in his mind. ¡®The Bicorn has two horns.¡¯ All the heavenly energy that surrounded the Tomb Guardian¡¯s body had been removed. But this was not enough. They had to bring it down a little more. What was the best way to defeat a heavenly being? The answer could be found in ssical literature. Turn it corrupt. Bring it to ruin. Bring down the heavenly being to the ground. Curses poured out from the Bicorn¡¯s horn. And at that moment, Jude found a way through its random attacks. He flew as he prated through the whirlwind, and once again seized on the opportunity to attack. Fist attack. But it wasn¡¯t an ordinary fist attack. A few months had already passed since he opened his eyes in Pleiades. During that time, Jude learned many things and came into a conclusion. There was no need for him to move like this was still a game. Because this was reality. It was a ce where he could do things that were systematically impossible in the game. So he was going to do it. He would use everything that he could to increase hisbat power. Bang! Jude¡¯s fist struck the thigh of the Tomb Guardian¡¯s hind leg. At the same time, a change took ce in the specially made knuckles Jude had requested from the cksmith of the Great Storm tribe. One of the magic circles that had been rolled into the front of the fist, was set aze. What he used was a basic curse magic that slightly reduced the enemy¡¯s stats. He nned to directly hit the magic circle from a close distance. If he had to give it a name, should it be a physical curse? ¡°Kuaaah!¡± The curse gnawed at the Tomb Guardian. Jude continued to punch without stopping. Bam! Bam! Bam! The magic circles, which were loaded like bullets, continued to burn. ¡°Curse! Poison! Curse! Poison!¡± It wasn¡¯t a strong magic, but the Bicorn¡¯s horns had already removed the heavenly protection the Tomb Guardian had. When the curses and poison ovepped, its condition became noticeably worse. Moreover, Jude knew the basics ofbat. He hit the spot where he had once hit. He further damaged the damaged area. ¡°Kuuu¡­.kuu¡­¡± The Tomb Guardian was hit on the thigh one after another, and it copsed when it could no longer stand properly. Since it couldn¡¯t properly attack now, it hurriedly pped its wings and flew away. ¡°Keuuuuuah!¡± It flew up and used its Holy Breath once more. Jude threw a hatchet and a dagger from his waist to the flying one in session. The Light Barrier that it suddenly created again, blocked the primitive weapons that he threw, but it didn¡¯t matter to him. After all, his only purpose was to get its attention. ¡°Isn¡¯t this enough now?¡± At Jude¡¯s question, Cordelia responded to it through her actions. Cordelia shouted towards the enemy that waspletely distracted by Jude. ¡°!¡± It was one of the witch¡¯s spells. Covered in sweat, Cordelia grasped in her right hand a long and huge mass of ck light. The Tomb Guardian hastily turned towards Cordelia, but it was toote. Cordelia threw the towards it, as she bled from her nose. Shaaa! It wasn¡¯t fast. But it wasn¡¯t something that could be avoided. The Tomb Guardian hurriedly opened its mouth to let out an echo of light, but it had lost most of its heavenly powers due to the ovepping debuffs. The echo of light was shattered like ss. The rushed forward and struck the face of the Tomb Guardian! ¡°Kuaaaaah!¡± The pierced its open mouth. Then it continuously burned the enemy¡¯s body with ck mes. Thud! The Tomb Guardian crashed to the ground. Cordelia sank to her knees and panted, and Jude drew the Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword, but it was no longer necessary. Rings of pure white light. The rings surrounded Jude and Cordelia in session. Information about new titles also came into their minds. ¡®You acquired the titles ¡®The one who attacked the heavens¡¯ and ¡®Angel Killer.¡¯ When fighting an angel, all stats increase by 1%. You also gain a weak resistance to an angel¡¯s mind attacks.¡¯ The enemy might be of the lowest rank, but it was still an angel. Jude grinned as he counted the rings of light. ¡®Indeed, it was a level 40 enemy.¡¯ Satisfied with the three rings of light that he had, Jude took a deep breath and then turned to Cordelia. ¡°Uh¡­are you satisfied with this now?¡± ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­f*ck.¡± Without even thinking about wiping off the blood from her nose, Cordelia fell on her back, but her face was smiling. ¡°I got thest hit.¡± ¡°Congrattions, Madam.¡± Jude pped his hands, and instead of approaching Cordelia who was wrapped in four rings of light, he approached the body of the Tomb Guardian. ¡®I¡¯m d it¡¯s like a gargoyle.¡¯ If it was an intelligent angel, it would have been a very difficult fight. ¡®No, if that was so, we wouldn¡¯t had to fight at all.¡¯ Because they might have been able to persuade it. Well, they defeated it somehow. Jude retrieved the Bicorn¡¯s horns and hurriedly collected the angel¡¯s blood into a water bottle at once. ¡°It¡¯s sparkling.¡± It was red, but it was filled with a faint golden glow. ¡°Do you think¡­we can use it?¡± At the feeble voice that came from afar, Jude said as he slightly frowned. ¡°I¡¯ll need to do some experiments first before you take it.¡± It would be possible to use it for the Ancestral Regression technique, but it would be better to use the blood of a high-ranking angel. ¡®She¡¯ll turn into a beast more than she is now.¡¯ After all, it was the blood of a beast-type angel. Jude widely smiled as he thought for a moment the Cordelia that would be more of a beast than now. Because he thought that it unexpectedly suited her. ¡°Ah, it¡¯s time.¡± The body of the Tomb Guardian became light and disappeared. Just as demons became ashes when they died, so did angels be light. Jude approached Cordelia after he had collected all the angel feathers the Tomb Guardian dropped. ¡°Madam, please wake up.¡± ¡°Quickly¡­help me¡­¡± Cordelia panted as she answered and stood up while holding Jude¡¯s hand. ¡°Will you be okay? Do you want to just lie down and rest some more?¡± ¡°I¡¯m tired, so I¡¯ll take some more rest. Let¡¯s just check the contents of the sarcophagus.¡± One wasn¡¯t a rotten water, or even a gamer itself, if they didn¡¯t check the reward after defeating a boss mob. Jude agreed as he carried Cordelia whopletely had no strength left to stand. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Madam.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go, Dolswe.¡± Upon reaching the sarcophagus, Jude put Cordelia down on the floor before he took a deep breath. It was the sarcophagus of Galleon, who was one of the three disciples of Sri¡¯s strongest champion, Gallus, and was also a saint who defeated numerous demons. They wondered what exactly could be inside the sarcophagus. ¡°I¡¯ll open it?¡± ¡°Wait, wait a sec. Give me a piggyback. I want to see it the moment it is opened.¡± ¡°Do you think you can hold on to me?¡± ¡°No, so use a Podaegi.¡± ¡°What a very demanding maiden.¡± Though Jude clicked his tongue, he still obediently followed Cordelia¡¯s wish. After he carried her through a Podaegi, he stood in front of the sarcophagus again. ¡°Let¡¯s open it?¡± ¡°Okay!¡± Cordelia spoke with an expectant face, and Jude slowly opened the sarcophagus as he calmed down his beating heart. And what they found inside waspletely out of their expectations. In a good way. *** Meanwhile at Count Chase¡­ Count Bayer and Count Chase were sitting face to face and enjoying a chat after a long time. ¡°Come to think of it, it¡¯s about time for Ga?l and Adelia tomunicate to us.¡± ¡°It seemed like it took some time because Jude and Cordelia were at the end of the north, but that wouldn¡¯t be a problem for Ga?l and Adelia.¡± ¡°I suppose so.¡± Both of them trusted their eldest son and eldest daughter very much. It was no wonder as their two children had distinguished themselves in their respective fields since their childhood. ¡°Perhaps sooner orter, they¡¯ll bring Jude and Cordelia back.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll also have to write an apology letter to Count Hr?svelgr.¡± ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be a bad idea to increase our exchanges at this opportunity.¡± Count Bayer slowly nodded at Count Chase¡¯s words. The public thought that Count Bayer resented Count Hr?svelgr for losing his margrave position. But no, they only thought so, as Count Bayer himself held no regrets over Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s position. It was a feeling that he handed over the margrave position rather than it be taken away from him. ¡°You¡¯re like a warrior from , no, I mean, a knight.¡± At Count Chase¡¯s words, Count Bayer shrugged his shoulders once and enjoyed his tea. He found the smell of ck tea better than usual perhaps because he was less worried about Jude and Cordelia now. But shortly after that¡­ Rough and thumping steps were heard from outside the door, and soon, the door burst open. It was Norton, Count Chase¡¯s butler. He was not one to have an unsettled appearance, but for some reason, he had an urgent look on his face. ¡°What happened?¡± With a slightly surprised face, Count Chased asked him, and Butler Norton delivered the urgent news after he swallowed down his breath. ¡°We¡¯ve lost contact with Lady Adelia.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°We lost contact with Lady Adelia. It seems like she deliberately stopped contacting us due to some circumstances.¡± Count Chase couldn¡¯t understand it for a moment. Why would Adelia cut off their contact? And as if the timing was right, Count Bayer¡¯s knight hurriedly ran and entered from the door that was already open. As soon as he saw Count Bayer, he shouted. ¡°We lost contact with Lord Ga?l!¡± It was not just Adelia. They also lost contact with Ga?l. What happened? For what reason? ¡°He disappeared after they were heading towards Lankebuste.¡± ¡°Lady Adelia also disappeared after she contacted me that she was heading to Lankebuste.¡± Butler Norton said following the knight¡¯s words. It made sense that they lost contact in the same ce, since the two were acting together in the first ce. But why? For what reason? ¡°No way.¡± Count Bayer unconsciously said at that moment, and Count Chase turned to Count Bayer. And Count Chase also unconsciously said. ¡°Perhaps?¡± It was hard to imagine that Ga?l, who was already Count Bayer¡¯s sessor, and Adelia, who was one of the heads of the Royal Guard Magic Corps, might have been beaten by someone. Then, the remaining answer was that they intentionally disappeared. A young man and woman suddenly disappeared while traveling together. Weren¡¯t they familiar with this situation? ¡°N-no way.¡± ¡°I-it can¡¯t be.¡± The truth was that it was an extreme measure taken by the two for fear that those at home would oppose to them crossing the border, but the two counts were unaware of such a situation. Even their eldest son and eldest daughter followed their second son and second daughter. The two counts facing each other were thrown into distress and confusion. Chapter 64

Chapter 64

Terms used in this chapter: Fighting?(???) ¨C I forgot if I¡¯ve already exined this, but might as well exin it again just in case. The word ¡®Fighting¡¯ is a Korean word of support, cheer or encouragement, much like English¡¯s ¡®go!¡¯, ¡®break a leg¡¯, etc. It¡¯s usually used in sports or when there¡¯s a difficult challenge. Just before Jude opened the sarcophagus, Cordelia unconsciously closed her eyes. Because she thought that there was a strong possibility that the mummy or skeleton of Saint Galleon would appear inside the sarcophagus. Even though she was being carried on Jude¡¯s back, she still didn¡¯t want to see something that was scary. ¡®I¡¯ll open my eyes based on Jude¡¯s reaction.¡¯ At least after Jude screamed, she would be mentally prepared before she opened her eyes. So Cordelia firmly closed her eyes and waited for Jude¡¯s reaction. ¡°Oh.¡± ¡®Oh?¡¯ It wasn¡¯t a scream. Cordelia plucked up her courage and slightly opened her eyes, and soon, she had the same reaction as Jude. ¡°Oh!¡± There was no mummy or skeleton inside the sarcophagus. In the ce where a body should have beenid originally, there was a set of white clothes decorated with gold thread, and on top of it was a pointed te in the shape of a triangle. There was also a spear. ¡°What, what is this? Wasn¡¯t this a tomb?¡± ¡°Wait, I¡¯ll check the te.¡± ¡°What does it say? Ah! I can read it too.¡± Some archaic words were engraved on it, and since Cordelia was a wizard, she could interpret archaic words to some extent. ¡°Uh¡­let me see. ording to the contents of this te¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a tomb.¡± This ce was not Galleon¡¯s tomb. It made sense if one thought about it. Although Sri¡¯s denomination had a strong influence on the entire continent in the past, it was unreasonable for the tomb of Saint Galleon to be in thend of the barbarians, as well as for it to be deep in the underground. ¡°I left a clue. Five of them. It will lead to my master. To the Holy Land that my master protected.¡± Cordelia intermittently read it out, and she suddenly hugged Jude¡¯s neck tightly. ¡°Jude, Jude. Could this be real?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s real.¡± There were several quests in?Legend of Heroes 2?that did not have a conclusion, and among those were some quests rted to the Sri denomination. Gallus, the most renowned champion of Sri, died in a fight against the Demon Prince Leisegang. The Sri denomination held a splendid funeral for the sacred hero, but the location of the tomb was not announced to the world. Gallus¡¯ Tomb. ording to several pieces of information found on some of?Legend of Heroes 2¡¯s quests, the tomb of Gallus was located somewhere on this continent, and that ce was where the most important secret of the Sri denomination was hidden. ¡°It¡¯s a clue. If we collect them all, we can find out the location of Gallus¡¯ tomb.¡± Jude lifted up the triangr te and spoke, and Cordelia suddenly thought of the finished form of the te. ¡°Pentagram.¡± The reason was simple. Because there was already a quest in?Legend of Heroes 2?where you could get simr te pieces. ¡°There was also a clue on Pdin Berfa¡¯s tomb. Perhaps each te has a hint about the location of a different te.¡± ¡°Then, would it be possible to collect them all?¡± ¡°It would be possible. If we collect them all, the path to Gallus¡¯ tomb will be opened.¡± ¡°The Holy Land of Sri.¡± Their hearts were pounding. The Holy Land of the Sri denomination was something that had a great influence throughout the entire?Legend of Heroes?series. It was also referred to as the ce where ¡®the most important secret¡¯ was hidden. ¡°Legend of Heroes?will be turned upside down if they hear about it.¡± ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ll probably get 100,000 likes.¡± After the two imagined what would happen if they could brag about it back when it was a game, they shifted their gaze from the te to the other stuff inside the sarcophagus. Hundreds of years must have passed, but the cleanliness of the clothes and spear made it look as if they were brand new. ¡°It¡¯s the denomination¡¯s clothes. Is it the saint¡¯s clothes?¡± ¡°I think so. Because Galleon was a Saint.¡± Jude quickly took out the clothes and unfolded it. It was a uniform that was likely to be worn by a martial artist. He didn¡¯t know what its stats were right away as this was no longer a game, but he at least knew that the saint¡¯s clothes increased the wearer¡¯s agility and strength, and also helped in the cirction of inner Qi. ¡°It¡¯s a goodbye to the rabbit set.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you just wear the headband? If not, at least just the tail¡­¡± Judeughed as he ignored Cordelia¡¯s words. He then packed up the clothes and looked at the spear. ¡°I know this. Isn¡¯t this Sri¡¯s Holy Lance?¡± ¡°Yes, a javelin. Though it¡¯s a one-use item, its power is outstanding.¡± The Holy Lance itself wasn¡¯t a one-time use item. What made it a one-use only was the Ultimate skill of the Holy Spear called ¡®Sri¡¯s Punishment.¡¯ ¡®Because once it was used, the Holy Lance itself would burn and disappear.¡¯ But as he said earlier, its power itself was outstanding, so it was good to use it as a trump card item. ¡°Good, good. It¡¯s a huge chain quest that no one has ever done. It smells like a jackpot. Let¡¯s depart straight to Pdin Berfa¡¯s tomb! I want to do it now.¡± Cordelia suddenly drooped her shoulders at the end of her words. After all, the two were now in the middle of investigating Violent Avnche¡¯s incident, which was the first step towards stopping the barbarians¡¯ invasion. Jude spoke as he soothed Cordelia on his back as if she was a baby. ¡°Well, the clues are all over the continent, so we can¡¯t do it right away. Moreover, the triangr te that was found in?Legend of Heroes 2?was in the Argon Empire, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s true. It¡¯s a shame though.¡± Cordelia let out a sigh before asking Jude again. ¡°Then Jude, are we going to investigate Violent Avnche¡¯s incident right now?¡± ¡°Well¡­if I had to say it, I think it would be better for us to take a day¡¯s rest first. We¡¯re both exhausted.¡± In fact, Cordelia was more of a problem than Jude himself. After all, her mana was severely depleted. ¡°Huu¡­my mana¡¯s depleted, my mana¡­¡± ¡°The monster can¡¯t evene in here because of Sri¡¯s power, so let¡¯s take a rest and leave tomorrow morning.¡± ¡°Yes, Daddy. Please give me something delicious.¡± ¡°My princess, this evening¡¯s meal is jerky boiled in hot water.¡± ¡°Hey, how the f*ck is that good?¡± Jude cheerfullyughed at Cordelia¡¯s response, and then turned his gaze as he looked for a ce to sleep. *** The next morning. The two left the cave early and headed straight to Violent Avnche¡¯s sanctuary. As Great Storm had said, the energy of nature was twisted, but a sanctuary was still a sanctuary, since after they entered a certain area, the blizzardpletely disappeared, making it easier to proceed. But it was also at that moment. Jude and Cordelia raised their heads and then frowned. ¡°We have to climb up this mountain?¡± Violent Avnche lived on top of a rough and rocky mountain. It seemed like a hundred meters high at first nce, but the path leading up to the top looked incredibly tough and difficult to climb. ¡°Won¡¯t the Devil¡¯s Eye or Angry Bull tribesmen ambush us in the middle?¡± ¡°It¡¯s highly likely since the warriors of the Great Storm tribe haven¡¯t returned.¡± It was a rough and rugged rocky mountain. The demon followers and barbarians would be waiting in ambush while hidden among the cracks and crevices of the mountain. Cordelia quietly stared at the mountain before she looked at Jude and said. ¡°It¡¯s not always good to do hard physical work.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll eventually get there if we do it step by step, but we also have to consider efficiency.¡± It would be too exhausting if they climbed that rugged mountain while preparing to be ambushed. Therefore, Jude and Cordelia decided to use a trick since they were both exemry rotten waters. ¡°You¡¯re saying that all we had to do is just get to the top.¡± ¡°Yes, the route is not fixed.¡± In fact, the two had already discussed this to some extentst night. Because of that, it made it easier to implement n B. ¡°Let¡¯s carry out n Unicorn.¡± ¡°Yes, Madam.¡± Jude immediately answered as he attached several magic circles to the wooden board he was carrying on his back and then activated it. What he used was the basic magic. Jude pressed on the wooden board several times as it floated up to the waist level. Afterwards, he did a thumbs-up to Cordelia, and then covered the board with a leather nket on top. ¡°The power itself is weak, but it wouldst for a long time. It would be enough since the duration of the multiple magic circles would be stacked.¡± Cordelia nodded and then took out the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow and attached it under the wooden board. It would be the engine, as well as the steering wheel of their improvised vehicle. ¡°In front? Or behind?¡± ¡°Behind.¡± If she sat on the back, she could lean forward on Jude¡¯s back. It was a conclusion she made when she considered efficiency. ¡°Then Madam, your servant will ride in front of you.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Jude sat on the wooden board, and Cordelia took a seat behind him as she grabbed on the nket. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± And they began floating up. The wooden board carrying the two slowly rose to the top. *** Jude¡¯s prediction was not wrong. A dozen warriors of the Angry Bull tribe were waiting in ambush in the middle of Violent Avnche¡¯s rocky mountain. All of them had abnormally swollen muscles and red ring eyes, which was the result of the corruption of the entire tribe as servants of the devil who were under the influence of Belial, the overlord of corruption. ¡°The Great Storm tribe sent an investigation team again. Don¡¯t let your guard down because they would certainly show up sometime today.¡± Each of the barbarian warriors nodded their heads at the words of Fierce Bull, a warrior of the Angry Bull tribe and was now a demonic human of the Devil¡¯s Eye. The investigation team of the Great Storm tribe. They¡¯ve already killed two teams, but the Great Storm tribe did not give up and sent a third one. ¡®They¡¯ll be here soon.¡¯ At the top of the rocky mountain, Zarakul, an executive of the Devil¡¯s Eye, was currently working on some kind of work. Once his work was done, they could begin a direct attack on the Great Storm tribe. ¡°Come as much as you want. No matter how many times youe here, you¡¯ll all be ughtered.¡± Fierce Bull looked down the mountain while he stroked the de of his belovedrge axe. Each of the barbarian warriors also smiled wickedly. Because they¡¯ve been told that a very beautiful girl was also included in the investigation team. ¡°Hurry up, hurry up¡­¡± They¡¯ve been waiting from morning until now. There was a bit of anxiousness in the fierce eyes of Fierce Bull as he looked at the only path leading to the summit. However, after an hour, and after two hours, the investigation team had yet to show up. The reason was simple. Because Jude and Cordelia were already in a higher ce than Fierce Bull. *** ¡°Haa¡­haa! T-this is hard.¡± The two had risen at about ? of the mountain. Cordelia had temporarily parked the wooden board on a considerably t ce as she panted and said while bathed in her own sweat. ¡°Fu-f*ck¡­isn¡¯t this more tiring?¡± The magic circles didn¡¯t require much mana, but the problem was its duration. Even if the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow flew slowly, it took a lot of mana to keep it running. As he watched Cordelia lying down while panting, Jude calmly spoke. ¡°Well¡­I think this is a lot morefortable.¡± ¡°Of course it is, you evil b*stard!¡± All that Jude do was to just sit down. ¡°Whoa, whoa, please calm down, my princess.¡± ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­you¡¯re not really a princess maker¡­you only make your daughter suffer.¡± ¡°Just hang in there a bit because we¡¯re almost there.?Fighting?¡± Cordelia raised her middle finger in response to Jude¡¯s encouragement, and she took a few deep breaths before she climbed back onto the wooden board. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Are we starting again now?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s finish all the hard work at once.¡± Cordelia moderately answered, and she beckoned to him as she found it difficult to say more, so Jude sat down on his seat again. And just when they were about to start again¡­ ¡°Jude, Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Madam.¡± It was shortly after Jude replied. Cordelia suddenly hugged Jude tightly around his waist and said pressed her whole body on him. ¡°I wasn¡¯t going to go this far, but I think we should share the pain.¡± What are you talking about? Share the pain? But Jude could no longer ask that. Because he found the answer through his body. ¡°Ugh.¡± ¡°Haa¡­¡± At that moment, Jude flinched as Cordelia began to grope Jude¡¯s body with her two hands. It was , one of the witch¡¯s spells. Although she was still not good at using it in practice, she could use it as much as she could if her opponent did not resist. ¡°Oooh¡­good, good. You were boasting about it being pure energy, but to think it was this clear?¡± The pure energy was created from the meeting of the extreme Yin and Yang energies. The more she fumbled over Jude¡¯s body, the more Cordelia¡¯s face brightened. Conversely, Jude¡¯s face turned dark. ¡°Hey, hey¡­I have Gueumjul-¡° ¡°Why are you still trying to use your Gueumjulmaek excuse? Ugh! Can¡¯t you just stay still!¡± The excited Cordelia giggled and groped Jude¡¯s body even harder, or rather, she continued using . But after a while, Cordelia¡¯s face soon turned dark too. It was because the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow had begun to seriously drain her mana again. ¡°Ugh.¡± ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­¡± It was a system of Jude having his mana being taken by Cordelia, and Cordelia having her mana being taken by the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow too. Jude and Cordelia became a crazy couple that were exhausted together. ¡°This¡­this isn¡¯t right.¡± ¡°Almost¡­at¡­the top¡­¡± And finally, they were near the summit. Jude and Cordelia fell down from the wooden board, naturally rolled down on the bare ground, and were then buried in a heap of snow. ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­haa¡­¡± ¡°Ha, ugh¡­huu¡­huu¡­¡± What the hell was n B for again? ¡°Haa¡­ugh¡­w-wake up. If we stay like this, we¡¯ll catch a cold.¡± Thanks to the Winter Protection, they didn¡¯t feel much cold, but if they continued to be buried in the snow while covered in sweat, they were bound to get sick somehow. Despite his energy-drained condition, Jude got up like a zombie and then approached Cordelia, whom he pulled up by his hand as she raised herself up. ¡°But we¡¯re here.¡± ¡°We are here.¡± Somehow they had reached the summit. They were confused and didn¡¯t understand much about it while they were in the midst of going up, but now that they¡¯vee to their senses and reached the summit, they clearly felt the energy of nature. ¡°Let¡¯s start our investigation after we¡¯re recovered our stamina around here for now.¡± Jude spoke in a low voice as he dug up the snow and gathered it in lumps to make a resting ce, while Cordelia drank about half of the mana potion and gave the remaining half to Jude. ¡°Here, you too.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Although inner Qi and mana were different, its origin itself was the same, so the mana potion wasn¡¯t ineffective to Jude. After Jude swallowed the blue liquid that was as cold as ice water, he sat down next to Cordelia and spread the nket wide to cover himself and Cordelia together. ¡°.¡± They only had a few magic circles left, but now was not the time to cut back on using them. When Jude tore the magic circle, warm heat rose inside the nket as it warmed the bodies of Jude and Cordelia. ¡°I¡¯m sleepy¡­¡± Cordelia leaned over Jude and slowly closed her eyes, and Jude was not much different either. ¡®It will be fine since there¡¯s the magic circle.¡¯ There was also the Winter Protection. Jude tightly hugged Cordelia and closed his eyes too. And after one hour, and then two hours¡­ When Fierce Bull¡¯s group who were waiting in the middle of the mountain couldn¡¯t wait any longer, they began to go down the mountain. A sharp and malicious cry then woke up Jude and Cordelia. Chapter 65 - EPISODE 65 – VIOLENT AVALANCHE (2)

Chapter 65 - EPISODE 65 ¨C VIOLENT AVALANCHE (2)

Jude and Cordelia simultaneously opened their eyes, but they did not stand up right away. Because that action would have been too noticeable. It was clearly a calctive judgement on Jude¡¯s part, who considered the risk of exposure, and as for Cordelia, it was an instinctive action. ¡°Kuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-!¡± Once again, the cries messed up their heads. Cordelia was in pain as she tried to cover her ears, and Jude was not much different either. ¡®It¡¯s close! But it¡¯s beyond the wall!¡¯ They had not immediately heard the cry, as it seemed like it came from beyond the wall or something. The cry that started once again did not stop. Jude and Cordelia eventually gave up waiting for it to stop, so they began to move while frowning. ¡®Over there.¡¯ Jude gestured with his eyes and hand before he quickly lowered his posture and began to cautiously move, and Cordelia nodded and followed after Jude. The two almost crawled on the floor, and then they stuck close to the rock wall before poking their heads out to see what was going on down there. ¡°Ahhhhhhhhhh!¡± It wasn¡¯t just a howl. To be exact, it was a scene where an evil power was making something scream in pain. At a basin on the mountain. There was arge crevice that run through the center of the rtively t summit. The crevice itself was wide and long, making it seem like there was a waterway on top of the summit. Moreover, it was not an ordinary crevice. A blue light flickered inside the crevice, and they also felt a powerful force there. And there was a creature screaming right next to such a crevice. It was a huge bear. A pure white bear that looked to be five meters tall was howling and tied to some chains, and a purple aura surrounded the body of such a white bear. ¡®Violent Avnche.¡¯ It was the wild god that was mentioned by Great Storm. Jude and Cordelia¡¯s eyes met at that time, and the two nodded to each other. It was clear to them that it was Violent Avnche who was howling. And as for those who made it cry in pain. Near the center of the crack stood a gray-haired man with a pair of big horns on his head. He wore a ck robe and held a staff decorated with skulls. The man was reciting a spell on arge magic circle, while several barbarian warriors were spraying blood from arge barrel inside the crevice. ¡°Aaaaaaah!¡± The blue light fluctuated every time the blood was sprayed around, and Violent Avnche also let out terrible screams. And the violet aura increased and began to swallow Violent Avnche. Something wicked was also mixed in its painful howls. ¡°Aaaah! Aaaaaah!¡± Cordelia held her breath after hearing those desperate cries, and quickly hid herself under the rock wall. Jude also lowered himself and met Cordelia¡¯s gaze. Amidst Violent Avnche¡¯s screams, the two began to talk. ¡°Zarakul.¡± ¡°Executive of the Devil¡¯s Eye.¡± ¡°He¡¯s corrupting Violent Avnche.¡± ¡°That ceremony being held in the crevice. I¡¯ve seen that before.¡± ¡°Act 2, at the event that appeared at thest stage of the fight against the northern barbarians.¡± ¡°Mineral vein? Dragon vein?¡± ¡°If we leave it as is, Violent Avnche will be corrupted.¡± ¡°We can¡¯t defeat Zarakul. He¡¯s a mid-ranking demonic human. We have no way of weakening him unlike the Tomb Guardian.¡± ¡°But we have to stop it.¡± Their conversation stopped there for a moment. But it was really only for a short time. ¡°Do you remember thest stage of the event?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t say¡­¡± ¡°That.¡± ¡°You want to do it in reverse?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s do it in reverse.¡± ¡°Crazy b*stard.¡± Cordelia spat out a curse, but he could tell by looking at her eyes. Cordelia also knew. That it was the only way. ¡°What about the means?¡± ¡°Sri¡¯s Holy Lance.¡± ¡°You¡¯re really crazy.¡± ¡°So you don¡¯t like it?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s good.¡± If they had to do it anyway, it¡¯s better to thoroughly do it. ¡°But will that really be okay?¡± ¡°We can¡¯t help it. We have to stop them.¡± It was at the moment that he spoke. ¡°Is there something that you can do? Then help! You have to stop them!¡± They suddenly heard a third voice, and the two pointed a dagger and the Moonlight in the direction where they heard the voice. ¡°Bear cub?¡± It was a real bear cub. It was a white, small, and cute bear cub. ¡°C-cute.¡± Cordelia unconsciously said, and the bear cub then spoke with a look of urgency. ¡°I¡¯m Violent Avnche. That¡¯s my main body over there, and this one here is my clone that I hurriedly split from my main body.¡± The two somehow had a rough idea of who the cub was. So instead of wasting time on unnecessary talk, Jude and Cordelia directly asked the cub. ¡°What are they doing?¡± ¡°They¡¯re polluting the dragon vein! They intend to pollute all the dragon veins throughout the entire wildnd, thereby depriving us wild gods of our power and corrupting the wildnd itself!¡± ¡°Dragon vein?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a huge circr path of energy that was created by the wild gods. They are trying to contaminate that circr path. The power of the wild godses from thend, so if the dragon vein is polluted, the wild gods will also be polluted. The proof is my main body that they are trying to corrupt now.¡± Violent Avnche rapidly spoke as he panted, and Jude and Cordelia looked at each other again. ¡°Dragon vein.¡± ¡°There was a simr word that came out at that time too.¡± At that time in?Legend of Heroes 2, the wildnd had already been corrupted and the pollution was already over, so what the yers saw was only the flow of an evil energy that could no longer be called a dragon vein. However, the two could understand what the cub was talking about. ¡°It must be stopped! It must be stopped at all costs! Although the dragon vein is vast, they are not active in my mountain only. If they pollute several sanctuary areas, the dragon vein will eventually be polluted.¡± ¡°Are they spraying something like wastewater on the river?¡± Cordelia briefly summarized it, and Jude nodded his head. ¡°Violent Avnche, we are the ones who came here after receiving a request from Great Storm.¡± ¡°Oh! Great Storm! That brat!¡± ¡°We¡¯ll pretend that we didn¡¯t hear you. Moving on, we have to stop them, but the two of us are not strong enough to do so.¡± ¡°Kuuu¡­I understand. That horned man is really strong. He used a lot of strange spells to seal my strength.¡± Since Zarakul was a mid-ranking demonic human, he was an overwhelming opponent for a wild god who was not worshipped because it didn¡¯t have a tribe that it took care of. ¡°But we still have to stop him.¡± ¡°Yes, you are right. If this continues, I will also be corrupted and be their puppet.¡± As Violent Avnche was speaking so far, the screams of its main body was heard, so it begged Jude and Cordelia while its teeth chattered. ¡°You can do anything. I¡¯ll even throw my life away if you can stop them. So please stop them! Please!¡± The cub said it with a mind that was already grasping at straws. But at its words of ¡®you can do anything,¡¯ Jude and Cordelia¡¯s eyes suddenly began to shine. ¡°Are you saying that you¡¯ll let us do anything?¡± ¡°Can you do something then?¡± At the same time that Violent Avnche heard his question, it felt something like an ominous chill, but it immediately nodded. ¡°As a wild god, I¡¯ll allow it! You can do anything to stop them!¡± ¡°Okay, thendlord has given us its permission.¡± ¡°I feel less ufortable now.¡± Jude and Cordelia exchanged a mysterious conversation with eye gestures and short words that only they could understand, and at that moment, their strategy meeting was finished. ¡°I¡¯ll say it again, but you¡¯re crazy.¡± ¡°Do you hate it then if you said it again?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s good.¡± Cordelia grinned as she bumped her fist on Jude¡¯s chest and said. ¡°Good luck. Don¡¯t get hurt.¡± ¡°You too.¡± Jude likewise grinned before taking a deep breath. After he mentally prepared himself, he kicked off the ground. ¡°Yaha-!¡± First of all, he shouted loudly to gain their attention. Even while Violent Avnche was howling, Jude¡¯s cry was loud enough for them to notice his presence. ¡°Who the hell are you!¡± Zarakul shouted some stereotypical lines as he turned to Jude, and the barbarian warriors quickly reacted too. They tossed therge barrel and grabbed their weapons. Jude was satisfied with their reaction. As hended on the ground while covered in sacred battle aura, he used the Twenty-Four Gale Steps. ¡°Whirlwind!¡± He deliberately shouted. At the same time, the whirlwinds he created were more than usual, thereby capturing the enemies¡¯ gazes. ¡°Fierce Bull, you moron! Don¡¯t let him interrupt the ceremony!¡± After hurling an insult to Fierce Bull, Zarakul made a rough gesture, and the barbarian warriors rushed towards Jude. Their number was eight. They weren¡¯t just big, as all of them were also well-trained warriors. The strength of each and every one of them wasparable to the knight Jun, who was with Jude in Langesthei. However, Jude focused on Zarakul instead of the barbarian warriors. All that Jude had to do was to draw the attention of not only the barbarian warriors, but also of Zarakul. ¡®Believe, believe! Twenty-Four Gale Steps!¡¯ Boom! Jude roughly kicked the ground. He ran head-on to the barbarian warriors as he rushed through the whirlwind. But his purpose was neither offense nor defense. At the gap between the barbarian warriors. He prated through that gap. And passed by them like the real wind! Shaaaaaaaa-! Whirlwind! Gale! The surrounding air was shaken. Jude¡¯s rush was as smooth and as swift as an arrow, and he passed through the barbarian warriors at once. ¡°Baaaastard!¡± Zarakul responded. He attempted to attack the rushing Jude by swinging the cane he was holding. And Jude once again broke Zarakul¡¯s thoughts. Boom! It wasn¡¯t an attack, but the sound of his kick on the ground. Instead of charging towards Zarakul, Jude hastily turned his body towards Violent Avnche, and Zarakul widely opened his eyes. Because he realized Jude¡¯s purpose was Violent Avnche. ¡°I will not let you!¡± Zarakul spurred on the ground and rushed towards Jude. His momentum was terrifying, as he was a mid-ranking demonic human. At that moment, Jude popped the pouch he was carrying in his arms. A terrible smell spread throughout the ce as it got carried by Jude¡¯s whirlwinds. ¡°Ack!¡± No matter how powerful a demonic human or even the trained warriors, they were helpless against their sense of smell. Zarakul and his subordinates¡¯ movements were immediately blocked by the odor bomb that Jude had also used on the Fury Wolf back then in the Dungeon Book. Boom! Jude kicked the ground again. He then ran back to the direction where he came from, and the struggling Zarakul roared in anger as he summoned a strong wind that swept the surrounding area. As soon as the stench was cleared, he rushed again towards Jude. ¡°You slippery b*stard!¡± The barbarian warriors also turned to Jude. And Violent Avnche was watching the entire spectacle through a gap between the rocks, before he repeatedly stamped its feet. ¡°What are you doing! Why!¡± Jude¡¯s n to awaken its main body failed. Jude¡¯s movements were amazing, but that was not enough to defeat Zarakul and his subordinates. Violent Avnche was in tears as it turned its gaze to the side and shouted. ¡°Hey! You said you¡¯ll do any¡­thing?¡± The cub¡¯s voice weakened at the end. Because Cordelia, who was with it just then, had disappeared. ¡°N-no way?¡± Did she run away? Did she abandon her lover too? It wasn¡¯t. At the time when Violent Avnche was surprised and everyone¡¯s eyes were on Jude, Cordelia was also running. ¡°It¡¯s a feint!¡± As soon as Cordelia reached the magic circle that was created for the ceremony, Zarakul quickly shouted. He hurriedly turned towards Cordelia. ¡°Don¡¯t stop my ceremony!¡± They tried to draw the enemies¡¯ attention and then destroy the magic circle. It was a reasonable deduction, but it was not the correct answer. Because what the two rotten waters had thought of was more than that. ¡°Haa!¡± Cordelia used the Witch Transformation and threw her body towards the magic circle. She poured the witch¡¯s mana into the Sri¡¯s Holy Lance that she held in one hand and stared at only one point. It was at thend where the magic circle was, and not the magic circle itself. She stared at where the dragon vein was being polluted. At the crack in the crevice! ¡°No way?!¡± ¡°Stop!¡± It was not only Zarakul who cried, but Violent Avnche too. Because of what Jude and Cordelia were trying to do. In thest stage of Act 2¡¯s event, the desperate Zarakul tried to die with the yer together. He flooded the dragon vein with a strong power. As a result, it caused a huge earthquake and destroyed the surrounding area. It was a dragon vein. And this was a mountain. What would happen if a dragon vein was filled to the brim with power? ¡°No!¡± ¡°Stop!¡± But it was toote. Cordelia raised Sri¡¯s Holy Lance as she filled it with the witch¡¯s magic before she shouted with an enraptured smile. ¡°Art is an explosion! F*ck bang!¡± T/N: ? (Kwang) can mean ¡®bang¡¯ and ¡®boom¡¯ in Korean. I wanted to use ¡®boom¡¯ because it was more of an explosion¡¯s sound, but ¡®bang¡¯ seemed to be intentional on the author¡¯s part. Intentional, as in, its lewd connotation in English when youbine the f-word with bang. I¡¯ll continue using ¡®f*ck bang!¡¯ instead of ¡®f*ck boom!¡¯ unless you guys/gals disagree. She then threw the Holy Lance towards the dragon vein. She chanted the spell and invoked Sri¡¯s power in the Holy Spear! Baaaaaaang! It burst. It exploded. The ground shook, and Zarakul¡¯s face turned deathly pale. Violet Avnche also copsed onto the floor. And the dragon vein waspletely filled with power. The blue light fluctuated greatly without stopping and began to shoot up to the sky. Dozens to hundreds of small cracks spread throughout the crevice. The whole rocky mountain shook like crazy. ¡°Crazy b*tch!¡± That was it. Zarakul could no longer see Cordelia. Because the rocky mountain began to copse. ¡°Aaaaaah!¡± ¡°Help!¡± ¡°My mountain! My mountain!¡± Thest cry belonged to Violent Avnche. While everyone was focused on Cordelia, Jude ran like crazy and suddenly appeared on Violent Avnche¡¯s side as he grabbed the back of its neck. As if he was lifting a kitten, he lifted the clone of Violent Avnche and climbed onto the wooden board. ¡°NOOOOOOOO-!¡± The rocky mountain fell apart and copsed while Violent Avnche was screaming. Fierce Bull¡¯s group who was in the middle could not escape from the sudden disaster. They couldn¡¯t do anything as the whole rocky mountain copsed from the summit to the middle part. ¡°Aaaaaah!¡± The screams of the barbarian warriors were buried in the roaring sounds. The pollutants they used for the dragon vein were also destroyed from the explosion of the runaway dragon vein. Craaaash, ruuuumble, craaaaash. The rocky mountain that was hundreds of meters in height was copsing. Many things disappeared in that endless roar. The magic circle for the ceremony, the contaminated blood, Zarakul, the barbarian warriors, and even the main body of Violent Avnche! ¡°Aaah, aaaaaah¡­.¡± As Violent Avnche let out a devastated voice, Jude stretched out his hand to the dense cloud of dust that rose up. And there was someone who held his hand. ¡°Cough, cough. Fine dust is bad.¡± At the moment of explosion, Cordelia had soared up to the sky with magic. Covered in dirt, Cordelia coughed and said that, as Jude helped her sit on the wooden board. She then smiled. ¡°F*ck bang.¡± ¡°Because art is an explosion.¡± ¡°Good job, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Praise me more and more.¡± As usual, the two exchanged words that only they knew and then refreshingly smiled at each other, while Violent Avnche shuddered in various ways at the sight of the two exchanging smiles after the atrocity of toppling down the mountain. And rings of pure white light rose around the bodies of Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Two rings?¡± ¡°Two rings.¡± There were two rings of light. One was because of the unexpectedly many people who were lying in wait to ambush them on the mountain. The second was because of those in the middle of the crevice. ¡°Aaaaaaaah!¡± A terrifying roar of anger burst out beneath their feet. Jude and Cordelia looked down, and Violent Avnche widely opened its eyes. Zarakul stood up as he pushed aside the big rocks. He was already in his demonized form, and he stood tall at 3 meters and had abnormally developed muscles that reminded them of a monster than a human. ¡°This, this¡­fiendish b*stards! What the hell did you do!¡± I can¡¯t believe that you broke down the entire mountain! Violent Avnche secretly agreed to Zarakul¡¯s pent-up cry that he let out, but Jude and Cordelia did not care about it. Rather, they were thinking like demons. ¡°Doesn¡¯t he look normal?¡± ¡°He was hurt a lot.¡± ¡°One of his horns is broken.¡± ¡°His mana got twisted when he quickly turned into his demonized form in order to survive at the moment the mountain copsed.¡± ¡°His injuries are severe.¡± ¡°His whole body is covered in blood.¡± It was an indifferent analysis. His power was halved, or rather, the current Zarakul¡¯s power reduced by more than half. ¡°Should we beat him up when he¡¯s all beat up?¡± ¡°Whether he can no longer use his powers, weak, defenseless, or took hold of a weakness or hostage, we¡¯ll still do it.¡± ¡°Wow, you¡¯re like a real devil.¡± ¡°Do you hate it then?¡± ¡°I love it. It¡¯s my style.¡± Jude and Cordelia looked at each other again andughed, before they put down Violent Avnche on the wooden board and used magic tond gently in front of Zarakul. ¡°Let¡¯s start the boss fight now.¡± ¡°The boss fight starts at Phase 3.¡± ¡°What?¡± It was when Zarakul and Violent Avnche were bewildered together. Jude and Cordelia didn¡¯t spoke anymore. The two forcibly began the boss fight. Chapter 66 - EPISODE 66 – VIOLENT AVALANCHE (3)

Chapter 66 - EPISODE 66 ¨C VIOLENT AVALANCHE (3)

For the overlords of hell, besides their personality and magic, they also had their own distinct characteristics depending on their physical appearance. Because of this, demons and demonic humans also had different physical appearances depending on the overlords they served. ¡°The symbol of Asmodeus, the overlord of lust, is a beast.¡± That was why Asmodeus¡¯ followers take the form of an animal/beast. The demonic monster that guarded the sealed witch¡¯s soul resembled a giant gori, and Saluzia, who was a high-ranking demonic human, had a deer¡¯s antlers and the wings of a winged animal. ¡°An unparalleled powerful monster. A beast that doesn¡¯t get exhausted.¡± In addition, Asmodeus, the overlord of lust, was also a swordswoman. ording to the Devil Book of the Sri denomination, which predated the Guardians of the Holy Cross, she was the greatest swordmaster in hell. She was an overlord with a beautiful appearance and beautiful sword movements. Her appearance while she moved her sword was so beautiful that there were stories about how the enemies she fought had lost their will to fight because of their lust. ¡°But Belial is different. You could say that he¡¯s the exact opposite.¡± Belial, the overlord of corruption. His appearance was so terrible looking that it was difficult to describe it. For this reason, the Devil Book referred to Belial as simr to Asmodeus, that both of them should not be directly seen. Because Asmodeus¡¯ seductive beauty made her enemies go crazy with lust, while Belial was so gruesome and disgusting that it made his enemies lose their minds the moment they faced him. ¡°If Asmodeus is a beast, then Belial is an insect.¡± Belial, also known as the Lord of the Flies, had an insect appearance just like his nickname. Therefore, his demons and demon followers also had forms close to insects when they used his power. ¡°I¡¯ll crush and trample you! I¡¯ll make you beg me to kill you!¡± As Zarakul shouted in an angry voice, his appearance rapidly changed. His horns and huge body remained the same, but a hard shell formed all over his skin, and his face also changed in an instant. His eyes became that of a dragonfly¡¯srgepound eyes, and transparent wings that were unique to insects sprouted from his back. His mouth also turned like that of an insect¡¯s, making him look hideous. ¡®As expected of a mid-ranking demonic human.¡¯ Low-ranking demonic humans did not have much changes in their appearances even in their demonized forms, but for mid-ranking demonic humans, the distinct characteristics of their overlords were vividly revealed. ¡®He¡¯s been weakened though.¡¯ His injuries were severe. Though his appearance hadpletely changed, it was not intact. The shell that covered his whole body was broken everywhere, and one of his leg pairs that grew between his waist waspletely missing. Judging from the way he dragged his right leg, it seemed that he was having difficulties in walking too. And it was at that moment. While Jude was calmly examining Zarakul¡¯s condition, Cordelia had apletely different thought. ¡®Di-disgusting.¡¯ She had thought that it was disgusting back when it was still a game, but it was even more disgusting now that she had seen it in person. She found the boss disgusting, so she honestly wanted to run away rather than to fight. It was as if ¡®that¡¯ showed up in her room. (T/N: ¡®That¡¯ refers to cockroach, hahaha.) Moreover, Zarakul began doing something more gruesome. ¡°The Great Overlord of Corruption will punish you!¡± When Zarakul loudly shouted, dozens of holes appeared all over his body. Cordelia¡¯s face turned pale in fright at that gruesome sight to the point where she couldn¡¯t even scream, and Jude instantly flinched and couldn¡¯t move from his spot. But what happened next was more shocking. Chiiiiiiiiiiirrrrrrr-! Flying insects poured out from the holes in Zarakul¡¯s body. The hundreds of insects that poured out were so many that they made a loud noise in the air as they formed a huge cloud of bugs. ¡°Go! Eat them clean!¡± As Zarakul shouted in high spirits, the insect swarm that looked like flies rushed towards Jude and Cordelia. It didn¡¯t matter if the insects were small, but their clearly gruesome appearance made someone act recklessly. Jude quickly came to his senses and as he tried to evade, he saw Cordelia. On the other hand, Cordelia reflexively chanted a spell the moment she saw the swarm of insects. ¡°!¡± A huge fireball that contained an excessive amount of the witch¡¯s magic rushed towards the front. The fireball exploded the moment it collided into the insect swarm. Booooooom! It was quite a big explosion. It caused some of the swarms of insects that soared and covered the sky to disappear. But Zarakul didn¡¯t lose hisposure. ¡°Hahaha! You can only do that much!¡± Zarakul eximed. Instead of moving himself, he called out more swarms of insects. Numerous insects emerged through the heat of the mes. ¡°Kyaaaa!¡± Cordelia eventually screamed. She already knew about Zarakul and thought that it would be fine if he looked a little disgusting because she had defeated him dozens to hundreds of times in the game, but the reality was different. There was a difference in viewpoints as she had never encountered hundreds of bugs in real lifepared to when it was just a game. ¡°Cordelia!¡± Jude cried out. At the same time, he used Twenty-Four Gale Steps and drew closer to Cordelia. ¡°Chant the spell!¡± Jude yelled as he simultaneously grabbed Cordelia on her waist and carried her away from the insect swarm. Several whirlwinds rose and created a dizzying wind, which then shook off some of the flying insects. ¡®She needs time to adapt!¡¯ Even though he had been through all sorts of hardships, Jude found himself in a tough spot as he couldn¡¯t even punch those bugs, so Cordelia¡¯s reaction was quite understandable. But no matter how gruesome it was, she would eventually get used to it if she kept looking at it. So for now, he had to buy some time and focus on evading. However, he was wrong. He didn¡¯t have to do that. It wasn¡¯t because Cordelia suddenly adapted to the reality before her eyes. She still had a white face and was on the verge of crying. But something else had already been triggered and overpowered her feelings of fear and disgust. Cordelia¡¯s fighting instinct, which Jude himself had admired several times, had already been triggered the moment she faced the enemy. me. mes shot up from both of Cordelia¡¯s hands as it reached the whirlwinds that Jude created. At that moment, Jude understood what Cordelia¡¯s instinct was trying to do. And the conclusion that she instantly reached while bypassing the process. ¡°I think I know what to do! Let¡¯s do it!¡± Thud! Jude kicked the ground. As if traversing space, he distanced himself from the insect swarm at once, and after he immediately let down Cordelia in a fairly high ce, he charged towards Zarakul. ¡°Come! Come here if you can!¡± A purple aura rose from Zarakul¡¯s whole body as he loudly shouted. He was a powerful warrior before he had be an insect master. But Jude didn¡¯t run to him. He kept running around Zarakul, as if he was drawing a circle with Zarakul at the center. ¡°Your trick is useless!¡± Are you thinking of hitting my back after making me dizzy? Zarakul mockinglyughed at Jude. Hundreds of insects swarmed andpletely covered him and his back. But it was all ording to Jude¡¯s n. ¡°Cordelia!¡± Jude called out. Cordelia responded immediately. The witch¡¯s ck me was ignited and burned in the air. Hissssss-! The me burned. It was a small me. But the wind caught it. It was the whirlwinds that Jude had created. The ones that began to rotate following Jude¡¯s movement. ¡°Great Storm! Help me!¡± Cordelia raised her arms high. And then there was a strong glow from the golden tattoo on her left arm. She began to manipte the flow of the whirlwinds that Jude had already created and the new ones that he was creating too. It was the blessing of the wind. Swoooooooosh-! The whirlwinds merged into one. Those that were already rotating along a certain trajectory had merged and became a huge whirlwind. ¡°More! More! More!¡± Jude increased his speed. Whirlwinds continued to be created with his Twenty-Four Gale Steps. Thus, the whirlwinds increased and added to the huge whirlwind. And the huge whirlwind became more and more powerful under the control of Cordelia! Wooooooooooooooooo! Finally, it became a tornado. The great tornado tore the air apart, and Zarakul¡¯s insect swarm couldn¡¯t properly fly. And the me. The ck me burned in the wind. It quickly spread and became one with the wind. The tornado was reborn as a massive fire tornado. ¡°Yaha!¡± Jude cheerfully eximed as he moved away from the tornado. He could tell. It wasn¡¯t just Jude and Cordelia who moved. Violent Avnche who was high up in the sky was also adding power to the tornado. Although Violent Avnche had been weakened, thisnd was still its sanctuary. The power of the wild god who ruled the sanctuary was added to the mes and wind, and the fire tornado¡¯s burning power became terrifyingly powerful. It was impossible for Cordelia alone to create such a massive fire tornado. Rooooooaaaar-! The fire tornadopletely trapped Zarakul. Hundreds of insects were instantly turned into ashes, and the nearby snow melted away at once. The released heat was so intense that it was difficult to breathe near the fire tornado. Jude stopped running. After Cordelia saw and confirmed that Jude was at a safe enough distance, she once again shouted with all her might. ¡°F*ck bang!¡± The first one was an explosion. The second one was another explosion! The fire tornado¡¯s swirl of mes swallowed Zarakul. The dancing ck mes choked Zarakul from all sides, as if the tornado itself squeezed him with two hands. ¡°Aaaaaaaaahhhh!¡± Zarakul¡¯s scream was buried by the roaring sound of the wind. The mountain debris were sucked by the tornado and turned into fearsome des that ruthlessly tore and crushed Zarakul¡¯s body. The witch¡¯s ck me set him on fire. ¡°Amazing.¡± It was spectacr. Though they were at a considerable distance, their bodies could feel the tremendous heat. Jude unwittingly admired it as he smiled in astonishment, while Cordelia increased the mana she used even more, as her dark red hair fluttered like mes. ¡°Finish!¡± Cordelia shouted as she widely stretched out her arms to the side. At that instant, the fire tornado let out a final roar. Baaaaangggg! The mes exploded. After a while, the tornado disappeared, and the air fluctuated once more as the wind blew in all directions. And the terrible heat intensely melted all the snow on the surface. Whoooosh! And Zarakul¡¯s figure was revealed. His whole body was broken and burned to the point that his figure was unrecognizable, and afterwards, his body literally fell apart. As he had already suffocated from the mes, his body immediately became ashes and scattered around. ¡®You have acquired the title ¡®The one who defeated a mid-ranking demonic human.¡¯ When fighting against demonic humans, all stats are increased by 1%.¡¯ A voice came into their heads. At the same time, rings of light surrounded the bodies of Jude and Cordelia. There were three for Jude and four for Cordelia. ¡°Haa.¡± Cordelia¡¯s shoulders drooped as she let out a sigh. Her nose then bled, and both of her legs weakened. ¡°Ah.¡± But Cordelia did not fall to the ground. Instead of falling to the ground, she found herself on Jude¡¯s arms, who had suddenly rushed to her side. ¡°You worked hard, my princess.¡± ¡°Ourbo¡­was good¡­¡± Cordelia raised her thumb as she buried herself in Jude¡¯s arms, and Jude fixed her position as he carried her in his arms before he looked up at the sky. He smiled towards Violent Avnche who was looking down from the wooden board. *** ¡°You can be at ease now. They have been punished for destroying the sanctuary.¡± ¡°You¡¯re the ones who destroyed the sanctuary! You two!¡± Chapter 67.1 - EPISODE 67 (1/2) – VIOLENT AVALANCHE (4)

Chapter 67.1 - EPISODE 67 (1/2) ¨C VIOLENT AVALANCHE (4)

The battle was over. Not only did they defeat the wicked mid-ranking demonic human Zarakul, who tried to contaminate the dragon vein, but they also defeated all of the Angry Bull¡¯s corrupted warriors that Zarakul led. After receiving some medical treatment, Cordelia said with a beautiful smile. ¡°You can be at ease now. They were punished for destroying the sanctuary.¡± ¡°You¡¯re the ones who destroyed the sanctuary! You two!¡± ¡°Sheesh.¡± It didn¡¯t work. Cordelia clicked her tongue and pouted her lips, and Jude spoke with a business smile. ¡°Violent Avnche, the situation was so urgent that we couldn¡¯t help it. Although the sanctuary was partially damaged, we defeated the enemy and protected the dragon vein.¡± ¡°Partially? Is this partially?!¡± ¡°The mountain has notpletely copsed.¡± Cordelia lightly said, and Violent Avnche held the back of his neck and then staggered. It was a dainty bear cub, so even though it had that reaction, it still looked cute. ¡°Uh¡­uh¡­my blood pressure¡­fortunately, it¡¯s a rocky mountain.¡± If it had been an ordinary mountain, countless animals would have died when the mountain copsed. Jude then approached such a Violent Avnche and said in a friendly manner. ¡°Regardless, we defeated those guys.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, we defeated them and saved Violent Avnche and the sanctuary.¡± Jude and Cordelia said in session, and Violent Avnche knit its brows. Because it couldn¡¯t somehow understand their suggestive words. ¡°We defeated not only the mid-ranking demonic human, but also the fallen barbarian warriors.¡± ¡°Jude is right. If not for us, the dragon vein would have been polluted. And you would have been corrupted too. Ah¡­just imagine it, wouldn¡¯t it have been terrible if that happened?¡± They were silently pressuring Violent Avnche. No, they were pressuring Violent Avnche with ¡®gentle words.¡¯ Violent Avnche involuntarily stepped back as the good-looking couple came closer, or rather, it finally realized what the two were asking for. ¡°Are you¡­asking for a reward?¡± ¡°Reward¡­rather than that¡­isn¡¯t it reasonable for us to bepensated?¡± ¡°Give and take!¡± ¡°Great Storm was a wild god who properlypensated us.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right. He gave us this and that.¡± Cordelia gently tapped the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow, and then pointed to the tattoo on her left arm. Then Violent Avnche grumbled as it tried to resist. ¡°The mountain¡­copsed.¡± ¡°The mountain has notpletely copsed.¡± ¡°It was a necessary sacrifice. Everyone will remember this noble sacrifice.¡± The ¡®everyone¡¯ that they referred to were Jude, Cordelia, and Violent Avnche who were present here, but Violent Avnche had a feeling that perhaps it was only referring to Violent Avnche itself. ¡°Haa¡­I can¡¯t help it.¡± In any case, it was true that without Jude and Cordelia, the dragon veins would have been contaminated, and Violent Avnche itself would have been corrupted. It was natural to give them a reward, since they were Violent Avnche¡¯s benefactors who saved more than its life. ¡°But children, I lost my main body, and the sanctuary has been destroyed. The dragon vein had indeed avoided contamination, but I greatly suffered.¡± ¡°Yes, I understand.¡± Cordelia said as if she sympathized with him, and Violent Avnche clicked his tongue this time. And Jude thought. ¡®As expected, the divine items remained safe.¡¯ Just as how Great Storm had the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow, Violent Avnche also possessed some divine items. As Jude had expected, Violent Avnche plopped down on the ground, and began to talk as it looked at Cordelia. ¡°Because I do not have a tribe that I look after, I do not have any divine items that are good for human use like that Great Storm brat. I don¡¯t have items like weapons or armor.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± The reason why Great Storm created a divine item like the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow was to give it to the Great Storm tribe, and not to use it for himself. So it would be strange if Violent Avnche, who did not care for any tribe, had weapons or armor that were suitable for human use. ¡°So I¡¯ll give you this.¡± The sitting Violent Avnche dug a little on the ground, and arge blue gem suddenly appeared. ¡°This is¡­¡± ¡°Freezing stone!¡± ¡°Wow! That came from here?¡± Freezing Stone. It was a beautiful gem made bybining mana and the cold Yin energy. But it wasn¡¯t just beautiful. Because the freezing stone stored ¡®Frozen Time¡¯ inside it. ¡®In other words, it is one of the main ingredients for the Ancestral Regression technique.¡¯ It was an ingredient that could only be obtained after a lot of hard work, so they were really lucky to obtain it here. ¡°You¡¯re lucky.¡± Jude nodded his head, while Cordelia giggled and hugged to her chest the freezing stone that Violent Avnche gave them. ¡°It¡¯s pretty. Thank you, Violent Avnche.¡± ¡°Well¡­I¡¯m d that you like it.¡± After all, Cordelia was really pretty. Although she didn¡¯t wear make-up because they had slept outside and traveled for several days, Cordelia¡¯s cheerful smile still resembled that of a goddess. Of course, since Violent Avnche was a bear, its aesthetic perception was somehow different from humans, but Violent Avnche was the kind of being that would marvel at the sunset that heralds the night and be captivated by the glorious dawn in the morning. Violent Avnche warmly smiled and shrugged its shoulders, and Jude smiled too, before he stepped forward and said. ¡°I think we should discuss about the next thing now. You said that they were trying to pollute the dragon vein, but could you please borate about that a little more?¡± ¡°Of course. It¡¯s a really big crisis. It¡¯s a problem that all wild gods¡­no, all living beings in the wildnd must deal with together!¡± Violent Avnche strongly shouted as it jumped from its spot, and Jude nodded. He then faced Violent Avnche with a serious expression and said. ¡°The Angry Bull tribe is believed to have been corrupted. It seems that a demonic human from a group of demon followers called Devil¡¯s Eye was behind it.¡± ¡°Wait, how did you know that?¡± Violent Avnche roughly knew about demon followers, but it didn¡¯t know about which tribe or group they belonged to, so it widely opened its eyes and asked. Jude then briefly introduced their history. ¡°We came to the wildnds at the request of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. Because they received information that the Devil¡¯s Eye were showing signs of disturbing movements. Furthermore, the witch¡¯s soul and the Fairy Queen warned us about the threat in the north.¡± ¡°Ohhh¡­¡± In reality, Violent Avnche did not know much about the Guardians of the Holy Cross. It also knew very little about the witch¡¯s soul and the Fairy Queen. But that was also why Violent Avnche felt reassured. Just as an unknown threat came, an unknown help also came. And Cordelia thought. ¡®Wow¡­as expected of a scammer.¡¯ When they were inside the border, he eagerly used the wild god¡¯s name, and as soon as they crossed the border, he used the name of the witch¡¯s soul and the southern organizations this time. ¡®I think he¡¯ll seed even if he tried to sell umbres in the desert.¡¯ Cordelia really thought that it would be possible if it was Jude, so she unconsciously let out augh. ¡®Because he¡¯s?my?Jude.¡¯ She felt that he was reliable. And at that same time. When Cordelia was smiling while watching Jude having a serious conversation with Violent Avnche. A simr situation was urring near the border. *** Chapter 67.2 - EPISODE 67 (2/2) – VIOLENT AVALANCHE (4)

Chapter 67.2 - EPISODE 67 (2/2) ¨C VIOLENT AVALANCHE (4)

¡°The Great Wall is, as its name implies, a great wall. It is so huge that it cannot be fully monitored.¡± Furthermore, the Great Wall wasn¡¯t built in a straight line on a t ground, as if one was drawing a line on a map. In reality, the terrain wasplicated. There were mountains and valleys everywhere, and even in ces where there were no rivers and forests, the ground was rugged. Thus, the Great Wall was built in a form that conformed with the natural terrain, so it was natural that the wall had several blind spots. ¡°In the end, people are needed to guard the wall. That way, they can easily notice a massive invasion before it reaches the wall. However, watching over the entire wall is almost impossible in the first ce because only a few people are guarding it.¡± It wasn¡¯t just the words of anyone else, but were the words of Count Bayer¡¯s sessor, whose family held the margrave position in the past for many years. ¡®He is¡­reliable!¡¯ It was not just because of his family¡¯s origins. The moment he found out that Jude and Cordelia had crossed the border, Ga?l¡¯s attitude regarding this matter changed. It wasn¡¯t because he was not serious about this matter before. He was already serious about it, but up until now, Ga?l had been following Adelia rather than taking the lead. But it was different now. He was taking the initiative and trying to resolve the situation. ¡®He looks like an expert.¡¯ Ga?l¡¯s exnation about the Great Wall and the Jackdaws made him look like an expert. Perhaps that¡¯s the reason why Ga?l appeared to be strikingly handsome than before. ¡®He was handsome in the first ce though.¡¯ She didn¡¯t like Jude¡¯s personality or any other side of his, but Adelia at least admitted that he had a beautiful face. ¡®He looks too weak though.¡¯ Nevertheless, the expression of ¡®good-looking¡¯ perfectly suited Jude. Ga?l was Jude¡¯s older brother, and the brothers were alike each other. However, Ga?l was the very picture of health itself. Moreover, he was a master of the sword, and was regarded by everyone to have inherited the title of Great Swordmaster from Count Bayer, one of the ten great swordmasters. In addition to having a strong physique, he had an appearance that resembled Jude but minus the weakness, so it was unavoidable for him not to look handsome. ¡®No, this isn¡¯t the time for this.¡¯ This wasn¡¯t the time for her to evaluate Ga?l¡¯s appearance. After all, Ga?l was now exining how to cross the border with a very serious face. ¡°I apologize, but we have to abandon our horses.¡± ¡°It can¡¯t be helped.¡± If someone else had said it, Adelia would have argued about finding another way instead of abandoning the horses, but now, she unconsciously nodded her head. Because Ga?l¡¯s words were reliable! ¡®If this man said so, it must be true then.¡¯ At Adelia¡¯s reply, Ga?l was somehow a little surprised, but he soon had a small smile and said. ¡°It¡¯s going to be quite a difficult journey.¡± ¡°The journey has been tough even up to now. You do know how many days we¡¯ve been running on horseback, right?¡± ¡°I do know.¡± Ever since they left home, they had been running on horseback every day until they had reached this ce. Running on horseback was a lot harder than most people think. It was severely physically exhausting, and it was seriously painful on the buttocks and thighs. But the two had run every day for more than 10 days. It was a forced march of such difficulty that it would make most ordinary knights cry. ¡®However¡­¡¯ Ga?l unconsciously looked at Adelia. They hade this far but she had never once said that it was difficult. It wasn¡¯t because it was easy. It was hard. Ga?l himself found it difficult, so it would be more serious for Adelia who¡¯s a wizard and a woman too. But she never once said that it was hard. She had a strong will. She endured the hardships in order to fulfill their mission. ¡®It¡¯s the first time.¡¯ It was the first time that he met a nobledy like her. Of course, he had met a few knights with a simr disposition, but Adelia was first and foremost a wizard. There was a difference from those who had trained to be knights since their childhood. ¡®Beautiful.¡¯ He had first thought that she was fierce, but she somehow looked different now. She was like a sparkling gem who held a strong will. Even though she was always frowning, Adelia was still a very beautiful woman. Just as Ga?l was Jude¡¯s brother, Adelia was Cordelia¡¯s older sister. ¡°Ga?l?¡± Adelia asked Ga?l at that moment as she looked up at him. It was natural for her to do so, since the height difference between the two was close to 20 centimeters. But in that instant, Ga?l unconsciously averted his gaze. Because his heart was beating a little fast. ¡®How long has it been?¡¯ The reason why Ga?l himself had not been married even when he was in histe twenties. He had lied to others, saying that he had ady in his heart, but in fact, there was a real reason. Count Bayer also knew of the reason, so he didn¡¯t pressure Ga?l into getting married. ¡°Ga?l? Are you sick?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not. It¡¯s just a little fever.¡± Ga?l lightly answered, as he shook his head and got rid of his thoughts. What was important now was to catch up to Jude and Cordelia. He only had to think about that for now. ¡°I don¡¯t know much about thend of the barbarians. So I will trust in Lady Adelia¡¯s decision in the future.¡± He was referring to the tracking magic in Count Chase¡¯s ring. Adelia nodded her head and said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll definitely get the job done. And¡­¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°If it¡¯s the sword of Lord Ga?l, I¡¯m sure it would be reliable even in thend of the barbarians.¡± Adelia quickly spoke, and at that moment, the two were simultaneously a little embarrassed. Ga?l was surprised when he heard Adelia¡¯s words. He would, of course, since his heart had always been pounding ever since he met Adelia. ¡°It¡¯s an honor for me to receive your trust. I shall do my utmost best to protect Lady Adelia.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go quickly.¡± Adelia hurriedly turned her eyes, as she somehow found it difficult to gaze at Ga?l¡¯s bright smile, and Ga?l stepped forward full of confidence as he had always been. And at that same time, in a ce that was far down in the south¡­ ¡°Uh¡­what? Didn¡¯t it go well at first?¡± Inside Count Chase¡¯s study. A handsome young man with long tinum hair stood in front of his father after a long time. He was Edward Chase, Count Chase¡¯s eldest son and heir. After Edward said that, Count Chase knit his brows. ¡°Isn¡¯t that good for her?¡± ¡°No¡­I must meet them first if it¡¯s Adelia.¡± Adelia was the best among the three siblings when it came to their talent for magic. But maybe because of that, or maybe because she resembled her father the most among the three, she has never had a rtionship with the opposite sex since her childhood. Such a thing as eloping was something that Adelia wouldn¡¯t likely do, but if she had indeed did that, shouldn¡¯t they wee it with open arms then? ¡®There¡¯s no problem if the other person is Ga?l.¡¯ He was handsome andpetent, he came from a good family, and he also had a nice personality. He was certainly perfect. In Edward¡¯s personal opinion, he honestly found Ga?l to be too good whenpared to Adelia. ¡®Of course, that is if the two really eloped.¡¯ Contrary to the concerns of Count Chase and Count Bayer, Edward perceived Ga?l and Adelia¡¯s loss of contact to be different in naturepared to their youngest siblings. ¡®There must be a reason.¡¯ Although she was bold, or rather, even aggressive, he thought that Adelia wasn¡¯t a child who would do things without thinking. Moreover, she was even with the prudent Ga?l, so if they had cut off their contact, there must have been a reason that they did that, and not because it was an elopement or something simr. ¡°Whatever it is, we can¡¯t just leave it as is.¡± Ga?l and Adelia had gone missing after Jude and Cordelia. The rumors in high society was only a secondary problem. The most important thing was to secure the safety of the two ¡®couples.¡¯ ¡°Ga?l and Adelia should be all right. The problem would be Jude and Cordelia.¡± Some people have already evaluated Ga?l¡¯s sword skills as close to the level of the ten great swordmasters. In addition, Adelia was one of the heads of the Royal Guard Magic Corps, so it was highly unlikely that the two would be in danger. But Jude and Cordelia¡¯s situation was different. They had to secure the safety of the two as soon as possible. ¡°Should I set off too? Count Bayer doesn¡¯t have a daughter, so you won¡¯t be losing your contact with me.¡± At Edward¡¯s joking words, Count Chase shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ve already prepared for the chase. You focus on training. I¡¯ve said that it¡¯s very important, but it¡¯s also important for you to reach the next circle.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± Edward obediently epted his words and bowed before he tried to go out. But it was at that moment. ¡°By the way, Edward.¡± ¡°Yes, father.¡± ¡°Did you not get along with that Ga?l fellow when you were a kid?¡± ¡°We¡¯re still rtively close these days.¡± Edward had few people whom he could call as friends, and Ga?l was one of the first among them, whom he could count as a friend. ¡°I see. Then do you know what Ga?l likes?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°I¡¯m saying this just in case. So that we¡¯ll be prepared for any situation.¡± Edward quietly stared at his father speaking with a stern face, and then frowned. However, he didn¡¯t think of this situation too deeply as he always did. At Count Chase¡¯s request, Edward began talking about the things that Ga?l preferred. Chapter 68 - EPISODE 68 – MISSED (1)

Chapter 68 - EPISODE 68 ¨C MISSED (1)

Terms used in this chapter: The person near the ink will be ck?¨C a Korean idiom which means that if you are close/get along with bad friends, you will likely be bad like them. In short, a good person will be bad if they hang around with bad people. It is slightly simr to ¡®one rotten apple spoils the barrel,¡¯ but in this idiom¡¯s case, the subject is the already bad person who turns good people into doing bad too. ¡°I¡¯ll exin what the dragon vein is first.¡± Having heard about the story of the Guardians of the Holy Cross and the witch¡¯s soul, Violent Avnche had a face like that of a seasoned veteran. Violent Avnche had been worried on what to do given its very desperate situation, but unexpectedly, a helping hand came and relieved its worries. ¡°First of all, you two should sit down. It¡¯s going to be a long story.¡± Violent Avnche tapped on the spot next to it, before it slightly wriggled its butt to move into a morefortable sitting position. Cordelia sat next to Violent Avnche who was like a teddy bear, while Jude sat opposite them. ¡°The dragon vein is a stream of divine power that flows throughout the entire wildnd.¡± ¡°Does the dragon vein exist only in the wildnds?¡± Violent Avnche nodded at Cordelia¡¯s question. ¡°Yes. The truth is¡­the dragon vein was originally called the ley line, and these ley lines were spread out all over the entire continent¡­or rather, throughout the entire. However, the wild gods used their powers on a portion of these ley lines for quite some time to create what we call the dragon vein now.¡± In short, they removed some of the original infrastructure and upgraded it. Cordelia asked again. ¡°Is the dragon vein something like the wild gods¡¯ source of power?¡± ¡°Not entirely. However¡­it is true that us wild gods have our strength increased when we are near the dragon vein. Thend where the dragon veins flow is what we call our sanctuary, and when we leave our sanctuary, we lose our connection with the dragon vein, and our strength also weakens.¡± ¡°Uh¡­does that mean that it¡¯s difficult for the wild gods if they lose the dragon vein?¡± ¡°It¡¯s notpletely difficult. It¡¯spletely difficult¡­but there are also some strong wild gods who do notpletely rely on the dragon vein¡­¡± But from the way Violent Avnche spoke, it seemed like Violent Avnche belonged to the group of wild gods who found it difficult if they lost their connection with the dragon vein. ¡°The dragon vein is extremely important then.¡± ¡°Yes. I¡¯m not trying to brag, but the reason why everyone can live in the wildnds is because of the sanctuary¡¯s existence that us wild gods look after. But if the dragon vein is destroyed, the sanctuary is also destroyed, and the wildnds will eventually be and of death.¡± Jude nodded his head. In fact, the wildnds that appeared in the game was a barrennd that was uninhabitable for any living beings. ¡°But I think they¡¯re trying to do something worse.¡± ¡°They¡¯re not turning it into and of death?¡± ¡°Yes, they tried to contaminate the dragon vein. Rather than destroying it¡­it seemed like they were trying to use the dragon vein for something bad.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right,e to think of it, you¡¯ve said it before, right? If the dragon vein is contaminated and corrupted, you¡¯ll also be corrupted.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s words, Violent Avnche nodded with a gloomy face. And in the midst of this serious talk, Jude looked at Cordelia, as if he found her talking to be something unexpected. Cordelia would usually be silent when Jude was talking to someone else because she didn¡¯t know much about their discussion, but now, she was listening to the conversation and even responding well to it. Her skill to naturally lead the conversation was also good. ¡®It doesn¡¯t seem like she¡¯s thinking about it.¡¯ She was just doing it naturally. ¡®In fact, I¡¯ve been talking more ever since I met her too.¡¯ Remembering when he first began ying?Legend of Heroes 2, Jude was almost preupied with his past memories for a while, but he soon shook his head and dismissed his thoughts. Their conversation with Violent Avnche was more important than his current thoughts now. ¡°As they polluted the dragon vein, I also began feeling strange. I desperately resisted¡­and if you two hadn¡¯te, I would¡¯ve definitely lost my reason and be a crazy monster.¡± Violent Avnche shook its head as if just imagining it was horrible. Cordelia stroked Violent Avnche¡¯s back as she looked at Jude. ¡®You have a rough idea about it, right?¡¯ ¡®Yes, I think I know what happened.¡¯ After he roughly matched the story in?Legend of Heroes 2?and in their current situation, he arrived at a conclusion. What Zarakul poured into the dragon vein was Belial¡¯s blood. Of course, it wasn¡¯t literally Belial¡¯s blood, but the sacrifices¡¯ blood that was infused with Belial¡¯s power through a special ceremony. ¡°Violent Avnche, it seems that they¡¯re intending to corrupt the entire wildnds by corrupting the dragon vein and the wild gods.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Violent Avnche shuddered. ¡°Indeed, it¡¯s a horrible situation. They must be stopped.¡± ¡°Yes, they must be stopped. And in order to that, Violent Avnche¡¯s help is absolutely necessary.¡± ¡°My help?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. We really need your help!¡± Violent Avnche was embarrassed for a moment when Cordelia pleaded in an earnest tone, but it soon sprang up from its seat and said. ¡°Okay! I will do what I can!¡± ¡°Thank you very much!¡± Cordelia responded again and then turned to Jude. ¡®But what kind of help are you going to ask?¡¯ ¡®Um¡­the person near the ink will be ck.¡¯ She had impulsively scammed Violent Avnche. Jude felt guilty for a while because he felt like he had led the innocent Cordelia astray, but he soon focused on Violent Avnche and said. ¡°The demon followers have already corrupted the Angry Bull tribe and made them their subordinates. Therefore, we need to iste the Angry Bull tribe.¡± ¡°The Angry Bull tribe? They are one of thergest and strongest tribes in the wildnd.¡± ¡°Yes, so we have to stop them now. You could say that this current situation alone has revealed the plot of these guys.¡± ¡°Plot?¡± ¡°Yes, they¡¯re not only plotting to corrupt the dragon vein. They¡¯re also trying to corrupt the sanctuaries and the wild gods, and even the tribes that live in the wildnd.¡± ¡°What?!¡± ¡°The dragon veins are contaminated, and the sanctuaries are destroyed. Because of that, the tribes will find it difficult to live here. However, even the wild gods whom they have believed and depended on until now are also in a strange situation. The minds of the tribes¡¯ people, who will have no ce to lean on, will be weakened, and the enemies will prate through those weakened gaps. They will incorporate the tribes into the Angry Bull tribe that is already under the control of the demon followers and turn the entire wildnd into a den of demons!¡± ¡°Oh-oh my gosh! That¡¯s evil. Those bastards are truly evil!¡± Violent Avnche trembled as it found that situation scary. Jude then said as he grabbed the small and round shoulders of such Violent Avnche. ¡°Yes, so they must be stopped. We must tell the truth to each tribe in the wildnd and then iste the Angry Bull tribe.¡± The reason why the Angry Bull tribe invaded the northern part of the S?len Kingdom was because they unified the wildnd. Therefore, the two had to prevent them frompletely unifying the wildnd. Or rather, the two had to iste them. ¡°How should I do it? What should I do?¡± ¡°You must go the Great Storm tribe first and tell them the truth. Everyone will listen because it¡¯s a wild god¡¯s words and not anyone else.¡± ¡°Uhh¡­so I have to leave my sanctuary then?¡± Although it had copsed, more than half of the rocky mountain was still left. Despite that, it was still Violent Avnche¡¯s sanctuary. ¡°Violent Avnche, this is a very serious situation. You¡¯re the only whom we can trust and rely on right now.¡± Cordelia spoke in a serious tone with tears in her eyes, and Violent Avnche groaned as it found that to be difficult to do. It was a slightly better situation for the wild god to leave and abandon their sanctuary, which is the source of their power, than to ignore the situation and die. ¡°What if someone else upies this mountain while I¡¯m gone?¡± At Violent Avnche¡¯s hesitation, Cordelia sped its hands and said. ¡°It¡¯s okay, we¡¯ll help you if a thief takes over yournd. We¡¯ll drive the thief away and get your mountain back together.¡± ¡°Yes, Great Storm will also help you.¡± If Great Storm was here, he would have said ¡®Why should I?¡¯, but he wasn¡¯t here, so he wouldn¡¯t have the chance to say that. ¡°Uhhhhh¡­I see. I¡¯ll do it. I will go to the Great Storm tribe and inform them of the Angry Bull tribe¡¯s evil plot!¡± ¡°You¡¯re so cool. Violent Avnche is the best!¡± Cordelia tightly hug Violent Avnche, and Violent Avnche bashfully smiled. ¡°Hmm¡­hmmm¡­.¡± No, Violent Avnche didn¡¯t openly smile, but it was obvious that it liked Cordelia¡¯s actions. ¡®Because a beautiful woman is a treasure of the world.¡¯ Jude giggled, before he immediately brought out the next topic. ¡°Violent Avnche, do you know where the Great Storm tribe lives?¡± ¡°I know it roughly. But not where that Great Storm brat lives.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a relief. I wish you a quick and safe journey.¡± ¡°Yes, thank you¡­wait. You wish me? Aren¡¯t we going together?¡± When Violent Avnche widely opened its eyes and asked, Cordelia also looked at Jude. Jude said as he nodded his head. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sorry to say this, but I think it¡¯s better if you go alone to the Great Storm tribe.¡± ¡°Then, what about you two?¡± ¡°We intend to stop their plot. Violent Avnche, do you know other wild gods¡¯ sanctuaries that are connected to the dragon vein here? Excluding Great Storm.¡± ¡°That¡­Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s sanctuary can be found northeast of the basin here.¡± ¡°We¡¯re thinking of going there. If they¡¯re really trying to corrupt the entire dragon vein, the other sanctuaries are also in danger.¡± What he said made sense. Moreover, Jude and Cordelia had one more reason to move. ¡®Lena.¡¯ They had to reach the ce where Lena¡¯s death event took ce. Although they still had time to spare, it wasn¡¯t wasteful to have too much time. ¡®It takes about two days to return to the Great Storm tribe.¡¯ A round trip would take about four days. Cordelia roughly guessed Jude¡¯s thoughts and asked with a nce. ¡®Will it be okay?¡¯ ¡®It will be okay. We didn¡¯t encounter any danger while on our way here.¡¯ Furthermore, Violent Avnche was a wild god despite being weakened. Violent Avnche would surely be able to find the sanctuary of another wild god. ¡°Violent Avnche, please.¡± ¡°Ummm¡­.I understand. I will go to the Great Storm tribe alone.¡± Violent Avnche nodded as it made up its mind, and Jude bowed again before he asked. ¡°Can you tell me more about the location of Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s sanctuary?¡± ¡°No problem. I have a map that I kept in the past.¡± Violent Avnche sat on the ground again and dug the ground, and suddenly, a map appeared from the ground. Like the Freezing Stone earlier, it seemed to be Violent Avnche¡¯s magic skill. ¡°Here, take it.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Their conversation was over. They had no time to waste because they had to save the wildnd. ¡°I¡¯ll be going then.¡± ¡°Yes, I look forward to seeing you againter.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll see youter.¡± Violent Avnche waved its hand to the polite Jude and Cordelia who waved her hand too, before it quickly began to descend the rocky mountain. Cordelia spoke after looking at the back of such Violent Avnche for quite some time. ¡°Will Violent Avnche be okay?¡± ¡°Violent Avnche will be okay¡­wait, you don¡¯t have a good feeling?¡± Jude trusted Cordelia¡¯s intuition. Jude asked in a panic as he thought that it was more serious than he had thought, but Cordelia pondered for a moment before she shrugged her shoulders. ¡°No, it¡¯s not to the point where I have a bad feeling. I¡¯m just worried.¡± ¡°Violent Avnche will be fine then. Even if Violent Avnche looks like that, it is an old wild god who has lived for hundreds of years.¡± The relieved Jude asked Cordelia again. ¡°Well then, let¡¯s just rest here for today and leave in the early morning tomorrow.¡± ¡°Yes, but I really want to wash myself a little. Is there anything like a hot spring here?¡± ¡°Uh¡­how about gathering the snow together and melting it with a fireball? If it feels like the water is cooling down, then add another fireball in.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia widely opened her eyes and soon clenched her fists as she snorted. ¡°It is¡­possible!¡± It was not something that couldn¡¯t be done. Cordelia would do more than that just for a bath. ¡°Yes, anyway, let¡¯s find a ce where we will sleep first. We also have to eat something.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯m hungry.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll cook the meal right away as soon as we find the right ce.¡± ¡°Is it beef jerky boiled in hot water again?¡± ¡°My princess, didn¡¯t I say that you shouldn¡¯t be picky?¡± ¡°No, f*ck. I¡¯m a picky eater, so try increasing the number of side dishes, okay?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll try.¡± ¡°Eh, really?¡± Cordelia asked as she blinked her eyes, and Jude nodded once before he began taking the lead. Both of them had a hard time today, so he thought that having something special from the little food they saved would be fine. ¡®Hmm, good. We can go like this.¡¯ Jude looked back towards Violent Avnche¡¯s direction before he hurriedly moved forward again. Chapter 69 - EPISODE 69 – MISSED (2)

Chapter 69 - EPISODE 69 ¨C MISSED (2)

There were more than a dozen tribes in the wildnd, of which, four tribes were particrly strong. The Angry Bull tribe was made up of powerful warriors. The Great Storm tribe lived with the wind and pursued harmony with nature. The Silent Wolf tribe produced outstanding hunters for generations. The Red Moon tribe was a tribe of shamans full of mystery. Among the four tribes, the Angry Bull tribe had been expanding in recent years. By subduing and uniting the surrounding tribes with force, the power of the tribe had doubled, even though it had only been a few months since their expansion began. ¡°For the Angry Bull tribe!¡± ¡°For the Great Chief Seven Horns!¡± The tribes living in the wildnds had their own wild gods, but not all of the wild gods were strong enough to build their own sanctuary. Moreover, Angry Bull, the wild god of the Angry Bull tribe, was one of the most powerful gods among the wild gods. However, the wild god in this vige was someone who did not properly build a sanctuary, so there was no way for her to resist the enemies. ¡°Ah! My children! My children!¡± A wild god in the form of a girl with small horns on her head, cried out as she saw the burning vige, but it was already useless. Now that most of her power had already been sealed, she was no better than an ordinary girl. ¡°Divine punishment will befall you! The Golden Dragon King will punish you!¡± ¡°Noisy!¡± ¡°Ah!¡± Sharp Horn, a warrior of the Angry Bull tribe, kicked the enraged wild god and didn¡¯t stop there. He violently grabbed the girl¡¯s golden hair to lift her head, and then swung his fist that was bigger than the girl¡¯s face several times. ¡°Ugh¡­aa¡­¡± The wild god girl couldn¡¯t even scream in front of the brutal violence that she faced, and eventually, Sharp Horn kicked the girl and told the warriors around him. ¡°Take her away! Make her aware of the situation!¡± ¡°We understand.¡± The warriors of the Angry Bull tribe had already been corrupted. For them who had forgotten their respect for the wild gods, the girl in front of them was not a being they should worship and respect, but just a toy that they could y with as they please. As his subordinates dragged the wild god girl away, Sharp Horn wiped the blood off his hands, and headed to the ce where arge g was erected in the middle of their main camp. It was to seek an audience to the powerful being who sealed the power of the wild god itself. ¡°We captured the wild god and killed the chieftain. As you had instructed, the warriors are capturing everyone alive, even if they are injured.¡± Inside therge tent made of animal skin, Sharp Horn sat down on both knees and paid homage. ¡°I see, you did well. Sharp Horn. You didn¡¯t disappoint me again.¡± ¡°It is all thanks to Haraken.¡± In a gracious voice, Sharp Horn bowed his head again in courtesy. Ever since the appearance of the being in front of him ¨C the prophet Haraken, the Angry Bull tribe had changed. They had be much more powerful and richer as a result of their continuous war of conquest. And the same went for Sharp Horn who had changed a lot too. Originally, Sharp Horn wasn¡¯t a very strong warrior. Because he was born with a weak body. But Haraken changed everything. He made the body of Sharp Horn to be big and strong, and also made Sharp Horn into one of the most powerful warriors in the Angry Bull tribe. Therefore, Sharp Horn deeply respected Haraken. He considered as the truth the story of Haraken about the wild gods being false gods ¨C that they were just beasts with a little strong power. ¡°You may go. We¡¯ll have to leave for a newnd tomorrow.¡± ¡°Yes, Master Haraken. Please make yourselffortable.¡± Sharp Horn bowed his head again and politely left, and Haraken, who was finally alone, frowned. ¡®How bothersome.¡¯ He wasn¡¯t talking about Sharp Horn. Haraken was satisfied with Sharp Horn¡¯s loyalty. To begin with, he deliberately made the weak to be powerful in order to elicit a sense of loyalty to him like Sharp Horn did just now. What touched his nerves was the sad news that he heard from far away. ¡®Zarakul.¡¯ He lost his connection with the mid-ranking demonic human of the Devil¡¯s Eye. It was obvious then that Zarakul was dead. ¡®What happened?¡¯ Haraken had the appearance of an old man who grew a long and white beard, but this wasn¡¯t his true appearance in the first ce. He thought as hispound eyes, where a human¡¯s eyes should be, blinked. Violent Avnche¡¯s sanctuary. Violent Avnche wasn¡¯t as weak as the wild god of the tribe that they had captured today. It didn¡¯t have a tribe that it looked after, so no one worshipped Violent Avnche, but at the same time, it didn¡¯t necessarily mean that Violent Avnche¡¯s power was weak. Despite living alone, Violent Avnche wasn¡¯t weak. Rather, it was one of the wild gods on the strong side. However, Haraken never thought that Zarakul would fail. Because he gave Zarakul a group of powerful warriors who would remain after they subdued Violent Avnche. But what happened? Who killed Zarakul? It wasn¡¯t Violent Avnche. If Violent Avnche was the culprit, Zarakul¡¯s death would have been much faster. It was someone else. Someone else had killed Zarakul, who had gone to corrupt Violent Avnche. ¡°Red Gale.¡± The strongest warrior of the Great Storm tribe. But Haraken soon shook his head. He clearly put Red Gale under the Curse of the Blue Spider Lily. ¡®The closest one to him is Madgar.¡¯ Madgar was a mid-ranking demonic human who attacked Gentle Snow Breeze, a powerful wild god. In fact, both Violent Avnche and Gentle Snow Breeze were wild gods who lived far away from the home of the Angry Bull tribe, but the reason they took the trouble of attacking the two was because of the Great Storm tribe. They nned to corrupt the nearby wild gods and then iste the Great Storm tribe. They needed to suppress the Great Storm tribe¡¯s power, so that they couldn¡¯t hinder the Angry Bull tribe¡¯s actions. ¡®For now, I¡¯ll leave it to Madgar. I must unify the northeast region of the wildnds first.¡¯ The Angry Bull tribe was located in the northeast region, and likewise, the Silent Wolf tribe was located in the northeast too. They needed to subdue that tribe too, so that they could advance towards their final goal. ¡®To pollute the dragon vein and corrupt the wild gods. And even turn the Golden Dragon King as our ve.¡¯ The Golden Dragon King was the king of the wild gods. Haraken organized his thoughts and then took out a crystal ball. He infused arge amount of mana on it in order to deliver his message to Madgar who was located far away from him. *** Three days after leaving the rocky mountain. Violent Avnche would have originally arrived at the Great Storm tribe¡¯s vige at that time, but it still hadn¡¯t arrived there. The reason was simple. ¡°Sob, sob! Where the hell am I!¡± After it descended from the rocky mountain, Violent Avnche went straight towards the direction that Jude had told it. It had visited the Great Storm tribe once, though it may be a long time ago, so Violent Avnche followed his memory of the way to get there. A day had passed. There was nothing but snow everywhere. Violent Avnche didn¡¯t care much about it. This area was originally only a snowfield. If Violent Avnche went straight ahead, it would eventually reach the vige of the Great Storm tribe. Has Great Storm grown up a lot? Violent Avnche warmly smiled as it recalled a little brat, and afterwards, it continued walking. A day passed by again. There was still nothing but snow everywhere, and Violent Avnche began to feel a little nervous. ¡°Strange.¡± I should have arrived at this point. Great Storm would havee to meet me. Even the Great Storm tribe children would havee. T/N: The children referred here is not literally kids/children. The wild gods referred to the tribes/humans as children, so Violent Avnche was referring to the Great Storm tribe as children. ¡°Are they busy?¡± In fact, there was one more reason that was more likely than them being busy, but Violent Avnche tried to ignore it and continued walking. And a day passed by again. At the present. ¡°Uwaaa! Where is this ce! Where am I!¡± It was only today that Violent Avnche, who had been living in the rocky mountains for hundreds of years, finally realized. The fact that Violent Avnche itself was bad at directions. ¡°What do I do, what should I do?¡± It was a body clone, and not its main body. Moreover, Violent Avnche was weak before it left its sanctuary, so its divine power was even more weak now that it has left its sanctuary. If Violent Avnche had its main body, it would be able to fly with his magic power or contact Great Storm. And even if it can¡¯t do that, Violent Avnche would still be able to detect the presence of Great Storm and follow that direction. But that was all impossible for the current Violent Avnche. The Violent Avnche now was just a talking bear cub, and it was a very far existence from the great wild god it once was in the past. ¡°Uhh¡­I¡¯m hungry. Hungry after hundreds of years.¡± Actually, Violent Avnche had been hungry for the past two days. When Violent Avnche was in its sanctuary, breathing alone was enough to sate its hunger, but now that it had left its sanctuary, Violent Avnche had be hungry as if it was a real bear cub. ¡°Sob, sob, I hate seeing the snow now.¡± Violent Avnche didn¡¯t feel full even if it ate the snow. But the only thing that it could eat right away was snow. Violent Avnche sobbed and burst into tears. And at that very moment. ¡°Eh?!¡± At the moment Violent Avnche felt a chill, Violent Avnche raised its head. Because it sharply felt a stabbing sensation on its back. ¡®No-no way?¡¯ Violent Avnche swallowed his breath, looked back, and soon found the reason why. The moment Violent Avnche met its eyes, the Frost Wolf gave up its stealthy approach and began sprinting! ¡°Bark! Bark!¡± The Frost Wolf even barked. If it was Violent Avnche¡¯s main body, the Frost Wolf would have been beaten with one fist, but now, it was a strong enemy that the current Violent Avnche couldn¡¯t fight against. The quick-witted Violent Avnche began to run in vain. ¡°Awooooh!¡± ¡°Ahhhhh!¡± The surroundings were filled with the sounds of howls and cries. Violent Avnche ran hard, but because it was a bear cub, its legs were too short. Its distance from the Frost Wolf was quickly reduced. ¡°Spare the wild god! Spare the wild god!¡± Violent Avnche desperately shouted and rolled over the ground at some point. Violent Avnche had tripped over a small rock that it didn¡¯t notice because it was covered in snow. ¡°Ahhhhhh!¡± Violent Avnche rolled over the ground and eventually lied down in exhaustion. The Frost Wolf howled and jumped over the head of Violent Avnche. With a single leap, it reached Violent Avnche and pressed down on Violent Avnche¡¯s chest. ¡°Awooooh!¡± ¡°Ahhh¡­¡± The Frost Wolf exhaled and drew its face closer. Drool spilled in between its sharp teeth, and Violent Avnche struggled hard, but it was useless. ¡®Am I going to die like this?¡¯ If it had known that this would happen, Violent Avnche would have chosen to die at its sanctuary. ¡®No, I cannot die now!¡¯ Violent Avnche couldn¡¯t die. Violent Avnche had a noble mission to deliver the news about the dangers that would befall the wildnds! ¡°Hey! Ha!¡± Violent Avnche began to struggle again, but it was only for a short time. As the Frost Wolf stepped harder on the chest, its ws dug into the skin of Violent Avnche. ¡°Ahhh!¡± It hurt so much. Violent Avnche couldn¡¯t stand it anymore and finally screamed. ¡°Help me! Help me! Aaahhhh! Help me!¡± It was thest cry. The Frost Wolf didn¡¯t waste its time and widely opened its mouth. And a me went straight into its mouth. Boom! It was an explosion! The fireball that entered the Frost Wolf¡¯s mouth exploded. It was a magic that was terrifyingly precise. The fireball entering the Frost Wolf¡¯s mouth was not a coincidence, but something intended. Moreover, the adjustment of magic power was precise. The Frost Wolf was instantly killed from the fireball¡¯s explosion, but the damage never went out of its body. ¡°Kke-¡± The Frost Wolf had its throat and intestines burned, and it copsed after a single groan. Violent Avnche blinked its eyes as it realized that its life was saved. Violent Avnche stood up from its spot while roughly exhaling. ¡°Wh-who is it! No, who are you!¡± When Violent Avnche looked at the direction where the fireball came from, it saw a man and woman. Because of that, Violent Avnche had a thought. ¡®They came to look for me!¡¯ Jude and Cordelia. The two had saved me again! ¡°Cordelia! Cordelia!¡± It was the moment when Violent Avnche cried out in joy. ¡°It¡¯s not human?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t attack it!¡± ¡°I know, because it gave us a clue.¡± The voices came from the man and woman. The voices were different, but it resembled the voices of the crazy couple, Jude and Cordelia. Now that Violent Avnche saw them, the color of their hair and their appearance were also different. The woman was pretty. She looked like Cordelia. But her hair was blonde, and she had a fiercer impression. The man was handsome. He also looked like Jude. But his hair was blue, not ck. The color of his eyes was also blue, not green. ¡®He¡¯s also much bigger.¡¯ Violent Avnche blinked its eyes as soon as it came to its senses. While Violent Avnche was thinking about on what to do, the two people in front of him approached at a terrifying pace towards him, so Violent Avnche raised its arms high. ¡°Wait! I¡¯m not an enemy!¡± ¡°A talking bear cub? How cute¡­no, it¡¯s not the time for this.¡± The blonde woman ¨C Adelia, who came close to Violent Avnche, shook her head once to drive away her thoughts, and then asked, threatening Violent Avnche with the short cane that she was holding in her hand. ¡°Who are you? What is your rtionship with Cordelia? Have you met her?¡± Her eyes looked like she would kill Violent Avnche right away, depending on the answer. Violent Avnche unconsciously flinched and urgently replied. ¡°I am the wild god Violent Avnche! Me and Cordelia are f-friends!¡± ¡°Wild god? Friend?¡± Adelia looked at Violent Avnche sharply. She knew little about thend of barbarians, but this was the first time she had heard of the existence of wild gods. And Ga?l spoke. ¡°Violent Avnche, who was Lady Cordelia with? What is the name of the person she was with?¡± The handsome man ¨C Ga?l, spoke, but his eyes were terrifying. Even more so when Violent Avnche realized that he had pulled out his sword. Violent Avnche unconsciously stepped backwards and fell on its back before it quickly said. ¡°Ju-Jude! Jude and Cordelia! The crazy couple!¡± Violent Avnche closed its eyes and curled its body as much as possible, and Ga?l and Adelia looked back at each other. ¡°It seems to be correct?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t agree with the words?crazy couple.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t too.¡± Crazy couple. Wasn¡¯t those some rude words to describe their younger siblings? Ga?l and Adelia found it strange that those words somehow seemed to be correct, and they unconsciously exchanged smiles, but soon after, the two cleared their throats and turned towards Violent Avnche. Ga?l opened his mouth first. ¡°We won¡¯t hurt you. Please open your eyes.¡± It was definitely a more friendly voice than before. Violent Avnche carefully opened its eyes and saw Ga?l and Adelia. After sniffing with its nose once, Violent Avnche was convinced. ¡®They¡¯re the rtives of Jude and Cordelia!¡¯ Perhaps they¡¯re their older brother and older sister. Because they smelled almost the same as the two. ¡°You said you were Violent Avnche, right? I¡¯m Ga?l Bayer. This is Lady Adelia Chase.¡± Instead of following up Ga?l¡¯s introduction, Adelia stared at Violent Avnche with fierce eyes, and Violent Avnche flinched again and looked at Ga?l as it courageously said. ¡°Are you Jude and Cordelia¡¯s older brother and older sister?¡± ¡°Yes, we came all the way here to look for the two. Do you know where the two are now?¡± His voice was still friendly, but Ga?l stared sharply at Violent Avnche again. Because of that, Violent Avnche gulped in nervousness before it stood up and replied. ¡°I know. The two left to help Gentle Snow Breeze.¡± ¡°Gentle Snow Breeze? What do you mean by they left to help?¡± Adelia¡¯s eyes were still fierce, but Violent Avnche understood it now. Adelia was worried about Cordelia. She was by no means, an evil person. ¡°It¡¯s a long story. It¡¯s not something I can say in a moment. But to tell you one thing in advance, Jude and Cordelia are trying to save the wildnds. From the threat of demons.¡± At Violent Avnche¡¯s words, Ga?l and Adelia looked at each other. It wasn¡¯t as much as their younger siblings, but after traveling together for more than 10 days, the two could somehow understand the thoughts of each other. ¡®You think there¡¯s something going on?¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a simple runaway.¡¯ Ga?l turned his eyes to Violent Avnche again. ¡°Okay, we¡¯ll listen to your story.¡± ¡°Wait! Before that, I have a condition¡­no, a request.¡± ¡°Request? Have you forgotten that we saved your life?¡± Violent Avnche flinched when Adelia sharply retorted. Ga?l spoke as he tried to dissuade Adelia from lifting her magic wand. ¡°Tell us.¡± ¡°We have to go to the Great Storm tribe. Take me to them. I¡¯ll tell you the story of Jude and Cordelia on the way. A-and you need to go to the vige of the Great Storm tribe anyway if you want to get the directions.¡± Because Violent Avnche didn¡¯t know where it currently was. Ga?l slowly nodded his head. ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s do that.¡± ¡°Will it be okay?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a better option. This is an unknown ce for us as well.¡± Ga?l quietly whispered to her ear so that only Adelia would hear it, before he spoke again to Violent Avnche. ¡°We will ept your offer.¡± ¡°Th-thank you.¡± Violent Avnche breathed a sigh of relief and stretched its shoulders, and Adelia looked down at Violent Avnche as she folded her arms. She was shouting that it was cute in her mind, but she still spoke in a cold voice. ¡°We don¡¯t have time. Hurry up and begin guiding us. And start talking too.¡± Since it had spoken about the threat of demons, Jude and Cordelia could be in danger at this very moment. Violent Avnche replied hesitantly to Adelia¡¯s urging. ¡°Th-that.¡± ¡°That?¡± ¡°Do you know where this is first? I got lost¡­¡± Violent Avnche said as it shrank in shame, and Ga?l and Adelia looked at each other. And at the same time, in apletely different ce¡­ ¡°I¡¯ll entrust it to you.¡± ¡°Just trust me.¡± After he bid farewell to Count Bayer, Count Chase flew into the sky with his hands full of luggage. He was headed towards the north. It was in the direction where his two daughters and the others were. T/N: The title of this chapter is ¡®Missed,¡¯ but in Korean, it is a verb that specifically means, to miss each other on the way. A longer one would be, to fail to meet each other because their directions or timings of passing a certain point are different from each other. The title was a bit spoilerish, so I just left it as ¡®missed.¡¯ Chapter 70 - EPISODE 70 – GENTLE SNOW BREEZE (1)

Chapter 70 - EPISODE 70 ¨C GENTLE SNOW BREEZE (1)

Terms used in this chapter: Ondol?¨C a Korean form of underfloor heating that uses direct heat transfer from wood smoke to the underside of a thick masonry floor. Soh-wak-haeng?¨C Korean ng that literally means ¡®little but certain happiness.¡¯ It refers to the small/little happiness which one can get very easily in their daily lives. For example, eating one¡¯s favorite dessert after a long day¡¯s work. It may be something that is small/little, but it certainly makes one happy. Ahjussi?¨C Korean word for uncle, but also used to refer to an older man who is within your parent¡¯s generation. Around the time when Violent Avnche went down alone the rocky mountain and headed on the wrong path, Jude and Cordelia were preparing to rest after they had found a suitable ce to stay for the night. ¡°Only when you have a good floor can you sleep well.¡± Cordelia nodded her head several times as if responding to her own words, and she made a bed by using magic and the witch¡¯s power. After having dug the ground a meter or so from the surface, she ttened the ground. She then used the wooden board as a roof to cover the ce, and cast magic so that they could spend a warm night. ¡®Should I ce a t andrge stone, and then cover it with dirt?¡¯ Wouldn¡¯t it bepletely like an ondol if I heated the stone with magic? ¡°Stone bed, stone bed. Long live the stone bed.¡± Cordelia hummed as she worked on the bed, before she turned to the side. Jude was cooking over the campfire, and the smell was quite good. ¡°Jude, Jude. What¡¯s for dinner?¡± ¡°It¡¯s beef jerky porridge, Madam.¡± He put some chopped beef jerky in the hot water, and then added some of the grains he saved. Afterwards, he seasoned it with salt. It was a simple meal, but Cordelia kept drooling because she had been working hard on preparing their sleeping ce. ¡°It looks delicious.¡± ¡°It is delicious. I made it after all.¡± ¡°Hmph, I look forward to it.¡± Despite Jude¡¯s impudence, Cordelia was already used to it now. She hummed a little more, and then nodded her head after she covered the newly made bed with a waterproof cloth. ¡°Hmm, good. It¡¯s well made.¡± The size of the waterproof cloth was not so wide, but it was enough for two people to lie down on. ¡°Are you done?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m done. What about our meal?¡± ¡°I¡¯m also done cooking.¡± ¡°I¡¯m excited.¡± Cordelia danced with a slight wiggle of her hips before she rushed to Jude¡¯s side, and Jude involuntarilyughed. ¡°Why are youughing?¡± ¡°Because what you did was cute.¡± ¡°Hmph, don¡¯t you know soh-wak-haeng? Little but certain happiness. People need happiness, whether it¡¯s big or small.¡± Little but certain happiness. Although it wasmentable that the happiness of the iparably beautiful girl and esteemed daughter of Count Chase, one of the 12 northern families, was the food that they were going to eat this day, Jude agreed with Cordelia¡¯s opinion itself. ¡°You¡¯re right, little but certain happiness is important.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, that¡¯s right.¡± Perhaps because Jude agreed with her immediately, Cordelia felt better and swallowed a spoonful of the jerky porridge that Jude passed on to her. ¡°How is it?¡± ¡°Delicious.¡± It was hot so she couldn¡¯t speak properly, but Cordelia had a contented smile, and Jude also began eating. ¡°But Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Madam.¡± ¡°First of all, we saved Red Gale ahjussi.¡± ¡°Yes, we did. The curse won¡¯t get any worse now.¡± ¡°So what¡¯s our next n?¡± Cordelia roughly knew of their n in the wildnds. As they had said while convincing Violent Avnche, their immediate task was to prevent the Angry Bull tribe from unifying the barbarians. But this was not enough. She needed a detailed n. ¡°First¡­we need to create an Eastern Alliance that is centered on Red Gale.¡± ¡°To fight against Seven Horns and the Angry Bull tribe?¡± ¡°Well, seeing that they¡¯ve already reached this ce, it¡¯s likely that they¡¯ve already moved in the western region of the wildnds.¡± It would be stupid for them to send a military expedition in this faraway ce when they haven¡¯t organized and conquered the surrounding tribes near them first. Cordelia also nodded as if she understood it. ¡°What¡¯s next?¡± ¡°We should rally the wild gods of the eastern region too. The Devil¡¯s Eye would have killed or corrupted the wild gods of the western region. Now that I think about it, it seems like Violent Avnche was one of the enemies in the game.¡± ¡°Violent Avnche?¡± ¡°Yes, do you remember the undead bear that appeared in the middle of Act 2? It had an awful knockback attack.¡± ¡°Uh¡­ah! I remember. Right. Come to think of it, they looked a bit simr.¡± As Jude had said, the bear was in an undead state, so it was literally half-rotten when it appeared, but now that they thought about it, that bear seemed to be Violent Avnche. ¡°To confront the corrupted wild gods, we also need the help of other wild gods. Moreover, we have to fight against the Devil¡¯s Eye.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­you¡¯re right. Mid-ranking demonic humans are already too much for us, so we¡¯ll be unable toe up with a solution if a high-ranking demonic human appears too.¡± It was almost impossible for the power of the current Jude and Cordelia to defeat high-ranking demonic humans. So their n was to let those who can deal with those enemies to be on their side. ¡®Of course, the best thing that we could do is for the two of us to be stronger.¡¯ Jude and Cordelia¡¯s levels were already considerably higher than when they first entered the wildnds. Moreover, both Jude and Cordelia still had plenty of room for growth. ¡®Because the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors is still just at the second door. Furthermore¡­once we meet Lena and obtain the angelic blood, Cordelia would be able to use the Ancestral Regression technique.¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s Fallen Angel mode that he wished to see would then be possible. ¡®I¡¯m looking forward to it.¡¯ Jude briefly imagined the appearance of Cordelia¡¯s awakening as a fallen angel, and Cordelia pped Jude on the back. ¡°Oww! Why?¡± ¡°No, I feel like you¡¯re thinking of something insidious.¡± ¡°Anyway.¡± ¡°What is it? Were you really thinking of something insidious?¡± Instead of answering, Jude diverted the conversation to another topic. ¡°Red Gale is both a powerful warrior and shaman too. If it¡¯s only a curse, he¡¯d be able to deal with Seven Horns.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t change the topic.¡± Cordelia stared at Jude for a while, but it was only for a moment. She soon joined Jude¡¯s conversation. ¡°There must be strong men among the warriors and chieftains of the other tribes, right?¡± ¡°I guess so. There must be some wild gods who specialized in fighting too.¡± ¡°And Lena.¡± ¡°Yes, Lena.¡± She was one of the five main characters in the first episode of?Legend of Heroes. It was highly unlikely that she was on the same level as Landius and Kamael, whose strength were already beyond this world, but her strength would still be really powerful. ¡°Uh¡­if I knew where she is right now, I would have gone running immediately.¡± Cordelia said as her shoulders drooped, and Jude nodded as he agreed with her. ¡°Because there are many hidden mysteries regarding Lena¡¯s death.¡± Lena¡¯s death in?Legend of Heroes 2?was shown in a cinematic movie. However, the problem was not that it appeared in ordance with the story of the main character, but the fact that a cinematic movie unexpectedly appeared at a certain time. ¡®Because we only know the ce and time.¡¯ In fact, the location itself was unclear, but some of the rotten waters of?Legend of Heroes 2?estimated the location based on the background from the cinematic movie. ¡®Raptor Canyon.¡¯ Lena died there. So they had to arrive there in advance and stop Lena¡¯s death. ¡°Raptor Canyon is in the north of the eastern part of the wildnds, right?¡± ¡°Yes, so it¡¯s close to the Argon Empire.¡± Kirara, one of the yable characters from the wildnds, left the wildnd at the beginning of the game and run away at night towards the Argon Empire, and Raptor Canyon was along the route she took. ¡°Hmm¡­it¡¯s not that we are pressed for time, but it¡¯s rather tight.¡± ¡°We have no choice but to leave the establishment of the Eastern Alliance to Red Gale and Violent Avnche. Of course, we can invite the eastern tribes that we meet on our way to our destination.¡± ¡°How do we do that?¡± ¡°This or that.¡± ¡°Hmph, you scammer.¡± Cordelia stuck out her tongue, but her eyes were smiling. She was already skilled in helping Jude with his scams. ¡®It¡¯s fallen, it¡¯s fallen. She hasn¡¯t be a fallen angel yet, but she¡¯s already been corrupted.¡¯ But somehow, Jude unconsciously felt proud. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s wash and sleep after we¡¯ve finished eating.¡± ¡°I want to take a bath, a bath.¡± The idea of making a hot spring and taking a bath was still a bit unreasonable. Therefore, Cordelia wiped her face and neck clean with water that was made by melting the snow, before she lied down. ¡°Haa¡­I had a hard time today again.¡± ¡°Have a good rest.¡± ¡°Yes, you too.¡± That was it. Cordelia fell into deep sleep right away, and Judeughed in admiration at that before he covered her with a nket. *** The next morning. Jude and Cordelia left early as they followed the map given by Violent Avnche and proceeded to the northeast where Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s sanctuary was located. Cordelia couldn¡¯t tell where they were because of the snow everywhere, but there was no hesitation in her steps. Because the almighty JudeWiki was by her side. ¡°JudeWiki, we¡¯re going in the right direction, right?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡± Jude had already packed apass from the very beginning when they left home. At the time when Violent Avnche was lost in the snowfield, Jude and Cordelia steadily moved towards the right direction. Thus, one more day passed. By the third day around lunch time, Jude and Cordelia beheld the sanctuary of Gentle Snow Breeze with their eyes. *** The sanctuary of Gentle Snow Breeze was in arge basin, but it was actually very easy to recognize even without the basin. This is because of the sudden change in environment by just arriving near that area. ¡°There¡¯s no snow.¡± They had been in a snowfield up until now, but there was no snow from a certain area, as if a line had been drawn. Although the weather was also chilly, the weather was at least like autumn. It couldn¡¯t evenpare to other ces that were extreme enough like Frost Anvil. ¡®Is this the power of a wild god?¡¯ It was the reason why the barbarians can live in the wildnds. The vast field was full of green vegetation. It seemed that farming, as well as raising livestock, was possible here. Cordelia was briefly fascinated by thendscape that suddenly changed, but at some point, she raised her head. ¡°They¡¯re fighting.¡± It was as she said. As they climbed up the low hill, they saw the entrance to the basin beyond the wide field. There were hundreds of people fighting around the vige walls. Jude and Cordelia automatically lowered their positions, before they grasped the situation of the battlefield. The ones attacking the wall were monsters and people who wore helmets that have horns on it, and the attacking side¡¯s troops were three times stronger than the defensive side. ¡°They won¡¯tst long.¡± It was as Cordelia said. The defending side was holding on quite well, but it was visible that they were struggling. If they had arrived an hourte, they would have seen a wall that had already been copsed. But what should they do? Should the two rush alone towards the hundreds of soldiers? ¡°I have an idea.¡± Jude said, and a smile spread over Cordelia¡¯s face. *** Madgar, a mid-ranking demonic human of the Devil¡¯s Eye, looked at the battlefield with cold eyes. The warriors of the Angry Bull tribe were waging an onught with monsters that they summoned from hell. Thanks to the Spear of Corruption that Haraken received from Belial, Gentle Snow Breeze couldn¡¯t properly use her strength. This is because the Spear of Corruption was stuck in the dragon vein and suppressed the divine power of Gentle Snow Breeze. Of course, the defending troops were doing all they can to support the warriors that were working hard to remove the Spear of Corruption, but it was useless in the first ce. The number of tribesmen who worshipped Gentle Snow Breeze was small. Although each and everyone of them were strong warriors, the Angry Bull tribe was the most powerful group of warriors in the entire wildnd. They were even strengthened by the power of Belial, and their number was three times that of the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe, so it was hard for the defending side to ovee it. ¡®It¡¯s only a matter of time.¡¯ They have endured well, but it was over now. After destroying the walls and annihting the tribe of Gentle Snow Breeze, they would capture the wild god. ¡°Break it! Kill them! Destroy them!¡± There was power in Madgar¡¯s words, as she wore the bones of a beast on her head, rather than a helmet. As a shaman, her body was filled with patterns drawn with colored paint, and an evil power shook from the skeleton staff she held in his hand. Madgar closed her eyes and smiled. She savored the current situation as if she was tasting delicacies. ¡®I¡¯m different from that stupid Zarakul.¡¯ Zarakul had failed his mission to capture Violent Avnche even though it didn¡¯t have a tribe. He was a stupid bastard. But Madgar didn¡¯t hate him. Zarakul was already dead, and because of his major failure, Madgar had another chance to contribute for herself. ¡®The day I¡¯ll be a high-ranking demonic human is not far away.¡¯ The goals of the demonic humans of the Devil¡¯s Eye were all the same. To get closer to Belial. After bing a high-ranking demonic human, the path to bing a demon prince, a superior demon, would also open. Madgar smiled as she imagined the future that was still far away, but she would surely achieve. But suddenly, she heard the screams of the Angry Bull tribe. ¡°Huh?!¡± ¡°Master Madgar!¡± Madgar hurriedly opened her eyes to the cries of the startled warriors. There was no significant change in front of her. The bloody warriors of the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe, and the almost destroyed walls were just as it was before. But things have changed. Neither the attacking side nor the defending side were fighting. Everyone looked at the same ce with the same stunned faces. At the direction everyone was looking at¡­ Madgar turned. And she saw. ¡°Crazy.¡± Raging waves of fire were moving forward and burning the whole field. A huge and fierce wildfire was attacking their backs. Chapter 71 - EPISODE 71 – GENTLE SNOW BREEZE (2)

Chapter 71 - EPISODE 71 ¨C GENTLE SNOW BREEZE (2)

I made a mistakest chapter. Madgar was actually a woman. I¡¯ve revised the previous chapter to reflect that. And here¡¯s a picture of a blue evening primrose, because it¡¯s referred to in this chapter: The fire¡¯s momentum was terrifying. The heat spread to the sky, and the mes greatly rose and seemingly reached several meters in height alone. ¡°Master Madgar!¡± ¡°You must run away!¡± The warriors of the Angry Bull tribe were running about in confusion as they cried out. It was a natural reaction. They were in a situation where the raging mes wereing at them like a tsunami. ¡°You Gentle Snow Breeze bastards! Have youpletely lost your minds!¡± To use mes in a ce like this. Are you saying that you want to die together?! However, the mes have already began to burn everything. Madgar urgently ordered then. ¡°Retreat! Leave the battlefield!¡± Madgar gave her orders, and everyone no longer waited. The warriors of the Angry Bull tribe began running like wild beasts as they avoided the wildfire, and Madgar also began to run as she used magic to strengthen her legs. And the mes closely followed the warriors of the Angry Bull tribe. ¡°The wind?!¡± The wind roughly blew. It previously blew from the south to the north, but now, it turned towards the fleeing Angry Bull tribe. The mes naturally began to follow the wind too. ¡°Ahhhhhh!¡± With her arms raised high, Cordelia made a dying sound rather than a spirited shout, and the golden tattoo on her left arm continued to shine brightly. ¡°This is hard! It¡¯s so hard that I feel like I¡¯m dying!¡± Controlling the gusts of wind in a windless area was much harder than before. The amount of wind that she had to handle was much greater as she had to control the widespread mes in the vast field. ¡°Ugh-!¡± Cordelia¡¯s legs trembled. It was so hard that she was in tears. Jude hurriedly opened a mana potion and shoved its contents on Cordelia¡¯s mouth. ¡°Sob¡­sob¡­¡± ¡°Hang in there! You¡¯ll die if something goes wrong!¡± ¡°Bwastwad! Fwak!¡± Cordelia couldn¡¯t swear because she was swallowing the contents of the mana potion, but Jude could tell what she wanted to say just by looking at her eyes. But as Jude had said, failure to control the mes may result to them dying together. Cordelia focused and concentrated again. And then there were people who helped Cordelia. ¡°The shamans of the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe!¡± Jude eximed as he looked towards the walls. Just as Great Storm was a wild god of the wind as his name implied, Gentle Snow Breeze was also a wild god who controlled the wind. A strong wind blew as two shamans wearing colorful ornaments chanted their spells while on the wall. They controlled the flow of the wind in the same direction as Cordelia, so it became easier to control the mes. ¡°As expected! It¡¯s going ording to n!¡± Jude cheered as he had anticipated that the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe would help, and Cordelia decided that she would definitely smack Jude in the backter, but for now, she used the power again. ¡°Go!¡± The controlled mes turned into a raging fire and struck the Angry Bull tribe. Because the mes raged over such a wide area, a number of people were unable to escape and were swept away by the mes, and the intense smoke also slowed down the warriors¡¯ feet. ¡°Ahhhhh!¡± ¡°Master Madgar!¡± No matter how powerful the warriors of the Angry Bull tribe were, they were helpless against the mes. As the warriors cried out, Madgar yelled in anger and raised her skeleton staff high. ¡°Pour down! Strike it! Heavy rain! Heaven¡¯s Tears!¡± Prior to being a mid-ranking demonic human, Madgar was a powerful shaman of the Angry Bull tribe. After she almost used up an enormous amount of mana, the heavens immediately reacted. Shaaaaaa-! Rain poured down from the sky. It was far from enough to cover the entire field, but it was enough to intensively strike the mes. The mes began to die down. However, it did notpletely die down. Having consumed an enormous amount of mana at once, Madgar shouted in exhaustion. ¡°Retreat! Retreat!¡± Although it was only for a short time, the damage caused by the fire was great. In addition, Madgar herself had exhausted her mana, so they had to step back for now and reorganize themselves. ¡°Retreat!¡± ¡°Go back!¡± Several warriors of the Angry Bull tribe guided the other warriors with gs, and the warriors who were in a mess because of the fire, smoke, and heavy rain, hurriedly left the basin. After a dozen minutes¡­ The rain stopped, and the mes disappeared. The warriors of the Angry Bull tribe had run away. ¡°Good, as we had nned.¡± Jude broadly smiled, and Cordelia copsed onto the floor. ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­¡± It was really, really hard. She no longer had any strength left to remain standing. Jude said as he deftly carried Cordelia on his back. ¡°Good job, Gold. As expected of Gold. I¡¯m d that I¡¯m Silver.¡± Because the blessing of the wind was only in the golden tattoo. In the midst of this, Cordelia tried to strangle the cheeky Jude, and Jude began to walk forward. Their destination was naturally towards the walls of the Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s tribe. *** ¡°What the hell were you doing! Did you want to die together?!¡± It was good that the gate opened as soon as they approached the wall, but not after that. Because one of the shamans who helped Cordelia control the wind had yelled in anger. In fact, what the shaman said was true. If the fire had spread across the basin, the mes would have burned the walls to the ground without care. ¡°Stop it, Fine Snow. It was a reckless act, but thanks to them, the enemies withdrew.¡± ¡°But brother!¡± ¡°I¡¯m not saying that you¡¯re wrong. But let¡¯s postpone that for now. We have more urgent things to discuss.¡± When the ck-haired shaman with blue feathers on his head, spoke as if he wasforting the other, the blue-haired shaman with red feathers closed his mouth with a look of discontent. The blue-feathered shaman said as he looked back at Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Nice to meet you. Warriors of Great Storm. I am Clear Snow who serves Gentle Snow Breeze. And this is my younger brother, Fine Snow.¡± Although Cordelia didn¡¯t know thenguage of the barbarians, she could understand what they were saying with her senses. ¡®Are they introducing themselves?¡¯ ¡®Yes.¡¯ Jude nodded his head before he responded in the barbariannguage, though it was on an amateur level. ¡°Nice to meet you. I¡¯m Jude. This is Cordelia. We came to help Gentle Snow Breeze. Great Storm, Violent Avnche, sent us.¡± Each tribe living in the wildnds had a slightly different lineage. Unlike the Great Storm tribe who inherited the blood of the winter elves, the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe inherited the ancient dwarves¡¯ lineage. Therefore, there were many people with a rather short stature and sturdy physique, and the same was true for the shamans, Clear Snow and Fine Snow. ¡°Hmm, as expected. Gentle Snow Breeze wants to see you. Follow me.¡± To begin with, Clear Snow had witnessed Cordelia using the power of Great Storm. There was even the words of Gentle Snow Breeze, so even if Jude and Cordelia pretended to be from the S?len Kingdom, they weren¡¯t particrly wary or suspicious of the two. ¡°I understand. We¡¯ll follow you.¡± Jude immediately replied, and after he conveyed the shaman¡¯s words to Cordelia, he followed Clear Snow. ¡®It¡¯s a small vige.¡¯ Jude avoided the gaze of the unfriendly Fine Snow as he looked around, and he was able to estimate the size and poption of the vige. ¡®The poption is about 300 to 400?¡¯ The interior of the basin was mostly farnd, but the area where people lived was not that wide. ¡®Everyone is exhausted.¡¯ Due to the battle thatsted for several days, everyone was exhausted regardless of age or sex. Had it not been for Jude and Cordelia¡¯s intervention, the Angry Bull tribe would have ravaged the vige by night. ¡°This way.¡± Clear Snow led Jude and Cordelia into a temple that was built in front of ake. It was a temple made of wood, though Jude and Cordelia felt it was just a slightly big wood cabin. But still, it was thergest building in the basin. ¡°O Gentle Snow Breeze, we have brought the warriors of Great Storm.¡± They saw a pair of feet hanging down from inside the cleanly wiped temple, and inside it, a person¡¯s silhouette was seen. As Clear Snow spoke and bowed his head in front of the feet, a voice came from the other side. ¡°Thank you for your hard work. Send them in.¡± It was a gracious voice that soothed the minds of the listeners. After Jude and Cordelia unconsciously held their breaths in nervousness, they followed Clear Snow and entered the temple. ¡°We greet Gentle Snow Breeze.¡± When Jude and Cordelia spoke together and expressed their courtesies, the little sitting girl had a clear smile. ¡°Nice to meet you. I¡¯m Gentle Snow Breeze.¡± The sight of a girl with white hair and big wings was reminiscent of an angel in stories. However, her sickly appearance was clearly shown on her white face. ¡°Thank you for helping. Are you the ones sent by Great Storm older brother?¡± (T/N: They aren¡¯t really siblings, but Gentle Snow Breeze uses ¡®older brother¡¯ to address Great Storm as he is older than her.) As a wild god, Gentle Snow Breeze could talk to them despite their differentnguages. Jude and Cordelia delivered a brief summary of what had happened so far, and Gentle Snow Breeze was deeply troubled. ¡°I can¡¯t believe they destroyed the mountain¡­it¡¯s terrible just imagining it. No matter how evil they are, that¡¯s really cruel.¡± Cordelia cleared her throat as if her conscience was stabbed at Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s words, and Jude said with a calm face. ¡°Violent Avnche sent us in fear that Gentle Snow Breeze would also be attacked. Since the demon followers have taken over the Angry Bull tribe, we must establish an Eastern Alliance to counter them.¡± ¡°I see what you mean. I also think that we have to work together in order to fight against them.¡± Gentle Snow Breeze clenched her fists, slightly moved her body forward, and then continued to speak. ¡°A horde of demon followers did harm to the dragon vein. They attacked the dragon vein with an evil power, so I cannot use my powers properly.¡± That was the reason why Gentle Snow Breeze clearly looked sick. Madgar¡¯s conquest n was to attack the dragon vein to worsen the condition of Gentle Snow Breeze, and then push the tribe into a primitive fight once they lost the powers they got from their wild god. ¡°Without the dragon veins, the wildnds will be inhabitable. Therefore, no one would harm the dragon vein even if there was a quarrel between the wild gods and tribes.¡± That was why Violent Avnche and Gentle Snow Breeze so easily suffered a blow when the dragon vein was attacked. In the first ce, the idea of attacking the dragon vein had long disappeared in the wildnds. ¡°They are suppressing the dragon vein with an evil and powerful object.¡± Gentle Snow Breeze was one of the fairly strong wild gods. However, she was just a small and weak girl now, as her power was suppressed by the damage done to the dragon vein. ¡®If we go with this flow, we¡¯ll get a quest to get rid of the stuff that¡¯s blocking the dragon vein, right?¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s guess was quite reasonable, but Gentle Snow Breeze brought up another story. ¡°The tribe¡¯s warriors have already tried a few times, but the enemy¡¯s defense is strong. It¡¯s impossible to breakthrough head on since they¡¯ve built their main camp in the ce where the dragon vein is suppressed.¡± Sneaking in was also uncertain. Even if they somehow freed the dragon vein, getting out would be a problem. If so, what should they do? Cordelia frowned as she tried to figure out on what they should do, but Jude only looked at Gentle Snow Breeze. Because he thought that she wouldn¡¯t have brought up this story if she didn¡¯t have second-best option in the first ce. ¡°I need the Essence of the Blue Moon.¡± Though Jude knew about almost everything in?Legend of Heroes 2, this was the first time he had heard of it. Gentle Snow Breeze continued to exin. ¡°Not far from here is a ce called Moonlight Hill. The dewdrops of the evening primroses blooming there,bined with the essence of the moonlight, is what is called the Essence of the Blue Moon.¡± The mere mention of it made it seem like it was an item with extraordinary power. ¡°Once a month, every time the Fantasy Moons rises, the Essence of the Blue Moon appears. It is something that receives the full moonlight.¡± She was talking about the phenomenon when the two moons in the sky would look like to be the same in size. Jude reckoned that it would be tomorrow. ¡°Even the animals don¡¯t approach the Moonlight Hill because the Essence of the Blue Moon itself has a property that revitalizes the vitality of the fields. They¡¯re afraid that they might harm the Essence of the Blue Moon. But¡­now is not the time to worry about that.¡± He had a rough idea on what the situation was about. ¡°You intend to restore your strength with the Essence of the Blue Moon.¡± ¡°Yes, with the Essence of the Blue Moon, I¡¯ll be able to use my abilities even without the dragon vein. If I use that power to remove the evil object that is damaging the dragon vein, I¡¯ll be able to use my full power without the Essence of the Blue Moon then.¡± The sanctuary and her tribe had already been attacked. Gentle Snow Breeze had no intention of forgiving the group of demon followers who attacked them. ¡°It¡¯s highly likely that they know of the Essence of Blue Moon if they know so much about the dragon vein. Warriors of Great Storm, I¡¯m ashamed of it, but my children are tired and injured from the continuous fighting and their urgency to protect this ce. May I ask you to bring the Essence of the Blue Moon to me?¡± At her careful question, Jude turned to Cordelia, and Cordelia nodded as if she didn¡¯t have to think about it. ¡°We will bring the Essence of the Blue Moon.¡± ¡°Thank you very much. My protection will be with you two.¡± As Gentle Snow Breeze said that and smiled, colorful patterns were added like decorations to Great Storm¡¯s tattoo patterns. Since Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s power was suppressed, there was no magic in the patterns right now, but when she recovers her powers, her protection/blessing would activate. ¡°Clear Snow will exin the details. If there¡¯s anything you need, just tell us.¡± ¡°Anything?¡± ¡°Yes, anything.¡± ¡°We appreciate it. We will do so then.¡± After Jude and Cordelia responded immediately, they left the temple and Gentle Snow Breeze, who was left behind, did not even felt suspicious of them. ¡°Let¡¯s leave behind our conscience.¡± ¡°Because we need to obtain the Essence of the Blue Moon.¡± In fact, the two had almost run out of food and mana potions. So hearing Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s words was just perfect timing for them, since they needed to resupply their provisions. ¡°Did you have a good conversation?¡± Just in time, Clear Snow came and asked them, and Jude and Cordelia nodded. The two then simultaneously spoke. ¡°Please guide us to the armory.¡± ¡°Supplies storage. Please guide.¡± Clear Snow had a somewhat ufortable feeling at the sparkling eyes of the two, but he soon nodded. *** Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s prediction wasn¡¯t wrong. Once they had retreated to their main camp, Madgar thought as she looked at the Spear of Corruption, Belial¡¯s secret weapon, that was currently suppressing the dragon vein. ¡®The Essence of the Blue Moon.¡¯ Madgar was originally a shaman from the wildnds. Before meeting Haraken, she was originally called Blue Starlight, so of course, she knew about the Fantasy Moons and also of the Essence of Blue Moon. Her original n was to capture Gentle Snow Breeze and then take the Essence of the Blue Moon in her free time, but all her ns were ruined by the big fire that urred. ¡®It¡¯s obvious that Gentle Snow Breeze will try to obtain the Essence of the Blue Moon.¡¯ However, she would not be able to send a lot of troops. Even the troops who were protecting the basin werecking in number. Therefore, Madgar herself did not need to send a lot of troops too. Rather, it was better to suppress Gentle Snow Breeze and the basin. But Madgar thought differently. ¡®Those who started the fire.¡¯ Who was it? Was it Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s troops? It can¡¯t be. There were plenty of times that they could have started the fire before. Moreover, burning a field is not something a wild god would do, especially a kind one like Gentle Snow Breeze. ¡®Zarakul¡¯s death.¡¯ The direction in which the mes first urred coincided with the southwest direction, where Violent Avnche¡¯s mountain was located. It could have been a mere coincidence, but Madgar believed in her intuition. ¡®We¡¯ll continue suppressing them.¡¯ Tomorrow morning, as soon as they replenished themselves, they leave the main camp and attack the basin again. And Madgar herself would head to the Moonlight Hill. She would take the Essence of the Blue Moon and trample their only possibility of survival. Madgar slowly nodded. In front of the Spear of Corruption which contained Belial¡¯s power, she held her hands together as if she was praying. *** ¡°Let¡¯s start right away.¡± Cordelia, who was adding feather decorations to her rabbit ears headband, blinked at Jude¡¯s words. ¡°We¡¯ll go there in advance?¡± ¡°If it¡¯s a vacant area that no one has upied, it would be more advantageous to ambush them in advance.¡± The Essence of the Blue Moon would appear tomorrow, but it was not necessary to start tomorrow. ¡°The Angry Bull tribe has now retreated to their main camp. Even if they¡¯re aiming for the Essence of the Blue Moon as Gentle Snow Breeze said¡­their departure will beter than us. They¡¯re geographically farther.¡± ¡°Will they reallye?¡± ¡°It would be better to assume that they areing.¡± It would be much safer if they assumed the worst and moved ordingly. ¡°Uh¡­then I¡¯m homeless again today.¡± They had finally reached a vige after a long time. The crestfallen Cordelia drooped her shoulders, but she did not insist on staying. ¡°Let¡¯s go quickly with what we¡¯ve nned. If we go quickly, I¡¯ll be able to make the bed quickly, and then I can sleep early. I¡¯m about to die because of someone who made me work hard.¡± ¡°I understand, Princess.¡± After checking Cordelia¡¯s condition, Jude immediately conveyed to Clear Snow about their intentions to begin. ¡°You mean right now?¡± ¡°Yes, right now. So hurry up.¡± Clear Snow looked up at the dark sky for a moment after hearing Jude¡¯s answer, but he didn¡¯t particrlyin. ¡°Gounko is a clever guy. He¡¯ll take you well to the Moonlight Hill. May the blessing of Gentle Snow Breeze be with you.¡± ¡°May the blessing of Great Storm be with you.¡± Jude and Cordelia responded to Clear Snow, and then rode on arge stag named Gounko. And that night, when it was nearing midnight¡­ After arriving at Moonlight Hill, Jude and Cordelia let out voices of admiration. ¡°Amazing.¡± ¡°Pretty.¡± The sight of blue flowers on a hill covered with white snow was a really mysterious sight. Moonlight and the starlight, with the white snow reflecting them. It was rtively bright even in the middle of the night, so it was possible to check the surrounding area, and Jude frowned as he saw the Moonlight Hill that was wider than he expected. ¡®The good news is that there¡¯s only a single road.¡¯ Moonlight Hill was the end of a slope, so it was virtually no different from a cliff. Thendform was about 30 meters high, which was too low to be called a mountain, but was quite high for a hill. It was like a cliff that seemed to have its sides shaved, except on the one side going up. ¡®Is it best to block the road until the Essence of the Blue Moon appears, and then run away?¡¯ Then how will they block the road? While Jude was contemting this and that, Cordelia began digging the ground after viewing the evening primroses. It was to make a bed. ¡°Let¡¯s sleep and then think about it tomorrow¡­what is it?¡± Jude stood still and contemted as he looked at Cordelia, or rather, as he enthusiastically gazed at the pit that Cordelia had begun to dig. ¡°Sure enough.¡± ¡°Sure enough what?¡± At Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude smiled and sat close to her as he began to exin. It was a conversation that made Cordelia smile like usual. Chapter 72 - EPISODE 72 – ROTTEN WATER (1)

Chapter 72 - EPISODE 72 ¨C ROTTEN WATER (1)

Jude and Cordelia did not know much about the wildnds. This was because the opportunities to visit the wildnds were rare in?Legend of Heroes 2, and even if they could, the area they could visit was very limited. In addition, they were involved in an incident that was not covered in the game because they had to thwart the barbarian invasion, which can be called the central event of the early scenario in?Legend of Heroes 2. Therefore, it was no exaggeration to say that it was an encounter with the unknown, that despite being rotten waters, Jude and Cordelia did not know the beginning, the process, and even the results of the events that were happening at the present time, as they were in the middle of thwarting the enemies¡¯ ns with their own hands. But even so, Jude and Cordelia were rotten waters. Though they may not know of the events that were happening, they still knew about the characters who were involved. ¡°It was Madgar who made it rain.¡± ¡°Mid-ranking demonic human of the Devil¡¯s Eye, a shaman.¡± ¡°She was originally from the Angry Bull tribe. She was abandoned once by her master who was a great shaman, but she met Haraken and gained the power of the demons, bing a powerful demonic shaman.¡± ¡°Her aggressive nature is viewed favorably. She¡¯s sess-oriented and cautious. She has a lot of doubts due to being abandoned once by her master.¡± ¡°She has a personality that prefers to handle everything with her own hands.¡± ¡°She¡¯s too confident.¡± ¡°An arrogant personality.¡± Having spoken so far, Jude and Cordelia looked at each other, and Cordelia said in bewilderment. ¡°Crazy b*stard, did you memorize Madgar¡¯s personality rather than her stats?¡± ¡°Hey, of course I memorized her stats. But I¡¯m surprised you know a lot too?¡± ¡°I¡¯m as?rotten?like everyone else is.¡± ¡°You¡¯re perfectly?rotten. Are you?oil?now?¡± ¡°Stop that?oil?nonsense.¡± ¡°Yes, Madam.¡± T/N: Recap in case you forgot ¨C ¡®rotten¡¯ refers to ¡®rotten water.¡¯ And ¡®oil¡¯ refers to someone who¡¯s higher than ¡®rotten water.¡¯ All of these just refer to people who have yed a game for a long time. ¡®Oil¡¯ refers to fossil fuels, which have been around for a very long time, so Koreans ended up using it as a rted ng to rotten water. After the two rotten waters finished plimenting¡¯ each other, they looked towards the front, or more specifically, they looked down the ambush point. ¡°They came.¡± Jude said in a low voice, and Cordelia held her breath. The two were lying down on top of a high peak, and not on Moonlight Hill. There was a high peak overlooking the path that led to Moonlight Hill, and the path that led to Madgar¡¯s main camp too. Waiting for them since morning was worth it, as they were able to confirm that the warriors of the Angry Bull tribe really came. ¡®As expected.¡¯ ¡®Sure enough.¡¯ Madgar was situated in the middle of the warriors¡¯ ranks. She was easily recognizable from afar because of her helmet made of a beast¡¯s bones, and her skeleton staff. After their confirmation, the two crawled and moved a little further down from their original positions, before they looked at each other. ¡®Madgar really came.¡¯ As she was originally from the Angry Bull tribe, Madgar knew well about the wildnds. So she obviously knew about the Essence of the Blue Moon, and of the location of Moonlight Hill. Madgar was skeptical and had a personality that preferred to handle important matters on her own. That was why Jude and Cordelia had thought. It was highly likely that Madgar woulde to take the Essence of the Blue Moon. And that prediction had be a reality. So Cordelia gestured to Jude with her eyes, and Jude nodded his head. ¡®Let¡¯s go as nned.¡¯ It was their contingency n in case Madgar herself came here. A smile spread over Cordelia¡¯s face, and the two quietly stood up from their spot. They hurriedly moved to get ahead of Madgar and her group. *** Madgar¡¯s eyes narrowed when they arrived on Moonlight Hill. Moonlight Hill was a ce where animals did not enter, but there was no indication of any human presence around the hill. ¡®Indeed, it¡¯s a trap.¡¯ For the cornered Gentle Snow Breeze, her only hope was the Essence of the Blue Moon. But if the ce was so quiet, Madgar couldn¡¯t help but think that there was a trap. ¡°Master Madgar?¡± ¡°Wait.¡± Madgar stopped the warriors of the Angry Bull tribe, as she looked at the only path up the hill, and she soon giggled. ¡°How shoddy.¡± Although it seemed like they tried hard to hide it, Madgar could see the traces of aid trap in the middle of the pathway. While it was clean up and down the hill, there were footprints in the middle of the path. ¡°It looks like they¡¯ve set up traps in the pathway.¡± At Madgar¡¯s words, her aide and the warriors were surprised and looked at the pathway. Madgar kindly pointed to the footprints in the middle of the path and said. ¡°Perhaps they¡¯re waiting in ambush up the hill. But that¡¯s just a foolish act. We don¡¯t necessarily need the Essence of the Blue Moon.¡± Her aide tilted his head as he was unsure of what Madgar meant, but it was only for a short time. He soon opened his eyes wide in admiration. ¡°Ah!¡± ¡°Yes, our purpose is to keep Gentle Snow Breeze from getting the Essence of the Blue Moon. We don¡¯t have to get the Essence of the Blue Moon. And even if the Essence of the Blue Moon is right there, the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe cannot get it until the Fantasy Moons rises.¡± In other words, she meant that they could just encircle the surrounding area without having to go up the hill. ¡°Even if they get the Essence of the Blue Moon, they eventually have toe down the hill to return. We just have to wait. We don¡¯t have to go up the stage they made.¡± ¡°Oooh¡­¡± All of the warriors of the Angry Bull tribe admired Madgar¡¯s exnation. They liked battles, but not all battles. What the warriors of the Angry Bull tribe liked was a winning battle. Madgar looked at the pathway and the hill beyond it again, and she scornfullyughed as she said. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be nice to see how patient they are? Spread out and take a rest!¡± ¡°Yes, master!¡± The warriors who followed Madgar went to their positions to monitor the entire Moonlight Hill, and afterwards, they began to rest, such as sitting down or putting down their weapons. ¡®You¡¯ll be the first to run out of patience.¡¯ Time was on Madgar¡¯s side. It was no exaggeration to say that the difference was like heaven and earth for those who would win after tonight, and those who would lose theirst hope after tonight. ¡°Foolish ones.¡± Madgar smiled again before she sat in afortable position and began meditating. And an hour passed¡­another two hours passed¡­ It was sunset atst. Madgar slowly opened her eyes and frowned as she saw the spreading sunset in the sky. ¡®They¡¯re more patient than I thought.¡¯ Perhaps they were thinking of moving at the moment when the Essence of the Blue Moon appears. Madgar gazed at the still quiet Moonlight Hill, before she gestured with her jaw to the warriors as her eyes squinted. It was almost time for the Fantasy Moons to rise, so a battle in any form would begin soon. A few minutes passed. When darkness spread over the sunset and the curtains of night unfolded. The moonlight flowed down. Light came from the two moons that floated between the starlight, and the evening primroses on the hill opened their buds all at once to greet the moonlight. In addition¡­ The warriors of the Angry Bull tribe, who were watching from below, unconsciously eximed. The water droplets among the blooming evening primroses seemingly soared up, and soon after, a concentration of blue light appeared in the center of the hill. ¡°The Essence of the Blue Moon.¡± An excited voice flowed out of Madgar¡¯s lips. They were far away from it, yet she couldn¡¯t help but be distracted. The moonlight¡¯s essence was visible in the center of the blue light. A beautiful and unique blue jewel was floating in the air. ¡°Ahh¡­¡± Madgar quickly opened her eyes, after letting out an exmation again. Because now was the perfect time for those who lie in wait on the hill to reveal themselves. The warriors of the Angry Bull tribe also sensed it. They each pulled their weapons and adjusted their positions, as they breathed like predators waiting for their prey. One minute passed. Two minutes passed this time. ¡°Master¡­Madgar?¡± Her aide turned to Madgar, and Madgar frowned. Were they aiming to attack after some dy in time? Were they inducing us to be caught off-guard by waiting for us and not immediately taking the Essence of the Blue Moon? It wasn¡¯t. It wasn¡¯t that. ¡°Go up!¡± The warriors immediately responded to Madgar¡¯s orders. As soon as they sprinted along the hill¡¯s slope, a response instantly urred. Bang! Bang! Bang! Explosions broke out all over the slope. The warriors who couldn¡¯t escape were caught in the explosion, and Madgar was spontaneously relieved. I was right. There was a trap. There were people here as expected. But after a while. No one took the Essence of the Blue Moon even when the trap was triggered, and everyone was confused. What happened? Did they give up on the Essence of the Blue Moon? ¡°Get out of my way!¡± Madgar burst into anger as she ran straight up the slope. Some traps were triggered, but she was a mid-ranking demonic human. As she protected herself with her powerful magic, the various traps and explosions were useless against her. ¡°The Essence of the Blue Moon.¡± Having reached the center of the hill at once, Madgar took the Essence of the Blue Moon that was floating in the air. It wasn¡¯t fake. It was real. The jewel that was shining on her palm was the Essence of the Blue Moon. Therefore, Madgar could not understand the situation. The trap was real. The Essence of the Blue Moon was the only hope for Gentle Snow Breeze. However, they neglected the Essence of the Blue Moon. There were even some installed traps, but they didn¡¯t see anyone else in this ce besides them. Howe? What the hell is going on? ¡°Master Madgar!¡± She turned her eyes to the cry of her aide. Her aide¡¯s fingertips were pointing to a flying red bird towards them. It was a shaman¡¯s hawk used by the shamans of the Angry Bull tribe formunication. The direction from where it flew was where their main camp was located. It was the entrance to the basin of the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe. While Madgar took the Essence of the Blue Moon, the main camp¡¯s troops were besieging and pressuring the vige of the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe. The shaman¡¯s hawk came flying from there to inform of an emergency. Why? I told the main force to only besiege them, and not to fight. The Gentle Snow Breeze tribe didn¡¯t have enough power to fight outside their walls. The shaman¡¯s hawk arrived amidst the numerous thoughts swirling on her mind. It opened its mouth wide and shouted. ¡°Emergency! Emergency! The wild god descended!¡± Gentle Snow Breeze. She was a wild god whose power was suppressed and unable to make a move. She was anxiously waiting for the Essence of the Blue Moon to liberate her power. Madgar gazed down on her hand. The Essence of the Blue Moon was there. It wasn¡¯t in Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s hands. But how- ¡°Lie.¡± Madgar understood then. She understood what happened. She realized what had happened. So she turned her gaze. She looked in the direction of the main camp. *** Ten minutes before the Fantasy Moons phenomenon urred. Jude and Cordelia did not fail in getting the essence. It was not the Essence of the Blue Moon that mattered. Gentle Snow Breeze only needed the Essence of the Blue Moon in order to regain her powers in the first ce. ¡°So there was no need to do that.¡± There was no need for them to cling to the Essence of the Blue Moon. There was a more direct way to liberate the power of Gentle Snow Breeze. When they had confirmed that Madgar was headed for Moonlight Hill¡­ Jude and Cordelia immediately began to act. Instead of running towards Moonlight Hill, they frantically ran towards Madgar¡¯s main camp. Their idea was simple. ¡®As long as it¡¯s not Madgar, it¡¯s okay.¡¯ Mid-ranking demonic human Madgar. She was a strong opponent that they couldn¡¯t win against yet if they used their usual methods. They were sure of where she was now. They were sure of where she wasn¡¯t now. Therefore, Jude and Cordelia were able to move freely. Boom! Twenty-Four Gale Steps. Gales and whirlwinds rose. As if in response, Cordelia¡¯s hair was dyed ck, and orbs of mana floated around her. ¡°Defend!¡± ¡°Stop them!¡± Madgar wasn¡¯t a fool. She obviously left behind some forces to defend their main camp. Although there were a few of them, it was the warriors of the Angry Bull tribe, as well as a low-ranking demonic human. ¡°All right, a low-ranking demonic human.¡± Cordelia brightly smiled. A smile also spread on Jude¡¯s face. A low-ranking demonic human ¨C to be exact, it was Karaba, a water-attribute and warrior-type demonic human. Jude narrowed his distance to Karaba at once and used the Holy Cross Punch. As Karaba bounced from the attack, he followed it with Lightning Punch, and Cordelia¡¯s also shot and pierced through Karaba¡¯s chest. ¡°We can¡¯t win against a mid-ranking demonic human yet.¡± They calmly admitted it. Because it was true. And what those words meant was true. Cordelia threw the mana orbs everywhere to stop the warriors of the Angry Bull tribe. Jude took hold of the distressed Karaba and dealt the final hit to Karaba¡¯s chest using the Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword. Shiiing-! A ring of pure white light appeared around Jude and Cordelia. Jude rushed towards the warriors of the Angry Bull tribe this time. He used the protection of the wind barrier to block the arrows and swept them with the Twenty-Four Gale Steps. ¡°Haa!¡± Cordelia roughly used the witch¡¯s power as she advanced towards the Spear of Corruption. As her blue eyes shined, she said with an evil smile. ¡°But if it¡¯s a low-ranking demonic human, we¡¯ll win, right?¡± As long as it¡¯s not Madgar. Only Madgar. She was inside Madgar¡¯s tent. Cordelia tightly grasped the Spear of Corruption. As if she was a warrior who was pulling out a holy sword, she pulled out the demon¡¯s spear and liberated the dragon vein¡¯s power. Chapter 73 - EPISODE 73 – ROTTEN WATER (2)

Chapter 73 - EPISODE 73 ¨C ROTTEN WATER (2)

A brilliant golden light filled their sights. The moment she pulled out the Spear of Corruption, the power of the dragon vein surged and covered the whole area. ¡°Gaaah!¡± ¡°My eyes! My eyes!¡± The warriors of the Angry Bull tribe, who were already corrupted by the power of Belial, were tormented by the sacred power that had been unleashed from the dragon vein. Jude turned to Cordelia, and she nodded. They freed the power of the dragon vein by pulling out the Spear of Corruption, but they did not intend to stop there. Cordelia looked back at where the Spear of Corruption had been thrust. She chanted the spell as she faced the pulsating golden stream under the cracked ground that looked like it was ripped apart. Then shepleted it. Thus, she made it explode! ¡°F*ck bang!¡± The Spear of Cmity struck the dragon vein. It then exploded andpletely made the dragon vein runaway, which had already gone out of control by half. Baaaaaaaaang-! There was a roar. The earth shook one after another, and what Cordelia had hoped for began to happen. ¡°Earthquake! It¡¯s an earthquake!¡± The warriors of the Angry Bull tribe screamed, and the ground that was really shaking began to crack altogether. Jude and Cordelia tried to destroy the main camp itself by making the dragon vein run out of control. ¡°Yahoo!¡± In the midst of the earthquake which cracked the ground and the runaway dragon vein soaring into the sky, Cordelia raised both of her arms up high and brightlyughed, and Jude sighed as he thought that this was his fault. Because the moment he saw her, he imagined that she would look like a perfect?gwang-nyeon-i?if she put a flower in her hair, and that he thought she was pretty despite that. T/N: Koreans have this superstition/presumption that if a woman puts a flower in her hair, it signifies that she is crazy, as in, mentally crazy, psychotic or a mentally disabled woman. They call these women ¡®gwang-nyeon-i¡¯, which means ¡®crazy b*tch.¡¯ How this originated is a mystery, but it still persists up to this day. ¡°Madam!¡± ¡°Dolswe!¡± Despite the shaking of the earth, Jude could still use the Twenty-Four Gale Steps. Jude used the gale to run at once towards Cordelia, and Cordelia leapt towards Jude. ¡°Merge!¡± She wasn¡¯t really serious. As soon as he heard Cordelia¡¯s shout, Jude turned his back, and Cordelia clung on Jude¡¯s back and then pped it. T/N: ¡®Merge¡¯ used here can also bebine, unite, transform, fusion, etc. This word ismonly used in mecha/robot series, where multiple parts mergebine into one giant robot. An example would be the series ¡®Voltes V¡¯, where the team shouts ¡®let¡¯s volt in!¡¯ to merge into one big robot. ¡°Let¡¯s run!¡± Cordelia hugged Jude¡¯s neck with one hand and shouted cheerfully, and Jude fixed Cordelia¡¯s position before he started running again. ¡°Hold on tight!¡± ¡°I¡¯m already holding on tightly!¡± Baang! Jude kicked the ground. Using the whirlwinds, he spurred on the cracked and shaking ground to escape from the Angry Bull tribe¡¯s main camp. There were various loud sounds heard everywhere, such as shattering, breaking, and copsing, as well as the cries of the warriors of the Angry Bull tribe, but Cordelia, who was the main culprit of everything, merrilyughed. ¡°Yay, so exciting!¡± They were then finally outside the impact zone of the earthquake. From above a barren hill, they saw the main camp itself being destroyed and scattered in all directions. ¡°Mission clear.¡± ¡°Good job.¡± At Jude¡¯s praise, Cordelia cleared her throat and said as she stared at the Spear of Corruption in her right hand. ¡°Jude, Gentle Snow Breeze will regain her power now, right?¡± ¡°She¡¯ll regain it. Or rather, I think her power¡¯s restored now.¡± With Cordelia on his back, Jude turned his gaze towards the direction of the basin of the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe. And Cordelia saw it too. A sacred blue light soared up high from that distant ce. *** Madgar saw it too. And she realized. The enemies had pulled out the Spear of Corruption that was blocking the power of the dragon vein. They ignored the Essence of the Blue Moon and attacked the main camp instead. What they needed was not the Essence of the Blue Moon, but the means to restore the power of Gentle Snow Breeze. She confounded the means with the end. And as a result, Gentle Snow Breeze regained her power. ¡°¡­It can¡¯t be.¡± She thought on what the series of events mean. Failure. It was a disastrous and big failure. Madgar herself failed. She screwed up her mission. ¡°No.¡± Madgar¡¯s breathing became rough. He eyes turned bloodshot. Madgar hugged her own shoulders as she muttered in a small voice. ¡°I can¡¯t fail.¡± She couldn¡¯t fail. Master Haraken would abandon me too. He¡¯ll abandon me like my master¡­no, that son of a b*tch that calls himself master. I can¡¯t fail. I mustn¡¯t fail. She was as Jude and Cordelia had analyzed. Madgar was sess-oriented and had an arrogant personality. And the root of that personality was the pain of her past from being abandoned by her master. She couldn¡¯t fail, so she had to seed in everything. So that she wouldn¡¯t be someone that would be abandoned. So that she would be in a position where she wouldn¡¯t be abandoned. She armed herself with arrogance. She sought perfection by doing everything in person. ¡°Failure.¡± Madgar had a strong obsession with sess. So this much failure was uneptable. She would do anything to prevent failure. ¡°Master Madgar?¡± Her aide looked at Madgar with a worried look, and Madgar looked up and saw her aide. Her words poured out. ¡°Sacrifice yourself for the great cause.¡± ¡°Master¡­Madgar?¡± That was it. Madgar¡¯s hand touched her aide¡¯s forehead. Before he could respond, Madgar chanted the spell to activate the technique she had prepared in advance. ¡°Ah? Aaah?!¡± A dark red magic circle was drawn on the whole body of the aide with its center on the forehead. And it wasn¡¯t just the aide. All the twenty or so warriors that Madgar had brought also screamed painfully. ¡°Master Madgar!¡± ¡°Wh-why!¡± Madgar did not answer. She recited the spell and clenched her fists, and at that moment, her aide and other subordinates became pools of blood. They became sacrifices to the magic circle, to be offered to Belial¡¯s altar. Human offering. It was the fastest and surest way to borrow the power of the demon. Madgar closed her eyes. Dark red energy gathered in the ce where her aide and subordinates stood, and the energy rushed forward towards Madgar. ¡°I can¡¯t fail.¡± I must seed. Although the dragon vein was liberated, it was only for now. The time when Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s power was blocked was long. Belial¡¯s power had harmed her little by little. So Madgar still had an opportunity now. She could still do it. Madgar opened her eyes. Her eyes shone red, as it changed intopound eyes like that of an insect. Large moth wings sprouted from her back. Madgar flew. She headed towards the basin of the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe. *** Gentle Snow Breeze flew up into the sky. As she widely stretched out her snow-white wings that was like an angel¡¯s wings, she released her power, and the demonic power that threatened the basin was cleansed in one fell swoop. ¡°Go forth, my children! My power shall be with you!¡± Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s power permeated into her tribal warriors. A blue wind wrapped around them, and each of them took their weapons and charged. The Clear Snow and Fine Snow brothers helped the warriors by summoning gusts of wind. ¡°Sweep them away! Gusts of wind!¡± ¡°Run wild! Strong wind!¡± A raging wind rose and pushed its way through the warriors of the Angry Bull tribe, and warriors of the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe followed it. The warriors of the Angry Bull tribe outnumbered them several times, but the direct protection of a wild god was powerful. Moreover, Gentle Snow Breeze did not just look around. ¡°Wind Shield! Wind des!¡± High up in the sky, Gentle Snow Breeze continuously moved her hands. She protected her warriors with a wind barrier and attacked the Angry Bull tribe by directly swinging wind des. Like that, she tore up the enemy troops. After they had driven out the Angry Bull tribe, they would join forces with the other tribes in the south. A smile spread over Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s face. She did not like to fight, but the moment the enemies tried to destroy her and her children, she brought down her punishment. She put off being merciful for a while, and her umted anger burst out. The two sides fought for a long time. As if proving that they were the strongest warrior tribe in the wildnd, the warriors of the Angry Bull tribe endured the onught of the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe, and a powerful energy suddenly drew near. It was such a powerful and extreme energy that even she, a wild god, couldn¡¯t ignore it. ¡°Master Madgar!¡± ¡°It¡¯s Master Madgar!¡± The warriors of the Angry Bull tribe shouted in joy. Although her eyes becamepound eyes and moth wings sprung out of her back, Madgar still had the form of a human. Madgar saw her warriors. She looked back and spotted Gentle Snow Breeze before she wryly smiled. ¡°As expected, you¡¯re weak.¡± Gentle Snow Breeze was not in perfect condition yet. So Madgar still had a chance. Madgar raised her hand. Gentle Snow Breeze had an ominous feeling and hurriedly called forth the wind, but Madgar¡¯s spell was faster. ¡°Sacrifice yourselves for the great cause.¡± Magic circles were drawn, starting from the foreheads of the Angry Bull tribe¡¯s warriors. Her spell reached close to a hundred warriors out of the hundreds of warriors present. ¡°Master Madgar?¡± It was another aide of hers. The warriors of the Angry Bull tribe looked up at Madgar with stupefied faces, and Madgar did not hesitate. She clenched her fist and made an offering again. ¡°Aaaaah!¡± ¡°Hiiii?!¡± ¡°Master Madgar?!¡± ¡°It¡¯s the demon¡¯s magic!¡± Screams and shouts, and voices filled with fear were heard everywhere, regardless of enemies or allies. Madgar ignored everything. She simply epted the temporary power that she gained from offering a hundred sacrifices. ¡°Haha! Hahahaha!¡± It was too much a power for her mid-ranking demonic human body to ept. Therefore, Madgar¡¯s body erged. Her upper body was covered with an animal¡¯s tough skin, and her legs transformed into numerous spider legs. Her arms turned into sharp des like the arms of a praying mantis. Moth wings widely spread out on her back, and numerous horns sprouted instead of hair. She had be a monster and was no longer a human. She had be a demon. But Madgar felt ecstatic. She was thrilled by the demonic power that filled her body. ¡°Gentle Snow Breeze.¡± Madgar crazily smiled. She had be a giant of nearly a dozen meters tall, and she charged towards Gentle Snow Breeze. ¡°Wind Barrier!¡± Gentle Snow Breeze urgently cried and created dozens of wind barriers. Madgar didn¡¯t care. She wildly swung her arms and tore the wind barriers. She moved step by step as she headed towards Gentle Snow Breeze. The clear blue sky turned ck. Madgar¡¯s eyes turned dark red. Every time a wind barrier was torn, Gentle Snow Breeze let out painful groans. The demonic energy overwhelmed everyone. The Angry Bull tribe as well as the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe could do nothing but just look. They just watched the sh between the wild god and the demon. But there were two people. They were two people who did not just watch. *** ¡°Wow, is this for real? Isn¡¯t that a Demon Prince?¡± ¡°It¡¯s crude like the original. As expected of Madgar. It¡¯s the same asst time.¡± Demon Prince. They were strong lords of hell. It wasn¡¯t a demon prince that appeared right now. Madgar forcibly raised her power through human sacrifices, and it was just a temporary monster that would eventually disappear over time. But it was still powerful. ¡°You have to hold out for 15 minutes in the original story, right?¡± ¡°Because she¡¯ll lose that state in 15 minutes.¡± ¡°Gentle Snow Breeze won¡¯tst 15 minutes, right?¡± ¡°You think she can¡¯t hold out for long?¡± ¡°Yes, she basically can¡¯t fight.¡± Even now, she was just standing there and only creating barriers. If it continued like this, Gentle Snow Breeze would be crushed by Madgar in less than 3 minutes, let alonest for 15 minutes. ¡°She has no particr weakness.¡± Jude¡¯s eyes narrowed as he looked at Madgar. Even in the original story, Madgar couldn¡¯t be defeated while in that state. The strategy was to just hold out and buy some time. But this ce was real. Moreover, there was a wild god called Gentle Snow Breeze. So perhaps there was something that they could do. Perhaps there was a side that they could stab. When Jude began to worry about it, Cordelia didn¡¯t think much. She took out a hair tie and neatly gathered and tied her long voluminous hair together. ¡°Put your brain to work. That¡¯s why you aren¡¯t number one.¡± ¡°Hey, I¡¯m number one.¡± Jude hadn¡¯t mentioned it recently about he himself being first ce, and Cordelia being permanently second ce. But Cordelia scornfullyughed. Even if she was permanently 2nd?ce, there was one area where she was ranked first. ¡°I¡¯m first ce in hunting.¡± Moreover, it wasn¡¯t just that. ¡°Gentle Snow Breeze is there. It is easier to deal with if it¡¯s such a big monster type rather than a human type. And¡­¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°Because you¡¯re here too.¡± Cordelia had a nice smile, and Jude unconsciously looked at Cordelia with a stunned face. ¡°Shall we go then?¡± Cordeliaughed again. In order to fight doping, she doped herself by taking out the medicine bottle she had kept in her waist and gulped down the liquid inside at once. The Tomb Guardian. The blood of a beast-type angel. In the game, it was a useless item. However, this was reality, and after various experiments, Jude was able to find out where to use it. The angelic blood flowed down Cordelia¡¯s throat. The angel¡¯s power spread all over her body, and temporarily awakened the power that was long asleep in her blood. Cordelia¡¯s hair, which had turned ck because of the Witch Transformation, remained the same. However, her body gained new powers. Her teeth grew into fangs like a beast, and the pupils in both of her blue eyes changed like those of a cat. If one had to name her status, it was the Beast Mode. ¡°You¡¯re like a real beast.¡± Because Cordelia was wearing the rabbit ears and tail too. As Jude softly muttered, he opened the second door of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. He raised his golden sacred battle aura to boost the power of his whole body. ¡°What the¡­wasn¡¯t the second door passive?¡± ¡°No, I thought that I had to do something too.¡± Cordelia blinked at Jude¡¯s reply, and soonughed. She then looked at their front again. Before she knew it, more than half of the wind barriers had been destroyed, and wild god, who was not good at fighting, was about to cry. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± They both said together. The two rotten waters looked back at each other for thest time before they rushed towards the demon. Chapter 74 - EPISODE 74 – ROTTEN WATER (3)

Chapter 74 - EPISODE 74 ¨C ROTTEN WATER (3)

Terms used in this chapter: Backflip?¨C a type of somersault which involves jumping and turning backwards andnding on one¡¯s feet. Fastball?¨C a type of very fast throw in baseball. Bi-ik-jo intertwining with each other like a single tree?¨C This is a Chinese idiom (±ÈÒíßBÀí). The first half of the idiom (±ÈÒí) refers to the bi-ik-jo, a mythical creature which is a pair of male and female birds with one eye and one wing each who always fly together. It also refers to couples who have a deep and positive rtionship. Thest part (ßBÀí) describes two trees (with different roots) growing closer and intertwining their branches with each other. So what this idiom means is that two people are so close that they be one. It is also used to describe lovers/couples who are deeply affectionate or close to each other. For the boss monsters in games, there existed patterns. Their attack methods. Their attack timing. Their attack sequence. And in fact, it didn¡¯t just happen in games. Even in reality, patterns existed too. The attacks and frequent strikes they execute were often based on the attacker¡¯s habit, preferences, and so on. Their unique movements before the attack. The time required for an attack to be triggered. Their attack range. If one knew all of these, and they had the eyes to assess and the reflexes to react properly, it became possible to do something. Particr actions such as defeating the boss while naked, or dancing while defeating the boss, became something that were possible to do. It was the so-called rotten water¡¯s y. ¡°Catch me if you can~!¡± Cordelia cheerfully shouted as she used the Bayer family¡¯s footwork technique. Due to the magic she cast twice and the footwork technique of a prestigious family, her agility tremendously increased, and her movement was like a beam of light that exceeded the wind¡¯s movements. Boom! Boom! Boom! Madgar¡¯s attacks struck the ces where Cordelia wasst standing. Every time the huge sickle-like arms hit the ground, the earth shook, but there was no hesitation in Cordelia¡¯s steps, even when the ces she had just stood on were being destroyed. ¡°Head! Head! Head! Head!¡± Cordelia didn¡¯t just shout out words. Magic bullets flew in front of Madgar and struck Madgar¡¯s head without fail. But its power was weak. Although it hit Madgar¡¯s head, it literally just hit her and didn¡¯t do much damage. It couldn¡¯t even stop Madgar for a moment. But Cordelia didn¡¯t care. She quickly evaded Madgar¡¯s sharp des that were wildly swung and used the protection of the wind barrier to block the venom from Madgar¡¯s arms. She didn¡¯t stay in one ce for long but kept moving. ¡°Foolish b*tch!¡± Madgar burst with anger and released the demon¡¯s power. She stamped the ground with her eight feet, and a purple aura spread out in all directions. It was impossible to evade because it was an attack that covered the entire area, and not a point or linear attack. ¡°Nope. I can avoid it.¡± Cordelia jumped high as if she was a high jump athlete. With a backflip, she easily evaded the demonic power that spread out on the ground. ¡°Head!¡± Cordelia shot her magic again after her somersault, and the magic bullet flew like a fastball and hit Madgar¡¯s head without fail again this time. ¡°Aaah!¡± Madgar angrily screamed. That b*tch who was idly moving around should have been torn apart by that attack, yet it was not enough as she kept hitting Madgar¡¯s head. If she had thought rationally, it would have been correct to ignore Cordelia and charge at Gentle Snow Breeze, but she couldn¡¯t ignore Cordelia because of her irritation. Furthermore, the demonic power, that she had rapidly received, made her more violent and lose her self-control. Madgar was so preupied with tearing Cordelia apart that she couldn¡¯t even think of attacking Gentle Snow Breeze. ¡®Her aggro is so sick.¡¯ Jude admired it before he created a whirlwind. He steadily did his job, evading Madgar¡¯s attacks while attacking the gaps. He was doing something simr to Cordelia, but also different. It looked like he was dodging and hitting too, but there was a difference in the details. ¡°Leg! Leg! Leg! Leg!¡± If Cordelia was the light, Jude was the wind. Like the wind that couldn¡¯t be caught, Jude ran amidst Madgar¡¯s attacks and persistently aimed at Madgar¡¯s legs only. Unlike the head, Madgar had eight legs, so there were plenty of ces to hit. ¡°Leg!¡± As Cordelia had said,rge monsters were rather easy to deal with. Since Madgar was huge, all of their attacks would still hit even if it were not precise. And Madgar¡¯s attacks were also easy to avoid. Rather, Jude and Cordelia would have struggled more if Madgar had appeared as a mid-ranking demonic human. ¡®Of course, it¡¯s still not easy.¡¯ They would kick the bucket if they get hit by even one attack. In fact, the surrounding area had beenpletely devastated by Madgar¡¯s attacks. It was full of smashed and cracked ces, and there were spots that were contaminated with poison, and spots where the poison even melted the ground. So the Angry Bull tribe or the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe couldn¡¯t even approach out of fear. ¡®This is better though.¡¯ Even a graze would be a serious injury. Anyone who intrudes on the fight would only be a hindrance if they cannot evade all the attacks like Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Heeead!¡± Dozens of magic bullets struck Madgar¡¯s head as if it were beating a drum. It didn¡¯t hurt her. More than half of the flying magic bullets were destroyed before it even reached the head. But Madgar was still angry. Her rage surged and burst out. ¡°Aaaah!¡± Madgar¡¯s irritation exploded, and she opened her mouth wide this time and shot sound waves. And at that moment, Gentle Snow Breeze intervened. ¡°Wind de!¡± A sharp wind rushed and jolted Madgar¡¯s sound waves. The direction of the attack naturally changed, and Cordelia tried to avoid the sound waves by rolling on the ground in a hurry. ¡°Ah! Seriously! Don¡¯t butt in!¡± ¡°Just restrain him! Restrain!¡± Cordelia and Jude simultaneously shouted, and Gentle Snow Breeze flinched and became dejected, before she pouted her lips and concentrated on only restraining Madgar¡¯s power again. In the first ce, Jude and Cordelia were able to fight well against Madgar because Gentle Snow Breeze suppressed Madgar¡¯s demonic power with her divine power. Jude counted the numbers in his mind. This was reality, so it was a little different from the game. The sound wave attack was a new attack that they had encountered for the first time. The existing attacks were also slightly different from the game. However, Jude had a heavenly talent for martial arts, and Cordelia was abat genius. Jude calcted. Cordelia felt it through her instincts. The two rotten waters quickly grasped the new attack pattern and turned Madgar¡¯s attack into nothing. ¡°Head!¡± Cordelia used the protection of the wind barrier. Instead of using it to block the front, she used it as a foothold and jumped, climbing the body of Madgar afterwards. Madgar urgently tried to catch Cordelia, but it was impossible. Cordelia dashed and leapt again at some point, before she struck Madgar¡¯s head with magic bullets again. ¡°Agh! This bug-like b*tch!¡± ¡°You¡¯re the bug!¡± Provocations originally worked better if it were childish ones. As she bled from her head, Madgar exuded a powerful force that blew away the divine power of Gentle Snow Breeze that was restraining her at that moment. Booooooom! Intense airwaves spread out to the surrounding area, and the jumping Cordelia was thrown off at once as if she was swept away by a storm. But it wasn¡¯t called Beast Mode for no reason. Cordelia used the protection of the wind barrier in session as a shield and foothold. Like a cat or savage beast, she kicked on the footholds one after another. Pa! Pa! Pa! Her splendid aerial movements made anyone dizzy from just watching it. Even Madgar watched her in a daze, and Cordelia finallynded on the ground after a beautiful backflip. ¡°Haa.¡± Cordelia lowered her stance as if she was really an animal before she sighed in relief, and Jude rushed forward. He didn¡¯t give Madgar a moment of rest. ¡°Leeeg!¡± ¡°You bug-like b*stard!¡± Their attacks weren¡¯t random. Due to the constant attacks of the two, Madgar missed her tempo several times. Her attacks went badly, and as time passed, she lost herposure. ¡°Why! Why!¡± Madgar herself was a mid-ranking demonic human. She personally sacrificed more than a hundred warriors and temporarily obtained the powerful strength of a demon. But why! Howe! ¡°Head!¡± ¡°Leg!¡± Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s power suppressed Madgar¡¯s demonic powers once again. Jude and Cordelia moved beautifully again. They were indeed like?bi-ik-jo intertwining with each other like a single tree. The strikes of the two were like that of one person! Jude continued to count numbers. Cordelia felt it instinctively. And Gentle Snow Breeze became aware of it. Madgar¡¯s power was weakening. The demonic power that she used to confront the wild god was rapidly diminishing. And at some point. ¡°15 minutes!¡± ¡°Five cup noodles!¡± (T/N: Cup/instant noodles usually take 3 minutes to cook. So Cordelia meant that she can cook five cup noodles in a row in 15 minutes.) Cordelia shouted whatever words she had in mind and changed her way ofbat at that moment. She, who had been evading earlier, now concentrated the witch¡¯s power in one of her hands. ¡°It¡¯s breaking!¡± Jude eximed. What he said was true. Cracks appeared in Madgar¡¯s whole body, before it broke apart and copsed. The purple aura disappeared, and ck ash quickly covered their sight at once. Her transformation was undone. She returned to a mid-ranking demonic human. Moreover, there was a penalty. Due to her excessive increase in strength, Madgar¡¯s power temporarily dropped sharply. That was the moment they were aiming for. The moment when the enemy became most vulnerable! Bang! Jude kicked the ground. Instead of shooting forward, he ran in a circle to control the wind. He used the Twenty-Four Gale Steps. Having gathered the whirlwinds and gale, Jude used the created whirlwinds to blow towards Madgar. The ck ash that blocked their view was scattered at once. ¡°I can see her!¡± By the time Gentle Snow Breeze cried, Jude and Cordelia were already moving. Once again, the two moved beautifully like?bi-ik-jo intertwining with each other like a single tree. ¡°Heeeead!¡± ¡°Leeeeeg!¡± Now, just by listening to those shouts that she deeply loathed, Madgar reacted reflexively. Despite some difficulties, she spread out the demonic power on her head and legs. Then Jude and Cordelia¡¯s attacks ovepped. Each of them used the strongest attack they could deal on Madgar. ¡°Spear of Cmity!¡± ¡°Hell¡¯s Blood sh!¡± A pitch-ck spear pierced Madgar¡¯s chest. A red sword cut Madgar¡¯s back. Madgar¡¯s chest and back, which had been defenseless, could not withstand the attacks of the two. Madgar vomited ck blood, and ck blood also spouted from her back like a fountain. ¡°Why¡­¡± You said it was the head. You said it was the leg. The moment death was right in front of her eyes, what came out of Madgar¡¯s mouth was a voice full of resentment. Having met eyes with Madgar, Cordelia said as her fangs shined. ¡°You broke the pattern.¡± ¡°You¡¯re really saying whatever you want.¡± It finally ended after Jude¡¯sment. Cordelia released the Spear of Cmity from her hand, and Jude greatly stepped back. ¡°You¡¯re¡­like¡­demons¡­¡± Those were herst words. Countless cracks spread throughout Madgar¡¯s body and it soon burned. Her body became ck ash and scattered. And the two people. Surrounded by rings of white light that rose in session, Jude and Cordelia clicked their tongues as soon as they saw each other. ¡°Wow, that¡¯s really dirty. Did you cut her back when you said leg?¡± ¡°You said head.¡± ¡°I hit her from the front at least.¡± ¡°Back attacks usually deal more damage. It gives you more points.¡± ¡°Do you like getting more points?¡± ¡°I¡¯m d I won 1st?ce. I¡¯m happy because I¡¯m 1st ce. The taste of 1st?ce is so good.¡± ¡°Evil b*stard. Nasty b*stard. Anyway, you¡¯re a damn b*stard.¡± The two continued to say whatever they wanted before they startedughing and simultaneously looked down. Because they saw what the boss monster had left behind after it disappeared. ¡°It¡¯s pretty.¡± Its beautiful color unintentionally drew them in. A natural gem that was made from the power of the moonlight. ¡°The Essence of the Blue Moon.¡± A divine item that Madgar could not absorb because of its divine power. A bright smile spread over the faces of Jude and Cordelia. Chapter 75.1 - EPISODE 75.1 – SETTLEMENT (1)

Chapter 75.1 - EPISODE 75.1 ¨C SETTLEMENT (1)

Terms used in this chapter: Spec?¨C gaming term that can mean a character¡¯s specifications or specialization, or how one distributes skill points among the various skill trees avable. Control?¨C gaming term which means how a user ¡®controls¡¯ the actions of their yable character, including aiming and moving skills, and the ability to use skills appropriately. Gae-mo-tae (???)?¨C A Korean ng used in chat rooms to describe someone who is really bad at ying games. ?Gae (?) means inferior or worthless, while mo-tae (??) means mother¡¯s womb/uterus. Mo-tae is also used to refer to ¡®being born¡¯, ¡®born to be¡¯, ¡®naturally¡¯, etc. If youbine ¡®mo-tae¡¯ with the word ¡®sol-lo¡¯, it refers to people who are single since birth (no GF/BF ever). So, gae-mo-tae literally means being inferior/bad since birth. Jude remembered his first encounter with Cordelia. It was the time before they were reincarnated as Jude and Cordelia, when they were still Outboxer009 and Yellow Storm. They had lived as Jude and Cordelia for many years, and if you count the number of years they¡¯ve known each other, it was 22 years ago, as Jude had first met her in the game more than 5 years ago when he was still Kang Jin-ho. It was the time when Outboxer009, or Kang Jin-ho, started ying the game. In fact, Kang Jin-ho had lived a life that was quite far from games. It was only a coincidence that he suddenly began ying games and RPGs with VR functions. One could say that it was beginner¡¯s luck. Fortunately,?Legend of Heroes 2?was a game that Kang Jin-ho really liked. ¡®It¡¯s fun. It¡¯s why people y games.¡¯ In?Legend of Heroes 2, there were two modes: single yer and multiyer. In single yer, the yer literally conquered the story alone. On the other hand, multiyer was a mode where single yers who have finished any kind of ending of any character can gather together to take part in adventures. ¡®In order to be strong in multiyer, you have to y all the characters in single yer and get high scores. It was not a joke to delve every corner in order to get high scores.¡¯ There was a ¡®Deck System¡¯ in multiyer mode. It was a system that strengthened the stats of multiyer characters bybining the stats and so on of each yable character that a user yed in single yer mode. In other words, it meant that the character of a user who cleared both Jude and Cordelia in single yer mode was stronger in multiyer than the character of a user who only cleared Jude in single yer mode. On top of that, the multiyer character of a user who cleared Jude with 120 points was stronger than the user who cleared Jude with 100 points. ¡®In short, one had to clear all the characters in single yer mode with the highest scores.¡¯ It was a system that emphasized hard work, so he found it interesting, but didn¡¯t think of actually trying it. He wasn¡¯t really interested inpeting in multiyer mode. ¡®But let¡¯s try experiencing it once.¡¯ The bad ending was also an ending, so when he lost and got the death ending in ¡®The Northern Barbarians¡¯ Great Invasion,¡¯ he gained ess to multiyer mode. ¡®Okay, enter a nickname¡­¡¯ He entered multiyer mode under the name ¡®Outboxer009.¡¯ At first nce, it didn¡¯t seem much different from single yer mode, but there were two very big differences. One was that there were other yers in Pleiades besides Outboxer009 himself, and the other was the fact that the battle difficulty of the game rapidly became difficult. [You have died.] Not long after he went out of town, Outboxer009 identally died and became a corpse that slumped on the ground. ¡®So that¡¯s why you needed to clear single yer mode.¡¯ First of all, it was ideal to be above a certain level, whether it was on spec or control. The enlightened Outboxer009 waited for a while before clicking the Reset button. Because there was a user who was approaching him at that time. ¡®Oh¡­are you trying to help me?¡¯ If one used the Resurrection Feather that was given at the beginning of multiyer mode, it was possible to save those who had just died. At that time, Jude was still a novice gamer, so he was unaware of the attitude of gamers ying multiyer games. Therefore, with a pure heart, he waited for the user to approach him. ¡®Pretty.¡¯ He was sure that character¡¯s name was Cordelia. She was a beautiful girl with striking red hair. The Cordelia user walked right in front of him and looked at Outboxer009¡¯s corpse, and Kang Jin-ho stared at the Cordelia user with expectant eyes. Then the Cordelia user said. [Yellow Storm: LOL game?gae-mo-tae] ¡®What?¡¯ The bewildered Jude blinked his eyes, but his character was still dead. The Cordelia userughed a few more times before just passing Outboxer009 and went on their way. After a few seconds¡­a few minutes¡­ LOL game?gae-mo-tae Game?gae-mo-tae. You¡¯re bad at games since birth. It was a trivial remark. Words that he could just ignore. But strangely, no, mysteriously, the words struck Kang Jin-ho¡¯s mind hard. It waspletely stuck in his head and did not disappear. So naturally, the user who said those words was also clearly stored in Kang Jin-ho¡¯s memory. ¡®Yellow Storm.¡¯ It was the first meeting of the two which Jude remembered but Cordelia did not remember. *** ¡°Hey! Get it quickly!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Quickly!¡± It was right after they defeated Madgar. Cordelia abruptly urged him as she stared and smiled at the Essence of the Blue Moon, and Jude was a little confused. ¡°The Essence of the Blue Moon?¡± ¡°The Essence of the Blue Moon! What if Gentle Snow Breeze takes it away! Take it quickly! No, just absorb it! Okay? Quickly!¡± Gentle Snow Breeze clearly said it. The Essence of the Blue Moon was a very important item, so the animals in the area did not touch it. She decided that he should use it in this extreme emergency. ¡°Just touch it and say that you identally absorbed its power. Yes, that would be good. I¡¯ll help you make excuses.¡± Cordelia who had said so far, quickly picked up the Essence of the Blue Moon from the ground and even ced it on Jude¡¯s hand. The Essence of the Blue Moon was an essence of the pure moonlight, so it was a cluster of divine power. Therefore, Cordelia could not use it properly because she uses the witch¡¯s power. ¡®No, she has the sacred rod Moonlight.¡¯ Wouldn¡¯t the Essence of the Blue Moon be absorbed by Moonlight since it is also moonlight? ¡°Hey, wait a second. What about Moonlight? Wouldn¡¯t it be able to absorb it?¡± ¡°Eh? Oh¡­as expected of my Jude. That¡¯s a good idea¡­no. Just absorb it yourself. That would be better than strengthening equipment.¡± ¡°No, you¡¯ll be the one using Moonlight so¡­¡± ¡°No, no. You absorb it. You consume it and open the third door. That¡¯s much better.¡± The two were yielding the item to each other, which was something that was unimaginable for them to do in the past. And time passed while they were doing things that was unlike them. ¡°Oh no, she¡¯sing.¡± Gentle Snow Breeze was flying towards them. She had a lovely smile on her face, but for Cordelia, it looked like an evil face that hade to take away the item. ¡°I¡¯ll do something about it, okay?¡± ¡°Wha-¡± That was it. Cordelia hurriedly blocked Jude¡¯s mouth, and Gentle Snow Breezended in front of Jude and Cordelia. ¡°You did it, you two! We did it!¡± Gentle Snow Breeze broadly smiled and shouted with her arms stretched out wide open. Instead of hugging Gentle Snow Breeze, Cordelia said with a determined face. ¡°Gentle Snow Breeze!¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°My Jude is sick!¡± ¡°Eh?!¡± Gentle Snow Breeze was startled and turned to Jude, and Cordelia poked Jude in the ribs hard and silently whispered. ¡®Pretend to be sick! Pretend to be sick!¡¯ What the hell is she doing? However, Jude made an exhausted expression to adapt to Cordelia¡¯s intention, and Cordelia continued her words. ¡°Actually, Jude was born with an illness called Gueumjulmaek. Because of that, his body had been very weak since he was young. Look at his forearm here¡­¡± Cordelia tried to emphasize Jude¡¯s thin wrist and forearm, but soon blinked her eyes, and Gentle Snow Breeze tilted her head in confusion. They had no choice but to do that because¡­ ¡®What! When did you be so strong?!¡¯ Jude¡¯s forearm was no longer like a corn¡¯s stalk. It was strong and firm like a club. ¡®No, I mean. Think about it. What are our levels now?¡¯ At Jude¡¯s rebuttal, Cordelia unconsciously gulped. When she thought about it, it was just as Jude said. Because of repeatedly leveling up, the two were already above level 40. It was estimated that the highest level of?Legend of Heroes 2?was over level 300, but that was when the great demons appeared. In this world though, the average level of ordinary knights was level 20. Yet the two were around level 40. Basically, one¡¯s physical abilities increased when their level had gone up, so Jude, a martial artist character, had a greater increase than the wizard character Cordelia. In addition, Jude had been constantly exercising every day ording to Landius¡¯ teachings, so it was natural that his forearms had be thicker. ¡®Come to think of it, you¡¯ve also be¡­taller?¡¯ Because the two were close together, she realized their height difference again. She had to raise her head now in order to make eye contact with Jude. ¡®It¡¯s not a teenager¡¯s growth period, since his growth is too fast¡­no, he¡¯s 17 years old so it¡¯s correct to say that it¡¯s his growth period now.¡¯ ¡°Cordelia?¡± Gentle Snow Breeze asked. Cordelia who was in a daze for a while was startled, before she resumed talking. ¡°No, that! Anyway! Even though Jude is fine on the outside, he is in bad shape on the inside. So he needs treatment!¡± ¡°In bad¡­shape?¡± Gentle Snow Breeze looked at Jude again, and Cordelia frowned. She was having a hard time since Jude looked too healthy. Moreover, Gentle Snow Breeze had seen Jude moving vigorously. It seemed very difficult to convince that Jude, who was running like a gale earlier, was actually weak and sickly. But Cordelia didn¡¯t give up. ¡°No, that! He¡¯s really suffering from overworking earlier. Once he lies downter, I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll be throwing up blood.¡± ¡°Re-really?¡± ¡°Yes, so he needs treatment. To heal it, he needs a lot of good energy. Like the Essence of the Blue Moon.¡± Having spoken so far, Cordelia stared at Gentle Snow Breeze with expectant eyes, and Jude managed to hold back hisughter by covering his mouth with his hand. Cordelia was acting and saying nonsense while scamming, but he found her appearance of working hard to scam someone as very cute. Moreover, a smile was drawn on Jude¡¯s face because of the fact that she was trying so hard. ¡°Uh¡­so to summarize¡­Jude is actually sick right now and needs the Essence of the Blue Moon to be cured?¡± ¡°Yes, that is correct. That¡¯s it.¡± Cordelia nervously stared at Gentle Snow Breeze. In fact, Cordelia was in a bit abnormal state right now. Her reasoning and emotions have be simpler because of the Beast Mode¡¯s effect. ¡°Hmm, I see.¡± Gentle Snow Breeze looked back at Jude, and Jude gently opened his hand to show the Essence of the Blue Moon. Gentle Snow Breeze nodded her head. ¡°It¡¯s alright. After all, we can¡¯t return the Essence of the Blue Moon to the Moonlight Hill anyway. It would be better if someone needed it.¡± ¡°Eh? You can¡¯t return it?¡± ¡°Yes, the connection between the Essence of the Blue Moon and Moonlight Hill is already broken. We have no choice but to collect the moonlight and dew to make the essence for a long time again, so¡­¡± Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s words trailed off in the end, but she warmly smiled as she looked at Jude and Cordelia. ¡°I¡¯ve seen Cordelia¡¯s beautiful feelings for her fianc¨¦. I¡¯ll give you the Essence of the Blue Moon because I have to repay you for saving me and my children.¡± ¡°Wow, thank you very much.¡± Cordelia bowed down in gratitude, before she tapped Jude on the chest and then winked. ¡®See? This is what I can do. Who¡¯ll take care of you if not me?¡¯ It was true that the Essence of the Blue Moon gem could no longer be returned. And it was true that Cordelia¡¯s actions led to the gem being handed over to Jude. ¡®All right, should I get started too then?¡¯ ¡®Huh?¡¯ Instead of answering again with his eyes, Jude took a step forward. ¡°O Gentle Snow Breeze, this humble one dares to speak to you.¡± ¡°Go ahead.¡± ¡°I would like to express my utmost gratitude first. Thank you very much for giving me the Essence of the Blue Moon.¡± ¡°No problem, as it¡¯s a fair reward. Without you and Cordelia, I and my children would have still been stuck in this crisis.¡± Gentle Snow Breezeughed softly, and Cordelia was suddenly embarrassed as her cheeks turned slightly red. But Jude was different. ¡°You¡¯re right. As Gentle Snow Breeze said, it is thanks to the efforts of me and Cordelia. But in fact, Cordelia¡¯s achievement is even bigger. Cordelia worked harder and was more active than me.¡± What is he talking about all of a sudden? Cordelia looked at Jude in confusion, and Gentle Snow Breeze innocently smiled. ¡°I see. Thank you very much, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes, so shouldn¡¯t Cordelia also have a reward?¡± Jude replied. The Essence of the Blue Moon was given to Jude, not Cordelia. Cordelia herself hadn¡¯t received any rewards yet. In fact, it was rather unreasonable to demandpensation so directly. But Jude didn¡¯t care. For his fianc¨¦e who had worked hard for him, he had to demonstrate to her the sophisticated way of scamming so that she can do it better next time. ¡°Gentle Snow Breeze, in my opinion¡­¡± Like an expert teaching his skills to his assistant, he showed it to the two innocent girls, Cordelia and Gentle Snow Breeze. Chapter 75.2 - EPISODE 75.2 – SETTLEMENT (1)

Chapter 75.2 - EPISODE 75.2 ¨C SETTLEMENT (1)

As I said yesterday, we have two chapters today. Terms used in this chapter: Puppy cat (Gae-nyang-i)?¨C A cat that acts like a dog. The battle was over. When Madgar died, most of the warriors of the Angry Bull tribe chose to flee, and they suffered great damages while on the run. Fine Snow and Clear Snow did not go too far. After driving out all the warriors of the Angry Bull tribe from Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s domain, victorious shouts broke out, and Jude and Cordelia also joined them. And that night¡­ As she faced Jude and Cordelia, Gentle Snow Breeze asked as she slightly frowned. ¡°It¡¯s nice to see you being affectionate, but¡­is she okay?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s one of the side effects of using Beast Mode. She¡¯ll be fine tomorrow morning.¡± Jude said as he awkwardly smiled, because Cordelia¡¯s head was on top of hisp. Cordelia was clinging onto Jude, as if she was a dog or cat that was carefreely resting on hisp. ¡®She¡¯s like a puppy cat.¡¯ As her body was curled up, Cordelia asionally licked Jude¡¯s hand and purred like a real cat. She was also asking him to pet her instead of sitting still. ¡°Umm¡­she¡¯ll be fine tomorrow morning?¡± ¡°Yes, she¡¯ll clearly remember it¡­perhaps by tomorrow morning, her face will turn red and she¡¯ll pretend not to remember.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem, I see.¡± After clearing her throat, Gentle Snow Breeze brought out a small box. ¡°This is the Memory of the Wind. It meets the requirements that you asked for.¡± ¡°Thank you very much.¡± Inside the box was a green feather that looked to be very old. ¡®We¡¯ve gathered almost all the materials for the Ancestral Regression technique.¡¯ Ancestral Regression was a technique that reverts time, which required items that contained powers from the past. The Memory of the Wind was not originally a required item, but as Gentle Snow Breeze said, it was an item that meets the requirements because it contained the past time like the Freezing Stone. ¡®The only items left are the angelic blood and a special ink to use when drawing the magic circle.¡¯ In thetter case, it was possible to somehow find a substitute since it only required something that had high concentrations of mana. In short, Cordelia would be able to use Ancestral Regression once she obtains Lena¡¯s blood, who was the only angel on the at this point. ¡®The Fallen Angel Mode is just around the corner.¡¯ With a happy smile, Jude said as he looked at Gentle Snow Breeze again. ¡°Gentle Snow Breeze, as I had said, we are thinking of building an Eastern Alliance that is centered on the Great Storm tribe. Would you like to join?¡± ¡°I will join. I can help build the Eastern Alliance by spreading the word to the nearby wild gods and tribes. I¡¯m also nning on taking steps to prevent any further damage to the dragon vein.¡± Great Storm and Gentle Snow Breeze may be children whenpared to Violent Avnche, but in terms of strength, they were in the top ranks among the wild gods. If these two joined forces and called for the creation of an alliance, even the wild gods who had not yet been damaged would be interested in joining the Eastern Alliance. ¡°Maybe¡­the Golden Dragon King may wake up this time.¡± ¡°The Golden Dragon King?¡± It was the first time that Jude had heard of that name. Gentle Snow Breeze said as she warmly looked at Cordelia, who had begun to doze off on Jude¡¯sp. ¡°The Golden Dragon King is the first and the strongest wild god. He is like the parent of all the wild gods living in the wildnd.¡± ¡®In other words, he¡¯s the king of the wild gods?¡¯ But Gentle Snow Breeze said that he might wake up. In short, he was sleeping right now. ¡°A long time ago, when the overlords of hell came down to this world¡­the Golden Dragon King fought a fierce battle against the overlords to protect the wildnd. Fortunately, he was able to drive out the overlords from the wildnd, but the Golden Dragon King also suffered from a lot of injuries.¡± ¡°He fell asleep to treat himself?¡± ¡°Yes, though it¡¯s been almost a thousand years since then.¡± The overlords of hell who came down to this world. Considering the location, it seemed to be referring to Leviathan, the overlord of destruction. ¡°There¡¯s a story that¡­he might wake up if the wildnds is in danger.¡± That story was like a legend even among the wild gods. That didn¡¯t happen in?Legend of Heroes 2?though. But that didn¡¯t mean that it won¡¯t happen this time. ¡°O Gentle Snow Breeze, this humble one has a question they dare to ask.¡± ¡°Speak.¡± ¡°Is there something like a hidden secret in Raptor Canyon?¡± It was the ce where Lena died. At Jude¡¯s question, Gentle Snow Breeze briefly closed her eyes as her long eyshes fell, before she nodded her head. ¡°A long time ago, there existed a magic kingdom of very powerful elves. It was eventually destroyed by the overlords of hell¡­but not all of their traces disappeared.¡± ¡°Then Raptor Canyon¡­¡± ¡°Yes, it is the ce where the capital of the fallen magic kingdom was located. There are still ruins of those days all throughout the Raptor Canyon. Only a few of those mysterious ancient races are left.¡± Jude now understood why Lena suddenly appeared in Raptor Canyon. The magic kingdom of the ancient elves. It was destroyed in their fight against the overlords of hell. It was a ce of interest for Lena, a wizard who dered that she would devote her life to fighting against demons. ¡°Jude, are you heading for Raptor Canyon.¡± ¡°Yes, we were asked to go by the Guardians of the Holy Cross. So we must go.¡± ¡°All right, I understand. I¡¯ll wait for you two after forming the Eastern Alliance. I look forward to the moment when I¡¯ll see you again.¡± ¡°Thank you. I look forward to seeing you again too.¡± That was it. Jude bowed again, and then left the temple while carrying Cordelia on his back, who was constantly rolling on the floor earlier, and Gentle Snow Breeze smiled as she looked at the two leaving. ¡®They¡¯re a fantasy couple.¡¯ They really got along well and looked adorable. But there was someone who thought differently. ¡°I admit that they suit each other well. The two are really a crazy couple.¡± ¡°Uh¡­not a fantasy?¡± ¡°They¡¯re crazy, they¡¯re crazy.¡± Violent Avnche strongly asserted, as it once again talked about the fight on the rocky mountain, and Ga?l and Adelia looked at each other. ¡°Well¡­the two indeed had?gone too far.¡± ¡°It¡¯s because of someone¡¯s younger brother.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem, Jude is a very gentle child.¡± ¡°Then are you saying that Cordelia is?violent?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, she¡¯s?violent. She¡¯s?aggressive. Very violent¡­not. Umm¡­she¡¯s not.¡± T/N: Not exactly a pun, but just a word with different meanings. Gwa-gyeokada can mean ¡®gone too far¡¯, ¡®violent¡¯, or ¡®aggressive.¡¯ Violent Avnche flinched when Adelia¡¯s fierce eyes interrupted its words, so it tried hard to negate its previous words, and Ga?l who saw that, had a small smile. ¡°Moving on, I think the two had be very strong.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right, the two are pretty good when you hear the story.¡± ¡°Especially Cordelia who was really good at fighting. She waspletely like a fighting cock¡­ I get it. Don¡¯t crush me.?Sob sob.¡± As Violent Avnche was being crushed by Adelia, Ga?l struggled in holding back hisughter before he began talking again. ¡°In any case, it seems that it wasn¡¯t an elopement. I feel like they were involved in a lot of things.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. From the Fairy Queens to the Guardians of the Holy Cross¡­¡± In addition, they were now fighting against a plot of the demon followers to seize the entire barbariannds. ¡°We have to hurry up and join the two.¡± ¡°Yes, we must.¡± ¡°Ahem.¡± Thest was Violent Avnche again. Ga?l and Adelia were talking in a low voice while facing each other, before they simultaneously looked back at Violent Avnche, and the white bear cub said as it squinted its eyes. ¡°No, I was just thinking that you look alike.¡± ¡°You mean both Jude and Lady Cordelia?¡± ¡°Yes, they resemble you two.¡± ¡°Lord Ga?l is Jude¡¯s older brother, and I¡¯m Cordelia¡¯s older sister. It¡¯s natural that we resemble each other.¡± ¡°Yes, because we¡¯re siblings.¡± Ga?l spoke as he looked at Adelia and smiled, and Adelia just nodded quietly and not snort like usual. And Violent Avnche thought. ¡®No, that¡¯s now what I meant.¡¯ There was a strange atmosphere between the two. However, Violent Avnche only kept those words in its mind. Because Adelia would surely send a fierce gaze if Violent Avnche put those words out of its mouth. And a dozen minutes passed. ¡°We¡¯re here!¡± Violent Avnche suddenly jumped from its spot and began running towards the front, and Ga?l and Adelia could see it too. The vige of the Great Storm tribe was spread out before their eyes. Chapter 76.1 - EPISODE 76.1 – SETTLEMENT (2)

Chapter 76.1 - EPISODE 76.1 ¨C SETTLEMENT (2)

Terms used in this chapter: The Heart Sutra?¨C one of the most revered Buddhist sutras in both Chinese and Japanese cultures. Some of its lines include:?Form does not differ from the void, and the void does not differ from form. Form is void, and void is form.?Most Koreans don¡¯t know what it means, but because it seems deep, it is often used in situations where one tries to look cool/deep. Though in this chapter, Jude seems to know its real meaning, so he uses it to calm himself down. I won¡¯t exin what the lines mean, as there are different interpretations of it, but just know that ¡®form¡¯ can refer to one¡¯s body, and ¡®void¡¯ can also mean emptiness. Level is a thug?¨C Korean gaming ng that means that as the levels increase, the stronger or better one¡¯s skills or abilities are. It¡¯s actually hard finding a good exnation about this ng, but it just means that a weak character can be as strong as a thug if they had a higher level. When this ng is used on bosses, it means that boss¡¯ high level makes it so strong that it is like a thug/bully towards the yer. One¡¯s eyes are covered with bean pods?¨C a Korean idiom which means to only see good in someone after falling in love with them. (T/N: OMG, is this a confession, Jude?) Inside the lodging prepared by the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe. Jude, whose face, neck, back of his hands and so on were covered in saliva, stared down at the floor with a look of liberation. Cordelia was curled up on the nket and asleep with a happy face. ¡°Huu¡­Form does not differ from the void, and the void does not differ from form. Form is void, and void is form¡­¡± After reciting lines from the Heart Sutra, Jude covered Cordelia with a nket and sat down on a chair in exhaustion. ¡°So exhausting.¡± It was physically and mentally exhausting. But he eventually smiled afterwards. Because the curled-up Cordelia¡¯s face looked so happy. ¡®Will she make a fuss when she wakes up tomorrow?¡¯ The side effect of Beast Mode made her act like a puppy cat, but her memories of it won¡¯t disappear. Several experiments have already revealed that. A rather wicked smile appeared on Jude¡¯s face as he thought of how Cordelia would act tomorrow. In fact, Jude had already formed a n on how to tease her. ¡°How peaceful.¡± Just a few hours ago, they had a life-and-death battle against a mid-ranking demonic human, so it wasn¡¯t really peaceful at that time. After he smiled again, Jude washed his face with water from a basin before he sat on the floor with his back towards Cordelia. ¡®The Essence of the Blue Moon.¡¯ As he silently stared at the blue gem in his hand, Jude straightened his back and closed his eyes. Reality wasn¡¯t exactly the same as it was in the game, but it was still a world that had many simrities with the game. An example of that was the level. Like what he told Cordelia, as the level increased, the overall stats also increased. Level is a thug, and just as the saying goes, Jude was originally born with a weak body, but after reaching levels 40-42 now, the strength of his body was high enough to look down on most ordinary knights of Count Bayer. His muscle strength had also be stronger, and it was at a level that the strength/power he can exert was almost like a superpower. ¡®It¡¯s not some kind of built-in muscle though.¡¯ Jude had be quite strong, but that doesn¡¯t mean that he became a muscr man like Landius. However, his power was nearly twice that of a typical adult male. ¡®Because these days, I feel like Cordelia is as light as a feather.¡¯ He was fine with holding her on his arms or carrying her on his back. Though it was also true that he had been carrying her a lot these days. ¡®Well¡­maybe it¡¯s a little like?bean pods covering my eyes.¡¯ When he thought of that, Jude cleared his throat and tried to clear his mind again. Didn¡¯t he sit with his back on Cordelia to get rid of all the distractions in the first ce? ¡®Anyway.¡¯ Leveling up was the surest and most basic way to be strong. ¡®But this alone is not enough.¡¯ One¡¯s body bes stronger when they level up. Not only did the physical and muscle strength increase, but the physical body itself was strengthened, and the stamina and defensive abilities also increased. But there was no tech/skill tree here. ¡®This is the most painful thing.¡¯ In the game, new skills appeared just by leveling up, but this was reality, so no matter how much he leveled up, no new skills had appeared. ¡®Cordelia¡¯s case is a little different though.¡¯ Cordelia had the witch¡¯s spell book. It was a magical spell book wherein more pages could be opened when she reached a specific level, so Cordelia was able to learn new magic spells at certain levels, just like a game. But that didn¡¯t apply to Jude. ¡®In the end, the only means to be strong now is to level up and the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors.¡¯ He had to open a new door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. Landius had said that it was how he gained new abilities. ¡®I¡¯ll be able to evolve the Twenty-Four Gale Steps.¡¯ When the first door was opened, the Thirty-Six Worldly Steps became Twenty-Four Gale Steps. When the second door opened, a whirlwind was added to his Twenty-Four Gale Steps. Following this pattern, it was highly likely that the Twenty-Four Gale Steps would evolve again when the third door is opened. ¡®All right, let¡¯s open the third door.¡¯ The Essence of the Blue Moon contained the power of the pure moonlight. If he can absorb it all, he would be able to open the third door. Jude closed his eyes and focused his mind. Cordelia¡¯s breathing from behind his back slightly disturbed his mind, but he soon calmed down his mind. With a pure and serene mind, he entered a state where he epted the power of the moonlight from the Essence of the Blue Moon. The pure energy of the moonlight entered his body. It was so clear and pure that it seemed to be harmful to ordinary people. But not for Jude. Jude already possessed a pure energy due to the meeting of both Yin and Yang energies. When both Yin energies met, they became one with each other without much difficulty. T/N: Moonlight is Yin energy, so whenbined with Jude¡¯s Yin energy, the two bes one. Jude slowly controlled his breathing. He recited the mnemonic chant of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, bringing the Yin energies inside and outside of his body into one. Jude forgot the time. He was isted from the passage of time. The pure and clear energy of the moonlight that epted the power of the moon, spread throughout his body. He collected his breathing, and he controlled his breathing. Jude felt it. Thest meridian which had been blocked by his Gueumjulmaek was pierced. As the energy of the moonlight spread throughout his body, his meridians also began to open. His meridianspletely opened. His inner Qi freely cycled his body. A door emerged in Jude¡¯s mind. The third door. The third door of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. Jude slowly opened the door. He opened it at the same time it was installed. He had already done it twice. The opening of the third door was the same as the opening of the first and second doors. No. It was different from before. Jude could feel it. Everything was pitch ck. A white light appeared in this ck area. It covered the sky and the ground. There was someone who stood in that white world that spread out on the pitch-ck darkness. He or she. He didn¡¯t know yet. It was an unrecognizable existence at the level of the third door. But he or she saw Jude. They had a smile on their face. A person who sat inside that white world. A silhouette of a person who seemed to have been drawn with rough ink lines. He or she began to move. He or she made a slow but clear move, as if telling Jude to look carefully. And that was the moment. A new chant came to Jude¡¯s mind. A clear voice echoed in his head. It became a little clearer and more visible. It was a woman. The figure of a woman who seemed to be drawn with rough ink lines taught Jude. New movements, a new chant, and a new skill. ck Dragon Release Technique. The woman said. She stretched out her hand. At that moment, a giant ck dragon rose from her palm and struck the white world. Roaaaaaaar-! The ck dragon roared. It smashed and destroyed the white world. The woman turned to Jude. Once again, she smiled brightly, and raised her hand to point at Jude. She pretended to use the skill again. Give it a try. You can do it. Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors¡¯ ck Dragon Release Technique. Jude recited the chant. His aura moved. His Cheonmujiche responded. It naturally knew what to do and how to do it. ¡°ck Dragon Release Technique.¡± Jude said. He stretched out his hand. *** Chapter 76.2 - EPISODE 76.2 – SETTLEMENT (2)

Chapter 76.2 - EPISODE 76.2 ¨C SETTLEMENT (2)

The next morning. Jude and Cordelia left the basin after being sent off by Gentle Snow Breeze, and the two headed towards Raptor Canyon. However, the facial expressions of the two were different. Jude¡¯s face was glowing with a smile, and Cordelia kept looking at him with an awkward face. ¡°Hmm-hmm~huhu-hmm~¡± Cordelia flinched when Jude began to unusually hum. And she studied Jude¡¯s face again. Why is he so excited? Why is he broadly smiling? Um¡­anyway, shouldn¡¯t I behave like nothing happened at that time? ¡®That¡¯s right! Let¡¯s pretend that I don¡¯t remember!¡¯ Having made up her mind, Cordelia cleared her throat and made a cool and dignified expression as if she had not done something shameful, and Jude had a wicked smile and said in a low voice. ¡°Lick, lick.¡± Cordelia¡¯s face turned red. But Cordelia didn¡¯t give up yet. ¡°What nonsense are you suddenly saying?¡± ¡°Lick, lick.¡± ¡°You b*stard! You wretched b*stard!¡± Cordelia eventually gave up and began pping Jude on the back, and Jude just smiled in satisfaction. ¡°Ugh! Hey! It no longer hurts when I hit you? Have you been lying so far that it doesn¡¯t hurt?¡± ¡°No, it hurts a lot. Ouch, it hurts. Ouch, it hurts.¡± ¡°I hate you so much!¡± Cordelia, whose neck had turned red too, began to increase the strength in her hands. ¡°Ack! Hey! Hey! It hurts! It really hurts!¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t hurt!¡± ¡°No, you¡¯re wrong. It really hurts, okay? Your level is high too, right?¡± Though it may be less than the martial artist Jude, the wizard Cordelia also had her physical abilities increased every time she leveled up. As Jude frantically cried, Cordelia asked after reflexively stopping her hand. ¡°Does it really hurt?¡± ¡°It really hurts.¡± ¡°That¡¯s great!¡± ¡°Ah! Ah! Hey! Hey!¡± ¡°More! Be more hurt!¡± ¡°Lick, lick.¡± ¡°Hey! It doesn¡¯t hurt? You¡¯re not actually hurt, huh?¡± ¡°It hurts, but still, lick, lick.¡± ¡°Die!¡± A few minutes passed since the violence and relentless teasing between the two began. Cordelia panted after getting tired, and Jude said. ¡°It¡¯s all right, because it was very cute.¡± ¡°F*cking b*stard. I¡¯ll reconsider using Beast Mode again.¡± Cordelia red at Jude and decided to change the topic instead of hitting Jude more. ¡°Anyway!¡± ¡°Anyway.¡± ¡°Are we going to Raptor Canyon now?¡± ¡°Yes, because it seems that there¡¯s a rtion between Lena and the elves¡¯ magic kingdom, which is said to be in Raptor Canyon.¡± ¡°The ruins of the magic kingdom¡­there must be a lot of rare items, right?¡± ¡°Tsk, tsk¡­you¡¯re greedy for everything.¡± ¡°Die.¡± As Cordelia red at Jude again, Jude cheerfully smiled and said. ¡°Well, I¡¯m looking forward to it too. It¡¯s a magic kingdom, so there¡¯ll be a lot of stuff that you can use.¡± ¡°Moonlight is still worth using, so I hope that there would be a lot of other things. Like armor or essories.¡± ¡°Since you¡¯re using the witch¡¯s magic, wouldn¡¯t it be nice to have items that speed up your mana recovery?¡± ¡°Yes, yes, I mustpletely raise my mana itself. It¡¯s good that the witch¡¯s magic is strong, but it consumes a lot of mana.¡± After she said that, Cordelia suddenly stopped and looked back at Jude. ¡°Come to think of it, did you absorb the Essence of the Blue Moon well?¡± ¡°I absorbed it well.¡± ¡°For real? Then did you open the third door? Are you stronger now?¡± Cordelia asked as she walked up to Jude with her eyes shining. Jude replied as he impulsively pinched Cordelia¡¯s cheeks. ¡°I opened it.¡± Cordelia would have usually called him crazy and asked why he was pinching, but this time, her eyes got bigger and she widely smiled. ¡°Wow! Third door! The third door! How did it go? Has something changed? Did you learn some new skills or something?¡± ¡°Should I show it?¡± ¡°Yes, show it to me. I want to see it. I want to experience it.¡± As she jumped in ce with the rabbit ears headband on her head, Jude smiled again at the sight of such Cordelia, before he suddenly hugged Cordelia on her waist with just one arm. ¡°I¡¯ll show it to you.¡± It was not only the ck Dragon Release Technique that he learned. Twenty-Four Gale Steps also received a new change. ¡®Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors.¡¯ Nine worlds and nine doors. It was the special martial arts of the transcendent being who defeated the overlords of hell when they came down to this world in the past. ¡°Twenty-Four Gale Steps ¨C ck Wind¡¯s Advent.¡± Jude said in a low voice before he carried Cordelia with both hands. Cordelia clung to him as he stirred up the wind. Dozens of golden-colored whirlwinds rose. And in between that, a jet-ck wind soared up too. ¡°Kya?¡± Judeughed at Cordelia¡¯s scream that was a beatte. He unhesitatingly stepped forward and became the wind itself. Shaaa-! Instead of a deafening roar, what was heard was the sound of something piercing the air. The jet-ck wind that was surrounded by the golden whirlwinds blew. It became a gale as it crossed over the white snowfield. *** At the time when Jude and Cordelia were headed for Raptor Canyon¡­ Ga?l and Adelia were facing Red Wind. ¡°Uh¡­so you mean that Cordelia bought you?¡± ¡°Yes. Cordelia-unnie bought me. To save me at the auction house.¡± Though her fluency in the continent¡¯s officialnguage was poor, Red Wind expressed her admiration for Cordelia with great enthusiasm. Ga?l asked after listening to her story. ¡°By the way, Miss Red Wind, did you happen to hear where Jude and Cordelia got the money?¡± Although Ga?l had never been involved in the ve trade, he at least had some knowledge of it. As the heir to one of the 12 northern families, he understood how the world works to some degree. Red Wind inherited the blood of the Winter Elves, so she was a very beautiful girl, which meant that her price was likely higher than usual due to the nature of the Lankebuste¡¯s ve auction house. But Jude and Cordelia bought her in a normal transaction? At Ga?l¡¯s question, Adelia also had a curious expression. ¡°Come to think of it, you¡¯re right. It¡¯s not something they can do from just their pocket money.¡± In addition, when they looked back on Jude and Cordelia¡¯s journey, the two had constantly spent a lot of money. So they were curious on where the two got the money to buy an expensive ve. ¡°Uh¡­Cordelia-unnie said. She gambled.¡± ¡°Gambled? Uh, you mean the casino?¡± ¡°Right. It was called casino. They made money there and bought me. Jude-oppa said they went to the casino to earn money to buy me.¡± As Red Wind broadly smiled, Ga?l and Adelia looked at each other, and soon, anger rose on Adelia¡¯s face. ¡®He was a gambler?!¡¯ Did they just go to the casino because he wanted to, or did they go to earn money to buy ves? It was one of the two. Either he is too pure and honest, or he is a gambling addict! ¡°Uh¡­ahem¡­it seems they somehow won though.¡± Adelia¡¯s eyes narrowed when Ga?l cleared his throat and spoke. And Red Wind said again. ¡°Right. Cordelia-unnie said she won a lot. Unnie boasted that she was good at gambling.¡± ¡°Wait, Lady Cordelia won?¡± ¡°Unnie is very good at gambling. She said that she¡¯ll take meter.¡± Ga?l¡¯s gaze went back to Adelia at the innocent remarks of Red Wind, and Adelia flinched before she said as she cleared her throat. ¡°Ahem, ahem, she must be lucky¡­I guess. That¡¯s it.¡± ¡°¡­I see.¡± In any case, it was good that they made a lot of money and saved Red Wind, instead of squandering their fortune in vain. ¡°Miss Red Wind, can I ask you to continue your story?¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll continue.¡± Red Wind also talked about the things that had happened after crossing the border. ¡°The Ghostde Kamael¡­¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t expect Jude to be Landius¡¯ disciple.¡± It was an unexpected appearance of important figures. The Ghostde Kamael, and Landius, the iron man. The two were undeniably the continent¡¯s top swordsmen. ¡°Umm¡­I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t really understand what they talked about with that person named Kamael.¡± ¡°No, this is enough. Thanks for telling us.¡± When Ga?l brightly smiled, Red Wind unconsciously blushed and giggled as she left the room, and Adelia spoke after she cleared her throat due to some unexinable difort that she felt. ¡°It certainly doesn¡¯t seem like normal.¡± ¡°Yes, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s just a matter of being involved with demon followers. Them crossing the border seems to be due to an important mission rather than an elopement. Perhaps¡­I don¡¯t know if we should also change the purpose of our trip.¡± They also had to help the two solve the current problem in addition to recovering the immature runaway couple. ¡°Haa¡­Cordelia¡­¡± Adelia bit her lips and let out a troubled voice. It would have been better if they had just run away. ording to what they had heard, Cordelia was running towards an even greater danger. ¡°Don¡¯t be so worried. We¡¯ll be able to join the two soon.¡± ¡°Yes¡­you¡¯re right. Thank you, Lord Ga?l. I¡¯m thankful that Lord Ga?l is here.¡± ¡°I¡¯m also thankful that Lady Adelia is here.¡± Ga?l and Adelia stared at each other. If Violent Avnche was here, it would have a truly ufortable expression at the two staring at each other. It was Adelia who turned her head away first. ¡°Ahem, ahem. Anyway, I think we shouldn¡¯t dy ourselves. Let¡¯s start heading towards the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe.¡± ¡°Okay, I think that¡¯s a good idea.¡± Ga?l casually smiled and stood up from his seat before he held out his hand to Adelia. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Yes, Lord Ga?l.¡± Adelia held Ga?l¡¯s hand and stood up as she wondered why he was being modest than usual, and as they were leaving the room, she suddenly stopped walking. Because there was something else that came to her mind. ¡°That, by the way, Lord Ga?l.¡± ¡°Yes, Lady Adelia.¡± ¡°That¡­Lord Ga?l doesn¡¯t do anything like gambling, right?¡± ¡°Yes, I don¡¯t. That¡­Lady Adelia¡­you don¡¯t too, right?¡± ¡°Yes, me too.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s good.¡± It was relevant to them that the other was a virtuous person. Anyway, the two were relieved by the fact that neither side gambled, and they went out of the room with a small smile on their faces. Chapter 77.1 - EPISODE 77.1 – UNEXPECTED ENCOUNTER

Chapter 77.1 - EPISODE 77.1 ¨C UNEXPECTED ENCOUNTER

Terms used in this chapter: Female sage?¨C Also known as Taoist fairy, female immortal, and angel/fairy but in the Korean traditional style. I¡¯ll use ¡®female sage¡¯ to differentiate it from the fairies and fairy queens of the series. Multi-ss?¨C It means having multiple sses or jobs in games. Ga?l and Adelia tried to leave for the Gentle Snow Breeze vige, but things didn¡¯t go as nned. Because the terrain of the wildnds could bepared with the vast ocean. ¡°Even if there¡¯s a map, outsiders are likely to get lost. Please wait a little longer. I will send messengers to the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe, so go with them¡­yes.¡± Violent Avnche said, tapping its stomach as it leaned its body in afortable-looking leather chair. Next to Violent Avnche was Red Gale, the chieftain of the Great Storm tribe. ¡°Jude and Cordelia. Our benefactors and friends. You, their brothers and sisters, are also our friends. So we¡¯ll help. But wait.¡± When Red Gale awkwardly spoke in the continent¡¯snguage, Adelia frowned and looked back at Ga?l, and he appeased Adelia with a smile as they couldn¡¯t help it. ¡°Red Gale, can you tell us when the messengers will leave?¡± ¡°Tomorrow morning.¡± ¡°I understand. We will wait until tomorrow morning then.¡± ¡°Thank you for your understanding.¡± Ga?l responded with a smile to Red Gale before he left with Adelia, who still had a slightly dissatisfied expression on her face. ¡°Lord Ga?l, would it be all right?¡± ¡°I¡¯m also very worried¡­but one way or another, this is thend of the barbarians. We know little of this ce, so it would be nice to receive their help. We¡¯ll arrive there sooner if we¡¯re with them.¡± ¡°Eh¡­it would be nice if we could leave this afternoon.¡± ¡°They¡¯re already doing us a favor. At this point, it would be better if we concede and let them be.¡± Ga?l gently spoke again, and Adelia nodded her head. It was quite strange. If her aide, Oron, or her fellow Magic Corps head, Catan, had said something like that, she would have opposed it. But when Ga?l spoke, she felt like following him. ¡°For now, let¡¯s go to our tent and relieve our fatigue from travel. You¡¯ve been through a lot, haven¡¯t you? I¡¯ll brew you some tea that¡¯s good for recovery from fatigue.¡± ¡°Yes, Lord Ga?l.¡± Adelia replied with a broad smile unconsciously but was soon embarrassed, and Ga?l who saw Adelia¡¯s bright smile for the first time was also embarrassed. ¡®What¡¯s wrong with me?¡¯ ¡®Beau¡­tiful.¡¯ And then. Violent Avnche clicked its tongue after it saw Ga?l and Adelia came to a halt outside the door because of their embarrassment. ¡°They¡¯re just alike. They¡¯re simr.¡± Violent Avnche clicked its tongue again as it remembered the crazy couple. The siblings resembled each other as Violent Avnche expected. *** In a ce where the white snowfield spread out endlessly¡­ Cordelia was sending Jude a gaze that resembled Violent Avnche rather than Adelia. ¡°Sometimes, I don¡¯t know if you¡¯re smart or stupid.¡± ¡°Huhu¡­¡± Jude and Cordelia were trudging along the snowfield. Rather than specifically going somewhere, they were moving to find a ce to rest for the day. ¡°This is really tough, so tough.¡± The reason for her criticism was simple. Because Jude, who used the ck Wind¡¯s Advent while carrying Cordelia, was too excited. As he focused only on running, they went off their initial route for a long time, and their problem now was that they weren¡¯t sure how far off they were from the original route. Even if he had apass and map, the scale of the map wasn¡¯t urate in the first ce, so they couldn¡¯t find their way back easily. Fortunately, constetions appeared at night, and how to use the constetions to go to Raptor Canyon was a fact that he learned from the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe. ¡®If you go straight in the direction of the Big Axe, you¡¯ll eventually find it.¡¯ It was the teaching of Fine Snow. ¡°But Jude.¡± ¡°Stop ming me, please.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that. It¡¯s just because I suddenly have a question.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± When Jude turned around and asked, Cordelia naturally stretched her arms forward. Jude¡¯s eyes narrowed at once, since he knew what that posture meant. ¡°Hey, you said you have a question.¡± ¡°My legs hurt too.¡± ¡°My princess, haven¡¯t you been walking less on your own feettely?¡± ¡°But I have a Daddy who became stronger from leveling up.¡± ¡°My princess should be independent too. Until when will you be carried in your Daddy¡¯s arms?¡± ¡°Then Cordelia will be a kangaroo.¡± ¡°¡­I¡¯m not even your real dad, but I feel terrible. I suddenly miss father-inw.¡± T/N: Jude is calling Count Chase as father-inw even if he¡¯s still not married to Cordelia. Don¡¯t ask me why¡­that¡¯s just how it was written in the series. I¡¯m not sure if Koreans call their future wife¡¯s father as father-inw already if they¡¯re still engaged. ¡°Anyway, just give me a piggyback ride. Good job getting lost, this is your blunder, right?¡± ¡°It is.¡± ¡°Then quickly.¡± Jude eventually handed the backpack to Cordelia, and Cordelia carried the backpack before she got on Jude¡¯s back. ¡°So what are you curious about?¡± When Jude asked as he adjusted Cordelia¡¯s position, she grabbed his shoulder and said. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be easier to lift me up if I added a handle here?¡± ¡°Hey, were you really curious about something?¡± ¡°Yes, I am. First of all, the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. You said you saw a?female sage?¡± ¡°I saw one.¡± It was the woman that he saw in that world in his mind. Jude was able to learn two skills from her, the ck Dragon Release Technique, and the ck Wind¡¯s Advent. ¡°Will the female sage appear and teach you new skills whenever you open a door in the future?¡± ¡°Perhaps?¡± ¡°Good, good. You finally have a proper skill/tech tree. I like it.¡± Unlike Cordelia whose chosen skill tree lets her instantly learn new magic after leveling up, Jude¡¯s growth route had been somewhat vague so far. ¡°I feel more certain now.¡± Every time he raised the level of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, he would be able to learn new martial arts. His existing martial arts would also be strengthened. ¡°But Jude. Did Landius not tell you this?¡± ¡°Master¡­maybe he didn¡¯t saw her.¡± ¡°The female sage?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Why? Because the female sage hates macho men?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t truly mean that, right?¡± ¡°No. Is it because of Cheonmujiche then?¡± ¡°Maybe.¡± Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors was a divine skill that only those with Cheonmujiche can fully master it. Therefore, Landius could not fully learn the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors even though he awakened the power of giants through the Ancestral Regression technique. ¡®He was able to reach the seventh door because he awakened the power of the giants.¡¯ When he opened the third door at that time, Jude realized it. Even though Jude had Cheonmujiche, his body needed to be stronger in order to open a new door. That need became higher as new doors were opened, so someone who didn¡¯t have Cheonmujiche would need a far more powerful body in order to learn Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. ¡®When I think about it, he¡¯s really amazing.¡¯ It meant that he opened up to the seventh door through force. It had indeed be possible for him because of the support of his tremendous physical abilities. ¡®It must be the reason why he talked about muscle loss.¡¯ Without those colossal muscles, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to withstand the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. ¡°Hohoho, but my Jude has Cheonmujiche. Good, good. I like it.¡± Cordelia happilyughed and said as she ruffled Jude¡¯s hair. ¡°But Jude.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°You actually learned Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors by chance, right? Because you met Master Landius.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Then, how did you originally intend to be strong?¡± In the original story, Jude learned Count Bayer¡¯s martial arts and became an orthodox swordsman. However, Jude had left his house much earlier than the original, so he could only learn a part of Count Bayer¡¯s martial arts. ¡°Originally?¡± ¡°Yes, originally.¡± ¡°I was thinking of copying parts of Count Bayer¡¯s martial arts and learning Red Gale¡¯s martial arts in the barbariannds.¡± After all, Jude had a heavenly talent for martial arts. It wasn¡¯t impossible for him to steal and learn others¡¯ martial arts if he was determined to do so. Moreover, Lucas was very friendly with Jude. ¡°I was thinking of learning from Red Gale in return for saving Red Wind.¡± ¡°What an omnivore.¡± ¡°Because I was thinking of learning the King¡¯s Swordsmanship in the future anyway.¡± In?Legend of Heroes 2, this was the ancient swordsmanship that the main character Maximilian inherited. But Jude had changed his mind now. ¡°In thest expansion pack, Jude must have eventually learned the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. However, since I learned the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors much earlier, I no longer have to find it. Moreover, there¡¯s Landius and Kamael, right?¡± ¡°Yin and Yang energies.¡± ¡°And a Yin-Yang Body that can incorporate both into one body.¡± He was in situation where he had learned much from the martial arts side already. If it weren¡¯t for the big events where he needed to intervene such as Lena¡¯s rescue and stopping the Angry Bull tribe, Jude would have followed and trained under Landius or Kamael. ¡°In addition, while developing the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors as a foundation¡­I was thinking of getting a sub-job too.¡± ¡°You want to be a multi-ss?¡± ¡°Yes, I want to improve my scroll production skills.¡± Although Jude was already good in drawing scrolls or magic circles, it was mostly limited to basic magic. One needed a corresponding magic ability in order to add high-ranking magic spells in scrolls. ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s good. You¡¯ve put enough thought on how to be stronger. Noona is very happy that her Jude is growing well.¡± Cordelia patted and stroked Jude¡¯s hair, and Jude quietly epted her stroking. Because it felt strangely good. The two talked for a long time like that. When Jude and Cordelia reached the top of the hill, they both looked at the same ce. ¡°Ahhhhhh!¡± A man dressed in white clothes was running like crazy on the white snowfield. It was a ce where there were no people in the first ce, so instead of crying for help, he was just screaming. And right behind that man. A giant monster was running on the snow, making the ground shake with its every step. ¡°Wow, is that a White Giant Bear? So that¡¯s what it looks like before it was corrupted.¡± ¡°It¡¯s bigger than I thought though?¡± It looked to be around six meters tall. ¡°I suppose we¡¯ll have to save him, right?¡± ¡°Because we don¡¯t refuse quests.¡± Cordelia jumped down from behind Jude¡¯s back, and Jude stretched out his waist and slightly loosened the muscles of his hands and feet. ¡°He runs well.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Despite his short limbs, the man who was running away was quite a few feet away, or rather, he was really fast. That was why Jude and Cordelia didn¡¯t rush right in. ¡°But don¡¯t you think we¡¯ve seen him somewhere?¡± ¡°He has short limbs but is incredibly fast.¡± ¡°Dwarf.¡± ¡°ck beard and bald head.¡± ¡°Ah, his hat flew away.¡± The running man¡¯s hat flew away, and they were able to see his bald head shining under the sun. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s him.¡± ¡°Indiana Kan.¡± ¡°An adventurer and archeologist of the Argon Empire.¡± ¡°A man whose bad luck is strong. Troublemaker. One who attracts misfortune.¡± He was a great man who had explored numerous ruins and had brilliant achievements, but he was also a man who was always in trouble, just like his nickname. Because of this, he was one of the NPCs that the beginners of?Legend of Heroes 2?should avoid meeting once. But not for the rotten waters Jude and Cordelia. On the contrary, he was a very wee figure. ¡°So he was here at this point.¡± ¡°Uh¡­then, wouldn¡¯t he still live if we didn¡¯t save him here?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure about that. Anyway, let¡¯s save him. He¡¯s really going to be killed at this rate.¡± Cordelia let down the backpack, and Jude kicked the ground. He immediately cried out to Cordelia, who caught up with him using magic. ¡°I¡¯ll show you something good!¡± ¡°Bullsh*t!¡± However, Jude saw that Cordelia¡¯s eyes were twinkling in anticipation. Moreover, there were still new skills that Jude had not shown to Cordelia. ¡°Take care of Kan!¡± ¡°Okay!¡± Jude and Cordelia moved as swift as an arrow. As they passed through the snowfield with a strong whirlwind, Kan and the White Giant Bear, who were in a breathless chase, turned to the two. ¡°Huu¡­¡± Jude exhaled. At that moment, he spurred on the ground and used the ck Wind¡¯s Advent, and the ck wind¡¯s swirling motion blocked White Giant Bear¡¯s view. ¡°Kuooooo!¡± The White Giant Bear who was chasing Kan on all fours, jumped up and roared. However, it couldn¡¯t see Jude despite widening its view. The monster was wondering what had happened. The White Giant Bear hurriedly looked around. At that very moment, Cordelia grabbed Kan¡¯s arm and looked up at the sky with an exmation. ¡°Oh?¡± The ck wind soared into the sky. In a ce that was over a dozen meters away, Judended on the ground. And he stretched out his hand towards the White Giant Bear. Thereby releasing it from his hand. A dragon¡¯s roar shook the air around them! Roaaaaaaaaar-! The ck dragon¡¯s force was released. With its mouth wide open as if it were a real dragon, it charged and swallowed the head of the White Giant Bear. Boooooom! The White Giant Bear copsed with a loud noise. However, the ck Dragon¡¯s power did not stop. It didn¡¯t stop crushing the monster as it shook the ground. The snow that were within a dozen meter radius were scattered at once by the intense airwaves, exposing the ground. ¡°Wow.¡± At the time when Cordelia admired its earth-shattering power, Kan opened his mouth in surprise. Judended on the chest of the fainted White Giant Bear. As it was the first time he used his new skill, it consumed more than half of his inner Qi due to him excessively allocating power to it, but he was satisfied with the result. ¡°What do you think?¡± At Jude¡¯s question, Cordelia replied with apuse. But the time for the two to enjoy it was too short. Because the ground suddenly began shaking despite the fact that the ck Dragon Release Technique had already ended. ¡°Jude?¡± ¡°Kan.¡± Jude said, and Cordelia¡¯s eyes widely opened. Troublemaker Kan. A man of bad luck who makes a bolt of lightning fall even when the sky is clear. ¡°F*ck.¡± At the end of Cordelia¡¯s swearing¡­ The ground copsed. They all began to fall down. Chapter 77.2

Chapter 77.2

¡°Cordelia!¡± ¡°I leave Kan to you!¡± They didn¡¯t realize it because of the snow, but the ce where they were standing was actually a gap between the cliffs of the canyon. Cordelia hurriedly grabbed Kan and used magic to reduce their falling speed, while Jude kicked the debris as he created a whirlwind. ¡°Jude!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry!¡± Golden whirlwinds spun around Jude, and he used the whirlwinds to reduce his falling speed, as well as kicking the vertical sides of the canyon several times to prevent himself from falling vertically. It was obviously not easy. Twenty-Four Gale Steps was a footwork technique that could also be used as a fighting skill, but it wasn¡¯t a flying skill that could be used to travel through the sky. Jude focused and concentrated again. At the same time that he created new whirlwinds, he read the direction of the wind between the cliffs. While riding on the wind, he estimated in his mind the trajectory of his fall. He kicked the sides again. He corrected his trajectory and looked around him. He couldn¡¯t see anything, but he felt everything through his senses. It got darker and darker. Then came a sound. The sound of the rubble that had fallen first. It wasn¡¯t a sshing sound. It wasn¡¯t a booming or breaking sound either. Thud. There was a snowfield below. Though it was quite deep. But it was clear from the sound that the snow was notpletely soft. The snow piled up below would have been frozen. ¡°Jude!¡± He heard Cordelia¡¯s voice once again. Since she was using magic, Cordelia was falling at a much more stable pace than Jude, but Kan was a problem. Though Cordelia¡¯s physical ability had been strengthened because she was above level 40, her arms that were holding Kan, who had the weight of three adult men, were already sore and exhausted. But she was more worried about Jude rather than her arms or fingers. ¡°Jude!¡± Because Cordelia had alreadynded down, she was able to confirm Jude¡¯s location when she looked up. But not for Jude. As he struggled to ride the wind while in the middle of several whirlwinds, he found it hard to check what was below him. ¡°Cordelia!¡± Jude shouted again. After he clearly remembered the direction from where he heard Cordelia¡¯s voice, he used the wind to guide him to that ce. Shaaaaaaaaa-! The strong wind pierced its way in between the canyon¡¯s cliffs. Jude finallynded on the ground, and he saw a small and shining light. ¡°Jude! Are you okay?¡± It was Cordelia. Her small magical me illuminated the pale-faced Kan who was sprawled out beside her. Kan seemed to have fainted. ¡°What about you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Cordelia breathed out a sigh of relief before she flopped down on the ground. Jude approached Cordelia and looked around. Since they were inside the very deep canyon, the surroundings were dark, and it was abnormally cold. Despite having the fairies¡¯ Winter Protection, the two felt that it was still cold. ¡°What about Kan?¡± ¡°I think he fainted.¡± Jude looked up at the sky again. At his estimate, the height of the cliff seemed to be more than a hundred meters. ¡°I just made a crack.¡± ¡°It was surely Kan.¡± The ck dragon had certainly destroyed the ground in the end, but Jude and Cordelia considered Kan as the cause of this incident. Because in?Legend of Heroes 2, Kan was frequently linked to such incidents. ¡°What do we do now?¡± ¡°Is it¡­impossible to go up?¡± ¡°Probably.¡± If Cordelia was alone, it would have been possible with magic, but it was impossible for her to take both Jude and Kan. ¡°The wooden board¡¯s not here.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be impossible even if it¡¯s still here?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­you¡¯re right.¡± Kan was too heavy. The wooden board had risen unsteadily even when there were two people on top of it. ¡°Rock climbing¡­that won¡¯t work with Kan too.¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a little high for me too.¡± Even if Jude had Cheonmujiche, climbing up a 100 meters canyon without a rope or any other safety device was something he would refrain from doing. ¡°So we have no choice but to get out of this canyon?¡± ¡°Yes, I think so. Though¡­this could probably be good too.¡± Cordelia tilted her head at Jude¡¯s words, but soon smiled and said. ¡°Is it because of Kan?¡± ¡°It is because of Kan.¡± Kan wasn¡¯t simply unlucky. He was a man with a strong bad luck. He was a man who always caused idents, but he also benefited from those idents. ¡®I fell off the cliff and got it by chance!?It¡¯s the same situation.¡¯ T/N: Jude was actually quoting a trope that ismon in martial arts novels. The character gets chased by viins and falls off the cliff. Somewhere under/below the cliff, they find a superb martial arts skill book, elixir, etc., and once they learn/consume it, they/their martial arts be stronger. And at this moment, their group really fell off the cliff. ¡°Even if this is the wildnds, a canyon like this is umon. The direction is also right¡­so it¡¯s highly likely to be connected with Raptor Canyon.¡± Moreover, the Raptor Canyon was home to the ruins of the magic kingdom that was built by the ancient elves. ¡°Why is Kan from the Argon Empire here?¡± ¡°Is it because of the ruins of the magic kingdom?¡± The two arrived at that conclusion. When it came to ruins exploration, Kan was the best in?Legend of Heroes 2. Though he had an adventurous side such as always being chased by someone or escaping from traps, he was a real archeologist. ¡°It¡¯s amazing. His bad luck was real.¡± They couldn¡¯t believe that they fell down from a cliff that was hidden under the snow. As Cordelia blinked her eyes and looked down on Kan, Jude also shrugged. ¡°Well¡­this is a magical world.¡± There was at least one magical person like this. ¡°Eh¡­by the way, we lost our luggage again.¡± Cordelia said with a tearful face. There were new items that they brought when they left the vige of the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe, but they lost it this time again. ¡°But with Kan¡¯s luggage, it¡¯ll work out somehow.¡± Jude said in constion, and he looked around again before waking up Kan. Because it was Kan, so he had to look around just in case. ¡°Wow, it¡¯s real.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I mean, there¡¯s a ce where we could take a rest.¡± They saw a small cave that had a low entrance, but it looked to be good enough for a ce where they could rest. ¡°How miraculous.¡± ¡°Well then, let¡¯s go.¡± Jude and Cordelia grabbed each of Kan¡¯s legs and arms and trudged towards the cave. Once they arrived, they let out voices of admiration again. ¡°Wow, for real.¡± ¡°How is this even possible?¡± Because when they saw it up close, it was not a natural cave but an artificial one. Although it was worn out by the long passage of time, they were able to ascertain that the words inscribed in the cave was the ancient elfnguage. ¡°I think we must be really near the Raptor Canyon.¡± Otherwise, it would be hard to exin why inscriptions of the ancient elves suddenly appeared in the canyon. Cordelia stared at the fainted Kan¡¯s face as if he was really amazing, while Jude frowned as he tried to interpret the ancient elfnguage. It wasn¡¯t because he didn¡¯t know how to read the ancient elfnguage, but rather, the erosion was so severe that it was difficult to recognize the letters. A few seconds passed by like that. This time, it was Jude who let out an astounded voice. ¡°What on earth¡­¡± ¡°Why? Is it a treasure trove?¡± ¡°No, it was just so out of the blue. No, is there anything more unexpected than this?¡± ¡°What the hell is it?¡± ¡°Hot spring.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Hot spring.¡± Cordelia blinked her eyes as Jude repeated what he said. And soon, she let go of Kan¡¯s hands that she was holding and then shouted. ¡°Hot spring?!¡± ¡°Yes, hot spring. By the way, Kan¡¯s head fell off first.¡± Fortunately, Kan was not hurt because of the piled-up snow. Cordelia slightly stooped and carried Kan by the arms again before she asked Jude. ¡°Really? It¡¯s really, really a hot spring? Does it say hot spring?¡± ¡°Yes, perhaps there¡¯s something like an underground water vein here.¡± ¡°Is it still there? It should still work. It still works, right?!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Suppose that it doesn¡¯t work, isn¡¯t having a bathtub more important?¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. If it¡¯s a hot spring, there¡¯ll be a ce where you can put water.¡± ¡°You can pour water and then boil it.¡± ¡°Wooww, hot spring. Bath. I¡¯ll be bathing after an incredibly long time!¡± Cordelia had not been able to take a proper bath sinceing to the wildnds. She had sweat a lot these days, so rather than a treasure trove, a hot spring was more wee to her right now. ¡°He¡¯s really lucky, so lucky.¡± Cordelia giggled as she looked at Kan with affection. If Jude left her alone, it seemed like she would even kiss Kan¡¯s head. Because of that, Jude hastily opened his mouth. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s quickly go in.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Cordelia brightly answered as she hummed and entered the cave, and soon, the two marveled at the ce again. ¡°It¡¯s real.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a real bathhouse.¡± There were a lot of ces that were worn down or broken after a long time, but the inside of the cave, which was much wider than expected, was a bathhouse itself. There wererge bathtubs made of stone that were in between several pirs. What was more surprising was the fact that the hot spring water was still surging. ¡°Huhuhu. Hehehe.¡± ¡°Co-Cordelia?¡± ¡°I love it. I¡¯m so happy.¡± Cordelia said as she shed emotional tears before sheid down Kan on a t floor and then looked at Jude. ¡°I¡¯ll wash first.¡± ¡°O-okay.¡± Because taking a bath was important. Jude searched around and found some things to burn so he set it on fire, while Cordelia took a seat in front of the stone bath that was deep inside the bathhouse. ¡°Thank you. Just, thank you.¡± After Cordelia finished praying to someone unknown, she checked the water quality and the temperature first. She wasn¡¯t that sure, but it seemed to her that the water was quite clear, and the temperature was just right. No, this was enough for her to believe that someone was responsible for this. ¡°Kan is the best. Thank you. Thank you so much.¡± Cordelia held her hands together in prayer, and afterwards, she immediately began to take off her clothes. As he was standing guard, Jude flinched when he heard the sound of her taking off her clothes, but Cordelia only had the bath in her mind. She didn¡¯t hear Jude suddenly chanting Buddhist scriptures and sutras. ¡°Thank you.¡± She expressed her gratitude again and then got in. ¡°Ahhh¡­¡± She had only dipped the tip of her foot, but she felt like a shiver ran up her spine. Cordelia slowly entered into the water, and soon dipped her whole body into the bath. The depth was just right, so when she crouched, only her neck and head were out of the water. ¡°Haaaaa¡­¡± How long has it been since I¡¯ve taken a bath? It¡¯s not that she didn¡¯t wash herself properly with a wet towel or put up with it when she sweated or not, but it really had been a long time since she had a proper bath. Along with the hot steam, happiness spread all over Cordelia¡¯s face, and her lips naturally opened wide. She began to sing a heartfelt song like a whisper. ¡°Twinkle, twinkle little star~ Shining beautifully~¡± She couldn¡¯t stop smiling. Her whole body seemed to melt. And at that very moment. ¡°Wow, look at her. She¡¯s very pretty.¡± ¡°Really pretty.¡± ¡°What, what, who came to our bathhouse? Wow! So pretty!?Respect!¡± T/N: Respect here is pronounced as ¡®respect¡¯ in Korean too. It¡¯s meaning though, has nothing to do with the English definition of respect. In Korean, its meaning is more of ¡®good job¡¯ or ¡®you did great¡¯. So the person saying ¡®respect¡¯ here is more like saying that Cordelia did a good job looking pretty or something. It was a story pattern that she heard somewhere before. When she thought about it, she was familiar with the situation itself. Baths. Song. The most beautiful girl. ¡°Hey, hey, won¡¯t you y with us?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right. y with us.¡± ¡°If it¡¯s her, she can y in the night banquet.¡± At the sound of their chattering, Cordelia opened her eyes and saw them. There were tiny and pretty fairies with animal ears on their heads, as well as tails on their backs, like that of dogs and cats. They were the wild fairies, one of the 8 great fairies. Chapter 78 - EPISODE 78 – WILD BLACK COW (1)

Chapter 78 - EPISODE 78 ¨C WILD BLACK COW (1)

Terms used in this chapter: Graduation item?¨C a Korean gaming ng that refers to the very best of the top-tier items. If you collect this item, you might as well ¡®graduate¡¯ or stop collecting other items of the same type since it is the very best item of its type already. Nothing else can surpass it. There were various types of fairies in Pleiades, but in general, they could be ssified into eight types. These were the seasonal fairies that symbolized the four seasons of spring, summer, fall, and winter, and the four types of elemental fairies that symbolized the elements of Feng Shui. T/N: Feng Shui actually has five elements, not four, which are wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. The wild fairies belonged to the elemental fairies, and they had the power of earth, which symbolized vitality. These were the seasonal fairies that symbolized the four seasons of spring, summer, fall, and winter, and the four types of elemental fairies that symbolized the elements of Feng Shui. ¡®In terms of physical ability, they¡¯re the strongest among the fairies, I think?¡¯ However, they were still fairies. ¡°What are you thinking about?¡± ¡°Your skin is so pretty. Can I touch it? Can I? I can? Okay, I¡¯ll touch it.¡± ¡°Me too, me too.¡± Seeing them behave as they pleased, they were undoubtedly fairies. Cordelia then thought as she watched the fairies nuzzle her cheeks and shoulders. ¡®Why did they appear here?¡¯ Though it made sense for wild fairies to appear in the wildnds. ¡®It is a fact that fairies are scattered everywhere.¡¯ In order to meet the wild fairies in?Legend of Heroes 2?originally, one had to go to the border between the Argon Empire and the wildnd. But like how the Fairy Queen was not a single individual, the wild fairies were also not a single group. ¡°It¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve seen a pretty girl.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right. Except for us, only animals live here.¡± ¡°How¡¯s the bathhouse? Do you like it? We managed it.¡± As the fairies began to chatter, the tranquil bathhouse quickly became noisy. Jude, who was trying to act natural and not pay attention to her as much as possible, also heard the voices. ¡°Cordelia? Are you okay? What¡¯s the matter?¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­well¡­¡± It was when Cordelia¡¯s words trailed off in the end. The wild fairies turned their gazes towards Jude and opened their mouths almost simultaneously. ¡°Wow!¡± ¡°Handsome!¡± ¡°Who is he?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s y with him too!¡± ¡°¡­Fairy?¡± Thest one was Jude. Cordelia said after she deeply sighed as if she eventually gave up. ¡°It¡¯s the wild fairies.¡± ¡°Oh! Wild fairies!¡± The reason why Jude¡¯s face became bright was simple. The Great Protection of the Four Seasons could be obtained by collecting all the protections of the four types of seasonal fairies. The Great Protection of the Four Elements could be obtained by collecting all the protections of the four types of elemental fairies. And one more. Only those who have collected the Great Protection of the Four Seasons and the Great Protection of the Four Elements could obtain one of the three strongest protections in the?Legend of Heroes?series, which is the ¡®Fairy King¡¯s Protection,¡¯ a protection on the level of fantasy since no one had ever obtained it. ¡®As expected of Kan!¡¯ He never thought that they would meet the wild fairies here. It was then that Jude remembered the words of Gentle Snow Breeze. ¡®Didn¡¯t she say that there were several mysterious races left in Raptor Canyon?¡¯ Perhaps, besides the wild fairies, there were other pleasant surprises waiting for them. ¡°Do you know us?¡± ¡°Do you want to hang out with us?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s take a bath together!¡± ¡°Should I do that?¡± ¡°Are you crazy?!¡± When Jude grinned and responded to the fairies¡¯ suggestion, Cordelia immediately reacted, and Jude clicked his tongue. ¡°It didn¡¯t work.¡± ¡°Stop saying bullsh*t and just cover your eyes with a blindfold.¡± ¡°Why a blindfold?¡± ¡°Because I will continue to bathe. I just got in the water.¡± Amidst the conversation between Jude and Cordelia, the wild fairies looked at each other and said. ¡°Why, why, why would he cover his eyes?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve read something like this in a book.¡± ¡°Really? Was the cover red by any chance?¡± At that moment, Cordelia wanted to refute it, but her opponent was a fairy. Having already experienced how the fall and winter fairies acted, she simply waited instead of protesting, and soon, the blindfolded Jude slowly entered and arrived near the bathtub where Cordelia was in. ¡°He¡¯s handsome even if his eyes are covered.¡± ¡°I like it.¡± While the fairies were admiring Jude¡¯s boyish face as if it was an exhibition, Cordelia soaked her head into the water and then resurfaced, before she wiped her entire body and opened her mouth. ¡°Fairies, let¡¯s y together?¡± ¡°Yes, yes, we¡¯ll invite you to the night banquet.¡± ¡°Ah! Also! It¡¯s not just that.¡± ¡°Not just that?¡± ¡°The Queen said so. If you find someone that can help us, bring them.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right. I remember.¡± Someone who could help. The silent Jude immediately cut in. ¡°What do you need help with?¡± ¡°Yes! We have an old problem, and we can¡¯t solve it.¡± ¡°The Queen said she¡¯d give a prize to the one who brought someone who¡¯ll help.¡± ¡°Then the prize is mine?¡± ¡°It¡¯s mine, why is it yours?¡± As the fairies began bickering and quarreling, a fairy with rabbit ears stealthily approached Cordelia and said. ¡°Let¡¯s go quickly while they¡¯re fighting, okay?¡± ¡°¡­You¡¯re just like humans.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Cordelia bitterly smiled at the rabbit-eared fairy who asked innocently, and after getting out of the bathtub, she used magic to dry her head and body. ¡°Uh¡­I want to wear new clothes.¡± But she had no choice. She didn¡¯t have time tounder her clothes. She picked up and wore her clothes that were scattered before she approached Jude, who was sitting on the floor nearby with his eyes blindfolded. ¡°You can take it off now.¡± ¡°Eh? We¡¯ll take a bath together?¡± ¡°Stop with yourme jokes. You¡¯re like an uncle when you keep saying that.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Jude cleared his throat before he took off the blindfold and faced the wild fairies. ¡°I¡¯ve heard your story well. Me and Cordelia wille to help you. Please let us meet the Queen.¡± ¡°Yes! All right!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± ¡°Wait!¡± Thest one was Cordelia. When the fairies and Jude looked at Cordelia together, she pointed towards the low entrance. ¡°We have to bring Kan.¡± Kan was stretched out on the floor in a fainted state. There was a possibility that something might happen if they left him as it is. ¡°You¡¯re right, we need to bring Kan.¡± Jude got up from his seat and ced the wild fairies on his shoulder, but as soon as the wild fairies saw Kan, they disapproved. ¡°We can¡¯t do that.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s unreasonable.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°He¡¯s bald.¡± The other fairies nodded at the words of the rabbit-eared fairy, and Jude was troubled and speechless. ¡°Anyway, we can¡¯t do that.¡± The wild fairies were quite resolute. ¡®Can you make it possible?¡¯ ¡®Aren¡¯t you familiar with the fairies? They¡¯re impossible to persuade.¡¯ If it was the Fairy Queen, it would be possible to persuade her, but it was impossible for the fairies themselves who werepletely like kids. After they finished the conversation with their eyes, Jude and Cordelia thought for a moment on what to do before they immediately began to act. ¡°What¡¯s going on, what¡¯s going on. Why are they tying up the bald head?¡± ¡°It¡¯s called restraint y.¡± ¡°Restraint y?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s what it is¡­¡± ¡°OMG.¡± ¡°Why haven¡¯t they said anything yet?¡± ¡°Do it quickly.¡± Cordelia was tormented by the fairies¡¯ conversation, while Jude tied Kan tightly with a rope from Kan¡¯s luggage andid him down inside the bathhouse. ¡°This is our territory, so the animals won¡¯te in.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, so that won¡¯t work.¡± Jude had also thought of that. He hadn¡¯t seen a single animal hair inside the bathhouse. The reason why he tied up Kan now was because he was afraid that Kan would go out of the bathhouse once he woke up. ¡®We haven¡¯t picked the mulberries yet.¡¯ T/N: This is actually based on the Korean proverb, ¡®meet one¡¯s loved one as well as pick mulberries.¡¯ It is an expression which means that two things can be achieved at the same time. An English equivalent would be ¡®to kill two birds with one stone.¡¯ So what Jude meant is that they had met the loved one (the fairies), but not picked the mulberries yet (they haven¡¯t achieved their other purpose yet). Thanks to him, they met the wild fairies, but they had yet to reach the ruins of the magic kingdom. It was impossible for them to just let go of Kan, who would be a lot useful in the future. ¡°You¡¯re wicked as expected.¡± ¡°Thank you for thepliment.¡± Jude said and bowed as if he was in a y, and then used a pencil he found in Kan¡¯s luggage to write down in a piece of paper. It was full of aristocratic and posh words, but in the end, it could be summarized into one line as follows: ¡®We saved you. So don¡¯t be afraid and just wait. We¡¯ll be right back.¡¯ ¡°Wouldn¡¯t he think that he was kidnapped?¡± ¡°But we have no choice.¡± Because they had to resolve the wild fairies¡¯ problem first. Jude tied a new rope to the ankle of the tightly bound Kan and then tied the other end of the rope to the bathhouse column. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go now.¡± ¡°But Jude. Why are you so good in tying ropes?¡± ¡°I learned it from the Boy Scouts.¡± Jude tactfully dismissed her question and then approached the wild fairies, who were having an intense and heated conversation. When they saw Jude and Cordelia, they all squealed. ¡°Don¡¯t ask me what they talked about.¡± Jude nodded at the words of Cordelia, who seemed to be exhausted already, and then asked the wild fairies. ¡°Would you take us to the Queen?¡± ¡°Yes! Let¡¯s go!¡± The wild fairies pped their wings and gathered around Jude and Cordelia, and afterwards, it was the same experience as before. When they closed and opened their eyes, they were standing in apletely different ce. ¡°Oh¡­did we arrive here right away this time?¡± It was not the living ce where the ordinary fairies lived. They were in the Queen¡¯s residence. If the Fall Fairy Queen¡¯s abode was elegant and the Winter Fairy Queen¡¯s home was refined, the Wild Fairy Queen¡¯s residence was overflowing with life. ¡®It¡¯s just random if you put it in a bad way.¡¯ There were various kinds of flowers and trees that were randomly ced inside. But still, she was the Fairy Queen. The countless flowers and trees seemed to be in harmony of each other, so it didn¡¯t look disordered. ¡°Human children. Nice to meet you.¡± Jude and Cordelia looked at the ce where the deep and profound voice that was different from the other fairies came. Seated in arge sunflower was the Fairy Queen with a lioness¡¯ ears and tail. ¡°Jude Bayer greets the Wild Fairy Queen.¡± ¡°Cordelia Chase greets the Wild Fairy Queen.¡± A smile spread over the Fairy Queen¡¯s face when Jude and Cordelia courteously greeted her. With voluminous red hair and impressive fangs, she was wearing a short mini dress that wasfortable and looked easy to move in, unlike the other Fairy Queens who wore stylish dresses. But she was still a Fairy Queen. Instead of having a mischievous girl¡¯s face, her face was full of maturity and benevolence. ¡°You are not ordinary humans. You¡¯re very powerful. So children, I have a favor to ask of you. Please solve our problem.¡± It was a slightly different pattern than before. But it wasn¡¯t a bad pattern. The story might change a little depending on what their problem was, but it was much easier to sponge off them in this current situation. ¡®Your eyes look evil.¡¯ ¡®Aren¡¯t yours the same too?¡¯ Jude and Cordelia quickly exchanged nces before they looked back at the Fairy Queen almost at the same time, and the Fairy Queen spoke in a serious tone. ¡°Human children, a monster with an evil power appeared on the road connecting our Wild Fairy¡¯s residence and the High Elves¡¯ kingdom. Can you get rid of the monster and reopen the road?¡± The fairies could cross time and space, but that did not mean they could freely jump over space anytime and anywhere. As the means to leap a long distance was limited, the physical road was also important, but a monster seemed to be blocking that road. ¡°Can you tell us what kind of monster it is?¡± At Cordelia¡¯s question, the Fairy Queen chanted a short spell. Then something like a video yed in the minds of Jude and Cordelia. It had a bull¡¯s head and giant back wings, and its body was pitch-ck from head to toe. It was evidently Lacto, a lower-ss demon species from hell. ¡®Just as I thought.¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s understandable why the fairies are asking for help.¡¯ Even though it was a lower-ss species, Lacto was still a demon from hell. Even if it wasn¡¯t, for the fairies who rarely fought in battles, it was an opponent they had no way of defeating. ¡°Can you do it?¡± When the Fairy Queen asked with a nervous face, Jude and Cordelia unhesitatingly nodded. ¡°We can do it.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll try.¡± ¡°Oh¡­thank you very much.¡± The Fairy Queen was relieved, and Jude and Cordelia looked at each other before Jude spoke first. ¡°By the way, Fairy Queen.¡± ¡°You can tell me.¡± ¡°We need help too.¡± ¡°Help?¡± ¡°Yes, help.¡± A smile deepened on Jude¡¯s face, and Cordelia¡¯s eyes slightly narrowed. Jude continued his words. ¡°Fairy Queen, may we ask you for the Earth Protection?¡± ¡°No problem. I will give you the Protection.¡± After the Fairy Queen generously spoke, Jude and Cordelia immediately held out the Fairy¡¯s Bonds. ¡°Thank you very much.¡± ¡°My goodness, it¡¯s the Fairy¡¯s Bonds. I haven¡¯t seen it for a long time.¡± The Fairy Queen innocently smiled and gave the Earth Protection. It was a protection that strengthened the overall physical ability and also granted its user a weak regenerative power. ¡°Are you ready now?¡± ¡°Yes, we need the next help now.¡± ¡°Okay, good¡­next help?¡± ¡°Yes, next help.¡± Jude instantly answered to the Fairy Queen who blinked her eyes, and then continued his words. ¡°Fairy Queen, we need weapons to fight the monster.¡± ¡°Uh¡­don¡¯t you already have weapons?¡± The Fairy Queen¡¯s gaze quickly moved back and forth towards the Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword on Jude¡¯s waist and the Moonlight that Cordelia was holding. However, Jude gave a firm answer again. ¡°This is not enough. Because the opponent is a demon.¡± ¡°He¡¯s right. We need a stronger weapon.¡± Cordelia followed up even if he didn¡¯t ask her to. The Fairy Queen said after a moment¡¯s consideration. ¡°Hmm¡­I don¡¯t know much about human weapons. So children, how about I show you the stuff left behind by the High Elves and you can choose your own weapon from there?¡± ¡°Thank you very much.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve been waiting for those words.¡± It was an immediate answer again. At that moment, the Fairy Queen felt strange and hesitated for a while, but she soon crossed the space with Jude and Cordelia. ¡°You can open your eyes now.¡± It was a stone building. It was very old and dpidated everywhere, but its elegance could not be erased by the passage of time, as it remained in every corner of the ce, such as in the pirs, walls, ceiling, floor, and so on. It was the architectural style of the High Elves, who were also known as the ancient elves. The spacious room looked to be around 10 meters in height and width. The ceiling was also quite high, and it seemed to be 7 meters high, and all the columns were attached to the wall, making the space itself lookpletely open. And the most important thing. Various items were ced on the decorated cabs located between the columns. Now that they had seen it, it really seemed to be a ce where the High Elves stored their collected items, rather than an armory. ¡°Take your time. Call me when you¡¯re done choosing.¡± Having said that, the Fairy Queen instantly crossed the space and disappeared. So Jude and Cordelia were left in the end. With no one to notice their inner thoughts anymore, or rather, no one noticed how they had acted until now, the two became much more rxed and spoke simultaneously. ¡°I¡¯m left.¡± ¡°I¡¯m right.¡± The division ofbor began right away. And in the first disy cab, Cordelia¡¯s breath halted. ¡°No way.¡± Why did this item appear here? At the top section of the beautiful disy cab was a golden brooch with a big red gem. As an item of the High Elves, Cordelia could feel its magical power, and she already knew the name of this brooch. ¡°Spell¡¯s Echo.¡± Its effect was simple and powerful. It repeatedly cast the spell used by the caster. In other words, if Cordelia cast the while wearing the Spell¡¯s Echo, two Spears of Cmity would be cast. As a matter of course, it was an item that couldn¡¯t be abused because the mana consumption was also doubled, but it was a huge advantage to be able to use two spells at the same time in an emergency. ¡°This is it, it¡¯s absolutely this.¡± She didn¡¯t have to look at anything else. The thrilled Cordelia picked up the Spell¡¯s Echo with trembling hands and carefully attached it to her chest. ¡°Jude! I¡¯ve decided! It¡¯s the Spell¡¯s Echo!¡± As she turned around and shouted loudly, Jude immediately responded. ¡°What?! The Spell¡¯s Echo?!¡± Cordelia felt a thrilling pleasure at seeing Jude¡¯s face in great shock. ¡°Yes, yes, it¡¯s the Spell¡¯s Echo. I choose this one. I don¡¯t even need to look at anything else.¡± Because it was impossible that an item better than this would appear. Jude agreed. Among the items currently avable at Cordelia¡¯s level, there were only one to two items that were better than the Spell¡¯s Echo, even in the whole?Legend of Heroes?series. Depending on the user¡¯s disposition, the Spell¡¯s Echo was even used as a?graduation item. But Jude soon shook his head. ¡°What are you talking about? You have to keep looking.¡± ¡°Huh? Ah¡­yes. I¡¯ll look for something you can use.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not that. You have to look for something YOU can use.¡± ¡°Eh? I already chose Spell¡¯s Echo?¡± ¡°Are you going to take just that?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Are you going to take only that?¡± Cordelia blinked several times at Jude¡¯s words and soon realized what he meant. This was reality and not a game. Moreover, the Fairy Queen never said that they could only choose one item. ¡°Aaah, aaaah!¡± When Cordelia¡¯s eyes reflected her enlightenment, Jude smiled and said. ¡°We¡¯ll need a lot of weapons to fight the demon.¡± ¡°Yes, because the opponent is a demon!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, so let¡¯s fully arm ourselves to fight the demon.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, a full set from head to toe. Full, full, set, set!¡± Cordelia cheerfully shouted and ran back to the disy cab, and Jude pleasantly watched Cordelia before looking back at the cabs. ¡®The Earth Protection and the High Elves¡¯ armor.¡¯ But that wasn¡¯t all. There were still some rewards left after they had defeated the monster. ¡®Fairies are so nice.¡¯ With a blissful smile, Jude stepped towards the right cab. *** ¡°Is that¡­all that you needed?¡± ¡°Yes, I need everything.¡± Chapter 79 - EPISODE 79 – WILD BLACK COW (2)

Chapter 79 - EPISODE 79 ¨C WILD BLACK COW (2)

I made a mistake while posting the chapter yesterday. The first two paragraphs ended up being repeated, and one paragraph went missing. I¡¯ve already corrected it, but for those who haven¡¯t seen the correction, here¡¯s the missing paragraph: ¡°Is that¡­all that you needed?¡± ¡°Yes, I need everything.¡± As Cordelia spoke with a big smile, the Wild Fairy Queen moved her head up and down again. She was glittering. She was really glittering. Cordelia¡¯s slender and long fingers were wearing numerous rings from her thumb to the ring finger, and even though she had a brooch on her chest, she was wearing another ne. It didn¡¯t end there. Bracelets. Belts. Earrings. Despite wearing boots, she had ankle bracelets. How the heck is that girl wearing all that? Perhaps she was wearing something on the toes of her feet too. In addition to the glittering and shining ornaments of the brightly smiling Cordelia, she also had a tiara with blue jewels on top of her head that was together with the rabbit ears headband. Everything was colorful and sparkling. It was a terrible assortment of fashion essories, and while Jude was admiring the beauty of Cordelia who still looked pretty even in the midst of this, the Fairy Queen looked back at Jude with a miserable face. ¡°You too?¡± ¡°Yes, me too.¡± Actually, Jude wasn¡¯t that much different from Cordelia. All his ten fingers had rings, and he had different earrings on each ear. There were also nes on his neck, belts on his waist, and bracelets on his arms. In addition to the Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword and the Bicorn¡¯s horn dagger, there was also a beautiful elven sword on his waist. A new dagger was also attached to his thigh. And their clothing. Cordelia wore a gorgeous red cape on her back, while Jude wore a veryrge purple coat. All of the High Elves¡¯ legacies were magical items, whether they were strong or weak. ¡°It¡¯s sparkly.¡± ¡°They¡¯re shining.¡± ¡°Pretty! Handsome!¡± While the fairies were thoughtlessly squealing, the Fairy Queen still had a dubious look on her face. Because there was no unity in their equipment. Unlike the fairies who werepletely like kids, the Fairy Queen was an adult. In her eyes, it was very clear that the effects of the two rings, a ring that enhanced the me attribute and a ring that enhanced the cold attribute, would cancel out each other. But they needed all that? ¡°We need it. We really, really need it.¡± As Cordelia pressed her hands together to emphasize their necessity of it, Jude followed up in his mind. ¡®Not now, butter.¡¯ In fact, there was nothing much remarkable if one assessed the items individually. As the Fairy Queen had seen, there were a lot of items whose effects canceled each other out. But what¡¯s wrong with that? Let¡¯s just take it and see. If they had no use for it, they could just sell it. ¡®Take as much as you can when you have the opportunity to take as much as you can.¡¯ It¡¯s better for them to let it sit around in their bags and not use it rather than leaving it and letting it be damaged by time. ¡®It¡¯s a justifiable mindset.¡¯ Jude nodded at himself before he looked at Cordelia and the Fairy Queen again. It was questionable if Cordelia¡¯s persuasion worked well, but the Fairy Queen eventually nodded despite looking at them doubtfully. ¡°Okay. Then let¡¯s go to where the monster is.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°We will meet your expectations.¡± Jude and Cordelia promptly responded, and the Fairy Queen had a gracious smile again as she was a little relieved. ¡°Close your eyes.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°You¡¯re really good at answering. You¡¯re pretty too.¡± ¡°Thank you for your kind words.¡± When Cordelia closed her eyes and behaved politely again, the Fairy Queen¡¯s smile also deepened. ¡°You can open your eyes now.¡± She was indeed the Fairy Queen. They didn¡¯t feel like they had moved at all, but when they opened their eyes, they were inside a huge cavity and not the forest of fairies. It was unknown if this was underground or above ground, but it seemed to be a huge cavity that was made by digging into the mountain or ground. ¡®I saw this in the Lord of the Rings.¡¯ Jude nodded at Cordelia¡¯s gaze before he took a look around. ¡®There it is.¡¯ There was a bridge between the precipice, and in the middle of that bridge, a giant demon was sitting in a crouched position. ¡®Lacto.¡¯ If there was a Tomb Guardian in Heaven, there was a Lacto in Hell. Lacto¡¯s role was usually that of a gatekeeper, and it looked like its Minotaur cousin. It was a slow-witted demon, but it boasted a terrifying power. ¡°Can you defeat it?¡± The worried Fairy Queen asked in low voice, and Cordelia immediately nodded her head. ¡°Certainly. You can watch us.¡± At her confident deration, the faces of the fairies and the Fairy Queen brightened. ¡°Jude, Jude. Since our opponent is Lacto, you know what to do, right?¡± ¡°I know.¡± Jude lightly loosened his wrists and swayed his head several times before he said again. ¡°I¡¯m ready. What about you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m ready too.¡± Cordelia clenched Moonlight as she took a deep breath before she stepped forward. And Lacto reacted to their movement. The demon who was stiff and not moving as if it was a rock, opened its eyes in a sh and saw Jude and Cordelia approaching the bridge. It slowly spread out its wings as it stood up. ¡°Its weapons are a double-edged axe and arge shield. There¡¯s also a whip on the waist.¡± ¡°Judging from its eyes, it looks like a low- to mid-ss Lacto.¡± ¡°But it¡¯s still a demon.¡± ¡°Yes, a demon.¡± Even amon low-ranking demonic human was a ridiculous existence that can rip someone into shreds. Although there was tension in Jude and Cordelia¡¯s footsteps, they were not scared. When they finally arrived in front of the bridge¡­ ¡°Kekeke¡­.I haven¡¯t tasted blood for a long time.¡± An unpleasant voice that sounded like the scratching of iron came out of Lacto¡¯s mouth. The fairies, who were watching from behind, hugged each other in fear, but Jude and Cordelia were rather relieved. ¡®It¡¯s the lines of a small fry.¡¯ ¡®Let¡¯s stick to the n.¡¯ Lacto was on the bridge. Jude started. He stomped hard on the ground and created a golden whirlwind. As his aura wrapped around his body, everyone including Lacto had no choice but to focus their gazes on Jude. ¡°Kekeke¡­it looks like you want to fight.¡± Lacto said and Jude smiled. As Lacto took a step forward, it put down its axe and grabbed its whip. And at that very moment¡­ Cordelia began to chant the spell. The fairies were surprised at the gathering of powerful mana and turned to Cordelia, and Lacto flinched before raising its shield. ¡°Spell¡¯s Echo.¡± She activated it. It echoed Cordelia¡¯s spell and created another magic spell. The mana surged. The whirlwinds rose. Lacto released a powerful aura all over its body. A purple aura gathered on the shield as it prepared to block whatever attack the two had in n. And right after¡­ When the Fairy Queen and everyone else held their breath¡­ Cordelia released the gathered mana with the Moonlight. Instead of rushing towards Lacto, it struck the ground! Baaaaaaang! The bridge shook. A ck energy spread all over the bridge, and the magic that she had already invoked was repeated by the Spell¡¯s Echo again. Booooooom! A crack formed. Numerous lines spread all over the bridge, as if the whole bridge was covered by a spider web. And Jude used his skill. When the ck dragon¡¯s energy was released towards the ground, ck energy soared between the cracks. ¡°Eh.¡± The Fairy Queen said, and Lacto looked under his feet. Cordelia smiled and waved her hand. ¡°Goodbye.¡± It crashed. The cracked bridge literally fell and crashed, and Lacto who was on top of it also plummeted. They heard a session of screams. Cordelia nodded with a satisfied face, and Jude turned towards the Fairy Queen. ¡°We defeated it!¡± They did do it. Lacto. And the bridge. ¡°Th-the bridge is gone!¡± The Fairy Queen cried as she flew towards Jude and Cordelia. She asked them to get rid of the monster blocking the road, but not the bridge itself. When the Fairy Queen who was brimming with emotion tried to shout again, Jude hurriedly raised his hand to stop her. ¡°No, no. It¡¯s okay.¡± ¡°What the hell do you mean it¡¯s okay!¡± The bridge was gone! As the Fairy Queen unconsciously held the back of her neck, Cordelia said. ¡°But fairies have wings.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You have wings, so you can just fly.¡± Lacto, who was obstructing the road, disappeared. The bridge was also gone, but the fairies could fly in the first ce, so the bridge was not necessary. ¡°Isn¡¯t that right?¡± The Fairy Queen felt dizzy at her rather logical words, and Jude said with a smile. ¡°Fairy Queen, I apologize, but could you step back for a while?¡± ¡°I should¡­step back?¡± ¡°Because it¡¯s not yet over.¡± Thest one was said by Cordelia. She looked back at Jude and began to count downwards, and Jude also joined Cordelia. ¡°5.¡± ¡°4.¡± ¡°3.¡± ¡°2.¡± ¡°¡°1!¡±¡± The two shouted at the same time, and at that moment, a roar filled the air. ¡°Uooooooh!¡± It was Lacto. With its bat wings stretched out, Lacto flew up and angrily roared as it saw Jude and Cordelia, who had already activated the magic she had prepared in advance. ¡°.¡± The Spell¡¯s Echo repeated her spell again. A sharp wind de flew towards the target. With a high-pitched sound, it hit and injured Lacto¡¯s wings. ¡°Goodbye again.¡± ¡°Holy Cross Punch.¡± Jude drove the Holy Cross Punch towards Lacto. Because it got hit by the golden cross and its pping wings were no longer moving properly, Lacto lost its bnce at once and plummeted once again. ¡°Guaaaaaah!¡± Boooom! Jude and Cordelia looked back at the Fairy Queen, and the Fairy Queen blinked her eyes and opened her lips with difficulty. ¡°Uh¡­¡± ¡°Let¡¯s finish our conversation. Since fairies have wings, they won¡¯t suffer any inconveniences in using this road even if there¡¯s no bridge.¡± ¡°B-but¡­¡± ¡°Think about it. Now that there¡¯s no bridge, there won¡¯t be any monsters like Lacto who¡¯ll block the bridge.¡± If bees gathered in the flower garden, then they should destroy the flower garden itself to get rid of the bees. It was pure nonsense, but the ones who were listening to him was the fairies. ¡°Wow! You¡¯re right!¡± ¡°How clever!¡± ¡°Without a bridge, there won¡¯t be any more monsters!¡± As the fairies rejoiced, Cordelia smiled and nced at the Fairy Queen, and Jude said again with a smile. ¡°This is all thanks to you, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Thanks to generously giving out such valuable equipment, we were able to destroy the bridge, which was the main cause of everything.¡± ¡°He¡¯s right, this is all thanks to the Fairy Queen.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s give a round of apuse for the Fairy Queen!¡± ¡°Wooow!¡± Jude spoke and Cordelia incited the fairies to do something absurd. The fairies were joyous in nature, so when Cordelia began to p, they also began pping. ¡°Long live the Queen!¡± ¡°Hooray!¡± ¡°Hurray!¡± They managed to convince them. In the end, the Fairy Queen had no choice but to awkwardly smile. ¡°Uh¡­uh¡­yes, yes. You did well.¡± ¡°Wow, wow! Our Queen is the best!¡± ¡°Hurrah for the Queen!¡± ¡°The Queen is so pretty!¡± Thest one was Cordelia. Cordelia knew the fairies quite well since she had been harassed by them in the past. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± The Fairy Queen was still a fairy after all. She blushed with delight at the words saying that she was pretty, and Jude and Cordelia looked at each other. ¡®You think it¡¯s okay now?¡¯ ¡®Yes, all we have to do is finish our job.¡¯ The true end goal for this job. But before that, there was still one more work left to do. ¡°Your Majesty, please step back for a while again.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s words, the Fairy Queen tilted her head, but she soon retreated, and Jude and Cordelia exchanged nces as they started counting down again. ¡°5.¡± ¡°4.¡± ¡°3.¡± ¡°2.¡± ¡°¡°1!¡±¡± ¡°Uooooooooh!¡± The bloody Lacto stuck out its head. Since it had been injured from its fall, its right horn was broken, and blood bled from its head. ¡°Kuuuuu¡­.¡± Rage. Hatred. Anger. The angry monster had crept up the precipice and tried to leap at them at that moment. But it was toote. Jude was standing on top of a magical hand, and the two were already in position. ¡°It¡¯s goodbye at this point.¡± ¡°Bye, bye.¡± Jude strongly stepped on the hand that was supporting him, and Cordelia pushed him away with a magical force. ¡°Aaaaaaah!¡± With a grievous scream, Lacto crashed down once again. It tried to hurl curses at the wickedly smiling Jude and Cordelia at the top of the precipice, but the speed of the fall was too fast for it to do that. And it crashed again. ¡°Oh, level up.¡± ¡°We defeated it.¡± Having seen the pure white rings that surrounded them, Jude and Cordelia smiled in satisfaction before they looked back at the Fairy Queen. ¡°We defeated it.¡± ¡°You can rx now.¡± ¡°Y-yes.¡± The Fairy Queen unconsciously stuttered and thenposed herself with deep breaths. Since the monster was gone, their problem was solved. But why? Why do I still have a bad feeling? The answer came before her eyes. ¡°Your Majesty.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Please hand out the final reward.¡± ¡°Reward? What reward?¡± ¡°A good reward.¡± Shouldn¡¯t there be a reward since they settled the request? Jude and Cordelia stepped forward as the dupe, no, the head of the wild fairies, instinctively stepped backwards. *** ¡°You¡¯re like a demon.¡± ¡°Do you hate it then?¡± ¡°No, I love it!¡± Chapter 80 - EPISODE 80 – THE KAPLAN EFFECT (1)

Chapter 80 - EPISODE 80 ¨C THE KAPLAN EFFECT (1)

Terms used in this chapter: Praise makes even a whale dance?¨C an old Korean saying which means that praises makes a person feel good. Magician of words?¨C also known as?wordsmith, which means a person who is an expert in the use of words. Jude also had something called a conscience. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Why are you pretending like it¡¯s someone else¡¯s business? You¡¯re an aplice too.¡± ¡°Cordelia doesn¡¯t know anything. I was just following Daddy.¡± Cordelia pretended to be cute and innocent in front of him, and Jude couldn¡¯t win against her. ¡°Hehe, I¡¯m really cute so you couldn¡¯t win, right?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not?¡± ¡°Hehehe.¡± Cordelia cheekilyughed and lightly knocked on Jude¡¯s chest. ¡°Apparently, you have a conscience here too.¡± Jude¡¯s conscience. As she had said, Jude also had a conscience. Even for Jude, it was unreasonable to extort more from the Fairy Queen as a reward for her single request when they had already received the Earth Protection and over twenty magic tools. ¡®Though the truth is, we have nothing else to extort from her.¡¯ There surely would have been more treasures, but it was questionable if the Fairy Queen would hand it over to them. There was no need to destroy a good rtionship just because of greed. ¡°That¡¯s why you got this?¡± ¡°It¡¯s enough.¡± Jude replied with a smile before spreading out the map he received from the Fairy Queen. ¡°Magen, the kingdom of magic.¡± It was a powerful magic kingdom built by the High Elves, who were also known as the ancient elves. The map disyed and recorded in detail the geography of not only the Raptor Canyon, but also of Endymion, the capital of the former magic kingdom. ¡°Lena must be here somewhere, right?¡± ¡°Perhaps. Even if she isn¡¯t here¡­we still have to know about Endymion in order to save Lena.¡± After nodding at Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia turned her gaze towards the left corner of the map and smiled. ¡°This is the hot spring we¡¯re in now. And since this is the bathhouse sign¡­hehehe, there are more than ten bathhouses in Endymion alone.¡± Although it would not have beenpletely preserved like the bathhouse they were in that was managed by the wild fairies, the fact that there were bathhouses was still important. ¡°Good for you.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, I love it.¡± Seeing Cordelia¡¯s broad smile, Jude¡¯s mood also became better. ¡°Let¡¯s stop by these ces on the way. Anyway, we gained a lot from today¡¯s meeting.¡± ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right.¡± They got the map of Endymion, the Earth Protection, and several magic items, which included the Spell¡¯s Echo. ¡®There¡¯s even information.¡¯ Information such as what monsters lived in Raptor Canyon and which surrounding terrain and so on, that they should be careful of. Jude and Cordelia got more than they had thought. ¡°Let¡¯s change our equipment setting first, minus the items that has effects that cancel out each other. Let¡¯s set it at the highest efficiency.¡± ¡°Leave it to me. I¡¯ll set up yours at the highest efficiency.¡± Cordelia lightly knocked on her chest and began sorting out the equipment they had brought, and Jude approached the fainted Kan who was still lying on the floor. ¡°How¡¯s Kan?¡± ¡°He looks fine. He¡¯s just sleeping well.¡± After answering Cordelia, Jude checked Kan¡¯s pulse before he untied the ropes. ¡®Indiana Kan.¡¯ An adventurer and archeologist from the Argon Empire. He was a character the yer could meet at least once when they explored the ruins in the Argon Empire. He was always involved in idents, so beginners would call him the god of disaster while rotten waters called him the god of bliss. ¡°Are you going to wake him up?¡± ¡°Yes, because we have a lot to talk about.¡± He wanted to know why Kan came to the wildnd, and what and how much Kan knew about Endymion. ¡°Wait, if you¡¯re going to wake him up, I¡¯ll wake him up with magic.¡± Cordelia put the sorted equipment into their newly brought magic bag before she quickly walked towards Jude. ¡°.¡± As she gently stroked Kan¡¯s shiny head and whispered, the spell¡¯s effect was activated. ¡°Uhhh¡­uh¡­¡± Kan opened his eyes with a groan and was half-asleep for a moment, but he soon jumped up and raised his upper body. ¡°Hyuuuk?! Where am I?! What about the monster?!¡± Jude and Cordelia left him alone for now as Kan exhaled roughly and looked around him before he stabilized his position. ¡°Ba-bathhouse? High Elf style?¡± As expected of an archeologist. Jude unknowingly smiled, and then said to Kan who was covered in cold sweat. ¡°You¡¯re Sir Indiana Kan, am I right?¡± Kan flinched at the sudden call, but he soon nodded. He was too busy to look around, so he didn¡¯t properly notice Jude and Cordelia standing next to him. ¡°I¡¯m Indiana Kan. Here¡­n-no. I remember. While being chased by the White Giant Bear¡­¡± ¡°Yes, we saved Sir Kan.¡± ¡°We saved you. If not for us, you would have been eaten by the White Giant Bear.¡± Cordelia emphasized the fact that they saved him even if Jude didn¡¯t ask her to. ¡®Why?¡¯ ¡®No, I¡¯m just proud.¡¯ She grew up well. But he partly felt awful when he thought that he had corrupted an innocent child. In any case, Cordelia¡¯s emphasis on doing him a favor worked. ¡°Oh! You two were my benefactors! Thank you very much! I lived thanks to you two.¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem, now then¡­¡± Cordelia immediately nodded, but Jude stealthily stopped Cordelia as he stepped forward. Because Kan wasn¡¯t a fairy. Emphasizing that he owed them was good, but if it was too obvious, there was a possibility that it would be slightly counterproductive. ¡°It¡¯s an honor to meet Sir Indiana Kan, a renowned archeologist.¡± ¡°Hoho, it¡¯s just a bit of an empty name.¡± Kan stroked his beard as if he was embarrassed, but?praise makes even a whale dance. Kan felt much better. ¡°I am Jude, and this is my fianc¨¦e, Cordelia.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Cordelia. It¡¯s an honor to meet you.¡± Cordelia¡¯s courteousness made Kan¡¯s face flushed. ¡°Your fianc¨¦e is a very beautiful woman. I¡¯m envious.¡± ¡°Hahaha, thank you.¡± In fact, Cordelia didn¡¯t notice because she didn¡¯t pay it much thought, but Jude had always stressed the fact that she was his ¡®fianc¨¦e¡¯ whenever they met someone. In the midst of the friendly atmosphere, Kan spoke. ¡°By the way¡­you don¡¯t look like people who live in the wildnd.¡± ¡°Yes, we are from the S?len Kingdom.¡± ¡°Ho! S?len! The S?len Kingdom has long been in war with the barbarians, so howe you¡¯re here¡­¡± ¡°There were various circumstances¡­but the biggest reason is to explore the ruins.¡± ¡°Explore the ruins?¡± ¡°Yes, explore the ruins.¡± At the same time as heughed ¡®hoho¡¯ at Jude¡¯s answer, Kan¡¯s face was filled with curiosity and nervousness. ¡°The ruins you¡¯re talking about are¡­¡± ¡°The capital of Magen, the magic kingdom. The Endymion capital.¡± ¡°Oh! You¡¯re the same!¡± With bright eyes, Kan stood up from his position, and Cordelia immediately continued. ¡°Sir Kan, are you here to investigate Endymion?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. I was a little lost because I didn¡¯t know the exact location¡­but seeing you two gave me hope.¡± Endymion must be somewhere around here. ¡°Yes, Endymion is real. And if you look at this ce on a bigger scale, this is also a part of Endymion.¡± ¡°Ohhhh! As expected! Is this the bathhouse of the High Elves?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡± ¡°Whooaa!¡± Kan was extremely excited as he immediately ran to the wall and began looking and carefully touching the murals, engraved characters, decorations, and so on, that decorated the bathhouse. ¡°He¡¯spletely excited.¡± ¡°Because he¡¯s an archeologist.¡± Jude didn¡¯t want to appear rude, but they still had to finish their conversation with him. So he approached Kan and spoke. ¡°I and Cordelia are researchers at the Academy located in the capital of the S?len Kingdom. By chance, we got a map of Raptor Canyon and Endymion, so we ended uping here.¡± ¡°Map? You mean a map?!¡± ¡°Yes, a map.¡± Kan immediately rushed towards Jude, who took out a neatly folded map. However, Jude didn¡¯t give out the map. ¡°Before that, Sir Kan. There¡¯s something we¡¯d like to know.¡± ¡°What do you want to know?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a big deal. We just want to exchange information.¡± They wanted to know what Kan knew about Endymion. But the reason Kan came all the way to the wildnd was because he wanted to just see Endymion. ¡°Umm¡­as you two know, Magen, the kingdom of magic, is a legend. It¡¯s not that there are no records at all, but information about the kingdom iscking to the point that its existence is even questioned.¡± That was correct. Even Jude and Cordelia did not know of the existence of the magic kingdom itself until they had heard of it from Gentle Snow Breeze. ¡°Because the kingdom¡¯s existence itself is being questioned, the cause of its destruction was also handed down through legends.¡± A long, long time ago. The overlords of hell descended onto this world in an era called the ancient times. ¡°ording to legend, Angelone, thest queen of the magic kingdom, gathered all the forces of the kingdom to confront the overlord of hell. But in the end, they were outnumbered. The magic kingdom eventually fell into the hands of demons and copsed.¡± But they weren¡¯t just trampled. Magen¡¯s High Elves seeded in inflicting a fatal injury to the overlord of hell. ¡°Moreover, it is said that the war between Magen and the overlord of hell did not happen for a day or two. At least a year¡­no, during the war thatsted for many years, Magen¡¯s wizards researched and studied ways on how to fight the demons.¡± It was a convincing tale. It became apparent that the reason Lena came here was to obtain the demon countermeasures that was developed by Magen¡¯s High Elves. ¡°After the tragedy of the Paragon Kingdom, demon followers began to run wild in the Argon Empire. More and more people are concerned about the arrival of a powerful demon.¡± ¡°Then¡­¡± ¡°Yes, it is to find a way to fight against the demons not only for the Argon Empire, but also for the whole world. As a schr, there are also many reasons to move. Of course, there were requests from sponsors too.¡± Despite looking like an old dwarf, him clearing his throat at the end was strangely cute. ¡°I see. In fact, we are here for a simr reason. The Devil¡¯s Hand and other demon followers have been running wild in the S?len Kingdom for a long time too.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­as expected. Demon followers are a worldwide problem. It¡¯s not just one country¡¯s problem.¡± ¡°Yes, so Sir Kan. Let¡¯s explore Endymion together. Let¡¯s leave our position as citizens of the S?len Kingdom and of the Argon Empire, and even transcend our human and dwarf races, and just be people who live together in this era.¡± ¡°Ooh¡­that¡¯s good. Let us do so.¡± As Kan nodded and shook the hand that Jude had stretched out, Jude nced at Cordelia and she gave a thumbs up. ¡®As expected of my scammer!¡¯ ¡®They call me a magician of words.¡¯ After his eye conversation with Cordelia, Jude opened the map, showed it to Kan, and then said. ¡°Sir Kan, we¡¯re going to take a break here today and start exploring tomorrow. So, Sir Kan, let¡¯s have a good rest today.¡± ¡°Oh¡­I see. I understand. Could I see a little more of the map?¡± ¡°Of course. Take your time.¡± Jude inly handed over the map to the overly excited Kan before he drew closer to Cordelia again and said. ¡°Let¡¯s take a rest now.¡± ¡°I have to take a bath and do theundry. Wash yourself a little too. You¡¯re sweaty.¡± ¡°Uh¡­really?¡± ¡°Yes¡­really. So don¡¯t stick close to me until you¡¯ve washed yourself. Do you understand?¡± Cordelia coyly said before she turned around and headed towards the bathtub in the corner, and Jude sniffed and smelled himself before hurriedly heading over to the opposite side of the bathtub. And the next morning¡­ ¡°Uh¡­are we going like this?¡± ¡°Yes! We¡¯re going like this!¡± ¡°We¡¯re going like this!¡± At the hot spring¡¯s entrance. Jude and Cordelia were close together, while Kan stood far away. Was it almost 30 meters apart? Moreover, they weren¡¯t just far away. A rope was tied around Kan¡¯s barrel-like waist, and Jude held the other end of that rope. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. If anything happens, we¡¯ll save you like yesterday!¡± ¡°It¡¯ll be fine since we¡¯re connected with the rope like this!¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just¡­¡± Kan took the lead, while Jude and Cordelia followed him. But since he was tied up with a rope like that, it felt like he was a bait that was hanging from a fishing rod. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s depart!¡± At the urging of Jude and Cordelia, Kan had a baffled expression, but he soon nodded. At any rate, the two were his benefactors, and they even gave him the map and let him take the lead. The value of the map, in which Endymion¡¯s geography was described in detail, was surely around a thousand gold, so Kan himself didn¡¯t feel like he was a bait. ¡®They must have a different idea.¡¯ The two were good enough fighters to save themselves from the White Giant Bear. There must be a reason why they were following at a distance. Kan tried to convince himself before he looked straight ahead with sparkling eyes. The Endymion capital. The capital of the fallen kingdom of magic. Thest city. These were words that stimted his heart as an adventurer and archeologist. ¡®Let¡¯s go!¡¯ Kan proudly advanced and Jude and Cordelia followed Kan at a distance of 30 meters. One hour passed like that. Cordelia raised her head, and Jude spontaneously smiled. ¡°Ahhhh! It¡¯s a monster!¡± ¡°Oooh! It¡¯s an Ice Grizzly, a rare monster!¡± ¡°It¡¯s also named! It has two horns! As expected of the Kan effect!¡± While Kan screamed and ran away, the two widely smiled and then pulled the rope hard to retrieve Kan before they stepped forward. It was a named monster fishing using Kan, an unlucky man who attracts misfortune. With this method, they would be able to encounter rare monsters that were normally difficult to encounter. In addition, they would be able to encounter named monsters that were even harder to encounter. This was called the Kan effect. ¡°My princess, shall we catch a big fish?¡± ¡°Yes, Daddy. Let¡¯s pick the mulberries.¡± The two rotten waters smiled broadly at each other before they moved forward, and the named monster, who sensed the unusual atmosphere, shuddered at that moment, but it was already toote. Jude and Cordelia. The exciting fishing of the two rotten waters began. Chapter 81 - EPISODE 81 – THE KAPLAN EFFECT (2)

Chapter 81 - EPISODE 81 ¨C THE KAPLAN EFFECT (2)

Terms used in this chapter: Mk2?¨C An abbreviation of Mark II or Mark 2. It often refers to the second version of a product, which is frequently used on military hardware. A Rare Monster, as its name implied, was a rare monster with a low frequency of appearance. ¡®Among those Rare Monsters are what is called the Named Monsters.¡¯ The Named Monster was a special entity that was even rarer than the already rare Rare Monster, and thus, having a name separately ssified it from the other monsters. Moreover, Named Monsters weren¡¯t just rare. Most Named Monsters were much stronger than normal monsters or possessed special abilities, though there were some cases where they were just like normal monsters. ¡®In short, they¡¯re difficult and tricky to fight against.¡¯ However, it was extremely rare for users of the?Legend of Heroes?series to dislike encounters with the Named Monsters. Even ordinary users weed encounters with the Named Monsters, and it was all the more so for the rotten waters like Jude and Cordelia. Why was it like that? Why did users long for an encounter with a difficult-to-fight Named Monster? Let me say this in advance, it wasn¡¯t that the?Legend of Heroes?users were weirdos who enjoyed pain and suffering. ¡°What? Wasn¡¯t it like that?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not? No, wait. Surely?¡± ¡°No way, it¡¯s not, really! Of course I¡¯m the exception. I enjoy the thrill of highly difficult games. You and other rotten waters are weirdos who enjoy suffering.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s shameless assertion, Jude nodded and said as he pretended to write in the air. ¡°Cordelia is a weirdo who enjoys pain and suffering¡­memo.¡± ¡°F*ck?¡± Jude, who began to be pped on the back by Cordelia, was thinking as he stared at the White Grizzly whom they had just defeated. ¡®High risk, high return.¡¯ It was difficult to fight against, but in return, the rewards were plentiful. The experience gained was much higher than that of a regr mob, and the quantity and quality of the items that were dropped when they are defeated were also iparable with the regr mobs. ¡®But this not a game. This is reality.¡¯ In the game, if they defeated the White Grizzly, they would get this and that item, but this was reality. The giant White Grizzly was supposed to carry items that were used by humans who were much smaller than itself. ¡®But even if that is so¡­¡¯ ¡°Argh! Why is your pain tolerance so high! Let¡¯s strengthen it!¡± ¡°Hey! It hurts! It really hurts! Why are you using magic to hit me!¡± ¡°Here it goes! Here you go!¡± ¡°Ah! Ah! It really hurts! It really hurts! I think you hit me in the bone!¡± ¡°Nice! Additional damage!¡± Jude barely calmed down the happy Cordelia who had clenched her fist, before he looked back at the White Grizzly. ¡®It¡¯s not just the equipment we could get.¡¯ There was the mana stone embedded in the forehead of the named White Grizzly, and since it was a bear, there was its galldder and its ws that were harder than steel. T/N: The dried gall dder of a bear is used as an ingredient for herbal medicine. There were plenty of parts that they could take. ¡°Wow! Look at this! There¡¯s also an item!¡± ¡°Eh?¡± Cordelia had rushed towards the side of the sprawled White Grizzly and took out a small dagger from its hairy fur. ¡°What¡­why does it have an item?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe it used this as a toothpick. Oh, it¡¯s better than I thought? It¡¯s a dagger with a Freezing curse. If you get stabbed by this, you¡¯ll get frostbite.¡± It was a fact that he often forget, but Cordelia was definitely a wizard. She had grasped the magic of the dagger at once, and afterwards, she began to scour the fur some more with a satisfied face. ¡°Eh, there¡¯s nothing more.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s already strange that an item came out.¡± Perhaps this was also the Kan effect. Anyway, since they had already defeated the White Grizzly and they couldn¡¯t stay here forever, they had to directly harvest the mana stone, galldder, and so on now. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± During the Bicorn, the knights did it for them, but that was not possible this time. Cordelia frowned and was troubled, but Jude smiled and stepped forward. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Leave it to me, step back, and take care of Kan.¡± ¡°Can you do it?¡± ¡°I can do it.¡± ¡°Wow, you¡¯re so awesome.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t fall in love.¡± ¡°Yes, I won¡¯t fall in love.¡± Cordelia nodded right away and then passed by Jude as she headed for Kan, and Jude bitterly smiled before he took out his dagger. And around a minute or so passed. Cordelia shouted as she approached Kan who had copsed at a distance. ¡°Jude! Kan seems to have fainted!¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°He¡¯s timid and weak. He¡¯s a little different from the Kan we know.¡± ¡°Well¡­we¡¯re still in the early stages. Isn¡¯t it because he had been through so much of this that he became the intrepid man of bad luck?¡± ¡°Hmm, that may be true.¡± The convinced Cordelia examined Kan¡¯s condition some more before she turned to Jude. Jude was skillfully collecting all the necessary parts. ¡°Jude, shall we wake Kan up again?¡± ¡°No, just leave him fainted. I think it¡¯ll be morefortable for him that way.¡± ¡°Well, we¡¯ve still got a long way to go, so if he kept fainting, it would be bad for Kan.¡± ¡°Yes, so he doesn¡¯t need to stay awake.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, that¡¯s right.¡± The two had agreed yesterday to create the wooden board Mk2 by attaching the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow to the wooden board they had prepared in advance and using magic to make it fly. ¡°All right, let¡¯s keep going.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s be fishermen who hooks monsters.¡± Jude and Cordelia looked at each other and warmly smiled before they set off with the wooden board carrying Kan. The distance between the wooden board and the two were about 30 meters. ¡°Wow, it¡¯sing already.¡± ¡°His aggro¡¯s really freaking awesome.¡± It had only been 30 minutes since they defeated the White Grizzly. The two joyfullyughed as they stepped forward. Naturally, they caught a big fish again this time. *** Indiana Kan was both an archeology expert and an adventurer. Having served as a professor at the institutional academy, a prestigious school within the Argon Empire, he had already been an extraordinary figure since he was a graduate student and before bing a professor. The discovery of the tomb of Irond, the ancient dwarf king. The unearthing of the tombstones of Lun, an old kingdom. The excavation of the crystal ball of Tatania, proving the existence of Tatania and thend of witches, which had only been considered a legend. The imperial family recognized his achievements and abilities in making discoveries of the century that were rarely made once in a lifetime, and granted him knighthood along with a life-long teaching position at the institutional academy, and Indiana Kan was able to enjoy the honor of being the youngest professor in the history of the Argon Empire. But if there was light, there was darkness. In terms of his aplishments, he was supposed to be a star of the archeological world and the treasure of the institutional academy, but he was always shunned and hated. ¡®Envy.¡¯ He would have felt better if it had been just that. He could have endured it, thinking that it was the envy of the losers towards those who achieved remarkable sess. ¡®Kan was the only one who came back safe this time?¡¯ ¡®There is no such thing as a god of disaster. But howe every time he excavates, an ident happens?¡¯ ¡®Isn¡¯t it on purpose?¡¯ ¡®You mean on purpose? Do you mean that Kan intentionally causes an ident?¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s possible.¡¯ ¡®Howe?¡¯ ¡®Because he wants to take the credit alone?¡¯ It was an outrageous nder. It was nothing more than a conspiracy theory without any evidence. How could he kill or injure researchers who went on an investigation together with him and disguise it as idents just so that he could take the credit alone? ¡®It could be so.¡¯ ¡®How does an ident happen like that every time?¡¯ ¡®In the meantime, he¡¯s the only one who¡¯s fine.¡¯ It was as people said. Despite the many idents, Kan was always alive and well. There were many injuries, but there weren¡¯t really any serious injuries or deaths. ¡®It¡¯s okay, all of it are groundless rumors. How could they me you for the idents that happened? You have been hurt many times too.¡¯ Those were the words of Bartol, who had volunteered for the assistant position that everyone avoided. How much had he been saved by those words? However, even Bartol did notst long. ¡®¡­I¡¯ll quit.¡¯ During his first excavation with Bartol, an ident urred without fail, and Bartol was fortunately saved, but was seriously injured that he had to lie in a hospital bed for five months. Bartol didn¡¯t say anything to me Kan. But he didn¡¯t say that it wasn¡¯t Kan¡¯s fault like before, nor say that it was his own fault. It was from then on. Kan began to go alone. He didn¡¯t work with others when he was conducting research or excavations. Anytime, anywhere. Just alone. ¡°Gasp!¡± Kan suddenly opened his eyes, let out a gasp, and raised his upper body. In the midst of his confusion, several images suddenly filled his mind. A giant monster. White Grizzly. The one who ferociously roared as if it would eat him at any moment. He was alive. He did not die. He seemed to have escaped from the monster again. ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­what a relief¡­¡± That was it. While breathing hard, Kan raised his head. Because he had crazy thoughts that it was his fault that he hadn¡¯t seen his group for a while. ¡®What about Jude?! What about Miss Cordelia?!¡¯ They were definitely strong people. Because they were the ones who saved him from the White Giant Bear. They were safe even though they fell from the cliff. So he had epted their request to apany him. It had been a long time since he had done an investigation with someone else. ¡®Please¡­please!¡¯ ¡°Sir Kan?¡± He heard a voice. It was a clear, pure, and beautiful, as if it came from heaven. Kan turned his head reflexively and then swallowed his breath. The girl who was looking at him with the sunlight on her back was so beautiful that he unconsciously said. ¡°Angel?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not an angel, I¡¯m Cordelia. You remember me, right? Are you awake?¡± Kan nodded, and only then could he fully wake up. ¡°What about the White, White Grizzly Bear?¡± ¡°Me and Jude defeated it. So rest assured. It¡¯s safe here.¡± Cordelia said with a smile. As if it was nothing. ¡®Because we caught a big fish seven times.¡¯ Jude and Cordelia had already received information from the Wild Fairy Queen about the monsters that appeared in Raptor Canyon. There were no monsters among those that the two couldn¡¯t defeat. ¡°Aaah¡­ah¡­thank you. Thank you very much. You were in danger because of me¡­¡± ¡°Eh, what are you talking about? Rather, I benefited from Sir Kan. Thank you very much for being with me.¡± Cordelia was sincere. It wasn¡¯t only Jude, as Cordelia had a conscience too. It bothered her that they had used him as bait to attract the Named Monsters. But it soundedpletely different to Kan, who was unaware of the situation. ¡®Ah¡­is she really an angel¡­¡¯ She received help from him. Thank you for being with me. How long had it been since he had heard those words? No, it wasn¡¯t that long. When he thought about it, he had heard of it when he first became a professor. ¡®How, how can a person be this kindhearted?¡¯ Despite being in danger because of Kan himself, she was worried about him. Cordelia¡¯s warm words were like salvation to Kan, who had already thought of himself as a man who brought disasters like what everyone else thought. ¡°Angel¡­Miss Cordelia must be an angel. Huuk-¡± Kan began to shed tears of emotion. Because all his past sorrows burst out at once. ¡°Si-sir Kan?¡± ¡°Thank you very much.¡± When Kan sobbed as he sped Cordelia¡¯s hand, Cordelia was flustered and broke into cold sweat. ¡®Why is he doing this?¡¯ Did he notice that they used him as bait and was now trying to counterattack? While Cordelia¡¯s delusional circuits was weirdly turning because of her embarrassment, Jude was looking around them. ¡®The entrance of the Endymion capital.¡¯ Jude entered the interior of a structure that looked like a gateway, and he recalled one by one the monsters that they had encountered on their way here. ¡®None of them were rted to the demons.¡¯ The Wild Fairy Queen¡¯s information was urate. None of the monsters who lived in Raptor Canyon were directly rted to the demons. ¡®Lacto.¡¯ It was the lowest-ranking demon in contrast to the Tomb Guardian. It had appeared rtively recently. Not by the standards of the wild fairies who had a twisted sense of time, but by human standards. Then, where did ite from? Who summoned it? Could there be a connection between Lena¡¯s death and the summoning of demons? ¡®The ce where Lacto appeared was the underground of Endymion.¡¯ Jude began to look around to search for a way to go underground. But it was then. ¡°Jude!¡± ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°We found it! Sir Kan found a way to the underground!¡± Jude followed her voice as he went outside and saw Cordelia jumping and the amazed Kan making a satisfied smile. ¡®It¡¯s surely Kan.¡¯ He was a man who picks up artifacts even if he falls down on the road. If Kan had found it, it would certainly be not an ordinary underground path. ¡°This way. I came across it by ident while tying my shoces.¡± ¡°As expected of Sir Kan.¡± With a broad smile, Jude peered down the stairs that were going underground, which was next to an altar. It was tightly sealed, and Cordelia had magically opened it. ¡°It¡¯s not on the map that we got from the wild fairies.¡± ¡°It must be worth investigating.¡± Jude immediately responded to Cordelia¡¯s whisper, before he turned to Kan again. ¡°Sir Kan, we¡¯re thinking of going down right away. Would that be all right?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s fine.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s start right away.¡± ¡°Yeah!¡± Jude was like Cordelia. Far from resenting Kan, he even suggested to continue together. To Kan, they were a such a kindhearted and good-natured man and woman. ¡°I will take the lead.¡± ¡°Yes, be careful.¡± Jude readily took the lead with Kan before he nced at Cordelia. ¡®What happened? He seems to be highly excited.¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t know.¡¯ Cordelia shook her head and shrugged her shoulders, and Jude tilted his head. ¡®Is it because we¡¯re in the early stages?¡¯ The Kan in?Legend of Heroes 2?was truly a man of steel. He always had a smile on his face, but it wasn¡¯t a sincere smile. It was a smile for building walls, not a smile formunication. He was a man with an impregnable fortress who didn¡¯t let anyone pass within a certain line. But the current Kan was very different. His attitude towards Jude and Cordelia were warm and tender. ¡®Perhaps because it¡¯s in the early stages.¡¯ Kan had appeared in the middle stages of the game. ¡°Let¡¯s go in quickly too.¡± ¡°Oh, yes.¡± Jude was somewhat convinced and at Cordelia¡¯s urging, he followed and moved downwards. A dozen minutes passed like that. The stairs which seemed to continue endlessly, finally came to an end. Having descended almost a hundred meters down, they arrived at a huge underground temple. ¡°Wow¡­¡± Cordelia eximed as she greatly increased the light of a magic orb, which she had used as a torch substitute. It was so dark that they couldn¡¯t identify everything around them, but the things that caught their eyes at that moment were amazing. The ceiling height was around 30 meters high. Large columns were erected all over the ce, and magnificent sculptures were embossed on the pirs. The sculptures were probably the ancient elven gods that the inhabitants of Magen, the magic kingdom, believed in. ¡°The Endymion capital¡­¡± Kan approached the pirs in admiration. And it was at that moment. Jude and Cordelia almost simultaneously looked at their back. Jude sensed someone¡¯s presence. Cordelia felt her hair stand on end. A gaze that was hiding in the dark and looking their way. It wasn¡¯t a person. Neither was it a monster of this world. A pair of red eyes shed. It silently took a step in the dark. Demon. No, a monster from hell. Jude held his breath. He inferred the height and shape of the monster from the size and height of the glowing eyes. It was around 4 meters tall. Judging from the size of the glowing eyes, it was a humanoid. Another silent step. No, it wasn¡¯t a step in the first ce. Snake. Its lower body was like that of a snake¡¯s. ¡°Nazarus.¡± A monster from hell with the upper body of a human and a lower body of a snake. It was a higher species than Lacto. Moreover, it wasn¡¯t a monster that could be defeated by using tricks like how they defeated Lacto on the bridge. ¡°It¡¯s okay, we can fight against Nazarus.¡± Both Jude and Cordelia had grown a lot stronger. If the two were together, it was possible to fight it head-on. ¡°As long as it¡¯s not rare. No, as long as it¡¯s not Named.¡± Just as a snake¡¯s head was only one, themon Nazarus only had one human upper body. But among the Nazarus were those with two upper bodies. Cordelia nodded at Jude¡¯s words, but only for a moment. ¡°As long as it¡¯s not rare?¡± ¡°Yes, if it¡¯s not rare¡­¡± That was it. As he thought of the same thing as Cordelia, Jude turned his head and gazed at the pir, and the Nazarus in the dark couldn¡¯t wait any longer. ¡°Human! Tear it to death!¡± ¡°Human! Kill and eat!¡± Two voices rang at the same time. Rare. It wasn¡¯t an ordinary Rare Monster either. There was a horn in the middle of the forehead, proving that it was a Named Monster. ¡°Kan.¡± The Kan effect. As if responding to Jude¡¯s babble, the Nazarus that was named Carac raised its voice. It charged towards Jude and Cordelia. Chapter 82 - EPISODE 82 – THE KAPLAN EFFECT (3)

Chapter 82 - EPISODE 82 ¨C THE KAPLAN EFFECT (3)

¡®It¡¯s not Kan¡¯s fault.¡¯ Kan¡¯s ability was to attract rare monsters like the Rare and Named Monsters, and not to create them. In other words, it was to attract rare or named monsters among the monsters scattered all over the ce, and not to strengthen ordinary monsters into rare or named ones. ¡®It had been here from the very beginning.¡¯ This happened because the named Nazarus was in Endymion¡¯s underground from the start. ¡®So it¡¯s not Kan¡¯s fault!¡¯ But¡­but still¡­ ¡°Here ites!¡± Cordelia quickly shouted, and Jude focused on the battle before him. He could hear the startled Kan screaming behind his back. ¡°Named Nazarus.¡± ¡°Carac. Cara and C.¡± ¡°Rare, and they have one body.¡± ¡°Named are capable of dividing itself, also have a special ability!¡± That was it. Carac¡¯s figure was fully revealed from the darkness. It had the upper bodies of a naked man and woman, and its lower body was that of a giant snake monster. Both of them were monsters from hell, so they looked very evil. ¡°Kaha-!¡± The male monster with a spear and shield, C, opened his mouth wide and spewed out fire. To avoid the mes that spread out in a straight line, Jude and Cordelia split as they ran to the sides, and the woman holding a cane, Cara, chanted the spell as if she had waited for it. ¡°Metamorphosis!¡± Paa-! At that instant, a tremendous amount of life engulfed all the darkness underground. Jude and Cordelia knew Carac¡¯s pattern, so they had closed their eyes just before the light burst to prevent sight loss, and thus, they lost the opportunity to track Carac¡¯s movement for a while. Therefore, Jude used his sense of hearing. He tried to figure out the movement of Carac by the sound. ¡°Agh! Eyes! My eyes!¡± But it wasn¡¯t easy. Because Kan had screamed from behind his back and rolled on the floor. Bang! There was a loud noise. It was at their front. At the same time, Jude felt their murderous aura. After having opened the third door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, his sharpened senses filled in the gaps of his hearing and sight. His eyes were closed, but he could somehow sense in the darkness that Carac had divided itself into two. Chwaaak-! A sharp attack pierced through the air. Jude avoided the attack with minimal movement at the exact timing, opened his eyes and then clenched his teeth. This was due to the unexpected situation happening in front of him. ¡®Cordelia!¡¯ Cordelia was in front of him. To be exact, it was Cara who had transformed into Cordelia. The special ability of the named Nazarus was transformation. It wasn¡¯t just a transformation that only mimicked the appearance. With the power of the horns on their foreheads, they were able to glimpse at their opponent¡¯s memories and mind and then use it to create an ideal look that was more real than the real person. ¡®They usually transform into a lover or a colleague who were with the victim.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t quite a great ability in the game, but in reality, it was clearly different. ¡°Jude.¡± It was Cordelia¡¯s voice. Moreover, the Cordelia in front of him had wet hair. It seemed to have taken the form of Cordelia when she was bathing under the moonlight in order to lure the Fall Fairies. ¡°Ugh.¡± It was the appearance of Cordelia that Jude had thought was the most beautiful. Jude was suddenly filled with embarrassment as he thought that his innermost feelings have beenid bare. ¡°Jude, let¡¯s y. Okay?¡± Speaking in a Cordelia-like tone, Cara drew closer to Jude. It was not an exaggeration to say that her approach was full of gaps, but just before he used his fist, Jude stopped and hesitated. ¡®Damn!¡¯ His mind knew that it wasn¡¯t Cordelia. But still, it was Cordelia¡¯s face and voice. He felt a strong reluctance to hit her, and at that decisive moment, he instinctively hesitated. His attacks didn¡¯t hit, or his attack speed slowed down, and Cara broke into that gap. ¡°Will you hit Cordelia?¡± Kara tilted her head and said while she created magic des that moved in the air, and Jude clenched his teeth again. By using the Twenty-Four Gale Steps, he made a dash and avoided the magic des that rushed in to kill him. ¡®Whirlwind!¡¯ The seven whirlwinds surrounding Jude suddenly shot forward and blew away the magic des. In that short moment, it created a path between Jude and Cara. ¡®Gale!¡¯ Jude rushed forward. After narrowing their distance at once, he tried to use the Holy Cross Punch on Cara¡¯s abdomen. But it was impossible. Again, he hesitated just before the attack. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be hurt!¡± Cara shouted in Cordelia¡¯s voice, and his attack went awry, which was enough for Cara. As a monster from hell, she dodged Jude¡¯s fist and blew her breath onto Jude at a close distance. ¡°I love you so much.¡± Along with those sweet words, poison prated into Jude¡¯s body. Jude hurriedly chanted the mnemonic chant of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors and activated the energy of his whole body. It wasn¡¯t an overstatement that the energy inside Jude was unrivalled in its clearness and purity that it not only repelled the poison but alsopletely purified it. ¡°Haa!¡± Jude attacked again with a shout, and Cara quickly stepped back and evaded Jude¡¯s attack. Jude¡¯s attack lost its usual sharpness, but he couldn¡¯t help it. ¡®This won¡¯t do.¡¯ It was more difficult than he thought. Even though it was just her appearance, he kept reacting to it. ¡®What about Cordelia?¡¯ Jude was primarily good at fighting, but he was now struggling like this. So it was natural that he was worried about Cordelia. Despite being in the middle of a fight, Jude diverted his gaze to the side and saw it. No, he ended up seeing it. ¡°This is so good!¡± It wasn¡¯t Cara but the real Cordelia. T/N: Cara and Cordelia actually said the same words in Korean (?? ??), and that was why the next sentence rified that it was the real Cordelia and not Cara. Jo-ta (??) can both mean ¡®love¡¯ and ¡®good¡¯ in Korean. However, Cara¡¯s words were more of seducing or enticing Jude, so I used the ¡®love¡¯ for the trantion, while Cordelia¡¯s words were more of her feeling good about the current situation, so I used the ¡®good¡¯ meaning. She excitedlyughed and one-sidedly cornered C. ¡°Be hit more! Be hit more!¡± A storm of magic attacks raged. C got hit by more than ten magic bullets, and Cordelia clenched her fist. As if this was not enough, she bolted towards C and shouted. ¡°Die! Jude!¡± ¡°Hey!¡± The real Jude eximed, but Cordelia didn¡¯t pay him any attention. He looked exactly like Jude but was not Jude. This was such a good situation. ¡®I don¡¯t have to control my strength!¡¯ She struck him with full power. She hit him with the determination to really kill him. ¡°This is for Hong Yoo Hee!¡± ! ! ! ! Due to the Spell¡¯s Echo, the and spells were cast in session. Cordelia¡¯s fist struck C¡¯s abdomen with frightful precision, and C even vomited blood from the intense impact. ¡°This is for Yellow Storm!¡± Cordelia¡¯s roundhouse kick exploded. It wasn¡¯t just a roundhouse kick but an attack that struck C¡¯s neck like a guillotine. She used again this time. Thud! C¡¯s head hit the floor. But Cordelia did not stop. ¡°This is for¡­Cordelia!¡± She stamped on C¡¯s back, and it seemed to be a little weaker than her previous two attacks, either because of her mood or of the reality. ¡°Die! Die! Die!¡± At any rate, Cordelia repeated her lethal attacks without any hesitation, and C groaned in pain. ¡°Hey! That¡¯s too much!¡± It was when Jude shouted. ¡°Gyaa?!¡± Cordelia¡¯s magic bullet flew at a terrifying speed. As he managed to avoid the attack by rolling down the floor, Cordelia said with a calm face. ¡°Ah, I thought you were a mob.¡± He looked just like C whom she was stepping on now. Cordelia focused on attacking C again while Jude trembled, and Cara, who had unknowingly watched all that had happened, said with Cordelia¡¯s face. ¡°Uh¡­she¡¯s your fianc¨¦e, right?¡± Without affirming or denying it, Jude vigorously raised his strength and ran towards Cara. However, Cara didn¡¯t attack Jude. It was because C¡¯s condition was too serious. ¡°Reunion!¡± As Cara shouted loudly, a tremendous light burst again, and Jude urgently closed his eyes to prevent being blinded. ¡°Aaah! My eyes! My eyes!¡± Hearing Kan¡¯s screams, Jude expanded his senses. He then felt Cordelia approaching him. ¡°Are you okay?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not okay.¡± ¡°What? Were you hit? They¡¯re weak when they¡¯re divided.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not that.¡± It was because of his feelings for a certain someone. But Jude swallowed down what he wanted to say and looked straight ahead again. Carac, the named Nazarus. But it was quite different from before. Unlike Cara who looked fine, C¡¯s whole body was covered in blood. ¡°Wow, you barely hurt her. Fighting?gae-mo-tae,?really.¡± T/N: Gae-mo-tae makes an appearance again! This time, Cordelia is saying that Jude is bad at fighting since birth. Jude began to tremble again at Cordelia¡¯s words, but he soon calmed himself down. No, he clenched his fists in burning fury. ¡°I¡¯ll take on C.¡± Carac was still transformed into them and he detested it. It was somehow strange, but if it looked like him, Jude could hit it without hesitation. But Cordelia opposed it. ¡°Eh? You want me to hit Cordelia? That¡¯s a bit difficult¡­¡± ¡°¡­Then, let¡¯s just hit both of them.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, that would be good.¡± Cordelia grinned and used the Spell¡¯s Echo to create more than ten magic bullets at once, and Jude kicked the ground. ¡°Gale!¡± It was literally a raging dash. Nazarus, a monster from hell, was not an easy opponent, but Jude and Cordelia had risen in level after they defeated powerful enemies at a rapid pace. Moreover, thebination of Cheonmujiche and Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors was truly like a cheat. Chwaaak! The true strength of Twenty-Four Gale Steps was in the whirlwinds and gale. It wasn¡¯t simply just a footwork technique that was as fast as the wind. Golden whirlwinds rose and not only blocked the enemy¡¯s attack but also controlled the enemy¡¯s movement. ¡°Die!¡± C spewed out fire and Cara sent a barrage of magic des. But none of those could hurt Jude. The whirlwinds blew away the magic des, and the gale twisted the trajectory of the mes. Cordelia¡¯s flying spells made Carac unable to focus on attacking. ¡®They¡¯re buying time.¡¯ As Cordelia had said, Cara and C were weak when divided. But they were now weak even whenbined. Because C¡¯s injuries were severe. Their reunion and use of ranged attacks instead of closebat were all aimed at buying C some time to recover. So don¡¯t let them buy time. ¡®Hit them with the strongest attack.¡¯ ck Dragon Release Technique. No. ck Dragon Release Technique was simply not enough. ¡°Jude!¡± Cordelia cried out, and Jude read the wind. Cara¡¯s magic de flew as it aimed for his head, but Jude lightly moved his head to avoid it before he stepped on the wind. As if gliding, he leapt towards Carac and created a golden vortex in his left hand. Kwooo! The wind pulled C. Cara tried to hit Jude, but Cordelia immediately responded. ¡°!¡± It was the power that the White Snake in Frost Anvil had. The pupils in Cordelia¡¯s blue eyes sharply turned into slits, causing not only Cara, but also C¡¯s movement to be temporarily stopped. ¡°Now!¡± Jude drew his fist. He focused his sacred battle aura on his fist. The opponent was a monster from hell. So the sacred battle aura and the Holy Cross skills were nothing but poison to them. However, the Holy Cross Punch wasn¡¯t enough. Its power was weak. So he had to add strength. He applied the power of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors to strengthen the Holy Cross Punch! Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors ¨C Improved Form. ck Dragon Cross Strike! The golden cross became pitch-ck. The huge pitch-ck cross was released from his fists and crushed Cara and C. Boooom! The ground was destroyed. Its giant snake lower body was smashed at once. Andstly. There was still one shot left. Using the recoil from the releasing of the pitch-ck cross, Jude rotated in the air, filled himself with the dragon¡¯s energy, and struck down like a lightning bolt. His heel that was full of the ck Dragon¡¯s power smashed C¡¯s head. Boom! Their transformation was released. At the moment of C¡¯s death, Cara also died since they shared one body, and when the monster from hell died, the air around them fluctuated, just like when demonic humans died. ¡°Huuu.¡± Jude let out a long breath as he looked down on Carac who had turned into ashes. A series of pure white rings surrounded Jude. Then Cordelia¡¯s voice came. ¡°Wow, your new skill is awesome. What¡¯s the new one called?¡± She came running and then asked with brightly shining eyes. It was the real Cordelia. The real one and not the fake. ¡°Haaa.¡± ¡°Eh? Why are you sighing? You did well.¡± She tilted her head as she asked, and her appearance was really cute. ¡°¡­I must be seriously ill.¡± ¡°Eh? What? Have you been poisoned? Should I use ?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing.¡± ¡°What nothing? If you want to say something, just say it. Are you upset because you couldn¡¯t fight?¡± At Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude shut his mouth at once, and soon scratched the back of his head and said. ¡°No, that.¡± ¡°That what?¡± ¡°So that¡­¡± ¡°Ah! I understand! Are you upset that I hit you without hesitation? Is that it? Am I right?¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Cordeliaughed at Jude clearing his throat before she shrugged her shoulders. ¡°But it was too obvious.¡± ¡°Too obvious?¡± ¡°It¡¯s fake. Well, how should I say it? My instincts say it¡¯s not Jude! My intuition told me that. It smells different.¡± ¡°Smell?¡± ¡°Yes, it smelled different from you.¡± Jude frowned at Cordelia¡¯s exnation. Instinct, intuition, and smell. It was certainly very much like Cordelia. ¡°Indeed, you¡¯re a real beast.¡± ¡°You want me to kill you?¡± When Cordelia growled, Jude cleared his throat. Because he was relieved after hearing her exnation. ¡°By the way, you really didn¡¯t injure it. You found it cute. Can¡¯t you do anything because it¡¯s my face?¡± ¡°Because I¡¯m a gentleman.¡± ¡°Bullsh*t.¡± Cordelia cursed, but she had a big smile on her face. One way or another, she seemed to be pleased with Jude¡¯s behavior. ¡°Anyway, we defeated it.¡± ¡°Yes, we defeated it. I think we¡¯ve really gotten stronger.¡± It was something natural when they thought about it. All of the enemies that they had defeated while on the way here were of a higher level than Jude or Cordelia. Therefore, Jude and Cordelia were able to quickly grow stronger beyond belief. ¡°But Jude. Will we continue to go with Kan from now on?¡± When Cordelia spoke in a low voice as she peered at Kan who had fainted under a low pir some distance away, Jude nodded his head. ¡°We should. As you know, Kan¡¯s ability is not to create Named Monsters. He attracts those that already exist. Perhaps if we came here even without Kan, we would still have fought the named Nazarus.¡± ¡°Umm¡­if you think so, then so be it.¡± ¡°¡­It seems like you¡¯re not doing any thinking nowadays.¡± ¡°Because I have JudeWiki.¡± Cordelia proudly spoke as she posed with her chest out. Afterwards, she looked back at Carac, who hadpletely turned into ash, except for the horns that could be called drop items. ¡°Then, we¡¯ll continue to go together with him?¡± ¡°We will. It¡¯s much better to use Kan¡¯s discovery ability if we¡¯re going to encounter rare mobs anyway.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a relief.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°No, I thought that Kan would suffer a lot if we left him.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it somehow be more troubling for the one who took him along?¡± Nazarus appeared after Lacto. There was no knowing how many more monsters or demons were hiding in the underground of Endymion. ¡°Well¡­let¡¯s think about that as we go. We need to save Lena too. In the first ce, Kan would have already been prepared toe all the way here to the wildnds.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Jude nodded before he picked up the horns of Nazarus which were dropped by Carac. It was an excellent item that could show a glimpse of other people¡¯s memories depending on whether it was processed or not. ¡®It¡¯s worth the trouble.¡¯ Gaining experience was also quite good. Jude grinned as she said to Cordelia. ¡°Let¡¯s go wake up Kan and continue moving. There might be other monsters who have heard the sounds of fighting.¡± ¡°Yes, sir!¡± Cordelia saluted like a soldier and ran towards Kan, and Jude turned around as he stared beyond the darkness from where Carac came out. Lacto and the named Nazarus, Carac. Why were they here? Who summoned them? ¡®Lena.¡¯ The hero of the first episode of?Legend of Heroes?who had died in Endymion. Jude turned back towards Cordelia. He stepped forward to help her pull the groaning Kan. *** At a different ce at the same time¡­ Ga?l and Adelia were heading towards the vige of the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe at a time when Jude and Cordelia were traveling with the fainted Kan. However, their positions were a little different from usual. ¡°Ahem, ahem, is it ufortable?¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine. What about Lord Ga?l?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine too.¡± Red Gale had given them only one stag (male deer). Ga?l stiffly sat in front as he looked forward, and Adelia buried her face on Ga?l¡¯s back as she thought with her lips curled up. ¡®It couldn¡¯t be helped.¡¯ Because the wildnd was unbelievably cold. They had to rely on each other¡¯s body temperature. Moreover, it would be a disaster if she fell off the deer. ¡®Yes, that¡¯s it. It¡¯s a rational and valid enough reason.¡¯ Having convinced herself, Adelia¡¯s lips curled up again, and she hugged Ga?l¡¯s waist a little stronger. And in another ce¡­ In a ce near the border. Inside the territory of the S?len Kingdom. It was ce for a man who did not know that Jude and Cordelia, as well as Ga?l and Adelia, have already crossed the border. ¡°There is nothing like this that could invigorate the body. Just a bottle of this would¡­¡± Count Chase¡¯s eyes narrowed at the words of the merchant who continued his passionate exnation while turning here and there. What was in front of him was a special potion made by processing a giant eel, which was said to be only caught in the northern part of the S?len Kingdom. ¡°This is a secret, but my brother-inw ate this and now, he had twins¡­¡± ¡°Ahem.¡± As Count Chase¡¯s eyes narrowed even more, the excitedly talking merchant shut his mouth. Although he diligently and loudly spoke about his wares, the existence of Count Chase seemed scary. He was tall and had a well-trained body, which was unimaginable for a wizard. His terrifying eyes and serious expression seemed to be able to kill one or two people with just a look of his eyes. ¡°¡­Give me.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Give me two.¡± ¡°Two?¡± ¡°Two.¡± Two, not one. One might not be enough. ¡°Thank you! I¡¯ll wrap it up right away!¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± Count Chase nodded to the merchant who started packing the potions, and his mind was briefly troubled. He had concerns regarding the whereabouts of Ga?l and Adelia, as well as Jude and Cordelia, but what upied his mind now was something different. ¡®I need to get a new bag.¡¯ The bag that he brought was already full before he knew it. As he slowly nodded his head, Count Chase turned his attention to the other items on the shelves. He couldn¡¯t just put two bottles in his new bag. ¡°What is that?¡± ¡°Ah, speaking of that¡­¡± The merchant¡¯s exnation continued again, and Count Chase listened with a serious attitude, as a small but satisfied smile came to his face. Chapter 83 - EPISODE 83 – RETURNEES (1)

Chapter 83 - EPISODE 83 ¨C RETURNEES (1)

Jude and Cordelia entered one of the empty rooms near the entrance and sat down in a corner after thoroughly searching the surrounding area. They were behind arge fallen stone pir, which hid them from sight when viewed from the entrance of the room. ¡°Shall we wake him up now?¡± When Jude nodded at her question that was said in a low voice, Cordelia immediately ced her hand on the fainted Kan¡¯s forehead. ¡°.¡± ¡°Gasp!¡± As soon as the spell was cast, Kan opened his eyes at once and gasped. ¡°Haaak! T-this is?! What about the snake? What about the monster?!¡± ¡°Jude and I defeated it. So please calm down. It¡¯s safe here.¡± Cordelia gently smiled and spoke in a soft tone, and Kan gulped and nodded his head. ¡°Have you calmed down?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve calmed down. Huuu, I¡¯m fine.¡± Kan nodded as his cheeks lightly flushed, and Jude, who had been quietly watching, cut in. ¡°Ahem, ahem, Sir Kan.¡± ¡°Jude. No, Sir Jude.¡± ¡°You can just call me Jude.¡± ¡°Then, Jude.¡± Kan was, for some unknown reason, fidgeting. He wondered if Kan was bashful and enamored of Cordelia¡¯s beautiful face which transcended race, but that was thoroughly Jude¡¯s opinion. There seemed to be something else. ¡°Sir Kan?¡± Cordelia asked as she tilted her head, and Kan tightly clenched his fists and breathed several times before he made a resolution. He prostrated as if he had made a mistake and then said. ¡°It¡¯s all my fault.¡± The moment they came down to the underground, they met a powerful monster. Furthermore, it was Kan himself who found the way down to the underground. Cordelia smiled and said that they defeated it, but it must not have been easy. She might not know it, but it must have been a life-threatening fight. ¡°I¡¯m really sorry. I¡¯m really, really sorry.¡± All of this happened because of Kan himself. Because these things always happened wherever Kan goes. As he desperately apologized, Kan thought. What would happen if even Cordelia and Jude hate him? No matter how kind-hearted the two were like angels, in the end, the two were still humans. ¡®It might be better to go on separate ways like this.¡¯ He thought that he wouldn¡¯t be able to stand it if Cordelia told him that she didn¡¯t want to apany him anymore, or that this was really Kan¡¯s fault himself. ¡®Let¡¯s go on separate ways.¡¯ Let¡¯s move separately. It¡¯s better that way. It¡¯s right to do so. So- ¡°It¡¯s okay, Sir Kan. It¡¯s not your fault.¡± Kan flinched. He had no choice but to flinch. Cordelia¡¯s voice was the same as before. No, it was rather be more kind thanst time. ¡°But¡­¡± ¡°Cordelia is right.¡± Jude helped raise Kan up and then looked at him straight into the eyes. His eyes were full of fear. Yet his eyes were like that of a child who had not given up hope for their kindness. ¡®Is that it?¡¯ Jude realized it now. The Kan who appeared in the middle of?Legend of Heroes 2?was always smiling, but he never allowed anyone to be near his heart. Although it was possible topel him to follow like stalking, it was impossible to make him apanion. Because the wounds were repeated. Because he had closed his heart due to not wanting to be hurt anymore. He was a man who always pretended to be bright and had a false smile, but his insides were tormented, and he felt worthless and empty. But not yet. It was possible to change Kan¡¯s future now. ¡®Of course¡­it may be useless meddling but¡­¡¯ But even so. ¡®And one more.¡¯ Jude nced back at Cordelia. Her gaze at Kan was full of sadness. So he had to say it. He had to protect Kan¡¯s heart for Cordelia¡¯s sake. ¡°Is Sir Kan a god?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°You¡¯re literally a god.¡± ¡°That¡­like a god of disasters¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like that. A true god. Or someone with divine powers.¡± Kan shook his head at Jude¡¯s serious question. ¡°No.¡± ¡°Yes, Kan is just an ordinary dwarf. No, you¡¯re special because you became a lifelong professor at the institutional academy at such a young age¡­but you¡¯re still a dwarf.¡± It was not a disparaging remark. It was an enumeration of facts. ¡°You are not god. You may have bad luck, but that¡¯s it. Does Sir Kan create monsters? Can you create and summon monsters that do not exist? No, it¡¯s not. That¡¯s impossible. Sir Kan is not a god but a dwarf. You just ran into the monsters who were originally there.¡± Kan bit his lips. A faint smile was drawn on Jude¡¯s face. ¡°It¡¯s not Sir Kan¡¯s fault. Saying that it¡¯s Kan¡¯s fault¡­that¡¯s rather arrogant. Who is Sir Kan? He¡¯s just a dwarf with moist and attractive eyes.¡± Kan¡¯s eyes turned red at Jude¡¯s words. It wasn¡¯t much, but Jude had told him the words he really wanted to hear and what no one else had said. ¡°So don¡¯t apologize anymore. Okay?¡± ¡°Okay¡­I understand.¡± Kan sniffled and replied before he eventually broke down in tears, and Jude patted Kan on the shoulder and turned to Cordelia. ¡®Good job.¡¯ Cordelia gave a thumbs up and widely smiled, and Jude was satisfied. After patting Kan on the shoulder once again, a small smile formed on his face. Cordelia¡¯s smile was kept, but it was also because of his own feelings of satisfaction about something in his mind. ¡®Aplete happy ending.¡¯ The best ending where everyone was happy. Jude smiled again at the thought that came to his mind, and he waited for Kan¡¯s crying to cease. And a dozen minutester¡­ ¡°Are you fine now?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine. I¡¯ve shown you something embarrassing.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, it¡¯s just between us.¡± Cordelia mischievouslyughed and said, and Kan began to be flustered as his cheeks reddened again, and Jude cut in for the second time. ¡°Ahem, ahem, anyway, Sir Kan.¡± ¡°Yes, Jude.¡± ¡°We n to continue the exploration as it is.¡± Jude and Cordelia had yet to find any clues about Lena. They absolutely couldn¡¯t leave Endymion while that was the case. But not for Kan. ¡°This is the second time we¡¯ve encountered a monster from hell in Endymion. Perhaps there are a few more of those monsters roaming around Endymion.¡± It was a very dangerous ce. At Jude¡¯s exnation, Kan gulped and nodded his head. Because he roughly understood what Jude was trying to say. ¡®Let¡¯s go back.¡¯ Because he would only be a burden if they went together. ¡°Okay¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s why this is our selfish request from here on. Sir Kan, will you continue to explore with us?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°It is as we had said. Cordelia and I belong to the academy, but we are still very inexperienced. It would be a great help if you could join us as a veteran archeologist, Sir Kan.¡± Jude wasn¡¯t just talking with the Kan effect in mind. Endymion was an area that did not even appear as a cinematic movie in?Legend of the Heroes 2. Therefore, even if Jude and Cordelia were rotten waters, they would inevitably have difficulties in exploration. Even if Jude was knowledgeable about stars, he knew little about archeology or exploring ruins. But Kan was different. Kan¡¯s archeological knowledge and exploration experience would definitely be of great help. ¡°May I ask you a favor?¡± ¡°Please.¡± Kan immediately nodded when Cordelia spoke at the end. Because it was the first time he was asked to continue the expedition together, despite already having an ident once. ¡®No, that¡¯s not all.¡¯ He wanted to be helpful to Jude and Cordelia. He thought he could do anything for the two who were like angels that came down on earth. ¡°I¡¯m not good enough, but I¡¯ll be with you. I¡¯ll try to help.¡± As Kan¡¯s eyes burned with enthusiasm, Jude was satisfied, and Cordelia breathed a sigh of relief. ¡®Fortunately, he didn¡¯t lose his motivation.¡¯ ¡®You¡¯re right.¡¯ In any case, Cordelia was kind. After thinking about Cordelia again, Jude proceeded with the conversation. ¡°I¡¯m thinking of going inside a little more. The map of Endymion that we found does not show this ce, but I think it is roughly connected in this way when viewed on arger scale.¡± Jude opened the map and talked, and Kan nodded with a very serious face, while Cordelia took a step back and began to look around. Thinking was Jude¡¯s role. And in fact, Jude was thinking of several things at the same time. One of them was the origin of the monsters from hell that began to appear in Endymion¡¯s underground. ¡®The most likely is a demon summoning.¡¯ Over a thousand years had already passed since Endymion¡¯s destruction. It was hard to think that the demons who had destroyed Endymion in the past would still have remained here. ¡®If they were summoned, was it the Devil¡¯s Eye?¡¯ The Devil¡¯s Eye were the only demon followers who were active in the wildnds. But then, there was something that was a little strange. Why did they summon the demon in Endymion? Wouldn¡¯t it have been better to do the summoning in the main camp or thend of the attacking wild gods? A considerable sacrifice was needed for demon summoning, and sacrifices didn¡¯t just rise from the ground. In arger scale, it was amodity that was scarce after all. ¡®What I can think of is the distinct characteristics of Endymion.¡¯ It was thend where the overlord of hell came down in the past. Maybe it was and that had something advantageous for summoning demons. ¡®The Devil¡¯s Eye, the newly summoned demons, and Lena.¡¯ Lena fought to the death in Raptor Canyon, not Endymion. Maybe she had a big fight against the Devil¡¯s Eye and the demons in Endymion¡¯s underground? As a result she wiped out the demons in Endymion, but she was also seriously injured and ended up losing her life. It was quite a usible hypothesis, but in the end, it was only a hypothesis. He had to move to confirm the truth. ¡°Let¡¯s begin again.¡± They finished talking about the route while they were taking some rest. ¡°Go-go-go.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take the lead.¡± Cordelia and Kan stood up from their spots and said, and Jude nodded his head. Although Kan fainted in every battle, he was a man who had ovee many crises. They were able to easily proceed while carefully not making any sounds. Thus, thirty minutes passed. Jude praised himself for his decision to join Kan. Because Kan discovered a secret path that was hidden in the dead end. ¡°This way.¡± Since it was a secret door frequented by the slender elves, it was a little hard for Kan, whose body was shaped like a keg, but it was not to the point where he couldn¡¯t pass through it. ¡°It seems like a real secret passage. It¡¯s like a drama theatre.¡± As she whispered very small on Jude¡¯s ear, Cordelia pointed at their feet. There was a floor about seven meters down, and where the party was standing now was above the ceiling with holes on it. Although it was a stone floor, it reminded Cordelia of the scaffolding that hang from the ceiling of the theatre. ¡®I¡¯ll keep going.¡¯ It was the moment when Kan expressed his intention using a hand signal instead of speaking as he began to take a step. ¡® ! !¡¯ Cordelia hurriedly reached out to Kan and cast two spells, while Jude held his breath and focused his consciousness on his hearing. They had heard footsteps. Jude and Cordelia had be more sensitive to things happening on the ground than before, perhaps due to the Earth Protection. ¡®Monsters.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t one or two. There seemed to be about a dozen monsters like Lacto and Nazarus that were moving together. It was more than they imagined. Moreover, seeing the magic lights lit up everywhere, it was highly likely that they had been using this path for a long time. ¡®Let¡¯s wait.¡¯ The group let them pass by. No matter how strong Jude and Cordelia were, that number was too much. Cordelia nodded at Jude¡¯s eye signal. Kan couldn¡¯t move because he was paralyzed, but thanks to that, he was able to stay still. They stood still like that. They waited for the monsters to pass by¡­ ¡°Ceiling!¡± A Nazarus suddenly shouted, and the Lactos wielded their whips at once. It was right under their feet, so they didn¡¯t even have time to react. Craaaaash-! The ceiling copsed. Jude hurriedly flew with Kan in his arms after Cordelia cast magic. It was impossible to go back the way they came from because of the Lacto¡¯s whipping here and there. Boom! Thud! Crash! Debris fell and crashed onto the floor. Because of that, some of the Nazaruses and Lactos were distracted as they avoided the falling rocks, and Jude and Cordelia used that opportunity. ¡°Run!¡± An all-out battle was too much. As soon as he touched the floor, Jude ran like a gale, and Cordelia repeatedly chanted spells right after casting several times. ¡°!¡± ¡°!¡± ¡°!¡± She made the floor slippery. She froze the air to make a thin wall of ice and made the floor rise to block the path. However, all of these were just temporary measures. The Lactos avoided the greased area by flying low, and then literally threw themselves to destroy the ice wall and the rising floor. ¡°Continue!¡± But it was not without effect. To widen the distance even a little, Cordelia continued to cast spells. Jude ran while carrying Kan as he checked the surroundings. ¡®It¡¯s a ce on the map!¡¯ It was in his memory. So he could imagine the path they should take. ¡°! !¡± She even mobilized the Spell¡¯s Echo, and in an instant, fouryers of stone walls were created. Jude thought of an escape route, or to be exact, a route where they could get rid of those who were following them. Because it was a path that forked into two, their pursuers would have to make a good choice. But it was at that moment. [This way!] A sharp voice rang in their minds. It was magic. Who was it? Where did ite from? ¡°Over there!¡± Cordelia figured it out through her instincts. Jude turned his gaze, and at that moment, a stone wall that was muchrger than Cordelia¡¯s rose from the floor. Baaang! The stone wall that rose with a terrifying speed then crashed into the ceiling. A session of clouds that came from somewhere covered the stone wall. [Hurry!] It was the magic once again. ¡°This way!¡± Cordelia ran, and Jude erased the map from his head. Her beastly instinct was also an intuition, but she was a wizard. Her ability to feel and understand magic was far superior than that of Jude. Boooom! Loud noises came from their backs. At the same time, they also heard the roars of the monsters. They had to hurry. Jude looked straight ahead, and Cordelia pulled on Jude¡¯s shoulder. Like that, he threw himself straight at the wall on his side. Swooosh-! It wasn¡¯t the noise of an impact. Instead of crashing into the wall, Jude and Cordelia went past through the wall and crashed into the floor. ¡°Gaak!¡± Kan squawked as he fell on his stomach, and while protecting Cordelia in a hurry, or to be exact, Jude hugged her and put her on top of himself. Having seeded in protecting her, Jude breathed a sigh of relief. And above such Jude¡¯s chest, Cordelia raised her head and swallowed her breath. She swiftly raised her upper body from Jude¡¯s chest. What happened? No, he understood. Therefore, with Cordelia still on his chest, Jude turned his head and looked at the same ce as her. The reason why Cordelia swallowed her breath. The person who made her cheeks blush in excitement. ¡°Lena.¡± A blonde woman with a gray hood over her head stood before their eyes. Chapter 84 - EPISODE 84 – RETURNEES (2)

Chapter 84 - EPISODE 84 ¨C RETURNEES (2)

Lena. Her full name is Lena Ainsburg. She was the favorite disciple of Bardo Ainsburg, a royal wizard of the Paragon Kingdom. For Bardo who had been single all his life, she was no different from a real daughter, and the orphan Lena also treated Bardo like her real father. Though her beginnings in magic were rtivelyte, she had an earnest desire to repay Bardo¡¯s guidance in cultivating her innate magic talent, and perhaps most importantly, his self-sacrifice for her. She officially earned the wizard position at the very young age of 15 and then entered the Grey Tower, where Bardo also studied at, and aplished the feat ofpleting the whole schstic course in just 3 years. ¡®Master.¡¯ Eighteen. The still young girl went home to meet her beloved teacher and father, Bardo, with a smile on her face. It was unimaginable for her that the end of her journey would be marked by tragedy. When Jude recalled the story of Lena that was depicted in the first episode of?Legend of Heroes, Cordelia gasped and stared at Lena. ¡®It¡¯s really Lena.¡¯ She was Lena whom she liked after Cordelia. Or rather, if Lena had actually been a yable character in?Legend of Heroes 2, Yellow Storm would have been greatly troubled in choosing between Cordelia and Lena. So when Cordelia faced the real Lena in person, her head went nk in that instant. ¡®I like her so much.¡¯ She just liked her so much. She was so happy because she liked her so much. Cordelia was smiling so affectionately to the extent that Jude, who looked at her, felt like his heart ached. But Lena didn¡¯t see what Cordelia and Jude were feeling underneath. ¡°This ce is dangerous. There is no guarantee that I can help you several times. So please leave this city as soon as possible.¡± With her hood down, she blurted those words and turned around, bing light and disappearing before Jude and Cordelia could say anything. ¡°Lena!¡± Cordelia urgently cried, but she was already gone. White light particles scattered as if the fact that Lena had just stood there was just an illusion itself. ¡°Shadow magic.¡± Or to be exact, Shadow Clone Arts. It was a magic that created a doppelganger and was one of Lena¡¯s ultimate skills that can be learned in thest half of the first episode of?Legend of Heroes. ¡®She was originally able to make it only within her field of view.¡¯ Now, they couldn¡¯t even guess how far the main body was from the doppelganger. It seemed that Landius and Kamael were not the only ones who became monsters in 10 years. ¡°Uh¡­Lena.¡± As Cordelia was about to cry, Jude turned his head back to her and said. ¡°It¡¯s still a sign. Because it means that Lena is alive and that she is certainly somewhere in Endymion.¡± It was not toote yet. There was still a chance to save Lena. At Jude¡¯s exnation, Cordelia quickly looked at him. ¡°Can you find where she is?¡± ¡°I can find her. So can you get off me first?¡± It wasn¡¯t because she was that heavy or that he hated it, but he¡¯d be able to move more freely once he got up. Cordelia quickly nodded, got off Jude¡¯s chest, and then sat down. ¡°Ah, right! Sir Kan! Are you all right?¡± ¡°Mmf, mmf! Mmmf! Kan still had and cast on him. Feeling sorry for Kan wriggling on the floor, Cordelia hurried to him. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯ll release you in a minute.¡± ¡°Mmf-mmf.¡± While Cordelia released the magic spells on Kan¡­ Jude stood up and focused his attention beyond the illusionary wall. Fortunately, he could not feel the presence of monsters. Lena¡¯s magic seemed to have tricked them into going somewhere else. ¡®Is this illusionary wall originally part of Endymion itself?¡¯ Something that originally existed in Endymion, and not made by Lena herself. ¡®Did Lena activate it¡­or was it activated when the monsters awakened the functions of Endymion?¡¯ There were magical lights in the hallways where the monsters passed. Whether it was Lena, the monsters, or the Devil¡¯s Eyes who wanted to summon monsters, someone seemed to have restored Endymion¡¯s city facilities. ¡®Lena must be somewhere in Endymion.¡¯ Lena used expressions such as ¡®this ce is dangerous¡¯ and ¡®leave this city.¡¯ If Lena was outside the city, she would have used expressions such as ¡®the city,¡¯ ¡®that ce,¡¯ or ¡®there.¡¯ ¡®It sounds like a simple pun, but her words are understandable.¡¯ T/N: ¡®The city,¡¯ ¡®that ce,¡¯ and ¡®there¡¯ all sound simr in Korean, though I personally feel that it¡¯s more of a tongue twister than a pun. Lena was somewhere in Endymion. Then, where was she? What was she doing in Endymion, and what is going on in Endymion? ¡®Angel¡¯s Feather.¡¯ There was a white feather in the ce where Lena disappeared. It was not ordinary bird feather but was evidently that of the angel Lena¡¯s feather. ¡®Is that the core of her doppelganger?¡¯ It was when Jude was looking at the white feather that was slightly emitting light. ¡°Jude, Jude.¡± Having even cast a recovery magic on Kan, Cordelia approached him in quick steps. As soon as Jude turned around, she hastily spoke. ¡°Lena came to help us because we were in danger, right? So if we¡¯re in danger again, won¡¯t Lena appear?¡± It was quite a usible suggestion. It was possible if Lena¡¯s character was as good as the saint in stories. But Jude shook his head right away. ¡°It¡¯s too dangerous.¡± There was no guarantee that Lena could respond to every danger. Lena didn¡¯t even appear when they fought the named Nazarus back then. ¡°But¡­¡± ¡°Let¡¯s find another way.¡± If this was a game, he would have epted Cordelia¡¯s suggestion. But this was reality. Even if he knew that it was the only way, he couldn¡¯t gamble with his only life. ¡°Cordelia, that¡¯s Lena¡¯s feather. Would it be possible to use that to trace her?¡± Cordelia frowned at Jude¡¯s expectant question, and soon shook her head. ¡°That¡¯s unreasonable. I can¡¯t think of any magic that I can use for that now.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± ¡°That¡­if it¡¯s tracing back, there¡¯s a way.¡± At thosest words, Jude and Cordelia simultaneously turned their heads. The barely recovered Kan wiped his sweaty head and stuttered. ¡°I¡¯m not sure¡­but have you ever heard of the name ¡®Begio¡¯?¡± Begio. Jude and Cordelia blinked once and then looked at each other. Nobody said anything first. ¡°Ah.¡± ¡°Aaah.¡± ¡°Aah!¡± ¡°Ah.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± ¡°Jude? Miss Cordelia?¡± When Kan felt left out between the two who couldmunicate with just their eyes, Jude opened his mouth again. ¡°Begio. That¡¯s right, Begio. There was that.¡± ¡°Will we find Lena if we had Begio?¡± ¡°I guess.¡± There was even a feather here. As Jude nodded, Cordelia jumped up from her position and ran straight to Kan, hugging his head. ¡°You¡¯re the best, Kan! I¡¯m d Kan¡¯s here!¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem. Uh, ahem.¡± With his head buried in Cordelia¡¯s chest, Kan blushed and cleared his throat, and Jude¡¯s eyes narrowed as he counted numbers. ¡®One, two, three.¡¯ This was enough. Jude stealthily came closer and stopped the hug by pulling Cordelia¡¯s arm before he quickly spoke. ¡°Sir Kan is right. If we have Begio, we can find Lena.¡± ¡°But that¡­we have to first look for Begio¡­¡± Although he promptly said it, it was actually not easy to find Begio. Kan himself knew little about the Begio¡¯s habitat somewhere in Raptor Canyon. But not for Jude and Cordelia. ¡°I know where Begio is.¡± ¡°I know exactly who has Begio, and how to meet them.¡± Mystical beast Begio. A magical beast who could track even small traces of mana as small as fingernails. ¡°Oh! Is that true?¡± ¡°It¡¯s true.¡± Cordelia replied with a big smile and looked back at Jude to confirm, and Jude nodded his head. ¡®Because they were the ones who raised the Begios in?Legend of Heroes.¡¯ So he assumed that they would have raised it here in reality. ¡°Where should we go? It¡¯s clear that something big has happened to Endymion, given that the monsters are going around like this. Getting out of the city may not be easy.¡± Unlike Jude and Cordelia, Kan was absolutelycking information on their current situation, but he was not a lifelong professor at the institutional academy for no reason. Despite their insufficient information, Jude smiled big and replied in a coherent manner. ¡°We don¡¯t have to go out of the citypletely. We can go to a ce that is marked on the map. What¡¯s more¡­it¡¯s not too far away.¡± Having said that, Jude opened Endymion¡¯s map for Cordelia and Kan, and Cordelia soon pointed to a ce marked by a checkmark. ¡°We have to go here.¡± ¡°There¡­what is there?¡± When Kan blinked and asked, Jude and Cordelia exchanged nces, and soon, Cordelia ced her hands on her hips and said. ¡°Bathhouse.¡± *** ¡°How¡¯s the temperature?¡± ¡°Just good. How about your blindfold?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t see anything, so I might fall. Can I take it off for a second?¡± ¡°Hmph, no.¡± Cordelia giggled and looked elsewhere before she said. ¡°Sir Kan, please be patient even if it feels ufortable.¡± ¡°It¡¯s all right.¡± Inside the bathhouse located outside Endymion. Just like the hot springs in the canyon, this ce was well maintained. Jude and Kan sat on an empty bathtub with blindfolds on, while Cordelia prepared to take a bath in front of a bathtub filled with hot water. ¡°Now then, shall we start?¡± After entering the bathtub, Cordelia began washing herself with hot water. It was an act that was questionable since monsters from hell were wandering around Endymion¡¯s underground, but in fact, it could be called a very important ceremony. ¡°Hmm~ hmm~ hmm~¡± The humming Cordelia began to wash her hair, and Jude cleared his throat and said. ¡°Cordelia, are you going to keep bathing?¡± ¡°Tsk, I¡¯m just washing my hair.¡± The chance to take a hot bath didn¡¯t juste at any time. Cordelia washed her hair with great care, deeply took a breath, and then uttered a magic spell to call the fairies. ¡°Twinkle, twinkle little star~ Shining beautifully~ In the western sky~ Eh, they came.¡± She was used to it by now. ¡°Wow! So pretty!¡± ¡°Really pretty!¡± ¡°But haven¡¯t we met her before?¡± ¡°We have met.¡± Thest one was Cordelia. After getting up from the bathtub, she dried her body with magic and told the wild fairies looking up at her with sparkling eyes. ¡°Would you like to y with me?¡± ¡°Eh! That¡¯s surprising!¡± ¡°What are we going to y?¡± As the wild fairies jumped and shouted in the bathtub, Cordelia slowly nodded. After peeking at Kan and Jude who flinched at the voices of the fairies, she dressed herself and then said. ¡°First.¡± ¡°First?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s see the Queen.¡± ¡°The Queen?¡± ¡°The Queen.¡± A viinous smile spread over Cordelia¡¯s face. *** The Wild Fairy Queen. Having rich blonde hair like that of a lion¡¯s mane, she was lying in bed and rxing. She was a fairy one way or another, but if the other fairies were kids, as a queen, she was a girl. Therefore, she had not yet fully recovered from the aftermath of a stormy pair who had swept through them just a while ago. ¡®I feel tired.¡¯ It was mental fatigue and not physical fatigue. A subtle feeling of having solved a problem but not having solved it. She felt dejected every time she saw the almost empty warehouse of the High Elves. ¡®No, it¡¯s not something that we can use in the first ce.¡¯ There was something though. There was something that she really felt. ¡®Anyway, it¡¯s all over.¡¯ That¡¯s it. Yes, yes, that¡¯s it. The Fairy Queen thought like a fairy and tried to fall into a deep sleep. But it was at that moment. ¡°Queen!¡± ¡°Queen!¡± ¡°Queen!¡± The Fairy Queen opened her eyes in surprise at the sounds of the fairies calling her and was even more surprised that she fell out of her bed. Because there was a beautiful human girl among the fairies. ¡°Queen! I missed you!¡± When Cordelia brightly smiled, her face was so pretty and lovely that the Fairy Queen unconsciously smiled but it was for a moment only. ¡°Uh¡­aren¡¯t you done with your business already? You¡¯ve been rewarded.¡± You¡¯re not asking for more rewards, right? You also have a conscience, right? Cordelia said with a bright smile again at the Fairy Queen¡¯s question. ¡°I¡¯m not here for rewards. We have already received enough.¡± ¡°Is that so? Yes, I knew right away that you were good children.¡± Having been assured that she didn¡¯te to get rewards, the Fairy Queen graciously smiled. But it was too early to judge. ¡°I don¡¯t need rewards, but I need help.¡± ¡°Help?¡± ¡°Yes, the Queen¡¯s help. It¡¯s very, very important. In a way, it¡¯s actually also for the fairies, and not us, who¡¯ll be helped. Rather, we¡¯ll help the fairies.¡± The fairies would receive help. It was a word choice that made her feel something ominous, but the Fairy Queen decided to listen to Cordelia¡¯s story first. ¡°Let¡¯s talk.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡± After taking a deep breath, like what she learned from Jude, Cordelia began her scam¡­no, she began her story. Chapter 85 - EPISODE 85 – RETURNEES (3)

Chapter 85 - EPISODE 85 ¨C RETURNEES (3)

While Cordelia met with the Wild Fairy Queen, Jude took off his blindfold and left the bathhouse with Kan. ¡°Let¡¯s go back to the underground and join Cordelia there.¡± Their exact destination was the bridge where Lacto had appeared, the ce where the Fairy Queen had requested the two to get rid of Lacto. There was no bridge now, but the other side was still connected to the outskirts of Endymion. ¡°To be able to secretly meet the fairies in this way¡­it would be a great study. When I get backter, I must try it in a ce where there are fairy legends.¡± ¡°Uh¡­yes. Good luck.¡± It would probably be difficult. A girl who was as beautiful and lovely as Cordelia would not bemon even in the vast empire. ¡®It¡¯s not because of bean pods.¡¯ T/N: This is aeback of the Korean idiom, ¡®One¡¯s eyes are covered with bean pods¡¯, that was used on Episode 76.1. It means ¡®to only see the good in someone after falling in love with them.¡¯ Aftering up with such an excuse to himself, Jude opened his mouth again. ¡°Moving on, it¡¯s still in a rtively safe area, so I¡¯d like to tell you of some information we know.¡± ¡°Does that have something to do with the situation right now?¡± ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right. In fact¡­we are not just affiliated with the Academy.¡± Kan nodded at Jude¡¯s words. Because he had seen with his own eyes the powers of Jude and Cordelia, who were too powerful to be just undergraduate students. ¡°We actually have a connection with the Guardians of the Holy Cross.¡± ¡°Ah! I see!¡± The Guardians of the Holy Cross, who were active throughout the continent, engaged in fierce battles against the demon followers. ¡°I understand now.¡± Why the two came to Endymion. Why the hearts of the two were so beautiful. ¡®A female saint and a holy man.¡¯ ¡®There seems to be some misunderstanding, but since it doesn¡¯t look bad, let¡¯s just leave it.¡¯ When their thoughts were over, the two resumed their conversation. ¡°The woman we met earlier was Lena Ainsburg. Have you heard of her?¡± ¡°Of course. How could I not know one of the five heroes of the Paragon Kingdom, the Holy Angel Lena?¡± Though there were many stories about the tragedy of the Paragon Kingdom, the incident itself was widely known throughout the continent. It was a great event since an entire kingdom was destroyed by the Demon Prince who was summoned from hell. ¡°She¡¯s as famous as the Iron Man Landius or the Ghostde Kamael.¡± Holy Angel Lena. She was thest angel who was born and raised on Pleaides. Among the five heroes of the Paragon Kingdom with all kinds of nicknames, she was the only woman and was symbolized as an ¡®angel.¡¯ That was why she always yed the beautiful heroine in the songs of bards who sang about the tragedy of the Paragon Kingdom. ¡°I never nned to meet Lena here. We came here to investigate¡­but somehow, something bigger than we had expected is happening here in Endymion.¡± With a serious face, Kan nodded at Jude¡¯s exnation. They had already seen that many monsters from hell. ¡°That¡¯s all I can exin right now.¡± ¡°That¡¯s enough. I¡¯ll do my best to help you.¡± Kan thumped on his chest and stepped forward with enthusiasm, and Jude felt a strange satisfaction at Kan¡¯s appearance that was quite different from the game. And time passed. After following the map, Jude and Kan were finally able to arrive on the opposite side of the bridge. ¡°Ah! Jude is here!¡± Cordelia was sitting on the ground and chatting with the fairies before she jumped up from her seat and said. The appearance of her brightly smiling and waving her hand was a heartwarming sight for Jude. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Our talks went well. Isn¡¯t that right, Your Majesty?¡± When Cordelia quickly asked the Wild Fairy Queen sitting on her shoulder, she nodded. ¡°I heard everything from Cordelia. You were really working hard for us fairies. As the Queen of the Wild Fairies, I wish to express my gratitude to the both of you.¡± At the words of the Wild Fairy Queen, Kan blinked his eyes, wondering what she was talking about, but not for Jude. Because Cordelia smiled and sent a gaze saying that she worked hard. ¡®I did a good job, didn¡¯t I?¡¯ ¡®Good job. I¡¯ll stamp it for youter.¡¯ ¡®Bullsh*t.¡¯ T/N: To those who didn¡¯t get it, some teachers stamp ¡®good job¡¯ to the papers of students who did a good job on something. However, Cordelia¡¯s smile grew wider as if she was satisfied. What Cordelia did was actually simple. ¡®It¡¯s not totally a scam.¡¯ Something unusual was indeed happening in Endymion¡¯s underground. The appearance of Lacto was not a coincidence. More demons would appear in the fairies¡¯ territory if they had left it unattended. ¡®I can¡¯t let the fairies be in danger. In order to protect the fairies¡¯ territory, Jude and I will investigate it. It would be very dangerous, but we¡¯ll still do it. For the safety of the fairies and the Queen!¡¯ There was a slight change in the order of events, and some beautiful words were added, but it wasn¡¯t a lie. After all, if they saved Lena and solved Endymion¡¯s problem, won¡¯t the fairies be safe? ¡®It¡¯s a win-win situation.¡¯ Dredge a ditch and catch a crawfish. Sweep the yard and pick up coins. T/N: The above two lines are Korean/Chinese proverbs that pretty much has the same meaning of the English idiom, ¡®kill two birds with one stone.¡¯ ¡°I really don¡¯t know what to say. I resented you for a while when you thought of us like that back then¡­¡± ¡°Eh? Resented?¡± ¡°No, no. I never resented you. Of course not.¡± The graceful Fairy Queen was flustered when Jude asked her. But Jude was just joking. She was robbed like that in the first ce, so it wouldn¡¯t make sense if she didn¡¯t feel any resentment. ¡®Anyway, our n still went well.¡¯ The original n was Jude and Cordelia begging the Fairy Queen to lend Begio, and the Fairy Queen granting it out of her gratitude for their sacrifice and service. There was a very big difference between the two. ¡®Particrly if there¡¯s a reward or not.¡¯ Jude¡¯s eyes suddenly shone for a moment, but he pushed his self-interest aside and began talking. ¡°Fairy Queen, as you¡¯ve already heard from Cordelia, Lena Ainsburg, one of the five heroes of the Paragon Kingdom, seems to be somewhere in Endymion. We need to find her.¡± ¡°Yes, I heard about it from Cordelia. You two have worked so hard for us, so it makes sense for us to help you too. My children have already gone to pick up Begio, so they¡¯ll be here soon.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Thank you very much.¡± It was shortly after Jude and the Fairy Queen exchanged an amiable conversation. ¡°Queen! Queen!¡± ¡°We brought Begio!¡± ¡°Good boy, good boy.¡± Thest one was the words of the fairy on top of Begio¡¯s head. ¡°Oooh! It¡¯s a real Begio! It looks exactly like the one in the legend!¡± ¡®Yeah, though it really looks like a golden retriever.¡¯ It was a golden retriever that had a white color and had wings. Begio flew with the fairies on its head and back, and its personality resembled a golden retriever as it was panting with a gentle face. ¡°C-cute. Your Majesty, can I hug it?¡± ¡°You may do so.¡± When the Fairy Queen gave her permission, Cordelia widely smiled and hugged Begio. ¡°Wow, it¡¯s soft. Jude, Jude, it¡¯s cute, right? Right? Kyaa~¡± Her small ¡®kyaa¡¯ at the end was because of Begio. Begio had licked Cordelia¡¯s cheek with its tongue. And so, instead of answering Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude counted numbers in his mind. ¡®One, two, three, four, five.¡¯ Done. That was enough. Three for people and five for animals. Jude interrupted the hug by pulling the scruff of Begio who was in Cordelia¡¯s arms and switched the topic right before anyone could say anything. ¡°Your Majesty, please forgive for hurrying because we don¡¯t have much time.¡± ¡°Yes, I know the urgency of the matter. Begio needs to remember the traces of mana, so can you give me the feather?¡± ¡°Here it is.¡± Jude took out Lena¡¯s feather and the Fairy Queen infused some magic into the feather that was almost the same as her height. ¡°Luke, remember this, okay?¡± At the Queen¡¯s question, the Begio named Luke immediately panted, nodded and wagged its tail. ¡°Yes, good boy.¡± The Queen smiled and said as she looked at Jude again. ¡°The Begio will lead you.¡± ¡°Thank you. And Your Majesty, the introduction waste, but this is Sir Indiana Kan. He is a lifelong professor at the academy in Argon Empire and is a valuablepanion of us.¡± The Fairy Queen gracefully smiled at Kan when Jude introduced him, and Kan blushed and got teary. Because Jude had said that he was a ¡®valuablepanion.¡¯ ¡°Indiana Kan greets the Fairy Queen.¡± When Kan courteously greeted her with a quivering voice, the Fairy Queen answered with an elegant voice. ¡°Indiana Kan, thank you so much for helping us. And¡­since you¡¯re a friend of Jude and Cordelia, it would be reasonable to give you a Protection too.¡± It was when the Fairy Queen who had said so, tried to approach Kan. ¡°No, no. He¡¯s bald.¡± ¡°Potbelly.¡± ¡°Short-heighted.¡± The fairies who brought Begioined and expressed their opposition. They were indeed fairies who highly valued appearances. But the Fairy Queen was a little different. Unlike the other fairies who acted like kids, she was thoughtful and caring so she said to the discouraged Kan. ¡°That¡¯s not true. Look at him too. These beautiful moist eyes. It¡¯s like I¡¯m looking at a jewel.¡± Having said so, the Fairy Queen kissed Kan¡¯s broad forehead. ¡°May the Protection of the Earth be with you.¡± The Fairy Queen¡¯s smile was so benevolent that everyone who saw it would think of her as a saint. ¡°Thank¡­you.¡± Kan fell into a trance and barely expressed his gratitude, and the Fairy Queen giggled like a fairy, flew back, and then said to Jude and Cordelia. ¡°May the protection of the earth be always with you, too.¡± ¡°Thank you, Fairy Queen.¡± ¡°Thank you very much.¡± Jude and Cordelia bowed again, and the Fairy Queen waved her hand at them before taking the fairies back. Just as Jude had said, it was an urgent situation, so they couldn¡¯t dy it any longer. ¡°Come and see me again when you¡¯re done.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°We will!¡± It was questionable if they could receive a reward after returning Begio, but getting rewards was also important. Jude waved his hand at the Fairy Queen and began moving again with Begio in the lead. And quite some time passed. ¡°Woof-woof! Woof-woof-woof!¡± Begio stopped in ce and barked. ¡°What is it saying?¡± Although Jude was familiar with the variousnguages in the?Legend of Heroes?series, he couldn¡¯t understand the dog¡¯s words. But it was at that moment. Cordelia said as her eyes slightly narrowed. ¡°Uh¡­it seems like it can feel a lot of mana.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± Jude blinked in surprise and asked again, but Cordelia looked at Begio instead of answering. ¡°Luke, are you saying that there are feathers in many ces?¡± ¡°Woof-woof! Woof-woof-woof!¡± ¡°I see. There must be feathers everywhere. I think it¡¯s asking which one to look for.¡± Begio nodded and wagged its tail at Cordelia¡¯s interpretation. The two seemed to be exactly the same. ¡°As expected of a beast. You canmunicate with each other.¡± ¡°Do you want to die?¡± Jude nodded at Cordelia¡¯s cute threat and said after thinking for a moment. ¡°Tell it to follow the one with the greatest trace of mana.¡± ¡°Okay. Luke, follow the one with the greatest trace of mana¡­wait, you can do it too.¡± ¡°No, I thought you¡¯d trante it into beastnguage¡­ Oww! That hurts! It hurts!¡± ¡°Would I hit you if it doesn¡¯t hurt? Woof-woof! Woof-woof-woof!¡± Cordelia snarled and pped Jude¡¯s back before taking a deep breath and speaking to Luke again. ¡°Luke, please.¡± ¡°Woof-woof.¡± Luke nodded and began to move forward again. And quite some time passed by again. The group approached the center of Endymion slowly but surely. While on the move, they encountered the monsters from hell several times, but fortunately, only a few appeared, so the two were able to defeat them without much difficulty. But when a rxing time passed like that¡­ Jude strongly felt that something was out of ce. ¡®It¡¯s strange.¡¯ They encountered several monsters on their way here. There were also five different types. However, there were no demonic humans among them. They hadn¡¯t encountered a single demon follower. He wondered on what had happened. They were no longer outside. They were on the way to the center. ¡®Moreover, the monsters were also strange.¡¯ They had defeated all the monsters they had encountered so far. However, the rm had not sounded yet. There seemed to be no monsters who realized that they were moving. How can this be? If someone had summoned the monsters for a purpose, there would be some organizational structure among the monsters. Why is this happening? What is the cause of this strangeness? ¡°Woof-woof.¡± It was then. Begio barked, and Cordelia nodded with a tense face. ¡°Jude, Lena¡¯s mana feels strong here. And¡­from here on, this seems to be a different section.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s words, Jude quickly opened the map. As she had said, if they left the area they were in right now, they would enter the ¡®underground city,¡¯ the center of the Endymion capital. ¡°On the map, it looks like the city was built in a huge cavity¡­is it like a city of ancient dwarves?¡± When Kan asked in a low voice, Jude nodded. Until now, it had been amon underground facility, but from here on, it was different. It was the beginning of a true underground city with buildings that were tens of thousands of meters in height that were built inside the huge cavity. ¡°Let¡¯s proceed more carefully.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Cordelia replied with a very tense face, spoke quietly as she patted Begio¡¯s back, and Begio began to take the lead again. And a few minutes passed by again. The group arrived in front of an enormous stone gate and unconsciously frowned. ¡°Can you feel it?¡± ¡°I can feel it.¡± Jude could feel it and Cordelia could also feel the demonic mana because of the witch¡¯s power. No, even Kan who was insensitive in that direction could also feel the immense power that was being transmitted beyond the stone gate. What is it? What¡¯s beyond the stone gate that we could even feel this level of power? ¡°It¡¯s not right across the door. It¡¯s far away.¡± Cordelia said after she had closed her eyes and maximized her senses. Jude couldn¡¯t also feel such a power right behind the stone gate. ¡°Lena¡¯s mana is in between that power.¡± It was the link between Lena¡¯s death and some sort of incident in Endymion. Judeposed himself as he took a deep breath before looking back at everyone. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°We¡¯re ready.¡± ¡°Woof-woof.¡± After hearing everyone¡¯s answers, Jude opened the stone door. And immediately afterwards, the moment they saw the sight before their eyes, Jude understood it. He figured out the only answer that could exin all the incongruities up to now. ¡°Hell¡­Gate.¡± It wasn¡¯t something like a summoning. It wasn¡¯t an incident involving the Devil¡¯s Eyes either. The monsters from hell suddenly appeared. They had been wandering around without any chain ofmand. It was natural. They weren¡¯t summoned with a special purpose in the first ce. They just stepped into Endymion through the Hell Gate. In the center of Endymion was a giant magic sphere like the sun. It was something that could be seen at a far distance. The purple aura of hell overflowed between the cracks of that huge space. Chapter 86 - EPISODE 86 – RETURNEES (4)

Chapter 86 - EPISODE 86 ¨C RETURNEES (4)

Hell Gate. Something that directly connected hell and this world. That was why there was no need for a separate summoning ceremony. Sacrifices were not necessary as the demons were able to descend on this world through their own power. ¡°No way.¡± Cordelia unconsciously said. Jude agreed. It was too early. The Hell Gate had only appeared in thetter half of?Legend of Heroes 2. Fortunately, the Hell Gate was still not in itsplete form. It was currently just a crack, so there was a limit to both the quality and quantity of demons that could cross over. However, it would be catastrophic if left unattended. The moment the Hell Gate reached itsplete form, it would be possible for even the overlords of hell to descend to this world. ¡®So that was why.¡¯ He fully understood it now. The reason why Lena died in Raptor Canyon. It was because of the Hell Gate. Lena must have sacrificed her life to close the Hell Gate. It was a dilemma. If they neglected the Hell Gate, a catastrophe would be unavoidable. But to close the Hell Gate, it required the sacrifice of someone like Lena. ¡®No, let¡¯s not jump into conclusions. That isn¡¯t the only conclusion.¡¯ He had not yet fully grasped the situation. He only knew that Lena had sacrificed herself to close the Hell Gate, but he didn¡¯t know how she closed it or how she used up her power at that time. So it was still too early to give up. Perhaps there was something else. ¡°Woof-woof!¡± It was then. Begio suddenly began to bark, and Jude and Cordelia, who were distracted by the Hell Gate, came to their senses. ¡°Woof-woof! Woof!¡± ¡°Lena! It knows where Lena is! Let¡¯s go after her!¡± They should meet Lena first. They should meet, get some information, and find a way to solve this situation. Cordelia¡¯s words were right. Jude lifted up Kan who was suffering from the energy of hell, and then nced at Cordelia. ¡°Luke! Guide us!¡± ¡°Woof-woof!¡± At Cordelia¡¯smand, Begio began running fast. They all ran forward. It was like they were racing towards the Hell Gate. And Jude saw. The closer they got to the Hell Gate, the more that they could clearly see. There were demons from hell. Between the purple aura of hell and the green aura that resembled poison, they could see the silhouettes of countless monsters. Some of the demons seemed quite powerful. ¡®Less than a hundred.¡¯ It was the number of demons that had already passed through the gate. He wondered if they could fight against that number of monsters even if they had closed the gate. ¡°Woof-woof!¡± ¡°Jude!¡± Begio called their attention again. Cordelia¡¯s call brought Jude to his senses and into the reality in front of them. ¡°Lena.¡± Jude could feel her now. At a ce just two hundred meters away from the Hell Gate located in the middle of the city. Lena was in a five-story building that looked like a tower. He could feel her power. And the other side too. ¡°Kya?¡± At the time of Cordelia¡¯s small scream, Jude felt his vision darken. It was just a short moment, but he lost his body¡¯s freedom and struggled in the air before he saw the light again. ¡°Oww!¡± That was Cordelia. She had fallen from the air andnded on her butt, while Jude safelynded thanks to his special body constitution (Cheonmujiche) and put Kan down before he looked at his front. A person stood there as he had expected. ¡°Haven¡¯t I told you to run away?¡± It was a blonde woman with a gray hood covering the top of her head. She had used politenguage, but her words had a mixture of anger and a little irritation. No, it was more of nervousness. ¡°Now you know. This ce is dangerous. Run away and avoid the monsters. I can¡¯t afford to take care of you!¡± It was a firm tone, as if she would not allow any objections. But Jude didn¡¯t heed her words. Rather, he had to change her mind. And Jude knew what to say. ¡°Landius¡¯ disciple, Jude Bayer, greets you.¡± It was a short statement, but it was enough to shake Lena¡¯s mind. She quickly spoke at the words of Jude. ¡°Can you prove it? No, even if you¡¯re Landius¡¯ real disciple¡­¡± ¡°May the muscles always be with you!¡± It was Cordelia. As she jumped up from her spot and shouted, Begio and Kan suddenly blinked their eyes at the words that seemed like nonsense, and even Jude was embarrassed. But not for Lena. Although it was hard to see her face because of her hood, she evidently became dazed but soon nodded her head. ¡°Landius¡¯ acquaintance¡­moreover, a close acquaintance.¡± Because Landius was the only one who made such an odd greeting. In addition, Landius wished for the protection of muscles only to his really close acquaintances, which was something Jude and Cordelia didn¡¯t know. ¡°Yes! Jude is Landius¡¯ disciple!¡± When Cordelia spoke again, Jude came to his senses and followed up to her words. ¡°Master taught me the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. As I said before, I am Jude Bayer. This is my fianc¨¦e, Cordelia Chase.¡± Lena reacted once again to Jude¡¯s words. Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. After the tragedy of the Paragon Kingdom, Landius dered that he would devote his life in mastering the transcendental being¡¯s martial art. It wasn¡¯t just Lena who was surprised. Kan managed to keep with the current conversation and expressed his shock at somethingpletely different from Lena. ¡°Bayer and Chase! You two were children from the 12 northern families!¡± Among the 12 families in the northern part of the S?len Kingdom, it wasn¡¯t an exaggeration to say that the Bayer and Chase families were particrly well-known. ¡°No, wait. So you¡¯re saying that you are children from the 12 northern families, and at the same time, you are researchers at the capital¡¯s academy and also members of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, and that you¡¯re the current disciple of Iron Man Landius?!¡± ¡°Yes, roughly.¡± They weren¡¯t researchers at the capital¡¯s academy. But Cordelia had be ustomed to ¡®I didn¡¯t lie¡¯ kind of words that she had learned from Jude. In any case, what Kan said didn¡¯t matter right now. Jude stepped closer to Lena and said. ¡°We must close the Hell Gate. It¡¯s still in the early stages, or to be exact, it is close to the end of the first stage and the start of the second stage, so if it continues to grow, it would be a catastrophe. When it reaches the fourth stage and a Demon Prince descends, the tragedy of Paragon will be repeated in the wildnds.¡± Lena already knew about that fact, but Jude had to mention it. It was to convey to Lena that their group was not ignorant about the Hell Gate too. ¡°I¡¯m Landius¡¯ disciple. I¡¯ve inherited the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors though I¡¯ve only been able to open up to the third door. As for Cordelia, she inherited the power of the witch, or more known as the ¡®Witch of the West Forest.¡¯ Whether it¡¯s something small or big, we will help.¡± Lena reacted again to his barrage of words. Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors and the Witch of the West Forest, which was the nickname of the witch who confronted the overlord of hell in the past, was enough to stir her heart. ¡°But¡­but it¡¯s really dangerous.¡± ¡°Of course. It is dangerous. But Master Lena closing the Hell Gate would also be in danger. So please allow us to help. Isn¡¯t there a saying that two heads are better than one?¡± At his sincere words, Lena covered her face with both hands and soon nodded. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s do it together. I think you already know¡­I am Lena Ainsburg.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Jude.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Cordelia!¡± Cordelia quickly followed up after watching Jude convince the anxious Lena. ¡°Jude and Cordelia. The one over there¡­¡± ¡°I-I¡¯m Indiana Kan. I¡¯m a professor at the institutional academy of Argon Empire.¡± Kan stammered a little, but after he introduced himself, Lena nodded and then told Jude and Cordelia again. ¡°I think you¡¯ve already figured out the situation to some extent, so I¡¯ll tell you quickly. As Jude said, the Hell Gate is at the second half of the first stage. If we leave it like this, it will enter into the second stage, and then higher-ss monsters will appear. Named demons will also be able to descend. So we have to close the Hell Gate before that happens.¡± There were two ways to close the Hell Gate., and one of them was the ¡®Heavenly Seal,¡¯ a heavenly spell that the sun god taught when it descended in this world. ¡°Are you going to use the Heavenly Seal?¡± Lena was surprised at Jude¡¯s question but immediately nodded. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. But I wasn¡¯t strong enough to use the Heavenly Seal, so I was working on a n.¡± ¡°You¡¯re¡­not strong enough?¡± Cordelia asked as her eyes blinked. She would react like that because it was the Holy Angel Lena, and not anyone else, who was standing before her. Having acquired the power of an angel through Ancestral Regression, she was no longer human. She was the strongest of the five heroes if one was to only talk about the amount of mana. So it didn¡¯t make sense for Lena to not have enough power to properly use the Heavenly Seal. ¡®There¡¯s something.¡¯ Although the Heavenly Seal was a spell that required an enormous amount of mana, it did not require enough power to the point that it would take Lena¡¯s life. But Lena sealed the Hell Gate and died from exhausting her power. Why? What is the missing link between the two? And one more. How did Lena know about it and came here? As Jude himself and Lena had said several times now, the Hell Gate was around the second half of the first stage. At this stage, the power of hell did not leak out of Endymion. Even the Fairy Queen, whose territory was currently at the outskirts of Endymion, did not know about the existence of the Hell Gate. But how did Lena know about it? By chance? When Lena came to Endymion, the Hell Gate was already opened? It wasn¡¯t an impossible situation. But other questions arose here. Who opened the Hell Gate? Why was the Hell Gate opened? These questions were listed in Jude¡¯s mind. Lena¡¯s death. Lena¡¯s condition of being unable to properly use the Heavenly Seal. Lena finding out that the Hell Gate was opened in Endymion faster than anyone else. Instead of asking someone for help, she handled the situation alone. ¡®The Hell Gate. The reason why the Hell Gate opened.¡¯ During the time when Lena hesitated to immediately answer Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude made a deduction. One answer came out. ¡°Lena, it was you.¡± It was consistent and reasonable with his earlier andter words. Cordelia and Kan couldn¡¯t understand what he meant. But not for Lena. She hunched her shoulders and clenched her teeth. Her face was not visible because it was covered by her hood, but he could imagine her distressed face. ¡°Jude?¡± When Cordelia called him, Jude closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He came to an answer that could exin the entire current situation. He said as he looked at Lena and not Cordelia. ¡°Lena, you opened the Hell Gate.¡± It was not the Devil¡¯s Eye. They were not involved in this situation at all. It was the Holy Angel Lena who opened the Hell Gate. Cordelia was stunned at Jude¡¯s words, and Lena nodded her head. She said as she took off the hood she was wearing on her head. ¡°You are right, Jude. I¡­.opened the Hell Gate.¡± Chapter 87 - EPISODE 87 – HELL GATE

Chapter 87 - EPISODE 87 ¨C HELL GATE

Holy Angel Lena. A bright, gentle, and benevolent woman. A kind woman who suited the word ¡®angel¡¯ more than anyone else. She opened the Hell Gate. Because of that, countless monsters entered Endymion. But rather than that fact, Cordelia was troubled by something else. Her eyes widely opened, and she approached Lena. ¡°Lena!¡± Lena¡¯s face wasn¡¯t the one that Cordelia knew. It was also different from her dying face in the cinematic movie. Her hair was still blonde, but her white skin was now a pale purple. She now had red and ck eyes instead of her clear blue eyes. The white sclera in her eyes were nowpletely ck, and her red eyes had slit pupils like that of a serpent¡¯s eyes. What had happened? Lena was originally a holy angel. She was an angel of this world, someone who gained the power of an angel through Ancestral Regression. ¡°Don¡¯te too close. You can¡¯te close.¡± Lena hurriedly retreated to avoid Cordelia¡¯s hand. The teary-faced Cordelia turned to Jude. Cordelia didn¡¯t know why Lena became like this now, but she at least knew what Lena¡¯s condition was. ¡®Demon Syndrome.¡¯ A disease that ate away a creature¡¯s body when exposed to the aura of hell. Most humans immediately died the moment they were exposed to the aura of hell, but some people who were mentally and physically strong ended up having Demon Syndrome. The effect of Demon Syndrome was simple. The afflicted creature bes a demon. They usually became lower-ranking demons with almost no intellectual capacities, but those who had well-trained bodies and truly noble and strong minds became demons with intellectual capacities. And now, Lena had Demon Syndrome. Through that, Jude was able toe up with a moreplete answer. ¡°You escaped from hell. And in the process, the Hell Gate opened.¡± Lena slowly nodded. ¡°I was dragged to hell when I was fighting demons in the Argon Empire. I struggled and fought many times there and was able to barely escape at the end¡­but in the aftermath, the Hell Gate opened.¡± Lena had a very distressed look. She thought of the tragedy of Paragon and of all her loved ones whom she lost, including her master who she considered as her father. However, she had opened the Hell Gate with her own hands, which might once again lead to something simr to the tragedy of Paragon. She couldn¡¯t bear it. She had to solve this problem even at the expense of her own life. ¡®She couldn¡¯t properly use the angel¡¯s power because of the Demon Syndrome. But just before she died, she recovered from the Demon Syndrome because shepletely used up her angel powers.¡¯ It made sense. Lena sacrificed herself to close the Hell Gate and then died a lonely death. ¡°I have to close the Hell Gate. I¡¯ll do anything to close it.¡± Lena said in an earnest tone. Her expression and voice seemed like she was confessing her fault. ¡°It¡¯s not Lena¡¯s fault.¡± Cordelia said. But Lena shook her head. ¡°No, it¡¯s my fault¡­¡± ¡°No. Definitely no. You didn¡¯t open the gate on purpose. You¡¯re a good person, and you¡¯re still trying to somehow close the Hell Gate. That¡¯s right. So don¡¯t look so distressed. Jude and I will help you. We¡¯ll close the gate together and go back happy andughing.¡± Cordelia poured out her thoughts as she held Lena¡¯s hand and then smiled. Her words might not have presented a solution to their problem, but Lena smiled after hearing Cordelia. It started awkwardly, but for the first time since the Hell Gate opened, Lena had a proper smile. And that made Cordelia smile even more. With a broad smile, she said as she hugged Lena. ¡°We can do it. My Jude is excellent. Jude will somehow find a solution. Isn¡¯t that right?¡± This time again, her words offered no solutions. But at her words full of strong faith in him, Jude nodded his head. ¡°We can do it. So let¡¯s check the situation first. Lena, do you have a way to replenish your powers?¡± Jude began to lead the conversation. Lena looked back at Cordelia and Jude instead of replying immediately, and soon, she smiled again. ¡®It¡¯s like I¡¯m with Landius.¡¯ A person who was absurdly optimistic and reliable that could make one feel at ease anytime and anywhere. ¡°I¡¯m thinking of using Endymion¡¯s Grand Magic Circle.¡± Lena moved her hand in the air and used magic. After a full map of Endymion appeared in the air, aplex figure made of white light was drawn over the map. ¡°The ancient High Elves bet on everything for their final decisive battle against the Demon Prince in Endymion¡­and as a result, the entire capital became a weapon itself.¡± After absorbing the mana of all the citizens living in the capital at once, the magic circle was activated to inject the concentrated and amplified power into one person who would fight against the Demon Prince. ¡°I discovered that there¡¯s still a lot of mana stored in Endymion. If we activate the magic circle¡­we can somehow gather the mana necessary to use the Heavenly Seal.¡± It was a usible solution. But Jude thought of a problem in her solution, while Cordelia instinctively realized it. ¡®The method Lena used in the original.¡¯ That one and only method led to Lena¡¯s death in the end. But she didn¡¯t die because of that method alone. Something must have changed and brought her harm. ¡°Wait, if you use this magic circle, shouldn¡¯t an angel be the target of the gathered mana?¡± At that moment, Kan, whose presence was almost forgotten together with Begio, spoke as he looked at the full map in the air. As a professor in archeology at the institutional academy, he was familiar with ancientnguages. ¡°That¡­.¡± Lena hesitated for a moment as if she had been stabbed in her sore spot before she slowly said again. ¡°Yes, in order to use that magic, one must have the genes of an angel. Though I am afflicted with Demon Syndrome¡­I haven¡¯t lost my angel¡¯s genes. That is why I¡¯m sure that I can do it.¡± Lena said that with a smile, but Jude and Cordelia were not fooled. It was this. It was the reason why Lena lost her life. Lena was not a real angel right now because of her Demon Syndrome. So Lena was greatly hit and suffered from the concentrated sacred power. So they had to change her n. And the two had another solution. ¡®I¡¯ll do it.¡¯ Cordelia said to Jude with her eyes. Although she had not yet used Ancestral Regression, Cordelia had the genes of an angel. She fought against the demons with the witch¡¯s power, but she wouldn¡¯t be dealt a huge blow by the sacred power if she was not transformed into a witch. ¡®Are you sure?¡¯ ¡®Definitely.¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s eyes seemed to be on fire. Therefore, Jude conceded. It was impossible to stop the current Cordelia. Jude wanted to avoid Cordelia¡¯s n, but she was correct. The best solution was for Cordelia to rece Lena. ¡°Let¡¯s do it.¡± ¡°Leave it to me.¡± After she charmingly smiled, Cordelia straight away began to exin about herself to Lena, while Jude turned to Kan. ¡°Will you help us, Sir Kan?¡± ¡°Me?¡± ¡°Yes, we need Sir Kan¡¯s help in activating the magic circle. Someone has to manipte the console in order to operate the magic circle.¡± This was Jude¡¯s first time in Endymion, but not the first in Magen, the magic kingdom of the High Elves. He had already encountered a simr kind of magic circle somewhere in the ruins of Magen. ¡®The reason why it took so long for Lena was because she did everything herself.¡¯ But not now. If Kan was here, it would be possible to easily operate the console which used the ancientnguage of the High Elves. ¡°I¡¯m d that Sir Kan is here.¡± Kan flinched at Jude¡¯s words, but he soon nodded and widely smiled. ¡°Leave it to me. I¡¯ve seen something simr in my research.¡± ¡°Yes, I believe in you.¡± After tapping Kan on his shoulder, Jude advanced towards Cordelia and Lena. Lena was a little surprised at Cordelia¡¯s exnation, but instead of being doubtful, she looked apologetic. ¡°The burden will be great.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. Even if I look like this, I¡¯m very strong.¡± Cordelia grinned and thumped her chest before she turned to Jude. ¡°Jude, when we activate the magic circle, the demons will notice. So we need to turn their gaze somewhere¡­why is your face like that?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just amazing that you came up with this¡­I¡¯m sorry. Please don¡¯t hit me.¡± When Jude made a yful remark, Cordelia clenched her fist and made a ¡®hmph¡¯ sound, but she soon loosened her face. In the first ce, she knew that he was trying to lighten the mood because of Lena. ¡°Lena, please draw the magic circle for the Heavenly Seal.¡± It was absolutely impossible for them to currently learn high-ranking magic such as the Heavenly Seal with little preparation. Lena smiled again at Cordelia¡¯s request. ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll prepare it right away.¡± In just a few minutes, the group¡¯s moodpletely changed. Close the Hell Gate and solve Endymion¡¯s problem. Save Lena¡¯s life. ¡°We can do it.¡± Jude said in a small voice and then took a step forward. They began their operation. *** In order to activate Endymion¡¯s magic circle, all nine magic stones at the outskirts of the underground city had to be activated. But it wasn¡¯t that difficult. Six of them were already activated by Lena. While Kan controlled the console and Lena drew the magic circle of the Heavenly Seal, Jude traveled around the outskirts of the city and activated the remaining magic stones. Jude used the Twenty-Four Gale Steps to jump to higher ces in order to hide from the low-ranking demons who did not have a propermand system. He hid so well that even his shadow was not noticed by the monsters. He finally activated thest magic stone. Now, it was time to return to the central tower and join Lena in order to begin their feint operation of drawing the demons¡¯ attention. ¡°Jude!¡± ¡°Lena!¡± Upon reaching the first floor of the tower, Lena quickly came to him. She had just finished drawing the magic circle. Everything went smoothly. If their n proceeded as it is, they would be able to close the Hell Gate sessfully. But as always, not everything went ording to n. Time had passed while he traveled around activating the magic stones. The Hell Gate finally went beyond the first stage and began its transition into the second stage. Aaaaah-! Something like a ghost¡¯s wail shook the entire underground city. The aura of hell became much stronger, and an overpowering dark and cold energy spread everywhere. The Hell Gate also became bigger. The crack grew wider and it now really looked like a gate. And more demons began to cross over. A Named Demon also appeared. Their distance was quite far. The distance between the Hell Gate and the tower was hundreds of meters. But it was still huge enough to be clearly seen. On a huge chariot pulled by hell dogs stood a Lacto that emitted a powerful energy. It wasn¡¯t amon Lacto but a powerful Named Demon. As soon as it appeared, the air in the underground city shook once again. Its appearance alone made their hairs stood on end. ¡°Bandaizel.¡± Jude and Lena spoke almost simultaneously. For Jude, it was a boss who appeared in the middle of?Legend of Heroes 2, and for Lena, it was a persistent pursuer who chased after her several times in Hell. ¡®We need to draw the attention of this guy.¡¯ Bandaizel wasn¡¯t normally a strong opponent. But if they thoughtlessly activated the magic circle, the tower could be smashed before the magic circle concentrated its power on Cordelia. So they had to fight him and buy some time. Jude and Lena¡¯s job was to keep him away from the tower. ¡°We need to hold our ground for 3 minutes.¡± Lena smiled at Jude¡¯s words. ¡°Yes, three minutes.¡± ¡°It¡¯s going to be a really long three minutes.¡± ¡°I know.¡± Lena was not in normal condition now. But she was one of the five heroes. Even though she had the Demon Syndrome, she was still one of the heroes who ended the tragedy of the Paragon Kingdom. ¡®It¡¯s a strange feeling.¡¯ He was fighting together with the hero in the first episode of?Legend of Heroes. They were in an equal position, and not him being protected or helped. ¡®I must be a little crazy too.¡¯ His heart was pounding amidst their situation. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Lena.¡± Jude and Lena moved towards the Hell Gate. And Bandaizel sensed them. Standing in front of the Hell Gate, he looked at the far distance and sneered. ¡°Lena.¡± Bandaizel was a named demon. At the moment he appeared, the group of monsters who were moving around without any order suddenly transformed into an army. Everyone looked in the same direction at once. There was still some distance from them. Dozens of buildings were lined up in between them. But that didn¡¯t mean much. ¡°It¡¯s three minutes.¡± ¡°3 minutes.¡± It would work out somehow. Jude grinned and activated the power of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. Lena also focused her mana on both of her hands. ¡°Cordelia.¡± Jude unconsciously spoke, and his words became a signal. Jude and Lena kicked the ground. At the same time, Bandaizel loudly shouted, and the charging of the monsters from hell reverberated on the ground. Booooom-! Another sound was added. The ground roared and a strong and beautiful light instantly drove out the darkness of the underground city. Pirs of light rose up from the nine magic stones at once. The ground lit up, and the mighty and ancient magic circle began to operate. The demons hesitated for a moment. But not Bandaizel. He didn¡¯t have a clear grasp of what was happening now, but he knew well of the fact that he had to move right away. ¡°Break it! Destroy it! Sweep it all away!¡± At Bandaizel¡¯s yell, the demons began to move again. Bandaizel spread out hisrge wings and spurred the chariot. Jude and Lena split up to y their respective roles. Lena was the only one who could stop the numerous monsters that were flocking towards the tower. Thus, Jude¡¯s role was naturally fixed. ¡°3 minutes.¡± Round 1 against Bandaizel. ¡°Cordelia.¡± Jude recited Cordelia¡¯s name once again as if in prayer before he began moving. He flew towards Bandaizel who was charging straight towards the tower. ck Dragon Cross Strike! He showed off his strongest skill from the very beginning. Bandaizel stopped his charge as the mighty ck cross broke through the air. He swung his iron whip on the ck cross that was rushing towards him. Baaaang! The ck cross was instantly destroyed. In addition, the air was torn apart, and above the ground, mes rose along the trajectory of the whip. A Named Demon. An unsealed and powerful monster that just came out of hell. The demon smiled. He sighted Jude beyond the ce where he destroyed the ck cross. ¡°Hi.¡± Jude said, and the monster went mad. He generated ck waves that were like mes, and then charged towards Jude. Crack! The iron whip cracked through the air again. And everything in its trajectory was destroyed. Ruuuumble! Booom! It wasn¡¯t thunder. It was the sound of the buildings copsing at once. Jude kicked the ground. He ran through the rubble of the copsing building. ¡®Let¡¯s focus on evasion.¡¯ He had to act like Outboxer. He had no chances of winning in a head-to-head confrontation. He had to fool the enemy with his mobility. Faster. A little faster! Boom! A huge hammer smashed the ce where Jude had just stood. Bandaizel had a warhammer on his right hand. He was about 7 meters tall. He was like a giant to Jude, but he was not slow. Bang! There was a loud noise again. It was Jude this time. Rather than widening his distance from Bandaizel, he narrowed it down as he created a whirlwind and became a gale. Running around wasn¡¯t the only way to get its attention. Hell¡¯s Blood sh. The red sword shed Bandaizel¡¯s waist. It was a shallow sh. But the sh was enough to cause bleeding. ¡°You little rat!¡± The enraged Bandaizel furiously shouted and turned around as he flung his whip towards Jude. A sharp and fast attack. His attack was inescapable. Therefore, Jude did not avoid it. He did not deviate from the trajectory of the iron whip. Crack! The ground was destroyed. But Jude wasn¡¯t. He ignored the attack through the use of the Fairy Steps. After the attack passed through him, he began sprinting. ¡°Baaastard!¡± Bandaizel spread out his wings. It was a fast action. So Jude had to be faster. Twenty-Four Gale Steps ¨C ck Wind¡¯s Advent. A pitch-ck wind blew. The ck wind moved between the buildings, breaking and splitting some of the buildings. ¡°Uoooh!¡± Bandaizel raised his speed. His iron wind tore apart the space itself, and his angry roar shook the ck wind as well as the air. ¡°Ack!¡± The running Jude got thrown on the ground. He couldn¡¯tpletely avoid the wave-like attack, so he rolled on the floor and Bandaizel appeared in front of Jude, swinging down his hammer at that moment. Boom! He rolled and avoided it. But once was his limit. When Bandaizel flung his iron whip again, he had now way of escaping this time. The iron whip cracked through the air. It rushed to turn Jude into a pool of blood. He had already used the Fairy Steps. So he had to use something else. He had to avoid the attack somehow. What should I do? There was no time. The ck Dragon Cross Strike took too much time. It was impossible to avoid the iron whip that struck the surroundings by a few steps. What should I do then? How do I do it? In that moment. In that crack of time. Jude calcted. No, he didn¡¯t calcte it. At that moment, he felt it instinctively like Cordelia. It was new and strange to him. It was such a short time, but he was able to think in that moment. It was even possible to recite the mnemonic chant. So Jude acted. He added the mnemonic chant of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors to the Thirty-Six World Steps, not the Twenty-Four Gale Steps. Just as the Holy Cross Punch advanced to the ck Dragon Cross Strike, it gave new power to the Thirty-Six World Steps. And the result¡­ Baaaaang! It was like thunder. The fearsome iron whip struck and swept the surrounding area, destroying everything. But Bandaizel couldn¡¯t smile. His face was distorted. Because not everything was destroyed. There was a man who stood alive amidst the storm of fearsome destruction. Jude was standing. He didn¡¯t move far away. He stood on the spot where he originally stood. The Thirty-Six World Steps was a footwork skill that defended the user by evading attacks that came from all directions. Moreover, the power of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors was added. Thus, Jude was able to escape. No matter how violent the iron whip¡¯s attack was, in the end, it was an attack that created a single line. If he could pinpoint the direction in which that linended, he couldpletely avoid that single line. With the Thirty-Six World Steps, it became possible to fly in any direction continuously and deviate from the trajectory of the whip¡¯s attack. Thus, he finally avoided the attack itself. ¡°Ugh.¡± Jude roughly breathed. Subsequently, blood flowed down from his lips, and his legs shook before he copsed onto the ground. ¡®It¡¯s still too much.¡¯ He couldn¡¯t handle it properly. Avoiding the attack was a miracle in itself. Bandaizel was bewildered. But he soon regained his reason. It was true that Jude made a miraculous move, but he was now seated on the ground. ¡°Die.¡± A clich¨¦ line. The sitting Jude panted as he saw the enemy¡¯s hammer, but he remained on the ground. He recited the name of a person. ¡°Cordelia.¡± It was time. Three minutes had passed. The tower began to shine. Bandaizel realized it too. He didn¡¯t know that an immense amount of power was concentrated on the tower. But he didn¡¯t care. He was in a hurry to kill Jude who was right in front of him. He didn¡¯t make the mistake of looking at the tower. He just consistently held the hammer. He wanted to strike and crush the enemy in front of him. That was the right thing to do. This was his iron rule that had saved his life many times. But that was why Bandaizel didn¡¯t see it. The approach of a woman who valued Jude¡¯s life more than the closing of the Hell Gate. Instead of activating the magic circle as soon as she gained Endymion¡¯s power, the woman rushed to the ground with clenched fists. ¡°Jude!¡± Boom! There was a roar. Bandaizel was forced to look back, but it was alreadyte at that time. An intangible force that was so powerful struck Bandaizel and blew him away. Craaaaash! The giant Bandaizel rolled on the ground and crashed into a building. And Cordelia didn¡¯t care. Her whole body was covered with a pure and white light, and shended next to Jude. ¡°Hey! Are you okay? Hey!¡± ¡°I¡¯m okay, I¡¯m okay.¡± He was grateful for her concern, but it was rather difficult to breathe because she pulled on his cor. ¡°The seal, quickly¡­¡± Jude said as he held Cordelia¡¯s hand. He was thankful that she ran to save him, but she had to hurry to close the Hell Gate. Endymion¡¯s power could be maintained for a few seconds at most. She also had to go back to the tower and activate the magic circle of the Heavenly Seal that Lena installed on the top floor of the tower. However, it was before Jude could finish what he wanted to say. Bandaizel stood up again. At the same time he got up, he sent off a powerful air wave, and Cordelia hurriedly waved her hand to stop him. Boooom! There was a terrible loud sound, and Cordelia swallowed her scream. Because Endymion¡¯s power was too strong. If she continued maintaining that power, Cordelia herself would be destroyed. Jude figured it out too. So he tried to speak again, but Cordelia was faster. She suddenly made a charming smile and said as she looked straight at Jude. ¡°Hey.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Do you trust me?¡± What is she talking about all of a sudden? At the moment when Jude made a confused expression, the blown away Bandaizel broke the rubble of the building and stood up again. There was no time now. Jude stared at Cordelia. Cordelia was looking at Jude herself with a smile that showed her front teeth. As he stared at those blue eyes, Jude nodded. ¡°I trust you.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll do it. Luke will take care of Kan, so don¡¯t worry about him.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± That was it. Cordelia didn¡¯t talk about it anymore. She was going to do it. Jude trusted her, so she would do it. Cordelia stood straight and looked at Bandaizel. She spoke to him and Jude at the same time. ¡°I figured it out while I was looking at the map on the tower. There was a dragon vein flowing under here too, you know?¡± A flowing dragon vein. What do you mean all of a sudden? Why all of a sudden- He understood. He realized it. So Jude jumped up and shouted. ¡°Hey! Hey!¡± No! Hey! No way! Hey! But it was toote. He already said that he trusted her. ¡°The second way to close the Hell Gate.¡± And that was to destroy the ce where the Hell Gate had opened. ¡°As a bonus, the demons are also defeated.¡± Bandaizel still couldn¡¯tprehend it. Instead of stopping Cordelia, Jude gave up and closed his eyes. And Cordelia ferociously smiled as her teeth shined. She gathered all of Endymion¡¯s power and created a before stabbing it into the ground. The power of Endymion hit the dragon vein. And what urred because of it. The stuff that was done by Cordelia. ¡°F*ck bang.¡± The moment Cordelia gracefully spoke. The dragon vein runaway along with a tremendous roar. Thest day of the underground city of Endymion had begun. Chapter 88 - EPISODE 88 – CRAZY COUPLE (1)

Chapter 88 - EPISODE 88 ¨C CRAZY COUPLE (1)

What color is your blood??¨C a famous quote of the character Rei from the Japanese series?Fist of the North Star.?Frequently used when criticizing viins for their evil deeds. The day of destruction. It was thest day of Endymion, the capital of the magic kingdom of Magen, which did not copse even in a direct confrontation with the mighty Demon Prince of Hell. Ruuuuumble-! At first, it was a vibration. Soon there was a tremendous roar, and the surrounding area ¨C no, the whole underground shook. Craaack! Craaack! It was not an ordinary earthquake. Dozens to hundreds of cracks appeared on the ground. The huge cracks spread, destroying the beautiful and elegant buildings built by the High Elves a long time ago. Boooom! Craaaash! Hundreds of buildings copsed like dominoes. It did not stop after that, as the reverberation on the ground grew stronger and countless debris began falling down from the ceiling. Dragon vein. A great stream of power that flowed in the underground of the wildnds. A strong and unusual power that was the wild gods¡¯ source of power. A portion of it began to run out of control. The dragon vein that the High Elves used as the city¡¯s energy source in the past now exploded after having been stimted by the Spear of Cmity. Baaaaang! mes shot up through the torn ground. And then there was a blinding light. The terrifying power soared to the ceiling and destroyed everything it came across. It only took a few seconds for all of these to happen. ¡°Aaaaah!¡± ¡°Waaah!¡± ¡°Gaaaak!¡± The monsters from hell were screaming. Even Bandaizel struggled in the midst of the fearsome natural disaster, so he couldn¡¯t look back at Jude and Cordelia. But not for Jude. He opened his eyes and shouted, grasping Cordelia¡¯s shoulders. ¡°Hey! You¡¯re crazy!¡± They were in an emergency and an extremely dangerous situation, but he couldn¡¯t help but say those words to her. And Cordelia struck back at such Jude. ¡°You said that you trusted me!¡± ¡°F*ck! Why did I trust you!¡± ¡°Ugh! You cursed! That¡¯s too much!¡± ¡°You always do it!¡± That was it. They ran out of time to argue. The ground shook and then copsed as it began to sink, and the ceiling also fell down. The rubble that crashed into the ground scattered in all directions. Boom! Boom! Boom! ¡°F*ck.¡± Jude cursed again. It was a serious expression and not an exmation, but Cordelia didn¡¯t care. Cordelia suddenly hugged him and shouted. ¡°I trust in you too!¡± And she activated the shield. After using up most of her power to create the Spear of Cmity, she used her remaining power to activate Count Chase¡¯s ring. A translucent blue shield appeared and covered the two. ¡°Fuuuck.¡± Jude swore again and then carried Cordelia. He carried her with the so-called princess carry and then looked up at the ceiling. ¡°I trust you.¡± Cordelia¡¯s voice sounded small whenpared to the roaring sounds around them. But instead of responding to her, Jude immediately jumped up. It was something that was seriously crazy to do, but if he didn¡¯t, they would die. ¡°Uooooooh!¡± He darted on the copsing ground. He grasped the location of the falling debris andputed his route in an instant. Jude held his breath. He created a whirlwind and used it to fly up like a gale. Boom! Boom! Boom! The deafening roars continued. In the midst of that, Jude continued to yell. He climbed up and up, kicking on the falling debris. Bang! The wreckage hit their shield. They were not injured because of the shield, but it caused Jude to fall down. But it was only for a moment. Jude spun around in the air and created a strong wind, and their fall stopped at that moment. Cordelia hugged Jude¡¯s neck, and supported him with magic. ¡°Let¡¯s goooo!¡± Cordelia cried and Jude turned himself around again. He used the whirlwind to break through the debris. Baaaaang! The whirlwind blew away the debris. The shield pushed away the small rubble. Just a little further. He avoided the wreckage. He avoided the copsing ceiling¡­ Booom! But it was too much. The falling debris from the ceiling this time was too big. As if it covered the sky. However, Jude didn¡¯t give up. He strengthened his arms that held Cordelia and then shouted. ¡°Cordelia!¡± ¡°OK!¡± Jude removed the shield. Cordelia threw a into the sky, which she had made by scraping up her remaining energy. ¡°Spiral!¡± The Spear of Cmity rotated and pierced the ceiling like a drill. It didn¡¯tpletely destroy the debris, but it seeded in making a hole. Jude rushed through that hole. After he passed through the hole that was 2 meters in diameter, he made another leap by using therge ceiling rubble as a foothold. ¡°Uooooh!¡± ¡°It¡¯s the sky!¡± It was as Cordelia said. The chilly blue sky weed Jude and Cordelia. The sunlight that poured down was so beautiful. They finally saw the sky. The soaring Jude looked down at the ground, and unknowingly apologized to countless people. A huge crater emerged, measuring hundreds of meters in diameter. Hundreds and thousands of pieces of broken wreckage were messily piled upon the shattered ground. ¡°Crazy.¡± ¡°Ehehe.¡± Thest one was Cordelia. She had an awkward look as if she was ashamed, but she still stuck out her tongue. And Judended on the ground. Jude stared at Cordelia with a face full of mixed feelings, and Cordelia squeezed her lips once and tried to make an excuse. But not yet. Ruumble¡­ It was quite silent at first. Ruuuumble! But the sound grew louder. It was not the sound of the already destroyed underground city. The cracks continued to spread out. The cracks stretched out as if it wanted to destroy not only the central underground city, but also the entire Endymion, and it eventually began to spread through the Raptor Canyon. ¡°Uh¡­¡± At the moment the dazed Cordelia said that¡­ Baaaaaaang! The second major copse began. An avnche urred when parts of the Raptor Canyon copsed, followed by a series of explosions and copses across an area spanning hundreds of meters in diameter and several kilometers in length. Boom! Boom! Boom! Bang! Bang! Bang! Unexpectedly, the time of the crashing itself was short. Because everything shattered and crashed all at once. Ruuumble¡­ It was thest sound they heard from afar. Silence followed afterwards. The canyon surrounding Endymion copsed halfway down, and the direction of the wind changed, so the blowing wind struck Jude and Cordelia. A few seconds passed. Jude put Cordelia down on the ground, and as she stood, Cordelia hesitated for a moment before she awkwardly smiled and made a V-sign with her fingers. ¡°P-problem solved!¡± Because in spite of what preceded, the Hell Gate was closed. Because they achieved their goal. Jude quietly stared at such Cordelia and moved. He raised both of his hands and pinched Cordelia¡¯s cheeks. ¡°Problem solved? Problem solved? What problem was solved?¡± As he pulled her soft cheeks to the side, Cordelia became teary-eyed and immediatelyunched a counterattack. ¡°I sholved the froblem!¡± As she said with a strange pronunciation, Cordelia pinched Jude¡¯s cheeks too. ¡°Heyyyy? What are you doooing?!¡± ¡°O! It hurts! Schtapp!¡± When Jude increased his pulling strength, Cordelia shouted almost as if she was crying, but she didn¡¯t back down. Cordelia pinched him harder when he didn¡¯t let go of her cheeks. ¡°Let gwooo!¡± ¡°You leeet go firssst!¡± It was the moment when they continued to pinch each other in the cheeks. Papapapapapa-! White rings of light appeared in session around Jude and Cordelia. It came so quickly that it was hard to count, but it seemed to be close to ten. ¡°Revel-up! Level-up! Thanks to me!¡± Because they had wiped out the monsters from hell who broke into Endymion. The experienced was reduced because it was an indirect defeat and not a direct one, but the number of the monsters was so high that they leveled up a lot. ¡°Let gwo! Let gwoo!¡± ¡°Ugh.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s insistence, Jude let go first as he grunted. Then Cordelia took her hand off Jude¡¯s cheek, not to keep their agreement, but to cover her own cheeks. ¡°Ack! It really hurts. It¡¯s too much. You¡¯re mean.¡± The sight of a beautiful girl crying as she covered her burning red cheeks was enough to make Jude a bad guy in the world¡¯s eyes, but only Jude and Cordelia were here. Jude said as his eyes narrowed. ¡°Think about what you did based on your conscience.¡± ¡°Sob, sob.?You said that you trusted me.¡± At the time when Cordelia pretended to cry again¡­ Booom! With a loud noise, Lena broke through the debris and appeared. Moreover, she was not alone. The pale-faced Kan and the Begio, Luke, also pushed their heads out of the ground. ¡°Jude? Cordelia?¡± ¡°Lena! I¡¯m d you¡¯re okay!¡± Cordelia ran straight to Lena and eximed, and Jude moved towards them after sighing. Lena was strong, but he had been worried about Kan and Luke. And after a few steps¡­ What Jude had expected happened. ¡°E-Endymion! Endymion, the capital of the magic kingdom of Magen¡­!¡± Kan was an archeologist, and he knew the value of Endymion better than anyone else here. ¡°Aaah¡­aah¡­.¡± As he grabbed the back of his neck and staggered, Kan fell down because of his internal distress, and Jude understood why it made him like that. The ancient ruins had been intact for over a thousand years. The city of the High Elves that survived the battle against the mighty Demon Prince, was now destroyed to the point where it was hard to find any traces of it¡­ It was aplete tragedy. ¡°Haa-haa. Woof-woof!¡± Luke barked as it licked the distressed Kan¡¯s cheek. Unlike Cordelia, Jude couldn¡¯t understand the animal¡¯s words, but it seemed like Luke was saying to Kan that it was okay. And in the midst of this, Cordelia embraced Lena and asked with a big smile. ¡°Lena! The Hell Gate is gone, right?¡± ¡°Yes? Uh¡­yes. It must have disappeared. Probably¡­no, absolutely¡­¡± It was not an exaggeration to say that Endymion itself was gone. With her mouth wide open, Lena stared nkly at the surrounding area after the great destruction, but Cordelia was pleased with her answer. She turned to Jude and brightly smiled, shing a V-sign again. ¡°I solved the problem after all! Whaach?!¡± The strange sound at the end of her words was because Jude pinched her cheeks again. ¡°It hurts!¡± ¡°I¡¯m pinching you so that you¡¯ll feel the pain.¡± Though his thoughts were slightly different this time. ¡®It¡¯s soft and smooth.¡¯ Her rebellious side when she was being pinched was also cute. With a bit of an ulterior motive, Jude continued to punish Cordelia. ¡°Aaaaaaaaah!¡± A fearsome roar came from afar. No, it was clearly an angry voice. Boooom! The huge demon flew out of the wreckage. Bandaizel. The leader of the Lactos soared from the rubble and spread out its huge bat wings. After all, it was a named demon. He managed to stay alive while the other monsters from hell were being wiped out. ¡°Bandaizel¡­¡± Tension spread over Lena¡¯s face. But not for Jude and Cordelia. Cordelia turned while her cheeks were still being pinched, and Jude gently removed his hands on her cheeks before turning around. Bandaizel. The demon released its power in its rage. ¡°He¡¯s covered in blood.¡± ¡°He¡¯s hurt a lot.¡± ¡°His head is bleeding.¡± ¡°If you look closely, his horns are a bit broken.¡± Bandaizel was not able to easily avoid the debris because of hisrge size. He had felt like he was buried alive under the rubble. ¡°So Jude. Isn¡¯t this situation familiar?¡± ¡°It¡¯s happened before.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it? It¡¯s the same as then, right?¡± The stage boss who was half dead because the stage itself was destroyed. A smile spread over Jude and Cordelia¡¯s faces. And from afar, Bandaizel finally caught sight of Jude and Cordelia and then burst into an angry roar again. ¡°Aaaaah! What color is your blood!¡± He couldn¡¯t believe that they destroyed the city itself. If the ancient High Elves knew about this, they would cry tears of blood! But Jude and Cordelia didn¡¯t think that way. Cordelia said as her eyes sparkled. ¡°They¡¯re the same.¡± ¡°It looks like they¡¯re teaching clich¨¦ lines in hell.¡± ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s getting frequent.¡± Jude and Cordelia began talking nonsense as usual before they looked at each other and took out potion bottles. And they gulped it down. Bandaizel was enraged again. Lena alternately looked at Jude, Cordelia and Bandaizel with a mixture of tension and confusion. After they had emptied the potion bottles at once, Jude and Cordelia turned at the same time. They simultaneously threw the potion bottles and then stepped forward as they talked. ¡°Shall we start the boss fight?¡± ¡°This time, it¡¯s not phase 3¡­it¡¯s around phase 2.¡± Bandaizel¡¯s condition was better than the mid-ranking demonic human whom they had faced before. Even if his condition had worsened, he was still a named demon. But Cordelia wasn¡¯t worried. She said as her teeth shone. ¡°It¡¯s all right. Because we have Lena.¡± ¡°Shall we ask for help?¡± ¡°It¡¯s time to repay us.¡± The dazed Lena blinked her eyes because she didn¡¯t understand what they were talking about. Jude and Cordelia stared back at each other. They exchanged nces, and at the same time, the two spurred on the ground. Chapter 89 - EPISODE 89 – CRAZY COUPLE (2)

Chapter 89 - EPISODE 89 ¨C CRAZY COUPLE (2)

Bandaizel was strong. Although he didn¡¯t have a title, he was still a Named Demon. ¡°Very powerful physical abilities.¡± ¡°Weak magic abilities.¡± ¡°But his magic is strong.¡± ¡°His true name is unknown.¡± While they were talking at a distance, Bandaizel clenched his fists and cursed. ¡°I¡¯ll drag you two to hell. I¡¯ll make you realize how merciful death is!¡± There was power in the demon¡¯s words. Bandaizel¡¯s deration was like an oath, so if they really lost to him, Jude and Cordelia would be dragged to hell and suffer all kinds of hardships. But instead of being afraid, Jude and Cordelia clicked their tongues. ¡°As expected of Bandaizel. His vocabry iscking.¡± ¡°A musclehead.¡± Fortunately, the voices of the two did not reach Bandaizel. Bandaizel cursed again, while Jude looked back at Cordelia and said. ¡°Cordelia, you¡¯re over level 50, right?¡± ¡°Eh? Yeah. I must have gone beyond that, I think?¡± Her level was originally in the 40s, but because she leveled up around 10 times, her level was now around the 50s. ¡°Let¡¯s do this then.¡± As Jude quickly exined the operation, Cordelia¡¯s eyes widely opened, and she brightly smiled as she listened to him. ¡°Wow, it¡¯s really evil.¡± ¡°Do you like it then?¡± ¡°Yes, I love it.¡± Jude had a faint smile when he saw Cordelia¡¯s smiling face before he turned his gaze back to Bandaizel and said. ¡°I ask of you.¡± ¡°Yes. Be careful too.¡± Because they needed someone to buy them time. Jude took a deep breath before he activated the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors and used the ck Wind¡¯s Advent. Using the ck wind, he became like a gale and rushed towards Bandaizel. Swoooooooosh! The wind wildly blew. The cold wind surrounded his whole body as the pitch-ck wind danced together with the golden whirlwind. Cordelia didn¡¯t watch him for long. She turned around and ran towards Lena. ¡°Lena!¡± ¡°Cordelia! We have to help Jude!¡± Having taken Kan and Luke to a safe ce, Lena ran and shouted at Cordelia. Cordelia immediately nodded. ¡°We need your help. So Lena, please listen to our n.¡± Boom! At that very moment, a roar burst out. It was the sound of Bandaizel smashing the ground with his giant warhammer. Cordelia flinched for a moment, but she didn¡¯t look back. He was Jude. His Cheonmujiche made him extremely good in moving his body. So he was going to be fine. No, he would be fine. The important thing now was to properly spend every second of time that Jude bought for them. ¡°Lena!¡± Cordelia grabbed Lena¡¯s wrist. Lena was about to run straight towards Jude, but she stopped and looked at Cordelia, and then nodded. ¡®Lena is not in her normal state now.¡¯ It was Jude¡¯s words. ¡®She can¡¯t use her angel powers.¡¯ In the first episode of?Legend of Heroes, Lena could already use the powers of an angel. In short, most of Lena¡¯s fighting power came from her angel powers. But even so, she was Lena. She was a powerful grand wizard before she became an angel. ¡®So she can do it.¡¯ Lena had used different kinds of magic in?Legend of Heroes. Jude and Cordelia remembered all the kinds of magic she had used, so Jude informed Cordelia of the magic they needed for this battle, and in turn, she told Lena about that. ¡°Can you do it?¡± Boom! Boom! Boom! Cordelia asked amidst the loud noises behind her. Lena nodded right away. ¡°I can do it.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s get started!¡± Boooom! She could hear the ground copsing from afar. Cordelia turned around and was relieved. The ck wind was still moving beautifully with the golden whirlwind. ¡°Haa.¡± Cordelia unconsciously sighed in relief before she immediately got serious. At the same time that she used the Witch Transformation, she opened the witch¡¯s spell book with a chant. ¡°¡± The witch¡¯s spell book could be opened by a simplemand. It was usually small and hung from Cordelia¡¯s waist, but at her invocation, the book floated in the air and opened as it became several timesrger than her upper body. ¡°¡± At the touch of Cordelia¡¯s hand, the pages of the spell book began to flip quickly. What she wanted to read was thest page that she could open now. New spells were opened when her level exceeded 50. Cordelia quickly recited the spell. Through the witch¡¯s spell book, she crammed the new magic into her head. And at that moment, Lena ran to the ce where Cordelia had pointed earlier and invoked a spell. ¡°¡± It was a spell that created a golem. Not many people knew about it since she gained the powers of a Holy Angel through Ancestral Regression, but Lena¡¯s specialty was originally the production of magical objects, which included the creation of golems. ¡°Rise! Rise and fight, my child!¡± Lena had already used up a lot of mana when she fought alone the monsters from hell who flocked to the tower. But she did not hesitate. She poured her remaining mana to help in realizing Cordelia¡¯s n. ¡°Uuuugh-!¡± The ground shot up. It had looked like that. The ground that had copsed in the great copse caused by Cordelia had now taken shape and stood up. It was a huge stone golem created from the countless debris. ¡°Ooooh!¡± It was huge and colossal. Perhaps it was around 30 to 40 meters ¨C no, it was a giant that was almost 50 meters. Moreover, it wasn¡¯t just tall. Its whole body was made of rock, and it resembled a knight wrapped in massive and heavy armor. Thud! The ground shook as it took a step. Bandaizel reflexively turned after lifting his warhammer that he used when he tried to smash Jude, while Jude smiled in admiration. ¡°Kuuuuraaaaa-!¡± The golem roared and charged towards Bandaizel. Its rush was slow perhaps because of its big build. An enormous pressure restrained Bandaizel. ¡°Ridiculous!¡± Bandaizel yelled as he crushed his fear, and then tightly gripped his warhammer and rushed towards the golem. He moved in order to smash the head of that slow-moving golem. It was literally a monster showdown. But Jude didn¡¯t just watch it. He turned his gaze to confirm Cordelia¡¯s location, and Cordelia also turned to Jude as if their minds were connected. ¡®Are you ready?¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m ready!¡¯ Shortly after exchanging nces, Jude saw Bandaizel again. It was a Named Demon after all. The sight of him jumping high and wielding the warhammer to hit the golem¡¯s head was like a scene from myths and legends. Baaaang! A loud noise erupted when the golem¡¯s head was smashed in half from Bandaizel¡¯s blow, and the golem stepped back. Bandaizel continued pursuing the golem as he sessively struck it. ¡°Hahahahahaha!¡± A big golem couldn¡¯t even be an opponent! Every time Bandaizel swung his warhammer, a part of the golem broke down. At first, the golem tried to counterattack, but itter became beaten down as it continued to step back. Bang! Bang! Bang! The loud blows continued in session. The golem lost its head and both of its arms and shoulders, but it continued to step backwards and finally returned to the ce where it was created. ¡°It¡¯s over now.¡± When Bandaizel spoke in a cool manner and drew his warhammer¡­ Lena had been manipting the abnormally huge golem with all her strength, and she suddenly stretched out her hand to Bandaizel. ¡° ¡± It was the spell that was one of Cordelia¡¯s specialties. Their distance was quite far. In addition, there was no direct contact. Therefore, the duration of the spell was only a few seconds. But that was enough. When Lena stretched out her hand, Jude climbed on the golem. He became a ck gale, soaring into the sky before he fired it towards Bandaizel with all his strength. ck Dragon Cross Strike! The huge ck cross from his fist struck Bandaizel. But it was not enough. Defeating Bandaizel with just that blow was impossible. Jude knew that too. So the purpose of his attack was not to defeat Bandaizel. The purpose was to push him away. Shwaaaak-! The ck cross pushed Bandaizel forward. The paralyzed Bandaizel was helplessly pushed and thrown into the ce where the golem had risen. Bang! A loud roar broke out after he was blown nearly tens of meters and mmed onto the ground. But Bandaizel¡¯s body was unusually hard. Finishing him off with that kind of fall was impossible. In fact, his paralyzed state immediately wore off after he fell so he tried to raise himself up. Jude saw it. And he saw the others too. ¡°Cordelia.¡± She was standing. She added the Spell¡¯s Echo to the she acquired at level 50. One spell invoked four magic spells at the same time. ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting.¡± When Cordelia¡¯s canines shone as she brightly smiled, the monsters from hell ran towards Bandaizel. To be exact, they were the monsters of hell that Cordelia raised through necromancy. ¡°Gwaaa!¡± ¡°Kwooo!¡± ¡°Kaaack!¡± Dozens of monsters ran and shrieked as they crushed Bandaizel¡¯s body. Cordelia¡¯s necromancy was clumsy since charging was all that they could do, but in the first ce, they had died from being crushed, so only a few of them had intact limbs. Butbat power was not important anyway. ¡°You scoundrels! No, you evil bastards!¡± Bandaizel yelled as he tried to stand up. The monsters from hell were just zombies in the end. It was possible to wipe them out with just one swing of his iron whip. Cordelia knew that too. So she didn¡¯t take her time. She snapped her fingers as she cast her new spell. ¡°.¡± An explosion of corpses. The monsters from hell that clung to Bandaizel caused a chain of explosions. Dozens of monsters exploded in session, and the explosive power was seriously tremendous. Boom! Boom! Boom! Bandaizel¡¯s screams were heard in between the explosions. Then Cordelia looked back at Lena for the finishing blow. ¡°Lena.¡± Lena responded to her call. She didn¡¯t just create a giant golem that couldn¡¯t properly fight so that Cordelia could excavate the monster corpses. ¡°Kwoooo-!¡± The golem stepped forward with a final roar. It moved its body just above Bandaizel¡¯s head. Despite the numerous explosions, Bandaizel saw it. He instantly realized what Jude and Cordelia had nned. So he couldn¡¯t help but shout. ¡°Y-you demons!¡± The noise of the corpse explosions buried Bandaizel¡¯s voice. Lena chanted the final spell. ¡°.¡± The golem dismantled. Numerous debris that were used to form the body of the almost 50-meter giant golem fell over Bandaizel¡¯s head. Bang! Bang! Bang! Boom! Boom! Boom! The explosions continued, and the rocks fell. Bandaizel¡¯s miserable screams rang in between that. Bang! The huge rock that formed the golem¡¯s head made thest noise. Bandaizel was buried under that small rocky mountain and could no longer be seen. ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­¡± Having cast that immense magic, Lena sat in ce and tried to catch her breath. Despite the extreme cold, her whole body was wet as if she had been hit by rain. And Cordelia jumped from her spot. She joyfully shouted as the white ring appeared around her. ¡°We defeated him! Yahoo!¡± She cheerfully shouted and hurried to the ce where Lena sat down. ¡°We defeated him! We defeated him, Lena!¡± She was refreshing, lively, and adorable. So Lena unconsciously smiled, and Cordelia embraced Lena. ¡°I love you! Lena is the best!¡± Lena was a bit embarrassed at her very friendly attitude, but she soon hugged Cordelia back. She didn¡¯t know why this girl liked her so much, but thanks to her, they crossed the big hurdle. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Jude!¡± At Jude¡¯s call, Cordelia suddenly jumped again before she hugged him too. He thought that she was just giggling, but she abruptly gave a sharp sideways nce and said. ¡°You¡¯re really bad. You¡¯re like a real demon. How could you be so evil?¡± ¡°Do you like it then?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Cordelia promptly replied and brightly smiled again. And as Lena watched the scene, she faintly smiled. It hadn¡¯t been that long since they met, but just looking at the lovely couple made her smile. ¡®Yes, everything went well.¡¯ Not only did they close the Hell Gate, but they also wiped out a hundred or so demons that had already crossed over. In addition, they defeated Bandaizel, a named demon. So it was finally over. It was enough. The two saved the world. No, it was something like that. Endymion waspletely destroyed, and half of Raptor Canyon had copsed, so Lena tried hard to look away from that and just watched Jude and Cordelia again. Lena smiled again as she gazed at the fantasy ¨C no, the obviously crazy couple. *** And in the evening of that same day¡­ At the outer part of the ruins that was formerly called Endymion. Lena¡¯s thoughts became like a prophecy. ¡°Uh¡­so you were saying¡­that the problem was solved?¡± ¡°Yes, we solved the problem. Endymion is gone, so no more demons will appear on Endymion!¡± In front of that bright and lovely smile, the Fairy Queen couldn¡¯t bear it any longer. With an elegant smile, she held the back of her neck and copsed. Chapter 90 - EPISODE 90 – SACRED PLACE (1)

Chapter 90 - EPISODE 90 ¨C SACRED PLACE (1)

Terms used in this chapter: Satan lost his job today?¨C Korean meme about human acts that are so evil and vicious that it makes Satan lose his job. This meme has a lot of variations and is not limited to ¡®Satan lost his job today.¡¯ The Wild Fairy Queen, Eonelle, raised her head. The beautiful light shone down from the colorful ss ceiling. The sunlight was scattered and diffused ording to precise calctions, giving off a sense of fantasy and mystery to the viewer. ¡°Wow¡­¡± A childlike voice came out of Eonelle¡¯s mouth. Surprised by her voice, Eonelle blinked and looked at herself, and she realized that her limbs were much shorter than usual. She wasn¡¯t a Fairy Queen. She was now her younger self before she became the queen. It was during the time when her mother was still alive. Eonelle blinked her eyes and smiled. She thought like a fairy, not a queen. Whether she was in a dream or not now, she thought that she should enjoy this moment. ¡°How exciting.¡± Instead of an elegant smile, Eonelle had a cute and adorable smile before she looked around again. And she soon remembered where she was now. This was the greenhouse of the High Elves located deep in Endymion. Besides magic, the High Elves of the magic kingdom Magen also attained outstanding achievements in various fields of study. They created a much more beautiful garden in the underground than the one they had above the ground, and the fairies who were fond of pretty and lovely things would visit their gardens with the permission of the High Elves. ¡°Pretty.¡± Flowers of numerous colors filled her sight. There were so many varieties that if it was a garden made by humans, it would have looked disordered because of the too many varieties, but this was the garden of the High Elves. Numerous flowers and trees were arranged together, but there was harmony in their arrangement. Far from looking disordered, the flowers and treesplemented each other, forming a very beautiful sight. ¡°It smells good.¡± Eonelle closed her eyes and enjoyed the garden¡¯s fragrance. And then came into her ears a voice that she had long missed. ¡°Eonelle.¡± ¡°Mommy!¡± Eonelle reflexively shouted as she jumped from her position and turned around. There stood her beautiful and caring mother, the previous Fairy Queen, with an elegant smile. ¡°Mommy!¡± Eonelle ran like a child and hugged her mother¡¯s waist. ¡°You¡¯re still a child.¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. I¡¯m a child. Hehehe.¡± How long had it been since she acted cutely like this? It had been a while since she spoke and acted like a normal fairy. The former Fairy Queen had a bit of a lonely smile when she looked at her daughter¡¯s face. Because in her eyes that could see beyond time and space, she saw the grown-up Eonelle, her daughter who had be the Fairy Queen. The previous Fairy Queen caressed Eonelle¡¯s cheek with emotions that could only be described as proud, regretful, and affectionate. ¡°Eonelle, do you like this ce?¡± ¡°Yes, I like it. It¡¯s very pretty.¡± ¡°Yes, when Magen¡¯s High Elves left Endymion¡­they especially asked us to take good care of it.¡± The High Elves had already left Endymion when Eonelle was born. However, the previous Fairy Queen remembered the time when the High Elves lived in Endymion. ¡°Mommy was a friend of the High Elves, right?¡± ¡°Yes, I was. The High Elves were friends of us wild fairies. They let us use the hot springs and the garden to our heart¡¯s content.¡± ¡°I like the hot springs too.¡± ¡°You¡¯re truly my daughter.¡± ¡°Hehehe.¡± The previous Fairy Queen stroked Eonelle¡¯s head, and Eonelle enjoyed her touch. This moment was just a dream, but as a fairy, she didn¡¯t care about distinguishing reality from the dream. ¡°Eonelle.¡± ¡°Yes, mommy.¡± ¡°This ce¡­take good care of Endymion. Someday¡­on the day when the High Elves return, we can be proud¡­we can say that us fairies have never neglected our friendship with the High Elves.¡± It was impossible to manage the entire Endymion. Even the High Elves had given up taking care of it. So just the ces where the High Elves and fairies shared their friendship, which were the hot springs and gardens, were what they could preserve well. ¡°Yes, mommy. I¡¯ll definitely do it.¡± ¡°Fufufu, that¡¯s a good girl.¡± ¡°I promise. Definitely. Pinky promise.¡± ¡°All right, it¡¯s a pinky promise.¡± ¡°Yes, mommy.¡± Eonelle prettily smiled, and the previous Fairy Queen hugged her tightly. They shared each other¡¯s warmth under the sunlight shining down from the colored ss ceiling. ¡°Mommy.¡± Eonelle opened her eyes. And she realized that she was the Fairy Queen now. But for a moment, she was engrossed in her dream. Instead of facing reality, she chose to escape it for a while. Tick tock. Tick tock. She suddenly stood up and left her room, with the hem of her dress trailing on the ground. She faced the sight in front of her. ¡°Haha¡­hahaha¡­¡± Didn¡¯t they say thatughter sometimeses out when one faces a very absurd situation? The sight in front of her did not change. The scene in her dream only remained in her dreams now. It waspletely ruined. The site where the great copse took ce could only be described as ruins. The Fairy Queen struggled to maintain her elegant smile. She soon felt faint again but turned around and firmly stood. But she couldn¡¯t stop her weak voice froming out of her mouth. ¡°It wasn¡¯t¡­a dream.¡± It would have been nice if it was a dream. If it was just a dream¡­ If it was just a lie¡­ ¡°Mommy, I¡¯m sorry.¡± Eonelle couldn¡¯t keep her promise. I¡¯m a bad child. I¡¯m sorry. When tears streaked down the Fairy Queen¡¯s cheeks, there were some who were watching the scene secretly. ¡°Ju-Jude. What should we do? She¡¯s crying.¡± ¡°¡­Then should she not cry?¡± Endymion waspletely destroyed. When Jude spoke with narrowed eyes, Cordelia pouted her lips, timidly pushing her index fingers against each other. Jude sighed again when he saw her with that appearance and then said. ¡°Haa¡­in addition to that¡­are you a real demon? How could you say that?¡± ¡°W-what¡­¡± ¡°Endymion is gone, so no more demons will appear on Endymion¡­ Such words made Satan lose his job today.¡± It was such a diabolical idea. No, apart from having such an idea, she put it out of her mouth and said it. And with such a lovely face and expression. ¡°Uhhh¡­¡± Jude¡¯s remarks made Cordelia shrink even further, but she had something to say in her defense. ¡°Y-you taught me.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I mean, that¡­when we broke the bridge¡­¡± Cordelia was talking about the time when they broke the bridge to defeat Lacto. Jude was the one who originally said that statement, not Cordelia. However, Jude clicked his tongue at Cordelia¡¯s timid rebuttal and said with narrowed eyes. ¡°Is this the same as that? And isn¡¯t there something like a time and ce?¡± He was correct. Cordelia shrank even more, and Jude pulled the cheeks of such Cordelia with both of his hands. ¡°Ugueu¡­¡± Cordelia would normally be angry and resist it, but this time, she didn¡¯t. She just epted her punishment with a bleak face. But that did notst long. ¡°I know you¡¯re watching. Come forward.¡± At the Fairy Queen¡¯s call, Jude and Cordelia flinched at the same time before they cleared their throats and stepped forward. ¡°Jude, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Your Majesty.¡± Jude answered in a small voice, and Cordelia bowed her head after looking at the Fairy Queen¡¯s eyes. The Fairy Queen graciously smiled at their appearance. ¡°It¡¯s all right. You don¡¯t have to make such a dejected face. To defend Endymion¡­no, to save¡­no, it was for the world anyway.¡± Though she was a bit unsettled in the middle, the Fairy Queen still kept her elegant smile until the end of her words. ¡°To close the Hell Gate, right?¡± ¡°Yes, if the Hell Gate had just grown like that¡­there would have been a terrible tragedy. Cordelia¡¯s actions were rather excessive, but there was no other way back then. Because of Cordelia¡¯s decision on behalf of everyone, she was able to save my life too. If you punish her, let me receive it instead.¡± When Jude didn¡¯t just stop defending her and even went as far as to say that he would be willing to receive the punishment instead, Cordelia was startled and blinked, and the Fairy Queen shook her head. ¡°No, it¡¯s not fair to punish you. As you said, Cordelia saved everyone. And¡­I think I¡¯m at fault too for neglecting the management of other areas besides the original areas we maintained. Because I didn¡¯t even know of the fact that the Hell Gate opened here.¡± The Fairy Queen was also well aware of the Hell Gate¡¯s dangers. If the Hell Gate had grown just as Jude had said, the fairies would be the first to be at risk. ¡°So Cordelia, straighten your chest. Although Endymion is gone¡­isn¡¯t it clear that you saved the world and us fairies?¡± ¡°Your Majesty¡­¡± Cordelia was deeply moved and began to tear up. The Fairy Queenughed a bit at Cordelia¡¯s response before she continued. ¡°I know of the name Lena. Holy Angel Lena, one of the five heroes who ended the tragedy of the Paragon Kingdom. But looking at her now, it seems she got the Demon Syndrome.¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. We have to treat Lena.¡± Cordelia quickly spoke without thinking, and the Fairy Queen also nodded her head. ¡°Yes, you are right. She is also our benefactor, so she deserves to be helped.¡± ¡°Your Majesty¡­¡± Cordelia¡¯s face was flushed with deep emotions again. Jude also expressed his admiration of her in his thoughts. ¡®She¡¯s a real queen.¡¯ It was unbelievable that the benevolent woman in front of him was of the same race as the fairies he knew. In any case, the truly gracious Fairy Queen turned around and said. ¡°Demon Syndrome is a disease caused by the umtion of hell¡¯s aura in the body. So if you wash away hell¡¯s aura with holy aura, you¡¯ll be able to cure the Demon Syndrome.¡± What she said was the truth. In fact, the quickest way to treat the Demon Syndrome in the game was to go arge temple, give as much donation money as possible, and listen to choir¡¯s hymns while bathing in holy water. ¡°There is a sacred ce not far away. It¡¯s the ce where the golden dragon, the king of the wild gods, interacted with Sri, the ancient sun god.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± Jude unknowingly expressed his surprise. Because ording to the Fairy Queen¡¯s story, it was and where two gods temporarily stayed together. It was literally a sacred ce among the sacred ces. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you the location, so take Lena there to cure the Demon Syndrome.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes, really.¡± ¡°Wow! Her Majesty is the best! Thank you very much!¡± Cordelia was ready to embrace the Fairy Queen at that moment, but their absolute difference in heights prevented her from doing so. The Fairy Queenughed a little at the appearance of Cordelia hesitating when she tried to hug her, and she soon looked back at Jude and said. ¡°Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°I¡¯m saying this out of concern¡­¡± The Fairy Queen¡¯s words trailed off at the end before she suddenly cleared her throat and said while looking elsewhere. ¡°You can¡¯t destroy that ce.¡± The sacred ce. Especially the sacred ce. ¡°Of course. I¡¯ll try to prevent the worst situation from happening.¡± Cordelia¡¯s face turned red at the moment Jude spoke with a determined look as if he was swearing an oath. After she struggled in that state, she spoke to the Fairy Queen in an urgent tone. ¡°I-I promise! I¡¯ll just go quietly! Really!¡± ¡°Yes, I believe in you. Truly. Really. Please. Please¡­¡± Her elegant smile remained the same, but at the end, there was some desperation in the Fairy Queen¡¯s words. It wasn¡¯t really just a sacred ce. Because they had to protect that sacred ce. Especially that sacred ce! ¡°I-I promise. Really¡­¡± The dispirited Cordelia shrank her shoulders as she made a promise, Jude stepped forward again. ¡°Your Majesty, I will take responsibility and protect the sacred ce from Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes, I believe in you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a demon¡­¡± Cordelia timidly murmured shortly after the Fairy Queen¡¯s worried face and Jude¡¯s determined oath. The Fairy Queen turned to Cordelia again and spoke. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯ve made you dispirited. As I said earlier, it¡¯s true that you saved us. You can be proud of that. You¡¯re a warrior who made a decision that couldn¡¯t be easily made.¡± ¡°Sob, sob,?Your Majesty.¡± She (Fairy Queen) did a grievous harm to someone and then pretended to help her (Cordelia). The Fairy Queen smiled a little mischievously at Cordelia whose thoughts were clearly revealed in her face, and Jude also smiled. *** ¡°Ah, thank goodness. There¡¯s a way to cure Lena.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± The fairies¡¯ residence, which differed in time and space from ordinary ces, wasn¡¯t a very good ce to take a proper rest. For this reason, Lena and Kan were staying in a bathhouse in the outskirts of Endymion, which did not copse. ¡°Ufufu, I¡¯m excited. If we go to the sacred ce, Lena will be cured from the Demon Syndrome, then Lena will regain the power of an angel, and we¡¯ll be able to obtain Lena¡¯s blood. Isn¡¯t that right?¡± On the road to the bathhouse, Cordelia energetically walked andughed, and she even began to sing. ¡°Le~na¡¯s blood~ doo doo doo doo doo~ Sacred ce~ doo doo doo doo doo~ Angel mode~ doo doo doo doo doo~ Lena¡¯s blood~.¡± Her singing and gestures were seriously cute and adorable, and Jude tried to distance himself from her. And Cordelia having caught such Jude, red at him. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°No, are you asking because you don¡¯t know? Look at yourself.¡± A beautiful girl was smiling brightly while singing about blood. ¡°Umm¡­¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it weird?¡± ¡°Hmph. It¡¯s not strange though?¡± However, she seemed to be embarrassed as her face turned red. Jude smiled and continued his words. ¡°Moving on, it¡¯s good. We saved Lena, and if we go on like this, we¡¯ll obtain the angel¡¯s blood.¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll be able to use Ancestral Regression¡­then it¡¯ll be possible to use this too!¡± Cordelia spoke out loud as she took out the Heavenly Judgment, which she had worn on her back throughout their entire trip. It was one of the hundred swords that the Archangel Auriel himself forged, and a powerful magic item that could use ¡®Day of Judgment.¡¯ It was currently sealed, so it was more of a club than a sword, but once she gained the power of an angel, she would be able to remove the seal. ¡°It¡¯s a happy event, a happy asion.¡± ¡°Yes, I especially like that we saved Lena.¡± She had seen her die a lonely death with a painful expression in the cinematic movie, and that scene still remained in her eyes. But they had saved Lena. They saved the hero from?Legend of Heroes¡¯?first episode, who should have died. ¡®It means a lot.¡¯ Among the five main characters in the first episode of the?Legend of Heroes, the Ghostde Kamael was the only one who was active after the second episode. So if that didn¡¯t happen. If all the five main characters survived and joined the fight to stop Armageddon¡­ ¡®We have to make it happen.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t just Lena. They somehow saved Iron Man Landius even though the cause of his death was still unknown. ¡®The other two too.¡¯ Necromancer Velkian and Druid Fran too. And furthermore, the heroes of the?Legend of Heroes 2?too. ¡°What are you thinking about?¡± ¡°A good idea.¡± ¡°You¡¯re saying something strange again.¡± Jude grinned at Cordelia¡¯s rebuke, and returned the topic to the sacred ce. ¡°Anyway, I hope that there¡¯s no dragon vein in the ce we¡¯re going this time.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing.¡± Jude shamelessly replied and pretended to be ignorant, while Cordelia pouted but it was only for a moment. ¡°Let¡¯s hurry. I want to give Lena the good news.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± The two who were walking together began to speed up their pace. And under the feet of those two. Deep underground. The runaway of the dragon veins were continuously causing abnormalities. Chapter 91 - EPISODE 91 – SACRED PLACE (2)

Chapter 91 - EPISODE 91 ¨C SACRED PLACE (2)

¡°Lena! We¡¯re back! Lena!¡± Cordelia entered the cave with a loud shout. It was the bathhouse where Jude and Cordelia met the wild fairies for the first time. ¡°Cordelia.¡± Inside their temporary shelter, Lena hadid down a mat inside an empty bathtub and was modestly sitting on it. When she responded to Cordelia¡¯s call, Cordelia brightly smiled and ran to her. ¡°Lena, Lena. Good news! We found a way to cure Demon Syndrome!¡± Cordelia quickly clung to Lena¡¯s side and conveyed their conversation with the Fairy Queen. ¡°So we¡¯re thinking of going to the sacred ce. Isn¡¯t that good news?¡± ¡°It is. Thank you very much for helping me in various ways.¡± ¡°Eh, you¡¯re wee. Hehehe.¡± The happy Cordelia¡¯s cheeks blushed, and Lena unconsciouslyughed. In fact, Lena was familiar with this kind of affection. Because almost all those who knew of Lena¡¯s nickname, Holy Angel, were very friendly to her. But she felt that Cordelia was a little special. Not just because she liked Lena, but because she was concerned with Lena herself. ¡°Cordelia is so cute.¡± ¡°Yes? Eh¡­hehehe.¡± When she kindly said that, Cordelia¡¯s faced blushed even more as she let out a sillyugh. But Cordelia looked so cute that Lenaughed again. ¡°What a heartwarming sight, very nice¡­¡± It was when the pleased Jude was watching that scene from the entrance¡­ ¡°Jude, are we heading to the sacred ce now?¡± The Dwarf Kan, whom the Fairy Queen recognized for his gentle and moist eyes, asked with sparkling eyes. The ruins of Sri and the sacred ce of a wild god. For him, an archeologist, it was like getting many valuable things in only one package. ¡°Yes, we will.¡± ¡°Oooh¡­¡± Though not as adorable as Cordelia¡¯s, Kan¡¯s ecstatic face and flushed cheeks was also enough to make him smile. ¡®Come to think of it¡­¡¯ Kan had be strangely brighter than before, even after going through this incident. ¡®Perhaps he found some confidence?¡¯ Jude and Cordelia had said to Kan many times that they were d to be with him. But it wasn¡¯t just that. Kan¡¯s cheerfulness had another slightly different reason. ¡®I was nothing.¡¯ Kan was called a god of disaster because an ident happened wherever he went. But in retrospect, it was merely idents such as falling rocks, activating hidden traps, or encountering monsters. ¡®It¡¯s trivial in front of these two, it¡¯s trivial.¡¯ It was trivial in front of these two who didn¡¯t stop at destroying a city but even copsed half of Raptor Canyon. Moreover, he found out that this wasn¡¯t the first time when he listened to their story. When they went to a mountain, they copsed it. When they went to the fields, they burnt the fields. When they went to an underground city, they were truly destruction incarnate as they annihted it. In front of these two, Kan himself was merely a drop in the ocean, so he felt that his worries so far were just something trivial. Of course, the biggest reason for him finding his confidence was because Jude and Cordelia repeatedly reassured him, but it couldn¡¯t be denied that he was also humbled by the great destruction caused by the two. ¡®Let¡¯s be stronger too.¡¯ Just like Jude and Miss Cordelia. So that whatever difficulties that maye, he can break them down and move on. With a renewed determination, Kan gazed at Cordelia who was warmly acting like a spoilt child in front of Lena, while Jude narrowed his eyes. ¡®Somehow¡­it somehow feels different from what I intended.¡¯ But that didn¡¯t matter. The important thing was that Kan found his confidence. ¡°Jude, Jude. When are we leaving?¡± He heard Cordelia calling him just then, so Jude turned to her and answered. ¡°Well¡­there¡¯s no reason to drag it out. Miss Lena, if you don¡¯t mind, I¡¯d like to start right away¡­is that okay with you?¡± Jude asked somewhat carefully. Because Lena¡¯s condition had worsened after the battle. Demon Syndrome would worsen whenever mana was used, and Lena had already used a lot of mana before joining Jude and Cordelia¡¯s group. If she used a little more mana now, it would really lead to an irreversible situation. Cordelia had a worried look upon hearing Jude¡¯s question, but Lena held Cordelia¡¯s hand and said as if she was okay. ¡°I don¡¯t have a big problem in terms of physical strength. Let¡¯s start right away.¡± ¡°Okay, then let¡¯s hurry.¡± Lunchtime was already approaching, so even if they depart now, they had to hurry to get there before sunset. About an hour passed by. As they were heading northeast towards the sacred ce, Cordelia quickly approached Jude who was leading the group. ¡°Jude, Jude.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± He was d to see the approaching Cordelia, who had been by Lena¡¯s side for the past hour, but Jude became curious why she came to him. He asked as he tilted his head, and Cordelia said while keeping her voice down. ¡°We¡¯re going to the sacred ce now.¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°ording to the Queen, the sacred ce is where the golden dragon, the king of the wild gods, and Sri, the sun god, interacted in the past, right?¡± ¡°Yes. So it¡¯s a sacred ce for both the wild gods and the Sri denomination.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, so there must be a dragon vein in the sacred ce, right?¡± Jude was about to nod his head immediately at Cordelia¡¯s words but stopped. His eyes narrowed and he then said in a low voice. ¡°What¡­ Is this a murder notice? No, is this a terror warning? What terms are you demanding?¡± ¡°Hey, it¡¯s not like that.¡± ¡°No, it is. And put your hand on your heart and ask your conscience. Think if your words were excessive or not.¡± ¡°Umm¡­it¡¯s excessive. That¡¯s right, Jude said it was wrong.¡± Cordelia put her hand on her chest and calmly said as if she really heard the voice of her conscience. And at that sight, Jude unwittingly sighed. ¡°Huu¡­your acting skills have improved.¡± ¡°It¡¯s because of someone evil. And it wasn¡¯t acting just now. It really was the voice of my conscience.¡± ¡°If you say so¡­ Anyway, why did you bring up the dragon vein?¡± ¡°Ah, no¡­it¡¯s just in case.¡± ¡°Just in case?¡± ¡°Yes, just.¡± ¡°Hey, I¡¯m saying this just in case then. Not the sacred ce. Seriously, not the sacred ce. The Queen will weep bitterly. Do you understand? She¡¯ll weep and cry.¡± ¡°I know, I know. I understand. I don¡¯t want to make the Queen cry too, so don¡¯t worry.¡± Cordelia said before going back to Lena while humming, and Jude had a somewhat ominous feeling as he continued to move forward. *** Byte afternoon, the group was able to reach the sacred ce. Located in the northeast of the Raptor Canyon, the sacred ce was a basin simr to Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯snd, and it was a ce that stood out from afar. ¡°Only that ce has no snow.¡± It was a greennd in the middle of a pure white snowfield. Furthermore, it wasn¡¯t just without snow. As they approached the ce, they could feel a warm wind blowing from inside the basin. It was as if only that ce was spring. ¡°I can feel Sri¡¯s divine power.¡± It was as Lena said. They could feel Sri¡¯s divine power all around them, just like when they entered Leisegang¡¯s sealing ce. Inside the small basin that was about a hundred meters in diameter. A ce where it was spring despite being winter all around it. ¡°Ooh¡­it¡¯s clearly Sri¡¯s ruins. The architectural style is old too.¡± Kan said in an excited tone as he closely approached the pirs that served as gates at the entrance of the basin. But Jude and Cordelia focused more on another ce. ¡°Tomb Guardians.¡± Beyond the pirs sat four Tomb Guardians. They seemed to have no intention of doing anything that was particrly harmful, but their eyes that were looking at the group were those of a watcher. So instead of going in further, Jude stopped in his ce and shouted loudly. ¡°We humbly ask Blue Whiskers, guardian of the sacred ce, to allow us entry! The Wild Fairy Queen sent us!¡± At the same time, Cordelia raised the Fairy¡¯s Bonds that contained the Earth Protection. ¡°The Fairy Queen sent us!¡± When Cordelia shouted and the Fairy¡¯s Bonds shined, the direction of the wind changed in an instant. The wind that blew from the inside stopped as a loud voice came. ¡°Blue Whiskers greets the visitors!¡± A deep and loud voice was heard from therge temple located inside the basin, and the owner of the voice was soon revealed. As is name implied, it was a dragon with long blue whiskers. ¡°I am Blue Whiskers, guardian of the sacred ce! State your names!¡± It had blue scales and splendid deer antlers. Blue Whiskers looked more of an oriental dragon rather than a western dragon, and as it came forward with a dignified figure, Cordelia quickly bit her lips and held back herughter. ¡®C-cute.¡¯ She couldn¡¯t help it. Blue Whiskers was huge and around 7 meters longs, but because its shape was really like that of an oriental dragon, its limbs were too short and undersized whenpared to its whole body. But as he stood on his small hind legs and toddled, Cordelia thought that the harmony between its dignified upper body and lower body was poor. Cordelia tried hard to hold back herughter by biting her lips, and Jude stepped first like always and said. ¡°We are Jude Bayer and Cordelia Chase, who are under the protection of the Fairy Queen.¡± ¡°I-I am Indiana Kan.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Lena Ainsburg.¡± After Lena introduced herself, Blue Whiskers looked at them with narrowed eyes and then nodded. ¡°You¡¯re all good people. Though the woman at the back has a strong demon¡¯s aura¡­ Oh, did youe here to wash away that aura?¡± Blue Whiskers wasn¡¯t a guardian of the sacred ce for no reason. At his urate analysis, Jude immediately nodded. ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right. The Fairy Queen informed us that she could wash away the demonic energy in the sacred ce.¡± ¡°Hmm, indeed.¡± With his tiny hand, Blue Whiskers stroked his stomach instead of his chin, raised its head and said. ¡°Come in! Those sent by the Fairy Queen don¡¯t have to go through the test!¡± Blue Whiskers cried out loud and began to return to the temple, while Jude and Cordelia quickly turned around to Kan and Lena. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°I¡¯m d that the conversation went well.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Although Lena looked somewhat puzzled as she was surprised by Blue Whiskers¡¯ outspokenness, she soon smiled and stepped forward. And after a few minutes¡­ Having entered the temple, Jude and Cordelia let out awes of admiration. ¡®It really was a ce where they interacted.¡¯ Unlike the outside which followed the typical style of the Sri temple, the inside followed the style of the wild gods. It was like a western church on the outside but was like a greenhouse on the inside. With the pirs and such everywhere, it was undoubtedly an artificial structure, but because it blended with the surroundings, it all felt natural. In particr, there was a pond about 10 meters in diameter at the center of the temple. The pond was surrounded by stone pirs and had a faint yet beautiful light rising from it, giving the pond a mysterious feeling. ¡°It¡¯s a sacred pond. It¡¯s a ce where you can wash off anything.¡± Blue Whiskers spoke in a proud tone and continued to look at Lena. ¡°I can tell from your eyes. Though you have been stained by the demon¡¯s power, you are a truly good person. You are allowed to enter the pond, so wash away the darkness and regain the light.¡± The voice of Blue Whiskers echoed loudly in the temple, as if it was a voice from heaven. After Lena bowed to Blue Whiskers who was stroking its belly while still looking holy, she nced at Jude and Cordelia before approaching the pond, and the two then stared at Lena¡¯s back. ¡°Hey, Blue Whiskers.¡± ¡°Say it.¡± ¡°How long will it take Lena to wash away the demon¡¯s aura?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know exactly how long. But it will take some time if she was tainted by the demonic aura for a long time.¡± Satisfied by the sincere but a little vague answer, Cordelia looked at Lena again. As Lena entered the pond with her clothes still on, the surrounding stone pirs glowed green. ¡°It¡¯s the light of purification. Don¡¯t be afraid and move on to the center of the pond.¡± Lena did not doubt Blue Whiskers¡¯ words. She moved further and reached the center of the pond, and a green light covered her and the whole pond. ¡°Is this¡­okay?¡± Worried about Lena who was no longer visible due to the light, Cordelia asked, and Blue Whiskers nodded. ¡°It¡¯s all right. All you have to do is wait.¡± ¡°Thanks for everything.¡± ¡°I am the guardian of the sacred ce, so it is natural to help those in need.¡± Blue Whiskers replied with a smile andter walked to a corner of the temple which seemed to be its dwelling ce, and Cordelia tried hard to only see Blue Whiskers¡¯ upper body. Several seconds passed. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± She turned around at his call, and Jude pointed outside the temple with his chin. ¡°I¡¯ll go out for a while and look around.¡± There was nothing to do here except to rest and wait anyway. So it was better for him to monitor the surrounding terrain like what he usually did. ¡°Uh¡­ Then I¡¯ll go with you.¡± ¡°Okay, if you say so. It¡¯s fine if we leave Kan alone, right?¡± ¡°Yes, he doesn¡¯t look bored. Let¡¯s call him at dinnertime when we get back.¡± Because Kan¡¯s focus was on the walls as he eagerly observed this and that. ¡°Mr. Blue Whiskers! We¡¯ll go out for a while and get some fresh air!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t go too far! My protection cannot reach beyond the sacred ce!¡± Blue Whiskers replied to Cordelia¡¯s shout, and Jude unconsciously had a bitter smile. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°No, I just thought that you quickly became close.¡± ¡°Because he¡¯s like a kind uncle.¡± Cordelia replied with a smile, and the two left the temple and went up the basin. Because they wanted to climb to a high ce and survey the surrounding area. And a few minutester. Having arrived at the highest ce, Jude and Cordelia both frowned. ¡°Devil¡¯s Eye.¡± There were peopleing from far away and heading towards the sacred ce. Even if their numbers were small, it was around fifty or so. There were many knights who wore heavy armor, and they looked like they came from the Argon Empire, and not the wildnds. ¡°The one in the lead¡­is Billvine, right?¡± ¡°I think you¡¯re right.¡± He was a huge man whose whole body was covered in a ck armor. Among the mid-ranking demonic humans of the Devil¡¯s Eye, he was someone who belonged to the particrly strong group. Unbeknownst to Jude and Cordelia, the Devil¡¯s Eye had actually felt a great sense of crisis when they lost two mid-ranking demonic humans due to the actions of the two. At this rate, their n to swallow up the wildnds would be disrupted. So in order to contaminate the eastern dragon veins, a stronger group was needed. Thus, they decided to deploy ck Knight Billvine and his men, elites of their group in the Argon Empire, which was the home of the Devil¡¯s Eyes. ¡°It¡¯s not a simple formation. There¡¯s some monsters mixed in their group.¡± In terms of number alone, they were less than in the previous fights, but the quality of each one of them was different. Just fifty of them would be able to fight against 500 royal soldiers of the S?len Kingdom. In addition, they also had prepared a method to deal with the wild god. What should we do then? He though on how they would be able to protect the purity of the sacred ce from those who were trying to contaminate the dragon vein. ¡®If I consider on a simple way to defeat them¡­¡¯ They could bait the enemies towards the middle of the basin and blow up the dragon vein to annihte them. After he thought about it, Jude looked up in surprise and said to Cordelia, who look quite distressed. ¡°No, this demon. Anything but that.¡± ¡°Eh? What are you talking about?¡± ¡°No, you can¡¯t.¡± ¡°What exactly are you talking about?¡± ¡°That, that method.¡± Having no idea what he was talking about, Cordelia somehow felt it unfair and frowned,? and Jude turned to Billvine and his men. He counted the remaining time until they reach the sacred ce. At the same time, he thought about Lena and the sacred ce¡¯s situation. And a few secondster. Something came into Jude¡¯s mind. Chapter 92 - EPISODE 92 – SACRED PLACE (3)

Chapter 92 - EPISODE 92 ¨C SACRED PLACE (3)

ck Knight Billvine. One of the strongest mid-ranking demonic humans of the Devil¡¯s Eye. He raised his head and gazed at the basin. ¡°The sacred ce.¡± He came from a fallen family of knights in the Argon Empire, so he did not know much about the barbariannds. But even he could not help but feel that there was something special in the sacred ce ahead of him. ¡®ording to the information, it¡¯s guarded by one wild god and four low-ranking angels.¡¯ In fact, the western part of the barbariannds was already in the hands of the Angry Bull tribe and the Devil¡¯s Eye. Because of that, the Devil¡¯s Eye was able to acquire all kinds of information about the barbariannds, including the eastern wild gods¡¯ information, location of the dragon veins, the sacred ce, and so on. ¡®Blue Whiskers is a wild god in the form of a dragon.¡¯ Although he was a dragon, he was still a young one, so he wasn¡¯t that strong. Nevertheless, he was both a dragon and a wild god. He was not an easy opponent to fight against. ¡®Moreover, our goal is to capture him alive.¡¯ Billvine¡¯s mission was to pollute the dragon vein, subdue the wild god, and the corrupt Blue Whiskers with the power of the great overlord Belial. ¡®After luring him, we¡¯ll trigger the spell. If we defeat the Tomb Guardians while the wild god is tied up, the sacred ce will be an ownerlessnd.¡¯ After confirming their strategy in his mind, Billvine stopped at about a hundred meters from the entrance of the sacred ce and ordered his subordinates to go into their battle positions. ¡®He¡¯ll have no choice but toe out.¡¯ The dragon veins spread out like awork of threads throughout the barbariannds, like that of a human body¡¯s veins. The sacred ce was where such dragon veins gather and circte, which was like the heart of a human. In order to properly contaminate the dragon vein, the dragon vein¡¯s heart must be captured, so that the rest of the dragon veins would easily be contaminated. ¡°Begin.¡± ¡°As you wish, Sir.¡± When Billvine ordered in a low voice, the men in ck armor obeyed their master and began to stab spears with the curse of the overlord Belial into the ground. ¡°May the power of Belial fill thisnd¡­¡± After the cursed spears were stabbed on the ground, Billvine chanted the spell to activate the curse, and the snow around the area began to melt. A purple aura surged along the spears, and at the same time, a deadly green curse permeated the ground. Billvine looked up and watched the entrance of the sacred ce. What he had hoped for wasing true. *** Ten minutes before Billvine stabbed the cursed spears on the ground. Jude and Cordelia looked at each other and quickly exchanged words. ¡°Billvine isn¡¯t just a musclehead character.¡± ¡°He has a brain, right? He also has a cautious personality.¡± ¡°Yes, do you remember what Violent Avnche said?¡± ¡°The method to subdue the wild gods?¡± ¡°Yes, that method. Violent Avnche said that its movements were restricted because of the evil energy and curses that they had prepared. So there¡¯s a high possibility that they¡¯ve prepared something simr this time.¡± ¡°So we block Blue Whiskers and prevent the Tomb Guardians from leaving?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. We have to crush Billvine¡¯s n from the ground up.¡± ¡°How? With a F*ck Bang?¡± ¡°No, not that. Though it¡¯s true that if we blow up the sacred ce, they wouldn¡¯t be able to upy it.¡± ¡°I¡¯m kidding, I¡¯m kidding. I¡¯m not a bomber. I¡¯m not that kind of person.¡± ¡°¡­Then, apart from that.¡± ¡°Apart from that?¡± ¡°What do you think Billvine is missing right now?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you just tell instead of asking me? It¡¯s bothersome to think.¡± ¡°¡­Madam, your servant doesn¡¯t want Madame to give up yet.¡± ¡°Okay, okay. You want me to say it, right? What Billvine is missing.¡± Billvine had no information about Jude and Cordelia. Moreover, Jude and Cordelia had unintentionally annihted the demonic humans of the Devil¡¯s Eye and their subordinates in Violent Avnche¡¯s mountain and in Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s fields. So it was highly likely that they had not yet been informed of Jude and Cordelia, and even if they were informed, they wouldn¡¯t easily think that the two would appear in the sacred ce. ¡°Ooh¡­as expected. My child could do it. Let¡¯s keep working hard in the future.¡± ¡°That¡¯s enough work for my brain. Moving on, the root of his n is Blue Whiskers, right?¡± ¡°Yes, Billvine¡¯s n is likely to start with ¡®restraining Blue Whiskers.¡¯ In other words, if he couldn¡¯t restrain Blue Whiskers, we¡¯ll be able to get rid of his n from the very roots.¡± ¡°What about their method?¡± ¡°That.¡± Jude turned around and pointed to the sacred ce¡¯s temple, and Cordelia narrowed her eyes. ¡°Uh¡­you said we shouldn¡¯t blow it up.¡± ¡°No, not the dragon vein. I¡¯m talking about the temple of the wild gods and the sacred ce of Sri.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia blinked her eyes several time before she understood it. Jude and Cordelia knew little about the wild gods, but not for Sri. ¡°Can you do it.¡± ¡°I can do it.¡± ¡°Will it be on time?¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I need to hurry from now on.¡± Cordelia nodded at his words before she ran towards the entrance and shouted. ¡°I¡¯ll buy time!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t overdo it! Okay?!¡± ¡°You too!¡± She roughly shouted and then ran without looking back. On the other hand, Jude headed to the temple. And around ten minutester¡­ Blue Whiskers reacted to the cursed spears that Billvine stabbed on the ground. *** ¡°Who dares pollute the dragon vein!¡± Blue Whiskers burst with anger as he ran out of the temple. He was about to rush towards Billvine and his men at that moment. No, he would have done that if he was alone. He had been protecting the sacred ce for nearly a hundred years, but this was the first time it had been attacked. But Cordelia was there. ¡°Wait! Stop! You can¡¯t go!¡± Cordelia boosted her power with the witch¡¯s power and shouted, and Blue Whiskers stopped on his feet but still remained angry. ¡°What do you mean by stop! Can¡¯t you see what they¡¯re doing!¡± They stabbed cursed spears on the ground and spread Belial¡¯s curse. Cordelia had already seen simr things in thend of Gentle Snow Breeze, so she understood what was happening, but she still didn¡¯t back down. ¡°I know! But it¡¯s a trap! It¡¯s obviously a trap!¡± In order for them to properly contaminate the dragon veins, they had to go to its heart. In other words, what they were doing was a pointless task, and there was only one reason for doing such a pointless task. ¡®Fishing!¡¯ It was a bait to lure Blue Whiskers. ¡°Jude is inside, okay? He¡¯s drawing a magic circle inside, okay? We have to wait until Jude is done!¡± Jude might be ignorant about the dragon veins, but he knew a lot about Sri. He was drawing a magic circle to use the power of the sacred ce, so they shouldn¡¯t behave rashly until hepletes the magic circle. ¡°But they¡¯re polluting thend!¡± ¡°We can cleanse itter!¡± ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s true.¡± Having been alone in the sacred ce, his eloquence was weak, so Blue Whiskers slowed down for a moment, but only for a brief moment. ¡°Eiii! I won¡¯t stop! I am the guardian of the sacred ce! I¡¯m going to beat those guys up! Tomb Guardians! Get up and face the enemy!¡± ¡°Kwoooh!¡± The four Tomb Guardians at the entrance responded to Blue Whiskers¡¯mand and spread their wings at the same time. Cordelia stamped her foot with a look of urgency, and soon made a decision. ¡° ¡± ¡°What?!¡± magic was Cordelia¡¯s second specialty. However, Blue Whiskers was a wild god. Cordelia¡¯s spell made paralyzed him, but it didn¡¯tst long. On Blue Whiskers¡¯ neck hung Sri¡¯s ne, which gave off a blue glow and canceled Cordelia¡¯s magic. ¡®Sri¡¯s Curse-lifting Ne!¡¯ It was a ne that protected the wearer from harmful spells once a day. Although there was a limit on the number of times it could be used per day, its power of protection was so strong that it was a must-have item. In any case, the ne¡¯s power repelled Cordelia¡¯s magic, and Blue Whiskers angrily shouted. ¡°I thought you were a good child, but you weren¡¯t!¡± ¡°No! Just listen to me! Okay?!¡± ¡°Get out of my way!¡± Blue Whiskers yelled in a threatening manner as if he was going to attack if she interfered further, and he then kicked the ground and rose to the air. He rode on the wind and clouds and together with the Tomb Guardians, he flew towards Billvine. ¡°Ah, seriously!¡± Cordelia held back her cursing and then looked at the temple where Jude was as she clenched her teeth. She was worried about Blue Whiskers, but she had to stay near the temple in case something else happened. ¡®Please!¡¯ Since that¡¯s what happened, show me the majesty of a wild god! It was the moment when Cordelia wished for that. ¡°Belial¡¯s Cursed Hammer! Strike the enemy! Cursed Net! Capture the enemy!¡± When Billvine loudly shouted, five of his men cut their own throats, offering themselves as human sacrifices. The vivid red blood spilled into air, and at that moment, a dark red power rose from the cursed spears and headed towards Blue Whiskers. The Devil¡¯s Eye had invested a long time to develop this sealing curse for the wild gods in order to carry out their ns. ¡°Kuaaaah!¡± Blue Whiskers grew stronger as time passed, but heckedbat experience so he couldn¡¯t properly fight against the curses that came in session. He was hit by the Cursed Hammer, crashed to the ground, and the Cursed Net tied not only his flesh but also his soul. Sri¡¯s ne, which already used up today¡¯s protection, was useless. No, it didn¡¯t change even if it hadn¡¯t been used up. To begin with, what the Devil¡¯s Eye prepared was something that activated ten curses in a row. ¡°Strengthen the curse! Seal the wild godpletely!¡± When Billvine shouted, five of his men stepped forward again and cut their own throats. They were brainwashed offerings that had been prepared as human sacrifices in the first ce. ¡°Kuaaaah!¡± Blue Whiskers painfully screamed as he desperately fought against the curse. The power of the curse nearly doubled the moment the five humans were sacrificed again. ¡°The wild god is sealed. Let¡¯s strike the sacred ce now!¡± Billvine drew his sword and shouted, and his subordinates raised the g and blew on the horns. They were like an order of knights that belonged to the Devil¡¯s Eye, and they passed by Blue Whiskers and began charging towards the sacred ce. ¡°Kuaaaah!¡± The Tomb Guardians spread out their wings and rushed towards Billvine¡¯s men. However, they had already prepared countermeasures against the Tomb Guardians. By forming groups of ten people each against the four Tomb Guardians, they created a situation that was simr to a hunter and a prey on a hunt. ¡°I¡¯ll cut their breaths one by one.¡± As he grasped his pitch-ck sword, Billvine hurried towards the Tomb Guardian instead of immediately heading to the sacred ce. It was a simple yet reliable hunting method in which Billvine himself killed the Tomb Guardians while ten of his men tied its feet. ¡°Kaaa¡­¡± The first Tomb Guardian lost its life helplessly. As she watched it, Cordelia clenched her teeth and thought. The situation had already gone badly. So she had to step out and protect the Tomb Guardians. Working with them was the best in order to stop Billvine and his men. ¡°I¡¯ll go.¡± Cordelia took a deep breath and then kicked the ground. But at that moment, a loud noise broke out from behind her back. Kwaaaaa-! The noise came from the temple. There was an open space at the top of Sri¡¯s temple which let the sunshine in, and from there, a bright golden pir of light shot up. Cordelia quickly turned around and saw the pir of light before she cheered. Because she realized what Jude¡¯s n was. ¡°Long live the sun!¡± Cordelia raised her hands up high to worship the sun. Her actions had no meaning, but the pir of light responded as if it reacted to her. Craack-! The pir of light split into hundreds to thousands of pieces with a sound simr to breaking ss. The pieces remained in the air as if the time froze, and the world was soon covered with an intense light. . It was a magic technique which temporarily created a sacred ce for Sri by spreading Sri¡¯s power around the surrounding area. And its effect was truly amazing. ¡°Oooooh!¡± The size of the Tomb Guardians grew. Their eyes glowed gold, and the sacred power that surrounded their entire bodies became twice as strong. The effect was not only that. Belial¡¯s curse that was suppressing Blue Whiskers was also broken at that moment. Billvine and his subordinates¡¯ power also weakened. ¡°As expected of my Jude!¡± The magic technique used up the power of Sri that was stored in the sacred ce, but what mattered now was to repel Billvine and his men. Cordelia widely smiled as she looked at the temple¡¯s entrance. She waited for Jude toe out so that they could attack Billvine together. But contrary to her expectations, Jude did note out. Or rather, he couldn¡¯te out. Because something happened that neither Cordelia nor Jude would have thought of. ¡®The magic technique, the magic technique won¡¯t stop!¡¯ At the center of the temple. At the center of therge magic circle, Jude stood with a puzzled expression. There wasn¡¯t anything wrong with the magic technique. He had seeded in casting by using the power of Sri that was stored in the temple. But the magic technique didn¡¯t stop. Despite having already exhausted the stored power of Sri, it continued to gather power. And Jude realized it. At the present moment, the magic circle was not gathering Sri¡¯s power that remained in the sacred ce. The magic circle was actually devouring the dragon vein¡¯s power. ¡°Jude!¡± Cordelia appeared at the temple¡¯s entrance. She looked at Jude and realized it with her animal-like instincts. ¡°Hey! You told me not to blow it up!¡± The dragon vein was violently shaking. It seemed that an incident simr to when Cordelia deliberately made the dragon vein runaway was about to happen at any moment. And two realized it again. Jude detected it because he was standing above the magic circle while Cordelia became aware of it through her animal-like instincts again. It was different. The flow of the dragon vein was not normal, but it was not a runaway. An explosion wouldn¡¯t happen either. It was something different. Not an explosion, but something that made the power of the dragon vein to re up. It wasn¡¯t the magic technique. The magic technique was just an opportunity for that something, and it was the will of that ¡®something¡¯ that moved at that moment. Kwaaaa-! ¡°Jude!¡± A golden pir of light shot up again from the magic circle. At the moment she saw it envelop Jude, Cordelia thoughtlessly rushed towards the magic circle without considering the consequences. She threw herself at the pir of light and tried to grab Jude. And thus, he saw Cordelia. Jude was the only one who originally saw it, but now that she was here, they saw the sight in front of them. A golden color. A world that was full of shining gold. ¡°Cordelia!¡± Jude hurriedly pulled Cordelia towards him and directed her to his back as if to hide her. As she stood behind Jude¡¯s back, Cordelia raised her head and stared at the sky instead of saying anything. They were no longer in the temple. They didn¡¯t know if they were in a real or mental space, but what appeared in front of them was not the sunset against a dark sky but the eyes of a huge being. ¡°Golden Dragon.¡± When Cordelia spontaneously spoke, Jude also raised his head. Cordelia was right. A huge golden dragon covered in golden scales was looking down at them with shining blue eyes. ¡°I am the one who is called the Golden Dragon.¡± The voice spread out from the sky to the ground. At the voice of the huge and enormous being, Jude and Cordelia felt their very existence be smaller. ¡°I am one with the dragon vein-¡± The head of the golden dragon that was up high began to slowly descend towards Jude and Cordelia. Cordelia flinched but raised her mana, and Jude moved half a step to the side to hide Cordelia a little more. ¡°I recently experienced a series of explosions in the dragon veins. And those explosions were caused by you.¡± The golden dragon¡¯s voice sounded monotonous. So they couldn¡¯t read its emotions. After he inly enumerated those facts, Cordelia bit her lips and winced again while Jude thought over and over again on how to protect Cordelia from that great being. ¡®Should we run away? No, that¡¯s impossible. If this space itself is the golden dragon¡¯s mental space, we cannot escape. Then, should we ask for forgiveness? It was to save the wild gods¡­ If you ever punish us, please punish me instead-¡¯ While Jude¡¯s head was busy thinking, Cordelia stepped forward. With a determined face, she opened her lips that were tightly closed. ¡®I¡¯m sorry. Please forgive me. Please let Jude off. Everything is my fault.¡± It was the moment when she was about to let out her voice. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°I was wrong- eh?¡± The stunned Cordelia blinked her eyes, and the golden dragon spoke again. ¡°Thank you. Thanks to you, I was able to open my eyes.¡± What is he talking about? Didn¡¯t the golden dragon appear to punish them? ¡°I am one with the dragon vein. That is why I live and die together with the dragon vein. Evil groups have taken full control of the wildnds in the west. By taking advantage of the time I was asleep, they polluted all the dragon veins in the west, making me fall into a deeper sleep.¡± The golden dragon did not wake up in?Legend of Heroes 2. Because the Devil¡¯s Eye polluted not only the western dragon veins but also the eastern dragon veins, causing the golden dragon to sleep forever. But Jude and Cordelia, or to be precise, Cordelia changed the situation. They prevented a series of attempts to pollute the eastern dragon veins. Only the western dragon veins were contaminated, so it was still possible for the golden dragon to wake up and recover its consciousness. ¡°The runaway of the dragon vein.¡± Jude said in a small voice. He figured it out the moment he spoke to himself. The explosions in the dragon veins caused ripples throughout the entire dragon vein. And the ripples reached the deeply asleep golden dragon¡¯s consciousness. ¡°At first, it was a small ripple. But I was able to open my eyes because of the recent big shock.¡± The big shock was the big explosion she caused at the dragon vein in Endymion that caused the whole city to copse. Cordelia blinked her eyes again. Although she didn¡¯t fully understand it like Jude, she roughly understood the general circumstances through her intuition. So she spoke in a rather timid tone. ¡°Uh¡­then did I do well?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve done a good job. Your actions deserve praise.¡± A bright smile spread over Cordelia¡¯s face. Her back and shoulders which had been hunched over the past few days were now straightened out. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Cordelia raised her chin up and Jude struggled to avoid Cordelia¡¯s gaze. He then asked the golden dragon. ¡°O Golden Dragon, may I inquire if you are fully awake now?¡± ¡°No, sadly not. Though I opened my eyes, I only regained my consciousness for a while because of the shock. So children, do me a favor. Help mepletely open my eyes.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll help you!¡± When Cordelia shouted right away, a small smile spread over the golden dragon¡¯s face. ¡°Thank you, child. Then listen to my instructions carefully and carry it out.¡± The golden dragon closed its eyes once, and a map of the wildnds appeared over the golden sky, with the dragon vein locations drawn over the map. ¡°Blow up the polluted western dragon veins to shake off the evil power and create ripples throughout the entire dragon veins. I¡¯ll be able topletely open my eyes then.¡± ¡°¡­.Eh?¡± Jude couldn¡¯t help but ask back. In short, we have to blow up all the western dragon veins? ¡°Wow, so we¡¯re legal now?¡± Jude tried hard to look away from Cordelia¡¯s awe as he thought rationally. ¡®Yes, thend¡¯s contaminated anyway.¡¯ Everything in the western part of the sacred ce was contaminated already. Thus, blowing it all up was the only way. ¡°The wicked will try to protect the polluted dragon veins. But don¡¯t give in and destroy them all.¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll surely do that. I promise!¡± ¡°I see, thank you.¡± Good and evil seemed to have been reversed. Jude felt confused at the golden dragon and Cordelia¡¯s warm but not warmhearted conversation. But he soon came to his senses and said the most necessary words at that moment. ¡°O Golden Dragon, we will follow yourmand, so please give us the strength to carry out your will.¡± Whatever the case, if there was an opportunity to get it, then they should get it. Cordelia also came to her senses at Jude¡¯s words and said as she bowed politely. ¡°Please give us your protection.¡± ¡°I will. My blessing will be with you, so that all the wild gods will help you.¡± And at that moment¡­ A burning sensation was felt at the back of Jude and Cordelia¡¯s left hands, and the emblem of the golden dragon was tattooed there. ¡®Eh! The Dragon¡¯s Emblem?!¡± It was an emblem that gave its owner the power of a dragon. Among the numerous emblems in?Legend of Heroes 2, it was particrly rare, and it allowed its owner the power to use the dragon¡¯s power in their human body. ¡®Warriors became dragon warriors, and wizards could use the dragon¡¯s mana.¡¯ Particrly for the wizards, if the power of the emblem continued to grow, it would even allow them to use dragon magic, which is the magic used by the dragons. ¡°Uwaaa¡­¡± Cordelia¡¯s face loosened as she looked at the emblem as if she was looking at a diamond ring. And in fact, Jude was no different. ¡°Children, please. The wildnds-¡­ All those who live in the wild-¡± After saying itsst request, the golden dragon closed its eyes. Jude and Cordelia also followed it and closed their eyes. When they opened their eyes again, they were back at the temple. ¡°The magic circle has stopped.¡± Jude said, and Cordelia gazed at the back of her hand again. It was a white hand without a mark, but when she focused on it, the golden dragon¡¯s emblem came to her mind. ¡°It¡¯s real. In addition, I got a license.¡± ¡°License?¡± ¡°Yes, an explosion license.¡± It was permitted by Golden Dragon, the king of the wild gods and the true master of the wildnds. Now, no one could stop Cordelia¡¯s actions. ¡°N-not a chance. It¡¯s not a license to kill.¡± ¡°But it¡¯s permitted? And it¡¯s an explosion license, an explosion.¡± Cordelia stuck out her tongue and faintlyughed before she lightly clenched and opened her fist. She did not measure it, but she realized that time did not actually pass during the moment when they met the golden dragon. ¡°Anyway, shall we go now?¡± To defeat Billvine and save Blue Whiskers. ¡°It¡¯s time for the legal troubleshooters.¡± Cordelia brightly smiled with her canines visible before she stepped forward, while Jude looked up the sky for a moment instead of walking together with her. ¡®Golden Dragon.¡¯ Perhaps it made a slight mistake. ¡®No, maybe not a slight one.¡¯ Jude bitterly smiled and lowered his gaze as he looked straight ahead. He spurred on the ground to catch up to Cordelia, who had already passed the temple¡¯s entrance. Chapter 93.1 - EPISODE 93 (1/2) – LEGAL GUARDIANS

Chapter 93.1 - EPISODE 93 (1/2) ¨C LEGAL GUARDIANS

Terms used in this chapter: Hammer and anvil?¨C a military tactic that works by using two forces, one stationary and one mobile. The stationary force ¡°fixes¡± the adversary and prevents escape while the mobile force moves toward it with the adversary caught between. The opponent then, is caught between the two forces and can¡¯t flee because of the stationary force (anvil), nor can it stay because of the moving force (hammer). ¨C Source:?justiceacademy.org Push kick?¨C Taekwondo term for a kick that pushes the opponent away using the bottom of one¡¯s foot. Rolling sole kick?¨C Poprized in wrestling as a spin kick variation. The wrestler spins around and then kicks the opponent with their outer leg, striking the opponent in the torso with the sole of their foot. Bajiquan?¨C a Chinese martial art that features explosive short-range power and is famous for its elbow and shoulder strikes. Iron Mountain Attack?¨C one of the trump card moves of Akira Yuki, the character and mascot of Sega¡¯s Virtua Fighter video game series. Akira Yuki uses the Bajiquan as his fighting style. Pincer movement?¨C the act of attacking an enemy on both sides at the same time. The number of enemies did not change. Excluding the people who were originally brought as human sacrifices, the number ofbat troops remained the same. But Jude¡¯s face did not have the same look of concern that he had when he first saw the enemies. And it was the same with Cordelia. ¡°Let¡¯s do hammer and anvil!¡± As soon as Jude caught up to her, Cordelia shouted as if she waited for him. Hammer and anvil. A smile spread over Jude¡¯s face. ¡°Am I the anvil?¡± ¡°I¡¯m the hammer!¡± They decided their roles. Cordelia¡¯s idea was somewhat different from the usual hammer and anvil tactic, but they didn¡¯t need to further talk or discuss about it because just an exchange of looks was enough for them to decide their roles. ¡°I trust you!¡± ¡°Me too!¡± Thud! Jude added power on his legs and roughly kicked the ground. Within a breath, he amplified his speed more than twice, leaving Cordelia¡¯s side like a ray of light while creating a whirlwind at the same time. Bang! ck Wind¡¯s Advent. As he rushed and flew using the wind, Jude saw the entire battlefield. Inside Sri¡¯s Land, he grasped the location of the Tomb Guardians and saw the squirming Blue Whiskers raise himself up. And it wasn¡¯t just that. The location of the enemies. The number of enemies. The location of Billvine whom Jude himself must hold down as the anvil! Bang! He elerated once again. All of the enemies including Billvine were surprised by the loud noise and whirlwind, and they looked at Jude. ¡®Mid-ranking demonic human.¡¯ Billvine was especially strong as he was also a Named one. So what? ¡°Ha!¡± Jude rotated his body. As the whirlwind and gale swirled into a vortex, the surrounding snow flew around and blocked the sight of his enemies. And Jude saw it. Satisfied with the figure of Billvine reflexively taking a defensive pose by raising his shield, he concentrated his whole body¡¯s strength onto his toes. ck Dragon Cross Strike ¨C Dragon¡¯s Power. The power of the dragon¡¯s emblem was added to the ck Dragon Cross. The ck Dragon¡¯s power became stronger as a result. As he spun his body in the air, Jude¡¯s back kick struck Billvine¡¯s shield. The pitch-ck cross plus his attack that was closer to a push kick than a rolling sole kick exuded a terrifying power. Baaaang-! Billvine¡¯s defense was solid like that of a wall. Despite the heavy blow, his defense was not broken. But he couldn¡¯t help being pushed back. Billvine was pushed more than twenty meters away, and for a moment, he waspletely separated from his subordinates. And Jude charged again. He made the whirlwind and gale even bigger, making it look like a tornado as it surrounded himself and Billvine. The windblown snow blocked Jude and Billvine from everyone¡¯s eyes. ¡°ck Knight Billvine.¡± He was a strong man. When it came to a one-on-one confrontation, he was an unrivaled existence among the few mid-ranking demonic humans in the Devil¡¯s Eye. ¡°However.¡± Jude knew of Billvine¡¯s level. He knew his battle pattern too and was familiar with all his characteristics and weaknesses. ¡®I wouldn¡¯t have been able to do it until recently.¡¯ But it was different now. Jude had raised his level by nearly 20pared to when he fought Zarakul in Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯snd. His physical abilities had be stronger, and he had also opened the third door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. ¡®We also have some stat bonuses.¡¯ They were now much stronger than ordinary level 55 yable characters. If they simply calcted their stats, they were around level 60 or higher. ¡®Billvine¡¯s level is 62.¡¯ It was really high. But Jude could handle him. He had be strong enough to be the anvil that would hold this guy down. ¡°I am Jude Bayer from the Count Bayer family. ck Knight Billvine, I challenge you to a duel.¡± When Jude suddenly bowed and spoke, Billvine flinched, but he soon responded by taking a dueling stance. ¡°I am ck Knight Billvine. I ept your challenge.¡± Billvine was formerly a member of a fallen knight family, but he still held pride for his family even when he was now a demon follower. The evidence was his slightly happy look when Jude courteously asked him for a duel. ¡®Okay, let¡¯s drag it out for a few seconds.¡¯ 20 seconds was enough for a few and polite exchange of words. ¡°I have long heard of the ck Knight¡¯s high prestige. So it¡¯s an honor to fight with you like this today.¡± ¡°I have heard of the Count Bayer name too. I am also honored to exchange swords with a descendant from the famous family.¡± ¡®s, Billvine. s.¡¯ Jude clenched his fists and spoke again, and Billvine sincerely answered again. The whirlwind that spun with the snow blocked not only the view but also even the slightest sound, so the two could focus on each other only as if they were in a separate space. ¡°I¡¯ll begin.¡± ¡°Come, descendant of the famous family.¡± Billvine continued to speak seriously, and Jude waited for Billvine¡¯s words to end before he immediately sped up on the ground. Although Billvine was weakened because of , he was still the ck Knight. For a swordsman, a moment of carelessness could lead to their death. Swooosh! Billvine¡¯s sword headed towards Jude¡¯s chest. It wasn¡¯t just a lunge, as he had read Jude¡¯s course and thrust his sword to a position where it would inevitably hit Jude. So Jude did not avoid it. He blocked Billvine¡¯s sword attack with his knuckle gloves as if he knew what attack woulde out first. He gently pushed with the back of his arm to change the trajectory of the attack. Bam! Jude¡¯s arm prated Billvine. And at that moment, Billvine¡¯s wall-like shield was pushed back again, but Jude wasn¡¯t flustered. Because he knew that one of Billvine¡¯s specialties was the use of a shield. Swoosh! The wind rose again. ck Knight Billvine¡¯s attribute was the earth, so Jude hadpletely optimized his equipment to those that possessed wind attributes. The whirlwind had be stronger in the first ce because of his equipment. Baaaang-! The wind attacking the shield broke Billvine¡¯s stance. Once again, Jude turned his body and prated through Billvine¡¯s defense as he strongly pushed Billvine¡¯s chest. His attack that was simr to the Bajiquan¡¯s Iron Mountain Attack pushed back Billvine, but it wasn¡¯t enough. Billvine quickly corrected his posture and swung his sword at Jude. No, he tried to swing it. Bam! It was blocked. Jude¡¯s arm struck Billvine¡¯s arm before his sword could move. Immediately after blocking the attack, Jude turned again and hit Billvine¡¯s side with his other hand. Bang! Billvine¡¯s armor rang like a bell at Jude¡¯s close-range strike. ¡°Ugh!¡± The moment Billvine stepped back, Jude exhaled. He clenched his teeth and used the Lightning Punch. Babababam! Seven consecutive strikes that were as quick as lightning struck Billvine, but he didn¡¯t back down. He used his shield to block all of Jude¡¯s attacks. Bang! Bang! Bang! The iron shield nged, and Jude was hit by the power of the earth that was wrapped around Billvine¡¯s shield. It was unfortunate that the full setting of Jude¡¯s equipment was focused on wind and speed, but if he had not done that, Jude would have suffered more damage from his own attack. Swing-! It was at that moment. The defending Billvine suddenly swung his sword at a frightening speed towards Jude¡¯s neck. Jude was aware of this attack. He had even prepared his mind in advance. But he could barely avoid it. He lowered his posture to evade the sword attack, and several strands of Jude¡¯s hair was cut and flew into the air. Billvine used that opportunity to strike Jude¡¯s face with his knee. Wham! Jude stopped Billvine¡¯s knee with his palm. He let himself be pushed away by Billvine and then made a big leap backwards. Thud! That was the sound of Billvine stepping on the ground with his foot that pushed Jude away. He fixed his posture at once and swung his sword towards Jude in session. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! He should have evaded those attacks as much as possible, but the three consecutive sword attacks drew different trajectories. Therefore, Jude did not avoid it. He used the ck Dragon Cross Strike to offset the sword. Baaang! The cross and sword attack were destroyed. Having drawn out his strength too quickly, Judended on the ground and swallowed a groan, while Billvine had already kicked the ground. He swung his sword at once, narrowing the distance as if he was trying to corner Jude. ck Lightning. ck Knight Billvine¡¯s special attack move. Jude¡¯s eyes shined when the lightning strikes were unleased while drawing a ck trajectory. He reacted immediately, as if he had been waiting for that moment. Swaaaaang! Billvine¡¯s sword struck the ground. It tore through the whirlwind and with a loud noise, the entire whirlwind was destroyed. Shaaa- The snow that had risen in the wind fell down from the sky. And in the meantime, Jude moved. Jude evaded the ck Lightning with his Fairy Steps, as he unhesitatingly widened his distance from Billvine. ¡®Because lightning strikes twice.¡¯ ck Lightning wasn¡¯t an attack with a single strike. The second lightning strike was supposed to be struck with the hand that held the shield. Moreover, now was the time. ¡°Cordelia.¡± Jude smiled as he looked at the sight beyond the destroyed whirlwind. On the other hand, Billvine widely opened his eyes in surprise. A witch with dark red hair was literally smashing Billvine¡¯s subordinates. Running like a beast with the Tomb Guardians, she was a natural disaster herself. Double casting. Spell¡¯s Echo. She was able to cast four spells with just one spell. Every time she cast a multi-shot magic missile, dozens of magic missiles were created, and all of those swept the area like a storm. ¡°Human disaster.¡± That was Yellow Storm¡¯s nickname in?Legend of Heroes 2. Billvine¡¯s men were already weakened by the effect of . In addition, the Tomb Guardians emitted a sacred aura, and Blue Whiskers had stood up and joined them, making their enemies helpless. ¡°Were you aiming for this?¡± Billvine red at Jude as if he had been betrayed, and Jude smiled. Wasn¡¯t it his fault that he fell for a one-on-one duel without fully grasping the power of his opponents first? And there was one more reason why Jude smiled. ¡°Is that Beast Mode?¡± Jude was talking to Cordelia, not Billvine. Although there were still quite a few of Billvine¡¯s men left, Cordelia entrusted them to the Tomb Guardians and Blue Whiskers as she approached Jude and Billvine. Pretending not to have heard Jude, she said to Billvine. ¡°Now that the hammer is here, shall we start round two?¡± Hammer and anvil. Billvine flinched again before shouting at Jude. ¡°Coward! Are you going to use the pincer movement in a one-on-one duel!¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± At that moment, Billvine was stunned at the refreshing answer of the two, and Cordelia then said as she took a step forward. ¡°No, you¡¯re the one who¡¯s a coward since you came with a bunch of men in the first ce.¡± Because the proportion was originally forty is to two. Billvine gritted and clenched his teeth at Cordelia¡¯s words, and her expression softened a little. She opened her mouth and shamelessly said to Billvine. ¡°ck Knight Billvine, I will fight you as an agent of the golden dragon.¡± Because Billvine liked this kind of deration. However, Jude figured out Cordelia¡¯s innermost thoughts. ¡®You liked it.¡¯ She was recognized by the golden dragon as a bomber ¨C no, as an agent. But if he pointed that out, her face will turn red, so he only smiled and fixed his posture. He breathed and took a step with Cordelia. ¡°Ha! Come!¡± Billvine eximed and the other two did not hesitate. Jude and Cordelia advanced towards Billvine. Chapter 93.2 - EPISODE 93 (2/2) – LEGAL GUARDIANS

Chapter 93.2 - EPISODE 93 (2/2) ¨C LEGAL GUARDIANS

¡°We won!¡± Two rings of light emerged around Cordelia as she widely smiled and made a V-sign with her fingers. In the battle¡¯s aftermath, her hair became disheveled, her clothes had tears everywhere, but her broad smile seemed to be shining. Jude pped his hands and approached Billvine who had scattered into ashes. They would have a bit of a hard time in fighting him if he had used his demonized form, but just as how he died in the game, he had fought as a human until the end, so Jude offered a brief moment of silence for him. ¡°I¡¯ll use it well.¡± He was referring to the armor and shield that was left by Billvine. Jude wasn¡¯t into heavy armor, but it would have some use if he took it. For example, he could give it to Lucas or just sell it. ¡°I think they¡¯re done there too.¡± As Cordelia had said, Billvine¡¯s men were virtually annihted. Some of them tried to escape, but the extremely angry Blue Whiskers flew into the sky and did not miss anyone who fled. ¡°He seemed to be embarrassed, right?¡± ¡°He must be embarrassed.¡± Because he almost died after he charged and ignored Cordelia¡¯s dissuasion. His life was saved, and he could make up for his disgrace thanks to the two, but Blue Whiskers couldn¡¯t help but be embarrassed as he still had a sense of shame. ¡°Hehe, then we can bleed him dry.¡± ¡°¡­Eh?¡± ¡°I mean, he¡¯s indebted to us and feels guilty, so he¡¯ll listen to us, right? I¡¯m going to take Sri¡¯s ne no matter what.¡± ¡°Yes, yes.¡± When Cordelia said that with an angelic face and faintlyughed, Jude immediately agreed with her, but his conscience somehow felt guilty. What is this? It¡¯s like I feel guilty for seriously dirtying a pure white snowfield. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with your expression? Are you sick? Did you get stabbed?¡± ¡°No, just¡­I remember the old days of innocence.¡± Where had the old days gone, when Cordelia spoke in monotone because she was bad at lying? ¡®No, I was definitely the one who corrupted her.¡¯ While Jude struggled alone in his guilt, Cordelia tilted her head several times before she smiled again and headed back to the temple where Lena was in. *** ¡°What do you mean? It¡¯s going to be dyed?¡± ¡°The fight had used up much of the sacred ce¡¯s power. The power to naturally wash away dirt had also be insufficient¡­so it couldn¡¯t be helped.¡± Blue Whiskers was overwhelmed by Cordelia¡¯s furious voice as he replied with an embarrassed face. Sri¡¯s power had been used up so much that there was not enough power to heal Lena. So it would at least take a month for Sri¡¯s power to be restored and for Lena to be healed. ¡®As expected.¡¯ Unlike Cordelia, Jude had expected the current situation to some extent. He was the one who used up Sri¡¯s power in the first ce. ¡°Cordelia, we have no choice. It¡¯s a good thing that recovery is still possible, so let¡¯s just leave her here and go.¡± ¡°Ugeueu¡­¡± Cordelia and Jude didn¡¯te to the wildnds just to save Lena. Now was the time for them to return to the vige of the Great Storm tribe, join forces with the tribe to form the Eastern Alliance, and fight the Angry Bull tribe that dominated the western part of the wildnds. ¡°Uuuuu¡­haa¡­it can¡¯t be helped. Mr. Blue Whiskers, please take good care of Lena, okay?¡± ¡°All right.¡± Blue Whiskers said as he gazed at Sri¡¯s ne that was on Cordelia¡¯s waist. Unlike the huge Blue Whiskers, the ne was too big for Cordelia, so she wore it around her waist rather than her neck. The ne had now be Cordelia¡¯s property and not Blue Whiskers¡¯. And it wasn¡¯t just that. Several relics of Sri that had been kept for many years in the sacred ce was now all over the bodies of Jude and Cordelia. Although Blue Whiskers himself gave it to them and there was a clear reason to give it to them, he couldn¡¯t help but feel as if he was robbed. ¡®They saved my life, protected the sacred ce, and both are guardians of the wildnds who were recognized by the golden dragon¡­¡¯ How could he disobey the golden dragon¡¯s words to not spare their support? Blue Whiskers secretly shed tears, and Cordelia turned to Kan and said. ¡°Will Sir Kan stay here?¡± ¡°Yes, I will study the sacred ce and wait for Lena to wake up.¡± At Kan¡¯s lively words, Cordelia smiled as she hugged him once and said. ¡°Thanks to Sir Kan, we were able to solve the problem in Endymion. So thank you. Sir Kan is like an angel of luck for Jude and me.¡± Because of Kan, they were able to meet the wild fairies and find the hidden paths of Endymion. In addition, the fact that there was a dragon vein in Endymion was also information that Kan had learned thanks to him interpreting thenguage of the High Elves. ¡°Miss Cordelia¡­¡± Kan¡¯s eyes were filled with tears in an instant. She was grateful that he continued to be together with them, and she even called him their angel of luck. Weren¡¯t those words he had never heard of, or he had thought he would never hear in his life? ¡°I look forward to seeing you again.¡± ¡°Yes, we¡¯ll definitely see you again.¡± Kan wiped away his tears and broadly smiled, and Cordelia grinned as she turned around. ¡®Come on, you too.¡¯ When Cordelia winked at Jude, who was somehow counting numbers behind her, he also opened his mouth and said. ¡°Sir Kan, please don¡¯t forget. Sir Kan isn¡¯t a god. He is just a diligent and reliable explorer and archeologist.¡± ¡°Yes, I will not forget it, Jude.¡± After he shook hands with Kan, Jude bade farewell to Blue Whiskers and then left the temple with Cordelia. ¡°Are we going back right now?¡± ¡°I suppose so. It¡¯s a bit unfortunate that we wouldn¡¯t be able to see the Fairy Queen, but it would take some time if we go to Endymion, so let¡¯s just go straight from here.¡± They would travel in a straight line without passing through Raptor Canyon. Cordelia nodded when Jude showed the way to her by drawing on the ground instead of opening the map. ¡°All right, then let¡¯s start right away.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°But Jude.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Did something good happen? You look brighter than usual.¡± ¡°Because you won?¡± ¡°Mmm, yes, because I won.¡± Cordelia softlyughed before she took the lead and began walking. Jude stepped forward and walked together with Cordelia. And at the same time¡­ ¡°If we go one more day from here, we¡¯ll reach Raptor Canyon. ording to Fine Snow, Jude and Cordelia would be there.¡± She already knew of that information, but because those were Ga?l¡¯s words, she listened before letting out a sigh of relief. ¡°Haa¡­seriously. They¡¯re just going around the entire wildnds.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± They thought their journey would end at Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s territory, but they ended up crossing the border and continuing their journey here. Moreover, Count Chase¡¯s ring, which was the only magic device that could roughly track Cordelia¡¯s location, had been damaged after entering the wildnds, making tracking more difficult. ¡®Well¡­thankfully, the destinations are clear.¡¯ Though the wildnd was wide, there were only a few ces where people lived. And there was also the fact that it was beyond the border, and that Cordelia didn¡¯t hide her destination, so all these reasons made it easier to track them. ¡®Haa, anyway, I¡¯ll spank their butt when we meet.¡¯ Of course, she was referring to Jude¡¯s butt and not the kind and gentle Cordelia¡¯s butt. ¡°Lady Adelia.¡± ¡°Yes?! Ah, yes. Lord Ga?l.¡± Adelia was startled but managed to answer, and Ga?l tilted his head. He then asked again in a serious tone. ¡°Will your leave of absence be fine? We¡¯ve already gone way beyond our initial schedule¡­¡± ¡°Well, it can¡¯t be helped. Stuff like this happened.¡± Adelia shrugged and bitterly smiled, and Ga?l said with a sincere look. ¡°This has already gone beyond a simple runaway. Now that it has be a big incident that is greatly rted to the defense of the north, I¡¯ll write a petition to the Royal Guard Magic Corps under Count Bayer¡¯s name¡­ No, I¡¯ll write a formal statement and send it.¡± ¡°Umm¡­thank you.¡± Adelia would have normally told the other to not overdo it, especially if her aide was the one who said it, but it was different this time since it was Ga?l¡¯s words. ¡®Well, how do I say it? Beyond being simply sincere¡­¡¯ Should I say that he¡¯s earnest? He¡¯s a trustable and dependable man who gives me a sense of security. ¡°Lady Adelia, it might be difficult, but we¡¯ll find a ce to rest if we go a little further. So let¡¯s start moving again.¡± Ga?l rose from his seat first and politely stretched out his hand to Adelia, who cleared her throat and stood up while holding his hand. ¡°Shall we go?¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go. Lord Ga?l.¡± Ga?l and Adelia looked at each other and smiled as they walked forward together. And because of that, the paths of Jude and Cordelia, and Ga?l and Adeliapletely diverged. As for another person¡­ ¡°This is a big problem.¡± Looking back at his bag that had be four bags now, Count Chase checked his budget and soon made up his mind. He hurriedly wrote a letter to the Red Dawn Tower. ¡®Send me a space-expansion bag.¡¯ As the trip got longer, just one bag wasn¡¯t enough. Currently in the northernmost city of Lankebuste, he was still not aware that his two daughters, his soon-to-be son-inw, and a person who might be his son-inw were all beyond the border and in the wildnds. Chapter 94

Chapter 94

Terms used in this chapter: Hair grows in one¡¯s heart?¨C An idiom which refers to a brazen person. An English equivalent would be ¡®having a lot of nerve.¡¯ Haraken, a high-ranking demonic human of the Devil¡¯s Eye and the main person in charge of all their ns in the wildnds, couldn¡¯t retain his human form. In his anger, hispound eyes, wings, and horns were all revealed, but he managed to suppress himself from screaming loudly. ¡®Billvine¡¯s dead?¡¯ ck Knight Billvine. Among the mid-ranking demonic humans of the Devil¡¯s Eye, he had the bestbat power. ¡®What is it? What¡¯s going on in the east?¡¯ The demonic humans who were dispatched to pollute the eastern dragon veins had their connections cut off one after another. When Zarakul first died, he thought that something like that could possibly happen. When Madgar died, he was extremely surprised. So he asked for support from the Devil¡¯s Eye¡¯s headquarters in the Argon Empire and they sent Billvine. But Billvine also died. ¡®The east.¡¯ Something like this had never happened in the west. But strange things were continuously happening in the east. ¡®Red Gale¡¯s condition is not getting worse either.¡¯ If it went ording to their original estimation, he would have been dead or lying sick and unable to move, but that didn¡¯t happen at all based on his spies¡¯ information. His condition had rather improved than before. ¡®That¡¯s not the only problem.¡¯ The Eastern Alliance. Now that the west was about to be unified under the g of the Angry Bull tribe, their intelligence reported that Red Gale was trying to establish an Eastern Alliance centered around the Great Storm tribe. ¡®No, that is uneptable.¡¯ Wasn¡¯t that the reason he cursed Red Gale in the first ce? Wasn¡¯t it to prevent the current situation? However, his condition was improving little by little. And as Haraken feared, he was trying to establish an Eastern Alliance. ¡®In the end, should I solve it through force?¡¯ By polluting the eastern dragon veins, they tried to incapacitate the wild gods and the tribes under them. He tried to maintain the power of the barbariannds as much as possible for their fight against the S?len Kingdom, but that seemed to be impossible now. ¡®Once this military expedition is over, I¡¯ll gather the troops from the entire west to strike the east.¡¯ After he made up his mind, Haraken calmed himself down by taking a deep breath. He returned to his human form of a prophet with a long white beard andid his eyes on at the map showing the locations of all the tribes in the barbariannds. ¡®Great Storm, Violent Avnche, Gentle Snow Breeze, and the sacred ce in the east.¡¯ Who was it? Who in the world was protecting the eastern dragon veins? Was it one person? Or was it several people? ¡°Who is it, who are you¡­¡± Haraken¡¯s low and angry voice was heard inside his tent. *** At the same time, at a ce far away from Haraken who was in the far west¡­ One of the people Haraken hated had slowly wiggled her body and opened her eyes. ¡°Uuugh¡­¡± Cordelia grunted as she barely opened her eyes before closing them again. But instead of falling asleep, she let out her voice again. ¡°Mmnnn¡­¡± It was the typical sleepy voice. Those who let out such a voice would normally fall back to sleep, but Cordelia was a little different. She reopened her falling eyelids and forced them to stay open. ¡°Uhhhh¡­¡± She uttered a groan as she tried to move. Cordelia barely opened her eyes as she felt refreshed but also felt a slight pain as if her muscles were being pulled. ¡°Oww¡­¡± ¡°Are you awake?¡± Upon hearing Jude¡¯s voice, Cordelia blinked her eyes and somewhat became aware of her position. ¡®I¡¯m on his back.¡¯ She was being carried through a podaegi on Jude¡¯s back. Instead of recalling why she was in such a situation, Cordelia rested her cheek on Jude¡¯s back. ¡®It¡¯s cold.¡¯ Did the leather get cold when I took my head off for a while? But it wasn¡¯t very cold. As she found the coolness to be pleasant, Cordelia replied. ¡°Mmm¡­I¡¯m awake. I¡¯m awake.¡± Although her voice sounded weak, it was quite clearpared to when she just woke up. But Jude slightly fixed his carrying position and peeked at Cordelia as he said. ¡°Would you like to sleep for a bit more?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯ll wake up. I will wake up.¡± Cordelia wiggled her body again and then removed her head from Jude¡¯s back. She thought she would fall asleep again if she kept leaning her head on his back. Jude said again to Cordelia. ¡°Are you no longer exhausted? You made such a fuss yesterday.¡± ¡°Huh? Yesterday? Yesterday I¡­ahhhh.¡± At the end of her words, Cordelia turned red and buried her face on Jude¡¯s back. She wanted to crawl into a hole and die. The fuss she made yesterday. Her shameful behaviorst night. ¡°It¡¯s because of Beast Mode, so I understand.¡± Jude spoke in an exuberant voice, and Cordelia groaned once again before she snorted and said. ¡°I was going to get off, but now I won¡¯t. I¡¯ll continue taking advantage of this situation. I¡¯ll continue this luxury. I¡¯ll?break Jude¡¯s spine.¡± T/N: Kind of a pun here, as Cordelia was both referring to an idiom and of literally breaking Jude¡¯s spine because he was carrying her. Break (someone¡¯s) spine is a Korean idiom which means to exploit or take another¡¯s fortune in every possible way. Also referred to as ¡®spine breaker¡¯ andmonly used on parents and children. Children are ¡®spine breakers¡¯ if they demand something that is so expensive or ¡®burdensome¡¯ to their parents that ¡®it breaks their parent¡¯s spine because of the burden.¡¯ ¡°If you insist. I¡¯m fine with it because the warmth in my back feels like I¡¯m walking around with a stove.¡± Cordelia sulked even more at Jude¡¯s sly answer, but she felt like she¡¯ll lose if she continued further. So Cordelia changed the topic. ¡°But Jude.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°How long have we traveled?¡± ¡°Based on my estimation¡­I think we can see it now?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Over there. There. Can you see it?¡± Cordelia silently shifted her gaze to the direction Jude was pointing with his chin, squinted her eyes, and soon shouted in surprise. ¡°What! Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s basin?!¡± It was clearly Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s basin that was situated on a snowfield that was like a vast ocean. As she nkly stared at the basin located at the foot of mountains that surrounded it, Cordelia gasped for a moment before she looked back at Jude again. ¡°Oh my gosh. Hey, how long have you walked while carrying me? What time is it now?¡± ¡°About half a day? It¡¯s roughly 3 to 4 in the afternoon, I think?¡± ¡°Half a day?!¡± In terms of time, that was about 6 hours. The startled Cordelia writhed her body while still being carried in a podaegi as she asked. ¡°Are you all right? Does your legs hurt? What about your waist?¡± It was no less than 6 hours. Just walking was already hard, but he continued walking while Cordelia was on his back? Moreover, Jude had one more luggage. The small rope tied around his waist was connected to a sled full of luggage that he was dragging. When Cordelia was flustered and worried, Jude said as he pretended to wipe tears from his eyes. ¡°My princess is all grown up now. She knows how to worry. Daddy is going to cry.¡± ¡°Wow, you must be reallyfortable if you can talk such nonsense. Has my Jude really be stronger?¡± ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to Madam.¡± Whether he was acting or not, Jude¡¯s voice had indeed, sounded rxed. Cordelia suddenly touched Jude¡¯s back and shoulder, and she widely smiled at Jude¡¯s strong and firm body that resembled a savage animal, or rather, a beast. ¡°Yes, Daddy. That¡¯s a good mindset. Please continue to thank me. Ahem, ahem, it feels nice.¡± After smiling at the appearance of Cordelia who cleared her throat while wanting to be thanked more, Jude looked at the front again and said. ¡°Now then, just stay on my back as we¡¯ll get there if we go a little further.¡± They could see the basin, but it was still at a distance that would take 30 minutes on foot. But Cordelia shook her head, patted Jude on his back and said. ¡°Jude, Jude. Can¡¯t you just go fast? Just create some wind and go swoosh-swoosh.¡± ¡°No, over there. Can¡¯t you see the luggage sled? Walking is okay but running is impossible, okay?¡± If he did that, all their luggage would be turned upside down. However, Cordelia said with a bright face as if it was not a problem. ¡°Why don¡¯t you just leave the luggage sled for a while, take me to the basin, and thene back alone to take the luggage with you?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Leave the luggage sled and only take me as you run fast, and then Daddy wille back alone to take the luggage.¡± She rephrased it in an innocent-sounding tone, but the content itself was cruel. ¡°You must be really Satan.¡± ¡°Come on,e on. Cordelia wants to go to the vige, sitfortably, and then drink hot tea.¡± ¡°Does?hair grow in your heart?¡± ¡°No, my heart is always kind.¡± Cordelia retorted and grinned, while Jude had a nk face before he smiled. ¡°Well, okay. Shall we go?¡± ¡°Eh? Really?¡± Cordelia was taken aback as she blinked her eyes and asked. It¡¯s just a silly joke but is he really going to do it? ¡°I¡¯ll have to do what my princess wants.¡± ¡°No, wait. Wait a minute. I was really just joking¡­¡± Her words were cut off at that moment. Jude untied the rope that was connected to the sled and even untied the podaegi. He grabbed Cordelia who was about to slip down, threw her into the air as he quickly turned around and caught her again. ¡°Eeeh?¡± Why is he now carrying me in his arms when I was clearly on his back just now? And why is Jude¡¯s face in front of me? ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Jude grinned and said, while Cordelia remained speechless. She unconsciously nodded her head while blushing. And Jude was pleased with Cordelia¡¯s response. He held Cordelia in his strong arms and kicked the ground. ¡°ck Wind¡¯s Advent.¡± A ck gale and golden whirlwind surrounded Jude and Cordelia. *** Jude and Cordelia simultaneously raised their voices in front of Gentle Snow Breeze whom they met again after being gone for a few days. ¡°What?! My older sister?!¡± ¡°What?! My older brother?!¡± ¡°Yes, your older sister and brother came here. They smelled and looked to be really rted to you in many ways, so I told them that you two went to Raptor Canyon¡­ Looking at your reactions, you must have missed each other.¡± At Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s words, Jude immediately pped his hands without even needing to recall the map in his head. They gone diagonally without passing through Raptor Canyon. Perhaps by now, Ga?l and Adelia were at the beginning of Raptor Canyon. ¡®We might have really met them if we had gone through Endymion.¡¯ It was when Jude was thinking that. ¡°W-what should we do? My sister came? She must have chased after me? Eh? Did shee here to catch us?¡± Cordelia was flustered as she fell into a panic. Her face turned white even if Adelia wasn¡¯t really that scary. ¡°Cordelia, calm down. The two came here to find us who run away. Not to hunt us.¡± ¡°N-no? It¡¯s because you don¡¯t know my sister? Perhaps she really came here to hunt us? That¡¯s right, she¡¯s definitely hunting us.¡± ¡°Woah, woah, calm down. Calm yourself. If my brother and Adelia havee this far, they would have roughly known what we are doing. So let¡¯s be positive. My brother and Adelia are strong. They¡¯ll be a great help in the fight against the west.¡± Though it was not urate because he didn¡¯t experience it directly in?Legend of Heroes 2, but if he inferred it from the background and settings information, Ga?l and Adelia were clearly strong enough to fight against a mid-ranking demonic human alone. ¡®They could at least do that much.¡¯ Ga?l was the heir of Count Bayer, who is one of the ten great swordmasters, and Adelia was a genius wizard who became the youngest head of the Royal Guard Magic Corps. The minimum they could handle was just a mid-ranking demonic human, and it was highly possible that they could fight those who were stronger than that. But despite hearing Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia still couldn¡¯t shake off her anxiety. ¡°No, it¡¯s because you don¡¯t know. And you¡¯re more in danger than me. My sister might try to kill you.¡± ¡°Ei, no way. And you¡¯ve seen it, right? I¡¯ve be quite strong now, right?¡± He was right. So Cordelia seemed to calm down for a moment, but she soon shook her head and said again. ¡°No, my sister is a wizard so she might cast a curse on you. Yes, a curse. I have to set up some precautions against the curse. I have to learn magic resistance spells and be familiar with them.¡± The magic spells that were written in the witch¡¯s spell book exceeded a dozen and even reached in the hundreds. There were quite a few spells that she hadn¡¯t learned because she didn¡¯t need it then, but she thought that now was the best chance to learn it. ¡°Uh¡­it seems that you¡¯re going a little overboard, but it isn¡¯t bad to learn it.¡± ¡°Uuuuh¡­is there any other way to stop my sister?¡± ¡°There is one.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Umm¡­it¡¯s been a while since you¡¯ve done it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s been a while?¡± ¡°My beloved¡­¡± They haven¡¯t said those words ever since they left Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s territory. ¡°My beloved Mr. Jude Bayer¡­¡± ¡°Okay, okay. That¡¯s it. You know what it is, so that¡¯s it.¡± Cordelia gasped as her face turned red, and then fanned herself with her hand before making a trouble expression again. ¡°Uhhhhh¡­ Okay, I¡¯ll do it. I¡¯ll do it. It¡¯s not my first time, so I can do it.¡± ¡°Yes, you¡¯ll get used to it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, I¡¯ll get used to it.¡± Cordelia unconsciously repeated Jude¡¯s slip of the tongue that he said quietly, and she nodded a few times before clenching her fist. ¡°I can do it. I¡¯ll protect you. I¡¯ll protect you, Jude.¡± ¡°Thank you, Cordelia. You¡¯re the only one who can do it.¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­ahem, ahem.¡± Cordelia was suddenly embarrassed as her cheeks turned red and she cleared her throat before averting her gaze. Because of that, she ended up meeting eyes with Gentle Snow Breeze who was watching her. ¡°Uh¡­is it over now?¡± ¡°I-it¡¯s over.¡± As Cordelia¡¯s face turned redder, Gentle Snow Breeze smiled and said to Jude who had a sly look. ¡°Jude, there¡¯s actually something more urgent than that.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t tell me¡­did the westunched an attack already?¡± Jude asked back in surprise. Because he couldn¡¯t see any signs of war from the appearance of the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe while they were on the way here. ¡°No, it¡¯s not an attack. We just have a problem in establishing the Eastern Alliance.¡± ¡°A problem?¡± When Cordelia asked her, Gentle Snow Breeze paused for a while as if she organized the story in her head before she began to exin. ¡°The establishment of the Eastern Alliance went smoothly. Not only me and Violent Avnche, but also Great Storm¡­ Because of us three wild gods, the other tribes and wild gods near us also cooperated. The only problem is the de Song tribe in the north.¡± ¡°de Song.¡± He was one of the strongest beings among the wild gods in the east. The de Song tribe that he cared for was abat race that was both tenacious and belligerent and was second only to the Angry Bull tribe. ¡®If the Great Storm tribe are elves, then the de Song tribe are orcs.¡¯ In fact, they inherited the blood of the ancient Orcs. ¡®The Angry Bull tribe and the de Song tribe were the ones who always took the lead in the battle against the S?len Kingdom.¡¯ There was only one reason why the de Song tribe would cause a problem in the establishment of the Eastern Alliance. ¡°It¡¯s a battle for leadership.¡± ¡°Yes, the de Song tribe agreed to the formation of the Eastern Alliance itself but insisted that they be the head of the alliance.¡± ¡°Are there people pushing for the Great Storm tribe?¡± ¡°Not necessarily. However, they were against the de Song tribe in bing the leader of the alliance. If the de Song tribe became the leader of the alliance, the fight against the west will cause even greater damage. Moreover, since the power of the wildnds have now been gathered as one, they will try to fight against the S?len Kingdom again.¡± Her words were convincing. Cordelia had been quietly listening before she raised her hand and asked. ¡°What did the wild god of the de Song tribe say?¡± ¡°The tribes of the wildnd tend to resemble the wild gods who take care of them. That de Song had been a war fanatic in the past and even now in the present, so it¡¯s hard to talk to him.¡± It seemed impossible to solve the problem with a conversation in the first ce, as the Gentle Snow Breeze who always used gentle words like her name spoke like that. ¡°Is there any other way?¡± ¡°There is. And that way is why it became a problem.¡± ¡°Uh¡­there is a way but that¡¯s what caused the problem?¡± When Cordelia asked again, Gentle Snow Breeze nodded her head and replied. ¡°Yes, the de Song tribe applied for a Karaval to the Great Storm tribe.¡± Karaval. Cordelia blinked her eyes as she thought what that meant, but Jude frowned. Because he remembered it from his memory in the corner of his Memory Pce. ¡°It¡¯s a one-on-one fight. A way to settle a dispute through a duel.¡± Most tribes were unfamiliar with that method that if it weren¡¯t for the tribes that were battle fanatics like the de Song tribe or the Angry Bull tribe, they wouldn¡¯t know about Karaval. However, there were no tribes in the wildnd who denied the authority of the Karaval itself. ¡°Normally, it would have been Red Gale¡­¡± Thanks to Jude, his curse was prevented from progressing, but he was still sick. ¡°The de Song tribe also took that into ount and sent the chieftain¡¯s son, Sun Song, as their representative for Karaval.¡± ¡°Uh¡­ Then, so our side should send the next strongest warrior after Red Gale, right?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not. Since the de Song tribe sent out Sun Song, our side must also send the chieftain¡¯s child as the representative for Karaval.¡± As the conversation progressed, Jude and Cordelia finally realized what the problem was. ¡°Red Wind.¡± She was the person who must be sent as the representative for Karaval. Gentle Snow Breeze nodded her head when Cordelia reflexively said her name. She then spoke to summarize everything that she had said. ¡°Red Wind must beat Sun Song.¡± That was the only way to properly establish the Eastern Alliance. Jude and Cordelia turned to each other. Chapter 95 - EPISODE 95 – PHOENIX (2)

Chapter 95 - EPISODE 95 ¨C PHOENIX (2)

The wild god de Song and the barbarian warrior Sun Song. Jude and Cordelia had in fact already knew of them. ¡®Because they were the vanguards in the barbarian invasion event.¡¯ de Song was a cruel and violent wild god, while Sun song was called ¡®Bloody Hands¡¯ because both of his hands were always soaked with the fresh blood of victims. Both of them had the impression of being berserkers crazy for blood, but after listening to Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s story, they seemed to have an aggressive nature even before they had been corrupted. ¡®I¡¯m d we know his fighting style.¡¯ Not much was known about how he changed before and after he was corrupted, but he would not havepletely and suddenly changed his way of fighting just because he got corrupted. ¡®He used a de and shamanic songs, right?¡¯ Jude nodded at Cordelia¡¯s gaze. The warriors of the de Song tribe always sang while fighting even when they were corrupted. This was to strengthen themselves with songs full of shamanic power as well as to weaken the strength and morale of their enemies. ¡®Do you remember his battle pattern?¡¯ ¡®Yes.¡¯ ¡®As expected of my Jude.¡¯ A smile spread over Cordelia¡¯s face, and that smile pleased Jude again. ¡®But it¡¯s really strange.¡¯ ¡®What¡¯s strange?¡¯ ¡®How we canmunicate with just the look of our eyes.¡¯ ¡®You¡¯re right.¡¯ Perhaps they were both thinking different things and simply misunderstanding that the other was municating this and that with their eyes¡¯. ¡®Well, I suppose it isn¡¯t to that extent .¡¯ That extent might just be some subtle differences. Regardless, Jude turned to Gentle Snow Breeze and asked again. ¡°O Gentle Snow Breeze, can you tell us when the Karaval would be held?¡± ¡°The fight was decided on the day of theing sun, which is 8 dayster.¡± 8 dayster. He had expected that the schedule would be quite tight. Jude asked again. ¡°The reason why this is a problem¡­is also because Sun Song is stronger than Red Wind as of now, right?¡± At the question he threw to rify, Gentle Snow Breeze looked depressed and nodded her head. ¡°Sun Song is one of the best geniuses in battle in the de Song tribe which has many strong warriors. He was also born with the talent for shamanism. When he was born, de Song went around boasting about him¡­ Sigh¡­ In addition, they have quite an age difference. Red Wind is only sixteen years old, but Sun Song is already twenty-two years old.¡± If the Red Wind now was just a sprout that was on the verge of bing stronger, Sun Song was already a young tree that grown stronger and on its way to its prime. Cordelia seriously cherished Red Wind so she had a depressed look like Gentle Snow Breeze, but she then raised her hand and asked again. ¡°Gentle Snow Breeze, does having Karaval make sense even though they have such an objective difference in power?¡± It was quite a logical argument, which was unusual for Cordelia, but Gentle Snow Breeze nodded. ¡°Yes, it might be a bit unreasonable, but the wildnd is basically the world of where the strong prey upon the weak. Moreover, this Karaval¡¯s goal is to elect a representative for the alliance¡­ There are many opinions that a strong warrior should naturally be the representative.¡± In other words, a tribe that couldn¡¯t send a strong warrior for the Karaval was not qualified to be a representative in the first ce. ¡°As expected¡­the only way is for Red Wind to win against Sun Song.¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s why I¡¯m worried.¡± Their objective difference in power was quite visible. Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s shoulders fell as she became depressed, while Cordelia likewise drooped her shoulders before she turned to Jude. Cordelia¡¯s gaze was saying ¡®What should we do?¡¯ but in the eyes of Jude, it seemed to say, ¡®Please do something,¡¯ so Jude stepped forward and said. ¡°Okay. Cordelia and I will do something about it.¡± ¡°The two of you?¡± Gentle Snow Breeze blinked her eyes and asked. Because Gentle Snow Breeze had no expectations from the very beginning and had just brought up the story to share her worries. However, Jude and Cordelia had already saved several wild gods and defeated demon followers one way or another. Gentle Snow Breeze was delighted with a vague belief and expectation, and Cordelia also thumped on her chest. ¡°That¡¯s right, Jude and I will do something. Don¡¯t worry too much.¡± ¡°Aah¡­ Thank you very much. You two are truly the saviors of the wildnd.¡± When Gentle Snow Breeze held her hands together as if she was praying, a thought suddenly came to ?Cordelia¡¯s mind at that moment, so she raised her head up and looked at Jude. ¡°That¡¯s right! We¡¯re the guardians of the wildnds, right? We¡¯ve been recognized by the Golden Dragon King. So wouldn¡¯t it work if we asked de Song?¡± Didn¡¯t the Golden Dragon King say that all the wild gods in the wildnd will support Jude and Cordelia? But Jude shook his head. ¡°No, even if it works¡­Red Wind must beat Sun Song in order to properly establish an alliance.¡± ¡°Uuuugh¡­is that so¡­¡± It wouldn¡¯t be a proper alliance if they were united through force and authority. ¡°Uh¡­ but you two, what did you mean by ¡®guardians of the wildnds¡¯?¡± ¡°Oh, that¡­¡± Gentle Snow Breeze asked as she tilted her head, so Cordelia briefly exined what had happened after they arrived at Raptor Canyon. ¡°My goodness, such a thing happened.¡± Her eyes were mixed with countless emotions such as confusion, anticipation, anger, joy, and so on. Gentle Snow Breeze then pped her hands. She was angry at the demon followers for trying to pollute the entire dragon vein and corrupt the wildnds but was also expectant of the Golden Dragon King to return and solve all their problems. ¡°I was originally thinking of epting any request you two have, but it is even more so now that the Golden Dragon King had made you two as guardians. Tell me if there¡¯s anything you need.¡± Gentle Snow Breeze clenched her fist as she said that and Cordelia thought of various divine items, but Jude demanded something more urgent. ¡°O Gentle Snow Breeze, please send our luggage to the vige of the Great Storm tribe.¡± ¡°Eh? Your luggage?¡± ¡°Yes, I think that we have to hurry.¡± Having said that, Jude looked back at Cordelia and she blinked her eyes for a moment, wondering what he meant, but she understood at some point. So she nodded her head and said to Gentle Snow Breeze. ¡°We¡¯ll head towards the vige of the Great Storm tribe and meet Red Wind. I don¡¯t think we can take our luggage with us because we have to hurry.¡± ¡°Ah, is that so. Leave that to me then.¡± Gentle Snow Breeze pped her hands in understanding, and Cordelia immediately looked back at Jude. He turned around without a word and showed his back to Cordelia. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Cordelia instantly replied before she jumped and clung on Jude¡¯s back as if used to it. ¡°See you at Karaval then.¡± ¡°See you then!¡± ¡°Uh¡­yes.¡± Gentle Snow Breeze waved her hand with a somewhat surprised face, and the two didn¡¯t waste their time. As soon as Jude left Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s residence, he created a golden whirlwind while Cordelia hugged Jude¡¯s neck and said. ¡°Let¡¯s go, JuDelia.¡± Since Jude and Cordelia were unified as one, it became JuDelia. Jude almost lost hisposure at her sudden words, but he soon fixed Cordelia¡¯s position and said as he kicked the ground. ¡°I¡¯m d it¡¯s not CorDe.¡± ¡°Do you like that better?¡± That was the end of their conversation. Jude became the gale instead of answering, and Cordelia closed her eyes as he sprinted. She hugged Jude¡¯s neck a little harder. *** ¡°Ah! Cordelia-unnie! Jude-oppa!¡± At the vige of the Great Storm tribe¡­ Jude and Cordelia arrived at the vige of the Great Storm tribe before the day ended, having run and run again, though they took a few breaks in the middle. They were then greeted by Red Wind. ¡°It¡¯s been a while, how have you been?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been doing well. Look at this. It¡¯s my new friend.¡± Red Wind spoke with a wide smile as she spread out her palm and a small me sprang up. It was Saria, a me spirit belonging to the lowest grade. ¡°I followed Unnie¡¯s words. I studied spirits.¡± Both Jude and Cordelia smiled at Red Wind¡¯s wide smile that was so bright and cheerful, but when the two looked at each other, they had a different look. ¡®As expected¡­she hasn¡¯t gotten much stronger, right?¡¯ ¡®Because it hasn¡¯t even been a month yet.¡¯ It seemed like they had been going around here and there, but the time Jude and Cordelia had spent in the wildnds was actually less than a month. Even if she was at her peak at the age of sixteen, she wouldn¡¯t get that much stronger within a month. ¡®Then, what about us?¡¯ ¡®Uh¡­we¡¯re abnormal?¡¯ Because the two had gotten several times stronger in a month. But what mattered now was Red Wind, not Jude and Cordelia. Therefore, the two focused on Red Wind again. ¡°Red Wind, are you the one participating in Karaval this time?¡± When Cordelia carefully asked, Red Wind¡¯s face went stiff for a moment before she smiled again and nodded. ¡°Yes. I will do my best. I will fight for everyone.¡± She clenched her fists and confidently spoke, but Cordelia instinctively felt it while Jude saw through Red Wind¡¯s acting. ¡®I¡¯m scared.¡¯ The fact that she had to fight against someone stronger than her was not scary. What would happen if she was defeated? She feared betraying everyone¡¯s expectations. Unlike a little while ago, her stiff smile revealed a lot of things. So Cordelia sped Red Wind¡¯s trembling hands and said. ¡°It¡¯s all right. Jude and I will help. You¡¯ll be able to beat Sun Song.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Really.¡± With a wide smile, Cordelia tightly hugged Red Wind who was on the verge of tears. She didn¡¯t cry, but it was visible how stressed she was. ¡®Umm.¡¯ Jude quietly waited and after a long hug, Cordelia said as she touched Red Wind¡¯s cheek. ¡°It¡¯ste today, so let¡¯s rest for now and finish our conversation tomorrow. Okay?¡± ¡°Okay. Unnie, I like you so much.¡± ¡°I like you too.¡± Cordelia coddled and tightly hugged Red Wind again, and Cordelia sent a nce to Jude, who then nodded. *** ¡°But what should we do?¡± Inside the lodging that Red Wind guided them to¡­ Because it was alreadyte at night, their talk with Red Gale and Violent Avnche was dyed until tomorrow. Jude and Cordelia lied beside each other as they stared at the tent¡¯s roof. The remaining time was only a week. Would it be possible for Red Wind to be strong enough to beat Sun Song in that time? ¡°Shall we have her follow Kan?¡± Wouldn¡¯t it be possible for her to be hugely strengthened if she defeated a bunch of named monsters? ¡°It¡¯s possible, but we¡¯re running out time. It¡¯ll take a few days just to get to where Kan is.¡± The remaining time was only 7 days. They shouldn¡¯t waste their time in traveling. ¡°Uuuuu¡­what should we do then? Should we temporarily lend her items?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the basic n¡­but that¡¯s not enough, right?¡± No matter how good the items were, there was a limit. Jude and Cordelia were able to get full sets of items by attribute thanks to the benevolent Fairy Queen, so they had full sets that matched their level, but it wasn¡¯t possible to assemble a set of legend-grade or myth-grade items. ¡°But items with basic specs will fit her.¡± ¡°We can also strengthen her attribute¡¯s power.¡± Red Wind had begun handling a me spirit, so items with a fire attribute would be good for her. ¡°Haa¡­it¡¯s not enough. There needs to be something more.¡± Cordelia squirmed while lying down in her bed before she turned her head to the side. Jude was lying sideways on his bed a few steps away from her, and their gazes met. ¡°Jude?¡± ¡°I think we have no choice but to take a hard-line approach.¡± ¡°Hard-line approach?¡± When Cordelia sat up and asked, Jude also sat up and replied. ¡°Let¡¯s get the Phoenix.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°The Phoenix.¡± ¡°We¡¯re getting the Phoenix at this point in time?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s the only way.¡± Phoenix. Or Reckless Fire to be exact. In the original game, it was an essential spirit that Red Wind must obtain in her Spirit Warrior skill tree. ¡°If she gets the Phoenix, her potential as a Spirit Warrior would crazily grow, and the skills she could immediately use are also incredibly strong.¡± The story of the Phoenix that appeared in the original game was as follows. Reckless Fire, a powerful but evil me spirit,mitted all sorts of tyranny in the wildnd, but an unknown spirit warrior became angry and subdued Reckless Fire before sealing it in an ancient temple. ¡°Everyone forgot about it after a long time, but Red Wind identally found the ruins.¡± ¡°Red Wind defeated Reckless Fire who woke up from its seal-¡± ¡°The Phoenix died and then resurrected. At its resurrection, its personality was reversed, and it became a good spirit.¡± ¡°It recognized Red Wind who defeated it and acknowledged her as its master.¡± The way the story itself unfolded sounded easy to do too. They had no problem in locating the ruins because of JudeWiki. ¡°Thank you for believing in me.¡± ¡°Do you not know it?¡± ¡°I know where it is.¡± So the real problem now was the timing of the event. ¡°The northern barbarian event was over, so Red Wind who had already be quite strong, visited the vige of the Great Storm tribe that was in ruins.¡± In short, it was a story at a time when Red Wind was at least ten times stronger than she was now. ¡°No, it¡¯s impossible. How will Red Wind defeat the Phoenix now?¡± Cordelia said as her shoulders drooped, but Jude shook his head. ¡°Not, it¡¯s possible. We can help her.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good? No, even if the two of us joined forces right now, we may or may not be able to defeat the Phoenix, you know?¡± ¡°We have to try. And¡­it might be possible if she gets thest hit.¡± It was also necessary for her to be recognized by the Phoenix. ¡°Will that work?¡± ¡°I hope it works.¡± Because that was the only way they had right now. ¡°Uuuuuh¡­ Okay, let¡¯s do it. Yes, we can do it.¡± ¡°Yes, we can do it.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, we can.¡± Cordelia cheerfully said before she lied down on her bed again, pulled up her nket, and shut her eyes. ¡°Let¡¯s sleep for tomorrow then. Good night, Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, dream of me.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll think about it.¡± Cordelia coyly replied before falling into sleep, and Jude who had a hard time today, also deeply fell asleep. And the next morning¡­ ¡°Wow¡­is this all for me?¡± Red Wind widely opened her eyes and looked at herself as she asked. She was really sparkling. Red Wind was covered in magic items from head to toe. And at her innocent question, Jude replied with a refreshing smile. ¡°No, we¡¯re lending it to you.¡± He had to say it to make sure that she knew. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± When Cordelia smiled and spoke with an awkward expression, Red Wind¡¯s shoulders dropped as if she was somewhat disappointed. But for a while, she had a cheerful expression again because of her increased strength due to the magic items. ¡°I feel a lot stronger. Now I can fight Sun Song.¡± ¡°Yes, but it¡¯s still not enough. So let¡¯s practice now.¡± ¡°Practice?¡± ¡°Yes, practice for getting used to the faster speed and stronger power.¡± Cordelia said before casting and magic on Red Wind. ¡°Now, run.¡± ¡°Eh? Run¡­?!¡± Red Wind couldn¡¯t adapt to thepletely different speed and power than usual, so she splendidly fell. Jude and Cordelia looked at each other with rxed expressions as they anticipated this situation. ¡°Will it take half a day?¡± ¡°That¡¯s enough for her to adapt.¡± For now, she had to be familiar with her enhanced state. Jude and Cordelia sat down as they quietly watched the struggling Red Wind who couldn¡¯t control her body. And a few minutes passed. Cordelia suddenly turned to Jude and said. ¡°But Jude.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°What if, seriously, what if?¡± ¡°Yes, what if?¡± ¡°What if the Phoenix thinks of you or me as its master?¡± At Cordelia¡¯s simple question, Jude paused for a moment before he replied with an awkward smile. ¡°Ei, no way.¡± ¡°Is that right? There¡¯s no way that would happen?¡± ¡°Yes, no way.¡± But why? This ominous feeling. After a brief silence, Jude and Cordelia looked at the front again as they saw Red Wind falling down on her butt again. Chapter 96 - EPISODE 96 – PHOENIX (3)

Chapter 96 - EPISODE 96 ¨C PHOENIX (3)

While Cordelia oversaw Red Wind¡¯s training, Jude went to meet Red Gale and Violent Avnche. He had to talk to them about the status of the Golden Dragon King and their n to obtain the Phoenix. ¡°I see¡­¡± Red Gale slowly nodded after hearing the whole story. Perhaps due to Sri¡¯s Ne, his condition had improved than before. ¡°I can¡¯t believe the Golden Dragon King was in that condition. Moreover, the demon followers have already taken the west¡­¡± Violent Avnche squatted on the floor as it held its head and groaned. The fact that all of the western dragon veins had already been contaminated could only mean that all the wild gods in the west had turned into enemies. ¡°The Golden Dragon King said that its condition would improve if we blow up the western dragon veins.¡± When Jude spoke as if he was consoling them, Violent Avnche flinched and had a reallyplicated expression on its face. ¡°Y-yes.¡± Violent Avnche seemed to recall the scene of its own entire rocky mountain disappearing. Red Gale said again. ¡°Jude, are you saying that Red Wind should obtain the Phoenix?¡± ¡°Yes, I think that¡¯s our best option for now.¡± A long time ago, an unknown spirit warrior sealed the Phoenix, an ancient spirit. Red Gale hadn¡¯t known that the sealing ce of the Phoenix was near their vige, but he didn¡¯t doubt Jude¡¯s words. Jude was Red Wind¡¯s benefactor, but he also personally met the Golden Dragon King and was recognized as a guardian of the wildnds. ¡°Hmm¡­I think I¡¯ve heard of a simr story when I was young.¡± A violent and evil bird of me. Violent Avnche scratched its chin as it spoke, and Jude gazed at everyone again. ¡°Red Wind has the talent to be a spirit warrior. If she obtains the Phoenix, she¡¯ll be able to win against Sun Song in the Karaval.¡± That was actually their only option. Red Gale closed his eyes and was in deep thought for a while. He soon nodded and agreed to Jude¡¯s n. ¡°I understand. It is as you said. In her current state, Red Wind cannot beat Sun Song. She needs the Phoenix¡¯s power.¡± It was a n to unseal a violent ancient spirit. The dangers it posed if something went wrong were high, but Red Gale decided to trust Jude. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Thank you too. If you need anything, just say it. I¡¯ll do my best to help.¡± If he was the Fairy Queen, Jude would have immediately jumped on his words and bleed him dry. But Red Gale and the Fairy Queen were different. Instead of smiling with sparkling eyes, Jude talked about the support he really needed for the n to work. ¡°I see¡­ If you say so. I understand. I will prepare it.¡± Red Gale epted his request and Jude was relieved. He then turned to Violent Avnche. ¡°Violent Avnche is going to help us, right?¡± ¡°Eh? Me too?¡± ¡°Yes, Violent Avnche.¡± ¡°Uh¡­yes! That¡¯s right. It¡¯s for the wildnds, so I¡¯ll help as much as I can.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Violent Avnche became even more anxious upon seeing Jude¡¯s bright smile, but it couldn¡¯t take back the words it had already spoken. The wild god awkwardly smiled and lightly thumped its chest, as if putting up a bold front. ¡°I¡¯m nning to capture the Phoenix tomorrow¡­ Will the preparations be ready by then?¡± ¡°It will be possible. The preparations will be ready by tomorrow morning.¡± ¡°Me as well.¡± Red Gale courteously answered and Violent Avnche got up from its seat and replied too. They now had the support of a wild god and the Great Storm tribe. With this, it would be possible to implement a strategy that was not possible in the game. ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll see you tomorrow.¡± There were 7 days left until the Karaval. Jude went out of Red Gale¡¯s house. *** ¡°So it ended with us going there tomorrow?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t have much time left until the day of the Karaval. Even if she obtained the Phoenix, she¡¯ll need time to get used to it.¡± Inside Jude and Cordelia¡¯s lodging¡­ The two had spread out a bunch of magic items on the bed and were thinking about what items would suit Red Wind. Jude nced at the figure of Cordelia as she folded her arms and groaned in serious contemtion. He then asked while she picked up a ring with a freezing attribute. ¡°How is Red Wind?¡± ¡°She got used to it. She¡¯s remarkably talented since she¡¯s a yable character in the first ce. It¡¯s now possible for her to fight with and cast on her twice.¡± Cordelia stretched out her hand and slightly lifted the tiara that had a freezing attribute. ¡°Hmm, do I have to take off my headband to wear this?¡± She had worn the rabbit set ever since the time they stopped by the vige of the Great Storm tribe. Jude had removed his and changed into the saint¡¯s clothes somewhere in the middle of their trip, but Cordelia had been wearing the rabbit ears and tail all the time. ¡°Hmm¡­it¡¯s possible to wear it together.¡± This was reality and not a game, so it was possible to wear equipment in the same area. ¡°Take this off first and try this one on¡­¡± Cordelia tried to take off the rabbit ears headband while talking to herself, but her words trailed off. Because she had felt Jude staring at her. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°No, that¡­¡± Jude¡¯s words trailed off too for some reason and Cordelia tilted her head. But her eyes soon sparkled, and she giggled. ¡°What is it? Are you sad that I won¡¯t be wearing the rabbit ears anymore? Would you like me to continue wearing it? Do you miss it?¡± She said that because she wanted to see Jude be flustered. As she triumphantly smiled inside her thoughts, Cordelia intentionally spoke in a cunning manner. Jude immediately responded to her. ¡°Uh, I want to continue seeing it.¡± ¡°If you say that you want to see it, then I¡¯ll continue¡­eh?¡± ¡°I want to continue seeing it.¡± Jude looked straight into Cordelia¡¯s blue eyes and seriously spoke while Cordelia blinked her eyes with a stunned expression. And she began stuttering. ¡°N-no. That¡­what¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s cute, Cordelia.¡± Jude spoke again and Cordelia¡¯s face turned red. No, what is he talking about now? Did he eat some weird medicine? Cordelia was at a loss and didn¡¯t know what to do. Jude seriously looked at her and then said with a pleasant smile. ¡°The rabbit ears are cute, the rabbit ears. Oh, the rabbit tail is cute too.¡± ¡°You!¡± Cordelia pped the back of Jude who spoke shamelessly, but the physical abilities of the two already had a lot of differences. Jude snickered and pretended to be hurt while Cordelia hit Jude even harder. And the next morning¡­ ¡°Wow, Unnie is so cute.¡± Red Wind was wearing items with me attributes all over her body and she then said in admiration as she gazed on Cordelia¡¯s head. A silver tiara with blue jewels was sitting atop Cordelia¡¯s head together with the rabbit ears headband. Cordelia, the second daughter of Count Chase, answered after making a ¡®hmph¡¯ sound. ¡°Because a certain mister desperately pleaded to me.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t plead though?¡± ¡°Should I take it off then?¡± ¡°No, Madam. You¡¯re the cutest.¡± Jude wily spoke and Cordelia turned away as she let out another ¡®hmph¡¯ but did not remove her headband. Anyone who saw her would see that her cheeks were slightly red. And Violent Avnche said after seeing the two. ¡°Ha, how cheesy.¡± As expected of the crazy couple. The people rted to them are crazy too. ¡°So cute.¡± When Red Wind giggled and spoke, Cordelia¡¯s face turned even redder and her lips twitched several times before she changed the topic. ¡°Anyway, we¡¯re going now. Are you ready?¡± ¡°We¡¯re ready.¡± Red Wind was the first to answer energetically, followed by Violent Avnche who reluctantly nodded its head. ¡°It seems that the Great Storm tribe is also ready.¡± Jude said as he pointed out to them, so Cordelia nodded her head. The shamans of the Great Storm tribe were fully equipped and prepared as they were approaching the group. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go then. JudeWiki, please take the lead.¡± ¡°Yes, Madam. I will lead the way.¡± Jude politely answered and led the way with Cordelia behind him, followed immediately by Red Wind, Violent Avnche, and the shamans of the Great Storm tribe who were lined up in a file. And about an hour or so¡­ As he headed westward, Jude suddenly turned around and said. ¡°By the way, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we start practicing?¡± ¡°What practice?¡± ¡°Adelia Countermeasures practice.¡± Jude¡¯s words made Cordelia had a face that looked like she didn¡¯tprehend what he was talking about, but she soon understood it and said after saying a ¡®hmph.¡¯ ¡°I don¡¯t need to practice, okay? I¡¯ll just do it when she arrives, okay?¡± ¡°No, you still have to practice. The opponent is none other than Adelia. My brother Ga?l will roughly let it pass but not Adelia, right?¡± ¡°Ugh.¡± It was as Jude had said. A lot of Cordelia¡¯s actions were basically suspicious, and her doubtful actions would grow deeper if she faced Adelia. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you at least be able to speak naturally?¡± There was truth in his words. But Cordelia wasn¡¯t a fool either. Practicing was necessary, but she didn¡¯t have to do it now. Besides, he seemed to have said that to tease her. ¡°I can¡¯t, I won¡¯t do it now here. Ah,e to think of it, it¡¯s not just me who should practice. I¡¯m not the only one who likes you¡­ No, what am I saying. Anyway, aren¡¯t we known to like each other in the first ce?¡± ¡°Then, shall I go first?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°My beloved Lady Cordelia. You¡¯re very beautiful today. No, you¡¯re very lovely.¡± The moment Jude said that with a charming smile, Cordelia had a brain fart. She stood stupefied before she began hitting Jude at random. ¡°Don¡¯t say it! Don¡¯t!¡± ¡°No, I have to practice! Ah! It hurts! Hey! It really hurts!¡± ¡°I know that you¡¯re not really hurt, okay?!¡± ¡°No! If you hit me like that, it hurts, okay?!¡± Cordelia changed her method of attacking by pping his skin like a whip. She was indeed a battle genius. Cordelia could find a way to do him damage somehow. While Jude and Cordelia were moving forward while squawking with each other¡­ ¡°This very lovey-dovey couple making a fuss¡­¡± ¡°Unnie is cute. Hehe.¡± Violent Avnche clicked its tongue while Red Wind¡¯s eyes sparkled. And about a dozen minutester¡­ ¡°Stop, stop hitting me. We¡¯re almost there.¡± ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­we¡¯re still far away¡­eh, seriously?¡± They were in front of a huge tomb with rocks piled up on top of each other. Down there was a hidden path that lead to the underground ruins where the Phoenix was sealed. ¡°All right, let¡¯s get started then.¡± The Phoenix would resurrect even if it dies, so it was unnecessary for them to use a capture ¨C no, an annihtion strategy. Jude and Cordelia exchanged nces while Violent Avnche held a silent prayer for the Phoenix that they haven¡¯t yet met. *** In the original story, the entrance to the rock tomb was revealed due to a natural disaster, but that only happened when the wildnds were in chaos. Therefore, Jude and Cordelia decided to use a different method. ¡°Is there a dragon vein here?¡± ¡°No, you demon.¡± ¡°Ei, why? It¡¯s legal.¡± Cordelia acted cute as sheughed and said, but Jude shook his head and turned to Violent Avnche. ¡°Please help us.¡± ¡°Uh¡­my body isn¡¯t that powerful.¡± ¡°But it¡¯s better than nothing.¡± He had brought Violent Avnche for other things and not for strenuous work, but a wild god was still a wild god. ¡°Alright! I¡¯ll use a little power!¡± The rocks in the tomb shook as Violent Avnche opened its arms and let out an ¡®Uooh¡¯ sound. The rocks easily moved when Violent Avnche slightly lifted the rocks with a telekic power. ¡°Me too then.¡± Cordelia used Witch Transformation and showed off her telekic powers too. Whenever her blue eyes shone, arge rock was moved to the side. ¡°Jude-oppa, what should we do?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t have any telekic powers, so let¡¯s just watch.¡± Unfortunately, there was no popcorn here. Jude stroked the head of Red Wind as they waited for a while. After five minutes or so, the rocks blocking the tomb were cleared, revealing a round entrance. ¡°This is definitely an ancient magic form. I can see traces of the High Elves.¡± Jude nodded at Violent Avnche¡¯s words. Considering the situation, it was highly likely that the unknown spirit warrior was a high elf from the magic kingdom of Magen. ¡°The inside of the sealing ce isn¡¯t big, but it¡¯s still called a dungeon. There¡¯s a defense system in ce to protect the Phoenix¡¯s seal.¡± ¡°Yes, I know. I¡¯ve read the things you wrote down yesterday several times.¡± ¡°I have read it many times. It¡¯s easy to read because it¡¯s in ournguage.¡± When Red Wind raised her hand and spoke, Jude happily smiled before looking at everyone. ¡°Only me, Cordelia, Red Wind, and Violent Avnche will enter the sealing area. However, the real battle against the Phoenix will be outside the ruins, so please be prepared.¡± ¡°We understand, Guardian.¡± On behalf of the Great Storm tribe¡¯s shamans, the great shaman called Frost Wind spoke. He was Red Gale¡¯s friend and a powerful wind shaman. ¡°Okay, are you ready?¡± ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡± Cordelia said after drinking the potion bottle¡¯s contents and wiping her lips, and Jude approached the seal¡¯s entrance. He had released the seal that was blocking the entrance by drawing a magic circle for unsealing. ¡°¡± The moment he said the word, the ground cracked and rumbled before the floor on which the seal was drawn had copsed. The diameter of the created hole was more than 2 meters. As he nced inside the hole, Jude nodded. Like in the original, the ce was roughly 10 meters high. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Hmph.¡± Cordelia snorted once before she moved to Jude¡¯s side, and let herself be carried by Jude. ¡°Red Wind, please take care of Violent Avnche.¡± ¡°Leave it to me.¡± Red Wind smiled and raised her thumb before carrying Violent Avnche who was in the form of a bear cub. ¡°Please be well prepared.¡± ¡°Please leave it to me.¡± Judestly asked Frost Wind to prepare before he jumped inside the hole. Chapter 97 - EPISODE 97 – PHOENIX (4)

Chapter 97 - EPISODE 97 ¨C PHOENIX (4)

Thud-! Judended like a feather because of the brilliant golden whirlwind. He put Cordelia down while Red Windnded with a series of thudding sounds. ¡°Be careful, the attack would begin as soon as you cross that line.¡± Cordelia spoke in a low voice and promptly lit a magic light to drive out the darkness. ¡°As expected, this is the High Elves¡¯ architectural style. The unknown spirit warrior must have been a high elf.¡± Hearing the words of Violent Avnche, Jude and Cordelia looked into the distance. They could see the rock egg where the Phoenix was sealed straight ahead. ¡°Are you ready?¡± ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡± ¡°What about you, Red Wind?¡± ¡°I¡¯m ready too.¡± ¡°Okay, then let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Why are you not asking about me?¡± The voices ended with Violent Avnche speaking. Jude just looked ahead but the kind Cordelia opened her mouth for Violent Avnche. ¡°Are you ready, Violent Avnche?¡± ¡°I am.¡± ¡°Alright, then let¡¯s go.¡± Cordelia said as she tapped the back of Jude who then nodded. In his mind, he recalled the dungeon in the game. ¡®A series of straightforward traps.¡¯ A series of straightforward me attacks would beset them in the passage leading to the sealing area, perhaps because a Phoenix was sealed here. But if they knew where, what, and how the attack would unfold, they would be able to fully respond. ¡°Formationplete. Let¡¯s go!¡± Thud! Jude kicked the ground and took the lead. At that moment, mes shot down above his head, but Jude unhesitatingly raised his right hand high. He made a shield using Count Chase¡¯s ring to stop the mes and passed the me zone in less than a second. ¡°¡± And Cordelia ran right behind him. Because Cordelia was wearing items with Freezing attributes, she wasn¡¯t even slightly harmed by the mes at all. The me¡¯s momentum was broken by Jude who had already passed by, and then pushed away by the magic that Cordelia cast so she was able to easily pass too. ¡°Uooo!¡± Violent Avnche just ran, and so did Red Wind. She was wearing items with me attributes in the first ce, so Red Wind was strong against the mes in a different sense than Cordelia. ¡°Let¡¯s move on!¡± ¡°Here I go!¡± Cordelia took the lead this time. She blocked the mes in advance on both sides by using a telekic power covered with the spell, while Jude stepped forward and spread out the shield to stop the suddenly appearing mes. ¡°Uooo!¡± Violent just ran this time again and Red Wind was not much different. And that repeated for five times. After finally breaking through all the traps and arriving at the sealing area, Jude and Cordelia exchanged nces and immediately took action. ¡°¡± She had changed the spear version of Cmity which she had always used into a sword version. With the jet-ck me sword, Cordelia broke the magic circle that was drawn on the floor which led to the seal itself to be destroyed. Szzzzzk-! Sparks rose from the ground and magical energy erupted everywhere, making Red Wind swallow her breath. She then swung the blessed blunt weapon in her hand and struck the rock egg. Booom-! A thunderbolt struck. The rock egg shattered with the sound of thunder, and a huge roar shook the entire sealing area at that moment. ¡°Kiaaaaa-!¡± The roaring of the Phoenix was simr to why a chicken cries in the bright morning. mes burst out in front of them and a yellow color filled their vision. The heat they felt seemed like it could melt their whole bodies. ¡°Uooo!¡± At that very moment, Violent Avnche jumped up. Jude grabbed such Violent Avnche and pushed Violent Avnche into their pre-calcted position. Boooom-! The raging mes, or to be precise, the shooting mes collided into Violent Avnche. Although Violent Avnche was weak, it was still a wild god. Violent Avnche was also the wild god of avnches who ruled a rocky mountain. The mes were stopped by the force of an immensely cold air, and the death mes that urred when the Phoenix awoke were neutralized and disappeared. ¡°Gaaah!¡± Jude hastily recovered the screaming Violent Avnche before he raised his head. This is because the Phoenix who woke up had spread out its wings and flew outwards. ¡°Hurry up!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s merge!¡± Cordelia sprinted and merged with Jude as he carried her. Jude ran after the Phoenix while Red Wind followed them after carrying Violent Avnche. And immediately after¡­ ¡°Kiaaa!¡± The Phoenix shrieked when it tried to fly out of the sealing area. It was because of the magic circle cast by the shamans of the Great Storm tribe who were waiting outside the sealing area. ¡°Okay!¡± In the original story, Red Wind had to face the Phoenix alone, but not now. So they came up with this n. An easy and fast strategy that they couldn¡¯t do in the game! ¡°Cha-cha!¡± Jude kicked the wall as he jumped up at once and flew out of the entrance. While holding Cordelia, he rolled on the floor once before they quickly stood up. ¡°Kuooo!¡± The Phoenix angrily screamed and rushed towards Frost Wind, the great shaman of the Great Storm tribe. It was as expected and as nned. ¡°Cordelia!¡± ¡°Okay!¡± Booooom-! Frost Wind and the shamans¡¯ spells blocked the Phoenix. The Phoenix tried to attack Frost Wind like a bird catching its prey. When its feet touched the ground for a moment, Cordelia dug into that gap. ¡°¡± It was a simple freezing spell that bound the target. But it was important to note that the caster was Cordelia. ¡°! !¡± One spell quickly became four. In addition, Cordelia¡¯s level had reached around 60, which let her use a new skill. ¡° ¡± High-Speed Chanting. A unique skill of wizards that allowed them to use magic in quick session. Because it was a rtively simple magic, it was possible to use it four times in a row, even if her mastery of High-Speed Chanting was still low. And if Double Casting and Spell¡¯s Echo was added to this¡­ ¡°Kkeuaaa!¡± The Phoenix screamed in pain as something surprising happened. The whole body of the Phoenix began to freeze. ¡°16 Freeze shots!¡± Jude shouted while Cordelia¡¯s nose bled. Because she had randomly shot magic spells too quickly. But Cordelia was undaunted and swallowed the contents of a potion. Jude ran forward and tore the magic circles he had drawn overnight. ¡°? ¡± What he used were spells that increased the duration of the already cast magic and reduced the enemy¡¯s magic resistance. The Phoenix was a me spirit whose whole body was made of mes. So in order for it to remain frozen, he had to do at least that much. ¡°Okay! Here we go!¡± Cordelia wiped the blood from her lips and nose before she powerfully shouted and cast 16 Freeze shots again. The already frozen Phoenix was frozen even more. ¡°Kkeuaaa!¡± The Phoenix continued to scream in the midst of this. Well, it could still scream after all. Because Jude and Cordelia adjusted the magic spells so that only the Phoenix¡¯s head did not freeze. Why was that? Why did they leave out the head? ¡°Red Wind!¡± ¡°Head! Head! Head! Head!¡± Cordelia shouted at Red Wind, who waste ining out of the sealing area with Violent Avnche. And Red Wind responded to Cordelia¡¯s call. As she had been taught yesterday, she shouted ¡®head¡¯ and swung her blessed blunt weapon. ¡°Ack! Ack! Ack!¡± The Phoenix was a me spirit that had no substance, so it was immune to most physical attacks, but Red Wind¡¯s attacks were an exception. The blunt weapon that was blessed by the three wild gods ¨C Violent Avnche, Gentle Snow Breeze, and Great Storm, hit the Phoenix¡¯s spirit body itself. ¡°Head! Head! Head! Head!¡± The frozen and immobile Phoenix had its head pounded like mad by Red Wind. The Phoenix shrieked and tried to break the ice, but it was impossible. Jude and Cordelia did not let it do so. ¡°16 Freeze shots!¡± ¡°? ¡± Crack! Crack! Crack! If the ice seemed to slightly break, the ice froze again. Because of its lowered magic resistance, Red Wind¡¯s attacks were more painful. ¡°Kkeuaaa! Ack!¡± ¡°Head!¡± Red Wind did not stop. She was sweating a lot while Jude calcted the health of the Phoenix and of Red Wind¡¯s attack. As a result, he figured out the total number of attacks she still needed to do. ¡°Just 50 more!¡± ¡°Hiiek?!¡± The Phoenix swallowed its scream at Jude¡¯s cry. 50 more hits from now. 50 more. ¡°Kkiaaa!¡± When the Phoenix loudly screamed, Cordelia turned to Violent Avnche. As if she had looked for an interpreter, Violent Avnche quickly understood. ¡°It¡¯s saying that it would rather be killed by just a knife.¡± ¡°I see.¡± But that was impossible. Red Wind didn¡¯t have the ability to do that yet. She had to work hard and hit the Phoenix blow by blow to reach 50 hits. ¡°Tsk-tsk-tsk, I somehow feel guilty about this.¡± Violent Avnche clicked its tongue and offered a silent prayer for the still alive Phoenix. And in the midst of that, Jude faced Cordelia and asked. ¡°Can you do it one more time?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll try!¡± Cordelia was actually feeling dizzy, but she deliberately spoke energetically and cast again afterwards. The situation seemed to be easygoing at first nce, but it wasn¡¯t at all. The shamans of the Great Storm tribe were able to narrowly restrain the Phoenix due to the magic circle they had set up and activated, but if they let their guard down for just a bit, the Phoenix might break the ice and run away. ¡°Red Wind! Hurry!¡± This was thest time that Cordelia could continuously cast magic. At Jude¡¯s urging, Red Wind shouted in concentration and swung her blunt weapon again. ¡°Head!¡± Bang! Bang! Bang! Red Wind climbed up on the Phoenix¡¯s back and bombarded it with three consecutive strikes before she flinched and jumped down in an instant. Because at the moment of herst attack, she ¡®felt¡¯ it. ¡°Okay! We¡¯ve reached 50 strikes!¡± Jude eximed as he supported the staggering Cordelia, and Cordelia saw it at that moment. Shwaaaa-! The ice that had sealed the Phoenix melted away. And the Phoenix¡¯s me also died down. But it was only for a moment. A small me rose again in the air. The me that started as yellow in color became blue and then turned into red as it greatly intensified before turning into a new bird of me. ¡°Aaah!¡± It was a clear and ringing voice. Just like in the game, the evil Phoenix died and was reborn as a new pure and innocent baby Phoenix. ¡°Wow¡­¡± Red Wind dropped her blunt weapon as she let out a voice in awe, and so did the shamans of the Great Storm tribe. But Jude and Cordelia were rather tense as they gulped in nervousness. This moment was somehow more important than defeating the Phoenix. ¡®Choose Red Wind as your master!¡¯ When Jude mentally shouted, the Phoenix flew in the air and surveyed everyone on the ground. ¡°Uh, our eyes met.¡± The moment Cordelia said that, the baby Phoenix suddenly shuddered and then flew towards Red Wind. It somehow looked like it was running away from Cordelia. ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s better, that¡¯s an excellent choice.¡± Cordelia narrowed her eyes at the words of Violent Avnche, but she widely smiled afterwards upon seeing the Phoenix sitting on Red Wind¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Looks like it worked.¡± The newly born Phoenix recognized Red Wind as its master. Red Wind carefully stretched out her hands to Phoenix, and the newly born Phoenix who was small and a littlerger than a dove, sat on Red Wind¡¯s hand as if it responded to her. Their actions could only mean one thing. ¡°Would you like to be with me?¡± When Red Wind asked in the wildnd¡¯snguage, the Phoenix nodded and then rubbed its head against the Red Wind¡¯s cheeks, as if it signed a contract with her. ¡°Hehehe. It¡¯s a Phoenix! A Phoenix!¡± Red Wind widely smiled and looked at Jude and Cordelia. The two sighed with a look of relief before smiling together. ¡°We got one thing done.¡± ¡°We got one thing done. We also gained something.¡± ¡°Eh? Gained something?¡± What are you talking about? Didn¡¯t the Phoenix be Red Wind¡¯s? Cordelia tilted her head and Jude smiled as he took out what he packed earlier when they got out of the sealing area. It was a golden feather filled with a red aura. An item that contained not only the power of a strong me but also the power of regeneration. ¡°The Phoenix¡¯s feather.¡± It also belonged to a Phoenix that was over a thousand years old. ¡°Uwaah.¡± Cordelia admired it like a child, making Jude smile before he put the feather on her hair. He then said with a brilliant smile. ¡°Do you like it?¡± ¡°Yes! I like it!¡± Cordelia promptly answered as sheughed like Red Wind. She then spoke again after she straightened her posture. ¡°Okay, we have 6 days left. When we return, we¡¯ll start the special training right away.¡± Because getting the Phoenix wasn¡¯t everything they had to do. During the remaining time left, Red Wind had to engrave in her mind and body not only on how to use the Phoenix but also on how to fight Sun Song. Jude said as he nodded his head. ¡°Yes, you also have to practice in your spare time too.¡± ¡°Ugeue¡­¡± Practice. Cordelia had a troubled look on her face and Jude delightedly smiled as he mentally thanked Ga?l and Adelia. Chapter 98 - EPISODE 98 – CROSS (1)

Chapter 98 - EPISODE 98 ¨C CROSS (1)

Inside Jude and Cordelia¡¯s tent at night¡­ The lit candles diffused a faint light and warmth all over the ce. And in the middle of that ce. There was a beautiful girl in a white dress with rabbit ears on her head. She had a shy expression on her face as her lips quivered. Although the candle¡¯s faint light was very small and weak whenpared to the night¡¯s darkness, it? brought out the girl¡¯s captivating beauty like a ray of light in the darkness. She had burning red cheeks, misty eyes, and lips that drew nice-looking curves whenever it quivered. The girl hesitated for quite some time before she swallowed her saliva and her long white neck trembled a little. She opened her lips and a nervous voice came out with her breath. ¡°M-my b-beloved Mr. Jude Bayer.¡± The girl¡¯s cheeks turned redder at her words that expressed love, and the surrounding area that was gently warmed by the candlelight also became hot. ¡°A-and¡­¡± Sweat flowed along the girl¡¯s smooth jawline, and the girl put her hands together and squeezed them, as if she was plucking up the courage to confess before she spoke. ¡°I-I¡­c-can¡¯t live without J-Jude, Mr. Jude Bayer.¡± Her words came out slightly stuttered before she bit her lips. Her voice seemed to have a mixture of shyness and determination. But it didn¡¯t end there. The girl took several deep breaths, mustered her courage and spoke again. ¡°I-I belong to Mr. Jude¡­ Mr. Jude Bayer is mine¡­ No! F*ck! Hey!¡± That was it. Cordelia threw the script she had in her hand onto the floor and then bellowed at the watching Jude. ¡°Hey! You evil b*stard! What¡¯s with the script?!¡± She could overlook ¡®my beloved Mr. Jude Bayer.¡¯ Yes, she could somehow understand the ¡®I can¡¯t live without Jude.¡¯ Because its purpose was to protect Jude from Adelia. But what about the next? ¡°Am I yours? Am I yours?¡± It was just some words in the script, but it was difficult to say them. How am I supposed to say this in front of others! ¡°Woah, woah. Rx, rx.¡± ¡°Wurf-wurf! Grrrrrr! Wurf!¡± ¡°No, what am I supposed to do when you¡¯re cute even if you¡¯re angry.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°No, anyway. It¡¯s actually fair. You¡¯re not one-sidedly saying that you are mine, you¡¯re saying that I am yours too, right?¡± The script¡¯s contents were indeed fair. When Jude spoke with a calm face, Cordelia hesitated for a moment, but she eventually wasn¡¯t fooled. ¡°No! I don¡¯t give a damn about fairness! What¡¯s with that script?¡± ¡°Is there a problem?¡± ¡°Everything¡¯s a problem from start to finish!¡± ¡°Ei, what are you talking about? Now, now, take a deep breath and think.¡± ¡°What am I supposed to think?¡± ¡°Think about the past. Do you remember when you first acted?¡± ¡°Roughly.¡± ¡°I remember it clearly. It was this line back then.¡± Having said that, Jude cleared his throat once and then said in a feigned voice as if reciting a poem. ¡°I-I want to spend some time alone with Mr. Jude! We¡¯ll be back before dinner, so just wait! Don¡¯t worry about us!¡± ¡°Ah.¡± It came across her mind again. When they went on an outdoor date to get Sri¡¯s Ne from Leisegang. ¡®I-It¡¯s still okay.¡¯ It was okay. She could endure it if it was this much. But it was actually not over yet. ¡°After that, it was something like this.¡± Jude cleared his throat and then said in a slightly more charming voice than before. ¡°I-I want to go with my beloved Mr. Jude Bayer. I-I don¡¯t want to be separated from hi-him!¡± ¡°Ugeueu¡­¡± Cordelia¡¯s face turned red. No, it was not only her face as her neck and ears were red too. But unfortunately, this wasn¡¯t the end. ¡°I¡¯m going on a honeymoon trip with my beloved Mr. Bayer. We¡¯ll be back in a few days, so please don¡¯t bother looking for us, okay?¡± ¡°Uwaaa¡­.¡± Cordelia unconsciously let out a crying sound from her mouth as she covered her face with both of her hands. Her legs weakened and she even sank to her knees. ¡°And then I left a letter like this: I will further continue my honeymoon trip with Lady Cordelia, whom I dearly love more than my life. Please do not worry too much, because I¡¯ve gotten healthier from eating the Sunflower. P.S. I am really happy now.¡± ¡°S-stop¡­¡± ¡°For your information, that was what you ordered me to do. You loved it so much.¡± What he said was true. She remembered that she eventually ordered Jude to do it once and that she really loved it. Why did I do that? Why did I do that on that day? Cordelia who was squatting on the floor let out a troubled voice while Jude had such a pleasant look on his face. He then concluded his recap of the events with a happy smile. ¡°So, now that you¡¯ve heard it, don¡¯t you agree that the intensity has been growing stronger little by little? You could say that there¡¯s progress in our rtionship. Therefore, shouldn¡¯t we go a little further this time?¡± What he said was reasonable. What he said made sense. But! But even if that is so! ¡°Aaaaaaah¡­¡± She felt like she wanted to quickly stand up and hit Jude, but she didn¡¯t have the energy to do that. The current situation had been too stimting for a girl who only had a lover in the games that she yed for certain periods of time. Thus, Jude approached Cordelia and gently said. ¡°Umm¡­anyway, wouldn¡¯t this be enough to stop Adelia?¡± What he said was true. In the first ce, the reason why they were rehearsing the script was to stop Adelia. Adelia was Cordelia¡¯s older sister. She was also an older sister who really cares about Cordelia, so if Cordelia extremely loved Jude, it was highly likely that she would concede even if she didn¡¯t like it. It was said that parents have a soft spot for their children. ¡®In this case, it¡¯s about an older sister and her younger sister.¡¯ In any case, Jude waited for Cordelia to recover. After she had slightly recovered, Cordelia began hitting Jude in the back. ¡°Ugeu! Uu!¡± ¡°You should calm down and speak in humannguage first, okay?¡± Perhaps this was a side effect of Beast Mode. Jude half-jokingly said, and Cordelia pinched Jude before taking a deep breath. She stood up from her spot and shouted. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll let everything go! I understand!¡± To protect Jude from Adelia! I¡¯ll say stronger lines than before to show the progress of our rtionship! I¡¯ll let everything go. I somehow understand. But why! ¡°W-why is Violent Avnche here!¡± As Cordelia pointed to the corner of the tent and shouted, the being involved ¨C Violent Avnche, was sitting in the corner and watching Jude and Cordelia¡¯s skit. The wild god then nodded and said. ¡°That¡¯s right. I also wanted to ask. Why are you showing me this? I have to admit that it¡¯s cute though.¡± Upon hearing the word ¡®cute¡¯, the cheeks of Cordelia who had just calmed down turned red again. On the other hand, Jude spoke with a calm face. ¡°Because she needs to be able to do it naturally in front of others.¡± ¡°No, I think you don¡¯t need to practice about your rtionship.¡± Violent Avnche had no idea of the true rtionship between Jude and Cordelia, and their current practice had seriously made Violent Avnche feel out of ce. Apart from that, Violent Avnche doubted the necessity of the practice itself. ¡®Isn¡¯t it obvious that they¡¯re a crazy couple?¡¯ The couple were so perfectlypatible that one might think that they were born for each other. ¡°Well, anyway, let¡¯s take a break.¡± ¡°Uuuu¡­do I have to do it again?¡± ¡°You have to do it again. You have to get used to it.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia nodded with drooping shoulders. She was so embarrassed that her head grew feverish and her normal thinking became somewhat difficult. Regardless, the strangely quiet Cordelia sat down on her bed and Jude spoke again after turning to Violent Avnche. ¡°Violent Avnche, how is the establishment of the Eastern Alliance?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a serious topic all of a sudden.¡± The topic suddenly came in, but it was necessary to talk about it. It had been two days since Red Wind got the Phoenix. Violent Avnche walked to the front of the bed and stretched its arms, and Cordelia lifted up Violent Avnche and sat it on the bed. ¡°Huu¡­that¡¯s good. Anyway, about that, it¡¯s going faster than I thought.¡± There were three wild gods involved so the establishment of the Eastern Alliance was initially progressing quite fast. It was then elerated by the addition of what happened to the Golden Dragon King, which was a recent news brought by Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Because the west is already contaminated and there was also a request from the Golden Dragon King¡­ The wild gods who were very hesitant and evasive have also began to move forward. Perhaps when this Karaval is over, a strong Eastern Alliance would be established that is centered on one tribe, which would either be the Great Storm tribe or the de Song tribe.¡± At Violent Avnche¡¯s exnation, Jude¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°Then the scale of this Karaval would probably be bigger than originally nned.¡± ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right. The basic one-on-one battle of Red Wind and Sun Song would remain the same, but the number and quality of the audience would be different. Most of the tribal chiefs of the east would probably get together to watch the Karaval this time.¡± They would be here to discuss the establishment of the Eastern Alliance and not just to watch a fight. Jude asked Violent Avnche again. ¡°Is there any response from the west? I think that your side don¡¯t know much on what¡¯s going on there either.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like we don¡¯t have spies there, so we at least know a little about it. We¡¯re also keeping a close eye on the events in the west. However¡­our judgment is that they seemed to be more preupied with theplete unification of the west. The Angry Bull tribe is currently preupied with their military expedition on the west.¡± In other words, they hadn¡¯t taken measures against the eastern side because they were preupied with the unification of the western side. ¡®It¡¯s understandable.¡¯ Everything that they had done in the east so far was close to a small-scale covert operation. ¡°But Violent Avnche.¡± Cordelia finally recovered while their conversation went back and forth, so she raised her hand and asked. Violent Avnche epted her question with a smile. ¡°Yes, what are you curious about?¡± ¡°You said earlier that most of the tribal chiefs would be gathering.¡± ¡°I did.¡± ¡°Then would the wild gods also be gathered?¡± Jude and Cordelia did not know much about the wild gods¡¯ existence until they hade to the wildnds. But it was different now. By personally meeting Great Storm, they learned that wild gods exist. And when they met Violent Avnche, they found out that the monsters in the original whom they thought to be monsters from hell were actually the corrupted wild gods. ¡®Wild gods protected the tribes.¡¯ The tribesmen greatly respected the will of the wild gods they served, as could be seen in the case of Gentle Snow Breeze and Great Storm. In short, the will of the wild gods rather than the will of the tribal chiefs were more important in the establishment of the Eastern Alliance. Violent Avnche roughly understood the meaning of Cordelia¡¯s question, but it smiled and shook its head. ¡°Most of the wild gods would probably not participate. Each wild god has its own sanctuary and living in it is basic for us. An example right now would be Gentle Snow Breeze who made an alliance with Great Storm but still lives in her sanctuary in the basin.¡± Thus, the other wild gods would be more focused on protecting their sanctuaries at the present moment. ¡°Then what about Violent Avnche?¡± Wild Avnche was also a wild god, but it was staying in Great Storm¡¯snd. At Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude slightly turned his nce away while Violent Avnche indignantly shouted. ¡°You two destroyed it! You two!¡± My sanctuary! My rocky mountain! Of course, Violent Avnche¡¯s rocky mountain did notpletely copse, as half of it still remained. ¡°Ahem, ahem, moving on, Violent Avnche will be watching the Karaval then.¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡± When Violent Avnche grumbled and answered, Cordelia felt sorry, so she hugged the wild god who did not refuse the beautiful girl¡¯s touch. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Thebination of a bear cub and a beautiful girl was really nice to look at, but Jude was somehow ufortable with it, so he cleared his throat and then pulled Violent Avnche¡¯s hand before speaking. ¡°On another note, there¡¯s not much time left until the Karaval.¡± ¡°Yes, but I believe in Red Wind. She got the Phoenix and isn¡¯t she also practicing really hard now?¡± Violent Avnche was right. Red Wind¡¯s growth had been explosive after obtaining the Phoenix. In addition, Jude and Cordelia¡¯s customized teachings for her had been increasing her winning rate at Karaval day by day. ¡®Cordelia is teaching Red Wind¡¯s uniquebat method with the me spirit.¡¯ Because the character Yellow Storm yed the most after Cordelia was Red Wind. Moreover, Cordelia was better than Jude when it came to battle skills, so hepletely entrusted Red Wind¡¯s growth to Cordelia. ¡®My task is to take the role of her opponent, Sun Song.¡¯ Jude had memorized all of Sun Song¡¯sbat patterns. Of course, what Jude had memorized were thebat patterns of the corrupted Sun Song. However, only Sun Song¡¯s temperament and personality had changed when he was corrupted, so it was highly likely that his basic physical skills remained the same. ¡®She¡¯ll learn how to fight from Cordelia and then have a mock battle with me who can fight like Sun Song.¡¯ It was the best training method they could do for her right now. ¡®But time is running out too.¡¯ There were only four days left until the Karaval ¨C essentially, that was a little over three days. ¡®Will she make it on time?¡¯ ¡®She will make it.¡¯ Jude exchanged nces with Cordelia before he nodded once and turned to Violent Avnche. When he met eyes with Violent Avnche, the wild god suddenly pped its hands, jumped off the bed and said. ¡°Ah,e to think of it, there¡¯s something that I have to tell you.¡± ¡°Something to tell us?¡± They had just talked about the establishment of the Eastern Alliance, but was there something else they had to talk about too? When Violent Avnche saw Jude and Cordelia¡¯s curious eyes, the wild god had a little evil ¨C no, a happy smile and said. ¡°Your older brother and sister will arrive in two days.¡± Ga?l and Adelia would be returning after their vain efforts in going to Raptor Canyon. They wereing to meet Jude and Cordelia. They wereing to apprehend the two! ¡°Eueueueu¡­¡± Cordelia tightly shut her eyes while Jude held Cordelia¡¯s hand. Though he had made fun of Cordelia, Jude was also nervous when he thought about meeting them in person. But it was their inevitable fate. Four days left until the Karaval. Two days left until the invasion of their older brother and sister. The night grewte. *** It was a particrly sunny day. Jude and Cordelia stood side by side on the pure white snowfield as they looked into the distance but didn¡¯t find anyone. Two days after hearing about the situation from Violent Avnche¡­ That day had finally arrived. ¡°Huu¡­huu¡­¡± Cordelia took some deep breaths as her cheeks were stiff from tension. Jude asked as he nced at Cordelia. ¡°Are you nervous?¡± ¡°I am nervous.¡± ¡°It¡¯s all right, you have me.¡± ¡°I¡¯m nervous because of you, okay?¡± She had to protect Jude from Adelia. ¡°Huu¡­huu¡­¡± Cordelia took some deep breaths again before clenching her teeth and straightening her posture. Jude also straightened his posture like Cordelia and then looked straight ahead. ¡°They¡¯reing.¡± The two saw the other side. Ga?l and Adelia finally appeared. Chapter 99 - EPISODE 99 – CROSS (2)

Chapter 99 - EPISODE 99 ¨C CROSS (2)

Ga?l Bayer and Adelia Chase. The two did not have anyrge roles in the second episode of?Legend of Heroes. ¡®Because both Ga?l and Adelia were killed in battle.¡¯ The fate of the two did not change much whether it was on the Jude route or the Cordelia route. Ga?l was killed during the Northern Barbarians¡¯ Great Invasion event while Adelia was caught and lost her life in the ¡®S?len Kingdom¡¯s Capital Destruction event¡¯ that would happen a little moreter. Such were the fate of those two. ¡®So I actually don¡¯t know much about them.¡¯ Because he didn¡¯t have many chances to meet them in the game. All he knew about Ga?l was that he was good-natured, talented, and an older brother who had a huge age gap with Jude ¨C that was all that he knew. As for Adelia, all he knew was that she was a mother-like older sister who cared for her younger sister Cordelia. ¡®Of course, I was able to build a rough profile of the two bypiling various pieces of information that came out in the game.¡¯ Even so, he had very little absolute information about the two. ¡®But it¡¯s different now.¡¯ They suddenly became Jude and Cordelia one day ¨C no, Outboxer009 and Yellow Storm did not take over the bodies of the two. They were reincarnated as Jude and Cordelia and spent seventeen years before they awakened the memories of their previous lives. Therefore, Jude knew well about Ga?l, and Cordelia knew well about Adelia. ¡®My older brother.¡¯ He was his genuine sibling and no longer a simple NPC. ¡®He¡¯s kind, sincere, and reliable, but in fact, he has a delicate side too.¡¯ Despite being the eldest son of a famous family from the very beginning, there was one reason why he was still not married. That one reason. An incident that Ga?l went through when he was 20 years old. Jude stopped thinking about it and shifted his gaze a little to the side. He could see a brave woman proudly walking in precise steps from afar towards them. ¡®Adelia Chase.¡¯ A genius wizard who held the title of the youngest head in the history of the Royal Guard Magic Corps. He had spent 17 years as Jude, but he knew little about her. In the first ce, Jude wasn¡¯t even close with Cordelia in the past before they awakened their previous lives. He had never met Cordelia¡¯s older sister who was in the royal capital. ¡®But something¡­there has to be a reason, right?¡¯ For Cordelia to be so cautious and nervous. ¡°Huu¡­huu¡­ I can do it. I can do it. Protect. Protect.¡± Cordelia repeated the same words in a small voice, as if she was reciting a spell. She seemed to be strengthening her resolve in her own way. ¡®Cute.¡¯ How could she be not cute when he could see that she was trying to protect him and not anyone else? ¡°Okay, okay, okay.¡± Cordelia took several deep breaths again before she stepped forward and stood as if to hide Jude. It was a position that Jude often did to protect Cordelia, but it was the exact opposite this time. There was naturally a difference. Cordelia was taller than Jude before they had awakened their memories, but not now. That had beenpletely reversed in just a few months, and there was now quite arge difference between Jude and Cordelia. It was impossible topletely hide Jude with Cordelia¡¯s small and slender body, but she still puffed out her chest, stretched out her arms, and hid Jude as she took a deep breath for thest time. She kept herposure and looked straight ahead. And upon looking at the back of Cordelia¡¯s head, Jude happily smiled and then raised his head as he suddenly recoiled. ¡®Adelia.¡¯ Their distance had been narrowed quite a bit, so they could now see the other side¡¯s faces. Unlike Cordelia who had red hair like Count Chase, Adelia inherited their mother¡¯s blond hair. She had a whiteplexion and bright golden hair that seemed to be made by melting the sun. She was beautiful like Cordelia, but her eyes¡­her fierce eyes were no joke. Ba-thump, ba-thump, ba-thump, ba-thump- It felt like he was under heavy pressure. As he continued hearing the sound of his heartbeat as if it was an auditory hallucination, Jude gulped his saliva. Drops of sweat trickled down his tightly clenched fists. He was tense. She was someone who could make the person facing her feel fear. Was this how he felt when he fought against the named demon Bandaizel at Endymion? He could now understand why Cordelia was very nervous. ¡°Finally.¡± Adelia spoke. A beautiful yet terrifying smile spread out on her white face. Jude Bayer. The crystallization of evil who sweet talked, deceived,mitted acts of brutality, and even lured the kind, cute, adorable, lovely, and innocent Cordelia into making wrong choices! ¡®Finally!¡¯ They faced each other. The moment where she could let out her anger finally came. ¡°You!¡± Adelia raised her voice first. She raised up her hand to point at Jude before she tried to spill out her words. ¡°You kidnapped by deceiving my kind, cute, adorable, lovely, and innocent Cordelia¡­¡± That was it. Adelia¡¯s words trailed off in the end. Because she had felt Ga?l¡¯s gaze behind her back. It was just a gaze. He didn¡¯t exactly re. He just gazed at her. But Adelia unknowingly faltered. She couldn¡¯t say what she was originally going to say. ¡°No, your elopement¡­¡± Elopement. That was not it. That was not what she originally wanted to say. Adelia frowned as she was distressed for a while before she changed her words again. ¡°Honeymoon trip! Anyway, about your honeymoon trip!¡± Her words were already a huge mess. ¡®Eueueu, why am I doing this?¡¯ Why can¡¯t I say what I wanted to say? After all, Jude and Cordelia were already engaged and the Bayer family was a famous family that stood in equal rank with the Chase family, so she couldn¡¯t just thoughtlessly say rude words to him. But Ga?l¡¯s presence was greater than that. Ga?l might be bothered so she couldn¡¯t say anything that was too harsh. ¡®No, it¡¯s not. That¡¯s not it.¡¯ When Adelia groaned in her confusion and distress, Jude and Cordelia stared at Adelia in suspicion. ¡®What¡¯s wrong with her?¡¯ ¡®Something, there¡¯s something different from my usual sister.¡¯ Why? Why is she doing that? ¡°Ack! Anyway! Jude Bayer! You know what you¡¯ve done, right?!¡± After herpromise, the words she spoke out were not as harsh as she thought. Moreover, her terrifying aura and energy that resembled a demon from hell also disappeared, and her angry voice felt a little more like she was begging. But it looked a little different to Cordelia. She knew best about Adelia one way or another, so she flinched at her sister¡¯s words and then shouted with her arms stretched out widely to the side. ¡°I-It¡¯s not Jude¡¯s fault!¡± ¡°Cordelia?!¡± ¡°It¡¯s true! I definitely wasn¡¯t deceived¡­ We-we discussed it together!¡± What? You discussed the honeymoon trip together! Adelia flinched at Cordelia¡¯s argument, but she soon took another step and shouted. ¡°Then the letter! You wrote that you love Jude sooo much that you¡¯re head over heels with him! Are you saying that you purposely wrote down all that? It wasn¡¯t Jude¡¯s order?¡± ¡°Uwuwuwu¡­¡± If Cordelia had a little more reason left, she could have refuted that she had never written anything like that, but she had already been cornered from the start. She groaned in distress and then shouted with a face that seemed to say ¡®whatever.¡¯ ¡°That¡¯s right! I wrote that! I wrote all that! That¡¯s what I wrote!¡± It was correct that Jude had originally ordered her to do so. Jude was the one who gave her all those lines! Cordelia¡¯s face turned red, and her neck and ears were burning red too. It was a result of her embarrassment and shame, but Adelia¡¯s filter interpreted her reaction as shyness and her blushing as embarrassment. ¡°Co-Cordelia!¡± But it wasn¡¯t over yet. It had already happened. So to perfectly defend him, Cordelia dealt the final blow. ¡°I-I¡­c-can¡¯t live without J-Jude! I belong to Jude and Jude is mine!¡± It was the lines that were written in the script which she had thrownst time. Cordelia was so embarrassed that her eyes were slightly reddened with tears, but in the eyes of Adelia, she looked like she was pleading while crying. ¡°Co-Cordelia¡­¡± She seriously turned pale in surprise. Adelia staggered for a moment, but she was still one of the seven heads of the Royal Guard Magic Corps. She somehow corrected her posture, and then said after taking a deep breath. ¡°No, no, he¡¯s weak and only has a handsome face¡­¡± That was it. Adelia was trying to speak about what she usually thought about Jude, but her words trailed off in the end. It wasn¡¯t because of Ga?l this time. It was just because of the visible reality. ¡®W-what?¡¯ Jude Bayer. A child born with Gueumjulmaek. A sick but handsome boy who was stuck in his room and couldn¡¯t learn swordsmanship because he had a weak constitution. But it was not what she saw. The Jude in front of her was definitely a handsome boy, but he did not look weak and frail. ¡®When and how did he get so well?¡¯ Adelia had also heard of him obtaining Sri¡¯s Ne and using it to heal his Gueumjulmaek. But how can that make his body so well all of a sudden? First and foremost, he was tall. ording to the information Adelia herself gathered, Jude was about the same or a little shorter than Cordelia. But Jude was now much taller. There seemed to be a difference of at least ten centimeters. And he was bulky. He didn¡¯t exactly have bulging muscles, but he had broad shoulders and firm muscles too. Although Jude was dressed up quite a bit because of the snowy weather, Adelia had met numerous knights in the royal capital for business purposes. Just by looking at his fit, she could roughly tell the shape and thickness of the muscles. ¡®It¡¯s firm.¡¯ His muscles were well-honed and firm, and not the bulging kind. It was almost at the level of Lord Ga?l ¨C No, his was less than Ga?l¡¯s, but anyway, his bulky body couldn¡¯t make her speak or even joke about him being nothing but skin and bones. ¡®Something, I need to say something, but I can¡¯t.¡¯ In the first ce, it was difficult for her to say anything because Ga?l¡¯s gaze was on her. Adelia couldn¡¯t say anything because there was nothing bad she could say about Jude. And Jude did not miss the current situation. While Adelia was struggling in embarrassment and Cordelia was out of breath from her own struggle, Jude dug into that gap. He grabbed her. Jude took a step forward and held the shoulder of Cordelia who was standing as if to protect him. He pulled her towards himself, and Cordelia who found herself in Jude¡¯s arms was suddenly embarrassed in a different sense than before. ¡®Ju-Jude?¡¯ Cordelia had already been ustomed to being hugged or carried by Jude. But it was strange. She didn¡¯t care until now whether he hugged or carried her, but she was feeling strange now. Ba-thump, ba-thump. Her heart suddenly began to beat faster. As she looked up at Jude, her cheeks burned red in a different sense than before. ¡®W-what is this. It¡¯s strange.¡¯ Cordelia unknowingly became calm as she kept her head down, while Jude tightly hugged Cordelia and then opened his mouth. ¡°Lady Adelia.¡± Adelia reacted to her name being called. Jude faced her blue eyes that stared straight at him before he said without any hesitation. ¡°Cordelia and I are in love with each other.¡± There was a twitch. It was Cordelia. She had flinched before she reflexively raised her head to look at Jude and tried to shout with her gaze. ¡®W-who! You and me?¡¯ ¡®You and I. Just ept it for now. Adelia is watching, so act natural, okay? It would be easier if you give up.¡¯ ¡®Uwuwuwu¡­¡¯ Cordelia quieted down as she bowed her head again, but in Adelia and Ga?l¡¯s eyes, Cordelia¡¯s appearance seemed to be her shy affirmation. ¡°It was definitely wrong for us to go on a honeymoon trip. Yes, it was my fault too. Cordelia did nothing wrong. She was just following my unreasonable desire to spend a little more time alone with her.¡± Adelia looked slightly dispirited at Jude¡¯s desperate-sounding words, and Cordelia raised her head again. Because his words had taken a strange turn. ¡°N-no! It¡¯s not Jude¡¯s fault! I¡¯m the one who said that we should go! Yes, yes! It¡¯s because I¡¯ve been begging him that I wanted some time alone with him. I even left a letter, right?¡± She had decided to protect Jude from Adelia, but she couldn¡¯t let it all be Jude¡¯s fault. In fact, there was no need for Cordelia to do this due to the current atmosphere, but as her face became heated because of the series of events, it became difficult for her to think normally. Either way, Cordelia¡¯s deration was effective. A boy and girl who were begging that they should be punished instead of the other and insisting that that it was their own fault and not the other. Anyone could obviously tell that they were in love with each other to the point that they would resort to lies. ¡°Uuugh¡­¡± Adelia groaned before she deeply sighed in the end. She had really wanted to crush Jude, but now that she hade this far, she couldn¡¯t do it. What could she do when Cordelia said that she really loved him? And in fact, Adelia understood it. The fact that she couldn¡¯t do much when they actually meet each other. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Just then. Ga?l who had been silent until now, cleared his throat and drew everyone¡¯s attention. He then stepped forward and stood next to Adelia. He didn¡¯t use his hand like how Jude hugged Cordelia in his arms, but he simply stood next to Adelia. Adelia looked captivated and felt reassured at his support, but in the eyes of Jude and Cordelia who were watching the two, the thought that ¡®maybe¡¯ came into their minds. ¡°Jude, and Lady Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes, brother.¡± ¡°Yes, brother-inw.¡± Jude and Cordelia quickly responded. Ga?l smiled at being called ¡®brother-inw¡¯ before he said. ¡°I¡¯ve learned in many ways about the activities of you two while on the way here. I could also see with my own eyes how much the two of you care and love each other.¡± At Ga?l¡¯s words, Jude nodded but Cordelia was mentally shaking her head to the sides. ¡®No, it¡¯s not like that.¡¯ Her reason had somewhat returned, so her reaction was a subconscious opposition. But anyway, she was just mentally shaking her head in denial. Ga?l warmly exchanged nces with Jude before he took a deep breath. He then spoke with a rather stern face unlike before. ¡°But the actions of you two were clearly wrong. The disrespect you inflicted on Count Hr?svelgr was so great that it might be hard to be forgiven. You should know well that it also greatly hurt Lord Lucas who considered you two as his friends, right?¡± When Lucas was mentioned, both Jude and Cordelia had apologetic faces. And Ga?l was pleased with their reaction. ¡°That¡¯s not all. Because of your actions, our Bayer family and even the Chase family were struck with bad rumors.¡± Because there were groups of people who criticized and ridiculed the families on how they educated their children. Shame and guilt spread on Jude and Cordelia¡¯s faces after they felt sorry, and Ga?l¡¯s expression became even more strict. ¡°Of course, we should listen to your circumstances, but apart from that, there are many things that have happened because of what you two have done. And the responsibility for all that lies on you two.¡± Ga?l wasn¡¯t angry. He didn¡¯t even raise his voice. But Ga?l¡¯s words had some weight. ¡°Let¡¯s assume responsibility when we return. Instead of running away or avoiding it, you two should fix what you have done. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Yes, brother.¡± ¡°Yes, brother-inw.¡± When Jude and Cordelia obediently replied, a smile spread on the strict Ga?l¡¯s face again. Having reverted to his usual expression, he affectionately looked at Jude and Cordelia who stood side by side before he spoke. ¡°I am relieved though. Both of you are safe. I was very worried.¡± It was a carrot after a stick. No, he wasn¡¯t such a calctive person. Ga?l¡¯s pure heart deeply moved the two, especially Cordelia. And one more person. ¡®As expected, he¡¯s nice. He¡¯s the right person.¡¯ A smile spread over Adelia¡¯s face as she gazed at Ga?l¡¯s profile. Her face loosened and she smiled as if she was looking at Cordelia. ¡°Lady Adelia.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Erm¡­ Lady Adelia?¡± ¡°Yes? Ah, yes!¡± Adelia flinched in surprise and she straightened her posture, making Ga?l smile before he said to Jude and Cordelia again. ¡°Lady Adelia was very worried about the safety of you two. To the point where her emotions became intense. So how about thanking her properly?¡± Adelia and the two had been at odds as soon as they met each other. At Ga?l¡¯s words, Cordelia opened her mouth first. ¡°U-unnie. Thank you. And I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°Sorry and thank you.¡± Adelia felt awkward when Cordelia and Jude bowed to her, but she was happy at the same time. She would have never heard of this if only she herself hade. ¡°Because you were very worried.¡± As Ga?l smiled and said in a low voice, Adelia¡¯s lips curled up and she slightly nodded. And upon seeing her cheeks evidently changing color though it was light, Jude and Cordelia reacted. ¡®Wait a minute, is this perhaps that?¡¯ ¡®Perhaps?¡¯ Jude and Cordelia¡¯s eyes narrowed, and Cordelia opened her mouth again this time. ¡°Unnie.¡± Just one word. But because of her guilty conscience, Adelia flinched at that word and said in a fluster. ¡°I-it¡¯s nothing! There¡¯s nothing between Lord Ga?l and me! I-isn¡¯t that right, Lord Ga?l?¡± Her actions only made their suspicions deepen rather than stopping it. At the same time, her reaction proved that Adelia had the blood of Count Chase like Cordelia. And at this moment, Ga?l also proved that he was a man of Count Bayer, who had the same blood as Jude. ¡°Is there¡­nothing between us?¡± Adelia flinched at his unexpected remark. No, why is he suddenly saying that? I don¡¯t hate it, uh, I certainly don¡¯t hate it. ¡°N-no, that¡­¡± Adelia¡¯s face turned red, and her heart was pounding so hard that she stuttered and couldn¡¯t speak properly. And upon seeing that, the warmth in Jude and Cordelia¡¯s eyes subsided. ¡®I see, so it was like that.¡¯ ¡®Hehehe.¡¯ Their eyes had cooled down in the same way, but their reactions were a little different. Jude felt like he was really like his brother, while Cordelia was still going ¡®hehehe.¡¯ ¡°Anyway, instead of standing and talking like this, let¡¯s go inside and talk. I¡¯m sure we have a lot to talk about.¡± Ga?l didn¡¯t push ahead. He stealthily retreated and smoothly resolved the situation. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Lady Adelia.¡± ¡°Yes, Lord Ga?l.¡± With her shyness being twice than usual, Adelia answered and cleared her throat before she walked with Ga?l, while Jude watched the two and struggled in holding back hisughter before he stepped forward. Or more like, he tried to step forward. ¡®Jude.¡¯ ¡®Yes?¡¯ ¡®Can you let me go now that it¡¯s over?¡¯ ¡®No, not yet. Adelia can still see us.¡¯ Adelia could obviously see them, but she was so embarrassed, shy, and so on, that it was questionable if she could see them properly. ¡®Hehehe.¡¯ ¡®Anyway, let¡¯s go. You¡¯ll get used to it.¡¯ Jude walked while holding Cordelia on her shoulder, and Cordelia moved along with him. Thus, the two couples left the ce. Even though they were together from the beginning to the end, the fifth party felt like an outcast as it got up from its seat and brushed its butt. ¡°If they¡¯re going to be like this, why did they have to call me? Right?¡± The fifth party was Violent Avnche. Comining as it vented its thoughts to no one, the wild god looked in the direction Jude and Cordelia were heading. After it shrugged its shoulders, the bear cub began walking like a toddler. Chapter 100 - EPISODE 100 – GATHERING

Chapter 100 - EPISODE 100 ¨C GATHERING

Terms used in this chapter: Gap moe?¨C Japanese ng for a person/character who does somethingpletely contradictory to their usual habits, personality, character, or appearance, which then makes them look cutely attractive. The two men from the Bayer family and the two women from the Chase family gathered inside Jude and Cordelia¡¯s?love nest. T/N: Puns are back. ¡®Love¡¯ can also mean ¡®guest/reception room,¡¯ while ¡®nest¡¯ can also mean ¡®home.¡¯ Combine the two and it would also mean the house¡¯s reception room. ¡®Why are we seating like this?¡¯ ¡®Well, just trust me. Just think like it¡¯s part of our act.¡¯ Anyway, the group had sat down. The Great Storm tribe had a culture of sitting on the floor using cushions and not on chairs, so the two pairs were sitting while facing each other with a fire pit in between them. ¡®This isn¡¯t strange.¡¯ Because Jude and Cordelia sat beside each other and Ga?l and Adelia sat next to each other. Jude and Cordelia were still in a shoulder hug even when they were seated, while Ga?l and Adelia sat side-by-side but were not that close to each other. They were just at a proper distance from the other. ¡°Hehehe, hehehe.¡± Cordelia leaned her body on Jude¡¯s side as she mischievously looked at Adelia and Ga?l. She had already forgotten the series of actions Jude had done earlier that made her heart pound as she had now focused all her senses on Adelia and Ga?l. And it wasn¡¯t really strange. ¡®Because I¡¯m used to it.¡¯ Cordelia had been carried by Jude on his arms or his back almost every day since they entered the barbariannds, so she was ustomed to it already. ¡°Hehehe, hehehe.¡± The Cordelia who was afraid of Adelia¡¯s arrival was nowhere to be found. The only person sitting here now was a younger sister who had a cat¡¯s mouth and mischievous eyes as she let out strange sounds that seemed to say, ¡®I see, so that¡¯s what it was.¡¯ ¡°Ueueueu¡­¡± She was indeed Cordelia¡¯s older sister. Adelia was still blushing and groaning while she sat. She couldn¡¯t even look at Ga?l¡¯s side and just kept staring at the ground. ¡®She¡¯s shaking.¡¯ Her heart and mind were shaking. Jude¡¯s guess was right. The events that had just happened were ying over and over again in Adelia¡¯s mind in a beautified manner due to being blinded by love. ¡®Is there¡­nothing between us?¡¯ His gloomy eyes had looked sad and heartbroken, yet his voice and expression seemed to say that he didn¡¯t want to give up expecting. ¡®Why are you like this, why are you doing this to me? Uwaaa¡­¡¯ She did not let out a voice, but her reactions were really like Cordelia¡¯s. ¡®Adelia Chase.¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s older sister. One of the seven heads of the Royal Guards Magic Corps. A genius wizard who fully inherited Count Chase¡¯s talents. She was high-handed, hot-tempered, and even had violent tendencies, but- ¡®She really is Cordelia¡¯s older sister.¡¯ She was absolutely pretty. Unlike Cordelia¡¯s vivid red hair, her golden hair that seemed to shine even if it was not fluttering, was beautiful in itself. And her fairplexion and fierce eyes gave her a sharp and urban beauty. Furthermore, her cheeks were red from embarrassment and she was at a loss on what to do. Thanks to her unusual appearance, she was now exuding on what was called ¡®gap moe.¡¯ ¡®Hmm, but Cordelia is still better.¡¯ Because Cordelia was more beautiful than Adelia, and she was even lovely. Jude gave a subjective opinion that waspletely unobjective. He then nodded a few times to himself before turning his gaze towards Ga?l. ¡®Did he¡­ovee it?¡¯ The reason why the eldest son and undeniable heir of Count Bayer was still not married in histe twenties. He didn¡¯t know it when he was Outboxer009, but he now knew when he was reincarnated as Jude Bayer. The incident that happened to Ga?l. The incident that made Ga?l stop thinking about marriage and devote himself to training for some time. It was an incident that he could not ovee in the original story. No, perhaps he was ready to ovee it, but the tragedy of the barbarians¡¯ great invasion in the north robbed him of that opportunity. ¡®Older brother.¡¯ He was Jude Bayer¡¯s own brother and not just a supporting character of?Legend of Heroes 2. He was looking at the embarrassed Adelia with a warm smile. He was sitting calmly, but Jude could tell. Ga?l¡¯s earlobes were slightly red. He was somehow embarrassed like Adelia too. ¡®But still.¡¯ The way he looked at Adelia was really that of love. Do I have such a loving look when I gaze at Cordelia? ¡°Hehehe, hehehe.¡± Jude quickly looked back at Cordelia who was still giggling and letting out a silly snicker as she watched Adelia. In any case, they had to proceed with their conversation now. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± When Jude cleared his throat, Ga?l and Cordelia shifted their gazes to Jude. Adelia was still staring at the ground, but she seemed to have heard him given that she had flinched. ¡°Moving on¡­let¡¯s continue our conversation.¡± Because they had a lot of things that they really needed to talk about. ¡°You¡¯re right, Jude. Let¡¯s start with you. Did you be Iron Man Landius¡¯ disciple? And I heard that you became involved with the Guardians of the Holy Cross. Can you tell me when it all began?¡± Because the two were not involved with the Guardians of the Holy Cross until the time they had left Langesthei. At Ga?l¡¯s calmment, Adelia also stared at Jude and Cordelia after having recovered to some extent, and Cordelia also looked back at Jude. ¡®Are you going to tell them that?¡¯ ¡®Yes, I am.¡¯ After their eye conversation, Jude cleared his throat again and began talking. ¡°It all started when we met the Fairy Queen.¡± To summarize, Jude¡¯s story was as follows. The Fairy Queen warned them of the demon followers¡¯ attack at Langesthei, and also informed them of the witch. After the incident in Langesthei, they headed to the witch¡¯s forest to meet the witch¡¯s soul. They then heard a warning about Landius and the demon followers¡¯ atrocities that were happening across the northern borders. On their way to Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s territory, they met Landius and Jude became his disciple. They finally made a decision at that time too. ¡°Did you mean about your decision to go north and stop the demon followers?¡± ¡°Yes, brother.¡± But it was a story with very little evidence. Moreover, Count Hr?svelgr was trying to prevent Jude and Cordelia from leaving Vedrfolnir. Therefore, Jude and Cordelia were forced to escape Vedrfolnir using a honeymoon trip as an excuse. ¡°After that¡­¡± On their way to the north, they headed to Frost Anvil to cure Jude¡¯s illness, and while obtaining the Sunflower there, they ended up facing the demon followers. ¡°Because of that, I was convinced that something was going on in the barbariannds ¨C no, the wildnds.¡± They crossed the border via Lankebuste after that, and in the middle of that, they met the Ghostde Kamael. ¡°I¡¯m sure you already know what happened after that.¡± They became the guardians of the wildnds who busied themselves in stopping the plot of the group of demon followers called Devil¡¯s Eye from undermining the wildnds. ¡°As expected¡­it wasn¡¯t a simple runaway¡­no, I mean, an elopement.¡± ¡°I was immature and couldn¡¯te up with other excuses. Like you¡¯ve said, we¡¯ve troubled a lot of people.¡± When Jude made a sad expression, Ga?l felt sorry for him while Cordelia stealthily nudged him in the ribs. ¡®Do you think it worked?¡¯ ¡®Of course.¡¯ He was the one who created this story after all. With a very faint smile that only Cordelia could see, Jude spoke again as he looked again at Ga?l and Adelia. ¡°Older brother and Lady Adelia. Once the demon followers seize the wildnds, there will be a big war between the north and the barbarians again. That alone must be stopped.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. Moreover¡­as I traveled around thisnd myself, my thoughts changed a little. Perhaps we were too prejudiced against the barbarians.¡± But that was just it. The S?len Kingdom and the barbarians in the barbariannds have already confronted each other many times in the past, and all of those confrontations were not the plots of the demon followers. It was clear that those who lived in the wildnds were not beasts in human form but were humans too like those who lived in the northern part of the S?len Kingdom themselves, and as such, the kingdom¡¯s citizens did not harbor wild fantasies about that fact. In the first ce, the Argon Empire were humans too, but they were at odds with the S?len Kingdom too. ¡°I will help Lady Cordelia and Jude. What about you, Lady Adelia?¡± Ga?l clearly and decisively revealed his intentions and then asked Adelia, who replied after taking a deep breath. ¡°I will help too. Because it is for the defense of the kingdom.¡± After all, she was one of the seven leaders of the Royal Guard Magic Corps. The current situation had changed from a personal matter of catching a runaway younger sister while on her vacation to a public one for the defense of the kingdom, so it was natural for her to step forward as she was a public official of the kingdom. ¡°Thank you, Unnie.¡± ¡°Hmph, I¡¯m not doing this specifically for you.¡± ¡°Hehehe.¡± At the appearance of Cordelia and Adelia talking like Count Chase, Jude and Ga?l happily smiled. ¡°And Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, brother.¡± ¡°Maybe it¡¯s not just us.¡± At Ga?l¡¯s words, Jude and Cordelia tilted their heads together. It wasn¡¯t just Ga?l and Adelia. What were they talking about? ¡°No, how should I say it¡­ we did something like a runaway too.¡± ¡°Run¡­away?¡± ¡°Because we intentionally cut off contact with our families in order to cross the border.¡± ¡°Because it¡¯s obvious that our families would oppose it if we said that we¡¯ll cross the border after you.¡± Adelia remarked following Ga?l¡¯s words, and the other two looked at each other before they said something different from the other. ¡°Just as I thought.¡± ¡°Then, is Unnie in a honeymoon trip too?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not?! It¡¯s not like that!¡± Adelia reflexively shouted before she flinched at that moment and looked at Ga?l. Ga?l didn¡¯t say anything, and Adelia said as she fidgeted. ¡°N-no! What I meant to say is this! That¡­ I¡¯m not saying that there¡¯s nothing between Lord Ga?l and I, ah, no¡­eueueue¡­¡± Adelia eventually self-destructed as she blushed and groaned again, and everyone who saw Adelia thought. ¡®Cute.¡¯ Since when had Adelia been this cute so far? Everyone warmly looked at Adelia and upon feeling their gazes, Adelia was at a loss on what to do and repeated the vicious cycle of showing off her cuteness. The first person toe to his senses was Jude, and he asked while staring at Ga?l. ¡°So are you saying that¡­another person from our families wille to chase us?¡± ¡°Yes, that is highly likely.¡± People wereing after them one after another. ¡°However¡­we do not intend to clearlymunicate the current situation to our families.¡± Because they had gone across the border. It would be cumbersome if their families offered to actively help Jude and his party. ¡°Let¡¯s think of asking help from the family as ast resort.¡± If the scenario of the wildnds falling into the hands of the demon followers everes, then the whole north might have to take military action at that time. ¡°I understand.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Having said all that, Ga?l turned his gaze to Cordelia and said to her. ¡°Lady Adelia and I have already talked about it. We ask for your understanding, Lady Cordelia.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, brother-inw.¡± Cordelia modestly replied at the end and widely smiled, and Ga?l also warmly smiled. And one more person. No, one animal ¨C or rather, one being. ¡°Are you done?¡± At the question of Violent Avnche who was squatting in the corner of the tent, Jude and Cordelia nodded their heads while Ga?l and Adelia were a little embarrassed. ¡°Why in the world did you even call me for, why¡­¡± The grumbling Violent Avnche rose from its seat and sat down again in the middle as it faced the two couples and said. ¡°Well, now that you¡¯ve roughly organized everything, we¡¯ll be working together to defeat the demon followers, right?¡± ¡°We need to win the Karaval before that.¡± Violent Avnche nodded at Cordelia¡¯s words. ¡°Yes, the Karaval.¡± It would be held in the next two days and in addition, it would be a single-round match that would decide the fate of the Eastern Alliance and the whole wildnds. ¡°Unnie and brother-inw. I have a favor to ask.¡± Because Red Wind needed to be a little stronger in order to win. And to do that, they also needed the help of Ga?l and Adelia. ¡°So¡­¡± Cordelia nced at Jude before she narrated the conversation the two had the other day, and Ga?l and Adelia nodded their heads with serious faces. And in the middle of that, Violent Avnche thought alone. ¡®So why did you call for me in the end?¡¯ Did they really need me for this meeting? Either way, the conversation continued, and time also passed. *** ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°To thend of Gentle Snow Breeze.¡± ¡°To thend of Gentle Snow Breeze.¡± All of the barbarian tribes in the east began to move. From the small tribes with just a hundred people to therge tribes with over tens of thousands of people. The tribal chiefs led their warriors to the basin of Gentle Snow Breeze. To watch the Karaval hosted by the beautiful and wise wild god, Gentle Snow Breeze, and to witness the history of the formation of the Eastern Alliance that would influence the future. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Red Gale also led his warriors. He had to participate in this Karaval even though he had a serious illness and refrained from going outside. Great Storm sent off his greatest warrior. He blessed his greatest warrior¡¯s daughter, the girl who would decide the fate of the Eastern Alliance. ¡°Daughter of the wind, be the red and beautiful wind that will freely roam the world. You can be anything, you¡¯ll be able to do anything.¡± Though he had the form of a young boy, he was a wild god who had cared for the tribe for a long time. Red Wind epted Great Storm¡¯s blessings with gratitude. She promised him that she would do her best. ¡°Let¡¯s go too.¡± At Ga?l¡¯s words, Adelia was the first to nod while Cordelia mischievously giggled ¡®hehehe¡¯ as she pinched Adelia¡¯s side. And Jude sent his gaze towards the west. Devil¡¯s Eye. Haraken, a demon follower who dominated the Angry Bull tribe and the west. And the mighty demon who killed Count Bayer and Ga?l in the game. ¡®Are we in the second act?¡¯ The confrontation between the east and west. Karaval would be the beginning of it. ¡°Jude, Jude. Why are you frowning like that? Are you all right?¡± ¡°No, I was justposing myself. Is my princess all right too?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine. Let¡¯s quickly go and stop this nonsense.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Afterpleting their usual nonsensical talk, Jude took a step forward and tried to ignore Adelia who looked at them after hearing Jude say, ¡®my princess.¡¯ Together with Cordelia, they headed to thend of Gentle Snow Breeze where the Karaval would be held. And at that same time. Count Chase was writing a letter inside a luxurious lodging in Lankebuste. The recipient was his long-time friend, Count Bayer, the parent of his soon-to-be sons-inw. The content of his letter was not very long. Like Count Chase, it only contained a in exnation. ¡®It looks like the children have crossed the border.¡¯ They were not in the north. They were neither dead nor seriously injured. Then what remained was the barbariannds beyond the border. Count Chase paused his writing for a moment. He faintly smiled and added one more line. ¡®I¡¯ll go ande back.¡¯ This was enough. Count Chase sealed the letter and wore his red cloak. He held a space expansion bag that was filled with bags in one hand, and a jeweled staff in the other hand. ¡°To the north.¡± Count Chase left his lodging. He took a step towards the north. Chapter 101 - EPISODE 101 – KARAVAL (1)

Chapter 101 - EPISODE 101 ¨C KARAVAL (1)

Terms used in this chapter: Jon-mot?¨C Korean ng that is used when insulting someone as ¡®very ugly.¡¯ It¡¯s actually an abbreviation of ¡®?? ????¡¯ which means ¡®f*cking ugly¡¯ or ¡®you look so ugly.¡¯ However, it could also mean as ¡®you¡¯re not good enough.¡¯ Pavlov and ssical conditioning?¨C a behavior theory by Ivan Pavlov which proposed that a condition stimulus makes an organism react to something because it is associated with something else. A popr example is Pavlov¡¯s experiment of a dog salivating when it hears the sound of a bell because it was ¡®conditioned¡¯ to be fed while a bell is ringing at the same time. Outboxer009 met Yellow Storm again after Kang Jin-ho began actively ying?Legend of Heroes 2?in earnest a month after that ¡®incident.¡¯ ¡®I finally found?her.¡¯ T/N: Outboxer009 actually has no idea of Yellow Storm¡¯s real sex, and the Korean words do not use a he or she pronoun when referring to Yellow Storm. However, since Yellow Storm¡¯s character is Cordelia who is a female, I will be using female pronouns for reading convenience. In fact, he had been tracking her since the incident a month ago, so it was more like he finally faced her rather than found her. Yellow Storm had not logged into?Legend of Heroes 2?for nearly a week. ¡®Is she a student? No, she must be a student.¡¯ Moreover, she must be an elementary school student. Perhaps she wasn¡¯t able to log in because of the exam week. Regardless, what was important was that Yellow Storm had logged in again and the fact that Outboxer009 was now stronger than Yellow Storm. ¡®One month.¡¯ Over the past month, Outboxer009 had invested all of his abilities into?Legend of Heroes 2. He crammed the game settings in his head, he bought the game¡¯s virtual currency using real-life money, and except for his sleeping time, he immersed himself in?Legend of Heroes 2?for 24 hours a day. He himself honestly found it stupid and a huge waste of human resources, but he still did it. He really wanted to do it. ¡®How strange.¡¯ When he thought about it with his hand on his chest, he was certainly a good person, but that didn¡¯t mean he had a good personality. He was the type to hold a grudge. But it was little different this time. He had never been so absorbed in something like this just because of one insult he heard that was said in passing. ¡®Amazing.¡¯ Yellow Storm. You should be proud of it. There had been only three people in thest decade who had made me so immersed just for a particr day. Outboxer thought in his mind that his former colleagues would have frowned and clicked their tongues if they heard what he was doing, but he pushed that aside and looked ahead of him again. He smiled at the situation he expected. ¡°Aaah!¡± Yellow Storm fell from the onught of the unique monster which Outboxer009 had lured. [Help! Help!] Outboxer009 smiled as he saw the Help message pop up before he moved forward. Using scrolls and poisoned daggers that he prepared in advance, he defeated the boss monster that Yellow Storm had fought halfway before he turned around in a cool manner. And he met eyes with Yellow Storm. In the game, Yellow Storm had died and became a corpse, but it was clear that she was looking at him judging from the fact that a help window popped out. ¡®She doesn¡¯t recognize me.¡¯ It was a bit disappointing but that didn¡¯t matter. Outboxer009 took out the Resurrection Feather as if to resurrect her. He then said to Yellow Storm as he put back the feathers in his inventory to make her feel frustrated. ¡°You¡¯re bad at games.¡± Tuk- It was the sound of something breaking. Of course, he didn¡¯t actually hear it. But Outboxer009 could tell. The various messages that immediately popped up from Yellow Storm¡¯s corpse proved it. [The use of abusivenguage is subject to sanctions.] [The use of abusivenguage is subject to sanctions.] [The use of abusivenguage is subject to sanctions.] ¡°See you next time,?jon-mot.¡± Why does it feel so good doing this? Outboxer009ughed out loud and turned around. Several messages popped up from behind Outboxer¡¯s back. [The use of abusivenguage is subject to sanctions.] [The use of abusivenguage is subject to sanctions.] [The use of abusivenguage is subject to sanctions.] [Hey, you eeevil baastard!] ¡°Yes, sure. You¡¯re f*cking bad at games.¡± Outboxer009 waved his hand and left without looking back, and Yellow Storm struggled as she continued to yell over and over again. She was absolutely not beautiful, and truly had a nasty mouth. But it was the first meeting of the two that Yellow Storm remembered. *** And at the present. As he breathed in the fresh morning air, Jude looked down at the asleep Cordelia. The morning sun had risen and almost everyone around them had woken up and was preparing to leave. Despite all of that, she alone was still traveling in the world of dreams. As Cordelia talked in her sleep and babbled like a baby, Jude quietly watched Cordelia before he faintly smiled and drew his face closer. He slightly shook her shoulder and gently said. ¡°My princess, you should get up soon.¡± Cordelia responded to his gentle voice. It had already been more than two months since she traveled with Jude. She had heard Jude¡¯s voice every morning to the point that it was like Pavlov and the dog drooling at the sound of the bell, so when she heard the sound of him calling her ¡®my princess,¡¯ she naturally called him ¡®Daddy.¡¯ ¡°Mmnnn¡­ Daddy¡­ I don¡¯t want to¡­ I¡¯m going to sleep more¡­ Cordelia want to sleep more¡­¡± Cordelia was usually bad in waking up early so she didn¡¯t open her eyes and just murmured. Jude shook Cordelia¡¯s shoulder again and said. ¡°Don¡¯t say that, my princess should get up now, okay? It¡¯s morning, morning.¡± ¡°Unnnnn¡­¡± Cordelia grunted again and instead of covering herself with a nket, she feebly moved her arms forward and continued to talk while still half-asleep in dreand. ¡°Unnnn¡­ Daddy, please¡­ Carry me on your back so I could sleep more¡­ Cordelia will be a kangaroo¡­¡± That was it. If it was the usual, Jude would have pampered and let Cordelia continue sleeping on his back so she could have more time to sleep, but it was different this time. She instantly became sober and opened her eyes. ¡®A gaze?!¡¯ A sharp and stabbing gaze that came flying from behind her. Cordelia¡¯s instincts crazily rang like a bell, and due to that, Cordelia finally came to her senses and saw. ¡°My¡­ Prin-cess? Da~ddy? Kangaroo?¡± There was a blonde beauty whose arms were on her hips as she coldly stared at Cordelia. Cordelia herself loved that person dearly, but at the same time, that person was her older sister. Not as her mother but as her older sister. ¡°Eets nott!¡± With an odd scream, Cordelia jumped up from her spot and Adelia¡¯s eyebrows twitched as she returned what Cordelia had done to her yesterday. ¡°Hehehe, hehehe.¡± So that¡¯s what you normally call each other. Youpletely call him daddy. You are very used to being called a princess. You seem to be carried often enough on his back that you even ask him that while sleeping, huh? ¡°Hehehe, hehehe.¡± Cordelia struggled at Adelia¡¯s lukewarm gaze and eventually covered her face with both hands. ¡°N-no. I mean¡­ That¡­¡± The sight of a beautiful girl, who was red down to her neck and crouching on the bed as she was at a loss on what to do, caught everyone¡¯s attention as they stopped what they were doing and looked at Cordelia. And Cordelia¡¯s unrivalled cuteness naturally intensified. ¡°Hmm.¡± And one more person. Like everyone around him, Ga?l was getting ready to leave but he looked towards the two sisters and warmly said without hiding his feelings. ¡°Cute.¡± ¡°Adorable.¡± Jude agreed with a happy smile, and the brothers simultaneously opened their mouths again. ¡°Lady Adelia.¡± ¡°Cordelia.¡± The brothers looked at each other. Jude spoke first. ¡°No, brother. In that scene right now¡­that, Lady Adelia¡¯s cute point is¡­¡± He was so embarrassed that he unconsciously spoke in detail. And Ga?l calmly replied as if proving that he was ten years older than the other. ¡°Don¡¯t you think she¡¯s cute when she teases her younger sister? I¡¯ve been thinking about it for a long time, but Lady Adelia really resembles Count Chase.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Jude had no choice but to agree without saying anything this time. ¡°Anyway, isn¡¯t it about time for you to help her?¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Jude grinned and quickly approached Cordelia who was struggling and searching a solution by herself instead of actively sending a help message. And half an hourter. Standing in the middle of the ranks of the Great Storm tribe as they moved towards Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s basin, Jude nced at his side. To avoid standing out in the gathering of the various tribes, Cordelia wore the traditional clothes of the Great Storm tribe as she walked while sulking. ¡®How mysterious.¡¯ Her rabbit ears were drooping as if to reflect her emotions. Of course, her rabbit tail too. ¡°Hey, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Why.¡± At her curt reply, Jude drew his face closer and whispered. ¡°Do your legs hurt? Should I carry on my back?¡± Cordelia would normally have said okay at his piggyback offer, but it was different this time. She frowned and said as she pped Jude¡¯s upper arm. ¡°Go away, you demon.¡± Wouldn¡¯t everyone look at her if she got carried on his back? Especially Adelia. ¡°Hey, aren¡¯t you doing this on purpose?¡± ¡°Huh? What?¡± ¡°Stop pretending to be ignorant. You deliberately called me princess when you woke me up earlier, right?¡± Because Jude was the only one in the world who knew best on how she would react. Wasn¡¯t he intentionally making her feel troubled? ¡°Heeey, what kind of person do you see me as?¡± ¡°A scammer and an evil b*stard? A beast? A thief?¡± ¡°No, even if I was like that in the past, haven¡¯t you been increasingly saying whatever you want as time goes on?¡± ¡°But you admitted that you were like that in the past.¡± ¡°Hey, Lady Cordelia?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Anyway, I was troubled because of you.¡± ¡°Umm¡­ I¡¯m sorry about that. Would you like a piggyback ride as an apology?¡± ¡°No, you demon. Stop tempting a goodmb into your evil ways.¡± She could feel Adelia¡¯s sharp gaze on her back even until now. If Adelia just took one more step forward, Cordelia would be able to hear her saying ¡®hehehe, hehehe¡¯ at that moment. ¡°Well¡­it can¡¯t be helped then.¡± Jude shrugged and Cordelia said as her shoulders fell. ¡°Ugeueu¡­ it wasfortable when it was just the two of us.¡± About a third of their traveling time had Cordelia being carried on Jude¡¯s back orfortably seated on a sled pulled by Jude. ¡°You¡¯re right, I liked it when it was just the two of us.¡± The na?ve Cordelia nodded at Jude¡¯s words. And a little ahead of those two, Red Wind was riding a big wagon as she hugged Violent Avnche and said. ¡°Violent Avnche.¡± ¡°Yes, Red Wind.¡± ¡°Can I do well?¡± With the help of Jude and Cordelia, she was able to be friends with the Phoenix, a powerful ancient spirit. Of course, the reborn Phoenix was just like a baby, so it was not yet able to use its power like in its prime, but a Phoenix was still a Phoenix. Compared to Red Wind¡¯s normal strength, she had be three times ¨C no, at least five times stronger than before. ¡®Unnie taught me a lot of things.¡¯ Cordelia was vastly knowledgeable about spirits despite being a wizard. She gave detailed instructions on how Red Wind should fight and how to fight together with the Phoenix while fully understanding each other¡¯s thoughts and intentions, which was unexpectedly perfect for her. ¡®Oppa helped me a lot too.¡¯ She wondered where he learned it, but Jude almost perfectly reproduced thebat method of Sun Song, her opponent in Karaval. Red Wind had obviously not directly met Sun Song, so it was unclear whether thebat method Jude demonstrated was exactly the same as Sun Song¡¯sbat method, but Red Wind trusted Jude. Since Jude said it was true, it must be true. ¡®His big brother also helped.¡¯ It was only one day, but Ga?l also helped her. Jude was smaller than Sun Song, so even if he fully reproduced Sun Song¡¯sbat method, there would inevitably be some missing parts, but Ga?l made up for thatcking parts. ¡®They¡¯re really amazing.¡¯ How could they easily imitate other people¡¯sbat method like that? Ga?l reproduced Sun Song¡¯sbat method almost as perfectly as Jude, and Red Wind was able to acquire a more realistic sense of battle. And now. Red Wind felt anxious. It was unavoidable. The fate of the wildnd was literally at stake in this Karaval. Red Wind was a young girl. Her experience wascking enough to the point that the only thing she had been responsible so far was caring for the horses they raised at home. For her, Karaval was too big of a burden. No matter how hard she trained, she felt like her whole body was overwhelmed by fear every time she opened her eyes in the morning. ¡®What if I don¡¯t win?¡¯ If she lost. Then the de Song tribe would be the head of the Eastern Alliance. Obviously, the Great Storm tribe would not suddenly be annihted if the de Song tribe became the leader of the alliance. It was a gathering of the east to liberate the west that was upied by the demon followers. Whether she won or lost, the Great Storm tribe and de Song tribe were allies, not enemies. But even so. ¡°Red Wind.¡± ¡°Yes, Violent Avnche.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s going to be fine.¡± ¡°Really¡­?¡± ¡°Yes, trust me. And them too.¡± ¡°Unnie and oppa?¡± ¡°Yes, didn¡¯t they train you? I hate to admit it, but they are incredible people. I understand why the Golden Dragon King recognized those two as guardians even though they were not from the wildnds.¡± If Jude and Cordelia had note, Violent Avnche itself would have been corrupted with its sanctuary and became a monster. Gentle Snow Breeze would have also be a crazy monster, and the Raptor Canyon would have be thend of demons. Blue Whisker¡¯s sacred ce would have been taken away by the demon followers too. The two had stopped all of that. Therefore, Violent Avnche couldn¡¯t help but admit the two¡¯s contributions. ¡°Even if you don¡¯t believe in yourself¡­you can trust those two, right?¡± ¡°Yes, I trust them.¡± Because the two had saved her from the auction house themselves. ¡°It¡¯s a temporary measure. After all, you have to believe in yourself. But if you find it hard right now¡­trust those two then. And don¡¯t you know those two well either? If your skills weren¡¯t enough, they would have somehow pestered you excessively even now.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± The two were really strict when she was training. A girlish smile spread over Red Wind¡¯s face while Violent Avnche happily smiled and spoke. ¡°It¡¯s your first time going to Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯snd, right?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s my first time.¡± ¡°Then you¡¯ll see something wonderful. There¡¯s a wide field in front of the basin. The waves of the green fields as it sway and follow the wind are truly spectacr.¡± ¡°Uwaa, really?¡± ¡°For real.¡± A fresh green field that is not covered by snow. It was not far now. She would see it soon. However. ¡°What is this?¡± Why can¡¯t I see it? Why are there widespread signs of a fire everywhere? Where did the field go? Why do I keep thinking of my copsed rocky mountain? What happened? What ha- ¡°No way.¡± Violent Avnche¡¯s head turned. Red Wind also looked at the same ce as the wild god. And a flinch. Cordelia instinctively felt the gazes of the two and flinched. It was impossible for her, but she still tried to avoid Violent Avnche and Red Wind¡¯s gazes. [Can youe here for a minute?] She heard Violent Avnche¡¯s voice in her head, and Cordelia pulled Jude¡¯s arm. ¡°Tsk, it can¡¯t be helped.¡± Jude took the lead as if hiding Cordelia as he faced Violent Avnche, but the wild god stared at Cordelia instead of Jude. The wild god sent a nce to Cordelia, who was kinder, more honest, and more innocent than Jude, as it asked for an exnation. ¡°Uh¡­that is¡­¡± ¡°That is.¡± ¡°That is, the field¡­¡± ¡°The field?¡± ¡°Th-that, there was, there was not.¡± What is she talking about? Instead of continuing to speak more, she pulled Jude¡¯s arm hard, and Jude gave his own exnation again. *** ¡°They are the gods of destruction, the gods of destruction.¡± When Violent Avnche heartfully said that, the ranks of the Great Storm tribepletely stopped moving. Because they have reached the entrance to Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s basin. ¡°We wee the Great Storm tribe!¡± People gathered from all over the ce as Fine Snow and Clear Snow, the great shamans of the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe, shouted together. Most of them were from the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe who gathered to wee them, but some of them were the heads of other tribes who came from far away for this Karaval. ¡°Violent Avnche, my older brother.¡± ¡°Gentle Snow Breeze, it¡¯s been a while.¡± Violent Avnche jumped off the wagon and ran towards Gentle Snow Breeze on all fours, and Gentle Snow Breeze tightly hugged the bear cub in her arms. ¡°You¡¯ve be so cute.¡± ¡°It somehow happened.¡± ¡°But you¡¯re still my older brother. I feel reassured with you here. Thank you foring.¡± Gentle Snow Breeze smiled before releasing Violent Avnche from her arms. She then faced Red Gale, the chieftain of the Great Storm tribe. ¡°Red Gale greets Gentle Snow Breeze.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you, Red Wind and the Great Storm tribe. I wee your visit here.¡± The friendly attitude of Gentle Snow Breeze deeply moved not only Red Gale but also the entire Great Storm tribe. Though in the form of a little girl, she was clearly a wild god, someone who transcended humans and a target of worship for those living in the wildnds. ¡°Then, let¡¯s get inside first. Take a rest from the fatigue of your journey.¡± It was the moment when Gentle Snow Breeze said that. Violent Avnche suddenly turned around, and so did Cordelia, whose senses were the best amongst all the people here. They hadn¡¯t seen it yet. They didn¡¯t hear a sound. But after a while. They heard footsteps. The vibrations from a distance shook the ground, and the sound of a big horn came with the wind. ¡°The de Song.¡± A tribe of belligerent warriors who repeatedly fought against the Northern Jackdaws. And the person who lead them. It was no exaggeration to say that he, the chieftain of the de Song tribe, was the strongest warrior in the east at a time when Red Gale was sick. ¡°Nine des.¡± And his son, Sun Song, a participant of the Karaval. They advanced forward with severalrge and colorful gs. As they loudly sang and yed drums, they approached the entrance of the basin. One day left until the beginning of the Karaval. Chapter 102 - EPISODE 102 – KARAVAL (2)

Chapter 102 - EPISODE 102 ¨C KARAVAL (2)

Terms used in this chapter: Weight ss?¨C a measurement weight range for boxers in boxing. Flyweight?¨C weight division in boxing for boxers who weighed between 48.98 ¨C 50.80 kg. Heavyweight?¨C weight division in boxing for boxers who weighed 90.71 kg and above. Marten?¨C a slender-bodied carnivorous mammal of the weasel family that lives in the northern hemisphere. Ecological disturbance?¨C a force of nonbiological or biological origin that brings about mortality/death to organisms and changes in pattern in their territorial behavior in the ecosystems they inhabit. If the Great Storm tribe inherited the blood of the Winter Elves, one of the ancient elves, then the de Song tribe inherited the blood of the Hyjal Orcs, one of the ancient orcs. ¡®Just as I thought.¡¯ The Great Storm tribe or the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe that they had met so far were somewhat different from what the people of the northern part of the S?len Kingdom thought of as ¡°barbarian.¡± The barbarians were likerge, fierce, and wild beasts. This was their prejudice, but the de Song tribe resembled what the northerners thought of barbarians in many ways. ¡®Because the de Song tribe or the Angry Bull tribe were the ones who led the invasion every time in the first ce.¡¯ It had always been the Angry Bull or the de Song tribes who directly fought against the Jackdaws for hundreds of years. ¡®But it¡¯s a little different.¡¯ In the game, they looked more like beasts or monsters than ordinary orcs, but at the present, they looked more like humans than orcs because they had not been corrupted. Their heads wererger than ordinary humans, and they hadrge bodies and broad shoulders. Their upper bodies wererger and bulkier than their lower bodies that it looked like an inverted triangle. They looked like orcs up to this point, but their faces were different. The tips of their ears were a little sharp and their overall appearance was masculine and bold, but their faces itself were clearly that of humans. ¡®And gray skin.¡¯ The clearest proof that they possessed the blood of the Hyjal Orcs. ¡°Nine des greets Gentle Snow Breeze.¡± Their leader, Nine des, courteously greeted her with a raucous voice. One way or another, for him who was born and grew in the wildnds, the wild gods were beings they worshipped and respected. ¡°Wee, Nine des.¡± Gentle Snow Breeze smiled at Nine des whose hair was tied into nine braids as if to reflect his name. The wild god then nced at Sun Song. ¡°You are Sun Song.¡± ¡°It¡¯s an honor to meet Gentle Snow Breeze.¡± Sun Song politely bowed and greeted her. And Cordelia stared at such Sun Song with narrowed eyes. ¡®Umm¡­doesn¡¯t he seem to be better than the one in the game?¡¯ ¡®Somehow.¡¯ Because in the game, he was literally a raving beast. Compared to then, his personality seemed calm, and he was a little smaller in size. Or more like, his height was the same, but his muscle mass was different. ¡®He¡¯s still big.¡¯ He was roughly 2 meters tall. In addition to the characteristics of the de Song tribe whose upper bodies were greatly developed, his shoulders, arms, fists, and so on, were much bigger than a normal human, making him lookrger than he really was. ¡°Eueue¡­it¡¯s not fair. Their weight sses are iparable.¡± Cordelia let out a very small groan. And she was correct. Aside from being six years older, Red Wind was basically no match for his weight ss. Red Wind¡¯s height was in the lower 160¡¯s. She only weighed 40kg since she inherited the lightness of the elves. On the other hand, Sun Song seemed to be around 150kg, so their fight was more like a fight between a flyweight and a heavyweight. It was unfair. Everyone who saw it could tell that it was an unfair match. ¡°But that¡¯s why we can do it too, right?¡± Cordelia nodded at Jude¡¯s words. It wasn¡¯t just Sun Song who could take advantage of this notion of unfairness. ¡°That¡¯s right. Let¡¯s show them unfairness too. Let¡¯s show them the power of capitalism.¡± ¡°Something seems to be wrong with your words¡­but then again, it doesn¡¯t sound very wrong.¡± Jude grinned before he and Cordelia watched Sun Song again. Red Gale was greeting Nine des. ¡°It¡¯s not as bad as I thought, huh?¡± ¡°Because they thought of each other as rivals. If he was a real rival¡­ he would hate seeing Red Gale¡¯s sickly appearance.¡± Just as Jude said, Nine des had a very bitter expression when he saw the weak Red Gale, and he was furious at the west ¨C or to be exact, the Angry Bull tribe and Haraken. ¡°The alliance itself will work out well.¡± ¡°The remaining question is, who will lead it?¡± If Nine des¡¯ tribe gained supremacy, the fight against the demon followers could even lead to a fight against the northern part of the S?len Kingdom. ¡°Let¡¯s believe in Red Wind.¡± ¡°Yes, and the power of capitalism.¡± Cordelia nicely smiled as her canines glistened, and Jude looked back at Red Wind. *** Karaval traditionally started in thete afternoon, and supposedly came to an end when the sun set. ¡°It¡¯s time¡­ I guess we should start.¡± As Gentle Snow Breeze stared at the sky and spoke, Violent Avnche who was sitting next to her also nodded. In fact, the chieftains and warriors of various tribes had already gathered. The venue of the fight was in the field where Jude and Cordelia had ¡®cleared away¡¯ (because they had burned it down). An arena was built by driving stakes into the ground to mark the area, and colored gs that symbolized each tribe were also set up, creating a fairly decent stage. ¡°Here theye.¡± The first one that appeared was the de Song tribe. The group headed to their ce in the north before sitting down, while their opponents, the Great Storm tribe, naturally sat down in the south. ¡°Everyone¡¯s excited.¡± The faces of the Great Storm tribe and the de Song tribe were filled with tension, but not for the other tribes. The other tribes couldn¡¯t enjoy it because the nature of the alliance would change depending on which tribe wins, but the overall atmosphere was still close to a festival. ¡°Because it¡¯s Karaval.¡± Violent Avnche nodded at Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s words. Karaval. A violent custom of determining everything through a duel. But if one thought about it a little seriously, Karaval was rather the violence to prevent brutal violence. ¡®Because it ended conflicts between tribes through a one-on-one fight.¡¯ It was obvious that if two tribes directly fought each other, much blood would flow. Death, killings, and loss of possessions. If such a thing was repeated in the wildnds that was already difficult to live in, the only thing left was the annihtion of both sides. So Karaval was created. It was measure that allowed the tribes to ept the results and minimize the damage at the same time. ¡®Therefore, it¡¯s not just a one-on-one confrontation.¡¯ Because Karaval was a substitute for wars between tribes. It was a means to show off the capabilities of the entire tribe. Our tribe can train such a strong warrior. Our tribe can strengthen a warrior to this extent. Boom! Boom! Boom! Fine Snow and Clear Snow beat the drums to announce the opening of the Karaval. The ferocious chieftains and warriors suddenly yelled out cheers around the arena, and the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe gave their enthusiastic support too. ¡°Gentle Snow Breeze and Violent Avnche are here to witness this event! I hereby dere the beginning of the Karaval!¡± ¡°Uoooooooahh!¡± The atmosphere heated up as hundreds of people cheered at the same time. Gentle Snow Breeze and Violent Avnche had flushed faces at the heated atmosphere. The children of the wildnds were also excited and happy as they were influenced by the wild gods who took care of them. And so were Fine Snow and Clear Snow, who became excited too. Although Fine Snow was usually serious, he wasughing with lively eyes before he shouted as he pointed to the de Song tribe with a drumstick. ¡°Warrior of the de Song tribe! Sun Song!¡± Boom! Boom! Boom! ¡°Uwooooooaaaah!¡± The whole field shook with the loud cheers of the de Song tribe. And Sun Song came forward. His outfit waspletely different from when he first entered thend a few hours ago. ¡°Woah! Isn¡¯t that a purple marten¡¯s leather?! They say that it can block any de despite it being leather!¡± ¡°Wow! They have such a precious item?¡± ¡°After all, the de Song tribe are incredibly wealthy!¡± Smiles spread on the faces of the de Song tribe¡¯s warriors, including Nine des, as the tribal chieftains and warriors chattered when they saw the marten leather clothes Sun Song was wearing. ¡°That isn¡¯t all though? Look at that bracelet. That¡¯s obviously Murmur ck steel. It¡¯s an equipment that grants superhuman strength to its wearer!¡± ¡°Woah! That means the de Song tribe defeated a Murmur!¡± ¡°You are right! It is as you have guessed. It¡¯s a feat worthy of the de Song tribe.¡± Nine des shrugged his shoulders and everyone from the de Song tribe cleared their throats. But it was still not the end. ¡°What he¡¯s wearing on his neck is Bardo¡¯s Light. Have you heard of it?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve heard of it. Isn¡¯t that a mysterious gem that can only be collected by luck from the bodies of Bardo, which are hard to catch and see?¡± ¡°That¡¯s it. It¡¯s a very precious, expensive, and amazing item that bestows its wearer a mysterious power.¡± ¡°As expected of the de Song tribe. But how do you know all these things?¡± ¡°I¡¯m a little knowledgeable.¡± In fact, the de Song tribe had dispatched a storyteller to intentionally create such an atmosphere. ¡°Kyaa¡­look at Sun Song¡¯s imposing body. The purple marten leather garments he¡¯s wearing, the Murmur¡¯s Steel Bracelet, and Bardo¡¯s Light Ne!¡± ¡°His equipment is overwhelming.¡± ¡°Is this even a fight?¡± Roars ofughter spread, and Nine des¡¯ smile deepened. ¡°How much money did they spend for today?¡± The use of various expensive equipment was not just to boost Sun Song¡¯s fighting power. It was to show off the power and wealth of the de Song tribe to the various tribes, and to inform to the world that the de Song tribe was the rightful tribe to lead the alliance. ¡°Of course, his performance is excellent too.¡± Even if he didn¡¯t have those equipment, Sun Song¡¯s physical abilities were overwhelming. It was even boosted by his expensive equipment, so Red Wind was no match for Sun Song no matter how hard she tried. ¡°Haha, I guess the other side would being out now.¡± ¡°Poor thing. If she hade out first, she wouldn¡¯t look so awkward.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. I feel so sorry for her.¡± It was clear that she wouldn¡¯t be a match for Sun Song no matter how hard they adorned her with items. She must have done her best to adorn herself, so how could they not feel sorry for her now that she was being ridiculed? ¡°I heard that Red Wind was a young girl, so it¡¯s really pitiful.¡± ¡°Would she be crying even before the fight begins?¡± ¡°Hahaha! That¡¯s ridiculous!¡± ¡°But don¡¯t you think she¡¯ll end up crying?¡± ¡°Perhaps yes. She¡¯ll be sad at her miserable reality and cry.¡± As the warriorsughed out loud, Nine des raised his hand to calm everyone down. ¡°That¡¯s enough. They can hear it.¡± But there was a deep smile on his face. It was regrettable that he could not directly fight Red Gale, whom he had considered his rival for many years, but he continuously smiled at the thought of winning the Karaval with an overwhelming victory. ¡°Now, let¡¯s continue watching.¡± What would she do when shees out? Nine des looked at the other side, and Clear Snow soon shouted as he raised the drumstick high. ¡°Warrior of the Great Storm tribe! Red Wind!¡± ¡°Uwoooahh!¡± The Great Storm tribe cheered, and Red Wind came forward. Soon after, astonishment spread throughout the tribal chieftains and warriors. ¡°Se-seriously?!¡± ¡°H-how?¡± ¡°Eeeeh?!¡± Everyone couldn¡¯t even speak properly. The de Song tribe, who was in high spirits earlier, was also mesmerized for a moment as their mouths were left open. She was sparkling. She was shy and brilliant from head to toe. It was not an exaggeration, because Red Wind¡¯s entire body was really sparkling. She had a tiara on her head, earrings on her ears, ne on her neck, bracelets on her arms, rings on all her ten fingers, a sparkling belt, trinkets around her thighs, and anklets on her ankles. It wasn¡¯t just shy ornaments. Breathless voices flowed from the mouths of those who were watching. ¡°T-that¡­ isn¡¯t that a dragon scale?¡± It was the blue shoulder armor on Red Wind¡¯s shoulders. They were right, as it was really dragon scales. Because Jude earnestly packed the scales that fell off when Blue Whiskers was hit directly by the curse. ¡°Seriously! Look at that! Isn¡¯t that Murmur¡¯s steel?¡± ¡°No! It¡¯s not just Murmur¡¯s steel! That¡¯s the steel of Murpara, the higher species of Murmur!¡± It was a correct answer again. Thanks to Kan, Jude and Cordelia received a lot of materials from the rare named monsters. They had so much that their sled was filled with rare items. ¡°W-what the heck. Are you saying that she¡¯s wearing all that in her body?¡± ¡°T-the Great Storm tribe had that much wealth!¡± The tribal chieftains and warriors were astonished, and the de Song tribe led by Nine des could only shake and clench their teeth but couldn¡¯t say anything. And at their appearance, Cordelia puffed out her chest and sneakilyughed. ¡°Heu heu heu, heu heu heu heu.¡± This is the power of capitalism. You have no such thing in your house, right? ¡°Agh! Sun Song! Take it out!¡± When one of the de Song tribe members suddenly shouted, Sun Song flinched before taking out what he had brought from his waist. ¡°Oooh! Is that a scroll?!¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t those only found in ancient ruins!¡± Scrolls containing magic were rare in the wildnds where shamanism was more advanced than magic. However, Sun Song took out as many as five scrolls from his waist. ¡°Oooh! Is he going to use all five in this Karaval?¡± ¡°As expected, as expected of the de Song!¡± The atmosphere was somewhat reversed. And Cordelia smiled again. ¡°Scroll? A scroll?¡± The reason for that smile was¡­ When Red Wind opened the pouch on her waist, a second wave of astonishment spread out in the entire field. A bunch of scrolls, no ¨C something as great as a scroll book was taken out. ¡°This is my Jude, okay? This is MY Jude, okay?!¡± Cordelia puffed out her chest while Jude had a faint smile. He had stayed up all night drawing all of that, but Cordelia¡¯s smile and the reactions around her seemed to wash away all his fatigue. ¡°Ughh¡­ Uuugh¡­¡± The faces of Nine des and the de Song tribe were crumpled, and Red Gale only had a satisfied smile. And Violent Avnche said. ¡°As expected, those two are ecological disturbances.¡± Jude and Cordelia. When Violent Avnche first met them, they didn¡¯t have anything, but they have so much stuff now. ¡°Hey! Sun Song! Use the scroll! Quality over quantity!¡± Since both sides have gone to their positions, the Karaval had formally begun. Sun Song followed his father¡¯s orders and tore the first scroll. ¡°¡± ¡°.¡± Red Wind also tore a scroll after he did. The magic dispelled the magic so Sun Song hurriedly tore the second scroll. ¡°¡± ¡°.¡± ¡°¡± ¡°.¡± ¡°¡± ¡°.¡± ¡°Eh¡­uh¡­ ¡± ¡°.¡± Five scrolls were torn from his side, and five scrolls were torn in return from her side. ¡°T-that¡¯s unfair¡­¡± Someone who was watching eximed as the now five useless scrolls rolled on the floor and got swept by the wind. But from that moment on. It really became unfair. ¡°S-sorry.¡± Red Wind unconsciously apologized as she also began tearing two scrolls at a time. ¡°, .¡± ¡°, .¡± The magic spells brilliantly enveloped Red Wind. Nine des nkly stared at the sight before he hastily shouted to his son. ¡°Sun Song! Attack her!¡± He could no longer just watch her strengthening herself with the scrolls. Sun Song also thought the same. He had already kicked the ground before Nine des had shouted. ¡°Uooh!¡± The giant Sun Song came rushing at a terrifying speed, and his momentum was like a tank. But Red Wind remained calm. She didn¡¯t stop tearing the scrolls despite retreating greatly. ¡°, , .¡± It strengthened her skin, increased her courage, and raised her entire body¡¯s energy. The double Red Wind had on her tremendously increased her speed. Sun Song was fast but even touching Red Wind seemed to be impossible. ¡°Spirit! Use the spirit, Sun Song!¡± Nine des shouted again. Spirit Warrior. It wasn¡¯t somethingmon. Only the best warriors in the wildnds could form a contract with the spirits to be spirit warriors. ¡°Child of me!¡± As Sun Song shouted as if singing, mes rose from his scimitar. Smander, a mischievous me spirit, sat on Sun Song¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Oooh! A spirit!¡± ¡°That¡¯s clearly a Smander!¡± The atmosphere was overturned again. But instead of quickly smiling, Nine des looked towards the Great Storm tribe. And then frowned. Because the beautiful red-haired girl still stood with a triumphant smile. Red Gale and the warriors of the Great Storm tribe couldn¡¯t hide the smiles on their lips. ¡°Howe?¡± It was the moment he said so. Red Wind drew her sword and wildly swung it. She called the name of her new friend. ¡°Bold me.¡± Reckless Fire. mes soared in response to her call. It was a beautiful and huge me that was the stuff of fantasies which was iparable to Smander¡¯s measly me. ¡°Kiiaaaaa-!¡± The bird of me spread its wings and roared. Those who were watching, and even Sun Song, was fascinated for a moment as they gazed at the bird of me. ¡°P-phoenix.¡± ¡°Phoenix!¡± The bird of fantasies. The beast of mes. The Phoenix perched itself on Red Wind¡¯s shoulder. It piercingly stared at Smander with fierce eyes, and the Smander hid itself inside Sun Song¡¯s clothes as it was petrified from fear. An overwhelming difference. No, it was overwhelming?difference in gears! T/N: ?? (tem-ppal) is actually used when you say that someone is good at games thanks to their items and not because of how good the person is at ying the game. Interestingly, the Korean title of the series ¡®Overgeared¡¯ is ¡®tem-ppal¡¯ too, but I couldn¡¯t use the word ¡®over¡¯ again since there was an ¡®overwhelming¡¯ word before it, so I tranted it as ¡®overwhelming difference in gears.¡¯ ¡°This is the power of capitalism.¡± Cordeliaughed and beautifully smiled as she spoke, and Violent Avnche who had called the two as ecological disturbances also cackled. After all, the two were the ecological disturbances on the wild god¡¯s side now. And Jude said. ¡°Show them, Red Wind.¡± That she wasn¡¯t just good at fighting because of her items. Red Wind kicked the ground. As her name implied, she and the Phoenix became the red wind. Chapter 103 - EPISODE 103 – KARAVAL (3)

Chapter 103 - EPISODE 103 ¨C KARAVAL (3)

It¡¯s finally here. And while tranting this chapter, I finally realized that Violent Avnche was male¡­ which is something I should have figured out earlier given the clues. I feel like an idiot now, hahaha. Terms used in this chapter: Dark Ghost?¨C also known in Korean as ¡®eudoksini.¡¯ It is a ghost or demon that will swiftly grow in size and be powerful if they are continuously stared at, though it will shrink and eventually disappear if ignored. The warriors of the de Song tribe who inherited the blood of the Hyjal Orcs were physically superior. They were more like beasts than humans in terms of physical abilities such as strength, agility, and so on. Sun Song was one of the best among the warriors of such a tribe. Red Wind wouldn¡¯t be able tost a few seconds if she fought him head-on in a battle of strength. Or rather, it was clearly at a level where her whole body would crumble because she couldn¡¯t bear it. ¡®I¡¯ll be honest. If you got hit with just one blow, it would be difficult for you to win.¡¯ Their weight difference alone was more than three times. Their difference in muscle strength might as well be more than six times. If she got hit, that was it. If she suffered from a blow on her chest or stomach, she wouldn¡¯t be able to properly breathe. ¡®So you can¡¯t get hit even once.¡¯ It was an unreasonable demand. But if she couldn¡¯t do it, she had no chance of winning. And one more added to this. A word from Cordelia, who was silently watching Jude teaching her while next to him. ¡®It¡¯s okay, don¡¯t think too hard about it. You just have to look carefully and avoid it. I¡¯ve always done that.¡¯ She said that with such a big smile that Red Wind couldn¡¯t even refute her words. ¡°Uooo!¡± His shout shook her eardrums. Sun Song roughly kicked the ground and rushed at her in a terrifying speed. Red Wind concentrated. She even held her breath and looked at him. She naturally recalled Jude¡¯s words. ¡®Well, this beast¡¯s words aren¡¯t wrong.¡¯ ¡®Beast? Beeaast? Wurf-wurf! Wurf-wurf! Grrrrrr!¡± No, not this one. The next thing he said. ¡®Look carefully andpletely avoid it. It¡¯s possible to do it. I will ¨C no, we will make that possible to do.¡¯ Time had stopped. She could see the grains of sand rising in front of her. She could also see the salivaing out of Sun Song¡¯s big mouth. Having the blood of Winter Elves, Red Wind¡¯s eyes were innately good in the first ce. Jude¡¯s magic scroll additionally helped her. . A spell that maximized the eye¡¯s ability to discern shapes and details of everything it sees. That wasn¡¯t enough, so Jude trained her. ¡®This is how Sun Song moves.¡¯ ¡°Kuooo!¡± Sun Song swung his scimitar. Red Wind had met Sun Song for the first time today, and it was also the first time she had seen him swing his scimitar with all his strength. But it was familiar. That attack. The speed of Sun Song. ¡®Look.¡¯ Jude wasn¡¯t just talking about momentary movements. How the attack would continue. What the scimitar¡¯s trajectory was and how far would it reach. Jude taught her. Jude made her be familiar with it. ¡®Look carefully andpletely avoid it.¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s words. And another of her words. ¡®Then you¡¯ll feel it. Not only through sight but you¡¯ll feel it with your whole body at some point.¡¯ She didn¡¯t understand what Cordelia was talking about then. She wondered what Cordelia meant about feeling the attack with one¡¯s whole body. She really liked Cordelia, but she thought that Cordelia wasn¡¯t good at exining. But Cordelia wasn¡¯t wrong. Her unnie told her how to do it. ¡®I can feel it.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t just the sight. Her sense of hearing reacted. Her sense of touch reacted. She felt it beyond her five senses and perceived it through her sixth sense. Sound, the vibration of the air, and the momentum of Sun Song¡¯s force. ¡®I think I understand.¡¯ She understood what it meant to feel with one¡¯s whole body. And what she should do now. ¡®There are two things.¡¯ The scimitar gradually approached in the slow-moving time. She recalled Cordelia¡¯s words whispering to her again between Sun Song¡¯s roar. ¡®Once you feel it, there are two choices you can make.¡¯ The de drew near. It felt like it would reach her anytime soon. Red Wind saw Sun Song. His face that was yelling a battle roar was terrifying as if proving that he had the blood of Hyjal Orcs. His canine teeth protruding from his mouth reminded her of a beast than a person. And his eyes. His bloodshot eyes that stared at Red Wind. A person¡¯s face was reflected in his eyes. It was Red Wind¡¯s own face. But the face reminded Red Wind of Cordelia. The beauty who enchanted even those of the same sex, spoke as her canine teeth shined. ¡®Either you step back or move forward.¡¯ She usually stepped back. It was normal to step back. But that just meant running away. There were times when she had to move forward. ¡®The criteria for judging it¡­hehe, you¡¯ll know it yourself when that momentes.¡¯ ¡®You¡¯re talking as if there¡¯s something, but you¡¯re not actually thinking about it. ¡®Coz you¡¯re a beast.¡¯ ¡®Do you want to die?¡¯ She remembered unnecessary things, but it wasn¡¯t bad. A smile spread over Red Wind¡¯s face. She was surprised when she widely smiled, but she took a step forward. Shaaak-! The scimitar cut the air. Above the head of Red Wind who evaded the attack by bending her waist backwards. The scimitar cut off a few strands of her pure white hair and scattered it. Sun Song was unable to control the power of his swing and continued moving forward while Red Wind disappeared from his sight. T/N: Okay, it seems that the author made a mistake here. When Red Wind was first introduced, she was described as having azure hair that was reminiscent of the clear blue sky. But the paragraph above said that she had pure-white hair. I double-checked the Korean words used in the earlier chapters and here, and it really referred to her hair. Perhaps it was a typo by the author and the azure color being referred was her eyes and not the hair. It was just a second. A mere moment. ¡°Huu.¡± Red Wind exhaled. She straightened her back and saw Sun Song¡¯s clearly exposed back. Instead of looking at the face of Sun Song who hastily turned his head to find her, she swung her sword. The sh stirred up the wind. aash-! Her sword only shed the air. But she had intended it. The Phoenix rose and followed the sword¡¯s trajectory as it charged and attacked. Stretching out like a sword, the Phoenix struck Sun Song whose giant body was then greatly hurled backwards. Boom! There was a st. No one heard of the small and light footsteps that echoed together with the st. Thump. After rotating once, Red Wind fixed her position and held her breath. She felt Sun Song again with her whole body. She sensed him flying away, rolling on the floor, and groaning in pain. ¡°Haa.¡± She let out her breath. And Red Wind thought. ¡®This¡­is this the world you live in?¡¯ She was wrong. The world of Cordelia was more special. Jude had met geniuses of all kinds, but even he had to admit that the world seen by abat genius, who could only be described as a beast, was impossible for the current Red Wind to reach. But it was enough for now. If she could feel and read Sun Song¡¯s movements, then it was enough. Bang! Red Wind kicked the ground this time. She rushed towards Sun Song. It was a splendid fight. Red Wind quickly moved amidst the mes. But like a seasoned warrior, Sun Song did not let himself be swept away from the battle. He knew. Just one hit. That he could win with just one hit. So he endured it. As he endured the pain, she wildly swung her sword again and again. Red Wind refused to give up as she danced with her sword like willow leaves fluttering in the wind. sh! sh! Red Wind¡¯s attacks poured out in session. Sun song received Red Wind¡¯s attacks with his body and shot a series of attacks towards her. Baaaang! mes sprung out. Since both sides used fire, the fight looked shy and splendid. Different mes came together and shed. ¡°As nned.¡± Jude said as he watched. Cordelia nodded her head. Because Jude had memorized all of Sun Song¡¯sbat patterns, Red Wind was able to ¡®feel¡¯ Sun Song. Although it was the result of receiving help from different kinds of magic, what she felt was the real deal. ¡°Red Wind will win.¡± Jude agreed with Cordelia¡¯s conviction. Because Jude¡¯s calctions agreed with the words of Cordelia who perceived results while skipping the process with an intuition that was close to foresight. Red Wind would win. It would take some time, but it would eventually lead to her victory. So Jude averted his gaze. While everyone gathered here were focusing on the fight between Red Wind and Sun Song, he took a step back and thought. ¡®An unfounded apprehension?¡¯ Several chieftains gathered in Karaval. The Eastern Alliance would be established regardless of who won the Karaval. So if they moved, now was the perfect moment. If someone wanted to interfere, it should have been now. However, the Angry Bull tribe did note. Perhaps they hadn¡¯tpleted their military expedition in the west yet. Maybe they were trying to avoid a situation where it would be dangerous if they moved the troops they left behind in their home base. It was a possibility. But would they just let go of this opportunity and watch? Jude thought about thend of Gentle Snow Breeze where the Karaval was held. It was an open in on all sides, so they would know early on if someone wanted to invade it. ¡®It¡¯s impossible with a few troops.¡¯ It was ridiculous to count the number of warriors gathered here. There were also several powerful chieftains, so even if they dispatched elite troops, they would still need a dozen units. ¡®If that¡¯s the case, they would have been sighted.¡¯ Moreover, Gentle Snow Breeze was here now. She had retained her powers unlike Violent Avnche. But even then, she did not detect any movement of troops when she looked around. No enemy wasing. The west had given up hindering the establishment of an eastern alliance. So everyone was focused on the Karaval only. Everyone who had gathered here focused their attention on the battle between Red Wind and Sun Song. Jude had been doing that until now. That was why he doubted it once more. He wondered if there was anything he missed. Perhaps there was something he did not think of. ¡®Sky.¡¯ It was still clear and blue. Sunset would arrive soon, but the sky was still blue now. ¡®West.¡¯ Jude turned his head and looked west. There was still nothing visible. Only the in with white snow was seen. ¡®Am I worrying for nothing then?¡¯ Though that would be the best scenario. Jude bitterly smiled and tried to watch Red Wind¡¯s fight again. But someone pulled on Jude¡¯s arm before that. ¡°Jude.¡± Cordelia. He understood it the moment their eyes met. He understood from Cordelia¡¯s frowning expression and her twisting her body about as if she wanted to answer the call of nature. A foreboding. Cordelia couldn¡¯t really exin what that ominous thing was, but she certainly felt something. So Jude focused. He tried to find something he missed. And Cordelia pulled Jude¡¯s arm again. ¡°Tremor.¡± She said with widely opened eyes and pointed to her feet by gesturing with her chin. Therefore, Jude also figured it out. The moment he heard Cordelia¡¯s words, he concentrated and managed to notice it. He could feel the vibration. Very small tremors. It was hard to feel unless one was as sensitive as Cordelia. It grew bigger. It was getting closer. ¡°Under.¡± Jude and Cordelia looked at their feet at the same time. They raised their heads and simultaneously shouted. ¡°Watch out!¡± ¡°It¡¯sing from underground!¡± The invasion from outside finally happened. As if an earthquake had urred, the tremors instantly became violent and the ground cracked! Booom! Massive spikes shot up from the ground. Whether it was their aim or just an idental coincidence, it came from under Red Wind and Sun Song¡¯s feet. Baaang-! Red Wind simultaneously saw both Sun Song and the soaring spikes as the spikes shot up like a de. Her instincts told her that the spike would soon pierce Sun Song¡¯s body. So Red Wind moved. Her instincts that preceded her thoughts was what made her move. Because Sun Song was not an enemy. Because he was their eastern ally who would join forces with them against the west! Pooook! Red Wind hit Sun Song. She threw her whole body and pushed him away. And blood. A piercing scream. ¡°Red Wind!¡± Shwaaak! Arge spike grazed Red Wind¡¯s slender waist. Red Wind fell down on top of Sun Song as she groaned and crouched her body. Red blood spurted from her torn waist. ¡°Run away!¡± Cordelia¡¯s cry was heard. The ground was broken, and a huge monster shot up. Strange creatures that seemed to be a mix of humans and monsters came out one after another from the hole leading underground. Sun Song hurriedly lifted and carried Red Wind on the spur of the moment. ¡°Attack!¡± ¡°Help Sun Song!¡± ¡°Red Wind!¡± Voices burst out simultaneously. The warriors who gathered for Karaval drew their own swords. It wasn¡¯t just them. Even Gentle Snow Breeze angrily yelled and widely spread out her wings. And it was at that moment. ¡°Aaaah!¡± The monster that broke the ground stood up as it roared. It was like a giant mole that was around 5 meters tall. There were several horns on its head, and it had glowing red eyes. A purple aura entangled its body as if it was cursed. ¡°O-oh my goodness! Dark Ghost!¡± Violent Avnche screamed and Gentle Snow Breeze widely opened her eyes. Dark Ghost. It was the first time Jude and Cordelia had heard of that name. But they realized it based on the two wild gods¡¯ reactions. The monster in front of them was a corrupted wild god. No, it wasn¡¯t even properly corrupted. From the perspective of the Devil¡¯s Eye, Dark Ghost was notpletely corrupted and was just a failure that went crazy. ¡°Aaaah!¡± Dark Ghost let out a tormenting scream. The eastern warriors were tormented by the cry that contained the power of a wild god, and the increasing dozens of monsters prated into that gap. ¡®Failures!¡¯ They were one of the attempts to mass-produce demonic humans bybining humans and monsters. If it had seeded, it would be a low-ranking demonic human who possessed the power of monsters and a human¡¯s intelligence, but if it had failed, it just became a monster. ¡°Kiaaaa!¡± The deformed monsters moved towards the warriors. And Ga?l pulled out his sword. Having secured Adelia¡¯s safety, he condensed his Qi energy and diffused it as he roared like a lion. ¡°Go!¡± At his tremendous roar filled with Qi, the curse in Dark Ghost¡¯ scream was canceled at that moment. The warriors came to their senses and Ga?l quickly moved on the ground. ¡°Save Red Wind!¡± Ga?l unhesitatingly charged into the middle of the enemy¡¯s group. Adelia also raised her hands and cast magic in session, and a fight broke out between the monsters and the warriors who barely came to their senses. ¡°Dark Ghost!¡± ¡°Brother Dark Ghost!¡± Violent Avnche and Gentle Snow Breeze cried out, and Gentle Snow Breeze even tried to run towards Dark Ghost. ¡°No! He¡¯s not the Dark Ghost we used to know!¡± Violent Avnche grabbed Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s feet to stop her. He tried to ovee the current situation by calming down Gentle Snow Breeze who burst into tears upon seeing Dark Ghost¡¯s changed appearance. ¡°Damn it! What the heck happened!¡± Violent Avnches had lost most of his powers, but not Gentle Snow Breeze. So he wondered on how they tricked the senses of Gentle Snow Breeze. Even if the ground was that deep, she would have noticed if they had approached near her. Was there something that could hide their powers? And the corruption. The wild god was corrupted together with the dragon vein and sanctuary. The fact that Violent Avnche himself could have been like that gave him goosebumps. He felt like his heart was being torn at the fact that Dark Ghost had been corrupted. And it was at that moment. A voice rang in the minds of Jude and Cordelia. It made Jude and Cordelia stop at once from helping Ga?l who was trying to save Red Wind. [Ki¡­kill! Please¡­kill me!] It was Dark Ghost¡¯s cry. Jude and Cordelia could hear his pained screams because they were recognized as guardians of the wildnds by the Golden Dragon King. [N-no. I-I don¡¯t want to. Hurt everyone- Violent Avnche- Gentle Snow¡­Breeze. N-no. Please kill¡­me¡­] Dark Ghost¡¯s scream grew louder, and the power of the curse also became stronger again. Gentle Snow Breeze radiated her power to cancel the curse but that was all. She couldn¡¯t do any more than that. ¡°Jude!¡± Violent Avnche shouted. Because he too heard Dark Ghost¡¯s cry. And he also knew. The reason why Dark Ghost told them to kill him wasn¡¯t just because of the pain! ¡°Bomb.¡± Cordelia said with a pained look. Dark Ghost was a bomb. The Devil¡¯s Eye n was to wipe out the eastern chieftains by causing a huge explosion in the middle of the ce where the Karaval was held. ¡®Expendables.¡¯ They were failures after all. Using them like this was an effective tactic. Even if it failed, it would at least cause damage. It was a good way to dispose of a defective product. ¡°Son of a b*tch!¡± Cordelia angrily cursed. She was furious at the actions of the Devil¡¯s Eye. Jude deeply inhaled. He watched Ga?l escape with Red Wind and Sun Song before he focused on Dark Ghost¡¯s voice. [Run¡­away!] Dark Ghost should have originally blown himself up as soon as he broke and shot up from the ground. Causing a disturbance without exploding was due to a part of Dark Ghost¡¯s remaining will because he had not beenpletely corrupted. But he didn¡¯tst that long. He didn¡¯t have that much time. ¡°Kiaaaaaa!¡± Dark Ghost let out a curse-filled scream again. At that moment, Gentle Snow Breeze burst into tears. Because she realized it. Dark Ghost¡¯s will had died down. None of it was left. What was in front of them was just a monster that had gone crazy. ¡°We don¡¯t have time! Run away, everyone!¡± Violent Avnche repeatedly stamped his feet and shouted. Now that the will of Dark Ghost had disappeared, the monster in front of them was a bomb that they were unsure on when and how it would explode. But it was impossible. The battle between the warriors and monsters had already began. If they turned around to run away in the middle of this, they would only be killed. ¡°Huu¡­huu¡­¡± Jude took a deep breath again. He searched for a solution. What do I do? What must I do? It was also impossible to run away because of the monsters. But if they leave it like this, everyone would be swept away by Dark Ghost¡¯s self-destruction. ¡®I have to find a way.¡¯ Something different, something else other than just running away from the range of explosion. ¡°Jude!¡± Jude¡¯s eyes widened in surprise. Cordelia was right in front of him. She shouted as her blue eyes sparkled. ¡°Let¡¯s burst it!¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s explode it before it self-destructs!¡± What is she talking about? Is there a difference between an explosion and self-destruction? Wouldn¡¯t we die even if we kill it anyway? ¡°No! Not that!¡± Cordelia eximed as if she was frustrated. She couldn¡¯t exin it properly, so she conveyed it through her eyes, and Jude eventually figured it out. He unwittingly said. ¡°You¡¯re a genius.¡± ¡°Of course!¡± Cordelia smiled. Jude impulsively hugged Cordelia tightly, and she struggled. ¡°Hey! Hey?!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Jude immediately released Cordelia. Resisting the urge to kiss her on the cheek, he advanced towards Dark Ghost. ¡°Let¡¯s goooo!¡± Cordelia transformed into a witch and chased after Jude. Adelia shouted from behind, but she didn¡¯t listen. She had to reach Jude as soon as possible. ¡°Unnie! Open the way for me!¡± At Cordelia¡¯s cry, Adelia let out a curse. Adelia suddenly clenched her fists and gathered them in front of her chest before she swung them widely to the side. ¡°¡± And double casting. Mana was released from Adelia¡¯s small body like an explosion, and an outrageous feat took ce. Booooooooooooooom! Two walls of fire spread out along with a roar. The fire of nearly 3 meters tall rose and made a path, and all of the monsters caught in between it were burned. Not one of them dared to approach Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Wow!¡± ¡°Unnie is the best!¡± Jude and Cordelia ran in the path surrounded by mes. The monsters tried to attack, but it was impossible. ¡°¡± The magic attack wasn¡¯t wasted. As the monsters slipped because of the grease, the fallen monsters hit the walls of fire. Kwaaaa! Even when the mes were burning, Jude and Cordelia did not stop. They trampled on those who did not touch the fire walls or did not slip luckily as the two ran towards Dark Ghost. ¡°Keuaaaaa!¡± Dark Ghost screamed. Ga?l had ran ahead first as he carried Red Wind in his arms and tried to run away from the explosion range. On the other hand, Sun Song slightly offset Dark Ghost¡¯s scream with his battle roar. ¡°Oooooh!¡± Dark Ghost went mad and swung both of its hands. Its force was so terrifying as it tore the air with his de-like nails. But Jude and Cordelia did not stop. Rather, they sped up and shouted. ¡°I am anvil!¡± ¡°I am hammer!¡± Their coordination was over. Jude soared using a golden whirlwind while Cordelia stretched out both of her hands forward and began using a telekic power. She poured out all her power to block Dark Ghost¡¯s movement. ¡°Aaaaaah!¡± She didn¡¯t just bind him. She applied force towards a certain direction. At the same time, she opened her eyes wide and activated the . ¡°Kaaaak!¡± Dark Ghost let out a gasp and was paralyzed. Tears of blood flowed down from Cordelia¡¯s eyes. ¡°Juuuude!¡± ¡°Cordelia!¡± Jude pulled his fist in the air. As he cried out Cordelia¡¯s name, he struck his fist on the head of Dark Ghost who couldn¡¯t move. ¡°ck Dragon Cross Strike!¡± He shouted out loud. A pitch-ck cross appeared from Jude¡¯s fist as it shot and struck Dark Ghost¡¯s body. It pushed Dark Ghost into a certain direction. ¡°Oooooooh!¡± Jude added his Qi energy into his cry. He fully mobilized all his inner Qi in his lower abdomen, while Cordelia asked for help. Violent Avnche caught on their n and shouted to Gentle Snow Breeze afterwards. ¡°Help them! You have to push Dark Ghost into the hole!¡± Gentle Snow Breeze did not immediately understand what he was talking about. But she understood that she had to help Jude. So she released a force that headed in the same direction as Jude. Booom! Dark Ghost was pushed away. He fell into the hole he himself had dug. ¡°Get in!¡± Cordelia shut her eyes and used thest of her powers. Jude¡¯s ck crosspletely pushed down Dark Ghost. And Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s power pushed Dark Ghost into the deepest part of the hole. Cordelia¡¯s n was simple. Detonate before it self-destructed. Under the ground. Inside the hole it dug! ¡°Art is-!¡± She couldn¡¯t continue her words. She had a headache from using too much of her power. Her legs were trembling, and her breathing became rugged. But Cordelia did not fall down. Jude ran as he roughly breathed before he held Cordelia on the waist. And continued the words on her behalf. ¡°An explosion.¡± Jude poured a potion into Cordelia¡¯s mouth. Cordelia suddenly hugged Jude¡¯s body and used . ¡°Ugggghhh¡­¡± Both of them let out painful groans at the same time. But Cordelia¡¯s mana was restored because of this, and Cordelia promptly cast a new spell using the mana she just got. ¡°.¡± A witch¡¯s spell that she could control. Cordelia leant her head in Jude¡¯s arms as she moved her fingers. She fired the spell by pulling her index finger as if she was using a real gun to shoot. Shwaaaa! The dark de flew like a bullet into the dug hole. It reached the point where Gentle Snow Breeze and Dark Ghost¡¯s powers collided. The power that Dark Ghost suppressed. The dark de stimted it. It lit the fuse. ¡°Bang.¡± Cordelia said while Jude hugged her. The moment he turned his back to protect her, a tremendous explosion started from the ground. Baaaaaaaaaang-! The ground shook. It shook like an earthquake. All who were standing ended up falling down, regardless of warriors or monsters. A tremor of that magnitude. An explosion that shook the earth. But it was deep underground. A purple pir shot up from the hole, but that was it. The aftermath of the explosion never reached the ground. Ruuuuumble- Aftershocks. The second tremors. But it was small. It quickly subsided. ¡°Ack.¡± Jude gasped. To protect Cordelia from the possible aftermath, he lied her down on his chest, so he felt her weight. ¡°Haa.¡± Cordelia fell on top of Jude¡¯s chest as she let out a sigh of relief. Her cold sweat trickled down before she said with a bright smile. ¡°We lived.¡± Jude also smiled at her short words. As the ring of light appeared around them, he hugged Cordelia once again. Chapter 104 - EPISODE 104 – CONCLUSION (KARAVAL)

Chapter 104 - EPISODE 104 ¨C CONCLUSION (KARAVAL)

The explosion was over. Dark Ghost¡¯s self-destruction was stopped, and they no longer heard the pained screams of the wild god. But not everything was over. ¡°Hey! Jude! Hey!¡± Cordelia shouted as she struggled in Jude¡¯s arms. Dark Ghost was gone, but the monsters that appeared with him were still present. ¡°Jude! Hey! Stand up!¡± Cordelia¡¯sst words were buried among the roars and shouts. Because the monsters and warriors had begun to fight again. ¡°Uhh¡­did you pass out?¡± Cordelia herself had used up most of her power, and so did Jude. Moreover, since Jude was even drained of his mana, he no longer had enough energy to spare. He was clearly not lying on his stomach, as he was lying on his back with Cordelia in his arms ¨C to be exact, it was nearly impossible for him to have fainted given that he had enough strength to prevent Cordelia from getting out of his arms. But Cordelia immediately began to act instead of thinking deeply about it. ¡°.¡± ¡°Gah?!¡± ¡°Oh, you woke up.¡± ¡°How could I not wake up?!¡± As soon as Cordelia used , Jude groaned in pain and opened his eyes in a sh. ¡°I mean, did you use on a person who had already passed out from exhaustion?¡± My power is already at 0, yet you¡¯re still taking more of it from me? ¡°Hey, you won¡¯t die from it, you won¡¯t.¡± ¡°That¡¯s still a problem, okay?¡± ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m d you woke up. First of all, let¡¯s drain some more mana.¡± ¡°What? Hey, sto-¡­uuuggghh.¡± Cordelia raised herself from Jude¡¯s upper body and continued to use while sitting. She then ced on her chest the hand with the ring and activated the magic. ¡°.¡± It was the defense magic in Count Chase¡¯s ring. Since Jude and Cordelia were close to each other, the shield became stronger. Cordelia then stretched her shoulders in relief. ¡°Huu, I didn¡¯t have enough mana to use the shield magic.¡± She had used up all her mana in pushing Dark Ghost and dealing thest attack. ¡°It¡¯s a good thing the battery is next to me.¡± Cordelia giggled and tapped Jude¡¯s chest, while Jude looked up at Cordelia and had a sullen expression. ¡°You¡¯re really a mean person.¡± ¡°You¡¯re the only one I¡¯m mean to.¡± Cordelia giggled again before looking outside the shield. Because they were near the center of the explosion, there were no monsters around them. But at less than 10 meters around the explosion¡¯s center, the monsters and warriors were engaged in a fierce battle. ¡°We have to help. Do you have any potions?¡± ¡°I only have a stamina potion.¡± Their supply of potions had been cut off since they came to the wildnds. The one he fed to Cordelia was thest mana potion. ¡°Umm, so you have a stamina potion?¡± Cordelia grinned as she rummaged Jude¡¯s waist pockets while Jude trembled. ¡°Hey, hey, no way¡­ Isn¡¯t this n of yours demonic if you¡¯re going to drain my mana after I¡¯ve recovered from the stamina potion you¡¯ll feed me?¡± When Jude urgently spoke, Cordelia¡¯s eyes became round and she pped her hands loudly as she said. ¡°Oh my, there was such a way? You¡¯re a genius.¡± ¡°Ugh¡­your acting has improved.¡± Look at her pretending to be ignorant. But why does that make her look pretty too? It was when Jude was feeling skeptical about his own love blindness. Cordelia moved her bottom from the top of Jude¡¯s torso as she sat on the ground. She then said after finding the stamina potion and handing it over to Jude. ¡®Isn¡¯t it nice that it¡¯s quiet around us?¡± ¡°I suppose so.¡± Because the two didn¡¯t have enough strength left. And the warriors of the wildnds were not weak. Since they were the elites of each tribe, they were not overpowered by the monsters. And two more people. Among the various warriors, there were some who were particrly prominent. ¡°She fights well.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it? My sister is good at fighting, right?¡± Cordelia boasted as she looked in the direction where Adelia was. ¡®As expected of abat wizard.¡¯ The Royal Guard Magic Corps was a group of fighting wizards like their name ¡®corps¡¯ suggests. Adelia was one of the seven leaders of the Royal Guard Magic Corps, so herbat power was undoubtable. ¡®If she could use wide-area magic, she would¡¯ve cleared this ce in no time.¡¯ Since this was a melee battle of enemies and allies, she couldn¡¯t use wide-area magic. But Adelia was definitely an experienced fighter. Instead of simply using attack magic, she used magic that affected the entire battlefield by using abination of fire and earth wall magic to divide the battlefield and iste the monsters. ¡®As expected of a leader.¡¯ She was someone who was capable ofmanding an army and not just a mere corps. ¡°I think Red Wind will be all right.¡± Cordelia pointed to the very end of the battlefield. The de Song tribe were there, and among them was Sun Song who protected Red Wind. ¡°Ga?l is strong too.¡± ¡°He¡¯s strong.¡± In the midst of their conversation, the situation on the battlefield was rapidly improving. This was because Adelia and Ga?l were actively fighting in the south and north sides respectively. ¡°Chivalry.¡± The magic of the knights. Ga?l strengthened himself with Chivalry and easily cut down the monsters across the battlefield. Like a warrior from the Bayer family who aimed to be the ¡®wind,¡¯ his momentum was like a storm as his sword danced freely. ¡°Umm, I seriously think we can just rest.¡± ¡°Right?¡± Cordelia smiled and stretched out her hand to Jude. He grabbed her hand, raised his upper body, and sat down next to her. And it was at that moment. [¡­Guardians.] A low voice talked to Jude and Cordelia in their minds. The voice was somewhat garbled, but the two showed no repulsion to it. Because they were able to guess whose voice it was. [I am¡­Dark Ghost¡­] The only wild god who was forced to die by the Devil¡¯s Eye. His soul regained its freedom after losing his body, but his contaminated soul was not washed clean. [Soon¡­I will disappear¡­so I¡­wanted to¡­say goodbye¡­] Cordelia had a gloomy expression as she heard the voice that became broken little by little. She had met him for the first time today and didn¡¯t even got to talk with him much, but she was heartbroken by what happened to Dark Ghost. [Thank you¡­for stopping me. Thanks to you¡­I could not harm¡­them.] Violent Avnche and Gentle Snow Breeze. And the children of the wildnds. [Farewell¡­Guardians¡­ This is myst¡­reward for you¡­] A piece of memory came into the minds of Jude and Cordelia. It was a fraction of the things Dark Ghost had seen, heard, and felt, and also information about thest thing he could leave for Jude and Cordelia. [Goodbye¡­] Dark Ghost¡¯s voicepletely disappeared. Cordelia turned her tearful face away, and Jude could see the sobbing Gentle Snow Breeze and Violent Avnche wiping away his tears. Perhaps he delivered his farewells to the two wild gods too. ¡°Goodbye¡­¡± Jude paid a silent tribute for Dark Ghost, and Cordelia brought her two hands together in prayer. They grieved for Dark Ghost. *** The battle was over. Since the recovery of the casualties was a priority, each tribe focused on cleaning up the battlefield instead of talking about the Karaval. And the next morning. A memorial service was held for Dark Ghost and the deceased, under the supervision of Gentle Snow Breeze. Violent Avnche lit a great fire and cremated them. Gentle Snow Breeze created a wind and blew their ashes and souls up high into the sky. ¡°Those evil western demons.¡± Gentle Snow Breeze was usually meek, but she was clearly angry at the present moment. She sharply looked at the western direction before she turned her gaze to Red Gale and Nine des. It was to talk about the Karaval. The first to open his mouth was Nine des. ¡°O wild gods who look over the wildnds, I have something to say if you will permit it.¡± When Nine des politely spoke, Gentle Snow Breeze and Violent Avnche nodded and allowed him to speak. Having knelt down to show his respect, Nine des stood up from his spot and then headed to the center as he looked at everyone. He then shouted out loud. ¡°Karaval couldn¡¯t proceed normally because of an unexpected incident! But you all know about it! The rules of Karaval!¡± Red Gale frowned while Violent Avnche and Gentle Snow Breeze had awkward expressions. Because they also knew the rules of Karaval. ¡°Karaval ends when either side deres defeat or be unable to fight. In other words! Thest one standing is the winner of Karaval!¡± The words that Nine des wanted to say. The argument that he wanted to make. ¡°You must have seen it too! That it was Sun Song who stood until the end yesterday!¡± Red Wind fell. She couldn¡¯t stand up. On the other hand, Sun Song stood until the end of the battle as he protected the injured Red Wind. ¡°Th-th-that shit- mmf, mmf!¡± Jude covered the angry Cordelia¡¯s mouth as his eyes narrowed. He restrained the struggling Cordelia and waited on what would happen next. ¡®I don¡¯t have a good feeling like Cordelia.¡¯ It was unlikely that it would end like this. Sun Song might not be like Nine des, but he had yet to speak. ¡°Mmf, mmf!¡± Jude stopped Cordelia from struggling by hugging her tightly as he looked at Sun Song. Sun Song stood up with a stiff face and began walking forward. He thumped on the ground and caused a loud noise. Boom! Everyone was startled and looked back at the sound¡¯s epicenter, and Sun Song met their eyes with a calm face. Nine des also saw Sun Song. Instead of saying something, he just walked away as if opening the path, and Sun Song continued to walk. After passing Nine des, he stood in front of Red Wind who was standing next to Red Gale. ¡°Mmmf?¡± Cordelia suddenly became quiet as she wondered what he was doing, while Jude quickly understood it. ¡°I see, perhaps that¡¯s it.¡± It was a little cheesy but pleasing development. This was a possible development since Sun Song was a true warrior with the spirit of a warrior, and not a corrupted demonic human like in the game. ¡°Those are the rules of Karaval. But there¡¯s an absolute rule in Karaval.¡± He deliberately talked about the rule of Karaval. Karaval¡¯s absolute rule. Only the two warriors who fought in Karaval would decide the winner and loser. ¡°I lost.¡± Sun Song inly spoke. No one else knew, but he knew. Red Wind saved him. He owed his life to her. ¡°It¡¯s your victory, Red Wind.¡± Sun Song grinned as he dered it with his hand on his chest, and Red Wind had a faint smile. She knew it too, because she had crossed swords with him. The fact that Sun Song was a true warrior. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you be scolded by your father?¡± Red Wind asked a little mischievously, but Sun Song just shrugged his shoulders. ¡°It¡¯s all right. It¡¯s better than being a shameless human who forsakes his benefactor. And I was already scolded a lot yesterday. So I won¡¯t get any more scolding.¡± Red Wind smiled again at Sun Song¡¯s strange answer. Red Gale looked at Nine des, who snorted but had the corners of his mouth slightly rising. Because Nine des was also a warrior who knew of honor. ¡°You are the winner of Karaval. I have dered my defeat, so dere your victory.¡± It was the most ideal end of Karaval. The winner and loser acknowledged each other and dere the end of Karaval together. Red Wind nodded. After cing her fist on her chest, she dered in a loud voice. ¡°I ept the deration of the true warrior Sun Song. The winner of this Karaval is me, Red Wind!¡± Cheers erupted at her confident deration. Violent Avnche and Gentle Snow Breeze happily smiled at both the deration of the end of Karaval and the official winner being Red Wind. ¡°Mmmmmff.¡± ¡°Yes, it came out all right.¡± ¡°Mmmmf.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Jude just happily smiled when he saw Cordelia¡¯s eyes telling him to let go of her now. ¡®From this moment on.¡¯ Now that the Karaval was over, the Eastern Alliance would be established. The east and west would be confronting each other head-to-head. It was the beginning of a war that would affect the wildnds and even the S?len Kingdom and the entire Pleiades. ¡°Mmmf, mmmf.¡± ¡°Yes, you did well.¡± ¡°Mmf!¡± She meant something else. Therefore, Jude hurriedly turned his gaze towards Red Wind and Sun Song, and he soon understood why Cordelia was trying to scream. ¡°No way.¡± ¡°Mmf, mmf.¡± It couldn¡¯t be that one. Jude removed his hand that was blocking Cordelia¡¯s mouth and he was able to see it. Sun Song thumped on the ground once again. After gathering everyone¡¯s attention with the loud sound, he bowed in front of Red Wind. His face was stiff in a different meaning than before, and he cleared his throat. After swallowing his saliva, he said in a tense voice. ¡°Red Wind, a true warrior, I will convey my true heart to you. Please marry me.¡± It was really that one. And he had clearly dered it. *** ¡°N-no, no matter how clich¨¦ that was, wasn¡¯t that too much?¡± The second deration of Sun Song caused a lot of shock. It was from the de Song and Great Storm tribes. Because they were two tribes who inherited the blood of the ancient orc and ancient elves. Moreover, the two were the eldest son and eldest daughter of the chieftains. ¡°It seemed to be an arbitrary decision, right?¡± Ga?l nodded when Jude spoke to everyone. ¡°Perhaps. The de Song tribe was also greatly surprised.¡± In fact, it was not an exaggeration to say that everyone except Sun Song was surprised. ¡°What about Red Wind?¡± Jude asked and Cordelia grumbled at the clich¨¦ development. ¡°She was very embarrassed. But she was sort of¡­ she was a little happy.¡± ¡°Eh¡­seriously? Red Wind likes Sun Song¡­?¡± ¡°No, rather than that, she enjoyed the fact that she was proposed to, I think? She¡¯s still a child, after all.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s words, everyone including Jude, narrowed their eyes in an instant. They reacted like that, since Red Wind and Cordelia were only one year apart in age. ¡°Why, why, why? Did I say something wrong?¡± Cordelia had spoken quite shamelessly, but her face had now turned red from embarrassment. ¡°I apologize for this, Lord Ga?l. She is still a child¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s all right. It¡¯s a bit of a rude remark but¡­Lady Cordelia is really cute.¡± As Adelia and Ga?l talked warmly, Cordelia¡¯s face turned red, while Jude had to bite his lips in order to hold back hisughter. ¡°Anyway.¡± Jude opened his mouth again for Cordelia and said with a shrug of his shoulders. ¡°Sun Song and Red Wind exchanging feelings¡­realistically, their union would be difficult.¡± Sun Song and Red Wind did not belong to a single warrior tribe. They were also the next chieftains who would lead their tribes someday. ¡°It would be difficult unless the two tribes are united into one.¡± It was as Ga?l said. The union of the two was impossible even for political reasons. ¡°I¡¯m sure Sun Song would have known that too¡­but perhaps, he just wanted to convey his feelings?¡± ¡°It¡¯s likely that.¡± As Adelia and Ga?l exchanged another warmhearted conversation, Cordelia mumbled under her breath. ¡°No, even if it¡¯s possible, I won¡¯t allow it.¡± Marriage between Sun Song and Red Wind. Even if Red Gale allowed it, Cordelia herself couldn¡¯t allow it. She was not fine with it. However, Ga?l and Adelia were not interested in Cordelia¡¯s thoughts. In fact, they weren¡¯t much interested in Red Wind and Sun Song. ¡°I¡¯m d there¡¯s Edward.¡± Ga?l suddenly said in passing, and Adelia blinked her eyes. She then turned her head to the side as if to hide her burning red cheeks. Ga?l and Adelia were also the eldest son and eldest daughter. But Count Chase had an eldest son named Edward Chase who would seed his Count title. ¡°Ahem, ahem. R-right. I¡¯m d I have an older brother.¡± Adelia spoke very quietly, and Ga?l smiled happily. And Jude and Cordelia watched the other two. Violent Avnche who was squatting in the corner again, said as he looked at Jude and Cordelia. ¡°You know how I usually feel now, right?¡± Why am I like a third party in this again? And why in the world did you call for me again this time? The grumbling Violent Avnche stood up from his seat, looked at the two couples, clicked his tongue and then left. And the next morning. The Eastern Alliance, headed by the Great Storm tribe, was finally established. Chapter 105 - EPISODE 105 – DEPARTURE FOR THE FRONT (1)

Chapter 105 - EPISODE 105 ¨C DEPARTURE FOR THE FRONT (1)

Terms used in this chapter: Pitched battle?¨C a battle in which both sides choose the fighting location and time. The corrupted wild god¡¯s appearance while Karaval was going on brought about a huge shock to the eastern tribes. Although the number of witnesses were only a few people from the east, its impact was extraordinary because most of the witnesses were leaders of a tribe. ¡°We have to attack the west as soon as possible.¡± When even Gentle Snow Breeze, who had a gentle personality among the wild gods, strongly insisted on attacking, the opinions of the eastern tribes easily became one. ¡°To begin with, this fight is not a defensive fight. We must strike the west and drive out the demon followers from the wildnds.¡± And if it was a war that would happen anyway, it was better to fight in the west than in the east. ¡°After all, fights in the wildnds are all about pitched battles. So we don¡¯t have to use ournd as a battlefield.¡± Naturally, there were supply problems, and it wasmon for the defending side to be in an advantageous position than the attacking side because they had the geographical advantage even if the pitched battle is held in a ce without walls. But the east had one more reason to attack the west. ¡°We must wake up the Golden Dragon King from his deep sleep by blowing up the contaminated dragon veins.¡± It was an order directly entrusted by the Golden Dragon King to Jude and Cordelia, the guardians of the wildnds. No one in the east doubted the words of the two since the wild gods, Gentle Snow Breeze and Violent Avnche, affirmed that the two were guardians. ¡°We gather the powers of the east to strike the west.¡± They made a decision. The tribal chieftains who gathered to watch the Karaval hurriedly returned to their tribalnds, and full-scale preparations for the military expedition began. And three dayster. Four days after the Karaval, the Great Storm tribe and de Song tribe gathered again in thend of Gentle Snow Breeze. *** Meetings in the wildnds basically proceeded in the form of sitting in a circle on the floor as the participants exchanged opinions. Therefore, the meeting hall organized by Gentle Snow Breeze was prepared in the form of everyone sitting in a circle with arge map ced on the center, and one special arrangement. ¡®Four seats of honor.¡¯ There were fourrge chairs behind the people seated in a circle. It was none other than the seats of the wild gods. ¡°It¡¯s been a long time.¡± ¡°It¡¯s been a long time, brother.¡± Gentle Snow Breeze warmly greeted Great Storm who sat in the seat of honor in the south. She was seated in the east, and Violent Avnche was seated in the west. And on the seat of honor in the north. ¡°I don¡¯t know how long it¡¯s been since the four of us gathered in one ce.¡± A handsome young man with a short ck beard said with a bitter smile. The wild god de Song. He was in human form, but hisrge body and intense eyes seemed to reveal that he was a wolf. ¡°You still like colorful things.¡± ¡°Because I¡¯m splendid.¡± Great Storm frowned at the reply of de Song who chuckled and shrugged his shoulders as he showed off the colored tattoos on his naked upper body. ¡°Okay, sit down first. We have to begin our meeting. The children can¡¯t talk if we¡¯re talking amongst ourselves.¡± ¡°Oooh¡­ Violent Avnche. How did you be so cute? No, were you originally cute?¡± ¡°Yes, yes. I was originally cute, so sit down first.¡± ¡°Haha, as expected of a mature and experienced one.¡± When his provocation did not work on Violent Avnche, de Song chuckled again and sat at the seat of honor in the north. ¡°Let¡¯s begin now.¡± Violent Avnche gestured with his eyes and spoke, and Gentle Snow Breezed lightly pped her hands, prompting those who were waiting outside to enter the meeting hall. ¡°Red Gale of the Great Storm tribe greets the wild gods.¡± ¡°Nine des of the de Song tribe greets the wild gods.¡± ¡°Fine Snow of the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe greets the wild gods.¡± As the chieftains courteously greeted them in turns and sat on their assigned ces, the leading figures of each tribe also sat down. And in the meantime, Jude and Cordelia also joined them. ¡®Jude, Jude. That b*stard keeps looking at us.¡¯ ¡®You do know that you shouldn¡¯t be looking at him too, right?¡¯ ¡®I know, but I want to look at him.¡¯ ¡®¡­If you don¡¯t look at him, I¡¯ll do something amazing.¡¯ ¡®You¡¯ll be doing something amazing anyway.¡¯ ¡®We¡¯re on the same page, right?¡¯ ¡®Uh¡­perhaps?¡¯ After having a conversation with their eyes, Jude and Cordelia looked at the front again. The gaze that Cordelia was talking about. Jude could also feel it. de Song who sat on the opposite side was openly staring at Cordelia and him. ¡®He must have found us interesting.¡¯ Because the Golden Dragon King granted the status of guardians not to someone from the wildnds, but to a boy and girl from the S?len Kingdom, which had been in conflict with the wildnds for many years. Unlike the Great Storm tribe which was located in the south and had little direct confrontation with the S?len Kingdom, the de Song tribe was always at the forefront of the fight against the kingdom. Since their basic customs and way of life were different, it would had been stranger if de Song gazed at them nicely. ¡°Then, let¡¯s begin the meeting.¡± Clear Snow dered the opening of the meeting, and they began talking about the fundamental stuff. ¡°The allied forces will be gathered first in the east seven days from now. I¡¯m thinking of departing for the front eight dayster.¡± If all the troops in the east were gathered, the numbers would exceed 50,000 and even reach 100,000, but that was if a total mobilization order was issued. If they considered the troops for defense, the troops to maintain the supply line, and the movement speed of the tribes located in geographically distant locations, the number of troops that could gather at the first gathering was between 20,000 to 30,000. ¡°The 1st?unit will advance to the west first, followed by the 2nd?unit to support them.¡± The basic strategy itself had few difficulties. Because the existence of the great mountain range, which separated the east and west sides, limited the routes where they could be attacked in the first ce. ¡®The problem then, is the corrupted wild gods.¡¯ Basically, the wild gods were supposed to stay in their sanctuary, but the chances of the Devil¡¯s Eye leaving the corrupted wild gods with nothing to do was close to zero. They would be actively deployed in the battlefield. ¡°We will stop the wild gods of the west.¡± As de Song spoke with a frown, Great Storm also frowned and nodded his head. Although it was ufortable for them to leave their sanctuaries, it was also a painful reality for them to fight their fellow wild gods. ¡®Those are the basic points of the n.¡¯ Therge army from the east would advance to the west, and the wild gods would join the main army and fight against the wild gods of the west. Jude and Cordelia would have normally been assigned roles, but Jude had a bit of a different idea. ¡°Cordelia and I are going to move separately.¡± Unlike the Great Storm tribe whom they had already exchanged their ideas, the de Song tribe cocked their heads and found it odd. They questioned why the two would move separately and what they would do in the fight between tworge armies. ¡°Exin.¡± Cordelia frowned when de Song ordered them to talk as if he was their superior, but Jude got up from his seat and stepped forward before politely bowing as if it wasn¡¯t a big deal. ¡°As you can see, there¡¯s arge mountain range that¡¯s lined up like a wall between the east and west.¡± Therefore, the eastern army was nning to march their troops into the southern ins between two mountains. ¡°Instead of joining the main army, Cordelia and I will attempt to strike the defenseless tribes in the northwest beyond the Sky Roof mountain range.¡± The west would also be watching the movement of the east, so they would also be dispatching not only troops, but also the wild gods to the southern ins. Thus, their rear would naturally be empty, so Jude was saying that they would cross the mountain range and attack their rear. ¡°The goal of Cordelia and I is to blow up the contaminated dragon veins, so we do not need to confront the tribes in the rear. We just need to infiltrate and make the dragon vein runaway.¡± The enemies would naturally strengthen their defenses if one dragon vein exploded, so it would be difficult to repeat, but if they could really infiltrate the rear beyond the Sky Roof mountain range, they could at least blow up two dragon veins. ¡°This would have a huge strategic effect. The enemies would have to pay attention not only to the front, but also to the rear, and they would be anxious about their hometowns taking a huge blow.¡± The dragon veins were sacred for those who lived in the wildnds, but it was also a target for contamination by the Devil¡¯s Eye, a group of demon followers. In other words, it was the fact that Jude and Cordelia were the only ones in the wildnds who saw the dragon veins as targets for explosion. ¡®An attack that destroysmon sense is always useful.¡¯ It was something unimaginable, so they wouldn¡¯t be able to properly defend. At Jude¡¯s exnation, the de Song tribe blinked their eyes, and de Song who was quietly listening burst intoughter. ¡°Crazy people. But I like it.¡± Blow up the dragon vein and destroy the sanctuary. It sounded simple, but for him, a wild god, it meant something special. The destruction of the sanctuary was tantamount to destroying the base of a wild god, and it also meant blowing away the homes of those who lived in the wildnds. ¡®But the Golden Dragon King allowed it.¡¯ It was actually the most efficient way. It was a better way to protect the east and defeat the enemy than razing to ground the entire west of the wildnds. ¡°The ruggedness of the Sky Roof mountain range is beyond imagination. Will you two be able to cross the mountain range safely and on time?¡± When de Song provocatively asked, Jude smiled and said. ¡°It will be hard and difficult. That¡¯s why we need de Song¡¯s assistance.¡± ¡°My assistance?¡± ¡°Yes, it would be possible with your assistance.¡± Jude still kept the smile on his face, and de Song narrowed his eyes. ¡®How impudent.¡¯ Rather than be discouraged by the question of whether they could do it, he asked for help instead. ¡®Interesting.¡¯ It was a question that he asked with the thought of pressing Jude down a bit, but instead, he was trapped. He couldn¡¯t say that he couldn¡¯t help because Gentle Snow Breeze and Great Storm were watching him in this ce. ¡®It was also me who asked him if he could do it.¡¯ What would they say about de Song if he tried to escape from here? It was also a ce where the wildnd¡¯s children were watching. ¡°You have some guts.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Jude gently responded, and de Song had no choice but to sincerely smile in the end. ¡®Now that we¡¯re here, let¡¯s give him something big.¡¯ He actually liked Jude. Like his belligerent personality, de Song liked the brave ones without fear. ¡°Tell me, what kind of help do you need?¡± ¡°Is it all right to tell you about it?¡± ¡°Yes, feel free to tell me. What do you need? I¡¯m not a stingy man like Great Storm.¡± When de Song said and snickered, Great Storm frowned but did not open his mouth. Because he had already talked about it with Jude. And one more person. Cordelia quickly nced at Great Storm. ¡®Will he give it to us to match yours?¡¯ ¡®Yes, he¡¯ll match it to some extent.¡¯ Great Storm knew de Song¡¯s personality well. And Jude had expected de Song to say the same thing now after he had heard about de Song from Great Storm. de Song was not a stingy man like Great Storm. In other words, he would help them more than Great Storm. So what would happen if he exaggerated the extent to which Great Storm helped? And what if Great Storm also admitted to helping him? ¡®Thank you very much.¡¯ ¡®Thank you!¡¯ What does the fierce, vigorous, and handsome de Song have inmon with the benevolent and beautiful Wild Fairy Queen? Cordelia had a nice smile, and Jude gently opened his mouth and began talking. *** ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Really.¡± ¡°Re-really?¡± ¡°Really, really.¡± Having received de Song¡¯s desperate gaze, Great Storm pretended that it was the truth as he bit his lips. He tried his best to control the corners of his mouth from rising. ¡®Kekeke, you¡¯ve beenpletely robbed.¡¯ Divine protection was just the beginning. de Song had to bring out the items he treasured, and at the end, he had to take out and offer the ancient medicine he had hidden for a long time. ¡®Ugh¡­ah, how long had I been saving that?¡¯ It was a hundred-year-old medicinal wine. It was something that he had saved for a long time. de Song¡¯s psychological resistance was naturally immense since he had to bring out such items, but he was eventually forced to bring out what he had one by one. ¡®As nned.¡¯ Even if de Song was a prideful wild god who had honor, what he did was strange if not for the words Jude had said in advance. Because Jude had arranged for this strange event to be reality. ¡°Ooh! As expected of de Song!¡± ¡°How magnanimous!¡± ¡°As expected of brother de Song. You¡¯re really amazing.¡± ¡°I have no choice but to admit it¡­you¡¯re the best, de Song.¡± ¡°Hahaha, he¡¯s amazing. It¡¯s not an exaggeration to say that he¡¯s the best in the east.¡± The Gentle Snow Breeze and Great Storm tribes made a fuss about it, and even Gentle Snow Breeze, Great Storm, and Violent Avnche also helped one-by-one. As de Song took honor very seriously, he was caught in a checkmate and couldn¡¯t escape. ¡°What the heck, here! Take it!¡± ¡°Thank you!¡± Jude received the items and ancient medicine with immense gratitude. It seemed like he could hear Cordelia¡¯s voice as she widely smiled behind his back. ¡®My Jude is the best! The best man to marry!¡¯ Of course, Jude didn¡¯t just randomly rip him off. de Song was an important being who would help in leading the fight against the west, so taking his supplies for the war would be a huge loss to all their allies. Therefore, Jude intensively ripped off items that were difficult to use in a war but would be useful to Cordelia and himself. ¡®Great Storm, Gentle Snow Breeze, Violent Avnche¡­ Thanks to all of you.¡¯ The three wild gods not only provided information about the various items of de Song, but also agreed to help him with asking for the items. The new items they got from de Song would be useful for crossing the Sky Roof mountain range, and the ancient medicine with a huge amount of life energy would be helpful in opening a new door of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. ¡®I did a good job, right?¡¯ ¡®Yes, you did a great job. So good. I want to praise you.¡¯ Cordeliaplimented Jude with her eyes as she brightly smiled. Jude then sat next to Cordelia and gestured to Red Gale. It meant that they should proceed with the meeting again. About half an hourter¡­ The first meeting for the military campaign for the west was concluded, leaving a bitter wound on the chest of a wild god. Chapter 106 - EPISODE 106 – DEPARTURE FOR THE FRONT (2)

Chapter 106 - EPISODE 106 ¨C DEPARTURE FOR THE FRONT (2)

Terms used in this chapter: Pyeong?¨C a Korean unit measurement of area and floor space. 1-pyeong is equivalent to 3.3052 m2?when converted to the unit measurements used globally. Pyeong is usually used for real estate floorspace. Examples are an average house having 25 pyeong and a studio apartment having around 8-12 pyeong. ¡°Sho exciting, sho exciting, eheim, eheim, sho exciting.¡± Inside the tent of Jude and Cordelia after the meeting. While Cordelia acted cutely upon seeing the new items from de Song that was on the floor, everyone else smiled. ¡°They¡¯re all travel-rted items.¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s for our cause after all, so it¡¯s justified.¡± They needed help to cross the Sky Roof mountain range ¨C that was their justification, so they couldn¡¯t ask for items that had nothing to do with that. If Jude had only focused on ripping him off, the wild gods would not have cooperated with Jude from the very beginning even if de Song had agreed to it. ¡°They¡¯re all new items that are quite useful.¡± Adelia nodded at Cordelia¡¯s words. ¡°You¡¯re right, they all look useful.¡± They were referring to the three new items that de Song gave them. The items were ¡®Mysterious Canteen¡¯, ¡®ck Wolf Skin¡¯, and ¡®Cozy 1-pyeong.¡¯ ¡°To exin this¡­it¡¯s something like a space expansion canteen, a transformation skin, and a tent that can be easily used anytime and anywhere?¡± When Ga?l asked everyone, Jude nodded his head. ¡°Yes, they¡¯re all useful items.¡± Unlike Cordelia¡¯s bamboo canteen that was the size of her forearm, the Mysterious Canteen could hold enough water to fill several bathtubs. And if one wore the ck Wolf Skin and chanted the spell, they would be able to transform into a big ck wolf. Lastly, the Cozy 1-pyeong was a small ball that when thrown, would be a tent around 1 pyeong in area size. ¡°It sounds like some kind of shelter creation spell.¡± Adelia said as she stared at the Cozy 1-pyeong that had the shape of a ball made of leather. Just as she said, it was an excellent magic shelter with many additional functions. And thest one was an ancient medicinal drink. Ga?l and Adelia didn¡¯t talk much about the specifics of the ancient medicinal drink. Because it was an item rted to Jude¡¯s growth rather than for traveling convenience. ¡°Sho exciting. If Jude drinks this, he¡¯ll grow stronger.¡± Cordelia said with an innocent-looking face. She was happy to see Jude get stronger since she helped him rece his equipment and so on. Jude knew that Cordelia had more of a ¡®raising a game character¡¯ mentality, but it lookedpletely different to Ga?l and Adelia. ¡®Sigh, you love him that much?¡¯ ¡®You really love him.¡¯ She loved Jude that much to act and say it like that. Ga?l¡¯s eyes were filled with happiness while Adelia also smiled as if she had no choice but to concede. ¡°Anyway, Jude, can I talk to you for a moment?¡± Ga?l told Jude when he had finished arranging their newly acquired items. They had already discussed about their future ns, but this was to rify some things. ¡°Yes, older brother.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s go out for a while and walk.¡± Having said that, Ga?l spoke to Adelia to excuse them for a moment and left the tent with Jude hurriedly following him. ¡°Eh¡­?¡± But why do they have to go out? Cordelia blinked her eyes as she looked back at Adelia before she unconsciously flinched. Adelia was staring at her with a sharp look. ¡°U-unnie?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s talk a bit too.¡± Adelia grabbed the wrist of Cordelia who reflexively tried to get away, but she sat close to her younger sister and spoke. ¡°Cordelia, I¡¯ve already told you that Lord Ga?l and I will be moving separately from you.¡± ¡°Yes, but?¡± ¡°Jude and you will be going to the Sky Roof mountain range alone.¡± ¡°Yeees.¡± Are you worried about the Sky Roof mountain range because of its rough terrain that even barbarians are reluctant to approach? ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes, unnie.¡± ¡°You have to be careful.¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll be careful. I¡¯m good at mountain climbing. I also have a Winter Protection so it wouldn¡¯t be very cold for me.¡± ¡°No, not the mountain and the cold but Jude.¡± ¡°¡­Eh?¡± Be careful of Jude? Why? Cordelia tilted her head with an innocent face and Adelia frowned. Adeliamented the fact that she had to leave her gentle, kind, and innocent sister to a ck-hearted man like Jude. ¡°So¡­¡± And she whispered to Cordelia. As Cordelia nkly listened, her face turned bright red. ¡°Got it? You should be careful, okay? You¡¯re definitely engaged, but it¡¯s still just an engagement, okay? You¡¯re not married. Plus, you¡¯re both minors. You understand what I¡¯m saying, right?¡± Adelia strictly warned Cordelia, but thetter thought she heard wrong. No, what the heck are you talking about? ¡°No.¡± Me and Jude? M-me and Jude? It was something unimaginable for her. No, he¡¯s definitely my fianc¨¦ and we¡¯re engaged, but to do something like that with Jude¡­that¡¯s something unimaginable. ¡°What do you mean by no?¡± ¡°No¡­that, that¡­that¡¯s right! W-we¡¯re not like that?¡± Me and Jude? Aren¡¯t we just teasing and harassing each other? Cordelia felt a strange sense of relief at the excuse she struggled to create, but not at all for Adelia. She asked, snorting as if she found it absurd. ¡°Look at you. Then what in the world is between you two?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t live without Jude. I belong to Jude and Jude is mine.¡± Her straightforward words made Cordelia turn even more red. ¡°N-no¡­that, that¡¯s right¡­¡± She couldn¡¯t deny that because she had already said that. In fact, the situation would have passed if she just said yes and that she would be careful, but Cordelia couldn¡¯t say it well because her reasoning stopped. She then chose to counterattack to get over the situation. ¡°U-unnie too!¡± ¡°Eh?¡± She just screamed that, but Adelia¡¯s expression changed. Cordelia, abat genius, instinctively pierced that gap. ¡°Unnie, exin! Y-you and brother-inw, Ga?l!¡± This time, it was Adelia¡¯s face that turned red. At any rate, Cordelia and Adelia resembled each other because they were sisters. ¡®G-good. Counterattack sess.¡¯ It was when Cordelia breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°That¡­we¡­ahem, ahem, first of all, we¡¯re both adults¡­¡± Adelia slightly turned her head and quietly spoke while Cordelia blinked her eyes. No, what the heck is unnie talking about now? You¡¯re both adults? Adults? ¡°Wait a second, what is unnie¡¯s rtionship with brother-inw Ga?l?¡± There was definitely a pink atmosphere between the two, but they weren¡¯t like that when she first saw the two. Cordelia hurriedly asked as she pulled her arm, and Adelia pretended to be a bit ignorant as she said with an indescribably sweet face, which was something her subordinates in the royal capital would have never imagined her doing so. ¡°Ah¡­with Mr. So-and-so, I¡¯m not in a rtionship, not in a rtionship, not?¡± What the hell is that? What the heck are you saying? No, I think I know without her saying it. Her unnie¡¯s red-hot cheeks told her everything. ¡°Hehehe.¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyes narrowed, and Adelia cleared her throat. And outside. While the two sisters were in the midst of an embarrassing conversation, the two brothers were having apletely different conversation. ¡°Whether the west or east wins, the north needs to be prepared.¡± Ga?l had his usual calm expression, but his eyes looked different. He came to thisnd as Jude¡¯s older brother, but he was a knight of the north at the same time. He had no choice but to prioritize the security of the kingdom rather than the turmoil that urred in the barbariannds ¨C no, the wildnds itself.. ¡°If the west wins, there will surely be a war. Even if the east wins¡­war could also happen. It would be quite regrettable to just disperse the power that was already gathered.¡± He was well aware of Red Gale¡¯s character. Red Gale certainly had a good character. But an individual¡¯s character and war werepletely separate things. The chieftains of the wildnds who had invaded the S?len Kingdom in the past were neither lunatics nor bloodthirsty warmongers. All were respected leaders for their respective tribes. But nevertheless, war broke out. ¡®When power is gathered, it leads to war.¡¯ Moreover, Red Gale wasn¡¯t precisely a king. He was the leader of the tribal alliance. If the chieftains¡¯ thoughts were inclined to war, he had to consider war too. ¡®War can happen regardless of which side wins.¡¯ Whether the west wins or the east wins. Therefore, the north must know in advance and be prepared. ¡°Perhaps we could help.¡± It was better for the east to win than the west which had fallen into the hands of the demon followers. But supposing they helped, they would not step forward unless there was a really crucial moment. For the north, the best thing was for the west and east to destroy each other. It was a heartless calction. But Jude understood Ga?l. He was a northern knight who swore to protect the North. ¡°Are you going with Lady Adelia to the Jackdaw¡¯s nest?¡± ¡°Yes. I¡¯d like to take you as well¡­but that¡¯s impossible.¡± Jude and Cordelia were chosen as guardians by the Golden Dragon King, the king of the wild gods. The elopement of the immature children was already a thing of the past, given that they were also rted to Iron Man Landius and the Guardians of the Holy Cross. ¡®They also have the power to do their mission.¡¯ Jude was weak only a couple of months ago, but he was now so strong that he seemed to have be apletely different person. Furthermore, it wasn¡¯t just Jude. Cordelia was also several times stronger than when she was in Langesthei. ¡®Maybe it¡¯s the will of heaven.¡¯ The strange events that happened to the two one after another. In reality, Jude and Cordelia artificially created those strange events starting with the Sun¡¯s Ne, but Ga?l had no way of knowing that. Each event that sessively happened was surprising, so in Ga?l¡¯s eyes, it seemed like the will of heaven was with the two. Thus, Ga?l inly admitted it. The two had their own mission. And he would not interfere with their mission. ¡°But I¡¯ll be back soon. Our purpose ining here is to stop the honeymoon trip of you two, but at the same time, to protect the two of you.¡± ¡°Will the knight Ga?l Bayer individually help the wildnds?¡± ¡°That sounded a little grand, but yeah, something like that.¡± ¡°What about Lady Adelia?¡± ¡°I want her to help too¡­but I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s possible.¡± She wasn¡¯t the kind of person who would be easily dissuaded or heed other people¡¯s words. Ga?l smiled as he talked, and Jude took a deep breath. He looked in the same direction as Ga?l and asked in passing. ¡°Are you¡­all right now?¡± The reason why Ga?l had yet to be married. The events in the past. Are you okay now? Have you ovee the pain from that time? ¡°I¡¯m not sure. But¡­nearly 10 years have already passed. I¡¯m not sure, maybe I just needed an opportunity.¡± And if that was really the case, he owed it to Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Thank you, for running away.¡± When Ga?l abruptly said that, Jude blinked his eyes while Ga?l smiled again. He looked back at Jude and said with a serious face as if he had never said anything earlier. ¡°Please take good care of Lady Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes, brother. I will cherish her more than my life.¡± ¡°Is that so.¡± Ga?l pat Jude on the shoulder and looked towards the south again. *** Both Jude and Ga?l did not waste their time. The day after the meeting, they packed up and headed for their respective destinations. ¡°Be careful.¡± ¡°Cordelia, remember what I said? Be careful, okay? Do you understand?¡± After a simple farewell from Ga?l and a long one from Adelia, the two headed south while Jude and Cordelia headed north. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes?!¡± Cordelia was startled when she was called, so Jude frowned and asked as he cocked his head. ¡°Are you all right? Did something happen with your sister?¡± ¡°No? Nothing happened. Yes, nothing happened. Yes, yes, yes, the snow is very white. It¡¯s white in color. Why is the snow so white?¡± Jude¡¯s eyes narrowed a little because of her extremely suspicious words. ¡®I¡¯m sure there¡¯s something if she¡¯s stammering and rambling from embarrassment.¡¯ What is it? What the hell did you talk about with Adelia? ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Cordelia, who had been quickly walking in front, turned around a little exaggeratedly. Jude asked as he pretended to act like normal. ¡°We have a long way to go, so would you like me to carry you on my back?¡± If it was the usual Cordelia, she would have cried ¡®OK¡¯ and then threw herself on his back. But today, her eyes shined for a moment, but she promptly shook her head afterwards. ¡°No, it¡¯s okay. I¡¯ll just walk today. Yes, yes.¡± Because she was ashamed. Until now, she didn¡¯t care whether she was hugged or carried by Jude on his back, but because of Adelia¡¯s words, she was suddenly embarrassed. ¡°Let¡¯s go quickly, quickly.¡± Cordelia took the lead as she began to walk more quickly to hide her red cheeks, and Jude narrowed his eyes but did not specifically question her. The two headed towards the Sky Roof mountain range. *** Time had passed. Three days after the first meeting of the Eastern Alliance. After havingpleted their western conquest, the main troops of the Angry Bull tribe headed east. The western forces also began to converge in one ce. The east didn¡¯t just watch the movement of the west. As what they had confirmed at the first meeting, the east began their military expedition to make the west their battlefield. And three dayster. At the moment when the direct confrontation between the east and the west began. An incident happened to Ga?l and Adelia as they were heading for the border. Chapter 107 - EPISODE 107 – ENCOUNTER (1)

Chapter 107 - EPISODE 107 ¨C ENCOUNTER (1)

The sight of 30,000 eastern troops heading west was simply spectacr. As the wild gods joined the ranks, their advance became different in many ways from normal troops. The most noticeable one was the changing of nature. ¡°Blessings of the Spring Breeze.¡± Gentle Snow Breeze began to sing, and the hot air of the spring breeze melted the snow and drove away the cold. It was something that she couldn¡¯t do now that she had left her sanctuary, but she was not alone. Great Storm added power to the wind, and de Song strengthened the power of the song by singing in harmony with her. The troops moved forward as winter was driven out. The troops moved forward as spring trailed after them. Each time the wild gods used their powers, the miracles became more powerful, and the morale of the eastern army soared up high as if it would pierce the sky. ¡°It feels like victory is in front of us.¡± Sun Song spoke with a pleased expression as he walked side by side with Red Wind who also smiled. His hasty proposal had already been rejected, but that did not mean Red Wind and Sun Song could not see each other. ¡®I¡¯m honestly not sure about getting married. Couldn¡¯t we be friends though?¡¯ After Red Wind rejected his proposal, Sun Song decided to take a step back. Even he himself had thought that it was a hasty proposal. Moreover, the Great Storm and de Song tribes became the center of the eastern army, so the two would-be leaders of their tribes had to work together to properly fight. ¡°The western army have also begun their march¡­we¡¯ll probably meet them in Snow Breeze in.¡± Red Wind nodded at Sun Song¡¯s words. This single fight wouldn¡¯t determine the fate of the east and west, but it was the first head-to-head confrontation, so they must not lose. They had to win. ¡®Unnie.¡¯ Red Wind nodded again to Sun Song as she looked north. The Sky Roof mountain range divided the wildnds into the east and west. Due to the harsh environment, it was and of death that not only people but even the wild gods avoided. Jude and Cordelia were there now. They were there for their crazy n of striking the west at its rear by going through the Sky Roof mountain range. ¡®They¡¯re seriously crazy.¡¯ The two alone would cross the Sky Roof mountain range. The two alone would destroy the rear of the west. ¡®But I think they can do it.¡¯ If it was the two of them¡­ If it was Jude and Cordelia¡­ ¡®And if they really do it¡­¡¯ The west would stagger from the unexpected punch. It was a n that even the east, who was their ally, thought was crazy. ¡®Unnie¡­and oppa.¡¯ I look forward to seeing you again. In good health. Red Wind gently closed her eyes as she brought her hands together in prayer. She thought of the smiling faces of the two. And at that same time¡­ While was Red Wind was imagining them warmly smiling, Cordelia was yelling curses. ¡°F*ck! I think I¡¯m going to die!¡± In the middle of the Sky Roof mountain range¡­ Jude and Cordelia were on their way as they fought against the powerful icy cold wind that blew violently as if to cut their flesh. ¡°F*ck! F*ck!¡± It was Jude this time and not Cordelia. Jude usually didn¡¯t swear, but the Sky Roof mountain range made even him spout curses. ¡°Haa, ugh¡­mana, I¡¯m running out of mana.¡± Cordelia gasped and said as she worked hard in maintaining the magic while on Jude¡¯s back. Jude began to look around in order to find a ce where they could rest. ¡°How long can you hold out?¡± ¡°5 minutes?¡± Jude and Cordelia¡¯s climbing method was simple. Cordelia was carried on the back of Jude, who had drunk the ancient medicinal drink and gained a stronger body. While being carried on his back, she spread out the shield to block the wind and also warmed the air inside the shield to somehow maintain warmth. Jude steadily went up the mountain in that condition. It was an iparably simple method but was quite effective. ¡°Found it! Hang on for five minutes! Okay?¡± ¡°Okay¡­brrrrr! Fu-!¡± As Cordelia grit her teeth, Jude hastened his steps. He approached a ce where there was a rock face and found a suitable crack that was not exposed to the wind. He drew his fist as he shouted at Cordelia. ¡°Release the shield!¡± ¡°Ack!¡± Cordelia screamed instead of answering as she tightly hugged Jude¡¯s body and released the shield. And at that moment, the violent and biting wind struck Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Juuude!¡± Cordelia cried right behind his back, but he couldn¡¯t properly hear it. Jude strengthened his lower body to maintain his bnce as he thrust his fist in between the unexposed crack in the rock. ck Dragon Release Technique! Instead of a cross, he released a pure energy to break the rock face, thus making the crack even bigger. ¡°Good!¡± This much should be enough. Jude quickly pulled out the Cozy 1-pyeong from his waist and threw it into the crack, and a round tent was created in the span of one breath. ¡°Get in, get in.¡± Cordelia weakly said as her teeth chattered, and Jude opened the tent¡¯s entrance without dy before going inside with a jump. ¡°Haa.¡± A breath of relief came out when the entrance was sealed up. Even though the Cozy 1-pyeong was carelessly expanded inside the crack in the rock, it had a cozy feeling as its name implied. ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­¡± It had only been a few seconds after she released the shield, but Cordelia¡¯s whole body seemed to have frozen hard. Jude quickly untied the podaegi and put her down on the floor before he used the ck Wolf Skin and transformed into a wolf. ¡°Okay, the fur isple-¡± Cordelia stretched out her hands before Jude could finish speaking. She tightly hugged Jude, who now had shiny ck fur, and curled herself up. ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­so cold.¡± The cold wasn¡¯t a joke as it was worse than when they were in Frost Anvil. They felt cold even though they had the Winter Protection, but if they didn¡¯t have that, they would have frozen to death the moment the shield was released. ¡°Cold, cold.¡± As she repeatedly said the same word, Cordelia hugged Jude tighter. Her embarrassment and so on caused by Adelia had already disappeared a long time ago. She no longer cared about being embarrassed as living was more important. ¡°Ah¡­warm¡­¡± It was thanks to Jude circting his Qi energy around his body to give off heat. Cordelia said as she buried her face in the fur of Jude who was like a human heater ¨C no, a wolf heater. ¡°Haa¡­I can rx a little now¡­¡± Six days after they headed to the Sky Roof mountain range¡­ It had only been two days since they actually started climbing, but the two had already climbed up the Sky Roof mountain range by half. ¡°We¡¯re only two days away now.¡± Jude spoke as ifforting Cordelia, who closed her eyes. It was a feat that would surprise even the wild gods if they heard that they crossed the Sky Roof mountain range in just four days, but for Cordelia, her only thought was that she had to do this crazy method for two more days. But she was Cordelia. After having calmed down, she asked in a worried voice. ¡°Jude, are you okay? Does your back hurt?¡± ¡°Eh, it¡¯s okay. Though a certain someone wasn¡¯t as light as a feather when I carried them on my back.¡± ¡°F*ck.¡± ¡°My princess, why are you suddenly swearing?¡± ¡°Because Red Wind isn¡¯t here?¡± ¡°Wait a minute, has your swearing recently decreased then?¡± ¡°No, well¡­it¡¯s not just because of Red Wind.¡± Cordelia¡¯s foulnguage had significantly decreased for the past month. As she had said herself, it was because of Red Wind ¨C or to be more exact, what triggered it was the embarrassing incident that took ce near the border, but there were actually other bigger reasons for her change. ¡®Is her Cordelia side showing more now?¡¯ More than two months had passed since they awakened their memories of their past lives. In the beginning, the influence of her previous life that suddenly appeared was so strong that she became more like Yellow Storm than Cordelia, but it was not now. Her two selves had begun to assimte with each other. ¡®Because we were reincarnated and not transmigrated.¡¯ Both of them had lived for 17 years as Jude and Cordelia. And every time he thought about it, he realized. This was also a real world. It was not the same as the world in the game. But that made him even more afraid. The future that awaited them. If everything went ording to the original story in the game, this world will eventually meet its end and be destroyed. ¡®No, we can change it.¡¯ Many things had already changed. They had caused numerous butterfly effects. ¡®It¡¯s mostly about people.¡¯ That was what Jude and Cordelia could do themselves. Things that could heavily affect the rolling wheel of fate. They saved people. They gathered people. Conversely, they eliminated those who would be their enemies. ¡®Lucas and Cordelia.¡¯ The two were originally ipatible. If Lucas lived, Cordelia became a demonic human, but if Cordelia lived, Lucas became a demonic human. But not now. Moreover, the rtionships had also changed. ¡®In the original, the rtionship between Lucas and Cordelia was such that they literally only knew the other¡¯s face and name.¡¯ But not anymore. Lucas was close not only to Cordelia, but also to Jude himself. They had helped and received his help a lot of times. ¡®There¡¯s also Red Wind.¡¯ In the original, Lucas and Red Wind never worked together. Lucas was a knight from the north who had been taught that barbarians were beasts and not humans. And Red Wind came to hate the northern humans after her life in very. If the two had met, they could only be hostile to each other. But what about now? If the two had met while Jude and Cordelia were with them? ¡°What are you thinking about?¡± At Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude spoke of the things that came to his mind, and Cordelia smiled. ¡°You¡¯re right, all of us can be friends, right?¡± It was line that would usually appear on children shows, but at that moment, Jude felt like he had been enlightened. He already had thoughts about it, but he was suddenly convinced that it was possible now. ¡®If it¡¯s Cordelia.¡¯ It might be possible. It was impossible for Jude himself, but it could be possible for Cordelia who had amazing sociability. They would not only save all of the yable characters, but also get all of them to work together asrades. All of the yable characters would fight together with Cordelia at the center. ¡°Wow.¡± Just imagining that scene thrilled him. In the original game, that was absolutely impossible, but that could be possible in reality. If it¡¯s Cordelia, we might really be able to that now. ¡°What, why are you suddenly saying ¡®wow¡¯?¡± ¡°Ah, I just thought that it would be great if all the yable characters fought together.¡± He deliberately left out the idea of cing Cordelia in its center, as the idea of all yable characters fighting together was enough. ¡°Wow, that¡¯s really wow.¡± Her motivation suddenly soared. She now felt optimistic that they could really stop Armageddon and achieve a happy ending. ¡°Are you saying that Maximilian and Leon would be fighting together? And leave their backs to each other?¡± Maximilian was the main character of?Legend of Heroes 2, and Leon was his rival. Would the two people who were at odds with each other to the very end of the game really work together? ¡°Perhaps even Red Wind and Kirara would fight together.¡± The two were both from the wildnds but hated each other. ¡°Wooow, I think I¡¯m getting goosebumps.¡± They could feel such emotions because the two were rotten waters of?Legend of Heroes 2. It also meant that pairings that were usually found in fanfiction could now be possible. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s possible for Lucas and Red Wind to get married?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°I mean, I thought it would be better to give her to Lucas than to Sun Song.¡± ¡°Red Wind is not an object.¡± ¡°Anyway.¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyes brightened. Because she remembered the yable characters who would be present in the royal capital of the S?len Kingdom. She would be able to meet them once they had safelypleted their mission here. ¡°We saved Lena too.¡± It was the best result they had achieved at the present. They hadpletely saved Lena¡¯s life. ¡°Can we save the other two?¡± She was referring to two of the five main characters in the first episode of?Legend of Heroes. Necromancer Velkian and Druid Fran. ¡°I guess so. And above all¡­we need to save Landius.¡± Iron Man Landius. He was Jude¡¯s own master and the man who might be the strongest among the five heroes in the first episode. ¡°I think it might be more difficult than Lena.¡± The rotten waters of?Legend of Heroes?spected that Landius was killed by Duke, a high-ranking demonic human of the Devil¡¯s Eye, but no matter how much the two thought about it, it seemed to be impossible. ¡°Landius is too strong.¡± He wasn¡¯t the Landius that they knew in the first episode. The Landius in the second episode was literally a superhuman. Duke killed Landius? That doesn¡¯t make sense. ¡°I¡¯ve considered the idea that¡­ Landius was corrupted and became Duke, but that¡¯s also impossible.¡± ¡°Why? Because Landius couldn¡¯t be corrupted?¡± ¡°No, their sizes are different.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± Landius was a staggering 230 cm tall, while Duke was only 180 cm. They couldn¡¯t even think of the two as the same person. ¡°Perhaps finding out the cause of Landius¡¯ death¡­and saving Landius might be the key to victory.¡± Jude couldn¡¯t open a new door after consuming the ancient medicinal drink, but after he reached approximately 4/5 to the next door, he realized it. Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors was literally a powerful martial art. And Landius was a superhuman who opened up to the seventh door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. Based on this point in time, Landius was probably the strongest among all the living ¡®humans.¡¯ ¡°It¡¯s just absurd. We have to figure out why a person who¡¯s too strong to be killed had died.¡± ¡°Perhaps he won¡¯t just die if we don¡¯t do anything.¡± ¡°That might really be possible if it¡¯s Landius.¡± Jude and Cordelia recalled Landius¡¯ face and body for a moment and simultaneously smiled. ¡°May the muscles always be with you.¡± ¡°Sob, sob, Master. I will do my best.¡± ¡°No, don¡¯t cry. You¡¯ll lose your muscles.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s vocal impersonation, Jude flinched instead of smiling. Because he remembered the trauma that originated from those few days. ¡°That was a really horrible time.¡± ¡°But thanks to him, your body has improved a lot.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± When he looked back on it, it wasn¡¯t all bad memories. He had such a hard time back then that he couldn¡¯t properly enjoy (?) Cordelia very gently taking care of him. ¡°Are you having another strange thought?¡± ¡°No, I was just thinking that we could achieve many things if we win this fight.¡± He said that to change the subject, but what he had said was the truth. ¡°Are you talking about your father and my father?¡± ¡°Because the two were originally killed during the invasion of the northern barbarians.¡± However, if they destroyed the west and the invasion of the northern barbarians itself, they would be able to save the lives of their fathers. Even if a war between the east and north happened as Ga?l feared, they wouldn¡¯t just stand around and watch as they would then twist history as much as possible. The survival of Count Bayer and Ga?l. It wasn¡¯t just a simple matter of doing their best to stop Armageddon. It was something he wanted to achieve as Jude Bayer. ¡°Haa,e to think of it, it¡¯s really amazing.¡± ¡°About what?¡± ¡°I mean, unnie and brother-inw.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± He didn¡¯t seriously expect the two to be a potential couple. ¡°How interesting.¡± Cordelia giggled and tightly hugged Jude as if he was a doll, while Jude wanted to provoke Cordelia with the word ¡®double inws,¡¯ but closed his eyes and enjoyed the warmth instead. And as soon as both of them were about to fall asleep. ¡°Is¡­anyone there?¡± A voice was heard along the sound of the wind. Chapter 109 - EPISODE 108 – ENCOUNTER (2)

Chapter 109 - EPISODE 108 ¨C ENCOUNTER (2)

¡°Haa¡­I can rx a little now¡­¡± Having settled down inside the tent made by Ga?l, Adelia stretched her legs and sighed in relief. She had suffered from the icy st a moment ago, so a tent that blocked the wind was something highly valuable. ¡°Don¡¯t overwork yourself. We¡¯ll take a break here for today.¡± ¡°Yes, Lord Ga?l. Pleasee here too, Lord Ga?l. I¡¯ll cast some magic.¡± ¡°Thank you. It¡¯ll befortable thanks to Lady Adelia.¡± ¡°Making itfortable is a piece of cake, no problem.¡± Ga?l also smiled when Adelia responded with a gentle smile. It was a very vibrant smile that the people from Count Bayer were familiar with. ¡°Please excuse me then.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Adelia gently answered and quietly waited for Ga?l to sit next to her. If Count Chase ¨C no, her subordinates in the royal capital saw the current Adelia, who was far from her usual self, they would repeatedly blink their eyes. However, there was no one here who cared about that. ¡°.¡± As soon as Adelia chanted the spell, a wave of heat began to warm the inside of the tent. Her frozen fingertips and toes that felt like rock began to warm, and blood started to circte again with a tingling sensation. ¡°Haaw¡­¡± Adelia reflexively let out her voice as she felt the tingling sensation, while Ga?l had a small smile as he slightly moved his body and said. ¡°It would be better to take your shoes off as you may get frostbite. I will take it off for you.¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­yes. Please¡­do so.¡± Adelia gently replied again. If her subordinates in the royal capital ¨C no, her fellowmanders in the Royal Guard Magic Corps saw her, they would exim, ¡®It¡¯s an evil doppelganger! Where is the real Adelia!¡¯, but she wasn¡¯t fake. The person here now was the real Adelia. ¡®He¡¯s kind.¡¯ Adelia thought as she watched Ga?l carefully take her shoes off. In fact, if it was the time when they had just begun to travel, Adelia would have coldly rejected Ga?l¡¯s kindness and said something like ¡®I have hands too. Go away.¡¯, but not now. ¡®Nothing, there¡¯s nothing between us, we¡¯re not in a rtionship.¡¯ That day. The words Ga?l said as he gazed at Adelia with his eyes moist with tears. ¡®Is there¡­nothing between us?¡¯ His voice that sounded like that of a woundedmb changed everything. It opened up thest lock in her heart which resisted to the very end. ¡°Whoa, as expected, it¡¯s frozen. I¡¯ll give you a massage so don¡¯t be too surprised.¡± Ga?l softly spoke again as he began to carefully massage her feet, and Adelia blushed as her lips squirmed. ¡°That¡­doesn¡¯t it smell?¡± Her shoes had been wet for a long time. ¡°It¡¯s all right.¡± As a person who was born and grew up with knights, Ga?l was not quite good with his words. However, what was important in this situation wasn¡¯t really about his words. The power of love was that great. ¡®He¡¯s kind¡­¡¯ She liked it when he spoke genuinely instead of saying one thing after another. Moreover, she saw the look in his eyes and felt his touch as he massaged her feet. Wasn¡¯t it clearly noticeable that Ga?l was purely worried about Adelia and didn¡¯t have wicked thoughts? ¡®It¡¯s okay if you have a bit of those thoughts.¡¯ Adelia recoiled when she realized her unconscious thought, and Ga?l misunderstood her sudden stiffness and carefully asked. ¡°Did it hurt by chance?¡± ¡°N-no. It¡¯s okay. Thank you, it made mefortable.¡± Adelia pretended to be calm as she quickly withdrew her two feet, and Ga?l smiled again as he sat down next to Adelia. And Adelia thought. ¡®Should I also give him a massage?¡¯ No, wouldn¡¯t that be a little strange? Should I just make hot water for him to wash his hands? There was snow all around them, so she could create water by heating the snow with magic. While Adelia¡¯s mind was spinning, Ga?l took off his shoes with his own hands and began to massage his own feet. ¡°I need to air it a bit. I¡¯m sorry.¡± Ga?l awkwardly said before slightly opening the tightly sealed tent entrance, and the cold and fresh air that blew inside made Adeliae to her senses. ¡®Huu, huu. Let¡¯s calm down, calm down. Adelia.¡¯ They were not in a romantic rtionship, but their rtionship was also something that was not clearly defined. ¡®That¡¯s right, let¡¯s calm down. Rx, Adelia.¡¯ Adelia took a deep breath and regained herposure. In the meantime, Ga?l took out the nket from their luggage, sealed the tent entrance, and handed the nket to her. ¡°Cover yourself. I¡¯ll take a little rest and then prepare the meal.¡± ¡°Lord Ga?l should warm yourself too.¡± When Adelia covered herself with the nket and spoke, Ga?l hesitated for a moment before sitting down beside Adelia, who covered him with the nket too. ¡°I wonder how Jude and Cordelia are doing?¡± ¡°They should be doing well. It¡¯s only been two months¡­but it seems like they¡¯ve both grown a lot during their trip.¡± He wasn¡¯t just talking about their physical power. The two had alsorgely grown up mentally. ¡°When did they be adults?¡± ¡°I agree. I thought that they were immature children in love¡­¡± Ga?l¡¯s words trailed off and he smiled as he gazed at Adelia, and Adelia also stared at Ga?l. And the two realized it. The fact that their faces were too close. That they were very close to the point that they felt each other¡¯s breath. Adelia unknowingly opened her lips a little. Ga?l stared at Adelia¡¯s lips, and at some point, the eyes of the two met again. The two simultaneously narrowed their distance. Adelia let out a hot breath and gripped the nket as her heart trembled in fear and anticipation before she slowly closed her eyes. And right after she did that. Baaaang! The tent was destroyed with a loud sound. At the same time, no, a little earlier than that, Ga?l pushed her down as he avoided the attack that flew straight at them. Tuuuk! The tent had been destroyed, and a bolt trembled as it stuck to the stone wall. Finding herself under Ga?l, Adelia opened her eyes in a sh and the pink atmosphere between them was instantly broken. Bang! A second st went off. It was Adelia this time. The tent was broken by the powerful wave of magic and even the bolt that was about to explode was blown away. And Ga?l stood up. He quickly drew his sword and red in the direction where the arrow came from. ¡°Nine.¡± He figured out the number of enemies at once. The number was determined not only by sight but also by feeling. ¡°Demon follower.¡± Perhaps a demonic human too. A giant who held a small ballista in his hand, smiled from a distance. Around him were some horribly disfigured monsters like those seen in Karaval, that were wearing dog cors and drooling as they sharply looked at the two. Ga?l thought. He figured out at once why they appeared in this ce far down south. ¡®They thought like Jude.¡¯ Jude left to destroy the rear of the west. The same was true of the west. Having a simr thought, they also sent some troops to the east. ¡®Sky Roof mountain range.¡¯ And of death where even the wild gods did not live in. Therefore, instead of crossing the Sky Roof mountain range, they took arge detour southward to infiltrate the east. The current situation of the two was that they ran into these guys who were moving like that. ¡°I¡¯m lucky.¡± Garad, the mid-ranking demonic human who attacked Ga?l,ughed. The moment he saw Ga?l and Adelia, he was also thinking. ¡®It¡¯s obviously them.¡¯ The coldblooded monsters who did not hesitate to kill and destroy one-by-one the demonic humans of the Devil¡¯s Eye who operated in the east. It was a considerable misunderstanding and aplete misidentification of the wrong people, but Garad¡¯s misunderstandings also had their own basis. It was difficult to think why a couple with eye-opening looks from the S?len Kingdom would be here in the wildnds. ¡°Haraken will be pleased.¡± There was no need for him to take their lives, so he thought that he could vite them to his heart¡¯s content. The corners of Garad¡¯s mouth was raised and he began his transformation. His eyes that were glistening with ambition and vulgar desire split into dozens of pieces and becamepound eyes, and his giant body swelled and even became bigger. A ck and glossy shell resembling that of a stag beetle surrounded his whole body like an armor. Horns sprouted from his forehead, and his jaws split as it became like the mouth of an insect. ¡°I¡¯ll make you my puppets.¡± Garad thought what he would do after winning. The small ballista on his right arm shook as he also began running. ¡°Go!¡± Ga?l loudly cried at that moment. He dashed across the ground towards the running Garad, while Adelia began to chant a spell. The low-ranking demonic humans who were together with the monsters screamed as they also began running towards them. Baaaang! The moment Garad and Ga?l collided, a loud sound reverberated. To be exact, it was the sound of Garad¡¯s huge fist breaking the ground. Twaaaaak! Like the wind, Ga?l evaded Garad¡¯s attack as his sword glowed blue and violently struck. His sharp sword broke apart the shell on Garad¡¯s waist. ¡°Gaah!¡± Garad was flustered by Ga?l¡¯s attack, which was more powerful than he expected. But his body was already too close for him to step back. So he swung his fist again and ordered his subordinates. ¡°Kill the woman!¡± This was to distract Ga?l. It was a reasonablemand. But even at the moment Garad shouted, Ga?l did not look back at Adelia. Because he believed in her. No, he just knew. Adelia¡¯s power. Her strength. Boom! Boom! Boom! Lightning struck. The powerful lightning that was created from Adelia¡¯s specialty, High-Speed Incantation, hit the low-ranking demonic humans who were charging at them. It didn¡¯t end with one shot as it spread around as if bouncing. . Even within the Royal Guard Magic Corps, she was called the ¡®sh¡¯ because her spell chanting was three times the normal speed. In addition, theposition of her magic and its precision did not significantly drop despite her fast incantation. ¡°Aaaaaah!¡± As the lightning bounced, the low-ranking demonic humans who were trapped in the hellish lightning chain screamed and rolled over the floor, but this was only the beginning. ¡°These scumbags!¡± Adelia cursed and chanted a new spell again. The sight of her eyes glistening as she released attack magic with the white snow on the background was like the battle angel Sri who descended into this world. Boom! Boom! Boom! Adelia did not show them any mercy. Or rather, she cornered the enemies with excessive power more than what she usually used. Because she was angry. ¡®Of all times! Of all times! Of all times!¡¯ It was at that moment! ¡®It was my first time!¡¯ No, it was going to be my first time! The situation that happened just a dozen seconds ago came to Adelia¡¯s mind. No, even a few seconds before that too, the knowledge she remembered and the numerous stories she listened to but pretended not to be interested in¡­ ¡°Burn! Be ripped apart! Copse!¡± Adelia cast three different spells in session. . . . Even within the Royal Guard Magic Corps that boasted of their history and tradition, Adelia was called a genius as her skill in consecutive casting made her the youngestmander in history. ¡°Kaaaaaah!¡± ¡°Aaack!¡± The low-ranking demonic humans were ughtered one-by-one before they could do anything, and Garad was in a panic. ¡®They¡¯re too strong!¡¯ He guessed that they were strong because all the demonic humans who were dispatched to the east were at least mid-ranking ones or higher, but the two were too strong. Furthermore, it wasn¡¯t just the wizard. The man in front of him was also not an ordinary knight. aaash! A sharp wind blew. Ga?l became the wind, and at the same time, he controlled the wind. It was impossible for Garad¡¯s wild and crude attacks to even graze Ga?l. ¡°Gaaa!¡± In the end, Garad bellowed as he kicked the ground with all his power. At the same time he gained distance from Ga?l through force, he threw up the re that was on his waist. Boom! Boom! Red lights exploded in the air. It was an action that might expose all of the troops in the detour route, but he couldn¡¯t help it. ¡®We were supposed to gather in the first ce!¡¯ Seven troops from the west were dispatched to infiltrate the east. Since their starting points were different from each other, they had nned to gather around this area eventually. ¡®In other words, the other should be around here too!¡¯ Garad frankly admitted it. The couple in front of him were not at a level that he could handle alone. He now understood why the demonic humans, who had been dispatched to the west, died without making any significant achievements. So he shouldn¡¯t be uselessly greedy. He had to focus on holding on until the other demonic humanse! ¡°Ouuuuuu!!¡± Garad unleashed his power. He focused on enduring Ga?l¡¯s attacks. His judgment was correct. Garad¡¯s n wasn¡¯t wrong. But, nevertheless. ¡®Why aren¡¯t theying!¡¯ It seemed like some time had passed since the re was fired, but no one had showed up. At the very least, they should have contacted him when they saw the signal, but they didn¡¯t evene. Why? Why the hell are they noting? No way, are they trying to get rid of me? So they saw the signal but chose to ignore it? ¡®No! No way!¡¯ It doesn¡¯t make sense. How did the other troops know about my situation yet still do something like this! ¡®Come on! Please! Quickly!¡¯ As he desperately prayed, Garad confronted Ga?l. But it was already hopeless. Having eliminated all the low-ranking demonic humans, Adelia approached with a turbulent power, and Ga?l¡¯s sword became increasingly sharper. And it finally came to an end. ¡°Uuggh¡­.¡± The proud giant¡¯s arms were cut off, and Ga?l¡¯s sword stabbed Garad¡¯s chest. The tip of the swift sword let out an explosion as it broke the hard shell on his chest and turned Garad¡¯s body into a mess. Booom-! Garad stepped back in the aftermath of the explosion before he copsed while vomiting blood. He eventually stopped moving. Starting from his toes, his body turned into ck ash before he finally disappeared. ¡°Haa.¡± Ga?l exhaled as he clenched his sword and looked up the sky. The light of the re that Garad shot had vanished, but the two continued to remain alert. ¡®There must be reinforcements.¡¯ Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t even fire a re. But for some reason, the reinforcements did not appear. Adelia was also worried like him, so she closed her eyes and used magic. However, she found no one. ¡°I think it¡¯s okay. There are no enemies within at least 200 meters around us.¡± At Adelia¡¯s words, Ga?l exhaled again and sheathed his sword. He suddenly asked Adelia. ¡°Any injuries¡­?¡± ¡°Is that even possible?¡± Adelia shrugged and thenughed, and Ga?lughed too. Even though she defeated eight low-ranking demonic humans who wildly ran like beasts, not even a single fingertip of hers was hurt. ¡°The tent¡­ I don¡¯t think we can use it anymore.¡± ¡°Ueueu¡­¡± Adelia was visibly disappointed by Ga?l¡¯s words. But they were quite fortunate. In one to two days from now, they would be able to reach Thunderdoom Fortress, the nest of the Jackdaws. ¡°It¡¯s a good thing you didn¡¯t get hurt.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Adelia drooped her shoulders but still smiled, and Ga?l quickly approached Adelia. ¡°Lord Ga?l?¡± When Adelia asked as her eyes blinked, Ga?l smiled again and said. ¡°Will you excuse me for a moment?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± At Adelia¡¯s question, Ga?l lowered his gaze and she understood it then. Because both of them were barefoot. ¡°That¡­¡± ¡°Yes.¡± When Adelia gave her permission, Ga?l acted like a member of the Bayer family, or to be exact, he acted like his brother Jude. He so naturally carried Adelia in his arms. In fact, there was no need for him to do this. There was also a way in which Adelia would just stand as he picked up her shoes. No, Adelia could use magic in the first ce. But Ga?l didn¡¯t do that, and Adelia was satisfied. She wanted to curl up her body while in the arms of Ga?l, but she soon moved her body and met his eyes again. In that position. Her heart was pounding. The adrenaline that was released because of the battle led to new chemical reactions. In that few seconds. When the two let out their breaths at each other. Bang! There was a roar in the air. Ga?l and Adelia reflexively looked, and they soon saw it. A man stood in the air as his red cloak fluttered. The one who ughtered all the mid-ranking demonic humans who were dispatched from the west to the east, except for Garad. When he saw the re, he flew in a hurry but spotted Ga?l and Adelia. The two who were hugging each other flinched and turned around for a moment. He awkwardly looked around as if he didn¡¯t see the two before he flew away to another ce. And a few secondster. Ga?l and Adelia¡¯s voices simultaneously flowed out. ¡°Co¡­unt?¡± ¡°Dad?¡± Count Chase, one of the Northern Sagang (Four Rivers) and the Tower Master of the Red Dawn Tower. The reason why he suddenly went away after seeing the two. Ga?l and Adelia understood it at the same time. Both of them blushed, and Ga?l cleared his throat. ¡°Ahem, ahem, let¡¯s get our shoes first.¡± He felt apologetic (?) to Count Chase who avoided their ce because the atmosphere had already been broken. Adelia frowned at Ga?l¡¯s words, and soon made a decision. Because she thought that a moment like this wouldn¡¯t always happen. ¡°Lord Ga?l.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± That was it. Adelia hugged Ga?l¡¯s neck and moved her upper body. She drew her face closer to Ga?l, and bravely acted again. Adelia¡¯s lips touched Ga?l¡¯s cheeks. ¡®Ueueu.¡¯ This was not her original n, but it was impossible for her to push it further. The atmosphere had already been broken. She felt like she would die of embarrassment. Adelia blushed as her eyes remained close, and ironically, Adelia¡¯s action and appearance created a strange atmosphere again. The atmosphere was quite different from the tent, and was funny in some way, but it was enough to move Ga?l. ¡°Adelia.¡± He moved after he called her in a low voice. On the white snowfield, the figures of the two ovepped into one. And far away¡­ No, not that far, but just the right distance. Count Chase hid behind arge rock and held his breath. He looked at the expansion bag after unlocking it with magic and thought while stroking it slowly. ¡®I did a good job in preparing.¡¯ For a possible situation. Otherwise, it would have been pretty difficult for him now. Count Chase praised himself for his readiness and closed his eyes for a moment as he waited. He actually had a lot of questions. The reason why the two crossed the border. The whereabouts of Jude and Cordelia. But now was the time to be patient. ¡®I also have to write a letter to my friend, Count Bayer.¡¯ Count Chase lightly stroked his chin and gently smiled. He thought of the new things he had to prepare. *** At the same time, in the Sky Roof mountain range. Jude and Cordelia flinched and opened their eyes at the same time. Chapter 109 - EPISODE 109 – ENCOUNTER (3)

Chapter 109 - EPISODE 109 ¨C ENCOUNTER (3)

At the same time, in the Sky Roof mountain range. Jude and Cordelia flinched and opened their eyes at the same time. They heard a voice along the sound of the wind. ¡°Did you hear that?¡± Cordelia said in a hushed whisper and Jude slowly nodded. He then said in a low voice as if to confirm. ¡°Is someone¡­there?¡± ¡°Uh.¡± Cordelia replied to Jude with a nervous face. Or rather, it was more of a slightly frightened face than a nervous one. And at that very moment¡­ ¡°Are you there? You¡¯re in there, right?¡± They heard the voice again. The sad and faint voice of a woman traveled along the harsh wind as if it was being swept away by the wind. ¡°What, what. What was that?¡± Cordelia hugged Jude and quickly spoke. Her face was stricken with fear. ¡°Cordelia? Are you okay?¡± ¡°I-isn¡¯t that a ghost? There¡¯s no one here but us.¡± They were in and where not only humans, but also wild gods did not live in. A woman¡¯s voice came from such a ce. It was also heard together with the wind that sounded eerie. ¡®Her words are also strange!¡¯ Are you there? You¡¯re in there, right? That pattern only appears in scary stories, right? ¡°Eueueu¡­¡± Cordelia seriously didn¡¯t like scary stories. There was always one child in ss who would try to cover their ears and not listen to people telling scary stories in ces like retreats, and Cordelia was such a case. ¡®I keep thinking about it!¡¯ When she went to the bathroom at night. When she took the elevator alone at night. When she walked alone at night. ¡°Are you¡­there? Can you¡­hear my voice?¡± The voice got closer. But the closer it got, the more they realized that it was not the voice of a human. The voice seemed to be torn by the wind. It had a slow yet spooky tone that was a bit different from that of an ordinary woman. ¡°Hiik.¡± Cordelia became even more frightened as she firmly shut her eyes and tightly hugged Jude. And Jude thought to himself. ¡®You¡¯re cuter when you¡¯re scared.¡¯ How can she be so pretty and cute? But now was not the time to rx and appreciate it. He would always wee Cordelia hugging him, but if she kept hugging him tightly, his waist and back might be broken. Cordelia was weaker than Jude, but her physical abilities were far more superior than the average adult male because of her high level. ¡°Cordelia, are you scared of ghosts?¡± At his question, Cordelia flinched and with a face that was about to cry, she red ¨C no, she stared at him. ¡®What? You¡¯re not scared then?¡¯ It¡¯s a ghost, okay? Jude understood what she meant through the look of her eyes like usual, so he said with a smile while still having the face of a wolf. ¡°No, because it¡¯s this world. Even if ghosts appeared, we could just eradicate it, right? With sacred battle aura or magic.¡± Because it was this kind of world. Jude demoted the existences of ghosts and supernatural phenomena to just your ordinary monster A, and Cordelia blinked her eyes. And replied in a small voice. ¡°Is that so?¡± ¡°Yes, it is.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. Most problems can be solved with an explosion.¡± If you blow up a ghost, it will die! ¡°Umm¡­that didn¡¯t sound right, but let¡¯s think about thatter.¡± Because it was more important that Cordelia had recovered. Although Cordelia¡¯s blue eyes seemed to have a slightly dangerous glint, Jude was satisfied that she somehow brightened up, so he turned his gaze towards the tent¡¯s entrance. ¡°Please answer me.. Is there¡­anyone there?¡± They heard the voice again. The voice was near the tent, so it was quite clear. ¡°Let¡¯s go out for now. It¡¯s disadvantageous for us inside.¡± The two were inside a crack of a rock face that they had forcibly expanded. In that ce, it would be hard for them to properly evade, escape, or attack. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go outside.¡± Cordelia seemed to be scared again judging by her voice, but she answered with a much better face than before as she let go of Jude whom she had tightly hugged with her arms. ¡°Human form.¡± Jude said in a low voice and the transformation was undone. After taking off the ck Wolf Skin, Jude carried Cordelia on his back with the help of a podaegi. ¡°Wear the wolf skin over you.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± They had originally searched for a resting ce due to her mana being depleted, so she was stillcking in mana. She couldn¡¯t used magic, so the only way to keep her body warm was by using the wolf skin. ¡°What about you, Jude?¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. Because I have Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors.¡± As Jude grinned and said that, Cordelia blinked her eyes before she smiled. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°No, I just thought that you had changed. It seemed like yesterday when you pretended to be this and that while using your Gueumjulmaek as an excuse. This older sister is touched.¡± ¡°Haven¡¯t I been good at fulfilling my promises?¡± He promised that he would carry her when his Gueumjulmaek gets better, and now, he had been carrying her almost every day. ¡°Yes, yes, good job. My Jude kept his promises well. This older sister greatlypliments you.¡± Cordelia pulled her hand out from the podaegi and patted Jude on the head, making Jude smile again. And at that moment¡­ ¡°Please¡­answer me. Please¡­answer if¡­you¡¯re¡­there¡­¡± Maybe it was because of the atmosphere between the two, but the voice sounded a little irritated. It sounded like a cry to stop their public disys of affection ande out quickly. ¡°Well then, let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Yes, yes.¡± Cordelia ced her hands inside the podaegi again and gulped in nervousness, while Jude carefully opened the entrance of the tent. To prepare for any possible attack, he jumped up to the ground while sharpening his senses. Tswaak! Jude rose more then 5 meters from the tent. He surveyed the area around them, and Cordelia then said. ¡°There!¡± It was near the rock face where the two were in. There was a figure of a woman, who was either a ghost or just translucent, that was swaying feebly in the blowing wind. ¡®She¡¯s not a wild god.¡¯ No matter what anyone said, Jude and Cordelia were the official guardians of the wildnds. If it was a wild god under the authority of the Golden Dragon King, the wild god would have recognized them. But the woman didn¡¯t. If so, what was she? Was she really a ghost? If not- ¡°Spirit.¡± At the moment Cordelia spoke, the woman looked up and stared at Jude. Her face with well-defined features were definitely beautiful, but they could see at a nce that she wasn¡¯t human. Despite being out in the biting cold, the woman was naked without a single piece of clothing on her, and there was no white in her eyes. The entirety of her eyes only had one color. ¡®Snow spirit?¡¯ Or is it a wind spirit? Instead ofunching an attack, Jude approached the woman, and the woman with long white hair spoke again along with the wind. ¡°As expected¡­there were people. I¡¯ve been waiting¡­for a long time. I kept¡­waiting. For someone¡­toe¡­¡± Jude frowned at the woman¡¯s words. Even if the woman in front of them was a spirit, he wondered how she found the two of them. And he wondered what she meant about waiting. ¡°Ah! I understand!¡± He heard Cordelia¡¯s voice behind his back just then. Having been covered by the wolf skin, Cordelia nodded to herself and continued her words. ¡°Phoenix¡¯s feather.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± Jude also understood it now. A by-product they obtained during the time they defeated the Phoenix. He had forgotten about it for a while after he put it on Cordelia¡¯s head, but Cordelia had kept and treasured it. ¡®It¡¯s the power of a strong spirit¡­so she recognized it.¡¯ Moreover, if the woman was indeed a snow or wind spirit, she would be the opposite of the Phoenix, a me spirit. For the woman, the Phoenix¡¯s feather would have been clearly visible to her as if it was a fragment of light in the darkness. ¡®But that¡¯s why it¡¯s strange.¡¯ The woman and the Phoenix were opposite existences, so why did shee here? She must have needed something if she had waited and searched for people to talk to. ¡°Come this way,e this way. Before the harsh¡­winter coldes.¡± The woman took a step closer and beckoned to them with her hand. Jude reflexively took a step back as his eyes narrowed. The harsh winter cold. A woman who beckons you to go somewhere. ¡°Let¡¯s follow her.¡± ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°We can¡¯t ignore her anyway. And we also got a quest, so we have to check it out first.¡± At her answer that was typical of a rotten water, Jude frowned but he was soon convinced. He might have said that he had Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, but the coldness in the Sky Roof mountain range was indeed murderous. If they continued to stay outside, the two of them would seriously suffer. ¡°We¡¯lle with you. Please guide us.¡± Jude politely spoke after he retrieved the Cozy 1-pyeong, and the spirit woman smiled and turned around. ¡°Follow me.¡± The woman began moving, and Jude ran after her. And Cordelia said in a small voice. ¡°Don¡¯t give it weird looks. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Hmm, could she be feeling jealous? I hope so. After he thought that, Jude smiled a little as he looked forward again, focusing his gaze on the back of the woman¡¯s head. And around 5 minutester¡­ Whether she had thought that Jude was able to move fast, or she simply just had no idea, the woman who was moving at a fairly high speed stopped in front of arge natural cave. ¡°We¡¯re¡­here. Come¡­inside.¡± The woman who had just been talking had then dispersed in the wind. It was as if she was a fading me. ¡°Ju-Jude.¡± ¡°I think we¡¯re almost there. Just hang in there.¡± It had only been around five minutes, but Cordelia¡¯s voice sounded so weak as if she had lost most of her body warmth. Jude hurriedly entered the cave, and at that moment, he widely opened his eyes. The cave had an open entrance, but the temperature changed as soon as he entered the ce. ¡®It¡¯s warm?¡¯ Jude was bewildered for a moment, but he soon calmed himself down. The important thing was that the coldness was gone. ¡°Are you okay, Cordelia?¡± ¡°Yeees¡­I¡¯m okay. What about you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m strong.¡± Jude deliberately answered with some exaggeration before he looked around again. The cave was quite spacious, but he could tell that it was a man-made structure. ¡®Did they erge a natural cave?¡¯ Something like the underground city of the dwarves. ¡°This way¡­please.¡± They heard the woman speaking again. She was in front of a structure in the innermost part of the cave. ¡°No matter how much I look at it, that¡¯s an elevator¡­right?¡± At Jude¡¯s question, Cordelia barely opened her eyes and then nodded her head. ¡°I think so.¡± It was arge cylindrical structure with double doors. And it would lead one to the underground. Though Jude and Cordelia had the Winter Protection, they were still worried about dying from the cold, yet there were people who could build such a structure of this size in this ce¡­ ¡®Magen?¡¯ The magic kingdom founded by the ancient elves. Perhaps one of their cities was hidden beneath the Sky Roof mountain range. ¡°Come¡­quickly¡­¡± Jude nodded at the woman¡¯s urging and continued to walk after fixing the podaegi. *** Ga?l and Adelia stared at each other. Ga?l was clearly carrying Adelia in the beginning, but it was different now. The fact that they were hugging each other was the same, but the two were facing each other. He held and supported Adelia¡¯s back and waist with one hand while Adelia ced her hands on her chest and exhaled. The two were so close to each other. Ga?l caressed Adelia¡¯s cheek with his left hand, and Adelia took a deep breath again. She gazed at him with dreamy eyes and said. ¡°One, one more time.¡± Ga?l was embarrassed for a moment, but he soon smiled. And like that, he kissed Adelia on the lips again. It was unbelievable that a man near his thirties and a woman in her mid-twenties was inexperienced in kissing, as they only kissed on the lips, but that was enough for them. The distance from their lips widened again. As the two withdrew their faces, Adelia thought. It was little different from what she read in storybooks. It was different from Samantha¡¯s story which she intently listened to while pretending not to listen. She had heard that there was a thrilling and tingling sensation, but there was nothing like that. Even when they put their lips together, she didn¡¯t feel any of those sensations. However, it was a really strange feeling. She could only describe it as really strange and mysterious. She felt like strangely smiling. The blushing Adelia squirmed her lips, and Ga?l caressed her cheek. And drew their lips together again. ¡®The third time.¡¯ Adelia¡¯s face reddened again as she flinched but did not avoid it. She then slightly opened her lips. But that was it. Ga?l slowly withdrew his lips. Adelia opened her eyes with regret, but she couldn¡¯t help it. ¡°Father.¡± Ga?l called him ¡®father¡¯ instead of ¡®Count.¡¯ It was a subtle change in address, but Adelia came to her senses when she heard it. She then asked in a very low voice. ¡°Is he watching?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like that¡­but I think he¡¯s considering when he shoulde out.¡± Having reached the level of a master, Ga?l could tell. No, he just knew with his imagination. The sight of Count Chase hiding behind a rock and flinching while thinking about whether toe out or not. ¡°Ueueue.¡± Adelia covered her face with both hands and let out a groan. Because she thought of it again. The fact that she had kissed him on the cheeks first, or that she asked him to do it again. Add to that was her embarrassment. ¡®Dad!¡¯ She didn¡¯t do anything wrong on purpose, but Count Chase must have felt bitter while watching. Ga?l then drew his face close to Adelia¡¯s ear. It was to leave something that must be said before they faced Count Chase. ¡°Adelia.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°I love you.¡± Adelia¡¯s heart stopped at his simple words. No, her heart began thumping like crazy. ¡°Me-me¡­me too¡­¡± I love you. Herst words were so small that she didn¡¯t even know if she really said it or not, but that was enough. Ga?l tightly held Adelia again and took a deep breath. Adelia¡¯s face was so obviously red, but Ga?l¡¯s face was also burning red. ¡®I really admire those two.¡¯ Jude and Cordelia. How could they say such words openly? Cordelia would writhe in embarrassment after saying those words, while Jude would say it was as nned whileughing evilly. But Ga?l cleared his thoughts as he let down Adelia before he shouted. ¡°Count Chase! This is Ga?l! Lady Adelia is with me!¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem!¡± A cough returned in response to his loud call. Count Chase came out from behind the rock after a while, looked around as if he was looking for the whereabouts of the voice, and then widely opened his eyes as if he spotted Ga?l. ¡°It¡¯s a coincidence.¡± He said with his usual stern face. As if he had just arrived. ¡®Ah, please. Dad, please, Dad, don¡¯t do it.¡¯ While Adelia was mentally screaming, Ga?l just had a kind smile and stepped forward. He was still hugging Adelia on the waist with one arm. ¡°Ahem.¡± And Count Chase looked at Ga?l and squinted his eyes. Instead of asking what happened, who did they fought, were they injured and so on ¨C things that were asked in normal situations, Count Chase said somethingpletely different. ¡°You¡¯ve be weak since Ist saw you.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± When Ga?l widely opened his eyes at the unexpected remark, Adelia covered her face with both of her hands, and Count Chase tried to hide his warm smile. He lifted up the space expansion bag that was filled with bags and then said. ¡°I got it by chance on the way here. Take it.¡± He then opened the bag. After taking out a bag from the space expansion bag, which anyone could tell was carefully packed inside, he then held it out to Ga?l. ¡°It¡¯s nothing much.¡± ¡°Eh¡­yes. Thank you¡­very much.¡± ¡®Dad¡­please¡­¡¯ Ga?l awkwardly spoke, and Adelia immediately spoke in her mind. Count Chase closed the bag as he mentally restrained himself, and then made a stern expression again. ¡°What happened?¡± An ambiguous question that might vary ording to one¡¯s interpretation. Ga?l and Adelia looked back at each other and had a conversation with their eyes, though they were not skilled with it. ¡®I¡¯ll do it.¡¯ ¡®Yes, I¡¯ll do it.¡¯ ¡®Leave it to me.¡¯ ¡®Trust in me.¡¯ Was a conversation with their eyes still not possible? The twopletely misunderstood each other as they smiled and turned to Count Chase. They then opened their mouths at the same time. Chapter 110 - EPISODE 110 – SNOW QUEEN (1)

Chapter 110 - EPISODE 110 ¨C SNOW QUEEN (1)

¡°Wow.¡± When the elevator they were riding on reached the underground¡­ Cordelia¡¯s eyes widely opened in awe, while Jude also had a bit of an amazed expression. ¡®I¡¯m certain this is the ruins of Magen, the magic kingdom.¡¯ The fact that there were several buildings built inside arge cavity, which seemed to be about a dozen meters high from the ceiling to the ground,pletely reminded them of Endymion. To be more urate, it could be called a mini-Endymion. If Endymion was a city, the sight that spread out before their eyes could be called a small town. ¡°It¡¯s the elves.¡± Cordelia said as she pointed to one side, and Jude nodded. As she had said, lined up on the wall were stone statues of beings who had long ears, a trait unique to the elves. ¡®The High Elves of Magen.¡¯ There were several simr statues in Endymion, but because of the very urgent situation then, they didn¡¯t pay it much attention. ¡®Was this structure built at the same time as Endymion?¡¯ If Kan had been here, he would have looked around in excitement. He would have also answered Jude¡¯s question. Unfortunately, Kan was far away, and Jude had no archeological knowledge to guess the time period of the ruins. ¡®But there¡¯s a clue.¡¯ As Jude looked back at the translucent woman, Cordelia suddenly poked his side. ¡®Ah, right.¡¯ Don¡¯t give it weird looks. Because the woman was actually naked. However, her hair was very long that it covered everything that needed to be covered. ¡®Umm.¡¯ For a moment, Jude contemted where he was going to look at the woman. The woman then opened her mouth and spoke. ¡°My¡­masters. Are¡­no longer¡­here. They¡­left¡­this ce.¡± Her gloomy voice made it seem like she would burst into tears at any moment. ¡°I missed¡­them, but I couldn¡¯t see them¡­¡± The woman¡¯s shoulders eventually fell, and she began to sniff. Cordelia then patted Jude¡¯s back. She was telling him that she wanted to get off his back. ¡°Wait a second.¡± Jude quickly untied the podaegi, and Cordelia got off his back and approached the woman. ¡°Are you all right?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not okay. But I can¡¯t¡­do much about it.¡± She was like a child. The woman spoke honestly and met eyes with Cordelia who felt sorry for her. ¡°Pretty. More than¡­my masters.¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­thank you. Hehe.¡± Cordelia softlyughed and the woman also had a small smile before she turned around again and said. ¡°If you go¡­to the center¡­it bes¡­clearer.¡± What do you mean by clearer? Cordelia tilted her head, but Jude seemed to understand what she meant. Because the figure of the translucent woman had be a bit clearer than before they came down to the underground. ¡®Her voice also has a little more presence now.¡¯ Perhaps when they reach the center, her thinking abilities would improve. ¡°What, what is it? Why am I the only one who didn¡¯t get it? Please exin it to me.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s that. As I had thought, Cordelia is very pretty. More than the high elves.¡± ¡°Hmph, of course I am. I¡¯m Cordelia, okay?¡± Cordelia shrugged as if to brag, but her face quickly turned red. After all, she was Cordelia herself. And that was why she was embarrassed. ¡®Because it¡¯s not transmigration.¡¯ It was reincarnation. Her awareness that she had be Cordelia herself had grown stronger than before. ¡°What are you embarrassed about? It is true.¡± ¡°Eueueu.¡± Cordelia blushed even more at Jude¡¯s words, and she turned around to hide her embarrassment. Jude then said as he stepped forward. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s follow her. She has already gone quite far.¡± ¡°Come¡­quickly¡­¡± The woman urged them at that perfect moment, and Cordelia also quickly moved. ¡°Here¡­this way¡­¡± She headed for the center after saying that, and about 30 meters ahead of them, arge cylindrical structure that was like an elevator appeared again. ¡°Ride¡­down¡­on this¡­¡± Another way down to the center. Jude and Cordelia reached the elevator and got on it right away. And around tens of seconds or so¡­ The elevator stopped after descending more than a dozen meters. ¡°Don¡¯t be surprised. It won¡¯t harm you.¡± At the moment they heard her voice, Jude and Cordelia were astonished when they saw the woman. Her figure no longer looked stretched or blurred. Her voice was also clear. In addition, even her appearance was different. She was still translucent, but unlike before, the woman was now wearing clothes that looked like a pure white racing suit. ¡°I¡¯ll open the door.¡± The elevator door opened when the woman moved her hand as she smiled at the gazes of the two, and Jude and Cordelia immediately understood why she told them not to be surprised. ¡°Wow.¡± ¡°Dragon vein.¡± As soon as the door opened, a faint golden light poured in. On the other side of the underground cavity was a flowing golden stream on where the wall should be. ¡°Is this the dragon vein?¡± They had seen the dragon vein several times, but the viewpoint was different. They had looked down at the flowing dragon vein from above. But it was different now. They were in the dragon vein itself. They weren¡¯t looking down from above nor looking at it from the outside. ¡°Aquarium¡­no, is it more like an underwater hotel?¡± It was a structure submerged in the dragon vein and was surrounded by ss walls. ¡°My masters built this facility in the dragon vein.¡± The woman spoke with a small smile and stepped out of the elevator. Cordelia hesitated for a while before going out of the elevator. ¡°Pretty.¡± It wasn¡¯t just gold. Multiple colored lights circted in the flowing dragon vein. The brightness and intensity of each color changed depending on the flow, and white light appeared here and there, making it look like the sparkling of stars. ¡°I¡¯m telling you in advance, but no explosions.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t do it.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t blow it up.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t.¡± Cordelia puffed her cheeks, but only for a while. She suddenly pped her hands and looked back at Jude. ¡°But, but Jude. Wouldn¡¯t exploding the dragon vein make it easier to cross the Sky Roof mountain range?¡± Half of it would disappear like Violent Avnche¡¯s rocky mountain. At Cordelia¡¯s innocent idea, Jude flinched and said. ¡°N-no way. You demon. You can¡¯t.¡± What would happen if half of the Sky Roof mountain range got blown up? A literal catastrophe. An enormous catastrophe. ¡°But no one lives here anyway. There are no animals.¡± It would be a mess, but nobody would die, right? Jude froze for a moment at Cordelia¡¯s words, and soon shook his head. ¡°No, what are you talking about? You know what will happen if half of this mountain range explodes, right?¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± ¡°That¡¯s how it is. So let¡¯s not do it. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Okay, okay. It was a joke anyway.¡± Cordelia giggled and turned around again, while Jude stared at her with anxious eyes. The woman then said. ¡°This way.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± As Cordelia ran, Jude also headed towards the woman. There was arge cylindrical pir in the center of cavity. Drawn all over the white pir were multiple thin ck lines, which was some sort of magic circle. ¡°What is this?¡± At Cordelia¡¯s question, the woman slightly smiled and then took a deep breath. ¡°I¡¯ll start by greeting you. My name is Melissa. I am the artificial spirit who is in charge of the management of this facility.¡± The woman, Melissa, politely introduced herself, and the two also introduced themselves. ¡°I am Jude Bayer.¡± ¡°I am Cordelia Chase.¡± An artificial spirit. Beings who were artificially created and did not exist in nature. ¡°I am a spirit that was created for the management of the entire facility, so it bes difficult for me to maintain my form if I move away from the center.¡± ¡°Ah, is that so.¡± Melissa couldn¡¯t speak well and didn¡¯t even materialize any clothes when they met her outside the facility. Cordelia nodded in understanding, and Melissa continued to speak. ¡°As you can see, this facility is located inside the dragon vein. It was done so that the power of the dragon vein could be directly used.¡± They could understand to that extent just by looking. What mattered to Jude was what the heck were they using the power of the dragon vein for. Jude narrowed hie eyes and began to be troubled, but Cordelia just asked Melissa with an innocent face. ¡°What kind of facility is this?¡± It was incredibly straightforward question, but it was effective. ¡°This is a facility to create a ruler of spirits.¡± ¡°A ruler¡­of spirits?¡± ¡°Yes, to be precise, it¡¯s an artificial ruler of spirits.¡± Melissa took a deep breath and exined with her arms wide open. ¡°My masters had done a lot of research to fight against the overlord of hell. Among those was a n to create a new artificial god created by elves ¨C a being that would be capable of directly fighting the overlord.¡± The Melissa in front of them proved it, because the technology of Magen even created artificial spirits who were capable of thinking on the same level as humans. It was obviously impossible to create a real god-like existence, but it was different situation for the ruler of spirits. ¡°This facility was built as part of the n for the ruler of spirits. The dragon vein supplied the enormous amount of power that is needed to create the ruler of spirits.¡± Having spoken so far, Melissa paused for a moment before slightly moving her hand. Images of light appeared in the air then. ¡°It was unfortunate, but to begin with, the creation of the ruler of spirits failed. What was created was just a crystal of powerful energy and not a proper spirit.¡± In the video, a mass of blue light and the disappointed looks of the high elves appeared one after another. ¡°But my masters decided to wait instead of scrapping the facility. They did not disregard the possibility that a ruler of spirits would be born if enough time passed.¡± The high elves leaving the facility and Melissa seeing them off appeared in the video. ¡°I was created to manage the facility while my masters were away, and I had been doing my job up to now.¡± Melissa¡¯s eyes were filled with pride and self-confidence, but only for a moment. ¡°One day, I couldn¡¯t get in touch with my masters. The signals in the surrounding facilities that were also in good working conditions were cut off¡­ and not long ago, the signal of Endymion also disappeared.¡± The capital, Endymion. Cordelia flinched at that moment and turned to Jude, who nodded his head. It was obvious why Endymion¡¯s signal was cut off, but they did not know about the other ces. ¡°Cordelia? Are you feeling ufortable?¡± ¡°N-no! It¡¯s nothing!¡± Cordelia automatically denied it and shut her mouth in a hurry. Jude then moved forward and changed the topic. ¡°By the way, Melissa.¡± ¡°Yes, Jude.¡± ¡°Why did you call us here?¡± Magen¡¯s high elves tried to create a ruler of spirits to confront the overlord of hell, and it was apparent that this facility was part of the n. But for what reason did Melissa bring the two here? ¡°I need your help.¡± Melissa immediately answered and the video changed again. There was a space withplex magic circles engraved on the floor as well as the walls and ceiling. A circr sphere wrapped in blue light was in the pir at the center. ¡°That sphere is the ruler of spirits, who is also known as the Snow Queen, and is currently in this facility. It is located below the ce where we are standing.¡± At that point, Jude roughly understood why she called them. ¡°You have a specific problem.¡± ¡°Yes, because too much time had passed. The flow of the dragon vein has changed from before, and as a result, the stability of the facility is getting worse day by day. If it continues like this, the bnce will eventually copse¡­and in the worst case, the power of the Snow Queen may run out of control.¡± The Snow Queen had absorbed the power of the dragon vein for at least, hundreds of years. The umted power in it was indeed beyond one¡¯s imagination. But the problem wasn¡¯t just the runaway. It was the ce where the Snow Queen was located. If something went wrong, the dragon vein could explode, and the entire Sky Roof mountain range could disappear. ¡°Wow.¡± There was a possibility that the words Cordelia had said as a joke would be true. ¡°It¡¯s not just a normal problem if it really happened. There will be a great catastrophe. However, I hadn¡¯t been in contact with my masters for hundreds of years, and the signals from the nearby facilities continue to be cut off¡­so with a worried thought, I went out to look for help, but there was no one! I became stupid when I moved away from the center!¡± Melissa¡¯s voice grew louder. She must have been frustrated. ¡°But you two appeared. You were my only hope.¡± Cordelia asked Melissa, who was about to burst into tears at any moment. ¡°How many years¡­were you in the mountain¡­?¡± ¡°37 years, 9 months, 12 days, 8 hours, and 21 minutes.¡± ¡°That¡¯s worth crying about.¡± That meant that for nearly 40 years, she had been wandering in the Sky Roof mountain range where no one went to. But Jude was focused on something else. ¡°It¡¯s been nearly 40 years since the danger warning?¡± ¡°Yes, so it¡¯s really dangerous now. Frankly, it wouldn¡¯t be strange if a problem arises at any moment.¡± Today or tomorrow. Perhaps right now. Jude unconsciously gulped in nervousness as he turned to Cordelia. Although the two had yed the game, the Sky Roof mountain range was an off-limits area. Just like Melissa, neither of the two had any information if the Sky Roof mountain range would explode, or when it would happen if it did. ¡°What should we do?¡± ¡°You just need to separate the Snow Queen from the pir. I couldn¡¯t do it because I have no substance.¡± Melissa had now begun to cry. Her sadness seemed to have burst out as she spoke. ¡°D-don¡¯t cry. We will help you.¡± Cordelia reached out to soothe Melissa with the method she used to soothe Red Wind, but Melissa truly had no substance. Rather than being able to hug her, her hand just passed, and Melissa cried louder. ¡°Huhuhu¡­why was I made like this!¡± ¡°Ca-calm down.¡± Cordelia pretended to hug Melissa as if she was a mime, and Melissa pretended to lean on Cordelia¡¯s arms. And Jude waited for the two before saying. ¡°We just need to remove the crystal?¡± It was this kind of facility. It was clear that besides Melissa, there would be some defense mechanisms. ¡®Perhaps a guardian or something.¡¯ A guardian of a treasure. A knight of steel who would protect the Snow Queen. And it was as Jude expected. The sobbing Melissa moved her fingers and showed a new video. ¡°It has a guardian. It can be neutralized if we had my masters¡¯ crest, but they haven¡¯t arrived or contacted me¡­huhuhu.¡± In short, the two had to forcefully get it. Therefore, Jude looked at the Guardian in the video once again. A giant white being was crouched down in front of the pir. It had a dragon¡¯s head and a tiger¡¯s body. But it looked familiar to him. And it wasn¡¯t just Jude. ¡®Yvaska.¡¯ Cordelia gulped her saliva and spoke with her eyes, and Jude nodded his head. Light Dragon Yvaska. A mighty monster that appeared in the middle of?Legend of Heroes 2. One of the seven major cmities. If horns and wings were added to that guardian and it grew several times in size, it would be the Yvaska in the cmity. And that was why Jude and Cordelia understood it. ¡®As Melissa had thought. There¡¯s a problem with the sphere.¡¯ ¡®The Snow Queen would merge with the guardian during that time?¡¯ ¡®Perhaps.¡¯ Light Dragon Yvaska was born at that time. It depended on which character was yed, but in the end, the mighty monster killed either Red Wind or Kirara, or even both. ¡®We have to defeat it here.¡¯ Before it became Yvaska. Before the Snow Queen¡¯s sphere ran out of control. ¡°Will you help me?¡± When Melissa asked as she cried, Jude and Cordelia nodded. Even if it wasn¡¯t Melissa¡¯s request, it was a problem that must be taken care of. But- ¡°By the way, Melissa.¡± ¡°Yes, Jude.¡± ¡°Do you have a stockroom or something? Like a treasure room.¡± ¡°Treasure?¡± ¡°Yes, a treasure room.¡± Since they had to take care of things, they should also get what they could get. At Jude¡¯s question, Melissa blinked her eyes while Cordelia gave him a thumbs up. Chapter 111 - EPISODE 111 – SNOW QUEEN (2)

Chapter 111 - EPISODE 111 ¨C SNOW QUEEN (2)

Terms used in this chapter: Time difference attack?¨C volleyball term where the yer first acts like they¡¯re about to jump but holds that position when the blockers react (jump). Then the yer attacks during the quick instance when the blockers are falling down. Light Dragon Yvaska. A mighty being who was one of the ¡®7 major cmities¡¯ that appeared throughout the middle tost part of?Legend of Heroes 2. ¡®Its other nickname is PC Killer.¡¯ The seven major cmities weren¡¯t called cmities for no reason. Each major cmity caused enormous damage to Pleiades, the stage of?Legend of Heroes, and among them was Yvaska who was a famous cmity that killed a lot of PC (yable character). ¡®If you went the Red Wind route, it would be Kirara, and if you went the Kirara route, it would be Red Wind.¡¯ And if one was ying a yable character who was not from the wildnds, there was a high probability that it would be both Red Wind and Kirara. Yvaska was notorious among the 7 major cmities because aside from the two, other yable characters would also die depending on one¡¯s progress. ¡®A lot clearly died, but¡­¡¯ In the game, Yvaska¡¯s origin was not fully revealed. Except that it was just a dragon with an ice attribute who came down from the north one day. ¡°But it was actually created here?¡± The legacy of Magen, the magic kingdom. The false ruler of spirits ¨C the Snow Queen, and its guardian merged into one, giving birth to Yvaska. ¡°We have to defeat it before it grows.¡± Before the ruler of spirits and its guardian merged and became the light dragon. Before it was reborn as one of the 7 major cmities. ¡°We¡¯ll save Red Wind.¡± Just as they saved Lucas by defeating the low-ranking demonic human, Minos, of the Devil¡¯s Hand, they were now in a position to save Red Wind by stopping one of the 7 major cmities. Being particrly fond of Red Wind, Cordelia spoke as she revealed her canines, and Jude nodded his head. ¡®The consequences are great if we can stop it here.¡¯ The problem wasn¡¯t just the yable characters. The existence of Yvaska would alter the events in the world itself. ¡®The events in the Argon Empire would be lessened.¡¯ The Argon Empire had a hostile rtionship to the S?len Kingdom, but it was still a human country like theirs. If Light Dragon Yvaska disappeared and the western part of the empire remained intact, the future catastrophe and its aftermath would also be different. ¡°For a perfect happy ending.¡± In a low voice, Jude chanted that like a spell before he turned to Cordelia. Wearing a whitebat suit with a design simr to what Melissa had worn, Cordelia breathed in and out and then clenched and opened her fists. Looking at her flushed face, she seemed to be quite nervous. ¡°Nervous?¡± ¡°I am nervous. It¡¯s Yvaska.¡± Yvaska was not one of the 7 major cmities for no reason. In the game, an entire army was even mobilized to defeat Yvaska. ¡°Considering its specs, it¡¯s possible to do it.¡± It wasn¡¯t Yvaska yet. Considering the guardian¡¯s specs, it wasn¡¯t at a level that they couldn¡¯t defeat. ¡°But Jude.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°I think you¡¯ve be taller?¡± Cordelia said as she looked up at Jude who was wearing a simr whitebat suit just like herself. He was clearly in the mid-170¡¯s during the past few weeks, but he was now in thetter half. Cordelia was clearly a bit taller than him back then, but that had been reversed and they now had a height difference of more than 10 cm. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s because I didn¡¯t really talk much about it, but my knees and calves had been greatly aching for some time.¡± He grew more than 10 centimeters in two months. ¡°Does it still hurt?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Perhaps he¡¯ll be in the mid-180¡¯s if he continued growing like this? After Jude replied, Cordelia narrowed her eyes and studied him up and down as if evaluating him. ¡°Ahem, it¡¯s nice to look at.¡± He didn¡¯t just grow tall as his body also got better. It was not an exaggeration to say that the current Jude was like a Greek sculpture because hisbat suit clearly revealed his physique. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± She somehow unconsciously felt proud of it. And at the time Jude had a simr thought as hers while staring at Cordelia¡­ ¡°But Jude.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°That¡­wouldn¡¯t you get bigger?¡± Just like Landius. ¡°N-no way.¡± Landius had said that it wouldn¡¯t be that much. ¡°Hmm¡­but if he grows up to 2 meters and 10 centimeters, or less than 2 meters and 30 centimeters¡­¡± Cordelia¡¯s words trailed off in the end, and she slightly raised her gaze and imagined a 2-meters-tall Jude. ¡°That might be a little disgusting¡­¡± She spoke in a low voice as if she was talking to herself, but there was no way Jude couldn¡¯t hear it because he was right next to her. Jude flinched, and for the first time in his life, he wished that he wouldn¡¯t grow any taller. ¡®I never thought I¡¯d make such a wish.¡¯ Wouldn¡¯t that wish be almost hard to fulfill since it¡¯splicated and difficult? In any case, Jude¡¯s trivial and serious concerns allowed both of them to be less tense. ¡°Anyway, shall we go?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll stand in the front line, so I¡¯ll leave the rear to you, Madam.¡± ¡°Oh, are you standing in the front line now?¡± ¡°How can I let Madam be on the front line?¡± Jude spoke in a theatrical fashion before he pushed a button to open the elevator door. A spacious and tranquil ce. The Snow Queen¡¯s core was in the center, and a guardian was guarding in front of it. ¡°Dragon attribute, holy attribute.¡± ¡°It constantly receives power from the field. Virtually infinite MP.¡± ¡°Breath weapon. The jewel on its forehead glows prior to using it.¡± ¡°Can use Dragon Fear.¡± ¡°It uses two Living Swords and two Living Shields as auxiliary weapons.¡± This was the guardian¡¯s information that Melissa gave them. ¡°, .¡± Double casting. Cordelia cast spells on Jude and herself. At the same time, Jude tore the scrolls. ¡°, , .¡± The three spells strengthened one¡¯s vision, spiritual power, and mental defense, respectively. The assistive spells covered the bodies of the two, and at the same time, light rose from the magic tools they were wearing. They got the magic tools from the Wild Fairy Queen and the new ones from Melissa. ¡°Witch Transformation.¡± Cordelia¡¯s hair turned ck. The magic tools she wore on her entire body glowed red, and Cordelia¡¯s mana was amplified. ¡°I¡¯ll be the damage dealer.¡± It would be difficult to gain an advantage over the guardian¡¯s nature, who possessed both dragon and holy attributes. Therefore, they had to attack it with pure firepower. Cordelia concentrated her mana on Moonlight and looked straight ahead. And Jude stepped forward as he said. ¡°I¡¯ll be the tank.¡± Jude himself became the anvil and Cordelia became the hammer. The two left the elevator. The crouched guardian then raised its head. The blue eyes on its dragon-like face glowed, and a blue aura spread over its entire white body. And one more. The floor began to shine. The power of the dragon vein started to rise from the bottom. Jude took a deep breath. He opened the power of the third door and created a golden whirlwind. ¡°I¡¯ll protect you.¡± Jude said and Cordelia had a small smile instead of telling him off. He then kicked the ground. ¡°Go.¡± Bang! Jude dashed at lightning speed. The guardian quickly stood up and Jude¡¯s fist ¨C the ck Cross, exploded on the guardian! Boom! Victory went to the one who made the first move. When the ck cross was destroyed in the collision with the guardian, Cordelia¡¯s eyes shone. They needed to reduce the guardian¡¯s high magic defense first, so she repeatedly chanted the witch¡¯s curse. , , , ! and . The purple curses flew toward the guardian in session. And at that moment, the guardian roared. The huge Living Swords and Living Shields that were around 3 meters long popped out from the floor and ceiling and yed their respective roles. ¡°Rooooar!¡± The guardian¡¯s roar was like the roaring of a lion. It charged towards Jude, who likewise kicked the ground and generated Qi energy-filled air waves, which offset the guardian¡¯s roar. At the same time, he saw the Living Swords heading towards him, so he calcted the trajectory and threw himself without hesitation. Screeeeech! It was impossible topletely avoid the swords. So Jude blocked the Living Sword¡¯s de with the gauntlet on his arm. Instead of pouring attacks on the Living Shield that blocked the front like a wall, he soared up high with the ck wind. Chwaak! He jumped over the wall-like Living Shield. Jude met eyes with the guardian, who opened its mouth at that moment. Kwaaaa-! Breath weapon. He had predicted it. So he gained distance by propelling himself from the edge of the Living Shield. He threw himself to evade the pir of light that came from the guardian¡¯s mouth, and as soon as hended on the floor, he rolled once and stood up. He kicked the Living Shield in front of him. ¡°Corde-!¡± She responded to his cry. Cordelia fired dozens of magic missiles which flew towards the space Jude had secured. The missiles then exploded on the guardian. ¡°Keuaaa!¡± The guardian moved away. Jude kicked the Living Swords that aimed at Cordelia instead of pursuing the guardian. One was blown away by the wind while the other one was kicked by Jude. ¡°Aaaah!¡± Cordelia let out the witch¡¯s scream. The ear-splitting shriek shook the entire ce and briefly stopped the movement of the Living Swords and Shields. ¡°Haa!¡± He used the ck Dragon Cross Strike in session. He turned around and fired five ck crosses, which consecutively hit the guardian. Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Light burst together with the booming sounds. And Jude realized it. Cordelia felt it. It was blocked. And they were right. In front of the guardian was a barrier of light that blocked Jude¡¯s ck Dragon Cross Strike. It was something that should normally not happen. But it did happen, and Jude figured out why. And as usual, Cordelia arrived at the conclusion without going through the process. ¡®The power of the dragon vein!¡¯ It was stronger than they thought. The guardian maintained the barrier of light that should have been broken because the dragon vein constantly supplied it power through the ground. Moreover, it wasn¡¯t just that. The Guardian was heavily damaged by Cordelia¡¯s attack, but it was fine now. Because the dragon vein¡¯s power healed its injuries. Paa! The barrier of light was broken. The Living Swords and Shields headed towards the guardian¡¯s side, and the guardian snarled and stared at Jude and Cordelia. A blue light rose from its feet. ¡®We can¡¯t defeat it as it is.¡¯ Cordelia was certain of that. Its recovery because of the dragon vein had exceeded their expectations. They had to think of another strategy. ¡®Should I hold it in the air?¡¯ To cut off its link with the ground. They would then hit it while it was floating in the air. What she needed then was her telekic power. Cordelia herself would lift it, while Jude would kill it. Would it be possible? Would Cordelia herself be able to endure while Jude attacks? Would it be really possible to lift it up? Cordelia felt it without thinking. So she stopped focusing on it at some point. She unconsciously looked around. And she witnessed a strange sight. ¡°Jude?¡± Jude had consumed a considerable amount of energy right after the battle had begun. But he was fine. No, he now looked better than before the fight had begun. And one important thing. Blue lightning rose near the soles of Jude¡¯s feet. It was another unexpected situation. ¡°Wow.¡± Jude eximed. Cordelia had a hunch at that moment. Jude was also able to absorb the power of the dragon vein on the ground. But how? ¡°¡°Dragon Aura.¡±¡± Jude and Cordelia spoke simultaneously. What rose from the ground was the processed power of the dragon vein. It was a power that the guardian could absorb because of its dragon attribute. The Snow Queen could also absorb it because it had been getting its power from the dragon vein for a long time. The life force. The energy of the dragon. Cordelia could not absorb the dragon aura. But not for Jude. Because Jude had the Dragon¡¯s Emblem. Jude was able to use the dragon aura too. And as to what that meant¡­ Boom! Jude shot a series of ck Dragon Cross Strikes. Right after he stunned the guardian for a moment, he moved back to Cordelia and shouted. ¡°We have a chance at winning!¡± It wasn¡¯t just the guardian. Jude was also able to receive the dragon vein¡¯s power. So how do we take advantage of this situation? Should we exchange attacks until either side is exhausted? Certainly, that¡¯s one way to do it. But it¡¯s too stupid, and there¡¯s a better way to do it. That ¡®way.¡¯ ¡°Please protect me.¡± Jude said. His words were too short, but the two were good at eye-to-eye conversations. Cordelia figured out exactly what Jude wanted her to do. ¡°F*ck, you crazy b*stard.¡± She had cursed after a long time. And she realized that the one in front of her was Outboxer. He was a really crazy b*stard. And that was why this man was able to remain as first ce all the time. ¡°Rooooooar!¡± The guardian roared. It fired its Breath Weapon, and the Living Swords also flew like a time difference attack. Kwaaa! Jude and Cordelia flung themselves to the side. The Breath Weapon pierced between the two and hit the wall before being absorbed. Cordelia then used her telekic power against the ruthlessly charging Living Swords. ¡°Aaaah!¡± Bang! Bang! The Living Swords hit the ground. Instead ofunching further attacks, Jude ran towards the elevator, and Cordelia stood in front of the guardian as if to hide Jude. Please protect me. ¡°F*ck!¡± As she had expected, it would be quite some time before she graduated from the front line. Cordelia became a wall to protect Jude, who ran and eventually stopped to straighten his posture. Since they were inbat, he would be defenseless once he concentrated his consciousness on the power from the ground. It was what Jude had wanted to do. It was the reason why Cordelia cursed because he really was a crazy b*stard! ¡°Aaaaah!¡± Cordelia cursed again as she randomly fired magic attacks. She switched from defense to attack in order to buy time. She wanted to turn the guardian¡¯s gaze away from Jude, so she bravely dashed towards it. Shwak! Shwak! Shwak! The Living Swords cut through the air. Cordelia avoided the Living Sword¡¯s des as if she was dancing, and she hurriedly ran in front of the guardian¡¯s eyes. Her purpose was to catch its gaze and buy time. ¡°Roooar!¡± The guardian¡¯s roar aimed at Cordelia. The sound waves shook the air as it headed to her, and Cordelia swung the to cut the air. She split the waves itself and used the gap to direct her gaze. The Living Sword that was flying towards Jude stopped as it was paralyzed by her . ¡°Uuuuugh!¡± It was difficult. Tears of blood flowed down from her eyes, and she had a dull headache. Her nose was also bleeding. But not yet. A golden whirlwind surrounded Jude¡¯s body, and Cordelia turned to him. A real crazy b*stard. He was not fighting because he was doing something. But Cordelia knew. That this was for the best. And the guardian also noticed it. That Cordelia¡¯s actions were focused on defending Jude rather than attacking the guardian. ¡°Rooar!¡± As the guardian roared, the Living Swords and Shields rushed towards Jude. It didn¡¯t stop there as they steadily rose from the ground. Though the room was wide, its diameter was only in the dozens of meters. Cordelia clenched her teeth. At the same time, she used it again to stop the five attackers. ¡°Stop!¡± Paralyzing . She didn¡¯t target anything specific. Rather, she targeted everything in her field of vision. Bang! Bang! Bang! The Living Swords and Shields stopped their flight and fell to the floor. The guardian also fell to the ground from its jumping position. 1 second. 2 seconds. 3 seconds. Her eyes felt like it was burning. Her vision began to turn white, and Cordelia¡¯s intuition felt it. She wouldn¡¯t be able to see. After a second or so, she lost her sight. It wasn¡¯t permanent. However, it would be hard to recover at least within this battle. So Cordelia had remembered everything she had seen earlier. She bit her lips, endured the pain, but she eventually screamed. In the meantime, one of the Living Shields rose up from the ground. ¡°Aaaah!¡± It was right in front of Jude. Cordelia remembered its trajectory that she had seen at thest moment. She sensed it with her whole body, and then stretched her arms forward to use her telekic power. She blocked the Living Shield that tried to crush Jude. ¡°Aaaah!¡± She swung her arms wide and flung it away. She couldn¡¯t see, but she sensed it. She then squeezed all her remaining mana to create dozens of magic missiles and set off a storm. Shwaaaaa! The magic missiles swirled around Jude and Cordelia. The Guardian did not dare to jump, but the flying Living Swords were hit by the magic missiles and fell to the side. And like that, 1 second, and 2 seconds passed again. Sweat poured down from her whole body like rain. She couldn¡¯t properly tell on how much time had passed. But Cordelia didn¡¯t copse. She kept the swirling magic missiles while standing in front of Jude. So dozens of seconds passed again. Eventually, herst magic missile was gone. There were no longer any magic missiles swirling around them. The Living Swords and Shields were also crushed and broken here and there, but they were no longer in a state where they could rise and fly up again. It was what the guardian was waiting for. It had constantly struck the swirling magic missiles with the Living Swords and Shields while it gathered power. The guardian widely opened its mouth. At the moment the magic missiles disappeared, it released its Breath Weapon. Cordelia raised her head. She lifted her trembling hand towards theing Breath Weapon. And then a crash. The light was shattered. A roar had shaken the air. Cordelia smiled. She couldn¡¯t see it, but she knew. She could feel it. The firm arms on her waist. The powerful force that blocked the guardian¡¯s Breath Weapon had arrived right in front of the guardian. Jude stretched out his hand. With one hand holding Cordelia¡¯s waist, he blocked the Breath Weapon with the power of the mighty ck Dragon. The method that Jude had chosen to do. What he had done during the time Cordelia had bought. ¡®Did he open it? I¡¯ll be mad if he couldn¡¯t open it.¡¯ With her blind eyes, Cordelia asked Jude, who nodded at her. He held Cordelia¡¯s waist tighter and clenched his fist. The ancient medicinal wine. Added to it was the power of the dragon vein. The pure dragon aura. A new door was finally opened after all of the above were gathered. Jude didn¡¯t have to say anything. He just showed it. He made Cordelia feel it. Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors ¨C Fourth Door. ck Dragon¡¯s Roar. Four ck dragons rose from Jude¡¯s fist. The fierce roar became beams of light to crush the enemy. Chapter 112 - EPISODE 112 – SNOW QUEEN (3)

Chapter 112 - EPISODE 112 ¨C SNOW QUEEN (3)

Cordelia lost her sight. But she could clearly feel it. The arm of Jude whom she could trust and depend on as he tightly hugged her waist. When did he grow up like this? ¨C Cordelia thought while in Jude¡¯s arms. And she could hear it. The roar of four dragons. The surging powerful force that awakened, bringing destruction and ruin to everything. The hairs on her entire body seemed to stand up. A shudder ran along her back, and her heart was pounding. Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors ¨C Fourth Door. The cause that changed everything. Four ck dragons were released at the same time. ¡®Strong.¡¯ He definitely changed. He didn¡¯t be a little stronger because he reached the fourth door after being 1/5 away from it. Rather, he entered apletely different realm when he opened the fourth door. ¡®Scary.¡¯ That was the short thought that crossed her mind. Because the dragon¡¯s energy that rose from Jude¡¯s entire body was so chaotic. Anger. Rage. Violent emotions that seemed to burst out anytime soon. ¡®It hurts¡­¡¯ Jude hugged Cordelia on her waist so tightly that she felt like being crushed. She felt like her back was going to break. ¡®This fool!¡¯ But her voice didn¡¯te out properly. She had no strength left in her entire body to the point that she couldn¡¯t do anything. But she felt his touch. Because her sight was gone, her senses became more sensitive and she could perfectly feel it. The hand of Jude which had released the ck dragons earlier were now caressing Cordelia¡¯s cheek. Cordelia flinched. She became more scared. But it was for a short moment. Because she soon understood it. Why Jude was angry. And the very gentle and soft touch of Jude¡¯s hand on her cheek. ¡°.¡± Jude touched Cordelia¡¯s closed eyes and chanted a spell. The white light from the ring seemed to be absorbed by Cordelia¡¯s eyes, and she slowly opened her eyes. ¡°Ah, I can see.¡± Her vision was still blurred, but she could see roughly. After hearing Cordelia¡¯s exmation, Jude sighed in relief and caressed her cheek again. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, it must have been really painful, right?¡± His voice was slightly different than usual. Moreover, he was touching her cheek. So Cordelia was embarrassed and pretended to be calm to ovee this strange situation. ¡°Hmph. It was very difficult.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Jude apologized again, and Cordelia was seriously overwhelmed by a strange feeling. She wanted to shout to him to just behave like usual and not act like this. She felt like closing her eyes was better while her heart began beating as if it was going to burst. ¡®Why, why are you doing this¡­¡¯ The reason why Jude was acting like this to her. And Jude moved again. He stared straight into Cordelia¡¯s eyes and said. ¡°I¡¯ll be back.¡± Cordelia unconsciously nodded. Jude unexpectedly smiled after seeing her blushing face as she meekly nodded. He then moved her very carefully. He gently sat Cordelia who plopped down because of her weak legs, before he looked back at the guardian. Cordelia felt him letting out his repressed anger. ¡°Grrrr¡­¡± The guardian weakly growled. But it was different from before. It felt fear. It felt like being restrained by energy of the powerful dragon emanating from Jude. ¡°Grrrrr¡­¡± It wasn¡¯t waiting for Jude and Cordelia. However, it had no choice but to only wait. ¡®Because it¡¯s scared.¡¯ Cordelia sensed the guardian¡¯s fear. She could clearly feel it because of her senses that were more like a beast than a human¡¯s. The energy of the dragoning from Jude. The power of the ck dragon burned like a ck me and covered Jude¡¯s whole body. Cordelia¡¯s eyes were notpletely cured. It was still blurry, and she couldn¡¯t see the colors well. But that was why she could clearly see it. Jude stood in front of her. She saw Jude¡¯s back. And the ck dragon just before it soared into the sky. ¡°Come.¡± Jude spoke in a low voice. It was a small voice, but she could clearly hear it. His voice was like the gentle ripples that spread out. ¡®W-what is this? This shyness.¡¯ Why was she feeling shy? The guardian reacted while Cordelia was fidgeting. It loudly roared as if to shake away its fear. ¡°Rooooarrrr!¡± The Living Swords and Shields moved at the same time. They flew in to crush and smash Jude and Cordelia. In all directions. At the same time. But Jude was not afraid. He saw, felt, calcted, and took action. Thud. A low and dull sound. But what happened then was so fast and light. ck Wind¡¯s Advent. The jet-ck wind and the golden whirlwinds. Jude traversed the ce. He looked to the right and stretched out his hand to the Living Shield. ck Dragon Release Technique. The ck dragon roared as it rushed forward. It not only struck the Living Shield, but also pushed it. The center of the Living Shield sunk, and it flew straight to the wall and crashed. Baaang! There was a loud noise. But it was toote. Jude had already run to the left. The Living Sword. The de flew straight ahead. Jude rotated his body in the air. As he did that, he sent a kick towards the flying Living Sword. The ck dragon¡¯s energy was released at the same time. He swung his foot to the ground. Baaaang! The flying Living Sword was struck to the ground. And it only took two seconds for all of that to happen. That short duration of time. Thus, the Living Swords and Shields could not attack the sitting Cordelia. One second was insufficient for that. In that one second. Jude crossed the space. At the moment the Living Sword hit the floor and made a loud noise, he kicked the ground and became faster than sound. He turned to Cordelia and stretched out his arms. He added a ck gale to the ck dragon¡¯s energy. ck Dragon ¨C Gale Form. Kwaaaa-! Two ck dragons came out from Jude¡¯s hands and wildly shook with the air. The Living Sword and Shield were trapped in a ck vortex and ended up being flung onto the wall and ceiling. Baaaaang! A loud sound reverberated at almost the same time. Cordelia blinked her eyes, and Jude turned his head. He rushed towards the guardian, who was flustered that the Living Swords and Shields were no longer moving. ¡°Roooarrr!¡± The guardian roared and charged forward. But its momentum was weak. It was dispirited, so its actions and thoughts seemed to be all visible. Baaaaang! ck Dragon ¨C Thunder Form. The jet-ck energy exploded with the golden thunderbolt. Jude¡¯s spin kick struck the guardian¡¯s head. The emanating ck dragon¡¯s energy hit the guardian¡¯s head and sent it to the ground. Thud! The guardian¡¯srge body copsed. After having turned several times in the air, Judended on the ground and made another dash. Thunder Strike. Baaaang! A thunderbolt burst again. The lightning strike hit the chest of the guardian, who couldn¡¯t even properly scream. Baaaang! But it was a guardian. It absorbed the dragon aura from the ground and the lightning that struck its whole body. As soon as it stopped Jude¡¯s attack, it roared. ¡°Kaaaaaa-!¡± Dragon Fear. A power that causes fear. Bang! But it was useless. Jude roughly stomped on the ground and caused a loud noise. It was to stop the guardian¡¯s skill as he let out the dragon¡¯s energy at the same time. The guardian¡¯s Dragon Fear was neutralized by the noise filled with a stronger dragon¡¯s energy. ¡°Keuaaaaa!¡± The guardian writhed and screamed. And Jude calcted it again. The height of the ceiling, the size of the guardian, the power required to make it fly up, and the time it would stay in the air. ¡®I have to finish it in the air.¡¯ He was in a situation where he had to do everything himself, but it took too long for him to finish it off through that way. After sending it flying into the air and cutting off its power supply from the dragon vein, he had to finish it with one strike. He needed to do two things. A means to send it flying into the air, and a powerful technique to finish it off while in the air. ¡°Keuaaa!¡± The guardian writhed again. So Jude halted his thoughts and moved. Jude punched the guardian in the chest, making it crouch again. He retreated and deliberately let the guardian have time to get up before he struck it again. Whaam-! The guardian was a four-legged beast, so when he struck it on its back, he saw its chest and belly. As the guardian was lying on the floor, Jude did a handstand and aimed for the guardian¡¯s abdomen at the same time. He kicked the guardian¡¯s abdomen with all his power. Bang! The ck dragon¡¯s energy soared. It hit the waist and sent the guardian into the air. Bang! The guardian crashed into the ceiling. Then it began to fall. The remaining time until it reached the ground was only a few seconds. Jude corrected his posture and drew the Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword from his waist. He infused it with the ck dragon¡¯s energy. Then he realized. The ceiling was too low. There was not enough time to gather enough power to kill it off. But Jude did not stop. Because he saw it. A green power swallowed the guardian. It was the witch¡¯s telekic power which held the guardian in the air. ¡°After all¡­¡± ..you can¡¯t do it without me. He heard Cordelia¡¯s voice from behind him. It also seemed like he heard the words that she left out saying. Cordelia. Combat genius. She didn¡¯t just watch. She restored her mana by using on the dragon aura rising from the ground. The efficiency was definitely not very good. But even so, she could recover her mana from it. And as a result. ¡°As expected, you¡¯re the best.¡± Jude said. He smiled and drew the Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword before swinging it towards the guardian who was stuck in the air and couldn¡¯t move. ck Dragon ¨C Hell¡¯s Blood sh. The ck de did its job well. The violent sh tore up the ground and cut across its neck. aash-! The guardian¡¯s neck snapped, as if it had been bitten by a dragon¡¯s teeth. Cordelia released her telekic power, and the guardian¡¯s giant body fell to the ground. Boooom! The guardian¡¯s head and neck hit the ground, and the floor cracked with a loud noise. And a session of white light rings appeared around Jude and Cordelia. Level up. Jude was now 65. Cordelia was now 64. ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­haa¡­¡± Cordelia panted as her shoulders drooped down, and Jude turned to Cordelia. The Snow Queen was important, but for now, he wanted to go to Cordelia. Cordelia looked up and saw Jude. Jude saw Cordelia. And immediately after. Craaaack. They heard a sound. The two raised their heads at the same time, and saw a crack spreading on the ceiling. Craaaack- And the sound was heard again. It was on the walls and floor this time, and the two looked at each other. ¡°Ah.¡± ¡°Aah.¡± The crack grew bigger. It wasn¡¯t surprising. Because they had done all sorts of violent acts. Which had randomly struck the walls and ceiling. ¡°Hurry up!¡± Cordelia shouted, and Jude quickly turned around. After running to the pir, he removed the Snow Queen¡¯s core through the process Melissa had told them. Chuuk, chuuk- Debris fell from the ceiling little by little. The cracks kept growing, so it was possible for arge debris to fall down soon. But the biggest problem was the walls and floor. Golden energy began toe out from the cracks in the floor. It was evidently the pure energy of the dragon veins. ¡°Hurry!¡± Cordelia shouted again, and Jude quickly ran. He snatched the waist of the standing Cordelia and he turned towards the elevator at the same time. He had no way of opening the door, so he broke the elevator door with a drop kick. Bang! ¡°Up!¡± Fortunately, Melissa responded. The elevator began to rise, and the two saw the walls and floor of the development room copse through the broken elevator door. And they also saw the golden energy engulf the guardian¡¯s body. Kuwaaa- The elevator continued to go up. ¡°Haa, haa.¡± Jude sank to his knees and copsed, and Cordelia groaned as she ended up falling on the floor too. ¡°Are you okay?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not okay. My eyes can¡¯t see. My bones are aching too. Everything hurts.¡± Jude smiled at her unconscious grumbling. Just like Cordelia, he said unconsciously too. ¡°I¡¯m lucky.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Because you¡¯re with me.¡± Jude turned to Cordelia. He revealed a bit of his inner thoughts. But whether he was lucky or not, Cordelia¡¯s eyes were notpletely healed. So their eye-to-eye conversation failed this time. ¡°Hmph. It¡¯s good if you realized that.¡± Cordelia snorted and spoke like usual, and Jude slightly frowned but soon had a sly smile as always. ¡°You¡¯re not wrong, my princess.¡± ¡°Hmph, you¡¯re just good at words.¡± After deliberately grumbling more than usual, Cordelia leaned her head against Jude¡¯s chest. She didn¡¯t want to admit it, but she felt relieved when she leaned her head on him. She closed her eyes and let her body recover from the fatigue. She deeply fell asleep. *** ¡°Thank you very much. Thank you so much.¡± As he carried the deeply sleeping Cordelia in the so-called princess carry, Jude nodded and stepped out of the elevator. ¡°What happened to the development room?¡± ¡°Itpletely copsed. But it¡¯s fine. The Snow Queen¡¯s core was removed, so an explosion won¡¯t happen.¡± As Melissa smiled and spoke, Jude automatically turned to Cordelia. ¡®Umm, I must be seriously ill.¡¯ When he heard the word ¡®explosion,¡¯ he thought of Cordelia¡¯s widely smiling face. No, it was Cordelia who was ¡®ill¡¯ and not Jude himself. In any case, the copse of the Sky Roof mountain range was prevented, and the birth of the Light Dragon Yvaska was also stopped. It was clearly a great achievement. ¡®The only ones who know are Cordelia and me¡­there¡¯s also Melissa.¡¯ In fact, Melissa didn¡¯t know anything about Light Dragon Yvaska, so she only thought that the two did a good job. ¡®Well, that¡¯s enough.¡¯ Jude himself was a man. If he was the only one who knew that he saved the world, he would have found it regrettable, but he wasn¡¯t alone. It was a knowledge he shared with Cordelia. He felt warm with that thought alone. ¡®I got a lot of things.¡¯ He opened the fourth door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. And not only did he learn on how to use four ck dragons, but he also learned about the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors itself. ¡®Let¡¯s think about itter.¡¯ His second meeting with the female sage. The things he got from meeting her. ¡®And.¡¯ The Snow Queen¡¯s core was in Cordelia¡¯s arms. The failed ruler of spirits who ended up creating Light Dragon Yvaska. He had already decided on how it would be used. ¡®Cordelia also needs her powerup.¡¯ Because Jude himself thought that it was unfair if it was only him. ¡®It¡¯ll take quite some effort though.¡¯ In order to realize Jude¡¯s own idea, they would have to do some hard work first. But he wanted to start right away when he thought of the smile Cordelia would have when they finished it. ¡°Ju-Jude? What are you thinking?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°No, that¡­you keep smiling.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Jude hastily cleared his throat while he carried Cordelia and spoke to Melissa again. ¡°First of all, can we get some rest? If possible, we¡¯d like a meal too.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, my masters left behind some emergency food.¡± Melissa widely smiled and Jude followed after her. At the same time¡­ Near the northern border of the S?len Kingdom. ¡°Really, did that happen?¡± Count Chase spoke in a low voice as he looked towards the north. He nodded as he thought of Jude and Cordelia, who would be somewhere in the vast expanse of the wildnds. ¡°Ga?l, as you have said, the Jackdaws have to be prepared.¡± Ga?l¡¯s judgment was right. They had to tell the north on what was happening in the barbariannds. ¡°I will go north and join that Eastern Alliance that you mentioned. Ga?l, you go with Adelia to the Thunderdoom Fortress.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± It was as he had expected. But what would happen next was unexpected for Ga?l. ¡°By the way, Ga?l.¡± ¡°Yes, Count.¡± ¡°As I see you again, you look weak and frail. You don¡¯t have strength.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± Unlike Jude, Ga?l couldn¡¯t adapt to Count Chase. Therefore, Count Chase clicked his tongue and opened the space expansion bag. It would take a while until they met again if they parted here. Even if it was a little awkward (?), he had to settle this at once. ¡°Are you eating properly? You¡¯re not starving Adelia, right? Hmm, hmm¡­that sword is old. I don¡¯t think it can be fixed.¡± ¡°Co¡­unt?¡± Ga?l blinked his eyes because he didn¡¯t understand what the count was talking about, but Adelia covered her face with both hands and screamed in her mind. ¡®Daaaaaaaad.¡¯ She was embarrassed. She was very, very embarrassed. But she didn¡¯t think of stopping him. Why would she stop it if her father would be giving something to Ga?l? Count Chase¡¯s bizarre nitpicking continued, Ga?l looked in disbelief as the bag in front of him increased into two, and Adelia sat down as she was at a loss on what to do. A dozen minutes passed like that. After Ga?l and Adelia¡¯s luggage multiplied by several times, Count Chase saw them off as they headed to Thunderdoom Fortress, and he turned around to go his way. He then headed to the north. Chapter 113 - EPISODE 113 – JOINING

Chapter 113 - EPISODE 113 ¨C JOINING

The main forces of the east and west headed towards Snow Breeze in. If they continued moving forward, the two sides would face each other three days from now. Morale was very high on both sides. The east had a great cause of saving the wildnds from the demon followers. The wild gods were also with them, so their morale couldn¡¯t be low. ¡°But we shall win.¡± There was a reason why the morale of the west was high. Since its first military expedition, the Angry Bull tribe had never been defeated. Their wins and victories kept piling up like a mountain, giving confidence to the Angry Bull tribe but fear to the defeated and absorbed tribes. ¡°In the end, it¡¯s a head-on fight.¡± The pitched battle in Snow Breeze in would determine the fate of the wildnds. ¡°However¡­¡± Haraken, a high-ranking demonic human of the Devil¡¯s Eye and the one in charge of the n in the wildnds, suppressed his angry voice froming out. The reason was simple. ¡®They were annihted?¡¯ The demonic humans and troops he had prepared to infiltrate and corrupt the eastern dragon veins were annihted. At first, he thought there was a problem with the Demon Record, because seven mid-ranking demonic humans suddenly disappeared, but it wasn¡¯t that. Seven mid-ranking demonic humans really died and disappeared. ¡®There¡¯s only one possibility.¡¯ It was highly likely that the western troops who infiltrated the east by taking a detour to the south, ended up meeting eastern troops who also nned to infiltrate the west by going on a detour to the south too. And there was one group which came to his mind when it came to infiltration. ¡®Duo of Death.¡¯ A duo of a man and a woman. An evil witch of explosions who blew up anything that got in her way, and a coldblooded ck-haired cultivator. They got this information bybining the pieces of information left behind in the thoughts of the demonic humans who died, so they had no specific information about the Duo of Death, but it was clear that the two were the ones who defeated the mid-ranking demonic humans dispatched to the east. ¡®And this infiltration group too.¡¯ The eastern side must have also sent the Duo of Death as infiltrators, so they had annihted the infiltrators dispatched from the west. ¡®If it¡¯s true¡­¡¯ And if those two hit the rear of the west¡­ ¡®No, it¡¯s not a problem.¡¯ Haraken pondered for a moment but soon suppressed his thoughts and made up his mind. The rear of the west was not empty. Everything that was happening in the wildnds was for two goals, and one of those goals were assigned to those who were left behind so that they could proceed with the ritual. ¡®It will be to our advantage if there ever was a confrontation.¡¯ The power of those who were left behind greatly exceeded that of a mid-ranking demonic human. Even if the Duo of Death had interfered with everything in the east, they were clearly no match for those left behind in the west. ¡®And there¡¯s only two of them in the first ce.¡¯ The situation was different from the east where the duo had to find and kill the infiltrators. What could only two people do in the vast west? ¡®Yes, there¡¯s only two of them.¡¯ Even if they were strong, there were limits to what two people can do. No, even if they took more people to infiltrate, what could they do? Were they going to contaminate the dragon veins like what the Devil¡¯s Eye did? ¡®Let¡¯s focus on the head-on fight.¡¯ If they destroyed the main forces of their enemy, everything would go ording to n. Haraken regained hisposure and covered the Demon Record. He repeated again to himself. ¡°There is nothing you can do in the first ce.¡± At best, they would attack the logistics, but in main areas, ¡®they¡¯ were there. So it was okay. There was nothing the Duo of Death could do even if they infiltrated the west. ¡®What I should focus on more is this.¡¯ Haraken stroked his long white beard. He sharply looked at the east with hispound eyes like that of an insect. *** The sleeping Cordelia, who was curled up on the bed and drooling, suddenly raised her upper body and shouted. ¡°Explosion!¡± Her shout seemed like a response to something. And Jude thought after he had entered the room at that perfect timing. ¡®What the hell were you dreaming of?¡¯ What kind of dream did she had that made her talk in her sleep and shout ¡®explosion¡¯? Jude had a hunch but decided not to think too much about it as he approached Cordelia. ¡°My princess, are you awake?¡± At his gentle question, Cordelia replied by sniffing with her nose. Because she smelled something delicious. ¡°Au¡­ Aaa¡­¡± Cordelia said in a nk voice as she sniffed and began stretching her arms. She seemed to have woken up. ¡°Eueueu¡­¡± Cordelia¡¯s waist bent like a bow as she did some stretching. Instead of falling down, she leaned forward and said in a still sleepy voice. ¡°Jude? You¡¯re there, right?¡± She could smell Jude together with the delicious smell. Despite catching his scent, Cordelia asked in confirmation because of her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m here. Can you still not see?¡± ¡°Uh, my sight is worse than before¡­¡± Cordelia¡¯s blue eyes didn¡¯t have any focus. Jude frowned and replied. ¡°Melissa said that it¡¯s a temporary disability caused by straining yourself. But all your external wounds have been perfectly healed, so you¡¯ll recover in time.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a relief.¡± She was pretending to be calm, but she was also scared of the possibility that she wouldn¡¯t be able to see permanently. ¡°But I can feel that something¡¯s growing. If I be stronger than I am now, I think I¡¯ll be able to use the Evil Eye of Paralysis without any difficulty.¡± In the beginning, she had to make eye contact with the specific target in order to paralyze it, but now, she could paralyze anyone within her line of sight at the same time. The duration of the paralysis was obviously shorter, and she lost her eyesight as a price, but her skill had clearly grown. ¡°Haa, even if I tell you not to overdo it, you wouldn¡¯t listen.¡± No, wasn¡¯t it my fault in the first ce that she overworked herself? Jude sighed and sat in a chair next to Cordelia¡¯s bed. He ced the tray he was carrying onto the bed. ¡°It smells good. What food is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s soup.¡± Cordelia¡¯s face brightened at Jude¡¯s answer. ¡°Wow, I¡¯m really hungry.¡± She reflexively pat her stomach before her hands groped and touched the air. She seemed to be looking for the tray and spoon, so Jude clicked his tongue and said as he grabbed Cordelia¡¯s wrist. ¡°Stop, how are you supposed to do it if you can¡¯t see it? I¡¯ll feed you. Ah~¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be feeding you, so say ¡®ah.¡¯ Ah~¡± Cordelia blinked at Jude¡¯s words. If it was the usual ¨C no, if it was the Cordelia back then at Frost Anvil, she would have asked him to feed her and opened her mouth, but it was a little different now. ¡°I-I¡¯m fine. I think I can eat it with my own hands?¡± Why is he treating me like a kid? ¡°Okay, then don¡¯t spill it.¡± ¡°I can do it.¡± Cordelia said before she focused on her senses. Her eyes weren¡¯tpletely blind, so as soon as she grasped the position of the tray, she stretched her hand and grabbed the spoon. She then began eating the soup with good skills. ¡°How is it? Can you eat well?¡± Being able to eat soup without spilling was not something a 17-year-old girl should be proud of, but he certainly found it admirable that she could do that despite being somewhat blind. ¡°Wow.¡± Wouldn¡¯t it be normal if something spills? This isn¡¯t something that people usually train about. While Jude was admiring her, Cordelia felt better and said with a smile. ¡°Hehe, you¡¯re not the only one who¡¯s good at moving your body, okay? I¡¯m also good at moving my entire body.¡± ¡°Tsk, I should have tied your hands.¡± ¡°What?¡± Jude pretended not to hear Cordelia¡¯s question. With a look of regret, he put away the bib he had intentionally prepared before he spoke again. ¡°Now then, listen while you¡¯re eating.¡± ¡°Wow, this is really delicious. Can I have another bowl?¡± Cordelia continued to eat while Jude spoke. He replied that there were three more bowls before he returned to their main topic. ¡°First of all, we did a good job. Although the development room copsed, we secured the core of the Snow Queen. There was no explosion, and the dragon vein was safe. Don¡¯t be sad. We¡¯d all be dead if it exploded, right?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m not sad. I was just a little disappointed.¡± With a spoon in her mouth, Cordelia made a regretful expression, and Jude wondered how she ended up like that, but soon realized why. ¡®Ah, she was originally like this.¡¯ Because Yellow Storm wasn¡¯t called a human disaster for no reason. She had liked explosions and destruction in the first ce. ¡°Why, why, why¡­ Are you thinking of something strange right now?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m thinking about something nice and proper. Anyway, we have prevented the birth of Light Dragon Yvaska, so one of the seven major cmities is gone. This may perhaps be the biggest butterfly effect that we have ever done.¡± ¡°It¡¯s quite unbelievable.¡± If they hadn¡¯t gone to the Sky Roof mountain range. If they didn¡¯t have the Phoenix¡¯s feather. ¡°Everything led to this result. You can¡¯t say that it¡¯s all luck.¡± The smiling Jude continued his words. ¡°Anyway, we got the Snow Queen¡¯s core, right? Now that the development room is gone, we can¡¯t just leave it alone in this ce. So I¡¯ve decided that we¡¯ll take it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good idea, but did Melissa agree?¡± ¡°Of course. Melissa even helped.¡± Jude said and then lifted up the Moonlight that was under the bed. ¡°She imnted the Snow Queen¡¯s core into the Moonlight.¡± ¡°Ah! That¡¯s right. Moonlight has sockets.¡± The sacred rod originally had socket holes for the purpose of strengthening it, but she was a bit uncertain if the core could be imnted there. However, the imnt went more smoothly than she had thought. ¡®Perhaps Moonlight was also made by Magen¡¯s high elves.¡¯ In any case, the Snow Queen¡¯s core was imnted into Moonlight, and as a result, the B-rank Moonlight was now reborn as an item with a minimum rank of A. ¡°Not S or SS?¡± ¡°Because the Snow Queen¡¯s core is imperfect. We don¡¯t know what¡¯s going to happen if we use it at full power. But¡­if we find a way to stabilize it, you may be able to use the same power as Light Dragon Yvaska one day.¡± ¡°Wooow.¡± A wand with the same strength as Light Dragon Yvaska, one of the seven major cmities. ¡°Is it mine?¡± ¡°Can I use it then?¡± ¡°Hehehe, I love it. It¡¯s a powerup, powerup.¡± It was nice that Jude got stronger, but the best thing was that she could be stronger too. ¡°Wow, the ice attribute was added, huh?¡± ¡°Because it¡¯s the Snow Queen.¡± The moon attribute, which could be called the basic attribute of Moonlight, was a good match with the ice attribute. ¡°I¡¯ll be able to use ice magic.¡± ¡°You should study then.¡± ¡°Yes, teacher.¡± Cordelia cheerfully responded as she put her spoon down and began to grope the sacred rod. And at that perfect moment, Melissa entered the room. ¡°Is your body okay?¡± ¡°Melissa? Is that you, Melissa?¡± Unlike Jude, Melissa had no smell because she had no substance. When Cordelia asked as she looked in the direction of Melissa¡¯s voice, Melissa nodded her head. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s me.¡± She warmly responded before standing next to Jude and asking in a low voice. ¡°Jude, have you told her?¡± ¡°No, I was about to do it now.¡± ¡°I will tell her then.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Thest one was Cordelia. Melissa had a small smile before she spoke. ¡°I am very thankful to the two of you. Because of you two, we were able to avoid the worst.¡± ¡°Ah, that. Hehehe.¡± Cordelia was weak to praises, so he cheeks quickly turned red. ¡°I¡¯ve already told Jude, but I¡¯ll guide you to a shortcut to cross the mountain range. It¡¯s a passage that my masters used.¡± ¡°Oh, really?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s a tunnel through the mountain, so you don¡¯t have to go outside. You can also save a lot of time.¡± ¡°Wow, that¡¯s the best. Thank you very much.¡± Cordelia was more pleased in being able to avoid the murderous cold than the time being shortened. ¡°But Melissa.¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± ¡°What will Melissa do now then?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°I mean, you said that the development room is gone.¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s gone.¡± ¡°Then, there¡¯s nothing for you to do now, right?¡± Melissa was an artificial spirit that was created to manage the facility where the development room was located. The reason for Melissa¡¯s very existence was gone, so at Cordelia¡¯s question, Melissa thought as she frowned and then replied with a slightly lonely voice. ¡°But I don¡¯t know when my masters will return. I should tell them about what happened here when theye back¡­¡± ¡°You can write a letter.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°A letter, letter. I¡¯m leaving because of and so on.¡± Melissa blinked at Cordelia¡¯s words. Because she had never thought of that. ¡°I¡¯m leaving¡­after leaving behind a letter?¡± ¡°Yes, wouldn¡¯t that work? No, I mean, you¡¯re leaving to find your masters, right?¡± ¡°Find them?¡± ¡°Yes, to find them. Jude and I will be going around the ruins of Magen anyway. Then, wouldn¡¯t it be possible to meet your masters there? We might also get clues there.¡± Magen¡¯s high elves were beings with a transcendent lifespan. And there were survivors of Magen in Pleiades, though not as yable characters. ¡®We met a few of them in the second half of the game.¡¯ So wouldn¡¯t it be nice if Melissa went with us? Cordelia turned to Jude, and Jude understood what Cordelia wanted to say, despite her inability tomunicate with her eyes. He nodded and added something more convincing. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry if it¡¯s the way to go there. Moonlight has one more socket left. We can put Melissa¡¯s core there.¡± ¡°Re-really? Can you do that?¡± ¡°Of course. And this is actually something I¡¯d like to ask you to do. We need Melissa¡¯s help in stabilizing the Snow Queen¡¯s core.¡± If she could really do that, they would be able to increase the output of the Snow Queen even more than now. In other words, the Moonlight that had been upgraded to A rank would immediately be upgraded to A+ or S rank now. ¡°That¡¯s the best thing to do. Come with us, Melissa. Will you be my spirit?¡± As Jude and Cordelia persuaded her, Melissa struggled for a while before she nodded. She didn¡¯t like being alone anymore. Moreover, as the two said, there was no reason for her to remain in this facility. ¡°Okay, I¡¯lle with you. I look forward to working with you.¡± Melissa epted, and Cordelia widely smiled. Her heart had ached when she thought of leaving Melissa in a ce where there was no one. And Jude smiled in a different way. ¡°Then Melissa, let¡¯s clean up this ce while you are out.¡± ¡°Eh? Clean up?¡± ¡°Yes, clean up.¡± The items left in the storage room. Jude and Cordelia also had a conscience. Therefore, they did notpletely empty the treasure room of the wild fairies back then. Even before they fought the guardian this time, they only took enough to take care of the guardian. But things had changed. They would now vacate the facility. They were thinking of taking Melissa along as well. ¡°There¡¯s no reason to leave it behind.¡± Jude¡¯s argument was persuasive, and Melissa unknowingly nodded. And Cordelia thought. ¡®He¡¯s reliable.¡¯ As expected of my Jude. He¡¯s a first-ss groom, the best one you could ever have. If it¡¯s Jude, wouldn¡¯t it be possible to bathe in the desert and drink orange juice full of ice? And half a dayter. Jude and Cordelia eventually packed their luggage into the space expansion bag they had and began their journey to the west again. Their purpose was to blow up the contaminated dragon veins and cause confusion. At first nce, it seemed to be a terrorist¡¯s goal, but their actions were legal because they had the permission of thendlord. ¡°We have to pop it in a star shape.¡± I¡¯ll make it pretty when I blow it up. Cordelia babbled as she moved while her rabbit tail shook, and the love-blind Jude didn¡¯t say anything as he just stared. And two dayster again. The first explosion that heralded the second and third ones had begun. Chapter 114.1 - EPISODE 114.1 – TWIST (1)

Chapter 114.1 - EPISODE 114.1 ¨C TWIST (1)

The invasion of the northern barbarians, a major event that took ce in the early part of the game, was more of a background setting than an event that the yers actually took part in. Regardless of which PC (yable Character) one chose, the difference in levels between the PC and the enemies were toorge that it was impossible for the PC to actually go to the front line and fight. Therefore, their actual participation came after the Thunderdoom Fortress guarded by the Jackdaws fell to the barbarians and demon followers, wherein the PC escaped or entered the devastated northern part of the S?len Kingdom. ¡®Each yable character faced a different enemy.¡¯ There were the fallen wild gods that Jude did not know were the wild gods back then because there was no information about them in the game. Likewise, there were the corrupted barbarian warriors who became the puppets of the demons. If one chose the Jude route, they would face Violent Avnche and Sun Song. And if one chose the Cordelia route, they would face the fallen Gentle Snow Breeze, and the Fine Snow and Clear Snow brothers. ¡®And the enemies you¡¯d face regardless of which character you chose.¡¯ The ones who led the northern barbarian invasion and conquered the north had caused confusion and fear. ¡®The great warriors.¡¯ They were special barbarian warriors, including Seven Horns, the chieftain of the Angry Bull tribe, and were in fact, equivalent to mid-bosses in the northern barbarian part of the game. ¡®And Haraken.¡¯ A high-ranking demonic human of the Devil¡¯s Eye one would meet in the beginning and the end of the northern barbarian invasion. He was the first high-ranking demonic human one would encounter if they normally proceeded and was like a kind of wall that clearly informed the yers of the difference between a high-ranking and a mid-ranking demonic human. ¡®Thest one.¡¯ The final boss of the northern barbarian part. One of Overlord Belial¡¯s henchmen, the Great Demon Kriemler. The demon of the magic sword who killed Count Bayer and Ga?l Bayer, as well as Count Chase. He was the strongest enemy in the north that Jude and Cordelia must stop. *** The eastern and western forces who were steadily moving towards Snow Breeze in stopped marching at a certain point, as if the two sides had an agreement with each other. They were at the point where both sides had the Snow Breeze in in their sight. They built their strongpoints, and there was nomunication between the two sides, but the eastern and western forces knew. Tomorrow morning, the wheel of fate of the wildnds would begin turning. ¡°We will win.¡± At the words of Sun Song, Red Wind awkwardly smiled as he looked at the Snow Breeze in with a nervous face. She wanted to brightly smile like Cordelia, but it was impossible for her. This was her first war. This was her first time in the front lines with so many people. So she was scared. Frankly, she was afraid. Thus, she had a very frightened expression on her face. ¡°It¡¯s natural to be scared. It was the same when I first went to the front lines. No, it was more than you. I¡¯m only saying this to you here, but I wanted to run away at that time.¡± Red Wind¡¯s eyes widely opened when she heard Sun Song speaking quietly. Although she had won with the help of Jude and Cordelia, she would clearly be defeated nine out of ten times if she fought Sun Song now again. He was a strong and seasoned warrior. He seemed to have been courageous since birth, so she couldn¡¯t imagine him being young and weak. But there was a time when he was a baby, and there was a time when he was a novice. ¡°But you have to ovee it. If you don¡¯t ovee it on your first time, you won¡¯t be able to go on any further.¡± It wasn¡¯t just in battles. All of the things one faced in life had a beginning. And only by oveing that first time would one be able to move forward. ¡°Aren¡¯t you the one who beat me? You¡¯re already a great warrior.¡± Sun Song was friendly on his own way ¨C but no matter how one looked at him, he had a hideous smile. But Red Wind also smiled. ¡°Thank you, Sun Song.¡± ¡°Yes, and I¡¯ll say it again¡­ Don¡¯t be afraid. I will protect you.¡± His voice faltered at the end of his words, which was unlike of a powerful warrior. He also avoided looking at her in the eye. Red Wind widely opened her eyes again, and she brightly smiled this time. ¡°I¡¯ll look forward to it.¡± ¡°Um, yes. Look forward to it.¡± His words were a bit of a mess at the end, but his feelings came through to her. Sun Song cleared his throat several times and stared at the distance where the western forces were. The chilly wind of the battlefield brushed past the neck of Sun Song. *** Ga?l and Adelia finally arrived at Thunderdoom Fortress, but the atmosphere wasn¡¯t very good. Even if they were the eldest son and eldest daughter of a family from the 12 northern families, the two had appeared beyond the border and in the barbariannds, and not anywhere else. ¡®As expected of the Jackdaws.¡¯ Although they passed the city gate, Ga?l and Adelia were treated as potential enemies of uncertain identities, and not as guests. Therefore, instead of being guided inside, the two had to stand in the middle of the training ground while surrounded, and Ga?l was able to see Adelia¡¯s real self after a long time. An unparalleled sharp and vicious expression, and an unmatched tumultuous force. Her nickname as the demon of the Royal Guard Magic Corps was not a false reputation. She was surrounded by more than ten Jackdaws, but far from being dispirited, she red at each of them as if to kill them. ¡®Um¡­what should I say?¡¯ I think I can hear her growling. If Jude had been here, perhaps he would admire and say that she was indeed Cordelia¡¯s older sister. If Cordelia was clearly a small dog, Adelia was a real leopard or tiger-like beast. In any case, nothing good woulde out of her tumultuous force. To begin with, they didn¡¯te here to fight. ¡°Adelia.¡± Ga?l wondered what to say but ended up only calling her name. However, the effect was great. The tumultuous force emanating from Adelia¡¯s entire body disappeared at once. It wasn¡¯t only that. At Ga?l¡¯s call, Adelia was startled and surprised for a moment, and then blushed and made a somewhat shy expression. ¡®Uwaaa, what should I do?¡¯ I was so angry that I forgot that Ga?l was here. What if he thinks of me as a scary woman? Adelia hunched her shoulders and was at a loss, and the already love-blind Ga?l unwittingly smiled in delight. Of course, the Jackdaws had lukewarm expressions at the dramatic change and the cause of the change. A few seconds passed by again. A man who could put an end to this situation finally appeared, as if to save both Adelia and the Jackdaws. ¡°It¡¯s been a long time, Ga?l.¡± He was Count Hr?svelgr, one of the ten great swordmasters of the S?len Kingdom and also the head of the Jackdaws. Ga?l was naturally impressed by his appearance as he wore a white cloak and an armor with a golden eagle crest. It was their first meeting in years, but far from declining, Count Hr?svelgr seemed to be more robust. ¡°Ga?l Bayer greets Count Hr?svelgr. Let me also introduce Lady Adelia Chase from the Chase family.¡± ¡°Adelia Chase greets Count Hr?svelgr.¡± When Ga?l politely greeted first, Adelia followed him and gave her greetings by cing her hand on her chest ording to the etiquette of the Royal Guard. ¡°It¡¯s nice to see you both. I am Count Hr?svelgr. This is my son, Lucas.¡± ¡°Lucas Hr?svelgr greets the two of you.¡± Standing next to Count Hr?svelgr was Lucas who gave his greetings by thumping his chest with his fist like how knights do. He had met Ga?l once at Langesthei, but this was his first time in meeting Adelia. ¡°Let¡¯s talk in detail inside.¡± Count Hr?svelgr already had many things to talk about with Count Bayer and Count Chase regarding Jude and Cordelia. However, Ga?l and Adelia¡¯s problem was added to it. Because the two had crossed the border from the barbards side and not anywhere else. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you all about it.¡± ¡°Yes, you will have to.¡± Count Hr?svelgr quietly answered and turned around, and Lucas, who had a face full of questions, also hurriedly turned around. And Ga?l and Adelia looked at each other. ¡®I¡¯ll do the talking.¡¯ ¡®Yes, I will protect Lord Ga?l too.¡¯ Their conversation with the eyes failed again, but the two did not know about that fact and just smiled at the same time before they began walking with satisfied faces. Chapter 114.2

Chapter 114.2

It took me hours before I finally figured out what the English equivalent of that StarCraft term was. Researching about this also made me realize that I¡¯m really bad at strategy games. Like, this is too much for my brain to handle. On another note, chapter 115 will be released tomorrow, not today as I¡¯ve said yesterday. I¡¯ve actually finished tranting 3/4 of it, but I¡¯m really sleepy now, so I¡¯ll post it tomorrow morning once I¡¯m done with it. Terms used in this chapter: Fait apli?¨C French phrasemonly used to describe an action which ispleted before those affected by it are in a position to query or reverse it. One-punch fight?¨C aka Han-bang timing/attack; StarCraft terminology A Han-bang attack refers to a move when a yer stops improving their own economy in order to mass an army to attack and finish the game, sometimes at a specific?timing window. It shouldn¡¯t be confused with an?all-in?move as a yer performing a han-bang style attack will prepare for it from at least equal footing with their opponent and as such it isn¡¯t a move made out of desperation from a disadvantaged position. The term?han-bang?trantes from Korean as ¡°one punch¡± referring to its nature. Source:?Han-bang Timing The eastern and western forces faced each other with the Snow Breeze in in between them. Red Wind and Sun Songforted each other, and Ga?l told Count Hr?svelgr about the circumstances. A day before. At a time when the prelude to the great battle that would determine the fate of the wildnds would begin. ¡°Oooh, it¡¯s a real star!¡± ¡°If you say so, it must be like that then.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s a real star, okay? You saw how the light spread when it exploded with a ¡®bang!¡¯.¡± ¡°If my princess says so, it must be like that then.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s true, okay?¡± ¡°Dobby believes in what the master says.¡± ¡°I hate it, stop annoying me.¡± Cordelia was annoyed even though he believed in her, so she stomped her feet and grumbled, and Jude saw Cordelia¡¯s actions as cute before he turned to the scene of the explosion. ¡®As expected.¡¯ The rear of the western forces, which was located beyond the Sky Roof mountain range, did not have much defenses. All of the already corrupted wild gods had been mobilized for the battle, and each vige or city only had a few troops left to maintain security, so it was virtually empty. ¡®Because they would never have imagined that we would cross the Sky Roof mountain range.¡¯ There was a reason why Melissa waited for almost 40 years. The Sky Roof mountain range was like a roof in the sky, so no one could cross it. ¡®Anyway, we should focus on this now.¡¯ The dragon veins in the west numbered twenty-one in total. It was natural that the Golden Dragon King couldn¡¯t open his eyes and was weak because all of the dragon veins were contaminated. ¡®If we blow up the rear, the front will be shaken.¡¯ Therefore, Jude chose to hit the rear instead of directly going to the front line. They wouldn¡¯t be able to properly fight if they were anxious of their back. ¡®The longer the battle, the more it would be advantageous for us.¡¯ Jude and Cordelia were not just operatives. They were powerfulbatants who could fight against a mid-ranking demonic human alone. Therefore, sending a small number of troops would only help a little and even aggravate the situation in the long-term for the enemies. However, the enemies couldn¡¯t just watch their rear being destroyed, so they would have to mobilize a lot of troops in the end. ¡®Then we can pick and hit them.¡¯ There were as many as twenty points to defend, and the enemies had no way of knowing on which of those points would Jude and Cordelia attack. ¡®There¡¯s also our mobility.¡¯ Jude wasn¡¯t talking about running with Cordelia on his back. He was talking about the benefits of getting Melissa. ¡®We¡¯re able to use the central tunnel.¡¯ The research facilities built by Magen¡¯s high elves. Most of the sites ovepped with the sanctuaries of the wild gods, probably because they were research facilities that utilized the dragon vein. In other words, if they could use the underground tunnels between the research facilities, they would be able to quickly go back and forth the dragon vein stream without being noticed. ¡®Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, they¡¯ll be in touch with the front.¡¯ When the news that the rear was being exploded would reach the front, it would be difficult for Haraken to fight properly. In short, the battle between the eastern and western forces would not be a one-punch fight, so it would be possible to conquer the western forces with a strategy. ¡®It will probably be tomorrow when they will move.¡¯ If they focused on defense, the two would be able earn enough time. ¡®Then the only problem left is Kriemler.¡¯ The great demon of Belial who destroyed the northern part of the S?len Kingdom. Numerous northern powers were killed by that powerful magic swordsman. ¡®Father and brother.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t just Count Bayer and Ga?l. Count Chase was also killed by him, and Count Hr?svelgr, the head of the Jackdaws, also died from his sword. ¡®We can¡¯t win with our usual methods.¡¯ Jude and Cordelia had be stronger than when they first entered the wildnds, but it was still impossible for them to fight against Great Demon Kriemler. However, not stopping him would make their dream of a perfect happy ending to be unachievable. ¡®The time when he was summoned.¡¯ It had yet to ur. Haraken had conquered the barbariannds first before summoning Kriemler to this world. A great demon like Kriemler wasn¡¯t summoned the usual way. ¡®Our best course of action is to stop the summoning itself.¡¯ If he had not yet been summoned, they would have to prevent him from being ever summoned. ¡®Our second-best option is the Golden Dragon King.¡¯ They could quickly wake up the Golden Dragon King, even for just a moment, to stop the summoning orpletely kill Kriemler. It might only be a short moment, but the power of the Golden Dragon King they had personally met was tremendous. They would be able to defeat Kriemler with that power. ¡®We can do it.¡¯ His original n was to stop Kriemler with Lena¡¯s power, but things had changed. They would stop Kriemler with their own power or use the power of the Golden Dragon King to defeat Kriemler. If they couldn¡¯t do any of the two, they would then get Landius and Kamael involved regardless of the means and methods. It would obviously take a considerable amount of time to mobilize the two people who were in the central and southern parts of the S?len Kingdom, so the method was almost a lesser evil, but it was better than nothing at all. ¡®Okay, let¡¯s do it.¡¯ Jude himself had already greatly disrupted Haraken¡¯s ns with their activities in the east. Unlike the original, Haraken failed to take control of the east nor could he kill Red Gale. The Eastern Alliance was formed, and the Devil¡¯s Eye had lost several mid-ranking demonic humans. Jude didn¡¯t know yet, but they also lost as many as ten mid-ranking demonic humans because of Count Chase and Ga?l, so the Devil¡¯s Eye had suffered a devastating blow. Therefore, Haraken himself had to join the big battle between the east and west which he didn¡¯t have to do in the game. Jude was slowly driving Haraken into a corner. Just a little more now, and they would be able topletely defeat him. It was a grand strategy to gradually tighten the enemy¡¯s breath. It was Jude¡¯s own specialty and favorite method. ¡°Your eyes look evil. You must be thinking of something bad.¡± Cordelia said as she narrowed her eyes and looked up at him. As their difference in height widened by more than 10 cm, it became difficult for them to see each other at eye level unless she jumped, or Jude lowered his posture. Because of this, Jude saw the fluffy rabbit headband first in front of him. He saw Cordelia¡¯s face afterwards. Naturally, it was Jude himself who thought of the grand strategy he was pursuing with a long-term n. ¡®It¡¯s a fait apli.¡¯ He would first establish the environment. He would then make the people around that environment believe it to be so. If his former colleagues had seen him, they would say, ¡®what¡¯s this crazy guy doing?¡¯ and be unable to avoid clicking their tongues. Because this was Jude¡¯s own way of fighting. Gradually, little by little. Drive the enemy to the corner step by step. ¡°What, what is it¡­ What are you seriously thinking?¡± ¡°Good thoughts, righteous thoughts, beautiful thoughts.¡± ¡°Are you sick? Do you have a fever?¡± Cordelia touched Jude¡¯s forehead, and he smiled. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the next area. Let¡¯s pop it in a star shape this time.¡± ¡°No, it was a real star, okay?¡± ¡°Yes, if you insist.¡± Jude intentionally replied mischievously, and after hearing the grumpy Cordelia¡¯s grumbling, he moved forward. And the next morning. When the eastern and western forces shed, and a second dragon vein exploded. An unexpected variable shook the wildnds. Chapter 115 - EPISODE 115 – TWIST (2)

Chapter 115 - EPISODE 115 ¨C TWIST (2)

Great warrior Garammaru. He was originally a powerful spirit warrior, butpletely changed after epting Overlord Belial¡¯s power through Haraken. He extinguished the spirits that were no different from his kin with his own hands, and epted the ancient evil spirits, thus bing a powerful being who knew many ancient secret arts. ¡®He was quite unusual even in the game.¡¯ It was the great warriors, and not the chieftains of each tribe, who led the barbarians in the destruction of the northern part of the S?len Kingdom. Therefore, they reigned as rulers of the north, and were not meant to be encountered in the early stages of the northern barbarian event. Fighting them would only lead to death. ¡®Because the level difference was so great.¡¯ The yable characters¡¯ levels were bound to be low since the northern barbarian event itself was an event that took ce in the early stages of the game. Though Cordelia had rtively enough time to level up then, she still had a low level because the time-skip ¨C ¡®A few months have passed since then,¡¯ suddenly appeared in her route. On the other hand, Jude had begun his route right before the northern barbarian event started, so his level was obviously low too. ¡®20-30 levels at most.¡¯ And the levels of the warriors were around 65. There was such a disparity that no one would think of trying it given the odds of winning. One way or another, levels were like bullies in RPGs. ¡®Level 65.¡¯ The great warriors were confident of their own strength. Haraken was also confident in them. This was natural since they were stronger than ck Knight Billvine, the strongest mid-ranking demonic human in the Devil¡¯s Eye. ¡®Great Warrior Garammaru.¡¯ In the game, he was someone to be avoided. A man who was like a reaper of death when one faced him. But now¡­ ¡°Sorry, we¡¯ve be too strong.¡± Cordelia spoke as her canines glistened, and Jude spoke as he wrote down Cordelia¡¯s words in a notebook. ¡°We¡¯ve be too strong¡­memo.¡± ¡°What, why are you writing it down? What¡¯s that? Eh?¡± ¡°This, this is just for ckmail- no, for negotiationter.¡± ¡°ckmail?!¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyesight sharpened as she read the text on the cover of his notebook. ¡®Cordelia¡¯s collection of shameful lines.¡¯ ¡°Hey!¡± ¡°Ah! The mes are rising!¡± As Jude quickly closed his notebook and shouted, Cordelia looked at the front while gritting her teeth. Just as Jude said, the great warrior Garammaru had mes rising from his body. ¡°You b*stard and b*tch!¡± A huge me rose from Garammaru¡¯s whole body. Having acquired the power of the ancient evil spirit, me Master Killoman, he was able to create a strong me even in the wildnds where coldness dominated, and it was also possible for him to quickly turn the surrounding area into and of scorching heat. He then red at Jude and Cordelia. Once again, he tried to burn everything with the mes of hell. ¡°Uoooooh!¡± He roared. And Cordelia chanted the spell. And what happened afterwards¡­ ¡°You b*stards!¡± Ssh! A tremendous amount of water poured down just above Garammaru¡¯s head. But his mes were clearly the mes of hell. Although the intensity weakened a little, the mes were not extinguished. Garammaru shouted again. ¡°I¡¯ll thoroughly-!¡± Ssh! Once again. Because Double Casting and Spell¡¯s Echo were not mere decorations. ¡°Burn you-!¡± Ssh! ¡°I¡¯ll make you-¡± Ssh! x4. The mes died down, and Garammaru became like a rat that was wet with water. But he didn¡¯t give up. Because the evil spirit told him that the spell was over. So now was the time to start the mes again! ¡°Uooooh!¡± The mes rose again. And Cordelia said. ¡°.¡± It was a spell that she chanted again. Fsssssssh! Water poured down from the air like a waterfall and extinguished the reignited mes of Garammaru again. However, Garammaru never gave up. ¡°I¡¯ll-!¡± Ssh! ¡°Never-¡± Ssh! ¡°Give up-¡± Ssh! ¡°Hey! You f*cking b*tch! Hey!¡± Garammaru lost his temper and cursed, and Jude nodded his head as he said. ¡°T-that¡¯s too much.¡± He must have worked hard to gain that power. He must have had a clever wife, cute children, and an old mother waiting for him at home. Cordelia immediately protested at Jude¡¯s stare. ¡°Hey, why is this too much? And wasn¡¯t he a really evil b*stard? Didn¡¯t he kill his entire family with his own hands?¡± She also knew the background setting of the mid-boss to some extent. It was as Cordelia had said. After bing an evil spirit warrior, he became an immoral person who destroyed his n with his own hands. ¡°I¡¯ll give you a beating!¡± Garammaru angrily shouted and ran as the muddy water sshed around. Even if he couldn¡¯t use the mes, he had a strong body. He was about 2 meters tall, had wide shoulders, and his forearms and upper arms were thicker than a woman¡¯s waist. He had enough power to kill the slender Cordelia in a single beating! But Jude blocked her front. After standing firmly in front of Cordelia, he received Garammaru¡¯s charge from the front. Boom! Jude and Garammaru faced each other. Their hands confronted each other in a battle of strength. ¡°A weak b*stard with only a handsome face!¡± Although he had recently grown fast, Jude was still in the mid-tote 170s. He was a head shorter than Garammaru, who was nearly 2 meters tall, so their difference in height was more than twice. Added to that was their difference in muscle. Just by looking at the thickness, the difference was already several times more, so it was normal for Jude to be crushed. However. ¡°Sorry.¡± Jude was not pushed back a bit. At their current level, Garammaru was still above them, but Jude and Cordelia were not ordinary yable characters. They had stats from the titles they had umted so far. They had all kinds of auxiliary magic on them. They also had an overwhelming difference in items (overgeared). It wasn¡¯t an exaggeration to say that Jude¡¯s strength was virtually a superpower. ¡°Euaaaaah!¡± Garammaru tried to push and twist Jude¡¯s arms, but he screamed as his own arms were the ones that got twisted instead. Jude then pushed back Garammaru. After he shook off Garammaru, he turned to Cordelia. ¡®You know, right?¡¯ ¡®Yes.¡¯ . The blue lighting from Moonlight swallowed Garammaru who had fallen on the floor in one fell swoop. Garammaru couldn¡¯t resist the magic since he was soaked with water and they were in the cold wildnds. Tsuk-tsuk-tsuukk-! Tsuk! Garammaru became a frozen ice sculpture and Jude used the ck dragon¡¯s power to strike Garammaru on the chest as he yelled. A white ring of light surrounded Jude and Cordelia when the ice shattered. ¡°Haa, defeating him was easier than I thought.¡± ¡°Because the ce is cold, both water and ice magic are strengthened. Moonlight also got a serious power-up.¡± If it weren¡¯t for Moonlight having the Snow Queen incorporated into it and thus bing stronger, it would not have been possible to defeat him that easily. ¡°Hehe, anyway, it¡¯s awesome.¡± She was naturally happy to easily defeat great warrior Garammaru since he was someone who couldn¡¯t be defeated at the beginning of the northern barbarian event. Jude lovingly looked at Cordelia and her flopping rabbit ears, and soon turned his gaze away. ¡®Demonic magic circle.¡¯ The two were standing at a huge altar located some distance from the dragon vein. Arge magic circle was engraved on the floor for arge-scale ritual and nine pirs inscribed with demonic characters were around the altar. ¡®As I thought¡­is this it?¡¯ Preparations for summoning the great demon Kriemler. It was a simple and effective way to hold small rituals in various ces to store power for arger ritual. ¡°Doesn¡¯t it look like the ritual here is already¡­over?¡± Cordelia said as she looked at the altar. The entire stone altar was stained with the blood of so many sacrificed offerings. ¡®Did they even sacrifice the demon followers?¡¯ Despite the existence of such an altar, there was no enemy around here except for Garammaru. Given that there were few people in the vige, it seemed that arge number of humans were sacrificed. ¡®There¡¯s too many.¡¯ Too much blood had been offered. It was naturally true that great demon Kriemler could not be easily summoned, but even if that was so, Jude felt that it was still too much. ¡®Because this isn¡¯t the only ritual.¡¯ The rituals of the demon followers varied in form ording to its purpose. And the ritual that was now held here was just a preparation ritual for the bigger ritual that Jude knew well. ¡®Too many.¡¯ Jude thought so again. Too much blood was offered for preparation. What is this for? Does summoning Kriemler require more offerings than I thought? Or the preparation ritual was not conducted by all of the great warriors, but only a few including Garammaru, and the preparation rituals that had to be done in five ces were only conducted in three ces, so more blood had to be given. ¡®That would make sense.¡¯ But it was strange. He still felt that something was out of ce. ¡°Jude?¡± At Cordelia¡¯s call, Jude raised his head. She was frowning as she stood in front of the altar. He had admired Cordelia¡¯s intuition several times since they started working together. And such Cordelia¡¯s intuition was telling them. Something was different. The altar in front of them was far different from what Jude and Cordelia thought. And her intuition wasn¡¯t wrong again. Following Cordelia¡¯s gaze, Jude¡¯s eyes widened as he studied the magic circle that was engraved in the center of the altar. ¡®Different.¡¯ It was different from the one in the game. It was not the original magic circle that was found in the ruins of the northern part of the S?len Kingdom. Jude rushed to the altar and began analyzing it. Theplex magic circle was disassembled on his head and arranged in a row. He read the truth contained in the magic circle. And at some point. Jude understood. The ritual conducted by Garammaru. The reason they needed more blood. And why all of this happened. What drove Haraken to make a different choice from the game. It was Jude himself. What Jude himself had done so far led Haraken to make a different choice. Red Gale did not die. As a result, the Great Storm tribe survived. Violent Avnche, Gentle Snow Breeze, and Blue Whiskers did not be corrupted. The mid-ranking demonic humans who were dispatched to the east were annihted, and the east was not divided. Karaval was not obstructed. As a result, an eastern force was formed. What Jude himself and Cordelia had done so far. And the positive changes that resulted from it. Jude¡¯s ns seeded. Haraken was driven into a corner. Hence, Haraken made an extreme choice that he did not make in the original. ¡°Jude?¡± Jude raised his head and stared at Cordelia. And he thought. If it really was what he analyzed. If that was really what Haraken prepared for. Where would he hold the big ritual? Where would he summon ¡®that¡¯? ¡°Eastern forces.¡± He unconsciously said. There was only one thing he could think of. And this time, Jude wasn¡¯t wrong. At the same time. In the Snow Breeze in located farther south from where Jude and Cordelia were. While the eastern forces were on the verge of shing with the west, Haraken receivedte the news about the first explosion that Jude and Cordelia caused. But he wasn¡¯t much bothered. Because his preparations were over. ¡°Get started.¡± Haraken ordered, and hismand spread throughout the western forces. The battle began with the roar of Seven Horns who led the Angry Bull tribe. Chapter 116 - EPISODE 116 – TWIST (3)

Chapter 116 - EPISODE 116 ¨C TWIST (3)

Jude¡¯s strategy was simple. The eastern forces would be an anvil, and Cordelia and Jude himself would be the hammer. While the eastern forces would lead the confrontation in the pitched battle that would begin on Snow Breeze in, Cordelia and Jude himself would go and destroy the rear, making them unable to maintain the front line. The hammer had seeded at the present moment. After the two crossed the Sky Roof mountain range, their meeting with Melissa allowed them to use the underground tunnels left behind by Magen¡¯s high elves. They had the full advantage in striking the rear of the west because of the deserted mountain. But this alone was not enough. The sess of the hammer alone did notplete the strategy. ¡®If the anvil can¡¯t hold out.¡¯ If the anvil was crushed by the enemy¡¯s offensive. If his strategy was destroyed as a result of his enemy¡¯s tactics. That was usually impossible. But Haraken could make it possible because he had a few aces up his sleeve. *** ¡°Ararara-rai! Arara-rai!¡± Seven Horns, who was reborn as Belial¡¯s puppet, roared as his red eyes shed. Tens of thousands of warriors joined in the cry that shook heaven and earth, and their vigor alone was enough to crush their enemies. And Red Gale didn¡¯t just watch it. Knowing the importance of fighting spirit, he raised his hand, and the chieftain of the de Song tribe, Nine des, roared on behalf of Red Gale. ¡°Kurara! Kurara!¡± The eastern forces also shouted together. Horns were blown everywhere, and the wild gods with the eastern forces let out angry roars. They tried to cover the Snow Breeze in with divine power. ¡°Aaaaah!¡± ¡°Aaaaah!¡± But it wasn¡¯t easy. Something countered their divine power. The western wild gods, who became hellish monsters as a result of corruption, also howled as their colossal evil thoughts offset the divine power. The eastern forces numbered around 30,000. The western forces numbered around 28,000 after losing some of their troops during their unification of the west. Boom! Boom! Boom! The drums boomed. Wearing a helmet decorated with the horns of a stag, Seven Horns rode on a hellish monster that resembled a rhinoceros and moved forward, and the corrupted tribal chieftains lined up beside him. They formed a wedge formation like they usually did and prepared to charge like turbulent waves. Red Gale had expected it, so he raised his hand again. gs fluttered everywhere as the eastern forces went into formation to counter their attack. ¡°Kuraha! Kuraha!¡± The eastern forces struck the ground with the end of their spears. The western forces roared again as they raised their weapons. Haraken watched the scene from behind. His henchman, Sharp Horn, took a deep breath to calm his frightened mind. The mid-ranking demonic humans all over the ce waited for the start of the battle. And at some point. When Haraken exhaled, and the moment Jude realized the truth from afar¡­ ¡°CHAAAARGE!¡± Seven Horns loudly shouted and dered. The warriors of the Angry Bull tribe charged forward. Boom! Boom! Boom! Tens of thousands of people charged at once, causing the ground to shake. Red Wind swallowed her saliva at the tremendous force that filled her eyes, and the nearby Sun Song took a deep breath. Nine des drew his sword. He turned to Red Gale, who remained silent but was looking straight ahead as he counted down numbers. It was the know-how in hunting. Not too soon, and not toote. Sweat trickled down the forehead of Red Gale. It was the first time for a seasoned and bold warrior like him to fight against such arge army. One breath. The Angry Bull tribe crossed the Snow Breeze in. The roars of the wild gods and monsters reverberated in the sky. ¡°Now!¡± Red Gale shouted. Nine des swung his sword, and the hand gs fluttered. The crouching and waiting de Song sprang up and shouted, and Great Storm spread his cries throughout the battlefield with his wind. Violent Avnche stood up. Gentle Snow Breeze sang. ¡°Garaaaaaa!¡± The eastern forces charged. Likewise, it shook the ground. The front lines of both sides. Those who were at the forefront. They were immersed in extreme excitement. Drunk in the madness of the battlefield, they finally met each other¡¯s breath. Baaaaaaaang! The waves met. And broke each other. Those at the forefront were crushed and ughtered, whether they were from the eastern or western forces. In an instant, dozens to hundreds of people lost their lives. It was a little different from what Red Gale anticipated. The western forces¡¯ vigor and violence beyond one¡¯s imagination had led to that result. But Red Gale did not lose hisposure. It was only a few hundreds out of tens of thousands. Battles on the first day were bound to cause heavy damage anyway. They had to stop them in Snow Breeze in in order to prevent the horrors of war from reaching the east, so they were prepared to have losses on their side too. ¡®Our guardian deities are with us.¡¯ Those who dwell in the wildnds call those guardian deities as wild gods. Red Gale¡¯s belief wasn¡¯t wrong. The song of Gentle Snow Breeze healed the warriors. Great Storm boosted the warriors¡¯ energy, and Violent Avnche¡¯s cheering wasn¡¯t very helpful, but it was better than nothing. And de Song. He did not hide his temperament. He turned into a huge ck wolf and headed to the battlefield himself as he showed off the power of a wild god. ¡°Be ripped to death!¡± He didn¡¯t stop at trampling and biting them off. de Song used his divine powers to summon dozens of invisible des around him to rip apart the western forces. ¡°de Song! de Song!¡± It wasn¡¯t just the de Song tribe. The eastern forces loudly cheered, and de Song felt better as he went around the battlefield. Red Wind also fought hard. Instead of going to the front line, she used the Phoenix in a ce somewhat behind it, and her gaze was drawn to the back of Sun Song who fought at the forefront. Great Storm headed up to sky after reverting his true form of a giant bird. From there, he monitored the entire battlefield and conveyed what he saw to Red Gale. Although the battle between the eastern and western forces were violent enough that those in the front lines were crushed, it had now entered a lull. Instead of people dying one after another, they were just pushing each other away. It wasn¡¯t bad. The western forces did not make any tactical maneuvers. There was no mobile unit in the back, nor was there anything unusual in the reserve. It was just a thoughtless charge. ¡®Perhaps we can do it.¡¯ Would we be able to destroy the western forces altogether instead of just holding our ground? Both ends of the eastern forces stealthily headed toward the front. They intended to besiege the western forces who was thoughtlessly attempting to break through the front. If they seeded in their besiegement¡­ Great Storm thought that they would be greatly victorious. The song of Gentle Snow Breeze reminded him of a victory song. And Haraken looked up at the sky. Haraken saw Great Storm, the beautiful white bird looking down from above, before he moved his hand. ¡°Do it.¡± The ritual. What they had been preparing for. Sharp Horn lifted the g. The demonic humans scattered all over the battlefield began to move, and the corrupted wild gods who remained seated rather than step forward since the battle began, finally stood up. Haraken looked up at the sky again. He no longer hid his demonic human form¡¯spound eyes. *** Cordelia knew Jude well. She could tell what he was thinking just by looking into his eyes. So she lowered her posture. She sat in front of the altar and made eye contact with Jude, who had a stupefied look on his face. ¡°Jude.¡± She called him again. Jude came to his senses and stared at Cordelia, who looked at him again instead of talking. Jude took a deep breath. He calmed down after doing that several times. He returned to the Jude that Cordelia knew well. ¡°What kind of ritual is it?¡± It was not a ritual to summon the great demon Kriemler. Cordelia could understand that much. Jude opened his mouth. He told her what he found out. And soon after, Cordelia¡¯s intuition felt it. Her instincts told her. The eastern forces would be defeated. They wouldn¡¯t be able to beat the western forces. And as always, her intuition wasn¡¯t wrong. *** Haraken easily captured the wildnds in the original scenario. Almost all of the wild gods in the west and east were corrupted and went under hismand, and Red Gale and the other rebellious chieftains were purged, so the barbarians were united into a single army. Therefore, the headquarters of the Devil¡¯s Eye in the Argon Empire did not interfere with Haraken¡¯s movements. Rather, they did not spare their support for him. Thus, Haraken did not summon the great demon Kriemler in the wildnds. He unified the barbarians, who together with the corrupted wild gods, destroyed the northern border area of the S?len Kingdom before Kriemler was summoned. He didn¡¯t need to do it before. It wasn¡¯t until the two swordsmen, Count Bayer and Count Hr?svelgr, defeated the barbarian chieftains as well as the corrupted wild gods, did he have enough losses. But everything had changed. Jude and Cordelia made it that way. Haraken was cornered and made a choice that he did not make in the original. ¡°O Belial.¡± Haraken creepily smiled. The west was virtually devastated. All were sacrificed except for the great warriors on the battlefield and the minimum number of personnel for rear support. A river of blood flowed at the ritual conducted by the great warriors. ¡®No one will be spared.¡¯ The wild gods. All the firewood would be burned. In front of Haraken. In a ce located a little behind the battle between the western and eastern forces. At a point where both ends of the eastern forces were slowly approaching. The corrupted wild gods gathered there. The demonic humans gathered together. Harakenmanded them. The will of Belial dominated the demonic humans, and they struck the throats of the sacrifices they brought. The ground became wet with blood as they stabbed themselves in the neck one after another. Blood. The currency of the soul. The blood covered the ground. A circle was drawn. And the corrupted wild gods stood around the circle as they offered themselves to the magic circle. The wild gods were close to twenty. Tens of thousands of human offerings. And what was made from it. ¡°Aah¡­aaah¡­¡± Haraken was filled with joy. The blood in the magic circle seemed to be wriggling, and the circle waspleted by itself. Intricate patterns were engraved on the ground, and Great Storm who saw all that from the sky widely opened his eyes. It must be stopped. They had to somehow stop it. But how would they do it? de Song who had ran amok on the battlefield raised his head. He perceived the power concentrated in the magic circle of blood. He saw the evil energy that began to swirl above the magic circle. Gentle Snow Breeze realized it. Violent Avnche copsed and swallowed his scream. ¡°Open.¡± Haraken said. He burst outughing from the depth of his lungs. Boooooooooom! The space cracked. Then opened. And from within, it soared. A huge gate. A huge crack that connected this world to another world! ¡°Hell Gate.¡± Jude said. Cordelia looked south. Harakenughed, and the Hell Gate opened. Numerous monsters appeared. *** The Hell Gate was tens of meters in height. No, its size didn¡¯t matter. At that moment, everyone on the battlefield felt it. So they all turned. For a moment, the entire battlefield stopped. The eastern forces raised their heads. The western forces looked back. A small monster walked out of the huge gate. In fact, it was a 3-meter giant, but the gate was so huge. And then it continued. The demonic monsters continued to walk out. Dozens, and hundreds. Then the time that had stopped began to flow again. A new fight had begun. *** ¡°Run away!¡± Nine des desperately cried. The battle line had already copsed for a long time. The monsters poured out from the Hell Gate and broke through the front. The western forces, who were fighting against the eastern forces, were split and torn along the eastern forces. It was pandemonium. The demons did not distinguish between the eastern and western forces. All the humans in front of them were torn and crushed to death. The evil energy of the Hell Gate overwhelmed the divine power of the wild gods. ¡°We can¡¯t win.¡± Great Storm said. It wasn¡¯t because he was terrified. It was a level-headed judgment. ¡°We have to escape.¡± It was important to escape from here. If they fought here, the entire eastern forces would be destroyed. de Song understood that. So he didn¡¯t show his back to it. Rather, he stepped forward and shouted. ¡°Warriors of the de Song!¡± At themand of the wild god, the warriors of the de Song tribe turned their heads. Nine des looked at his guardian deity, and de Song bitterly smiled. He dered to his warriors. ¡°It¡¯s today.¡± This is the ce. Where we will die. The ce to sing ourst song. Nine des understood it. And he smiled. Because he was a warrior of the de Song. Because he stood on the battlefield while singing death. Moreover, it was a fight to protect. It was a beautiful and worthy fight. A good song was about to be made. ¡°de Song.¡± Great Storm spoke, and de Song just smiled. He didn¡¯t say any weak-sounding words to his long-time rival, but he still had to leave a word. ¡°Please take care of the children who were left behind.¡± The children who did not stand on the battlefield. The children who would continue the song of de Song. ¡°Brother!¡± Gentle Snow Breeze shouted, but de Song did not look back. He fiercely smiled and charged. ¡°Go! My warriors!¡± The warriors of the de Song turned around. They charged together with their guardian deity. They became a living wall to buy time for the eastern forces to retreat. ¡°Father!¡± Sun Song shouted, and Nine des saw Sun Song. He smiled and said goodbye. ¡°Go.¡± Lead the children who were left behind. de Song wants it too. That was it. Nine des no longer looked back. He charged together with the warriors of the de Song tribe. He bought time with his blood and life. ¡°Retreat!¡± Red Gale loudly shouted. Gentle Snow Breeze cried tears of blood and sang. She raised the energy of the warriors of the de Song and added strength to the feet of the fleeing eastern forces. Red Wind cried and grabbed the arm of the roaring Sun Song. The eastern forces retreated. The de Song tribe became a wall. The western forces broke down the wall, and demons poured out from the Hell Gate. ¡°Golden Dragon King.¡± de Song¡¯s entire body was covered with blood as he confronted the monsters from hell and thought of the king of the wild gods. He remembered the cheeky children who had the dragon¡¯s emblem. Why though? At thest moment, the faces of the two came to his mind. ¡°Farewell.¡± de Song flew towards the monsters. He sang hisst song. *** The eastern forces copsed. The Snow Breeze in was stained with blood, and the western forces was also virtually destroyed by the Hell Gate and the demons that poured out of it. About half of the western forces¡¯mon soldiers were corrupted and became low-level monsters that could no longer be called humans, and the other half were sacrificed to maintain the Hell Gate. Haraken won one battle, as he dered. He had to sacrifice too many things to do that, but he didn¡¯t care. It was already spilled water. Moreover, his purpose was to cause chaos in the wildnds and in the northern part of the S?len Kingdom. The method was different, but what was more important was the result. Inside the Hell Gate. A demon with an immense power was approaching. If he coulde down to this world. If that happened before Haraken¡¯s life ended, before he could no longer maintain the Hell Gate. ¡°O Belial.¡± I will dedicate the wildnds to you. At the time when Haraken prayed as if worshipping a god. Violent Avnche fell alone while running away, and then raised his head. He saw a man with a red cloak standing in front of him. It was a man he had never seen before, but the man somewhat reminded him of Cordelia even though they did not look alike at all. The man saved Violent Avnche who was being chased by the monsters. The man looked away and saw the Hell Gate that rose far away. Having deeply studied the tragedy of the Paragon Kingdom, he knew about the Hell Gate. ¡°Cordelia.¡± The man spoke in a low voice, and Count Chase turned to Violent Avnche. And at the same time. At the edge of the east. A ce called the sacred ce. Blue Whiskers shriveled at the terrifying aura he felt in the west and raised his head as he looked at his back. He hastily flew into the temple. And he faced that person. The white wings of the angel spread out. The angel who washed away the aura of hell opened her eyes. Lena Ainsburg. One of the five heroes who ended the tragedy of the Paragon Kingdom. She woke up. And looked west. Chapter 117 - EPISODE 117 – HOLY ANGEL (1)

Chapter 117 - EPISODE 117 ¨C HOLY ANGEL (1)

Hell Gate. It wasn¡¯t something unfamiliar to them. The chances of seeing the Hell Gate in the?Legend of Heroes?series were surprisingly numerous. But the timing was wrong. Only one gate appeared in the first episode of?Legend of Heroes. Demon Prince Baikazel, the final boss who caused the tragedy of the Paragon Kingdom. Thest battle in the first episode involved defeating him and closing the Hell Gate he opened. ¡®The next one was in the middle of the second episode.¡¯ Opening the Hell Gate on this world was by no means ordinary. In addition to numerous offerings, a catalyst was needed in order to open the Hell Gate. ¡®Catalyst.¡¯ Things that came together with the overlords of hell when they descended on this world in the past. The catalysts varied in form and were different from each other, but they were notmon. Even inrge organizations like the Devil¡¯s Hand or Devil¡¯s Eye, there were only one to two catalysts that could open the Hell Gate. ¡®Lena¡¯s situation was different.¡¯ The Hell Gate that opened in Endymion was not summoned in the usual way. A link had formed when Lena escaped from hell and returned to this world. Therefore, it differed from the usual Hell Gate in several ways. The Hell Gate was opened in the opposite way ¨C from hell to this world and not from this world to hell, so the Hell Gate remained open because it could replenish its power from hell without any additional support (sacrifices). ¡®But that¡¯s not it. He didn¡¯t do that.¡¯ Jude stared at the altar once again. He interpreted the disassembled magic circle in his head. It was the usual Hell Gate. It was like the one he saw several times in?Legend of Heroes 2. ¡®It can¡¯t be kept open for a long time.¡¯ It needed power to maintain the Hell Gate. If the Hell Gate was opened on Snow Breeze in as Jude had thought, there would be no other means to maintain it other than through sacrificial offerings. ¡®About a week at most.¡¯ There would naturally be some miscalction because he inferred it from the various events in the game, but the difference wouldn¡¯t be that great. ¡®Did I go too far? No, did he turn the?board?upside down?¡¯ T/N: The ¡®board¡¯ here refers to a game board, like a chessboard. Basically, Jude and Haraken are ying a game of ¡®chess¡¯ and Haraken¡¯s ns are losing to Jude¡¯s strategy, so he flipped/turned the board upside down. I exined it here because the word ¡®board¡¯ gets mentioned several timester in this chapter. There were few opportunities to summon the Hell Gate. In the game, instead of summoning the Hell Gate, Haraken corrupted the wild gods and took control of the barbarians before attacking the northern part of the kingdom because it was much more efficient. ¡®He opened the Hell Gate after destroying the northern part and attacking the royal capital.¡¯ Which would be more effective ¨C opening the Hell Gate in the wildnds or opening it in the royal capital of the S?len Kingdom? He didn¡¯t even have to think about the answer. It was definitely thetter. To begin with, he had no information if Haraken had a catalyst. But it made sense. Even Jude himself wouldn¡¯t waste the catalyst in that way. The best way was to summon the Hell Gate in a key ce after subduing the wildnds, the barbarians, and the northern part of the S?len Kingdom. ¡®But he didn¡¯t do that.¡¯ Because Jude himself had obviously interfered with Haraken¡¯s ns every time. Compared to the game, Haraken was currently in a very bad situation. But summoning the Hell Gate was excessive. This was almost a desperate move on Haraken¡¯s side. It meant that he gave up most of the power in the wildnds that he had secured. ¡®Why?¡¯ Wasn¡¯t it better to have the western and eastern forces fight? Why did Haraken give up the fight? There was a reason. An incident that changed Haraken¡¯s mind that Jude didn¡¯t know about yet. Ga?l and Adelia. Count Chase. The three annihted the infiltrators who were trying to infiltrate the east via the south. It made Haraken think that there was no other way to do anything except for a head-on battle, so Haraken made a decision. If he failed in whatever he nned, then he would do something that he wouldn¡¯t fail in. He would do something that his enemies couldn¡¯t stop. Because that was better than aplete failure. That was the time he turned the board upside down. The power of the wildnds had already been cut in half. In his situation, even if the eastern forces were defeated in the head-on battle, the damage would be too great. He wouldn¡¯t be able to properly carry out his original n with just half of the power. So he flipped the board. He created a new board. But Jude didn¡¯t know about that even if he was a rotten water. Therefore, Jude stopped worrying about it. He needed information first. Their present location was not a good ce to keep thinking about it. ¡°Cordelia.¡± Cordelia immediately responded to Jude¡¯s call. She also had a stiff face as she was worried about it in her own way. ¡°Let¡¯s move for now.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± She had to brighten up at times like this. Cordelia energetically responded on purpose and took the lead. He didn¡¯t tell her where their destination was, but there was only one ce to go in this situation. ¡®The underground passage left by the high elves of Magen.¡¯ Melissa gave them information that was not avable in the game. Magen, the magic kingdom. The elves in Pleiades weremonly thought of as mostly living in forests and mountains. Even the dark elves refused to live underground unless they had no choice. However, the high elves of Magen built a city underground. Most of the facilities were built under the mountains or under the ground as if they were dwarves. ¡®It¡¯s because of the dragon vein.¡¯ Magen¡¯s high elves discovered an unknown power under the ground. They researched and studied on how to somehow use that great stream, and as a result, they set up a livable base underground that was close to the dragon vein. ¡®An infrastructure across the wildnds.¡¯ The high elves built the infrastructure along the dragon vein stream. In addition, several facilities were installed to use the power of the dragon vein. The facility in the Sky Roof mountain range was one of those. ¡®The dragon vein was different from what it was.¡¯ It was much thinner and was blocked everywhere. But Magen¡¯s high elves resolved that. They smoothened the flow of the dragon vein, and ry facilities were built throughout the wildnds to strengthen its flow. ¡®And that¡¯s how the current dragon vein was made.¡¯ And as Jude had expected¡­ ¡°Jude.¡± Jude came to his senses at Cordelia¡¯s call again. The two had gone back to the underground passage. Jude took a deep breath. And he thought again. ¡®The gate is open.¡¯ That was clear, apart from the others he thought of. Cordelia¡¯s intuition and the ritual altar guarded by Garammaru also informed him of this fact. What should we do now? Should we break the western dragon veins as nned? ¡®We don¡¯t have enough time.¡¯ The reasons for opening the Hell Gate in the game all led to one answer. To call out a mighty being to this world who couldn¡¯t be summoned in the usual way. Haraken went overboard. He opened the Hell Gate using several catalysts from the Devil¡¯s Eye. If so, he wouldn¡¯t be satisfied with someone on the level of Kriemler. He would try to call someone higher than Kriemler to this world. How many days would that take? If he calcted the time requiredpared to the other events in the game¡­ ¡®Five days at most.¡¯ If it was short, three to four days. Then, it was impossible for them. Even if they used the high elves¡¯ tunnels that they had opened, they wouldn¡¯t be able to make it. The wildnds was too wide for them. ¡®Town Portal.¡¯ A space-leaping door that was used by the high elves. ording to Melissa¡¯s investigation, there were still a few functional space-leaping doors in the west. They would be able to immediately return to the east once they got to that door. But there was no way to directly go to that door from here. Going there would consume time anyway. Jude¡¯s thoughts deepened. He thought and thought again. And Cordelia saw such Jude. She groaned and began to worry about it like him. Is there any other way? Maybe there¡¯s a solution. ¡°Eueu.¡± This kind of thinking didn¡¯t suit her nor was it something she liked to do. So Cordelia groaned and repeatedly stomped her feet. But she didn¡¯t stop thinking. And at some point. ¡°Ah!¡± Cordelia raised her head. She grabbed Jude¡¯s shoulder in a hurry. After forcibly pulling out the struggling Jude from the pit of thoughts that he had sunk into, she talked about the idea that came to her mind. ¡°What do you think?¡± It wasn¡¯t a specific idea. Just one idea. Jude stared at Cordelia. He didn¡¯t blink once, and in response, Cordelia¡¯s shoulders drooped, and she made a glum expression. Was that not it? What was I thinking? I guess it¡¯s not something I should think about. So when Cordelia began to be dispirited¡­ Jude unexpectedly burst intoughter. He brightly smiled and hugged Cordelia all of a sudden. ¡°Ju-Jude?¡± ¡°You¡¯re the best. My princess, my angel.¡± ¡°W-what?¡± My what? The grossed-out Cordelia got goosebumps at his choice of words, but Jude didn¡¯t care much about it. He tried to resume his thoughts again to make Cordelia¡¯s idea a reality. But at that very moment. Jude and Cordelia looked at each other again. They focused on the voice they heard in their minds. *** Thanks to the heroic sacrifice of de Song, the eastern forces were able to leave the battlefield. But too much blood had already been shed. ¡°But even so.¡± Great Storm looked towards the west with sunken eyes. He stared at the Hell Gate located far away that was radiating a chaotic aura even at this moment. He was at a great distance. But his eyes could see at a far distance from up high. He could still see the monsters crawling out of the Hell Gate at this time. That was why he dered. ¡°It must be closed.¡± Great Storm didn¡¯t know much about the Hell Gate. Only a few wild gods remembered the days when the magic kingdom Magen fought the overlord of hell. Excluding the Golden Dragon King, there was no other wild god at that time who was active at the present moment. Therefore, the wild gods didn¡¯t know much about the demons. They couldn¡¯t even guess how long the Hell Gate could be maintained, and what beings woulde out of it, so they thought of a more resolute response. ¡°At any cost.¡± If the Hell Gate stayed as it is. If more demons came out of it. The wildnds would cease to exist. It would just be a small hell ruled by the demons from hell. ¡°Brother, Violent Avnche¡­¡± Great Storm looked at his back. Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s face was filled with tears as she sniffled. She didn¡¯t like de Song very much, but that didn¡¯t mean she deeply hated him. But de Song had saved everyone and died. He made a heroic sacrifice. Even his tribe, and even the numerous children in the wildnds. And even Violent Avnche¡¯s whereabouts were unknown now. Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s tears did not dry out. She couldn¡¯t stop crying. But Great Storm reached out to her for a moment and wiped her tears. He said with a forced smile. ¡°He will be fine. He¡¯s a wild god even if he had lost his powers. He has lived far longer than we have.¡± He just took the wrong road and didn¡¯t lose his life. ¡°Is¡­that so?¡± ¡°Yes, it is. Yes, it is.¡± Great Storm hugged Gentle Snow Breeze and patted her back. It was like he was soothing a child, but Gentle Snow Breeze was actually taller than Great Storm in terms of their human forms, though that didn¡¯t matter to them. She held back her tears in the arms of Great Storm. ¡°We must gather the wild gods.¡± Every single wild god in the east had to be gathered. The surviving main force and the remaining troops in the east had to bebined in order to form the final do-or-die army. de Song and his children sacrificed their lives to give the east ¨C no, the wildnds, one more chance. So they had to live up to their songs. ¡°Gentle Snow Breeze, gather the children. Gather the wild gods.¡± Gentle Snow Breeze nodded. She wiped her face several times before she turned around and ran. Great Storm gazed at the back of Gentle Snow Breeze. He then turned around and looked at the west. ¡°Hell Gate.¡± It reminded Great Storm of de Song. He remembered the wild gods of the west that he hadn¡¯t seen for a long time. All of them were dead. And now, more wild gods might die. But even so. ¡°It¡¯s our calling to protect the wildnds.¡± Great Storm let out a cold breath. He prepared for the final battle. *** Haraken stared at the Hell Gate. The creepy aura of hell gave him a new power. Haraken smiled. His stronger power had now allowed him to sense someone approaching from beyond the Hell Gate. He paid his respects to it. Demon Prince. A demon with a title. It surpassed the great demon Kriemler and was a being in the same ss as Baikazel, who caused the tragedy of the Paragon Kingdom in the past. Haraken¡¯s smile turned wry. His thoughts had changed too, perhaps because of the aura of hell. ¡®Indeed, this was my calling.¡¯ So what if it wasn¡¯t the royal capital of the S?len Kingdom? It would be enough if the Demon Prince descended. He would lead the demons and end the wildnds. They would then advance to the S?len Kingdom. The demons and monster that came out from the Hell Gate did not go through a contract process. Therefore, they did not follow or were under Haraken. But that didn¡¯t matter to Haraken. Because the demons and monsters knew it. The Demon Prince wasing. It was their calling to follow itsmand. ¡°Master Haraken.¡± Haraken turned to the voice that was mixed with fear. The ever-faithful Sharp Horn looked at him with eyes full of hesitation. Sharp Horn couldn¡¯t help it. The western forces were destroyed, and the Angry Bull tribe who epted the aura of hell had now be creatures that could no longer be called humans. Even at this moment, human offerings continued to be offered in order to maintain the Hell Gate. Haraken looked at Sharp Horn. Sharp Horn was no longer a human too. He was close to a monster. His human mind still remained, but it was only a matter of time. So Haraken showed him a little mercy and told him the words that he wanted to hear. ¡°Not bad. You did well. It will be fine if you follow me as always.¡± Sharp Horn nodded at Haraken¡¯s words. He let go of his fear and blindly believed in Haraken¡¯s words. He wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand the current situation otherwise. ¡°Just wait. For the greater glory shall be with us.¡± Haraken brightly smiled and looked at the Hell Gate again. He waited for the moment of its advent as he fully enjoyed the aura of hell. *** ¡°Lena?¡± An answer came back when Cordelia spoke. There were no specific words, but a clear feeling was conveyed. Lena woke up. The holy angel came back to this world. And what that meant. Another possibility rose. ¡°Lena.¡± Jude and Cordelia then knew. That she had spread out her wings of light. She left the sacred ce that was guarded by Blue Whiskers and flew towards the west. The connection was lost. But that was enough. Lena conveyed her will to the two. Having known that the Hell Gate had been opened on this world, she immediately took action. ¡°Lena woke up.¡± Cordelia¡¯s voice was filled with excitement. She would obviously do that. Because Lena woke up. Holy Angel Lena, one of the five heroes who ended the tragedy of the Paragon Kingdom. But that wasn¡¯t the only one. The reason why Cordelia got excited. The reason why Jude wanted to embrace Cordelia once again. The two had the same idea at the same time. They looked at each other andughed, and Jude opened his arms. However, Cordelia stepped back and brightly smiled instead of hugging Jude. She took out the item she had always carried since she got it and kept it where her eyes could reach even when she was taking a bath. She took the item from her back and ced it in front of Jude. ¡°Heavenly Judgment.¡± A sword forged by the god herself, by Auriel, the Archangel of Judgment. A sacred weapon that only angels could use. And the other possibility. Something Lena could try to do now that she was awake. ¡°My angel.¡± Jude tried to hug Cordelia as he shamelessly spoke, but Cordelia retreated with disgust. She soon giggled and said as her canines glistened. ¡°I¡¯ll show you a nice look.¡± For the battle ahead. There might not be one angel who would fly in the skies. Jude nodded his head. And he smiled in satisfaction. Because he finished it right at this moment. Their best strategy. ¡°As expected of my Jude.¡± Jude was satisfied with Cordelia¡¯s smile. They went into action again in order to reach a perfect happy ending. Chapter 118 - EPISODE 118 – HOLY ANGEL (2)

Chapter 118 - EPISODE 118 ¨C HOLY ANGEL (2)

Terms used in this chapter: Orabeoni?¨C a term younger females use to call older males within their generation but is more formal and respectful than ¡®oppa.¡¯ Oppa is more casual and friendly. Time had passed. Four days after the battle on Snow Breeze in. The Hell Gate was still present, and the Snow Breeze in was covered with the purple aura of hell. The eastern forces gathered again. Arge army of 40,000 troops was created when the main forces who were defeated in Snow Breeze in were joined up with the troops who came from all over the eastern side. ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to de Song and the sacrifice of his children.¡± The missing Violent Avnche did not return. But they did not have the time to search for him. Great Storm gathered all of the wild gods in the east and sought for a way to destroy the Hell Gate. ¡°I don¡¯t know much about it, but I think we can only attack it head-on.¡± The other wild gods nodded at the words of Heavy Steps, a new wild god from the eastern side. It was because of the information they had newly acquired. ¡°I¡¯ve heard that if you leave the Hell Gate open for a long time, there¡¯ll be more problems than just the increasing number of monsters.¡± It was the Hell Gate¡¯s nature to grow more and more as long as it remained open. The only ones who could cross over the recently opened Hell Gate were low level monsters or demons without a name. But as time passed for a day or two, the Hell Gate becamerger and more serious, and higher beings were also able to descend to this world through the gate. ¡°The longer this drags on, the more disadvantageous it would be for us¡­ And the worst coulde.¡± The faces of the other wild gods grew somber when Blue Whiskers spoke with a grave expression after he had heard about the Hell Gate from Lena. ¡°Until the afternoon of the 5th?day at thetest¡­we must close or destroy the Hell Gate.¡± Blue Whiskers didn¡¯t say the reason. But there was no one among the wild gods who did not know the reason. ¡®A mighty being will arrive.¡¯ A being whom they would be helpless against even if they gathered the power of the entire east. The eyes of the wild gods centered on Great Storm, who was considered the representative of the eastern wild gods. Great Storm gently closed his eyes and spoke with a calm face. ¡°Tomorrow morning, we¡¯ll attack the Hell Gate.¡± The forces of the east were brought together in just four days, which was not enough time for those injured in the battle on Snow Breeze in to heal their wounds. But they no longer had time, so they had to enter the decisive battle now. All of the wild gods had nervous faces. Even more so because it was the first time that arge number of wild gods were gathered to fight in this manner. ¡°Umm, by the way¡­¡± A wild god sitting in the corner raised his hand. He was a little boy with fox ears on his head, and as his appearance showed, the young boy ¨C Murmur, was the youngest and weakest among the wild gods gathered here. He slightly raised his hand and spoke with a faint voice, but it sounded strangely loud because it was so quiet around them. All of the wild gods turned to Murmur, who flinched and stiffened as he hesitated before speaking. ¡°That¡­those two¡­have they arrived?¡± Everyone¡¯s gaze returned to Great Storm at the question Murmur threw as he hugged his fluffy tail. Even though no one had said anything about it, all of them were actually curious about the two. Those two. The guardians of the wildnds who saved Violent Avnche, Gentle Snow Breeze, and Blue Whiskers, and also fought in the crisis at Karaval. However, few knew the truth. They were a much-rumored existence for the wild gods. ¡°I heard that they destroyed Raptor Canyon¡­¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that they had already closed a Hell Gate once?¡± ¡°Do they really blow up anything?¡± ¡°I heard that nothing was left of the ce.¡± The mountain of Violent Avnche copsed, the fields of Gentle Snow Breeze were burned, and the topography of Raptor Canyon waspletely changed. Gentle Snow Breeze awkwardly smiled at the fact-based rumors, and Great Storm bitterly smiled. Although it was sad that they were currently in a situation where the wild gods had to depend on two humans to protect and help them, he somehow understood them. ¡®Because even I do too.¡¯ Wouldn¡¯t they do something if it¡¯s those two? That was probably why Murmur opened his mouth again. ¡°They must have arrived by now. They will also participate in the decisive battle tomorrow.¡± ¡°Oooh.¡± ¡°Can we meet them?¡± Murmur asked as the wild gods were relieved, but Gentle Snow Breeze shook her head. She stroked the still young Murmur¡¯s head. ¡°The two have to do something very important from now on. It¡¯s theirst preparations that are necessary before we head to the decisive battle.¡± ¡°Umm¡­then we shouldn¡¯t bother them?¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. Let¡¯s talk to them after the decisive battle. Because we will win.¡± At the words of Gentle Snow Breeze, Murmur widely opened his eyes and answered with a wide smile. ¡°That¡¯s right! Because we will win!¡± A child¡¯s smile would always bring hope. His smile spread over to the wild gods, and Great Storm met eyes with Gentle Snow Breeze and leaned back for a while. ¡®But what in the world is their preparation?¡¯ He thought that they had already prepared this and that before they came here in the first ce. ¡®I¡¯ll knowter.¡¯ He didn¡¯t have the opportunity to properly talk to them until now. If it was necessary, he would have to talk to the two first tonight or tomorrow morning. ¡®The guardians of the wildnds.¡¯ What would the difference be between the first fight in the Snow Breeze in and now? How would the presence or absence of two people affect it? Great Storm pictured the faces of Jude and Cordelia in his head. *** ¡°Unniiiiie!¡± ¡°Red Wiiiiind!¡± Red Wind and Cordelia hugged each other as they turned around in circles ¨C or to be exact, Red Wind turned around in circles while hugging Cordelia. ¡®I¡¯m the older sister.¡¯ But Red Wind was much taller than her. In any case, the Red Wind who Cordelia liked had hugged her, and after almost turning around ten times, Red Wind looked at Jude. ¡°It¡¯s nice to see oppa too.¡± ¡°Umm, yes.¡± He could feel the difference in treatment, but he couldn¡¯t help it. ¡®However¡­is the situation better than I thought?¡¯ Red Wind had a good expression. She was obviously forcing herself to cheer up, which meant that they were not in a desperate situation for her to be able to do that. Cordelia then asked. ¡°Red Wind, what about your father, Red Gale?¡± ¡°He¡¯s preparing for the fight tomorrow. He¡¯s with Sun Song-orabeoni.¡± ¡°Ora¡­beoni?¡± ¡°Yes, Sun Song-orabeoni. He¡¯s big, strong, and nice.¡± As Red Wind spoke with a broad smile, Cordelia frowned at once and looked at Jude. ¡®What do we do? It¡¯s like she dumped Lucas.¡¯ ¡®¡­Shouldn¡¯t we listen to Lucas¡¯ opinion too?¡¯ Whether he was really dumped or not. At any rate, Red Wind¡¯s potential romance story was not what mattered now. ¡®That¡¯s mean! This is about Red Wind!¡¯ ¡®No, because we have a decisive fight tomorrow, remember?¡¯ ¡®Jude is cold-hearted¡­memo.¡¯ ¡®You don¡¯t even have a notebook.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m taking notes in my head, okay?¡¯ ¡®Oh, really? Are you for real? In your head?¡¯ ¡®Ummm¡­o-only for important things.¡¯ The eye-to-eye conversation between the two had already reached the realm of telepathy. Red Wind watched the two facing each other and found their ever-changing expressions to be interesting. ¡°By the way, unnie, Lena is waiting.¡± Lena was both a holy angel and a powerful wizard. She already had a brief conversation with themst night throughmunication magic. ¡®She said that she¡¯ll begin the preparations.¡¯ It was the ritual for Cordelia¡¯s Ancestral Regression. Jude and Cordelia exchanged nces again and smiled. But Red Wind opened her mouth again. ¡°Unnie.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°You look very tired. So is Jude-oppa.¡± Now that she saw it, Cordelia had a haggard face. Furthermore, Jude also had dark circles under his eyes, and even if he didn¡¯t have it, the fairplexion of his face had lost its color, making him lookpletely pale. What in the world happened to them before they got here? No, what did the two of them do? ¡°There were¡­a lot of things.¡± ¡°It was really hard¡­¡± Their journey over the past four days. The time needed to make Cordelia¡¯s idea a reality. Red Wind tilted her head as Jude and Cordelia both muttered with a look of liberation. ¡°Unnie?¡± ¡°Sorry, I¡¯ll tell you about itter. Let¡¯s go to Lena first.¡± ¡°Yes. I won¡¯t ask!¡± Red Wind cheerfully replied as always and began to take the lead, and Jude and Cordelia hurried along. After around ten minutes¡­ Lena stood on a hill that was somewhat remote from the main camp where the 40,000 troops were gathered. The sight of the sunset spreading as she looked west with her back facing them was like a painting. ¡°Wow¡­¡± Havingpletely returned to a holy angel after recovering from Demon Syndrome, Lena looked different from before. A real angel. A being who could only be expressed that way. Her dull blonde hair had regained its golden luster, and her fair-skinned face seemed to glow. And a pair of wings. It was white like snow, and when mixed with the light of the sunset, it gave off a warm yet faint glow. ¡°Lena!¡± ¡°Cordelia.¡± Lena gently smiled and turned around, and Cordelia ran before hugging her. ¡°Are you fine now?¡± ¡°It¡¯s thanks to the two of you.¡± She was able to cure her Demon Syndrome because Jude and Cordelia brought her to the sacred ce. ¡°Hehehe, that¡¯s a relief.¡± Lena smiled at Cordelia¡¯s clear smile before she looked at Jude. ¡°Jude.¡± ¡°It¡¯s nice to see you again.¡± ¡°Me too. I¡¯ve arranged all the preparations we talked about.¡± The ritual for Ancestral Regression. Lena had already done it twice. One was for herself and the other was for Landius. And at this moment, her third Ancestral Regression ritual was prepared for Cordelia. ¡°I was a little surprised.¡± She was surprised at the fact that Jude and Cordelia had already collected all the materials necessary for the Ancestral Regression ritual rather than the fact that angelic blood flows in Cordelia. ¡°We studied in preparation for it a bit thoroughly.¡± Cordelia smiled as she still clung to Lena and looked up the hill. There were several small circles on the magic circle that Lena drew, which were the ces where the offerings for the Ancestral Regression would be ced. ¡®Ancient Crest, Frozen Time.¡¯ Judeid down the materials they had collected while traveling so far. Then he saw an empty bowl in thest spot. The empty bowl was a container for something. That something was the key material for Ancestral Regression. ¡°Doing the Ancestral Regression would not make you into a powerful angel right away.¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll be starting at the ninth rank, right? There¡¯s also the maximum rank that would be determined by one¡¯s inherited blood and individual aptitude. Of course, it¡¯s notpletely fixed, but it¡¯s possible to go up a higher rank due to various opportunities or one¡¯s efforts.¡± ¡°Cordelia, you¡­¡± ¡°Because I also use the power of a witch, it needs to be bnced with the power of the angel. I can only use one of the two at a time, either the angel or the witch. It¡¯s too dangerous tobine the two right away. To be precise, the angel¡¯s power iscking.¡± Lena blinked her eyes when Cordelia listed the information she knew, which was unlike Cordelia, but she soon smiled. ¡°That¡¯s impressive. I guess you really studied it thoroughly.¡± The Ancestral Regression wasn¡¯t actually something that one could study in preparation if they wanted to, but not for Jude and Cordelia. For the two, the Ancestral Regression to be an angel was a review, and not a preparatory study. ¡°Okay, then let¡¯s begin now.¡± The decisive battle was tomorrow morning. Cordelia would need time to adjust in being an angel, so they had to proceed with the ritual as soon as possible. ¡°Are you ready to be an angel?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Cordelia blushed as she answered the question that was a little cringy. She hurriedly took off her coat. She was wearing a thin one-piece dress, and after removing the rabbit headband and tail, she headed to the center of the magic circle while Jude stood back and took a deep breath. Jude had originally intended to carry out the ritual himself from beginning to end, but Lena was here now. It was better to leave it to an expert and just step back. ¡°Thanks in advance.¡± ¡°No problem, Jude. Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± Lena giggled a little before quickly correcting her expression to a serious one. After she wounded her wrist and filled the bowl with her angelic blood, she began the ritual. ¡°Blood is the medium of the soul.¡± So she used her blood. Her blood remembered it. The magic circle shined. A white light rose and enveloped Cordelia. ¡°It¡¯s something that doesn¡¯t disappear but just sleeps.¡± The soul was connected through one¡¯s blood. The memories of one¡¯s ancestors were imprinted in one¡¯s soul. The light got stronger. The white light gradually turned red. He had seen this sight many times in the game. But reality was different. The light that began from the magic circle stretched out into the sky. The light broke into fragments and danced in harmony with the night that came, creating a beautiful trail of light in the night sky. ¡°From heaven to earth.¡± The present went into the past. It followed the path that lead it into one. In the pir of light that engulfed Cordelia, he could see a faint silhouette inside. That of a beautiful girl. And in addition to that. Snow white wings. Heavenly ring (halo). Things that symbolized a heavenly being. ¡°Now, you will reach it.¡± Thus, she wouldpletely inherit it. The Ancient Crest broke. The Frozen Time melted. Lena¡¯s blood became light and scattered, and the pir of light grew stronger. It turned redder and redder and then exploded at some point. An explosion of light. What that color meant. And what that light meant. The color of Cordelia. The color of her soul. The attribute of Cordelia. The power that symbolized her. There was no sound, but the beautiful and colorful explosion of light filled the night sky. There was amotion in the main camp located far away, and even the wild gods were surprised at the mysterious sight before them. And Jude. He didn¡¯t hide his ecstatic feeling as he faced the mysterious sight. The girl in front of him. The white wings of light wrapped around her exposed body with wless skin. Jude held his breath. And at that moment, the girl opened her eyes. She faced Jude with her blue eyes. She looked pure and innocent. But soon, Cordelia¡¯s yfulness revealed itself. Her canines glistened as she beautifully smiled. ¡°What do you think?¡± Jude promptly replied to Cordelia¡¯s question that was somewhat pompous. ¡°Beautiful.¡± ¡°No, not that one.¡± Cordelia¡¯s face turned red at his words, and Jude cleared his throat and said with a very serious face. ¡°Very beautiful.¡± ¡°Hey!¡± What are you saying? Are you making fun of me now? Judeughed. And Cordelia said the answer she wanted to hear. ¡°I got stronger.¡± Cordelia literally transcended a human being at this moment. In the first ce, an angel was a superior race whenpared to a human. Even the lowest rank ¨C rank 9, was iparable to an ordinary human. Especially the mana. ¡°1.5 times?¡± ¡°Perhaps.¡± The base value of her mana had increased. If she added her witch¡¯s power, her mana would explosively increase. ¡°It will be perfect.¡± If the allure of the fallen angel was added to the pure and innocent Cordelia. Jude nodded his head with a pleased look, and Cordelia nodded in quite a different meaning. ¡®It¡¯s not far.¡¯ The moment she would show her true power as a human disaster. If she could even be a witch, she would be able to use her ¡®7 Prohibited Magic¡¯ that was Cordelia¡¯s exclusive trademark. ¡°Perfect.¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s perfect.¡± The two nodded as they misunderstood each other after a long time, but soon became in harmony with each other as they moved. Jude quickly brought out the clothes that Cordelia would wear, and Cordelia covered herself with her wings as she properly dressed herself. However. ¡°Um, Mr. Jude.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°What¡­is this?¡± ¡°Cat set. It¡¯s better than the rabbit set.¡± It was a ck cat headband and tail. A set item that greatly increased not only one¡¯s agility but also their flexibility. ¡°Excuse me, Mr. Jude?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll be stronger.¡± Cordelia narrowed her eyes, but soon finished wearing it as if she was being generous to him. And Lena smiled at the sight of Jude and Cordelia. ¡®Interesting.¡¯ Ancestral Regression was not something normal. It was a matter of throwing away one¡¯s self and bing a new person. But the two of them were calm. They were veryposed. ¡®And.¡¯ What is this? They were in a situation where a decisive battle was in front of them, and the tragedy of Paragon might be repeated, but a smile still came out of her. She actually knew the reason. So Lena said to the two who were bickering. ¡°Shall we do the final arrangements?¡± What Jude and Cordelia had prepared for the past four days. And what Lena herself had prepared. Thest one to wrap it all up. ¡°Here it is.¡± Jude brought out the Heavenly Judgment, and Cordelia took it. She handed it to Lena. Heavenly Judgment could only be unsealed by an angel. It was a divine weapon that was forged by Auriel, the Archangel of Judgment. Cordelia and Lena exuded a divine power. The night sky was filled with light once again. Chapter 119 - EPISODE 119 – GUARDIANS OF THE WILD LANDS

Chapter 119 - EPISODE 119 ¨C GUARDIANS OF THE WILD LANDS

Dawn arrived. The sun rose, and the eastern forces began marching. The western forces ¨C no, the demonic hordes since they could no longer be called the western forces, soon became aware of the approaching eastern forces. ¡°Are theying too?¡± There was no longer an old man with a long white beard. Harakenpletely revealed his demonic human form of an insect as he stroked his chin with his insect hands. ¡°Those who are lowly but still call themselves gods.¡± They must have felt something even if they didn¡¯t know much about the Hell Gate. ¡°How splendid.¡± The timing of their attack. As if they knew that there wouldn¡¯t be any opportunities for them except for now. After cackling, Haraken showed no further reaction. The Angry Bull tribe was still under his control despite them bing monsters, but that was all. The monsters and demons that surrounded the Hell Gate did not listen to his orders, and Haraken was unwilling to give them orders too. ¡®Because we all want to serve the same being.¡¯ Demon Prince. He was truly a great demon with a fearsome power even among the demons with titles. Haraken then looked east. As he caught the scent of the blowing wind, he anticipated the uing fight he would lead to be like a bloody feast of fear and terror that would rise and spread amidst the deaths and killings. *** Great Storm watched from far away. Many things were reflected in his blue eyes. The Hell Gate was now nearly 30 meters high. And the monsters surrounding the gate was in the thousands ¨C maybe even the tens of thousands. He broke into a cold sweat just from looking at it. As he watched the purple aura of hell leaking out of the gate and the monsters roaming around the now deadnd, the monsters noticed his gaze and red at his direction, and Great Storm thought that it was impossible to tell whether this ce was the wildnds or hell. Great Storm forced himself to smile. He gazed at the Hell Gate as he suppressed all sorts of emotions that seemed to burst out at any moment. ¡®She¡¯s right.¡¯ It was as Lena said. An absurdly powerful being was approaching. He could see iting from beyond the purple aura of hell towards this ce. ¡®If we can¡¯t close it.¡¯ If that being took a step on this world. The wildnds would cease to exist. Thisnd would be a part of hell, filled with despair and death. Great Storm closed his eyes. He blocked from his sight the Hell Gate that by just looking at it, seemed to draw him in and make him be unable to get out if he took a single step in. And then he heard. The voices of the eastern forces. What they were praying for. Those who sought their gods to gain the courage to somehow fight, and not to despair from theing disaster. The wheels of the wagon rolled. They got closer to the Hell Gate little by little. The time when they would fight, which might be theirst, had finallye. Great Storm slowly opened his eyes. He unknowingly said the name of de Song out of his mouth. Is this some kind of prayer too? Am I believing and relying on someone in order to gain the strength to fight? ¡®If it is, please give me your strength.¡¯ To not at least despair. To be able to fight to the end as a wild god who leads and cares for his tribe. The wind blew. Great Storm smiled at the sound of the wind that sharply brushed past him. Because he felt like he heard an answer from de Song. ¡®Yes, leave it to me.¡¯ Gentle Snow Breeze and the children of the wildnds. Great Storm was no longer afraid. The wheels of the wagon continued rolling, and the time for the decisive battle hade. *** Red Gale touched the Sun¡¯s Ne. After faintly saying a prayer to Sri who prevented his curse from progressing, he raised his head and looked down the hill. Snow Breeze in. A beautiful snowfield covered with white snow. It was no more. All the snow had melted away, and the ground had turned purple. Hideous monsters covered the ground, and winged demons were in the sky. And the Hell Gate. It was located just a few hundred meters from where he stood now, but he had to break through thousands of monsters and demons in order to reach it. Red Gale held his breath. The air that was polluted with the evil aura was murky. But that was only for a while. A fresh wind blew and pushed away the polluted air. It was Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s wind. So Red Gale held his breath again, deeply inhaled and then exhaled as he listened. Arge army nearing 40,000. They had gathered and held their breaths. 40,000 thoughts, 40,000 emotions. Red Gale looked straight ahead. The back of Nine des came to his mind like an illusion. He sacrificed his life for today. Even though he knew that he was going to die, he stayed and fought. And today. Red Gale and 40,000 troops were gathered. ¡®In the end, it¡¯s the same.¡¯ They would fight today too. In order to go hunting and fight beasts for tomorrow¡¯s food. In order to greet tomorrow. In order to protect. In order to continue the flow of life. ¡®I¡¯ve be sentimental.¡¯ What was I thinking when there¡¯s a fight right in front of me? But thanks to those thoughts, he managed to calm down. So Red Gale was able to calmlymand the forces as he watched the monsters begin to rush forward. ¡°Beat the drums.¡± The battle had now begun. The gs were raised. Hundreds of drums boomed at the same time. Boom! Boom! Boom! The monsters dashed towards the hill. The eastern forces on the hill raised their shields and held their spears. And at some point. The storm descended. *** ¡®We won¡¯t charge. We defend first.¡¯ Those were the words of Red Gale. Great Storm raised his arms high. His blue eyes shone as he showed off his power as a wild god. Great Storm. History had called him by that name. The wind blew. The weak winds gathered and became a strong wind, which intensified and became a gale. And it grew stronger again and became a storm that filled the skies and shook the ground. Craaackle-! A thunderbolt struck from the sky. Dark clouds appeared one after another. Rain heavily poured down from the sky. It wasn¡¯t the work of one wild god. Behind Great Storm stood other wild gods such as Gentle Snow Breeze. Gentle Snow Breeze added frost to the wind. Heavy Dark Cloud called forth rain and lightning. They strengthened the power of the storm. ¡°Go.¡± The body of Great Storm rose into the air. His eyes were shining, and blue sparks came out of his entire body. And the storm raged. It headed straight towards the Hell Gate and swallowed everything that it came across. Craaaackle-! Lightning and strong winds. A de-like blizzard. The eastern forces cheered at the wonders that happened before them. At the same time, the monsters that bypassed the storm headed to the hill. ¡°Ground!¡± Heavy Steps heavily stepped on the ground. He was a rhinoceros, but he was huge even in his human form. Boom! Boom! Boom! He wasn¡¯t alone. The rookie wild gods, Wild Boar and Cool Fangs, provided support, and many other wild gods stepped on the ground together. They caused an earthquake. The ground along the hill split, and cracks soon spread towards the Hell Gate. Craaaaaack-! The charging monsters fell into the cracks. The upheaved and raised ground became like a wall. Storm and earthquake. Disasters brought on by the wild gods. And Red Gale raised his hand. He finally gave themand. ¡°Shoot!¡± Dozens of gs were simultaneously raised. The eastern forces who were behind the raised wall received hismand. Red Wind shot an arrow. Sun Song next to her threw his spear, and over ten thousand arrows and spears covered the sky. Shhhhaaaaa-! The rain of arrows poured after the storm psed. Showers of blood spurted everywhere as the spears hit the heads of the monsters and demons. ¡°Kiaa! Kaak!¡± The running monsters that jumped over the cracks ended up dying. There was no way for them to avoid the inescapable rain of arrows. But it was not enough. Only a small portion died. Most of the monsters ignored the arrows. The demons manipted the wind and twisted the arrow¡¯s trajectory, and some even offset the attack with mes and lightning. ¡°Raise the shields!¡± Red Gale shouted again. Soldiers bearing shields stepped forward together. They crossed over the raised wall and began to directly confront the monsters that poured down from the sky. ¡°Awoooooh!¡± The shouts and screams mingled with each other. A wolf-like monster that jumped over the wall was stabbed to death by several spears, and two warriors of the Great Storm tribe were beheaded by a greatsword that was swung by a demon that descended from the sky. ¡°Keuhoong!¡± Some of the wild gods revealed their true forms. A giant wolf and tiger leapt into the battlefield and bit the demons, and Great Storm became furious when a sight caught his gaze. A demon covered in the skin of a ck wolf. That was clearly de Song¡¯s skin. ¡°Storm!¡± Great Storm caused the storm to reach the Hell Gate. The eastern forces turned around and struck the backs of the attacking monsters. It was pandemonium. The barriers copsed and those in the front lines died. Monster howled and fell while demons were brought to the ground and crushed. Gentle Snow Breeze trembled at such a violent scene. But she kept her eyes wide open. The Hell Gate. She stared at the ce that was much higher than the Hell Gate ¨C the sky. ¡°This is enough.¡± The fighting intensified. A sufficient number of monsters and demons attacked the eastern forces. So now. At this very moment. At the sky. At a very high ce. A ce that was too high to be properly discerned from the ground. A wooden board flew. Three people rode on top of it. Jude looked at the ground and had a simr thought like Gentle Snow Breeze. It was now. ¡°Should I remove the shield?¡± ¡°Wait, let me mentally prepare myself for thest time.¡± He wanted to see something he liked just in case. Jude gazed at Cordelia¡¯s face, and Cordelia tilted her head. She touched her face and wondered if there was anything on it. Jude then smiled. Lena also smiled. But it was only for a moment. Jude took another deep breath. He gestured with his eyes to Cordelia, who was still touching her cheeks with both hands. She eventually nodded and removed the shield. Swoooooooooooosh-! A violent wind blew. It was natural because they were seriously high up. Their altitude was really high. They had flown as high as possible to avoid being detected by the demons. ¡®Can you really do it?¡¯ ¡®Uh, maybe.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t because he had never tried descending at a high altitude. It was clearly because this was his first time doing it without a parachute. ¡®I had nned this, but I must have gone nuts.¡¯ But he could do it. No, he had to do it. ¡®Let¡¯s go.¡¯ At the end of his brief thought, Jude jumped off the wooden board. Afterwards, Cordelia and Lena followed him as they threw themselves towards the ground. Swiiiiiiiiiiiish-! His speed gradually increased. Jude himself became like a de that tore the air. And Jude could then see. The sight of the ground. The Hell Gate gradually getting closer and the winged demons covering the sky. ¡°Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors.¡± Nine heavens and nine doors. A road that connected to nine worlds. Jude closed his eyes. The mnemonic chant of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors awakened the power of the ck dragon. Four dragons were freed and released at once. ¡°Kuwaaaaaaaaaaaa!¡± The dragons roared. And surrounded Jude. A golden whirlwind appeared, and the four ck dragonsbined and became a huge ck energy. ¡°Kaaaak!¡± ¡°Craaaah!¡± The demons in the sky noticed it. They looked up at the sky. And Jude saw them. It rushed towards them like a dive bombing in WWII. ¡°Roar! O ye ck Dragon!¡± Let your roars shake the heavens and earth! Go, ck Dragon! The ck dragon wildly moved. The great dragon¡¯s energy swallowed up the demons. It cleared and opened the path like that. ¡®Aren¡¯t you embarrassed!¡¯ What was that?! The visuals were cool since the energy of the ck dragon pushed its way through the demons before exploding beautifully. ¡®But what was that cry! Are you a kid?¡¯ The red-faced Cordelia spread out her wings of light. She was curious if Lena had heard it or what her reaction was if she did, but she didn¡¯t bother to look back. Lena then held Cordelia¡¯s hand. They went through the road that Jude had made as they sharply gazed at the Hell Gate. ¡°Stop them!¡± Haraken shouted from the ground. It wasn¡¯t only him as several demons screamed too, and the winged monsters flew to the air at once. Their numbers weren¡¯t small. The eastern forces had drawn their attention, but hundreds of monsters and demons still gathered. It was impossible to fight them all with the energy of the ck dragon that was created by Jude. So Lena spread her wings. Together with Cordelia, they grasped the Heavenly Judgment. Swoosh! A reverse in direction. Cordelia and Lena who were falling had now flown and soared up. They spread their wings of light and raised the Heavenly Judgement that they held together. The demons in the ground. Their flock in the hundreds. The two saw them all. Cordelia swung the sword at them, to where the energy of the ck dragon had gone, while Lena cast a spell. She called forth the light. The heavenly power. Right at that moment, the time of divine punishment arrived! Day of Judgment! Fwaaah-! The sky opened up. It could only be expressed that way. And it fell. From the heavens to the earth. Brilliant gold dazzlingly fell! Kwagagagagagaga-! It was light, only light, a light that shed gold! Dozens and hundreds of it prated the air. It descended on earth and literally melted the monsters and demons. ¡°Aaaaaah!¡± The bodies of the demons burned. They screamed at the sweeping light. Since they had flocked to attack Jude, hundreds of monsters and demons could not escape the Day of Judgement. Kwagaga-! It was an awesome sight. A terrifying power. A light that destroys demons. The heavenly power heavily fell onto a ce filled with the power of hell. The true power of Heavenly Judgment could only be exercised when Lena, a holy angel, was present. ¡°Uooooooooh!¡± The entire eastern forces shouted in a roar. The whole battlefield came to a standstill at such an overwhelming sight. The monsters and demons attacking the eastern forces also looked at the heavenly light with stunned faces. ¡°Wow.¡± So did Jude. As he looked up at the sky while surrounded by the ck dragon¡¯s energy, Jude couldn¡¯t hide his awe. The power of Day of Judgment was to burn demons. Therefore, it did not harm him a little, and Jude was able see with his own eyes the light that fell from the sky and the appearance of two angels. And what followed afterwards. The reason why Cordelia was together with Lena on using the Day of Judgment for the first time. It wasn¡¯t because of the rings of light that continuously surrounded Cordelia. Leveling up was important, but there was a more important reason. The battlefield was cleared. Thus, the Hell Gate was fully exposed. Cordelia was exhausted on her first use of Day of Judgment and released her hold of the Heavenly Judgment. Lena concentrated all her power on the Heavenly Judgment. She would directly attack the Hell Gate. Since it was muchrger than the one in Endymion, she poured out her heavenly power to break and weaken it. She would reduce it to a size that they could close. ¡°Stoooop!¡± Haraken screamed from the ground. Some of the demons shrieked. And some of the demons fighting the eastern forces threw themselves to the Hell Gate. But it was too far for them. There was no one between Lena and the Hell Gate at this moment. ¡°Power of Judgment.¡± Lena poured out all her power. Instead of using the Day of Judgment that covered the ground, she focused it all into one spot and fired the light towards the Hell Gate. In order to break the Hell Gate. To reduce it by breaking it into half. And Cordelia used her remaining angel powers to use magic that would?seal the gate. They would close the Hell Gate and stop the enemy¡¯s ambitions. (T/N: ¡®Seal the gate¡¯ is a Korean word ¨C ¡®bong-mun¡¯ (??), with a double meaning. It does not literally mean to seal or close a gate/door, but the author used its figurative meaning andbined it with its literal meaning to intentionally make a word with a double meaning, which you can see in the next sentence after ¡®seal the gate.¡¯ First is the literal meaning ¨C seal the gate. Cordelia wanted to use her magic to literally seal or close the Hell Gate. The second would be its figurative meaning ¨C to close the doors of opportunity. She wanted to stop the enemy from having the opportunity to fulfill their ambitions. Source:?Naver Blog The light moved forward. In a moment, in an instant. It felt like it wouldn¡¯t reach it because time seemed to have stopped. Haraken squirmed. The demons turned their eyes to the nearing heavenly power. They did not dare confront it. And at that moment. When the Power of Judgment was about to crash into the Hell Gate. Jude saw it. What quickly came out from the Hell Gate. What came out at that moment and collided head-on with the Power of Judgment. Booooooooooom! The light exploded. The immense sh of light blinded everyone in the battlefield. But Jude realized it. Lena¡¯s intuition felt it. Demon Prince. The demon¡¯s anti-air attack! Boooom! The Power of Judgment was shattered. It couldn¡¯t reach the Hell Gate. Cordelia forced open her eyes and turned to the Hell Gate. And she could see. A huge ck arm had squeezed through the Hell Gate. The hand of a demon. That was what stopped the Power of Judgment. It protected the Hell Gate. The Power of Judgment was just a few inches away from the Hell Gate. The demon¡¯s hand burned. It dropped to the ground with a loud sound. But it didn¡¯t break. It did not disappear. Rather, it evoked a purple aura to attack Lena, who was standing in exhaustion. ¡°Lena!¡± Cordelia hurried flew over and pushed Lena away. The purple sphereunched by the Demon Prince pierced the air and killed everything it passed by. ¡® ¡¯ The highest-ranked magic that humans couldn¡¯t even use unless they were on the level of an archwizard. Although it was small in size, it was definitely . The Demon Prince had instantly materialized that terrifying magic of destruction. ¡®No.¡¯ Cordelia looked at the ground again. The Demon Prince had not yet passed through the Hell Gate. Only an arm hade out, and that arm was severely damaged when it blocked the Power of Judgment. It had fought back, but that was all. As evidenced by this, the arm was stretched out but did not fire any magic again. But Lena¡¯s face turned pale. Because she had used up too much power, and that she also felt despair in their current situation. ¡®There¡¯s no other way.¡¯ She had put all of her power in that one blow. She couldn¡¯t afford to do it one more time. She stopped the Demon Prince¡¯s right arm, but time was now on the enemy¡¯s side. Lena herself couldn¡¯t stop the Demon Prince. Cordelia¡¯s power was not enough to close the Hell Gate. ¡°Lena!¡± Cordelia cried. She flew higher to evade the attacks of the monsters and demons that flew up higher too. She hugged Lena and cast her eyes on the ground. It was to find Jude. ¡°Keuooo!¡± ¡°Kaaah!¡± The monsters rushed when Judended on the ground. The golden whirlwind surrounded Jude, but there were too many monsters that came at him from all sides. Harakenughed. He sighed in relief, and soon burst intoughter because of his overwhelming emotions. Ah, that was it. That was the strategy you prepared. Yes, I admit it. I was rmed. If the Demon Prince was a littlete, and if it didn¡¯t strain itself, the Hell Gate might have been closed. But it didn¡¯t close. The Demon Prince¡¯sing was only dyed because it tried to stop the attack, but time was on their side. The battle between the eastern forces and the demons began again. Haraken looked at the ground with a smile. He saw Jude who was fighting well but would soon be crushed by the monsters, and also saw the two angels in the sky. ¡°It was you.¡± Those who interfered with my ns. Forced me to make the choices I¡¯ve made now. But I don¡¯t hate you two. I think I made the right choice because of you two. Haraken continued tough. He saw Jude fighting desperately and Cordelia who was at risk of falling down. He enjoyed seeing Lena¡¯s despair. And Cordelia looked at Jude. She held Lena¡¯s waist in her right hand and threw a re with her left hand as she gazed at Jude. And Jude received her gaze. They were too far to have a conversation with their eyes, but as the two saw each other, they understood each other like always. ¡®Should I do it?¡¯ Jude bitterly smiled at Cordelia¡¯s question. ¡®Yes, let¡¯s go to n B.¡¯ In case Lena¡¯s n had failed. Cordelia smiled. She forcibly did so. She revealed her best smile and drew her fist. She turned off her angelic power and unleased the power of the witch. Fwaaa-! Cordelia¡¯s hair turned ck. A dark red power burned on Cordelia¡¯s right arm. Lena turned to Cordelia. Cordelia widely smiled and swung her right arm. She threw the towards the ground. Haraken saw Cordelia¡¯s action. He followed the trajectory of the Dark de. The ground. At a crack caused by the earthquake that the wild gods had triggered. The Dark de pierced through it. And Haraken realized it. What Cordelia was trying to do. So heughed. He mockinglyughed at Cordelia¡¯s foolishness. ¡°You foolish one.¡± Yes, a dragon vein also flowed in the Snow Breeze in. But that was all. There was no massive pool of the dragon vein here. Even if they made the dragon vein runaway, it would only cause a small explosion. Whatever they did, the Hell Gate would remain intact. He was not wrong. It was a good judgment. And Jude and Cordelia also knew it. ¡°Bang.¡± Cordelia said. And there was a small explosion. The ground shook because it still touched a part of the dragon vein. The monsters that flocked to Jude stopped at once upon hearing the explosion. And that was it. Their job ended with just that. But not yet. Cordelia did not lose her smile. Because this was just the beginning. She just pulled the trigger. What Jude and Cordelia had prepared. What they wanted to do before they learned about Lena¡¯s recovery. ¡°My Jude is awesome.¡± Cordelia spoke, and Lena blinked her eyes. Haraken sharply stared at Cordelia again. One. Two. As she was counting down, Cordelia broadly smiled again. She said with her best smile. ¡°F*ck bang.¡± And an explosion happened. Bang. It wasn¡¯t that big again this time. But it continued. Explosions urred in session under the ground. Bang, bang, bang. It was unusual. Everyone wondered on what the hell was happening. The demons all saw the same ce. And Haraken realized it. The explosion was continuing in one direction. It was ¡®moving.¡¯ ¡°Because art is an explosion.¡± Booooooom! There was a tremendous, a really huge explosion. It was far away. It wasn¡¯t close. But even that continued. The explosion continued. To the east, to the west. In a line. Along the stream. ¡°Dragon vein.¡± A stream. Something that was all connected into one. Cordelia¡¯s idea was simple. The dragon vein is a stream. Let¡¯s use that stream. An idea that she virtually passed to Jude, without knowing how to do it. But that was enough. The idea was realized in Jude¡¯s mind. The infrastructure built by the high elves of Magen. A research facility built by the high elves of Magen. The reason why the other dragon vein pools did not explode in session even after some exploded was because the distance between each dragon vein pool was long. But if there was something that ryed it in between. If the dragon vein can cause a chain of explosions like falling dominoes. The Snow Queen was not one. There were abandoned research facilities in the east and west too. The infrastructure of the high elves made the flow of the dragon vein clearer. Jude and Cordelia set bombs on the dragon vein. Bombs that were frozen by the Snow Queen¡¯s power. And they ran and made the most of the Town Portal. They made all the dragon veins in the research facilities they could reach to be on the verge of a runaway. And at this moment. n B was put into motion. They pushed the first piece of the dominoes. Boom! Boom! Boom! Explosions continued at distant ces that were out of their sight. The reason Cordelia did not use the Snow Queen in this battle was simple. It was used as a bomb to burst the dragon vein. Naturally, even Jude and Cordelia couldn¡¯t mass produce bombs that could be used throughout the entire dragon vein in just four days. But that wasn¡¯t necessary in the first ce. Because the dragon vein was a stream. If it run out of control above a certain level , the entire dragon vein would eventually runaway. Just like now. Boobooboobooboom! The dragon vein shook. The dragon vein pools run out of control in session, and every time one of them went out of control, the runaway of the entire dragon vein elerated. Artificial spirits exploded one after another. The high elves¡¯ research facilities that were deep in the ground exploded, which added to the power of the runaway. East and west. The entire wildnds. The whole dragon vein! Babababababang-! The earth shook. It was a result of all the eastern and western dragon vein streams running out of control. The ground shook, and earthquakes urred everywhere. The wild gods could not conceal their shock. Gentle Snow Breeze felt her sanctuary exploding, and Blue Whiskers sensed the sacred ce to have been blown away. Great Storm stared at Jude and Cordelia with a stunned face. Boobooboom! There was also an explosion in the Sky Roof mountain range far away. The fight stopped again. They had no choice but to do so since the runaway of the dragon vein shook the entirety of the wildnds. Even Haraken looked at Cordelia with a stupefied face. He tried to understand the current situation somehow. The west was already in ruins. The sanctuaries of the wild gods and the dragon vein streams were quite far from the tribes¡¯ dwellings, so even if the entire dragon vein exploded, there would almost be no casualties. But even if that is so, you made the entire dragon vein runaway? You blew up the sanctuaries of all the wild gods? They¡¯re not normal. No, there¡¯s something else that¡¯s more important than that. Why in the hell- What would you gain from that? On the other hand, Great Storm knew the reason. So he couldn¡¯t help butugh while also cursing. ¡°You crazy b*stards.¡± But they were his crazy b*stards. Gentle Snow Breeze also knew. Blue Whiskers realized it too. The entire dragon vein had exploded. Thus, the entire dragon vein was purified. The aura of hell was shaken off by the explosions. And as a result. There was one who woke up because of that. Kreuaaaaaaaaaaaa-! A roar broke out in the sky. The sky split at once, and a golden light covered the ground. Haraken stared at the sky in a daze. Lena blinked her eyes, and Cordelia smiled as her canines glistened. ¡°The Golden Dragon King.¡± Jude spoke. The dragon emblem on Jude and Cordelia¡¯s hands shined, and the roaring continued in the skies. It was the roar of the master of the wildnds and the king of the wild gods, the one who was the dragon vein itself. The aura of hell that rose from the Hell Gate disappeared. The Snow Breeze in was purified in an instant. And a thunderbolt struck. A huge golden sh of light struck from the sky to the ground, to be exact, it struck Jude. ¡°Jude!¡± Cordelia hastily shouted, and Lena stopped her when she tried to rush towards him. Because Lena, a holy angel, knew. The Golden Dragon King did not punish Jude. Rather, he handed over his power to Jude. [How bold.] Golden Dragon King said to Jude. He permitted them to burst the contaminated dragon veins, but he never thought that they would explode the entire dragon vein. [Thanks to the two of you, I¡¯m not normal either.] He woke up but couldn¡¯t move properly. Therefore, Golden Dragon King chose Jude. He entrusted his power to the guardian of the wildnds. [Finish it.] Destroy and put an end to the Hell Gate. The power of the wildnds shall be with you. Light burst out. The monsters and demons surrounding Jude all vanished with a scream. And Jude stood. With his entire body colored with a golden radiance. He became the incarnation of the Golden Dragon King. ¡°Shall we start?¡± Jude said as he looked up the sky, and Cordelia nodded. The power of the wildnds was also transmitted to Cordelia through the Dragon¡¯s Emblem. All that was left now was to close the Hell Gate. Jude and Cordelia looked at each other again. After exchanging smiles like always, they looked at the Hell Gate again. Chapter 120 - EPISODE 120 – LEGEND OF HEROES

Chapter 120 - EPISODE 120 ¨C LEGEND OF HEROES

Sorry for thete chapter. It was a bit longer than I expected. On another note, I still don¡¯t know what ¡®Sagang¡¯ is. I tranted it as ¡®four rivers¡¯ in the previous chapters, but the ¡®four¡¯ word could also be read as ¡®death¡¯, so it could also mean as ¡®rivers of death¡¯. Since I still don¡¯t know what it means, I¡¯ll continue using the Sagang word. Boom! Boom! Boom! The explosions continued. From a faraway ce to a ce further away. The Golden Dragon King had already awakened, but he couldn¡¯t stop the chain of explosions that had begun earlier. de Song¡¯s sanctuary, arge wolf den, blew up. Sri¡¯s temple, which had been protected by Blue Whiskers for a long time, exploded. And several subsequent explosions. The wildnds shook. The explosion in the Sky Roof mountain range was so enormous that the aftermath was even visible in the Snow Breeze in. And in the midst of all those explosions, Haraken staggered. He couldn¡¯t fully ept the current situation. The Golden Dragon King woke up. He understood their logic ¨C purify the contaminated dragon veins by exploding it. It made sense. It was fully possible. But even so! Boom! Boom! Boom! Whether it was an auditory hallucination or something real, he could still hear the explosions from afar. It included not only the west but also the east. Yes, the east too. ¡°Crazy b*stards.¡± It was the first time he had seen people like this. He had never experienced meeting b*stards like them before. That was why he broke out in a cold sweat. He couldn¡¯t hide his confusion and fear. He felt like he witnessed what real madness was. And. Shaaaaa-! Light burst out. The monsters surrounding Jude disappeared at once, and a golden pir of light shot up. And the person who stood there. The incarnation of the Golden Dragon King. The fair-skinned, attractive, and good-looking boy, who looked like an angel himself, brightly smiled. But for Haraken, that smile looked like that of a demon offering a contract. And in the sky. Another angel. The girl whose face wasn¡¯t just like an angel¡¯s, but was a real angel, had now be a witch. Cordelia also had a golden radiance like Jude. And she realized it. ¡®It won¡¯tst long.¡¯ The power of the Golden Dragon King was so immense. Even if they leveled up many times, Jude and Cordelia¡¯s bodies wouldn¡¯t be able to handle the power for a long time. And one more. The reason why the Golden Dragon King couldn¡¯te out directly and only gave his power to Jude and Cordelia. ¡®The Golden Dragon King is not feeling normal too.¡¯ Since the entire dragon vein exploded, the Golden Dragon King was unable to properly control his body. The time he could lend his power wouldn¡¯t be that long. It would truly be game over if that time ran out. Thus, they didn¡¯t have time to waver or hesitate. ¡°Haaaaaaa-!¡± Cordelia curled up her body and gathered power. The golden light that had spread in all directions had now condensed around Cordelia, and the light gradually got brighter. Standing next to her ¨C to be exact, flying next to her was Lena who stared at Cordelia with a stunned face. She understood the situation itself like Haraken did, but her senses couldn¡¯t keep up with that understanding. And on the ground. Jude came to the same conclusion as Cordelia. They didn¡¯t have much time. So they had to hurry and get the best results with the little time left. ¡®Cordelia.¡¯ He knew what Cordelia was trying to do. Jude himself was confident that he knew Cordelia¡¯s thoughts better than anyone else in the world. If that was what Cordelia was preparing to do, he should then do the other job. He would push the Demon Prince¡¯s arm that was about to get up again back to the Hell Gate, and then close the gate! ¡°Haa!¡± Jude let out a spirited shout. He gathered the power of the Golden Dragon King into his fist and carried out the best thing he could do now. ¡°Titan¡¯s Advent!¡± Jude shouted as if roaring. If Cordelia had heard him, she would have turned red and cried out to him not to shout the skill name while releasing the power of the wild god. The light took on a shape. Kooooooooo-! There was a sound. It was the sound of the light as it stretched out and took on a shape before it finally stood on the ground. Thud! A golden giant made from light stood as it towered above the Snow Breeze in. Everyone on the battlefield were left agape at its appearance that was nearly 30 meters tall. They were in a daze as they let out their awe and fear at the imposing titan. ¡°Hwaaa!¡± And the light titan moved. It strongly grabbed with its hands the Demon Prince¡¯s arm that was about to rise again. And Jude was truly skilled. The titan skillfully bent and twisted the wrist of the Demon Prince. In that short moment, he lessened the power of the Demon Prince¡¯s arm. ¡°Uoooooh!¡± The light titan pushed the Demon Prince¡¯s arm. Haraken woke up from his momentary daze and screamed after seeing the Demon Prince¡¯s arm being twisted. ¡°Nooooooooooo!¡± Boooooooom! Jude pushed the Demon Prince¡¯s arm with all his might. At the moment hepletely pushed it inside the Hell Gate, Cordelia stretched out her curled-up body and let out her power. ¡°Aaaaah!¡± Light burst out as she cried. Just like the Day of Judgment, it was a light wave explosion that only destroyed evil beings. Boooooom! The explosion struck the Hell Gate. It swallowed up the monsters and demons around it, and Red Wind who was watching from afar was filled with admiration. ¡°It¡¯s a star!¡± Gold Star Explosion. The aftermath of Cordelia¡¯s skill move that Jude named on the spot was enormous. The monsters and demons had already retreated in fear from the pir of light and the light titan, so not much of them were extinguished, but what mattered to the two was the Hell Gate. ¡°It got smaller!¡± Lena excitedly shouted. The Hell Gate was nearly half destroyed and in a state ofing apart. Just then, a terrifying sound was heard from inside the Hell Gate. It was the Demon Prince. The Demon Prince whom they didn¡¯t know its name yet was clearly doing something. So they had to finish it before that. Jude expressed his intentions to Cordelia through the emblems, and she immediately responded. ¡°Take it!¡± The golden light radiating from Cordelia¡¯s entire body faded. All of the wild god¡¯s powers that had been lent to the two were now concentrated on Jude. Cordelia loudly eximed. ¡°It¡¯s bigger!¡± The light titan had grown even bigger. Its 30-meter height had be 50 meters, and its right arm became abnormally huge. Jude concentrated all of his power on its right hand. As everyone in the battlefield watched, the titan struck the Hell Gate with a knifehand strike (aka karate chop). Kwoooooo! The golden knifehand strike crashed into the Hell Gate. They heard a piercing shriek from inside the Hell Gate, and a tremendous power was released. The roar of the Demon Prince. A roar that evokes fear! And its curse worked. The power that spread like an explosion hit the eastern forces who were fighting on the hill. Fear and terror made them kneel in despair. But it stopped there. It couldn¡¯t do any more than that. Because Jude was there. Because the light titan used up itsst strength! Boooom! The knifehand strike split the Hell Gate into two. Then it was crushed. The light titan grabbed the Hell Gate with both hands. It pressed and crushed the two sides together as Cordelia and Lena recited a spell while in the sky. It was the sealing spell that Cordelia learned in Endymion. ¡°The Hell Gate, the Hell Gaaaate!¡± Haraken screamed. Red Wind stood up from the Demon Prince¡¯s curse. Great Storm shouted in a voice filled with divine power. ¡°The power of the wild!¡± Baaang! The Hell Gate disappeared with a loud noise. It ceased to exist. And the light titan fell. Particles of light scattered along the golden whirlwind. Kwahaaaaaaaaa-! The air cried. It was because of the void created by the disappearance of both the Hell Gate and the light titan, which let out an enormous power. And there was a tremendous roar. It was the cry of the eastern forces that burst out despite being under the Demon Prince¡¯s curse. ¡°Haa.¡± Jude fell from the air to the ground. Cordelia hurriedly flew and snatched Jude by carrying him in her arms. ¡°It¡¯s been a long time.¡± Jude spoke out of the blue while in her arms, and Cordelia understood it. During the time they went to the Belkain Mountains to get the Sun¡¯s Ne. She carried Jude in her arms as she jumped off the cliff. ¡°You did well.¡± Cordelia casually spoke as she headed to the ground with Jude. She wanted to fly towards the eastern forces at the same time, but she no longer had the strength to do so. ¡®I feel like dying.¡¯ Her whole body didn¡¯t have any strength left. It was just like how they felt when they epted the power of the wild god, and even if Jude and Cordelia were powerful, it was too much for their bodies to handle. The twonded on the ground, and Lena hurried after them. And Haraken saw these three people. Anger spread on his face as he lost his senses. ¡°Euaaaaaah!¡± He was so angry that he couldn¡¯t even properly say a word. Haraken¡¯s face became contorted, and his body swelled. The Hell Gate had disappeared. The Demon Prince¡¯s arrival failed. What that meant. Haraken¡¯s own failure. A disastrous failure that only consumed enormous resources and power in the wildnds, but eventually achieved nothing! ¡°Because of you! You!¡± Several horns protruded from Haraken¡¯s forehead and back. His already huge body was covered with a ck and hard shell. And Haraken was not alone. The monsters and demons still remained. They did not disappear just because the Hell Gate disappeared. And Haraken still had the Angry Bull tribe whom he did not dispatch to the battle. ¡°Kill.¡± He had to kill them. Those two damn b*stards must be ripped apart. Haraken looked far away as he roughly exhaled. The fight began on the hill again. The battle was fierce in the first ce. Because of the Demon Prince¡¯s curse, the wild gods were unable to hastily move. They were busy from pushing away the Demon Prince¡¯s curse. So he had time. Enough time to crush those b*stards in front of him! ¡°Go!¡± The Angry Bull tribe responded to Haraken¡¯s orders. They got up from where they were waiting and rushed towards Jude and Cordelia. The monsters and demons did not stand still. They vented their hatred towards the two who closed the Hell Gate. ¡°I will not allow it!¡± Lena loudly shouted and let out her magic. Her mana was almost depleted because she sessively cast Day of Judgment, but she was still one of the five heroes. She was one of the best archwizards in the entire Pleiades. Golems rose from the ground. They formed a defensive formation and became a wall to stop the attacking demons. But it was not enough. Lena¡¯s legs were trembling. She alone could not stop all the monsters and demons. Moreover, the Angry Bull tribe would be joining in a little while. ¡°Haa, haa¡­ Golden Dragon King.¡± Cordelia looked up the sky as she profusely sweated. She wanted to me him for the rough consequences of using his power, but Cordelia still had a conscience despite that. The Golden Dragon King wasn¡¯t feeling normal due to the explosions in the entire wildnds. He must have done his best for them already. ¡°What should we do?¡± Cordelia asked Jude who was lying in her arms, and he answered in that condition. ¡°Let¡¯s go to n C.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°I suck the potion, and you use mana drain.¡± Then they would somehow be able to take some emergency measures. Jude drank the remaining stamina recovery potion, and Cordelia absorbed Jude¡¯s stamina and converted it into mana. She then cast a powerful shield with Count Chase¡¯s ring instead of using offensive magic. Bang! Bang! Bang! The rushing monsters banged on the shield after destroying the golems Lena had summoned. Lena sank on her knees with a thud, and Cordelia clenched her teeth. She had to hold out somehow. The eastern forces would solve the current situation if she endured for some time. And she was right. Great Storm sensed the crisis of the three people and guided a do-or-die squad led by Red Wind and Sun Song as they left the front lines in order to rescue the three. ¡®Endure, endure, let¡¯s endure this, Cordelia!¡¯ Cordelia grit her teeth as she continued to sweat. Whenever the monsters hit the shield, her entire body ached as if she had been directly hit, but she endured and endured. A little more, a little more! ¡°No way¡­¡± Lena said. Jude sensed the reason. It was in the ground. Monsters were approaching from under the ground where the shield couldn¡¯t cover. They were in a very dangerous situation. A crisis after a miraculous reversal. ¡®Only Cordelia.¡¯ Jude clenched his teeth. His stamina was drained because of mana drain, but he somehow stood up and chanted the mnemonic chant of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. He tried to create a golden whirlwind once again. And then, at that very moment. Cordelia blinked her eyes. She was doing her best to maintain the shield, but she was the first to notice. Because her very sensitive senses noticed it. ¡®The ground.¡¯ It was reverberating. It was vibrating. It was not because of the dragon vein¡¯s runaway. It was not because of the monsters who were digging the ground. A different kind of vibration. Another vibration that came from the south and heading north. ¡®Really?¡¯ Cordelia looked at Jude, and he blinked his eyes. He got up and turned to the south. He unconsciously opened his mouth in delight. ¡°Weak guy.¡± In the south. In the outskirts that were somewhat far from the center of the Snow Breeze in where Jude and Cordelia were. Count Chase stood there. To be exact, he was riding on a pure white horse, and Violent Avnche was sitting behind him. He did not see it. But as a powerful wizard, he could feel it faintly. What urred in Snow Breeze in. The miracle caused by both Jude and Cordelia. ¡°He¡¯s stillcking.¡± In protecting Cordelia. Jude was still extremely weak. So he would help them just this once. Count Chase¡¯s horse ran. Within a short time, he charged towards the Angry Bull tribe, the monsters, and the demons who turned to him. And Jude saw it. Cordelia could feel it once again. The vibrations in the ground. Those who followed Count Chase. ¡°Jackdaw!¡± Jude cried out in a roar. Those who guarded the northern border. The shield of the S?len Kingdom. The brave knights of the north! ¡°Jackdaw! Annihte the enemies!¡± Count Hr?svelgr caught up with Count Chase and cried. The Jackdaws responded to hismand while on their ck horses. ¡°Annihte!¡± ¡°Annihte!¡± Half of the ten thousand Jackdaws were here now. Thanks to Count Chase¡¯s wide range assistive magic, they marched at an unusual pace and reached this ce in time. Over 5,000 elite cavalry who wore ck cloaks and rode on ck horses charged towards the Angry Bull tribe! ¡°Jude! Cordelia!¡± Lucas yelled. And Jude and Cordelia changed their expressions as they recognized Lucas. The two burst into a bright smile at the same time. And the two then knew. The fact that Ga?l and Adelia were among them too! Baaang! The vanguard of the Jackdaws smashed and trampled the Angry Bull tribe. The charge of the great northern horsemen was no different from a disaster itself. ¡°Go!¡± Trample and crush them. The trained knights of the Jackdaws boasted abat power that made them the strongest in the north! ¡°Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword!¡± Jude eximed as Count Hr?svelgr showed off the majesty of the true Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword. He ran through the battlefield with a white Aura de, and no one dared to stop him. And Count Chase. He soared up into the sky. He saw the monsters pushing the eastern forces and unleashed on their backs the powerful magic he had prepared for the past two days. ¡°Rain of Fire.¡± He cast magical arrows with a wave of his hand. And a barrage of fire fell down from the skies. Count Chase was indeed one of the Northern Sagang. Hundreds and thousands of fire arrows fell down from the sky and burned the monsters and demons. It assisted the eastern forces in pushing against the monsters. ¡°Open the way!¡± Red Gale shouted. The eastern forces finally began to overpower the demons. The squad led by Great Storm joined the Jackdaws. Haraken angrily screamed at them. Count galloped straight towards that guy. And Jude turned to Cordelia. Cordelia also turned to Jude. Jude smiled as he leaned his head on Cordelia¡¯sp. Cordelia also showed her best smile. A scene that was unimaginable in the original. A world where Red Gale led the eastern forces, Red Wind and Sun Song ran together, and the wild gods were not corrupted. A world where Count Chase and the Jackdaws led by Count Hr?svelgr, fought to protect the wildnds. Lena stood right next to them. Ga?l lived and didn¡¯t die and was with Adelia. ¡°This is the best.¡± Cordelia said at some point, and Jude agreed with her. The two looked at each other again and exchanged their best smiles. Chapter 121 - EPISODE 121 – RESOLUTION (1)

Chapter 121 - EPISODE 121 ¨C RESOLUTION (1)

Terms used in this chapter: Dongsaeng?¨C Korean word for younger sibling. It can refer to either a younger male or female. One can also call close friends who are younger than them as their ¡®dongsaeng.¡¯ -nim?¨C a Korean suffix that is added to a name or position to denote that the person is higher ranked than oneself. It is also used towards someone whom one reveres and admires for having a significant amount of skill, intellect, knowledge, etc. Example is Ga?l-nim, which means that the person calling them highly respects Ga?l for his skills and so on. Haraken was a high-ranking demonic human of the Devil¡¯s Eye. He was a meticulous and cunning person. Under the orders of their organization¡¯s leader, he infiltrated the wildnds. The first thing that he did was to corrupt Angry Bull, the guardian deity of the Angry Bull tribe who took pride in being the strongest tribe in the west. ¡®He seized control of the Angry Bull tribe first.¡¯ Having corrupted Angry Bull with a powerful item he received from his leader, Haraken proceeded to Seven Horns next, cing a curse on the chieftain of the Angry Bull tribe. Seven Horns suffered from the curse, so he naturally visited Angry Bull andined. Angry Bull had already be Haraken¡¯s puppet, and thus introduced Haraken to Seven Horns. ¡®Everything went fast after that.¡¯ Far from breaking the curse of Seven Horns, Haraken who had be a great shaman put a few more curses to corrupt him and eventually seizedplete control of the Angry Bull tribe. ¡®And to the west.¡¯ He conquered the west with the power of the Angry Bull tribe. He increased the number of corrupted wild gods by polluting the dragon veins, and he spread a curse at the meeting of the tribal chieftains. ¡®Red Gale died.¡¯ He was the chieftain of the Great Storm tribe who would most likely hinder the unification of the wildnds. While he was in the process of taking control of the west, he sent demonic humans to the east to corrupt the wild gods. His purpose was to weaken them before his full-scale capture of the east. Haraken didn¡¯t make any mistakes. In the game, he conquered the wildnds without a single mistake. ¡®The corrupted Violent Avnche and Gentle Snow Breeze assassinates Great Storm, Red Gale dies from his curse, and Red Wind bes a ve in the north. The Great Storm tribe who lost their head falls into ruin, and the wild gods of the east are corrupted one by one.¡¯ And when he finally corrupted de Song. Haraken invaded the northern part of the S?len Kingdom, leading the wild gods, who degenerated into hellish monsters, and the warriors who were reborn as demonic humans. Haraken also won in this war and took control of the northern part of the S?len Kingdom, which had been the long-cherished desire of the wildnds. But all of that was the story in the original. ¡®Why! Why! Why!¡¯ Haraken cried out at the reality before his eyes. Everything was a disaster. Things that had been going well all went wrong at some point, and everything had beenpletely destroyed now. The starting point. The first domino. The survival of Red Gale. The safety of Violent Avnche. Red Wind returned to the north. ¡°Keueug¡­ Keuaaaa!¡± His head was about to burst. Haraken knew. A future did not exist for him now. His leader would not forgive him. No, the Demon Prince whose arrival to the ground was just around the corner would trample Haraken himself. There was only despair in his future. ¡°Keuha! Keuhahaha!¡± He did not yearn for a life in despair just because he was a demon follower. He also refused to live in fear and terror. Harakenughed. It was all over anyway. It was over now. What was left now was his obstinacy. So at least, even if it was only that b*stard and b*tch. He must get that b*stard and b*tch at all costs! ¡°Keuaaa!¡± Haraken unleashed a terrifying power. Although he had not participated in battles so far, he was still a high-ranking demonic human. Furthermore, he became closer to a demon due to his exposure from the aura of hell that flowed out from the Hell Gate. Haraken¡¯s body swelled up. He no longer had a human figure. His appearance was a mixture of a giant mantis and a beetle, and he let out a horrible shriek as he looked at the battlefield with hispound eyes. At the ce where the Hell Gate once stood. At the small area protected by stone golems and a shield magic. Haraken saw it. A girl with red hair sat inside the translucent shield. A boy who was lying in the arms of the girl with an angelic beauty. There was also an angel standing next to them, but he did not see it. Haraken only saw the boy and girl and did not conceal his anger. Just looking at them made him send a murderous look that was enough to rip his enemies apart. And that girl who met his murderous look, stared at him instead of shaking in fear. She raised her middle finger and said something, but it was clear that she was swearing. ¡°Crazy b*stards.¡± You feel ted because everything turned out as you desired. You think that you¡¯vepletely won. Then I¡¯ll crush that thought. I¡¯ll make a mess of that angelic face! Thud! Haraken ran straight towards the shield. Cordelia instantly flinched at his terrifying force but did not lower her finger. She saw it. Behind Haraken, who was unable to look around because of his anger. A knight who cut through the monsters and demons as if he was cutting rice stalks. As he rode on his ck war horse, he saw Haraken rushing towards Jude and Cordelia. He charged towards Haraken without any hesitation, and the light on his sword that he was holding increased. Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword. Unlike Lucas¡¯ sword that was still immature, his sword that cuts evil had reached maturity! ¡°Ooooooh.¡± As Cordelia admired it, Jude slightly frowned and said. ¡°What a waste.¡± ¡°What? The Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword? Won¡¯t Lucas teach you if you ask him?¡± ¡°No, not that.¡± ¡°Then what?¡± ¡°Experience points.¡± ¡°Ah, you¡¯re right. That¡¯s right.¡± Haraken was a high-ranking demonic human, and he was the final boss of the wildnds in the game. Jude and Cordelia spoke in turn, and Haraken¡¯s body was cut into two. The man who fell on the floor stretched out his hand as he looked at Jude and Cordelia. He uttered the words of a curse amidst his deep-rooted grudge. And Cordelia said as she stroked Jude¡¯s hair. ¡°Ah, fu-. Why did you say that? It¡¯s such a waste.¡± ¡°It feels great.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just this moment.¡± ¡°What are you saying?¡± Cordelia snorted as she stroked Jude¡¯s forehead, and Jude closed his eyes in that pleasant mood. And Haraken let out hisst words. ¡°Curse¡­you¡­¡± So listen to me. Look at my side too¡­ Stop whispering words of love to each other¡­ That was it. The Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword of Count Hr?svelgr shined once more, and Haraken turned into ck ashes and scattered. And at that moment, a clear voice echoed in the minds of Jude and Cordelia. [You acquired the title ¡®Guardian of the Wild Lands.¡¯] [You acquired the title ¡®Destroyer of the Wild Lands.¡¯] Guardian and destroyer. Two conflicting titles. And why they got those at the same time. Cordelia¡¯s face turned red. Because she remembered what they had done. ¡®I-it¡¯s a really good win but¡­¡¯ They acquired titles that was impossible to obtain at the same time. How would they face the wild godster? ¡®It¡¯s all right because we saved the wildnds. Everyone will understand.¡¯ ¡®Is that so?¡¯ ¡®Yes.¡¯ Jude randomly said and closed his eyes again to enjoy the touch of the hesitant Cordelia but was soon forced to reopen them. ¡°Jude! Cordelia!¡± ¡°Lucas!¡± Cordelia happily replied to the familiar voice. Before she knew it, Lucas reached the shield and stood with a lively face. And it was at that moment. ¡°Unniiiiiie! Oppaaaaa!¡± Red Wind appeared on the opposite side of Lucas as she said in a high voice. With a flushed face, she brightly smiled in a spirited manner and Cordelia happily replied again. ¡°Red Wind!¡± And right afterwards. Lucas and Red Wind looked at each other. Both of them frowned. Because they felt a tingling sensation the moment they faced each other. Old foes, rivals, cats and dogs, and so on. ¡®Who is that barbarian woman?¡¯ ¡®Who is that tall northern?swordsman?¡¯ T/N: The ¡®swordsman¡¯ used here is more of a derogatory term. I can¡¯t think of an English equivalent for this, hence this trantor¡¯s note. ¡®Who are you to Mr. Jude and Lady Adelia?¡¯ ¡®Who are you to my oppa and unnie?¡¯ ¡® ¡®Why are you pretending to be close to them?¡¯ ¡¯ The two people who thought the same thing at the same time sensed it again. What the other was thinking. ¡°Mr. Jude, Lady Cordelia. I¡¯m here. I¡¯m your close friend, right?!¡± Lucas first spoke as if appealing, and Red Wind responded before Cordelia could even reply. She seemed to flinch, but then spoke as she red at him. ¡°Unnie! Oppa! I¡¯m here! I¡¯m your pretty and adorable younger sister, right?!¡± A younger sister is higher than a close friend, right? Red Wind sent a nce to Lucas, and he perfectly understood it. He answered with his eyes too. ¡®You¡¯re not even rted by blood, so why are you their younger sister! And what was that? Adorable?¡¯ ¡®Because I call them unnie and oppa, okay? So I¡¯m their dongsaeng!¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m actually their dongsaeng too, okay!¡¯ How could the twomunicate so well when thenguage they spoke was foreign to each other? Growing up as a knight in the north, Lucas held a deep-rooted hostility towards the barbarians, and even though he already heard an exnation from Ga?l and Adelia, he felt hostile the moment he faced Red Wind. Red Wind¡¯s prejudice against the northerners was reduced because of Jude and Cordelia, and her affection for Jude and especially Cordelia was unusual. But on the contrary, her reckless side remained the same because she did not live in very. With these two facing each other, it was natural for both sides to react with more excitement than usual. ¡°Uh¡­you two?¡± What¡¯s wrong with you two all of a sudden? What¡¯s with the atmosphere between you two? Cordelia hurriedly turned to Jude who was doing his best to hold back hisughter. ¡®What, what. Why are youughing?¡¯ ¡®No, it¡¯s just interesting.¡¯ It was a situation that was unimaginable in the original. A situation where Lucas and Red Wind were arguing on who were closer to Cordelia rather than crossing swords with each other. ¡®Cordelia¡¯s ambition seems impossible.¡¯ How would she bring Lucas and Red Wind together? ¡®No, perhaps there¡¯s a possibility¡­?¡¯ There was no rule that enemies and rivals would argue with each other all the time. ¡®What, what is it? Why do you keep snickering?¡¯ Cordelia pulled Jude¡¯s hair, but Jude even enjoyed her touch. And when Jude was on the verge of awakening to a new world, a new couple arrived. ¡°Jude.¡± ¡°Cordelia!¡± It was Ga?l and Adelia. Having yed a tremendously active role among the Jackdaws, the two left the front lines to protect Jude and Cordelia and were now here. ¡°Ga?l-nim.¡± ¡°Adel-unnie!¡± Lucas and Red Wind said separately, and the two red at each other again. ¡®Why are you pretending to be close to them?¡¯ ¡®What about you?!¡¯ There was a violent exchange of nces again, and Ga?l and Adelia left those two alone as they headed to Jude and Cordelia. The surrounding enemies had already been wiped out, so Cordelia released the shield, and Lena also withdrew the golems. ¡°Unnie, say hello. This is Lena-nim. Lena-nim, these two are my older sister and brother-inw.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s introduction, Adelia widely opened her eyes. ¡°Eh! Are you Lena-nim?!¡± ¡°I am Lena Ainsburg.¡± Adelia¡¯s face turned red when Lena elegantly answered her despite being exhausted. ¡°I-I am Adelia Chase. I am the 7thmander of the Royal Guards Magic Corps.¡± Adelia nervously introduced herself, though she had stiffened. Because Lena was Adelia¡¯s idol. Adelia felt dizzy because of her pounding heart, so Ga?l quickly held her waist before he introduced himself. ¡°I am Ga?l Bayer. I greet the Holy Angel-nim.¡± Having heard Ga?l¡¯s greeting, Lucas came to his senses and also greeted her politely before he looked at Red Wind again. ¡®I¡¯ve already said hello before, okay?¡¯ So what will you do? Lucas remained silent instead of retaliating, and Lena smiled again at the somehow noisy atmosphere. ¡®Ha¡­that had felt so nice.¡¯ And a man who was dissatisfied for not having enough. He had been enjoying the luxury of feeling Cordelia¡¯s touch while he was in her arms as his eyes were closed. ¡®But I should still continue to lie down.¡¯ Because he was exhausted too. However, Jude¡¯s ck desire didn¡¯tst long. It wasn¡¯t because Cordelia noticed Jude¡¯s ck intentions. ¡°You¡¯re still lying in her arms.¡± It was a voice from the sky. Jude widely opened his eyes and hurriedly raised himself up and then saw it. An imposing man who was walking down the air with his hands full of bags. ¡°¡°Father.¡±¡± Jude and Ga?l spoke at the same time, and Count Chase¡¯s serious face warmly smiled for a very short time. ¡°¡°Dad.¡±¡± And his daughters simultaneously greeted him. Both of them were at the sides of his handsome future sons-inw. But Count Chase maintained a stern look. Things had changed a lot, but Count Chase did not forget why he went on a journey in the first ce. ¡°It¡¯s been a long time, Jude. And Cordelia.¡± He came to thisnd to catch the runaway children. Count Chasended on the ground. He took a step towards the two. Chapter 122 - EPISODE 122 – RESOLUTION (2)

Chapter 122 - EPISODE 122 ¨C RESOLUTION (2)

Arthur Chase. The current Count Chase who was also the Tower Master of the Red Dawn Tower. Red Wind was having a war of nerves with Lucas but flinched and became stiff at his appearance. ¡®He¡¯s not an ordinary person!¡¯ She could tell it the moment she met him. It wasn¡¯t just because of his height and appearance that would make people believe that he was a first-ss warrior rather than a wizard. It wasn¡¯t because of his handsome face that embodied sternness and seriousness. The Phoenix was telling her. The man in front of her was someone who was loved by fire. He was a me wizard who had scaled great heights. He wasn¡¯t a spirit. He didn¡¯t even control spirits. But the strong power of fire that she felt in him was simr to that of a wild god¡¯s. ¡°Ah.¡± Lena was also impressed. She had met several wizards after the tragedy of the Paragon Kingdom, but the man in front of her now was the best. Her intuition told her the moment she met him that he was talented and a high level of ability. ¡®It¡¯s like I¡¯m seeing Fran.¡¯ Druid Fran was one of the five heroes. He also had arge and robust body that resembled a warrior, and an immense magical power based on an elemental force, so he resembled Count Chase in many ways. ¡®And the look on his face.¡¯ Fran also had a face that was like the embodiment of sternness and seriousness. But his real personality waspletely different. ¡°Dad! I-I mean¡­Father. Please allow me to introduce you to the Holy Angel, Lena Ainsburg.¡± It had been at that moment. Adelia had blocked Count Chase who had been heading towards Jude and Cordelia, and urgently said. Because she couldn¡¯t just leave Lena standing there. ¡°Holy Angel-nim?¡± ¡°Yes, Lena-nim.¡± Adelia widely smiled and directed his attention to Lena. Count Chase quickly turned to Lena and modestly greeted her. ¡°Arthur Chase greets the hero of the Paragon Kingdom.¡± ¡°Lena Ainsburg greets Count Chase, the Tower Master of the Red Dawn Tower.¡± When Lena politely greeted him, Count Chase looked somewhat surprised, while Cordelia and Adelia were greatly pleased. ¡®As expected of my dad!¡¯ Lena mentioned the Red Dawn Tower even though they didn¡¯t inform her about it. In other words, she had roughly known about Count Chase even before she met him today. ¡°How could I not know about Red Storm, the pride of the S?len Kingdom.¡± It was Count Chase¡¯s nickname. After all, it was something natural. Count Chase was such a great man. He was one of the Northern Sagang and one of the most powerful battle mages across the entire continent. His fame was also widely known in foreign countries because he had umted a lot of war achievements in his youth. ¡°Ahem, ahem, I am deeply honored.¡± Count Chase coughed and politely spoke, but Adelia could tell. That the corners of her father¡¯s mouth went up. Lena softly smiled and said. ¡°Count Chase, you don¡¯t have to be so polite to me.¡± When it came to their ages, Count Chase was older than Lena by ten years. But Count Chase shook his head. ¡°No, how can I not be polite to Lena-nim?¡± It wasn¡¯t because she was one of the five heroes who ended the tragedy of the Paragon Kingdom. Lena was someone who had reached the level of an archwizard at a young age. ¡°I see, I think I now understand why I admire Lady Cordelia every time I see her.¡± ¡°I am ttered.¡± After they exchanged warmpliments, Lena stepped back. Because she didn¡¯t want dy Count Chase from his business for a long time. Count Chase replied in silence at Lena¡¯s consideration, and then turned to Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Jude, you particrly look weak and frail today.¡± It wasn¡¯t his usual spotting faults and making excuses. The current Jude had a pale face and dark rings under his eyes, making him look like a real patient. ¡°That is¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s not Jude¡¯s fault! It¡¯s because I used Mana Drain on Jude!¡± Cordelia quickly stepped forward and shouted. Count Chase slightly frowned at the sight of her stretching her arms wide open as if to protect Jude. He liked that the love between the two was deep, but he disliked the fact that Cordelia was protecting Jude. And one more thing. ¡°Cordelia, did you say ?¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­yes.¡± When Cordelia flinched and answered, Count Chase clicked his tongue. ¡°It must be a witch¡¯s spell.¡± ¡°¡­Yes.¡± The fact that Cordelia had acquired the power of a witch had already been reported by Lucas. Count Chase frowned again, but he wasn¡¯t angry. Mana Drain was obviously an effective and efficient magic, but it was also a dark magic. It was a spell that forcibly took life energy and converted it into mana. ¡®It¡¯s too bad, but this must be fate.¡¯ She already had that power. It would be reckless to suppress it. But it was at that moment. ¡°Father, this is my fault. I¡¯m the one who asked Cordelia to use Mana Drain.¡± Jude said as he stepped forward again, and Cordelia was startled at his deration, so she pulled Jude in a hurry. ¡°N-no! I¡¯m the one who insisted! Jude did nothing wrong! Please don¡¯t punish him!¡± Everyone felt simr emotions when they saw the desperate cry of the two ¨C or at least that of Cordelia. Touching. Cute. Adorable. And at the same time, annoying. A couple who were trying to protect each other by saying it was their fault and not the other. ¡°Well, good. If you¡¯re weak, I¡¯ll make sure that you won¡¯t remain weak.¡± As he said so, Count Chase put down his bags, and Jude¡¯s eyes began to shine. But at that moment. ¡°Maybe not now.¡± Count Chase said in a small voice. It was because of the situation in the battlefield. Though the Jackdaws were pushing the Angry Bull tribe, the battle had yet to end. The fate of countless people may change depending on Count Chase¡¯s participation in the battle, so now was not the time for him to rx here. ¡°Ga?l, Adelia.¡± ¡°Yes, father.¡± ¡°Yes, dad.¡± He looked at the faces of the two after they answered, and they seemed to already know what he wanted to say. Therefore, Count Chase straightforwardly said. ¡°Protect Jude and Cordelia. I will be back.¡± ¡°Yes, father.¡± ¡°Yes, dad.¡± As soon as the two replied, Count Chase bowed to Lena again before flying back into the air. ¡°I¡¯ll be right back.¡± He then headed towards the Jackdaws. When Count Chase was gone, Cordelia unconsciously sighed in relief while Jude seemed to stagger for a moment before falling on Cordelia¡¯s arms. ¡°Ju-Jude?!¡± ¡°I apologize, my legs had weakened.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t push yourself. Let¡¯s lie you down again. I¡¯ll give you a knee pillow.¡± Cordelia carefully lowered her posture as she held Jude in her arms and gave him a knee pillow as she had said. ¡°How is it, are you all right?¡± ¡°Uh¡­it¡¯s perfect. Thank you.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s question that was full of worries, Jude gently replied before closing his eyes. ¡®You¡¯re so kind.¡¯ Whenever he was sick or in pain, Cordelia would be unusually kind to him. ¡®This is so nice ¡­¡¯ It was paradise. While Jude was enjoying the situation inplete bliss again, Adelia narrowed her eyes. Because in her eyes, she couldpletely see Jude¡¯s dark desires and him deceiving the kind and innocent Cordelia. ¡®You, you. You¡¯repletely a trickster.¡¯ But saying what she wanted to say was awkward. Because Ga?l was right next to her. ¡®He¡¯s really something.¡¯ Ga?l immediately figured out Jude¡¯s true intentions more than Adelia. He bitterly smiled and looked around the battlefield, while Lucas and Red Wind started a fight with their eyes again. And after a half hour or so. When the war turned to the point where the Jackdaws began to chase the defeated troops of the Angry Bull tribe ¨C no, when the battle had in fact been over, Count Chase came back to them. ¡°Are you still weak?¡± Count Chase clicked his tongue and opened his bag, and everyone¡¯s gaze focused on the bag at that moment. ¡®As expected of father.¡¯ What kind of things did he bring today? Jude was full of expectations, and Count Chase didn¡¯t fail him. ¡°Eat this. It¡¯s not much, but it will help you recover your strength.¡± ¡°Heok-¡± Jude received the item he threw before he widely opened his eyes in surprise, and so did Cordelia. ¡®Isn¡¯t this Baraman¡¯s Elixir?¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s right! It is!¡¯ It was a rare item that not only increased physical strength, but also the absolute limit of one¡¯s strength. It appeared only after the middle part in the original game, so it was extremely difficult to obtain it at this point. ¡°Hmph, this one¡¯s not much too. Take this as a bonus.¡± And he threw an item again. The eyes of Jude and Cordelia sparkled again. Because it was the Will of Steel, which when eaten, hardened one¡¯s bones like that of steel. This was also a rare item that one could not obtain in the beginning of the game, even if they wanted to. ¡°Fa-father. Fa-father.¡± Jude¡¯s eyes were filled with respect, gratitude, and love, while Cordelia was excited too. But there was one person who didn¡¯t. ¡°Dad, wait a second.¡± Adelia took a step forward as her eyes narrowed when she looked at the items in Jude¡¯s hands, before she turned to Count Chase. ¡°Dad, isn¡¯t that too much?¡± Count Chase cleared his throat at her short words that implied the obvious. ¡°Ahem¡­ That¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s too much. Isn¡¯t this discrimination?¡± ¡°I¡­ Lady Adelia.¡± ¡°Lord Ga?l, please just stay still.¡± Adelia dissuaded Ga?l from going forward, and then looked at Count Chase who coughed again. As Adelia said, he in fact, did discriminate between the two. If the items given to Ga?l were high-grade items, the items that were given to Jude were the highest-grade items. The reason was simple ¨C it was a difference in preparation time. Unlike Jude whom he had been preparing items for a long time, Ga?l¡¯s items had indeed been urgently prepared. So it was natural that there was a difference in quality. There was one more reason. ¡°Unnie, my Jude is in his growing period. He¡¯s still growing up now.¡± Cordelia opened fire when she sensed the crisis that Jude¡¯s share might be taken if she stayed still. She was her Jude one way or another. How could she let her position as Princess Maker ¨C no, Jude Maker, be taken away? Adelia had a sharp look when Cordelia went into battle mode. She never thought her adorable sister would change like this. She felt betrayed. ¡°Hey, what are you saying? And my Ga?l still has room for further growth too, okay?¡± ¡°No, ahem, ahem. Lady Adelia.¡± Ga?l was already in histe twenties. He wouldn¡¯t grow bigger anymore. ¡°Why not? You can build your muscles, eat something good for your body, and also make your body better.¡± Adelia cut off Ga?l¡¯s dissuasion as she red at Cordelia again, and Cordelia had a serious expression as if she wouldn¡¯t lose to her. And their battle between ¡®their¡¯ Jude and ¡®their¡¯ Ga?l continued. Jude and Ga?l were both embarrassed and satisfied, but Count Chase clicked his tongue and released his magic. The release of his powerful magical power shook the surrounding air, and when Cordelia and Adelia flinched, he immediately spoke. ¡°That¡¯s enough. I will take more care next time.¡± ¡°No¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s enough.¡± Count Chase ordered in a low voice, and Adelia closed her mouth and stepped back while Cordelia sighed in relief. ¡®I won.¡¯ She somehow kept it. Cordelia turned to Jude with a very small smile, and Jude praised Cordelia with his eyes after trying to hold back hisughter. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯ll continue.¡± He had to give out the things he brought. When Count Chase put his hand back into the bag, everyone¡¯s eyes focused on the bag again, but Count Chase instantly frowned when he half took out the item from the bag. ¡®Hmm, this isn¡¯t good.¡¯ It was the highest-grade sexual stamina supplement he found in Lankebuste. He had inadvertently bought it, but it was not yet the time. It was too early. It was simply too early. But he had already taken out half of it. When he tried to put it back in, Cordelia didn¡¯t let it slide. ¡°Daaaad, what is that? Why are you putting it in? Aren¡¯t you going to give it to my Jude?¡± He would eventually give it to him. However¡­ ¡°Huu, it can¡¯t be helped.¡± Count Chase quietly spoke and then threw the nicely packed sexual stamina supplement to Jude while using magic at the same time. [Eat it in a year. I won¡¯t forgive you if you eat it now. No, not after a year. After the wedding. You understand, okay? Do you understand?] Jude automatically nodded at his terrifying and forceful words, and he hid the item in his bosom. Cordelia asked what it was as her eyes sparkled, but he couldn¡¯t rashly answer. And thus, a dozen minutester. Count Chase had a satisfied look on his face as he finally handed over an empty bag to store all the items he had given out, while Cordelia also had a bright smile. And then someone arrived at that moment. ¡°It¡¯s noisy.¡± Count Hr?svelgr. The atmosphere changed when he appeared on his ck war horse. He wasn¡¯t particrly hostile, but he was a man who could change the atmosphere just by appearing. ¡°Father.¡± Lucas tried to say something, but he stopped talking when his father looked at him. The count then turned his gaze towards Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Indeed, you¡¯re a fantasy couple.¡± His gaze, expression, and voice were all in, but Jude and Cordelia uncontrobly gulped in nervousness. Because of their guilty conscience on all the sins they had done so far. But Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s pressure did notst long. In the first ce, Count Chase was also here so he did not intend to scold the two, but there were new arrivals too. ¡°Jude, Cordelia.¡± Great Storm appeared with his wild god powers still emanating. The eastern forces seemed to have somewhat finished their fight against the monsters on the hill. And Sun Song stood behind Great Storm. A tension that couldn¡¯t be hidden rose between Count Hr?svelgr and Sun Song. Even the bickering of Lucas and Red Wind with their eyes were gone. The North and the wildnds. Two forces that had been at odds for many years. That was why they couldn¡¯t shake each other¡¯s hand quickly. They had somehow joined forces in this battle, but too much blood had spilled from both sides so they couldn¡¯tugh and rejoice together. Jackdaws gathered behind Count Hr?svelgr. Warriors stood behind Sun Song. And Great Storm stepped forward. He looked at Count Hr?svelgr and Count Chase in turn, before he eventually returned his gaze to Jude and Cordelia. Jude had a rather calm face, but Cordelia was at a loss on what to do with the current situation. ¡®Please do something!¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s gaze told him. Great Storm ended upughing. Regardless of their method, the wildnds was saved ¨C no, the future of the wildnds was saved in the end, so he stepped forward for the two. ¡°I shall dere victory. I shall confer my blessings upon the victorious heroes.¡± Great Storm was a wild god. Count Hr?svelgr and Count Chase paid their respects to his divinity, and Great Storm turned to the warriors of the wildnds. After he also looked at the Jackdaws, he shouted high up into the sky. ¡°The Hell Gate has been destroyed! The corrupted ones have been annihted!¡± His voice echoed in the sky. The entire eastern forces on the hill focused on Great Storm, and so did the Jackdaws. ¡°They were evil demons! They tried to destroy the entire wildnds, but they couldn¡¯t. The guardians of the wildnds, Jude and Cordelia, stopped their plot. The two stopped some of the destruction our enemies had caused, and then destroyed the Hell Gate that they had opened!¡± The sky echoed once again. The wild warriors cheered and cried out the names of Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Cordelia!¡± ¡°Cordelia!¡± ¡°Guardians of the wildnds!¡± ¡°Jude!¡± Even Jude flinched at their thunderous shouts that was beyond imagination. But it wasn¡¯t bad. He felt a thrill as if the hairs on his entire body stood on end. So did Cordelia. She felt like the strength in her legs weakened but was ovee with emotions at the same time. ¡®But Jude.¡¯ ¡®Yes?¡¯ ¡®Isn¡¯t his words a little weird?¡¯ They were the ones who blew up the wildnds, but Great Storm was talking as if Haraken was the one who did it. ¡®Just let it be.¡¯ Because it was Great Storm¡¯s consideration and inevitable choice. How could he tell that the guardians of the wildnds were the ones who blew up all the sanctuaries in the wildnds? Jude nced at him, and Great Storm bitterly smiled. With clenched fists, he dered in a louder voice than before. ¡°We won! Victory is ours! Glory to the wildnds! Honor be to the Golden Dragon King! Praise be to the guardians of the wildnds!¡± ¡°Uwoooooah!¡± ¡°Guardians of the wildnds!¡± ¡°Jude! Cordelia!¡± The entire eastern forces cheered. At their cries that shook the ground, Great Storm nced at Count Chase and Count Hr?svelgr, who raised his sword. He used Chivalry to raise a loud cry. ¡°Jackdaws! We destroyed the evil ones! We won! Glory be to the knight and wizard of the north, Jude and Cordelia! Praise be to the victory of the Jackdaws who were braver than anyone else!¡± ¡°Oooooooooooh!¡± The Jackdaws also cheered with all their might. They felt like they couldn¡¯t lose to the eastern forces¡¯ energy. This was the measure Great Storm came up with for what had happened today. It emphasized that Jude and Cordelia were heroes for both sides, so that each side would recognize that they were not enemies, at least at this moment. ¡°Jude!¡± ¡°Cordelia!¡± ¡°Jude!¡± ¡°Cordelia!¡± Cordelia felt dizzy amidst the incessant cheering, She bit her lips with a red face, and she couldn¡¯t calm her wildly beating heart, so she roughly breathed. She had never experienced something like this before. Her heart felt like it would burst. Her legs weakened, and it seemed like she would copse anytime soon. Jude hugged Cordelia on her waist. He quietly spoke as he held her firmly. ¡°Just enjoy it.¡± This moment. Proof that what they had been doing so far wasn¡¯t wrong. ¡°Okay!¡± Cordelia widely smiled, and Jude also smiled. The two enjoyed their victory amidst the enthusiastic cheers. Chapter 123 - EPISODE 123 – RESOLUTION (3)

Chapter 123 - EPISODE 123 ¨C RESOLUTION (3)

Night arrived. The eastern forces and the Jackdaws who hurriedly moved in the daytime settled down in different ces at night. The Jackdaws built their camp on the Snow Breeze in. After the unit that leftte joined them, they built a fence, set up camps, and tightened the security. The eastern forces returned to their camps. The western forces had already been defeated, but their tension did notpletely disappear. Because the other was present. Because they were wary of each other. For the Jackdaws, they were in enemy territory. For the eastern forces, the Jackdaws were their long-time enemies. Water and oil. Two groups that couldn¡¯t be mixed together. It was impossible to conciliate the two groups with just one fight when they had fought countless times before. ¡°But they can¡¯t keep fighting.¡± Jude nodded at Cordelia¡¯s words. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s better if they part ways without a fight for this time at least. For both sides.¡± The two were talking inside the eastern forces¡¯ camp, and not the Jackdaws¡¯ camp. They did that for political reasons, but to put it bluntly, it was as follows. Jude and Cordelia were from the north. So when the northerners arrived, they should move their lodgings to the northerner¡¯s camp. After all, the two were undeniably northerners. But the fight with the western forces had left the eastern forces greatly exhausted. So if Jude and Cordelia were on the northern army¡¯s camp, what would happen if the northern army attacked at night? Would they be able to stop it? In other words, such a situation would instigate fear, tension, and so on. On the other hand, if Jude and Cordelia stayed in the eastern forces¡¯ camp, the following psychological effects would happen. Jude and Cordelia were also the guardians of the wildnds. If the two were on this side, the northern army would not be able to easily attack. The two were children of highly respectable families in the north. In a way ¨C no, frankly speaking, they were viewed as hostages, but that was unavoidable. It was unavoidable if one thought about the rtionship between the north and the wildnds. Returning to the northern army¡¯s camp would naturally irritate the eastern forces, while staying in the eastern forces¡¯ camp would irritate the Jackdaws, but things were different if one took a step back. ¡®The eastern forces can¡¯t attack the Jackdaws.¡¯ They incurred a lot of damage so it wouldn¡¯t happen. Moreover, those who were gathered here today were not the elite troops of the east. This was the result of recruiting as many people as possible who could fight in order to increase their numbers. Would they take another risk in this situation? At a time when a lot of people had already died, and countless homes had been destroyed? ¡®There are the wild gods too.¡¯ They were gods one way or another. Furthermore, the representative of the wild gods, Great Storm, was a wise being. The representative of the humans, Red Gale, was also the same, and Great Storm and Red Gale had always been opposing any fights against the north. In short, it meant that the eastern forces attacking the Jackdaws first was highly unlikely. ¡®But the Jackdaws¡¯ situation is different.¡¯ The eastern forces had more troops, but this was natural for the Jackdaws. In the numerous battles the two sides had fought in the past, the number of Jackdaws had never been greater than the barbarians of the wildnds. And the Jackdaws could see. The eastern forces were now weak. So if they trample them here now, if they stab them in the back now¡­ It would be possible to destroy the wildnds. It would be possible to eliminate their troubles, the long-time enemy of the north. It was such a big temptation. In addition, unlike the eastern forces where themand was divided, only one person had themand of the Jackdaws. Count Hr?svelgr. If he decided, the Jackdaws would attack the eastern forces even if Count Chase opposed it. ¡®So we have to stay here.¡¯ To reduce the possibility of a fight even by a little. ¡°Haa, it¡¯splicated. We just held hands and fought together, so it would be nice if we could all be friends~¡± Cordelia said as her shoulders slumped in her seeming depression, and Jude gave her some warm tea tofort her. ¡°It¡¯s all right. Even if it¡¯s impossible to be friends¡­they won¡¯t be enemies at least.¡± ¡°That would be nice.¡± Cordelia deeply sighed again and epted the teacup from Jude, and he smiled again. In fact, Jude had one more evil purpose on why they stayed in the eastern forces¡¯ camp. ¡®Because we¡¯ll be in separate tents if we returned.¡¯ They wouldn¡¯t let them share the same tent even if the two were engaged. Of course, they weren¡¯t doing anything suspicious when they shared the same tent, but Jude still wanted to be with Cordelia if possible. ¡®Hmm¡­I¡¯m somehow desperate and troubled too.¡¯ How did something like this happen to me? While Jude was worrying by himself, Cordelia widely opened her eyes. ¡°Wow, this is delicious¡­?¡± Because the tea tasted good. Her sad feelings seemed to have been relieved somehow. ¡°You should drink too. It¡¯s really delicious. It feels like my stamina will increase.¡± ¡°Yes, I know that even though I¡¯m not sure what you meant by increasing stamina.¡± Jude responded with a smile and slowly drank his tea as he looked away. ¡®They should be done soon.¡¯ The meeting between the Jackdaws and the eastern forces. The representatives of both sides were having a meeting in a kind of neutral zone located between the camps of the Jackdaws and the eastern forces, which were far from the tent of Jude and Cordelia. The representatives of the Jackdaws were Count Hr?svelgr and Count Chase, while the eastern forces¡¯ representatives were Great Storm and Red Gale. ¡®I hope it ends well.¡¯ He had a rough idea on what they were talking about. It would be the withdrawal of the Jackdaws and a non-aggression pact with the eastern forces. Neither side wanted to fight, so it should be amicably resolved. ¡°But Jude.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± When he turned his head to her sweet-sounding call, Cordelia who had been sitting while covered in a nket raised her chin that was in between her knees and said. ¡°Because the wildnds episode is over¡­we¡¯ll be heading to the royal capital now, right?¡± ¡°I suppose so.¡± The S?len Kingdom, one of the two great powers of the continent, would be facing its destruction through three events. The first of these was the invasion of the northern barbarians, and the second was the ¡®Night of Massacre.¡¯ ¡®An unprecedented situation in which the royal family of the S?len Kingdom was virtually annihted.¡¯ With the north bing a wastnd and the royal family disappearing, the S?len Kingdom was on its path to destruction even if they were a powerful kingdom. ¡°If we can stop the events that will happen until the Night of Massacre¡­it will really improve the situation. We¡¯ll be able to ovee all the 7 major cmities.¡± By the time the 7 major cmities began in the game, the S?len Kingdom was already on the verge of destruction so it couldn¡¯t help in stopping the cmities. But if it survived and preserved its national power that was on par with the empire, they would be a great help in preventing the 7 major cmities. ¡°Heh, I¡¯m excited.¡± ¡°In saving people?¡± ¡°Huh? Yes. There¡¯s that too¡­ But the royal capital is fun.¡± Cordelia replied with quivering lips as if she was a little embarrassed. And Jude nodded too. ¡°You¡¯re right. The royal capital episode was fun.¡± Although the north was in chaos, it was notpletely destroyed when the royal capital episode was still in progress. So until the royal capital episode ended, the S?len Kingdom would remain standing. There were many big and small events in the royal capital where lots of people gathered, and among those events, there were a few that stimted the girl¡¯s heart of Cordelia. ¡®The flow of events would clearly be different.¡¯ Because they would be going to fancy events like balls, and not just be fighting. ¡®Yes, the ball. The 300th?anniversary of the country¡¯s founding.¡¯ Jude very much looked forward to the ball that would be really grand. It would be a ce where he could show off the beauty of Cordelia not only to the S?len Kingdom, but also to the foreign figures who would be gathered. ¡°Ahem, ahem, that would be nice.¡± Cordelia frowned when Jude smiled like a fool. ¡°What is it, what are you thinking? You have a creepy smile.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not. It¡¯s nothing. Would you like more tea?¡± ¡°Yes, give me more.¡± ¡°Here it is, Madam.¡± Jude poured tea into Cordelia¡¯s teacup and resumed talking again. ¡°Anyway, there will be a lot of encounters if we go to the royal capital. Several new yable characters will be making their appearance.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right. Princess Daphne and Prince Dion.¡± Cordelia¡¯s cheeks flushed as she gazed into the distance and imagined it. ¡°Do you like Daphne and Dion?¡± ¡°Yes, because he¡¯s attractive. Dion is handsome. Dion is really handsome. He¡¯s cool. I like his personality.¡± As Cordelia giggled and spoke, it was the opposite for Jude as his face hardened. ¡°Jude?¡± ¡°No, umm. Right. Attractive. Handsome.¡± Dion. He kept that name in his mind. Dion. Jude¡¯s expression coldly sank, and Cordelia blinked her eyes and tilted her head, wondering if her senses had be dull at a time like this. And it was at that moment. ¡°Can Ie in?¡± At the question that came from outside the tent, Jude and Cordelia looked at each other and nodded. ¡°Yes, you maye in.¡± Jude gave his permission, and a boy entered from outside the tent. It was Great Storm. ¡°What happened? Did the meeting go well?¡± Cordelia asked, and Great Storm nodded. ¡°Um, yes. It went well. The northerners would withdraw tomorrow, and a non-aggression treaty had been signed wherein both sides would not attack each other for the next five years.¡± ¡°Wow! That¡¯s great! Isn¡¯t that right, Jude?¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. This much is the best.¡± Cordelia was relieved when Jude agreed, and she then said to Great Storm. ¡°Are you here to tell us?¡± ¡°Yes, there is that too¡­but I think I have to tell you something too.¡± Great Storm spoke and looked at Jude who handed him a cup of tea that had already been prepared. ¡°I told you about this during the day, that the demon followers would be med for blowing up the dragon veins. So you two should say that too. Rather, you reduced the aftermath of the great explosion. Got it?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°¡­Yeah.¡± Jude calmly answered with a slightly embarrassed face, while Cordelia timidly replied as she hunched her shoulders. Great Storm smiled at the reaction of the two, and then resumed his words after sipping his tea. ¡°And this¡­ I just want you to know. Because you¡¯re the guardians of the wildnds.¡± The surrounding area changed at that moment. They were still inside the tent of Jude and Cordelia, but the air itself changed. The sanctuary of Great Storm. His sacred ce. ¡°The dragon vein has changed in the aftermath of the great explosion.¡± Jude and Cordelia flinched. They knew that there would be an impact, but it seemed to be more than they had imagined. The wildnds was originally an uninhabitablend. It became possible to live there because of the wild gods who drew their powers from the dragon vein, so if they had caused a problem with the dragon vein itself, if the wild gods could no longer use their powers like how they used to¡­ ¡°Don¡¯t be scared. There¡¯s nothing to worry. It actually got better.¡± ¡°It got better?¡± ¡°Yes, how should I say this¡­rather, it had be smooth-flowing? You could say that the veins widened.¡± Everything that obstructed the flow of the dragon veins were blown away by the great explosion, and the infrastructure of the high elves were even incorporated into the dragon veins. It was natural that the cirction of the dragon vein became smoother as the blocked areas were opened and the veins had widened. ¡°Moreover, the Golden Dragon King woke up. And he is nning to recover his strength in the Snow Breeze in. In short, a new dragon vein stream ¨C one on a colossal scale which had never existed before, would be created.¡± As soon as he heard Great Storm¡¯s words, Jude understood why Great Storm wanted only the two of them to know about this conversation. ¡°Will a kingdom¡­be built?¡± Cordelia blinked her eyes at his question that skipped the process on how it got there, but not for Great Storm. The wild god nodded with a bitter smile. ¡°Probably.¡± The west was greatly affected by the corruption and in ruins, and because the wild gods there were also annihted, it became an uninhabitablend for the time being, even if there were dragon veins there. The east was also notpletely free from the aftermath of the dragon vein¡¯s explosion. All of the sanctuaries of the wild gods were destroyed, and it would be difficult to enjoy the same life as before until they had restored their sanctuaries. ¡°So a new one will bepletely made.¡± On the Snow Breeze in. Several wild gods would join forces. A ce where various tribes would live together, a huge city that would be the center of the wildnds. ¡°It would probably a better ce to live than before.¡± ¡°Wow.¡± Cordelia was in pure admiration, but not for Jude. The fact that the tribes in the wildnds that had been scattered until now would live in one ce could only imply the possibility of a new kingdom being built. And it also hinted at another possibility. ¡®War.¡¯ The fight between the north and the wildnds was really long and old. But the battles so far were not properly united, since they were nothing but a union of several tribes and were not really united as one, so their battles were just a fight between the many barbarians and the northerners. But if a kingdom was established in the wildnds, if the barbarians became one¡­ ¡°I¡¯m not sure yet if a kingdom will really be established, or if it will eventually be divided again.¡± Great Storm said as he read Jude¡¯s thoughts. And Jude realized the fact that he was Jude Bayer, the second son of the Bayer family. A threat to the north. A threat to the S?len Kingdom. ¡°It will be fine.¡± Cordelia held Jude¡¯s hand. After figuring out the general flow of the conversation between the two, she smiled once again. ¡°It¡¯s Red Gale and Red Wind¡¯s country. It will take a long time to build, and there¡¯s now that says you must fight because you founded something, right? We can be friends.¡± Her thoughts were too soft. It was optimistic. But Jude unconsciously nodded. It wasn¡¯t just because he was in love with Cordelia. Because it could really be what Cordelia said. They didn¡¯t have to give up hope. ¡®She looks like an angel.¡¯ No, wasn¡¯t she a real angel now? As Jude¡¯s mood softened, Great Storm opened his mouth again. ¡°We will heal our wounds here and be powerful again. So Jude and Cordelia, the guardians of the wildnds.¡± Great Storm stopped talking at once and stood up. He respectfully bowed and said, as if treating them like the Golden Dragon King. ¡°Come to us whenever you need help. We will never forget the favors you had done for us. Even if you leave the wildnds, even if you are far away, even if the dizzyingly fast passage of time passes between us and you ¨C we will not forget. We will remember your names. You two are our benefactors. Guardians of the wildnds, our sworn allies.¡± Jude and Cordelia got up from their seats and respectfully bowed too. Cordelia nodded while feeling overwhelmed, and Jude spoke on behalf of them two. ¡°We heard it clearly. You won¡¯t regret itter, right?¡± ¡°¡­Just do it moderately, moderately.¡± In any event, they would help the two. After he shook hands with Jude and had a three-second hug with Cordelia, Great Storm left their tent, and Cordelia suddenly jumped in her spot. ¡°Oh, it feels nice. I¡¯m really happy.¡± She felt it on the battlefield too, but she thought that it was really fortunate that they came to the wildnds. And so did Jude. Aside from the benefits of getting help from the wildnds in the midst of the numerous events that would happen in the future, he was also thrilled. He felt it to be heartwarming. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go to sleep now. Tomorrow onwards, we¡¯ll have to immediately return to the S?len Kingdom.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, let¡¯s sleep.¡± Having already washed themselves, the two lied down straight away, and Jude damped down the fire. Jude felt that his heart was still overwhelmed, but he fell asleep as soon as he lied down, perhaps because a lot of things had happened today. But at that very moment ¨C just when he was about to fall asleep. ¡°But Jude.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°I have a question.¡± ¡°Uh, what is it?¡± Jude turned to Cordelia, who had already turned to him. The only thing in between the two was the firewood fire that had almost gone out. ¡°What was thest thing that my dad gave to you today? It was the first time I had seen something like that.¡± ¡°Umm.¡± ¡°Umm?¡± ¡°Umm.¡± ¡°What is it? Huh? If it¡¯s good, let¡¯s eat it together. Okay?¡± No, I want to eat that together with you. Let¡¯s stop there. Jude turned around right away and suppressed his voice out of fear that it and his eyes would leak his thoughts. ¡°Go to bed. Later, I¡¯ll tell youter.¡± ¡°Tsk, you¡¯re mean.¡± Cordelia grumbled, and Jude tried to calm the agitation of his heart. Fortunately, recalling Count Chase¡¯s face in a hurry was very helpful. ¡®Go to sleep.¡¯ For tomorrow. Jude nced back at Cordelia for thest time and smiled at the sight of Cordelia falling fast asleep. *** The next morning. After the crying and clinging Red Wind said her farewells and Violent Avnche jumped up and down as he waved his hand, Jude and Cordelia left the wildnds. And at the same time, in apletely different ce. ¡°Is that so, I understand.¡± Princess Daphne curled her sparkling long blonde hair that seemed to have been made by melting gold, as she stared at the zing fire and whispered. She slowly turned around and gazed at the sky. ¡°Jude Bayer and Cordelia Chase.¡± Two people of destiny. She quietly whispered and faintly smiled, and a white bird flew towards the north. And at another ce again. Beyond the S?len Kingdom, in the heart of the Argon Empire, thergest territory on the continent. A young man drew his sword. He looked at the distant south. Maximilian de Avis. The main character of?Legend of Heroes 2. One of the Four Great Swordsmen in Pleaides. He took a step forward. He began his trip to the S?len Kingdom. Chapter 124 - EPISODE 124 – ENGAGEMENT CEREMONY (1)

Chapter 124 - EPISODE 124 ¨C ENGAGEMENT CEREMONY (1)

Late post again, sorry. And to those who are talking about the rtionship of our crazy couple, let me just say that if the wildnds arc focused on Jude¡¯s side (his feelings), the royal capital arc will focus on Cordelia. So look forward to the next arc. I mean, this chapter in itself had already begun it. Terms used in this chapter: Wartime operational control?¨C amander¡¯s right to control military operations during wartime. The northerners had a simple reason on why they were in a hurry to return as soon as the battle was over. Because the Jackdaws were reluctant to stay in the wildnds, which they considered as enemy territory. ¡®Of course, it¡¯s obvious why.¡¯ They had been hostile with each other for many years. In fact, helping the wildnds that was beyond the border was a miracle in itself. ¡®To be exact, it would be more correct to say that rather than helping them, they were putting out the fire before it spread to their side.¡¯ The tragedy of the Paragon Kingdom was a great event that shook the entire continent. It also happened only 10 years ago, so there was no Jackdaw who did not know about the tragedy of the Paragon Kingdom. This military operation became possible because of that. No one was sure on what would happen afterwards if they left the Hell Gate open in the wildnds. ¡®Count Hr?svelgr made a bold decision, and if it was my father, he would do so too.¡¯ He probably did not submit a proper report to the royal capital and used his wartime operational control to advance to the wildnds. If Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s decision was made half a day ¨C no, just one hourte. ¡®It would have been difficult to remain unharmed.¡¯ At least for Jude himself. He was confident that he could protect Cordelia¡¯s life somehow, but it was honestly questionable if he could take care of his own life under the circumstances they were in at that time. ¡®Thank you.¡¯ Jude thanked the count in his mind before turning his gaze to the side. He saw Lena and Cordelia beside each other as they rode on horses not far away from him. The two angels wereughing as their horses moved forward. ¡®Lena¡¯s move was critical.¡¯ She was one of the five heroes and was originally destined to die in the wildnds. But she didn¡¯t die, so she was now heading to the S?len Kingdom to meet the other heroes, Landius and Kamael. How would her survival affect the fate of Pleiades? ¡®Would it help the survival of Landius?¡¯ Jude actually found Landius¡¯ death to be the biggest mystery now. Why in the world and how did he meet his death? ¡®I don¡¯t know the cause, so I have no idea on how to stop it.¡¯ The Landius he first saw in the game and the Landius he met now. Jude¡¯s perception of him had changed. Because his understanding of Landius¡¯ power itself changed. ¡®I understand now that I¡¯ve grown stronger.¡¯ There was a difference between the situation of simply knowing the power of a game character through numerical values and the situation where he actually developed and used that power. Landius¡¯ strength was on a truly colossal level. Jude couldn¡¯t even imagine how strong Landius was now, given that he had opened up to the seventh door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, which was the current Landius¡¯ limit. ¡®There¡¯s something, something.¡¯ Landius had said that he himself woulde find Jude in due time. There was a high possibility that he would contact Jude in any way once he hears from Lena that Jude himself had opened the fourth door. ¡®Perhaps that action alone would help him avoid death.¡¯ After he tried to think positively, Jude looked at Lena and Cordelia again. He saw the beautiful sight of Cordelia looking up at Lena and chattering like a baby bird. ¡®Ahem.¡¯ At the moment he tried to enter into listening mode¡­ ¡°Mr. Jude.¡± ¡°Lord Lucas.¡± Jude turned to Lucas whose horse approached him, and then smiled. Because Jude had a conscience too. Jude felt that he had a lot of things to apologize for to Lucas. ¡°I apologize. I had left just like that¡­¡± ¡°No, you had your circumstances. I didn¡¯t expect the two of you to be working undercover for the Guardians of the Holy Cross¡­ Rather, we Hr?svelgr almost spoiled your ns.¡± The information Lucas heard seemed to have been distorted, so his misunderstanding deepened. He seemed to think that their mission from the Guardians of the Holy Cross was what originally made the two leave the Hr?svelgr territory and head for Frost Anvil. ¡®What should I do about this?¡¯ Jude had used the Guardians of the Holy Cross and the Fairy Queen as an excuse for some time, but things were a little different this time. It was better to not use false information if it could be verified, or if it would be a problem when the truth was revealedter. ¡®Lucas and I will be meeting each other more in the future.¡¯ Red Wind had promised toe to the S?len Kingdom and help Jude and Cordelia once she had improved her skills in the wildnds. Lucas also had to properly train so that they could fully use his power for the yable Character Alliance that they would form in the future. ¡®Hmm¡­well, I¡¯ll think about thatter.¡¯ Not for now, but when the situation had calmed down a bit. They hadn¡¯t returned to Thunderdoom Fortress yet. ¡°Say, Mr. Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Lord Lucas.¡± Lucas¡¯ face suddenly flushed when Jude softly answered. Jude instantly flinched at his shy reaction but maintained hisposure. Lucas then said while fidgeting. ¡°That¡­I wish to ask you a favor.¡± ¡°Yes, go ahead.¡± ¡°May I¡­spar with you?¡± His face was still red, but his gaze was serious. Now that Jude thought about it, the reason why Lucas approached him in the first ce and asked to be his friend was because Lucas said something like ¡®I need a good rival!¡¯. ¡®Ah, so that¡¯s why his face turned red.¡¯ He said that he needed a good rival, and that he had no opponents around his age, but Jude and Cordelia had run away then because they had other priorities. ¡®Ahem.¡¯ Jude faintly smiled as he faced Lucas who was looking at him. As he saw Lucas¡¯ sparkling eyes, he realized again that the other was a 16 year old boy. ¡®I can do it if it¡¯s sparring.¡¯ The question was to what extent he would be fighting against Lucas. Because it was not an exaggeration to say that the current gap between Jude and Lucas was like heaven and earth. Lucas was much stronger than Jude just two months ago, but that two months was a problem. Jude had gone through a seriously drastic change. ¡®Even Cordelia will have the upper hand when it came to their physical abilities.¡¯ Lucas would have practiced and worked hard too, but his limits were clear. He should only be around level 20 now. On the other hand, Cordelia had a level of 71. Level was a thug, and even if their professions of swordsman and wizard were widely different, Cordelia was still much stronger than him. Not by her totalbat power, but by her physical abilities alone. But Jude¡¯s physical abilities were far greater than Cordelia¡¯s. ¡®Wouldn¡¯t he be depressed if I really fight against him?¡¯ Even Red Wind who chased after Cordelia and called her unnie had a time when she cried in frustration at the difference of their skills. Lucas who was proud of his talents might end up falling into despair. ¡®Let¡¯s do it moderately.¡¯ Moderately, to a level where Lucas can foster a sense of rivalry with him. ¡°Mr. Jude¡­?¡± The fidgeting Lucas yed with his fingers as he looked at Jude with an anxious face. Lucas opened his mouth again when Jude was worrying by himself, but Jude then nodded his head. ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s have a fight when we arrive at Thunderdoom Fortress. I feel excited when I think that I¡¯ll be fighting Lord Lucas.¡± ¡°So do I! Since a long time ago¡­¡± When Lucas excitedly replied but suddenly trailed off his words, Jude smiled again. He told Lucas whose actions he found to be rather cute. ¡°The best way to improve your skills is topete with your rival.¡± ¡°Haha¡­you¡¯re right.¡± It was a line from?Biltwein the Hero. Lucas was actually aware that Jude was stronger than himself one way or another, so he was embarrassed when he said that Jude was his rival, but he was really happy when Jude considered him a rival too. His face turned redder. ¡®Cute.¡¯ Jude tried to suppress hisughter, and Lucas cleared his throat before he turned to Cordelia and said. ¡°Lady Cordelia has be more beautiful.¡± ¡°Yes, she is a real angel now.¡± She seeded in Ancestral Regression and became an angel. She had only done that in the game around the time of the 7 major cmities, so it was a huge progress. Jude spoke with a happy face, and Lucas blinked his eyes and soon had an awkward expression. ¡°Lord Lucas?¡± ¡°Yes? Ah¡­yes. That¡¯s right¡­ She is Mr. Jude¡¯s angel. Lady Cordelia.¡± Lucas awkwardlyughed, and Jude justughed along and didn¡¯t correct him. ¡°I¡¯ll see youter then.¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll see youter.¡± After they silently exchanged greetings, Lucas prodded his horse to head towards Count Hr?svelgr, and Jude looked back at their schedule. ¡®First, we¡¯ll go to Thunderdoom Fortress¡­ After that, we¡¯ll head to Langesthei via Vedrfolnir¡­ And it¡¯s important that we get the Fall Protection in the valley.¡¯ They needed to secretly meet the Fall Fairies in a valley that was in the middle of two mountains. It wasn¡¯t difficult for them to get it as Cordelia only needed to call them by singing Little Star while taking a bath. However, getting to that ce on purpose was a bit of a challenge. ¡®Well, it will work out somehow.¡¯ They could just run away for a while again. Jude thought that Adelia would immediately be angry if she heard about this. He then looked in front of him again because Cordelia was approaching him. ¡°Jude, Jude.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°You see, you see.¡± As she drew closer to Jude, Cordelia looked around her and then said in a very small voice. ¡°Unnie and brother-inw¡­they¡¯re acting strange.¡± Something was unusual. Jude turned to Adelia and Ga?l before having a lukewarm expression. Because the two were near each other and were having a pleasant chat as they looked at each other, creating a pink atmosphere around them. ¡°See? Aren¡¯t they strange?¡± It was the moment Cordelia spoke. Ga?l and Adelia took a quick look at their surroundings, brought their faces closer, and shared a very brief kiss. Just a second. The two distanced themselves after their quick kiss, and Ga?l awkwardly smiled while Adelia blushed and was at a loss on what to do. And the Jackdaws who happened to witness the scene all had the same awful expressions, while Cordelia widely opened her eyes. ¡°Ju-Jude?¡± T-they just kissed! Kissed! Jude strongly gazed at them again and frowned. There seemed to be a notable incident that caused the rtionship of the two to rapidly progress in the few days they left the wildnds and headed to Thunderdoom Fortress. ¡®Wha-what is this? What happened? What happened between you two? In just a few days?¡¯ At the time when the overly excited Cordelia sent a nce to Jude. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Huh? Do you know something? Do you know anything about it?¡± ¡°No, but your sister ising.¡± Cordelia almost fell off her horse at the time when Jude spoke, and managed to bnce herself before quickly turning her head. As Jude had said, Adelia wasing their way. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°U-unnie.¡± The two sisters had red faces, though the reasons behind it were different. Adelia nced at Jude and spoke to Cordelia again. ¡°I have something to tell you. Come with me.¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll go with you.¡± Cordelia took a peek at Jude before she moved towards Adelia, and the horses of the two sisters began to move forward beside each other. ¡®What is she going to say? No, I want to ask her more than that.¡¯ On what had happened. Cordelia waited as she tried to control her pounding heart, and Adelia spoke after taking a deep breath. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°When we return, we¡¯ll have an engagement ceremony.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Engagement ceremony? With who? At Cordelia¡¯s gaze that clearly asked what she meant, Adelia suddenly cleared her throat and said a little shamelessly. ¡°Me. Lord Ga?l and me.¡± They would have an engagement ceremony. Because a wedding was too early. There were things that had to be settled for both sides. Cordelia¡¯s eyes widened at Adelia¡¯s bombshell deration, and her mouth opened and closed like a carp. ¡°Wow, wow, wow.¡± ¡°Why? What is it? Why?¡± ¡°No, anyway, this is not right, okay? How many days have you two seen each other?¡± This is not a Disney cartoon where one falls in love as soon as they meet and agree to get married within a day! Adelia snorted and replied at Cordelia¡¯s strong argument. ¡°I¡¯ve seen him for over a month.¡± Not just a few days. It was more than a month, so several dozens of days. But Cordelia still looked unconvinced, and Adelia said as her lips quivered. ¡°All nobles get married anyway. It¡¯s rare for something like lo- lo¡­lo¡­love to develop between the two. So I have to somehow grab an opportunity like this. And it¡¯s not a shotgun marriage. We had never met much before this.¡± Adelia stuttered several times at first, but her words went smoothly at the end because of her enthusiasm. When Cordelia couldn¡¯t immediately answer at her sudden counterattack, Adelia dealt an extra blow. ¡°But now that we love each other, we cannot live without each other. You understand, right?¡± ¡°Ah, no, that¡­¡± Jude and I are not really head over heels each other¡­ Adelia thought that Cordelia was embarrassed when she hesitated, so she said with a giggle. ¡°Anyway, just know that. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Yeees.¡± ¡°Why are you looking like that? You don¡¯t like it?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s really great. Congrattions, unnie.¡± ¡°Yes, you too¡­I wish you happiness. The two of you.¡± Anyway, the two were a really well-matched pair. After Adelia smiled and stroked Cordelia¡¯s hair, she went back to Ga?l¡¯s side and Jude headed to where Adelia had been. ¡°Did she say that they were engaged?¡± ¡°Eh? Uh. How did you know?¡± ¡°There are times when I wonder if your senses are good or not. Did your senses specialize inbat only, just like that of beasts?¡± ¡°You wanna die?¡± Cordelia reflexively cursed and pouted several times before she turned to Adelia. Adelia looked so pretty and lovely while she was chatting with Ga?l. ¡®Is this for real?¡¯ She couldn¡¯t believe her sister was getting engaged. And with brother-inw Ga?l too. ¡®Engagement.¡¯ A phase before marriage. A phase where a couple would dere to the world that they would be getting married. ¡®Wow¡­¡¯ Really? We really changed the original by a lot. Unnie, unnie is getting married. She¡¯s getting married. Cordelia was in a daze as she let out oohs and aahs several times, but she suddenly realized one fact. Engagement. Marriage. ¡®Wait.¡¯ Wait, wait, wait. That one fact. In fact, her thoughts were all over the ce because she was only thinking of changing the future depicted in the game, so she forgot that one fact. The future had changed. Cordelia wasn¡¯t kidnapped by the Devil¡¯s Hand in Langesthei, and she obviously didn¡¯t went missing. Jude did not go to the north to search for his fianc¨¦, and the northern barbarians¡¯ invasion did note true. Count Bayer was alive, and Count Chase was alive too. And the results of that change. Jude and Cordelia¡¯s engagement were naturally dissolved in the original. But not now. Rather, it even became as firm as rock. Cordelia quickly looked at Jude and stared at the handsome Jude¡¯s profile. When Jude felt her gaze and turned to her side, she swiftly turned her head again and avoided his gaze. That one fact. It was ridiculous that she only remembered it now, but it was still something very important. ¡®I¡­ At this rate, won¡¯t I end up marrying Jude?¡¯ With Jude. With Outboxer009. Cordelia blinked her eyes. Her mind went nk and she couldn¡¯t think of anything else. Chapter 125 - EPISODE 125 – ENGAGEMENT CEREMONY (2)

Chapter 125 - EPISODE 125 ¨C ENGAGEMENT CEREMONY (2)

Sorry for thete release again. I¡¯ve been quite busy this past few days. The next chapter will also be long, so expect it to be released on Saturday. Hopefully, I¡¯ll be less busy by next week. Terms used in this chapter: Ax disease?¨C Korean ng in which a person believes that everybody has a crush on him/her. Marriage. She had never seriously thought about that when she was reincarnated as Cordelia or even in her time as Hong Yoo Hee in her previous life. Because both were too young to consider marriage seriously. ¡®I¡¯ve never had a proper rtionship after all!¡¯ I went to an all-girls high school after an all-girls middle school! Of course, some of my ssmates had gone on dates and such. ¡®A-anyway!¡¯ Marriage. Holding hands, hugging, ki-ki¡­ Yes, even kissing! ¡®Th-that¡­¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s face turned red. Because she remembered what Adelia had talked about just then. Something she had never thought about seriously. As if it was a faraway fantasy¡­ But it¡¯s be a reality now? And that Jude is my partner? ¡®Le-let¡¯s imagine.¡¯ Cordelia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It wasn¡¯t something she should do while on the back of a horse, but she did it anyway. ¡®Good, my mind is clear.¡¯ Cordelia first thought of Adelia and Ga?l. The sight that she had just seen. Two people who shared a quick kiss while the Jackdaws were watching them. ¡®Okay, I remembered it. So¡­¡¯ If she changed Ga?l to Jude and Adelia to herself¡­ ¡®Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!¡¯ Cordelia silently screamed. Her head went nk again, and she almost fell off her horse. But was Cordelia after all. She took pride in her ability to move her body as she pleased, which was not inferior to Jude¡¯s talent brought about by his Cheonmujiche, so she was able to quickly bnce herself and not fall off her horse. But she couldn¡¯t stop the confusion, fear, and other things from her wildly excited mind. ¡®No way, no way.¡¯ But contrary to her own will, her imagination continued. The one Adelia had said just before. The flirting the two had done. She reced it with Jude and herself, and Cordelia silently screamed once again. ¡®Aaaaaaah!¡¯ What do I do? What do I do? Her original fair looking face was nowpletely burning red. As if it would explode if she just touched it. ¡®No way, no way. That¡¯s right, that¡¯s ridiculous!¡¯ It¡¯s a delusion. An extreme delusion. Because the partner is Jude. Outboxer009! That evil b*stard who always made fun of me! That wicked b*stard who made fun of me for being bad at games from the very first time we met! ¡°Huu, huu.¡± Cordelia took slow and deep breaths, and somehow calmed her pounding heart. ¡®That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right. No way. Yes, yes, it doesn¡¯t make any sense.¡¯ Jude and me getting married. Hmph, that¡¯s ridiculous~ Yes, yes, so I don¡¯t have to worry about this~ ¡®F*ck.¡¯ Having an optimistic mindset was not easy. But Cordelia thought again after calming down her heart with one curse word. ¡®Anyway, marriage is between two people, right?¡¯ There was also the situation of the union of two families. So it was something two parties were involved in. ¡®So it¡¯s okay.¡¯ They were Jude and Cordelia. And in the future, Pleiades was going to be in a huge mess. When the 7 major cmities began, the whole world and not just the S?len Kingdom would be involved, so the future events would be so bad that it couldn¡¯t get any worse than that. Thus, there was a possibility that the engagement would somehow be dissolved. ¡®Of course, our goal is to prevent the future events from getting any worse.¡¯ Anyway, marriage was still a long way off. It was not something she should be worried about now. ¡®That¡¯s right! I¡¯m young!¡¯ She was still a minor. Of course, she was legally considered a minor, but marriages between underaged men and women were verymon in Pleaides. ¡®Good, good. Come to think of it, it¡¯s not something I should worry about alone. If it¡¯s Jude, he¡¯ll definitely find a way to do something.¡¯ If it¡¯s my Jude! ¡®Ah, how reassuring.¡¯ One way or another, she seriously felt reassured that he was on her side. After regaining her peace of mind, Cordelia raised her head and gazed at Jude¡¯s profile again. She unintentionally thought. No, she fell into thinking. ¡®Wait.¡¯ Didn¡¯t we hold hands a lot of times? It was often enough that I stopped remembering the fact that he held my hand¡­ Come to think of it, we did that today too. I think he held my hand more than 10 times today. ¡®As for the hugging¡­¡¯ When they wandered in the wildnds, they had hugged each other and slept together almost every day. Princess carry, piggyback, princess carry again. A very natural routine. ¡®Wha-what. What is this?¡¯ She was very embarrassed. Her face turned red again. ¡®N-no. It¡¯s okay. It¡¯s okay.¡¯ I didn¡¯t do it consciously. It was because of the environment. Comrade, friend. Yes, yes, something like that. Cordelia forcefully rationalized her past actions and took a deep breath before looking at Jude, but she ended up turning her head again. ¡®Damn! What¡¯s wrong with me?¡¯ Why do I only see his lips? ¡®Eueue¡­it¡¯s Adelia-unnie. Adelia-unnie filled my head with poison!¡¯ Why were you kissing in public where everyone could see you! Cordelia med Adelia for a moment, which allowed her to regain her peace of mind. ¡®Huu, good. Anyway, if I think about it logically, there¡¯s now that says that I have to marry Jude. Yes, yes, that¡¯s right.¡¯ Because the future was something no one knew. ¡®But what about Jude?¡¯ Did he question it? It¡¯s a bit annoying, but there¡¯s no way that Jude didn¡¯t think of what I had thought. Did Jude thought about getting married to me? What he did he think of when he thought about it? ¡®Wait a minute.¡¯ At that moment, Cordelia¡¯s eyes narrowed. And Cordelia recounted one by one on what had happened with Jude in the wildnds. Jude became very kind at some point. Jude was always kind to her. Jude would ask her if it was hard before giving her a piggyback. ¡®He always served me delicious food.¡¯ Hmm. Hmm. Hmmmm. Cordelia¡¯s eyes became narrower. And after a long time, she activated her woman¡¯s intuition and not her beastly intuition. ¡®Maybe¡­he likes me?¡¯ Jude likes Cordelia. ¡®Hahaha! That doesn¡¯t make sense! That¡¯s nonsense! Yes, yes, it¡¯s ridiculous. Hahaha. It¡¯s nonsense, but¡­?¡¯ Just because he was nice to her didn¡¯t mean he liked her. Maybe he¡¯s nice to me because he likes me? ¡­That¡¯s such a silly idea. ¡®Should I just ask him?¡¯ D-do you like me? Can I say that? ¡®N-no. F*ck. This is no good.¡¯ Cordelia took a deep breath again as a curse naturally came out after a long time. No matter how much she thought about it, asking him directly was too risky. ¡®That¡¯s right, and what if I was wrong?¡¯ If I ask, ¡®Do you like me?¡¯ and he answers ¡®No, I don¡¯t?¡¯ He¡¯ll seriously treat me as a patient with ax disease. ¡®No way. I can¡¯t stand that. I can¡¯t do it. I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll make fun of me for it over and over.¡¯ So she couldn¡¯t directly ask him. She needed to find another way. ¡®Okay, then let¡¯s observe and find out.¡¯ I have plenty of time to observe because we¡¯re always together. ¡®Yes, yes, that¡¯s right. I¡¯ll figure it out!¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s thoughts seemed to have seriously digressed, but in the first ce, her continuing delusions and worries was what led her to do that in order to get rid of her panic. Since she hade to a conclusion, Cordelia began to work out on a n for a while. And in the ce right next to her. Jude was unaware of Cordelia¡¯s dynamic change and her face repeatedly turning red to the point that one would be worried about her blood pressure. Because he was closely looking at something other than Cordelia¡¯s face. ¡®What a shame.¡¯ Her cat ears and tail that swayed every time she moved. It really suits her. It¡¯s so cute. But she can¡¯t go around the S?len Kingdom wearing that. ¡®It¡¯s too bad.¡¯ But I¡¯ll still keep it. Jude didn¡¯t tell Cordelia about it, but he had kept the rabbit headband and tail too. ¡®All right! I¡¯ll figure it out!¡¯ ¡®I¡¯ll ask her to wear it if an opportunityes in the future.¡¯ Cordelia and Jude were having different thoughts, and Ga?l and Adelia watched the two from a distance before they looked at each other and sweetly smiled. ¡®They really get along, right?¡¯ ¡®Of course. You¡¯re really beautiful, Adelia.¡¯ Just like always, the two were still bad at having a conversation with their eyes. And the Jackdaws all frowned when they not only saw the actions of Ga?l and Adelia but also that of Jude and Cordelia. What a nasty world. What the hell were we fighting for in the north? The march continued while everyone was lost in their thoughts, and time smoothly passed by. Two dayster. Jude and Cordelia finally saw the fortress city that the north boasted of as the strongest ¨C Thunderdoom. *** ¡°Glory be to the victorious Jackdaws!¡± ¡°Hurrah!¡± The Jackdaws weren¡¯t the only ones who lived in Thunderdoom Fortress. As a fortress city, the ordinary citizens weren¡¯t a few as tens of thousands of them were enthusiastic of the victorious return of the Jackdaws. ¡°Long live Count Hr?svelgr!¡± ¡°Whooo!¡± ¡°Long live the Jackdaws!¡± ¡°Yeaaaaah!¡± The whole fortress city was filled with a festive atmosphere. It was natural to show such an enthusiastic reaction since the Jackdaws who always guarded the border had directly crossed it and went on an expedition to the barbards for the first time and even imed victory. ¡®They only had a few festivals to begin with.¡¯ This was a fortress city that was wary of the barbarians since no one knew when they would be attacked. So there was no way they would miss this opportunity to have a festival in this ce where entertainment wascking. ¡°Our count was amazing!¡± ¡°Ha, you should have seen it. The valiant charge of thences of our Jackdaws!¡± ¡°Those guys were just a bunch of weak demon followers!¡± The Jackdaws talked about their exploits everywhere, and the Jackdaws who were unable to participate in the expedition because they had to protect the fortress were struggling in regret. There was alcohol, music, and delicious food. The night deepened. Cordelia wore a white and flowing dress after a long time, and she looked around to her left and right. ¡®They¡¯re gone.¡¯ Ga?l and Adelia. They suddenly disappeared like ghosts at some point. ¡®Eueueu¡­¡¯ What are they doing that they had to leave? Cordelia tried to calm herself as her face turned red, before she threw a sharp gaze at her target. Jude Bayer. Cordelia¡¯s own fianc¨¦ who was sharing a ss of juice with Lucas instead of a ss of alcohol. ¡®Let¡¯s sound him out.¡¯ Not to the point of¡­seduction, but anyway, let¡¯s find out if he likes me or not! Cordelia steeled her mind and headed to Jude with a pounding heart. But when she got closer, the atmosphere between Jude and Lucas was strange. ¡°May I ask you for the favor?¡± ¡°You mean now?¡± ¡°Yes, I know it¡¯s a rude request¡­but I can¡¯t wait any longer. All I can think of is Mr. Jude.¡± ¡®What?!¡¯ Thest one was Cordelia, and fortunately, she only shouted in her mind. ¡®W-what? Lucas only thinks of Jude?¡¯ Why? Why is that? N-no way? Around the time when Cordelia¡¯s delusional thoughts were about to run wild¡­ Jude stood up and called Cordelia. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Huh? Ah! Yes!¡± Cordelia quickly replied and ran to Jude who then said with a slightly awkward smile. ¡°Lord Lucas has asked me to spar with him¡­so we¡¯re thinking of going to the training area now.¡± ¡°Spar? Ah! Sparring! Aha, so it was like that, huh?¡± What a relief. Jude was puzzled when Cordelia sighed in relief, but he soon went back to the main topic. ¡°Moving on, since we¡¯re going to the training area, would you like to go with us there?¡± Cordelia immediately nodded at Jude¡¯s suggestion. ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll go. Can Ie with you, Lord Lucas?¡± ¡°No problem.¡± Lucas responded with a slightly stiff face. Not because he was dissatisfied with Cordeliaing along, but because he was nervous about the fact that he was going to spar with Jude. ¡°Let¡¯s go then.¡± Jude said with a smile as he naturally took Cordelia¡¯s hand and began to escort her. Cordelia would have normally walked without thinking, but her eyes narrowed for a moment. And Lucas followed behind the two. ¡®I think I¡¯ll go easy on him.¡¯ ¡®You mean you¡¯ll easily defeat him?¡¯ ¡®Easily defeat? Is Lucas a mob?¡¯ ¡®Eh? Oh, Lucas. Umm. Go easy on him, do it gently.¡¯ The two had a conversation with their eyes for some time. The three then arrived at the training area located in the basement of Thunderdoom Fortress. There was also an outdoor training area, but he didn¡¯t want their match to be seen by others. ¡®This would be better for Lucas.¡¯ He said he would go easy, but Lucas was still a sword genius. Lucas would notice it if he didn¡¯t seriously fight. So he must go easy but not hide his strength at the same time. And if that happened¡­ ¡®Lucas will be crushed.¡¯ It would be quite a mess. So he couldn¡¯t let others see it. They had to spar in a quiet ce. ¡®I hope it will be a chance for him to break from his shell.¡¯ That was what they did to Red Wind. She cried and was frustrated by their difference in power, but she soon got up and trained harder. The magic sphere lighted up the darkness. Lucas stood on the stone floor of the training area and took a deep breath. ¡®I¡¯m going.¡¯ ¡®Good luck. Fighting!¡¯ Cordelia spontaneously cheered with her eyes before she went to a corner, and Jude headed to Lucas. But it was the moment when the two faced each other. They sensed the presence of someone. They hadn¡¯t felt it until now, but they suddenly felt a strong presence at that moment. Jude and Lucas reflexively turned and saw Count Hr?svelgr standing on one side of the training area. One of the ten swordmasters of the S?len Kingdom. Lucas¡¯ father and a user of the Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword. ¡°Do not mind me. Just start.¡± He spoke in a low voice and stood next to Cordelia who unconsciously flinched and looked at Jude. And Jude had a bitter smile. This was Thunderdoom Fortress. Since it was the nest of the Jackdaws, it was impossible to do something without Count Hr?svelgr knowing about it. ¡®Count Hr?svelgr.¡¯ One of the Northern Sagang. A swordsman at his peak who was said to be evenly matched with Count Bayer. Does he want topare Lucas and me, or perhaps he wants to gauge the power of Count Bayer through me? ¡®Maybe it¡¯s just pure curiosity.¡¯ Jude got rid of theplicated thoughts that filled his mind. Lucas and Count Hr?svelgr were both their allies. Especially Lucas who was like a pure child. So it would be better to think of it as pure curiosity. ¡°Shall we begin?¡± Lucas was startled at Jude¡¯s question. He was already nervous so when Count Hr?svelgr appeared, he seemed to havepletely frozen. But he was still Lucas. As one of the best yable characters with a talent for the sword, his mood changed when he held his sword. His shook off his tension with one breath. ¡°Let¡¯s begin.¡± Lucas said, and Jude clenched his fists after worrying a bit. He wrapped his arms with the energy of the ck dragon and then faced Lucas. A spar with Lucas. And perhaps the next person would be- ¡®Count Hr?svelgr.¡¯ Jude cut off his thoughts. With a cry, he raised his fist and rushed towards Lucas. Chapter 126 - EPISODE 126 – ENGAGEMENT CEREMONY (3)

Chapter 126 - EPISODE 126 ¨C ENGAGEMENT CEREMONY (3)

The chapter is finally here. And I¡¯m finally free now, so chapters will be released in its usual release schedule starting on Monday. Terms used in this chapter: Dynamic vision?¨C the ability of the eye to visually discern the fine details of a moving object. Equal breathing?¨C a breathing technique where inhtion and exhtion have the same/equal duration. It is a yoga technique that helps in lowering stress and calming the mind and body. Beyond the skies?¨C an expression that means something is so high or great that it is higher than the sky. Sword and fist. Jude could fight using both, but the truth was, he was not properly trained in either. ¡®Because I was born with Gueumjulmaek.¡¯ ¡®Jude Bayer¡¯ never properly learned any martial arts until he was 17. Training with a body that couldn¡¯t even exercise every day was like a death wish. But after he got the Sun¡¯s Ne, the symptoms of his Gueumjulmaek weakened and he became able to fight quite well. He also passed the Bayer family¡¯s test and didn¡¯t have much difficulty in using techniques and skills when he fought against monsters. And the reason was simple. ¡®I learned some techniques in my previous life.¡¯ Kang Jin-ho lived in the modern times, so what was called ¡®swordsmanship¡¯ there was the knife fighting he learned a little. But it was a different situation for ¡®fist technique¡¯ ¨C or more precisely, ¡®bare-handedbat.¡¯ Because Kang Jin-ho had the experience of learning various martial arts that were utilized in kickboxing. ¡®Of course, that doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯ll be fighting that way.¡¯ The martial arts that one could learn in Pleiades enabled humans to move in superhuman ways, and it was also possible to materialize a destructive force that could not be created with ordinary martial arts. The opponents were also monsters or demonic humans, and not the same human beings, so he had no choice but to fight in a different way from modern martial arts. ¡®But even if that is so.¡¯ ¡®Kang Jin-ho¡¯ was a man who was good at bare-handedbat, so ¡®Jude¡¯ naturally continued to fight with his bare fists rather than using a sword. He used a sword from time to time, but he mainly used his fists. ¡®So I¡¯ll be using my fists.¡¯ It was possible for him to fight with a sword too. Jude and Lucas had an enormous difference in physical abilities, so it was possible for him to win with just a sword. But he didn¡¯t want to do that. ¡®He can tell.¡¯ Lucas was a genius of the sword. He had been training with swords for a long time, so he developed eyes that could tell his opponent¡¯s strength. ¡®Lucas knows it too.¡¯ The fact that he was no match for Jude. But nevertheless, he challenged Jude. Even though he knew that he would lose, even if he knew that he would get beaten. ¡®So I¡¯ll do it seriously.¡¯ I¡¯ll sincerely respond to your sincerity. He obviously didn¡¯t mean that he would use his full strength to defeat Lucas, but he at least wouldn¡¯t fight Lucas carelessly. ¡°Haa!¡± Lucas¡¯ yell cut off his thoughts. No, Jude¡¯s focus was already on Lucas in the first ce. Lucas¡¯ movement. The trajectory drawn by his sword. Jude naturally calcted it. He read Lucas¡¯ next move and intention based on the information he obtained by using not only the visual information but also his five senses. And he responded to it. His body had be so powerful that it couldn¡¯t evenpare to the days when he was Kang Jin-ho. His muscr strength, agility, endurance, and so on were already on the level of a superhuman, and his reflexes and dynamic vision were also iparable. Add to that was his Cheonmujiche. His heavenly talent for martial arts made it possible for him to analyze his opponent by just looking at his opponent¡¯s sword. Lucas swung his sword. Jude avoided the sword with minimal movement. By doing so, he prated into that gap and threw a punch. -ng! Lucas¡¯ sword blocked Jude¡¯s fist. To be exact, he hastily pulled his sword halfway to forcefully block Jude¡¯s fist which was close to hitting him. Either way, he managed to defend himself. Lucas took a step back and Jude chased him. ng! ng! ng! Sharp sounds burst as the sword and fist collided. Lucas with his sword had a far better advantage in terms of reach, but itsplete advantage didn¡¯t work on Jude. Jude¡¯s arms that were covered with the ck dragon¡¯s energy continuously blocked Lucas¡¯ sword, and Lucas got cold sweats from Jude¡¯s kick attack which he rarely experienced fighting against. ¡®He¡¯s barely holding his ground.¡¯ Cordelia thought as her eyes narrowed. If Jude increased his speed a bit more, Lucas would lose a bit of his concentration and¡­ ¡®It would end at once.¡¯ Jude knew it, and Lucas knew it. And Count Hr?svelgr knew it too. ¡®Unbelievable.¡¯ Count Hr?svelgr was a warrior too. He was apetitive man, so he was quite interested in Count Bayer, who was considered as one of his best rivals by people everywhere. Therefore, he was familiar with Jude. Not so long ago, Jude was a child who couldn¡¯t even go outside as he pleased because of his Gueumjulmaek. But the current Jude was beating Lucas, who the famed sword genius himself, Count Hr?svelgr, admitted as having more talent than himself in his youth. It was like a fight between an adult and a child. Perhaps the difference was even more than that. ¡®How odd.¡¯ Is it possible to have such an explosive growth in just a few months? Did Count Bayer deceive everyone by saying that his son had an illness? ¡®No, that¡¯s not important.¡¯ The important thing was the fact that Jude¡¯s skills were real and different from what was known in the past. ¡®I want to see it.¡¯ Jude¡¯s real skills. The greatest power he could exhibit. ng! Lucas¡¯ stance copsed along with the loud sound. The sword that could not withstand the onught of Jude rolled on the floor, and Jude¡¯s fist stopped right in front of Lucas¡¯ chest. Lucas exhaled a rough breath. But he looked at Jude and held his breath. He dered it after he clenched his teeth for some time as he suppressed his emotions. ¡°I lost.¡± ¡°It was a good match.¡± When Jude withdrew his fist, Lucas sank on the floor. At the moment he dered his defeat, the tension on his legs ¨C no, his whole body loosened. ¡®I lost.¡¯ He knew that he was going to lose, but he had lost for real now. And he confirmed it. The absolute gap between them. ¡®At least one or two months.¡¯ The time when Lucas himself did not see Jude. In that time, Jude achieved a seriously tremendous growth. ¡°Haha¡­hahaha¡­¡± Is this what frustration is? Is this what despair is like? He was born as a genius, so he had never felt something like this before. He was shattered by the overwhelming gap that he couldn¡¯t even feel like he would ever catch up to Jude. ¡°Lucas, get up.¡± Lucas¡¯ body involuntarily stiffened upon hearing the voice behind him. He forced himself to stand up. ¡°Good job. You¡¯ve improved.¡± Lucas was stunned at the words of Count Hr?svelgr. But Count Hr?svelgr was telling the truth. Lucas had naturally be more skilled than what he had previously seen. ¡°I¡¯ll talk more about itter. Take a break for now.¡± ¡°Yes, father.¡± Lucas obediently responded this time before he headed to the side. Only then did he saw the restless Cordelia standing alone that he realized that Jude and Count Hr?svelgr were left in the training area and facing each other. ¡®Father?¡¯ Lucas turned around and upon seeing Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s eyes, he realized it. His father had a serious look. ¡°Can we have a match, if it¡¯s all right with you?¡± Count Hr?svelgr said, and Jude bitterly smiled. He had expected this to happen, and now that it became real, he couldn¡¯t help but feel pressured. ¡®Still, this is also an opportunity.¡¯ Count Hr?svelgr was a considerably strong man even in the entire Pleaides. After all, he was one of the best in the S?len Kingdom, and one of the continent¡¯s strongest. ¡®The so-called swordmaster.¡¯ A swordsman, a great swordmaster. How many times would I have a chance to fight against the sword of a swordsman at his level? ¡®Of course, there will be many opportunities when I arrive home.¡¯ After calming himself a bit with his idle thoughts, Jude did some equal breathing before he nodded his head. He turned to Cordelia at that moment. ¡®I¡¯ll do it.¡¯ ¡®Are you sure?¡¯ Their conversation with their eyes was almost like telepathy. Jude clenched his fist, and Cordelia repeatedly stamped her feet before deeply sighing. She likewise clenched her fists and looked at Jude. ¡®Hit him once if you¡¯re going to do it! Okay?¡¯ ¡®If it¡¯s possible.¡¯ ¡®No, it¡¯s not?if it¡¯s possible. You must seriously do it!¡¯ ¡®Okay.¡¯ Cordelia widely smiled after being satisfied with Jude¡¯s answer, and Jude was pleased too. He faced Count Hr?svelgr again and said. ¡°It would be an honor.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s begin then.¡± Count Hr?svelgr held up a wooden sword, and Jude took a long breath before getting into position. ¡®It¡¯s quite the opposite now.¡¯ The opposite of his spar with Lucas. No, perhaps it was more than that. Jude ended his smile and erased his useless thoughts. He focused on Count Hr?svelgr and then charged at some point. Bang! A sudden noise. And countless sounds resounded one after another. Jude poured a barrage of fierce attacks, and Count Hr?svelgr stopped all his attacks. He ignored, blocked, or sometimes avoided it. ¡®He used his battle aura.¡¯ Count Hr?svelgr used his battle aura for Jude. So that Jude could seriously give it his all. Booooooom! The energy of the four ck dragons jumped from Jude¡¯s hands. The surface of Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s sword was filled with a faint glow, and a pure white aura soon appeared on his de. Lucas even forgot to breathe as he watched the fight of the two. Count Hr?svelgr stopped defending from Jude¡¯s attacks. As soon as Jude¡¯s energy reached its peak, Count Hr?svelgr began his attack at that moment. A straight downward cut. It was a simple attack but was hard to block or avoid. Jude saw the downward cut rushing before him. He couldn¡¯t even think on what he should do, so he just moved frantically. He evaded the sword attack by gaining distance as far as possible. He couldn¡¯t do anything else except to step backwards. But it was just the beginning. Count Hr?svelgr took a step forward. Jude had tried his best to evade but he didn¡¯t manage to get far away yet, so Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s one step immediately closed the distance between them. And his sword struck again. It was an ordinary horizontal sh this time. No, it was by no means ordinary. Jude realized it at some point. ¡®Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword.¡¯ Count Hr?svelgr was now using the Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword. An invisible flow of Qi energy was incorporated into the Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword with his every move. ¡®As expected of a great swordmaster.¡¯ It continued. Each of his small movements embodied the Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword. A smile spread over Jude¡¯s face. He had no choice but to do that. Several more sword attacks assailed Jude. Each time he evaded, blocked, and ignored the attacks, Jude¡¯s movement increasingly became more unstable. Cordelia was feeling amazed and distressed at the same time. She was happy that she witnessed Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s swordsmanship that was close to a superhuman skill, but it was very distressful for her to see Jude being driven into a corner. Moreover, Cordelia could see it. The next attack would be thest. Jude would bepletely defeated by the Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword with the next attack. ¡®I hate it.¡¯ She knew it was unreasonable, but she still hated it. She did not want to see it. Because he was Jude. Because he was Outboxer009. Because he was the guy who always wanted to be number one. Cordelia grit her teeth. With clenched fists, she wished and wished again. She stubbornly wished and prayed for Jude. And at some point. When Count Hr?svelgr finally raised his sword for thest attack. ¡°Eh?¡± Cordelia unknowingly uttered. Because she saw it. Because her talent for skipping the process and grasping the results had informed her. Something unusual. Something that broke the natural flow. The corners of Cordelia¡¯s mouth were raised. She saw the eyes of Jude, and brightly smiled again. She calmed her pounding heart and cried out in her mind. ¡®Jude!¡¯ Bang! Jude stepped on the ground. He observed Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s sword. It was still iparable. An insurmountable wall. But something changed. No, Jude himself made it happen. ¡®Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword.¡¯ He caught a glimpse of it from Lucas. He felt it through Count Hr?svelgr. And he could tell. It was the same as the martial arts of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. That it was a martial art that once walked along the same path as the other. But that was not the important thing. Jude could feel it. He sensed the Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword itself. Cheonmujiche. The incarnation of martial arts from the heavens. Something added to that. Nine heavens and nine worlds. The power of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors that could flow into all things, as it epassed the entire heavens and earth. He was not conscious of it. His body had naturally moved at some point. He wondered if this was the world Cordelia usually saw. No, he was wrong. Because Jude was still making calctions at that moment. Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s sword was perfect. So he tweaked it. He twisted the path of the sword. All he needed then was power. The strong energy that rose was something that Jude himself had yet to use, and it caused Count Hr?svelgr to be confused. Bang! Cordelia witnessed it. Jude kicked the ground strongly. He shifted his center of gravity at once, clenched his fist, and reproduced what he saw and felt into a mnemonic chant of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword. Sage King¡¯s Cross Strike. The dragon¡¯s energy gathered in Jude¡¯s fist. Count Hr?svelgr was flustered at that moment. Because he understood at the very moment he saw it. And Jude¡¯s attack burst. It crushed Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s attack! Shwaaa-! The cross of the Sage King, which was the symbol of the Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword, was drawn in the air. Count Hr?svelgr was pushed back, and his attack became useless. But it was just a moment. Count Hr?svelgr swung his sword again. It broke and destroyed Jude¡¯s cross at once, and by the time Jude raised his head, his sword had already touched Jude¡¯s neck. The conclusion. The match was decided. Jude was defeated. But Cordelia jumped from her spot and liked it, while Lucas couldn¡¯t close his open mouth. Count Hr?svelgr also let out a short and rough breath. ¡°I lost.¡± Jude said, and Count Hr?svelgr withdrew his sword. And he swallowed the words that seemed toe out of his mouth. ¡®How.¡¯ He already knew the answer. Jude didn¡¯t steal the secret of the Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword, nor did Count Bayer study the Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword for a long time. ¡®Cheonmu¡­jiche.¡¯ The incarnation of martial arts from the heavens. No, it wasn¡¯t just that. There was more to Jude than that. ¡®He¡¯s a monster.¡¯ Laughter flowed out unknowingly. They said thatughteres out when one faces an absurd situation, and that seemed to be true. ¡®No, no. It¡¯s not just that.¡¯ His heart was pounding. He was excited to see on how much this guy in front of him would grow, and how he wouldpete with himself in the future. ¡°It was fun. You can go back now and rest. If you need it, I¡¯ll send someone to assist you.¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright. Instead¡­I¡¯ll take a rest at the training area before heading back.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s do that then.¡± Count Hr?svelgr returned the wooden sword instead of saying anything more and headed to Lucas who was still nkly staring. He lightly patted his shoulder to bring Lucas to his senses before they went out of the training area together. ¡°Haa.¡± Jude exhaled and fell to the floor. ¡°Haaaa.¡± He lied down on his back and stretched out his whole body. ¡®Is this the power of one of the ten swordmasters?¡¯ Neither Landius nor Kamael had ever shown a real sword in front of Jude. The same was true for Count Bayer. But Count Hr?svelgr showed him the real sword just now. ¡®It¡¯s really like the sky.¡¯ There was a reason why they use the phrase, ¡®beyond the skies.¡¯ But he continued to smile for some reason. I¡¯ll be able to reach it someday. I¡¯ll rise to a higher level. ¡®It¡¯s been a long time.¡¯ In the past, Kang Jin-ho devoted himself into training for some time because he just liked the fact that he would get stronger. ¡°What, what is it? Why are you snickering? Have you gone mad?¡± ¡°Why are you snickering too then?¡± ¡°Hehehe.¡± Cordelia approached Jude and sat by his side before she giggled again. ¡°Is my Jude stronger now?¡± ¡°I have to be strong, so that I can protect my princess.¡± ¡°Oh my, I¡¯m so proud of you. As a prize, I¡¯ll help you up. You¡¯ll catch a cold if you sleep in this ce.¡± Cordelia shamelessly spoke like Jude before she helped him up and supported him. ¡°Ugh, the smell of sweat.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem, I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°No, that¡­it¡¯s okay.¡± It was not as bad as she thought. Cordelia walked as she supported Jude who had unexpectedly grown 10 cm taller than her, and Jude leaned on her as he was out of it for a while. After all, he was tired. And that was why Jude didn¡¯t notice it. Cordelia was staring at the side of his face. ¡®He¡¯s¡­handsome?¡¯ No, he was rather cool? She could see him covered in sweat, and she roughly breathed too. ¡®Wh-what¡¯s going on?¡¯ I¡¯m strangely looking at him again and again. I keep thinking that he¡¯s cool. My heart keeps pounding. ¡°Corde¡­lia?¡± ¡°Huh? Ye-yes. Let¡¯s hurry.¡± Cordelia smiled and increased her pace as she diligently moved forward, while Jude tilted his head once but didn¡¯t question her anymore. He leaned against Cordelia as they walked together. *** Two dayster. With Count Chase in the lead, Jude¡¯s party left Thunderdoom Fortress. Count Hr?svelgr and Lucas came out to see them off, and Jude was able to face Count Hr?svelgr after two days had passed from that day. ¡°I hope that it would help in your path.¡± He was referring to the Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword that Jude had partly learned. Jude responded with a smile, and Lucas stood in front of him. ¡°Mr. Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Lord Lucas.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve began to learn the Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword from my father since yesterday.¡± He was already learning about it, but the idea was different this time. It was beyond the idea of simply learning the family¡¯s martial arts, as he had begun his training to be the martial art¡¯s official sessor. ¡°Congrattions.¡± ¡°Thank you. And this is presumptuous of me¡­but I¡¯ll definitely catch up.¡± Lucas¡¯ face was burning red. Because of his shame. He knew better than anyone else the difference in skill between Jude and himself. Jude looked into Lucas¡¯ eyes. And then he smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll look forward to it. I also want to have a good rival.¡± His words were cringey, and it might had sound sarcastic in some way, but Jude didn¡¯t think so. Jude¡¯s words were sincere, and he had nothing more to say than this to boost Lucas¡¯ spirit. ¡°I¡¯ll work harder.¡± ¡°Then, I¡¯ll look forward to it again.¡± Jude and Lucas shook hands, and their farewell ended as Count Hr?svelgr happily watched the two. And after their party had traveled quite far¡­ Adelia sat under the tree during their break, and she stared at Cordelia with eyes full of annoyance. ¡°What is it? What do you want?¡± ¡°Unnie, aren¡¯t you overreacting?¡± ¡°Because you¡¯re interfering with my time with Lord Ga?l. It¡¯s difficult for us to have some time alone.¡± ¡°You¡¯re always together! How is that difficult!¡± ¡°What about you? Don¡¯t you know that feeling of wanting to see each other even if you can see each other? I¡¯ve heard that you asked everyone to let the two of you have some time alone even though you¡¯re always together with Jude.¡± ¡°N-no. T-that is¡­¡± ¡°What do you mean ¡®no¡¯? You¡¯re quite a?cheeky?little girl.¡± At Adelia¡¯s rebuke, Cordelia was speechless and thumped on her chest. No, you¡¯re the one who¡¯s flirtatious. Unnie, you¡¯re the one who¡¯s really flirtatious! You were kissing in front of everyone! (T/N: The Korean word ¡®balng-kkajida¡¯ (?????) can both mean ¡®flirtatious¡¯ and ¡®cheeky.¡¯ Adelia and Cordelia used the word in a way that both meanings can be applied.) ¡°I¡¯m an adult.¡± You¡¯re still a minor, Cordelia. Adelia counterattacked, and Cordelia was left speechless again at her attack that was a fact. ¡°By the way, what were you going to say?¡± ¡°I-I, I have a question.¡± ¡°What is it? Are you asking on what it feels like when you kiss?¡± ¡°N-no, it¡¯s not?! I¡¯m not curious about that at all, okay?!¡± ¡°R-really?¡± ¡°I-I might be a little curious¡­ A-anyway! What I¡¯m curious about is something else!¡± Adelia smiled as she saw the blushing Cordelia who objected. Because it seemed like Cordelia hadn¡¯t kissed yet based on her reaction. ¡®Because you¡¯re still a child.¡¯ Your rtionship is still wholesome. ¡®I¡¯m an adult.¡¯ Adelia was pleased again before she shrugged once and asked. ¡°Okay, what are you curious about then?¡± ¡°That is¡­¡± ¡°That?¡± ¡°W-when did unnie know?¡± ¡°About what?¡± ¡°That brother-inw Ga?l likes you.¡± Adelia¡¯s face turned red at Cordelia¡¯s question. ¡°W-why are you asking?¡± ¡°N-no¡­I just want to know a bit¡­¡± The sisters resembled each other as they blushed and fidgeted, and Adelia eventually opened her mouth. ¡°Ahem, ahem, you see.¡± ¡°Yes, yes.¡± ¡°That¡­at some point¡­I noticed it. When we looked into each other¡¯s eyes. Ah¡­I love this person. And¡­this person loves me too.¡± ¡°What? Did you just feel it at some point?¡± ¡°Yes, at some moment. I can only express it like that.¡± ¡°Eueue¡­I can¡¯t use that as reference. If I do it that way¡­¡± I mean, there was no such moment when we looked at each other. But that doesn¡¯t mean that Jude doesn¡¯t like me, right? ¡°Is it because of Jude?¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­yes.¡± ¡°How odd. You two are head over heels in love with each other.¡± ¡°I-it¡¯s not like that¡­¡± ¡°Come up with an excuse that makes sense. Anyway¡­perhaps it¡¯s because you¡¯ve been together for so long?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°No, I mean¡­it¡¯s be too natural. For the two of you.¡± ¡°I-is that so?¡± ¡°Maybe?¡± Adelia shrugged and stood up as she brushed off the dirt. ¡°Now then, I¡¯m going to Lord Ga?l. Stay strong too.¡± Adelia giggled with a blushing face as she quickly walked in her happiness to see Ga?l, and Cordelia blinked her eyes. ¡®How can a person change that much?¡¯ Cordelia herself seemed to be somehow a bit embarrassed by her sister¡¯s actions these days. ¡®Anyway, she looked into his eyes and felt it, right?¡¯ Okay, the eyes. I¡¯ll look into his eyes. I¡¯m confident if it¡¯s that. Cordelia clenched her fists and stood up from her seat. And five dayster. The party led by Count Chase finally reached Langesthei. Chapter 127 - EPISODE 127 – ENGAGEMENT CEREMONY (4)

Chapter 127 - EPISODE 127 ¨C ENGAGEMENT CEREMONY (4)

Upon their arrival at Langesthei, the party came to stay at the luxury amodation they had previously stayed. ¡°Go and take some rest.¡± As soon as he unpacked the luggage in his room, Count Chase left the ce with Ga?l and Adelia. It was to greet the important people in Langesthei, including Sir Barua, the knightmander of the Order of the Blue Lion that were in charge of the security in Langesthei. ¡°Don¡¯t cause trouble, okay? Do you understand?¡± ¡°Okay, okay. We aren¡¯t kids, okay?¡± ¡°Uh, you¡¯re a child. You also have a record of running away several times.¡± Cordelia pouted at Adelia¡¯s perfect and sudden counterattack that were facts, so she couldn¡¯t defend herself, but Jude¡¯s situation with Ga?l was slightly different. ¡°Please give my regards to him.¡± ¡°Yes, I will.¡± Jude and Cordelia were slightly acquainted with Sir Barua, the knightmander of the Order of the Blue Lion. It would originally seem sensible if Jude went too and greeted him together. But¡­ ¡°Just stay quiet for a while.¡± ¡°Yes, brother.¡± Jude and Cordelia were embarrassed to show their faces everywhere due to their midnight love escapade that caused a stir in the entire northern part of the S?len Kingdom. So it was better to be quiet for a while like Ga?l had said. ¡°Don¡¯t do anything weird just because the two of you are alone, okay? Do you understand?¡± ¡°I understand!¡± Cordelia answered without hiding her slight annoyance, and Adelia smiled before she immediately approached Ga?l and held his arm. ¡°Let¡¯s go then, Lord Ga?l.¡± ¡°Yes, Lady Adelia.¡± Ga?l slightlyughed before he escorted Adelia, and Count Chase quietly watched them before he left with a very small smile. And the two were now left alone. ¡°Ah, seriously. I get the chills when I see them looking at each other.¡± ¡°Why? They¡¯re cute.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not cute at all. It¡¯s my sister and not anyone else, okay?¡± Cordelia frowned, and Jude snickered before he extended his hand to her. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I mean, we have to go too. Now that the two of us are left, we have to settle the work that we¡¯ve put off.¡± ¡°Work that we put off? I mean, when it¡¯s just the two of us alone?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s because only the two of us are left. Let¡¯s go quickly.¡± Jude replied with a smile and grabbed Cordelia¡¯s hand as if snatching it, and Cordelia blinked her eyes as her cheeks flushed. ¡®What is it? What, what, what is it?¡¯ There¡¯s something we have to do since the two of us are alone? Cordelia was now 17 years old, and just like children her age, she was brimming with curiosity and imagination. And that was why she had some unusual delusions in the short period of time when they headed from the lobby on the 1st?floor to Jude¡¯s room on the 3rd?floor. ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± ¡°W-wait. My heart isn¡¯t ready yet¡­¡± Cordelia reflexively spoke, but Jude was indifferent as he opened the door. She hesitated but entered the room when Jude pulled her by hand. And around 30 secondster¡­ ¡°Tsk.¡± ¡°Cordelia?¡± Cordelia frowned and pouted her lips when Jude asked her. What is this, this unexinable feeling of disappointment. ¡®No, what I mean is¡­I had a feeling this would happen. It would have been awkward and difficult if it wasn¡¯t.¡¯ Various items were nicely arranged in a row on the bed in Jude¡¯s room. ¡°Because settlement and organization are essential.¡± Jude said with glistening eyes, and Cordelia sighed before nodding. ¡°Fine, let¡¯s organize everything together.¡± ¡°Okay. First of all, I arranged the items we used a lot.¡± Jude said with a bright face as if he was someone who originally liked to organize items like this, and he pointed to the object on the far left of the bed. ¡°First is Moonlight. I¡¯ve removed the Snow Queen¡¯s core, but Melissa is still there. It¡¯s still enough for you to use as your primary weapon.¡± ¡°But we still need to upgrade it once, right?¡± ¡°It will be possible once we get to the royal capital. If we participate in Medb¡¯s auction house, we¡¯ll be able to get better items.¡± Medb¡¯s auction house was thergest auction house located in the royal capital of the S?len Kingdom. It was a must to stop by at that ce when one goes to the royal capital because there were various sub-quests avable there. ¡°Next is the Heavenly Judgment?¡± ¡°Yes, I thought about giving it to Lena¡­but we also need a trump card.¡± Cordelia had just be a ninth rank angel, so she could not draw out the full power of the Heavenly Judgment. But it was too precious to hand it over to Lena. ¡°You just need to raise your rank. My princess, work hard, okay?¡± ¡°Yes, Daddy. Just give me lots of pocket money.¡± Cordelia replied before looking at the Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword that was lying next to the Heavenly Judgment. ¡°Jude, will you go the swordsmanship route?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll think about it when we return home.¡± Jude was thinking of changing his job from bare-handed fighter to knight, but he changed his mind again after opening the fourth door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. The power of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors could be ced in everything under the heavens and earth, but the most natural way to unleash its power was the fist and leg techniques with a pure body as its foundation. ¡°But I have no intention of giving up this sword. I can use it for its killer technique.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s true.¡± After all, the lethal skill of the Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword, Hell¡¯s Blood sh, felt like shooting a pistol. ¡®Because there are many swords with built-in lethal moves.¡¯ He had enough reasons to carry the sword even if he didn¡¯t use it as his main weapon. Cordelia herself didn¡¯t use a sword, but she still carried the Heavenly Judgment. ¡°Then your main weapon is the gauntlet?¡± ¡°It will be for the time being.¡± The gauntlet he obtained from Frost Anvil was remodeled by the cksmiths in the wildnds. It also contained the power of the wild gods, so it could be used as his main weapon for a while. ¡®I think I¡¯ll change this once I go to the royal capital.¡¯ He felt a little sorry for the wild gods, but he couldn¡¯t help it. One of the pleasures of ying RPG was to change to the highest level equipment every time one went to a new town. ¡°We can use the divine items of the wild gods for a long time in the future, right?¡± ¡°Because they¡¯re highly useful tools.¡± de Song¡¯s divine items ¨C the Cozy 1-pyeong and the ck Wolf Skin. Great Storm¡¯s divine item ¨C the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow. As Jude had said, these items were highly useful and would be helpful even if they became stronger than they were now. ¡°Next is¡­¡± Cordelia smiled and turned her gaze to the side before her eyes suddenly narrowed. Jude coughed and feigned ignorance. ¡°Hey, Mister Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Miss Cordelia.¡± ¡°What is this?¡± ¡°It¡¯s useful equipment.¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyes grew even narrower, and Jude¡¯s coughing increased a bit. The rabbit set and cat set were boldly ced among the items that they needed to take in the future. There were no problems in wearing it in the wildnds since many people wore simr equipment there but wearing it in the S?len Kingdom was actually courageous in itself. ¡°Are you telling me to wear this?¡± ¡°No, but wouldn¡¯t it be useful someday if you had it?¡± Jude took a peek at Cordelia¡¯s face, and Cordelia quietly stared at Jude with almost closed eyes now. A few seconds passed like that. ¡°Ahem, ahem, let¡¯s move on to the next.¡± Jude coughed again and pointed to the items ced next to the rabbit and cat sets. ¡°Magen¡¯s ancient artifacts that we got from the wild fairies are for enhancing the power of attributes, so it would be better to carry everything with you even if it¡¯s a little ufortable.¡± ¡°Ahem.¡± Cordelia¡¯s gaze was still on the rabbit set, and Jude hastily pointed to the things next to him. ¡°The next are the items your father gave to me. Most of them are for me to consume, but¡­ Cordelia, there are items that may help you, so I arranged them here first.¡± Numerous drugs filled half of the spacious bed. Most of them were items to increase Jude¡¯s physical strength, but Cordelia didn¡¯t highly desire any of it. But only one, there was only one that bothered her. ¡°Eh? Why isn¡¯t that here?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I mean, you know, what my dad gave to youst time. What he gave you to eatter.¡± Cordelia spoke while her hands moved and drew the shape of a box, and Jude unconsciously flinched and cleared his throat as he said. ¡°Ahem, ahem, I¡¯ll eat itter as your father had said¡­¡± ¡°What was that?¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem, it¡¯s that kind of drug. Kids don¡¯t need to know about it.¡± ¡°Hey, aren¡¯t you a kid too? You and I are of the same age.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t because you can¡¯t even guess it at this point. I¡¯ll tell youter.¡± Having said so far, Jude tightly shut his mouth, and Cordelia puffed her cheeks in dissatisfaction, but didn¡¯t pry any further. She knew well that once he shut his mouth in that way, he wouldn¡¯t open it no matter what. ¡°Tsk, tsk, tsk¡­ Anyway, are these all the items?¡± ¡°Yes, there are some trivial stuff but¡­they¡¯re not something that we¡¯ll continue to use in the future. These are all we need to take when we go to the royal capital.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­Then we should prepare some defensive armor first. Even if it¡¯s not armor.¡± ¡°It can¡¯t be helped. Light armor suits you and me rather than heavy armor, so we should try to get it once we arrive there.¡± Since Count Chase joined them, Jude and Cordelia were wearing clothes that were appropriate for a noble young master anddy. It looked good but was ufortable, and the clothes didn¡¯t even have any defensive features. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s move on to checking our abilities. Do you remember our levels?¡± ¡°Of course. I¡¯m 71. You¡¯re 70.¡± Cordelia grinned and even shed a V-sign with her fingers, and Jude clicked his tongue as he said. ¡°Do you?like?it?¡± ¡°Yes, yes, you¡¯re~?not?good.¡± After all, she beat Jude or Outboxer009. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m?so good. I¡¯ll reverse it soon.¡± (T/N: These two love their puns. ¡®Like¡¯ and ¡®good¡¯ are the same word in Korean. On the other hand, mu (?) can mean ¡®not¡¯ and ¡®so,¡¯ thus, ¡®not good¡¯ can also be read as ¡®so good.¡¯) ¡°What are you talking about? Your level is lower than mine. Can¡¯t you hear my words well because you¡¯re a low level loser?¡± Cordelia trembled her shoulders in excitement, and Jude clenched his teeth. He remembered the day when he first met Yellow Storm. ¡°Moving on.¡± ¡°Yes, moving on.¡± Cordelia agreed to change the topic as if she was being merciful, and Jude sighed before speaking. ¡°If we add up all the titles we¡¯ve obtained so far, our stats almost reached around level 80. And because I have Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors while you can be a witch and an angel, you could say that we¡¯re actually in the mid-80s or higher.¡± ¡°If you considered Cordelia¡¯s route, her average level at the beginning of the royal capital event was usually in the early to middle 40s¡­ My level is so high now, right?¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. Moreover, it¡¯s even more amazing that we¡¯ve reached this far before the event started.¡± There was originally a time difference of half a year between the beginning of the Cordelia route and the Jude route. Since both Jude and Cordelia were rotten water, they didn¡¯t find it necessary to talk about it with each other, but the events of the game were perfectly arranged in chronological order inside their minds. ¡®The time when we recovered the memories of our previous lives was almost the same time as the starting point of the Cordelia route, so if I use that as a standard¡­¡¯ The starting point of the Cordelia route was zero. The northern barbarians¡¯ invasion began about half a year from zero. The 300th?anniversary ball, which could be considered as the beginning of the royal capital event, was also held about half a year from zero. But no matter how the yer proceeded in the routes, the 300th?anniversary ball was slightly ahead of the northern barbarians¡¯ invasion. ¡®And now, we are currently about three months from zero.¡¯ In other words, there were still three months left until the 300th?anniversary ball. ¡°Should we go straight to the royal capital?¡± At Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude shook his head. ¡°No, it would be nice if we went ahead and prepared¡­but it¡¯s too early. We have no justification for going to the royal capital at this moment. And even if we hastened our traveling schedule, arriving a month before the founding ball in the royal capital will be enough time for us.¡± ¡°So we won¡¯t do anything for two months?¡± When Cordelia asked in surprise, Jude shook his head again. ¡°No, that¡¯s not right. Because time is gold. So after we do our own training for one month and prepare this and that, we¡¯ll go to the royal capital.¡± ¡°After a month of training and another month for our travel to the royal capital, we¡¯ll begin the quest, is that right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Both Jude and Cordelia had rapidly be stronger in the wildnds, so they needed time topletely get used to their newly acquired powers. In the game, one just leveled up and they were done with mastering their powers, but this ce was reality. ¡°What are you preparing for apart from training? What are you nning to do?¡± At Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude had a wicked expression and a creepy smile as if he was waiting for her to ask that question. ¡°Hahaha¡­should I say that it¡¯s the secret to stealing the hearts of the people in the royal capital?¡± ¡°Don¡¯tugh like that because it¡¯s disgusting. You¡¯re like a scammer.¡± ¡°Yes, Madam.¡± Jude quickly corrected his expression, and Cordelia asked as she sat down on the bed. ¡°Steal their hearts? What are you talking about?¡± ¡°Even if we¡¯re children of the 12 northern families, we¡¯ll still be treated like little kids from the countryside when we go to the royal capital. And as you know, we can¡¯t proceed with the royal capital event by just beating and forcing our way through.¡± ¡°But isn¡¯t that possible now? Our levels are high.¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s not it. You should know that force alone cannot solve the event. In the first ce, there are enemies there who are much stronger than us now.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± It was not a ce like a snowfield where the uninhabitednd was many timesrger than the habitablend, just like in the wildnds. The royal capital. The capital of the S?len Kingdom, one of the continent¡¯s strongest powers. It was swarming with strong people, and there were those who possessed great power apart from pure strength. ¡°It¡¯s not just about force alone. We need to y politics to some extent.¡± One of the enemies was Duke Antarius, the Minister of Defense and one of the ten great swordmasters. So there was a limit to breaking through with just force. ¡®Of course, we¡¯ll be using force in the end.¡¯ The main enemies of the royal road event were the Devil¡¯s Hand and the corrupted high-ranking nobles. In order to deal with them ¨C no, in order to lead the politicalndscape of the royal capital, it was necessary for them to be greatly influential just as how they were powerful. ¡°Umm¡­okay. So what are you preparing for in the end?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll try it first and tell you if it goes well. I¡¯ll be needing your help anyway.¡± ¡°Ah, really. Don¡¯t make me curious and just tell me.¡± ¡°Later.¡± Jude tightly shut his mouth again, and Cordelia stamped her feet in annoyance as she knew that he wouldn¡¯t tell it to her again. ¡°Okay, is everything over then?¡± ¡°Almost. There¡¯s onest thing left.¡± Thest one. Cordelia¡¯s eyes sparkled from curiosity. ¡°Jude, are you in there?¡± Jude and Cordelia were startled and turned to the balcony where they heard the voice. Because it was Count Chase¡¯s voice. ¡°Father?¡± ¡°Dad?¡± Jude and Cordelia hurried to the balcony and opened the door, and Count Chase stood there with his red cloak and stern face as he slightly frowned. ¡°Were you two together?¡± ¡°Yes, we were organizing our luggage together. The ones that we brought from the wildnds.¡± Cordelia replied, and Count Chase nced over the bed behind the two before he rxed his expression and said. ¡°I see. Anyway, Jude, this is something new but is quite small. Take it.¡± ¡°Ah, yes.¡± Jude quickly extended his hands and epted the leather pouch. ¡°It¡¯s not much, but it will help. And¡­keep this a secret from Adelia, okay?¡± At his slightly lowered voice than usual, Jude and Cordelia blinked once but soon understood it. Because they figured out why a person who went out to greet people suddenly came back and why he appeared through the balcony rather than the door. ¡°Hehehe, my dad is the best.¡± Cordelia hugged his arm as she widely smiled, and Count Chase smiled for a very short time before he cleared his throat and spoke again. ¡°I will go now.¡± ¡°Yes, please take care.¡± ¡°See youter, Dad.¡± When Jude bowed his head and Cordelia waved her hand, Count Chase nced at the greetings of the two before he flew back into the air and left the balcony. ¡°He¡¯s a very nice person.¡± ¡°Hmph, it¡¯s to be expected as brother-inw Ga?l is already big. It¡¯s proper to take care of my Jude first.¡± Cordelia smiled at her unexpected victory before she turned to Jude again. ¡°So what is it?¡± ¡°Growing drug. It¡¯s a medicine that makes you grow 1 cm when eaten.¡± ¡°Oh, that! Wasn¡¯t it the best item that was ranked 3rd?in reality?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Jude cheerfully smiled and kept the pouch before he returned inside the room with Cordelia. ¡°Well, it¡¯s good. Now, if we sneak out at night to go meet the Fall Fairies in order to get the Fall Protection¡­¡± ¡°I feel like I¡¯ve gotten so used to getting away at night.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not an escape at night this time but just a short night walk.¡± ¡°You have a way with words. Anyway, what¡¯s thest?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I mean, you said that there¡¯s onest left.¡± ¡°Oh, that.¡± Jude suddenly grinned as if it was on purpose, and he took Cordelia¡¯s hand and whispered to her. ¡°Close your eyes for a minute.¡± ¡°My eyes? Why?¡± ¡°Close it first. Don¡¯t you trust me?¡± What is he nning? Cordelia was suspicious but she closed her eyes and Jude led her to a small room that was attached to hisrge room. ¡°You can open your eyes now.¡± He said it was thest one, so was it a surprise present? Cordelia¡¯s heart slightly palpitated as she gently opened her eyes, but she soon frowned. ¡°What is this?¡± There were only a few bundles of ck cords that were rolled up like a thread on the table. It was an item she had never seen before in?Legend of Heroes 2. But her reaction was to be expected. It was an object that didn¡¯t originally exist in?Legend of Heroes 2?or in the world of Pleiades. ¡°Detonating cord.¡± Jude said, and Cordelia blinked her eyes. ¡°Detonating cord?¡± ¡°Detonating cord.¡± But Cordelia still blinked her eyes. Because it was the first time she had heard of that name. ¡°What is that?¡± She didn¡¯t exactly know what it was, but the name somehow made her heart pound. So Jude gave Cordelia a short but full exnation. ¡°It¡¯s a cord that explodes.¡± Detonating cord. As its name implied, it was an explosive that was shaped into the form of a tape or cord. It was something that he made little by little in the remaining time after their battle on Snow Breeze in. ¡®It¡¯s still a prototype.¡¯ He was thinking of making something more proper when he returned home. ¡®It will have plenty of uses if Cordelia uses her telekic power to cause an explosion anytime and anywhere.¡¯ Since she always boasted that she was good at anything she did with her body, it would be possible for her to use the detonating cord as if it was her hands and feet. ¡®Will she like it?¡¯ Jude looked at Cordelia, and Cordelia gazed at the detonating cord with a nk expression. But her blue eyes were soon filled with ecstasy. ¡°Detonating cord.¡± Cordelia trembled and soon turned to Jude. She jumped up and hugged Jude. ¡°I love it! My Jude is the best!¡± Jude was slightly anxious at the ecstasy that spread over Cordelia¡¯s eyes, but he eventually smiled. He strengthened his hug and enjoyed Cordelia¡¯s embrace for some time. The meeting between the detonating cord and Cordelia. It was the moment when the ¡°Explosion Witch¡± was born, one that would shake the entire S?len Kingdom in the future. Chapter 128 - EPISODE 128 – ENGAGEMENT CEREMONY (5)

Chapter 128 - EPISODE 128 ¨C ENGAGEMENT CEREMONY (5)

Changed?ck Dragon Release Technique?into ck Dragon¡¯s Ascent. Terms used in this chapter: Chuunibyou?¨C colloquial term typically used to describe early teens who have?delusions of grandeur, who so desperately want to stand out that they have convinced themselves they have hidden knowledge or secret powers. ¡®Explosion Witch¡¯ or ¡®Explosion Angel.¡¯ Either way, a few hours passed after a fearsome being was born. Jude¡¯s appearance was revealed under the full moon that illuminated the deep night alone. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Over here.¡± His call in a low voice was answered by a low voice too. On the roof of the luxury amodation. Cordelia gestured while she was seated at the edge of the roof. She was wearing ck clothes so that she could travel in secret. ¡®Her hair stands out so much though.¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s bright red hair seemed to glow under the moonlight. Her long hair was tied together and arranged in the so-called ponytail, and a smile spread over Jude¡¯s face. ¡°What are you doing? Are you noting?¡± ¡°Ah, yes.¡± A ponytail is better than twin tails after all. Jude absentmindedly thought before he quickly went to Cordelia and sat down next to her. Just like Cordelia, Jude was wearing a ck and skin-tight garment. ¡°Let¡¯s go right away. Wear this on your back.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± When Jude handed her the backpack, Cordelia quickly wore it on her back before she crawled on the roof and moved towards the back of Jude. ¡°How long will it take?¡± ¡°If our time is not wasted on negotiations¡­we¡¯ll definitely be able toe back before sunrise.¡± ¡°Good, you have no problems with your stamina then?¡± ¡°None, Madam. Your servant has extremely good stamina.¡± ¡°Bullsh*t.¡± Cordelia giggled and smoothly moved like a mollusk again as she climbed and attached herself on Jude¡¯s back. ¡°Let¡¯s hurry. It will be a big problem if we get caught.¡± ¡°No, it won¡¯t be a big problem.¡± They would just get scolded a little more since they had done it before already. Jude smirked and corrected Cordelia¡¯s position on his back. He took a deep breath before raising his head and looked at the distance. Twenty-Four Gale Steps. ck Wind¡¯s Advent. And a golden whirlwind arose. Jude lightly and silently raced on the roofs as he became a gale. He crossed Langesthei at lightning speed. ¡°Wow!¡± Cordelia was a bit amazed as the wind brushed past her cheeks. She tightly hugged Jude¡¯s neck and enjoyed their speedy movement. Tak-tak-tak. Lightly, lightly, lighter. Jude jumped from roof to roof without any difficulties. He ran on the roof as if he was running on t ground, and he jumped high at some point. ¡°ck Dragon¡¯s Ascent!¡± Jude shouted out loud and Cordelia instantly got goosebumps. ¡®That¡¯s embarrassiiiiiing!¡¯ Why are you not ashamed! But it was real and not something made up. It was a real power and not something a Chuunibyou made up. Jude used the energy of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors to increase the ck dragon¡¯s strength. As its name implied, he soared high as if ascending and jumped over the walls of Langesthei at once. ¡°Kyaaa!¡± Cordelia delightedly screamed without realizing it as she felt like she was on a ride, and Jude¡¯s smile deepened. And they reached the forest. Cordelia raised her voice as Jude continued running without hesitation. ¡°By the way, Jude!¡± ¡°Yes! Princess!¡± Cordelia¡¯s cheeks turned red again at Jude¡¯s cry. She was familiar with that nickname now since he had called her that a lot, but she was still embarrassed about it sometimes. ¡°A-anyway! What are you nning?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Fairy Queen!¡± They spoke in a series of words that were difficult to understand without knowing the context, but the two were Jude and Cordelia. They could read each other¡¯s thoughts by just looking at the eyes of the other, so they could understand each other even with those short words. ¡°You mean, how are we going to get the Fall Protection from the Fairy Queen?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± The Fall Fairy Queen. She was the toughest opponent out of the three Fairy Queens whom Jude and Cordelia had met. ¡®The Fairy Queen is not a dupe!¡¯ The other Fairy Queens could be duped, but not for the Fall Fairy Queen. They had to pay a reasonable price if they wanted to receive her protection. She might have given them the Moonlight when they first visited, but she didn¡¯t give them the Fall Protection. ¡°I have an idea, but what about you? Do you have any ideas?¡± Jude asked while he continued to run fast, and Cordelia replied as if she was waiting for him to ask her. ¡°If you don¡¯t give me your protection, something will explode!¡± ¡°What? You mean the Fairy Queen herself?¡± ¡°Are you crazy? I mean the valley or the fairy forest!¡± ¡°Hey, you seriously sound like a terrorist right now, okay? Threats are a crime, a crime!¡± ¡°Tsk, it¡¯s not.¡± ¡°What do you mean it¡¯s not?¡± ¡°I mean, in my experience so far, most of the problems have been solved once we blew it up. Isn¡¯t that right?¡± ¡°No, you demon. I won¡¯t allow it even if you say it cutely.¡± ¡°I neber shed ith cutely.¡± Cordelia childishly spoke, and Jude closed his eyes for a moment and doubted himself. ¡®This is serious.¡¯ He felt that this side of her was cute too. In any case, Jude opened his eyes again as he began climbing the mountain to head to the valley where they could meet the Fall fairies. Cordelia spoke again. ¡°What was your n then?¡± ¡°Cordelia, you have the backpack with you, right?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Inside, there are three boxes of premium choctes from Langesthei that I bought earlier.¡± ¡°Wait.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I mean, are you going to lure the Fairy Queen with chocte?¡± ¡°Yes, with luxury chocte.¡± ¡°Hey, is the Fairy Queen a kid? Will she listen to you just for chocte?¡± ¡°She would, right?¡± Cordelia blinked her eyes at Jude¡¯s question, and she soon nodded and said. ¡°Come to think of it, you¡¯re right.¡± He was correct on the queen being like a kid. Because even the queen was still a fairy. ¡°Wow, my Jude is clever. Let me praise you a lot.¡± Cordelia said so and stroked his head, and Jude lifted up her position on his back as he said. ¡°More, please praise me a little more.¡± ¡°What more should I do?¡± ¡°Think about it.¡± The rather sincere Cordelia really began to think about it, and Jude increased his speed even further. And they finally arrived in front of the valley. Cordelia grumbled as she soaked herself in the cold valley water and seeded in calling out the fairies by singing Twinkle Little Star. ¡®Fairies are easier to deal with than I thought.¡¯ They had thought at first that there was a set date and time, so they struggled a lot back then, but now¡­it felt like a vending machine that would make somethinge out if they just pressed the button. At any rate, Jude and Cordelia met the Fairy Queen and after some negotiations, they seeded in achieving their goal. No, they didn¡¯t just seed. It was a great sess. ¡°Wow, wow, wow.¡± Cordelia stood alone under the full moon and turned her body around several times, and Jude was lost in admiration. Because she was so beautiful. Cordelia was like a goddess now ¨C no, she was like a fairy. It wasn¡¯t because Jude had a love filter in his eyes. Cordelia was really like a half-fairy now. ¡°Fairy Dress!¡± Instead of her ck clothes, Cordelia was now wearing a white dress that looked to be fluttery and translucent. Made of a soft yet shiny cloth reminiscent of a fairy¡¯s wings, the main material for this dress was moonlight. ¡°A fantasy dress made by collecting the fantasy moonlight.¡± JudeWiki made its appearance after a long time, and smiles spread over the faces of Jude and Cordelia. ¡°They gave this one for that?¡± ¡°They gave this for two boxes of chocte, right?¡± One box was enough for getting the Fall Protection. After tasting chocte for the first time, the Fairy Queen revealed her true nature as a fairy, and the two were able to close a sessful deal under very favorable terms. As Cordelia turned around in ce, the wide skirt beautifully spread out as if it was a blooming flower bud. ¡°It¡¯s pretty, hehe.¡± Smiling brightly like a fairy, Cordelia grabbed the hem of her skirt and randomly posed several times. ¡°Fairy Dress. A-rank.¡± Jude and Cordelia knew that the Fairy Dress wasn¡¯t really meant forbat. Nevertheless, the reason why the Fairy Dress was an A-rank item was because it was really faithful to the natural role of a dress. ¡°It increases the Charm stat by 1.5 times.¡± It didn¡¯t increase the absolute value, but it was still a striking piece of equipment that made its wearer stand out. It also corrected the appearance values, so it gave the wearer a fairy-like mystique. ¡®When the ball is held, everyone will be enchanted.¡¯ What will happen if Cordelia fully wears makeup and dons the Fairy Dress when she goes to the founding ball? What if she appeared in her awakened mode instead of her normal look now? ¡®She can turn into an angel after all.¡¯ Just imagining it felt amazing. He couldn¡¯t stop the corners of his mouth from rising. ¡®They¡¯ll be really captivated.¡¯ She would dominate the founding ball itself. ¡®No, of course it¡¯s not like a beauty pageant, so there is no need for her to dominate it.¡¯ Still, what was good was good. And if she could really dominate the ball, it would be possible to take advantage of it. ¡°Hehe, I¡¯m a bit embarrassed.¡± Cordelia bashfully said as she shylyughed with a red face, and Jude was grateful that the girl in front of him was his fianc¨¦e. He then straightened his expression afterwards. ¡°Okay, anyway, let¡¯s go back.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, let¡¯s go back.¡± Cordelia felt better and quickly changed her clothes. She rode on Jude¡¯s back again and the two became like a gale as they returned to Langesthei. And two dayster in the afternoon. ¡°Yoooooooung master!¡± ¡°Majaaaaa!¡± At the mansion of Count Bayer, located in the frontier city of Bailon. Maja¡¯s nickname as the Ice Princess was brought to shame as she expressed quite intense emotions, and Jude didn¡¯tg behind too. As he hugged Maja who hade running, he lifted her by the waist and even turned around. ¡°Yo-young master?!¡± ¡°Hahaha! I miss you! Maja!¡± Jude got used to lifting people this way because of Cordelia. Maja was flustered with a red face, and she soon burst intoughter. It was because she was reunited with Jude after a long time, and also because she realized that Jude had be really healthy now. ¡®He got bigger.¡¯ Jude was originally smaller than Maja herself, but not now. He grew tall enough that she had to look up, and his body that seemed to be delicate enough that he looked like a girl than a boy was now firm and made him look strong. ¡°Young master, I have a lot of things I want to hear.¡± ¡°I also have a lot of stories I want to tell you, Maja.¡± Because Maja was like a real older sister to Jude. But there was an order to everything. Jude carefully put Maja down before he turned his head and saw Count Bayer facing Ga?l. ¡°Father.¡± ¡°I heard the situation from Count Chase. But I want to hear more from you.¡± Everything that had happened since they left Vedrfolnir. Joy and curiosity coexisted in the eyes of Count Bayer. Because his sons whom he were worried about, brought so many gifts on their way home. ¡®He got stronger.¡¯ Count Bayer was one of the strongest among the ten great swordmasters. He could roughly guess Jude¡¯s condition just by looking at him. Unnatural. His growth couldn¡¯t be exined in the usual way. But Count Bayer also thought that it was natural. ¡®Did his talent that had been suppressed for so long exploded at once?¡¯ Cheonmujiche had once been suppressed by his Gueumjulmaek. Add to that were the several lucky coincidences that he encountered. ¡®I can¡¯t wait to test him.¡¯ How strong Jude was, at which level he was now, and how much stronger would he be in the future. And there was another joyful news for him. ¡°We have already began the preparations. Let¡¯s hold the engagement ceremony after two weeks.¡± ¡°Yes, father.¡± Ga?l replied a little awkward as if he was shy, and Count Bayer smiled. He was very happy. He actually felt sorry for Jude, but Ga?l¡¯s engagement touched his heart more than Jude¡¯s achievements. ¡®It was long.¡¯ 10 years. Ga?l didn¡¯t even mention the word ¡®marriage¡¯ after the incident of that day. ¡°A happy asion, what an auspicious asion.¡± He didn¡¯t expect his second son¡¯s runaway to turn out like this. Count Bayer once again happilyughed, and as he looked around, he saw all the people in his mansion who were also delighted at the return of his two sons. ¡°Let¡¯s go in. Tonight will be a long night.¡± ¡°Yes, father.¡± Ga?l replied, and Jude smiled as he followed the two. And two weekster. Ga?l and Adelia¡¯s engagement ceremony was held. *** The Bayer family and the Chase family, two of the twelve northern families. The union of two families was something to be wary of and not celebrated, but unexpectedly, the reaction of the 12 northern families was positive. ¡®Because there were members who will be united anyway.¡¯ To begin with, the two families had tried to unite through the marriage of Jude Bayer and Cordelia Chase. The marriage of Ga?l and Adelia would have made the rtionship between the two families a little closer, but that was it in the end. ¡®No, I¡¯d say it became better.¡¯ Marriage was originally a union between two families. Even more so for high-ranking nobles such as the 12 northern families. Count Bayer and Count Chase lost the opportunity to grow their power by marrying Ga?l and Adelia to other families. ¡®Well, Bailon is a city where one can just fool around.¡¯ It was just a frontier city anyway. That wasn¡¯t a very good reason, but in any case, the 12 northern families sincerely blessed Ga?l and Adelia¡¯s engagement for this reason. ¡°It¡¯s rare to have an engagement that everyone sent their well-wishes like this.¡± ¡°Huh? What do you mean? It¡¯s an engagement, so everyone would obviously wish them well.¡± When Cordelia tilted her head and asked, Jude simply smiled instead of properly exining it to her. Because he didn¡¯t want to dirty the pure Cordelia¡¯s mind with the hardships of life. ¡°Unnie is pretty.¡± At the garden of Count Bayer. Many people were gathered in the banquet hall that was fully decorated by the two counts, and there was one person who stood out as if she was shining alone. Adelia Chase. She was, indeed, Cordelia¡¯s older sister. She was a beautiful woman even when she was not dressed up, and her beauty was to the point that she was like Helen of Troy. She was as beautiful as a goddess in her white dress that gave her a very elegant look after her lovely blonde hair that was nicely tied up by ace had now been let down. And Ga?l Bayer was next to her. He was handsome as he was Jude¡¯s older brother, but his sense of stability stood out. Despite being in a ce where the attention of many people gathered on him, he maintained his usual expression, so Cordelia felt that his calmness of mind made him a reliable adult. ¡°He¡¯s somehow cool.¡± And she was somehow envious. As the light of longing filled Cordelia¡¯s sparkling blue eyes, Jude said in a small voice. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°What is it, Jude?¡± ¡°Should we ask for it?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°An engagement ceremony.¡± Cordelia blinked at Jude¡¯s words. I¡¯m having an engagement ceremony? With whom? Jude and me? ¡°I mean, we never had an engagement ceremony since we were engaged while we were still in our mother¡¯s wombs.¡± Cordelia recalled her memories for a moment before she nodded her head. Because it was as Jude had said. ¡®We were indifferent to each other before we remembered our past life memories.¡¯ It was rare for her to talk and see her fiance¡¯s face, so she didn¡¯t like him much. ¡®Because Jude was sick and stuck at home all the time.¡¯ She was worried about her fianc¨¦, but there was no particr feeling beyond that. Their rtionship was literally nothing more than a fianc¨¦ and fianc¨¦e who their families had decided to engage. ¡°What do you think? Should I ask them to do it?¡± When Jude asked again, Cordelia looked at Ga?l and Adelia again. They were standing in front of everyone as they faced each other, and one could see how much they loved each other even from a distance. ¡®What if I rece it with Jude and me there?¡¯ She imagined it for a moment. And Cordelia covered her face with her hands. ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°Wait, wait, wait, wait.¡± And thought again. Jude was asking for an engagement ceremony. Jude was asking if they could do it too now that he had seen Ga?l and Adelia¡¯s engagement ceremony. ¡®Do you really like me?¡± You¡¯re asking this because you like me¡­right? But she didn¡¯t feelfortable with it. Because he was Jude. Because he was Outboxer009 who irritatingly teased her everyday in the chat window! ¡®Eyes, look at his eyes.¡¯ Because her unnie did it. She would be able to tell by looking at his eyes. Cordelia took a deep breath before she lowered her hands that covered her face and then gulped nervously. She turned her head and tried to face Jude. However¡­ ¡®Euaaaaah! I can¡¯t look at him!¡¯ Because she and Jude couldmunicate with just the look of their eyes. As she thought back now, he would be able to clearly read her thoughts at that moment. ¡®Hey, do you like me?¡¯ ¡®Why are you looking at me and asking if I like you? What is this, ax disease?¡¯ ¡­Something like that would happen. So it was impossible. She couldn¡¯t meet eyes with Jude right now. ¡®Then, how do I check it?¡¯ Should I find another way? ¡°Cordelia?¡± Jude tilted his head and asked, but Cordelia was lost in her thoughts as she covered her face with both hands. The engagement ceremony continued while the two were like that. And time passed. ¡°Ah, they¡¯re kissing.¡± ¡°What?¡± Cordelia raised her head after struggling from all kinds of delusions, and she was able to see Ga?l and Adelia kissing each other after they exchanged rings. Both of them looked to be very happy. ¡°We made this.¡± Jude spoke in a small voice, and Cordelia nodded her head. Everyone who was gathered in the banquet hall gave the couple a warm apuse. May they continue to be happy. May they be able to continue protecting their happiness. Cordelia erased her thoughts about Jude from her mind, and she held her hands together and prayed. She sincerely wished for it. And what they needed to do to achieve that. The fate and future of everyone that needed to be changed again. One month after the engagement ceremony. One month and 15 days before the 300th?anniversary of the country¡¯s founding. Invitation letters from the royal capital arrived at the homes of Count Bayer and Count Chase. Chapter 129 - EPISODE 129 – INVITATION (1)

Chapter 129 - EPISODE 129 ¨C INVITATION (1)

Late post~! Genshin had an update yesterday, so I spent most of the day ying it and forgot about the trantion, hahaha. As for the next chapter, there might be some dy in its release because I would have to help with the Christmas eve food preparations (noche buena). Terms used in this chapter: Mildang?¨C Korean ng for a love strategy where the BF/GF try to control their love so that they do not look too much needy. It¡¯s sometimes tranted in English as ¡®ying hard to get.¡¯ ¨C Source:?Art of Mildang Three weeks after Ga?l and Adelia¡¯s engagement ceremony. Cordelia was quietly sitting in front of the desk as she pouted her lips. And there was one woman who was watching her. Cordelia¡¯s escort, Dahlia, who was like an older sister to her, smiled and said in passing. ¡°Miss, miss. Are you sulking?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m not?¡± Cordelia automatically responded, and Dahlia smiled again. ¡°Don¡¯t say that. You¡¯re sulking, right?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not?¡± Cordelia replied in annoyance and even snorted, but Dahlia became more certain because of that. ¡®She¡¯s really upset.¡¯ You look sulky. Dahlia shifted her gaze a little further away and looked at the paper Cordelia was scribbling on. It was the paper that she used to write forms in her magic studies, but small scribbles could be seen everywhere, and as Dahlia had thought, the scribbles was about someone specific. ¡®Stupid Jude. Idiot.¡¯ Upon seeing the clumsy scribbles, Dahlia quickly raised her hand to cover her mouth. Because she smiled like a mother. ¡®How can you be so cute?¡¯ The reason why Cordelia was sulking. It was something simple and obvious. ¡®Because Mr. Bayer had stopped writing to her.¡¯ Around three weeks had already passed since thest one. An unexpected letter arrived once with a gift five days after Adelia¡¯s engagement ceremony, which had happily surprised Count Chase and everyone, but no other letters had arrived since then. ¡®How coldhearted.¡¯ He hadn¡¯t been in touch with Cordelia for almost 15 days. ¡®I roughly heard the reason why, but¡­¡¯ After Cordelia lost contact with Jude, she was like a flower that withered away day by day ¨C of course if she had heard Dahlia¡¯s thoughts, she would have excessively denied it, but Dahlia had already gone to Count Bayer¡¯s ce once for Cordelia. ording to the exnation of the knight, Jun, whom she became acquainted with during their journey to Langesthei, it was as follows: ¡°He has been practicing hard every day with Count Bayer from early in the morning tote at night.¡± In short, Sir Jun said that Jude was busy practicing every day. ¡°Well¡­it can¡¯t be helped.¡± ¡°Yes, the young master was so quick to learn¡­so the count was also very passionate.¡± Jude¡¯s extraordinary talent had already been proven by the various events that urred. So she could also understand why a fire was lit in Count Bayer¡¯s eyes and he began to actively train Jude. ¡°Young master Ga?l and even the count was convinced. Young master Jude will be the strongest knight in the north.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± The weight of the count¡¯s words was different from the words of a parent who often bragged about their child. Count Bayer. One of the Northern Sagang and one of the ten great swordmasters with the title ¡®Sword General.¡¯ Jun saw the count say that Jude would be the strongest, so it seemed to him that Jude had immense talent. ¡®In fact, Iron Man Landius coveted his talent.¡¯ Iron Man Landius was one of the five heroes of the Paragon Kingdom and the man who was always mentioned when people discussed about the strongest people in the world. Jude was a disciple of Landius, and there was only one reason why Landius made Jude his disciple. ¡®Cheonmujiche.¡¯ The incarnation of martial arts from the heavens. ¡°So¡­please take care of Lady Cordelia. They¡¯re a really good couple but if they ever have a falling-out¡­¡± ¡°Yes, I won¡¯t let that happen. I¡¯ll have a talk with the miss when that urs.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Knight Jun sighed in relief as if this was his business. One way or another, it seemed like he was devoted to his young master Jude. ¡®It¡¯s a good thing.¡¯ Ga?l and Jude had a very close rtionship, so Count Bayer did not have any problems with the two. ¡®Anyway.¡¯ Dahlia stopped recalling her conversation with Jun and looked at Cordelia in front of her again. Cordelia was sitting in front of the desk and ying with her pen, and every small gesture of hers expressed her annoyance and dissatisfaction, just as Dahlia thought. ¡®If she really wanted to see him, she should contact him first.¡¯ She could also visit the Bayer mansion once. But Cordelia didn¡¯t do that. She puffed her cheeks and pouted her lips every day, but she never tried to contact him first. ¡®It¡¯s mildang.¡¯ Ufufu. How cute. -I want to see you, I want to meet you, but I have to endure and hold back my feelings.- But her mildang had a small drawback. While Cordelia had plenty of time to think about Jude, Jude could not afford to think about anything else because of his one-on-one training with Count Bayer. ¡®So I¡¯ll have to help the young miss for a little bit.¡¯ Because Dahlia had an idea on how to tease Cordelia who was sulking today. ¡°Miss.¡± ¡°Whyyyyyy.¡± ¡°A letter has arrived.¡± ¡°A letter?!¡± Cordelia jumped up from her seat, but she soon blushed a little and then cleared her throat. ¡°A letter isn¡¯t that important.¡± She quickly sat down and turned around, but Dahlia could see it. The corners of Cordelia¡¯s mouth was slightly raised. ¡®Hmph, I knew you¡¯d give up first.¡¯ ¨C Are you thinking of something like that? ¡°Ahem, ahem. By the way, Dahlia.¡± ¡°Yes, miss.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not really curious, but you know that, right?¡± ¡°Yes, miss.¡± ¡°But he wrote it first, right? So wouldn¡¯t it be polite for me to check it?¡± ¡°Maybe?¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem, you¡¯re right. So bring me the letter.¡± Cordelia turned around very slowly and stretched out her hand as if she was not interested. But there was something she couldn¡¯t hide, and that was her eyes. ¡®You¡¯re anxious.¡¯ After suppressing herugh, Dahlia handed over a letter in a white envelope. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± And then. Cordelia grabbed the letter as if snatching it, and opened the letter in a contradictory behavior, as she did it as slowly as possible yet was quite quick too. But Cordelia soon frowned. ¡®She can¡¯t help it.¡¯ The letter wasn¡¯t Jude¡¯s. The letter that arrived was an invitation from Count Ficus. ¡°Birthday party?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s a party to celebrate Lady Emma Ficus¡¯ 17th?birthday.¡± ¡°No, I know that too.¡± It was natural for Cordelia to frown. The Ficus family was one of the 12 northern families, but wasn¡¯t very close to the Chase family. It wasn¡¯t that bad that they would fight each other, but they didn¡¯t have a friendly rtionship either. Moreover, Emma Ficus had long been a person who was arguing with Cordelia, and had a strange yet burning desire topete with Cordelia in the past. ¡®She¡¯s hardly seen in the game.¡¯ There was a rted sub-quest involving her, but she only appeared once so Yellow Storm didn¡¯t remember her. But it was different for Cordelia. Emma invited Cordelia on her birthdayst year and bragged about her fianc¨¦ a lot. ¡®Oh, is Mr. Bayer absent again? I¡¯m so sorry, I feel so sad thinking about it. Butter¡­you¡¯ll have no problems with the wedding, right? I¡¯m worried that it¡¯s because of a problem with his health¡­hohoho.¡¯ That voice. That look. That behavior made her very angry even before she recalled the memories of her past life, or even when she was much gentler back then. But she got even more angry when she looked back on the memories of her past life. ¡°Miss, it¡¯s time to show them what you¡¯ve got.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Mr. Bayer will be with you this time.¡± When Dahlia spoke with sparkling eyes, Cordelia blinked because she didn¡¯t understand her immediately, but it was only for a moment. Cordelia¡¯s eyes were suddenly filled with a will to fight. ¡°We have to pay back the grievances she had caused! And this is an excuse ¨C no, we have to discuss this with Mr. Bayer who ising too.¡± That was why Dahlia didn¡¯t lose her smile when she handed Count Ficus¡¯ invitation that would surely upset Cordelia. It was a justification for Cordelia to visit Jude first! A way where Cordelia wouldn¡¯t look like she lost against Jude, and a way where she could say that it was unavoidable! ¡°Ju-Jude?¡± ¡°Yes, there is something you need to discuss with Mr. Bayer. It¡¯s also urgent.¡± They didn¡¯t have much time since Emma Ficus¡¯ birthday was five days from now, and it would take a full day of travel in the carriage to get to the Ficus territory. In addition, Cordelia had one more reason. ¡®Come to think of it, it¡¯s about time for that event to happen.¡¯ The time when the royal capital sent invitations to everyone for the 300th?anniversary¡¯s founding ball. Emma Ficus¡¯ birthday was a trivial event that one could just ignore, but the founding event was different. It was their third task for a perfect happy ending. ¡°Yes, yes. This is really important. So I have to discuss it with Jude.¡± As Cordelia spoke to herself, Dahlia immediately followed. ¡°Yes, miss. It is as you had said. So let¡¯s go to Count Bayer¡¯s mansion. In order to meet Mr. Bayer.¡± ¡°Hmph, that¡¯s right. I¡¯ll meet with Jude.¡± ¡°Okay. Then let¡¯s begin now.¡± ¡°Huh? Now?¡± ¡°Yes, now. Before it¡¯s toote.¡± In fact, Dahlia had already sent a letter to Count Bayer, saying that they woulde to visit today. ¡°W-wait a second.¡± ¡°Yes, so you have to dress up and be pretty. We still have enough time.¡± ¡°I-it¡¯s not like that? There¡¯s no need for me to look pretty for Jude.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°That¡­ahem, ahem. But I should do the basics. For decorum.¡± Cordelia murmured as ifing up with an excuse before she quietly moved in front of the mirror, and Dahlia smiled again. And three hourster. ¡°Let¡¯s call it a day.¡± ¡°We¡¯re done?¡± Inside the drill hall. Jude tilted his head and asked after hearing Ga?l¡¯s words, as he sat on the floor and wiped his sweat. Because it was too early than the usual time. ¡°Yes, we¡¯re done. There¡¯s something scheduled for today.¡± ¡°Did you get a letter from sister-inw Adelia?¡± Jude asked him teasingly, but Ga?l shook his head as if it was absurd and then said. ¡°If it¡¯s letters, ites every day. I also write back every day.¡± ¡°I-I see.¡± Ga?l was his usual self, but Jude was very surprised with Adelia. ¡®It feels like her real nature itself has changed.¡¯ Adelia was like a hedgehog in the original, so he never thought that she would be ady so deeply in love now. ¡®It would be worth seeing her at the founding ball.¡¯ Unlike Jude and Cordelia who were just hanging out at home, Adelia was a royal wizard for the Royal Guard Magic Corps in the royal capital. She took a long vacation to catch Jude and Cordelia, but she still served as themander, so she had no choice but to return to the royal capital. ¡®It was another reason why the engagement ceremony was hurried.¡¯ But Adelia was due to retire sooner orter, since the engagement ceremony alone wasn¡¯t enough. She was supposed to quit her job as amander and return to her hometown after the founding event. ¡®Because my brother Ga?l has to inherit the title of Count Bayer.¡¯ They came to this conclusion because it was impossible for Ga?l to go to the royal capital even if Adelia could go to Bailon. ¡®She must have really loved him.¡¯ She easily gave up her position as amander of the Royal Guard Magic Corps. ¡®Anyway¡­it would be sooner orter.¡¯ There was a month and twenty days left before the 300th?anniversary founding ball. If he followed the flow of the original, an invitation to the royal capital would probably arrive within a week. ¡°Well, it seems like the time hase. Go quickly and wash off your sweat first. It¡¯s been a long time, so shouldn¡¯t you look the best?¡± ¡°Eh? What in the world are you talking¡­¡± That was it. Jude quickly turned to the piercing gaze he felt behind him, and he finally saw her after a long time. ¡°Cordelia.¡± There was a red-haired girl standing and looking down on the balcony overlooking the drill hall at a distance. ¡°I hear that she has something to urgently discuss. It seems like she got an invitation for a birthday party at Count Ficus¡¯ territory.¡± Jude nodded when he heard Ga?l¡¯s exnation. In the original, there was no event like an invitation to a birthday party because Cordelia was not in Bailon at that point, but the event was bound to naturally happen now that the situation had changed. So instead of raising questions about Count Ficus, Jude just stared at Cordelia and asked Ga?l in a low voice. ¡°But brother.¡± ¡°Yes, my younger brother.¡± ¡°She somehow looks upset, right?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­maybe?¡± Ga?l and Jude looked at the girl on the balcony together, and the girl ¨C Cordelia, changed her expression and Jude thought he could hear her snorting at him. ¡°Go quickly.¡± ¡°Yes, brother.¡± Jude smiled as he stood up right away and hurriedly moved. *** ¡®Are you upset?¡¯ ¡®No, I¡¯m not? I¡¯m not upset at all, okay?¡¯ ¡®But you look like you¡¯re upset?¡¯ ¡®No, it¡¯s not. I¡¯m totally not upset at all, okay?¡¯ Jude and Cordelia were seated across the table and quickly exchanged nces, and Maja and Dahlia warmly smiled at the affectionate air between the two. ¡®They really look good together, right?¡¯ ¡®Yeah.¡¯ The two had a simr conversation with their eyes before they quickly got up and left their seats. It was to allow Jude and Cordelia to spend their time alone together. ¡°Aren¡¯t you upset?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m not! There¡¯s no way I¡¯m upset just because you haven¡¯t contacted me for 16 days!¡± ¡°Oh.¡± 16 days. She was counting the days. ¡®I¡¯m touched.¡¯ Jude smiled in satisfaction, and Cordelia snorted without realizing the mistake that she had just made. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m sorry. I was too preupied with training.¡± ¡°Hmph, it¡¯s okay. I do not mind it.¡± ¡°I am d then.¡± When Jude smoothly said that, Cordelia frowned for a moment, but she couldn¡¯t take her words back now. ¡°So, is your training going well?¡± Jude immediately nodded his head at her slightly sulking voice that she was unconscious of. ¡°Yes. I¡¯m training on how to further utilize the power of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors¡­ Specifically, I¡¯m learning how to fight while using it together with the Bayer¡¯s swordsmanship.¡± ¡°I see.¡± She didn¡¯t really understand what he meant, but it seemed to her that he was working hard. ¡®I guess he really can¡¯t help it.¡¯ Should I forgive him? ¡®No, he didn¡¯t do something for me to forgive in the first ce.¡¯ Cordelia herself had never been that upset. ¡°Anyway, Cordelia, what about you?¡± ¡°Me?¡± ¡°Yes, you wouldn¡¯t be just doing nothing, right?¡± ¡°Of course, I didn¡¯t. I practiced really hard.¡± Cordelia loudly snorted again before she pulled out a detonating cord from her waist. She looked like she wanted to show off her training achievements. ¡®But a detonating cord out of all things?¡¯ No, it was definitely a tool that required training in order to be properly used, and it was something that Jude himself gave her. ¡°Why? Are you impressed?¡± Cordelia asked in a quiet voice, and Jude immediately nodded. If he pretended to be tactless at this point, she would really be upset. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m impressed. I¡¯m very much impressed.¡± ¡°Hmph, well¡­if you say so.¡± I guess I¡¯ll have to give you a demonstration. The corners of Cordelia¡¯s mouth was raised, and she promptly picked up the detonating cord. However, she definitely couldn¡¯t use the detonating cord inside the drawing room. Therefore, Jude said as he slightly dissuaded Cordelia. ¡°Let¡¯s put that off for a moment because we have to go to the training area to see it. Before that, there¡¯s something that I want to show you.¡± ¡°Something to show to me?¡± ¡°Yes, you came here today in the first ce because of the invitation from Count Ficus, right? There¡¯s also the invitation for the founding ball that will arrive soon.¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡± She had forgotten it for a while, but her primary purpose for visiting was to discuss on how they would respond to the invitation of Count Ficus. ¡°We¡¯ll have to crush her.¡± She was a girl who was not satisfied in arguing with Cordelia every year, but even leveled insults at her. Jude had no intention of letting her get away with it. ¡°Hey, Jude? We¡¯re going to a birthday party, right? We¡¯re not going on a fight, okay?¡± ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right. It¡¯s not a fight. We¡¯re just going to crush her one-sidedly.¡± Cordelia frowned at Jude¡¯s words, but she decided to let it go since she somehow felt much better and relieved. ¡°The timing is perfect. We can use it for practice before using it in the royal capital¡­let¡¯s consider it as a demonstration.¡± Cordelia tilted her head when Jude spoke again. She couldn¡¯t understand what he was talking about. ¡®Ah,e to think of it¡­¡¯ Was it in Langesthei? Jude had said that he was preparing a secret weapon to increase their influence in the royal capital. ¡®That¡¯s right, that¡¯s what he is talking about now.¡¯ Jude had immediately said that without checking if Cordelia had understood him, so Cordelia decided to ask instead of thinking more about it. ¡°So, what is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s these.¡± Jude smiled a little more evil than usual as he put the things he had prepared over the past three weeks on the table. Chapter 130 - ENDING MAKER – EPISODE 130

Chapter 130 - ENDING MAKER ¨C EPISODE 130

The chapter is finally here. And yes, I spent a lot of time in Dragonspine again, but I got so distracted by everything that I hadn¡¯t even reached 50%, hahaha. Anyway, next chapter is on Monday, so enjoy Jude ying Princess Maker for now. Terms used in this chapter: Be a squid?¨C Korean ng for someone who looks ugly or inferior in appearance whenpared to a more handsome or beautiful person. So if a person with an average-looking face sits next to a person with a very beautiful face, the average-looking person bes/looks like a squid. And just a note: Regarding Cordelia¡¯s hair color, it is color pink (just like in the cover art of this series). However, the author likes to use the Korean word for red to also describe Cordelia¡¯s hair. If we go by color theory, pink is just a tint of red, so the author isn¡¯t exactly wrong. Emma Ficus. She was the second daughter of Count Ficus, and never really liked Cordelia because of a very simple and in reason. ¡®Annoying.¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s very existence was annoying. A pretty girl who looked like a doll and was even nice. She didn¡¯t like the fact that Cordelia was truly nice and not pretending to be nice. ¡®I¡¯m excited on trampling her this year.¡¯ She liked using Cordelia¡¯s fianc¨¦ as a way to bully her because Cordelia waspletely embarrassed about it, but the situation was slightly different this year. ¡®Because you seriously dug your own grave.¡¯ Were you so excited that your fianc¨¦ who couldn¡¯t even go out much had be a bit healthy? Cordelia had prepared a lot of things to be embarrassed about in thest two months. ¡®Ah, I can¡¯t wait.¡¯ Emma Ficus trembled and sat in front of the dressing table as she looked at the mirror. She saw a petite and charming girl with long pink hair. In fact, the main reason why Emma Ficus disliked Cordelia was because of the color of their hair. They had the same red hair, so they were alwayspared everywhere. ¡®Good, good. I¡¯ll seriously trample you this year.¡¯ With a wicked smile that didn¡¯t match her lovely appearance, Emma Ficus remembered what she had prepared. Her father had prepared her new dresses and essories, and she had a fianc¨¦ who was good-looking enough to be envious of. ¡®Ah, I really can¡¯t wait.¡¯ I hope my birthdayes soon. With an evil smile again, Emma Ficus looked at the mirror again. Without knowing the fact that there was a man far away in Bailon who was looking forward to her birthday more than she herself. *** Five dayster at Count Ficus¡¯ mansion. Sylvia Crossbell, the eldest daughter of Count Crossbell who belonged to the 12 northern families, unknowingly frowned. ¡®She still has a shy taste.¡¯ At Count Ficus¡¯ garden that was not just spacious but also vast, the banquet hall was excessively and shily decorated. Fresh flowers filled the banquet hall even though it was still winter, and a temperature control magic device made it possible to hold the event outdoors. An ordinary noble would have been worried enough of their finances with just those two, but the quality of the various items used to decorate the banquet hall was also high. ¡®One way or another, she¡¯s a Ficus.¡¯ It was a fact that Emma Ficus was strangely obsessed with Cordelia, but there was nothing bad with the rtionship between the Chase and Ficus families. Their field of activity was vastly different even if they both belonged to the 12 northern families. Count Chase owned a magic tower but did not have a proper manor, so he maintained his influence with the power of his talent. On the other hand, Count Ficus possessed not only the best granary in the north but also the best transit trading city, due to the fact that the Sillikones River Delta, which was called the lifeline of the north, was in his fief. In short, he maintained his influence with the power of his outstanding territory. Therefore, Count Ficus¡¯ real rival was Count Crossbell and not Count Chase. ¡®North is Crossbell, south is Ficus.¡¯ Count Crossbell made colossal amounts of money through their financial business, while Count Ficus made huge profits through agriculture andmerce. It was when Count Ficus began to enter the financial industry that the rtionship between the two families with the most wealth out of the 12 northern families began to fall apart. Naturally, whenpared to Count Crossbell who already dominated the financial world in the north, Count Ficus¡¯ financial business was like child¡¯s y, but the Crossbells found it uneptable. ¡®It¡¯s an annoying fact, but Count Ficus has the potential.¡¯ It was currently at the level of a child¡¯s y, but it was unknown when and how it would grow. Count Ficus was no less than Count Crossbell when it simply came to their financial strength. ¡®Haa¡­I normally wouldn¡¯t want toe here.¡¯ From Sylvia¡¯s perspective, Count Ficus¡¯ ce was no different to enemy territory. The Crossbell and Ficus families had, in fact, avoided ever meeting the other. The Ficus family did not participate in the social gathering of the 12 northern families¡¯ children. But for some reason, Count Ficus always sent invitations to Emma Ficus¡¯ birthday party. Despite the fact that the distance between the two families¡¯ territories were so far that it took several days to travel from one point to another. ¡®Well, I can guess what their intentions are.¡¯ Did we touch a nerve? We¡¯re just doing this much for you. We sent you an invitation out of courtesy, but it¡¯s up to you if you want toe or not. Since Count Crossbell who was famous for his fiery personality could not let go of Count Ficus¡¯ provocations, Sylvia had to fully dress up and attend Emma Ficus¡¯ birthday party every year. ¡®Although there is one more reason why I¡¯m here.¡¯ It was none other than Cordelia. Emma Ficus had been strangely mean to Cordelia for a long time, and Cordelia was unable to properly defend herself because she had fewdy friends due to the fact that she rarely went outside her home. Her situation was perfect, so Emmashed at her as much as she could. ¡®This year will be more intense thanst year.¡¯ Sylvia couldn¡¯t properly help Cordelia because Emma Ficus always attacked her with facts, but she was nning to protect Cordelia this year even if it was beyond her abilities. She had to return the favor at Langesthei. ¡®And¡­it will be a little different this year.¡¯ Emma Ficus primarily used Cordelia¡¯s fianc¨¦ to attack Cordelia. Sylvia recalled what happened in Langesthei in the past and revealed an uncharacteristically evil smile. Because she was looking forward to it. ¡°Oh my goodness, Lady Sylvia. You¡¯re so beautiful this year.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t Lady Mia very lovely too? I¡¯ve thought about this before, but you really have a good fashion sense. The color of the dress you chose is a perfect fit for you again.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Mia Ballun, the second daughter of Viscount Ballun, reddened her cheeks at Sylvia¡¯spliment, but there was no other girl who approached Sylvia except for her. ¡®Because it¡¯s Count Ficus¡¯ party.¡¯ It was basically a ce where they were conscious of Count Ficus. All the invited families were also located near Count Ficus¡¯ territory, so it was natural for them to not approach Sylvia, the youngdy of the Crossbell family. ¡®Mia is peculiar.¡¯ But judging from the other youngdies¡¯ troubled expressions while looking at her side, it seemed like Mia wouldn¡¯t approach her next year. ¡°Wow, it¡¯s Lady Emma.¡± As Mia spoke with sparkling eyes, Sylvia gently moved away from her. There was a high possibility that the lost child would be in trouble if Emma Ficus found out that she was close to Sylvia. ¡®Anyway¡­the main character has arrived.¡¯ Emma Ficus and her fianc¨¦, Darren Filov, proudly entered the banquet hall. It was annoying to admit it, but Count Ficus was a formidable opponent after all. ¡®He isn¡¯t just some nouveau riche.¡¯ Although he had an inclination to be a nouveau riche, he knew how to properly spend his money because of his heritage. Emma Ficus was wearing a light pink dress, and the design of her dress and her jewelry were all unusual. ¡®Fairy.¡¯ A lovely design that hid the shorings of the small and petite Emma Ficus and highlighted her strong points. Emma Ficus was like a fairy, and Darren Filov who was dressed in white formal clothes decorated with gold thread was like a prince in a story. ¡®She really stuck to a concept, huh?¡¯ But it did look quite good on her. All the youngdies in the banquet hall were seriously in awe. ¡°Oh my, is Lady Cordelia still not here?¡± Emma Ficus lightly greeted the youngdies in the banquet hall and said while slightly fussing as if she had remembered Cordelia, and the young girls around her immediately responded to her words. ¡°I guess she¡¯ste.¡± ¡°She seemed to be in a lot of troubletely¡­ Could she have been banned from going out?¡± ¡°Maybe she¡¯ste because of her fianc¨¦¡­¡± ¡°Well, he must not be feeling well. He seems to have gotten a little better¡­buttely, he¡¯s a bit¡­ he must have overdone it. Don¡¯t you think?¡± Emma faintly smiled and said, and thedies promptly agreed. ¡®Haa, seriously.¡¯ It was such an annoying sight, but Sylvia decided to put up with it. Because it was meaningless for her to step in when the person being talked about was not here. ¡®Why is shete anyway?¡¯ Cordelia was neverte for this kind of event. Why is shete today? ¡®Did something happen?¡¯ Did something happen to Jude like they said? She was half right and half wrong. Their reason for beingte was because of Jude, but it wasn¡¯t because of a problem. There was a reason why Jude deliberately made them arrivete. There was a reason why he let all the youngdies gather first, and why he also waited for Emma Ficus, the main character for today, to show up. ¡°Lady Cordelia from Count Chase has arrived.¡± Everyone¡¯s eyes were gathered into one ce after hearing the butler¡¯s words. It was natural to do that. All of thedies had arrived except for Cordelia. ¡°I guess she has only arrived now.¡± ¡°Is it because of her fianc¨¦?¡± Some youngdies openly gossiped to please Emma Ficus, but it was only for a moment. They couldn¡¯t talk any more about Cordelia. Because they were captivated. Because they lost their senses and were left gaping one after another. ¡°Wow¡­¡± Mia Ballun nkly let out a voice. Not only her but also all the youngdies who gathered in the banquet hall had dazed looks. Cordelia Chase. Her beauty had long been famous. Everyone knew that she was such a beautiful girl that even those from the same sex would nkly stare at her. But this time, it wasn¡¯t that. Simply saying that she was beautiful wouldn¡¯t describe the sight in front of them. ¡°Cor¡­delia?¡± Even Sylvia was captivated. All that she could do was let out an astonished voice and blink her eyes. A goddess. An existence that was beyond human. Dressed in a light pinkish white dress, Cordelia entered the banquet hall with an elegant smile. Her reddish pink hair seemed to shine, and the essories everywhere sparkled but wasn¡¯t excessive as they even further made Cordelia¡¯s beauty shine. A truly overwhelming beauty. ¡®W-what?¡¯ Sylvia was the first toe to her senses and she blinked her eyes several times. She had always been a pretty girl, but was it this much? And when Sylvia came to her senses, she noticed something else. ¡®They¡¯re the same?¡¯ The design of the dress Cordelia was wearing. It wasn¡¯t really the same. But the design concept was the same as Emma Ficus¡¯ dress. ¡®The color is simr too?¡¯ Simr clothes. So even if she hated topare it, she had no choice but topare the two. The other youngdies came to their senses one by one and noticed it too. They unconsciously looked at Emma Ficus and at Cordelia again. No one opened their mouths, but everyone knew. The difference between the two could only be described as overwhelming. Emma Ficus was a lovely girl too, but it wasn¡¯t an exaggeration to say that the current Cordelia was like a goddess. She was taller and had a better shape. They wouldn¡¯t have known if her clothes were different, but Emma Ficus, the lovely girl who wore the same clothes, was quickly crushed and became a squid. ¡®It¡¯s not just the clothes.¡¯ Sylvia¡¯s sharp and discerning eyes began to take note of other things. The essories worn by Cordelia. All of it were unusual. What was even more shocking was the fact that the location and number of essories were the same as those of Emma Ficus. ¡®All of it are superior?¡¯ -You used gold? Sorry, but ours is tinum. -Diamond? I beg your pardon, but ours is bigger and more beautiful. That¡¯s the impression I get? ¡®It seems like you¡¯ve made a decision.¡¯ To crush Emma Ficus. Topletely erase Emma Ficus¡¯ presence in this banquet hall. And the person who came up with this plot also thought the same. ¡®All ording to n.¡¯ Jude wickedly smiled as he observed the banquet hall that waspletely overwhelmed by Cordelia, who looked at Jude with confusion. ¡®Jude, Jude. What is this? What¡¯s going on?¡¯ ¡®Yes, it¡¯s just as nned.¡¯ Jude had already figured out what clothes Emma Ficus would wear and what essories she would use. She was a character that appeared in a sub-quest once, so JudeWiki contained information about her. ¡®I snooped around a bit too.¡¯ Count Ficus spent a lot of money for today. So it was inevitable that there would be rumors in the business circles on what kind of dress and essories she would wear. Perfection was achieved by adding the information he got from snooping around to his existing knowledge. Jude had met the Fall Fairy Queen again to specifically prepare for the dress to be used today. The dress and Magen¡¯s essories were profusely blessed by the fairies. And he added another weapon to her. ¡®Look, look at that shiny and smooth hair.¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s hair was much more beautiful than usual. The reason was simple ¨C because she used shampoo and conditioner. ¡®There¡¯s no shampoo and conditioner here.¡¯ There were basic cleaning products like soap because it was a world where civilization was quite developed, but there was no shampoo and conditioner. Ever since Jude had taken the Sun¡¯s Ne from Leisegang, he was doing some research on it and eventually seeded in developing a shampoo and conditioner that was suitable formercial use. ¡®There is no woman who is not interested in beauty.¡¯ I mean, if you were at least an upper-ss woman, you would have no choice but to make yourself beautiful even if you were not interested in it. The reason why Jude developed the shampoo and conditioner was simple. He intended it to be used as a bargaining material when they meet the royal family or the high-ranking nobles in the royal capital. ¡®It¡¯s working.¡¯ Sylvia and the otherdies good at discerning had noticed the peculiarity of Cordelia¡¯s hair. What would happen if we approached them and offered them the shampoo and conditioner, saying that they can be like her if they used it? And what would happen if we gave it to Cordelia¡¯s friends in particr, and not to anyone else? ¡®She¡¯ll dominate the banquet.¡¯ It might have begun as Emma Ficus¡¯ birthday party, but he made it into the new Cordelia¡¯s fantastic debut stage in the end. And it was just the beginning. Jude still had a lot of things he had prepared. First was Jude himself. ¡°I am Jude Bayer. I greet all the youngdies whom I¡¯m meeting for the first time today.¡± When Jude stepped forward and courteously greeted them, small groans and screams spread among the youngdies. Jude Bayer. A man who upied a ce among the best looking characters in?Legend of Heroes 2. It was natural that screams spread among the women since Jude had went all out in dressing up. ¡®And I match him too.¡¯ He matched the clothes and essories of Emma Ficus¡¯ fianc¨¦. Even their hair styles. Jude¡¯s n worked again this time, and Darren Filov met the same fate as Emma Ficus as he was crushed and became a squid too. ¡®It¡¯ll be difficult if you croak with just this.¡¯ Not yet. I prepared a lot of things, so don¡¯t be crushed like this yet. Perhaps Jude¡¯s wish was heard, because Emma Ficus came forward with spiteful words. She weed Cordelia while maintaining a calm expression. ¡°Oh my, you¡¯re a good-looking person as I¡¯ve heard. No wonder Lady Cordelia left such a letter.¡± Such a letter. Cordelia¡¯s nighttime escape that she did several times. Cordelia¡¯s face turned red at that moment, and murmurs were heard among the youngdies. Emma Ficus¡¯ face regained a bit of its color. But Jude¡¯s wicked smile had yet to disappear. Because he naturally expected this to happen. ¡®It¡¯s about time they arrive.¡¯ Those whom he invited for today. Jude mentally counted down, and the sound of footsteps were heard at just the expected time. ¡°The Guardians of the Holy Cross has arrived.¡± As soon as the bewildered butler¡¯s voice ended, the elite members of the Guardians of the Holy Cross who were dressed in pure white entered the banquet hall. ¡°The Guardians of the Holy Cross?¡± ¡°My goodness, did theye here to congratte Emma on her birthday?¡± The Guardians of the Holy Cross protected the continent from the demons. They never had a low prestige. In a sense, they were a group that held authority beyond that of the royal family. Everyone¡¯s attention were once again focused on the appearance of the Guardians of the Holy Cross who were dressed not in just theirbat uniforms, but in their best ceremonial clothes. Their gazes were directed at a pdin of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, the good Sir Eindolph who was the manifestation of dignity, as he went to his destination with an unwavering attitude. ¡°Oh my, did they reallye to celebrate Emma¡¯s birthday?¡± ¡°The Guardians of the Holy Cross?¡± Low voices were heard among the youngdies, and feelings of embarrassment and expectation spread on Emma Ficus¡¯ face. And Sir Eindolph knelt down to show his respect. In front of Cordelia and not Emma Ficus. ¡°The Guardians of the Holy Cross greet our benefactor.¡± ¡°We greet our benefactor.¡± The guardians behind Sir Eindolph courteously greeted at the same time, and a scene like those in religious paintings was created. Cordelia turned to Jude in embarrassment, and Jude said with a smirk. ¡°Sir Eindolph, we just did the right thing. Please stand up. Cordelia would prefer that too.¡± Eindolph slowly stood up at Jude¡¯s words. At the same time, surprise, wonder and an unbearable curiosity spread among the faces of the youngdies. Why? Why are the Guardians of the Holy Cross courteously greeting Jude and Cordelia? But there was more to be surprised. Jude signaled to Cordelia, who hesitantly proceeded with the n she agreed to. She transformed into an angel without bringing out her wings. The atmosphere of Cordelia changed at that moment. She was like a goddess even if she wasn¡¯t, but the air around her began to really feel sacred now. And the most sensitive to her change was the Guardians of the Holy Cross. Sir Eindolph unconsciously blinked his eyes in awe. ¡°A-angel?¡± The staging was a bit crude, but the effect was magical. Cordelia was a woman given the title of an angel because a pdin from the Guardians of the Holy Cross ¡®mistook¡¯ her for one. ¡°N-no. I¡¯m not an a-angel.¡± Cordelia stuttered with apletely red face, and Jude¡¯s smile deepened. The reason why he called the Guardians of the Holy Cross here. The reason why he promised to cooperate in the future and then requested that the Guardians of the Holy Cross be sent here today. It was to clear the various rumors that had spread regarding Jude and Cordelia. From teenage escapees who were head over heels with each other and repeatedly ran away, to newly packaged heroes who fought the demonic followers in the north and made a big enough contribution that the Guardians of the Holy Cross paid their respects to them. ¡®Perfect.¡¯ Sir Eindolph saw Jude¡¯s eyes signal and began to speak in front of everyone about the activities of Jude and Cordelia in the north. A lot of the events in the wildnds were naturally omitted, and his story had many dramatized parts here and there, but it was enough to reverse public opinion. ¡®Good.¡¯ Jude made a deep smile and turned to Emma Ficus. He very much liked seeing her stunned face as her eyes blinked. ¡®I don¡¯t even have to do anything anymore.¡¯ He could just leave the rest to them. And it really went as Jude thought. When the Guardians of the Holy Cross led by Sir Eindolph left, Sylvia spoke to Cordelia, and Jude advertised the shampoo and conditioner to Sylvia. ¡°You should try it too.¡± The moment Cordelia handed over the small jar to Sylvia, a change urred once again. The youngdies who were only watching from the side had begun approaching her. From Emma Ficus to Cordelia Chase. The main character of the banquetpletely changed, and that changed atmosphere remained until the end of the banquet. Andte in the afternoon. Jude stared at the banquet hall and party that ended much earlier than expected, before he turned to Cordelia and asked. ¡°Were you satisfied?¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyes narrowed at his sly question, and she kicked Jude¡¯s shin afterwards. ¡°Ouch! Why?!¡± ¡°What do you mean by why! Do you know how embarrassing it was?¡± Especially when Eindolph was surprised and said ¡®Angel?!¡¯ while in awe. Cordelia¡¯s face turned red again, and cutely struck Jude on the chest with her fist. ¡°The shameful part is always mine!¡± At least tell me in advance! ¡°Haha, but didn¡¯t it go well?¡± ¡°That¡¯s why it¡¯s more annoying, okay?¡± At Cordelia¡¯s words, Jude snickered and quickly moved his feet. He moved to Cordelia¡¯s side in an instant and hugged her slender waist. ¡°So, you don¡¯t like it?¡± ¡°No, I love it!¡± She actually felt sorry for Emma. Nevertheless, all of her frustrations that had umted so far had been relieved at once. ¡°As expected of my Jude, right?¡± ¡°Yes, yes, it¡¯s my Jude.¡± Cordelia cheerfullyughed and soon tied her hair as she said. ¡°But Jude.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Do you still have any shampoo and conditioner prototypes left? Besides the one we¡¯ll bring to the royalty.¡± ¡°There is?¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s give some to Emma too. Let¡¯s carefully give it in a way that doesn¡¯t offend her.¡± No matter how much she thought about it, they seemed to have gone too far. Today was her birthday after all. Jude smiled again at Cordelia¡¯s words and nodded his head. ¡°If that¡¯s what you want.¡± And he thought that her blood wasn¡¯t the only one that was angelic. Satisfied by Cordelia¡¯s consideration, Jude stretched out his hand to escort her, and Cordelia gently held Jude¡¯s hand. And a week or so passed by. When rumors about the shampoo and conditioner circted among the youngdies in the north. Invitations announcing the beginning of the foundingmemoration at the royal capital finally arrived at Count Bayer and Count Chase¡¯s mansions. Chapter 131 - EPISODE 131 – TO THE ROYAL CAPITAL (1)

Chapter 131 - EPISODE 131 ¨C TO THE ROYAL CAPITAL (1)

After the birthday party that could only be described as Cordeliaing out as the superior one. It was unsurprising that there was an uproar in Count Ficus¡¯ mansion. ¡°So annoying! I¡¯m so annoyed!¡± Unlike her petite and lovely appearance, Emma Ficus didn¡¯t have a gentle and sweet personality. Whenpared to a puppy, she was like a chihuahua that couldn¡¯t get over her anger and was running amok. Not only did she break, tear, and destroy things in her room, but she also pped the maids and kicked a fuss to the point that the concerned Count Ficus asked what happened in her birthday party. ¡°Exin it in detail.¡± Count Ficus, who had his youngest daughter at the age of 40, had arge and fierce appearance. In response to his question that he asked in an irritated voice, the butler described what happened at the party while profusely sweating. Cordeliapletely dominated it. As a result, Emma Ficus who should have been the main character of the party had be a squid. After hearing the exnation, Count Ficus burst intoughter and then broke the ornaments in the desk before he knocked over the bookshelf in his office as he roared in anger. ¡°How dare you do that in my house?!¡± Who was the source of Emma Ficus¡¯ terrible personality? It was Count Ficus¡¯ genes and education. Count Ficus flew into a rage and the servants including the butler, spent their days under tremendous stress and suffering. And upon hearing all of these, Jude said with a very brilliant smile. ¡°What else could they do then?¡± What else could they do other than going crazy and destroying stuff in their house? At Jude¡¯s confident attitude, Cordelia frowned and asked a bit timidly. ¡°Won¡¯t he do something really bad to us?¡± Because Count Ficus was very powerful. When it simply came to their wealth, the gap was so wide that even if Count Bayer and Count Chasebined theirs, they wouldn¡¯t have half of Count Ficus¡¯ wealth. So if Count Ficus wanted to do something bad to Count Chase or Count Bayer¡­ Just imagining it was horrible as Cordelia was almost in tears, but Jude shook his head. He lightly pinched Cordelia¡¯s cheeks and said. ¡°That¡¯s not going to happen.?Offend only those you can offend.?So he can¡¯t do anything, okay?¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Really. Let me exin why.¡± Jude sat next to Cordelia who was quietly crouching on the sofa, and he began to exin it step by step. ¡°First, he has no justification.¡± ¡°Justification? Even though we ruined the party?¡± ¡°Yes, because of how we ruined it. Think about it. Where would he go toin??Cordelia was as beautiful as a goddess that my daughter became a shrimp. Isn¡¯t this unfair!?¨C Something like that.¡± He was right. After all, the fundamental reason why the party was ruined was because Cordelia was much prettier whenpared to Emma. ¡°Should he go to your father and say this? ¨C Your daughter is so beautiful! How can she be as beautiful as a goddess! Because of your daughter¡¯s heavenly beauty, my daughter¡¯s mortal beauty is suffering! Exin to me why she is so beautiful! Exin it!¡± As Jude spoke with clenched fists, Cordelia¡¯s face turned red in an instant. She understood that he was only exining it, but she still became very embarrassed. ¡°Or should he go to my dad andin? ¨C?Why is your daughter-inw so beautiful? Why is she so beautiful that it broke my daughter¡¯s heart?¡± ¡°S-stop¡­¡± ¡°Or should he say it to other nobles? ¨C?Cordelia Chase¡¯s beauty was like that of a heavenly goddess¡­how could there such an atrocity? How could someone be born with such a beauty and break my daughter¡¯s spirits?¡± ¡°S-stop¡­¡± ¡°Or should he say it to the residents of his fief??Cordelia¡¯s beauty was so great that it reached the skies-¡± ¡°You crazy b*stard, stop it! ¡± Cordelia¡¯s face turned so red as if it would explode, and she used magic but Jude quickly tore a scroll to dispel her magic. ¡°.¡± ¡°Eh?!¡± ¡°Woah, woah, calm down.¡± The effect was immediately visible when Jude stroked Cordelia¡¯s chin as if he was calming down a puppy. Cordelia¡¯s eyes narrowed and she began to growl. ¡°Anyway, he has no justification. Cordelia, you understand now why there¡¯s no justification, right?¡± Cordelia nodded with a red face at Jude¡¯s question. Because it was definitely a reason that was hard to disagree with. But in reality, there was one more reason that Jude didn¡¯t tell her. It wasn¡¯t just because of Cordelia¡¯s beauty that turned Emma Ficus into a squid. ¡®Superior items.¡¯ All of the clothes and essories worn by Jude and Cordelia overwhelmed Emma Ficus and her fianc¨¦ in all aspects. What would people think about that? They would think about the fact that Count Bayer and Count Chase having much better essories would mean that Count Ficus was no better than the two counts. It was an issue that was hard to contest even if Count Ficus protested. ¡°And Count Bayer and Count Chase are not easy opponents. If it¡¯s just about military force, they¡¯re one of the top families among the 12 northern families. Will he pick a fight with two of such families? It will be too much for Count Ficus even if he¡¯s wealthy.¡± The royal family would definitely not allow an armed conflict between the families of the 12 northern families, so there would be no direct armed conflict, but the families could still wield their swords if need be. And Count Ficus could never thoughtlessly confront the Bayer and Chase families who were called the swords of the 12 northern families. ¡°He could quietly put some pressuremercially¡­but as you know, our Bailon is not a frontier city for no reason. After all, Langesthei is where the influential merchants mainly do business.¡± Count Ficus might be a master in trading, but that did not mean he controlled the entire north. ¡°In short, even if Count Ficus got mad, he wouldn¡¯t be able to crush our families¡¯ finances, or to be exact, he can¡¯t do any harm to the people of our families. So don¡¯t worry. Okay?¡± ¡°Okay.¡± When Cordelia replied with a smile as if she was a bit relieved, Jude also smiled in satisfaction. ¡°Any more questions?¡± ¡°Uh¡­there is. The shampoo and conditioner.¡± ¡°Yes, what about that?¡± ¡°How did you make it? I mean, howe you know how to make it?¡± I¡¯ve been trying to figure out his previous job. What is it? What kind of human knows how to make a detonating cord as well as shampoo and conditioner? Cordelia directly asked as her eyes narrowed, and Jude shrugged as he replied. ¡°My friend taught me.¡± ¡°Is your friend a chemical nt employee?¡± ¡°No, it was a person in the same line of profession as I had, but it was that person¡¯s hobby.¡± Jude thought of his old friend¡¯s face for a moment as if he missed that person, and then he continued to speak again. ¡°That person taught me so that if I went to some ce that didn¡¯t have shampoo and conditioner, I wouldn¡¯t have a hard time. So it remained in my Memory Pce.¡± Cordelia frowned when he said it like it was nothing. Because it was strange no matter how she thought about it. ¡®Why would you go to some ce that didn¡¯t have shampoo and conditioner?¡¯ Where is such a ce anyway? ¡°Did your friend expect you to be reincarnated in the game world?¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s not possible. It¡¯s just in case I went to some remote ce.¡± Jude and Cordelia thought of apletely different ce when he said, ¡®remote ce.¡¯ They might have been able to talk with their eyes, but the topic came to a halt because the two had a different image in their minds. ¡°What about the detonating cord then?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just part of my job?¡± ¡°What was your job? Are you really a spy? Are you 007?¡± She had previously thought that it was nonsense, but the more that she thought about it, the more she thought that it might be real. First of all, Jude wasn¡¯t just weird but was too weird. Even if she separated his ridiculous Memory Pce on which his JudeWiki was based on, he was not an ordinary person. ¡®No ordinary person would habitually install traps near their sleeping ces.¡¯ They must have a mental illness if they did. On top of that, Jude knew how to make explosives like a detonating cord, and he was also good at plotting and scheming. ¡®He¡¯s good at collecting information.¡¯ How else would he know what kind of clothes and essories Emma Ficus and her fianc¨¦ would be wearing? ¡®If I put it all together¡­¡¯ Spy, 007, legendary mercenary. All of those were things that likely appeared inics, but Cordelia¡¯s eyes began to be filled with excitement and conviction at the same time. ¡°There is¡­a possibility!¡± ¡°I know what you¡¯re imagining, but I won¡¯t tell you, okay?¡± ¡°Why not!¡± ¡°What about you then?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°What was your job? You know?give and take, right?¡± Cordelia was at a loss from Jude¡¯s words, and her gaze turned to another ce. ¡®Eueu, what should I do?¡¯ Should I just tell him? That I was a student? But then¡­ ¡®I might have to use honorifics to Jude!¡¯ The real reason wasn¡¯t actually because of honorifics. She was somehow feeling anxious. The current rtionship they had might change if they fully disclosed their past lives to each other. ¡°Shall we speak at the same time at the count of three?¡± ¡°I won¡¯t do it.¡± ¡°Eh? You won¡¯t?¡± ¡°Yes, I won¡¯t.¡± Cordelia kept her mouth shut, and Jude blinked his eyes but soon smiled. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s not do it.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Cordelia was still quiet as she pouted her lips, but she soon came up with a different topic. ¡°By the way, Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Why did you not agree to making the shampoo and conditioner as amercial product?¡± The next morning after the shampoo and conditioner were presented at the party. Sylvia Crossbell appeared with fluttering hair, and suggestedmercializing the shampoo and conditioner. ¡°This will sell! This will definitely sell!¡± Sylvia who was the embodiment of elegance had shouted that with excitement, but Jude declined her offer without even thinking much about it. Why did he do that? Even Cordelia herself thought that it would sell well once it was made. ¡°Because we have to use it in the royal capital.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the connection between using it in the royal capital and not selling it in the north?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a big connection.¡± Having said so far, Jude stood up and continued to exin. ¡°In any case, the north would always be the north. It is a remote area from the perspective of the royal capital.¡± Cordelia bit her lips at Jude¡¯s words, as it was true since she knew it from having been born in the north. ¡°Put yourself in the shoes of the royal capital and the royal family, and think about it. Wouldn¡¯t it look bad if they epted and used items that were popr in a remote area?¡± ¡°You mean, they don¡¯t want to ept the fashion trends of the remote areas?¡± ¡°To be frank, yes. It also includes¡­the fashion trends of those below them.¡± ¡°I feel upset.¡± ¡°But you understand, right?¡± ¡°¡¯I¡¯m feeling upset because I understand.¡± She thought that she knew what he roughly meant. She had to endure it for now in order to make the shampoo and conditioner fashionable in the royal capital. ¡°What would happen after we¡¯ve made it popr in the royal capital?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll spread it all across the country and make sure we get our share of the profit. That way, my princess can buy a lot of delicious and pretty things.¡± ¡°Ahem.¡± Cordelia cleared her throat and pretended that it was not true, but he could see it in her eyes. She seemed to be very pleased. ¡°Well, anyway, an invitation will arrive from the royal family soon, so we just need to go to the royal capital.¡± Cordelia used to go to the royal capital with Count Chase every year at the founding ceremony, even if her fianc¨¦, Jude, was sick. Because it was a precious opportunity to meet Adelia who was working in the royal capital. ¡°Would they allow us if we said that we¡¯ll be leaving first?¡± ¡°We can use the name of the Guardians of the Holy Cross to make it possible. It was for this reason on why I met with them at that time.¡± Jude and Cordelia didn¡¯t have any intentions in going to the royal capital quietly. They had to do some power-ups by doing all the quests that were avable on the way from Bailon to the royal capital. ¡°We must specifically stop by the Temple of Life and the dungeon of Archwizard Arkeman.¡± Each was a ce where things needed to power up Jude and Cordelia were present. ¡°We need to find clues so that we could meet Fran.¡± Jude immediately nodded at Cordelia¡¯s words. Lena didn¡¯t have much information about the location of the other two of the five heroes, Druid Fran and Necromancer Velkian. ¡°I wonder how Lena¡¯s doing.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure she¡¯s fine. Perhaps she met my master by now.¡± Lena left for the southern part of the S?len Kingdom in order to meet Landius. Cordelia took out the feather Lena had given her. It was a token of Lena¡¯s friendship, but she also got it to reassure Fran and Velkian when they meet the two. ¡°We¡¯ll do quests on the way, and find traces of Fran and Velkian if possible. We¡¯ll get to the royal capital first and do some undercover work. We¡¯ll be very busy.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­okay. If my Jude thinks so, this Cordelia will follow you. Got it?¡± ¡°Yes, Madam. I shall do my best to take care of it.¡± Jude exaggeratedly bowed as if he was acting in a y, and then he extended his hand to her. ¡°Would you like to go now that our conversation is over?¡± ¡°Yes, Mr. Bayer.¡± Cordelia deliberately answered in a modest manner as she took Jude¡¯s hand and stood up. They headed to Count Bayer¡¯s office. They were going to get permission to leave for the royal capital first. *** A few dayster, in apletely different ce. Saluzia, a high-ranking demonic human of the Devil¡¯s Hand, had a faint smile. ¡°They¡¯re finally back.¡± Jude Bayer and Cordelia Chase. The two who fled across the border to thend of the barbarians had returned to the north. ¡°Are we attacking them this time?¡± Saluzia slowly nodded at the question of Kanos, her subordinate. ¡°We¡¯ll target the two as they head for the royal capital.¡± The two were apanied by Count Chase when they returned to Bailon, so they couldn¡¯t even touch the two, but if the two went on a trip alone again, the situation would change. ¡®Foolish ones¡­¡¯ Did you think that the Devil¡¯s Hand would easily give up? Or did you think that you werepletely free from the past after having been to a distant ce? It doesn¡¯t matter either way. I just have to capture the two foolish, yet unrivaled and sweet offerings. ¡°What should we do? Are you going to do it yourself again?¡± ¡°No, we might make the Guardians of the Holy Cross move. Just send three mid-ranking demonic humans.¡± Jude and Cordelia had a power equivalent to a low-ranking demonic human. They were that much strong when shest met them, so they couldn¡¯t have be much stronger than that in just a month. The three mid-ranking demonic humans was definitely something excessive, but she was determined to not fail again. ¡°I shall follow your orders.¡± Kanos bowed and left the room, and Saluzia who was now alone, opened the Demon Record. It was to contemte on which demon would she summon with Cordelia as the sacrifice. ¡®It¡¯s an exaggerated story anyway.¡¯ She had heard that Jude and Cordelia yed an active part in the events across the border. Saluzia knew that the Devil¡¯s Eye who upied the barbariannds had greatly failed, but she did not know the exact details. ¡®They must have made a significant contribution.¡¯ But it was clear to her on what the two people with only the strength of a low-ranking demonic human could do. Count Chase and Count Hr?svelgr must have done the really important stuff. ¡®I¡¯ll make you regret it.¡¯ That they didn¡¯t let themselves be caught quickly, that they weren¡¯t sacrificed immediately. A small smile spread over Saluzia¡¯s face. It wasn¡¯t because she found the perfect demon to summon that would use Cordelia as a sacrifice. She was thinking of the trust of their leader whom she would recover once she caught the two. Her position would be firmly established again. ¡®I hope that dayes soon.¡¯ The day when Jude and Cordelia would go on a trip to the royal capital. Saluzia¡¯s smile deepened, and she turned her gaze to the Demon Record. She moved her long and thin fingers as she flipped the pages of the Demon Record. Chapter 132 - EPISODE 132 – TO THE ROYAL CAPITAL (2)

Chapter 132 - EPISODE 132 ¨C TO THE ROYAL CAPITAL (2)

An invitation to the founding anniversary of the kingdom. The founding anniversary itself was naturally a big event, but it was also a rtivelymon event that happened every year. Therefore, a lot of countryside nobles didn¡¯t attend it, and the royal family did not encourage the countryside nobles from attending too. But it was different this time. Because it was the celebration of the 300th?founding anniversary. People had interestingly attached meanings to numbers that were perfectly matched. Like 10, 20, or 30. But this time, it was 300. It was just 299 bing 300 when viewed objectively, but its significance was bound to be different. ¡®It¡¯s amazing that the kingdom has been around for 300 years.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t just a small country in some remote area, as it was one of the two strongest powers in the continent, a major power that had stood for 300 years. So it was a seriously outstanding aplishment. ¡®Nobles from all over the country will gather.¡¯ The royal family even issued invitations to low ranking nobles in the countryside. It was literally unreasonable for Count Bayer and Count Chase, who both belonged to the 12 northern families, to pull out of such an event. ¡°Ga?l, Jude, and I will go to the royal capital, so I¡¯ll leave the territory to Sir Victor.¡± No one opposed Count Bayer¡¯s deration. While it was normal for either Count Bayer or Ga?l to remain in order to manage the territory, the founding anniversary made the situation different. Even in the Chase family, Count Chase and his sessor Edward, as well as his youngest daughter Cordelia, would be going to the royal capital too. ¡®It¡¯s quite different from the original.¡¯ Around 4.5 months after the beginning of the Cordelia route. In the original, Jude was still suffering from his illness while Cordelia was missing, so neither of the two counts went to the royal capital with a joyful heart. ¡®Only Edward headed to the royal capital as the Chase family representative.¡¯ Even in the Bayer family, it was Ga?l who headed for the royal capital because their intelligencework had reported that there were unusual movements in the barbariannds. ¡®Because Haraken had almost taken over the western side of the wildnds at that time.¡¯ But everything changed, so the two count families decided to go to the royal capital as if they were going sightseeing. ¡°Are you saying that the two of you¡­would be going first alone?¡± ¡°Yes, father.¡± The original n was for the Bayer and Chase families to pack up and set off for the royal capital together. But the trip to the royal capital was long, and the preparation itself took quite some time since they also had to prepare gifts to exchange with the nobles in the royal capital. ¡°We have some things to discuss with the Guardians of the Holy Cross regarding the wildnds. Most importantly¡­I have to meet my master too.¡± Iron Man Landius. Count Bayer was forced to step back when that name was mentioned. The tremendously talented Jude had inherited the martial arts of a foreigner instead of the swordsmanship of Count Bayer, so it would have been normal for Count Bayer to be angry, but the mentioned foreigner was that Landius. Iron Man Landius was always mentioned in discussions about the continent¡¯s strongest people. And Jude would soon inherit the martial arts of an ancient person who had defeated the overlords of hell in the past. So Count Bayer was fine with Jude learning from Landius. ¡°I understand why you have to go first. But as for going with Lady Cordelia¡­¡± Count Bayer¡¯s words trailed off in the end, and Jude nced at Cordelia who was standing next to him. She had a slightly resentful look before she blushed and said. ¡°That¡­ I-I¡­ Mr. Bayer¡­ I love him so much¡­¡± ¡°So do I. I want to be with her all the time.¡± Cordelia fidgeted and stuttered while Jude openly spoke and flirted. A smile then spread over Count Bayer¡¯s face. ¡°Ahem, well¡­ since you said that, I guess I¡¯ll allow it.¡± What a cute couple. Count Bayer warmly looked at the two, and Jude turned to Cordelia as he had a happy expression too. On the other hand, Cordelia awkwardly smiled and looked at Jude. ¡®Hey, is this really the only way?¡¯ ¡®It is? I mean, it¡¯s effective.¡¯ ¡®Eueue¡­¡¯ Why is it always me who says the embarrassing words, and why is Jude fine and I¡¯m the only one who¡¯s embarrassed? And why is the shame always mine? ¡®Anyway, let¡¯s finish this. Smile, quickly.¡¯ When Jude said that with his eyes, Cordelia reflexively smiled, and Count Bayer spoke afterwards. ¡°I¡¯ll allow it if Count Chase gives his permission. But I have one condition.¡± ¡°Condition?¡± ¡°Yes, regrly report your activities and contact us. Traveling like you¡¯ve did before is not permissible. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Yes, father.¡± ¡°Yes, father.¡± Their discussion ended at that. Jude and Cordelia obediently answered, and Count Bayer smiled again. He told them to talk to him again after they had obtained Count Chase¡¯s permission. And a few dayster. During the time when Saluzia heard the news that Jude and Cordelia were heading to the royal capital. ¡°It went smoothly.¡± Inside a two horse carriage driven by a coachman, Jude looked out of the window with a peaceful expression. Just like Count Bayer, Count Chase had also allowed the two to travel. ¡®He also generously took care of our travel expenses.¡¯ As expected of my future father-inw. I really love you. ¡®It¡¯s going really smoothly now.¡¯ Being allowed to go first was nice, but the most important part was being allowed to go on a trip with just the two of them. ¡®Because it would be difficult to do the quests if someone else is with us.¡¯ They wouldn¡¯t be directly heading to the royal capital, as they would be stopping here and there while on the way. So it would inevitably be difficult for them if someone else joined them. ¡®We¡¯ll have to exin why we have to go somewhere else while on the way, and why we know of such a ce.¡¯ But fortunately, the two were allowed to travel alone, and Count Chase greatly helped them too. ¡®Hmph, I don¡¯t like that you still look weak and frail¡­but it would be okay if it¡¯s the two of you. I¡¯ll allow it.¡¯ Count Chase said that with his usual serious and stern face, and even brought him a gift like always. ¡®Thank for helping me always, Father.¡¯ Jude mentally thanked him as he continued to look out of the window with a smile. The world looked so beautiful to him now that his worries were resolved. And across from him. Cordelia crouched her body and was troubled as her lips quivered. ¡®Eueue¡­.¡¯ She was like that because her conversation with Dahlia the night before their departure had continued to bother her. She squinted her eyes and then closed it, and Cordelia recalled yesterday¡¯s conversation. ¡°Miss, please remember what I¡¯m saying. You¡¯re not married yet, so you should never cross the line. Do you understand?¡± ¡°What are you talking about? What do you mean by crossing the line? There¡¯s nothing like that, okay?¡± It was just the delusions of her older sister Dahlia. When Cordelia had unknowingly opposed it strongly, Dahlia narrowed her eyes and said as she touched her chin. ¡°Good. However, you two can kiss instead. Just kiss but don¡¯t cross the line. Do you understand?¡± ¡°H-he won¡¯t! Ju-Jude is a gentleman, okay?¡± ¡°He is. He is a gentleman. But he¡¯s a man too, right? He¡¯s also a wolf, okay?¡± ¡°W-wolf?¡± When the protesting Cordelia became curious, Dahlia quickly nodded and said as she drew her face closer. ¡°Mydy, I find you very pretty, cute and lovely even if I¡¯m a woman too.¡± ¡°Are you angry?¡± ¡°Not really. Anyway, how would you look like in Mr. Bayer¡¯s eyes? Wouldn¡¯t he see you as a real angel?¡± ¡°Umm¡­¡± She was a real angel in the first ce. Because of Ancestral Regression. ¡°Mr. Bayer must be holding back a lot too. So I¡¯ll tolerate kissing. If it¡¯s that much¡­you¡¯re 17 years old now and can do it.¡± ¡°W-what are you talking about? What do you mean by tolerate? A-are you saying that Jude wants to kiss me?¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t he? He¡¯ll seriously want to, right?¡± ¡°T-that¡¯s ridiculous.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not ridiculous. It¡¯s something that¡¯s reasonable. Mr. Bayer is also a man, a man. He¡¯s a human. He¡¯s not a stone statue but a person made of flesh and blood. A human.¡± Cordelia stepped back at Dahlia¡¯s fiery speech. But instead of protesting, she quivered her lips from worry again. Because Dahlia¡¯s words somehow made sense. ¡°R-really? Jude is like that with me¡­¡± ¡°He is. Absolutely. Somehow.¡± As Dahlia emphasized that with clenched fists, Cordelia also clenched her fists without realizing it, and soon quivered her lips again. ¡°Anyway, just kissing is fine. You understand that you can¡¯t cross the line, okay?¡± That was her conversation with Dahliast night. After she finished recalling it, Cordelia thought as she covered her face with both hands in order to calm herself whose cheeks had turned red. ¡®It¡¯s ridiculous.¡¯ A delusion. Cordelia forced herself to smile as she lowered her hands and peeked at Jude. What is so good outside that he¡¯s looking out the window with a happy face? But now that I see it, he has such well-shaped lips. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡®The color is pretty. It seems to be soft.¡¯ ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡®But it¡¯s still lips so it¡¯s simr to mine, right?¡¯ ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡®Why are his lips so close¡­¡¯ ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Kyaa?!¡± It was right in front of her. Cordelia was startled by Jude¡¯s face that was within the reach of her breath, so she threw herself in the corner of the chair while Jude tilted his head and frowned. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong, okay? I didn¡¯t think about that, okay? I was just looking there, okay?¡± Jude narrowed his eyebrows again at Cordelia¡¯s strong reaction. ¡°Think about what? What¡¯s the ¡®there¡¯ you¡¯re talking about?¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing! Anyway, what is it!¡± ¡°Do you have a fever? Shall I take your temperature?¡± Jude drew near her again to touch her forehead, but Cordelia shook her limbs in a fluster and said. ¡°I-I¡¯m fine. I can use .¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes, really. So, it¡¯s fine. I¡¯m not sick at all. is the best, the best.¡± ¡°By the way, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Why can¡¯t you look into my eyes?¡± ¡°You¡¯re wrong, okay? I¡¯m just closing my eyes because I¡¯m tired, okay? It¡¯s not because I can¡¯t look at you, okay?¡± Cordelia forcefully closed her eyes to not see him as she was quite in a panic. She didn¡¯t know what thoughts woulde out of her mind if she looked into his eyes now. Cordelia snorted with her eyes closed, and Jude narrowed his eyes but soon decided to change the topic. ¡®She¡¯ll get angry if I say that she¡¯s cute here.¡¯ That will make her cuter though. But instead of tormenting Cordelia further, Jude sat back in his seat and said to her. ¡°Moving on, let¡¯s talk about our schedule.¡± ¡°Schedule? You already told me about that.¡± ¡°I did. I said that we¡¯ll be heading to the Temple of Life as our primary destination.¡± The ce which Jude and Cordelia set as their primary destination was the temple of the goddess of life, Aerith. Unlike the Sri denomination that still maintained its legacy, the Aerith denomination hadpletely disappeared, so there was no one who knew about the location of their temple now. ¡®Except for us.¡¯ In the game, the temple was hidden deep in the mountains just like the temple of Sri where Leisegang was sealed, so it was a ce where they knew the location only after going through a special event. ¡®But there¡¯s JudeWiki.¡¯ It was a bit embarrassing to say ¡®JudeWiki¡¯ out of her own mouth, but Cordelia couldn¡¯t help it since she had called it JudeWiki for a long time. ¡°We¡¯ll head to the Temple of Life to secure the Sphere of Life. I need an enormous amount of life energy to open a new door of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. I¡¯ll be able to easily open the fifth door if I use the Sphere of Life.¡± ¡°I can also raise my angel rank there, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, you¡¯ll be able to raise your angel rank if you absorb the remaining divine power in the temple. If you¡¯re lucky, you might even get a divine blessing.¡± Just as the invasion of the northern barbarians in the game had ended in the defeat of the S?len Kingdom, the events in the royal capital also ended with the defeat of the S?len Kingdom. A catastrophe urred when the royal family was massacred, and more than half of the royal pce copsed. ¡°As you know, the levels of the enemies are higher in the royal capital.¡± ¡°Even if we passed through all of them, there¡¯s still the Minister of Defense¡­¡± Duke Antarius. He was a distinguished swordsman who was one of the ten great swordmasters whom the S?len Kingdom was proud of. Moreover, he was also a war hero who had made great contributions in the war against the Argon Empire. ¡°We have to be as strong as possible.¡± It was impossible to fight against the Minister of Defense in the game. Death only awaited them when they tried to fight him. ¡°The Minister of Defense¡­are you nning on bringing the First Sword to our side to deal with him?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the first n.¡± A man who was called the First Sword because he was ranked first among the swordmasters. Also known as the Sword Saint of Light, he was not in the royal capital during the day of the founding anniversary. ¡®But we can change history.¡¯ In the same way that they saved the leader of the eastern forces, Red Gale, who was fated to die. ¡°Anyway, it¡¯s us who¡¯ll be the main actors in the end. So we have to be strong first.¡± ¡°Yes. Let¡¯s be stronger.¡± Cordelia said as she clenched her fist, and Jude unconsciously smiled before he spoke about their issue at hand. ¡°Anyway, it¡¯s time for them to appear.¡± ¡°Are you talking about the Devil¡¯s Hand?¡± ¡°Oh, you know about it?¡± ¡°Hmph, do you think I¡¯m stupid? Of course I know.¡± Cordelia said as she shrugged before crossing her arms. ¡°Saluzia personally appearedst time. They probably waited for us to return from the north.¡± ¡°Why had they not attacked us so far?¡± ¡°Because your father was with us on our way home. And we were both at home for quite some time.¡± Attacking them during Emma Ficus¡¯ birthday was also impossible. To begin with, it only took one day to travel to the Ficus territory. ¡°But we¡¯re now on a long journey to the royal capital. In addition, there¡¯s only the two of us who have gone on this trip.¡± ¡°It¡¯s the perfect time to attack us.¡± If Count Bayer and Count Chase had known how obsessed the Devil¡¯s Hand was with Jude and Cordelia, they would have never allowed the two to travel alone. ¡°Anyway, do you have any ns about this matter?¡± ¡°ns?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t feign ignorance. You¡¯re not the kind of person who will stay still when you¡¯re expecting an attack.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. You know me very well.¡± ¡°Because I see you all the time.¡± ¡°Yes, you¡¯ve seen me all the time.¡± Jude said as he nodded his head before he beckoned to Cordelia. ¡°Come closer to me first.¡± ¡°Are you going to whisper to me again?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s an important topic.¡± ¡°No one is listening anyway. Why are always doing this?¡± Cordelia grumbled but eventually moved to the side of Jude quietly and pricked up her ears, and Jude drew his face closer to Cordelia¡¯s ear. ¡°W-wait a second.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°No, um. Okay.¡± Cordelia took a deep breath to calm herself as she closed her eyes for some reason, and Jude tilted his head but drew his face closer to her again. And he began to tell her of his plot like always. ¡°What do you think? Do you like it?¡± ¡°Yes, I like it.¡± A bright smile spread over Cordelia¡¯s face. Chapter 133 - EPISODE 133 – TO THE ROYAL CAPITAL (3)

Chapter 133 - EPISODE 133 ¨C TO THE ROYAL CAPITAL (3)

Terms used in this chapter: Residual thoughts?¨C Japanese term used in paranormal phenomenon wherein various strong thoughts and feelings such as resentment, obsession, or unresolved wishes, remain at a certain ce after death. ¡°First of all, a mid-ranking demonic human would probably be sent.¡± Cordelia nodded at Jude¡¯s words. Because she agreed and thought that they wouldn¡¯t dispatch a new low-ranking demonic human now. ¡°During the time theyst chased us, we easily cut down the low-ranking demonic human. So Saluzia probably thinks of us to be barely as strong¡­ as one low-ranking demonic human.¡± ¡°Barely?¡± ¡°She¡¯ll rate us to be that much. Think about it. We had a hard time fighting the low-ranking demonic human in Langesthei, right? It¡¯s only been a few months from that time, so she wouldn¡¯t think that we had be stronger than how we were at that time.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Cordelia meekly answered and smiled at the end of her words. Because she enjoyed the fact that they were several times ¨C no, almost ten times stronger than what Saluzia had thought. ¡°She¡¯ll dispatch a mid-ranking demonic human anyway. And because of Saluzia¡¯s personality, there¡¯s no way that she¡¯ll send just one. Considering her failure when she personally wentst time, she¡¯ll probably send three of them.¡± Saluzia had a rather cautious personality. And given the precedent so far, the number of demonic humans who Saluzia mobilized to capture them was always more than two. ¡°She must have been really worried and impatient to capture us given that she personally camest time. She must have been put in a difficult spot within their organization because of us.¡± ¡°So she¡¯s sending three mid-ranking demonic humans?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s likely because of Saluzia¡¯s personality.¡± Cordelia nodded her head when Jude affirmed it. Somehow, it must be true if Jude was the one who said it. ¡°And perhaps¡­the mid-ranking demonic humans who would being to capture us would be them ¨C Lou, Ken, and Kargo.¡± ¡°You know who¡¯sing?¡± ¡°Because Saluzia doesn¡¯t have many options. Mid-ranking demonic humans are not amon resource.¡± ¡°Huh¡­notmon?¡± ¡°I mean, Haraken pretty much poured all of his resources in the wildnds. So the Devil¡¯s Eye must have suffered a huge loss from his operation in the wildnds. They lost a lot of mid-ranking demonic humans after all.¡± ¡°Ohhh.¡± ¡°Anyway, the Devil¡¯s Hand is made up of six branches, and Saluzia is the head of one of them. The number of mid-ranking demonic humans under her are six at most.¡± ¡°But it¡¯s three out of six. Why did you think it¡¯s Lou, Ken, and¡­¡± ¡°Kargo.¡± ¡°Yes, Kargo. Anyway, to guarantee that it¡¯s those three¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure of it.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia blinked her eyes again and pondered. What is it? What makes him confident to say that? ¡°Should I tell you?¡± ¡°Yes, yes, tell me.¡± Cordelia asked like a girl curious about a magic trick, and Jude smiled before he said. ¡°As you know, our information about the Devil¡¯s Hand isn¡¯t perfect. We didn¡¯t know that there was someone with a foresight ability even if it was imperfect right now.¡± ¡°So?¡± ¡°But that doesn¡¯t mean we don¡¯t know them at all. The personality and bearing of those who were grouped together can be grasped from their dialogue and mutual rtionship that was shown in the game.¡± Saluzia had a cautious nature, so she handled everything meticulously. In other words, she was a boss who would consider thepatibility of her subordinates when she gave them joint missions. ¡°Sending people with a bad rtionship with each other will inducepetition¡­so it¡¯s not good to group those people when they must seed in their mission. Saluzia has a conservative personality, so she¡¯ll choose those who can work well together. Therefore, if we put together all the evidence so far, the most likelybination we¡¯ll get is-¡± ¡°Lou, Ken, and Kargo?¡± Jude smiled and Cordelia gulped nervously. Because it was so amazing to see Judee up with that conclusion just from analyzing the facts they had. Of course, there was a possibility that Jude¡¯s words were wrong¡­ ¡®No, I don¡¯t think so.¡¯ He was none other than Jude. ¡®I¡¯m really d that Jude is on my side.¡¯ It would have been terrible if Jude was on someone else¡¯s side. ¡®Yes, he¡¯s terrible. He makes fun of me all the time. He¡¯s evil.¡¯ Cordelia frowned as she remembered the events of the past five years, and Jude looked confused as he was unaware of her thoughts. ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°You¡¯re mean.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Um, anyway. What¡¯s next?¡± Cordelia asked with sparkling eyes, and Jude was confused again but did not dare question it, so he continued his exnation. ¡°Moving on, since we know who¡¯sing, we can build a strategy based on their personalities and abilities.¡± ¡°Are we using traps?¡± ¡°Yes. And the ce will be here. It¡¯s Markville, a town that is a part of Count Ficus¡¯ fief. Our opponent¡¯s foresight ability can only foresee the approximate ce, so we don¡¯t have to be afraid that they¡¯ll find out the location of the traps we¡¯ll set up.¡± Cordelia was startled and surprised when Jude tapped and moved his fingers as if he was drawing figures in the air. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I mean, won¡¯t people get hurt if an explosion happens in the town? Like innocent civilian casualties.¡± ¡°Wait, why are you talking about an explosion?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a trap.¡± ¡°It is a trap, so why would it explode?¡± ¡°Because traps explode. It¡¯s an unspoken rule that traps explode.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know when such an unspoken rule was established, but we¡¯re not doing that this time.¡± ¡°Tsk, how boring.¡± Cordelia pouted her lips, and Jude unwittingly nced at the detonating cord bundle on her waist. I made it because I wanted to make her happy, but was that a mistake? ¡°Anyway, what kind of trap is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a bit quieter, moderate, and simple trap.¡± With a smile on his face, Jude stared into space as he thought of Markville¡¯s map in his mind. ¡°First of all, there is only one inn in Markville where nobles like us can stay. In other words, if we can lure them into the fact that we¡¯re heading to Markville, they¡¯re going to focus on the only inn ¨C White Dove Inn.¡± The two knew who wereing, so they knew how to wee them too. ¡°What if they don¡¯te to Markville?¡± ¡°Then we¡¯ll have to set up the next trap. But it¡¯s highly likely that they wille this time.¡± ¡°Because Saluzia is impatient?¡± ¡°Bingo.¡± She, who was a high-ranking demonic human and also the branch head, had personally gone in the past to capture the two of them. Perhaps she wanted to go this time too. ¡®But she must be busy with their ns for the royal capital now.¡¯ The founding anniversary was also a very important event for the Devil¡¯s Hand. ¡®In any case, Saluzia is in a hurry, and now that we¡¯vee out looking so defenseless, there¡¯s a high possibility that she¡¯ll make a quick decision.¡¯ Therefore, she would settle on White Dove Inn, Markville¡¯s only luxury amodation. ¡°We¡¯ll only get one room.¡± ¡°Uh, wait. Just one?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a trap after all. We won¡¯t really need two, right?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll only end up sleeping if they don¡¯te and trigger the trap.¡± ¡°That¡­you¡¯re right. Well, but haven¡¯t we done it before?¡± They always shared the same room in the wildnds. ¡°And this is to narrow down their targets into one too.¡± ¡°Ugghhhh.¡± Cordelia puffed her cheeks as she hesitated, but soon nodded her head. They had done it before as Jude had said. ¡®We¡¯ll be saving on expenses too. Yes, that¡¯s it.¡¯ Cordelia was relieved after she added another reason, and she focused on their n again. ¡°What about the room?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll noisily enter the room, and then sneak out and hide ourselves in a ce where we can watch the room.¡± ¡°Is that possible?¡± ¡°Yes, I know the secret passage.¡± Jude replied so naturally to Cordelia¡¯s question that she blinked her eyes but decided to stop thinking about it and soon said. ¡°JudeWiki is awesome.¡± ¡°Hehe, it¡¯s not called a wiki for no reason.¡± Jude pretended to show off before he concluded his exnation. ¡°We¡¯ll defeat the one who try to attack us or run away. It¡¯s simple but effective.¡± In order to catch an assassin, it was necessary to bring out the hidden assassin from its hiding ce. ¡°But Jude, will it really work as you said?¡± ¡°It will turn out well. It¡¯s Lou, Ken, and Kargo.¡± He designed the trap based on his understanding of the personalities of the three demonic humans. But it was at that moment. Jude¡¯s confident smile suddenly turned into a mischievous one as he said. ¡°Shall we make a bet?¡± ¡°What kind of bet?¡± ¡°If my n will work or not.¡± ¡°What will we bet?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­well. How about granting a wish for anything?¡± ¡°Anything?¡± ¡°Yes, anything.¡± Jude said with a good-natured smile, but Cordelia knew. That Jude¡¯s expression was what he makes when he scams someone. ¡®But.¡¯ Wouldn¡¯t it be impossible for Jude to get everything right such as where they would attack, their numbers, and who would be there? ¡°If you miss one, will I win?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°You said ¡®anything¡¯?¡± ¡°Yes, anything you wish. Well, it can¡¯t be helped if you¡¯re scared.¡± The provoking Jude had a wily smile, and Cordelia pouted and thought about it as she clenched her fists. Because her desire to win, which had been burning every day for the past 5 years, had been lit anew. ¡°Okay! Let¡¯s do it!¡± ¡°Thank you, dear customer. You can sign here.¡± Jude pretended to give her a paper in the air, and Cordelia pretended to stamp her fingerprint on it. ¡°Thank you. Then shall we wait for the result?¡± Jude said, and Cordelia somehow felt something but quickly shook her head. Even if he is Jude, he can still get one thing wrong. He¡¯ll get one thing wrong. He has to be wrong. Please. And that night. When darkness descended because the clouds covered both the light of the moons and the stars. ¡°Well, it really happened.¡± Jude abominably said and Cordelia was about to cry. *** Lou, Ken, and Kargo. Among the three mid-ranking demonic humans of the Devil¡¯s Hand, it was Kargo who personally entered the inn. He was bewildered by the empty room and searched under the bed, inside the closet, or any ce where they could possibly hide, but not a single trace of Jude and Cordelia was seen. ¡®What happened?¡¯ He clearly saw them entering the inn. But nothing will change if he denied the reality in front of him. Kargo went out of the balcony and signaled that the operation had failed. Then he tilted his head again. ¡®What?¡¯ Why is a reply noting back? Kargo shook his head and shrugged at the ominous feeling that began to deeply creep inside his heart. He sent a signal again. ¡®What¡¯s going on? What in the hell is going on?¡¯ Lou and Ken should have received his signal. But not even one of them were responding. Something must have gone wrong. That was all he could think of. ¡®Let¡¯s get out of here first.¡¯ It was foolish to check on Lou and Ken in this current situation. The priority was to get out of here first, even if it was only Kargo himself. Having made up his mind, Kargo took a few breaths and then left the room slowly. He went through the hallway and took a normal route instead of jumping down from the balcony, and after leaving the inn as inconspicuously as possible, he hid himself in the shadows. He left the town just like that. It all went smoothly for him. He was able to get out of the town without any difficulty. ¡°Haa.¡± Kargo unconsciously sighed in relief. But he was suddenly robbed of his breath. Chwllak-! Right after he left the town. A ce where damage would not reach the town. The ck detonating cord wrapped around Kargo¡¯s neck in an instant. Its swiftness seemed to be like that of a live octopus¡¯ tentacles. ¡°Gak?!¡± Kargo immediately transformed into his demonic human form after being strangled. His body instantly grew, and three horns rose above his head. ¡°Who are you!¡± At the moment he cried out, the detonating cord flew in the air again. Kargo tore off the detonating cord that was wrapped around his neck, and roughly swung his right hand that had turned into a de, but the flying detonating cords swam in the air to avoid his attack. Just like tentacles again, the detonating cords wrapped around Kargo¡¯s left arm and waist. ¡°Ugh?!¡± A telekic power. And it set off one after another. Babababang! The detonating cord exploded and Kargo¡¯s left arm fell. His waist was also severely injured, and his neck was half broken. ¡°Haa!¡± But Kargo had a regenerative power. He immediately recovered from his wounds and threw his gaze towards the direction from which the detonating cords came from, but a golden whirlwind suddenly blew behind his back. One blow. Jude¡¯s fist that was filled with the energy of the ck dragon swiftly prated Kargo¡¯s back. It struck the heart and destroyed it. ¡°Ahh!¡± Kargo turned around as he vomited ck blood. But he couldn¡¯t see Jude. A golden whirlwind appeared again, and a de of light flew in the dark towards Kargo¡¯s chest and pierced the spirit stone that was right next to his heart. Heavenly Judgment. The pure white de was filled with the angel¡¯s power. ¡°Light of Judgment.¡± As Cordelia chanted it like a spell, the de of Heavenly Judgment shone again, and Kargo¡¯s entire body turned into ck ashes and scattered in the air. They defeated him through a series of surprise attacks. A ring of light appeared around Cordelia and Jude. ¡°As expected of my angel.¡± Jude let out in admiration, and Cordelia hmphed and recovered the Heavenly Judgment. Because she was happy that she was able to properly use her angelic power one way or another. ¡°And¡­¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°That¡¯s all you¡¯re praising me?¡± Jude blinked his eyes when Cordelia asked, but he soon understood it. ¡°Detonating cord.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± ¡°It was amazing. I really thought that it was a tentacle.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Cordelia let out an aura that was asking for more praise, but Jude stopped there for now. Because they still had some work to do. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s begin our counterattack. Let¡¯s join the Guardians of the Holy Cross at the city of Mte.¡± When Jude suddenly spoke in a firm tone, Cordelia blinked her eyes but soon came into an agreement. Because she met eyes with Jude. ¡°Okay, I understand. Is it arge-scale surprise attack?¡± ¡°The troops of the Guardians in the S?len Kingdom will gather together. Now¡¯s the time to eradicate the Devil¡¯s Hand in the north.¡± Jude said that and looked at her again, and Cordelia perfectly understood him as they began to quickly run. 5 minutes passed by like that. Cordelia turned to Jude when she thought that they had widened their distance enough. ¡°What was that? Are we really attacking them? Was there such an event? No, did you talk to the Guardians?¡± ¡°No, there isn¡¯t. It¡¯s a lie of course.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a lie?¡± ¡°Yes, a lie.¡± Jude smiled as he exined to Cordelia who began to frown. ¡°Because Kargo can leave residual thoughts. Probably by tomorrow morning, the Devil¡¯s Hand will find out that they died. They will also collect Kargo¡¯s residual thoughts.¡± And Kargo¡¯s residual thoughts wouldpletely convey their conversation. And the changes that would result from it¡­ Saluzia¡¯s branch would stop chasing Jude and Cordelia and instead prepare for the Guardians of the Holy Cross¡¯ surprise attack which they didn¡¯t know when it would begin. He even mentioned clearly the name of the city where their branch headquarters was located, so they couldn¡¯t just ignore it. ¡°Wow, you damn scammer.¡± Cordelia said in admiration, and Jude smirked as he asked like always. ¡°So, you don¡¯t like it?¡± ¡°I love it so much. It¡¯s so good.¡± Cordelia broadly smiled, and the satisfied Jude gently stretched out his hand. It was to escort her. ¡°Well then, my princess. Shall we go to the Temple of Life?¡± The Devil¡¯s Hand would probably not care for them for some time. ¡°Yes, Daddy.¡± Cordelia grinned and answered, but she climbed on Jude¡¯s back instead of holding his hand. Jude then created a golden whirlwind. ¡°By the way, Princess.¡± ¡°Yes, Milord.¡± ¡°I can wish for anything, right?¡± Cordelia stiffened instead of answering him, and Jude had a shameless smile. ¡°What should I wish for?¡± Cordelia unconsciously gulped in nervousness, and Jude deliberately stopped talking. By doing that, Cordelia woulde up with all sorts of delusions on her own. ¡®So cute.¡¯ Jude mischievously smiled before he quietly turned into a gale. He headed to the Temple of Life with Cordelia who was beginning to grumble. Chapter 134 - EPISODE 134 – TEMPLE OF LIFE (1)

Chapter 134 - EPISODE 134 ¨C TEMPLE OF LIFE (1)

erms used in this chapter: Words can be a seed?¨C Korean proverb that means if something negative is said repeatedly, it may actually happen. Aerith, the goddess of life. Although she was not an archangel like Sri, she was a powerful celestial being just below the archangel rank ¨C a Seraphim. The earth where she first appeared was apletely different ce from now. Danger was everywhere, and disasters such as earthquakes and floods happened on a daily basis. The humans could not even found a proper country as they were nothing more than prey to be chased by the demons who upied more than half of the continent. ¡°The benevolent Aerith couldn¡¯t leave the humans alone like that.¡± Her original reason foring down on earth had nothing to do with taking care of humans. It was to stop the demons who were trying to advance on earth since her ultimate goal was to protect the heavens. But at some point, she began to focus more on protecting and taking care of the humans, and the humans worshipped her as the benevolent goddess of life. ¡°But just like Sri, Aerith didn¡¯tst forever.¡± Sri, the goddess of the sun. A supreme being. The most powerful god of the humans. But she died in a fight against the overlord of hell, and disappeared from earth. Aerith wasn¡¯t much different either. The opponent she fought was not the overlord, but she also lost her life after repeatedly fighting to protect the humans. ¡°Aerith disappeared, and her denomination lost their central figure and began to decline. The demons then used their followers to thoroughly destroy the Church of Life.¡± That was not the only cause of their downfall. After the disappearance of the goddess, the power that the priests of the Aerith denomination could use was greatly limited, so countless people turned to the other still standing denominations in search of a stronger power and strength to protect themselves. ¡°The death of the goddess, the persistent attack of the demons, and then the people who changed denominations¡­those were the obvious reasons on why the Church of Life disappeared and became history.¡± The Church of Life disappeared, and everyone forgot about its existence. ¡°But her legacy has notpletely disappeared. Aerith loved the humans on earth, so her thoughts¡­no, her love still remains on earth.¡± The Temple of Life and the Sphere of Life that was enshrined there were evidence. ¡°So¡­are you listening? Cordelia?¡± Jude asked the person on his back, but an answer did not immediately return. ¡°Hey, Cordelia? You asked me about their story, right?¡± He asked again, but there was still no answer. ¡®I don¡¯t think she¡¯s sleeping.¡¯ It was difficult to see her face because she was on his back, but he could tell by the sound of her breath. The breathing of a sleeping person was unique. ¡®There¡¯s also the feeling when she¡¯s on my back.¡¯ Because there was a clear difference between carrying a sleeping person on his back and carrying a still awake person who steadied themselves to prevent falling from his back. ¡®Eh¡­don¡¯t tell me she¡¯s still thinking about that?¡¯ They had reached this far from the town they left. At least two hours had passed by at this point. And Jude¡¯s guess was right on target. ¡®What? What is it? What kind of wish will he ask?¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s worries gradually intensified, and her delusions also ran wild. ¡®It can¡¯t be, right? It can¡¯t be, it can¡¯t be, ¡­right?¡¯ Dahlia¡¯s endless delusions lingered in Cordelia¡¯s mind. To be exact, it was Dahlia¡¯s words that lingered. ¨C ¡®Wouldn¡¯t he? He¡¯ll seriously want to, right?¡¯ To kiss. To touch each other¡¯s lips. Mouth to mouth. The one Adelia-unnie really liked to do. ¨C ¡®Mr. Bayer is also a man, a man.¡¯ She was right. Jude was also a man. Just as Dahlia said, he was a man. And Cordelia was a teenage girl who was at the height of her dreams and delusions. ¡®What if it¡¯s true?¡¯ If Jude asks me to kiss him as his wish. If something like that is what he really mentions. If he really wanted to kiss me. Cordelia¡¯s face turned red. Blood rushed to her head, and her delusions further grew. The kissing scene between Adelia and Ga?l that she saw on the day of engagement was reyed in her mind, and that scene was greatly beautified through the filter of a girl¡¯s delusions. ¡®Uuunnnnn¡­¡¯ Embarrassing. It¡¯s so embarrassing. But. But if somehow¡­ ¡®Aaah! No! I have to stop thinking! He¡¯s Jude! Jude! Outboxer009!¡¯ The b*stard who insulted me and ran away during the first time we met, saying that I¡¯m bad at games! ¡®That¡¯s right! So he won¡¯t ask for such a strange wish! He¡¯ll definitely make another wish!¡¯ Rather, it would be reasonable for him to make a wish to humiliate Cordelia. ¡®Yes, yes, that¡¯s more logical.¡¯ But. But what if¡­ Suppose if¡­ ¡®The possibility¡­¡¯ Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh! Cordelia silently screamed and tried to catch her breath. But even though she tried to do so, her glowing red face did not lessen. ¡®Ah, I don¡¯t know! First of all, I¡¯m a woman who keeps her word!¡¯ I¡¯ll do it if he asks me to do it! So what if I do it! A kiss doesn¡¯t make your lips wear out! It¡¯s not anyone else but Jude! ¡®That¡¯s right, Cordelia. Let¡¯s be open-minded!¡¯ We made a bet and I lost, so I¡¯ll ept it. I¡¯ll ept the result and not be a sore loser!¡¯ ¡®I can do it!¡¯ As a result of her continued delusions, Cordelia had alreadye to the conclusion that his wish would be a kiss, even though there was no basis for it. And new thoughts sprang up because of that. ¡®My lips¡­are fine, right?¡¯ It¡¯s not chapped, right? It seems fine when I touch it. It¡¯s soft and moist. ¡®Wait, what if it smells?¡¯ Come to think of it, when did I brush my teeth? Did I brush after dinner? ¡®What was the dinner menu this night?¡¯ I clearly ate at White Dove Inn. Steamed pork with potatoes and carrots, bread and¡­chicken soup! Cordelia quickly covered her mouth and slowly let out her breath. As she hurriedly sniffed it, she felt like she smelled a bit of pork in it. ¡®N-no. At this rate, my first kiss will be a steamed pork kiss¡­wait, wait-wait-wait!¡¯ I missed something very important. More important than a steamed pork kiss! ¡®M-my first kiss!¡¯ This is my first time. First. First. First time. And that other person is Jude? ¡®Wait, so Jude will get my first kiss achievement? First ce? Is he number one again? I¡¯m letting Jude get first ce with this? Even this?¡¯ Her head turned a bit cold. But it didn¡¯t help much because it was a result of her delusions running wild in the first ce. ¡®Calm down, calm down, Cordelia. Take a deep breath. Count the prime numbers. Yes, yes, let¡¯s count the prime numbers.¡¯ 2, 3, 5, 7, 11¡­ ¡®Prime numbers are solitary numbers that can only be divided by 1 and itself. They give me strength.¡¯ (T/N: The above is a reference to?Enrico Pi?from Jojo¡¯s Bizarre Adventure.) It was helpful. She could finally rx after thinking of the manga character¡¯s lines. ¡®Cordelia, Cordelia. Be strong. You promised, right? That you¡¯ll grant him anything. So you¡¯ll keep your word because you agreed to the bet!¡¯ Jude had never asked for a kiss, nor had he even mentioned anything, but it was already a settled matter in Cordelia¡¯s mind. ¡®Okay, let¡¯s brush my teeth first.¡¯ Make it clean and refreshing. Let¡¯s make my mouth clean with the mint I bought some time ago. Cordelia slowly closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She said in a calm voice, unaware of the fact that Jude had called her several times already. ¡°Jude.¡± ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°Yes, Jude. I want to brush my teeth.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Why so suddenly? ¡°It¡¯s important. I really want to clean it.¡± As Cordelia spoke again in a voice that somehow sounded very respectful, Jude frowned but he soon nodded. ¡®It¡¯s strange but¡­¡¯ A day or two had not even passed before Cordelia had spoken. Besides, they didn¡¯t have time to properly wash up after dinner. So her mouth seemed to have be dry. ¡®We¡¯ll have to brush it before we sleep anyway.¡¯ Jude nodded his head and replied as he continued to look in front of them. ¡°Hang in there a bit more. In one¡­no, in about 10 minutes or more, there¡¯ll be a ce where we can camp out.¡± ¡°10 minutes?¡± ¡°Yes, 10 minutes.¡± Cordelia¡¯s heart began to pound fast because of Jude¡¯s words. 10 minutes. 10 minutes from now. 10 minutester. It would be 10 minutester from now. ¡°Cordelia? Are you not feeling well?¡± ¡°Eh? Uh. I¡¯m fine. I¡¯mpletely fine.¡± ¡°Your breathing is¡­rough?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not. Yes, it¡¯s not.¡± Cordelia slowly and deeply breathed, and Jude increased his running speed instead of asking her further. He thought that they could talk about it once he put her down from his backter. And indeed, 10 minutester. Cordelia got off Jude¡¯s back and diligently brushed her teeth. Her mind had gone so delusional that the throbbing of her heart had even felt painful now, but she somehow continued to take deep breaths to calm herself. ¡®Good, good. Alright.¡¯ The moonlight is good enough. It seems to set the mood a bit. ¡®Let¡¯s go. Let¡¯s do it.¡¯ After packing up her toothbrush, Cordelia mentally prepared herself before turning to Jude. And Jude said. ¡°I¡¯ve made the bed, so let¡¯s sleep. I¡¯ve set up and spells, so we don¡¯t have to keep a night watch.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go. I¡¯m tired.¡± He fought once and even ran for more than 2 hours. In Cordelia¡¯s case, she didn¡¯t run and was carried on his back, but it was also difficult to be on the back of Jude who was running at a fast speed. Just like getting tired after riding a horse for a long time. ¡°Then good night, dream of me.¡± ¡°Yes, good night¡­no, wait!¡± ¡°Cordelia?¡± As Jude blinked his eyes, Cordelia unknowingly answered in her excitement. ¡°No! Hey! You¡¯re just going to sleep?¡± ¡°Then what?¡± ¡°W-wish! Tell me your wish!¡± ¡°Can I do itter?¡± ¡°No! I won¡¯t let you do itter!¡± Cordelia shouted as if whining, and Jude blinked his eyes but nodded his head afterwards. ¡°Okay, then I¡¯ll make my wish now.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia flinched and then gulped in nervousness. Her heart pounded fast and she even closed her eyes. And after 1 second, 2 seconds. Jude said his wish. *** ¡°Hey.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Is this really a wish?¡± ¡°Should I wish for something better then?¡± ¡°No.¡± Jude was lying on Cordelia¡¯sp as a pillow, and Cordelia was cleaning Jude¡¯s ears. ¡®Something¡¯s not right.¡¯ It¡¯s good that¡­we didn¡¯t cross the line. It¡¯s really good. But what is this, this feeling that I¡¯ve been deceived. This strange frustration. ¡°What did you think I was going to make you do? This is perfect. It¡¯s also nice. I don¡¯t know how long it has been since I¡¯ve had someone clean my ears.¡± ¡°Umm¡­¡± He wasn¡¯t exactly wrong. Cordelia herself never had someone else clean her ears except when she was very young. ¡°But Jude. Do you really like this?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s nice.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­then I¡¯ll clean your ears once in a while.¡± ¡°Eh? No strings attached?¡± ¡°Yes, no strings attached.¡± Cordelia hadn¡¯t actually spoken about it until now, but she had always felt indebted to Jude. ¡®Jude always cooked for me.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t just the meals. Jude carried her on his back when her legs hurt, and he prepared their sleeping ce all the time. Cordelia had honestly felt indebted to Jude that she was worried if there was any way for her to repay him. ¡°Tell me if your ears feel itchy in the future. I¡¯ll clean it for you.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s deration, Jude said with a deeply touched face. ¡°My princess, are you all grown up now?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m all grown up. I¡¯m an adult. So turn around. I¡¯ll clean the other side.¡± ¡°Yes, Madam.¡± When Jude turned around, Cordelia swept back his hair that had fallen to the side and focused her attention on the ear again. And the next morning. Standing at the entrance of the Temple of Life that was hidden deep in the mountains, Jude and Cordelia lightly clenched and opened their fists. ¡°Do you remember the original?¡± ¡°Yes, I remember.¡± One could visit the Temple of Life 8 months after the Cordelia route in the original, but it was now almost four months earlier than the original. ¡°It may not have anything unusual like the Temple of Sri where Leisegang is sealed¡­but such a possibility still exists.¡± The Temple of Life which Jude and Cordelia knew was the one that was four months from now. Therefore, a situation different from what the two knew could happen inside the temple. ¡°But Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± ¡°It¡¯s rather ominous if you keep saying that. Don¡¯t you know that words can be a seed?¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s true.¡± In fact, the situation was unlikely to be different four months before the original. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go then.¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go.¡± Jude was in the front and Cordelia was in the rear. As they formed a line, the two entered the cave which was the entrance to the temple. And around 30 minutester. ¡°Hey! I told you that words can be a seed!¡± ¡°It¡¯sing!¡± ¡°Explosion!¡± Cordelia¡¯s magic exploded inside the temple which waspletely different from the one they remembered. Chapter 135 - EPISODE 135 – TEMPLE OF LIFE (2)

Chapter 135 - EPISODE 135 ¨C TEMPLE OF LIFE (2)

30 minutes ago. Right after they entered the temple. The entrance to the forgotten Temple of Life was connected to cave hidden in an unfrequented ce, just like the temple where Leisegang was sealed. ¡°.¡± Cordelia created a small light and Jude slowly advanced as he searched his memories. ¡®The Temple of Life.¡¯ An open dungeon that could be conquered by any character. But given its location, only the yable characters from the S?len Kingdom like Cordelia, Jude, and Lucas could actually conquer it. ¡®It¡¯s impossible to explore it after a certain period of time.¡¯ Usually, the best time to conquer it was between the 8 months to 1 year from the beginning of the Cordelia route. Because by this time, the entire S?len Kingdom had already be a battlefield after the barbarians¡¯ invasion of the north and destruction of the royal capital. ¡®But it¡¯s different now.¡¯ Only four months had passed since the beginning of the Cordelia route, and the barbarians¡¯ invasion of the northern part of the kingdom would not happen now. ¡®All that we can get from the Temple of Life is the Sphere of Life.¡¯ A divine item that contained the power of Aerith, the goddess of life, and granted a strong regenerative ability to its user. ¡®It¡¯s on the 3rd?floor of the basement¡­and there would be small mobs and temple guardians on the way.¡¯ Since Jude and Cordelia were over level 70, there were no particrly difficult opponents for them in this ce except for the low-ranking angel that guarded the Sphere of Life. Well, it was that kind of ce. But. ¡°Screeeeeeeeech!¡± With their wildly eerie shrieks, monsters that looked like giant bats attacked them without end. ¡°F*ck! So disgusting!¡± The giant bats weren¡¯t the size of a palm but were at least over a meter tall from head to toe. It would actually be more correct to describe them as scary rather than disgusting. Cordelia unknowingly swore and hurriedly caused an explosion in front of her. ¡°Why! Why is this happening! These monsters did not exist in the original!¡± ¡°Keeeeeeeea!¡± Five or six bats were blown away by the explosion, but there were still many bats left. Dozens of them swarmed again as if to fill in the void created by the explosion. ¡°ck Dragon¡¯s Ascent!¡± Jude stretched out his hand and released the energy of the ck dragon. A couple of bats were swept away by the ck dragon, and the rest of the bats were greatly split left and right. ¡°Let¡¯s jump!¡± ¡°¡± With Double Casting and Spell¡¯s Echo! Four balls of fire that were around a meter in diameter soared into the sky. Jude hugged Cordelia¡¯s waist and lifted her up as he ced her over his shoulder because he realized what Cordelia was about to do next. ¡°Split! Explosion!¡± As Cordelia swung the Moonlight and shouted, the balls of fire split into dozens of smaller balls and covered the ceiling. When it exploded, all they could see was a zing inferno. Bang! Bang! Bang! ¡°Kiaaaaa!¡± The bats screamed and fell to the floor while Jude eximed. ¡°Hey! Are you crazy?! The cave will copse at this rate!¡± ¡°Run before it copses then!¡± Cordelia quickly shouted and gasped as she poured out all of her mana at once, but did not stop her movement. She raised her left hand and activated Count Chase¡¯s ring. ¡°¡± The golden whirlwind created by Jude blew away the mes and smoke, and Cordelia¡¯s shield protected them from the bats that fell from the ceiling. From a closer look, the giant bats were even scarier and more disgusting. ¡°What happened? There wasn¡¯t anything like this in the original!¡± ¡°We¡¯re 4 months early!¡± They arrived four months earlier than the time it could be explored in the original. But monsters that were not seen in the original were now swarming inside the cave. And what could be inferred from that was¡­ ¡°Eh? Then someone had entered the Temple of Life in the original in those four months?¡± ¡°It¡¯s possible?¡± Jude arranged Cordelia¡¯s position on his shoulder and shouted back, while Cordelia who was in a prone position and could see Jude¡¯s back ¨C to be exact, she could only see his back and buttocks, so she forcibly raised her upper body, looked behind her and shouted again. Because she suddenly remembered something. ¡°The empty room on the 2nd?floor!¡± There should have been something on the second floor of the Temple of Life given the ambience and structure, but it was just an empty space with nothing! Jude paused for a moment at Cordelia¡¯s cry, before he immediately understood it. ¡°As I thought, you¡¯re a rotten water too!¡± Cordelia was a rotten water too, but it was less obvious because of Jude himself. She wasn¡¯t just some rotten water, as she was the 2nd?ce in the server rankings, making her one of the most rotten among the rotten waters! ¡°Hey! Are you trying to boast that you¡¯re first ce?¡± ¡°Anyway! You¡¯re right, Cordelia! The empty room on the 2nd?floor!¡± The reason why it was empty. ¡°Because someone had already taken it!¡± Cordelia eximed, and Jude agreed with her. And the gamer brains of the two activated after a long time. ¡°Someone strong enough to change the ecosystem of the cave!¡± ¡°The stuff that such a strong person took!¡± ¡°They didn¡¯t even stop by the third floor!¡± ¡°Their purpose was the second floor from the very beginning, and they knew what was there!¡± ¡°ck Dragon¡¯s Ascent!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t shout the skill name! ¡± Jude released a ck dragon with his right hand, and the dragon smashed the giant spider-looking monster in front of him. On the other hand, the wall of mes created by Cordelia had blocked the monsters that were trying to attack them from behind. ¡°You shouted it too!¡± ¡°It¡¯s a spell! It¡¯s necessary!¡± ¡°Anyway!¡± ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t change the topic!¡± The bats swarmed above them again. The cave felt really big in the game, and it was indeed a really big cave in reality. ¡°I¡¯m jumping! Clench your teeth!¡± ¡°Yes!¡± As soon as Cordelia closed her mouth, Jude jumped high above the ground. Because there was a dark body of water in front of them. ¡°Hiiissssss!¡± A snake-like monster rose from the river in the cave, and it was so dark that they couldn¡¯t tell how deep the river was. ¡°¡± ¡°Kiaaak!¡± Cordelia shuddered as she threw the white magic missile into the mouth of the snake-like monster, and Jude held Cordelia¡¯s waist more tightly as he kicked the air. He created a ck gale and jumped over the river that was nearly 10 meters wide. ¡°There are too many monsters!¡± ¡°We¡¯re almost there! It¡¯s the second floor!¡± At Jude¡¯s yell, Cordelia forcibly raised her upper body and twisted it a bit to be able to look at Jude¡¯s front. She could then see the white stairs that led down. ¡°Cordelia!¡± ¡°¡± Since it was narrow, Cordelia created a me barrier to block the way to the stairs, and Jude quickly went down the stairs. ¡°¡± She cast the magic again. The white light drove away the darkness, and Jude panted as he put down Cordelia from his shoulder onto the floor. ¡°There¡¯s too many of them.¡± Jude and Cordelia¡¯s levels were so high now that they wouldn¡¯t earn that much experience points with these trivial mobs, but if the monsters numbered this high, it seemed like their levels would rise by one if they defeated everything. ¡®We¡¯ll sweep themter.¡¯ They had to achieve their purpose first. But it was then. Cordelia panted beside Jude and suddenly tapped him on the shoulder. ¡°Jude, Jude.¡± ¡°Yes? Why?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t the ceiling here¡­originally white?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± The ceiling of the Temple of Life. Jude reflexively looked up at the ceiling and saw a ceiling that was covered in green and not white. Why? Why is the ceiling green when it was originally white? Moreover, why does it seem to be moving like jelly? ¡°F*ck.¡± Jude said and Cordelia agreed. So she said it too. ¡°F*ck.¡± ¡°Run!¡± The ceiling shook at that moment as if responding to Jude¡¯s cry. The green mass split into dozens and hundreds of pieces and began to fall down from the ceiling to the ground. ¡°Acid Sh-! Slime!¡± Cordelia bit her tongue once when Jude carried her over his shoulder again, but she managed to finish her words properly. Acid Slime. As it name implied, it was a slime whose acid melted everything that it touched. ¡°¡± Saaash-! A fist-sized green mass fell on top of the shield that Cordelia quickly spread open. It came from the slime¡¯s body, and as soon as it touched the floor, it prated the ground with a sizzling sound. ¡°ck Wind¡¯s Advent!¡± Jude created a ck gale as he ran on the ground, and Cordelia made Jude¡¯s body fly in the air with magic. Because more than half of the ground was already covered with slime. ¡°Let¡¯s run!¡± There were too many of it that it would be hard to fight them one by one. Jude manipted the wind to push himself in the air, and Cordelia looked around. There was a possibility that other monsters mighte out other than the slime. ¡°Someone defeated all these? Did an armye?¡± Jude frowned at Cordelia¡¯s question. Because there were too many monsters that it would be hard to fight all of them alone. An army as Cordelia said. If not, someone who could create an army. ¡®Summoner?¡¯ If that person was the famous summoner of?Legend of Heroes 2¡­ ng! ng! ng! A sharp metallic sound interrupted Jude¡¯s thoughts. Because sharp des rose from both walls like a trap. ¡°It¡¯s a Living Sword!¡± Cordelia¡¯s words were not wrong. The soaring des flew towards Jude who broke through the slime zone as he began to run at a terrifying speed on the ground. ¡°What are you nning to do?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll go first to the empty room on the second floor!¡± It was a dead end, but the entrance was not so wide, so it was a good ce to fight against multiple enemies. In addition, there would have been one more there that he was expecting. ¡°We¡¯re almost there!¡± ¡°Hurry! There are even Living Armors now!¡± The Living Armors appeared and made rattling sounds as they united with the Living Swords by grabbing them before closely following Jude and Cordelia. They seemed to number thirty by Jude¡¯s rough estimate. ¡®What kind of temple is this!¡¯ There were too many monsters despite it being a temple. The Living Armors that were quickly following them were not of the Guardian type, but armors that were stained with the demon¡¯s power. The ce was more of air of demons rather than a temple. But that was why Jude saw the possibility. ¡°As expected!¡± The empty room on the second floor. Jude clenched his fist as soon as he got inside, and Cordelia saw what was over Jude¡¯s shoulder after he put her down. In the original, they only saw the remains of a pure white golem! ¡°Kuoooo!¡± A pure white golem that was 4 meters tall raised its body. It seemed to have reacted to Jude and Cordelia. ¡°It¡¯s the guardian of the temple!¡± The Church of Life¡¯s emblem that was engraved on its chest made it clear to them. And Cordelia also understood what Jude was nning. Let¡¯s use this. Let¡¯s have the golem deal with the monsters! ¡®You know what to do, right?¡¯ ¡®I know!¡¯ Immediately after they exchanged nces. Cordelia turned and looked at their back while Jude looked in front. The two who faced the Living Armors and the golem shouted at the same time. ¡°¡°Now!¡±¡± A perfect timing. Cordelia turned around and threw herself, while Jude also threw himself. They rolled between the legs of therge golem and run away. And the result that happened was¡­ The Living Armors and the Guardian Golem came face to face with each other. ¡°Kuooo!¡± As they had expected, a battle urred between the Guardian Golem and the Living Armors. Jude and Cordelia quickly stepped back and caught their breath. ¡°Haa, haa¡­¡± ¡°Huu, huu¡­¡± A short time had only passed, but both of them were sweating a lot because they were running under serious stress. Cordelia wiped the sweat on her forehead as she watched the Living Armors and the Guardian Golem battling it out. ¡°Who do you think will win?¡± ¡°The Guardian Golem?¡± When Jude said that, Cordelia nodded and pulled out the detonating cord from her waist pocket. And around 5 minutester. The Guardian Golem¡¯s giant fist smashed around ten Living Armors, and the remaining ones stepped back and began to flee. As Jude had expected, it was a victory for the Guardian Golem. ¡°Kuooooo!¡± The Guardian Golem roared in its victory before it turned around. There was still an enemy that it needed to take care of in its domain ¨C because Jude and Cordelia were still in the room. And that was why Cordelia used her telekic power. Chachachag! Something flew towards the Guardian Golem¡¯s chest as soon as it turned around. The Guardian Golem lowered its head to look at its chest and saw the detonating cord forming into the shape of a star. A pentagram. And a big circle around the stars. ¡°Kuo?¡± The Guardian Golem raised its head and Cordelia snapped her fingers. Baaaang! A really beautiful star-shaped explosion. Moreover, its power was extraordinary. It was the result of not only adding Cordelia¡¯s explosion magic to the firepower of the detonating cord, but also from the star shape which somehow formed a kind of magic circle that amplified the power of the explosion magic once more. ¡°Kueoeoeo¡­¡± The Guardian Golem had its core broken so it copsed, and Cordelia turned to Jude and shed a V-sign with her fingers. ¡°Ta-da!¡± It looked like a simple attack, but it was an attackbining the detonating cord, explosion magic, and a magic circle! Jude grasped the power and difficulty of her attack at once, and replied with sincerity. ¡°Sure enough, it¡¯s a Star Explosion indeed!¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not? That¡¯s not its name, okay?¡± But Cordelia seemed to secretly like it as the smile on her face did not disappear. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go again.¡± The monsters woulde back since the Guardian was now gone. But Cordelia clicked her tongue and threw the detonating cord in her waist into the air again. Chak! Chak! Chak! The detonating cord that was controlled by her telekinesis were then attached to the ceiling near the entrance, and Jude understood what Cordelia was trying to do. Boooom! Detonating cords were originally used at construction sites in order to cut rocks and other things into a desired shape. Cordelia skillfully broke the ceiling and blocked the entrance with the rocks that fell from the explosion. ¡°How is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s awesome.¡± Jude pped his hands and realized again that Cordelia was abat genius. ¡®I wouldn¡¯t have even thought of using it that way.¡¯ It was not an exaggeration to say that her understanding and skill in using weapons were superior to that of Jude himself. ¡®She won 2nd?ce through battles alone.¡¯ ¡°What are you thinking?¡± ¡°My princess is so pretty.¡± ¡°What is this crazy b*stard saying?¡± Cordelia hmphed, but the corners of her mouth were still slightly raised up. ¡°How cute.¡± ¡°You wanna die?¡± ¡°Anyway, we can take a rest now thanks to you.¡± They had hurriedly ran so they had used up quite a bit of their mana and stamina. So he thought that they should go out after they had rested enough. ¡°Isn¡¯t there something else we need to check?¡± ¡°There is something we have to check.¡± The reason why there was an empty room in the second floor. An item targeted by the person who entered the Temple of Life within the four months before it could be explored in the game. Jude and Cordelia turned around and headed towards the altar that was guarded by the Guardian Golem. ¡°I can feel a divine power.¡± Cordelia naturally turned into an angel and absorbed the divine power, while Jude stopped in front of the altar. ¡°Please.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia nodded once and stepped forward. She then touched the box on the altar. It was a fairlyrge box that was the size of an adult¡¯s upper body, so she had no idea on what was inside. ¡°Open.¡± When Cordelia said in deration as she put her hand on the box, an immense divine power was released as if to devour Cordelia. If Cordelia had not been an angel, her whole body would have been burned by the divine mes. ¡°Are you okay?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m okay.¡± Cordelia unconsciously let out a bewildered voice, but she shook her head and concentrated. Considering the situation, this was more like the real trap to protect the divine item rather than the Guardian Golem. ¡®I¡¯m d I¡¯m an angel.¡¯ Thank you, Lena. Thank you, Jude. Cordelia mentally thanked the two people who helped her with her ancestral regression, before she turned her gaze back into the box. It was a tiara, a small crown that was worn over the head. The beautifully shaped golden tiara had several jewels embedded in it. ¡°The Tiara of Life.¡± An S-rank item that not only increased the rank of life attribute magic of the user by 1 rank, but it also unconditionally doubled the number of creatures that could be summoned with life-rted summoning magic. Moreover, that wasn¡¯t the only effect. If one became the true owner of the Tiara of Life, they would be able to use the one of the highest ranking magic in the life attribute skill tree, . ¡°Wow¡­¡± Cordelia fully admired it as she gulped several times. Because it was the graduation item for wizards who used life attribute magic or for priests who used life attribute magic from the very beginning as their foundation. ¡°That item came from here.¡± The item only came out in the second half of the game. Cordelia admired it again before she tried to gently ce the tiara above her head. ¡°H-how is it? Does it suit me?¡± She asked somehow shyly, but Jude blinked his eyes and suddenly clenched his fist instead of answering. ¡°I got it.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I got it.¡± Who entered the Temple of Life within that four months. Who took the Tiara of Life. Jude was obviouslycking in evidence. Only a few conditions were met. But Jude was strongly convinced on who it was. ¡°A man who usesrge-scale summoning.¡± It was also a person who used summoning magic based on the life attribute. Someone who yearned for the Tiara of Life because they had studied magic that could grant life for many years. ¡°They didn¡¯t even stop by the third floor.¡± They did not covet the Sphere of Life. They were satisfied with the Tiara of Life. The Tiara of Life was their only goal. A person who valued it. A person who did not appear in the game even though they had the Tiara of Life. That person wasn¡¯t just hiding. That person died a few months after getting the Tiara of Life. So the Tiara of Life was found somewhere else in the second half of the game. And there was one more evidence here. The remains of the Guardian Golem that were scattered in the empty room on the second floor. It was destroyed by a powerful life attribute magic. A smile spread over Jude¡¯s face. A natural smile that he made after solving a mystery. ¡°Jude?¡± ¡°I think I know that person.¡± There was only one person he could think of when he put together all the clues they had. ¡°Necromancer Velkian.¡± One of the five heroes. A hero from?Legend of Heroes 1?who disappeared and was not seen in?Legend of Heroes 2. ¡®I found it.¡¯ How to make Velkiane out of hiding. How to make him find Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Y-you¡¯re smiling like a scammer again.¡± Despite Cordelia¡¯sment, Jude¡¯s smile deepened. He looked at the Tiara of Life as if he was a fisherman who found the best bait. Chapter 136 - EPISODE 136 – TEMPLE OF LIFE (3)

Chapter 136 - EPISODE 136 ¨C TEMPLE OF LIFE (3)

Terms used in this chapter: CAD?¨C abbreviation forputer-aided design. It is the use ofputer software to design and document a product or project¡¯s design process. Engineers and architects are some of the people who use CAD for their projects. Those who studied it usually get a certificate for it. Most of the yable characters in?Legend of Heroes 1?were young people at the peak of their youth. But like what the word ¡®most¡¯ meant, there was one old man who was above the average age, and that was Necromancer Velkian. ¡®Everyone was in their 20s, but he alone was in the 70s¡­¡¯ He was a skinny and temperamental old man with gray hair. So there were a lot of theories that the reason he did not appear in?Legend of Heroes 2?was because he naturally died from old age. The second episode took ce 10 years after the first episode, so he would have been an old man in his 80s who was nearing 90. But Jude didn¡¯t believe in that theory. Because Velkian in his 70s boasted a strength that wasparable to Kamael who was in his 20s. He was an old man who perfectly fit the words ¡®hale and hearty.¡¯ ¡®Because he is a necromancer.¡¯ The necromancers of Pleiades had a deep connection with the power of life. The Death magic they used was developed from Life magic, so one could say that they were also life attribute wizards. ¡®A schr who absolutely did not want to die.¡¯ Even in the first episode, he was a schr who loudly grumbled about extending his life, so he must have lived his life looking for ways to prolong it. ¡®He was a man who would even be willing to be a Lich if it was possible.¡¯ Velkian was unlike a necromancer- no, perhaps it was because he was a necromancer that he had such a strong obsession with life. ¡°So you think that it was Velkian who entered the Temple of Life within those four months?¡± ¡°Yes, probably. It¡¯s very highly likely that it was him.¡± Judeid out the reasons on why he thought so, and Cordelia nodded her head several times. ¡°Hmm, I see. Anyway, if Velkian wanted the Tiara of Life, did that mean he also knew what was inside the Temple of Life?¡± Cordelia¡¯s words made Jude¡¯s eyes open wide. ¡°Wow, my princess is smart!¡± ¡°Do you have a death wish?¡± Cordelia immediately cussed, but he could see from her face that she looked happy. In any case, Cordelia said as she crossed her arms. ¡°Hmm¡­ So you want Velkian toe to us? Velkian wants the Tiara of Life.¡± ¡°Yes, and maybe because of that-¡± ¡°We can save Velkian¡¯s life?¡± ¡°Bingo.¡± They did not yet know how Velkian died, but it might be possible to avoid the event that caused his death if theypletely changed where he went in the future. ¡°The problem is how to tell Velkian that we have the Tiara of Life.¡± ¡°Huh? That¡¯s easy.¡± ¡°It¡¯s easy?¡± ¡°I mean, we can just write a letter and put it in the box, right? If we write something like:?Oh, we beat you to it? Neener neener, aww¡­are you mad??¨C wouldn¡¯t Velkiane to us right away because of his personality?¡± It was Cordelia¡¯s knee-jerk idea, but Jude reacted to something else. ¡°B-beat you to it¡­¡± Neener neener, aww¡­are you mad? Cordelia was embarrassed at Jude¡¯s stare and cleared her throat, but she continued to be brazen. ¡°It can¡¯t be helped because we need him to get angry.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, if you insist.¡± ¡°Hey, moving on, we can solve the problem if we write a letter, right?¡± ¡°Yes¡­perhaps it¡¯s better than spreading rumors that we have the Tiara of Life.¡± The Tiara of Life was a treasure coveted by even those who did not use life attribute magic. There was also a possibility that treasure hoarders would gather besides Velkian. ¡°But for now, let¡¯s hide your real name and write down an alias. Something like:?Come to the capital and find Phantom Thief Pink Bomb.¡± ¡°Wait, Pink Bomb?¡± ¡°Yes, Pink Bomb.¡± Jude shed a smile, and Cordelia also smiled, though she gathered mana in both her hands. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯ll write the letter. You set up some traps.¡± ¡°So that others won¡¯t get it?¡± ¡°Yes, because someone other than Velkian mighte here.¡± Because there was also the possibility that contrary to Jude¡¯s expectations, Velkian had nothing to do with the Tiara of Life in the first ce. ¡®That¡¯s why we¡¯ll use an alias.¡¯ Bringing Velkian to the capital was the important part. Jude began writing words in an ancientnguage on a scroll that he had taken out from his pocket. ¡°You¡¯re even using some secret code?¡± ¡°Because I want Velkian to be the only one to recognize it as much as possible.¡± And it would be impossible for Cordelia to understand what he wrote. ¡°Are you doing something suspicious?¡± ¡°Hey, that¡¯s not true.¡± Jude strongly wrote the alias ¡®Phantom Thief Pink Bomb¡¯ in the ancientnguage before he turned to Cordelia. ¡°How¡¯s the trap?¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m almost done.¡± Cordelia was infusing divine power into the box while in her angel form, but somehow, she unconsciously had a wide- no, a suspicious smile. ¡®Why?¡¯ Jude felt uneasy, but he didn¡¯t try to make eye contact with Cordelia. Because she might figure out what he wrote in the letter. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s put it inside.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem, I¡¯ll put it in then.¡± When Jude put in the letter he wrote, Cordelia sealed the box and ced it on the altar. ¡°Okay, problem solved.¡± ¡°The only thing left is to hope that Velkian finds it as soon as possible¡­¡± From now up to 4 months in the future. The events in the royal capital would fully take ce a month and a half in the future, so it would be fortunate for them if they got Velkian¡¯s help during the incident in the royal capital. ¡°It¡¯ll be fine.¡± Cordelia said with a wide smile, and Jude unknowingly nodded his head. She had no basis for that, but Jude thought that it would really be fine when Cordelia said it. ¡°Then, let¡¯s get back to our goal. The Sphere of Life is on the 3rd?floor, right?¡± ¡°Yes, probably. And if my guess is correct¡­¡± Jude¡¯s words suddenly trailed off in the end as he began drawing something on the temple floor. ¡°Is that a map of the temple?¡± ¡°Yes, ording to my calctions, the Sphere of Life is around here¡­so it must be right below.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia looked at him in amazement. She was no longer surprised that he memorized the map, but it was a different story that he could determine the location by connecting the maps and then visualizing them in three dimensions. ¡°Does your mind have a CAD?¡± ¡°Oh, you know about CAD?¡± ¡°Yes, I have a certificate.¡± When Cordelia spoke with a smile, it was Jude who widely opened his eyes this time. ¡°What, are you a woman from a vocational high school? Or an engineering college?¡± ¡°Hey, why are you trying to probe on a woman¡¯s secret?¡± Cordelia shrugged and grinned, and Jude stroked his chin while having a surprised face. Perhaps she likes explosions because she¡¯s from a vocational high school or an engineering college? If vocational high school and engineering students from all over the country heard his thoughts, they would have called it nonsense. But in any case, Jude was happy that he learned something new about Cordelia, and Cordelia was pleased with the fact that she surprised Jude. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s dig a hole.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Cordelia took out the detonating cord from her waist and began to arrange it on the floor. Naturally, it was in the shape of a star again. ¡°Star Explosion¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s not its name, okay?¡± But Cordelia didn¡¯t give it a different name. She then snapped her fingers and an explosion followed. Detonating cords were originally used for construction, so it was possible to destroy the floor in their desired shape by controlling the direction of the explosion. ¡°Good, I¡¯ll finish this.¡± Although it was broken to some extent, the floor was notpletely destroyed. So when Jude used the ck Dragon¡¯s Ascent to open the floor, a round hole opened with a boom. ¡°As I thought, clearing a dungeon without making any effort is the best.¡± Jude strongly agreed with Cordelia before he opened his arms. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°We need to jump, so let me carry you, Princess.¡± ¡°You can go alone, Milord.¡± Cordelia coldly spoke and used magic on herself before jumping down the hole, and the disappointed Jude followed her as he jumped into the hole. Thud. Jude gentlynded even though the ceiling reached a dozen meters high, and he looked up and saw Cordelia who wasing down with magic. ¡°Come this way.¡± ¡°Just get out of my way before I step on you.¡± Cordelia safelynded next to Jude who had his arms wide open, and she looked around. A half-destroyed temple and a broken statue of the goddess. Just like what they saw in the game. ¡°It¡¯s the Sphere of Life.¡± Jude nodded at Cordelia¡¯s words as he began to walk. There was an altar in the center of the room like that in the 2nd?floor, and a stone statue of a beautiful goddess stood there while holding the Sphere of Life. ¡°I don¡¯t think there are any active guardians here just like in the game.¡± They saw broken Guardian Golems scattered all over the temple. ¡®As expected, it¡¯s the signs of a battle.¡¯ A battle had urred against the demons on the 3rd?floor of the Temple of Life. There were signs of destruction on the walls and floor, and the bones of saints who lost their lives while fighting against the demons lied around the floor. The entrance was blocked by a pir that copsed. ¡®It seems like the theory that the demon followers infiltrated the temple and summoned a demon on the 3rd?floor was true.¡¯ This ce was known as thest temple of the Church of Life, which began to decline after losing its goddess, Aerith. The remaining divine items were kept here in thest temple. During the time when the power of the denomination was strong, there were many divine items that were much more powerful than the Sphere of Life or the Tiara of Life, but there were no more divine items that exceeded the Sphere of Life at the time before the denomination copsed. ¡®Is this thest relic they risked their life to protect¡­¡¯ Jude stared at the statue of the goddess where the Sphere of Life was ced, and Cordelia slowly walked towards the stone statue. ¡°I¡¯ll use it for good. That is¡­for world peace¡­¡± Cordelia bowed her head to the statue and said that before her hand reached out to the Sphere of Life. The Sphere of Life was a blue spherical marble a little bigger than a clenched fist, and it was ced inside a round casing that was in the arms of the goddess statue. The Sphere of Life began to glow at the moment when Cordelia¡¯s hand touched it. ¡®Someday, I hope it will be passed on to someone.¡¯ The low voice of a man. Perhaps it was the final words left behind by thest saint of the Church of Life. ¡®May the blessing of the goddess be with you¡­¡¯ The voice was scattered, and so was the light that filled her eyes. Cordelia was surrounded by a powerful force of life instead of being engulfed in divine mes, and she took a deep breath. Because she felt the emotions of the saints who fought until the end to protect the Sphere of Life so that it would be used by someone for the world and not for the demons. ¡°Thank you. Thank you very much.¡± It was like the dwarves who trapped the White Snake in Frost Anvil. Ancestral heroes who sacrificed themselves for future generations. Cordelia thanked all of them once again before she slowly opened her eyes and faced Jude. ¡°The Sphere of Life.¡± A divine item of the goddess of life that gave its user a strong life energy and regenerative power. Jude took the Sphere of Life from Cordelia, and he deeply breathed before sitting down in front of the statue. ¡°I¡¯ll begin now.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± As Cordelia took a step back, Jude arranged his posture and held the Sphere of Life with both hands in front of his lower abdomen. Jude¡¯s n was to open the fifth door by absorbing the enormous life energy within the Sphere of Life. ¡®I¡¯ve leveled up enough already.¡¯ His body could now withstand the opening of the fifth door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. What he onlycked now was an immense amount of life energy to open the door in one go. ¡®For a perfect happy ending.¡¯ Jude whispered to the goddess statue just like what Cordelia did, and he immediately closed his eyes as he began to recite the mnemonic chant of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. Nine heavens and nine worlds. As Jude himself presumed, Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors was not an ordinary martial art. A divine art close to magic that led humans born with a mortal fate to a higher level of transcendence. When he closed his eyes and recited the mnemonic chant, a small light appeared in thepletely dark world. The white light spread as it created a world of ck and white, and he saw a woman standing in that world. Female sage. Perhaps she was the Ninth Heaven¡¯s female sage of legends, since it was called the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. If not, she might have been the person from ancient times who helped defeat the overlords of hell together with the heroes of legends. Jude gazed at the woman, and the woman stared at him too. Because the world was made up of only ck and white, the woman¡¯s face was white while her long hair that touched the floor was ck. Jude stepped towards the woman. And at the same time, the immense life energy in the Sphere of Life began to flow towards Jude. The energy didn¡¯t just flow to Jude. It was the woman who made it flow to him. She reached out to Jude, and Jude approached the woman and touched her hand. ¡®Nine worlds.¡¯ And the nine doors that connected to those nine worlds. The ck and white world fell apart. The sky became white and the earth became ck. Huge ck doors appeared in the air then. One, two, three, four. Four doors that had already been built and a fifth door that was being newly built. ¡®You shouldn¡¯t stop building doors. This is still not enough.¡¯ Said the woman. Jude was able to see the woman¡¯s face clearly for the first time. ¡®The true meaning of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. What the nine doors that are connected to nine worlds mean.¡¯ But that was it. The immense life energy swallowed up Jude¡¯s soul and body, and Jude could no longer continue his thoughts. Guiding the flowing energy to build the fifth door was not easy. ¡®I hope we can meet again.¡¯ The woman¡¯s voice gradually disappeared. The world of ck and white fell apart again. A white door was built in that world of ck. Jude stretched out his hand. He opened the fifth door. *** Cordelia opened her eyes. Jude¡¯s entire body shook, and the energy released from the Sphere of Life swirled around him. Jude¡¯s eyes shone. Eventually, the body of Jude who was sitting on the floor had floated into the air. The opening of the fifth door. Cordelia vaguely felt it. She was able to perceive the changes that urred in Jude¡¯s soul and body. But she somehow felt scared. She felt like Jude was going far away, to a ce where she couldn¡¯t reach him even if she reached out to him. Why? What¡¯s going on? Jude let out a roar. The energy of life fluctuated even more. Cracks of light began to spread all over Jude¡¯s body. ¡°Jude!¡± She was scared. She was going crazy because she didn¡¯t know if it was going right or if something was wrong. Can I touch him? Should I leave him alone like this? Shouldn¡¯t I do something? And it was at that moment. Cordelia hurriedly looked behind her. She could sense it. The vibrations that were transmitted through the floor. The unique scent that came in with the wind. The monsters on the 3rd?floor. The monsters were heading towards them. The monsters gathered because they either felt the life energy released by Jude or heard Jude¡¯s roar. At the cracks on the fallen pir in the entrance. ck and grotesque spider-like monsters poked their heads out. The Acid Slime that filled the ceiling of the 2nd?floor then melted the pir and flooded in. She also heard continuous stomping sounds. Cordelia thought of the monsters on the 3rd?floor and realized that the sounds were the footsteps of the Living Heavy Armors, the main enemies in the 3rd?floor. Cordelia quickly transformed into a witch. She concentrated her mana on both of her hands and looked in front, but at the same time, she flinched when she heard Jude roar behind her again. She had to protect Jude first. She had to monitor Jude¡¯s condition at the same time. But how? How can I stop the monsters and monitor Jude at the same time! ¡°Kiaaa!¡± Several spider-like monsters that were slightlyrger than a human rushed towards her as they screamed. Cordelia threw a ball of fire that she held in her hands. And right after that. At the moment when the monsters and the ball of fire were about to collide. Booooooom-! A pir of light filled Cordelia¡¯s sight. It came from the ceiling and devoured the spider-like monsters as it destroyed them. The ball of fire Cordelia made was also destroyed and vanished. A huge pir of life. It wasn¡¯t magic. Life energy. A tremendous amount of life energy. So Cordelia figured it out. She unconsciously shouted in joy. ¡°May the muscles always be with you!¡± ¡°You haven¡¯t forgotten what¡¯s important, girl.¡± She heard the voice above her head. The person who made the pir of light that pierced not only the ceiling of the 3rd?floor, but also of the 1st?and 2nd?floor ceilings, had done it all with one punch. He was the only person who could solve all the current problems, not only the monsters but Jude¡¯s condition too. ¡°May the muscles always be with you.¡± Iron Man Landius. The master of Jude and the strongest man on the continent. He finally appeared. Chapter 137 - EPISODE 137 – LONG LIVE THE SUN (1)

Chapter 137 - EPISODE 137 ¨C LONG LIVE THE SUN (1)

Terms used in this chapter: Conqueror¡¯s spirit?¨C Also known as Haoshoku Haki, it is a rare form of Haki (spiritual energy) that allows the user to exert their own willpower over others. This term came from the Japanese series, One Piece. Light poured from the ceiling. And in that light, he slowly came down as if he was walking down the sky. A halo shined behind his huge and beautiful steel-like body, and he was like a legendary hero- no, he was like a god who popped out from a myth. ¡®Why did he appear?¡¯ Why did Landius appear here at this point in time? He seemed to know exactly where we were, given that he showed up and broke the ceiling. ¡®Ah, I don¡¯t know!¡¯ That wasn¡¯t important now. The only important fact was that Landius appeared in this crisis like a cheat key that would solve all their problems! ¡°Help!¡± ¡°I will, girl.¡± Landius answered with a gentle smile andnded on the ground. He looked once at Jude who was floating in the air and shining before he turned to the monsters again. ¡°Girl, I¡¯ll be back.¡± ¡°What about Jude?¡± Cordelia¡¯s question was not clearly heard. Because Landius had immediately sped on the ground, causing a huge vacuum and a loud roar. Boobooboom-! The entire temple shook as if an earthquake had struck, and the spiders that had vigorously popped out were now hesitant. Landius just stared at those spiders, and that was enough. Dozens of spiders suddenly shrieked and began to scatter and escape. ¡°Wow.¡± It wasn¡¯t some kind of conqueror¡¯s spirit. Cordelia unknowingly let out a stunned voice at Landius¡¯ imposing presence, but it was not yet over. Landius stepped forward to the Living Heavy Armors that rushed inte. ¡°Landius-nim! I¡¯ll do that!¡± Cordelia btedly came to her senses and shouted. Even if it was Landius, the enemies were Living Heavy Armors. They numbered over 30 too, so it would take a considerable amount of time to deal with them. That was why she had to change it. Cordelia herself would fight the Living Heavy Armors while Landius would check Jude¡¯s condition- Bang! A powerful pressure. An explosion in the air caused by his fist. And the light that rose. An intense sh of light. Landius¡¯ fist smashed the Living Heavy Armors, causing them to explode. Furthermore, that wasn¡¯t the only thing scary about him. Bang! Bang! Bang! It was a tragedy for the monsters that stood in a square formation. Even those who were behind the Living Heavy Armors were hit by his attacks and exploded one after another. Boobooboom-! Five went down with just one punch. Living Heavy Armors were known for their strong defense, but they were no different from sheets of paper in front of Landius¡¯ fist. ¡°Wow.¡± Cordelia let out a stunned voice again as Landius continued to move. The Living Heavy Armors quickly recovered, but he ignored their attacks and just did what he had to do. Bang! Bang! Bang! Fist, fist again, and a kick. An explosion urred in just three moves of his. Those that were hit by Landius¡¯ fist exploded, and those he missed were blown away in the aftermath and torn like sheets of paper. Obviously, the Living Heavy Armors didn¡¯t just stand there doing nothing. Those that did not know fear tried to hit Landius¡¯ naked upper body, but not a single one of their attacks on his chest did anything because he was Landius. ng! ng! ng! It wasn¡¯t the sound of a sword hitting iron. It was the sound of a sword hitting muscles. ¡®What the heck?¡¯ Why are the swords bouncing off his muscles? Why is his skin fine despite being hit by a sword? It didn¡¯t seem like he was using magic. It didn¡¯t seem like he was using a special technique. It was simply a passive skill. The defensive power of his muscles was so high that it was like some kind of armor. ¡°Girl! Close your eyes!¡± Landius suddenly shouted, and Cordelia reflexively closed her eyes. Because it was natural for her to follow Landius who carried a godlike dignity. And right after that. Cordelia instantly felt that she was engulfed in a bright light despite closing her eyes. Because a truly immense amount of light was released not far away from her. Light. Heat. A transcendental life energy. Cordelia realized it then at that moment. The one thing she forgot because she was overwhelmed by his imposing muscles. ¡®The warrior of the sun.¡¯ Landius¡¯ nickname in the first episode of?Legend of Heroes. Sun Warrior Landius! Shaaa-! She heard the howling of the wind after the light, which was then followed by silence. ¡°I¡¯m done now. You can open your eyes, girl.¡± Cordelia slowly opened her eyes upon hearing Landius¡¯ words and held her breath in surprise. All of the Living Heavy Armors that numbered over thirty were scattered on the floor, and there were some whose surface had melted. ¡®As expected of the warrior of the sun.¡¯ Those chosen by the Sun had a powerful Yang and life energies. ¡®Wouldn¡¯t it be possible for Landius to fight the Demon Prince alone?¡¯ The power of the sun was good against demons. Cordelia unknowingly nodded, but promptly shook her head. Because what she was thinking wasn¡¯t important now. ¡°Landius-nim! Jude!¡± ¡°I know, girl.¡± Landius said as he walked towards her. Landius¡¯ bearing and tone made him seem like an old man even though he was only in histe 30s, or less than 40 years old. In fact, his face had a smooth skin that didn¡¯t have any wrinkles. ¡®S-scary.¡¯ She felt like a wall was approaching as the 2 meters and 30 centimeters- no, perhaps Landius was taller than that, headed towards her. Landius faintly smiled when he saw Cordelia involuntarily shrink back as if he understood the reason before he looked at Jude besides her. ¡°Indeed, it¡¯s that.¡± ¡°Do you know what happened to him? Is he okay?¡± When Cordelia urgently asked, Landius frowned first instead of answering. He then raised his big hand and ced it on her shoulder. ¡°My disciple is now opening a new door and undergoing a change in his body and soul.¡± ¡°Is that good?¡± ¡°You can say that it¡¯s good. But something not good is also happening.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± What in the world does he mean by good yet not good? Cordelia looked teary-eyed at that moment, and Landius gave her an exnation in a calm tone. ¡°It¡¯s good that he¡¯s opening a new door and breaking the existing frame of his body and soul, but he¡¯s going too far. He¡¯s trying to get to the point where it¡¯s too much for him right now, so his body and soul itself will be destroyed if he makes a mistake.¡± ¡°W-what? Then we have to stop him! Quick!¡± ¡°I will stop him. But girl, I alone am not enough. You also have to support me.¡± ¡°How? S-should I give you something like mana?¡± Landius shook his head when Cordelia blinked her eyes and asked. ¡°Girl, listen carefully. As I said before, my disciple is now undergoing a change in his body and soul. If he continues like this, perhaps it will be possible for him to undergo metamorphosis and be reborn with a new body and soul. So we can¡¯t touch him right now.¡± ¡°Metamorphosis¡­is that something good?¡± ¡°Yes. It¡¯s better for him to utilize the current flow¡­and runaway until the metamorphosis ispleted. Therefore, I¡¯ll aim after his metamorphosis is over. I¡¯m going to help in pacifying his energy with my energy.¡± ¡°I think I understand what you¡¯re saying.¡± She remembered reading something simr in a martial arts webtoon. It was a scene where the master saved the main character from the jaws of death. ¡®The master put his hand on the back of the main character, who was sitting cross-legged, and injected his energy¡­something like that?¡¯ It seemed like he would do something simr. ¡°What about me then?¡± Landius definitely said that he needed Cordelia¡¯s support as well. Does he need mana too? ¡°Girl, your role is important.¡± ¡°So what in the world is it!¡± The cracks of light that spread all over Jude¡¯s body grew bigger while they were talking like that. Jude seemed to have been quiet for a while, but he began to roar and scream again. ¡°Girl, your role is to call the soul of my disciple.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I will stabilize the body of my disciple with my energy. But Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors is a superhuman art that leads the body and soul to a higher level, so it is necessary to call my disciple¡¯s soul who is now trying to reach out to the door that is beyond the door that he had already opened. And I think that only you, girl, can do it.¡± She roughly understood it. In short, he was saying that she had to awaken his consciousness. ¡°How should I do it?¡± ¡°Call my disciple.¡± ¡°S-shout at him?¡± ¡°Any method is okay. When I begin stabilizing my disciple¡¯s body, you should call his soul.¡± ¡°Noo! It¡¯s too vague!¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not. I have seen some of it myself, but Lena also talked about that. She said that my disciple and you, girl, love each other so much that you¡¯re always together. The power of love you two have for each other is truly great, so you¡¯ll be able to bring back his soul if you appealed to him.¡± ¡°W-what?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the power of love, girl.¡± Landius seriously spoke while Cordelia blinked her eyes. She thought after she unconsciously gazed at Landius¡¯ big hand on her shoulder. ¡®S-stop talking bullsh*t with a serious face!¡¯ Po-power of love? There isn¡¯t anything like that between Jude and me! ¡°I¡¯ll begin.¡± ¡°W-wait!¡± ¡°There¡¯s no time to lose!¡± At the moment when Landius suddenly raised his voice. ¡°Aaaaah!¡± Jude screamed as an immense amount of light was emitted from the cracks of light that had spread throughout his body, and the light swallowed up Jude¡¯s entire body. ¡°Girl!¡± Landius loudly cried as he closed his eyes and reached out to Jude. A golden aura then began to rise like a me in Landius¡¯ entire body. Then it continued. The golden light from the tips of Landius¡¯ hands enveloped the white light that covered Jude. It felt like a river that was about to overflow but was blocked by a dam. ¡°Hurry!¡± Landius shouted again as he closed his eyes and concentrated. Sweat began to pour down all over Landius¡¯ entire body. ¡°Eueueu¡­¡± Cordelia stamped her feet for a moment before she ran straight to Jude and shouted as loudly as she could. ¡°Hey! Jude! Hey!¡± ¡°With love!¡± ¡°Uuugh!¡± Cordelia was about to cry when she heard Landius, so she shouted again. Whether she meant it or was just acting, she let out a cry that would satisfy Landius but would surprise Jude if he heard it. ¡°Continue!¡± ¡°F*ck!¡± She cursed. And continued her appeal full of love again! ¡®Don¡¯t you dare note back!¡¯ I won¡¯t forgive you! She seemed to be either embarrassed or desperate. Cordelia¡¯s eyes reddened as she shouted once more. She earnestly shouted Jude¡¯s name. ¡°Jude!¡± *** ¡®Cordelia?¡¯ Light and darkness. A world of ck and white. Jude just left his body to be carried away by the flowing current that moved forward like the flow of time, but he regained his consciousness at some point. Fifth door. And the sixth door. He was in the space between the two doors. ¡®Ah.¡¯ Jude blinked again. He recognized the world of ck and white. Fifth door. He opened it by using the Sphere of Life. But he got greedy. He reached out for the sixth door that he could faintly see. ¡®I can¡¯t reach it.¡¯ Not yet. For now. If I continue like this, all that will be left is catastrophe. A future where I couldn¡¯t reach the sixth door and only copsed in front of it. ¡®It¡¯s not enough.¡¯ To open the sixth door. Not only his life energy but also his physical strength, his mana, the skill of Jude himself, and the size of his soul¡­but it was at that moment. His consciousness faded again. His consciousness was gone again amidst the flowing current. If he closed his eyes, it would be over. So he wanted to close his eyes. Just like that- As it is- ¡°Juuuuuuude!¡± He came to his senses. Cordelia¡¯s call. Cordelia¡¯s cry. He was clearly hallucinating. After all, the real Cordelia would never repeatedly call his own name like that. But that was enough. At the moment he heard Cordelia¡¯s voice that was either his hallucination or something else, his fading will to live began to burn again. ¡®I have to go back.¡¯ Cordelia would be alone if he disappeared. Even if she could do well, she would be left alone with a bad ending, a world that was heading towards a sad ending. So he had to go back. He had to go back and be with Cordelia. And- And- ¡°Cordelia!¡± Jude shouted. He turned in the current and resisted its fierce flow. He forced his way back to the fifth door. Because not yet. Because he couldn¡¯t die like this yet. It wasn¡¯t right to leave Cordelia alone. He also thought that he should stand next to her and be her support when she was in danger. But it wasn¡¯t just that. Jude¡¯s own greed. Jude¡¯s own aspirations. His personal and human desires. And everything that he wanted to do with Cordelia! ¡°Cordelia!¡± Jude¡¯s soul was set aze. He resisted the powerful flow and moved. He took one step towards the fifth door, took one more step forward, and he eventually began running. ¡°Juuuuude!¡± Cordelia¡¯s call. She stood in front of the fifth door. Jude kicked the ground. He jumped over the powerful current. *** A golden sh of light burst. Landius groaned and stepped backwards before he hurriedly raised his head. And then he smiled. Jude Bayer. He saw his disciple. His reborn disciple woke up from his metamorphosis and revealed himself. The white light surrounding his whole body hadpletely disappeared, so he could fully see Jude¡¯s appearance. ¡°Jude?!¡± Cordelia was standing in front of him as she urgently called out to him. Jude had be naked because of the metamorphosis, and he was bigger and more good-looking than before. Their difference in height which used to be around 10 centimeters had now widened so she had to raise her head in order to make eye contact with Jude. She could see Jude¡¯s green eyes between his ebony-like hair that unevenly fell. Cordelia¡¯s own face was reflected in his eyes, which mysteriously seemed to draw her in the more she looked at it. ¡°Jude? Are you okay? Jude!¡± Jude took a step instead of answering her, and he stumbled as if he was going to fall. Cordelia hurriedly hugged Jude and was surprised again. ¡®Fi-firm.¡¯ Jude¡¯s body was firm and toned like that of a well-polished sword. She felt like she was holding someone else and not the same person. ¡°Are you okay? Are you okay now?¡± Cordelia shook her head to collect herself, and Jude slowly nodded his head. He forcibly raised his upper body a bit to see Cordelia before he said in a slightly dazed voice. ¡°Pretty.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°It looks good on you.¡± She wondered what he was talking about. Cordelia blinked her eyes as she then somehow understood him. That time when she got the Tiara of Life on the 2nd?floor. It was the question she asked when she wore it on her head. ¡°You¡¯re supposed to say it at that moment.¡± Jude smiled a little at her slightly resentful but shy words, and he leaned against Cordelia. He lost consciousness and fainted. And at that appearance, Landius burst intoughter. His disciple had passed out without even greeting his master because he had exhausted his energy to flirt with his fianc¨¦ and spoke without hiding how happy he was. ¡°Indeed, is this the power of love?¡± ¡®No? It¡¯s not like that, okay?¡¯ Cordelia quickly refuted it in her mind before she hugged Jude and eventually smiled. Because it was strangely cute to see him sleeping like a baby even though he was bigger than her. ¡®No, it¡¯s just because I¡¯m happy.¡¯ It was not because she loved Jude, but because she was happy that Jude had returned safely. She spoke to herself as she came up with an excuse, and Cordelia closed her eyes to enjoy the present moment. Chapter 138 - EPISODE 139 – LONG LIVE THE SUN (2)

Chapter 138 - EPISODE 139 ¨C LONG LIVE THE SUN (2)

Terms used in this chapter: Dantian?¨C aka energy center, it is where the Qi energy is stored and controlled. There are three dantians in the body: the lower, middle, and the upper dantians. Jude opened his eyes. His mind was nk at first. He felt like he slept soundly without even dreaming. ¡°Ah.¡± Jude said in a daze as he blinked his eyes. The things he could see in his blurry vision gradually became clearer. The Temple of Life. And Jude realized something. ¡®I¡¯m hungry.¡¯ He was extremely and seriously hungry. Once he realized that he was really hungry, he couldn¡¯t think of anything else. He felt like his stomach- no, all the cells in his body were demanding for nutrition. ¡®I¡¯m hungry.¡¯ I¡¯m seriously hungry. I think I can eat anything in front of me. But it was at that moment. ¡°Jude?¡± Jude came to his senses when he heard the pleasant-sounding voice and then turned his head. He saw Cordelia¡¯s red and flowing long hair and her fair-skinned face looking down at him. ¡°Cordelia?¡± Cordelia brightly smiled when Jude barely squeezed out his voice, but she soon became teary-eyed. ¡°Does it hurt? Are you okay? Landius-nim!¡± Cordelia loudly cried and tried to turn around, but she couldn¡¯t. Because Jude had reflexively grabbed Cordelia¡¯s wrist. ¡°Ouch! Jude?¡± His strength was crushing. Cordelia screamed again when she tried to get up but fell on her butt. Because she felt like her wrist held by Jude would be broken. ¡°It hurts! It hurts!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Jude automatically released his grip when Cordelia screamed in pain. There was a hand-shaped red mark on Cordelia¡¯s wrist even though he had held it briefly. ¡°Hey! Are you crazy?!¡± Cordelia rebuked him, but it was only for a moment. Because she noticed that Jude didn¡¯t look normal. ¡®His eyes are sunken!¡¯ It wasn¡¯t just his eyes. The metamorphosis had made his already fairplexion better, but he looked really tired and exhausted. Why? What happened? ¡°Because he grew up.¡± Cordelia flinched and then turned around when she suddenly heard the voice behind her. Landius passed by Cordelia and stood in front of Jude. He then sat down and said. ¡°Girl, what about the one I asked you to prepare earlier?¡± ¡°It¡¯s ready. I¡¯ll bring it.¡± Cordelia quickly got up and ran while Jude¡¯s gaze naturally followed Cordelia¡¯s back. Landius unwittingly smiled at Jude¡¯s look. ¡®He¡¯s probably not sane because of hunger¡­or is this the power of love?¡¯ It was both a misunderstanding and not, but anyway, the pleased Landius opened his mouth again. ¡°Disciple. First of all, do you recognize me?¡± ¡°Ma¡­master?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s me.¡± Jude¡¯s gaze that was chasing after Cordelia¡¯s back then turned to Landius. Landius spoke in a loud voice so that Cordelia could hear it too. ¡°You¡¯re in a state of incredible hunger now. It¡¯s because you¡¯ve grown as I said earlier.¡± ¡°I¡­grew up?¡± ¡°Yes. You grew taller, so you also got bigger. The metamorphosis itself consumed an enormous amount of energy¡­ so it was natural for your body to scream for food now that you had grown up to that height.¡± ¡°Ah! So that was it!¡± That exmation was from Cordelia. She ran back and sat next to Landius while holding arge container that had an unknown murky gray liquid inside. ¡°Sit up. And drink this.¡± Jude slowly raised his body at Landius¡¯ order and took the container from Cordelia with an inquiring look. ¡°Drink¡­this?¡± ¡°Yes, it will fill you up with the nutrition that you¡¯recking at once.¡± As Landius grinned and Cordelia awkwardly smiled, Jude looked inside the container again. A gray liquid. The unidentified drink seemed to be made by grinding several misceneous ingredients. ¡®Is this like a¡­protein drink?¡¯ Something one drank when they workout. ¡°Hurry up and drink it. Quick.¡± At Landius¡¯ urging, Jude turned to Cordelia again who somehow avoided his gaze. ¡®What¡­what¡¯s in it?¡¯ ¡®Cordelia doesn¡¯t know anything.¡¯ Jude felt anxious again, but it was Landius¡¯ order and he was also very hungry. He gave them the benefit of the doubt and began to drink the contents of the container big enough that he had to hold it with both hands. Glug. Glug. Glug. Cordelia unconsciously gulped as she watched Jude in nervousness, while Landius happily smiled. ¡°How is it, can you feel yourself being filled with nutrients?¡± Jude continued to drink instead of answering. And he gulped it again. After he finally emptied the contents, Jude gasped as soon as he lowered the container. ¡°Ugh.¡± He somehow made a contradictory expression of pain and joy. ¡°Are you okay?¡± Cordelia asked in a small voice, and Jude forced himself to smile. It seriously tasted terrible, but he was so hungry that he couldn¡¯t stop drinking. Moreover, he felt crazy at the fact that he was still hungry to the point that he wanted to drink more of that. ¡°The medicinal effects are kicking in. Girl, bring some more.¡± ¡°Eh¡­yes.¡± When Cordelia scampered to somece again, Landius gave an exnation. ¡°It¡¯s a special drink that I consume when I exercise. I taught the girl on how to make it, so make sure to drink it from time to time.¡± ¡°Umm¡­yes¡­¡± I have to drink more of that? At the time when Jude broke into a cold sweat again¡­ ¡°Here.¡± Cordelia handed him a second container, and Jude gulped and swallowed the gray liquid again. ¡°Kuuggh¡­¡± Jude cleanly emptied the container again and he breathed out as if he could finally live. He felt like he had drank nearly 4 liters in total. ¡°Excessive loss of one¡¯s life force can lead to muscle loss. So now that you¡¯ve been nourished, don¡¯t forget to train before going to bed.¡± At Landius¡¯ words, Cordelia shifted her gaze while Jude remained silent and avoided answering, but Landius did not let it go. He looked at Jude with a steady gaze so Jude eventually had no choice but to answer that he would do so. ¡°Anyway, congrattions on your metamorphosis, my disciple.¡± Jude looked at himself upon hearing Landius. Metamorphosis. The act of literally recing one¡¯s bones and changing one¡¯s skin. A reconstruction of the body. ¡®It¡¯s real.¡¯ His body changed. It was not an exaggeration to say that he had be apletely different person. He was sitting down, but he could tell that he had grown taller. His body, which had been in a bit of a mess because of the sudden growth and increase of his muscles, was nowpletely bnced. His muscles had also be shapelier and was functionally reconstructed. ¡°Your appearance is not the only thing that has changed.¡± Jude agreed with him. The cirction of his Qi energy was corrected. His meridians that had been obstructed by his Gueumjulmaek were already beyond the level of being cleared as his entire body feltpletely new. It was faster. It was smoother. He could now easily circte the energy of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, but Jude was surprised once again. ¡®Middle dantian.¡¯ The second dantian was located in his sr plexus. The energy of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors had always been stored in his lower dantian until now, but he had newly created a middle dantian. If onepared it to cars, one could say that he now had two engines. ¡°You seem to have felt the change yourself.¡± Landius happilyughed and turned to Cordelia who was nodding her head with a red face. ¡®Oh my gosh. Please cover yourself!¡¯ Jude¡¯s lower body was covered with a nket, but he was still naked above his waist. His immactely clear and milky white skin was reminiscent of a Greek statue, but his muscles weren¡¯t that excessive. And¡­ ¡®Oh my gosh!¡¯ Cordelia quickly shook her head and raised her head to see Jude¡¯s face, but her mind had already begun to recall the past. Right after Judepleted his metamorphosis. She was so happy that Jude was back that she didn¡¯t have time to be embarrassed about something. ¡®Euaaaah! This lewd demon! Get out! Disappear!¡¯ Cordelia had not actually seen it properly. So it was all just her delusion. As Cordelia struggled with her own thoughts, Jude raised his head to face Landius. ¡°Thank you very much, master.¡± ¡°No, you are my disciple. It¡¯s natural for a master to take care of his disciple. And if you are grateful, thank the girl more than me. If it wasn¡¯t for the girl, you wouldn¡¯t have regained consciousness no matter what I did.¡± Landius chuckled and pped Cordelia¡¯s back with his palm, and Cordelia involuntarily screamed and lifted her head. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Y-yes, Jude.¡± It was really sudden, so she was a bit embarrassed to face Jude. But this time, she wasn¡¯t embarrassed because she remembered something like Jude¡¯s naked body. ¡®It feels like he became an adult.¡¯ In the process of his metamorphosis, Jude¡¯s height grew, and his height was now in the early 180s. But it wasn¡¯t just his height that grew as his build itself felt more manly. His shoulders broadened too. ¡®His face too.¡¯ She had a troubled expression because he had be an adult. She felt like he could no longer be called a boy as it seemed like she might unconsciously call him ¡®oppa¡¯ now. ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°Yes? Uh. Yes. Ahem, ahem.¡± Cordelia calmed herself by clearing her throat as she haughtily spoke to hide her embarrassment. ¡°Anyway, like your master said. You should be thankful to me. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Yes, Madam. I understand.¡± As Jude responded like usual, Cordelia widely smiled without realizing it. She felt a little ufortable because of his changed appearance, but one way or another, she could ascertain that he was Jude. ¡°The two of you look cute and sweet when you¡¯re flirting.¡± Jude bitterlyughed at Landius¡¯ words. Because he suddenly remembered Violent Avnche. The bear cub grumbled about that often. Jude wondered if he was doing well now. ¡°Anyway, disciple. I want to ask you one thing. How many doors have you opened? Second door? No, wait. Since you also had a metamorphosis¡­¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it and speak.¡± ¡°Fifth door.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­the fifth door.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Five doors.¡± Even though Jude replied three times, Landius blinked and had an expression as if he didn¡¯t hear it properly. He had no choice but to. ¡°Fifth door?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°The fifth door, seriously?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°One, two, three, four, five¡­five doors?¡± ¡°Yes, five doors.¡± Landius had a stunned face again at Jude¡¯s answer, and Cordelia was a little surprised at seeing Landius like that for the first time, but she soon smiled and proudly shrugged her shoulders. ¡®Fufufu, because he is my Jude, okay?¡¯ He¡¯s different from other people, really different. While Cordelia raised her chin and snorted, Landius opened and closed his mouth several times. Fifth door. The real fifth door. Five doors. Landius finally epted it as he looked up the sky and suddenly burst intoughter. ¡°Hahahahahahaha! F*ck.¡± Did they hear it wrong or was hisst word really a curse? Jude and Cordelia flinched when Landiusughed and swore again. ¡°What a nasty world.¡± ¡°Ma-master?¡± ¡°No, I mean¡­for a moment, I thought about the nastiness of Cheonmujiche for a moment. How long has it been since you¡¯ve learned Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors? Well, it¡¯s a good thing. Of course. It¡¯s a great blessing that my disciple achieved things faster.¡± It was like he was talking to himself. But it was natural for Landius to act like that. He underwent hardships when he opened the doors. Even though he was called a genius everywhere, it took him 6 years to open the fifth door. He also had to undergo an intense and life-threatening training before that. ¡®As expected of Cheonmujiche. It¡¯s a cheat, a cheat.¡¯ ¡®But isn¡¯t this the result of adding other things?¡¯ ¡®It is. You had a lot of good opportunities, so it¡¯s fine to be criticized.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t just because of Cheonmujiche that Jude was able to open the door very quickly. It became possible because of his rapid level ups from their fierce fighting in the wildnds, and also because of the various potions given to him by Count Chase. ¡°Huu, good. Anyway, fifth door. Congrattions, my disciple.¡± ¡°Thank you, master.¡± ¡°Yes, five doors¡­hoho, hohoho. I can¡¯t help but change my n.¡± ¡°Your¡­n?¡± ¡°Yes, I had made a training n.¡± The reason why he left after only teaching Jude the mnemonic chant of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors was because he thought that it would be a great achievement if Jude could open the second door by their next meeting. But Jude opened up to the fifth door, so he had to revise his n. ¡°First of all, I think I¡¯ll need to thoroughly examine on how you opened up to the fifth door. And how it differed from my situation.¡± Landius didn¡¯t have Cheonmujiche. So his process of opening the doors and its effects would also be inevitably different from that of Jude. ¡°And¡­we also have to review the things you got after opening the fifth door.¡± ¡°Are you talking about¡­abilities?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m definitely talking about the abilities.¡± Landius had talked about it when he first taught him the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. From the fifth door onwards, he would be able to acquire mysterious abilities one by one. ¡®Somehow, I think I know what it is.¡¯ Nobody taught it to him, but he seemed to know how to use it like a bird who instinctively knew how to p its wings and fly. Jude looked at Cordelia, and Cordelia stared at Jude. ¡®Why?¡¯ Jude¡¯s dark green eyes then glimmered. ¡°Oh! It¡¯s working!¡± Jude said, and Landius turned to Cordelia who blinked her eyes a few times before she understood what was happening. She then punched Jude in the face. *** ¡°I mean, I didn¡¯t see it properly¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s despicable that you even tried.¡± ¡°No, I didn¡¯t really do it on purpose¡­¡± ¡°So you did the right thing? You didn¡¯t do anything wrong?¡± ¡°I was wrong. Huhu.¡± Jude was on his knees and pretended to cry, but Cordelia was still looking coldly at him. When the fifth door opened, Jude got the ability to see through things. In subcultures like novels andics, the ability to see through one¡¯s clothes was a truly convenient ability, but the reality was different. ¡®To be exact¡­it seemed like her body looked a little transparent.¡¯ He felt like he could grasp the position of the muscles, bones, and organs. Jude could already calcte his opponent¡¯s movements to some extent through their fighting skills, but with this new ability, it seemed possible to grasp the opponent¡¯s movements more closely. ¡®It seems like I can see their weaknesses.¡¯ It was a very useful ability one way or another. Moreover, it wasn¡¯t just that. ¡°Hohoho, my disciple. You¡¯re still inexperienced, but it will be fine when you¡¯re a little more skilled.¡± ¡°Eh? Really?¡± Jude¡¯s eyes sparkled and Landius smiled like a man, but Cordelia red at them coldly. ¡°Ahem, ahem, ahem.¡± ¡°Ehem, ehem.¡± Jude and Landius both cleared their throats, and Landius brought up a different topic to calm the current situation. ¡°Now then, my disciple, I guess you really opened the fifth door since you can now use that ability. I¡¯ve said it before, but congrattions again.¡± ¡°Thank you, master.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, the girl helped you a lot, so be grateful to her too.¡± ¡°Yes, master. You are right.¡± Jude earnestly nodded and turned to Cordelia as he said with a serious face. ¡°Thank you very much, Cordelia. I¡¯m grateful to you for everything.¡± ¡°Ah, yes. I understand.¡± ¡°No, I mean it. Thank you very much for being with me.¡± ¡°Well, at least you know. Hmph. You finally understand.¡± Cordelia hmphed and turned her head to the side, but she seemed to be happy given that the corners of her mouth were slightly raised. ¡®Her anger seems to have been a bit appeased.¡¯ Jude sighed in relief afterwards and asked Landius again. ¡°But master, how did youe here?¡± Landius¡¯ appearance was very much weed, but it was quite sudden at the same time. Landius answered with a smile at Jude¡¯s question. ¡°Because I met Lena. I didn¡¯t know that you were qualified enough to open five doors¡­ but I was in a hurry to meet you because I heard from her that you had be very strong.¡± ¡°Wa! You met her? Is Lena-nim doing fine?¡± Cordelia¡¯s face brightened when she heard about Lena, and Landius nodded his head. ¡°Yes, she¡¯s still beautiful.¡± ¡°Hehehe.¡± My Lena is pretty, right? As Cordelia brightlyughed, Landius alsoughed loudly before he continued to speak. ¡°Lena went south to meet Kamael. I went north to meet you two. I found your exact location with this.¡± Landius took out a small hand mirror from his waist, and Jude and Cordelia immediately understood it. ¡°Is this something Lena-nim gave you?¡± ¡°Yes, Lena said that she gave the girl a gift, and that gift had Lena¡¯s mana. So I could track your location with this exclusive mana tracker.¡± Cordelia nodded with satisfaction again at Landius¡¯ exnation. Because while Lena had attached a tracker on her in a way, Lena didn¡¯t have any bad intentions in the first ce, and they were also able to get help from Landius thanks to it. ¡°Then master, are youing with us?¡± Cordelia raised her head upon hearing Jude¡¯s question as she looked at Landius too. If Landius went with them to the royal capital, they wouldn¡¯t have to worry about the Minister of Defense. Unfortunately, Landius¡¯ answer was a negative. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I can¡¯t. I have to go south to help Kamael and Lena.¡± Landius had only gone north for a while to see Jude¡¯s condition, so he had to immediately return to the south afterwards. ¡®What are they doing in the south?¡¯ At Cordelia¡¯s gaze, Jude fell into deep thought. Because this specific information did not appear in the game. ¡®Is it possible that Landius died in the south?¡¯ Jude shook his head at Cordelia¡¯s next question. Landius died while he was alone. It wouldn¡¯t happen if he was with Kamael. ¡®Moreover, Lena is here now.¡¯ Lena¡¯s survival and her joining him with his work. Perhaps this alone would have changed Landius¡¯ future. ¡°My disciple, and girl. Why are you suddenly silent?¡± ¡°I-it¡¯s nothing. I apologize.¡± ¡°Yes, me too.¡± Jude and Cordelia awkwardly smiled and gave an evasive answer. Landius then spoke with a kind look. ¡°Don¡¯t be so sad. I¡¯ll teach you a lot of things before I leave.¡± ¡°What kind of things?¡± Landius chuckled again when it was Cordelia who showed more interest rather than Jude. ¡°First is a way to develop steel-like muscles that can stop ded objects.¡± Cordelia¡¯s expression turned odd at Landius¡¯ words. Although it was a really good ability, she didn¡¯t like the thought of Jude having a body like Landius. ¡°There are a lot of other things¡­but there is one most important thing.¡± Having said so far, Landius suddenly took a deep breath and straightened his posture. He looked straight at Jude and continued. ¡°Jude Bayer, my disciple.¡± ¡°Yes, master.¡± ¡°You have opened the fifth door of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. Your body has be strong, so you will no longer suffer from the immense cold you were born with. So I believe it¡¯s time for you to learn my own martial arts.¡± Jude nervously gulped at Landius¡¯ words. His own martial arts. It was as Landius said. Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors was a creation of a transcendent being and not Landius¡¯ own martial arts that he had developed in his life. ¡°I heard it from Kamael. The fact that you¡¯ve been reborn with a Yin-Yang Body. So even if you were born with extreme Yin energy, you¡¯ll be able to use it.¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyes widely opened. Because she understood what Landius was talking about. Sun Warrior Landius. The true reason why he was the continent¡¯s strongest warrior. ¡°The power of the sun will be with you.¡± The Sun God¡¯s Ultimate. A golden aura rose like a me from Landius¡¯ entire body. Chapter 139 - EPISODE 139 – LONG LIVE THE SUN (3)

Chapter 139 - EPISODE 139 ¨C LONG LIVE THE SUN (3)

Terms used in this chapter: PTSD?¨C abbreviation of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. It is a mental health problem that can ur after a traumatic event. The two main characters of?Legend of Heroes 1, Kamael and Landius, were like night and day in many ways. Both were good-looking, but one was beautiful enough to be mistaken for a woman due to his fine features and fair face, while the other was manly and vigorous with his masculine appearance and well-defined features, the so-called cheerful person. Their heights were also different since Kamael was a little shorter than the average person while Landius was already a giant who was over 190cm tall and had bulky muscles at the time of the first episode. ¡®Their personalities differed too.¡¯ Kamael was a realist who could be described as calm,posed, and rational, while Landius was a ssic warrior full of passion, hope, and courage. ¡®A song of ice and fire.¡¯ Kamael used Yin energy while Landius used Yang energy. The two were known for their martial arts, the Twelve Snowke Sword Art and the Supreme Sun Divine Art. ¡®The warrior of the sun.¡¯ Landius was like what his nickname meant. When Kamael and Lena as well as all the survivors of the Paragon Kingdom fell into despair and fear before the absolute power of the Demon Prince, he was the only one to not fall into despair. He did not give up. ¡®He¡¯s like the sun.¡¯ Like the sun rising alone in the pitch-ck darkness to light up the world. A man who drove out the fear and terror in everyone¡¯s hearts and instilled them with hope and the courage to fight again. ¡®The Supreme Sun Divine Art is like Landius.¡¯ An endless life force/vitality. The power of light that drives out the darkness. The martial arts of a man who always did his best to destroy the enemy in front of him without any petty tricks. ¡°Disciple, do you know about the Supreme Sun Divine Art?¡± At Landius¡¯ question, Jude came to his senses and slightly nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve only heard¡­a bit about it.¡± ¡°Okay, then do you know what makes the Supreme Sun Divine Art distinct?¡± When Landius asked again, Cordelia¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Excessive strength! Increasingly very high stamina! Fast recovery speed! The attack itself is simple but the power of his one punch is strong! Landius is surely the best one-punch damage dealer out of the five main characters! He¡¯ll make you taste that one punch gathered in his fist!¡± If one analyzed the Supreme Sun Divine Art in game terms, it would be like what Cordelia thought. But Jude couldn¡¯t say all that, so he summarized it nicely. ¡°I heard that it¡¯s a martial arts that is based on a strong vitality¡­like the sun.¡± ¡°Yes, you are right. The Supreme Sun Divine Art will turn you into the sun, and if you seed well in it, the endless power of life that will never be exhausted will be with you.¡± ¡®That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right! You get superb strength! You¡¯ll surely never get tired! Like an energizer! You can work all day long like Captain America! No, you can work for many days and nights! You¡¯ll be Captain S?len!¡¯ As Cordelia¡¯s eyes sparkled again, Jude bit his lips and held back hisughter. Landius spoke again. ¡°I created a new Supreme Sun Divine Art by adding Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors to the existing Supreme Sun Divine Art. But disciple, I will teach to you the existing Supreme Sun Divine Art.¡± Jude¡¯s Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors was different from that of Landius himself. ¡®Twenty-Four Gale Steps.¡¯ Jude¡¯s footwork techniques changed with the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. Having learned about the Thirty-Six World Steps from Jude, Landius came up with a hypothesis. If Jude couldbine the Thirty-Six World Steps with the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, wouldn¡¯t it be also possible with all the other martial arts in the world? Landius himself couldn¡¯t do it, but Jude who was born with Cheonmujiche could do it. Something that only Jude, who had learned the more perfect Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, could do. ¡°If you can indeed do that, I canpare it to my new Supreme Sun Divine Art. And through that, I can also improve my Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. Of course, your Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors too.¡± Jude nodded his head. He couldn¡¯t find the timing to talk about it, but he actually wanted to talk about the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, the female sage he met every time he opened the door, and what he learned when he opened the fifth door this time. ¡®Umm¡­by the way, Jude.¡¯ It was at that moment. Cordelia slightly raised her hand and gazed at him, and Jude immediately responded to her gaze that was different from before. ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°C-can I ask a question?¡± Landius was also interested in Cordelia¡¯s question. ¡°Girl, what is it? Are you curious about the Supreme Sun Divine Art?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s¡­the Sphere of Life.¡± Jude got the Sphere of Life, the divine item of Aerith, the goddess of life. Because of that, the Sphere of Life was no longer just a beautiful ornament. Because its power waspletely absorbed by Jude. ¡®But the Sphere of Life has several unique effects.¡¯ Like regenerative power or the amplification of one¡¯s peak life force. ¡®Wouldn¡¯t those effects be passed on to Jude?¡¯ Her question was quite reasonable. When Cordelia honestly spoke aloud about her thoughts, Landius looked at Jude who began to think as he closed his eyes. ¡®The Sphere of Life.¡¯ If the life energy I absorbed wasn¡¯t the only thing inside it. If the goddess¡¯ blessings were also in it. Jude went into meditation. He went deep down below the surface of his consciousness and looked at his soul and body. Perhaps he also got a skill that he didn¡¯t know when he opened the fifth door. He went deeper and deeper. He found it when he observed his own soul and body. New abilities that Jude himself had acquired. ¡°Wow.¡± Jude unconsciously eximed before he pulled out a dagger from his waist and wounded his forearm. His sudden action surprised Landius and Cordelia as their eyes widely opened but they did not shout. Because his small wound healed in an instant. ¡°Regeneration?¡± ¡°Wow, it doesn¡¯t even show.¡± Cordelia said in admiration as she touched Jude¡¯s arm. Because there wasn¡¯t even any trace of the wound left. ¡°Amazing. The blessing of the goddess of life remained in my disciple¡¯s body. Indeed, it¡¯s the blessing of the goddess¡­a miracle from the goddess. Be thankful.¡± Landius said before putting his hands together to pray. It was very natural for him to pray because he was a pdin in the first ce. ¡°Thank you, goddess. Thank you very much.¡± Cordelia also prayed and Jude was swept away by the atmosphere too as he closed his eyes and expressed his gratitude. ¡°Anyway, that¡¯s good. Now that you have a regenerative power, you can just tolerate the training unlike before.¡± When Landius chuckled and said that, Jude blinked his eyes. He had no choice but to do that. ¡®What?¡¯ I can just tolerate the training? No, that before¡­are you talking about tolerating that crazy training we did before? ¡°Disciple, there¡¯s no time to lose. I have a lot of things to teach you, and a lot of things I want to learn from you, so let¡¯s hurry.¡± ¡°W-wait a minute. Master?¡± ¡°Hohoho, your regenerative power must have activated, right? Now that I look at you, your strength seems to be overflowing. The regenerative power seems to have elerated the absorption of nutrients.¡± ¡°No, that can¡¯t be possible.¡± Is there a rtion between my regenerative power and elerated digestion? ¡®Perhaps?¡¯ He wasn¡¯t hungry. He had used up his strength because of the metamorphosis, so he no longer had any strength in his entire body, but not at the present moment. He felt like he had absorbed all the nutrients from the 4 liters of that horrendous liquid prepared by Landius. His vision was clear, and his limbs were full of power. ¡°Kekeke, that¡¯s good. There¡¯s no risk of injury, recovery is quick, and you can digest food as soon as you eat it. Your body is definitely optimized for training. So from now on, let¡¯s train without taking any breaks.¡± Landius was delighted as he jumped from his seat and threw a training uniform at Jude, who looked at Cordelia with a face full of distress. ¡®He-help me! No, save me! Cordelia!¡¯ His eyes were like that of a dog who got soaked in the rain because it wandered around without an owner. Cordelia¡¯spassion surged at that moment, but she could only do one thing. ¡®Fighting.¡¯ Don¡¯t die. I¡¯ll give you ap pillow and clean your ears¡­anyway, I¡¯ll treat you nicely. So my Jude, I¡¯ll cheer for you, okay? ¡®Hey! Cordelia! Hey!¡¯ His silent screams remained as silent screams. Landius forcibly carried Jude with his big hands, and the nket covering him fell so Cordelia quickly covered her face with her wide open fingers. *** Time passed. As Landius himself said, he trained Jude really hard. He trained all the time except for the time he ate and slept, but his meals were the gray liquid and not a proper meal, so it was like he was being tortured separately with the force feedings. As a natural result, Jude¡¯s only pleasure in the day was his sleeping time. ¡°Sob, sob. Cordelia. Huhu.¡± Cordelia bitterly smiled as she stroked Jude¡¯s head in herp as he trembled like a PTSD patient. She only saw the training for a short time on the first day, but it seemed like a hellish training when she saw Jude broken like this in just three days. ¡°My Jude, you better sleep. You have to sleep. You only have 3 hours of sleep a day. You now only have 2 hours and 53 minutes left.¡± ¡°Sniff, sniff.¡± Jude trembled again at Cordelia¡¯s words, and he closed his eyes as he tried to sleep while Cordelia continued to stroke his head. And around 10 minutes passed. Cordelia gently removed her legs under Jude¡¯s head after he waspletely asleep as she slowly stood up. It was Jude¡¯s sleep time, but for Cordelia herself, it was the time to start her new routine. ¡°Girl, are you going again today?¡± As she came out from the entrance of the small room where Jude slept, she heard Landius¡¯ voice. Landius didn¡¯t really need to sleep because he seeded in using the Supreme Sun Divine Art, so he just sat cross-legged like that when his training with Jude was over. Cordelia replied with a small smile. ¡°Yes, I think it¡¯s paying off.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t overdo it. Immediately send me a signal if it bes dangerous. I know that you¡¯re strong, but no one can tell on what will happen in real life.¡± ¡°Yes, thank you for your concern.¡± Cordelia answered nicely and left the training room on the 3rd?floor as she headed deep into the Temple of Life. Cordelia was doing something while Jude was training with Landius. ¡®It looks like I got everything on the 3rd?floor.¡¯ Cordelia was wiping out the monsters in the Temple of Life. Because she had nothing to do during Jude¡¯s training, but she had other reasons too. ¡®I can¡¯t stand still.¡¯ It¡¯s good that Jude is bing stronger. It¡¯s not some empty words because I¡¯m really happy. Because he¡¯s my Jude. The enemies we¡¯ll be fighting in the royal capital are tough. I really hate seeing Jude getting hurt. I always thought and wished that he would be stronger and not get hurt. But apart from all these feelings. ¡®I have to be strong too.¡¯ I have to level up by collecting even a little more experience points. I have to look for new ways to grow, and not settle for what I have now. This is reality and not a game. There are other ways to be stronger aside from the established methods. Jude is striving forward. I¡¯m scared because his speed of getting stronger is too fast. So I have to catch up. I have to be strong. ¡®I want to stand by his side.¡¯ No, it wasn¡¯t that tender feeling. She wasn¡¯t thinking about him in that way, as the emotions that welled up in her heart was a little different from that. It was something more fundamental. Cordelia¡¯s own feeling from her previous life that she still held in her present life. ¡®I have to be strong.¡¯ Not only because I want to see a perfect happy ending. Not only because I want to ovee the challenges ahead. But for a more fundamental reason. A simple but strong wish of mine. ¡®Even if that Outboxer had be my Jude¡­¡¯ I don¡¯t want to lose. I really want to win someday. ¡®I will not lose.¡¯ A fierce smile spread over Cordelia¡¯s face. She clenched her fists and looked straight ahead. The power of a holy angel then emanated from her entire body. She spread open her wings of light, and an angel¡¯s halo floated above her head. But it didn¡¯t stop there. She tried something new. Because she wanted to get ahead of Jude, and even go beyond winning against him as she wanted Jude to never beat her. Cordelia closed her eyes. She released a new power that did not appear in the game. Chapter 140 - EPISODE 140 – UNEXPECTED ENCOUNTER (1)

Chapter 140 - EPISODE 140 ¨C UNEXPECTED ENCOUNTER (1)

Terms used in this chapter: Rote learning?¨C memorization of information based on repetition. Examples include memorizing the alphabet, numbers, and multiplication tables. Morning on the seventh day since Jude began training with Landius. Jude and Landius sat face to face in order to converse with each other. It was to organize the things he learned and experienced from his training over the past seven days, and what they understood from it. ¡°My Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors and your Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors.¡± To be exact, they were talking about the difference between the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors of someone who didn¡¯t have Cheonmujiche yet forcibly trained oneself with it, and the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors of someone born with Cheonmujiche and was like the incarnation of martial arts chosen by the heavens. ¡°First is the existence of the female sage.¡± In the beginning, he could only see the female sage¡¯s silhouette that was like a drawn painting, but it was different now. When he opened the fifth door. Jude was able to clearly see the face of the female sage. Her ck hair and white face. She was an elegant and beautiful woman. ¡®But Cordelia is prettier.¡¯ Even if everyone else said otherwise, she was prettier in Jude¡¯s eyes. He wasn¡¯t joking as he was serious about it. ¡°Disciple?¡± ¡°Yes, master.¡± Jude flinched but answered almost immediately, and Landius slightly tilted his head before he spoke again. ¡°I also saw the female sage. I first saw her back when I opened the fifth door. It was when I opened the seventh door that she finally turned to me.¡± But when Jude opened the third door, he not only met the female sage but also learned her skills. And when he opened the fifth door now, he even heard her voice. ¡®But Cordelia¡¯s voice is prettier too.¡¯ Jude nodded to himself before he shook his head to shake off his trivial thoughts. He should be focusing more on his current conversation with Landius. ¡®I guess I had a hard time these days.¡¯ He wouldn¡¯t be able to survive the hellish training every day if it wasn¡¯t for Cordelia. For Jude, Cordelia was already a real angel and his heart¡¯s oasis. ¡°In any case¡­we both saw the female sage. In other words, Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors and the female sage seems to be deeply rted. Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors is not just some martial art but a superhuman martial art that leads its practitioner to a higher level¡­ Perhaps that female sage is its first practitioner who transcended.¡± If it really was that, several possibilities opened. One was that she was the founder of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. Another was that she was the ancient person who fought against the overlords of hell. Thest one was that she was not either of the two, but was just an ancient practitioner of it. ¡°Nine heavens and nine worlds. The true meaning of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors.¡± Landius had already opened up to the seventh door, but even he didn¡¯t immediately understand what that meant. But Jude had a vague idea about it. ¡®Though it feels like I can¡¯t exin it properly.¡¯ There were a lot of parts that he found hard to express into words. It seemed like he needed to train more in order to understand it. ¡°Anyway, it¡¯s not bad. Since we both saw the female sage, it means that we¡¯re on the right path.¡± Landius and Jude were obviously different. If Jude was moving forward on the right path, Landius was forcibly making his way in the somewhat twisted path. ¡®But what¡¯s important in the end is that we¡¯re moving forward.¡¯ Landius restrained his thoughts and continued to speak. ¡°There is also a difference in the Supreme Sun Divine Art.¡± Although Jude¡¯s training period was short, it was possible topare it with Landius since he managed tobine the Supreme Sun Divine Art with the mnemonic chant of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. ¡°My conclusion is that¡­it¡¯s not that suitable for me. Or to be exact, it¡¯s perfectly suitable for you, my disciple.¡± ¡°Yes, I think so too.¡± The new Supreme Sun Divine Art that was created by adding the mnemonic chant of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors to its existing form was not suitable for everyone. It could be said that the new one was specialized for Jude, that it was a martial art thatpletely suited Jude. ¡°To begin with, the Supreme Sun Divine Art uses the middle dantian among the upper, middle, and lower dantians. And I had already created my middle dantian before I even opened the doors of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. But disciple. You said that you only created your middle dantian when you opened the fifth door, right?¡± ¡°Yes, master.¡± ¡°In that case¡­I guess that my prediction that Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors will use all three dantians when you master it is correct.¡± The numbers of Jude¡¯s dantians wouldn¡¯t just increase because a synergistic effect would also be created through the interactions of the three with each other. So if he got to use all three dantians, the effect might perhaps be not just three times more, but even be five times more. ¡°The lower dantian, middle dantian, and upper dantian all have different roles. So if you can use all of them, what you can do will also vary.¡± It was part of the lesson he had been learning in the past seven days. Jude nodded his head, and Landius moved on to the next topic instead of repeating the specific details about the dantians. ¡°The ck dragon that you¡¯re using¡­ I wonder if that too is the result of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors being tailored to you rather than the natural power of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors.¡± Landius couldn¡¯t use the ck dragon. But he didn¡¯t think that it was because he forcibly trained himself with the martial art, or that he didn¡¯t have Cheonmujiche. ¡®And this is just something I simply felt.¡¯ A kind of feeling that only those who have actually trained that martial art could feel. Instead of being able to use the ck dragon¡¯s energy, the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors of Landius strengthened the power of the sun which was his foundation. If the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors of Jude was the ck dragon, the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors of Landius was the sun. ¡°But now that you¡¯ve began to learn the power of the sun, the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors may change once again. It¡¯s regrettable that I don¡¯t have the time to properly observe it.¡± He tried to teach Jude as much as possible in the little time they had, but they only had seven days, or six days to be exact. Even if Jude was born with Cheonmujiche, it was impossible for him to learn the Supreme Sun Divine Art in just a few days. ¡®But as expected of Cheonmujiche. It¡¯s really incredible.¡¯ Landius taught Jude who was quite ignorant of the Supreme Sun Divine Art through rote learning. They didn¡¯t have enough time so Landius crammed the concepts into Jude¡¯s memory. And Jude had managed to do something that difficult in reality. Although it was hard enough that it would drive someone a bit crazy, what mattered was that he did it. ¡®It¡¯s not only his Cheonmujiche. His intelligence is extraordinary too.¡¯ When one¡¯s martial arts reached a certain level or more, their intelligence would increase. That was why Landius himself had an excellent memory. However, Jude¡¯s memory wasn¡¯t at a level that could be simply evaluated as excellent. It was seriously amazing. ¡®I never thought that I could cram all eight of it in him in just six days.¡¯ The Supreme Sun Divine Art didn¡¯t just involve mental cultivation. It also had a lot of skills, and Landius was able to cram around eight of it into Jude¡¯s soul and body. ¡®He¡¯ll be able to properly use the skills one by one when his mastery increases.¡¯ And the next time they would meet again, he would teach Jude the secret skills of the Supreme Sun Divine Art. ¡®Of course, the training awaiting him will be harder than now.¡¯ But that did not matter. If it was someone like his disciple before him, they would be able to endure it. ¡°Hohoho.¡± Landius chuckled in delight, but Jude flinched for a moment and then broke out in a cold sweat. Because he somehow had this ominous foreboding. ¡°Anyway, my disciple.¡± ¡°Yes, master.¡± ¡°You got stronger too quickly.¡± At Landius¡¯ words, Jude nodded his head again. Because Jude himself understood well what those words meant. ¡°I can¡¯t say that rapid growth is bad. That only shows how excellent your talent is. But even then, it¡¯s too fast. The speed of your growth is too fast that I sometimes think it¡¯s scary.¡± Jude reached the fifth door of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors in just a couple of months. When Landius first met him, it was impossible for him to fight against a low-ranking demonic human, but the child was now capable of beating a mid-ranking demonic human. In just a couple of months. ¡°It¡¯s too fast. So I¡¯m worried.¡± He hoped that this growth wouldn¡¯t overwhelm Jude. He hoped that Jude¡¯s ankles wouldn¡¯t be caught by the things he missed because he ran too fast. T/N: The above sentence is something figurative. Basically, Landius is saying that he hopes that Jude wouldn¡¯t suffer any drawbacks or consequences because he learned too fast. ¡°Disciple, I¡¯ll be honest with you. I¡¯ve been called a genius since I was a kid. It was quite well-known too.¡± Landius suddenly cleared his throat after having spoken. Because he felt embarrassed even though he said it himself. ¡®But it¡¯s true.¡¯ It was true. Objectively speaking, Landius himself was a genius. ¡°Kamael is also a genius. Lena is a genius too. I myself am a genius, and I have seen many geniuses in my life. But you¡¯re the best among them.¡± Cheonmujiche. It was indeed the incarnation of martial arts from the heavens. In reality, the original Cheonmujiche wasn¡¯t as good as what Jude had now. But like what Jude himself thought, the Jude and Cordelia now were different from the ones in the game. Even in his previous life, Kang Jin-ho was the genius who was also known as Outboxer009. Kang Jin-ho¡¯s genius self was added to Jude¡¯s Cheonmujiche. And by training in the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors and having his intelligence increased, the current Jude was much more talented than the original Jude in the game. ¡®The same goes for Cordelia.¡¯ In Jude¡¯s opinion, it was a fact that Cordelia was the real genius. Her ability to arrive at the results without going through the process could not be expressed in any other way except for the word ¡®genius.¡¯ Jude himself didn¡¯t just assess things, as he also calcted things through his analysis. ¡°That¡¯s why, my disciple, I look forward and am worried about you at the same time whenever I see you.¡± It was his first time meeting someone with this talent, so he couldn¡¯t even guess how it would go in the future. His growth speed was too fast that if he went down the road without stopping for a brief moment, he might go too far. ¡°So, my disciple. Don¡¯t be too hasty. You¡¯ve already gone too fast. Be a little more patient than be in an extreme hurry. Do you understand what I mean?¡± ¡°Yes, master. I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡± Landius¡¯ concern was actually a bit too much. ¡®Because leveling up is also my talent.¡¯ The reason why Jude was able to be stronger so quickly was because his body rapidly became stronger through leveling up. Everyone in Pleiades naturally had levels, and their abilities get enhanced as their levels increased, but what they felt was different. In Jude and Cordelia¡¯s case, they felt that their stats had risen every time they leveled up, while for others, they felt that their levels rose because their abilities had risen above a certain standard. The two seemed simr at first nce, but there was a clear difference between the two. ¡®Anyway, he¡¯s a bit worried because he overestimated us but¡­it¡¯s not that bad to keep that in mind. For both Cordelia and me.¡¯ No, rather than me, it should only be for Cordelia. ¡°Well, I¡¯ve said everything I wanted to say. I think that¡¯s enough to wrap up this training.¡± Having said that, Landius tried to get up as he brushed the dirt off his clothes, but Jude hurriedly raised his hand and said. ¡°Master! I want to ask you one more question.¡± ¡°What is it, disciple?¡± ¡°I¡¯d like to ask you about Velkian-nim and Fran-nim.¡± Like where the two were now. Or if there was any way to contact them. At Jude¡¯s question, Landius furrowed his brows once and said with a bitter smile. ¡°If it¡¯s Master Velkian¡­I don¡¯t know either. After we fought the Demon Prince, he disappeared while saying that he¡¯d do some personal research. He didn¡¯t have much long left to live in the first ce, so I didn¡¯t even stop him¡­ Disciple. Why are you looking at me like that?¡± ¡°Eh? Ah, no. It¡¯s just a little¡­amazing.¡± Master?Velkian. He couldn¡¯t believe that Landius used honorifics for Velkian. ¡®Landius is now forty.¡¯ On the other hand, Velkian was already in his 70s at the time of the first episode. It was a matter of course. ¡°Boy, why are you saying something random? Anyway¡­I don¡¯t know about Fran either. I¡¯ve been in touch with him 5 years ago, but I lost contact with him after that. But since he¡¯s a druid, he must be living well somewhere. Perhaps he¡¯s doing something like hibernation.¡± Jude thought that even if a druid hibernated, five years was a bit too much, but he nodded his head. ¡®I have no choice but to find them one by one since we don¡¯t know.¡¯ They first needed to catch Velkian by fishing him with a bait. ¡°Well, that¡¯s quite a sly smile, my disciple.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± ¡°You sly boy. Are you thinking of the girl?¡± When Landius asked with a furtive smile, Jude felt that he was being misunderstood. Or rather, why was Cordelia connected to his sly expression? Especially when Jude himself thought of Cordelia with a pure heart¡­ ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Jude who was thinking about her suddenly coughed again. Because he was embarrassed when he thought of her. ¡°I guess you have a conscience.¡± Landius said that as if he knew what Jude was thinking, so Jude cleared his throat again from his embarrassment. After about an hour. Jude, Cordelia, and Landius stood facing each other at the entrance of the Temple of Life. Because it was now time for them to go their separate ways. ¡°Master, please stop by the royal capital when you¡¯re done with your business.¡± Landius was heading to the southern part of the kingdom where Kamael and Lena were in order to resolve some business there. Though Jude was anxious that Landius didn¡¯t give him a proper answer even after he asked several times, he decided to be understanding of Landius. ¡®There must be a reason.¡¯ A reason why Landius didn¡¯t want to say it. Perhaps there was something really dangerous there. ¡®I hope that he¡¯ll be safe.¡¯ Although he didn¡¯t have aplete picture of the events since it was not urately described in the original, it was not yet time for Landius to die. Moreover, Lena who was not present in the original was now together with them, so if their business got settled well and was much better than the original, the chances of Landius dying would be low. ¡°Yes, Landius-nim. I¡¯ll also be waiting for you in the royal capital. Cordelia gracefully added, and Landius chuckled and nodded his head. ¡°Okay, I understand. If it¡¯s possible, I¡¯d go see the two of you at the founding ball.¡± The 300th?anniversary founding ball. As it was a gathering of many people from all over the country, it would be full of good-looking men and women, but Landius was sure of one thing. That it would be Jude and Cordelia who would shine the brightest on that day. ¡°Now then, I have to go. Your level was much higher than I expected, so I got dyed a bit.¡± ¡°Thank you very much, master.¡± Jude replied a bit awkwardly at Landius¡¯ slightly mischievous words, and Landius chuckled again. ¡°My disciple, I look forward to our next meeting. Practice hard until then. Build your muscles. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Yes, master.¡± Jude¡¯s face turned pale due to the trauma he remembered in thest few days, but fortunately, Cordelia was next to him. Cordelia held the staggering Jude with her arms and said to Landius. ¡°Then, see you next time. May the muscles always be with you.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s greeting, Landius stared in surprise but he soon cheerfullyughed and rose from the ground. ¡°Don¡¯t cry as it would lead to muscle loss! May the muscles always be with you!¡± A golden aura exploded from Landius¡¯ body as he soared high in the sky. It brightly shined as if another sun had risen in the sky. ¡°See you again! Disciple! Girl! May the muscles always be with you!¡± Hahahahaha! Landius burst into a vigorousughter as he moved in the air and flew at a terrifying speed towards the south, and Cordelia said with a nk expression like usual. ¡°It¡¯s amazing whenever I see it.¡± Why is that not magic? How in the world does he fly like that? ¡°Aren¡¯t you amazed too¡­ Jude?¡± Cordelia who was supporting Jude with her arms unknowingly stepped back. Because Jude¡¯s body shook and theughter he suppressed finally burst out. ¡°Kukuku¡­kukuku¡­I¡¯m free. I¡¯m free!¡± He was free from the training of thosest six days. Those hellish days! ¡°Are you that happy?¡± ¡°I¡¯m very happy!¡± Jude broadly smiled as he held Cordelia¡¯s waist in his joy and lifted her up high. ¡°Yes! Wahoo!¡± The two spun around. Cordelia was frightened by his smile that was like that of a madman, but she soon spoke with a sympathetic face. ¡°I¡¯ll give you ap pillow today.¡± ¡°Sob, sob! Thank you, Madam!¡± ¡°Yes, yes, my Dolswe.¡± Jude spun around a few more times before he brought Cordelia down on the floor. *** The next afternoon. At the branch headquarters of the Devil¡¯s Hand located in Mte. The enduring Saluzia, a high-ranking demonic human who was in charge of the northern part of the S?len Kingdom, finally screamed in anger. ¡°What the hell is going on!¡± The intelligence she received eight days ago. The information that Jude and Cordelia would join forces with the Guardians of the Holy Cross at the headquarters of the Devil¡¯s Hand in Mte ¨C or to be exact, it was information about attacking the branch that Saluzia was in charge of in the whole north. It was information that she couldn¡¯t just ignore. All the branches of the Devil¡¯s Hand were run in secret. Naturally, it wasn¡¯t an exaggeration to say that only a few people knew about the locations too. But they pinpointed Mte. ¡®In addition, they made three mid-ranking demonic humans vanish off the face of the earth.¡¯ She found it hard to believe that Jude and Cordelia alone could have done that. It was obvious that the Guardians of the Holy Cross were deeply involved. ¡®Kamael.¡¯ The most powerful person in the Guardians of the Holy Cross. There was a high possibility that his clone was also involved in this event. No, perhaps he wouldn¡¯te at all. He probably knew that he cannot defeat Saluzia by himself. Therefore Saluzia went on the defensive. After gathering all of their forces in the north to counterattack those who would be invading their headquarters, theyid out a trap and waited. A day passed. Two days. Three days, four days. Finally at the eight day! ¡°Why aren¡¯t theying!¡± Saluzia didn¡¯t just foolishly stayed indoors. She sent intelligence agents outside several times in order to monitor the movements of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. And what she found out as a result was that the Guardians of the Holy Cross were not making any significant moves. She thought it was a trap at first. She thought they were ying tricks in order to perfectly surprise them. But now. Eight days had now passed. She could tell it now. There would be no attack. It didn¡¯t matter if the information itself was false in the first ce or if the Guardians canceled their operation midway, but what mattered was that an attack wouldn¡¯t happen. ¡®Either way, it doesn¡¯t matter.¡¯ The important thing was the fact that she wasted eight days and that there was a setback in their operation in the royal capital because she had gathered their troops in a hurry. ¡®If the leader get disappointed at me over this¡­ If shepletely renounce me¡­¡¯ Just imagining it was terrible. Saluzia shuddered in fear as she covered her face with her hands and breathed in and out several times. She would rather die than suffer as she didn¡¯t want to face a future where she was abandoned by their leader. She wouldn¡¯t be able to take it. ¡°Find Jude and Cordelia.¡± The root of all evil. So that their leader won¡¯t be disappointed in her anymore. So that she could make up for her past mistakes. ¡°Locate the two! Hurry!¡± Saluzia angrily shouted at the demon followers gathered in Mte and they scattered all over the north to begin searching. They began their search in the major cities of the north as well as the viges near the roads to the royal capital. But none of them could find traces of Jude and Cordelia. And that was something natural. The two didn¡¯t use the proper road in the first ce. They headed to apletely different ce and not for the royal capital after they left the Temple of Life. The entrance to the capital. At a vige located in a ce where there were only mountains as far as the eye could see. Jude and Cordelia were there. *** A business had to have customers just like all businesses do. In the case of an inn, there must be someone who would stay, so there were usually two types of guests. One was an outsider who was looking for a ce to stay. The other was a vige insider who needed a ce for a one-night stand. The Pink Pig Inn, the only inn in Hans¡¯ vige, was mainly intended for outsider guests. Because there were no fools who would stop by the inn to y with someone in a small vige where everyone knew each other. ¡®But there aren¡¯t that many outsiders.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t exactly a tourist destination or near a major road. The reason why there was an inn in the vige was because many outsiders once visited the vige in search of a job. A mining industry. An industry in which minerals and so on were extracted by digging the ground. ¡®It used to be a hit.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t that far in the past. Around five years ago, the mining industry was so active that there were three inns in the vige. But now, it was a mining town where most of the tunnels were abandoned. ¡®That¡¯s why it¡¯s weird.¡¯ How many years has it been since so many outsiders were present at the inn? Hans sat at the counter as he took a peek at the people on the first floor that was being used as a tavern. There was a male and female couple sitting in the left corner. Both were so handsome and pretty that he thought they weren¡¯t human when he first saw them. Especially the female whom he unconsciously felt that the word ¡®angel¡¯ would suit her. And there was another group of people on the right. Most of them wererge men, but there was a small girl among them. ¡®Interesting.¡¯ It was rare for the tavern to be full, but even the people inside it were all unusual. ¡®But I have to suppress my curiosity.¡¯ He might get seriously hurt if he pushed his head out of curiosity. Except for the small girl, all of the guests had swords on their back or waist. Even the ¡®angel.¡¯ ¡®Let¡¯s not even look at them.¡¯ I¡¯ll find myself in trouble if I make eye contact. Having made up his mind, Hans turned his gaze away, which was a wise move. Because a silent battle had already began in the tavern, though Hans didn¡¯t feel it. The group of people where the small girl was with stared at the young man and woman sitting in the left corner ¨C at Jude and Cordelia, and the two exchanged nces. ¡®It¡¯s her, right?¡¯ ¡®Yes, it¡¯s her.¡¯ They never imagined that they would meet her in a ce like this. Jude and Cordelia exchanged nces again and turned to the girl simultaneously. A brown hood was worn from the top of her head and covered more than half of her face, but even so, her young-looking face couldn¡¯t bepletely covered. She was clearly Princess Darianne, the younger sister of Princess Daphne and Prince Dion who were known to be the key people in the royal capital incident. Chapter 141 - EPISODE 141 – UNEXPECTED ENCOUNTER (2)

Chapter 141 - EPISODE 141 ¨C UNEXPECTED ENCOUNTER (2)

Regarding family and ns:?This series uses a lot of wuxia and murim terms, so I want to rify this stuff. Family usually refers to blood-rted rtives or those with marriage ties. But in the world of wuxia or murim, family could mean the sect or n they belong to and does not necessarily mean they have blood rtions. You¡¯re a knight of Count Bayer? Then you belong to the Bayer family or n. What makes this confusing is the fusion of western and eastern culture in this series. Knights are vassals of a lord, and technically do not belong to the lord¡¯s family or n, but in wuxia or murim, they do. So the 12 northern families are actually 12 sects with a feudal noble as their head. And if you¡¯re wondering why there is this fusion, this series technically belongs to the ¡®fusion fantasy¡¯ genre, where there¡¯s a fusion of two or more genres in a story. In this case, it¡¯s a fusion of western medieval fantasy, wuxia/murim fantasy, reincarnation, and game-like elements. Princess Darianne. Her official name was Perdarianne de S?len. As the child of the Second Queen, she was half-siblings with Princess Daphne and Prince Dion who were the First Queen¡¯s children, but the rtionship of the three were quite good. ¡®Because they have a huge age gap and the probability of Darianne inheriting the throne is low.¡¯ ¡®Because Darianne is the cutest.¡¯ Jude frowned at the reason Cordelia gave, but she wasn¡¯t exactly wrong. If a cute child clings to her older sister and brother, it would be hard for people to not react or resist it. ¡®Anyway, about Princess Darianne.¡¯ Why is she, the darling of the S?len royal family, sitting here now at an inn in a mountain vige like this? ¡®Though I have pretty good idea why.¡¯ ¡®You know why?¡¯ ¡®You, you didn¡¯t properly read the character settings, right?¡¯ ¡®No, I did. I know how many favorite shoes Cordelia has, okay?¡¯ ¡®Hey, you¡¯re Cordelia.¡¯ ¡®Is that so?¡¯ Cordelia smiled with her tongue slightly sticking out to hide her embarrassment, and Jude wryly smiled but was still happy. Because she was cute. ¡®Anyway, it¡¯s just a guess?¡¯ ¡®What?¡¯ ¡®But isn¡¯t this conversation with our eyes too high level? Do you understand what I¡¯m talking about?¡¯ ¡®Uh¡­roughly?¡¯ No matter how well we understand each other, is it possible to have a conversation with our eyes like this? Isn¡¯t this almost telepathic? ¡®Is this the power of love that master said?¡¯ ¡®You must be nuts if you keep repeating that bullsh*t.¡¯ Cordelia said with her eyes as she smiled prettily, and Judeughed before tearing a scroll under the table. The two had an almost telepathic conversation with their eyes, but it was still impossible to convey specific information without understanding the circumstances and context. So in this case, it was better to just use magic. [She probably came here because of the duke.] [The duke¡­isn¡¯t he the maternal grandfather of Princess Darianne?] [Bingo. He is Henry Spencer, the father of the Second Queen and the current Duke Spencer whose family has royal blood flowing in their veins because they are coteral rtives of the royal family.] [Isn¡¯t he suffering from an illness?] [That¡¯s why she came here. To get some medicine that will cure her grandfather¡¯s illness.] [Ah, aaaah!] Cordelia pped her hands a little as if she understood now. [Medicinal herbs in Arkeman¡¯s Dungeon.] [Bingo again this time.] A medicinal herb called the Seven-Colored Herb naturally grew in the deepest part of Arkeman¡¯s Dungeon, and though it was not as good as the Sunflower, it had a rather strong life energy. [Will it perhaps cure an ordinary chronic illness in one dose?] [But in the original, he was still suffering from it. Her duke grandfather.] [I guess she couldn¡¯t get the herbs in the end.] [Well, it¡¯s because Arkeman¡¯s Dungeon is difficult.] Arkeman was a particrly entric freak among the many entric Archwizards. A wizard¡¯s dungeon was originally more like ab with excellent crime prevention measures rather than abyrinth full of traps and monsters. After all, it was a ce created to conduct research. But Arkeman¡¯s dungeon was different. The dungeon was filled with powerful traps and guardians as if the dungeon¡¯s purpose was crime prevention and not research. [In particr, the dungeon boss is a problem.] A chimera created by Arkeman. A creature that was created bybining three different beasts into one, and an inferior monster that could be taken care of in a funny way. [Anyway, we¡¯ll talk about itter.] That was it. Jude looked to his side, and so did Cordelia. Because one of the big men standing next to Princess Darianne approached them. ¡°Hey, you two.¡± It was a deep and intimidating voice. Because of her traveling with Jude, Cordelia¡¯s acting skill had be excellent so she blinked with a frightened look on her face, and Jude slightly leaned forward as if to protect Cordelia before he spoke. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Are you travelers?¡± ¡°Yes, we¡¯re travelers.¡± When Jude immediately replied, the big man frowned instead of talking again. ¡®He¡¯s bad at this.¡¯ ¡®He¡¯s clumsy.¡¯ He was probably sent here by his superior, but it seemed like this was his first time doing it. ¡®Isn¡¯t he a duke¡¯s knight?¡¯ ¡®I think this is the first time he¡¯d ever gone undercover like this.¡¯ What would I say if you asked me if I was a traveler at a ce like this? Of course I would say I¡¯m a traveler. The man hesitated for a moment and looked back, and he caught the gaze, or more like the re, of a fierce-looking middle-aged man sitting next to Princess Darianne. ¡®Get it together?!?¨C I think he¡¯s being told something like that.¡¯ ¡®I think so too.¡¯ Shortly after Jude and Cordelia exchanged nces, the man flinched again and turned to Jude and Cordelia as his mouth opened and closed several times before he spoke. ¡°Why were you looking at our side?¡± ¡°It¡¯s strange that there¡¯s a lone child among adults. Their face is also covered with a robe.¡± Cordelia spoke naturally, and the man was flustered again. Because when he thought about it, she was right. There was a small child who was alone among big men. Their body and face was also covered by a robe. ¡®Even I would look at it.¡¯ The young knight of Duke Spencer, Hunt, was troubled but he couldn¡¯t look back again. Because his superior would clearly scold him severely. ¡®I think I can already hear it, huhu.¡¯ In fact, Hunt felt that it was unfair. Any of the knights who came with him would also respond in the same way as he did. ¡°Umm¡­is there a problem?¡± When Cordelia cautiously asked, Hunt¡¯s face slightly blushed and he faltered again. Although he had some difficulties on how to respond, the main cause was Cordelia¡¯s beauty. ¡®She¡¯s so pretty.¡¯ She was pretty when he saw her at a distance, but she was much prettier when he saw her closer. ¡°Hunt!¡± Hunt flinched after hearing the angry voice behind him, and he shook his head to clear his mind. Since it had already happened, he had to do something even if it would be a sess or a failure. ¡°You two, you¡¯re too suspicious. Identify yourself. Are you really just travelers?¡± He felt ashamed at the words that he said himself, but he couldn¡¯t help it. And at his shameful lines, Jude sighed and looked at Cordelia as he sent her a gaze. ¡®Let¡¯s just do it then.¡¯ ¡®We¡¯re going to get involved with them?¡¯ ¡®Because it would be nice if we can get close to Princess Darianne.¡¯ He was wondering on how they would go to the royal capital and meet Princess Daphne, but the problem would be solved at once if they became close to Princess Darianne. After taking a deep breath, Jude stood up and said. ¡°Sir Knight.¡± ¡°Eh¡­what? I am not a knight. I¡¯m just a traveling veteran mercenary.¡± ¡°I understand. You¡¯re a knight of Duke Spencer, right?¡± Right after Jude said that. The air in the inn rapidly changed. The men around Princess Darianne stood up at once, and even the bewildered Hunt gave off a sharp pressure and grabbed the sword on his waist. He was ready to pull it out. Then one person moved. The middle-aged man sitting right next to Princess Darianne. He was Sir Cornwell, the head of the Knights of the Red Rose who were known as Duke Spencer¡¯s sword. ¡°Who are you? Depending on how you answer, your life could be at stake.¡± He did not give off a sharp pressure like Hunt. He did not even hold a weapon in his hand like everyone else. But the quality of his sense of pressure was different. Jude took on his pressing gaze as he took a deep breath once and stepped forward. He stood in front of Cordelia as if to protect Cordelia from Sir Cornwell and everyone else before he opened his mouth. ¡°The second son of the Bayer family, Jude Bayer, greets Sir Cornwell of the Knights of the Red Rose.¡± At Jude¡¯s smooth words without any sign of fear, Sir Cornwell slightly narrowed his eyes, and Hunt and the other knights could not hide their confusion. ¡°H-how?¡± ¡°Bayer?¡± Several very small voices were abruptly heard, but soon disappeared. Because Sir Cornwell began to let out a terrifying sense of pressure. But it didn¡¯tst long. ¡°Stop it, Sir Cornwell.¡± The cheerful voice of a girl, which did not match the current mood, broke the ufortable silence. Sir Cornwell seemed to frown once before he looked back at Princess Darianne who smiled and walked towards Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Mydy.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. Sir Cornwell is next to me, right?¡± At the words of Princess Darianne, Sir Cornwell eventually sighed and then stepped aside. ¡°Hehehe, thank you. As I thought, Sir Cornwell is the best.¡± Princess Darianne cutely said before she took off the hood she was wearing on her head. The golden hair that was called the symbol of the royal family, and her pretty doll-like face were then revealed. ¡°Whew, that¡¯s better. It was quite stifling after all, huh?¡± Mumbling to herself as if she was talking to someone unknown, she then took a deep breath and said as she looked up at Jude. ¡°Good-looking oppa, please try to guess who I am.¡± Who she was. Jude smiled at her provocative question, and Princess Darianne¡¯s cheeks slightly turned red. Although he was overshadowed by Cordelia, Jude was like her too as he was one of the Four Great Kings of Beauty. Just as a beautiful woman¡¯s smile was effective for men, a handsome man¡¯s smile was effective for women. Moreover, Jude even took it a step further. ¡°Let me properly introduce myself.¡± Jude spoke in a lowered voice as he knelt on one knee and gently held the princess¡¯ hand before he kissed the back of her hand. ¡°Jude Bayer of the Bayer family greets Princess Perdarianne.¡± And he brightly smiled again. Princess Darianne held her breath without realizing it, and Cordelia¡¯s eyebrows twitched when she saw everything. Because she somehow unconsciously felt upset about it. ¡®Hey, hey. Don¡¯t go overboard, okay?¡¯ Don¡¯t seduce an innocent girl, okay? She shot a re at him, but perhaps because she shot it in the back of his head or he deliberately ignored it, Jude continued to hold the hand of Princess Darianne and kept his sparkling smile. And a few seconds passed. Princess Darianne came to her senses and said with a shy smile. ¡°That¡¯s surprising. Are you really Count Bayer¡¯s¡­ Are you Mr. Jude Bayer?¡± ¡°Yes, Your Highness. I am Jude Bayer.¡± But that was it. Sir Cornwell who was listening quietly stepped forward again. ¡°Prove it. No, more than that, answer my question first. Why did you think that we are the people of Duke Spencer?¡± When Sir Cornwell showed a coercive attitude again, Princess Darianne slightly frowned, but she didn¡¯t really stop him. Because Sir Cornwell and the princess were also curious about it in the first ce. How in the world did he know? ¡°It¡¯s not that surprising.¡± Jude softly replied and stood up as he faced Sir Cornwell and gave an exnation. ¡°First of all, your outfit is too unnatural for a mercenary.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, the rest of the knights except for Sir Cornwell looked at themselves. Because their clothes such as their cloak, leather armor and so on, were quite like that of a mercenary. ¡°The quality is too good. Most of it are new. Especially the shoes.¡± Mercenaries were those who carried swords while traveling all over the ce to look for work. Their shoes were always worn out from their rough journey. ¡®Perhaps they asked for clothes that were fit for a mercenary.¡¯ But the knights of Duke Spencer who came from the capital would have found it hard to wear second-hand clothes worn by mercenaries. Everything they purchased must have been brand new. ¡°In addition, most mercenaries don¡¯t wear such a perfect full set. They don¡¯t bother about color schemes too.¡± At Jude¡¯sments, the knights looked back at their clothes, and deep furrows lined Sir Cornwell¡¯s forehead. ¡°And most of all, the sword. The sword on the waist of the first person to talk to us¡­it was the sword of the Spencer family. I saw the crest engraved on the handle and figured it out.¡± Sir Cornwell hurriedly turned to Hunt at Jude¡¯s words, and soon red. He seemed to be yelling with his eyes that the other was stupid for carrying the sword with the duke¡¯s crest. ¡®Because weapons are difficult to change.¡¯ For a knight, the sword was like their own life. In the first ce, a knight who was unskilled in going undercover would have unconsciously carried his usual sword. ¡®In fact, it seems like there are more of them.¡¯ Some of the knights who saw Hunt being scolded had flinched and covered their swords with their cloaks. ¡°And to add one more thing¡­ Everyone was too handsome to be a mercenary.¡± At the words of Jude, the rest of the knights except for the cowering Hunt cleared their throats. They were quite embarrassed, but felt that it was nice at the same time. ¡®Of course, it¡¯s not like they¡¯re really handsome, but they have the air of a rich person.¡¯ In any case, most of the knights were convinced of Jude¡¯s words. Because they liked such usible talk. ¡®Of course, the truth is that it¡¯s just some random guess.¡¯ Mercenaries wouldn¡¯t always use old things. They would use new ones sometimes. Moreover, if they were a high-end mercenary who specialized in escorting, there were a lot of times that they matched their clothes well. There were many cases where their customers and escort targets would want a good-looking escort. In the end, it was possible to argue his points one by one if they thought about it calmly, but what mattered was the atmosphere. Ah, that makes sense. I think he¡¯s right? Once that kind of atmosphere was formed, they overlooked his other words unless there were too many irrational things behind it. ¡®As expected of my scammer.¡¯ Jude felt Cordelia¡¯s satisfied(?) smile behind his back and turned to Princess Darianne again, who was fascinated by Jude¡¯s exnation and asked with sparkling eyes. ¡°What about Sir Cornwell and my name?¡± ¡°It was a lot easier.¡± Jude knelt on one knee again to make eye contact with Princess Darianne and then said. ¡°Because Sir Cornwell is the only one in the Spencer family with such a splendid physique and a nice beard.¡± Princess Darianneughed and pped her hands at Jude¡¯s words. ¡°That¡¯s right, Sir Cornwell¡¯s beard is really nice. It¡¯s probably the coolest beard in the royal capital.¡± ¡°Your Highness¡­¡± Sir Cornwell said in a quiet voice as if he was embarrassed, but he seemed to be happy as the corners of his mouth was slightly raised. ¡°And the princess¡­ How can I not recognize such a lovely princess?¡± Princess Darianne¡¯s face turned red at Jude¡¯s sweet whispers. Her red face seemed like it would burst if one touched it. But as for one person. ¡®Hey, hey. Isn¡¯t this too much? Hey!¡¯ Cordelia somehow got angry and sharply red at him, but Jude didn¡¯t budge. He continued to sparkle in Princess Darianne¡¯s eyes, who twisted about before she loudly said. ¡°Fantasy couple!¡± What is she talking about all of a sudden? Jude and Cordelia reflexively thought, and Princess Darianne quickly spoke in a voice full of excitement. ¡°I¡¯ve heard the rumors too. A fantasy couple who are already betrothed with each other, but they love each other so much that they runaway at night because they want to love the other more!¡± It was a blow that made even the mature Jude falter. No, it¡¯s good that it¡¯s already an established fact. It¡¯s good if that¡¯s what the royal capital thinks so. Jude nced at Cordelia whose face was so red that it was like a ripe persimmon that was about to burst. ¡®D-do something!¡¯ Seeing Cordelia¡¯s eyes that were at a loss, Jude nodded his head and turned back to Princess Darianne as he said. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ First of all, you¡¯re right that we¡¯re the fantasy couple but¡­¡± ¡°I knew it!¡± Princess Darianne pped her hands again and turned to Cordelia who flinched and btedly stood up to give her greetings. ¡°Cordelia Chase of the Chase family greets Princess Perdarianne.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s greeting, Princess Darianne blushed again in happiness. But it was at that moment. ¡°Prove it.¡± Sir Cornwell raised his big hand and cut in Princess Darianne, Jude, and Cordelia as he stared at Jude and said. ¡°I know well now how you recognized us. But that does not prove that you are children from the 12 northern families. So prove your identity.¡± The atmosphere in the inn sharply changed again at Sir Cornwell¡¯s sharp remark. ¡®As expected of the head of the Knights of the Red Rose.¡¯ He didn¡¯t get the position of knightmander for no reason. Instead of being flustered, Jude got up and pulled out something hidden in his inner chest pocket. ¡°This is a crest of the Bayer family that only the legitimate children of Count Bayer have.¡± It was not the crest of some vagrant family but was that of the Bayer family, one of the highest-ranked among the 12 northern families when it came to military power. Sir Cornwell immediately nodded upon receiving the crest. ¡°You are the child of Count Bayer. If so, what about you?¡± As Sir Cornwell¡¯s gaze shifted to Cordelia, she blinked her eyes and looked at Jude. Because unlike Jude, she didn¡¯t carry anything like a crest. ¡®Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll take care of it.¡¯ ¡®How?¡¯ ¡®Leave it all to me.¡¯ Jude smiled and lowered his posture again before he spoke as he faced Princess Darianne. ¡°Princess, my fianc¨¦e unfortunately does not have a family crest at the moment. But¡­do you really need proof?¡± At Jude¡¯s question, Princess Darianne showed her curiosity with her sparkling eyes, and Sir Cornwell frowned. And Jude continued his words. ¡°My fianc¨¦e, Lady Cordelia Chase, is rumored to be the most beautiful girl in the north. If you¡¯ve heard the rumors about us¡­ I¡¯m sure Princess Darianne already knows about it, right?¡± ¡°Yes, I heard about it. She¡¯s an angel-like beautiful girl with vivid red hair and blue eyes that sparkle like gems.¡± Princess Darianne¡¯s description made Cordelia¡¯s face turn red again. And Jude pushed it further. ¡°That¡¯s right. She¡¯s the most beautiful girl in the north. A girl who¡¯s truly like an angel that descended on earth.¡± As he spoke dramatically, some of knights unknowingly nodded, and so did Hans who was sitting at the counter. ¡°A woman who¡¯s like a flower and is so lovely and pretty that it makes you want to look at her more even though you¡¯re already looking at her.¡± ¡®F-f*ck. Stop. Stop it! Hey!¡¯ It was unknown if Jude could hear Cordelia¡¯s screams in her mind or not, but he continued to speak as a smile bloomed on the face of Princess Darianne. ¡°I see, are you saying that her beauty itself is the proof of her identity?¡± ¡°Yes, wise princess.¡± Princess Darianne giggled at Jude¡¯s words before she looked up at Sir Cornwell, who nodded and sighed as if he couldn¡¯t help it. In fact, identifying them was pretty much done at the time when he saw the Bayer¡¯s crest. Asking for the Chase family¡¯s crest to be presented was in reality more of a trick. ¡°I guess the rumors are true. I¡¯d like to hear from you two, so can you tell me? Ah, are you still in your runaway of love?¡± The way she asked with her slightly lowered voice was very cute and lovely, so Cordelia covered her face with both hands instead of answering, and Jude gently shook his head. ¡°No, Your Highness. The runaway of love is over.¡± ¡°Then?¡± ¡°We¡¯re on a journey of love now.¡± Jude shamelessly said, and Princess Darianne had a face like that of a dreaming girl while Cordelia couldn¡¯t remove her hands from her face. Chapter 142 - EPISODE 142 – UNEXPECTED ENCOUNTER (3)

Chapter 142 - EPISODE 142 ¨C UNEXPECTED ENCOUNTER (3)

Gossip could travel fast. Rumors about Jude and Cordelia had widely spread beyond the north and even reached the country¡¯s capital where the royal family lived. ¡®No! Why?! What happened?!¡¯ Because it was something strange and unusual. Lovers who loved each other but were forced to break up due to the opposition of their families so they run away at night with their lover ¨C such a setting was exclusive to sad romance stories. But two people who were already engaged would still have a nighttime runaway of love? The two of them had the full support of their families since they had already been engaged since birth, yet they still did that? The reactions of those who heard the rumors about Jude and Cordelia werergely the same. ¡°What did you say?¡± ¡°Eh? What the hell did you just say?¡± A story that was hard to understand. That was why they were curious about the whole story. Moreover, the story of Jude and Cordelia were so filled with attractive things that spiced it up. ¡°Have you heard about the letters Lady Cordelia left behind¡­¡± ¡°Oh my gosh, how bold.¡± Cordelia¡¯s letters expressing her love for Jude were quite direct and straightforward. ¡°I guess they wanted to have some time alone.¡± ¡°Ah¡­I think I somehow understand why.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it?¡± It was difficult to create a situation where two unmarried people of the opposite sex were alone with each other, even if they were engaged, of noble lineage, or belonging to the 12 northern families. Because a lot of people would follow right behind them for this and that, such as their exclusive maid or escort knight. ¡°How could they do that¡­those two have gone too far.¡± ¡°Indeed¡­Lady Cordelia must still maintain the dignity of a noble youngdy.¡± ¡°To be honest, I¡¯m a bit disappointed in her.¡± ¡°She must have read too many romance novels. Hohoho.¡± One way or another, a scandal was a scandal. Just like Emma Ficus, there were many people who said bad things about Jude and Cordelia since this was the perfect opportunity for them. And as always, bad rumors were bound to spread more widely than good rumors. ¡°But¡­isn¡¯t it a bit envious though?¡¯ ¡°In fact, me too¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m a bit envious.¡± The story of the two wasn¡¯t simply a scandal where they could criticize and look down on the two. Because it contained elements that were yearned for by young girls and even women who were quite old or those who already have multiple children. ¡°The two must really love each other, right?¡± ¡°Like those in love stories.¡± For nobles, most marriages were arranged by their families. A political marriage. A marriage with an unknown partner. A sudden engagement with someone they thought was someone else until yesterday. A forced marriage with no love on both sides. But Jude and Cordelia were different. Despite being engaged since birth, the two strongly loved each other ¨C they were truly in love like the main characters of romance stories. They would be lying if they didn¡¯t felt envious. ¡°And¡­have you heard about the rumors of Mr. Bayer? He¡¯s really handsome, right?¡± ¡°Lady Cordelia has been famous for her beauty for a long time.¡± ¡°Count Chase is a bit too¡­¡± ¡°Hey, it¡¯s been rumored too that Lady Adelia would have been the most beautiful woman in the north if she just shut her mouth, right?¡± ¡°I remember that.¡± The two shined as an iparably beautiful girl and an absolutely handsome boy even when considered separately, so how great would the two shine now when they are a couple? In any case, the rumors about Jude and Cordelia quickly spread beyond the north and even to the capital because of these reasons. And in fact, the rumors had already spread to the south, so the whole kingdom knew about the story of Jude and Cordelia. From a fantasy couple to a couple of the century. The love story of two people that was recognized by the entire kingdom. ¡®F*ck, what is this¡­ What in the world is this?¡¯ Cordelia felt dizzy when she heard their story from Princess Darianne¡¯s mouth, while Jude nodded with a very happy face. ¡°It¡¯s a very exciting story. I really envy you, Lady Cordelia.¡± ¡°Th-thank you.¡± As Princess Darianne¡¯s eyes brightly sparkled in admiration, Cordelia was forced to smile and acknowledge it. ¡®How did this happen?¡¯ It clearly began as an excuse to avoid Dahlia and Maja¡¯s watchful gaze. The next thing she knew, the whole kingdom ¨C no, perhaps the entire continent had publicly recognized them as a lovey-dovey couple. ¡°By the way, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Yes, Mr. Bayer.¡± ¡°Has the second story¡­not spread yet?¡± ¡°Second story?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the secret story behind me and Cordelia¡¯s journey. Our connection with the Guardians of the Holy Cross¡­¡± Princess Darianne blinked her eyes at Jude¡¯s words, and Sir Cornwell who was listening next to her coughed and opened his mouth. ¡°The reason why the two fled at night was to actually help with the mission of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. Count Hr?svelgr, the head of the Jackdaws, had reported that they were also very active in the military operations in the barbariannds.¡± ¡°Wow, really?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know the other details, but that¡¯s what I heard.¡± Being the duke¡¯s knightmander did not mean he could read the military reports that Count Hr?svelgr sent to the royal capital. It was a rough story he gathered from exchanging information between his fellow knights. ¡°But¡­we might be able to find out the details now.¡± Having spoken so far, Sir Cornwell looked at Jude who shed a smile. ¡°I can¡¯t tell you the details because it¡¯s confidential¡­but the real reason why Cordelia and I ran away from home was to fulfill our mission from the Guardians of the Holy Cross.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Sir Cornwell urged him to say a little more, but it was in vain. Jude maintained his smile and Sir Cornwell just frowned as he couldn¡¯t directly pressure Jude to say it. Sir Cornwell was both a viscount and the knightmander of Duke Spencer¡¯s knights, but he was not exactly in a position to order Jude on what to do. ¡®Because he¡¯s a noble too.¡¯ Although Jude had no title and was unlikely to inherit the title because he was the second son, a nobleman was still nobility. ¡®And perhaps¡­he¡¯ll receive a baron rank sooner orter.¡¯ Count Hr?svelgr had reported the contributions of Jude and Cordelia in the barbariannds, so it was highly likely that they¡¯d receive the higher-ranked title of baron and not the lower-ranked title of knight. So Jude leisurely smiled again, and Sir Cornwell looked displeased as he couldn¡¯t say anything to Jude. But not for Princess Darianne. Upon hearing the conversation between Jude and Sir Cornwell, her shoulders suddenly sank, and she spoke in a very disappointed tone. ¡°Then¡­was everything a lie?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°The love story between you two.¡± She had longed for something like that and thought it was amazing, so she wished for that kind of love too. ¡®Please say no.¡¯ At Princess Darianne¡¯s gaze, Jude turned to Cordelia who was visibly embarrassed. ¡®W-what should I do?¡¯ ¡®What do you mean? Let¡¯s just do what we always do.¡¯ ¡®Wait, what we always do?¡¯ ¡®Then will you make Princess Darianne cry?¡¯ Cordelia flinched at Jude¡¯s question before she turned to Princess Darianne and flinched again when she saw the princess¡¯ moist eyes. ¡°Princess Perdarianne.¡± ¡°Yes, Mr. Bayer.¡± ¡°What I said earlier¡­ Do you remember that?¡± Princess Darianne blinked her eyes and tilted her head at Jude¡¯s question, and she soon brightly smiled. ¡°You said that it was a journey of love.¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. Our runaway of love is over, and we are now on our journey of love. The reason that we ran away was because of the mission from the Guardians of the Holy Cross¡­but our love for each other is not a lie.¡± ¡°Wow¡­¡± Princess Darianne said in admiration as her hands touched her cheeks and she looked back at Cordelia while looking like that. And she attacked them with her eyes again. She stared at them with her big and beautiful eyes that were moist but had a different feeling than earlier. ¡°J-Jude is right. We really¡­lo-love each other.¡± Cordelia awkwardly affirmed it, and Darianne¡¯s face brightened up. ¡°Then Lady Cordelia¡­no, Cordelia-unnie. Can I call you unnie?¡± ¡°Eh? That¡­yes, it would be an honor.¡± Even if it was in private, it was umon for a princess to call someone ¡®unnie.¡¯ When Cordelia answered with difficulty, Princess Darianne slightly closed her eyes and giggled before she said. ¡°Then, that letter too¡­is that real? I always want to be together with my beloved Mr. Bayer¡­I don¡¯t want to part with him¡­ Even death will not be able to separate us¡­¡± At the phrases she recited like a girl who was dreaming, Cordelia suffered an enormous mental blow, but she couldn¡¯t do anything. She couldn¡¯t say no here. ¡®No, wait! How did it be so exaggerated?!¡¯ I certainly said that I want to be with my beloved Mr. Bayer, and that I didn¡¯t want to part with him, but I never said that death h h! But it was a rumor that had already spread, and the original rumor had be exaggerated when it spread. ¡°I thought it was really cool. Is it real? Cordelia-unnie?¡± At the adorable Darianne¡¯s question, Cordelia felt a cold sweat run down her back, but she was forced to smile and nod her head. ¡°It¡¯s a bit exaggerated, no, a lot of it is¡­¡± ¡°Exaggerated? So you did not say that you love Mr. Bayer? You don¡¯t want to part with him¡­¡± ¡°No, no. That¡¯s true. T-that¡¯s what I wrote.¡± s, Cordelia. s, Cordelia.?(T/N: This is Jude¡¯s thoughts.) Her face and neck turned red, and sweat poured down as she was at a loss on what to do, but the knights and Hans in the counter thought the same at her appearance. ¡®Lovely. I want to kill him.¡¯ The first one was for Cordelia. Thest one was for Jude. And Jude who was the direct cause of all these events and one of the parties involved, did his best to hold back hisughter. ¡®Ah, Cordelia, please. Why are you so cute?¡¯ But it was at that moment he thought that. ¡®Hey! Help me!¡¯ ¡®Yes, Madam.¡¯ Jude immediately responded to Cordelia¡¯s SOS signal as he opened his mouth to change the current situation. ¡°By the way, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Yes, Jude-orabeoni. Can I call you?orabeoni?¡± ¡°Of course. Thank you for this great honor.¡± ¡°Hehehe, thank you for allowing me too. But what¡¯s the matter? Oh, do you have more love stories to tell?¡± ¡°Of course, we have a lot of stories to tell but¡­ I think we should postpone that for now.¡± Having said that, Jude nced back at Sir Cornwell and spoke again. ¡°The reason Cordelia and I stopped by this vige was to actually get medicinal herbs.¡± ¡°Medicinal¡­herbs?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s a medicinal herb called the Seven-Colored Herb that grows in the wild at Archmage Arkeman¡¯s Dungeon.¡± As soon as Jude¡¯s words were spoken, the atmosphere in the inn changed once again. Sir Cornwell¡¯s eyes turned fierce, and the hesitant knights also quickly changed their gazes and posture. ¡®As expected.¡¯ This reaction. It¡¯s clear that Princess Darianne and her group also came to this vige to look for the Seven-Colored Herb. If so, how will they respond to my current remarks? Jude looked at Princess Darianne who couldn¡¯t hide her feelings like that of a child. She sped her hands tightly and seemed to be restless as she turned to Sir Cornwell. ¡°Sir Cornwell.¡± When she asked him on what to do while staring at him with those eyes, Sir Cornwell sighed before nodding his head. ¡°It can¡¯t be helped. They¡¯re children of the 12 northern families, so I think we can discuss it.¡± To be exact, it was because the two were children from the 12 northern families that they had to talk about it with the two. If they weremoners, they would have driven them out or in extreme cases, eliminate them, but that was impossible if they were children from the 12 northern families. ¡°Jude-orabeoni.¡± ¡°Yes, Princess Perdarianne.¡± ¡°Please call me Darianne. Because it¡¯s my nickname.¡± ¡°Yes, Princess Darianne.¡± Jude corrected his address, and Princess Darianne bit her lips once before she smiled and said again. ¡°Sir Cornwell and I also came to get the Seven-Colored Herb.¡± ¡°You mean¡­the Seven-Colored Herb?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve also heard the story that it grows in the wild in Arkeman¡¯s Dungeon.¡± She did not disclose her source of information, and Jude did not ask her. The important thing was that they both wanted the Seven-Colored Herb. ¡®Wait, we want the Seven-Colored Herb? What we want is something else.¡¯ ¡®Yes, that¡¯s right. But I want Princess Darianne and Sir Cornwell to think it so.¡¯ Cordelia blinked her eyes and soon understood Jude¡¯s hidden intention. ¡®Wow, a real scammer.¡¯ ¡®Thanks for thepliment, Princess.¡¯ Jude¡¯s hidden intention. The future scheme of Jude. ¡°Jude-orabeoni, please join us. We¡¯ll get the Seven-Colored Herb together and then share it.¡± At the suggestion of Princess Darianne, Jude shouted bingo in his mind but didn¡¯t make it obvious. Instead of epting it right away, he asked in a cautious tone. ¡°Will that¡­be fine?¡± He directed the question not only to Princess Darianne, but also to Sir Cornwell. And in fact, the answer was already decided. ¡®Because it was decided by Princess Darianne and they don¡¯t have a reason to refuse it.¡¯ They had already identified the two as Jude and Cordelia. Moreover, Sir Cornwell also knew that Jude and Cordelia had made a contribution in the barbariannds. In other words, he knew that the two were not ordinary nobles nor innocent children. ¡®It¡¯s more like our power increased rather than our number of escort targets increased.¡¯ Naturally, it wouldn¡¯t be pleasant for them if others intrude even if the outsider¡¯s identities have been proven and were invited by the princess. But he had no reason to refuse it strongly, so just epted it. ¡°I¡¯ll be counting on you.¡± ¡°Thank you, Sir Cornwell.¡± Jude smoothly answered and looked back at Princess Darianne. And the moment he faced Princess Darianne and her group, he told them about his n. ¡°Princess Darianne, I have one suggestion.¡± It was a win-win n of one stone hitting three birds where everyone here would be happy, though Jude and Cordelia would naturally be happier. Jude then began to talk. Chapter 143 - EPISODE 143 – CHIMERA (1)

Chapter 143 - EPISODE 143 ¨C CHIMERA (1)

Archwizard Arkeman. He was a character who had lived hundreds of years ago but only existed as a background setting in?Legend of Heroes 2, and was a person whose name frequently appeared when one yed the main story. ¡®A genius creator of magic tools.¡¯ He was a great wizard and an excellent cksmith at the same time, and one of the top three artifact craftsmen in history. So the more one proceeded to the second half of the game, the more they would see his name because the yer would be equipping high-ranking equipment at that time. ¡®It was called the Arkeman series.¡¯ <> or <> ¨C such were the descriptions of the items he made. Usually, the items he made in his youth were just in (?) A-rank ones, but those he made in his middle and old age were at least S-rank items that guaranteed a really terrifying average performance, so it became an unwritten rule in?Legend of Heroes?to obtain one of the Arkeman series when it became avable for the yer. ¡®Of course, that was the standard for ordinary yers.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t such an attractive series for rotten waters. Because there were many more powerful items than that series. ¡®But even so.¡¯ Items that were at least S-rank were not something weak. For the current Jude and Cordelia, the Arkeman series were dream items. ¡®Add to that are the ranks of the Arkeman series.¡¯ The items were not at most S-rank items. They were at least S-rank items. Even some rotten waters drooled and struggled to possess items from the Arkeman series. ¡®They were called Arkeman¡¯s 7 Treasures.¡¯ Jude raised his head as he snapped out of his thoughts. He continued his words to Princess Darianne who had sparkling eyes and to Sir Cornwell who was showing interest one way or another even though he had a slightly displeased look. ¡°Princess Darianne.¡± ¡°Yes, Jude-orabeoni.¡± ¡°Did you know that we met the Fairy Queen?¡± ¡°Yes, I heard of that story too. But is it true? Did you really participate in the fairies¡¯ banquet?¡± Princess Darianne¡¯s eyes were filled with a light of excitement. It was umon to meet fairies in reality. First of all, there weren¡¯t that many fairies, and most of them lived in hiding deep in the mountains. Moreover, their preference for beautiful things or people was a problem. Because even if someone found their habitat, they wouldn¡¯t meet anyone who didn¡¯t had a certain level of beauty. ¡°Orabeoni, orabeoni. Then is it true? That the fairies first showed up because of Cordelia¡¯s beauty.¡± ¡°Of course, it¡¯s true. Everyone went crazy and said that she was as pretty as a goddess.¡± ¡°Wow¡­¡± Princess Darianne¡¯s gaze naturally turned to Cordelia, and so did Sir Cornwell and the other knights. ¡°Ah¡­ Uh¡­¡± As for Cordelia. Her face was red as ever, and she didn¡¯t know what to do so she bowed her head. No, she reached under the table and pped Jude¡¯s thigh. ¡®Do something! No! Hurry up and change the topic! Change it!¡¯ She couldn¡¯t even exchange nces with him because she had bowed her head, but her thought was clearly conveyed because of her desperation. And Jude thought. ¡®Shouldn¡¯t you be used to it by now?¡¯ But being embarrassed like this every time was part of Cordelia¡¯s charm. ¡®Hurry up!¡¯ She pped it again. Jude nodded his head and changed the topic for Cordelia. ¡°Anyway, Your Highness, Cordelia and I met not only the fairies but also the Fairy Queen, who is the queen of the fairies. But are you aware of it? The fact that the Fairy Queen is not just one?¡± ¡°Yes, I heard it from Daphne-unnie. Fairies also have dominions, so there are many queens.¡± ¡°Yes, it is as you said. The Fairy Queen is not one but many. And Cordelia and I met another Fairy Queen across the border¡­in the wildnds.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s true.¡± ¡°How? Did the fairiese to meet you first again?¡± Jude nodded his head when asked by Princess Darianne who was so excited. ¡°That¡¯s right. The fairies fell in love with Cordelia¡¯s beauty again¡­¡± p! p! Cordelia hurriedly pped Jude¡¯s thigh, but she was toote. Princess Darianne, Sir Cornwell, the knights, and Hans at the counter looked at Cordelia in unison. ¡®Juuuude!¡¯ The voice of her thoughts were heard once again. Jude pretended not to know her thoughts and quickly spoke again. ¡°The Fairy Queen who lives in the wildnds is very beautiful, wise, and friendly.¡± Wild Fairy Queen Eonelle. Among the Fairy Queens whom they had met so far, she was the easiest to dupe- no, she was the most benevolent and kind woman. At Jude¡¯s sincere words, Princess Darianne suddenly closed her eyes. She was probably imagining the Fairy Queen in her mind. Jude had a small smile at the childlike appearance of Princess Darianne, and he continued to talk. ¡°I heard from the Fairy Queen about Arkeman¡¯s Dungeon. She had told us of a story when she first met Arkeman a long time ago.¡± ¡°Wow¡­ Then the dungeon that Fairy Queen said is¡­¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s a hidden dungeon here. I heard from the Fairy Queen about the Seven-Colored Herb and that a fearsome and powerful chimera guarded the Seven-Colored Herb.¡± It was obviously a lie. The Fairy Queen never said anything like that. But what mattered was that it was a usible story. An archwizard and a Fairy Queen. Two beings that somehow fit together. ¡®It¡¯s impossible for them to verify it.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t possible for them to meet the Fairy Queen here or the Fairy Queen in the wildnds. And in fact, verifying it was already unnecessary. Because Jude had created an atmosphere where everyone believed in his words. Even the doubtful Sir Cornwell was interested in something else rather than the truthfulness of Jude¡¯s story. ¡°Did you say chimera?¡± The dungeon boss who protected the Seven-Colored Herb. ¡®Although it¡¯s not the Seven-Colored Herb that it is guarding.¡¯ The Seven-Colored Herb was just a wild grass that grew in the dungeon, but it was true anyway that the Seven-Colored Herb was in the room the chimera was guarding. So if he slightly changed the story, he could be say that the chimera was also guarding the Seven-Colored Herb. ¡®Hey, Mr. Jude. Isn¡¯t this called a scam?¡¯ Rather than flinching at Cordelia¡¯s gaze, Jude shrugged and made a serious look as he then answered Sir Cornwell¡¯s question. ¡°Yes, I heard that it¡¯s a very powerful chimera. It¡¯s almost like a dragon when inside the dungeon because it is supported by the numerous magic circles that Arkeman had set up.¡± ¡°D-dragon?!¡± A surprised voice came among the knights. It was Hunt, but no one including Sir Cornwell, reprimanded him. Because everyone was equally surprised. ¡°But Jude-orabeoni. Is there any other way? Otherwise, orabeoni and unnie wouldn¡¯t havee here.¡± When Princess Darianne asked with her sparkling eyes as if she found it interesting, the knights including Sir Cornwell were also interested. Because what she said was true. If there was no secret to dealing with the chimera which isparable to a dragon, it would have been useless toe here. Princess Darianne stared at Jude with a smile that seemed to goad him a bit, and Jude nodded his head. ¡°Yes, wise princess. It is as the princess said. There is a secret to dealing with the chimera.¡± ¡°What is it? Please tell us.¡± Princess Darianne urged him to talk, and Jude immediately came up with the answer instead of dragging it on. ¡°Arkeman¡¯s chimeraes out of the dungeon twice a month to absorb the power of the sun. It¡¯s not for a long time, but the dungeon will clearly be empty at that time.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll aim for that gap then?¡± ¡°Yes, but the problem is that the gap is not very long. So when the chimeraes out of the dungeon, that is, at a ce where it can no longer receive the dungeon¡¯s support, someone has to defeat it or draw its attention.¡± At Jude¡¯s exnation, Princess Darianne pped her hands in admiration, but Sir Cornwell¡¯s expression did not brighten. Because it was primarily a synthetic beast, the strength of a chimera varied per individual, but all chimeras possessed a minimum level of strength. Moreover, its basic form was likely to be quite strong, as it was said to be a chimera that became like a dragon when it received the magical support of the dungeon. And Jude was pleased with Sir Cornwell¡¯s response. Because it was the response he had expected. ¡®Bingo.¡¯ We¡¯re almost done now. Jude held Cordelia¡¯s hand and said with a serious face. ¡°Princess Darianne, Cordelia and I will buy time for you.¡± ¡°Orabeoni and unnie?¡± As worry and fear spread over Darianne¡¯s face, Cordelia quickly smiled and said. ¡°It¡¯s alright, Princess. We have prepared ourselves to fight the chimera in the first ce. Also, if the Princess and her knights can help us¡­ we just have to buy time and not defeat it.¡± It was said that experience was the best teacher. Having witnessed Jude¡¯s numerous scams because she was always with him, Cordelia said exactly what was needed even though no one instructed her on what to do. ¡°But¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright. It¡¯s a bit embarrassing to say it, but we¡¯re pretty strong, you see.¡± Cordelia said with a big smile, but Princess Darianne¡¯s face remained gloomy. Because Jude and Cordelia didn¡¯t honestly look to be that strong. ¡®Although I think Jude-orabeoni is a little strong.¡¯ She thought that he was quite tall and that his body was firm. But Cordelia¡¯s body looked thin and delicate, so she thought that Cordelia wasn¡¯t that strong. But it was at that moment. ¡°It will be fine.¡± ¡°Sir Cornwell?¡± ¡°The Bayer and Chase families are among the 12 northern families who are particrly powerful. If that is true¡­they must be verypetent then.¡± ¡°Is that true?¡± ¡°Yes, and Lady Cordelia is a wizard. Wizards are people whose strength cannot be assessed by their appearance alone.¡± ¡°Ah¡­that¡¯s right. It is as Sir Cornwell said.¡± Princess Darianne answered with a nod, as something came into her mind at Sir Cornwell¡¯s words. Sir Cornwell smiled and continued. ¡°Moreover, Adelia Chase, Cordelia¡¯s real sister, is one of the sevenmanders of the Royal Guard Magic Corps. She is also young and beautiful, but she is one of the best in the Royal Guard Magic Corps.¡± So let¡¯s trust them. Let¡¯s leave the chimera to Jude and Cordelia. At the unexpectedly high evaluation, Cordelia looked at Sir Cornwell with amazement, but Jude bitterly smiled. The reason Sir Cornwell was doing that was obvious. ¡®Because they don¡¯t want to fight the chimera.¡¯ Unlike the other knights who were captivated by Cordelia¡¯s beauty, Sir Cornwell might have liked her beauty, but it wasn¡¯t to the point that it clouded his judgment. Therefore, he was able to calmly choose the best option for himself, the knights, and for Princess Darianne. ¡®They¡¯ll pass the chimera to the two of us and enter the dungeon that has be empty.¡¯ This was the best way to preserve the power of the knights and secure the safety of Princess Darianne. Jude was not particrly resentful of Sir Cornwell. He was rather impressed by Sir Cornwell¡¯s rationality and capability. ¡°The chimera wille out of the dungeon within two days from now. So for the rest of the time, I¡¯d like us to exchange information with each other.¡± Sir Cornwell gently nodded his head at Jude¡¯s words, and Princess Darianne stared at Cordelia with a worried look, but did not say anything. ¡°Then let¡¯s talk about it in detail.¡± Their light chat quickly became a meeting, and Jude who was suspected earlier had now be the leader of the meeting. It was something that naturally happened. After he received Cordelia¡¯s admiring gaze, Jude opened his mouth again and began to talk. *** That night. Jude came back to his room after dinner as he stretched his body and walked towards the bed. But Cordelia stood by the door, looked at his back, and spoke to him. ¡°Hey.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You¡¯re doing this on purpose, right?¡± ¡°What?¡± As Jude made an innocent look and pretended to not know, Cordelia growled as she frowned. ¡°I¡¯m angry, okay? I mean, I won¡¯t be cleaning your ears anymore, okay?¡± Jude flinched at her cute threat, but he said with a sly smile. ¡°No, rather than on purpose¡­what I said is true though? Cordelia is the best in the north¡­no, it¡¯s true that you¡¯re the most beautiful girl in the S?len Kingdom, right? It¡¯s true that you¡¯re like an angel because you¡¯re a real angel. Yes, yes, it¡¯s true.¡± A shameless smile and shameless remarks. Cordelia blushed like always in response to Jude¡¯s usual answer, but she was not as helpless like the time when they were on the ground floor. There were only the two of them here now. ¡°Hey! Then you¡¯re the most handsome boy in the S?len Kingdom¡­no, you¡¯re a young man now! Th-that¡­ you¡¯re more beautiful than flowers!¡± You should be embarrassed too! Cordelia smiled with her canines glistening as she happily counterattacked, but Jude only found it funny. ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I mean, I am a young man. Kyaa~ Just as I thought, being handsome is the best. It¡¯s thrilling. It¡¯s always fresh. I love it so much.¡± Cordelia was momentarily shocked by his shameless words that her face stopped turning red, but she soon grinded her teeth, ran to Jude, and began hitting his back. ¡°Hey! Hey! What are you doing!¡± ¡°I hate you! I really hate you!¡± ¡°Princess?¡± ¡°I won¡¯t give you ap pillow again, okay?¡± ¡°I will behave. You can hit me.¡± When Jude showed his back while looking at her in reverence, Cordelia sighed and sat down on the bed. Because she was somewhat depressed. ¡°Hey.¡± ¡°Yes, Madam.¡± ¡°I have a question.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± Jude asked as he sat down next to Cordelia, and she fiddled her hair with her fingers before speaking. ¡°The reason that you said that our goal was the medicinal herb¡­is there more to that?¡± The Seven-Colored Herb was not what the two were aiming for, but one of the 7 treasures hidden in Arkeman¡¯s Dungeon. But Jude told Princess Darianne that their goal was the Seven-Colored Herb. ¡°At first, I thought that you were afraid of the treasure being stolen by the princess¡¯ group, is that right? But there seems to be another reason besides that.¡± Another reason. She didn¡¯t have any specific basis for it. But she felt that to be the case, and Cordelia trusted her senses. ¡°Cordelia.¡± A genius who arrived at the result without going through the process. Jude admired it before he smiled and beckoned to Cordelia. It was a signal for her toe closer so that he could whisper to her. ¡°You¡¯re always whispering.¡± There was no one else in the room who would listen to them anyway. But Cordelia gently brought her face closer to Jude, and he whispered in a small voice into Cordelia¡¯s ear. Another reason why Jude said that their goal was the Seven-Colored Herb. ¡°Wow, you¡¯re a real scammer.¡± ¡°But you like it, right?¡± ¡°Yes, Daddy. I like it so much.¡± After all, he is my Jude. Satisfied with Cordelia¡¯s bright smile, Jude boastfully shrugged and Cordelia smiled again. And two dayster. Jude, Cordelia, Princess Darianne, and herpanions began their hike. Chapter 144 - CHIMERA (2)

Chapter 144 - CHIMERA (2)

Mount Plex, where Arkeman¡¯s Dungeon was located, consisted of nine peaks. The five peaks close to the vige had manyrge and small mining tunnels. However, all but one were abandoned now. ¡°It was said that there was a lot of silver here in the past.¡± Princess Darianne energetically spoke like a child announcing that they had had done their homework at home, and everyone, including Jude, listened to her story. ¡°There are several mines in the estate of Duke Spencer, which are mostly iron and copper mines. I heard that silver and gold mines are very rare.¡± It was almost as if Princess Darianne was born and raised in the Spencer Duchy. So it was natural that her story always ended about the Spencer Duchy. ¡°We¡¯re almost there.¡± At the crossroads between the seventh peak, which was the highest peak, and the eight peak, which was thergest peak. The hole where the chimera regrly appeared from was on the seventh peak, and the entrance to Arkeman¡¯s Dungeon was on the eight peak. ¡°Ah.¡± Princess Darianne who had been chattering like a baby bird with a cheerful voice until now, had a gloomy expression for a moment. But it was only for a while. Princess Darianne¡¯s face became spirited again, and she said to Jude and Cordelia. ¡°I wish you two the best of luck. Orabeoni and unnie.¡± ¡°Thank you. May fortune be with you as well, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t overdo it, okay?¡± At Cordelia¡¯s request after Jude¡¯s greeting, Princess Darianne vigorously nodded her head this time. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine since I have Sir Cornwell. There are other knights too. Duke Spencer¡¯s knights are very strong.¡± Princess Darianne thumped on her chest and looked at the knights in confirmation, and all of the knights responded to the princess¡¯ smile with a smile too. ¡°Jude Bayer and Cordelia Chase.¡± Sir Cornwell who had been by Princess Darianne¡¯s side then approached Jude and Cordelia. It was to go through their operation for thest time before they left. ¡°You¡¯ll send a signal when the chimera appears, and our side will begin exploring at that time.¡± ¡°Yes, please enter as soon as the scroll shines.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Sir Cornwell looked at the scroll before he nodded his head and spoke again. ¡°If the chimera escapes or you fail to defeat it, please don¡¯t forget to send a signal again.¡± ¡°Yes, I will keep that in mind.¡± When Jude unreservedly spoke again, Sir Cornwell closed his mouth once and then said in a slightly soft voice. ¡°You¡¯re still young. I hope you don¡¯t overdo it with your desire to make a contribution. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Yes, Sir Cornwell. Thank you for your concern.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± After Cordelia gently responded, Sir Cornwell cleared his throat while Jude had a small smile as he suddenly remembered Count Chase. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s get going. I wish you good luck.¡± ¡°I wish you all the best of luck too.¡± Jude and Cordelia waved their hands to the knights and Princess Darian before they headed straight for the seventh peak. They had already investigated the ce yesterday, so the two did not hesitate or stop walking. ¡°By the way.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°I said this yesterday, but¡­is it alright if Princess Darianne followed them?¡± ¡°Well¡­Sir Cornwell decided that it was fine, so I¡¯m sure it would be fine. Besides, Princess Darianne isn¡¯t just some powerless girl, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± Those who inherited the blood of King S?len, his direct line descendants, weren¡¯t ordinary humans. A strong divine power inherited from their ancestors flowed in their blood, so it wasmon for royal children to awaken some supernatural powers before they became adults, whether it was early orte. ¡®It¡¯s also the reason why the royal family was exterminated.¡¯ Sacred blood flowed in the veins of the S?len royal family. The extermination of the royal family was not just to destroy the S?len Kingdom but to cut off that sacred blood. ¡®I mean, this is the event that will soon happen.¡¯ But it had yet to happen here. ¡®I won¡¯t let it happen.¡¯ Jude resolved to himself and then said to Cordelia who was energetically walking ahead of him. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes, mister.¡± ¡°Do you want a piggyback?¡± ¡°Gosh, are you alright?¡± After all, they were almost there. The seventh peak where the chimera would appear. ¡°I thought that it was cool yesterday, but it really is cool.¡± ¡°I think that he made it on purpose for the chimera.¡± ¡°Maybe it¡¯s like that?¡± There was a huge rock at the top of the peak, and it looked like a throne that was prepared for the chimera. And a big hole underneath it. The hole was nearly 10 meters in diameter and was steep enough to be almost vertical, but it was obvious to them that Arkeman made this hole on purpose, though they were not sure about the rock at the top. ¡°Well, let¡¯s do our part today.¡± ¡°By the way, mister. How much time do we have left?¡± ¡°Uh¡­about 40 minutes?¡± Jude had taken into ount the time it would take for Princess Darianne and her group to arrive at the eight peak when he nned their schedule. 40 minutes from now. Cordelia suddenly smiled at Jude¡¯s words and said in a quiet voice. ¡°Shall we have lunch then?¡± ¡°Already?¡± ¡°We have to be strong before we fight. And I wanted to eat it. Since this morning. We also cooked it together this time.¡± ¡°Hey, Princess. Today¡¯s lunch is packed sandwiches, right?¡± ¡°Yes, yes, a delicious ham and egg sandwich.¡± ¡°Since when is putting ham and eggs between bread considered cooking?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not? No. Why are you discouraging this Cordelia? I mean, I did my best.¡± Cordelia pouted her lips as sheined, and Jude eventually nodded. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s eat.¡± ¡°Hmph, it must be delicious. I put my heart into it.¡± ¡°You put your heart in putting it together.¡± ¡°Hey, why do you keep doing that? Don¡¯t you know that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step?¡± ¡°Well, the willingness to learn is also important.¡± Jude smiled and put down the basket after having prepared a ce to sit, and Cordelia hummed as she took out the sandwiches and orange juice from the basket. ¡°It seems like we came here for a pic. The view is also nice.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± They were in the highest peak after all. ¡°Here, it¡¯s the best that I made.¡± As if she was being generous, Cordelia handed him a sandwich that was precisely cut in the shape of a right triangle, and Jude received it andughed at that moment. Because he remembered the sandwich that Cordelia tried to cut into the shape of a star but ended up being ruined. ¡°Why are youughing?¡± ¡°I just like it.¡± ¡°Do you have a fever? Have you gone mad?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not.¡± Jude grinned and bit into the sandwich he received, and Cordelia also took a bite of her sandwich. ¡°Mmm.¡± Perhaps it was because of the surrounding scenery, or because he really felt like they were on a pic, or because Cordelia put her heart into it like she imed. Jude smiled at the sandwich that tasted more delicious than usual, and Cordelia smiled in relief from seeing Jude¡¯s reaction. *** Around 30 minutester, at the deepest part of Arkeman¡¯s Dungeon. The chimera opened its eyes at the same time as usual, and lit a big torch with its wing before it flew straight up to the ground. Arkeman¡¯s chimera had a typical appearance. It had three heads consisting of a lion, griffin, and a drake. It had a bear¡¯s body, eagle wings, and a highly venomous snake as its tail. But one peculiarity was the fact that Arkeman¡¯s chimera was a magic tool and not a creature. Although the materials he used were real beasts likemon chimeras, its operating principle was more like an undead monster such as zombies and skeletons. Arkeman created this chimera not because he specialized in the creation of magic tools and not biology, but because it was better for a machine rather than a living creature to guard the dungeon for a long time and to do exactly what it was ordered. And one more thought of Arkeman was added to this. ¡®Isn¡¯t it inhumane for a living creature to be stuck in a dungeon forever and act as a gatekeeper?¡¯ Like an entric archwizard, Arkeman¡¯s humanity sometimes revealed itself in strange ces. In any case, the chimera was created as a magic tool by Arkeman, and like a machine, it went out of the dungeon to absorb the sun¡¯s heat at a fixed time without a single error for over a hundred years. A familiar road that it had passed hundreds of times. The chimera¡¯s eyes began to shine after it passed through the short distance space leap magic circle in the middle. Above its head. A ce where the bright sun shined unlike the always dark dungeon. ¡°Kuoo.¡± The chimera widely pped its wings and headed for the exit above its head. In order to get out of the dungeon, feel the wind, and face the sun again! ¡°Kuoooo!¡± It was the moment when the chimera roared and left the exit. Baaaang! A tremendous impact struck the chimera with a roaring sound. At thepletely unexpected tremendous impact, the chimera was unable to recover from its senses even after it was thrown into the rock while rolling on the ground. So what had happened? What on earth had happened? ¡°Bingo.¡± 15 minutes before the chimera came out of the exit. Jude stood in front of the exit as he clenched his fist and began to gather his energy. Power of the Sun?was one of the skills of the Supreme Sun Divine Art that he inherited from Landius. ¡®The longer you gather your energy, the stronger will your power be.¡¯ It was a really simple, but a very powerful skill. A ck me-like aura rose from the entire body of Jude who had closed his eyes and gathered his energy into his right hand. It was the energy of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors that merged with the Supreme Sun Divine Art. ¡®ck Sun.¡¯ It was Jude¡¯s Supreme Sun Divine Art. The Power of the Sun was newly defined by the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. ¡°You look like a viin.¡± Jude flinched at Cordelia¡¯s criticism, but he stayed calm and maintained his concentration. He naturally recalled the teachings of Landius. ¡°Disciple, Power of the Sun is a skill that is difficult to use in practice. It¡¯s a kind of practice skill to learn how to control the immense energy of the Supreme Sun Divine Art.¡± The reason was simple. Because it took too long to gather energy. It was absolutely impossible to gather it for a few minutes without moving while in the middle of an actual battle where just one moment could decide their life. ¡®However.¡¯ It was different now. He knew when and where the chimera woulde out. ¡¯15 minutes.¡¯ At Jude¡¯s current level, it was the time he needed to use the Power of the Sun. For this reason, Jude stood in front of the exit 14 minutes and 30 seconds before the set time as he took into ount some slight errors. ¡®Of course, there¡¯s no electronic watch here so all of this is just my feeling.¡¯ And around 15 minutester. The chimera went out at the set time like a magic tool, and Jude unhesitatingly stretched out his fists. He used the ck Dragon Cross with the energy of the Power of the Sun strengthening it. The strongest punch he could do! Baaaang-! The energy of the ck dragoning out of Jude¡¯s fist struck the chimera¡¯s abdomen. The giant body of the chimera that was soaring into the sky was struck from a distance that was nearly zero, and its body bent into a right angle before it copsed to the ground. Boooom-! The chimera¡¯s gigantic figure hit the ground. After being thrown nearly 10 meters, it collided with the pile of rocks that formed the top of the seventh peak, and the entire peak was shaken by the tremendous impact. ¡°Wow.¡± Cordelia let out a small voice of admiration before she giggled as she passed by Jude and quickly approached the chimera. She then wrapped her detonating cord on the neck and wings of the unconscious monster. ¡°Good.¡± Next was the scrolls. Cordelia took out threerge leather bags from her waist and then connected them with the detonating cord. These bags contained dozens of scrolls that Jude had madest night. ¡®It would be perfect next time.¡¯ She then pushed the bags one by one into the chimera¡¯s mouth. Even though it was much bigger than Cordelia¡¯s fist, the bags were smaller than the chimera¡¯s throat, so they fit in well. ¡°Okay! I¡¯m ready!¡± At Cordelia¡¯s cry, Jude immediately raise his hands to cover his ears, and Cordelia who was far away from the chimera had then flicked her fingers and set the bags on fire. And the scene that followed. A loud explosion that shook not only the seventh peak, but also the entire Mount Plex! Boobooboobooboom! The dozens of scrolls inside the leather bags exploded at once. In other words, it destroyed the chimera from the inside. Moreover, the detonating cord wrapped around its wings and neck also yed a significant role. It dealt a huge blow not only in the chimera¡¯s insides but also to its outside body. And a few seconds passed. Cordelia coughed amidst the huge amount of dust, and she looked straight after pushing the dust away by fanning her hand, and soon had a satisfied smile. ¡°Problem solved.¡± And a ring of white light rose around them. Cordelia had dealt thest hit, but perhaps because of the level difference, rings of light emerged one by one for both Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Wepletely did it without that much effort.¡± Because they couldn¡¯t help it. They knew when and where it would appear, but they couldn¡¯t take it head on. ¡°Jude! Are you okay?¡± ¡°Cough, cough.?Kak. It¡¯s just,?cough, some dirt.¡± Since Jude had run out of energy, he couldn¡¯t do anything but sit quietly in the dust. As he answered with a face that looked like he was about to die or in pain, Cordelia clicked her tongue before she pulled him up and used magic to brush the dust away. ¡°Anyway, it¡¯s over. All we have to do is wait now, right?¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s wait for Princess Darianne and her group to get the Seven-Colored Herb.¡± They defeated it easily, but they didn¡¯t have to reveal to the others that they easily defeated it. The one that was barely knocked down looked to be well even after a fierce battle. ¡°Ahem, ahem. You look like a viin too, right?¡± Cordelia smiled instead of contradicting what he said. She sat down on Jude¡¯s side before she turned to the hole and said. ¡°But Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Princess.¡± ¡°Will it go as nned?¡± ¡°Maybe?¡± Jude¡¯s idea. Around three hourster then, when Princess Darianne and her group returned. Jude¡¯s words became reality. Chapter 145 - EPISODE 145 – ARKEMAN’S TREASURE (1)

Chapter 145 - EPISODE 145 ¨C ARKEMAN¡¯S TREASURE (1)

Terms used in this chapter: PvP?¨C short for yer versus yer. A gaming term where two yers/teams fight against each other. At the crossroads between the seventh and eight peaks. Jude sat next to Cordelia and was looking towards the eight peak when he suddenly spoke. ¡°They¡¯reing.¡± He didn¡¯t see them with his eyes. He had felt and confirmed it through sound. Ever since he had opened the fifth door, his five senses and also his ability to sense the presence of people had remarkably improved, so he could sense anyone approaching from tens of meters away in such an unfrequented ce. ¡®Of course, it¡¯s because I know in advance which direction they¡¯ll being from, and that we¡¯re waiting for them.¡¯ Moreover, he had scattered some branches on the road where Princess Darianne and her group woulde from in order to hear the sounds more clearly. So he would hear a sound if they stepped on it. ¡®Anyway.¡¯ Princess Darianne and her group wereing. At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia pricked her ears and then said in a slightly nervous voice. ¡°Isn¡¯t this weird?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not weird. It¡¯spletely natural.¡± ¡°Ummm¡­¡± She asked if it was weird, but he replied that it wasn¡¯t really weird, so Cordelia thought it was strange. Because they were pretending to be injured. ¡°Do we have to go this far?¡± ¡°We have to. And as I said before, it¡¯s not just to appeal to everyone that we fought in a fierce battle.¡± ¡°I know, you want to lie about our real power, right?¡± ¡°Yes, not because of Princess Darianne and her group¡­but because of the enemies waiting for us in the royal capital.¡± The more the enemies misjudge the power of Jude and Cordelia, the more favorable the fight on the royal capital would be for the two. ¡°Whether we like it or not, our history will be known to some extent through Princess Darianne¡¯s group. It will be difficult if it is known that we are skilled enough to defeat a giant chimera without any injuries.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­I see.¡± In PvP, it would be disadvantageous for one side if things like the number of items and treasures they have were known. There was also the need to leak false information so that the enemies would misjudge the power of Jude and Cordelia. ¡°I¡¯m just nervous because I can¡¯t see.¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright. I¡¯m next to you, okay?¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m nervous.¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyes were now covered with a bandage. Their story was that she had temporarily lost her eyesight because of excessive magic usage, but regardless, she felt ufortable and nervous because she couldn¡¯t see what was in front of her. ¡®If we do this, I won¡¯t be able to know the reaction of Princess Darianne¡¯s group.¡¯ But Jude seemed to be thinking something different, as he tightly held Cordelia¡¯s hand and said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll hold your hands like this so that you won¡¯t fall or bump into anything.¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s not it¡­¡± ¡°Here theye. Shh!¡± ¡°Mmph!¡± Cordelia immediately closed her mouth and pretended to be injured, and Jude looked ahead while feigning to be exhausted. After a few seconds. ¡°Jude-orabeoni? Cordelia-unnie!¡± Princess Darianne finally appeared and made a startled voice before running towards them. ¡°Your Highness. You came¡­¡± Jude stood up from his seat and then groaned as he frowned, and Princess Darianne became even more surprised and asked. ¡°Does it hurt so much? W-what¡¯s wrong with unnie¡¯s eyes?!¡± Jude had bloodied bandages wrapped around his arms, legs, and so on while Cordelia¡¯s eyes were covered so she couldn¡¯t even see anything. Jude felt a bit guilty about Princess Darianne¡¯s reaction, as her eyes quickly reddened as if she was going to cry at any moment, but he couldn¡¯t say that they were just acting. ¡®Let¡¯s finish to the end what we¡¯ve already started.¡¯ Jude pushed away his thoughts and said as he skillfully acted. ¡°Please don¡¯t worry too much about our injuries. We¡¯ve already treated it.¡± ¡°B-but¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright, Your Highness. Please don¡¯t worry too much.¡± Although Cordelia spoke in a kind voice after Jude, Princess Darianne¡¯s eyes became even more teary. Because she was heartbroken to see Cordelia fumbling in the air as if she was looking for the princess. ¡°U-unnie¡­your eyes¡­¡± ¡°Ah, it¡¯s okay. It¡¯s a temporary condition. I used too much magic¡­and I was slightly, really slightly, hit by the chimera¡¯s poison. Cordelia ended her words with a smile, but Princess Darianne became gloomier at Cordelia¡¯s appearance. Cordelia had a harrowing and beautiful appearance when she said that she was okay out of her worry for Princess Darianne, even though she had been blinded by poison. ¡°Unnie¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright, Your Highness. Is Her Highness alright?¡± At Cordelia¡¯s question, Princess Darianne strongly nodded but soon said aloud. ¡°Yes, I wasn¡¯t hurt at all.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a relief. The knights¡­¡± As Cordelia¡¯s words trailed off, Princess Darianne quickly turned around and Sir Cornwell and his knights approached the three just in time. ¡°There are some with minor injuries, but no one is seriously injured. It¡¯s all thanks to the information you gave us.¡± ¡°Haa¡­that¡¯s a relief.¡± She thought that it was worth it conveying various information about the dungeon to the princess¡¯ group by saying that they had heard it from the Fairy Queen. When Cordelia touched her chest as she sighed in relief, the knights were moved. ¡®Angel.¡¯ ¡®She¡¯s a saint, a saint.¡¯ She was sincerely worried about others even though she had suffered from an injury that caused her to lose her sight, even if it was temporary. Not only did she have a beautiful face, but she also had a heart of gold. In any case, at the time when everyone was focused on Cordelia¡­ Jude somehow felt lonely, so he spoke while very naturally acting like a wounded person. ¡°By the way¡­how did it go?¡± Did you find the Seven-Colored Herb? The expressions of Sir Cornwell and the knights hardened at Jude¡¯s question, and Princess Darianne was on the verge of tears again. It was as he expected. ¡®Just as I thought.¡¯ Sir Cornwell¡¯s voice was then heard. ¡°We found the Seven-Colored Herb. But¡­there was only one that had grown enough to be useful¡­ The rest were still young sprouts.¡± ¡°Then¡­¡± ¡°We could only dig one root.¡± Sir Cornwell dejectedly answered with mixed feelings as he looked at Jude, and the knights turned their gazes away from Jude. They had decided to split the Seven-Colored Herbs that they would acquire, but they only got one root. They couldn¡¯t just divide one root into two. ¡°Jude Bayer.¡± Sir Cornwell closed his eyes for a while before he opened them and tried to continue his words, but Princess Darianne tugged at his arm at that moment. She shook her head and said. ¡°No, Sir Cornwell. This¡­I have to be the one to say it.¡± ¡°Your Highness¡­¡± Princess Darianne¡¯s eyes were red as if she would shed tears at any moment, but she had a determined expression. As a member of the royal family and as a representative of the group, she must be the one to speak. Sir Cornwell felt sorry and happy at the same time at her straightforward behavior even though she was still young. ¡°I understand.¡± Sir Cornwell took a step back, and Princess Darianne gulped and met eyes with Jude. ¡°Orabeoni.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Highness.¡± ¡°As Sir Cornwell said, we could only get one root of the Seven-Colored Herb. So¡­ So¡­¡± The words that should have followed. The words conveying that she couldn¡¯t give the Seven-Colored Herb to Jude and Cordelia. But those words wouldn¡¯te out of her mouth. Princess Darianne eventually began to seriously cry, and Cordelia was flustered at her crying. ¡°Princess?¡± Princess Darianne finally shed her tears upon seeing Cordelia groping in the air again. And among the knights, those who were softhearted like Hunt were almost in tears too. Then Jude knelt down on one knee. ¡°It¡¯s okay, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Jude-orabeoni?¡± ¡°It cannot be helped if there¡¯s only one root. It¡¯s not Your Highness¡¯ fault. So please don¡¯t look so sorry. Take it with you. It¡¯s really okay for me and Cordelia.¡± When Jude kindly spoke, Princess Darianne bit her lips and Sir Cornwell shut his mouth. Sir Cornwell had acted quite unfriendly with Jude until now, but that didn¡¯t mean he really disliked Jude. He only maintained the minimum vignce he should have as an escort. ¡®Jude Bayer¡­¡¯ But it seemed that he couldn¡¯t act unfriendly anymore. Sir Cornwell thought that he himself couldn¡¯t say something like ¡®he was okay¡¯ with such a selfless face. Could he say to them to take the Seven-Colored Herb and smile while saying he was okay with it? ¡°B-but orabeoni and unnie are¡­badly hurt¡­¡± Princess Darianne looked at the bandages wrapped around Jude¡¯s arms and legs, and raised her head to look at Cordelia. She ended up crying again at the appearance of Cordelia¡¯s awkward and sad smile and the bandage that covered both her eyes. ¡°You two, you two¡­the Seven-Colored Herb¡­¡± ¡°Your Highness, it¡¯s okay. It¡¯s really okay.¡± Cordelia quickly lowered her posture and hesitated for a while before she carefully opened her arms, and Princess Darianne hugged Cordelia. ¡°Unniiiie.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. I¡¯m not that hurt.¡± Having said so far, Cordelia faced Princess Darianne again, and Jude opened his mouth. ¡°Your Highness, are you nning on giving the Seven-Colored Herb to Duke Spencer?¡± ¡°Sob¡­ Yes, orabeoni.¡± When Princess Darianne responded while in Cordelia¡¯s arms, Jude continued. ¡°Yes, so all the more does Your Highness should take the Seven-Colored Herb. Because Duke Spencer is like a strong pir that supports the royal family¡­and the S?len Kingdom. Furthermore¡­¡± Jude¡¯s words slightly softened at the end, and he looked away as if thinking of someone. He then said as he looked at Princess Darianne again. ¡°Because Duke Spencer is Your Highness¡¯ family. I also have people whom I really care about and love in my hometown. People who I care about like my life. Duke Spencer is such a person to Your Highness, right?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°So please take it. Please protect your family.¡± Jude warmheartedly smiled, and Princess Darianne was about to cry again. Sir Cornwell and the other knights looked at Jude with deeply moved faces. ¡®He¡¯s the example of a knight.¡¯ ¡®As I thought, he is the child of Count Bayer, the Sword General¡­¡¯ He was loyal to the royal family and thought of the country. Moreover, he was worried about the feelings of Princess Darianne. ¡°I-is orabeoni really okay with it? The one who needs to be treated with the Seven-Colored Herb is¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s me.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°It¡¯s me. My illness is not yetpletely cured¡­ I was thinking of getting the Seven-Colored Herb to help me. But it can¡¯t be helped. I¡¯ll put if off for the next opportunity.¡± ¡°W-wait. You aren¡¯t healed yet?¡± ¡°Ah, I mean¡­I just feel some difort at times. But it¡¯s usually fine. I still look very healthy now, right?¡± Jude smiled and appealed that he was healthy by pulling off his sleeve to show off his muscles, but in the eyes of Princess Darianne, Sir Cornwell, and the knights, his muscles weren¡¯t visible. They could only see an ideal knight who deferred to the royal family and the princess even though he was ill. ¡®Ah, how could there be someone like him?¡¯ He took on the most dangerous mission of luring the chimera and also provided the most information about the dungeon. But despite that, he generously gave up on the Seven-Colored Herb. ¡®I have to admit it.¡¯ ¡®He deserves to be with the angel.¡¯ ¡®They¡¯re good people.¡¯ The knights looked at Jude with the same thoughts, and Sir Cornwell made up his mind and nodded before speaking. ¡°Jude Bayer. I¡¯ll make sure to tell Duke Spencer about your loyalty.¡± ¡°Eh? No, you don¡¯t have to¡­¡± Sir Cornwell firmly shook his head when Jude said so with a surprised face. Princess Darianne also clenched her fist and spoke. ¡°No, we have to tell him. I¡¯ll also tell Daphne-unnie and Dion-orabeoni about you two. And¡­please ept this.¡± What Princess Darianne took out of her arms was a small seal made of jade. ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°Yes, this is my seal. A token of my pledge to help the owner of the seal no matter what.¡± Princess Darianne had actually questioned the need of it ever being used, but she still carried it ording to royal tradition. But now, she thought that it was fortunate that she had it. Because she really wanted to express her gratitude to them. But instead of happily receiving the seal, Jude shook his head. ¡°No, it¡¯s fine.¡± ¡°Orabeoni?¡± Jude looked at Cordelia instead of answering right away, and Cordelia groped the air to find the small hand of Darianne before she slightly pushed it away. ¡°It¡¯s okay, Your Highness. We did not hope for something like this. We don¡¯t want to pressure Your Highness too much.¡± ¡°But¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s really okay. And there¡¯s something that I want instead of the seal.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± At her unexpected words, Princess Darianne widely opened her eyes, and Sir Cornwell frowned for a moment. Is she now revealing her greed? It¡¯s not even anyone else but she herself? Of course, what they did was worthy enough to ask for something¡­ But still. Cordelia had yet to finish talking. ¡°Your Highness, do you know the story of Marie?¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­are you talking about the fairy tale?¡± ¡°Yes, Marie and Annie exchanged coins with each other as a token of their friendship.¡± ¡°Ah!¡± Princess Darianne broadly smiled, and the faces of Sir Cornwell and his knights brightened up again. ¡°I think that¡¯s enough. Umm¡­is asking for that too rude?¡± ¡°No, rather, I¡¯d like to do that too. Do you think of me as a friend?¡± ¡°If you allow it.¡± As Cordelia gently smiled, Princess Darianne unconsciously blushed. Because Cordelia really looked like an angel. And Sir Cornwell was in admiration again. ¡®Ah¡­they¡¯re ideal nobles.¡¯ Howe both of them have such noble and beautiful hearts? ¡®They¡¯re really a fantasy couple.¡¯ ¡®They look so good together.¡¯ ¡®I have no choice but to admit it.¡¯ ¡®Lady Cordelia is a real angel.¡¯ Warm expressions spread on the faces of the knights, and Princess Darianne wiped away her tears and shyly smiled as she hugged Cordelia. ¡°I¡¯ll give you the prettiest coin I have when we arrive at the inn.¡± ¡°Me too, Princess.¡± It was a beautiful scene like a scene straight out of a story. A satisfied smile appeared on Jude¡¯s face. *** ¡°Hohoho, hohohoho.¡± As soon as they entered the inn, or to be exact, their room on the second floor, Jude dramaticallyughed, and Cordelia who was holding Jude¡¯s hand because he was escorting her, pulled her hand away and clicked her tongue. ¡°My goodness, my scammer. Why are you so good?¡± ¡°Hey, what do you mean by scammer? Everything was real.¡± Did theye forward to y the role of the bait who was the most in danger? Yes, they really dide forward. Though they very easily defeated the chimera. Did they need the Seven-Colored Herb but gave it up? That was also true. Because it was true that the Seven-Colored Herb was a mysterious herb that contained life energy. Whether he ate it right away or carried it around in case of an emergency, he did give up on what could have been helpful to him, so it was true that he conceded. ¡°All ording to n.¡± There was no need for them to worry about on how to get acquainted with Princess Daphne and Prince Dion now. Furthermore, Duke Spencer, an influential member of the royal family, wouldn¡¯t treat them unkindly. ¡°More than anything, we might meet the First Sword.¡± The Sword Saint of Light, Rhun Froud. He was said to be the strongest among the Ten Swordmasters and held the title of the First Sword. ¡°He¡¯s close to Duke Spencer, right?¡± ¡°He¡¯s almost like an adopted son.¡± Currently, the father of First Sword was the leader of the Knights of the Red Rose, the knights who served Duke Spencer. First Sword also served as a member of the Knights of the Red Rose in his youth. ¡°Good, good. With this momentum, we¡¯ll be able to save everyone in the royal capital!¡± They would save the royal family by destroying the Devil¡¯s Hand and the conspiracies of the Minister of Defense. Cordelia spontaneouslyughed when Jude spoke as he clenched his fist. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just funny.¡± A scammer who does his best in scamming in order to save everyone. ¡®As expected of my Jude.¡¯ After taking off the bandage on her eyes, Cordelia smiled again as she looked at the coin she was tightly holding in her hand. It was the prettiest silver coin that Princess Darianne chose and gave. ¡°So nice.¡± ¡°Who? My princess?¡± ¡°I mean, Princess Darianne.¡± She was genuinely apologetic that she even cried. At Cordelia¡¯s words, Jude nodded too. Although Jude was aware of Princess Darianne¡¯s character through the game, he couldn¡¯t help but be surprised when Princess Darianne shed tears. ¡®Because she¡¯s not like royalty.¡¯ People who took the sacrifice and concession of others for granted. In the first ce, there were people like that because they were trash, but the situation was a bit different for the royalty. ¡®Because they¡¯re literally royalty.¡¯ They had received the sacrifices and concessions of others since they were born as if it was as natural as breathing, so it was also natural for them to be numb to it. Like how people usually didn¡¯t understand the preciousness of air or water. ¡°Perhaps she¡¯s the reincarnation of the Second Queen. When she was young, she was actually raised by the duke rather than the royal family.¡± ¡°But isn¡¯t the duke technically royalty?¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. He has the natural personality of an angel. Just like my princess.¡± ¡°Stop saying nonsense again and again and again.¡± Judeughed when Cordelia growled, and he sat down on the bed and said. ¡°Anyway, you did well. Princess Darianne was also happy to be friends with my princess.¡± ¡°Is it okay?¡± ¡°What is?¡± ¡°We didn¡¯t get the seal.¡± In fact, it was Cordelia¡¯s ad-lib when she said to exchange friendship tokens instead of getting the seal. Because she truly didn¡¯t want to put a heavy burden on Princess Darianne. ¡°Why, are you worried about it now?¡± ¡°Yes¡­a little?¡± She had arbitrarily done something without consulting him. Doing things without consultation was certainly Jude¡¯s specialty, so she really didn¡¯t need to feel sorry about it, but the situation was different. In a way, Cordelia had thrown out something that they could have greatly used. ¡°It¡¯s okay. I was the first to refuse it.¡± ¡°What, you truly refused it? You didn¡¯t reject it for some reason?¡± ¡°Hey, how exactly do you see me as? Do you think I¡¯m the kind of person who¡¯ll take the seal from Princess Darianne?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± When Cordelia answered straight away without even hesitating, Jude looked hurt and Cordelia giggled. ¡°Well, if I have to say the truth, my Jude is a scammer but not a viin.¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m not even a scammer in the first ce.¡± ¡°Yes, Daddy. If you insist.¡± Cordelia spiritlessly answered before she giggled again and sat next to Jude and said. ¡°Anyway, shall we just wait now?¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s take a break and move at night.¡± To Arkeman¡¯s Dungeon. To get Arkeman¡¯s treasure hidden in a secret ce. And it was at that moment. ¡°Mr. Bayer, Lady Cordelia. Her Highness is waiting for you two downstairs.¡± Jude immediately raised his voice to the knight¡¯s polite voice that they heard from outside the door. ¡°Yes! We¡¯ll be out soon!¡± Perhaps she wanted to have a meal together. ¡°Uh, I have to cover my eyes with a bandage again.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Princess. I¡¯ll perfectly escort you. I¡¯ll also feed you your food. Just be like a baby bird and be good in saying ¡®ah¡¯.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just say that my eyes are better now.¡± ¡°No, no, that doesn¡¯t make sense. The princess is waiting, so let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Yes, yes.¡± Cordelia covered her eyes with a bandage again and naturally extended her hand, and Jude smiled as he held her hand. They had so naturally extended and held hands. ¡°Hmm, this is good.¡± ¡°Huh? What are you talking about?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing.¡± Jude shrugged and left the room as he led Cordelia who had tilted her head. And a few hourster. When the night was deep, and everyone was asleep. ¡°Hold me tighter.¡± ¡°Tighter?¡± ¡°Yes, tighter.¡± Cordelia, who was dressed in ck, hugged tighter the neck of Jude who was also wearing ck clothes, and Jude took a deep breath. He used Twenty-Four Gale Steps that was based on Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. They were now about to reach thepletion stage of their n. ¡°Let¡¯s go, to Arkeman¡¯s Dungeon.¡± Jude said in a small voice and then kicked the ground. He turned into a ck gale and traversed the dark night. Chapter 146 - EPISODE 146 – ARKEMAN’S TREASURE (2)

Chapter 146 - EPISODE 146 ¨C ARKEMAN¡¯S TREASURE (2)

¡°We¡¯re here.¡± At the words of Jude whonded silently like the wind, Cordelia opened her closed eyes and looked in front of her. A pile of rocks that were roughly piled up. Cordelia couldn¡¯t see anything that resembled an entrance, but she still said with a smile. ¡°It¡¯s the same as in the game.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right and¡­can you feel it?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s weak, but I can feel the flow of mana. It¡¯s quite faint though.¡± There was some kind of barrier in the area. The arrangement of mana in the ce was done in a very strange way that a normal wizard wouldn¡¯t be able to sense that something was out of ce, but Cordelia was different. ¡®Because she is a genius in sensing and manipting mana.¡¯ A talent that the present Cordelia was born with and had nothing to do with her previous life. ¡°But Jude, how did you know?¡± ¡°Because of my Cheonmujiche¡­no, when I opened the fifth gate, my senses became sharper.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± Cordelia had tried to pull his ear to stop him from bragging about his Cheonmujiche, but withdrew her hand afterwards, so Jude sighed in relief and said. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go in.¡± ¡°Yes, put me down.¡± ¡°Oh, you¡¯re right. You were so light that I forgot that I was carrying you.¡± ¡°Hey, there¡¯s something like a limit to ttery, okay?¡± Cordelia reproached him but her face had a smile. Satisfied with that fact, Jude took the lead as he said. ¡°Then, I¡¯ll go in first and check if there¡¯s anything dangerous we may not know.¡± ¡°What are you talking about? Let¡¯s go together.¡± ¡°Well, okay. If you say so.¡± In fact, Princess Darianne and her group had already passed through the entrance, and even in the game, there was no such trap in that ce. But there was still a possibility. The original might have been twisted due to Princess Darianne entering the dungeon. ¡®Rocks that are made of magic.¡¯ The pile of rocks could be passed through since it was a fake image created by something simr to a hologram, and that fact alone demonstrated how skilled Arkeman was. Creating a barrier thatsted for more than a hundred years was not easy. ¡°In any case, I¡¯ll go in first.¡± Jude quickly spoke as he moved and passed his body through the pile of rocks. He sharpened his senses as he looked around. ¡®Well, I guess I was worried for nothing.¡¯ The relieved Jude rxed his posture when he didn¡¯t sense any particr danger, and Cordelia¡¯s voice was heard behind him. ¡°.¡± A basic level magic that created a light made from magic. The yellow light from Cordelia¡¯s fingertip drove out the darkness in the dungeon, and Jude and Cordelia unconsciously let out astonished voices. ¡°Wow, you can tell that someone passed here.¡± ¡°Because Sir Cornwell has a cautious personality. He must have acted a little thoroughly because of Princess Darianne.¡± They reacted like that because of the sight that spread before their eyes. Traces of destruction remained all over the straight lined corridor of the dungeon, and traps and what seemed to be traps were also lying broken everywhere. ¡°We¡¯ve told them about most of the dangerous traps¡­but this must also be because of Princess Darianne¡¯s power, right?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s said in the game that she has a searching ability.¡± The superpowers the children of the S?len royal family were born with. The game didn¡¯t properly describe it, so it was impossible to guess how good their abilities were, but it seemed to be quite a powerful ability given the sight in front of them. ¡®Because they immediately found the trap as they moved.¡¯ Her search range was unknown, but he could at least guess that its duration was superb. ¡®More than three hours.¡¯ It took them only three hours to go to the end of the dungeon and return even though they broke the traps one by one. It would have taken them much longer if she took a break after using her ability. ¡®Anyway, it¡¯s much easier now because of them.¡¯ If the princess¡¯ group had destroyed all the traps, all they had to do was to run fast as if they were running on t ground. ¡°Wow, that¡¯s quite bold of them. Doesn¡¯t that trap seem to have exploded?¡± An explosion in a narrow dungeon. It was obviously limited to a small scale explosion, but considering the fact that Sir Cornwell was a ¡®knight,¡¯ it was quite surprising. ¡°I¡¯m suddenly beginning to like Sir Cornwell.¡± Jude narrowed his eyes at Cordelia¡¯s words, and Cordelia giggled and continued her words. ¡°After all, when you don¡¯t know what kind of trap it is, you just make it explode, right?¡± ¡°No, you demon. That¡¯s not true.¡± Having said that, Jude pinched Cordelia¡¯s cheek as he thought that now was his chance to do so. ¡°Aah?!¡± ¡°Wow, it¡¯s so soft.¡± ¡°You wanna die?¡± Cordelia quickly moved her foot and tried to step on Jude¡¯s foot, but Jude was already one step ahead of her. He retreated like the wind and then said. ¡°Let¡¯s hurry up, Mdy. We have a long way to go. Shouldn¡¯t we go back before sunrise?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll be toote even if I step on you a few times.¡± Cordeliaughed ¡®hohoho¡¯ and clenched her fists, and Jude turned around while snickering as he hurriedly walked as if he was running away. ¡®Cordelia is actually a bit correct though.¡¯ If you didn¡¯t know what kind of trap it is, you could just make it explode. That was actually the best option if one was pressed for time. In fact, there had been many times when Jude had made a simr choice. ¡°Hey! Once I catch you, I¡¯ll¡­¡± ¡°This way!¡± Jude quickly shouted at the crossroads as he dashed towards the right path, and Cordelia ran after Jude in a hurry. There were several forked roads, various traps and even hidden paths that deceived the eyes of visitors. Even Jude thought that the whole terrain of Arkeman¡¯s Dungeon could not be properly explored in one day. However, all they had to do was run since Princess Darianne¡¯s group had already destroyed all the traps, so they reached their destination in not just an hour but almost half an hourter. ¡°We¡¯ve arrived quickly.¡± Judefortably said after having arrived first, and Cordelia who was a step behind him gasped and pped Jude on the back several times. ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­ I¡¯m exhausted.¡± ¡°But we arrived early, right?¡± ¡°So exhausting.¡± Cordelia pped Jude¡¯s back again before she raised her upper body and looked around thest room, where the chimera had resided. ¡°It¡¯s the same as the game.¡± ¡°Yeah, and the ceiling hole is over there.¡± It was the passage the chimera went through to absorb the sun¡¯s heat. The special passage could only be used by the chimera because it was a ce with a short distance space leap magic circle. ¡°It¡¯s somehow scary when there¡¯s such a big hole in the ceiling of a cave.¡± Cordelia¡¯s voice faltered as if she was afraid and she forcefully turned away from the ck hole and looked in front of her. Beyond the chimera¡¯s seat, she saw the plot ofnd where the Seven-Colored Herb was grown. ¡°There are really only sprouts here.¡± ¡°It takes a long time for it to grow up. And¡­this arrangement makes it easy for others to think that the treasure of the dungeon that is guarded by the chimera is the Seven-Colored Herb.¡± The medicinal efficacy of the Seven-Colored Herb was quite good. If counted as an item, it was a medicinal herb that was around A-rank. ¡®The problem is that I¡¯ve already eaten a lot of S-rank stuff.¡¯ From the Sunflower and the Essence of the Blue Moon to the Sphere of Life. So for the present Jude, the Seven-Colored Herb didn¡¯t really mean much to him. Just as defeating low-level monsters when one¡¯s level was already high would hardly increase one¡¯s experience points, the efficacy of the medicine would be weak for the current Jude if it was not at least S-rank. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s move. First, let¡¯s take the hidden treasure chests.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll take the left one.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯m right.¡± There were hidden treasure chests at both corners of the altar where the chimera usually lied down. ¡°Just as I thought, we can take it because this is reality.¡± In the game, it was treated as a background item so they couldn¡¯t take it. Cordelia broadly smiled as she packed magic orbs that were some kind of mana battery, and Jude also packed jewelry with a happy expression. ¡°Now, next is the real thing.¡± Cordelia finished filling up the bags they had prepared and ran before stopping as she stood in front of a wall. Aplex pattern simr to a magic circle was drawn with blue paint, and that pattern could be said to be the real treasure that the chimera guarded. ¡°Cryptogram.¡± It was some kind of guideline left behind by Arkeman which exined the way on how to get his treasure. But neither Jude nor Cordelia had any intention of cracking the code of the pattern. Because they already knew the correct answer. ¡°This unexpected thing made me not like his personality.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± In order to get Arkeman¡¯s treasure, one had to find and decrypt seven cryptograms like the pattern in front of them, and after deciphering it all, the following answer woulde out. ¡®Go back to the first dungeon.¡¯ The treasure was hidden behind the wall where the first pattern was drawn. How does it feel to run around in excitement without knowing that the treasure was right in front of you? ¨C Those words was how the chain quest showed well on what kind of person Arkeman was. ¡°In the game, we had to go to many ces even though we already knew the answer¡­¡± But this was reality now. They could break the wall in front of them without even using the trigger to open it. ¡°Should I blow it up then?¡± ¡°Do you want to destroy the cave? Stand back. I¡¯ll take care of this.¡± ¡°Yes, Milord.¡± Cordelia stepped back as she gave the opportunity to Jude, squatted on the floor, and became spectator A. Jude then once again used the Power of the Sun. ¡®It won¡¯t be just a single blow. The impact should be widely spread in order to destroy the wall.¡¯ He spent only 3 minutes in gathering the energy. Jude judged that he had gathered enough energy, so he stretched out his palm instead of his fist. ck Dragon¡¯s Ascent. As the energy of the ck dragon was released straight to the wall, hundreds of cracks appeared on the wall. And a few secondster. When Jude withdrew his palm, it was like a signal for the wall to copse with cracking sounds. The wall was destroyed, and a big hole was created. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s amazing.¡± The wall itself was in good condition, but a hole with a diameter of 2 meters had been created as if it had been cut out. That was much more difficult than simply breaking down the entire wall. Cordelia pped her hands and Jude bowed like a magician on stage before he pointed to the inside of the hole. ¡°Please take it.¡± ¡°Yes, Milord.¡± Cordelia stood up from her seat and illuminated the hole with her magic, and the two smiled in delight at the sight they saw. ¡°Arkeman¡¯s treasure.¡± ¡°Among them, it¡¯s number five.¡± ¡°Amplification Earrings.¡± The artifact had a simple name and effect, but it was also a powerful artifact. ¡®Because the simpler the item description, the stronger the item is.¡¯ The effect of the Amplification Earrings was simple. It amplified the magic¡¯s effects of its wearer. It could be used to amplify any kind of magic. However, the mana consumption was also terribly amplified. Though it was quite a good thing if one could use a strong attack in the middle of a battle. Especially for battle enthusiasts like Cordelia. ¡°Ah, I love it. I might go crazy from loving it.¡± Cordelia said as her eyes sparkled when she quickly ran in front of the small tform where the earrings were ced. ¡°Haa, it¡¯s pretty. It¡¯s good performance is also nice.¡± In addition, the fact that it was earrings was important. Since Cordelia was already wearing multiple bracelets, rings, and nes, she would have to give up wearing one of those if it was an essory that was not earrings because it would ovep with the others. ¡®It¡¯s not something burdensome to wear like a tiara.¡¯ The smiling Jude approached Cordelia who had already equipped the Amplification Earrings, and she widely smiled and turned to Jude. ¡°How is it? Does it suit me?¡± She asked him shyly just like the time when she wore a tiara, and Jude promptly nodded. ¡°It looks great on you. As I thought, you¡¯re an angel.¡± ¡°Hmph, stop ttering me.¡± Cordelia snorted but she seemed to be pleased given the smile on her face. ¡°Ah, I¡¯m excited. If I use this to amplify my magic together with Spell¡¯s Echo and even Double Casting¡­¡± A really big explosion. A shy, spectacr, and powerful big explosion that she hadn¡¯t dare to make until now would be possible! ¡°Just imagining it gets me excited.¡± Cordelia¡¯s ecstatic expression was really beautiful to see, but her words were a problem. A big explosion that was iparable to the past. At that moment, the appearance of the royal capital and the copse of Endymion ovepped in Jude¡¯s mind, and he quickly shook his head. ¡®No way, no way.¡¯ That can¡¯t happen. ¡°Jude?¡± ¡°No, it really suits you.¡± ¡°Hehehe.¡± Cordelia giggled again before she slightly bit her lips and immediately drew closer to Jude and said. ¡°By the way, Jude. No, my dear Sir.¡± Jude felt himself blushing at that moment at her cutesy voice, but soon came to his senses. Because her actions were really suspicious. ¡°What?¡± He deliberately spoke a little bluntly, but Cordelia continued to act cute. ¡°Cordelia has something she wants.¡± ¡°What? Is it a bomb?¡± ¡°No, no. It¡¯s not a bomb¡­¡± Cordelia¡¯s words trailed off at the end as she pointed to her waist, and Jude was only able to understand it then. Cordelia had nearly used up the detonating cord he had given herst time. ¡°Will you make it again? Please?¡± She was cute. She was so cute that he seriously wanted to say yes. But Jude didn¡¯t forget something important. ¡°Hey, Mdy. The detonating cord is also a kind of bomb, okay?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be so mean. Please?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll consider it after seeing how you act.¡± He had actually made a few more sets already, but it was better to seize opportunities like this when it came. ¡°Shall we go back and talk about it? Perhaps they¡¯ve noticed that we¡¯re gone.¡± ¡°Yes, Milord.¡± Cordelia beautifully answered for the sake of the detonating cord, and immediately put herself on Jude¡¯s back. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be nice if I can hear you speaking nicely like this all the time?¡± ¡°This is how I normally speak though? I mean, I¡¯ve always spoken like this, right?¡± ¡°Yes, yes. If you insist.¡± Jude giggled and fixed Cordelia¡¯s position on his back before he used Twenty-Four Gale Steps. *** ¡°Unnie! Orabeoni!¡± At the first floor of the inn in the vige. Even though it waste at night, Princess Darianne and all the knights were on the first floor. They seemed to have somehow noticed Jude and Cordelia¡¯s disappearance. ¡°At first, I thought you were out for a night walk, but I was worried since you didn¡¯t return no matter how long I waited.¡± They couldn¡¯t have left first given that their luggage was still in their room, but they hadn¡¯t returned even after some time. ¡°But I¡¯m d that you two are back.¡± Princess Darianne smiled as she was satisfied with the fact that the two returned safely, but not for Sir Cornwell. He asked while looking at Jude and Cordelia with a somewhat questioning look. ¡°But where did the two of you go?¡± He had asked that without much thought at first, but Sir Cornwell¡¯s eyes turned sharp in an instant. Because he saw the earrings on Cordelia¡¯s ears. She wasn¡¯t wearing that during the day. So where did thate from? And what were the two doing at night that they had to go away for a few hours? It wasn¡¯t unusual for Cordelia to have recovered her eyesight. In the first ce, it was a temporary disability due to her excessive magic usage, and a few hours had already passed since they fought the chimera, so it would have been cured if she had been given some recovery measures such as medicine or magic. But even if that was so, a disability was still a disability. Yet these two dared to go on a night walk and not rest? Was there any reason on why they did that? In fact, he didn¡¯t throw that question because he specifically doubted them. It was kind of an upational disease of his, and as the knight in charge of the safety of Duke Spencer, he developed a habit of looking at everything with suspicion. But at Sir Cornwell¡¯s rather sharp question, Cordelia instantly flinched, and Princess Darianne and the knights were surprised at her embarrassment. Why did she do that? Why was Lady Cordelia embarrassed by the question of where they had been? And it was at that moment. ¡°For some time¡­we wanted to have some time alone. For only us two.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Princess Darianne and the knights blinked their eyes, and soon had an understanding expression. ¡°O-oh my goodness.¡± Princess Darianne eximed as her imagination run wild and she blushed and squirmed her body. ¡°Ahem, ahem, it¡¯s possible because they¡¯re two people in their prime.¡± Hunt tactlessly said, and the other knights coughed and nodded. ¡®W-what¡¯s wrong with them? What are they imagining?¡¯ At Cordelia¡¯s question with her eyes, Jude looked at Sir Cornwell instead of answering her. Because Sir Cornwell was still looking at her earrings. ¡°And¡­I confessed to her again.¡± ¡°Co-confessed?¡± Princess Darianne¡¯s eyes sparkled as she asked, and Jude nodded his head. Cordelia quickly lowered her head to hide her expression that seemed to ask what nonsense he was talking about, but the others only saw her actions as that of embarrassment. ¡°Yes, I confessed. I dered my love to Lady Cordelia again¡­and gifted her with earrings as a token of my love.¡± At Jude¡¯s brilliant acting, Princess Darianne eximed in admiration as she stared at Cordelia¡¯s earrings, and so did the knights. Her beautiful golden earrings with small red gemstones shined and glittered. ¡°Oh my goodness, that¡¯s so lovely.¡± Although they were already engaged, they confessed their love to each other again and even gave a present as a token of love. It was a scene that could only be seen in love stories. Princess Darianne eximed in admiration and she soon had a gentle and warm expression. The knights also smiled as if they saw something that was so cute. Sir Cornwell did too. ¡®Hmm, that¡¯s good. Problem solved.¡¯ Jude sent a wink to Cordelia and Princess Darianne opened her mouth before Cordelia could respond to Jude. ¡°Then, unnie. What about you? How did unnie respond?¡± Her answer to Jude¡¯s confession. Everyone¡¯s gaze turned to Cordelia again, and in the eyes of others, she replied with a face that seemed like she would die from embarrassment. ¡°O-of course, I epted it.¡± ¡°Aww, I feel so envious.¡± Princess Darianne trembled as she covered her cheeks, and the knights all had a warm smile. They didn¡¯t say anything, but they all looked like they wanted to wish the two happiness. ¡°Ahem, ahem. Then, can we go up now?¡± ¡°Eh? Ah, yes. You can go up.¡± ¡°Then¡­¡± Jude turned to Cordelia who reflexively stretched out her hand to Jude. She had gotten used to Jude escorting her now. ¡°We¡¯ll go up first. Good night, everyone.¡± ¡°Good night, Your Highness.¡± After Cordelia curtsied, they began to climb the stairs, and Princess Darianne and all the knights watched the two with happy and unexinably warm expressions as if they were seeing off a newlywed couple on their honeymoon. Without being able to imagine what kind of conversation the two had with their eyes. *** The next morning. Jude and Cordelia left the vige with Princess Darianne¡¯s group as they headed to the royal capital, or to Duke Spencer to be exact. They were already near the capital and the knights were also with them, so it was unlikely that the Devil¡¯s Hand would attack them on the way. ¡®Perhaps the fight will begin once we get to the royal capital.¡¯ The Devil¡¯s Hand was the mastermind behind the royal capital incident after all. It was now the turn of the Devil¡¯s Hand after the Devil¡¯s Eye. ¡®The royal capital.¡¯ They were heading to the royal capital in order to save Princess Daphne, Prince Dion, and the other royal family members. As he was seated in the rattling carriage, Jude looked at Cordelia and Princess Darianne sitting opposite him before he turned his gaze to the window. The faint sunlight shined down as the cold winter wind blew. Chapter 147 - EPISODE 147 – ENTRANCE TO THE ROYAL CAPITAL (1)

Chapter 147 - EPISODE 147 ¨C ENTRANCE TO THE ROYAL CAPITAL (1)

Terms used in this chapter: Pabalma?¨C Korean word for horse couriers. These horses were used in Korea¡¯ste Joseon dynasty in order to convey urgent military information and official documents. Carriages were driven by horses, a living animal. For this reason, a carriage could not run for 24 hours a day. Second, the coachman would be exhausted from whipping horses that couldn¡¯t run around the clock. ¡°In fact, the endurance of humans is better.¡± Cordelia was sitting outside the carriage and taking a rest, and she widely opened her eyes at Jude¡¯s words. ¡°Really? Isn¡¯t that some ridiculous lie? Who are you trying to fool? I won¡¯t be fooled. Last time, you lied about storks giving birth to babies and not eggs.¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s the fault of the one being deceived¡­ not. It¡¯s my fault for deceiving you.¡± ¡°Hmph.¡± ¡°Anyway, that¡¯s that, but this is real. Human beings may be different, but their endurance is amazing.¡± When Jude spoke quite seriously, Cordelia furrowed her brows as she found it suspicious before she asked. ¡°Is that true?¡± ¡°It¡¯s true this time.¡± It might be an unbelievable story, but it was true. Horses were naturally superior to humans when it came to reaching their top speed within an instant, but humans were much superior to horses in their ability to keep running while maintaining their speed. Therefore, it would have been faster for a person to run than to ride on a horse if they were traveling for a long distance. ¡°Somehow, your story is bing harder and harder to believe, okay?¡± ¡°But it¡¯s true.¡± ¡°Then, why do we ride on horses? In the movies and dramas I watched, they always rode on horses when they want to deliver an urgent message. Yes, that¡¯s right. It¡¯s a fact. I¡¯ve learned about Pabalma at school.¡± Cordelia wasn¡¯t guessing this time, because she recalled that fact from her memories and pointed it one by one with her fingers. In historical dramas and even textbooks, the people who delivered urgent news were always riding on horses. ¡°That¡¯s because of a simple and obvious reason.¡± ¡°What reason?¡± ¡°It¡¯s hard for a person to run with their own feet.¡± Running while on the back of a horse was hard, but running with one¡¯s own feet was also hard. As Jude had said, it was a simple and obvious reason. ¡°B-but when you¡¯re in a hurry, it¡¯s better to put aside the hard stuff and just deliver it quickly.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. So you have to ride a horse even more.¡± ¡°What? You just said that a person is faster earlier.¡± ¡°You can change horses in the middle of your trip.¡± ¡°Ah?!¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyes widened and she unknowingly pped her hands. ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Horses could be changed in the middle of one¡¯s trip. So if one had to any news to deliver urgently, they could maintain their speed by continuously changing horses. One could ride a new horse before the horse they were riding on was exhausted and slowed down. ¡°Wait, then can¡¯t everyone just do something simr to?pass the baton? It¡¯s usually a letter or something that¡¯s used to deliver the news.¡± ¡°That makes sense, but a horse¡¯s speed is faster, right? If you approach it from the perspective of continuing to change horses before the horses get tired, it will seem like horses are faster than people, right?¡± ¡°Hmmm.¡± He was right. And Jude smiled at Cordelia¡¯s reaction. Cordelia had imed at first that ¡®horses are faster,¡¯ and then her thinking changed towards ¡®people are faster so why do you need to ride a horse?¡¯ ¡®This is the foundation of persuasive speech.¡¯ To naturally induce the other person¡¯s thoughts to your side. To make them affirm what they had denied without them realizing it. ¡°And there are times when the person itself is important, right? So it¡¯s better to ride a horse in the end.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­.I see.¡± As Cordelia nodded, Jude smiled again and continued his words. ¡°A person needs to properly rest when they travel on horseback after all. People can get tired sooner than they thought.¡± ¡°Hmm, I think I understand what you mean.¡± They had already done that several times when they traveled by carriage. But it was at that moment. Cordelia grinned at her sudden thought and looked at Jude as she said. ¡°In that sense, my Jude is the best ride of all because he can run all day, right?¡± He was faster than a horse, and he didn¡¯t get tired. When they had gone back and forth in Mount Plex, Jude had run with Cordelia on his back without even taking a single break. ¡°Yes, you were awesome. I like it. My horse, Jude.¡± Cordelia stroked his head as if praising him, Jude narrowed his eyes and said. ¡°Come to think of it, I haven¡¯t given you the detonating cord yet.¡± ¡°My horse. No, Lord Jude. Are you tired? Would you like ap pillow? Cordelia is always ready.¡± When Cordelia spoke as she patted herp, Jude smiled at her appearance and thought that making that detonating cord was a good idea. ¡°You look like you¡¯re thinking of something bad.¡± ¡°You¡¯re mistaken. I was just thinking of making something a bit better than the detonating cord.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a great idea. I wish that it¡¯s a bit lighter than now. I also wish that it bends better. To be honest, it looks like a wire now.¡± When the topic changed to the detonating cord, Cordelia mischievously spoke at first, but she suddenly became very serious. Not just because she found explosions to be good, but because she wanted to better utilize the detonating cord, which was a fairly practical and powerful weapon. ¡®She looks like a real warrior at times like this.¡¯ What if Cordelia was a warrior character and not a wizard? ¡®Perhaps she¡¯ll be stronger than she is now.¡¯ In fact, she had a pretty good aptitude for martial arts. Her speed in learning the Bayer¡¯s martial arts was also very fast. ¡°And I¡¯m going to make something like dynamite¡­ Like C4¡­¡± ¡°Wait, wait. Dynamite? C4?¡± ¡°Uh, is that a bit too much?¡± ¡°No, you can make it.¡± ¡°What? Really?¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyes instantly turned crazy- no, her eyes sparkled, and Jude hunched his shoulders as he spoke to her while trying to calm her down. ¡°No, no. I¡¯m just saying that it¡¯s theoretically possible. There¡¯s time and other things¡­¡± ¡°But you¡¯re saying that you can really make it, right?¡± ¡°Maybe¡­?¡± He had in fact already made a detonating cord. C4 might be impossible for him, but it was possible for him to make something like dynamite. ¡°Wow! My Jude is the best! Truly the best!¡± Cordelia got up from her seat and eximed as she hugged Jude, and everyone¡¯s eyes gathered on them. ¡°Hey, hey. Cordelia. Hey!¡± ¡°Ah! You¡¯re so?good! My Jude is so?good!¡± But Cordelia didn¡¯t see the gazes around her when she hugged Jude¡¯s head and said that she?loved?him, and Jude shut his mouth in the midst of his embarrassment and joy. (T/N: Pun. ¡®Good¡¯ and ¡®love¡¯ have the same Korean word. So Cordelia¡¯s words could also be read as: ¡®Ah! I love you so much! My Jude, I love you so much!¡¯) ¡®Everyone, I¡¯m sorry.¡¯ He could feel the knights ring daggers at his back, but he couldn¡¯t help it. However, Jude¡¯s happy moment didn¡¯tst long because he felt a gaze that he couldn¡¯t ignore. ¡°Cordelia! Cordelia!¡± ¡°Huh? Uh? Ah. Uh.¡± Cordelia came to her senses and blushed when she heard the sound of someone coughing from around her. She awkwardly smiled and headed to the carriage while Jude rose from his seat and faced the approaching Sir Cornwell, whose gaze he couldn¡¯t ignore. ¡°Jude Bayer. Can I talk to you for a minute?¡± ¡°Of course, Sir Cornwell.¡± Jude promptly responded, and Sir Cornwell pointed with his eyes at a ce far away. ¡°Let¡¯s walk for a while.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Sir Cornwell who had always not left Princess Darianne¡¯s side, led Jude to a ce quite far away, perhaps because there were many knights around them now. And so a few minutester. Sir Cornwell stopped walking at a ce where their conversation would not be heard by others. ¡°Jude Bayer.¡± ¡°Yes, Sir Cornwell.¡± ¡°It¡¯s sudden but¡­thank you.¡± ¡°Are you¡­thanking me?¡± ¡°I mean, thanks to you and Lady Cordelia, we were able to get the Seven-Colored Herb.¡± All that Princess Darianne knew was the location of Arkeman¡¯s Dungeon and the information that the Seven-Colored Herb were wildly growing at the dungeon¡¯s deepest part. ¡°If it were not for you and Lady Cordelia¡­ we wouldn¡¯t have been able to get the Seven-Colored Herb. Even if we had obtained it, we would have suffered serious injuries.¡± They were able proceed with ease because they urately knew in advance the structure of the dungeon and the types of traps installed in it. No matter how powerful Princess Darianne¡¯s ability was, she couldn¡¯t know what kind of trap awaits them. And the chimera. Sir Cornwell was basically a warrior, but he also had some knowledge of magic as the knightmander. Several auxiliary magic circles were drawn in thest room where the chimera lived. Like what Jude had said, they would have greatly failed if they had fought the chimera there. ¡°That is why I would like to thank you now.¡± His tone was still stiff, but there was a friendliness in Sir Cornwell¡¯s eyes that was unlike before. His expression was more sincere than the harshness Jude had seen before in him. ¡®Well, he couldn¡¯t help it.¡¯ He was escorting royalty and not just anyone else. Moreover, Princess Darianne didn¡¯t act much like a royal, either because she grew up outside the ce since her childhood or because of her nature. Even if she was with her maternal family¡¯s knights, she was a young girl who went on a trip without a maid. ¡®Escorting missions are typically a bit hard.¡¯ Jude himself had several unpleasant memories rted to escorting during his time as Kang Jin-ho. So Jude understood Sir Cornwell¡¯s burden and harshness. ¡°I merely did my duty as a noble of the S?len Kingdom.¡± Sir Cornwell had a small smile again when Jude bowed and spoke politely. ¡°You¡¯re truly an ideal knight. As expected of the son from the prestigious Bayer family.¡± The son of Count Bayer, the Sword General. Sir Cornwell didn¡¯t show it much, but he actually had a fairly good impression of Count Bayer. After all, Count Bayer was a famous swordsman who had protected the north for many years. ¡°As Her Highness said, we would like you to visit Duke Spencer. The duke will surely wee you and Lady Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes, we¡¯ll definitely visit after dropping by the royal capital.¡± Duke Spencer owned a mansion in the royal capital as he was one of the great nobles in the kingdom, but he usually stayed at his main home outside the royal capital because of his illness. Because Jude and Cordelia had already told Princess Darianne and her group that they would go their separate ways once they had entered the royal capital. ¡®That¡¯s probably why he¡¯s being honest to me now.¡¯ They were going to part ways soon. Since they would no longer be traveling together, he was genuinely treating Jude as one of the duke¡¯s benefactors. ¡°And¡­I would like to tell your story to Rhun.¡± ¡°Are you talking about¡­the First Sword?¡± Sir Cornwell slowly nodded at Jude asking him again. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you fight in person¡­but I have a good eye too. I can tell that your talent for martial arts is above average just by looking at you.¡± It was actually one of the reasons why Cornwell continued to show a harsh attitude towards Jude. ¡®Too strong.¡¯ As he said himself, he did not know how good Jude¡¯s martial arts talent was, but one fact was at least clear to him. If Jude became an enemy, he was the only one in the group who could stop Jude. The other knights wouldn¡¯t be able to stop Jude. But they were parting ways now. So Sir Cornwell was able to see the strength of Jude in a pure manner. ¡°Rhun had said to me. He saw people with monstrous talents in the Empire.¡± Children with monstrous talents. They were sword monsters who were in theirte teens and early twenties at most, and might be close or even at the level of the Ten Swordmasters in the next few years. ¡°Rhun was worried about the future after they grow up¡­and if they would really be monsters.¡± The S?len Kingdom was a powerful country. The Argon Empire was the country with thergest territory on the continent. Naturally, a war between two such countries would likely be a huge fight, to the point that tens of thousands of people being mobilized would just be a trivial number. Nevertheless, having strong knights were a way to show one¡¯s might. ¡®Because superhumans exist in Pleiades.¡¯ The Ten Swordmasters were not militarymanders. They were tactical weapons on the battlefield. Therefore, the existence of tactical weapons that could subdue other countries¡¯ tactical weapons was important. ¡®Maximilian and Leon.¡¯ Perhaps they were the children in the empire that Rhun Froud, the Sword Saint of Light, was wary of. Both were yable characters, and Maximilian was the main character born with cheat talents. ¡°Of course, we have many prospects in the S?len Kingdom. I¡¯ve heard that Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s sessor is an outstanding young man. But¡­I still have a human heart. I can¡¯t help but be anxious too after hearing Rhun¡¯s story, but seeing you has made me feel relieved.¡± If there was Maximilian in the empire, then there was Jude in the kingdom. Even Jude slightly blushed at his strongparison, and Sir Cornwell warmly smiled. ¡°Rhun will also be interested in hearing your story. Perhaps he¡¯lle to see you.¡± His words were something Jude could not have imagined. He would then have a point of contact with the First Sword Rhun Froud, the Sword Saint of Light. ¡°Thank you for your kind words.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t help but admit that you¡¯re good.¡± Because Jude was a truly upright young man who was born with an outstanding talent. ¡°I look forward to seeing you again at the duke¡¯s estate.¡± ¡°Yes, I look forward to that day too.¡± Sir Cornwell was pleased when Jude bowed again, and he patted Jude on the shoulder several times before he lightly turned around. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Yes, Sir Cornwell.¡± Sir Cornwell quickly reverted to his harsh expression again because he returned to his escort duty, but Jude could see and feel that it was different from before. *** ¡°Orabeoni! Unnie! I¡¯ll wait for you at the duke¡¯s estate! You muste! By all means!¡± ¡°Yes, Your Highness. We¡¯ll definitely visit you.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll be there soon.¡± She had already said goodbye several times, but Princess Darianne continued to wave her hands and stuck her face out of the carriage window as if she felt that it was stillcking. Naturally, Sir Cornwell said that it was dangerous and struggled hard to stop Princess Darianne. ¡°It must be hard.¡± ¡°Huh? Sir Cornwell?¡± ¡°Yes, Sir Cornwell.¡± Jude quietlyughed and Cordelia tilted her head once before she quickly hugged Jude¡¯s arm and asked. ¡°Jude, Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Princess.¡± ¡°What did the two of you talk about?¡± ¡°Something good.¡± ¡°Ohmigosh, was that it? Did you talk about the detonating cord?¡± ¡°¡­We talked about Rhun Froud.¡± ¡°The Sword Saint of Light?¡± ¡°Yes, the First Sword.¡± When Jude briefly exined his conversation with Sir Cornwell, Cordelia pped her hands. ¡°That¡¯s great! It feels like the heavens are helping us, right?¡± She didn¡¯t expect the harsh Sir Cornwell to have thought of them that way. Moreover, it was a plus for them to have Sir Cornwell connect them to Rhun Froud. ¡°Let¡¯s sort it out now that we¡¯re talking about it.¡± ¡°You mean, what we are going to do in the royal capital?¡± Jude nodded at Cordelia¡¯s question and took a deep breath. The massacre of the royal family was one of the two events that destroyed the S?len Kingdom. ¡°The process itself is simple. The purpose of our enemies is to cut off the sacred blood that has been inherited by the S?len royal family. They will carry out their n on the 300th?anniversary celebration of the founding of the country where all the royal family members will gather, so that they could kill off everyone.¡± ¡°The Devil¡¯s Hand is the mastermind.¡± ¡°Their wish is to weaken the guardian of the royal capital through the severance of the royal family¡¯s sacred blood.¡± Deep inside the royal capital of the S?len Kingdom, there was a powerful guardian who suppressed the power of the demons. Due to the presence of a powerful guardian who protected not only the royal capital but also the surrounding areas, the demon followers could not summon demons nor create demonic humans in the capital. ¡°But what they really want is not just the destruction of the guardian.¡± ¡°¨ªomh Sis, the divine sword that is the main body of the guardian.¡± A heavenly weapon used by the sun god Sri. ¡°In the game, the divine sword was stolen by the demon followers.¡± ¡°A long story unfolds for the yer in order to retrieve the stolen divine sword.¡± But if it didn¡¯t get stolen from the beginning. No, if they couldn¡¯t do anything to the guardian itself in the first ce. ¡°We have around a month or so before the founding ball is held.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll be preparing in advance during that time, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, we have to make our side stand against them, and most of all, we have to make the royal family trust us.¡± So that they would listen to the two when an emergency happens. So that the two could approach and be close enough in order to protect the royal family. ¡°There¡¯ll be a lot of big shots in this battle on the royal capital.¡± ¡°Because my father and your father will also being now.¡± Count Chase and Count Bayer. It wasn¡¯t just the two counts. It was an extravagant event where numerous names would appear, such as the Minister of Defense, the other Ten Swordmasters, themanders of the Royal Guard Magic Corps, and so on. So it would be a little different from their fight in the wildnds. They needed a tactic to block the other side¡¯s hand with their hand as if they were ying chess. ¡°Again, you¡¯re making a wicked expression again.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not? It¡¯s an expression I have when I feel it¡¯s fun, okay?¡± At Jude¡¯s counterargument, Cordelia clicked her tongue before she naturally got on Jude¡¯s back. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go. The royal capital is waiting for us.¡± ¡°We¡¯re not looking for a carriage?¡± ¡°My horse is faster, right?¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Jude nodded his head and adjusted Cordelia¡¯s position on his back before he flew towards a sparse forest. Even though she was his fianc¨¦e, it would be bad if a rumor spread that he ran with her on his back. And an hour or soter. Jude and Cordelia arrived at the south gate of the royal capital and met some familiar faces. *** ¡°You ran away again, again, and again!¡± ¡°O! U-unnie, it¡¯s not like that!¡± Chapter 148 - EPISODE 148 – ENTRANCE TO THE ROYAL CAPITAL (2)

Chapter 148 - EPISODE 148 ¨C ENTRANCE TO THE ROYAL CAPITAL (2)

¡°You ran away again, again, and again!¡± ¡°O! U-unnie, it¡¯s not like that!¡± Cordelia cried as Adelia mercilessly pulled her cheeks, but it was hopeless. ¡°What do you mean by it¡¯s not! I told you to contact me regrly, but you only did it once! And then you contact me when you¡¯ve arrived at the royal capital, huh?¡± ¡°Ahhh! It hurts! It really hurts!¡± ¡°Good! It should hurt! Be hurt more! Be hurt more!¡± Tears welled up in Cordelia¡¯s eyes as Adelia twisted her cheeks even more, and Jude thought. ¡®Indeed, they¡¯re sisters.¡¯ Given that they were doing the same thing. ¡°Helf! Heilp!¡± ¡°What do you mean by help? Are you saying that you did not do anything wrong?¡± ¡°I wash wrong! I was wrooong!¡± Adelia red at her and kept pulling her cheeks, and Cordelia continued to cry while Jude thought again. ¡®I¡¯m envious.¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s cheeks were really soft. He wanted to pull it too. That mysterious and pleasant feeling when he pulled her cheeks. I feel like I¡¯m being healed. ¡°You always run away from home!¡± ¡°Sob, sob. I was wrong.¡± ¡°I want to pull it too.¡± Jude¡¯s thoughts went out of his mouth without him realizing it, and he was embarrassed at that moment, but fortunately, no one seemed to have heard him. Cordelia would have been able to tell what he was thinking by just looking at his eyes, but she was busy crying now. In any case, Jude snapped out of his thoughts after being embarrassed and he slightly coughed. In order to get Adelia¡¯s attention. ¡®Why do I feel like I¡¯m jumping into the fire?¡¯ ¡°Ahem, ahem. Ehem, ehem, ehem.¡± Please look over here. Please release Cordelia. When he coughed harder, Adelia who was still pulling Cordelia¡¯s cheeks looked at Jude, and Jude said in the calmest tone possible. ¡°That¡­sister-inw.¡± He chose his words well. Its effect was magical. Adelia¡¯s eyes that were filled with a strong will to smack Jude after she was done with Cordelia, were then filled with shame, shyness and a little affection. ¡®It¡¯s working! Help me!¡¯ Jude noticed Cordelia¡¯s desperate eyes, so he continued his words in a hurry. ¡°There are a lot of people watching. Let¡¯s go somewhere else¡­¡± ¡°.¡± At the moment Adelia spoke, her powerful magic changed the surrounding area. ¡®Light refraction magic.¡¯ As its name implied, it was a powerful spell that refracted the light from the surrounding areas in order to create an invisible area. ¡°This should work, right?¡± She was caught off guard by the word ¡®sister-inw,¡¯ but that wasn¡¯t enough for her to change her mind. They were at the south gate of the royal capital, so she used a spell that was said to be non-lethal, though using such a powerful magic wasn¡¯t normal. ¡°Uh¡­you can continue.¡± ¡°Hey!¡± What do you mean by continue? Aren¡¯t you going to help me?! If you look at it, you¡¯re an aplice too! Jude opened his mouth again after her single cry, and Adelia waited for Jude¡¯s words with a face willing to hear what he was going to say. ¡°First of all, we did not run away. There was a reason why we couldn¡¯t contact you.¡± ¡°What? Is it the Guardians of the Holy Cross again?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°It¡¯s true.¡± ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°That is¡­¡± Jude narrowed his distance from Adelia a bit before he delivered a made-up story. ¡®Because she¡¯ll restrict our activities if we talk about getting attacked by the Devil¡¯s Hand.¡¯ The probability that they would be confined to one ce in order to be protected was high, just like what Count Hr?svelgr did. Thus, Jude made up a story that they had spent more time than they had expected in exploring an ancient temple with the Guardians of the Holy Cross. ¡°What ancient temple?¡± ¡°The temple of Aerith, the goddess of life. Isn¡¯t that right, Cordelia?¡± ¡°Yesh, yesh, hish right.¡± Her pronunciation was a bit weird because her cheeks were still being pulled, but Cordelia enthusiastically replied. Adelia narrowed her eyes but she soon released Cordelia. ¡°Hwuah!¡± Having regained her freedom after some difficulty, Cordelia covered her sore cheeks as she ran and hid behind Jude. ¡°What? Are you hiding?¡± ¡°I-I object to violence. I object to violence.¡± When Cordelia timidly spoke, Adelia snorted and took a step forward. Cordelia then flinched and quickly hid her head behind Jude¡¯s back. ¡®So cute.¡¯ Jude really wanted to watch the cute sisters¡¯ quarrel more, but now was not the time. ¡°Si-sister-inw.¡± ¡°I warned you in advance, so you¡¯re at fault too, okay?¡± ¡°No, I mean, we didn¡¯t run away from home¡­¡± ¡°But you should have contacted us. Do you know how worried our fathers were? Lord Ga?l was also very worried. Of course, I did too.¡± Jude and Cordelia were clearly strong. Adelia had witnessed firsthand their activities in the wildnds so she knew it better than anyone. But that didn¡¯t mean she wasn¡¯t worried. There were many people in this world who were stronger than Jude and Cordelia. ¡®No, that¡¯s not the problem.¡¯ Their strength wasn¡¯t important. Even if they were the strongest in the world, she couldn¡¯t help but worry if she suddenly lost contact with them. Maybe something happened. Maybe they got hurt somewhere. Why did we lose contact with them? ¡®Because we¡¯re family.¡¯ Adelia was Cordelia¡¯s real sister. Jude was her brother-inw. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Being more honest and sincere was better than excusing themselves. Jude bowed his head and asked for forgiveness, and Cordelia bowed her head too. ¡°We were wrong.¡± I¡¯m sorry for not contacting you. Adelia sighed at the sight of Jude and Cordelia bowing their heads together, and asked again after having calmed down a bit. ¡°Were you two injured?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°We¡¯re both healthy and not hurt. Unnie, what about you?¡± ¡°What? Me? I¡¯m always healthy.¡± Adelia replied with a shrug, and she had a small smile on her face. Because one way or another, she was d to see the two again. ¡°But don¡¯t you have a carriage or horse? Don¡¯t tell me¡­ you walked to the royal capital?¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­ That is¡­¡± Cordelia¡¯s words slightly slurred at Adelia¡¯s question, and she became hesitant and worried if she should talk about it or not. She eventually opened her mouth. ¡°I rode on Jude.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°No¡­that is¡­Jude carried me on his back¡­ and then he ran?¡± The more she exined it, the weirder she felt, but it was the truth after all. ¡®I don¡¯t want to lie anymore.¡¯ But sincerity didn¡¯t always work. Adelia frowned and seemingly didn¡¯t understand it so she said as she gestured with her chin. ¡°Try it out.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Show me how you got here.¡± But her mood was unusual. Cordelia thought that her sister was trying to not be violent, so she couldn¡¯t help but obey her. ¡°Umm, like this?¡± She then jumped on the back of Jude who reflexively adjusted Cordelia¡¯s position. Their actions were so natural that anyone could tell they had done it countless times. Adelia nkly stared at the two before she burst in an angry voice. ¡°Hey! Cordelia! Hey!¡± You really came here on piggyback? You stuck close to him? Aren¡¯t you ashamed?! ¡°Eek!¡± Adelia approached her with a face looking like a goblin, and the terrified Cordelia covered her cheeks first with her hands, but it was futile. There were a lot of ces that the other could pull besides her cheeks. ¡°Hey you! You!¡± ¡°Ah! It hurts! It hurts!¡± Adelia pulled her ear and didn¡¯t care if Cordelia cried or not from the pain as she continued to shout. ¡°You cheeky girl! You know what you did? You¡¯re an unmarried girl!¡± ¡°Hey, he¡¯s my fianc¨¦! We¡¯re engaged!¡± ¡°You¡¯re engaged but not married, right? This unnie told you not to cross the line, right?¡± ¡°O! It hurts! It hurts!¡± ¡°It will hurt from being pulled!¡± She was right. It was the first time Cordelia¡¯s ear was pulled, so it definitely would hurt. ¡°Jude! Help me!¡± ¡°Jude,e here too! Come here and give me your ears! You¡¯re Lord Ga?l¡¯s younger brother, so you¡¯re also my younger brother now!¡± As Adelia stretched out her hand, Jude reflexively retreated and was troubled. How do we ovee this crisis? ¡®Should I say that we haven¡¯t crossed the line yet?¡¯ He clearly didn¡¯t know the extent of the ¡®line¡¯ Adelia was talking about, but he really didn¡¯t do anything except for getting ap pillow, hugging her at times, and giving her a piggyback ride. ¡®D-did we cross it?¡¯ Up to what extent is the line Adelia is talking about? Jude broke out in cold sweat as Adelia signaled to him with her finger toe quickly, while Cordelia struggled and cried. ¡°Unnie too! Unnie did it too with brother-inw Ga?l! Mmmph!¡± ¡°Y-you¡¯re going too far with your words!¡± ¡°Mmmph! Mmph! Mmph!¡± Adelia quickly covered Cordelia¡¯s mouth while her other hand continued pulling the ear, but Cordelia kept shouting. ¡°Mmmmph! Mmph!¡± ¡°W-we¡¯re also engaged just like you, but Lord Ga?l and I are adults, okay? You two are still children!¡± ¡°Mmmmph!¡± That¡¯s not fair! Unnie, are you saying that it¡¯s okay if you do it but it¡¯s not if others do it! Jude thought that this was enough at that point, so he tried to intervene again. ¡°Si-sister-inw.¡± ¡°Huh? What is it!¡± ¡°You¡¯ve refracted the light but¡­we can still be heard, right?¡± Adelia was startled by Jude¡¯sment, and she looked around and bit her lips. Because while she couldn¡¯t see anything in particr, she could hear the sound of people murmuring. ¡°Uuuuh.¡± Adelia¡¯s face and even her neck turned red, and she quickly spoke in a hushed voice. ¡°B-be quiet. You understand?¡± ¡°Mmmph.¡± Cordelia nodded in affirmation, so Adelia slowly withdrew her hands. ¡°Haa, that¡¯s good. Let¡¯s first move and finish our talkter. Because of you, I had to take a half-day today.¡± ¡°Half-day?¡± ¡°Half-day off. I took a half day off.¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyes widened in surprise at Adelia¡¯s exnation. If you want to rest, then you should take the day off. But what do you mean by half a day off? ¡°Unnie, is the Royal Guard Magic Corps a ckpany?¡± ¡°What is this kid saying? Stop being weird and quickly fix your appearance. Your hair is a mess.¡± Having said that, Adelia straightened her clothes and appearance first. ¡®Come to think of it, that¡¯s the uniform of the Royal Guard Magic Corps.¡¯ Adelia whom Jude had seen wearing a dress or equestrian uniform was now wearing the blue uniform of the Royal Guard Magic Corps. Her upper and lower clothes were reminiscent of the blue beret and military uniform on Earth. It had a fantasy feel but was still realistic as instead of a skirt, she wore pants and ckbat shoes. ¡®Her hair is tied in a ponytail too.¡¯ She had previously let her hair loose. ¡®Cordelia looks good in a ponytail too, right?¡¯ Should I ask her to do itter? While Jude was lost in his silly thoughts, Cordelia fixed her disheveled clothes and hair before seeing Adelia looking at her. ¡°Are you done?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°How are you done? Your hair is still in a mess. I¡¯ll give you a hair tie, so just tie it up like mine.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Cordelia meekly received the hair tie and skillfully tied her hair together, and Jude recorded Cordelia¡¯s appearance in his memory pce. ¡°Thank you, sister-inw.¡± Adelia suddenly tilted her head as she wondered what he was thanking her for before she walked to Jude. ¡°By the way, Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, sister-inw.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve suddenly¡­grew taller?¡± Jude was originally around 175 cm, but he now seemed to have grown to around 180 cm. ¡°Ah, that is¡­the result of training.¡± ¡°That¡¯s interesting.¡± There¡¯s a martial art that lets you grow taller. Adelia was interested in it, but she didn¡¯t ask any further. Moving was more of a priority for now. ¡°If you¡¯re done, let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Umm, wait a second.¡± With her hair all tied up, Cordelia turned to Jude instead of following Adelia. ¡®Does it suit me?¡¯ She couldn¡¯t ask him out loud because Adelia was next to her, but she could talk to him with her eyes. Jude immediately nodded at Cordelia¡¯s shy question. ¡®It looks really good on you. You¡¯re so pretty.¡¯ ¡®Hmph. You¡¯re ttering me again.¡¯ But Cordelia smiled as if she wasn¡¯t offended. And as for the other person watching the two. ¡°I¡¯m somehow upset. I want to see Lord Ga?l.¡± Adelia muttered small before she pulled Cordelia¡¯s wrist in order to not waste time. ¡°Come on, it¡¯s really time to go. We don¡¯t have that much time.¡± ¡°Okay, unnie. But where are we going?¡± Did you book a hotel room? Where do you usually stay? Adelia smiled at Cordelia¡¯s question and then said with a fairly confident expression. ¡°My mansion.¡± *** The heart of the S?len Kingdom was definitely the royal capital, and it was also the ce in the kingdom with the highest poption. For this reason, the current royal capital which was nearing its 300th?founding anniversary had be a ce where habitablend was scarce. ¡®It¡¯s because of the city walls.¡¯ The residential area could be increased, but the walls that had already been built did not allow it. Inside and outside of the walls. The inner residential area and the outer residential area. ¡®And nobles usually have big mansions.¡¯ They also had to have a garden even if it was small. ¡°This year, a mansion was finally given to me.¡± It had already been several years since she became one of themanders of the Royal Guard Magic Corps, but Adelia was constantly pushed back in the order of distribution of mansions due to her young age. ¡°I bade farewell to the dormitory.¡± The dormitory attached to the headquarters of the Royal Guard Magic Corps was naturally much easier tomute to and from work, but a dormitory room was iparable to a mansion. ¡°What do you think? Isn¡¯t it nice?¡± Cordelia immediately nodded after Adelia puffed out her chest and pointed to a pretty 2-storey mansion with a small garden. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s pretty. It¡¯s cute and picturesque.¡± The pretty mansion was actually big by modern standards, but Cordelia had lived for more than a decade as the second daughter of Count Chase. Compared to therge mansion of their family, the mansion in front of her was small and picturesque. ¡°I¡¯ll give you two rooms on the second floor.¡± When the overly excited Adelia entered her mansion, a young maid greeted the group. ¡°I am Becky who serves Lady Adelia.¡± Cordelia blushed at the greeting of a pretty ck-haired girl who looked like a doll. She greeted back and it was Becky who blushed this time. ¡®It¡¯s heartwarming.¡¯ Jude thought in admiration before he followed Adelia to the guest rooms on the second floor. The rooms with a single bed each were small, but he didn¡¯t think that they were ufortable to stay in. ¡°Then I¡¯ll be going back. See youter in the evening. I¡¯ve booked a restaurant for us.¡± ¡°Okay, I look forward to it.¡± ¡°Yeah, just wait and don¡¯t overeat on snacks.¡± ¡°Yes, unnie.¡± They had quarreled when they met at the south gate, but they had gone back to being close sisters now. Adelia hurriedly left the mansion after a hug, and Jude grabbed Cordelia¡¯s wrist as soon as Adelia left. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because we have to talk about our ns.¡± There was no time to waste as they only had a little more than a month left before the founding celebration. ¡°Okay, shall we talk in my room?¡± ¡°Eh, it¡¯s fine to do it in my room.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s do it in my room.¡± Cordelia insisted as she took Jude¡¯s hand and led him to her room. ¡°Should I leave the door open in case Becky misunderstands?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think she¡¯ll misunderstand us. She¡¯s just monitoring us, so let¡¯s just talk with magic.¡± Jude quickly spoke as he sat opposite Cordelia with a small table in between them before he tore the scroll. [So, what do you want to talk about?] [The first thing we have to do when we arrive at the royal capital.] [Something other than getting close to Princess Daphne?] [Yes. The first thing we must do.] [What is it? You didn¡¯t tell me about thisst time.] [I only thought about it today. Specifically, while I was running with you on my back.] [Okay, so what is it?] At Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude took a deep breath and put his hands on the table as he said. [As you know, the Minister of Defense and the Devil¡¯s Hand have been preparing for this operation to annihte the royalty for quite some time.] [And?] [One of the evidences is the control of the underworld. The ck Moon, thergest thief guild in the royal capital, is no different to a limb of the Minister of Defense.] Cordelia nodded at Jude¡¯s words. In the original, the Minister of Defense manipted the underworld of the royal capital to turn the founding celebration into a mess. [They not only caused various acts of terror but also blocked roads to make it difficult for the knights and soldiers to move.] [So? Are we going to destroy the ck Moon?] [No, that¡¯s impossible. We only have a month left. Assassinating the top leaders is a bit tricky since the ck Moon is not the only one under themand of the Minister of Defense.] [Then, what should we do?] It was impossible for Jude to have brought up this story if he didn¡¯t have a solution. As Cordelia looked at him with anticipation, Jude smiled and continued. [It¡¯s simple. Let¡¯s build an organization too.] [Wait, build an organization? Against the ck Moon?] [Yes.] Cordelia frowned at Jude¡¯s answer. Because it seemed to be more difficult than destroying the ck Moon. But Jude clearly said that it was simple. If so, he must have had a solution to simplify such a difficult task. [Exin it a bit more.] [In fact, we do not need to build aplete organization. Our purpose is to prevent the ck Moon from interfering with the founding celebration a monthter. We just need enough forces to hold them back.] [Where are we going to get those forces?] [From the other thief guilds in the royal capital.] The royal capital was big, so there were several thief guilds in it. Obviously, there was no organization that wasparable to that of the ck Moon since it was supported by the Minister of Defense, but when all the other organizations werebined, it would be simple to hold back the ck Moon. [The more I ask, the more questions I have¡­ How would you make the other organizations work together?] Through the power of money? We did bring a lot of things here. But Jude shook his head at Cordelia¡¯s words. [I don¡¯t want to belittle their job, but our opponents are thieves who specialize in running away with money. Money alone can¡¯t control them.] [Then?] [We need charisma. A romance that can even tickle the hearts of jaded thieves.] Having said that, Jude looked at Cordelia who blinked her eyes. She soon smiled and said. [Rogue Master.] [The legendary thief. The king of thieves.] A phantom thief who could get whatever they wanted. A legendary person who shook not only the S?len Kingdom and the Argon Empire, but also the entire continent. [If the Rogue Master says so, the thieves will move. No, maybe even the ck Moon will have a lot of traitors.] Because the Rogue Master was such a person. Because such a person was like a god to the thieves. [But the Rogue Master is in the Argon Empire now. No, it¡¯s before she became the Rogue Master.] Her words were a bit strange, but it was true. Because the soon-to-be Rogue Master was still in training. She was Scarlet who would be one of the Four Great Swordsmen in the future. A prospect who would seed the Rogue Master title. She was quite a good thief now, but she wasn¡¯t the Rogue Master yet. Because she had still yet to get the Rogue Master¡¯s treasure that proved that she was a Rogue Master. [So that¡¯s better for us. A new Rogue Master can appear for the time being.] [A new Rogue Master?] [Yes, a new Rogue Master.] Jude replied with a smile and stood up before he dramatically spoke. [No one knows where the tomb of the Rogue Master is. Except for us.] The Rogue Master¡¯s tomb was hidden in the royal capital. [Rarely does anyone know all the various legends of the Rogue Master. But there is one person here who knows it all.] It was time for JudeWiki to shine. Cordelia knew then. What Jude was nning. The appearance of a new Rogue Master. The birth of a new Rogue Master. [Wow!] [Do you understand now?] [Yes! I understand now!] [Then, I look forward to your cooperation.] [Huh?] [Please do your best.] Because the new Rogue Master will be you, Cordelia. Jude grinned as he took out a ck butterfly mask from his arms and put it on the face of the stunned Cordelia. Chapter 149 - EPISODE 149 – PHANTOM THIEF (1)

Chapter 149 - EPISODE 149 ¨C PHANTOM THIEF (1)

Terms used in this chapter: Seokguram?¨C the Seokguram Grotto is a Buddhist cave temple constructed during the Unified Si Period (668-935 CE) of ancient Korea. Cordelia blinked her eyes at first. Jude blinked his eyes at the same time as her before he took a step back to view Cordelia¡¯s face with a butterfly mask more broadly. ¡°Hmm, it looks good on you.¡± A ck butterfly mask made of leather that had the appearance of a butterfly spreading its wings open. Cordelia unconsciously reacted to the words ¡®it looks good on you,¡¯ and furrowed her brows before she spoke as if she had finallye to her senses. ¡°What did you just say?¡± ¡°It looks good on you?¡± ¡°Before that.¡± [You are the new Rogue Master.] As he said it again with magic, Cordelia narrowed her eyes again and crossed her arms. [What¡¯s the reason?] [Huh?] [I mean, why should I be the Rogue Master?] Since either Cordelia or Jude had to be the Rogue Master, she wondered why she herself and not Jude was chosen from the two options from the very start. ¡®Why does it smell suspicious?¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s instinct that was equal to- no, better than that of wild beasts, was telling her that. There is something. There must be some underhanded scheme here. ¡®Because he¡¯s Jude!¡¯ Before he became my scammer, he¡¯s the guy who risks everything for achievement scores because of his obsession with taking 1st?ce. He¡¯s not someone who¡¯ll just let go of the opportunity to be the Rogue Master. When Cordelia sniffed with her nose in front of him because of her suspicion, Jude shrugged once before he gently opened his mouth as he had expected this to happen. [It¡¯s simple. Do you remember Scarlet¡¯s sex?] [She¡¯s a woman.] The contemporary Rogue Master was the only woman among the Four Great Swordsmen. No, in the game, she was the person who would be the contemporary Rogue Master. [You¡¯re right. Then, what is the sex of the first Rogue Master?] That person did not directly appear in the game because they were a character that lived hundreds of years ago, but that person was a Rogue Master who left behind many stories about their deeds. If Cordelia had done any of the quests rted to Scarlet, she would have no choice but to know that the first Rogue Master¡¯s sex was ¡®female.¡¯ [Woman¡­?] [Yes, she¡¯s a woman. So it¡¯s better for the new Rogue Master to be a woman. There¡¯s already a preconceived notion that the Rogue Master is a ¡®woman.¡¯] [Hmmm.] She felt like she was being dragged into this, but what he said was true to begin with. ¡®Of course, the second generation was a man, and the Rogue Master just before Scarlet was also a man.¡¯ Jude thought to himself as he faced the troubled looking Cordelia before he spoke again. [And because we need to properly act the role of Rogue Master. The Rogue Master left five treasures, and the only one we can get among those is the Moon Crystal, thest treasure.] [Umm¡­because Scarlet already has two?] [Yes, the third and fourth treasures are in the empire.] It was the reason why Scarlet, who was originally from the S?len Kingdom, went to the empire in order to find the treasures of the Rogue Master. [The Rogue Master¡¯s treasures are like the symbols of the Rogue Master. The biggest symbol is the Moon Crystal, but that alone isn¡¯t enough. In order to call yourself a Rogue Master and be recognized by the people, you have to pretend that you also have the other treasures.] At this point, Cordelia could roughly understand what Jude was trying to say. [In short, you¡¯re saying that we¡¯ll use magic, is that it?] [Bingo.] The Rogue Master¡¯s treasures were magic tools that gave its user various mysterious powers. But Cordelia was a real wizard, so she just had to use her magic. [I can¡¯t tear a scroll every time I need to do something.] [Hmmm.] What he said made sense so far. [Is there anything else?] [Isn¡¯t this enough?] [That¡¯s true, but¡­] Why? Why do I still feel ufortable? As Cordelia showed signs of hesitation, Jude pulled out his trump card. [Anyway, let¡¯s not waste our time in worries. There are many ces we have to stop by before our dinner with sister-inw. Our schedule is tight, okay?] [I know, we only have one month. But where are we going to stop by? The Rogue Master¡¯s tomb?] [There¡¯s that, but this is more important.] Something so important that would make Cordelia forget about everything else. [Where?] [Alchemy Guild.] [Why there?] [You asked me to make dynamite.] [Eh?] [Dynamite.] Jude spoke again, and Cordelia opened her mouth first before she joyfully smiled. Her blue eyes seemed to sparkle in excitement. [Will you really make it? Really?] [Yes, so let¡¯s go now. We don¡¯t have much time.] [Yes, yes! Let¡¯s go quickly!] [Before that, what about the Rogue Master?] [I¡¯ll do it.] [Really?] ¡°Yes, yes, really!¡± Cordelia spoke in a childish voice before she grabbed Jude¡¯s arm as if she wanted to go quickly, and Jude left the room with Cordelia while pretending that he couldn¡¯t win against her. *** The structure of dynamite was simpler than one would think. Dynamite was made by simply having nitroglycerin, one of the substances typically used for explosives, be absorbed by a small amount of diatomaceous earth. ¡°Diatomaceous earth is a type of sand made from the remains of single-celled algae, and is frequently used for many things because of its high absorption capabilities.¡± Because diatomaceous earth itself was a non-mmable material, pure nitroglycerin was actually better than dynamite in terms of its simple explosive power. Nevertheless, diatomaceous earth was used because nitroglycerin, a highly sensitive substance, could then be stored and transported rtively safely. ¡°We¡¯ll need nitric acid and sulfuric acid to make nitroglycerin.¡± Both were substances that were difficult to immediately obtain unless they were in an alchemy guild. ¡°And?¡± When Cordelia asked with an interested face, Jude resolutely turned her down. ¡°A more detailed description will be omitted.¡± ¡°How mean.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter since I¡¯ll be making it for you anyway. And it¡¯s dangerous. It¡¯s not an easy challenge for beginners.¡± Moreover, if he told her how to make it, he wouldn¡¯t be able to use dynamite as bait in the future. He should only give her fish but not teach her how to fish. ¡°Tsk, tsk, tsk.¡± ¡°So you don¡¯t like it?¡± ¡°No, Milord. Milord¡¯s words are absolutely correct.¡± Satisfied with her quick change of attitude, Jude quickly finished his shopping and they headed to the east gate. ¡°Aren¡¯t you making dynamite?¡± ¡°We have to get the Rogue Master¡¯s treasure first.¡± It was still in the afternoon, so they still had some time left until their dinner with Adelia. ¡°The gates are closed when the sun goes down, so it will be less suspicious for us to go now ande back by that time.¡± ¡°Eueu, it can¡¯t be helped.¡± She had no choice but to postpone what excited her for a while. ¡°Then, let¡¯s go quickly.¡± ¡°Yes, Madam. I¡¯ll take you there very fast.¡± It was Jude¡¯s first time in the royal capital, but JudeWiki hadpletely recorded not only the small side roads of the royal capital but also the underground roads. So he led Cordelia to a shortcut that even the locals didn¡¯t know, and as soon as they left the east gate, he turned his back on her and Cordelia very naturally got on Jude¡¯s back. ¡®I feel like I¡¯ve be toofortable with this.¡¯ She had be toofortable with being carried on Jude¡¯s back. She felt like she was really merging with him when she was carried on his back these days. ¡°What are you thinking about?¡± ¡°I think it would be nice to go quickly.¡± ¡°Hold on tight.¡± Jude smiled and soon became a gale as he ran east, or to be exact, towards a small mountain in the northeast of the royal capital. ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± ¡°It seems like you left out a lot of exnation, but I guess it¡¯s fine.¡± Cordelia muttered quietly as she got off Jude¡¯s back and looked behind her. ¡°Wow.¡± The mountain was small, but it was still a mountain. A panoramic view of the royal capital surrounded byrge and magnificent walls came to her eyes, and she was left amazed. ¡°Amazing.¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s amazing. The capital is beautiful.¡± The walls were very high so the inside of the capital couldn¡¯t be seen, but he had seen it hundreds to thousands of times in the game, so he could think of its shape in his head. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s hurry.¡± Jude turned around and squatted in front of a long rock that looked like a tombstone on top of the hill, and he squinted his eyes. ¡°If I touch it like this¡­¡± When Jude touched the side of the rock, a sudden click was heard, and the entire rock soared to about 30 cm. ¡°It¡¯s a password board. It¡¯s the same as the original.¡± Cordelia squatted next to Jude, and just like she said, there was a password board with a ratherplex pattern at the bottom of the newly revealed rock. The board was only solved by pressing it in a set order, but Jude began to move his hand without any hesitation. ¡®Originally, the password can only be known when one collected all four of the treasures.¡¯ ¡°Fufufu, this is the power of my JudeWiki.¡± Cordelia proudly spoke and Jude spontaneously smiled and continued to move his hand. The Rogue Master was still a much better person than Arkeman because she didn¡¯t do anything mischievous like hiding thest treasure next to the first clue. ¡°I¡¯ve unlocked it.¡± After he pressed thest button on the board, a click was heard again and the ground near the rock soon soared with a rumbling sound. ¡°It¡¯s the entrance.¡± There was a metal door at the bottom of the slope, and it was clean as new perhaps because of some magic spell. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go in.¡± Jude opened the metal door with his strength and Cordelia created a magic sphere of light. ¡°Gentleman first.¡± ¡°Yes, Madam.¡± Jude promptly answered and headed down the stairs beyond the metal door. ¡°It¡¯s like Seokguram.¡± ¡°Have you been there?¡± ¡°Yes, for a school trip.¡± Cordelia quietly responded as she raised the sphere of light and looked around them. It was a small stone chamber with a door leading to the next stone chamber on the opposite side of the stairs. ¡°You do know that we have to be careful from here on, right?¡± ¡°I know.¡± Cordelia gave a short answer and then quickly cast several types of magic in session even though Jude didn¡¯t tell her to. She cast , a flying magic that was the higher rank to the floating magic . She also activated the magic in Count Chase¡¯s ring, cast the to strengthen their minds, and the so that they would not be fooled by illusions. Each magic spell she cast was like a substitute to the Rogue Master¡¯s treasures. A floor installed with traps that activates when stepped on. An illusion magic that makes one go round and round a small cabin. A banshee¡¯s voice that disturbs the minds of those who entered. Even a hydrochloric acid trap that poured overhead and couldn¡¯t be avoided. Jude and Cordelia blocked everything since they were prepared, and stopped in front of a tombstone at the end of the stone chamber. [If you have reached this point, you are well qualified to seed me. My entire legacy is yours from now on.] Cordelia smiled at the nicely-sounding sentence written in the tombstone before she injected her mana into it. And Jude quickly moved his hand and grabbed the arrow that was fired from the front. It was thest trap that triggered when the person was reassured that it was all over. ¡°She has a bad personality.¡± ¡°That¡¯s typical of a Rogue Master, right?¡± They had known all about it anyway. Cordelia smiled after she finished injecting her mana, and the tombstone rose as it revealed the real tombstone hidden on the floor. [Desire] Only that word was engraved on the first Rouge Master¡¯s tombstone. A word that she loved the most, and one that she had pursued throughout her life. ¡°As expected of the Ruler of Thieves.¡± ¡°It¡¯s good to be honest.¡± And she left her own treasure in this manner. A jewelry box was revealed with the tombstone. Jude and Cordelia opened it at the same time, and they obtained the Moon Crystal, thest treasure of the Rogue Master. *** Night came. After having finished a fantastic meal at the fine dining restaurant Adelia had made a reservation with, the group ate a 3-tiered chocte parfait for dessert that was famous in the royal capital. They then looked around the streets of the night market which was a tourist attraction before they returned to the mansion. ¡°You have to properly sleep in your rooms, okay? Do you two understand?¡± ¡°Yes, we understand.¡± ¡°This is my house. So I can see everything here like the palm of my hand, okay?¡± ¡°Yes, yes. We understand.¡± After their conversation was finished, all of them headed to their bedrooms and slept for a few hours. When Adelia was deeply sleeping, Jude and Cordelia met with each other in Cordelia¡¯s room. And after ten minutes. Cordelia said with a chilly gaze as she crossed her arms. ¡°Milord, what is this?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the Rogue Master¡¯s costume.¡± When Jude answered, Cordelia looked back at herself and had a chilling smile. ¡°This?¡± A short and pink miniskirt was on top of tight-fitting ck leather pantsplete with boots, and her top consisted of a ck leather clothes with her shoulders exposed. The white cor on the neckline resembled that of a tuxedo, and long ck leather gloves that reached up to her upper arm were added, making her cute outfit seem like a female magician. Up to that point, Cordelia wasn¡¯t that much displeased. She wore a miniskirt but also had pants underneath, so she had nothing to be particrly ashamed of. The problem was the next part. She had arge ck ribbon that tied her long hair together into a ponytail, a ck butterfly mask that covered her face, and arge bow tie with the Moon Crystal in the middle ¨C she could tolerate it all up to that point. ¡°Milord, what is this?¡± ¡°Rabbit ears and rabbit tail. It¡¯s a good item set that increases agility and jumping power.¡± Cordelia was very familiar with the equipment set that was on top of her head or attached near her butt. Jude had thought that it was so unfortunate that he couldn¡¯t see it again after their time in the wildnds. ¡°Hey, did you bring this all the way here?¡± ¡°There¡¯s the cat set. Would you like to change into that?¡± ¡°You asked me to be the Rogue Master because of this?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not because of this.¡± ¡°Then remove the rabbit set, okay?¡± ¡°Aww, my Princess. Do you really want to say that? Here¡¯s the improved detonating cord.¡± As Jude smiled and handed her the detonating cord bundle, Cordelia snorted in her excitement and no longer questioned the rabbit set. ¡®Because it¡¯s cute.¡¯ She was not ashamed because she was wearing a mask anyway. Cordelia giggled as her tail slightly shook, and Jude looked at Cordelia as he took a deep breath. Because the real hard part would begin now. ¡°Okay, then Cordelia. There is onest thing to do. No, in fact, it¡¯s already been done.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°That is¡­¡± Jude awkwardly smiled and held out a well-made card, and Cordelia finally understood. The fact that there was something more shameful even if she wore a mask. *** ¡°Hey! Is this the reason you made me do this?!¡± ¡°Yes, that is correct.¡± ¡°Are you serious?!¡± Phantom Thief Pink Bomb. A name that must be used and be famous enough in order to surely summon Velkian, the necromancer. It was the name of the new Rogue Master who would shake the S?len Kingdom and the entire continent. Chapter 150.1 - EPISODE 150.1 – PHANTOM THIEF (2)

Chapter 150.1 - EPISODE 150.1 ¨C PHANTOM THIEF (2)

¡°No, f*ck. No, f*ck!¡± Pink Bomb? PINK BOMB? ¡°Are you kidding me?¡± ¡°Well, I mean. Like I said, we have to lure Velkian, right? In order to do that, the name of Phantom Thief Pink Bomb must be famous, right? Famous enough that Velkian will know wherever he is, okay?¡± He was right. It was quite a convincing story. But Cordelia wasn¡¯t a fool. ¡°No! In the first ce, why is it Pi- mmph!¡± ¡°Shh! Adelia might wake up!¡± Jude quickly covered her mouth with his hands and Cordelia struggled to talk before she swiftly cast magic. [Hey! F*ck, do you think I¡¯m stupid? In the first ce, why did you use the name Pink Bomb in your letter to Velkian? Care to exin?] [Didn¡¯t you agree to using it back then? Pink Bomb?] [I seriously thought you were joking then!] [Hey, I didn¡¯t lie to you.] [Argh, f*ck. Are you trying to get me mad on purpose? You didn¡¯t lie??My?scammer, Jude?] [But I¡¯m still part of?yours.] [If you don¡¯t exin it properly, you¡¯ll be?someone else¡¯s?Jude from today onwards! Do you understand?!] T/N: Here we are with the word y again. The literal trantions are actually ¡®My house¡¯s scammer,¡¯ ¡®But I¡¯m still part of ¡®our house,¡¯ and ¡®you¡¯ll be the Jude of someone else¡¯s house¡­¡¯ It¡¯s hard to exin in English about the ¡®house¡¯ thing because it¡¯s something unique to Korean culture, but you can just think or rece it with the word ¡®family.¡¯ So when Cordelia calls Jude as her family¡¯s scammer, Jude retorts by saying that at least, he¡¯s still part of her family. But Cordelia threatens to kick him out of her family, thus bing the Jude of ¡®someone else¡¯s family.¡¯ [Okay, I¡¯ll exin.] [What, you¡¯ll really exin it?] Cordelia blinked her eyes and asked. Is there a good reason for the use of a weird name like Pink Bomb? [Yes, I can exin.] [W-what is it?] [Pink Bomb is a special name for Velkian. It¡¯s the name of the main character in Velkian¡¯s favorite novel.] Cordelia¡¯s eyes narrowed at Jude¡¯s words, but she couldn¡¯t say anything else. Because while she had heard of this for the first time, it was something that came out of Jude¡¯s mouth. ¡®Was there something like a hidden character setting?¡¯ Cordelia tilted her head and asked again. [Is that why you used the name Pink Bomb?] [Because we want it to remain strongly in Velkian¡¯s mind and arouse his curiosity.] [Hmmm¡­] His words were quite convincing. Phantom Thief Pink Bomb. It was definitely a name that would leave a deep impression to anyone who had heard it. But if someone liked a novel with a main character having such a name, that person would certainlye to the royal capital out of curiosity. [Haa, so annoying. Who the hell is that person? Who in the world names their main character Pink Bomb!] [Calm down, calm down. I mean, Yellow Storm and Pink Bomb are the same, right?] [It¡¯s different! It¡¯s really, really,pletely different, okay?!] [Yes, it¡¯s different. Very different. Yes, yes, it¡¯s different. It¡¯s very different.] When Jude said that as if he was soothing a child, Cordelia immediately tried to kick Jude¡¯s shin but failed. Because Jude had reflexively used his golden wind. [F*ck, you¡¯re so annoying.] You avoided it? You even used a skill? [I mean, it will hurt if I get hit.] [Evil b*stard, ugly b*stard, nasty b*stard, f*cking b*stard.] [Umm¡­ It¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve heard you say so many curse words, so it¡¯s kind of nice¡­ Should I give you a reward?] [What is this crazy b*stard saying? Hmph.] Cordelia was so angry that tears seemed to involuntarilye out of her eyes. Jude said as he squatted to make eye contact with Cordelia who sat down on the floor in exhaustion. [Anyway, Cordelia, you don¡¯t have to worry about it too much. You¡¯ll be able to do it well.] [Hooo, hey. Are you worried that I¡¯ll do something wrong? I won¡¯t. I will not. I can do it. I will be Pink Bomb.] [Umm¡­well¡­ I can¡¯t help it if you dislike it that much.] [Eh? Really? You¡¯ll really do it?] [Well¡­ the clothes may not fit, but I can fix it.] [Wait, what are you talking about? The clothes don¡¯t fit? You¡¯re going to wear this?] [I should wear it. Even if the clothes look like that, I should still look like the first Rogue Master, right?] At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia closed her eyes for a moment and imagined it. She imagined Jude wearing tight-fitting ck leather clothes, a pink miniskirt, rabbit ears, and tail. [Fu-f*ck¡­ I¡¯ll just do it. I¡¯ll do it.] She couldn¡¯t bear to see something like that. After all, he was her fianc¨¦. No, apart from being her fianc¨¦, she unconsciously felt disgusted at the thought of seeing Jude going around like that. It was a bit embarrassing. It was when Cordelia grumbled while she was deep in thought. Jude smiled and said as if he knew what Cordelia was thinking. [Thank you. It could only be you.] [Hmph, you won¡¯t get anything if you say that, okay?] Cordelia reflexively snorted and tried to get up, so Jude naturally stretched out his hand to help her. [Okay, I¡¯ll concede to you once and be Pink Bomb.] [Thank you, Princess. I¡¯ll do my best in making dynamite.] [Whatever.] You¡¯ll somehow find a way out anyway. Just like a sly person. [And Cordelia, don¡¯t be too worried. After all, the ¡®Return of the Rogue Master¡¯ will leave such a deep impression that you¡¯ll rarely be called Pink Bomb.] [Is that so?] [Yes, it will happen. It¡¯s the Rogue Master after all and not anyone else, right?] [Hmm¡­] She was also convinced of his words. Scarlet actually had several aliases, but she was always called the Rogue Master in the end. [Anyway, we don¡¯t have much time. We must do our work as soon as possible.] [I know that, so are we delivering it today? The notice card?] [Yes, this card is the notice card.] Cordelia received the card from Jude and read it as it shone in the moonlight. On the day of the full moon two dayster, I will take the Green Goddess¡¯ Teardrop. ¨CRogue Master Pink Bomb There were several lines written in a very neat handwriting on the white card, and a pink lip mark was at thest part. [Whose lips are these? No way¡­] [Ahem, ahem. That¡¯s a sample¡­ But let¡¯s put my princess¡¯ kiss mark for the real thing.] When Jude slightly blushed and coughed, Cordeliaughed and nodded her head. [I¡¯ll keep this though. It¡¯s proof that my Jude is a human being who also knows how to be embarrassed.] Cordelia giggled as kept the card like a precious item. She then saw Jude handing her new cards. [Three more?] [One will be sent to a corrupt rich man who¡¯ll be the victim, and the other two will be sent to the ck Moon and Blue Moon.] [Blue Moon? Is that thergest guild among the thief guilds that do not cooperate with the ck Moon?] [That¡¯s right. Our goal is to publicize the name of the Rogue Master.] The founding celebration was a month away, so they needed to build a reputation that would be enough to move the guilds within three weeks. [We¡¯ll deliver the notice today and steal the gem two dayster.] [By the way, who is the person we¡¯ll be robbing this time?] [It¡¯s a corrupt rich man who¡¯s one of the Minister of Defense¡¯s source of funds. If we¡¯re going to steal things, it¡¯s better if it¡¯s a person from the Minister of Defense¡¯s side.] [The Green Goddess¡¯ Teardrop¡­ Is this a gem?] [Yes, it¡¯s a gem that can give the blessing of the war god. We¡¯re going to steal something useful. It¡¯ll be a hot topic.] Everything that he said was correct. Cordelia did not say anything else and just walked to the dressing table to apply lipstick on her lips. [Give me the cards.] [Here.] [Why are there four cards? You said that you¡¯ll send the notice to three ces.] [I want one of them as a keepsake.] [Hmph.] Cordelia hmphed and stamped her lips on all four before she handed it to Jude. [Are you going to deliver it now then?] [Yes, I¡¯ll go ande back, so just go to sleep. You¡¯re not familiar with this area yet, right?] [Okay, I¡¯ll be going to sleep, so you can go.] [Yes, Princess. I¡¯ll see you tomorrow morning.] Jude gracefully greeted her in a theatrical manner before he flew out of the window like the wind, and Cordelia stared at her reflection in the vanity mirror. A phantom thief who wore a ck butterfly mask and had rabbit ears in her head. ¡®It looks cute.¡¯ Cordelia wiggled the rabbit tail and even tried to strike a pose before she let out the following words from her mouth. ¡°I-in the name of justice¡­I will punish you?¡± She was embarrassed. She was seriously embarrassed. She felt that she would die of embarrassment even though she had muttered it very quietly. But she felt a bit ecstatic at the same time. A joy that was difficult to describe. However, it was only for a moment. Because she felt a gaze behind her back. ¡°Uh¡­ I left something behind.¡± Jude smiled as naturally as possible and he picked up something that fell on the floor without saying a single word before he went out of the window again. Cordelia who was left alone then squatted on the floor and covered her face with both hands. She stayed and did not move from that position for a long time. Chapter 150.2 - EPISODE 150.2 – PHANTOM THIEF (2)

Chapter 150.2 - EPISODE 150.2 ¨C PHANTOM THIEF (2)

I changed the ¡®corrupt rich man¡¯ part into a ¡®corrupt and wealthy woman¡¯ because the victim was actually a woman. And I promised yesterday that I¡¯d post 151 today, but I didn¡¯t expect it to be that long, so I had to push it back for tomorrow. Sorry. Terms used in this chapter: I thank Selene for allowing me to be a righteous thief again?¨C This is a reference to the Japanese series, Saint Tail. Saint Tail¡¯s original line was ¡®Lord, please allow me to be a righteous thief again today.¡¯ And Cordelia¡¯s Pink Bomb outfit is totally based on Saint Tail¡¯s outfit. At night two dayster. In the mansion of Viscountess Venus who was known for being a wealthy and corrupt woman. Despite it being midnight, countless people gathered around her house which ran a loan-sharking business. Around one third of those were guards from the royal capital, while the other two thirds were spectators. ¡°Is it true? Did she really appear?¡± ¡°It¡¯s true!¡± ¡°Look! It¡¯s an explosion again!¡± Boooom! The windows loudly broke and pink smoke spread around. And inside the mansion. Beyond the door where the pink dynamite exploded. ¡°How dare you!¡± Cordelia narrowed her eyes at the thunderous cry of Viscountess Venus, ady wearing a ckbat uniform. Viscountess Venus held a dagger while four mercenaries took up their weapons. But the biggest problem was Venus¡¯ vault which resembled the huge and solid vaults of banks. ¡°Ha! Do you understand now? It¡¯s no exaggeration to say that the whole room is a safe! You won¡¯t be able to open the safe even if you¡¯re the real Rogue Master!¡± It made sense. It was a safe that she could be confident in. It was a safe that seemed like it would take a considerable amount of time to open using straightforward methods. ¡°Of course, you won¡¯t even be able to open it in the first ce!¡± The four mercenaries who apanied Viscountess Venus herself were not ordinary ones. They were brutal and powerful warriors who earned the nickname of ¡®Four Swords¡¯ in the underworld of the royal capital. ¡°Get her!¡± The four mercenaries moved almost simultaneously at the cry of Viscountess Venus. And Cordelia also moved. She threw dynamite from both of her hands and induced an explosion by firing magic at the same time. Baaaang! It was loud and the explosive power itself was weak, but it was a kind of smoke bomb that filled the room with pink smoke. ¡°I can¡¯t see!¡± ¡°Cough! Cough!¡± People would usually stop moving if their vision was obstructed. Cordelia ran towards the vault door while the mercenaries coughed from breathing in the smoke. ¡°Crazy bi-?¡± Viscountess Venus barely opened her eyes and swore at the appearance of Cordelia that would soon crash into the door. I thought that she was quite a good thief, but was she just a crazy b*tch? But she was wrong. Just before the collision. No, at the moment when Cordelia and the door collided! ¡®Fairy Steps!¡¯ The space of the fairies and reality ovepped. Cordelia turned translucent in an instant and passed through the vault. ¡°Wow.¡± Having passed through the vault door, Cordelia let out a voice of admiration as she stroked the ring they received from the Fall Fairy Queen. The Fairy Steps were originally for evasion, but they didn¡¯t need to just use it for evasion since they could use it in other ways. ¡®One more use.¡¯ The number of uses increased because of their repeated level-ups, so the Fairy Steps could now be used twice a day. It could be perfectly used once for getting in and the other for going out. ¡®Here it is.¡¯ The Green Goddess¡¯ Teardrop. A beautiful gem that shined on its own even in the dark. With an ecstatic face, Cordelia stared at the gem which was the size of two fingers together and was veryrge for a gem. She eventually shook her head and came to her senses. Because now wasn¡¯t the time to be admiring the gem. ¡®Get the gem and leave the card.¡¯ After her series of actions, Cordelia threw herself towards the wall whose opposite side faced outside. Shwaaa- She used the Fairy Steps again. She jumped into the outer wall and found herself in the air, but it wasn¡¯t a problem. ¡®Angel Mode!¡¯ Cordelia spread her wings of light and flew as she headed straight to the roof of the mansion, and cheers erupted again among the spectators. ¡°It¡¯s real! It¡¯s real!¡± ¡°The Rogue Master really walked in the sky!¡± Spreading her angel wings allowed her to move freely in the air. As Cordelia climbed onto the roof, not only the spectators but also the guards of Viscountess Venus focused on one ce. Everyone¡¯s eyes. All eyes focused on one ce. ¡®W-what should I do? I¡¯m getting addicted to this.¡¯ What is this strange yet pleasant feeling? Cordelia unknowingly smiled and took out the Green Goddess¡¯ Teardrop for everyone to see instead of saying anything, and the spectator¡¯s cheers burst out again at that moment. ¡°It¡¯s the real one! The real one!¡± ¡°The Green Goddess¡¯ Teardrop!¡± They had obviously never seen the Green Goddess¡¯ Teardrop properly, but they knew it was a big green gem anyway. ¡°What are you doing?! Get her! No! Shoot her!¡± ¡°To the roof!¡± The guards responded to Venus¡¯ cry and hurriedly moved, and some even shot at Cordelia with their crossbows. But it was at that moment. A ck wind suddenly swept away all the arrows that headed for Cordelia. It was the wind caused by the kick of Jude, who was hiding in a blind spot. [Let¡¯s go!] [Okay!] Cordeliamunicated with magic before putting away the Green Goddess¡¯ Teardrop and taking out a new big gem. The Moon Crystal. The Rogue Master¡¯sst treasure! ¡°I thank Selene for allowing me to be a righteous thief.¡± Cordelia smiled and gracefully said before she bowed to the audience like a magician and then raised the Moon Crystal high. ¡°In Selene¡¯s name.¡± The goddess of the moon who watched over everyone. It was at the moment when Cordelia injected her mana into the Moon Crystal. The strong moonlight fell from the sky and shone on Cordelia. Because of the moonlight that acted like a spotlight, Cordelia¡¯s impressive appearance was further imprinted in the minds of everyone. A very bright pink hair and ck leather clothes that revealed her nice figure. And cute rabbit ears and tail. A few seconds passed. The moonlight that was like a spotlight gradually became smaller before it disappeared, and so did Cordelia. She disappeared with the moonlight. ¡°Rogue Master!¡± ¡°Woaaaah!¡± This was the power of the Moon Crystal, thest treasure of the Rogue Master. ¡®You can leap in space three times a day in any ce where the moonlight shines.¡¯ A simple yet powerful ability. It was the reason why the Rogue Master had never been caught in the act despite her numerous thefts. ¡°How was it? Did you think it went well?¡± ¡°You were the best, really the best. It really went well.¡± At the second floor of Adelia¡¯s mansion. Adelia had fallen into a deep sleep because of a hard day¡¯s work, so Jude and Cordelia had gone out and in without being noticed, and the two burst intoughter while facing each other. ¡°This is so pretty.¡± The Green Goddess¡¯ Teardrop. There was a legend that the gem was made from the teardrop of a beautiful and gentle goddess, but for some mysterious reason, those who possessed it would obtain the blessing of the war god. ¡®If a real warrior has it in their possession, this excellent item will increase their stats just by having it.¡¯ It was not an absolute increase in value but an increase in percentage. ¡°Haa, it¡¯s so exciting. It¡¯s more fun than I had thought.¡± ¡°Weren¡¯t you excited in throwing bombs?¡± ¡°There¡¯s that too.¡± Cordelia giggled as she took off her mask and untied her hair that had been tied together. The sight of her very bright pink hair turning back into reddish pink in an instant was very beautiful and mysterious. ¡°Why are you looking at me like that?¡± ¡°Because you¡¯re so pretty.¡± ¡°W-what are you saying?¡± Embarrassed with Jude¡¯s straightforwardpliment, Cordelia said in a hurry. ¡°Anyway, the news will spread throughout the royal capital by tomorrow, right?¡± ¡°The Rogue Master is back. The Rogue Master has returned.¡± ¡°Hehe, I¡¯m excited.¡± Cordelia brightly smiled and closed her eyes as she imagined it. A beautiful and strong Rogue Master. A righteous thief who appeared and disappeared like a ghost. ¡®Actually, it¡¯s kind of funny for a thief to be speaking of righteousness.¡¯ But she didn¡¯t care about that. Cordelia opened her eyes again and looked forward to tomorrow with a happy face. And the next morning. ¡°Hey! What is this?! What is this!¡± ¡°Umm¡­was it a problem with pink hair? Or that the color of the dynamite was pink¡­¡± ¡°Aaah, so annoying!¡± The front page of the newspaper which they had bought in the streets at morning contained articles about the Rogue Master as they had expected. Jude and Cordelia seeded in informing the entire royal capital of the Rogue Master¡¯s return as they had expected. But there was one minor problem. PHANTOM THIEF PINK BOMB APPEARS PHANTOM THIEF PINK BOMB, IS SHE REALLY A ROGUE MASTER? PHANTOM THIEF PINK BOMB¡¯S BRILLIANT DEBUT That name was mentioned much more often than the Rogue Master wherever they looked. ¡®Well, as I had nned.¡¯ Frankly speaking, if the names Pink Bomb and Rogue Master were written side by side, the former would most likely stand out. ¡®Now, Velkian will soon know of it.¡¯ The Phantom Thief Pink Bomb name. Jude grinned while the annoyed Cordelia cursed for some time as she seriously cut out the articles with her scissors to keep them as newspaper clippings. And on the night two dayster. Jude and Cordelia began their next move. Chapter 151 - EPISODE 151 – PHANTOM THIEF (3)

Chapter 151 - EPISODE 151 ¨C PHANTOM THIEF (3)

Minister of Defense?had now been changed to?Lord Protector. Please do note that the ¡®Lord Protector¡¯ used in this series is more of a nickname than an actual title. Kalium, the capital of the S?len Kingdom, was the secondrgest metropolis in the world, boasting a poption that was more than that of a small country, and of being the wealthiest city in the kingdom. Tens of thousands of people would travel to and from the royal capital every day, and huge amounts of money were traded daily, enough to fill up a hundred wagons. The City of Light. The gloriousnd that shines the brightest in the Holy Kingdom of S?len. But the brighter the light was, the darker was the shadow. The underworld of the royal capital was greater and more threatening than the underworlds of any city in the kingdom. ¡®Because there are several thief guilds in just one city.¡¯ A thief guild sounded like a decent organization, but in reality, it was different. It was not an exaggeration to say that the thief guilds were actuallyprehensive criminal organizations. They did not only steal but also did all kinds of shady and illegal things. The adult entertainment industry such as gambling and prostitution were a given, and if one went further, there were also some guilds involved in violent crimes such as contract killing, kidnapping and abduction. ¡®The ck Moon is the most vicious among them.¡¯ The ck Moon dominated more than half of the royal capital¡¯s underworld starting from pickpocketing in the back alleys up to human and drug trafficking. The reason the ck Moon could do all that so boldly ¨C no, there were two reasons why they ended up dealing with such dangerous stuff in the first ce. ¡®One, their guild leader, Karma, is the embodiment of desire.¡¯ There was no good or evil for him. There was only loss and profit for him. Will it benefit you? Then kill your parents. Will it cost you? Then kill even the children. He was a ruthless and cruel tyrant, and that allowed him to devour the underworld of the royal capital. ¡°He doesn¡¯t hesitate.¡± It was Karma¡¯s habit and it was true. He was a blood and iron ruler who did not hesitate to even kill his own father. ¡®The second reason is that he has the protection of the Lord Protector.¡¯ The ck Moon received the full support of the political forces centered on the Lord Protector. Whatever goods the ck Moon had were able to quickly cross the gates unquestioned, and all kinds of criminal activities that took ce every day were buried in the dark and not revealed. That was the reason. And as to why that reason came to be. Karma and the ck Moon were the hounds of the Lord Protector. They were hunting dogs who earned a lot of money, listened well to him, and handled all kinds of dirty stuff for him. ¡®But even the ck Moon couldn¡¯t get its hands on the entire royal capital.¡¯ The royal capital was too wide for them. Since so many people lived there. Moreover, the Lord Protector wasn¡¯t the only influential person as the royal family also possessed a strong influence. There were political forces that were clearly against him. ¡®And that is why several forces still remained.¡¯ Those who were not active in the main part of the royal capital, which was the center, but upied the outer part instead. Among those forces was an organization called the Blue Moon. A so-called thief guild that was proud of their history and tradition, and was thergest force in the royal capital before the ck Moon gained power. ¡°Is she reallying?¡¯ When asked by the blonde beauty, Janifer, who was his loyal right arm and the guild¡¯s second-inmand, the quite dignified and handsome middle-aged man who was the guild leader and first-inmand, Supp¨¦, nodded his head. ¡°She will reallye. Because she¡¯s the real Rogue Master.¡± As he spoke in a voice mixed with a bit of delight, he took out the white card again. It was the calling card of the Rogue Master Pink Bomb, who caused an uproar and became the talk of the town. The palm-sized card had the following text prettily handwritten. I¡¯ll visit you tonight. -Rogue Master Pink Bomb A brief yet meaningful sentence was written, and behind the card was the stamp of a beautiful woman¡¯s lip mark. ¡°It¡¯s pink.¡± As Supp¨¦ touched the card¡¯s lip mark with an ecstatic face, Janifer said with narrowed eyes. ¡°I¡¯m saying this out of concern, but surely¡­you haven¡¯t tried kissing it with your lips, right?¡± ¡°N-no, I did not? I just looked at it. No, I¡¯ve only touched it! I-I haven¡¯t kissed it!¡± Supp¨¦ hurriedly answered and nced at Janifer as he read her expression, and Janifer¡¯s eyes narrowed more before she said in a chilling tone. ¡°If you want to do it, do it secretly. Without anyone knowing.¡± ¡°B-but I didn¡¯t, okay?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll trust your words then.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Supp¨¦ cleared his throat before he put the card back into the drawer and corrected his posture. Supp¨¦ and Janifer. The number 1 and number 2 of the Blue Moon Guild. The base of the Blue Moon was located near the east gate of the royal capital and was arge bar that paid its taxes well and operated normally. Supp¨¦ and Janifer were the bar owner and top bartender respectively. The ce where the two were in as they faced each other was the bar owner¡¯s office. ¡°Why is the Rogue Master looking for us anyway?¡± ¡°Because she needs information for her thefts?¡± ¡°She didn¡¯t go to the ck Moon?¡± ¡°Janifer, you¡¯re my guild member, right? And why are your words getting shorter?¡± ¡°It¡¯s suspicious. Why is she contacting our Blue Moon instead of the ck Moon? No, perhaps it¡¯s not just us. She might have already visited the ck Moon.¡± When Janifer, who was dressed as a bartender, narrowed her eyes again, the tuxedo-wearing Supp¨¦ frowned and said. ¡°Well, we¡¯ll see about that when we meet her. Because she¡¯s a real Rogue Master. That fact alone makes meeting her worth it.¡± ¡°By the way, boss.¡± ¡°When we¡¯re in the store, call me?chief.¡± ¡°You care about the trivial things, Mr. Fastidious Chief.¡± ¡°Why do I keep you as number 2?¡± ¡°Because I¡¯mpetent and beautiful?¡± ¡°It¡¯s sad that both are true.¡± ¡°Because I¡¯m the chief¡¯s mistress after all.¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m single on my family register, right? So the thing between us isn¡¯t an affair, right? So please don¡¯t say that and just ept the ring.¡± ¡°I tend to avoid dating at work.¡± Janifer cut him short and Supp¨¦ pouted before he leant on his chair. ¡°Anyway, what were you saying?¡± ¡°Why are you so sure that Pink Bomb is the Rogue Master? Frankly, I¡¯m not convinced. She may have sent a notice and pulled it sessfully, but it was only once.¡± ¡°Hohoho¡­that¡¯s what amateurs think.¡± ¡°Well, she did not fight and only run.¡± ¡°What did you say?¡± ¡°I said thatst night¡¯s chief was really awesome.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem, was I a bit intensest night?¡± ¡°Yes, but I want you to tell me in what way I¡¯m an amateur.¡± As Janifer smoothly changed the subject again, Supp¨¦ stroked his beautifully grown beard and said. ¡°You¡¯re an amateur when ites to the Rogue Master. On the other hand, I can be called an expert of the Rogue Master.¡± ¡°Are you saying you¡¯re crazy about them?¡± ¡°I¡¯m a big fan.¡± Supp¨¦ smiled as he opened a drawer and took out some well-made cards that he arranged on the desk. ¡°Trading card?¡± ¡°It¡¯s my collection. The Rogue Master is the eternal idol of thieves.¡± Different tools were drawn on the five cards, and Janifer then understood what each card meant. ¡°These are the treasures of the Rogue Master.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, and the most important of those was thest treasure, the Moon Crystal.¡± Supp¨¦ picked up the card with a beautiful crystal drawn on it, and flicked his fingers on it before saying. ¡°Janifer, do you know anything about the past Rogue Masters?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know much.¡± ¡°Then you¡¯ll know this time. Let me exin.¡± Supp¨¦ smiled again as he looked at the remaining four cards and said. ¡°There had been a total of five Rogue Masters so far. But the only one who had all five treasures was the first.¡± ¡°They didn¡¯t pass the treasures to the next generation?¡± ¡°The first didn¡¯t let them directly inherit it. She hid the five treasures in different ces and hoped that the next Rogue Master would find it.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°To test the next Rogue Master. Like whether they truly deserve to be a Rogue Master.¡± Supp¨¦ grinned and seemed to be asking if that was cool, but Janifer still didn¡¯t smile. ¡°It seems like they weren¡¯t able to collect all the treasures from the 2nd?generation onwards.¡± ¡°Yes, the 2nd?generation only collected four treasures. He couldn¡¯t find thest treasure in the end. But¡­there¡¯s where the tragedy began.¡± ¡°Tragedy?¡± ¡°Yeah, tragedy. The 2nd?generation hid all the treasure back in their original position before they retired in order to follow the 1st?generation¡¯s dying wish. He repaired the traps and stuff like that. But the 3rd?generation didn¡¯t do that. The 3rd?generation who only found 3 out of the 5 treasures simply handed them over to the 4th?generation¡­so they handed the treasures over to their child.¡± ¡°I think I understand. They were supposed to find each and every one of them in order but¡­ they just handed it over without putting it back to its original location, so they couldn¡¯t find the rest of the treasures even if they wanted to?¡± Janifer spoke in a calm tone, and Supp¨¦ was surprised and blinked his eyes. ¡°What¡­how did you know?¡± ¡°I naturally got it from the context.¡± Supp¨¦ furrowed his brows at Janifer¡¯s answer but soon nodded. She was second-inmand because she was verypetent in the first ce. ¡°In any case, the 4th?generation only got three treasures¡­and in the 5th?generation, it became unknown to them on where the original Rogue Master hid her treasures.¡± And the 5th?generation disappeared without being followed by a 6th?generation. No one knew where the three treasures he got had disappeared to. ¡°And then Pink Bomb appeared. She also had the illusory treasure, the Moon Crystal!¡± Janifer nodded as Supp¨¦ excitedly raised the card with the Moon Crystal. ¡°I see, so it¡¯s real?¡± ¡°Yes, she has thest treasure. She is the new Rogue Master who inherited all the treasures of the first in a true sense, unlike the Rogue Masters of the 2nd?to the 5th?generation.¡± The Moon Crystal was real. He couldn¡¯t imagine it to be fake and just be some staging and special effects. ¡°She¡¯s real. Pink Bomb is the real Rogue Master!¡± ¡°I see. I think she has arrived.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Eh¡­hello?¡± The first was Supp¨¦, next was Janifer, and then Supp¨¦ again, with thest one being the woman with pink hair who was standing in front of the window. ¡°Pi-Pink Bomb?!¡± Supp¨¦ stood up from his chair in surprise while Janifer touched the dagger she had hidden in her waist. And at that moment, another person appeared within a ck wind. A ck haired man who wore all ck from the clothes to the mask and the cloak. Tension spread in Janifer¡¯s face, and Supp¨¦ nervously observed Jude, the new person who had appeared. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t be so vignt. This is my assistant.¡± The smiling Cordelia, who had tied up her hair together because she was Pink Bomb now, twirled a lock of her hair with one hand and spoke. ¡°Say hi to them, ck Cloak, my assistant.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s introduction, Janifer narrowed her eyes while Supp¨¦ frowned. ¡°ck¡­Cloak?¡± ¡°Yes, ck Cloak. Right, ck Cloak?¡± As Cordelia said with a bright smile, Jude hurriedly nced at her. ¡®Hey, ck Cloak?¡¯ ¡®Yes, ck Cloak.¡¯ You should try it too. It¡¯s exciting. Cordelia mischievously smiled and snorted, while Jude grinned and politely said to Supp¨¦. ¡°It¡¯s an honor to meet you. I am ck Cloak who serves Pink Bomb. Pink Bomb named me herself, so I¡¯m really proud of my ck Cloak name.¡± Supp¨¦ and Janifer¡¯s gazes turned to Cordelia again at Jude¡¯s self-introduction. A gaze that seemed to look at her strangely. ¡®Well, she named herself Pink Bomb in the first ce.¡¯ ¡®ck Cloak is a good one though.¡¯ Even though the two weren¡¯t Jude, it seemed like Cordelia could hear their thoughts by just looking at them. ¡®N-no! It¡¯s not me! I didn¡¯t create it! So don¡¯t look at me with those eyes!¡¯ Cordelia shouted in her mind and looked at them in earnest, but the only one who could understand her was Jude. Therefore, Jude happily smiled to Cordelia whose face and ears had turned red. ¡®Haha, who were you trying to boss around?¡¯ ¡®I hate you. I really hate you.¡¯ Cordelia red at him as her lips quivered, and she coughed once before she turned to Supp¨¦ again. ¡°Are you Supp¨¦, the guild master of the Blue Moon?¡± ¡°Yes, I am Supp¨¦, the guild master of the Blue Moon. This is Janifer, our guild¡¯s second-inmand.¡± ¡°I am Janifer.¡± Following Supp¨¦¡¯s introduction, Janifer bowed and introduced herself, and Cordelia nodded with a satisfied face. ¡°I think we¡¯ll have a wonderful conversation.¡± ¡°The Rogue Master is the envy of Salen¡¯s- no, of all the thieves in the continent.¡± Supp¨¦ gently smiled and spoke, and Cordelia¡¯s smile grew wider. She was worried about on what to do if he had doubted her, but he seemed to have believed in herpletely. ¡®But don¡¯t let your guard down.¡¯ ¡®I know.¡¯ Cordelia shrugged her shoulders and greeted Supp¨¦ again. ¡°Anyway, nice to meet you. I am the Rogue Master, Pi-Pink¡­Bomb.¡± Cordelia spoke with some difficulty before she stretched out her hand. Supp¨¦ was embarrassed for a moment before he quickly grabbed Cordelia¡¯s hand. ¡°It¡¯s an honor.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, but don¡¯t say that you won¡¯t wash your hands in the future.¡± As she said that with a wink, Supp¨¦ staggered and grabbed his chest. Because she was so pretty. ¡°Chief, even if I¡¯m not your mistress, I think it would be very bad to show that in front of your lover.¡± When Janifer quickly and quietly spoke with her eyes feeling more sharp than usual, Supp¨¦ came to his senses and corrected his posture. ¡°But what is the Rogue Master doing here?¡± The appearance of a Rogue Master wasn¡¯t that pleasurable from a guild¡¯s perspective. She was a big figure who would remain even if the existing order was shaken. At Supp¨¦¡¯s question, Cordelia smiled again and said as she moved closer to Jude. ¡°Because I¡¯m a neer who had just entered the royal capital. Isn¡¯t it natural for me to greet the Blue Moon Guild who has supported the underworld of the royal capital for a long time?¡± ¡°Even if the ck Moon is strong now¡­it¡¯s just something temporary. The Blue Moon is the true owner of the traditional underworld.¡± Jude spoke after Cordelia, and Supp¨¦ immediately looked at Cordelia instead of smiling. And Cordelia said as she looked into Supp¨¦¡¯s eyes. ¡°I won¡¯t go to the ck Moon. Because they crossed the line. There¡¯s a line that even thieves have to follow, right?¡± Cordelia provocatively spoke with a little anxiety as she drew her face closer to Supp¨¦, who smiled instead of being flustered. He then asked in a quiet voice. ¡°Are you thinking of stirring up the darkness in the royal capital?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll have to wait and see.¡± Cordelia softly spoke and stepped back, and Supp¨¦ smiled as he found it interesting before he pointed to the sofa in the middle of the office. ¡°Let¡¯s listen to some more stories first. You aren¡¯t just here to say hello, right?¡± The guild master position in the Blue Moon wasn¡¯t an easy task. Cordelia straightly nodded and sat down on the sofa while Jude sat by Cordelia¡¯s side and slightly moved forward as he began to speak. ¡°We want to buy information.¡± For future activities. And to make them believe that we¡¯re going to behave in some secret way. Information didn¡¯t just flow in one direction. The fact that they wanted some information was enough to let the other person know. ¡°That sounds like a good deal.¡± Supp¨¦ smiled as he faced Jude. *** Their conversation didn¡¯tst long. It was literally short but meaningful. After the deal was done, Supp¨¦ asked Cordelia who had stepped back after the deal was made. ¡°Pink Bomb.¡± ¡°You can call me Rogue Master.¡± I mean, please call me that. Please. ¡°Then Rogue Master.¡± ¡°Yes, guild master.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll prepare the information you want by tomorrow but¡­will it be okay? It will be the founding celebration soon.¡± An eventmemorating the 300th?founding anniversary of the country was just around the corner. Since many guests woulde from abroad, the security in the royal capital was bound to increase. Is it possible to be active by this time of the year? Shouldn¡¯t we just wait for some time? Cordelia smiled a little at Supp¨¦¡¯s question. She directly stared at Suppe¡¯s face and said. ¡°Supp¨¦, I¡¯m the Rogue Master.¡± In a way, her deration was childish yet provocative. But that mystery captured Supp¨¦¡¯s heart. There was still the young boy in his mind who considered the Rogue Maser as his hero. ¡°I look forward to it.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll look forward to Supp¨¦ too.¡± May tomorrow¡¯s information be perfect. Cordelia winked before she stood up while Jude widely opened the window for Cordelia. ¡°See you tomorrow.¡± Cordelia lightly waved her hand and flew out of the window, and Jude bowed in a theatrical manner before he threw himself out of the window. And a few minutester. After they had left the area where the Blue Moon was located, Jude and Cordelia hid in the back alley and quickly changed back to their original clothes. Because they had to return to Adelia¡¯s mansion before it was toote. ¡°Get on my back.¡± ¡°Yes, but Jude. Before that, I have a question.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Can we think this through first?¡± Should the Rogue Master just rush over? I¡¯m sure the royal family would be very worried about the security of the royal capital. At Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude said with a face that was saying that this was too obvious. ¡°Of course, we have to consider things.¡± If the royal capital just before the founding anniversary was noisy because of the Rogue Master and the thief guilds, it would be an embarrassment for the royal family. ¡°We have to do it a lot, but two times will be the limit, I think?¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes, so we have to pick those two and rob them.¡± As effectively as possible. While widely promoting the name of the Rogue Master, it would also deal a blow to the Lord Protector and the ck Moon. ¡°Hmm¡­will it go well?¡± Instead of answering Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude brought up another topic. ¡°You know what, Cordelia?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Absolute power will absolutely corrupt a person.¡± They shouldn¡¯t act foolishly like those demon followers. ¡°Are you saying that we should watch our backs?¡± ¡°There are many things that we shouldn¡¯t reveal.¡± Because there would be too many ces for them to be stabbed at. It would be troubling to not know where they would be stabbed. ¡°Well, good. This kind of work should be left to my Jude. Birds of a feather flock together.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± ¡°Cordelia knows nothing. Anyway, let¡¯s go quickly, ck Cloak.¡± ¡°Okay, Pink Bomb.¡± Jude and Cordelia exchanged jabs at each other and awkwardly smiled before they headed to Adelia¡¯s mansion. Chapter 152 - EPISODE 152 – ROGUE MASTER (1)

Chapter 152 - EPISODE 152 ¨C ROGUE MASTER (1)

Terms used in this chapter: Arrow receiver?¨C a person or army who stood in the front of a group in order to stop arrows from flying towards the group. Basically a human shield for arrows. Penal battalion?¨C a military formation consisting of convicts who are mobilized for military service. One more thing, Saint Tail¡¯s line of?Lord, please allow me to be a righteous thief again today?is usually said before her magical girl transformation: The Ten Great Swordmasters. The ten great swordmasters who were the pride of the S?len Kingdom. Each one of them could not be simply defined as a knight. They weren¡¯t ordinary people They were the chosen ones. They were those geniuses who had been gifted by the heavens with a talent for swordsmanship and eventually rose to the level of superhumans after endless efforts. Therefore, each one of them was a legend, a living incarnation of the sword, and a goal for everyone who walked the path of the sword. Duke Antarius. He was the oldest among the ten great swordmasters, and was also the hero who saved the country in the war between the S?len Kingdom and the Argon Empire. He was more famous for his nickname ¡®Lord Protector,¡¯ but he wasn¡¯t of noble origin. He was presumed to be amoner¡¯s child. A war orphan who did not even know who his parents were. So he began his life from the very bottom. Before he grew up, he worked as a pickpocket and moved around the back alleys, and after he grew up, he was conscripted and became a soldier. He wasn¡¯t even a proper soldier, but an arrow receiver stuck in the penal battalions. But he did not face a miserable death. When he picked up a sword instead of a mediocre spear which he didn¡¯t knew if it came from their allies or enemies, he felt a strange sensation as if the sword had stuck to his hand. And he survived. He sharpened and polished his swordsmanship in actual battles, and when the war was over, he was no longer a criminal conscripted into the penal battalion but a nobleman with a title. ¡®A sess story.¡¯ War hero. He started out as amoner but became a nobleman through his own skills. The soldiers loved him and were proud of him. He became a legend in the war against the Argon Empire at a time when the king was just crowned. Not only did he lead numerous battles to victory, but he also saved the king¡¯s life. He eventually ended the war by defeating the imperial swordmaster, Carlos, who was the actualmander-in-chief of the enemy. He had stopped the invasion of the Argon Empire. He had protected the Ctes ins, the most fertilend on the continent. ¡®That is why he¡¯s the Lord Protector.¡¯ A hero who protected and saved the country. The man then raised his head. He saw the duke to be around sixty to seventy but still looked healthy. The duke¡¯s back was very straight, and the muscles in his entire body did not weaken at all. That was why Count Lohan bowed down and held back his fear as he faced the Lord Protector. ¡°Did you say Rogue Master?¡± ¡°Yes, someone who imed to be that stole the Green Goddess¡¯ Teardrop and several treasures from Viscountess Venus¡¯ mansion.¡± ¡°So?¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°So what?¡± The eyes of the Lord Protector as it looked down on Count Lohan were very cold. Count Lohan unconsciously gulped and realized it. The Lord Protector wasn¡¯t angry at the Rogue Master. He was indifferent and only a bit angry. Did Lohan talk to him when only Venus¡¯ own possessions were stolen which weren¡¯t important to him? Should he pay attention to such trivial things? ¡°I will make sure it will not interfere with our work.¡± Count Lohan quickly spoke, and the Lord Protector gently turned around. Feeling more anxious about the duke¡¯s movement, Count Lohan opened his mouth again. ¡°Apart from Viscountess Venus¡¯ work, the preparations for the revolt are steadily progressing.¡± The 300th?founding anniversary of the S?len Kingdom was only a month away. That day would also be the beginning of a new history for the Lord Protector and those who followed him. ¡®A new royal family.¡¯ A restructuring of the political circles. Count Lohan¡¯s face did not hide his joy. For him, the founding anniversary was the day of the revolt where the existing royal family would disappear and be reced by a new royal family, and that Count Lohan himself would be the new center of power. The Lord Protector knew what Count Lohan was thinking deep inside. But he did not bother to correct Count Lohan¡¯s misunderstanding since it was an idea that he himself had nted in the first ce. What Count Lohan wanted and what the Lord Protector wanted. They looked simr, but were different in essence. ¡°We don¡¯t have much time left. Prepare thoroughly.¡± ¡°I will do so.¡± Count Lohan bowed before he hurriedly left the room of the Lord Protector. As the Lord Protector had said, he shouldn¡¯t be bothered by the theft. ¡®I have no choice but to leave it to the ck Moon.¡¯ He didn¡¯t bring up the Rogue Master¡¯s story because of Viscountess Venus. It was because a second notice had arrivedst night. Like Viscountess Venus, the Rogue Master would visit Count Macan¡¯s mansion tomorrow night, a man who was in charge of moneyundering and other shady things. ¡®It would be perfect to stop a thief with another thief.¡¯ Those were things they were used to doing in the first ce. Count Lohan spoke to himself as he hastened his steps. As the Lord Protector had said, they only had a month left until their revolt, so he shouldn¡¯t be caught up in trivial matters. ¡°Marquis Lohan¡­ No, Duke Lohan.¡± Count Lohan stroked his well-groomed beard and imagined his future self. He did not hide his smile. He joyfully smiled and walked forward. *** And the next evening. Adelia sat at the head of the high-end table she bought after spending half a year¡¯s sry, and she held her chin with a very sullen expression even though she was eating. It was because of the sight that was happening before her eyes. ¡°Wow, this is really delicious.¡± ¡°Yeah, isn¡¯t the sauce really good?¡± ¡°Milord, Milord, can you cook this?¡± ¡°Perhaps?¡± ¡°Wow, as expected of Milord.¡± ¡°Why? Do you want to eat it againter?¡± ¡°Yes, I want to eat this again next time.¡± ¡°If my princess wants it. But Princess, isn¡¯t it bad to be a picky eater? You should eat your carrots.¡± ¡°Do I have to eat boiled carrots when I have Milord? Eat some for me instead. Here.¡± Cordelia took a carrot with a fork and held it out to Jude, who skillfully grabbed the fork and held it out to Cordelia. ¡°Here, say ¡®Ah.¡¯ Ah.¡± ¡°Hey, what are you doing? I¡¯ll just eat it so give it to me.¡± ¡°So you don¡¯t want to say ¡®ah¡¯?¡± ¡°You¡­ Ah. Okay. Ah~¡± As Cordelia opened her mouth like a baby bird, Jude fed her the carrot while Adelia said words out of her mouth after enduring it. ¡°You two are seriously crazy, damn it.¡± Can¡¯t you see I¡¯m here? You two have fallen into a world of your own, haven¡¯t you? I miss Lord Ga?l. We are sweeter and more affectionate than you two. ¡°Ahem, ahem, ahem.¡± Upon realizing Adelia¡¯s existence, Cordelia quickly took back her fork from Jude who held back hisughter and began eating again. But Adelia decided to bring up a different topic instead of continuing to eat with them. ¡°My younger siblings, it¡¯s good to be lovey-dovey, but pick the time and ce, okay?¡± ¡°We¡¯re not lovey-dovey.¡± Cordelia timidly refuted it but immediately closed her mouth when Adelia red at her, while Jude waited for Adelia¡¯s next words. It was probably that time now. ¡°Our father and father-inw areing.¡± ¡°Lord Ga?l too?¡± ¡°Lord Ga?l will alsoe. Ah, our older brother will alsoe.¡± ¡°Edward-oppa?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s the 300th?founding anniversary celebration.¡± One person was always left in their house whenever an event happened, but the event this time had the entire household leaving without anyone remaining behind. ¡°May I know when they would arrive?¡± ¡°If nothing goes wrong, they¡¯ll arrive around the afternoon on the day after tomorrow.¡± A smile spread across Adelia¡¯s face in her excitement to see Ga?l. ¡°By the way, unnie.¡± ¡°Yes, my younger brother.¡± ¡°Will we all stay in unnie¡¯s mansion?¡± ¡°That would be impossible.¡± Adelia¡¯s mansion wasn¡¯t very small, but it was notrge enough for one or two counts to stay in. ¡®In addition, there¡¯ll be a lot of people following them.¡¯ Perhaps Maja and Dahlia would be following hem, so their group would number almost twenty. ¡°The royal family decided to provide a part of the royal pce as a residence for nobles who do not have a mansion in the royal capital. These pces are in the outer part, but it¡¯ll be much better than most luxurious amodations.¡± ¡°Uh, wait. Will we move too then?¡± ¡°You have to move too. I¡¯ll go too.¡± After answering Cordelia¡¯s question as if it were natural, Adeliaid down her fork and continued. ¡°So¡­having fun at night would only be until today, okay?¡± Having fun at night. At Adelia¡¯s words, Cordelia flinched while Jude was also surprised. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you two? Haven¡¯t I told you? This is my house, so I can see everything like the palm of my hand. Do you think I wouldn¡¯t know that you¡¯ve been going out to have fun every night?¡± Adelia was not an ordinary noble youngdy. She was one of the sevenmanders of the Royal Guard Magic Corps. ¡®Wha-what should we do?¡¯ ¡®Don¡¯t worry about it. As far as my observation goes, she doesn¡¯t know of the fact that you¡¯re Pink Bomb¡­¡¯ ¡®Rogue Master. Rogue Master. Rogue Master!¡¯ ¡®Yes, she because she doesn¡¯t even know that you¡¯re the Rogue Master.¡¯ Maybe she thought that they were really going out to have fun at night. Because there were several streets that were open at night in this huge and big city. ¡°Do you understand what I said?¡± ¡°Yes, I understand.¡± Cordelia nodded her head and Adelia grinned before saying to Jude. ¡°I know that both of you are strong, but don¡¯t go to dangerous ces. Stay in safe and crowed ces. If you go into a secluded ce and try to do something shady, I¡¯ll be really mad, okay?¡± ¡°Uh¡­yes. I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡± ¡°Good, I¡¯ll trust in you.¡± Adelia smiled with her lips but did not smile with her eyes before she then stood up. ¡°Anyway, go and have fun. Don¡¯t be out toote.¡± ¡°Yes, unnie. Thanks.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Adelia smiled and turned around as she left the dining room, and Jude and Cordelia who were left looked at each other again. ¡®We can do it today, but what about the next?¡¯ ¡®We¡¯ll have to make a gap somehow. Let¡¯s just focus on today¡¯s work for now.¡¯ The second activity of the Rogue Master. Cordelia nodded as she resumed eating, and Jude pushed the boiled carrots that Cordelia had pushed away, back into the center of the te. *** ¡°Goddesses of the moons, please allow me to be a righteous thief again today.¡± In the name of Selene and Helene. Afterpleting the prayers that Jude imed to be a necessary ritual, Cordelia quickly began to change her clothes. ¡°Because there¡¯s no magical girl transformation.¡± ¡°Hey, don¡¯t look this way. Just get changed.¡± Unlike Jude who only had to wear a cloak and mask, Cordelia had a lot of clothes to change in. Cordelia wore the rabbit ears and tail before she dyed her hair bright pink and then looked at Jude. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Yes, Madam.¡± Cordelia quickly climbed on Jude¡¯s back, and Jude became a ck gale as he traversed the night of the royal capital. Around 30 minutester. Cordelia crouched on the roof as she looked and frowned at the distant mansion. Because dozens of lights illuminated the darkness, and what seemed to be a hundred people were closely guarding the walls of the mansion as well as the garden. ¡°No matter how much I think about it, the Rogue Master is really crazy.¡± Why would you send a notice at the ce you were going to steal at? Jude strongly agreed with Cordelia¡¯s words, but he couldn¡¯tin. It was also because of the notice that the Rogue Master was able to be the ruler of thieves. ¡®A truly free thief.¡¯ The ruler of thieves who could get anything they wanted and can ovee any hindrance. ¡°Isn¡¯t that half of the ck Moon?¡± ¡°Yeah, perhaps. A bunch of them would be inside the mansion too.¡± She couldn¡¯t help but sigh at her situation. She had no choice but to go with it now, especially when she had decided to be the Rogue Master. ¡°ck Cloak, are you ready?¡± ¡°Of course, Pink Bomb.¡± Jude responded in a theatrical manner before he opened his prepared bag while Cordelia brightly smiled. ¡°Shall we make it explode?¡± ¡°Do it as much as you want. But if you do that, you¡¯re no longer a thief, okay?¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m the Rogue Master. Not Thief Master.¡± Jude had a nk look at Cordelia¡¯s assertion before he soon nodded. ¡°Well, it¡¯s convincing.¡± ¡°You agree, right? Anyway, let¡¯s begin.¡± Cordelia held a bag full of pink dynamite in one hand as she took out the Moon Crystal with the other. And Jude naturally hugged Cordelia as the moonlight shone on the Moon Crystal and activated it. The legend of the pink explosion angel had begun. Chapter 153 - EPISODE 153 – ROGUE MASTER (2)

Chapter 153 - EPISODE 153 ¨C ROGUE MASTER (2)

Terms used in this chapter: Lulupi, Lulupang, Luluyap?¨C a reference to Saint Tail again, but only for the Korean dub. These are the lines Saint Tail says when she magically transforms in the Korean dub. The English and Japanese dubs have Saint Tail only saying ¡®one, two, three.¡¯ Mission Clear?¨C a line usually seen in games when you¡¯vepleted a given mission or goal. Lloyd, a 23 year old man working as a guard for the royal capital, stared at the night sky in a daze. He had no choice but to do that. The moonlight illuminated the night sky. And an angel descended as she headed for the roof. The angel was real and not a metaphor. A beautiful and pretty woman who could only be seen in fantasies and dreams had widely spread her wings of light. Therefore, Lloyd and the other 40 members of the Royal Capital Guard, the 30 private guards of Count Macan, and the 30 armed personnel sent by the ck Moon, all looked at the angel. None of them thought of sounding the rm or shouting. A few seconds passed. The angel finallynded on the roof and brightly smiled, and even though half of her face was covered by a ck butterfly mask, Lloyd unknowingly blushed and was entranced. And it wasn¡¯t just Lloyd. Everyone present regardless of age or sex were fascinated by the beauty of the angel for some time. ¡®Wha-what¡¯s wrong with them?¡¯ Cordelia was rather embarrassed and blinked her eyes, and the only one who could answer her, Jude, was hugging her from behind so she couldn¡¯t make eye contact with him. So Cordelia decided to just act instead of worrying about it. ¡°Lulupi, Lulupang.¡± As she recited the strange chant Jude taught her, Cordelia widely spread out her arms and transformed into a witch instead of an angel. She used her telekic power to scatter dozens of pink dynamite in the air. The dynamite flew in all directions. Only then did Lloyd and the guards came to their senses. ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Ah?¡± ¡°Ah?!¡± They btedly screamed, but it was toote. Cordelia cheerfully smiled and said thest chant. ¡°Lulu~yap!¡± And she flicked her fingers. The dynamites ignited at the same time. ¡°Dodge!¡± ¡°Get down!¡± Some of the royal capital guards who had guarded the mansion of the first victim, Viscountess Venus, shouted as quick as lightning. And the sound of a real lightning swallowed up all their cries. Babababababang! A series of explosions rang as one. Pink smoke engulfed the entire mansion of Count Macan. And a huge bang sounded again. The roar this time was created by Jude¡¯s skill and not from the dynamites. Baaaaaaaaaang! When Jude¡¯s fist hit the roof, dozens of cracks appeared like a spider¡¯s web. Cordelia jumped back and Jude clenched his fist again. He struck the center of the cracks! Baaang! There was a roar. The cracks broke and a hole of with a diameter of 3 meters was created on the roof, but it did not stop there. The energy of the ck dragon from Jude¡¯s fist pierced through the 4th?floor. Baaaang! Baaaaang! Baaaang! It pierced through the 3rd, 2nd, and 1st floors! After the energy of the ck dragon broke through the floors, Jude and Cordelia passed through the 4th?floor andnded on the 3rd?floor. They raised their heads and widely smiled. ¡°Good evening?¡± ¡°Nice to meet you.¡± They greeted those who stood on the third floor. Nine knights equipped with splendid armor were with a typical potbellied noble dressed in very luxurious clothes. ¡°Get them!¡± The potbellied noble, Count Macan, cried out, and the knights drew their swords at once. But Jude created a golden whirlwind. Twenty-Four Gale Steps. The whirlwind formed. Bang! Jude disappeared. He became a gale that swept through the knights, and thunderous sounds filled the room. Babababang! Thunder roared. Seven knights copsed in one lightning strike. The two remaining knights failed to properly respond to the scene that happened so quickly, and Jude disappeared again. In an instant, he was behind the knights and poured out attacks on them. ¡°Ack!¡± The two knights fell without even being able to scream properly. Count Macan was so surprised that he stepped back, and Cordelia opened the door with telekinesis. She threw dynamites as she looked at therge hallway and the guards there. And Luluyap. Baaang! Baaaang! Baaang! The dynamites this time had explosive power unlike the previous ones that were close to smoke bombs. The ceiling and walls of the hallway copsed at the force of the terrifying explosion, and left the room with Count Macan in it isted from the mansion. ¡°Problem solved.¡± Reinforcements would nevere through the hallway since the hallway was now gone. The satisfied Cordelia made a V-sign while Jude thought that Cordelia was right. ¡°You¡¯re a real rogue. Not a thief.¡± An armed robbery. No, he thought that she was a terrorist at this point. ¡°Hello, Count Macan.¡± ¡°Eeek! Eek!¡± As Cordelia waved her hand to say hello, Count Macan stepped back and fell on his butt. And Jude spoke. ¡°He¡¯s an imposter.¡± ¡°He is?¡± A double who pretended to be Count Macan. The real Count Macan was elsewhere, and Jude knew where that ce was. ¡°Praise be to JudeWiki.¡± When Cordelia cheerfully said that, Jude smiled and then punched the stomach of the trembling Count Macan imposter to knock him out. ¡°See youter.¡± ¡°Take care of yourself.¡± ¡°You too.¡± Jude grinned as he carried the Count Macan imposter on his shoulders and then went out of the window. It was to give Cordelia enough time. ¡°The count has been kidnapped!¡± ¡°Get him!¡± ¡°Shoot the arrows! The arrows!¡± Cordelia ignored the loud sounds outside the window and moved the books on the bookshelf as Jude had told her. Pull the red book at the top and the blue book in the middle. ¡°Bingo.¡± Cordelia suddenly spoke what Jude habitually said, and she took a step back as the bookshelf opened with a mechanical sound, revealing a secret door. ¡°Count Macan! I came to pick up the things that I notified you about!¡± Cordelia loudly shouted towards the inside of the room before she stepped in. As soon as she entered the dark room, she left everything to her instincts. Gale Steps. The Bayer family¡¯s footwork techniques that she learned from Jude. Cordelia¡¯s body seemed to lean sideways as if she was falling, but she moved like the wind. She easily dodged the sword aiming for the top of her head and threw the detonating cord from her waist at the same time. Shwaaak! The detonating cord moved like a living snake and wrapped itself around the neck and torso of the man who had shed at her. The man was probably an assassin from the ck Moon. Dressed in ck clothes, the man moved his hand to remove the detonating cord, but Cordelia pushed away the man with telekinesis and shook her head. She pulled out a short detonating cord and threw it high so that the man could see it before she triggered the ignition spell. Baaang! The detonating cord exploded in the air. The firepower was not that strong, but it was still an explosion. Cordelia looked at the detonating cord around the man¡¯s neck and torso, and the man understood it. He calmly put down his sword and knocked himself out by hitting his head against the wall. ¡°I like smart men.¡± Cordelia quietly spoke before she turned around and threw a detonating cord at the same time. Shwaaak! Like a living snake again. The detonating cord moved across the air and wrapped around the neck of a man who was about to ambush her. Cordelia then pulled the detonating cord and threw the man to the floor. And she stared again. Bang! The man knocked himself out by mming his head on the floor, and Cordelia began to think about the training of the ck Moon¡¯s assassins. But it was only for a moment. Thest secret door, located beyond the secret passage, burst open and a big man appeared. ¡°Kuoooo!¡± The man loudly shouted and charged at Cordelia without saying anything else. Cordelia hurriedly tried to pull a new detonating cord, but the man was quicker than she expected. He immediately lowered his posture as if he was crawling on the floor, and attempted a powerful tackle towards Cordelia¡¯s slender waist. Bang! The man crashed into the wall with a loud sound. Cordelia should have originally been caught by the man and mmed into the wall, screaming and vomiting blood, but that did not happen. ¡°Who are you trying to hug?!¡± Having avoided the man¡¯s tackle with Fairy Steps, Cordelia turned around and fired her magic while using the Spell¡¯s Echo and Double Casting at the same time. ¡°4 consecutive !¡± Shaa! Shaa! Shaa! Shaa! Two spells froze both legs of the man to the floor and made his feet be bound to the floor. This alonepletely stopped the man¡¯s movement, but Cordelia remained vignt. She had an expression of extreme disgust, but she couldn¡¯t help it, so she clenched her fist and exerted her telekic power on a specific body part of the man. ¡°Aaaah!¡± A body part where no amount of training could build up its defense. The man fainted after screaming once, and the extremely disgusted Cordelia wiped her hands with her clothes before she stepped inside the secret door. ¡°Hello, Count Macan. This is Rogue Master, Pink Bomb.¡± Cordelia slightly grabbed the hem of her skirt and bowed, and the real Count Macan stepped back and cursed. ¡°What Rogue Master bullsh*t! You¡¯re not a thief! You¡¯re a bombing wizard!¡± ¡°Well, it actually is like what you said.¡± Cordelia shrugged before she moved her hands and threw the detonating cord. The detonating cord that was like a living snake moved with her telekic power and wrapped around Count Macan. ¡°Hey! Do you know who¡¯s behind me?! The Lord Protector will not forgive you!¡± ¡°Yes, I know.¡± ¡°Yeah what?! Do my words sound ridiculous?!¡± ¡°Well¡­you don¡¯t need to be awake because I know everything anyway, okay?¡± ¡°What?¡± Cordelia kicked Count Macan in ¡®that ce¡¯ instead of answering him, and Count Macan passed out without even being able to scream. ¡°Well¡­anyway, problem solved.¡± She was a bit ufortable, but she still solved the problem. Cordelia shrugged and began to pack the necessary items into the expansion bag. Dangerous drugs and artworks that were known to be stolen or disappeared. And even a secret ledger handwritten by Count Macan. ¡®Did he say that this was the most important?¡¯ She honestly questioned where and how they would use the ledger, but she took it because Jude was knowledgeable in this. I did well on my own. ¡°Shall we go then?¡± Cordelia lightly moved her hand as she took the bag and left the secret room. Hearing that there were still loud sounds outside the window, she thought that Jude seemed to be doing well. ¡®I have to quickly join him.¡¯ Jude could have gotten hurt because of a mistake. Cordelia urgently moved as she spread her angel wings and flew up. She stepped out of the 4th?floor¡¯s roof and looked at the ground. The Count Macan imposter was hang likeundry on the wall, and most of the guards were gathered on the sides of the wall. And a ck wind blew from behind her. ¡°You¡¯re here?¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m here.¡± Cordelia thought that she was worried for nothing, and felt a strange sense of relief before she immediately took out the Moon Crystal. ¡°I took the treasures of Count Macan!¡± As if to match Cordelia¡¯s cry, Jude took out several paintings from the bag and disyed it to everyone. These were the treasures that they had informed in advance in their notice card. ¡°I thank Selene for allowing me to be a righteous thief again.¡± Jude and Cordelia simultaneously bowed in a theatrical manner, and the moonlight shone like a spotlight to them. Once the moonlight disappeared, it would be Mission Clear. The second heist of the Rogue Master would be a huge sess too. But it was at that moment. Cordelia suddenly turned her head to the side. Jude also noticed it a stepter. He looked at the same ce as Cordelia, and at that moment, an iron whip flew in with a snake-like movement. At that moment. Cordelia felt it with her senses. Jude made his calction. So the two moved instead of relying on the Moon Crystal¡¯s space leap. Shwaaaaak! Cordelia used her telekic power to twist the trajectory of the iron whip. However, the iron whip flew too fast, and its power was also strong. She couldn¡¯t twist itpletely. But that was enough. Jude grabbed Cordelia by the waist and moved forward. His ck Dragon¡¯s Ascent further shook the already twisted trajectory of the iron whip. Bababang! The tip of the iron whip hit the roof. Since it was filled with a strong energy, an explosion urred, and the roof was broken. Cordelia then saw the owner of the iron whip ¨C no, a very long and in sword. She was a beautiful woman with red hair the color of blood. Cordelia knew her. And so did Jude. ¡°Scarlet?!¡± One of the future four great swordmasters. She was the great granddaughter of the 5th?Rogue Master and aimed to be the contemporary Rogue Master, but whichever route the yer took, she would be a fierce enemy that they had to fight in the middle tote stages of the game. She kicked the ground. Thanks to the Rogue Master¡¯s treasure, Wings of Speed, she narrowed the distance within a moment. And Jude moved forward. He released a move from the Supreme Sun Divine Art instead of attacking or flying. ¡°The Sun¡¯s Sphere!¡± Jude had called it that even though it had a separate official name, and the attack¡¯s effect was clear. A tremendous amount of light shed from Jude¡¯s forehead in an instant. The light was so intense that even the guards who saw it from a distance were blinded too. ¡°Ugh!¡± Scarlet screamed as she rolled on the roof because she had faced the light from the front and was within a short distance from it. Right after that. Jude thought. Why is Scarlet here? Wasn¡¯t she in the empire now? And why did she attack us? Did the appearance of a new Rogue Master provoke her? In any case, those were questions forter. It was not something he should think about for now. ¡°Don¡¯t run away!¡± Scarlet loudly shouted as she stood up. She immediately opened her eyes and looked straight ahead to verify if that attack was from magic. She met eyes with Jude. Not with Jude and Cordelia, but with Jude only. ¡°We¡¯re not running away.¡± A voice came from nearby right after she opened her eyes. Scarlet hurriedly looked behind her but it was toote. Cordelia used Gale Steps to get behind Scarlet as she wrapped the detonating bomb on Scarlet¡¯s neck and whispered again. ¡°Why should we run away?¡± We¡¯re stronger than you. You¡¯re going to be one of the four great swordmasters in the future, but you¡¯re not a great swordmaster now. Moreover, this is a chance to get the remaining treasures of the Rogue Master! Cordelia gazed at Scarlet¡¯s red eyes with her blue eyes before she smiled. She pulled the detonating cord which choked Scarlet. Chapter 154 - EPISODE 154 – ROGUE MASTER (3)

Chapter 154 - EPISODE 154 ¨C ROGUE MASTER (3)

in sword has been changed into Whip Sword. This is what a whip sword looks like: This is Red Chili Paste with Anchovies: And Front Lotus is an attack used by Rock Lee from the Naruto series. Scarlet Viper. She was a femme fatale character who was especially popr among the various characters in?Legend of Heroes 2. When one selected a yable character from the Argon Empire, it became possible to go on an adventure together with her, which was the ¡®Search for the Rogue Master¡¯s Treasures,¡¯ a quest rted to her. ¡®You can go along with her in collecting the Rogue Master¡¯s treasures.¡¯ This was the reason why Jude knew where the Moon Crystal was hidden and the password to open the ce. One would eventually encounter that ce when they cleared the quests rted to Scarlet. ¡®But the problem is that she¡¯ll eventually be an enemy.¡¯ One couldn¡¯t avoid bing an enemy with Scarlet regardless of whichever yable character they chose. ¡®Soul Taker.¡¯ A magic sword with a soul-taking demon sealed in it. Having collected all the Rogue Master¡¯s treasures, Scarlet then tried to challenge and obtain the treasures of the ancient Mu Empire. Scarlet tried to use the Soul Taker as a tool for demon hunting by suppressing the demon in it, but she failed in the end and fell under the control of the magic sword. ¡®But even then, she was still the Rogue Master.¡¯ Scarlet fought against the magic sword with her superhuman willpower, and she eventually seeded in reversing the situation and controlling the magic sword. ¡®The problem is¡­that event only urred on the second half of?Legend of Heroes 3.¡¯ In other words, it could be said that Scarlet became an enemy in theter parts of?Legend of Heroes 2. A descendant of the 5th?generation Rogue Master. For the first time since the 1st?Rogue Master, she had all the five treasures, making her a true Rogue Master. ¡®And a sword genius.¡¯ She was a top swordmaster and one of the four great swordmasters in the entire?Legend of Heroes?series, though this was from the perspective of?Legend of Heroes 3. When it came to her talent, she was more of a genius than Lucas, and might even be a monsterparable to Maximilian. ¡®But¡­¡¯ That was something that would happen in the future. Now, she was just a 19 year old young person. ¡®Of course, we are younger!¡¯ If they considered their age after reincarnation, Jude and Cordelia were both 17 years old and two years younger than Scarlet. But that wasn¡¯t what mattered now. What mattered was that Cordelia perfectly aimed at Scarlet¡¯s gap and wrapped the detonating cord on her. ¡°Ack?!¡± Scarlet groaned when the detonating cord tightly wrapped around her body, but that was all she could do. She instantly tried to use her sword, but that alone couldn¡¯t help her. Because Cordelia had moved instinctively. Instead of considering this or that, she believed in her own sixth sense and did it. ¡°Explode!¡± ¡°Eh?!¡± Before Jude could say anything, Cordelia ignited the detonating cord and greatly stepped back. Scarlet didn¡¯t know what the detonating cord was and only widely opened her eyes as she felt something ominous about it, and the detonating cord exploded at that moment. Boooom! What would happen when a detonating cord was tied to a person and it was detonated? Jude immediately recalled something terrible, but fortunately, something like that didn¡¯t happen. Instead of sttering blood and having maimed body parts, apletely different sight came into Jude¡¯s eyes. ¡°Red Dragon¡¯s Armor!¡± One of the Rogue Master¡¯s five treasures. It was thin and stuck to the body like a gymnastics suit, and it didn¡¯t have the dragon name for no reason. Unlike its long johns appearance, it boasted a tremendous defensive power. ¡°You!¡± And Scarlet eximed in anger. It was not because she almost died if she did not have the Red Dragon¡¯s Armor. It was not even because the outer garments she cherished were all torn from the explosion¡¯s impact. Her hair. It was because of her blood red, long and attractive hair! It fluttered in the wind. Nearly three-quarters were cut off by the explosion, and Scarlet quickly became a short-haired beauty from a long-haired beauty. ¡°Die!¡± Scarlet hastily turned around and greatly swung her whip sword. Bits of her half-torn clothes scattered in the wind, and her whip sword increased to more than three times in an instant as it aimed at Cordelia like a snake. Shwaaak! It was fast and urate. Nevertheless, Cordelia had already foreseen where the attack woulde, so she managed to avoid the attack. ¡°Pink Bomb!¡± Jude had then shouted and looked at Cordelia. Cordelia immediately understood what Jude wanted her to do from looking at his eyes, so she rushed towards Scarlet. ¡°Don¡¯t y with me!¡± Scarlet turned again and swung her whip sword. This time, it was a cutting motion and not a piercing one, so Jude read its trajectory. He kicked the ground at once and became a gale with his golden whirlwind. Shwaaaaak! The whip sword cut through the air. Instead of retreating, Jude rushed faster and let the trajectory of the whip sword flow behind his back before he stretched out his hands and hugged Scarlet¡¯s waist. ¡°What?!¡± Scarlet was bewildered because she had thought that she would get hit by an attack. She hastily tried to hit Jude, but it was physically impossible. Jude strengthened and tightened his hug on her waist, and she unknowingly screamed and tilted her head backwards. And Cordelia hugged Scarlet from behind. Scarlet was confused again when Cordelia used her mana and held the Moon Crystal in front of Scarlet¡¯s face. ¡°Moon Crystal Power!¡± The moment she quickly shouted the spell, moonlight shone down from the sky and Scarlet realized the purpose of the two. Space leap. They wanted to leave their current location first! ¡°Get them!¡± ¡°Shoot!¡± As the personnel gathered in the garden shot their crossbows, dozens of arrows instantly covered the sky, but it was already toote. The moonlight faded, and the two plus Scarlet leapt over space. And right after that. At a vacant lot outside the outer wall, a few kilometers or more from Count Macan¡¯s mansion. Thud! Jude, Cordelia, and Scarlet transcended space with the moonlight andnded on the ground, and at that moment, Scarlet promptly activated the Red Dragon¡¯s Armor. ¡°me Dragon!¡± The red dragon who lived in mes! Having recited the spell, a dragon¡¯s me rose from the entire Red Dragon¡¯s Armor. But Jude and Cordelia were already prepared for it. Cordelia hurriedly released her hug and jumped back, while Jude threw Scarlet away. Bang! She hit the ground hard enough that a roar was heard, but Scarlet stood up right away. The Red Dragon¡¯s Armor had absorbed the shock of her being thrown. ¡°Ugh¡­¡± But she wasn¡¯tpletely unharmed. She had stood up, but she gritted her teeth while making a pained face instead of attacking them right away. ¡®As I thought! We are still stronger!¡¯ Jude nodded at Cordelia¡¯s gaze. It was not an exaggeration to say that Scarlet was in fact, stronger and superior whenpared to her peers, and the same could be said of Jude and Cordelia. Moreover, she was alone now while Jude and Cordelia were two. ¡®We can win now.¡¯ We can defeat her before she had be one of the four great swordmasters. And it was at that moment. Scarlet pulled out a dagger from her waist and threw it, and at the same time, Cordelia swung her detonating cord. Shwaaak-! Bang! The detonating cord exploded in the air and shook the atmosphere. Scarlet¡¯s dagger brushed Cordelia¡¯s cheek, and when the furious Jude kicked the ground, Scarlet activated the Wings of Speed and rushed towards Cordelia. Wings of Speed. A relic from Magen that granted its user not only the ability to float, but also the ability to rapidly elerate! It was just an instant. A distance of more than a few meters was nothing to the Wings of Speed. But this was Cordelia. Her instincts had already sensed the danger before Scarlet had even activated the Wings of Speed. At the moment when the Wings of Speed activated, her most efficient counterattack was her reflexes. Bang! Telekic power. It burst like an explosion and pushed away Scarlet who had rushed to her at a terrifying speed. Scarlet bounced and rolled over the ground a lot because her rushing speed was seriously fast, and Cordelia did not miss that opportunity. She followed with her eyes and triggered her magic at the same time. ¡°!¡± Spell¡¯s Echo, Double Casting, and high-speed chanting in session! Bababababababang-! Twenty magic missiles was instantly created and pursued Scarlet. The magic missiles¡¯ tracking ability was almost doubled because of Melissa¡¯s assistance in the Moonlight. Bang! Bang! Bang! Scarlet turned in the air and swung her whip sword to protect herself at the same time, and the magic missiles that were cut and split by the whip sword exploded, causing a chain explosion. And in those explosions, Scarlet flew. She spread her white Wings of Speed and soared into the night sky, and she looked down to the ground with a very enraged face while Cordelia stared at Scarlet. ¡°Crazy b*tch!¡± As Scarlet let out a curse, Cordelia responded by widely opening her eyes and raising her middle finger. ¡°What are you saying, you lowly b*tch!¡± ¡°Woah, woah, so much swearing¡­¡± Jude unknowingly said that, but neither Scarlet nor Cordelia paid him any attention. Scarlet continued as she pointed her finger at Cordelia. ¡°I can¡¯t forgive you! I¡¯ll never forgive you!¡± ¡°Why should a b*tch like you forgive me? Are you my unnie? My master? Your head is like you put red chili paste with anchovies in your hair!¡± Jude was stunned for a moment at her swearing that poured out like a storm, but he soon realized it. She had been cursing less recently, but Cordelia was originally a foul-mouthed person who always cursed with her mouth. ¡®But Cordelia, your hair is reddish too.¡¯ Jude held back his thoughts froming out of his mouth, and Scarlet shouted again. ¡°Aaaah! Okay! Okay! I can forgive you for being Rogue Master! I can understand! The Rogue Master is one who moves in the night under the moonlight, and is a position everyone grew up envying!¡± Scarlet spoke as she poured out her words, clenching her fists while trembling. She then shouted again as she pointed her finger to Cordelia. ¡°But! But! Pink Bomb?! The Rogue Master¡¯s name is Pink Bomb?! I can forgive everything else, but I can¡¯t forgive that!¡± She said that. And that was it. The reason why Scarlet was mad in anger. The reason why she chose to go to the royal capital instead of returning to the empire. Pink Bomb. The Rogue Master¡¯s name was Pink Bomb! ¡°You have the dignity of a Rogue Master! But what the hell is Pink Bomb! Pink Bomb!¡± At Scarlet¡¯s intense criticism, Cordelia clenched her teeth and couldn¡¯t say anything in return at that moment. Because Cordelia actually had the same thought as her. But her silence wasn¡¯t that long. Cordelia clenched her fist again and let out a barrage of curses. ¡°Why are you saying sh*t about my name! So what?! What can you do? You¡¯re not my Ju- anyway! It¡¯s none of your business, okay?!¡± It was bad. Once again, it was really bad. The naming sense was the worst ever. But it was still a name Jude had given her. Cordelia had unconsciously thought that it was fine criticizing it if it was her, but she couldn¡¯t tolerate others criticizing it. ¡®You dare criticize it!¡¯ Who do you think you are to criticize my Jude! The determined Cordelia spread out her wings of light instead of talking any more, and Scarlet was shocked and surprised at Cordelia¡¯s wings of light. ¡°Wings of Speed?!¡± ¡°Mine is better, okay?!¡± After all, the Wings of Speed were imitations made by Magen¡¯s high elves in order to imitate the wings of angels! Cordelia flew straight like an arrow, and Scarlet swung her sharp whip sword. Despite being almost 20 years old, the power of the sword was terrifying like that of her future great swordmaster self. But Cordelia was not afraid. She continued her charge instead of blocking or avoiding it. Shwaaak! The whip sword cut Cordelia. No, it tried to cut but couldn¡¯t. Fairy Steps. Cordelia escaped the sword by using herst use of Fairy Steps for today. She hugged Scarlet¡¯s waist and made a vertical flight towards the ground as she rotated their bodies. ¡°Are you crazy?!¡± ¡°Front Lotus!¡± Cordelia held Scarlet as they turned around and headed to the ground. Scarlet couldn¡¯t even scream because of the terrifying dive in their flight. And in an instant. Cordelia released Scarlet right before they hit the ground. She soared high against the immense gravity. Boom! The ground shook with a loud noise after she collided. Having collided into the ground, Scarlet¡¯s body twitched as she let out a breathless sound. She did not die. But her whole body was numb and tingling, and she couldn¡¯t properly breathe. Even if her Red Dragon¡¯s Armor was that good, it couldn¡¯tpletely reduce the damage she received. ¡°Ack¡­Ugh¡­¡± Scarlet groaned as she gritted her teeth and stood up, but that was her limit. It was the same with Cordelia who also suffered from her reckless flying, but there was a crucial difference between the two. She wasn¡¯t alone. Because there weren¡¯t only two people in this ce right now. ¡°Finish it.¡± Cordelia said, and Jude had already drew closer to Scarlet. Scarlet desperately swung her whip sword but he avoided it and ced his palm on her abdomen. He struck his energy directly to the shock-absorbing Red Dragon¡¯s Armor. Heart of the Sun. One of the five techniques of the Supreme Sun Divine Art that pushed the condensed sun¡¯s energy into the enemy¡¯s interior. The energy of the ck sun passed through the Red Dragon¡¯s Armor and struck Scarlet¡¯s abdomen. Chapter 155 - EPISODE 155 – ROGUE MASTER (4)

Chapter 155 - EPISODE 155 ¨C ROGUE MASTER (4)

¡°Gasp!¡± Scarlet threw up blood as she was greatly thrown backwards. She was sent flying for almost a dozen meters or more before she rolled on the floor. ¡°Khu¡­kugh¡­¡± The fallen Scarlet held her stomach that was struck by the energy of the ck dragon and threw up blood again. She then stopped moving as a puddle of blood formed under her head. ¡°I-is she okay? She¡¯s not dead yet, right?¡± The startled Cordelia flew to Scarlet, but Jude calmly raised his hand to stop her. Because Scarlet wouldn¡¯t die from just that. ¡®Frankly¡­I was a little surprised.¡¯ She had vomited so much blood, so he had flinched at that moment. But she wore the Red Dragon¡¯s Armor. It didn¡¯t just had a strong defensive power, as it was an item that gave its wearer the regenerative ability of a dragon, so she would not have died despite throwing up a lot of blood. And it was as Jude had expected. Scarlet was in a state of near-death, but she was groaning and did not die. However, ¡®her not dying is enough¡¯ was Jude¡¯s standard and not Cordelia¡¯s. ¡°Hey, hey. Are you okay? Hey? Don¡¯t die. Don¡¯t die.¡± Cordelia unknowingly said as she let Scarlet spit out the blood left in her mouth before sheid Scarlet down. ¡°Se-secure the airway.¡± Open the mouth and tilt her head back slightly. And check for breathing. ¡®Eueu, think, think. Cordelia. Remember, Cordelia.¡¯ You learned first aid in ss before. The firefighter uncle praised me for being good. Cordelia put her hand near Scarlet¡¯s mouth. It was weak but she could feel Scarlet¡¯s breath. ¡°G-good. She¡¯s breathing.¡± Let¡¯s skip artificial respiration. What¡¯s next then? ¡°Hey, hey. Are you awake? Hey.¡± When she tapped on Scarlet¡¯s cheek lightly, Scarlet let out a very small groan. It didn¡¯t seem like she waspletely unconscious. Then there was only one thing left. ¡°¡± A spell that recovers one¡¯s health very fast. This was actually a chance for her to get the treasures of the Rogue Master, and she had also wanted those, but that was that, and this was this. Cordelia had no intention of killing Scarlet and taking the treasures away. Scarlet wasn¡¯t a viin. If she hadn¡¯t been possessed by the Soul Taker, she would at least not be an enemy even if she didn¡¯t be their ally. ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­¡± Perhaps the recovery magic worked since Scarlet¡¯s face color improved and her breathing stabilized. And after a minute or so. After she had recovered enough to be able to speak, Scarlet stretched out her body instead of raising herself up. She wiped the sweat on her forehead and said to Cordelia as if letting out a breath of relief. ¡°Just kill me.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Just kill me.¡± Scarlet had a faint smile. She continued to talk as she faced Cordelia with empty eyes. ¡°I lost. I lost to you. I couldn¡¯t even keep the Rogue Master¡¯s honor.¡± Scarlet¡¯s eyes looked red, and tears flowed down her blood-stained cheeks. ¡°N-now, the honorable name of the Rogue Master will forever be dishonored by the name of Pink Bomb. I can¡¯t bear to see that¡­ Just kill me. Kill me.¡± Rogue Master Pink Bomb. Aaaah, Rogue Master. Aaaah, Pink Bomb. Father. Grandfather. I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m really, really sorry. Scarlet couldn¡¯t be the Rogue Master. I couldn¡¯t even keep the honor of the Rogue Master. Scarlet began topletely cry, and Cordelia felt a mix of emotions and was at a loss. ¡®Fu-f*ck.¡¯ What do I do? What should I do? Scarlet was saying some really extreme words, and Cordelia could understand Scarlet¡¯s sad feelings. Scarlet was a person who took great pride in the fact that she was a descendant of the Rogue Master. ¡®Jude, Jude! What do I do?¡¯ Cordelia looked back at Jude with a face showing her troubled thoughts. Jude seriously pondered when she gazed at him with eyes that were asking him to do something, and he soon had a bitter smile. It was a bit cringey, but it was a good idea. Scarlet¡¯s personality. Her disposition. That was why it was the best answer he could give now. ¡®Ah.¡¯ But it was then. Before Jude could give an answer, Cordelia also looked like she came up with something in her mind. Because she was also a rotten water of?Legend of Heroes 2. ¡®Hey, Jude. I¡¯ll do what I want this time. Just this one time.¡¯ Jude nodded at Cordelia¡¯s gaze. Because Jude himself came up with a simr idea. And there was one more reason. ¡®Because you¡¯re the Rogue Master.¡¯ Cordelia was the Rogue Master and not Jude. Cordelia nodded her head at Jude¡¯s reply and looked at Scarlet again as she said. ¡°Hey, asshole.¡± ¡°It¡¯s Scarlet. And don¡¯t bother me anymore. Just kill me.¡± ¡°Yes, Scarlet. Let¡¯s put the killing behind us and¡­le-let¡¯spete.¡± ¡°What?¡± When Scarlet opened her closed eyes to ask what Cordelia was talking about, Cordelia said with a smile. ¡°You¡¯re the Rogue Master. Not the Warrior Master.¡± Scarlet blinked her eyes at Cordelia¡¯s words and soon understood it. So she couldn¡¯t hide her surprise. ¡°Are you saying¡­¡± ¡°I have the Rogue Master¡¯s treasure and you have the Rogue Master¡¯s treasures too. Both of us are candidates for the Rogue Master position. So¡­let¡¯spete for the title. The one who wins in our match will be the real Rogue Master. What kind of match it is¡­you should know, right?¡± Scarlet¡¯s cheeks instantly turned red when Cordelia winked and smiled. Because Cordelia¡¯s smile revealed by the moonlight was so beautiful. ¡°Do you understand what I¡¯m talking about?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ I-I understand.¡± Scarlet unconsciously stuttered and she took several deep breaths before raising her upper body in order to stand up. Cordelia had suggested that they shouldpete for the position of Rogue Master. Then what kind of match should Rogue Masters have? To say it directly, it was stealing. To say it more elegantly, it was the act of unauthorized transfer of ownership. ¡°Do you agree?¡± When Cordelia asked, Scarlet slowly nodded. But she soon added some words. ¡°In return, there are conditions.¡± ¡°Conditions? Hey, do you honestly think you¡¯re in a situation where you could ask for that?¡± ¡°Listen to the end.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± Cordelia questioned as her head tilted sideways, and Scarlet avoided her gaze and coughed a few times. She blushed even more, and then put the words that Jude had expected out of her mouth. ¡°You won this match. Nevertheless, you gave me a chance to have an honorable showdown¡­so I¡¯ll return the favor. I will make you wishe true whatever it is.¡± ¡°My wish?¡± ¡°Yes, your wish.¡± ¡°Anything?¡± ¡°I mean, that¡¯s a bit¡­ As long as it¡¯s within my abilities. That¡­you know. Something like a job I can do.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± As Cordelia pped and smiled, Scarlet avoided her gaze again, and Jude who was watching them from a distance clenched his fist. ¡®Bingo!¡¯ As expected, she¡¯s the same as Lucas. Just as Lucas was obsessed with reenacting?Biltwein the Hero, Scarlet was particrly obsessed with reenacting the anecdotes of the first Rogue Master. ¡®Something like this also happened to the first Rogue Master.¡¯ To be exact, it happened between the first Rogue Master and her rival, Thief Master. Rogue Master, who was still an inexperienced thief before she called herself Rogue Master, fell into the trap of Thief Master once and waspletely and helplessly defeated. But Thief Master admired the talent of Rogue Master and gave the same offer as Cordelia. ¡°Let¡¯s have a match. A real match between the two of us.¡± In response to Thief Master¡¯s suggestion, Rogue Master said that she¡¯d have the match after she had returned the favor for this incident, just like what Scarlet had now said, and Thief Master was willing to regard such Rogue Master as an honorable person. ¡®And in the end, Rogue Master won and received the Wings of Speed from Thief Master¡­ it¡¯s a beautiful story where the two continued to be close friends afterwards.¡¯ That was probably the reason why Scarlet¡¯s face had turned red. She must be really excited and happy to reenact the anecdote of that time and be in the same position as the first Rogue Master. ¡®Of course, we don¡¯t intend to follow the story until the very end.¡¯ After all, what mattered now was Scarlet¡¯s promise and not the match against Scarlet. She would make any wish of Cordeliae true. In other words, it was a very useful way to get Scarlet involved in their fight at the royal capital. ¡®It¡¯s better if we get close to her with this opportunity.¡¯ Scarlet had be a viin all because of the Soul Taker. If they became close from the very start and prevented her from touching the Soul Taker, she would likely remain their ally until the very end. ¡®As expected of Cordelia.¡¯ Cordelia wasn¡¯t a calctive person like Jude. She might have thought that Scarlet would respond that way because of Scarlet¡¯s personality, but it was clear that Cordelia wouldn¡¯t have thought of such conditions like that now. But Cordelia had said that. Because she liked the Scarlet who fought for the honor of the Rogue Master. Because she wanted to be friends with Scarlet who had always been an enemy, rather than have to kill her once again. ¡®I can¡¯t be like that.¡¯ It didn¡¯t suit Jude to act so purely with such a pure heart. ¡°W-what do you think? About my conditions?¡± Scarlet timidly asked and Cordelia looked like she was thinking for a moment before she said with her canines glistening. ¡°Okay, we have a deal. So let¡¯s shake hands.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s shake hands.¡± When Cordelia stretched out her hand, Scarlet held that hand and blushed again. Because she was embarrassed. ¡°Anyway, just go back for now. I¡¯ll tell you what I wantter. Do you know of the Blue Moon?¡± ¡°I know them.¡± ¡°What about the guild master?¡± ¡°Are you talking about Mister Supp¨¦?¡± ¡°Yes. I¡¯ll contact you through that uncle. Is that okay with you?¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± ¡°Oh my, look at how well my Scarlet answers.¡± Cordelia giggled and helped Scarlet up, and Scarlet said as she pouted. ¡°Hey, but how¡­how did you know my name?¡± Because Jude and Cordelia had clearly called her Scarlet before she had introduced herself. Cordelia replied to her rather sharp question with a flustered expression. ¡°Eh? Uh¡­that¡­ah! Because you walked on the path of the Rogue Master. I mean, I¡¯ve already figured out who my rivals are.¡± Cordelia said as she thumped on her chest, and the corners of Scarlet¡¯s mouth were slightly raised. She seemed to be quite pleased with Cordelia¡¯s words. ¡®She¡¯s like Lucas.¡¯ She was a bit na?ve. While Jude had a wicked smile, Scarlet shook Cordelia¡¯s hand before she spread her Wings of Speed and flew up to a low roof. ¡°Hey! Pink Bomb!¡± ¡°Why, Red Hair.¡± ¡°Hey, you have pink hair.¡± ¡°Anyway, why?¡± ¡°That¡­ Don¡¯t make me wait too long, okay?¡± ¡°Eh¡­ Okay. I¡¯ll contact you as soon as possible.¡± Cordelia replied with a cute giggle, and Scarlet blushed again before she spread her Wings of Speed and flew up into the night sky. As for how Cordelia looked from behind¡­ Jude thought that Cordelia looked really cute than cool. She then turned towards Jude and proudly raised her hand to make a V-sign with her fingers. ¡°Problem solved.¡± They seeded in their theft and also made a connection with Scarlet. Cordelia cleared her throat while looking proudly, and Jude gave her a light apuse. And two dayster. The second theft of Rogue Master Pink Bomb was now widely known throughout the royal capital. And the carriages of Count Bayer and Count Chase arrived at the royal capital together. Chapter 156 - EPISODE 156 – THE DUKE’S INVITATION (1)

Chapter 156 - EPISODE 156 ¨C THE DUKE¡¯S INVITATION (1)

Late post~ Got too busy with Genshin since I ended up pulling Xiao and had to enter artifact farming hell. And the first half of this chapter was atrocious with all the politics, idioms, phrases, etc. Terms used in this chapter: Doves and hawks?¨C Doves represent those who oppose the use of military power to resolve a dispute, while hawks are those who favor going into war. To weep while beheading Ma Su?¨C This is an archaic Chinese phrase which means to mete out punishment for the cause of justice regardless of one¡¯s personal feelings. It¡¯s from China¡¯s Three Kingdoms period where the strategist, Zhuge Liang, had to order reluctantly and tearfully for the beheading of Ma Su, who was like a son to him, because Ma Su vited militarymand. There was a saying that when two peoplee together, a rtionship of power would be formed, and when three or more peoplee together, politics would begin. There were numerous nobles in the royal capital, which naturally led toplex political structures being formed. ¡®Why do people form groups?¡¯ There were many reasons, but the biggest reason was for survival. Power was strengthened when people formed groups, thereby preventing danger and allowing them to acquire necessary things. ¡®The political circles in the royal capital.¡¯ Several groups were created there. Several divisions were also formed in a group, and if one counted the number of groups in the royal capital, it would be more than a dozen. However, all these groups could be ssified into either of the two factions. The royalists and the aristocrats. The former were groups of nobles centered around the royal family, and thetter were groups centered on arge coalition of nobles powerful enough to keep the royal family in check. Both factions consisted of nobles in the S?len Kingdom, but theirposition revealed quite a different appearance. ¡®The royalists has many rtively new nobles while the aristocrats areposed of nobles with a long history and tradition.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t a structure created by the new nobles because of their high loyalty to the royal family. There was a more realistic reason hidden in it. ¡®They need someone to lean on.¡¯ From the perspective of the ¡®old nobles¡¯ who already held vested interests, the ¡®new nobles¡¯ were nothing but thorns in their eyes. Because they were opponents whom they had to share their wealth and power. For this reason, the new nobles were ostracized by the existing noble society, so they chose to be loyal to the royal family as their means of survival. The new nobles depended on the royal family, and the royal family absorbed the new nobles and developed their strength in order to fight the aristocrats made up of the old nobles. ¡®It sounds like dreams or romance do not exist, but this is reality.¡¯ Of course, some of them were deeply loyal to the royal family. ¡®Something like that isn¡¯t bad after all.¡¯ It was clearly unproductive for royalists and aristocrats to fight for power, but it was also productive at the same time. ¡®Because absolute power will absolutely corrupt anyone.¡¯ If one faction drove out the other faction and monopolized power, corruption was bound to begin from that moment onwards. Therefore, confrontation was necessary even if it was a needless waste of energy to keep each other in check. ¡®Anyway, about the royalists and the aristocrats.¡¯ There would always be a leader when factions are formed. Naturally, the royalists and aristocrats also had leaders who led their factions. ¡®For the royalists, it¡¯s the Lord Protector.¡¯ Duke Antarius. He started as amoner and rose to the position of a duke, so he was the dream and hope of the new nobles. And from the perspective of the royal family, he was a rtively easy person to handle for the long term. ¡®So we have to get the leader.¡¯ The proponent of the n to kill the royal family was no one else but the Lord Protector. So the royal family was actually nourishing a snake in their bosom. ¡®In any case, it¡¯s the Lord Protector who is currently leading the royalists.¡¯ Therefore, they had to borrow the power of the aristocrats and not the royalists in order to keep the Lord Protector in check. ¡®The power of the hawks and not the doves.¡¯ Since it was a coalition of nobles, the aristocrats were established in the form of having multiple leaders. But if one looked at them in the big picture, they could be divided into the moderate doves and the radical hawks. ¡®Duke Spencer leads the doves. And Duke Balloa leads the hawks.¡¯ The dove group¡¯s Duke Spencer was inws with the royal family and was virtually neutral and did not move, so it was necessary for Jude and Cordelia to borrow the power of the hawks in order to actively attack the Lord Protector. ¡°Complicated. It¡¯splicated!¡± ¡°Just go to Duke Balloa¡¯s house and give it to him.¡± ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you just say that? Why did you have bother to me withplicated exnations?¡± ¡°Huhu, this Daddy doesn¡¯t want his princess to give up in using her brains to think.¡± ¡°I usually do a lot of thinking, okay? Like what to do tonight, how to make a prettier explosion, and so on.¡± ¡°A beast woman indeed¡­ I haven¡¯t heard you growl for a long time.¡± ¡°Wurf! Wurf!¡± Cordelia tried to bite Jude¡¯s hand and then barked like a dog. Afterwards, she dressed up as phantom thief Pink Bomb and asked Jude again. ¡°Anyway, I should just leave this at Duke Balloa¡¯s house, right?¡± ¡°Yes, with this important letter.¡± Jude spoke with a smile before he inserted a letter with Pink Bomb¡¯s signature in the secret ledger they found at Count Macan¡¯s house. ¡°If we bring it to them, they¡¯ll be the ones who¡¯ll hit the forces of the Lord Protector.¡± ¡°Well¡­dispensing medicine should be left to the pharmacists.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll leave it to the professionals.¡± Even if they had the secret ledger, it was impossible for Jude and Cordelia to directly air the Lord Protector¡¯s dirtyundry in public. However, it would be a different story for the aristocrats who were always searching the royalists for a weak point to stab. They would obviously rummage and search everywhere in excitement. ¡°Okay. Then we¡¯ll have to scatter these treasures in specified ces, right?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s evidence of the royalists¡¯ corruption.¡± If it was a simple treasure, it would be a sin to just stash these riches. But it was a problem that all of these treasures were stolen goods. ¡°It¡¯s mostly the royal family¡¯s items.¡± ¡°From the royal family¡¯s perspective, it¡¯s like they raised thieves, right?¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. They¡¯ll be weeping while beheading Ma Su.¡± As Jude smiled a bit wickedly, Cordelia¡¯s face instantly lit up and she nodded. ¡°Yes, yes, to weep while beheading Ma Su. That¡¯s a really nice phrase.¡± ¡°Oh, you know about that?¡± ¡°Hmph, of course, I know that. Did you perhaps think I wouldn¡¯t know that?¡± Cordelia smugly said, and Jude pped his hands in admiration. ¡°Do you like the Three Kingdoms?¡± ¡°Yes, I like Zhuge Liang.¡± I like smart men. Cordelia somehow held herself back from saying that thought before she stood up and brushed away the dirt in her rear. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s wish the aristocrats good luck.¡± And the next afternoon. The aristocrats began to move stealthily and quickly, and Jude counted the number of newspaper extras that wrote about Cordelia¡¯s activities. ¡®I think it¡¯ll somehow work out until the founding anniversary.¡¯ It was a thief¡¯s simple thoughts to wish for the royalists of the Lord Protector to copse with only one secret ledger. What they could expect was the downfall of Count Macan and several working-level officials, and the ck Moon shutting down several businesses. It would only slightly affect them, but this was actually enough. The two just had to break the Lord Protector¡¯s perfect n. ¡®Of course, I¡¯ll have to continue thinking of follow-up measures.¡¯ ¡°You¡¯re thinking of something evil again.¡± At the snide remark he heard from his side, Jude smiled and turned his gaze. They were in front of the south gate. They were at the ce where Adelia had weed Jude and Cordelia a few days ago, but this time, they were the ones waiting at the gate. Obviously, Adelia was still in the waiting position both then and now. ¡°No, no. There¡¯s a huge difference in her energy levels.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Unlike Jude and Cordelia who were sitting on a bench and calmly waiting, Adelia had been restlessly walking around near the south gate for some time. ¡°Her neck¡¯s going to fall off at this rate.¡± Adelia had been raising her head and upper body as she tried to see as far as possible. The reason why Adelia was so restless was simple. ¡°They¡¯re here!¡± The carriages of Count Bayer and Count Chase. To be exact, Adelia¡¯s beloved who was on board the carriage! The very excited Adelia was about to run towards the carriages at that moment, but she clenched her fists and restrained herself. No matter how much she loved him, she couldn¡¯t act like a silly woman and run towards the carriages. Especially in front of Ga?l. ¡°Good, good. I can endure it. You can endure this, Adelia. Yes, yes, you can do this.¡± ¡°Unnie, don¡¯t do that and just recite the prime numbers. That will work.¡± Cordelia advised from the side, but Adelia didn¡¯t hear her at all. Adelia touched her chest and repeatedly did some deep breathing exercises. And a few minutester. After that time which felt like an eternity to Adelia, the carriages of Count Bayer and Count Chase finally arrived at the south gate. *** ¡°Lord Ga?l.¡± ¡°Lady Adelia.¡± ¡°Lord Ga?l.¡± ¡°Lady Adelia.¡± ¡°Lord Ga?l!¡± ¡°Lady Adelia!¡± At the garden of Adelia¡¯s mansion. Before moving to the amodation provided by the royal family, the group stopped by to rest for a while, and Ga?l and Adelia faced each other as they exchanged words and gazed at the other. The two hugged and kissed each other, and various expressions appeared on the faces of those who saw them. ¡°It¡¯s nice to see them like that.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Maja and Count Bayer warmly smiled. ¡°I never thought Adelia would be like that, even in my dreams.¡± ¡°Me too.¡± Dahlia and Cordelia were happy yet somehow embarrassed at the same time. ¡®It would be nice if they didn¡¯t forget that this is a public ce.¡¯ Why are couples not bothered in being affectionate at public ces? Jude shook his head as he clicked his tongue. ¡°The world must be ending¡­ The world must being to an end.¡± Edward, the eldest son and heir of Count Chase, said as he doubted his eyes and somehow seemed to be forgotten by everyone. ¡°Hmm.¡± And Count Chase had a calm expression while having a small smile. ¡®Well, they don¡¯t seem to care at all.¡¯ Jude looked at Ga?l and Adelia having a passionate kiss and shook his head before turning his gaze to the excited Cordelia who had covered her cheeks and lips with her hands as she received an audiovisual education. He then turned his head in surprise. ¡°Jude, don¡¯t we have something to talk about?¡± ¡°¡­Yes, father.¡± Count Bayer wasn¡¯t particrly angry, but his eyes were more subdued than usual. He would be like that since Jude was gone for weeks ¨C no, he ran away again while heading to the royal capital. ¡°Adelia¡¯s letter contained some of your circumstances¡­ but I¡¯d like to hear it directly from you.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± Jude replied with an awkward smile, and Count Bayer couldn¡¯t help but smile before saying. ¡°You¡¯ve changed a lot. No, you¡¯ve gotten a lot stronger this time.¡± It had only been around three weeks since he left the house, and Jude¡¯s abilities had made rapid progress in that time. Count Bayer would be able to tell exactly how strong Jude had be if they fought, but the count could already feel just from facing Jude that he had be strong enough that he was like apletely different person from the previous Jude. ¡°You¡¯ve grown a lot.¡± Jude was smaller than Cordelia just a few months ago, but he now seemed to be a head taller than her. ¡°A lot of things happened.¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s talk about thoseter. But first, that seems to be more urgent.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°I mean, that way, that person.¡± Count Bayerughed and entered the mansion, and Jude saw Count Chase looking at him with his usual expression. ¡°Father.¡± ¡°You¡¯re still small.¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°You¡¯re still small.¡± Jude had grown a lot, but he was still small by Count Chase¡¯s standards. That was true since the current Jude was around 180-185 cm, while was Ga?l was around 186-190 cm, and Count Chase was a giant nearly two meters tall. ¡°Yes¡­?¡± As Jude said in anticipation, Count Chase suddenly looked back at Adelia. Having confirmed that she was still distracted by the passionate kissing, Count Chase walked to Jude and said. ¡°It¡¯s a third-rate item.¡± Count Chase handed a small leather bag in Jude¡¯s arms and quietly spoke as he kept an eye on Adelia. ¡°Eat in secret.¡± Without Adelia knowing. Alone. Don¡¯t get caught. ¡°Yes, father. I will do that for sure.¡± Jude was moved and didn¡¯t even check what was in the bag as he talked, and Count Chase snorted like always and was about to walk away. However. ¡°Ah.¡± Count Chase stopped and came back as he looked at Jude. ¡°Father?¡± Are you going to give me something else? Jude looked at him in anticipation again, but not this time. Count Chase looked at him as if he was hesitating and soon said in passing as he gazed at a distance. ¡°Something¡­did something change?¡± ¡°Change¡­in what?¡± ¡°No, um, it¡¯s nothing.¡± It¡¯s rather good if there aren¡¯t any changes. It¡¯s good. Because they haven¡¯t even had theiring-of-age ceremony yet. ¡°Father?¡± Jude asked once again, but Count Chase switched to a stern expression instead of answering, and headed towards Adelia and Ga?l who was startled and raised his head. ¡®Hmm¡­that¡¯s a nice look.¡¯ Jude had a small smile as he saw Ga?l¡¯s face before he tried to approach Cordelia who was lost in her thoughts as she held her red cheeks with her hands. But it was at that moment. ¡°It looks like a letter has arrived.¡± Maja said as she looked towards the main gate before heading there, and Jude saw a man standing beyond the metal fence and waiting for the gate to open. He was wearing the outfit of a nobleman¡¯s messenger. ¡°Who is it?¡± ¡°He¡¯s from Duke Spencer.¡± When Jude responded to the question Cordelia had muttered, she raised her head in surprise. ¡°How do you know?¡± ¡°Because there¡¯s an emblem on his outer clothes that shows he¡¯s from the Spencer family. Perhaps¡­ it¡¯s an invitation for you and me.¡± It was time to see the benefits they had gained from giving Princess Darianne the Seven-Colored Herb. And as Jude had thought, the messenger who appeared at the front gate was from Duke Spencer. But there was one thing that was different from what they had expected. ¡°This.. it seems like we¡¯re not the only ones invited?¡± An invitation in a slightly different form than what they had thought. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think it would be a problem since it¡¯s an invitation anyway, right?¡± Cordelia said with a smile, and Jude thought the same too. ¡®Well, I guess you¡¯re right¡¯ ¡®Yes, yes, I¡¯m right.¡¯ It didn¡¯t matter what way they used, as long as they were able to go to Duke Spencer and meet the Sword Saint of Light, Rhun Froud. ¡®So don¡¯t worry and let¡¯s go there proudly.¡¯ ¡®Okay.¡¯ Jude nodded in response to Cordelia¡¯s gaze, and Cordelia brightly smiled again. Cordelia didn¡¯t know at that time. No, Jude didn¡¯t expect it either. The fact that this invitation would, for the first time, make them do something that real lovers did. They would be doing something that real lovers did. Chapter 157 - EPISODE 157 – THE DUKE’S INVITATION (1)

Chapter 157 - EPISODE 157 ¨C THE DUKE¡¯S INVITATION (1)

¡°Is it an invitation from Duke Spencer?¡± Smiles spread across the faces of Count Bayer and Ga?l as they checked the invitation. The two did not know yet that Jude and Cordelia had be friends with Princess Darianne. But even if they did, they would still react the same. They would be thankful for the invitation. No, they felt that it was natural for that invitation toe. They were relieved and felt proud. The two looked at Jude with faces full of happiness. ¡®What¡¯s going on?¡¯ Jude knew all kinds of things from?Legend of Heroes, but he knew little about Duke Spencer¡¯s invitation. Because none of the yable characters who could visit the royal capital at this time had any contact with Duke Spencer. ¡®If we went with the flow of the original, Jude was still suffering from his illness at home.¡¯ Cordelia had gone missing and was wandering in the north. In Lucas¡¯ case, he did visit the royal capital at this time, but he didn¡¯t have any point of contact with Duke Spencer. ¡®First of all, Duke Spencer was sick and suffering from his condition.¡¯ It was impossible for him to invite guests when he was ill. Moreover, Lucas was a young man from the north who was aplete stranger to Duke Spencer. He wasn¡¯t an important visitor that could meet the bedridden duke. ¡®But the situation has changed.¡¯ Princess Darianne who should¡¯ve gone home empty-handed was able to get the Seven-Colored Herb with the help of Jude and Cordelia. Thus, Duke Spencer was freed from his chronic illness and recovered his strength. ¡®So I thought he¡¯d invite us.¡¯ For Duke Spencer, Jude and Cordelia were his benefactors who healed his chronic illness and at the same time, they were friends of Princess Darianne whom he cherished and was the apple of his eye. ¡®I was expecting he¡¯d invite us to a tea party.¡¯ But it wasn¡¯t a tea party invitation that arrived. It was to an event with a cheesier and grander name than that. ¡®The Banquet of Swords.¡¯ That was the reason why Count Bayer and Ga?l were very happy. ¡°Those good old days. I once participated in Duke Spencer¡¯s Banquet of Swords.¡± ¡°I agree, father. I also remember participating in that.¡± The father and son said as they recalled it, and Adelia suddenly raised her nose and bragged about it. ¡°Hmph, that¡¯s natural. It¡¯s to be expected of Lord Ga?l and father-inw.¡± Edward clicked his tongue at Adelia proudly talking as if she was involved in that, while Cordelia tilted her head and Jude unconsciously nodded. ¡®Simr.¡¯ They really are sisters. Adelia was almost acting the same as Cordelia. ¡®What¡¯s simr?¡¯ ¡®I mean, you¡¯re like that.¡¯ ¡®Tsk, I¡¯m not like that, okay?¡¯ Cordelia pouted, and Jude didn¡¯t say anything after that. ¡®Aren¡¯t you like that every time you boast about me?¡¯ Jude thought to himself as he avoided her gaze before he quietly smiled and looked at Ga?l and Count Bayer again. ¡°Father, what is the Banquet of Swords?¡± In fact, he had roughly guessed it, but it was still a guess. There was no need for him to continue guessing it when an answer could be given to him now. At Jude¡¯s question, Count Bayer replied with a smile. ¡°Haha, as its name suggests, the Banquet of Swords refers to a banquet where swords gather. To be exact, it¡¯s a banquet where young and promising swordsmen gather.¡± Count Bayer slowly spoke and gently tapped the sword on his waist, as if he became conscious of the fact that he was a swordsman again. ¡°Jude, as you know, the Spencer family are known for their long history and tradition with swords.¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s a family that has a longer history than the kingdom.¡± The Spencer family was one of the meritorious families that greatly contributed to the founding of the S?len Kingdom, and the Duke Spencer of that time was also the sworn brother of the founder king, Lion D. S?len. ¡®In fact, their family was in charge of the military in the early days of the kingdom.¡¯ While Duke Wotan from one of the other meritorious families provided troops, Duke Spencer provided powerful and outstanding swordsmen to be the vanguard and lead the troops. As a result, the founder king, Lion D. S?len, was able to win several battles, and he praised the Duke of Spencer for his distinguished service and awarded him a special honorary title. ¡®Sword Teacher.¡¯ He who guided all the swordsmen in the kingdom. At the time of the kingdom¡¯s foundation, Duke Spencer was a man befitting of the name ¡®Sword Teacher.¡¯ He was undeniably the best swordsman in the kingdom. But that wasn¡¯t the case for the next generations. They had a lot of excellent swordsmen, but no one appeared to be capable enough of being called the best in the kingdom. ¡®But even so, they were still a family renowned for their excellent swordsmen.¡¯ The best swordsmen in the kingdom no longer came from the duke¡¯s direct descendants. The Spencer family was no longer a family that produced the best swordsmen in the kingdom. But the ¡®Spencer Sword School¡¯ was different. The Spencer Sword School produced at least one great swordmaster per generation. ¡®Sword School.¡¯ A group where people could teach or learn swordsmanship. This was the result of the pride and responsibility of that time¡¯s Duke Spencer in their honorary title as the ¡®Sword Teacher.¡¯ ¡°A long time has definitely passed. The honorary title of the past, Sword Teacher, has almost disappeared now. But as a Sword Teacher, the current Duke Spencer has not given up his responsibility to improve the military¡­ or to be exact, the skills of the swordsmen in the S?len Kingdom.¡± To the Bayer family, Lucas Hr?svelgr was a stranger. They wereplete strangers, not rted by blood nor swordsmanship style. But not for Duke Spencer. To him, Lucas was a swordsman of the S?len Kingdom. ¡°The Banquet of Swords refers to an event that gathers young swordsmen with promising talent from all over the country. It¡¯s an event to tell these prospects, who have lived like frogs in the well, that there is a wide world beyond them.¡± Count Bayer said in a slightly self-deprecating voice, but Count Chase snorted and said. ¡°I don¡¯t think a noble who went to the Banquet of Swords and crushed all the other prospects should be saying that. Ah, there¡¯s no way that you¡¯re just bragging about yourself, right?¡± At the criticism that Count Chase said because he was a long-time friend, Count Bayer replied as he felt pleased and embarrassed. ¡°This friend of mine exaggerated it a little, so don¡¯t listen to him.¡± ¡°Hmph, it¡¯s not an exaggeration.¡± Count Bayer was actually the strongest swordsman in the S?len Kingdom now if one limited it to those of a simr age as him. There were ten great swordmasters, but their difference in ages widely varied. ¡®If I recall correctly, Count Hr?svelgr is almost ten years younger than father.¡¯ Because of his age, Count Bayer could no longer attend the banquet as a prospect even if he wanted to. ¡°In any case, it¡¯s certainly an honor to be in the Banquet of Swords. It¡¯s an event where you can even be proud of the fact that you were invited.¡± Before Count Chase could tease him again, Count Bayer quickly finished speaking and turned to Ga?l. Ga?l nodded at his father¡¯s look that seemed to ask him to exin further. ¡°Just as father has said, being invited to the Banquet of Swords means that you are already a promising swordsman in the S?len Kingdom who¡¯s recognized by the Duke of Spencer, the Sword Teacher.¡± Ga?l gave a clear exnation, but his cheeks were somehow slightly red, and Jude knew the reason why. ¡°As expected of my Lord Ga?l who had once been invited to the Banquet of Swords.¡± When Adelia hugged Ga?l¡¯s arm and spoke, Ga?l¡¯s face turned even more red, and joy spread on Count Bayer¡¯s face. ¡°And now, Jude has been invited as well.¡± Because the letter was an invitation of Duke Spencer to Jude and his fianc¨¦e, Cordelia, to attend the Banquet of Swords. ¡°It¡¯s really nice. Really nice.¡± Count Bayer smiled in satisfaction as his eyes began to turn slightly red. Jude had always been weak from birth and could barely go outside, let alone go to the royal capital, so Count Bayer was always worried about him. But now, Jude was not only very healthy but was also invited to the Banquet of Swords. He was deeply moved by that. ¡°Hmph, it¡¯s only natural that Duke Spencer has eyes too.¡± As Count Chase snorted and spoke, a series of small and cute snorts followed. ¡°Hmph, that¡¯s right. He can¡¯t be proud of being a Sword Teacher if he doesn¡¯t recognize the swordsmen of the Bayer family.¡± ¡°Hmph, Duke Spencer understands it.¡± ¡°Why do I feel a strange sense of alienation every time they do this?¡± Adelia hugged Ga?l¡¯s arm and snorted, Cordelia bragged as she stood next to Jude, and even Edward who was standing alone in a corner spoke. At the remarks of Count Chase and his three children, Count Bayer and his sons could only smile. ¡®Indeed, cuteness flows in the Chase family¡¯s blood.¡¯ How can all of them be so cute? ¡®Ah, except for Edward.¡¯ Count Bayer himself felt a sense of alienation towards the man who was alone in the corner and feeling alienated. ¡°Anyway, Jude, you can go there. Those invited to the Banquet of Swords are all prospects of the kingdom, so you can broaden your horizons there.¡± ¡°Hmph, would that happen though?¡± Count Chase interrupted Count Bayer, but no one was offended by it. Because everyone knew what Count Chase meant. ¡®Because my Jude will not broaden his horizons, but will be the one to broaden the horizons of the prospects.¡¯ Jude was unusually strong now. And everyone, including Count Chase, had already witnessed Jude¡¯s strength more than once. ¡®And, and, and!¡¯ Cordelia couldn¡¯t stop the corners of her mouth from rising as she snorted again in excitement. She knew of one thing that everyone in the ce did not know. ¡®He also underwent metamorphosis.¡¯ In addition to opening the fifth door, he also learned the Supreme Sun Divine Art. Strong people like Count Bayer and Count Chase would have naturally noticed, just from facing him, that Jude was stronger than before he had left for the royal capital. But no matter how strong they were, they would not be able to find out at once on what changes happened to Jude as a result of his metamorphosis. ¡®But father-inw seems to have felt something more.¡¯ After a month or so, Jude had grown to nearly 10 cm tall, so even strangers would be able to easily tell that Jude had be stronger. However, Count Bayer seemed to have noticed some of the changes that happened in Jude¡¯s body besides his increase in strength. The cycle of Qi that was reestablished due to metamorphosis. And the other things that urred to Jude. The changes that seriously increased his efficiency. ¡°Hehehe, hehehehehe.¡± Cordelia was very pleased and snickered, and everyone began to smile again. Because the Cordelia who was brimming with pride for her fianc¨¦ was very cute and adorable. ¡®I need to set the date quickly.¡¯ ¡®Shouldn¡¯t we wait for theing-of-age ceremony?¡¯ ¡®No, they should just get married sooner.¡¯ ¡®How cute.¡¯ As everyone were having different thoughts, Jude opened his mouth. ¡°Then father, will you be going to the pce with father-inw?¡± ¡°I think so. The Banquet of Swords is a gathering of young prospects. Me and Count Chase¡­will be able to meet His Excellency, Duke Spencer, when we have the opportunity.¡± ¡°Hmph, we don¡¯t need to meet him.¡± Count Bayer and Count Chase who belonged to the 12 northern families were close to the aristocrats, but since they were nobles from the north, they didn¡¯t exactly feel a sense of belonging with the aristocrats centered on Duke Spencer. The same was true of the aristocrats in the royal capital. ¡°I, Count Chase, and Edward will be going today to the amodations the royal family has provided. Ga?l¡­you¡¯ll stay here with Adelia, right?¡± ¡°Yes, father. That¡¯s my n.¡± As Ga?l answered with a faint smile, Adelia blushed and slightly lowered her gaze. Edward frowned like a real older brother as he saw the appearance of his younger sister acting shy, while Cordelia also narrowed her eyes like a real younger sister. ¡®W-what are you nning to do with only the two of you?¡¯ Technically, Becky was present too, so they weren¡¯tpletely alone, but still¡­ Cordelia seriously sent a criticizing gaze at her sister, but Adelia didn¡¯t care. As she had emphasized many times already, Adelia was an adult unlike Cordelia who was still a minor. ¡®We¡¯ll do this and do that too, and¡­kyaaa~¡¯ Adelia¡¯s thoughts were revealed in her face, and Edward and Cordelia frowned even more. But Count Bayer and Count Chase looked very happy. ¡°Anyway¡­ Cordelia and I will visit Duke Spencer then.¡± ¡°Yes, you¡¯ll probably stay for two days if it¡¯s short, or three days if it takes a long time. Come to our amodations when your business is done.¡± ¡°Yes, father.¡± Jude immediately tapped the shoulder of Cordelia who was still frowning, and Cordelia looked up at him. ¡®Why?¡¯ ¡®You know.¡¯ Jude smiled and slightly moved his arm to Cordelia who tilted her head, and Cordelia reflexively grabbed his arm. She was very used to Jude escorting her now. And around four hourster. When they had packed up and arrived at Duke Spencer¡¯s estate, Jude and Cordelia were weed by very happy faces. Chapter 158 - EPISODE 158 – BANQUET OF SWORDS (1)

Chapter 158 - EPISODE 158 ¨C BANQUET OF SWORDS (1)

Trivia: Owning a building in South Korea is considered a symbol of wealth. There is a strange phenomenon in South Korea wherein owning a building is considered the number one dream of teenagers. Duke Spencer. One of the only five dukes in the kingdom and someone who belonged to a prominent family that possessed wealth, power, and military force. The Spencer family¡¯s great power came from their immense wealth and position among the nobility, and on the strength of their military forces that could even wipe out a small country by itself. Where did their wealth and military forcee from then? ¡°First of all, theirnd is wide.¡± It wasn¡¯t just wide, but enormously wide. Duke Spencer¡¯s territory not only had half of the Ctes ins, which was the continent¡¯srgest breadbasket, but also the whole region of the Gigantos Mountains, which bordered the Argon Empire. ¡°So you¡¯re saying that they¡¯re rich and have a lot of money?¡± ¡°Well, sort of. Cordelia, do you know why argend can make you rich?¡± Cordelia leaned against her seat on the carriage and spontaneously replied to Jude¡¯s question. ¡°You get a lot of building rent?¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s the case for building owners. Take a more fantasy-like approach¡­ no, from an ancient times perspective.¡± ¡°Hmm, if thend isrge, you can farm a lot and getrge amounts of grain¡­is that right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. One thing to note here is that there are a lot of people too.¡± ¡°I see. So there¡¯ll be a lot of people who¡¯ll be paying taxes then?¡± ¡°That¡¯s true, but it¡¯s also because they have an abundantbor force. You need a lot ofbor to farm, right?¡± ¡°Umm¡­I guess so. Maybe.¡± Cordelia replied in a way that showed that she was a bit unsure. She had never seen a real rice field, let alone did any farming. ¡°In any case, thend isrge and there are a lot of people. They¡¯re also the breadbasket region, and have several mines.¡± It was at a level where they had everything. ¡°Thanks to Duke Spencer, various industries have also been developed. Thus,merce was also naturally developed. They have arge trading city where they trade with the empire when we¡¯re not at war.¡± ¡°That means they¡¯ve got everything that¡¯s good.¡± ¡°Yes, something like that.¡± Their rich territory could also be counted as one of best sources of the kingdom¡¯s immense wealth. Where did their military forcee from then? ¡°Sword School?¡± ¡°There¡¯s that, but it¡¯s also because of the location¡­how do you say it, like it¡¯s the reason¡­ Anyway, it¡¯s because of the location of his territory.¡± The Spencer duchy was one of the shields that defended attacks from the Argon Empire. In particr, they were in a position to protect the Ctes ins, which was the reason the Argon Empire waged war several times, so they always had to maintain a strong standing army. ¡°If other nobles formed a standing armyparable to the size of Duke Spencer¡¯s army, people would be suspicious of them. People would wonder if they¡¯re trying to raise a rebellion.¡± ¡°But you¡¯re saying that Duke Spencer is allowed to maintain a standing army of that size because of his geographical location?¡± ¡°Yes, and in addition to that, there are only a few nobles who can maintain a standing army of that size in the first ce.¡± Duke Spencer was able to maintain a standing army because of his immense wealth. ¡°Moving on, it¡¯s because of his great and powerful family that makes him very powerful. It is no exaggeration to say that he¡¯s the king of a small country.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why it¡¯s so big.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°That one.¡± Cordelia shifted her gaze to outside the carriage window, and Jude naturally followed her gaze. He saw it on the side of Cordelia who sat opposite him. ¡°That. You see that?¡± Outside the window. There was a huge castle in the distance. People called it the Red Rose Castle. Though Jude had exined this and that at length, the Red Rose Castle was actually a very familiar ce for both Jude and Cordelia. ¡®Because it¡¯s the ce where the Raid Boss appeared.¡¯ By the time the entire continent began to be devastated by trials and tribtions, the S?len Kingdom was nearly in ruins already. ¡°Duke Spencer has a particr nature. You can say that the vi over there is a bit¡­ too much for social exchanges with the royal capital. But that¡¯s something normal for him.¡± ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s really rich.¡± ¡°A seriously rich man.¡± And it was highly likely that this seriously rich man had a favorable impression of Jude and Cordelia. ¡®I¡¯m sure we can rip off a lot from him.¡¯ He had a lot of excellent items. Because Duke Spencer was a man of honor. Jude smiled in delight, and Cordelia burst outughing, having guessed his thoughts from seeing his eyes. ¡®Should I say that you¡¯re really great in making a living?¡¯ Or should I say that you¡¯re really wicked? ¡®Either way, that¡¯s so like my Jude.¡¯ Cordelia eventually ended her thoughts with a smile, and she looked out the window again. The reflection of the Red Rose Castle in their eyes gradually grew bigger. *** ¡°Wow.¡± Cordelia unconsciously eximed upon seeing the Red Rose Castle up close. Her reaction wasn¡¯t because the castle was very big and beautiful, but because of the nice smell that came out the moment they entered the castle. ¡°Sniff, sniff, the scent of roses?¡± Cordelia said as she sniffed, and Jude nodded. ¡°Yes, the sense of smell couldn¡¯t be reproduced in the game.¡± There was only the perception that the castle was filled with roses in full bloom, but the smell of roses was so clear and strong that they could understand why this ce was called the Red Rose Castle. ¡°It¡¯s amazing. It¡¯s like I¡¯m in a flower shop.¡± Cordelia said with a bright smile before she closed her eyes and sniffed again. Jude looked at Cordelia and then turned his gaze to the window. ¡®This ce wasn¡¯t built for defense.¡¯ He had thought about it in the game too, that the Red Rose Castle was more of a pce than a castle. The walls were very low, the structures were also aesthetically beautiful, and there were many parts that were not suitable for it to be a defensive fortress. ¡®If you think about it, it¡¯s like that French pce.¡¯ Jude silently nodded as he briefly recalled the Pce of Versailles. He had talked to Cordelia about the power of Duke Spencer, but in the end, the S?len Kingdom was a monarchy, and Duke Spencer was a vassal of the royal family. It was not eptable to build a fortified castle adjacent to the royal capital and make it a home. ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± Cordelia said at some point despite having her eyes closed, and the carriage stopped at that moment. ¡°We wee Mr. Jude Bayer and Lady Cordelia Chase.¡± When they got out of the carriage and handed over their invitation, the butler bowed and politely greeted them. The ce where the carriage had currently stopped was at the entrance of the Red Rose Castle, so they had to travel via Duke Spencer¡¯s carriage from here on. ¡°This way please.¡± As soon as they got on the roofless carriage, the coachman who was waiting bowed to them before he began to drive the carriage. ¡®He¡¯s seriously rich.¡¯ ¡®Yeah, he¡¯s really rich.¡¯ Count Bayer and Count Chase belonged to the 12 northern families, so their families weren¡¯t inferior, but Duke Spencer was still different. They could only admire the vast garden and the ces within the castle as the carriage passed through it. ¡®And it¡¯s very pretty.¡¯ ¡®I agree.¡¯ As they passed through therge and beautiful central garden decorated with colorful roses, the coachman drove the carriage towards the annex on the right side of the central mansion where Duke Spencer stayed. Jude recalled that this ce had a training field. ¡®Isn¡¯t this where the Sword School is?¡¯ ¡®Yes, because that¡¯s just how Duke Spencer is.¡¯ Jude answered with his eyes before turning his gaze back to the front. Three employees dressed in butler clothes, who seemed to be servants assigned to the annex, came out and politely greeted them as if they had been contacted in advance by those in the front gate. ¡°We wee Mr. Jude Bayer and Lady Cordelia.¡± ¡°Please allow me to guide you to your rooms.¡± Jude and Cordelia didn¡¯t have to do anything as the servants received the luggage from the coachman, and another servant led the two inside. ¡®Woah, the inside is so shiny.¡¯ Compared to the mansion of Count Bayer, which was close to a fortress, Cordelia was born and raised in the bright and beautifully decorated mansion of Count Chase. But the sight in front of her was far superior. Because there was a significant difference between the bright and beautiful structure to the splendid ¨C no, the luxurious structure. ¡®It¡¯s like the royal pce.¡¯ Unlike Jude, Cordelia had already visited the royal pce before when she attended a founding ceremony in the past. Jude nodded his head and replied with his eyes. ¡®Indeed, it really looks like the Pce of Versailles.¡¯ ¡®Have you been to the Pce of Versailles?¡¯ ¡®I once passed by it and saw it for a moment.¡¯ ¡®How envious.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t long before they arrived at the guest rooms while they had a conversation with their eyes. ¡°This way please. We have servants waiting around her at all times, so if you need anything, you can ring this bell.¡± Jude nodded at the young butler¡¯s exnation and then looked around the room. It was in the form of two bedrooms facing each other with a small living room in between, and it seemed like they had allocated such a room in consideration of the two being engaged minors. ¡°Mr. Bayer, the guests who have arrived first are currently having a tea party. Would you like to participate in it?¡± At the butler¡¯s question, Jude turned to Cordelia who immediately nodded and used magic. [I wonder who¡¯s there.] Since it was a time where nobles from all over the country gathered to participate in the founding anniversary, the number of young prospects who would be attending the Banquet of Swords was also higher than before. [Maybe there¡¯s another yable character?] Among the yable characters from the S?len Kingdom, there was still Kajsa Ophand from the 7 southern families. [But Cordelia, doesn¡¯t Kajsa use an axe?] [That¡¯s true.] Kajsa Ophand. A youngdy from Marquis Ophand¡¯s family, one of the 7 northern families. She boasted of having the strongest physical ability among the 11 yable characters, and preferredrge weapons such as a halberd or battle axe. ¡°Her de is so light that it looks like a toothpick.¡± She likedrge weapons that could disy her full strength. It was a line in the game that clearly revealed the personality of Kajsa. However, she was sailing in the seas as a sailor of a private fleet, so she would not havee to the royal capital. And even if she hade to the royal capital, she would not have been invited to the Banquet of Swords. [But Jude.] [Yes.] [You¡¯re not a swordsman either.] He wore the Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword on his waist, but he didn¡¯t pull it out except when he used it for lethal moves. Jude just shrugged at that point that everyone had forgotten. [It¡¯s alright. Master is also a swordsman, but he doesn¡¯t use a sword. So I can be a swordsman without using a sword.] [Wow, that¡¯s quite an answer.] [Anyway, let¡¯s answer him. The way he¡¯s looking at us is getting weird.] At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia looked back at the servant and awkwardly smiled. In the eyes of the servant who did not know that they were using magic, Jude and Cordelia would have looked like a lovey-dovey couple who did not answer because they were busy flirting with just their eyes. ¡°We¡¯ll attend.¡± ¡°I understand. Please allow me to guide you there.¡± When the respectful butler spoke and began to take the lead, Jude slightly moved his arm towards Cordelia who naturally held Jude¡¯s arm. And a few minutester. The two came out of the annex and arrived at the garden entrance, and they saw a group of people having a tea party in the center of the garden. And among those people was someone who was very happy to see them. ¡°Lucas!¡± ¡°Lady Cordelia!¡± ¡°Lucas!¡± ¡°Lady Cordelia!¡± As Cordelia ran towards them, Lucas widely opened his eyes in surprise and stood up from his seat as he also ran the same way and stood in front of Cordelia. ¡°Lucas, you were also invited?¡± ¡°Yes, I was invited.¡± Lucas spoke with a big smile, and Cordelia suddenly opened her arms, making Lucas hesitate for a while before he lightly hugged Cordelia. And one, two, three. Jude finished their short hug by very naturally going behind Lucas¡¯ back and pulling Lucas¡¯ clothes. ¡°Lord Lucas.¡± At Jude¡¯s call in a subdued voice, Lucas turned around and widely opened his eyes in surprise again. ¡°Mr. Bayer?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve grown a bit taller, right?¡± Lucas nodded several times at Jude¡¯s words. Jude was previously much smaller than Lucas, but had now grown to a height that was almost level with their eyes, or to be exact, Jude was now slightly taller than Lucas. ¡°You really surprise me every time I see you.¡± ¡°It happened somehow.¡± Jude smiled and Cordelia drew closer to Lucas and added. ¡°Lucas, Lucas. He didn¡¯t just be tall, right?¡± At Cordelia¡¯s words, Lucas looked back at Jude and widened his eyes at one point. Because it was as Cordelia said. ¡®It¡¯s different.¡¯ He really didn¡¯t just be tall. Lucas didn¡¯t know on what had happened, but he could tell that Jude¡¯s body had undergone aplete transformation. ¡®It¡¯s like¡­he was reborn with a body fit for fighting.¡¯ His thought was correct. After his metamorphosis, Jude had been reborn with a body optimized for martial arts, or to be exact, for Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. ¡°Somehow, you¡¯ve somehow made some great progress.¡± Lucas spoke with an admiring face, and Jude slowly nodded. ¡°Yes, I was lucky. But¡­Lord Lucas has changed too.¡± Jude didn¡¯t say that topliment Lucas. Jude was not the only one who had significantly changed in just a month and 15 days. Lucas was also much stronger than before. ¡°You¡­can tell?¡± ¡°To be honest, I can tell somehow.¡± Lucas blushed in embarrassment at Jude¡¯s words before he said with a bright smile. ¡°I¡¯ve been training quite a bit.¡± ¡°A bit?¡± ¡°Actually, a lot.¡± ¡°To the point that the soles of your feet sweat?¡± Lucas nodded as Cordelia, who was listening to him, joked and cut in their conversation. ¡°Yes, I honestly trained so hard that I thought I might die. My father was also very motivated.¡± When Lucas¡¯ face was filled with confidence and pride, smiles spread across the faces of Cordelia and Jude. They were worried on what they should do if he was still in low spirits because of theirst sparring, but it seemed that Lucas had ovee it well and rather used it as a driving force for growth. ¡°Amazing. Our Lucas is amazing. This sister praises you a lot.¡± ¡°Haha, thank you.¡± Lucas replied with a shy smile, and Cordelia became more excited and tried to stroke Lucas¡¯ hair as she stood on tiptoes, but Jude quickly grabbed her hand and stopped her. ¡®Why?¡¯ At Cordelia¡¯s gaze, Jude pointed to the other men and women gathered at the tea party, and Cordelia flinched and hid her hand behind her back as she pretended to look elsewhere. ¡®Good.¡¯ Jude prevented the unnecessary skinship and also the situation that would embarrass Lucas and Cordelia. He then said as he turned to Lucas with a pleased face. ¡°Lord Lucas, may I ask you to introduce us to the other people?¡± ¡°Ah, of course. The joy of meeting you two was so great that I forgot about that for a moment.¡± Lucas immediately answered before he led Jude and Cordelia to the center of the garden where the tea party was being held. Chapter 159 - EPISODE 159 – BANQUET OF SWORDS (2)

Chapter 159 - EPISODE 159 ¨C BANQUET OF SWORDS (2)

Terms used in this chapter: You can fold if you¡¯re scared?¨C A phrase that is used to mock someone. Ites from the Korean gambling movie, Tazza: The High Rollers. Fold is a poker term used when one gives up their cards at hand, but in Korea, ¡®fold¡¯ can be called ¡®die¡¯ too, so the phrase can be read as ¡®You can f*king die if you¡¯re scared.¡¯ There were about a dozen people sitting on severalrge tables, and most of them looked in curiosity at the three as Jude and Cordelia approached with Lucas at the lead. ¡°Let me introduce everyone to Mr. Jude Bayer from the family of Count Bayer who came from the north like me. The one next to him is his fianc¨¦e, Lady Cordelia Chase from the family of Count Chase.¡± ¡°I am Jude Bayer.¡± ¡°I am Cordelia Chase.¡± When Jude and Cordelia courteously introduced themselves, Lucas continued. ¡°Both of them are very skilled. Lady Cordelia is an excellent wizard from the Chase family known for their wizards, and Mr. Jude Bayer is¡­¡± That was it. Lucas stopped as he recalled that he had never seen Jude use a sword. Is Jude a swordsman? Isn¡¯t he a fist fighter? As the confused Lucas stopped talking, the young men and women gathered at the tea party looked at Lucas and Jude in puzzlement, and Jude softly smiled and lightly patted the Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword on his waist as he said in a low voice. ¡°I am a swordsman. My master, Landius, is also a swordsman.¡± ¡°Ah, yes. That¡¯s right.¡± Landius was also a swordsman, but he was never seen carrying a sword. It seemed like the disciple was walking a simr path like his master. ¡°Ahem, ahem. Let me introduce him again. This is Mr. Jude Bayer, an excellent swordsman and son of the Sword General, Count Bayer.¡± Lucas¡¯ introduction caused the young men and women to let out voices of awe and admiration. Because no swordsman in the S?len Kingdom who walked the path of the sword would not know the name of Count Bayer. ¡°By the way¡­ the ones in the rumors¡­ is it them?¡± When the young woman, who looked to be in her mid-teens and was sitting close to Lucas, shyly asked, various expressions appeared on everyone¡¯s faces. Rumor. The ones in those rumors. They were the main stars of the rumor that started from the north and spread to the royal capital, to the point that even the princess had heard of it. There was a young woman whose eyes were shining with curiosity. There was another young woman who stared at them in admiration. There was a young man who was doing his best to hold back hisughter, and there was also a young woman who looked at them in ridicule. Their expressions truly varied. ¡°Hahaha¡­ That¡­¡± Yes, that¡¯s true. Those rumors are true. As Lucasughed awkwardly since he couldn¡¯t just let out his thoughts, Cordelia¡¯s face turned red while Jude kept his usual shameless expression and stepped forward, hiding Cordelia from everyone¡¯s sight. ¡°Ahem, ahem, I am aware that there are some rumors about us. But¡­ some parts of it has been distorted.¡± ¡°Which part? Is it true that you two love each other so much that you eloped¡­ N-no, I-I mean, a honeymoon trip?¡± Asked the brown-haired young woman who was sitting next to Lucas and looked to be the youngest among everyone present in the tea party. Jude responded as smoothly as always to the question of the young woman, whose eyes were shining like Princess Darianne and even looking at them a little enviously. ¡°That part is true.¡± ¡°Oh my gosh.¡± A wide smile spread over the young woman¡¯s face, and everyone made various expressions again. A ck-haired young woman strangely flinched but kept her mouth shut. The blonde man beside her had a determined look as if he somehow made a resolution to himself. And a curly-haired young man slightly moved his body in his want to see Cordelia hiding behind Jude in more detail. Jude received their gazes with an expression that seemed to say that he had nothing to be ashamed of, and Cordelia tugged on Jude¡¯s clothes at that moment. It was a signal that he should stop talking nonsense and sort out the situation quickly. ¡°There are several unrevealed things, such as why we had to go on a trip. I apologize if I cannot talk about it here because it is rted to the security of the north.¡± ¡°Mr. Jude Bayer is correct. The two of them have made great contributions in the north.¡± ¡°Oh, that rumor?¡± ¡°Wasn¡¯t it just a rumor?¡± Lucas followed up after Jude, and whispering sounds among the guests were soon heard. They were those who had heard the story of Count Hr?svelgr and the Jackdaws marching into the wildnds. ¡°Ahem, ahem, let me finish my introductions. Mr. Bayer, Lady Cordelia, this is Lady Cana Glyce who is from the north like us.¡± ¡°I am Cana Glyce. It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you.¡± The brown-haired young woman slightly blushed as she politely greeted Jude and Cordelia. ¡°These two are Lady Rachel Bloom and Lord Marcus Chen from the north too.¡± They were the ck-haired young woman and the blonde-haired young man sitting at the same table as Cana. ¡°I am Rachel Bloom.¡± ¡°I am Marcus Chen.¡± Rachel quietly greeted while Marcus introduced himself with a somewhat excited face. ¡°And¡­¡± It was when Lucas was going to introduce the curly-haired young man with a frivolous expression. ¡°The northern bumpkins are excited.¡± The words were said in a low voice, but all of them heard it because the ce was quiet in the first ce. Lucas and the other prospects from the north turned to the direction where they heard the voicee from, and the owner of the voice and those sitting around that person received their gazes without any signs of embarrassment. ¡°What, did I say something wrong? The northern part is the countryside, so those who live in the north are country bumpkins.¡± A young man with gorgeous blonde hair who looked to be over 20 years old said with a shrug, and the group who sat around him giggled and burst intoughter. ¡°That¡¯s right, the north is the countryside.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be offended by his words. He just felt sorry for you guys.¡± ¡°Look at them talking loudly and getting excited to see each other.¡± ¡°There¡¯s a rumor going around that¡­people from the north are unscrupulous and brazen.¡± Every word they said was full of ridicule. Eventually, Lucas couldn¡¯t take it anymore and said as he red. ¡°Lord Lucian. You¡¯re going too far.¡± ¡°No, what¡­ But what I said is all true though? Isn¡¯t that right?¡± The gorgeous blonde man, Lucian, looked around and asked, and the prospects from the royal capital, who seemed to be part of his clique, nodded and agreed. But it was then. A ck-haired girl with an alluring appearance who was sitting next to Lucian said with a smile. ¡°Lord Lucian, don¡¯t be so mean. They¡¯re still children.¡± ¡°Hmm, I see. I guess that¡¯s why she could leave a letter like that. It seems I went too far.¡± A letter like that. The ck-haired girl nced at Cordelia and smiled, and Cordelia understood it right away. She had brought up those words now to make fun of Cordelia from the very beginning. ¡®F*ck?¡¯ When Cordelia managed to stop the swear word froming out of her mouth, Jude narrowed his eyes and studied Lucian and his clique. ¡®Lucian Dior.¡¯ The eldest son of Count Dior. A young man from a powerful family in the royal capital, and favored by Duke Wotan, one of the prominent figures among the aristocrats who was in the same rank as Duke Spencer. In the game, there was not much information about him because he only appeared for a short time, but Jude quickly understood the situation. ¡®He¡¯s trying to pick a fight.¡¯ The kind who lorded over others. He was like an alley boss who used this opportunity toy down thew to the prospects from the north. ¡®There¡¯s no mastermind behind him.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t some political plot but just an immature man¡¯s mischief. Jude knew those kind of people who were like Lucian. Those who grew up under their parent¡¯s prestige could easily be such an audacious bastard especially when they were born with little talent. Everything in the world would look insignificant to them. ¡°Lady Lorraine.¡± When Lucas raised his voice again, the ck-haired woman, Lorraine, said with wide open eyes. ¡°Oh my, are you mad at me now? Me?¡± When Lorraine asked again as her face instantly turned tearful, the innocent Lucas was flustered and left speechless, and Lucian¡¯s clique burst intoughter again. ¡°Isn¡¯t he really mean? Right, Lord Lucian?¡± ¡°Yes, Lucas is quite mean. I can¡¯t believe he raised his voice to my pretty Lorraine. That¡¯s not something a man should do.¡± As Lucian hugged Lorraine¡¯s waist, she leaned against Lucian and spoke very naturally. ¡°But do forgive him. He¡¯s still young.¡± ¡°Well, I guess I should. There¡¯s something called a senior¡¯s generosity.¡± ¡°How nice of you, Lord Lucian.¡± Lorraine said in a whisper, and Lucian jerked his chin to Lucas as if he really forgave Lucas. ¡°I¡¯ll forgive you for being mad at Lorraine, so why don¡¯t you sit down?¡± ¡°Ha.¡± Augh eventually came out of Lucas¡¯ mouth. His tolerance also had its limits. Lucas fiercelyughed and tried to draw out his sword. But it was at that moment. ¡°Let¡¯s stop there.¡± Jude spoke in a low voice as he put his hand on the back of Lucas¡¯ hand and dissuaded the other from pulling the sword. He then looked at Lucian. He thought that Lucian was simply a dirty bastard, but there was a rather clever side to him as well. Let Lucas draw the sword first. He would then draw his sword and defeat Lucas as if he couldn¡¯t help it, and im that Lucas was responsible because he drew his sword first, regardless of how it began. ¡®Of course, that¡¯s the story if that bastard can defeat Lucas.¡¯ It was clear that Lucian was quite skilled. He could tell from looking at Lucian¡¯s body that he had worked hard to train even if that didn¡¯t suit his personality. But that was it. His fate had already been sealed the moment he mocked Cordelia. ¡°Lord Lucian.¡± Jude smiled after he spoke, and Lucian slightly frowned. Because he instinctively sensed that Jude was different from Lucas or the other northern prospects. ¡°I understand that you are here for the Banquet of Swords. The Banquet of Swords has not yet officially begun¡­ so is there really a need to talk with such a loud and willful mouth?¡± His words were unexpected, but Jude was handsome. To the extent that his looks could be called ¡®iparable.¡¯ When Jude brightly smiled and said that, Lorraine was unconsciously mesmerized at him for a very short time, and Lorraine¡¯s reaction and Jude¡¯s words offended Lucian. ¡°So, let¡¯s have a match?¡± As Lucian scornfullyughed, Jude smiled again this time. After he said those few words, he added a phrase that was perfect in goading immature people like Lucian. ¡°If you¡¯re confident.¡± You can fold if you¡¯re scared. Jude smirked, and a smile spread on Lucas¡¯ face. Even the prospects from the south, who were a third party to this, found it to be interesting. ¡°Ha, why are country bumpkins like this?¡± Lucian shook his head as if he was dumbfounded before he got up from his seat. His well-trained body and 190 cm height was enough to make him look intimidating. ¡°Shall we do it here?¡± ¡°As I said before, if you¡¯re confident.¡± ¡°Country bumpkins from the countryside must be really stupid. Aren¡¯t you the guy who couldn¡¯t even move much because of his illness just half a year ago?¡± ¡°I think you¡¯re misunderstanding something right now, but Lord Lucian is a in noble without a single title. You¡¯re not a count. You¡¯re not even a duke.¡± Even counts had something like a level. The famous and influential counts in the royal capital weren¡¯t on the same level as the counts from the north. It was probably this reason why royal capital nobles like Lucian trampled on noble children from other ces many times. ¡®If the opponent wasn¡¯t Lucas or me, he would have acted more bluntly.¡¯ However, the two were from the 12 northern families. They were also the ten great swordmasters¡¯ children. So Lucian had to be cautious and only provoke the other side to draw their sword first. But what he wanted didn¡¯t happen. Lucian couldn¡¯t stand it anymore when Jude calmly told the truth without losing his smile. He left his seat and drew his sword. ¡°Let¡¯s do this.¡± Lucian red at Jude and said, causing a stir among the prospects from the royal capital. The enraged Lucian drew out a real sword, so they were somehow worried of a possible bloodshed. The prospects from the north were also worried and looked at Jude and Lucian alternatingly. Except for one ¨C Lucas. ¡®You must have a death wish, Lucian.¡¯ Lucas alone had a calm expression and even sat down, and various reactions urred again because of his calm attitude. ¡®Is it okay to not stop him?¡¯ ¡®Lord Lucas.¡¯ ¡®You¡¯re the strongest among us. Shouldn¡¯t you do something?¡¯ Those were the worries of the prospects from the north. ¡®Is he provoking us?¡¯ ¡®Maybe he gave up?¡¯ The prospects from the royal capital had different thoughts. Naturally, the prospects from the south also reacted. ¡®Can we make a bet?¡¯ ¡®Would they mind if we make bets?¡¯ And a prospect from the royal capital reacted again. Lorraine got up from her seat and approached Lucian. Because she knew better than anyone else here on how enraged her fianc¨¦, Lucian, was. ¡°Go easy on him. He¡¯s still a noble of the S?len Kingdom, right?¡± She reached out to Lucian as she spoke, and Lucian naturally hugged Lorraine¡¯s waist and kissed her in the lips. ¡°I will dedicate the victory of this duel to you, Lorraine.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll look forward to it.¡± Lucian regained hisposure to some extent, and Lorraine smiled as she went back to her seat. Everyone¡¯s eyes turned to Jude and Cordelia spontaneously, or to be precise, they turned to Cordelia. ¡®Will she do it?¡¯ It was the gaze of Cana Glyce, the youngest. ¡®Shouldn¡¯t she¡­do something like that too?¡¯ It was the calm yet somehow warm gaze of Rachel Bloom. ¡®Well, no one¡¯s forcing her.¡¯ Marcus Chen cleared his throat while the curly-haired young man who had yet to reveal his name gazed at Cordelia with expectation. Cordelia jumped at everyone¡¯s gazes at her and turned to Jude, who was staring at her with a calm expression. ¡®It¡¯s okay. It won¡¯t be long.¡¯ Jude spoke with his eyes and tried to step forward, but Cordelia reflexively grabbed the hem of Jude¡¯s clothes. ¡®Cordelia?¡¯ ¡®Wa-wait a minute.¡¯ Surprised by the fact that she grabbed Jude¡¯s clothes, Cordelia took a few deep breaths and looked up at Jude again. She looked into Jude¡¯s eyes and soon saw Jude¡¯s lips. She gulped and swallowed her saliva. ¡®Corde¡­lia?¡¯ Cordelia did not respond. She raised her head again to face Jude with a very red face, and bit her lips as she stood on tiptoe. She wrapped her arms around Jude¡¯s neck to lower his posture, and then closed her eyes and drew her face closer. A light kiss. Cordelia¡¯s lips lightly touched his cheek before she quickly pulled away her lips as if she was running away from shyness. But the atmosphere in the garden was clearly influenced by it, as it changed and became warm for a while. The prospects from the north and south all had simr smiles, and even the prospects from the royal capital were affected by the pink atmosphere for a moment. But Cordelia didn¡¯t see all of that. She didn¡¯t turn her head away, as she looked at Jude and whispered very quietly, instead of grumbling or saying that she was forced or hated it. ¡°D-do your best.¡± Do you understand? You must win, okay? Jude responded with action to her shy cheering. He lightly pressed his lips on the forehead of Cordelia, who waspletely caught off-guard. ¡°I¡¯ll be back.¡± Jude said, and Cordelia blinked as she realized on what had happened to her forehead. Not only her face but also her neck and ears turned red for a while, and she couldn¡¯t think of anything else. And Jude walked to Lucian. He smiled so brightly at Lucian who was angrily looking at him. ¡°Hey.¡± ¡°What? What¡¯s with the hey?¡± ¡°Ah, that. Thank you very much.¡± Really, really. Thank you very much. So. ¡°I¡¯ll go easy on you.¡± Originally, he was going to beat him half-way, but he¡¯d go really easy on him now. Jude gently touched his cheek and provocatively gestured at him with a happy smile, and Lucian couldn¡¯t bear it any longer and burst with anger. He rushed towards Jude. Chapter 160 - EPISODE 160 – BANQUET OF SWORDS (3)

Chapter 160 - EPISODE 160 ¨C BANQUET OF SWORDS (3)

Terms used in this chapter: One who has tied the knot must untie it?¨C A saying that means whoever created the problem must be the one to solve it. An English equivalent would be ¡®You¡¯ve made your bed, now lie in it.¡¯ Throwing technique?¨C A Judo technique to unbnce one¡¯s opponent and throw them to the floor. One full point?¨C Also known as ¡®ippon,¡¯ it is a score given in judo when one executes a skillful throwing technique which results in one contestant being thrownrgely on the back with considerable force or speed. An ippon in judo is equivalent to a knockout punch in boxing. Lucian Dior. Born as the eldest son of Count Dior, he enjoyed all sorts of luxury and was the kind of man Jude had expected. He was a man with a bad personality, but was quite clever and had a natural talent for swords. But unlike those kind of bastards who whiled away their time in alcohol and women, he walked the path of the sword quite seriously. He devoted himself to training from early in the morning every day, and never stayed up all night even after drinking and ying games with his clique. His fianc¨¦e, Lorraine, highly praised Lucian¡¯s diligence which she found to be surprising, but there was actually one more reason why he was diligent. ¡®Fear.¡¯ If Lucian had to choose two things that left a deep impression in his life of more than 20 years, one was meeting his fianc¨¦e, Lorraine, and the other was his first meeting of ¡®a person higher and stronger than his father¡¯ when he was five years old. ¡®Duke Wotan.¡¯ Lucian was walking inside the mansion like always and happened to witness a conversation between his father and Duke Wotan, which greatly shocked him. Duke Wotan wasn¡¯t doing anything strange. Whatpletely surprised Lucian was his father, Count Dior. ¡®Father?¡¯ For the child Lucian, Count Dior was like a god. He held absolute power within the family, and always wielded that power to its utmost. Lucian had noticed that the maids, butlers, and even his mother always trembled in fear when they stood in front of such a father. Lucian liked such a father. He thought that someday, he would be like his father. Count Dior. His god-like father. But not that day. His father whose back was always straightened up, had bent it over like that of an old butler. He bowed his head repeatedly in subservience, smiled like a secretary, and tried to please Duke Wotan. And Lucian realized it that day. The fact that his father was not a god, and that his son, Lucian himself, was also not a god. The fact that there were stronger and greater people in the world. That was why unlike other bastards, Lucian looked at his opponents differently and cleverly used his head. He knew it. He knew so well that neither he nor his father were gods that could do whatever they wanted. After witnessing that shocking sight, Lucian began to make an effort in his training. Because he was very scared. He had to be strong. He must continue to stand in the position of the strong one. In order to not be left behind by greater beings than him such as Duke Wotan, he must be someone skilled. He must have the ability to reign over things that were equal or inferior to himself. Lucian¡¯s original personality didn¡¯t change. He still liked to bully the weak and used that to boost his ego. He constantly wanted to confirm that he was still strong. ¡®The ten great swordmasters¡¯ children.¡¯ They weren¡¯t just children of great swordmasters, but also children of those who upied a ce in the 12 northern families. Lucian instinctively felt a sense of crisis. So he thought like he usually did. He had to beat them. He must hold the dominant position. And¡­ And. ¡®How nice would it feel?¡¯ If he beat those people. If he could instill to those people, who have lived thinking that they were strong, of the fact that they were actually weak. But when he first saw Lucas, he couldn¡¯t make any hasty moves. Because Lucas Hr?svelgr wasn¡¯t someone he could easily offend. ¡®Margrave.¡¯ He was the first child of Count Hr?svelgr who led the Jackdaws. Even if Count Dior was favored by Duke Wotan, the Hr?svelgr family wasn¡¯t a family he could thoughtlessly offend. If that was the case, he had to win with his own abilities in the end, but that wasn¡¯t easy either. ¡®Lucas Hr?svelgr.¡¯ A sword genius whose name was known even in the royal capital. Lucas was still four years younger than him, but he didn¡¯t think he would lose. But he didn¡¯t think he could easily win either. But new faces then appeared at the tea party. Jude Bayer and Cordelia Chase. There were rumors about them in the royal capital like Lucas, but the content of the rumors werepletely different. One was a sword genius. The other was about two young people who were crazily in love and eloped. But it wasn¡¯t only that. Unlike Cordelia who was quite healthy, Jude had suffered from an illness that he couldn¡¯t go out much until half a year ago. ¡®Easy.¡¯ He could beat Jude as much as he wanted to. So he immediately picked a fight with the other. Even if Lucas had drawn his sword, Lucian was determined to goad Jude into a match through provocation. ¡®I want to see it.¡¯ To see that handsome face be wrecked into a mess. When it came to their looks, Cordelia Chase wasparable to Lorraine ¨C no, she was even better looking than his fianc¨¦e, and he wanted to see such Cordelia cry as she realize that her beloved was actually a weak idiot. As he felt thrilled by his sadistic thoughts, Lucian provoked them even harder, and Lucas drew his sword as he expected. But it went wrong after that. ¡®Cocky bastard.¡¯ Jude Bayer. It was obvious that Jude didn¡¯t know much about the world yet. It was obvious that Jude was like him in his childhood, not knowing that there was a heaven above the sky. Then he had to teach Jude. How lowly his existence was. The purpose of the Banquet of Swords was to broaden one¡¯s horizons, so he would teach Jude once as his senior. As he charged towards Jude, the word ¡®defeat¡¯ did not exist in Lucian¡¯s mind. He only dreamed of winning and scorning the weak like always. And¡­ ¡°Huh?¡± At the moment he first swung his sword, Lucian unwittingly let out a word in surprise. Because when he tried to immediately strike Jude with his sword, Jude evaded it, so nothing happened. ¡°Oops, I forgot one thing.¡± Lucian¡¯s eyes turned sharp when Jude retreated more than ten steps in an instant and slyly smiled before speaking. Because it was the first time he had seen that considerable level of footwork technique. ¡°Lord Lucian, let¡¯s make a promise.¡± ¡°Promise? What promise?¡± ¡°If Lord Lucian loses, he would kneel and apologize to Cordelia. Together with Lady Lorraine. With sincerity.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°To begin with, this match started because Lord Lucian arrogantly mocked and shamed Cordelia. As the saying goes, one who has tied the knot must untie it, so shouldn¡¯t Lord Lucian be the one to put an end to it?¡± ¡°Crazy b*stard.¡± Lucian cursed, and the prospects from the royal capitalughed out loud while the prospects from the south found the current situation to be interesting. But the prospects from the north thought. ¡®No, weren¡¯t we insulted too?¡¯ ¡®Weren¡¯t we the first ones to be shamed?¡¯ But that didn¡¯t matter to Jude. What mattered to Jude was Cordelia. ¡°Would you like to make a promise?¡± ¡°What if you lose then?¡± ¡°I will prostrate myself in front of Lord Lucian and Lady Lorraine. I¡¯ll apologize for acting arrogant.¡± ¡°No, you alone is not enough. Your fianc¨¦e should be with you.¡± ¡°Crazy son of a b*tch, I thought I¡¯d cut you some ck, but you must be desperate to die, huh?¡± ¡°W-what?¡± ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s make a promise, okay?¡± When Jude let out curses and then asked him with a smug smile, Lucian was taken aback before heughed. One could onlyugh if they found something to be so ridiculous, and that was exactly what happened to him. ¡°Crazy son of a b*tch, I¡¯ll beat you to a pulp.¡± ¡°If you can.¡± At that moment, Lucian made up his mind. He had thought of teaching Jude a lesson moderately, but that wasn¡¯t enough now. He should at least put a cut on Jude¡¯s face. ¡°You brought it upon yourself.¡± ¡°Yes, you brought it upon yourself.¡± Jude grinned again, and Lucian kicked the ground. And this time, Jude did not avoid it. And right after that. When Lucian¡¯s lightning-fast sword lunged at Jude. ¡°Huh?¡± Lucian let out a surprised voice again. But this time, it was different from before. Lucian found himself flying in the air. To be exact, he found his head falling downwards to the ground. Throwing technique. At the moment Lucian lunged at him, Jude narrowed the distance at once with Twenty-Four Gale Steps. He grabbed Lucian¡¯s right hand that held the sword that thrust at him, and immediately did the throwing technique. He used his strength to flip Lucian over his head. And right after that again. When Lucian realized that the positions of the sky and ground had reversed. Lucian didn¡¯t fall to the ground headfirst. Just before his head touched the ground, the sky and ground changed positions again. Something supported the back of his neck, so he only fell to the floor on his back. ¡°Ah.¡± And he realized it. What touched the back of his neck was the top of Jude¡¯s foot. Jude had brought his foot to the back of Lucian¡¯s neck after the throwing technique to prevent Lucian¡¯s head from falling headfirst to the ground. ¡°One full point.¡± Jude smiled and said, prompting the voices of those who were watching at that moment. Confusion, awe, and fear. ¡°What- what happened?¡± ¡°Did he throw Lucian behind his head?¡± ¡°No, he supported Lucian with his foot at the end, I think? So that Lucian wouldn¡¯t fall headfirst? Is that even possible?¡± They honestly didn¡¯t see it properly. Jude had moved closer to Lucian as he grabbed Lucian¡¯s arm, and moved his foot after he turned over Lucian in an instant. ¡®As expected of Mr. Jude.¡¯ Lucas was the only one here who saw all of Jude¡¯s movements, and he was impressed and amazed. Because Jude¡¯s physical abilities were truly superhuman. ¡®It¡¯s not just that.¡¯ Lucian¡¯s swordy was real. His thrust was not something that Lucas himself could take lightly. But Jude not only correctly read the attack but also used it. ¡®It sends chills up my spine.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t just because he admired Jude¡¯s superhuman abilities. There was another reason. ¡°Stand up, let¡¯s keep going.¡± Jude told Lucian, who was lying on the floor with a stunned expression. Then Lucian started sweating buckets and quickly stood up, widening his distance from Jude as if he was running away. And he realized it. The reason why he was sweating buckets. The reason why he was scared. ¡®He could have kicked me with his feet.¡¯ Jude could have just kicked him instead of supporting the back of Lucian¡¯s head with his foot. And if he had did that¡­if that really happened¡­ No, it was a vicious idea to try to kick your opponent¡¯s head as it would kill them in the first ce. ¡®Duke Wotan.¡¯ Jude was Duke Wotan. Lucian himself was a strong man, but he was helpless against Jude. Lucian had realized that, so he couldn¡¯t move. ¡°Lord Lucian?¡± ¡°Lucian?¡± Each of the prospects from the royal capital called out to him from behind his back. Lorraine¡¯s voice was included among them, but Lucian couldn¡¯t respond to them. He found it impossible to look away from Jude for a moment. He was afraid. Lucian himself was like a frog in front of a snake. Jude slightly narrowed his eyes at Lucian¡¯s reaction. And he decided to be a little generous to Lucian. ¡®Because he¡¯s my benefactor too.¡¯ Jude touched his cheek once before speaking in a lowered voice to Lucian who had turned pale. ¡°Lord Lucian, don¡¯t let me draw my sword.¡± In truth, Jude would immediately be weaker if he drew his sword, but Cordelia was the only one who knew that. Jude¡¯s warning was very effective. He was already very strong with his bare hands, so what would happen if he even drew his sword? The prospects who were watching swallowed hard, and Lucian bowed his head. ¡°I lost. I-It¡¯s my loss.¡± When Lucian dered his defeat in low spirits, Jude turned to Lorraine instead of answering him. He smiled as he looked at her flinching. Fulfill your promise. Apologize and regret mocking Cordelia with your cocky mouths. Jude¡¯s gaze was firm, and Lorraine was unable to endure it. She couldn¡¯t even bite her lips properly as she walked towards Lucian. Because they had to kneel in front of Cordelia together. It was an unexpected humiliation, but a promise was a promise. ¡®How surprising, so they still know how to be courteous?¡¯ Or do they want to save their faces that much? Either way, Jude was satisfied. ¡®Because the Banquet of Swords has just begun.¡¯ Did you think this alone would forgive you for your sin of insulting Cordelia? In addition, you spoke ill of Lucas. Did you think I¡¯ll only stop at an apology? Jude brightly smiled and now turned to look at Cordelia whom he had deliberately avoided looking at earlier. Since he was very curious on what kind of expression she would make. ¡®They¡¯re trembling a bit.¡¯ But he didn¡¯t think much about it. Jude cleared his throat as he faced Cordelia before he unconsciouslyughed. Because Cordelia was just standing there nkly as her eyes blinked. ¡®She¡¯s lost in her thoughts.¡¯ It was the expression Cordelia always made when she began to think deeply, or to be exact, when she fell into her senseless delusions alone. ¡®What are you thinking?¡¯ He was curious and wanted to know what she was thinking, but he was also a bit scared to know about it. Unaware of Jude¡¯s thoughts and emotions, Cordelia was still struggling in her delusions. ¡®What? What, what, what was that?¡¯ Cordelia, you yourself ki-ki-kissed him on the cheek, so it shouldn¡¯t be a big deal. The two over there had kissed, so we had to match them. In other countries, kissing on the cheek was a way to greet close friends. ¡®That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right. Jude and I are close.¡¯ He¡¯s also my fianc¨¦, right? So this is eptable. It¡¯s nothing to worry about. ¡®When I said?do your best¡­that was just to cheer for him, right?¡¯ Yes, yes, to cheer for him. It¡¯s natural to tell him to do his best since I was rooting for him. She actually didn¡¯t even think that Jude would lose, but she also knew of Jude and his opponent¡¯s gap, so she honestly wondered if he really needed her cheering. But she still had to cheer for him. Because I don¡¯t want to see Jude losing. I want him to win. Unnie keep showing me strange things, so my heart sometimes pound when I see Jude. ¡®N-no, not this. Anyway!¡¯ I just kissed him on the cheek generously and told him to do his best. Her face didn¡¯t turn red, and she was indifferent and cool about it, like those cool beauties she saw in movies. But. But. ¡®What? What, what, what was that?¡¯ Jude pressed his lips on her forehead. It was only for a short moment, but she definitely felt it. She felt like her forehead was on fire at that moment. ¡®What was that? Does he really like me? Does he like me?¡¯ But he did it on my forehead? What does it mean? ¡®N-no. In the first ce, I also kissed him on the cheek because of everyone¡¯s gazes on me, right? It could be the same for Jude. No, it¡¯s highly likely that it¡¯s the reason he did that.¡¯ That¡¯s right, so rx. Let¡¯s rx, Cordelia. You shouldn¡¯t misunderstand and think otherwise for no reason. So stop. You don¡¯t want to lose to Jude again, right? The person who falls in love first loses! ¡®What am I thinking now?¡¯ This is so confusing me that I don¡¯t know what I¡¯m thinking about. Isn¡¯t it Jude¡¯s job to think in the first ce! Anyway, Cordelia was struggling and lost in her thoughts, so it took her longer than expected to notice the scene happening in front of her eyes. ¡°Excuse me, Lady Cordelia?¡± ¡°Lady Cordelia!¡± ¡°Eh?!¡± Cordelia unknowingly uttered a strange sound and faltered as she stepped back, and it was only then that she saw Lucian and Lorraine kneeling in front of her. ¡®What, why are they doing this? What in the world did Jude do?¡¯ Cordelia hurriedly looked for Jude as she turned her head, and she was able to find Jude who was doing his best to suppress hisughter. ¡®I knew it, this crazy b*stard!¡¯ Look, look at himughing. After he left these people feeling troubled! And he¡¯s trying to make me feel troubled this time too! ¡°Excuse me¡­ Lady Cordelia?¡± ¡°Eh? Uh, yes.¡± Cordelia quickly responded to Lucas¡¯ call, and turned to Lucian and Lorraine again. Something must have happened to make Lucian¡¯s expression turn really pale. It seemed to her that Jude had threatened him. ¡®Whatever.¡¯ Because they were vicious. Cordelia clicked her tongue before she smiled again at Lucian and Lorraine, who apologized to her for their rudeness. ¡°Okay. I ept your apologies. You can stand up now.¡± It was the difference between Jude and Cordelia. Eventually, Lucian and Lorraine stood up from their kneeling position at the kind words of Cordelia, who felt like a real angel, and everyone who watched them, including the prospects from the royal road, had warm expressions. ¡°Whew.¡± Cordelia exhaled a little and looked again towards Jude. She was able to stop her delusions because of that disturbance, but her strange feelings still remained, so she unconsciously made a shy expression. But Jude did not face such Cordelia. He definitely wanted to see Cordelia¡¯s reactions, but at the present moment, he had to look elsewhere. ¡®He¡¯sing.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t just because of Cordelia that Jude did not beat Lucian halfway. There was another reason why he showed his ability for a short moment instead of taking Lucian lightly. That person had been watching them since themotion had begun. And that person had begun to approach them only after themotion was over. ¡°The Sword Saint of Light.¡± The man who was called the First Sword because he was the strongest at the Sword School. Rhun Froud, a member of the ten great swordmasters. With his long dark blue hair, he came towards them from the side. He stared at Jude with an interested look, and Jude smiled at him. ¡®Let¡¯s begin.¡¯ To change the story. For a perfect happy ending. Jude looked at Cordelia, and she turned to Rhun Froud after snorting at Jude. Together with Jude, they greeted the Sword Saint of Light. Chapter 161.1 - EPISODE 161.1 – BANQUET OF SWORDS (4)

Chapter 161.1 - EPISODE 161.1 ¨C BANQUET OF SWORDS (4)

In Pleaides, there were several titlesmonly used by the entire continent. Great swordmaster, a title referring to a swordsman who had reached the top. Archwizard, a title for a 6-stars or higher wizard. The great swordmasters in the S?len Kingdom were ten in number. They were called the Ten Great Swordmasters. Masters of the sword that the S?len Kingdom were proud of. There were all strong. It was not an exaggeration to say that they were considered as tactical weapons in war, and were superhumans who had surpassed the limits of a normal human. But that didn¡¯t mean all of them were the same. There were those who were superior even among the Ten Great Swordmasters. ¡®But they cannot ascertain or prove on who is more superior.¡¯ The reason why was simple. Because the use of the most reliable verification method was prohibited. ¡®The Ten Great Swordmasters cannot fight against each other.¡¯ Each and every one of the Ten Great Swordmasters were valuable tactical weapons. The damage would be seriously tremendous if any of them were lost. ¡®The Ten Great Swordmasters are superhumans.¡¯ If they had a match to determine on who was stronger, and both sides did their best in the fight, one side was bound to be crushed. They would be destroyed. ¡®Because of this reason, it became impossible to directly rank the Ten Great Swordmasters.¡¯ But people did not give up. After all, it was human instinct to rank those who were stronger. ¡®Sword Saint.¡¯ This term referred to swordsmen who had reached the stage of the so-called ¡®bing one with the sword,¡¯ and was particrly used for outstanding great swordmasters. There were only three among the Ten Great Swordmasters who held the title of Sword Saint, and the number of sword saints in the whole continent had never exceeded ten. ¡®Rhun Froud.¡¯ The Sword Saint of Light. A monster of the sword, who at a young age, rose to the position of great swordmaster and eventually, a sword saint in his early thirties. He was the strongest swordsman in the Sword School, the pride of Duke Spencer, and it was for this reason that he was called the First Sword as he ranked first in swordsmanship in the Sword School. ¡®Some say that he¡¯s the strongest among the Ten Great Swordmasters, but¡­¡¯ That was still something unknown. Fights among the Ten Great Swordmasters were forbidden. ¡®Even in the game, none of the Ten Great Swordmasters fought with each other.¡¯ But if Jude had to give a reason on why he wanted to know on what was unknown, and excluded a bit of his own interest in it, the reason would be¡­ ¡®Because my father belonged to the Ten Great Swordmasters.¡¯ Count Bayer. A swordsman who was a great swordmaster. Jude unknowingly made a bitter smile and saw what was in front of him again. Before he knew it, their distance from Rhun Froud had narrowed. ¡®The Sword Saint of Light.¡¯ A handsome man with long dark blue hair who seemed to havee out of a beautiful painting. But he didn¡¯t have a beautiful face that could be mistaken for a woman like the Ghostde Kamael. Neither was he a cheerful guy with a masculine and bold appearance like Landius. To describe him, he was a handsome man with a sharp look. However, he didn¡¯t give off a cold impression because of his business smile and the yfulness that lingered in his eyes. Rather, Rhun Froud was like the neighborhood older guy one was familiar with. ¡°Yo!¡± He approached them like those good-for-nothing neighborhood guys as he slightly raised his hand and greeted them, gathering the attention of everyone who were looking elsewhere. ¡°Nice to meet you all.¡± It could be said that First Sword¡¯s sudden appearance and greeting confused the prospects from the north and south, but not for the prospects from the royal capital. Because they already knew that the man who had just appeared in front of them was none other than Rhun Froud, the Sword Saint of Light. ¡°I greet the Sword Saint of Light.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet the Sword Saint of Light.¡± As the prospects from the center courteously greeted him almost at the same time, the prospects from the north and south also hurriedly rose from their seats and respectfully greeted him. For those who walked the path of the sword, the Ten Great Swordmasters were people they envied, but among these great swordmasters, the First Sword was special. ¡®Because he is young.¡¯ He achieved the title of great swordmaster much earlier than others, and even climbed to the position of sword saint. A young genius. He was a person who shined like his nickname ¡®Sword Saint of Light.¡¯ And he was a very handsome guy too. Like young fans who had met the idol singer they admired, all the prospects looked at him with sparkling eyes and blushing faces, and some of them even felt dizzy. But Jude didn¡¯t act like that. The same was true for Cordelia. And that fact once again stimted First Sword¡¯s curiosity. He brightly smiled as he walked past Lucian, who didn¡¯t know what to do and was wondering if he should talk to the First Sword or walk away. ¡®Here hees.¡¯ First Sword. The key solution they needed to prevent the genocide of the royal family. ¡®We need to get close to him.¡¯ They did not need to control the First Sword. They only needed one thing from him. They needed the First Sword to attend the founding celebration. In the game, he was not present at the ball, so they needed to somehow make him stay in the royal pce now. That was enough. ¡®Of course, it would be nice if he helped us further.¡¯ The best scenario was to have the First Sword defeat the Lord Protector. So Jude made a friendly smile, but it was only for a short moment. His eyes soon turned ice-cold unknowingly. Because the First Sword who was walking towards Jude had suddenly turned to Cordelia. ¡°Your beauty is truly like that of a rose. I am called Rhun Froud. May I know mdy¡¯s name?¡± First Sword gently kissed the back of Cordelia¡¯s hand and smiled softly, making Cordelia blush a bit. Even if his lines were nothing but foolish remarks, First Sword¡¯s handsome face and sweet voice made his words sound beautiful, and it was the first time Cordelia had received this kind of greeting from a man other than Jude. ¡®Come to think of it, why is this my first time?¡¯ I¡¯m the daughter of a count, right? At the time Cordelia was lost in her thoughts again¡­ ¡°I am Jude Bayer from the family of Count Bayer. This is Lady Cordelia Chase, my fianc¨¦e.¡± When Jude suddenly stood next to Cordelia and greeted naturally, Cordelia blinked her eyes before she widely smiled. ¡°I am Cordelia Chase from the family of Count Chase. It¡¯s an honor to meet the Sword Saint of Light.¡± Jude had told her that they had to get close to the First Sword. So Cordelia thought that she should do what she could. When she responded with a bright smile, First Sword broadly smiled again and then turned to Jude before he lightlyughed. ¡°Sorry, sorry. I¡¯ve also heard of the rumors. You could say I wanted to tease you a bit? Of course, Lady Cordelia was so beautiful¡­ I really thought she was an angel from heaven, so I wanted to talk to her.¡± At First Sword¡¯s words, the prospects also lightlyughed as if they found it funny, and Judeughed too as he thought. ¡®It will be difficult.¡¯ To be friends with him. No, it will be easy to get acquainted to him, but that¡¯s it. ¡°Hahaha, please do forgive me. The love you two shared for each other was so great that rumors of it had even spread to the royal capital. I was quite impressed.¡± ¡°Thank¡­you.¡± ¡°Hahaha¡­thank you.¡± Jude and Cordelia answered a bit awkwardly, and First Sword took a step back instead of pushing his teasing further. As a great swordmaster, he was well-aware of the importance of not overdoing it. ¡°There are actually a lot of reasons on why I¡¯m interested. But since your situation has ended up like this, how about I resolve this first? So that you won¡¯t have to go through anything like this again.¡± He finished his words with a wink, and turned to the prospects before Jude and Cordelia could say anything. ¡°My young friends, all of us who have gathered here are prospects who are talented in the sword, except for Lady Cordelia here. Generally speaking, this is a bit strange, right?¡± Some of the prospects eximed in agreement with the First Sword. Because when they thought about it, he was right. Everyone who were invited to the Banquet of Swords was a swordsman, and among those swordsmen, only prospects whose talents were recognized had been invited. There had never been a case where a fianc¨¦e of a prospect was invited, and Duke Spencer was not the kind of person who would ept uninvited guests without a proper reason. ¡°Then why did this happen? Why was Lady Cordelia invited by Duke Spencer?¡± At the words of the First Sword who talked like a storyteller in the street, the prospects looked at each other. Lorraine, Lucian¡¯s fianc¨¦e, was a swordswoman. She was also an excellent swordswoman who was promising enough to be invited to the Banquet of Swords. Then why was Cordelia here? Just as the First Sword said, why was she, a wizard, here? ¡°Lady Cordelia, have you started practicing swordsmanship?¡± When Lucas asked with his eyes wide open, the prospects around Lucas turned to him, wondering on what he was saying. They would indeed act like that because Cordelia was a wizard. ¡®Is the Banquet of Swords a joke?¡¯ ¡®I know that Lord Lucas has a bit of a stupid side, but this is a little¡­¡¯ Everyone looked at Lucas badly, but Lucas was serious. ¡®Because Lady Cordelia is abat genius.¡¯ He had already witnessed that talent in the Witch¡¯s Forest. With that much talent, it would have been possible for her to be a great swordswoman. ¡°Lady Cordelia?¡± ¡°N-no. I haven¡¯t learned swordsmanship yet.¡± She had only learned footwork techniques and bare-handed fighting from Jude. Cordelia denied it, and Lucas fell into thought again. First Sword then smiled and pped his hands to draw everyone¡¯s attention to him again. ¡°I would love to see Lady Cordelia as a beautiful female swordsman, but that¡¯s for ater story. First of all, there is a reason on why she was invited.¡± First Sword said and suddenly turned to Jude who nodded his head. Because he kind of knew what the First Sword would say. ¡°I¡¯ll talk about it since the parties involved have given their permission. Jude and Cordelia here have made a very big contribution. Thanks to the Seven-Colored Herb that they helped obtain, His Excellency, Duke Spencer, was freed from his longtime chronic illness. In other words, Mr. Jude Bayer and Lady Cordelia Chase are His Excellency, the Duke of Spencer¡¯s guests. They¡¯re also friends of Princess Darianne. If I may add to this¡­ His Excellency, Duke Spencer, is also thinking of personally backing the two.¡± At his yfully said words, the prospects were unable tough or talk like before. The meritorious deeds that Jude and Cordelia had done. Their acquaintance with Princess Darianne. In addition, the personal backing of Duke Spencer. Duke Spencer was famous for not forgetting to repay the ingratitude done by his enemies. He was someone who paid back ten times more. If Duke Spencer felt indebted to Jude and Cordelia, then they could no longer say anything. ¡®We touched them wrong.¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s a relief that they¡¯re okay, right?¡¯ The prospects from the royal capital looked back at Lucian, and Lucian and Lorraine looked pale as they had simr thoughts. If they had crushed a guest Duke Spencer had brought in as his benefactor, if they had made a cut on his face as originally nned¡­ ¡°Aren¡¯t you d that Mr. Jude Bayer is strong?¡± First Sword said with a smile, but his eyes were not smiling. Lucian barely nodded with a pale face, and First Sword looked back at Jude. ¡°Now, I¡¯ve resolved it.¡± ¡°¡­Thank you.¡± Jude answered with a fairly exhausted face, and First Sword smiled again. ¡°Cornwell had said to me. He met someone really talented. So I asked him, ¡®Did you see him fight?¡¯, and he said no, so I kicked him on the butt. But now I know. Why Cornwell said that.¡± First Sword¡¯s eyes did not smile again this time. His smart-looking brown eyes was seen under his dark blue hair. Just as Landius recognized Jude¡¯s talent at a nce, First Sword also recognized Jude¡¯s talent. Furthermore, unlike the time when Jude encountered Landius, Jude had now opened the fifth door and even undergone metamorphosis. ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe that until half a year ago, you were suffering from Gueumjulmaek.¡± First Sword spoke as if he was talking to himself, and before Jude and Cordelia could even say anything, he took the initiative and opened his arms wide, turning around exaggeratedly as he said. ¡°Anyway, the Banquet of Swords begins now. In the first ce, the Banquet of Swords was designed to broaden the experience of young prospects. So don¡¯t get involved in useless stuff and try to learn as much as you can in tomorrow¡¯s tournament. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Yes! We understand!¡± ¡°We ept the First Sword¡¯s words.¡± When some of the prospects loudly answered but not at the same time, the satisfied First Sword turned to Jude. ¡°The Banquet of Swords had been held again after several years because of the duke¡¯s health recovering. Moreover, nobles from all over the country have gathered because of the founding anniversary this time. This will probably be the best Banquet of Swords ever in terms of size. That is why I heard that the tournament prize they have prepared is great.¡± The prospects here weren¡¯t the only ones attending the Banquet of Swords. Some prospects had yet to arrive, while others were resting in their rooms instead of joining the tea party. ¡°There¡¯s a lot of good things that you¡¯ll want, and it¡¯s not just the 1st?prize, so don¡¯t give up in advance. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Yes! We understand!¡± First Sword nodded in satisfaction upon hearing the answers that were more unified than before, and he looked at Jude again and said. ¡°See you then tomorrow, Super Rookie.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll see you tomorrow too.¡± ¡°See you tomorrow.¡± Jude and Cordelia reflexively answered, and First Sword smiled again before he turned around and left the garden. Although he was the Sword Saint of Light, he was a man that felt like a gale blowing wildly. ¡®Today was mentally draining.¡¯ ¡®I agree.¡¯ Jude and Cordelia briefly exchanged nces, and the chaotic tea party eventually ended. Chapter 161.2 - EPISODE 161.2 – BANQUET OF SWORDS (4)

Chapter 161.2 - EPISODE 161.2 ¨C BANQUET OF SWORDS (4)

Terms used in this chapter: Honey is dripping down?¨C Something that is too sweet. Usually refers to couples who act so sweet with each other. The word ¡®honey¡¯ in Korean can also be read as ¡®sweet¡¯, so it can also be interpreted in English as ¡®sweetness that is overflowing.¡¯ And that night. All the prospects attending the Banquet of Swords were gathered together and ate dinner. It was indeed a luxurious dinner that matched its name of a ¡®banquet,¡¯ but most of the prospects went back to their rooms after eating enough except for some prospects withrge appetites. Because they were nervous about the most important part of the Banquet of Swords, a tournament between the prospects, which would start tomorrow. ¡°Then we¡¯ll see you tomorrow.¡± Jude and Cordelia greeted Lucas before they headed straight to their rooms like the others, and finished bathing with the help of the maids. And after they ate and took a bath. The two maids courteously bowed in front of Jude and Cordelia who had changed into pajamas. ¡°We hope you have a good night.¡± ¡°Uh¡­good night to the two of you too.¡± The maids perfectly greeted them politely like the maids of a duke, and they gently smiled at Cordelia¡¯s greeting before they quietly left the room. And a few secondster. After the door was closed with a soft thud, only the two, Jude and Cordelia, were left in the room. They were sitting besides each other on arge sofa. ¡®What, what is this atmosphere?¡¯ I ate well and even took a bath in warm water, so I just need to sleep now. I should just say good night like always and then go to bed. But it¡¯s strange. For some strange reason, my mouth won¡¯t open. Why? What¡¯s going on? No, why is it so awkward in the first ce? It¡¯s not the first time for us to be alone together. We usually slept in the same room every day in the wildnds and on our way to the royal capital. Cordelia swallowed hard unconsciously, and Jude responded to the sound of her swallowing. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Huh? Uh, what?¡± Cordelia answered in a hurry as she turned to Jude, and finally realized why it was so awkward. Because?that?happened today. It was such a big issue that she couldn¡¯t just think it was nothing. Cordelia looked at Jude¡¯s cheek. His cheeks were smooth and fair like always. Perhaps because of the metamorphosis, his clear and soft skin was like the skin of a baby. My lips touched there. How did it feel? I didn¡¯t think much of that. But afterwards, a hot feeling emerged as if I was being burned. Jude¡¯s lips. My own forehead. ¡®Ueueueue¡­¡¯ What was Jude thinking then? I did it because I had to root for Jude. Because I had to meet everyone¡¯s expectations then. Well, anyway, I had a lot of reasons for doing it, but what about Jude? Was it on impulse? To show off how much we love each other? ¡®Ah.¡¯ She stepped on andmine at that moment. You mean, we love each other? It¡¯s not like that. It¡¯s not like that yet. Cordelia¡¯s head began to be feverish, and because of that, her fantasies continued over and over again to the point she was unaware of what she was saying in her mind. Why? Why did he put his lips on my forehead? Does Jude like me, like what I thought for a moment during the day? ¡®Should I¡­just ask?¡¯ I can just stare at him and not say anything. Then he¡¯ll figure it out and give me an answer. ¡®But what if he says it¡¯s not?¡¯ Is there anything more embarrassing in the world than that? ¡®That¡¯s right, it¡¯s Jude we¡¯re talking about and not anyone else.¡¯ He teased me so much every time the rankings were revealed. It¡¯s obvious that he¡¯ll tease me every day if I ask him now. ¡®Eueue¡­ Is there no other way?¡¯ There must be a way to check it. There must be a way to feel or catch that feeling. ¡®Should I do it again?¡¯ Wouldn¡¯t I know if I do it again? But what excuse should I give? ¡®G-good night?¡¯ That¡¯s too irrational. I don¡¯t think that will work. ¡°Cordelia.¡± There should be something else, something more natural¡­ ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Eh?!¡± He was right in front of her. Startled by Jude¡¯s face close to hers, Cordelia pulled back her body and Jude said with a worried face. ¡°Are you okay? Your face is red.¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­yes. I¡¯m okay. Haha, it¡¯s just hot today.¡± Cordelia awkwardlyughed and tried to open her mouth to say good night as she thought of running away to the bedroom quickly. But the problem was that she made eye contact with Jude. Jude smiled after reading Cordelia¡¯s thoughts, and made a new move. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°It¡¯s been some time since you¡¯ve cleaned my ears, so can you do it?¡± ¡°Eh? N-now?¡± ¡°Yes, now. And it¡¯s too early for us to sleep. We need to talk about First Sword. We also need to talk about the Banquet of Swords tomorrow, of course.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± They came here in the first ce to meet First Sword. ¡°He said that the tournament prize was great, right? I¡¯m looking forward to it. Since it¡¯s the Banquet of Swords, will it be a sword? What swords are rted to Duke Spencer?¡± Cordelia¡¯s gamer brain began to work, and she spoke fervently instead of her earlier shyness, and Jude spontaneously smiled at that. He somehow thought that this was so like Cordelia. ¡°Anyway, can I ask you to clean it?¡± ¡°Hmm, okay. Since I agreed to it.¡± Cordelia calmly replied and used her telekic power to get her bag on the table and take out the ear pick. She tapped on herp and said. ¡°Lie down.¡± ¡°Yes, Madam.¡± Jude immediately answered and lied down on his side as he put his head on Cordelia¡¯sp. It was something familiar to them since they had already done this several times. But today was a bit different for some reason. It wasn¡¯t only Cordelia who felt that way as Jude felt it too. Thus, an indescribable atmosphere was formed between the two. It was something that couldn¡¯t be described as awkward. Jude and Cordelia gulped at the same time. The two tried to open their mouths to say something. But it was at that moment. ¡°The honey is seriously dripping, seriously dripping down. Makes me want to stab you two.¡± A loud voice came from behind their backs. Having been focused on each other, Jude and Cordelia looked back in surprise at that voice, and Jude jumped out of his seat and even assumed abat posture. And the one who stood in front of those two now. She was wearing thedylike maid uniform of those who worked for Duke Spencer, but it somehow looked strange on her because of her vibrant red hair. ¡°Scarlet?!¡± Cordelia eximed in surprise, and Scarlet pinched and pulled Cordelia¡¯s cheek, having caught her off-guard before saying. ¡°Yes, Pink Bomb. I¡¯m Scarlet.¡± Why was she here? No, how did she know that Cordelia was Pink Bomb in the first ce? As the two thought that, Jude couldn¡¯t hide his surprise while Cordelia was so surprised that she couldn¡¯t even resist on what was being done to her cheek. Therefore, Scarlet was deeply satisfied. She said with a mischievous smile. ¡°Because I¡¯m the Rogue Master.¡± Though she was still a candidate. She smiled again and began to talk as she continued pulling Cordelia¡¯s cheek. Chapter 162 - FIRST SWORD (1)

Chapter 162 - FIRST SWORD (1)

Terms used in this chapter: 3D¡¯s upation?¨C 3D¡¯s refers to jobs/upations that are avoided because they are?Difficult,?Dirty, and?Dangerous. Difficult can also be reced by?Demeaning. Stab with a bamboo spear?¨C This is sort of a ng in Korea. It¡¯s something you say if you¡¯re dissatisfied with something. I won¡¯t exin about the origin since it involves history, WWII, the Japanese, etc., which all confused me too. Rubbing salt into the wound?¨C an expression used to criticize the things that lovers do to signify their love. It generally means that couples do something in front of single people to show off their love to one another, making the single person feel very jealous and angry. ¡°First of all, it isn¡¯t that difficult to sneak in this ce. It¡¯s really wide and has a lot of people. Of course, the most important reason is that I¡¯m the Rouge Master. But this is really soft. It¡¯s pleasing to touch.¡± Scarlet then began to rub Cordelia¡¯s cheeks with both hands, and Jude instinctively reached out for her hand. He tried to grab Scarlet¡¯s wrist in order to remove her hand from Cordelia¡¯s cheek. Scarlet tried to avoid Jude¡¯s hand, having already expected it when Jude made a move, but she failed to do so. Jude¡¯s hand movement was so fast because he had predicted where Scarlet¡¯s hand would move next, so she was unable to escape from his hand. ¡°Let go of the other side too.¡± Jude spoke in warning to Scarlet, and Cordelia happily looked at Jude at that moment. But Scarlet who was still holding Cordelia¡¯s right cheek then frowned and said. ¡°Okay, how about we each take one side? This side is mine, the other is yours.¡± ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s fine with me.¡± Jude immediately nodded at Scarlet¡¯s suggestion and grabbed Cordelia¡¯s left cheek, and Cordelia blinked her eyes upon realizing that both her cheeks were being pulled. And a few secondster. Jude and Scarlet pulled Cordelia¡¯s cheeks, and the confused Cordelia was quiet for a few seconds before she snapped. ¡°What are you two doing!¡± As Cordelia jumped to her feet and swung her arms wide, Jude and Scarlet withdrew their hands at the same time. ¡°It really feels good. I want to pinch it every day.¡± ¡°Are you envious? Those cheeks are mine.¡± ¡°Tsk, I¡¯m really envious. Will the next target be Pink Bomb¡¯s cheeks?¡± Scarletmented and Jude bragged before Scarlet spoke again. But Cordelia eximed again. ¡°Hey!¡± What the heck are you two talking about? And my cheeks are mine, why is it yours! Thest one was what her nce said to Jude, but Jude remained calm and replied with a look. ¡®I¡¯m your fianc¨¦, your fianc¨¦. In addition, we?love?each other very much. So we need to get our story straight since we¡¯re in front of Scarlet.¡¯ Cordelia flinched at Jude¡¯s gaze, but it was literally just for a moment. ¡®Hey, do you think I¡¯m stupid? What does this have to do with that? And right now, there¡¯s no need for us to emphasize that we¡¯re in?love, okay?¡¯ To begin with, the opponent is Scarlet! ¡®Tsk, it didn¡¯t work.¡¯ ¡®Are you for real?¡¯ ¡®Anyway, don¡¯t be too angry. It¡¯s all because your cheeks are so plump.¡¯ ¡®Mr. ck-hearted ck Cloak, you think I¡¯ll believe yourpliments just because you¡¯re good at it?¡¯ ¡®I mean, it¡¯s true though.¡¯ ¡®Hmmm¡­¡¯ At Jude¡¯s gaze, Cordelia slightly pouted her lips before she touched her own cheeks. It certainly felt nice. ¡®Am I not right?¡¯ ¡®Dammit, I admit it.¡¯ As the two were chatting with their eyes, Scarlet was amused at first, but she gradually had an unpleased expression. ¡°What are you two doing when there¡¯s a person in front of you? Shouldn¡¯t those kind of stares be done in the bedroom?¡± Cordelia looked bothered by what Scarlet said, so she replied in a fluster. ¡°W-what do you mean by those kind of stares being done in the bedroom!¡± ¡°Then where else do people exchange such lovey-dovey stares if not the bedroom?¡± ¡°I-it¡¯s not like that, okay?¡± We just had an argument with our eyes, okay? But Cordelia¡¯s counterargument was futile. First of all, most people would think that having an argument with your eyes was silly, and such an exchange of nces was clearly done between lovers only. ¡°Nooo!¡± Cordelia patted her chest in her frustration that she couldn¡¯t get her point across before she gave Jude a look. Do something. Make her understand. Jude nodded at her desperate gaze and looked back at Scarlet as he said. ¡°To begin with, isn¡¯t it your fault for intruding in the intimate time of an engaged couple?¡± ¡°Tsk, that¡¯s true. I apologize, Pink Bomb. For disturbing you.¡± Scarlet humbly apologized, and Cordelia was flustered again. It was good that she received an apology, but the process was a problem. ¡®No, hey! Exin it to her, rify!¡¯ Why are you deepening the misunderstanding! ¡®It can¡¯t be helped. But we should continue talking to her first.¡¯ ¡®Eueue, alright.¡¯ Cordelia grumbled and epted it as she no longer acted stubborn. Therefore, Jude smiled and said to Scarlet. ¡°I¡¯m sure you didn¡¯t intrude in Duke Spencer¡¯s ce to steal, right? Is it because of us then?¡± ¡°No, what¡­ uh, sort of?¡± Scarlet made an awkward smile unlike before, and Cordelia narrowed her eyes in suspicion while Jude smiled quite wickedly. ¡°I can somehow guess why.¡± The reason why Scarlet showed up here now. At Jude¡¯s remark, Cordelia sent him a look to tell them already, and Scarlet unconsciously flinched. ¡°You couldn¡¯t wait, right? For the day you and Cordelia would meet again.¡± ¡°I-it¡¯s not like that, okay?¡± ¡°What? Was it like that?¡± Jude, Scarlet, and Cordelia spoke in turn. In particr, Cordelia looked delighted and giggled before she said. ¡°My Scarlet missed this unnie, huh? Are you upset that this unnie didn¡¯t call you quickly?¡± ¡°Hey! It isn¡¯t like that, okay? It¡¯s just that you said that you¡¯d contact me, but you never contacted me, okay? And why are you the unnie? I¡¯m two years older than you, right?¡± Cordelia was 17 and Scarlet was 19. When Scarlet, the sexy and haughty femme fatale, turned red in embarrassment, Cordelia giggled again. ¡°Oh my, you¡¯re so cute. Then shall I call you unnie? Is that okay? Scarlet-unnie?¡± As Cordelia teased her, Scarlet blushed again but she didn¡¯t get upset this time. Because the moment Cordelia called her unnie, she felt that something deep in her heart was satisfied. ¡°Well¡­if that¡¯s what you want to call me, that¡¯s fine.¡± You can keep calling me unnie. No, call me unnie. Cordelia giggled again at Scarlet¡¯s barefaced expression. ¡°Wow, I can see your thoughts on your face. Why is my Scarlet so cute?¡± ¡®You¡¯re the same too though?¡¯ Jude thought at the fact that he could also see all of Cordelia¡¯s thoughts on her face. But now was the time to attack Scarlet and not Cordelia. So instead of teasing Cordelia, Jude opened his mouth again as he saw the dazed Scarlet still being teased by Cordelia who was excited after a long time. ¡°Moving on, I guess you couldn¡¯t bear it.¡± The reason why Scarlet showed up here. At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia had a gentle smile as she put her hands on her waist as if asking if she was going to make an excuse again, so Scarlet said in annoyance. ¡°Argh, hey! Honestly, this is your fault! I mean, you said that you¡¯ll contact me, but you never contacted me, right? Do you know how long I¡¯ve been waiting on the Blue Moon¡¯s roof?¡± Cordelia replied with a shrug at Scarlet¡¯s question mixed with resentment. ¡°No, I said that I¡¯ll contact you soon, but I didn¡¯t say that I¡¯ll contact you right away. And why were you waiting on the Blue Moon¡¯s roof?¡± ¡°Because she¡¯s the Rogue Master.¡± When Jude responded instead, Cordelia opened her eyes wide and said as if she had been enlightened. ¡°Ah, is that so?¡± ¡°It¡¯s like that.¡± ¡°Being the Rogue Master is hard.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not easy. You could say that it¡¯s a bit close to a 3D¡¯s upation.¡± ¡°So it was true, huh.¡± Thest one was Scarlet as she thought that the two were indeed a fantasy couple and a crazy couple. Scarlet fiercely stared at them as they beat her up with words, and Cordelia said while feeling a bit sorry for her. ¡°But it¡¯s only been two¡­no, three days? Anyway, only three days have passed, so aren¡¯t you too impatient?¡± ¡°Three days are enough. When in the world were you nning to contact me?¡± ¡°Eh¡­umm¡­¡± Cordelia was at a loss because Jude was the one who managed their schedule. She turned to Jude and Scarlet looked at him too, and Jude replied to the two beautiful girls with reddish hair. ¡°Around 10 dayster?¡± ¡°That¡¯s too long!¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s an importantpetition for the Rogue Master position. Isn¡¯t it more problematic to do it in a day or two?¡± ¡°So it was like that.¡± Cordelia nodded as she agreed with Jude¡¯s words, and Scarlet was dazed again before she realized something. ¡®No, I¡¯m at a disadvantage whatever I do.¡¯ Scarlet herself had rushed here in a hurry, but she had the disadvantage in numbers. No matter what she said or did, the two would always team up with each other, so how could she win against them? ¡°And.¡± It was the moment when Jude opened his mouth again. Shhwaak! With a sharp sound, Cordelia¡¯s detonating cord wrapped around Scarlet¡¯s body. While Jude was talking and making jokes, she had recovered that item with her telekinesis. ¡°Did you really think we were only talking and joking?¡± Cordelia provocatively said, and Scarlet was unable to move. She wore the Red Dragon¡¯s Armor under her maid uniform, so she could withstand an explosion, but she felt helpless from the fact that she was restrained by Cordelia. ¡®And that.¡¯ Jude¡¯s palm had suddenly touched her abdomen. Scarlet had already experienced Jude¡¯s technique. She shuddered when she recalled herself spilling lots of blood at that time. ¡°Scarlet, I¡¯ll only ask you once. How did you find out? Did you follow us?¡± The fact that Cordelia was Pink Bomb. Cordelia was startled by Jude¡¯s chilly voice and turned to him, while Scarlet swallowed hard. Because the eyes and voice of Jude who had been joking around until now had be something she didn¡¯t expect. Scarlet knew this kind of look. The look of people who had be very sly after going through all sorts of difficulties. Like her father who gave her everything she needed in order to be the Rogue Master. Like her father¡¯s colleagues. Like the guild master she met in the empire. In any case, it wasn¡¯t a look that a 17-year-old would make. That was why Scarlet was flustered and didn¡¯t act stubborn. ¡°Okay, okay. I¡¯ll tell you. So stop looking so scary, okay?¡± ¡°Depends on your answer.¡± Jude¡¯s expression softened, but he still had a fierce look. Because this was rted to Cordelia¡¯s personal details and not about anything else. ¡°Yes, as you had guessed. I followed you.¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°Vargo¡¯s Tracking Powder.¡± ¡°Did you smear it in our bodies?¡± They had stored their clothes in a space expansion bag, so it would have blocked them from being tracked. Scarlet gently nodded again at Jude¡¯s question. ¡°Yes, when Pink Bomb used recovery magic on me.¡± ¡°Wow, you smeared tracking powder on me then?¡± So she did that while on the verge of death, telling us to kill her since she no longer had the will to live? ¡°You¡¯re indeed a Rogue Master. Was all of that just acting?¡± Jude provocatively asked, and Scarlet flew into a rage. ¡°It¡¯s not, okay? I really wanted to die back then, okay? It was just¡­some sort of upational habit of mine.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not nice to smear tracking powder on the body of a person who is trying to heal you and prevent you from dying.¡± ¡°Hey, I was dying because of you two in the first ce, right? And you too, you also wanted to be the Rogue Master, right?¡± Scarlet pouted her lips and spoke, and Cordelia responded to her. ¡°Anyway, did you find out after tracking the powder?¡± ¡°Yes, I was a bit shocked too. I didn¡¯t expect that the descendants from the 12 northern families¡­ from those prestigious families to use the names ¡®Pink Bomb¡¯ and ¡®ck Cloak.¡¯¡± Scarlet shook her head as if she was really disappointed, and Cordelia was immediately embarrassed and pointed to Jude as she said. ¡°I didn¡¯te up with that name. He did.¡± ¡°Cordelia was the one who came up with ¡®ck Cloak.¡¯¡± Cordelia flinched at Jude¡¯s in counterattack, and Scarlet thought. ¡®They¡¯re truly made for each other.¡¯ They had the same childish naming sense. ¡°Anyway, that¡¯s how I found out, and it¡¯s also true that I approached you first because you didn¡¯t contact me.¡± Scarlet plopped down on the sofa and drooped her shoulders while Cordelia looked at Jude in restlessness. ¡®What should we do?¡¯ ¡®Well¡­ to begin with, I was thinking that she should be our ally rather than be someone hostile to us.¡¯ Furthermore, Jude was now convinced of something after this incident. That Scarlet was still immature. Before she became the skilled femme fatale in the original, she was a girl who still had a na?ve side. Why did he think that? Because Scarlet seemed unwilling to be an enemy to Pink Bomb, or to be exact, to Cordelia. ¡®Rather, she wants to be friends with Cordelia.¡¯ Otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t have appeared here and lounge around like this. ¡®Cordelia has the same thought.¡¯ A magical woman who secretly charmed every person she met. ¡®Huh? What is it? What did I do?¡¯ Jude closed his eyes for a moment and thought, so Cordelia who couldn¡¯tmunicate with her eyes then tilted her head. Afterwards, Jude opened his eyes and looked at Scarlet again rather than answering Cordelia. ¡°Okay, there¡¯s nothing we can do about it. In this case, silencing her through murder is fundamental.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± ¡®Ju-Jude?!¡¯ Silencing her through murder? Killing her so that she won¡¯t talk? Scarlet was visibly shocked while Cordelia was also surprised as she widely opened her eyes. ¡°Of course, I won¡¯t really kill her. She hasn¡¯t repaid her debt to us, or have the match that will determine on who will get the Rogue Master position.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia and Scarlet simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief. But it was too early to be relieved. ¡°So I¡¯m going to feed her this.¡± Jude took a small ss bottle from the bag he had ced on the table, and suddenly pushed something inside Scarlet¡¯s mouth. ¡°Mmn?¡± ¡°Swallow it. It will melt in your mouth anyway even if you don¡¯t swallow it.¡± Scarlet trembled for a moment when she closed her mouth and tried to not swallow it. Because it melted in her mouth just as Jude said. ¡°I-is it poison? Did you use a slow release poison?¡± Like if she doesn¡¯t take an antidote in a few days, she would die. Scarlet looked at Jude with eyes full of spite, and Cordelia nervously turned to him too. Jude then said as he nodded his head. ¡°It¡¯s the candy that Cordelia particrly likes. It¡¯s from the wildnds, so you can¡¯t get it here even if you want to. There are only five left, so if you want to steal it,e back in five days.¡± ¡°¡­What?¡± ¡°Cordelia¡¯s favorite candy. Don¡¯t you want to steal it?¡± When Jude asked, Scarlet unconsciously nodded and Cordelia frowned at them. I¡¯m d that he didn¡¯t poison Scarlet by force, but what kind of bullsh*t is this? Scarlet was freed from her embarrassment and looked at Jude with a simr but also different thought, and Jude spoke to Scarlet as he looked her in the eye. ¡°You want to be friends, right? With Cordelia.¡± Like the Rogue Master and Thief Master who became friends. That was why she came here defenseless. Feeding her candy was sort of a confirmation done by Jude. A sense of betrayal was then revealed in Scarlet¡¯s face. An emotion that she would never reveal if she didn¡¯t trust them in the first ce. ¡°I¡¯m sorry to have scared you, but you¡¯re the one who interrupted our time to begin with. Think of it as a sweet punishment.¡± Jude spoke as if he was appeasing a child before he removed the detonating cord himself. Scarlet firmly bit her lips as her face was filled with a mix of embarrassment and shame. Her current situation was somewhat embarrassing, but she was also ashamed of the fact that he had figured her out. ¡°Now that I¡¯ve released you, you can leave. I¡¯d like to enjoy the cozy atmosphere with Cordelia again.¡± Scarlet shuddered when Jude smirked, but Cordelia quickly hugged Scarlet¡¯s arm. Because Cordelia wanted to run away rather than go back to that previous atmosphere. ¡°Scarlet, since you¡¯re here, let¡¯s hang out. Okay?¡± ¡°What?¡± Hang out? ¡°Yes, yes, I mean¡­something like girl talk?¡± As soon as she said that, Cordelia raised Scarlet up and said to Jude before he could say anything. ¡°Then I¡¯ll talk to Scarlet and go to sleep. Good night, Jude. Let¡¯s go, Scarlet.¡± Cordelia quickly pulled Scarlet¡¯s arm without listening to Jude¡¯s answer as they headed straight to her bedroom. And a few secondster. Cordelia closed the bedroom door tightly and breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°What the heck?¡± Scarlet stared at Cordelia as if she had seen something strange. Because she couldn¡¯t understand the current situation or the so-called girl talk. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I mean, you two were rumored to be so blind in love with each other, so I find it suspicious that you two smell so fresh as if you¡¯ve only just began dating.¡± As expected of the original Rogue Master. Cordelia thought and flinched at Scarlet¡¯s sharp observation that was aplete bullseye, and she quickly walked to her bed while trying to act indifferent, but it was only for a moment. She soon turned around and asked Scarlet. ¡°By the way, Scarlet.¡± ¡°Scarlet-unnie.¡± ¡°Then Scarlet-unnie, does it look¡­real?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Does it look like Jude and I are da-dating?¡± Like a real couple? Cordelia¡¯s cheeks blushed as she shyly asked, and she looked really cute and adorable at that moment, but Scarlet could only say one thing to her. ¡°I want to stab you two.¡± I want to stab you two with a bamboo spear. What exactly are the lovers of the century, whom the entire S?len Kingdom knows, saying now? Is this a new way of rubbing salt into the wound? Scarlet couldn¡¯t bear it anymore. She grabbed the cheeks of Cordelia, who was still fidgeting in embarrassment, and pulled the cheeks without mercy. *** The next morning. Jude and Cordelia greeted each other a bit awkwardly than usual, and walked together as they headed for the Red Rose Castle¡¯s main building. For three purposes. One was to meet with Duke Spencer, and the other was to build a closer rtionship with First Sword, whom they had talked to yesterday. And the third purpose was the most important one, at least on the outside. ¡°We will begin the Banquet of Swords starting now.¡± Prospects had gathered from all over the S?len Kingdom. At Sir Cornwell¡¯s deration, the Banquet of Swords officially began. Chapter 163 - EPISODE 163 – FIRST SWORD (2)

Chapter 163 - EPISODE 163 ¨C FIRST SWORD (2)

¡®Banquet of Swords.¡¯ A small banquet organized by Duke Spencer for swordsmen. It wasn¡¯t such a big event in terms of form. It was not much different from the usual tea parties the nobility routinely held. ¡®But if its history and tradition reach 300 years.¡¯ And if the organizer was Duke Spencer, a prominent noble and someone who held the title of ¡®Sword Teacher,¡¯ it would be a different story. ¡®Its authority is considerable.¡¯ That person did well in the Banquet of Swords. That person was recognized at the Banquet of Swords. Stories like that might seem insignificant, but it had a significant meaning in the S?len Kingdom. ¡®The Banquet of Swords is a ce where only true swordsmen are gathered.¡¯ The reason why the Banquet of Swords continued to stay at a level of a ¡®small event¡¯ in terms of size was because Duke Spencer had set a high standard for attending the Banquet of Swords. Even if your name was quite known in your area, you would not be able to attend the Banquet of Swords. Even if your parents or teachers were famous, you would not be given an invitation. In order to be invited to the Banquet of Swords, you must prove that your skills are real by either having an interesting story that no one could deny, or a letter of rmendation from a considerably skilled person in his or her own honor. In the former case, it was near impossible to pass it by lying because the people of Duke Spencer would carefully investigate the story for any truth or exaggerated parts, and in thetter case, the honor of the rmender was at stake, so it would obviously be impossible for them to rmend a mediocre person. ¡®After all, this is the Banquet of Swords.¡¯ It was a very prestigious event for swordsmen in the S?len Kingdom. What would happen if there was a rumor that a mediocre person was rmended to such a ce? ¡®Having a bad discerning eye wouldn¡¯t even work as an excuse.¡¯ It was literally a rmendation with their honor on the line. ¡®Anyway, it¡¯s that kind of event.¡¯ It was such an event of immense authority that just an invitation to it allowed you to boast of that fact. For the swordsmen born and raised in the S?len Kingdom, it was literally the stage of their dreams. But Jude didn¡¯t know much about this great event. The reason was simple ¨C he had no information about the Banquet of Swords in either his past life or present life. ¡®Because it was never held in the game.¡¯ After all, the Banquet of Swords was an event held by the Spencer family. Therefore, it could not be held if the head of the family, Duke Spencer, was sick. So from the beginning of?Legend of Heroes 2?up to its end, or to be precise, from the time Duke Spencer was still sick up to the point when the S?len Kingdom fell, the event was not held because Duke Spencer had died at that time too and the Red Rose Castle had be the birthce of a raid monster. In short, the event never happened in the game. ¡®It was only a background setting.¡¯ One would only hear stories about that event. The stories rted to it were only at the level of character lines, like for example, ¡®Will the Banquet of Swords not be held this year? It¡¯s such a shame.¡¯ ¡®But I didn¡¯t expect it from my present memories too.¡¯ The stories that he had heard when he lived as Jude. Count Chase had snorted and bragged about his friend, Count Bayer, and his prospective son-inw, Ga?l, having attended the Banquet of Swords and performing well in it. ¡®And those two are my father and older brother.¡¯ So it would not have been strange if Jude knew about it in great detail, but unfortunately, Jude knew little about the Banquet of Swords. Because Count Bayer judged that it would be too much to talk about the Banquet of Swords to Jude who couldn¡¯t learn swordsmanship even if he wanted to, because of his Gueumjulmaek. ¡®I like his personality.¡¯ One could say that he was a father who really cared about his child. Count Bayer and Ga?l were both pure-hearted when it came to their personalities. ¡®Well, there was no need for me to know about the details in full anyway.¡¯ Because the Banquet of Swords changed its format little by little each time it was held. To begin with, the purpose of the Banquet of Swords was to gather the prospects of the S?len Kingdom and broaden their horizons, and not to determine who the best prospect was. ¡®Whether they hold a tournament or something else, I just need to do my best and get a prize.¡¯ He didn¡¯t have any intentions of hiding his power. There was no benefit for him if he hid his power. ¡®Of course, if I hide my strength, the bullies whoe at me without knowing anything would be surprised¡­ it¡¯ll be fun to step on them.¡¯ Just like what happened to Lucian yesterday. But Jude didn¡¯t really find it that enticing. In the first ce, Jude wasn¡¯t the kind of person who enjoyed teasing people. ¡®Except for Cordelia.¡¯ Teasing Cordelia was no different from the pleasures of life that Jude had enjoyed in his previous life. ¡®It¡¯s really amazing.¡¯ Why was he so obsessed with Cordelia in his previous life even though he didn¡¯t know her face, age, or sex? ¡®Is this¡­ fate?¡¯ Jude was instantly flustered at the thought that came to his mind unconsciously, and he turned his gaze to side as his face slightly turned red. Because he wanted to see Cordelia after having those thoughts. But when he looked at her, he found Cordelia to be a little strange. Since it was the Banquet of Swords, Cordelia who wore a dress alone stood out more than usual at a ce where even women wore training outfits, but that wasn¡¯t what made her look strange. ¡®She¡¯spletely lost in her thoughts.¡¯ She stood there with her eyes looking ahead, but she wasn¡¯t actually looking ahead of her. He wasn¡¯t sure if she was imagining or recalling something, but it was clear to him that she was thinking of something else. ¡®Is it because¡­ of what happened yesterday?¡¯ Or of what happenedst night with Scarlet? Sir Cornwell was saying some good things about the Banquet of Swords in front of them, but Jude had gradually stopped listening to him. Because he was worried about what Cordelia was thinking. So Jude stared at Cordelia who continued to stare nkly in front of her. And as Jude had thought, Cordelia was in the middle of thinking about the events that happenedst night. *** ¡°Oh, this is quite frustrating. I definitely want to stab you to death, but touching your cheek feels so nice that I want to forgive you.¡± It feels like I¡¯m touching a cat¡¯s paw pads. No, those two are iparable. Her cheeks are truly like the finest delicacy. ¡°I really want to touch it every day¡­¡± Scarlet sighed without realizing it, and the startled Cordelia struggled to remove Scarlet¡¯s hand. ¡°Stop, stop touching me. It¡¯s not yours, okay?¡± ¡°What? Is it ck Cloak¡¯s then? Is it his so I can¡¯t touch it?¡± ¡°Eh, it¡¯s mine though? But why are you suddenly talking about Jude?!¡± ¡°But isn¡¯t it ck Cloak¡¯s?¡± ¡°It¡¯s mine, it¡¯s mine.¡± ¡°Then, since it doesn¡¯t have an owner, can it be mine?¡± ¡°What?¡± What kind of logic is that? And why does it not have an owner. I just said that it was mine! Scarlet giggled when the annoyed Cordelia cutely grumbled, having expected it. She then hugged Cordelia all of a sudden and stroked Cordelia¡¯s head. ¡°Ah, I¡¯m being healed.¡± ¡°Hey, why me? And what¡¯s wrong with you?¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m not sure either?¡± Scarlet giggled in a bit of a silly manner as she hugged Cordelia¡¯s waist again, and Cordelia eventually slouched her shoulders, having given up resisting. ¡°Okay, just do what you want, do what you want.¡± ¡°Really? Can I really do what I want?¡± Scarlet¡¯s question made Cordeliae back to her senses. Because Scarlet¡¯s eyes looked really dangerous when she saw it. ¡°Excuse me? Ms. Rogue Master?¡± ¡°Just kidding, just kidding.¡± Scarlet giggled again before she released Cordelia from her embrace and asked as she held her own chin. ¡°Anyway, Pink Bomb. Why do you want to avoid being alone with ck Cloak and used the excuse of girl talk?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Hey, even if I¡¯m like this, I¡¯m the Rogue Master, okay? And you said something earlier.¡± Cordelia had asked if she and Jude had looked like they were dating. ¡°Huh, wait a second. No way¡­are you two not in a rtionship?¡± Cordelia winced at Scarlet¡¯s question. And Scarlet became more suspicious at Cordelia flinching. Does that mean that the rumor was false? What about the elopement then? ¡°Y-you¡¯re wrong! We love each other so much, okay?! That¡¯s why, you know! That¡¯s why all those rumors came out!¡± Scarlet¡¯s eyes narrowed as Cordelia hurriedly rose from her seat and spoke in a hurry. Because she found Cordelia acting so frantic to be very suspicious. ¡°How suspicious.¡± ¡°W-what is suspicious? Aren¡¯t you the one¡¯s who¡¯s suspicious? You said that you wanted to stab me to death.¡± We¡¯re not rubbing salt into your wound, okay? Cordelia tried hard to make excuses, but it was counterproductive. Rather, Scarlet¡¯s doubts even deepened. ¡°Okay, then give me proof.¡± ¡°Proof?¡± ¡°Yes, proof. Proof that ck Cloak really loves you.¡± At Scarlet¡¯s words, Cordelia fell into even more panic. Because that was what she had been thinking about these days, and she had yet been able to find an answer to that. ¡°You can¡¯t?¡± ¡°N-no, I can, okay? There¡¯s just a lot, okay?¡± ¡°Fine, then I¡¯ll listen. Come here and tell me one by one.¡± Scarlet lied down on the bed and gestured with her chin as she pointed at the spot next to her. She seemed to be suggesting that they should lie down and talk. ¡°T-there? Now?¡± ¡°Yes, here and now. Let¡¯s have a girl talk.¡± Scarlet smiled and patted the spot next to her with her palm, and Cordelia looked very hesitant but eventually nodded. She approached next to Scarlet and also lied down. ¡°Okay, tell me then. Proof that ck Cloak likes Pink Bomb.¡± ¡°W-wait a minute. There¡¯s a lot. I don¡¯t know where to start.¡± ¡°Hmmm, I see. There¡¯s so many to choose from.¡± As Scarlet teased her, Cordelia looked even more adorable, and Scarlet was able to feel the same way as Jude. ¡®This is fun.¡¯ It¡¯s so fun. How can such an adorable person be so fun to tease? Scarlet began to be excited again at Cordelia¡¯s cuteness while Cordelia could only fret and barely open her mouth as she found it hard to get over the trial right in front of her. ¡°First.¡± ¡°Yes, first.¡± ¡°Jude calls me P-Princess.¡± ¡°Oh, you have a pet name, huh?¡± ¡°Yes, a pet name. That.¡± ¡°But to call you a princess¡­ Eh¡­ really?¡± ¡°W-what¡¯s wrong with being called a princess?¡± ¡°I mean, why is it not something like?baby? Anyway, keep going.¡± At that moment, Cordelia imagined Jude calling her?baby?and suddenly felt reallyplicated. It was crazily embarrassing, but also felt strangely nice. ¡®Have I gone crazy?¡¯ Why is my heart beating so fast again? ¡°Hey, hey, keep going. Could it be that you¡¯ve run out things to talk about?¡± ¡°N-no. There¡¯s just too many to choose from, okay?¡± ¡°Yes, yes. There must be too many to choose from.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Cordelia regained herposure because of Scarlet, and said as she raised her finger. ¡°Next, Jude always gives me a piggyback ride whenever we travel to a far ce. So that my legs won¡¯t hurt.¡± ¡°Whoaaa.¡± What is this? This feeling of wanting to tease her yet feeling I¡¯m being made fun of at the same time? Scarlet really wanted to hit her but also felt like she had been hit, so she decided to hold it in for now. ¡°And?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ Ju-Jude always escorts me. Every time we go somewhere.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that natural since you¡¯re his fianc¨¦e?¡± ¡°I-is that so?¡± He did it because I¡¯m his fianc¨¦e? ¡°Well, we¡¯ll see if you tell me more. Continue.¡± ¡°Uhhh¡­ and¡­ uh¡­ that¡¯s right. Jude always cooks for me. And he¡¯s really good at cooking. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll fall in love if you eat the meals Jude cooks.¡± Cordelia spoke with shining eyes, but on the contrary, Scarlet¡¯s eyes dimmed. ¡®Is he taming a wild animal with food?¡¯ But that proof seemed believable. However, she still had some doubts about it. ¡°Hey, I¡¯d like to ask. Do you like your family¡¯s cook the same way as him?¡± ¡°B-but Jude does it even though he¡¯s not a cook.¡± Come to think of it, he neverined about doing it. Is there a special reason why? But it was then. ¡°Ah, I think I know why.¡± ¡°Huh? Really? You know?¡± ¡°You¡¯re bad at cooking, right?¡± When Scarlet pointed it out, Cordelia felt like a hammer struck her head at that moment and couldn¡¯t say anything else. The reason why Jude always cooked their meals. The reason why he didn¡¯t allow Cordelia to do it even if she asked him to let her do it once. ¡®It¡¯s¡­possible!¡¯ And that was why she looked like she was struck by a hammer on the head. She was greatly disappointed. And her emotions came rushing in without her understanding why. ¡°Is that so? Is it because he doesn¡¯t want to eat what I cook for him? Because it¡¯s really bad?¡± Cordelia asked as she cried a little without realizing it, and Scarlet hurriedly shook her head. ¡°N-no. That¡¯s not it. I¡­ I¡¯m just saying it¡¯s possible. D-don¡¯t mind it. You can¡¯t always put your heart into cooking if you have to do it all the time. Yes, that¡¯s it. Cooking outside is troublesome work.¡± Their situation had suddenly be the opposite, but now was not the time to think about it. Scarlet was now the one who was in a panic as she realized that she made a big mistake when she saw Cordelia feeling depressed. So when Scarlet frantically spoke, Cordelia blinked her eyes and asked. ¡°Is it¡­like that?¡± ¡°Yes, it is. It¡¯s definitely like that.¡± Scarlet quickly nodded head before she suddenly smiled and sat up. ¡°Moving on, it¡¯s like that, huh? He calls you?princess, always carries you on his back, escorts you, and cooks for you.¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡± Scarletughed again when Cordelia nodded as if she herself had realized it. ¡°Well, I understand. But it¡¯s somewhatcking? It¡¯s not enough.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not enough?¡± ¡°Yes, it just feels like he¡¯s your dad.¡± ¡°Ah, Daddy?¡± ¡°Yes, daddy. But why do you look like that¡­ No way, is his nickname?Daddy?¡± ¡°I-it¡¯s not? That¡¯s just what I call him when we y with puns sometimes.¡± ¡°You really called him that.¡± ¡°Uhhh¡­¡± ¡°Anyway, that¡¯s fine. Then what is his pet name?¡± ¡°Eh? His pet name?¡± ¡°I mean, ck Cloak calls you?princess?as your pet name. Then you must have a pet name for ck Cloak. Don¡¯t tell me you don¡¯t have a pet name for him?¡± At Scarlet¡¯s remark, Cordelia began to think again. In fact, every time Jude called her?Princess, Cordelia would either call him?Milord?or?Dolswe, but those didn¡¯t feel like pet names. ¡°Don¡¯t make that look. Hey¡­ don¡¯t do that. Don¡¯t be sad. ck Cloak is also a human, a human. If you¡¯re fine with it, you can make his pet name as?Prince.¡± ¡°Uh¡­ o-okay.¡± But prince is a bit¡­ However, Cordelia wrote that in the list in her mind. ¡°Anyway, is that it? Is that all?¡± ¡°N-not yet! There¡¯s the love letters!¡± ¡°Oh¡­ did ck Cloak write love letters to you? Can you show me something like that?¡± ¡°Eh? Ah, n-no. Not that one. I mean¡­ t-the ones that became known. The letters I wrote to Jude.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ the letters you left each time you two run away? It is quite famous.¡± Cordelia turned beet red again at Scarlet¡¯s words, but she firmly continued. ¡°It¡¯s not just me. Jude also wrote to me.¡± Scarlet pped her hands when Cordelia said it as if she was proud of a life achievement. ¡°Yes, yes. He wrote to me once while I wrote to him three times.¡± ¡°Wow.¡± In fact, it wasn¡¯t just three times. If one counted the number of times she said lovey-dovey words just so that she coulde with Jude, it would be more than five times. ¡®Ugh, I¡¯ll have to think more about that tomorrow.¡¯ The messages that she left as if she was the more active one in love. And the rumors that spread around. Cordelia did not realize that she had dug her own grave, but she added those things into the list in her mind, and Scarlet finally made a conclusion. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ve heard your story well. My judgment is out.¡± Scarlet crossed her arms and made an expression that looked that of a femme fatale after a long time, and Cordelia sat up in a hurry. ¡°What is it? Do you really think that Jude likes me?¡± Cordelia unknowingly revealed her innermost thoughts, and Scarlet replied as she clicked her tongue. ¡°I don¡¯t know about that. But I am sure of one thing.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I want to strangle you to death!¡± These damn couple who rubs salt into my wounds! Scarlet grabbed Cordelia¡¯s neck and halfheartedly shook it. ¡®And one more.¡¯ What I clearly learned after hearing her words. But I don¡¯t intend to tell you that. ¡®It really is love.¡¯ I don¡¯t even have to say who I¡¯m referring to. ¡°Ah, I really want to kill you.¡± Scarlet began to pinch Cordelia¡¯s cheeks again. And back to the present. ¡°Cordelia.¡± Scarlet is mean. She didn¡¯t even give me a proper answer. ¡°Cordelia.¡± She just pinched my cheeks. I mean, Jude had only pinched my cheeks a few times. ¡°Corde¡­lia?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± Cordelia finally came to her senses after being called three times, and she turned to Jude who pointed to the stage in the banquet hall. Sir Cornwell was giving a lengthy speech, but the prospects were listening to his speech with sparkling eyes. ¡®Did you not sleepst night?¡¯ ¡®Eh? Oh¡­yes. Because of Scarlet.¡¯ ¡®Does that person like you a lot?¡¯ ¡°Eh?!¡± Cordelia unconsciously raised her voice, but her voice wasn¡¯t heard that loudly because of Sir Cornwell¡¯s loud voice while giving a speech. But she was ashamed by the surrounding gazes, so Cordelia hunched her shoulders and looked into Jude¡¯s eyes again. ¡®W-what are you talking about?¡¯ ¡®I mean, Scarlet. I think she likes you?¡¯ ¡®Ah, yes. I think she likes me a lot.¡¯ I like Scarlet too. But it was at that moment. Cordelia suddenly remembered on what happened yesterday, so she pulled the hem of Jude¡¯s clothes. ¡®By the way, Jude.¡¯ ¡®What is it, Cordelia?¡¯ ¡®You¡­no. I¡¯ll tell youter.¡¯ If she found it too embarrassing to say ¡®Prince¡¯ with her eyes, it would be even more so if she said it with her voice. She then thought that she had toe up with another pet name. ¡®Cordelia?¡¯ ¡®I think the speech is over.¡¯ Cordelia found the end of Sir Cornwell¡¯s speech to be quite a good timing. Jude had no choice but to look at the front again, and Sir Cornwell faintly smiled when he met eyes with Jude. Since he was freed from his escort mission, he became a really nice person just as Jude had thought. ¡°Then I¡¯ll exin the rules of the tournament next.¡± It was a Banquet of Swords that had been held after several years, so naturally, it was the first tournament after a few years. Lucas who was sitting nearby, and all the other prospects around them also felt nervous and excited at that moment. And sensing all that enthusiasm, Sir Cornwell pleasantly smiled. ¡°The mood here is quite heated up. So let¡¯s make it even hotter.¡± Sir Cornwell pped his hands once, and a knight who was waiting behind him appeared with a pushcart. A pushcart covered with white cloth. And what was under that cloth. It was obviously the prize of this tournament. ¡°Let¡¯s reveal the prize.¡± Sir Cornwell pulled the cloth, and Jude and Cordelia widely opened their eyes in that instant. The two looked at each other unconsciously, and shouted in their minds simultaneously. ¡®Jackpot!¡¯ ¡®Bingo!¡¯ The prize that was revealed. In the game, there was no way to obtain it because the Banquet of Swords was not held. First of all, it was a sword. It was also a very good sword that anyone would covet. But it wasn¡¯t the reason why Jude and Cordelia were excited. ¡®Its real identity.¡¯ The secret hidden in the sword in front of them. The gamer brains of Jude and Cordelia began to activate again. Chapter 164 - EPISODE 164 – FIRST SWORD (3)

Chapter 164 - EPISODE 164 ¨C FIRST SWORD (3)

Pleiades had a long history, and several countries had existed before the S?len Kingdom and the Argon Empire. Like Magen, the magic kingdom founded by the ancient elves, or the Iron Kingdom, a kingdom founded by the ancient dwarves. Among those countries, the Iron Kingdom was actually a union of seven city states, but each city was located far away from each other, so their cultural developments differed. ¡®Sword Seeker.¡¯ Sword Seeker was one of the Iron Kingdom¡¯s seven cities and was considered together with Frost Anvil as twin cities. As the city¡¯s name implied, the dwarves living in Sword Seeker sought for the ultimate sword. The most perfect sword. The ideal sword. The sword of swords. Since it was a ce where many dwarven artisans gathered, each dwarf naturally had a different opinion on what an ultimate sword should be, but the dwarves of Sword Seeker eventually came to a decision to focus their resources and skills into one goal. ¡®Let¡¯s make seven swords.¡¯ If they couldn¡¯t have the same opinion on what a perfect and ideal sword was, they should then make seven swords and not just one. One could say that it was no longer an ultimate sword from the moment they decided it to be seven, but all the dwarven artisans enthusiastically cheered and approved that proposal. ¡®Once we finish it, the swords that we made will be recognized as the ultimate sword!¡¯ So until then, let¡¯s keep it a secret so that we can still receive operating expenses. Maybe those other dwarves are thinking of the same thing, but maybe they aren¡¯t either. ¡®Coz In the end, we¡¯ll the ones to make the ultimate sword! It was said that King Endymion, the king of the magic kingdom of Magen, heard this storyter on and figured out the intentions of the dwarves, and he was said to have left the followingments. ¡°Those arrogant b*stards. But that¡¯s just how dwarven artisans are.¡± They were arrogant and self-righteous but were also the kind to pour endless love and effort to their creations. Like King Endymion had said, the dwarves created those swords for their own reasons, and thus, the seven swords of Sword Seeker, the so-called ¡®Ultimate Seven¡¯ series, were born. ¡®And the key you need to get that Ultimate Seven series.¡¯ ¡®The Key Sword.¡¯ Sword Seeker¡¯s dwarven artisans made into a sword the key where the Ultimate Seven series were sealed, and as dwarven artisans of Sword Seeker, they didn¡¯t just haphazardly create the Key Sword. Because of that, the Key Sword was considered a proper sword and not a key after the fall of the Iron Kingdom, and nearly a thousand years after its copse, it became a situation where only a few people knew of the existence of the Key Sword. ¡®But it¡¯s right here, right now.¡¯ ¡®That Key Sword has appeared!¡¯ Cordelia and Jude looked at each other and smiled again. Lucas and the prospects from the north, who were sitting at the same table as them, were curious about the two suddenly looking and smiling at each other, but it was only for a short time. It was a famous fact that they were a couple who acted so sweet that they would smile from just looking at each other. Therefore, Jude and Cordelia avoided suspicion, and the two began to exchange a more detailed conversation through magic. [The Key Sword is a jackpot, a jackpot.] [If it¡¯s the Ultimate Seven series, I agree, I agree. It¡¯s almost a graduation item if I get this.] [Ufufu, I like it. One of the Ultimate Seven series can be used by a wizard.] She was talking about the magic sword, Magic ster, one of the Ultimate Seven. [Explosive de?] [Yes, the Explosive de.] Cordelia¡¯s eyes seemed to be sparkling, and she eventually began to be ecstatic. The magic sword of explosions. The Explosive de, Magic ster, could deal powerful explosions. [Ah~ I want to have it.] [Uuuh¡­yes. I¡¯ll definitely get it for you.] But Jude thought that it would have been better if she had wanted a pretty, cute, and lovely item. ¡®Anyway, I have no choice but to get it since Cordelia wants it.¡¯ [By the way, Jude. Are you aiming for?that?] [Yes,?that.] One of the swords in the Ultimate Seven series, and the one that seemed to suit the current Jude the most. [Ufufu, I like it.] [Well, I¡¯ll have to get that Key Sword first.] [Eh? Isn¡¯t that ours already? Isn¡¯t my Lord Jude the winner already?] As Cordelia spoke in a cute manner after a long time, Jude took a deep breath before he turned to Lucas sitting next to him and the other prospects around them. He then recited a heartfelt apology in his mind. ¡®I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯ll be doing my best.¡¯ I really need that Key Sword. Moreover, Cordelia¡¯s looking forward to it, so I have no choice but to do my very best. But it was at that moment. When Sir Cornwell stepped back after introducing the tournament¡¯s prize, the true host of the banquet, Duke Spencer, appeared. ¡®Princess Darianne is also with him.¡¯ Cordelia saw them. Princess Darianne quietly stood next to the tall and thin Duke Spencer, and as she looked around the banquet hall, she prettily smiled when she met eyes with Jude and Cordelia. It seemed like she was looking around to find the two in the first ce. ¡°I am Duke Spencer. The person next to me is Her Royal Highness, Princess Darianne, so be sure to greet her respectfully.¡± It hadn¡¯t been long since his chronic illness was healed, so he looked a little pale, but his voice sounded clear and strong. Duke Spencer and all the prospects courteously bowed and greeted her, and Princess Darianne greeted them briefly in return. Duke Spencer then spoke again. ¡°I¡¯ll cut it short and get to the point.¡± Whether it was his original personality, or he found it difficult to speak for a long time, Duke Spencer¡¯s speech was short and clear, and to summarize his words, it was as follows. They were originally going to hold a tournament in a form of a fighting match, as per tradition. But at the founding celebration, the kingdom would be hosting a fighting tournament too. If someone got injured in the Banquet of Swords, they wouldn¡¯t be able to participate in the kingdom¡¯s fighting tournament, so after much consideration, it was decided that a somewhat different tournament would be held this time. Having spoken so far, Duke Spencer turned to the side and greeted the man, who had mysteriously erased his presence earlier, as he now came up to the stage. ¡°I¡¯m sure everyone knows him. He is the pride of the S?len Kingdom and the First Sword of my Sword School, the Sword Saint of Light, Rhun Froud.¡± Duke Spencer¡¯s voice was full of pride as he introduced First Sword, and the way he looked at First Sword was also very warm, as if he was looking at his own child. ¡°Fortunately, thanks to Rhun¡¯s cooperation, we are able to avoid any possible injuries and hold a tournament for all the prospects gathered here. Rhun, I¡¯ll let you exin the rest.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Excellency, Duke Spencer.¡± First Sword politely thanked him before he stepped forward and spoke with a yful smile. ¡°This tournament will be a match against me. Of course, that doesn¡¯t mean that you have to win against me. Frankly, that would be a bit unreasonable. It would be more like a scam if we had a contest like that.¡± First Sword said it while slightly jesting, but no oneughed at it. It wasn¡¯t because First Sword¡¯s joke wasn¡¯t funny. Rather, the prospects were excited about the fact that they would get a chance to fight against First Sword. First Sword. The strongest person in the Sword School. A young genius who gained the title of Sword Saint in histe twenties. They would be facing him with their swords. They would be crossing swords with him. Unlike Lucas and Jude who had someone from the Ten Great Swordmasters as their parents, the other prospects had never even crossed swords with a swordsman at that level. But now, they would be able to cross swords with the Sword Saint of Light, First Sword. It was natural for them to be fired up. ¡°The rules are simple. The first prospect to make me move six times is the winner.¡± Six times. First Sword raised five fingers before he winked, and the target of his wink was very obvious. Jude Bayer. The second son of Count Bayer, one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. ¡®Actually, it¡¯s because of you.¡¯ The reason why they held this kind ofpetition instead of the usual tournament. It wasn¡¯t just because of the kingdom¡¯s tournament. There was one more important reason. ¡®He¡¯s too strong.¡¯ He was much stronger than the other prospects. Perhaps Lucas was the only one here who couldpete against Jude. Wouldn¡¯t the prospects look too pitiful if there was such a difference in skill? ¡®The Banquet of Swords is for the sake of the prospects.¡¯ It was not to see a diator-like battle of the prospects from all over the country. Since their growth was the goal, they couldn¡¯t just force them to fight like a survival of the fittest. ¡°What do you think? Do you think it¡¯s worth it trying to make me move just five times?¡± First Sword asked in jest again, and the prospects¡¯ eyes sparkled as they roughly breathed. Everyone seemed to be very excited. ¡°Hmm, I like this. Don¡¯t you think so, Your Excellency?¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. The mood is very heated.¡± Duke Spencer smiled like a teacher and nced at Sir Cornwell, who stepped forward with a box that one could put their hands in. ¡°From now on, we¡¯ll decide the order of who will fight First Sword first. Let¡¯s begin with the prospects from the capital, pleasee forward.¡± Lucian and the other prospects from the capital stood up with very nervous faces, and they were followed by those from the south and then the north. ¡®Jude, Jude. What¡¯s your number.¡¯ ¡¯21.¡¯ ¡®You¡¯re thest one?¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s like I¡¯m the main character.¡¯ As Jude smiled and stared at her, Cordelia smiled in surprise and soon nodded. ¡®Then, will you show me a protagonist-like performance?¡¯ ¡®Yes, since the heroine is watching.¡¯ ¡®Hmph, what are you talking about?¡¯ Cordelia snorted but she looked pleased as she turned to the side. She saw Lucas holding a slip of paper with an excited face like that of a child, and when she peeked at the slip of paper, the number 19 was written on it. ¡°Alright! Shall we get started now then? Number 1,e forward!¡± First Sword spiritedly shouted before he climbed up the stage that had already been prepared. It was arge stage with a length and width of nearly 20 meters each, and it was so high that one had to climb up five steps. ¡°You don¡¯t have to be so reserved. Just don¡¯t cross the line.¡± At Duke Spencer¡¯s words, the prospects blinked their eyes as they couldn¡¯t understand his words right away, so Sir Cornwell smiled and pointed to the lines drawn around the stage. In other words, they could stand and watch from the sides. ¡°T-then.¡± ¡°Then, me too.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go too.¡± Most of the prospects were children of nobles so they were naturally quite reserved, but in the end, they were still humans. As soon as they got up from their seats, their appearance as they quickly ran towards the line looked somehow cute. ¡°I wish the audience seats were a little higher.¡± Cordelia spoke as she stood in tiptoes, and Jude smiled before he said. ¡°My princess, would you like to sit on my shoulders?¡± ¡°Hey, I¡¯m wearing a skirt, okay?¡± No, before that, what do you mean by sit on your shoulders? Everyone will look at us if that happens. Cordelia clicked her tongue as if to tell him to consider the time and ce, and she looked back towards the stage while Jude giggled before he looked in the same direction too. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get started.¡± First Sword stood in the middle of the stage and casually spoke as he stretched out his arms, and the young man from the south, who pulled the number 1 slip, took a deep breath as he closed his eyes. Because he didn¡¯t want to waste this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He calmed down his excitement and regained hisposure. So that he could show them the best that he could do. First Sword found such a prospectmendable. He waited for some time, and when the prospect finally drew his sword and charged, First Sword showed off his quick sword that made everyone call him the Sword Saint of Light. Shwaaak-! His sword made the other sword slip. The sword swung by the southern prospect with all his might was flung out so naturally. ¡°When you swung the sword, your power was not fully transmitted. Let¡¯s do it again.¡± As First Sword gently smiled and said, the southern prospect looked shocked, and so did those who were outside the stage. What his words meant. His deration of ¡®let¡¯s do it again.¡¯ ¡®An educational sparring match!¡¯ First Sword said that the person who could make him move six times was the winner. In other words, he meant that he would y with his opponent up to five times. ¡°A bit of shy technique is fine. Your skill is good even if you had trouble making it work well.¡± First Sword¡¯s words sounded reassuring. The southern prospect almost looked like he was about to cry, but he soon picked his sword and repositioned himself while looking very moved. He looked at First Sword with respect, gratitude and all kinds of good feelings, and First Sword answered with a smile. ¡°Come.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± The southern prospect answered in reflex and rushed towards First Sword again, and First Sword very simply turned the attack of the prospect into nothing again this time. Two more times left. And after the five times were done¡­ The southern prospect missed in thest and fifth exchange, but his face was full of joy. ¡°Thank you very much.¡± ¡°Your skill isn¡¯t bad. Will you be better by the next time we meet?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°Okay, I look forward to it.¡± It was the words of First Sword and not anyone else. The prospect had a boyish face as if he yed with the sports yer that he admired, and he came down the stage with tears of emotion. Rachel Bloom, the prospect from the north who picked the number 2 slip, climbed onto the stage very quickly. ¡°Ahem, I¡¯m sorry for person #1, but I like person #2 more. Beauties are the treasures of this world.¡± At First Sword¡¯s joke, Rachel¡¯s cheeks flushed red, but it wasn¡¯t that evident. Because her face was already red before she went onto the stage. ¡°I¡¯ll begin.¡± ¡°Do as much as you can.¡± And once again, it happened five times. Rachel got off the stage with a very excited face, and the prospects stepped onto the stage one after another. ¡°Is this the Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword? You have inherited well Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s sword. Five times are almost not enough.¡± First Sword said as he pointed his sword to Lucas¡¯ neck, but it wasn¡¯t idle chatter. Unlike the previous prospects who he easily dealt with, even the First Sword had to be really sincere when he fought Lucas. ¡°Thank you¡­for thepliment.¡± Lucas¡¯ expression was also different from the previous prospects. Rather than the joy of facing the First Sword with their sword, regret and frustration were in his eyes since he couldn¡¯t make First Sword do it for the sixth time. ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± His expression made First Sword even happier. Because he liked Lucas¡¯ desire to improve. ¡°Next.¡± The 20th?prospect. The boy, who was a prospect from the royal capital, was not much different from the previous prospects. Their spar was finished in five moves with a rtively calm atmosphere. And the time had finallye. Sir Cornwell¡¯s eyes were filled with the light of anticipation as he watched with a rxed face, and Duke Spencer also watched in seriousness. ¡°Jude Bayer.¡± The second son of Count Bayer. The younger brother of Ga?l Bayer, who was said to be one of the next Ten Great Swordmasters. Jude climbed up the stage, and all the prospects who had witnessed his fight with Lucian swallowed in nervousness. Lucas also looked up the stage with mixed emotions. This was because of the fact that only Lucas and Cordelia were aware of. ¡®Landius-nim¡¯s disciple.¡¯ Iron Man Landius. A man who might be the strongest among all the humans in Pleiades. Jude was the only disciple of such Landius. No, even before he was a disciple of Landius, he was a genius who had already shown amazing talent. ¡®Cheonmujiche.¡¯ The incarnation of martial arts from the heavens. Lucas wanted to see Jude in making the First Sword move his sword for the sixth time. But on the other hand, he didn¡¯t want to see it. Because of the childish envy that still lingered in his mind. ¡®No, it¡¯s not like that.¡¯ Because I just want to see him be much stronger. Because I want to see the appearance of my rival moving far away, and make me want to pursue him even more. With clenched fists, Lucas calmed himself and looked at Jude¡¯s back, while Cordelia prayed as she held her hands together. ¡®Please let Jude win!¡¯ As always, let him be #1 again! And as for First Sword. The person who originally proposed this kind of tournament. ¡°The time hase.¡± First Sword smiled as he looked at Jude standing in front of him. His smile was very yful, but also felt creepy at the same time. ¡®Don¡¯t tell me¡­¡¯ At the moment Jude had flinched, First Sword moved. Unlike before, he readied his sword in his light-like swordsmanship style. Among the numerous swordsmanship in the Sword School, his Light Swordsmanship boasted of being the fastest. The fastest sword that gave First Sword his name of the Sword Saint of Light. ¡°Can I give you a little special treatment?¡± First Sword said, and everyone around the stage became enthusiastic at that moment. It wasn¡¯t because they heard First Sword¡¯s voice. It was enthusiasm from the fact that Jude had made the First Sword drew his sword and made him take a stance. ¡®F*ck.¡¯ Jude thought to himself, and so did Cordelia who was outside the stage. ¡®First Sword is a crazy b*stard!¡¯ He¡¯s shameless! But First Sword did not hear Jude and Cordelia¡¯s protests in their minds. Even if he had heard it, he would have ignored it. ¡°Come, let¡¯s go.¡± Show me your skills. Jude took a deep breath at First Sword¡¯s provoking look. He gently turned his head and looked at Cordelia as he asked with his eyes. ¡®Cordelia. Shall I do it?¡¯ At Jude¡¯s question, Cordelia blinked her eyes, but she immediately smiled. She swung her fist into the air and answered. ¡®Show them.¡¯ How strong my Jude is. What Cheonmujiche can do that made Landius say curse words out of his mouth. Winning was impossible. It was nearly impossible for the current Jude to subdue him who had the names of First Sword and Sword Saint. But if it was just to make him move six times. If Jude didn¡¯t lose within those five times. Jude took a deep breath. He chanted the mnemonic chant of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, and stimted his newly developed middle dantian. It had risen to a new level during his time at the Temple of Life. A power that had never been seen before. The Supreme Sun Divine Art responded. A ck energy rose from Jude¡¯s body, and at the same time, the doors of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors began to open one by one. First door. Second door. Third door. Fourth door. And. ¡®Fifth door.¡¯ The fifth door. The one that reached apletely different level from his previous ones! Bang! His energy exploded. Not only the atmosphere, but the stage also shook for a moment. Everyone who were watching were surprised by the sudden rise of power. First Sword was no different. His eyes that had looked easygoing were now surprised. And immediately after. When everyone were still in shock of what had happened. Jude kicked the ground. He turned into a ck gale and rushed towards First Sword. Chapter 165 - EPISODE 165 – FIRST SWORD (4)

Chapter 165 - EPISODE 165 ¨C FIRST SWORD (4)

¡®Always remember the victory conditions.¡¯ Alexei always said that. Killing didn¡¯t always work. Depending on the battlefield, the conditions for winning could vary. ¡®Formte a strategy to meet the conditions of victory.¡¯ Depending on the victory conditions, the way you fight could vary. Alexei was an objectively good teacher, and Jude respected him as a teacher whether in his past or present life. Because of this, he didn¡¯t be someone who was all talk and no action, or did things randomly without any n. Until the day he was lucky enough to safely retire, and even when he got addicted to games and became an unemployed person who generously spent his money and enjoyed a life of pleasure, Jude never forgot the victory conditions. He formted strategies depending on the situation. Bang! The air fluctuated in the aftermath of the fifth door¡¯s opening. A golden whirlwind rose amidst the roar, and Jude became a ck gale as he rushed towards First Sword. ¡®Make him move six times.¡¯ The victory conditions. Therefore, he formted his strategy and tactics based on that. ¡®Observe.¡¯ He was fortunate enough that he got thest number. And because of that, Jude was able to observe it twenty times. ¡®The pattern is always the same.¡¯ First Sword would guide them up to the third time, turn the attack into nothing on the fourth time, and make them surrender on the fifth time. Therefore, Jude¡¯s initial n was to receive guidance until the third time. But the situation changed the moment First Sword positioned himself in the Light Swordsmanship style. So Jude took out n B which he had prepared just in case. ¡®I¡¯ll do everything fast like a raging storm.¡¯ Due to First Sword¡¯s nature, it was unlikely that he would attack from the beginning just because he changed his swordsmanship style. After all, he would still treat Jude as a prospect. So Jude would push him. He would make First Sword defend for several times. And to add another to it. ¡®Something unexpected.¡¯ Because First Sword would think that Jude was a swordsman. As an opportunity for their own personal growth, all the 20 prospects who stood in front of First Sword had used proper swordsmanship in their match against him. A sharp, refined, and beautiful dance of their swords. So Jude would approach it in apletely different way. A blunt, unrefined, and rough dance ¨C like that of a raging storm! ¡®ck Dragon Cross Strike!¡¯ At the same time he rushed forward, he thrust his fists forward and shot the energy of the ck dragon from both his fists. A long-range strike. And a non-linear attack at the same time. ¡®Here!¡¯ ¡°Hopf Link!¡± He shouted at the same time as he thought. He drew his fists and manipted the two separate energies of the ck dragon. The two energies of the ck dragon flew into a circle as it intersected with each other, causing a loud roar as it powerfully exploded. Hopf link?¨C in mathematical knot theory, it¡¯s two circles that are linked to each other but?do not?intersect. I will not go into more detail since it¡¯splicated, but for this chapter, it¡¯s just Jude firing two energies of the ck dragon from both his fists. But in this case, the two energies that flew in a circle crossed each other, causing an explosion.?Jude, why are you calling this a Hopf link if the two intersect! Bang! Bang! Bang! A series of explosions was heard. As the ck dragon¡¯s energies violently twisted, it dug up the floor and shook the air. But that was all. In the midst of those explosions, the sword of First Sword shone and at that moment, a line split the explosions into two. Shiiiing-! A sword of light. His dazzlingly fast sword split the explosion. It stopped the roars of the explosion, and even the aftermath of the shock was split, preventing it from reaching First Sword. And First Sword raised his head. But most of the prospects didn¡¯t see it. They were caught off-guard by the powerful explosion and the splendor of First Sword¡¯s attack that turned the explosion into nothing. So only two people, Cordelia and Lucas, saw the same thing as First Sword. ¡®Head.¡¯ Midair. It was a new option Jude could choose since he became a superhuman, which was something he would¡¯ve never imagined in his previous life. Jude was seen in First Sword¡¯s eyes. The explosion caused by the ck Dragon Cross Strike was both an attack and a foundation for his next move. Jude made the ck explosion create the effect of a smoke bomb detonating, and kept everyone¡¯s eyes on the ground with its loud roars and aftershocks. And at the same time, he soared up the ground. ¡®Like a magician.¡¯ Just like what Alexei taught. ¡®ck Dragon Cross Strike!¡¯ From the sky to the ground. Jude kicked down from the air as he aimed at First Sword¡¯s head. And at that moment, the energy of a giant ck dragon vertically headed towards the ground. Rooooarrr! The roar was like a dragon¡¯s roar. A smile spread on First Sword¡¯s face, and he swung his sword again. The light¡¯s trajectory split the energy of the ck dragon again. Bang! Bang! Having been split into two, the energy of the ck dragon broke the ground. At the time fragments of the stone stage flew into the air, Jude had alreadynded on the ground. He lowered his posture as if he was almost sticking to the ground, and then leapt forward as he aimed for First Sword¡¯s back. First Sword turned around and looked at Jude. It was just a moment, but Jude was able to read First Sword¡¯s thoughts through his eyes. ¡®It would be impossible for you.¡¯ From the ck Dragon Cross Strike that encircled each other to the ck Dragon Cross Strike from above. He had continuously used powerful techniques in such a short time. First Sword did not know much about the techniques used by Jude, but even then, he knew about ¡®that¡¯ since he had reached a certain level. That there should be a dy now. That there should be a cooldown between using two techniques. First Sword¡¯s thoughts were not wrong. He thought of Jude as a swordsman who was two levels above Lucas, and even if he was a swordsman two levels above Lucas, it would be impossible for Jude to immediately use a third technique. But Jude could do it. He made possible something that First Sword thought was impossible. ¡®Middle dantian!¡¯ He had used up all the energy in his lower dantian. But the energy in his middle dantian remained. So Jude skillfully used the energy in his middle dantian for his next attack. Bang! He stomped on the ground with his left foot. He kept his lower body down as he struck the air with a clenched fist. And what he shot at that time. It was the energy of the sun. The ck and unmatched energy of the sun! ¡°Roar! Explode!¡± The energy roared and exploded. The energy of the ck sun exploded, and darkness engulfed everything. It was only for a short moment, but it had blinded everyone. The explosion. The roar. Shiiing! But the light strongly struck again. Once again, the light split the explosion, the roar, and the shockwaves. And First Sword felt it. He momentarily lost his sight, but he perceived it with his superhuman senses. The ce where Jude was located. Jude¡¯s breath. The fourth move Jude wanted to do. A smile spread on First Sword¡¯s face again. Because he sensed it. Jude was putting his hand on his sword. He was finally going to use his sword. ¡°Haha!¡± First Sword opened his eyes and refreshinglyughed. He fully enjoyed the beating of his heart as he saw Jude. Cordelia forcibly opened her eyes, but her sight was still blurry. And Lucas also tried to see Jude and First Sword. Sir Cornwell btedly opened his eyes and was also excited. ¡®Sword!¡¯ Jude would finally use the sword. Jude, who was so strong without a sword, would finally use a sword! A moment. A short time. But First Sword shouted fast in his thoughts. He looked at Jude as he cried out in his mind. ¡®Show me.¡¯ Your skills. Your sword! Shiiiing! Jude drew the Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword. And at that moment, First Sword was confused. He had been surprised when Jude had opened the fifth door and charged, but he was now more surprised at the situation. ng! The Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword fell to the ground with a clear sound. Cordelia smiled while Lucas widely opened his eyes. Jude didn¡¯t use his sword. He had drawn the Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword and threw it towards First Sword. By doing so, he seeded for a moment in stealing the attention of not only First Sword, but also everyone who were watching. ¡®Something unexpected.¡¯ He heightened their tension. He made them look forward to it. And then he threw all their expectations into the gutter. ¡®As light as the wind.¡¯ Without any sound, without any forewarning. At the time when the Oriental Warrior¡¯s Sword was tossed away by First Sword¡¯s defensive instinct, thereby making him move for a fourth time. Jude became the wind. He even used the roaring sounds that he caused whenever he charged. He tried to distract First Sword a little by continuing to show the same pattern but performing different actions. Shwaaaa-! Jude got behind First Sword. If he attacked from behind again instead of prating through the front, he could make First Sword move for the fifth time. And if that happened, First Sword had to move for a sixth time. In other words, it would be Jude¡¯s victory then. But in that instant. When he tried to release the energy of the ck dragon again! ¡°I won¡¯t let you.¡± He heard First Sword¡¯s voice. In reality, it was such a short moment that he didn¡¯t even hear First Sword say those four words, so it was impossible for him to have heard First Sword¡¯s voice in that short moment. But Jude had heard it. He felt that he had heard it. And he wasn¡¯t wrong. First Sword turned around. His sword moved faster than Jude. It was an attacking move. It was not a defensive move, but was First Sword¡¯s attack to end the match with this move! ¡°Sorry.¡± This will hurt a lot. You won¡¯t die though. His sword of light. His dazzlingly fast sword! Shiiing! The light shed. A sharp sh of light trailed as it cut through time and space. Jude¡¯s intuition felt it. He already knew it the moment First Sword moved for the fifth time. He couldn¡¯t avoid it. The wind could never beat the light. So he would be cut. The light would destroy the wind. But if it was not the wind. If it was faster than the wind. One that precedes the sound. If it moved faster than the thunder that shook the earth! Bang! An explosion. He could only express it like that. The power of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors and the energy of the sun were all condensed at once, and the resulting explosion made the impossible possible. It was stillcking. It was still iplete. But it was something that he had to do. ¡®Because Cordelia wants it.¡¯ He wanted to show her an amazing performance. And above all. ¡®Because I want to win.¡¯ Baaaaang! A bolt of lightning struck. The light from the tip of the sword split the air. And lightning jumped over it. First Sword turned the attack into nothing. Cordelia clenched her fists at that moment. She was ecstatic as she held her chest as if to suppress her overly excited heart. Because Cordelia knew. What Jude was trying to do. What technique Jude was trying to do. ¡°Juuude!¡± As if responding to Cordelia¡¯s cry, the lightning continued. Not only did it dodge the sword of First Sword, but it also quickly narrowed the distance between Jude and First Sword. Thunderbolt Twelve Steps. The first step. A thunderbolt that was faster than the wind. First Sword was genuinely surprised by the advance of Jude. So he also moved his feet. He widened his distance again from Jude, who had quickly narrowed their distance, and First Sword reflexively swung his sword. An attack again. Moreover, it was a real offensive attack and not just a swinging of his sword like before. ¡®I will block it.¡¯ His words were short, but it was true. He used his sword technique that made him known as the First Sword of the Sword School. Heavenly Light. He would have originally dashed with his sword. But First Sword only sent out his aura. A giant bird of light ¨C a powerful energy of light rushed towards Jude. Jude then used his technique almost simultaneously as if he had predicted it. He released most of the energy from the ck sun. He cried out in his mind as if he was roaring. ¡®Roar! ck Dragon!¡¯ Shatter the skies, O ck Dragon! It was a line that Cordelia would have been embarrassed if she had heard it, but no one would have cared even if he had shouted it. Because the scene in front of their eyes was so overwhelming. Booooom! The ck Dragon and the Bird of Light collided head on. A tremendous force exploded, and the light blinded their eyes. The dust covered everything on the stage. ¡°Crazy.¡± Sir Cornwell unknowingly said. And most of the prospects spoke simr words. They already knew that Jude was strong. But they didn¡¯t expect it to be this much. ¡®He¡¯s stronger than me.¡¯ If Sir Cornwell himself had stood on that stage instead of First Sword, would he have been able to distance himself from Jude? Would it have been possible for him to block all the techniques Jude had used in session? Moreover, there was one more surprising thing. ¡®W-what had happened to him?¡¯ Jude was only 17 years old now. But what kind of amazing things had happened to him? Did he consume elixirs as his normal meals? Sir Cornwell was amazed and surprised, while Lucas couldn¡¯t close his open mouth either. But Cordelia was a little different. She became teary-eyed and almost shouted. ¡°Jude!¡± At thest collision. They had yet to see the results. If Jude had been injured. If Jude had not been able to resist the Heavenly Light of First Sword. Cordelia¡¯s hair turned ck. Her eyes turned red. Her intense emotions caused her to transform into a witch. And it was at that moment. The swing of First Sword¡¯s sword blew away the dust. Therefore, everyone saw the two on top of something that used to be the stage, and all of them let out gasps. First Sword and Jude were still standing. The only difference was that First Sword¡¯s clothes were a little dirty, but he was fine. On the other hand, Jude had vomited blood, and his mouth and chest were red, while his clothes were torn all over his body. ¡°Cough. Kaak.¡± Jude vomited blood again. But it was clear red blood and not ck blood. ¡°Haaa.¡± It was all because of the Sphere of Life that had beenpletely absorbed in Jude¡¯s body. The aftermath of the collision between the ck Dragon and the Heavenly Light would have struck him, and he would have internal wounds because of excessively using his power. If he had been an ordinary person, he would have copsed and died as he vomited blood, or he would be in a state of near-death. But Jude was not an ordinary person. The fifth door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors made him a superhuman, and the Sphere of Life gave him regenerative power. ¡°Amazing.¡± First Sword spoke with a smile, and Jude just drooped his shoulders, suppressing his desire to raise his middle finger. ¡°Jude!¡± It was Cordelia. She ran to Jude at once and tightly hugged him without caring if his clothes were dirty or not. She then began to use her recovery magic. ¡°Hey, are you okay? Jude? Are you fine?¡± As Cordelia asked with tears in her eyes, Jude blinked for a moment, but he soon said with a smirk. ¡°I¡¯m fine. Wasn¡¯t I a bit cool?¡± ¡°What the heck do you mean by cool! You like you¡¯ve been beaten up!¡± ¡°No, I¡¯ve never been hit, okay?¡± He had just been unable to escape from the aftermath, so he had looked like this now. Jude shrugged and Cordelia¡¯s fist lightly hit Jude on the chest before she red at First Sword. And First Sword said at her re. ¡°I should¡¯ve been more serious.¡± In using Heavenly Light. Cordelia began to unconsciously growl at his words, and Jude hugged her waist to pacify her as he looked at First Sword and said. ¡°Ahem, ahem. Anyway, I¡¯m the winner, right?¡± Because First Sword had moved six times. Moreover, Jude was still standing. He didn¡¯t look to be fine since blood poured from his mouth, but in any case, First Sword would need to move a seventh time if he wanted to subdue the current Jude. First Sword bitterly smiled at Jude¡¯s remark, and the prospects who were mesmerized in many ways finally came to their senses. But they still murmured with a surprised look on their faces, and no one was able to properly speak. ¡°You monstrous guy. I somehow see you as my young self.¡± Jude awkwardly smiled at First Sword¡¯s words, and Cordelia snorted. Her expression seemed to be asking on what the heck was he talking about. ¡°Heeey, most people would have been greatly honored, okay?¡± The Sword Saint of Light hadpared Jude to his young self and not anyone else. But Cordelia still snorted, and First Sword was forced to end the match with a bitter smile. ¡°Alright, alright. The first prospect to make me move six times is Jude Bayer. In the name of I, Rhun Froud, the Sword Saint of Light, I hereby dere the victory of Jude Bayer.¡± He said it in a calm but clear voice, and Duke Spencer began to p at that moment. ¡°Blessings to the winner¡± ¡°Blessings to the winner!¡± Princess Darianne shouted along as she broadly smiled and enthusiastically apuded. She was followed by Sir Cornwell and the Knights of the Red Rose. The prospects also cheered and pped, starting with Lucas. ¡°Hehehe.¡± Cordelia felt better and Jude likewise felt better at Cordelia¡¯sughing before he raised his hand. When everyone cheered, he moved her head so naturally as he kissed Cordelia¡¯s forehead. ¡®What, what, what was that?¡¯ The startled Cordelia looked at Jude, and instead of saying something, Jude pointed at everyone with his eyes and faced his right cheek at her. What he had meant by that. What Jude was asking her now. ¡°O-only this time, okay?¡± Cordelia quickly spoke with a blushing face, and Jude nodded. And a light kiss. As soon as Cordelia¡¯s lips touched Jude¡¯s cheek, Princess Darianne cheered, First Sword frowned, and Lucas looked somehow proud. And after a while. When the heat had subsided to some extent, and it was time for Jude and Cordelia to descend from the rubble that used to be the stage. ¡°By the way.¡± The voice of First Sword was heard by Jude and Cordelia again. The two naturally looked back at First Sword, and he bitterly smiled with crossed arms as he spoke in a very small voice. ¡°You¡¯re not a swordsman, right?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m a swordsman.¡± Jude responded reflexively, and picked up the Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword that had fallen on the ground before he bowed politely to First Sword. ¡°Then, I¡¯ll be going in order to treat my injuries.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll receive the prize instead of Jude.¡± The two thenughed as they went down the stage as if they were running away. ¡°How interesting.¡± They were interesting. It was certainly a good reason for him to remain in the royal capital. ¡°Indeed¡­they¡¯re a fantasy couple.¡± As he stared the backs of Jude and Cordelia as they walked among the prospects, First Sword lightly shook his hand. He looked up the sky as he ignored his somehow aching side. Chapter 166 - ENTERING THE PALACE (1)

Chapter 166 - ENTERING THE PALACE (1)

The demon follower groups in Pleiades could bergely ssified into five. The Devil¡¯s Hand served Asmodeus, the overlord of lust. The Devil¡¯s Eye served Belial, the overlord of corruption. The Devil¡¯s Mouth served Lilith, the overlord of love and hatred. The Devil¡¯s Ear served Belphegor, the overlord of cruelty. The Devil¡¯s Horn served Behemoth, the overlord of violence. In Hell, the five overlords were virtually equal in power, but in the mortal world, their followers were not equal in power. After a fierce battle with the Guardians of the Holy Cross, the Devil¡¯s Ear was pretty much destroyed, and the Devil¡¯s Horn and all their demonic humans were also annihted, except for the demonic human called ¡®Jabberwock,¡¯ who was also known as ¡®Behemoth¡¯s avatar.¡¯ ¡°But the remaining three are still quite powerful.¡± In particr, the Devil¡¯s Hand boasted of a wide sphere of influence, being active in both the Argon Empire and the S?len Kingdom. They also had the highest number of demonic humans under theirmand. ¡°The leader of the Devil¡¯s Hand.¡± A long blue-haired woman whose identity was unknown. She was believed to be the avatar of Asmodeus and a mysterious person whose identity was not fully revealed in the second or third episodes of?Legend of Heroes. ¡°She is probably the strongest among the demon followers.¡± But fortunately, she rarely made a direct appearance on the battlefront. She would always be sitting and watching from behind the scenes. ¡°The Devil¡¯s Eye is in the west of the Argon Empire, and the Devil¡¯s Mouth is in the distant east.¡± Therefore, only the Devil¡¯s Hand and the Devil¡¯s Eye were the main enemies in?Legend of Heroes 2, which was set on the western continent. ¡°Between those two, the main enemy of the S?len Kingdom was the Devil¡¯s Hand.¡± Three of the six branches of the Devil¡¯s Hand were located in the S?len Kingdom, and their headquarters were also in the center of the kingdom. ¡°They cannot get close to the royal capital because of the barrier, so they¡¯re probably in the capital¡¯s outskirts.¡± Specifically, it was located on the edge of the border with the Argon Empire, and the demonic human in charge of the central branch was the aggressive Koros, one of the six key executives of the Devil¡¯s Hand. Like the other key executives, he longed for the favor of their leader, so he devoted himself to the ¡®S?len Royal Family Genocide n¡¯ in order to destroy the barrier in the capital. It was to the point that he would be willing to ask for the help of Saluzia, the head of the northern branch whom he did not get along well. *** ¡°Saluzia.¡± At the call of Koros, Saluzia took off her hood and revealed her face. Her fair face and purple eyes in between her very dark ebony-like hair made her look impressive under the dim light. ¡°Koros.¡± Wearing a white robe, Saluzia deeply sighed as her shoulders slumped a bit. The two were both key executives who usually fought for the favor of their leader, so they were actually rivals, but it had slightly changed because of their current situation. ¡°Your pretty face looks haggard. You must have had a hard time.¡± The demon followers who served Asmodeus of lust generally had outstanding looks. Koros was no different since he had a very handsome face, well-defined features, and a masculine appearance. But his eyes were so intense that it seemed fierce even if he smiled quietly. On the other hand, Saluzia was an elegantly beautiful woman with a feminine and delicate appearance, but her purple eyes had an intense look too. Instead of answering him, Saluzia looked around and sat on a chair that seemed appropriate. ¡°Everything had gone wrong since they appeared.¡± Saluzia spoke in a low voice, and Koros understood right away on who she was talking about. ¡°Are you talking about Jude Bayer and Cordelia Chase?¡± It was not an exaggeration to say that the entire S?len Kingdom knew of the two as the couple of the century. But for Saluzia, they were known as the two who had escaped from the difficult situations she had put them in several times. ¡°They must be in the royal capital now.¡± ¡°I know.¡± She had tried to kidnap the two while on their way to the royal capital. ¡°Is it hard to touch them now?¡± At Koros¡¯ question, or rather, at his half provocation, Saluzia frowned. Aside from what he said that it had be difficult to touch Jude and Cordelia now, she also found Koros¡¯ current attitude as annoying. ¡°Koros, isn¡¯t it you who¡¯s asking for help and not me?¡± ¡°Of course it is. Should I say that I¡¯m just concerned for my?mate?¡± Koros shrugged and Saluzia sighed again, but she no longer said anything. It was true that they were?mates?as Koros had said, but the reasons on why she sighed were because of her rtionship with Koros and that they both wanted to please their leader, so they had cooperated like this. ¡®Since Koros had asked for my help, I¡¯ll have to do my best with this task¡­ but it¡¯s also to help me after my recent failure.¡¯ You could say that we¡¯re just mutually helping each other. The rtionship between Koros and Saluzia was quite long and deep. Because the?mate?that Koros referred to was not limited to the Devil¡¯s Hand. ¡®Orphanage mates.¡¯ Their childhood days that she didn¡¯t remember much anymore. T/N: The word ¡®mate¡¯ her refers to a person who entered the samepany/institution in the same year as you. So in the Devil¡¯s Hand, the two are workmates who joined the group at the same time. As for the orphanage, the two probably entered it at the same time. Saluzia bitterly smiled without realizing it, and she opened her mouth as she made a face that she would never make in front of Kanos or her subordinate demonic humans. ¡°So Konny, are you asking for more help?¡± ¡°Yes, Sannie. I think I need all the help I can get.¡± A smile had spread on the faces of the two when they called each other by their orphanage nicknames after a long time, but it was also because they were both demon followers. The story they wanted to share now was a terrible conspiracy that would cause the sacrifice of innocent people. ¡°The Lord Protector¡¯s limbs are being cut off.¡± The ck Moon and his subordinate nobles were being attacked. If the aristocrats¡¯ offensive continued, there was a possibility that they could not proceed as nned on the day of the anniversary. ¡°So you want me to help you?¡± ¡°To make it bigger. I¡¯m going to do things more boldly.¡± Koros opened his arms as he looked at Saluzia, and she realized what he was talking about. That was why her shoulders slumped again. ¡°Konny, are you betting your life into this?¡± ¡°Because it¡¯s worth it.¡± The barrier in the royal capital. The divine sword, ¨ªomh Sis, maintained that barrier. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be nice if it screwed up the couple of the century as a bonus?¡± ¡°¡­That is a bit pleasing.¡± When Saluzia spoke frankly, Korosughed out loud. ¡°Our leader has given us permission.¡± Tobine all the forces of the central and northern branches. ¡°Do you have anything in it for me in order for me to ept it?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s why I¡¯m begging you like this now.¡± At Koros¡¯ words, Saluzia loudlyughed and said. ¡°I¡¯ve thought about this for a long time, but you really don¡¯t know how to ask for a favor, Konny.¡± ¡°But I can do this because we understand each other, right? You know me, Sannie.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m the only one who knows you.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m only doing this to you. What do you think? Are you not happy that you know?¡± ¡°Ha, you¡¯ve really set your mind on doing this n.¡± Saluzia spoke sarcastically, but she wasn¡¯t in a bad mood. Or rather, in order to make up for her past failures, she had no other choice but to work together with Koros and make this n to exterminate the royal family sessful. ¡°But I won¡¯t agree if you don¡¯t give me an exnation. Tell me about it in detail.¡± In what way and the amount of work she would do. When Saluzia asked him about it, Koros grinned and drew closer to her. He began to tell her about it in a low voice. *** In the afternoon, after Jude¡¯s match against First Sword was over. Cordelia sat on the sofa and happily smiled as she stared at the sword glimmering in the sunlight. ¡°Ah, it¡¯s so pretty no matter how many times I look at it.¡± How can its color be so beautiful? How can the gem in its handle be so brilliant? Cordelia¡¯s face became ecstatic, and she unknowingly hummed. Jude was sitting next to her and said in quiet voice as he gazed at her. ¡°Cordelia, my love. I dedicate to thee what thou had asked for.¡± Instead of being embarrassed by his dramatic and romantic lines, Cordelia giggled and tapped Jude on the shoulder with her hand. ¡°Yes, yes, good job. Continue to devote yourself and be loyal as you are now. Do your best always, okay?¡± ¡°No, Princess. Isn¡¯t it time for you give me a prize or say thank you?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t. If I continue to be nice to you, you¡¯ll be spoiled. Don¡¯t you know that the carrot-to-stick ratio is important?¡± Cordelia said with a mischievous look as she snorted, and Jude smiled again at her appearance. ¡°Well, if it¡¯s a carrot, I already got it.¡± Carrot. It was so sweet that my teeth seemed like it would melt. Cordelia flinched again because she quickly understood what Jude meant, but she didn¡¯t immediately say what it was. Becauseplicated thoughts filled her mind. ¡®As I thought, d-do you like me?¡¯ Did he do that because he liked me? Did he do that because I asked him to do it? ¡®Well¡­ they do say that people do a lot of strange things because of that.¡¯ But it was typical of Cordelia to straightforwardly change the topic. ¡®A-anyway!¡¯ But if it is true¡­ If Jude really likes me¡­ Cordelia nced at Jude, who faced her with his usual sly face. And it was at that moment. ¡°His Excellency, Duke Spencer, wishes for you to enter.¡± The two where currently in the waiting room of Duke Spencer¡¯s ce. Jude and Cordelia were guided by a ssy old butler, and they passed through the splendid and beautiful hallway before they reached Duke Spencer¡¯s drawing room. ¡°Mr. Jude Bayer and Lady Cordelia Chase have arrived.¡± Soon after the butler spoke in a solemn voice, the clear ringing of a bell was heard from the inside, and the old butler opened the door very politely. And the sight that was revealed. The drawing room with beautiful ss windows was filled with the scent of flowers, and two people were sitting on the fancy sofa in the center. ¡®Duke Spencer and Princess Darianne.¡¯ Duke Spencer was a tall and thin old man, and he wasfortably sitting while dressed in purple clothes. Princess Darianne was sitting next to him and she gently smiled as she slightly waved her hand. ¡°I am Jude Bayer from the Bayer family.¡± ¡°I am Cordelia Chase from the Chase family.¡± When Jude and Cordelia courteously greeted them, the highest-ranked person in the room, Princess Darianne, greeted them with a big smile. ¡°It¡¯s nice to see you both. This is my grandfather, Duke Spencer.¡± Duke Spencer cleared his throat a bit at her friendly introduction that seemed to have brushed aside her manners, but instead of scolding her, he said as he faced Jude and Cordelia. ¡°I am Duke Spencer. The two of you may sit down.¡± The two of them bowed again after being allowed to sit, and Jude escorted Cordelia to the sofa. While remaining courteous, they gently sat in front of Princess Darianne who was looking at them in joy. The two were the children of nobles, so their manners weren¡¯tcking, so Duke Spencer had a satisfied smile on his face. ¡°Indeed, you two are children from the 12 northern families. But the princess wants you to sitfortably, so you don¡¯t have to be so nervous. Do you understand?¡± ¡°I understand.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Excellency.¡± When Jude and Cordelia answered formally again, Duke Spencer nodded with a satisfied smile again, and Princess Darianne said as she pulled Duke Spencer¡¯s sleeve. ¡°Grandpa is really¡­ If you keep doing that, unnie and oppa will have no choice but to act formal.¡± Could there be a person who¡¯d really act informal just so that the person higher in rank than them would feelfortable? Rather, they would only feel burdened. ¡°Unnie, oppa, it¡¯s really okay. Grandpa isn¡¯t that strict. So you can be informal with us.¡± ¡°Haha¡­ Yes, I understand.¡± ¡°Yes, Princess.¡± But the same was true for Princess Darianne who was a higher-ranked person. Moreover, unlike Duke Spencer¡¯s words that were actual formalities so anyone could quietly listen and respond appropriately, it was a problem that Princess Darianne truly wanted Jude and Cordelia to actfortably. You could say that they feel more troubled actingfortably with Princess Darianne. As a result, Jude and Cordelia answered formally and did not loosen their postures. Fortunately, Duke Spencer was not as strict as Princess Darianne had said. He fully understood Jude and Cordelia¡¯s difficulties. ¡°Haha, I give up. The princess¡¯ stubbornness is strong. Let me apologize instead. I want you to understand.¡± ¡°Grandpa?¡± Princess Darianne¡¯s eyes widened, and she seemed to be asking what he was talking about, but Duke Spencer just grinned while Jude and Cordelia also faintly smiled. ¡®He¡¯s a good person.¡¯ ¡®Yes, it seems like he really cares for Princess Darianne.¡¯ In the original, Duke Spence had never made a proper appearance because he was sick. Of course, they could guess his personality to some extent from various indirect information, but they felt relieved after meeting him in person and confirming that he was a good person. ¡°Now, let¡¯s get to the point. First of all, let me express my gratitude. Thank you. Thanks to the two of you giving me the Seven-Colored Herb, I was freed from my chronic illness and regained my health.¡± ¡°Thank you very much.¡± When Duke Spencer expressed his gratitude, Princess Darianne also broadly smiled and thanked them again, and Cordelia beautifully recited the greetings she had prepared. ¡°We are also very pleased to see the princess be happy and His Excellency to have recovered. Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to do good, Princess Darianne.¡± As she finished her words with a bright smile, Princess Darianne unconsciously blushed and said as she pulled the sleeve of Duke Spencer again. ¡°Look, isn¡¯t Cordelia-unnie really pretty? She has a pretty face and a beautiful heart.¡± ¡°Indeed, it¡¯s more than the rumors.¡± Duke Spencer spoke with a satisfied face, and Cordelia was delighted but had some questions at the same time. ¡®What rumors are they talking about?¡¯ ¡®It must be the rumor that you¡¯re as pretty as an angel. Let¡¯s thank Lady Emma Ficus for that.¡¯ Thanks to her, he was able to show the world the full beauty of Cordelia. ¡®Of course, it would be even better at the day of the founding anniversary.¡¯ He would let Cordelia wear the Fairy Dress, an item that would enhance her beauty, so that the S?len Kingdom, and even the world, would know about Cordelia¡¯s beauty. ¡®Hey, are you thinking of something wicked again?¡¯ ¡®No, I¡¯m not? I¡¯m just thinking of something that is nice and true.¡¯ The two had their usual prolonged eye conversation, but the other two didn¡¯t mind it. Duke Spencer opened his mouth again. ¡°If you¡¯ve done something good, you should be awarded. I cannot reward my benefactors with nothing when they have helped me this much.¡± Having said that, Duke Spencer lightly rang a bell, and the old butler waiting at the door then put down a silver tter on the table. ¡°You two are my benefactors, so you can use my name anytime and anywhere.¡± Duke Spencer said that in a serious tone unlike before, and the two focused their attention on the silver tter, or to be exact, on the rose emblem of Duke Spencer on it. It was actually a token of his willingness to treat the two as his people. ¡®Bingo.¡¯ Since they had the backing of one of the aristocrats¡¯ leaders, they could do a lot of things with this emblem alone. It was not an exaggeration to say that their act of giving the Seven-Colored Herb was returned to them several times more. But Duke Spencer had no intention of stopping there. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think I should say this with my own mouth¡­ but this alone can benefit you greatly. However, shouldn¡¯t a reward have a material form? I¡¯ve been wondering on what to give you, so I¡¯ve decided that this is the best.¡± Duke Spencer rang the bell again, and the old butler put down a new silver tter on the table. Jude and Cordelia then unknowingly opened their eyes wide in surprise. ¡°I will not allow you to refuse it. Please take it.¡± On the silver tray was a white and rectangr paper. It was a paper with a huge number of zeroes written on it. ¡®Woah.¡¯ A Royal Bank cheque. In short, it was cash. Moreover, the amount was enormous. It was equivalent to the total annual ie of Count Bayer¡¯s territory. ¡®He really is a big shot among the nobles.¡¯ One could count within three fingers the nobles in the S?len Kingdom who possessed such great wealth. ¡°There¡¯s a lot of things I want to hear from you two. The princess has told me a lot of stories, so I¡¯ve been quite curious. Like, what are you two actually like? I¡¯ve been wondering if you two are really the characters of the story the princess has told me. But before we start talking, I think I should let her tell you something first. It seems like my princess is quite anxious to show it to you two quickly.¡± Duke Spencer yfully spoke, and Princess Darianne pouted her lips but it was only for a moment. She soon smiled childishly and brightly before she rang the bell to bring in a new silver tter. ¡°Please take it.¡± What Princess Darianne had prepared. What she wanted to give to Jude and Cordelia. ¡°My unnie and oppa also wanted to see you, unnie and oppa. They gave me a chance to show off unnie and oppa.¡± Her words had a lot of repetitions. But the people she was referring to as ¡®my unnie and oppa¡¯ werepletely different, and Jude and Cordelia quickly understood on who she was talking about. ¡®Princess Daphne and Prince Dion.¡¯ The next queen and her younger brother who were both sessors to the throne of the S?len Kingdom. On the silver tter was an invitation to a tea party hosted by Princess Daphne. Chapter 167 - EPISODE 167 – ENTERING THE PALACE (2)

Chapter 167 - EPISODE 167 ¨C ENTERING THE PALACE (2)

Terms used in this chapter: Jeon-eum?¨C a Korean fictional martial arts term that refers to the skill of secretly transmitting your voice to your target without being heard by other people. Jeon-eum literally means ¡®sound transmission.¡¯ The present king of the S?len Kingdom, King Henry II, had many children. He currently had three queens and seven concubines. However, it was only the children of the queens who were the official sessors of the throne, and among them, the First Queen¡¯s children were the highest in the line of session. ¡®The first in line to the throne.¡¯ The direct descendants of the present king were higher in the line of session than the king¡¯s siblings. In the S?len Kingdom, there was no distinction between men and women when it came to inheriting titles, so as soon as Daphne, the eldest child of the First Queen, was born, she naturally became the first in line to the throne. ¡®Princess Daphne.¡¯ Children of nobles in the S?len Kingdom were only recognized as adults when they reach 20 years of age. It was veryte whenpared to the fact that children ofmoners were treated as adults when they reach 15 years of age, but this was unavoidable. ¡®Nobles are different frommoners.¡¯ So they had to assume more responsibility and show that they had better skills. Naturally, there were many people who became adults because they reached the age requirement, but it was a bit different if the person was a proper noble or the firstborn child. They really had to show a noble figure. ¡®Anyway, about Princess Daphne.¡¯ Or rather, the Crown Princess. She was the so-called all-around superhuman who excelled in both schrly knowledge and martial arts. Her innate talent undoubtedly yed a big role in that, but in fact, it was more because of her efforts than her being a genius. ¡®The next monarch is the Crown Princess.¡¯ Princess Daphne had heard that statement every day since her childhood. Oftentimes, when people of her position hear that kind of statement, they would bezy or spend their time idly, saying that ¡°I¡¯m the next king anyway!¡±, but Princess Daphne was different. Her personality was sincere, and she studied and studied every day in order to be a person fit for the monarch position. ¡®She has a younger brother.¡¯ Prince Dion, who was also a child of the First Queen. He was two years younger than Princess Daphne, and as he saw his older sister crazily studying hard, he thought. ¡®I¡¯ll be the monarch if my older sister is gone. So I should study hard like my older sister!¡¯ His words didn¡¯t mean something like ¡®I¡¯ll be the next monarch if my older sister is gone, so I have to get rid of her!¡¯ He studied hard in order to prepare for the scenario of his older sister dying, and in the midst of that, Prince Dion came to learn of her tremendous efforts and nearly worshipped her. ¡®I¡¯m the second in line, so I¡¯ll assist you perfectly!¡¯ So Prince Dion studied magic. Princess Daphne studied so much that 24 hours a day was insufficient, and she learned about the monarchy, politics, swordsmanship, foreignnguages and so on, but magic was the only thing she didn¡¯t learn. Thus, Princess Daphne found Prince Dion¡¯s efforts to be veryudable ¨C no, she thought it was cute. A younger brother who worshipped his older sister, and an older sister who cared and loved such a younger brother. Moreover, since they were the first and second in line to the throne, problems rted to the session of the throne did not happen in the S?len Kingdom. ¡®That¡¯s why Princess Darianne was able to get along with Princess Daphne and Prince Dion.¡¯ The position of Princess Daphne was so firm that Princess Darianne, who was the firstborn child of the Second Queen, was not seen as a rival who threatened her session, but considered to be just a cute and pretty younger sibling. Because of that, Princess Darianne was loved by Princess Daphne and Prince Dion, and though she wasn¡¯t as good as Prince Dion, she became Princess Daphne¡¯s faithful follower and spent her days happily. ¡°I¡¯m excited because unnie¡¯s tea party will be in a few days.¡± Princess Darianne lightlyughed, and Duke Spencer who was a leader of the aristocrats but also a moderate, smiled too. However, Jude and Cordelia had bitter feelings amidst their happiness. ¡®Their fates in the game.¡¯ In the game, the Lord Protector¡¯s n to massacre the royal family had seeded. It wasn¡¯t only Princess Daphne and Prince Dion, but also included Princess Darianne and the children of the concubines whose names were not even mentioned in the game. In fact, all of the children who possessed the current king¡¯s blood ended up dead. Among those deaths, Princess Daphne and Prince Dion¡¯s deaths were gruesome. The bodies of the two, who fought hard in order to protect their younger siblings in a situation where their retreat was blocked, were torn apart by the demon followers who were angry at their strong resistance, and dumped on the streets, bing food for the stray dogs. ¡®It will be different this time.¡¯ The future would have a happy ending. It would be the ssic?good triumphs over evil. Because they wanted the good to be blessed and the evil one to be punished. Jude and Cordelia looked at each other and simultaneously smiled. Because they realized that the other was thinking of the same thing. ¡®She¡¯s really nice.¡¯ ¡®Even if his insides are dark, my Jude is not an evil person.¡¯ The two smiled once more before they looked in front again and continued to chat with the excited Princess Darianne. More than an hour passed by. After talking for quite a long time, their chat finally came to an end. Aside from Princess Darianne, Duke Spencer had a lot of business to attend to since he had recovered from his illness. ¡°Then, please enjoy the Banquet of Swords. I¡¯ll look forward to meeting you again.¡± ¡°Thank you very much for everything.¡± ¡°Thank you very much.¡± When Jude and Cordelia courteously thanked them in turn, Duke Spencer concluded the tea party by bowing to Princess Darianne, the person with the highest rank in the group. And ten minutester. Having finally left the main building of the mansion, Cordelia groaned to suppress her desire of stretching out her body. Because Duke Spencer¡¯s staff was still in front of them as the staff guided them back to the annex. [I want to go in quickly and stretch out. And change into morefortable clothes.] Sheined as she let out her frustrations through magic, and Jude burst into a smallugh. [Yeah. If we were in the wildnds, I would have carried you on my back and went back to our tent.] [Eh¡­that¡¯s awkward. Come to think of it, the Banquet of Swords is until tomorrow, right?] [Yes, tomorrow seems to be a time where the prospects are free to have fun or do what they want.] [Haa¡­that¡¯s bothersome. I¡¯ll just hide behind you and watch.] Cordelia wanted to make friends, but because this was the Banquet of Swords where only swordsmen gathered, the wizard Cordelia felt out of ce. [Anyway, we earned a lot today.] [Duke Spencer seems like a nice guy. He¡¯s a big spender. Ufufu~ We¡¯re rich now, we¡¯re rich~] [Exactly¡­ I feel that the scale is different.] Count Bayer¡¯s one-year ie wasn¡¯t that great. It was close to the lowest ones among the 12 northern families. But he was still a count and part of the 12 northern families. To befortable with spending such an amount equal to the yearly ie of Count Bayer, Duke Spencer was indeed one of the wealthiest people in the S?len Kingdom. [And there was also the talk about our titles, right? First of all, a knighthood is guaranteed, huh?] [Yes. After this month, you¡¯ll be Dame Cordelia and I¡¯ll be Sir Jude.] [As for the baron title¡­ Duke Spencer-grandpa said that he is working hard for us to receive it, right?] [Perhaps we¡¯ll get it.] Jude nodded pleasantly before he looked straight ahead. Because they had arrived at the annex. The sun had already began to set, so the area around the annex was very quiet. Most of the prospects staying in the annex were probably in their own rooms or gathered in a drawing room to chat. And because of that, he could feel it. The sudden piercing gaze. [Oh,e on. I want to rest.] Cordelia felt the gaze too andined through magic, and Jude had a bitter smile before he turned his gaze. Under a low tree. A young man with dark blue hair stood there and was smiling. [Do we still have to meet him? Do we still have to get close to him?] [We have to get close to him. Should I meet him alone? Would you like to go in first and take a rest?] [No, let¡¯s go together. I think that we should not be careless around him. He¡¯s a really sly guy.] Having said that, Cordelia ended her magic and straightened her posture, and Jude dismissed the staff before hepletely turned towards the young man standing under the tree and waiting for them. ¡°First Sword-nim.¡± ¡°Oh, I was waiting. Would you like to go on a short walk?¡± The voice of First Sword came into the ears of Jude and Cordelia like magic. ¡®It¡¯s Jeon-eum.¡¯ ¡®Can you do that too?¡¯ ¡®Uh, perhaps it¡¯s possible for me now?¡¯ Jude and Cordelia exchanged short nces before they walked towards First Sword and not prolonged their conversation further. ¡°Did you wait for us on purpose?¡± ¡°Yes, I wanted to talk to you. Can we talk for a moment?¡± At First Sword¡¯s question, Jude and Cordelia simultaneously nodded, and First Sword had a small smile again. ¡°It would have been a dull conversation between guys, so I¡¯m d Lady Cordelia would be with us.¡± ¡°I¡¯m also interested in what First Sword-nim wanted to say.¡± Cordelia firmly answered, and First Sword quietly smiled before he turned around and took a step. ¡°Then I¡¯ll get to the point and talk. It¡¯s not my style to drag out a conversation.¡± First Sword said as he headed towards a bench in the garden which they could see. ¡°Frankly, I was a little surprised today. I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d really make me move six times.¡± When First Sword naturally brought it up, Jude nodded as if he knew that to be the case, but not for Cordelia. Because she realized it again. ¡®Come to think of it, that¡¯s true!¡¯ First Sword had defeated all the prospects within five moves except for Jude. He taught them until the fourth time, and won within the fifth move. In short, he had always intended to end it in the fifth move. ¡®And there was that.¡¯ When he fought against Jude, he even changed his stance into his swordsmanship style. As if he didn¡¯t want Jude to make him move six times. ¡®Don¡¯t tell me he had no intention of picking a winner in the first ce?¡¯ There¡¯s no winner, so I¡¯ll be taking this sword! Did he want to say something like that? As Cordelia looked at First Sword in suspicion, he raised and shook his hands as he said. ¡°I think you¡¯re having a terrible misunderstanding, so to put it directly¡­ I was thinking of ending everything within five moves.¡± So what I had thought was true. Cordelia thought as she frowned, before she spoke to him. ¡°But First Sword-nim, there would have been no winner if you did that.¡± ¡°No, he¡¯s the winner because I decided that he was that good and no one canpare to him. He made me move six times, so yourpanion did a good job. I think he¡¯s the winner.¡± As he said that, he tapped Jude on the shoulder, and it seemed like he had picked Jude as the winner from the very beginning. ¡°I changed to my swordsmanship style against him¡­ Even if it ended within five moves, no one would have disagreed, right?¡± Thest question was directed at Jude, who nodded with an awkward expression before he spoke to Cordelia. ¡°And¡­ First Sword-nim didn¡¯t lose on purpose in the first ce. It would be a problem if he refused to move for a sixth time.¡± ¡°Well¡­ that¡¯s true.¡± It was correct when she heard his words. ¡°But well, I did overdo it. Especially the sixth move.¡± The sixth move done by First Sword. Heavenly Light. It was originally a charging move, but the fact that he only released his aura and not charged towards Jude was because it was the skill of someone called the Sword Saint among the Ten Great Swordmasters. If it had been someone other than Jude, they might have been seriously injured or lost their life. ¡°Did it somehow trouble your mind?¡± ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right. I was indeed troubled. It¡¯s a bit embarrassing.¡± In fact, the sixth move was unnecessary. Since five moves couldn¡¯t defeat Jude, then he was obviously the winner. The reason why First Sword used Heavenly Light was because he himself got fired up, which was no different from the fact that he failed to control himself. ¡°But perhaps¡­ if the same situation happens, I¡¯ll use Heavenly Light again. I¡¯ll charge this time.¡± ¡°¡­ Do you want to kill me?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that. I¡¯m just excited by the appearance of a great prospect.¡± First Sword mischievously smiled before he exhaled and straightened his posture. He then asked Jude again. ¡°I wanted to ask you this earlier¡­ but, uh, are you Landius-nim¡¯s disciple?¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyes widened in surprise at First Sword¡¯s question. ¡°Do you know Landius-nim?¡± ¡°Anyone who walked the path of the sword would know of Landius-nim¡¯s name, right?¡± When First Sword replied with a question, Cordelia nodded without realizing it. It would indeed be strange if a swordsman didn¡¯t know Landius, especially someone like him who was one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. But there was a significant gap between knowing Landius and presuming that Jude was Landius¡¯ disciple. That was why Cordelia was surprised. ¡®First of all, Jude is not as muscr as Landius!¡¯ Of course, it didn¡¯t mean that Jude didn¡¯t have any muscles in his body. Jude¡¯s body was simr to those of Greek statues. But Jude¡¯s muscles and Landius¡¯ muscles were different. They were very much different. ¡®Jude¡¯s body is cool, splendid and¡­ beautiful? B-but Landius¡¯ body is scary.¡¯ It was her really honest impression. Landius¡¯ body was really scary. He was 2.3 meters tall, and his forearm was thicker than Cordelia¡¯s own waist. He was almost ten times bigger than her, though it was a bit exaggerated, so it wouldn¡¯t be strange if she was scared of him. ¡°I can tell what you¡¯re thinking by looking at your face¡­ but I didn¡¯t think of that by looking at his muscles. It was a hunch since I saw him not using a sword but iming to be a swordsman.¡± A swordless swordsman. But someone was the strongest in the world. ¡°Anyway, it seems like I¡¯m correct that you¡¯re Landius-nim¡¯s disciple.¡± ¡°Yes, I am Master Landius¡¯ disciple.¡± It was pointless to hide it since he had already figured it out. Moreover, from the point of view of Jude who wanted to make First Sword their ally, the more things he had that would attract First Sword¡¯s interest, the better. ¡°That¡¯s a relief. So it was Iron Man Landius¡¯ disciple that made me move six times. If it¡¯s like that, then it¡¯s less embarrassing for me.¡± First Sword reverted to his mischievous face and put his hands in his pockets as he said. ¡°I originally wasn¡¯t supposed to attend this Banquet of Swords. Until Cornwell told me to see you at least once. I was nning to go back to the Sword School after just seeing you.¡± At First Sword¡¯s words, Cordelia swallowed hard. First Sword didn¡¯t appear at the founding anniversary celebration in the game. ¡°But I¡¯ve changed my mind. Perhaps I¡¯ll attend the founding celebration this time.¡± ¡°That¡­ is it because of me?¡± ¡°Well¡­ it¡¯s because of this and that? I want to see how you¡¯ll fight in the tournament, and I want to see your girl¡¯s skills too. After all, she¡¯s the daughter of Count Chase, the Red Storm, and the younger sister of Adelia Chase, the youngestmander.¡± Cordelia unconsciously puffed out her chest at First Sword¡¯s words. Because she was proud of hearing about her father and older sister. ¡°Of course, I¡¯m looking forward to the ball the most.¡± First Sword winked at Cordelia, and her lips squirmed. But Jude had a very proud face. ¡°Please look forward to it. You¡¯ll see the most beautiful woman in the world.¡± ¡®Hey! Cordelia wanted to kick Jude¡¯s shin at that moment ¨C no, she did try to kick it, but Jude quickly dodged it before he said to First Sword while looking at him. ¡°You muste. Please.¡± ¡°Haha, okay. I¡¯ll look forward to it. Not just Lady Cordelia but you too.¡± First Sword winked again before he turned around as if he had nothing more to say. He then waved his hand to say goodbye and began heading towards the main building. ¡°What the- is he going to leave just like that?¡± ¡°Because he¡¯s said everything that he wanted to say.¡± He apologized for what happened today, and said that he would attend the founding anniversary ball. ¡°I don¡¯t like him even though he said that.¡± ¡°Well, it still worked out for us, right? We¡¯ve achieved what we wanted despite not putting in much effort.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± First Sword would participate in the founding anniversary ball. ¡°The Lord Protector should feel nervous now.¡± ¡°Just the presence of First Sword himself would put him under pressure, right?¡± ¡°Yes, and even if the First Sword belonged to the aristocrats¡­ it¡¯s not in his nature to ignore the royal family dying in front of his eyes. He¡¯ll probably fight against the Lord Protector.¡± ¡°Hohoho, does that mean we got rid of our biggest headache?¡± ¡°We still need some fine adjustments to it.¡± But it was true that they were relieved of a heavy burden. They had been looking for a way to get First Sword to attend the founding ball, so their problem had been solved now. ¡°Haa¡­I¡¯m tired. Let¡¯s go in and rest.¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go back and get some rest today. We have to do a lot of preparations starting tomorrow.¡± ¡°Preparations? For what? For Princess Daphne¡¯s tea party?¡± ¡°Because there are only three days left. In addition, it¡¯s a tea party where all the popr youngdies in the royal capital will be gathered. So we have to be prepared.¡± In a way, it was a prelude to the founding anniversary ball. ¡°Hehehe¡­ I¡¯ll show them. The angel-like beauty of my Cordelia¡­¡± Cordelia unconsciously flinched when she saw Jude¡¯s sly smile, and she pulled on his sleeve. ¡°Hey, do you know that you like a pervert now?¡± ¡°But we need to promote our shampoo and conditioner. Yes, that¡¯s right. From today on, I¡¯ll be supervising it properly. With Cordelia¡¯s beautiful face, I¡¯ll make them forget about Princess Daphne.¡± As Jude clenched his fist, Cordelia narrowed her brows and said. ¡°Princess Daphne is a woman too, okay?¡± ¡°Is there a problem with that?¡± When Jude tilted his head, Cordelia shook her head and sighed. ¡°Anyway, you keep thinking about dressing me up, but I¡¯ll dress you up too, okay? I¡¯m going to be a Prince Maker, okay?¡± ¡°Sure. Let¡¯s improve ourselves by learning from each other.¡± Jude smiled and extended his hand to Cordelia, and she automatically held his hand. ¡°Then, let me escort you back to your room, my beautifuldy.¡± Cordelia smiled when Jude politely spoke to escort her, and she shrugged her shoulders before heading back to their rooms. And that night. Under the night sky where the moon and stars very brightly shone. Something that Cordelia didn¡¯t expect to happen then happened. Chapter 168 - EPISODE 168 – ENTERING THE PALACE (3)

Chapter 168 - EPISODE 168 ¨C ENTERING THE PALACE (3)

¡°Nnngh¡­ Jude¡­¡± Cordelia quietly mumbled before she exhaled and turned her body to the side. Is it 9 o¡¯clock? Cordelia had gone to bed earlier than usual because of her exhaustion, but at some point, she suddenly woke up. Because she could feel something moving. ¡®Jude?¡¯ She could hear footsteps, though it was very light. She couldn¡¯t check right away because her back was turned to the door, but she could feel someone approaching from behind. Someone was stealthily approaching. Someone was rustling something. ¡®Rustling?¡¯ She heard the sound of someone touching the bed, and not just approaching it. ¡®What¡¯s going on?¡¯ Jude, is that you? And what¡¯s going on? Why are you sneaking into my room in the middle of the night? Why are you approaching the bed while I¡¯m sleeping? ¡®And.¡¯ Why am I staying still? Why am I pretending to sleep with my eyes closed instead of waking up and asking him on what happened? In the short time she was troubled, her heartbeat increased, and the rustling sounds continued, indicating that someone was drawing near. Light footsteps. The sound of someone taking off their foot from the floor. The sound of someone gently climbing on the bed. Who could it be? Who is it? Is it Jude? Is it really Jude? But why? She could get up and ask, but Cordelia continued to pretend to be sleeping without realizing it, and someone finally reached out to her. She felt them gently putting their hand on her shoulder, and then going up. From her red hair to her covered nape and then to her ear. From there, it went down along her jaw line and stopped on her soft cheek. She felt a gentle touch as if someone was caressing her. Cordelia¡¯s body somehow gradually hunched, and she swallowed her saliva. At that moment, she felt the long and thin fingers touching her cheek suddenly do something. It pinched Cordelia¡¯s soft cheek and pulled it straight. With a very familiar hand gesture. ¡°Ah?¡± Familiar? In that instant, Cordelia opened her eyes and grabbed the hand pulling her cheeks as she raised her body at the same time. ¡°Scarlet?¡± ¡°Ah, you were awake?¡± Scarlet shamelessly smiled while dressed in a maid uniform, and Cordelia¡¯s brows furrowed. She was fine with the shameless expression itself, but she did not expect to see Scarlet¡¯s face. ¡®No, what am I saying?¡¯ Cordelia shook her head to rid herself of her useless thoughts, and she pulled Scarlet¡¯s arm and asked. ¡°Hey, what exactly are you doing in my bedroom in the middle of the night?¡± ¡°What am I doing? I was pinching my princess¡¯ cheek.¡± ¡°My princess?¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyes grew fierce, and Scarlet said with an awkward smile. ¡°Ah, is that a pet name only Jude could use?¡± ¡°Do you want to retire today?¡± When Cordelia brightly smiled and gathered mana in her empty left hand, an eerie blue light rose, but Scarlet quickly grabbed her hand and said. ¡°Okay, okay. I¡¯ll stop ying around. Let¡¯s have a serious conversation. ck Cloak! Come in!¡± ¡°Jude?¡± Cordelia blinked her eyes and turned to the door. And it didn¡¯t take long before the door burst open. ¡°Scarlet, didn¡¯t I ask you to wake her up quietly?¡± ¡°I did wake her up quietly. Very gently.¡± Scarlet shrugged and gave her a wink, but Cordelia red at her again as she sat up straight. ¡°What¡¯s going on? Why are you here in the middle of the night?¡± Scarlet quietly smiled at Cordelia¡¯s slightly irritated voice, and she sat down next to Cordelia and spoke. ¡°It¡¯s only 9 o¡¯clock. Isn¡¯t it too early to say it¡¯s the middle of the night? Of course, it¡¯s the time when good kids go to sleep.¡± ¡°Are you picking a fight?¡± Cordelia fiercely red at her again, and Scarlet shut her mouth while Jude deeply sighed before he approached the bed. ¡°Scarlet, don¡¯t say anything else and just get to the point. Cordelia was woken up from her sleep, so her mood is bad now.¡± Jude persuaded her as he handed to Cordelia the teacup he was holding. It was warm honey water that she usually enjoyed drinking. ¡°Oh, thank you.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mention it.¡± Jude replied with a smile before he sat next to Cordelia and nced at Scarlet again. He gestured with his eyes for her to talk quickly. ¡°Tsk, this couple rubbing salt into my wounds. Will something bad happen if you stop making me feel salty?¡± ¡°Hey, I can hear everything, okay? Oh, this is delicious. As expected of my Jude.¡± ¡°I¡¯m d Madam likes it.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, my Jude is awesome.¡± When Jude responded as if he was in a drama, Cordelia gently smiled, and Scarlet frowned again at the appearance of the two. He told her to stop annoying Cordelia, but they rubbed salt into her wounds again. He told her to get to the main point but continued to act shameless. ¡°Hey, Pink Bomb.¡± ¡°What is it, b*tch?¡± Scarlet was momentarily stunned at Cordelia swearing naturally, but she soon nodded her head. Because Scarlet knew that Pink Bomb was foulmouthed in the first ce. ¡°Hmm, you¡¯re a natural.¡± ¡°Stop ying around and get to the point. You do know that waking up someone who¡¯s sleeping well isn¡¯t nice, right?¡± ¡°Alright. I¡¯ve already told ck Cloak about this, but I¡¯m here for work.¡± ¡°Work? Are you stealing something?¡± ¡°No, not stealing. Do you think the job of a Rogue Master is to only steal?¡± ¡°Hmm, you do have a point. Because a rogue does a lot of stealing, assault, terrorism, and so on.¡± Cordelia nodded as if she understood Scarlet, who frowned when she saw Cordelia¡¯s actions. She was right, but that only made Scarlet feel bad. ¡°Hmph, you do know what you¡¯ve done to my cheek is assault, right?¡± ¡°I do know it¡¯s assault. Anyway, I want us to work together. Actually, yesterday¡¯s visit was part of my investigation.¡± When Scarlet said that while avoiding Cordelia¡¯s eyes, Cordelia tilted her head and looked at Jude, asking him with her eyes. ¡®What¡¯s wrong with her?¡¯ Why is she avoiding my eyes when she¡¯s asking us to work with her? Her face is also red. At Cordelia¡¯s gaze that reflected her confusion, Jude bitterly smiled and replied with his eyes. ¡®Ourpetition hasn¡¯t been settled yet. So she must have felt awkward asking us to work with her. She must be embarrassed.¡¯ Cordelia let out an ¡®Ah¡¯ after Jude exined it to her, and she teasingly smiled as she looked back at Scarlet. Because Scarlet whom she had found annoying until now, had looked very cute. ¡°Oh my, you¡¯re so cute.¡± Scarlet was surprised when Cordelia pinched her cheeks, but she didn¡¯t try to resist because she had also done the same thing to Cordelia, and that she was asking them for a favor now. ¡®Ah, so this is how it feels.¡¯ It was a situation where a provocative-looking beauty was blushing while her cheeks were gently being pinched. Besides, her cheeks felt squishy, so Cordelia was feeling very happy at its texture. Cordelia¡¯s face loosened as she continued to y with Scarlet¡¯s cheeks, and Jude sighed since their conversation stopped, so he opened his mouth instead. ¡°Cordelia, Scarlet¡¯s suggestion is for us to explore a dungeon. Or to be exact, she wants us to go with her to the stone tablet-type dungeon book lying underground the Red Rose Castle.¡± ¡°Dungeon Book?¡± Cordelia removed her hands from Scarlet¡¯s cheeks and asked again with her eyes. ¡®Are you talking about the Pce of Mirrors?¡¯ ¡®Yes, that¡¯s right.¡¯ ¡®I see, so that was the reason.¡¯ The Pce of Mirrors was a dungeon book that could not be entered alone. It was an instant dungeon which required a certain number of people before they could enter. ¡®It¡¯s the reason why Jude and I didn¡¯t n on entering it.¡¯ By the time one entered the Pce of Mirrors in the game, Duke Spencer and the S?len Kingdom were already gone, and the Red Rose Castle was in ruins, but that was not the situation now. Not only was the castle intact, but the number of people residing in it was considerable, so it was hard to sneak in and bring other people. ¡®No, it¡¯s possible if it¡¯s only infiltration, but it is hard to find someone reliable whom we can bring.¡¯ She could ask Ga?l or Adelia to go together with them, but they would definitely scold the two as soon as Jude and Cordelia told them about it. ¡®It¡¯s impossible to ask the prospects whom we just got to know today.¡¯ If it were a dungeon in a quiet forest somewhere, it would have been possible to persuade them, but the situation was different if it was inside Duke Spencer¡¯s mansion. They would clearly show reluctance the moment they were asked to go. ¡®The Pce of Mirrors is a 4-yer dungeon, right?¡¯ ¡®Yes, that¡¯s why neither you nor I were thinking of entering it.¡¯ But little did they know that Scarlet had appeared and suggested it herself. If you add Cordelia, Jude, and Scarlet, then they numbered three, so they needed one more person in order to enter the Pce of Mirrors. Just one more person. Thest person. ¡®You¡¯re thinking of the same person as me, right?¡¯ ¡®Yes, you¡¯re right.¡¯ A person they could trust, not only because of his skills, but also because of his personality. In addition to that, a boy whom they could give a chance to improve his skills at least once. ¡®I think it¡¯ll be easy to lure him.¡¯ Jude did not deny Cordelia¡¯s words, and the two soon began to smile wickedly. *** ¡°Lucas, this is Scarlet. Scarlet, this is Lucas.¡± Inside the room of Jude and Cordelia. Lucas had been called out in the middle of the night, but he was still nice and well-mannered. As soon as Cordelia¡¯s introduction was over, he politely greeted Scarlet. ¡°I am Lucas Hr?svelgr.¡± ¡°I¡¯m¡­ Scarlet.¡± Scarlet had initially tried to answer casually, but she politely spoke in the end. Because Lucas¡¯ eyes were too serious to just ignore. ¡®I knew it! I knew he¡¯d be weak against this!¡¯ Just as Lucas liked stories about heroes, Scarlet also liked those stories especially those of the Rogue Master¡¯s stories. Cordelia screamed happily in her mind, and she quickly looked back at Jude. ¡®Jude, Jude. Don¡¯t you think that they look good together?¡¯ Her eyes sparkling with anticipation made her look very cute, but Jude just smiled at her excitement. ¡®Hey, you said that you wanted him to end up with Red Wind back then.¡¯ ¡®But Red Wind is in the wildnds. She seemed to be getting along with Sun Song.¡¯ So let¡¯s pair Lucas with Scarlet. They¡¯re enthusiasts of hero stories, so they¡¯ll get along well. Isn¡¯t that a match made in heaven? ¡®A young master from a noble family and a provocative-looking beautiful thief. Plus, the woman is older. Hmm, hmm¡­it looks good, it looks good.¡¯ As Cordelia continued to be immersed in her imagination, Jude briefly put aside the conversation with their eyes and exined the rough situation to the two, or rather, to Lucas. ¡°Oh, I see¡­ So there¡¯s a dungeon book hidden in the basement of this Red Rose Castle?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡± ¡°Miss Scarlet is Mr. Jude and Lady Cordelia¡¯s adventurepanion.¡± ¡°Yes, we had an adventure together just before we came to the royal capital.¡± Cordelia seriously nodded when Jude replied with a smile, and Scarlet affirmed it though her expression was strange. ¡°To sum it up, you need four people to enter the dungeon book, so you came to me, is that right? In order to enter the dungeon book together.¡± ¡°Yes, to go on an adventure together.¡± Lucas flinched for a moment when Jude emphasized a certain word, and Cordelia¡¯s wild instincts did not let her miss that moment. ¡°Lucas, don¡¯t you think it¡¯s going to be fun? We¡¯ll be essing the hidden secret of the Red Rose Castle. There¡¯s also an enigmatic and mysterious beauty with us.¡± ¡°Who? Me?¡± Scarlet questioned if Cordelia was referring to her, but Cordelia continued to speak. ¡°It¡¯s a dungeon book, so Duke Spencer¡¯s ce will not be damaged. We don¡¯t have to worry about dying either. We can literally enjoy an adventure. A great adventure.¡± Cordelia continued to emphasize the word ¡®adventure,¡¯ and Lucas flinched each time she said it. Because he had focused so much on sword training that he had forgotten his longing for adventure for a while, so his longing had been revived now. ¡°Lord Lucas, will you join us? This is my suggestion to Lord Lucas, my good rival. I can¡¯t just monopolize the opportunity to grow further.¡± In fact, it was because of the four-people restriction, so they needed one more person, but there was no need for them to reveal such a thing. The important thing was to lure Lucas. ¡°Mr. Jude¡­¡± ¡°Lord Lucas, let¡¯s grow together.¡± As if to respond to Lucas¡¯ unsure look, Jude tightly held Lucas¡¯ hand as he emphasized it again, and its effect was amazing. Lucas was overwhelmed by his emotions and he nodded his head. ¡®Wow, as expected of my Jude, a really good scammer.¡¯ It would be really terrible if he was someone else¡¯s scammer. Cordelia breathed a sigh of relief while Scarlet who was watching from the side, squirmed as if she was going to die from cringe. And a few secondster. Lucas finally made up his mind and clenched his fist as he said. ¡°I¡¯ll try to help you even if my skills arecking. Let¡¯s grow together and be better!¡± ¡°Wow.¡± Jude and Cordelia apuded as if they had waited for his reaction, and Scarlet was also forced to apud after Cordelia stepped on her foot. ¡°Now then, let me tell you the details before we leave.¡± The exact location of the dungeon book and the enemy they would encounter inside. Scarlet was amazed by Jude¡¯s knowledge, and she continued to nce at Cordelia to ask how he knew about it. But Cordelia was only humming and didn¡¯t give her a proper answer. As for Lucas, he was busy listening to Jude with a serious face. ¡°It won¡¯t be easy. But the joy of achieving that much will be great.¡± Jude told everyone before he stood up from his seat, and Lucas quickly followed him with sparkling eyes. ¡°As you said, I think it¡¯s a necessary challenge for me now. Mr. Jude. Thank you very much.¡± ¡°Because it¡¯s for my rival.¡± ¡°Mr. Jude¡­¡± ¡°Lord Lucas.¡± As Jude and Lucas shared a heated look, Scarlet¡¯s eyes grew cold, while Cordelia giggled and pulled Jude¡¯s sleeve. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go.¡± Cordelia was also very interested in the special enemy she would face in the Pce of Mirrors. ¡°Yes, my princess. Everyone, this way please.¡± Jude opened the window very naturally, and Cordelia who was dressed in the usual pants she wore while they were on a trip, quickly passed through the window and went outside. ¡°Please go first.¡± ¡°Uh¡­okay.¡± And followed by the serious Lucas and the awkward Scarlet. The four young men and women cautiously and secretly walked as if they were running away at night. Chapter 169 - EPISODE 169 – ENTERING THE PALACE (4)

Chapter 169 - EPISODE 169 ¨C ENTERING THE PALACE (4)

Scarlet Viper. She was the great-granddaughter of Elijah Viper, the 5th?andst Rogue Master at that time. As she was on her way to bing the 6th?Rogue Master after several decades, she stumbled upon something that made her seriously question someone. ¡®What? Who is he? What is he doing?¡¯ Jude Bayer. He was the second son of Count Bayer and known to be madly in love with Cordelia Chase, the daughter of Count Chase. Together, they were known by the entire S?len Kingdom as the couple of the century. ¡®And ck Cloak.¡¯ He was the sidekick as well as the assistant to Pink Bomb, the 6th?generation Rogue Master who was actually Cordelia Chase. He was 17 years old. His birthday wasn¡¯t that far, so he would be eighteen soon. He was 180 centimeters tall and weighed about 70 kilograms. He had ck hair and green eyes. He had a seriously good-looking face. To put it simply, he was a handsome young man. From what she had seen so far, he had a very calctive personality. A ck-hearted man who was really cunning and sly. He liked Pink Bomb. His weak points were his destructive naming sense and Pink Bomb. But it was difficult to regard it as a main weakness because she did not know how he¡¯d react if someone touched Pink Bomb. His strength was very powerful for someone his age. She estimated it to be around a minimum B- to a maximum of B+. He imed to be a swordsman, but in reality, he fought with his fists in actualbat. His family was also very strong. He mainly used martial arts that utilized his Qi/energy instead of the ¡®Chivalry¡¯ used by knights and swordsmen. Scarlet momentarily recalled the information she had gathered about Jude, and she even questioned it more. Because she couldn¡¯t understand him. ¡®Is he a hidden child of Duke Spencer?¡¯ Like an illegitimate child. Or a child who was born from his close rtives and had to be hidden. If Count Bayer had heard of her thoughts, he would have drawn his sword in rage, but the reason she began questioning it was simple. Because the amount of information Jude had was too much. ¡°Wait here for a second. One, two, three. Okay, let¡¯s go quickly while the guard turns to the corner.¡± First of all, his understanding of the guards¡¯ movement was perfect. Of course, there was nothing particrly strange about it because the movement of the outside guards was basic information that small-scale thieves figure out first before entering. But the problem was after that. ¡°If you lightly press the wall here¡­¡± ¡°Oooh, it¡¯s a secret passage.¡± ¡°It leads to the inside. Let¡¯s hurry.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Pink Bomb broadly smiled and listened to Jude as if this was something natural, but Scarlet felt differently. Because she couldn¡¯t understand. ¡®Why do you know this?¡¯ No, how do you know? It wasmon for the secret passages of a mansion to be only known by the owner and their sessors. Those were emergency routes used in certain situations. But Jude knew of all the secret passages in Duke Spencer¡¯s Red Rose Castle as if it was his own house. How the hell does he know? That was information that even someone like the Rogue Master wouldn¡¯t be able to find. ¡®Come to think of it, it seems that Pink Bomb already knew about the Pce of Mirrors¡­¡¯ Could it be that the two had done a preliminary investigation before? ¡®That makes sense, but¡­¡¯ But it was very strange that he knew all the secret passages. ¡®It was the same with the previous case¡­ is his intelligence source that great?¡¯ But it seems like he had met the Blue Moon for the first time back then. It also seems like he has no connections with the intelligence groups in the royal capital. ¡®Is it possible that he has his own intelligencework?¡¯ That¡¯s possible. He is the child of someone from the 12 northern families. ¡®No, that would be a bit¡­¡¯ That would have been the situation if they were in the north. Moreover, the families of Jude and Cordelia were not particrly famous for their intelligence or wealth, though their individual strength was strong. ¡®What is it then? What in the world is it?¡¯ The secret of ck Cloak. His source of information. Scarlet thought hard before she suddenly looked next to her. Because she instantly became interested in Lucas Hr?svelgr, the fourth person in their group. ¡®What¡¯s his reaction?¡¯ Anyone could tell that it was strange for Jude to know all the secret passages and also the movement of Duke Spencer¡¯s guards. So what does Lucas think of the current situation? ¡®But if he epts it as if it was natural¡­¡¯ Maybe Lucas knows something too? Something that I myself do not know. Right after Scarlet changed her target and began to nce at Lucas, Cordelia snickered when she saw it. ¡®Jude, Jude. Look at that. Scarlet must be interested in Lucas. Hehe, our Lucas is kind and handsome. He¡¯s also pure.¡¯ When Cordelia said with her eyes a lot of good things about Lucas, Jude somehow narrowed his eyes before he sent her a nce with a very short message. ¡®Handsome?¡¯ ¡®He¡¯s handsome. Our Lucas is clearly handsome¡­ ah, my Jude, are you feeling upset now? Just because I said that Lucas is handsome?¡¯ Jude didn¡¯t give an answer, so Cordeliaughed again and sent him a look. ¡®No, well¡­ my Jude is more handsome. But rather than being pure, your insides are more of pure ck in color¡­ Wait, if it¡¯s pure ck, does that mean you¡¯re pure too?¡¯ ¡®Ahem¡­¡¯ But Jude looked satisfied, perhaps because he heard from her that he was more handsome, and Cordelia shook her head at him, finding it to be absurd. ¡®Sometimes, you¡¯re really childish.¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t want to hear that from Pink Bomb.¡¯ ¡®Hey, you¡¯re the one who gave me that name, right?¡¯ While Jude and Cordelia exchanged nces and were having an almost telepathic conversation, Lucas and Scarlet also nced at each other, and their eyes met. Scarlet¡¯s red eyes and Lucas¡¯ blue eyes. Scarlet flinched while Lucas slightly blushed and averted his gaze, acting like a pure boy just as Cordelia had said. And him acting like that was certainly quite effective. ¡®Cute.¡¯ Scarlet unknowingly smiled and looked at Lucas again, while Lucas opened his mouth at that moment as if he was trying to shake off his embarrassment. ¡°Umm¡­ Mr. Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Lord Lucas.¡± Jude answered in a low voice, and Lucas asked again in a hushed voice. ¡°Your information about the Red Rose Castle¡­ did you hear it from your master too?¡± Master. At Lucas¡¯ question, Scarlet perked up her ears while Jude nodded his head. ¡°Yes, I heard it from Master.¡± ¡°Ah, I see¡­¡± Landius had also be famous for exploring ruins around the world after the fall of the Paragon Kingdom. The Red Rose Castle was originally a renovation and expansion of an ancient ruin, so Landius could have known about its secret passages ¨C that was what Lucas thought, and his answer was true to some extent. But Scarlet was thinking something different again. ¡®What? Who? Who is ck Cloak¡¯s master? Who¡¯s that person?¡¯ Unfortunately, not many people knew that Jude was Landius¡¯ disciple. Because neither Count Bayer nor Count Chase talked about it. ¡®If you think about it, it should be Count Bayer, right?¡¯ Because Count Bayer was a swordsman, and not just any other swordsman. So it was strange that someone who was one of the Ten Great Swordmasters would hire a separate master for Jude. ¡®But¡­ that¡¯s also possible.¡¯ Jude¡¯s specialty was fist fighting and not swordsmanship. If he was a student of Count Bayer, the Sword General, he would be a swordsman, so it was possible that someone else was his master. ¡®Somehow, I have an idea on who it is.¡¯ It was quite unbelievable that a child from the 12 northern families would im to be the Rogue Master. But if it was someone¡¯s dying wish¡­ If Jude¡¯s master was someone who might be after the Rogue Master ¨C for example, a descendant of the Thief Master¡­ ¡®That exins everything.¡¯ It would exin everything from the fact that Jude used his fists instead of a sword, that Jude had Cordelia im to be the Rogue Master, and that he had his own powerful intelligencework. ¡®Who is it?¡¯ Jude and Cordelia¡¯s master. The one who made the two walk the path of the Rogue Master! She couldn¡¯t ask that from Jude and Cordelia. Because Jude wasn¡¯t someone she could induce into answering, while Cordelia was always next to Jude. Then, Lucas could be her only source of information. ¡®Lucas Hr?svelgr.¡¯ Scarlet slightly licked her lips and stared at Lucas with eyes full of desire (to know), but Cordelia saw it and looked back at Jude while trying to suppress her want to shout. ¡®Jude, Jude. Look at Scarlet¡¯s face. I think she has already fallen for Lucas. Maybe she¡¯s worried about their difference in status.¡¯ ¡®Eh, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s it. ¡®Why? It¡¯s possible, right?¡¯ ¡®No, it¡¯s not. Anyway, since we¡¯re here, please light up the ce.¡¯ Jude signaled to her, and she lit up the surroundings by creating arge magic light. ¡°Ugh.¡± Scarlet groaned and frowned at the sudden bright light, while Lucas looked around with squinted eyes. They were in a small stone chamber around 5 meters in diameter. The ceiling was quite high at around 3 meters tall, and at the center of the stone chamber was a stone pir around 1 meter high with four round amber stones each in the direction of the east, west, north, and south. ¡°That pir is the Pce of Mirrors.¡± Lucas blinked his eyes when Jude pointed and spoke like a guide. ¡°It¡¯s a dungeon book but not in the form of a book?¡± ¡°Everyone makes it into a book these days, but in ancient times, dungeon books¡­no, I mean, instant dungeons¡­ those were often in the form of a stone pir like this or a stone statue.¡± ¡°I see¡­ Come to think of it, I¡¯ve seen a simr story in a hero¡¯s biography that I have read before.¡± Lucas was speaking calmly, but his feelings could be seen in his face. He wanted to run at that moment and touch the stone pir. As for Cordelia, her hand was already touching the amber stone. Jude just smiled before he exined it to Lucas and Scarlet. ¡°To enter the Pce of Mirrors, four people must simultaneously instill their mana or energy into the amber stones. Cordelia is already touching the south, so I¡¯ll take the north. The two of you, please take the east and west respectively.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± Lucas immediately replied and walked to the east as if he was almost leaping, while Scarlet headed to the west with fairly quick steps. ¡®Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s go.¡¯ Despite Cordelia¡¯s urging, Jude walked in a rxed manner before he opened his mouth again as he touched the amber stone in the north. ¡°When I count to three, please instill your energy into the amber stone.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Unlike Cordelia and Lucas who immediately replied, Scarlet didn¡¯t say anything, but Jude never expected her to answer anyway. As he felt his heart begin to pound, Jude slowly counted the numbers. ¡°One, two-¡± ¡°Three!¡± When Cordelia shouted instead of Jude and instilled her mana, Lucas and Scarlet spontaneously instilled their energy to the amber stones too. Jude did the same, having known that Cordelia would behave like that. And right after that. At the moment when the amber stones reacted to the energy of the four people and glowed red. ¡°Good luck.¡± Everyone¡¯s vision turned white after they heard Jude¡¯s low voice. *** ¡°Haa.¡± Jude deeply breathed as he slowly opened his eyes and looked around. Stone walls and a stone floor. He was inside arge stone chamber like the one in the game. ¡®But it¡¯s a bit different now that I see it in person.¡¯ It felt much bigger than when he saw it in the game. Jude raised his head and looked at the ceiling. Technically speaking, the stone chamber had no ceiling. The walls headed to the beyond without any signs of ending, and a faint light simr to moonlight had lit up the ce, with nothing else obstructing the view. ¡®Its size should be¡­ around 30 meters in both height and width.¡¯ It was such arge space that it was already hard to call it a stone chamber. Cordelia, Lucas, and Scarlet were nowhere to be seen, but Jude did not even think of finding the three. To begin with, the mystery of the Pce of Mirrors was that it only needed four people to enter, but it was actually a one-yer dungeon. ¡®The difficulty also widely varies for everyone who enter.¡¯ Therefore, there were many different rewards, and since the Pce of Mirrors was a dungeon book developed for training in the first ce, intangible rewards such as increasing stats or developing one¡¯s abilities were more important than material rewards. ¡®Lucas¡­ I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll do well.¡¯ Scarlet would also do well on her own because she was one of the future four great swordsmen. Rather, it was Jude himself and Cordelia who might have a problem. ¡®There¡¯s a reason why it¡¯s called the Pce of Mirrors.¡¯ There was no pool of water in the stone chamber where you could see your face, nor was there a mirror. There was only a small door in front of them. But this was the Pce of Mirrors, and there was a reason why this ce was called that. ¡®A fight with yourself.¡¯ The small door in front opened, and as he had expected, a man who looked exactly like Jude then entered the stone chamber. ¡°Hmm, he¡¯s handsome-looking too.¡± Jude said that, and the ¡®mirror man¡¯ raised his hands with a sly smile. And with that movement, mana filled both his hands, and Jude had a bitter smile when he saw that. ¡®Is it another me?¡¯ The self they faced in the Pce of Mirrors was not exactly the same as their original selves. The image reflected in a mirror naturally reversed the positions of the left and right. ¡®In this case, it¡¯s the person you would have been if you had walked a different path.¡¯ Usually, only the weapons or skills used would change, but it seemed to be thepletely different this time. ¡° in the right hand, and in the left hand.¡± The mirror man said, and the wind and mes rose at the same time. A violent wind blew through the wide wall of fire as itbined and filled the stone chamber with fierce mes. It was extremely difficult to invoke two different magic spells at the same time, but that was only for ordinary people. Jude Bayer. A genius in calction. ¡°F*ck.¡± Jude spoke like Cordelia before he kicked the ground. He then rushed towards the mirror man, who was a wizard. *** Cordelia raised her head. She then swallowed hard as she stared at the mirror woman before her. She had no choice but to do that. Cordelia Chase. A woman born with wild instincts like that of a beast. A woman with geniusbat senses. The mirror woman held a long sword instead of a wand, and she brightly smiled as she spread out her angel wings of light. Hernguid smile and gestures were as graceful and deadly as that of big cats and ferocious beasts. ¡°As expected of Cordelia. She¡¯s very pretty.¡± Cordelia muttered to relieve her tension as much as possible, and she soon smiled as her canines glistened. As if responding to the mirror woman¡¯s angel form, she transformed into a witch and held a detonating cord in her hand. ¡°Come.¡± Cordelia said, and the mirror woman responded. She flew up with her angel wings of light. Chapter 170 - THE ROAD NOT TAKEN (1)

Chapter 170 - THE ROAD NOT TAKEN (1)

Correction:?I found out that the line, ¡°a thunderbolt that was faster than the wind,¡± from episode 165 was actually an attack name. This was the first step of Thunderbolt Twelve Steps that Jude used in his fight against First Sword. So I¡¯m naming the attack as?Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt?from now on. *** Jude had his moment in his fight with First Sword, so it¡¯s Cordelia¡¯s turn to shine now! In the game, the Pce of Mirrors was a fairly popr dungeon. Because the battle against oneself, who took a different path, gave yers some room for thought. Did I choose the right job? Should I have chosen another skill tree? Perhaps another job is better than this job? Whoooosh! mes were added to the violent wind. An intense heat filled the stone chamber, and the vortex of fire headed towards Jude. It was strong and fast. Moreover, the surrounding air was burned at a terrifying speed. Therefore, Jude understood what the other was nning. The goal of the mirror man ¨C the wizard Jude, was not to burn Jude directly with the ming wind. It was to actually induce suffocation by filling the surrounding area with a huge swirl of fire while making it look like he was only nning to burn the real Jude. ¡®He¡¯s cunning.¡¯ Or rather, should I say that he¡¯s vicious? Jude praised the familiar tactic he had seen before, and immediately used his golden whirlwind. He pushed away the ming wind with his golden wind and rushed over the wall of mes, towards the wizard Jude. Whooooooosh! The wall of mes split. The wizard Jude was reflected in the eyes of Jude who kicked the ground at that moment. He narrowed his distance to wizard Jude and sent a punch at the same time. ck Dragon Cross Strike! Roooar! The energy of the ck Dragon roared as it soared. And what happened afterwards was something he expected. Just before the ck Dragon Cross Strike hit the wizard Jude, the air seemed to fluctuate, and the wizard Jude disappeared. ¡®Blink!¡¯ A short-distance space leap magic. He had quickly responded since had predicted it. As soon as he turned around and spread out his senses, he found the location of wizard Jude. ¡®As expected, it¡¯s the back!¡¯ users liked to leap behind their opponent¡¯s back. Because they could gain advantage if they headed for the back at once. Furthermore, while the ce was quite spacious, the space was still limited. The wizard Jude had to move to the other side in order to widen his distance from the real Jude. ¡°Bingo!¡± The wizard Jude shouted, and powerful curses was cast over Jude¡¯s entire body in an instant. . . . . Four simultaneous magic spells that were simple yet powerful. So how did he do it? Even if it was the real Jude himself, it would be impossible to simultaneously cast four magic spells at a fast speed. The answer was actually simple. The real Jude had seen what the wizard Jude had done at the moment he turned around and was beset with curse magic. ¡®Scrolls!¡¯ Just because he was a wizard didn¡¯t mean he no longer used scrolls. Rather, he was able to make even more advanced-rank scrolls because he had be a wizard. ¡°¡± In the instant Jude¡¯s knees weakened because of the curses, the wizard Jude loudly cried out before an immense amount of water poured over Jude¡¯s head. Shaaaaaaa! The high-speed chanting continued! ¡°¡± An invisible force crushed Jude. It made Judepletely kneel on the floor that waspletely wet because of the water that fell. And as Jude had expected. If wizard Jude had used after casting . Then it was obvious on what wizard Jude would do next. ¡°.¡± The wizard Jude soared from the floor after using magic that made him float. He then tore a magic scroll again. He invoked the punishment from the heavens. A thunderous white lightning! ¡°.¡± The wizard Jude¡¯s words quickly became reality. A white lightning struck the ground and spread throughout the water that covered the stone chamber¡¯s floor. *** p! The mirror woman flew up, but Cordelia ran forward instead of stopping. Because she instinctively had a hunch on what the mirror woman ¨C the warrior Cordelia, was nning to do. Boom! Boom! Boom! Booming sounds were heard in session as daggers stabbed the spots where Cordelia had been standing earlier. Their impact was so powerful that it broke the stone floor. ¡°Angel Mode!¡± The Cordelia in front of her was a warrior. She did not take the wizard route, nor did she learn witchcraft. One could say that she devoted everything into her Angel Mode. ¡®She¡¯s strong.¡¯ Because angels were beings that surpassed humans. It wasn¡¯t just their mana that was stronger. Their basic physical abilities were significantly different. Cordelia could also use Angel Mode. But it was impossible to be an angel like the warrior Cordelia in front of her. ¡®Battle Angel.¡¯ Among the angel sses, they were a kind of knight who specialized in hand-to-handbat. They possessed tremendous physical abilities. The warrior Cordelia smiled. She smiled brightly and beautifully, throwing a dagger again which Cordelia evaded in response. Boom! The roar caught Cordelia¡¯s attention again. But she did not look back. Because she felt that there was no need to do so. And her beast-like instincts were correct again this time. Shortly after throwing the dagger, the warrior Cordelia took advantage of her wide wings¡¯ ability to fly freely and dived down, rushing towards the real Cordelia in a low position like a snake slithering on the floor. Her move was so swift and silent that it would feel that the warrior Cordelia ¡®disappeared¡¯ if the real Cordelia had turned her head for a moment because she was surprised by the roar. Cordelia opened her eyes. She had clearly seen it, but warrior Cordelia was too fast. So she left it to her instincts instead of her thoughts. As soon as the warrior Cordelia dropped sharply, she spread on the floor. ¡®Trip!¡¯ Slip on it. The warrior Cordelia would definitely slip the moment she stepped on the floor that had its friction coefficient lowered greatly. But the warrior Cordelia was still Cordelia. Herbat sense surpassed that of wild animals, making her a real beast. She stepped and slid on it. But she didn¡¯t slip. Her body seemed to spin in the air, but she bnced it like a cat and beast. And instead of kicking the ground again, she slid her body and dashed as if she was skating on ice. ¡°Fu-¡± The real Cordelia didn¡¯t have the time topletely let out a curse. She threw her body backwards and swung the detonating cord at the same time. And in one move. Shwaak-! The detonating cord was split. Before it had ignited and caused an explosion, the sword wielded by the warrior Cordelia had sliced it. It was quick and urate. She moved one step ahead as if she saw the future. The Cordelia who became a warrior. The aloof beast who raised her wild instincts to the limit! ¡°Khooong!¡± The warrior Cordelia bellowed as she pursued the real Cordelia who retreated. Her cry was not something simple, but was actually ¡®chivalry,¡¯ the so-called magic used by knights. Booooooom-! The sound exploded, causing ripples in the air. It struck Cordelia who had jumped backwards, making her lose her footing. ¡°Kya?!¡± Cordelia lost her bnce and fell onto the floor. The warrior Cordelia was then in front of her. The moment Cordelia raised her head, the warrior Cordelia swung her sword. *** Boooooom! Lightning struck. The white lightning covered the ground, causing a series of small explosions. Water. A conductor. Lightning filled the stone chamber. The curses ate at the real Jude. Gravity magic held him down. The wizard Jude truly was like Jude, blocking all possible ces to retreat as he checkmated the real Jude. The wizard Jude smiled. And at that moment, Jude strongly stepped on the ground. The energy of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors exploded! Baaaang! The water that covered the ground sshed upwards. The electric current in the water caused by the lightning was negated in that instant. And he activated Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt. He went against the suppressing force of gravity. He escaped the trap with a force stronger than it. Bang! Jude soared high. He escaped from the gravity magic and jumped nearly 20 meters or more, and caught sight of the entire stone chamber at the same time. He saw the wizard Jude. And the real Jude thought. ¡®He¡¯s also a cheat.¡¯ The wizard Jude¡¯s magic chanting was too fast. He also simultaneously used more than one magic, and erased the blind spots of his spells by using advanced-rank scrolls. He was what Jude would be if he had be a wizard. A wizard who made the most of his inhuman calction ability. He was strong. He was impressive. But a smile came to Jude¡¯s face instead of regret. He had no choice but to do that. ¡®Imperfect.¡¯ The wizard Jude wasn¡¯t perfect. He failed to fully utilize the talents of his present and previous lives. The only thing he could use was his previous life¡¯s talent, Outboxer009¡¯s talent. So he was imperfect. Therefore, he couldn¡¯t reach the current Jude¡¯s talent. ¡®Cheonmujiche.¡¯ The incarnation of martial arts from the heavens. The wizard Jude couldn¡¯t properly utilize his Cheonmujiche. Even though he was born with the finest jewel in his hand, his failure to utilize it was no different to throwing that jewel into the trash. ¡®No, it¡¯s not just Cheonmujiche.¡¯ The Jude of this present life. The Jude from the original?Legend of Heroes 2. He wasn¡¯t as strong as the present Jude now. He couldn¡¯t be as strong as the present Jude now. What would happen if the original Jude had his Gueumjulmaek cured as soon as possible and began walking on the same path that the present Jude had walked? Would he be able to have the same strength as the present Jude? ¡®Impossible.¡¯ It was unattainable. His Cheonmujiche alone would not be able to reach the present Jude¡¯s level. There were reasons why the present Jude had be so strong at a very fast rate. It was because of their quick level-ups, which he had talked about with Cordelia several times. It was also because of the rare ¡®elixirs¡¯ that he periodically consumed. But one more added to these two reasons. Perhaps it was the most important reason. ¡®My understanding of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors.¡¯ If one thought about it, Cheonmujiche was a talent on how to properly utilize the body. It was an ability close to the beastly instincts that Cordelia was born with. But Jude¡¯s calction ability and high intelligence were added to this. He understood the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors and applied it to his body exactly like a machine. By doing so, the power of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors was added to his Cheonmujiche. ¡®It¡¯s like I¡¯m praising myself.¡¯ But it was true. The reason why Jude and Cordelia were strong now wasn¡¯t simply because they had their memories of the time when they were rotten waters. Abination of two inborn talents. It became possible because they had the talents of two people in their present bodies. The calctive ability and intelligence of Outboxer009 was added to the Cheonmujiche of Jude Bayer. The beastly instincts and the terrifying and outstandingbat talent of Yellow Storm were added to the innate magic talent of Cordelia Chase. ¡®So I¡¯ll show you.¡¯ The reason why I didn¡¯t choose the wizard path. The proof that my current choice is the best. Jude soared into the air at that time. He used Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt again. *** The warrior Cordelia¡¯s sword cleaved the top of Cordelia¡¯s head. Her head should have split, and blood would have sttered, but nothing happened. At the moment when the warrior Cordelia¡¯s sword attack hit the head of Cordelia. The warrior Cordelia realized it. The Cordelia in front of her was a fake and not the real one. When did she rece it? No, how did she do it? Fsssssh! The illusion created by magic dissipated like smoke. The warrior Cordelia turned around in a hurry, and found Cordelia crouching and smiling in the corner, in the ce where the dagger was thrown first. Cordelia was covered in cold sweat. She was quite exhausted, and her breathing was also rough. But she was clearly smiling. She did not lose her smile as her slightly exposed teeth glistened. The reason. The reason why she was not afraid or scared. ¡®As I thought, she¡¯s not that good.¡¯ The warrior Cordelia was only a warrior. She wasted Cordelia¡¯s talent. The warrior Cordelia was also cool, but the wizard route suited her better. If the warrior route was stronger, if training as a warrior was the path to bing stronger¡­ ¡°Why would I, a Cordelia fan, take the wizard route?¡± Cordelia said in a whisper as she raised herself up. She continued her words as she faced the blue eyes of the warrior Cordelia who was watching her. ¡°I was hiding this to surprise Jude¡­¡± Come to think of it, Jude is in another room and having a one-on-one fight right now. He probably won¡¯t be able to even see this fight. So I¡¯ll show you. What Cordelia who chose the wizard path can do! Tak. One step. But the moment she took that one step, the scenery of the stone chamber changed. Smoke appeared like an explosion as a fierce wind blew it and filled the stone chamber, and the warrior Cordelia raised her senses instead of moving prematurely. She strengthened the grip on her sword in order to immediately respond to whatever the other would do. So the real Cordelia smiled. Because it was what she had thought the warrior Cordelia would do. The warrior Cordelia seemed to be on guard instead of moving. Then the smoke was lifted. The warrior Cordelia unconsciously turned pale at the sight that was revealed to her. ¡°Shadow Clone.¡± The Cordelias who filled the stone chamber all said at the same time. Thirty shadow clones. No, forty shadow clones. In any case, it was a number that could be described as in the dozens. The dozens of shadow clones created by high-speed chanting and Spell¡¯s Echo all smiled at the same time. They then charged towards the warrior Cordelia. ¡°Rooooooar!¡± The warrior Cordelia roared like a lion and swung her sword in session, shing and cutting down the dozens of illusions. Then the warrior Cordelia realized. The real one was not among the rushing crowd. She thought she couldn¡¯t tell apart the real one because all the illusions that rushed at her looked the same, but that wasn¡¯t it. In the first ce, all of them were fake so it was impossible to detect who the real one was. ¡°Khooooong!¡± The warrior Cordelia wildly swung her sword once again. She split at once the powerless waves of illusions that charged at her. And right after that. The warrior Cordelia realized a new fact. What the other was nning in the time she was distracted and tried to get rid of the dozens of illusions. ¡®Buying time.¡¯ The illusions were simply just a diversion. The mana and effort involved in the creation of the shadow clones were clearly not small, but Cordelia managed to do it anyway. Because she had topletely divert the warrior Cordelia¡¯s attention. Because she needed time to prepare for the perfect shot. Above the sky. The sky above the stone chamber that did not have a ceiling. The warrior Cordelia stared up the sky in a cold sweat, while the real Cordelia charmingly smiled. It was quite strenuous that she felt like dying, but she still brightly smiled and said with a pale face. ¡°A hundred magic missile shots.¡± There was strength in numbers. The warrior Cordelia screamed and dashed towards Cordelia, but the magic missiles were faster. Dozens of magic missiles shot down from the sky like a bombing attack. Bang! Bang! Bang! Babababababang! The rain of magic missiles were created by high-speed chanting, , and Spell¡¯s Echo. Each one of it was weak. But there were a lot of it, and Cordelia¡¯sbat sense and spatial perception that was on a level of genius made it possible for her to manipte each magic missile as naturally as breathing ¨C something that seemed to be impossible. Bang! Bang! Bang! It wasn¡¯t just a random bombing attack. The rain of magic missiles persistently aimed at a spot, hitting the same ce again and again. And another more added to it. The skill that Cordelia gained because she walked the witch¡¯s path now! ¡°Don¡¯t move!¡± She used her to paralyze the other. The warrior Cordelia froze when she met eyes with the real Cordelia, and the magic missiles continued to rain over her defenseless body. Bang! Bang! Bang! The explosions continued. Which was followed by a sword attack! aaaaash! The warrior Cordelia shed the magic missiles. The magic was dispelled with the power of her Angel Mode, and a space was created when she expanded her wings of light and moved her sword freely as she cut the surrounding area around her in an instant. ¡°F*ck.¡± The warrior Cordelia was indeed Cordelia. Abat genius! Bang! The warrior Cordelia kicked the ground again. As her angel wings of light spread out, her speed became so fast that it was difficult to follow her movement with just the eyes. So Cordelia left everything to her senses. She felt it instead of seeing with her eyes, and she moved her body to evade the sword of the warrior Cordelia. ash! The sword grazed Cordelia¡¯s shoulder. Red blood spurted out, but Cordelia used one of the attack techniques of the Bayer family. Because the present Cordelia was not just a wizard. Because she was a fighting wizard with ferocious power, having been created from the addition of her past life memories as Yellow Storm! Baaang! A thunderbolt struck. It wasn¡¯t lightning. It wasn¡¯t magic either. Lightning Punch. The seven quick strikes like a thunderbolt hit the warrior Cordelia. Obviously, not all of her strikes hit. The warrior Cordelia also possessed the same beast-like instincts. But that was enough. Cordelia chanted the magic at the moment of the final blow. It became possible because the present Cordelia was born with genius magic senses. ¡°¡± Gravity magic. The body of the warrior Cordelia was bent at that moment. She could quickly dispel the if she unleashed the power of her Angel Mode and spread out her wings of light, but it took time to do that. So in that time. There were a lot of things the real Cordelia could do at that time! Booom! The force of the gravity magic became more than three times stronger in an instant, and the warrior Cordelia fell to the floor as if she was almost mmed into it. What the real Cordelia had been hiding. What she had thought of hiding in order to surprise Jude. Cordelia¡¯s hair turned ck as it fluttered everywhere. With red eyes instead of blue, she looked down at the warrior Cordelia who was stuck in the ground. It wasn¡¯t just a witch transformation. The pitch-ck wings that spread behind her back proved it. Thebination of an angel and a witch. A choice she made because she walked the path of a wizard. What will Jude say if he saw this sight now? How will he react if a cute, pretty, and lovely girl bes sexy? ¡®No, what am I thinking now?¡¯ Cordelia bitterly smiled at her own thoughts, and she looked down at the warrior Cordelia again. She gathered all of her mana in order to finish everything within one blow. Her mana was explosively reinforced by her Fallen Angel Mode. Added on to it was Arkeman¡¯s treasure that amplified all kinds of magic. Naturally, there was a price. Her mana consumption was iparable to her usual mana consumption. But for one shot. If she bet everything in this one shot. The warrior Cordelia red at Cordelia with bloodshot eyes. She cried like an animal chained down by which had frighteningly be stronger. And Cordelia raised her left hand. She made a spear of ck lightning as she said. ¡°Cordelia is a wizard.¡± This Cordelia fan can guarantee it, okay? A charming smile spread on Cordelia¡¯s face, and the spear of ck lightning exploded as it struck its target. It was her strongest blow that shook the entire stone chamber. Chapter 171

Chapter 171

Terms used in this chapter: You, as well as me, can die from one strike of a bamboo spear. ¨C This is based on a Korean meme. It means that everybody is equal because everyone can die by just one strike of a deadly weapon. So even if one is rich or strong, and another is poor or weak, they will still die the same if they get stabbed by a deadly weapon. One more thing: I changed ¡®Khoooong¡¯ to ¡®Roooar¡¯ in the previous chapter since it was supposed to be like a lion¡¯s roar. ¡°Haa¡­ haa¡­¡± Cordelia profusely sweated and roughly breathed. She sat down on the floor as if she had copsed, and eventually lied down on the ground. ¡°Haa¡­¡± She closed her eyes as the fatigue overwhelmed her. She felt like she would fall asleep right away if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that she was catching her breath. ¡°Haa¡­¡± But she couldn¡¯t fall asleep. Around 5 minutes passed by. Perhaps even longer than that. Cordelia managed to calm her breathing before she raised her hands to cover her face, loudly breathing out and wiping off the sweat from her forehead with both hands. She swept aside the hair on her face as she opened her eyes. ¡°F*ck.¡± It was an exmation rather than a curse. As proof of this, Cordelia¡¯s sharp fang-like teeth became visible as the corners of her mouth went up. ¡°I won.¡± I won. I won. I won! Cordelia expressed her joy by stretching out her arms upward in a hurrah. But she struggled keeping her arms up due to her exhaustion. ¡°Hehehe. I¡¯m so tired.¡± She was so tired that she felt dizzy, and she was exhausted after her strenuous fight. But she still felt good. Because the pleasant feeling of satisfaction filled her entire body. ¡°I won.¡± I¡¯m not wrong. As I thought, Cordelia is a wizard. She is a wizard. ¡®It¡¯s a bit¡­ different from the game.¡¯ In reality, it was not a bit, but a lot. The original Cordelia was a pure wizard, so it was impossible for her to do the same ¡®high-speed movement battle¡¯ that the present Cordelia did in this battle. ¡®Well, back then in the game, I used to move fast.¡¯ But she had not ovepped its use three times as excessively as now. She was just a wizard to the very end. ¡°Hehehe.¡± The present Cordelia was not like that though. ¡®Hmm, this is somewhat embarrassing.¡¯ It¡¯s like I¡¯m talking about myself in third person. Cordelia knew that no one was around, but she looked around nheless, covering her cheeks that had turned red from her excitement and joy of the earlier intense battle. She gave strength to her waist as she raised her upper body up and looked at the sight in front of her. ¡®So strong.¡¯ She had created that very sight in front of her, but she couldn¡¯t help admiring it. Because it was really strong like she had just said. ¡®Arkeman¡¯s treasure plus the Fallen Angel Mode¡­¡¯ In exchange for maximizing her power, her mana consumption was also maximized. There was a deep ck hole in front of Cordelia¡¯s eyes. Its diameter was around 10 meters. A sign of the destruction she caused by throwing the ck Lightning Spear. But what she really referred to as strong wasn¡¯t the destruction of the floor. ¡®Was she almost¡­ annihted?¡¯ The warrior Cordelia held down by . She awakened as a battle angel in her Angel Mode, and her magic resistance was terrifying. Despite being hit by a hundred magic missiles, she could still move without any problems. But such a warrior Cordelia disappeared with just one shot. She had naturally resisted it for a while with her immense magic resistance, but the fact that she failed to ovee it and disappeared was important. ¡®One shot.¡¯ Herst shot consumed all her remaining mana. She had obviously done a lot of things that consumed much of her mana, such as the magic or the one hundred magic missiles, but Cordelia had always been a character with immense mana. Moreover, if you counted the total amount of mana she used for her Fallen Angel Mode, abination of her Angel Mode and Witch Transformation, her so-called mana pool was more than Adelia, one of the sevenmanders of the Royal Guard Magic Corps. However, she used up all of her mana in just one shot. ¡®It¡¯s a crazy bargain.¡¯ Not a good one, but a bad one. But not simply a bad one. Because its power was really crazy. ¡®It¡¯s aplete?bamboo spear.¡¯ You, as well as me, can die from one strike of a bamboo spear. She was at least confident about the power of that one shot. Even if her opponent was a strong person on the level of the Ten Great Swordmasters, they would not be able to ignore the power of the ck Lightning Spear. ¡®No, it¡¯ll only take one shot.¡¯ She was confident that she can even defeat someone on the level of the Ten Great Swordmasters if she could properly hit them with her strongest shot. ¡®I have to use up all my mana though.¡¯ And she also wondered if she could easily hit someone on the level of the Ten Great Swordmasters. ¡®Still.¡¯ There was a big difference between having and not having a skill that could knock down someone of that level in one shot. Therefore, Cordelia was immensely satisfied. ¡°Hehehe.¡± Augh came out again. She couldn¡¯t help it. ¡®In fact, this isn¡¯t its full power yet.¡¯ Shecked mana. Cordelia¡¯s mana was still too little to demonstrate the full power of the ck Lightning Spear. ¡®It¡¯s seriously crazy.¡¯ Her mana pool was higher than Adelia, amander of the Royal Guard Magic Corps, but it was still not enough. But Cordelia was not disappointed or upset by it again. Because Jude was not the only one who had a gamer brain. ¡®It¡¯s easy to increase the mana pool itself.¡¯ The mostmon way to increase one¡¯s mana pool was through items that increased one¡¯s mana. ¡®Once I increase my mana.¡¯ Once my mana pool greatly increases, it will be possible for me to unleash the full power of the ck Lightning Spear and to fire it at random too. ¡°Hehehe.¡± It felt good imagining it, so sheughed like a fool again. If I can increase my mana pool¡­ if I can speed up my mana recovery¡­ ¡®Good, good. I can see the tech tree, I can see it.¡¯ What skills she should learn for the future. What equipment she needed to get. ¡®The other skills were good too.¡¯ Shadow Clone and Fallen Angel Mode. In the former case, it was actually an application of illusion magic and not a fictional ninja technique, but nevertheless, she was highly satisfied with it. ¡®Cordelia¡¯s talent.¡¯ A new power Yellow Storm gained after she reincarnated as the current Cordelia. Cordelia was born with excellent magic sensitivity, which allowed her to learn almost any kind of magic. ¡®Thanks to the Witch Transformation and Angel Mode, I can use evil or angelic magic which are difficult for ordinary humans to use.¡¯ She¡¯d be an all-rounder in the field of magic. A literal archwizard. ¡®And a fallen angel.¡¯ It would truly be Cordelia¡¯s own specialty and a change from her game self. ¡®What will Jude say when he sees it?¡¯ Come to think of it, he¡¯s been saying for a long time ago that he wants to see the Fallen Angel Mode. ¡®Will his face just turn red?¡¯ Will Jude be embarrassed and speechless? I want to see it. I want to see Jude like that. ¡®Jude must have won too, right?¡¯ Perhaps for Jude, a wizard Jude will appear, but I don¡¯t think he¡¯ll lose. ¡®He¡¯ll win it somehow.¡¯ By using all sorts of wicked, mean, and insidious schemes. He wouldn¡¯t be my Jude otherwise if he didn¡¯t. ¡°Haa.¡± Cordelia sighed before she lied down on the floor again and looked up at the sky. A shiny skill book was floating in the sky. ¡®My level has risen, my stats have also increased due to unlocking mytent skills, and now I¡¯ll even acquire a skill book?¡¯ Since her mana had been all consumed, Cordelia forced herself to stand up again instead of using her telekic power, and she touched the skill book with her hand. A-rank skill ¨C Battle Meditation. ¡®Woah, this is good.¡¯ As its name suggested, it was a skill that allowed her to meditate even in the midst of a battle. Obviously, it was ridiculous to close your eyes and meditate while in the middle of a fight. So rather than a real meditation, the skill allowed you to enjoy the effect of mana recovery through meditation. ¡®I guess it¡¯s like a movement skill.¡¯ Something like directing the energy in your body through a breathing technique while also moving around. ¡®Hmm, good. It¡¯s not bad.¡¯ Cordelia used Battle Meditation as soon as she got the skill book, and she slowly recovered her mana before she healed the wound on her shoulder. ¡®But I still have a long way to go.¡¯ She was very satisfied with this and that, but she also thirsted for more. What Cordelia herself wanted. What she was secretly practicing in the Temple of Life in order to beat Jude. It was not the Fallen Angel Mode. It was not the ck Lightning Spear either. It was something else. Something that she had not even attempted in the game, but she could try now because the present Cordelia had the memories of her past and present lives. ¡®Let¡¯s not be too hasty.¡¯ Let¡¯s do it one step at a time. After all, I still want to get ahead of Jude. ¡®I can¡¯t wait to show it to him.¡¯ The Fallen Angel Mode. Shall I show it to him once we get back to our room? I think his face will really turn red. ¡®I want to see it.¡¯ A blushing Jude. No, just Jude himself. ¡°Ahem, ahem, what am I thinking?¡± Cordelia cleared her throat to somehow get rid of her sudden embarrassment. She took a potion from her waist pocket and drank it, taking a deep breath afterwards. ¡°Okay, shall I go?¡± To the waiting room beyond the door. Cordelia took a step. *** ¡°Pink- I mean, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Lady Cordelia.¡± Scarlet and Lucas were already in the waiting room where several stone pirs toweringly stood. ¡°Oh, did you both win?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°It was a good lesson.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s question, Scarlet haughtily replied while Lucas answered with a bright smile, and Cordelia spontaneously smiled at the answers of the two. ¡®They¡¯re like a cat and arge dog.¡¯ Is Scarlet a Russian Blue while Lucas a Golden Retriever? Cordelia lightly imagined it as she looked at Scarlet and Lucas with warm eyes. It seemed like she could see Scarlet pricking up her cat ears and Lucas wagging his dog tail. ¡°It seems like you¡¯re thinking of something really rude.¡± ¡°Lady Cordelia?¡± Scarlet crossed her arms and spoke in a low voice while Lucas furrowed his brows with a worried expression, and Cordelia said after coughing a bit. ¡°What about Jude?¡± ¡°He just arrived.¡± Cordelia quickly turned her head when Scarlet answered. Indeed, a messy-looking Jude walked out from one of the four doors in the room. ¡°Oh, did everyone win?¡± ¡°We won. But what happened to your clothes?¡± ¡°Well¡­ it was a bit hard.¡± Jude looked at himself when Cordelia asked, and he smiled bitterly. Because his clothes were seriously tattered. ¡°But the Pce of Mirrors is more like image training. My clothes will go back to normal once we go outside.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a relief. Did you get hurt?¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m fine.¡± ¡®Because I have a regenerative ability.¡¯ At his voice and look that seemed to be hiding something, Cordelia widened her eyes in surprise and sent him a message via magic. [What? Did you really get hurt?] [Eh? Uh¡­ but I¡¯m fine. Because I have a regenerative ability.] In fact, he didn¡¯t have any wounds or scars now. Jude showed his skin by opening a gap in his torn clothes, and Cordelia drew her face closer to see if he was really hurt. And Scarlet and Lucas, who didn¡¯t understand the conversation between Jude and Cordelia, looked at the two with strange expressions. ¡®Wha-what kind of y is this?¡¯ ¡°Ahem, ahem. Ehem, ehem, ehem.¡± Scarlet stared at Cordelia with a cold look before she turned to Lucas who had reacted by clearing his throat. Having turned red because of Jude and Cordelia, Lucas then faced Scarlet. And Cordelia saw the moment when the two turned to each other and thought. ¡®Ooooh, is something going on between them?¡¯ Is this the case of a younger man and a haughty beauty, who is actually a kind and innocent woman, whispering sweet nothings to each other naturally?! [Uh, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s that.] [You always say it¡¯s not.] Jude did not respond to Cordelia¡¯sint as he turned to Lucas and asked. ¡°Lord Lucas. Have you made any progress?¡± Being here now meant that he had won the battle against himself who had gone on another path. And it wasn¡¯t just level-ups, increased stats, or a skill book that one could get as a result of that fight. ¡®Self-confidence and conviction.¡¯ Confidence that you had taken the right path as you go straight ahead. Confidence that your choice was not wrong. When asked by Jude, Lucas nodded with a bright expression. ¡°Yes, Mr. Jude. Thanks to you, I had a very good experience. Thank you very much.¡± ¡°I¡¯m d to be of help.¡± Lucas shyly smiled at Jude¡¯s answer while Scarlet¡¯s eyes turned cold again. Because it felt strange to see a scene that usually appeared in youth novels. ¡°What? Do you want to have a conversation like that? Shall I do it for you too?¡± ¡°No need.¡± Scarlet rejected Cordelia¡¯s offer, and Cordelia pouted her lips several times before saying. ¡°Anyway, since we¡¯re all here, we can go out now, right?¡± ¡°Okay.¡± After his short answer, Jude stretched out his hand to Cordelia who automatically held his hand. Being escorted had pretty much became a norm. ¡°Shall we go then, Princess?¡± ¡°Yes, Milord.¡± Jude and Cordelia exchanged words in a natural manner before they took the lead as they headed out of the dungeon, while Scarlet and Lucas saw them and unconsciously looked at each other. They exchanged nces. Somehow, they sympathized with each other. Both of them shrugged their shoulders and headed towards the exit afterwards. *** Unfortunately for Jude, Cordelia chose to wash and sleep instead of showing him the Fallen Angel Mode as soon as they returned to their rooms. Because when she arrived at their room, the thought of lying down on her bed and sleeping had dominated her mind. And a few hourster. Cordelia only slept less than half the usual time because of their midnight exploration, and she smacked Jude in the shoulder with a tired face. ¡°Why are you not tired?¡± ¡°Because I have a regenerative ability.¡± The Sphere of Life did its part. Jude carefreely replied and attended the Banquet of Swords with Cordelia, and they spent their time easily answering the questions directed to them. ¡®Because we¡¯ve aplished all our goals.¡¯ They met Duke Spencer and became acquainted with First Sword. They also got him to agree in going to the founding anniversary ball. As a bonus, he even won in the Banquet of Swords, increased their stats at the Pce of Mirrors, and gave Lucas the opportunity to grow, so it was not exaggeration to say that their visit to Duke Spencer was a great sess. ¡°By the way.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± Inside the carriage that was leaving Duke Spencer¡¯s estate. Jude raised his head at the call of Cordelia who was sitting across him, and Cordelia said as she slightly tilted her head. ¡°You really didn¡¯t hide your skills at this Banquet of Swords, huh?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± There¡¯s no reason for me to hide it. ¡°But didn¡¯t you say that we had to hide itst time?¡± Last time. When they defeated the chimera in Arkeman¡¯s Dungeon. At that time, Jude pretended to be injured and said that they had to hide their skills. Cordelia herself blindfolded her eyes with a bandage to pretend that she was temporarily blind. ¡°I did?¡± ¡°You did, right?¡± ¡°Well, things are bound to change. I also needed to win to impress First Sword.¡± ¡°Hooooh.¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyes narrowed in suspicion, and Jude spoke about something else while maintaining a calm expression like usual. ¡°But Cordelia, how was the Cordelia you fought in the Pce of Mirrors? Was she a warrior?¡± It was obviously a diversion, but it was too attractive to refuse. So Cordelia immediately replied to Jude¡¯s words. ¡°Yes, yes, it was a warrior Cordelia. She was like ¡®roar-roar¡¯ when she used Lion¡¯s Roar.¡± Cordelia pretended to roar as she acted like a lion with her hands, and Jude¡¯s eyes widened before he asked. ¡°Roar-roar? Did she roar like a real lion when she used Lion¡¯s Roar?¡± ¡°Eh? Uh. She did? Isn¡¯t it strange?¡± ¡°No, well¡­ it¡¯s just like Cordelia.¡± Because it was normal to roar like a lion when doing a spirited shout. ¡®But¡­¡¯ A smile spread on Jude¡¯s face when he thought of Cordelia going roar-roar like a beast, and her roar-roar soon turned into rawr-rawr and then growl-growl in his mind. ¡°What? What are you thinking?¡± ¡°Something nice and proper.¡± ¡°No, you won¡¯t even show me your face.¡± ¡°Anyway, how was your fight? How did you win?¡± Jude pretended to be calm and spoke again, and Cordelia replied to Jude¡¯s words again. And two dayster in the afternoon. The tea party of Princess Daphne, the so-called Jewel of the Royal Capital, finally began. Chapter 172 - THE CROWN PRINCESS (1)

Chapter 172 - THE CROWN PRINCESS (1)

Terms used in this chapter: Girin?¨C This has been mentioned earlier when Lucas was first introduced in the series since it was his nickname. Girin refers to a mythical animal, but it is also used to refer to children/young people who have promising futures because of their extraordinary wisdom or talent. Out-of-ce artifact?¨C a historical artifact that should not be found in the ce or manner that they are found ording to known historical knowledge. Like having a battery-looking device in an era where batteries had yet to be invented. Or finding a helicopter in Egyptian hieroglyphs. Mansour?¨C Mansour is referring to the name of a UAE royalty, politician and billionaire. There was a rumor in 2017 that a family member of Mansour proposed to the Korean singer, Anda. But in this chapter, ¡®Mansour¡¯ is used in a sense of ¡®rich person.¡¯ So ¡®Am I a Mansour?¡¯ could be read as ¡®Am I a rich person?¡¯ When you looked at stories centered around the protagonist, whether in games or novels, events that were only indirectly handled were often not described in detail. Because the protagonist wasn¡¯t there. Because the protagonist wasn¡¯t involved with that event. And so on and so forth. These events were often referred to as background events or background settings, and?Legend of Heroes 2?had numerous background settings. ¡®Strictly speaking, the annihtion of the royal family is close to a background setting.¡¯ Because there were no yable characters who were directly involved with it. There were a total of four yable characters from the S?len Kingdom, three were from the north and thest one was from the south. In other words, there were no yable characters who started in the royal capital. ¡®The only ones who could be involved were Lucas and Kajsa.¡¯ At this point in time in the game, Jude had just cured his illness while Cordelia was still wandering in the middle of the north. And Lucas and Kajsa, the ones who could be involved, only had the event briefly mentioned in the game. ¡®The other yable characters are foreigners.¡¯ Therefore, Princess Daphne and Prince Dion, who could be said to be the protagonists of the royal family genocide event, were characters that only existed in the background, and not characters that could actually be met and talked to in person. ¡®But they were still popr.¡¯ The genocide of the royal family itself was so important that there were five cinematic movies alone, three of which were about Princess Daphne and Prince Dion. ¡®They perfectly chose the characters for the event.¡¯ Perhaps because they were the main characters of the tragedy, Princess Daphne and Prince Dion were perfect superhumans and even had good personalities. If these two had grown up without any trouble and the Crown Princess had risen to the throne, they would have been the ideal royals who were good, pretty, capable, and had a sense of responsibility. ¡®We can save them.¡¯ This was reality and not the game. Theirs was not a destined fate, but a fate that could be changed. ¡°For a perfect happy ending.¡± Jude whispered as if he was reciting a spell, and he picked up the invitation with Princess Daphne¡¯s seal. *** King Henry II of the S?len Kingdom was neither a saint nor a tyrant. He was just an average king. Nothing much could be said of him, and his rule wasn¡¯t exemry. Of course, one could say that his administration of state affairs was pretty good since he smoothly ran it without having much problems, but despite that, the public still viewed Henry II as an ¡®ordinary king.¡¯ In fact, he was a person who did not have any particrly outstanding abilities, except for his handsome appearance. But the evaluation of his children, especially his eldest daughter and eldest son, were different from Henry II. Geniuses. Girins. Children of the century. Some said that the outstanding blood of the founder king, Lion D. S?len, was awakened again, while others ¨C the rotten waters of?Legend of Heroes?in particr, said that it was the result of the First Queen¡¯s genes. Because unlike Henry II who was an ordinary person, the First Queen, Justina F. S?len, was a really outstanding person. Born in the house of Duke Fable, one of the kingdom¡¯s five dukes, she was a distinguished genius in both schrly knowledge and martial arts. She was also the eldest child of Duke Fable, so if she hadn¡¯t married Henry II, she would have be the head of the Fable duchy. However, she chose to marry Henry II who she had been affectionate with since childhood. Thus, the S?len Kingdom was able to obtain a beautiful, wise, and strong queen, as well as very outstanding royal children. The jewels of the royal capital. Royal treasures. And now, one of them ¨C no, the two had shown interest in Jude and Cordelia. They wanted to meet the two people. ¡°Are you done?¡± ¡°No, not yet.¡± Cordelia slightly frowned at Jude¡¯s answer and pouted her lips, but Jude did not care. He just worked hard to trim Cordelia¡¯s hair over and over again. ¡®Just where did you learn this?¡¯ His scissoring skills were unusual. No, before that, when she thought about all the things that had happened sincest night, Cordelia seriously felt dizzy. ¡®Did you run a beauty shop?¡¯ The fired-up Jude said that this was the preliminary match before the founding anniversary ball, and he dolled up and beautified Cordelia with serious enthusiasm and passion. ¡®It¡¯s my first time taking a milk bath.¡¯ Why is a bottle of milk more expensive than c? ¨C was Cordelia¡¯s serious question when she took a bath in a bathtub filled with that expensive milk. It wasn¡¯t over with that. When the milk bath was over, she had to take a second bath with rose-scented essential oil while applying something on her body again. She had to wash her hair again and again with shampoo and conditioner. ¡®I think I took a bath for three hours.¡¯ Maja and Dahlia who took a bath with me seemed to be very satisfied. In any case, as a result of washing herself over and over again, Cordelia¡¯s fair and smooth skin began to glow, and a subtle rose scent was added to her pleasant-feeling skin. ¡®Miss! My hair is shining! It¡¯s so soft!¡¯ Having used it for the first time in her life, the shampoo and conditioner received great reviews from Dahlia. In reality, she had no choice but to do so. Shampoo could be viewed as something that was just for washing, but the conditioner that softened the hair itself was no different from an out-of-ce artifact that would literally cause culture shock if one considered the standards of this era. Cordelia was then forced to sleep. And as soon as Cordelia woke up in the morning, Jude was waiting in front of her bed before he grabbed and made her go through a difficult time again. She was bathed in milk and essential oil again. Then a chiropractic massage and physical exercise. Followed by a really long hair treatment. ¡®I feel like I became a doll.¡¯ ¡°Yes, you¡¯re indeed a doll. No, you¡¯re a work of art.¡± Jude said to Cordelia, having read her thoughts from seeing her eyes in the mirror. Cordelia¡¯s shoulders then drooped as she sighed. ¡®Why is everyone else excited?¡¯ Jude had been working hard since morning, and so did Maja and Dahlia. ¡°You¡¯re so beautiful.¡± ¡°Yes, miss. You¡¯re really pretty. Ah¡­it feels like my childhood days again.¡± ¡°You yed with dolls?¡± ¡°Yes, I did.¡± Dahlia always got excited with romantic stuff, and it seemed like she was the kind to get excited with beauty treatments too. No, she just got excited with everything rted to Cordelia. ¡®Ugh, alright. I¡¯ll agree to be a doll until the tea party tomorrow.¡¯ Because Cordelia had to impress Princess Daphne and Prince Dion. Furthermore, it was highly likely that the influential nobles of the royal capital, or to be exact, their children, would participate in the tea party. Because it was a tea party hosted by the crown princess and not anyone else. ¡®You¡¯re going to¡­ dampen their spirits?¡¯ They were children of influential families who grew up in the royal capital. But Jude had argued that there could be another person like Lucian, so they should prevent it in advance. ¡®I don¡¯t know what that has to do with making mepletely pretty or preventing it in advance though.¡¯ But if Jude said so, maybe there are people like that. Maja and Dahlia were also in agreement with Jude. ¡®Can I be prettier than Princess Daphne though? Princess Daphne is the main character of the event, right?¡¯ Isn¡¯t there an unwritten rule that you shouldn¡¯t look prettier than the bride when you go to her wedding? ¡®Cordelia is already pretty, but if you beautify her like this, she¡¯ll really be the most beautiful woman in the kingdom¡­no, she¡¯ll be the most beautiful on the continent.¡¯ The eyes of others might turn cold if they had heard her thoughts, but in the end, they would have to admit that it was true. Cordelia continued to think quite seriously, and in the midst of that, Jude¡¯s hair styling was finally over. ¡°Okay, it¡¯s over.¡± ¡°Really? Is it really over now?¡± ¡°Yes, so we have to choose your clothes now.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± I¡¯ll be choosing clothes and wearing them? ¡±Don¡¯t worry. You only have to try on 20 of them, so it won¡¯t take long.¡± ¡°Twenty?! No, wait. I only brought three dresses to the royal capital, if I recall?¡± When did it be 20? ¡°That¡¯s because I brought it separately. I bought it in the royal capital.¡± ¡°W-wait. With what money?¡± It obviously couldn¡¯t be Count Bayer and Count Chase¡¯s money. Of course, both had a considerable ie whenpared to the average noble since they were from the 12 northern families, but it was still not enough to buy a lot of expensive dresses. ¡®Because dresses are ridiculously expensive!¡¯ The present Cordelia considered dresses as expensive, and if she added the opinion of her previous life too, she regarded those dresses as ridiculously priced. So when did you increase the number of dresses like that by 17? ¡°We didn¡¯t have much time, so I had to buy something that was already made¡­ but I¡¯m satisfied with this arrangement for the time being.¡± ¡°Wait, where did the moneye from?¡± They received a huge amount of money from Duke Spencer in the means of a cheque, but they had only received it two days ago, so they hadn¡¯t exchanged it at the bank yet. But where did the money to buy all those dressese from? When Cordelia asked again, Jude nced at Dahlia and Maja before he looked back at her and said with his eyes. ¡®Pink Bomb.¡¯ ¡®Pink Bo-¡­ wait, Rogue Master? From stealing?¡¯ They had only done it twice, but those two times were really profitable. ¡®I said to Dahlia and Maja that we¡¯re just selling off the treasures that we got from our travels. But it¡¯s also true to some extent, right?¡¯ ¡®Euaaaaaah¡­¡¯ Cordelia fell into even more panic when she found out their source of funds. She had no choice but to do so. How much money does it cost to buy twenty dresses? ¡®Hey, are you crazy? Did you use all our money for that?¡¯ ¡°Because Cordelia is precious to me.¡± ¡®What are you talking about! And why are you saying that with that tone!¡¯ Jude just smirked at Cordelia¡¯s protest with her eyes, but for Maja and Dahlia who didn¡¯t know their conversation, they only heard ¡®Because Cordelia is precious to me¡¯ and began to exim ¡®kyaa-kyaa¡¯ among themselves. [You¡¯re crazy, really crazy. That¡¯s an extravagant habit. I¡¯ll have to seriously consider breaking up with you. All the more when you¡¯re a gambler!] As soon as she sent him a message via magic, Jude lightly shook his head. [It¡¯s different from gambling. We have a lot of profitable stuff, right? And we can always resell the dresses if we¡¯re in a pinch.] [Uuuh¡­ but still¡­] A fianc¨¦ who spends money for her generously ¨C no, a fianc¨¦ who spends money for her like crazy. Should I be happy with this or not? [Don¡¯t worry. If it¡¯s this much money, we can earn it again.] [Ugh¡­ you¡¯re somewhat reliable yet annoying at the same time.] She honestly found Jude to be smart and excellent. She thought that even if he threw off his clothes and became dirt-poor, he was the kind of person who¡¯d make enough money to enjoy a movie a weekter. Moreover, Jude now had a huge amount of money from Duke Spencer. There was a saying that money begets money, so if Jude really made up his mind to earn money, he¡¯d easily earn enough money to buy twenty dresses. [Eueue¡­ But this is too much. Can¡¯t I just wear the Fairy Dress? That¡¯s the best one anyway.] [No way. You can¡¯t wear a dress you¡¯ve worn once. The Fairy Dress should only be worn at the founding ball.] [Wait, what did you just say? I can¡¯t wear what I¡¯ve worn once?] [Yes. Not your everyday wear, of course. I¡¯m talking about the dresses that you wear when you go out, which must be changed every time. Those are single-use only.] [What?] What are you talking about? I¡¯ll wear those expensive dresses only once? Am I a Mansour? [Because Cordelia is precious to me.] [What the heck are you talking about!] Do you think that I¡¯ll let it pass if you say it in such buttery words with such a smug smile? Of course, it doesn¡¯t feel bad hearing it, since it honestly feels nice every time I hear it. [Anyway, Princess, just let me take care of you. I¡¯ll make you the prettiest girl in the world.] [Haa¡­ you¡¯re seriously crazy.] You must have been seriously ying with dolls in your childhood. Cordelia thought of a little Jude ying with dolls for a moment, and she smiled without realizing it. On the other hand, Maja and Cordelia who were watching her from the side, happily smiled as they misunderstood her. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s begin the fashion show.¡± They would have to choose what she would wear, and then modify and do some arrangements too. ¡°Haa¡­ this is the first time I¡¯ve ever hated Jude being an all-around.¡± Frankly, I want to decrease the number of clothes myself. Cordelia eventually lowered her head in resignation, and she let herself be the doll of Jude, Maja, and Dahlia. And after four long hours. By the time Cordelia waspletely tired and exhausted from repeatedly wearing and taking off clothes, Jude, Maja, and Dahlia finally chose a dress. ¡°Because you shouldn¡¯t stand out too much.¡± ¡®Did those words juste out of your mouth?¡¯ If you wanted me to not stand out, why were you so passionate about dressing me up in the first ce? Jude lightly ignored Cordelia¡¯sint with her eyes, and he began to alter the soft pink dress. ¡®Uh¡­this is creepy.¡¯ Can¡¯t you just alter it? Why do you have to look so delighted when you¡¯re altering it? But in any case, her long suffering that startedst night finally ended, so Cordelia hunched her shoulders. ¡®I can rest now.¡¯ But she couldn¡¯t. It was Cordelia¡¯s mistake for thinking that it was really over. ¡°Then mydy, let¡¯s go take a bath.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Because the tea party is tomorrow. We have to do some massage and exercise again, right? We also have to trim your nails.¡± Dahlia and Maja spoke one after another, and Cordelia blinked her eyes with a stunned face before she was dragged along by them again. And the next morning. Cordelia suffered from Jude¡¯s beauty treatments again and was only liberated from her room at around 2 in the afternoon. ¡°Everyone is crazy¡­¡± ¡°But the results are good, right? Ah, your dress might get wrinkles, so please sit with your back straight. Don¡¯t just lean anywhere.¡± ¡°I hate you, I hate you.¡± Cordelia cursed at him with tears in her eyes, but she still heeded his words well. Because she sat with her back upright and did not move much. ¡°But it¡¯s worth it. It¡¯s worth it. I¡¯m looking forward to how the nobles of the royal capital will react.¡± ¡°How vexing. I wanted to dress you up too.¡± Cordelia was so busy with being beautified that she didn¡¯t have the time to dress up Jude. But in fact, she didn¡¯t need to do anything. Since Maja and Dahlia wouldn¡¯t stay still anyway. ¡®In the end, those two seemed to have had the most fun dressing us up.¡¯ Cordelia looked at the other carriage where the other two were as it followed their carriage before she turned to Jude again and said. ¡°Now then, Jude. All we have to do now is meet Princess Daphne and Prince Dion, right?¡± ¡°Yes. There¡¯s still the process of getting close to them, of course, but¡­ you¡¯re already good at that.¡± ¡°Ugh¡­ meeting with royalty is hard.¡± She was also the crown princess and not just some royalty. The present Cordelia was born and raised as a noble of the S?len Kingdom. She might have memories of her past life, but she still felt nervous meeting royalty. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Princess Darianne will be there too.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a relief then.¡± Cordelia recalled Princess Darianne¡¯s bright smile, and she took a deep breath as she slightly stretched out her arms. After all, it had already happened. Moreover, it was necessary to get close to Princess Darianne in order to achieve a perfect happy ending. ¡°I can do it.¡± ¡°Yes, you can.¡± There would also be other nobles besides Princess Darianne. Jude cheered on Cordelia, and he looked out the window of the carriage. The main pce of the S?len Kingdom, which was much bigger and more beautiful than the Red Rose Castle, came into his sight. *** ¡°This way please.¡± The pce interior was splendid and gorgeous. The inner pce and courtyard were also elegant-looking, but the person who guided them was mesmerized with Cordelia for a while. However, Cordelia was so confused with all the walking they did that she didn¡¯t even know where they were. Nevertheless, Jude was escorting her like always, so she maintained a fairly elegant appearance even if she was slightly distracted. And at some point, Cordelia unconsciously eximed. ¡®Wow.¡¯ At an indoor flower garden. The appearance of colorful flowers harmoniously ced under the sunlight shining down from the ss ceiling was like that of a painting. It was unrealistically beautiful. But it was clearly real. ¡®As I thought, the royal pce is in a different level.¡¯ After all, it was the royal pce of the S?len Kingdom, one of the continent¡¯s two great powers. Like Cordelia, Jude was also amazed at the sight. But it was only for a while. When they entered the garden, they strongly felt ufortable. ¡®There¡¯s¡­ no one?¡¯ Cordelia and I are the first guests? That was possible. But it was not what Jude had thought. ¡®There¡¯s only one ce.¡¯ To be exact, there was only one table. If it was a tea party with many nobles participating, there should be several tables, but there was only one small table that could amodate four people in the ce. ¡®No way.¡¯ Is the tea party different from what I thought? I even got a list of the tea party¡¯s participants through the Blue Moon. Could it be that Princess Daphne had a sudden change of schedule? But why in the world? Why? ¡°Because I wanted to focus on only the two of you.¡± They heard a beautiful yet noble and dominating voice, one that was distinct of rulers. Jude and Cordelia turned to the direction of the voice, and they were able to see a blonde beauty wearing a white dress and a golden tiara on her head. Princess Daphne. A woman who was called the jewel of the royal family. Chapter 173 - THE CROWN PRINCESS (2)

Chapter 173 - THE CROWN PRINCESS (2)

¡°Wee to my garden.¡± Princess Daphne said, and the tea party with only three people, which differed from the original schedule, then began. ¡°I am Jude Bayer from the Bayer family.¡± ¡°I am Cordelia Chase from the Chase family.¡± When Jude and Cordelia courteously greeted her, Princess Daphne replied with a faint smile. ¡°Nice to meet you. I am Crown Princess Daphne. As I¡¯ve already said, I wee you to this ce again.¡± Princess Daphne had a clear and beautiful voice, but it was not sweet or gentle-sounding. It was a charismatic voice that captivated the listener with its power and strength. ¡®She¡¯s elegant.¡¯ Rather than being pretty, she was elegant. Obviously, that didn¡¯t mean she wasn¡¯t pretty. Because she was Princess Daphne who was praised for her good character design in the story of?Legend of Heroes. She was an elegant yet detached beautiful woman. Despite wearing a dress, her elegance made it seem like she was wearing a uniform. ¡®Princess Daphne.¡¯ While Cordelia was grasping the sensuous parts of Princess Daphne such as her ¡®elegant air,¡¯ Jude was studying her figure. Height, weight, body type, and her trained body. ¡®First of all, she¡¯s tall.¡¯ Her height was almost in thete 170s. Perhaps it was close to 180 cm. Next, her body that was clearly hardened by training seemed to be firm like that of a sword. ¡®A predator from the cat family¡­¡¯ If Cordelia reminded him of a graceful leopard, the Princess Daphne before him was a lion then. Because her hair was tied up in a bun, her fair and long neck was openly revealed as its slenderness gave it a straighter look. Her shiny dark golden blonde hair seemed to be made from melting gold and was like a crown itself. And green eyes. Its strong and vivid color was different from Jude¡¯s green eyes, and her eyes seemed like it could see through the other person. ¡®A born ruler?¡¯ Those kind of people existed. People who naturally rose to the leader position when they were in groups. Those who made others look at their backs. The fact that she was born and educated as royalty undoubtedly yed a very important role in that. But Jude was convinced. That Princess Daphne was born with it. Even if she was born as amoner and not royalty, she would still captivate the hearts of many people with her charisma. ¡°You may sit down.¡± Princess Daphne spoke, and the two sat down. The table was circr, but it was arranged in a way that Jude and Cordelia sat besides each other with Princess Daphne seated across them. ¡°Alena.¡± When Princess Daphne called out quietly, a maid approached them while pushing a small food trolley. Inside the trolley were various sweet snacks, pretty teacups, and arge and elegant teapot fit for a tea party. ¡°Because this is a tea party. The royal capital¡¯s snacks are a bit sweeter than those in the north, so tell me right away if you don¡¯t like them.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Royal Highness. Thank you for your consideration.¡± Cordelia gracefully responded first, but her mind was thinking a bit differently. She would naturally be like that. After all, how could she express her dissatisfaction with the sweets a royal princess had given her? ¡®But it also looks to be delicious.¡¯ Most of the snacks in the north tasted a bit in, just like what Princess Daphne had said. Compared to modern-day sweets thatvishly used sugar, the sugar here was still a fairly valuablemodity. As Cordeliaid her eyes on the various sweets, Princess Daphne waited for the teacups of Jude and Cordelia to be filled with tea before she slightly reached out and bit on a snack. It was a kind of act which the host showed to their guests in order to directly confirm that the food did not contain anything dangerous like poison, and it was also a very important procedure at tea parties among nobles. ¡°Hmm¡­ as I thought, it¡¯s too sweet.¡± Princess Daphne muttered to herself, smiling bitterly and offering Jude and Cordelia the snacks and tea. ¡°My taste buds are just picky, but these are the finest products that the royal family are proud to offer. Please do enjoy it.¡± ¡°Thank you, Your Royal Highness.¡± ¡°Thank you for your consideration.¡± Jude and Cordelia smoothly responded before they touched their tea and snacks, and both of them smiled in satisfaction. ¡®It¡¯s good?¡¯ ¡®Delicious!¡¯ Jude didn¡¯t actually like ck tea, so him thinking that it was good definitely proved that the tea was of a high quality. Secondly, the scent of the tea was really good. As for Cordelia, she was delighted with the snacks. Because she had tasted something really sweet after a long time. ¡®Sweet, sweet. It¡¯spletely sweet.¡¯ It was a sweet taste that made you feel guilty and think that you shouldn¡¯t eat a lot of it since your teeth might melt from the sweetness. When a bright smile appeared on Cordelia¡¯s face, Princess Daphne softly giggled and said as she looked at Cordelia as if she was appreciating a work of art. ¡°How lovely.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve seen a lot of children from the royal capital¡­ but this is the first time I¡¯ve met a pretty child like you.¡± ¡°Th-thank you.¡± At the directpliment, Cordelia blushed and bowed her head while Jude clenched his fist as he seriously felt satisfied and delighted from the bottom of his heart. ¡®As expected of Cordelia.¡¯ Although his original purpose of showing off Cordelia in front of numerous nobles was not achieved, it was still fine. After all, the most important person had acknowledged Cordelia¡¯s beauty. ¡®Maja and Dahlia should have heard her words.¡¯ If this was an ordinary tea party, it would have beenmon for a guest to be apanied by a maid or escort, but since Princess Daphne dered it as a ¡®three-person tea party,¡¯ the two could not even enter the garden. Perhaps by now, the two were waiting for them in a waiting room. In any case, Jude was immersed in a really good mood, while Princess Daphne continued to watch Cordelia before she spoke. ¡°Are you surprised to be invited in a tea party that only has three people?¡± ¡°Eh? That¡­ uh¡­ a bit?¡± Cordelia answered a little timidly, and Princess Daphne¡¯s smile deepened, seemingly liking Cordelia¡¯s timidity. ¡°I wanted to meet and focus on you two closely, like I said for the first time. After all, you¡¯ll be the first people to be awarded titles since I was born.¡± ¡°Titles?¡± Cordelia asked with widened eyes, and Princess Daphne nodded and spoke again. ¡°Yes, both of you will be conferred baron titles. A separatend will not be distributed, but it will hold more weight than just a knighthood.¡± After all, it was a baron peerage. Although they would be barons in name only, it was clearly a higher position than a regr knight. ¡®Awesome!¡¯ Cordelia looked back at Jude who responded with his eyes before he turned his attention to Princess Daphne again. The reason Princess Daphne talked about that. The first title conferment ceremony since she was born. Princess Daphne was only 20 years old. Hering-of-age ceremony had been heldst month. ¡®But is that all?¡¯ It must have been very nerve-racking to perform her first official duty as royalty. But was that really the reason why she even changed the schedule of the tea party and made it for three people only? Princess Daphne spoke as if answering Jude¡¯s question. ¡°And¡­ it¡¯s because you two were famous. I wanted to meet you in person and hear your story. I wanted to know what kind of children you were. Certainly¡­ there are people who gain a reputation in the S?len Kingdom in some way. Well, yours seem to be quite blown out of proportion though.¡± Princess Daphne talked a bit mischievously and gazed at Cordelia with a look that seemed to ask if her words were correct, and Cordelia¡¯s lips squirmed before she replied ¡®yes.¡¯ ¡°In truth, I had first thought that it was nonsense.¡± There were so many stories about them, and some of those sounded ridiculous. Moreover, what was passed on to Princess Daphne was not like the ¡®rumors¡¯ that Princess Darianne met. The royal family¡¯s informants collected information from all over the country and reported it, and that included a report Count Hr?svelgr had written himself as a margrave. ¡®Demon yer.¡¯ It was the code name that royal informants had given to Jude and Cordelia. As the name implied, they were ¡®demon hunters¡¯ who had already killed several demonic followers and demonic humans. They defeated the demonic human who tried to kidnap the children from the 12 northern families in Langesthei. Afterwards, they defeated the demonic beast in the Witch¡¯s Forest. They then defeated the demonic humans in the northern viscount¡¯s residence. They defeated the demon and the demonic humans in Frost Anvil too. Up to this point, all of these were already unimaginable achievements for children of ordinary nobles, but their activities beyond the border were also added. ¡®Guardians of the Wild Lands.¡¯ The figures who defeated the corrupted barbarians and the empire¡¯s demonic human, and then stopped the massive war nned by the ¡®Devil¡¯s Eye.¡¯ Of course, Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s report did notpletely describe the achievements of Jude and Cordelia, but the battle in the ins alone, which was the final decisive battle, far exceeded the other achievements of the two. ¡®But it¡¯s not just their war achievements.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t because of their fantastic merits that led to Jude and Cordelia being called a fantasy couple. An immature couple. Despite being already engaged, that didn¡¯t stop the two from running away at night because of love. And the shameless letters they left behind when they would escape. It was unbelievable that they were the same people who made all those achievements listed above, but thetter parts were also true. ¡®And Darianne¡¯s story.¡¯ To begin with, Darianne was a good child. A pure child who was affectionate and bright, and not yet aware of the horrors of the world or the dark side of humans. But that didn¡¯t mean she was a fool. Darianne also had an eye for judging people. Moreover, Darianne¡¯s ability that she awakened as royalty was also rted to her eyes. But such a Darianne praised Jude and Cordelia. Without hesitation, she even called them ¡®unnie¡¯ and ¡®oppa.¡¯ ¡®The finishing blow.¡¯ Their performance in the Banquet of Swords. Jude¡¯s match against the Sword Saint of Light clearly revealed how strong he currently was. ¡®Too strong.¡¯ A skill that couldn¡¯t even bepared to his peers. A strength that overwhelmed Lucas Hr?svelgr, who was known as the Girin of the North. ¡®The more I hear about it, the more it feels strange.¡¯ They stimted the curiosity of others, making other people ask many times if the protagonists of these stories were really the same people. It was evidently one of most important reasons why they were here now, but even if that wasn¡¯t the reason, Princess Daphne would have still invited them here. ¡°Moving on¡­ It seems it was a good idea to invite you two here. I could at least confirm one thing immediately.¡± What one thing? Are you talking about the rumors that Jude and I love each other? Cordelia unknowingly became tense and her hand groped the air near her thighs, and Jude grabbed and held Cordelia¡¯s hand. The warmth was not transmitted because both of them were wearing gloves, but the fact that they held each other¡¯s hands made Cordelia feel much better. ¡®He¡¯s reassuring.¡¯ Should I say that he makes me feel calm? Having beenforted by Jude¡¯s firm hands, Cordelia faced Princess Daphne again, who suddenly got up from her seat and approached Cordelia, saying. ¡°You¡¯re really beautiful, Cordelia.¡± As she whispered, her hand moved and touched Cordelia¡¯s cheek before it slowly moved down to the neck. She then spoke as her hand quietly headed to the chest of Cordelia who was unable to move from extreme tension. ¡°Your scarf is crooked.¡± The white scarf on the upper part of her pink dress. Princess Daphne fixed Cordelia¡¯s scarf, and Cordelia lightly bit her lips unconsciously. ¡®W-what is this? Why is my heart pounding?¡¯ Why is my heart beating like this when we¡¯re both women and wearing a dress, and she¡¯s just fixing my scarf? Cordelia¡¯s face flushed red and she gazed at Princess Daphne as if she was a bit bewitched. On the other hand, Jude squeezed Cordelia¡¯s hand a bit tight to make here to her senses. ¡°Fufu, how cute.¡± Cordelia. No, Jude too. Princess Daphne quietly smiled at the two before she nced at Jude as she ced her hand on Cordelia¡¯s shoulder instead of sitting down again. ¡°Jude Bayer. The second son of the swordmaster, Count Bayer.¡± He looked naturally strong just by his physical looks alone. He seemed to have been practicing martial arts since his childhood. But Princess Daphne had already reviewed Jude¡¯s records several times. Everyone knew that Jude was born with Gueumjulmaek, and that only half a year ago, he could not even do basic physical training, let alone martial arts. ¡°What happened?¡± Only half a year had passed. What had happened in that time that made him as strong as he was now? Princess Daphne gently squeezed Cordelia¡¯s shoulder. She looked straight at Jude who had the same but different green eyes as her and asked. ¡°Can you exin how you became so strong?¡± Her eyes had a cold and piercing gaze. Therefore, Jude replied honestly. ¡°I had a lot of strange encounters.¡± The Sun¡¯s Ne with the power of Sri. A meeting with the Fairy Queen. The absorption of the Sunflower and so on. Jude didn¡¯t necessarily list it one by one. In fact, it was very strange for someone to experience all of these within a short period of time. ¡°Strange encounters.¡± Princess Daphne smiled. She stroked Cordelia¡¯s shoulder and continued. ¡°Perhaps you signed a contract with a demon?¡± A way to be a strong person in a very short time. A contract with a demon. To devote one¡¯s soul to an overlord of hell and be reborn as a demonic human. At her unexpected suspicion, Cordelia raised her head and tried to open her mouth, but Jude tightened his grip on her hand as if to hold her back from speaking. Because he knew it when he made eye contact with the other. That Princess Daphne wasn¡¯t serious with what she said. ¡°Though, that is impossible. Because you¡¯re the disciple of Iron Man Landius, the hero of the Paragon Kingdom and not just anyone else.¡± Princess Daphne slightly tilted her head, seemingly asking him if that was true, and Jude replied with a small smile. ¡°It¡¯s true.¡± It wasn¡¯t really a big secret. All the knights of Count Bayer and Count Hr?svelgr who were with them during the incident at the northern viscount¡¯s residence had known of it. ¡°But even if I take all of these into ount¡­ it¡¯s true that you¡¯re too strong. That¡¯s why it¡¯s good.¡± Princess Daphne said something they didn¡¯t understand, and she softly smiled before pulling a chair next to Cordelia and then sitting down. ¡°Then Cordelia, is the fairy story true?¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­yes. It¡¯s true.¡± The story of their meeting with the fall fairies was quite famous. When Cordelia added the stories of them meeting the winter fairies and the fall fairies in the wildnds, Princess Daphne spoke as she gently touched her own chin. ¡°Hmm¡­ I see. There¡¯s no special condition¡­¡± ¡°Princess?¡± ¡°The truth is, there is one such ce in the royal pce. There¡¯s a legend that fairies appear there¡­ but I¡¯ve never met any fairies there before. Is it because of myck of beauty?¡± Princess Daphne yfully said and sent a mischievous look at Cordelia who was left speechless at that moment with her mouth wide open, and Princess Daphne said with a giggle as if she found Cordelia¡¯s reaction cute. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ve decided. I need to experiment with Cordelia.¡± ¡°Experiment?¡± ¡°Yes, experiment. Come back at night two dayster. Let¡¯s take a bath together.¡± ¡°That¡­ at the ce where the fairies appear?¡± ¡°Yes, at that ce. I¡¯m also curious about the secret of this gorgeous hair.¡± Princess Daphne gazed at Cordelia¡¯s shiny hair and spoke before she looked at Jude again. ¡°Jude Bayer, can I borrow your fianc¨¦e?¡± ¡°If Cordelia epts, I¡¯m fine with it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what he said.¡± Princess Daphne said as she looked at Cordelia again, and Cordelia wriggled her hand away from Jude before replying. ¡°I¡­ I will go.¡± ¡°Fufu, thank you for epting it. I¡¯ll look forward to that day.¡± Having been close to Cordelia, Princess Daphne withdrew and straightened her posture again. She then suddenly asked with narrowed eyes. ¡°It seems like you¡¯ve done some magic on your hair¡­ Can you tell me the secret?¡± ¡°Why not leave it as a question for two dayster?¡± Jude smoothly responded, and Princess Daphne smiled again and nodded. ¡°Very well, I¡¯ll look forward to the night two dayster.¡± And that was it. They spent a few more minutes with some small talk about the events that happened after their time in the wildnds, and Princess Daphne eventually bade them farewell after she helped Cordelia get up. ¡°Then, I look forward to meeting you two in two days. Of course, I had fun in today¡¯s meeting too.¡± ¡°We also enjoyed it.¡± ¡°We¡¯re very honored that you spared us your time.¡± When Cordelia and Jude answered in turn, Princess Daphne allowed the two to leave, and the tea party ended with Jude and Cordelia leaving the flower garden. And around a dozen secondster. After Jude and Cordelia left the garden and some time had psed, Princess Daphne sat down in a chair and raised her voice. ¡°What do you think?¡± She spoke with a much softer and warmer voice than when she faced Jude and Cordelia, and a curt answer came back to her. ¡°Not bad.¡± A very handsome blond young man walked out of a corner in the flower garden, where the flowers and trees had been arranged in order to form a kind of barrier. He was Prince Dion, Princess Daphne¡¯s strongest and reliable ally. At his evaluation, Princess Daphne stretched her shoulders and asked again. ¡°Why is it not bad?¡± ¡°First of all, they seem to be good people, but we¡¯ve only met them for a very short time. However¡­ I¡¯m certain about their abilities.¡± ¡°And the reason?¡± ¡°I was noticed.¡± ¡°Landius¡¯ disciple?¡± ¡°Landius¡¯ disciple too.¡± Princess Daphne slightly frowned at Prince Dion¡¯s answer. Because she did not expect that. ¡°Are you saying that Cordelia noticed you too?¡± ¡°Yes, rather, she was faster than Landius¡¯ disciple.¡± The reason Cordelia was flustered when she first faced Princess Daphne was not simply because she was overwhelmed by Princess Daphne¡¯s charisma. It was because she noticed the presence of Prince Dion who was hiding in the corner. So Princess Daphne asked again as she furrowed her brows. ¡°Because she¡¯s a wizard?¡± ¡°She didn¡¯t use any search magic. Moreover, this flower garden is my magic realm. I can perceive any shoddy tricks.¡± ¡°Then?¡± ¡°Her senses are good.¡± She was almost like a wild animal. Or more like a beast than a human. ¡°Perhaps you should have juste out and greeted them.¡± ¡°No. I learned some things from my observation of them while hiding. Furthermore¡­ it would do more for us to be careful, I think? Those two may determine our fate¡­ and the fate of the S?len Kingdom.¡± The two people of destiny. Princess Daphne slowly nodded at Prince Dion¡¯s words. She stared at the door of the flower garden where Jude and Cordelia had gone out of. *** Outside the flower garden. Having arrived at a hallway under the guidance of a pce staff, Cordelia immediately nced at Jude. ¡®Hey! Why did you agree to it!¡¯ ¡®What? You mean the bath?¡¯ ¡®Yes, the bath. I¡¯m somehow scared!¡¯ Princess Daphne. She was definitely a beautiful, elegant, and charismatic princess, but she was somehow scary. ¡®Is that a big deal? Besides, it¡¯s an opportunity.¡¯ ¡®An opportunity to get acquainted with the princess?¡¯ ¡®An opportunity to actively lure her with shampoo and conditioner.¡¯ Cordelia blinked her eyes at Jude¡¯s reply, and Jude cleared his throat and said again via magic. [And if you do well, you may be able to meet the fairies, right? As for the fairies who might be residing in the royal family¡¯s residence¡­ chances are high that it¡¯s the summer fairies, right?] [Yes, probably. Wait, you didn¡¯t tear a scroll just now, right? Did you just use magic?] [Because Message magic is simple to cast.] Cordelia frowned when Jude shrugged as if it was something trivial. [This is why talented people are so unlucky.] [Hey, didn¡¯t you also master Lightning Punch and my family¡¯s wind-like footwork techniques in an instant?] [That is that, and this is this.] [You still have some?hair in your heart, huh? You must be feeling warm then?] T/N: Word y again. ¡®Hair in your heart¡¯ is an idiom that refers to a brazen or shameless person. So Jude was saying that she was shameless. But he also used it literally in his next sentence. Hair provided warmth to one¡¯s head, so if one¡¯s heart had hair too, their heart would also feel warm. [Yes, it¡¯s so warm. It feels nice.] [It must feel nice, huh? Anyway, did you notice him?] [Prince Dion?] [Yes, he was observing us while hiding.] [Eueue¡­ did we do something bad?] [I don¡¯t think it¡¯s that¡­ It¡¯s more like he¡¯s cautious of us or something.] Something that Jude himself did not understand why. Perhaps it was some information that only Princess Daphne had. [Haa¡­ anyway, we have toe back in two days.] [Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll properly make you beautiful then.] Jude smiled and looked at her, and Cordelia responded with a worried gaze. But it was then. Jude and Cordelia suddenly straightened their postures and looked in front of them. Because someone was heading towards them, or to be exact, someone was walking towards Princess Daphne¡¯s flower garden. That person¡¯s gray hair revealed their age. But their physique and fierce eyes didn¡¯t match it. Jude and Cordelia knew who he was. ¡®The Lord Protector.¡¯ The main culprit in the royal family¡¯s genocide, and the actual final boss who must be stopped in their uing battle in the royal capital. It was a natural rule that a lower-ranked person should not greet a higher-ranked person unless thetter one spoke to them first. Therefore, the pce staff stopped to wait for the Lord Protector¡¯s words, and so did Jude and Cordelia. But the Lord Protector did not speak to Jude and Cordelia. He just looked at them with his cold eyes before passing by as he headed to the flower garden. [Nothing bad will happen¡­ right?] The main culprit behind the royal family¡¯s genocide was going to see Princess Daphne. Cordelia asked as she felt troubled, and Jude nodded his head. [Because it¡¯s not yet the day of the founding anniversary.] The Lord Protector was the head of the royalists, so he was a person who frequently met with the next monarch, Princess Daphne. Perhaps today¡¯s meeting wasn¡¯t such an eventful meeting. [I¡¯m relieved then¡­] Cordelia lightly bit her lips, and she squeezed Jude¡¯s hand which she had been holding since the beginning of the tea party. The Lord Protector, one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. An opponent they had to fight in person fifteen days or soter. [It will be fine. We have First Sword.] Jude said, and Cordelia nodded again. She took a step and suppressed her ominous premonition. *** At the same time, in a ce far from the royal capital. A man frowned at an old temple located in the border between the central and northern parts of the kingdom. He unknowingly said aloud. ¡°Pink¡­Bomb?¡± It was a really weird name, so it was something he would never forget the moment he heard himself say it. And now, he felt that it was two words that he should remember. The man, Necromancer Velkian, folded the letter with his long and thin fingers before he raised his head to look towards the northeast. It was in the direction of the royal capital. Chapter 174 - EPISODE 174 – COUNTDOWN (1)

Chapter 174 - EPISODE 174 ¨C COUNTDOWN (1)

Jude and Cordelia sat next to each other as they looked at the invitation with fancy handwriting. The invitation was made from a very high-quality paper and sealed with the royal family¡¯s seal. ¡°Uh¡­ Does that mean we¡¯ll all be taking a bath together?¡± ¡°I think so. The contents are a bit different from what we first heard.¡± An hour or so after their tea party with Princess Daphne. If he summarized the contents of the new invitation that Maja brought to them, it was as follows: Let¡¯s y in the water together two nightster. Together with Jude, Dion and Darianne. ¡®Hey, isn¡¯t this a bit too much for a bath?¡¯ Since it was an act of revealing their naked bodies, he didn¡¯t want others to see Cordelia¡¯s naked body, even if they were of the same sex as her. ¡°The ce remains to be the same¡­ Perhaps we¡¯ll be wearing swimwear in something like a hot spring. Or is this kind of like a night pool?¡± When Jude muttered to himself, Cordelia¡¯s eyes widened before she asked. ¡°Night pool? What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s literally a swimming pool that you go to at night. That is, if the pool in broad daylight is a yground for the whole family, the night pool is like a yground for adults.¡± Because no kids would be there. At Jude¡¯s vague exnation, Cordelia frowned and began to think before she asked again with a curious face. ¡°Is it like a club then?¡± ¡°There are ces like that in clubs, and there are ces like swimming pools in hotels that are only open at night.¡± Having said that, Jude stared off into the distance for a while as if he was recalling something. Cordelia then asked in an unexpectedly fast tone. ¡°Had you gone there in the past? Who did you go with? A woman? A girlfriend?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Who did you go with?¡± Cordelia¡¯s face drew closer. So Jude¡¯s shoulders flinched in reflex, and he unconsciously said as if he was making an excuse. ¡°That¡­ I¡¯ve never gone there to y, I just happened to know about it.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes, really. Why would I pretend to have been there, or lie about never going there¡­right?¡± ¡°Hmmmmmm¡­¡± Cordelia narrowed her eyes and Jude spontaneously gulped in nervousness before she soon smiled. She couldn¡¯t help it. ¡°What? Why are you smiling all of a sudden?¡± ¡°Why? I just want to smile.¡± Jude narrowed his eyes like Cordelia did before he slyly smiled. Cordelia somehow got annoyed and pinched the back of Jude¡¯s hand. It didn¡¯t hurt much though. ¡°Moving on, we¡¯ll have to get prepared.¡± ¡°Prepared?¡± ¡°We have to buy swimwear. We didn¡¯t bring any swimwear.¡± Because it was winter now. No, even if it was summer, they wouldn¡¯t have brought swimwear. How could anyone even imagine that they would be swimming and ying with the princess in the future? ¡°I¡¯ll cash the cheque we got into easy money. We need to prepare for the other events too.¡± As Jude enumerated the other events one by one, Cordelia looked at the invitation again before raising her head. ¡°What about the preparations for the ball?¡± ¡°There is that too¡­ but we really have little time left before that day arrives. We have so much to prepare.¡± Their n to foil the ns of the ck Moon, which was the limbs of the Lord Protector in the royal capital, was not yet perfect. The political position of the Lord Protector had been somewhat weakened due to the attacks of the aristocrats, but the attack time itself was too short in the first ce, and ck Moon and the Lord Protector wouldn¡¯t just copse from a few of their corruption cases being revealed. They needed a stronger shot. ¡°Are we doing that for the third time?¡± ¡°Yes, it will be the third andst notice of Phantom Thief Pink Bomb.¡± The third target for their crime had been decided a long time ago. Including what they had decided to steal. ¡°In addition to that¡­ there are other things to prepare, right?¡± ¡°Yes, I have to n an escape route¡­ and there are a lot more people to protect here than in Langesthei.¡± At that time, only Lucas and Cordelia needed to be protected. But this time, the number of royalty they needed to protect far exceeded 10 people. ¡®Of course¡­ if we¡¯re just going to prevent the destruction of the barrier, protecting Princess Daphne only will be enough.¡¯ But that was really the worst case scenario. ¡®We need to save as many royalty as possible. No, we need to make sure no one dies.¡¯ It would be best to make sure that there were no victims. Cordelia would wish for that too. ¡°One way or another¡­ it will be a big fight in the end, right?¡± Cordelia said with gloomy face. Even if they seeded in protecting all the royalty, it would be impossible topletely ensure that there would be no casualties. ¡®A bloody uprising.¡¯ The Lord Protector¡¯s side would be fighting to the death, so damage was inevitable among those who guarded the royal capital, such as the patrol guards and guard knights, as they would be stopping the enemies. ¡®What we can only do is to minimize the casualties.¡¯ Destroying the ck Moon was also just to reduce the damage. ¡°Eueue¡­ I feel a bit frustrated at times like this. I wish I could just tell them everything and make them understand.¡± If they could inform the royal family in advance of the n to annihte them, they could detain or execute the Lord Protector. But that was impossible. People wouldn¡¯t believe what Jude and Cordelia would say. Who would believe that the Lord Protector, the hero who saved the country, was plotting to annihte the royal family just because the two recalled the memories of their previous lives? Rather, they would imprison Jude and Cordelia or send them to a mental health facility. Jude nodded in agreement to Cordelia¡¯s words, and he ced his hand over her hand. ¡°Aren¡¯t we lucky though?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Because we¡¯re together in this.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia was puzzled as her eyes widened before she giggled and said. ¡°Hey, you too?¡± Are you happy to have me? Are you relieved that I¡¯m here? Jude nodded his head at her cute look. ¡°Yes, me too.¡± If I was alone, I would have to do all of these things by myself, so it would be much harder and lonely than now. ¡°I would have be Pink Bomb if I was alone.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not toote for that, Mister ck-hearted ck Cloak.¡± ¡°Yes, Miss White-hearted Pink Bomb. I am satisfied with just being ck Cloak, your sidekick.¡± Jude smirked like always before he stood up and said. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go. It¡¯s shopping time, shopping time. Shouldn¡¯t we spend the money we earned?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ well, that¡¯s fine. We came to the royal capital, but we didn¡¯t have the time to properly tour the royal capital¡¯s weapon stores. I was thinking of getting a whip.¡± As Cordelia grinned and answered, Jude had a bitter smile. What kind of girl would be thinking of a weapon store first when going shopping? ¡°Why? Did I say something weird?¡± ¡°No, Princess. You said it very well. Let¡¯s hurry while we¡¯re at it.¡± ¡°We¡¯re going now?¡± ¡°Is there a problem? It¡¯s not even dinner time yet. Shall we go to a restaurant this time? We¡¯re in the royal capital, but we haven¡¯t eaten much from the restaurants here.¡± Cordelia turned and looked out the window after hearing Jude¡¯s words. It waste in the afternoon, but there was still some time left before the sun sets. ¡°Let¡¯s go shopping, have dinner, go to a bridge or something, and see the night view.¡± ¡°And eat parfait?¡± ¡°If my princess wants it.¡± As Judeughed, Cordelia slightly nodded in agreement to the n. But it was at that moment. ¡®Uh, wait a minute.¡¯ Go shopping, have dinner, and see the night view? Just the two of us? No, of course, we¡¯re almost stuck together every day. Even so. To do something like that. Isn¡¯t that a bit different from what we¡¯ve been doing together so far? As if we are going on a¡­ ¡®D-date?¡¯ At the word that came to her mind, Cordelia raised her head and met eyes with Jude who looked at her as he tilted his head. ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­yes. That, yes, yes.¡± What¡¯s wrong with a date? I can do it. ¡®That¡¯s right. We¡¯re engaged.¡¯ It¡¯s natural for us to d-date. It¡¯s not weird at all. Rather, it¡¯s strange that we haven¡¯t done that so far. Yes, yes, that¡¯s right. I can at least go on a date. ¡®With Jude.¡¯ That was it. Cordelia lightly bit her lips and looked up at Jude again. She could see his usual smirking face and green eyes staring at her. ¡°Anyway, you¡¯re really wily.¡± ¡°Eh? Why are you falsely using me of something?¡± ¡°Hmph.¡± In any case, Cordelia felt strangely better, and she stood up at once and said. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go now. My father will allow it if I tell him my sister will be watching us.¡± Because it would be reallyte if they were going to see the night view. The royal pce doors would be closed once the sun fell, so they would have no choice but to stay outside. ¡°Well, it¡¯s not a bad excuse, but would your father really want that¡­¡± Adelia and Ga?l ¡®watching¡¯ us. Will he really want that? Wouldn¡¯t that cause some problems instead? ¡°You¡¯re thinking of something strange again.¡± ¡°No, I just felt sorry for your father.¡± ¡°What are you talking about? That¡¯s enough of your nonsense. You should dress up too. I¡¯ll go out once I¡¯m done dressing up.¡± It was a bit sudden, but this was their first date. Cordelia spoke while thinking of something different, and Jude exaggeratedly greeted her as if he was in a y. ¡°I look forward to seeing you.¡± ¡°Yes, Milord.¡± With a bright smile, Cordelia turned around and hurriedly walked out. And after 30 minutes or so. A carriage carrying Jude and Cordelia, who had hurried as much as possible to leave the pce before sunset, passed over arge drawbridge. *** At the Salome Dress Shop, the so-called flower of Velden Street which led the fashion industry in the royal capital. Madame Salome¡¯s niece, Marlene, had been working here for three years, and she looked at the couple in front of her with a happy face. ¡®How cute.¡¯ Are they in their mid-tote teens now? A young woman with bright red hair and a handsome and tall young man with ck hair. The girl in a white dress with a pure impression was wearing a white hat with a wide brim, and she looked around the dress shop with feelings of curiosity, fear, a bit of envy, and some expectation, as if she was unfamiliar with everything. ¡®It¡¯s an expression I¡¯ve seen a lot of times.¡¯ Especially from thedies who came from far ces. ¡®She seems like a youngdy from a fairly good family, but¡­¡¯ She could tell by just looking at the white dress the girl was wearing. The design was modest, but it wasn¡¯t made of ordinary fabric. She had a ring on her fingers and a brooch on her chest. The designs of those weren¡¯t thetest ones, but she could clearly tell that those essories were of considerable value. And above all. ¡®She¡¯s so pretty!¡¯ It feels like I saw a doll who became a real person. How can her eyes, nose, and mouth look so delicate in that tiny face? And the young man next to her. He¡¯s probably a lover or fianc¨¦, and he¡¯s a handsome man who looks like he came out of a painting. Unlike the girl, the man seemed to be quite familiar to the ce as he acted naturally. Marlene was attracted to the young man¡¯s face, though she still behaved properly. ¡®I have to be careful.¡¯ From the moment they entered the store. It only seemed to be a normal walk, but the veteran Marlen knew. The young man was always alert of the girl¡¯s movements wherever she went. Like an ideal escort. An escort who paid attention to everything in order to protect the girl anytime and anywhere. ¡®There¡¯s that too.¡¯ The young man did not take his eyes off the girl for a single moment. Even when he looked elsewhere for a moment, he always put the girl in a corner of his sight. ¡®He¡¯s interested.¡¯ When someone came to a dress shop like this, it was usually the woman who was excited and would look closely while the man would take a step back and have a silent expression. If you asked the man if they liked it, he would just reply with one word. But this couple was a bit different. Because the man was much more enthusiastic than the woman. ¡°Ha, this won¡¯t do. Anyway, it would be better if there were more variations.¡± The young man, Jude, muttered before he looked back at Marlene and said. ¡°Just give us everything from here to here.¡± From the left end to the right end. Around ten dresses. At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia was surprised and quickly pulled Jude¡¯s sleeve. [Hey! Are you crazy?! You¡¯re seriously crazy!] [No, I¡¯m not. Why are you saying that?] [You¡¯repletely overspending! Squander out! I refuse! No! Absolutely not!] Cordelia firmly dered with magic, and she looked around in a hurry and said, pointing to the dress disyed on the other side. ¡°That one! Please give me that one!¡± If I don¡¯t properly choose something, Jude might persist with his actions again. It looks a bit expensive, but I¡¯ll pick the prettiest one if I have to choose. But it was at that moment. ¡°Oh, as expected of Cordelia.¡± ¡°You have a good eye.¡± Jude and Marlene spoke in turn, and Cordelia was forced to blink her eyes. ¡°Eh? A good¡­eye?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s the best item in our shop.¡± Marlene brightly smiled and said, and Jude quietly whispered into Cordelia¡¯s ear instead of using message magic. ¡°That one is more expensive than the ones on this wallbined.¡± ¡°What?!¡± Jude had whispered, but not Cordelia. She shouted loudly without realizing it, and she shook her arms afterwards, not caring if Marlene was surprised or not. ¡°C-cancel! Completely cancel it! Super cancel it!¡± Cordelia was so surprised that she spoke some strange words, and she stepped hard on Jude¡¯s foot because he was smirking at her, while Marlene bit her lips and barely held back herughter. And another half an hour or so passed. After purchasing two dresses and three swimwear to wear for two dayster, Jude and Cordelia went out of the dress shop with a lively face on one side and apletely exhausted face on the other. ¡°The world must have obviously gone crazy.¡± ¡°Because the dress is too expensive?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just stupid.¡± Cordelia was from the Chase family, one of the 12 northern families, so she was ustomed to a ¡®noble¡¯s spending habit¡¯ since she spent 17 years of her life as a noble. But there was a limit to a noble¡¯s spending habit. ¡°It¡¯s a total waste. Aplete luxury. Besides, I think you¡¯ve lost your sense of money, Jude. Don¡¯t you know not to spend so much just because you suddenly have a lot of money?¡± Cordelia spoke like she was giving a sermon, and she walked forward before continuing her words. ¡°It¡¯s really hard to stop once you begin to spend moneyvishly. That¡¯s why ruined nobles spend their moneyvishly even after they¡¯ve gone bankrupt or been disgraced. It¡¯s not that they¡¯re stupid, it¡¯s just their human disposition in the first ce.¡± ¡°Where did you learn that?¡± ¡°My school¡¯s economics teacher.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s reply, Jude grinned as if he was saying, ¡®Really?¡¯, and Cordelia pinched Jude on the cheek. ¡°In any case, I hate that.¡± And she stepped back. At the moment she crossed the bridge and stepped into the long shadows made by the setting sun. ¡°Why don¡¯t youe out now?¡± Cordelia suddenly spoke to behind her, and Jude also realized it at that moment. Who Cordelia had noticed. And who Jude himself knew too. It was outside the range of his ¡®detection field.¡¯ Because it was located exactly one step away from the edge of the detection field Jude always unfolded, and that person was determined to hide their presence, so Jude had not noticed him earlier. But Cordelia sensed that person. Her senses, which were sharper than a wild beast, made it possible. Cordelia turned around, and Jude stood by her side and looked too. A man whose presence was like a ghost. ¡°Hey, your senses are good, huh?¡± A man with a mischievous face and long and neat dark blue hair. ¡°I was just passing by, and I saw you two. I followed you two because I wanted to eat with you together. Uh¡­ did I interfere with you two or something?¡± Rhun Froud, the Sword Saint of Light. Commonly known as First Sword. A man who was shameless enough to interrupt the date of a sweet couple. First Sword slyly smiled, and Jude and Cordelia ¨C especially Jude, faced him with a sulking look. Chapter 175 - EPISODE 175 – COUNTDOWN (2)

Chapter 175 - EPISODE 175 ¨C COUNTDOWN (2)

Terms used in this chapter: Yaksha?¨C a kind of supernatural being that is often depicted as having supernatural power, great strength, and a frightening appearance. Can also be called a demon. Its Japanese equivalent is an oni. And if you y Genshin Impact, Xiao is an adepti who is thest of the Five Yakshas. As the heavens knew, the earth knew, and Cordelia knew, Jude was the kind of person who was meticulous in his preparations. You could say that he always had a n for everything. Naturally, there were many times when the situation changed during a battle, so he also had to do some improvisations, but such situations were unavoidable. Even in battles, he would take out a trump card he had prepared in advance and use it. And in order to do that, he had to predict all the possible situations and prepare ordingly. His date with Cordelia. He had already assumed that it would happen. When Jude had done some investigation regarding the royal capital, it was not only the ck Moon and Blue Moon that he paid attention to. What is the best dress shop? What is the most famous restaurant? What are the best ces for sightseeing? Is there any ce with a lot of attractions that we can go to anytime? ¡°I know a nearby ce where they serve some amazing steaks. Would you like to go there with me?¡± First Sword slyly said, and Jude took a deep breath first. Because he already knew where the best steakhouse that First Sword was referring to. ¡®The Shepherd¡¯s ce.¡¯ ¡°It¡¯s a shop called The Shepherd¡¯s ce, and the chef there is amazing.¡± Just as Jude had thought. ¡°It¡¯s like fate that we met here like this, so let¡¯s go there, okay? It¡¯ll be my treat.¡± A talk with First Sword. A meal with First Sword. If you were a promising swordsman in the center, no, in the S?len Kingdom, you would not refuse it. Rather, you would want to go with him even if you had to be the one to pay for the meal. But. Still. ¡®Haa¡­¡¯ F*ck. Just like what Cordelia always said, him saying ?¡®f*ck¡¯ was more of an exmation than a curse. How else could he fully express his feelings? ¡®We should go.¡¯ We must go. Because we have to get close to First Sword. It will be easier for us on the day of the founding anniversary if we get close to him. ¡®But why did it have to be now?¡¯ He had nned to get close to First Sword on another day. And that day was not today. ¡®Haa¡­¡¯ Jude sighed again in his thoughts, and the person next to him lightly pulled his sleeve. ¡®Jude, Jude. We should go, right?¡¯ He¡¯ll treat us to a meal. We have to get close to First Sword anyway. No, I¡¯m not saying that we should go because he¡¯s treating us to a meal. Anyway, we should just go with him. At the words that Cordelia conveyed with her gaze, Jude was silent for a while before he nodded his head. ¡®It can¡¯t be helped.¡¯ ¡®Yes, yes, let¡¯s eat with First Sword today.¡¯ When Jude saw Cordelia¡¯s eyes that seemed to soothe him, he fixed his gaze on her face for a moment instead of looking back at First Sword. There was a feeling of regret in her blue eyes. Jude was satisfied with that. He faintly smiled before he turned to First Sword. ¡°Thank you for your offer. It¡¯s an honor to have a meal with First Sword-nim.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯m grateful that you willingly epted it.¡± First Sword slyly said again, but they could tell from looking at his face. ¡®He¡¯s very excited.¡¯ ¡®He¡¯s a really sly person.¡¯ He was simr to Jude but also different. In any case, Jude and Cordelia epted his offer, and First Sword was delighted and approached the two. He then stretched out his hand to Cordelia. ¡°Lady Cordelia, may I have the honor of escorting you?¡± At First Sword¡¯s shameless offer, Cordelia first turned to Jude before she smiled. She gracefully acted as someone who had lived as a count¡¯s daughter for 17 years. ¡°It¡¯s an honor that the Sword Saint of Light wants to escort me. But¡­¡± Cordelia nced at Jude again, giving him a mischievous look before she turned to First Sword and apologized. ¡°My jealous fianc¨¦ is next to me. I hope you understand.¡± Cordelia answered a bit cutely, and First Sword chuckled and immediately nodded. ¡°It can¡¯t be helped then. But Lady Cordelia, you shouldn¡¯t be indulgent with his excessive jealousy. That¡¯s not a good habit, you know?¡± ¡°Thank you for your valuable advice.¡± Cordelia beautifully responded again, and First Sword stepped back with a pleased smile. His expression seemed to say that he was fine now since he had managed to nd a punch¡¯ on Jude. ¡°Now then, let me lead you two there.¡± First Sword turned around and strode forward. His strides were quite big, so she thought that they should quickly follow him. ¡®Jude?¡¯ At Cordelia¡¯s gaze that seemed to beughing, Jude narrowed his eyes and suddenly grabbed Cordelia¡¯s hand. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Princess.¡± His face was a bit different from his usual sly face, as he now had a face like that of a child whose innermost thoughts had been revealed. Cordelia tried to hold back herughter and then nodded. ¡°Yes, my jealous fianc¨¦. Please escort me~ okay?¡± She acted a bit cute and teasing at the end, and Jude walked forward instead of answering, so she finallyughed out loud. Jude¡¯s earlobes were burning red. ¡°Ah, I¡¯m starting to like First Sword all of a sudden. He¡¯s a nice uncle.¡± Jude did not respond to Cordelia¡¯s monologue, nor did he say anything. No, he did react a little. Because he slightly strengthened his grip on his hand that held hers. ¡®How cute.¡¯ Cordelia giggled and adjusted her fingers in Jude¡¯s big hand before she looked in front and saw First Sword looking their way. The man who seemed to be somehow excited until now was standing there with a very annoyed look. Why? What¡¯s wrong with him? Cordelia stepped forward instead of asking him. The clean and cold night air of the royal capital seemed to be hot today. *** The Shepherd¡¯s ce was clearly a ce that deserved its reputation for its food. The moment she took a bite, the steak seemed to melt in her mouth. ¡®Delicious.¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s steak consumption speed slightly became faster, while Jude habitually analyzed the kind, part, and degree of roasting of the steak. And First Sword looked at the two before saying. ¡°It¡¯s delicious, right? This steakhouse is the best one in the royal capital. It¡¯s a ce I visit often when I¡¯m in the royal capital.¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s really delicious. Thank you very much for introducing it to us.¡± When the happy Cordelia cheerfully answered, a satisfied smile spread on First Sword¡¯s face. He had fun ¡®attacking¡¯ Jude, but a girl¡¯s smile that was as beautiful as a flower was more enjoyable. ¡°Anyway, eat as much as you want. I can afford all of these.¡± Cordelia slightly turned red at First Sword¡¯s suggestion, and she nodded her head. The serving size wasn¡¯t that big, but she wanted to eat at least one more te of steak if it had tasted as delicious as this. ¡®And it¡¯s free too!¡¯ Given the very luxurious atmosphere of the restaurant, it was clear to her that one te of steak was ridiculously expensive. ¡®Maybe that¡¯s why it tastes better.¡¯ Because she was eating meat that was paid for by First Sword. Cordelia happily put a cut of steak in her mouth, while Jude focused a bit more after seeing Cordelia¡¯s appearance. He had to analyze the taste of the food in this store as much as possible. ¡®A near-perfect copy.¡¯ Let¡¯s do this. It had been a long time since Jude gave his all in utilizing his talents for such a meaningless purpose. When they had finished eating to some extent, First Sword was the one to talk first. ¡°It¡¯s a bit sudden to bring this up, but¡­ are you really a swordsman?¡± Jude replied with a calm face instead of being embarrassed to his question. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s correct.¡± ¡°Ah, don¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t take away the prize given to you just because you¡¯re not a swordsman.¡± ¡°But it¡¯s true. Jude¡¯s master is also a swordsman.¡± Cordelia spoke from the side, and First Sword looked at her instead of Jude and said. ¡°Well, you¡¯re right. Landius-nim is originally a swordsman.¡± Originally. At First Sword¡¯s sullen remark, Cordelia smiled a bit. ¡®He was a real swordsman in the first episode.¡¯ A powerful swordsman who wielded a huge sword energetically. But how did he end up like that now? ¡®Please don¡¯t let Jude be like that.¡¯ It¡¯s good if he bes strong, but if he bes that huge¡­ please, no¡­ As Cordelia suddenly began to pray in her mind, First Sword looked back at Jude and asked. ¡°So, how is Ga?l doing?¡± ¡°He¡¯s fine. He¡¯s doing well.¡± First Sword was in his early 30s while Ga?l was in histe 20s, so it was hard to say that they belonged to the same generation because they were about 5-6 years apart in age. But as the Girin of the Sword School, First Sword was already acquainted with Ga?l because they met at a previous Banquet of Swords. ¡°I see¡­ that guy should really get married though.¡± It was rare for a count¡¯s eldest son to be not yet married despite being in histe twenties. Having just finished her prayer, Cordelia softly answered when First Sword spoke as if he was worried. ¡°He¡¯ll be married soon. With my sister.¡± ¡°I see, your sister¡­ Wait, what? Ga?l is getting married? And with the Golden Yaksha¡­ I mean, with Adelia?!¡± When First Sword asked in surprise, Cordelia smiled again and nodded. ¡°Yes, with my sister.¡± The Golden Yaksha. The Hell Witch. All of these referred to Adelia Chase, the 7thmander of the Royal Guards Magic Corps, and that was why it made First Swordugh. ¡°That¡¯s really amazing. That Ga?ld would be marrying Lady Adelia¡­ How did he win over her?¡± First Sword murmured low, and the other two stared at him with a slightly surprised face. Because they did not expect First Sword and Ga?l¡¯s connection to be that close. ¡°Well, congrattions anyway. Please tell them that my congrattions.¡± ¡°We will.¡± Jude politely answered, and First Sword returned to his usual idle posture before he spoke again. ¡°As I¡¯ve said before, one of the main reasons I chose to stay was because of you two. I feel like I have to stay in the royal capital when I see you two.¡± ¡°We also want to be close whenever we see First Sword-nim.¡± Cordelia spoke in a charming manner, and First Sword smiled in satisfaction. ¡°Yes, maybe it really is fate. To begin with, I really like the two of you. Aren¡¯t you talented geniuses?¡± ¡°I¡¯m ttered.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not that much.¡± First Swordughed at Jude¡¯s humble response, and he said as he buried his back in the chair. ¡°Have you heard it from Cornwell? I had gone to the empire and met some monsters.¡± ¡°Yes, we¡¯ve heard about it.¡± ¡°Maximilian de Avis and Leon Gadreel.¡± Jude and Cordelia narrowed their eyes at the two names mentioned by First Sword. Because they had already expected to hear those names. Even among the yable characters made up of geniuses, one was the owner of a monstrous talent who was the true protagonist of?Legend of Heroes 2, and the other was a sword genius who could face such a monster. ¡°In my life, I had seen many people who were called geniuses, but it was my first time meeting someone like them. What surprised me in particr was their strength that didn¡¯t fit their age.¡± First Sword himself was strong right now. But what about in ten years? What about in twenty years? ¡°Even if we¡¯re the Ten Great Swordmasters or Sword Saints, we¡¯re still human beings in the end. We have no choice but to get weaker as we get older. In the past, the Lord Protector boasted of an outstanding strength among the Ten Great Swordmasters, but the present him is not as good as he used to be.¡± First Sword continued to ramble before he ended his words with a bitter smile. He looked at Jude again and said. ¡°I don¡¯t know if Cornwell has already said this, but I¡¯m quite excited about you. The kingdom should also have at least one monster, and not just the empire.¡± Jude nodded at First Sword¡¯s words. He responded with a serious face, as if he wanted to meet First Sword¡¯s expectations. ¡°I will do my best.¡± ¡°Ah, darn it. If it weren¡¯t for Landius-nim, I would have taken and made you my disciple.¡± ¡°Thank you very much for your kind consideration.¡± ¡°You¡¯re really polite.¡± First Sword chuckled again before he stood up instead of continuing their conversation. ¡°Anyway, we¡¯ve had a good meal, and I¡¯ve said hello, so this unwanted guest will show himself out. I¡¯d like to stick with you until you go home, but¡­ uh¡­ what do you think?¡± ¡°Thank you for your thoughts.¡± Jude made a stiff smile, making First Swordugh loudly. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s natural for you to decline it. Anyway, see you next time. Lady Cordelia, see you next time too.¡± ¡°Thank you for the meal. I look forward to seeing you next time.¡± ¡°Me too.¡± First Sword greeted Cordelia back in a theatrical manner, and he turned around after greeting Jude for thest time. Jude then stared at the back of such a man. First Sword. The Sword Saint of Light. A bright, energetic, mischievous, and cheerful man. As Jude continued to stare at First Sword, Cordelia asked in a low voice. ¡°What is it? Is it because he may leave without paying?¡± ¡°There¡¯s that too.¡± Anyway, he was one of the most important characters in their quest. ¡°Ah, he paid it.¡± Cordelia said while Jude nodded his head. It was only then that he looked back at Cordelia. *** ¡°Haa, I¡¯m happy. It was really delicious.¡± Around 30 minutes after First Sword was gone. After drinking tea followed by dessert, Cordelia left the restaurant and patted her stomach with a very satisfied face. ¡°Ahem, it definitely seem to be a bit bigger than usual.¡± ¡°What did you say? You wanna die?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t say anything. Anyway, it was delicious. Let¡¯s stop by that ce again next time.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ rejected. It¡¯s too expensive. Wastefully spending money is a sin.¡± She had been surprised in seeing the price tag on the menu when they had ordered dessert. They had eaten it because First Sword had paid for it, but Cordelia had no intention of eating it if they had asked her to pay for it. ¡°You¡¯re a strange frugal woman, you know that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that I¡¯m strange, but it¡¯s you who is weird, Jude. You waste your money on luxurious stuff. I do buy items, but I don¡¯t crazily spend my money on clothes and food.¡± ¡°So items are okay?¡± ¡°Items are okay. Because it increases mybat power. Which is directly rted to my life.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s argument that was more reasonable than he expected, Jude nodded his head, prompting her to speak cheerfully. ¡°Moving on, I have decided. I¡¯ll be the one to manage our moneyter.¡± ¡°Later?¡± ¡°Yes,ter.¡± ¡°Whatter?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I mean,ter. What do you mean byter?¡± Cordelia blinked at Jude¡¯s question. She had to do that. Later. After everything was over. To be more specific¡­ ¡°Lter ister, andter is somewhere in the future. Anyway, let¡¯s go see the night view. Yes, yes, the night view. The night view. Yes, I¡¯m excited to see it.¡± Cordelia spoke gibberish as her face turned red. Therefore, Jude snickered before he said. ¡°Okay, but there¡¯s a ce we have to stop by in the middle.¡± ¡°Stop by?¡± ¡°Yes, I did talk about the third crime of Pink Bomb, right?¡± ¡°Yes. Ah, so you¡¯re sending a notice?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. After all, it would be hard toe out at night when we¡¯ve entered the pce. Considering the rest of our schedule¡­ and so on, we¡¯ll have to send a notice today, rob them tomorrow, and meet Princess Daphne the day after tomorrow.¡± ¡°How busy.¡± ¡°Because that day is just around the corner.¡± The time after the 300th?founding anniversary ball was over. The time after it had reached its peak. ¡°Okay, so tomorrow is also the day we¡¯ve decided to meet Scarlet. What¡¯s our goal this time? What are we going to steal?¡± ¡°We¡¯re going to raid the headquarters of the ck Moon that¡¯s disguised as a shoppingplex. Our target is the ck Moon¡¯s terror n for the day of the founding anniversary.¡± ¡°Eh? Was there something like that?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s this.¡± Jude naturally responded as he took out some documents in his enchanted chest pocket and showed them to Cordelia, who looked at him with wide open eyes. ¡°Hey, Jude, the second son of Count Bayer. Is that thing you are holding the ck Moon¡¯s terror n?¡± ¡°Yes, Lady Cordelia, the second daughter of Count Chase. It¡¯s the terror n that you¡¯ll be stealing from the headquarters of the ck Moon.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to steal it, but you¡¯re already holding it?¡± ¡°Yes, the important thing is that we made everyone believe that we seized the terror n of the ck Moon in their headquarters, and not the fact that a terror n existed in the first ce.¡± It was the same trick they used in Langesthei. False evidence. But those documents contained real information that could put the ck Moon into deep trouble. Cordelia shifted her gaze to the documents in Jude¡¯s hand before she looked back at Jude again. ¡°Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± ¡°You¡¯re a really, really bad guy.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that good? Aren¡¯t you attracted to bad guys?¡± When Jude shamelessly retorted, Cordelia looked at him as if she heard something ridiculous, but she soon widely smiled. She grabbed Jude¡¯s arm and answered. ¡°I primarily like good guys.¡± ¡°Primarily?¡± ¡°Yes, primarily.¡± Cordelia spoke quite haughtily and gestured with her chin, and Jude got up right away. ¡°Then let¡¯s go, Mdy.¡± ¡°Yes, Milord.¡± To be a righteous thief again today and tomorrow. To turn the ck Moon and the Lord Protector upside down again. The fantasy couple walked forward in a close manner. Chapter 176 - EPISODE 176 – BLACK MOON (1)

Chapter 176 - EPISODE 176 ¨C BLACK MOON (1)

ck Moon. They were a huge guild that ruled the underworld of the royal capital. They did petty crimes like pickpocketing and up to serious ones such as prostitution, drugs, and murder. They were hyenas who did all kinds of dirty work in the royal capital as long as they were paid money. Therefore, the Lord Protector looked into the ck Moon and made them his hounds. Hound. Hunting dog. Beings who were only allowed to exist because of their ability to catch prey. ¡°She must be stopped.¡± Karma Bonn, the guild master of the ck Moon, said once again. The pink card he was holding seemed to be out of ce in his rough and shapely hands that were from his street fighting days. Bad kid, isn¡¯t it time for punishment? I¡¯ll visit you at 9 pm tomorrow, so be prepared for a scolding. I¡¯ll pick up the stuff you¡¯ve hidden in the big safe, okay? -Rogue Master Pink Bomb The message was written in rounded and cute handwriting, and an elegantly-written signature was underneath the message. It was like a child¡¯s prank, but he couldn¡¯t ignore it. There had already been two cases. Five men and women stood in front of Karma Bonn, who was twice as big as them. They were the pride of the ck Moon and the ¡®Five Fingers¡¯ who dominated the underworld of the royal capital. The fields they specialized in and the weapons they used were different, but their skills were definitely the best among the ck Moon. The main room was guarded by the Five Fingers and Karma Bonn, the guild master himself. In it was a huge vault that contained all the important documents of the ck Moon. ¡°Is it okay if we don¡¯t stay outside?¡± When asked by Philia, the blind swordsman and one of the Five Fingers, Karma Bonn turned to her. She was a blonde beauty whose eyes were covered with a red cloth. She was unable to see since she was born blind, but she could ¡®see¡¯ through her sense of hearing and touch that was much more than those whose eyes were fine. Her hearing and touch had developed far beyond a normal person. She was the index finger, the second of the Five Fingers, but she was the first in the ck Moon in terms ofbat. In other words, she was in a position that could ask any question to their guild master. ¡°I¡¯ll leave it to the men outside and the royal capital¡¯s guards. Anyway, Pink- no, the Rogue Master¡¯s goal is the treasure in this vault, so she¡¯ll have no choice but to show up here eventually.¡± So it was the perfect way to protect the vault while not needing to distribute their forces. They were fully prepared to stop whoever woulde. ¡°If that is what master wants, I will obey.¡± Philia responded with an elegant voice, and Karma Bonn looked at the other members of the Five Fingers. ¡°What about you guys?¡± ¡°I understand.¡± ¡°I will obey master¡¯s will.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll crush her.¡± Satisfied with the answers of the other Five Fingers, Karma Bonnid his eyes on Pon, thest man who spoke and a giant young man who reminded Karma of his younger self. A born fighter who was into wild and raw fighting. He looked like he was 30, but he was actually only 20 years old and the weakest among the people in the room, but the situation would change in the next 10- no, in just 5 years. ¡®He¡¯d probably be the strongest by that time.¡¯ In chess, he was like a pawn, the weakest piece, but would eventually be a queen, the strongest piece. ¡®Yes, this is just a passing event.¡¯ A minor troubling incident before the big event in half a month. ¡®But I can¡¯t let my guard down.¡¯ In back alley fights, a moment of carelessness could immediately lead to your death. In any case, losing to the Rogue Master might endanger his status as the Lord Protector¡¯s hunting dog. ¡®No, before that, my position of dominating the royal capital¡¯s underworld¡­ might bepromised.¡¯ The underworld was a ce with a lot of strong people who were waiting for him to show a gap. ¡®Rogue Master.¡¯ A daredevil whose shamelessness was unrivaled for using a truly unscrupulous name. But her skills were real, and Karma also admitted that. So he was even more determined. ¡®Come.¡¯ I¡¯ll stop whatever you have prepared. No, I¡¯ll capture you, take away your entire freedom, and make you an ace prostitute. Karma had a somewhat fishy smile like those gangsters in back alleys before he suddenly raised his head. Because he heard a loud noise from outside the building despite the fact that the room where the vault was in didn¡¯t have a single window. ¡°Rogue Master.¡± As he thought of his ns again, he clenched his fist with the notice card. On the other hand, the Five Fingers maintained their positions and remained vignt. And at the same time. There was a woman running wildly and shily as she jumped on the roofs of the red light district where all kinds of shady shops in the royal capital had gathered. ¡°Lulupi! Lulupang! Lulu~ yap!¡± She threw pink dynamite in all directions, shouting a spell that made her cringe before she jumped high on the roof again. ¡°It¡¯s Pink Bomb!¡± ¡°Catch her! Get her!¡± ¡°Encircle her!¡± It wasn¡¯t just the members of the ck Moon. The royal capital¡¯s guards, whose pride had already been sullied twice by Pink Bomb, also joined in the chase as they formed a circr formation. ¡°Ha! Is that all you can do? To catch this Pink Bomb!¡± The rabbit-eared woman, Rogue Master Pink Bomb, sneered as she ran on the roofs while her rabbit tail wiggled. ¡°Continue to corner her! It will be our win if we corner her!¡± ¡°Uooooo!¡± Almost a hundred people ran and shouted together, and their spirited shout was quite loud. And that was why Jude smiled. ¡®Bingo.¡¯ The woman running on the roofughed. But she was different from before. She was a bit taller, her waist was slightly bigger, and her beauty couldn¡¯t bepared to the original one. The Pink Bomb in front of them was a fake. [Hey, hey. What was that? Those words. You should say it in a cuter, prettier, and more adorable manner, okay? Like how Cordelia did!] At Jude¡¯s request, the fake Pink Bomb, Scarlet, sprinted on the roof and burst with anger. [The heck is that nonsense! I already feel like I¡¯m about to die from embarrassment, okay!] [What? Didn¡¯t your voice sounded a little joyful earlier? Weren¡¯t you enjoying this?] [I don¡¯t enjoy this! You crazy b*stard!] [You¡¯re not being honest.] [Ugh, you¡¯re so annoying!] Scarlet disliked it, but Jude¡¯s words was true to some extent. Because her voice had indeed sounded happy despite saying that she didn¡¯t want to do it and that she¡¯d die from embarrassment. ¡®It¡¯s her first time wearing that.¡¯ Wouldn¡¯t she feel good wearing something different? It was the reason why people wear animal ears headbands when they went to amusement parks. [Okay, okay. Ipletely understand you. I understand.] [What do you mean by you understand me!] [Compared to Cordelia, your waist is bigger, your chest is smaller, and your beauty iscking, but you are doing your best. Moreover, you¡¯re wearing a mask, so whatever beauty you have is hidden.] [Hey! What did you just say? What the hell!] [I¡¯m disconnecting the audio. So quickly shout ¡®Pink Bomb.¡¯ Complete your mission!] [Ugh, f*cking b*stard.] Scarlet cursed like Cordelia before doing a backflip in the air and shouting in exasperation. [I am Pink Bomb!] Her cry rang out in the night air like the roar of a lion, and Scarlet¡¯s face turnedpletely red. [Seriously! Really! Really! Hey! Why the hell is it Pink Bomb?! Why!] You should¡¯ve named her Pink Boom or Pink Bomber. No, why is it pink in the first ce? There¡¯s red, blue, green, and so on. Anyway, there¡¯s a lot of colors that are less embarrassing! Hiding in the shadow of arge chimney, Jude calmly responded to Scarlet¡¯s protest. [Because Cordelia will be embarrassed if it¡¯s Pink Bomb.] [What?] [An embarrassed Cordelia is the cutest in the world.] Scarlet tripped and almost fell off the roof when Jude replied. Having barely escaped her fall by spreading her Wings of Speed, Scarlet sent a magic as she touched her arm that developed goose bumps. [Hey, did I hear it wrong? You named her Pink Bomb because you wanted to see Cordelia being embarrassed? Because it was cute?] [She is cute, right?] [Of course she¡¯s cute- No! Damn it! That¡¯s not what I meant!] Scarlet threw everywhere as many pink dynamite as she could, and she thought as it all shily exploded. ¡®This brat, what will happen if I don¡¯t do something about this quickly?!¡¯ Cordelia is in danger! This guy is really dangerous! ¡®Wait a minute, that¡¯s not what I should be angry about in the first ce.¡¯ The only reason why the respectable Rogue Master¡¯s name became Pink Bomb was because ¡®the embarrassed Cordelia is cute.¡¯ As a descendant of the Rogue Master, something like that was absolutely unforgiveable. [You, you, you, I will expose everything to Pink Bombter.] [Ha, are you trying to spread a false rumor? Do you have any evidence?] [Ugh, so annoying. Why does Pink Bomb like this b*stard anyway?] [That¡¯s nice to hear, but you should concentrate again. Because you might make a mistake. The ck Moon and the royal capital¡¯s guards are really serious now.] [I know. Rather than that, is Pink Bomb doing well as nned?] [Yes, I¡¯m sure she¡¯s doing great.] [What? How can you be so sure? Do you have any means to check? There¡¯s only you here, you know!] She could count the number of her conversations with ck Cloak in one hand, but she had already fully understood his personality. He was the kind of person who was calctive, thorough, and liked to n ahead. ¡®He¡¯s also a pervert!¡¯ Scarlet added thatst line based on her personal feelings, and she moved her body in the air as she evaded the arrows raining everywhere, sprinting with her body lowered to the point that she was almost crawling on the floor. [But is there a way for you to check?] [No, unless Cordelia contacts me first. But I don¡¯t really need that.] [Why?] [Because I know that Cordelia will do well.] [This crazy-¡­ Your seriously blinded by love, okay?] What happened to that calctive guy? But Jude shook his head at Scarlet¡¯s remarks. It was true that he was blindly in love with Cordelia, but that was not the reason why he thought that it was unnecessary. [Because she¡¯s Cordelia.] She was the best genius among the countless people Jude had met in his past and present lives. [My beast can do it.] [Did you just call her a beast?] [Because she¡¯s a real beast. She¡¯s also proud and beautiful¡­ like that of a wild beast.] At Jude¡¯s words, Scarlet shuddered again as she kicked the roof. Beast, wild beast, or whatever. ¡®Hurry! Pink Bomb!¡¯ Come and do something about him! After her silent scream, Scarlet ran on the roof again. She focused her eyes on the countless people chasing after her. *** At a time when Scarlet was struggling from embarrassment and cringe. The real Pink Bomb, Cordelia, had already infiltrated the building. The hugemercial building was different from the old mansion that she had stolen from in the past. But in the end, it was still a building, and the fact that it was made up of walls, ceilings, and floors remained unchanged. ¡®Good, it¡¯s really loud out there.¡¯ For a moment, Cordelia listened to the sound outside the building before her face flushed red. Because she heard Scarlet cried out ¡®Pink Bomb.¡¯ ¡°I¡­ am¡­ Pink¡­ Bomb!¡± She faintly heard Scarlet¡¯s shout that was like a scream. And despite being far away from it, Cordelia¡¯s soft cheeks burned red. ¡°Eueueue¡­¡± Cordelia briefly covered her face with her hands because of her embarrassment. But she eventually calmed herself down by deeply breathing. ¡®It can¡¯t be helped. That¡¯s right. It¡¯s the name of the main character of Velkian¡¯s favorite novel. So it can¡¯t be helped. We have to use the Pink Bomb name in order to lure Velkian.¡¯ It¡¯s a valid reason. So it¡¯s okay. It¡¯s not some shameful y. ¡®But what kind of novel did Velkian read where the main character¡¯s name is Pink Bomb?¡¯ He didn¡¯t seem to be strange, so was his hobbies weird? Her continuous thoughts seemed to be effective. Because Cordelia¡¯s face returned to its usual color, so she quickly began her mission. ¡®Just as Jude told me.¡¯ Jude had obtained the blueprints of the building from the Blue Moon in advance. ¡®If you look at theyout, you can roughly tell how their forces will be deployed. Because there are rules for efficiently cing your troops.¡¯ Jude had said that, and he produced a hypotheticalyout of their forces based on the number andposition of the ck Moon¡¯s members. And like always, his guess was highly urate. ¡®As expected of my Jude.¡¯ I can really count on him. Knowing theyout would let you roughly know how their forces would be deployed. ¡®I can roughly understand their strategy too.¡¯ Their best defense was focusing their elite forces in the room with the vault. ¡®Then I should y along with them.¡¯ Smiling a bit like Jude, Cordelia took a deep breath before she transformed into a witch. As her mana explosively increased, she created numerous illusions. ¡®Shadow Clones.¡¯ Numerous shadow clones that would cause chaos inside the building. Cordelia lightly pped, and as many as a dozen Cordelias scattered in all directions to cause confusion. ¡®And what I should be doing is¡­¡¯ Cordelia looked at her own waist, and smiled as she gazed at the dynamites neatly attached to herrge belt. Chapter 177 - EPISODE 177 – BLACK MOON (2)

Chapter 177 - EPISODE 177 ¨C BLACK MOON (2)

Terms used in this chapter: Four Freedoms?¨C These are goals that US President Franklin D. Roosevelt said in his speech in 1941. He proposed that there are four fundamental freedoms that people everywhere in the world ought to enjoy. These are the freedom of speech, the freedom of worship, the freedom from want, and the freedom from fear. Boom! Boom! Boom! The entire building was shaken by a series of explosions, and all the windows broke and shattered. ¡°Boss!¡± Pon shouted with a frightened look that was unbefitting of hisrge build, but Karma Bonn was not shaken. Rather, he even had a confident smile on his face. ¡°Don¡¯t panic, Pon. This is the Rogue Master¡¯s trap.¡± ¡°Trap?¡± ¡°Yes, she¡¯s trying to disperse us by creating amotion. But Pon, don¡¯t forget. The Rogue Master¡¯s goal is the treasures of this vault. So no matter what the f*ck she does outside, that b*tch is bound toe to this room in the end.¡± So just wait. Be patient. We¡¯ll eventually capture the Rogue Master once she appears here. ¡°Ohhh, I see¡­¡± When Pon nodded his head in admiration, Karma Bonn smiled, and the other Five Fingers except for Philia also smiled andughed at Pink Bomb. ¡°Come. Just taking away your four freedoms aren¡¯t enough.¡± Karma Bonn spoke in a low voice and creepilyughed. And 10 minutes passed. 20 minutes. 30 minutes. The explosions had already stopped. The loud noise from outside the building had also stopped. But Pink Bomb had yet to appear in the room with the vault. ¡®What¡¯s going on?¡¯ Why? Why isn¡¯t sheing? Is she trying to catch us off guard? Will she do a surprise attack the moment we think that it¡¯s over? Indeed. She is indeed the Rogue Master. Her name may be ridiculous, but her skills are the real deal. ¡°Don¡¯t be shaken. This is the Rogue Master¡¯s trap too. It¡¯s a trick to catch us off guard by making us think it¡¯s over.¡± ¡°Ohhhh¡­¡± Pon was impressed again at Karma Bonn¡¯s words, while the other Five Fingers remained silent. They felt like they should stop, but Karma Bonn wasn¡¯t wrong either. 10 minutes passed. 20 minutes. When 30 minutes had finally passed. ¡°Boss?¡± ¡°Master?¡± The quiet Philia spoke after Pon, and the other Five Fingers looked at Karma Bonn in doubt. What happened? Why is Pink Bomb not showing herself here? ¡®What¡¯s going on? Did she give up?¡¯ Because we didn¡¯t move no matter how long she waited? Because she didn¡¯t dare to infiltrate this room with the vault? ¡®Is that truly the reason?¡¯ So she knows her ce? Karma Bonn unconsciously snickered before he shared his thoughts to the Five Fingers, and most of them nodded their heads. ¡°But don¡¯t let your guard down until the end. We¡¯re not leaving this room until the sun rises. Do you all understand?¡± ¡°Yes, boss.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± Philia answered after Pon, and the other Five Fingers also epted his words by nodding their heads or answering. ¡®Rogue Master.¡¯ It will be my victory this time. With a satisfied face, Karma Bonn looked at the notice card that he had crumpled before he smiled. And at the same time. In apletely different ce. Scarlet stood under the light of the twin moons, Selene and Helene, and asked with wide open eyes. ¡°What? How the hell did you steal that?¡± ¡°Ufufu. I did it through that.¡± ¡°That?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a Rogue Master¡¯s trade secret, okay?¡± Cordelia cheekily but cutely answered, and she handed over the ¡®documents she had stolen¡¯ to its real creator, Jude, who pretended to skim the documents before nodding with a pleased expression. ¡°Don¡¯t ask too much, Scarlet. We¡¯ll bepeting for the Rogue Master¡¯s position next time, right? So we can¡¯t tell you our secrets.¡± ¡°He¡¯s right. Because you¡¯re a strong opponent. We can¡¯t let our guard down, okay?¡± Cordelia cutely spoke as she tilted her head and stared at Scarlet who pouted her lips. ¡°Tsk. Okay. I understand.¡± But contrary to her words, Scarlet continued to say ¡®tsk-tsk¡¯ as ifining. She was sulking and tapping the ground with her toes. ¡®Oh my, how cute.¡¯ She was taller and older than Cordelia, but she still looked cute. Cordelia smiled like a mother as she watched Scarlet, and then used magic to Jude. [As you said, they locked themselves in the room and didn¡¯te out at all.] [That¡¯s good. I¡¯m d that Karma Bonn is a really patient person.] If you knew your enemy, you could win every battle. Analyzing your opponent before a fight was one of the basics. Karma Bonn¡¯s personality. The paths he took to make the ck Moon the best thief guild in the royal capital. Jude¡¯s data was sufficient, and analysis was his specialty, so his profiling of Karma was correct as always. ¡®Because our goal is to make it look like Pink Bomb stole something.¡¯ There was no need for her to attack the room with the vault or fight against Karma Bonn and the Five Fingers. The ck Moon would naturally say that their vault was safe as proof that they were not beaten, but that wouldn¡¯t do anything. What mattered were the facts that Pink Bomb attacked the ck Moon¡¯s headquarters and the evidence that ck Moon was plotting acts of terror. ¡®It¡¯s iplete though.¡¯ The Lucas and Kajsa routes did notpletely show how the royal family was annihted. But that did not mean there was no information. Lucas and Kajsa did not follow the exact same route. But if someonebined the perspectives of the two in their different routes, they would be able to get a lot more information than they would expect. ¡®There¡¯s also the cinematic movies.¡¯ Even if it was impossible to get a full picture of the event, it was easy to identify the main goal of the ck Moon and the overall flow of the event. ¡®And what can be deduced from it.¡¯ The ck Moon¡¯s hideouts. The various weapons the ck Moon were hiding. As Jude had thought several times, that wasn¡¯t everything. It was only a small part. ¡®But it¡¯s useful information.¡¯ The situation was simr to the time when they caught the demon followers in Langesthei. It was easy to attack once you knew their hideout. And they were criminals too. If the ce where they hid their illegal items were found, they would be forced to give up their hideout, and it wouldn¡¯t be easy for them to suddenly set up more than 10 new hideouts even if they were the ck Moon. ¡®Because there would be people who would interfere.¡¯ Jude wasn¡¯t referring to the royal family or the royal capital¡¯s guards. He was referring to the rest of the underworld that was centered on Blue Moon. The Blue Moon were Pink Bomb¡¯s passionate helpers who wished for the fall of the ck Moon. ¡®Even if she is revered as the Rogue Master, a thief is still a thief.¡¯ So even if Pink Bomb shouted that she would protect the royal capital with her own hands, no one would believe her. Thus, Jude prepared a different slogan instead. ¡®The downfall of the ck Moon.¡¯ ¡®The underworld of the royal capital will be led by the wolves and not the hounds.¡¯ ¡®The era of the Blue Moon ising.¡¯ It was impossible to make the Blue Moon and the other thieves to defend the royal capital, but it was possible for them to attack and destroy the ck Moon. ¡°Anyway, I did well. I kept my promise.¡± Jude and Cordelia simultaneously nodded at Scarlet¡¯s words. ¡°Yes, yes, you did a good job. And as promised, let¡¯spete for the Rogue Master position next time.¡± ¡°No matter who wins, you¡¯ll ept it without anyints. Are you fine with this condition?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Cordelia, Jude, and Scarlet spoke in turn. Scarlet acted haughtily again as she cleared her throat and removed the rabbit ears and tail which were the symbols of Pink Bomb. She then said as she turned her hair back into red. ¡°I¡¯ll wait for the day of our match, so don¡¯t make me wait for too long likest time.¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll contact you soon.¡± Cordelia waved her hand as if she was saying goodbye to a friend, and Scarlet faced her and reluctantly waved her hands too before she jumped and disappeared from the roof. And so, only the two were left. Jude and Cordelia exchanged nces, and they bumped fists just like how they did a long time ago. ¡°Shall we go back then, Mdy?¡± ¡°Yes, Milord.¡± Both of them had worked hard today. Right after they bowed to each other, Jude turned around while Cordelia jumped and climbed on Jude¡¯s back. ¡°Merge in the rooftop! JuDelia!¡± Cordelia was in high spirits because of their sessful mission, and she yfully shouted while Jude fixed her position in his back before saying. ¡°Hey, be honest with me.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°You really like the name Pink Bomb, right?¡± It¡¯s something that fits your taste, right? ¡°No, it¡¯s not. I don¡¯t like it, okay? Mister ck-hearted ck Cloak ispletely mistaken, okay?¡± ¡°Well, if you insist.¡± ¡°Hey, I really don¡¯t like it, okay?¡± ¡°Yes, yes. If you say so.¡± ¡°No! Ah, you¡¯re really annoying!¡± ¡°Coochy coo, coochy coo. Is my princess angry?¡± ¡°Die! Just die! Go die or something!¡± Cordelia began to strangle Jude who ran across the roof like a gale despite being choked by her. And early in the morning of that day. Information about the ck Moon¡¯s terror n and their hideouts in various ces became known throughout the entire royal capital. *** It was hard to decorate things, but it was much easier to mess it up. It was unlikely for the royal family to take the terror n seriously and destroy the ck Moon. But they would still move. Because the founding anniversary was just around the corner. It was a time when they had to pay attention to information that they would normally ignore. And that was it. Even if only a part of the ck Moon was hit, it would be easier for the rest of the underworld, especially the Blue Moon, to attack the ck Moon. As for their terror n. ¡®A secret loses its value when it is revealed.¡¯ Secrets were valuable because they were a secret. Once their terror n was known, the Lord Protector and the ck Moon would need to revise it, but they didn¡¯t have much time left. Creating a new and hastily-made n would likely lead to a poorly-made one. ¡®That would cut off the limbs of the Lord Protector.¡¯ They would limit his moves and prevent him from doing what he originally nned. And they would block the Lord Protector with First Sword. ¡®Strong people like my father, my father-inw, Ga?l, and Adelia would also have their own roles to y.¡¯ All to prevent the tragic genocide of the royal family. ¡®And there¡¯s one more thing that I need to do.¡¯ Revealing in advance that the Lord Protector betrayed the royal family would not work. Because the Lord Protector was the hero of the country. It would be Jude who¡¯d be suspected if he tried to say anything like that. So he shouldn¡¯t be too greedy. He should just build a closer rtionship with the royal family, so that they would listen to him better on that day and not be stubborn. ¡®Yes, so this is a must.¡¯ It was not his personal desire, but a public necessity. Furthermore, it was like a sacred and historical mission to save the world¡­ ¡°Does it suit me?¡± Cordelia shyly asked as she wore a white one-piece swimsuit with cute frills, and Jude nodded as he wore tight-fitting ck trunks while showing off his statue-like figure. ¡°It looks perfectly good on you.¡± ¡°Hmph.¡± Cordelia snorted for no reason before she took a quick peek at Jude and smiled a bit as she blushed. Because Jude¡¯s muscles were amazing every time she saw it. ¡®Those are some fine muscles.¡¯ She had mentioned about those muscles several times to Scarlet. ¡®I want to touch it.¡¯ Jude¡¯s fair-skinned, firm, and flexible muscles. ¡®Is it as firm as a rock?¡¯ But wouldn¡¯t it be soft since it¡¯s a human¡¯s body? Cordelia was lost in her thoughts for a moment, but she eventually shook her head and dismissed her thoughts. What mattered now wasn¡¯t Jude¡¯s muscles. It was the evening after their attack on the ck Moon¡¯s headquarters. Despite the night air being cold since it was still winter, the two were wearing swimsuits. They then held each other¡¯s hand before they walked together. They had to be close to the royal family, who would be waiting for them in the night pool not far away from their location. Princess Daphne and Prince Dion. And Princess Darianne too. Jude recalled the faces of the three and added one more objective. ¡®If possible, we need to catch the summer fairies too.¡¯ It was a ce where they had no information about any fairies appearing except for Princess Daphne¡¯s story, but he somehow felt like they would be able to meet the fairies. Jude would naturally think that since tonight¡¯s Cordeliapletely looked perfect. ¡®Perhaps those fairies that didn¡¯t appear much would finally appear?¡¯ Jude nced at therge white ribbon on Cordelia¡¯s hair before he looked away again. Under the sea of stars that seemed to fall down from the sky any minute, Princess Daphne immersed herself in the hot and steamy night pool as she waited for the two. Chapter 178 - EPISODE 178 – SUMMER FESTIVAL (1)

Chapter 178 - EPISODE 178 ¨C SUMMER FESTIVAL (1)

Terms used in this chapter: Giving up is easy.?¨C A Korean meme that originally came from a line by Anzai-sensei, the coach of Shohoku High School basketball team from the anime?m Dunk. The original line was ¡°Until the very end, never lose hope. It¡¯s when you give up that the match is over.¡±, which meant that you should not give up to the very end. But the meme version, ¡°Giving up is easy¡±, has a slightly different interpretation, as it meant that it¡¯s also fine to give up. Royal Night Pool. It was called like that, but as Jude climbed the stairs, he was certain of it. ¡®It¡¯s an outdoor hot spring.¡¯ In short, it was just a bathhouse. ¡®Uh¡­ my heart is pounding.¡¯ His heart was pounding in excitement not because he was wearing a swimsuit or that he was going to the bathhouse with Cordelia. ¡®Of course, that is a bit true.¡¯ No, perhaps it wasrgely the reason why his heart was pounding fast. Anyway, there was a real reason why his heart had begun pounding. ¡®An unknown ce.¡¯ An outdoor hot spring in the royal pce. He had never heard of it or ever been there. If this was a game and not reality, it wouldn¡¯t be strange for the notice window of the first discovery achievement to pop out in front of him. ¡®I¡¯ve changed a lot too.¡¯ In the past, he would be nervous when he came to an unknown ce. He was always alert for any possible danger lurking in the unknown. But it waspletely different now since he was excited to visit an unknown ce. [Jude, Jude. We¡¯re here. I¡¯m so nervous. Are you okay?] At the moment when Jude was lost in his thoughts, Cordelia spoke to him via magic. Because of that, Jude came to his senses and looked straight ahead after taking his eyes off the white andrge ribbon on Cordelia¡¯s head. ¡°Jude Bayer and Cordelia Chase. Thank you foring.¡± A court attendant dressed as a butler stood at the entrance and bowed, greeting the two. Jude and Cordelia also briefly greeted the butler before they were guided in. As they walked, it became clear to them that this ce was used as a bathhouse like what Jude had thought earlier. ¡°Unnie! Oppa!¡± After passing through the wooden screens, a well-decorated outdoor hot spring was revealed, and one of the people who were soaking inside the hot spring stood up and shouted. She was Princess Darianne who was wearing a green swimsuit. ¡°Princess Darianne.¡± Cordelia smiled softly before she bowed in greeting. She was much more delighted than usual perhaps because she saw a familiar face while she was feeling nervous. ¡°Hehehe, both of you shoulde in quickly.¡± Princess Darianne innocently told them, but unfortunately, they couldn¡¯t immediately obey her words. Because she wasn¡¯t the only one in the hot spring. ¡°Jude Bayer from the Bayer family and Cordelia Chase from the Chase family greets Her Royal Highness, Crown Princess Daphne, and His Royal Highness, Prince Dion.¡± Jude spoke as their representative, and Cordelia courteously bowed to them again. And Princess Daphne, who was wearing a white one-piece swimsuit, nodded her head at his greeting. ¡°It¡¯s good to see you again. This is my younger brother and the pride of the royal family, Prince Dion.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Dion.¡± Following the introduction of Princess Daphne, Prince Dion greeted them. His body was immersed in the hazy hot spring water so they couldn¡¯t see itpletely, but it seemed that he had a rather sturdy build despite being a wizard. ¡®He also has a handsome face.¡¯ His face had a charm like his older sister, Princess Daphne. Added to that was his bright golden blonde hair and his slightly sexy look, brought about from being soaked in the hot spring. ¡®I don¡¯t like him.¡¯ Jude unconsciously thought that when he saw Cordelia staring at Prince Dion. He then turned his gaze to Princess Daphne again. She said as she lightly gestured to Jude and Cordelia, facing them with eyes full of wisdom that one would not find in a 20 year old. ¡°The night air is cold. Come on in.¡± ¡°We are most grateful.¡± Jude and Cordelia courteously said again before they carefully soaked their feet into the hot spring water. It was hotter than they thought, but the night air was cold just like what Princess Daphne said, so their cold feet had suddenly felt warm. ¡°It¡¯s warm, isn¡¯t it?¡± When Princess Darianne brightly smiled and asked, Cordelia responded with a smile as she sat down with the water up to her shoulders. ¡°Yes, Your Highness. It feels very warm and nice.¡± The bottom wasn¡¯t that deep for a child like Princess Darianne, so the princess was able to fully immerse her body when she adjusted her sitting angle. ¡°We would like to thank you again for inviting us.¡± Jude politely thanked her again, prompting Princess Daphne shook her hand. ¡°You don¡¯t have to be so formal. I invited you two here because I wanted us to be closer.¡± The two were certainly treated differently since they were soaking in hot spring water together with royalty, though they were all wearing swimsuits. ¡®The fairies seem to be more of an excuse¡­¡¯ It seemed to Jude that the fairies were literally an excuse, and that her real purpose was to get closer to them, as she had said. ¡®This is indeed weing, but¡­¡¯ Why is Princess Daphne showing an interest in me and Cordelia, more than I had expected? Is this because of Princess Darianne? Or does Princess Daphne have a different reason? ¡®Nheless, an opportunity is still an opportunity.¡¯ It was a really good thing if the person they wanted to get close to in the first ce had wanted to be close to them too. They had no reason to refuse it. ¡°I¡¯ve realized yet again that you¡¯re really cute¡­ No, you¡¯re lovely. Don¡¯t you think so, Dion?¡± Princess Daphne said as she looked at Cordelia, and Prince Dion nodded his head. ¡°Yes, dear sister. She¡¯s more than the rumors.¡± ¡°See? What I said was true, right?¡± The lively voice of Princess Darianne followed the calm voice of Prince Dion. She was more excited than usual because she was with her favorite older sisters and brothers. ¡°T-thank you.¡± Princess Daphne smiled again when Cordelia looked up with a red face. ¡°You¡¯re cute too. You must have been told that you were pretty since you were born, but it¡¯s also very lovely that you get embarrassed every time you get told that.¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­yes¡­¡± Cordelia¡¯s red face turned even redder, and the three royal family members looked at her warmly. ¡®Cordelia is cute, but¡­¡¯ She¡¯s also lovely. Jude strongly agreed and happily smiled. On the other hand, Cordelia somehow felt that she was by herself, so immersed herself a bit deeper in the water. ¡°Now then, it¡¯s nice to talk about this and that, but I want to start right away. We gathered here for a purpose, after all.¡± There was a reason why they all gathered in the evening at a ce that was usually used as a bathhouse. ¡°Dion-oppa wants to see a fairy too. That¡¯s why he came here.¡± As Princess Darianne spoke with a wide smile, Prince Dion asked in a calm voice. ¡°Is there any special ritual that we need to do? Or a procedure?¡± He definitely still had a dignified posture, but his gaze seemed to be more intense than before. Therefore, Jude straightforwardly spoke instead of beating around the bush. ¡°It¡¯s simple, but we need to do one ritual.¡± ¡°Oh, what kind of ritual is it?¡± ¡°I¡¯m curious too.¡± ¡°Me too!¡± When all the royal family members expressed their interest, Jude¡¯s face turned proud as he spoke. ¡°First of all, it should be at night. It should also be a moonlit night when Selene and Helene are brightly shining.¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°We need a beautiful woman. Not just an ordinary beauty, but one with an extraordinary beauty.¡± A woman so beautiful that the word ¡®iparable¡¯ had to be used to describe her. Everyone turned to Cordelia at Jude¡¯s exnation, and they all nodded at the same time. ¡°Indeed.¡± ¡°It¡¯s already been prepared.¡± ¡°It¡¯s undeniable.¡± Cordelia¡¯s face grew redder at the words that followed, and her neck was even red now. The pure, beautiful, and lovely girl soaking in the hot spring water blushed and hunched her shoulders. ¡°And we need a song. A beautiful girl¡¯s song.¡± At Jude¡¯s exnation, Prince Dion nodded immediately. Because he was convinced of it. ¡°Songs can be found in countless rituals and ceremonies across countries and cultures. Moreover, fairies are a race known for their love of dancing and singing. It is indeed usible.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Princess Daphne nodded her head in agreement to Prince Dion¡¯s exnation, and she said as she looked at Cordelia again. ¡°Will Cordelia sing a song here then?¡± ¡°Yes, if there are really fairies around here, they¡¯lle out in response to Cordelia¡¯s beauty and song.¡± There had already been a few precedents. When Jude spoke confidently, expectation and excitement rose on the faces of the royal family members, thought there were some slight differences. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to hear it.¡± ¡°Me too.¡± And they naturally urged her to do so. Jude pulled Cordelia¡¯s hand in the water, and the startled Cordelia lightly bit her lips and looked back at him. ¡®Hey! You evil b*stard!¡¯ Stop making things bigger! Don¡¯t exin it like that! ¡®Why? It¡¯s all true though.¡¯ ¡®No! Even if it is true!¡¯ ¡®But you knew this would happen, right? That¡¯s why you practiced.¡¯ ¡®Eueueue¡­¡¯ In fact, she was already familiar with what to do. Her only problem was that it was more embarrassing than she had thought. Cordelia nced at Princess Daphne again, who greeted her gaze with a beautiful smile. ¡°Go ahead.¡± I know you don¡¯t want to because you¡¯re embarrassed, but I still want to hear it. No, your embarrassed look is also why I want to hear it. ¡°Unnie, I want to hear it too. Dion-oppa feels the same too, right?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯d love to hear it too.¡± After Princess Darianne and Prince Dion spoke, Cordelia felt that she was truly cornered. Add to that was the magic that followed. [Anzai-sensei said this. Giving up is easy. So just give up.] It was a message from Jude. Cordelia wanted to shout, ¡®Who is Anzai-sensei?,¡¯ and she also wanted to shout, ¡®Even you, Jude?!¡¯, but she managed to calm herself down. Because she knew this would happen, just like what Jude said. It was something that she would have to do eventually. ¡®Yes, let¡¯s just give up.¡¯ Though she was not sure on what she was giving up on. ¡°Haa¡­¡± Cordelia stood up after letting out a long breath. A beautiful girl with long wet hair stood under the fantasy moonlight. She was like a painting, and the royal family members were in awe at her appearance. ¡®As expected of Cordelia.¡¯ Jude also gazed at Cordelia in happiness, and Cordelia took some deep breaths again. And just before she finally opened her lips. ¡®Wait.¡¯ Cordelia stopped moving for a moment and pressed her lips together. Because an important fact came to her mind. ¡®D-do I have to sing that here? That song?¡¯ Twinkle Twinkle Little Star? It was neither a beautiful and sad song, nor was it a divine song that lightened the heart when one heard it. That Twinkle Twinkle Little Star?! In her panic, Cordelia shifted her eyes and looked around. Jude and the royal family members were looking at her with expectant faces. And even though they were not looking at her, the royal court attendants and maids were perking up their ears while looking at another direction. ¡®This is too much! Anyway, this is too much!¡¯ I have to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star here in this situation?! Of course, Twinkle Twinkle Little Sar isn¡¯t a bad song. It¡¯s a very good song. But still. But still! [Cordelia? Is something wrong?] [I don¡¯t know! I hate you! I really hate you!] [Cordelia?] What¡¯s suddenly wrong with you? Jude was confused after Cordelia let out all her resentment at once, and she took a deep breath again. I have to sing anyway. I can¡¯t make Princess Daphne wait any longer. ¡®Yes, let¡¯s just give up.¡¯ I don¡¯t know who Anzai-sensei is, but I¡¯ll do it just like what he said. Cordelia let her shoulders down as she closed her eyes to reduce her embarrassment, and then opened her lips as she began to sing. ¡°Twinkle, twinkle, little star~ Shining beautifully~ In the eastern sky~ In the western sky~ Twinkle, twinkle, little star~ Shining beautifully~ ¡± It was a mysteriousbination of a slightly nervous voice, a red face, cute lyrics, and an adorableness that made anyone want to keep teasing her. Princess Daphne bit her lips to suppress herughter, Prince Dion turned his head andughed, and Princess Darianne just brightly smiled. Jude tore up a scroll. ¡®Recordingplete.¡¯ He was d that he could take a great video. And it was the moment when everyone except for Cordelia was happy in their own way. ¡°Wow, she¡¯s really pretty.¡± ¡°So pretty~.¡± ¡°I want to pinch her cheek.¡± Lines that she was familiar with. And the small high-pitched voices that followed. ¡°I think her cheeks are soft.¡± ¡°Hey, won¡¯t you hang out with us?¡± Cute little fairies glided on the water surface. Even the refined Princess Daphne widely opened her eyes at that moment, while Princess Darianne was in awe. ¡°Uwaah.¡± Real fairies. Fairies that were the size of a palm and in the form of little girls with wings. Prince Dion stood up in his surprise, and the royal court attendants and maids openly looked their way, unlike what they had done before. And Jude clenched his fist. ¡®Bingo! As expected! Summer Fairy!¡¯ The evidence was their Latino look ¨C curly hair and soft brown skin that looked like sunburn. ¡°Haaaa¡­¡± Cordelia opened her eyes when she heard the fairies, and she sighed in relief and sat down as if she had copsed. Because her tension had been relieved. ¡°Look, there are a lot of pretty kids.¡± ¡°So many beautiful people!¡± As each of the fairies giggled, Prince Dion asked with a serious face. ¡°Is it a song? A song about stars is a prerequisite for calling fairies? Is that why you haven¡¯t appeared to my sister until now?¡± In fact, this outdoor hot spring was a ce where Princess Daphne frequented at least ten times a month. But a fairy had never appeared in thest decade or so. ¡°Is it because it¡¯s not a song? I see¡­ that is highly likely. If it¡¯s humming, I¡¯m sure my sister would have hummed at least once in a while.¡± It seemed to be a researcher¡¯s peculiar monologue rather than a question for someone, but everyone had heard it because they were all gathered closely. Prince Dion¡¯s hypothesis. That fairies only appear when someone sings a song about stars. It was his rationale on why Princess Daphne had not been able to call the fairies. Princess Daphne and Princess Darianne nodded their heads at his fairly convincing words, and the royal ?court attendants and maids were also in agreement. But it was at that moment ¡°What did you say?¡± ¡°We only show up when there¡¯s a pretty girl though?¡± ¡°The song doesn¡¯t really matter, okay?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t show up just because we¡¯re called or something, okay?¡± ¡°I just came out because she¡¯s so pretty, okay?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not because of the song that we haven¡¯te out until now, okay?¡± The fairies¡¯ blunt remarks and what could be inferred from it. The light in Prince Dion¡¯s eyes dimmed while Princess Darianne awkwardly smiled. As for the royal court attendants and maids who had been watching earlier, they quickly averted their gazes. And in the midst of all this, the one whose only sin was being born very pretty ¨C Cordelia, found herself in a very awkward position and felt like crying, so she groped her hands in the water. She was trying to find Jude¡¯s hand. [Eueuaah! What should I do, what should I do, Jude? What if we get executed?] Before responding to the magic that she unconsciously sent, Jude tightly gripped Cordelia¡¯s hand. And he looked at the front while whispering via magic too. [It¡¯s fine. Princess Daphne is a magnanimous person.] [What the heck are you saying!] [Woah, woah, calm down. We didn¡¯t do anything wrong, right?] They were just invited and did what was ordered of them. It was the fairies who caused trouble, and not Cordelia. [Is that so.] [Yes. Look, even the princess is just smiling.] [Isn¡¯t that apletely stiff smile?!] A smile that could be described as stiffness itself. But as Jude said, Princess Daphne was a magnanimous person ¨C no, she was a tolerant and understanding person. ¡°Everyone has their own preference. I fully understand that.¡± At her deration that seemed to be a bit sloppy but indicated that she was fine with it, the royal court attendants and maids breathed a sigh of relief, and Cordelia also loosened her shoulders. And Jude didn¡¯t miss that gap. He changed the topic very naturally like always. ¡°Summer fairies, these people are human royalty. So if it¡¯s possible, can we meet your Queen?¡± ¡°Our Queen?¡± ¡°Yes, your Queen.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, the summer fairies blinked their eyes, and the royal family members also became interested in the new development. They had been interested in seeing the fairies, but it seemed that they might even be able to go a step further and meet the Fairy Queen. ¡°Should we?¡± ¡°Well, she¡¯s so pretty.¡± ¡°The Queen will also like them.¡± Their flow of conversation was familiar. Thus, Jude decided to scale it up. ¡°If you take us to your Queen, we¡¯ll give you something good.¡± ¡°Something good?¡± ¡°Yes, very good stuff.¡± Very good stuff that had already been clinically tested on the fall fairies. Jude said with a very friendly smile, and the fairies pondered and looked at each other before nodding. ¡°Okay! We will!¡± ¡°Come with us!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s all y this night!¡± The fairies eximed with innocent faces, and Jude smiled in satisfaction. But in the eyes of Cordelia that was a bit covered with?bean pods, it was the wicked and reliable smile of her scammer. T/N: If you recall the Korean idiom ¡®one¡¯s eyes are covered with bean pods¡¯ that I mentioned in earlier chapters, it means to only see the good in someone after falling in love with them. So this is pretty much the author¡¯s subtle confirmation of Cordelia¡¯s feelings for Jude, hahaha. *** Chapter 179 - – SUMMER FESTIVAL (2)

Chapter 179 - ¨C SUMMER FESTIVAL (2)

Terms used in this chapter: He who touches pitch shall be defiled therewith.?¨C A biblical proverb which means that if you get involved with wicked people or illegal activities, you cannot avoid being corrupted yourself. The husband sings and the woman follows.?¨C An old Chinese proverb which means that the best way to maintain domestic happiness was for the wife to follow her husband¡¯s lead. ¡°Are we really going to fairnd?¡± ¡°Yes, Your Highness. We¡¯re going to fairnd.¡± Cordelia beautifully answered Princess Darianne¡¯s question, while Princess Daphne happily looked at the two before she shifted her gaze. ¡°You have a lot of stuff.¡± The royal family didn¡¯t pack anything since they hade to the hot spring in order to rx in the first ce. But Jude and Cordelia were different. Because they had prepared special gifts, or rather, trading goods in case the summer fairies really appear. ¡°We had met the fairies several times, so we had prepared in advance.¡± When Jude answered politely, Princess Daphne¡¯s eyes narrowed a bit before she nodded. ¡°It¡¯s natural to give gifts when visiting, especially when you visit frequently. So it would be better for our side to prepare a gift too.¡± Our side. At her meaningful words, Jude felt relief and a sense of crisis at the same time. After all, Jude and Cordelia were nobles of the S?len Kingdom while Princess Daphne was royalty, so it was possible for her to ¡®requisition¡¯ the goods Jude and Cordelia had prepared if she wished for it. ¡®Of course, it¡¯s unlikely that she¡¯ll openly requisition it.¡¯ Tyrants were the only ones who openly seized things. But it would also be difficult if they presented money as a gift. Money had no value for fairies. ¡®Of course, they could also give pretty-looking money.¡¯ In any case, Jude was worried because items were better to give than money, but when he heard her say ¡®our side,¡¯ it seemed like she had no intention to take away the things that Jude and Cordelia had prepared. ¡®The problem is that the rarity of our gifts would decrease if there are more gifts.¡¯ He had naturally prepared a trump card to somehow negotiate for the ¡®most important deal,¡¯ but¡­ ¡°You¡¯ve prepared chocte, right? Then, our side will prepare some snacks too.¡± Perhaps it was just him. At Princess Daphne¡¯s words, Jude closed his eyes once before he gave a positive answer. ¡°Yes, Your Highness. The fairies really love sweets.¡± ¡°Indeed, they have their own preference.¡± Princess Daphne said and smiled a bit, but it seemed like she was still feeling bitter about it. What the fairies liked. What kind of physical appearance the fairies preferred. ¡®Well, of course, there¡¯s that, but¡­¡¯ Alright, that¡¯s enough. Jude stopped his thoughts for Princess Daphne¡¯s honor, and he turned to the gift again. ¡®Isn¡¯t it good if it¡¯s a snack?¡¯ If her snacks were apletely different type, he could push for aparative advantage. ¡®And.¡¯ Even if this was the royal pce, they was a limit to the number of snacks they could prepare in a hurry. A chef could prepare some amazing and freshly-baked sweets in a short amount of time, but¡­ ¡®The fairies won¡¯t wait for that.¡¯ They were already whining about leaving right now. Fairies had always been childish whenever the two met them, but this time, their childish nature was quite helpful for Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Quickly. Quickly. How long do we have to wait?¡± ¡°The Queen goes to bed early.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right. If you keep dying, she might be asleep by then.¡± As the fairies raised their voices, Princess Daphne flinched and looked back at the royal pce¡¯s maids, and the maids nodded their heads, bringing out some snacks they had prepared in case the royalty wanted to have some tea. ¡®It would be impossible to wrap all that up.¡¯ But still, Princess Daphne was satisfied with the fact that she had some gifts, so she nced at Jude and said. ¡°Our side is ready.¡± ¡°I understand. I¡¯ll convey your message.¡± Jude bowed and turned to the fairies, who immediately responded to him. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re all done now?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go then?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go~!¡± It was the moment when the pestering fairies shouted. The unique space movement magic of the fairies that was familiar to Jude and Cordelia, but unfamiliar to the royal family was unfolded. ¡°W-wait! Escort!¡± ¡°Your Royal Highness!¡± The royal court attendants and maids hastily shouted, but it was useless. Because they had already moved in the blink of an eye. They crossed the space into thend of the summer fairies. Fairy vige. ¡°Wow.¡± Princess Darianne eximed as her eyes widened at the sparkling forest that suddenly appeared. On the other hand, Princess Daphne and Prince Dion were amazed and surprised for an instant before they quickly suppressed their emotions like adult royalty. ¡°What is this? What is this?¡± ¡°Are these children from outside?¡± ¡°They¡¯re humans.¡± ¡°Oh~ She¡¯s really pretty.¡± ¡°Cute.¡± ¡°He looks scary.¡± ¡°Yes, he¡¯s like a lion.¡± ¡°Wow! Look at her! So pretty!¡± ¡°Uwaaaah! I want to touch her!¡± The fairies acted as expected. Dozens or more gathered in an instant as they loudly chattered, and Jude smiled. ¡®Well, just as I thought. As expected of Cordelia.¡¯ Because nearly half of the fairies flocked to Jude and Cordelia. ¡®Let¡¯s proceed quickly.¡¯ The royalty were distracted by the appearance of the fairies now, but they would be displeased once they realized the difference in treatment. Jude approached and quickly spoke to the fairy who was in the middle of the tumult ¨C that is, the fairy who brought Jude and his group here. ¡°Can you guide us to your Queen? I¡¯ll give you the special gift we promised.¡± ¡°It¡¯s really special. So we¡¯ll give it only to you.¡± As the saying goes, he who touches pitch shall be defiled therewith. Having been corrupted by Jude already, Cordelia brightly smiled and said, and her words were quite effective since the fairy liked the words ¡®only to you¡¯ and quickly nodded. ¡°Yes-yes! I¡¯ll guide you!¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Cordelia smiled again and nced at Jude who replied with a pleased smile. ¡®Cordelia, you¡¯ve grown up.¡¯ ¡®Because I have a really great teacher.¡¯ The husband sang and the wife followed. Because they were like husband and wife. Obviously, they were still engaged and not married. Anyway, Princess Daphne approached Jude and Cordelia while they were having a conversation with their eyes. ¡°Jude Bayer, Cordelia Chase. Are we going to meet the Fairy Queen like this?¡± ¡°Yes, we will.¡± ¡°I understand. Dion! Darianne! Come here.¡± ¡°Yes, dear sister.¡± ¡°Yes, unnie.¡± As Prince Dion and Princess Darianne approached while holding the sweets they received from the pce maids, Jude turned to Cordelia who quickly checked the chocte boxes before she nodded. They were ready. ¡°Then, let¡¯s go!¡± Right after the fairy shouted with excitement. Their surroundings changed again, and a wide flower field came into view instead of the forest. ¡°Uuuugh¡­¡± And the fairy in front of them turned pale and copsed. She seemed to have weakened because she transported several people together by herself alone. ¡°T-the Queen is here in this flower garden¡­¡± ¡°Yes, we got it. Thank you very much. You¡¯re a really special fairy. Here¡¯s your gift.¡± ¡°Hehehe¡­¡± Satisfied with the ring box-sized chocte that Cordelia gave her, the fairy smiled and closed her eyes, while Princess Darianne flinched and asked. ¡°S-she¡¯s not dead, right?¡± ¡°She just fell asleep.¡± Jude immediately answered but checked the fairy¡¯s breathing just in case. Fortunately, she was just very tired and seemed to be not in danger of dying. ¡°Let¡¯s go then.¡± It was the moment Princess Daphne spoke while looking at the center of the flower garden. ¡°Humans.¡± ¡°How interesting.¡± ¡°It¡¯s been a while.¡± ¡°It¡¯s been a long time.¡± The flowers at their feet spoke out at once. Each had a different tone and pitch, but they could tell the moment they heard it. They weren¡¯t saying different things. They were only sharing the words of one person and conveying it. And that one person. ¡°Nice to meet you, human children.¡± In front of them. A fairy with a proud smile sat on top of a big and ornate throne that had suddenly appeared. She wore a crown of flowers and a red dress reminiscent of a rose. Butterfly wings were on her back, and she had lovely ck hair and charming brown skin. ¡°We greet the Summer Fairy Queen.¡± When Jude and Cordelia courteously greeted her, the Fairy Queen nodded with a happy face before she turned to Princess Daphne. ¡°Are you not going to greet me?¡± Princess Daphne had a bitter smile at the queen who talked down to her, and Jude quickly opened his mouth before Daphne could say anything. ¡°Fairy Queen, this is Her Royal Highness, Princess Daphne, the Crown Princess of the S?len Kingdom.¡± ¡°Is she a human princess?¡± ¡°Yes, you are correct.¡± At Jude¡¯s answer, the Fairy Queen looked at Princess Daphne again, and Princess Daphne faced the Fairy Queen with her usual dignity as she immediately greeted the queen politely. ¡°Daphne D. S?len, the Crown Princess of the S?len Kingdom, greets the Fairy Queen.¡± After all, one was a queen while the other was just a crown princess. Princess Daphne was the one who politely greeted her first, and the Fairy Queen was satisfied and epted the greeting. ¡°Yes, nice to meet you. I¡¯m Carmen, the Summer Fairy Queen.¡± The Fairy Queen looked a bit younger than the Fairy Queens that the two had met before since she appeared to be in herte teens. Carmen then said as she stood up from her throne. ¡°I have a lot of guests, but I¡¯m only one, so give me a moment. I¡¯ll talk to you individually.¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± It was the moment when Prince Dion asked on what she meant. The space was divided. No, it was duplicated and arranged in a row. It was the same flower garden as before. But it was definitely a different flower garden. ¡°Now, I can focus on you more. Don¡¯t you agree?¡± The Fairy Queen sat on her throne and asked before she smiled, and Jude nodded to her. He agreed with her because he understood what she had done. The queen in front of him was no longer a singr being. She had duplicated herself along with the space. Perhaps by now, Princess Daphne, Prince Dion, and Princess Darianne were each meeting a Fairy Queen alone. ¡°Uh, what about us then?¡± Cordelia unconsciously spoke following Jude, having realized what had happened, and the Fairy Queen said again with a giggle. ¡°Because you two are a set. I thought that I shouldn¡¯t separate you two.¡± ¡°S-set?¡± ¡°Yes. Do humans call it the red thread of fate? Anyway, there¡¯s a very thick line between you two. I can see it with my eyes.¡± At the Fairy Queen¡¯s exnation, Jude and Cordelia turned to each other, and Cordelia was convinced. She didn¡¯t know what the red thread of fate was, but it was true that Jude and Cordelia were bound by a tight rtionship. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s talk now. I want to quickly eat the chocte too.¡± Jude¡¯s eyes shone for a moment at the Fairy Queen¡¯s urging. Because her words inferred a lot of things. ¡°Have you heard the rumors?¡± ¡°Yes, I even met and heard it in person. The Fall Fairy Queen¡­ I mean, Lorelei-unnie bragged a lot. She kept praising it but didn¡¯t give out much.¡± There were many mountains, fields, and viges between Langesthei and the royal capital, but they were fairies who could move across space. Moreover, both were queens, so it was not impossible for them to have a meeting by suddenly jumping over that distance. ¡°She bragged a lot but only gave me one piece. And she told me that if I wanted to eat more, I should ask for it myself.¡± The Fairy Queen grumbled andined as she pouted her lips, while Jude and Cordelia quickly exchanged nces. ¡®Good, she already knows.¡¯ ¡®We can easily do this now, right?¡¯ The Fairy Queen had already tasted chocte, and she even wanted more. Furthermore, it was important that she knew the Fall Fairy Queen, Lorelei. ¡®Because it¡¯s much easier to instigate when youpare her to someone she knows.¡¯ An evil smile spread on Jude¡¯s face while Cordelia¡¯s eyes were filled with a bit of slyness. ¡°I heard that you exchanged two boxes of premium chocte for a Fairy Dress¡­but I¡¯m not someone who could be easily pushed around. Lorelei-unnie had said that she gave it as a proof of friendship. So you¡¯ll have to rethink the terms of the deal.¡± The Fairy Queen smiled and said, having already known the price, and Jude nodded his head. ¡°Yes, we¡¯ll proceed with different conditions.¡± Because they were going to rip off a lot more- no, they were going to make a better deal. ¡°Isn¡¯t that right, Cordelia?¡± ¡°Yes, Milord.¡± The already corrupted Cordelia beautifully smiled, and the deal began with everyone smiling. Chapter 180 - EPISODE 180 – SUMMER FESTIVAL (3)

Chapter 180 - EPISODE 180 ¨C SUMMER FESTIVAL (3)

¡®It¡¯s not always good to make excess profits.¡¯ One of his old colleagues had said that, and Jude agreed with those words. At the time when Cordelia heard him say that, she had asked, ¡®What? Haven¡¯t you been doing that so far, so why now?¡¯, and Jude had replied. ¡®If it¡¯s a one-time deal, making an excess profit is good. But if it¡¯s not, if we need to make continuous deals, it will be better for both sides to benefit.¡¯ If the deal only benefitted one side, the rtionship of the two parties would quicklye to an end. Both parties had to benefit enough in the deal so that they would continue to trade with each other afterwards. ¡®But one should still remember.¡¯ To get as much as you can when you have the opportunity to do so. To not forget about scarcity. Cup noodles or bottled water that were being sold at the top of a mountain were often several times more expensive than those being sold at a local convenience store. ¡®But they still get sold.¡¯ Because cup noodles and bottled water were scarce at the top of the mountain. So people still bought it at that price. ¡®The situation now is the same.¡¯ The fairies wanted chocte. But they couldn¡¯t just get chocte anywhere. Basically, fairies had very high standards. The cut-off point to their high standards was someone like Lucas. Therefore, it didn¡¯t matter if the chocte was priced high. What mattered here was that the fairies did not feel that they were unfairly ripped off. If the buyer was satisfied with the price despite it being really high, it would be a fair deal and not an extortion. ¡®I disagree. I still think it¡¯s a scam.¡¯ Cordelia briefly criticized him with her eyes, but Jude replied with a shameless face like always. ¡®Do you hate it then?¡¯ ¡®No, I love it.¡¯ Because the current Cordelia had be cunning like Jude. Anyway, they would have to constantly meet with the Fairy Queens in order to obtain the Fairy King¡¯s Protection. If they excessively ripped off the other side now, there was a high possibility that it would be difficult for them when they meet the other Fairy Queens. ¡®So.¡¯ We should keep our profits in moderation. I repeat, in moderation. ¡°Okay! Deal! I¡¯ll give you the Fairy Shoes!¡± ¡°Thank you for the good deal.¡± Four boxes of chocte in exchange for the Fairy Shoes. Two boxes of chocte in exchange for the Summer Protection. And tomemorate their sessful deal, they gave one box of chocte for free. ¡®Haa, if it wasn¡¯t for Princess Daphne, we would have finished the deal with just three boxes.¡¯ Because of the sweets brought by the royal family members, the value of their chocte had slightly decreased. The emergence of apeting product had inevitably shifted the demand curve, which led to a fall in price. ¡®But I¡¯m already satisfied with this.¡¯ Because they got the Fairy Shoes and not just some random item. Since the Fairy Dress and Fairy Shoes were a pair, this would bring Cordelia closer to a more perfect existence. ¡®It¡¯s effect would be great.¡¯ The Fairy Shoes weren¡¯t just pretty. Just like the Fairy Dress, it also possessed a special effect. ¡®I can¡¯t wait to see it.¡¯ The moment Cordelia enters the founding anniversary ball while wearing the Fairy Dress and Fairy Shoes. The surprised look of the S?len Kingdom¡¯s nobles when they see it. ¡®Jude, Jude. You have a weird look in your eyes.¡¯ ¡®Because I¡¯m ying Princess Maker.¡¯ His reply sounded like it was nonsense, but he was telling the truth. Jude then quickly fixed his expression. Because their most important deal had yet to be made. ¡°Fairy Queen.¡± ¡°Yes? Are there any items left that you still want to trade?¡± ¡°There are.¡± A special item he had prepared just for today. ¡°It¡¯s a really special item that the Fall Fairy Queen had yet to taste.¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± The Fairy Queen pretended to be not interested but was interested, so Jude made a serious expression as he took out a small box around the size of a ring box. ¡°This is the item.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that? More chocte?¡± ¡°Please see it for yourself.¡± Jude knelt in front of the Fairy Queen and slowly opened the box, and at that moment, the Fairy Queen¡¯s pretentious expression copsed. ¡°This is?¡± ¡°This is Fairy Chocte.¡± A very small chocte made to fit the size of the fairies. Fairies were basically the size of a human¡¯s palm, so a human was a dozen timesrger than them. That was why a chocte piece that was only a bite for humans would actually be really huge for fairies, since its tremendous size made it impossible for them to hold it with both arms. The chocte would indeed taste good, but they would not be able to fully enjoy the taste. ¡°There is cream in it.¡± ¡°Cream?¡± ¡°Yes, when you bite it in your mouth, the white cream will ooze out¡­ so if you chew it with chocte, it will taste heavenly.¡± A taste that could only be felt when they chew it in one bite. It was the same reason why rice, meat, and lettuce would taste different if eaten separately instead of eaten together. ¡°It¡¯s a special treat prepared only for Your Majesty. It¡¯s a really special treat that Queen Lorelei¡­ or the other Fairy Queens, had yet to taste.¡± ¡°Uwaaah¡­¡± In the end, a Fairy Queen was still a fairy. Just like the Fall Fairy Queen, Lorelei, the Summer Fairy Queen also began to reveal her true nature. ¡°I want it! I want it!¡± ¡°Yes, but it¡¯s really special.¡± ¡°What do you need?! Tell me!¡± What in the world do you want?! At the Fairy Queen¡¯s urging, Jude took some time to respond instead of answering right away. In order to make her even more anxious. In order to make her want more and more. And at some point. When he judged that the Fairy Queen had be stimted enough. ¡°I would like to ask you for a favor.¡± ¡°What is it? Tell me quickly, okay?¡± The Fairy Queen anxiously cried, and Jude turned to Cordelia. He finally opened his mouth after they exchanged nces. ¡°My request is¨C¡± *** Their negotiation was over. The Fairy Queen and the fairies were very satisfied, and so were the royalty who had a good time. ¡°Thanks to the two of you, I was able to have a good time. I¡¯ll make good use of use the shampoo and conditioner too.¡± ¡°We are much obliged.¡± Jude and Cordelia politely thanked Princess Daphne, and they left the hot spring area after courteously saying their goodbyes to Princess Darianne and the serious Prince Dion who smiled and waved their hands. And after around a minute or so. As they walked down the long stairs while following the royal court attendant, Cordelia suddenly sent a magic. [It¡¯s a huge sess! Aplete sess!] They met the Summer Fairy Queen, and got not only the Summer Protection but also the Fairy Shoes. In addition¡­ What Jude had obtained from the Fairy Chocte, their secret weapon, was in a sense, much more important than the Summer Protection or the Fairy Shoes. [Do you think Princess Daphne was also happy?] [Yes, because she kept smiling.] She was skillful in hiding her facial expressions as someone who had been educated as a royal princess from childhood, but her gaze was something that she could not hide despite her repeated training. ¡®It wasn¡¯t just Princess Darianne who was excited in meeting the fairies.¡¯ Princess Daphne did not reveal it that much, but it seemed like she was greatly satisfied with going to thend of the fairies, which was a truly fairy tale-like experience. [Do you think she likes the shampoo and conditioner?] [Of course. Wasn¡¯t she in awe several times?] Her gaze after experiencing the shampoo and conditioner herself. That nce that understood why the fairies only reacted to Cordelia. ¡®You¡¯re deluding yourself though, Your Highness.¡¯ But it¡¯s a nice delusion. Jude suddenly smiled brightly before he sent a magic to Cordelia again. [Now that we¡¯ve introduced it to the princess, we can promote it to the nobles of the royal capital. It can be a special product if we advertise it well.] [Yes, yes. That¡¯s great.] Cordelia nodded her head and grinned again. [Why?] [No, I just want to smile. Because it¡¯s so nice.] Everything they had prepared had gone well. They seeded in establishing a rtionship with Princess Daphne, and their deal with the summer fairies ended well. They also did a great job in promoting the shampoo and conditioner. [We¡¯re just one step away from the Great Protection of the Four Seasons, right?] Now that they had obtained the Fall, Winter, and Summer Protections, they only needed to obtain the Spring Protection in order to obtain the Great Protection of the Four Seasons. [We still have a long way to go with the elemental side since we only got the Earth Protection¡­ but even then, we already collected four out of eight protections, so we can say that the Fairy King¡¯s Protection is within our grasp.] The Great Protection of the Four Seasons could be obtained by collecting all the protections of the fairies from the four seasons. And if they collected all the protections of the fairies from the four elements, they would be able to attain the ¡®Fairy King¡¯s Protection,¡¯ the highest-ranked protection in?Legend of Heroes 2. [Hehe, I¡¯m excited.] Cordelia giggled as her gamer brain began to work when she thought of the multiple protections, and Jude smiled at such a Cordelia. But it was then. Cordelia looked in front of her, and realized they were only a few steps left. Once they arrive at the bottom of the stairs, they would head to the dressing room and change back into their normal clothes. ¡®Normal.¡¯ The clothes I usually wear. Clothes that have little exposure, unlike the swimsuits we are wearing now. Cordelia blinked her eyes once, and looked back at Jude without realizing it. She saw Jude¡¯s usual handsome face, and underneath it, his firm chest and clearly perfect abs. ¡®Abs.¡¯ The ce she emphasized so much with Scarlet when they talked at Duke Spencer¡¯s residence. ¡®It¡¯s amazing.¡¯ Humans have simr bodies, so how can it be so different? ¡®Is it firm? Is it hard?¡¯ Just like that of a statue. Even if it isn¡¯t, Jude¡¯s body is like a statue. It must be hard. I can tell that much even without touching it. But I¡¯m still curious. Of the real thing. How will it really feel if I touch it? ¡®I¡¯ve held his hand.¡¯ His skin was fair and spotless, so perhaps it¡¯s the same? No, those are muscles so they¡¯re different, right? ¡®I want to touch it.¡¯ I want to try pressing it hard. It may not be the same to a cat¡¯s paw pads, but I still want to press it. ¡®Sh-should I ask?¡¯ Can I touch it a bit? Can I press it? She thought and then blushed. She couldn¡¯t help it. ¡®No, f*ck! That¡¯s weird!¡¯ What do I mean by touch it a bit! What do I mean by pressing it! ¡®W-well.¡¯ I want to ask. I want to touch it. And if it¡¯s Jude, he¡¯ll probably allow it. It will not wear out just by touching it a bit. ¡®Will it be crazy of me to ask?¡¯ Should I ask him? ¡®W-wait a minute. No. No. He is Jude. He is Jude.¡¯ He will not just listen. It¡¯s obvious that he¡¯ll attach some conditions while smiling evilly. ¡®Yes, that¡¯s right. Because he¡¯s Jude.¡¯ He will also ask to touch mine, saying that it was an exchange. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and a chest for a chest. Cordelia imagined it for a moment, and then blushed to a point that her face couldn¡¯t turn red anymore. ¡®Good thoughts, good thoughts, good thoughts.¡¯ Lewd demon out! Crazy thoughts out! Cordelia took a deep breath and managed to regain herposure. ¡®Okay, let¡¯s bear it. Let¡¯s bear it. Why do I need to touch those abs?¡¯ Yes, yes, I don¡¯t have to touch it. It¡¯s definitely hard. Yes, it must be. ¡®Good, I¡¯vepletely recovered.¡¯ I¡¯vepletely regained my calm. The satisfied Cordelia smiled and looked straight ahead, and only did she realize it. The fact that Jude¡¯s face was right in front of her. ¡°Uweeh?!¡± The flustered Cordelia let out a strange sound as she stepped back, and she soon faced Jude again with a reddish face. It wasn¡¯t just because his face was close to hers. She had remembered something in that moment. ¡®When did he look at me?¡¯ Since when exactly did he make eye contact? He was able tomunicate and almost telepathically converse with Cordelia with just their eyes. Because he was Jude. So if he had met her eyes earlier than she had thought. If he had seen Cordelia¡¯s eyes at the time while she was in the midst of her thoughts¡­ ¡®N-no. It can¡¯t be.¡¯ If he had been staring at her earlier, she would have noticed it. And their conversation wasn¡¯t really telepathic. How will he know what I¡¯m imagining unless he¡¯s a mind reader? ¡®Yes, yes. It¡¯s alright. It¡¯s alright.¡¯ Cordelia spoke to herself and cleared her throat instead of continuing to face Jude. She then stepped forward and headed to the dressing room. And that was why she didn¡¯t see Jude¡¯s eyes and expression. Jude Bayer. 17 years old. The young man who was head over heels for his fianc¨¦e, looked at his belly and raised his hand to slightly touch it. And he thought. ¡®Should I increase¡­ my abdominal workout?¡¯ Should I add one more set? No, perhaps two sets¡­ Jude was troubled for a while before he coughed and headed to the dressing room. He had to change his clothes first. As for the other person. The court attendant had seen the two suddenly look at each other, blush, touch their stomachs, and then clear their throats. After witnessing such a strange sight, the court attendant clicked their tongue and turned around. They climbed up the stairs again. *** It was deep at night. The light of the stars that seemed to fall down anytime was now buried in the darkness and lost its light. Selene and Helene also hid behind the clouds, and the night sky was filled with darkness and destion. Pure darkness. He was scared because there was nothing in it. An ending he might face someday. The Lord Protector clenched his teeth. He turned his gaze towards the night sky. ¡°You¡¯re here?¡± ¡°I¡¯m here.¡± The man, demonic human Koros, answered as if he was ying with words, and approached the Lord Protector with a smile as thetter faced him. The Lord Protector was willing to hold hands with the devil in order to get what he wanted. ¡°It¡¯s good to be honest with your desires.¡± Koros grinned as if he had read the heart of the Lord Protector, but the Lord Protector coldly stared at him instead of smiling. A person he wouldn¡¯t normally be facing like this. An enemy of the kingdom he would have shed with his sword if it was the him of 10 years ago. But that wasn¡¯t him now. The situation had changed now. Because time had passed. Because he wasn¡¯t the him of ten years ago anymore. Because he himself had chosen to be an enemy of the kingdom. His reason for doing so. His reason why he betrayed the royal family whom he had served for his entire life, and why he held hands with the devil. The Lord Protector eventually had a bitter smile. As the demonic human in front of him had said, he was just honest with his desires. In order to attain what he wanted, he readily abandoned what he had cherished so far. He abandoned his faithfulness and loyalty, and held hands with the devil. It was already irreversible. No, he had no intention of reversing it if that was even possible. Therefore, the Lord Protector didn¡¯t waste any more time. Instead of continuing his useless emotions, he resumed his business with the devil. What they were about to discuss was the founding anniversary celebration around 15 dayster, and the tragedy that would happen on that day. ¡°There are some changes.¡± ¡°My side too.¡± Both sides had their reasons for doing so. The Lord Protector and Koros continued their conversation. And the decisions they made. A new event that did not appear in the original game. A simr but different development. ¡°Then I¡¯ll see you on that day.¡± Koros spoke with a smile, and vanished as if he had blended into the darkness. The Lord Protector was left alone, and he turned towards the royal capital. Around 15 days from now. And everything that would happen after that. The tragedy that would take ce in thend that the Lord Protector had dedicated his entire life to. ¡®I¡¯ve already made my decision.¡¯ So I only need to put it in action. The Lord Protector walked forward. He headed for the royal capital. Chapter 181 - EPISODE 181 – THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM (1)

Chapter 181 - EPISODE 181 ¨C THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM (1)

Terms used in this chapter: Cost-performance ratio?¨C an equation used to bnce the cost of an item against its effectiveness. Law of conservation of mass?¨C scientificw which means that even if something changed its form, its mass/weight would still remain the same. Core exercises?¨C exercise that trains the muscles in the pelvis, lower back, hips and abdomen, like push-ups, sit-ups, and abdominal crunches. 5 am. Jude hadn¡¯t set an rm clock, but he opened his eyes at that time. His sleeping hours weren¡¯t that long in the first ce, and after his metamorphosis, he only needed 3 hours of sleep in order to fully regain his strength, so he usually slept for around 2-4 hours every day. ¡®3 hours and 30 minutes.¡¯ His sleeping time for today. After he checked the time, Jude slowly raised himself and headed to the corner of a back room where arge barrel tub he had brought for bathing was ced. ¡®Taking a shower in the morning is a must.¡¯ Jude took off his clothes as he walked, and he stood in the middle of the barrel tub and tore a scroll. . The lukewarm water pouring down like a waterfall woke him up, and the drowsiness he felt dissipated. ¡°Hoo.¡± This feeling was the reason why he made this scroll. magic was also the best way to make water that poured down. ¡®However, I should still research on making something simr to a shower.¡¯ The water falling down from the shower should be less than the magic used inbat, and its power should also be weak, so I should use cheap paper to make the scroll, though it wouldn¡¯t have a very good cost-performance ratio if I have to use it every time I shower. In short, it¡¯s a luxury. ¡®It¡¯s a bit inconvenient.¡¯ He had to use it once when he began his shower, and then use it again to rinse himself. And in between those two times, he also had to recycle and wash himself with the water from the first spell. ¡®Well, to begin with, this is the level of technology here.¡¯ They said that the biggest reason why perfume was developed in the western world was because people did not frequently take baths, and it was true to some extent, but was also not the full reason for it. ¡®Because they didn¡¯t have things like hot water gushing down when they turned the faucet.¡¯ Up until the Middle Ages ¨C no, up until the modern times, bathing was considered a luxury by most people. It was difficult to get enough clean water to wash one¡¯s body, and one had to boil it hot too. ¡®You can¡¯t just ignore the price of the fuel.¡¯ And the effort involved. They had to boil water, transfer it to a bathtub, and boil water again for rinsing¡­ It was a luxury that consumed a lot of time, money, and manpower. In that sense, using magic for a morning shower had a good cost-performance ratio. ¡®Anyway¡­ it was really difficult in persuading Maja.¡¯ Maja was the one who suffered the most when Jude¡¯s wake-up time became earlier. She was his exclusive maid, so she was not supposed to get upter than her master. In addition, Maja had to do a lot of various tasks in the morning, which included helping him with washing his face, so she had to be up almost two hours earlier. ¡®Just sleep. It¡¯s okay. I¡¯ll do it myself.¡¯ ¡®But young master!¡¯ It took him almost a month to persuade her. ¡®No, it was more of an order than a persuasion.¡¯ He was psychologically reluctant to force Maja in doing that, since she was like his real older sister, but he couldn¡¯t help it. Because the dark circles around Maja¡¯s eyes had noticeably increased. ¡®Anyway.¡¯ After using the shampoo and conditioner, Jude once again used the spell before he left the room carrying therge barrel tub full of water. ¡®Throw out the water¡­ and then begin my exercise.¡¯ Once he was back in his room, Jude rxed for a short time before he started his morning workout. He had been exercising in the morning everyday since he became Landius¡¯ disciple, and he had now be ufortable for the whole day if he skipped doing it for a day. ¡®Let¡¯s do it lightly for 1 hour and 30 minutes.¡¯ It was the time Jude had invested every day for his morning workout. After he woke up, he¡¯d take a shower and dry himself for 15 minutes. He would then exercise for an hour and a half before taking a shower and drying himself for 15 minutes again. ¡®Good, I¡¯ve gained some weight.¡¯ Jude currently weighed in the 75-80 kg range. He had suddenly grown taller because of his metamorphosis, but even if it was some fantasy metamorphosis, thew of conservation of mass still applied. Right after his first metamorphosis, he was very thin and still in the 60-70 kg range. But Jude had now gained a weight that matched his height as a result of his hard work. ¡®My weight is in thete 70-80 kg range, and my height is in the 180-190 cm range.¡¯ Jude looked all over his body before he slowly nodded his head. ¡®Good, let¡¯s keep it at this range for a while.¡¯ In the third episode of?Legend of Heroes, Jude had grown into the 180-190 cm range even when he didn¡¯t meet Landius. His body had growth potential in the first ce, but it became possible for him to grow a bit taller due to his metamorphosis. ¡®I would like it to be around 185-190 cm.¡¯ But height wasn¡¯t something that he¡¯d get just because he wanted it, so he left it to the heavens. ¡®Good. Moving on, today will be abdominal exercises.¡¯ He mostly did exercises for his entire body, but he always ended it with exercises that tightened his abs. And he had to do one more set than usual now. Because he didn¡¯t know when Cordelia might change her mind. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Jude unknowingly cleared his throat before he began to focus on his workout routine again. And after an hour and 20 minutes. Before he knew it, the sun had risen outside his window, and he could hear the sound of the chirping birds from afar. And one more. ¡°Jude. Kyaa?!¡± Cordelia had appeared with Dahlia when she had quickly opened his bedroom door, and she screamed and covered her face with both hands afterwards. It was because of the sweaty and hot naked body of Jude, though to be exact, it was only his upper body that was naked, but anyway, it was because he was in front of her. [A-are you crazy? Why are you naked?] [Because I¡¯m exercising?] Jude immediately responded to her hastily sent magic, and Cordelia looked in front of her again as she peered in between her fingers that covered her face. She could see that Jude was clearly wearing pants properly. In terms of exposure, it was much less than when they went to the outdoor hot spring. Cordelia unconsciously stared at Jude¡¯s abs before she raised her head and sent a magic again. [Why did you take off your clothes?] [Because I¡¯ll be sweating?] It was ufortable if he sweated while wearing clothes. Cordelia was forced to nod at Jude¡¯s argument that was rational and logical like always. [Anyway, quickly put on your clothes. You do know that there¡¯s a tea party this morning, right?] [I know. But let me just finish one more set of this.] [What?] [Only one more set.] Jude answered briefly, and he lied down on his back and began his abdominal exercises, or to be exact, the so-called core exercises. His body that was as beautiful as a sculpture moved smoothly and precisely, and Dahlia admired it as she slightly blushed. ¡°Miss, Mr. Bayer¡¯s body is amazing.¡± Dahlia said in a whisper, and Cordelia replied as the corners of her mouth slightly raised up. ¡°Is that so? Jude has a fit body, huh?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s incredible.¡± ¡°Hmph, he¡¯s my Jude, so this much is normal.¡± Cordelia shrugged her shoulders and then looked back at Jude, while Maja tried to hold back herughter. Because Cordelia looked very cute when she hmphed and bragged about Jude. Anyway, around 30 minutes passed after that. Jude and Cordelia then had breakfast served by the employees led by Maja, and they left their amodation after dressing up. ¡°Recently, we¡¯ve gone to tea parties every day.¡± ¡°Because this is the peak right before the founding anniversary.¡± Since it was the 300th?founding anniversary of the country, all the local nobles who usually didn¡¯t attend the anniversary celebration had now gathered in the royal capital. So it was only natural for tea parties to be held every day because there were many things they had to do, such as exchanging information and building friendships with one another. ¡°Do men go to huntingpetitions or something like that?¡± ¡°It would have something like that if it were in the other parts of the country, but this is the royal capital. So instead of hunting, we have something like a chess meeting or a simple drinking party.¡± ¡°Drinking? You¡¯re going there too?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s for my father and your father.¡± It wasn¡¯t just Jude and Cordelia who were busy these days. Count Bayer and Count Chase also had to go on several meetings in a day. ¡°But in the first ce, it¡¯s not normal to have a tea party in the morning.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right, because it¡¯s usually held in the afternoon.¡± It wasmon to have a light tea party in between meals, so for tea parties that had as many as 10 participants, it was always held between lunch and dinner ¨C in other words, it was a kind of unspoken rule to hold tea parties in the afternoon. ¡°Now then, let¡¯s do our best today. It seems that the effect of our promotion is good.¡± ¡°Are you talking about the shampoo and conditioner? Are there many people who want to buy it?¡± ¡°Yes. Yesterday, three merchants from the royal capital had visited.¡± ¡°Wooow.¡± Five days after they met with Princess Daphne and the other royal family members. Jude and Cordelia had participated in seven tea parties in the past five days, and they actively promoted the shampoo and conditioner. ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to our advertising model.¡± Jude smiled and lightly touched Cordelia¡¯s hair, and Cordelia hmphed before she touched her hair too. Her flowing hair that was soft, smooth, and shiny. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll have to do my best again today.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll trust in my princess.¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll make itpletely sell out.¡± Shampoo and conditioner had been made into the specialty products of the frontier city of Bailon. As a result, it developed the city¡¯smerce and increased their tax revenues, making Count Bayer and Count Chase wealthier. Jude and Cordelia smiled at the same time, while Maja and Dahlia who were watching the two from the opposite side also smiled. ¡®They¡¯re cute.¡¯ ¡®They¡¯re very sweet again today.¡¯ And around a dozen minutester. Upon arriving at their destination, Jude and Cordelia straightened their clothes and got out of the carriage. The tea party was hosted by Count Morrigan, one of the 7 southern families. Jude faced the entrance of the splendidly decorated mansion, holding out his hand to Cordelia before saying. ¡°Now then, let¡¯s do our best today.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Cordelia energetically responded, and she took Jude¡¯s hand before the two entered together. *** Tea party. A gathering where you could enjoy drinking tea and eating snacks. In other words, it was basically a gathering where they sit together to chat. After they greeted each other and the tea and sweets were served around, theserge-scale tea parties would usually split into small groups which began their own meetings. ¡®Hmm¡­there are some people whom I¡¯ve only seen for the first time.¡¯ Cordelia sipped her tea as she gazed at the youngdies sitting at the same table. Three faces she knew, and two faces she didn¡¯t know. The faces she knew were Sylvia and Vi from the 12 northern families. There was also Rachel from the Banquet of Swords. The faces she didn¡¯t know were Count Gerard¡¯s Lady Titania, and Viscount Baraen¡¯s Lady Annie, who were both nobles from the royal capital. The host, Lady Medb, was walking around the ce. Hmm, this is good. First of all, I know 3 out of 5 here, so I feelfortable. ¡®And Sylvia liked the shampoo and conditioner.¡¯ She was a nobledy who had said that the Count Crossbell family were willing to invest in it, so she would also be a good help in promoting it. ¡®Good, good. Today will also be an exciting promotion time.¡¯ And it did happen. Both Titania and Anne were greatly interested in the shampoo and conditioner. But even then, it was impossible to just talk about the shampoo and conditioner, so their conversation had eventually shifted to another topic. ¡°So¡­ in the end, how far did you go?¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± At Titania¡¯s question, Cordelia asked in surprise, and Titania replied with a giggle. ¡°You know¡­¡± ¡°How many times have you run away from home?¡± Annie also asked and giggled, and one could tell that their eyes were filled with lewd thoughts. ¡°Ahem, ahem. I don¡¯t think we should talk about this in a ce like this.¡± Sylvia cut in their conversation, but Titania and Annie did not easily give up, perhaps because of the cultural differences between the royal capital and the northern region. ¡°Don¡¯t say that.¡± ¡°Please tell us just one story.¡± Although the two looked cute when they asked her, Cordelia had nothing to say. She didn¡¯t have anything to talk about. She couldn¡¯t just talk about their traveling here and there because she had always been on Jude¡¯s back at that time. But it was then. ¡°Ehem, ehem¡­ Lady Cordelia. Can I tell what happened at the Banquet of Swords?¡± Cordelia blinked her eyes and slightly bit her lips at Rachel¡¯s suggestion. Because she remembered what she did at the Banquet of Swords. ¡®W-will that be okay though?¡¯ They saw me kissing his cheek. Yes, yes, that¡¯s not a big deal. We¡¯re engaged, so something like that is fine. At that time, Cordelia was in a situation where she couldn¡¯t think of anything else because of her red face, so she had soon forgot much of what had happened that day. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s fine.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem, then¡­¡± Sylvia and Vi were also greatly interested when Rachel talked about the match between Jude and Lucian at the Banquet of Swords, and what had happened between Jude and Cordelia. Cordelia also felt very strange when she heard the story of herself and Jude from the eyes of a third party. ¡®I did that?¡¯ Cordelia had looked at Jude with affectionate eyes, and Jude had hugged her waist as he passionately gazed at her. ¡°I will definitely win for you.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t get hurt, my beloved.¡± Rachel acted like the two and even changed her voice and touched her lips on the back of her hand, and the other youngdies, who understood what that meant, pped their hands as they squealed. ¡°That¡¯s so sweet.¡± ¡°It¡¯s like a love story.¡± As Titania and Anne spoke, Vi looked at Cordelia with dreamy eyes. And Sylvia. ¡°Our Cordelia has grown up.¡± She looked at her with well pleased eyes. ¡®N-no. That¡¯s not how it went.¡¯ The story has twisted a bit. I only did it on the cheek, and not more than that. But she could not say that given the mood. It seemed like the misunderstanding would grow bigger if she said something wrong. ¡°So Mr. Jude Bayer always went with Lady Cordelia?¡± ¡°Does he always do that? Does he always escort you?¡± ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right. He often escorted her during the Banquet of Swords, so everyone was envious. They really stood out.¡± Titania, Annie, and Rachel spoke in turn. Vi stared at Cordelia with sparkling eyes, while Sylvia quietly smiled and sent her nce to do it in moderation. ¡®W-why? Is it that strange?¡¯ Is a fianc¨¦ escorting his fianc¨¦e strange? Isn¡¯t that something natural? When Cordelia asked Sylvia in a small voice, Sylvia bitterly smiled as if she found it preposterous, and she said. ¡°Of course not. You don¡¯t do that when you enter a ce. Are you thinking that it¡¯smon for couples to hold hands like that, or your escort to always go wherever you go?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t do that in the royal capital.¡± ¡°Look at the other couples going aroundter. You¡¯ll immediately see the difference.¡± This time, Sylvia, Titania, and Rachel spoke in turn. ¡°I-is that so?¡± ¡°It is.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s question, Titania, Annie, and Rachel firmly replied. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, do you always hold hands like that?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°I mean, how you hold hands. Lovers do it more like this¡­¡± Titania¡¯s words trailed off as she sped her right and left hands together. ¡°It looks a bit different from how you hold hands normally, right?¡± Her fingers were literally interlocked with each otherpletely. Cordelia nodded without realizing it, and Titania giggled and spoke. ¡°Try itter. It will feel different, okay?¡± sping hands. As Cordelia stared at Titania¡¯s interlocked fingers, she slowly nodded. *** ¡®sping hands.¡¯ sping hands. It¡¯s not a big deal. We¡¯re just holding each other¡¯s hands. ¡®Still¡­¡¯ sping hands. No, it¡¯s not like I really want to sp my hands with Jude. It¡¯s just¡­ because others might think it¡¯s weird. You¡¯re engaged, but you haven¡¯t even sped your hands? Are you really engaged? ¡®T-that¡¯s right. It might expose our acting!¡¯ So this is necessary. Yes, yes, we¡¯re pretending to be a fantasy couple who are head over heels with each other, so we have to do it. ¡®sping hands, sping hands.¡¯ I have a lot of chances to do that. Jude will escort me when I leave. Then easily. Yes, I¡¯ll do it easily. ¡®sping hands, sping hands.¡¯ Cordelia made up her mind and touched her pounding heart as she waited for the time when they would leave, and the time when she faced Jude again finally came. ¡°Did you have fun?¡± ¡°Yes, the youngdies I newly met today were nice.¡± Cordelia calmly answered as she nced at Jude¡¯s hand, and Jude stretched out his hand to her like always. And Cordelia realized it at that moment. How one held hands with their escort. When a woman lightly raises her hand, a man would gently lift it as if he was supporting the woman¡¯s hand. So in other words¡­ ¡®I can¡¯t sp his hands if he escorts me this way!¡¯ What is this? What is this? I was looking forward to it! No, I wasn¡¯t looking forward to it, but I just wanted to try it, okay? Just a little bit¡­anyway! [Cordelia? Is there a problem?] At that very moment, Jude sent her a magic, and Cordelia groaned for a while before turning her head away. Because she couldn¡¯t say that she wanted to sp his hands no matter how much she wanted to do so. ¡®That¡¯s right. He¡¯ll figure it out if he sees my eyes.¡¯ So I should just turn my head away. [It¡¯s nothing. Let¡¯s hurry.] [Cordelia?] But Cordelia no longer replied, and Jude was confused. ¡®Did I do something wrong?¡¯ Did I make a mistake? I just did it like usual. I didn¡¯t do anything particrly strange. [Aren¡¯t we going?] [Ah, yes, let¡¯s go. Let¡¯s get going.] At her slightly blunt message, Jude quickly responded and moved forward. And around 30 minutester. Jude had been worrying about Cordelia who was still sulking a bit, and they faced a new development as soon as they arrived at their amodation. ¡°You¡¯re here.¡± Ga?l and Adelia. Ga?l didn¡¯t look much different than usual, but Adelia looked very tired as there were some dark circles in her eyes. ¡®As I thought, they¡¯ve be busy.¡¯ Because of Cordelia¡¯s actions, the ck Moon¡¯s n was known throughout the royal capital. The Royal Guards, who had been on alert for the uing founding anniversary celebration, began to investigate the ck Moon, and the situation had been getting busier day by day because of the new evidences they found in the process. ¡®Because the Royal Guard Magic Corps solely exists for the security of the royal capital.¡¯ Naturally, the wizards under the Royal Guard Magic Corps became busy, and since Adelia was one of theirmanders, she was forced to work overtime. ¡°It¡¯s hard, it¡¯s hard¡­ it¡¯s been a few days since I¡¯ve been up all night.¡± Adelia muttered, resting her head on Ga?l¡¯s shoulder, and Cordelia nced at their hands instead of the heads and shoulders of the two. Because she wanted to see if they were sping each other¡¯s hands. ¡®sped hands.¡¯ Their fingers were tightly interlocked with each other. [Cordelia.] sping hands. [Cordelia.] I¡¯m not saying that I really want to do it. I-it¡¯s just for our acting. [Cordelia?] ¡°Yes?!¡± Cordelia came to her senses at his third call, eximing in surprise, and Jude quickly sent a magic again. [Are you okay? What exactly happened at the tea party?] [No, nothing happened. So, what were you saying?] [There¡¯s something I want to talk about. You could say that there¡¯s something I want to ask of you.] [Huh?] Ask? What do you want to ask? Jude took Cordelia to his room first, and once inside, they sat down face to face and used magic again. [As you may have felt it over the past five days, things have changed a lot from the original.] Due to their early deterrence of the barbarians¡¯ n to invade the northern region of the country, arge number of nobles who would not have originally participated in the founding celebration had nowe to the royal capital. Count Bayer and Count Chase. Two powerhouses of the north. [A lot of things have changed because of the Rogue Master¡¯s activities.] The Lord Protector¡¯s influence had decreased a little, and many of the nobles who would be his hands and feet had to withdraw from the founding celebration. Added to that was the ck Moon¡¯s problem. The ck Moon wouldn¡¯t copse or be destroyed just because of this problem, but it was at least impossible for them to continue their original terror n. [We twisted history a lot. So we have to take that risk too.] The situation had changed. It had now be a much different situation from the original that Jude and Cordelia knew. Therefore, the response of the enemies would also be different. [I¡¯ve made some predictions. But¡­ there are times when calctions alone are not enough.] He needed her intuition in this case. Something that couldn¡¯t be exined by logic alone. [Cordelia, what do you think they will do?] I mean, where and how do you think the enemies will attack? Cordelia¡¯s geniusbat sense was triggered duringbat. She had the ability to see the flow of the battlefield by gathering clues yet not conscious of all the variables, such as the atmosphere, breathing, their gazes, and so on. So it was highly likely that she could not fully demonstrate that ability now since the battle had yet to begin. But even so. Cordelia¡¯s instincts were like that of a beast. ¡°I¡­¡± Cordelia slowly opened her mouth and spoke, and Jude nodded his head. Hebined his own calctions with Cordelia¡¯s intuition in order to make a clearer n. Chapter 182 - EPISODE 182 – THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM (2)

Chapter 182 - EPISODE 182 ¨C THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM (2)

Time continued to pass. Eight days before the founding anniversary ball. After the tea party hosted by Duke Wotan, one of the aristocrats¡¯ leaders, the daily social events finally came to a close. The reason was simple ¨C there were a lot of official events scheduled for next week. ¡°We also have an event scheduled.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia grinned and nodded her head. Because it was an event that she had been looking forward to. ¡°The day after tomorrow?¡± ¡°Yes, the day after tomorrow.¡± ¡°I¡¯m excited.¡± ¡°Are you that happy?¡± ¡°Are you not happy then? Does Milord not want a title?¡± ¡°I¡¯m happy, I want it too.¡± Title. Jude and Cordelia¡¯s conferment ceremony. ¡°Hehe, hehehe. Baron Chase.¡± Cordelia muttered and then giggled, and her body soon trembled in excitement. ¡°Hehehe, Baron Chase. I¡¯ll finally have a status and title.¡± ¡°Yes, Baron Chase. Congrattions.¡± ¡°Thank you, Baron Bayer, Congrattions to the baron too.¡± When Jude bowed and politely congratted her, Cordelia slightly lifted the sides of her skirt and curtsied as she politely congratted him too. Baron. It had the lowest rank among the noble titles, but even so, a title was still a title. ¡®The difference is like the sky and the earth if you are a in noble.¡¯ The reason Cordelia childishly liked it was because of the influence of her present life more than her previous one. Because for nobles, having a title was really important. ¡®It¡¯s not because I personally aspire to be distinguished.¡¯ Bing a baron did not mean that they would suddenly enjoy enormous wealth and power. In particr, it was not an exaggeration to say that it was actually an honorary title since Jude and Cordelia will only receive a title and not a manor. But even so, it still held a lot of meaning. ¡®If all descendants became in nobles, there would be no end to the lineage of nobles.¡¯ In the S?len Kingdom, only one person could inherit their father¡¯s family title. Usually, the eldest son or daughter inherited the title, and the children who did not inherit the title would be nobles without a title, the so-called in noble. ¡®Children of in nobles are treated equally among the in nobility but¡­¡¯ The situation was different from the in noble¡¯s grandchildren, which was the third generation. If they did not receive a title, they would be treated as amoner instead of a noble from then on. It was aw designed to control the number of nobles, but there were obviously many other ways to avoid it. ¡®You can prevent yourself from bing amoner by just getting a knight title¡­ Otherwise, you can just buy a title with money.¡¯ But what if a person didn¡¯t have the skills to be a knight, or didn¡¯t have any money to buy a title? ¡®They¡¯ll be amoner.¡¯ In the case of the S?len Kingdom, the lives of themoners weren¡¯t that bad. There were manymoners among the wealthy merchants or college intellectuals. ¡®But even so.¡¯ It was rare for a person to rescind their noble status, just because they preferred being amoner. After all, the S?len Kingdom was a feudal society, so in many ways, being a noble was more advantageous than being amoner. ¡°Hehe, Baron. Baron Chase.¡± The eldest son, Edward Chase, was the heir to the Count Chase title and the future count. The eldest daughter, Adelia Chase, gained the title of 7th?Commander of the Royal Guard Magic Corps when she climbed to that position with her own skills. In other words, Cordelia was the only in noble in their family. But now that she would be ¡®Baron Cordelia Chase¡¯ instead of ¡®in noble Cordelia,¡¯ it was natural for her to be feeling excited. ¡°Our child won¡¯t have to worry anymore, right?¡± ¡°Yes! We¡¯re both barons, so there would be no problem if we had two¡­eh?¡± Wait. I think I just said something weird right now. Cordelia who had answered brightly suddenly blinked her eyes, and Jude had a sly expression as he tilted his head, pretending that there wasn¡¯t anything weird about it. Our kids. Our children. Jude and Cordelia¡¯s own children. ¡®T-that¡¯s ridiculous.¡¯ Children? Who¡¯ll give birth to that? I? Me? For a moment, Cordelia tried to imagine herself holding a baby, and her face quickly turned red. ¡®N-no. We¡¯re not there yet. Yes, we¡¯re still far away from that.¡¯ That¡¯s still in the distant future. I still have a long time left, so I don¡¯t need to think about that now. ¡®Yes, yes, so let¡¯s get that thought out of my head!¡¯ If Dahlia had heard her thoughts, she would have said, ¡®But you didn¡¯t deny it.¡¯ Cordelia then took a deep breath to calm herself down, and she looked at Jude again. ¡°Anyway.¡± ¡°Anyway?¡± ¡°Yes, anyway.¡± Cordelia tried to change the topic by saying whatever came to her mind, and her fingers twitched as she continued her words. ¡°Since we have to go the conferment ceremony, do I have to dress up again?¡± ¡°Of course. I¡¯ll make you really beautiful.¡± ¡°It¡¯s always exhausting though.¡± Cordelia bitterly smiled before she rose from her seat and opened her arms. She had attended in so many tea parties that she was now quite used to being a ¡®doll.¡¯ ¡°Now then, Milord. Let me know what I¡¯ll be wearing the day after tomorrow.¡± ¡°As a matter of fact, I¡¯ve already prepared it, Princess.¡± Jude smiled and turned around to open the closet door, and Cordelia then spontaneously said. ¡°Wow¡­ you look so excited.¡± Is it really that fun to dress me up? ¡°Because it alwayses out good no matter how I dress you up. Ah, I have to call Dahlia and Maja too. If I don¡¯t call them, they¡¯ll be sadter.¡± ¡°Hey, Milord. I¡¯m not the only one going, but Milord too, right?¡± ¡°Yes, Princess. After we¡¯ve dressed you up, I¡¯ll be a quiet doll for the princess, so you can y with me as much as you want.¡± Jude responded with a shameless face, and he pulled a dress out of the closet and rang the bell to call Maja. ¡°Seriously¡­¡± The disgruntled Cordelia sat down and watched Jude happily choosing a dress before she opened her mouth again. ¡°By the way, Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Were you a beauty shop owner in your previous life?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Then how do you know so much?¡± From beauty treatments up to hair cutting methods. At Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude replied while still looking at the dresses. ¡°Because I studied it.¡± ¡°In your past life?¡± ¡°No, in the present life. After I regained my memories of my previous life.¡± In Pleaides, there were no chemical products like shampoo and conditioner, but the beauty treatment methods itself were quite developed. However, Cordelia had no choice but to tilt her head at Jude¡¯s answer. ¡°You learned it on purpose? Why?¡± ¡°To make you beautiful.¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°Because Cordelia is precious.¡± Cordelia scrunched her lips at Jude¡¯s words. If he had said that a few months ago, she would have responded by telling him to stop talking nonsense, but nowadays, she just somehow felt restless about it. ¡°Ahem, ahem, Cordelia is indeed precious.¡± ¡°Yes, she is the most precious one in the world.¡± ¡°W-what are you saying?¡± How can you say such a thing so casually? Shouldn¡¯t your face change color, even for just a bit? Cordelia mumbled quietly, and suddenly looked up again. Because there was one thing she didn¡¯t understand. ¡°Wait a minute, you studied beauty treatments. But what about trimming my hair?¡± ¡°That¡¯s because of my Cheonmujiche.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Because it makes me good at anything I do with my body, remember?¡± Jude pretended to scissor with his hands, and Cordelia was speechless before she smiled. ¡°What a cheat. It¡¯s a scam, a scam.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a cheat that is useful in many ways, so it¡¯s good to use it.¡± Jude smoothly replied and raised his head. Because he heard the footsteps of Maja and Dahlia outside the door. ¡°So, shall we start now?¡± The door opened, and Jude looked back at Cordelia who calmly rose from her seat and opened her arms. *** Six days before the founding anniversary ball. Jude and Cordelia headed for the main pce while riding a carriage. Because it was the night of the title conferment ceremony. ¡°Look, look. Look at the corners of her mouth.¡± Adelia sat next to Ga?l, giggling as she said that, and Cordelia nced at Ga?l and Adelia¡¯s sped hands before she pouted her lips and said. ¡°Isn¡¯t it natural for me to smile?¡± ¡°Yes, because your status has risen. My Cordelia is a baron now. I can¡¯t help but smile too.¡± Adelia giggled again, and Cordelia eventually followed. She was in a good mood today, so she felt like she couldugh if someone just tapped her arm. And since the women¡¯s reactions were like this, the men¡¯s reactions were naturally simr. Jude and Ga?l just smiled without saying a word. They were inside a carriage pulled by two horses. Count Bayer, Count Chase, and Edward Chase, who was Count Chase¡¯s eldest but somehow had a faint presence, was riding in the carriage ahead of theirs, while Maja and Dahlia rode in the carriage that followed theirs. ¡®Because those two people are like family to us.¡¯ So they couldn¡¯t leave out those two in such a happy asion. ¡®But what exactly is she doing for a while?¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s fingers had been twitching strangely and unusually. Is her hand itchy? ¡°Anyway, don¡¯t make a mistake just because you¡¯re too excited. Because it¡¯s not just you, okay? Do you understand?¡± ¡°I understand. Do you think I¡¯m a kid?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. You¡¯re not yet an adult, right? Are you trying to say that you¡¯re not a kid and that you¡¯re all grown up now?¡± Her older sister really acted like an older sister. Cordelia was troubled on how to refute Adelia¡¯s words, and she scrunched her lips again while Ga?l said with a small smile. ¡°Because it¡¯s also the first official event of Princess Daphne. So don¡¯t be too nervous. You¡¯re not the only ones receiving a title today.¡± If they added the ones who would receive the knight title, there would be around ten people. In fact, the real protagonist of today¡¯s event was not those who would be conferred titles, but Princess Daphne who would be bestowing titles. It was her first official work as an adult. However. ¡°But among those who¡¯ll receive titles, you two are the main characters. You¡¯ll be barons and not a knight like the others, and you two are the youngest among those who¡¯ll participate in the event. It may be burdensome, but¡­ it¡¯s something to be proud of. Yes, that¡¯s right. I¡¯m very proud of you.¡± ¡°Unnie.¡± ¡°I want to hug you, but the dress might get wrinkled. So I can¡¯t.¡± Adelia spoke to Cordelia with wide open arms as she smiled with her eyes, and Cordelia smiled while pretending to scowl. ¡®Because we¡¯re the main characters.¡¯ Jude agreed too. After all, Jude and Cordelia were the youngest among those who would receive a title this time. ¡®Moreover, we skipped the knighthood and directly became barons.¡¯ It was rare for a minor to gain a noble title all by themselves. Moreover, the reason for gaining a title was special. ¡®Meritorious service.¡¯ Because their activities in the wildnds were rted to the safety of the northern, and even the entire S?len Kingdom. It was not possible to convey at face value on what had happened in the wildnds, but the adaptations alone were enough for Jude and Cordelia to gain titles. ¡®Baron Bayer.¡¯ And Baron Chase. The birth of a baron couple was rare, and since they were the famous couple of the century, it was natural that they would be the main characters in the conferment ceremony, just like what Adelia said. ¡®Good.¡¯ Our efforts were recognized. What we¡¯ve been doing so far is not wrong, and is something that deserves praise, just like what other people say. Jude smiled and stared at Cordelia again, whose fingers were still twitching. But why? Why does Cordelia keep twitching her fingers even after she¡¯s holding her hands? Jude tilted his head, but Cordelia did not look at him, and the carriage continued to head to its destination. Chapter 183 - EPISODE 183 – THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM (3)

Chapter 183 - EPISODE 183 ¨C THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM (3)

Terms used in this chapter: A tiger who lost their teeth?¨C someone who used to be powerful but became powerless and poorter. Five and a half days before the founding anniversary ball. Lucas had visited the event venue of the conferment ceremony to congratte Jude and Cordelia, and he softly smiled at some point. Because he found a familiar face. ¡°Miss Scarlet?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± A surprised face returned his call. She would be like that because she was in the middle of hiding and concealing her presence. How did he find out? No, it¡¯s natural for him to find out. He may be overshadowed by Jude and Cordelia, but he¡¯s also a genius from the north. Those two are so overwhelming, but Lucas is also one of the best among his peers, and one of the best in the entire continent and not just the S?len Kingdom. ¡®Moreover¡­ it¡¯s because I dressed myself up.¡¯ She was dressed as a young nobledy who attended the event, and not as a maid or butler. She had been hiding in order to get rid of the men who had been swarming at her like fruit flies, but if it was Lucas with his sharp senses, it was natural for him to find her. ¡°Did youe to congratte Mr. Bayer and Lady Cordelia?¡± ¡°Well¡­sort of. Because we know each other.¡± Scarlet said that as if she was indifferent, maintaining a haughty expression, and Lucas smiled again. ¡°Would you like toe with me? I¡¯d like to introduce you to my friends who are nobles from the north.¡± ¡°Thank you for your offer, but I have to decline. I¡¯d like some silence for now.¡± It was a slightly rude answer, but Lucas nodded with an unbothered expression, closing his mouth and looking straight ahead. What the hell is going on? Is he angry that I rejected him? As Scarlet slightly furrowed her brows and nced at him, Lucas replied with a bright smile. ¡°Well¡­ you said you wanted me to be silent.¡± ¡°Ah¡­yes.¡± She meant that she wanted to be alone, but he interpreted it differently. Is he the so-called airhead? ¡®Or he¡¯s just not good at reading the room.¡¯ But I don¡¯t hate it because he¡¯s handsome. He¡¯s innocent and cute too. ¡®Should I say he¡¯s like a big dog?¡¯ That girl, Pink Bomb, is a dog. She pretends to be a proud cat, but in reality, she¡¯s a dog. ¡®ck Cloak is ck-hearted fox.¡¯ It was quite fun to think of them as animals, but Scarlet quickly came to her senses. Because the music that was ying at the venue had changed. ¡°I think it¡¯s about to start.¡± When Scarlet spoke, Lucas immediately turned to the stage, and she eventually had no choice but to suppress herughter. Because Lucas really seemed like a big dog. He had no tail, but she unconsciously looked at his butt. ¡°Miss Scarlet?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing.¡± Scarlet¡¯s haughty yet elegant smile, which was a more honest smile than before, made Lucas¡¯s face slightly turn red, and he soon looked back at the stage. *** First Sword stood by the window and looked at the stage. Several women, who admired him for being young, handsome, and a Sword Saint, talked to him, and he responded to them with a friendly face, but he pushed the women away after a few words. He liked alcohol and women as much as he liked the sword, but today, he wanted to distance himself from worldly pleasures. ¡°How unusual.¡± He wasn¡¯t talking about himself for wanting to stay away from alcohol and women. He was referring to the people gathered here. Two people came into First Sword¡¯s sight. One was Duke Antarius, who was called the Lord Protector. The other was Count Bayer, the Sword General. Both of them were masters of the sword who belonged to the Ten Great Swordmasters, just like First Sword himself. ¡®They¡¯re still strong.¡¯ Because they were one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. Because they were those who reached the pinnacle of the many swordsmen in the S?len Kingdom. ¡®However.¡¯ The passage of time was inevitable. The Lord Protector was old, and Count Bayer was also getting old. Their skills would inevitably decline due to their aging bodies. The Lord Protector had be so weak that he could no longer bepared to the time when they were at war with the empire. ¡®Well, they¡¯re still great swordmasters though.¡¯ The expression ¡®a tiger who lost their teeth¡¯ would be too much to describe them though. They were great swordmasters who represented the S?len Kingdom, so they still had some considerable skills. ¡®Count Bayer, the Sword General.¡¯ Although he was in histe 40s, he looked much younger than someone who had reached the peak. He was a very handsome man in the first ce. As for his sword. Count Bayer¡¯s sword, which First Sword had seen through Ga?l, was literally like the wind. It was unrestrained and free, so one couldn¡¯t hold it even if they reached out their hand. ¡®Hmm, I knew it. I like the sword best.¡¯ He liked alcohol and women, but he still preferred the sword. In some way, it was natural since he was someone who became known as First Sword because he was the best in the Sword School. He had seen swords since he was born, and up to now, he had wielded a sword every day. ¡®I don¡¯t even get tired of it.¡¯ He wanted topete whenever he met someone strong, and he wanted to reach a higher level, so he sharpened and polished his own sword. He wanted to go a bit higher. He wanted to be a bit stronger. ¡®I want topete with Landius and Kamael at least once.¡¯ The Iron Man and the Ghostde. Both were heroes of the Paragon Kingdom and were also called the world¡¯s strongest swordsmen. He wanted to know what swordsmanship they used. He wanted to know how strong he waspared to them. No, he wanted to know if they were really stronger than he himself. ¡®Ah, it¡¯s starting.¡¯ First Sword who had been imagining then smiled and straightened his posture. And he directed his gaze towards the stage. The music changed. The audience turned silent. ¡®And.¡¯ The main character appeared. The moment Princess Daphne appeared in a golden dress, apuse erupted, and First Sword also pped lightly and looked down the stage. He saw Cordelia in a white dress, smiling with an excited face, and Jude was next to her, pretending to be calm. ¡°How cute.¡± First Sword spoke in a small voice, and the event began as if his words were the signal. *** ¡°It¡¯s too early. For them to be barons at that age. They need to gain more experience.¡± ¡°So you don¡¯t like it?¡± Count Bayer casually asked Count Chase, who responded like always. ¡°Hmph.¡± ¡°You really say the opposite of how you feel.¡± Count Bayer quietly smiled and looked at the stage. Princess Daphne, the jewel of the royal capital, was conferring knighthood to a young woman. ¡°It¡¯ll be soon.¡± ¡°Hmph, they¡¯ll only be barons. They should at least get a viscount title.¡± ¡°You just said that bing a baron was too early.¡± ¡°It means I¡¯m not satisfied with the current situation.¡± ¡°You really have a difficult personality. But you¡¯re actually happy.¡± ¡°Hmph, not a chance.¡± Count Chase scoffed, but his hands were the ones being honest. He was holding in his hand a mana orb for video recording. ¡°Does that record the sound?¡± ¡°Of course. So be quiet. Because you¡¯re noisy.¡± Count Bayer smiled and was silent at Count Chase¡¯s grumbling, and Count Chase then used his magic. Jude and Cordelia were on the stage. The two of them finally appeared. ¡®I¡¯m deeply moved.¡¯ Just a year ago, Jude was a guy who couldn¡¯t even go outside that much. He couldn¡¯t believe that Jude was so healthy now that he even performed such a huge meritorious deed. Count Bayer unconsciously became tearful, and he looked back at Count Chase and smiled calmly. His friend had always not been honest, but at this moment, he was acting differently. ¡®This man.¡¯ How nice would it be if he always smiled like that. A bright smile was on Count Chase¡¯s face. Count Bayer looked back the stage, pretending to not have seen it, while Count Chase continued to focus on his video recording. *** ¡°Jude Bayer, Cordelia Chase. On ount of the great contributions you have made for the S?len Kingdom, I confer the baron titles on you two. From now on, you two are barons of the S?len Kingdom.¡± Although she was still a crown princess, it was no exaggeration to say that her dignity was that of a queen. As she solemnly proimed and lifted the sword, Jude and Cordelia knelt in front of her and bowed their heads silently, and soon after, Princess Daphne¡¯s sword lightly tapped on their shoulders. Baron Bayer and Baroness Chase. The first barons who attained the baron titles by themselves, and not through inheritance. Cordelia bit her lips and tried to hold back her smile, but she soon decided to just smile. Because she was very happy. ¡®It¡¯s not just because we became barons.¡¯ It was not just because everyone recognized their meritorious deeds in the wildnds. The identity of the overwhelming emotions that filled her heart. The reason why she was delighted. ¡®I changed it.¡¯ Cordelia herself and Jude. Originally, the barbarians¡¯ invasion of the north should have started by now. Count Bayer and Count Chase would have hurried back to the north, and Duke Spencer would have still been sick and unable to get up. First Sword would not have been here. Ga?l and Adelia would not have been in a rtionship. And Scarlet and Lucas. Even Cordelia herself. ¡®I¡¯m going to change it more.¡¯ So that everyone can be happy. And to have a perfect happy ending. Cordelia nced at Jude, and Jude also nced at Cordelia. The moment their eyes met, they smiled at the same time. Because they could understand what the other was thinking. ¡®For a perfect happy ending.¡¯ Jude said with a nce, and Cordelia nodded. The two simultaneously raised their heads to face Princess Daphne. ¡°Congrattions, Baron Bayer and Baroness Chase.¡± Princess Daphne spoke with a friendly smile, and apuse broke out once again from everywhere. No one could deny that they were the most apuded that day. *** Four days before the founding anniversary ball. Blue Moon and the other small guilds attacked the ck Moon in earnest. The ck Moon, which had been divided in half due to the attack of the Royal Guards, failed to actively fight back against the wave offensive, and the war situation eventually became the Blue Moon one-sidedly hitting them, and the ck Moon one-sidedly getting beaten. ¡°Aren¡¯t we lucky that we bet on Pink Bomb?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like we bet on them, but rather, we made a choice.¡± ¡°Haha, whatever. Anyway, what¡¯s important is that we¡¯re winning. So when will you get me a ring?¡± ¡°When this fight is over?¡± ¡°Oh, really?¡± The Blue Moon guild master, Supp¨¦, grinned, and Janifer had a small smile instead of her usual poker face. *** Three days before the founding anniversary ball. Saluzia stood beside Koros and looked at him. The Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s northern and central branches. The maximum number of troops they could mobilize. ¡°Let¡¯s do it, Sannie.¡± Koros said, and Saluzia slowly nodded. The founding anniversary celebration. The day when the fate of Saluzia and Koros would be decided. And the names of the two people that came to her mind at that moment. ¡®Jude Bayer.¡¯ And Cordelia Chase. Saluzia bit her lips. As she turned towards the royal capital, she fiercely red. *** Two days before the founding anniversary ball. The Lord Protector stood by the wall and gazed at the pce. First Sword stood on the training ground and looked at his sword. Princess Daphne turned her attention while talking with Prince Dion. She stared at Princess Darianne who was learning horseback riding with a bright face. Lucas and Scarlet met on the street. In their series of repeated encounters, Lucas recalled the three idental encounters between the main character, Biltwein, and the heroine, Elena, in?Biltwein the Hero, while Scarlet recalled the chance encounter between the first Rogue Master and her lover, Vanessa. Count Bayer gazed at his sword. He quietly stared at it, before closing his eyes and feeling the wind. Count Chase watched the video over and over again, and suddenly thought that Jude¡¯s shoes were a bitcking. ¡®Shoes with a darker color and better leather¡­ memo.¡¯ Count Chase focused on the video again after adding a line to his notebook that was filled with stuff about Jude and Ga?l. And a day passed. One day before the founding anniversary ball. ¡°This is the royal capital of the S?len Kingdom.¡± A young man with long blonde hair like the sun stood on the hill and beheld the royal capital. He was tall and handsome like a man from a painting. He had blue jewel-like eyes and a fairplexion. The young man¡¯s name was Maximilian de Avis. The man who was called the main character of?Legend of Heroes 2. The monster from the empire who First Sword had recognized. Maximilian took a deep breath and gently touched the sword on his waist. Feeling his heart pounding, he took a step forward towards the royal capital. Chapter 184 - EPISODE 184 – FOUNDING ANNIVERSARY BALL (1)

Chapter 184 - EPISODE 184 ¨C FOUNDING ANNIVERSARY BALL (1)

Terms used in this chapter: Forward operating base?¨C a secured military base used to conduct further operations and act as a strategic center. They are supported by the main operating base. Seven-Killings?¨C An ancient Chinese deity and one of the 10 Gods used in BaZi, a Chinese astrology thing. It also refers to a warrior or general. In this series though, it is mostly used as an alias of a character. Deep-rooted trees are not shaken by the wind. This was amon saying used to describe the country since the S?len Kingdom was indeed a great andrge country with a vast territory and immense national strength. To the extent that it wouldn¡¯t even budge if it got pushed a bit. ¡®That¡¯s why they raised the scale.¡¯ Even deep-rooted trees could shake. ¡®Just like how even a healthy person wouldn¡¯t survive if they suffer from a series of serious illnesses.¡¯ The demon followers prepared three events to destroy the S?len Kingdom. ¡®One is the barbarians¡¯ invasion of the north.¡¯ The horrors of war engulfed the wildnds and the north, causing great chaos. They directly destroyed the north. ¡®The other is the annihtion of the royal family.¡¯ They erased the royal capital and the royal family, turning the S?len Kingdom into a headless nation. At the same time, they destroyed the barrier of the royal capital and opened the Hell Gate to maximize the confusion in the center. ¡®Thest one.¡¯ Their final n to plunge the south into the depths of destruction. All three of these were sessful in the game, which led to the disastrous fall of the S?len Kingdom. ¡®And the seven major cmities that followed.¡¯ Their nightmarish scheme to destroy the Argon Empire after the S?len Kingdom. After a long adventure in the mid-tote half of?Legend of Heroes 2, the protagonists eventually seeded in defeating all the seven major cmities. However, their victory was nothing but a painful victory. The Argon Empire had already been destroyed, and the entire continent was burned to ashes by the mes of war. ¡®It would have been a good thing if it had ended there.¡¯ But that didn¡¯t happen. Because the Great Summons began. A gate linking the three worlds of hell, earth, and heaven was created, and through this, the demons of hell and the angels of heaven appeared directly on earth. The overlords of hell tried to conquer the earth and make it a forward operating base to strike the heavens. The archangels of heaven tried to keep the army of hell on earth, and not get to heaven. The life of humans, who were the earth¡¯s inhabitants, did not matter to either side. ¡®Armageddon.¡¯ The Great War of Hell and Heaven. The sh of the otherworldly beings caused the destruction of earth, and countless humans died. Apocalypse. Human kingdoms ceased to exist. Compared to before the downfall of the S?len Kingdom, not even a tenth of humans survived, and those who managed to save their lives simply continued their lives amidst hunger and fear. ¡®Legend of Heroes 3?took ce a few years after Armageddon.¡¯ A story of finding hope again in a world that had turned into ashes. ¡®Yes, it¡¯s good if it does not fall into utter despair.¡¯ But even that wasn¡¯t an eptable ¡®future.¡¯ Pleiades was no longer a world seen on theputer monitor, but a real world where Jude himself was born and grew up in. ¡®We¡¯ve already prevented one of the three.¡¯ The wildnds maintained its power, unlike the original, though it suffered great damage. And the northern part of the S?len Kingdom was able to literally avoidplete destruction. ¡®On the contrary, the Devil¡¯s Eye was severely hit.¡¯ Not only did they lose as many as fifteen mid-ranking demonic humans, but even Haraken, a high-ranking demonic human, was killed. ¡®And there¡¯s the Hell Gate.¡¯ In the Devil¡¯s Eye, or even among all the demon follower groups, there were only a few catalysts that could open the Hell Gate, and it was not easy to increase that number either. Moreover, it was no exaggeration to say that it was a blow greater than losing demonic humans since they lost one catalyst. ¡®Even Kriemler couldn¡¯te to earth.¡¯ Kriemler was the great demon who killed Count Bayer and Ga?l in the game. Jude closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. Because of his relief and happiness in saving his father and older brother. ¡°And the genocide of the royal family.¡± The flow in the game was as follows. Right after the ball, which was thest part of the founding anniversary celebration, was over. ck Moon, the hunting dog of the Lord Protector, caused terror throughout the royal capital, and the Lord Protector used it as an excuse to gather the royal family into an emergency shelter hidden in the basement of the royal pce. ¡®And genocide.¡¯ Not only King Henry II, but all his siblings and children. To cut off the blood of the founder king and neutralize the barrier in the royal capital. ¡®It¡¯s more terrible after that.¡¯ The Lord Protector did not leave the royal capital after collecting the divine sword, ¨ªomh Sis, which served as the core of the barrier. He appeared in front of the nobles who were confused with the sudden ¡®disappearance¡¯ of the royal family, and while leading the search, he attracted the demon followers to the royal capital where the barrier had disappeared in order to create a bigger disturbance. ¡®He¡¯s eventually killed by a yable character though¡­¡¯ It was after the royal capital had already lost all its functions as a capital. ¡®We have to stop him before that.¡¯ They had already done all the necessary measures they could do. They neutralized the ck Moon, the main culprit of the terror attacks, and also made the Lord Protector¡¯s close allies, the ones who helped him in the royal family¡¯s genocide, withdraw from the front line. ¡®It¡¯s impossible to stop the Lord Protector in advance.¡¯ Although they had be close to the royal family, it was only a friendship that began a month ago. The Lord Protector had dedicated his entire life to the S?len Kingdom, so it was impossible for them topete with him. ¡®In the end, we have no choice but to solve it on the spot.¡¯ The moment the Lord Protector revealed his true colors, they would instantly stop him and save the royal family. It was an operation that was truly like walking on a tightrope. ¡®But we have to do it.¡¯ Jude took a deep breath and looked at the n and map in front of him. The things that the Lord Protector could do under the current situation. And all of Jude¡¯s countermeasures to it. ¡®It¡¯s like chess. You win if you capture the king.¡¯ But the situation was like they needed to immediately capture the king if they wanted a chance to win. For this reason, Jude had also prepared measures in order to capture the king- the Lord Protector. ¡®Though there are a lot of conditions¡­ and it¡¯s notplete.¡¯ It was impossible to set up a trap in advance at the royal pce. Therefore, the only thing they could do was a head-to-head match. ¡®In order to defeat the Lord Protector, who is one of the Ten Great Swordmasters, we need someone from the Ten Great Swordmasters too.¡¯ Count Bayer and First Sword. And Count Chase, who were on the same level as the two. The problem was that none of the three could be told about this. ¡®The only thing possible is to give them a few clues.¡¯ As for the rest, they had no choice but to make the three face the Lord Protector directly on the spot. ¡®I can just get anyone of them to apany me and then face the Lord Protector.¡¯ His colleagues who worked with him in his past life would obviously have something to say about that if they saw his current n, but this was the best he could do right now. ¡®There are a lot of strong people in the royal capital.¡¯ Not only on their side, but also on the other side. There were also some people in the Royal Guard Knights and the Royal Guard Magic Corps who were on the Lord Protector¡¯s side. In particr, the Lord Protector had many disciples in the Royal Guard Knights. ¡®Four out of the Ten Great Swordmasters would be in the royal capital on the day of the founding anniversary celebration.¡¯ The remaining six were not present for reasons such as keeping the border, like Count Hr?svelgr did. ¡®My father and First Sword will be on our side, and the Lord Protector would be on the other side. And having Seven-Killings Sword is better than nothing.¡¯ One of the Ten Great Swordmasters was Seven-Killings Sword, Seryu. Born in the far eastern continent, she was someone like the wind. She had a habit of wandering around, so she couldn¡¯t settle in one ce and wandered all over the S?len Kingdom. Unlike First Sword who belonged to an organization called the Sword School, Seryu did not belong to any group. ¡®She¡¯s known for her random encounters since you can¡¯t even guess where, when, and how she will appear.¡¯ First of all, given that her name was on the guest list, it seemed that she was in the royal capital, but it was unclear whether she would appear at the ball. ¡®I tried to contact her in advance, but it was impossible.¡¯ After spending time with First Sword, whom they clearly knew his location, they had been busy with tea parties and the Rogue Master¡¯s activities. ¡®Of course, I tried to search for her but¡­¡¯ It was in vain. He even put a request in the Blue Moon, but they couldn¡¯t find Seryu, the Seven-Killings Sword, in the end. ¡®Well¡­she¡¯s a generous person who¡¯ll help anyway, so I¡¯ll just let her be.¡¯ After all, she was one of the Ten Great Swordmasters who swore their loyalty to the S?len Kingdom. Like First Sword, she wasn¡¯t a person who would ignore the crisis that would befall the royal capital. ¡®In the end, the key is for the Ten Great Swordmasters to confront each other.¡¯ The best thing would be his father and First Sword working together to stop the Lord Protector, but if only one of them was present, it was still possible to stop the Lord Protector. ¡®Because both are likely to be stronger than the Lord Protector in a one-on-one fight.¡¯ As First Sword had said, even if they were the Ten Great Swordmasters, a decline of their skills due to aging was inevitable. ¡®If they fight one-on-one, our side will win.¡¯ Jude took a deep breath and looked at the n once again, checking the details. It was a crude n that had to rely on improvisation for almost everything because the enemy¡¯s tactics were clearly unknown, and that they had severely changed the original course of events. ¡®However.¡¯ Even if that was so, it was still meaningful to prepare. If ever an unexpected situation urred, he would be able to respond to it more calmly if he had ever thought about it at least once. ¡°Tomorrow night.¡± The night of the big fight that will determine the fate of the royal capital. And at the same time, a night where his incredibly anticipated event will ur. ¡®Founding anniversary ball.¡¯ Jude covered his face with his hands and said to himself. ¡®Yes, I know.¡¯ I must be crazy for thinking and wanting to dance with Cordelia at the ball in the midst of all these events. ¡®But¡­ I can¡¯t help it, okay?¡¯ We¡¯ll be attending a ball anyway. The event will happen after the ball is actually over. Then¡­ isn¡¯t it okay for me to enjoy it a bit? ¡®Furthermore¡­¡¯ It¡¯s my first time. To dance with Cordelia at an official event. ¡°I want to see Cordelia.¡± Jude unconsciously spoke, and he soon smiled bitterly. ¡®This is serious.¡¯ I really am a serious case in many ways. ¡°Cordelia.¡± Jude spoke out loud again and closed his eyes. He imagined what she would look like tomorrow. *** ¡°Miss.¡± Despite Dahlia¡¯s call, Cordelia did not answer as she pretended to not have heard it. What¡¯s going on? Is she suddenly going into puberty? ¡°Miss?¡± Dahlia called again, and Cordelia slightly pouted her lips. Seeing her reaction, it¡¯s not that she can¡¯t hear me, but she¡¯s dissatisfied with something. ¡®Ah, I know what she¡¯s dissatisfied with.¡¯ Dahlia cleared her throat and said in a small voice. ¡°Baroness Chase?¡± ¡°Yes, I am Baroness Chase. I¡¯m not in noble Cordelia, but Baroness Chase.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s response, Dahlia finally burst outughing. ¡°Do you like it so much?¡± ¡°Yes, I like it.¡± She was in front of Dahlia and not anyone else, so she was honest. As Cordelia talked and snorted, Dahlia hugged Cordelia as if she couldn¡¯t take it anymore. ¡°My cute miss.¡± ¡°Miss?¡± ¡°Cute baroness.¡± ¡°Ehem, ehem.¡± Cordelia answered in a cute way, and then hugged Dahlia. Dahlia was someone who sometimes felt more like her real sister than Adelia, so sharing warmth like that made her feel like she was in her mother¡¯s arms. ¡°Ha, seriously. I¡¯m so excited.¡± ¡°Of what?¡± ¡°Tomorrow¡¯s ball. And how pretty mydy¡­no, my baroness will be. People will be surprised to see the baroness. I really want to see you dance with Lord Jude.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem¡­¡± A lot of people were indeed expecting that. ¡°What about Dahlia? Dahlia is also beautiful, so you¡¯ll be very pretty if you dressed up.¡± ¡°Thank you for saying that even if it¡¯s just empty words.¡± ¡°I really mean it. Aren¡¯t there other knights nning to dance with you tomorrow?¡± ¡°Thank you for your words.¡± ¡°No, I really mean it, okay?¡± ¡°Yes, yes, surely, you really mean it.¡± Dahlia had a mature smile and gently touched Cordelia¡¯s cheek. ¡°It¡¯s now time for my baroness to go to sleep. You know you shouldn¡¯t stay up all night because you¡¯re so excited from thinking of Lord Jude, right?¡± ¡°Am I a child? And I¡¯m not excited because of Jude, so I won¡¯t stay up all night, okay?¡± ¡°Yes, yes, if you say so. I agree. It¡¯s not like that.¡± ¡°I hate Dahlia.¡± ¡°Really? Do you really hate me?¡± When Dahlia met her eyes and spoke, Cordelia had no choice but to surrender. ¡°Somehow, you¡¯re resembling Jude more and more these days, you know?¡± ¡°It¡¯s because the baroness is so cute.¡± It was an irrelevant answer but could also be called a wise answer to a stupid question. ¡°Anyway, you should go to bed now. See you tomorrow.¡± Dahlia made Cordelia lie on the bed before she covered her with a nket and stroked her hair. Dahlia¡¯s behavior and affection was definitely almost like that of a sister and not just that of an escort knight. And that was why. Cordelia grabbed Dahlia¡¯s hand so that she would turn around. Dahlia turned around to ask what Cordelia wanted, and Cordelia slightly opened her mouth when Dahlia faced her. ¡°Miss?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing. Good night, Dahlia.¡± ¡°Yes, miss. Good night too.¡± Dahlia had a wide smile as she left the room, and Cordelia closed her eyes after staring at Dahlia¡¯s back for a while. ¡®Dahlia.¡¯ It¡¯s not just the founding anniversary ball tomorrow. A really big incident will happen. Because there¡¯s very little chance that the Lord Protector will back out from his n. The Devil¡¯s Hand will do something too. ¡®Please don¡¯t get hurt.¡¯ Please don¡¯t get injured from overdoing it. I don¡¯t want to think about Dahlia dying. Because it¡¯s scary to even imagine it. ¡®The genocide of the royal family.¡¯ I¡¯ve been preparing to stop it. Jude and I have even stopped the ¡®war¡¯ that took ce in the wildnds, so we have to stop this event too. But why? ¡®I have this slightly¡­ slightly bad feeling.¡¯ A slightly unfounded worry. She began to have this unidentified ominous feeling after the Banquet of Swords, as if she was sitting on pins and needles. ¡®Is it because we changed history?¡¯ It was after the Banquet of Swords that they began to stop the ck Moon¡¯s terror n in earnest. ¡®But it will be fine.¡¯ We prepared a lot in advance. Because Jude and I did our best that we could do. This ominous feeling is just like a fear of the unknown future. ¡®We¡¯ll protect it.¡¯ The royal family. The royal capital. Everyone including Jude. Cordelia closed her eyes and went to sleep. As Dahlia had said, she should go to sleep early to prepare for tomorrow. But. 1 minute, 2 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes¡­ Cordelia opened her eyes again in the end. She had no choice but to do so. ¡®I can¡¯t sleep!¡¯ Because I¡¯m scared of tomorrow yet looking forward to it too. Because I keep imagining myself fully dressed up and dancing with Jude. ¡®Am I a kid getting excited about a pic?¡¯ Cordelia scolded herself and shut her eyes again, but she soon had to admit it. The fact that her heart kept pounding and that she couldn¡¯t sleep. ¡®Anyway, this is Jude¡¯s fault, this is Jude¡¯s fault.¡¯ Unlike her, he must be sleeping well by now. Cordelia pouted her lips for no reason and turned to the direction of Jude¡¯s room, closing her eyes while feeling a bit annoyed. ¡®I want to see him.¡¯ No matter what. Yes. I want to see him. ¡®What am I thinking?¡¯ Cordelia suddenlyughed a bit before she took a deep breath and focused on trying to sleep again. Because tomorrow was a very important day. It was uneptable if her physical condition was bad because of her excitement. ¡®Sleep.¡¯ For tomorrow. Repressing the ominous feeling in her chest, Cordelia slowly adjusted her breathing. She tried to sleep. *** The morning was bright. It was the same as always, but at the same time, it was different from the usual. In the end, Jude had stayed up all night with his eyes open, and he smiled at Cordelia who had the same tired eyes as him. ¡°Did you not sleep?¡± ¡°I only slept a little¡­ What about you?¡± ¡°I only slept a bit too.¡± Jude and Cordelia eventually looked at each other andughed, while Maja and Dahlia watched the two and thought. ¡®They¡¯re really sweet even in the morning.¡¯ ¡®Oh my, she didn¡¯t sleep.¡¯ But Dahlia could understand it. Even Dahlia herself was so excited that she could only sleep a bit, so Cordelia must have had it harder. The day of the founding anniversary ball. It was a day of the event that they were waiting for. After having breakfast, Jude and Cordelia began their preparations. A final review of their operation and an inspection of theirbat equipment. They dressed themselves after that. Time flew fast and it was nowte in the afternoon. Standing in front of the carriage and looking up at the sky as the sun began to set, Jude suddenlyughed. ¡°Why, why, why.¡± Cordelia was heading his way. She hadn¡¯t changed into the Fairy Dress yet, and she hadn¡¯t even used Angel Mode, but she was still the most beautiful girl in the world. The makeup on her face was quite borate than usual, and she had an expression that looked bashful yet strangely hopeful. Added to that was her beautifully arranged hair. Jude gazed at Cordelia with an enchanted look, and Cordelia somehow felt satisfied with his reaction, oohing as she checked Jude. Jude¡¯s appearance, which was as well-dressed as her, made her raise the corners of her mouth. His wise and mysterious green eyes filled with a strong-willed look. His ck hair went well with his ck tailcoat suit that perfectly fitted his sculpture-like body. ¡®Is it because he¡¯s handsome?¡¯ No, is it not just that? Hearing the beating of her heart that began to pound, Cordelia drew closer to Jude a bit more, and Jude naturally raised his hand. ¡°Let¡¯s go together.¡± ¡°Yes, Baron.¡± The two spoke in a theatrical manner at almost the same time, and they giggled before riding inside the carriage. The distance from the detached pce to the main pce was only a few minutes. However, during that time that felt much longer than usual, Jude and Cordelia were silent instead of talking to each other. They just held each other¡¯s hand tightly and focused on each other. The beating of their hearts became one. Their breathing that was not in harmony at first had now be unified too as if they were one person. An odd tension. Unlike their hot chests, their heads were gradually turning cold. It wasn¡¯t strange. Since the two of them were heading to the battlefield now. ¡°Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s do our best.¡± ¡°You too.¡± The day of the ball and the battle that would decide the fate of the royal capital had now arrived. The carriage stopped, and the two gulped in nervousness. After ncing at each other, they smiled confidently. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± The two simultaneously spoke before they got off the carriage and gazed at the big and beautiful main pce. Two hours before the founding anniversary ball. The time of their decisive battle had arrived. Chapter 185 - EPISODE 185 – FOUNDING ANNIVERSARY BALL (2)

Chapter 185 - EPISODE 185 ¨C FOUNDING ANNIVERSARY BALL (2)

Terms used in this chapter: A thief who has learned stealingter than others will not even realize that the day breaks whilemitting a theft.?¨C An idiom which means that when a person bes interested in a certain thingter than others, they tend to be more enthusiastic about it. Saluzia stood and nkly stared at the royal capital. The sun was setting. The red sunset covered the sky, and beyond that red and yellow light, a dark purple gradually spread. The night wasing. The darkness wasing. As she gazed at the sky, day and night changed at some point. The moon and stars shone in the dark blue sky, and below it, the royal capital seemed to forget the night as it shined beautifully. ¡°City of Light.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Koros reacted to Saluzia¡¯s words. He was in his demonic human form because he couldn¡¯t maintain his human form due to the royal capital¡¯s barrier. He was almost 3 meters tall, and two horns stood tall on his head. In terms of size, he was several times taller than Saluzia. Saluzia¡¯s deer antlers grew on her head and she looked back at Koros. It had been 30 years since then. Saluzia spoke about the past in front of her childhood friend who knew everything she wanted to hide because he had been with her from the very beginning as far as she could remember. ¡°Do you remember? On what happened in the royal capital when we were children?¡± ¡°You mean when the director sold us as ves? When we were loaded into a ve wagon that rattled?¡± ¡°Yes, that time.¡± Saluzia was eight years old and Koros was nine years old then. The skinny boy and girl withrge shackles on their ankles sat in a wagon covered with dirty straw and suffered from hunger. ¡°I thought it was pretty.¡± The big and colorful city they saw in the distance. What kind of people live in such a pretty city? Everyone must have a mother and father, right? They can wear pretty clothes and eat delicious food. They don¡¯t get beaten or hurt every day. ¡°Someday¡­ when I be an adult. I promised myself that I would go there once.¡± A vague hope. That something would change when she bes an adult. That this painful life would end when she grows up. That she would be happy. ¡°But I couldn¡¯t go there even when I became an adult.¡± Because the royal capital had a barrier. Saluzia herself had be a demonic human by selling her soul to the devil. ¡°Konny.¡± ¡°Yes, Sannie.¡± ¡°The ce is different from what I imagined, right?¡± ¡°ces like that exist wherever people live. So if you go in a little deeper, it will be the same hellhole.¡± At Koros¡¯ words, Saluzia unknowinglyughed. No, shepletelyughed out loud. ¡°Sannie?¡± ¡°Just, it¡¯s just funny.¡± The city she envied when she was a child. She really wanted to go there once, but she couldn¡¯t. ¡®But I¡¯m going to burn that city now.¡¯ Her heart no longer ached for it. Saluzia herself was a demonic human now, and all of this was for her beloved leader. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Konny.¡± ¡°Yes, Sannie.¡± To destroy that city full of colorful lights that seemed to have forgotten the night. Saluzia closed her eyes and stepped forward. She hummed as she breathed in the cold night air. *** A singing voice. Jude stood by the window and watched the sunset for a while before he turned his gaze back to the front. The grand banquet hall where the founding anniversary ball was held was full of light. The chandeliers under the magnificent ceiling shone beautifully, and magical lights on the walls drove out the darkness. The floor that was shiny enough to reflect the face, and the chattering voices of the people. And the bright and cheerful song of the lively minstrel from afar. Jude took a step back to widen his view, but it was impossible to capture the banquet hall at a nce. In the very spacious banquet hall, around 300-400 people were gathered. Nobles from all over the country and guests from other countries. On top of that, dozens of royal court attendants were active at work for the smooth progress of the banquet, so it was natural that it was crowded. ¡®Henry II.¡¯ Jude¡¯s gaze turned to the end of the upper seats. The notpetent but not that ipetent Henry II was certainly a good king, and he was chatting andughing with his First Queen while the Second and Third Queens were sitting next to him. ¡®There really are a lot.¡¯ In addition to Princess Daphne and Prince Dion sitting next to the queens, there were more than fifteen children of the king. Excluding the first three children, all of them were children of the concubines, so they were far from inheriting the throne, but they were still royalty who possessed the blood of the founder king in their veins. Jude looked at all the royal children except for Princess Darianne, who was currently not present due to some circumstances, and he turned to the wall again. ¡®Duke Antarius, the Lord Protector.¡¯ He stood near the royal family and was chatting with his disciples. They didn¡¯t have any swords since they were at a ball, but they were all swordsmen with excellent skills. ¡®It¡¯s fortunate that themander of the Royal Guard Knights isn¡¯t on the side of the Lord Protector.¡¯ Jude turned his gaze away from the Lord Protector so as not to be suspicious, and he nced around the banquet hall again. From time to time, familiar faces caught his eyes. ¡®Emma Ficus.¡¯ She came with her well-mannered fianc¨¦, but she looked rather down than usual. She would be like that because this ce was the royal capital and not the north. She was a young nobledy who was only popr in the north because of Count Ficus, but in the royal capital, she was just an average noble. ¡®Of course, the 12 northern families are not average nobles.¡¯ It was just how they were normally treated here. Most of the nobles from the royal capital had the notion that they were somehow above the local nobles. ¡®There¡¯s Rachel too.¡¯ Was her name Rachel Bloom? He had met her at the Banquet of Swords, and she together with Lucas¡¯ friends were gathered together as theyughed and chatted. ¡®Sylvia¡¯s here too.¡¯ Sylvia was one of the most beautiful women in the north, though she was a bit less than Cordelia. So even among the noble children of the royal capital, she exhibited a clear presence. She was chatting with Cordelia¡¯s brother, Edward, and it seemed to Jude that they were talking about something business-rted. ¡®My brother should have been there too.¡¯ As the next Count Bayer, he should have been talking with the next Count Chase and the next Countess Crossbell. However, Ga?l did not even attend the founding anniversary ball. Since Adelia chased Cordelia in the north and the wildnds, she had taken so many vacation days that she couldn¡¯t even take a leave for the seeding years. Thus, Adelia was on duty tonight, and Ga?l had gone to the guard post in order to spend time with her. ¡®Since when did he be such a romantic?¡¯ A thief who had learned stealingter than others would not even realize that the day breaks whilemitting a theft, and that was the case for Ga?l. Maja would have said that the two brothers were exactly the same if she had heard Jude¡¯s thoughts, but in any case, Jude did not stop Ga?l from leaving. ¡®It would be reassuring if we even had one stronger ally but¡­ I¡¯m worried about Adelia too.¡¯ It was unknown how the Lord Protector and the Devil¡¯s Hand would act. Adelia was a capable person who could take care of herself in any situation, but there was still a possibility. So he was relieved that Adelia and Ga?l would be together. ¡®My father and her father are over there though.¡¯ Jude had asked them to stay close to the royal family as much as possible, but since the two couldn¡¯t help but meet people, they were moving farther away. ¡®Seryu is not here.¡¯ Seven-Killings Sword, Trickle. But Jude thought that rather than attending the ball wearing a dress, she would look better smiling while lifting a wine ss alone as she leant on the wall. ¡®And Lucas.¡¯ The boy stood alone on the wall as his shoulders drooped like a crestfallen golden retriever. Jude couldn¡¯t help but talk to Lucas when he saw that face. ¡°Lord Lucas.¡± ¡°Oh, Mr. Jude. I mean, Baron Bayer.¡± ¡°You can just say Lord Jude. It¡¯s just between us.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Lucas nodded with a very happy expression. ¡°Thank you for saying that.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. By the way¡­ you look down?¡± When Jude asked openly, Lucas replied as his shoulders fell again. ¡°The truth is¡­ I invited Miss Scarlet to attend the ball with me. But I was rejected.¡± After he finished talking, Lucas¡¯ head lowered a bit, and Jude nced at Lucas¡¯ butt unconsciously. It somehow seemed to Jude that Lucas had a drooping tail. ¡®No, more than that.¡¯ You invited Scarlet to be your partner? ¡®Isn¡¯t what Cordelia saying true then?¡¯ As Jude looked at him in surprise, Lucas opened his mouth again. ¡°After the conferment ceremony¡­ we met on the street by chance.¡± ¡°By chance?¡± ¡°Yes, just like how Biltwein met Elena identally in?Biltwein the Hero.¡± Lucas¡¯ gaze and voice were filled with warmth, and Jude was convinced. ¡®He¡¯s in love.¡¯ Well, Scarlet is a beauty. In addition to being confident, she¡¯s also secretly nice. ¡®If Cordelia knew this, she¡¯d love it.¡¯ Whether there was a chance or not, Cordelia was enthusiastic with shipping couples. ¡°Lord Lucas.¡± ¡°Yes, Lord Jude.¡± ¡°Scarlet loves roses.¡± ¡°Excuse me? Ah, yes!¡± Jude could do nothing else but root for Lucas. If it really went well with Lucas, it seemed like Lucas would unshakably be on ¡®their side.¡¯ ¡°I-is there¡­ anything else?¡± Lucas timidly asked, and Jude quietly recalled Scarlet¡¯s setting. And it was at that moment. ¡°Hey~ You were here.¡± The owner of the voice he heard from behind him was First Sword. Greeting both Jude and Lucas, he approached with a smile and tapped Jude on the shoulder before raising his hand. ¡°Nice to meet you.¡± ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you too.¡± It was nice if the man he wanted to stick close to came to him on their own. Jude smiled while Lucas followed his greeting. First Sword looked around then and asked. ¡°But where is your pretty fianc¨¦e?¡± ¡°If it¡¯s Cordelia, she¡¯s preparing with Princess Darianne right now.¡± ¡°With the princess? Why?¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­we prepared a bit of a special dress.¡± The Fairy Dress and Fairy Shoes. Princess Darianne had heard that something mysterious would happen in the process of wearing it, and was so eager to see it so Cordelia had no choice but to change her clothes at the main pce. ¡®I want to see it too.¡¯ It was no exaggeration to say that the Fairy Dress was a kind of polymorph item that turned its wearer into a fairy. There were so many things to see, such as the mysterious light that would appear in the process of wearing it, the wings of light that would appear and disappear for a short moment, and so on. ¡®Of course, even if Princess Darianne wasn¡¯t there, I wouldn¡¯t be able to see it.¡¯ If I said that I wanted to see it, she would have hit me. ¡°Hey, look at that smile. You¡¯re smiling because you¡¯re thinking of your fianc¨¦e, right?¡± ¡°Perhaps¡­?¡± ¡°Ah, you seriously look so happy. It makes me want to stab you.¡± ¡°F-first Sword-nim?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a figure of speech, a figure of speech. It¡¯s not real.¡± At the words of First Sword, Lucas exhaled as if he was truly relieved, and First Sword was interested in Lucas¡¯ innocent appearance. Because he thought that it would be fun to tease Lucas. Anyway, it was the moment when Jude¡¯s imagination and First Sword¡¯s grumbling were about to continue. A small sound. The sound of the one of the doors in the grand banquet hall slowly opening. It was such a small sound. It was just a small sound that could be buried by the sound of the music and the people¡¯s chattering. But at that very moment. When the girl who came to the ballte took a step. Those standing near the door turned their gazes inadvertently. Then they saw the royal court attendant who had opened the door to have frozen in ce, as the attendant stared at one ce with an enchanted face. What¡¯s going on? Why is he like that? Their questions did notst long. The moment their eyes followed the gaze of the attendant, they knew the reason. There were no exmations. There were no words of wonder. There was only silence. They forgot what they were saying the moment they saw her. They were mesmerized the moment they gazed at her. The girl walked in steps. The sound of her footsteps were weak and small, but the sound gradually began to be noticeable. Her footsteps didn¡¯t get louder. It was because her surroundings had be quiet. The silence spread. The stillness spread out. The sound of her footsteps became more and more clear. The silence quickly spread like a me wherever the girl walked. The chattering stopped. And Jude could finally hear it. Her footsteps. Even though his back were facing them, Jude could tell the changes that urred to the countless people. The sounds that had filled the banquet hall diminished. The court musicians¡¯ hands seemed to be slowing down, but they stopped before anyone noticed it, and the minstrel who was singing forgot the lyrics. Henry II and First Queen Justina who were having a conversation also sensed the change in the banquet hall. They raised their heads to know what was going on, and their faces became like the others. And one step. The sound of herst step before the total silence. Except for Jude, hundreds of people looked at the same ce. They couldn¡¯t help but gaze at that ce. It was sopelling. An overwhelming and intense beauty. In that absolute silence, Jude gulped in nervousness. And he finally turned around to face her. ¡°Corde-¡­¡± He opened his mouth and stopped. He couldn¡¯t even properly call her name. The moment he saw her, he was spellbound. Because he fell in love again. A star. A girl who shone alone among the countless people. The Fairy Dress wasn¡¯t that fancy. She didn¡¯t tighten her waist, nor was it filled with heavy and dull decorations. The fluttering white cloth flowed down along Cordelia¡¯s smooth shoulder line, and her skirt naturally ?drew a soft line. And a faint heavenly aura surrounded the girl. The girl stood shyly and seemed to pout before she smiled with her fangs visible. She took a step again and drew closer to Jude, whispering. ¡°How long¡­are you going to keep me waiting?¡± Perhaps because of everyone¡¯s gaze, she spoke with a red face, and Jude finally came to his senses. No, he took Cordelia¡¯s hand while still captivated. ¡®Correction¡­effect.¡¯ The Fairy Dress and Fairy Shoes had effects that greatly increased one¡¯s beauty and charm respectively. In addition, there was a correction effect because of her Angel Mode, so it was natural that a truly transcendental beauty was born. Therefore. Thus. In the end, Jude admitted it. He gave up exining it through its game effects. No matter how much he tried to understand it by recing it with numbers, he still couldn¡¯t understand it. ¡°Cordelia, let¡¯s dance.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± Cordelia unconsciously asked. She would act like that because the ce was really silent now. There wasn¡¯t even a small sound of music, let alone a song, and everyone present was even looking her way. But he wants to dance now? That¡¯s too much. That¡¯spletely too much. But Cordelia nodded her head without realizing it. She did that the moment she met eyes with Jude. And after that, everything went naturally. Jude hugged Cordelia¡¯s waist, and she gently leaned against him. And one step. The dance of the two began. Chapter 186 - EPISODE 186 – FOUNDING ANNIVERSARY BALL (3)

Chapter 186 - EPISODE 186 ¨C FOUNDING ANNIVERSARY BALL (3)

Who came to their senses first? No one knew. But it was clear that the time that had stopped at some point began to flow again. Their eyes reflected Jude and Cordelia dancing. The two didn¡¯t know what they should dance since there was no music, but that didn¡¯t matter in the first ce. They were two people who could understand each other¡¯s thoughts by just looking into their eyes. Light steps. Rather than sticking to a dance pattern, they just enjoyed this present moment. Smiles appeared on the faces of those who were watching with rapt attention. Just like the silence, admiration and joy quickly spread too. And music began to y again. People stepped back and made room, and the minstrel tried to capture the scene in front of his eyes instead of singing. Count Bayer smiled. Count Chase hurriedly searched his pockets in order to find a mana stone for video recording. And Jude and Cordelia gazed at each other. Before they knew it, they forgot the stares around them and only focused on each other. They did not suppress the smile spreading on their faces. ¡®Come to think of it, this is our first time.¡¯ ¡®First time?¡¯ ¡®To dance like this.¡¯ ¡®Because the timing wasn¡¯t good when we were in Langesthei.¡¯ At the social gathering of the children from the northern families. They had clearly prepared for the ball then, but they didn¡¯t have the time to dance because the ce was attacked. ¡®During Emma¡¯s birthday party, the atmosphere wasn¡¯t good for dancing.¡¯ ¡®You¡¯re right.¡¯ Because Cordeliapletely destroyed the atmosphere there. ¡®In fact, isn¡¯t it the same now?¡¯ Something big would happen to the royal capital in a few hours at thetest. ¡®I guess. But it won¡¯t make a difference if we made an impression now, right?¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s also true.¡¯ Cordelia smiled and leaned a little more on Jude. His arm that held her waist firmly supported her. ¡®Lord Jude from the Bayer family.¡¯ ¡®What is it, Lady Cordelia from the Chase family?¡¯ Giggling at his yful response, Cordelia looked up again at Jude and said. ¡®Aren¡¯t you a bit good in dancing?¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s because of my Cheonmujiche. Didn¡¯t I say that it makes me good at anything I do with my body?¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s too good.¡¯ Will something bad happen if you don¡¯t brag for a day though? But I don¡¯t hate it. I can¡¯t hate it. Cordelia averted her gaze and looked elsewhere. It wasn¡¯t because she was suddenly embarrassed to face him. It was because she didn¡¯t want him to know her thoughts. Just a few minutes ago. When Jude had turned around towards her. ¡®Hehe, he was very enchanted earlier.¡¯ He stood there with his mouth agape. I wish I could somehow take a picture of that. I didn¡¯t expect theposed Jude to make such a stupid looking face. ¡®And¡­¡¯ The reason why he made such a face was because of me. My face had strangely turned red at that. But why did my own cheeks flush red when it was him who did something embarrassing? Cordelia slightly pouted her lips and nced away before she looked at Jude again. The moment she faced his green eyes, the gaze of her blue eyes shifted to another ce as if running away. ¡°Hehehe.¡± Why is heughing? Should I know why? No, I don¡¯t want to know why. ¡®It¡¯s hard.¡¯ Jude¡¯s arm. I mean, Jude¡¯s embrace. I didn¡¯t think it was like this when we were in the wildnds. When did he be so reliable? T/N: ???? can both mean ¡®hard¡¯ and ¡®reliable.¡¯ So Jude¡¯s arm is hard/firm, while his embrace made Cordelia feel that he was reliable. ¡®He¡¯s grown so tall.¡¯ She was able to tell now that she faced him from the front like this. And his arms had berge enough for Cordelia herself to fit in his embrace. ¡®His hands are big too.¡¯ He had long fingers. She thought that there would be a difference of more than a few centimeters if they touched each other¡¯s palms. Cordelia¡¯s fingers twitched unconsciously at that moment, and Jude also moved his hand. Their hands that were holding each other moved in different directions, and their hands soon found their proper ces as if they were cogwheels interlocking with each other. In between each other¡¯s fingers. It was so natural after that. As if it had been like this from the beginning, their hands filled each other¡¯s gaps and became one. sped hands. The hold of their hands felt much tighter than usual because of their interlocking fingers. Cordelia bit her lips. Otherwise, she felt like she was going tough like a fool. Why? Why is my heart pounding like this? ¡®It feels strange.¡¯ It¡¯s so different from our usual holding hands. It feels like I¡¯m restraining Jude and I¡¯m being restrained by him too. But I like the feeling of us restraining each other like this. Far from feeling uneasy, my heart keeps pounding. ¡®My face is red.¡¯ I can tell without looking in the mirror. Because my face feels hot. I can feel my cheeks burning hot. Cordelia shifted her gaze once more to see Jude, and she bit her lips again. She tried her best to suppress her smile, but she ended up smiling brightly. Because Jude¡¯s face was red. It was burning red. ¡®How exciting.¡¯ It¡¯s Jude and not anyone else. It¡¯s the Jude who¡¯s unashamed in writing words of love when we¡¯re separated, the Jude who can casually say out loud that I am precious. But he has a shy and red face now. Just look at those red earlobes. ¡®Ufufu.¡¯ What can I call this feeling? A feeling of achievement? A feeling of satisfaction? It feels like I¡¯ve won? Like, you¡¯re embarrassed too, right? You now know how I feel when my face turns red, right? ¡®Hey, your face is red too, okay?¡¯ ¡®Why are you being childish. Are you embarrassed that your face is red?¡¯ ¡®You¡¯re red too though?¡¯ ¡®Yes, yes, in my case, my face turns red often. But what about you? What about you?¡¯ Cordelia slyly smiled, and Jude eventually gave up. Because the brightly smiling Cordelia was so lovely. And they continued their dance. Jude and Cordelia listened to the music. Their dance had began spontaneously, but they were able to match to the beat of the music in a short time because the two were skilled in moving their bodies. And after some time, the two knew. The fact that the song would soon end. The time when their dance would be over was now approaching. Therefore, Cordelia looked at Jude instead of closing her eyes. Jude also met eyes with Cordelia. Instead of having a conversation with their eyes, they simply stared at each other. And the end eventually came. Both of their feet stopped, and they sighed in relief. But they didn¡¯t release their sped hands. Their fingers twitched as if expressing their regret. If possible, they wanted to keep doing this. But the two knew that it was impossible. Because thunderous apuse filled the grand banquet hall, filling in the void of the music that had ended. ¡®It¡¯s 12 o¡¯clock.¡¯ The grinning Cordelia closed her lips and left Jude¡¯s arms. She slightly lifted the sides of her skirt with her hands, and gave a bow to everyone. And the sound of apuse burst again, followed by music that began ying anew. Several people began to dance at that moment. ¡°Haa.¡± At a balcony of the grand banquet hall. Cordelia hid behind the curtains to avoid people¡¯s gaze for a while, and she took several breaths. ¡°I can live now.¡± Because the air was cold. Her burning red face seemed to cool off for a bit too. Cordelia panted as if she was exhausted, and nced at Jude before smiling in satisfaction again. Just like her, Jude¡¯s face was red, and he was also catching his breath. ¡°Fufufu. I won.¡± ¡°Wait, what did you win from?¡± ¡°I won, I won. I won. I won, okay?¡± The grinning Cordelia put her arms on the balcony railing and smiled again. ¡°Haa, I¡¯m tired.¡± ¡°Are you okay? Would you like a potion?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine though? What about you?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve absorbed the Sphere of Life, so if I just stand still, my HP and stamina will fill up again.¡± ¡°I see, that¡¯s great. You¡¯re like Captain America. You can move all day long without getting tired, huh?¡± ¡°If it¡¯s just dancing, I can do it for days, okay?¡± ¡°Oh my, look at you bragging nonsense.¡± As Cordelia clicked her tongue, Jude coughed in his awkwardness. ¡°Anyway, are you okay?¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m fine.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you feel cold? Your clothes look thin. Your entire shoulders are exposed. You might catch a cold.¡± When Jude viewed the Fairy Dress and spoke, Cordelia confidently smiled as her fangs glistened. ¡°It¡¯s fine, I¡¯m really fine. Have you forgotten? The Winter Protection?¡± ¡°I see. But you still look cold, so let¡¯s put something on.¡± As he said that, Jude took off his coat and put it over Cordelia¡¯s shoulders, and Cordelia¡¯s lips squirmed. ¡®What¡¯s wrong with me?¡¯ Originally, I was going to say ¡®Wow~¡¯ and tease him. But I can¡¯t do it. Somehow, my lips are tightly sealed. ¡®Jude¡¯s smell.¡¯ Of course, it seems to be a sweaty smell because he¡¯s sweating, but anyway, it¡¯s the smell of Jude. As Cordelia sniffed a bit, Jude was visibly embarrassed, pulling the sleeves of his hanging coat in order to sniff it. ¡°This¡­ Does it smell?¡± ¡°Yes, it does. A lot. Hmm~ it smells a lot.¡± At the words of Cordelia known for her animal-like senses, Jude tried to retrieve his coat again, but he couldn¡¯t. Cordelia held the coat with both her hands and snorted. ¡°Why are you trying to take what you gave me?¡± ¡°You said it smells.¡± ¡°That¡¯s that and this is this.¡± ¡°What is that and this?¡± ¡°I wonder?¡± Perhaps her red face had clouded her judgment, but Cordelia did not stop smiling. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m really happy.¡± ¡°I feel happy too. Everyone in the world knows now. The beauty of Cordelia.¡± ¡°My goodness, seriously. Hey, this is my beauty. It¡¯s not yours, okay?¡± ¡°Hey, why are you saying that? I¡¯m someone who knows everything about you.¡± ¡°What do you know? You don¡¯t know everything about Cordelia.¡± If someone had seen the two, they would have taken out their bamboo spears in their annoyance and want to stab the two, but the two were the only ones here, and both of them were satisfied with their childish banter, so there was no problem. ¡°But Jude. If you think about it, isn¡¯t this a problem?¡± ¡°What part?¡± ¡°I mean, like¡­ we seriously stood out on Emma¡¯s birthday party, right?¡± ¡°We did.¡± ¡°But if you think about it, today is the birthday of our S?len Kingdom, right?¡± ¡°So?¡± ¡°Then, umm¡­ aren¡¯t the royalty the main characters today?¡± At the development of her quite good reasoning, Jude nodded his head. ¡°They were. You might not know since you were changing your clothes¡­ but until you came out, Princess Daphne had led the opening ceremony and was actually the main character.¡± ¡°Oh, it was like that. I see¡­ Wait, what? Princess Daphne was the main character?¡± ¡°Yes, Her Royal Majesty, the First Queen, still has a jaw-dropping beauty, but it¡¯s natural for Princess Daphne to be the main character of the ball since she¡¯s single and of marriageable age. She¡¯s also the royalty acknowledged as the next monarch.¡± It was a sound argument. But that was also the reason why Cordelia turned pale. ¡°Hey, you crazy b*stard! You knew that would happen, right?¡± What am I going to do! What if Princess Daphne gets angry! As Cordelia hit Jude in the shoulder and chest with her fist, Jude responded, pretending that it wasn¡¯t painful. ¡°It¡¯s okay since it¡¯s a little different from a birthday party. This isn¡¯t a wedding too. Besides, we¡¯re from the S?len Kingdom and not from another country, right? So it¡¯s not a problem.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s true.¡± ¡°Will you take responsibility?¡± ¡°Of course, Princess. I will take full responsibility.¡± ¡°Hmph. Okay, I¡¯ll forgive you.¡± ¡°Thank you, Your Highness.¡± Jude replied in a theatrical manner, and Cordeliaughed while criticizing him for being weird. ¡®Come to think of it¡­¡¯ sped hands. Cordelia¡¯s fingers twitched as she gently smiled. ¡®Let¡¯s try againter.¡¯ Not today butter. I actually want to do it now, but I should do itter. ¡®No. Should I just do it now?¡¯ There¡¯s nothing wrong with it. It¡¯s not that of a big deal. Cordelia pretended that it was fine, and she nced at Jude. She slowly stretched out her hand towards Jude. And when the ck-hearted Jude smiled a bit slyly at her actions. Cordelia suddenly raised her head. She roughly reached out and grabbed Jude by the cor, shouting as she pulled him towards her. ¡°¡± A transparent shelter. And at that moment, Jude also realized it. No, he had no choice but to realize it. The light. And the explosion. The ceiling of the grand banquet hall copsed with a tremendous roar. Chapter 187 - EPISODE 187 – FOUNDING ANNIVERSARY BALL (4)

Chapter 187 - EPISODE 187 ¨C FOUNDING ANNIVERSARY BALL (4)

Adelia and Ga?l, who were facing each other and having a sweet kiss, jumped from their seats and looked out the window. Towards the royal pce. They didn¡¯t hear wrong. There was indeed a tremendous roar. But they had no time to figure out why. The two were forced to turn towards the opposite window. Beyond the guard post. Higher than the walls that surrounded the royal capital. Hundreds of people dived down amidst a rain of mes. *** The Seven-Killings Sword, Seryu, was sitting in a crouched position as she raised her head. She was surprised by the roar from the direction of the pce. But instead of running to the pce, she drew her sword. The main gate of the royal capital. Usually, the gate should have been closed when the sun set, but it was now open. And there were peopleing from beyond it. What happened? No, who ising? Seryu turned to the pce again and made a decision. Instead of the royal pce, she flew towards the main gate of the royal capital. *** While sitting on a high spire and watching the street y on the roadside, Scarlet turned to the pce. Most people didn¡¯t hear it because of the noise from the festival, but not for Scarlet. An explosion sound from the royal pce¡¯s direction. And at the same time, shouts began to be heard from the side of the capital¡¯s walls. What is it? What¡¯s going on? ¡°Pink Bomb.¡± Scarlet unknowingly murmured as she kicked the ground. *** Koros stood at the main gate of the royal capital and stretched his arms. He chillingly smiled when he saw Seryu running towards him. The east and west gates were opened. It was not from outside but from inside. Mion and Barras, officers of the Royal Guard, didn¡¯t stop at just opening the gates as they set fire to the gunpowder and food storage areas. As disciples of the Lord Protector, they reced the roles of what the ck Moon should have yed. *** mes soared all throughout the royal capital. The demonic followers came in through the east and west gates, joining those who had already infiltrated. All those who pretended to visit the royal capital in order to celebrate the founding anniversary finally showed their true colors, and their number reached a thousand. Their plot was simple. They abolished their original n to cause terror in several ces in the royal capital, and decided to attack the royal capital itself. The Blue Moon¡¯s guild master, Supp¨¦, was attacking a branch of the ck Moon and felt the situation changing. He ordered his men to retreat and looked back at Janifer. ¡°Let¡¯s run.¡± Let¡¯s leave it to the knights to fight back. Janifer did not refuse. *** The main pce copsed. Just as how the Devil¡¯s Hand raised the scale, the Lord Protector also raised the scale. Destroy the grand banquet hall. Forcefully create a situation in which the royal family must escape. And block at the same time. Those that made him uneasy. The strong people that the Lord Protector himself couldn¡¯t easily fight. ¡°Kyaaa!¡± ¡°Save me! Help!¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been buried!¡± Screams were heard in the dust and smoke. So the Lord Protector closed his eyes for a while and waited. It was not just the copse of the building that he had prepared. ¡°Keuaaaak!¡± A different kind of scream rang out. Screams followed one after another, and their fear finally took shape. ¡°Z-zombies!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t get bitten! Run!¡± The royal pce servants had been infected. They were released in time with the copse, and they became wild beasts as nned, causing fear and confusion in the grand banquet hall. It wasn¡¯t a true undead monster, but a beast created through a disease by infecting living people, so it was easily spread inside the royal pce. ¡°Lord Protector! Lord Protector! This way! Lord Protector!¡± At the desperate cries, the Lord Protector faintly smiled. King Henry II was looking for him. As he had expected. ¡°Your Majesty!¡± The Lord Protector cried out loud before he headed towards the royal family. *** Emma Ficus thought that she would die. Because a huge b of rock fell over her head. But she did not die. Her head was not crushed, nor did she shed a drop of blood. ¡°Corde¡­lia?¡± Cordelia did not immediate respond to Emma¡¯s stunned voice. After throwing away the rock she had lifted with her telekic power, she turned to Emma and shouted. ¡°To the center!¡± The center of the grand banquet hall. Emma reflexively followed Cordelia¡¯s words and saw. Count Chase was standing there. Giant stone pirs rose from the floor and supported the copsed ceiling, forming a safe zone. Of course, it was usually much safer to go out of the pce. But not now. The garden was on fire, and they could hear the screams of zombies. The outside was a more dangerous ce than inside the copsing pce. ¡°F*ck.¡± The situation was bad. This was originally not supposed to happen. It was normally impossible to install magic circles and explosives that could explode in the royal pce, or hide zombies all over the banquet hall, or even sprinkle mmable chemicals in the garden. The Royal Guard was on patrol. But they were able to do it. Since the Lord Protector received the king¡¯s absolute trust, it was possible for him to trick the eyes of the Royal Guard and do the things that were happening now. The two had considered dropping a few hints to Princess Daphne, but it was still impossible for them topletely block it. Jude and Cordelia did not have the permission to search the royal pce. ¡°Hurry!¡± Cordelia shouted again, but Emma couldn¡¯t get up and run. Because her legs had weakened. But her fianc¨¦ was with her. He somehow carried Emma on his back while trembling, and he ran towards the center protected by Count Chase. ¡°There¡¯s no sword!¡± Someone shouted, and Lucas strongly agreed. He had no sword. The only ones who could bring a sword to the ball where the king attended were the Royal Guard Knights, who served as the royalty¡¯s guards, and the Ten Great Swordmasters, the pride of the S?len Kingdom. ¡°Give me a sword!¡± When Lucas shouted at some Royal Guard Knights who were swinging their swords against the zombies, one of them drew a spare sword and threw it to Lucas. There were only a few traitors among the Royal Guard Knights, but the zombies had risen into the dozens before they knew it. Lucas stopped thinking for now. He swung his sword and cut the zombies in front of him. ¡°Jude!¡± Cordelia cried. And Jude understood what Cordelia was talking about. Instead of running to the center where Count Chase was, he threw a sharp gaze. King Henry II shouted something to the Lord Protector who nodded his head. At that moment, a bright light covered the ce. ¡®The royal family¡¯s exclusive teleport!¡¯ An emergency escape n that was only for the king, which would lead them to a shelter hidden in the basement of the royal pce. But only a few people could be moved. Only the king and the three queens, as well as their immediate descendants ¨C Princess Daphne, Prince Dion, and Princess Darianne, were allowed to use it. The concubines, their children, and Henry II¡¯s cousins were forced to rely on the Lord Protector and his disciples. ¡°Come this way!¡± The Lord Protector led the royal family. He probably made an agreement with the king to meet again at the shelter. ¡®Just like the original.¡¯ To annihte the royalty there. ¡°Lord Protector!¡± Jude shouted out loud. His shout was quite loud and thunderous, but the falling rocks buried Jude¡¯s cry. The Lord Protector and the royalty left the grand banquet hall through a secret door. Instead of running towards Count Chase, Cordelia ran after the Lord Protector, and so did Jude. No, to be precise, she ran towards a man who was on their path. ¡°First Sword!¡± Even though they omitted adding honorifics to his name, First Sword faced Jude with a serious face instead of being angry. ¡°Do you know something?¡± ¡°This way!¡± They didn¡¯t have the time to exin. Jude simply appealed, and First Sword did not take a long time to agree. He immediately nodded and started running after Cordelia. The screams continued. An explosion sounded again, and part of the pce copsed while the fire that burned the garden spread to the main pce. Due to the Royal Guard Knights¡¯ struggle, the number of zombies rapidly declined, but the situation was still chaotic. ¡°Lord Protector!¡± Cordelia shouted again and kicked the secret door. And she swallowed her scream when she smelled the scent of blood that pierced her nose. The royal family had been killed in the secret passage. Not only the concubines but also the children. Moreover, they suffered terrible deaths. Some had broken necks, while some were split into two from their waist. They had irregr and rough wounds, as if they were bitten by a beast¡¯s teeth. As soon as they entered the secret passage, the Lord Protector had killed the royalty. After he killed the young and weak ones with his rough swordsmanship, he left. To kill more royalty. To kill the immediate royal family members who would be hiding in the shelter. Jude and Cordelia had to stop him. They had to catch up to the Lord Protector and stop him. Cordelia used her magic. At the same time she transformed into a witch, she smashed the secret passage with her powerful mana. Beyond the wall. Where the Lord Protector had passed. Jude took the lead. Cordelia and First Sword followed. Outside the secret passage. The hallway of the main pce was ruined by the copse and explosions. They saw the back of the Lord Protector. Jude called him, and Cordelia fired a de of ck mana. ng! The Lord Protector turned and swung his sword. As he deflected the ck de, he saw Jude, Cordelia, and First Sword next to him. Jude clenched his fist. They had to stop him here. In this ce, they had to stop the Lord Protector. Jude himself and Cordelia. And even First Sword. They had enough power. They would be able to stop and subdue the Lord Protector. Rather, the only thing they should worry about was the Lord Protector escaping. And the disciples of the Lord Protector they hadn¡¯t seen. Where did they go? Did they go ahead first? Or were they nning something different? The two did not know. Therefore, they focused on the Lord Protector. They made stopping him their top priority. ¡°Lord Protector, you traitor.¡± Jude said. By saying such strong words, it attracted the attention of the Lord Protector. Cordelia also screamed and took a step. ¡°I know all your ns! You¡¯re nning to cut off the blood of the royal family and neutralize the barrier of the royal capital!¡± It worked. The Lord Protector looked their way with surprised eyes. Instead of turning around and running away, he showed interest in Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Indeed, you¡¯re the demon hunters.¡± One of the aliases given to Jude and Cordelia as a result of their achievements in the north. ¡°We won¡¯t let you! We¡¯ll stop you here!¡± Cordelia shouted again, and spread out her angelic wings of light. She was nning to use Fallen Angel Mode, but she had spread out her wings first in order to get the Lord Protector¡¯s attention even by just a bit. And it worked again. At the sight of the pure white light that spread, the Lord Protector let out a small voice of surprise. ¡®A little over 30 meters.¡¯ Jude awakened the energy of the ck dragon and measured the distance between himself and the Lord Protector. ¡®What I need is one attack.¡¯ An attack that would grab his feet but not necessarily defeat him. ¡®That will do.¡¯ They had First Sword with them. His quick sword that was like the light would deal with the Lord Protector. ¡°Is it the Guardians of the Holy Cross?¡± The Lord Protector asked, and Cordelia nodded again. She silently chanted a magic spell. And the Lord Protectorughed. Not because Cordelia¡¯s words were ridiculous. Because he, who did not know much about Jude and Cordelia, could only think that the Guardians of the Holy Cross had known all of his shady actions. ¡°It¡¯s the end.¡± The end of living under the name of the Lord Protector. All that was left now was just a traitor who betrayed the royal family. No, he knew this would happen anyway. He had raised the scale in order to create the current situation now. The Lord Protector let his shoulders fall down. Instead of raising his sword and taking a battle posture, he sheathed his sword. What was the reason? Did he give up? Did he admit that he had no chance of winning? It wasn¡¯t that. It wasn¡¯t the reason. The Lord Protector just thought that there was no need to fight. That was why he sheathed his sword. Why? What made him do that? ¡°Jude!¡± Cordelia quickly screamed, and Jude hurriedly used Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt. A sword. He was cut. No, he wasn¡¯t injured. He had mistakenly thought that he was cut because of the terrifyingly fast sword. Jude¡¯s breathing grew rough. Cordelia too couldn¡¯t hide the restlessness she felt. The ominous feeling. Her unidentified worry after the Banquet of Swords. She now knew. Why such feelings arose after the Banquet of Swords. ¡°I told you, right?¡± First Sword. The Sword Saint of Light, Rhun Froud. ¡°Because of you two, I decided to stay.¡± He smiled as he raised his sword. Chapter 188 - FOUNDING ANNIVERSARY BALL (5)

Chapter 188 - FOUNDING ANNIVERSARY BALL (5)

Terms used in this chapter: Sr re?¨C this was actually the blinding light attack move Jude used on his match with First Sword in the Banquet of Swords. It¡¯s a reference to Dragon Ball¡¯s Sr re move, and Sr re is also known as Sun Fist or Sr Fist. What happened? Why was First Sword on the Lord Protector¡¯s side? First Sword in the game. He was not in the royal capital. To begin with, the Banquet of Swords itself was not held, so he went back to the Sword School after taking care of a few things in the royal capital. What had happened after that? He wasn¡¯t involved in anything big. He was a character whose setting was close to Princess Daphne and Prince Dion. After the S?len Kingdom was nearly destroyed, he also died when the Sword School was destroyed by one of the 7 major cmities, Georg the yer, but that was all that they knew about him. Even if Jude and Cordelia were rotten waters, it was impossible for them to know what was not known in the game. It was the same reason why they didn¡¯t know how Lena died, or where and what Velkian and Fran were doing at this time. ¡®But¡­ but even so¡­¡¯ They had never imagined it. Although First Sword¡¯s achievements that was indirectly revealed in the game was short, there was nothing very strange about it. ¡®Moreover, the reason for his betrayal.¡¯ The reason why such a swordsman turned to the demon followers. Jude knew why the Lord Protector became a traitor. He was afraid of death. To be exact, he wanted to live and enjoy a long life. But he did not want to be an undead with a rotting body. Rather, he wanted to recover his body in his prime, and there was only one way to fulfill his wishes, to the best of his knowledge. ¡®Turn himself into a demonic human.¡¯ Be one with the demon. And in doing so, he would be an immortal being that transcended humans. The Lord Protector wanted to be united with a great demon, who would raise his existence to a higher level and not be just an ordinary demon, so the Devil¡¯s Hand demanded that he annihte the royalty in return. Jude understood the Lord Protector. Rather than sympathizing with his thoughts, Jude reasonably understood why he had such an idea and why it motivated him to betray the country he had protected for his entire life. The reason why the Lord Protector developed into that kind of person could be shortened into the phrase, ¡®the strong prey on the weak.¡¯ His character was formed by that. An obsession with life. He had been strong at one time, but he had now declined and was considered the weakest among the Ten Great Swordmasters. But First Sword was different. He was still young. It was strange to say that he was younger than Jude because of Jude¡¯s previous life, but in any case, it didn¡¯t make sense for him to betray the country because he was afraid of dying from old age. Moreover, he was a recognized genius. What on earth did heck? Why did he betray the S?len Kingdom? When he saw the talents of Maximilian and Leon, wasn¡¯t he someone who even worried about the S?len Kingdom¡¯s need for such a talent? ¡®There are two possibilities.¡¯ One was that First Sword took apletely different path from the game due to the butterfly effect that they caused for the past six months. But that possibility was low. Rather, the other one was much more realistic. It was possible that he was a person rted to the demon followers even in the game. Among the Ten Great Swordmasters, there were some who turned to the demon followers after the fall of the S?len Kingdom. And most of them abandoned their old names and took up new names. If that was the case, it was possible that First Sword did so too. His death while protecting the Sword School was a hoax, and he started using a different name on that day. ¡®That isn¡¯t important right now.¡¯ In one breath. No, maybe even a little longer than that. Jude had many thoughts at once, but he did not continue it for long. ¡°It¡¯s useless.¡± Cordelia said, and Jude agreed. The reason for First Sword¡¯s betrayal. The rtionship between First Sword and the demon followers. Would it be possible to change the mind of First Sword by finding out the reason? Would Jude be able to suggest something better so that First Sword would point his sword to the Lord Protector? That was impossible. Looking at the current First Sword, Jude himself could tell. The eyes of First Sword was shining. Like a child with an interesting toy in front of them, First Sword smiled as his eyes glistened. ¡°I¡¯ll leave it to you.¡± The Lord Protector turned around and began running again. But Jude and Cordelia, nor First Sword, looked at him. Because the former could not let their guard down even for a moment, while thetter was more interested in the two in front of him than the Lord Protector. ¡°I wasn¡¯t really going to get involved.¡± First Sword and the Lord Protector. Were they really colleagues? Was their rtionship something that one could call as true colleagues? First Sword had no intention of intervening in the Lord Protector¡¯s n. The Lord Protector did not ask for help, perhaps because of his pride, and he did not strongly ask for help from the Devil¡¯s Hand either. There was a separate contract between First Sword and the Devil¡¯s Hand. ¡®So until that day came¡­ I tried to live quietly as First Sword.¡¯ The S?len Kingdom. The S?len royal family. In the first ce, First Sword¡¯s loyalty to the royal family wasn¡¯t very strong. He was the best sword in the Sword School, and not a royal knight unlike the other Ten Great Swordmasters. ¡®Cornwell seemed to misunderstand it a bit though.¡¯ When he told Cornwell what he felt in the empire, thetter misunderstood it as loyalty to the kingdom. It was quite a reasonable misunderstanding, but it was useful for him here and there. ¡®Especially to these children right now.¡¯ He talked about the future of the kingdom with a serious look on his face, and the good children believed him. First Sword snickered as he stared at Jude and Cordelia again. The Banquet of Swords that he thought would never be held. The two people he met there. Children who further amplified his thoughts that Maximilian and Leon had started. ¡°Jude, did you know? That I like you and Cordelia.¡± He was serious. First Sword liked the two. He did not lie when he said that he stayed in the royal capital because of the two. He wanted to see it once. What these children could do. And what would happen then. ¡®I also wanted to see them at the ball.¡¯ And he waspletely satisfied with the result. Cordelia was astonishingly beautiful, and the young love between the two was very cute and adorable. ¡®To the point where I want to destroy it.¡¯ Just like a desire to stain the pure white snow. I want to break them. I want to humiliate them. I want to trample them. ¡®Yes, I¡¯ve been waiting for this.¡¯ The very moment we would face each other as enemies. I wanted to do so from the first time we met. I wanted to break you two. ¡°I won¡¯t kill you.¡± Because I like you two. It¡¯s such a waste to kill you two here. Cordelia did not curse like usual. Jude opened his mouth to speak instead of attacking or running away. ¡°Do you know¡­ what will happen?¡± When all the royal family members die. When the barrier would disappear as a result, and the divine sword ¨ªomh Ss would fall into the hands of the demon followers. ¡°Yes, I know. Roughly.¡± ¡°Is that true? Do you really know? The barrier does not just defend or search for enemies.¡± The barrier had the ability to reveal the true form of demonic humans and could capture the location where demonic energy was released. It suppressed the power of demons that could be used for summoning demons in the royal capital, and even in the creation of demonic humans. But it wasn¡¯t just that. A properly operated barrier could do more than that. ¡°That¡¯s right. That¡¯s why the demon followers are trying to get rid of the barrier. And in the midst of this, I like that you two still use polite words to me.¡± First Sword smiled and Jude made up his mind. It was impossible to buy time with words anymore. ¡°As I thought, I like you two.¡± First Sword said. And then the light burst. There was no sound. A swift sword faster than the eyes could see cut through the space. ¡®Five moves.¡¯ It was simr to that time in the Banquet of Swords, yet also different. Back then, it was a simple test, but now, it was a real battle. But it was simr in that First Sword was not doing his best. He would not kill them. He limited himself to a number of moves that would not kill them. He suppressed his power. He also lowered the speed of his sword attack by a bit. Twaaaak! The space above Jude¡¯s head split. Rather than avoiding the attack, Jude flew as if he was running away, and he lowered himself to the ground and looked at First Sword. The moment First Sword swung his sword the second time, Jude kicked the ground. Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt. A thunderbolt that was faster than the wind. But it was seen in First Sword¡¯s eyes. As an experienced swordsman, he was able to read and calcte Jude¡¯s movements. In addition, one that Jude overlooked. ¡®Yes, I won¡¯t overdo it.¡¯ Because he had no intention to kill them. But even so, it was still the sword of light. He sharply turned his sword the moment he unfolded his sword attack. Jude saw it. He read the trajectory. But the only thing he could do was to avoid it. Even the attack that was slower than usual was still fast. No, it was the difference of his absolute skill and not just his speed. Jude¡¯s cheek was cut. The tip of his shoulder was cut a bit too, and warm blood flowed. But Jude couldn¡¯t stop. He had to buy time. The third move of First Sword should not be aimed at Cordelia. He used Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt again. But it was toote. The moment Jude groaned in pain, Cordelia rushed towards First Sword. Three consecutive spells. A tremendous speed that was unimaginable for a wizard, but First Sword was someone who could even read the Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt. He swung his sword. He tried to hurt Cordelia with the same trick he used on Jude. And Cordelia saw the sword of First Sword. She understood it the moment she saw it, without the process of reading or calcting it. She instinctively did something that Jude couldn¡¯t think of ¨C no, he thought of it, but it was not something he could execute. ¡®He won¡¯t kill us.¡¯ She used those words in reverse. Cordelia believed in the skill of First Sword. So instead of twisting her body to avoid the sword, she pushed her own throat into the direct line of his attack. ¡°Cordelia!¡± Jude screamed and First Sword was confused by Cordelia¡¯s sudden behavior. He quickly changed the course of his sword, and as a result, he exposed a gap. And Cordelia did not miss that moment. An animal. A wild beast. A monster who instinctively read the flow of the battlefield. Blood flowed down Cordelia¡¯s fair neck. Cordelia rushed towards First Sword, and before he could do his next move, she fired a shot of pure mana. Bang! She pushed out First Sword. After he crashed into the wall, she kept pushing. Because Jude wanted it. Because Jude wanted to buy time. ¡°Aaaaaaah!¡± Double casting, Spell¡¯s Echo, and high-speed chanting. She didn¡¯t use Arkeman¡¯s treasure. Instead, she poured out all the mana she could muster in an instant towards First Sword. ¡°Die!¡± She knew it was impossible. But she was still serious. And Jude threw his body. He grabbed Cordelia by the waist and rolled on the floor. A sword attack. A burst of light cut the magic attack. A pure white light cut through the ce where Cordelia was standing until just now. ¡°¡± Cordelia shouted, and the sword of light struck the translucent shield. It couldn¡¯t stop it. The sword of First Sword couldn¡¯t be blocked by magic. But Cordelia still shouted. To buy even a bit more time. The shield cracked. It made his sword attack dull, even by just a bit. It slowed the speed of his sword attack. And at that moment, Jude opened the fifth door. The entire ce was shaken by the explosive release of his internal energy. Bang! Bang! Bang! The sword attack twisted. Jude charged towards First Sword while Cordelia shot her magic. Although it was for a moment, the smile on First Sword¡¯s face disappeared. His sword attack split the space. No, it shrouded it. Instead of attacking, Jude released the ck dragon¡¯s energy to defend, and the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors¡¯ fifth door gave him the power to block the sword attack of First Sword. But First Sword did not stand still as he swung his sword. He used the unique footstep technique of the Sword School to narrow his distance with Jude, and Jude expected it and sent a punch. It was literally a Lightning Strike Fist. It was fast and powerful, but First Sword¡¯s hand pushed Jude¡¯s fist. First Sword grabbed Jude¡¯s fist and pulled it closer, breaking Jude¡¯s bnce. But he was wrong. Jude let himself be pulled. Instead of resisting, he let his body go faster than First Sword expected, and as he approached closer, he used Heart of the Sun from the sun¡¯s energy he gathered on his own heart. A type of prating attack that he already used on Scarlet, and it was an attack that directly struck the sun¡¯s energy on the enemy¡¯s body, ignoring the armor. He applied it. Jude released the energy of the sun from his own heart! ¡°Gah?!¡± Even First Sword couldn¡¯t help but be surprised by the attack from aplete blind spot. But that was it. At the same time he let go of Jude¡¯s wrist, he twisted his body and brushed past the Heart of the Sun, swinging his sword again. ¡°¡± At that moment, Cordelia shouted. It was to deprive First Sword of his vision with a blinding light, just like the Sr re attack he used a few days ago. But First Sword¡¯s reaction was faster. At the same time he closed his eyes, he swung his sword towards the ce he sensed Jude. He wouldn¡¯t kill Jude. But he wouldn¡¯t spare the other from losing a limb. Jude¡¯s arm was seriously cut. His injury was so great that it was difficult to say that First Sword had missed, but instead of screaming in pain, Jude kicked the ground and threw himself into the secret passage. Cordelia flew over to Jude and they hugged each other in the air. The sword of First Sword cut through the air. Jude and Cordelia nullified the sword of First Sword with Fairy Steps at once, and they both fell to the floor with First Sword rushing towards them again. And Jude didn¡¯t think of escaping. Because he calcted it. Because Cordelia had a hunch. The reason why they were buying time. The reason why they threw themselves into the secret passage. There was one reason. Unlike First Sword, it was an ally they could ask in advance, and someone who could fulfill their request. The sword of First Sword bounced. It wasn¡¯t because of Jude and Cordelia. A sword attack was shot from the secret passage. Attacks flew like the wind one after another! ng! Swords collided. Light and wind raged, and First Sword looked at his front in joy. He met the man standing in front of Jude and Cordelia who had hugged each other and fell. ¡°Count Bayer.¡± One of the Ten Great Swordmasters. A swordsman from the north. And another name he had. A title that he returned himself after a defeat in the past, but was something that was clearly his once. ¡°The Sword Saint of Wind.¡± Count Bayer did not bother to answer in words. He responded by showing the other his sword of wind. Chapter 189 - INTENSIFICATION (1)

Chapter 189 - INTENSIFICATION (1)

Count Bayer. Jude Bayer¡¯s father. One of the Ten Great Swordmasters. A powerful swordsman with the title Sword General. But despite being the father of Jude, one of the yable characters, his presence in the game was not very strong. ¡®He doesn¡¯t appear much.¡¯ Moreover, the sword of wind that he used ¨C Count Bayer¡¯s swordsmanship and martial arts, did not receive much attention. ¡®There were no practitioners.¡¯ To be exact, none of the yable characters could master Count Bayer¡¯s swordsmanship. In the game, Jude immediately disappeared after training to some extent when his illness was resolved, as he left for the north in order to search for the missing Cordelia, so he wasn¡¯t able to properly learn Count Bayer¡¯s swordsmanship. In addition, not long after he left, a major event called the northern barbarian invasion urred, and Count Bayer as well as his sessor, Ga?l, were killed during the war by the great demon Kriemler, so Count Bayer¡¯s swordsmanship was more or less disappeared. ¡®Although there were some knights of Count Bayer who survived¡­¡¯ All they had learned were basic techniques, such as Gale Steps and Lightning Punch. It was only the direct descendants of the count who could properly learn the ¡®sword of wind.¡¯ ¡®Count Bayer¡¯s strength.¡¯ He was one of the Ten Great Swordmasters, so he was definitely strong. But how strong was he? Would his sword, which had no record in the game other than the fight with the great demon Kriemler, be able to reach the sword of light? Wind and light crossed. The cries of their swords burst out once again. *** ¡°Jude!¡± On the floor. Cordelia called him. A spectacr battle took ce before his eyes. The wild wind and the brilliant light. Babababababang! The ce was filled with loud sounds that could not be imagined from shing swords. The surroundings were destroyed in the aftermath of their skills. This was a battle between two great swordmasters. No, this was a battle between sword saints! ¡®The Sword Saint of Wind.¡¯ Jude had not fully heard of it. He didn¡¯t know the full story. If Count Bayer was indeed a sword saint, why did he return that title? ¡®No, before that.¡¯ Is that really Count Bayer¡¯s swordsmanship? He had only seen it a few times. But it seemed like he was seeing apletely different kind of swordsmanship from the swordsmanship of Count Bayer that Jude had known so far. And Jude realized it. Count Bayer¡¯s swordsmanship, the sword of wind, was not that strong in the game. There was no opportunity for it to be revealed in the game, but the true sword of wind was really powerful. First Sword burst outughing. Heughed andughed again as he enjoyed the current fight. It had be possible. Originally, the Ten Great Swordmasters were forbidden to duel each other. If one of the Ten Great Swordmasters used their full power, one of the two was bound to die or be fatally wounded. The power of their Aura des was too powerful for a body made up of bones and flesh that even a wound from a missed attack could cause fatal injuries. Therefore, the Ten Great Swordmasters were prohibited from fighting each other. The empire also strictly prohibited fights between their country¡¯s swordsmen who were equivalent to the Ten Great Swordmasters of the S?len Kingdom. But now, a duel between two great swordmasters was taking ce at full strength. ¡°Hahaha!¡± First Sword uncontroblyughed. Because he enjoyed this very much. It had already been 6 years since he became one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. It had already been 3 years since he became a sword saint. In those six years, he didn¡¯t have a proper battle. He couldn¡¯t fight anyone with his full strength. Unlike in the heyday of the Lord Protector, the S?len Kingdom and the Argon Empire were now only growling at each other and not engaged in war. It was forbidden topete with the other Ten Great Swordmasters within the S?len Kingdom. ¡°This is it!¡± How long had it been since he fought against a swordsman who could match his sword in this way? There was a separate reason why he held hands with the Devil¡¯s Hand, but at this moment alone, he thought that it was worth it. Count Bayer wasn¡¯t as crazy as First Sword. But he also felt his blood boil. His sword was faster and stronger than usual. ¡®Jude.¡¯ Jude had talked about a possibility of an attack around the time of the founding anniversary celebration. In addition, Jude gave him an artifact that could help him know Jude¡¯s location, and was asked to save them in case a situation arose. As parts of the pce copsed and the zombies ran wild, an emergency signal came in. After leaving the situation to Count Chase, he reached this ce through the half-open secret door. What he had seen on the way. The torn apart bodies of the royal family members. And as soon as he left the secret door, he witnessed First Sword attacking Jude and Cordelia. He blocked it reflexively. And he realized. He didn¡¯t know the exact situation, but he understood that First Sword was an enemy. If so, he had to stop First Sword with all his power. He must do his best to defeat the enemy in front of him! ng! ng! ng! Count Bayer¡¯s sword was usually very gentle. But not now. He entered into a mad frenzy and pushed First Sword. If First Sword had a sharp and quick sword, Count Bayer¡¯s sword was a wild and strong gale. Jude himself was unconsciously drawn to the sword of wind. But now was not the time. After he came back to reality, he looked back at Cordelia. She was the same as always. She was instinctively focusing on what she had to do right now. Jude¡¯s own treatment. Although he had regenerative abilities due to the Sphere of Life, it was not at the level of a werewolf. Cordelia cast a powerful recovery magic by adding the power of an angel to the Tiara of Life¡¯s power, and Jude¡¯s arm healed in an instant. So Jude did his job too. He sought a way to ovee their current situation. ¡®The situation.¡¯ He didn¡¯t even have the time to think about it as a whole. Therefore, he only thought of the most important thing. In front of us is First Sword while the Lord Protector is running towards the shelter in order to massacre the royal family. My father is blocking First Sword. Then, the remaining problem is the Lord Protector. We have to stop him. We have to do something about him. But how? He already left. So how do we catch up to him? If we catch up to him, how do we stop him? Should we go to the banquet hall and move after Count Chase joined us? No, that¡¯s impossible. Even if I get up and run right now, it¡¯s highly likely that we won¡¯t be able to catch up to the Lord Protector. It¡¯s also impossible to help my father in defeating First Sword. Aside from whether we can intervene in a fight between sword saints, everything will be over at the moment the Lord Protector massacres the royal family. We don¡¯t have time. None of the options can give us enough time. I don¡¯t even know if thinking like this even now is a waste of time. Then, what can we do? What should we do? ¡®Victory conditions.¡¯ Always remember the victory conditions. Killing doesn¡¯t always work. Alexei¡¯s teachings came to his mind. It was as he said. Victory conditions. Our goal is not to kill the Lord Protector. Our goal is to save the royal family. There is no need for us to defeat the Lord Protector. ¡®If we arrive first.¡¯ It¡¯s impossible in this difficult situation to even catch up to the Lord Protector, but if we can. If we can reach the shelter before the Lord Protector. If we can get in touch with the royalty who are standing nkly while waiting for the Lord Protector to arrive. There will be a way. We can fulfill the victory conditions. But how? ¡°Follow me!¡± Cordelia cried. She grabbed Jude¡¯s hand and ran. How? Did she see my eyes and read my thoughts? Or did I speak out my thoughts without realizing it? No, where are we going right now? Jude recalled the map of the royal pce. And he realized where Cordelia was heading. The grand banquet hall. A secret passage. The corridor over there. And one of the many rooms connected to that corridor. Bababang! The walls and ceiling copsed due to the battle between Count Bayer and First Sword. But Cordelia ran without looking back and almost broke the door with her telekic power. ¡°Found it!¡± Cordelia eximed and Jude saw. Arge bathtub in one side of the room. One of the bathrooms set up all over the royal pce by the previous king because of his love for bathing. ¡°Quickly!¡± Cordelia ran holding Jude¡¯s hand, and the confused Jude entered the bathtub with Cordelia. And he realized it. What Cordelia was trying to do now. The gamble she did. ¡°¡± Water fell down over their heads. It made Jude and Cordelia wet, and she opened her mouth. Jude did the same, opening his mouth to do what she was trying to do. ¡°Twinkle twinkle little star!¡± ¡°Shining beautifully!¡± It was almost like a yell and not a song, but now was not the time to think about that. The n B Jude himself had prepared. It was different from that. There was a separate ce that they had agreed on in advance. But Cordelia ignored it. She revised the n with her beastly senses. Would it work? Even though they were within the royal pce, it was still quite some distance from the outdoor hot spring area. But could they do it here too? Would the fairies appear here too? Jude looked at Cordelia. Cordelia looked at Jude. They opened their mouths at the same time to say the next lyrics, and a third voice came at that moment. ¡°Did you call?¡± The Summer Fairy Queen. She received a box of fairy choctes and epted the deal. Jude hugged Cordelia. He couldn¡¯t help it. ¡°You¡¯re a genius!¡± Cordelia screamed for a moment because he hugged her too tightly. But she tightly hugged Jude back. And what he wanted to do from now on. He wanted to kiss Cordelia¡¯s forehead and cheek while whispering words of love, but they had something to do before that. Jude turned to the Fairy Queen. Sitting on arge box, she was grinning with her hands on her chin as if she was watching the two. ¡°Continue. The two of you will be kissing now, right? Like the love story of the Archwizard and the Fairy Queen?¡± At her question asked in anticipation, Jude shook his head instead of saying yes. ¡°The n has changed.¡± Their deal with the Fairy Queen was to take the royal family outside. But things had changed. The destination had changed. Instead of moving outside the royal pce, the two would be moving to the shelter. If she had been a human merchant, she would have charged a new fee here, but she was a pure and innocent fairy. With a big smile, she epted Jude¡¯s request. *** mes soared from all over the royal capital. The demon followers released zombies everywhere to increase the infected, and fierce battles urred between the fighters of the Devil¡¯s Hand and the Royal Guard members at the east and west gates. At the west gate. In one of the bases of the Royal Guard Magic Corps. ¡°¡± Adelia shouted loudly and threw a ball of me, but it did not hit its target who was fighting Ga?l. Saluzia stopped Ga?l by swinging like a sword the two pairs of wings from her back, and at the same time, splitting the ball of fire thrown by Adelia. ¡°Ga?l!¡± Adelia shouted once more and tried to support Ga?l with magic, but Saluzia¡¯s guards who were mid-ranking demonic humans did not allow it. Apart from the fighters who were likely to be a hundred in number, there were three people who prated inside the Royal Guard Magic Corps base and ran wild, so Adelia was in a hurry to protect herself and her subordinates. ¡®Too strong!¡¯ A female demonic human with deer antlers on her head. Her magic power was terrifying. Moreover, her magic power wasn¡¯t the only strong part of her. Her skill in hand-to-handbat that pushed Ga?l was truly amazing. Despite it only being a few minutes, Ga?l¡¯s body was full of wounds. How much longer could Ga?l endure? How much longer could Adelia herself stay on the front line? ¡®We have to hold on.¡¯ Until the othermanders arrive. She wondered how manymanders would gather here when the royal capital was in chaos, but at least three, or even two! ¡°¡± Adelia cast a wall of fire. She lit up the night with a 3-meter high me, creating a wall for her subordinates that could support them even for a moment, and then she turned to Ga?l. She screamed at the sight she saw. ¡°Noooo!¡± Saluzia¡¯s wings headed straight towards Ga?l¡¯s head. *** At the same time. On top of the drawbridge leading to the south gate. Koros and Seryu shed. The attack of Koros, who was the strongest among the high-ranking demons of the Devil¡¯s Hand, was truly destructive. The air burst out as if it were exploding, and a part of the bridge was on the verge of falling. But Seryu responded calmly. She was a master of counterattacking, attacking back when the enemy attacked. Koros in his demonic human form was around 3-4 meters. On the other hand, Seryu was only 160 cm tall, so their difference in size was almost thrice. It was clear that if she allowed even a single blow to hit her, it would crush her slim body. But she was one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. Koros¡¯ attacks hardly reached Seryu. Her skillful swordsmanshipbined with her unique light and flexible physical abilities deflected all of Koros¡¯ attacks. But Seryu was also seldom able to counterattack. Because Koros¡¯ attacks continued without a pause. How long would she be able to deflect Koros¡¯ attacks? How long would Koros be able to continue his onught that did not even give her a chance to counterattack? Korosughed. Seryu clenched her teeth. Once again, fist and sword crossed. *** ¡®Pink Bomb!¡¯ Running on the rooftop, Scarlet was anxious. The royal capital was burning. The royal pce was also on fire. Scarlet¡¯s reasoning said this. This is the royal capital of the S?len Kingdom. Even though it may seem dangerous right now, the situation will be solved over time. It¡¯s a ce with that much power. But she felt anxious. Will that really happen? No, even if it did, what about the damages that will ur in the meantime? ¡®Was it this? Was it this?¡¯ Pink Bomb said that on the day of the founding anniversary celebration, an incident might ur in the royal pce, so she had to be careful. So Scarlet did not hide in the royal pce. She decided to enjoy the festival on the streets. But it happened. It was a lot bigger than what she had imagined. She was worried about Pink Bomb. Lucas¡¯ brightly smiling face also kepting to her mind. However, Scarlet was forced to stop running towards the royal pce. ¡°Heeelp!¡± ¡°Mommy!¡± Under a roof. A roof had fallen on a woman, and her child was crying, but people were too busy running away and didn¡¯t have the time to help the two. And zombies flooded in between the mes and smoke. Scarlet cursed and drew her sword. She took a final look at the pce before she threw herself at the horde of zombies. She began her fight to protect the people. *** At the southwest side of the royal capital. Someone stopped running and gazed at the burning royal capital. He had a weird look. His entire body was covered with a ck robe, and his entire face was covered with a mask reminiscent of a bird¡¯s beak. The burning royal capital. The burning city. The past and present crossed. Because the sight in front of him brought back memories of the past. The Paragon Kingdom. A city destroyed by demons. And another one. The masked man could feel it. Death was spreading on the royal capital. Dead people were being mass produced. ¡°Giddyap!¡± The man did not think anymore. The closer he got to the royal capital, the stronger the barrier worked, but not all necromancy came from the power of demons. Life Magic. The horse the man was riding on revealed its true nature. The eyes of the ghost horse ¨C a Phantom Steed, glowed green, and smoke rose from its hooves. Its harrowing ghostly wail shook the night sky. Necromancer Velkian. One of the Paragon Kingdom¡¯s five heroes. He headed for the royal capital. He crossed the night sky with his Phantom Steed. Chapter 190 - INTENSIFICATION (2)

Chapter 190 - INTENSIFICATION (2)

Traverse space. It wasn¡¯t just an ordinary fairy but the Summer Fairy Queen. ¡®I know that ce!¡¯ For the summer fairies, the royal pce was both a residence and a yground for a long time. Before the Summer Fairy Queen became a queen, one of the ces she used to hang out when she was a child was the shelter for the royalty. ¡®It was still under construction then. Is the construction finished now?¡¯ At the Fairy Queen¡¯s voice, her memories flooded in. The figure of a very young girl, who would be the future Fairy Queen, and a man who was conversing with her. His face resembled Princess Daphne. No, it would be more correct to say that it was Princess Daphne who looked like him. The founder king, Lion D. S?len. As his name suggested, he was also called the Lionheart King because he was as brave as a lion. His golden hair that was a symbol of royalty had grown as rich as a lion¡¯s mane, and he wasughing as he looked at the side. He then continued speaking. She wanted to hear it. But she couldn¡¯t hear it. So she read his lips. To know what he was saying. This was a story of the founder king that remained in the memories of the Fairy Queen. Her memory blurred. Jude closed his eyes and caught his breath. He focused his entire mind on the right hand he was holding on to as his body kept blurring. His hands that were sped with Cordelia¡¯s hands. It was small, warm, and soft. Her fingers that twitched sometimes were very cute. Jude exhaled again. He held Cordelia¡¯s hand tighter and opened his eyes. Light. And reality. Having exited the subspace that could only be essed by those who could use Fairy Steps, they saw it. It was wider than he thought. His sight saw a dark room with magical lighting and the people in it. ¡°Eh? What is this? This ce is weird!¡± The Summer Fairy Queen spoke, and Jude could hear other voices too. ¡°Unnie and oppa?¡± ¡°Jude Bayer?¡± ¡°Baroness Chase?¡± Princess Darianne, Prince Daphne, and Prince Dion. It wasn¡¯t just the three who were sitting on the long sofa. Next to the sweat-covered King Henry II was First Queen Justina and Second Queen Henrietta, the birth mother of Princess Darianne. And next to the Second Queen was the Third Queen who was still young and of the same age as Princess Daphne, and she was sitting with a frightened expression. ¡°W-who are you! How did youe here all of a sudden?!¡± Henry II shouted in surprise, and First Queen Justina lightly pressed his shoulders with her hands to calm him down before she looked straight at Jude and Cordelia. The reputably brave woman was indeed brave as she remained calm even in the midst of extreme chaos. ¡°Baron Bayer and Baroness Chase?¡± They were originally supposed to kneel and bow. But that wasn¡¯t the time for it now. Therefore, Jude thought of the situation instead of being polite. ¡®We got ahead.¡¯ They had arrived before the Lord Protector. So it was time for their next step. First, he checked what the Fairy Queen said. ¡°What do you mean by weird?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a wall. I think it will be difficult to get out even though we cane in. I have to fly myself.¡± It was difficult to understand at first nce, but Jude understood it right away. Wall. She wasn¡¯t talking about a physical wall. Leaping over space was difficult. There was something that hindered jumping over space, so they could enter but could not get out. So they had to walk. It wasn¡¯t very good news. But to some extent, it was expected. ¡®We¡¯re too close to the core of the barrier.¡¯ The shelter was located in the center of the main pce, and the core of the barrier was located a little further below that. Even if she was the Fairy Queen, it would be difficult to leap over space if they were close to the core of the barrier. ¡°Is itpletely impossible?¡± ¡°It¡¯s difficult. Even if I can do it alone, it¡¯s impossible to take all of you.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Jude gave up regretting it. They had to do the next step right away because they didn¡¯t have enough time. ¡°Jude, Cordelia. What¡¯s going on?¡± Princess Daphne spoke, and there was a bit of anger in the eyes of First Queen Justina who was ignored. But Jude did not look at the two of them. Hepletely turned away and did his job. Anger spread on the faces of the royalty. Princess Daphne¡¯s eyes also turned sharp, and the nervous Cordelia opened her mouth. ¡°I-it¡¯s a big problem! The Lord Protector has turned traitor! He killed the other royalty! He¡¯sing here now!¡± Cordelia shouted as soon as she could, but she knew. That her words wouldn¡¯t work. ¡°What nonsense are you talking about! The Lord Protector is a traitor! He killed the royalty! That¡¯s crazy!¡± Henry II jumped up from his seat and angrily shouted. It was natural. From his birth up to the present day, he had always lived under the protection of the Lord Protector. To him, the Lord Protector was not a mere vassal. The Lord Protector was the reliable shield of the kingdom, and the hero who saved the kingdom, someone he admired since his childhood. The fact that he betrayed. The fact that he killed the other royalty. ¡°You evil one! I will punish you severely!¡± ¡°No!¡± Cordelia stomped her feet and thumped her chest. She had known it would be like this. She knew it would be like this, but she was so frustrated that she felt like going crazy. ¡°Princess Daphne! It¡¯s the truth! Please believe me!¡± At Cordelia¡¯s appeal, Princess Daphne did not immediately respond. She frowned and looked at Prince Dion, while Princess Darianne clung to her side and gazed at the adults with a frightened face. ¡°Ah, f*ck!¡± As she thought, it was impossible. They only had been friends for a few days, so it was impossible for Cordelia to make them believe her more than the Lord Protector. The fact that Henry II went into a fit of anger instead of being grateful was proof. ¡°You b*tch! How dare you curse at us! Do you really want to die!¡± Henry II shouted again, and Cordelia beat her chest with her fist. She wanted to shout that she was going to die of frustration because of him, but he was still a king. It was clear that the situation would only worsen if such words were said. Then what should I do now? How can I ovee this current situation? ¡®Jude!¡¯ That¡¯s right, it¡¯s Jude. Isn¡¯t Jude the one who¡¯s in charge of this situation originally? Cordelia turned to Jude, calming her beating heart with a little resentment and anticipation. And she unknowingly blinked her eyes. ¡°Jude?¡± What are you doing now? While Cordelia was arguing with the royalty, Jude had never thought of talking to them. Because he knew very well that it would be a meaningless and time-consuming conversation. ¡®Victory conditions.¡¯ Keep the royal family alive for the barrier to keep functioning. That¡¯s all they need to do now. Then, what should we do? Separate. Separate the royal family and the Lord Protector in order to eliminate the dangerous situation itself. When Cordelia began a war of words with Henry II, Jude opened the box that the Summer Fairy Queen hadid down, which was something that they had entrusted to her in advance. The box was filled with necessary equipment and other things, and he took out some of the items that filled more than 80% of the space in the box as he began to install those items at the only entrance. Pink dynamite. Detonating cord. C4 prototype. ¡°Jude?¡± Cordelia looked at Jude, and the eyes of the royal family which had been focused on Cordelia had also turned to Jude. And Jude continued moving instead of answering. Ignition. Basic magic. The fuse burned. The moment the detonating cord caught fire, the sound of an explosion rang, and the dynamite and C4 prototype caused a series of explosions. Boom! Boom! Boom! Babababababang! The entrance exploded with a roar. A part of the secret passage connected to the entrance also exploded, and the walls and ceiling copsed. The falling rockspletely blocked the entrance. Cut off the road. Make it impossible for the Lord Protector to even reach the shelter. Jude turned to Cordelia. It was her long-awaited explosion, but instead of smiling wide, she was blinking her eyes, and the king and royal family were all shocked and speechless. Even Princess Daphne and First Queen Justina who did not budge in most situations had stunned faces now. ¡°Y-you b*stard!¡± Henry II yelled, but Jude ignored him. He thought like a machine. The passage has been destroyed, but I can¡¯t rx yet. Our enemy is the Lord Protector. Though he may be weak now, he¡¯s still one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. The destroyed passage can be pierced with a strong sword attack of his. So we have to get out of the shelterpletely. We have to escape from the Lord Protector. But how? My n to forcefully move the royal family with the power of the Fairy Queen is now useless. Then, do I have to persuade the royal family as the second best option? ¡®No, that¡¯s not possible.¡¯ Princess Daphne, Prince Dion, and Princess Darianne can be convinced. But Henry II and the queens are also here. Aside from whether we can persuade them, we¡¯ll also be wasting a lot of time. So persuading them isn¡¯t our second best option. Let¡¯s do that other option then. Judepletely ignored Henry II. The king got angry again and even First Queen Justina fiercely red towards Jude who continued to do what he had to do. Hebined the dynamite and detonating cord with an adhesive before he threw it towards the walls and ceiling. Tak. Tak. Tak. The explosives urately stuck because of the adhesive. On the ceiling and walls. An arrangement capable ofpletely destroying the shelter from just a small explosion. Jude lit the long fuse. He turned nonchntly to the royal family and said. ¡°It will explode in 30 seconds.¡± So run if you want to live. Jude spoke with a gentle smile on his calm face, and the royal family sweated coldly at his madness. ¡°Nooo!¡± The Third Queen screamed in her panic due to the series of events. Henry II jumped from his seat and tried to yell. And the First Queen made a decision. She punched Henry II in the stomach as he was about to get up. With a choking sound, he lost consciousness and she carried him with one arm and ordered. ¡°To the exit!¡± There were two doors in the shelter. One was the door leading from the pce to the shelter. The other one was a door that allowed them to exit the pce from the shelter. All of the royal family members acted reflexively at the First Queen¡¯s orders as she carried Henry II on her back in one fell swoop. They hurried to the exit. And Jude nced at Cordelia. She stared at Jude with a stunned face, and then opened her pretty lips, saying. ¡°You¡¯re totally crazy.¡± ¡°Do you hate it then?¡± ¡°I like it!¡± She cheerfully shouted and jumped, hugging Jude¡¯s neck, and Jude carried Cordelia in his arms. The Summer Fairy Queen widely smiled at the two in the so-called princess hug, and she settled in Cordelia¡¯s chest. And a golden wind rose. The moment Jude pushed himself into the exit, Cordelia looked over his shoulder to see the shelter. Instead of waiting for the fuse that was still burning, she beautifully winked and activated her magic. ¡°F*ck bang ?¡± And it exploded. The shelter exploded with a tremendous roar. *** The explosion underground shook the entire main pce. The Lord Protector instinctively realized where the epicenter was. What¡¯s going on? What happened? Instead of running, the Lord Protector confirmed two things. The presence or absence of the barrier. And the other one. Things were going wrong. He didn¡¯t know what happened, but his n kept going awry. Whose fault is it? What the hell happened? I don¡¯t know. I can¡¯t dy much longer. The Lord Protector looked in front again. He sprinted towards the shelter. *** The fierce battle between Count Bayer and First Sword continued. Lucas roughly breathed after shing thest zombie¡¯s throat, and the Royal Guard Knights moved to quell the situation outside the royal pce. And another person. Count Chase cast magic in session again. He supported the main pce, which was about topletely copse, with his strong mana, and reced the copsed walls by causing stone columns to rise in session. He knew. That Count Bayer was fighting a fierce battle over there. That Jude and Cordelia continued to send emergency signals. And one more. A fact that other people had yet to know. ¡®The royal capital.¡¯ He knew because of the rough flow of magic. The royal pce wasn¡¯t the only one with a problem. Something big was happening outside the royal pce. Count Chase clenched his teeth. He stopped his thoughts, and focused only on preventing the copse of the royal pce. He had to hurry up. But he had to do it step by step. New magic spells poured out of Count Chase¡¯s mouth. Chapter 191 - INTENSIFICATION (3)

Chapter 191 - INTENSIFICATION (3)

de-like wings headed down. It headed to his head. Its force tried to smash Ga?l¡¯s head at once. Adelia screamed. Because it seemed to her that it was an attack that could not be blocked or avoided. And her judgment was not wrong. Most Royal Guard Knights would have no choice but to be hit by such an attack. But Ga?l was different. The sword of wind he learned did not allow it. Do not block. Do not avoid. Let it flow. Like the wind. Like a breeze and not like a gale. An instantaneous change of position and wrist movement, a skillful adjustment of the angle of his sword, and a sword move peculiar to the sword of wind that allowed his power to flow. All of thatbined saved Ga?l¡¯s life. Saluzia¡¯s attack hit the ground instead of splitting Ga?l¡¯s body. But that was it. Ga?l dodged the attack with all his power, and in that short moment, he lost all his strength and became defenseless. It was a very short time, but it was enough time for Saluzia. Saluzia¡¯s hand moved. It wasn¡¯t a simple push, but a sharp attack that would cut and tear Ga?l¡¯s chest. One stroke. Blood sttered. Ga?l escaped death again, but a scream erupted from Adelia¡¯s mouth. ¡°Gaeeeeeel!¡± He was hit and fell to the ground. Ga?l¡¯s left arm was torn off and rolled over the ground. Adelia dashed towards him. In that situation, her reason was gone, but herbat experience gave her the correct answer. She made use of other magic spells instead of ones that could cut or destroy the wings. The ground shook. . The earth rapidly soared and pushed Saluzia away as Adelia pulled his right hand. Instead of attacking Saluzia, she moved the ground and pulled Ga?l towards her. Saluzia was not flustered. She spread out her wings as she soared and swung her arms towards Ga?l and Adelia. At that moment, dozens of magic spears wereunched at the same time they were created. Babababababang-! A literal bombardment. Ga?l clenched his teeth and swung his sword. He couldn¡¯t properly control his body due to the shock of his arm being ripped off, so he shot a surprisingly fast and strong aura de that he had created in a moment. Booom! The aura de and magic spears collided. It exploded, and as Adelia flung herself at Ga?l, she stretched out her arms to cast a shield. Bang! Bang! Bang! The magic spears did not only point to the two. It poured down like rain towards the wizards of the Royal Guard Magic Corps and the Royal Guards, and the front line copsed in an instant. This was the power of a high-ranking demonic human. Saluzia once again spread out her four wings. She looked down at Ga?l and Adelia wriggling like worms under the shattered shield. And she widely smiled. She knew who the two were. Because she already knew that they were the older sister and brother of the two children who interrupted her in everything. ¡®It¡¯s just the beginning.¡¯ What would happen if the Lord Protector destroyed the barrier tonight? It would be the beginning of the real n prepared by Saluzia herself and Koros that would bring about the ruin of the S?len Kingdom. ¡®But you first.¡¯ Then your younger siblings. A rain of magic spears poured down at the p of her wings. Adelia¡¯s mana flowed back in the aftermath of the shield¡¯s destruction, so she could not use her magic, and Ga?l had to choose. Would he escape alone, or would he save Adelia? He did not choose. His body naturally moved. Ga?l put all of his spare strength behind his back and hugged Adelia. ¡°Ga?l.¡± Adelia said, and Ga?l gently smiled as he stared at Adelia. Magic spears poured on Ga?l¡¯s back. The impact. The blood. Ga?l lost the light in his eyes. ¡°It can¡¯t be.¡± Adelia said. But it was hopeless. Ga?l¡¯s body copsed. When the magic spears disappeared, his blood endlessly flowed all over the ce. Adelia¡¯s hands that groped Ga?l¡¯s back turned red. Tears fell down from her eyes without end. Although he was still breathing, his injuries were severe that it wouldn¡¯t be strange if he died anytime. ¡°Aaaaah!¡± Adelia stood up and screamed as her mana exploded. The invisible force became fierce des of wind as it swept towards Saluzia. But it didn¡¯t work. Her power was definitely great, but even if she was in control of it, she wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything to Saluzia. Saluzia wouldn¡¯t be hit by an attack that was recklessly shot like that. Her four wings crushed all the waves of magic power that Adelia let out. And in a few seconds. Having exhausted all her strength, Adelia fell on her knees. Her trembling hands fell on top of Ga?l, and she was unable to lift her hands anymore. Saluzia smiled as she gazed at those two. She imagined the future of Jude and Cordelia in the figures of the two. ¡°I¡¯ll be merciful.¡± I¡¯ll at least let you two go together without pain. Saluzia moved her hand. She finally fired a magic spear towards the lightly trembling and powerless Adelia. And at that moment. Just when the magic spear left Saluzia. The night sky shook. The ground rocked. The whole ce ¨C no, the world literally shook. It was a moment, but all the magic spells in the area were nullified. The one who made it that way. A person who could exert that much power. Saluzia looked up in a hurry. Above the city walls. Under the night sky. Powerful magic fluctuated. No, it wasn¡¯t just strong. It was a power that instinctively caused fear. Magic that put an end to everything like death. ¡°Demon followers.¡± A voice mixed with hate that seemed to tightly grip one¡¯s heart. A person rode on top of a Phantom Steed with green eyes. He saw Saluzia. He saw the groaning Adelia and Ga?l under her as he lost his warmth. He saw the Royal Guard Magic Corps and the Royal Guards. He captured in his eyes the demon followers and the burning royal capital. Unforgivable. Uneptable. When his cold anger made everyone freeze. Velkian let out his power. The green aura of death covered the night sky. *** Koros raised his head. The immense power let out from far away made him turn that way. At the northwest direction. At the direction where Saluzia was. At the western sky that turned green, Koros figured out one fact. That was why he felt fear and anxiety at the same time. ¡°Sannie.¡± Saluzia. A being who could threaten even her, a high-ranking demonic human. Koros clenched his fist. He strengthened his legs as he tried to head where Saluzia was. And the gap he made when he did that. The woman did not turn her gaze in the midst of the western sky shaking, and she did not miss the gap because she was only focused on her fight against Koros. Seven-Killings Sword. Seven killing strikes. Seryu¡¯s sword gave off a sharp light. *** ¡°Haa¡­ haa¡­ haa¡­¡± Scarlet felt the limit of her stamina. Her whole body was covered in sweat, and her breathing was rough. Her arm that held her sword fell down. It was natural. In the first ce, her stamina and endurance were her weaknesses. She only had one body, but there were so many enemies that she had to fight against. Behind Scarlet was a dead end with people crying or swallowing screams. Some of them were quite strong people, but they couldn¡¯t do anything. It was impossible to attack zombies with their bare hands. She breathed. She consciously exhaled and stared straight ahead. There were only around 30 zombies in front of her right now. How many can I stop? And what will happen to the rest of the people behind me if I fall down while blocking the zombies? They will die. They will all be zombies. Then, is there really a need for me to fight with my life here? They¡¯re going to be a zombie anyway, right? ¡®If it¡¯s now.¡¯ It was not toote yet. If she was alone, she could pull herself out. She could ignore the people who wereplete strangers to her. ¡°F*ck.¡± Scarlet smiled. It was so hard that she might die, but she still stayed. Even if she died, she wouldn¡¯t do something like pulling out. She never really thought of herself as having a sense of justice, but she couldn¡¯t imagine herself running away from here. ¡®Rogue Master.¡¯ Yes, the Rogue Master. The Rogue Master of this world wouldn¡¯t escape just because she was afraid of the zombie hordes. Scarlet grinned and pushed herself up. She put into her view the entire horde of zombies in order to achieve the maximum effect with minimal movement. ¡®Six moves.¡¯ It was possible if she took advantage of the characteristics of her whip sword and deal as much damage to as many as possible. She didn¡¯t know what would happen then if more zombies came from behind the current ones, but she thought that she could somehow wipe out the ones in front of her. ¡®This is your job, Royal Guards.¡¯ Scarlet swallowed herstint and fiercely red. At the same time she held her breath and kicked the ground. She greatly swung her whip sword as her first move. The whip sword with her orange aura ferociously struck and tore the necks of the zombies in the lead, and she did not stop. She prated into the center of the zombies and rotated her body as if she was dancing. The third and fourth moves were done in session. Every time the whip sword struck, at least five or six zombies were killed. Their heads rolled on the floor, and dark red blood covered the air. But that was it. In her fifth move, the de of her whip sword broke. She struggled for air. Her legs suddenly weakened, and she fell to her knees. The hand holding her whip sword trembled. The limit of her stamina. An area beyond the control of her willpower. But there were still some zombies remaining. They rushed towards Scarlet, and she roughly breathed. She tried to swing her whip sword somehow, but it was impossible. ¡®F*ck.¡¯ I¡¯ll be dying like this. But why is Pink Bomb¡¯s face the one thates to my mind at this moment? It would be nice if it was a handsome man¡¯s face. I¡¯ll be angry if Jude¡¯s face is the one thates to my mind though. Scarlet red at the zombies, erasing the useless thoughts that popped up in her mind at the moment of her death. Before she knew it, the number of zombies gathered around her were in the dozens, but she did not close her eyes in fear. As a Rogue Master, she bravely faced her death. And thus, she was able to see it. The golden aura de that swept. A man with a sword that shone like the sun slowly walked towards the zombies. Light burst. It could only be described that way even though it was swordsmanship. Every time the man swung his sword, the zombies around him were wiped out. But his movements weren¡¯t rough. The man walked so naturally and lightly as if he was taking a stroll. Scarlet copsed on the ground and looked up at the man¡¯s face who had suddenlye right in front of her. He was so handsome that the expression ¡®excessive¡¯ was appropriate. He had a gorgeous golden blonde hair and a fairplexion. His blue eyes were like gems. His presence made one feel as if they were facing the sun and not a person. Scarlet had seen this man for the first time. But she could immediately recall this man¡¯s name. ¡®Maximilian de Avis.¡¯ A man called ¡®god¡¯s mistake¡¯ because he was so perfect. He looked at Scarlet. And gently smiled. Chapter 192 - INTENSIFICATION (4)

Chapter 192 - INTENSIFICATION (4)

¡°This way!¡± With the shelter copsing, Jude and Cordelia could hear Princess Daphne¡¯s voice. Standing on the side of the passage, she faced the wall. Another secret passage in the secret passage. As Princess Daphne moved her hand, the walls split, revealing stairs that headed down. The sound of the other royal family members¡¯ footsteps as they descended the stairs could be heard in the pitch-ck darkness. ¡°Hurry!¡± At the urging of Princess Daphne, Jude and Cordelia went down the stairs instead of saying anything. Princess Daphne swallowed hard before she immediately followed the two. The stairs were much longer than the two had thought. It was only after going down several tens of meters did they reach the floor. ¡°Ah!¡± While still in Jude¡¯s arms, Cordelia opened her eyes wide and eximed. Because she realized it when they arrived. ¡®The barrier¡¯s room!¡¯ The center of the barrier that covered the royal capital. A ce that could be called the core of the barrier. In the middle of a wide and circr space of about 50 meters in diameter stood a pir of blue light, withplex magic circles spread all around it. ¡®That means¡­¡¯ Cordelia looked more closely at the pir of light. The blue light was so intense that it was hard to recognize it, but she was able to distinguish the silhouette of a beautiful sword in the center of the pir of light. ¡®Divine sword, ¨ªomh Sis.¡¯ The sword of the sun god, Sri. The heavenly weapon they left on earth. ¡®Isn¡¯t thatpletely awesome?¡¯ It was a sword that the sun god Sri, who was a heavenly archangel and not just anyone else, had used themselves. How powerful is its attack? What are the additional effects? There should be a special move built in with such a sword, right? Will my stats go up by just equipping it? It was a weapon that had never appeared in the game, so there was plenty of room for imagination. Several heavenly weapons appeared in?Legend of Heroes 2, but those swords were not used by the archangel themselves. ¡®I want it.¡¯ It would be nice if we could put that in our inventory. I really think it would be nice if my Jude can have it. If Landius has the Sr de, though he doesn¡¯t use it, shouldn¡¯t Jude do the same? My Jude should have a good sword. He should. Cordelia¡¯s eyes began to sparkle with greed as her gamer brain began to work. [Cordelia.] [Eh?] [Get a hold of yourself.] [Huh? Ah, yes. I have to calm down.] Cordelia was freed from temptation because of Jude¡¯s message magic, and she shut her eyes and pushed away all the distracting thoughts in her mind. And perhaps it worked because she realized something then. [Put me down.] [Huh? Ah¡­ You are quite light, so I forgot I was carrying you.] [Hmph.] Why do lies alwayse out of your mouth? Cordelia slightly red at Jude who smirked and put her down. ¡°Wait, wait.¡± The Fairy Queen sitting on Cordelia¡¯s chest pped her wings and moved over Cordelia¡¯s shoulders. She could go back if she was alone, but it seemed she stayed with them for a while. And right after that. Princess Daphne came down the stairs and closed the passage door, and Jude and Cordelia nced at the royal family gathered on one side. ¡°Baron Bayer. And Baroness Chase.¡± It was an elegant and dignified voice. First Queen Justina stood up and looked at Jude and Cordelia. Prince Dion stood next to the First Queen but kept his mouth shut, while Princess Darianne had an uneasy expression as she hid behind Prince Dion and was at a loss on what to do. As for the Second Queen and the Third Queen. The Second Queen was sitting next to Henry II who waspletely unconscious, but unlike the First Queen, she had a very scared and worn out face. And unlike the Second Queen who took care of Henry II, the Third Queen looked anxious as if she would burst into tears at any moment. ¡°We greet Your Majesty, the First Queen.¡± When Jude and Cordelia politely bowed, Princess Daphne passed by the two and stood next to the First Queen. And at their actions, Jude thought. ¡®They¡¯re willing to listen to us.¡¯ The royal family had run ahead of them. They could have left Jude and Cordelia and hid themselves here without the two knowing. But Princess Daphne stayed and showed them the way. It was proof that she did not view the two as enemies. ¡®But that doesn¡¯t mean that they consider us asplete allies.¡¯ Nevertheless, it was important that there was room for dialogue. Furthermore, First Queen Justina was different from Henry II. Unlike him who had such deep faith in the Lord Protector that rational thinking was impossible, she was able to look at the current situation calmly. ¡®We can convince them.¡¯ They weren¡¯t in such a dangerous situation as when they were in the shelter. Even if he was the Lord Protector, it was unlikely for him to know that there was another secret passage in the secret passage. ¡®If he knew, they wouldn¡¯t havee here.¡¯ The First Queen and Princess Daphne wouldn¡¯t hide in a ce the Lord Protector knew, especially when he was used to be an enemy. ¡®Okay, we just have to wait now.¡¯ The Lord Protector had caused a huge uproar, but that did not mean he overturned the entire royal pce. The Royal Guard Knights would soon put an end to the situation, and the fathers of the two woulde help them too. The only variable was First Sword. If he ever beat Jude¡¯s father¡­ Jude clenched his teeth. It was a painful assumption, but he came to a conclusion soon. ¡®It¡¯s all right.¡¯ Even if he was First Sword, he couldn¡¯t upy the pce by himself. Even if there was the Lord Protector and his disciples, they would have to eventually get out of the pce. ¡®Because there¡¯s Seven-Killings Sword.¡¯ In addition to her, there were many strong people in the royal capital such as themanders of the Royal Guard Magic Corps who First Sword couldn¡¯t easily defeat. And it was just his assumption of a worst-case scenario. Perhaps his father already defeated First Sword. ¡®The Sword of Wind.¡¯ Jude swallowed hard and stopped his thoughts. He came back to reality and heard the voice of the First Queen. ¡°Exin. The words and actions that you did.¡± At her order that she said in a low voice, Cordelia turned to Jude who slowly opened his mouth to answer. ¡°As Cordelia said, the Lord Protector is the leader of this incident. This is his plot to annihte the royal family, and he has already killed the other royal family members.¡± Jude exined the situation one by one. He revealed the n of the Lord Protector to kill the royal family after they had gathered in the shelter, and he also told them about the royalty whom he had already killed, and even yed the Lord Protector¡¯s voice Jude had recorded as evidence. ¡°Lord Protector, you traitor.¡± ¡°I know all your ns! You¡¯re nning to cut off the blood of the royal family and neutralize the barrier of the royal capital!¡± ¡°Indeed, you¡¯re the demon hunters.¡± ¡°It¡¯s the end.¡± Following the voices of Jude and Cordelia, the low voice of the Lord Protector yed in session. Cordelia was surprised as she stared at the mana stone in Jude¡¯s hand, and Jude sent her a nce. ¡®I did that on purpose.¡¯ He did not bring up the word ¡®traitor¡¯ simply to infuriate the Lord Protector. Securing a means to persuade the royal family was also part of his n. ¡®My Jude is smart.¡¯ Cordelia looked at him in admiration and praise, and Jude had a small smile before he continued to y the voice. The words of the Lord Protector that seemed to admit rather than deny his crimes were followed by the voice of First Sword. When the yback of the mana stone was over, the First Queen shut her eyes tightly. Princess Daphne and Prince Dion also gritted their teeth with angry faces. It was a natural reaction since two of the Ten Great Swordmasters ¨C the Lord Protector, who was a hero of the country, and First Sword, who was the best swordsman in the Sword School, had betrayed the royal family. ¡°Okay, I heard your story well. But we have to do a final confirmation. Daphne.¡± ¡°Yes, Mother.¡± Princess Daphne replied to the call of the First Queen, and looked back at Cordelia, saying. ¡°Baroness Chase, pleasee here. I have to verify the truth.¡± ¡°Your¡­Highness?¡± ¡°The direct descendants of the S?len family each possess a special ability. I can tell if anyone in contact with me is speaking the truth or lying.¡± It was the first time they had heard of it, but it was also natural for that to be so. Princess Daphne was a character close to a background setting, so her special ability as a royalty was never revealed in the game. ¡°I understand.¡± They were telling the truth to begin with, so there was nothing for her to be hesitant of. Cordelia calmly replied and walked towards Princess Daphne after she looked back at Jude. ¡°Come a little closer.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Highness, the Crown Princess.¡± Cordelia drew closer and Princess Daphne touched the forehead of Cordelia and closed her eyes. ¡°Tell me one more time. Is the Lord Protector the main culprit of this incident? Are you two moving to stop him?¡± ¡°Yes, that is correct.¡± ¡°Did he kill the other royal family members? Did you actually see their bodies?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ that is all true.¡± Cordelia was a bit embarrassed because their faces were too close, but she answered calmly, and Princess Daphne bit her lips. Because all that Cordelia said were true. ¡°Two people of destiny¡­¡± Princess Daphne mumbled before she raised her head again. Having confirmed it, she turned around to convey it to the First Queen. But it was at that moment. ¡°He¡¯sing.¡± The Fairy Queen sitting on Cordelia¡¯s shoulder suddenly said, and everyone in the room looked at her. In particr, the faces of Princess Daphne and Prince Dion, who knew that she was no ordinary fairy but the Summer Fairy Queen, immediately turned serious. It was the words of the Fairy Queen who could go somehow see the past and future time, so her saying that he wasing was believable. ¡°He¡¯sing straight. He¡¯s very angry. He has a frightening murderous look.¡± The Fairy Queen had bepletely frightened by the end of her words and turned to the entrance. And Jude and Cordelia could also hear it. On top of the stairs. They heard the sound of someone breaking the door. How? It was somehow understandable if he had pierced through the copsed shelter, but it was hard to understand how he came through the hidden passage immediately. ¡®The demon followers were the ones who took ¨ªomh Sis in the game.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t the Lord Protector. He did not know the exact location of the room. ¡®No, even if he had known it.¡¯ How did he get here right away? Even if he knew the hidden passage, it would have been the exit that led outside the royal pce and not this ce. And it was at that time. The First Queen looked into the chest pockets of the unconscious Henry II and took out a small trinket with a blue gem, holding it out to Prince Dion. A feeling of frustration spread on Prince Dion¡¯s face. ¡°It¡¯s a tracking device.¡± It was simr to the one Jude gave to Count Bayer and Count Chase. Perhaps Henry II directly handed over the other tracking device to the Lord Protector. Because for him, the Lord Protector was a hero he could trust and rely on at any time. ¡°He¡¯sing.¡± Cordelia was the one who spoke this time. They heard the sound of footsteps quickly approaching from beyond the door. They no longer had any time. Jude turned to the First Queen and urgently cried. ¡°We¡¯ll stop him! Run!¡± They had to save the royal family. They had to grab the foot of the Lord Protector and buy enough time for the royal family to escape. He might have be weak, but he was still one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. It was obvious that he would be a tough opponent. But even so, they had to fight. Jude nced at the ¨ªomh Sis and the core of the barrier. He opened the fifth door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors and began to use the Supreme Sun Divine Art. Cordelia also switched into Fallen Angel Mode by unleashing the powers of an angel and a witch at the same time. ¡°He¡¯s here!¡± Princess Daphne quickly shouted and pulled the sword she had hidden under her skirt. Prince Dion cast various support magic to Princess Daphne in session while the First Queen did not hesitate. She picked up the unconscious Henry II again and ran towards the exit in the opposite direction. The most important thing was the king¡¯s life. The king and the other queens would only be a burden to the four if they stayed here. Thud! Thud! Thud! The stairs echoed. The Second Queen hugged Princess Darianne and ran, and the Third Queen cried and followed the two queens. And right after that. A dark blue aura de split the door. The Lord Protector finally appeared. Chapter 193 - LORD PROTECTOR (1)

Chapter 193 - LORD PROTECTOR (1)

The war against the Argon Empire was over. But neither side thought that true peace hade. It was a mere temporary truce. ¡°The war is not over.¡± The empire did not want to give up on the Ctes ins, the continent¡¯srgest breadbasket. And so did the S?len Kingdom, which was already enjoying the benefits of the Ctes ins. ¡°A fight that will only end if one side falls.¡± But neither side wanted it to escte into an all-out war. Because neither side had an absolute advantage. Therefore, the S?len Kingdom and the Argon Empire had fought as many as eight times in the past hundred years. There had been hundreds of battles, including small local battles. ¡°I don¡¯t hate it.¡± If it weren¡¯t for the war, his life would have ended at best as a back alley thug. Perhaps he wouldn¡¯t even be able to do that because he¡¯d die from starvation. When war broke out, there would always be a shortage of troops. He was moving around the back alleys and became a soldier when he was told that he would be given bread. It was good at first. After all, he had bread to eat at every meal, and he had a bed which he could lie down andfortably sleep on. The life of eating and sleeping without being deprived of food or being attacked while sleeping was like heaven to him at that time. But the situation changed when he stood on the real battlefield. He couldn¡¯t remember the day of the first battle no matter how much he thought of it. All he remembered was the fact that he was the only one who survived in the barracks where 20 people lived together, and the fact that the tall guy who was always talking loudly in the bed next to him had been shot to death by an arrow on his forehead as soon as the battle started. The war continued, and the skinny boy struggled to not die as he began to learn the know-how of surviving. And in the end, he didn¡¯t just survive as he even learned how to kill others. ¡°I don¡¯t want to die.¡± He lived his life in pain, yet he was obsessed with living. He fought to live and killed to live. He couldn¡¯t even remember when and where he did his first kill, but he did remember what he called his first murder ¨C the murder he consciouslymitted. When the spear pierced the other person¡¯s chest. When the soldier in front of him, whom he even didn¡¯t know their name, died. He didn¡¯t experience much joy in surviving. He didn¡¯t experience any sort of pleasure in killing and ending a life with his own hands. He was just afraid. Of death. Of dying. Time passed, and he learned more and more ways on how to fight. His know-how became skills, and his skills made him work hard. It was natural for a person to want to do better if he did well on something. Moreover, his efforts to not die on the battlefield made him be stronger. The war ended, and the beggar from the back alleys who didn¡¯t even receive a name from his parents eventually became a knight. ¡°And 20 yearster.¡± After a moment of peace and two wars. The knight became a count, and the count became a duke. Lord Protector. The hero who saved the country in its crisis. He just fought and fought as he rose in rank and even received such a grand name. ¡°Lord Protector, there¡¯s a child I want to introduce to you.¡± The second king. He had no significant rtionship with the first king he saw at the post-war knighthood ceremony. But he had quite an exchange with the second king. Because he saved that person¡¯s life, and that person made him a count. When thest war ended, that person made him a duke, someone like him who was once amoner and didn¡¯t even know who his parents were. ¡°He¡¯s my son. He was born on the eve of the war, so I didn¡¯t have the chance to introduce him. Still, you must have heard of him, right?¡± The second king smiled with his good-looking face, and the other counted the numbers in his head. The third war of his lifested for as long as seven years, so if the child had been born on the eve of the war, the child would be around eight years old. ¡°Henry,e here.¡± When the king beckoned, the little boy hiding behind the queen ran and stood next to the second king. The child who would be the third king in his life if nothing bad happens. The boy was very excited for some reason, and he looked up at the Lord Protector with a blush on his face, greeting the Lord Protector in a clumsy yet serious manner before the Lord Protector could greet him first. ¡°I¡¯m Henry D. S?len. Lord Protector.¡± The child¡¯s eyes were sparkling as if he was looking at a hero from a storybook and not at a vassal. The Lord Protector knelt in front of the child with the same name as the first king he met, and after some time, he put his name out of his mouth. ¡°The Duke of Antarius, Gray Antarius, humbly greets you.¡± Thest name was given by the first king, and the title was given by the second king. At his greeting, the future third king brightly smiled like the sun in his excitement. *** ¡°¡± ¡°¡± Cordelia and Prince Dion shouted almost simultaneously. Because both of them knew well that ordinary attack magic did not work on someone from the Ten Great Swordmasters. So they dug the ground and pulled him down with gravity. They focused on preventing his movement. Boooom! The Lord Protector was mmed into the ground. But Cordelia and Dion did not let their guard down. Even though their opponent had declined from age now, he was still the hero who saved the S?len Kingdom in its crisis in the past, and was the Lord Protector, one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. ¡°Uuuuugh!¡± Prince Dion sweated as he strengthened his gravity magic, but he couldn¡¯t beat the Lord Protector. He also couldn¡¯t stop the sword attack the Lord Protector did while being pulled down by gravity. Shing-! The Lord Protector cut the air. No, he cut the magic with his aura de. The magic formation was broken, nullifying the magic. It was generally not possible. A magic formation wouldn¡¯t just break from the sh of an aura de in the air. But it was the sword of someone from the Ten Great Swordmasters. It was possible for them to read the flow of mana and urately cut its core. ¡°Ugh!¡± Prince Dion suffered from the bacsh of the forced destruction of his magic, stepping back as he groaned while Jude and Princess Daphne held their breaths. Right after the magic was broken, they focused all their attention on the Lord Protector who leapt up from the pit. ¡®We need to buy time.¡¯ That¡¯s the victory condition for this fight. We must not overdo it. We should focus on buying time. We should actively utilize Daphne and Dion. We should fight together instead of protecting the two. ¡®They don¡¯t need protection.¡¯ Henry II, his queens, and Princess Darianne had fled. Even if Princess Daphne and Prince Dion died, the blood of the founder king would still continue. ¡®Let¡¯s go.¡¯ He didn¡¯t have the time to think anymore. Even if it was hard, they had to stop the Lord Protector from and moving as they hold him back. ¡®ck Dragon¡¯s Roar!?Link!¡¯ T/N: The word ¡®link¡¯ here refers to the link in mathematical knot theory, which is a collection of knots that do not intersect but can be linked or knotted with each other. An example of that is the Hopf link we saw in a past chapter. But seriously, Jude¡¯s naming sense for his attacks is just weird¡­ Jude shot out the ck dragon¡¯s energy in session towards the Lord Protector. Princess Daphne closely watched the Lord Protector destroy the ck dragons with his sword covered with a dark blue aura. When he defeated the fourth ck dragon, she kicked the ground. Princess Daphne¡¯sbat power. Her sword was sharp and fast. But it wasn¡¯t enough to reach the Lord Protector. He rotated his body like a top and the sword he swung deflected her sword, but Jude narrowed the distance with his Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt. As he charged at a tremendous speed, he threw his fist filled with the energy of the ck dragon towards the Lord Protector. Booooom! The energy of the ck dragon missed. The Lord Protector stretched out his sword aura and made the ck dragon¡¯s energy hit the wall. He lowered his body as if lying on the ground before he soared like a snake and aimed for Princess Darianne. ¡°The Holy King¡¯s Light!¡± At that moment, Prince Dion cried out and a white light from the sky covered Princess Daphne. ¡°Haa!¡± Princess Daphne let out a spirited shout as she swung her sword, locking swords with the Lord Protector. Though her precision and skill proficiency was iparable to his, it became possible for her to be on par with the Lord Protector in that momentary increase in power. ¡°Euaaa!¡± When Princess Daphne let out a spirited shout again and crossed swords with the Lord Protector, he let his sword go with the flow instead of resisting. He stepped back and looked at Princess Daphne. ¡°Is it the blood of the Holy King?¡± The special ability of the first king. It gave the first king, Lion D. Salen, a powerful strength for a moment. It seemed that it was Prince Dion who inherited that special ability rather than Princess Daphne. Instead of answering, Princess Daphne fixed her sword stance while Jude instantly measured Princess Daphne¡¯s power. If he added Dion¡¯s support, her overallbat power was stronger than Lucas but weaker than Jude himself. At this rate, it was possible for them to fight together. ¡®I must match with Princess Daphne.¡¯ Princess Daphne was not Cordelia. It was impossible for him and the princess to team up as naturally as he and Cordelia did. But if neither side helped each other, it would be hard tond a proper attack. ¡°Crown Princess!¡± ¡°Support me!¡± At the moment Jude shouted, Princess Daphne cried and rushed towards the Lord Protector, and Jude also kicked the ground. And Cordelia thought as she watched all this. ¡®It¡¯s impossible.¡¯ We can¡¯t win this way. The moment she saw it, she knew. Their difference in power was too big. Wild beasts were able to instinctively sense the strength of their opponents the moment they encountered them. So did Cordelia. The Lord Protector was strong. It was worse than the strange feeling she felt the moment she met First Sword, but it was clear to her that the Lord Protector was a strong person she and Jude could not win against. What should we do then? How do we ovee this current crisis? Jude and Daphne¡¯s teamwork began. Prince Dion couldn¡¯t do anything else because he was having a hard time in just supporting Princess Daphne. ¡®Should I join?¡¯ Should I work with them? No. My senses and intuition are telling me no. I have to do something else. I have to find another way. Cordelia¡¯s gaze turned to the divine sword. Divine Sword ¨ªomh Sis. But she couldn¡¯t just take it away. Because she had already discussed it with Jude. ¡®You can¡¯t use the divine sword.¡¯ First of all, it was dangerous. It was the sword used by Sri, an archangel and the one who was called the sun god. Cordelia used Ancestral Regression and became an angel, but she was still an ordinary angel, so if she tried to rashly use it, she wouldn¡¯t be able to handle its power, and there was a possibility of her soul and body being damaged. ¡®The core of the barrier will break too.¡¯ The divine sword was both the core and the power source of the barrier. Just as how a remote control would no longer work if it didn¡¯t have batteries, the barrier would disappear as soon as the divine sword was removed. ¡®He can¡¯t remove it too.¡¯ The reason why the Lord Protector decided to kill all the royal family members was because it was impossible for him to pull out the divine sword. ¡®Perhaps if it¡¯s you¡­ You¡¯re an angel, so it may be possible. But then, it¡¯s like we¡¯re fulfilling the wish of the demon followers ourselves.¡¯ That was what Jude had said. In the game, the demon followers ced demonic humans and demons on the royal capital when the barrier disappeared, and they summoned a Hell Gate in the end. Boooom! Along with the roar, Princess Daphne was greatly thrown back while Jude managed to escape the Lord Protector¡¯s sword with the Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt. The dark blue aura de that was originally intended to cut Jude left deep marks on the floor and walls instead. ¡°Cordelia!¡± Jude shouted. He tried to send an attack towards the Lord Protector, but thetter naturally avoided it. And Cordelia understood. Apart from Jude¡¯s cry to join them, she realized why she felt that the fight was futile the way it was now. ¡®The difference in experience.¡¯ She could say that Jude had a slight edge when it came to their physical abilities. But if she added the Lord Protector¡¯s skills and experience, a gap that Jude could not ovee was created. ¡®Great swordmaster.¡¯ He was that strong even though he had declined because of his age. Among the Ten Great Swordmasters, the Sword of Light was one of the strongest ¨C so how powerful was First Sword? ¡®He was nice to us back then.¡¯ He didn¡¯t want to kill us. He didn¡¯t fight us with his full power then. ¡®Father-inw.¡¯ She remembered Count Bayer who was fighting against First Sword at that moment. But Cordelia stopped all her thoughts. She sharpened her senses when she saw Princess Daphne charging towards the Lord Protector again. Cordelia herself began to think. She focused. Thus, she awakened her wild beast¡¯s senses. What they needed the most now. The way to be victorious. Her eyes turned to the divine sword again. And there was a sh of light again. ¡°Uooooh!¡± Jude roared and let out the energy of the ck dragon, and the Lord Protector cut down the energy with his sword attack. Princess Daphne attacked from behind, but he easily blocked it. If it continued like this, they wouldn¡¯tst long. Both Jude and Princess Daphne were struggling and wasting their stamina and energy. So before they werepletely exhausted, she had to do something before they copse. Boooom! The attack of the Lord Protector did not stop at destroying the floor as it also split the entire floor into two. The aftermath of the devastating attack alone was enough to send Jude and Daphne flying. And Cordelia flew with her wings. She pierced through the center of the barrier and stood in front of the divine sword. ¡°Jude!¡± At her loud cry, Jude turned his gaze and made eye contact with Cordelia. Cordelia¡¯s thoughts. And what they should do from now on. She couldn¡¯t tell him all. But telling him some were enough. ¡®Trust me.¡¯ Jude stopped his calctions. He once again rushed towards the Lord Protector. Princess Daphne roared and joined him, and Prince Dion¡¯s eyes turned bloodshot as he awakened the special ability of the Holy King. And Cordelia looked at the divine sword. She widely spread out her angel wings and grabbed the divine sword. Chapter 194 - LORD PROTECTOR (2)

Chapter 194 - LORD PROTECTOR (2)

¡°Lord Protector, Lord Protector.¡± The third king in his life didn¡¯t have a heartless personality. ¡°Lord Protector, so this is where you are.¡± He had no talent for the sword either. He was not very smart or decisive, and he was not good at judging. ¡°Lord Protector, what should I do?¡± But he wasn¡¯t that ipetent either. His personality wasn¡¯t that heartless, but he wasn¡¯t a sociable person either. He didn¡¯t have a talent for swords, but he did not ck off. Heughed and continued his training even though he was annoyed that his skills did not improve much. He couldn¡¯t make up his mind at once, but he wasn¡¯t that indecisive. He just took a long time to ponder and think before making a decision. Of course, he couldn¡¯t help but have a poor judgment. He was not stubborn, but he did not have a proxy either, as he deemed it pointless. When people who were better than him talked, he listened, but he did not heed their advice either. ¡°Lord Protector, should I confess to her?¡± The third king was also fortunate to have helpful people around him. His first wife was his childhood friend, lifelongpanion, and reliable advisor. ¡°Lord Protector, I¡¯ve be a father. I¡¯ve be a father.¡± He had a loyal prince who would not betray his sister, who was a crown princess that was as clever as their mother. ¡°Lord Protector, my father¡­ My father¡­¡± On the day the second king died, the third king burst into tears like a child. He had a hard time saying goodbye to his father, but he was also afraid to be king. ¡°Daphne is smart, so if I could do as I please, I want to pass the throne to her quickly¡­ but I can¡¯t do that, right?¡± The third king who grew up seeing the second king knew what being a king meant. It was not a position where he could do whatever he wanted. It was not a position where he could wield his authority as he pleased. A king shouldn¡¯t be like that. A king was the leader of a country. It was a position that had a lot of responsibility and power. ¡°I¡¯m happy though. I have the First Queen, the smart Daphne and Dion¡­ and more than anything else, I have you, Lord Protector.¡± The third king always smiled brightly, despite being almost 40 years old. Like a child. Like the day they first met. *** Bababababang-! The Lord Protector¡¯s sword was a sword sharpened from his battles on the battlefield. It was rough and unrefined, but at the same time, it was a sword terrifyingly specialized in killing. ¡®He¡¯s different from First Sword.¡¯ His sword wasn¡¯t smooth. It wasn¡¯t even a quick sword that resembled light. ¡®Rough.¡¯ His evasion and blocking skills were rough. His sword was too difficult to deal with. So Jude decided to give it up. It was a fight against a much stronger opponent in the first ce. Jude gave uppletely avoiding. He epted having some injuries. ¡°Haa!¡± With a roar, the power of the Supreme Sun Divine Art surrounded his whole body. The regeneration of his body was strengthened by activating the power of the Sphere of Life that was absorbed by the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. ¡®He¡¯s too powerful.¡¯ The Lord Protector¡¯s skill was far superior. His attack power was also terrifying, so if Jude approached him carelessly, he and Daphne would only end up flying. Jude held his breath. He kicked the ground with a golden whirlwind, and pushed the Lord Protector with his speed. Bang! Bang! Bang! The roaring sounds caused by the Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt was like thunder. The energy of the ck dragon was released to the extent that it was almost wasteful, but the Lord Protector cut it. Princess Daphne couldn¡¯t keep up with Jude¡¯s speed, so she just supported him. She couldn¡¯t keep up with him, but she didn¡¯t just watch. Whenever Jude¡¯s attack was blocked, she stretched out her sword and drew the attention of the Lord Protector. But it was only for a short time. The Lord Protector adapted to Jude¡¯s speed. He began to read Jude¡¯s attack, and he made Jude¡¯s attacks simpler by limiting Jude¡¯s movements with his sword attacks. Blood sttered. Jude¡¯s entire body began to turn red. In contrast to the Lord Protector who did not have a single scratch, Jude was covered in blood. ¡°Juuuuude!¡± And Cordelia shouted at that moment. It was a signal, and Jude pulled out one of his aces without hesitation. ¡°Sr re!¡± An intense light emanated from Jude¡¯s fist. The Lord Protector anticipated the attack, hurriedly backing away and closing his eyes. On the other hand, Princess Daphne¡¯s eyes were blinded for a moment and she took a step back. And Jude ran towards Cordelia. He was also unable to see, but he recalled the exact map in his mind, so he did not make any mistake in the direction and distance. The light only stopped the Lord Protector for a few seconds. And time was up. But Cordelia carried out her nned move. ¡°Aaaaaah!¡± Cordelia absorbed the power of the divine sword, ¨ªomh Sis, and the divine power of Sri, the sun god. It was too much for her. Cordelia¡¯s arms that held the divine sword was burned by a white me, and she screamed in pain as if her soul and body were burning. But Cordelia did not give up. She held on despite the pain that seemed toe from the nerves of her entire body. She grabbed Jude¡¯s hand who hadnded next to her. ¡°, ¡± She cast her magic. The immense divine power of the divine sword was converted into life energy within Cordelia and passed on to Jude. It was a really crazy n. The burden and pain on Cordelia increased several times because she had to absorb the divine power and convert it into life energy at the same time. But she did not stop. She widely spread out her white wings and continued to transmit the power. This was what Cordelia thought. If the difference in their basic specs was a problem, then match the other¡¯s specs. Like what the two did in the wildnds. Just as how Jude absorbed the power of the dragon veins from the ground and opened a new door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. In the Temple of Life, Jude opened the fifth door. Because the power contained in the Sphere of Life was not enough to open the sixth door as it was impossible to go straight from the fifth to the sixth door at once, Jude almost died when his soul and body were almost destroyed. But now. Now that he got used to the fifth door, he could now absorb the divine power that Cordelia herself converted into life energy, which was far greater than the energy from the Sphere of Life. ¡°Aaaaaaah!¡± Cordelia screamed. Jude dived deep into his consciousness. It was harder than when he opened the fifth door. But he had to do it. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t have a future. And at that very moment, the Lord Protector opened his eyes. He had yet to fully recover his eyesight, but he blurringly saw Jude and Cordelia. He felt a sense of crisis at the colossal power from the divine sword. ¡°Haa!¡± The Lord Protector kicked the ground. He tried to cut down Jude and Cordelia at once. Their distance was only around a dozen meters at most, but for the Lord Protector, it was a distance that could be narrowed within a blink of an eye. But he couldn¡¯t reach it. Because space was manipted. A distance of hundreds to thousands of meters was created between the Lord Protector and Jude. The Summer Fairy Queen. As soon as the battle began, she hid in a corner, but she did not just curl up and tremble. She watched the fight and realized what she could do. She was the Fairy Queen who as good in manipting space. It was more like a superpower than magic, so the Lord Protector was not able to respond like he did before. ¡°Aaaaaaah!¡± Cordelia continued to scream, and at that moment, a ck me-like energy erupted from Jude¡¯s entire body. The Lord Protector made a decision. That was why he turned away from Jude and Cordelia. He rushed towards Princess Daphne and Prince Dion who had barely opened their eyes. ¡°Nooo!¡± The Fairy Queen cried and hurriedly tried to manipte space again, but it was impossible. Because she had used too much power in manipting the distance between Jude and the Lord Protector. The Lord Protector narrowed his distance with Princess Daphne. Having barely opened their eyes, Prince Dion screamed while Princess Daphne clumsily moved her sword. And blood sttered. Princess Daphne¡¯s right wrist that held her sword was roughly cut as if it was torn apart and then flew in the air. He began to use his next sword attack. The second sh of the Lord Protector aimed at Princess Daphne¡¯s neck. Cordelia released her hold from the divine sword as soon as he was about to strike. She copsed on the floor in exhaustion, and she saw Jude opening his shining green eyes while still covered in a ck me. But they were out of time. The sword of the Lord Protector struck Princess Daphne¡¯s long neck. ¡°Lord Protectooooor!¡± In that moment. In that short nick of time. The scream ¨C no, the cry that stopped the movement of the Lord Protector. The Lord Protector reflexively stopped his sword and unconsciously had a stunned face as he turned to the direction from which he heard the sound. ¡°Lord Protector, Lord Protector, Lord Protector.¡± There was a man there who repeated the same words with a face covered with tears and snot. He struggled with his pronunciation because he had run in a hurry and was out of breath, and his knees were shaking as if he was about to copse now, but he looked their way and cried like a child, and the Lord Protector had no choice but to be distracted by him. ¡°Lord Protector.¡± He said in tears. He repeatedly called him like a real fool, but the Lord Protector understood. His voice echoed in the Lord Protector¡¯s head. It¡¯s a lie, right? That you betrayed us. That you killed the royalty. Those are all lies, right? It¡¯s not true, right? Just this time, Justina is wrong, right? It¡¯s not true, right? Lord Protector. It isn¡¯t, right? Please, Lord Protector. Please. Please say something, please say it¡¯s not true. Lord Protector. Lord Protector. Please! The third king in his life. He was a guy who was always smiling brightly since they met for the first time. The guy who didn¡¯t even know that the Lord Protector would kill him, the guy who gave him a tracking device and said that he was relieved if the Lord Protector was here. Henry II sat down on the floor. He gasped for breath and sent a pleading gaze. He wasn¡¯tpetent, but he wasn¡¯t a fool either. When he first woke up, the First Queen said to him. She said that the Lord Protector betrayed them. She said that the Lord Protector had be the enemy of the kingdom. She said that he killed the other royal family members that were left behind in the banquet hall. Henry II never once doubted the words of the First Queen in his life. But he denied her words for the first time. He ran away from her when she tried to exin and convince him. Because he was scared. He felt like he would admit that the Lord Protector had betrayed them if he listened to her. But it was useless. Because he already knew. Because he knew better than anyone that First Queen Justina would never make up such nonsense. But he couldn¡¯t stop himself. He still couldn¡¯t admit it. ¡°Lord Protector¡­¡± He burst into tears. He howled like a child. And at the sight of such Henry II, the figure of the third king made the Lord Protector feel a bit shaken. His fingertips trembled even though he had already made up his mind. It was just a moment, but he felt like he wanted to hide somewhere. But he didn¡¯t do that. Because he already drew his sword. Even if the third king, Henry II, would forgive him for everything he had done now, because the third king was such a person, it was already toote. ¡®No, it¡¯s not a matter of being toote from stopping.¡¯ Nor was it a matter of whether he could go back or not. Because the Lord Protector himself had no intention of going back. ¡®I¡¯m getting old.¡¯ He was already close to seventy years old. No, he didn¡¯t know the exact date of his birth, so perhaps he was already seventy. He had wrinkles on his face. His fingertips became wrinkled, and his energy weakened little by little, as if it was sand that slipped through his fingers. He had not neglected training for even a single day ever since he first came back from the battlefield. But at some point, he hit the point where it all came spiraling down. He no longer became stronger no matter how hard he trained. Rather, he became weaker day by day. When he naturally realized that he wouldn¡¯t be able to hold his sword anymore. When the naturally continuing flow was cut and stopped flowing. He felt fear rather than despondency. Because he realized that he was dying. ¡®I don¡¯t want to die.¡¯ The words he had forgotten for a while after the war. He was called the Lord Protector, dressed in fine clothes, and received the king¡¯s trust, but his fundamental part remain unchanged. I don¡¯t want to die. I want to live. I want to be stronger. I don¡¯t want to be weak. Like the tall person who died from an arrow in the head. His pupils became pitch-ck as if there was nothing in it. He lived most of his life on the battlefield, inflicting death to countless people. In the process, he was at risk of death dozens of times. But it was different from then. It was apletely different situation from the time he could live by just killing the enemy first. He couldn¡¯t avoid it. Whatever he did, he wouldn¡¯t be able to escaped his fated death. Every day, he headed towards a death where he wouldn¡¯t be able to see or feel anything, something that could only be expressed as nothingness. ¡®I¡¯mpletely helpless.¡¯ Like a ve tied to a chain. The Lord Protector came back to reality. She was only twenty years old now, and she was quite good in swordsmanship because of the fact that she was devoted to training daily, but he couldn¡¯t cut such a princess with his sword. Even though he was doing his best, he couldn¡¯t do such a thing to these children. Weak. He had be so weak. And even at this moment, he felt like he was getting a bit weaker. He couldn¡¯t stand it. He was afraid. He hated the feeling of his fated death squeezing his throat. So he cut it off. He shook off his superficial rtionships. He would destroy the barrier by killing all the royalty, and in return, he would be united with a great demon. He would be a demonic human and escape from his fated death. He would break his chains and free himself from the curse of aging! ¡°Lord Protector!¡± He didn¡¯t hear it anymore. He ignored the screams of the third king, Henry II, and looked at Princess Daphne. He red at her as if to kill her, and tried to swing his sword again. But he couldn¡¯t. The Lord Protector¡¯s experience and instinct made him wield his sword in a different direction. aang! The powerful energy that rushed towards him was cut off by his sword. And then he realized. What he cut right now was just the aftermath. It wasn¡¯t an attack. The appearance of Henry II bought them some time. His cries prevented the death of Princess Daphne, and it gave Jude and Cordelia the least amount of time to forcefully finish their n. Cordelia swallowed her groan. While lying in front of the divine sword, she clenched her teeth before forcibly raising her head to see the Lord Protector, despite her body trembling from the pain and suffering. Facing his flushed face, she smiled as her fangs glistened. ¡®F*ck him up.¡¯ Her voice didn¡¯te out of her mouth. Because she couldn¡¯t even do so. But an answer came back. Jude responded to Cordelia¡¯s call like always. Thunderbolt Twelve Steps. The second step. The Thunder God Invokes Lightning. And the power that made it possible. Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors ¨C Sixth Gate. ck Sun. The Supreme Sun Divine Artpletely became one with the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. Thus, the ck Sun was born. Jude raised his head and saw the Lord Protector. He clenched his fist and took a step at the same time. And at that moment. In that time. As thunder shook the heavens and earth, ck lightning exploded. Chapter 195 - BLACK LIGHTNING

Chapter 195 - BLACK LIGHTNING

Baaaang! The roar filled the entire room. Sound was erased, and lightning struck again in the area that had be silent. ck. Just like lightning that split the night sky, it drew a line at once. It stretched out at a fearsome speed. Bang! At the time of the second thunder, the Lord Protector was unable to properly see the attack. He managed to avoid the attacks due to his strong obsession with life and his longbat experience, but he didn¡¯t even know himself what or how he avoided it. But he was the Lord Protector. He was one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. Heunched a counterattack before even realizing that he had avoided the attack. His rushing left hand was filled with a dark blue aura. Shwaaaak! It was cut. The dark blue aura cut Jude¡¯s chest. And it was only at that time that the Lord Protector became fully aware of the surrounding situation. He realized almost simultaneously of the fact that he had evaded Jude¡¯s punch by twisting his upper body, and that Jude had likewise twisted his upper body to avoid the counterattack. And ck lightning burst again. ck energy exploded from Jude¡¯s body and filled the sight of the Lord Protector, and Jude¡¯s beastly onught soon unfolded. Bang! Bang! Bang! The ck Sun in the middle of Jude¡¯s heart let out an immense energy. The Thunder God Invokes Lightning created lightning, and Jude¡¯s fist was covered with ck lightning as his Lightning Strike Fist tore the air apart. It was fast and strong. At the same time, it was extremely rough. Because it was too much for him. He didn¡¯t have the time. It had only been a month or so after he had opened the fifth door. He had yet to fully adapt to it. Moreover, he didn¡¯t experience any massive growth at that time. It was impossible for him to open the sixth door. If his physical and spiritual body had not erged due to the metamorphosis, he would not have been able to open the sixth door without the variable that was the divine sword, ¨ªomh Sis. A runaway. A state in which normal functions were rendered impossible. His heart was beating too fast and irregr. It felt like his heart, where the ck Sun was located, was about to burst. The ck lightning emitted from his whole body not only burned the air but also cut and tore Jude¡¯s skin without stopping. The attack was fast and strong enough, but it was too rough. There was no trace of the precision Jude usually showed. Self-destruction. His fate would be his destruction if he was overwhelmed by that destructive force. A fated catastrophe that he brought on to himself. He would be destroyed. If he used his fist attack again. If he pushed it a little further. It would cause a runaway. It would bepletely uncontroble. The ck Sun¡¯s energy would destroy Jude! Bang! Another thunder roared. Jude¡¯s fist was filled with ck lightning that exploded. But Jude did not copse. His heart still pounded as if it was going to burst, and the raging lightning continued to add new wounds to Jude¡¯s arms and legs, but he remained unbroken. He managed to control the power he couldn¡¯t handle. Cheonmujiche. The incarnation of martial arts from the heavens. Add to that was Jude¡¯s concentration and calction skills that were beyondmon sense. His whole body that was going berserk finally confined the power that he couldn¡¯t control himself. ¡°Uooooo!¡± Jude roared like a beast and struck the Lord Protector. Instead of his usual way of calcting the attack direction, he entrusted himself to the berserk power. He literally became a beast andunched an onught. Bang! Bang! Bang! The Lord Protector could notpletely avoid the attacks. He couldn¡¯t even attack Jude with his sword. He was in a hurry to protect himself from the wild beast. But when Jude¡¯s attacks reached the seventh number, the Lord Protector slightly adapted to Jude¡¯s attacks. When the twelfth attack unfolded, he finally found a gap where he could counterattack. ¡°Uoooo!¡± The Lord Protector clenched his teeth as Jude roared. He swung his sword at Jude despite the pain of his injured left shoulder. His unmatched sword attack tried to bite the neck of Jude. Baaaaang! His sword was like the teeth of a beast. A peculiar sword style that left very rough scars. But he couldn¡¯t reach it. At the time when the Lord Protector aimed for a counterattack, Princess Daphne and Prince Dion could only watch as they couldn¡¯t even intervene in the fight. And Cordelia did not remove her hand from the sword. She released the life energy that she had forcibly converted from the enormous power of the divine sword, so the nerves of her entire body felt like it was burning, but she did not close her eyes despite the tremendous pain. She had watched the fight, so she was able to instinctively know what she should do at that moment. ¡®.¡¯ The magic spell Cordelia cast in the midst of pain. A basic magic spell that was so basic that even beginners who had just began to learn magic could easily use it. But that was why she could use it at the current situation now. Moreover, Cordelia knew it better than anyone else. Although she recognized herself as a fan of firepower, she did not forget one thing. How a wizard fought. The role of the wizard. Someone who made miracles through the so-called magic. He slipped. At the moment when the Lord Protector tried to avoid Jude¡¯s attack andunch a counterattack himself, her chance to turn the tide finally came. The sudden slippery floor prevented the Lord Protector from properly stepping on it. He did notpletely fall down, but his attack deviated. The attack itself was also dyed. And Jude did not miss that gap. Bang! Lightning Strike Fist. Jude¡¯s fist struck the Lord Protector¡¯s abdomen. For the first time since the start of the battle, he dealt a perfect blow to the Lord Protector. ¡°Kaaak!¡± The Lord Protector coughed blood. His body slightly rose into the air, and Jude¡¯s second attack aimed at the heart of the Lord Protector. Bang! The Lord Protector flew and roughly hit the wall. Jude rushed towards him, and the Lord Protector swung his sword at that moment. As a man who had wielded a sword for most of his life, his body had reacted to the impending attack. But it was different from before. Jude could see the sword clearly. So he swung his fist towards the sword covered in dark blue aura. ck Dragon Cross Strike. His attack aimed at the surface of the sword and not the ded part, which was normally a reckless attack. But his Cheonmujiche made it possible. ck lightning and the dark blue sword collided, and the sword of the Lord Protector exploded with a loud sound. Baaaang! The de shattered. It broke into pieces and cut the bodies of Jude and the Lord Protector. Then Jude turned his body around using his right fist. His downward roundhouse kick filled with the energy of the ck dragon shot down diagonally like a lightning bolt. Baaaang! Lightning burst again. But the Lord Protector did not copse. He defended Jude¡¯s attack with his left arm. He somehow endured and exploded his dark blue aura. Shwaaaaa-! It blinded Jude¡¯s eyes. He somehow used that opportunity to attack and strike a blow into Jude¡¯s chest just before he run away. He no longer had a sword. It had broken and was unusable. But something like this frequently happened on the battlefield. The Lord Protector concentrated his dark blue aura on his clenched fist. ¡°Uoooo!¡± The Lord Protector sent his fist. But Jude was not fooled. Even in the midst of the ck Sun going out of control, he read the aura of the Lord Protector with his sharpened senses. Heunched his fist at the exact direction of the fist heading towards him. Bang! Their fists collided. The ck lightning and dark blue aura canceled each other out with a roar, and the fists of Jude and the Lord Protector broke at the same time. But there was a stark difference between the two. The Sphere of Life. Jude¡¯s regeneration ability amplified by the energy of the ck Sun. ¡°Uoooooo!¡± The Lord Protector had lost both his left arm and right fist. But it wasn¡¯t for Jude. He poured out a one-sided onught towards the Lord Protector. Bang! Bang! Bang! He destroyed the dark blue aura. He broke the body of the Lord Protector! Baaaang! The ck Dragon Cross Strike struck the chest of the Lord Protector. He threw up blood and was greatly pushed back while Jude who was about to deal thest blow also coughed blood. It was his limit. Doing one more attack was impossible. If he continued using the ck Sun, his heart would really burst. That was why Jude withdrew his energy. He did that despite knowing that he still had some strength to spare. Because Jude did not forget. That there was one more person. That there was a woman who instead of being satisfied and copsing after her decisive support, she had clenched her teeth and waited for the chance to deal thest hit. ¡°Finish him.¡± Jude said, and Cordelia responded. She leant on the divine sword as if hanging from it, and greatly spread out a white light. It wasn¡¯t only Jude who absorbed the power of the divine sword. In the midst of converting and releasing the life energy, she literally covered herself with Sri¡¯s divine power. Thus, a new power was added to her wings. Her rank as an angel rose. Therefore, her divine power became stronger! ¡°Aaaaaaah!¡± Cordelia screamed as she shut her eyes. She once again epted the power of the divine sword and released a divine lightning despite the pain. Baaaaaang! A white lightning that was the exact opposite of Jude¡¯ ck lightning. The divine power that came from the divine sword struck the heart of the Lord Protector. It destroyed the source of his dark blue aura, and all that remained of it. And the copse that followed. The Lord Protector fell to his knees. He couldn¡¯t stand any longer and copsed. ¡°Haa¡­ haa¡­¡± Jude panted as he roughly breathed, and he plopped down on the floor. And so did Cordelia who was leaning on the divine sword. Her hands didn¡¯t slide down along the sword, as she fell to the floor with a thud. But until the end, Cordelia did not let go of her consciousness. She wanted to faint right away, but she held on by gritting her teeth. The white rings had yet to appear. Because the Lord Protector was still breathing. They knew that it was impossible for him stand up any more even if he was a great swordmaster, but they couldn¡¯t say that the fight was over until his life was really over. With her blue eyes, Cordelia looked at the Lord Protector. As he shallowly breathed, Henry II approached him. *** The Lord Protector breathed slowly. It was painful. He felt like his thin breath would stop at any moment. His eyesight blurred. It got darker and darker. And the Lord Protector realized. I¡¯m dying. This is my end. Like how that tall guy reached his end. I want to struggle. I want to scream and resist. But I can¡¯t. My breath is getting thinner and my body is losing its strength. It¡¯s scary. It¡¯s frightening. I don¡¯t want to die. Tears fell from his eyes. And his blurred vision became more blurred. And the Lord Protector saw. As his eyes lost its light, it reflected a person¡¯s face for thest time. ¡°Lord Protector.¡± It was the third king. He couldn¡¯t see it properly, but he could see it. He could immediately recall the tearful face of that man. ¡°I-it¡¯s my fault. Because I was too ipetent¡­ Because I was too¡­ ipetent¡­¡± Otherwise, the Lord Protector would not have betrayed him. He couldn¡¯t even imagine why the hero who saved the country in its crisis would point his sword towards the S?len Kingdom. The Lord Protector smiled. He smiled without knowing or even realizing it. It wasn¡¯t because of Henry II¡¯s stupidity. It wasn¡¯t because he was stunned by the other¡¯s foolish beliefs that blindly trusted him. He couldn¡¯t see any more. Even the sobbing of Henry II was no longer audible. His senses were gradually getting dull. And the Lord Protector opened his mouth and said. ¡°That¡¯s¡­not true.¡± It¡¯s not your fault. It¡¯s just my greed. I didn¡¯t want to die, I didn¡¯t want to get old, I wanted to regain my strength. For that, I betrayed you, I betrayed the country, and I killed the royal family. It was only for me. It was just for my own self. I never considered someone like you in the first ce. I didn¡¯t even care. I just moved for myself. He could no longer hear. So he could no longer tell what the other was properly saying. ¡®Why?¡¯ In myst moments, why? Why am I leaving such words at the time of myst breaths? I should be pouring out curses. If Henry II didn¡¯t appear, it might have ended differently. Why, why am I pouring out words like this instead of curses? ¡°Lord Protector¡­¡± You¡¯re a stupid guy. You always smiled like a fool, and now you¡¯re just crying. He could no longer see or hear. It had now be impossible for him to even connect his thoughts. Death. The fated end. At thatst moment, the Lord Protector opened his mouth and let out his breath. Thest thought in his mind disappeared. And the Lord Protector ceased breathing. Darkness took away his consciousness. *** Henry II fell on the body of the Lord Protector and swallowed his tears. Princess Daphne copsed on the spot and roughly breathed while Prince Dion recovered Princess Daphne¡¯s hand that had fallen on the floor. And Jude saw. The white rings of light appeared around the chest of the wriggling Cordelia who had copsed. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. On Jude¡¯s chest, there were only four rings, one less than her. It was over now. They finally defeated the Lord Protector and prevented the royal family from being annihted. He felt sorry for the crying Henry II, and there were still many things they had to sort out, but it was finally over. Therefore, Jude moved his body with thest bit of his strength. He halfway crawled as he approached Cordelia. ¡°Kaak¡­urk¡­¡± He somehow turned Cordelia, whose face was buried in the blood she threw up, and settled down next to her as he copsed. Cordelia harshly breathed. So did Jude, and he soon felt it. Cordelia¡¯s approaching hand as she groped the floor, her small hand that was cold and even trembling. Jude reflexively grabbed Cordelia¡¯s hand. He sped her twitching hands, and Cordelia turned her face to the side to see Jude. She didn¡¯t even have the energy to open her mouth, so she just spoke with her eyes. ¡®Jude, Jude.¡¯ ¡®Why, Cordelia.¡¯ ¡®We won.¡¯ At Cordelia¡¯s gaze, Jude smiled and then vomited blood. And it was the same for Cordelia. Like him, she threw up blood and panted. They were aplete mess. Jude waspletely covered in blood. He didn¡¯t have any wounds due to his regenerative ability, but it was not an exaggeration to say that he was bathed in blood. On the other hand, Cordelia looked fine. No, she actually wasn¡¯t. Her whole body was covered with shining sweat, and her cheeks and lips were full of blood. Her hair was soaked in blood and sweat as it stuck to her face and the floor, so she was not in good shape too. And her insides were in a more serious condition. Her limbs kept shaking. Her body temperature continued to drop, and even though she held Jude¡¯s hands, her senses became dull so she couldn¡¯t feel Jude¡¯s warmth. But Cordeliaughed. And so did Jude. Although both of them felt pain fromughing and looked like they were about to die, they exchanged nces again. ¡®You¡¯repletely nuts.¡¯ I can¡¯t believe you absorbed the divine power of the divine sword and passed it to me in that way. That wasn¡¯t even a gamble. You were like a sessful suicide bomber who miraculously survived. At Jude¡¯s gaze, Cordelia responded with moist eyes. ¡®So¡­ do you hate it?¡¯ Judeughed again at hearing the words he had always spoken. He felt like his heart was being torn because of hisughing, but he did not look away from Cordelia. ¡®Ipletely like it.¡¯ ¡®Me too.¡¯ Cordelia giggled and sent him ast nce before she closed her eyes, and Jude followed her. The two fell into a deep sleep while next to each other. Chapter 196 - ROYAL CAPITAL (1)

Chapter 196 - ROYAL CAPITAL (1)

Terms used in this chapter: Spartoi?¨C In Greek mythology, they are mythical beings who sprang up from a dragon¡¯s teeth. Koros¡¯ chest split. The long diagonal sh broke his corbone as ck blood gushed out. His muscles were as hard as armor, but this was the sword of Seryu, the Seven-Killings Sword. Her silver sword that resembled the subtle moonlight was sharp enough to cut Koros¡¯ body. But when his ck blood spurted, Seryu also coughed blood. She was pushed back and staggered. ¡°Kaaahk.¡± It was not an illusion that Seryu¡¯s sword cut Koros¡¯ body. It was definitely real. But it was also true that Koros¡¯ fist hit Seryu. ¡°Kuuhhk.¡± As soon as the silver sword shed his chest, Koros moved forward instead of stepping back. Seryu¡¯s sword cut through his vicle and he stretched out his fist at that time. He didn¡¯t do it with thought. Koros¡¯ instinct, which could be called a reckless move in itself, reacted to it. And its effect was enough. He struck his opponent in the same way with his powerful strength, but the power of their attacks differed. After all, their physique, weight, and race differed. Koros was a giant over 3 meters, so his fist was almost as big as Seryu¡¯s upper body. Despite the fact that she reduced the strength of the attack by moving her body backwards at the moment of the attack, the blow she received was enormous. ¡°Kaakh¡­kuuhk¡­¡± Seryu threw up again and stumbled while Koros gritted his teeth and red at her. It seemed like he could crush the small and slender Seryu if he hit her with more blows, but he couldn¡¯t do it anymore. It was also impossible for him to pull out here and head for Saluzia. Because of the distance. Seryu staggered and threw up blood, and she looked to be in danger of copsing at any moment, but she was still able to wield her sword. Koros himself was within Seryu¡¯s striking distance. ¡®As expected of a great swordmaster.¡¯ One of the Ten Great Swordmasters that the S?len Kingdom was proud of. Koros himself had been weakened by his chest injury. It was clear to him that if he charged here, his speed and power in dealing blows would be less than before. He had suffered that much. His barrage of attacks that blocked Seryu¡¯s attacks was no longer possible. ¡®I don¡¯t have to hurry.¡¯ Seryu was desperately adjusting her breathing, but her recovery was slow. After all, she was a human. Her vomiting blood could only mean that her gut was damaged, so it was natural that she wouldn¡¯t be able to easily recover. On the other hand, the injury on Koros¡¯ chest was healing, albeit slow. Because he was demonic human who united with a demon. Koros had a strong regenerative ability that could not even bepared to a human¡¯s natural healing ability. So he just needed to take his time. Until he had fully recovered. Until Koros himself recovered, he just had to idle away and endure Seryu¡¯s attack for the time being. But Koros didn¡¯t do that. No, he couldn¡¯t do that.¡¯ ¡®Sannie.¡¯ Saluzia. The northwest sky was turning green. The terrifying mana of death had been released. He had to hurry. He shouldn¡¯t drag this fight any longer. ¡°Come.¡± Koros spoke in deration, but Seryu said nothing. Because she was only focused on fighting Koros from the very beginning of their fight. ¡°Haa.¡± Seryu let out her breath. She adjusted her breathing and controlled her body with her strong will. Lowering her body a bit, she strengthened the grip on her sword. And at some point. Bang! Koros kicked the ground. Confronting such a charging giant seemed to be reckless. But Seryu did not back down. She saw Koros pull his fist, so she held her breath and kicked the ground at the same time. A fist and a sword. A demonic human and a great swordmaster shed. *** Saluzia knew the five heroes of the Paragon Kingdom. They were truly like mythical beings. ¡®The ones who defeated the Demon Prince.¡¯ Even among the demons that possessed a title, the great demons were one of the best and ranked just below the overlords of hell. The gap between a demon prince and a human was truly enormous. It was no exaggeration to say that humans were just squirming bugs whenpared to them. But Paragon¡¯s heroes defeated the Demon Prince with their human bodies. They were not disheartened. They fought in the realm of the Demon Prince. They fought not only the Demon Prince but also the Demon Prince¡¯s army, and they eventually defeated the Demon Prince. Iron Man Landius. Ghostde Kamael. Holy Angel Lena. These three defeated the Demon Prince. It was the result of miracle after miracle, but they defeated the Demon Prince who had used up all his power in just fighting the three. And the other two. Necromancer Velkian and Druid Fran. They stopped the Demon Prince¡¯s army. They made time for the three people to defeat the Demon Prince. How did they do it? How did they make it possible? Saluzia got to know. She came to witness firsthand the correct answers to some of the questions she had. ¡°Come forth, my legion.¡± Green mana covered the sky. When Velkian on his Phantom Steed stretched out his hand towards the ground, ghostly wails reverberated and spread out. ¡°Kiaaaaaa-!¡± Ghosts were summoned from the green sky. They cried and began to take shape, instantly covering the walls of the city. And then it rained fire. Meteors covered in green mes showered down from the green sky, attacking Saluzia¡¯s troops. Boom! Boom! Boom! It wasn¡¯t just an attack. The green meteors that struck the ground stood up and took the shape of giants. Over ten giant golems stood up and roared. And one more was added to this. It clearly revealed Velkian¡¯s personality, who did not hesitate to use his full strength. ¡°Come forth.¡± Velkian made a gesture. He recited the spell which twisted the world around it. His strongest familiar descended on the ground. Kuoooooooo-! The space was torn. Green mes greatly rose from the ground, and ¡®that¡¯ showed up during that time. Death Knight. No, something more than that. The greatest masterpiece created by Necromancer Velkian. As soon as it appeared, it shook the world. The heavens and earth trembled. The green mes scattered roughly, making the ck existence stand out even more. Knight Lord. The ruler of knights. Green eyes shed from within its ck armor. It stared at Saluzia as it rode on top of a huge Phantom Steed. And powerful beings appeared beside such a lord. Spartoi. Elite knights made from the teeth of the ck dragon Tarasque. Saluzia breathed heavily as an army was summoned right before her eyes. She reflexively recalled Velkian¡¯s other name. One Man Army. A person who always moved alone, but could summon thousands of troops anytime and anywhere. ¡°Go.¡± Velkian firmly ordered. And the sky copsed at that moment. It could only be described as such as the sight of thousands of ghosts rushed down the capital¡¯s walls. The wail of ghosts filled the sky. The green golems swept the ground. ¡°Kiaaaaaaaaaa-!¡± The ghostly wails erased all sound. Thus, the harrowing screams of the demon followers were not heard. In the silence created by the overwhelming noise, the demon followers could not even leave theirst death throes. And at that moment, the Knight Lord dashed forward. Death knights made up of Spartoi followed such a lord. There was no sound again this time. But their presence alone was enough to shake the world. ¡°Aaaaah!¡± Saluzia frantically shouted. She roared and spread out all her four wings, and the Knight Lord¡¯s green eyes shed underneath its ck armor. It swung its huge ck sword. Bang! Boom! Bang! Thunder burst. The Knight Lord¡¯s sword and Saluzia¡¯s wings collided several times, and the demonic humans and Spartoi shed. And Saluzia thought. She had to run away. She had to get out of here. Necromancer Velkian was truly the worst opponent. In a sense, he was worse than Landius or Kamael. ¡®Konny!¡¯ It was too much for her alone. She could somehow deal with the Knight Lord, but if something else was added to this, Saluzia wouldn¡¯t be able to hold her ground no matter how powerful she was. She had to run away while the mid-ranking demonic humans under hermand were blocking the Spartoi. ¡°Aaaaaah!¡± Saluzia deliberately made her power runaway. She freed the demonic powers that she had held back ever since she became a demonic human. Thus, she became one step closer to being a demon. Naturally, she had to pay a price. The pain of tearing up her soul was not a big deal for her. ¡®Saluzia.¡¯ The devil¡¯s voice. It was an illusion. The devil had long been united with Saluzia herself. But Saluzia knew. The closer she turn into a demon, the closer she would lose her own self. She had already lost some of it when she became a demonic human, so she knew that she would lose more if she continued. But now wasn¡¯t the time to hesitate. She needed a stronger power in order to get out of her current situation. ¡°Aaaaaaah!¡± New wings sprouted behind Saluzia¡¯s back. The two pairs of wings became four pairs now, and Saluzia attacked the Knight Lord by wielding her newly sprouted wings. Right after her opponent withdrew, she pped her wings again to shake off the magic of death that had attacked her. ¡°Keuaaa!¡± Velkian clenched his teeth at the bacsh of his mana. The Knight Lord rushed towards Saluzia again, but it was already after Saluzia had pped her wings again. ¡°Kill the humans!¡± Saluziamanded. And at thatmand, the demon followers lost their minds. Instead of fighting the ghosts in fear, they madly attacked the remaining Royal Guards and Royal Guard Magic Corps. ¡°You b*tch!¡± Velkian angrily shouted. But Saluzia smiled. Because she knew well what kind of people the five heroes of the Paragon Kingdom were. ¡°Hahahahaha!¡± Saluzia¡¯s pping wings became huge des of magic and struck the survivors. The Knight Lord protected them by swinging his ck sword, and Saluzia escaped at that gap. She soared high into the skies of the royal capital. Velkian saw her, but he couldn¡¯t immediately chase after her. Because he had to control the ghosts. ¡°Destroy the demon followers!¡± Velkian suppressed his anger and shouted, and the ghosts protected the survivors by attacking the demon followers abandoned by Saluzia. Velkian closed his eyes and felt the flow of magic. A huge sh of power was taking ce in the royal pce. He could also feel the power of a strong demonic human in the south gate. And all over the royal capital. People were scared. The zombies that were neither dead nor alive were running wild and spreading death. He had to hurry. This wasn¡¯t the time to chase after a demonic human who had run away. Velkian slowly picked his breath. His drew closer his consciousness that had been focused on a far ce. The survivors. There weren¡¯t that many. But he couldn¡¯t abandon them. ¡°.¡± He spoke and let out his power. As he released the Life magic, rain with the power of recovery poured down from the sky. But it wasn¡¯t absolute. It only brought a peaceful death to those who were already on the verge of death, and a faster recovery for those who would survive. It was just a little help. It was not a miracle. So Velkian decided. ¡°Kuoo-¡± His Phantom Steed cried low and headed to the ground. Two people were lying down near where Saluzia stood. They were very strong for their age. The woman¡¯s condition gradually improved because of the , but the man showed no response. Because he was on the verge of death. Velkian thought. It was possible to save the man. But he had to spend a considerable amount of time in order to help the man survive. ¡®I don¡¯t have time for that.¡¯ The time he could spare the man was only ten seconds or so. He couldn¡¯t save the man if it exceeded that time, and he couldn¡¯t help it. Because once his ghost legion killed the nearby demon followers, they had to move to the center of the royal capital and save as many people as possible. ¡®So I¡¯ll leave it to yourself.¡¯ Velkian opened the pocket on his waist and took out a pill the size of his finger. He infused a bit of his mana into the silver pill reminiscent of the subtle moonlight, and opened the mouth of the man ¨C Ga?l. ¡®The Essence of the Silver Moon.¡¯ It was an item he received from Druid Fran. ¡®If you endure it, you¡¯ll survive.¡¯ It would not just help him regain his past strength, but would also let him be reborn as a more powerful being. But it wasn¡¯t easy. ording to Fran, the chances were one in a hundred. The man in front of Velkian seemed like someone who had considerable training, so he thought that the man¡¯s chances to survive were higher. ¡®I wouldn¡¯t normally use it but¡­¡¯ The probability of survival was so low that it was a drug he never thought of using. What he received from Fran was reserved for another purpose and not for first aid. But right now, he couldn¡¯t do anything else except this. ¡®And¡­¡¯ He somehow felt it. Fran would have said that it was fate. The Essence of the Silver Moon was only avable once a month, on the day when Selene and Helene¡¯s powers were at its peak. But today was that day, so perhaps it was really fate at work. ¡®If, if you really survive¡­¡¯ Velkian let go of his thoughts. He pushed the Essence of the Silver Moon into Ga?l¡¯s mouth and stood up right away. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± He had used up the time he spared for Ga?l. Once he rode on the Phantom Steed again, Velkian headed for the center of the royal capital with his ghost legion. And time passed. The that poured down from the sky lessened, and the ghostly wails of the ghost legion faded away. A low groan leaked out of Adelia¡¯s mouth. Although she had yet to regain her consciousness, her breathing gradually stabilized. And next to Adelia, Ga?l still didn¡¯t move. His body was still cold. But at some point. It was the time when the barrier covering the royal capital suddenly weakened. Ripples began deep inside Ga?l¡¯s soul. Chapter 197 - ROYAL CAPITAL (2)

Chapter 197 - ROYAL CAPITAL (2)

¡°Hahahahaha!¡± First Sword burst outughing. Because he couldn¡¯t control his current emotions with just smiling. It¡¯s fun. This is so fun. I¡¯m so happy that it¡¯s driving me crazy. I like the sword. I like swordsmanship. I like it since I was born with a talent for the sword, and I like it when I swing a sword. Swordsmanship. It¡¯s pleasant. It¡¯s interesting. Having beautiful women are nice, and eating delicious food is good, but the sword is still the best. There¡¯s nothing better in this world than the sword. ¡°Hahaha!¡± He fully swung his sword to his heart¡¯s content. It was different from honing his skills against wooden dummies. It was also different from swinging his sword while imagining a fictitious enemy that did not exist. He had an opponent. That person couldn¡¯t let his guard down too. That person was also risking his life! ngngngngng-! Strike followed after strike. The sharp trail of light split the air again and again. It was so fast that the light seemed to be naturally connected. The strikes of his sword of lightbined as if it was all swung at the same time, bing a that covered the front. Shwaaaaa-! A violent wind blew. The strong wind that rose from the sword attacks twisted the air and distorted the of light. The violent sword attacks that unfolded in session broke the light. Shwapak! But it couldn¡¯t get rid of it all. No, at the exact moment one was destroyed, a new light reced it. The Sword of Light. A dazzlingly fast and quick sword. ngngngngng-! It shed in front of him. The sharp sword became faster and faster. He couldn¡¯t stop it. So Count Bayer became the wind. He left himself to the flow of the rushing sword and the wind that it split. Shwapak! Blood sttered. He received a big cut on his side. But it was not a fatal wound. Count Bayer used his aura to stop the bleeding and kicked the ground at the same time. He showed off the core of his gale-like footwork technique with his strong footsteps. He fiercely used his Sword of Wind. Fangs of the Fiercely Thrashing Wind. The fangs of the wind that thrashed and blocked everything! Babababang! It broke and crushed everything. His swirling sword destroyed the floor and ceiling. His raging wind tore the air. The fierce charge. First Sword knew that he couldn¡¯t easily stop it. But he didn¡¯t think of avoiding it either. He dashed towards it. He faced it head-on and vied for supremacy. ¡°Uooo!¡± The Sword School¡¯s First Sword. He unfolded his wings of light. Heavenly Wings of Light! White light burst all over First Sword¡¯s body. As he dashed, the tip of his sword seemed to split and scatter, spreading out like wings of light. Fangs of the Fiercely Thrashing Wind versus Heavenly Wings of Light. The Sword of Wind and the Sword of Light. The green wind and white light collided. It exploded when it entangled with each other and the shockwave alone almost destroyed everything nearby. Boooooom-! The pirs copsed. The walls broke. The ss windows nearby were all shattered, and the ceiling and floor where the collision took ce were deeply dug out. No, it was pretty much gone. And in that intense sh, their swords interlocked with each other again. First Sword saw Count Bayer over his sword. Count Bayer also saw First Sword. First Swordughed. He shouted with a face as if he had tasted the most pleasurable thing in life. ¡°You¡¯re amazing!¡± Sword General. The Sword Saint of Wind. ¡°Why did you return it? You deserve the title of Sword Saint!¡± There were four sword saints in the S?len Kingdom. As seen through First Sword¡¯s eyes, Count Bayer¡¯s skills were considerable. He was by no means unqualified of the title of Sword Saint. ¡°Was it so shocking to be defeated by the Sword God?! How strong was the Sword God¡¯s sword?!¡± The empire¡¯s best swordsman. The continent¡¯s strongest swordsman who was called the Sword God. There were many rumors that it was an informal confrontation or that them confronting each other was a false rumor in itself, but First Sword knew. The fact that when Count Bayer was still called the Sword Saint of Wind, he hadpeted with the Sword God in person. Count Bayer did not answer. He just focused more and more. It was regretful, but he had to admit it. First Sword was a genius. It was not an exaggeration to say that First Sword¡¯s skills reached the sky. ¡®I¡¯m being pushed back.¡¯ First Sword¡¯s sword was faster. Unlike him who was already doing his best, First Sword was stronger, and he was someone who would keep getting stronger from now on. But even if was. Count Bayer¡¯s sword shook once more. It became a violent gale that did not know how to retreat. Far from surrendering or getting discouraged, he swung it more wildly. ¡®Sword God.¡¯ It had already been close to ten years. But he could still remember it clearly. That sword. The Sword of Sky that the other wielded. He couldn¡¯t reach it. The wild gale couldn¡¯t cross the sky. But if it was now. He could do it at least once! ngngngngng-! First Sword got goosebumps as he faced Count Bayer¡¯s continuous sword attacks. ¡®It¡¯sing.¡¯ Something big. An attack different from before. His heart pounded. He felt like his breathing became rough. He wanted to see. He wanted to fight it. And he wanted to break it. The sword attack of Count Bayer. The strongest one that the Sword of Wind would unfold to reach the sky! But it was at that moment. Apart from the excitement he felt that was in front of him, First Sword felt something go up his spine. His senses that had only been focused on the Sword of Wind then expanded, and a bitter smile spread on his face. ¡®How surprising.¡¯ How did this happen? The Lord Protector died. That unpleasant energy, the barrier¡¯s energy that always covered the royal capital, was weakened for a moment, so I thought that he was doing well, but I was wrong. ¡®Is it time to retreat now?¡¯ Because he only focused on Count Bayer, he suddenly felt all the things he couldn¡¯t feel before. It wasing. Another strong person. But not a swordsman. Count Chase. A mighty wizard called the Red Storm. It would be too much for him to fight Count Chase while he was fighting the Sword Saint of Wind. He thought it to be such a shame and really regrettable, to the point that he felt like going crazy from the thought of it, but it was time for him to step back. Booooom! The wall was destroyed. Dirt rose, and at the same time, a powerful wave of mana swept through the ce. Count Chase. And Count Bayer in front of him. Count Bayer was on the verge of pulling his best move. That was why First Sword decided to move one step ahead of him. As the Sword Saint of Light, he unfolded the fastest sword in the S?len Kingdom. A sword attack. The nameless attack barely hit Count Bayer. First Sword shifted his body at that moment and swung his sword again. Rays of Sunlight Strike. Hundreds to thousands rays of light that covered the world. First Sword¡¯s white sword aura split into hundreds of pieces and scattered. It spread out in an instant, covering the entire room and shining an immense light, erasing First Sword and everyone else in the room with its light. A technique for attacking multiple enemies and not a technique for a fatal strike. But it had a different use now. To fool Count Bayer and Count Chase¡¯s eyes. So that First Sword could create an opportunity to retreat! Baaang! A roar burst at that moment. And then it struck. Gale Specter Strike. The green sword of wind devoured all the scattered swords of light. The light that filled the room was eliminated. ¡°Alex!¡± Count Bayer let out his breath when he heard someone call him amidst the roars that burst out in session. The swords of light disappeared. And First Sword was no longer in front of him. ¡°Wasn¡¯t that First Sword?!¡± Count Bayer slowly nodded as he looked at Count Chase who had run in a hurry. ¡°The Lord Protector and First Sword are traitors.¡± ¡°What?!¡± His surprise was brief. Anger then spread over Count Chase¡¯s face. ¡°I¡¯ll rip them to pieces.¡± More than a dozen people died in tonight¡¯s incident at the grand banquet hall alone. If he extended the scope to the entire royal capital, he couldn¡¯t even guess how many people had died or were injured. ¡°Arthur.¡± So Count Bayer pacified Count Chase. He sheathed his sword and spoke as he roughly breathed. ¡°We have to go our children.¡± There was still the Lord Protector. Considering the situation, he was most likely to be attacking the royalty now. Jude and Cordelia. Perhaps the two were stopping the Lord Protector. So they had to hurry. Even though the Lord Protector was weaker now, he was still one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. Their children couldn¡¯t be on par with him even if they were strong. That was why they had to go. ¡°Okay.¡± The two had stood back to back several times on the battlefield. Upon hearing the words of Count Bayer, Count Chase held back his anger and lifted the magic device he had received from Jude. After determining the exact location, he immediately began moving. ¡°Haa.¡± Count Bayer took a breath. As a result of his continuous sword attacks, he felt like his heart would burst, but he had no time to rest. He deeply breathed to stop his swelling discontent and immediately kicked the ground again. Towards the center of the pce. They flew towards the core of the barrier¡¯s room. *** ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­¡± Scarlet harshly breathed as she sat down on the ground. Her shoulders as well as her hand that held the whip sword were trembling. It was the side effect of using too much of her sword aura. ¡°Haa¡­¡± Breathing was so hard that she was in tears. Therefore, Scarlet didn¡¯t force herself anymore. She lied down on the ground and even set aside her whip sword. ¡°Haa¡­¡± She didn¡¯t think of anything. She just closed her eyes and panted. She waspletely defenseless. But Scarlet didn¡¯t mind. Scarlet wasn¡¯t the only person here now. Unlike her who was sweating and panting, there was a monster of the sword who stood without a drop of sweat in him. Maximilian de Avis. A man called ¡®god¡¯s mistake.¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s true.¡¯ She didn¡¯t believe those rumors that she had heard, but she could say that it was true now. ¡®God¡¯s mistake.¡¯ A monster who was born with all kinds of talent and couldn¡¯t even be imagined as a human being too. He approached Scarlet. As her hair dripped with sweat and she roughly breathed, Scarlet forcibly opened her eyes to see Maximilian. She was out of breath, but she tried to talk and let out a word. ¡°Thanks¡­¡± First of all, she was of the same age as Maximilian. And she found it hard to breathe so she couldn¡¯t even speak to him in formal speech. At Scarlet¡¯s gratitude, Maximilian just nodded his head and then looked around. After checking the bodies of the hundreds of zombies and the people who were crouching and trembling in fear in the alley¡¯s dead end, he looked at Scarlet again. ¡°You¡¯re a good person.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°You¡¯re a good person.¡± Maximilian faintly smiled, and Scarlet felt her face blush. As expected of god¡¯s mistake. He was needlessly handsome. In addition, when a guy who was usually expressionless smiled, there was a considerable charm that came from that gap. ¡®Don¡¯t be fooled by his face. That Jude is handsome too, but isn¡¯t he a cunning fox?¡¯ Because there really are a few guys like Lucas whose inside and outside appearances are the same. Come to think of it, how is Lucas? Is Pink Bomb okay? Scarlet¡¯s face became anxious, but Maximilian didn¡¯t see it. Because he had turned his head to see the western sky turning green. ¡®Death magic.¡¯ At present, there was only one person on the continent who could let out such a powerful death magic. Therefore, Maximilian sheathed his sword. Instead of staying longer, he quickened his steps and looked back at Scarlet. ¡°I think you already know, but my name is Maximilian de Avis. May I know your name too?¡± ¡°Scar¡­let.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a pretty name. It suits you.¡± It wasn¡¯t some words he made up. So Scarlet had no choice but to blush when she saw Maximilian¡¯s faint smile. ¡°Scarlet, I have to go now. The zombies around here have been wiped out¡­ And it seems that the situation here is about to end, so there won¡¯t be much danger. Let¡¯s meet again if we have a chance someday.¡± ¡°W-wait¡­¡± Scarlet had nothing more to say, but she thought that he shouldn¡¯t just go like this, so she tried to say something, but Maximilian had already turned around. He headed west, and Scarlet chose to just close her eyes instead of forcing herself to raise her upper body. ¡®Pink Bomb.¡¯ Don¡¯t get hurt and be safe. Scarlet recalled Cordelia¡¯s face before she let go of her consciousness. *** The chaos in the royal capital gradually settled. The mes were still there, but the zombification that spread like wildfire was over. The Royal Guards reorganized theirmand system and began to overwhelm the zombies and demon followers, and the royal capital also regained its order due to the activities of the Royal Guard Knights. ¡°As expected of the royal capital.¡± It was the capital of the S?len Kingdom, one of the greatest powers in the continent. It was greatly shaken, but it seemed to be impossible topletely destroy it. With his hand on his sword, First Sword gazed at the royal capital before turning to the side. He saw Koros sitting on the ground and Saluzia treating him. ¡°You failed.¡± The Lord Protector couldn¡¯t destroy the barrier. Koros and Saluzia¡¯s ns to open the Hell Gate in the royal capital when the barrier had been destroyed had also failed. At First Sword¡¯sment, Saluzia grit her teeth. She wanted to tell him to shut up, but she held it in. It was useless. ¡®It¡¯s over.¡¯ They dealt quite a big blow to the royal capital, but that was it. Rather, the damaged suffered by the Devil¡¯s Hand was greater. Saluzia herself and Koros lost almost all of theirbat troops, and they also lost their powerful card called the Lord Protector. ¡°My identity was also revealed.¡± The Sword School¡¯s First Sword. The Sword Saint of Light, Rhun Froud. He was unable to remain in the Sword School because his identity was revealed. They really failed. It was fortunate that Saluzia herself and Koros had managed to save their lives. ¡°Well, there¡¯s nothing we can do about it.¡± With a bright smile, First Sword approached Saluzia and Koros. Saluzia sharpened her senses as she instantly became alert, but it was only for a moment. Because First Sword just passed by Saluzia and Koros. ¡°Saluzia.¡± With his back facing her, First Sword said in a low voice, and Saluzia raised her head to see him. First Sword shrugged once and continued while he still showed his back. ¡°I¡¯ve already said it, but my identity has been revealed. I can no longer use the name First Sword. So¡­in the future, I think I¡¯ll be using my true name from now on.¡± Saluzia understood what First Sword was talking about. As he had said, he could no longer live as First Sword. He had joined the Devil¡¯s Hand in order to live his life as a demonic human now. And his new name. A name given to him by their head, which had already been decided a long time ago. ¡°Duke.¡± At Saluzia¡¯s call, First Sword had a smallugh. He turned around and gazed at the royal capital again. The Sword Saint of Wind was there. The two people he liked so much was there too. ¡®If the Lord Protector died, it means that that two lived.¡¯ He was one of the Ten Great Swordmasters who had grown old and weak. How did they defeat such a Lord Protector? How much stronger would the two who defeated the Lord Protector be in the future? His heart pounded. He remembered his fight with Count Bayer and unknowingly smiled. ¡®Not bad.¡¯ Since he was an enemy now. Because he could kill and kill as much as he wanted. It wasn¡¯t just the Sword Saint of Wind. He had always wanted to fight against Seryu, the Seven-Killings Sword. And the Golden Sword, who was said to be the strongest among the sword saints. Even the great swordmasters of the empire. And those two. Jude and Cordelia. He liked those two so much that he wanted to break them himself. First Sword, or rather, Duke,ughed out loud. He smiled in anticipation of his reunion with everyone. Chapter 198 - MERIT CEREMONY (1)

Chapter 198 - MERIT CEREMONY (1)

¡°Ah.¡± She slowly opened her eyes and let out a nk voice. Because she was actually in a stupor. ¡°¡­lia¡­?¡± She heard a voice in her ear, but she couldn¡¯t understand it properly because her head was in a daze. As her blurred vision gradually turned clear, Cordelia blinked a few more times. ¡°¡­ss?¡± The voice became more audible. At the same time, Cordelia felt thirsty. Her mouth was dry, and it was difficult to swallow her saliva. ¡°Haa.¡± She let out her breath after she groaned. Her vision still felt cloudy, but she could somehow see ahead of her. An unfamiliar ceiling. But it wasn¡¯tpletely unfamiliar. She felt like she had seen something simr to it. The ceiling had a shy and luxurious feeling. Where did I see it? Duke Spencer¡¯s mansion? My room in the royal pce? ¡°Miss! Can you hear me?!¡± The voice. Cordelia shifted her blue eyes and saw. The teary-eyed Dahlia was beside her. ¡°Dahlia¡­?¡± As soon as she spoke while struggling a bit with her pronunciation, a response came back. ¡°Yes, Miss. It¡¯s me. It¡¯s Dahlia. Are you awake? Are you okay?¡± Cordelia nodded a few times at the other¡¯s fervent response. Frankly, she was still in a daze and didn¡¯t know what was happening, but she didn¡¯t want to worry Dahlia. ¡°Wate¡­¡± ¡°Water? Please wait, Miss. I¡¯ll give it to you right away.¡± Dahlia immediately answered at the words she mumbled, and after raising Cordelia¡¯s upper body halfway up, she grabbed a cup with her empty hand. ¡°Here it is, Miss. Slowly. Slowly.¡± Cordelia still had a nk face because she didn¡¯t have much strength in her body, so Dahlia brought the cup to Cordelia¡¯s lips and tilted it slowly, and Cordelia closed her eyes and drank the water like a baby. Slowly but steadily. ¡°Fuuaa.¡± After drinking all the water, Cordelia opened her eyes again. Although she was stillcking in energy, she felt a bit refreshed when she moistened her dry throat. ¡°Ah¡­uh¡­¡± ¡°Are you feeling better now?¡± ¡°Yes¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯lly you down again. Slowly.¡± Dahlia gently whispered andid Cordelia down very carefully, and Cordelia opened her lips after closing her eyes tightly. ¡°Ah.¡± Aaaaah. Huuu. She felt like the water she had just drank was circting in her body. Her blurred vision finally became clear. ¡°Dah¡­lia?¡± ¡°Yes, Miss. It¡¯s Dahlia.¡± Dahlia grabbed Cordelia¡¯s hand and smiled with a tearful face. Since she was a knight, Dahlia¡¯s hands were rough but warm. Cordelia somehow felt better and grinned, and she soon realized. Dahlia¡¯s hand. What about Jude¡¯s hand then? ¡°Jude?!¡± Cordelia became conscious and shouted, sitting up and reflexively raising her right hand. Her hand had always held Jude¡¯s hand, but it was alone now. ¡°Jude.¡± She remembered it. She recalled it. Thest situation before she lost consciousness. After all sorts of hardships, they defeated the Lord Protector and then she talked with Jude with their eyes. They threw up blood and fell into a deep sleep while holding each other¡¯s hands. And now. She didn¡¯t see Jude. That fact made Cordelia very worried. ¡°What about Jude? Where is Jude? Is Jude okay?¡± As she poured out words and tried to get out of the bed, Dahlia hurriedly stretched her hands and pressed on Cordelia¡¯s shoulders. She said as she softly smiled to reassure her. ¡°Lord Jude is okay too. He¡¯s resting in another room now.¡± ¡°Another room?¡± ¡°Yes, another room. Please don¡¯t worry since Maja is taking care of him.¡± ¡°Maja.¡± Jude¡¯s exclusive maid. A person who was not just a servant for Jude, but was like a real sister to him. ¡°Haa.¡± Cordelia let out her breath, and Dahlia asked as she carefullyid her down again. ¡°Have you calmed down?¡± ¡°Eh? Yes. Uh-huh.¡± From her answer, it seemed like she had not yetpletely calmed down, but Dahlia was satisfied for now. She held Cordelia¡¯s hand and continued. ¡°He¡¯s really okay. So please don¡¯t worry.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Because Dahlia never lied. Moreover, Jude had absorbed the Sphere of Life and boasted about it whenever he had a chance. He was a guy with a regenerative ability that was better than Cordelia¡¯s, so he should be fine and not in poor health. ¡°Haa.¡± That¡¯s a relief. I¡¯m really, really d. Cordelia sighed in relief again before she turned her eyes and looked at Dahlia. ¡°Is Dahlia okay?¡± ¡°Me?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Dahlia was also in the grand banquet hall. ¡°I¡¯m okay. Count Chase protected everyone.¡± ¡°Father?¡± ¡°Yes, not only did he support with his magic the pce that was destroyed, but he also defeated the zombies and traitors. Without the count, many people would have died or be injured by the copsing pce.¡± At Dahlia¡¯s exnation, Cordelia slightly smiled. Because she was proud of her father. ¡°But you¡¯re not hurt anywhere, right?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m not. So please don¡¯t worry about me.¡± ¡°Okay, I won¡¯t be worried.¡± When Cordelia faintly smiled, Dahlia also brightly smiled. ¡°By the way, Dahlia.¡± ¡°Yes, Miss.¡± ¡°How long have I been asleep?¡± ¡°Two full days.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± Cordelia was surprised and unconsciously asked again. Two days? Not half a day or a day, but two days? ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve been worried about you not waking up for two days. Everyone around me said that it was fine because you were so tired that you fell into a deep sleep, but¡­ But it¡¯s not normal to sleep for two days straight.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± Cordelia nodded her head and looked back at herself. She was wearing a white and loose dress that seemedfortable and resembled a patient¡¯s clothing. ¡°Let me check for a moment.¡± Cordelia briefly said and closed her eyes, checking out her body¡¯s condition. By lightly circting her mana, she was able to know her condition. ¡®My mana has been exhausted.¡¯ Perhaps when she released thatst divine lightning, all the mana in her body was released too. Add to that was her physical fatigue, so it was understandable for her to sleep for two days. ¡°Are you all right?¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine now.¡± It wouldn¡¯t originally take two days of sleep to recover her depleted mana, but it seemed to have somehow recovered due to the increase in her angel rank. ¡°Dahlia, what about the others?¡± She was not only worried about Jude. There were a lot of people she was worried about too. To the extent that she didn¡¯t know who she should ask about first. At Cordelia¡¯s somewhat awkward question, Dahlia replied with a smile. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you about the royal family first.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± They were the most important people in this fight. ¡°His Majesty The King and the three queens are all safe. Crown Princess Daphne, Prince Dion, and Princess Darianne are also safe.¡± Cordelia breathed in relief at Dahlia¡¯s statement. In fact, she wanted to slightly question if Crown Princess Daphne was really fine since her right hand was cut off, but it wasn¡¯t life-threatening anyway, so it was good news to her. ¡®She¡¯s royalty, so she can have it reattached with healing magic.¡¯ Her severed hand was surely at the scene. ¡°What about?father? I mean,?my father.¡± Instead of immediately answering Cordelia¡¯s question, Dahliaughed ¡®Ufufu¡¯ before she furtively smiled and teased her. ¡°Miss,?your?father? Or?his father?¡± ¡°F-father is father, whyyy?¡± Dahlia giggled as Cordelia responded with a slight blush on her face. T/N: The father part here is a wordy in the formal and informal ways of calling your dad in Korean. ¡®Abeoji¡¯ is the informal/casual way of calling your own dad. ¡®Abeonim¡¯ is the formal way of calling your own dad, but it is also used to refer to a friend or someone else¡¯s dad. So when Cordelia asked, ¡®what about father?¡¯, she used the formal ¡®abeonim¡¯ but corrected itter to the informal ¡®abeoji¡¯, which is ¡®my father¡¯ because she was only referring to her own father. But Dahlia teasingly asked Cordelia if she was referring to Jude¡¯s dad (because ¡®abeonim¡¯ could be used to refer to someone else¡¯s dad or your father-inw) or her own father (Count Chase). Dahlia used both ¡®abeonim¡¯ in her question of ¡®your father or his father¡¯. Dahlia was subtly teasing Cordelia if she was only interested in Jude¡¯s father because of Jude, even though Dahlia knew that Cordelia was only referring to her own father. Cordelia replied that she was only interested in her own father, but that blush on her face hinted that she understood what Dahlia was teasing her about. ¡°Miss.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Can I pinch your cheek? You¡¯re so cute that I want to pinch it.¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Why? Because it belongs to Lord Jude?¡± ¡°Yes- NO! Why are you mentioning Jude!¡± ¡°You asked about his father, right? And you unconsciously answered ¡®yes,¡¯ right?¡± ¡°No, I did not, okay? My cheeks are mine, okay? It doesn¡¯t belong to Jude, okay?¡± ¡°Then, can I pinch it?¡± ¡°No! Why aren¡¯t you listening to me!¡± As Cordelia became annoyed, Dahlia chuckled again. ¡°Miss is so cute.¡± ¡°Dahlia is not cute at all.¡± ¡°Really? Is that really true?¡± ¡°Ueueue¡­ Why are you doing this to me? Why?¡± Cordelia asked if she was crying, Dahlia replied with a smile. ¡°Because I like miss so much. Plus, you¡¯re so cute. It¡¯s not my fault but mydy¡¯s fault for being cute, okay? Who said that you can be so cute?¡± ¡°Dahlia has be weird.¡± What¡¯s wrong with you today? When Cordelia was at a loss on what to do, Dahlia giggled for thest time before she corrected her expression. ¡°Anyway, this is enough¡­ let¡¯s go back to the main point. Does miss like me too?¡± ¡°I hate Dahlia.¡± ¡°I like mydy.¡± She had been really worried for the past two days. So she was really happy to see Cordelia open her eyes. Dahlia continued as she stroked Cordelia¡¯s hands. ¡°Both Count Bayer and Count Chase are safe. They both did very well in this incident.¡± Count Bayer defeated First Sword, one of the traitors, and Count Chase saved everyone in the grand banquet hall. A catastrophe would have urred if neither of the two were there. ¡°Haa¡­ That¡¯s a relief.¡± Because her father-inw was safe. She was honestly worried since First Sword was his opponent. ¡°Because Count Bayer is strong. It seems like he wasn¡¯t overwhelmed at all by First Sword¡­ that traitor, I¡¯ll rip him into shreds.¡± Dahlia¡¯s voice was mixed with various emotions. When she talked about Count Bayer, she was proud of him as if he had already be a family member of theirs, and when she talked about First Sword, she revealed her tant hatred for him. ¡®I guess they all know now.¡¯ Two days had already passed. Everyone must have already exchanged information to figure out the full situation. ¡®But it¡¯s kind of¡­ shocking.¡¯ She had never thought that First Sword was a traitor. ¡®I never even imagined it.¡¯ He had always been kind to Jude and Cordelia. Above all, there was no story of a traitor in the game. ¡®But that did not mean there was no traitor.¡¯ First Sword only existed in the background setting, so there were still a lot of things they didn¡¯t know about. ¡®Hmm¡­ If I think about it, he might have faked his death and was not actually killed by one of the 7 major cmities.¡¯ And after that, he might have changed his name to his demonic human name like the other Ten Great Swordmasters who were traitors too. ¡°Haaaa.¡± Either way, it was something unpleasant. Furthermore, when she heard the story from Dahlia, it seemed like First Sword had escaped. ¡°What about unnie? What about brother-inw Ga?l?¡± Instead of answering Cordelia question right away, Dahlia shrank her lips and spoke in a cautious tone. ¡°First of all¡­ Adelia-nim is safe. She was really exhausted, but she wasn¡¯t that hurt.¡± Cordelia was relieved to hear that Adelia was safe, but she did not breathe in relief for now. Because she felt like there was something wrong with Ga?l with the way Dahlia talked. ¡°As for Lord Ga?l¡­ his life is not in danger.¡± ¡°Life¡­?¡± ¡°Yes, he was a bit¡­ he was hurt a lot. He had a lot of injuries all over his body, and he lost his left arm.¡± Cordelia blinked her eyes. Because she could not understand. ¡°Le-left arm?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s impossible to regenerate it¡­ so I think he¡¯ll have to wear a prosthetic arm.¡± His situation was different from Princess Daphne who was able to secure her severed hand and immediately reattach it. To begin with, the severed arm was discovered toote, and the damaged part itself was sorge that reattaching it was impossible. ¡°W-wait a second. Wait. Unnie and brother-inw were outside the royal pce. How would they get hurt in the first ce¡­¡± That was it. Because she realized it while she was talking. ¡°The capital. The royal capital was also attacked.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s words, Dahlia nodded with a troubled expression and spoke again. She told Cordelia about the royal capital that had suffered more damage than the royal pce. ¡°No way.¡± She thought that they had stopped the terror ns of the ck Moon, but she didn¡¯t expect that there would be a bigger incident. ¡®Were we¡­ wrong?¡¯ Should we have just let the ck Moonmit terror? If that happened, the Devil¡¯s Hand wouldn¡¯t have directly attacked the royal capital, right? She was confused. She couldn¡¯te up with an answer at that moment. ¡°There was a lot of damage, but we were able to ovee it. In particr¡­ Velkian, one of the five heroes of the Paragon Kingdom, yed a huge role in that.¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyes widened at Dahlia¡¯s words. Because an unexpected name came up. ¡°Ve-Velkian? Necromancer Velkian?¡± ¡°Yes, Velkian-nim.¡± ¡°Woah.¡± Just as the Devil¡¯s Hand attacking directly was unexpected, Velkian¡¯s assistance was unexpected too. She didn¡¯t expect that the letter they left in the Temple of Life would help them in this way. ¡®W-wait a minute. Is he trying to find Pink Bomb then?¡¯ There was only one reason for Velkian toe to the royal capital in the first ce. ¡®Ugh¡­my head hurts. Still, it was worth it for us to run wild this time.¡¯ They did a lot of things to prevent the genocide of the royal family. Among those were some that were rather harmful, such as the betrayal of First Sword and the direct attack of the Devil¡¯s Hand, but there were some helpful ones too, such as Velkian and the Rogue Master. ¡®In the end¡­ we just have to do our best.¡¯ They didn¡¯t know if the results of their efforts would be good. They were just trying to do everything to get the best results. ¡®Haa¡­ we have a lot of work to do.¡¯ The fight was over, but there were so many things to do, such as the cleanup and so on. ¡®We have to meet Velkian and check on Scarlet too¡­¡¯ Come to think of it, is Lucas okay? It seems that it wasn¡¯t that bad in the grand banquet hall, so he¡¯s probably fine, right? ¡°Miss.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± Cordelia was in the midst of her thoughts, so she raised her head and responded when Dahlia called her and smiled. ¡°Would you like to see Lord Jude?¡± ¡°Jude?¡± ¡°Yes, he¡¯s still asleep, but I think you¡¯ll be very relieved if you see that he¡¯s all right.¡± At Dahlia¡¯s words, Cordelia nodded without realizing it. ¡°Yes, I want to see him.¡± Her answer also came out unconsciously. And in response, Dahlia grinned and stood up. There was quite a lot she wanted to say to tease Cordelia, but she put Cordelia¡¯s wish first for now. ¡°Let us go, Miss. It¡¯s not that far because it¡¯s right next door.¡± She helped Cordelia stand up before taking out arge shawl and cing it on Cordelia¡¯s shoulders. ¡°Well, will this be all right?¡± ¡°Yes, frankly, it¡¯s not a situation where you need to get dressed properly.¡± Cordelia slightly pulled the shawl around her shoulders, and left the room while being supported by Dahlia. Judging from the decor and structure of the hallway, it seemed like they were in the main pce and not a different pce. ¡°This way please.¡± Count Bayer¡¯s knight who was guarding the door opened it right away, and Cordelia entered the room, pressing on her slightly pounding heart. ¡°Mydy.¡± ¡°Maja.¡± It was Maja whose face had be thin from her excessive worry for the past two days. But she smiled as if she was very relieved to see that Cordelia was fine, and she immediately pointed towards Jude. ¡°The young master is all right. He has yet to wake up, but¡­ they said that his life was not in danger.¡± There was an awkwardness in the way she talked, which was unlike the usual Maja who spoke perfectly, but Cordelia didn¡¯t mind it. Without realizing it, she took a step closer to Jude. ¡®You idiot.¡¯ When she saw his face, a curse came to her mind first. She couldn¡¯t help it. She was angry. At the same time, she was very relieved. ¡°Haa¡­¡± Cordelia let out a long breath and plopped down on the side of the bed to look down at Jude. His pale face didn¡¯t look good, but when she saw that his breathing was even, she thought that his life was not in danger. ¡°The count said that he used too much energy, so he is like that now. The count said that he would get up soon since there are no problems with his life.¡± Cordelia nodded at Maja¡¯s exnation. She was at the scene herself, so she knew better than anyone on what happened to Jude and why he wasn¡¯t waking up. ¡®Sixth door¡­¡¯ He didn¡¯t lie down like this simply because of overdoing it. It was the consequence of forcibly opening the door, so he was unable to wake up. ¡®Stupid idiot.¡¯ You always boasted about your physical strength. You always bragged about your Cheonmujiche. Cordelia felt her vision blur again. Without realizing it, tears flowed down along her cheeks. ¡®It¡¯s because of me.¡¯ Cordelia herself was the one who came up with the idea of opening the sixth door. Cordelia herself was the one who pushed Jude into doing it. ¡°I-it¡¯s all right, Miss. He will wake up soon.¡± ¡°Yes, mydy. Count Bayer said the same.¡± As Cordelia shed tears, Dahlia and Maja were flustered and quickly spoke. Instead of answering, Cordelia bit her lips and sniffled, but she soon nodded her head. Because it naturally urred to her what Jude would say if he was awake now and what she would also say to him. ¡°Mydy, aren¡¯t you hungry?¡± ¡°Yes, Miss. You woke up after two days.¡± Maja and Dahlia spoke again when the still sniffling Cordelia looked a bit calm now. And Cordelia realized it. The fact that she was really hungry. Perhaps because she had realized it, she felt so hungry now that her stomach was growling. ¡°Pleasee this way. Since you woke up after two days, I will prepare something soft to eat.¡± Maja smiled and spoke, leading Cordelia to a table before leaving the room, and she soon returned with a few dishes on the tray. Soup, bread, and water mixed with fruit juice. It was a very simple mealpared to the ones she normally ate, but she was drooling because she had an empty stomach. ¡°Please eat.¡± ¡°Thank you for the meal.¡± Cordelia immediately said and lifted her spoon before she looked back at Jude. Because she was worried about Jude who had not yet eaten. ¡®Wake up quickly, okay?¡¯ Let¡¯s go eat something delicious together. After muttering a slightly childish wish, Cordelia focused on eating again. And a few minutes. Around the time when Cordelia emptied the soup and swallowed the juice with a gulp. ¡°Cordelia, so you were here.¡± A handsome man appeared after the door opened. He had a face that resembled Count Chase and Adelia. And Cordelia realized. That she hadpletely forgotten about the man in front of her. ¡°Ah.¡± ¡°Ah?¡± Edward Chase. The eldest son of Count Chase and the older brother of Cordelia herself. He was also at the grand banquet hall and attended the ball, but she somehow forgot about him. ¡°Why does it look like you¡¯re feeling very sorry about something?¡± ¡°N-no, I¡¯m not. Oppa is also fine. Yes, yes. I¡¯m d. Oppa is also safe.¡± As Cordelia quicklyughed ¡®ehehe¡¯ and said, Edward narrowed his eyes in suspicion but fortunately, it was only for a moment. He sat in front of Cordelia who unconsciously began to sweat coldly, and he nced at Jude once before looking at Cordelia again and saying. ¡°First of all, let me say this an older brother who share Count Chase¡¯s blood like you. I¡¯m really d that you woke up fine. I was very worried.¡± ¡°Yes, thank you, oppa.¡± I¡¯m really, really sorry for forgetting about you. Edward narrowed his eyes again when Cordelia awkwardly smiled, but this time, it wasn¡¯t that long. ¡°Next¡­ as a noble of the S?len Kingdom, I would like to express my gratitude. You and Jude saved this country. You really contributed well in this fight.¡± Having said that, Edward bowed his head. ¡°O-oppa?¡± ¡°I¡¯m very proud that you¡¯re my younger sister.¡± At Edward¡¯s words, Cordelia blushed in shyness and joy instead of embarrassment. Because she felt a great sense of satisfaction deep in her heart. We did well this time, just like we did in the wildnds. We did a good job for everyone again this time. ¡°Ehehe.¡± As Cordelia shylyughed, Edward smiled as he found it to be very cute, and he spoke again. ¡°Then let me get straight to the point. Cordelia, I have good news and good news. Which one would you like to hear first?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Good news and good news. You want me to choose from one of those two? Cordelia blinked her eyes and asked, and Edward said again. ¡°There are good news and good news. I¡¯ll leave it to you on which one you would like to hear first.¡± What kind of nonsense is this? Come to think of it, Edward was originally a person like this. ¡°Uh¡­ Then I want to hear the good news first.¡± ¡°Good, that¡¯s an excellent choice.¡± ¡°Oookay.¡± I don¡¯t know in what exactly I chose, but anyway, good news is good news. When Cordelia faintly smiled, Edward got to the point instead of dragging it on. ¡°Ga?l¡¯s condition is rapidly improving. Perhaps he will open his eyes tonight or tomorrow morning at thetest.¡± ¡°Really?!¡± ¡°Yes, really. So don¡¯t worry about it too much. I¡¯ll make him a very cool prosthetic, of course.¡± If Adelia was abat-type wizard, Edward was a research-type wizard who specialized in crafting magic tools. It was reliable if the prosthetic arm was made by Edward and not anybody else. ¡°Haa¡­ that¡¯s a relief.¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s a relief.¡± Edward happily smiled and waited for a while. So that Cordelia could pay her full attention to the second good news. ¡°Are you ready to listen now?¡± ¡°Eh? Yes. I want to hear it.¡± The second good news. As Cordelia brightly smiled and looked excited, Edward suddenly stood up and courteously greeted her. ¡°Edward Chase from the Chase family greets Viscountess Chase.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Cordelia blinked her eyes with a nk face, and she soon stood up from her seat. ¡°Viscountess Chase?¡± ¡°Yes, Viscountess Chase. Because you made a huge contribution. Wouldn¡¯t it be natural for you to raise in rank?¡± He was right. They made a really, really big contribution, so they deserved to have their titles raised. ¡°Wow, viscountess.¡± Viscountess Chase. Not Baroness Chase but viscountess. ¡°Hehehe.¡± Cordelia chuckled with a happy face, and Edward giggled before he slightly raised Cordelia¡¯s hand and touched his lips on the back of her hand. ¡°Countess Chase, Crown Princess Daphne has already given her word that she will be holding the merit ceremony herself.¡± ¡°Is that true?¡± ¡°Yes, indeed.¡± When Edward spoke in a theatrical manner, Cordelia responded as if they were in a y. And a few seconds. Cordelia¡¯s eyes widened and she asked. ¡°W-wait a second. Countess Chase?¡± ¡°Yes, countess. After being promoted from baroness to viscountess, you¡¯ll be promoted to countess again.¡± Because they had all saved the lives of the king, queens, and their children. It was not an exaggeration to say that they were literally heroes who saved the country, so it was natural for them to be promoted to the count rank. ¡°Wow, countess. What about Jude?¡± ¡°Yes, he is Count Bayer.¡± Countess Chase and Count Bayer. A couple who were both counts. ¡°My goodness.¡± Cordelia sat down again and giggled with a face as if she didn¡¯t know if this was a dream or reality, and Edward lightly pinched Cordelia¡¯s cheek then. He was a bit surprised at its softness that Scarlet also liked, and he said. ¡°By the way, Countess Chase.¡± ¡°Yes, Lord Edward Chase.¡± ¡°I have better news.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± You have news better than this? Cordelia widened her eyes in surprise, and Edward smiled like a mischievous kid and drew his face closer. He whispered in a small voice to Cordelia¡¯s ear just like how Jude did. The third good news. Surprise and joy spread on Cordelia¡¯s face at the same time. Chapter 199 - MERIT CEREMONY (2)

Chapter 199 - MERIT CEREMONY (2)

¡°How is it? Is it fine with you?¡± At Princess Daphne¡¯s room. When Prince Dion asked her with a voice mixed with tension, Princess Daphne lightly moved her right hand. After she slowly turned her wrist and folded her fingers one by one, she clenched and opened her fist several times before she held her pen. The pen felt cold and smooth. ¡°It feels a bit different but¡­ I think it¡¯s fine.¡± Prince Dion breathed in relief at the words of Princess Daphne. No, he didn¡¯t just stop at that as he sank to his knees. Because his legs gave out. ¡°Haa¡­ that¡¯s a relief.¡± ¡°Were you that worried?¡± ¡°Should I not worry?¡± Princess Daphne giggled at Prince Dion¡¯s question and put down her pen. She originally wanted to try turning the pen, but she didn¡¯t even try it because she was almost certain what Dion would look like if she failed. ¡®No, perhaps I¡¯ll be able to do it in the future¡­¡¯ Her right hand didn¡¯t have much strength. It seemed like she would have no problems with it in her daily life, but it was questionable if she would be able to hold the sword like before. ¡°Sister?¡± ¡°Uh, yes. I¡¯m okay.¡± Prince Dion¡¯s face became serious again, and his expression stiffened without him realizing it. Therefore, Princess Daphne awkwardly smiled and changed the topic. ¡°How is Darianne?¡± ¡°Darianne?¡± ¡°Yes, was she scared?¡± ¡°Yes, she was very scared. But she wasn¡¯t injured, so there should be no problem.¡± ¡°Mentally?¡± ¡°Well¡­ she actually didn¡¯t see the corpses.¡± Princess Daphne bit her lips at Prince Dion¡¯s words. Because she recalled the time when she saw the bodies of the other royal family members. She had seen the bloody corpses of her father¡¯s siblings and concubines, and also her half-siblings. When she closed her eyes, she could still vividly remember that horrible sight. So instead of closing her eyes, Princess Daphne took a slow and deep breath. Princess Daphne¡¯s dignified appearance and charisma led her to be regarded as the Lion Princess or the Iron Princess because she was the symbol of a bold and strong woman, but in reality, she wasn¡¯t an irondy who did not shed blood or tears. She had an outgoing and bold personality. But at the same time, she was also rich in emotions since she was very affectionate and would cry often. ¡®Rather¡­ the iron one is Dion.¡¯ As his sister, she found Dion a bit problematic. Because except for Daphne herself, he was surprisingly cold-hearted to others. He was that indifferent that even when he talked about Princess Darianne, he didn¡¯t seem to care much about her, so what more of the others. ¡°How is father¡­ I mean, His Majesty?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not good. Mother said that¡­ he needed a lot of time.¡± At Prince Dion¡¯s words, Princess Daphne unknowingly closed her eyes. Their father, Henry II, was already shaken by the betrayal and death of the Lord Protector whom he believed and depended on more than anyone else, so he waspletely crushed when he saw the wretched state of the royal family¡¯s corpses. ¡°Father is¡­¡± ¡°Yes, he is pure. That¡¯s why mother loves father.¡± He was notpetent, but neither was hepletely ipetent. He was aware of his role as a king, and he always made an effort to fulfill his duties as a king. Therefore, when Henry II saw the corpses of the royal family members, he had no choice but to admit it. No matter what reason the Lord Protector had, even if it was a really unavoidable reason, the Lord Protector was a traitor. He was an enemy of the S?len royal family, someone they could never forgive. Henry II erased the Lord Protector from his heart. It left his heart empty, but he still did it. ¡°Has he recovered?¡± ¡°Perhaps. But you know our father¡¯s personality. Once he recovers to a certain extent, he¡¯ll have to worry about two options, right?¡± She understood what Dion was talking about. As Dion had said, she knew Henry II well. ¡®Will he abdicate or not?¡¯ Someone had to take responsibility for this. It was not an issue that would end just because the concerned person died. So he had to take full responsibility and abdicate from the throne. Since the crown princess had be an adult, he could hand the throne over to her and hope that she would be a better monarch. It was an option that Prince Dion wanted, and was also the best option for Henry II. But Henry II was not an irresponsible man. The Lord Protector was dead, but they still had a lot of problems. The activities of Count Chase and the Royal Guard Knights minimized the damage, but that did not mean that no one was killed or injured. The deaths of the royal family members. The deaths of the nobles. Add to that was the disaster in the royal capital. The biggest problem was the fact that the Lord Protector was the leader of the royalists. Naturally, all the people under themand of the Lord Protector who were involved in this ¡®rebellion¡¯ were also royalists, so their elimination meant a weakening of the entire royalist faction. The royal family of the S?len Kingdom had always been strong. And those in the aristocrats faction were obviously not hostile against the royalty just because they were on that side. Even Duke Balloa who belonged to the hawks was more like a dove wearing the mask of a hawk when onepared it to other countries. But even if that was the situation, it will still end upplicated if the royalists suddenly lose their power. The bnce of power would be destroyed, and the royal family would greatly suffer. It was a difficult political situation. The S?len Kingdom would be greatly shaken, and the empire would take advantage of that and reveal their power again, and the other countries were also likely to show a different attitude. Would the king then leave his daughter, who had just be an adult, to this hard and difficult position? Considering Henry II¡¯s personality, it was absolutely impossible. ¡®Of course, mother will help me a lot either way.¡¯ If her father abdicates, she will help Princess Daphne, and if he doesn¡¯t abdicate, she will be more involved in politics now. ¡°My head hurts.¡± Prince Dion smiled bitterly at Princess Daphne¡¯s honest words. ¡°In any case, I¡¯ll help you with the best of my ability.¡± ¡°Yes, I feel a bit energized now.¡± Dion was different from the Lord Protector. Because he was an ally who would never betray her, someone whom she could really trust anytime and anywhere. ¡°Anyway¡­ let¡¯s talk something a bit more positive. After all, we avoided the worst, right? The Lord Protector was killed, and his plot to destroy the barrier was stopped. Even the demon followers who attacked the royal capital were also unable to do anything about it in the end.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± The worst situation had indeed been avoided. And Princess Daphne knew. That it was because of ¡®them¡¯ that they were able to somehow avoid the worst situation. ¡°It was true.¡± The two people of destiny. The heroes who saved Princess Daphne and Prince Dion, and also the fate of the S?len Kingdom in its moment of crisis. ¡°If it weren¡¯t for those two¡­¡± ¡°All of us would definitely have been killed by the Lord Protector. The barrier would have been destroyed¡­ and the demon followers would have done some terrible things.¡± There were so many troops who had attacked the royal capital. If the barrier had been destroyed, they would have probably added more troops. ¡°Would they have opened a Hell Gate?¡± ¡°Probably.¡± Like what they did in the Paragon Kingdom. Just imagining it was terrible. A Hell Gate opening in the royal capital of the S?len Kingdom. ¡°We owe them so much. It¡¯s something we are really grateful for. So we have to make them even more on our side.¡± Princess Daphne had a bitter smile at Prince Dion¡¯s words. Because she felt bitter at the reality that they were treating their benefactors like this. ¡°First of all, both of us have decided to give them the count title, right?¡± ¡°Yes, because even if their contribution is big, they are not even adults yet, and the two have just be barons. It will be difficult to give them a title that is more than that.¡± It was only after the Lord Protector had saved the country for the second time did he get a promotion in his noble title. The two had originallye from the prestigious 12 northern families, so it was obvious that the existing nobles would protest greatly if they were bestowed a marquis or duke title. ¡°Instead, we can give them something else.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m going to do. We can¡¯t get them on our side if we save on our spending.¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t mean it like that¡­ Ha, fine. Just give them a lot. That¡¯s fine with me.¡± Prince Dion smiled a bit at Princess Daphne¡¯s words and took out a piece of paper that had been in his arms. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°The bribes I prepared for the two people of destiny. I want you to review it too.¡± Prince Dion handed the paper to Princess Daphne, and sheughed at the first line. ¡°It really is a bribe.¡± ¡°Because we have to give our best if we¡¯re giving something, right?¡± Princess Daphneughed again at Prince Dion¡¯s words. Because she felt that Dion was sincerely grateful to the two people of destiny, even though he seemed to be making excuses. ¡®Although rather than his own life¡­ it seems he¡¯s more grateful that they saved my life.¡¯ I feel like the person who¡¯ll be his wife in the future will resent me. Princess Daphne smiled and read the list of bribes prepared by Prince Dion. *** ¡°A fief? For me and Jude?¡± ¡°Yes, a fief.¡± Cordelia was literally stunned at Edward¡¯s words. She had awakened the memories of her previous life, but she had also lived as Cordelia Chase for 17 years. Thus, as a noble of the S?len Kingdom, Cordelia knew how much a fief would mean to a noble. ¡°Wooow¡­¡± A fief. Bing a countess is like a dream, and now, we¡¯re even getting a fief. What kind of ce is it? It will not be very big though, right? A few small viges. Maybe even a small city? Maybe even a mountain? Whatever it is, it will definitely be good. I will still like it. ¡®If it¡¯s a vige, we¡¯ll just be building houses and adding structures of this and that¡­¡¯ If it¡¯s a city, we have to developmerce, and if it¡¯s a mountain, we¡¯ll have to dig mines in order to gain a source of ie. ¡®Hehehe, it¡¯s like a game.¡¯ Like the ssic games of Sim City, or the Tycoon series. ¡®I worked hard in Animal Crossing.¡¯ Her imagination grew more and more distant from the actual management of a fief, but Cordelia did not mind it. Because Jude would be the one to worry about the real thing anyway. ¡®The right person for the right job, the right person for the right job.¡¯ Cordeliaughed ¡®hehehe¡¯ again and drew a cute and colorful vige in her head, while Edward, Maja, and Dahlia all had the same expression when they saw Cordelia. ¡®How cute.¡¯ I want to pinch her cheeks, stroke her head, and kiss her. Dahlia flinched when she thought that while Edward was snickering before he loudly coughed to break Cordelia¡¯s delusion. ¡°Anyway, it¡¯s almost a determined fact that a fief will be added to your count title. It¡¯s still a bit of a question on what kind of territory you will get though.¡± ¡°Eh? It hasn¡¯t been decided yet?¡± ¡°Yes, the situation is a bitplicated.¡± There were many reasons why a fief was very important to a noble, and scarcity was one of them. Land was obviously a limited resource. The S?len Kingdom was 300 years old, and most of thend there already had owners. Naturally, there were still quite somend that belonged to the royal family, but it was not possible to give the management to some of them since it was the source of the royalty¡¯s power. ¡°Well, with this incident, thends of the Lord Protector and those close to him will be confiscated¡­ But as you know, thends of those who caused the rebellion are basically managed by the royal family too, right?¡± Moreover, if they confiscate all the territories of the Lord Protector and his subordinates, the scale would be truly enormous. Even if the contribution of the two were big, it was too much to give it all to two new counts. ¡°Uh¡­ So what you¡¯re saying is¡­¡± ¡°They will have to decide on givingnd from those under the royal family¡¯s direct management or from the confiscatednds, so it means that we still don¡¯t know where it will be. Well, in any case, it will most likely be in the central region.¡± Whether it was the territory of the Lord Protector or the territories under the royal family, they were all in the center. ¡°But it may be a fief that is a little far from the royal capital, given that you¡¯ll be given a mansion in the capital. After all, the royal family seems to want you two to live in the royal capital.¡± Edward liked to give long exnations, so he continued to say what he wanted to say, but Cordelia didn¡¯t hear much of it. Because she had already heard the most important content. ¡°Mansion?¡± ¡°Yes, a mansion. It looks like they¡¯ll give you two a house to live in the royal capital. This means that we can narrow down the candidates to some extent, but either way, it will be huge and grand. Adelia¡¯s house will look like a warehouse.¡± Edward began to exin again while Cordelia let her imagination flow again like she always did. Mansion. House. Jude and Cordelia¡¯s own home. The house of us two. I can somehow feel my face turning red. My heart is pounding more than when I heard that we¡¯ll be receiving a fief. ¡®It reminds me of the guild house.¡¯ Even in Legend of Heroes 2, I worked hard to decorate it. We should decorate it beautifully this time too, right? Like bringing in some furniture. Then, should I go look for some furniture with Jude? After all, it¡¯s a house that the two of us will live in together. Live in together¡­ ¡®We¡¯ll live together?!¡¯ With Jude? Jude and I will live in the same house? No, the two of us are somehow living together already, but still. But if we live in the same house. Yes, yes, it¡¯s still just an engagement between us. We haven¡¯t even had a proper engagement ceremony¡­ Cordelia¡¯s face became redder and redder, and her imagination grew worse and worse as if it wanted to keep its pace with her red face. And Edward couldn¡¯t stand it anymore and pinched Cordelia¡¯s cheek. ¡°My goodness, my youngest sibling. I can see what you¡¯re imagining.¡± ¡°W-what are you talking about? Don¡¯t tell me you saw me imagining that I went with Jude to see furniture?¡± ¡°Yes, I did. I saw you imagine going to see furniture with him. Isn¡¯t thatpletely a newlywed¡¯s house?¡± ¡°N-newlywed¡¯s house¡­¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyes widened. Her face was already red and burning, and Edward pulled her cheeks straight, but she didn¡¯t say anything. ¡°Hmm¡­ you¡¯re cute, but I hate that Jude now.¡± I have to give such a cute younger sister to him. Dahlia nodded her head as if agreeing, and Maja narrowed her eyes with a bit of an angry face. And a few secondster. Edward chuckled as he watched Cordelia, but he suddenly stood up from his seat. ¡°Young master?¡± Edward responded to Dahlia¡¯s question with a hand gesture and then went through his chest pocket and pulled out a magic device that looked like a round pocket watch, and soon, he brightly smiled. ¡°My sister, can you move now? We¡¯re just going to the room across this.¡± As Edward pulled her hand and asked, Cordelia came to her senses and questioned him as she stood up. ¡°We¡¯re moving? To where?¡± ¡°Ga?l¡¯s room. It looks like Ga?l woke up.¡± Edward¡¯s words brightened up Maja¡¯s face. Cordelia also quickly nodded and replied. ¡°Let¡¯s go then.¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go.¡± Edward hurriedly opened the door. *** ¡°Adelia! Ga?l is awake¡­¡± ¡°Unnie! Brother-inw Ga?l is¡­¡± That was it. Edward opened the door and was about to rejoice in the recovery of one of his few friends, and Cordelia was about to say congrattions to her sister, but her face that had barely calmed down turned red again. The scene in front of them. Ga?l had woken up. That was right, but the scene in front of them was very different from the sight they had imagined. It waspletely different from the scene they had imagined of Ga?l smiling even though he had apletely sick face while lying in the bed, and of Adelia shedding tears of emotion as she held Ga?l¡¯s hand. Dahlia instantly moved her hand to cover Cordelia¡¯s eyes, and Edward began to act before Cordelia even reacted. He grabbed Cordelia by her waist, carrying her as they left the room like that. ¡°Ahem, ahem, ahem.¡± The flustered Edward just coughed while Cordelia was panting. And Edward spoke again. ¡°First of all¡­ I don¡¯t think we need to worry about his health.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Cordelia agreed with him. Because rather than looking sick, he seemed to be full of energy. ¡°Well¡­ let¡¯s go back first. Dahlia, don¡¯t let anyone go in for a while. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Yes, young master.¡± Dahlia nodded with a red face, and quickly called a person to guard the door. ¡°Cordelia, this older brother of yours will be going to see our father now. Do you want to take a rest now? It¡¯ste, so I¡¯ll share you the details tomorrow.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Cordelia stiffly nodded her head like a wooden doll, and she unknowingly returned to Jude¡¯s room while trying to calm herself down. She also had an option to just go back to her room and rest, but her feet headed to Jude¡¯s room without her realizing it. ¡°Lady Cordelia?¡± Maja, who was in the room, was surprised at Cordelia¡¯s quick return and asked, so Dahlia spoke on behalf of Cordelia. ¡°Young master Ga?l has woken up. He seems to be very¡­ very healthy. Yeah.¡± ¡°What? What are you¡­¡± As Maja tilted her head, Dahlia repeatedly stamped her feet before she approached Maja and began to whisper in her ear. And Maja¡¯s reaction that followed. Even though she was called the ¡®Ice Princess,¡¯ her cheeks began to heat up. The three women were silent for a while, and as the air turned awkward, Cordelia opened her mouth first. ¡°T-that¡¯s right. Maja, why don¡¯t you take a break too? I¡¯ll keep an eye on Jude.¡± Because given Maja¡¯s personality, she definitely stayed besides Jude for the past two days. ¡®I don¡¯t think she has slept at all.¡¯ Even if she did, her fair face was now at the point of looking pale, and Cordelia also felt ufortable to see the cks under Maja¡¯s eyes. ¡°But¡­¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t Jude be very worried if he sees you with such a face when he wakes up?¡± ¡°She¡¯s right, Maja. You know Lord Jude¡¯s personality.¡± When Dahlia added on to Cordelia¡¯s words, Maja finally nodded her head. ¡°Then go and rest. Get some sleep. I¡¯ll be next to Jude. I¡¯m not sleepy at all because I¡¯ve slept for the past two days.¡± Maja ended up smiling at Cordelia¡¯s words mixed with a little yfulness. ¡°I understand. Please take care of him, mydy.¡± ¡°Yes, yes.¡± Maja left the room while still hesitating, and Dahlia went out with her as if to see her off. But instead of re-entering the room, Dahlia took a seat next to the Bayer family knight who was standing in front of the door. Her action was unexpected, but it was because she wanted to make time for the two inside. ¡°Uh, Dame Dahlia. What happened?¡± The Bayer family knight who was guarding the door, Jun, asked Dahlia, and she just awkwardly smiled at him since they had only met a few times enough for a short chat. And inside the room. Cordelia was left alone. She sat down besides Jude¡¯s bed and stared at him. ¡®You¡¯re handsome if you keep your mouth shut.¡¯ In fact, he was also handsome when he opened his mouth, but he always said some cheeky things when he did that. ¡®And yet¡­¡¯ Cordelia drew her face a bit closer to Jude. Like before, he was asleep with a sickly-looking face, but after she saw Ga?l, she was strangely relieved. Because even in that bad condition, Ga?l still woke up. So Jude will wake up in the same way too. He¡¯ll wake up in the same way¡­ ¡®N-no. Because Jude is different from brother-inw Ga?l. Yes, yes, they¡¯re different.¡¯ When the door was opened, she saw Ga?l and Adelia exchanging intense kisses. Unlike the one that shest saw at the engagement ceremony, the kisses were so intense that it unconsciously reminded her of the word ¡®beast.¡¯ ¡®S-still, the brothers resembles each other.¡¯ Maybe when Jude wakes up¡­ Cordelia looked at Jude¡¯s lips without realizing it, and she quickly shook her head. Because their situation was different. Their rtionship was also different, and there were many things that were different too. ¡°Ha, seriously.¡± Even though she was all alone, Cordelia looked around her before she gently held Jude¡¯s hand. She put her left hand on top of his right hand, and slowly inteced her fingers with his hand. He had a big hand and long fingers. His skin was soft like a baby due to his metamorphosis. ¡°Haa.¡± Many thoughts that lingered in her head naturally flew away. As she silently looked at Jude, only one thought came to her mind. ¡®I wish that you¡¯ll quickly wake up.¡¯ If you wake up soon. Then, you¡¯ll be boasting again with that handsome yet sly face. ¡®The smell of Jude.¡¯ Anyway, Cordelia was still tired. Contrary to what she said to Maja, Cordelia began to doze off, closing her eyes with her head lying down by the bedside. She fell into a deep sleep as her hand twitched while sping his hand. And just like that, one minute, two minutes passed¡­ and when the time kept passing and the night got deeper. Cordelia slowly opened her eyes as she heard a voice in her ears. She listened to the voice, blinking her eyes as she was still half-asleep. A gentle tone. A pleasant voice. The voice she weed the most in the world. ¡°Cordelia.¡± She didn¡¯t hear it wrong. It wasn¡¯t a dream. ¡°Jude.¡± She raised her head as she called him. And Cordelia could see it. The sly smile on his face that she expected. ¡°My princess.¡± The ck-hearted man who always boasted about his good looks and would always say embarrassing words casually, that man who was cheeky yet reliable too. Cordelia widely smiled and hugged the man, and he hugged her back. She began to cry, and he patted her back. Three days from the decisive battle in the royal capital. Jude woke up. Chapter 200 - MERIT CEREMONY (3)

Chapter 200 - MERIT CEREMONY (3)

WARNING: This episode may cause a sugar overdose. You have been warned, ufufu~ In fact, she didn¡¯t know why she was crying. Jude didn¡¯t wake up for two days, or three days if you counted the fact that it was dawn now, but Cordelia herself was unconscious for nearly two days. Both of them had been unconscious in that time, so it wasn¡¯t the reason for her tears. Unlike Maja¡¯s sincere wish for Jude to wake up over the past two days, Cordelia herself had been worrying for a few hours at most, though it was less than an hour if you exclude the time she fell asleep. ¡®I¡¯ve heard that you¡¯re going to wake up soon.¡¯ She had confirmed the condition he was in and was just waiting for it to end, so her situation was different from Maja. So what was the reason? She had only seen Jude¡¯s face and cried non-stop when she hugged him. She cried without even realizing it. ¡®Is it because I¡¯m sorry?¡¯ Because I¡¯m the one who made him open the sixth door? So I feel responsible? ¡®But.¡¯ If he hadn¡¯t done that, we wouldn¡¯t have won. Perhaps the Lord Protector would have really killed all of us. ¡®No, that¡¯s not the reason in the first ce.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t a matter that needed logic orplex reasoning. She was just sad because Jude was unconscious, and she was happy that he woke up. It was a simple reason. Something that didn¡¯t need to be thatplex. ¡°Huu-hu, huhu.¡± After crying for a long time, Cordelia gradually stifled her tears and opened her closed eyes. She naturally stared at Jude¡¯s face. She saw his green eyes looking her way and the sly smile drawn on his lips. His left arm firmly held her waist, and his right hand was patting her back. His chest had be broad and something that she could lean on at any time, making her feel safe like those firm castle walls. ¡°My princess, are you done crying?¡± Jude slyly asked, and Cordelia could tell at that moment. His insides were ck, but he was quite pure now. He was covering it with his sly smile, but he was actually at a loss on what to do. His green eyes seemed to be holding back all kinds of emotions, such as his joy and slight embarrassment. Why? Is it because his face is close to mine? So I can see things I usually can¡¯t see? Cordelia¡¯s lips squirmed once before she sniffed with her nose because of her tears, and she unconsciously thought. ¡®The smell of Jude.¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s five senses were all excellent, and among those senses, her sense of smell was particrly good. So Cordelia knew well that the smell of Jude was a mixture of various things. The slightly sweet smell of his skin. Add to that was the scented soap chosen by Maja. There was also the scent of the shampoo and conditioner developed by Jude. And themon perfume that most nobles sprayed on themselves more or less. It was basically a rose fragrance. The added scent had a refreshing feeling, giving one a neat impression. But today was a little different. The slight smell of sweat. It was a slightly heavier scent. As a result, the smell of Jude was more pronounced than usual. Cordelia shifted her blue eyes and looked up at Jude who faced her with his green eyes. Jude¡¯s green eyes seemed to be a little darker than usual, perhaps because of the dim candlelight, so it felt more mysterious. Cordelia raised her head a bit more. Without realizing it, she touched her lips on Jude¡¯s cheek. Chuu. It was a small sound, but it was so quiet that it sounded loud. Embarrassment and surprise lightly spread in Jude¡¯s eyes again, and in response to that, Cordelia was strangely pleased rather than feeling shy. And Jude read the feelings of Cordelia with his eyes. That was why he strengthened the hold of his left arm that held Cordelia¡¯s waist, moving his head as he touched his lips on her forehead. Very softly. To the extent that there was no sound. This time, embarrassment spread on Cordelia¡¯s big and blue eyes, and Jude had an awkward smile instead of his usual shamelessness. And that smile triggered a switch in Cordelia. Cordelia drew more closer to Jude¡¯s body. So that her neck could reach him more. She shifted the weight of her upper body as if she was pressing down on Jude, and her lips pressed on his cheek again. And it seemed like this time, she looked up at Jude with a bit of slyness. ¡®Your cheeks are red.¡¯ Jude sent her an answer with his eyes, and this time, he touched his lips on Cordelia¡¯s cheek and not her forehead. Unlike his previous one, it was a kiss that made a loud sound. ¡®Aren¡¯t your cheeks red too?¡¯ Cordelia suddenly had a strange desire to win, and she raised her head again and kissed Jude¡¯s ear instead of his cheek this time. Even Cordelia herself didn¡¯t know why she put her lips on his ear. Because it just caught her eye. Because she thought that it would be nice to touch her lips on his ear. But it was right after her lips touched. His reaction was different from before. She was able to feel it clearly because she was in close contact with his body. Jude had flinched. His left arm that was holding Cordelia¡¯s waist, that left arm that held her tightly that she couldn¡¯t move, had slightly trembled. Why? Cordelia turned her eyes to see Jude. She saw that his cheeks were redder than usual, and his familiar sly smile that she found unpleasant had slightly copsed. And his eyes. His green eyes were filled with shyness and confusion on what to do. At that moment, she thought it was fun. So Cordelia once again gave Jude a peck on the ear, and he flinched and reacted again. A smile naturally spread over her face. ¡®This is fun.¡¯ It¡¯s like I¡¯m attacking something. It¡¯s like I¡¯m trying to find the boss mob¡¯s weak point and stabbing it. As Cordelia¡¯s gamer brain began to work, she snickered, and that snicker stimted Jude this time. His desire to win. His feeling of not wanting to lose. Jude firmly held Cordelia¡¯s waist again. He straightened his neck and kissed the back of Cordelia¡¯s white and long neck. ¡°Kyaa?¡± Cordelia unconsciously let out a sound, and a triumphant smile appeared on Jude¡¯s face. A smile that was very obnoxious. ¡®Then.¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s blue eyes moved again, and she bit his earlobe very lightly instead of kissing his ear. ¡°Eh?¡± It was Jude who let out a sound this time. She seemed to have struck a critical hit. ¡°Hehehe.¡± Cordelia put her lips in Jude¡¯s ear again, and as if she was striking an additional hit, she gently blew her breath on it. And she felt him tremble. His body trembled and his face burned red like never before. ¡®I won, okay?¡¯ Cordelia snickered and said with a nce, and Jude was pissed off for a moment, so he put his lips on her neck again. He held the flinching Cordelia firmly with his left arm to prevent her from moving, and lowered his face as he dragged it along her long and thin neck, and then pressing his lips to the raised part of her vicle. ¡°Eep.¡± Cordelia trembled this time. Her blue eyes were then filled with a passion. ¡®Alright, let¡¯s do this.¡¯ So it¡¯s my turn now, huh? Cordelia turned her blue eyes. Instead of attacking his ear again, she carefully examined Jude¡¯s face to find a new weakness. His red cheeks and lips that let out a hotter breath than usual. At that moment, Cordelia unknowingly swallowed hard. She stared at Jude¡¯s lips, and roughly breathed a bit. And Jude also stared at Cordelia. Likewise, he swallowed hard and couldn¡¯t move. Jude and Cordelia breathed out. Their breaths touched each other¡¯s lips. And it was at that moment. ¡°Miss!¡± ¡°Young master?!¡± The door burst open as Dahlia and Maja appeared. Even Jun, the knight who was guarding the door, was there. ¡°Kyaa?!¡± Cordelia was embarrassed and flustered, and so did Jude. As if the magic of 12 o¡¯clock had been broken, the two struggled as they quickly pushed each other away, and Cordelia even fell off the bed because of that. ¡°Miss!¡± ¡°Uh, yes. Uh. I-I¡¯m okay!¡± Cordelia jumped to her feet, and Jude saw such Cordelia. How should one describe the current scene? Cordelia¡¯s face was covered with an indescribable shame, and Jude was the same ¨C so to put it into words, the emotions they felt were inexpressible. However, it was not a situation where they should let their hearts beat wild. Dahlia and Maja entered the room, and Maja¡¯s tears instantly pulled Jude back into reality. ¡°Young master!¡± Maja cried and clung to Jude¡¯s chest. Even though she was already an adult, she burst into tears like a child. ¡°Maja.¡± I worried you a lot. I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m really sorry. Jude tightly hugged Maja and said that he was fine, but her crying did not easily stop. Jude had be explosively strong in the past half year, but Maja had rarely seen that strong appearance of Jude. What remained in her memory was not the big and strong Jude, but the weak Jude who had a hard time going outside. Maja Tantalotte. A servant of the Bayer family and Jude¡¯s exclusive maid. But for Jude, she was not just a servant but a person no different to a real sister to him. When Maja¡¯s crying didn¡¯t seem to stop, Cordelia hesitated at first before she sent a nce to Jude. ¡®I¡¯ll¡­ see you tomorrow, okay?¡¯ ¡®Yes, see you tomorrow.¡¯ ¡®Yeah, good night.¡¯ ¡®Yes, dream of me.¡¯ ¡®You too.¡¯ After they finished their eye conversation, Cordelia and Dahlia left the room while Jude patted the back of the still crying Maja. And around thirty minutester. Cordelia defended against Dahlia¡¯s persistent questioning attacks with the excuse that she had to sleep because she was too tired, and she washed herself before lying down on the bed. And after that, she began to kick the nket. ¡®Uwaaaaaah! I must be crazy!¡¯ 30 minutes ago. What in the world did I do? What did I do? Why did I do that? ¡®That¡­ I¡­ aaaaaaah.¡¯ Kiss, kiss. Kiss, kiss, kiss. Kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss. Dahlia and Jun who were outside the door would have heard us kissing. ¡®Euaaa¡­aaaaah¡­aaaaaah!¡¯ Cordelia writhed on the bed. She rolled to the left, rolled to the right, came back to the center, and then kicked the nket. ¡®Dizzy, I feel dizzy.¡¯ I feel like I¡¯ll die from shame. No, maybe I¡¯m already dead and just haven¡¯t realized it. Maybe my soul is squirming alone after dying from shame. Cordelia covered her face with both hands, and was suddenly startled, pulling them back. Because she felt that her cheeks were too hot. ¡®Ah, seriously. Ah, seriously!¡¯ How will I look at his face? What should I say when I see Jude¡¯s face tomorrow? ¡®Eueu¡­ eueueueueueu¡­¡¯ Cordelia shed some tears before she took a deep breath. Inhale¡­ exhale¡­ Inhale¡­ exhale¡­ After repeating it several times, Cordelia managed to calm down her breathing, and lied down to rx her body and pacify her mind. ¡®It¡¯s all right.¡¯ Yes, it¡¯s all right. It¡¯s not just me. Since Jude did it too. Because we yed with each other¡¯s weakness. Yes, yes, that¡¯s right. We just yed and poked each other¡¯s weakness. We yed a game, right? So it¡¯s all right. And isn¡¯t he my fianc¨¦? That¡¯s right, so this much is fine. Yes, yes, it¡¯s not a problem. It¡¯s not a problem. So let¡¯s sleep. Everything will be all right when I wake up. Cordelia closed her eyes. And 1, 2, 3. ¡°Euaaaah!¡± What do you mean by it¡¯s all right! After rolling on the bed again, Cordelia curled up her body like a ball and then trembled. ¡®I must be crazy, yeah, crazy.¡¯ This is all because of Jude. After all, it¡¯s because of Jude. It¡¯s definitely because of Jude! ¡°Haa.¡± I hate it. I really, really hate it. And if Maja and Dahlia had note in. If they hadn¡¯te in then¡­ Cordelia shut her eyes tightly as she clenched her fist tight too, and she panted afterwards. Her breathing that she had barely calmed down was rough again, perhaps because she was rolling too much on the bed or because of some other reason. ¡®Argh.¡¯ Why am I the only one like this? That Jude must be sleeping soundly like a child now, huh? He must be snoring and sleeping without a care in the world, huh? ¡®That¡¯s right, so I should sleep.¡¯ Let¡¯s go to sleep. I¡¯ll leave all this worries for tomorrow and just go to sleep! Cordelia corrected her posture again and closed her eyes. And like always, she spoke with an exmation. ¡°I can¡¯t sleep.¡± I had slept earlier. I¡¯m done with sleeping. And right across her room. In Jude¡¯s bedroom behind the wall in her room. As Cordelia predicted, Jude did not make amotion on the bed. He was lying straight and not moving. But it wasn¡¯t what she expected of him to be sleeping soundly and snoring. As he lied on the bed, he covered his face with his hands and recited the Heart Sutra. He immersed himself in Buddhist scriptures and tried to erase Cordelia¡¯s face that kepting back in his thoughts. ¡°Damn.¡± I can¡¯t sleep. I really can¡¯t sleep. How can I sleep? How? How! ¡°Huaaa.¡± Jude groaned as his hands grabbed his head, and he eventually opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. He turned to the side and gazed in the direction of Cordelia¡¯s room. ¡°Come on, Jude,e on. Just sleep.¡± Jude lied on his back again and forcibly closed his eyes, but he couldn¡¯t fall asleep. The blushing and gentle smile of Cordelia keeping back in his mind. ¡°Haa, darn it.¡± Jude eventually gave up sleeping. He sat on the bed and crossed his legs, taking a deep breath before he began to recite the Heart Sutra again. *** The next morning. Cordelia had stayed up all night with her eyes open, and she was now sitting on the sofa with a tired face as she waited for Jude. Because the two were supposed to meet their fathers together, which were Count Chase and Count Bayer. ¡®Eueueue.¡¯ What should I say when we meet? Should I just not say anything? As if nothing happened? Cordelia¡¯s fingers and even the toes in her shoes were wriggling, and Dahlia giggled upon seeing Cordelia before she said in a small voice. ¡°He has arrived.¡± Jude. Cordelia unconsciously became nervous, straightening her posture before she turned her eyes and burst into a smallugh. Because she saw the dark circles under Jude¡¯s eyes. ¡®Hey, you too?¡¯ ¡®Hey, me too.¡¯ The two had stayed up all night. As Cordelia giggled and smiled, Jude smiled in the same way and then hesitated for a moment before he stretched out his hand like he always did. In order to escort her. But Cordelia did not hold his hand right away. She shifted her gaze and looked up at Jude, smiling at him with a coy expression. Because Jude was behaving like usual, pretending to be fine while stretching out his hand to her, but she could tell. ¡®Aren¡¯t you a bit cute?¡¯ He looks shy. Has my ck-hearted Mr. ck Cloak always been this cute? Cordelia giggled again before she finally put her hand on top of his, and she got up and began walking with Jude. Just how far was the room where Count Bayer and Count Chase were waiting? They didn¡¯t know exactly, but it wouldn¡¯t take that much time. It would be a few minutes at most. Maybe not even that. Was it because of that then? Jude moved his hand a bit. From under Cordelia¡¯s hand, he changed the direction of his wrist. His movement was quite straightforward. Cordelia turned her head to look at him, but Jude looked straight ahead instead of looking at her. His cheeks were blushing in a way that didn¡¯t suit him as he slipped his own fingers in between Cordelia¡¯s fingers. He tried to sp her hand. Cordelia opened her fingers slightly to ept Jude¡¯s fingers. She gazed at their tightly interlocked fingers before she turned to the side of Jude¡¯s face. ¡®Jude, Jude.¡¯ Jude did not answer. He seemed to have failed to see her eyes because he was only looking at the front. But Cordelia did not care and kept looking with her eyes. ¡®This is no longer an escort, right?¡¯ We¡¯re just holding hands. Am I right? Jude did not respond again, and Cordelia¡¯s lips squirmed. She had done it coyly, but in the eyes of others, she was smiling as she loosened her face and lowered her hand. She lightly shook Jude¡¯s hand as she continued walking. Maja and Dahlia behind them failed to suppress theirughs, but Jude and Cordelia did not care. Or rather, they didn¡¯t hear theughter at all. Both of them were busy walking as they looked ahead with blushing cheeks. And a few minutes passed. The two felt that the time that had passed was too short, and they tried to separate from each other, but their hands seemed to be reluctant to do so. After forcibly removing their hands that had tried to lock fingers with each other several times, they took a deep breath. ¡®Let¡¯s go.¡¯ ¡®Okay.¡¯ They would meet Count Bayer and Count Chase, hear the details and then tell their story. They prioritized the things that they needed to take care of now before they proceeded. Count Bayer¡¯s knight who was guarding the door opened it, and Jude and Cordelia entered the room. Chapter 201 - MERIT CEREMONY (4)

Chapter 201 - MERIT CEREMONY (4)

¡°Father.¡± ¡°The two of you are finally here. Have a seat over there.¡± Rather than a regr living room, the room they were in seemed to be a ce for casual and informal conversation. Three sofas were arranged in a C-shape around a low table, and Count Bayer, who was sitting by himself at the seat of honor, offered them a seat. ¡®Is it across my father?¡¯ Count Chase was sitting in the middle of a long sofa and pointed with his eyes at the opposite seat. Jude and Cordelia then quietly sat on the sofa opposite him. Cordelia was on the left while Jude was on the right. It was a veryrge sofa, so there were a lot of ces for them to seat themselves, but the two naturally sat close together. As if this waspletely normal. ¡°It¡¯s nice to look at.¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­ yes. Thank you.¡± At the words of Count Bayer, Cordelia tilted her head because she didn¡¯t understand what he was talking about, but she immediately replied with a wide smile. She was a bit curious on what was nice to look at, but since Cordelia and Jude had woken up after a few days, he might have been talking about how the two were awake now were nice to look at. ¡®Anyway, since it¡¯s my father-inw¡¯s words, I have to answer even if I don¡¯t understand what he¡¯s talking about.¡¯ In any case, he had said something nice to them, so it was natural for her to express her thanks. ¡®Is that right, Jude?¡¯ ¡®Uh, probably.¡¯ Even Jude couldn¡¯t immediately figure out what Count Bayer meant by it being nice to look at. Because for Jude, it waspletely natural and reasonable for him to be seated next to Cordelia. Anyway, Count Bayer¡¯s smile even deepened when Cordelia replied beautifully, while Count Chase snorted like usual. ¡°Moving on¡­¡± Count Bayer¡¯s words trailed at the end, and he paused for a moment, taking a deep breath before he looked at Jude and Cordelia with warm eyes and saying. ¡°I¡¯m very d that the two of you woke up. Both of you had been unconscious for the past few days, so everyone was greatly worried.¡± ¡°We apologize for having troubled you.¡± ¡°No, no. I apologize. It¡¯s not your fault. You have nothing to apologize for.¡± When Cordelia lowered her head, Count Bayer promptly dissuaded her from doing so before he nced at Count Chase, asking him to say something. And at that nce, Count Chase responded in his usual manner. ¡°Hmph, you¡¯re still a weak guy.¡± As he looked at Jude, he clicked his tongue and took out a small box from his pocket. And Jude was grateful to him like usual. ¡°Eat this too. They say it works well for feeble guys like you.¡± ¡°Yes, father-inw. Thank you very much.¡± ¡°Thank you, Dad.¡± After Jude and Cordelia expressed their thanks, Count Chase turned to the side and spoke quietly. ¡°Don¡¯t tell Adelia. She¡¯s going to needlesslypare it to what I gave Ga?l.¡± Because Adelia was always dissatisfied even if they were both given something. But there was one thing that Count Chase overlooked. ¡°Dad, what did you give to brother-inw Ga?l? Is it different from Jude? There¡¯s no way that it¡¯s better, right? So what is it?¡± The existence of Cordelia who began to react in the same way that Adelia did. ¡°No, I mean¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± Count Chase eventually gave up on making excuses and frowned, and Count Bayer burst into a smallugh. ¡°Ga?l and Jude are really blessed with their fianc¨¦es.¡± Cordelia who was questioning Count Chase then instantly blushed and lowered her head at Count Bayer¡¯s words. Because the words ¡®blessed with their fianc¨¦es¡¯ strangely resonated in her mind. And it was the same with Jude. Jude spontaneously looked somewhere else before he coughed with a slightly reddish face. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Ahem, ahem, ahem. ¡°Look at this little kid coughing.¡± Count Bayer chuckled and looked back at Count Chase before he immediately brought up their main topic. ¡°Jude, and Cordelia. I¡¯m sure you had already heard of it but¡­ the royal pce was not only one that was attacked this time. The entire royal capital was swept into a huge mess.¡± Count Bayer¡¯s expression and tone became a bit stiff. Having already heard some of the situation from Maja and Dahlia, Jude and Cordelia¡¯s faces stiffened, and Count Chase looked straight at them and said. ¡°Certainly¡­ you two warned me and Count Bayer before this happened. It wasn¡¯t specific, but thanks to that, we were able to resolve this situation.¡± Something may happen right after the ball. We¡¯ll notify you if we¡¯re in danger, so please ept this magic device with tracking magic on it. This was what Jude and Cordelia told Count Bayer and Count Chase just before the ball. Several incidents had already happened in the north and the wildnds, so Count Bayer and Count Chase did not lightly take Jude and Cordelia¡¯s words. They did not drop their guard down even when they attended the ball, so they were able to react immediately. What would have happened if the two hadn¡¯t warned them? ¡°We wouldn¡¯t have been able to stop First Sword.¡± Count Bayer nodded at Count Chase¡¯s words. If they had not been warned, Count Bayer would not have thought of helping Jude and Cordelia. ¡°And if you two had lost your lives to First Sword¡­ the Lord Protector¡­ no, that traitor, Duke Antarius, would have seeded with his n.¡± He had nned to destroy the barrier by massacring the royal family. But he did not seed. Because Jude and Cordelia stopped him. ¡°You two definitely did well. But I want to ask. How the hell, I mean¡­ how much did you know?¡± Count Bayer¡¯s voice was soft, and his tone showed that he was not ming them. But Jude did not immediately answer. As calmly as possible, he spoke smoothly. ¡°The betrayal of the Lord Protector¡­ of Duke Antarius was something that we didn¡¯t expect.¡± His words were reasonable. The betrayal of the Lord Protector was something unimaginable for most people. ¡°As I said before, we¡¯ve already proven that the Fairy Queen¡¯s warnings are true. Her words may be ufortable to hear, but it can¡¯t be taken lightly because we¡¯ve experienced its veracity in the north.¡± As Jude had said, it was a repeat of the story they had already told before. Because there was no one other than the Fairy Queen whom they could cite as a source of information. ¡®And because it¡¯s impossible to use the Guardians of the Holy Cross as an excuse this time.¡¯ It was a big incident where the royal capital was directly attacked. After the immediate chaos had been settled to a certain extent, the royal family would definitely mobilize all the kingdom¡¯s power to start a war against the demon followers. If that happened, it would be impossible for the kingdom to not join hands with the Guardians of the Holy Cross, so if they had carelessly used the Guardians of the Holy Cross as an excuse, the two would be in trouble if their stories didn¡¯t match. ¡®So we pushed for that excuse.¡¯ To begin with, Jude and Cordelia were the only ones able to call out the Fairy Queen in the royal capital. Sylvia, the second prettiest woman in the north right after Cordelia, could do it too, but the possibility of her attempting to summon the fairies was close to zero, so as long as Jude and Cordelia did not make a mistake, they wouldn¡¯t be caught. ¡®We also did some preparations.¡¯ In preparation for the one in a million possibility, they gave the Fairy Queen a box of choctes and asked her to match their story. But she was still a fairy in the end, so it was doubtful if she would really match their words if she got asked. In any case, Jude used that excuse, and Count Bayer quietly looked at Jude and nodded. ¡°I see. I understand. We are all greatly indebted to the Fairy Queen.¡± Thanks to her, they were able to protect the royal family and the royal capital. They were able to save the country from the traitor, Duke Antarius. But Count Bayer thought of Jude and Cordelia before that. He didn¡¯t openly say it, but he was more thankful that he was able to save the two. But it was at that moment. ¡°There is one more thing that I want to ask.¡± It was Count Chase. He looked at Jude and Cordelia, asking in a low voice. ¡°That bas-¡­ how did you two win?¡± He did not say the name of that person. But Jude and Cordelia knew who Count Chase was talking about. The Lord Protector and traitor, Duke Antarius, was one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. Even though he was old and had weakened, he was still one of the best swordsmen in the kingdom. Jude and Cordelia had defeated such a Lord Protector. It wasn¡¯t something they could simply believe because the fight had been two against one. ¡°I¡¯m not doubting you. But I honestly couldn¡¯t understand it well from what I heard from the crown princess.¡± Count Bayer also spoke, and the two nodded at the same time. He would obviously feel like that because it was a fight that was hard to exin in words on how they won. Cordelia¡¯s idea to use the power of the divine sword, and Jude¡¯s ability to finish the enemy with the power that she had passed on to him. It was a miracle that could only happen because the two were together. Jude took a deep breath instead of answering right away again. He quietly held Cordelia¡¯s hand and looked at her. ¡®Cordelia.¡¯ ¡®Yes, Jude.¡¯ ¡®About this¡­ let¡¯s be honest.¡¯ On how they won. On why a miracle happened. At Jude¡¯s gaze, Cordelia nodded and squeezed Jude¡¯s hand. ¡®Let¡¯s do that.¡¯ They couldn¡¯t hide it forever. ¡®And¡­ it¡¯s not that big of a secret.¡¯ Count Bayer and Count Chase already knew of the fact that Jude was a disciple of Landius and that he had been taught the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors by Landius. But they had hid the fact that Cordelia had be an angel through Ancestral Regression. ¡®I¡¯ll tell them then.¡¯ ¡®Okay.¡¯ It was about Cordelia herself, but Jude was the one in charge of exining. After Cordelia rxed herself and squeezed Jude¡¯s hand, Jude began exining to Count Bayer and Count Chase. And around ten minutester. Once they were done listening to all his words, Count Bayer and Count Chase looked at each other with smiles full of surprise. ¡°Hoh¡­ Ancestral Regression.¡± Especially Count Chase who was really surprised. Unlike Count Bayer who had only heard of the concept of Ancestral Regression today because he was a swordsman in the first ce, Count Chase already knew to a certain extent about Ancestral Regression. ¡°I knew that the blood of an angel flowed in my family, but¡­ I can¡¯t believe that it¡¯s Ancestral Regression.¡± Count Bayer asked in curiosity towards Count Chase who appeared to have lost hisposure, which was unlike him. ¡°Arthur, is it possible for you to be an angel with Ancestral Regression?¡± If Cordelia had the blood of an angel, it would also flow on her father, Count Chase. But Count Chase immediately shook his head as if he did not even need to think about it. ¡°Just because our ancestor is an angel does not mean that it¡¯s possible to regress to our ancestor. You have to be born with a strong enough angelic trait in order for Ancestral Regression to be possible. It¡¯s usually impossible unless it¡¯s atavism.¡± ¡°Atavism?¡± ¡°It refers to a phenomenon in which the trait of an ancestor suddenly appear strongly in ater generation.¡± Having said that, Count Chase looked back at Cordelia and nodded. ¡°Cordelia, your transcendent beauty may perhaps be the result of atavism.¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­ yeah.¡± At being called a transcendent beauty, Cordelia turned red and bowed her head, while Jude received Count Chase¡¯s words with a very serious face. ¡°Cordelia is an angel not only in her face but also in her heart.¡± ¡°Hmm, indeed. She was born with it.¡± ¡°Yes, she was born with it. Holy Angel Lena-nim also praised her a lot.¡± ¡°Uh-huh.¡± As Count Chase nodded with a happy face, warm smiles also appeared on Jude and Count Bayer¡¯s faces. And thest person. There was one person who was struggling in her embarrassment rather than taking part in the current atmosphere. ¡®What the heck are you talking about!¡¯ What? My heart is like an angel¡¯s too? Would you like to die and be an angel now? Cordelia felt like she wanted to strangle Jude right now, but it was impossible since they were in front of Count Bayer and Count Chase. So she just bit her lips and fought back her embarrassment. But it was then. ¡°So, if you¡¯re usually a human, do you be an angel by transforming into one or something?¡± ¡°Yes, she can. Lena-nim said that in order to maintain Angel Mode at all times, her angel rank must be at a certain rank or higher.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Count Chase nodded as if he was convinced, and he stared at Cordelia while Count Bayer also stared at her and then coughed. Neither of them said anything, but it was obvious what they were hoping for. ¡®Ah, seriously. Why am I the one who¡¯s always being embarrassed? Why?¡¯ Cordelia was a little annoyed, but she couldn¡¯t do much about it, so she decided to just ept her fate. After she got up from her seat, she revealed her angel wings of light. ¡°Oooh¡­¡± Count Chase eximed in admiration as he saw the wings made of a bright white light. Count Bayer¡¯s eyes also widened and admired the appearance of Cordelia who was emitting a divine aura. And there was one person who was ted at the response of the two. ¡°She¡¯s a real angel.¡± For reference, she¡¯s my fianc¨¦e. I¡¯m the only one in the world who has a real angel as a fianc¨¦e. Count Bayer had a bitter smile at Jude¡¯s proud words that were conveyed without him even speaking, while Count Chase just hmphed. Andstly, Cordelia covered her face with both hands. And a few minutes or soter. When the fuss had subsided, Count Bayer asked again. ¡°Jude, how is your body now? Are there any side effects from opening the sixth door?¡± Count Bayer did not know much about the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. Jude smiled bitterly at the question full of worry and replied. ¡°To be honest¡­ my condition now is quite bad. But I¡¯ll be okay after a few days of rest.¡± Cordelia was the one who was the most surprised by his answer. [What? Are you still in pain?!] [Yeah, it hurts. At least until the day after tomorrow, you can think that the weak Jude of the past is back.] [R-really? Then will you copse from just walking?] [No, it wasn¡¯t¡­ that bad before.] [Jude?] [Don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s not that bad. There¡¯s no problem in my daily activities.] [Really?] [Really. You checked it yesterday, right?] [Huh?] [I mean, what¡­we did. That incident.] That was it. Cordelia lowered her head instead of asking him anymore. Her ears that can be seen in between her hair had now turned red. In any case, Jude¡¯s story was over, so Count Bayer sighed and said as he straightened his posture. ¡°All right. Then I won¡¯t prolong this conversation for long. I¡¯ll just tell you what we were going to say before you go back.¡± Jude and Cordelia weren¡¯t called this morning just to resolve their questions about the incident. It was because they had to tell the two something too. ¡°A merit ceremony will be held in five days.¡± Chapter 202 - MERIT CEREMONY (5)

Chapter 202 - MERIT CEREMONY (5)

¡°Merit ceremony?¡± ¡°Yes, His Majesty will personally reward those who have greatly contributed to resolve this incident.¡± There were two reasons for that. Obviously, the first one was to reward them, and the other one was to show that the royal family was well. ¡°Among those who will be rewarded this time, the two of you will specially be given the title of count, a fief¡­ and a new surname personally bestowed by the royal family for your great contribution.¡± ¡°Surname? A new one?¡± Count Bayer replied with a smile to Cordelia¡¯s question. ¡°Because there cannot be two Count Bayer and Count Chase.¡± Generally, it was possible to distinguish the two without bestowing a different surname to the other by referring to one as the Greater Count Bayer and the other as the Lesser Count Bayer, but this time, it was decided that they would be given a new surname. ¡®I expected it, but¡­ it seems like the royal family wants us too.¡¯ There were two reasons why he thought that. One was the fact that a new hero was needed to rece the Lord Protector who had fallen from a hero who saved the country and had be a traitor. ¡®Because they need a hero to spruce up the current situation.¡¯ The betrayal of the Lord Protector was not just a shocking incident. It was the worst scandal that could hound the royal family for a long time. ¡®Because the Lord Protector was a hero who saved the country.¡¯ Why did someone who saved the country twice then betray the royal family? Could it be that the royal family pushed him into a situation where he was forced to betray them? Numerous spections would be made, and rumors using these spections would constantly haunt the royal family. Such a problem could not be solved in the short term. So for now, they created a new topic to divert the public¡¯s attention. They would use the new heroes to draw the public¡¯s attention. ¡®The other one is¡­ Is it because¡­ we¡¯repetent?¡¯ It was something embarrassing to think about, but it was true that Jude and Cordelia werepetent. If one limited it to their peers, the two would belong to the most skilled people in the entire continent. ¡®It¡¯s natural for the royal family to want us.¡¯ So they didn¡¯t hold back with the rewards. They especially showed that with the giving of a surname. ¡®Well, I¡¯m grateful for what they¡¯re doing anyway.¡¯ Moreover, there would also be room for a deal if they were desired this much. They would have more chances to rip off the other if they were this much wanted. [You have a wicked expression.] At Cordelia¡¯s remark, Jude coughed several times, and Count Bayer said with a grin, though it was unknown if he knew what Jude was thinking or not. ¡°You can go back and rest now.¡± ¡°Yes, father. We¡¯ll be leaving now.¡± As he stood up with Cordelia, the two gave a bow to Count Bayer and Count Chase before they left the room. *** [Are we finally free after five days?] [No. We have a lot of things to organize.] It was a big incident that simply did not end in attacking the royal family as it turned the entire royal capital upside down too. Naturally, a lot of people were involved. In particr, Velkian was the most problematic. [There are five things we have to consider now.] [Huh? Five things?] [Yes, five.] Cordelia blinked her eyes at Jude¡¯s words, but she did not think deeply of it. It was just a matter of asking Jude about it. [Tell me one by one.] [Hey¡­ did youpletely give up thinking? Please don¡¯t.] [Stop with your nonsense and just exin it.] [Hmm, all right.] Before he exined it, Jude took a deep breath and paused for a bit. He then sent her a message via magic. [First is Velkian.] [Yes, you said he was in the royal capital now, right? Should we meet him before the ceremony?] [That won¡¯t be necessary. He must havee here to meet Pink Bomb in the first ce¡­ There¡¯s also the chaos that happened in the royal capital, so he will not be leaving immediately.] [Hmm, does that mean we still have some time?] [Probably.] Something had happened in the royal capital, so Velkian naturally remained vignt and closely watched any suspicious movements. [What¡¯s the second?] [Scarlet.] [Eh? Scarlet?] [Yes, Scarlet. Did you forget what you promised Scarlet?] Cordelia blinked her eyes at Jude¡¯s words, and soon, she tapped her thigh and said. ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right. The promise.¡± They were supposed topete for the Rogue Master position. Cordeliaughed ¡®hehehe¡¯ as if she had only remembered now, and Jude narrowed his brows and sent her a magic. [Anyway, she¡¯s looking forward to this, so we need to organize this too. Of course, Scarlet will not agree to having the match in the royal capital when the situation is like this.] [Yes. Because our match will be a stealing contest.] The entire royal capital had been affected by the incident, so where in the world would they rob? There might be a ce where they could search and rob, but even stealing had to observe the proper time and ce rule. Especially if it was a big shot like the Rogue Master. [More than that, is Scarlet okay? She isn¡¯t hurt, right?] [She¡¯ll be fine. She is the future Rogue Master. She¡¯s also one of the future Four Great Swordsmen.] [Indeed, that¡¯s true.] Scarlet was one of the strongest among her age. She would be safe without a single tip of her hair undamaged unless she threw her body directly into the path of danger. [They said that Lucas is okay, right?] [Yes, Maja said that.] [So did Dahlia. She told me that he even visited us when we were unconscious.] [He really is nice. I hope it goes well with Scarlet.] [Yeah. With Scarlet¡­eh? With Scarlet?] [Ah¡­ it¡¯s a long story, so I¡¯ll pass for now.] [Eh? Wait, why are you saying that? Isn¡¯t this something really important?] [Uh, no. Anyway, I¡¯ll tell you the third one.] When Jude quickly changed the topic, Cordelia inted her cheeks with a disgruntled face, but from Jude¡¯s point of view, it was a reward. ¡®Hmm, as expected, she¡¯s cute.¡¯ Jude smiled happily and brought up the third topic. [The third one is about the demon followers.] [The Devil¡¯s Hand?] [Yes, they¡¯ll be aiming at us openly now.] From the northern region, the wildnds, and then to the royal capital. The two had repeatedly destroyed the ns of the demon followers. In particr, they yed a huge role in defeating the Lord Protector this time, so it was inevitable that they would receive a high level of attention. [Umm¡­ does that mean they¡¯ll send mid-ranking demonic humans?] [Maybe. But they won¡¯t be able to send them right away.] [Why?] [The S?len royal family will try to catch the demon followers like rats.] After all, the S?len Kingdom hated the demon followers. Moreover, the demon followers attacked the royal capital. They corrupted the Lord Protector, making him betray the royal family and taking the lives of several royal family members. [Once the disturbance in the royal capital is resolved to some extent, it¡¯s highly likely that they¡¯ll move immediately.] There were also several reasons for this. One was that they needed someone to draw the public¡¯s attention just like their need for a new hero. ¡®To be exact, they needed a target of hatred.¡¯ And the other reason was Henry II¡¯s anger. [The reason that the Lord Protector became a traitor was because of the demon followers. It waspletely their fault that the Lord Protector was corrupted.] At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia nodded with a worried face. She felt sad when she thought of Henry II whose heart must have been torn into pieces because of the betrayal. [He seemed to be a really pure man.] Cordelia herself didn¡¯t care much about him because she found him unpleasant when they argued back then. However, she was deeply saddened when she saw how much he liked the Lord Protector. [As I thought, you¡¯re an angel.] [What?] [I mean, my princess is kind.] The smirking Jude continued his exnation before Cordelia could say anything. [Anyway, the S?len royal family will be eager to beat the demon followers, so the demon followers will not bother us for a while.] [Then, should we be stronger in the meantime?] To the point where they could fight against mid-ranking demonic humans. Jude smiled at Cordelia¡¯s words and nodded his head. [That¡¯s right. I¡¯ve also thought of that, and I¡¯m not talking about the sixth door or the Angel Mode.] Cordelia stared at Jude¡¯s eyes and eventually understood it. [Key Sword.] [Correct.] It was the key to obtaining the Ultimate Seven series. [We¡¯ll have to work hard in leveling up since it¡¯s an?exceptional item.] [That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right. Are you skilled in ying games, though?] [Yes, I¡¯m skilled in ying games.] Jude slyly responded to Cordelia¡¯s words before he continued to speak. T/N: The word used for ¡®exceptional item¡¯ here is ?? (tem-ppal), which is an item that makes you really good in ying or doing something, and not because you have the skills for it. In game terms, it means that you¡¯re only good at ying because of your items and not because of your actual skills. So Jude is trying to say that even if they had an exceptional item, they have to work hard in bing stronger and not just rely on the item. He does not want them to be strong just because of their items. Cordelia agrees with him, but yfully asks him if he actually had the skills in the first ce. And Jude slyly replies that he has the skills to do so. [And thest one is¡­ you know about it, right? The event in the south.] [Yes, one of the three big events that led to the fall of the S?len Kingdom.] The great invasion of the barbarians destroyed the northern region. The annihtion of the royal family brought the central region into ruins. And the third one was ¡®ck Dragon Malekith¡¯s Attack¡¯ which dealt a devastating blow to the 7 southern families that were the pirs of the southern region. [If we can stop Malekith, the S?len Kingdom will be safe for a while.] In the game, the S?len Kingdom helplessly copsed because it couldn¡¯t prevent any of those three events, but it was different now. Since the north and the center were still going strong, if the event in the south is prevented, the S?len Kingdom would be a huge barrier that could protect humanity in the uing 7 major cmities. [Eueue¡­ So how should we decide the order of doing those 5 things?] [Uh, we¡¯ll have to think about it when I give you the details.] Having spoken so far, Jude stopped walking. And so did Cordelia. Because they had arrived. They were right in front of Jude and Cordelia¡¯s rooms, which were next to each other. [Uh¡­ Cordelia?] [Yes, Jude.] Jude and Cordelia looked at each other before they turned their heads back again. The two hesitated before they finally spoke. [Uh¡­ would you like to talk in my room?] [Eh? Uh¡­ o-okay?] We have a lot to discuss. We have a lot to think about especially the things we talked about on our way here. That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right. So it¡¯s only natural for us to go in his room and talk. Cordelia spoke to herself and lightly bit her lips. They were only going to do something that they had naturally and usually did, but for some strange reason, her heart was pounding. [S-shall we go then?] [Y-yes, let¡¯s go.] Jude answered awkwardly unlike his usual self, and he opened the door and saw that no one was in the room. Because just like always, Dahlia and Maja had gone away in order to give the two some ¡®alone time¡¯ together. That was why the room was empty. There was no one in the room. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± ¡°Ehem, ehem, ehem.¡± Jude and Cordelia cleared their throats for no reason and then entered the room awkwardly as they avoided each other¡¯s gaze. They then sat on the sofa. However. It was normal for the two to sit opposite each other when they were discussing something, and that had always been the case until now. But it was different this time. Because both of them sat on the same sofa as if they had agreed beforehand. So why? What was the reason? Was it perhaps because they were holding hands? ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± ¡°Ehem, ehem, ehem.¡± Jude and Cordelia looked at each other while coughing for no reason again, and at that moment, they both turned their heads away. Because they remembered what happenedst night. ¡®Ki-ki-kiss¡­¡¯ Cordelia unconsciously squirmed her lips while Jude swallowed hard. 1 minute passed. 2 minutes passed. ¡°Uh¡­Jude?¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± ¡°W-we should talk, right?¡± ¡°Y-yes, we have to. Discuss. We have to discuss.¡± They hade here to do that. They came here to discuss and not for something else. ¡°T-then¡­ will you let go of¡­ my hand?¡± ¡°Hand?¡± ¡°Yes, hand. Uh¡­ it¡¯s not necessary to hold it¡­ right?¡± Cordelia wriggled her fingers, and Jude wriggled his fingers too because their fingers were still interlocked with each other. And as they wriggled their fingers like that, they both felt strange. Their hearts were beating faster, and their breaths were getting rougher. And a few secondster. Cordelia squirmed her lips before she nced at Jude, and at that moment, Jude also turned to Cordelia. Their blue and green eyes met with each other. Little by little, the distance they had between each other narrowed. And a voice suddenly came from behind them. ¡°What are you two doing?¡± A sullen voice. And at the same time, a familiar voice. At the d¨¦j¨¤ vu they somehow felt, Jude and Cordelia hurriedly looked behind them and simultaneously jumped from their seats. Cordelia then burst into a bright smile. ¡°Scarlet!¡± You¡¯re safe! Cordelia jumped over the sofa and hugged Scarlet who was dressed in a maid outfit. Scarlet hugged her back and then nced at Jude. As she faced him who now had a sour expression, she gave a strange smile that was half sorry and half pleased at his misfortune. Chapter 203 - MERIT CEREMONY (6)

Chapter 203 - MERIT CEREMONY (6)

¡°Were you hurt?¡± ¡°I¡¯m okay, see? Should you be saying that when you were in aa though?¡± When Scarlet asked back as soon as she sat besides Cordelia on the sofa, Cordelia shook her head and answered. ¡°No, it isn¡¯t to the point of aa since I only slept for two days.¡± ¡°Hey, sleeping for two days is definitely not normal, okay?¡± Scarlet sharply spoke and squinted her eyes, looking at Cordelia all over. She seemed to be looking for any injuries. And at Scarlet¡¯s appearance, Cordelia began tough. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just¡­ you seemed to be seriously worried of me.¡± Cordelia giggled again and lightly pped Scarlet¡¯s shoulder as she smiled with her eyes, and Scarlet frowned. ¡°No, I¡¯m not. I wasn¡¯t that worried of you, okay? I really didn¡¯t care about you, okay?¡± ¡°Wow, your ssic reaction is so good, so good. You¡¯re so cute.¡± ¡°What ¡®so cute¡¯?¡± Whether Scarlet hated it or not, Cordelia hugged her arm andughed, and Scarlet eventually frowned and looked back at Jude. ¡°Hey, ck Cloak. Why is Pink Bomb acting like this? Did she injure her head or something?¡± [She¡¯s not hurt. She¡¯s just pretty, cute, and adorable like usual.] Scarlet shuddered when he replied via magic instead of his voice, and she eventually gave up. Because the more she spoke, the more she would only be embarrassed. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m fine.¡± ¡°Yes, yes. If Scarlet is okay, then I¡¯m okay too.¡± As Cordelia rubbed her cheeks against Scarlet¡¯s shoulder, Scarlet flinched for a moment but soon smiled. Because she found the expression of Jude looking at them to be very funny. ¡®Should I tease him a bit?¡¯ But before Scarlet could even try something, Jude moved first. He took a seat across Scarlet and immediately brought up a topic she couldn¡¯t ignore. ¡°The match.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°The match for the Rogue Master position. Isn¡¯t it time to discuss it?¡± As Jude grinned and spoke, Scarlet slightly frowned. She weed the fact that they were finally talking about the match for the Rogue Master position, but she didn¡¯t like it a bit on how Jude led the flow of their discussion into that. But she couldn¡¯t help it. She was the one who had lost in their fight, so she eventually gave up. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s talk about it.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll cut to the chase and get straight to the point¡­ don¡¯t you agree that it¡¯s impossible to do it now?¡± ¡°I agree. Because the royal capital is in an absolute mess.¡± Jude smiled again when her response was what he expected. ¡®As expected of Scarlet.¡¯ In the game, Scarlet was the idealpanion who was friendly and rational, even before she was deceived by the magic sword. He thought that if the royal capital had suffered serious damage, she would postpone the match, and now, she responded as he had expected. ¡®Because it concerns the Rogue Master¡¯s pride.¡¯ More than a hundred years had passed since the first Rogue Master had appeared on earth. Numerous thieves had appeared between the past and present, and some had even done bigger thefts than the Rogue Master. But none of them were as legendary as the Rogue Master. What was the reason for that? Why was the Rogue Master the only one who became a legend? ¡®Because it had romance.¡¯ The Rogue Master would send a notice herself in order to increase the difficulty of her theft. The Rogue Master only targeted the wicked rich. The Rogue Master only stole and did not kill people. The money earned from the rich was used to help those who were in need. The so-called Robin Hood figure. A righteous thief. That was all a fantasy though. After all, a thief was still a thief in the end, and most of what the Rogue Master stole from the rich went into the pockets of the Rogue Master and not the poor. But the most important thing was the image. ¡®A romantic thief.¡¯ It was impossible for such a Rogue Master to use the royal capital, where a lot of people had been killed or injured, as the stage for their theft. ¡°But that doesn¡¯t mean we¡¯re not going to hold the match, right? So let¡¯s change the ce.¡± ¡°You mean we¡¯ll be having the match in a ce other than the royal capital?¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s have it in the south and not the center.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia¡¯s eyes widened, and she looked at him in admiration. Because she realized what Jude was nning. ¡®Are you trying to take Scarlet with us to the south?¡¯ ¡®Because the more powerful allies we have, the better.¡¯ ck Dragon Malekith was a powerful enemy in a different sense than the Lord Protector. In order to deal with a literally gigantic monster, they need to have at least one more useable trump card. ¡°Where in the south? The 7 southern families?¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t they be worth stealing from?¡± Scarlet narrowed her eyes as Jude smirked and answered. Because she became wary when she saw Jude¡¯s sly smile. ¡®He¡¯s up to something, right?¡¯ Although the royal capital suffered serious damage, the entire central region was not harmed. But he was saying that they should leave the center and hold the match in the south. His words felt suspicious even if he didn¡¯t have a sly smile. ¡®Rather, should we hold the match in the empire?¡¯ Scarlet¡¯s own home ground. But Scarlet soon stopped her thoughts. Because she was the one who had lost in their fight in the first meeting. ¡®This was a match originally proposed by Pink Bomb out of her consideration of me in the first ce.¡¯ So she wasn¡¯t in a position to say this and that. ¡®Of course, if it¡¯s Cordelia, she wouldn¡¯t think much about it, and¡­¡¯ Maybe she¡¯ll even ept having the match in the empire. But that ck Cloak ¨C that Jude who is a sly person incarnate, will not agree to it. Perhaps whatever I say, he¡¯ll insist to have the match be held in the south. ¡®There¡¯s no point fighting about it.¡¯ It¡¯s not like we won¡¯t be seeing each other anymore after this match. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s have the match in the south then. When will it be?¡± ¡°Please give us a bit of time.¡± ¡°How long?¡± ¡°At least two months, I think? The two of us will not be able to go to the south until the mess in the royal capital has been organized.¡± ¡°Hmmm.¡± Scarlet looked troubled as she crossed her arms, but she soon nodded again. As Jude had said, it would take quite some time before they could leave the royal capital. ¡®Though two months is a bit long.¡¯ But it wasn¡¯t like she couldn¡¯t wait at all. Moreover, Scarlet herself needed some time to investigate the southern region. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s do that. It doesn¡¯t matter if we discuss the details of the matchter.¡± ¡°As expected of Scarlet. You¡¯re nice and generous.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not exactly nice though?¡± ¡°If you insist.¡± ¡°Ufufu.¡± The one whoughedst was Cordelia. She seemed to be really excited that she kept onughing. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s wrong with you? You¡¯re creeping me out.¡± ¡°Nothing. It¡¯s just that I like Scarlet?¡± When Cordelia giggled again, Scarlet couldn¡¯t help but smile in the end. Because Cordelia was just too cute for her to reject. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s have the match in the south two months after, but¡­¡± ¡°But?¡± ¡°Pink Bomb, let¡¯s go out and talk for a minute.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°I was just thinking of talking to you while getting some fresh air. I¡¯d also like to hear about what happened that night in the royal pce. Is that fine with you?¡± ¡°Well¡­ I don¡¯t mind.¡± Having said that, Cordelia turned to Jude, and instead of seeing Cordelia, Jude saw Scarlet grinning at him. ¡®I can see your thoughts very clearly.¡¯ Scarlet¡¯s intention. In fact, it wasn¡¯t that serious. It was just a really simple idea of hers to take Cordelia outside and not let Cordelia spend some time with Jude. ¡®You¡¯re annoyed, right? Right?¡¯ Jude answered Scarlet¡¯s gaze with a bitter smile before he turned to Cordelia. ¡®Jude?¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s fine if you go along with Scarlet. You¡¯re going to chat with a friend in the first ce, so it¡¯s not something for me to decide, right?¡¯ ¡®Well¡­ that¡¯s true. Okay, I¡¯ll be backter.¡¯ Cordelia widely smiled, and just like the saying ¡®strike while the iron is hot,¡¯ she immediately stood up and pulled Scarlet¡¯s hand, while Scarlet sneered at Jude before she went out with Cordelia. And a few secondster. After the door was closed, Jude stretched his arms and let out a long breath. ¡®Anyway, it seems like Scarlet ispletely on our side.¡¯ Whatever the oue of the match would be, it seemed like she would still be working with them in the future. ¡®Though it¡¯s a bit annoying when she always interrupts us¡­¡¯ Well, I don¡¯t exactly hate it though. It¡¯s at a level where I could justugh it off. Plus, Scarlet intruding on us is quite helpful at the moment. ¡®Because it¡¯s hard to concentrate when Cordelia is around.¡¯ At least, for now. ¡®Let¡¯s sort it out while Cordelia is gone.¡¯ He couldn¡¯t do thatst night because his mental state then didn¡¯t let him think properly. Jude closed his eyes and slowly breathed. He slowly immersed himself in the deepest parts of his consciousness in order to examine the state of his body and soul. And he soon realized it. ¡®As I thought, it was too much.¡¯ He had failed to open the sixth door properly. He had created a sixth door, but only the form was created. If he had to describe it, it was like a te that had been widened, but the te¡¯s contents barely filled it. ¡®I need time.¡¯ Time to properly maintain the sixth door. Time to let my own skills grow and match the te that had suddenly be bigger. ¡®But I shouldn¡¯t hurry that much.¡¯ As he had already told Cordelia, the demon followers wouldn¡¯t dare to attack them for the time being. They also didn¡¯t need to immediately be very strong because ck Dragon Malekith¡¯s attack on the south would only happen a few months from now if it went by the game¡¯s timeline. ¡®So let¡¯s take our time.¡¯ I¡¯ll recover my health and build up my strength. I can¡¯t rely too much on Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, so I have to develop my other skills too. ¡®Ultimate Seven.¡¯ Seven ultimate swords that were created by the ancient dwarves, and could only be obtained through the Key Sword. It was not surprising that Jude knew all seven of it since he had used them at least once in?Legend of Heroes 2. And that was why he was convinced. ¡®I need the Ultimate One.¡¯ It was the most different from among the seven ultimate swords. But that was also the reason why that sword suited the current Jude the best. Fortunately, what Jude himself wanted ¨C ¡®Ultimate One,¡¯ and what Cordelia wanted ¨C ¡®Ultimate Four, Explosive de ¨C Magic ster,¡¯ were located in the S?len Kingdom. ¡®And if we can secure Ultimate Three, Dragon Sword Ascalon, before our fight against Malekith, it will be like the icing on the cake.¡¯ Jude drew up a n on his head for a while, and then smiled and stretched his arms. Because when he was thinking of how to get the items, he suddenly remembered?Legend of Heroes 2. ¡®It¡¯s not a game now but reality.¡¯ After he lightly smiled, Jude closed his eyes again and delved into his consciousness. He began to operate the ck Sun, which was born from the union of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors and the Supreme Sun Divine Art. *** At a small garden near a different pce. Scarlet sat in a sunny spot and enjoyed the wind, and then asked with her eyes wide open. ¡°The Lord Protector? Did you just say that you defeated him?¡± ¡°Yes. But it¡¯s still a secret so don¡¯t say it out loud.¡± Cordelia looked around and spoke quietly, but Scarlet shouted, grabbing Cordelia¡¯s shoulders rather than being quiet. ¡°How?!¡± Scarlet was already aware of the fact that the Lord Protector was a traitor. As Cordelia had said, everyone kept it a secret, but it had already been three days after the battle on the royal capital, so everyone who could know already knew that the Lord Protector was a traitor. But she thought that it was impossible for Jude and Cordelia to have defeated the Lord Protector. ¡°Well¡­ it¡¯s because we did our very best? The crown princess and the prince also helped.¡± When Cordelia hesitated, Scarlet shook her shoulder again, as if she wanted to ask on what the hell did Cordelia mean. Because the Lord Protector wasn¡¯t someone that could just be defeated by a few children. ¡°Anyway, we defeated him. I can¡¯t say how we defeated him because it¡¯s rted to a secret of the kingdom.¡± The existence of the divine sword, ¨ªomh Sis, that maintained the barrier and was located in the basement of the royal pce, was in fact, a national secret. Count Bayer and Count Chase already knew of the existence of the divine sword so they could openly talk about it, but it was impossible to let Scarlet know about it since she was a citizen of the empire. ¡°How mean.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± Scarlet soon sighed when Cordelia¡¯s face became sad as if she was truly sorry. ¡°Well¡­ it can¡¯t be helped. Anyway, you didn¡¯t win with just your skills, right?¡± ¡°Yeah. Something more was added¡­ and more than anything, we were just lucky.¡± ¡°Just lucky¡­¡± Scarlet frowned and then shook her head. Even if the Lord Protector was old and had be weak, he was still one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. He wasn¡¯t someone that could be defeated just by being lucky. But Jude and Cordelia defeated such a Lord Protector. ¡®It¡¯s something unexpected but¡­ these two are also monsters.¡¯ They¡¯re only 17 years old now. But what the hell is up with their strength? ¡®God¡¯s mistake¡­¡¯ A term that refers to Maximilian de Avis. But, perhaps, Jude and Cordelia are also god¡¯s mistakes? ¡°Scarlet?¡± ¡°Eh? Yeah, well¡­ I get it. Anyway, it¡¯s fine since you came out safe.¡± Scarlet evasively spoke before she stood up from her seat. Because of that, Cordelia stood up too and asked. ¡°Are you going now?¡± ¡°Yes, I have to get going now.¡± She had aplished most of her purpose in infiltrating the pce. She would have perfectly aplished it if she would be able to see Lucas¡¯ condition on her way back. ¡°Then, see you at the merit ceremony.¡± ¡°Eh? You¡¯re attending the merit ceremony?¡± ¡°It¡¯s for a special purpose. I have to give you a p, after all.¡± Scarlet shrugged and spoke coyly, grinning wide as she said goodbye to Cordelia and headed back. ¡°See you next time.¡± ¡°Yes, see you next time.¡± After Cordelia waved her hand, Scarlet haughtily turned around and began to walk a few steps, but she soon blended into the surroundingndscape and became invisible. ¡°Wow.¡± As expected of the Rogue Master. Cordelia admired her for a bit and pped her hands, and then she brushed off the dirt from her skirt and looked back at the pce. She had to go back by herself. But before she took a step, Cordelia once again viewed the garden and gazed at the main pce that she could see from here. It wasn¡¯t perfect. There were signs of destruction and ruin here and there. She hadn¡¯t seen it with her eyes, but she knew that a lot of people were also killed or injured. But, even if that happened¡­ ¡®We weren¡¯t wrong.¡¯ What Jude and Cordelia did. They had done their best to protect the royal family and the royal capital. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Cordelia spoke to herself and headed back to the pce. She walked and began to imagine the face of Jude that had naturallye into her mind. And five dayster in the afternoon. The merit ceremony finally began. Chapter 204 - CEREMONY (7)

Chapter 204 - CEREMONY (7)

The damage suffered by the royal capital was truly enormous. The Royal Guards in charge of the security of the royal capital incurred more than 500 deaths alone, and the number of civilian deaths was estimated to be at least 2000 to 3000. It was not an exaggeration to say that there were more than 10,000 casualties, as the number of injured or disabled people also numbered in the thousands. There were two main reasons why such a massive damage urred in a short period of time. One was that a lot of demon followers entered the royal capital too easily because of the Lord Protector and his subordinates, and the other was that most of the royal capital¡¯s residents were gathered outdoors because of the founding anniversary celebration. ¡®It would have been different if it was the usual royal capital.¡¯ Most of the demon followers would not have been able to cross the wall in the first ce. There would have been fewer people who became zombies than there were now. ¡®In the end, it¡¯s the Lord Protector¡¯s fault.¡¯ It was the result of the betrayal of their national hero who received the king¡¯s absolute trust. ¡®But they managed to stop it well. As expected of the royal capital.¡¯ First Sword was sitting on top of a horse and smiled as he read a newspaper detailing the incident on the royal capital. He smiled because they really stopped it well. ¡®If the Lord Protector had seeded, the royal capital would have been destroyed.¡¯ Saluzia and Koros were nning to summon a Hell Gate in the royal capital. If it had gone ording to n, the content in the newspaper would have been very different. ¡®I wanted to see it at least once.¡¯ What a wide open Hell Gate looks like and what its consequences will be. I¡¯m also curious on what kind of hell will spread in the world because of that. After First Sword folded the newspaper, he bit on the apple he was holding. In fact, even if the Lord Protector had seeded, there was also a possibility that things would not have worked out as well as they nned. Because there was a true reason why the damage to the royal capital was ¡®only this much.¡¯ ¡®The five heroes of the Paragon Kingdom.¡¯ Among those heroes was Velkian, a necromancer who specialized inrge-scale summoning. Without him, the damage to the royal capital would have been several times more than it was now, regardless of the presence or absence of the barrier. ¡®They say that he was a monster.¡¯ His death magic was so powerful and transcendental that it covered the sky of the royal capital and let him control over a thousand forces of undead. He was a being so powerful that a high-ranking demonic human would call him a ¡®monster.¡¯ ¡®There are two people who are as strong as Velkian.¡¯ Iron Man Landius and Ghostde Kamael. How strong are they? Are they stronger than the empire¡¯s Sword God? I want to fight them. I want to face their sword. I want to defeat them with my own sword. After First Sword took another bite of the apple, he turned his horse towards the direction of the royal capital. ¡°Congrattions from afar.¡± At the center of the royal capital. At therge za that was also connected to a part of the royal pce. First Sword remembered the merit ceremony being held there, and he smiled as he lightly pped his hands. Hevishly praised Jude and Cordelia, who were said to be the main characters of this merit ceremony. The two were now the kingdom¡¯s heroes. These two would now shine brighter than before. How fun would it be to trample those two? How much fun would it be to taint Cordelia, who was as clean and beautiful as the white snow, and Jude who shined like a jewel? ¡°See you next time.¡± Until then, both of you stay healthy. Say hello to the Sword Saint of Wind for me. First Sword turned around while enjoying a more rxed feeling than before, perhaps because he removed his mask called the Sword Saint of Light. He went forward with his back on the royal capital. *** Numerous people gathered in therge za located in the center of the royal capital. Thousands, or perhaps even tens of thousands were gathered. They all looked at one ce. King Henry II stood on a high andrge balcony connected to therge za. Henry II stood in front of the people with a very tired and weary look. Even from a distance, one could tell that his face had be thinner. But he didn¡¯t pass his work to other people. He stood in front of the people and told them what he had to say. The betrayal of the Lord Protector and First Sword. Their n to overthrow the royal capital. The deaths of the royal family members and the attacks of the demon followers along with the damage they caused. ¡°But we didn¡¯t fall. We shall ovee this crisis too.¡± Henry II¡¯s voice spread throughout the za through a voice amplification magic. He talked about the heroes in order to encourage the people who lived in sorrow and fear. ¡°There are those who have made great contributions.¡± Seryu, the Seven-Killings Sword who blocked the high-ranking demonic human at the south gate. Ga?l and Adelia who fought hard until the end at the west gate. Count Chase who saved the lives of countless people by preventing the copse of the royal pce, and Count Bayer who single-handedly stopped First Sword. And it wasn¡¯t just them. The Royal Guards and Royal Guard Knights who fought meritoriously in the royal capital, and even the civilian heroes who did not have any special position but fought to protect the people around them. Henry II promised to reward them properly as he called their names one by one, starting from the small ones, and he also promised considerable support to the inhabitants of the heavily damaged royal capital. [Wow¡­ they¡¯re really being generous.] Cordelia blinked her eyes and sent a magic as she waited behind the balcony. She would say that because if one roughly calcted the amount of support and rewards to be given, it was enormous. The S?len royal family had great financial resources as it ruled one of the continent¡¯s two biggest powers, but if the royal family gave such an amount of money, wouldn¡¯t their position be shaken? At Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude replied with a smile. [Because they¡¯re nning to confiscate the Lord Protector¡¯s properties. Including the nobles under hismand.] [Still, they¡¯re being generous.] [That¡¯s true. After all, they¡¯re giving away the money they earned from their royal properties.] Certainly, if one looked at that aspect, Henry II was a good person. He was inwardly driven to do so. [Wasn¡¯t he seriously heartbroken?] [He¡¯ll ovee it. He has a lot of good people around him.] Jude looked at the backs of Princess Daphne and First Queen Justina who were next to Henry II. He turned his gaze to Cordelia afterwards. He stared at her wearing a snow-white dress and impulsively touched his lips to her head. ¡°Eh?¡± As the startled Cordelia flinched and turned around, Jude smiled and this time, he pressed his lips to her white and smooth forehead. It was really light and fast, as if it was just passing by. [Mr. ck Cloak? What are you doing?] But instead of answering, Jude once again touched his lips on her forehead, and the flinching Cordelia quickly looked around. Quite a few people were present, including those who were waiting to receive their award. Did they see it? What if they saw it? And why is he suddenly like this- It was at that moment. Cordelia met eyes with Seryu, the Seven-Killings Sword, who was standing far away by the wall and had turned her head away as she blushed. Their eyes meeting wasn¡¯t just a coincidence because Seryu had been looking at them for some time. ¡®Did she see it? Did she really see it? Is that why she¡¯s smiling a bit?¡¯ But it was at that time. A kiss again. On her head again this time. Or on her hair to be exact. Cordelia quickly turned her head to look at Jude, and as she faced him, Jude kissed her on the forehead again. ¡®Hey! What are we going to do if others see us!¡¯ Wait, isn¡¯t Seryu already watching us? In fact, it wasn¡¯t just Seryu. Cordelia didn¡¯t notice because she was too preupied with the current situation, but there were a few more people who were looking at them. Nevertheless, Jude did not seem to care as he kissed Cordelia¡¯s forehead again. Kiss, kiss. Kiss, kiss, kiss. Kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss. T/N: The kiss here is supposed to be ¡®chu¡¯, which is the sound of a kiss. But if I write ¡®chu, chu¡¯, it sounds like a train¡¯s choo-choo, so I just wrote kiss instead of chu. Though Jude, you sly bastard, you kissed her nine times, hahaha ¡®Hey! Jude! You¡¯re ruining my makeup, okay?!¡¯ Wait, that¡¯s not the problem! Cordelia got angry and looked up at Jude, but she couldn¡¯t fight back. Since they had a height difference of around 20 cm, she couldn¡¯t even touch her lips on his cheek or chin. And if she did more than that¡­ She would have to hug his neck and lean her body towards him as if she was hanging on his neck, but such a big move was sure to catch the attention of everyone around them. ¡®Argh.¡¯ She was seriously getting annoyed. It was such a one-sided?deal. She couldn¡¯t do a?free deal?on his face. T/N: ¡®Deal¡¯ and ¡®free deal¡¯ are Korean gaming terms. Deal stands for ¡®dealing damage¡¯ while ¡®free deal¡¯ means being able to deal damage without anything obstructing you. And in the meantime, she got kissed again. Eventually, Cordelia couldn¡¯t stand it and red at Jude. [Hey, just you wait and see when we get back, okay? Just you wait and see!] [Oh, yes. I¡¯ll be looking forward to it.] However, he weed it. When Jude said that with a sly smile, Cordelia felt that she had lost and frowned again, but now wasn¡¯t the time to argue with him. Because she heard a voice calling them. [Let¡¯s go, Princess.] [Ah, seriously.] You¡¯re so cheeky. Resisting the urge to punch his chest, Cordelia held Jude¡¯s hand and looked straight ahead as they slowly began to walk. They headed out to the open balcony. And saw countless people who were standing beyond that balcony. Her heart was pounding. As they passed through the door and entered the balcony, it felt like they had entered apletely different world. ¡°Jude Bayer and Cordelia Chase.¡± Henry II¡¯s call brought Cordelia back to reality. She followed the hand of the cheeky but reliable Jude and stood in front of Henry II before they slowly bowed in courtesy. ¡°The two of you made a really big contribution. Without you, me and my family would have lost our lives.¡± Henry II spoke a little casually as if to calm the nervous Cordelia, and he soon turned around and faced the citizens of the royal capital again. He exined Jude and Cordelia¡¯s meritorious deeds to the numerous people looking up at them. ¡®I can¡¯t hear anything.¡¯ She was so nervous that she couldn¡¯t even understand what the king was talking about. Tens of thousands of eyes seemed to turn into tens of thousands of arrows that prated her entire body. Cordelia continued to swallow hard. She couldn¡¯t help but breathe roughly as her feet trembled and her smile became stiff. And she heard Henry II¡¯s voice again. ¡°I will bestow to you two the title of count, and from now on, the two of you will be known as Jude A. Bayer and Cordelia A. Chase.¡± A newly added middle name. To be exact, it was a name bestowed by the royal family themselves. Jude August Bayer and Cordelia August Chase. They could have given them a new surname, but this was Princess Daphne¡¯s consideration for Cordelia who was attached to the ¡®Chase¡¯ surname. ¡°Count August Bayer and Countess August Chase. Go ahead and face the people of the kingdom.¡± Cordelia did not respond immediately despite Henry II¡¯s order, but fortunately, Jude was next to her. As he gently led the absentminded Cordelia, she finally came to her senses. And a few stepster. Cordelia passed by Henry II and reached the spot just before the balcony railing before she nervously looked down at the za. And Jude whispered into Cordelia¡¯s ear. ¡°These are the people we saved.¡± If we didn¡¯t stop the Lord Protector. The barrier would have been destroyed and the Devil¡¯s Hand would havemitted the same atrocities in the game. ¡°We were able to protect this many people. So you can be proud of it.¡± Don¡¯t me yourself for not having saved more people. At least for this moment, let¡¯s rejoice together with the people we have protected. Jude strengthened his grip on her hand, and Cordelia took a deep breath. She faced everyone in therge za again. People were rejoicing. They were cheering and enthusiastically waving their hands. The people cheered, either because of Henry II¡¯s inspiring speech or because they were grateful to Jude and Cordelia for saving them, as Jude had said. The two didn¡¯t know. It was impossible to tell which of the two was it. In fact, it wasn¡¯t that important. ¡®What should I do? I¡¯m about to cry.¡¯ At the time when I first heard that the royal capital was attacked. I thought that it was my fault. I was afraid that I had done something wrong. If we hadn¡¯t hindered the ck Moon¡¯s ns¡­ If we had just let themmit acts of terror¡­ If that had happened, would the damage have been less? Then, was it because of us that the damage worsened? No, it¡¯s not that. It isn¡¯t like that. Our desperate efforts paid off and we stopped the Lord Protector. Just like what we did in the wildnds, we were able to prevent the fated catastrophe by changing history. Nevertheless, it felt ufortable. Because so many innocent people had died. My chest had felt heavy for the past five days. As if I was carrying a huge rock. But I feel better now. The heaviness in my chest seem to have been lightened and relieved. Everyone¡¯s rejoicing. They¡¯re cheering as they look at us. There¡¯s so many of them, and they number in the thousands, no, perhaps even in the tens of thousands. These are the people we protected. Cordelia smiled with tears in her eyes, and Jude slightly tightened his grip on her hand. He saw Emma Ficus and the people of the Blue Moon among those cheering in the crowd, and he let Cordelia know about it. ¡®Jude, Jude.¡¯ ¡®Yes, Cordelia.¡¯ ¡®Let¡¯s work harder.¡¯ Let¡¯s make a perfect happy ending by stopping all the tragedies in the game¡¯s storyline. Let¡¯s save more people. At the pure eyes of Cordelia that was like that of a child, Jude smiled. He kissed the forehead of Cordelia who was looking up at him, and this time, Cordelia didn¡¯t let herself be beaten. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed Jude on the cheek. ¡°Oooooh!¡± ¡°Oooooooooh!¡± People¡¯s cheers exploded. Andughter spread throughout the za. Among those in the crowd, Maximilian gazed at the balcony with a smile, while Velkian grinned behind his mask. And Jude and Cordelia looked back at the people. As they widely smiled with red faces, they raised their sped hands. *** Time passed. First Sword escaped the royal capital and reached the base of the Devil¡¯s Hand located near the kingdom¡¯s border with the Argon Empire, and he faced the leader of the Devil¡¯s Hand again after almost a decade. A mysterious woman with long blue hair. No matter how many times he met her, she seemed to be in the beginning of her twenties, and First Sword was slightly thrilled when he saw her face. She still looked the samepared to the time when he faced her ten years ago. ¡®Immortality and eternal youth.¡¯ First Sword¡¯s desire was simr but different to the Lord Protector¡¯s desire. The Lord Protector was afraid of death. He did not want to die, so he desired to be united with a demon. But First Sword was different. Rather than dying, he could not stand the fact that he would get older. Because he did not want to be weak. Because he wanted to keep getting stronger. Because he wanted to walk on the path of the sword forever and ever. ¡°Rhun Froud.¡± The leader called First Sword¡¯s name, and at her low voice, First Sword unconsciously knelt on his knees. He respectfully bowed to the being in front of him. ¡°Originally, your fate was different from what it is now.¡± First Sword should have joined them a littleter. He should have stood before her with a broken body and soul, and not in his good condition now. But fate had changed. As a result, the foresight of Overlord Asmodeus was also twisted. ¡°The devil Carthago was originally your destiny.¡± A powerful demon who specialized in deadly poisons. But not now. A new fate was given to Rhun Froud, known as First Sword and the Sword Saint of Light. ¡°Fortissimo.¡± A sword demon. A mighty being who was one of the seven swords of Overlord Asmodeus. No one knew on what the result of this twisted fate would be. The leader did not decide on his demon. She just followed the will of Overlord Asmodeus. She then helped First Sword stand up and led him to the room where the ritual would be held. A new high-ranking demonic human- No, it would be the birth of a true ¡®Sword Demon¡¯ who wouldn¡¯t stop at bing stronger. The leader of the Devil¡¯s Hand moved. She awakened the demon¡¯s soul. Chapter 205 - TIARA OF LIFE (1)

Chapter 205 - TIARA OF LIFE (1)

Cordelia woke up as the morning sunlight passed through the window, and she raised her upper body with her eyes closed, smiling with a half-asleep face. She seemed to have had a good dreamst night. And surprisingly, instead of going back to sleep, she did some stretching exercises. She usually slept a lot in the morning, so until someone woke her up- no, she was someone who didn¡¯t wake up easily even if someone tried to wake her up, but today, she woke up by herself and felt good about it. ¡°Hehe.¡± As she smiled again, Cordelia came down from the bed with her eyes still closed, and she walked as she sniffed with her nose. Just like a beast, it seemed like the warmth and pleasant smell of the sun could rece her sense of sight. ¡°Umnn¡­ it¡¯s a beautiful morning.¡± Cordelia mumbled with her eyes half-closed and stretched her arms as the chirping of birds could be heard from outside. A day after the merit ceremony. In the morning. Cordelia moved her arms up and down before she headed to the table with the washbowl, and instead of calling for anyone, she filled the washbowl with water by herself, and then dipped her hands in the cold water. ¡°Yes, yes, this is niiice.¡± She was still in a good mood just like yesterday. To be given a title, to be praised¡­ of course, she felt good from that. But the uplifting mood she felt from the fact that they protected people was greater than those. I have to do better in the future. I have to work harder. I have to be stronger. ¡°Yes, yes, yes.¡± Cordelia hummed and then moved her hands as she began to wash her face lightly. The cold water woke her up every time it touched her face, and she recalled what happened yesterday. The good things that happened. It wasn¡¯t just one or two things. It wasn¡¯t only Cordelia and Jude who attended the merit ceremony. ¡®My father-inw is a Sword Saint.¡¯ Sword Saint of Wind, Count Bayer. Henry II stripped off all the titles of the traitor, Rhun Froud, and appointed Count Bayer as a new Sword Saint of the kingdom. In fact, the title of Sword Saint was not something that even the king of the S?len Kingdom, one of the continent¡¯s two big powers, could just freely give. Because it was a title that could only be used after receiving the approval of many people. However, no one objected to Henry II¡¯s appointment. Because Count Bayer already proved his ability by stopping First Sword. ¡®The Sword Saint of Wind.¡¯ It sounds so nice. After she rinsed her face, Cordelia wiped the water off with a towel and began to brush her teeth. ¡°Brother-inw.¡± Ga?l Bayer. He woke up after a fierce battle, and although he lost his left arm, his body and soul became much stronger. It was because of the measure Velkian took, but in addition to that, it was also because of his huge spiritual growth when he escaped from the throes of death. ¡®Brother-inw was totally like a wolf.¡¯ As she recalled the scene at the time when Ga?l woke up, Cordelia¡¯s cheeks slightly turned red. She then rinsed her mouth. ¡®Anyway, he and my sister also received a lot of awards.¡¯ His skills greatly improved, and once his prosthetic hand waspleted, he would be one of the new Ten Great Swordmasters. ¡®There¡¯ll be two great swordmasters in one family?¡¯ No, maybe it will even be three. Jude will also grow and be stronger in the future. ¡®Ah, it¡¯s a bit hard if he gets taller though.¡¯ He¡¯s so tall now that my neck hurts whenever I look at his face. ¡®What¡¯s our size difference?¡¯ Around 20 cm? No, maybe it¡¯s a bit more than that. Cordelia tilted her head as she spread out her palm to measure the distance, and she quicklyughed. Because she rememberedst night¡¯s Jude. ¡®Wasn¡¯t he a bit cute?¡¯ When she enacted her ¡®revenge¡¯ after the ceremony, he was struggling as he turned red. Of course, if Dahlia and Maja who had secretly watched them had heard her thoughts, they would look at her coldly and express concern about her memory¡¯s distortion of reality, but fortunately (or unfortunately), the two were not here right now. ¡®Ahem, ahem. Jude. My Jude.¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s lips squirmed once before she looked around for no reason. It was only after she confirmed that no one else was present did she think with a yful expression. ¡®At this point, I can be sure now.¡¯ He likes me. That Outboxer, that Jude is very much in love with me. ¡®Yes, yes, that¡¯s right, that¡¯s right. It¡¯s obvious. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t act like that.¡¯ As she recalled what happened at the merit ceremony and ofst night, Cordelia covered her cheeks with her hands that had turned cold from the water. Her cold palms and hot cheeks touched each other, giving off a pleasant feeling. ¡®Then, what do I do now?¡¯ Jude likes me. I¡¯m sure he likes me. ¡®Hmm¡­ well¡­ if Jude begs me¡­¡¯ If he begs me to go out with him¡­should I agree? After all, he¡¯s my fianc¨¦, right? ¡®He¡¯ll say it sooner orter.¡¯ That he likes me. That he seriously wants to date me. Then, if I reject him a little, will he implore to me? ¡°Hehehe.¡± Just imagining it gave her a good feeling. To the point that her shoulders moved up and down without her even realizing. ¡®I won, I won.¡¯ I beat Jude. I beat Jude, right? I¡¯m number one now, right? ¡°Yes, yes, yes.¡± Jude will ask and beg me to go out with him, and I¡¯ll agree to it since I¡¯m a generous person, and then¡­ It¡¯ll start with kisses on the cheek and forehead, and then, it¡¯ll be more than that, and then¡­ it¡¯ll be a bit more adult-like¡­ like what brother-inw and unnie did¡­ Cordelia covered her face with both hands, so the heat in her face became even hotter, but despite that, she had a deep smile. ¡°Ah.¡± When will Dahliae? How long will it take before she and the maidse in to wake me up? But instead of lying back on the bed, Cordelia sat in a chair and looked out the window. As she basked in the warm sunlight, different thoughts came to her mind. ¡®Where will our fief be?¡¯ During the merit ceremony, only the title was awarded, and there was no mention of a fief. It wasn¡¯t because the S?len royal family suddenly changed their minds, but it was because it took some time to select a territory, and one of the reasons for that was Jude. ¡®Because he conveyed to them what we wanted to some extent.¡¯ The fief they wanted to receive. As Jude had already predicted, the royal family was thinking of giving them a fief in the central region. And the royal family could do that by giving away some of the territory that were under their direct jurisdiction. Thus, Jude used his negotiation skills to convey what they wanted to Princess Daphne, and to summarize, it was as follows. It must be close to the south. ins are also fine, but it must be surrounded by mountains. It must be a ce with good traffic to the north. And a few other details. ¡®It seems like he gave a lot of conditions, but if you put it all together, the territory where all his conditions fit is practically limited, right?¡¯ Since the fief would be an important ce for their future journey. ¡®Ultimate Seven.¡¯ Among those swords was Ultimate One which Jude wanted, and that sword was hidden in a certain ce. ¡®Which means¡­¡¯ They wanted their fief to be the ce where the ruins of the ancient dwarves were. Most nobles would want a ce with arge poption and fertilend, but Jude was different. The important thing for Jude was not the taxes they would receive in 10 or 20 years, but to solve their immediate problems and bring about a perfect happy ending. ¡®But that doesn¡¯t mean it doesn¡¯t matter at all.¡¯ After she stopped getting excited over it, she then thought that they should build amercial city by building factories and such, but in any case, that was something for the far future. ¡®Because we have to immediately head to the south once our business at the royal capital is over.¡¯ ck Dragon Malekith¡¯s attack. The three events in the game¡¯s storyline that had destroyed the S?len Kingdom were different in a certain way. The barbarian¡¯s invasion in the wildnds and northern region was a war that involved a huge number of troops. The Lord Protector and demon followers¡¯ n to annihte the royal family and the royal capital was a sh between a few but powerful beings. And the event in the south, the battle against Malekith, could be summed up in two words. ¡®Boss Raid.¡¯ It was also against a huge monster. ck Dragon Malekith¡¯s body length reached a whopping 150 meters. In other words, it was not an opponent that a few people could just face and fight easily. ¡®We need an army.¡¯ It was not at a level of a hundred or two hundred people, but should be arge military force in the thousands. In the wildnds, Jude and Cordelia fought in the front lines, leaving most of the matters regarding the formation of an alliance to Red Gale, but they could not do that this time. Because for this time, Jude and Cordelia had to be at the center of the alliance. ¡®In the game, the forces couldn¡¯t properly unite.¡¯ Although there were some families that were close to each other such as the Bayer and Chase families, the rtionship between several families in the 12 northern families were not very good. Because they were literallypetitors that kept each other in check. But the conflict between some families in the 12 northern families was just child¡¯s y whenpared to the ¡®strife¡¯ among the 7 southern families. Unlike the 12 northern families who would just meet and growl a bit at best, the 7 southern families actually drew their swords. ¡®Because if you start ying as Kajsa, you¡¯ll be fighting against the 7 southern families first rather than the demon followers.¡¯ Kajsa Ophand. A yable character from Marquis Ophand¡¯s family, one of the 7 southern families. From the very start of the prologue, she would already be fighting with their rival family, the Mist family, so Cordelia didn¡¯t need to borate more at this point. ¡®They can¡¯t get along.¡¯ If even humans who belonged to the same race would fight like that, what more for the other races like dwarves and gnomes? Moreover, Malekith was a ck dragon whose insides were darker than Jude¡¯s. Because the south was divided and actively fighting against each other, the south could not unite even in the face of a great enemy named Malekith. ¡®In the end, what we need to do this time is to be a central point and unite the forces of the south.¡¯ But their personal efforts alone were not enough. They had to act as heroes of the kingdom, and lords who received the royal family¡¯s trust. ¡®Well, Jude will take care of theplicated stuff.¡¯ The right person for the right job. So Cordelia focused on something else. ¡®The final battle against Malekith¡­¡¯ Although the Ten Great Swordmasters were considered as tactical weapons, they were still swordsmen in the end. They couldn¡¯t exert that much power in a fight against a huge number of opponents or a huge monster. Therefore, Jude was also limited in what he could do in this fight. But Cordelia was a wizard. She was also a wizard who specialized inrge-scale battles. ¡°I¡¯ll have to do my best.¡± I¡¯ll develop my skills to the fullest before our fight against Malekith. I¡¯ll level up, reinforce my items, and learn new magic spells. Cordelia clenched her fists as she made a resolve before she nced at the door. She was feeling hungry because she had gotten up early. ¡®When will theye?¡¯ She could have rang the bell to call them, but she thought that if she called them earlier than usual, it would be a nuisance to the maids. ¡®Hmm¡­ let¡¯s just meditate then.¡¯ When the maids arrive, she would wash up, eat breakfast, and go see Jude. There were a lot of ces that they had to go together from this morning onwards. ¡®Because we received a lot of invitations.¡¯ A lot of people wanted to meet the new heroes of the kingdom, and even if meeting all of those heroes was impossible, these people still wanted to meet some of the heroes. ¡®It¡¯s not today, but I also have to go see the mansion and furniture.¡¯ The mansion that the royal family had decided to give to them, and the furniture that they would decorate it with. Their stay in the royal capital wouldn¡¯t be that long since they had to go to the south afterwards, but still, she wanted to decorate the bedroom properly. ¡®Hmmm¡­ no, I have to meditate, meditate. I have to meditate.¡¯ Cordelia shook her head and corrected her posture, but she still failed to meditate. Because she remembered the most important schedule for tonight. ¡®Necromancer Velkian.¡¯ They would meet him who was one of the five heroes in the first episode of?Legend of Heroes. Jude and Cordelia had already sent the Rogue Master¡¯s notice to his amodation. I¡¯ll visit you tonight with the Tiara of Life. -Rogue Master ¨C Pink Bomb After all, Velkian came to the royal capital to look for Pink Bomb and not Cordelia Chase. ¡®Hmm¡­ To begin with, he said that Pink Bomb was Velkian¡¯s favorite character.¡¯ I¡¯ve never thought that the stern-looking grandfather-like person would read a novel with a character named ¡®Pink Bomb,¡¯ but it¡¯s probably true since Jude had said so. After all, JudeWiki is amazing. ¡®However, will Velkian think that I¡¯m cosying?¡¯ That¡¯s somehow embarrassing¡­ ¡®Eueueue, I don¡¯t know. It¡¯ll work out somehow.¡¯ The important thing was to meet Velkian. Cordelia cleared away her thoughts and began her meditation this time. *** The sun rose, and now, the sun set. The moon rose above the curtain of the night. Almost a day had passed, and it was deep at night, but Cordelia got up from her bed and changed her clothes. Unfortunately, she hadn¡¯t developed any kind of transformation spell. So she wore the long boots herself, tied her hair up, and put on the butterfly mask. She then equipped the rabbit set consisting of a rabbit tail and rabbit ears. ¡®Uh, this is a bit too much whenever I see it.¡¯ Rabbit ears and tail together with a butterfly mask. ¡®Anyway, his taste is bizarre.¡¯ After she slightly criticized Jude, Cordelia sneaked out of her room. And she reached a small pavilion located a bit far away from the pce. [You¡¯re here?] As soon as she arrived, she heard the magic and turned her head. She then saw Jude dressed in all-ck. ck Cloak¡¯s outfit consisted of a ck suit, a ck hat, a ck mask, and a ck cloak, so he was really dressed in all-ck. Cordelia stared at such a Jude, narrowing her eyes slightly before she sent a magic. [I¡¯ve been thinking about this before.] [Huh?] [Wouldn¡¯t it be better if I just make my outfit all-ck too?] She couldn¡¯t help but say that since her hair was dyed pink and the white rabbit ears and tail were too eye-catching. [Well, what you¡¯re saying is reasonable.] [Eh? Really?] [Yes, the white color is too eye-catching when seen in the middle of the night.] Cordelia blinked her eyes in surprise at Jude¡¯s words. [Shall I remove it then? The rabbit set?] Cordelia lightly shook the rabbit ears as she said that, and Jude readily nodded his head. [Yes, you can do so.] Wow, what the hell is going on? I thought Jude was obsessed with the rabbit set? Cordelia quickly removed the rabbit set even though she was curious. But it was at that moment. [Now, here. The cat set.] Jude smiled and showed her the ck cat ears and tail, and Cordelia¡¯s eyes turned cold. [Hey, Mr. ck Cloak?] [Your identity is important.] Jude shamelessly spoke and pushed the cat set towards her again, and Cordelia was confused for a moment before her eyes widened in surprise. [Wait, isn¡¯t this what we wore in ourst battle in the wildnds? Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯ve been keeping it?] [Yes, isn¡¯t that natural?] No, what do you mean by natural? That isn¡¯t natural, okay? Cordelia was momentarily speechless before she quickly smiled and nodded her head. Well¡­ I¡¯ll wear it if you like it that much. It¡¯s not something I could just wear anywhere, after all. [Okay, are you satisfied now?] [Yes, very satisfied. I love it.] After Cordelia wore the cat set and turned around, Jude brightly smiled and raised his thumb, and in that short time, Cordelia seriously thought about her rtionship with Jude again. [Anyway, shall we go now?] Cordelia nodded her head at Jude¡¯s words, and she jumped up and climbed on Jude¡¯s back. She didn¡¯t forget to shout her merging lines like always. ¡°Nighttime merge! JuDeli- wait, why is your expression like that?¡± ¡°Uh¡­nothing. It¡¯s your taste, so I¡¯ll respect it. Yes, I should respect it.¡± ¡°Hey, what are you talking abou-¡± That was it. Jude already knew what Cordelia was going to say, so he chose to kick the ground instead of listening more to her words, while Cordelia hugged Jude¡¯s neck in her surprise at his sudden movement. ¡°To Velkian.¡± To meet one of the five heroes of the Paragon Kingdom, and one of the main characters of the first episode of?Legend of Heroes. Jude and Cordelia became like the wind. They became one with the dark night as they passed over the walls of the royal pce. Chapter 206 - TIARA OF LIFE (2)

Chapter 206 - TIARA OF LIFE (2)

There was nothing unusual about Pink Bomb¡¯s action of sending a notice to Velkian. ¡®Because Velkian was the one who moved first.¡¯ Two days after the founding anniversary celebration. As the confusion in the royal capital subsided to some extent, Velkian went to the Blue Moon and expressed his desire to meet Pink Bomb. Going to a thieves guild in order to meet the Rogue Master ¨C that was the result of a fairlymon sense idea. In any case, the Blue Moon¡¯s guild master, Supp¨¦, waspletely unharmed because they chose to quickly retreat amidst the chaotic situation, so Velkian¡¯s request was delivered through thework of contacts that Jude had told him in advance. ¡®What should we do?¡¯ ¡®Tell him that we¡¯ll contact him.¡¯ Four days after the decisive battle in the royal capital. Jude conveyed their intentions through Supp¨¦, telling Velkian to get well first and wait for the merit ceremony to be over. And the morning after the merit ceremony, a notice from Pink Bomb was sent to Velkian. ¡°Jude, are we not there yet?¡± ¡°We¡¯re almost there.¡± Cordelia¡¯s breath touched Jude¡¯s ear, making him flinch. But he replied to her and ran even faster. The ce where they decided to meet with Velkian was outside the royal capital, or to be exact, it was near the hill where thest treasure of the Rogue Master was hidden. ¡°He¡¯s here.¡± Cordelia said as her natural eyesight was better than Jude¡¯s. In addition, her night vision was extraordinarily sharp that she could even discern the wild animals in the dark. ¡®I¡¯m not sure how she does it, but maybe she¡¯s originally a beast? Like those animals that can shape-shift into a human.¡¯ Jude had some reasonable doubts for a moment, but he soon adjusted Cordelia¡¯s position on his back and slowed down a bit. Because he himself saw the figure of Velkian standing alone on the hill. ¡®Necromancer Velkian.¡¯ One of the five main characters in the first episode of?Legend of Heroes. He was already in his 60s at the time of the first episode, and now, he was over 70 and was close to 80 at the time of the second episode, but he looked quite healthy on the outside. ¡®But you can¡¯t see much of his body.¡¯ His long ck clothes covered his thin body, and he wore a beak mask, which was said to be the symbol of gue doctors. ¡®He¡¯s even wearing a wide-brimmed hat.¡¯ Therefore, all that was revealed of him was his gray hair with some white hair here and there. ¡®But he¡¯s not a bad person.¡¯ There were some undeniably ¡®evil¡¯ characters among the yable characters in the second episode of?Legend of Heroes, but there were none among the characters in the first episode. All five of them were true heroes with a noble spirit and a pure heart. ¡®After all, he immediately helped at that time.¡¯ As soon as Velkian found out the crisis in the royal capital, he jumped into the battlefield without any hesitation. And Jude could bet. If any of the main characters from the first episode were present at that time, they would have acted the same as Velkian. ¡°I think he saw us too.¡± Jude nodded at Cordelia¡¯s whisper and instead of stopping at the bottom of the hill, he moved his feet a few more times and stopped at around 10 meters away from Velkian. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Cordelia jumped off Jude¡¯s back as soon as he stopped, and she walked forward while clearing her throat. Because the situation itself where she appeared while riding on Jude¡¯s back was embarrassing. ¡®He should have stopped a little farther away.¡¯ Cordelia regretted itte as they walked towards Velkian. She stopped at around 7 meters before Velkian and politely greeted him. ¡°Nice to meet you. I¡¯m the Rogue Master, Pink Bomb¡­ and this is my assistant¡­ck Cloak.¡± What is this? What¡¯s with this overwhelming embarrassment? Cordelia was already used to saying the words ¡®Pink Bomb¡¯ and ¡®ck Cloak,¡¯ so she was usually fine with saying it, but when she spoke those words to Velkian, she turned red. ¡®B-but he likes Pink Bomb, right?¡¯ So it should be fine, right? I shouldn¡¯t be embarrassed about it, right? But she was wrong. They couldn¡¯t tell his expression because he was wearing a mask, but Velkian¡¯s awkward gestures showed that he was quite embarrassed, so he replied with a cough. ¡°Ehem¡­ yes. I¡¯m¡­ Velkian.¡± The way he said it made it seem like he was feeling ufortable but still endured it, as if it was the answer of a troubled adult. Cordelia immediately felt betrayed at Velkian¡¯s unexpected response, but she soon understood it. ¡®It must have been breathtaking.¡¯ A secret fan. A person who hid their interest. It was fully understandable. Because Velkian was over 70 years old. It would have been difficult for him if he was caught reading a novel with a character named Pink Bomb. But it was at that moment. ¡°Ah, I can¡¯t stand this.¡± Velkian suddenly muttered and looked straight at Cordelia, saying in a low tone. ¡°I know this is meddlesome, but¡­ can I call you by another name? Of course, it¡¯s your preference, so I want to respect it, but still, the Rogue Master using the name Pink Bomb is a bit¡­¡± Because he felt strange when he said it. Furthermore, there was also the Rogue Master¡¯s prestige. At Velkian¡¯s sincere words, Cordelia unconsciously tilted her head. She couldn¡¯t help it. ¡°Wait¡­wait, wait, wait.¡± Cordelia quickly said without realizing it, and then continued with wide open eyes. ¡°Didn¡¯t you like Pink Bomb?¡± ¡°Who? Do you mean me?¡± When Cordelia nodded, Velkian spoke in disgust as he stepped back. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about. I¡¯ve only met you for the first time today. In the first ce, I didn¡¯t know the name of Pink Bomb until I found the letter that day.¡± His voice was seriously sincere. But there was a problem with his words. Velkian was not talking about the main character of a novel, but the Pink Bomb in front of him, which was Rogue Master Pink Bomb. As if he waspletely unaware of the existence of a novel with a character named Pink Bomb. What¡¯s going on? What exactly is going on? ¡°Jude?¡± Cordelia stared at Jude coldly, and he had a mncholic smile before he spoke with a sad expression. ¡°This day has finallye. But I don¡¯t regret it.¡± Because I enjoyed it every day. The embarrassed Cordelia whenever she uses the name Pink Bomb was the best. Jude looked away while feeling proud, and Cordelia grabbed him by the cor and shook him. ¡°Hey! You think I¡¯ll let you off if you speak sadly? Huh?!¡± I knew it was weird! What Pink Bomb? What Pink Bomb! Velkian isn¡¯t a pervert who¡¯ll like someone with that name! Do you know how embarrassing it had been for me every time?! ¡°Umm¡­ should I let you two talk in private for a moment? It seems like there¡¯s a misunderstanding between you two.¡± Cordelia came to her senses at Velkian¡¯s words, and she let out a groan with a tearful face before she spoke. ¡°Eueueue¡­ No, it¡¯s okay.¡± Talking to Velkian now was a priority. Cordelia red at Jude again before she threw off her mask and greeted him again. ¡°I¡¯m Cordelia August Chase.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Jude August Bayer.¡± The moment Cordelia and Jude revealed their real names, Velkian nodded and spoke as if it was not a big deal for him. ¡°Yes, I already knew it because I saw you two at the merit ceremony.¡± Velkian did not just look at people¡¯s faces. He could see the overall shape of the body and also the flow of one¡¯s life force, so it was impossible to deceive him by covering one¡¯s face. It was the true reason why Velkian couldn¡¯t stand it and asked about Pink Bomb. Because the new heroes of the kingdom who seemed to be sane during the merit ceremony were now acting as a Rogue Master and her assistant while using embarrassing names. ¡°Eueueue¡­ this is all because of Jude.¡± She wasn¡¯t really trying to convince him, but what she said was true. And at Cordelia¡¯s words, Jude changed the topic like usual instead of denying it. ¡°May the muscles always be with you. I greet you again as the disciple of Iron Man Landius.¡± ¡°Oh, the Cheonmujiche boy.¡± Velkian was surprised by Landius¡¯ unique greeting, and he quickly nodded. It seemed like he also knew about the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. ¡°I think I¡¯m starting to understand. The legitimate sessor of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors that Landius finally found used the Tiara of Life to call me out. Is that it?¡± Velkian would not havee to the royal capital in the first ce if there had been no letter in the box where the Tiara of Life was kept. And he would have not been involved in the fight on the royal capital either. ¡°Was that your goal?¡± ¡°Notpletely. It was only half.¡± ¡°Half?¡± ¡°Yes, half. First of all, we left a letter in the box that contained the Tiara of Life, but we did not leave that letter with Velkian-nim in mind. We didn¡¯t know on who would find that letter.¡± It was true. In the letter Jude left in the box, it only conveyed that Pink Bomb took the Tiara of Life and did not contain any specific words that mentioned Velkian. ¡°That¡¯s a little strange. What would you do if it wasn¡¯t me who found the letter¡­ or if that person was an enemy?¡± ¡°Of course, that¡¯s possible, but I thought that it wouldn¡¯t happen.¡± ¡°Why do you think so?¡± ¡°Because there was a prophecy.¡± With a small smile, Jude continued to speak smoothly. ¡°It was foretold that we would get someone who would help us greatly through the Tiara of Life. That¡¯s why we left a letter.¡± ¡°Whose prophecy is it?¡± ¡°The witch of the western forest.¡± Velkian was momentarily surprised at Jude¡¯s words before he nodded. ¡°I heard from the ghosts that her soul had been freed¡­ were you the ones who released her?¡± ¡°Yes, we met her by chance half a year ago and freed her.¡± ¡°So by chance.¡± Velkian smiled before he straightened his posture and said. ¡°Okay, if the witch of the western forest gave you a prophecy in return for freeing her, I can believe that. Although she has fallen because of her contract with the demons, she¡¯s on the side of us humans.¡± Obviously, the witch of the western forest had never made such a prediction, but what mattered now was convincing Velkian. ¡®And he seems to be quite convinced.¡¯ Jude shouted ¡®Bingo!¡¯ in his mind and sent a nce to Cordelia. She then took out the Tiara of Life and offered it to Velkian. ¡°Thanks to Velkian-nim, the lives of countless people in the royal capital were saved. Please ept this Tiara of Life as our way of saying thank you.¡± When Cordelia said that and carefully held out the Tiara of Life, Velkian frowned behind his mask instead of epting it right away. ¡°I¡­ just did what was natural.¡± How can I just watch when people are dying in front of me? Cordelia warmly smiled at Velkian¡¯s words and said. ¡°It¡¯s not just that. You saved my brother-inw, Ga?l, and because of that, you also saved my sister.¡± If Ga?l had died back then. What would have happened to unnie? What would have happened to unnie¡¯s heart? ¡°That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s because of the strong spirit of that guy named Ga?l. After all, I left him unattended afterwards.¡± ¡°But if it weren¡¯t for the medicine that Velkian-nim gave him, he wouldn¡¯t have recovered at all.¡± Her words weren¡¯t just some idle talk since it was true. And that was why Jude and Cordelia were sincerely grateful to Velkian. ¡°Oh¡­ it can¡¯t be helped then. But I won¡¯t just take it. I¡¯ll borrow it for a while¡­ and return it to you when my work is done.¡± His answer was something that Jude had expected. Due to Velkian¡¯s personality, there was no way that he would freely receive a divine relic called the Tiara of Life. And one more reason. ¡®Did he have a special goal?¡¯ Considering the situation, Velkian did not identally obtain the Tiara of Life. He found it after searching for it. And that meant that Velkian was preparing for something that needed the Tiara of Life. ¡®There¡¯s also the fact that he¡¯ll borrow and return it when his work is done.¡¯ What is it then? What is Velkian trying to use the Tiara of Life for? And does that have something to do with his death? There were two reasons why Jude originally called Velkian in the royal capital. One was the vague expectation that if the timing was right, Velkian would help them in the decisive battle on the royal capital, and the other was to twist history and prevent Velkian¡¯s death. In the game¡¯s storyline, Velkian was not in the royal capital at this time. They didn¡¯t know where he was, but he was definitely not in the royal capital then. But he was now in the royal capital. It was apletely different situation from the original, so it was possible that his death could be prevented. ¡®Of course, I can¡¯t be satisfied with just this.¡¯ In the original, when, where, and how Velkian died was shrouded in mystery. Therefore, Jude couldn¡¯te up with an absolute way to prevent Velkian¡¯s death, but he was still able toe up with some minimal safety measures. ¡®If I consider Velkian¡¯s personality¡­¡¯ If he put together all of Velkian¡¯s actions in the first episode, Velkian wasn¡¯t the kind of person who would just receive the Tiara of Life and leave a promise to return itter. Prior to bing a necromancer, Velkian was a wizard, and most wizards didn¡¯t do things without a definite n. ¡°In exchange for that, take this.¡± Having received the Tiara of Life, Velkian offered Cordelia a trinket with a clear gem embedded on it. ¡°It¡¯s a magic tool that can summon me.¡± ¡°Eh? Uh, wait. A magic tool that can summon Velkian-nim?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, you can summon me only once if you use that magic tool.¡± Velkian replied to Cordelia and pointed to the trinket as he continued. ¡°From tomorrow onwards, I¡¯ll begin working on some kind of work using the Tiara of Life. And when I¡¯m done, this gem will glow gold.¡± ¡°So from then on¡­ we can summon you?¡± ¡°Yes, you understood it quickly like a wizard.¡± Cordelia awkwardly smiled at Velkian¡¯spliment before she nced at Jude. ¡®It worked out as we had expected, right?¡¯ ¡®Yes, if we have this, we can summon Velkian and save his life.¡¯ The life of Velkian and not Jude or Cordelia. Obviously, it was impossible to summon him when he was still doing some kind of work with the Tiara of Life, so if something happened in that time, they wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything, but at least, they would still have a way to offset his death to some extent. ¡°Will you be staying at the royal capital?¡± ¡°I think so for now. So perhaps you won¡¯t need to use that magic tool too.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Jude responded with a soft smile before he nced at Cordelia, and she nodded quietly. It was still a question on what kind of work Velkian was trying to do, but if he was staying in the royal capital and being supported by the royal family, he would be much safer than wandering around somewhere they didn¡¯t know, at least, until his work was finished. ¡°Anyway, take care of that item. Once you call me, I¡¯ll be like a minion and do my best to help with anything.¡± ¡°Yes, thank you very much.¡± Jude smiled at Velkian¡¯s slightly yful answer before he turned to Cordelia with a satisfied face. Since Jude originally didn¡¯t have any intentions of making a deal with Velkian who had saved Ga?l and the royal capital, it was a good deal. ¡®It¡¯s good, right?¡¯ ¡®Yes, yes.¡¯ Cordelia nodded and smiled in agreement. ¡®Then¡­ should we say goodbye to him now?¡¯ Since Velkian had decided on staying in the royal capital, they would still have a few more chances to meet him before they leave for the south. Now that they had achieved their goal, they thought that it was time for them to separate now. ¡®Let¡¯s go.¡¯ Cordelia replied with her eyes before she looked back at Velkian and said. ¡°Then, Velkian-nim, we¡¯ll be going back.¡± When Cordelia politely bade farewell, Velkian touched his chin as if he was thinking of something for a moment before he immediately smiled. ¡°There is one more thing I want to give you before we separate. Please do not hesitate to ept it.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± As Cordelia tilted her head and asked in return, Velkian chuckled and slightly moved his hand. Tworge Phantom Steeds suddenly appeared and stood next to Velkian. ¡°These are Phantom Steeds that I made myself. They can fly in the sky, they are fast, and they don¡¯t get tired.¡± ¡°Wow.¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyes sparkled as she recalled an earlier conversation she had with Jude about the endurance of horses, and Velkian happily said to them. ¡°I¡¯ll give them to you.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes. It¡¯s nice to see you being carried around but¡­ I think this would be more efficient.¡± The smiling Velkian handed Cordelia a ring that could summon the Phantom Steeds. ¡°Both of you can ride one each.¡± It was the heartfelt consideration of Velkian, who was truly like an elderly person. The Phantom Steeds Velkian had given them were much stronger than normal Phantom Steeds, to the point that they were iparable. But Jude somehow felt sad. If they used those Phantom Steeds, he would no longer have to carry Cordelia on his back. ¡®Uh¡­ it can¡¯t be helped.¡¯ Rather, it was strange that he carried her on his back all the time. Moreover, in terms of mobility and tactics, it was much better to ride on the Phantom Steed than to carry her on his back, so it was a change that he epted. ¡®But I¡¯m a little disappointed.¡¯ Unlike Jude, Cordelia was really happy. ¡®Well, she had been happy with the big horse we had a long time ago.¡¯ If Cordelia is happy with it, then so be it. Having cleared away his thoughts, Jude dly epted the ring, and Velkian climbed on his own Phantom Steed as if to demonstrate, before he flew straight into the night sky of the royal capital. ¡°Uh¡­ is he going to leave just like that?¡± Without looking back once? At Cordelia¡¯s words, Jude shrugged and replied. ¡°But in a sense, he¡¯s a better man than Master Landius.¡± ¡°Well¡­ that¡¯s true.¡± Cordelia nodded her head a few times and then turned to the Phantom Steeds instead of gazing at the night sky where Velkian had disappeared. The Phantom Steed had green eyes that glowed, and a ck mane and hair. ¡°It looks like you.¡± ¡°Where?¡± ¡°The ck hair and eye color?¡± Jude narrowed his brows once at Cordelia¡¯s answer, but he soon climbed onto his own Phantom Steed and said. ¡°Let¡¯s go then.¡± ¡°Okay, but Jude.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± Cordelia squirmed her lips a few times at Jude¡¯s question before she unsummoned her Phantom Steed back into the ring. She then twisted her finger into a lock of her hair and said. ¡°Because maintaining a Phantom Steed will require mana¡­ it¡¯s not necessary to use both of them, right?¡± What she had meant with those words. Cordelia didn¡¯t directly say it, but Jude understood and slyly smiled as he said. ¡°This servant will do his best to serve you. Which one do you prefer? The front or the back?¡± ¡°The back?¡± ¡°That¡¯s an excellent choice.¡± Jude stretched out his hand like always to help Cordelia get on the Phantom Steed. After that, he adjusted the reins and said. ¡°Let¡¯s go then.¡± Cordelia tightly hugged Jude¡¯s waist instead of responding, and Jude eventually broke into a small smile. He drove the Phantom Steed to the royal capital. Chapter 207 - EPISODE 207 – WOLF OF THE WIND (1)

Chapter 207 - EPISODE 207 ¨C WOLF OF THE WIND (1)

Terms used in this chapter: He that steals an egg will steal an ox?¨C A proverb which means that a person who steals small things is likely to steal big things too. The next morning. Cordelia woke up and began to think about a problem that was trivial in some way, but could never be taken lightly. ¡®Eueueue¡­ what should I do?¡¯ She was worrying about a punishment. The punishment she wanted to give Jude for lying and making her use the name ¡®Pink Bomb.¡¯ ¡®He didn¡¯t do it with any bad intentions, and it was only a nasty joke, but¡­¡¯ It was still bad. If he continued to do those things again, whether once or twice, and regardless if he had any bad intentions or not, he would end up developing the so-called ¡®bad habit.¡¯ There¡¯s a saying that ¡®He that steals an egg will steal an ox.¡¯ ¡®No, isn¡¯t the meaning there a bit different?¡¯ Anyway. The important thing is that I should not let it slide. ¡®That¡¯s right, Romantic Cat-unnie said in the past. That fights are important in rtionships. That it¡¯s over if you ignore it from the very beginning.¡¯ Cordelia remembered the only member of the chat room whom she had yed with and knew both her real age and gender, and as she recalled that unnie¡¯s friendly advice, she began to think hard again. What kind of punishment should I give? Should I just hit him? ¡®That¡¯s a little too violent¡­¡¯ If Jude had heard of Cordelia¡¯s thoughts now, he would have said, ¡®Didn¡¯t you do it in the past?¡¯ and mention one by one the times when Cordelia hit him. But what mattered now was the present. Because unlike in the past, she strangely felt reluctant to beat Jude. ¡®Come to think of it, Jude was like that before, right?¡¯ She remembered what happened at the time when they were wandering in the underground of Endymion. Cordelia giggled when she recalled the Jude who was struggling hard because he couldn¡¯t hit the monster that had transformed into Cordelia. ¡®He had liked me since then, huh? Hehehe.¡¯ So he endured it because he couldn¡¯t do it, huh? Should I say that it¡¯smendable? ¡®Should I just forgive him then?¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s heart softened a bit, and she pouted her lips as she pondered about it. But she soon shook her head. ¡®I can¡¯t do that. Yes, yes. That¡¯s that and this is this.¡¯ I must punish those who must be punished. I must be angry at those who angered me. ¡°Miss?¡± Eueue¡­ what kind of punishment should I give then? If I tell him to kneel and raise his hands, will he really do it? I think it¡¯s a problem if he really does it, but it¡¯s also a problem if he doesn¡¯t do it. ¡°Miss?¡± Should I spank his butt? Make him shamefully pull down his pants and then spank him? ¡®Umm¡­ I don¡¯t think that¡¯s right¡­¡¯ I feel like I¡¯ll be the one more embarrassed when I spank him. That¡¯s obviously problematic. So I need something different, something that would punish him that¡¯s not strange¡­.something that will fix Jude¡¯s habit¡­ ¡°Miss!¡± ¡°Eh?!¡± The startled Cordelia jumped up from her seat and let out a strange sound, and Dahlia drew her face closer to Cordelia as she narrowed her eyes and said. ¡°What happened yesterday?¡± ¡°Huh? N-nothing. Nothing happened.¡± ¡°Something did. Something did happen, right? Did you two cross the line?¡± ¡°W-what line?¡± ¡°I mean,?that?line.¡± At Dahlia¡¯s words, Cordelia waved both of her hands in denial before she sat down on the sofa. ¡°I-it¡¯s not like that. I¡¯m just worrying about something.¡± ¡°What is it? Can you please tell me?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°I¡¯m older than you, so I have more experience in stuff like friendship and romance¡­ don¡¯t you think so?¡± ¡°Yourst words make you a bit unreliable though?¡± ¡°How do you see me as?¡± ¡°Well, Dahlia is a beautiful woman. You have a good personality too.¡± When Cordelia spoke calmly and without hesitation, Dahlia¡¯s cheeks blushed a bit and she was at a loss on what to do. ¡°Ahem, ahem. Anyway, please tell me what it is.¡± ¡°Umm¡­ so this is my friend¡¯s story¡­¡± ¡°I see, it¡¯s about a friend.¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s about a friend.¡± Dahlia was slightly worried at Cordelia¡¯s words. Isn¡¯t it quite obvious? ¡®Let¡¯s listen to it first.¡¯ In order to make my innocentdy open her mouth, let¡¯s set the pace first. Dahlia smiled and nodded as if asking Cordelia to continue. ¡°What happened to your friend?¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­ She said that she had a problem. For reference, my friend¡¯s name is Scarlet. She¡¯s not like a fictional character, okay?¡± ¡°I see. Scarlet. Okay.¡± Dahlia wondered if it was a youngdy friend of Cordelia that she didn¡¯t know, but she decided to listen first. She stopped herself from saying her thoughts, and sent a nce to Cordelia to tell her to continue. Cordelia then spoke after clearing her throat. ¡°You see¡­¡± To summarize Cordelia¡¯s story, it was as follows. Scarlet¡¯s lover lied to Scarlet. It wasn¡¯t a bad lie, but a mischievous one because he wanted to see Scarlet¡¯s cute appearance, but she thought that a lie was a lie anyway, so she wanted to scold him. But she was troubled on what to do, and on what kind of punishment she should give. ¡°Ahem. I see. I never thought that he was like that, so he lies too, huh?¡± ¡°Huh? This is about my friend though? Dahlia doesn¡¯t know my friend and her lover, right?¡± ¡°Umm, you¡¯re right. Anyway, what¡¯s important is that he lied. And as the miss said, it¡¯s only right to punish him. He might develop some real bad habits if you just neglect it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s it! I- No, Scarlet said that she thought so too!¡± At times like this, it¡¯s less suspicious if you say that, as a friend, you thought the same too. Dahlia advised in her thoughts, but she soon touched her chin and spoke. ¡°Hmm¡­ I¡¯m sure this is natural, but is there something that your friend¡¯s lover likes to do?¡± ¡°What he likes to do?¡± ¡°Yes, if possible, the things that your friend likes to do together with him.¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± Cordelia began to seriously think as she touched her chin like Dahlia, and she soon thought of one thing. What Jude really liked to do. What he had been trying to do these days. In addition, as Dahlia had said, it was something that Jude couldn¡¯t do alone, and was something that he only did with Cordelia. ¡°T-there is!¡± ¡°Then, he can¡¯t do that.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°You have to prevent him from doing what he likes. For a limited time.¡± Having said that, Dahlia crossed her arms and smiled before she continued. ¡°There are two types of punishment. One is to make someone do things they do not like, and the other is to prevent them from doing things they like. People¡¯s opinions may differ on which one is more effective¡­ but if it¡¯s a punishment for a lover, thetter will be more effective. It will also help him make a reflection.¡± ¡°Ooooh¡­¡± Her words were quite reasonable. To make him do things that he dislikes and prevent him from doing things that he likes. Then, it seems like thetter will work. ¡®Because I felt like going crazy when I was banned from ying games.¡¯ After recalling her past life, Cordelia widely smiled as she found a good solution, but she soon frowned again. Because she recalled one important problem. What Jude had liked to do recently. So in short, I have to prevent him from kissing me in my forehead and cheek¡­ ¡®I-It¡¯s something that I do not like too.¡¯ No, it¡¯s not that I like it, but if I think about it, it¡¯s something that he shouldn¡¯t be doing at all¡­umm¡­ Cordelia began to think again with a red face, and Dahlia narrowed her eyes. ¡°Miss?¡± ¡°Eueueue¡­okay. It can¡¯t be helped. It¡¯s more important to change his habit.¡± Let¡¯s just ban all skinship for a while. No holding hands. I won¡¯t let him escort me too. Cordelia made a decision and clenched her fists, so Dahlia spoke as she rubbed her chin. ¡°So, have you made a decision? On what you¡¯ll be banning Lord Jude from doing?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve decided. I¡¯ll push it forward.¡± ¡°Okay, you did well. Please give my greetings to Miss Scarlet too.¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­ yes. That¡¯s right. Uh, because I¡¯m worried for Scarlet.¡± Cordelia spoke hesitantly as her face turned red, and Dahlia eventually smiled at Cordelia¡¯s appearance, sighing as she thought. ¡®It¡¯s quite worrying.¡¯ Mydy is clearly smart and good when ites to magic, but why is she this na?ve? Well¡­ being so na?ve is also part of mydy¡¯s charm. ¡°Dahlia?¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Anyway, Lord Jude is about to arrive, so you need to prepare.¡± ¡°Eh?!¡± Cordelia strongly eximed and stood up from her seat. And around an hourter. ¡°I¡¯m¡­pletely banned?¡± ¡°Yes, you¡¯re banned for the week. Do you know why?¡± ¡°Umm¡­¡± At Cordelia¡¯s words, Jude thought for a moment and soon nodded. ¡°I understand.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll do that.¡± ¡°Uh¡­okay.¡± What¡¯s with that indifferent reaction? Shouldn¡¯t you look a bit sad or something? The confused Cordelia nced at Dahlia who replied with her eyes. ¡®He¡¯s just pretending to be strong.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t as much as Jude, but Dahlia could talk to Cordelia with her eyes to some extent. Cordelia nodded right away and then raised her chin. But it was at that moment. ¡°Ah, but what should I do?¡± ¡°About what?¡± ¡°Did you forget? Today is the farewell party for the northern nobles.¡± ¡°Eh? Ah, that¡¯s right. It was today, huh?¡± Seven days had already passed since the founding anniversary celebration. The chaos that had urred on the royal capital had dyed most of the scheduled events, but for the nobles who had originally gathered to attend the founding anniversary celebration, it was time for them to slowly return home. Here in Pleiades, it was really hard to meet rtives in other regions unless they were geographically close or they were really close friends, which was unlike Jude and Cordelia¡¯s past lives. Therefore, the northern nobles decided to have theirst gathering before returning home, and that gathering was scheduled for today. ¡°If we go there¡­ I¡¯ll have to escort you¡­¡± Jude looked at Cordelia and trailed off the end of his words, and Cordelia pouted her lips before she snorted and said. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll allow you to escort me. But only up to escorting, okay?¡± ¡°I understand. Thank you very much for giving me your permission, Princess.¡± Jude slyly smiled and lightly kissed the back of Cordelia¡¯s hand, and Cordelia once again made a promise to herself. ¡®Only escort is allowed! Only escort!¡¯ Anything beyond that is unconditionally OUT! Cordelia pledged to herself several times as she clenched her fists, while Dahlia sighed as she watched from the side. Because at that moment, Jude¡¯s lips were still on the back of Cordelia¡¯s hand. ¡®Well¡­ she still has a long way to go.¡¯ Dahlia sighed as her shoulders sank, while Maja happily smiled as she watched from the other side. *** The farewell party of the northern nobles was held in a mansion owned by Count Crossbell in the royal capital, and it was for a simple reason. ¡®Because Sylvia¡¯s mansion is thergest.¡¯ After all, the Crossbell family was the richest among the 12 northern families. In any case, Jude and Cordelia entered the splendid mansion of the Crossbell family and came across an unexpected sight. ¡°On that day, Lady Cordelia¡­ I mean, Countess August Chase was really like an angel.¡± ¡°Was she so beautiful?¡± ¡°Indeed! She wasn¡¯t just beautiful, she even had that sacred aura on her!¡± There was a girl making a fuss as she praised Cordelia. But that girl looked really familiar to them. ¡®Emma Ficus?¡¯ When Cordelia looked at Jude in surprise, Jude was calmly smiling rather than being surprised. The reason was simple. ¡®She seemed to have opened her eyes to the truth of this world now.¡¯ Jude said that as if it waspletely natural. ¡®W-what are you saying?¡¯ ¡®I mean, it¡¯s true. You¡¯re an angel. You¡¯re also very beautiful, right?¡¯ Cordelia turned red and was flustered at Jude¡¯s straightforward answer. His words were all true, and he was not ashamed in saying it. But for Cordelia, she would have been embarrassed to say such words out of her mouth. ¡®Anyway, let¡¯s greet her.¡¯ ¡®Eh? Can we just pretend that we don¡¯t know her?¡¯ Isn¡¯t the situation a bit embarrassing now? But despite Cordelia¡¯s reluctance, Jude had already made their presence known. Emma Ficus noticed Jude and turned to him, and she widely opened her eyes. ¡°L-Lady Cordelia?¡± ¡°L-Lady Emma.¡± Cordelia responded with an awkward smile, and Emma Ficus was in a flutter as she blushed, showing a slightly different reaction from what Cordelia had thought. There was a reason why she blushed. ¡®She¡¯s really happy.¡¯ Jude¡¯s analysis was urate like always. Emma Ficus was not blushing now because of shame. She was now like a fan who had met her idol singer whom she had envied so much, so she was really happy and at a loss on what to do. ¡°I-I¡¯m really grateful for back then. Thank you very much.¡± ¡°Eh? Uh, yes. I¡¯m d that you¡¯re okay.¡± ¡°How can you say that¡­ when I was so mean to you¡­¡± Emma Ficus was deeply moved by Cordelia¡¯s words as her eyes reddened with tears, and all the young people around them looked at Emma Ficus and Cordelia with curious eyes. And so, Cordelia ended up being embarrassed. ¡®What¡¯s wrong with her!¡¯ Can a person change like this just because I saved their life once?! It was an oddly disrespectful remark, but fortunately, Jude was the only one who could understand her thoughts. ¡°Lady Cordelia¡­ no, Countess August Chase. The countess of that day was really¡­¡± Emma Ficus held Cordelia¡¯s hand and began to testify, and the level of attention around them became even higher. ¡®No, I¡¯m not that nice of a person, okay? It¡¯s true that I¡¯m an angel, but I¡¯m not that kind of angel. So please¡­ eueueue.¡¯ But it was almost impossible for Cordelia, who was a real angel, to remove her hand from Emma¡¯s tight grip. Therefore, she had to listen to the embarrassing praise as her hand was held, and she was forced to smile at Emma Ficus while being embarrassed at the gazes directed towards her. ¡®Ah, seriously! Why are you looking at me with such sparkling eyes!¡¯ Cordelia became ufortable with Emma Ficus in a different sense than before, and she looked back at Jude as if she was asking for help, but seeing that he was smiling at her with a sly expression, it seemed like he had no intention of saving her. ¡®I hate you! I really hate you!¡¯ But it was at that moment. The hand of salvation was extended to Cordelia from an unexpected ce. ¡°Countess August Chase.¡± ¡®Sylvia-unnie!¡¯ Once Sylvia, who was the host of this farewell party, appeared and spoke, Emma Ficus had no choice but to stop. ¡°I apologize, Lady Ficus, but the countess has a previous engagement with me. We¡¯re going to talk a bit about the rights to the new shampoo and conditioner¡­¡± ¡°Yes, she¡¯s correct. We have an agreement to talk. Lady Emma, I apologize, but can I leave for a moment? It¡¯s really important.¡± Cordelia spoke desperately, and Emma Ficus was saddened by the situation and retreated with a look of regret. ¡°Haa¡­ Thank you very much.¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t be so polite to me. You¡¯re a countess now.¡± ¡°And you¡¯re the next Countess Crossbell.¡± Sylvia smiled at Cordelia¡¯s charming words, and they stepped out of the banquet hall. Because she said that they had something to discuss, they went out even for just a short time. With Cordelia having been stolen from him, Jude had a bitter smile before he turned his gaze to the other side. Since they were one of the main characters in the battle at the royal capital, the interest Jude received was also enormous, and there were many people who came to talk to him. But Jude had a trick unlike Cordelia. He pretended to deal with them moderately as he drove them away slowly, and eventually, only Lucas remained by Jude¡¯s side. ¡°Only the two of us are left now.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. Anyway¡­ I¡¯d like to express my gratitude to you first. Maja said that you came to visit us twice.¡± ¡°It¡¯s only natural. I¡¯m just d that you have recovered safely.¡± As Lucas nicely smiled, Jude also smiled and thought for a moment. He wasn¡¯t as excited as Cordelia in shipping Lucas with Scarlet, but Lucas seemed to be interested in Scarlet in the first ce, so he wondered on how to get the two to meet. But it was at that moment. ¡°Then, Lord Jude, have you heard?¡± Lucas still called him ¡®Lord Jude¡¯ instead of Count August Bayer, and Jude stopped his thoughts and showed interest in his words. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°It seems like there will be a fightingpetition. They said that it will be officially announced this afternoon.¡± Jude gently nodded at Lucas¡¯ words. He hadn¡¯t told this to Cordelia yet, but he had heard of it from his father this morning. ¡°Because the royal family have to show to the public that they are doing well.¡± ¡°Yes, especially when the Argon Empire is watching.¡± There were many reason why they were holding an event in this situation, and one of it was the ¡®vacancy¡¯ in the Ten Great Swordmasters. The Lord Protector who repelled the empire twice, and First Sword, the Sword Saint of Light, were no longer members of the Ten Great Swordmasters. Two of the Ten Great Swordmasters disappeared, so they had to fill the vacancy as soon as possible. ¡®It¡¯s possible to do so for First Sword¡¯s position, but the Lord Protector¡¯s position isn¡¯t something that can be easily reced.¡¯ After all, it was impossible to rece the Lord Protector who was a symbol of the S?len Kingdom¡¯s defensive capabilities, unlike First Sword who was just a strong swordsman. But that didn¡¯t mean they could just leave it empty. ¡®They need a new great swordmaster.¡¯ It was not enough to put Count Bayer as the Sword Saint of Wind to fill the spot vacated by the Sword Saint of Light. Since two people were gone, they needed to at least have one new great swordmaster. ¡®For now, Ga?l is also a candidate.¡¯ His father had told him that this morning. In addition to Ga?l, there were also several young knights in the kingdom who were called as the next Ten Great Swordmasters. The royal family¡¯s n was to bring them together this time to demonstrate their skills, and then give to at least one of them the title of great swordmaster. ¡®It seems like even the talented people who did not participate in this anniversary celebration were also called in.¡¯ There was Richard Galleon, who gained the nickname ¡®The Lion¡¯s Sword¡¯ by distinguishing himself within the Knights of the Golden Lion, the most elite knights of the S?len Kingdom. There was Aios Lain who was known to be the fastest and strongest swordsman among the Jackdaws protecting the north. There was Kajsa¡¯s older brother, Calix Ophand, who was known as the Sea Serpent yer and called as a Disaster of the Southern Seas. ¡®And my brother is included too.¡¯ One out of these four. If possible, they would even appoint two to the Ten Great Swordmaster position. Obviously, if all four showed skills that were less than expected, there wouldpletely be no appointment, but anyway, the royalty¡¯s intentions were quite clear in this event. ¡°It will be held five days from now¡­ and there are some thoughts that it is being held quite urgently, but there¡¯s no problem with the progress because the fightingpetition is an event that was originally supposed to be held. And frankly¡­ I¡¯m really looking forward to it.¡± As Lucas spoke with shining eyes, Jude smiled bitterly. He would act like that because it was an event that had something to do with them. ¡®Those below 20 years of age could participate too.¡¯ The event was divided into the adult division, which was for those who were 20 years of age and older, and the youth division, which was for those younger than 20 years old. ¡°It¡¯s been a while since we¡¯ve fought shoulder to shoulder.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± The fightingpetition regrly held by the king was not just a one-on-one battle. It was a group battle that was more like a war than a sparring match, in which participants were divided into the northern, central, and southern regions. The three groups would battle it out in one ce, and victory would be awarded to thest group standing. ¡®This is thest event in the royal capital before we go to find the Ultimate One.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t that bad. It was also good to work with Lucas after a long time, and above all, since it was apetition, a good prize would be awarded if they won. ¡®It¡¯s also good to test the results of my recovery.¡¯ His sixth door was still iplete, but he had seeded in stabilizing the ck Sun to some extent. ¡®I¡¯m curious on who wille from the south.¡¯ For the central region, they would send participants from the Knights of the Golden Lion and the Sword School, so he wondered on who would be sent from the south. Jude silently recalled the talented people from the south, and soon realized why he was so excited. ¡®This is the first time I¡¯ve experienced this event.¡¯ In the game, the royal capital was destroyed, so the fightingpetition did not take ce. And the following year, the fightingpetition was not held too. Because the S?len Kingdom itself was on the brink of destruction. As a result, Jude had only heard of the fightingpetition unique to the S?len Kingdom as a background setting, but had never really experienced it. But when a fantasy event like a fightingpetition was held, he couldn¡¯t help himself from smiling. ¡®I¡¯m a rotten water after all.¡¯ Someone who gets excited for new content. Jude had a small smile before he turned his gaze and looked at the ce where the other rotten water was, and this time, heughed out loud. Cordelia was suffering from Emma Ficus¡¯ second onught, and was desperately sending a rescue signal to him. ¡®Jude! Jude! Help!¡¯ How could he turn away when she was pleading to him for help? ¡°Please excuse me for a moment.¡± After he asked Lucas to excuse him, Jude quickly headed towards Cordelia. Chapter 208 - WOLF OF THE WIND (2)

Chapter 208 - WOLF OF THE WIND (2)

When the royal family announced the news of the fightingpetition, it caused a stir in the entire royal capital. Not in a bad way but in a good way. The nobles who had packed up their bags for their return changed their ns and decided to stay in the capital for a few more days, and even the people who were dejected by the tragedy of the royal capital regained quite a bit of their strength. ¡°Because this cecks entertainment.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia nodded a few times and looked back at the bed in front of her. Jude and Cordelia were now looking at furniture in a luxury furniture store on the royal capital. Because the mansion they would receive from the royal family had finally been decided. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± As Cordelia took a serious look at the king-size bed, Jude sent a magic. [Just pick a good one. We won¡¯t be able to use it for a while anyway.] This world had ready-made goods, but most of the furniture of the nobility were usually ordered and crafted by hand. The bed was also a sample product, but only when it was actually ordered do the store begin to make apletely new one, so it took as little as 15 days or even a month before they receive what they had ordered. ¡®Moreover¡­¡¯ Because this is a bed that we¡¯ll have to share in one bedroom. Isn¡¯t the day we¡¯ll use it really far? But Cordelia just groaned as she thought and pondered about it. ¡®The bed is too expensive!¡¯ Each piece of furniture was ridiculously expensive, but the bed felt particrly expensive. She thought that she could buy a decent four-horse carriage with the money to buy this one bed. But it was natural for it to be expensive in a way because it was the bed in a bedroom of a count¡¯s mansion. ¡°It seems like you¡¯ll get a fever at this rate.¡± ¡°Ugh.¡± Cordelia groaned again before she plopped down on a nearby sofa, and Jude sat down next to her. ¡°We¡¯re going to rest for a moment. Can we have some tea?¡± ¡°Of course, Count. Please wait a moment.¡± The clerk of the furniture store smiled and bowed before ordering another employee to serve them tea and refreshments. Jude and Cordelia were literally VIPs from the furniture store¡¯s perspective because they had topletely renovate the mansion, but despite being counts, the two spoke respectfully and behaved politely, so the clerk was very pleased with their polite attitude. ¡°Haa.¡± In any case, as Cordelia stretched out on the couch as if she was going to melt anytime soon, Jude smiled and took out a piece of paper. [Take a look at this.] [What¡¯s that?] Instead of answering, Jude pushed the paper a little towards Cordelia, and she blinked her eyes and epted the paper. Her eyes soon widened in surprise. [Wait, what¡¯s this?] [Multiplier table?] [I know what this is, okay? But I clearly said it, right? Gambler-] [No, I¡¯m not the one who brought it, okay? Scarlet was the one who brought it to me, okay?] Cordelia narrowed her eyes in suspicion at Jude¡¯s words, but she soon nodded. Because she found Scarlet¡¯s signature on the corner of the paper. [Anyway, look at it.] As Jude tapped the paper, Cordelia looked at the multiplier table again. It was a very simple multiplier table where you could see how much you would get if you bet on a group in thepetition, but a puzzled and angry expression spread on Cordelia¡¯s face as she stared at it. [Wait. Why is this so high?] The amount you could get if you bet on the north was 2.1 times the amount of the money you bet. It wasn¡¯t such a huge number, but it was inevitable for Cordelia to feel bad. Because the number was greater than the numbers for betting on the south or center. [What the, do they think that the south or center are more likely to win than the north?] [I guess so?] [Why?] Cordelia looked at Jude with an expression showing that she couldn¡¯t understand why. [My Jude¡­ No, no¡­ Anyway, aren¡¯t you from the north?] Jude¡¯s the one who won the Banquet of Swords and stopped the Lord Protector, but why do they think that the south or center have a higher chance of winning? Cordelia was extremely angry at the numbers written that assumed the north couldn¡¯t win, so she was fuming after reading the multiplier table. [Woah, woah, calm down.] [Aren¡¯t you angry?] [No, I¡¯m not angry. The multiplier table makes sense after all.] [What do you mean?] [No one has seen me fight.] Cordelia blinked her eyes at Jude¡¯s words and soon understood it. Because it was true. [Because no one has seen me fight the Lord Protector. To be frank, if you think about it objectively, would it make sense for two teenagers to beat the Lord Protector even if he had declined from age? You¡¯ll just think that they somehow got lucky in stopping the Lord Protector with the power and help they received from others.] If one took a step back, his words certainly made sense. Moreover, Jude was a weak boy who suffered from an illness and couldn¡¯t go out of his house just half a year ago. [Perhaps they think that you¡¯re stronger than me. Well, that¡¯s what I think so too.] If it weren¡¯t for Cordelia, he wouldn¡¯t be able to force the sixth door open. It was also Cordelia who dealt thest hit. [W-why are you suddenlyplimenting me?] Cordelia hmphed and snorted, but when he looked at her face, he could tell that she was actually happy. But her happiness didn¡¯tst long. Because she was still upset that Jude had been ignored. [But there was the Banquet of Swords.] They definitely saw his fight against First Sword there, right? [Even if they saw it¡­ First Sword had be a traitor now. So my evaluation ended up decreasing a lot.] Obviously, First Sword¡¯s betrayal didn¡¯t mean that Jude¡¯s skills had suddenly decreased. [I still don¡¯t understand.] [There¡¯s one more reason here.] [What is it?] [Because this is a group battle.] The fightingpetition regrly held by the king was not a one-on-one tournament. It wasn¡¯t a tournament that went up step-by-step from 32 to 16 to 8 people and so on. It was close to a battle royal wherein all the participants were gathered in one ce and made to fight for one round only. [The north, south, and center will each have 30 people, so 90 people will all be fighting at the same time. It¡¯s good to have skilled individuals, but at thispetition, the power of the group itself is more important.] And in that sense, the evaluation of the north was worse than that of the south or the center. Except for Lucas and Jude, their group had no other exceptional talents, and the overall age group of their group was also much younger than the other groups. [To add to it, I¡¯m also injured, right? I¡¯ve been unconscious for days, so some of them probably judged that I still haven¡¯t fully recovered.] Jude had been unconscious for three days. By general standards, it would take at least a month for a person with such injuries to fully recover and be in their usual fighting form again. [Are you really okay though?] Cordelia asked with a worried expression, and Jude immediately nodded. [Because I have a regenerative ability.] [Haa¡­ Okay, I get it. Show them what you¡¯ve got, okay?] [Yes, so I went all-in on the north.] [Good job¡­ wait, what?] [I said I went all-in on the north.] When Jude spoke with a big smile, Cordelia forgot her ban on skinship and touched Jude, or rather, she began hitting him. [Gambler OUT! Let¡¯s break off our engagement! Let¡¯s break it off!] [Ouch, it¡¯s not gambling. It¡¯s an investment, okay?] [Grrr, you¡¯re not hurt at all even if I hit you, huh?] [Huhuhu, my princess. Please calm down. You don¡¯t think I¡¯ll lose, right?] [Wow, look at this guy talk. How arrogant.] But what he said was also true. Jude was much stronger than what the public thought. [Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯ll be a big hit. I¡¯m the one who increased the multiplier in the first ce, okay?] Cordelia blinked at Jude¡¯s words. Because she felt like she had heard of something strange. [Wait, what? Who increased the multiplier?] [Me.] [How?] [Through rumors?] Jude calmly said, and Cordelia¡¯s face went nk before she understood it. What the words of Jude had meant. [Hey, don¡¯t tell me¡­] [Yes, I created those rumors.] I heard that Jude is weaker than we thought. I heard that he isn¡¯t skilled enough to beat the Lord Protector. I heard that the wizard, Cordelia, did more than him. I heard that he is still struggling with his injuries. I heard that there are no exceptional talents in the north. [I had a hard time making it look like inside information that was very reliable.] Jude spoke as he puffed up with pride, and Cordelia had no choice but to think of the same word as always. [Wow, you scammer.] [Do you hate it then?] Jude shrugged as he slyly smiled, and Cordelia hmphed before smiling. [But are you sure of it? It¡¯s not even confirmed that you¡¯ll win.] [Hehehe, why are you saying that? Don¡¯t you believe in me?] [Didn¡¯t you say that it¡¯s a group battle?] Cordelia slightly disagreed, and Jude said as he crossed his arms. [Then, let¡¯s make a bet.] [What bet? A bet that you¡¯ll win thepetition? I hate that. I won¡¯t win anyway, so I¡¯ll just end up losing all my money, okay?] [No, not that. It¡¯s a bet on how many kills I can get.] He didn¡¯t really mean that he would kill people. In the first ce, the use of sharpened weapons was prohibited. One was considered as having killed the opponent if they had sent their opponent out of the field, made their opponent dere surrender, or removed the band their opponent wore during thepetition. At Jude¡¯s provocation, Cordelia slightly raised her eyebrows before she asked as if to sound it out first. [Tell me how many first.] [20 kills?] The number of enemies was 60 in total if youbined the center and the south, so 20 kills was a sufficient number. But Cordelia shook her head as if it was not possible. [Don¡¯t you have to do that much in order to win anyway?] [30 kills then?] [40 kills.] 40 kills out of 60 people. Considering that the center and the south would also fight each other, it was almost no different from asking Jude to kill them all. ¡®You¡¯ll say that you can¡¯t do that, right?¡¯ Cordelia thought she would be satisfied if she just hear one word ofint from Jude. But Jude gave an unexpected answer. [Okay.] [Huh?] [That¡¯s good. If I get more than 40 kills, Cordelia, you¡¯ll grant me one wish. If I can¡¯t do it, I¡¯ll grant you your wish.] [W-wait a minute. What wish are you talking about?] [Hoh, are you scared? It¡¯s just 40 kills, right?] Jude provoked her with a sly smile, and Cordelia was unwittingly provoked, but she did not immediately answer back. Because she had past experience. There was no way Jude would have said that if he wasn¡¯t confident. ¡®I-isn¡¯t it too much though?¡¯ 40 kills out of 60 people. That may be possible if Jude fought alone against a south and center alliance rather than a 1:1:1 group battle. [You okay with 40 kills?] [50 kills. Do 50 kills.] If you say that you can¡¯t do it, this time, I¡¯ll be the one to tease and ask you if you¡¯re scared. When Cordeliacently smiled and said, Jude immediately nodded his head. [All right, 50 kills. Instead, you¡¯ll fulfill your promise, right? If I get 50 kills, you¡¯ll grant me any wish, right? Whatever I wish, okay?] [W-wait a minute.] [Why? Are you scared? Scared of 50 kills?] [Argh, that¡¯s not it, okay? I just have to mentally prepare myself, okay? I won¡¯t back down, okay? I¡¯m going to make an unreasonable wish, okay?] [Same with me then. I¡¯ll also make a really unreasonable wish, okay?] Cordelia unconsciously flinched when Jude said that with wide open eyes. Because he was worried about it too. ¡®W-what the hell?¡¯ What¡¯s a really unreasonable wish? What did he mean by that? Cordelia¡¯s imagination began to run wild in her head again, and she blushed at some point. [Y-you f*cking pervert.] [W-wait a second. What? What did you say? Are you thinking of something weird?] [N-no, I¡¯m not? Anyway, fine. I¡¯ll agree to 50 kills, okay?] [Good, let¡¯s make a contract.] [Eh?] [A contract.] Jude said as he took out a contract that he had made earlier, and Cordelia signed with her thumbprint. [Good, I¡¯ll be looking forward to it then.] [Hmph, me too.] Cordelia snorted first before she took a deep breath and tried to calm her anxiousness. She felt like she was somehow tricked, but she thought that it was still very favorable for her. ¡®That¡¯s right, he has to do a whopping 50 kills.¡¯ 50 kills out of 60 people. How will he do that if it¡¯s a group battle? It¡¯s also against two groups, so it¡¯s a 1:1:1. Even if he is strong, it¡¯s still impossible. As long as he doesn¡¯t cheat. ¡®Scammer.¡¯ Jude is a scammer. Cordelia suddenly became very anxious. Chapter 209 - WOLF OF THE WIND (3)

Chapter 209 - WOLF OF THE WIND (3)

Some corrections for the previous episodes: -The multiplier for the north was actually higher than the multiplier for the south and center. Someone in thements pointed it out in the previous episode, so I¡¯ve corrected it now. -In Jude¡¯s first fight against First Sword, he actually used an attack called ¡®Sky Shattering ck Dragon.¡¯ I previously thought it was just some chuuni line, so I had tranted it as ¡®Shatter the skies, O ck Dragon.¡¯ But it was an attack name, so I¡¯ll be using Sky Shattering ck Dragon from now on. The day of thepetition finally arrived. The massive colosseum stadium, which could amodate tens of thousands of people at the same time, was literally packed. If the ball was the highlight of the founding anniversary celebration for the nobles, the fightingpetition was the highlight for the people of the royal capital. ¡°This fightingpetition¡­ everyone¡¯s really excited.¡± Dahlia said in a surprised voice as she sat in the VIP seats and looked around. She had watched thepetition four times in the past, but this was the first time that thepetition had this much enthusiasm. If Jude was next to them, he would have told them that the people the royal family had hired to liven up the atmosphere were active in various ces, but unfortunately, Jude was in the stadium and not in the VIP seats. ¡°Don¡¯t be so worried, Miss. I¡¯m sure Miss knows how strong Lord Jude is, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, mydy. Nothing bad will happen.¡± When Cordelia sat with an anxious and worried face, Dahlia spoke to her with a smile, and Maja who was nearby also smiled and added. In the eyes of the two people, Cordelia worrying about her fiance¡¯s safety was quite charming andmendable. But Cordelia¡¯s innermost feelings were a bit different. ¡®Eueue¡­why am I this anxious?¡¯ It was true that she was worried about him getting hurt, but she also had an ominous feeling. 50 kills. Even if he¡¯s that strong, 50 kills is impossible, right? Lucas is there too, right? The other people from the north are not scarecrows, and in addition, it¡¯s a 1:1:1. Some people will also be ¡®killed¡¯ when the center and south fight each other. And some people will choose to surrender in the fight. ¡®Ah, I don¡¯t know anymore.¡¯ Anyway, please don¡¯t get hurt. Cordelia closed her eyes and tightly held her hands in prayer, and Maja who was next to Cordelia also prayed with her hands together since she was worried about Jude too. And right after that. At the time when Count Chase made a snorting sound. ¡°Let the fight begin!¡± As soon as Princess Daphne, who was sitting on a high ce, dered the start of thepetition, loud trumpet sounds filled the colosseum, and the shouts of the spectators shook the ce afterwards. ¡°Uoooooooh!¡± Cordelia reflexively opened her eyes at the immensely loud cheers, and she looked down at the circr stadium with a nervous look. gs representing the north, center, and south were erected at the three corners of the round stadium which was wider than a ser field, and 30 well-armed knights were lined up under each g. The group who could take away their opponent¡¯s g and bring it to their camp would win. However, the north, center, and south were all pitted against each other, and there were 30 people per group, so tactical movements were quite important in this battle. What will happen? What in the world will Jude do to get 50 kills? A dozen seconds passed. At the time when the spectators¡¯ shouts died down. The knights from the center and south began to move at the same time. But their movements were a little strange. Because both of their attack groups were openly marching towards the north. As if they had made an alliance. ¡°Oooh! The center and south have joined hands!¡± ¡°Are they hitting the north first?¡± Most of the people who filled the spectator seats were naturally from the royal capital. Since the center wasn¡¯t in a disadvantageous situation, no one was booing. Moreover, this kind of thing frequently happened in the fightingpetition. As it was a 1:1:1 battle in the first ce, temporary alliances and betrayalsmonly urred. But why the north? Why are they attacking the north? Cordelia was convinced the moment she saw the north¡¯s response to the center and south attacking them from both sides. ¡®Jude, you evil b*stard!¡¯ You damn scammer! At the moment when Cordelia¡¯s praise (and not praise) burst out, loud cheers erupted again among the audience. *** Jude didn¡¯t actually put much effort into his scam. All he did was create a venue where the central and southern prospects who attended the Banquet of Swords could exchange their thoughts several times. So those who had participated in the Banquet of Swords all thought of the same thing. They must attack the north first. Even if Jude could move fast or slow, he was still one person in the end. Grabbing the g of the north would mean the defeat of the entire northern group, regardless of whether Jude survived or not. Furthermore, Jude had suffered great injuries in his fight against the Lord Protector. It was somehow disgraceful to attack a weakened person, but in the first ce, this was Jude¡¯s fault for pushing ahead with his participation in the fighting tournament even though he had notpletely recovered yet. Several central and southern knights stayed behind in order to protect their gs, and the rest of them charged towards the northern group in both directions at the same time, but the north was fully prepared and responded. ¡°Strengthen the defense! Block the center!¡± Lucas was pretty much the leader of the northern group. When he loudly shouted, all the northern knights turned to the central knights and took a defensive formation. Theirbat tactic was hammer and anvil. All the northern knights led by Lucas became the anvil and blocked the central knights. All the southern knights were left to the hammer. To their one-of-a-kind and invincible hammer on this battlefield! ¡°Sky Shattering ck Dragon!¡± Jude rushed to the southern knights alone and shouted it loudly as he released the energy of the ck dragon. As huge air waves struck the front, the southern knights quickly spread to the left and right to evade the attack, but not everyone was able to avoid it. Some of the knights in the middle where blown away by the energy of the giant ck dragon. And lightning struck. With the Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt, Jude headed to the southern knights who had split into the left side, and he opened the fifth door instead of the iplete sixth door as he prated into their ranks. But it wasn¡¯t his usual fifth door. To begin with, Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors was a kind of buff that nearly amplified its user¡¯s basic capabilities. Therefore, Jude¡¯s fifth door was much stronger than his previous fifth door despite having opened the sixth gate already. He added the ck Sun to his nned attack. Jude¡¯s internal energy was so immense and powerful that it waspletely iparable to the other prospects in the stadium, so it was truly like the sun appearing in the night sky. First move. Jude saw the southern knight in front of him as the knight raised his shield. Though Jude was wearing leather armor and had a sword on his waist, he used the energy of the ck Sun and transmitted it to his entire body, striking the center of the shield as he recalled Landius¡¯ movements. Bang! The southern knight was blown away over a dozen meters with his shield before he rolled over the floor. A fully armed knight usually weighed over a hundred kilograms. So the sight of such a knight flying over a dozen meters and rolling on the floor because of a single blow was so unrealistic. But not for Jude. Because he had already seen Landius do it. Because he knew it was possible to fight like this. He immediately kicked the ground again. He moved his hands and feet without hesitation towards the southern knights who had frozen for a moment because of the unrealistic sight. Bang! Bang! Bang! He threw and pushed them. Every time he moved his hand, a southern knight flew into the air. They werepletely helpless against him because they couldn¡¯t withstand the force pushing them even if they blocked it with a shield. ¡°Strike back! Rather, attack!¡± One of the southern knights yelled and bravely rushed towards Jude. Jude saw the knight. And he realized it again. The world he had lived in had changed now. For Jude who had fought against the swords of the Lord Protector and First Sword, the swords of the prospects were no longer a threat to him. The knight¡¯s sword drew a sharp trajectory. And Jude grabbed the trajectory of such a sword. To be exact, he grabbed the wrist of the knight wielding the sword. The knight was flustered as he never imagined that to happen, and Jude threw the knight with only just his hand. Jude was as strong as several people to begin with, so if he added the energy of the ck Sun, his strength would rise so greatly that even the word ¡®superpower¡¯ didn¡¯t fit it. ¡°Aaaaah!¡± The southern knight struck the other knights and they fell to the floor. Having ¡®killed¡¯ more than ten people in an instant, the audience cheered even more, and Jude used his Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt again. ¡°No! Defend the g!¡± The leader of the southern knights shouted loudly, but it was a misjudgment. Because Jude flew towards the knights of the center and north instead of heading to the g of the south. His reason was simple. ¡®I have to?kill?more!¡¯ He still had a long way to go before he got to 50 kills. But his actions looked different to the surrounding knights. Not only the southern knights, but even the central and northern knights misunderstood Jude¡¯s actions. ¡®Is he trying to protect his allies?¡¯ ¡®He¡¯s protecting us!¡¯ It didn¡¯t matter to him if he was misunderstood. What mattered to him was to increase his kill count. ¡®Lucas is stronger than I thought!¡¯ Lucas had already defeated three knights from the center. So Jude immediately blew away the three knights in front of him in session and run towards Lucas. He destroyed the enemy formation and took down the knights around Lucas first. And he thought at the same time. The southern knights. They were rearranging their formation. Because they realized that fighting Jude was impossible, so they were nning to take the g of the north while he was fighting the center. As for the central knights. They did not know that they were only sacrifices for Jude, so they did not step back. They were already crossing swords with the north, so they tried to maintain their current situation. But it wasn¡¯t good. If they continued their tussle, the central knights would be defeated by the northern knights. Therefore, Jude turned his eyes. He found a familiar man among the central knights, and put his hand on his sword as he looked at that man. ¡°Avoid him! He¡¯s drawing his sword!¡± Lucian Dior. The guy whom he fought against in the Banquet of Swords, and the one who yed a crucial role in moving the central knights. And he made Jude¡¯s wishe true again. When he shouted loudly, all the central knights groaned and retreated. Because Lucian had made a fuss before the game, saying that he didn¡¯t know on what would happen if Jude drew his sword. That was why a gap was created. Jude flew to those who were mixed with the northern knights. It was the time that one long breath would take, but it was a long and valuable time for Jude to use Hyper-Wind Thunderbolt and Thunder God Invokes Lightning. ¡°Aaaah!¡± Four central knights flew in the air, and Jude shouted at Lucas. ¡°Protect the g! The south ising!¡± His words were heard. Lucasmanded them, and the northern knights quickly retreated to defend their g as they lined up in formation, and because of that, a gap was created again. Jude blew away two more knights from the center before he headed towards the southern knights again. The situation of the southern and northern knights facing each other had to be avoided. Jude turned his eyes. He counted the number of knights from the south, and saw them approaching in apact formation that would not be easily destroyed. So he smiled and made his next move. The sixth door. It was iplete but was stronger than the fifth door! Bang! The energy exploded. The ck dragon¡¯s energy turned into a ck me and rose like an explosion, and Jude kicked the ground. After he flew high in the air, he dug into the middle of the southern knights¡¯ dense formation. ¡°It¡¯s an attack!¡± Someone shouted. They hastily stepped back and lifted their shields or swung their swords. But Jude ignored them. He immediately lowered his posture and ced his two hands on the floor. The energy of the ck Sun was released to the maximum. ¡°ck Dragon Spiral!¡± Six ck dragons were released by Jude and turned the ground upside down at the same time. The ck energy smashed the ground, and soon soared up and blew away all the southern knights. ¡°Uooooooh!¡± The audience broke into loud cheers. It was natural because more than ten knights were defeated at once. Jude raised his head amidst the cheers. He saw the g of the south, and when the southern knights guarding the g flinched, he rushed back towards the central knights. And at that moment, everyone inside the stadium realized. That Jude had no intention of taking the gs. Even if they brought him the g, he would defeat the one who brought it instead of receiving it. ¡®W-what the hell!¡¯ ¡®Does he have a grudge against us?!¡¯ ¡®I-is it because of me?¡¯ Thest one was Lucian, and Jude threw that Lucian away. He used Lightning Punch against the central knights who wereing in from all sides at the same time. Baaaaang! His attack was different than before. His Lightning Punch were now truly seven strikes that were unfolded at the speed of lightning. Four central knights were simultaneously defeated, and Jude let out his breath. The only ones who stood now were the central and southern knights who were guarding their gs. ¡®Seven in the south and five in the center.¡¯ That was enough. If he chose the south, he could pass 50 kills. ¡°Lucas! Center!¡± Jude loudly yelled, and Lucas, who had been looking around as he held his sword, came to his senses. He led a group of people and headed towards the central group¡¯s g. And Jude headed towards the southern group¡¯s g. If he walked slowly, they would have surrendered, so he quickly narrowed the distance with Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt. ¡°I sur-¡± ¡°No!¡± I can¡¯t allow it! Jude struck the abdomen of the southern knight who was trying to surrender in order for the knight to be unable to speak, and he blew away the southern knights one after another. There were those who bravely charged, saying that it was all or nothing, but the difference in power was too big. Originally, knights were not defeated so easily by martial arts because they were fully equipped with armor, but his unimaginable power and overwhelming difference in skill broke their existingmon sense. And he struck again. Jude blew away thest man and grabbed the southern group¡¯s g. ¡°Uooooooooh!¡± The audience broke into cheers. When Lucas raised the central group¡¯s g, louder shouts shook the entire colosseum. Because it was the north, or rather, Jude¡¯s overwhelming victory. ¡°Jude Bayer!¡± ¡°Jude Bayer!¡± ¡°Count Bayer!¡± To be exact, he was Jude August Bayer, but it was too long. So the crowd cheered for Count Bayer, and the real Count Bayer somehow felt awkward and cleared his throat for no reason as he smiled. ¡°Miss, did you see it? Miss!¡± Dahlia was delighted, and so was Maja. In particr, those on the Bayer side who had known Jude since his sick days had faces that looked like they were about to cry soon. ¡°The Swordless Swordsman!¡± ¡°Guardian of the royal family!¡± Several voices were heard from the spectators at that time. The winner of the Banquet of Swords. The northern hero who protected the royal family from the Lord Protector. It was at that moment when the true strength of Jude, which had only been known through rumors, was revealed to the entire world. Smiles of satisfaction spread among the faces of the royal family, and the faces of the empire¡¯s delegates who were watching from the VIP seats had slightly turned tense. It was a natural reaction as a monster beyondmon sense had appeared in apetition for prospects, which was only a taste before the mainpetition. And one more person. The main character of this event, Jude, stared at that person. ¡¯51 kills.¡¯ All except those who were defeated by Lucas and the northern knights. Jude had a dark smile on his face, and Cordelia covered her face with both hands. Chapter 210 - WOLF OF THE WIND (4)

Chapter 210 - WOLF OF THE WIND (4)

Scarlet burst intoughter without realizing it. Someone said that people could only do nothing butugh when faced with such a ridiculous situation, and it seemed like those words were true. ¡®What the hell.¡¯ She knew that he was strong. Scarlet herself wasn¡¯t confident that she could beat Jude. So she thought that he would show an overwhelming performance in thispetition. Even if a dozen underage knights, who still had some room to grow, would fight Jude, they wouldn¡¯t be able to defeat him. However. ¡®Ha, seriously?¡¯ She won as she had expected, but the way he did it was beyond her imagination. What the hell? Is he a human? Why do people fly when he throws them? She could understand if he was a huge giant over 2 meters tall, but Jude wasn¡¯t. He was tall, but was just tall enough to look good, and he had a good build, but didn¡¯t look that threatening. Therefore, it was more shocking. It was really astounding. ¡®Pink Bomb, you¡¯re dating someone like that?¡¯ Wouldn¡¯t your whole body be crushed if he hugged you tightly? Scarlet was mixed among the spectators, and she turned to Cordelia in the VIP seats. She then had a bitter smile as she looked on with a warm gaze. ¡®She really likes him.¡¯ She likes him so much that she covers her face with both hands. Scarlet giggled before she looked back at the stadium. Immense cheers continued to be heard. ¡®It¡¯s history¡­ no, it¡¯s a scene from a legend.¡¯ The birth of a hero who only appeared in myths and legends, a person who could defeat more than 50 knights alone. It was natural for people to be enthusiastic. Even Scarlet herself who knew the true colors of Jude was feeling thrilled. ¡®Well¡­ Lucas also performed well.¡¯ He also defeated many knights just like Jude. Scarlet smiled a little differently than before, and she looked back at the stadium. She gazed at Lucas and saw Jude approaching him. And it was at that time. Jude raised his hands high and responded to the cheers of the audience before he made a hand gesture. It was signal to be quiet for a moment, and the enthusiastic crowd gradually quieted down. Thus, it became silent. Jude took a deep breath as he looked toward Cordelia and spoke calmly in a voice loud enough to reach the entire colosseum. ¡°I will dedicate today¡¯s victory to my beloved fianc¨¦e, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Uooooooh!¡± In that instant, cheers erupted from the audience, and people¡¯s attention shifted from Jude to Cordelia. And Cordelia, who was hiding from the world as she covered her face, became even more restless at everyone¡¯s gazes. ¡°Miss, it¡¯s okay.¡± ¡°Please wave your hand a bit.¡± Maja and Dahlia spoke from the side, and Cordelia stood up with a tearful face and waved her hand to the crowd. ¡®Why am I the one who¡¯s always being embarrassed?¡¯ She was really, really embarrassed and was in tears, but everyone who saw herpletely thought differently. To them, it seemed like she was moved to tears at Jude¡¯s dedication of his victory to her. And amidst such countless misunderstandings, Cordelia made eye contact with Jude and was really about to cry. ¡®I can¡¯t tell what he¡¯s thinking!¡¯ Their distance was too far. All she knew was that he was smiling evilly, but she couldn¡¯t figure out what he was thinking inside. ¡®What? What is it? What the hell are you going to make me do? Why are you smiling so much?¡¯ She obviously couldn¡¯t read his eyes because he was too far away. But unlike Cordelia, Jude knew very well what she was thinking. ¡®She¡¯s thinking about me making a wishter.¡¯ Cordelia fidgeting is the cutest in the world though. Does she know how cute she looks when her imagination is running wild? With a dark smile on his face, Jude once again responded to the spectator¡¯s cheers before he returned to the waiting room together with the knights from the north. And twenty minutester. Jude had changed into casual clothes much faster than the other knights because he was wearing light armor in the first ce. He then sat next to Cordelia and she stared hard at him. Because she was scared on what Jude might say, but her want of looking at his eyes to know his thoughts was much stronger. But people said that it was possible to attack anything if one knew the pattern to it. So after Jude figured out Cordelia¡¯s thoughts, he stared at her instead of avoiding her gaze. ¡®I just don¡¯t have to think about it.¡¯ Because their eye conversation wasn¡¯t really telepathy. There was nothing for her to read unless he thought about something. And if he applied those words, it also became possible to attack her. Just like this. ¡°Eueueu¡­¡± Cordelia made eye contact with Jude and flinched. She then began to hit Jude after seeing his thoughts. Her ps naturally didn¡¯t hurt Jude. What Jude had thought of was simple. Cordelia is cute. As he filled his head with that thought only, it was natural for Cordelia, who had met his gaze, to be that embarrassed. ¡®How sweet, how sweet.¡¯ Those who looked at Jude and Cordelia¡¯s quarrel with the eyes of a third party simply smiled with happy faces because they did not know on what was actually happening. [Anyway, Cordelia.] [Why! Why! Why!] [What about my brother and Adelia?] At Jude¡¯s question, Cordelia took a deep breath and pointed to the stadium. [Waiting room. It¡¯s about to start soon.] [Hmm, I¡¯m looking forward to it.] How strong have my brother be? Surely, he must have be strong enough to be one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. ¡°It¡¯s starting.¡± As the trumpets loudly sounded, the knights from the north, center, and south finally entered the stadium. *** Thirty people for each group. It was the same number of people as the previous game, but the feeling of pressure was different when they stood on the field. After all, they were real grown-up knights unlike the prospective knights earlier who were still physically growing because they were minors. There was also the difference in experience. There was a gap that could not be filled between those who had experienced real battles and those who had not. The central and southern knights. At the forefront of each group were Richard Galleon, the Lion¡¯s Sword, and Calix Ophand, the Sea Serpent yer, who were considered as candidates for the Ten Great Swordmasters position. The Lion¡¯s Sword was covered in golden armor and was so huge that he seemed to be over 2 meters tall at first nce. And Calix, the eldest son of the Ophand family who inherited the blood of beasts, gave off a deadly energy that just standing there silenced everyone around him. Richard and Calix stared at each other. Because both sides had a feeling that the other would determine the victory or defeat of their group, especially now that Aios Lain, who was known to be the fastest swordsman among the Jackdaws, was absent. Obviously, there was one more candidate for the Ten Great Swordmasters position. Ga?l Bayer. Jude Bayer¡¯s older brother who showed an amazing performance. But he was seriously injured in the battle on the royal capital. Moreover, he only managed to hold back a high-ranking demonic human, and did not make any particr noticeable contribution. ¡®And.¡¯ Richard and Calix have both met Ga?l. In Richard¡¯s case, there was a time when they had crossed swords at the Banquet of Swords. That was why both knew. ¡®He¡¯s too restrained.¡¯ One could say that he was ordinary. Ga?l¡¯s sword was a model student¡¯s sword. Faithful to the basics without anything unique to it. It was not that he didn¡¯t have the talent, but he just didn¡¯t make a strong impression. He was a bit strange, but he was just a knight who was inly strong. So Richard and Calix didn¡¯t care much about Ga?l. The two just stared at each other. But at some point. Richard¡¯s experience, which had been refined by numerous practical battles, made him turn his eyes away. Calix¡¯s instincts began to sense an immense danger. Why? The two people reflexively turned their heads and flinched unknowingly. They looked at the northern knights with a perplexed look. *** Adelia defined the Ga?l who rose from the battle on the royal capital into one word. ¡®Beast.¡¯ Beast, monster, wolf. His personality didn¡¯t change. Ga?l was still a good, honest, and sincere man. But something definitely changed. To be exact, something woke up in him. The Essence of the Silver Moon that was created by Druid Fran had explosively strengthened Ga?l¡¯s physical abilities. His internal energy had also more than doubled. But it wasn¡¯t those things that really mattered. ¡®The Sword of Wind.¡¯ Count Bayer¡¯s sword. As Count Bayer had shown in his fight against First Sword, the essence of the Sword of Wind was the gale. A wild, unrestrained, and raging wind. Ga?l took a deep breath. He slowly exhaled and looked straight ahead. His blue hair shined in the daylight. His left arm that was reced with a prosthetic arm could freely move, but he could not feel any sensations on it. But he was smiling. Because he knew now. What his father had meant. What the gale, the essence of the Sword of Wind, was. Ga?l no longer restrained himself. Hepletely liberated the wildness that woke up in the process of his resurrection. And at that moment, everyone in the stadium looked at Ga?l. They couldn¡¯t help it. But it was only the beginning. Ga?l took a step forward. He looked straight ahead without hiding his fierce smile. ¡°Adelia.¡± Ga?l whispered low and drew his sword. He showed the knights of the center and south, as well as the spectators at the colosseum, the true Sword of Wind, his Sword of Gale. *** The fightingpetition ended sessfully. The result was a one-sided victory for the north in both the minor and adult divisions. But despite the defeat of the central group, the entire royal capital was engulfed in a grand and festive atmosphere again. ¡°It¡¯s a huge sess.¡± Prince Dion, the person who nned and pushed for the fightingpetition, smiled brightly for the first time in a long while, and upon seeing her younger brother¡¯s smile, Princess Daphne was also happy as she filled her ss with wine. ¡°The birth of a new great swordmaster.¡± They couldn¡¯t fill all the vacancies in the Ten Great Swordmasters, but it was enough for them. The residents of the royal capital were exhrated by the birth of a new great swordmaster, and they no longer worried about the vacancy left by First Sword. Sword Wolf. The wolf of the sword. The sword of the dominating gale that defeated the beast of the south, Calix Ophand, and the Lion¡¯s Sword, Richard Galleon from the center. ¡°For the Bayer family.¡± Prince Dion raised his ss together with Princess Daphne, and was sincerely grateful. After all, they were able to reverse the atmosphere of the royal capital because of the Bayer family. The Sword of Wind reced the Sword of Light. The Sword Wolf ¨C Ga?l, who now held the Sword of Gale, became one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. And even Jude Bayer, the Swordless Swordsman, showed an overwhelming performance. ¡°Their family are really great swordsmen.¡± It was clear to them that Jude would also be one of the Ten Great Swordmasters in the future. In one family, three great swordmasters were born in the same time period. It was a tremendous feat that couldn¡¯t be found anywhere. At Princess Daphne¡¯s words of admiration, Prince Dion nodded and cheerfully smiled, saying as he touched his chin. ¡°But my dear sister.¡± ¡°Yes, my dear little brother.¡± ¡°Is Jude a real swordsman?¡± They had never seen him use a sword. Even in the fightingpetition, he only pretended to pull it out. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I think he¡¯s a swordsman. After all, we¡¯ve never seen the Iron Man use a sword too, right?¡± ¡°A swordless swordsman.¡± How could a swordsman be a swordsman if they didn¡¯t use a sword? But that didn¡¯t matter to them. What mattered was the fact that new heroes were born from this fightingpetition. ¡°Two people of destiny.¡± Just as Princess Darianne and Prince Dion each had their own unique abilities, Princess Daphne also inherited a special ability from the Founder King. A heavenly voice. Whispers from above that she could hear from time to time. That being had said. The two people of destiny would determine the fate of Princess Daphne and Prince Dion, as well as the entire S?len Kingdom. ¡°Then, when are those two getting married?¡± ¡°They haven¡¯t held an engagement ceremony yet, right?¡± It was an arranged marriage from the time they were still in their mothers¡¯ wombs, and now, they were both 17 years old. ¡°Hmm, should we do it for them then?¡± ¡°What? The engagement ceremony?¡± ¡°Yes, with the blessing of the royal family.¡± The two had already done a lot of favors to the royal family to the extent that they could be called royalists, but the royal family needed to be more certain that the two were on their side. ¡®No, I just want to be nice to them more.¡¯ Because they really owed the two a huge favor. ¡°Hmm¡­ I think that¡¯s a good idea? Shall we go ahead with it?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go ahead with it.¡± The siblingsughed without worries after a long time and bumped their sses again as they continued to discuss their n in more detail. But unfortunately, the siblings¡¯ wishes wouldn¡¯te true. *** ¡°Hey, are we really going like this?¡± ¡°Because our feet will keep getting tied down. I even participated in thepetition, but we really have to go now.¡± The night after thepetition. Jude suggested to Cordelia that they take a honeymoon trip to the south, or to be exact, to escape at night. ¡°If we continue to stay at the royal capital, we will not be able to leave for the south even after a month.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ I agree.¡± There were so many people who wanted to meet Jude and Cordelia. Furthermore, it was not easy to refuse them since they were all high-ranking nobles. ¡®It¡¯s a pity that I couldn¡¯t stop by the Medb¡¯s auction house in the end¡­ but it¡¯s not a big deal.¡¯ The Medb¡¯s auction house was hit hard in the chaos that urred when the royal capital was attacked. Because of that, the auction house wouldn¡¯t be holding an auction for a while, so they couldn¡¯t help it even if they thought that it was a pity. ¡°What about our fief then?¡± ¡°My father and brother will take care of it.¡± The fief that they were supposed to receive had already been confirmed. Although they had yet to receive the official documents, it was not a big problem since they wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything to it yet. ¡®Because we¡¯re not in a situation where we can just sit back and manage our fief.¡¯ ck Dragon Malekith¡¯s attack on the south was drawing near. Due to the butterfly effect, the event could go a bit faster or slower than the original storyline, but in any case, they couldn¡¯t just wait for it to happen. ¡°Ultimate One.¡± It would be perfect for Jude who was called the Swordless Swordsman. It was a weapon that he must obtain before their final battle against Malekith. ¡°I see, then it¡¯s fine. We can¡¯t help it.¡± Cordelia nodded her head, and Jude immediately ced the prepared letter on the bed. The letter wrote that the two were going on a romantic trip to the south, so they shouldn¡¯t look for the two. ¡°But Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± ¡°That¡­¡± ¡°That?¡± ¡°Wi¡­¡± ¡°Wi?¡± Jude grinned and tilted his head as if he didn¡¯t know what she was talking about, and Cordelia bit her lips and pulled on Jude¡¯s arm as she said. ¡°The wish! What¡¯s your wish!¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ What kind of wish should I make? I¡¯m worried because I have so many wishes to make.¡± ¡°M-many?¡± ¡°Yes, there are so many, so I¡¯m really worried on what to wish for. So it will take some time. Hmm, perhaps at least a few days.¡± Jude smiled and said before he packed their luggage. And Cordelia¡¯s imagination began to run wild in the meantime. ¡°Anyway, Madam, I think we should get going.¡± When Jude said that, he showed her his back as if telling her to ride on his back, but Cordelia suddenly pped and said in a quiet voice. ¡°Yes, yes, if Jude¡¯s wish is a piggyback ride¡­ should I allow it then?¡± Because her ban on skinship had yet to be lifted. At Cordelia¡¯s words, Jude grinned and said. ¡°What the¡­ are you saying that¡¯s my wish?¡± ¡°No, well¡­ it is.¡± When Cordelia smirked and said, Jude snorted before nodding his head. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s do that.¡± ¡°Eh? Really?¡± ¡°Yes. If you want me to wish to carry you on my back instead of saying my real wish, I can¡¯t help it then, right?¡± Cordelia flinched at Jude¡¯s words. Her conscience was stabbed because she felt that she was somehow cheating him, but the ¡®real wish¡¯ that Jude had said was also bothering her. What is it? What kind of wish is it? Cordelia began to imagine again, and her face blushed as always before she finally made up her mind. ¡°Okay. Just for this time, I¡¯ll ride on your back.¡± ¡°Should that be my wish?¡± ¡°No. Just tell me your real er.¡± Cordelia averted her eyes for no reason, and Jude began tough in a sly way. ¡°Why are you doing that?¡± ¡°Well, I just thought that my princess is really an angel.¡± That was it. Instead of teasing her more, Jude showed her his back, and Cordelia pouted her lips before she carried the bag on her back and got on Jude¡¯s back. ¡°Are you not saying those words today?¡± Her usual lines of merging with Jude. ¡°Uh, not for now.¡± Cordelia responded with a slightly sulky voice as she hugged Jude¡¯s neck, and Jude quietly smiled as he arranged Cordelia¡¯s position. To stop the attack of ck Dragon Malekith. The two began their trip to the south. Chapter 211 - ULTIMATE ONE (1)

Chapter 211 - ULTIMATE ONE (1)

Terms used in this episode: Korean instant noodle with rice?¨C Ramyeon is the word for Korean instant noodles. But some Koreans also like cooking rice along with ramyeon. Dragonflight?¨C subrace of dragons from the official lore of the World of Warcraft game. Horse requisition tablet?¨C a round tablet carried by public officials in Korea¡¯s Joseon Dynasty in order to use a horse or horses owned by the state for their missions. It is also used by secret royal inspectors in order to prove and reveal their identities to public officials. Secret royal inspector?¨C an undercover official directly appointed by the king and sent to the local provinces in order to monitor government officials and look after the popce while traveling incognito. For their secret missions, they receive a letter of appointment and a horse requisition tablet. The line ¡®the secret royal inspector is here!¡¯ is a famous line on how secret royal inspectors reveal themselves to government officials as they present their horse requisition tablet as proof of their identity. After they reveal themselves, their subordinates will appear to inspect the government officials¡¯ records. Here¡¯s a video from the Korean series?Haechi, about a secret royal inspector shouting that line and showing his tablet. It doesn¡¯t have English subtitles though. Start at 0:30. It was the only until next morning did Jude and Cordelia¡¯s nighttime escape was discovered. When the maid found the letter on the bed, she was surprised and urgently sought for Count Chase, and the news of the two running away at night quickly spread around. ¡°Count Bayer and Count Chase eloped!¡± ¡°What? Count Bayer and Count Chase?¡± ¡°N-no! Not the fathers! It¡¯s the children!¡± Since it was a topic about Jude and Cordelia, it only took about an hour before the entire royal capital heard the news. And the reactions of the people who heard the news werergely divided into two. ¡°Elopement? Aren¡¯t the two already engaged?¡± ¡°Their families didn¡¯t object to them, right?¡± Those who had learned about the two only after the royal capital¡¯s incident had ended could not immediately understand the current situation. Because they couldn¡¯t understand why the two ran away at night when their families were okay with it, and no one was stopping them from loving each other. And the reactions of those who had already known about the two were almost the same. ¡°Again?¡± ¡°Can you still call it an elopement at this rate?¡± That was how they reacted. Because the two hadn¡¯t done it once or twice. The two had already run away a total of five times. Moreover, since it was a recognized rtionship that their families actively pushed together, running away just because they wanted to go on a trip together didn¡¯t make sense. ¡°But they¡¯re still engaged, right?¡± The two were not married yet. Furthermore, they were only 17 years old now. Even if they were engaged, it was inevitable that there would be a scandal if they went on a trip alone. Just as how bad rumors circted in the north when the two first ran away. But the status and public perception of the two had changed since then. The reactions to the two going on a honeymoon trip were as follows. ¡°What? They haven¡¯t had an?ident?yet?¡± ¡°I thought she had an?ident?back then?¡± ¡°No, didn¡¯t they run away back then in order to have an?ident?¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be because of an?ident?that they ran away in the first ce?¡± T/N: ¡®Have an ident¡¯ is a subtle way of saying that a woman got pregnant even though she is still unmarried. It was the scandal that spread about the two known as the couple of the century who were already recognized by their families, as well as the entire royal capital, or rather, the entire S?len Kingdom. In fact, the public¡¯s perception of the two was that they were no different from a married couple already, as their rtionship had been synonymous to lovebirds who would die if they were separated from the other. If the two ever broke up, the entire S?len Kingdom would rise and express their opposition to it. ¡°All ording to n.¡± ¡°Uuuh¡­?¡± The half-asleep Cordelia let out a confused voice, and Jude grinned before saying. ¡°My princess, shouldn¡¯t you get up now?¡± ¡°Mmnnn¡­¡± Cordelia usually slept a lot in the morning, so she was still half-asleep. Jude then lightly kissed Cordelia¡¯s forehead and whispered to her again. ¡°You have to get up now.¡± ¡°Mmmnnn¡­¡± Cordelia waved her hands when he put his lips on her forehead again. ¡°Kisses¡­ no kisses¡­¡± Because skinship was still banned. But Jude tilted his head and slyly said. ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything. Perhaps you¡¯re still dreaming?¡± ¡°I-is that so¡­? Then it¡¯s fine.¡± Because kisses are nice. Cordelia giggled and closed her eyes again, and Jude had a bitter smile before he pinched her cheek. He wanted to let her sleep more, but it was already time for her to get up. ¡°You really have to get up now, okay? We¡¯re almost there.¡± ¡°Uuuuuh¡­¡± Cordelia forcibly opened her eyes, touching her cheeks as she looked around. Her eyes were still half-open, so her vision was blurry, but she could roughly see that they were in a forest. ¡°Yaaaawn¡­¡± Cordelia yawned and stretched her arms, raising her upper body as she closed her eyes again. Jude then quickly brought out a basin he had prepared. ¡°Now, wash your face. Drink a ss of cold water too.¡± ¡°Uuuh¡­¡± At this point, she couldn¡¯t help but wake up. Having drank cold water after washing her face, Cordelia blinked her eyes, and by the time she was fully awake, her hair was already washed, or to be exact, he had washed her hair. ¡°Stay still, just stay still.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Jude had also learned various basic magic spells aside from magic, so he mixed magic and magic in order to dry Cordelia¡¯s hair before he began tob it skillfully. ¡®Isn¡¯t this morefortable than when I didn¡¯t run away?¡¯ Shouldn¡¯t I be having a hard time since I ran away from home? Jude finished hisbing while Cordelia was thinking alone, and he looked at her hair with a very proud expression before he immediately began to prepare their meals. Since they were outdoors, he was thinking of serving some pancakes, fried eggs, sausages and a bit of vegetables in moderate amounts. He fried it on a pan over the campfire. And he even boiled water for tea. As Cordelia sat and watched Jude¡¯s actions, she sucked in her lips and said. ¡°Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll definitely boil you some ramyeonter. I¡¯m really good at boiling ramyeon.¡± ¡°Where will you get the ramyeon?¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you make it for me, Jude? Oh, and rice too. It¡¯s nice to mix some rice in ramyeon.¡± When Cordelia giggled, Jude used that opportunity to pinch her cheeks. ¡°Don¡¯t you have a conscience?¡± ¡°Well, my heart feels warm.¡± ¡°Shall we check it then?¡± Whether your heart really has any hair or not. T/N: A return of the ¡®hair in your heart¡¯ idiom, which means a brazen or shameless person. Hair provides warmth to your head, so if your heart had hair too, your heart would also feel warm. After hisme joke, Jude focused on cooking again. And after a few minutes or so. Cordelia took a bite of the sausage and looked around. ¡°By the way, where are we?¡± ¡°A nameless forest between Morrison and Garinto. A little further south from here is Mount Damos, which is a part of the fief we¡¯ll be receiving.¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyes widened when she thought of the map of?Legend of Heroes 2?in her head. ¡°Already? It¡¯s only been a day since we left, right?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the power of the Phantom Steed.¡± The Phantom Steed could run continuously without getting tired as long as one supplied it with mana. On top of that, its rider was Jude who was overflowing with stamina that he only needed to sleep for 2 hours, so it wasn¡¯t a problem for it to run for hours. ¡°Umm¡­ I¡¯ll clean your earster.¡± ¡°Why all of a sudden?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just that¡­ you¡¯ve had a hard time.¡± ¡°Are you feeling guilty?¡± Cordelia¡¯s lips twitched at Jude¡¯s question before she nodded a bit. ¡°And¡­ I¡¯ll definitely boil ramyeon for you, so you have to make ramyeon, okay?¡± ¡°It¡¯s like you¡¯re forcing me to do it, but I understand, Madam.¡± In fact, ramyeon was just noodles made from pulling flour, and all he needed to do was fry it in oil afterwards, so he could make it right away as long as he had the ingredients. ¡°Anyway, about Mount Damos.¡± ¡°Ultimate One is found in its underground, right?¡± ¡°Yes, though to be exact, it¡¯s located at the smithy of the ck Horn Guild, one of the seven guilds of Sword Seeker.¡± The Ultimate Seven series. Seven decisive battle weapons created by Sword Seeker, one of the 7 city states of the ancient dwarven kingdom. It might have been awkward at first to attach the term ¡®decisive battle weapon¡¯ to a sword, but for the Ultimate Seven series, it was a different story. As its name implied, the seven were special swords developed for the ultimate sword that they sought, which was what Sword Seeker stood for. ¡°To make it easy to understand, the seven are mythical items.¡± ¡°Mythical items that are above legendary items. In terms of rank, it¡¯s SS-rank.¡± Among the items that Jude and Cordelia had acquired so far, the highest-ranked item they had was the Amplification Earrings, one of Arkeman¡¯s treasures. An S-rank item that amplified the power of spells several times in exchange for an enormous amount of mana. But Ultimate One was an SS-rank item that surpassed S-rank. ¡°It¡¯s actually a graduation item for some rotten water.¡± If a rotten water got one, they wouldn¡¯t need to get any more swords. ¡°Ah¡­ I¡¯m getting excited.¡± The Ultimate Seven series were items that everyone could get in single yer mode, but it was different in multiyer mode. They were really unique fantasy items wherein only one of them existed in the entire server. ¡°You had one too, right?¡± ¡°In multiyer, what I used was¡­ the Sr de.¡± It was the divine sword of Sri that was used by Landius in the first episode of?Legend of Heroes?when he was still called the Red-Haired Warrior. In the second episode of?Legend of Heroes,?it was also an item that sparked the question of whether Landius was killed by Duke because it was in the possession of Duke, a high-ranking demonic human of the Devil¡¯s Hand. Anyway, the rank of the Sr de was SSS-rank. In terms of rank, it was one rank higher than the Ultimate Seven series. ¡°But for the current me, Ultimate One is the best.¡± It wasn¡¯t because Landius still had the Sr de. It was because for the current Jude, the first sword of the Ultimate Seven series, Ultimate One, was more useful to him than the Sr de. ¡°Hehehe, anyway, this is good. If we get Ultimate One, we¡¯ll be stronger, right?¡± ¡°Well¡­ I¡¯ll be stronger.¡± ¡°And if we collect all the Ultimate Seven seriester, we¡¯ll be even stronger, right?¡± ¡°Should we add the Great Protection of the Four Seasons and the Fairy King¡¯s Protection?¡± ¡°Landius might hand over the Sr de to you.¡± ¡°Will my princess collect the entire Arkeman series?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s beat up Malekith and take its Dragon Heart.¡± ¡°And wake up Sri¡¯s giant statue with that?¡± ¡°Magic robots are amazing~ I love giant robots.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve thought about it before, but you really like enormous rides and stuff like that, huh?¡± ¡°Hehe. Anyway, I¡¯m looking forward to it. I can¡¯t wait to get it.¡± Cordelia looked ecstatic as she talked about the items, just like how rotten waters did. ¡°Ha, I suddenly can¡¯t wait to fight Malekith.¡± ¡°Hey, Malekith is an Ancient Dragon, remember?¡± It¡¯s a monster that can really destroy a country by itself, okay? It even has Dragonflights under itsmand, okay? ¡°I know. The Dragon Heart of an Ancient Dragon. Ah¡­what do I do? Jude, my heart is pounding. I¡¯m so excited.¡± It was an item that could not be obtained because it was not implemented as an item in the game. But this was reality now, so it would be different. ¡°Yes, yes. It¡¯s an enemy that we have to fight anyway, so perhaps it¡¯s better to continue thinking like that.¡± It would be much better than falling into fear and despair. ¡°Ah, I suddenly regret it. It would have been nice if we had stopped by Medb¡¯s auction house.¡± The items they had talked about now couldn¡¯t be found there, but they could still have gotten a few A-rank or S-rank items. ¡°We¡¯ll have another chance.¡± After all, they had to go back to the royal capital. Moreover, there was a branch of the Medb¡¯s auction house in the south. The southern auction house was close to its main store because Medb was originally a noble from the south. ¡®Though it¡¯s strange that we¡¯re going to the branch store and not the main store.¡¯ In any case, they would have a lot of opportunities to stop by at that ce. ¡°Fwoo, I like it. I¡¯m beginning to tremble in excitement. Anyway, what do you call it when you secretly visit your territory? Traveling in disguise? Traveling incognito? I want to do that.¡± ¡°Should we make a horse requisition tablet?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ The secret royal inspector is here! ?And when you shout it, a bunch of your minions will appear as if they were summoned.¡± ¡°Hey, youngdy. You¡¯re the one who¡¯s a wizard and not me, remember?¡± ¡°Moving on.¡± Cordelia giggled again and stood up from her seat after finishing her meal. ¡°Okay! Then let¡¯s start again!¡± And as she tried to turn around naturally, she was stopped. ¡°Hey, Cordelia, aren¡¯t you washing the dishes?¡± Cordelia didn¡¯t know how to cook, so her task was to wash the dishes. ¡°It¡¯s going to get dirty again anyway. Do we even need to clean it?¡± ¡°Hey, Cordelia, isn¡¯t it time for you to begin waxing the hair in your heart?¡± ¡°I hate doing things like waxing.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t change the topic, okay?¡± ¡°Tsk, fine.¡± In fact, she could wash the dishes quickly if she used her magic. After finishing their morning breakfast, Cordelia got on Jude¡¯s back instead of riding on the Phantom Steed. Because it wasn¡¯t good to use the Phantom Steed in the morning when the sun was shining. ¡°Merge in the outdoors! JuDelia!¡± Perhaps because her excitement was at its peak, Cordelia loudly shouted and hugged Jude¡¯s neck, and Jude had a small smile before he kicked the ground. *** Mount Damos. It was a small mountain situated between the center and the south, and was known as a ¡®mountain that must not be entered¡¯ to the surrounding residents. The reason was simple ¨C because there were so many monsters. ¡°But¡­ isn¡¯t it a little strange?¡± ¡°It is.¡± Outboxer009 and Yellow Storm were famous as rotten waters among the stagnant waters of?Legend of Heroes. That was why they could immediately think of the locations and kinds of monsters that would normallye out here without even needing to search JudeWiki. But as of this moment, there was a beast that shouldn¡¯t be here on Mount Damos, or to be exact, the beastkin were hanging around this ce. ¡°Vorg.¡± ¡°The boar beastkin.¡± With an average height of more than 2 meters and their biggest one reaching 3 meters, they were arge, bulky, and strong non-human race, and their entire race worked as mercenaries. ¡®Though the Vorg mercenaries and Vorg bandits are almost synonymous.¡¯ They had an impatient personality and had a strong tendency to be violent, so if they didn¡¯t like the contract a bit, they would also betray their contractors. ¡®Why are they here anyway?¡¯ The Vorgs were more found in the empire than in the S?len Kingdom, though one could also find them in the southern wends in the kingdom that was quite far from Mount Damos. [Jude, look at their chests.] Hiding in the bushes at the end of a slope, Cordelia peeked at the passing Vorg 10 meters below, and as she said, Jude¡¯s eyes widened the moment he saw the copper te they were wearing around their chest. [ck Hand Mercenaries!] They were particrly notorious among the Vorg mercenaries, and were also rted to ck Dragon Malekith. But it wasn¡¯t because of their rtionship with Malekith that Jude was surprised. [Gamorr Khan is here?] [I think so?] Gamorr Khan. He was the strongest and most powerful Vorg even among the ferocious Vorgs. He was a mercenary, so his evaluation was low, but he was a warrior so powerful that there were some who regarded him as the strongest in the same ss as the Ten Great Swordmasters. And such a guy was leading his subordinates to Mount Damos. This ce, which would be Jude and Cordelia¡¯s fief, was still under the direct control of the S?len royal family. [Is he after Ultimate One?] It was a very sudden connection, but it was also a valid guess. Because Gamorr Khan was the owner of Ultimate Five ¨C the Shield Sword, Grand Order, one of the Ultimate Seven series. ¡®The Ultimate Seven series have a resonance effect.¡¯ All the swords in the Ultimate Seven series had a resonance between each other. Gamorr Khan was also known for coveting the other Ultimate Seven series. ¡®But at this point?¡¯ In the game, he was a guy who wandered around in search of the Ultimate Seven series, but at this point in time, he never came to Mount Damos in search of Ultimate One. What happened? Is this one of the changes caused by the butterfly effect that began in the north? ¡®Anyway.¡¯ In any case, it had already happened. So they just had to get Ultimate One before this guy. But it was at that moment. ¡°Hehehe.¡± Cordelia snickered and nced at Jude, and instead of making an expression on asking why all of a sudden, Jude also snickered. Because they both thought of the same thing. ¡°¡°Ultimate Five.¡±¡± Grand Order. Not only Ultimate One, but also the Shield Sword, Grand Order. Since Gamorr Khan was a subordinate of Malekith, defeating him would also serve a double purpose. Jude had a dark smile like usual, and the already infected Cordelia also had a dark smile. Gamorr Khan is definitely a reference to Gamorreans, a pig-like humanoid race from the Star Wars series. Chapter 212 - ULTIMATE ONE (2)

Chapter 212 - ULTIMATE ONE (2)

Terms used in this episode: One¡¯s eyes are covered with bean pods?¨C This is the 4th?time that this idiom has been mentioned, but I¡¯ll say it again to those who forgot, it means that you only see good things in someone that you¡¯ve fallen in love with. Jude was the first to use this idiom, but this time, it¡¯s Cordelia who used it herself. ck Dragon Malekith had several subordinates besides the Dragonflights, who were its children. Gamorr Khan. He was the boss of the ck Hand Mercenaries and one of the notorious Five Evils of the South. He was big and close to 2 meters, but this was just an average height among the Vorgs. At this moment, there were a dozen of his men that were bigger than him. Being big naturally wasn¡¯t a good thing, but it was quite strange when one considered the culture of the Vorgs, wherein the biggest one generally became the leader. He had stiff brown fur, a ck mane, red eyes, and sharp fangs that protruded from his mouth. On his neck was a gold ne with a purple gem in the middle. The man then frowned and said. ¡°Pink¡­ Bomb?¡± ¡°Yes, here.¡± Jacques, an aide of the mercenary group, held out a piece of paper that was a little smaller than Gamorr¡¯s palm. It was big enough for Jacques, a human being, but it was too small for Vorg standards, so Gamorr Khan gestured with his eyes instead of epting it. He was telling the other to read it. ¡°This afternoon, I will take the Ultimate Five ¨C the Shield Sword, Grand Order. Signed, Rogue Master Pink Bomb.¡± It was the Rogue Master¡¯s notice. Gamorr Khan lived in the south, but that didn¡¯t mean he knew nothing about the events in the royal capital. Moreover, Jacques was originally a former bandit, so he had a lot of interest in the Rogue Master. ¡°It¡¯s true that a Rogue Master named Pink Bomb appeared in the royal capital.¡± ¡°Is this for real?¡± ¡°Yes, she¡¯s a real Rogue Master. She has the Moon Crystal, and it seems like she also have a few more treasures. At this point, we should consider this as genuine. It was said that she had openly robbed a ce where more than a hundred guards were set up. So it¡¯s true. She¡¯s-¡± Jacques was quite enthusiastic when he talked about the Rogue Master. But Gamorr Khan still spoke with a frown. ¡°I mean, is her name really Pink Bomb?¡± What kind of Rogue Master would name themselves as Pink Bomb? Is this some penalty game? At Gamorr Khan¡¯s reasonable question, Jacques replied while being embarrassed even though this wasn¡¯t about him. ¡°Well¡­yes. It really is her name.¡± ¡°That woman must be thick-skinned.¡± Just how shameless and brazen is that woman to use a name like that? ¡°Anyway, do you think this is real?¡± ¡°I think so.¡± Jacques had never been to the royal capital, so he didn¡¯t know what Pink Bomb¡¯s signature looked like, but still, he didn¡¯t think that this notice was fake. ¡°Because there¡¯s no one else she could send this to.¡± He was right. Few people were so bold as to joke around sending such fake letters to Gamorr Khan, the boss of the notorious ck Hand Mercenaries, and most of it were just some rough words that were nonsense. On the other hand, if she was the real Pink Bomb, she had enough reason to send a notice. ¡°Because the boss¡¯ weapon is real.¡± Ultimate Five. Shield Sword ¨C Grand Order. The ancient dwarves¡¯ treasure that raised Gamorr Khan¡¯s name to a level simr to that of the Ten Great Swordmasters. ¡°What should we do?¡± ¡°First of all, I think it would be better to prepare for it since it wouldn¡¯t do us any harm if we tried.¡± They would gather his wandering subordinates around him in order to tighten their defense. If the purpose of Pink Bomb was the Grand Order, she had to show up in front of Gamorr Khan whether if she liked it or not, so it was easier for them to do gather their scattered troops rather than trying to search the surrounding area. ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s not bad.¡± Gamorr Khan quietly touched his chin and nodded before saying. ¡°Gather our men. We¡¯ll go on full defensive.¡± ¡°Yes, boss.¡± Gamorr Khan and Jacques didn¡¯t know, but their countermeasure was almost the same as the countermeasure that the ck Moon¡¯s guild master, Karma Bonn, had put in ce to stop Pink Bomb. And, very sadly, the results were the same too. *** ¡°Good, they fell for it.¡± Jude looked around as he hid himself in a tree overlooking arge rock tomb, and he spoke in a low voice. Because the Vorgs of the ck Hand Mercenaries who were scattered around Mount Damos and were searching had now gathered at the center of the main camp set up by Gamorr Khan. ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°Uuuh¡­ my ears feel itchy.¡± Why does it feel like someone¡¯s speaking ill of me? Strictly speaking, this was actually Jude¡¯s fault and not Cordelia¡¯s, but Jude was unaffected perhaps because his shamelessness was on a different level. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Okay!¡± They used the notice to gather the people scattered around Mount Damos and stop the search. And while the other side waited for Pink Bomb, the two would get Ultimate One. ¡®After all, he is Gamorr Khan.¡¯ Technically, Gamorr Khan was one step below the Ten Great Swordmasters, but even so, he was immensely powerful. It was no exaggeration to say that he was like a moving steel castle if one considered the strong physical abilities unique to the Vorgs, and the tremendous defensive power of the Shield Sword, Grand Order. Moreover, he had a lot of subordinates, so even if Jude and Cordelia teamed up, a head-on match would not guarantee them victory. ¡®At our current level.¡¯ They needed to get Ultimate One and increase their power to be victorious. ¡®Of course, that¡¯s not all.¡¯ Jude grinned with an evil smile, and Cordelia stared at him, feeling troubled as her lips twitched. ¡®Why does he look more handsome than usual when he has an evil expression?¡¯ Is this what they meant by one¡¯s eyes being covered with bean pods? In any case, what mattered was the fact that the Vorgs of the ck Hand Mercenaries had disappeared from their sight. Jude spread his superhuman senses and confirmed that all the Vorgs were gone before he silently jumped down and approached the rock tomb. ¡°Is this the ce?¡± ¡°Yes, it is.¡± Jude responded to Cordelia¡¯s question before he put his hand on therge rock and recited the spell. He then pressed on the corners of the rock in a certain order. A yellow magic circle then appeared across the rock, and a huge door was formed on the rock¡¯s surface that had nothing earlier. ¡°Woah.¡± When Cordelia apuded and admired the seal, Jude shrugged and immediately entered through the door. Unlike the ck Hand Mercenaries who searched Mount Damos without any knowledge, Jude and Cordelia had JudeWiki. ¡°.¡± The small light from Cordelia¡¯s spell lit up the surrounding darkness, and words of awe flowed out from the mouths of the two again. ¡°Endymion.¡± Cordelia spoke without realizing it, and Jude nodded his head. The unfortunate city that could no longer be visited again. An underground city spread before them, though it was much smaller than Endymion. ¡°It¡¯s the ck Horn Guild¡¯s residence.¡± At Jude¡¯s exnation, Cordelia nodded and pointed to arge building in the center of the city. ¡°Is it over there?¡± ¡°Perhaps?¡± What the two were talking about was not Ultimate One. They knew that Ultimate One was definitely in this ce though. ¡°Let¡¯s hurry up.¡± ¡°Okay!¡± The underground city with the dwarves¡¯ delicate touch was very beautiful, but Jude and Cordelia had already gone through Frost Anvil and Endymion. The two ran straight to the central building without looking away, and they were able to find their target without much difficulty. Because the closer they got, the stronger the ¡®signal¡¯ they felt. ¡°As expected, it¡¯s here.¡± There were a lot of magic tools in therge room on the right side of the central building¡¯s entrance. Most of it were broken and destroyed by the passage of time, but one of the tools was still working. ¡°Monster Attractor.¡± Commonly known as the Aggro Generator. It was a machine that attracted monsters by emitting a special magic signal, and it was a product developed by the dwarves of Frost Anvil, basing it from the Sunflower¡¯s effect of attracting monsters. ¡°They used this to defend the city, right?¡± ¡°Yes, if they covered Mount Damos with monsters, it creates a natural shield.¡± Obviously, the signal had weakened after a thousand years, so it was not as strong as before, but monsters were still scattered around Mount Damos. Cordelia gazed at the 3-meter-tall cylindrical machine that was much bigger than a human, and she suddenly smiled. ¡°So this is the first thing we do as lords? For our residents?¡± ¡°Of course. We are their lords.¡± They would wipe out the monsters on Mount Damos. How would they do it? By using the ck Hand Mercenaries who were steadily preparing themselves to defend themselves from ¡®monsters.¡¯ In order to do that, they obviously needed to manipte the Aggro Generator. But it was normally impossible. Even if they were Jude and Cordelia, it was impossible for them topletely control the magic tools the ancient dwarves made with the help of Endymion¡¯s high elves. ¡°There is someone who can do it.¡± Jude and Cordelia looked at each other and had evil smiles, and they cheerfully stood in front of the device. Jude handed to Cordelia the item he took out of his bag. ¡°Here it is.¡± ¡°Shall we do it together then?¡± ¡°All right.¡± The two shared evil smiles again and held the Moonlight together and brought it to the terminal located in a corner of the machine. Both the Moonlight and the machine werepatible to some extent because they were made by the high elves of Magen, the magic kingdom. And there was someone who was sleeping inside Moonlight, and could possibly manipte the machine too. ¡°Melissa.¡± An artificial spirit created by the high elves of Magen, the magic kingdom, for facility management. She then responded to the call of the two. *** ¡°Fight back! Rip them to pieces!¡± At Gamorr Khan¡¯s cry, the Vorgs of the ck Hand Mercenaries roared and charged. They had a dense formation, so it was better to keep their position, but once the battle began, they couldn¡¯t do as nned, though it was natural for it to happen since they were Vorgs. But Gamorr Khan didn¡¯t pay it much attention. Monsters suddenly came in groups and went wild, but the Vorg mercenaries numbered thirty. Even if Gamorr Khan wasn¡¯t present, they could easily trample the dozens of monsters like the Kobolds and Fury Wolves. ¡°Hmph, they¡¯re just weaklings.¡± Gamorr Khan snorted and spat before he looked around again. He wondered what kind of monsters there were in the not-so-big mountain and why there were so many, but he was more worried about Pink Bomb. Because of the monsters¡¯ attack, his subordinates were scattered again. Moreover, this was a perfect time for a surprise attack because they were in the midst of confusion. Therefore, Gamorr Khan kept his position and sharpened his senses instead of participating in the battle. And that was why he was the first to discover it. ¡®Ground tremors?¡¯ This wasn¡¯t normal. Even if there were many monsters, they wouldn¡¯t cause this kind of tremor. ¡°Boss! It¡¯sing again!¡± Jacques turned to the side and shouted loudly, and Gamorr Khan looked at the side too. And as they expected, they saw dozens of monstersing with bloodshot eyes. But that wasn¡¯t all. What Gamorr Khan felt was more than that. Boooom! The shaking ground made Jacques fall on his butt, and Gamorr Khan was finally able to tell why. He unconsciously shouted. ¡°Rock Troll!¡± Giant monsters that had more than half of their skin made up of rocks. As if responding to Gamorr Khan¡¯s shout, the Rock Trolls that appeared on the ridge roared at once. The 6-7 meters high monsters leapt and rushed. The ground shook. It was no exaggeration to say that it was simr to an earthquake now. ¡°F*ck!¡± Gamorr Khan cursed and picked up the Grand Order. *** At the time when blood was being shed above ground. Cordelia was flustered in front of Moonlight that was attached to the Aggro Generator. ¡°So it¡¯s not¡­ I really didn¡¯t forget you¡­¡± [No, it¡¯s all right. I¡¯m just a mere AR.TI.FI.CIAL SPI.RIT. I have no such thing as human rights, so it¡¯s okay for me to be left unattended like trash.] ¡°No, it¡¯s not that¡­¡± Why are you saying such bitter words? Why are you stressing the words ¡®artificial spirit?¡¯ [It¡¯s all right because I¡¯ve never expected you to talk to me. Because even if I want it, I don¡¯t have a heart that goes thump-thump. From now on, I¡¯ll never expect to go on an adventure with you.] Cordelia groaned even more at Melissa¡¯s words. Because unlike the shameless Jude, Cordelia still had a conscience. ¡°Aaah. I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m really sorry. It¡¯s my fault. I¡¯m sorry, okay?¡± She said with a tearful face, and Melissa spoke in a very small voice. [Say that with¡­ a little more spirit.] ¡°I was wrong! I was really wrong!¡± [¡­Will you talk to me often in the future?] ¡°Yes! I will! Definitely!¡± [Ahem, then¡­] It was at that moment when Melissa who was a bit annoyed was about to forgive her. ¡°Cordelia! Hurry up! I¡¯m opening it now!¡± ¡°Eh?! Yeeees!¡± Cordelia heard the voice of Jude from beyond the door, and she lowered her head in front of the Moonlight and quickly said. ¡°Melissa, I¡¯ll be back soon, okay? It¡¯ll be quick!¡± [W-wait a minute!] ¡°I¡¯m sorry!¡± Cordelia loudly shouted and left the room as she ran hard towards the direction where she heard Jude¡¯s voice. A huge anvil located in the middle of the central building. Standing in front of the symbol instead of the real anvil, Jude infused his mana into the Key Sword to bring out its true form. ¡°Wow.¡± Cordelia stopped right next to Jude and gazed at the Key Sword with sparkling eyes. Like its name ¡®Key Sword,¡¯ the sword turning into a real key was quite fascinating. ¡°Is it okay to open it now?¡± ¡°Yes, we have the Key Sword, so the guardians will stay still.¡± Jude smiled and looked around the giant statues around them, and he held out the Key Sword towards Cordelia. ¡°Shall we open it together?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± The two held the Key Sword together and inserted the Key Sword into the keyhole in the center of the huge anvil. If Scarlet had been there, she would havemented that they were like cutting a wedding cake, but unfortunately, there was the only the two of them in this ce. ¡°Let¡¯s turn it. Turn right? Or left?¡± Cordelia stamped on her feet in her excitement, and eventually used her strength to turn the Key Sword to the right, and at that moment, numerous lines appeared on the huge anvil. Lines of white light were drawn on the ck iron anvil. The shape of the anvil began to transform with a mechanical sound as it made Cordelia¡¯s heart pound. ¡°Ultimate One¡­¡± Jude said in a whisper, and Cordelia swallowed hard. With sparkling eyes, the two looked at the treasure hidden inside the anvil, and the fantasy weapon slowly began to appear. Chapter 213 - ULTIMATE ONE (3)

Chapter 213 - ULTIMATE ONE (3)

Terms used in this episode: Kite shield?¨C arge, almond-shaped shield rounded at the top and curving down to a point or rounded point at the bottom. The craftsmen of Sword Seeker who created the Ultimate Seven series were the owners of an entric nature typical of the excellent ancient dwarves, as their craftsmanship far surpassed those of the current dwarves. Their nature was reflected in their works of art, and because of that, the seven swords they made for their n to create the ultimate sword all had one or more extreme aspects. ¡°Kuooo!¡± The giant Rock Troll bellowed and threw a rock the size of a house. It was a terrifying attack that seemed like it could destroy even walls, but unfortunately, their opponent¡¯s defense was stronger than that of walls. Baaaaang-! The rock struck the white barrier and crumbled just like what happened to things when they hit something harder than them. Gamorr Khan blocked the rock by setting up a huge white shield and did not miss that opportunity then. He rushed straight ahead and jumped, swinging his giant kite shield, the Grand Order, towards the chest of the Rock Troll. Booom! He smashed the Rock Troll¡¯s chest with a tremendous roar. It was the result of Gamorr Khan¡¯s monstrous strength, which could not even bepared to the average Vorg, and the force of the Shield Sword that was stronger than a wall. Thuuud! Gamorr Khannded next to the crumbling Rock Troll and moved his right arm as he roughly breathed. Once the light from the kite shield, which was huge enough to cover Gamorr Khan¡¯s body, shined, the white force field disappeared. Shield Sword ¨C Grand Order. It usually looked like an ordinary greatsword, but this was only a measure for the convenience of its user and not the true form of Grand Order. A giant kite shield with the de of a greatsword at its end. Its appearance of a sword in the wrist, also called a wrist de,bined with a kite shield in the form of a reverse triangle was said to be the true form of Grand Order. Total offense and defense. Silver Fortress, one of the seven guilds of Sword Seeker, tried to realize the ultimate sword through abination of offense and defense. But like typical ancient dwarves, they began to obsess over defense rather than offense at some point, and the current Shield Sword was eventually born, which seemed to focused more on total defense. ¡°Keuhaa¡­¡± Gamorr Khan heavily breathed as he looked around him. Beyond the remains of the ten Rock Trolls, he saw the dozens, or rather, hundreds of monster corpses which were so many that they covered the entire ground. ¡°Damn it.¡± Among those corpses were Vorgs from the ck Hand Mercenaries, who were Gamorr Khan¡¯s subordinates. It seemed like the men he brought were virtually annihted given that he could only hear a few people fighting. ¡°Ha, f*ck.¡± It was so ridiculous that he could onlyugh. He had hundreds of subordinates left in the south, which was the home of the ck Hand Mercenaries, but even so, a loss was still a loss. Moreover, if only Gamorr Khan himself survived, he would not be able to carry out Dragon Lord Malekith¡¯s order. He would have to return to his main base or send out a message to call his subordinates. ¡®I can¡¯t just go.¡¯ Gamorr Khan looked down the mountain as he stroked his gold ne with a purple gem. A small vige was seen some distance away from the many monsters of Mount Damos. He could invade it, kill its residents, and then cover it up. There were so many monsters on Mount Damos that he could use it to cover up and fool anyone with his actions. It was an extremely crude idea for the leader of a huge mercenary group, one of the notorious evils of the south, but those were truly Gamorr Khan¡¯s thoughts. ¡®Is Jacques also dead?¡¯ That¡¯s a little disappointing. He was very smart and knew a lot. But it was something that he still did not know. Gamorr Khan briefly looked around and opened his mouth to call Jacques¡¯ name. But as he was about to shout, Gamorr Khan unconsciously flinched. To be exact, Gamorr Khan¡¯s right arm that had the Shield Sword, Grand Order, began to tremble. Resonance phenomenon. It only trembled once, but he had experienced this before. That was why he was able to know, and why he was surprised. Behind him. Another Ultimate series was causing the resonance phenomenon. Gamorr Khan quickly turned around. And he frowned without realizing it. The ck-haired young human who stood alone some distance away made him frown in displeasure. It was not because the youth¡¯s appearance was so outstanding that even Vorgs would agree. It was not even because he thought that the cause of this incident might be the young man in front of him. It was a much simpler reason than that. As he felt the resonance phenomenon of the Ultimate Series, a question came to his mind. ¡°Bare hands?¡± There was nothing in the hands of the young man who stretched out his arms. *** Jude knew it even if Cordelia didn¡¯t persistently tell him. They were much better off doing a surprise attack. While their opponent was engrossed in fighting monsters, hitting their backs was the fastest and simplest way to attack them. But he didn¡¯t do that. The possibility that the surprise attack would fail in the first ce because of the resonance phenomenon was just an incidental reason. If it was because of that, he had no reason for dying Cordelia from scolding him now. Ultimate One ¨C Sword Origin. The ultimate sword created by ck Horn, one of the seven guilds of Sword Seeker. Jude slowly breathed. There was a still a little sense of strangeness and ipatibility in the tips of his hands, but these sensations would soon disappear. ¡®Be one with the sword.¡¯ It was an idea of the ancient dwarves of ck Horn. The concept they pursued to create the ultimate sword. The beginning was quite normal like the other Ultimate Seven series. Shouldn¡¯t we talk to the ultimate swordsman in order to find out what the ultimate sword is? So Eitri, the head of the ck Horn Guild, visited Valencia, the Elf Sword and strongest swordsman of that time, and asked her about the ultimate sword. ¡°What is the ultimate sword?¡± ¡°To be one with the sword. The sword and I be one.¡± Eitri asked about the sword as a weapon, but Valencia exined the sword as a swordsman, and this was where the misunderstanding began. ¡°The sword and I be one.¡± I be the sword. I am the sword, and the sword is me. Eitri was an ancient dwarf, and his colleagues and subordinates were also ancient dwarves. Therefore, they interpreted Valencia¡¯s words in a way that was typical of ancient dwarves. ¡°Then let¡¯s make the user into a sword!¡± It didn¡¯t mean that they would use a swordsman as a material for the sword. It meant that they would make the swordsman into an existence like a sword. The human cksmiths ¨C no, even the dwarves of today would shake their heads and ask, ¡®what kind of nonsense is that,¡¯ but unfortunately, yet amazingly, the ancient dwarves had the skills and abilities to realize that nonsensical thing. ¡®Ultimate One ¨C Sword Origin.¡¯ Unlike the other Ultimate Seven series, the user became one with the sword, and once equipped, the ultimate sword cannot be removed until the user died. A smile spread on Jude¡¯s face. His heart was pounding because of the resonance phenomenon. Gamorr Khan was not weak. In terms of skill, he wasn¡¯t as strongpared to the Ten Great Swordmasters, but his physical abilities were at least more than them. But Jude wasn¡¯t afraid. It didn¡¯t ur to him that he couldn¡¯t win like how he felt when he fought against the Lord Protector or First Sword. ¡°Let¡¯s begin.¡± He first began with Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt like always. As he moved his feet as fast as lightning, Jude disappeared. His speed was hard to follow with one¡¯s eyes, but his opponent was Gamorr Khan. ¡°B*stard!¡± Gamorr Khan¡¯s physical abilities amplified by Grand Order responded to Jude¡¯s speed. Furthermore, the resonance phenomenon between the Ultimate series helped him to clearly identify Jude¡¯s location. Gamorr Khan did not set up his shield. Instead of showing off the strongest defense in the Ultimate series by spreading the force field, he tried to crush the body of the rushing Jude with the de part of the Shield Sword. The wrist de¡¯s strength. The immense power and speed that the swing of his arm had. The direction of his attack was correct. Its speed was also enough. The power that it carried was also enough. So Gamorr Khan also heard it. Bang! The sound of something blocking his Shield Sword. The sound of blocking his Shield Sword head-on, and not letting it go, having it pass by, or avoiding it. Jude¡¯s left arm blocked the de of the Shield Sword. The immense strength of Jude endured the power of Gamorr Khan. And it didn¡¯t end there. Jude stood firmly as if he had taken root on the earth, and he moved his arm. It seemed like he would push the de part of the Shield Sword, but he pushed down the Shield Sword itself. At the same time, he greatly swung his right arm. aaash! Gamorr Khan¡¯s chest was cut. He instantly defended against it by concentrating his aura on his chest, but it couldn¡¯t perfectly defend it. His chest was shed, and blood flowed down. Be one with the sword. Turn the user¡¯s body into like that of a sword. Make it as hard and sharp that it can stand against a sword. Jude¡¯s karate chop was like a de. His arms were able to face the sword even without using the ck dragon¡¯s energy. It was a dreamlike scene for fist fighters who fought barehanded. Instead of desperately evading or letting the enemy¡¯s weapon pass, he struck the enemy in the front. And Jude had one more advantage. Ultimate One was still only at its first form, and none of the sealsmon to the Ultimate series had been released, but it could still be used. A body like that of a sword. Therefore, the strength of his body had be so strong that it was iparable to before. So his body could endure it now. He didn¡¯t need to hesitate or worry about his body being destroyed. ¡°The sixth door.¡± Something that was opened ipletely. His body could not endure the full power of the ck Sun, so he couldn¡¯t fully use it then. The ck Sun¡¯s power began to rise in Jude¡¯s chest. The sixth door of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors finally brought out its full power. Bang! Bang! Bang! The energy of the ck dragon ran wild in Jude¡¯s body and soul. ck mes soared from Jude¡¯s entire body as if it exploded. Gamorr Khan stepped back unconsciously. Apart from the resonance phenomenon, he felt a cold sweat flowing down behind his back. Instead of chasing Gamorr Khan, Jude further activated the power of the ck Sun. The energy of the ck dragon wrapped around Jude¡¯s limbs, and the ck Sun promptly gave Jude tremendous power. ¡°Supreme Sun Divine Art.¡± Landius¡¯ martial art. He had learned the basics of it. But he couldn¡¯t use it like Landius. Even if it made him invincible, using the Supreme Sun Divine Art with his body would end up destroying it because its offensive power was too strong. But not anymore. Jude could now fight like Landius. He could fight in the same way that Iron Man Landius did. He smiled. And took a step forward. It was as light as the wind, but it didn¡¯t look that way to Gamorr Khan. It looked like how a giant was taking a step to crush him. That was why Gamorr Khan reflexively nted his Shield Sword. He used the power of Grand Order to form a white barrier. And Jude could tell. His Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt could not defeat Gamorr Khan¡¯s force field. So he drew his clenched fist and focused the power of the ck Sun onto one point. What he thought of was Landius¡¯ fist. He threw out a punch that could break the sky. ¡®May the muscles always be with you.¡¯ The smile didn¡¯t leave his mouth. His fist punched towards the white barrier. Supreme Sun Divine Art ¨C Secret Art: Sky Breaker. Jude¡¯s fist struck the white barrier. The light of the ck Sun covered the world. Chapter 214 - ULTIMATE ONE (4)

Chapter 214 - ULTIMATE ONE (4)

It was a reckless attack. A senseless attempt that was actually close to just throwing his fist. But its power was extraordinary. A roar broke out. But because it was a loud roar, they couldn¡¯t properly perceive it. A crack spread over the white force field barrier. The spreading speed was so fast that it seemed like it had happened in an instant, and the sight of the force field shattering as light burst was truly fantastic. ck Sun. A light that covered everything. And when that light disappeared, and everything that had been covered by that intense light was revealed again, and the immense devastation was also revealed. A huge crater appeared as if a meteorite had fallen. The ground was dug, cracks were spread on the ground, and there were no clouds left in the sky because they were driven away by the shockwaves. And Jude and Gamorr Khan rolled over the floor. Jude¡¯s attack through Sword Origin was too strong, and Gamorr Khan¡¯s defense using Grand Order was too solid. The two were unable to withstand the tremendous force caused by the collision between the fist and the shield, so they ended up being thrown into different directions. Gamorr Khan was pushed more than a dozen meters as he partially dug the ground, while Jude was sprawled on the ground 20 meters away from the point of collision. For a while, neither of them showed any reactions. But at some point, both sides began to move. ¡°F*ck.¡± Jude spoke like Cordelia. He had a bitter smile and frowned from the pain. His right arm hurt. Because of his regenerative ability, he looked fine now, but it was aplete mess then right after the sh. He could move it now. He felt the pain. The sensation on his fingertips were back too. ¡°Ha.¡± He forced himself to smile and clenched his fist. Jude grit his teeth and soon put some strength into his right arm. He lifted himself up like a zombie and swallowed his breath. Raising his head, he captured the world with his green eyes. He saw it. Gamorr Khan was forcibly raising his body as his right arm drooped. Just as how his side was in a mess, the other side also looked to be in a mess. But there was a difference. Gamorr Khan was also known as a monster among the Vorgs, but when it came to physical endurance, Jude was much more superior. ¡°Aaaaah!¡± Gamorr Khan bellowed and lifted his right arm with his left hand. Judging from the appearance, he must have dislocated his shoulder. His eyes were bloodshot. His breathing was rough and the muscles all over his body were swollen more than usual. ¡°You shitty b*stard.¡± Gamorr Khan said. Jude couldn¡¯t hear it well, but he could roughly read the other¡¯s lips. Naturally, a wild boar¡¯s head was quite different from humans, such as the shape of their lips, but curses were usually thrown in situations like this, so he could interpret the other¡¯s words by supplementing it with his imagination. Jude let out his breath. And he saw Gamorr Khan move his left hand again. The giant kite shield split into two and was equipped in both his right and left arms. ¡®The second form.¡¯ The seven guilds of Sword Seeker that created the Ultimate Seven series all had the same origin. Perhaps that was the reason why the seven swords had some things inmon. ¡®Three seals.¡¯ The Ultimate Seven series had a power that lived up to its name. Therefore, not everyone could handle its power. And the craftsmen of Sword Seeker did not want a weak and unqualified person to use the Ultimate Seven series. That was why it had seals. So that only those who deserved the Ultimate Seven series, or at least those who could handle its power, could bring out the true power of the ultimate sword. Seal. As it name implied, the swords¡¯ power and functions were all sealed. Almost all of the ultimate swords at this time were in the form of ordinary swords. Just like how the Key Sword was in the form of an ordinary sword. And its first form was revealed when the first seal was removed. Its basic form. The ultimate swords at this time mostly had low hurdles. Obviously, there were ultimate swords that were seriously particr of its user like Ultimate One and Ultimate Seven, but for the other five swords, someone at the level of a prospect who attended the Banquet of Swords could use them. The first form of Grand Order was a kind of wrist de with the de attached to the pointed end of the kite shield. The second form went a little further from there. It took a form that made it easier to defend by dividing the kite shield vertically so that it could be equipped on both arms. ¡®Of course, it has strayed further and further from a sword.¡¯ Anyway, Gamorr Khan was a powerful manparable to the Ten Great Swordmasters. In fact, Jude¡¯s evaluation wasn¡¯t wrong since he had experienced fighting one of the strongest among the Ten Great Swordmasters, First Sword, and one of the weakest, the Lord Protector. So Gamorr Khan who had revealed the second form of Grand Order seemed to be on par with the Lord Protector. Jude took a deep breath. He tried to calm down his heart that was pounding from excitement, but he couldn¡¯t erase the smile drawn on his mouth. He proceeded. Jude kicked the ground. This time, Gamorr Khan also charged at him head-on. It was a very aggressive charge like that of a wild boar. And they collided into each other again. But it was different from before. It was a mixture of offense and defense this time. Bang! Bang! Bang! Gamorr Khan attacked by swinging the Grand Order. Every time he attacked, the power carried in each strike was so strong that it let out terrifying shockwaves. The basic way to fight was to sh and hack using the de attached at the end of the shield. But it wouldn¡¯t be called an ultimate sword with just that. Gamorr Khan created a force field, and used that force field to turn his attack from a pointed one to a non-pointed one by using the surface of the force field. He made the expression ¡®an approaching wall¡¯ into a reality. Bang! Grand Order and Sword Origin collided. Jude was powered by the ck Sun and pushed back the blunt attack as he narrowed his distance from Gamorr Khan. He struck his fist towards his opponent¡¯s chest. Boom! The force field broke. The white and transparent force field that started from the Grand Order attached to his arm and surrounded Gamorr Khan¡¯s entire body was broken, and Gamorr Khan¡¯s body slightly rose into the air. And Jude turned his body. Gamorr Khan¡¯s body that had slightly risen into the air was struck by Jude¡¯s roundhouse kick, and it wasn¡¯t just a simple attack but a crushing blow. Baaaaaang! The force field he hastily created broke again. Gamorr Khan was injured on his chest, but as soon as he fell on the ground, he stood up again and attacked Jude. Babababababang! And a storm of attacks followed. At first nce, it seemed like they were wildly attacking and exchanging heavy blows, but it was actually different. Gamorr Khan had overwhelming physical abilities, but hecked the skills to match it. Jude was no longer afraid of being cut by the de, so he blocked all his opponent¡¯s attacks with his limbs one step ahead. And Jude¡¯s attacks would hit Gamorr Khan¡¯s whole body. But Gamorr Khan didn¡¯t fall either. Because the force field surrounding Gamorr Khan would instantly be restored every time it broke from Jude¡¯s attacks. So Gamorr Khan was prevented from attacking. Jude¡¯s attack destroyed the force field and did not let Gamorr Khan deal a decisive blow at the same time. In fact, this was one of the battle patterns Gamorr Khan used in order to win. Because in the end, this was a battle of attrition, a fight that aimed to wear out the other side first. ¡®But why!¡¯ However, it was different this time. They had exchanged dozens of attacks, but Jude¡¯s movements didn¡¯t slow down at all. His attack power also remained unchanged. As if he had unlimited stamina. ¡®I can move all day!¡¯ Gamorr Khan couldn¡¯t read Jude¡¯s thoughts. Nor his attacks too. Jude didn¡¯t just deal heavy blows. He parried Gamorr Khan¡¯s right hand attack with his left hand, before he instantly moved like a snake, and Gamorr Khan suddenly saw Jude¡¯s back. ¡°Huh?¡± The moment Gamorr Khan eximed, his body flew into the air. He couldn¡¯t do anything as he fell to the ground. Baaang! The force field on his back broke. At the same time, he momentarily lost sight of Jude. Gamorr Khan hurriedly stood up. And right after sending Gamorr Khan to the ground, Jude stepped back and adjusted his breathing. He thought as he watched the other stand up. A way to defeat Gamorr Khan. He clenched his fist. On the other hand, Gamorr Khan turned around as soon as he got up and drew his fist. Jude also pulled his fist. He once again concentrated the energy of the ck Sun onto his right hand. At that moment, Gamorr Khan sped up. He quickly tried to stop Jude from making his special attack. His judgment was correct. Jude failed tounch his special attack. So instead of doing that, he let out the concentrated energy as he punched with his fist. He threw his right fist against Gamorr Khan¡¯s fist which was like andslide falling down on him. Booooom! Their fists shed. The shockwave swept the surrounding area once again, and the fists of Jude and Gamorr Khan were not in good condition. Jude¡¯s right arm was broken. His bones fragmented into hundreds of pieces. Gamorr Khan¡¯s force field broke. Starting from his right arm, the force field surrounding his whole body was destroyed, and his right arm was bent at a bizarre angle. And Jude aimed at that moment. He stretched out his right hand and used ck Wind¡¯s Advent instead of using Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt or Thunder God Invokes Lightning. He became a ck wind and drew closer to Gamorr Khan as if he was a ghost. His right arm was regenerating, but it was impossible to use it right now. It was also difficult to use the energy of the ck Sun again with just a single strike. Both sides were running out of time. Gamorr Khan knew it too. That was why he was patient. He somehow tried to restore the force field in order to withstand Jude¡¯s imperfect and iing attack, and thought of counterattacking afterwards. But Jude was thinking. ¡®Cordelia.¡¯ She¡¯ll probably get angry. She¡¯ll swear and cry out to me for being stupid. But it can¡¯t be helped. It¡¯s something I wanted to do when I got Ultimate One. It¡¯s something I can do because I got Sword Origin now. He clenched his left fist. At the same time, he touched the device on his waist with his right hand that had slightly recovered. The scrolls loaded inside the device were instantly destroyed as the magic spell in them activated. It wasn¡¯t some grand magic. It was a simple magic spell. But it was somehow unusual. Because it was notmonly used this way. It was something that a human body couldn¡¯t bear. An extreme measure that he could use now that he became one with a sword. ¡® magic x10.¡¯ The strength of a giant was applied to his left arm. His left arm also began to tremble as if it would break at any moment. Gamorr Khan instinctively understood the phenomenon before him. But Jude was too close for him to do anything. He had ran out of time. Before Gamorr Khan could let out his voice, Jude¡¯s left fist that had be like a giant¡¯s fist as it was reinforced by 10 magic spells then struck Gamorr Khan¡¯s chest! Boooom! Baaaaaang! The force field he had built in a hurry was crushed. At the unimaginable power, around half of Gamorr Khan¡¯s upper body exploded. And it didn¡¯t stop there. Gamorr Khan¡¯s huge body couldn¡¯t stand the power and was sent flying for some distance. A shockwave swept around, and Gamorr Khan¡¯s right arm, which had Grand Order, soared into the air amidst the explosion of his upper body, and fell to the ground with a thud. ¡°Haa.¡± Jude drooped his bleeding left arm. His arm hurt. His arm crazily hurt. His left arm felt like it would break soon, and all the body parts connected to his left arm, including his back, seemed to be screaming in pain. Thus, Jude copsed onto the ground in the end. But in the meantime, he ended up smiling. He burst into augh while looking like a mess. And Cordelia moved. Gamorr Khan should have immediately died because half of his upper body was gone, but Cordelia jumped and attentively aimed at that gap,pletely crushing Gamorr Khan¡¯s body with a barrage of magic missiles. She approached the fallen man¡¯s body and retrieved Gamorr Khan¡¯s ne which he had worn on his neck, removing the ne with a purple gem that had an evil spirit inhabiting it. ¡°Keuaa-¡± Gamorr Khan¡¯s body let out itsst breath and became an empty shell. Cordelia was surrounded by a ring of white light as she approached Jude who was still lying on the ground. She squatted next to Jude and looked down at him. ¡°Are you satisfied?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯mpletely satis- AAAAAH!¡± Jude screamed instead of continuing his answer because Cordelia had gently poked his regenerating left arm, and she shook her head. ¡°What a fool.¡± It would have been much easier if the two had fought together. He didn¡¯t have to fight like that and destroy his body. But she knew at the same time. He got a really nice item. He also powered-up a lot with that, so he probably wanted to confront his opponent head-on instead of using tricks. ¡°My goodness.¡± They said that all men are like kids. Cordelia smirked as she cast a recovery magic to aid Jude¡¯s regenerative ability. Therefore, Jude felt morefortable and he looked up at Cordelia and said. ¡°What do you think? Wasn¡¯t I a bit cool?¡± ¡°Hey, you¡¯re lying on the floor while covered in blood now, okay? Your face ispletely distorted from pain too, okay?¡± ¡°But wasn¡¯t I cool?¡± Cordeliaughed at Jude¡¯s question. She nodded her head as if she was being generous, and then said as she pinched the immobile Jude¡¯s cheek. ¡°Yes, yes, you were cool. You¡¯ll be in the gates of theherworld if you kept being cool though.¡± His cheeks were soft as if Sword Origin had been deactivated. Cordelia pulled Jude¡¯s cheek a few more times and then pinched her own cheek before she said with a big smile. ¡°My cheeks are still better. It¡¯s my win.¡± ¡°It must feel nice.¡± ¡°Yes, it feels nice. I really love it.¡± Cordelia giggled before she sat down and raised Gamorr Khan¡¯s golden ne, saying as she held the purple gem. ¡°Hey, Ipletely know that you¡¯re fine, okay?¡± Because the true body of Gamorr Khan was an evil spirit inside the golden ne. ¡°So don¡¯t pretend to be dead. Talk to me, okay?¡± Cordelia squeezed the purple gem one more time and a faint light soon began to appear from the ne. [How in the world¡­] ¡°Well, I just know everything.¡± As Cordelia brightly smiled, Gamorr Khan spoke again. [It¡¯s no use if you¡¯re thinking of breaking the ne. I¡¯ll just find a new ce to live and move into. I¡¯ll find a new host and get back at you two. So go ahead and break it. Go on and break it!] ¡°Oh, my. You scared me in order to get me to break your ne, huh? Or are you asking me to not break it?¡± As Cordelia teasingly spoke, the purple gem glowed again. An evil ck energy rose on Cordelia¡¯s fingers. But she made her move. Cordelia brightly smiled and turned into an angel, and Gamorr Khan screamed at the moment when her angelic light came out. [Aaaaah! A-angel?! Why are you an angel!] ¡°Because she¡¯s nice and pretty like an angel.¡± Jude answered, and Cordelia blushed as she said. ¡°A-anyway! I¡¯m an angel, okay? So just sleep well, okay?¡± When her angelic power was injected into the purple gem, Gamorr Khan¡¯s screams died down, and the purple gem also lost its light. ¡°Sealing sess.¡± If they kept him alive, he would be of some use. After all, he was Malekith¡¯s subordinate. Cordelia kept the sealed ne on her waist, and said as she pinched Jude¡¯s cheek again. ¡°Hey, it will take some time before youpletely recover, right?¡± ¡°Uh, probably?¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll continue ying with this.¡± Because it was rare for Jude to be not able to move at all. ¡°H-hey. You¡¯re an angel, right? Cordelia-nim?¡± ¡°Stay still, Mister ck-hearted ck Cloak.¡± Cordelia snickered before she suddenly pped her hands and revealed a wicked smile. She drew her face closer to the ear of Jude who was sweating in nervousness. *** ¡°Wow, the size really adjusted, huh?¡± Cordelia equipped Ultimate Five, Grand Order, on her right arm, and she waved her arms up and down several times in her curiosity. In the game, it was an item for warriors only, so it was a weapon that the wizard Cordelia could never equip. ¡°Hehehe, I¡¯m so happy. We caught Gamorr Khan, got two Ultimate series, cleaned up Mount Damos for our residents, and Jude became cute.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± Cordelia hummed and ignored the red-faced Jude¡¯s protest, twirling around before she said. ¡°Anyway, shall we go back now?¡± Not below Mount Damos but into Mount Damos itself. ¡°Yes, because we still need to farm some items.¡± It was the home of the ck Horn Guild, so there must be other items to take besides Ultimate One. ¡°Yes, yes, let¡¯s go quickly.¡± Cordelia returned Grand Order to its stealth form and ran as she pped her wings of light, while Jude ended up smiling. He lightly touched his ear before he began to move. Chapter 215 - ELF SWORD (1)

Chapter 215 - ELF SWORD (1)

Terms used in this episode: KakaoTalk?¨C a mobile messaging app for smartphones that is used by 93% of smartphone owners in South Korea. Jude and Cordelia arrived at ck Town, which was the ck Horn Guild¡¯s residential area situated in the underground of Mount Damos, and they began to search each building starting from those at the far left. ¡°Oh¡­ Cordelia, look at this pot. The grip on the handle is really good and the size is just right. Wow, this frying pan is awesome too.¡± There were several household items left in a room that looked like a kitchen, and each item was a masterpiece. What was more surprising was that all of the items were in good enough condition that you could use it right away after wiping it a bit. ¡°Oh¡­ These are so amazing. These items have been left here for more than 500 years, but they¡¯re still in good condition. What are these made of? Don¡¯t you think our pancakes will be more delicious if we make it here?¡± Jude chattered in his excitement and turned his head at some point. And he saw Cordelia staring at him with cold eyes. ¡°Why? What is it?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, if you¡¯re happy, that¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll just watch you with warm eyes.¡± Cordelia then closed her eyes and opened them again as she began to look at Jude with a really warm expression. ¡°Hey.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Would you rather curse me than look like that?¡± ¡°Can I really do that?¡± ¡°N-no. Please continue to look at me warmly.¡± Jude cleared his throat and only took the pot and frying pan he was holding before he began looking elsewhere. ¡°By the way, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes, Jude.¡± ¡°How is Ultimate Five? Isn¡¯t it heavy?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s much lighter than I thought.¡± Cordelia swung her right arm that had Ultimate Five ¨C Grand Order on it, and asked Jude as if she had just remembered. ¡°The location of the other Ultimate series are still somewhat unknown, right?¡± ¡°Yes, but we have the Key Sword, so we¡¯ll be able to find the others somehow. Well¡­since it¡¯s here now, shall we give it a try?¡± After pulling out the Key Sword from his waist, Jude infused it with mana to release the seal, and then brought the Key Sword to the nearest Ultimate series, which was his own body. ¡°Oh, there¡¯s a reaction.¡± When the gem on the handle of the Key Sword glowed, Cordelia quickly narrowed her distance from Jude. ¡°Each light color in the gem represent an Ultimate series, right?¡± ¡°Yes, it uses the colors of the rainbow, but the colors do not mean much since it¡¯s just for identification.¡± Jude held the Key Sword horizontally, and seven colors emitted light. ¡°These ones are Ultimate One and Ultimate Five, right?¡± ¡°Yes, red and blue.¡± Ultimate One ¨C Sword Origin, and Ultimate Five ¨C The Sword Shield, Grand Order. Cordelia observed the different colors as she touched the gem with her fingers, and she said after looking at the different lights. ¡°If it¡¯s yellow and green¡­ does it mean that Ultimate Three and Ultimate Four are in the south?¡± Ultimate Three ¨C Dragon Sword Ascalon, and Ultimate Four ¨C The Explosive de, Magic ster. Unlike the two colors that glowed rather clearly, the rest of the colors that symbolized Ultimate Two, Ultimate Six, and Ultimate Seven, glowed very faintly and weakly. ¡°I know the three are somewhere in the north but¡­ does this glow mean that it¡¯s too far away to know the exact location?¡± ¡°Yes, because in the game, they¡¯re usually found in the empire. Didn¡¯t the Sword God use Ultimate Six?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, because it¡¯s a family heirloom.¡± The empire¡¯s best swordsman. The continent¡¯s strongest swordsman who was called the Sword God. ¡®Between Kamael and him, it¡¯s unknown on who is stronger.¡¯ If the Sword God was the strongest in the day, Kamael was the strongest in the dark. ¡°I think Kamael is the stronger one.¡± Cordelia spoke, having read Jude¡¯s thoughts from his eyes, and he nced at her with eyes full of excitement. Because the opinion of Cordelia who had animal-like instincts was worth listening to. ¡°Why do you think so?¡± ¡°Because Kamael is on our side.¡± Because Landius was Jude¡¯s master and Kamael was Landius¡¯ best friend. Moreover, Cordelia herself was from the S?len Kingdom, while the Sword God was from the empire. At the reason that was very much like Cordelia, Jude nodded quite awkwardly. ¡°O-okay.¡± That¡¯s just so like you, I guess. ¡°Oh, there¡¯s another reason, right?¡± ¡°What reason?¡± ¡°Because Kamael will eventually be one of the Four Great Swordsmen, right?¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s because the Sword God died while trying to stop one of the 7 major cmities.¡± ¡°But the only one who survived in the end is Kamael, right? It¡¯s not ¡®the strong are the ones who survive,¡¯ but rather, those who survive are the strong ones.¡± When Cordelia crossed her arms and snorted like an idiot, Jude said as his eyes narrowed. ¡°Hey, Lady Cordelia. Aren¡¯t you just rambling nonsense?¡± Cordelia immediately blushed at Jude¡¯s point. Unlike Jude who was the incarnation of shamelessness, she was a woman who still possessed some shame. ¡®But that¡¯s why she¡¯s nice.¡¯ After smiling a bit, Jude changed the topic for Cordelia who was really embarrassed. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s focus on getting Ascalon and Magic ster.¡± ¡°Yes, fighting against Malekith is our first priority.¡± In fact, they had no reason to collect the entire Ultimate series except for Dragon Sword Ascalon, but for Jude and Cordelia whose gamer brains were already in full st, the term ¡®collect them all¡¯ was pretty much a given. ¡®If it exists, then we should collect it.¡¯ What more reasons do we need? ¡°Both of them are in the south, right?¡± ¡°Yes, the Dragon Sword is quite easy to find because it¡¯s kept at a certain location.¡± Jude recalled the high elves living in the Forest of Eternity before he nced at the green color in the gem that symbolized the Magic ster and touched his chin. ¡°Considering the distance between the colors¡­ it seems like Magic ster is in the territory of the 7 southern families.¡± ¡°Two birds with one stone.¡± They could get both the Dragon Sword and the Explosive de in their time on the south. ¡°Hmm¡­ In the meantime, shall we talk about our future schedule?¡± ¡°Eh? Weren¡¯t we going to meet the alliance candidates one by one?¡± ¡°I had thought of that, but the n changed.¡± Having said that, Jude nced at Gamorr Khan¡¯s golden ne hanging from Cordelia¡¯s waist. ¡°Because we have evidence.¡± ¡°Huh? Uh¡­ ah! That¡¯s right.¡± Cordelia pped her hands and widely smiled as she shook her fists. Evidence. In the battle on the royal capital, Jude and Cordelia were unable to ask for Landius¡¯ help. Because Landius had urgent business in the south, and that there was no way to persuade Landius. ¡®Because we didn¡¯t have any evidence.¡¯ The Lord Protector is trying to massacre the royal family. Even a passing dog in the S?len Kingdom would not believe that. Therefore, Jude and Cordelia could not seek for outside help until something really happened, even when they were put into a tight spot against the enemy called the Lord Protector. ¡®That would have been the case for Malekith too.¡¯ ck Dragon Malekith who had been sealed long ago in the southern seas will once again awaken and try to destroy the southern region. It was an unbelievable story. This alone could not stop Landius who wandered around the world in search of Archbishop Manu who had destroyed the Paragon Kingdom. But they had evidence now. Gamorr Khan¡¯s testimony would prove the existence and conspiracy of Malekith. ¡°So let¡¯s meet up with my master right away. I¡¯m sure that Kamael and Lena will also be with Master.¡± ¡°Wow, Lena! So we¡¯re going to fight together with the main characters of the first episode?¡± ¡°Maybe?¡± If he had to be honest, the idea of fighting together was impossible before because their difference in power was too wide, but it was possible for the two to fight together with them now. ¡°Wow. Isn¡¯t thispletely like the Avengers?¡± Cordelia lightly touched her chest that was pounding as she repeatedly stomped her feet. She seemed to be very excited. ¡°Because Malekith is that kind of enemy. Anyway, it¡¯s the reason why we¡¯re going to the headquarters of the Guardians of the Holy Cross.¡± ¡°To call Kamael?¡± ¡°Yes, as I said earlier, it¡¯s highly likely that Kamael will be with Master.¡± Landius didn¡¯t specifically tell Jude what they were doing in the south, but if Kamael and Lena were with him too, Jude could only think that they were chasing after Archbishop Manu. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s good. We¡¯ll stop by the Guardians of the Holy Cross to find out where Kamael is and have Lena and Landius join us afterwards. Yes, that¡¯s good. I like it.¡± ¡°Of course, that alone is not enough, so when we arrive in the south, we¡¯ll also need to get the 7 southern families¡¯ help.¡± The fight against Malekith was different from the usual raid bosses. An army was absolutely necessary to confront Malekith. ¡°What should we do?¡± ¡°I have an idea.¡± He had called Scarlet to the south because he had thought about that idea before. ¡°So, what¡¯s your idea?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s a good one. Come here for a second.¡± ¡°You¡¯re whispering again?¡± Cordelia grumbled as if she didn¡¯t like it, but she silently approached Jude and pricked up her ears. ¡°So¡­¡± Jude whispered quietly to Cordelia, and she snickered like she always did. ¡°Hehehe, I like it.¡± We can get close to Kajsa with that too. Jude was happy that Cordelia was delighted, and lightly gestured as he continued speaking. ¡°Then Countess, shall we continue our exploration?¡± ¡°Yes, Count.¡± Cordelia beautifully answered and took the lead as they resumed their exploration. *** It was deep at night. Jude and Cordelia searched the ck Horn Guild¡¯s residential area untilte at night, and they were able to pack a number of fairly usable items, one of which was Cordelia¡¯s favorite ¨C a long-range wireless transceiver. ¡°It¡¯s like a smartphone.¡± The palm-sized device had arge screen and several buttons, and it was a coboration between the high elves who survived the copse of Endymion, and the ancient dwarves who left Sword Seeker. ¡°Jude, Jude. Hurry up and send me a message.¡± As Cordelia sat down by the bonfire and urged him, Jude stared at the transceiver and was troubled. It was possible to input text messages by touch as if it was really a smartphone, and aside from ancient dwarf and high elfnguage letters, it was also possible to input humannguage letters perhaps because there were already several human countries during the time the ck Horn Guild was destroyed. ¡°Hurry up.¡± Cordelia prodded him again, but Jude furrowed his brows as he remained troubled. KakaoTalk to a woman? He had naturally used KakaoTalk several times for work or chatting with his colleagues, but when he thought that he was sending a message to Cordelia, he was really troubled. ¡®I mean, we¡¯re facing each other right now.¡¯ But what text should I send? In the end, what Jude sent was a very simple sentence after much thought. Jude: [Hi?] Why do I feel the ground shaking? Jude raised his head and looked at Cordelia who oohed and quickly replied. Cordelia: [Yes, hello LOL] Unlike the real KakaoTalk screen, thick white letters were disyed on the ck screen like those used by the military, but her use of ¡®LOL¡¯ alone made it feel cute. In fact, he had seen Cordelia stomping her feet on the ground in her excitement when he looked up. ¡®What should I reply?¡¯ When I said hi, she replied hello. Then what in the world should we talk about now? Jude was somehow flustered as he had to lead the conversation, and he sent a short sentence again in the end. Jude: [Are you sleeping?] Cordelia: [No, I¡¯m not sleeping LOL] Cordelia: [What nonsense are you talking about rabbit emoticon] ¡°Huh?¡± Rabbit emoticon? There were no emoticons here. Rather, what Cordelia wrote was the sentence ¡® What nonsense are you talking about rabbit emoticon¡¯ and not a real emoticon. ¡°Cordelia?¡± Jude asked as he blinked his eyes, and Cordelia replied with her eyes. ¡®Just imagine! Imagine it!¡¯ ¡°Okay.¡± If Cordelia wants it, then I have no choice but to match her. Jude: [Lion saluting emoticon] Cordelia: [LOL You¡¯re getting better, Jude.] Cordelia touched the screen again to send text messages, but more than half of her conversation was filled with ¡®haha¡¯ and ¡®LOL¡¯ words. Cordelia: [It¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve been on KakaoTalk. Do you remember the chatroom?] Jude: [Of course.] Cordelia: [Do you think everyone¡¯s doing well?] Jude: [They¡¯ll be fine.] Cordelia: [You¡¯re right, LOL] Cordelia: [Widely smiling rabbit emoticon] That was it. Cordelia lied down next to the bonfire and nced at Jude before she pressed the screen again to send a message. Cordelia: [Good night, Jude.] Jude: [Good night too.] Cordelia: [Rabbit kissing the cheek emoticon] ¡°Can¡¯t you just do it for me?¡± ¡°Eh, no way.¡± After saying that it was impossible, Cordelia giggled and turned her back, but because of the bonfire, Jude could see that her exposed ears were very red. ¡°Good night.¡± ¡°Good night.¡± Jude lied down and closed his eyes, falling into a deep sleep. *** Jude raised his head. He opened his eyes and found himself in a familiar yet unfamiliar space. What he saw was a forest. Large and straight trees stood on the left and right, and in front of him was the fresh green grass that grew up in the sunlight that peeked from the tree leaves. His unfamiliar feeling was natural. This was the first time in his life that he had seen this ce. But he was familiar with it because he had already experienced being in a simr space several times. ¡®Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors.¡¯ Apletely ck and white space where he could meet the female sage. So, is this ce the same as that one? Jude took a step forward. He was barefoot and only wearing a white tunic. The texture of the grass touching his bare skin was very soft. And Jude was able to see. A woman stood in the middle of the grass area as she basked in the sunlight. She had long and light golden hair that reached the hips, and very long pointed ears. A pair of mysterious-looking green eyes in her white face. For Jude, she was second to Cordelia in terms of beauty. She had an atmosphere simr to a fairy, but she felt much more like a human being. The woman looked at Jude. She seemed to be in her mid tote twenties. Dressed in a greenbat uniform that elven swordsmen liked to wear, she revealed her white smile instead of introducing herself when Jude stood before her. Jude called her name that naturally came to his mind. ¡°Valencia.¡± The Elf Sword. The strongest swordsman of that time whom the ck Horn Guild Master, Eitri, visited to ask about the ultimate sword. And Jude learned one more thing. She was the first owner of Ultimate One ¨C Sword Origin. ¡°Nice to meet you, my sessor.¡± She widely smiled and stretched out her hand to Jude. Rainbow colors and their corresponding Ultimate Seven series: Red = Ultimate One ¨C Sword Origin Orange = Ultimate Two Yellow = Ultimate Three ¨C Dragon Sword Ascalon Green = Ultimate Four ¨C The Explosive Sword, Magic ster Blue = Ultimate Five ¨C The Sword Shield, Grand Order Indigo = Ultimate Six Violet = Ultimate Seven Chapter 216: Elf Sword (2)

Chapter 216: Elf Sword (2)

Terms used in this episode: Taijutsu ;¨C refers to the techniques ;of unarmedbat in Japanese martial arts, and is an umbre term including strikes, kicks, throws, joint locks, chokes, and passive defensivebat relevant movement. Although it was often described as ¡®a thousand years ago,¡¯ the copse of the Iron Kingdom built by the ancient dwarves, and the destruction of Magen, the magic kingdom built by the high elves, did not ur at the same time. Since the Iron Kingdom was a union of seven city-states in the first ce, not all seven city-states were destroyed by the overlords of hell. Magen was also the most powerful country on the continent at that time, so even their remaining forces was a power that couldn¡¯t be ignored. ¡®Anyway.¡¯ The ancient dwarves and high elves suffered a fatal blow in the fight against the overlords of hell, but their true end was hundreds of years after they defeated the overlords when their countries naturally weakened and eventually disappeared. ¡®Of course, a lot of historical events happened in those hundreds of years.¡¯ Valencia, the Elf Sword, was an elven swordsman in the era after the battle against the overlords ended. Inheriting the blood of the high elf royal family of Magen, the magic kingdom, she actively walked around the world and helped those in need, and it was a time when the scars left by the overlords were still fresh, so humans, elves, dwarves, gnomes, and many others from various races received her help. ¡®A strong, kind, and beautiful great swordmaster.¡¯ She was like an idol of that time and everyone only said good things about her. So it was not surprising that the artisans of Sword Seeker went to her to ask about the ultimate sword. Even if an orc artisan came to her instead of a dwarven artisan, the Elf Sword Valencia would still meet them and seriously think about the ultimate sword together. ¡®It was natural for her.¡¯ With the help of Valencia, the ancient dwarves created Ultimate One and dedicated the ultimate sword to her, the strongest swordsman of that time since they could not even use it. And it was at that moment. A scene from history yed in Jude¡¯s mind. ¡°We will give you the ultimate sword that we have made.¡± ¡°Is it really okay for me to ept it?¡± Valencia asked as she hesitated at the proposal of Eitri, the ck Horn¡¯s Guild Master, and Eitri stroked his white beard with his rough and skilled fingers that was typical of a dwarf artisan as he cheerfully answered. ¡°It¡¯s something we can¡¯t even use anyway.¡± Because dwarves had short arms and legs. But Valencia, who did not know the truth of Ultimate One ¨C Sword Origin, took his words differently. ¡°I know well that dwarves prefer axes over swords¡­¡± ¡°Hahaha, that¡¯s not what I meant. What I mean is, aren¡¯t you the strongest swordsman in this day and age? Now that we¡¯ve made the ultimate sword, isn¡¯t it natural to give it to the strongest swordsman?¡± ¡°Being called the strongest in this day and age¡­ is embarrassing.¡± When Valencia¡¯s cheeks reddened as she was really embarrassed, Eitri also blushed at her transcending beauty. ¡°A-anyway! Please ept it! It¡¯s our masterpiece that we created based on your advice!¡± Eitri urged her again, and Valencia twitched her lips before she carefully touched the sheath of Sword Origin. She was a swordsman after all. She couldn¡¯t help but be lured by the words ¡®ultimate sword.¡¯ ¡°It¡¯s embarrassing¡­¡± ¡°Hahaha, please receive itfortably. I¡¯m telling you this now, but the ck Horn Guild and I had made this with the thought of dedicating it to you in the first ce. It would be nice if it could be your own sword.¡± ¡°Oh my¡­¡± Valencia¡¯s face turned redder. But she could not hide the smile in her face. It was a sword that the best artisans of her time had made for her, so how could she not be happy as a swordsman? ¡°Then¡­I¡¯ll gratefully receive it.¡± ¡°Please do so. ;Heuk heuk.¡± The moment Eitri let out a strangeugh as he stared at Valencia happily receiving the sword, the scene ying in Jude¡¯s head ended. Jude came back to reality and unconsciously had a bitter smile. ¡°You¡­received it.¡± They had talked back and forth, but Valencia received it in the end. Valencia had a bright smile, but her eyes slightly twitched. ¡°I-I had to take it.¡± It was the ultimate sword. It was also a sword made with Valencia in mind. How could she heartlessly reject it? And at that moment, a new scene began to y in Jude¡¯s mind. It was the scene of a young girl swinging her sword with a big smile even though sweat was pouring down all over her body. ¡°I love the sword.¡± I love it so much. The sword is the best. It was the very vivid thoughts and intense emotions of a young girl. And Jude immediately understood that the young girl in front of him was Valencia in her childhood. A girl who loved the sword. She was a woman who loved swordsmanship. And the scene in his head changed. Valencia equipped Ultimate One ¨C Sword Origin for the first time and blinked her eyes with a nk face. ¡°B-be one with the sword?¡± The sword and her would be one. Her words were correct. One could say that her dreams came true in a sense. But Jude soon felt her despair. Because she was a swordsman and a woman who loved swordsmanship. ¡°Eitri! W-what¡¯s going on?!¡± ¡°Hehehe, didn¡¯t it go as you said? Be one with the sword! The sword and your body be one, turning you into like a sword!¡± ¡°Eh?!¡± No, why did you interpret ¡®be one with the sword¡¯ that way? But it had already happened. Moreover, Valencia was kind and nice, and people always said good things about her personality, so she didn¡¯t say anything more to Eitri. ¡°D-do you¡­not like it?¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­uh¡­ t-that¡¯s not it. It¡¯s great. I-I think my dream came true.¡± She forced herself to smile and hold back her tears, and Eitri sighed in relief. The scene ended again, and Jude was able to face Valencia who had a tearful face now just like the scene he saw. ¡°That¡­ wait. Don¡¯t tell me, you have not lifted a sword after that?¡± The Sword Origin was a sword that made its user to be like a sword, but it did not mean that the user¡¯s appearance would change into a sword. The user still had had their hands and fingers, so they could still hold another sword despite having Sword Origin. ¡®That¡¯s what I¡¯m nning to do.¡¯ He was thinking of using Ultimate Three ¨C The Dragon Sword, Ascalon, in their fight against Malekith once they found the sword. But Valencia had a different idea from Jude. When Jude asked her if she had another sword, she replied with a confused look. ¡°Eh? Another sword?¡± ¡°Yes, another sword.¡± ¡°H-how could I do that!¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Y-you know! If you¡¯re already holding a sword and you pick up another sword¡­ i-it¡¯s like having an affair! Ch-ch-cheating! It¡¯s being impolite to the sword!¡± What is she talking about? Jude pondered for a moment and nced at Valencia again. She had a tearful face after she said those words. ¡®She¡¯s serious.¡¯ She was really serious. She really thought that holding two swords was like cheating. ¡®A woman who loves the sword and swordsmanship.¡¯ Jude tried to understand her for now. And after some time, when she finally calmed down a little, he slowly opened his mouth and said. ¡°Um¡­ but you know about¡­dual wielding, right?¡± There was a swordsmanship style that wielded two swords at the same time. But Valencia was adamant. ¡°Can my sessor love two people at the same time? Dual wielding is sphemy! You can¡¯t be two-timing!¡± ¡°O-okay¡­¡± If she insists, then so be it. And a scene began to y in his mind again. The bare-handed Valencia was dancing beautifully. As expected of someone beautiful like Valencia. Jude was unconsciously mesmerized by the dance of a beautiful woman who was second to Cordelia, but he soon realized. Valencia wasn¡¯t really dancing now. Her movements were based on martial arts. ¡°So I started to hone my new swordsmanship.¡± The scene in his head disappeared and he saw Valencia in reality again. She continued to speak with a very serious face. ¡°It¡¯s my own swordsmanship style while using Sword Origin.¡± A scene yed in Jude¡¯s mind again. Valencia¡¯s graceful but fiery movements were truly beautiful yet overwhelming at the same time. ¡°Sword Origin and I are already one. That is why I could create a new swordsmanship style.¡± Jude seemed to understand to a certain extent. Sword Origin wasn¡¯t just a sword that strengthened his limbs. In fact, the roundhouse kick that sent Gamorr Khan flying was more like a crushing blow rather than a strike. ¡®However¡­¡¯ In the end, isn¡¯t this just Taijutsu? Is there any swordsmanship in this world that uses punches? And it was at that moment. The Valencia in front of him suddenly inted her cheeks and vehemently shouted. ¡°It¡¯s swordsmanship! Swordsmanship! I¡¯m telling you, it¡¯s swordsmanship! Uwaaah¡­¡± Valencia finally burst into tears. Apparently, she had heard words like ¡®In the end, isn¡¯t this just Taijutsu?¡¯ a lot of times during her lifetime. ¡°I-it¡¯s swordsmanship! Swordsmanship. Yes, it¡¯s swordsmanship. Just because you don¡¯t use a sword doesn¡¯t mean it¡¯s not swordsmanship.¡± ¡°T-that¡¯s right. It is swordsmanship, right? It really is swordsmanship, right?¡± ¡°Of course, it is. You¡¯re not wrong.¡± ¡°Huhuhu.¡± Valencia shed tears of joy, and Jude thought to himself. ¡®She¡¯s lost her mind¡­¡¯ She was so kind and pretty, but also pitiful. But in any case, her Taijutsu ¨C no, her unique swordsmanship seemed to be very useful. ¡®It enhances the power of Sword Origin.¡¯ When he thought about his fight against Gamorr Khan, it was seriously like an amateur¡¯s movements. If he could fight like Valencia, it would be possible for him to maximize the power of Sword Origin. ¡°That¡¯s why I appeared.¡± ¡°I see. Please use this.¡± ¡°Oh? T-thank you. You are kind.¡± Valencia smiled softly when she received the handkerchief that Jude had given, and Jude thought. ¡®What a waste.¡¯ Even though she was very pretty, she could only be second best because of Cordelia. If Scarlet had heard his thoughts, she would call him out on his nonsense, or rather, she would wonder how Cordelia had brainwashed him. Jude then turned to Valencia again. ¡°Anyway, you can continue.¡± ¡°Yes, huhu. C-can I blow my nose with this?¡± ¡°Uh¡­yes. You can have it.¡± After all, this wasn¡¯t reality but some mental space. ¡°Sniff! ;Thank you.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mention it.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem. Anyway, let me continue.¡± Valencia cleaned her face before she looked back at Jude and said. ¡°I saw your fight. And I thought that you need guidance.¡± ¡°Will you teach me your Taijutsu¡­no, I mean, your unique swordsmanship?¡± ¡°Yes, but I have no intention of teaching you pure swordsmanship. My sessor, you already have strong martial art techniques.¡± Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doorsbined with Supreme Sun Divine Art. ¡°So I¡¯m going to create a new swordsmanship style bybining your martial art skills and my swordsmanship.¡± ¡°Is that possible?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s possible.¡± As expected of a great swordmaster. Jude was in admiration as he unknowingly pped his hands, and Valencia blushed in embarrassment before she spoke. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m going to start studying it from today. So please teach me about your martial art skills for a while.¡± ¡°Will we meet each other like this every day?¡± ¡°If it¡¯s hard every day, let¡¯s meet often then.¡± And it was at that moment. Jude suddenly raised his hand and asked. ¡°Um, Valencia-nim.¡± ¡°Yes, my sessor.¡± ¡°You can call me Jude.¡± ¡°I want to call you my sessor. I prefer that.¡± ¡°Uh¡­ I understand.¡± She was strangely stubborn at times, but that wasn¡¯t what mattered now. ¡°Umm¡­ what exactly is going on?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I mean, I¡¯ve been wondering why¡­ you¡¯re in front of me like this now.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because I¡¯m the sword spirit of Sword Origin.¡± ¡°Sword spirit? A spirit in the sword?¡± ¡°Yes, all the Ultimate Seven series have sword spirits.¡± At Valencia¡¯s calm exnation, Jude furrowed his brows and said. ¡°Wait, are you saying that all the users of this sword would be a sword spirit?¡± ¡°No, they won¡¯t. I became a sword spirit because I wanted to. The other Ultimate series usually had a sword spirit from the time they were created. But Sword Origin was a sword whose goal was to unite with its user, so Eitri said that he didn¡¯t intentionally put in a sword spirit.¡± ¡°Uh¡­ I see.¡± He could roughly guess on why Valencia became a sword spirit. She was a woman who loved the sword so much that she wanted to be the sword itself. In any case, it wasn¡¯t what mattered now. ¡°Uh, Valencia-nim.¡± ¡°Yes, my sessor? Or should I call you the 2nd ;generation?¡± ¡°You can call me whatever you want. Anyway, Grand Order will have a sword spirit too, right?¡± ¡°Yes, it has.¡± ¡°Is it a man?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s a cute girl.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a relief.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± Valencia tilted her head as she did not understood what was going on, but Jude was secretly delighted as he happily smiled. ¡°Then, is Cordelia meeting her sword spirit too now?¡± ¡°Probably not. Sword spirits are usually asleep unless it¡¯s absolutely necessary.¡± ¡°Is Valencia-nim an exception?¡± ¡°Well¡­ maybe? After all, now is the moment that you really need me.¡± She had to teach Jude her Taijutsu, or rather, her unique swordsmanship. ¡°I understand. Please teach me, Valencia-nim.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good mindset. Then, my sessor, please teach me your martial arts skills first.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll begin with the basics.¡± After he got himself into position, Jude slowly began to demonstrate the techniques of Supreme Sun Divine Art and Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. *** Morning dawned. Jude normally slept for at least 3 hours, but because of his training with Valencia, his sleeping time was forcibly extended, so he got upter than Cordelia. ¡°You¡¯re actually ate riser, huh?¡± ¡°Hey, it¡¯s just the first time I woke upter than you, okay?¡± ¡°No, I was the one who woke up first after the battle in the royal capital.¡± ¡°It¡¯s my loss.¡± ¡°Hehe, I won.¡± Cordelia had a big smile as she was really happy, but she suddenly sucked in her lips and gazed at Jude as she asked. ¡°Were you dreaming?¡± ¡°Eh? I did.¡± Because his meeting with Valencia could be considered a dream. But it was at that moment. ¡°Then. Did you dream about¡­ me?¡± Cordelia slightly turned her head and asked as her cheeks blushed. She looked so cute that he wanted to bite her, but Jude unconsciously flinched when he thought that. ¡°Eh? Uh¡­ yes.¡± Jude seemed to be embarrassed about it and replied without realizing it, while Cordelia yed with her fingers and said. ¡°I dreamed of you too.¡± Cordelia spoke in a murmur and quickly sucked in her lips in her embarrassment. Jude ced his hand over his chest because of Cordelia¡¯s cuteness and the sense of guilt that he felt. And it was at that moment again. ¡°By the way, Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Do you think that I¡­ forgot something?¡± Cordelia asked as she felt that something was different, while Jude tilted his head. ¡°You forgot something?¡± ¡°Yes, I forgot something. I feel as if I forgot something, something really important but trivial¡­ AH!¡± That was it. Cordelia jumped from her seat and repeatedly stomped her feet as she was at a loss on what to do before she began to run like crazy. Towards the eastern section of ck Town. It was in the direction of the Aggro Generator. *** [It¡¯s alright. I was born to be forgotten anyway.] ¡°No, that¡¯s not it!¡± Chapter 217: Forest of Eternity (1)

Chapter 217: Forest of Eternity (1)

[It¡¯s alright. I was born to be forgotten anyway.] ¡°No, that¡¯s not it!¡± Cordelia spoke in apology as she held Moonlight, but Melissa remain unmoved. [Come to think of it, even in the facility of the Snow Queen, I was abandoned by my old masters. I¡¯m used to being abandoned.] ¡°Why are you saying something so sad¡­ and I didn¡¯t abandon you, okay? I just forgot you for a while, okay? I dide back to you, right?¡± [After one day.] ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± Cordelia¡¯s words trailed off as she made a long face and sucked in her lips. Because she was really sorry for what she did to Melissa. She thought to herself that she had been too indifferent. She had imnted Melissa in Moonlight andpletely forgot about it afterwards. Cordelia certainly had an excuse. After Cordelia had inserted her in Moonlight, Melissa did not answer for a while, even though Cordelia kept calling her. The performance of Moonlight did improve, but Cordelia became anxious because Melissa was not answering. ¡®And I eventually forgot about her¡­¡¯ Since there was no answer for more than a month, she got used to Melissa not answering, and in the end, shepletely stopped talking to Melissa. When she began working as Pink Bomb in the royal capital, she never used Moonlight due to various circumstances, so shepletely forgot Melissa¡¯s existence. ¡®And then I called her again because I needed her help.¡¯ Even Cordelia felt that it was too much. It was no different topletely treating Melissa as a tool. If Jude had treated Cordelia this way¡­ she felt terrible from just imagining it. [Uh, ah¡­ A-are you crying?] ¡°No¡­ I¡¯m really sorry¡­¡± When Cordelia¡¯s eyes reddened, Melissa was suddenly flustered and nervous, or to be exact, she let out sounds that revealed her restlessness before she quickly said. [That, uh, um! Okay, just don¡¯t forget about me anymore, okay?] The coldness in Melissa¡¯s voice before was gone, and her voice had be very gentle. Cordelia then opened her eyes and hurriedly nodded. ¡°Ye-yes! I will never forget you.¡± [Okay. Let¡¯s not talk about this anymore then.] ¡°T-thank you, Melissa. I¡¯ll treat you well.¡± [Yes, I¡¯ll trust in you one more time.] ¡°Yes!¡± Cordelia widely smiled and kissed the gem section of Moonlight. Melissa couldn¡¯t really feel it, but she began to cough for no reason. And there was one person who was watching their entire exchange. ¡®It¡¯s quite heartwarming.¡¯ Jude warmly smiled like a dad watching over the two as he nodded his head. When Cordelia felt Jude¡¯s gaze, she became shy and asked him. ¡°W-why are you looking at me like that?¡± ¡°No, I just thought that it was heartwarming.¡± Fufufu. Jude warmly smiled again, and Cordelia felt like she was getting goosebumps even though she had bean pods in her eyes when she saw Jude. ¡°Stopughing like that. You sound like a pervert.¡± ¡°Fufufu.¡± But Judeughed again, and Cordelia was filled with a desire to hit Jude. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s continue our business before leaving.¡± ¡°Huh? What else are we going to do?¡± ¡°Because we need to clean up Mount Damos.¡± Jude gave an ambiguous answer before he stepped towards the Aggro Generator. *** The night passed, but traces of the fight still remained. The vigers were usually reluctant to approach Mount Damos, and they became even more cautious when loud sounds resounded in the mountain because of the nearby monsters that were annihted from the incident before. ¡°What about the mountain animals?¡± ¡°They¡¯re noting because they¡¯re scared of the monsters¡¯ smells.¡± Naturally, the animals would gather after smelling the rotting corpses some timeter, but it was not that time yet. ¡°Okay, then I¡¯ll leave this here. Cordelia, please.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± While Jude ced the remains of a fake aggro device made of spare parts in a suitable location, Cordelia stared at the remains of Gamorr Khan¡¯s body, or to be exact, the Vorg¡¯s body that Gamorr Khan had used as his host until now. Unlike the other corpses, Gamorr Khan¡¯s corpse hadpletely be powder perhaps because he had left that body. ¡°Well¡­ If we bury it, no one will be able to tell, right?¡± [I think so too.] As soon as Melissa agreed, Cordelia dug the ground with magic and buried most of the powder in the soil. ¡°Are you done?¡± ¡°Yes, pretty much.¡± Cordelia approached Jude after she used magic to fill the hole. ¡°Is this really going to work?¡± ¡°As I said before, we don¡¯t have to create a perfect story. This is a good enough and believable story. Rather, it¡¯s more realistic to have some loopholes.¡± At the words of the skilled scammer, the prospective scammer nodded her head, and Melissa was feelingplicated at the scammer couple¡¯s behavior. Jude¡¯s scam ¨C no, his n was as simple as always. On Mount Damos, the ck Hand Mercenaries led by Gamorr Khan were wiped out after a fierce battle against the monsters. It was true up to this point. It was true that Gamorr Khan fought against the monsters on Mount Damos. ¡®Mix the truth with some lies.¡¯ That was one of the basics in making apelling story. And what Jude added to the story was as follows. ¡°A battle broke out because Gamorr Khan failed to control the monsters of Mount Damos with a monster attracting device.¡± The evidence was the half-broken Aggro Generator lying in the middle of the battlefield. ¡°Jude and Cordelia were passing by and discovered Gamorr Khan¡¯s atrocious n. Gamorr Khan had already lost his troops in their battle against the monsters, so he fled.¡± ¡°Wait, we passed by here?¡± We didn¡¯t use a road but passed by Mount Damos itself? ¡°We can say that we stopped by the mountain to fight the monsters for the sake of our residents.¡± ¡°I see.¡± And this was also true. After getting Ultimate One, they had tried to wipe out the monsters to some extent. ¡°Moving on, in order to pursue the fleeing Gamorr Khan, Jude and Cordelia set out on their way again, leaving only a letter that gave a full ount of the events.¡± While exining on what happened in Mount Damos, it was a story that would give Jude and Cordelia a legitimate reason to hurriedly leave the ce rather than remaining and cleaning up the fief. ¡®Because Gamorr Khan is just an average-sized Vorg if you exclude the ne and Grand Order.¡¯ Moreover, his body was burned, so even if an acquaintance came, it would be impossible to verify his identity. ¡°And that would be how we can naturally exin having Ultimate Five.¡± ¡°Won¡¯t the ck Hand Mercenaries be hostile to us?¡± ¡°It¡¯s an organization that would be hostile to us when we fight Malekith anyway, and they¡¯re also far in the south.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± Cordelia pped her hands and then looked at Moonlight, clearing her throat as she puffed up her chest and said. ¡°Did you see that? That¡¯s my Jude.¡± [Uh¡­ yes.] He¡¯s an amazing scammer. While Melissa held back from saying her thoughts, Cordelia read Jude¡¯s letter to the vigers. ¡°I like it. It feels like we¡¯re telling our residents that we care about them.¡± ¡°They¡¯ll really like it. We told them that they could take all the monsters¡¯ parts.¡± In addition, they could enter Mount Damos from now on, so from the perspective of the vigers, it was like they hit the jackpot. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re right. Anyway, what about my notice?¡± It could be a problem if the notice was found. When Cordelia looked around, Jude grinned and took out what he had hidden in his pocket. ¡°I¡¯ve already recovered it. Destruction of evidence is one of the basics.¡± ¡°Oooooh.¡± A special powder was spread on the notice, so it was possible to track its location with a single magic even in this messy ce. ¡°See that, Melissa? That¡¯s my Jude.¡± [Uh¡­ yes.] Destruction of evidence is a crime. As Melissa held back from saying her thoughts again, the ck-hearted Jude and the newly ck-hearted Cordelia looked at each other and smiled before they began to go down the mountain together. *** When the mayor of the vige near Mount Damos was reading the letter from Jude and Cordelia with a surprised face, the two were running along the mountain path while in a ¡®merged¡¯ state like always. ¡®Well, I feel like I¡¯ve gotten used to her strange words.¡¯ Because at some point in time, ¡®carrying her on his back¡¯ became called as ¡®merging.¡¯ Anyway, Jude stopped for a while as he fixed Cordelia¡¯s position before he spoke. ¡°Let¡¯s decide our course again at this point.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t we have to go southwest from here since there¡¯s a branch of the Guardians of the Holy Cross there?¡± The branches of the Guardians of the Holy Cross were usually located deep in the mountains, but the branch the two were heading to was different. This 300-year-old branch of the Guardians of the Holy Cross was in the trading city of St. Crute, located at the entrance to the southern region between the border of the central and southern regions. ¡°It¡¯s a case wherein a vige was formed in the ce of the original branch, and the vige grew, bing a trading city.¡± ¡°I know that.¡± ¡°Yes, but I thought that I have to exin it anyway.¡± Jude had a bitter smile before he continued. ¡°Anyway, if we want to go from here to St. Crute, we have to use the Senez Canal or cross the Kanos Mountains that¡¯s connected to Mount Damos.¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s the usual route, right?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the usual route.¡± Jude smiled and Cordelia asked as she hugged Jude¡¯s neck. ¡°What is it, what is it? Is there another secret route that only you know?¡± ¡°Well¡­something like that.¡± It was actually the route that Valencia had taught himst night. Jude fixed Cordelia¡¯s position and turned to the south as he said. ¡°You do know that if you go straight down here, you¡¯ll see the Forest of Eternity, right?¡± ¡°Yes, but that¡¯s the forest of the elves.¡± Unlike the dwarves who lived and did business with humans, the elves in the S?len Kingdom totally avoided contact with humans. The Forest of Eternity now was even sealed with a powerful barrier magic developed during the era of the magic kingdom, Magen, so it was no different from the realm of demons for humans because once they step inside, they could no longere out. ¡°In the game, one could only enter after the fall of the S?len Kingdom, right?¡± ¡°Because the elves were also attacked by the demons.¡± In the midst of the destruction of the southern region after the northern and central regions of the S?len Kingdom, the elves who had been consistent with their seclusion policy eventually had to face the demons alone and were defeated. ¡°Thest king of the elves went mad and became an undead.¡± ¡°I remember him. His name was Kelthur. In the background setting, he inherited the throne after four months¡­ he must be a prince now, right?¡± ¡°Probably. He¡¯s the first in the line of session or something like that.¡± In any case, that wasn¡¯t what mattered now. Now that the northern and central regions were in good shape, the Forest of Eternity would not fall if the southern region¡¯s copse waspletely prevented. ¡°Can¡¯t we get help?¡± ¡°They won¡¯t help because they still secluded themselves even when the country was being destroyed. And also because of the nobles in the south.¡± ¡°I see. Anyway, why the Forest of Eternity? Is there a way for us to go through the barrier?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± It was actually a path around the outside of the Forest of Eternity, but even with that, they would be able to reach St. Crute faster than any other route. ¡°Wow¡­ How can you keep it to yourself? You didn¡¯t post it in the ¡®Legend of Heroes Guide¡¯ website?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the reason why I¡¯m first ce, remember?¡± His words were quite annoying, but for some strange reason, she didn¡¯t hate it. Cordelia hugged Jude¡¯s neck and said. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s hurry up.¡± ¡°Yes, Madam.¡± After he firmly secured Cordelia¡¯s position, Jude began running towards the south. ***The Forest of Eternity looked like a mysterious ce. Large trees that were around 10 meters tall were lined up like walls, and a thick fog spread throughout the day, making the surroundings hard to distinguish. ¡°Hey, do you really know the way? Can we go out when we go in?¡± When Cordelia asked with an anxious face, Jude nodded his head. ¡°Maybe.¡± ¡°Maybe? Wait, I thought that you¡¯ve been through here?¡± ¡°No, I mean¡­ wait for a while.¡± The awkwardly smiling Jude broke two flowers blooming nearby and chanted the spell Valencia had taught him. ¡°Good, here.¡± Jude put the red flower in his waist, and put the remaining white flower in Cordelia¡¯s hair. ¡°What is this?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a sign. With this, the forest will recognize us as elves¡­ or to be exact, as inhabitants of the forest.¡± ¡°Then, we won¡¯t get lost here?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Probably. Jude held back from saying hisst thought and turned around as he began walking. It was not that he didn¡¯t trust Valencia, but the atmosphere of the forest was so terrible that his heart was pounding. Cordelia was also wary of their surroundings, and she hugged Jude¡¯s neck tighter than usual. After 10 minutes. In order to not provoke the elves, Jude walked along the border of the forest, but at some point, the two simultaneously looked at one ce. Because Jude perceived it with his sharp senses while Cordelia with her animal-like instincts. ¡°That way.¡± ¡°It¡¯sing.¡± Cordelia jumped off Jude¡¯s back and closed her eyes as she listened to the sounds. She figured out the situation as if she was really like a wild animal. ¡°I can barely hear footsteps. It¡¯s a very light step. But they¡¯re being chased. The pursuers are running wildly. Their number is at least seven, I think?¡± When did she develop such a skill? Jude turned to the direction Cordelia had pointed instead of asking her. Cordelia said afterwards. ¡°They¡¯ll get caught soon if we don¡¯t help.¡± They were in a situation where they didn¡¯t know on who was being chased or who was chasing. But Jude and Cordelia began running in the direction of the sound they heard. If the person being chased was on the good side, the two would help that person, but if the person was on the bad side, the two would capture that person. It was a very simple logic. Naturally, they had a choice of pretending to not know and just pass by, but that was impossible for the two. Because it was the habit of rotten waters on not to miss an incident when it urs! ¡°Is anyone there! Help!¡± The voice of a woman sounded crystal clear and urgent. Jude and Cordelia¡¯s speed became a little faster. Chapter 218: Forest of Eternity (2)

Chapter 218: Forest of Eternity (2)

Terms used in this episode: Better a castle of bones than of stones ¨C a Korean proverb which means that when there are two things with equivalent value, you should choose the better one or the one you prefer. There was no exmation mark or question mark floating somewhere in between the trees, but Jude and Cordelia were able to quickly find the owner of the voice. T/N: In games, an exmation or question mark usually appear when a new quest appears on the map or above an NPC (non-yable character). The entire forest was dark because of the branches that covered the sky, but that being stood out in such a forest. ¡°Elf?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go first!¡± Jude shouted and used Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt. Instead of chasing Jude who had disappeared from her sight, Cordelia continued to run and look ahead. tinum blonde hair and white armor. In contrast to the female elf who stood out because of her white color, she also saw several humanoid monsters whose forms were indiscernible because they werepletely ck. What should she do at this moment? Cordelia didn¡¯t think about that. She just instinctively released her magic. ¡°¡± A basic magic spell. However, the mana she consumed was not normal, so the intensity of the light was quite strong. The light didn¡¯t stop at driving out the darkness of the forest, as it even swallowed up the surroundings with light like a sh bomb explosion. ¡°Aaah!¡± At the blinding light, the woman tightly closed her eyes and screamed, and so did the monsters. And Jude appeared. Jude¡¯s back was facing the light, so he was able to clearly identify the location and type of enemy in that white world. ¡®Female elf.¡¯ White armor. tinum blonde hair tied up in a bridal bun style. Very white skin. She somehow looked like Valencia whose beautiful face was second to Cordelia. But it wasn¡¯t her beautiful appearance that mattered. Jude saw a golden coat of arms painted over the white armor. It was the coat of arms of the Prime royal family. ¡®High elf royalty!¡¯ Kelthur who became a Skeleton King after the fall of the elves was also wearing an armor with that coat of arms. And the monsters. Their entire bodies were covered in ck smoke, and green mes burned in their eye sockets. It was probably a Shade monster. Then there was nothing more to examine. Jude grabbed the arm of the struggling and screaming elf princess whose eyes were still closed, carried her in his arms and then threw her towards Cordelia. ¡°Kya!¡± But there was no sound of someone falling to the ground. Cordelia had probably caught the elf with her telekic power. So instead of looking back, Jude moved his feet. He swung his arm towards the nearest shade. aaash! His hand filled with the ck dragon¡¯s energy was like a sword that cut the Shade¡¯s throat. The ck smoke instantly scattered, and Jude swung his arm again and split the Shade¡¯s torso. Bang! The ck smoke burst. But at that time, Jude had already flown somewhere else. The Shade with green mes as eyes was cut in the waist by his sharp roundhouse kick, and as for the three Shades behind it, Jude swung his sword-like hand as if he was using swordsmanship. aaash! His sharp and huge ¡®sword¡¯ cut down the Shades and trees at the same time. A huge tree fell to the side with a rumbling sound, and because of that, branches broke and other trees fell, creating a louder noise. And Jude realized something. His way ofbat had changed. He was now using his martial art skills as if they were swordsmanship techniques. ¡®Valencia!¡¯ She was the sword spirit of Ultimate One. It was her influence. Valencia¡¯s experience and swordsmanship had naturally fused with him who had be one with Sword Origin. ¡®W-wait a minute. Valencia is one with the Sword Origin.¡¯ And I have be one with that Sword Origin. Jude had a very strange thought at that moment, but he soon came to his senses. Now was not the time to think about such a thing. There were still some Shades left. ¡°Jude!¡± The moment he heard Cordelia¡¯s voice, three spears of light pierced the chests of the remaining Shades. An angelic halo of light spread out and glowed above Cordelia¡¯s head. ¡°Hey! You¡¯re thinking of something weird!¡± Jude flinched when Cordelia suddenly shouted, but instead of answering her, he created a ck and gold gale topletely scatter the surrounding ck smoke. Shades could revive themselves as long as there was smoke. ¡®D-did she notice when she looked at my eyes?¡¯ Or is this her beast-like intuition like always? In any case, Jude shook his head to get rid of his thoughts and properly finish off the Shades. [It¡¯s a High Elf royalty.] ¡°Eh?¡± When he spoke with magic, Cordelia was surprised and looked back at the elf princess lying on the ground, or to be exact, the elf princess whom Jude threw and Cordelia caught with her telekic power before she roughlyid the elf on the ground. [It¡¯s a face I don¡¯t know.] [All the elves in the Forest of Eternity appeared as undead anyway. It would seriously be strange if you knew their faces.] It was as Jude had said. Therefore, instead of thinking more about it, Cordelia helped the elf princess in sitting up, and Jude approached them after breathing a sigh of relief. ¡°Are you okay?¡± ¡°Humannguage?¡± The elf princess answered Cordelia¡¯s question with a question, and she looked at Jude and Cordelia with a nk face before she eximed in surprise. ¡°Human!¡± She shouted out loud and suddenly groped Cordelia¡¯s face with both hands, or to be precise, Cordelia¡¯s ears, and once again eximed in surprise. ¡°Short! Short ears! Uh¡­ but you¡¯re pretty. The book says that humans are ugly. Why are you pretty? Are you not human?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ um¡­ I¡¯m human.¡± Cordelia answered with awkward smile at the response of the elf princess since she did not know if it was apliment or an insult, and she nced at Jude. She wanted him to do something right away. ¡°Your Highness, we are humans from the S?len Kingdom.¡± The elf princess turned her head to Jude when he spoke, and she was surprised again. ¡°You¡¯re handsome. You¡¯re a human, so why are you handsome?¡± ¡°¡­Other handsome humans exist too.¡± It felt strange for him to say something like that, but it was true. ¡°In addition, the girl in front of you is the most beautiful and loveliest girl among the hu¨C ¡± [Hey! You dispelled it again!] The red-faced Cordelia hurriedly used magic, but it was useless. Jude had torn a scroll and instantly defended himself before he spoke with a warm smile. ¡°Please don¡¯t think that it¡¯s strange because she¡¯s the most beautiful human ever.¡± ¡°Then¡­ are you like that too?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right! He¡¯s the coolest, dashing, and most handsome human ever!¡± Cordelia loudly shouted when she found the opportunity to do so. She was hoping that he would be embarrassed, so she even smiled triumphantly, but she was mistaken. There was a huge gap between Jude and Cordelia¡¯s shamelessness. [Cordelia, I didn¡¯t know that you usually thought of me that way.] [Eh?] [For Cordelia, I¡¯m the coolest, dashing, and most handsome human in the world, huh? Pfft.] [N-no! I-it¡¯s not like that, okay?] [Fufufu, no need to be shy, okay?] Ugh, what¡¯s wrong with him? Cordelia almost screamed that unconsciously, but she managed to suppress it and sent a magic afterwards. [W-what about you! For you, I¡¯m the most beautiful and loveliest girl in the world¡­] It was and mine. Even though she sent it with magic instead of her voice, she ended up taking mental damage from it. Moreover, her opponent was Jude. [Of course. You are truly the most beautiful and loveliest girl in the world.] He smirked as his eyes seemed to shine. But why does he look so handsome when he does that? [Uwaah¡­ my eyes¡­] She waspletely defeated. Cordelia waspletely embarrassed as she faltered and sank to her knees, and the elf princess looked at her with a face that did not understand on what was going on. ¡°Are you okay? Are you hurt?¡± ¡°No, she¡¯s all right. Please don¡¯t worry about her.¡± Jude politely answered and narrowed the distance between him and the elf princess before he courteously greeted her. ¡°I am Count August Bayer of the S?len Kingdom. This is my fianc¨¦e, Countess August Chase.¡± ¡°Count. Noble. Are you human nobles?¡± ¡°That is correct.¡± When Jude answered, Cordelia raised herself and stood next to Jude before she courteously greeted. ¡°I greet the Royal Princess.¡± Then she pinched Jude behind his back, but it was useless. Jude was able to shrug off the wizard¡¯s physical attack with a smile. [So annoying!] Cordelia was annoyed and wanted to stomp her feet repeatedly, but they were in front of an elf princess now. After she held herself back, she focused on the elf princess again. ¡°Ahem, we are the prettiest and handsomest humans.¡± Ah, seriously. Are you crazy, Jude? In the end, Cordelia cursed him in her mind. The elf princess seemed to have done away all her embarrassment so far, and she said in a very proper and dignified voice peculiar to royalty. ¡°As you may have guessed, I am an elf princess. But how did humans recognize me?¡± It had already been more than 300 years since the exchange between humans and elves in the Forest of Eternity was cut off. For elves who lived for more than 500 years, especially for high elves who lived for a thousand years, it happened within the same generation, but for humans, it was a long time ago that they had to trace the ancestors of their ancestors. But why did humans immediately recognize an elf princess? At her reasonable question, Jude gave a reasonable answer. ¡°I saw the coat of arms of the Prime royal family and understood it.¡± The coat of arms of the Prime royal family was painted on the white breastte. ¡°Do humans know the coat of arms of the elf royalty?¡± ¡°Because the Prime royal family is special.¡± The Prime royal family were the only high elf royalty in S?len. Just like the saying, ¡®better a castle of bones than of stones¡¯, Jude knew very well that it was better to say something that was pleasant to the ears. ¡°Because the Prime royal family is the only noble high elf royal family that has connections to the magic kingdom of Magen. And there are still many people outside the forest who remember the sword of the Elf Sword.¡± [Is that true?] When Cordelia asked with wide open eyes, Jude replied without looking at her. [No, it¡¯s not.] Valencia¡¯s heyday was as far as a thousand years ago. If one generation was every 30 years, then it was 33 generations ago. And even if he was wrong, it was impossible for humans to remember her because they had lost a lot of records of ancient history. But elves were different. For high elves who lived for a thousand years, Valencia was someone who was their grandmother or great-grandmother. And Jude¡¯s prediction was right again. The elf princess could not hide the pride in her face. ¡°That¡¯s true. You¡¯ve answered my question, so it would be polite for me to reveal myself.¡± In fact, saving her life was greater than answering her question, but humans and elves were the same in that they couldn¡¯t justin to royalty. Jude and Cordelia quietly waited, and the elf princess said after she cleared her throat. ¡°I am Leica Prime from the Prime royal family, descendant of the First King, Grave Prime, and first in line to the throne.¡± The elf princess, Leica, introduced herself, and Cordelia was surprised as she sent a magic to Jude. [First in line to the throne? What about Kelthur then?] Wasn¡¯t Kelthur the next king? [Not long before Kelthur became king¡­ I think something happened in that time.] Moreover, the high elf royal family should have appeared as significant undead monsters in the game, but it was the first time Jude and Cordelia had heard of her name even though they had yed in the Forest of Eternity hundreds of times. ¡®It¡¯s impossible that a new character who didn¡¯t even appear in the game would appear now.¡¯ It was only a year or so between now and the time when the elves of the Forest of Eternity would be undead. In the course of that year, the elf princess in front of them must have died in some way. ¡®Was she supposed to have died¡­ just now?¡¯ Princess Leica was being chased by Shades. She was definitely in a crisis, but she was still a high elf royalty, so she wouldn¡¯t easily die. ¡®No, she¡¯s already in trouble if she¡¯s running away in the first ce.¡¯ Moreover, she was empty handed. She didn¡¯t have anything like a weapon. ¡®Have we unexpectedly changed history?¡¯ [Something ising.] It was at that moment. At Cordelia¡¯s words, Jude quickly turned to the direction she was looking, and he withdrew his earlier thoughts. ¡®It¡¯s not here.¡¯ It was not the ce where Princess Leica would die. Because there were other people who could save her besides Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Neeeigh!¡± ¡°Lloyd!¡± A white unicorn appeared through the bushes. With spotless white fur, light bluish mane, and clear blue eyes, they thought that it was a divine creature. ¡°You came for me!¡± ¡°Neeigh!¡± The unicorn, Lloyd, responded by rubbing its face on Princess Leica¡¯s cheek, and soon turned its gaze towards Jude and Cordelia before its eyes began to sparkle. ¡°Neeeigh!¡± The unicorn approached Cordelia under the guise of a very good expression before it pushed its face and pretended to be close, and soon began to lick Cordelia¡¯s cheek. ¡°Kya, it tickles.¡± Cordeliaughed and pushed Lloyd¡¯s face away, but the unicorn kept pushing its face and licking Cordelia¡¯s cheek, as if it was ying a prank. ¡®This b*stard.¡¯ Jude didn¡¯t even count 3 seconds this time. He quickly reached out and pulled Cordelia, and sent Lloyd a murderous look like the one he once sent to First Sword. ¡°Neigh?¡± It was a beast and not a divine creature. Because of Jude¡¯s overwhelming threatening look, the unicorn flinched and stepped back, and Cordelia looked at Jude with a strange expression. [What the¡­ Are you jealous? Are you jealous of a horse?] It was a situation opposite from usual as a smile gradually spread on Cordelia¡¯s face while Jude¡¯s earlobe began to turn red. Jude was always shameless, but he was also shy in some strange ces. [Hehehe, you¡¯re jealous.] While Cordelia was feeling happy, Jude coughed for no reason before he turned to Princess Leica. ¡°It¡¯s a unicorn.¡± It was scared of Jude¡¯s murderous look for a moment, so it had stepped backwards, but a unicorn was not weak. In particr, the unicorn in front of them seemed like apletely different creature from the Bicorn they had encountered in the past. ¡°He¡¯s a friend I grew up with since I was a kid.¡± Princess Leica stroked Lloyd¡¯s mane with a happy face as if she did not notice Jude¡¯s murderous look earlier. She then quickly climbed onto the unicorn¡¯s back and said. ¡°But why are there humans inside the Forest of Eternity? I mean, how did you get in?¡± There was a barrier outside the Forest of Eternity that blocked the outside from entering. After a brief thought, Jude took out the flower he had on his waist and replied. ¡°I¡¯m a human being who inherited the sword of Valencia Prime, the Elf Sword. In addition to her swordsmanship, I¡¯ve also learned some secrets.¡± ¡°The Elf Sword?¡± ¡°Yes, she also had several human disciples.¡± It was actually not possible for them to know if she had any human disciples or not, but Valencia was someone who sat down and chatted with a dwarf artisan, so she would have gotten along well with humans too. ¡°Hmm¡­ I see. Then what is your purpose for entering the Forest of Eternity?¡± ¡°We had no intention of going inside the forest. We tried to move along the outer part of it but¡­ we heard the voice of the princess and came running.¡± At Jude¡¯s exnation mixed with truth and lies, Princess Leica pondered for a while before she slowly nodded her head. ¡°As I thought¡­ it thispletely because of Orion¡¯s guidance?¡± Princess Leica mentioned the name of the forest god, Orion, who was worshipped by the elves of the Forest of Eternity. Afterwards, she talked to Jude and Cordelia again. ¡°Humans, I need your help. Can you lend your strength to me and my knights?¡± Jude and Cordelia simultaneously thought the same thing at her solemn question. It was at the very least, a Legendary Quest. It was also the plea of help from a high elf princess who was destined to die within a year. ¡®Perhaps¡­¡¯ Would saving Princess Leica lead to saving the elves of the Forest of Eternity from their destined ruin? The direct cause of the fall of the Forest of Eternity¡¯s elves was clearly the invasion of foreign enemies after the copse of the S?len Kingdom. But it was at that moment. ¡°Your Highness, with all due respect, can you please tell us on what had happened?¡± Cordelia politely asked, and Princess Leica furrowed her brows a little before nodding her head. ¡°You¡¯re not my servants, so I can¡¯t ask for your help in ambiguous words. I¡¯ll tell you then. I am now on an expedition with my knights to defeat Jabberwock, a forest monster and enemy of the Forest of Eternity. So please join our punitive force and help us defeat Jabberwock.¡± Judging by the content of her words, it was like amon quest. But Jude and Cordelia reflexively looked back at each other. Because a name that should not be heard here was mentioned. ¡®Jabberwock? The Jabberwock that we know about?¡¯ Jude nodded at Cordelia¡¯s gaze. Because Princess Leica¡¯s death could be exined if it was Jabberwock. ¡®Jabberwock, a monster that could turn into any monster.¡¯ One of the 7 major cmities that caused the destruction of Pleaides. Jude and Cordelia turned to Princess Leica. Chapter 219: Forest of Eternity (3)

Chapter 219: Forest of Eternity (3)

Late post~! Anyway, the Seven Major Cmities are actually only six now, but the author referred to them as a group, so I¡¯ll continue to refer to them as seven. The story development of Legend of Heroes 2 wasrgely divided into three. In the first half, each character had their own circumstances. Each of the eleven yable characters had a starting point, and the situation at their starting point was also different, so just like the saying, ¡®no two men are alike,¡¯ they all had different stories. At this time, characters without ovepping routes were better, because if their routes ovepped, one side would be destroyed, corrupted, or killed in the story. ¡®Like Cordelia and Lucas.¡¯ It was impossible for the two to bepatible in single-yer mode. If one proceeded with Cordelia, Lucas would be a demonic human, and if one proceeded with Lucas, Cordelia would bepletely corrupted and turn into a demon. ¡®Moving on, the events in the northern, central, and southern regions were set in the early to middle parts of the game.¡¯ Some characters began their stories quite early like Cordelia and Lucas, but most of them began their stories before and after those three consecutive events took ce in the S?len Kingdom. ¡®Because the beginning of Kajsa¡¯s story was her escape from Malekith¡¯s attack.¡¯ In the game¡¯s storyline, the southern region waspletely destroyed by Malekith and the Dragonflights. Kajsa¡¯s story was that she led her family as they somehow escape from the south amidst the chaos. ¡®The Seven Major Cmities began in the middle part of the game.¡¯ The S?len Kingdom was already on the verge of destruction due to the sessive events, and when the seven catastrophic beings appeared, itpletely destroyed the kingdom and also led to the downfall of the empire. In the game, all of the Seven Major Cmities were eventually defeated, but the damage umted in the meantime was so great that the two great powers copsed in the end. ¡®If it had ended here, I would have been more hopeful for the future, but¡­¡¯ Unfortunately, the story continued in thetter half of the game¡¯s storyline. ¡®The final battle with the demon followers.¡¯ It was the part where the demon followers, who had already been weakened by the Seven Major Cmities, began to actively gather. The demon followers tried to begin the Great Summons while the heroes went into a final battle in order to stop them. But it was the demon followers who eventually won the battle. As a result, the Great Summons urred, and the inhabitants of heaven and hell descended on earth. ?The overlords of hell and the archangels of heaven began Armageddon, which was a great war between good and evil. ¡®And the world was roughly destroyed.¡¯ The worlds of heaven and hell were not harmed. Only the earth which had be a battlefield was destroyed. All the countries established by humans copsed without a single country left, and more than half of the remaining humans died in the aftermath of the war. ¡®It¡¯s terrible when you think about it.¡¯ It was a reality now and not a story in a game. Jude could find a way to save himself, but when he thought of Cordelia, Cordelia, Cordelia, Ga?l, Adelia, and the others who would lose their lives from the war, that alone made his hands and feet tremble. T/N: The repeating ¡®Cordelia¡¯ in the sentence above is not a typo. That¡¯s just how important she is to Jude, hahaha. ¡®Anyway, the middle part of the game is the fight against the Seven Major Cmities.¡¯ One of them was Myriad Shapeshifter Jabberwock, who was just like its name. ¡®Myriad Shapeshifter.¡¯ A myriad of transformations. A monster that could transform into anything. Jabberwock was reborn as a real cmity when itbined with Jabberwock, a high-ranking demonic human of the Devil¡¯s Horn who had the same name, and Jabberwock had the ability to transform into a creature that one feared the most. ¡®Because of that, it became popr because its form in the boss fight was different for each character.¡¯ The difficulty also changed depending on the yable character. In any case, this was an opportunity to defeat Myriad Shapeshifter Jabberwock. ¡®It hasn¡¯t merged with Jabberwock yet.¡¯ It had not yet be one with demonic human Jabberwock who had the same name. Just like how they stopped the Snow Queen in the wildnds, it was now possible to get rid of Jabberwock early. ¡®We can attack it again and again.¡¯ They could kill it before it bes a cmity. And perhaps this could save both the Forest of Eternity and the elves. ¡®Then we could rely on them.¡¯ Because there were no such things as humans or elves in the face of a cmity. They would surely be a strong ally in the uing battle against the Seven Major Cmities. ¡®And now, we can get the help of the elves.¡¯ It was a battle that they couldn¡¯t refuse. Naturally, if Jabberwock was stronger than expected, they could retreat and strengthen their power before attacking for the second time, but that was also something they would only know once they fought it. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Do you know anything about Jabberwock?¡± Cordelia¡¯s lip twitched at Princess Leica¡¯s question, and Jude responded as naturally as always. ¡°Yes, the two of us are actually members of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. We¡¯ve read about the forest monster, Jabberwock, at the headquarters of the Guardians.¡± ¡°Oh, the Guardians of the Holy Cross is still standing strong.¡± When Princess Leica spoke with a very pleased face, Cordelia blinked her eyes and asked. ¡°Do you know about the Guardians of the Holy Cross?¡± ¡°I know about them. Before the Forest of Eternity¡¯s barrier was activated, my ancestors helped establish the Guardians of the Holy Cross in the days when we still interacted with humans.¡± It was a story of the past that was 500 years old at the most. So Jude nodded his head and said. ¡°Yes, we still remember the help of the elves. There¡¯s actually an elf who is still active.¡± ¡°Really? May I know their name?¡± ¡°Master Eltharion.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ Eltharion. He is my great uncle.¡± Princess Leica was delighted, while Cordelia tugged Jude¡¯s sleeve. [Jude, Jude. What¡¯s a great uncle?] [The brother of one¡¯s grandfather.] [Ah.] He was more than 500 years old, and he was the brother of Leica¡¯s grandfather. It was a possible story since high elves lived for a thousand years. ¡°Then it¡¯s better if you two belong to the Guardians of the Holy Cross. Of course, the two of you will help us, right? Then I will not only forgive you for trespassing into the Forest of Eternity, but also reward you for fighting together with us. Ah, naturally, I¡¯ll also reward you for saving me.¡± As Princess Leica smiled and spoke in a dignified voice, Cordelia pulled Jude¡¯s sleeve again. [I think our kingdom¡¯s princess is better.] Princess Daphne seemed to have more dignity. Jude heard Cordelia¡¯sments and barely managed to suppress hisughter before he replied with a polite expression. ¡°We¡¯ll dly ept it.¡± They would first try to fight together with the elves, and if they really couldn¡¯t do it, then they could also run away. ¡®It won¡¯t take that long.¡¯ Even though the Forest of Eternity was big, it was only at a level of a small country. Moreover, the fact that they were still in the outskirts of the forest but met the punitive force could only mean that Jabberwock lived in the outskirts too, so they could face it in a day or two at most. ¡°I love your spirited answer.¡± And around the time when a beautiful smile, second only to Cordelia¡¯s, spread on Princess Leica¡¯s face. ¡°¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö ¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö ?¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö!¡± ¡°¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö ¡ö¡ö¡ö!¡± The voices of elves came from beyond the bushes. ¡°¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö ¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö!¡± They seemed to be the knights of the punitive force, given that Princess Leica was relieved to hear their shouts as she also shouted loudly. ¡®But what are they saying?¡¯ The elfnguage was in his Memory Pce, but that didn¡¯t mean he could understand theirnguage immediately. ¡®It¡¯s diforting.¡¯ He was a little nervous because he couldn¡¯t understand what they were saying. But it was at that moment. ¡°¡ñ¡ñ¡ñ¡ñ ¡ñ¡ñ¡ñ.¡± The elves¡¯ words began to change when Cordelia ced her hand on Jude¡¯s shoulder and whispered a spell. ¡°¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö¡­ ¡ö¡ö safe, Your Highness.¡± ¡°But Your Highness, who are these people¡­ eh? Humans?!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid of them. They helped me. Moreover, they know about the Prime royal family.¡± Princess Leica spoke a bit overbearingly to the elven knights who appeared through the bushes. And Jude turned to Cordelia. ¡®Wow, trantion magic exists?¡¯ ¡®Yes, it exists.¡¯ Cordelia shrugged her shoulders as she puffed up with pride, and she continued with her eyes. ¡®It¡¯s a spell the witch used tomunicate with demons.¡¯ ¡®Oh, I see.¡¯ He then understood that it was a universal trantion magic. ¡®You¡¯re quite talented, huh? As expected of a wizard.¡¯ ¡®Hehehe, praise me more. No,pliment me.¡¯ It was at the moment when the ted Cordelia raised her chin. ¡°Count August Bayer and Countess August Chase?¡± At Princess Leica¡¯s call, Cordelia quickly lowered her raised chin and became embarrassed, while Jude calmly replied after suppressing hisughter that was about to burst this time. ¡°Your Highness may call us Jude and Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes, that would be better. Then, Jude and Cordelia, let us go to my ce. Let¡¯s talk about the details there.¡± ¡°We shall obey yourmand.¡± Jude had a small smile as he once again politely answered. *** ¡°Take a rest here.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Highness.¡± The Forest of Eternity was not a ce that was full of trees from the beginning to the end. On the contrary, it was not an exaggeration to say that the inside was actually an open space except for the outer part. ¡®Because there are meadows andkes inside.¡¯ The camp of the punitive force was also set up in the open space, but it was not that big since elves only had a small poption. ¡®Are there only 20 people in the punitive force?¡¯ One could say that it was too little for a punitive force led by a princess, but it was eptable if everyone was a knight. [Why? Just because they have a small number doesn¡¯t necessarily mean that they are elite knights.] [I mean, they¡¯re elves. You understand what I mean?] [Something like your next door neighbor is a Sword Master, your other next door neighbor is an Archwizard, and the neighbor behind your house is a Bow Master?] [Yes, something like that.] Even an ordinary viger, who was not rted to the royal family, was an elf who could live for 500 years. 500 years. For as long as 500 years. The skill levels of elves were naturally iparable to humans. Even if they just swung an axe every day for a hundred years, they would inevitably be masters after two hundred years, regardless of whether they had the talent or not. ¡®Those who say that elves are slow learners are just speaking nonsense.¡¯ Sometimes, there were games and novels that introduced the setting ¡®Elves are slow learners because they have a long lifespan,¡¯ but it was something ridiculous for Jude. The elves were not a slow-witted race just because they could learn swordsmanship in a hundred years that a human could learn in ten years. Even if it took them several times as long whenpared to a human, their level of proficiency was still different from a human. [Legs was amazing too.] (Jude) [The one from The Hobbit?] (Cordelia) [No, the one in The Lord of the Rings.] (Jude) [What? Did you watch The Lord of the Rings at the theater?] (Cordelia) [Yes, when it was re-released. You haven¡¯t watched it?] (Jude) At the time of the movie¡¯s first release in theaters, Jude was living in some remote ce, so he didn¡¯t know about the existence of The Lord of the Rings. And even if he was in South Korea then, he still wouldn¡¯t be able to watch it because of the age limit. [I didn¡¯t watch it because it was too long.] (Cordelia) [Then, why did you watch The Hobbit?] (Jude) [Because the main character was very handsome. Ah. He starred as Watson too.] (Cordelia) [Do you like Sherlock?] (Jude) [Yes, I like it.] (Cordelia) Jude then recalled that Cordelia had once said that she watched Sherlock, so she knew about the Memory Pce. T/N: Let me exin to those who don¡¯t know. The Lord of the Rings (LOTR) film series was released first in theaters on 2001-2003. Despite LOTR being actually the sequel to The Hobbit, The Hobbit was only released on 2012-2014. Which means that Jude was still a minor in the years LOTR was first released. And then, Martin Freeman, the actor of Bilbo Baggins who was the main character of The Hobbit, also yed the role of Dr. John Watson in the British TV series, Sherlock, which aired on 2010-2017. [You like British TV shows, huh?] (Jude) [Yes. Anyway, they¡¯re looking at us.] (Cordelia) Jude came to his senses at Cordelia¡¯s words, and he looked in front of him again. Princess Leica stepped inside arge tent erected in the center of the camp together with knights that seemed to be close to her, and a young female elf was looking at the two with curious eyes. ¡°I am called Tnda. Ah, I have to speak in the humannguage. I am Tnda. Follow me. I¡¯ll show you where to rest. Besides Princess Leica, I¡¯m the only one who knows how to properly speak the humannguage. So if you have anything to say, find me.¡± Although her pronunciation was a bit awkward, they had no problem understanding it. Because they had trantion magic in the first ce. Therefore, Jude responded appropriately and followed Tnda as they stepped inside a small tent. ¡°You can rest here. I¡¯ll be outside.¡± Tnda went outside, so Jude and Cordelia looked around the inside of the tent. All the furniture had a luxurious feel, which was to be expected of the elves. ¡®They have a lot of time.¡¯ So it wasmon to put a lot of effort in creating just one piece of furniture. ¡°Jude, shall we talk about Sherlock? What¡¯s your favorite season? Mine is season 3.¡± The slightly excited Cordelia was very cute, but Jude said as he held up a finger between his lips. ¡°Shh, let¡¯s listen to their talk outside.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia blinked once before nodding. Because she could hear the elves¡¯ conversation with her ears that were much more sensitive than Jude. ¡°Humans? You said that they are humans?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s the first time you¡¯ve seen one, right? I¡¯ve never seen one either.¡± ¡°But aren¡¯t humans ugly? They are good-looking.¡± ¡°He said that she was the most beautiful human.¡± ¡°I think I understand. My pig is really pretty. That¡¯s why it¡¯s cute.¡± ¡°What are you talking about? Anyway, I think that they will join the subjugation.¡± ¡°The humans? How old are they? 40 years old? 50? Aren¡¯t they still babies?¡± ¡°Well¡­ They said that humans get old quickly. Maybe they¡¯re around 30 years old.¡± ¡°They¡¯re like newborns then. So how will they be useful?¡± ¡°They¡¯ll definitely be useful since they were brought here. And perhaps the legend is true.¡± ¡°That only humans can defeat Jabberwock?¡± ¡°Yes, that one.¡± The elf was right. The reason why the elves of the Forest of Eternity couldn¡¯t defeat Jabberwock for hundreds of years and only sealed him whenever it woke up was because it was born with a curse that it could only be killed by a human. Only a human could kill it. In short, they could not kill it because they weren¡¯t human. ¡°But is it all right if we¡¯re this noisy?¡± ¡°It¡¯s all right. My grandfather said that humans have poor hearing unlike us, so they can¡¯t hear us even if we¡¯re just a bit far away from them.¡± ¡°What a pitiful race. They have a short lifespan, their hearing is poor, and they have ugly faces.¡± ¡°Instead, they have a lot of children. They grow up quickly too.¡± ¡°It¡¯s quantity over quality. Somehow, they resemble the orcs.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. So let¡¯s be nice to them. They¡¯re a pitiful race.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°What the f*ck are they saying?¡± Thest one was obviously Cordelia. She spoke in a low voice so that only Jude could hear her, but when he looked at her face, she seemed to be angry. ¡°What the f*ck is wrong with them? Just what the f*ck.¡± As Cordelia let out F-words from her mouth, Jude realized one thing. ¡®That¡¯s right, Cordelia was a girl who liked to curse.¡¯ A girl who liked to speak the F-word. He had forgotten because he hardly heard her swearing these days, but it reminded him of the past, and he found it nice to hear it after a long time. ¡®Well, I¡¯m not normal either.¡¯ I also like to use the F-word. But it was at that moment. Cordelia noticed Jude¡¯s gaze and flinched before she pressed and wiggled her pointer fingers together and said. ¡°Uh¡­ Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Do you hate¡­ people who swear?¡± Like those who constantly use the F-word. At her timid question, Jude felt as if his heart was about to stop. Because the Cordelia who was worried that he hated cursing was very cute. ¡®Is it because of me that her swearing has been reduced these days?¡¯ I thought that it was because her memory of the present life was stronger than the previous life. If it¡¯s really because of me, isn¡¯t she such a lovely creature? ¡°Jude?¡± When Cordelia asked again as she wiggled her fingers, and Jude smiled before answering her. ¡°No, it¡¯s all right. F*ck is an exmation, right?¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes, really.¡± Jude answered again and Cordelia said with a big smile as if she was on top of the world. ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right. F*ck is an exmation.¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s an exmation.¡± ¡°Yes, f*ck.¡± ¡°Yeah, f*ck.¡± ¡°Oh my, you f*cking b*stard.¡± Jude and Cordelia got along well as they repeatedly eximed the F-word and giggled, while Melissa inside Moonlight thought that the two weren¡¯t normal. And around 20 minutester. The door of the tent opened around the time Jude and Cordelia were having a heated discussion about the ending of Sherlock¡¯s season 4. ¡°Princess Leica is looking for you. Follow me.¡± The two went outside following Tnda¡¯s guidance, and they noticed a lot of people staring at them. It seemed the rumors about them had already spread to the entire camp. ¡®There¡¯s only 20 people after all.¡¯ Jude and Cordelia reached Leica¡¯s tent after receiving the attention of the knights, and they underwent a light physical inspection before going inside. ¡°You¡¯re here.¡± Princess Leica was seated at the head of a long table in the middle of the tent, and two elven knights stood on her left and right, but neither of them had a good look on Jude and Cordelia. ¡®I can¡¯t tell their age.¡¯ Because the elves basically age very slowly. The male knight on the right looked like a human in his mid-30s, so he was highly likely to be a veteran around 400 years old. ¡®The left one is definitely young.¡¯ A female knight who seemed to be in her early to mid-20s. But in the case of elves, they all look to be in their early to mid-20s when they were 100-300 years old, so it was hard for Jude to guess her age. ¡®So how old is Princess Leica?¡¯ Given that she looked to be around in herte teens, she seemed to be less than a hundred years old. ¡°We¡¯ll be fighting together in the future, so you should introduce yourselves.¡± At Princess Leica¡¯s order, the male knight said with a rather ufortable face. ¡°I¡¯m Midas Karlov, the princess¡¯ advisor.¡± Apparently, he did not like Jude and Cordelia appearing here. ¡®It¡¯s to be expected.¡¯ Aside from the fact that they were from a different race, two people he had never seen before had suddenly joined the punitive force. However, the woman on the left said with a big smile as if she was enjoying the situation. ¡°I¡¯m Vanessa Pine, the princess¡¯ attendant.¡± ¡°I am Count Jude August Bayer of the S?len Kingdom.¡± ¡°I am Countess Cordelia August Chase.¡± Jude and Cordelia courteously greeted them, and the male knight, Midas, narrowed his eyes even more, while the female knight, Vanessa, tried to pronounce their names silently. ¡°Both of them have learned the humannguage as part of their education, though they¡¯re quite unskilled. But it¡¯s still possible for them to understand it. So let¡¯s proceed with our conversation by speaking in the humannguage.¡± ¡°Thank you for your consideration.¡± There was no need for the two to tell the other side that they could understand elvennguage. ¡®If they think that we can¡¯t understand theirnguage, they¡¯ll loosen their tongues.¡¯ Although they held hands because of the necessity, the two still knew little about the elves, so it was not wrong for the two to be careful of the other side for now. ¡°Since you already know about Jabberwock, I¡¯ll get straight to the point. Let¡¯s look at the map first.¡± The map unfolded on the table was so pointlessly detailed, though that was typical for the elves. The shapes and sizes of the trees were all different, so it felt like they were looking at satellite pictures. ¡°Our current location is here. Jabberwock is located north of here.¡± Princess Leica¡¯s long and slender fingers crossed over the map. But it was at that time. Cordelia studied the map and suddenly widened her eyes in surprise before she slightly raised her hand. ¡°Do you have any questions?¡± ¡°There¡¯s¡­ something I¡¯m a bit curious about. Is this ake?¡± A smallke located not far from the ¡®cursednd¡¯ where Jabberwock was located. Princess Leica nodded her head and said. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s ake. It¡¯s known to be the home of Spring Fairies. But I¡¯ve never seen them before.¡± It was too close to the cursednd, and the elves did not always interact with the fairies. But regardless of that fact, Jude and Cordelia¡¯s eyes began to sparkle. ¡®Spring Fairy?¡¯ ¡®Spring Protection?¡¯ The fairies of Pleiades werergely divided into eight types. There were the seasonal fairies with the power of spring, summer, fall, and winter, and the four elemental fairies with the power of earth, fire, wind, and water. Among those fairies, Jude and Cordelia had interacted with the summer, fall, and winter fairies, and the wild fairies who symbolized the earth. But if the spring fairies who symbolized the spring was added, they would get the Spring Protection. ¡®The Great Protection of the Four Seasons.¡¯ It was an S-rank Protection that could only be acquired by fully collecting the Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter Protections! Smiles spread on the faces of Jude and Cordelia. Princess Leica tilted her head in response to the sudden reaction of the two, but the two did not stop smiling. In fact, it wasn¡¯t just the Great Protection of the Four Seasons. ¡®Did you see it?¡¯ ¡®Yes, I did.¡¯ Before and after the forest¡¯s destruction. It was naturally different. Many things had changed. But the location and terrain did not significantly change, such as thekes and hills. Therefore, Jude and Cordelia were able to easilypare the map in their minds with the map in front of them, and they realized one more fact. At theke that was the residence of the spring fairies. Another treasure that lied deep in it. ¡®Hehe, hehehe.¡¯ ¡®Hehehehehe.¡¯ Jude and Cordelia looked at each other and exchanged dark smiles. Chapter 220: Jabberwock (1)

Chapter 220: Jabberwock (1)

Around twenty minutes before Jude and Cordelia entered Princess Leica¡¯s tent. A storm-like nagging befell Leica Prime, the first in line to the throne. ¡°Where the hell have you been! You haven¡¯t forgotten that you¡¯re the current leader of the punitive force, right? This isn¡¯t a walk!¡± Even among the elves in the Forest of Eternity, there were only three people who could criticize the noble descendant of the high elf royal family ¨C the crown princess, to this point. The first was King Grave Prime. The second was Countess Pasier, the mother of the crown princess. And thest one was Midas Karlov, who was here now. Princess Leica flinched at his thunderbolt-like angry voice and hurriedly turned to Vanessa, but Vanessa just stared at her as if she saw nothing and only focused on casting the soundproofing magic. ¡®Hey! Don¡¯t do that! Please help me!¡¯ ¡®Yes, Your Highness should be scolded a lot.¡¯ Vanessa responded with a bright smile to Princess Leica¡¯s plea for help, and shepletely closed her eyes. Princess Leica bit her lips at her childhood friend¡¯s betrayal and said when she looked back at Midas. ¡°I-I just went for a little air.¡± ¡°That would have been fine since you were riding on Lloyd, but why did you suddenly get off?¡± ¡°I just wanted to walk a bit with my feet.¡± ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you take Lloyd with you in your walk? Why did you go away from Lloyd?¡± ¡°I just wanted to have some time alone.¡± ¡°Are you calling that an excuse? Aren¡¯t you the one leading the punitive forces? Why did you have to leave Lloyd standing and then go beyond the bushes?¡± ¡°I was just a little curious about something beyond the bushes.¡± ¡°Then why did you put Mistilteinn down in the bushes?¡± ¡°I just wanted to free my hands for a moment.¡± ¡°Your Royal Highness! Do you think this is funny! This isn¡¯t the time for childish jokes!¡± ¡°AAAAAGH! I left to pee! I was peeing! Can¡¯t the crown princess even pee! Huh?! I left to get some air and suddenly had the urge to pee!¡± Princess Leica jumped from her seat and yelled at his face, and Midas was startled for a moment before he blushed. And it was the same for Princess Leica. No, if Midas¡¯ face turned pink, then Princess Leica¡¯s face turned red. ¡°Ahem, ahem. Ahem, ahem, ahem. You could have just¡­hinted it a bit.¡± ¡°I did! I hinted it to you several times!¡± Why else would I get off the horse and then deliberately go over the bush and drop my weapon?! ¡°Was it a big one?¡± ¡°Hey!¡± Vanessa quickly shut her mouth when Princess Leica angrily yelled at her, and Midas struggled to regain hisposure. ¡°Haa¡­ Haa¡­ Seriously.¡± This is why we need to use soundproofing magic. Princess Leica panted for a while before she sat down and continued. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m letting the humans participate in this subjugation.¡± She had suffered embarrassment, but because of that situation, she made a breakthrough. Princess Leica was about to talk again, but Midas raised his voice. ¡°Then, Your Highness, what about those humans? Why are there humans in the Forest of Eternity!¡± ¡°I¡¯m also curious about that.¡± When Vanessa cut in, Princess Leica¡¯s eyes narrowed at her before she furrowed his brows and began her exnation. And after some time. Midas said with a frown. ¡°So you¡¯re saying that these humans are both counts of the S?len Kingdom, they¡¯re members of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, one¡¯s a sessor to the sword of Valencia, the Elf Sword, and they know the secret on how to enter and exit the forest?¡± ¡°You¡¯re good at summarizing.¡± ¡°It¡¯s all just words!¡± He was right. All of it was just Jude¡¯s words, and there was no evidence that what Jude had said were true. ¡°No, almost everything that he said are true.¡± ¡°Do they have any evidence?¡± Princess Leica nodded at Vanessa¡¯s question. ¡°I think it¡¯s true that he inherited Valencia¡¯s swordsmanship. Because I actually saw them fighting.¡± ¡°You knew when you saw?¡± ¡°Yes, I knew. Because Valencia is a swordless swordswoman. There aren¡¯t any people who fight like that. Moreover, he was too strong for his age.¡± A man who used martial art skills as if they were swordsmanship. She only saw a few moves, but she was convinced. ¡°Ahem.¡± Midas had spoken rudely because of his temper, but he knew better than anyone else about Princess Leica¡¯s abilities. From the moment she was born until up to now, he was the one who taught her all kinds of things. ¡°What about the others?¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s true that they know the sign to go in and out of the Forest of Eternity. And I believe that they really are nobles. They¡¯re too pretty and handsome for humans, right? They¡¯re also familiar with etiquette.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± It wasn¡¯t a good enough reason to prove their story, but it was believable. The humans Midas had met in his life were filthy and ugly enough that they were no different from orcs. ¡°What about the Guardians of the Holy Cross?¡± ¡°That¡­ well, I think it¡¯s true? There¡¯s no reason for them to lie. I think they know great uncle Eltharion.¡± Princess Leica mumbled in a slightly less confident manner and nced at Midas. ¡®Oh, you¡¯re not mad this time?¡¯ I thought that you¡¯d be angry and say that I don¡¯t have enough evidence. ¡°Your Royal Highness.¡± ¡°Eh? Yes. What is it?¡± ¡°Did you try to use your identification?¡± ¡°Of course, I did. There was no hostility.¡± It was the first time in her life that she had met strange humans, so she talked to them about this and that, but it was also to buy time for her to identify them. ¡°Because it was blue.¡± A color that signified goodwill and theck of hostility. Princess Leica was able to identify those who were hostile to her through color. Red for animosity, yellow for hostility, green for indifference, blue for goodwill, and pink for utmost goodwill. It would naturally be inconvenient if the world always looked like that, so she usually sealed that ability of hers, but it took some time to reactivate it. ¡°Haa¡­ We still need to investigate. And¡­do they have the skills to join the punitive force? They look very young.¡± Princess Leica slightly frowned and replied when Midas pointed it out. ¡°They seemed to be skilled. Because they defeated seven Shades in an instant.¡± ¡°Wait, you were attacked by the Shades?!¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s because the cursednd was near.¡± ¡°Your Royal Highness! Are you saying that your life was in danger then!¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. So they¡¯re the people who saved my life. I can¡¯t treat my benefactors badly, right?¡± Princess Leica slyly replied and spoke again. ¡°Moving on, I¡¯m certain of their skills. And if necessary, we can leave it to them to finish it.¡± ¡°Do you think the legend is true?¡± The legend that only humans could destroy Jabberwock. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s true? We¡¯ve never been able topletely kill it. Whenever we kill it, it will resurrect after a while.¡± In fact, this wasn¡¯t the first time they killed Jabberwock. It was like a regr event that was held every few decades at the shortest, and hundreds of years at the longest. ¡°Anyway¡­ I think they¡¯re about 40 years old?¡± ¡°Humans get old quickly, Your Highness. If they¡¯re 40 years old, they can¡¯t look like that.¡± ¡°Is that so? Then how old do you think they are?¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t they around thirty?¡± ¡°Hmm, that seems to be true.¡± For Princess Leica and Vanessa, they had only known humans from storybooks. So it was almost impossible for them to correctly guess the age of the two. ¡°Anyway, you¡¯re saying that we should let them join the punitive force.¡± ¡°Yes, we can investigate them after that, right?¡± Their story was quite sketchy, but it was not like it didn¡¯t make any sense. They were already quite close to the cursednd, and Princess Leica identified the two as having no hostility, so the elves could believe the two for now. ¡°Haa¡­ Only for this time.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t act like a child who picked up a puppy on a rainy day. They¡¯re humans.¡± ¡°¡­So you¡¯re aware of your own actions.¡± Midas had a gloomy face as he muttered and sighed before speaking again. ¡°Moving on, let¡¯s talk to them. I don¡¯t like them but¡­they¡¯re also the benefactors of Your Royal Highness, so an appropriate reward should be given.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s fair enough. As expected of my teacher.¡± ¡°Haa¡­¡± Why did I ept Countess Pasier¡¯s request at that time? Midas regretted that day several decades ago before he nced at Vanessa. ¡°Vanessa, release the soundproofing magic.¡± ¡°Yes, Master.¡± When Vanessa released the soundproofing magic, Princess Leica straightened her posture, and Midas raised his voice so that it could be heard outside the tent. ¡°Summon the humans!¡± *** Having actively defended them against Midas, Princess Leica looked at Jude and Cordelia with a favorable gaze. That was until now though. ¡®What is this? Why are they smiling so much?¡¯ What happened? It looks quite pretty, but it somehow looks evil too? The word ¡®dark¡¯ seems to be a perfect description of their smiles. ¡®Is it because of theke?¡¯ Ake where spring fairies lived. But it was only a story that was passed down from her ancestors. ¡®After all, I took a bath there when I was young and nothing happened.¡¯ I was just scolded for going out to y near the cursednd. Princess Leica recalled her childhood before she looked in front of her again and said. ¡°Jude and Cordelia. Let¡¯s go back to our discussion. We¡¯re going to fight Jabberwock tomorrow morning. As both of you have seen, the Shades have already appeared. So we don¡¯t have any more time to lose.¡± During the times when Jabberwock was about to revive, the shadow monsters called Shades would appear near the cursednd. Since the monsters already went around in groups, Jabberwock would bepletely revived by tomorrow at thetest, or perhaps by the day after tomorrow. ¡°When it has just revived, it would still be out of its mind, so we need to finish it by then. I¡¯d like to entrust to the two of you the task of killing it.¡± Her exnation was a bitcking, perhaps because Jude had already said that they knew about Jabberwock, so the two nodded her heads. ¡°We understand.¡± The battle is tomorrow. It¡¯s currently afternoon. Then, shouldn¡¯t we go to theke after sunset? It was the moment when Jude and Cordelia thought of the same thing and had dark smiles again. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¨C! A bizarre and indescribable scream shook the tent. Jude and Cordelia had only heard of it for the first time in their lives, but their intuition felt it. ¡®Jabberwock!¡¯ They weren¡¯t wrong. Having participated in the subjugation of Jabberwock in the past, Midas hurriedly turned to Princess Leica and said. ¡°It¡¯s waking up. I think it¡¯s going to wake up earlier than expected this time.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s hurry! We have to attack it right now!¡± Jabberwock was the weakest right after its resurrection. They had to quickly get there as fast as they could. ¡°It has woken up a total of 13 times. If we leave right now, we can be on time!¡± Midas hurriedly finished the exnation and ran out of the tent while Princess Leica and Vanessa also did the same. ¡°Jude! Cordelia! Follow us!¡± As Princess Leica carried a huge white bow and went out of the tent, knights who were ready to leave greeted her sight. ¡°Vanessa! Give your horse to the two. You¡¯ll go with me!¡± ¡°Yes! Your Highness!¡± Vanessa handed over an Elven Steed that had longer and leaner legs than human horses, and she climbed onto the unicorn with Princess Leica. And at that moment, the second waking-up scream was heard. Chapter 221: Jabberwock (2)

Chapter 221: Jabberwock (2)

Terms used in this episode: One-turn kill ¨C a gaming termmon in turn-based games wherein a yer kills the enemy within just one turn. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¨Caaaaah! The sound became a little clearer. Princess Leica looked at the front and shouted. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± As her unicorn began running, the other Elven Steeds also began to run. Their legs were lean, but it was surprisingly powerful as they were able to be as fast as the wind in an instant. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¨Caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! The sounds of the rough wind and Jabberwock¡¯s screams could be heard together. In the midst of the hectic run, Cordelia tightly hugged Jude¡¯s waist while Jude drove the Elven Steed to the side of Princess Leica. ¡°Your Highness!¡± Princess Leica turned her head at Jude¡¯s call, and Jude sent her a magic instead of talking with his voice. [I know the weakness of Jabberwock!] ¡°Weakness?!¡± [That¡¯s right! Jabberwock is not a monster without a fixed shape! There is a way to fix it into a single shape!] Myriad Shapeshifter Jabberwock. For the elves of the Forest of Eternity, Jabberwock was a monster with an unfixed shape as it could change its shape at any moment. But the truth was different. Because it wasn¡¯t just a monster with an indefinite form that continuously shapeshifted. [It¡¯s a monster that grows by feeding on fear! Therefore, if everyone thinks of the same thing, if what the existence everyone imagines that they are afraid of is the same, we can fix it to that shape!] At his unexpected words, Princess Leica blinked her eyes. Because it was information that was not found in the royal family¡¯s subjugation records of Jabberwock. ¡°Is if from the Guardians¡¯ record?!¡± ¡°Yes!¡± To be exact, it was a strategy guide posted in the ¡®Legend of Heroes Wiki.¡¯ Adide Hastings, one of the yable characters in the empire. She was the most beautiful woman in the world as dubbed by the game¡¯s production staff, though Jude obviously refused to admit that now, but she was a character with an imagination as unique as her beauty. ¡®In the game, the best strategy to attack it was to use Adide.¡¯ When other characters faced Jabberwock, it would change its race, sex, and attributes at any moment, but not for Adide. ¡®Because of her imagination.¡¯ And as a result, Jabberwock turned into a very harmless and cute animal. ¡®A continuous one-turn kill.¡¯ Before Jabberwock changed its shape again, she would kill it by using her strongest lethal move. It was a method in the game that only Adide could use because of the forced story progression, but it was a reality now. He knew how to do it, so there was no reason not to use it. ¡°It¡¯s all right! Trust me!¡± It wouldn¡¯t hurt to try it. Princess Leica loudly shouted and conveyed Jude¡¯s words to the other knights, and whether it was because of the emergency or her outstanding leadership, all of the knights received her order without any objection. ¡ª¨Caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Its waking-up screams were heard again. It was already the ninth waking-up scream. ¡°The Shades areing!¡± ¡°We¡¯re almost there!¡± Dead trees that were drained of their life came into everyone¡¯s sight. The Shades protruded their heads from the ckened ground, and the cries of Jabberwock continued to be heard from afar. ¡ªaaaaaaaaaaaaah! [It¡¯s getting shorter!] Cordelia sent a magic to Jude as she hugged his waist even tighter, and the knights began to rush as their steeds trampled the Shades and continued to run. ¨Caaaaaaaaaak! Die-die-die-I¡¯m-scared-I-don¡¯t-want-to-die-save-me-monster-I¡¯ll-kill-you-aaaaaaaaaaah! The mixed voices of men, women, children, and the elderly were simultaneously heard in random. And in response, the Shades let out spooky and eerie cries. They then suddenly heard thest waking-up scream. I-hate-you-I-hate-you-I¡¯ll-kill-you-don¡¯t-look-back-I¡¯ll-chase-you-you¡¯ll-die-here-yaaaaaaaaaaah!!! Its screams made their hair stand on end. The sky quickly turned dark, and the ck Shades with burning green eyes appeared. And what they saw in front of them. As the ground greatly shook, something purple and almost ck inted its body and roared. I¡¯ll-strangle-you-I¡¯ll-kill-you-I¡¯ll-tear-you-up-and-take-out-your-gut-before-you-die-I¡¯ll-kill-you-yaaaaaaaah! The Myriad Shapeshifter Jabberwock. Everyone was overwhelmed by its presence in that moment. And Princess Leica had a gut feeling that there was something wrong with it. Even Midas who had participated in the subjugation of Jabberwock in the past immediately noticed the difference. It¡¯s stronger. It¡¯s been reborn as a far more powerful creature than what was left on the records. Why? For what reason? ¡°Imagine!¡± In that instant, Cordelia spread out her angelic light and shouted in the elvennguage. When she shouted with the power of an angel, even the elves who fell into a panic came to their senses at once. Imagine. Imagine what? ¡°Imagine!¡± Princess Leica ordered them too. The knights desperately thought of the most harmless and weakest beings in the world they could imagine. Fluffy. Round and small. Cute, adorable, and lovely! Jude-I-like-you-whimper-whimper-whimper-meow-meow-woof-woof-woof-hehehe-hehehe-I-love-you-f*ck! At that moment, Jabberwock shrank as it let out strange sounds. Cordelia¡¯s eyes widened when she saw it turn into something pink for an instant, and she pped Jude on the back before shouting again. T/N: If you still haven¡¯t figured it out, Jude was thinking of Cordelia. And Cordelia realized it when it turned into something ¡®pink¡¯ (her hair color), so she pped Jude on the back, hahaha. ¡°Same thing! Think of the same thing!¡± She then used magic to spread the image in her mind to the elven knights. ¡°Imagine!¡± What Cordelia imagined in her mind. What Cordelia thought of as harmless, cute, and pretty. At that moment, Jabberwock turned into something small, round, and green. Princess Leica and the elves didn¡¯t know what it was, but Jude knew. ¡®Slime!¡¯ To be exact, a baby slime that wasmon in online games! A monster that Cordelia knew because she had a keychain of it in the past! But it was right after that. Die-die-I¡¯ll-eat-you-I¡¯ll-melt-your-stomach-I¡¯ll-melt-you-and-kill-you-and-your-house-will-be-my-stomach! In an instant, the stomach of the swelling slime split, and a huge mouth appeared. And Jude realized. It was impossible in the first ce. Jabberwock was a monster that fed on fear. It was impossible topletely escape from fear like how Adide did. Because ordinary people could not imagine Jabberwock as a harmless existence. Monster. In the end, whatever they imagined would transform into a monster based on it. ¡°ck Dragon¡¯s Ascent!¡± Jude shouted out loud as he jumped from the Elven Steed. He opened the sixth door and released the energy of the ck dragon in session towards Jabberwock who was trying to attack their group. The elven knights had begun fighting the Shades, and Jude yelled without looking back. ¡°Cordelia! n B!¡± The second strategy they had prepared in case Adide¡¯s strategy did not work. Die-die-I¡¯ll-kill-you-I¡¯ll-kill-you-I¡¯ll-live-I-want-to-eat-you-I¡¯m-hungry-I¡¯m-hungry-I¡¯m-hungry-aaaaaaah! Jabberwock turned into a giant wolf. It rushed towards them and became a lion, but Jude did not look back. If he couldn¡¯t think of a harmless being anyway, he tried to think of a humanoid knight in order to make it easier to fight. Jude then used his Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt. ¡°Cordelia!¡± The full-scale battle began. Midas joined in to help Jude, and the battle between the Shades and the elven knights intensified. Vanessa also cast recovery magic to help the knights. And it was at that moment. At the time when Princess Leica was about to fire an arrow with Mistilteinn, a fine bow that was a treasure of the royal family. ¡°, , , and ¡± The first two spells were for Princess Leica, and the other two were for herself. Cordelia did a surprise attack from behind as she neutralized Princess Leica and hugged the princess¡¯ waist before she soared. She spread out her wings and flew up. ¡°Y-your Highness?!¡± Vanessa btedly cried out, but it was already toote. Princess Leica was paralyzed as her body drooped and became unable to move. Midas was shocked but couldn¡¯t chase after Cordelia because Jabberwock had turned into a giant hedgehog in front of him and fired hundreds of thorns in all directions. ¡°Human! What the hell is going on!¡± Midas used his swordsmanship to block the thorns and then shouted behind Jude. At Midas¡¯ murderous aura, Jude¡¯s hair stood on end but instead of looking back, he defended himself and the elven knights by releasing the energy of the ck dragon. And then he shouted. ¡°They¡¯ll be back!¡± n B. They¡¯ll be back when the preparations for our second strategy is finished. Jude controlled his breathing. As he had expected, Jabberwock had not turned into a cmity yet, but there were some simrities from the time it was a cmity in the game to the present reality now. It had a tremendous vitality and regenerative power. Every time it shapeshifted, it instantly healed its wounds so they couldn¡¯t defeat it with just normal attacks. ¡°You have to continuously attack and wear it out!¡± Midas shouted since it was how the elves dealt with Jabberwock in the past. However, that did not work this time. It was much stronger than what was written in the royal family¡¯s records. And Jude could roughly guess the reason. He didn¡¯t know on who was behind it, but he was convinced that Jabberwock was heavily involved in the destruction of the Forest of Eternity. ¡®Cordelia.¡¯ I need to buy time. Until Cordelia fulfills the conditions. Until she finishes the preparations for the second strategy. Jude thought of the Lord Protector. He made Jabberwock look humanoid for a while and then pushed it back. And at that moment. At the time when Jude¡¯s ¡®sword¡¯ split Jabberwock¡¯s body. Cordelianded on the ground. She threw Princess Leica into theke known as the residence of the spring fairies. *** Princess Leica was in a daze. The moment she tried to shoot with Mistilteinn, she was suddenly paralyzed. She couldn¡¯t hear her voice even when she opened her mouth, and when she realized that her waist was grabbed, she was already in the air. ¡®Mom was right!¡¯ She said that all humans are scammers! But what¡¯s going on? Didn¡¯t my identification ability clearly identified that they were good kids? However, she didn¡¯t have the time to answer her own questions. Because she fell into the water at some point. ¡°Mmmph! Mmph! Mmph!¡± The water was only waist deep, but Princess Leica struggled because her head was facing the bottom of theke. And her whole body was paralyzed! ¡®What is this! Are you an assassin? Are you from Kelthur¡¯s side? Does my younger brother want me dead?¡¯ It was at that moment. She felt something pull the back of her neck and her head was suddenly out of the water. ¡°Puhaa!¡± Princess Leica who was having difficulty breathing then gasped, and Cordelia removed the magic from the princess¡¯ mouth before she began to busily move her hands. ¡°You! What are you doing! W-what are you doing?!¡± There was a mixture of anger and embarrassment in Princess Leica¡¯s words. Because Cordelia suddenly began to take off Leica¡¯s armor as well as her clothes. ¡°Take it off!¡± ¡°W-why all of a sudden!¡± ¡°Because the princess is the prettiest in the punitive force!¡± ¡°Eh?¡± What are you talking about? Well, it is true though. But it was at that moment. After Cordelia almost stripped Princess Leica naked, Cordelia took off her own clothes this time and soaked her body into the water in her underwear. What¡¯s going on? Why are you suddenly doing this? ¡°D-don¡¯t tell me.¡± Are you trying to call out the spring fairies now? That¡¯s impossible. There¡¯s a story about how a beautiful girl or boy took a bath and the fairies came out to y, but that¡¯s just a story. ¡®Because I¡¯ve already done it!¡¯ She still had vivid memories of being scolded by Midas because she caught a cold after taking a bath at night with Vanessa as they tried to call out the fairies. But Cordelia sat down and pulled the hand of Princess Leica who was about to drown in the water before she began to sing. ¡°Twinkle, twinkle little star~ Shining beautifully~ ¡± A human girl had suddenly taken off her clothes, soaked herself into theke, and began to sing. It could only be described as the act of a woman who had gone crazy, but Princess Leica held her breath at that time. Because the girl in front of her was very beautiful. ¡°A-angel?¡± Now that she took a closer look at Cordelia, she saw thetter¡¯s angel wings. There was also an angel¡¯s halo above Cordelia¡¯s head. Cordelia continued to sing, and Princess Leica began pretending to bathe while still in a daze. And right after that. By the time Cordelia sang the entire song of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. ¡°Wow! She¡¯s so pre-¡± That was it. Something happened before the usually chattering spring fairy who had appeared could even speak. Cordelia grabbed the spring fairy with her right hand like a hawk that caught its prey, and at the time when Princess Leica was shocked and felt a sense of betrayal at the spring fairy¡¯s appearance, Cordelia opened her mouth. ¡°Let¡¯s go! To your Queen!¡± ¡°T-to the Queen?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s y at night together!¡± ¡°I-it¡¯s daytime now though?!¡± Her answer was logical and unlike that of a fairy, but Cordelia didn¡¯t care. She used her telekic power to capture all the other spring fairies before shouting again. ¡°Let¡¯s goooo!¡± To meet your queen. To get the Spring Protection! To get the Great Protection of the Four Seasons. And to get the other treasure that Jude needs to attack Jabberwock. She had roughly coerced them, but she couldn¡¯t help it. Even at this very moment, Jude was fighting Jabberwock. ¡°L-let¡¯s go!¡± The spring fairies cried out in tears, and at that instant, Cordelia and Princess Leica leapt across the space. Chapter 222: Jabberwock (3)

Chapter 222: Jabberwock (3)

Terms used in this episode: Bugbear ¨C a legendary creature or type of hobgoblinparable to the boogeyman and folklore creatures that were historically used in some cultures to frighten disobedient children. The life of Penelope, the Spring Fairy Queen, was very peaceful. Born as the only daughter of the former queen, she ascended to the throne smoothly, and with the help of Fairy Knight Venelotte whom she admired, she managed the small and big affairs of the fairy realm without any problems. ¡°Your Majesty! The honey from red tulips are the most delicious.¡± ¡°No, Your Majesty. The honey from yellow tulips are the most delicious.¡± ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous. Aren¡¯t you an idiot for knowing nothing about honey?¡± ¡°W-what?! I¡¯m an idiot? How can you say such a harsh thing? And I know nothing about honey? Honey from yellow tulips are the best!¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not. Honey from red tulips are the best!¡± ¡°No, no. Honey from yellow tulips are the best. You know nothing about honey.¡± The Fairy Queen briefly recalled the ¡®honey debate¡¯ in the early days of her enthronement. Among the numerous events that happened since the establishment of a realm for spring fairies in the Lake of Eternity, it was one of the most intense and difficult to resolve cases that drew the attention of all the fairies in the realm. But what had happened before her eyes now was iparable to that. To the point that she missed the honey debate. ¡°Your Majesty, pleasee out! Your Majesty, pleasee out!¡± ¡°I-I¡¯ll be there! I¡¯m Spring Fairy Queen Penelope!¡± As soon as she received the report of the Fairy Knight, the Fairy Queen hurriedly flew and shouted. It was as the Fairy Knight reported. ¡®So pretty!¡¯ Her hair was so soft and shiny. Her skin was smooth, but her body was also pretty. In addition, her face was the best. She had jewel-like eyes, moist lips, and soft cheeks! ¡®N-no. I shouldn¡¯t be focusing on that.¡¯ That wasn¡¯t what mattered now. The problem was that an incredibly pretty human girl whom the Fairy Queen herself had seen for the first time in her life was now holding in her hand one of the citizens of her realm. ¡°Your Majesty, help me!¡± ¡°Help!¡± The fairy trapped in the pink-haired girl¡¯s hand cried out, and the fairies around them also raised their voices. ¡®But why are they smiling?¡¯ It feels like they¡¯re enjoying the situation though? Besides, they haven¡¯t been caught. They¡¯re not trapped either. Except for the fairy held by the girl¡¯s hands, the others were just flying by the side and crying out. And it was the truth. In fact, the fairies were enjoying the situation. It was an exciting situation that they had experienced for the first time in their lives. ¡°A-anyway!¡± In any case, Penelope was the queen of the spring fairies. So she needed to settle the current situation. ¡°Who in the world are you! Why are you doing this? And how do you treat your hair? Were you born with such hair?¡± The fairies who were watching were also interested in the hair of the girl ¨C Cordelia, and Princess Leica who was watching form the side had a strange expression because she couldn¡¯t understand the current situation. ¡®W-what¡¯s with this flow?¡¯ Aren¡¯t we holding a fairy hostage now? But unlike Princess Leica, Cordelia had already mastered fairy psychology. She rified her purpose without being swayed by the words that the fairies blurted out. ¡°Fairy Queen! And the fairies around me! Check this out!¡± Cordelia loudly announced and pulled out a box she had prepared in advance from the space expansion bag in her waist. ¡°Look!¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Is it something edible? I like honey.¡± The fairies had already be spectators and spoke one after another, and Cordelia opened the box while Princess Leica felt dizzy. ¡°This is chocte!¡± ¡°Chocte?¡± ¡°Is it edible?¡± The Fairy Queen didn¡¯t ask any questions, but it seemed like she was curious because her eyes were sparkling. Therefore, Cordelia didn¡¯t hesitate to proceed with her act. ¡°Now,e and have a bite.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± When Cordelia gave a piece of chocte to the fairy she was holding in her hand, the nearby fairies stomped their feet and became envious. ¡°You always eat the good things yourself!¡± ¡°So mean!¡± And the fairy caught by Cordelia, who became the center of attention in her 17 years of fairy life, took a bite of the chocte piece. And one second. Two seconds. When all the fairies swallowed hard as their palms sweated from the tension. ¡°Delicious!¡± The fairy shouted with wide eyes, and the surrounding fairies grew even more restless. ¡°I want one too! I want one!¡± ¡°I want to eat it too!¡± It wasn¡¯t just the spectators. Even the fairy who had a bit also fretted and said. ¡°P-please give me one more bite! One more! Okay? Please!¡± She had a desperate look, but Cordelia firmly shook her head. ¡°No, I won¡¯t. I¡¯ll eat it all myself.¡± ¡°What?¡± It was necessary to lower one¡¯s mental age when dealing with fairies. Cordelia opened the box wide, and the fairies felt dizzy from happiness at the box filled with chocte. That was exactly what Cordelia wanted. ¡°Fairy Queen! If you don¡¯t meet my requirements, I¡¯ll eat all of these choctes! All by myself! I¡¯m not giving you a single one!¡± ¡°W-what?!¡± The Fairy Queen shouted in surprise, and Cordelia really took out a handful of chocte and poured it in in her mouth. Munch, munch. It was a bite that seemed to be enough for seven fairies to eat! ¡°NOOOOOOOOOOO!¡± ¡°How mean! That¡¯s cruel! Demon!¡± ¡°How could you do that?!¡± ¡°Your Majesty! Please do something!¡± Each of the fairies screamed and became restless, and in fact, the Fairy Queen was the same as them. ¡°W-wait! What are your requirements! Tell me what you want!¡± ¡°This one is delicious! I¡¯ll eat it all by myself!¡± ¡°PLEEEASE! Please tell me your requirements! Please!¡± When all the fairies headed by the Fairy Queen began to plead to her, Cordelia smiled triumphantly while Princess Leica felt dizzy as she watched them. Because she couldn¡¯t really believe the sight that was happening in front of her. ¡°Okay, so you¡¯re going to do what I tell you, right?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll do it!¡± ¡°Then give me the Spring Protection!¡± ¡°I-I¡¯ll give it to you!¡± The Fairy Queen quickly approached Cordelia and gave her the Spring Protection, but that wasn¡¯t enough. Cordelia raised two of her fingers and shouted. ¡°For 2 people! Put one here!¡± What Cordelia offered was the Fairy¡¯s Bonds. The Fairy Queen eximed in surprise when she realized that there were already other fairies¡¯ protections in it. ¡°D-don¡¯t tell me that the other fairies too?¡± ¡°Yes, everyone enjoyed eating the delicious chocte. Much earlier than you!¡± ¡°Eueue. I-I shall give it. So that we can have chocte too!¡± The Fairy Queen spoke politely before she knew it, and she quickly cast the Spring Protection on the Fairy¡¯s Bonds. ¡°Is this enough?¡± ¡°Oh, yes. Here you go.¡± Cordelia gently handed over the box of choctes, and the Fairy Queen and her fairies rejoiced with sparkling eyes. ¡°Your Majesty, please eat it first.¡± ¡°Yes, because you are still the queen.¡± ¡°Huhu, thank you, everyone.¡± Having felt the love of her citizens, the Fairy Queen took a bite of the chocte and experienced a heavenly taste that she felt for the first time in her life. But it was not yet over. Cordelia waited for the Fairy Queen and the other fairies to taste the chocte before taking out a second box. ¡°Look here! I have a box again!¡± ¡°Is it chocte again?¡± The fairies began to look at Cordelia with anticipation, and Cordelia purposely opened the lid of the box slowly. It was chocte again this time. But it was apletely different kind from the previous one. ¡°Everyone, look closely.¡± Cordelia took out a piece of chocte, and instead of taking a bite, she split it exactly in half to reveal the cross section. ¡°What do you think is in this?¡± The cross section of the chocte. There was some white liquid in between the soft brown chocte. Cordelia deliberately let it slowly flow down her mouth while everyone was watching and then licked it with her tongue. She then said with a deadly smile. ¡°It¡¯s called cream. It¡¯s soft, sweet, sticky, and smooth.¡± It was actually close to a syrup and not just cream, but Cordelia didn¡¯t know much about that. What mattered now wasn¡¯t the exact name of that white filling. ¡°From now on, I will drop this to the ground.¡± ¡°W-what?!¡± ¡°I won¡¯t eat it. I¡¯ll just drop it all on the ground and trample it. I¡¯ll make sure no one can eat it!¡± ¡°NOOOOOOOOOO!¡± ¡°That¡¯s cruel! Demon!¡± ¡°Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please do something! Please!¡± The fairies began to cry, and the Fairy Queen who was already crying with them, shouted at Cordelia. ¡°Why are you doing this! I already gave you the Spring Protection!¡± The Fairy Queen screamed as if she was a parent whose child was taken away, but Cordelia had a rather cold smile. ¡°The Spring Protection is not enough.¡± ¡°T-then? What can I give you? What is it? I¡¯ll give you anything!¡± ¡°Really? Anything? Can you promise that?¡± As Cordelia stepped forward, the Fairy Queen flinched for a moment, but she soon nodded her head. Because Cordelia tilted the box as if she was going to spill its contents. ¡°Anything!¡± ¡°Deal!¡± Contract established. An answer that would never have been possible if she had simply given them a box of choctes. Jude would have been so proud if he had seen this scene. Cordelia remembered Jude¡¯s face for a moment before she saw the restless Fairy Queen lightly trembling. She approached the Fairy Queen with a dark smile. *** I-want-to-kill-the-princess-I-want-to-go-outside-there¡¯s-not-enough-blood-there¡¯s-not-enough-blood-I-want-to-eat-you! The screams of Jabberwock weren¡¯t just cries. It was a kind of magic that affects the mind. The elves who fought the Shadesined of pain every time Jabberwock cried. Their hands and feet trembled, and they were unable to properly use their skills every time. ¡°Don¡¯t overdo it! Get back to your formations! Fight with your colleagues!¡± Half of the elves in the punitive force were still young, so they were now experiencing a real battle, but not for the other half. The other half were master swordsmen who had trained for more than two hundred years. But none of them performed like usual. Rather than breaking into the enemy¡¯s formation and showing off their sword skills, they were in a hurry to protect their lives. ¡°Master!¡± ¡°Maintain your positions! We¡¯ll hold out until the princess returns!¡± Midas said to Vanessa before he looked straight ahead again. He thought as he stared at the back of the human fighting Jabberwock alone. ¡®It¡¯s impossible.¡¯ The situation was very different from theirst subjugation. The number of Shades had multiplied by several times, and Jabberwock¡¯s mental attacks were iparable to before. Why did this happen? No, can we even ovee this situation? Now that I myself cannot fight properly because of that monster¡¯s screams? ¡°ck Dragon Cross Strike!¡± A huge ck cross pushed away Jabberwock. The monster who had been transformed into a giant bat then screamed in pain, but it changed its shape at that moment again. After it healed all its injuries, it screamed again. ¡°Ugh.¡± Midas groaned as he looked around. The knights were somehow enduring the pain and blocking the Shades in front of them, but if it continued like this, the only thing left for them was annihtion. ¡°Sky Shattering ck Dragon! Link!¡± At that moment, the ck energy burst again and struck the Shades that were pressuring the elves. And lightning struck one after another. Jude was instantly behind Jabberwock, and he tore its body with his sharp ¡®sword.¡¯ I-hate-you-I-hate-you-it-hurts-I¡¯ll-kill-Cordelia-I¡¯ll-kill-her-and-tear-her-up-I¡¯ll-kill-you-aaaaah! The split body of Jabberwock quickly became one again. It became a giant ghoul this time and then swung its poisoned nails towards Jude. Jude calmly faced such a ghoul. After dodging its attack by just a finger¡¯s breadth, he narrowed the distance with just a few moves. He used the Power of the Sun in its abdomen and smashed the monster¡¯s guts. Keuaaaaaaaaaah! Jabberwock screamed in pain and stepped back. But it changed its shape into a Bugbear and let out screams filled with hate instead of pain. Midas let out his breath. Then he looked at Jude again and felt both bewilderment and astonishment. Aside from Jabberwock that has suddenly be stronger, what is that human? He has continued to push that monster one-sidedly. And it¡¯s even more surprising that he isn¡¯t yet tired. His movements are incredibly fast even among us elves. Is it really possible to move like that while not taking a single breath? And one more thing. That human in front of me, Jude, isn¡¯t shaken by that monster¡¯s mental attacks. No, it doesn¡¯t seem like he¡¯s affected at all. Is it not effective against humans? Is that why they say that only humans can defeat Jabberwock? He didn¡¯t know. But Midas was sure that the human in front of him now was their only hope. ¡°WOOOOOOOAH!¡± Jude suddenly roared. He pushed Jabberwock with more power and speed than before. Why is he suddenly doing that? And Midas realized why. Vanessa shouted. ¡°Princess!¡± The sky turned ck after Jabberwock¡¯s appearance, but beyond that, a creature with white wings was approaching at a high speed. An angel with pink hair. And Princess Leica who was in her arms. Die-die-die-die-die-just-die-aaaaaaaah! Jabberwock turned into a Mountain Giant and struck Jude with its huge fist. The attack tremendously shook the ground, but it was useless as it did not hit Jude. Using the Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt, Jude went back to his original starting position at once and sensed Cordelia. Instead of looking back, he stared straight ahead and shouted. ¡°Cordelia!¡± ¡°Get out of the way!¡± Cordelia yelled at Jabberwock she threw Princess Leica towards Vanessa. When the elves and Princess Leica screamed, she revealed her angelic wings and rushed towards Jabberwock like a falcon catching its prey. F*ck-you-b*stard-die-you-piece-of-sh*t-Jude-is-mine-he¡¯s-mine-I¡¯ll-grab-him-and-eat-him-aaaaaaah! ¡°F*ck you! F*cking b*stard!¡± The sky shook as Jabberwock and Cordelia exchanged swear words. Dozens of lightning bolts poured from the sky and aimed at Cordelia, but instead of panicking, Cordelia unleashed the magic that she had prepared. ¡°Shield!¡± Babababababababang! The ck lightning continued to strike Cordelia¡¯s translucent shield. Jabberwock turned into a Thunder Giant and put lightning into its fist as it tried to hit Cordelia. ¡°Out of the way!¡± Jude yelled. With a sharp roundhouse kick, he cut the left leg of Jabberwock and knocked it down before he flew towards Cordelia. He carried her by the waist at once and arranged their positions. ¡°Jude! This!¡± Cordelia put on Jude¡¯s arm the Fairy¡¯s Bonds that was in the form of a bracelet. And at that moment, the power from the bracelet spread throughout Jude¡¯s body. ¡®The Great Protection of the Four Seasons!¡¯ Spring, summer, fall, and winter. The power of the four seasons protected Jude. The power of spring healed Jude, the power of summer infused a new power, the power of fall strengthened his energy, and the power of winter made Jude¡¯s mind clearer. But the Great Protection of the Four Seasons weren¡¯t only that much. Die!-Die!-Die!-Die!-Just-die-aaaaaaaaaah! Jabberwock became a ck and gigantic slime again before opening its mouth wide. Jude and Cordelia looked straight at the monster trying to swallow them. Cordelia then cried out. ¡°Your Highness!¡± What Cordelia told Leica on their way here. Cordelia believed in Princess Leica. So she imagined as she leaned her body while on Jude¡¯s arms. Jude did the same thing. What she had told Princess Leica in advance! ¡°Imagine!¡± Princess Leica barelynded on the ground with her wind magic and then unleashed a new magic at the same time she ordered. One image was shared to all the knights. And a change urred. Jabberwock¡¯s body suddenly twisted and transformed into a huge and mighty existence. Burn-burn-burn-burn-burn-burn-everything! A huge being that breathed out mes. Ifrit, a fire monster whose entire body was covered in mes! The mes it emitted were so strong that it felt like one could choke and die from just the heat. Therefore, Midas could not understand it. Why would you turn Jabberwock into such a powerful monster when it¡¯s already hard to defeat it! ¡°Your Highness!¡± ¡°Just believe in them!¡± Princess Leica shouted again and tried to maintain the image in her mind. And Jabberwock roared and pulled its fist. It poured out a rain of fire towards Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Jude!¡± ¡°Here it goes!¡± Cordelia stretched her hand forward. Jude took her hand. There was another way to defeat the endlessly regenerating Jabberwock. Stab its weakness. Send out an extremely powerful attack that would cut off its breath! ¡°Almas!¡± The moment Cordelia shouted, a sword appeared in her hand. A sword that was hidden in the Lake of Eternity. An ultimate sword that was used the Winter King in the past! An immense chill was released from the tip of the sword, Almas. It did not only extinguish the mes of Jabberwock, but even froze it. Aaaaaaaaaaah! Jabberwock screamed. It tried to change its appearance. But it was impossible. Jude and Cordelia simultaneously activated the Great Protection of the Four Seasons. The power of winter amplified the chills of Almas several times more. Kiaaaaaaaaaaa¡ª¡ª¡ª¨C! Jabberwock¡¯s screams lost its sound again. Because its entire body made of mes had now frozen. ¡°I can see it!¡± Jude saw it with the see-through ability he got when he opened the fifth door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. So Jude could see it. He saw through the core of Jabberwock and released his hold on Almas. He ran on the ground as he left Cordelia to hold the sword. ¡°Finish it!¡± Cordelia eximed. Jude twisted his body in the air and smiled. He used Valencia¡¯s sword that was actually martial art skills in order to fulfill Cordelia¡¯s wish. He pierced the core of Jabberwock like a bolt of lightning! ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª! The ice shattered. The moment Jabberwock¡¯s core broke, the frozen mes shattered and fell on the ground. Craaaash-! Amidst the falling ice, Jude turned around and saw. Cordelia was surrounded by a ring of white light and raised Almas high as she jumped in ce and cheered! ¡°We won!¡± Jabberwock is permanently dead. Jude smiled as well. Hended on the ground as a ring of light surrounded him. Chapter 223: Jabberwock (4)

Chapter 223: Jabberwock (4)

Myriad Shapeshifter Jabberwock. One of the future Seven Major Cmities. But not anymore. They defeated it before it became a cmity. ¡°Yahoo-yahoo!¡± Cordelia jumped in ce ¨C no, she began to hop as she rejoiced, while Jude quickly ran to Cordelia. The Shades that filled the area began to disappear like smoke perhaps because of Jabberwock¡¯s defeat, so they no longer had anything to worry about. ¡°We won.¡± ¡°Yeah! We won!¡± Cordelia eximed with a big smile and hugged Jude¡¯s neck. Jude felt like he was rewarded and hurriedly drew closer to her, kissing her head. ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°We won.¡± And you¡¯re the one who hugged me first to begin with. At Jude¡¯s gaze, Cordelia quietly looked at him before she smiled again. ¡°Okay! I¡¯ll allow it. I¡¯ll let you off just this once.¡± ¡®I actually want to do a bit more now.¡¯ Jude held back his innermost thoughts as he lightly pinched Cordelia¡¯s cheek once and immediately spoke. ¡°How did you do it?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°How did you persuade the Fairy Queen? You came earlier than I thought.¡± The situation was so urgent that Jude was not able toe up with a n on how to persuade the Fairy Queen and the fairies. In short, it was all because of Cordelia¡¯s abilities that she was able to return so quickly. How in the world did you do it? ¡°Hehe, are you curious?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m curious.¡± ¡°Are you ready to be surprised?¡± ¡°I am very much ready to be surprised.¡± ¡°Hmph, it¡¯s not fun if I just say it, so try to guess it. What do you think I did?¡± How did she do it? How does Cordelia usually behave? ¡°You threatened to explode everything?¡± What immediately came to his mind was an explosion. But Cordelia frowned and shook her head. ¡°Do I look that stupid? If I do that, I¡¯ll end up as the spring fairies¡¯ enemy.¡± She was right. Even if the fairies were childish, they were likely to respond very seriously if their lives or residence were threatened. If she had really threatened them with something like an explosion, even if she had achieved their goal, it would have taken much longer than now, and as Cordelia had said, she would have be an enemy of the spring fairies. ¡°Then how? Did you give them chocte and then asked for it?¡± ¡°Hehe, that¡¯s not true either.¡± Because the fairies were like children. It was possible to roughly get one wish if she gave them chocte, but if there were two wishes, the fairies would begin to bargain. She had kept some chocte just in case, but if she had just gone and offered it, it would have taken a while to negotiate. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± ¡°Oh, is my scammer agonizing over it? You can¡¯t figure out what I did? Is that it?¡± When the highly excited Cordelia smiled and puffed up her chest, Jude finally raised his hands and said. ¡°I surrender, I surrender. I don¡¯t know. Please tell me how you did it.¡± ¡°Hmph, you should beg me a bit more, a bit more.¡± Cordelia raised her chin and hmphed, so Jude pondered for a little more. Because he saw that Cordelia was anxious to talk about it. So he thought of teasing her a bit. ¡°Well, then I¡¯ll keep thinking about it.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll think about it for a day and tell you my answer tomorrow. Don¡¯t talk about it then. Spoilers are not allowed, okay?¡± ¡°A-a day?¡± ¡°Yes, a day. No, how about a week at most? I¡¯ll ask in a week, so don¡¯t tell me until then.¡± In response to Jude¡¯s counterattack, Cordelia wiggled her fingers and stomped her feet repeatedly, and the always sly Jude made a face expressing that he was not really interested. ¡°Eueueu¡­ it can¡¯t be helped. I don¡¯t want you to suffer for a week, so I¡¯ll tell you now.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s all right. I¡¯ll think about it. It¡¯s okay if you don¡¯t tell me.¡± ¡°Nooo¡­¡± But Jude was adamant. So Cordelia became even more anxious and was forced to eventually groan. ¡°Do you want to talk about it?¡± ¡°N-no, I¡¯m not? I¡¯ll let just it pass, okay.¡± But she couldn¡¯t. Judging by her facial expression, Jude could tell that she was inwardly frustrated and distressed. Therefore, Jude threw her a lifeline. ¡°I¡¯ll think about it if you kiss me on the cheek.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll listen to you if you kiss me on the cheek.¡± ¡°Hey, do you think I¡¯m stupid?¡± ¡°Then don¡¯t tell me. Forget about the week, you don¡¯t even need to tell me about it for the rest of your life.¡± Jude shrugged and Cordelia¡¯s toes wriggled inside her shoes before she stepped on Jude¡¯s feet. ¡°I hate you! I hate you!¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°You¡¯re so mean.¡± Cordelia acted like the Fairy Queen before she pulled Jude by the cor and kissed his cheek. ¡°Is that fine?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s fine. That¡¯s fine.¡± Cordelia unconsciously smiled when Jude smiled and said that. ¡°Hey, do you like it that much?¡± ¡°Yes, I like it.¡± She couldn¡¯t get angry because of that. Moreover, Jude¡¯s response was quick. ¡°Then, countess. Hurry up and tell me. I¡¯m actually curious about it.¡± ¡°F*cking b*stard.¡± ¡°That¡¯s an expression of affection, right?¡± ¡°You great f*cking b*stard.¡± Cordelia cursed as much as she could and hmphed before she began talking. ¡°So what happened is¡­¡± Cordelia first started the story with a sullen expression, but she soon began to imitate the fairies with an excited face. As if she was a child who got a certificate at school and returned home to talk about what happened. ¡°And that¡¯s what happened.¡± Having finished her story, Cordelia nced at Jude before she smiled. Because Jude had a stunned expression. ¡°Wow, seriously? Did you really do that?¡± ¡°Yes, I did. That¡¯s why I got the Great Protection of the Four Seasons and Almas.¡± Cordelia boasted again and summoned Almas by swinging her hand. Almas was an icy blue de that could be stored or taken out of the user¡¯s body whenever it was needed. ¡°What the hell.¡± It was like the student surpassed her teacher. Frankly, Jude was surprised. He never expected that Cordelia, who used to have a hard time in acting because she spoke in monotone, would grow up to this extent. Jude pped his hands loudly out of his heartfelt admiration. ¡°I respect you. You were really amazing.¡± ¡°Hehe,pliment me a little more. No, praise me more.¡± ¡°You¡¯re really great and amazing. It¡¯s not an exaggeration to say that you have a PhD in Fairy Psychology. I¡¯m impressed.¡± It was a truly clever scheme. Not only did shepletely takeplete control of the self-centered and childish fairies, but she also left without the fairies bearing any grudges of her, even though she had ripped them off. ¡°As expected of Cordelia. You are indeed Cordelia, the pride of Legend of Heroes.¡± ¡°Hehehe.¡± Cordelia was in a good mood because of the continued praise, but at the same time, she was blushing from embarrassment. And a few minutes after Jude and Cordelia fell into their own world. Princess Leica watched them at first, but as their story continued to grow longer, she was forced to interrupt them. ¡°Anyway, we won.¡± At the words of Princess Leica who squeezed her face in between the two, Cordelia stepped back in surprise while Jude quickly reached out and supported her waist. ¡°We¡¯ve defeated Jabberwock. No one can deny that.¡± Princess Leica suddenly smiled after saying that. Even though the two people were flirting right in front of her, or that Cordelia had threatened the fairies in the process, both were still amazing people anyway. ¡°Moreover, no one died. It¡¯s aplete victory.¡± Jude was a little amazed at Princess Leica¡¯s words this time. Because it meant that no one had died despite the fact that their strength was halved by Jabberwock¡¯s powerful mental attacks. Now that he saw it, there was no one with serious injuries. ¡®As expected of having a Sword Master as your neighbor.¡¯ Skills didn¡¯t just grow by investing time, so none of the people here seemed to have reached the level of the Ten Great Swordmasters, but it did not change the fact that everyone was at least a master. To begin with, the Ten Great Swordmasters was a position that only selected those who have reached the level of a superhuman. ¡°Congrattions.¡± Princess Leica giggled at Jude¡¯s words. Because it was funny that the person who led their victory was the one congratting them. ¡°Yes, we have won, so let¡¯s celebrate together. The two of you, don¡¯t just celebrate on your own.¡± Cordelia blushed at Princess Leica¡¯s words, while Jude tightly held Cordelia¡¯s hand and signaled with his eyes to Princess Leica. ¡°Let¡¯s begin.¡± ¡°It¡¯s embarrassing if we start like this.¡± Princess Leica giggled before she raised Mistilteinn high and shouted. ¡°We¡¯ve repulsed the monster, Myriad Shapeshifter Jabberwock! No, wepletely destroyed it! It¡¯s our victory!¡± ¡°Uoooooooh!¡± The elven knights cheered in response to Princess Leica¡¯s cry. Because Jabberwock had be a much more powerful being than what was written on the royal family¡¯s records, but their punitive force did not simply repulse it as they evenpletely destroyed it like what Princess Leica had just said. It was a really great achievement. ¡®The humans did almost everything, but even so, the princess was the leader of the punitive force.¡¯ A deep smile appeared on Midas¡¯ face. After all, this incident would strengthen Princess Leica¡¯s authority. ¡®I like them.¡¯ But at the same time, he was vignt. The humans were still young. He didn¡¯t know their exact ages, but they seemed to be of the same age as Princess Leica based on elven ages, so he wondered how the two were so strong. Just like Sir Cornwell who escorted Princess Darianne, Midas was grateful to Jude and Cordelia, but also couldn¡¯t let his guard down. However, the elven knights were purely grateful to Jude and Cordelia. In particr, it was no exaggeration to say that the way they looked at Jude hadpletely changed. Because Princess Leica had ran alone to Jude and stuck in between the two before they began to talk about this and that. Jude¡¯s contribution was enormous, but for the elves, the human Jude was not apetitor but a stranger whom they couldfortably praise. Most of them had pure admiration and gratitude for him, without having any other malicious thoughts. After all, they remained alive because of the two¡¯s help. ¡°Count August Bayer and Countess August Chase.¡± ¡°You can just call us Jude and Cordelia.¡± When Cordelia spoke, Princess Leica nodded and said again. ¡°Then, Jude and Cordelia. We will now return to the pce in the center of the Forest of Eternity. Would you like toe with us? I would like to convey your contributions not only to the king, but also to all the elves in the Forest of Eternity.¡± It was an invitation to the elven kingdom. It was also done by the crown princess herself. ¡®Should we go?¡¯ ¡®We¡¯ll go of course, right?¡¯ Their trip to the south would be dyed a little, but the elven kingdom was a ce worth visiting. In the game, the elven kingdom was only essible after it copsed, so there was no opportunity for them to see what the elven kingdom normally looked like. ¡®They won¡¯t send us off empty-handed, right?¡¯ ¡®We¡¯re the heroes who defeated a legendary monster after all, right?¡¯ ¡®We also saved her life.¡¯ ¡®Come to think of it, we¡¯ve done a lot, so we should be rewarded a lot too, right?¡¯ ¡®So we have to ept it. We have to get as much as we can when we¡¯re presented with the opportunity to do so.¡¯ ¡®Those are some wise words. I admit it.¡¯ Jude and Cordelia snickered and exchanged dark smiles before they turned to Princess Leica and said. ¡°It¡¯s an honor to be invited.¡± ¡°We are most grateful.¡± When the two politely thanked her, Princess Leica stared at Cordelia with a slightly strange look. Because even now, she remembered the iprehensible way Cordelia had threatened the fairies. ¡°Good, then we¡¯ll conduct an investigation into this and make sure that Jabberwock ispletely destroyed in the cursednd, so we¡¯ll camp nearby today and leave by tomorrow afternoon.¡± It was alreadyte. The sun would set in two more hours. ¡°We¡¯ll take your word for it.¡± ¡°Yes, you did a great job today.¡± Princess Leicaplimented them like a princess before she looked around and ordered once again. ¡°Retrieve the remains of Jabberwock and withdraw! Shades might still show up, so don¡¯t let your guard down!¡± ¡°Yes! Your Highness!¡± The elven knights answered loudly and began to move, while Jude and Cordelia looked at each other again and smiled. Just by looking at each other¡¯s faces made the two smile. *** The investigation into the cursednd went without a hitch. Because Myriad Shapeshifter Jabberwock hadpletely disappeared. ¡°The darkness of the cursednd itself is being lifted.¡± Until now, the darkness of the cursednd was not lifted because Jabberwock eventually revived after being subjugated, but now, it seemed that everyone¡¯s morale and not just the darkness in the ground were being lifted. Perhaps after a few days, the ce would be full of life just like the rest of the Forest of Eternity. ¡°The Shades won¡¯t appear anymore then.¡± ¡°Yes, our people will be able to reside here, as well as near theke of the spring fairies.¡± In fact, there were some high-quality mineral veins in the cursednd. If they could rebuild the mineral veins that had been left unattended because of Jabberwock and the Shades, it would be a huge gain for the entire kingdom. ¡°Did you find out the reason why Jabberwock suddenly became stronger?¡± ¡°Well, unfortunately¡­ we couldn¡¯t find any clues to that.¡± Princess Leica furrowed her brows in response to Midas¡¯ answer, but she quickly loosened her expression. ¡°Well, Jabberwock is gone anyway. Perhaps it¡¯s not someone¡¯s fault but just became strong on its own. We shouldn¡¯t worry much about it.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Highness. It would be better to take some time to investigate it rather than be impatient.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Princess Leica nodded and asked again after checking the time by looking at the sun¡¯s shadow. ¡°How are Jude and Cordelia?¡± ¡°They¡¯re searching the cursednd.¡± ¡°Will they tell us if they find something?¡± ¡°Maybe.¡± As a result of observing the two over the past night, Midas concluded that it was okay to trust the two for now. ¡°Let¡¯s get ready to go back. Vanessa, tell the knights to pack up.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Highness.¡± When Vanessa left the tent with Midas, Princess Leica sat down and drooped her shoulders. Because she could rx now that the tension was over and that she could really go back this time. ¡®Strangely, I¡¯m looking forward to it.¡¯ On what would happen after she takes the two to the kingdom. Because after more than 500 years, they would be the first humans to visit the royal pce in the Forest of Eternity. Moreover, they were like heroes out of a fairytale. ¡®It¡¯ll be interesting.¡¯ Will Kelthur like them too? Princess Leica smiled when she recalled her younger brother¡¯s face. Without even knowing what would happen as a result of taking the two to the royal pce. Chapter 224: Sword Dance (1)

Chapter 224: Sword Dance (1)

My apologies for not posting yesterday. An admin of an FB group tried to post in the group my Trash of the Count¡¯s Family summaries without giving me any credit, so I¡¯ve been in a bad mood for a few days. Fortunately, that issue has been resolved, and that admin is gone from the group now. Oh yeah, there¡¯s a reference of Loki from Marvel¡¯s Avengers in this episode. When Princess Leica gave a withdrawal order, Jude and Cordelia came to a conclusion. ¡°I think there¡¯s some outside intervention.¡± ¡°But we don¡¯t have any evidence, right?¡± ¡°Yes, but¡­ I can guess who it is.¡± Even though Jude and Cordelia were rotten waters, it was impossible for them to know the parts that were not properly portrayed in the game¡¯s storyline, just like the Forest of Eternity where they were now, but it was possible to figure out the full story by piecing together different parts. ¡°The soul is the staple food of Myriad Shapeshifter Jabberwock. To be exact, it grows by eating souls.¡± ¡°Jabberwock was strengthened by eating the souls of the elves in the Forest of Eternity, and it merged with the demonic human Jabberwock who was the incarnation of Behemoth, bing one of the Seven Major Cmities, right?¡± ¡°It¡¯s possible.¡± In Legend of Heroes 2, it was only possible to enter the Forest of Eternity after the destruction of the S?len Kingdom, which was at least two years from now. ¡°At that time, the elf kingdom of the Forest of Eternity had already been destroyed. Most of its people, including its king, had be undead.¡± ¡°Most of the undead had their souls eaten. I think I understand now. Even Death Knight Kelthur couldn¡¯t hold a proper conversation. The souls of everyone had been eaten and only their bodies moved¡­ and even if the soul was left, only a part of it remained.¡± There weren¡¯t just one or two ways to create an undead in Pleiades. There were many kinds of zombies in this world. ¡°Anyway, considering that Jabberwock was the cause of the incident, and that Jabberwock became a cmity by eating souls¡­ doesn¡¯t that mean that someone fed Jabberwock souls to strengthen it?¡± If Jude and Cordelia were not here, Jabberwock, who had be much stronger than before, would even be stronger by eating the souls of Princess Leica and herpanions. ¡°So you think someone outside intervened? Jabberwock wouldn¡¯t be as strong as it was now if it was only fed one or two souls.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. It wouldn¡¯t be as strong as it was now from just eating a few souls by chance. In the first ce, the elves didn¡¯t go anywhere near here where Jabberwock was reviving. I can only think that someone with obvious intentions had injected a huge amount of souls into Jabberwock.¡± Having said that, Jude stood up and continued as he looked at Cordelia. ¡°Who do you think will benefit the most if the elves in the Forest of Eternity are annihted?¡± ¡°Either the demon followers or Malekith.¡± Both were eager to destroy the S?len Kingdom. In particr, Malekith wanted to upy the entire S?len Kingdom and not just the southern region. Because he had a long-standing grudge against Dragon yer Carlos, who was the founder of the 7 southern families, and Lion D. S?len, the founder king of the S?len Kingdom. ¡°If we consider a person who could give such a huge amount of souls¡­¡± ¡°If we¡¯re going to name someone from the south, it¡¯s highly likely that it¡¯s that person on Malekith¡¯s side.¡± Malekith had a powerful necromancer who held a grudge against the elves. ¡°Sicilia.¡± A dark elf who hated the elves of the Forest of Eternity, and was ck Dragon Malekith¡¯s lover. The pieces of the puzzle seemed to fit, but Jude and Cordelia had bitter smiles in the end. ¡°We still have no evidence.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea to say that we got this information from the Guardians of the Holy Cross.¡± ¡°But it¡¯s better to tell them, right?¡± ¡°I think it would be better if we can drop them some hints.¡± The dark elf Sicilia was different from Jude and Cordelia who were humans. The fact that she could secretly enter the cursednd despite the Forest of Eternity rejecting her existence could only suggest two possibilities. ¡®One possibility is that Sicilia hid herself with some powerful magic.¡¯ This was the mostmon and eptable possibility. Sicilia was originally a member of the Prime royal family. ¡®The other is the possibility that an insider helped her.¡¯ Someone had invited Sicilia into the Forest of Eternity. And helped her hide her appearance. ¡®But that¡¯s unlikely.¡¯ Because the elves in the Forest of Eternity had lived a life disconnected from the outside world and were unlikely tomunicate with Sicilia out of the blue. Another reason was that it was not beneficial for them to strengthen Jabberwock. ¡®Of course, there may be a possibility if we begin to add political reasons.¡¯ For example, the hypothesis that Jabberwock was used to eliminate Princess Leica and the punitive force. ¡®But we¡¯ll only know this if we go the elven kingdom.¡¯ Things like what the rtionship between Kelthur, the elven king in the game, and Princess Leica, the current first in line to the throne, and the political rtionships surrounding the royal family, and so on. ¡°Hmm.¡± While Jude was calcting one thing or another in his head, Cordelia was standing with her arms crossed as she stared at Jude in silence. ¡®It would be nice if he acted like that all the time.¡¯ The Jude when he¡¯s thinking about something. I¡¯m not sure how to express it, but is this what they call the charm of an adult? A serious but cool person, and someone you can rely and trust. But the chances of seeing this face of Jude are rare. He¡¯s always smirking and has this sly look on his face. ¡®Well¡­it¡¯s not that I don¡¯t like that either.¡¯ It¡¯s strangely cute too. Especially when I kiss him on the cheek, you could say that he likes it because the corners of his mouth would twitch. And when he looks really happy, I want to do it more. ¡®But I have to refrain from doing that.¡¯ Yes, yes, I have to refrain from doing that. If I keep doing that, it¡¯ll be a habit. ¡®Hold on¡­¡¯ If I think about it, is there any reason why it shouldn¡¯t be a habit? We¡¯re engaged anyway. Yes, yes, we¡¯re engaged. ¡®Hmm.¡¯ It was when Cordelia began to think over again the validity of the skinship ban. ¡°Lord Jude! Lady Cordelia!¡± At the call of an elven knight, Jude and Cordelia both stopped thinking and raised their heads. ¡°We¡¯ll be going back now!¡± ¡°Okay! We¡¯ll be going!¡± Jude shouted back and stretched out his hand to Cordelia, who very naturally held his hand. *** ¡°I don¡¯t like this position.¡± On the road leading to the pce of the Prime royal family located in the center of the Forest of Eternity. The two were riding on an Elven Steed. Cordelia murmured in a small voice, and Jude replied with a sly look that Cordelia had thought of as cute earlier. ¡°I like it though? I can support my chin like this.¡± Jude usually rode in the front and Cordelia in the back, but this time, it was the opposite as Cordelia was in the front and Jude was in the back. Cordelia shook her head as Jude put his chin on top of her head. ¡°Woah, woah, you¡¯re going to fall.¡± Jude tightly hugged Cordelia¡¯s waist, and having fallen into Jude¡¯s arms, Cordelia¡¯s lips twitched before she slightly changed her position. ¡°Just lean on your back.¡± ¡°How much should I lean?¡± Cordelia leaned back her body as much as she could, and only then did she feel the firm chest of Jude. Jude didn¡¯t just stop there, as he even slightly leaned back so that Cordelia could lean morefortably. ¡°Eh?¡± Having leaned back naturally, Cordelia was surprised and blinked her eyes. ¡°How is this possible?¡± Wouldn¡¯t you fall from this? ¡°My thighs and waist are pretty good.¡± The elves didn¡¯t use saddles when they rode on the Elven Steeds. Therefore, Jude tightly fixed himself to the horse¡¯s waist with his thighs while maintaining a half-lying posture with only the strength of his waist. ¡°You¡¯re like a beast.¡± ¡°Wait, why are suddenly calling me a beast?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Anyway, you¡¯re a beast.¡± Cordelia giggled and leaned a little more against Jude¡¯s chest, and Jude whispered in a small voice in Cordelia¡¯s ear. ¡°But Cordelia, do you remember?¡± ¡°Remember?¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t made a wish yet, right?¡± A wish she would grant if he got 50 kills in the fightingpetition. Cordelia unconsciously flinched and stiffened at that moment, and Jude whispered again. ¡°What should I wish for? What do you think is a good wish?¡± Jude smiled softly, putting his chin over Cordelia¡¯s head, and the red-faced Cordelia began to wiggle her fingers instead of shaking her head like before. Princess Leica watched these two with cold eyes, and called Vanessa who was beside her in a small voice. ¡°Vanessa.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Why do I feel angry when I watch those two?¡± ¡°So do I. It¡¯s normal.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± It seemed like the other elves were also shooting cold looks at the two. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s ignore them and hurry up.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± They wouldn¡¯t be able to do that once they arrive at their destination. ¡°Lloyd, please go a little faster.¡± ¡°Neeeigh.¡± Perhaps Lloyd had the same cold eyes as them as the unicorn began topletely gallop. Half a day passed like that. The group then arrived at Elendia, the capital of the elven kingdom located in the center of the Forest of Eternity. *** A white city. These were the words that Jude and Cordelia came up with the moment they stepped inside Elendia. Unlike the Elendia in the game, the present Elendia remained intact and was a very beautiful city. ¡°Pretty.¡± Jude nodded at Cordelia¡¯s simple but urate impression. The white city and green nature were in natural harmony with each other. Even the sunshine and the wind blowing in between felt like a part of the city. White houses were one with the big trees. And there was a white pce in the center of Elendia. The pce¡¯s appearance that was designed to make the flow of air easier had an overall circr feeling, and its magnificence was befitting that of elven architecture. However, it also did not directly use multiple colors like the pces of humans. The sunlight reflected from the ss windows installed everywhere colored the pce walls that were like a white canvas, giving it a distinct beauty at different times of the day. And in the front. A weing party led by g bearers raising colorful gs was waiting for them. ¡°Sister!¡± A young boy dressed in colorful clothes came running from the weing party. He was a young boy who seemed to be around in his early to mid-teens, and just like Princess Leica, he had tinum blonde hair. ¡°Sister!¡± ¡°My Kelthur!¡± When the boy shouted again, Princess Leica immediately jumped down from Lloyd and lowered her posture to hug the boy. ¡°Sister, I¡¯m d that you¡¯re all right!¡± ¡°Without congratting me on our victory first?¡± ¡°I prefer you being safe.¡± At the words of the boy ¨C Kelthur, her younger brother and the second in line to the throne, Princess Leica smiled happily. ¡°This is why I like you, my younger brother.¡± ¡°I like sister too.¡± Kelthur tightly hugged Princess Leica, and she kissed his forehead and cheeks several times. And Jude who was watching them was a bit confused. ¡®They have a really good rtionship?¡¯ Wait, why does Kelthur look so young? Did he be a king in his youth in the game? ¡®Did his height suddenly shoot up in a year or two?¡¯ Generally speaking, that was impossible, but there were cases of that happening like Jude himself. In thest 8-9 months, he had grown nearly 30 centimeters and had be 160-180 centimeters tall, so it did not seem impossible for a boy to suddenly be a young man. ¡®No, that¡¯s impossible.¡¯ Is there some other reason though? Or maybe there¡¯s another person here who has the same name as Kelthur. Anyway, it was at the time when Jude was in the middle of thinking. Princess Leica briefly introduced Jude and Cordelia to the elves who came out to wee the punitive force, and then climbed onto Lloyd while carrying Kelthur. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the royal pce first. We¡¯ll talk more about it at the celebration.¡± Jude and Cordelia were their first human guests in 500 years, but the elves only nced at them and did not speak to them directly. It was the orders of their crown princess after all. [Jude, Jude.] [What is it, Cordelia?] [Kelthur is looking at us. Ah, he smiled.] [Don¡¯t smile at him.] [Huh?] Jude red at the brightly smiling Kelthur who was looking at them, and he hugged Cordelia¡¯s waist tighter, while Cordelia blinked her eyes and giggled. And at sunset. Upon their arrival at the pce, Jude and Cordelia were guided to the bathhouse and given new clothes to wear after washing themselves. It was clothes that elves wore in banquets. ¡°Oh, isn¡¯t this nice? It¡¯s a bit like Loki.¡± It was a mostly green tailcoat with some ck and yellow here and there. But it had a rather different look than when a slender elf wore it. Because Jude was tall enough to stand out even among the tall elves, and he had a statue-like body too. ¡°My princess is as beautiful as ever.¡± Cordelia was wearing a white dress. Her cleavage and back were a bit exposed to the point that it worried Jude, but Cordelia really liked it as she twirled back and forth while holding the hems of her skirt. ¡°It¡¯s so light. It feels like the Fairy Dress.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ How about adding a scarf?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Instead of exining why, Jude put a white scarf around Cordelia¡¯s neck to cover her chest. ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s good. This is much better.¡± As Jude pped his hands and smiled in satisfaction, Cordelia blinked her eyes before grinning. ¡°You¡¯re jealous.¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m very jealous.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not even hiding it now?¡± Cordelia said that as if she was dumbfounded, but the corners of her mouth were raised upwards. Jude snorted like Cordelia before extending his arm to her. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Yes, Mister ¡®ck-hearted, jealous, and scammer¡¯ ck Cloak.¡± Cordelia giggled and slightly hugged Jude¡¯s arm. And a few minutester. Jude and Cordelia were guided to the banquet hall by an elf who looked at them with cold eyes, and the two eximed once again. ¡°Wow. It¡¯s pretty.¡± ¡°Beautiful.¡± The white banquet hall had a size and beauty that was not inferior to the grand banquet hall of the S?len Kingdom¡¯s royal pce. In particr, the light passing through the ss ceiling made the entire banquet hall look very impressive. ¡°The two of you are here.¡± ¡°Your Highness.¡± Princess Leica was wearing a white dress and gold essories, and she looked up and down at Jude and Cordelia before smiling. ¡°You¡¯re both good-looking. You must indeed be the most beautiful among the humans.¡± ¡°T-that was just Jude joking around.¡± Cordelia spoke in a small voice, but her words did not work. Princess Leica cheerfully smiled and led Jude and Cordelia to the seats next to her. ¡®Now that I see it, it¡¯s a banquet¡­ but it looks like it¡¯s just audience seats facing a stage.¡¯ Chairs were ced around the banquet hall with the center left empty. Fortunately, Princess Leica exined to them as soon as they sat down. ¡°Whenever we celebrate, us elves do a group dance to remember ourmunication with the spirits.¡± ¡°Uh¡­are you going to be watching and not dancing?¡± ¡°Yes, not everyone can dance it.¡± Having immediately answered Cordelia¡¯s question, Princess Leica exined it a bit more. ¡°The dance¡­ or the sword dance to be exact, is taught and handed down to each dancer individually. It¡¯s a very beautiful sword dance, so I¡¯m sure it will amuse you.¡± ¡°Wow¡­¡± Cordelia looked around as her eyes sparkled in anticipation. On the opposite side of Princess Leica sat Kelthur and a woman in a very fancy dress, who seemed to be Kelthur¡¯s mother. ¡®The king¡¯s not here? Princess Leica¡¯s mother too.¡¯ Vanessa and Midas were behind Princess Leica. Cordelia looked around again before she fixed her gaze to the front at some point. Because the sound of the drums signaled the start of the sword dance. ¡°Begin.¡± As if the small voice of Princess Leica was a signal, six dancers appeared in the center of the white hall and began to dance. Elves in colorful clothes danced with big movements, but despite their different movements, their individual dances felt like they were harmoniously connected with each other. ¡°Wow.¡± It was colorful, beautiful, and magnificent. When Cordelia showed her admiration, Princess Leica was pleased, but only for a moment. Because unlike Cordelia, Jude was frowning. ¡®What is it? Is there anything that he doesn¡¯t like?¡¯ No, it¡¯s just unbelievable that he frowns like that even if he doesn¡¯t like it. It¡¯s not like he doesn¡¯t know basic manners. Princess Leica unconsciously became a little angry, and just like her energetic and impulsive personality, she immediately took action. ¡°Jude, is there something strange?¡± At Princess Leica¡¯s question, Cordelia also looked at Jude in surprise. ¡®Jude?¡¯ Even Cordelia found Jude¡¯s expression to be a little strange. Why? If it was Cordelia¡¯s first time seeing the sword dance, then it should be Jude¡¯s first time too. It was also a magnificent, nice, and beautiful dance. When Cordelia and Princess Leica looked at him in askance, Jude narrowed his brows again before saying with a determined expression. ¡°Your Highness.¡± ¡°Yes, Jude.¡± ¡°This may be presumptuous of me, but¡­ there¡¯s something wrong with that sword dance.¡± ¡°What do you mean by it¡¯s wrong?¡± What are you talking about all of a sudden? You¡¯re a stranger. You¡¯re also a human. Are you saying that you know about the sword dance of the elves- That was it. Princess Leica recalled one fact and stifled her anger before she looked at Jude with serious eyes. The Jude in front of her was a man who inherited the sword of Valencia, the Elf Sword. ¡°Do you know anything?¡± It sounded much calmer than before, but her voice still had a stabbing feel. Because of that, Cordelia touched her chest with her hand as her heart pounded loudly, and she looked back at Jude with a nervous expression. ¡®I-is there a problem? Is there something you know?¡¯ Jude had yet to tell Cordelia about Valencia in detail. But when the elves had stepped forward. At the moment Jude had seen the sword dance of the elves, he instinctively felt that something was wrong, and he was able to know that through Valencia¡¯s experiences and memories that had naturally be one with him. He could tell on what was wrong with the sword dance in front of him. He could exactly tell on what wascking. ¡°It¡¯scking one person.¡± At that instant, surprise spread across Princess Leica¡¯s face. So Jude spoke again with confidence. ¡°That sword dance¡­ it¡¯s a sword dance for seven people to dance, not six.¡± Chapter 225: Sword Dance (2)

Chapter 225: Sword Dance (2)

Cordelia just blinked her eyes at Jude¡¯sment, but Princess Leica was different. Because she was genuinely surprised. ¡®How did you know?!¡¯ Even if you inherited Valencia¡¯s sword, how did you know that the number of people in the sword dance in front of you, the Banquet of Spirits, wascking? Like what she had exined earlier, the swordsmen who participated in the Banquet of Spirits were taught and handed down the sword dance for each part individually. The reason why six people had to perform a sword dance that was originally danced by seven people was because the part of the sword dance for the seventh swordsman was not properly handed down. ¡®Ah, did Valencia also leave a record about the Banquet of Spirits?¡¯ He had only seen the Banquet of Spirits today. The movements of the seven swordsmen were said to be very harmonious. And it was only passed down to seven people. ¡®Wait. I didn¡¯t tell him that this is the Banquet of Spirits though.¡¯ Did he just figure it out from watching? ¡®And he looks like he is sure of it.¡¯ Princess Leica wasn¡¯t particrly authoritative, but she was conscious of the fact that she was royalty and that she was also the crown princess. She knew that it was not right to say such things in front of someone like her. ¡®Do humans have a different culture?¡¯ I don¡¯t think it¡¯s that different. Especially when ites to basic etiquette. Princess Leica eventually ended her contemtion and decided to take her own approach. ¡°You are right. How did you find out?¡± When she asked it openly, Midas and Vanessa heard her words because they were near her, so they also looked at Jude in curiosity. The same was true of Cordelia. Therefore, Jude alternated between Princess Leica and Cordelia before speaking. ¡°The fact that seven people are needed for the Banquet of Spirits is something that I learned from the records of Master Valencia. And¡­ the sword dance in front of us is definitely beautiful, but there¡¯s this sense of incongruity. A sense of incongruity that one person iscking. Moreover, I remembered you saying that it¡¯s a dance tomemorate the elves¡¯munication with the spirits, so I thought that this was the Banquet of Spirits, and from that point of view, I was convinced that it wascking one person.¡± Princess Leica was in admiration of Jude¡¯s reasonable exnation, while Cordelia looked at him reflexively. ¡®Is that true?¡¯ ¡®I¡¯ll tell you more about itter.¡¯ Because he only wanted to tell Cordelia the truth. What he just said to Princess Leica was not exactly false as it was almost true, but the story regarding Valencia was a little different from the truth. ¡®All right. You¡¯ll surely tell me, right?¡¯ ¡®Yes, I¡¯ll definitely tell you.¡¯ Cordelia smiled in satisfaction at Jude¡¯s answer, and Jude looked back at Princess Leica with a strangely relieved face. And it was at that moment. ¡°Then Jude, do you know the sword dance of the seventh swordsman?¡± Midas, who was sitting behind Princess Leica, asked in an urgent tone. ¡°Midas?¡± Princess Leica turned to her advisor in surprise. Because in front of her, he always showered her with nagging, but in front of others, he was always serious. Moreover, his voice, tone, and facial expression differed. Because she also glimpsed some eagerness. ¡°Tell me, Jude. Do you know anything?¡± When Midas asked again without even thinking of answering Princess Leica, Vanessa quickly cast a soundproofing magic. Because many of those who were watching the sword dance had looked their way when Midas raised his voice. In particr, it attracted the attention of Kelthur¡¯s biological mother, Canaria Solfege, who turned towards them. ¡®Jude, what¡¯s wrong? Do you know anything of importance?¡¯ Cordelia asked again with a nce when the atmosphere turned unusual, but for Jude, he didn¡¯t have to guess why that happened. He could somehow figure out on what had happened to the seventh swordsman¡¯s sword dance based on Midas¡¯ eagerness to know. ¡®It was lost.¡¯ The seventh swordsman¡¯s sword dance was not handed down. But a human who might know about that sword dance had appeared. So Midas had asked in excitement. ¡®He¡¯s desperate.¡¯ There¡¯s something here. Perhaps there¡¯s something secret regarding the Banquet of Spirits. ¡°Jude, do you know anything?¡± As disappointment spread on Midas¡¯ face, even Princess Leica turned to Jude and asked with a strange expression, and Jude replied after some consideration. ¡°Please give me a moment to think.¡± ¡°Are you saying that you¡¯re thinking of whether to answer or not?¡± ¡°No, I just need time to think about the seventh sword dance.¡± Jude gave a rather vague answer and closed his eyes, so Princess Leica, Midas, and Vanessa naturally turned to Cordelia. They seemed to be asking on what Jude was doing now. ¡°D-do you know about¡­ the Memory Pce?¡± As Cordelia began to exin about the Memory Pce while stuttering, Princess Leica stared at Jude as if she was looking at a very strange creature. ¡®I know. I¡¯m also amazed every time I see him do it.¡¯ Cordelia spoke to herself before looking at Midas and Vanessa. The former found Jude to be interesting while thetter looked more desperate than before, but still hopeful. And then. The sword dance was still continuing, but most of the elves were looking at Princess Leica who was surrounded by a soundproof magic barrier. On the other hand, Jude recited the mnemonic chant of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors instead of using his Memory Pce. He dived down the surface of his consciousness, just like what he did when he opened the sixth door. ¡°Valencia!¡± If you can hear me, please answer! Show yourself like how you did back then! Jude recalled the Sword Origin and called out Valencia¡¯s name again. And an answer came back. The ck surroundings changed in an instant, and a beautiful woman with long and tinum blonde hair appeared in front of him. ¡°My sessor.¡± The Elf Sword, Valencia. Now that he saw her, she really looked like Princess Leica, or rather, it was Princess Leica who looked like her. In any case, Valencia had a lot of simrities with Princess Leica. ¡®I think that Valencia is a bit prettier than her.¡¯ Of course, Cordelia is prettier than them. ¡°My sessor?¡± ¡°Valencia-nim. Can you see on what is happening outside?¡± ¡°Not really. Because I¡¯m sleeping most of the time. Will you share me your memories then?¡± At Valencia¡¯s question, Jude quickly recalled his memories of the sword dance. Then Valencia said with a very joyful face. ¡°It¡¯s the Spirit¡¯s sword dance! The tradition is still being continued, but it¡¯s a pity that its form is iplete.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right, Valencia-nim. The elves seem to regret it too. Do you happen to know the sword dance of the seventh swordsman?¡± ¡°Yes, I know how to dance it.¡± ¡°Wow, really?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Was Valencia-nim the seventh swordsman?¡± Jude wondered if Valencia, who could no longer held a sword because of Sword Origin, was the reason why the sword dance of the seventh swordsman had stopped being handed down. It was quite a reasonable theory, but he was wrong. Because Valencia shook her head as soon as she heard him. ¡°No, I wasn¡¯t a swordsman of the Banquet of Spirits.¡± ¡°Then how did you¡­¡± Wasn¡¯t the sword dance something that was handed down from one swordsman to another? When Jude asked again, Valencia replied with an expression as if it was something natural. ¡°Because it¡¯s swordsmanship.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Swordsmanship.¡± What do you mean? Jude tilted his head for a moment but soon understood it. Because it was swordsmanship. She carefully watched it because it was swordsmanship, and even memorized how to dance it. She figured out the sword skills necessary for the sword dance. ¡®She really is a sword fanatic.¡¯ It¡¯s unfortunate that she can¡¯t use dual wielding because she thinks it¡¯s two-timing. ¡°Then, do you know how to dance entire sword dance of the seventh swordsman?¡± ¡°Yes, because it¡¯s swordsmanship.¡± ¡°I-I see.¡± This is why fanatics are scary. If Cordelia had heard her thoughts, she definitely would have said that his Memory Pce was scarier. ¡°Anyway¡­ it seems that it¡¯s very important for the elves to resurrect the seventh swordsman¡¯s sword dance. Do you know the reason why?¡± ¡°Yes, I can roughly guess why.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the reason¡­¡± ¡°If you dance it, you¡¯ll know why.¡± Valencia giggled as she lightly blushed before speaking again. ¡°Do you want to learn it?¡± ¡°Yes, is it possible?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll share my memories with you. Oh, of course, knowing it with your head is different from actually dancing it. You¡¯ll need to practice it first, okay?¡± At Valencia¡¯s question, Jude thought about what to answer, but he just grinned afterwards. Because his Cheonmujiche allowed him to be good at everything he did with his body. It wasn¡¯t even a problem to move his body ordingly as long as he had the memories on how to do it. ¡°Then close your eyes and concentrate. I¡¯ll show it to you.¡± ¡°Yes, Valencia-nim.¡± Jude closed his eyes. The world turned ck again, and in the meantime, only Valencia shined. ¡°This is how you do it.¡± She seemed to be excited of the fact that she was dancing the sword dance. Valencia was grinning with a glow on her face as she began performing the sword dance. The seventh sword dance was beautiful and dazzling. *** Jude opened his eyes. And he thought. ¡®It¡¯s really beautiful.¡¯ Valencia¡¯s sword dance. Frankly, he was ecstatic. Just by watching it made it difficult to breathe because his heart was pounding fast. ¡®However, Cordelia is still the most beautiful.¡¯ Cordelia was literally a goddess when she stood under the moonlight with her wet hair in order to summon the fairies. ¡®Jude?¡¯ Jude faced Cordelia who was puzzled as she tilted her head, and he smiled before he immediately looked back at Princess Leica and Midas. ¡°I can dance it.¡± ¡°Oooh, is that true? You can dance the seventh swordsman¡¯s sword dance?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Jude answered confidently, and Midas turned to Princess Leica with a very excited look. ¡°Your Highness.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t tell me¡­ you want them to dance again but with Jude this time?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± She could see that a me was burning on Midas¡¯ eyes. Therefore, Princess Leica nodded instead of thinking about it more deeply. ¡°All right. It¡¯s been a long time since Midas has asked me to do something like this.¡± Because for Princess Leica, Midas was a father-like teacher and an adviser whom she had relied on for many years. So she now wanted to listen to whatever he wanted. ¡°Jude, can I ask you to dance it?¡± ¡°With pleasure.¡± Princess Leica was satisfied with Jude¡¯s answer again before she sent a nce to Vanessa, telling her to remove the soundproof magic barrier. ¡°The dance will be over in a little while. I shall tell them about it then.¡± And a minute or so passed. When the sword dance finally ended, the elves gave them a round of apuse. Princess Leica also stood up and pped before stepping forward and saying. ¡°It¡¯s an amazing dance. I can¡¯t help but admire it every time.¡± The swordsmen also smiled in delight at Princess Leica¡¯s praise, and the elves loudly apuded again. Especially Kelthur who enthusiastically responded, but his face seemed to be apuding Princess Leica rather than the swordsmen. ¡®He must have really liked it.¡¯ Princess Leica also affectionately looked at Kelthur before she immediately revealed her business. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve heard some of it already. The story of how human heroes helped me defeat Jabberwock.¡± Everyone¡¯s eyes naturally focused on Jude and Cordelia, and Princess Leica talked briefly about their performances. About Cordelia¡¯s boldness in persuading the Fairy Queen and Jude¡¯s bravery in defeating Jabberwock. ¡®T-this is embarrassing.¡¯ Fortunately, the negotiation process with the fairies turned into a made-up story because Princess Leica properly packaged it beautifully instead of telling them what actually happened. However, it was still embarrassing, so Cordelia¡¯s face turned red. And this appearance of Cordelia drew a pretty good response from the elves. Because the embarrassed Cordelia, as Jude had always imed, was very cute and adorable. ¡®Of course, it¡¯s not only that.¡¯ It could also be seen as her being humble. In any case, Princess Leica talked about the subjugation of Jabberwock, and praised the two before she continued. ¡°Count Jude August Bayer inherited the sword of Valencia, the Elf Sword. And surprisingly, he said that he knew of the Banquet of Spirits, the seventh sword dance that we had lost.¡± At her words, all the elves looked at Jude in astonishment. In particr, the swordsmen who did the sword dance seemed to be surprised. ¡°So I¡¯d like to make a suggestion. Why don¡¯t we perform the perfect Banquet of Spirits with the sword dance of the seventh swordsman added here?¡± What she meant was clear. Princess Leica turned to the swordsmen, and the swordsmen looked at each other before nodding their heads almost at the same time. The first swordsman, who was the representative, said as he bowed to Princess Leica. ¡°Rather, this is something we would like to ask for. We will follow the crown princess¡¯ will.¡± ¡°Thank you for your willingness to allow it, even though other races are not involved in the Banquet of Spirits.¡± Princess Leica softly responded and nced at Kelthur and his biological mother, Canaria Solfege, before looking back at Jude. ¡°Jude, do a sword dance with me in the future.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Highness.¡± Jude simply answered and stepped forward after taking the sword Midas gave him. ¡®Umm, will it be all right?¡¯ Valencia said that holding a sword is like having an affair. She won¡¯t yell at me and say that it¡¯s bad, right? No, she wouldn¡¯t have taught me the seventh sword dance if that¡¯s what she felt in the first ce. ¡®And¡­¡¯ For Jude, Cordelia was always the first ce. If Cordelia had heard him, she would get angry and ask what he was talking about, but she wouldn¡¯t be able to control the corners of her mouth from rising. Jude joined and naturally blended in with the swordsmen group. Seven people would dance a sword dance that the six had done earlier. Their group formation grew, and their movements also subtly changed. But Jude was not worried. To begin with, the Banquet of Spirits was a dance performed by seven people, so if they yed their roles properly, they would be able to perform a sword dance more naturally than when six people danced. ¡°Then, let¡¯s begin.¡± When the first swordsman spoke, Princess Leica sat down, and the band began to y again. ¡®At first, slowly.¡¯ Seven swordsmen, including Jude, slowly raised their swords. They began to dance to the music. ¡°Oooh.¡± ¡°It¡¯s true. It¡¯s the real Banquet of Spirits.¡± Voices of admiration spread among the elves. There was perfect harmony when six people performed, but when seven people did, it changed. The sword dance happening in front of them was truly in perfect harmony. But it was too early to admire it. The true value of the Banquet of Spirits was not just a perfect sword dance. ¡°Eh?¡± Cordelia with her good senses was the first to notice it. No visual changes had urred yet, but she could tell because she was sensitive to the flow of mana. The Banquet of Spirits was not just an ordinary dance. It was a kind of ritual to activate a great magic. And the change continued. Therefore, the elves including Princess Leica also realized it. ¡°Oooooh!¡± ¡°It¡¯s a spirit!¡± ¡°The spirits!¡± They did not just admire it. The elves raised their voices in their immense surprise, and some of them even stood up from their seats. Seven spirits had shared a vow to the descendants of Magen, the magic kingdom. Darkness spread. It covered the ss ceiling and became a night sky. Light rose. The moon and stars shone through the night sky, and each of the dancing swordsmen were engulfed in a soft light as if a spotlight shone on them. The Light Spirit and Darkness Spirit. Other spirits also appeared one after another. Green leaves bloomed among the trees that formed a part of the building, and a pleasant moisture spread across the banquet hall. The Earth Spirit and Water Spirit. And it continued. Beautiful mes danced under the darkness. A breeze from somewhere tickled everyone¡¯s ears. The Fire Spirit and Wind Spirit. Six spirits appeared. And the six of them were those who had interacted with the elves of the Forest of Eternity from the past up until the present. So the elves swallowed hard in nervousness. They felt their hearts pound loudly as they waited for the seventh spirit to appear. And at that moment. Just when the sword of the dancing Jude pointed to the sky. Boooom! The darkness broke at the roar. The ss ceiling shattered, and a harsh wind swept around. Thus, the sky was revealed. A bright light shone down the darkness that filled the banquet hall. And everyone could feel it. A mighty power was descending from the skies that was iparable to the six spirits that had appeared earlier. Light and Darkness, Wind and Fire, Earth and Water. The six spirits danced and bowed down. Excluding Jude, the six swordsmen unconsciously stepped back and bowed, and Jude who stood in the center of the stage, performed the final moves of the seventh swordsman. Worship. Homage. An attitude that a person weing a king would show. The music stopped. The entire elven pce radiated light and gave off the magic power it had umted. It was the price that was paid to call the king from the open skies. Then the wind blew again. A giant being finally appeared from that open sky. ¡°Aaah, aaaah!¡± Most of the elves including Midas, bowed in admiration. Princess Leica was also very surprised, and hesitated for a while before she bowed to greet the king. The Banquet of Spirits. A ritual to summon the seven spirits who made a vow with the elves of the Forest of Eternity led by the Prime royal family. But the situation had changed a bit this time. Because the seventh spirit, the King, who had not been called for many years due to the seventh sword dance being lost, had finally revealed himself. [Do your remember the vow?] A voice came from the sky. It was so magnificent and divine that it seemed to shake the entire world. Princess Leica struggled to catch her breath. As the crown princess of the elves, she raised her head and faced the Spirit King. Wrapped in a rough wind, he looked to be very strong and was in the shape of a huge man. But he was beautiful at the same time. Cordelia automatically thought of Zeus in Greek and Roman mythology. ¡°We remember. O King of the Seven Spirits. Thou who art one with the storm.¡± There were several spirits in the world. In the days of the magic kingdom, Magen, dozens of different spirits shared vows with the elves. And one of them. Among the seven spirits who continued their vows with the elves even after the destruction of Magen, he was the one who lead the most powerful spirits. The Spirit King of Storm and Lightning. He looked at Princess Leica. He looked down at all the elves before opening his mouth again. [I will continue the pledge. So I¡¯m going to sign a contract with one of you again.] All the elves became tense at the Spirit King¡¯s deration. Midas and Vanessa looked at Princess Leica, while Kelthur¡¯s mother, Viscountess Solfege, hurriedly nced at Kelthur. It was not an ordinary spirit but a contract with the Spirit King. Depending on who got the contract, the next elven monarch might change. Princess Leica slowly breathed. She courageously rose from her seat, and Kelthur rose from his seat too, being unable to ovee his mother¡¯s urging. The first and second in line to the throne. The elves swallowed hard in nervousness, and Midas red at Solfege¡¯s actions. And a strong wind blew. The Spirit King descended from the sky and stood at the banquet hall. In the form of a giant, he passed by Jude. He went towards Princess Leica without even giving Kelthur a nce. ¡®Ooooh!¡¯ Midas clenched his fist. Solfege looked very displeased, but there was nothing she could do. And Princess Leica tried to calm her pounding heart. She was honored that she bowed down again to the Spirit King who was walking towards her. ¡°O King of Storms and Lightning.¡± She said in a trembling voice. And the Spirit King passed by even such a crown princess. In the first ce, he had only been looking at one person the moment he descended. [You are the child with the most beautiful soul among everyone here. Your soul is like a storm. Only you will be able to handle me.] A pink-haired human girl stood among the elves. Cordelia stared at the Spirit King in a daze, and the Spirit King smiled. He raised Cordelia¡¯s chin with his big hand and asked her. [Would you like to sign a contract with me? Beautiful girl?] The Spirit King chose her. Cordelia blinked her eyes and saw Jude. She unconsciously smiled when she saw Jude¡¯s face that was both happy and a little angry. ¡®Hey, it¡¯s the Spirit King. Spirit King. It¡¯s not a human.¡¯ Jude furrowed his brows at Cordelia¡¯s nce, and nodded as if it couldn¡¯t be helped, and Cordelia tried to suppress herughter. Instead, she faced the Spirit King with a beautiful and bright smile. ¡°I will. O King of Storms and Lightning.¡± She slightly felt sorry for Princess Leica, but there was nothing she could do. The Spirit King had chosen her himself. [From this moment on, the pledge has been fulfilled.] The Spirit King answered with a smile and changed his appearance from a giant to a beautiful boy before he lightly kissed Cordelia¡¯s forehead. [My contractor, my girl.] The Spirit King whispered. But his words were heard by everyone. Cordelia nced at Jude, and awkwardly smiled when she saw his expression that she had expected. Chapter 226: Prime Royal Family (1)

Chapter 226: Prime Royal Family (1)

Jude was usually a rational person. He was a very rational, logical, and level-headed person who always calcted the profits and risks. But the Jude now was not that. Extreme anger. A state in which calction was impossible due to the blood rushing to his head. Jude¡¯s emotions began to suppress his reason. At the same time, a light like that of a wild beast began to shine in Jude¡¯s eyes. Unsurprisingly, Cordelia was the first to notice this change in Jude. So Cordelia couldn¡¯t help but panic. ¡®Hey, hey, hey! He just kissed my forehead! Just the forehead!¡¯ It didn¡¯t work. And some of the elves noticed the change in Jude. In fact, the Spirit King was one of the first to notice the change in Jude. ¡°Ho.¡± The Spirit King of Storms and Lightning who resembled Zeus then snorted at Jude¡¯s reaction instead of bing angry. He smiled as if he found it fun, so he tried to kiss Cordelia¡¯s forehead again. But it was at that moment. ¡°Hey, you should go back first.¡± [What?] ¡°Go back now.¡± The contract¡¯s been established, right? Then you should go now. Appeasing my Jude is a more urgent matter, okay? The Spirit King wasn¡¯t as good as Jude, but the moment he met eyes with Cordelia, he was able to understand what she wanted to say. He then blinked his eyes. He couldn¡¯t help it. [Hey, I¡¯m the Spirit King, okay?] ¡°Yes, so I¡¯ll see you next time.¡± We¡¯ve signed a contract, so let¡¯s call it a day. I will contact you next time. [No, I-] That was it. When his contractor, Cordelia, asked him to return, the reserve magic power in the royal pce also run out, so the Spirit King of Storms and Lightning eventually had no choice but to return to the spirit realm. And right after that. Jude quickly headed to the spot where the Spirit King had disappeared. He walked in big strides as if he was almost running. Jude then stood before Cordelia before she awkwardly smiled and said as she spread out her arms as naturally as possible. ¡°Yahoo! I signed a contract with the Spirit King! The Spirit King. Yes, the Spirit King. The King of Spirits. Yey, yey~ ¡± She even moved her arms up and down in joy, but it was a failure. Instead of rejoicing together, Jude ignored her words about the Spirit King and took out a handkerchief from his pocket before he began to wipe Cordelia¡¯s forehead. ¡°J-Jude?¡± You¡¯re ruining my makeup. But Jude wiped Cordelia¡¯s pretty forehead clean and then kissed it with his lips. He kissed it once. He kissed it again. And quietly kissed it again. Cordelia was stunned at his 3 consecutive kisses ¨C no, at his territorial marking, and quickly sent him a magic. [Umm, Jude? Well, this is just like those things you do in making contracts, okay? Like a pinky swear or a handshake¡­ Yes, that¡¯s right. Something like that.] But Jude just touched Cordelia¡¯s forehead with his lips again. So Cordelia stomped her feet repeatedly and sent him a magic again. [No! Ah, that¡¯s right! It¡¯s simr to a puppy licking their master¡¯s cheek! Something like that!] The Spirit King would have been furious if he had heard the words Cordelia had casually said, but her words still didn¡¯t work on Jude. Because Jude would have responded the same even if it was a puppy, but not to the extent as it was now. [Hey! Jude! HEY!] When Jude kissed her on the forehead for the fifth time, Cordelia pushed Jude¡¯s firm chest with both of her hands as she sent a magic again. [The skinship ban is still in effect, okay? If you keep doing this, I¡¯ll be angry ¨C no, I¡¯ll be really angry. So don¡¯t make me mad, and just do itter, okay? When it¡¯s only the two of us, okay?] Unlike Jude who only saw Cordelia because of the blood rushing to his head, Cordelia could see the surroundings very well. The elves were all staring at them. ¡®Wait a minute, is he doing this on purpose?¡¯ After all, this is Jude we¡¯re talking about. He¡¯s the Jude who wouldn¡¯t lose his temper just because of something trivial like this, right? But it wasn¡¯t the time to think about this or that. Moreover, the light of reason began to return in Jude¡¯s eyes as if her words had worked. ¡°When it¡¯s only the two of us.¡± ¡°Eh? Uh, yes. When it¡¯s only two of us¡­¡± Cordelia¡¯s face turned red and she bowed her head as she began to wiggle her fingers. On the other hand, Jude finally became able to see his surroundings, so he cleared his throat when he saw the elves looking at them in confusion, surprise, and speechlessness. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± How should we deal with this situation? It was not a problem that Jude had kissed Cordelia on the forehead while in front of others. They were engaged, so it was not a problem. The real problem was that Cordelia signed a contract with the Spirit King. ¡®The Spirit King of Storms and Lightning.¡¯ An existence that had never made a proper appearance in the game. But Jude recalled another being ¨C the Spirit King of Scorching Heat, who was on an equal level with the Spirit King of Storms and Lightning. If the yable character Red Wind chose the Spirit Warrior tech tree, she would encounter the Spirit King of Scorching Heat at the end. ¡®It¡¯s hard topletely summon it.¡¯ It was impossible to fully draw out the power of the Spirit King even with Red Wind¡¯s capabilities. Because it was such a great and powerful being. But the Spirit King chose Cordelia. He ignored all the elves in this ce. ¡®That b*stard has a good eye though.¡¯ Jude unconsciously thought that, but it was only for a short time. He immediately cleared all his thoughts and analyzed the situation. He tried to figure out on what had happened based on what the Spirit King said and the current situation. ¡®The Spirit King of Storms and Lightning had not signed a contract with the elves of the Forest of Eternity for a long time.¡¯ Princess Leica and Prince Kelthur had both wanted a contract with the Spirit King. They had a very close rtionship, but there was a political conflict because of their different biological mothers. The reason for the conflict was Solfege, the mother of Prince Kelthur. ¡®It¡¯s not the worst situation for both Princess Leica and Midas.¡¯ The worst situation for both of them was the Spirit King choosing Kelthur. ¡®So.¡¯ We can go over this situation smoothly. We can talk about it. Although the elves didn¡¯t make a contract with the Spirit King, they could still make contracts with ordinary spirits. ¡®Moreover.¡¯ Cordelia was now the contractor of the Spirit King. From the elves¡¯ perspective, she was no longer a being they could rudely treat. ¡®There¡¯s also the sword dance of the seventh swordsman.¡¯ Currently, the only person who could dance the seventh sword dance was Jude himself, so he had a lot of things he could trade with the elves. And it was then. The elves came to their senses and began to stir. Viscountess Solfege red at Princess Leica¡¯s side, and Kelthur stared at his sister with a confused face. And Princess Leica together with Midas approached Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Jude and Cordelia.¡± Princess Leica also looked very surprised and confused. Midas seemed to be a little upset. He was normally rational, but it was difficult for him with the current situation. Even if it was the Spirit King¡¯s choice, he couldn¡¯t help but feel like the Spirit King was taken away by a stranger, even more so, by a human. But Princess Leica was present here now, and despite her young age, she disyed behavior befitting that of royalty. [y along with me first.] Princess Leica sent a short magic, and approached the embarrassed Cordelia who was wiggling her fingers. The crown princess then raised Cordelia¡¯s hand and shouted. ¡°A contract with the Spirit King has been established! With this, we¡¯ll be able tomunicate again with the spirits of storms and lightning!¡± ¡°Yeeess, HURRAH!¡± When Vanessa signaled to some knights, some of them responded awkwardly, but all the elves soon apuded and cheered. [Let¡¯s talk about the detailster.] Princess Leica nced at Jude and Cordelia before she stepped forward as if to hide the two, and began to speak in order to draw the elves¡¯ attention. And at that time. Vanessa whispered in a small voice after she quickly approached Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Follow me.¡± Let¡¯s get out of here first. It was a proposal that they had no reason to refuse, so Jude and Cordelia nodded and followed her out of the banquet hall. ¡°Let me show you to your rooms first. If you wait there, Princess Leica will visit you.¡± Jude and Cordelia were invited to the royal pce as distinguished guests in the first ce. So it was natural that they had prepared rooms for the two. ¡°Umm¡­ Will something big happen?¡± Vanessa replied with a small smile at Cordelia¡¯s somewhat timid question. ¡°Yes, because you¡¯re both on the crown princess¡¯ side.¡± Because they were on Princess Leica¡¯s side and not Kelthur¡¯s. It was something political, but Jude and Cordelia didn¡¯t object to it so they hurriedly followed Vanessa. ¡°Wow.¡± She couldn¡¯t see it properly because she was distracted back then, but she could now see that the elven pce that was one with nature was very beautiful and magnificent. Cordelia sincerely admired it before she turned to Jude and breathed a sigh of relief without realizing it. Because Jude hadpletely gone back to his usual self. ¡®Anyway.¡¯ He was very jealous. So a smile naturally spread on Cordelia¡¯s face. She also snickered. ¡°We¡¯ve arrived.¡± After entering the room with Vanessa, Cordelia was in awe again. She could see the royal capital outside the big round window, and it was so white and beautiful that it felt like she was seeing doll houses. And the interior of the room was not ordinary too. Because the furniture were made by processing trees rooted in the floor rather than cutting down trees, so it gave the furniture a very mysterious feeling. The light shining down the ss ceiling and illuminating the room also gave it an exquisite feel. ¡°Please rest for now.¡± Vanessa slightly winked at them before she closed the door and left. Cordelia then sat down on the big bed in the middle of the room. ¡°Haaa.¡± A sigh of relief came out naturally. Because she felt that she had somehow escaped the situation now. There was the Spirit King¡¯s unexpected contract, Jude¡¯s jealousy exploding, and even the confused elves. ¡°Eueueue.¡± Her body rxed now that the tension was gone. Cordelia lied down on her side and closed her eyes. And within a moment. ¡°Hehehe.¡± Spirit King. I signed a contract with the Spirit King. I made a vow with the Spirit King of Storms and Lightning. Cordelia felt better as she giggled, and she lied on her back, kicking and trembling in her excitement. ¡®I didn¡¯t even chose the Spirit Arts tech tree.¡¯ But I now have the Spirit King. If I was a warrior, it¡¯s like suddenly picking up a divine sword in the starter vige. ¡°Hehehe.¡± Anyway, she felt good. She couldn¡¯t stop the corners of her mouth from raising upwards. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes, Jude.¡± Cordelia who was lying down then opened her eyes, and Jude sat down beside her and said. ¡°Do you remember?¡± ¡°Remember?¡± ¡°There¡¯s¡­ only the two of us here.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± Cordelia blinked her eyes, and her face soon turned red. Because she recalled her words in the banquet hall. ¡®Do itter when it¡¯s only the two of us.¡¯ Is that it? Is that what I said? ¡°W-wait.¡± Seriously, wait. But it was useless. When she came to her senses, she was already cornered. Cordelia was lying down, and Jude was sitting as he leaned down his body over Cordelia. ¡°Cordelia.¡± Jude softly whispered and lowered his head. He kissed the forehead of Cordelia who froze and stopped breathing when she was ¡®captured.¡¯ Gulp. The moment his lips touched her forehead, Cordelia swallowed her saliva. She unconsciously exhaled her breath. Jude then caressed Cordelia¡¯s cheek. He caressed Cordelia¡¯s warm and soft cheek with his cold and big hand as he stared at her. Cordelia let out a hot breath again, and slowly closed her eyes as her lips twitched. ¡°Cordelia.¡± Jude called her name again. Cordelia waited as she let down her shoulders instead of calming her pounding heart. But it was at that moment. ¡°Uh¡­ Should Ie backter?¡± They heard the voice of Princess Leica. She had asked with a slightly sorry face as she appeared from a secret passage on the wall and not from the door, and Jude lowered his head. He couldn¡¯t help it. ¡°Princess Leica, even you.¡± Are you trying to rece Scarlet since she¡¯s not here? Jude murmured some words that only Cordelia could understand before he stood up. Cordelia then sat up with an indescribable expression. And as Princess Leica faced the eyes of the two who looked at her with a bit of resentment, she awkwardly smiled and said. ¡°Umm¡­ First of all, I¡¯m sorry.¡± Jude coldly looked at Princess Leica, and Cordelia groaned as she raised her hands and covered her own face. Sorry, Princess Leica, but I seriously hate you now. Chapter 227: Prime Royal Family (2)

Chapter 227: Prime Royal Family (2)

My apologies for not posting yesterday. As some of you might have guessed, I was busy with Genshin yesterday¡­ehehe. Anyway, we got jealous Judest episode, so it¡¯s Cordelia¡¯s turn now. Next episode will be thest chapter of this elf mini-arc, but it¡¯s quite long, so expect some possible dys again. But don¡¯t worry, I personally find 228 as one of the funniest episodes of this series, so please look forward to it. ¡°Ahem, ahem. Then, shall we begin our conversation now?¡± Three people sat around a round table in the room. Princess Leica, Jude, and Cordelia. Unlike Princess Leica who was still smiling despite the awkwardness, Jude did not hide his dissatisfaction while Cordelia was feeling resentful and embarrassed. Anyway, it was impossible to reverse the situation. So Princess Leica continued to speak, ignoring the atmosphere around her. ¡°As you may have already guessed, amotion has urred. Because the Spirit King has appeared. Ynix, the Spirit King of Storms and Lightning. It had already been 500 years since the seventh sword dance was lost, so it was the first time for most of the elves to see the Spirit King in person. ¡®But that doesn¡¯t mean they couldn¡¯t meet other Spirit Kings.¡¯ The Spirit Kings were kings after all, so it wasn¡¯t easy to meet them. Aside from their status, summoning them was also difficult. ¡°It seems to me that the Spirit King has never appeared, even if the sword dance was performed.¡± Though he was still dissatisfied, Jude listened to Princess Leica and continued their conversation. Princess Leica was relieved by this and nodded her head. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s usually an ordinary Storm Spirit or Lightning Spirit that have appeared in the past.¡± ¡°Eh? So you haven¡¯t seen a Spirit King, Your Highness?¡± When Cordelia¡¯s eyes widened in surprise, Princess Leica replied with a bitter smile. ¡°It has been a long time since the seventh sword dance was lost¡­ I don¡¯t know how old you think I am, but I¡¯m actually still quite young.¡± Cordelia furrowed her brows at Princess Leica¡¯s response. Not because she didn¡¯t like the answer, but because she was curious. ¡®How old are you then?¡¯ You seem to be really young based on the way you talk. But since you¡¯re an elf, are you around a hundred years old? ¡°Moving on¡­ So aside from Cordelia¡¯s contract with the Spirit King, it seems like my knowledge of the sword dance is of high value to you.¡± Jude said in a lowered voice, and Princess Leica frowned as if she had been stabbed at her sore spot. She then nodded her head. ¡°You¡¯re right. First of all, the fact that the Banquet of Spirits has been restored is important. Being able tomunicate with the spirits of storm and lightning that had been cut off once is highly valuable in itself. And well¡­ If I say this, Midas will get angry, but since there¡¯s only us here, I¡¯ll say it¡­ Anyway, even among the previous royalty, you could barely count in your hand those who had signed a contract with the Spirit King.¡± The fact that they couldn¡¯t sign a contract with the Spirit King wasn¡¯t a big problem. The problem was that Cordelia, a human, signed a contract with the Spirit King, but there was also a solution to that. ¡°That¡¯s why, I¡¯ll be praising you a lot in the future.¡± ¡°Praise?¡± ¡°Yes, something like that. Something like exaggerating the facts, I think? I¡¯ll make you into an amazing person.¡± Because it was much better than saying that the Spirit King was stolen by some random ordinary people. A person worthy enough to be chosen by the Spirit King. Something that justified that person signing a contract with the Spirit King. ¡°The two of you will leave this forest anyway.¡± If Cordelia had been an elf, the situation would have been a little different. Because Cordelia might be excessively deified and gain followers. And that would pose a threat to Princess Leica¡¯s authority. But Cordelia was a human who would have to leave the Forest of Eternity eventually. [Jude, can we let her do that?] [It¡¯s fine. There are many cases in history where people get praised after their deaths even though they were seen as apetitor when alive, right? For their enemies, it¡¯ll be fine if the dead person was given awards or honor since the person wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything with those awards since they¡¯re already dead anyway.] A ssic example was King Seonjo who originally struggled to undermine Yi Sun-sin¡¯s military achievements to somehow keep Yi Sun-sin in check during the Japanese Invasion of Korea in 1592, but changed his attitude when Yi Sun-sin died. [Hmm, I see.] Cordelia didn¡¯t know about any historical examples, but she nodded her head because his words made sense to some extent. And Princess Leica spoke again. ¡°To sum it up, I want you two to match my words. I¡¯ll hand over the settings I¡¯ve made sometime tomorrow.¡± ¡°Setting?¡± ¡°Yes. Oh, I¡¯ll listen to you too, of course. It would be much more usible to mix in a little bit of truth.¡± Princess Leica broadly smiled as if she found it fun, but Cordelia thought as she narrowed her brows. ¡®She¡¯s like Jude.¡¯ No, Jude is better than her, I think? But it was at that moment. ¡°We understand. If that¡¯s the case, our side will actively cooperate with you.¡± Cordelia flinched when Jude replied with a dark smile, but Princess Leica was delighted and breathed in relief because it was the first time she had seen Jude smile ever since she had entered this room. ¡°You have my gratitude.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. Let¡¯s continue our discussion then.¡± Jude still had a stern attitude, but Princess Leica continued with a small smile as if this was enough for her. ¡°Regarding the Spirit King¡­ Cordelia, can you summon the Spirit King?¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­ I haven¡¯t tried to do it yet.¡± ¡°Have you ever signed a contract with a spirit before?¡± ¡°No.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s answer, Princess Leica had a bitter smile as if she had expected it, and then she slightly moved her hand. A wind seemed to blow from Princess Leica¡¯s fingertips, and soon, a wind spirit in the form of a cute little girl appeared. ¡°Wow.¡± It was like a fairy. The wind spirit seemed to have the same butterfly wings as that of fairies. ¡°It¡¯s not difficult to summon the spirit itself once a contract is made. Unless you and the spirit have a falling-out.¡± Princess Leica moved her hand again to unsummon the wind spirit before she turned to Cordelia. ¡°You have just signed a contract with the Spirit King, so I don¡¯t think you and the spirit are on bad terms already, but there is one more problem when ites to summoning the Spirit King.¡± ¡°Is it mana?¡± Princess Leica nodded when Cordelia answered reflexively. ¡°Yes, mana. Because it requires a tremendous amount of mana to just summon it.¡± At this point, Cordelia seemed to understand what Princess Leica was talking about. To summarize, she was asking Cordelia if she had enough mana to summon the Spirit King. ¡®Now that I think of it, it was like that at that time, huh?¡¯ When she thought about it, it was only after Red Wind reached the final tech tree in the game was she able to summon the Spirit King of Scorching Heat. In short, it was like the ultimate skill that max level yers could get. ¡°Please wait. I will try to summon it.¡± Cordelia quickly spoke and closed her eyes as she tried to summon the Spirit King of Storms and Lightning. When she called out the name of the spirit imprinted in her head at the time of the vow, she could clearly feel the existence of Spirit King Ynix, but that was it. And Cordelia understood the reason why. ¡®It¡¯s not enough.¡¯ Her mana was seriouslycking. Even if she hadn¡¯t reached the level of Count Chase, an Archwizard, she was still someone who surpassed the magic power of Adelia, one of the Royal Guard Magic Corps¡¯manders. But even with Cordelia¡¯s magic power, it was still impossible for her topletely summon the Spirit King. ¡°As I thought, it¡¯s impossible, huh.¡± It was as Princess Leica had expected. Even the high elves, whose magical power were superior to humans, had to raise their mana capacity for hundreds of years or more before they could summon the Spirit King. So it was impossible for a human child, who would only live for a few decades, to have enough mana to summon the Spirit King. ¡®On the contrary, this is actually better.¡¯ She had mentioned this and that from the beginning, but if Cordelia was really able to summon the Spirit King, it would have been politically difficult. ¡®Because she¡¯s a human¡­ It¡¯s probably impossible for her to summon it during her entire life.¡¯ Princess Leica breathed in relief again, but she soon felt sorry for Cordelia. Even though Cordelia had signed a contract with the Spirit King, she couldn¡¯t summon the Spirit King because of herck of mana. She wouldn¡¯t be able to summon him even if she tried because of the limitations of her race¡¯s lifespan. It was simply a pitiful fate. But Jude and Cordelia were thinking differently. [What? Your mana¡¯s not enough?] [Yes, it¡¯s not enough.] [Will it still be not enough if you transform into Angel mode? Or a witch?] [Well, I think it¡¯s still not enough.] [Then¡­ will raising your angel rank do it?] Because Cordelia was an angel and not an ordinary human. [That¡¯s why I want to hurry up. Jude, if we defeat Malekith, the Dragon Heart is mine, okay?] [Hey, as I said before, Malekith is an ancient dragon, okay?] [But we¡¯ll defeat him anyway, right?] [Well, that¡¯s true.] It was a powerful enemy that must be defeated in order to achieve the perfect happy ending. [And¡­ uh, that is. I¡¯ll tell you about itter.] [Have you thought of a way?] [Hehe, that¡¯s still a secret.] Cordelia giggled and turned to Princess Leica. ¡°Anyway, we understand, Your Highness. Thank you very much for telling us about this and that.¡± ¡°Eh? Oh, yes¡­¡± Far from being disappointed, Cordelia had a big smile, so Princess Leica was surprised. She then looked at Cordelia with warm eyes. ¡®She¡¯s a kind girl.¡¯ You¡¯re not showing your disappointment in front of me and Jude even if it¡¯s hard for you. I misunderstood you when I saw you, uh, threatening the fairies, but you¡¯re actually a nice child. ¡°Your Highness?¡± ¡°Ah, yes. That¡¯s right. Don¡¯t be too disappointed. Since you¡¯ve signed a contract with the Spirit King¡­. it will be easier for you to sign a contract with spirits of the same kind.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Highness.¡± When Cordelia answered nicely, Princess Leica smiled happily again before looking back at Jude and saying. ¡°And Jude, I want to ask you a favor.¡± ¡°Are you talking about the seventh sword dance?¡± ¡°Yes, it is as you said. I want you to pass on the seventh sword dance to us elves.¡± One would normally say, ¡®Yes, I understand,¡¯ but not for Jude. Instead of answering immediately, Jude was silent for a while, and Princess Leica understood the meaning of his silence since she was a crown princess. ¡°Don¡¯t worry aboutpensation. I¡¯ll reward you generously.¡± ¡°I understand. We¡¯ll discuss thatter then.¡± You keep saying that you¡¯ll reward us, but you have yet to tell us what you¡¯ll be giving. In fact, it was rare for Jude to reveal his innermost thoughts like this, but perhaps because of what happened earlier, his reaction was more harsh than usual. But Princess Leica was very pleased with the fact that Jude had epted it. ¡°Okay, then I¡¯ll talk more about it tomorrow.¡± There were a few more things to talk about besides the setting and the sword dance. When Princess Leica got up from her seat, Jude and Cordelia also stood up, but she waved her hand as if saying that it was not needed, and said. ¡°You can remain seated. And as for what you were doing before¡­ uh, you can continue doing that.¡± Princess Leica blushed at the end before she turned around and hurriedly left the room. And the two were left. Jude wanted to put into action what Princess Leica had said, but not for Cordelia. Instead of having reddened cheeks because of embarrassment, she turned to Jude with slightly narrowed eyes. ¡°Hey, Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± ¡°How did you know all of these?¡± About the Banquet of Spirits, the seven swordsmen, and the seventh sword dance. Normally, Cordelia would have eximed, ¡®JudeWiki is amazing!¡¯, but it was different this time. The three things mentioned above were things that had never appeared in the game. ¡°How did you know?¡± Cordelia asked again as she intensely stared at Jude with her blue eyes. In terms of knowledge, Cordelia might be less than Jude, but in terms of instinct and intuition, she was far better than Jude. So instead of uselessly lying, Jude told her the truth. ¡°The sword spirit taught me.¡± ¡°Sword spirit? Of Sword Origin? Do the Ultimate series have sword spirits in them?¡± ¡°Uh, I just found out when we became one.¡± His answer was somewhat strange, but it was true. Cordelia urged him with her eyes to continue, and Jude said as he scratched his chin. ¡°The sword spirit of Sword Origin is Valencia, the Elf Sword. The first owner of Sword Origin and a powerful swordsman in the past¡­ Also a member of the Prime royal family and a high elf.¡± At Jude¡¯s exnation, Cordelia blinked her eyes and asked. ¡°Then, is the sword spirit still there? Since it¡¯s a sword spirit, it lives in the sword¡­ Wait a minute, is it living in your body then?¡± Sword Origin was a sword that became one with the user as soon as it was equipped. Jude hesitated to answer Cordelia¡¯s question, but he eventually came up with an answer. ¡°Well, you see, that is true¡­ but the sword spirit is normally asleep. It¡¯s not awake, okay? It¡¯s like it doesn¡¯t wake up unless you call them.¡± ¡°Can you talk to it when you¡¯re awake? Can they watch the conversation we¡¯re having now?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like that. Our conversations only happen in something like an imaginary world, so it only happens in my mind.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Is that so?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s like that.¡± ¡°Is the sword spirit very pretty?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Is it pretty?¡± Cordelia was brightly smiling but Jude could tell. Unlike her smiling lips, her eyes weren¡¯t smiling at all. Because she was like a beast staring at her prey. Jude swallowed hard. He slowly opened his mouth and realized that his back had somehow began to get wet from sweat. ¡°That¡­¡± ¡°Yes, that what?¡± ¡°She is pretty? But in my eyes, no, even if I look at it objectively, you¡¯re the prettier one.¡± As Jude said while sweating, Cordelia narrowed her eyes and only heard the words she wanted to hear. ¡°So she¡¯s pretty. And she¡¯s a woman.¡± Oh sh*t. Now that I think of it, Cordelia doesn¡¯t know yet if Valencia is a woman or not. But what I just said now made it clear that it¡¯s a woman, no, I pretty much confirmed it. ¡°Hmph, I see. Jude¡¯s sword spirit is a woman. In addition, she¡¯s pretty. The two of you secretly meet in your mind.¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s not it. Countess August Chase?¡± ¡°You even became one with her, right? Wow, unbelievable. You truly merged with her. Jude has merged with Valencia. You merged with a woman other than me.¡± ¡°E-excuse me?¡± Isn¡¯t your choice of words a bit strange? ¡°So Jude will merge with anyone. That¡¯s the kind of man he is.¡± It was a checkmate. No matter what Jude would say here, he would only be seen as trash in the end. But it was then. Cordelia who had been coldly staring at him suddenly burst intoughter and began tough out loud while holding her stomach. ¡°Look at you getting flustered. Was it a bull¡¯s-eye? Is that it?¡± Cordelia raising her voice at the end was very cute, but it was unpleasant at the same time too. ¡°Hehehe, I won again today.¡± ¡°Wait, what exactly did you win?¡± ¡°I won, I won.¡± Cordeliaughed at whatever Jude had said, and then asked as she leaned her back against the chair. ¡°Anyway, I have a sword spirit too, right? Grand Order is also an Ultimate series.¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve asked about it before, and it seems like it¡¯s a cute girl.¡± ¡°Ah, that¡¯s too bad. It would have been nice if it was a charming guy.¡± ¡°Miss Cordelia?¡± ¡°Why? Mister Jude who merges with anyone?¡± ¡°Ugh.¡± It was an unwinnable fight. Aren¡¯t you the one who always called piggyback rides as ¡®merging¡¯ though? ¡®Anyway, this doesn¡¯t make any sense.¡¯ Even if Cordelia¡¯s intuition is amazing, this is a bit too much. Jude tried to regain hisposure and said again. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯ll teach you how to do it. But as Valencia said, the sword spirit will remain sleeping unless something special happens, so it may not work.¡± ¡°Why was Valencia awake?¡± ¡°Because of swordsmanship.¡± Jude briefly narrated his conversation with Valencia, and Cordelia nodded her head. ¡°Ah, so that¡¯s why you were fighting a bit differently.¡± Because Jude¡¯s way of fighting now was more like swordsmanship rather than martial art skills. ¡°Okay. Then I¡¯ll try to meditate too.¡± Cordelia answered cheerfully before she corrected her posture and closed her eyes while holding the handle of Grand Order. And a few secondster. ¡®It¡¯s¡­ already toote to finish what we were doing earlier.¡¯ I have no choice but to postpone it for next time. Jude smiled bitterly and sat across Cordelia before closing his eyes. Likewise, he began to talk to the sword spirit. *** ¡°Did your conversation go well?¡± Princess Leica nodded at Midas¡¯ question. ¡°Yes, it somehow went well. He will teach us the seventh sword dance tomorrow. And as expected, Cordelia is unable to summon the Spirit King.¡± This was a satisfactory result for Princess Leica, but not for Midas. ¡°Is it impossible to transfer the Spirit King¡¯s contract?¡± ¡°Midas, that¡¯s impossible. The Spirit King chose Cordelia. It¡¯s not something that we can easily transfer like paper contracts, right?¡± ¡°Uuuh¡­¡± In fact, Midas was aware of that. But it was not easy for him to maintain hisposure since this was about the Spirit King and not anyone else. ¡°Anyway, isn¡¯t this better than having Kelthur be chosen?¡± ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± Princess Leica and Kelthur had a very close rtionship, but nevertheless, the two were still the first and second in line to the throne. Even if the two didn¡¯t have any thoughts ofpeting against each other, things might still happen depending on what the people around them thought. ¡®I don¡¯t think Solfege has given up yet.¡¯ Princess Leica recalled Kelthur¡¯s mother and sighed before she looked at Midas again. ¡°Anyway, it already happened. So stop thinking about the Spirit King and move on.¡± ¡°¡­I understand.¡± Midas seemed reluctant to answer, but he was someone who kept his words once he said it. Therefore, Princess Leica smiled and said. ¡°Moving on, shouldn¡¯t we be grateful to the two? Thanks to them, we defeated Jabberwock and got the Banquet of Spirits back.¡± ¡°I¡¯m worried on how we¡¯ll reward them.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. I think we should reward them generously.¡± To sum it up, the two had made huge contributions one after another in just two days. They saved Princess Leica¡¯s life, defeated Jabberwock, and restored the sword dance that had been lost for a long time. ¡°Well, should giving them this country be enough? Should I bestow Jude the position of ¡®my lover¡¯?¡± When Princess Leica said that with a yful smile, Midas nodded his head seriously. ¡°It¡¯s worth considering.¡± It was rare for elves to have an offspring, so they didn¡¯t have a marriage culture. That was why Princess Leica¡¯s mother and Kelthur¡¯s mother were nobles with their own titles and not queens. ¡°What do you think, Your Highness?¡± It was the moment when Midas seriously asked. ¡°Your Highness!¡± Vanessa appeared as soon as the door was opened, and she hurriedly spoke without even giving a courteous greeting first. ¡°His Majesty The King has awakened.¡± ¡°My father?¡± ¡°Yes, he just woke up now!¡± Vanessa said that with a wide smile, and Princess Leica was filled with joy. Midas was also pleased as he clenched his fists. Grave Prime, the leader of the High Elves who led the elves of the Forest of Eternity. He had been asleep for a long time, but he finally woke up. Why? Maybe summoning the Spirit King had an effect on him? ¡°Let¡¯s hurry.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Highness.¡± With the smiling Vanessa leading the way, Princess Leica and Midas hurried out of the room and headed for the king¡¯s residence. And at the same time. At apletely different ce. Two people were heading out of the royal capital with their horses besides each other. One was Count Bayer, one of the Ten Great Swordmasters and the new Sword Saint of Wind, and the other was Count Chase, one of the Northern Sagang and the Tower Master of the Red Dawn Tower. ¡°Because we can¡¯t just sit back and wait.¡± Their children had run away at night (because of love) in a situation where the royal family¡¯s attention was focused on them. They didn¡¯t understand why their children who were already engaged kept running away at night, but it was impossible for the two counts to sit by idly as their children acted as if they were on a honeymoon. Because the two were no longer just children from the 12 northern families, but heroes of the kingdom that the S?len royal family paid attention to. ¡°Is it south this time?¡± It was northst time. Count Bayer had a bitter smile and turned to Count Chase who snorted before fixing the reins and saying. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go.¡± To catch their runaway children. To go after Count August Bayer and Countess August Chase, their children. The two counts turned their heads along the north wind and pulled their horses¡¯ reins. Their horses ran like the wind towards the south. Chapter 228: Rushing

Chapter 228: Rushing

It¡¯s finally here. Be prepared for ero? ???? Terms used in this episode: A thousand changes and a myriad of variations ¨C a Chinese idiom that means something that is ever-changing or have countless variations. But in this episode, it can be read in both its literal and idiomatic meaning. Jude actually needed some time to organize things. Because he had gained a lot of things in a short period of time after they left the royal capital, or to be exact, after the decisive battle in the royal capital. ¡®From the sixth door to Ultimate One, and even a new swordsmanship style.¡¯ In particr, he needed time to learn the new swordsmanship. Even if Jude had Cheonmujiche, he still needed to train the so-called skill level of the things he newly acquired. ¡®Valencia.¡¯ Jude called Valencia¡¯s name as he closed his eyes and focused on his consciousness. He had already done it once, so he was able to call Valencia much faster than before. ¡°You came, my sessor.¡± The Valencia who appeared in front of him looked quite excited than before. Did something exciting ¨C no, did something interesting happen? ¡®She said that she¡¯s usually asleep all the time.¡¯ But there was a reason for her to stay awake this time. ¡°My sessor, I¡¯ve developed it to some extent. Eh? Yes, I developed it.¡± Valencia said as her toes wiggled. It seemed like she was holding herself back from jumping up. ¡®If it was Cordelia, she would have already jumped up from her spot.¡¯ No, she would have hopped. ¡®Now that I see it, she¡¯s barefoot.¡¯ Jude looked at Valencia¡¯s feet before raising his head. He smiled as he saw her brightly shining green eyes that seemed to be even sparkling. ¡°Are you talking aboutbining the Supreme Sun Divine Art to your swordsmanship?¡± ¡°You¡¯re both right and wrong. The Supreme Sun Divine Art is a martial arts based on swordsmanship in the first ce.¡± It was as she said. Landius was a swordsman after all. He was suspected of being a swordless swordsman just like Jude now, but at the time of the first episode of Legend of Heroes, he used swordsmanship with the Supreme Sun Divine Art. ¡°Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors can integrate with anything. However, you did not use a sword at first, so your current Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors is more like fist fighting than swordsmanship. Therefore, it became necessary tobine the Supreme Sun Divine Art¡¯s swordsmanship and Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, and the other swordsmanship styles that my sessor had learned so far in order to create a new swordsmanship style.¡± Doing such work would make anyone feel dizzy, but for Valencia, it was exhrating. She continued with a wide smile. ¡°The Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors and Supreme Sun Divine Art are both amazing. And the other swordsmanship styles that my sessor has somehow learned are quite extraordinary and interesting.¡± He blinked his eyes as he didn¡¯t know what she was talking about at that moment, but he soon understood it. Valencia was talking about the ¡®Sword of Wind¡¯ which was Count Bayer¡¯s swordsmanship, and Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword. Jude didn¡¯t know much about the two, but he was familiar with parts of it. ¡°Anyway, I will teach you from now on. I¡¯m sure you will also be happy.¡± Jude smiled unconsciously when he saw Valencia¡¯s flushed cheeks, and he nodded his head. Valencia¡¯s joy somehow made him feel better too. ¡°But my sessor. Before I begin, I want to ask you a question.¡± ¡°Yes, please ask away.¡± As Jude answered calmly, Valencia put her hands on her waist and had a mischievous expression as she asked. ¡°My sessor, what do you think are the advantages and disadvantages when you use swordsmanship with Sword Origin?¡± The advantages and disadvantages that ur when fist fighting techniques are used like swordsmanship. Or rather, the pros and cons of being able to use sword techniques together with fist fighting techniques. ¡®I can tell the disadvantages right away.¡¯ First of all, the reach is short. Meaning the attack range is decreased because of the weapon¡¯s length. Then what are the advantages? ¡®First is speed?¡¯ Because bare hands were faster than weapons. Weapons were heavy and it also took some time to manipte them. Of course, thetter was not a significant difference at the level of an ordinary human, but this was Pleiades, a world where superhumans existed. Even the slightest difference could determine one¡¯s life and death. ¡®But that¡¯s just the advantage of fist fighting techniques. As for the advantages of using swordsmanship along with fist fighting¡­¡¯ ¡°Flexibility.¡± That word immediately came out of his mouth the moment he thought of it. And at his answer, Valencia smiled brightly. ¡°Yes, speed and flexibility.¡± Sword Origin allowed its user to treat their limbs like swords. In other words, it was possible to reduce one¡¯s movement and respond faster than when using a sword to block or deflect enemy attacks. The same went for attacks. ¡®All of that is about speed.¡¯ What about flexibility then? ¡°Flexibility in attacking because you¡¯re using all your limbs, right?¡± Normally, it was necessary to avoid the enemy¡¯s weapons when one used fist fighting techniques, but that didn¡¯t apply to Sword Origin. For this reason, a person could carry out as many attacks as they could that they would have normally not thought of when they used fist fighting techniques or swordsmanship. ¡°That¡¯s correct. But there is one more thing. Think about it a little more.¡± At Valencia¡¯s urging, Jude furrowed his brows and thought hard, and he soon found an answer. Because Valencia kept wiggling her fingers. ¡°The free use of your hands?¡± ¡°Correct!¡± Valencia was unable to hold it in this time and finally jumped up from her spot. She pped her hands and continued. ¡°You¡¯re not just fighting with a sword-like hand. Because you can do much more with your hands.¡± It wasn¡¯t just about using one¡¯s fist and palm. One could really do anything with their hands. With a real de, it was impossible to use techniques that did not cut the enemy, such as punching and grabbing techniques. But it was possible to do so with Sword Origin. ¡°A thousand changes and a myriad of variations.¡± Valencia gracefully spread out her hands and continued with a picturesque smile. ¡°Now then, shall we be enchanted together?¡± Let¡¯s learn swordsmanship together. Valencia took a deep breath and assumed a basic posture, and Jude smiled at her strange choice of words before nodding his head. ¡°I¡¯ll be in your care.¡± ¡°All right, my sessor.¡± Valencia firmly answered and raised her hand. They began training in earnest. *** The next morning. Vanessa reappeared in front of Jude and Cordelia who only meditated all night in the room. She came with an elf whom they had never seen before. ¡°This is Carnelia from the Bellias family. She is the swordsman who will learn the seventh sword dance.¡± ¡°I am Carnelia Bellias. It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you.¡± At Vanessa¡¯s introduction, a tall and slim female elf greeted them with a big smile. She had red hair that was quite rare for elves who were mostly blonde, and she gave off a very energetic feeling. ¡°I look forward to working with you.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you.¡± Cordelia greeted her after Jude, and then turned to Vanessa and asked as if she had suddenly remembered something. ¡°What about Princess Leica?¡± ¡°Her Royal Highness is a little busy right now.¡± Vanessa replied with a grin. Cordelia thought that it was natural for Princess Leica to be busy since she was the crown princess, but she felt that Vanessa¡¯s smile implied something more than that. ¡®Did something happen?¡¯ I don¡¯t think something bad happened though. Cordelia¡¯s unique gut feeling was telling her something, but she didn¡¯t pry any further. She didn¡¯t know if it was a bad thing, but she thought that it was a nuisance to stick her head into something trivial. ¡°I shall guide you to the training area. I believe that it would be difficult to use swordsmanship here.¡± Vanessa had spoken to them informally when they had first met, but after Jude and Cordelia were officially invited to the royal pce, she had begun to speak to them respectfully. ¡®No, I think it was the time after I signed a contract with the Spirit King.¡¯ Ever since they were guided to the room, Vanessa had begun to use respectful words to them. ¡®The Spirit King is amazing, huh.¡¯ From Cordelia¡¯s perspective, it was like the final boss became her summon, but not for the elves. The Spirit King was like a pir of the world that kept the bnce of the world just by its very existence. So it was natural for them to be polite to Cordelia who had been chosen by the Spirit King, regardless of whether she could summon him or not. ¡°This way please.¡± Vanessa guided them to an outdoor training area. It was like a ser field as there was grass on a wide open area. ¡°Are we doing it here?¡± The sword dance used in the Banquet of Spirits was usually passed down to only one person. Though Valencia didn¡¯t seem to have strictly followed that rule since she had learned it. ¡°Yes, the seventh sword dance was lost in the first ce because of that rule, so we¡¯ve decided to pass it down to many people this time.¡± After all, in a way, it was just a sword dance. Jude was convinced and immediately began to teach Carnelia the seventh sword dance, and Cordelia was dazed for a moment before she followed Vanessa and sat in a sunny ce to watch the two. And time passed. Other elves began to appear one by one in the training area, and everyone seemed to be interested in Jude. ¡°The story of the punitive force must have spread.¡± The story on how Jude fought and how they defeated Jabberwock. At Vanessa¡¯s exnation, Cordelia smiled and puffed up her chest. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Yes, he¡¯s very amazing. Very enchanting. He¡¯s¡­ahem, ahem, very charming. Jude would have liked it if he had seen her raise her chin and tried to clear her throat because it looked cute, but Vanessa only tilted her head. ¡°Lady Cordelia? Are you feeling sick?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not that¡­hehehe.¡± Instead of exining it to her, Cordelia justughed and asked again as she raised her chin. ¡°Jude is on the strong side even among the elves, right?¡± ¡°Yes, and it¡¯s quite unique that he can do swordsmanship with his bare hands. Isn¡¯t he special even among the humans?¡± ¡°Yes, Jude and his master are quite special.¡± Landius didn¡¯t have something like the Sword Origin, but it seemed like he could also do what Sword Origin could do. After all, he was Landius. ¡®Maybe he¡¯s no longer human at this point?¡¯ It was hard to imagine someone else stronger than Landius. ¡°Oh, it looks like they¡¯re going to have a spar.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± Cordelia was surprised and looked back in front again, and she saw Jude and an elven knight assuming a basic fighting posture. Carnelia who had been learning the sword dance was now heading to Cordelia¡¯s side. ¡°Carnelia. Did they request for a spar?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve learned all the basic movements, so I¡¯m taking a break for a while. Everyone seems to be very interested in Master.¡± When Carnelia responded with a wide smile in response to Vanessa¡¯s question, Cordelia puffed up her chest again and said. ¡°He is my Jude after all.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I mean, um¡­ anyway. Is everyone interested in Jude?¡± It was just a repetition of Carnelia¡¯s words, but Carnelia replied with a bright smile. ¡°Yes. I¡¯ve only learned from him for two hours but¡­ he¡¯s really not an ordinary person. He has a deep understanding of swordsmanship. In particr, he has a really nice body.¡± Cordelia was pleased as she listened and nodded her head, but she paused at the other¡¯sst words and blinked her eyes. ¡°A nice body?¡± ¡°Yes, isn¡¯t it really nice? He has a firm chest, thick forearms, and in particr, his thighs and waist¡­ hehehe.¡± Cordelia blinked her eyes again. Did she just giggle at the end? Did I hear her wrong? Cordelia suddenly became alert without realizing it, and she closely looked at Carnelia again. Now that Cordelia saw it, Carnelia was gazing at Jude with an expression as if she would drool at any moment. But it was then. ¡°Ah. I think I understand. Actually, my heart is pounding too. His body type is umon among our male elves who are lean.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. Vanessa, you feel the same, right? Isn¡¯t his body so good? This is the first time I¡¯ve realized that a body like that exists.¡± Carnelia giggled in her delight while Vanessa blushed and nodded her head. After all, it was hard to find a sculpture-like body like that of Jude¡¯s among the slender elves. And Cordelia thought. ¡®You b*tches?¡¯ You¡¯ve been looking at Jude like that for some time? ¡°Kyaa~ Look at those veins on his forearm.¡± ¡°It¡¯s popping out.¡± Carnelia and Vanessa spoke once again and at that moment, Cordelia became dissatisfied with Jude¡¯s outfit. Because his body figure was clearly revealed with the tight-fitting clothes the elves had given to him. In addition, the clothes were sleeveless, so his shoulders were fully exposed. ¡®Wait a minute. Even the people watching him are weird.¡¯ There were many blushing elves among the onlookers who had gathered. Quite a few elves were drooling like Carnelia. ¡®W-wait a minute. No, seriously, wait!¡¯ Excuse me, his fianc¨¦e is right here, okay? I feel a bit ufortable if you stare and drool at my Jude like that, okay? And it was at that moment. When Jude sessfully defeated the elven knight, thunderous apuse and cheers poured out among the female elves who were watching. And a second match began. The opponent this time was a female elf, and Cordelia¡¯s difort grew even stronger. But something else happened then. ¡°Cordelia, how long will you be staying here?¡± At Carnelia¡¯s question, Cordelia had a hunch at that moment. The elf in front of her who was overbrimming with affection for Jude was nning to do something. ¡°E-excuse me. Jude is my fianc¨¦¡­ okay?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve heard of it. Humans have such a culture, huh?¡± Cordelia flinched at Carnelia¡¯s answer. Such a culture? The fianc¨¦ part? As Cordelia was confused, Vanessa who was watching from the side then said with a smile. ¡°There is no marriage culture among us elves. For us, having children is rare, so if we have something like marriage, our poption will shrink.¡± What the hell are you talking about? What the heck are you saying? You don¡¯t have marriages? You don¡¯t get engaged? Have you always been a race that did not care about fidelity? Come to think of it, these elves have a prince and crown princess, but they have no queens. Even the mother of Princess Leica is a countess with a different surname. ¡®Wait, don¡¯t tell me¡­ So all of these people here are¡­?¡¯ Cordelia saw the elves, who were drooling while staring at Jude, in a new light. ¡®Jude¡¯s in danger!¡¯ When she looked closely, even the female elf he was having a spar with was staring at Jude strangely. It was like the eyes of a hawk looking at its prey. Moreover, the sex ratio was strange. Of the elves gathered here, majority were ¨C no, almost all of them were female. ¡°I read about it in a storybook¡­ Humans are much rougher and more vigorous, right?¡± Cordelia frowned at Carnelia¡¯s question. Why are you asking me that? Why? And what are you nning to do if he is rough and vigorous? ¡®F*ck, they really look like they want to pee.¡¯ These damn ero elves. ¡®Should I just destroy everything?¡¯ At the time Cordelia began to think seriously, Jude¡¯s full concentration was on the match without even realizing on what was going on around him. Or rather, he was enjoying the spar. For Jude, the current sparring match was a great opportunity to embody what he learned from Valenciast night. ¡®This is fun.¡¯ Bing stronger is fun. Learning new swordsmanship is fun. Attacking with the body freely and getting closer to the roots of Supreme Sun Divine Art and Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors are fun. The engrossed Jude began to sweat, and the elves began to squeal at Jude¡¯s wet(?) body. And as all of these were happening, the finishing touch was added. ¡°Jude is really strong.¡± Princess Leica appeared with Midas. But she also looked quite strange. Her cheeks were a bit flushed too. ¡®What the¡­ Why are you blushing while looking at Jude? Didn¡¯t you see me and Jude doing that yesterday!¡¯ Even though it was only an attempt, but still. Cordelia became extremely ufortable and struggled to contain her anger before catching her breath. And she made a resolution as she watched Jude fight against more opponents whom she had already lost count of. ¡®Tonight.¡¯ I have to settle this tonight before it¡¯s toote. Let¡¯s end this. Cordelia clenched her fists as she watched Jude. And that night. After they had dinner and returned to their room, Cordelia stood in front of Jude and suddenly tried to hand him a letter. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s run away.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s run away tonight.¡± ¡°Lady Cordelia?¡± Jude narrowed his eyes and asked, but Cordelia remained adamant. She once again tried to give Jude the letter. ¡°Let¡¯s put this on the bed and leave.¡± It was a letter in a white envelope. It was even sealed beautifully with red wax from a candle. ¡°Hey, that¡­ is that what I think it is?¡± ¡°T-that¡¯s right. It is what you think it is.¡± A letter full of romantic words between Jude and Cordelia that they left behind whenever they ran away. In fact, it wasn¡¯t something necessary since they would be running away from the elves, but Cordelia still prepared it. ¡®Because we really need to run this time!¡¯ I need to shake off all these perverted elves! But unlike Cordelia who was in a hurry, Jude was calm as he asked. ¡°But why do we have to leave now?¡± ¡°Uh, we have to leave. Two days have already passed. ording to our schedule, we should have already been out of the Forest of Eternity, right? What are we going to do if Malekith is resurrected while we¡¯re here? So let¡¯s hurry. Okay? You¡¯ve already taught them the seventh sword dance too.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± But¡­ Why is mydy doing this all of a sudden? Why does she look so anxious? ¡°So we¡¯re leaving today?¡± ¡°Yes, today. Let¡¯s just leave this letter on the bed and go. If we say that we¡¯re going, Princess Leica will try to stop us again.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s words full of strong conviction, Jude lightly touched his chin before he epted her letter and said. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes, Jude.¡± ¡°Do we have to go now? We haven¡¯t received all the rewards yet.¡± First of all, they would be receiving a reward for saving Princess Leica and defeating Jabberwock. In addition, Jude was nning to rip them off. ¡®The Spirit King is not a reward.¡¯ Because he just suddenly appeared and chose Cordelia, and was not something the elves had prepared for them. But Cordelia said with a firm expression. ¡°Yes, we have to go no matter what.¡± ¡°Then, will you wear the rabbit headband?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°The rabbit headband. With the tail.¡± Why in the world are you suddenly saying that! But Cordelia was in a hurry. She quickly nodded and pulled out the rabbit set from their luggage before putting it on herself. ¡°Okay, I wore it. So let¡¯s go now.¡± Jude blinked his eyes in confusion at Cordelia¡¯s determination. He just wanted to tease her a bit because she looked so anxious, but she really wore the rabbit set. Did something serious happen? ¡°Hey, you didn¡¯t kill an elf, right? Ormitted some kind of crime?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like that, okay?! It¡¯s just because we really need to get to the south quickly, okay?!¡± After leaving the Forest of Eternity, they had to stop by the headquarters of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. After heading down south, they had to find Landius and Kamael too. As Cordelia said all that and persuaded him, she pulled on Jude¡¯s arm. ¡°So let¡¯s get going. Let¡¯s merge.¡± ¡°Okay. Then onest thing.¡± ¡°What else? You want me to wear bunny girl clothes?¡± ¡°Eh? For real?¡± Jude¡¯s eyes sparkled, and Cordelia replied with a cold look as she raised her clenched fist. ¡°Okay. I wanted to ask you something else in the first ce.¡± ¡°What is it? You want to go to the toilet? What the hell is it?¡± ¡°This.¡± Cordelia¡¯s letter from earlier. ¡°Can I read it?¡± To read what she wrote. To read the contents of the love letter Cordelia herself wrote. ¡°No way!¡± No way! Absolutely not! Never! Do you know how hot my face became when I wrote down all sorts of things! With a red face, Cordelia snatched the letter from Jude¡¯s hand and ran to the beside, putting down the letter in a ce where it could be easily seen. ¡°Let¡¯s go now, okay? Jude, let¡¯s go, okay?¡± When Cordelia stomped her feet and said, Jude finally nodded. ¡°All right, let¡¯s not dy it any longer.¡± As Cordelia had said, the two still had a long way to go. It might be rude to leave without saying a word to them, but it should be fine since they had done a lot for the elves. ¡®I¡¯m a little curious about the circumstances of the elven royal family but¡­¡¯ Nothing should happen now since we defeated Jabberwock. I¡¯ve already informed Princess Leica of Malekith¡¯s threat in case she didn¡¯t know. ¡°Then Lady Cordelia, would you like to ride on my back?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Cordelia carried the backpack on her back and jumped on Jude¡¯s back, and Jude firmly fixed Cordelia¡¯s position before he turned to the window. ¡°By the way.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°How many times has this been?¡± Running away at night because of love. ¡°I¡¯m not sure.¡± If I roughly count it, it seems to be around five times. But instead of counting it, Cordelia tightly hugged Jude¡¯s neck, and Jude smiled happily. He looked at the letter on the bed with a bit of regret, but he soon cleared his mind. He thought that it would be more fun to hear it from Cordelia in person. ¡°Then let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Yes, Milord.¡± Cordelia buried her face in Jude¡¯s neck, and Jude became the wind. He became a ck gale that crossed the Forest of Eternity. Chapter 229: Guardians of the Holy Cross (1)

Chapter 229: Guardians of the Holy Cross (1)

I was redoing the trantions of the first 11 episodes of this series, and it was like reading my dark history. So I wanted to say thank you to everyone who managed to read that and made it this far. On a positive note, doing that made me realize how much my ¡®trantion¡¯ has improved since I began this series. Anyway, we now enter the Guardians mini-arc. It may seem like a filler arc, but it is not. This is where all the foreshadowing begins for one of the big questions of this novel, which will be answered after 107 more episodes. Terms used in this episode: Catlike face ¨C a Korean term for a person with a haughty and elegant face that resembles a cat. People with catlike faces are said to have nted eyes and a slender jawline. Shuten-douji ¨C a mythical oni/demon in Japan, and known as one of Japan¡¯s three most evil youkai/monsters. Cordelia had a dream. It was the memories of the time before she was reincarnated in Pleiades, of the time when she was still living as Yellow Storm, or Hong Yoo Hee in real life. ¡°Ah.¡± Like most dreams, it began out of nowhere, but Cordelia didn¡¯t feel that anything was strange. Because it was a dream. She was in Hong Yoo Hee¡¯s room. Cordelia stood in the middle of a room with a lot of pink colors, such as the wallpaper and curtains, and then looked at the bookshelf. In the top section, various books rted to certifications, including CAD, were tightly ced together. And in the bottom section,ic books and fairy tale books that she liked since her childhood were sparsely ced together. And in another ce. Cordelia quietly gazed at the shelf filled with figures and stic models, and sheid her eyes on the most eye-catching object there. It was a Cordelia figure that was released when the poprity of Legend of Heroes 2 reached its peak. ¡®It was hard to get.¡¯ Not because the quantity sold was not enough, but because it was expensive. Her pocket money was not enough, so she eventually had to sell some of her in-game items in exchange for real cash. ¡®It¡¯s so pretty.¡¯ She remembered being really happy for a while whenever she opened her eyes every morning and saw the Cordelia figure on the bookshelf. ¡®Cordelia.¡¯ She stretched out her hand and took the Cordelia figure. Cordelia quietly looked up and looked around. ¡®No one¡¯s here, right?¡¯ Having checked that the door was tightly closed, Cordelia¡¯s lips twitched a few times before she turned the Cordelia figure upside down to look inside the skirt. Whenever she saw figures dressed in a skirt, Cordelia strangely wanted to turn it over. ¡®It¡¯s white.¡¯ Cordelia grinned unconsciously and returned the Cordelia figure to its spot. She recalled the results of an experiment wherein most people of all ages, whether men or women, would check the inside of the skirt out of curiosity. Cordelia then walked towards the desk. ¡®My desk.¡¯ Unlike her cute-looking room, the desk had a formal design as if it was used in an office, but because of the props ced here and there, it did not hurt the atmosphere of the room at all. Cordelia tapped the heads of the little teddy bears lined up on the desk and sat down afterwards. She put her hands on the desk as her small body leaned on the stupidly expensive butfortable chair which her paternal uncle took from an office that his workce was contracted to demolish. Cordelia touched the mechanical keyboard, or to be exact, the blue keyboard made by Leopold that was next to the VR device and exclusive controller. Legend of Heroes 2 was originally yed with a keyboard and mouse, but after the release of Legend of Heroes 3, the addition of a VR device and a control stick, which was simr to those in aircraft simtors or those that one could see in almost any robot cockpits in anime, elevated the gaming experience. ¡®Its performance is as good as itsplexity.¡¯ One of the reasons why Yellow Storm was called a human disaster was because of this control stick. People who could handle it perfectly were rare even within the Legend of Heroesmunity that were full of rotten waters, but once a person handled it perfectly, the level of character control was raised to apletely different level. ¡®Outboxer must be the only one aside from me, right?¡¯ A person who could use it perfectly like herself. Cordelia smiled and grabbed the gaming mouse instead of the VR device as she opened Legend of Heroes 2. As soon as she logged in, she saw a familiar name. Cowabunga: Oh, you¡¯re here? One of the chat room regrs was Cowabunga. She had never seen him in person, but because he was a guy who often yed with his mic on, she felt like she could hear his voice in her head just by looking at the words in the screen. Yellow Storm: Yes, I¡¯m here. After answering properly, she looked at the chat room list and saw that only Cowabunga and Outboxer009 were online now. Cowabunga: Hey, do you not use Dico? Discord. Also known as ¡®Dico.¡¯ It was a program mainly used for voice chat. Although she knew of its existence, Cordelia shook her head and tapped on the keyboard. Yellow Storm: No, I don¡¯t. Cowabunga: Why? Yellow Storm: Because there¡¯s no microphone at home. I¡¯ll think about it if you buy me a microphone. Actually, it was just an excuse. There was a real reason. ¡®There¡¯s too many people talking.¡¯ It was a bit embarrassing for her to say it herself, but Hong Yoo Hee¡¯s voice was on the very good side. She had been constantly asked since elementary school on whether she wanted to be a voice actress in the future. Moreover, she was a woman, which was quite rare for yers. As a result, there were many guys who catcalled her when she yed games with her voice on. ¡®A lot of them even get into fights.¡¯ Since Legend of Heroes itself was a male-oriented game, around 80% of the yers were men, and there were many of the so-called ¡®gamers¡¯ who pretty much lived in Legend of Heroes. So why did she say that? Because a pretty girlfriend who was good at games was the ideal type for gamers. Hong Yoo Hee was just the perfect fit to that. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Cordelia gently pressed her red cheeks with her hands in her embarrassment before she concentrated on the monitor again. ¡®Come to think of it, I¡¯ve never even heard the other regrs¡¯ voices in the voice chat.¡¯ She had already seen them for 5 years in the game, but she had never heard their voices, let alone see their faces. ¡®No way¡­ is Romantic Cat-unnie not a woman?¡¯ After all, Jude was a popr character that female yers used. ¡®Hmm¡­it¡¯s perfectly reasonable to be suspicious.¡¯ Cordelia closed her eyes for a moment and imagined the appearance of Outboxer009. When he made fun of Yellow Storm, he always acted like a mean elementary student, but he was quite serious when he talked with others. No, one could say that he was cold in a sense since he didn¡¯t talk much. ¡®I feel angry now that I think of it.¡¯ Why are you always so mean to me? Even when they first met, he mocked her for not being able to y games well. Yellow Storm always lost her temper to him, but strangely enough, she always imagined Outboxer009 as a pretty woman. If Outboxer was really a woman, it reminded her of those stylish older women who were tall, sexy, and had excellent capabilities. Outboxer would look fierce in a well-fitted suit, but would also look like a cool older woman. ¡®What if she wore a racing suit and rode a big and ck motorcycle?¡¯ Will her eyes be a little fierce? A catlike face? Cordelia then recalled that Hong Yoo Hee herself also had a catlike face. She had heard people say that she was pretty like a doll because she was small, but at the same time, she was also said to be like a ferocious kitten. ¡®Ah, Outboxer¡¯s definitely not a woman.¡¯ It¡¯s impossible for Outboxer to be a cool older woman if he always says mean things to me. ¡®Then¡­¡¯ Cordelia suddenly remembered one of Outboxer009¡¯s weaknesses, and she smiled as she tapped the keyboard. Yellow Storm: Outbo, Outbo. If you¡¯re online, answer me. Yellow Storm: I know you¡¯re there. Yellow Storm: Out Yellow Storm: Bo Yellow Storm: Xer Yellow Storm: Baldie. Yellow Storm: Impotent. Baldie. Hey, Baldie. Outboxer009: You wanna die? Yellow Storm: Oh, as I thought. You¡¯re really bald, huh? After all, every time I say baldie, you always retort back. Outboxer009: No, that¡¯s nonsense. Outboxer009: What¡¯s going on anyway? At Outboxer009¡¯s question, Cordelia briefly raised her hands off the keyboard and thought about it. There was another reason why she thought that he was a cool older woman. Because every time the monthly rankings was released, Outboxer would super evolve from a mean kid into a kind person who answered nicely. Outboxer009: Norfolk? Yellow Storm: Seksu Outboxer009: Have you gone crazy? Yellow Storm: Pawa Seksu Outboxer009: F*** This game censors everything else, but why isn¡¯t it censoring that? Yellow Storm: Seksu a seksu Yellow Storm: Pawa Seksu! As she typed that, she could ¡®feel¡¯ that Outboxer009 was hitting something on his end. Yellow Storm: Stoo-pihd kekeke She usually said all sorts of things, but when she said something dirty, Outboxer009 would suddenly be embarrassed, and that was one of his weaknesses. ¡®Sometimes he¡¯spletely like a virtuous person.¡¯ Maybe Outboxer is ady of quiet and well-behaved character. So she¡¯s ufortable when she sees something dirty. Outboxer009: Hey kid. You¡¯re really just an elementary schooler, right? You¡¯re not even a middle schooler, right? Yellow Storm: Seksu Outboxer009: Hey. Yellow Storm: Pawa Seksu Outboxer009: F*** Cordelia tapped the keyboard and smiled as she imagined a furious Outboxer009 on the other end. *** ¡°Pawa¡­ sek¡­ su.¡± Cordelia muttered in a small voice before opening her eyes. Sunlight. The smell of grass. The sound of trees swaying in the wind from afar. Cordelia blinked her eyes and realized that she had woken up from her dream. ¡°Ah.¡± This is Pleiades. I¡¯m Cordelia. As she yawned and stretched out her arms, the dream that remained clear in her mind scattered at once and became a mess. ¡°Unnn.¡± After blinking her eyes again, Cordelia sat up and saw a familiar back. ¡°Are you awake?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± It was the back of Jude who was preparing their breakfast. Umm, it seems like I said something weird in my sleep, but surely, he didn¡¯t hear it, right? Cordelia then shrugged her shoulder and focused again on Jude and their surroundings. There were cooking utensils on top of the bonfire, and there was a delicious smell. Bacon, eggs, and¡­ carrots? ¡°I hate carrots.¡± She spoke out loud as if she wanted him to hear it, but Jude said something else instead of talking about the side dish as if he didn¡¯t hear her. ¡°I¡¯ve filled it with water so you should wash your face first.¡± ¡°Yes, mommy.¡± Cordelia opened the lid of the basin near her bed and dipped her hands into the clear water. The water was warm. ¡®He¡¯s kind.¡¯ No, should I say that he¡¯s thoughtful? She was honestly grateful that he prepared some water for her to wash her face, but he even warmed it up. Jude was now able to freely use some basic magic spells, so preparing warm water was naturally much easier for him than before, but a bothersome task was still bothersome. ¡°Hehehe.¡± Cordeliaughed without realizing it, and after washing her face, she sat next to Jude and looked at the frying pan. Bacon and eggs were being fried as she had expected. ¡°Can you take out some bread and cheese from the bag?¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Cordelia took out some bread and cheese as Jude had ordered, cing them on a wooden te before she stared at Jude again. She smiled strangely again. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Nothing. I just like this situation.¡± Because there were no elves around, and only Jude was present. Those cheeky ero elves. Don¡¯t you f*cking dare covet someone like that. ¡°Hehehe.¡± Running away at night was the right decision, the right decision. When Cordelia snickered again, Jude tilted his head as he didn¡¯t understand what she wasughing about, but he soon smiled. Two days after leaving the Forest of Eternity. A morning scenery where peace had beenpletely restored. Propping up her chin with her hands, Cordelia watched Jude put the cooked food into a bowl and suddenly remembered one fact. ¡®Come to think of it, Valencia is an elf too, right?¡¯ She¡¯s also an elf from the high elf royal family in the Forest of Eternity. ¡®Don¡¯t tell me¡­¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s eyes were deeply filled with suspicion at that moment, but she didn¡¯t say it out loud. ¡®I¡¯ll have to talk to my sword spirit quickly and figure out the situation.¡¯ He said that he could meet with his sword spirit, but she couldn¡¯t exactly understand how that happened from just hearing it. Cordelia herself needed to meet her sword spirit in order to check if it was really possible for him to cheat(?). ¡°Have you talked to Grand Order?¡± Cordelia nodded when Jude asked her as he ced a bowl on a wide rock that she didn¡¯t know where had picked up. ¡°Yes, I called her, but she didn¡¯t answer.¡± ¡°Maybe it¡¯s a problem with meditation? You always doze off, you know?¡± ¡°Hey, my main job is a wizard. I¡¯m really good at meditation, okay?¡± ¡°Well, if you insist, then it must be true.¡± ¡°Hey, I¡¯m telling the truth, okay?¡± ¡°Yes, yes, I understand.¡± I take back what I said of him being thoughtful. Cordelia was annoyed when Jude spoke meanly, so she opened her mouth to badmouth Jude just like in the dream, but she quickly closed it again. Because there was a difference in saying it through online chat and saying it with your actual voice. ¡®N-now that I think of it.¡¯ He really didn¡¯t hear me speak before, right? The words that I muttered in my sleep. ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°Eh? N-nothing. Anyway, are we almost there?¡± ¡°Yes, we¡¯ll arrive there before lunch today.¡± The southern branch of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. It was thergest of their branches in the S?len Kingdom, and Ghostde Kamael was known to be staying there. ¡°Can we get in touch with Kamael if we get there?¡± ¡°It¡¯s possible. Unlike my master, Kamael is one of the Guardians of the Holy Cross¡¯ leaders. He¡¯s a man of integrity, so he¡¯ll definitely leave behind a way to contact him.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Nodding her head, Cordelia briefly closed her eyes and thought about the southern branch. The trading city of St. Crute. Next to it was the monastery of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. In fact, it was toorge to be called a monastery. Hundreds of people lived there. ¡®Because it¡¯s actually a sacred ce.¡¯ It was not publicly known, but the ¡®St. Crute Monastery¡¯ was one of the sacred ces of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. It was also a unique and very important sacred ce right after the headquarters of the Guardians of the Holy Cross in the center of the continent, and one of the top three most significant sacred ces on the continent. But even within the Guardians of the Holy Cross, only those who had some rank were aware of those facts. They would be like that because there was nothing special about the St. Crute Monastery itself. The monastery was not the birthce of a famous saint, nor was it a ce where an important part of history urred. It was just a monastery of some size. But Cordelia knew the truth. ¡®It¡¯s thend of a god. The residence of a god.¡¯ A god lived in the St. Crute Monastery. Not a self-proimed god, but a real god of this world. ¡®No one met him in the game though.¡¯ All the yable characters were able to know of his existence, but none of them ever met him in person. The first reason was that there were no characters who were deeply involved with the Guardians of the Holy Cross, and the other reason was that the god in question had already disappeared in the second half of the game when the characters became deeply involved with the Guardians. ¡®The young god Atalia.¡¯ Jude had once exined it a long time ago, but the gods of this world were actually ssified into three main groups. The first group were the high-ranking angels from heaven. The second group were the divine beings from apletely different world. And the third group were the true gods of this world, who came to be in this earth. An example of the first group was the sun god Sri, and for the second group was Shuten-douji, the god of misfortune and one of the 7 major cmities. As for the third group, they were the wild gods like the Golden Dragon King. ¡®It was not until we came into this world that we found out that wild gods actually existed.¡¯ (T/N: Jude had earlier ssified the wild gods as outside of the three main groups, but that was because he didn¡¯t know back then that wild gods were real.) In any case, the young god Atalia who lived in St. Crute Monastery belonged to the third group. As someone who came into existence in this earth, he was a guardian deity who truly wanted to protect this world. But he was still a young god, so his power was less than that of a Demon Prince, let alone the sun god Sri. ¡®But a god is still a god.¡¯ If he continued to grow up in the future, he could be a stronger entity than Sri. ¡®Maybe¡­we can meet him this time?¡¯ They were going to the St. Crute Monastery in order to contact Kamael, but Cordelia was also looking forward to meeting Atalia. ¡°Anyway, shall we go?¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go.¡± Cordelia happily replied before carrying the backpack and climbing on Jude¡¯s back, and Jude said after fixing Cordelia¡¯s position. ¡°By the way, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes, Jude.¡± ¡°Uh¡­ We¡¯re not in the chat room so you have to be careful, okay?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I mean, uh¡­ just remember that.¡± What are you talking about? Cordelia blinked her eyes and soon understood what he meant. Thus, her face turned red. ¡°Ahem, ahem. Let¡¯s go then.¡± Towards St. Crute, and where a god lives. Jude kicked the ground, while Cordelia groaned in her embarrassment instead of answering. Chapter 230: Guardians of the Holy Cross (2)

Chapter 230: Guardians of the Holy Cross (2)

Jude rarely had dreams. In particr, the frequency of his dreams that was already low decreased even further when his sleeping time was extremely shortened after his metamorphosis. But that didn¡¯t mean that he never had dreams at all. It was just extremely rare. However, Jude¡¯s intuition was telling him something now. That he was currently dreaming. ¡°As I thought.¡± It wasn¡¯t a lucid dream. Even if he was Jude, it was impossible to bepletely rational in a dream, and even if it was possible, thews of the world itself changed in dreams. In the world of dreams, one would think, ¡®Oh, this is how it should be. This is natural.¡¯, even if they saw pigs flying in the sky or cats dancing. Jude looked around. He was in the room of Outboxer009 ¨C Kang Jin-ho. His past life. His life before he reincarnated and lived in Pleiades for 17 years. His room was very spacious. The room was big in the first ce, but it felt even more spacious because there was little furniture in the room. One bed, one desk, one bookshelf, and one chest of drawers. Jude looked at the top of the chest of drawers. There were a lot of pictures disyed on top that Cordelia would be surprised if she saw it. Jude nced at the picture on the far left. Around 20 years ago. There stood a rather good-looking child with fierce eyes among a group of rough-looking foreigners. In fact, Jude wasn¡¯t fond of this picture. Because the people around him weren¡¯t decent colleagues. They were just humans who only thought of themselves and were willing to abandon Jude after using him. There was no special reason on why they took a picture together. It was just one of their whims. Jude saw the picture right next to it. The little boy with fierce eyes grew up. In the picture, all of them were foreigners except for the boy, but unlike before, there were several children in the same age group as him. Jude continued to look at the photos. The boy grew up and became a young man. And in thest picture was a young man getting drunk and doing things drunk people do. ¡°My day of retirement.¡± Around 5 years ago before he reincarnated. Jude did not like to tell his past to other people. It wasn¡¯t that he denied it or that there weren¡¯t any good things that happened to him at that time. Rather, he just didn¡¯t want to talk about it. Because even people in the same industry as him, often did not believe in his story. ¡°Because I was too young.¡± To have gone through such things. Judeughed at the picture 5 years ago were he was dancing half-naked. If Jude had been born in South Korea and not in a foreign country, he would have lived a normal life then, and that photo of himself dancing half-naked would not be from a retirement party but something different like a university end-of-semester party or membership training¡­ ?Or apany outing with his work colleagues if he didn¡¯t went to university. ¡®Now that I think of it, I haven¡¯t taken a single picture ever since I retired.¡¯ Jude stroked his chin before turning his gaze towards the bookshelf. Books rted to Legend of Heroes were ced there. It was rare for game strategy books to receive paperback editions these days, so most of the books were old ones. ¡®When Legend of Heroes 2 was first released, several strategy books were published in paperback editions.¡¯ Therefore, it was possible for him to find strategy books at used bookstores even though he had started ying Legend of Heroes 2te. ¡®Of course, even at the time of the game¡¯s first release, paperback editions were bing obsolete.¡¯ So most of the books rted to Legend of Heroes on his bookshelf were books dealing with the early days of the first and second episodes of the game series. Jude stretched out his hand towards the books. He pulled out a book, turned it around, and then looked at his desk. Just like his entire room, his desk was also simple-looking. Threerge monitors, one pull-out tissue, a blue keyboard and a gaming mouse. And a VR device with its exclusive controller that he only used for battles. Jude did not sit like Cordelia. Instead of turning on theputer, he looked at the strategy book again. And he thought. Since this was a dream, he naturally thought of things that he didn¡¯t try to remember in reality. ¡°It¡¯s strange.¡± He wasn¡¯t talking about reincarnating into the world of Legend of Heroes 2. Because even if he denied the theory of reincarnation, there was one impossible fact that existed in the game. ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking about this for a long time. It¡¯s too detailed.¡± Jude spoke out loud and turned over the strategy book again. He had been studying Legend of Heroes to the point of obsession, just because of his desire to crush Yellow Storm. That was why he was able to affirm. ¡°It¡¯s strange.¡± Legend of Heroes was too detailed. Ancient dwarf letters. Thenguage of the high elves. Magic circles that were soplex that one would suspect that they were real magic circles. Of course, Tolkien, the author of The Lord of the Rings, created severalnguages for his novels, so there was no rule that the game developers of Legend of Heroes should not do something simr, but even so, there was still a sense of incongruity. ¡°But there¡¯s something even stranger.¡± Jude spoke once again with his voice. As if he was talking to himself. ¡°I lost my memory.¡± He was reincarnated as Jude Bayer in Pleiades. Then one day, at the age of 17, he remembered his memories of Kang Jin-ho, his previous life. But there was something strange about this. He wasn¡¯t talking about the fact that his past life memories returned after his reincarnation. ¡°I can¡¯t remember.¡± After the monthly ranking announcement. Right after he teased Cordelia, his memories stopped. He no longer had any memories after that point. The memories of Kang Jin-ho, which Jude remembered, were cut off at that point. ¡°Why?¡± For what reason? Everything in this world had its reason. Therefore, there must be some reason on why his memories were cut off. What is it? Is it just a coincidence? It¡¯s impossible topletely remember your entire past life, so I can only think of parts of it, and it just so happens to be cut off at that point¡­ is that it? ¡°Because in the theory of reincarnation, I cannotpletely deny that possibility. But there are too many coincidences here for me to believe that.¡± Cordelia also didn¡¯t have any memories after that point. So Jude came up with two hypotheses. ¡°One ¨C it¡¯s not necessary.¡± They didn¡¯t need their memories after that point. All that they needed to remember was on how to prevent the uing destruction of Pleiades. They didn¡¯t need any other memories besides that. ¡°Two ¨C something happened to us at that point.¡± Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee might have died almost at the same time in an ident without even realizing that they had died. Jude focused on the first hypothesis. It was not necessary. It was not needed. Then, who was the one who judged the need? In order for the first hypothesis to be proven, someone who judged that need was necessary. Someone who reincarnated Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee in Pleaides. ¡°Let¡¯s stop here for now.¡± Instead of digging deeper, Jude turned his consciousness to another question. Either of the two hypotheses were strange, but if he was to consider on which one was stranger, Jude would choose the second one. ¡°It will eventually be resolved.¡± Jude and Cordelia had memories of ying the entire Legend of Heroes series. And this world basically followed the storyline of the Legend of Heroes series, which they had already confirmed several times. The attempt of the Devil¡¯s Hand to kidnap the children from the 12 northern families. The Devil¡¯s Eye who were corrupting the northern barbarians. The Lord Protector who betrayed the royal family because of his destined fate. And ck Dragon Malekith who would wake up in the near future and destroy the southern region. Just what in the world is happening? Does that mean that the Legend of Heroes series were actually prophecies? If it wasn¡¯t¡­ If the Legend of Heroes series was not about the future events of Pleiades¡­ If it was only a record of what had already happened¡­ ¡°The past and the future are not connected.¡± Because it was the result of reversing the flow of time. It was impossible for time to flow in one direction only because he couldn¡¯t ignore the involvement of another world too. ¡°Is it a time slip?¡± In the process of crossing worlds, did wee to the past of Pleiades and not its present time? ¡°Assuming that the timeline of Kang Jin-ho and the timeline of Jude flowed parallel to each other.¡± If we didn¡¯t cross horizontally¡­ If we crossed diagonally¡­ and if we also went backwards in time¡­ Then perhaps it¡¯s the reason on why we came to the past. ¡°My knowledge is stillcking.¡± Cordelia might be disappointed to hear that, but JudeWiki didn¡¯t really contain all the knowledge in the world. Jude didn¡¯t have much knowledge of the physics rted to time. So he didn¡¯t dig deeper this time either. Kang Jin-ho had spent most of his life on the battlefield, so he tended to focus on the situation in front of him. And figuring out the big picture was not something he could do today, so he¡¯d pass on it for now. Jude returned the strategy book to the bookshelf. And this time, he turned to the door instead of sitting down. Because he felt the presence of someone beyond the door. ¡®Who is it?¡¯ This was Kang Jin-ho¡¯s home. Jude habitually pulled out a pistol hidden in a drawer and opened the door carefully. There was no one in the living room that only had arge TV and a sofa, but he heard the sound of someone humming from the kitchen. And Jude was stunned as he blinked his eyes. ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°Ramyeon~ Ramyeon~ Delicious ramyeon~ ¡± Cordelia was cooking noodles as she wiggled her hips. She even had an apron while she was cooking. Cordelia then turned to him and smiled. ¡°I told you that I can cook ramyeon very well, right?¡± Now that I think of it, this is a dream. This is a dream, so it¡¯s not strange if Cordelia appears and cooks noodles. Therefore, Jude sat down at the table and watched Cordelia cooked ramyeon. When he saw Cordelia¡¯s back as she stood in front of the induction stove, his heart pounded loudly without him realizing it. ¡°It¡¯s done. But there¡¯s something that you must do before eating ramyeon.¡± Cordelia put down the chopsticks she had used while cooking the noodles, and turned around as she headed to Jude. She touched Jude¡¯s cheek and brought her face closer. Then she whispered with apletely bewitching smile. ¡°Because this is a dirty dream.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°A dirty dream. Dir. ty. Dream.¡± Cordelia lightly bit Jude¡¯s ear and then let her hot breaths touch his ear. Jude¡¯s body trembled for a moment because his weakness had been attacked, and Cordelia kissed him on his cheek as if finding him cute, before she sat down on Jude¡¯s thigh and smiled. ¡°Jude, the ramyeon will get soggy, right? You¡¯ll make me soggy too, right?¡± (T/N: Uh¡­this is a pun. A naughty pun. The Korean word used here can mean soggy when paired with noodles, but when used on a person, it can have a sexual meaning, like thrusting sounds, erection, etc. Fortunately, the pun works in English too, because ¡®wet¡¯ is a synonym of ¡®soggy,¡¯ right?) Cordelia giggled and hugged Jude¡¯s neck as she drew her face closer. And that was it. It did not continue any longer. Because dreams were meant to be always cut off at the best part. ¡°F*ck.¡± ¡°Jude?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing. I just remembered something.¡± Jude awkwardly smiled at Cordelia who tilted her head, and he turned to reality again instead of trying to recall his dream. Jude and Cordelia had arrived at St. Crute. The trading city was bustling with people. It was located between the southern and central regions, but because of the Forest of Eternity that was almost the size of a country, southerners had to choose one of two routes in order to get to the central region. One was through Geppert, a trading city located in the west of the southern region, and the other was through the trading city of St. Crute, which was right in front of them now. ¡°Jude, Jude. What should we eat for lunch? Are we going to eat here?¡± Cordelia was very excited to be in a busy city after a long time. She was busy thinking about food that she wanted to eat. ¡°I want to eat something sweet. Something sweet. Something very sweet.¡± Cordelia stomped her feet in her excitement as she imagined it, and she sniffed with her nose as if she was tracking the scent of food. ¡°That way!¡± It smells sweet over there! As expected of a beast. A girl from the wild. Unfortunately, Jude had no choice but to grab the hand of Cordelia who was about to run. ¡°Eh? You want to escort me?¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s not it¡­ I think that we should put it off for now.¡± Cordelia blinked her eyes at Jude¡¯s words, but it was only for a moment. Because she noticed things that she couldn¡¯t detect earlier due to being distracted by the sweets. ¡°What? Did you contact them in advance?¡± ¡°Yes, somehow.¡± To be exact, it was when Cordelia was wandering around dreand earlier in the day. Jude sent a signal using the method he learned from the Guardians of the Holy Cross members whom he met near Frost Anvil. A simple signal telling the other that they would be meeting them. And the result of that was right in front of them. ¡°The Guardians of the Holy Cross wees Count August Bayer and Countess August Chase.¡± Nine monks appeared and were dressed in ck and white clothes that was symbolic of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. The excited Cordelia drooped her shoulders when they showed up and greeted the two, and Jude tried to hold back hisughter before greeting back the Guardians of the Holy Cross people. ¡°Jude August Bayer greets the Guardians of the Holy Cross.¡± ¡°Cordelia August Chase greets the Guardians of the Holy Cross.¡± Cordelia tried to hide her disappointment and greeted them politely, and the man at the front who had greeted them then said with a bright smile. ¡°I am Manuel from the Guardians of the Holy Cross. I am very d to meet the two heroes of us Guardians. Please allow me to guide you to our base.¡± It seemed like the other members in the back, and not just Manuel, were looking at the two in a very friendly manner. ¡°Thank you for your consideration.¡± ¡°Well, doing something like this is just natural, of course.¡± Manuel brightly smiled again and began to guide the two without hiding his excitement. Chapter 231: Guardians of the Holy Cross (3)

Chapter 231: Guardians of the Holy Cross (3)

St. Crute Monastery boasted a long history and tradition, and was home to around 300 members of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. ¡°We don¡¯t stay here all the time. We are dispatched all over the continent and just use St. Crute Monastery as our base.¡± Manual excitedly talked about this and that, so Jude and Cordelia were not bored until they arrived at the monastery. ¡°Our branch leader is currently out of town, but he¡¯ll be back tomorrow. So please rx for today and enjoy the wee party.¡± ¡°Wee party?¡± ¡°Yes, a wee party. The heroes of the Guardians have arrived, so it¡¯s proper that we hold a wee party, right?¡± Manuel looked around as if asking the others for their agreement, and the members raised their voices in response. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°It is as he said.¡± ¡°It¡¯s only proper to do so.¡± Cordelia flinched when she glimpsed a bit of madness in their eyes, and she unconsciously pulled Jude¡¯s sleeve. Jude replied to Manuel as he slightly hid Cordelia with his body. ¡°I understand. We¡¯ll look forward to it.¡± ¡°Hehe, please look forward to it.¡± When Manuelughed in excitement, the rest of the members began tough with him, and Cordelia held on to Jude¡¯s sleeve a little tighter. And around half an hourter. After leaving the busy trading city, Jude and Cordelia were surprised when they arrived at St. Crute Monastery located in the suburbs. There stood around 300 people lined up at the stone entrance of St. Crute Monastery, and it seemed like all the Guardians residing in the monastery were present. Moreover, there were even g bearers holdingrge gs of the Guardians of the Holy Cross in between, simr to those in formal ceremonies. ¡°Are you serious?¡± ¡°Yes, we¡¯re not kidding.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s question, Manuelughed again, and her suspicion became a reality. ¡°In the name of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, we wee the two heroes.¡± When the woman at the forefront courteously greeted and bowed to them, all the guardians dressed in ck and white uniform also bowed to them, which was a truly spectacr sight. But Cordelia unconsciously pulled on Jude¡¯s sleeve. Because aside from being happy, she did not understood the current situation well. [Jude, Jude. Why are they doing that?] [Because we¡¯ve done a lot?] [Huh?] [Think about it.] Think about what we have been doing. The things that we had done. The public had only known that they had stopped the Lord Protector¡¯s n, but from the perspective of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, Jude and Cordelia¡¯s activities did not just stop at that. [How many demonic humans have we caught so far? We¡¯ve also destroyed Hell Gates.] [Eh? ¡­Ah!] In the eyes of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, all demon followers needed to be destroyed, regardless of whether they belonged to the Devil¡¯s Hand or Devil¡¯s Eye. However, the number of demonic humans that Jude and Cordelia had killed so far was not a small number. The number of low-ranking demonic humans under Saluzia¡¯s northern branch had been seriously decreased because of Jude and Cordelia, and the Devil¡¯s Eye also lost dozens of low-ranking and mid-ranking demonic humans in the wildnds because of the two. Add to that were the Hell Gates. Jude and Cordelia had destroyed a total of two Hell Gates so far, and they stopped the Lord Protector, who most certainly would have awakened as a high-ranking demonic human had he seeded. Moreover, the reputation of the Guardians of the Holy Cross was raised because they heavily used the name of the organization in the process. ¡°The ideal Guardians.¡± ¡°The heroes of the Guardians.¡± ¡°The humble ones who gave glory to the Guardians.¡± Thest evaluation was something that only Guardians could give, because only the Guardians knew of the fact that they did not do much for Jude and Cordelia. And there were a few more things added to this. ¡°The esteemed Landius¡¯ disciple.¡± ¡°Someone talented enough to lead the Guardians of the Holy Cross in the future.¡± ¡°Talented people who Master Kamael kept his eye on.¡± Landius was not a member of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, but most of the Guardians did not think so. He was therade of Kamael, one of the six heads of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. A hero of the Guardians who continued to destroy demon followers even until now. Since Landius was Jude¡¯s master, the Guardians of the Holy Cross naturally held Jude in high regard. And there was one more really important reason. ¡°An angel.¡± ¡°A real angel.¡± ¡°The angel Cordelia!¡± It was to be expected. The Guardians of the Holy Cross was originally an organization formed by the remaining members of the denominations that worshipped the angels who descended from heaven. For them, the angels were not mere messengers of gods, but targets of faith. Therefore, there was a group of people worshipping Holy Angel Lena among the Guardians of the Holy Cross, and now, they had one more being to worship. Holy Angel Cordelia. An angel with a beautiful face and heart. One was a disciple of the Guardian¡¯s strongest hero, and the other was an angel befitting worship. And the two had made huge achievements in session. So at this point, it wasn¡¯t strange for them to hold a wee ceremony for the two. ¡°We¡¯ve prepared a banquet. This way, please.¡± After Manuel spoke, a woman in her early thirties began to guide Jude and Cordelia. She was Carmen, the second highest-ranking member in the St. Crute Monastery, a master of God¡¯s Fist, and someone who had mastered fist and foot martial arts for a long time. She was also a disciple of Fast Fist Tyburn, one of the six heads of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, and had a daughter with her husband who was a fellow disciple as her. Her hobby was knitting, and her specialty other than martial arts was singing hymns. Her recent concern was that she had been spending less time with her daughter due to frequent business trips. And the reason why Jude and Cordelia found out all these trivial facts was simple. ¡°That¡¯s why¡­¡± The drunk Carmen spoke again, and the likewise drunk Cordelia blushed andughed. ¡°Ehehe, is that so?¡± The Guardians of the Holy Cross. One of themon misconceptions about the Guardians of the Holy Cross was to regard them as an organization of ¡®monks¡¯ because the reality waspletely different. In reality, the Guardians weren¡¯t ascetic monks who gave up everything for god, but rather, they were a group of ¡®warriors¡¯ who were willing to fight against the demon followers for the rest of their lives. Of course, as the foundation of the Guardians itself were the various denominations that existed in the past, their organization had an appearance of worshipping gods in general. All of these were true. ¡°Pour more!¡± ¡°Drink more!¡± The Guardians drank the strong fruit liquor the monastery itself brewed as they rolled on the cold stone floor, and Carmen who had been talking with Cordelia before was now passionately kissing the floor. And in the midst of this, Jude remained sober alone because of the regenerative power of the Sphere of Life and the powerful detoxification of his metamorphosized body, so he was not drunk at all. He described the sight before his eyes in a short sentence. ¡°What a mess.¡± A literal mess. At least a hundred members of the Guardians and trainee monks had lost their reason because of the liquor. At this point, Jude thought that the wee party was just an excuse. ¡®Did they just want to drink?¡¯ Because they needed a justification for drinking this much on arge scale. At the moment when Jude¡¯s eyes were filled with suspicion¡­ ¡°Heue, heee. Huuuuu. There¡¯s still some alcohol. Hihi.¡± Jude turned to the voice he heard right next to him. ¡°Cordelia, are you okay?¡± ¡°Huh? Uh, yes. I¡¯m fine. I¡¯mpletely okay.¡± Cordelia grinned with a flushed face as she looked at Jude with tipsy eyes, and snorted before saying. ¡°Jude, Jude. You want to drink more?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine. That¡¯s quite strong.¡± While Carmen who drank with her was trying to unite with the floor, Cordelia sat still and talked to Jude. ¡°Hehehe, I can drink well. This is f*cking strong.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right. My Cordelia can drink well.¡± ¡°Yes, yes. I can drink well. Drink well. Hihi.¡± Cordelia covered her cheeks with her hands and closed her eyes, but she soon opened it and said. ¡°Uh, Jude. My Jude. Hehe, my Jude. My Juuuuuude?¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± She¡¯spletely drunk. But it¡¯s fine since she¡¯s cute. Jude watched Cordelia for a while before he stood up. ¡°Jude?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s stop. We should go now.¡± ¡°Go?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go to our room.¡± ¡°Ah, the room. Yes, the room. Yeah, the room. I know.¡± ¡°Yes, yes. I¡¯ll carry you there.¡± Jude carried Cordelia in his arms and headed to the room where they had stopped by earlier when they unpacked their luggage. ¡°Hehehe, those perverted elves, hehe. I won.¡± What in the world did you win? And perverted elves? ¡°I won. I. I won, right?¡± ¡°Yes, you won. My Cordelia is the strongest. She¡¯s invincible.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, I¡¯m awesome!¡± Fearing that the Cordelia who was speaking gibberish would fall, Jude secured her tightly in his arms and walked a little faster. Because he thought that he shouldy her down quickly. And in the room. The room was far from splendid because this was a monastery, but it had a cozy feeling due to the thick carpet and firece in a corner. Jude immediatelyid Cordelia on the bed after entering the room. ¡®As for washing up¡­ I think it¡¯s better for her to do that tomorrow.¡¯ I should just let her sleep for now. ¡°Good night, Cordelia.¡± Cordelia suddenly closed her eyes and began babbling, and Jude covered her with a nket and tried to leave the room. But it was at that moment. Cordelia grabbed Jude¡¯s sleeve. She stopped Jude and strongly pulled his sleeve. ¡°Cordelia?¡± Jude ended up sitting on the bed and turned to Cordelia who looked at him with tipsy eyes as she sat up. She suddenly red at Jude and said. ¡°Hey.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°You¡¯re bad.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°You¡¯re bad. You¡¯re such a bad guy.¡± What is she suddenly talking about? Jude slightly furrowed his brows and asked. ¡°Because I¡¯m always first ce?¡± ¡°Argh, not that! Although that was bad too. That was really, really bad, but not that.¡± Then what is it? When Jude became troubled, Cordelia hit her chest in her frustration before pulling Jude¡¯s sleeve again. ¡°¡­sh.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°The wish! When are you going to make your wish? When!¡± It had already been more than 10 days since Jude and Cordelia left the royal capital. Though if they considered the fightingpetition where the wish was awarded first, it was almost a month ago. But he had yet to make a wish. He had not made a wish. ¡°When will you say it! When!¡± I mean! Why aren¡¯t you making a wish! If you got a wish coupon, you have to use it! Come on! Just ask for something! Cordelia grabbed Jude¡¯s cor and shook him. Her shoulders drooped and she lightly hit Jude¡¯s chest with her head and said. ¡°Come on¡­ hurry up¡­ quickly¡­ whatever it is.¡± You like me, right? Right? You like me. Cordelia held back those words before she looked up again to see Jude. As her slightly moist eyes filled with resentment stared at him, Jude¡¯s lips twitched once. He then put his on Cordelia¡¯s shoulder and said. ¡°Uh¡­ Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Anyway, you¡¯re drunk, so I¡¯ll be honest with you.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Cordelia unconsciously became nervous and swallowed hard, while Jude averted his gaze as he continued. ¡°So uh¡­ what I want to say is¡­ it¡¯s a bit too much to ask for something like that as a wish¡­ right?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I mean, something like that¡­¡± Jude¡¯s face lightly turned red in his embarrassment, and Cordelia likewise turned red too. Because she was currently drunk and also feeling embarrassed. ¡°So¡­ I¡¯ll make my wish sometime else. Is that fine with you?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ it¡¯s fine.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Let¡¯s go to sleep now. Jude stroked Cordelia¡¯s head once and tried to stand up naturally, but it was still impossible. Because Cordelia grabbed Jude¡¯s hand this time. ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°No¡­ that is¡­¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°That is¡­¡± Cordelia¡¯s words trailed off at the end, and she looked at Jude again with her moist eyes, making Jude smile a little. He caressed Cordelia¡¯s cheek which was burning red for many reasons. Cordelia then leaned her face against Jude¡¯s big hands, and soon said again in a small voice. ¡°No lip kisses. The first kiss¡­ Let¡¯s do that when I¡¯m sober.¡± It would be her first time to do that whether in her past life or present life. She didn¡¯t want to do it when she was drunk. But still, she didn¡¯t want to let him go. So Cordelia whispered in a very small voice. ¡°Only for today.¡± Jude didn¡¯t ask her further. She fulfilled his wish, and he began on her forehead. *** The next morning. Cordelia opened her eyes on the bed, and struggled with the first hangover of her life as she tried hard to suppress her desire to kick the nket. ¡®Aaaaaaaaaah!¡¯ I must be crazy. I must be crazy. Unfortunately, she remembered quite a bit. What she had said and what had happened. She even begged him to kiss her everywhere except for the lips. ¡°Aaaah, aaaah, aaaah¡­¡± Cordelia struggled to stop herself from blushing, and she thought again after closing her eyes. ¡®Let¡¯s pretend to be drunk.¡¯ No, I was really drunk then. So let¡¯s pretend that I don¡¯t remember. Yes, that¡¯s it. Yes, yes, that¡¯s it. That¡¯s it. ¡®All right.¡¯ Rememberingst night¡¯s events, Cordelia covered her face with both hands. Imagining it made her feel embarrassed, but she strangely kept smiling. Forehead, cheeks, neck, corbone, and so on. Having recalled the ces where Jude¡¯s lips had touched, Cordelia took a deep breath and calmed her heart that had begun to pound loudly. ¡°Huuu.¡± I won¡¯t drink anymore. I¡¯ll just pass on it. Cordelia unconsciously muttered those words and took a deep breath again after she put her hands away. ¡°All right, let¡¯s get up now, wash my face, and pretend that I don¡¯t remember anything.¡± Cordelia dered to herself and sat up, but stiffened afterwards. ¡°Uh¡­ Hello.¡± On a chair besides the wall. Jude sat on top of it as he looked with an awkward face. ¡°Hwaaaa¡­ I just woke up too. Yes, I just woke up. So I didn¡¯t hear anything. Nothing. Yes.¡± After seriously trying to speak in monotone and stretching out his arms, Jude¡¯s face returned to its usual sly expression, and Cordelia covered her face again with both hands. She stayed like that for a long time. Chapter 232: Guardians of the Holy Cross (4)

Chapter 232: Guardians of the Holy Cross (4)

A correction: Atalia is actually female, so I¡¯ve corrected the past episode where I referred to her as a he. It was a warm and sunny morning. Cordelia curled up under the nket and continued to groan. And Jude watched her before he sat on the bed and said as he pat her back. ¡°I really didn¡¯t hear anything. It¡¯s the truth.¡± Unlike before, his voice seemed to be quite sincere. So Cordelia who was denying reality then stuck her head out of the nket unconsciously. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes, really.¡± Jude covered his eyes with both hands as he widely smiled, and Cordelia understood what that meant, so she jumped up from her seat and pped Jude on the shoulder. T/N: There¡¯s a Korean proverb called ¡®covering one¡¯s eyes while making the sound of a cat.¡¯ It¡¯s simr to the idiom ¡®bury one¡¯s head in the sand¡¯, which means to avoid a particr situation by pretending that it doesn¡¯t exist. But in this Korean proverb, it is used when a person tries to deceive or lie to someone. Jude did not make any cat sounds though, but his wide smile made Cordelia understood that he was deceiving her. ¡°I hate you! I hate you!¡± You always lie to me! Jude epted Cordelia¡¯s fierce attacks with a snicker, and he suddenly turned his body to the other side and said. ¡°This side too. Please do it steadily but not too strongly.¡± ¡°Yaaaa!¡± Cordelia lost her temper and struck Jude even stronger, but it was useless. Aside from having a wizard¡¯s physique, her cute punches were weak against Jude¡¯s defensive strength that if felt like he was only being hit by cotton swabs. Cordelia could obviously damage Jude through other means such as using the detonating cord, but that was clearly going overboard. Just like how Jude could not do any harm to the monster that pretended to be Cordelia back then, Cordelia also felt quite reluctant to do any harm to Jude now. ¡®No, even in the past, I wouldn¡¯t go as far as using the detonating cord.¡¯ Because using that is on apletely different scale whenpared to just hitting him a bit. That¡¯s why I¡¯m not using my magic in the first ce. ¡®Anyway, I hate you!¡¯ Cordelia was unsatisfied with punching him, so she began hitting his skin with her palm as if it was a whip, but that too was useless. Having acquired Sword Origin, Jude¡¯s defensive strength had already gone beyond that of a human. After one to two minutes like that. Jude snickered again before he turned to the exhausted Cordelia who was now panting and asked her. ¡°By the way, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Why? Haa.. You¡­ haa¡­ evil¡­ haa¡­ b*stard¡­¡± How can she be so cute even when cursing? The hopelessly in love Jude asked Cordelia as he pinched her cheek. ¡°Uh¡­ How wasst night?¡± Last night. Cordelia¡¯s face turned red, and she snorted before replying. ¡°I don¡¯t know and I won¡¯t say it.¡± But that in itself was more or less an answer already. Because Cordelia covered her eyes with both hands, just like what Jude did earlier. ¡®It was great.¡¯ Relief and satisfaction. Jude¡¯s smile was mixed with those two things, and he closed his eyes for a moment, recalling the eventsst night. The appearance of Cordelia who begged him to do this and that. And Cordelia saw Jude like that, and said as she stared at him coldly. ¡°You look like a pervert.¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± Aren¡¯t you the one who stopped mest night? ¡°Hmph, I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡± Anyway, I don¡¯t know. After all, Jude is bad. ¡°Alright, if you insist, then so be it.¡± ¡°You¡­ Hey, just stop, okay?¡± But Jude smiled and stood up instead of answering her. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s wash up and get ready. Because Manuel wille whether it¡¯s for breakfast or for our meeting with the branch leader.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia stood up too and said. ¡°Is Manuel okay? I think I saw him faint yesterday.¡± ¡°I think he¡¯ll be fine since his behavior was strange from the beginning anyway. And he¡¯s from the Guardians of the Holy Cross. I¡¯m sure they have a lot of hangover remedies. Now that I think of it, are you okay?¡± ¡°No. My head hurts after I talk.¡± Cordelia didn¡¯t realize it because she kept blushing, but herplexion wasn¡¯t good. ¡°Then let¡¯s use magic.¡± ¡°Eh? What?¡± It was just a hangover, so one recovery spell could easily solve it. Cordelia had significantly grown as a wizardpared to eight or nine months ago when she first recalled her past life memories. ¡°Done. My mind is clear now.¡± ¡°Wow, it¡¯s like a scam when you think that it can be easily solved like that.¡± ¡°I agree.¡± After answering him, Cordelia took a shower in the bathtub prepared on one side of the room, and changed into clothes that the Guardians of the Holy Cross had prepared for them. It was the ck and white uniform of the Guardians. ¡°It¡¯s a nice uniform.¡± Cordelia turned her body around as she looked at herself in front of a mirror with magic lights, and then smiled in satisfaction. Because Cordelia had a liking for uniforms in her past life, which included school uniforms and military uniforms. Uniforms had this unique feeling that made you feel neat and unified with others. Moreover, the uniform of the Guardians of the Holy Cross was quite well-designed. There was harmony in the ck outer garments and white inner garments. ¡®It¡¯s like a remodeled nun¡¯s habit.¡¯ The skirt had a long slit to allow for the movement of legs, so it was quite far from adylike dress, but the overall shape itself resembled a nun¡¯s uniform. ¡®Hmm, it looks good.¡¯ Satisfied with her own appearance, Cordelia turned to Jude and felt even more satisfied. The uniform-wearing Jude. Even if she remove the love filter in her eyes, Jude was really good-looking. Come to think of it, Jude is one of the so-called Four Great Kings of Beauty in Legend of Heroes 2. ¡°Hehehe.¡± ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing. Hehehe.¡± Cordelia herself did not know, but her smile was no different from the ones Carnelia and Vanessa showed in the Forest of Eternity. So Jude flinched for a moment when sheughed, but afterwards, he was happy with the fact that Cordelia was smiling, so he brought up the main topic instead of saying anything unnecessary. ¡°Moving on, Cordelia. I have something to tell you before Manuel arrives.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± Cordelia sat next to Jude on a sofa in one side of the room, and tilted her head as she asked. ¡°Is it something important?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s important. It¡¯s a must for us to do in St. Crute Monastery. Do you know what it is?¡± Cordelia blinked her eyes at Jude¡¯s question, and then thought as she folded her arms. ¡°Hmm¡­ We¡¯ll tell them about the threat of Malekith and then locate Kamael.¡± That was their primary purpose, and it was the purpose they had talked about over and over again while on the way here. In short, it wasn¡¯t what Jude wanted to tell her now. It was something else. Another purpose. ¡°Atalia?¡± The young goddess Atalia. ording to the game¡¯s background setting, she was a female goddess who was asleep somewhere in the St. Crute Monastery. Jude lightly shook his head at Cordelia¡¯s words. ¡°It¡¯s not Atalia. Of course, it would be nice to meet her, but even if we can¡¯t meet her, it won¡¯t be a big problem.¡± She was still a young goddess, so there was little that she could do. Moreover, it could have a bad effect on her if they forcibly woke her up from her sleep. ¡®In the game, she died after stopping the cmities, but it will be different this time.¡¯ Jude and Cordelia would not let her just die. ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± Anyway, when he said that it wasn¡¯t Atalia, Cordelia thought hard again, but she groaned and couldn¡¯te up with a correct answer. ¡°Haaa¡­ I surrender. I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t do that. Think about it a little more. Like, ?¡®Am I missing something?¡¯ or ¡®Am I forgetting something?¡¯¡± At Jude¡¯s words ¨C to be exact, at the word ¡®forgotten,¡¯ Cordelia reflexively recalled a name. ¡°Melissa?¡± ¡°Not Melissa. Now that I think of it, did you forget Melissa again? Do you talk to her regrly?¡± ¡°Eh? Uh, Yes. O-of course.¡± Seeing that she was avoiding his gaze, it seemed like she had forgotten about Melissa for the past few days. ¡®Well, Melissa¡¯s matter is not what¡¯s important now.¡¯ If Melissa had heard of Jude¡¯s indifferent thoughts, she would have cried tears of blood. Jude then looked at Cordelia again and said. ¡°You don¡¯t really know?¡± ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know. Please tell me.¡± ¡°Hey, this is why I¡¯m always number one.¡± As Jude clicked his tongue, Cordelia puffed up her cheeks in proportional to him before saying. ¡°Ugh¡­ wait then.¡± I¡¯ll think of it. I¡¯ll remember it. Based on his personality, he¡¯ll definitely tease me because I didn¡¯t know about it. It must be a fact that I¡¯ve already experienced or known. ¡°Uuuuh, uuuuuuh¡­!¡± Come on, my brain cells. Remember what it is now! Cordelia groaned as she struggled to think about it, and at some point, she raised her head. She jumped up from her seat and eximed. ¡°Ah!¡± That! That! I remember it! ¡°Sri! The tomb of Sri¡¯s champion, Gallus!¡± Cordelia shouted it all at once before anxiously turning to Jude, and when Jude smiled happily, she jumped again and cheered. ¡°YEAAAH!¡± The tomb of Gallus, Sri¡¯s champion. To be exact, one of the five clues to find his tomb. ¡®Has it been around half a year?¡¯ The tomb of Saint Galleon that they encountered at the entrance to the wildnds. In the tomb of one of Gallus¡¯ disciples, Jude and Cordelia were able to find a piece of te. ¡®If we collect all five, we¡¯ll be able to find out the location of Gallus¡¯ tomb.¡¯ And in the tomb of Gallus, the most important treasure of the Sri denomination was hidden. ¡°The tes. One was in the wildnds, and the other that was found in the game was in the empire.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. And the te we found in the tomb of Galleon had information on where another te was located.¡± ¡°Is that here?¡± ¡°Yes, St. Crute Monastery. Originally, this was not a huge monastery but the site of a former temple of Sri.¡± Cordelia happily listened to Jude¡¯s exnation, but soon gasped. Because she remembered one more fact. ¡°The te.¡± To be exact, the te found in Galleon¡¯s tomb. They didn¡¯t have it now. It was one of the many items they lost while they were traveling in the wildnds. ¡°It¡¯s all right. Because it¡¯s here and here.¡± Jude then patted his chest and head with his fingers as he said that. ¡°Head and chest?¡± ¡°Yes, I put it in my Memory Pce, and when I was making the shampoo and conditioner, I put it down on paper.¡± The stone te itself was just an ordinary stone. What was important was not the te itself, but its content, which Jude had already memorized in the evening they got the te. ¡°JudeWiki is awesome.¡± ¡°Please praise me more.¡± ¡°JudeWiki is really amazing.¡± Cordelia emphasized it once more as he wished, and began jumping again in her happiness. Because she was a woman who liked getting items in the first ce. And that there was something special with the five tes of Sri. ¡®Because I couldn¡¯t collect all of them in the game!¡¯ An event that was not in the game. Items that could not be obtained in the game. Moreover, it was the most important treasure of the Sri denomination that was hidden in Gallus¡¯ tomb. Just imagining what kind of item they would get made her feel excited. ¡°Then this ce is where Berfa¡¯s tomb is.¡± Pdin Berfa, one of Gallus¡¯ three disciples. Cordelia cheerfully replied at Jude¡¯sment. ¡°Anyway, there¡¯s a te here too. That means we¡¯re one step closer to Gallus¡¯ tomb.¡± And there must be good items hidden in Berfa¡¯s tomb. Wasn¡¯t the Holy Lance we found in Galleon¡¯s tomb useful? ¡®Though we lost that too.¡¯ They had used it once to destroy the rocky mountain of Violent Avnche. ¡®It was a good item though.¡¯ Because we were able to win. After briefly remembering the toddling Violent Avnche, Cordelia turned to Jude. ¡°Do you know the exact location? St. Crute Monastery is very big.¡± ¡°Yes, I had a rough idea when we got here.¡± ¡°As expected of my Jude.¡± Cordelia then happily asked as she hugged Jude¡¯s arm. ¡°Where is it?¡± ¡°Uh, that is¡­¡± ¡°Yes, that is?¡± As Cordelia hugged Jude¡¯s arm tighter, Jude was instantly embarrassed when he felt a softness that was beyond his imagination, and he tried to keep his cool because it would provide Cordelia an opportunity to attack if he showed that he was bothered by it. ¡®Wait, if I think about it, isn¡¯t it nice if I get attacked?¡¯ Anyway. Jude calmed himself by clearing his throat, and spoke afterwards. ¡°When Manuel arrives, let¡¯s ask him if we can go there. Berfa¡¯s tomb itself in in a prayer hall located in a corner of the cemetery attached to the St. Crute Monastery.¡± ¡°I see, we¡¯ll be visiting it before meeting the branch leader, right?¡± ¡°Yes, we¡¯ll probably meet the branch leader after lunch at the earliest.¡± And it went as Jude had expected. Manuel appeared to invite them for breakfast, and struggled with his hangover as he said with an apologetic face. ¡°I think the meeting with our branch leader will be this afternoon. I apologize that I cannot tell you an exact time.¡± ¡°No, that should be enough.¡± To begin with, they also needed some time. Judeforted Manuel with a smile, and then said with his usual sly face. ¡°By the way, Manuel.¡± ¡°Yes, Lord Jude.¡± ¡°I would like to take a tour of St. Crute Monastery after breakfast. Would that be okay?¡± ¡°Of course. May I show you around?¡± ¡°We¡¯d appreciate it. However, we would like to have a moment of prayer at a prayer hall if possible.¡± ¡°Prayer?¡± ¡°Yes, in a quiet ce if possible.¡± After all, the Guardians of the Holy Cross was formed from the denominations that worshipped gods. So it the act of praying itself was not strange. Therefore, Jude skillfully led the conversation. For Manuel himself to rmend the prayer hall where Berfa¡¯s tomb was hidden. ¡®It¡¯s amazing every time I see it.¡¯ Where did he learn how to scam like that? Did he learn that from that Alexei person he talked about in the past? Cordelia admired Jude¡¯s skill of coaxing Manuel. At the same time, she also felt some fear, but that was only for a short while. After all, Jude is a scammer on my side. ¡°Then, I¡¯ll show you around after the meal.¡± ¡°Yes, thank you very much.¡± An hourter. After they finished eating at the cafeteria, Jude and Cordelia arrived at the prayer hall in the corner of the cemetery. ¡°Then, I hope you have a good time.¡± ¡°Yes, thank you.¡± Manuel gave a slightly awkward greeting before he left the prayer hall, and after waiting for him topletely leave, Jude and Cordelia hurried into the prayer hall. ¡°Wow, it looks like an old ce.¡± The stone prayer hall looked like a building from at least a hundred years ago. ¡°Because Berfa herself was a person hundreds of years ago.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Since it was a prayer hall, Sri¡¯s symbol was engraved on the front side. A brightly shining sun. Cordelia closed her eyes in silence and offered a short prayer while Jude looked around. It was a slightly wide yet slightly narrow ce. ¡°Are you done praying?¡± ¡°Yes, sorry. I should have told you that I¡¯m done.¡± ¡°It¡¯s all right.¡± Though Sri is no longer watching us right now. Opinions were divided regarding Sri, but there were stories that she had died, or that she had simply returned to heaven. ¡®The belief that she died is more popr though.¡¯ Even if she wasn¡¯t dead, she was most likely almost dead and just waiting to be resurrected. ¡®Moving on.¡¯ What mattered now was Berfa¡¯s tomb. Jude recalled the information engraved on the te and found the hidden door of the prayer hall. ¡°Bingo.¡± A secret door leading to the basement. When he opened the door that seemed to not have been opened for hundreds of years since it was closed, a spacious and dark basement was revealed. It seemed to be at least 10 meters deep. ¡°It¡¯s somehow creepy.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a tomb after all.¡± Jude shrugged his shoulders in response, and cast some light magic under their feet as they jumped into the basement. A vertically long room. It was around 7 meters wide and 20 meters high. At the end of the room was arge sarcophagus just like the tomb of Galleon. And there was one more thing inmon here. [Who dares disturb the warrior¡¯s rest!] A light appeared next to the sarcophagus as a voice rang in the enclosed space, and two of the lowest-ranking angels, Tomb Guardians, appeared in front of them. [Who dares disturb the warrior¡¯s rest!] It was quite intimidating to see the Tomb Guardians, who looked like ck panthers with glowing eyes and spread-out wings. But Jude just snickered. Because he was now strong enough to not be intimidated by the Tomb Guardians. ¡®And.¡¯ In fact, there was one more important reason. Jude grinned as he crossed his arms and shouted with his chin up. ¡°Go! Cordeliamon! I choose you this time!¡± ¡°You wanna die?¡± Cordelia cursed him but she stepped forward like he wanted. As she faced the Tomb Guardians, she transformed into an angel. The beams of light spread out and drove away the darkness, and an angel¡¯s halo clearly shined above her head. Furthermore, she was no longer a ninth-ranked angel. Because she had absorbed some of the divine power in the divine sword ¨ªomh Sis, Cordelia had been promoted at once to the seventh rank. She was a seventh rank and not a ninth rank. As to what that meant¡­ ¡°Hey, get down.¡± When Cordelia haughtily ordered, the Tomb Guardians reflexively bowed down on the floor. They couldn¡¯t help it. Cordelia was a seventh rank, and the Tomb Guardians were ninth rank. ¡°Hurray for hierarchical societies.¡± Jude pped his hands and widely smiled, and Cordelia snorted before saying. ¡°I prefer democracy.¡± As expected of Cordelia. You like to say nonsensical stuff. But it¡¯s fine since you¡¯re cute. Jude thought about nonsensical stuff like Cordelia before he approached her hand and extended his hand. ¡°Then, Miss Angel, shall we go?¡± ¡°Yes, Milord.¡± The two held hands like a fantasy couple and proceeded towards Berfa¡¯s sarcophagus with graceful steps. Chapter 233: St. Crute Monastery (1)

Chapter 233: St. Crute Monastery (1)

Upon arriving in front of therge sarcophagus bearing Sri¡¯s inscription, Jude and Cordelia turned to the side instead of immediately opening the lid. Because the ninth-rank angels ¨C the Tomb Guardians, lying t on the floor due to Cordelia¡¯smand hadplex expressions on their faces. ¡®Well, from their perspective, they had to unfairly sumb to authority. Or rather, they¡¯re troubled by the conflict of orders.¡¯ In fact, the Tomb Guardians were not so intelligent. Because their job was to stay in one ce like a tomb, seal, and so on, just like what they were doing now. ¡®They would have gone crazy if they had high intelligence.¡¯ Because they werepletely trapped for life. In any case, they were morepliant with that order than other angels since they were Tomb Guardians, but because of Cordelia¡¯s order to ¡®get down,¡¯ they were suffering from an internal conflict. An order to stop anyone who would approach the sarcophagus, and an order to obey someone superior than them. But it was at that moment. Cordelia looked back at the Tomb Guardians who were grumbling like a dog wanting to poop, and she smiled before sending Jude a gaze. ¡®I¡¯ll try to solve this.¡¯ ¡®Wait, isn¡¯t it a bit too much to blow up those who listened to you¡­¡¯ ¡®Hey, I¡¯m not blowing them up, okay? Of course, most problems can be solved by explosions.¡¯ ¡®Excuse me?¡¯ Jude flinched but Cordelia ignored his gaze and cleared her throat before speaking to the Tomb Guardians. ¡°Tomb Guardians, I am not here to covet the sarcophagus. Rather, I came here to set you free from your long-standing mission.¡± What is she talking about? Jude crossed his arms and listened in silence, while the Tomb Guardians looked at Cordelia with suspicious eyes. Cordelia continued with her words. ¡°You¡¯ve already done well for the past hundreds of years. That¡¯s already enough. But as long as this sarcophagus remains, you will not be freed from your mission. Because your mission is to protect this sarcophagus.¡± As the Tomb Guardians nodded, Jude looked at Cordelia in disbelief, while Cordelia puffed up her chest and said. ¡°So, Tomb Guardians, I, your superior, will open the sarcophagus and retrieve its contents, thereby freeing you from your mission. If the sarcophagus you¡¯re assigned to protect is gone, your mission is also over. That¡¯s why I¡¯m here. To set you free.¡± [Oooooh.] The Tomb Guardians were in awe and looked at Jude and Cordelia with much more rxed faces. Their gazes seemed to tell the two to take it quickly. ¡®Hehehe, what do you think? Huh?¡¯ Cordelia asked as she put on airs, and Jude had a faint smile. ¡®You really let them aplish their mission to the very end. How righteous of you.¡¯ ¡®Huh?¡¯ If the sarcophagus was gone, they no longer had to protect it from any dangers because there was nothing to protect. The bridge, Endymion, the Snow Queen, and so on. Jude recalled all of the nonsensical assertions of Cordelia in the wildnds and stared at her warmly, but Cordelia was somehow offended by his gaze and pouted her lips. ¡®So, how was it?¡¯ ¡®Good, really good. You did a really good job. You¡¯ve rapidly improved.¡¯ ¡°Is that so? Is that so?¡¯ Cordelia was pleased at his words praising her ¡®ckened¡¯ status, and giggled before she looked at the sarcophagus again. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s open it now.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Jude pushed the lid off the sarcophagus by applying his strength at once. A white light then shot up from the sarcophagus and was sucked into Cordelia¡¯s chest. ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°Eh? Oh. It¡¯s divine power. Sri¡¯s divine power.¡± It was like how she absorbed the divine power that remained in the Temple of Life. At the time when they opened Galleon¡¯s tomb, she was still a human so she was not able to absorb the divine power, but she could absorb it now that she was an angel. ¡°Haa¡­¡± Cordelia closed her eyes and fully absorbed the divine power, and slightly leaned against the sarcophagus before sending a magic. [I think I¡¯m an angel from Sri¡¯s group. Because it¡¯s easier to absorb Sri¡¯s divine power¡­ even back then with ¨ªomh Sis.] Cordelia had be an angel through Ancestral Regression, and it was the blood of her ancestors that determined her group. The ancestor of the Chase family seemed to be an angel of Sri. [That¡¯s great then. Has your angelic power be stronger?] [Yes, I¡¯ve be stronger, but not enough to raise my rank.] Cordelia pped her wings of light and soon clenched her fist. [All right, let¡¯s take it out now.] [Okay.] The things inside the sarcophagus were not much different from those that came out of Galleon¡¯s tomb. One triangr te, one Holy Lance of Sri, and a piece of female armor believed to have been worn by Berfa, a woman. Jude held the te while Cordelia picked up Sri¡¯s Holy Lance and said with a soft look in her eyes. [Do you remember Sri¡¯s Holy Lance?] [Huh? Yes, I remember that.] Because they used it to destroy the rocky mountain of Violent Avnche. Even now when he closed his eyes, Jude could remember the small back of the crying Violent Avnche who had copsed on his knees. But Cordelia stroked the Holy Lance and said with a little ¨C no, withplete indifference. [As time passes by, everything will be just a memory.] No. I don¡¯t think you should say that. I don¡¯t think Violent Avnche would like to hear your words. No matter how much in love Jude was with Cordelia, he couldn¡¯t agree with what she just said. However, he didn¡¯t interrupt or stop her. ¡®I wonder how he is doing now?¡¯ He imagined the toddling Violent Avnche. A few months had already passed since they said their goodbyes in the wildnds. ¡®Well, I¡¯m sure he¡¯s doing fine.¡¯ Because the Golden Dragon King was now awake. Perhaps by now, the construction work to restore the wildnds was in full swing. It would be the construction of arge city where several tribes would live together. ¡®When Malekith¡¯s event is over, it would be nice if we could stop by there before going to the empire.¡¯ Jude made up his mind and then took out thest content of the sarcophagus, the armor. On the other hand, Cordelia was still hugging the Holy Lance and still immersed in her own memories. ¡®Is this chain mail?¡¯ It was a chain mail made of very thin chains, but the material was umon. First of all, it was light, and the metal itself had traces of mana. ¡®Mithril?¡¯ The metal of fantasies that only dwarves could mine. It was weak against blows because it was thin in the first ce, but it could prevent most shing attacks. It also had a strong magic resistance. [You can wear this.] [What about you, Jude?] [It¡¯s for swordsmen, but it¡¯s fine since I already have Sword Origin.] Cordelia gently nodded because he was right, so she put the Holy Lance and the chain mail into the space expansion bag. ¡®And the te.¡¯ After confirming the location of the next te, Jude made sure to remember it in his Memory Pce before handing it over to Cordelia. [Okay, so we¡¯re almost done?] [Yes, they¡¯re the only ones we need to take care of.] Cordelia nodded her head before speaking to the Tomb Guardians who was looking at them with anticipation. ¡°You¡¯ve fulfilled your mission. But now that there¡¯s no way to go back to heaven, I can¡¯t just leave you alone. So I¡¯ll give you a new mission.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s words, the Tomb Guardians continued to look with anticipation instead of annoyance. Because they were born to fulfillmands in the first ce. ¡°Come up with me. I¡¯ll introduce you to humans who had inherited Sri¡¯s will, so you shall protect them and thisnd.¡± [We shall humbly do so.] [We shall humbly do so.] As the Tomb Guardians bowed their heads and responded, Cordelia proudly looked back at Jude and said with her eyes. ¡®What do you think?¡¯ Isn¡¯t this quite efficient? I got the te and also gave a new mission to the Tomb Guardians. Cordelia became even more excited when Jude nodded in acknowledgment, and she led the Tomb Guardians out while humming. *** Manuel was surprised and blinked his eyes when he faced Jude and Cordelia. He already knew that Cordelia was an angel, but he only then realized that there was a huge difference between knowing and actually seeing it. ¡°Aaah, an angel¡­¡± When Manuel knelt down and prayed without realizing it, Cordelia spoke with a saintly face. ¡°Manuel, I absolve you of your sins.¡± ¡°Aaaah. Thank you very much. Thank you.¡± Manuel bowed down once again, and Jude sent a magic to Cordelia. [What sins are you talking about?] [No, it¡¯s just¡­ I kind of got in the mood.] Cordelia giggled and talked about the situation after Manuel stood up again. ¡°You found angels that were sealed?¡± ¡°Yes, these are Tomb Guardians, angels that belong to the ninth rank. In the future, they will defend St. Crute Monastery.¡± ¡°Ooooh¡­¡± She deliberately omitted the story of Berfa¡¯s tomb. Because they might question where the contents of the tomb went. ¡®Anyway, I did well, right?¡¯ ¡®Uh¡­ yes.¡¯ Though only Jude would have agreed to that. When did she be so ¡®ck¡¯? Could it be that I did something irreversible? But it was at that moment. ¡°The branch leader is waiting. I will guide you to her.¡± ¡°Yes, thank you very much.¡± Jude responded to Manuel¡¯s words, and Cordelia suddenly pulled on Jude¡¯s sleeve as she sent a magic. [Jude, Jude.] [Why?] [We¡¯ll be going to talk to the branch leader from now on, right?] [Yes.] [Because I have an idea.] [An idea?] [An idea on how to effectively persuade the branch leader.] What do you mean? But Cordelia has recently showed rapid growth. Perhaps she has learned a trick or two. [What is it?] [That is¡­] Cordelia told him something specific, and Jude¡¯s eyes widened in surprise. He couldn¡¯t help it. Because Cordelia came up with the exact same thing that Jude himself was trying to do. [He who touches pitch shall be defiled therewith¡­ Have I made your hidden potential blossom?] [Huh?] Cordelia tilted her head with an angelic and innocent face, and Jude nodded with a huge sense of guilt. He agreed to Cordelia¡¯s n. *** There were seven leaders in the Guardians of the Holy Cross. Themander-in-chief who led the entire Guardians and six active generals under that person. The six generals including Ghostde Kamael were basicallybat personnel, so it was rare for them to settle in one ce. Because it was the duty of the six generals to fight against the demon followers all throughout the continent. Naturally, there were some cases where a general remained at the headquarters of the Guardians in order to protect themander-in-chief and the headquarters, such as the high elf Eltharion Prime, the eldest of the six generals. But in most cases, it was the branch leaders who led and defended each branch all over the world. Saint Heine. A master of God¡¯s Fist who led St. Crute Monastery. She was 34 this year, and one of the youngest branch leaders, but like most young people in the Guardians, she was very friendly towards Jude and Cordelia, the so-called fantasy couple. ¡°Are you saying that¡­ there is an evil spirit inside?¡± ¡°Yes, that is correct.¡± Jude answered with a serious face and red at the golden ne ced on the branch leader¡¯s desk. A ne where the soul of Gamorr Khan, the infamous mercenary leader, was sealed. Heine unconsciously swallowed hard as Cordelia spoke with a very serious look. ¡°It¡¯s a really evil spirit. He has already told us the truth, but he might say something else this time.¡± Gamorr Khan was actually the subordinate of ck Dragon Malekith, and there was not much time left before Malekith wakes up. Cordelia briefly told them about it, and she released the seal on the ne before calling Gamorr Khan. [Aaaaaaah-!] The purple gem seemed to be screaming, but ck smoke soon soared as it formed a human shape. It was the body of Gamorr Khan, the evil spirit. ¡°Gamorr Khan! Say what you said before in front of the branch leader again!¡± Gamorr Khan replied with a frown at Jude¡¯s order. [Say it again? What are you talking about? This is the first time that you¡¯ve released me!] ¡°Stop joking from the start!¡± [No, this is really the first time¡­] ¡°Ha! Didn¡¯t you already reveal that you are Malekith¡¯s subordinatest time!¡± [Eh? T-that¡­ How did you know?] Gamorr Khan was genuinely surprised at Jude¡¯s words. Or rather, he was confused on why Malekith¡¯s name was suddenly brought up. As Gamorr Khan continued to be visibly confused, Cordelia clicked her tongue and said. ¡°We know because you¡¯ve told us. You told us everythingst time. The fact that you are under ck Dragon Malekith, and your colleagues are the dark elf necromancer Sicilia, and the corrupt dwarf Madhur.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s words, Gamorr Khan was astonished and couldn¡¯t even refute it. Because it was all true. ¡°You also told us something like this. ck Dragon Malekith was defeated by the founder king, Richard D. S?len, and was buried in the southern sea, though not much time is left before he is resurrected. After he resurrects, he ns to destroy the southern region. Your role is to be the vanguard of Malekith¡¯s army. You even proudly talked about it.¡± [No, nooo.] Gamorr Khan was going crazy over the situation. He thought that they would do something like an interrogation once he had been caught, but something totally unexpected was happening. Not only Malekith, but even Sicilia and Madhur. Why do they know that? No, how do they know? ¡°Stop pretending and just say it. Be honest with the branch leader. You¡¯ve already told us everything once.¡± Gamorr Khan protested at Cordelia¡¯s urging and pounded his chest. [I honestly never said anything!] ¡°Then how do we all know this? We know because you told us! You want to hit on that haughty Sicilia, but you told us that you held it in because she¡¯s Malekith¡¯s lover!¡± [W-when did I ever say that!] Gamorr Khan stuttered in his extreme embarrassment. Because it was a feeling that he had kept to himself for a long time. ¡®D-did I really say that?¡¯ Did I really tell these two about that? Did they use some magic on me? Those are information that they should not have known unless what they said is true. As Gamorr Khan continued to be confused, Jude smiled and led the flow of the conversation. ¡°Gamorr Khan, you¡¯ve said that this is the first time that you¡¯ve been released, but this is the second time. I guess that you¡¯ve lost your memory in the aftermath of the divine magic we usedst time.¡± [I-is that so?] When Gamorr Khan answered without realizing it, Cordelia quickly added on with a dark smile. ¡°Of course. In fact, I can still use the same magic I used back then. It will bring you more pain than death¡­ it¡¯s the kind of magic that will make you cry out to rather kill you than to experience that pain. That¡¯s why you told us back then. You said that ¡®you¡¯ll tell us everything, so please don¡¯t use it next time.¡¯ But if you insist that you haven¡¯t told us because you¡¯ve lost your memory, I¡¯ll tell you that to convince you.¡± [T-that?] ¡°Yes, that. The fact that you were looking for the other Ultimate series was because of Malekith. Ultimate Three, the legendary Dragon Sword Ascalon was your target, right? You wanted to use it to stab Malekith in the back, right?¡± At Cordelia¡¯sst words, Gamorr Khan¡¯s face turnedpletely white even though he was an evil spirit. Because her words werepletely true again this time. [I-I really said that?] ¡°Yes, you did. You feel a pain in your chest now, right? Even if your mind can¡¯t remember it, your body still remembers it. The divine magic that I usedst time began from the chest.¡± [Ce to think of it¡­] My chest has been aching since earlier. No, it seriously hurts now. [Ughhhh¡­] It seems like these b*stards in front of me are telling the truth. I lost my memory and confessed in between. ¡®How painful was that magic?¡¯ No one else but him could have told them about such things. He tried hard to remember, but he couldn¡¯t remember. So the past pain that Jude and Cordelia talked about became an unprecedented fear, and that fear became pain again as it pressed on Gamorr Khan¡¯s chest. [Ugh¡­] Gamorr Khan made a painful expression, and Jude said to him with a very cold expression. ¡°Gamorr Khan, tell Branch Leader Heine once more about everything that you know. If you say something different from what you saidst time, I¡¯ll make you experience that extreme pain again.¡± Gamorr Khan was startled at Jude¡¯s words, and he said after frowning as he found it quite unfair. [B-but I can¡¯t fully remember what I said to youst time because my memories disappeared¡­] ¡°That seems to be the case.¡± ¡°Then, why don¡¯t you just tell us everything that you know? You told us everythingst time, but if there¡¯s anythingcking this time¡­ you¡¯ll know what¡¯s going to happen to you, right?¡± Cordelia followed up on Jude¡¯s words, smiling as she gathered her divine power in her right hand, so Gamorr Khan shuddered. [Y-you demon-like b*stards¡­] There are things you must not do even in interrogations, right? But Jude and Cordelia lightly ignored Gamorr Khan¡¯s protest, and gestured to him to speak quickly, so Gamorr Khan began to confess everything that he knew in front of Branch Leader Heine. ¡®Oh, there was such information too.¡¯ ¡®Because the game didn¡¯t tell everything.¡¯ Even the little information that they didn¡¯t know. Naturally, it was such a trivial information that it was useless, but at least, the huge amount of information managed to convince the branch leader in front of them. ¡°Good, it¡¯s very simr to what you saidst time.¡± [Phew¡­] Gamorr Khan sighed in relief at Cordelia¡¯s deration, and he went back to the golden ne on his own even though he was not ordered to do so. Because he wanted to avoid further questioning since he couldn¡¯t even ran away. ¡°Hehe, problem solved.¡± Cordelia murmured and sealed the golden ne again before saying to Branch Leader Heine. ¡°Branch Leader, as you have heard now, the threat of Malekith is real. So we have to be prepared for that.¡± Malekith was not a demon or demon follower, but he was clearly a great evil that threatened humanity. ¡°We need a way to contact Kamael. Can you prepare that for us?¡± Branch Leader Heine immediately nodded at Jude¡¯s request. ¡°Of course. We will dispatch our personnel so that we can find Master Kamael in the south. We¡¯ll also ry this information to the Guardians¡¯ headquarters.¡± Her answer was satisfactory. But Heine even added more to it. ¡°Is there anything else that we can help you with?¡± Heine would not have believed it if someone else had captured a demon and shared the same story. But it was Jude and Cordelia who captured that evil spirt, so she believed in it. The story of Gamorr Khan was also highly credible. So as the branch leader of St. Crute Monastery, she extended her aid. She said that she would do anything in order to help them. Jude and Cordelia exchanged nces and had dark smiles. Both of them thought the same thing without even needing to read the other¡¯s thoughts. ¡°Branch Leader Heine.¡± ¡°Yes, Lord Jude.¡± ¡°There must be an armory in St. Crute Monastery, right?¡± Like a treasure trove. At Jude¡¯s question, Branch Leader Heine nodded her head, and Cordelia smiled in delight. Chapter 234: St. Crute Monastery (2)

Chapter 234: St. Crute Monastery (2)

Terms used in this episode: Giving tree ¨C it refers to a children¡¯s picture book called ¡®The Giving Tree,¡¯ which is about a tree who generously gives something to a boy throughout the boy¡¯s entire life. St. Crute Monastery boasted a long history and tradition, so their armory was full of high-quality divine items and artifacts. ¡°I suddenly remember the old days.¡± ¡°Me too.¡± Cordelia nodded her head at the words of Jude, who was equipped with divine items and artifacts from head to toe, as she was likewise the same too. The old days. They weren¡¯t talking about their past life when they yed Legend of Heroes 2. At that time, it was impossible to fully equip one¡¯s body with items just like now, due to restrictions on item equipment slots. A few months ago. In the wildnds, they encountered the wild fairies and the Wild Fairy Queen, who was a generous giving tree ¨C no, a generous giving fairy. ¡°I wonder if they¡¯re living well now.¡± ¡°They should be fine. There¡¯s nothing dangerous in Endymion now, right?¡± ¡°Hey, didn¡¯t you go overboard?¡± Even if Jude had a love filter, her actions were too much back then. Jude pulled Cordelia¡¯s cheek at that opportunity, and Cordelia, who had done something wrong, epted the punishment while sobbing instead of rebelling. ¡°Huhuhu¡­ I did a good job though.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, I know, I know.¡± Because of what she did, they were able to destroy the Hell Gate and annihte the demons too. If Cordelia had chosen a different means instead of the destruction of Endymion, the demons would have caused more damage even if they had closed the Hell Gate. ¡®Or perhaps they would have been dead or injured.¡¯ Perhaps Lena or Kan would have been in danger. ¡®That reminds me, is Kan is doing well?¡¯ Kan had remained in the sacred ce protected by the wild god, Blue Whiskers, to continue doing his research. Fortunately, he returned to the empire as soon as Lena woke up because Lena had said that the wildnds would be dangerous for him, so he did not seem to be harmed in the chain of explosions that urred in the dragon veins, but they did not know on what had happened to him afterwards. ¡®Well, he must be doing fine.¡¯ Because he¡¯s a strong person despite having such bad luck. ¡°Stop it.¡± Will we be able to meet him again if we go to the empire? We¡¯ll have to go to the empire once our work in the south is over. ¡°Ouch, it hurts. Stop it.¡± We¡¯ll have to meet the yable characters on the empire¡¯s side too. Especially Maximilian and Leon. ¡°I said STOP!¡± ¡°Oops.¡± Jude let go of his hand, having forgotten that he was pinching her cheeks, and Cordelia covered her red cheeks with both hands as she panted. ¡°Let me pull your cheek too, okay?!¡± Sadly, Cordelia wasn¡¯t given an opportunity to get her revenge. Because the door opened, and members of the Guardians of the Holy Cross appeared before them. ¡°Lord Jude, Lady Cordelia. We apologize for beingte.¡± ¡°No, we didn¡¯t wait that long. Please don¡¯t worry about it.¡± Jude quickly replied to Carmen, and Cordelia lightly struck her chest in her frustration, but she didn¡¯t do anything else. [You¡­ I¡¯ll make you payter.] Later. When there¡¯s only the two of us. But instead of answering her, Jude shrugged his shoulders and talked to Carmen again. ¡°Is Mrs. Carmen and Mr. Manuel going with us?¡± ¡°Yes, we will be joining you on this journey.¡± Carmen and Manuel smiled in their delight, and the seven members who followed behind them also had happy expressions. ¡°It¡¯s a great honor to apany you two.¡± ¡°We are very honored. I didn¡¯t expect the Guardians to support us this actively.¡± ¡°The situation calls for it, so this is natural.¡± As Carmen clenched her fist and said, Manuel and the rest of the Guardians fervently nodded in agreement. A huge and powerful ck dragon would soon resurrect in the south. They had to stop him and protect the southern region, but Manuel and the Guardians were actually in high spirits. Because this was like a story that only appeared in myths or legends. ¡®Are they like Lucas too?¡¯ In any case, it isn¡¯t something bad. Since Branch Leader Heine and the people in front of me are taking the situation seriously, so I can rest assured that it will all work out well. ¡®They¡¯re also fine with us taking the items.¡¯ He was honestly feeling a bit sorry that they were taking that much, but Heine spoke to them as if she was sorry that they could only take this much, so Jude was feeling really strange then. ¡®There were no amazing items there though.¡¯ Still, they were able to acquire a huge amount of high-quality divine items. Even if Jude and Cordelia couldn¡¯t use it right now, the items they had would be enough to equip Scarlet, who would be joining them in the south, or Kajsa, who would apany them in their fight in the future. ¡°The branch leader said that she would ry the situation to the headquarters of the Guardians. And as soon as we arrive at the south, we¡¯ll contact Master Kamael as soon as possible.¡± That was why Carmen and Manuel chose to apany them. As Jude had expected, the Guardians had a means to contact Kamael, but because of their long distance from each other, it seemed like it was impossible to just use it unless it was an order to return. ¡®It¡¯s not like we¡¯ll be missing each other on the way since he¡¯s already in the south, so they¡¯ve decided on not to call him back.¡¯ Moreover, in order tomand Kamael to return, they needed the permission of the Guardian¡¯smander-in-chief unless it was an emergency situation, so the best thing that Heine could do was to dispatch members of the Guardians to the south directly, as they had a means to contact Kamael at close range. ¡°We¡¯ll do our best to assist you in the fight against the evil dragon in the future.¡± Manuel spoke with sparkling eyes, and Jude nodded at him and spoke without dying it any longer. ¡°Then let¡¯s begin right away.¡± They had already finished their preparations for the trip. ¡°Yes, I understand. Pleasee this way. We have prepared the horses.¡± Unfortunately (?) for Cordelia, one horse was prepared for each person at St. Crute Monastery, so she had to ride on the horse alone. ¡®T-this is somehow awkward.¡¯ Come to think of it, I¡¯ve always been with Jude whenever we moved. Whether I¡¯m on his back, his arms, or riding in a horse or a carriage. ¡®Then¡­¡¯ The Guardians will apany us until we reach the territory of the 7 southern families. In short, we¡¯ll all be traveling together. ¡®W-will we have our alone time together?¡¯ Dahlia and Maja always let us have our own time when we traveled together. ¡®Yes, yes. It¡¯s possible. It will be possible.¡¯ Just like how we¡¯re making progress in our n to stop an evil dragon, our rtionship is also making progress. ¡®P-progress¡­¡¯ Since we¡¯ve already done it in the forehead, cheeks, chin, neck, corbone, and so on, we¡¯ll eventually have to clear the final boss ¨C the lips. ¡®J-just like how unnie and brother-inw did it¡­¡¯ Let¡¯s stop there. Just imagining it made her face heat up and her heart pound, but for some strange reason, the corners of Cordelia¡¯s mouth were raised. Naturally, the voice of her heart was telling her, ¡®Hey, hey, what about the skinship ban? Didn¡¯t you ban it?¡¯, but there was no rule saying that she should listen to it in the first ce. Cordelia wiggled her fingers and began imagining again, and thanks to Adelia¡¯s audiovisual education and Dahlia¡¯s humanities education, she had managed to umte a considerable amount of data, making it possible for her to imagine it in great detail. ¡®I-I can¡¯t do that yet. No, not yet.¡¯ It was the moment when Cordelia shook her head and giggled as she covered her cheeks with both hands. ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°Kyaa?!¡± Cordelia almost fell of her horse but immediately regained her bnce like a beast. She hesitated a bit before looking at the direction the voice came from, and she saw Jude approaching her from her right side. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I mean, your face is red. Do you have a fever?¡± Both were riding horses, so there was quite a distance with each other even if they were close. So Cordelia looked straight ahead instead of making eye contact. ¡°N-no. It¡¯s just because the weather is hot. Yes, it¡¯s hot.¡± Cordelia pulled her cor and fanned with her hand, but Jude narrowed his eyes instead of letting it slide. ¡°Hey, we got the Great Protection of the Four Seasons, right?¡± Spring, summer, fall, and winter. The Great Protection of the Four Seasons protected from the four seasons. Because of that, Jude and Cordelia were not affected by the heat or cold, just like those heat and cold immunity statusmonly found in martial arts fiction. And Jude added a final blow to her. ¡°And it¡¯s winter now, right?¡± They were in the south. If they were in the north, it would have been snowing now. ¡°Is that so? But why is it so hot? Even Cordelia doesn¡¯t know why it¡¯s hot.¡± Cordelia quickly spoke and took a quick nce at him before moving ahead, and Jude continued to narrow his eyes in suspicion, but it was only for a short time. He straightened his back and turned his gaze away. ¡®ck Dragon Malekith¡¯s attack.¡¯ Thest of the three events that drove the S?len Kingdom to ruin. ¡®It¡¯s the highest level in terms of difficulty.¡¯ Malekith waspletely different to the demonic humans they fought in the wildnds or the Lord Protector they fought in the royal capital, who were far stronger than Jude and Cordelia back then. An ancient ck dragon. A god-like being inparison to humans. And it wasn¡¯t easy this time too. However, four of the main characters in the first episode of Legend of Heroes were going to be together in this battle. ¡®I¡¯m really excited.¡¯ Landius and Kamael. And also Lena and Velkian. Jude briefly imagined Landius punching the ck dragon¡¯s huge chest, and admired it in many ways. ¡®It doesn¡¯t feel out of ce.¡¯ Why does it feel so natural to imagine that person punching the ck dragon¡¯s chest and blowing it away? ¡®Anyway, let¡¯s do well this time.¡¯ They shouldn¡¯t just rely on Landius and Kamael for everything. They had to do their best to get the best results, just like how they did in the wildnds and the royal capital. ¡°For a perfect happy ending.¡± Jude said in a low voice as if he was making a pledge, and looked back at St. Crute Monastery. It was a bit unfortunate that they couldn¡¯t meet the young goddess Atalia, but there was always a next chance. ¡®No, we¡¯ll definitely have a next opportunity.¡¯ We¡¯llpletely stop ck Dragon Malekith and prevent the destruction of the S?len Kingdom. Jude firmly resolved to himself and looked straight ahead. He goaded his horse to catch up to Cordelia. *** At the same time but in a different ce. Count Bayer was looking at Count Chase coldly. He couldn¡¯t help it. ¡°Is this really that effective?¡± ¡°It is. My friend ate this and his wife gave birth to so many children that he could build a toon with them.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± The medicine merchant eagerly peddled his medicine while Count Chase seriously listened to him. Count Bayer knew that his friend was a bit of a pushover, but he didn¡¯t realize just how strangely obsessed Count Chase was with health food and stuff. ¡°Give me one. No, give me two.¡± ¡°Oh, thank you very much. You¡¯ve made a good decision. Hehe.¡± Fearful that his customer might change his mind, the medicine merchant quickly packaged the items, and Count Chase paid for it with a happy face. ¡°Hoho.¡± Is this what it means to be full just by looking at things? Count Chase briefly recalled Ga?l and Jude as he packed the items into his space expansion bag and smiled again. Because he was imagining Adelia and Cordelia¡¯s children kicking a ball in Count Chase¡¯s garden. One, two, three, four¡­ more or less eleven people per team¡­ The smile on Count Chase¡¯s face grew deeper, while Count Bayer continued to watch his friend and thought as he touched his chin. ¡®My friend is seriously ill.¡¯ Just like how Jude and Cordelia could exchange nces and understand what the other was thinking, Count Chase and Count Bayer could see what the other was thinking because of their long-standing friendship. ¡®And I now understand why it so long for him in the north.¡¯ He had wondered back then why it took his friend so long to catch up to their runaway children, and now, he had figured out why. Because they had stopped several times a day, and in the most serious case, more than ten times in a day, just to buy items. ¡®My friend isn¡¯t really obsessed with them.¡¯ It¡¯s like he¡¯s blindly in love with his future sons-inw¡­ It was when Count Bayer was having such doubts in his mind. ¡°I know. Just as the medicine guy said, its effect isn¡¯t that great.¡± Count Chase turned around and abruptly said, and instead of being confused, Count Bayer¡¯s eyes widened before he asked. ¡°If you knew that, why did you buy it then?¡± ¡°Because the effect may be minimal, but the fact that there¡¯s still an effect cannot be denied. Even if 100 only bes 101, it¡¯s still considered as growth.¡± Count Chase smiled and said, while Count Bayer had an indescribable expression. Count Chase¡¯s words sounded cool at first, but when Count Bayer thought about it, his friend¡¯s words were just the words of aplete pushover. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s hurry up.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Count Chase returned to his usual cool-headed expression and turned his attention to the tracking magic in order to follow the trail of Jude and Cordelia. They looked into the distance, towards the Forest of Eternity. *** Time went by across the continent. At the center of the wildnds. On a hill overlooking the city protected by the Golden Dragon King, a man and woman were having an intense fight. The two were Red Wind, who had grown up in only a few months, and Sun Song, whose face was much more dignified than before, perhaps because of the beard he grew. The two stuck with each other every day just like a certain couple, but they always behaved fiercely. ¡°Stop this if you can!¡± ¡°I can do this much!¡± They¡¯re definitely sparring, but why is there a pink air around them? No, apart from that, if you two are going to just fight like that, why in the world did you call me anyway? Violent Avnche watched the two fight with a sullen expression, and stood up from his seat as he looked south. Because he remembered the two people who helped him first. ¡°Are you eating well?¡± The voice of Violent Avnche traveled with the wind. The wind headed towards the south. *** Lucas raised his head. Having returned to the Hr?svelgr territory from the royal capital, he picked up a pen and wrote a letter in his spare time, even as he continued his daily training. Scarlet quickly disappeared when the turmoil in the royal capital ended. But she didn¡¯t just disappear. She disappeared after leaving a short letter with her contact information. ¡®Contact me if you¡¯re not busy.¡¯ Words that were short, but could be interpreted in many ways. So Lucas wrote a letter to keep in touch with her instead of thinking about this and that. And there were two people who naturally came to his mind when he wrote the letter. The couple who poprized ¡®running away because of love while pretending it to be a honeymoon.¡¯ Lucas smiled without realizing it before he looked back at the stationery. He wrote his letter with sincerity. ***¡°Mates! Let¡¯s go and cut their throats!¡± ¡°Ooouuuuuh!¡± A strong girl with ck hair and copper skin took the lead with her huge halberd amidst the fierce collision between a merchant ship and a pirate ship. Kajsa Ophand. The second daughter of Count Ophand from the 7 southern families. She boasted in having the strongest physical abilities among the yable characters, but she had yet to know about Jude and Cordelia. So instead of thinking about the two like the others, she focused her attention on the enemies in front of her. *** The wind blew towards the south. It was the result of a change of direction from the north to the south, a huge flow that would determine the fate of the S?len Kingdom. Maximilian clearly felt the flow of that fate. Because the ¡®voice from a higher ce¡¯ which he had heard since his childhood had informed him. ¡°Here it is. Found it.¡± The reason Maximilian left the empire and entered the S?len Kingdom. Maximilian smiled as he faced Ultimate Two ¨C Divine Sword Balisarda, in the ruins of an ancient dwarf city. He didn¡¯t have the Key Sword, but the voice from a higher ce guided him on how to release the seal and obtain the divine sword. ¡°Is it south this time? Yes, I understand.¡± Responding to the voice from a higher ce, Maximilian turned south after recovering the divine sword. To where the wind of fate gathered. To where the two people of destiny who would lead all those winds be. Maximilian gently smiled. He walked forward in ordance to the voice from a higher ce. He added his own wish to the flow of fate that had begun to gather in one ce. No, Maximilian. Don¡¯t listen to Hitogami! Anyway, we¡¯ll begin the 3rd main arc in the next episode. See you all on Monday~! Chapter 235: Kajsa Ophand (1)

Chapter 235: Kajsa Ophand (1)

The 3rd main arc is finally beginning. This Malekith arc willst for around 30 to 40 episodes, and it will include the moment that most of us here are waiting for. Terms used in this episode: Wild horse ¨C a figurative term for a person who behaves wildly or is tough and energetic. Cordelia was not the beast-like character in Legend of Heroes 2. After all, the Cordelia in the game was an elegant and delicate girl who didn¡¯t fit the words ¡®beast¡¯ or ¡®wild.¡¯ It was Kajsa Ophand. The true beast female character in Legend of Heroes 2. The wild horse of the south. The beheading witch. The monster of Ophand. All of these were vicious words attached to a teenage girl who was the precious child of a prestigious family, but neither Kajsa herself nor those around her denied those nicknames. Rather, she somehow epted it and was even pleased with it. ¡°Because it¡¯spletely true.¡± The Ophand family was one of the 7 southern families and had the divine blood of an ancient being flowing in their veins, just like the royal family and the 12 northern families. But the problem was that their ancestor was not an ordinary angel or a god. It was a beast. The Greedy Wolf, Fenrir. He was originally a demon born in hell but was reborn as a divine creature after being influenced by the nobility of the sun god Sri. Fenrir shared a love that transcended race with Saint Sophia Ophand, a member of the Sri denomination, and they had many children. The current Ophand family were said to be the descendants of Fenrir. Naturally, Fenrir wasn¡¯t just a wolf since he was an ancient being and a divine creature too. The Lord of Lycanthropes. The King of Werewolves. In any case, the Ophand family inherited the blood of a divine creature, and some were born with powers or abilities that were unimaginable for ordinary humans because of the asional atavism. ¡°In the game¡¯s storyline, it was Kajsa.¡± Kajsa¡¯s ability was quite simple. A strong body. Physical abilities that were beyond the limitations of humans. Among the eleven yable characters in Legend of Heroes 2, Kajsa was the physically strongest and also the quickest. ¡°Because her body is so strong that she never gets sick. Poisons also do not work against her.¡± She truly had a body of steel. Of course, it didn¡¯t mean that her skin was made of steel or that she could block spears and swords with her hands and feet just like Jude, but it was true that she had a tremendous detoxification ability and a zombie-like durability. ¡°Kajsa¡¯s only drawback is her physical strength.¡± The reason why Kajsa was called the ¡®3-minute instant food¡¯ or ¡®premature ejaction¡¯ was simple. Because her body couldn¡¯t handle the explosive increase of her physical abilities as she would quickly be exhausted afterwards. ¡°It¡¯s like a sports car with a tremendous engine power but very poor cost-effectiveness.¡± Once she began to run wild, she became a beast herself, but it consumed so much energy that Kajsa could only fight at full power for only 3 minutes or less. When more than that had passed, Kajsa literally became unable to fight because of her intense hunger. ¡°Of course, she canst if she do not use her all when she fights.¡± Anyway, Kajsa was trained in martial arts and her base stamina was as good as her great physical abilities. ¡°It¡¯s just that her fuel economy is really bad.¡± Such was the person named Kajsa. The wild and beast-like character archetype in Legend of Heroes 2. The hunting dog of the Ophand family who hunted pirates as her ck hair fluttered in the wind. It was now time to meet her. *** Two days after leaving St. Crute Monastery. Cordelia had a sour expression. ¡®So annoying.¡¯ She wasn¡¯t tired from riding a horse for a long time. Because of her high level, Cordelia had more stamina than most people despite being a wizard. ¡®So annoying.¡¯ Nor was it from having difficulties in camping out. After she recalled her past life memories, camping out was simr to sleeping on her bed. Compared to sleeping in a snowfield as a blizzard raged on, or sleeping in a narrow crack of a rock in the wildnds, their current camp was like a five-star hotel. ¡®So annoying.¡¯ But she was still annoyed. She could bear Manuel endlessly chattering next to her. She quietly listened to him because she also found his words to be quite interesting. She didn¡¯t mind Carmen bragging about her husband and daughter too. It was rather satisfying because it allowed her to naturally boast about Jude too. Was it the meal then? Whether they needed 2 or 11 servings, it was fine since Jude was the one who made it. She was satisfied with the quality of the dishes too. ¡®So annoying.¡¯ Bed, meals, and travelingpanions. None of the three elements of a trip were the reason why she was dissatisfied. Nevertheless, Cordelia grumbled as she pouted her lips. Because we don¡¯t have time. Because Jude and I don¡¯t have any alone time together! ¡®Ugh.¡¯ First of all, their group was in a hurry to get to the south. In other words, they didn¡¯t have much time to take a rxing break in the middle of the trip. They naturally stopped several times in a day because they had to rest, but they were always gathered in one ce because they had to be close together when taking a break from their march. ¡®Eueueue.¡¯ Second, Manuel and Carmen were tactless. Unlike Dahlia and Maja, the two never considered in giving Jude and Cordelia some alone time together. Manuel always followed Cordelia, calling her angel this and angel that, while Carmen was unlike those nosy aunties as she was not much interested in Cordelia and Jude¡¯s romantic rtionship. Rather, she just loved to brag about her daughter. ¡®Ngh.¡¯ It was also difficult to volunteer for the night watch. The number of members dispatched by the Guardians of the Holy Cross for this mission was nine, just like their usual missions. Because they had nine people, Jude and Cordelia didn¡¯t get their turn yet in the night watch rotation. In the first ce, they didn¡¯t even allow Jude and Cordelia to do the night watch. ¡®Uuuueueueu.¡¯ In fact, having some alone time together wasn¡¯t necessary. They didn¡¯t have anything special to do together. But how should I put this¡­ How should I say it¡­ ¡®Nnggggh.¡¯ It was already embarrassing for her to imagine it, and it would be even more so if she said it out loud. Anyway, how should I say it? Should I say that I want to do that? You know, that one. That act which gets your heart pounding, makes you feel good, and warms your heart when you do it! ¡°Haa¡­¡± It would¡¯ve been nice if we could ride a horse together. Why did the Guardians of the Holy Cross have to prepare one horse per person? Did they have so many horses? Is one horse per person really necessary? But it was at that moment. [Cordelia.] [Eh? Ah! Yes!] Cordelia brightened up when she received Jude¡¯s magic, but she cleared her throat and quickly pretended to be calm. She turned to Jude while pretending to be fine. [Why? What happened?] [Why are you strangely happy?] [I¡¯m not? I¡¯m just the same as usual, okay? I¡¯m not happy or anything, okay?] At Cordelia¡¯s insistence, Jude narrowed his eyes in suspicion, but he soon nodded. [Let¡¯s improve your acting skillster.] [Excuse me?] [Anyway, I think it¡¯s time that we split.] [S-split?] [Yes, because our purpose is different anyway. Carmen and Manuel have to find Kamael, while we have a different purpose, remember?] Cordelia was momentarily startled at the word ¡®split,¡¯ but she soon sighed in relief and nodded her head. [That¡¯s right, because our purpose is the crest of the 7 southern families.] The 7 southern families. Seven families that held the highest power in the southern region, just like the 12 northern families. But there was a huge difference between the 7 southern families and the 12 northern families. The 12 northern familiespeted with each other, but it did not escte to a bloody conflict. On the other hand, the 7 southern families considered it strange if they met each other without any blood being shed. They got into gang fights once a month, and had duels once a year. Obviously, they didn¡¯t really quarrel like that often, but it was not an exaggeration to say that the 7 southern families were out for each other¡¯s blood. However, it was quite surprising that these seven families were once united under a single banner. Dragon yer Carlos. The great hero of the south who stood side by side with Lion D. S?len, an unparalleled hero and the founder king of the S?len Kingdom. In the past, he had seven vassals that were united in the south, and these vassals became the current 7 southern families. Even though they were under the S?len Kingdom now, the southern people considered Dragon yer Carlos to be their true king, and this was also the case for the 7 southern families. ¡°The one who obtains my legacy will be your new master.¡± Nearing his death, Dragon yer Carlos suddenly disappeared after leaving those words, and from then on, the 7 southern families began a bloody struggle over the position of Carlos¡¯ sessor. [You do know that Carlos left a token to each of the 7 southern families, right?] [Yes! And if we collect all the seven tokens, we¡¯ll find the ce where Carlos hid his legacy, right?] [Yes. But the 7 southern families were too busy fighting each other so they didn¡¯t share information¡­ Thus, after nearly 300 years, Carlos¡¯ sessor had yet to appear.] She already knew about this even before he spoke to her now. Because they had already discussed about this in the royal capital. The reason why they sent Scarlet to the south. [It¡¯s time for Phantom Thief Pink Bomb to appear again, right?] [That¡¯s right.] Together with Scarlet, they would rob the 7 southern families to gather the tokens. And if they said that this was apetition to decide the Rogue Master position, Scarlet would do her best too. [She¡¯s a really good friend.] [She is.] Jude and Cordelia looked at each other beforeughing, and Jude continued. [To fight ck Dragon Malekith, it¡¯s a must to unite the southern powers. We¡¯ll need absolute authority in order to do that.] [Will the 7 southern families obey us if we have Carlos¡¯ tokens even though 300 years have already passed?] [They will. Carlos is treated like a god in the south.] Moreover, if there existed a specific threat called Malekith, they would have no choice but to join hands with each other. [Moving on, there¡¯s a ce we need to stop by before we begin our preliminary work. Can you figure out where it is?] [W-wait a minute. I¡¯ll figure it out.] Cordelia hurriedly raised her hand to stop Jude and then began to groan as she thought hard. Soon, she pped her hands and sent a magic. [I got it! You¡¯re talking about Kajsa, right?] [Correct.] After all, they needed to rely on at least one person in the south. Furthermore, Kajsa was a yable character, so they definitely needed to get close to her. [First of all, we know very little about the south. Kajsa is only yable character in the south, and her scenario began when she escaped the south because of Malekith¡¯s attack.] In other words, in order to properly rob the 7 southern families, they needed to have a local person ¨C a coborator, who knew a lot about the other 7 southern families. [Yes, yes, that¡¯s good. Okay. So you¡¯re saying that we¡¯ll have to split up with Carmen, Manuel, and the members of the Guardians of the Holy Cross since we have to go meet Kajsa, is that it?] [Yes, that¡¯s it. But why do you look so strangely happy?] [No, I¡¯m not. This is my normal look, okay? Rather, I¡¯m sad that we¡¯re splitting with them, okay?] When Cordelia snorted as she spoke, Jude narrowed his eyes again, but he didn¡¯t ask her further. [Anyway, I¡¯m thinking of splitting up when we reach the next crossroad. Kajsa should be hunting pirates by now with Daram as her base.] Daram was one of the southern region¡¯s port cities. Carmen and the Guardians were now heading to thergest trading port in the south, Bardos, which was under the royal family¡¯s jurisdiction, so they had to split up soon as Jude had said. [Haa. It can¡¯t be helped. Let¡¯s split here. Yes, really. It can¡¯t be helped. It can¡¯t be helped.] Cordelia surprisingly spoke in monotone over magic, and Jude tried to hold back hisughter before saying. ¡°It¡¯s all right. I¡¯ll talk to them.¡± ¡°Okay!¡± And around 10 minutester. Jude said to Cordelia as he narrowed his eyes. ¡°Hey, Countess.¡± ¡°Yes, Milord.¡± ¡°Where are our horses?¡± ¡°I returned it to Carmen?¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because I have a strong horse here, right?¡± Cordelia tilted her head, pretending to not understand why he was asking, and Jude finallyughed. ¡°If I run with you on my back, we¡¯ll stand out a lot, okay?¡± ¡°I know, so do it well, okay? You¡¯re good at that, right?¡± ¡°Yes, yes, I understand.¡± You really want to be carried that much, huh? Jude handed over their luggage to Cordelia and turned around. The excited Cordelia quickly carried the luggage on her back and climbed onto Jude¡¯s back. ¡°The smell of Jude.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I-it¡¯s nothing. Yes. Let¡¯s hurry up.¡± Cordelia evasively answered and buried her face on the back of Jude¡¯s neck as she quietly smiled. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go. Hold on tight.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Cordelia obediently replied, sniffing with her nose once before hugging Jude¡¯s body a little tighter. Jude fixed Cordelia¡¯s position and then kicked the ground. And two hourster. What waited for Jude and Cordelia when they arrived in the port city of Daram was an unexpected event and not Kajsa. Chapter 236: Kajsa Ophand (2)

Chapter 236: Kajsa Ophand (2)

Cordelia was in a good mood. For the past 2 days, she fully enjoyed the body temperature of Jude¡¯s wide back, and liked the firm arms that supported her. But there was one more fact that pleased her. ¡®The smell of Jude.¡¯ Cordelia seemed to have acquired a heightened sense of smell like that of a girl from the wild. Even with her eyes closed, she was able to distinguish the number of people around her by sniffing with her nose once. Count Chase had a strong rose scent. Her brother Edward slightly smelled of disinfectant that one would mostly smell in swimming pools, and her sister Adelia didn¡¯t have any strange scent, but when she met Ga?l, she often smelled of peppermint. ¡®As for Dahlia, she has a cool and refreshing smell?¡¯ Now that I think of it, is Dahlia doing well? She must have arrived home by now, right? After recalling Dahlia¡¯s face for a moment, Cordelia focused on the smell again. The smell of Jude. Jude¡¯s body had a strangely sweet smell. It obviously wasn¡¯t a very strong scent, but the faint scent was like the smell when one sucked on a candy. In the royal capital, the shampoo, conditioner, and perfume he used gave him a refreshing scent, but it was a little different today. Since they wandered around outside, there was hardly any smell on him as if the perfume had worn off. The original smell of Jude. The smell of his flesh. Her nose twitched as she was immersed in his sweet smell, but after some time, she began to smell something salty. It seemed like they were nearing the sea. ¡®Sweet and salty.¡¯ Jude¡¯s sweetness and the sea¡¯s saltiness. ¡®I¡¯m feeling sleepy.¡¯ I feel like I can fall asleep from the nice atmosphere. Will I wake up in his arms if I fall asleep like this? Cordelia briefly imagined it before she felt the urge to cover her face with both hands. ¡®I must be seriously ill, really¡­¡¯ How did this happen? Cordelia criticized herself ¨C no, she reflected on herself for a moment and soon opened her eyes slowly. Because Jude¡¯s movements had changed. ¡°Have we arrived?¡± ¡°Yes, I think we should walk from here. If we keep going like this, we¡¯ll stand out too much.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Seeing the wide road past the bushes, Cordelia nodded her head and climbed down from Jude¡¯s back. ¡°Is Kajsa here?¡± ¡°Yes, because she uses Daram as her base when she¡¯s hunting pirates.¡± In fact, they weren¡¯t that sure of it yet. The events now might gradually differ from the game¡¯s storyline because of the butterfly effect from the various events that had urred so far. ¡°But it¡¯ll be fine since she¡¯s Kajsa.¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯re right.¡± At this point, Kajsa was 19 years old. She was two years older than Jude or Cordelia, and three years older than Lucas. A difference of one or two years didn¡¯t matter much when one exceeded 30 to 40 years of age, but it was different when one was a teenager in the midst of growing up. Kajsa belonged to the top ranks among the yable characters in terms of their physical abilities at their starting point. ¡®No, it¡¯s more like she has no otherpetitors except for Maximilian and Leon.¡¯ Because she had very strong natural physical abilities. Moreover, Kajsa was a character who loved and enjoyed fighting. She had been escorting merchant ships since her childhood, so she had a lot of hands-on experience, making her a full-fledged warrior. ¡°Hehe.¡± But it was at that moment. Cordelia suddenlyughed when she was thinking about Kajsa. She couldn¡¯t hold back herughter because she was in a really good mood. ¡°Cordelia?¡± What¡¯s suddenly wrong with you? I don¡¯t think there¡¯s anything funny in our conversation now for you to beughing. When Jude looked at her in confusion, Cordelia spoke after she rolled her eyes to avoid making eye contact. ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing.¡± ¡°Nothing?¡± ¡°Yes, nothing.¡± Truthfully, there was a reason. Because Jude was stronger than Kajsa. Jude¡¯s physical abilities were superior to Kajsa, who was a superhuman from the moment she inherited the blood of a divine creature. My Jude is stronger than Kajsa. He¡¯s stronger, faster, and has better stamina. ¡®I want to show him off.¡¯ I want to tell everyone that my Jude is this amazing. ¡°Hehehe.¡± Cordelia snickered again, and Jude furrowed his brows but soon smiled. Good things are good, so if Cordelia is feeling good, it must be something good. ¡®Perhaps it¡¯s because we¡¯vee to the sea.¡¯ Jude also had heightened senses, though it was not as much as Cordelia. He felt restless when he smelled the salty smell of the sea and heard the sounds of the waves breaking from afar. ¡®Because I¡¯ve strangely never been much to the sea.¡¯ Jude had traveled everywhere from the desert to the jungle in his past life, but he had rarely been to the sea. ¡®Twice. No, is it thrice?¡¯ Moreover, he didn¡¯t remember it much because he only went there for work. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go. Give me the backpack.¡± ¡°Yes, Milord.¡± Jude took the backpack from Cordelia who obediently replied. He then signaled to her with a nce, and Cordelia skillfully used a magic that hindered recognition. Since the two always stood out, they needed that magic to not draw attention. ¡°Are we going to an inn first?¡± ¡°We usually do that, but we should go to the pier first.¡± Because they came to the sea, they must check the sea first. They had to find out if Kajsa¡¯s ship was out at sea or if it was anchored to a dock. Cordelia immediately nodded at Jude¡¯s suggestion. ¡°Yes, I want to see the sea too. I like the sea.¡± ¡°Did you used to live by the sea?¡± ¡°When I was younger.¡± It was a story from her previous life and not the present one. Cordelia then grabbed Jude¡¯s hand instead of talking more about it. ¡°Let¡¯s hurry up.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± They were just inly holding hands instead of the usual escorting etiquette, so Jude looked straight ahead instead of looking at Cordelia because he was lightly blushing due to her holding his hand first. The two headed towards the port city of Daram. *** The 7 southern families were quite diverse, but they could bergely divided into two categories. Families with a fief on the maind and families with inds as their fief. Marquis Ophand belonged to the former, and they owned two port cities on the coast and arge territory ind. ¡°Daram is one of Marquis Ophand¡¯s port cities, and is usually used as a trading port in the south.¡± It was used as a route for selling the grains produced by the Ophand territory to the various inds in the south, and was strictly for domestic use. ¡°That¡¯s why there are a lot of big boats despite it being a domestic port. Because they had to load and carry a lot at once. But the boats rarely go far since they¡¯re not intended for long-distance sailing.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Cordelia listened to Jude as she looked around. As the port of the wealthy Marquis Ophand, Daram was well-equipped with the basics. It had clean and wide roads with big and nice buildings built everywhere. Guard posts were set up at regr intervals to maintain security. ¡®It feels like I¡¯m at a tourist attraction.¡¯ Cordelia sniffed with her nose again and brightly smiled at some point. Because she could see the sea far away. ¡°It¡¯s the sea.¡± ¡°So are those sails¡­ really for long-distance sailing?¡± She saw the blue and open sea beyond the huge pier. Cordelia let go of Jude¡¯s hand and ran like a child, and Jude hurriedly caught up to her. ¡°It¡¯s the sea.¡± Cordelia took a deep breath. Besides the in salty smell, her heart pounded at the familiar smell of the sea. ¡®Beautiful.¡¯ It was a beautiful pier that was like the tourist destinations found in Europe. The inds were like dots in the distant horizon, and the sound of the seagulls were heard in between the sound of the waves crashing against the breakwater. It¡¯s so beautiful and nice right now, so what more if it¡¯s sunset? Cordelia briefly closed her eyes and imagined the sunset, and she couldn¡¯t hold back her smile. Because the appearance of the sunset dyeing the sky and the sea red was truly beautiful. ¡®And, with such a sunset as a background¡­¡¯ Cordelia was still embarrassed to imagine Jude and herself, so she used Adelia and Ga?l in her imagination. She ended up covering her face with both hands. ¡®Haa¡­ haa¡­ good. It¡¯s perfect.¡¯ It¡¯s here. I want it to be here. This ce is good enough. ¡®I have to ask him to go watch the sunset togetherter. That¡¯s right.¡¯ Cordelia made a firm resolution before she opened her eyes and clenched her fist. But it was at that moment. ¡°Something¡¯s weird.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± Weird? No, what are you talking about? We have to go see the sunsetter, but why are you talking as if something is going to happen, huh? Cordelia looked around in a hurry. The alleys. There was nothing strange about it. There were no ruffians threatening someone, saying that they would just y for a short time, nor was there a beautiful woman standing among those ruffians with a crying expression. The wharf. It was normal. No one was wounded, and there wasn¡¯t anyone being chased with the sea as a background. The sea and the pier were left. There wererge ships lined up at the pier. ¡®Good, there¡¯s nothing strange. There¡¯s no problem here.¡¯ But it was too early to judge. Jude said as he pointed to one of the ships. ¡°Look at that.¡± It was definitely a voice that signaled the start of an incident. Therefore, Cordelia didn¡¯t want to see it, but she forced herself to turn to the direction where Jude was pointing. A ck ship was docked among the ships in the pier. Now that she saw it, it was a ship that she knew well. ¡°The ck Shark?¡± ¡°Yes, Kajsa¡¯s gship.¡± The ship that Kajsa boarded when she went out to hunt for pirates. But it didn¡¯t look normal. The ship was so damaged that it could be seen from a distance. It was almost half-destroyed. It seemed like it wouldn¡¯t be strange if it sank now. ¡°Something¡¯s not right.¡± It was as Jude said. That was why Cordelia did her best to suppress her desire to cry. ¡°Hurry up. We have to find Kajsa¡­ or at least Kajsa¡¯s crew.¡± ¡°Okay, I understand.¡± She didn¡¯t expect that she would hate the moment when an event appears. ¡®No, stay alert, Cordelia. Perhaps something big happened to Kajsa.¡¯ Cordelia shook off her selfish thoughts and asked as she looked back at Jude. ¡°Shall we split up and ask around?¡± ¡°Yes, contact me right away if you find anything. Okay?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Jude and Cordelia held the two ancient dwarfmunicators they acquired in ck Town, and split up in different directions. And after 10 minutes or so. Jude and Cordelia found out on what happened to Kajsa and her ship. *** ¡°Kajsa was detained.¡± It wasn¡¯t because a man from her family caught her running wild and detained her. She was now in the hands of pirates. The story was simple. Yesternight. Having grasped the base of the pirates, Kajsa went out to sea on the ck Shark like always. To raid the pirate ind in the middle of the night. There was nothing strange about it so far. There was an event in the game where she simrly destroyed a pirate ind. But the problem was from then on. ¡°Kajsa lost.¡± Kajsa was defeated. The pirates won, Kajsa was captured by the pirates, and only Kajsa¡¯s men came back alive. That had happened in the morning, and it was now afternoon. Obviously, Daram was turned upside down. Kajsa was the pride of the Marquis Ophand family, and at the same time, she was like a guardian deity who protected Daram and the nearby waters. Kajsa was caught, and her ship that was said to be invincible came back destroyed, but it was strange that there was nomotion. ¡°No wonder there¡¯s a lot of ships.¡± There was a reason why there were so many ships anchored at the pier despite the clear weather. Because Kajsa was defeated. Because there was a high possibility that the pirates would use this chance to attack. ¡°What happened? How did Kajsa lose?¡± Jude frowned at Cordelia¡¯s question. Because it was actually a strange story. Kajsa was strong. She was definitely not invincible, but at this point in time, it was difficult to find anyone around here who could defeat Kajsa. ¡®There aren¡¯t any strong people even among the pirates.¡¯ He remembered the stats of the pirates he faced when he yed as Kajsa in the game. There was at least no one in the nearby waters who had the ability to beat Kajsa. It was obviously not a one-on-one confrontation but a battle involving dozens to hundreds of people, so variables might have urred, but it was still not that convincing. ¡°Did the pirates of the deep sea appear?¡± He was talking about pirates from distant foreign countries. There were certainly pirates who were much stronger than the current Kajsa among them. But he couldn¡¯t think of a reason why they would be near Daram. ¡°It may be rted to Malekith.¡± Because Gamorr Khan had disappeared. Malekith¡¯s side might have done something to fill the gap of Gamorr Khan¡¯s absence, so it was possible that this incident urred because of that. But it was only a guess. So Jude stopped his inconclusive thoughts and focused on the victory conditions like always. ¡°Anyway, it¡¯s important that Kajsa¡¯s alive.¡± ording to the rumors going around the port, Kajsa was not killed by the pirates and was just captured. ¡°Then it means that they wouldn¡¯t be killing Kajsa at least for today.¡± If their intention was to kill her, they wouldn¡¯t have caught her and would have just killed her right then. Moreover, Kajsa was the pride of Marquis Ophand. Killing her would anger Marquis Ophand, so even the pirates would hesitate to kill her. ¡°Something¡¯s strange.¡± Kajsa tried to kill the pirates, but the pirates were cautious on not to kill her. ¡°Anyway, it¡¯s a good thing for us. In addition, pirates are bad guys, so we can defeat them.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± ¡°It¡¯s better for our side if they demand for a ransom. But we can¡¯t be relieved yet.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because she¡¯s Kajsa.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Kajsa had a truly fiery personality. The two wondered if Kajsa would have been pissed off now. But if the pirates knew Kajsa well, they would have given up on negotiating for a ransom in the first ce. They were people who were afraid of Marquis Ophand¡¯s anger, but they also feared Kajsa who would chase them to their deaths once she was released. ¡°Of course, it would be different if there was someone really strong enough to defeat Kajsa.¡± But that was only an assumption. So Jude removed all the uncertainties and focused his mind on the things they needed to do right now. ¡°Our goal now is to save her. It may be toote if we wait for the people of Marquis Ophand toe to Daram.¡± ¡°Yes. I understand what you mean.¡± Cordelia nodded her head as she instinctively figured out on what they were going to do next. ¡°Are we going to find Wolf?¡± One of Kajsa¡¯s subordinates. He was a knight who was also called a bear because of hisrge size, but he was also known to be in love with Kajsa since their childhood. While fleeing with Kajsa to escape Malekith¡¯s attack, he sacrificed his life to save Kajsa and died for her sake. He was the supporting role in the first half of Kajsa¡¯s scenario. ¡°It¡¯s fine even if it¡¯s not Wolf. We first need to know about the location of the ind and who defeated Kajsa, or how Kajsa was captured.¡± ¡°Okay, leave it to me. I have an idea.¡± Cordelia immediately spoke, and Jude furrowed his brows before saying. ¡°I¡¯m saying this just in case, but you do know that it¡¯s not okay to threaten people by blowing up a mansion, right?¡± ¡°Hey, I also havemon sense, okay? Of course, most problems can be solved by explosions.¡± Jude narrowed his brows again at her rather disturbing answer, but Cordelia shrugged her shoulders and said as if telling him not to worry. ¡°Believe in me. Besides, I¡¯ve been doing welltely, right? I managed to win in the negotiations with the spring fairies, right?¡± ¡°Pink Bomb has been ckened, huh?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, and because of you, I¡¯ve bepletely ck. So you have to take responsibility, okay?¡± ¡°I understand.¡± No further words were needed. Jude stretched out his hand to her, and Cordelia took his hand before they headed to the mansion of Marquis Ophand. If this was a game, they would have asked the NPCs in the port to find the whereabouts of the sailors or clear quests to find a way to meet Wolf. But this was reality and not a game. And that was why Cordelia used a very realistic method. ¡°I¡¯m Countess August Chase, a close friend of Lady Kajsa Ophand. Please open the door this minute. Because I have to meet Sir Wolf who couldn¡¯t protect Kajsa!¡± It was not the home of Marquis Ophand. It was just a mansion of Kajsa who resided in Daram. Therefore, there were no people in the mansion who were higher in position than Kajsa. But even if Kajsa was nothing but a in noble, it didn¡¯t change the fact that she was the pride of the Ophand family. In other words, there was no one who had a status advantage over Cordelia, who was a well-known countess from the royal capital. ¡°Ah, are you a friend of the young miss?¡± When the butler was surprised at the words of Cordelia, a countess, he cautiously asked her, and Cordelia nodded without batting an eye. ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯m her close friend.¡± They weren¡¯t friends yet, but they would soon be. If they saved her, they would definitely be friends. Cordelia held back those thoughts and urged the butler once again instead of stuttering or speaking in monotone. ¡°Guide them to Sir Wolf! Hurry!¡± ¡°T-this way please.¡± Hurray for hierarchical societies. Cordelia did a fist pump and looked at Jude as she winked instead of following the butler who had gone ahead. ¡®What do you think? I did well, right?¡¯ I¡¯m good at scamming now, right? (Cordelia) Should I be happy or sad about this? (Jude) ¡®Cordelia has been corrupted.¡¯ The ck-hearted ck Cloak nodded as if he didn¡¯t know whether to smile or cry. Chapter 237: Kajsa Ophand (3)

Chapter 237: Kajsa Ophand (3)

I changed ¡®Wolf¡¯ to ¡®Wolfe¡¯ to make it sound like an actual person and not just an animal. Terms used in this episode: Physical magic ¨C A term that refers to ¡®magic¡¯ that uses physical force. In reality, no magic is actually used because it is just a in physical attack. This term is mostly used on mages or wizards in games or fiction who uses physical force to attack their opponents despite being able to use magic. An example would be a mage hitting a goblin with an ordinary club without ever using their magic. This mage would then insist that they used magic even if they really didn¡¯t use it. Unfortunately, it was impossible to have a proper conversation with Wolfe. Because he was in such a bad condition. ¡®Well, if Wolfe was in a good condition, he wouldn¡¯t have left Kajsa in the pirate ind.¡¯ His injuries had been cured, but he was still unconscious ever since he copsed during the battle. ¡®Wolfe is not going to die, right?¡¯ ¡®He¡¯s unconscious because of the fatigue he umted, so he¡¯ll wake up by tomorrow morning at thetest.¡¯ But it would be toote by then. Therefore, Jude and Cordelia began to question the other crew members of Kajsa. The sailors were rough-looking because they were Kajsa¡¯s subordinates and not just anyone else, but they were no match against the great power of societal ss and money. ¡°That¡¯s what happened, Countess.¡± ¡°I see. Thank you for the detailed information.¡± Jude and Cordelia gave some silver coins to the hairy sailor who meekly bowed like amb. The two then left Kajsa¡¯s mansion after leaving their luggage to the anxious butler. ¡°What do you think?¡± ¡°I think our enemies are strong.¡± The story of the hairy sailor could be summarized as follows. The ck Shark fired at the ships anchored on the pirate ind to destroy them, and the infiltration squad of Kajsanded on the ind amidst the disturbance. It was Kajsa¡¯s tactic to quickly overpower the enemy¡¯s core in the gap created when chaos urred. But there was a problem this time. The core of the pirates was too strong. ¡®Among thending squad led by Kajsa, only three survived, which included Wolfe and the hairy sailor.¡¯ The sailors waiting on the ck Shark chose to retreat as soon as they saw the unconscious Kajsa being captured by the pirates and dragged away. They couldn¡¯t do anything else, so they chose to deliver the news. ¡®Of course, they had a reason on why they ran away.¡¯ ording to the hairy sailor¡¯s testimony, it was an iron-masked swordsman who defeated Kajsa. The hairy sailor did not properly see Kajsa being defeated because he himself was fighting pirates at that time, but it seemed like Kajsa wasn¡¯t just defeated. She was overpowered. ¡°Do you know who that person is?¡± A male swordsman with an iron mask. At Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. Even though it was a surprise attack, he managed to overpower Kajsa. I know of a few candidates but¡­ they all use swords.¡± The first ones he could think of were the pirates from the deep sea, but as Jude had said, most of them used swords, so it was difficult to pinpoint on who it was. It was easy for anyone to cover their face with a mask too. ¡°He could be from Malekith¡¯s side.¡± ¡°Malekith¡¯s children?¡± ¡°He could be one of them.¡± Malekith was an ancient dragon. He had a dragon army under hismand that was made up of his children, so one of them could be that masked man. ¡°The hairy sailor said that he didn¡¯t properly see that masked man¡¯s fight. So the masked man might have overpowered Kajsa with magic or a supernatural ability.¡± ¡°Uuuugh.¡± In the end, it was impossible to find out the enemy¡¯s true identity. ¡°Moving on, if the person who defeated Kajsa is strong, I think it will be better for us to sneak in.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll sneak in, save Kajsa, and then run?¡± ¡°Yes. After all, we need to secure Kajsa to avoid a hostage situation.¡± ¡°I see. It would be difficult if Kajsa was threatened with a knife in her throat.¡± Nodding her head, Cordelia raised her hand and asked again. ¡°Then Master. Are we going to get a boat from here on?¡± ¡°No, we¡¯re not going by boat.¡± ¡°Eh? Then how will we get there? Can you run on the sea now?¡± When Cordelia asked with wide open eyes, Jude suddenly had a troubled expression and said. ¡°Cordelia, you¡¯re really good at forgetting things.¡± Just like how you forget about Melissa. ¡°Ugh.¡± Cordelia couldn¡¯t say anything as he was right about Melissa. As she began to groan, Jude said with a small smile. ¡°I think you¡¯ve forgotten because we haven¡¯t ridden on it for a while, but we have this.¡± The ring on Jude¡¯s finger. Cordelia blinked her eyes for a few times before she finally remembered. ¡°Phantom Steed.¡± A ghost horse that could fly in the sky. ¡°We¡¯re going to run over the sea.¡± They would take advantage of the night¡¯s darkness and run across the sea. Cordelia briefly closed her eyes at Jude¡¯s exnation, and imagined it. Two people sitting on a Phantom Steed that was running over the sea. Jude said that they were going in the middle of the night, but somehow, in Cordelia¡¯s imagination, they were running towards the sunset. No, it has to be. That way, it will be a picturesque scene. The sky and the sea. A world that had turned red starting from the horizon. The Phantom Steed stopped as the two gazed at each other. The sound of the crashing waves could be heard. Besides the waves, they could hear each other¡¯s hot breaths in that silent world. They yearned for each other as they felt the beating of their hearts. And at some point. The sun set. The long shadows then became one. ¡®Kyaa, what should I do? What should I do?¡¯ In her imagination, important things like Kajsa¡¯s rescue operation and the pirate ind somehow disappeared, but she couldn¡¯t help it. If Dahlia was here, she would have nodded her head and agreed. ¡°Hey, Cordelia?¡± ¡°Eh? Uuuuh. Okay, so we¡¯re going to run across the sea to rescue Kajsa, is that right? Good, that¡¯s good. Let¡¯s do that. Yes, let¡¯s do that.¡± Her giggling was very cute, but Jude ended up confused. Is there something in our conversation that can make anyone blush? And why are you still avoiding my gaze? ¡®Anyway.¡¯ It¡¯s fine since it¡¯s cute. Jude nodded his head and said again as he pointed to the sea. ¡°Let¡¯s eat first and then leave at sunset.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Nightfall. Sunset. A smile spread across Cordelia¡¯s face. *** Cordelia clearly knew. That imagination and reality were different. The sunset was much shorter than she thought, and Jude was busy in finding the right direction on the open sea through a nautical chart. Cordelia herself was busy in hiding the Phantom Steed with various magic spells. ¡®It¡¯s scary here!¡¯ Rather than being romantic, the sea in the middle of the night was scary. The dark sea stretched out endlessly, and it seemed like a monster could appear from the sea anytime. Therefore, instead of looking around, Cordelia clung to Jude¡¯s back and only chanted the spells. With her eyes tightly closed. And time passed. After running for at least an hour, Jude suddenly spoke. ¡°Cordelia, that¡¯s the ind.¡± Cordelia slightly opened her eyes at Jude¡¯s words, raising her head to look straight ahead. Seeing a dark ind in the middle of the dark sea was really spooky. ¡®It¡¯s like a school.¡¯ The school in the middle of the night. A ce that strangely became scary at night. Cordelia said as she added a little more strength to her arms that embraced Jude¡¯s waist. ¡°Let¡¯s hurry.¡± If we enter the ind, I¡¯ll no longer see the ind and be scared. ¡°Okay. Please use your magic then.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Cordelia added a magic to the magic that she had already cast. Because they needed to suppress all sounds including the Phantom Steed¡¯s breathing. ¡®I already know that she¡¯s skilled, but she¡¯s really skilled.¡¯ Each wizard had their own field of expertise. Because there were some disciplines in magic that required a vast amount of knowledge, and there were also some who were born with the aptitude for it. This wasmon in reality too. A person was good at math, but not in English. Or a person was good at basketball, but not at ser. But Cordelia could do everything well. In fact, one could say that she was an all-around wizard in the field of magic. She originally specialized in elemental-based magic. Dark magic such as curses or necromancy was added because of her witch transformation, and when she turned into an angel, she also became proficient in divine magic and life-based magic. ¡®And she did all of that at the age of 17.¡¯ She was still young. But her mana already exceeded Adelia who was one of themanders of the Royal Guard Magic Corps, and the number of magic spells that she could use was more than those high-ranked people in the magic tower. ¡®She¡¯s also going to use spirits in the future.¡¯ She was also the Spirit King¡¯s contractor. ¡®Wow.¡¯ If you think about it, she¡¯s a real monster. Isn¡¯t she like a cheat character? Is there a wizard who has reached Cordelia¡¯s level at that age, even in the entire history of Pleiades? ¡®As expected of my Cordelia.¡¯ My beast. My scammer apprentice. In that regard, Jude was definitely a monster among monsters too. In less than a year, he grew from a weak and sickly boy into a strong man who could stand against one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. [Jude, are we there yet?] [We¡¯re almost there.] Jude responded with magic, andnded on the ind¡¯s shore afterwards. He then unsummoned his Phantom Steed. [This is Pirate Ind W. You know what kind of ce this is, right?] [Yes.] It was an ind that a yer would attack once when they yed as Kajsa. Jude did not memorize the entire map of the ind, but he roughly knew its structure. [It¡¯s an abandoned ind that was once used as a prison. Therefore, it¡¯s not an exaggeration to say that there are plenty of ces here where you could lock people up.] But if their hostage was Kajsa, they just wouldn¡¯t put her anywhere. So Jude was able to estimate her approximate location. ¡®The number of ships anchored here.¡¯ Two pirate ships. Judging by the size and shape of the ships, the number of pirates on this ind should be around seventy. Jude then hid himself in the bushes to raise the uracy of his estimate, and told Cordelia. ¡°Stay behind me, okay?¡± ¡°Okay. But what are you going to do?¡± At Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude pointed to his eyes once before opening the fifth door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors and activating his ability. An ability to see through things. Though it was more like an X-ray that saw through the skin and rocks instead of seeing the skin underneath the clothes. Jude saw everything that could be seen, and not just the area around him, so the burden on his eyes was enormous, but Jude had already reached the level of a superhuman in terms of durability. Every time his eyes were damaged, Jude would repeatedly use his regenerative ability to heal it, but he closed his eyes after observing for almost three minutes. ¡°Haa.¡± ¡°Are you all right? Do your eyes hurt?¡± ¡°Uh, it¡¯s all right. And¡­ I think I somehow know it now.¡± From the ce where Kajsa was being held to the deployment of pirates in the building. Jude was only able to see their skeletons and not the exact location of the people when he used his ability, but as he said earlier, he had a rough map of the pirate ind in his mind. He was able to figure out the situation based on the people who were at a certain ce, and ces where there were no people. ¡®It¡¯s a bit unfortunate that I can¡¯t pinpoint the location of the strong person who overpowered Kajsa, but it can¡¯t be helped.¡¯ Because his ability alone was already a cheat-level reconnaissance ability. ¡°Kajsa is locked up in a special room.¡± ¡°The one in the deepest part of the basement?¡± ¡°Yes, that one.¡± As he had thought, Kajsa was locked up in the deepest ce in the ind. If she was imprisoned in a ce like the top of a spire, they could just fly and rescue her, but it was a different story if it was underground. It would be best for them to infiltrate the ce before rescuing her. ¡°It¡¯s okay. I¡¯ve also prepared a magic spell for today.¡± Cordelia clenched her fist and then said as she nced at him. ¡°Shall we go then?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Clouds covered the moon, and Jude and Cordelia came out of the bushes. *** The most problematic thing in infiltration was the sound. The sound of one¡¯s movements. The sound of the enemies shouting to inform their allies of an invasion and its location. Therefore, the difficulty of an infiltration would be greatly reduced if one could not make any sound. Just like now. ¡°.¡± A witch¡¯s spell that Cordelia newly learned after she became a seventh-rank angel. It was ironic that she could learn a witch¡¯s magic because her angel rank increased, but it was a spell that Cordelia had been wanting to learn ever since she got the spell book. ¡®Field-type magic.¡¯ Magic spells that could change the environment within a certain range, with the caster as its center. But it had no effect when used alone. Its proper effect was only triggered when at least one other magic was mixed. Thus, it was an exhausting magic that required the caster to use double casting and also consumed a lot of mana. Conversely, it was also a magic that could produce infinite effects depending on which magic spell wasbined with it. Cordelia¡¯s choice was tobine it with the spell. The entire corridor in Cordelia¡¯s sight was forcibly engulfed in silence. And that was why Jude appeared without even hiding. ¡°¡ª¨C!¡± ¡°¡ª¨C?!¡± ¡°¡ª¡ª¡ª-!¡± The pirates were surprised by Jude¡¯s appearance, and shouted with their wide open mouths, but it was useless. No voice could escape from the area covered in silence. Judeughed in his delight. Even hisughter was shrouded by the silence, so heughed louder and kicked the ground. Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt. An attack that incredibly boosted his speed, but also drew attention because it was apanied by thunder. But it was different today. There was no sound, so the pirates felt like they were facing a ghost. ¡®Bang! Bang! Bang!¡¯ Cordelia opened her mouth and made the sound effects herself, while Jude relentlessly moved his hands and feet, throwing and mming the pirates into the walls, ceiling, and the floor. There was no sound again this time. Cordelia smiled at the sight as if she watching a muted video, and Jude continued to run. After quickly defeating as many as five panicking pirates, he threw a bottle that had been rolling on the floor, instantly knocking down thest one who was fleeing. ¡®Wow.¡¯ Is this like an assassination if there¡¯s no witness? Is this a magic specialized for assassination? Jude turned to Cordelia with a satisfied face, and she snorted before proudly shrugging her shoulders. The ce was still affected by the spell, but she didn¡¯t mind that when she spoke. ¡®Aren¡¯t I awesome?¡¯ ¡®Yes, you¡¯re awesome.¡¯ Because the two could talk with their eyes. Jude and Cordelia giggled among the pirates who couldn¡¯t even groan when they were knocked unconscious, and the two headed towards the special room. ¡°¡ª-!¡± ¡°¡ª¡ª¨C!¡± ¡°¡ª?!¡± The pirate who quickly rang the bell that made no sound was then mmed into the wall, and the pirate who was blowing on a trumpet with all his might was thrown to the ceiling. And in the midst of all this, no rm sounded, so pirates didn¡¯te swarming in. ¡®As expected of a wizard.¡¯ Those who could work miracles through the use of magic. Every time Jude raised his thumb, Cordelia would proudly shrug, and the two were able to reach the front of the special room after a while. ¡®It¡¯s a lock.¡¯ A thick padlock that secured the huge and ck steel door. Cordelia tried to use an unlocking magic spell after canceling the magic, but Jude shook his head. Because there was a magic that Jude could use too. He grabbed the lock and pulled it. He removed the metal ring from the body of the lock. The sight of the padlock being disassembled at once with a loud sound was truly magical. ¡°Wow, physical magic.¡± ¡°Very easy, right?¡± Jude proudly shrugged his shoulders and Cordelia put her hands in a praying position, saying. ¡°May the muscles always be with you.¡± But not as bad as Landius. I prefer the you now. At Cordelia¡¯s eyes that were filled with her wish, Judeughed again before he put his hand on the steel door¡¯s handle. He turned to Cordelia and said. ¡°I¡¯m opening it.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Cordelia grasped Moonlight and took a step back while Jude opened the steel door. Chapter 238: Kajsa Ophand (4)

Chapter 238: Kajsa Ophand (4)

Cordelia frowned as soon as he opened the door. Because the damp and stale smell from inside came out at once. It was called a special room, but it was still a prison in the end. It was also located underground and virtually enclosed without a window. The door had been opened but they could not properly see the inside of the room because of the darkness. ¡°Kajsa?¡± Cordelia raised her voice without realizing it, but she did not hear any answer from inside. Jude opened the door a little wider and nced at Cordelia who then cast a magic light into the prison to drive out the darkness. ¡°Urk.¡± When the light spread, Cordelia felt like vomiting again. Because her sensitive nose figured out the things causing the smell before she even saw it. It was the nauseating smell peculiar to vomit and the strong smell of blood that irritated one¡¯s nose. The mixture of these smells in the prison made it hard to breathe because there was no proper venttion. ¡°¡± Cordelia hurriedly used magic in order to ventte the ce, and widely opened her eyes in surprise afterwards. Because the scene inside the prison finally caught her eyes. ¡°Ka-Kajsa?¡± A half-naked woman with ck hair was sitting inside the stone prison. Both of her arms were bound by heavy chains that were connected to the ceiling, and both of her legs also hadrge shackles around her ankles to limit her movement. Her long ck hair flowed down like a waterfall, covering her head and upper body, so they could not see her face. But they were sure that she was Kajsa. ¡°I-is she dead?¡± Because she was not just motionless and lifeless. It was because of the huge silver sword that prated Kajsa¡¯s stomach and back like a skewer. ¡°No, she¡¯s alive. Because she¡¯s Kajsa.¡± An ordinary person would have immediately died from such an injury, but as Jude had said, she was Kajsa. Having inherited the blood of the divine creature, Fenrir, such an injury would not kill her. ¡°It seems like it¡¯s an object to prevent her regenerative ability in the first ce.¡± The sword piercing Kajsa¡¯s stomach. It was clearly not an ordinary sword, given that the light shined on its surface. The de seemed to have made from silver, or at least ted with silver. ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Upon looking closely, they could see smoke rising from her abdomen where the sword was piercing as if something were burning. The silver sword seemed to be suppressing Kajsa¡¯s regenerative ability. ¡®That¡¯s right. It¡¯s because she¡¯s Kajsa.¡¯ Cordelia nodded with a convinced face. In the game, Kajsa¡¯s regenerative ability did not just heal wounds as it could also regenerate severed limbs. So it was impossible for her to die from such an injury as Jude had said. ¡®It still hurts a lot though.¡¯ Just because she had a regenerative ability did not mean that she did not sense pain. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s hurry.¡± ¡°Okay!¡± But now was not the time to leisurely look at Kajsa¡¯s wounds. Jude and Cordelia hurriedly approached Kajsa, and Cordelia felt nauseous once again. ¡°Urk.¡± The smell was really bad. It seemed like Kajsa was the source of all the smells in the prison. She had only been detained for a day, but the smells of blood, urine, vomit and so on filled the unventted room. Cordelia was tempted to do something with Kajsa¡¯s leather pants which was covered in urine and vomit, but they had to prioritize saving her for now. ¡°What should we do? Should wey her down first?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s pull out the sword first.¡± Because of the sword piercing Kajsa like a skewer, it was impossible toy her down even if they broke the chains. Cordelia nodded and stepped back, while Jude grabbed the handle of the silver sword piercing Kajsa¡¯s abdomen. ¡°Kajsa, I¡¯m pulling it out.¡± He could not get her consent in the first ce because she was unconscious, but Jude still informed her before pulling out the sword at once. Ssshwak-! The blood and flesh stuck to the de because of Kajsa¡¯s regenerative ability also came out together with the sword. At the same time, Kajsa¡¯s body shook. Her back arched like a bow, and her drooping head leaned back as she groaned in pain. And right after that. Kwashik-! Kajsa moved her arms. Using her immense strength, she instantly pulled out the chains that were connected to the ceiling, and swung them without even properly opening her eyes. ¡°Kya?!¡± Cordelia reflexively screamed when the chains suddenly attacked them, but she calmly responded to that. Or rather, it was her instincts that reflexively responded to it. She instinctively knew the trajectory of the chain. So in an instant, her body reacted and she moved her feet towards a safer area. Shepletely dodged the chains that came falling down on her with just a single step. But Jude did not avoid it. He could evade it, but the chains bound to Kajsa¡¯s left arm would then reach Cordelia who was next to him. So Jude jumped from his spot and moved his hand, grabbing the chain and throwing it to the side. When the chain hit the floor, he heard a high-pitched sound before he looked back at Kajsa. Shiiiik-! Smoke rapidly soared from the wound where the sword used to be. Not even a single scar remained on the smooth brown skin, as if the sword prating her body earlier was an illusion. And Kajsa exhaled her breath. She rose from her spot, and her blue eyes shined like that of a beast. ¡®A kick?!¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s intuition told her that a kick wasing despite Kajsa¡¯s ankles being bound by the thick chains and fixed to the ground. And as always, Cordelia¡¯s intuition was correct. Kajsa kicked with her right foot. The thick chain tightened at once and tried to restrain her leg, but it was useless. The bolt attached to the chain was pulled out, and Kajsa¡¯s foot headed to Jude¡¯s side. Bang! A loud noise sounded that one would not think that it came from a person kicking another person. But Jude was not pushed back to the wall. His side was struck, but his bones were not broken. Jude¡¯s left arm blocked Kajsa¡¯s kick. He instantly shifted his center of gravity and prevented himself from being pushed back by the force at the same time. Kajsa hurriedly pulled back her right foot, but Jude did not allow it. His hand moved like a snake, grabbing Kajsa¡¯s ankle and mming it to the ground. ¡°Aaaack!¡± Kajsa fell as she screamed from the pain that felt like her leg had been torn. Unlike her right foot, her left foot was still bound by the chains, so she fell at a strange angle. A thudding sound was heard. Normally, an ordinary person would be unable to move for a while because of the pain, but his opponent was Kajsa. Jude did not stop as he mmed the fallen Kajsa¡¯s back with his palm. Boom! The shock wave shook the ground, and the force of the recoil was so strong that Kajsa¡¯s body roughly bounced back. But not yet. He did not feel that it was over. It seemed like his attack was carried out properly because his hands felt it, but given the circumstances, he could not deal much damage to Kajsa. In the first ce, their goal was to save Kajsa and not to defeat her, but it was necessary to subdue Kajsa for the time being. Jude moved again and stretched out his hand to the exhausted Kajsa who was on the floor. He moved his hand and did not give her a chance to raise her body. Turning her body over, he struck her in the stomach once again as sheid on her back. ¡°Gaah!¡± Her body did not rebound this time. Because Jude pressed on Kajsa¡¯s abdomen with his stretched out hand. Bright red blood gushed out from Kajsa¡¯s mouth like a fountain. Cordelia suppressed her own scream by covering her mouth with her hand, and Jude poured the energy of the ck Dragon into his palm which was in contact with Kajsa¡¯s abdomen to give her an extra hit. ¡°Gaaak-!¡± Kajsa was covered in the blood she threw up, and her body drooped and stopped moving after she let out a gasp. ¡°J-Jude, you killed Kajsa!¡± Cordelia said with a pale face. She had said that because of the horrendous sight of Kajsa¡¯s face and hair as well as her entire upper body that were covered in blood. But Jude shook his head. He had noticed it the moment he put his hand on Kajsa¡¯s abdomen. Kajsa¡¯s steel-like abdominal muscles under her soft skin. No, it was not just her abdominal muscles. He could feel her immense life force underneath. ¡°Haa¡­ haa¡­¡± Jude let out his breath roughly before slowly taking deep breaths. And he understood why the unknown iron-masked swordsman stuck a silver sword on Kajsa¡¯s abdomen. ¡®Is she a real monster?¡¯ Just by looking at her strength and regenerative ability, she seemed to have exceeded Jude himself. Something must have happened to Kajsa in the past year or so, and that had made her stronger than the Kajsa in the game at this time. ¡®How many times has she been on the verge of death?¡¯ She was like those Saiyans in Dragon Ball that became stronger every time they had a brush with death. To be exact, it was because the blood of the divine creature that flowed in her body would awaken every time she nearly died, boosting her already amazing physical abilities. ¡°Is she alive?¡± ¡°Yes, she¡¯s alive.¡± She had only lost consciousness because of the umted fatigue. Moreover, Kajsa¡¯s regenerative ability did not stop working even in the midst of this. Her rough breathing eventually stabilized after a while, and the twitching in her hands and feet stopped. ¡°She was stabbed just a while ago, right?¡± ¡°Yes, and with a silver sword too.¡± Even though she had been stabbed by a sword made of silver, which was said to be a weakness of lycanthropes, for at least a day, her body had already recovered to this extent. ¡°I guess that this is too much though. Her stamina haspletely run out. Her regenerative ability seems to have also slowed down.¡± ¡°Should I¡­ treat her?¡± Cordelia would have normally used recovery magic without asking. However, she could not help but ask this time. Jude thought for a moment before nodding his head. ¡°She wasn¡¯t in her right mind earlier. You could say it was her defensive reflexes acting up¡­ Once she recovers, she¡¯ll be able to talk normally.¡± After all, they had just pulled out the sword. But Cordelia said with in disagreement. ¡°Are you sure that she¡¯ll be fine?¡± ¡°She¡¯ll be fine. She will be able tomunicate well with uster. We have a beast here too, right?¡± Cordelia tilted her head at Jude¡¯s words, not understanding what he meant, but soon understood it. So she said with a grimace on her face. ¡°I¡¯ll seriously bite youter.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll look forward to it.¡± ¡°You¡¯re really mean.¡± Jude slyly smiled while Cordelia snarled at him before she use her recovery magic. But right after that. ¡°Wow.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s just¡­ She¡¯s absorbing my recovery magic like a sponge that absorbs water.¡± She had never experienced this before. It was as if she was being deprived of her mana. ¡°Is she really human?¡± When Jude unknowingly said that, Cordelia made water with the spell and then wet the handkerchief to wipe Kajsa¡¯s face. ¡°Big.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I mean, she¡¯s big.¡± Unlike Cordelia who was a little over 160 cm and had a slender physique, Kajsa had arge build. ording to the character profile in the game, she was around 170 cm tall, but she seemed to be over 180 cm now. Her shoulders were wide, her chest was big, and her hands and feet were also big. ¡®She¡¯s like an athlete.¡¯ No, she¡¯s more like she¡¯s a fitness model. Should I say that she¡¯s a beauty with a wild look? If Cordelia was a cat, Kajsa was really like a ck panther. In any case, they couldn¡¯t just wait for her to naturally wake up. ¡°I don¡¯t know what may happen, so just in case, stay behind me once you use your magic.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Cordelia immediately replied and as soon as she cast an awakening magic, she ran behind Jude. ¡®She¡¯s like a hamster.¡¯ At the moment Jude unconsciously thought of that. ¡°Uuugh.¡± The awakening magic seemed to work as Kajsa groaned and opened her eyes. And as Jude had predicted, she woke up like a human being instead of running wild like an animal. ¡°Have you regained her senses?¡± Instead of replying to Jude¡¯s question right away, Kajsa groaned again and frowned before slowly sitting up. ¡°Ugh¡­ my head hurts.¡± ¡®Your stomach does not hurt?¡¯ Jude wanted to ask that without realizing it, but he tried to endure it and observed Kajsa¡¯s reaction. ¡°Ugh¡­ the smell.¡± Kajsa sniffed once and frowned as she looked nauseous, but she couldn¡¯t do much about it. Because the source of the smell was Kajsa herself. ¡°Kajsa?¡± ¡°Haa¡­ ugh¡­ Who are you?¡± ¡°Jude August Bayer. This is my fianc¨¦e, Cordelia August Chase. We came here to save you.¡± ¡°Uh¡­ hello?¡± When Cordelia greeted her as she stuck her head from behind Jude¡¯s back, Kajsa¡¯s eyes widened in surprise and she said. ¡°Wow, aren¡¯t you pretty?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°You¡¯re pretty. I want to bite you.¡± And she chuckled like an old man. ¡®Jude, she¡¯s weird.¡¯ ¡®Kajsa has always been weird. Don¡¯t you remember?¡¯ ¡®Ah, now that I think of it, you¡¯re right.¡¯ That¡¯s right, Kajsa has always been a natural weirdo. Having been convinced, Cordelia hid behind Jude¡¯s back again, and Jude continued their conversation. ¡°Kajsa, again, I¡¯m Jude and this is Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve heard of you two. That crazy¡­ no, is it fantasy couple? They say that you guys run away from home every day. And you two always hug and kiss each other, regardless of whether people can see you or not.¡± Jude suddenly felt dizzy at Kajsa¡¯s words, but he calmly replied. ¡°¡­Those are false rumors.¡± ¡°T-that¡¯s right. Those rumors are totally exaggerated.¡± When Cordelia hurriedly added, Kajsa looked at her with an interested expression, but now was not the time for them to be chatting like this. ¡°Anyway, if you know us, then our conversation will be quick. As I have said, we¡¯re here to save you. So let¡¯s escape now.¡± ¡°Wait, how can you prove that you really are Jude and Cordelia?¡± At Kajsa¡¯s question, Cordelia tried to take out her countess emblem, but Jude said as he pointed to Cordelia. ¡°Is there any other girl in this kingdom who has reddish-pink hair and is pretty, cute, and lovely?¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Kajsa nodded with a convinced face, and Cordelia who was searching her pockets then blushed. ¡®What nonsense are you saying!¡¯ Of course, it would be annoying if she didn¡¯t agree. As Cordelia frowned, Kajsa found it cute and chuckled before saying. ¡°Well, it doesn¡¯t matter if you¡¯re real or fake. It¡¯s true that you released me, and there¡¯s no reason for you two to work hard in deceiving me, so I¡¯ll believe it.¡± Having said that, Kajsa lightly pulled off the shackles in her wrists and ankles. As expected of the immense strength of Kajsa. ¡®Who in the world overpowered Kajsa?¡¯ After seeing Kajsa¡¯s power and strength that was beyondmon sense, he had no choice but to ask that. A man wearing an iron mask. Who was that person who overpowered Kajsa? But now wasn¡¯t the time to think of such things. The pirates had been silently defeated because of the spell, but they still weren¡¯t safe. If a pirate who came out to pee at night suddenly found his fallenpanions, he would surely sound an rm. ¡°Let¡¯s go out first.¡± At Jude¡¯s urging, Kajsa stood up but soon turned to the door and growled. What was more surprising was that Cordelia had a simr reaction. The animal-like intuition of two beastly girls. Jude quickly used his presence detection, and understood what they sensed. ¡®The man in the iron mask.¡¯ He was approaching at a rapid pace. It seemed like there was some magic cast on the sword that stabbed Kajsa¡¯s stomach. Jude instantly made calctions. He thought of hugging Cordelia and Kajsa in the waist and running away with Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt, but soon concluded that it was impossible. It would have been fine if it were just Cordelia, but if he had Kajsa, he had no choice but to run and show his back to the man in the iron mask. But that man in an iron mask was moving fast. ¡°Here hees.¡± Kajsa quickly picked up the chains that had fallen on the ground, while Jude saw through the wall with his ability. As he asked Kajsa, he identified the location of the man in the iron mask who was running towards their position. ¡°The man with an iron mask. Do you know who he is?¡± At the same time, he began analyzing that man. Hepiled the data bybining the man¡¯s height, physique, and the very fast movement speed. It was for figuring out the man¡¯s identity in addition to any clue Kajsa might say. But there was no need for that. At the moment Kajsa grasped the chains and opened her mouth. A man with an iron mask appeared beyond the wide open door. He was 190 cm tall and had broad shoulders. A long sword and daggers were on both sides of his waist. His cor exposed his dark skin. A very fast movement speed that the word ¡®fleet-footed¡¯ was not enough to describe it. In addition to his, he had the ability to overpower Kajsa. That was enough. Although his face was covered by an iron mask, Jude and Cordelia who were rotten waters of Legend of Heroes were able to instantly figure out the man¡¯s real identity. And it was the reason why Cordelia was forced to swear. ¡°F*ck, is betrayal something normal for the Ten Great Swordmasters?¡± From the Lord Protector, First Sword, and to the man in front of them. A man who stood on the side of the pirates and captured Kajsa despite being a noble of the kingdom. His name was Sebastian Leguin. A swift swordsman who held the fastest sword in the south. Chapter 239: Sebastian Leguin (1)

Chapter 239: Sebastian Leguin (1)

Cordelia¡¯s anger was reasonable. She would be like that because out of the six Ten Great Swordmasters they had met so far, three were traitors. ¡®My brother-inw just became one!¡¯ Three out of six were traitors. If this ratio continued, then there would be two more traitors out of the remaining four. It was obviously a very simple and ignorant calction, but was actually sensible. But Jude¡¯s thoughts were a little different. Because the current situation was different from First Sword¡¯s situation. ¡®We didn¡¯t have much information about First Sword in the first ce.¡¯ The scenarios in Legend of Heroes 2 were in full swing after the S?len Kingdom was nearly destroyed. In the beginning of the scenarios in Legend of Heroes 2, the yable characters experienced events that eventually led to the downfall of the S?len Kingdom. Jude, Cordelia, and Red Wind were affected by the northern barbarian invasion. Lucas would either be involved in the barbarian invasion or the annihtion of royalty depending on the yer¡¯s choice. Kajsa¡¯s goal was to survive Malekith¡¯s attack on the south. In the beginning, it was impossible for yable characters from the empire toe to the S?len Kingdom. In any case, the period where one could experience the S?len Kingdom functioning normally was only a few months at the most. On top of that, the first episode of Legend of Heroes dealt with the past 10 years ago, so it was impossible to know everything about the S?len Kingdom, regardless of whether a yer was a stagnant or rotten water of the Legend of Heroes series. ¡®Because they did not make an appearance in the game in the first ce.¡¯ Therefore, about half of the Ten Great Swordmasters who appeared in Legend of Heroes 2 were close to ¡®background settings.¡¯ ¡®I didn¡¯t even know much about my own father.¡¯ Count Bayer. In the game, he was tragically killed by great demon Kriemler who was summoned by Haraken during the northern barbarian invasion. But it was impossible to see how he fought in the north and how he died, even if one yed as the yable character Jude, Count Bayer¡¯s own son. ¡®In my past life, I had no idea that the Sword of Wind was so strong.¡¯ He was one of the Ten Great Swordmasters, but was killed in the northern barbarian invasion. There were some more information about him, but in summary, Count Bayer¡¯s role in Legend of Heroes 2 was just that. ¡®In short, he was just a tool.¡¯ -The great demon Kriemler was someone strong enough to defeat someone from the Ten Great Swordmasters. -The northern barbarian invasion led to the copse of the north, causing the S?len Kingdom to fall into a huge crisis. He was a reference point for things like that. ¡®I only found out in this life that my father was the Sword of Wind.¡¯ First Sword was in the same situation. And around half of the Ten Great Swordmasters were those who belonged to the ¡®background settings.¡¯ ¡®But Sebastian is different.¡¯ He was not like the others. Sebastian Leguin. Even though he was wearing a mask, Jude and Cordelia were able to recognize him at once because he was an ally of the same kind as Wolfe ¨C a supporting character who was a strong helper in the beginning, but lost his life in order to save Kajsa after a certain point. ¡®And now that Sebastian is a traitor?¡¯ Jude¡¯smon sense found it hard to understand. He¡¯s a man who sacrificed his life to save Kajsa, but he¡¯s now siding with the pirates and even captured her? ¡®This is too much even if it¡¯s the butterfly effect.¡¯ Sebastian voluntarily betraying her is highly unlikely. There must be a different reason. Something other than a simple betrayal. ¡°Old man Sebastian! Please wake up! This is Kajsa!¡± Kajsa cried out loud at that very moment. And at her cry, something came into Jude¡¯s mind. Cordelia¡¯s intuition also realized it. ¡®Brainwashing?!¡¯ If Sebastian¡¯s betrayal was not voluntary. If he was brainwashed or charmed. ¡°¡°Sicilia!¡±¡± Jude and Cordelia shouted at the same time. She was Malekith¡¯s lover, a dark elf necromancer who hated the elves of the Forest of Eternity. If it was her, it was possible to charm a person. Naturally, it was difficult to bewitch a character on the level of a great swordmaster, but this made much more sense than Sebastian¡¯s voluntary betrayal. ¡®But why all of a sudden?¡¯ In the game, Sicilia did not charm Sebastian. In order to bewitch a character on the level of a great swordmaster, she would have had to do her best, so why did she do it this time? Jude cut off his thoughts. After all, that wasn¡¯t what mattered at the moment. And he was convinced of the butterfly effect if it was this kind of change. ¡°He¡¯s Sebastian! One of the Ten Great Swordmasters! He¡¯s not in his right mind right now!¡± Kajsa shouted loudly again, and Sebastian swung his sword at that moment. It was his Sword of Swiftness that one did not even know when he drew it. Shwak- booboobooboom-! The walls around the iron door came copsing with a loud sound. Sebastian expanded the space by cutting the walls without smashing it. His white breath came out of the mouth in the iron mask as his red eyes glistened. ¡°Damn, he¡¯s batshit crazy. What should we do?¡± Kajsa grabbed the chains and groaned. She had be stronger than in the game, but was helplessly suppressed because her opponent was Sebastian, so she couldn¡¯t evennd a hit. ¡®Sebastian was stronger in the first ce.¡¯ After all, he was one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. ¡°Fuaah¡­¡± Sebastian exhaled again before slowly raising his sword and saying in a quiet voice. ¡°Jude Bayer, Cordelia Chase. Priority elimination targets. Jude is worthless. Cordelia has worth. Kill Jude. Cut off Cordelia¡¯s limbs and capture her.¡± ¡°What the f*ck is this b*stard saying! You want to kill who?¡± You dare want to kill Jude? When Cordelia angrily shouted, Kajsa shouted back as she looked at Cordelia. ¡°He¡¯s just batshit crazy! Don¡¯t curse mister!¡± ¡°Hey! Isn¡¯t ¡®batshit crazy¡¯ derogatory too?¡± In the meantime, Jude thought. The words of Sebastian. What he said about killing Jude and capturing Cordelia. ¡®Worth.¡¯ What Jude could think of at this moment was the summoning ritual for demons. Malekith had a connection with the demon followers, so perhaps Sicilia was aided by the Devil¡¯s Eye in the process of charming Sebastian. ¡®And at that time, did they tell about our story?¡¯ Wait, she couldn¡¯t have charmed Sebastian just because of us, right? The two of them had always destroyed the demon followers¡¯ plots, and the demon followers had never been able to stop them. But the two of were now headed south. If the Devil¡¯s Eye had given Sicilia several warnings about the two. And if Sicilia had gained new powers because of their agreement. All of these were just assumptions, but these were all reasonable. And Jude cut off his thoughts again. Because they needed to subdue Sebastian first. ¡°Kajsa! Not at full strength?!¡± Kajsa nodded after she instinctively understood Jude¡¯s words like a wild beast despite his iplete sentence. ¡°Mister is much weaker than he used to be!¡± Then it¡¯s fine if that is so. Jude no longer hesitated as he immediately opened the sixth door. Boooooom-! A shock wave swept throughout the building with a loud noise. Jude¡¯s energy suddenly soared like an explosion, and Kajsa widened her eyes in surprise while Sebastian reflexively pulled back. Sebastian¡¯s instincts responded to Jude¡¯s immense energy. ¡°Kill him!¡± It was the moment Cordelia shouted in excitement. ¡°No! You can¡¯t kill him! Not my elder!¡± Although Kajsa never imagined that someone could kill Sebastian, a great swordmaster, she still reflexively shouted. Because the force of Jude¡¯s energy was tremendous. ¡°I know! Cordelia!¡± And Jude kicked the ground. Using Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt, he immediately narrowed his distance from Sebastian. ¡®It¡¯sing!¡¯ The Sword of Swiftness. Even if Jude was strong, it was impossible to avoid Sebastian¡¯s sword. That was why he used his ability to see through things. He fully read the movements of Sebastian¡¯s muscles and bones, and the trajectory that the sword would take was also seen. ¡°Avoid it!¡± Kajsa shouted. But instead of avoiding the sword attack, Jude threw his body towards the sword¡¯s trajectory. Bang! Sebastian¡¯s sword bounced off. Jude¡¯s arm blocked Sebastian¡¯s sword, and despite his charmed state, Sebastian opened his eyes widely in his confusion. Because he could not understand the current situation. ¡°The sword was blocked?!¡± With bare hands? And the sword bounced off? It was so unrealistic that it was natural to be flustered. But Jude did not miss the gap. He swiftly prated into Sebastian¡¯s defenses and struck his sword-like hand towards his opponent¡¯s thigh. Shwaaaaak-! The shock wave from his sword-like hand split the atmosphere, but unfortunately, it failed to achieve its purpose. As a great swordmaster, Sebastian moved his leg at that moment and let Jude¡¯s attack continue. His thigh was torn, but the wound itself was shallow. Then followed Sebastian¡¯s attack. He struck Jude with the tip of his sword¡¯s handle, and Jude unhesitatingly moved and avoided the attacks. It was time for Cordelia¡¯s magic spell to bepleted. ¡°¡± He heard Cordelia¡¯s words as he had expected. At that moment, the building was filled with a cold wind ¨C no, calling it cold was not enough as the wind was as cold as the wind in the pr regions. Even a blizzard began to blow. Field-type magic. She alsobined magic and magic to it. It seemed to be simple, but afterbining three magic spells, its power was also strengthened because of the Great Protection of the Four Seasons. ¡°Kyaa?!¡± The wind was so cold that Kajsa unknowingly screamed and threw away the chains in her hand. The current cold was so unfamiliar and threatening to her who had spent her entire life in the southern seas. The temperature dropped in an instant. A winterparable to Frost Anvil spread inside the building. Sebastian was also a southerner. No, the cold was something that even those living in the north would find difficult to endure. But Jude and Cordelia were not affected at all. The Great Protection of the Four Seasons. Among those protections, the Winter Protection protected the two. ¡°One of the basics in attacking is to stab the enemy¡¯s weakness.¡± ¡°If they don¡¯t have any weaknesses, just make one then.¡± Cordelia spoke after Jude. To begin with, it was for moments like these that made her want to use field-type magic. I¡¯ll live and you¡¯ll die. I¡¯ll force you to fight on my home ground. ¡°Ah¡­ah¡­uh¡­¡± The half-naked Kajsa was curled up in a corner like a person who was about to freeze to death. So instead of prolonging it anymore, Jude rushed straight towards Sebastian. ¡°Ugh!¡± Sebastian let out a white breath and tried to respond, but his movement was much slower than before. His skills had already declined as a result of the bewitching, so when the extreme cold came, his power even dropped further even if he was Sebastian. ¡®The Ten Great Swordmasters are still humans! They¡¯re humans!¡¯ If the Ten Great Swordmasters were in a normal state, they would somehow be able to move normally with the power of their aura or fly out of the range of the spell, but the Sebastian in front of them was in a charmed state, so he couldn¡¯t make such an active response. In other words, Sebastian was no different from a sandbag in front of the current Jude. Boooom! His punches exploded at lightning speed. Sebastian couldn¡¯t even defend against a single blow, and he staggered and stepped back after being hit seven times. Jude seized Sebastian by the neck, and threw him to the floor, unleashing his lightning fast punches and breaking the bones of Sebastian¡¯s arms and legs. ¡°Kaaaak-!¡± Sebastian screamed from the intense pain, but Jude struck his stomach like he did with Kajsa instead of stopping. ¡°Gaaak!¡± Sebastian threw up a huge fountain of blood before passing out in exhaustion, and Kajsa who was half dying from the cold then screamed. ¡°Mister!¡± ¡°Cordelia!¡± ¡°Okay!¡± Cordelia immediately responded to Jude¡¯s call and stopped the spell. Obviously, the environment itself had already changed, so it did not warm up immediately, but it would eventually return to the usual temperature. ¡°Phew.¡± Cordelia sighed in relief. Their opponent was one of the Ten Great Swordmasters, Sebastian, who also known for his Sword of Swiftness, so Cordelia couldn¡¯t help but be tense from the fight, but they were able to overpower him more easily than she had thought. ¡°It¡¯s all right. He¡¯s a great swordmaster. He¡¯s not going to die from just that.¡± He¡¯s not dead, right? Right after she spoke to Kajsa, Cordelia turned to Jude who nodded his head. Sebastian¡¯s breathing had be calmer even though he had vomited a lot of blood earlier, as if proving that he was one of the Ten Great Swordmasters who were like superhumans. ¡®Because Sebastian is a lycanthrope.¡¯ Unlike Kajsa who inherited the blood of an ancient divine creature and could use the power of lycanthropes, Sebastian was a lycanthrope himself. Though only a few people knew of it because he had kept it a secret. ¡°Haa¡­ugh¡­ you crazy couple. You¡¯re really just like the rumors.¡± When Kajsa muttered a little after standing up as she groaned, Cordelia flinched without realizing it. Just like the rumors. What rumor is she talking about? Aren¡¯t there only good rumors of us except for that rumor of us constantly running away? Anyway, it was fine since it worked out well. They saved Kajsa and even defeated the man in an iron mask who could have be a tough opponent. Jude took off the iron mask Sebastian was wearing and breathed in relief. ¡°The mask itself is ordinary. I don¡¯t think the charm can be released at this moment, so we should take him to a safe ce and have him properly examined.¡± Cordelia nodded at Jude¡¯s words. When it came to magic, it was not an exaggeration to say that she was an all-around wizard, but there were still many fields of magic that she was not familiar with, such as those that dealt with the human mind. They had to bring him to a proper priest or psychic. ¡®It¡¯s a bit wasteful to summon Velkian for this.¡¯ And they couldn¡¯t even ¡®summon Velkian himself¡¯ as he had not yet signaled that they could do so. ¡°Haa¡­ haa¡­ Okay. Let¡¯s escape now. We caused a hugemotion, so the pirates will definitelye.¡± Kajsa said that as she headed to Sebastian in order to carry him, but at that moment, Jude raised his hand to stop her from approaching. Cordelia also grabbed Kajsa and said. ¡°Hey, Kajsa.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Sebastian is the only one, right?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°The only one who can beat you among the pirates.¡± ¡°He is. Why are you asking that?¡± ¡°We defeated Sebastian.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Sebastian is the only one stronger than you, but we defeated Sebastian.¡± Kajsa blinked at Cordelia¡¯s exnation, and soon understood the situationpletely. ¡°T-that¡¯s right.¡± Sebastian was already out. In other words, there were no remaining enemies on this ind who could threaten their group. ¡°So why should we run away? Rather, the pirates are the ones who should be running away, right? Don¡¯t you agree?¡± Cordelia had a dark smile, and Kajsa was stunned for a while as she blinked her eyes before she also smiled brightly. ¡°Hey, let¡¯s be friends. I like you.¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go rob the pirates of their treasure.¡± ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s go cut their throats.¡± The two beasts brightly smiled and went out of the corridor, passing by Jude and Sebastian. With joyful faces, they faced a group of pirates who hade running and yelling at them. And one more person. Instead of joining the fight, Jude offered a moment of silence to the leader of the group who had instinctively felt that something was strange, but found it toote to turn back. Chapter 240: Sebastian Leguin (2)

Chapter 240: Sebastian Leguin (2)

Red-Handed Gabb was a pirate. He had more than 10 years of experience. The fact that he had been in the pirate industry for 10 years, which was a ce a sloppy man wouldn¡¯t be able to survive in, suggested that he had considerable skills, luck, and even perceptiveness. Of particr importance was his perceptiveness. Most pirates were vicious criminals, and so was Gabb. Hemitted rape, murder, and arson more than 10 times each, so if he got caught, he would definitely be sentenced to the gallows. Therefore, Gabb was good at knowing when to leave. Knowing when to take the lead in a winnable fight or when to retreat in a losing battle were the most important factors that helped him survive in this industry for 10 years. ¡®I have to leave.¡¯ Gabb had a hunch. But he was unable to escape from the ind. So instead of running away, Gabb chose to hide. It was normally a good choice. Gabb¡¯s quick judgment as a veteran was admirable. But that only applied if the situation was ¡®normal.¡¯ ¡°Sniff, sniff, that¡¯s weird. There¡¯s definitely a smell here.¡± ¡°There¡¯s definitely one here. Someone¡¯s here. My senses can feel it.¡± Gabb hid in a storage cer made by digging the floor, and tried not to make any noise by closing his mouth with his hand. Smell, senses. Is that something a real human should be saying? ¡°Ah, fu-. I can¡¯t smell it because of the smell of urine and sweat.¡± ¡°That¡¯s your smell.¡± ¡°I feel so icky. I want to take it off.¡± ¡°C-crazy b*tch. F*ck. Why are you suddenly taking it off?¡± ¡°Then what should I do? It smells. And you¡¯re good at cursing, huh? How cute.¡± What in the world is the connection between being good at cursing and being cute? But Gabb just shut his mouth and prayed again and again. He remembered how he found a woman hiding in a storage ce not long ago, andughing at her for being stupid as he asked if she thought that she could hide in a ce like this before he dragged her out and raped her. But Gabb shook his head now. This ce was different from where the woman hid. It was a storage cer made to hide alcohol, so it was hard to find. ¡°Ah, f*ck! Quickly put on something! Before Jude sees it!¡± ¡°Why? Why can¡¯t Jude see it?¡± ¡°Y-you can¡¯t! No!¡± Their topic went from catching pirates to something else different. Therefore, Gabb waited as he suppressed his breathing which was bing rough. Please leave. Just leave already. ¡°Okay, okay. I¡¯ll wear something, I¡¯ll wear something.¡± ¡°But what are you going to wear?¡± ¡°I can take what the pirates are wearing and wear it. If they don¡¯t have anything new, I¡¯ll just take it off from someone we knocked out and wear it.¡± ¡°Uh¡­ you¡¯ll wear what the pirates are wearing? Wouldn¡¯t it be dirtier than your peed on clothes?¡± ¡°Well¡­ maybe. But this isn¡¯t my pee. I¡¯m not someone who would wet their pants.¡± ¡°What are you saying? Does that mean the pirates peed on you?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that.¡± ¡°Then what?¡± ¡°Anyway, it¡¯s not my pee. I didn¡¯t wet my pants.¡± ¡°Bullshit.¡± Leave. Please leave. Just leave. ¡°Anyway, just put on something.¡± ¡°Okay, okay. The pants of the guy whom I hit earlier seemed to be a bit clean. I¡¯ll go put it on.¡± ¡°All right, as long as you wear something.¡± ¡°Look at this gal talking.¡± ¡°Anyway, just hurry up.¡± ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go.¡± Oh, you¡¯re finally leaving? Are you really leaving now? Thank you, dear lord Rhesus, for protecting us pirates and robbers. Thank you very much. Gabb prayed first beforepletely focusing on his hearing. He then heard footsteps. Tak-tak-tak. They¡¯re going. They¡¯re really leaving. Gabb breathed in relief but remained alert. It was dangerous to continue staying in this cer. There was a secret passage in the room next door, so he had to quickly go. Tak-tak-tak. The footsteps went away. Gabb patiently waited and counted to ten before slowly opening the door of the cer. And two people greeted Gabb. Having created the illusion of footsteps going away by controlling the pace of her steps, Cordelia said with a dark smile. ¡°See? I told you that I sensed something, right?¡± ¡°I said that I smelled it too, okay?¡± Kajsa snorted as her nose twitched once, and then clenched her fist. She swung her fist towards Gabb who pounced on her in his desperation. *** It didn¡¯t take that much time for Cordelia and Kajsa to turn the entire pirate ind upside down. In the first ce, it wasn¡¯t a big ind, and half of the pirates had already been defeated by Jude and Cordelia. So after an hour or so. Cordelia and Kajsa piled up on the beach the pirates who seemed to be unconscious but still alive, and shouted together in front of Jude. ¡°I¡¯m hungry!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right! I¡¯m hungry! Give me food!¡± ¡°Give me food! Give me food!¡± The two standing side by side and shouting were like 7-year-olds who had just returned after ying in the alley. So Jude shared his honest thoughts. ¡°You¡¯repletely like kids.¡± Cordelia would have normally been embarrassed and blush at Jude¡¯s words, but not now. Because Kajsa was right next to her. ¡°I¡¯m a kid? Well, I¡¯m not an adult yet. I only have one month left though. Still, I¡¯m 19 years old, okay?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right. I only have more than two years left before I be an adult!¡± As Cordelia excitedly replied in agreement, Kajsa was surprised. ¡°Uh, wait. What the¡­ You¡¯re younger than me?¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­ yes, unnie.¡± When Cordelia respectfully spoke to her without realizing it, Kajsa grinned and patted Cordelia¡¯s back. ¡°Hey! There¡¯s no older and younger sisters between friends! We¡¯re friends!¡± ¡°Yes! Friend!¡± ¡°Oh my, how cute.¡± Cordelia shouted excitedly again, and Kajsa giggled before ruffling Cordelia¡¯s hair and kissing her forehead and cheek. ¡°Hey, you¡¯re like an old man.¡± Cordelia didn¡¯t like it and pushed away Kajsa who kept sticking to her. She then ran away and hid behind Jude¡¯s back. But that wasn¡¯t a very good choice either. Because Jude grabbed Cordelia¡¯s wrist and did the same thing as Kajsa. ¡°Ah, uh.¡± However, Cordelia¡¯s response was different. Because unlike earlier which she hated, she was now smiling as her cheeks reddened in joy and embarrassment. ¡°Wow, the rumors were true. The always kissing part.¡± Kajsa giggled again, and Cordelia was embarrassed while Jude lightly pinched Cordelia¡¯s cheek. And in the midst of all this, a man coughed. ¡°Ahem.¡± A cough loud enough that anyone who had ears could hear. But no one looked back, so the man cleared his throat again. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± ¡°Ehem, ehem, ehem.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem, ahem, ahem!¡± But Kajsa was still busyughing, and Cordelia was still embarrassed while Jude continued to look at Cordelia and admiring her cuteness. ¡°Kajsa, you f*cking b*tch! I¡¯m asking you to introduce me too! Is this neglect y?!¡± The man, Bentham, who was a dwarf, shouted loudly, and Kajsa finally stoppedughing. ¡°Ah, I forgot.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Anyway, I can introduce you now, right? I¡¯ll introduce you. This is Bentham. As you can see, he¡¯s a dwarf. That¡¯s enough, right?¡± ¡°You b*tch! Not like that!¡± Bentham sighed once and took a step before introducing himself. ¡°I am Bentham. I¡¯m an artisan from the Iron Pledge Guild.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not much different from when I introduced you.¡± ¡°What do you mean it¡¯s not different! There is a difference!¡± Being an artisan from the Iron Pledge Guild and not just anyone else is important! I¡¯m not your ordinary dwarf! ¡°Ah, okay. Okay. I got it. Anyway, you do know that I¡¯m your benefactor, right? I¡¯m the one who saved you, right?¡± Bentham jumped back at Kajsa¡¯s threatening look, and as cold sweat ran down his back, he said after coughing again. ¡°Ahem, ahem. Thank you very much for saving me. I¡¯ll definitely return the favor when I return to the guild. When I return to the guild.¡± So don¡¯t harm me if you want to be rewarded, please? At Bentham¡¯s desperate voice, Kajsa giggled and nodded her head. ¡°Okay. Bentham, I¡¯m sure you know best how much your life will cost since you¡¯re a skilled artisan of the Iron Pledge Guild and not just anyone else, right?¡± Kajsa was usually like an animal, but she wasn¡¯t stupid. Rather, she had a clever side. ¡°Ugh¡­ I-I understand. Please look forward to it.¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll look forward to it.¡± Bentham groaned and replied, feeling like he got caught in his own trap. Kajsa then turned to Jude and Cordelia, smiling brightly. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m hungry. Give me food.¡± ¡°¡­I think I need a little more exnation.¡± What had happened was that Cordelia and Kajsa saved Bentham who had been captured by the pirates. ¡°That¡¯s how it happened.¡± Cordelia told Jude about this and that, as if she was a kid who had been ying all day and was now reporting what she did outside, and Jude nodded as he grilled skewers over the bonfire. ¡®It¡¯s what I had expected.¡¯ Cordelia and Kajsa rescued Bentham who was held in a prison. Given that the pirates captured him, it seemed like he was quite an important figure in the guild, which was something Bentham was proud of. ¡®I definitely don¡¯t know much about the south.¡¯ After all, Kajsa often wandered in the sea, and there were a lot of forced events in the southern region, so it was a ce where one was practically limited in freely moving and searching around. ¡®The first half was all about escaping.¡¯ Malekith¡¯s attack seriously devastated the south, making it impossible to obtain additional information. ¡®Now then, what matters at this moment is Sebastian.¡¯ There were a lot of things they needed to find out, such as if Sicilia was really involved in this, what was she nning when she dragged Sebastian into this, why she joined hands with the pirates, and so on. ¡®But we aplished our first goal.¡¯ Jude raised his head and saw Cordelia and Kajsa squabbling as they ate the grilled skewers. They had met for the first time today, but seeing at how they were acting, it seemed like they had been friends for more than 10 years. ¡®We got Kajsa now.¡¯ Not only did they save her life, but they even became close to her, so he was sure that they would receive a lot of help from her for their future activities in the south. ¡®I think Bentham is a pretty good extra ie.¡¯ Because they had to unite the entire south in order to fight Malekith. Bentham would be helpful in getting the help of the dwarves and gnomes. ¡®Everything¡¯s going well.¡¯ Jude smiled and cooked new skewers for Cordelia and Kajsa who were asking for more. And around 30 minutester. Cordelia asked as she pulled Jude¡¯s sleeve. ¡°Jude, Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Are we really taking them?¡± One of the pirate ships anchored on the ind. Kajsa tied up the pirates who she had knocked unconscious again, and piled them in the cabin one by one. ¡°Because she needs to set an example.¡± Pirates had be quite beautified in modern times through movies, cartoons, and novels, but in reality, pirates were vicious criminals who were far from their romanticized versions. ¡®Because they¡¯re all involved in murder, rape, and arson.¡¯ Therefore, pirates were practically destined to be hanged the moment they were captured. ¡°And¡­ because Kajsa needs it too.¡± ¡°What? The pirates?¡± ¡°Yes, because Kajsa was captured by the pirates. If it was just a story of her being rescued by us and returning, her reputation as a pirate hunter that she had built up so far would be greatly reduced, right?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ So that¡¯s why it¡¯s necessary. She has to let them know that she¡¯s alive and well.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. I was caught, but I kicked their asses and escaped. This is what happens to those who mess with me. Something like that?¡± ¡°Indeed, that¡¯s a good example.¡± Cordelia nodded her head in understanding, and then looked back at Kajsa. Kajsa was tall, had a big chest, and huge hands and feet. As a yable character and beautiful woman, she reminded Cordelia of a ck panther in many ways, but she certainly felt wilder and more feral whenpared to Scarlet or Princess Daphne. ¡®Because she also served as a sailor in a private fleet.¡¯ Kajsa had taken part in several naval battles against ships from the Argon Empire and the Far East. She wasn¡¯t even 20 years old, but she was a veteran among veterans in terms of the number of life-and-death situations she had experienced so far. ¡°What about Sebastian?¡± ¡°I applied a splint to the injured area and tied him up tightly. It would be hard for him to run wild now.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a big problem if Sicilia is the one who really did that. We don¡¯t know if she has the necessary resources to continue doing that or not, but anyway, it means that even someone on the level of a Ten Great Swordmaster can be charmed.¡± ¡°Well¡­ She won¡¯t be able to do it easily. It was like that in the game.¡± ¡°Eh¡­ I really hope so.¡± It wasn¡¯t only Jude who naturally realized it. Cordelia did too. The fact that many things had already changed because of their actions. ¡®Furthermore¡­¡¯ There were many things that Jude himself and Cordelia did not know. ¡®Because in the end, it was a game.¡¯ The Legend of Heroes series had a huge amount of information, but in the end, it was still just a game. It didn¡¯t contain everything about Pleiades, their world now. The flow of history began to change due to the inevitable absence of information and the butterfly effect. The frequency of encountering unexpected events would increase more and more in the future, though there would be not so many extreme cases like the appearance of traitors among the Ten Great Swordmasters. ¡°But we¡¯ll do well. We¡¯ve done a great job today, right?¡± Jude smiled when Cordelia tightly held his hand and spoke as if encouraging him. He nodded after kissing Cordelia¡¯s forehead. ¡°That¡¯s right. We¡¯ll do well.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Cordelia happilyughed before she looked around and then stood on her tiptoes. She then lightly kissed Jude¡¯s cheek. She had felt like doing it because they were facing each other. Numerous stars filled the sky as the waves gently rolled. Two people stood together on a pirate ship. It was a romantic enough scene, but nothing happened afterwards. Because Kajsa shouted in anger. ¡°Seriously, you two are doing it again! Hey! Help me! Don¡¯t just rub salt into my wounds!¡± ¡°Okay! We¡¯ll go! We¡¯re going!¡± Cordelia immediately replied and shyly smiled before pulling Jude¡¯s hand, and Jude happily smiled as they walked together. He and Cordelia headed to Kajsa. *** It was deep at night. Perhaps around midnight. Normally, it was time for them to be sleeping, but they couldn¡¯t today. Because the pirate ship that Kajsa was steering was now sailing in the sea. ¡°The wind is nice!¡± It was a big ship that could carry dozens of people, but if it was to make it simply move forward through the wind and currents, it didn¡¯t require that many people to maneuver it. So instead of staying overnight on the pirate ind, Kajsa suggested that they should leave immediately. ¡®We¡¯ll arrive in a few hours at most.¡¯ Kajsa argued that there was no reason to stay overnight on the pirate ind because they could reach the port by dawn, and Jude and Cordelia also agreed. ¡®In fact, it¡¯s a little ufortable to stay there for one more night.¡¯ The rtionship between Sebastian and Sicilia had yet to be proven, but conversely, there was no evidence that the two were not rted. If Sicilia was really involved in this matter, then staying on the ind could be dangerous. ¡®Considering Sicilia¡¯s personality, she would haveid some measures.¡¯ She wouldn¡¯t have just left alone someone from the Ten Great Swordmasters whom she had captured. Perhaps she had noticed by now that Sebastian had been subdued. ¡®We need to go back to the maind instead of staying on the ind.¡¯ The ind had very limited space. It was a perfect ce to surround and attack, so it would be best for them to leave when they had the chance to do so. ¡°The stars are beautiful.¡± Jude turned his head to the side upon hearing the voice. Cordelia was leaning against the railing and looking up at the night sky. ¡°I agree.¡± They were in Pleiades that didn¡¯t have much light pollution. Anyone who looked up at the night sky would always be able to appreciate the sea of countless stars. ¡°Would you like to lie down as you watch it?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°I mean, it¡¯ll hurt your neck if you look up like that for a long time.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia blinked her eyes before she lied down. Jude then lied down next to her and stretched his arm to the side. ¡°Here, arm pillow.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°So that your head won¡¯t hurt.¡± Cordelia blinked again at Jude¡¯s words, and she soon giggled and drew her body close to Jude. She obliged and rested her head on his arm pillow. ¡°It¡¯s hard.¡± ¡°My arm?¡± ¡°Yes, and that¡¯s why it¡¯s perfect.¡± Cordelia casually spoke, and leaned a little more towards Jude as she looked up at the night sky. It felt like the stars in the night sky woulde raining down when one lied down. ¡°My goodness, the two are at it again.¡± Kajsa¡¯s murmurs could be heard in the distance, but Cordelia chose to ignore it and slowly closed her eyes. For a moment, with only her senses of smell and touch, she felt the night sea, or rather, she felt Jude. Strangely enough, she felt very cozy. Despite the fact that they were lying down on a ship without any nket covering them from the night breeze. ¡®The smell of Jude.¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s nose twitched once before she opened her eyes to look at Jude. She looked at the face of Jude whose eyes were closed as he quietly breathed. Jude¡¯s fair face. Kajsa who kept grumbling from afar. The sea of stars that looked like it woulde falling down. Cordelia thought that it would be nice if time would stop at that moment, but she widely opened her eyes at some point. Because she heard an unusual sounding from far away. ¡°Did you hear that too?¡± Jude opened his eyes at Cordelia¡¯s question, and nodded his head before the two immediately stood up. They turned their eyes to the sound that came from far away. ¡°Serpent?!¡± A giant sea snake. As Jude had said, it was indeed a Serpent with blue scales that was swimming along the waves. It moved quite fast, and if they left it as is, it would soon collide with the pirate ship. ¡°Kajsa!¡± ¡°Crazy!¡± At first nce, the Serpent looked to be twenty meters long. Kajsa hastily turned the steering wheel to change the ship¡¯s course, and Jude concentrated the energy of the ck dragon in his right hand to attack the Serpent. But it was at that moment. Cordelia who had been focusing her consciousness on the Serpent instead of chanting a spell then noticed one thing. She unknowingly opened her mouth and said. ¡°It¡¯s not charging at us.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°It¡¯s running away.¡± The Serpent wasn¡¯t rushing towards them. It was running away right now. ¡°It¡¯sing.¡± Cordelia said again. Jude reflexively hugged Cordelia¡¯s waist, and turned to the front again before activating his ability to see through things. The moment he saw through the dark sea, he couldn¡¯t hide his surprise. What Cordelia sensed. What made the Serpent run away. ¡°Kiaaaak!¡± The surface of the sea split along with the Serpent¡¯s scream. At the same time, huge tentacles soared up and bound the Serpent. Tentacles. No, legs. ¡°Kraken.¡± The demon of the sea. A giant monster. The moment Kajsa said that, the surface of the sea was split again. Huge legs that seemed to be dozens of meters long soared up and headed towards the pirate ship. If you¡¯re wondering why the episode used legs instead of tentacles: Krakens are based off giant squids, and squids mostly have eight legs/arms and two tentacles, so the word ¡®legs¡¯ was used here in this episode. Chapter 241: The Demon of the Sea

Chapter 241: The Demon of the Sea

Jude and Cordelia had experienced all kinds of things in less than a year after they remembered the memories of their previous lives. They met face-to-face with a sealed Demon Prince, fought against several demonic humans, and starting with the Bicorn, they confronted numerous monsters and low-ranking demons. When they closed their eyes, they could still vividly remember even until now the figures of the demons that poured out of the Hell Gate. But they were fine with it. Until recently, they had not met any new monsters or demons that had made them stiffen with fear. But it was different this time. They were petrified for a moment. The sight of giant octopus legs, which were several meters in diameter, soaring up as it broke the water surface and then fell down towards the pirate ship, was enough to cause an instinctive fear. ¡°Kiaaa!¡± The Serpent that had a giant octopus leg wrapped around it then screamed as it was dragged below the water surface. At the same time, the octopus legs struck the pirate ship! ¡°Avoid it!¡± Bababababang-! Kajsa¡¯s cry was overshadowed by the series of roaring sounds. The sails and the deck were destroyed. It wasn¡¯t destroyed in one blow, but that was irrelevant. The Kraken¡¯s legs wrapped around the pirate ship just like how it did with the Serpent. Kwashiiiik-! The deck and the walls of the ship were crushed at the same time. Standing by the helm, Kajsa raised her head and saw Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Kajsa!¡± Cordelia was hanging by Jude¡¯s side as he rode on a Phantom Steed. To be exact, Jude was holding Cordelia by the waist. ¡°Get on!¡± ¡°What?!¡± The moment she asked out loud, the air seemed to twist. Green smoke burst, and another Phantom Steed appeared. Neeeeigh-! ¡°S-save us!¡± Bentham¡¯s voice was heard at the same time the Phantom Steed neighed. Kajsa reflexively looked back and swallowed her breath for a moment. Because she saw Sebastian being carried by Bentham on his back as his limbs drooped. ¡°Kajsa!¡± She didn¡¯t have the time. Kajsa jumped high at once and hugged the Phantom Steed¡¯s neck, rotating her body as she climbed onto the back of the ghost horse. ¡°M-me too!¡± ¡°Catch!¡± Kajsa immediately responded to Bentham¡¯s scream. She quickly untied the rope at her waist and threw it at Bentham and Sebastian. Kwashiiing! Actually, it was a huge and heavy chain. Such an object carried Kajsa¡¯s powerful strength, so it became an attack that could break someone¡¯s body if they were hit or caught it wrongly. But beggars couldn¡¯t be choosers. Bentham evaded the swinging chain by almost lying on his stomach. He followed the chain with his eyes before a miracle happened at that moment. aaang-! The chain that swung with a force that could crush a body then shook at some point and moved like a living snake, wrapping around Bentham and Sebastian¡¯s waist at once. It was Cordelia¡¯s telekic power. ¡°Pull it!¡± Kajsa automatically reacted to Cordelia¡¯s shout. Pulling the chain as strong as she could, Bentham¡¯s rock-like body was pulled up at once. ¡°Aaaaaah!¡± Bentham screamed as the chains tightened around his waist, but what mattered the most now was him staying alive. He tried to open his eyes despite the pain that seemed to break his back, so he was able to see the pirate ship being broken into three. Cruuuuush-! The pirate ship being squeezed by the Kraken¡¯s legs waspletely crushed. Jude immediately seated Cordelia in front of him and drove the Phantom Steed into the sky, while Kajsa also spurred the horse towards a higher ce instead of putting Bentham behind her. But it was at that moment. Bang! Bang! Bang! The surface of the water broke again, and several legs of the Kraken soared. The white legs of the Kraken were like pirs supporting the sky amidst the dark sky and sea. Boooom! As the Kraken¡¯s legs struck the water surface, thunder boomed. Bentham was frightened to death, tightly grasping the chain as he screamed, while Kajsa let out a curse. Because the Kraken¡¯s legs were falling down over their heads. ¡°Shit!¡± ¡°Neeeeeigh-!¡± The Phantom Steed was surprised upon seeing the shadows covering its head and hurriedly tried to fly, but the Kraken¡¯s legs were unusually fast and huge. It was urately following Kajsa as if it had eyes at the ends of its legs. ¡°Jude!¡± By the time Cordelia shouted, Jude was already moving his hands. He used his sword-like hand to fire a ck sword made from his energy. Shaaak-! The sword cut the Kraken¡¯s leg. It wasn¡¯t apletely straight cut, but it cut more than half and seeded in twisting the trajectory of the leg. Saaah! The half-cut leg fell into the water. Kajsa managed to evade the attack because of the twisted trajectory, so she rolled up the chain and hugged the Phantom Steed¡¯s neck at the same time. And Cordelia sensed it. The flow in the air was changing. A tremendous roar was then heard under the sea. Roooooooar-! Real thunder struck along with the harsh winds. At the same instant, dark clouds covered the sea of stars, and the sky and sea began to fluctuate. It was a storm. The demon of the sea had called forth a storm. Kwashiiiik-! The sky shed white with lightning. As the rain poured down, the demon of the sea finally appeared. Booooom! An immensely huge monster. The Kraken¡¯s head that was half revealed above the water was iparable to a pirate ship. Jude and Cordelia¡¯s breathing naturally became rough at the sight that was something like an ind rising from the sea. Booooom! The sky and the sea lit up as lightning struck again. Three eyes glistened between the head of the giant octopus ¨C the Kraken, that seemed to be dozens of meters wide. Its huge yellow eyes and ck slit pupils were fear itself. It seemed like it would crush the fragile human mind at once just by facing it. The rain and wind grew stronger. Unlike an ordinary octopus, dozens of tentacles wriggled over the mouth of the Kraken, and the torn body of the Serpent and the fragments of the broken ship swayed in between. Kajsa¡¯s mind went nk. Bentham fainted after wetting his pants, and the two Phantom Steeds couldn¡¯t ovee their fears and began to run frantically. Shaaaa-! Dozens of Kraken¡¯s legs shot up the water. In an instant, it felt like they were blocked by huge white walls on all sides. ¡°Neeeeeigh!¡± The Phantom Steeds neighed in fear and headed to the sky in order to somehow escape. ¡°It¡¯sing.¡± Jude reflexively said. And the sky seemed to fall down. The Kraken¡¯s legs swiftly fell over their heads, and the world appeared to be copsing. Kajsa closed her eyes in that overwhelming and despairing situation. But Jude and Cordelia kept their eyes open. The two then simultaneously shouted. ¡°¡°Shield!¡±¡± Cordelia turned to Kajsa. She widened the translucent shield and then reduced it not only include Kajsa and the Phantom Steed, but also Bentham and Sebastian. Jude invoked the ring¡¯s magic. Count Chase¡¯s magic in the ring covered and protected Jude and Cordelia. Jude then hugged Cordelia. Boooooooom! The world shook. Heaven and earth turned upside down. They were unable to distinguish the directions, nor were they even able to see what was in front of them. Cordelia clenched her teeth and closed her eyes. She came to her senses at one point and found herself under the sea. She couldn¡¯t breathe. She couldn¡¯t even open her eyes. The sea was so cold that she had be numb and unable to feel anything. ¡°Hang in there!¡± Cordelia opened her eyes. A ck sky. Erratic sea waves. The pouring rain. Nothing changed. She still couldn¡¯t breathe properly. But Cordelia did not panic. Because Jude was here. Because she felt Jude¡¯s arm holding her waist tightly. ¡°Kaaak.¡± Cordelia vomited water. She tried to figure out the situation as she deeply breathed. Their heads were barely out of the water. It seemed like they somehow survived because of the magic, but that was it. The Kraken was still alive, and she could feel its gaze. ¡°Haa¡­ haa¡­¡± She couldn¡¯t see the Phantom Steed. Nor did she know on what happened to Kajsa, Bentham, and Sebastian. The storm did not stop. The waves continued to sweep the water surface, hitting their heads and making it hard to breathe. ¡°Ha-¡­ ugh.¡± Her body temperature dropped. Her body felt cold. Her white skin was now like a nk sheet of white paper. Jude tightly hugged her and looked straight ahead. He did not avoid the Kraken¡¯s yellow eyes. ¡®Why?¡¯ The Kraken is the lord of the deep sea. Why is this monster here? Is it a coincidence? Or something inevitable? Is it aiming for us in the first ce and not chasing after the Serpent? If so, why? Why is the Kraken aiming for us? I doubt that the demon followers incited it. Is that even possible? If it is, how do they know that we¡¯re out in the sea? Countless thoughts came to his mind at the same time. Normally, Jude would have stopped his thoughts at once, but he couldn¡¯t. Their situation was so dire that he had to continue thinking of a way out. What should we do? How will we get out? The Kraken can see us. It seems unwilling to give up. Is it angry because I cut off its leg? Or perhaps someone incited it? Is it the destructive instinct of a demon? The monster was really huge. Jude couldn¡¯t inflict much damage to such a huge opponent because his own skills were based on interpersonal warfare. Moreover, the fact that they were in the sea was a problem. If they were on ground, he could somehow fight it, but they were in the sea where mobility was extremely limited because he had no ce to step on. Jude continued to think. What should we do? How can we get out of here? What must I do to protect Cordelia? What the hell should I do to at least save Cordelia- ¡°Jude.¡± Cordelia spoke. She interrupted Jude¡¯s thoughts. She turned her head and looked at Jude. Just like always, she came up with an answer. Instead of making some mental calctions, she instinctively arrived at an answer the moment she was faced with a problem. She looked at him without exining, and said with a beautiful smile. ¡°Let¡¯s merge.¡± How many people can smile in a situation like ours now? A smile spread across Jude¡¯s stiff face. He kissed Cordelia¡¯s forehead and then moved her body. As she hugged his neck, he grasped Cordelia¡¯s thighs as she clung on his back. ¡®We have one chance.¡¯ There wasn¡¯t a second time. So Jude concentrated. Amidst the downpour of rain, he used the energy of the ck dragon to soar into the sky. Kwazzzzik-! Lightning struck. The Kraken moved at the same time. Its legs rose again, and dozens of tentacles stretched out towards Jude. ¡°Uoooo!¡± Jude ran up the air. He let out the energy of the ck dragon from his feet and cut through the air just like Landius. Booooom-! They had to make a breakthrough at one point. Cordelia was doing some preparations. Jude then flew straight to the Kraken and at the moment when he was about to crash into its tentacles, he released the power of the ck Sun at once. Sky Shattering ck Dragon! It pushed away the tentacles. Its purpose was to create a space by pushing away the tentacles. And so it happened. The tentacles that were blocking the space between Jude and the Kraken were pushed away in an instant, creating an empty space. Jude released his hands from Cordelia¡¯s thighs. He rotated his body so that she would fall on his head, and Cordelia used his head tounch herself. She rushed towards the Kraken through the gap created by the Sky Shattering ck Dragon. It was reckless. Her rushing at the dozens of meters Kraken was like flying towards a tall building. Moreover, the demon¡¯s magic resistance was really powerful. In particr, it had eyes that had a paralyzing ability that was powerful enough to destroy any magic spell with just its look. All three of the Kraken¡¯s eyes stared at Cordelia. It then attempted to tear apart Cordelia¡¯s body with its magic power. Cordelia unleashed her witch¡¯s power. She resisted the paralyzing ability. She spread out her angel wings and clenched her fist. The solution Cordelia found. Her secret n to utilize the Spirit King who she couldn¡¯t summon even if she exhausted all her mana. ¡®It¡¯s not magic.¡¯ Spirit Arts was not magic. But it wasn¡¯t a superpower like telekinesis. It would have been more of a summoning skill if one had to argue. So there was a way to do it. She was able to gain momentum because of the storm. Cordelia put her strength on her fist and cried out the name of the spirit. ¡°Ynix!¡± The Spirit King of Storms and Lightning. He responded. He lent his power to his contractor. So Cordelia smiled. She shouted her thanks in her mind and struck out her fist. ¡°Spirit King Punch!¡± It fully consumed her mana at once. And at that moment, lightning struck. The huge and enormous fist of the Spirit King appeared as it broke the space. It made its way through the storm and headed to the Kraken¡¯s eyes. It smashed everything in its way! Booooooooom! Kiaaaaaaaaaaa! The Kraken shrieked. Its yellow eye in the center was injured. Green blood that was poisonous in itself then gushed out like crazy. The Kraken was greatly pushed back by the devastating blow of the Spirit King, and struggled as it iled around the water with its dozens of legs. Because it was the first time for the demon. It was the first time that it had suffered such an injury because it had always reigned as a superior being. The unimaginable pain soon gave rise to fear, and it did not stay any longer. The wounded demon chose to flee instead of fighting back like it always did. Boom-! It was thest lightning bolt. The storm weakened at once, and the rain clouds scattered. And in the meantime, Cordelia fell to the water surface. She had lost her consciousness right after the Spirit King¡¯s blow because she had used up all her magic at once. ¡°Cordelia!¡± Jude desperately flew towards Cordelia. If she couldn¡¯t summon the Spirit King, she would then summon only its right arm ¨C at this truly Cordelia-like idea, she had managed to repel the Kraken. Jude then snatched her from the air and carried her in his arms. He protected her from falling on her back. ¡°Ugh.¡± The unconscious Cordelia didn¡¯t budge. Jude hugged her small body and continued to move his feet. He looked around as he stuck out his head over the calm water. They defeated the Kraken, but the situation was still dire. The coldness of winter could be prevented by the Great Protection of the Four Seasons. But if she continued to stay in the cold sea despite the protection, she would eventually lose her body temperature and die. What Cordelia needed now was a ce to rest her body. It there was even a piece of board, it would have worked out somehow. But unfortunately, even the fragments of the pirate ship were not visible. The whereabouts of Kajsa, Bentham, and Sebastian were also unknown. Jude took a deep breath. He tried hard to maintain hisposure. Their worst crisis was over. Cordelia found an answer. So it was his turn this time. He had to somehow figure out a way to get out of this situation. Kraken. It was a monster that did not originally live in the sea. It didn¡¯t just appear out of nowhere. In the first ce, it would have been a big problem for those who lived in the sea. Kraken. Those who originally lived in the sea. Serpent. The Kraken¡¯s escape. Sudden storm. Jude raised his head. Because his numerous thoughts were then connected into one. ¡°Cordelia.¡± Saying it like a spell, Jude kissed Cordelia¡¯s forehead which had turned cold. He hugged her again and sang in a trembling voice. ¡°Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. Shining beautifully.¡± He wasn¡¯t calling the fairies. They did not live in the sea. ¡°In the eastern sky. In the western sky. Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. Shining beautifully.¡± His voice grew louder. He sang with all his might so that everyone in the surrounding area could hear it. The race that lives in the sea. They respond to songs as much as the fairies. They must have been watching the Kraken¡¯s movements. They should have also been surprised by the sudden storm. So they should be nearby. They definitely should. ¡°Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star!¡± ¡°You look good.¡± An answer came back. Jude roughly breathed and turned to the direction where he heard the voice. Siren. The elves of the sea. Women poked their heads out of the water and came singing towards Jude and Cordelia. Chapter 242: Divine Spirit’s Whistle (1)

Chapter 242: Divine Spirit¡¯s Whistle (1)

Sorry for thete post. I got too absorbed with reading Tomb Raider King yesterday. Terms used in this episode: Erofu ¨C abination of the words ¡®erotic¡¯ and ¡®elf¡¯ which usually means a beautiful elf girl that has a lewd body or likes to do lewd things. The figures of Sirens based on Greek and Roman mythology werergely divided into two types. Their first and original image was that they were half-human and half-bird. The other image they had that was created byter generations was that they were half-human and half-fish. In short, they were like mermaids. In any case, both of these figures depicted them as beautiful women who were called the songstresses of the sea, but in fact, there were differences between the two that most people saw them as different races. The Sirens in Legend of Heroes 2 adopted thetter image ¨C the half-human and half-fish. These sea elves roamed the ocean. Their whole race was made up of only women, so they were more like dryads than elves. And in Pleaides, which was the setting of the Legend of Heroes series, the dryad was also ssified as a type of elf. ¡°Huu¡­ huu¡­¡± Jude tightly hugged Cordelia and swallowed hard. Sirens. He could see seven of them right now. ording to Jude¡¯s knowledge andmon sense, they were all beautiful women who had the elves¡¯ unique long ears that stood out from their colorful hair. ¡®As expected, they¡¯re still alive.¡¯ There were two kinds of Sirens that one could meet in Legend of Heroes 2. One were the sirens living in the sea on the side of the Argon Empire, and the other were the sirens in the sea on the side of the S?len Kingdom, who were enved by Malekith. ¡®Thetter were virtually monsters.¡¯ The sirens, who had their minds eroded by Malekith and turned into monsters, were cannibal monsters that ate humans who were enchanted from their songs, just like the sirens in Greek and Roman mythology. But they were not monsters yet. Currently, Malekith had not yet resurrected and took control of the southern region, so the sirens on the kingdom¡¯s side were beautiful and rational sea elves, just like the sirens on the empire¡¯s side. ¡°In the eastern sky, in the western sky.¡± ¡°Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.¡± ¡°Shining beautifully.¡± The sirens began to sing the song that Jude was singing. As songstresses of the sea, they were able to sing it perfectly and in harmony despite it being their first time in hearing that song. ¡®Stay calm, Jude. Stay calm.¡¯ When Jude thought of Cordelia who was growing cold in his arms, he wanted to threaten the sirens so that they would move them to another ce, but he had to endure it. He used his reason to suppress his emotions. ¡®I need to ask them for help.¡¯ He was not in a situation to threaten them. He should not forget that Cordelia¡¯s safety was his top priority. ¡°Beautiful and strong human.¡± As the sirens sang, the siren in the lead spoke and approached Jude. She was a beautiful woman with ck hair and blue eyes. ¡°I saw you fight off the demon of the sea.¡± Jude observed the woman. Unlike the other sirens, she seemed to be of a high status, given the gold ornaments on her ears and neck. ¡®I don¡¯t remember her.¡¯ The number of Named Sirens that one encountered in the game was seven. None of them had ck hair and blue eyes like the woman in front of him. ¡®Is this simr to Princess Leica¡¯s case?¡¯ In fact, he wanted it to be simr. In order to save Cordelia from this vast sea, the most obvious way was to be invited to the underwater realm of the sirens. The higher the status of the siren in front of him, the easier it would be for his goal to be achieved. ¡°I am Jude August Bayer. We¡¯ve been attacked by the Kraken just now. So I want to ask for your assistance.¡± Jude spoke quickly, but instead of replying immediately, the siren turned to Cordelia who was in Jude¡¯s arms. A pale white face and purple lips. She was obviously in a dangerous state, but the siren was not in a hurry. She narrowed her eyes as if to observe Jude, who was struggling to suppress his impatience and anger, and then spoke again. ¡°I am Chloe Gas, the legitimate sessor of Electra Gas, head of the Gas family, and one of the 72 spears that protect the monarchy.¡± She wasn¡¯t royalty, but seemed to be an heiress of an influential noble family and a knight of the monarchy. ¡°Dame Chloe, please. My fianc¨¦e, Cordelia, is in a very critical condition.¡± Jude pleaded once more and looked into Chloe¡¯s eyes. He was appealing for her sympathy right now, but he was willing to threaten the other sirens by overpowering them depending on her answer. After all, helping Cordelia recover was his top priority. Chloe did not immediately answer this time, regardless of whether she understood Jude¡¯s thoughts or not. She remained silent for a while, and only opened her mouth just before Jude¡¯s patience reached its limit. ¡°Jude August Bayer, a strong and good-looking human. I will ept your request. I, Chloe Gas, invite you as one of the 72 spears.¡± Her words made him breathe in relief. But Chloe¡¯s words were not yet over. She continued to talk as she still kept an eye on Jude. ¡°By the way, strong and good-looking human. Those invited to the monarchy of us sirens have to obey the rules. Do you know that?¡± ¡°I know.¡± The sirens in the empire¡¯s side whom one might encounter in Legend of Heroes 2 also had simr rules. When Jude promptly replied, Chloe faintly smiled and nodded her head. ¡°Then it¡¯s all right. From this moment onwards, you are a guest of the Gas family. Please keep that in mind.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± Jude was in a hurry. Chloe smiled again and approached Jude, while the sirens who were singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star among themselves then also flocked to Jude and Chloe. They brightly smiled and began to sing a new song. *** Cordelia was in a dark ce. She was cold, sleepy, and hungry. She burst out crying amidst the sudden sadness she felt. She stopped crying after doing it for a long time. Because she was hungry from crying. ¡°Sob¡­ sob¡­¡± Cordelia tried to hold back her tears and looked around. She unconsciously searched for Jude, but she couldn¡¯t see him. There was only darkness all around her. ¡°Jude. Where are you, Jude? Jude.¡± Cordelia spoke like a child and got up from her seat. She had suddenly be a real child. She was over ten years old. Cordelia wiped away her tears with the sleeves of her white dress and began trudging. ¡°Jude. Unnie. Dad. Oppa.¡± It was dark all around her, so she called them out in a low voice because she was scared to call them out loudly. As she kept walking while calling for them in a small voice, she saw a wall. The white wall was full of pictures, so it seemed like she was in an art museum. ¡°Pretty.¡± The young Cordelia had suddenly be smaller. She was now around five years old and wearing red shoes. She then stood on the tips of her toes in order to look up at the picture. The picture in the ck frame showed a girl with a familiar face. Hong Yoo Hee. Her past life self. She was around 145-150 cm tall and looked pretty, but had a sharp impression at the same time. A girl with a catlike face who always liked to curse. ¡°She looks like a doll.¡± Cordelia evaluated her past life self through the eyes of a child before she blinked her eyes. Because the picture moved. ¡°Theputer in my room.¡± Hong Yoo Hee was sitting in front of her desk. Her left hand was supporting her chin while her right hand was clicking the mouse. ¡®Cordelia¡¯ was on the screen monitor. A lovely girl who was kind, pretty, and innocent, and seemed to be someone that came out of a painting. The Cordelia in Legend of Heroes 2 was indeed like that. Even when her life was in danger, she was like a saint as she sacrificed herself in order to save the children from the other 12 northern families. Hong Yoo Hee liked Cordelia. Cordelia then turned her gaze. There were several pictures on the wall, and one of them caught Cordelia¡¯s attention again. ¡°Cordelia?¡± It was Cordelia. There was a standing Cordelia in the picture with a big ck frame. She had definitely seen it before, but it felt strange. ck hair and red eyes. Her face was simr to the Cordelia that Hong Yoo Hee was looking at the monitor, but the atmosphere waspletely different. It wasn¡¯t just because she was almost half-naked and had a bewitching smile. In essence, she was a different person from the Cordelia she knew. ¡°The me who became a demonic human¡­¡± Cordelia hated it so much that she only yed it once. The Cordelia who became a demonic human could only be seen when one yed as Lucas. She wasughing hollowly as she raised her bloodstained hands. No, she was crying sadly. Cordelia took a step back. She sank to her knees and tightly shut her eyes. Why? I¡¯ve only yed it once, but why is it so clear? Why do I remember it as clearly as Hong Yoo Hee¡¯s memory? ¡°Jude.¡± She called out Jude¡¯s name again. She wanted to see Jude. So Cordelia opened her eyes. The pictures in front of her suddenly changed. Tworge pictures hang side by side on a white wall. Both depicted Jude. But Cordelia knew. The two were different. The Jude on the left was from Legend of Heroes 2. He was attacking Cordelia as he had a very tired and painful expression like that of Kamael. He was having a desperate struggle against the Cordelia who became a demonic human. It was a painful sight to see. Was there such a scene in the game? There must have been one, right? So that¡¯s why I¡¯m seeing a scene like that now, right? Cordelia was about to cry so she forcibly turned her gaze. She looked at the picture on the right and widely smiled without realizing it. ¡°Jude.¡± The real Jude. The picture on the left was also Jude, but for Cordelia, the Jude on the right was the real one. Unlike the one on the left, he was smiling. He had a really sly smile in the picture, but for Cordelia who was already blinded by love, it seemed to be a very handsome smile. ¡°Hehe.¡± There were many different images of Jude in the pictures. When she closed and opened her eyes, the wall was full of Jude¡¯s pictures. From the time they remembered the memories of their past lives to the memories of their present lives. Jude gradually changed in the pictures that continued like a panorama. ¡®There were times like that.¡¯ Cordeliaughed as she viewed the pictures. And tears came out again. She wanted to see the real Jude, and not the Jude in the pictures. ¡°Jude. Where are you¡­¡± As she muttered, the wall in front of her disappeared. Her memories of Hong Yoo Hee, Cordelia, and Jude disappeared again under the surface of her consciousness. Hong Yoo Hee. The Cordelia who became a demonic human. The Jude who was attacking Cordelia. The present Cordelia. The present Jude. ¡°Cordelia.¡± Cordelia raised her head. She turned to the voice she very much weed, and burst into tears as she ran towards that voice. She loudly called out the name of the voice¡¯s owner. ¡°Jude!¡± She opened her eyes. The half-asleep Cordelia was in a fluster for a while. Her lips were then suddenly wiped with a sleeve without her knowledge. After the drool along her chin was wiped away, her tears were then wiped off. ¡®Was I dreaming?¡¯ She couldn¡¯t remember the contents of her dream when she woke up, just like most dreams. As if someone hid her memories the moment she opened her eyes. Like the memories of demonic human Cordelia, and the Jude who lost everything. ¡°Huh?¡± What was I thinking just now? Cordelia unconsciously tilted her head, and then shook her head to get rid of her distracting thoughts. She couldn¡¯t remember the events in her dream, but only one emotion came to her mind clearly. I want to see Jude. I want to see Jude. As her heart desperately whispered it, Cordelia realized. The fact that his arms was holding her waist tightly. The fact that she was already in Jude¡¯s arms. ¡°Jude, Jude.¡± Cordelia moved her body and called out Jude¡¯s name. She wanted to see Jude¡¯s face, but she couldn¡¯t because he was hugging her from behind. ¡°Jude?¡± It was when she called him again. She suddenly felt Jude¡¯s arms tightening his hug around her waist. ¡°Cordelia?¡± She didn¡¯t have the time to respond to his words. Because Jude had embraced Cordelia to the point that she felt like she was being crushed. ¡°Oww! It hurts! Hey!¡± It felt both nice and painful, so she was flustered again. Jude then slightly loosened his tight embrace on her. Just a little bit. ¡°It¡¯s a relief, it¡¯s a relief. I was worried because you didn¡¯t wake up.¡± Jude kept saying that as he tightly hugged Cordelia in his arms. She was hugged from behind until just now, but they were now suddenly facing each other. ¡®It¡¯s like I¡¯m a doll.¡¯ Cordelia unconsciously thought that and grinned before she raised her head while still in Jude¡¯s arms. She saw Jude¡¯s face that she had wanted to see so much. ¡®Yes, this is my Jude.¡¯ The real Jude. The Jude that Cordelia knew and not the Jude of Legend of Heroes 2 who became a monster who only cared about revenge after losing everyone he cherished and loved¡­ such as his father, brother, and Maja whom he treated like a real sister. ¡°Cordelia.¡± Jude tightly hugged Cordelia again before kissing her forehead and head. ¡°M-me too.¡± I want to do it too. Cordelia raised her head as she tried to kiss Jude¡¯s cheek, but sadly, that didn¡¯t happen. Because she suddenly remembered something. ¡°W-wait! Wait a second!¡± Come to think of it, where in the world are we? What happened to Kajsa and the others? When Cordelia hurriedly asked, Jude tightly hugged her again and answered. ¡°They¡¯re all right. This is the country of the sirens. A monarchy that has not yet been destroyed by Malekith, nor made its appearance in Legend of Heroes 2.¡± ¡°Siren?¡± ¡°Yes, Siren. Kajsa, Bentham, and Sebastian were also saved by the sirens.¡± Jude slowly recounted on what had happened during the time Cordelia was unconscious. His meeting with Chloe, a knight of the siren¡¯s monarchy, and her invitation. The facts that they were currently in a mansion of the Gallos family, that Cordelia had woken up after a full day, and so on. ¡°I see¡­ That¡¯s a relief.¡± They saved not only Kajsa and Bentham, but even Sebastian. ¡°How did youe up with that idea anyway?¡± I can¡¯t believe you sang Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star in order to call the sirens. Should I say as expected of Jude? At Cordelia¡¯s look full of admiration, Jude smiled and said. ¡°I was lucky. There was a high possibility that the sirens were present at that time, but it was only a possibility. I¡¯m d that they responded to my song.¡± ¡°Yes, sirens are sensitive to songs¡­ wait. W-wait.¡± ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°No, wait a minute.¡± Siren? The sea elves ¨C you mean, the ELVES of the sea?! ¡®This crazy-!¡¯ It¡¯s been only a few days since we¡¯ve ran away from the erofu of the Forest of Eternity, and now you¡¯re saying that there are also erofu here! In addition, it¡¯s a more serious problem if they¡¯re sirens. ¡®It¡¯s a women-only race!¡¯ The elves in the Forest of Eternity had male elves, but they still drooled when they saw Jude, so wouldn¡¯t it be more extreme for the sirens who only had women in their race? ¡®Ju-Jude is in danger.¡¯ He¡¯s seriously in danger. I have to leave a love letter quickly and escape from here. Yes, we must do that. Cordelia looked around in a hurry. It was to find something that she could use as a stationery. But there was no furniture in the white and circr room except for the bed. Furthermore, Jude read Cordelia¡¯s innermost thoughts and said something that she did not expect. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes, why? We¡¯re running away quickly?¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s not it¡­¡± ¡°Not it?¡± ¡°Well, I think we should stay here for a while. The reason is¡­ you know about that, right?¡± ¡°Because of the sirens? Thousands of hungry erofu are aiming for you? Are they holding on to you and not letting you go? Is that it?¡± When Cordelia asked with a face full of panic, Jude shook his head. He didn¡¯t know about the thoughts of Cordelia back then in the Forest of Eternity. ¡°No, not that. It¡¯s because the Kraken woke up.¡± Although Jude and Cordelia defeated the Kraken, they had just literally drove it out. It was still alive. But it was at that moment. Before Jude could even continue his exnation, Cordelia realized one strange thing. ¡°Woke up?¡± It woke up and was not from the deep sea? It was in a deep sleep? The one in the seal? At her RPG-like questions, Jude nodded his head. He told her of another thing he learned from Chloe. *** ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°Marking my territory.¡± Chapter 243: Divine Spirit’s Whistle (2)

Chapter 243: Divine Spirit¡¯s Whistle (2)

¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°Marking my territory.¡± Kajsa nodded and pped her hands in response to Cordelia¡¯s answer. Because she finally understood Cordelia¡¯s strange behavior. ¡°I see.¡± Cordelia was now clinging to Jude, and rubbing her cheeks on his back. Or rather, she was rubbing her head all over Jude¡¯s body to be exact. His neck, his back, and his head too. ¡°But why are you suddenly doing that?¡± ¡°Basically, the five senses of elves are more sensitive than humans. So if they smell me, their conscience will tell them to withdraw.¡± Bentham was slightly impressed by her logical argument that she said with an indifferent expression. ¡®As expected of a wizard.¡¯ Even if they were both beasts, she was a little different from Kajsa. They had only spent a short time together, but he could already tell that Cordelia was of the same kind as Kajsa. But unlike Bentham¡¯s impressed look, the real beast, Kajsa, gave a different opinion. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s going to work.¡± ¡°Eh? Why? Are you saying that sirens don¡¯t have a conscience?¡± ¡°Uh, no. Not in that way. Rather, they¡¯ll like it if it smells like you, I think? Because it means that they took someone else¡¯s. Since sirens only have women in their race, they view men as a kind of resource. They need a lot of children to build up their family¡¯s power, but they need a man to do that. So they share the man within their family, but never with other families. Rather, if they take a man from another family, it will be for the joy and pleasure of conquering someone.¡± At Kajsa¡¯s exnation, Cordelia was frightened by the erofu that were beyond her imagination, while Bentham was somehow impressed that Kajsa could give such a long exnation. ¡°So the sirens go together as a family when hunting for men. Unless they want to go on a reallyrge scale man hunting.¡± Cordelia was once again scared at Kajsa¡¯s words. She couldn¡¯t help it since she heard a strange word. ¡°M-man hunting?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s what sirens call it when they seduce and capture male sailors with their songs. And well, the dryads living in the empire also do something simr.¡± Dryads were also a race made up of only women. They were famous for luring men into the woods and sucking the men¡¯s energy. ¡°T-those erofu. What kind of monsters are they really? Are they subi?¡± ¡°Well¡­ they¡¯re simr, I think?¡± As Kajsa shrugged her shoulders and spoke, Cordelia hugged Jude a little tighter as if she felt a sense of crisis. And at that frightened rabbit-like appearance, Kajsa shared more scary stories. ¡°Jude must be popr because he is handsome, young, and has a good body. Perhaps families will wage wars against each other. They¡¯ll try to capture him. Or perhaps, he¡¯ll be shared by the entire kingdom and not just the families?¡± At this point, it was already close to a horror story, but for Cordelia, it was a really intimidating story. She put more strength in her arms holding Jude. ¡°I-I¡¯m going to protect Jude.¡± In fact, Cordelia had been in a state of panic since earlier. The cause was the strong emotions that she felt in her dream that she couldn¡¯t properly remember. Her fear of demonic human Cordelia. Her sadness for the Jude who lost everything and became obsessed with revenge. Her attachment to Jude who was the only person that remembered her past life as Yellow Storm and shared secrets that she couldn¡¯t even tell her current family. As all of these emotions were mixed into one, her affection for Jude grew stronger, as if she had be the child in her dream who was wandering around in search of Jude. And Jude responded to Cordelia¡¯s actions like always. In other words, he was smiling in delight. ¡°Ha, that¡¯s an annoying expression.¡± Kajsa frowned and criticized him, but Jude didn¡¯t care. He wasn¡¯t even listening to her in the first ce. ¡°B-by the way, Kajsa. Does that mean that Sebastian and Bentham are in danger too?¡± Kajsa smiled at the question of Cordelia who seemed to have be like a child. ¡°It¡¯s all right because I¡¯m guarding Mister Sebastian well. As for Bentham¡­ sirens also have a taste. They do not like all men.¡± ¡°I see¡­ That¡¯s a relief, Mister Bentham.¡± When Cordelia spoke with a convinced expression, Bentham said with a troubled expression like a mature dwarf instead of raising his fist. ¡°No, it¡¯s not? I¡¯m also popr, okay? The sirens like me too, okay? Bald dwarves are especially popr among sirens, okay?¡± ¡°I understand. There are times when one needs to rationalize to mentally cope with reality.¡± Kajsa smiled benevolently as if she understood everything, while Cordelia gazed at Bentham with sadness and then said. ¡°Cheer up, Bentham. Cheer up.¡± There was a strong feeling ofpassion at the appearance of her cheering him up as she lightly pumped her fist. Therefore, Bentham became angry again and lightly pound on his chest in his frustration, while Kajsa held her sides in herughter. ¡°Moving on¡­ the story is as follows.¡± It was Jude¡¯s job to organize the situation like always. Kajsa and Bentham focused on Jude like Cordelia did because they had not yet heard of the post-battle situation. ¡°First of all, the sirens rescued and brought us to their realm. As you can see now, Kajsa and Bentham are fine and without any injuries, while Lord Sebastian has a few additional injuries. He¡¯s unconscious because of the aftermath of the brainwashing, but he¡¯ll wake up sooner orter. The sirens are singing healing songs for him. Hopefully, they can sessfully get rid of his bewitched state.¡± Cordelia nodded, and Kajsa and Bentham turned to each other at the exnation Jude gave. They weren¡¯t as good as Jude and Cordelia at having a conversation with their eyes, but they were able to understand what the other was thinking perhaps because a consensus was formed. ¡®Isn¡¯t he just talking to Cordelia?¡¯ ¡®We¡¯re just extras here.¡¯ Or rather, they didn¡¯t even seem to be extras from the way Jude talked. In any case, Jude¡¯s exnation continued. ¡°The Kraken we encountered this time isn¡¯t the one from the deep sea. It¡¯s the one who was sealed in the sea here and had woken up.¡± Krakens being called the demons of the sea was not a metaphor. Krakens were actually a kind of demon. When one of the overlords of hell, the violent Behemoth, descended on earth, the Krakens came together with him and aplished the feat of virtually destroying Perigeo, one of the ancient elves¡¯ kingdoms. ¡°The Krakens back then numbered seven. Four were killed by the elves of Perigeo, but not the other three.¡± The other three suffered serious blows from the elves of Perigeo, but they were not killed. ¡°Two of the three ran into the deep sea, and the other seemed to have been sealed deep in the sea by the sirens of that time.¡± ¡°They didn¡¯t kill it?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think they could afford it.¡± The enemies of Perigeo were not just the seven Krakens. Because there were many demons and monsters that attacked Perigeo on thend side. ¡°Therefore, Perigeo was eventually destroyed.¡± Anyway, what mattered was the fact that a Kraken was sealed in the southern sea of the S?len Kingdom. ¡°Are you saying that the seal was broken this time?¡± Jude nodded at Kajsa¡¯s question. ¡°Yes, the seal was released. Chloe said that Perigeo¡¯s Crystal Ball that was keeping the seal had disappeared.¡± ¡°Perigeo¡¯s Crystal Ball?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a legacy of the ancient elven kingdom. Think of it as a mana generator.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Kajsa furrowed her brows in her uncertainty, while Bentham¡¯s eyes were sparkling. Because he found a mana generator left by an ancient elven kingdom to be interesting. And aside from these two, Cordelia¡¯s lips twitched as she lightly pulled Jude¡¯s sleeve. [Jude, that Perigeo¡¯s Crystal Ball is¡­] [Yes, perhaps Sicilia took it.] In the second half of Legend of Heroes 2, Kajsa attacked Malekith with several heroes in order to recapture her hometown, and one of the magic tools that Sicilia brought out at that time was Perigeo¡¯s Crystal Ball. [But I think the timing hase a bit earlier. The Kraken never appeared when we went to the south in the game.] [Is it because of us?] [Maybe.] They weren¡¯t exactly sure if that was the case, but it was highly likely that Jude and Cordelia were the biggest reason why Sicilia was more active than in the game. ¡°Moving on, the seal is broken, so the Kraken is moving again. I¡¯m sure you know from our firsthand experience, but the Kraken¡¯s a terrifying opponent.¡± A big opponent that was too big. One leg alone was tens of meters long, and it had dozens of those legs. Kajsa frowned as she scratched her head, and said after her shoulders drooped. ¡°Frankly, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s possible to defeat it while riding a boat in the sea.¡± She was right. If it swung its legs a few times, the fleet and everything would be destroyed. Moreover, it could summon a storm. Fighting on a boat was more like a suicide attempt. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect the ancient elves to be that amazing.¡± They killed four such monsters in the sea. As Bentham stroked his beard and said, Kajsa nodded in agreement and looked at Jude again. ¡°It seems like the sirens have no other better solutions, right?¡± ¡°Until now, that¡¯s the situation. They¡¯re worried that the Kraken would attack their realm.¡± The sirens could freely swim and breathe in the sea, but even for these women, the monster Kraken was a very difficult opponent. ¡®In the first ce, the Kraken is also a sea creature.¡¯ It was much stronger if it fought in the sea. ¡°This is troubling.¡± Kajsa said as she crossed her arms and frowned again. If such a monster wandered around the southern sea, the southern region of the kingdom, which heavily relied on its various marine industries, would have no choice but to suffer huge economic losses. ¡°But Jude. Didn¡¯t you just say until now?¡± Jude nodded at Bentham¡¯s question. Because as Bentham had heard, Jude had indeed said ¡®until now.¡¯ ¡°D-did youe up with a solution?¡± When Kajsa hurriedly asked, Jude nodded once and said as he turned to Cordelia who was holding his sleeve. ¡°Because of Cordelia, things have changed.¡± ¡°Eh? Because of me?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s because of my angel.¡± Kajsa and Bentham¡¯s expressions turned cold when they heard the word ¡®angel¡¯ that Jude naturally spoke. Cordelia who was standing in front of the two then blushed, while Jude remained calm. Being embarrassed was always Cordelia¡¯s job. ¡®No, wait. Why is it always me?¡¯ Cordelia came to her senses and asked with her eyes, but by that time, Jude had already turned his gaze to Kajsa and Bentham. Jude briefly exined on what Cordelia did, and was deeply satisfied when the two looked at Cordelia with a surprised face. As for Cordelia, instead of clearing her throat and bragging about it like always, she was lightly scratching her cheek in her embarrassment. Because she only boasted like a child when in front of Jude. Anyway, the important thing was the fact that the Kraken suffered a serious blow. ¡°Even if it haven¡¯t suffered a serious blow, it¡¯s been sealed for many years and has weakened from the injuries caused by the elves of Perigeo. What do you think will happen if it suffered a serious blow?¡± At Jude¡¯s question, Kajsa smiled as if it wasn¡¯t something to think deeply about. ¡°It must have run back home.¡± When a person or animal suffered from a serious injury, they would hide in their homes. They needed time to heal their wounds. ¡°It thinks of the seal as its own house, perhaps because it¡¯s been sealed there for a long time. In the first ce, there are very few ces where a monster as big as a Kraken can hide its body.¡± ¡°Anyway, it crawled back into the seal on its own.¡± As Bentham said as he chuckled, Kajsa also said with shining eyes. ¡°It pushed itself into a ce where its movements are restricted. No way¡­ Are you saying that the sirens are thinking of using this opportunity to finally kill it instead of sealing it again?¡± Just like Cordelia, Kajsa¡¯s intuition was also good. Moreover, the uracy was bound to be higher this time because it had a fairly reasonable logic. ¡°Yes, the sirens are asking us, or more specifically, Cordelia, since we have done a huge blow to the Kraken. So let¡¯s defeat the Kraken together.¡± Kajsa very much weed the decision as she raised both her hands. So did Bentham since he lived in the south. ¡®And Cordelia¡­¡¯ Jude looked back at Cordelia and tried to suppress hisughter. He couldn¡¯t help it because Cordelia was reacting exactly as he expected. Her blue eyes began to sparkle, her cheeks were glowing, and her lips slightly opened in her excitement. In addition to that, even her heart began to pound loudly. ¡®Kraken! Raid Boss! Raid rewards!¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s gamer brain began to work, and she expressed her excitement through her trembling hands as she sent a magic to Jude. [Jude, Jude. The sirens are also thinking of something, right? They must have prepared something like a trigger to weaken the Kraken, or something that could deal a decisive blow to it, right?] [Yes, it seems like they¡¯re preparing something. And¡­] [And?] [I have one in mind.] [Wow, is this a new special move?] Cordelia asked in excitement, and Jude replied as he lightly pinched her cheek. [It¡¯s still a secret.] [Hmph, that¡¯s unfair.] But contrary to what she said, she had a smile on her face. Even though he was pinching her cheek. ¡®Because I can¡¯t just leave it to Cordelia.¡¯ Summoning the Spirit King¡¯s right arm was certainly a powerful technique, but it was also a reckless technique that used up all of Cordelia¡¯s mana at once. The burden on Cordelia was enormous, so he couldn¡¯t let her abuse it. In that case, it would be better for him to do it himself since he could handle the burden much more. ¡®I want to try it.¡¯ I want to see if it¡¯s possible. I want to know if I can handle that much power. Jude made a firm resolution as he pinched Cordelia¡¯s cheeks with both hands. And Cordelia who had been smiling earlier now looked at him coldly and raised her hands. She wanted to pinch Jude¡¯s cheeks in the same way. But fortunately for Kajsa and Bentham, that didn¡¯t happen. Because someone came to see the group at that right moment. ¡°Jude, this is Chloe. May Ie in?¡± At that very gentle and beautiful voice, Cordelia hurriedly hugged Jude¡¯s arm and raised her vignce like a cat with its fur raised. And Jude tried to hold back hisughter before shouting to the door. ¡°You maye in.¡± Chloe Gas. A knight of the Siren Monarchy who saved their party. She¡¯s certainly our benefactor, but apart from that, I have to be alert since she¡¯s an erofu of the sea! Cordelia swallowed hard and tightened her arms around Jude¡¯s arm. She focused her gaze on the appearance of Chloe, which began to appear through the crack of the door. Chapter 244: Divine Spirit’s Whistle (3)

Chapter 244: Divine Spirit¡¯s Whistle (3)

Chloe Gas¡¯ appearance was as beautiful as her voice. She had long and ebony ck hair, and white skin to contrast it. She also had blue eyes that were as mysterious as the sea, that it seemed like she could charm sailors without having to sing. As a result, Cordelia became more alert and hugged Jude¡¯s arm a little tighter as she observed Chloe once more. Chloe was wearing tight-fitting white clothes that were like fish scales, and had a thin sword on her waist. ¡®She has legs.¡¯ The sirens were able to freely switch between a mermaid form, wherein their lower bodies were like that of a fish, and an elf form, wherein their entire body had a humanoid form. The room itself had air flowing inside in the first ce, so if she had been in her mermaid form, she wouldn¡¯t have been able toe this far. In any case, the unbelievably beautiful Chloe had a shy expression. Her cheeks were slightly red, and she was smiling brightly. ¡®A-as I thought, she¡¯s aiming for Jude!¡¯ That¡¯s why she¡¯s making that face! In the eyes of Cordelia who had not yet escaped from the aftermath of her dream, she could only see that Chloe had fallen for Jude. ¡®L-look at that smile in her eyes!¡¯ It wasn¡¯t an illusion. Chloe was indeed looking their way with a shy smile. Even someone from the same sex would find her expressions cute. ¡®Huh? Why this way though?¡¯ Cordelia was sticking close to Jude now, but she had always been as sensitive as a wild animal. Chloe was looking at Cordelia and not at Jude, and the smile in her eyes was also directed at Cordelia and not Jude. ¡®Eh? Me? Why?¡¯ Not Jude? When Cordelia was feeling confused, Chloe lightly walked to Jude, or to be exact, to Cordelia, and greeted her very politely. ¡°My humblest greetings to thee. I am called Chloe Gas from the noble family of Gas.¡± Then she gently held Cordelia¡¯s hand, lowered her posture and kissed the back of Cordelia¡¯s hand. ¡®W-wait. Why are her cheeks blushing? Why are you being so shy?¡¯ Aren¡¯t you the erofus of the sea? The embarrassed Cordelia unconsciously turned to Jude, and she realized that Jude was also surprised by Chloe¡¯s attitude. ¡®What¡¯s wrong with her?¡¯ (Cordelia) ¡®Wait, just wait.¡¯ (Jude) Come to think of it, did Chloe speak to me that politely back then? She didn¡¯t. She was evaluating me right after we were rescued and even when we talked about the Kraken. So why is she suddenly being polite? And seeing the current situation, she¡¯s only that polite to Cordelia. ¡®J-Jude?¡¯ (Cordelia) Why is she not letting go of Cordelia¡¯s hand? Why does she keep touching it? And why is she breathing roughly now? S-she¡¯s panting? T/N: The Korean word used here for panting/gasping is the kind of panting a fan makes when the situation they had wished for had finallye. In short, a fangasm. Jude then turned to the door. The two sirens who came together with Chloe also had flushed faces as they looked at Cordelia. Their eyes were filled with ecstasy, joy, envy, and so on. What¡¯s going on? Of course, it¡¯s true that Cordelia is the most beautiful and cutest girl in the world¨C Jude lightly thought of that, though Kajsa would have coldly stared at him if she had heard it. But he soon figured out the reason why. ¡®Ah! Is it that?¡¯ ¡®That? What is the ¡®that¡¯ you¡¯re talking about?¡¯ Chloe had begun to rub her cheek against the back of Cordelia¡¯s hand, so Cordelia flinched and quickly asked Jude with a nce, and he replied with a bitter smile. ¡®The Spirit King.¡¯ ¡®The Spirit King?¡¯ ¡®Yes, the Spirit King.¡¯ Ynix, the Spirit King of Storms and Lightning. ¡®Ah! I understand now!¡¯ I think I somehow understand now. Because Chloe and the sirens by the door have the smell of spirits on them. ¡®Smell? Is it a real smell?¡¯ (Jude) ¡®No, it¡¯s not a real smell but a feeling? Like the feeling of mana?¡¯ (Cordelia) The elves of the Forest of Eternity smelled of spirits, but there were differences in their scents, but the sirens in front of them now had a simr smell to the Spirit King of Storms and Lightning. ¡®Because Ynix is also the Spirit King of the Sea.¡¯ The sea was basically the realm of the Spirit King of Storms and Lightning, though the Spirit King of Water dispute that im. Thus, many sirens established contracts with storm and lightning spirits. And among those spirits, the Gas family all had contracts with storm spirits. ¡®And this is happening because Cordelia is the contractor of Ynix, the Spirit King.¡¯ Making a contract with a Spirit King was more difficult than one would think. Just like the elves in the Forest of Eternity, there was no one among the sirens who managed to establish a contract with the Spirit King in the past. But Cordelia appeared. A contractor who established a contract with the Spirit King of Storms and Lightning, and not just anyone else! ¡®Is that why she¡¯s panting like this?¡¯ ¡®Uh¡­sort of? This analogy might be a bit vague, but the situation¡¯s something like a pope appearing in front of a devout believer, I think? No, perhaps it¡¯s more than that?¡¯ For the sirens who had deep bonds with the spirits more than the elves of the Forest of Eternity, the Spirit King was pretty much no different from a god. A being had managed tomunicate with such a god, so from the perspective of the sirens, Cordelia was considered an agent of god on earth or an existence close to a demigod. ¡®Aren¡¯t you the same too? You also have the smell of that spirit.¡¯ ¡®Eh? You¡¯re right. But you¡¯re the one who summoned that Spirit King¡¯s right arm a while ago, right?¡¯ The sirens probably wouldn¡¯t have responded this much if things were normal, but it was a little different now. Because the scent of Ynix, the Spirit King, was so strong from Cordelia that getting closer to her was enough to drive them into ecstasy. ¡°Your Excellency, Cordelia¡­¡± Chloe gasped as she gazed at Cordelia in tears, and Cordelia groaned as she was at a loss on what to do. She found it hard to coldly shake off her hand because Chloe was too pretty. ¡®Ueueu.¡¯ This isn¡¯t right. It¡¯s nice that Jude isn¡¯t in danger, but I don¡¯t think this is right either. When Cordelia continued to groan, Jude immediately stretched out his hand and interfered. ¡°Chloe, Cordelia is ufortable with that.¡± Jude spoke in a firm tone, and Chloe finally came to her senses and hurriedly lowered her head. ¡°Ah! My deepest apologies. I humbly ask for thy forgiveness.¡± ¡°I-it¡¯s fine. I understand. Please get up.¡± Cordelia quickly helped her up because it seemed like Chloe would put her head on the ground if she left thetter alone, but at the touch of Cordelia, Chloe had an excited expression again. ¡°Aaah¡­ she helped me herself¡­¡± Chloe blushed and made an ecstatic expression, so Cordelia ended up groaning again. Even Jude was feeling ufortable. ¡®For a person to change like this¡­¡¯ Back then, she clearly had a calm expression when she had just saved us ¨C no, even when I was talking to her. ¡®I don¡¯t think she knew about it then¡­ Was she feeling confused when she was talking to me at that time?¡¯ The fact that Cordelia was the contractor of Ynix. And it was as Jude had thought. When Chloe first saved Jude and Cordelia, she did not know that Cordelia was the contractor of Ynix. Because the aftermath of the storm caused by the Kraken was so strong, and Cordelia was on the verge of death after exhausting all her mana, so Chloe wasn¡¯t able to sense the scent of the Spirit King properly. But it was different now. The Spirit King¡¯s scent was so strong that she was already in a daze just from facing Cordelia. And Kajsa who was watching everything from behind was silentlyughing. Because it was very fun to see the embarrassed Cordelia and the jealous Jude who looked ufortable. ¡°Now then¡­ let¡¯s proceed with our conversation.¡± They couldn¡¯t stay like this forever. Jude broke the silence, and Chloe came to her senses again before turning to Cordelia. ¡°Contractor of the Spirit King, O Most Venerable One. The head of the Gas family has instructed me to bring thee.¡± ¡°Head?¡± ¡°Yes, this humble one is to apany thee to the conference room where we¡¯ll discuss about the Kraken.¡± At Chloe¡¯s reply, Cordelia turned to Jude who nodded his head. Considering the situation, they were likely heading to a ce where the queen of the sirens had gathered the heads of each family in order to discuss on how to deal with the incident ¨C to be exact, on how they should kill the Kraken. ¡®Let¡¯s go first. Let¡¯s continue our conversation after the meeting.¡¯ ¡®Okay.¡¯ Cordelia nodded her head and said as she looked back at Chloe. ¡°I understand. Please guide us.¡± ¡°Yes, this humble one is greatly honored to serve you.¡± Chloe had an ecstatic smile again before she stretched out her hand to escort Cordelia, but Cordelia¡¯s hand was already held tight by Jude. ¡°Please guide us.¡± ¡°¡­I understand.¡± Chloe red at Jude for a moment before she turned around and begin to guide them, while Cordelia finally decided to ept the situation. In any case, Jude seemed to be safe from the erofus of the sea. ¡®Well, this is okay. What¡¯s good is good.¡¯ It seems like the opposite has happened though, but anyway. Cordelia made up her mind and smiled in satisfaction as she nced at Jude who was the one now alert of his surroundings, just like how Cordelia did five minutes ago. The two then slowly walked. *** Electra Gas, the head of the Gas family, almost looked like Chloe since she was Chloe¡¯s mother. ¡®They¡¯re more like sisters though, and not like mother and daughter.¡¯ In the eyes of humans, they were really like elves. Electra, who seemed to be in herte twenties, was standing next to Chloe who appeared to be in her early twenties, and the two seemed to be sisters. ¡®They¡¯re also acting the same.¡¯ ¡°Your Excellency, this way please.¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­ yes.¡± As the head of the Gas family, Electra was contracted to high-ranking spirit from the storm and lightning spirits, and she seemed to be more mesmerized with Cordelia than Chloe. ¡°Please wear this ne and get in the carriage behind thee.¡± Chloe gave her a gold ne with a white gem on the pendant, which had a magic spell that allowed anyone to breathe underwater. Cordelia quickly put on the ne and was in awe at the carriage that she saw in front of her. ¡®Wow, Jude, Jude. Look at that.¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s certainly amazing.¡¯ The carriage itself was not much different from the carriages above ground, but the animal pulling the carriage was different. There wererge seahorses instead of horses. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Cordelia climbed into the carriage with Jude, and Kajsa and Bentham saw the two off with sour expressions. Unlike Jude and Cordelia, Kajsa and Bentham were not allowed to participate in the meeting. ¡®I¡¯m from the 7 southern families.¡¯ She was the daughter of a prominent family in the south. But Bentham was the only one who responded to Kajsa¡¯s grumbling. And after 20 minutes or so. After Jude and Cordelia had an awkward and ufortable time facing Chloe and Electra who was both panting with ecstatic expressions, they finally arrived at the conference hall of the sirens. *** The siren¡¯s royal pce was located deep in the sea and had a hemispherical shape. There were colorful corals around the white and pretty dome, and many sea creatures were swimming around the pce, so it felt like they were at an aquarium. ¡®No, it wasn¡¯t this much back then.¡¯ Cordelia recalled the aquarium she had went on a field trip when she was an elementary school student, and after shaking her head, she tightly held Jude¡¯s hand. Because she suddenly remembered her teacher¡¯s words that they should tightly hold their partner¡¯s hand. ¡°This way please.¡± Electra and Chloe led them as they passed through a long corridor lined with armed soldiers, and a veryrge and round door appeared. ¡°Please wait for a moment.¡± As they stood in front of the door and waited, they soon heard a loud voice from beyond the door. ¡°The head of the Gas family, Electra Gas, and the contractor of Ynix are entering!¡± And the door opened. Cordelia unconsciously swallowed hard, and looked beyond the door with slightly stiff shoulders before she was left in awe. ¡°Wow¡­¡± The form of the ce was not much different from the national assembly hall that she saw in the news. The room had a very high ceiling, and the seats were arranged in the shape of a fan, and in the center was a tform. But its splendor was different. The floor was made of white marble, and the seats as well as the colorful jewels everywhere were beautiful, but the real highlight was the ceiling. ¡®Pretty.¡¯ She could view the sea beyond the transparent ceiling. In addition, some kind of magic made it look like light was shining down from the ceiling, as if there was a sun shining directly on it, even though they were deep in the sea. [Cordelia, let¡¯s go.] [Yes!] Cordelia passed through the red carpeted path with Jude, and sat down in a long seat that Electra and Chloe had guided them to. ¡®Are we thest toe?¡¯ ¡®It seems so.¡¯ All the other seats were full. And as expected, everyone was looking at Cordelia. Among them were those who were gasping like the mother and daughter, Electra and Chloe, but there were others who only showed little interest to them like some of the elves in the Forest of Eternity. Perhaps the varying degrees of their reactions depended on the spirit they were contracted to. ¡®Well¡­ that¡¯s good. It¡¯s not bad.¡¯ Cordelia nodded with a satisfied expression. She had been worried about the erofus, but she also liked the way Jude was restless and alert of their surroundings. ¡®He¡¯s cute.¡¯ He¡¯spletely different from my dream. The Jude in my dream. He had lost everything and just fought against the demons in his obsession with revenge. The man who shed tears of blood as he helplessly killed with his own hands his former fianc¨¦e, Cordelia, who was the only survivor among the people he loved. ¡®A pitiful person.¡¯ She had smiled as she looked at Jude, who didn¡¯t feel any sense of aplishment despite defeating a powerful demonic human. She had faced her end with a wicked smile that hid all of her emotions. Cordelia. She was kidnapped by the Devil¡¯s Hands and eventually became a demonic human. In Cordelia¡¯sst moments, she regained her past self, but did not reveal it to Jude. Because she knew how much it would be harder for Jude. ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± When she came to her senses, she turned her head and saw Jude¡¯s face. Not the Jude who had be vengeful like Kamael, but the Jude of the present Cordelia. ¡°Are you all right? Are you feeling sick?¡± ¡°Eh? N-no. I¡¯m all right. Just. Uh, it¡¯s just¡­¡± Her cheeks were damp. It seemed like she had cried without realizing it. ¡®What¡¯s going on?¡¯ What did I just see? What was I thinking? She didn¡¯t remember it well. It was like she had a dream with her eyes open. ¡°Would you like to go back and rest?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. Yes, really.¡± Cordelia nodded again and widely smiled after wiping her face with the handkerchief that Jude gave her. Jude furrowed his brows and appeared to be worried, but was soon convinced. ¡°Okay, let me know right away if you¡¯re feeling sick.¡± ¡°Yes, I will.¡± Cordelia obediently replied and deliberately made a livelier expression, and the surprised Electra and Chloe began to pant at Cordelia again. And a few minutester. ¡°Her Majesty the Queen has arrived!¡± The court attendant loudly cried, and the door at the center of the podium then opened. The queen of the sirens appeared from it. ¡®The queen is the same.¡¯ The same as the queen of the sirens who had appeared as Malekith¡¯s subordinate in thetter half of Legend of Heroes 2. Her atmosphere was different from when she became a ve after death, but her appearance was almost the same. She had white hair that was close to gray, and blue eyes full of wisdom. Unlike Princess Daphne and Princess Leica who had delicate impressions, her impression was strong as she led a country with dignity and elegance. ¡°Greetings to Her Majesty the Queen.¡± Jude and Cordelia followed the sirens in the conference hall who bowed and greeted the queen in respect, and the two swallowed hard. Because the queen seated on the throne was looking their way with a face that seemed to be interested in them. Iliana Ccanis, the queen of the sirens. In Legend of Heroes 2, she appeared as Malekith¡¯s loyal ve and evil witch. ¡°Begin the meeting.¡± The sirens responded to Iliana¡¯s deration. The meeting began after they gave a bow again. ¡®For now, the flow itself is as expected.¡¯ As what Chloe had already told them, the sirens¡¯ n itself was simple. Afterpletely confining the Kraken in the seal, they wouldunch attacks towards the trapped monster in order to kill it. There were two things that mattered then: their method to confine the Kraken in the seal, and their method of attack that would deal the final blow to the monster. ¡®Fortunately, they seemed to have made preparations for those two.¡¯ Iliana¡¯s gaze at them had been unusual since the meeting began though. She seemed to be wishing for something. ¡®As expected, it¡¯s about the Spirit King.¡¯ It was clear on what the sirens wanted from Jude and Cordelia, or to be exact, from Cordelia alone. They wanted her to summon the Spirit King and deal the final blow to it. In fact, it was a reasonable request. The reason why they saved Jude and Cordelia in the first ce was because they wanted the two to help in the fight against the Kraken, rather than just wanting to save their lives. They were also using it as a justification ¨C that the two should return the favor of having their lives saved. ¡®Moreover, it¡¯s highly likely that they¡¯re not the only ones in a bad position.¡¯ The sirens weren¡¯t the only ones who would suffer damage from the Kraken if it wreaked havoc in the southern sea. And as expected, such stories emerged. The family heads who were drawn to Cordelia declined toment, but those who were less affected by Ynix ¨C the family heads who had contracts with other kinds of spirits, were explicitly demanding that she summon the Spirit King. ¡®What should we do?¡¯ Cordelia asked with her eyes. She couldn¡¯t say that she couldn¡¯t summon the Spirit King himself, but something else was on her mind. ¡®Because there¡¯s no way that he¡¯ll just let it go.¡¯ In a situation where the other side desperately wanted something, it was impossible for Jude to not attempt to get anything from the royalty and the nobles who had been making unreasonable demands to them. But what and how can we get anything from this situation? If I summon the Spirit King and ask them to pay a price, our rtionship with the sirens will be ufortable. ¡®We owe them for saving our lives.¡¯ But he was Jude. He must have thought of another way. The ckened Cordelia looked at Jude in anticipation, and Jude made a wicked smile that Cordelia had be fond of these days. He stood up and responded to Cordelia¡¯s expectations. *** ¡°Do you really need all these things to summon the Spirit King?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s absolutely necessary. It¡¯s a must.¡± Chapter 245: Divine Spirit’s Whistle (4)

Chapter 245: Divine Spirit¡¯s Whistle (4)

¡°Do you really need all these things to summon the Spirit King?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s absolutely necessary. It¡¯s a must.¡± Malthias Barranto from the Barranto family had no choice but to furrow her brows when Jude answered her question with a steady gaze and confident voice. ¡®Some of it makes sense.¡¯ The items Jude had requested. Most of the items were rted to magic, such as items that amplified or restored mana, or items that granted attributes and so on. ¡®But still, isn¡¯t this a little too much?¡¯ Do you really need a trident that releases lightning magic or a magic tool that reads the flow of the atmosphere in order to summon the Spirit King? I mean, Ynix is definitely the Spirit King of Storms and Lightning, so those items are somewhat rted to him, but¡­ And it was at that moment. Jude said with a very serious expression. ¡°This may be a rude question, but has Lady Malthias ever summoned a Spirit King?¡± ¡°No, but it¡¯s just¡­¡± Malthias, whose words trailed off in the end, eventually had no choice but to groan and step back. Jude didn¡¯t say it out loud, but Malthias could understand what Jude wanted to say by just looking at Jude¡¯s eyes. ¡®Oh, are you really saying that? Our side has summoned him. We need these things to summon the Spirit King. Ah, of course you might not know about that since you¡¯ve never summoned him. I understand. Yes, I understand. You¡¯ve never summoned him before, so what can I do?¡¯ It was Jude¡¯s unique way of saying ¡®So how can you verify it?¡¯ He managed to push ahead by using his advantage of havingplete information, but in fact, it was also because of the peculiarity of the situation that this coercion worked. ¡®Because they have to defeat the Kraken.¡¯ Moreover, it was also true that Cordelia was the contractor of the Spirit King. What could she do if the Spirit King¡¯s contractor actually needed those to summon the Spirit King? And their fight against an enemy called the Kraken was just around the corner. For Malthias, there was nothing she could do but believe in them. And at this scene that took ce after the meeting was over, Cordelia pulled Kajsa¡¯s sleeve who was standing next to her as they watched Jude¡¯s discussion with Malthias Barranto at the Gas¡¯ mansion. ¡°Kajsa, Kajsa.¡± ¡°Why?¡± When Cordelia called her in a low voice, Kajsa unconsciously tilted her head and answered in a small voice. Cordelia then said with a smile. ¡°My Jude is amazing, right? Isn¡¯t he?¡± Kajsa nkly stared at Cordelia who was eager to show off, and she pinched Cordelia¡¯s cheek before turning to Jude and Malthias. Cordelia pulled her sleeve again, but Kajsa ignored it as she thought. ¡®I should be careful too when I go home.¡¯ She was sure that Jude and Cordelia would try to rip her off of this and that in return for saving her. Furthermore, her wild instincts were telling her. These two are genuine¡­ ¡®They¡¯re¡­ a genuine scammer couple!¡¯ Kajsa trembled when she thought of those words that perfectly described the two. After his negotiation with Malthias, Jude winked at Cordelia, who gave him a thumbs up and praised him excessively. *** Their busy schedules continued after their meeting with Malthias. Because they wanted topletely defeat the Kraken while it was still staying inside the seal. Iliana Ccanis, the queen of the sirens, was a powerful and mighty ruler who led with absolute power and authority unlike her delicate appearance. When she decided to fight against the Kraken, the entire country prepared for war without any objections. ¡°The basis of this battle is the human wave attack.¡± The operation set up by Sarandis Vassallo from the Vassallo family was simple and effective. ¡°A hundred spirit warriors from each family will block the Kraken¡¯s movement, and the rest of the armed forces will concentrate their firepower topletely kill the monster.¡± In Legend of Heroes 2, Sarandis appeared as one of the seven sirens serving Malekith, just like Siren Queen Iliana, and was like apletely different person then, though her appearance was the same. In the game, she was a witch overflowing with sexiness, but the current Sarandis was a spirit knight who had the solemnity peculiar to warriors. ¡°Please look here.¡± When Sarandis moved her finger, a hemispherical structure appeared in the air. It was an image of the seal that was used by Perigeo¡¯s elves to seal the Kraken. ¡°The width of the seal¡¯s inside is just good enough for a Kraken to lie down. In short, if we keep it inside the seal and attack it through a hole in the upper right corner, the Kraken will not be able to avoid the attacks. It will have no choice but to receive the attacks.¡± The sirens nodded as she pointed to arge hole that the Kraken was believed to have used to exit the seal. Because it seemed to them that it was actually possible to defeat the Kraken as long as it all went ording to n. ¡®It¡¯s quite attractive that the operation itself is simple.¡¯ Because the longer and moreplex an operation would be, the higher the chance of failure. In that sense, the simple n of holding down the Kraken, which was already in the seal, and defeating it with concentrated attacks, seemed to guarantee the sess of the operation. ¡°Lady Cordelia, we would like thee to lend thy strength to increase our firepower.¡± Sarandis¡¯ words drew the attention of the family heads, and Cordelia nodded her head while slightly nervous. ¡°Yes, I understand.¡± She had to be in the attacking group if she wanted to deal thest hit. Though it was questionable if she could deal thest hit in such arge-scale operation. In any case, once the details of the n were decided, Siren Queen Iliana who had been watching quietly then opened her mouth again. ¡°All right, there¡¯s no point in dying it any longer. Let¡¯s begin our final preparations. We¡¯ll head out in two hours.¡± To begin with, doing something like a practice run for this operation was impossible. Moreover, they did not know when the Kraken wille out of the seal, so they had to move as quickly as they could. ¡°We receive thymands.¡± The family heads led by Sarandis then bowed down and received her orders, and Jude and Cordelia also showed their respect to the queen in ordance with the etiquette of the S?len Kingdom. And two hourster. The siren¡¯s operation to defeat the Kraken finally began. *** Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! The sound of the drums caused great ripples as it surprisingly spread well despite being underwater. Together with the sirens from the Gas family, Jude and Cordelia stood on a battle chariot pulled by four seahorses, and they unconsciously let out voices of admiration because of the sight that unfolded in front of their eyes. ¡°Wow¡­¡± There were sirens everywhere. Hundreds of sirens in their mermaid forms were gathered together with their families as they lined up in an orderly manner, and a hundred cavalry rode on top of various huge animals, such as seahorses and domesticated sharks, as they showed off their splendor on the left and right. The infantry in the center. The cavalry on the left and right. And spirit warriors who rode on battle chariots while on the second row. And finally, a very huge sea turtle tank was at the end with Siren Queen Iliana on board. ¡°It¡¯spletely like a tank. No, it¡¯s not a tank, but what should I call that? A mobile fortress?¡± Jude nodded as Cordelia pointed to it. Since the giant sea turtle had a shell of around 30 meters in diameter, it was different from a normal tank. The walls resembled fortress walls, and various siege weapons were also mounted on the shell. And in the center of such a shell. Queen Iliana sat on an ornate seat that was like a throne, and when she tilted her beautiful huge staff forward, whistles sounded from all directions, and the g bearers of each family raised their gs high. ¡°Begin the march.¡± At Iliana¡¯smand, the drums boomed again, and the infantry in the front row began to move forward. It was quite a spectacr sight as mermaids with colorful scales marched under the light spirts they had summoned in order to illuminate the dark sea. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Chloe drove forward the battle chariot. Kajsa joined the cavalry by riding on a seahorse, and she shouted out loud too as she lifted a trident high. Bentham remained since he had to protect Sebastian, and he saw off the group by waving his hand, though no one looked back at him. The total number of troops that Iliana mobilized this time was over 1,200. If onepared them to the 10,000 Jackdaws that were stationed in the northern border, it was not a veryrge number, but it was good to remember that they were all sirens. Just like the elves of the Forest of Eternity, the sirens were also very good at fighting because they were a race that lived long. ¡®Did they actually mobilize the whole army?¡¯ It had only been two days since they arrived in the siren¡¯s country, but Jude already had a rough idea of their country¡¯s size. Except for the minimum number of troops to protect their country, the entire army was mobilized. And around 30 minutester. The movement of the siren troops who had been moving forward then slowed down. Because they had almost reached the seal. ¡°Let¡¯s not dy it any longer. Let¡¯s move ording to n.¡± At themand of Iliana, the g bearers raised their gs again to convey her will. They refrained from blowing a whistle or beating a drum in order to not provoke the Kraken. ¡°March.¡± ¡°March.¡± It was a simple order, but because they had already been informed of the n, the heads of each family moved forward to the sides as if to surround the seal, instead of rushing forward. The middle naturally became empty then, and the gap was filled with the spirit warriors who rode on battle chariots, and the sea turtle carrying Iliana. ¡°Begin.¡± Sirens were basically spirit warriors who had contracts with one or more spirits, though there were differences in skill. When Iliana stood up from her throne and lifted her staff, the water spirits responded, and the hundred spirit warriors also summoned their own spirits and conveyed theirmands. Block it. Tie up it movement using the water currents. Lock up the Kraken in the seal. The spirits responded. A water current was formed to suppress the seal, and a huge magic circle was drawn by the light spirits as they spread around the seal. The current was just a barrier for a what-if scenario, but the magic circle was actually the one that would be used to confine the Kraken. ¡°Unite everyone¡¯s power.¡± As Iliana wrapped her hands around her staff and exuded her power, the 100 spirit warriors also closed their eyes and began to focus. They spread out their power to the magic circle. And it was at that very moment. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¨C! The Kraken¡¯s silent roar shook the surroundings. But at the same time, an intense light came from the magic circle, and a huge sword made of light was formed. Before the Kraken could even go out of the seal¡¯s hole, the huge sword prated the seal and pierced the monster. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¨C! The Kraken screamed again. They couldn¡¯t see it because of the seal, but it was clear that the sword of light had pierced the Kraken and prevented it from moving. ¡°Attack team forward!¡± Sarandismanded the rest of the troops because Iliana was concentration on the magic circle. The melee cavalry waited from behind as their role was to respond to emergency situations. The hundreds of infantry units then gathered in front of therge hole in the seal. The battle chariot carrying Jude and Cordelia were also ced behind such cavalry. And light shined towards the hole. As it drove away the darkness in the seal, they saw the Kraken struggling from the sword of light. Its middle eye was crushed by Cordelia, but it still had its left and right eyes. The Kraken red at them with its yellow eyes, and its eyes alone seemed to destroy the minds of the sirens by just its look. ¡°Attack!¡± Thus, Sarandis hastened the attack. All possible long-range attacks poured down towards the Kraken, starting with weapons like bows and crossbows, to attacks using spirits and magic. ¡ª-! ¡ª! ¡ª¡ª! It worked. The Kraken was trapped in the narrow seal, and was helplessly beaten up by the attacks, unable to avoid or block any of the attacks. A smile spread across Sarandis¡¯ face. She and the other sirens became confident of their victory and raised the momentum of their attacks. ¡°Your Excellency.¡± Chloe turned to Cordelia with eager eyes. She was telling her to summon the Spirit King and deal the final blow. But instead of summoning the Spirit King, Cordelia prepared another magic with the help of the magic tools all over her body. Because in the current situation, there were several more attack magic spells that were effective than summoning the Spirit King¡¯s right arm to throw a punch. Cordelia transformed into a witch. Chloe was surprised when she first saw the witch transformation, but Cordelia continued to chant the spell. By using Arkeman¡¯s treasure to amplify her mana, she prepared a Spear of Cmity. ¡®I have to wait first.¡¯ She had to throw the Spear of Cmity right after the sirensunch their ultimate attack, the Sea God¡¯s Trident. Because she wanted to get thest hit, and that this was more effective too. ¡®The true Spear of Cmity contains a witch¡¯s curse.¡¯ It guaranteed death to those who were already dying. In game terms, the lower the monster¡¯s HP, the higher its damage would be. So the Spear of Cmity was truly an attack that dealt a decisive blow. Therefore, it was a more efficient choice to throw the Spear of Cmity right after the Kraken was hit by the Sea God¡¯s Trident. A huge ck Spear of Cmity formed above Cordelia¡¯s head as it glowed green. Jude turned to Sarandis who was holding the Sea God¡¯s Trident. She was also reciting a spell while in a position to throw the Sea God¡¯s Trident. This was to bring out the true power of the Sea God¡¯s Trident, which was a treasure of the sirens. The attack continued. Sarandis¡¯ spell reached its peak, and Cordelia¡¯s Spear of Cmity began to emit a tremendous magic power. And Kajsa raised her head. Unlike Cordelia who was focusing on her magic and couldn¡¯t focus on anything else, Kajsa was her usual self. She suddenly sensed it. Her instincts sent out a signal that a fierce threat wasing. ¡°Storm.¡± Her word was like a prophecy. It was a small ripple at first, but it soon became huge. The huge ripples from afar came with a momentum to devour the siren forces. Chapter 246: Divine Spirit’s Whistle (5)

Chapter 246: Divine Spirit¡¯s Whistle (5)

Some changes I made to thest episode: ¡°Block it!¡± The moment Kajsa shouted out loudly, the sirens turned towards the waves. Some summoned spirits, and some used magic in order to block the waves. Swiiiiiiiiiish-! With a dull sound, the waves broke as it got blocked. But its aftermath shook the sirens. Moreover, that was not the end. New waves appeared again. ¡°The Kraken!¡± Jude had figured out on what had happened. The Kraken trapped in the seal was trying to destroy the battle formation by creating underwater waves from afar. It was an application of its abilities to summon a storm. Swoooooosh-! The second group of waves broke. The spirit warriors manipted the sea current surrounding the seal, which they had prepared earlier for a what-if scenario, in order to stop the underwater waves, and Sarandis opened her eyes and tightened her grip on the trident after finishing the spell. And at that moment, the Kraken¡¯s second counterattack began. Psssh-! ck ink gushed out from the seal¡¯s hole. Because the current surrounding the seal was gone, the ck ink flowed out straight. It turned the surrounding area ck, and also engulfed the sirens in the frontlines. ¡°Aaaaaah!¡± The ck water caused the sirens to scream and twist in pain because the ink had a strong poison in it. ¡°Sarandis!¡± Jude cried out. But even before his cry reached her, Sarandis had already realized on what she needed to do. So instead of hesitating from her confusion, she threw the Sea God¡¯s Trident with all her might. ¡°Haaaa!¡± Baaaaang-! A thunderous sound was heard even though they were underwater. The Sea God¡¯s Trident covered in golden lightning prated the space at once, and its shockwaves broke through the ck water, scattering the Kraken¡¯s ink at once. And that was why Jude was able to see it. Sarandis who was in front must have also seen it. Baang! The seal¡¯s ceiling copsed. Because the Kraken broke the ceiling and tried to swim up. Boom! The Sea God¡¯s Trident struck the ground, and the Kraken that was still pierced by the Sealing Sword of Light then struggled as it iled around its dozens of legs simultaneously. As it continued to be pulled back to the ground by the power of the Sealing Sword of Light, the Kraken let out its powerful mana. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! The Kraken¡¯s legs couldn¡¯t reach the sirens. Its legs were tens of meters long, but the distance between the sirens and the Kraken was quite far. But the Kraken¡¯s struggles didn¡¯t simply end at just that. The shockwaves generated by its iling legs struck the sirens. The mana it emitted prated the minds of the sirens who were using magic. ¡°Aaaaah!¡± The sirens who were using magic screamed and copsed. Those who were hit by the shockwaves had their bodies be flipped and smashed. The attacks on the Kraken were naturally reduced, and at that moment, Jude figured out the Kraken¡¯s goal. Because he saw its two yellow eyes looking at the magic circle spread over its head. ¡°Attack!¡± Sarandis ordered just then. The cavalry who were waiting on the left and right charged towards the Kraken, and Kajsa who was with them gripped her trident. Malthias who was standing besides Iliana was still focusing on maintaining the Sealing Sword of Light, but she delivered a newmand to the spirit warriors. ¡°Use the currents to push it down!¡± What she meant was that they had to push down the Kraken so that it couldn¡¯t touch the magic circle. But that wasn¡¯t easy. Because the Kraken was causing a storm even in the midst of this. As new groups of waves came rushing towards them, the sirens who were maintaining the Sealing Sword of Light and those manipting the current were both swept away by the shockwaves. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª-! The cavalry and the Kraken began to sh at that moment. The Kraken writhed and swung its dozens of legs at the same time, and the cavalry dug in between and struck their weapons into its body. But the Kraken was huge. Even though the tridents were huge for the sirens, it was only a small thorn for the Kraken, so they could only stab the surface but not properly wound it. ¡°Your Excellency!¡± Chloe turned to Cordelia. And so did Sarandis. Cordelia was the only one who could deal a fatal blow to the Kraken. And Cordelia acted instinctively. She threw the Spear of Cmity to the Kraken. Shwaaaa-! The Kraken struggled even harder when it saw the Spear of Cmity flying with a terrifying power, but it couldn¡¯t properly evade because of the Sealing Sword of Light. The Spear of Cmity pierced the Kraken¡¯s torso, and it struggled even harder as it loudly screamed. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª! It worked. But Cordelia did not create a second Spear of Cmity. Instead of summoning the Spirit King, she turned to Jude. Cordelia¡¯s senses were telling her something like always. That they couldn¡¯t defeat the Kraken with their current method. In fact, the Sealing Sword of Light was getting weaker. ¡°Jude.¡± Jude also saw Cordelia. And he nodded his head. They thenunched n B which they had nned in advance. When Cordelia threw the Spear of Cmity, she then conveyed what she had observed and thought via magic. Boooom! The underwater waves caused by the Kraken became even stronger. It spewed ink again, and the cavalry in the vicinity hurriedly retreated. But Kajsa didn¡¯t do that. She spitted out a curse and deeply pushed the trident that had already been stabbed into the Kraken¡¯s head. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¨C! Even if it was a small thorn, the situation was bound to change if that thorn stuck deeper inside. The Kraken screamed and iled, spewing ink that almost covered its body. And Jude and Cordelia did not miss that gap. ¡°Your Excellency?!¡± Instead of responding to Chloe¡¯s call, Cordelia spread her wings of light. She flew down straight to the seabed, while Jude released his energy and used Landius¡¯ signature flying technique. He rushed towards the Kraken. ¡°Die! Die!¡± Kajsa pushed down another nearby trident in the Kraken¡¯s head. She ignored the poisonous ink as her body could handle it. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª! The Kraken roared. It smacked itself with its leg in order to attack Kajsa, but she hurriedly swam away to evade the monster¡¯s leg. And suddenly, Jude¡¯s firm arm wrapped around Kajsa¡¯s waist. ¡°Eh?¡± The surprised Kajsa looked back at Jude, but he did not even look at her. He simply released his energy again to soar at a high speed as he evaded the Kraken¡¯s legs and headed to the magic circle above them. The Sealing Sword of Light became weaker. The Kraken red at Jude and Kajsa with its yellow eyes, and let out its immense magic power again. It prevented the sirens from daring to charge towards it. And Jude red at such a Kraken. After roughly throwing Kajsa, he chanted the mnemonic chant of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. At the same time he opened the sixth door, he activated the power of the ck sun. Booooooom! Everyone on the battlefield turned to Jude when he let out such an immense power. Even Kajsa who was cursing after being roughly thrown could only admire Jude at the tremendous force he released. So the Kraken focused its attention on Jude again. It was just as Jude had wished. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª-! The Kraken no longer caused underwater waves. Instead of struggling to remove the Sealing Sword of Light, the demon of the sea scattered around a curse. ¡°Aaaaaaaaaaaah!¡± The sirens screamed as they grabbed their heads. Kajsa also struggled as she groaned in pain. It was the result of the Kraken further strengthening its unique mental attack that caused fear and terror to its targets. But Jude ignored it. One of the abilities he got from opening the sixth door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors was an ability to protect the mind. So instead of feeling fear and terror, he treated the Kraken with anger and hostility. The Kraken stretched out its legs towards Jude. Dozens of tentacles on its mouth quickly extended and tried to capture Jude. Jude calmly used Valencia¡¯s swordsmanship. He let out ck energy to his legs as he cut off the monster¡¯s tentacles to protect himself. He remained in his current position. If the Kraken had rushed and attacked, he wouldn¡¯t be able to perform such acrobatic moves even if he was Jude, but the Kraken was now held down by the Sealing Sword of Light. It couldn¡¯t do anything else to Jude as it could only stretch out its legs to him. The sirens barely came to their senses at Jude¡¯s amazing moves and were impressed, but Sarandis gritted her teeth. Jude¡¯s power was obviously great, but she realized that they couldn¡¯t beat the Kraken in this way. She had to focus her power again. The Sealing Sword of Light wouldn¡¯t be able tost long, so they had to deal a fatal blow to it in that time. ¡®The Sea God¡¯s Trident.¡¯ She had to recover it. The trident didn¡¯t hit the Kraken, so it still had the power she had gathered. Sarandis searched the seabed in a hurry. But she widely opened her eyes then. Because the Sea God¡¯s Trident had disappeared. And it was at that moment. [Juuuuude!] Cordelia shouted. n B. To not kill the Kraken but to seal it again! Cordelia grasped the Sea God¡¯s Trident and inserted it into the sealing ce where Perigeo¡¯s Crystal Ball was originally located inside the seal. But this action alone wouldn¡¯t reactivate the seal. So Cordelia took an additional step. Using the power of the trident as a resource, she poured mana into the sealing ce and brought Moonlight to the ce at the same time. ¡°Melissa!¡± [You only look for me when you need me!] Melissa let out her resentment, but she still responded to Cordelia¡¯s wish as she was a kind and gentle artificial spirit. Perigeo¡¯s elves shared the same roots with Magen¡¯s elves, so Melissa could utilize the ancient system that the sirens gave up on because they couldn¡¯t handle it. ¡°Oooooooo!¡± The Sea God¡¯s Trident reced Perigeo¡¯s Crystal Ball. And Cordelia herself replenished theck of magic power! All of the various magic recovery and amplification tools she received from the sirens were now utilized. Under Melissa¡¯smand, the seal system was restarted, and the powerful force of the seal overwhelmed the Sealing Sword of Light in its power as it began to pull the Kraken. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª! The Kraken struggled and resisted, but the sealing power was different from that of the Sealing Sword of Light. It wasn¡¯t long before it realized the situation ¨C that it was bound to be sealed again. ¡ª-! ¡ª¡ª! ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª! Therefore, the Kraken prepared for a powerful curse. Even if it was impossible for the human in front of it, it prepared a curse that would bring death to the sirens. But Jude didn¡¯t let it continue. The moment it gathered magic for the curse, he ran towards the opposite direction. As the monster tried to cast a curse as its final move, he headed to the Kraken¡¯s head ¨C to be exact, the eyeball that Cordelia had destroyed. Hended on it and at the same time, he struck out his sharp sword-like hand. But for the Kraken, it was still only a small thorn. So instead of screaming, the Kraken continued to prepare its curse without worrying about Jude. But Jude moved a little faster this time. Having seen Cordelia use up all her mana at once to summon the Spirit King¡¯s right arm, he put into practice what he had thought. The ck Sun. Until now, Jude had only used the power of the ck Sun to generate powerful energy or to strengthen the energy of the ck dragon. But it was different this time. He released the energy in his entire body at once, just like what Cordelia did. Instead of using a skill or creating a wave of energy, he concentrated the pure power of the sun. Yang energy in contrast to Yin energy. Although its color was ck, it was definitely the power of the sun. At that moment, he activated the Supreme Sun Divine Art. He maximized the Yang energy of the ck Sun. Light. And heat. The true power of the sun was released through Jude¡¯s fingertips! ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¨C! The Kraken screamed. It cried out. It was on the verge of losing its mind at the tremendous pain it had experienced for the first time. Its head was burning. The immense heat of the sun messed up its head. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª! The Kraken was unable to resist anymore. It could no longer cast the curse as it just screamed. [Jude!] Jude responded to Cordelia¡¯s call. He removed his sword-like hand from the Kraken and kicked its head at the same time. Kajsa grabbed Jude who was unable to move because he had exhausted all of his energy. ¡°Melissa!¡± When Cordelia saw the scene, she urged Melissa to activate the final stage of the sealing system. The Kraken temporarily became unconscious as a subspace door opened and dragged the monster inside it. Booom-! The Kraken¡¯s body touched the bottom of the seal, causing a vibration, but that was it. The subspace door swallowed up the Kraken once again, just like how it did a long time ago. The seal waspleted. ¡°Haa¡­ haa¡­¡± Cordelia panted as she leaned against the Sea God¡¯s Trident that hadpletely be part of the seal now. She slowly raised her head, and smiled when she saw the unconscious Jude being supported by Kajsa. Several rings of white light surrounded Jude¡¯s body, though it was unknown if it was rewarded from repelling an enemy or from sessfully sealing it. And right after that. At the moment when Cordelia began counting the number of rings that surrounded her own body. ¡°Uoooooooooooo!¡± ¡°We won!¡± ¡°We defeated the Kraken!¡± The sirens shouted and cheered. They also shouted the names of Jude and Cordelia as they rejoiced. She couldn¡¯t hear it much because they were underwater, but Cordelia also smiled. She sat on the floor, picking up the fallen Moonlight and saying. ¡°We won.¡± [Congrattions.] Melissa inly said, and Cordelia smiled again. In the midst of their victory, she kissed the Moonlight¡¯s golden jewel as if to soothe Melissa who was sulking a bit. Chapter 247: Divine Spirit’s Whistle (6)

Chapter 247: Divine Spirit¡¯s Whistle (6)

Terms used in this episode: Buster Call ¨C a reference to the manga, One Piece. It is used by the Marines to summon/call their entire fleet in order to destroy a dangerous criminal or organization. The battle with the Kraken was literally short and massive. The actual fight itself only took around twenty minutes. But during that short period of time, the damage suffered by the sirens was massive. Nearly half of the troops were injured due to the various wide-area attacks of the Kraken. ¡°It¡¯s fortunate that the death toll is small.¡± More than 30 sirens were killed out of the hundreds who were injured, and the group that received the most damage was the cavalry who was in direct contact with the Kraken. Some were directly hit by the Kraken¡¯s legs or tentacles, while others were strongly affected by the Kraken¡¯s mental attacks because of their close distance to it. ¡°We¡¯ve been toocent.¡± Iliana, the queen of the sirens, felt responsible. Stop the Kraken¡¯s movements and then concentrate their attacks to kill it. The operation itself was simple and seemed possible to do, but the reality waspletely different. They did stop it, but could notpletely confine it to the seal, and the firepower the sirens prepared was not enough to kill it. ¡®Is this the reason why they had no choice but to seal it¡­¡¯ The reason why the elves of the ancient kingdom of Perigeo only sealed the Kraken. It was impossible to kill it with just a fair amount of firepower. ¡®Perhaps it¡¯s impossible topletely defeat it even if we used the Sea God¡¯s Trident.¡¯ Because it was so powerful. If it weren¡¯t for Jude and Cordelia, the Kraken might not have been sealed again. Many sirens would have been killed by the Kraken who would have eventually destroyed the Sealing Sword of Light, and begin to move freely. ¡°It¡¯s not Your Majesty¡¯s fault.¡± There was no way for the sirens to fully know the Kraken¡¯s power. They didn¡¯t know how powerful the Kraken was until they fought it themselves. ¡°We were able to seal it again because it was crouching inside the seal. If we had neglected it, our country would have been devastated without us being able to do anything against it.¡± Malthias spoke as if tofort her, but Iliana shook her head. ¡°Indeed, that would have been the result. Still¡­ as the leader of a country, I should have investigated the Kraken a little more, and prepared even a little more firepower.¡± That was the responsibility of a leader. At Iliana¡¯s words, Malthias felt both frustration and joy. Her frustration came from the fact that despite their victory, Iliana was distressed because of her strong sense of responsibility. Her joy was due to the feeling of serving an intelligent and benevolent monarch. ¡°My queen, we still won, right? The injured will also recover in no time. If we guard the seal well, the Kraken will no longer be a problem.¡± Malthias said with a smile, and Iliana also a smiled a little. She did it for Malthias¡¯ sake. ¡°Yes, we¡¯ll have to thoroughly guard the seal this time to prevent something like this from happening again.¡± In fact, the sirens had barely paid attention to the Kraken¡¯s seal until now. For hundreds of years, no one had thought that someone would break the Kraken¡¯s seal. ¡®We also need to find the culprit who broke the seal.¡¯ As Malthias had said, guarding the seal was necessary, but finding the culprit who broke the seal in the first ce had to be prioritized. Iliana made up her mind on what to do in the future, and shifted the topic to a more pleasant one rather than troubling Malthias with depressing stories. ¡°So Malthias, where are our heroes now?¡± It was obvious that she was referring to Jude and Cordelia, who made the biggest contribution in sealing the Kraken, so Malthias replied with a broad smile. ¡°They¡¯re resting in the house of the Gas¡¯ family. Both of them are tired, but they¡¯re not injured, so they¡¯ll be attending the victory celebration tonight.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good then. We¡¯re indebted to the two, so we¡¯ll have to properlypensate them.¡± ¡°But¡­ Your Majesty. I think they¡¯ve already taken a lot.¡± Because the two had already taken a lot of things in the name of summoning the Spirit King. ¡®Wait, now that I think of it, they didn¡¯t even summon the Spirit King in the end.¡¯ Were we deceived? Did they not n on summoning the Spirit King in the first ce? If Cordelia had heard Malthias¡¯ thoughts, her conscience would have been pricked and she would be at a loss on what to do. But if it was Jude, he would have calmly said, ¡®No, you¡¯re wrong. We tried to summon it, okay? But the situation was just different from what we expected, okay?¡¯ But it was at that moment when Malthias recalled his shamelessness. ¡°We can¡¯t do that, Malthias. And most of the items they took were used to activate the seal, right?¡± ¡°They did, but¡­¡± There were many items that they took but didn¡¯t use like the lightning trident. But even Malthias had a conscience so she decided to not question such things like that. She was a bit upset since she was in charge of the country¡¯s financial affairs, but it was true that Jude and Cordelia helped them ovee a huge crisis. ¡°But you have a point. It¡¯s also true that we¡¯ve already given a lot, so we don¡¯t have enough topensate them now.¡± The battle was short, but the expenditure was big. A huge amount of money would also be spent on the recovery and rehabilitation of the injured. ¡°Then¡­¡± ¡°But we can¡¯t just thank them in words. So I think¡­¡± Iliana stopped speaking for a moment, but smiled and spoke of the item that she had thought of as a reward for Jude and Cordelia, and Malthias¡¯ expression turned strange. They would be able to save on their immediate expenses if Iliana handed over what she thought to Jude and Cordelia, but in the long run, something much bigger might happen. ¡°Malthias, I¡¯ve already made a decision. Please follow it.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± Because the queen was quite stubborn in this regard. ¡®And¡­ it¡¯s true that we¡¯re indebted to them.¡¯ Their country would have been devastated if not for the two. Malthias thought of them nicely as she turned her gaze towards the direction of the Gas¡¯ mansion. *** At the same time. In the Gas¡¯ mansion. Jude and Cordelia, the key yers in today¡¯s victory, was sitting down together and busy givingpliments. ¡°We would have been in big trouble if it wasn¡¯t for Melissa.¡± ¡°Melissa is the best.¡± ¡°As expected of a genius! An expert of the ancient elven kingdoms! An amazing being who could understand and use the sealing system that the sirens instantly gave up on!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right! You¡¯re pretty, nice, cool, and reliable!¡± Jude¡¯s praises were specific, and Cordelia¡¯spliments were simple but sincere. And Melissa responded to their barrage ofpliments with a standard response. [Hmph, I¡¯m not a child. I¡¯m not so simple as to fall for those words.] But despite saying that, her voice sounded strangely excited. The gem part of Moonlight seemed to be glowing red, perhaps because of her mood. Therefore, Jude and Cordelia exchanged nces and began to fuss about it. ¡°No, what are you saying? We¡¯re not ttering you. We¡¯re just listing the facts. Right, Cordelia?¡± ¡°He¡¯s right, he¡¯s right. It¡¯s all true. Our Melissa is good, pretty, nice, and reliable ¨C aren¡¯t all those facts?¡± ¡°Without Melissa, we wouldn¡¯t have been able to implement n B.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, too. Melissapletely saved us. We wouldn¡¯t have lived without Melissa.¡± [Ahem, ahem.] It worked. If she was a person, she wouldn¡¯t have been able to stop her chest from puffing up, and her smile from appearing. ¡°Melissa, thank you very much.¡± ¡°Yes, thank you. Not only the two of us, but also the entire country of the sirens are indebted to you.¡± [A-a bit more.] Melissa eventually revealed her true feelings after continuously being baptized with praise. She had always been hungry for interest and affection, perhaps because she had lived alone waiting for her masters that never returned for more than a thousand years, or perhaps it was her natural personality. Jude and Cordelia nodded and continued to praise her again. ¡°Melissa is good.¡± ¡°Melissa is pretty.¡± ¡°Melissa is reliable.¡± ¡°Melissa is smart.¡± [Aheeem, ahem.] At the sound of Melissa trying to suppress her cough, Cordelia giggled and looked at Jude. ¡®Good, good. She heard you too. Melissa is feeling really good now.¡¯ ¡®With this, she¡¯ll be relieved for a while.¡¯ ¡®Huh? What do you mean by for a while?¡¯ ¡®Won¡¯t Lady Cordelia from the Chase family forget her again?¡¯ ¡®No, I won¡¯t? I¡¯m going to talk to her really often, okay? We¡¯re going to chat every day, okay? We¡¯ll be having girls talk, okay?¡± ¡®Okay, if you insist, then so be it.¡¯ ¡®Argh, seriously.¡¯ Anyway, Jude and Cordelia seeded in cating Melissa, and the two smiled again afterwards. The fact that they were able to argue with each other like this was also because of the victory in this battle. ¡°Huaaa¡­ it was tough.¡± Cordelia mumbled and hugged Moonlight as she sneakily leaned on Jude¡¯s arms as if she had copsed, and Jude hugged her shoulders, touching his lips on her head. ¡°I¡¯ll sleep for a bit.¡± ¡°Sleep soundly. I¡¯ll wake you upter.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± She was exhausted from pouring her mana into the seal. Unlike Jude whose stamina was constantly being replenished because of the Sphere of Life, Cordelia needed to rest in order to regain the mana she discharged. [Sleep well.] ¡°Yes, Melissa too.¡± Cordelia closed her eyes, and Jude adjusted his posture so that Cordelia could sleepfortably. He closed his eyes and tried to restore the power of the ck sun that he had used up in the battle. *** The scale of the sirens¡¯ victory banquet in the central square was truly huge. Except for those who were injured to the extent that they couldn¡¯t attend the banquet, almost everyone attended, as even the men of each family who did not appear in meetings or battles also appeared. Most of them had been captured, but surprisingly, everyone had a good expression, whether they liked the life here or perhaps the sirens only brought out those who had adapted well. ¡®Isn¡¯t the cost of this banquet more than the cost of the entire battle?¡¯ But it was also necessary. Because man was not a machine. People expressed their emotions by crying when they were sad, or smiling when they were happy. As Jude walked through the banquet hall thinking that way, Cordelia was thinking of somethingpletely different. ¡®Yes, good. My Jude is the coolest.¡¯ The men of each family were all dressed up, but none of them couldpare to Jude. Cordelia was in a good mood and hugged Jude¡¯s arm a little tighter as she raised her chin, and Kajsa who was watching them from behind then clicked her tongue. Because she could tell what Cordelia was thinking inside. ¡®They¡¯re seriously made for each other.¡¯ I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll love each other like that even when they grow old. They clearly must have been flirting ever since they were born. In the first ce, they were engaged ever since they were in their mothers¡¯ wombs. ¡°They must have been flirting even in their past lives.¡± ¡°That¡¯s possible.¡± Kajsa unexpectedly agreed with Bentham who didn¡¯t see through the true nature of the two, before she turned to the men of each family. She was wondering if there was a face she might know. And half an hour passed like that. After the banquet passed by to some extent, Iliana climbed onto a high tform in the center of the square and called Jude and Cordelia. Her move was aimed at celebrating the achievements of the two in front of everyone, and giving them their reward. ¡®It somehow reminds me of the king.¡¯ ¡®Because the situation now is simr to that time.¡¯ Cordelia smiled as she recalled the time when they were bestowed the count rank and a new fief in front of countless people after stopping the tragedy in the royal capital. Jude looked away a little as he turned to Iliana. Unlike Cordelia who was pleased with the event itself, Jude¡¯s attention was more focused on the reward prepared by Iliana. ¡®What will they give us?¡¯ As Malthias had already grumbled to Iliana, the two had already received almost everything they deserved. ¡®Surely, it¡¯s not more money.¡¯ Although money was good, and that the more money, the merrier, Jude and Cordelia were already financially well off. ¡®Because we don¡¯t even have time to spend our money.¡¯ When he looked back, they were always busy wandering around to prevent the destruction in the future ever since they recalled their past life memories. He couldn¡¯t even remember buying luxurious things except for the time when he bought things for the ball in the royal capital. ¡°This way please.¡± When Jude and Cordelia climbed onto the tform, Iliana informed everyone of their contributions and added words of praise, just like what King Henry II of the S?len Kingdom did in the royal capital. Cordelia truly enjoyed this moment. Because when they received recognition, she felt that they were doing the right thing, even when they were in the wildnds or the royal capital. We did well. We did a good job. We just have to continue doing this from now on. In fact, for Cordelia, everything that had happened since she recalled her past life had been very difficult. Because she had to fight with her life on the line over and over again. She had suffered many injuries in the process, and there were times she suffered extreme pain whether physically or mentally. The destruction that awaited them in the future. Just knowing it made her heart feel heavy. ¡®If Jude wasn¡¯t here.¡¯ If she was alone. Then she would have to endure alone everything she had been through so far. Cordelia was scared from just imagining it, and quickly shook her head. And a question arose in her mind at the same time. What about Jude? Will it be difficult for Jude if he was alone too? Is Jude also mentally dependent on me, just like me to him? I hope he is. Cordelia looked up at Jude, and at that moment, she was brought back to reality upon hearing the enthusiastic apuse that rang out, and looked straight ahead. ¡°We are grateful for your hard work and contribution, and present you this.¡± Iliana presented a flute ¨C no, a whistle, that was made from a horn. ¡®What is this?¡¯ She had never seen something like this in Legend of Heroes 2. And it was true. In the world of Legend of Heroes 2 where the siren monarchy was destroyed by Malekith, the whistle in front of them did not mean much. But it was different now that the siren monarchy was still intact. As Jude epted the flute that was as white as a conch or seashell, Queen Iliana said in a low voice. ¡°It¡¯s the Divine Spirit¡¯s Whistle. No matter where you are, blow it three times and we¡¯ll be able to hear it. Then our entire country will rise and help you.¡± At Iliana¡¯s exnation, Jude¡¯s eyes widened in surprise while Cordelia blinked her eyes. Because something else came to her mind. ¡®Buster Call!¡¯ Obviously, it was quite different from the one in the manga, but it was also simr. Anyway, what the queen meant was that if they blew the whistle three times, the siren army would appear to help them. ¡°Thank you very much.¡± ¡°You are the benefactors of this country, so it is right for the entire country to return the favor. But you two, don¡¯t use it too hastily. You should use our whistle when you really need the power of us sirens. Do you understand?¡± ¡°We understand.¡± Jude answered Iliana, but he was feeling a bit strange. ¡®Because we have to blow it sooner orter.¡¯ The ancient dragon Malekith. By itself, he was already powerful enough to fight a Demon Prince, but he also had Dragonflights under hismand. To fight such a Malekith, the two also needed a powerful force. ¡®Anyway, this is good. This is much better than receiving any other items.¡¯ Jude felt better and took the whistle, once again smiling as if he was having his picture taken, and Iliana ¨C or to be exact, Malthias who was standing behind the queen, shuddered in nervousness for some unknown reason. ¡°Now, let¡¯s cheer for our two heroes again!¡± ¡°Uoooooooo!¡± The sirens reacted to Iliana¡¯s words, and Jude and Cordelia smiled at the apuse that began again. And that night. Jude and Cordelia wrote a love letter to quickly escape like always. Because there was Iliana, and the people of the Gas family such as Electra and Chloe who seemed to be unwilling to let go of Jude and Cordelia yet. ¡°W-with my beloved Lord Jude¡­¡± Cordelia was writing down what Jude was saying, and blushed as she red at Jude. ¡°Hey, isn¡¯t this a little expressive?¡± And now that I think of it, why am I the one writing it? But Jude slyly smiled, shrugging his shoulders as he said. ¡°Would you like me to write it down then? That would be fine with me. I¡¯ll beautify the contents of the letter.¡± ¡°N-no. I¡¯ll just write it down. Yes, it¡¯s better for me to write it myself.¡± She was scared on what nonsense he would write if she passed it to him. As Cordelia turned to the stationery again, Jude had a faint smile as he eagerly thought of sentences that would embarrass Cordelia. And they continued to write the letter in that way. The red-faced Cordelia who was writing the letter in a neat and beautiful handwriting suddenly raised her head. ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°Huh? Uh¡­ well, umm¡­ I suddenly thought of something.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t say what it is, but I think I¡¯m forgetting something.¡± [Me?] Melissa spoke with good timing, but it was not her this time. ¡°No, not you.¡± Something else than Melissa. No, someone else. Who is it? Who am I forgetting? ¡°Well, it must not be that important, right?¡± So you forgot about it. ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Cordelia nodded as always to Jude¡¯s reasonable words, and erased that forgotten person in her mind. She then continued to write the love letter as she struggled in her embarrassment. And at the same time, in apletely different ce. Someone ¨C the person who had beenpletely forgotten by Cordelia, was sitting on the roof of a famous noble family¡¯s mansion as she pouted her cheeks. ¡°Ah, seriously! When are those twoing!¡± You said we¡¯d meet in the south! You said we¡¯dpete in the south! It was Scarlet, a descendant of the Rogue Master, and Pink Bomb¡¯s rival. The red-haired woman looked towards the north with resentful eyes. Chapter 248: Seven Southern Families (1)

Chapter 248: Seven Southern Families (1)

Around dawn in the morning. Jude said as he looked at the sleeping Kajsa curled up next to Sebastian. ¡°You look alike.¡± ¡°Eh? What are you talking about?¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine if you don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°???¡± He had thought that Cordelia and Kajsa were simr since they liked to sleep in a curled up position, just like how animals sleep. But Jude did not dare to say that aloud, so Cordelia tilted her head and said as she looked at Kajsa. ¡°I feel guilty waking her up when she¡¯s sleeping so soundly.¡± Kajsa was sleeping so well that the phrase ¡®a good night¡¯s sleep¡¯ perfectly described it. But Jude did not care about that as he shook Kajsa¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Hey, Kajsa.¡± ¡°Uh? Huh?¡± ¡°Wake up.¡± She indeed had a beast as an ancestor. Unlike Cordelia who was almost defenseless when sleeping, Kajsa opened her eyes as soon as he touched her. Jude gave some cold water to the half-asleep Kajsa before carrying the sleeping Sebastian on his back and leaving the room. ¡°Mister? Huh? W-wait! Where are you taking him!¡± ¡°We¡¯re going home.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go to your house.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Kajsa instantly flinched. Because she thought that it was finally her turn. ¡®I have to stay alert!¡¯ Because these two will rob me if I let my guard down. Anyway, apart from her, Cordelia woke up Bentham who was lying down with his stomach on the floor, and they hurriedly prepared to leave. ¡°We¡¯ll have to leave the sirens secretly. Because we don¡¯t know when we¡¯ll be able to leave if it keeps going like this.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. I don¡¯t think Electra and Chloe will let us go easily.¡± Cordelia had a bitter smile at Kajsa¡¯s words, and Jude also smiled. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go now.¡± ¡°Okay!¡± Kajsa immediately answered as if she wanted to step onnd again like the two. If one thought about it, Kajsa¡¯s family, the Ophands, thought that Kajsa had been captured by the pirates, so it was proper to go back as soon as possible. ¡®Because it¡¯s been around 3 days since we left the pirate ind.¡¯ The Ophand family would have been anxious about Kajsa whom they had lost contact with because she had been kidnapped by the pirates for the past 3 days. ¡®Perhaps they¡¯ve already taken over the empty pirate ind.¡¯ They might be looking for Kajsa who was nowhere to be seen. Calix Ophand who fought against Ga?l in the fightingpetition was a person who dearly cherished Kajsa. Even in the game, the rtionship between the two was so close that in fanfiction, the most frequent pairing with Kajsa was neither Sebastian nor Wolfe, but Calix. TN: WTF¡­ Incest route? Or are Kajsa and Calix not blood-rted siblings? ¡®Among the three men, Calix was the only who didn¡¯t die in the beginning as he even appearedter.¡¯ In any case, Kajsa and Calix had a close rtionship, so they would be able to get support as well as rewards if they return her to the Ophand family. Support in helping them rob the other 7 southern families. ¡®They¡¯ll probably help after knowing the entire situation.¡¯ Because it was about the family heirloom of the other 6 families. Perhaps they would help the two more than they could imagine. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s hurry.¡± Jude urged the group again, and they hurried out of the mansion. Everyone was drunk because of the banquet, so they didn¡¯t encounter anyone while they were moving. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Jude and Cordelia rode together on a seahorse as the group left the Gas family¡¯s mansion and the country of the sirens. *** ¡°Fuaa! Fwoo! I can breathe air now.¡± At the seashore. Kajsa deeply breathed the fresh air she had not breathed in a few days, while Bentham continued to pant next to her. And Jude turned to Cordelia instead of the two as he asked. ¡°Are you feeling cold?¡± ¡°Yes, but it¡¯s fine.¡± Their hair and clothes were soaked since they were in the water, but unlike thest time they fell into the water, she didn¡¯t have a pale face or lips. Because they had received from the sirens a magic tool that maintained one¡¯s body temperature in the water. ¡°But let¡¯s get out of the water so that we can dry up quickly. We might catch a cold.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± The two were very sweetly looking at each other. Therefore, Kajsa instinctively wanted to interrupt them, and she quickly stepped in between the two and said. ¡°This is the coast of Piares, right? Then Argon is just nearby!¡± When Kajsa shouted loudly at the sight of such arge city, Bentham also smiled happily. ¡°Oh! Argon! I¡¯m d since this is where the guild headquarters is! Wait, did you purposely bring us here in the first ce?¡± At Bentham¡¯s question, Kajsa also looked at Jude in curiosity, and Jude slowly nodded. ¡°Because this is where the 7 southern families are gathered.¡± Argon Port. It was thergest city in the south that was under the royal family¡¯s jurisdiction. The city was like an ind onnd because it was situated between the territories of the 7 southern families. For this reason, Argon Port served as a neutral zone for the 7 southern families who had been fighting for a long time. ¡®That¡¯s why it became the biggest port here. However¡­¡¯ The 7 southern families would fight whenever they met, but they did not get into physical fights on Argon Port which was under the direct control of the royal family. Instead, the 7 southern families used Argon Port as the stage for their fierce battles of power, which eventually led to the growth of Argon Port into the best city in the south. So the city was overflowing with money and people. ¡°Daram is nice, but I think it¡¯s better to go straight to the marquis.¡± ¡°Hmm, you¡¯re right. That¡¯s a good idea.¡± As it was an importantnd, the 7 southern families built their own mansions in Argon Port and assigned their family¡¯s influential talents there. There were also many cases where the head of the family lived there. ¡®That is the case for Marquis Ophand and Count Kagehama.¡¯ In other words, it was highly likely that Carlos¡¯ tokens, the heirlooms of Marquis Ophand and Count Kagehama, were in Argon Port. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll take the lead from here. Follow me.¡± The excited Kajsa lifted Sebastian, who was twice as tall as her, and began to take the lead. Jude deliberately let Bentham walk ahead before he whispered to Cordelia. ¡°Let¡¯s join up with Scarlet once we arrive at Argon Port.¡± They had told Scarlet that they would be robbing the 7 southern families, so she was probably staying near Argon Port too. ¡®Because we told her that we¡¯dpete in two months.¡¯ Preliminary investigation was necessary for thefts. More than a month had already passed, so if she wasn¡¯t at Argon Port, it was highly possible that she was traveling around the south to investigate the seven families. But Cordelia¡¯s reaction was a bit odd. ¡°Ah?¡± She blinked her eyes with a slightly dumbfounded expression. And Jude knew very well what that expression meant. ¡°What the¡­ Did you forget Scarlet?¡± Was Scarlet the one that you forgotst time? Jude asked in surprise, and Cordelia flinched and shifted her gaze. ¡°N-no. Uh¡­¡± It was clear to him that she was avoiding his eyes. It seemed like she had indeed forgotten Scarlet. ¡°Wow, you¡¯re amazing. Isn¡¯t this too much?¡± You¡¯re the one who wanted topete with her in the first ce. ¡°It slipped my mind for a bit. Just a bit. I didn¡¯tpletely forget about it.¡± It was at the moment when Cordelia wiggled her fingers and made excuses. [Forgetting someone, huh¡­ It happens often. I think it¡¯s quite possible.] A cold-sounding voice came out of Moonlight, and the really guilty Cordelia shrank even more. ¡°Uuuuh¡­ I¡¯m sorry.¡± [Are you really sorry?] ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sorry. I won¡¯t do it again.¡± Scarlet is the one who got forgotten, so why is she asking Melissa for forgiveness? In any case, Cordelia¡¯s shrinking appearance as she asked for forgiveness was cute, so Jude decided to not say anything. He continued their conversation after taking a few pictures with a magic tool. ¡°Moving on, let¡¯s begin the match right away after meeting up with Scarlet.¡± ¡°We¡¯re stealing the 7 southern families¡¯ heirlooms, right? The tokens of Carlos.¡± Cordelia immediately replied as she was eager to change the topic, so Jude pinched her cheek and said. ¡°That¡¯s right. The side with the most heirlooms of the 7 families wins¡­ or the side who steals a family heirloom first wins. It would be easier for us if we attach conditions like the loser helps the winner afterwards.¡± Jude said that in a straightforward manner like always, but Cordelia lightly pursed her lips instead of agreeing immediately. She pulled Jude¡¯s sleeve as she asked. ¡°But Jude. What made you so confident?¡± This wasn¡¯t just a fight since this was a stealing match. Unlike Jude who was new to stealing, Scarlet was born into a thief family and was a stealing professional who had sharpened and polished her thieving skills up to the present, so it was not a situation where he could confidently win. But he had said that with a confident expression. ¡°I¡¯m confident because I can do it. Have you ever seen me lose in a fight?¡± ¡°No. But why are so cheeky?¡± ¡°Woah, woah¡­ calm down. Anyway, even if it¡¯s a stealing match, there¡¯s a high chance that we will win. So don¡¯t worry about it too much.¡± He seemed to be really confident when she saw her talking like that. ¡®Why?¡¯ Howe? Where does his confidencee from? Cordelia tilted her head and at some point, her eyes widened in surprise. Because something shed into her mind. ¡°Ah! You were a thief, huh? A professional thief and not a scammer, right?¡± She thought that it was reasonable when she said that. It wasn¡¯t just scammers who were good at disguising or forging. Rather, it was one of a thief¡¯s specialty! ¡°It¡¯s¡­ possible!¡± When Cordelia said that with sparkling eyes, Jude flicked her round and white forehead. ¡°Ouch.¡± ¡°I told you before that I¡¯m not a criminal, okay? Rather, I was a model citizen who faithfully fulfilled his duty to pay taxes, okay?¡± ¡°Argh. Then what in the world were you?¡± ¡°Figure that out on your own. Anyway, there¡¯s a reason why I¡¯m confident that we¡¯ll win this match.¡± ¡°What is it? Can you teach me about that?¡± As Cordelia touched her forehead, Jude pinched her cheek and spoke while drawing his face closer to her ear. ¡°We¡¯re going to rob Kajsa¡¯s house.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°We¡¯re going to hold the match in Kajsa¡¯s house.¡± Cordelia looked surprised at Jude¡¯s words. She couldn¡¯t help it. ¡°Kajsa¡¯s house?¡± ¡°Yes, of course, we¡¯ll ask Kajsa for her cooperation. Don¡¯t you think that we¡¯re definitely way ahead of Scarlet then, who has to do a preliminary investigation first?¡± Kajsa could just hand it over to them. It was a match that they had no way of losing. ¡°So, what do you think?¡± Jude was expecting her to say, ¡®Yes, I love it!¡¯ and smile brightly, but he was soon confused. Instead of smiling brightly, Cordelia red at him with a disagreeing expression. ¡°That¡¯s unfair.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°That¡¯s unfair. Really, really unfair. You¡¯re not even a human. You¡¯re a beast. A demon. A scammer. An evil guy.¡± ¡°C-Cordelia?¡± ¡°How can you do that to Scarlet? She¡¯s a friend. No, she¡¯s MY friend. But you¡¯re going to cheat her? Huh?¡± Cordelia¡¯s sound argument made Jude flinch. And he realized it again. The fact that Cordelia is a real angel. But it was at that moment. ¡°And it¡¯s not very efficient.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Efficiency. It¡¯s Kajsa anyway, so we can get it if we just ask her. Wouldn¡¯t it be a waste of resources then if we have topete? It¡¯s better if wepete for something else.¡± It was a sound argument again, but it was a bit different from the previous one. ¡°Cordelia, you¡¯ve be ck too.¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m cleaner than anyone else. I¡¯m like a white tissue.¡± And whose fault was it that I¡¯ve be ck in the first ce? As Cordelia looked up at him cutely, Jude eventuallyughed out loud and then said. ¡°Okay, I¡¯m a bad guy.¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. You¡¯re a bad guy.¡± When Cordelia called him a bad guy as she widely smiled, the mental damage he received was unexpectedly huge. Therefore, Jude unknowingly groaned and quickly changed the topic. ¡°Moving on¡­ what if we lose against Scarlet?¡± ¡°Then we lose. Scarlet will be the new Rogue Master after Pink Bomb, right?¡± ¡°Is that fine with you?¡± ¡°Yes, because my goal is not to be a Rogue Master. And if it¡¯s Scarlet, she¡¯ll help us even if she wins the match. She¡¯s kind after all.¡± ¡°She¡¯s kind¡­¡± He wondered if she was kind to everyone, but he was sure that she was kind to Cordelia. ¡°Okay, Scarlet is indeed kind.¡± ¡°Yes, she is. So let¡¯s not cheat her. I want to properly fight Scarlet too.¡± ¡°Okay, let¡¯s do that.¡± Cordelia smiled again when Jude agreed. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s good. My Jude is good.¡± ¡°You said that I was a bad guy earlier.¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. You¡¯re also a bad guy.¡± ¡°Anyway, you¡¯re saying that I¡¯m good, right?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know about that.¡± Cordelia replied with a giggle, and moved behind his back as if she was hiding before she climbed on his back so naturally. Jude naturally adjusted Cordelia¡¯s position and said. ¡°Let¡¯s go. Kajsa¡¯s staring at us with an irritated expression.¡± ¡°Yeah, Bentham too.¡± If Sebastian was conscious, would he have a simr expression? Jude had a small smile as he thought that, and he adjusted Cordelia¡¯s position again before he stepped forward. *** A few hourster. The Ophand family was in an uproar in a good sense. Because Kajsa, whom they had not heard of after being captured by the pirates, had returned safely without any injuries. Moreover, she didn¡¯t just return. Shepletely destroyed the pirate ind, and also rescued Bentham, a dwarf artisan who had been previously kidnapped. And there were two more things. Sebastian, one of the Ten Great Swordmasters from the south, and the fantasy couple who were the rising stars of the royal capital. At this point, it had gone beyond an uproar as the rumors spread throughout Argon Port. The ¡®Sea Wolf¡¯ was back. Sebastian returned. The fantasy couple who had runaway for the seventh time had appeared at Argon Port this time, and so on. Cordelia was at a loss when she heard the words ¡®runaway¡¯ and ¡®elopement¡¯, but Jude was very happy. Because he liked Cordelia¡¯s cute appearance when she heard those rumors, and also because it saved him some effort. ¡°You two are always impressive.¡± ¡°Scarlet!¡± At the very night they arrived at Marquis Ophand¡¯s mansion. Cordelia had a wide smile at Scarlet appearing from the open window in the room where Jude and Cordelia were staying, and Jude had a sly smile. ¡°You look good.¡± ¡°Ha.¡± Scarlet sarcastically replied to Jude¡¯s greeting before she hugged Cordelia who had rushed to her. ¡°Anyway, did you know, Pink Bomb?¡± ¡°Eh? About what?¡± What are you suddenly talking about? Cordelia blinked her eyes as if she didn¡¯t really know, so Scarlet frowned and looked at Jude. ¡°ck Cloak, you don¡¯t know?¡± ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you say what it is first? I won¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about if you don¡¯t say it.¡± ¡°It seems like you really don¡¯t know.¡± Scarlet furrowed her brows as she looked troubled, and sighed before she pinched Cordelia¡¯s cheek and said. ¡°We have a big problem.¡± ¡°A big problem?¡± Cordelia seemed to have gotten used to having her cheeks pinched these days, and she opened her eyes wide as she asked Scarlet, who nodded and spoke while stroking the cheek she had just pinched. ¡°There¡¯s someone who¡¯s robbing the 7 southern families.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°There¡¯s someone who¡¯s robbing the 7 southern families of their heirlooms. Of course it¡¯s not me, and now that I see you, it¡¯s not you either, so it¡¯s a third party.¡± The heirlooms of the 7 southern families. Carlos¡¯ tokens. It was something that Jude and Cordelia must get. But someone was already collecting it. At Scarlet¡¯s words, Jude and Cordelia turned to each other. Chapter 249: Seven Southern Families (2)

Chapter 249: Seven Southern Families (2)

¡°Tell us a bit more in detail.¡± Scarlet looked a bit displeased at Jude¡¯s words, but she sat in a chair near the window and answered. ¡°Someone is literally robbing the 7 southern families. The families are keeping this information under wraps, but I¡¯m sure of it. Four out of the seven families have already been robbed.¡± ¡°Do you know what they robbed?¡± When Cordelia approached her and asked, Scarlet provocatively smiled instead of answering right away. ¡°Guess it.¡± ¡°It must be Carlos¡¯ tokens. The tokens Carlos gave to each family.¡± Jude immediately answered, and Scarlet pouted at him before she raised her chin and asked. ¡°Why do you think that?¡± ¡°There are two possible reasons why the urrence of a robbery is being kept secret. One is that it is something you possess that you do not want others to know¡­ An example is having drugs or stolen goods at home. The other is that it is something that will cause a big problem if it is known to be stolen.¡± Naturally, this alone did not prove that it was Carlos¡¯ tokens. He couldn¡¯t just say ¡®My intuition told me¡¯, just like how Cordelia did. ¡°There are two more clues. One is that the 7 southern families are being robbed in a row. Of course, the thief in question may be doing something symbolic by robbing the 7 southern families alone, or perhaps they¡¯re just doing in thievery. As for the second clue, it¡¯s you, Scarlet.¡± ¡°Me?¡± ¡°Yes, when you said that it was a big problem, that was a clue in itself.¡± Cordelia tilted her head at Jude¡¯s words, but soon nodded and pretended to understand after Jude and Scarlet looked at her. Therefore, Jude almost couldn¡¯t suppress hisughter that was about toe out, but he calmed down and continued his exnation. ¡°Because we decided the match to be held at the south, you must have considered the 7 southern families as your targets, right? And to win the match for the Rogue Master position, stealing a symbolic object is better than a seble item. Like Carlos¡¯ token.¡± But there was someone who was one step ahead of them. Moreover, the thief had already stolen four out of seven. It was a really big problem for Scarlet, as this had more significance to her than Cordelia. ¡°Gathering all the clues that have appeared so far, I can conclude that there is someone robbing Carlos¡¯ tokens that the 7 southern families have highly treasured.¡± The clues were not convincing when considered separately, butbining them made his assumption quite usible. ¡®And above all, it¡¯s Scarlet.¡¯ If he considered Scarlet¡¯s personality and behavior, there was no other answer except Carlos¡¯ tokens. ¡°Am I right?¡± At Jude¡¯s question, Cordelia excitedly turned to Scarlet who replied with a frown on her face. ¡°Damn it, you¡¯re right.¡± ¡°As expected of my Jude. Isn¡¯t my Jude amazing?¡± As Cordelia brightly smiled and said that, Scarlet¡¯s expression turned worse and she pinched Cordelia¡¯s cheek. ¡°Ouch! It hurts! It hurts!¡± ¡°I can¡¯t help it when your cheeks are so soft.¡± Having said those words, Scarlet released her hand before Cordelia could counterattack, and she looked back at Jude and said. ¡°ck Cloak is right. Some unknown person is collecting Carlos¡¯ tokens. Without even a notice.¡± ¡®It strange to send a notice in the first ce.¡¯ She would clearly be angry if he said that out loud, so Jude held it in and only touched his chin as he asked. ¡°Any clues about the culprit?¡± ¡°None at all so far. But their method is quite rough. They infiltrate in secret, but once they¡¯re inside the mansion, they be violent. In addition, they do not hesitate to kill people. They¡¯re not a righteous thief.¡± ¡°Righteous thief?¡± When Cordelia asked, Scarlet frowned before she pinched Cordelia¡¯s cheek again and said. ¡°Great thieves only steal objects and not people¡¯s lives.¡± ¡°Those are the words of the Rogue Master. The first one.¡± ¡°Yes, though it would have been better if it was Pink Bomb who knew that and not you.¡± Scarlet sighed again at Jude¡¯s answer, and she spoke to the groaning Cordelia who was covering her red cheek that had been pinched earlier. ¡°Anyway, the situation is like this, so it¡¯s a bit awkward to have a match here.¡± It was fine if they were going to steal something other than Carlos¡¯ tokens, but the situation was already chaotic, so it wouldn¡¯t look good for them. Because everyone¡¯s attention was already focused on an unidentified thief. ¡°Do the ordinary people still not know about it?¡± ¡°They still don¡¯t know about it, but rumors will soon spread. Four families have already been robbed in session¡­ and as I¡¯ve said before, the thief does not hesitate in killing people. So there are a lot of victims every time the thief steals from someone.¡± There was a huge difference between injuries and deaths. So it would be strange if a rumor did note out at this point. [Jude, what should we do?] The match against Scarlet was important, but stopping Malekith was much more important. ¡®First of all, who¡¯s the culprit?¡¯ In Legend of Heroes 2, there was no one who collected the tokens of the 7 southern families. There were no quests rted to it. ¡®There are too many candidates.¡¯ It was Carlos¡¯ tokens and not just some simple object. Perhaps one of the seven southern families was behind this. ¡°Scarlet, has Marquis Ophand been robbed yet?¡± ¡°Not yet. The other two families are Count Kagehama¡¯s family and Count Luculia¡¯s family.¡± Jude nodded again at Scarlet¡¯s answer, and sent a magic to Cordelia. [Cordelia, choose between the two.] [If we¡¯re going to rob Kagehama or Luculia?] [¡­We need to choose between securing the three remaining tokens or defending Kajsa¡¯s token when the thiefes to attack¡­ because they¡¯ll definitely attack her family.] Come to think of it, isn¡¯t the answer to that natural? After all, Cordelia is a beast girl who likes to bomb things. [Okay, then let¡¯s rob the two remaining families first.] [Yes, that would be nice. Just like Dragon Ball, it will only be useful if we collect all seven tokens. Even if we only secure one or two tokens, it would be enough for the culprit to try attacking us.] Because if the culprit¡¯s true goal was Carlos¡¯ legacy that could lead the 7 southern families, it was possible that they would try to confront Jude and Cordelia in order to collect all seven tokens. But it was at that moment. ¡°Hey, why don¡¯t you two stop talking secretly and let me in your conversation too?¡± She didn¡¯t know how they did it, but it was clear to her that they were talking secretly. Scarlet spoke in dissatisfaction, and Cordelia turned to Jude who nodded and said to Scarlet. ¡°Before that, there¡¯s someone we have to bring here first.¡± *** Having been suddenly called in the middle of the night, Kajsa looked down at Cordelia as she narrowed her brows. And Cordelia, whose face, ears, and neck were red, said with some hesitation. ¡°Y-you see.¡± ¡°Yes, what is it?¡± ¡°I¡­¡± ¡°I?¡± ¡°I¡¯m Pi-Pink Bomb.¡± She said it. She finally said it. Cordelia¡¯s already red face turned even redder. It was so difficult and embarrassing to introduce herself as Pink Bomb without wearing a mask. But it wasn¡¯t over yet. ¡°What bomb?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°No, what kind of bomb is it?¡± ¡°Pi-Pink Bomb.¡± ¡°Pink what?¡± ¡°Pink Bomb.¡± ¡°P-bomb?¡± ¡°Pink Bomb! Hey! Are you doing this on purpose?!¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s on purpose.¡± ¡°Hey!¡± The tearful Cordelia lunged at Kajsa who hugged her to stop her from moving. ¡°Woah, woah, calm down. Calm down. Uh, I just didn¡¯t expect that you¡¯ll say that. But it¡¯s not as bad as you think, okay?¡± The giggling Kajsa said as she put her chin on the head of Cordelia whom she was tightly hugging. ¡°Anyway, so the Pink Bomb in the rumors was Cordelia. Then naturally, Jude is¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, I¡¯m ck Cloak. For your reference, it was Cordelia who came up with that name and not me.¡± ¡°I see. It¡¯s indeed a name that Pink Bomb would have thought of.¡± As Kajsa nodded as if she was convinced, Cordelia struggled in Kajsa¡¯s arms and protested. ¡°I¡¯m not the one who came up with Pi-Pink Bomb! It was Jude who did it!¡± Jude¡¯s the one who started it first, okay?! But it was useless. Because Kajsa enjoyed teasing Cordelia, whose reactions were very cute, more than teasing the shameless Jude. Therefore, Kajsa said with a grin. ¡°Then, you¡¯re the one who came up with ck Cloak?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you the one who came up with that?¡± ¡°T-that¡¯s right. I-I am, but¡­¡± Cordelia struggled toe up with an excuse, but she gave up in the end. Because the more that she spoke, the more that she felt like she was digging her own grave. ¡°Ah, you¡¯re seriously cute. I really want to bite you.¡± ¡°No, you can¡¯t. Five seconds have already passed.¡± Jude said something iprehensible and pulled Cordelia away from Kajsa. Kajsa wasn¡¯t the only one who had superhuman strength after all. ¡°Ah, it was stolen.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t steal it, I just took it back.¡± Jude shamelessly spoke as he tightly hugged Cordelia whose face turned redder at his words. She was somehow panting as she buried her face on Jude¡¯s chest as if she was a mouse hiding in a hole. And Scarlet, who was watching the entire scene, spoke with a miserable expression. ¡°What a mess.¡± What the heck are you all doing? This is the moment when the Rogue Master¡¯s identity is revealed, but why is this kind of scene unfolding in front of me? Scarlet swallowed her bitter tears as a descendant of the Rogue Master, and she red at Jude who was the culprit of everything. Jude then said with a brazen face like always. ¡°And this person is¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m Scarlet. Descendant of the Rogue Master.¡± No one knew who the first Rogue Master was. So when Scarlet revealed herself, Kajsa looked at her in admiration before greeting her in the same manner. ¡°I¡¯m Kajsa Ophand. Descendant of the divine creature, Fenrir.¡± Both were beautiful women, but one was like a seductive fox and the other was like a fierce ck panther. ¡®What an interestingbination.¡¯ Is this a dream coboration that one couldn¡¯t see in the game? Jude¡¯s gamer brain thought of that for a moment before he patted Cordelia¡¯s back and told Scarlet and Kajsa. ¡°Moving on, Cordelia and I have one more identity besides the Rogue Master.¡± ¡°What is it? Is it that you¡¯re a scammer couple?¡± When Kajsa tilted her head and asked them, Scarlet burst intoughter. ¡°Wow, that¡¯s perfect. That¡¯s perfect. Scammer couple.¡± ¡°It is, right? It¡¯s really perfect, right?¡± As Kajsa giggled with excitement, Jude spoke with a bitter expression. ¡°¡­ I¡¯m d that the two of you are getting along well.¡± ¡°Because I like pretty people. What¡¯s your other identity anyway?¡± Kajsa shrugged and asked him, while Scarlet smiled when she heard the words ¡®pretty people¡¯ before she also turned to Jude. ¡°Scarlet already knows about it.¡± The other identity of Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Cordelia and I are both nobles of the S?len Kingdom, and also the Rogue Master¡­ But we¡¯re also members of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. And in my case, I¡¯m also Master Landius¡¯ disciple.¡± ¡°Wait, Iron Man Landius? The Red-Haired Warrior?¡± Kajsa asked in her surprise. She was not surprised that they were members of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. Even in the south, there were some people from the noble families who had joined the Guardians of the Holy Cross. But he¡¯s Landius¡¯ disciple? That Iron Man Landius, and not just anyone else? ¡°Yes, that Iron Man Landius.¡± ¡°Wow, ohmigosh. Seriously, OMG. Wow, wow, wow. No wonder you¡¯re so strong. Wow, you¡¯re Landius¡¯ disciple! That Iron Man Landius!¡± Kajsa was so thrilled that she even jumped from her spot. She couldn¡¯t help it because she was a big fan of Landius. ¡°Is Landius really that big? Are his muscles firm? No, it must be firm. That¡¯s right, it¡¯s firm. It must be big and beautiful.¡± Kajsa fell into her own world halfway when she was asking questions. If it was the usual Jude, he would have just observed her, but this time, he immediately brought her back to reality because they didn¡¯t have the time for this. ¡°Anyway, the story that I want to tell is not about my master. It¡¯s just to increase the credibility of the story we¡¯re about to tell you.¡± Having said that, Jude took a deep breath and lightly patted Cordelia¡¯s back. It was his signal to her to join the conversation again. Because the words he was about to tell them was important for both Jude and Cordelia. ¡°ck Dragon Malekith. He¡¯s aiming for the south.¡± Jude slowly talked about what had happened so far. Their encounter with Gamorr Khan, the boss of the ck Hand Mercenaries. The fact that they learned from him. ¡°The resurrection of Malekith is near. The Guardians of the Holy Cross have already asked my master and the other Paragon heroes for help in fighting Malekith.¡± Ghostde Kamael and Holy Angel Lena. At Jude¡¯s words, Scarlet crossed her arms. ¡°I see. So you¡¯re trying to collect Carlos¡¯ tokens, right? In order to unite the 7 southern families who are busy fighting each other.¡± ¡°Yes, Malekith is a strong enemy that cannot be stopped even if the entire south unites against him. And in order to face him, a new Carlos must be born to lead the 7 southern families together.¡± A new ruler of the south who would seed Carlos. ¡°Hmm, all right. I somehow understand it.¡± Kajsa nodded her head and crossed her arms like Scarlet as she said confidently. ¡°From what you have said so far, you¡¯re asking us to fully cooperate in protecting the south, right? Okay, I will cooperate. I¡¯ll lend you all the powers of the Ophand family, whether it¡¯s my older brother or father. But on one condition.¡± ¡°To hand over Carlos¡¯ legacy?¡± ¡°Because our side should also receive something. I won¡¯t ask for it right now. If we try tomand the families by using it, some of them might rebel. So Carlos¡¯ legacy will be given to my Ophand family only after the fight is over. Because Carlos¡¯ legacy belongs to us in the south.¡± To summarize, she wanted the two to help them be the rulers of the southern region after the fight against Malekith. ¡®As expected of the Sea Wolf.¡¯ Someone who took advantage of an opportunity whenever there was an opportunity. Her fierce smile and look were like that of a wolf. ¡°Okay, Cordelia and I are nobles from the north anyway. Our fief is also in the center. It would be much better for us to do business with the Ophand family when they be the ruler of the south.¡± Even if they had all of Carlos¡¯ possessions, it was impossible to be the ruler of the south during peacetime, unless there was an emergency. Jude readily epted her condition, and Kajsa grinned again while Scarlet frowned. ¡°I¡¯m saying this again because both of you seemed to have forgotten it, but there¡¯s someone who¡¯s robbing the 7 southern families, right? They¡¯ve already collected four tokens.¡± In other words, it was not the time to think of giving Carlos¡¯ legacy to someone when they had yet to obtain it. ¡°That¡¯s right. So Kajsa, what do you think?¡± ¡°Out of the three remaining ¨C no, there are two if you exclude my family. So you¡¯re asking on who we¡¯ll pick first?¡± Choosing attack over defense was somethingmon for beast-like girls. Kajsa snickered as if she was amused the moment she made her decision. ¡°Then it¡¯s definitely Count Kagehama. Let¡¯s start from there. Those b*stards have the worst luck. Especially the second son.¡± It was very much like Kajsa to give an emotional and personal reason rather than a tactical reason. Therefore, Scarlet felt pity for that family while Jude briefly had an internal conflict. Should I agree to her decision or not? But it was then. [Jude, let¡¯s do what Kajsa says. Somehow, I want to hit Count Kagehama first.] She didn¡¯t have a proper reason for it. It was just her intuition. Her intuition was somehow telling her to attack them first. But because this was Cordelia¡¯s intuition and not anyone else, Jude nodded immediately. ¡°Okay, then let¡¯s rob Count Kagehama first.¡± ¡°Yosh! All right! Let¡¯s go!¡± As Kajsa jumped in excitement, Scarlet looked at Jude with a disagreeing expression. ¡°Are we really going to do that?¡± ¡°Yes, because Cordelia also wants to hit Count Kagehama first.¡± ¡°And the reason?¡± Scarlet was already looking at Cordelia and not at Jude. So Cordelia replied with some hesitation. ¡°J-just because¡­¡± I just felt it. My intuition told me. Scarlet sighed at Cordelia¡¯s reply, and Kajsaughed even louder. ¡°Kekeke, as I thought, we¡¯re alike. My friend is like me, huh?¡± Should I be happy or sad about that? Cordelia awkwardlyughed at her beast friend¡¯s deration, and Jude turned to Scarlet. ¡°Hey, Scarlet.¡± ¡°What? ck Cloak.¡± ¡°Have you made preparations?¡± A preliminary investigation on Count Kagehama. Theyout of the mansion, their security system, and so on. ¡°You want me to give it to you when I¡¯m the one who worked hard for this?¡± ¡°Because it¡¯s for world peace.¡± Scarlet frowned at Jude¡¯s shameless answer as she really hated it, but it was only for a moment. Her shoulders soon drooped and she nodded her head. And that night, at a time close to midnight. The ¡®Night at Argon Port¡¯, whichsted longer than usual, finally began. Chapter 250: Count Kagehama (1)

Chapter 250: Count Kagehama (1)

It was a chaotic night. Because Kajsa, the beheading witch of the Ophand family who was believed to have died, and Sebastian Leguin, the Sword of Swiftness who had gone missing, had both returned alive, though thetter was unconscious. ¡®There¡¯s also us.¡¯ The young heroes who saved the royal capital. The couple of the century who were well-known in the entire kingdom. The two people, who in the royal capital had created the trend of running away because of love, were now in the south, and they had also saved Kajsa¡¯s life, so from the gossipers¡¯ point of view, it was aplete feast of topics. ¡°But isn¡¯t it strange? Sea Wolf Kajsa was captured by the pirates.¡± ¡°Why is Sebastian Leguin unconscious in the first ce? Moreover, he¡¯s with Kajsa. Could it be that Sebastian is her kidnapper ¨C no, he¡¯s involved in her kidnapping case?¡± ¡°It¡¯s also strange that the fantasy couple saved Kajsa.¡± ¡°Maybe they¡¯re also involved with it?¡± ¡°The 12 northern families and the 7 southern families? That¡¯s impossible.¡± ¡°Anyway, I caught a glimpse of Lady Cordelia from afar, and she was indeed as beautiful as an angel just like the rumors.¡± ¡°Wasn¡¯t there a rumor that she¡¯s actually a real angel?¡± ¡°Have you lost your mind? You believe in that rumor? Except for Lena, there¡¯s no other angel in the world. She¡¯s the only angel left in this world. It can only be Holy Angel Lena.¡± ¡°Uh, is that so?¡± ¡°Why are the fantasy couple here in the south anyway?¡± ¡°Is something going to happen in the south?¡± Because when they thought about it, huge events always happened wherever the fantasy couple passed by. It happened in the north, in the wildnds beyond the borders, and even in the royal capital recently! If the gossipers had also known about the incidents in the Forest of Eternity and the Kraken in the sea, they would have been convinced that Jude and Cordelia were like a gue, but fortunately, they didn¡¯t know about that. In any case, as the rumormongers gathered and tattled, the bards also began to sing eagerly everywhere. Some made new songs bybining the rumors on how Kajsa was saved, while others sang songs from the royal capital that told about Jude and Cordelia¡¯s past activities because they were still uncertain about the recent events. ¡°Jude, did you hear that? Our names are being sung in the song.¡± It was also a very dirty love song. The embarrassed Cordelia pulled Jude¡¯s sleeve, and he whispered in a low voice. ¡°There¡¯s also a y.¡± ¡°A y?¡± ¡°Yes, a y in which you and I are the main characters. And it¡¯s not just one as there are several of it too.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the y about?¡± When Cordelia asked in embarrassment, anticipation, and anxiousness, Jude whispered small again. ¡°Like how we fought the Lord Protector, how you and I¡­ Oh, that person is talking about us.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a one-person y. She must be a storyteller.¡± As he pointed to a corner instead of passing through the night market, they saw a female storyteller and several people sitting in groups and listening to the story. ¡°Thus from my lips, by thine, my sin is purged.¡± ¡°Then have my lips the sin that Milord has took? Or has Milord took the sin from my lips?¡± ¡°O, trespass sweetly urged! Lady Cordelia, give me my sin again.¡± ¡°You kiss by the book.¡± T/N: The above 4 lines are direct references to a kissing scene in Shakespeare¡¯s Romeo and Juliet. The lines are taken from Act 1, Scene 5, with some minor differences and additions. Obviously, there are no ¡®Milord¡¯ and ¡®Lady Cordelia¡¯ in the original lines, and the sentence ¡®Or has Milord took the sin from my lips¡¯ is added by the author and not part of the original lines. Cordelia was in a daze as she listened, and blushed when the storyteller nced into the air alone. W-what¡¯s that? No, what¡¯s that about? Is that about a kiss? W-while saying those cheesy lines? ¡®W-wait!¡¯ We haven¡¯t kissed yet! Not on the lips! We¡¯ve never kissed on the lips, so why is she talking about that?! ¡°What¡¯s with your reaction? Don¡¯t tell me¡­ you haven¡¯t kissed that lewdly like those rumors?¡± Cordelia groaned at Kajsa¡¯s question before she pursed her lips, and Kajsa giggled as she spoke again. ¡°Hey, you¡¯re already like that when it¡¯s just that much? There are a lot more erotic versions.¡± ¡°T-there¡¯s more?¡± ¡°Yes, aren¡¯t love scenes essential in love stories?¡± Cordelia blinked her eyes and swallowed hard before she clung to Scarlet as if she was running away. ¡°The south is weird. The south likes erotic stuff.¡± Scarlet had a bitter smile at Cordelia¡¯s words. These stories were only exported to the south as they were originally from the north and the royal capital. But Jude was looking at the storyteller in curiosity aside from what she was talking about. ¡®Isn¡¯t that Shakespeare?¡¯ To be exact, it was Romeo and Juliet. It was a scene where a pilgrim encourages a saint to kiss him by saying that she should rece her hands with her lips. ¡®Well, it¡¯s just a coincidence.¡¯ People lived in Pleaides and the world they lived in their past lives. There could have been someone who had a simr idea to Shakespeare. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s hurry. Count Kagehama is this way.¡± Kajsa spoke as she pulled down the hood that hid her face, and the group nodded as they moved forward. Argon Port had a night market that was open regrly, so it became quite noisy when Marquis Ophand held a small festival celebration too for Kajsa¡¯s return. ¡°Right there.¡± Count Kagehama¡¯s mansion. Unlike the center of the port that had bright lights even in the middle of the night, the outskirts were quiet and even calm. Having climbed on top of a low wooden building, Kajsa looked at a distance, and Jude and Cordelia also turned to the same ce. [I think¡­ it¡¯s simr to the houses that we robbed in the royal capital.] [Because it¡¯s a house of one of the 7 southern families. It¡¯s a mansion where the family head lives.] Although the 7 southern families had their own territories, most of them lived in Argon Port which was under the direct jurisdiction of the royal family. ¡°Scarlet, are you sure about this?¡± That the token was in this ce and not in their fief. ¡°I¡¯m certain. Right now, it isn¡¯t just Count Kagehama as most of the 7 southern families keep their tokens in Argon Port. That¡¯s why they¡¯ve been robbed in session.¡± Kajsa nodded at the exnation of Scarlet that she said in a low voice. Given Kajsa¡¯s facial expression, the token of Marquis Ophand seemed to be in Argon Port too. ¡°Rather than that, ck Cloak, are we really not going to send a notice card?¡± Scarlet was highly dissatisfied about that more than the others. I know it¡¯s urgent, but I can¡¯t believe we¡¯re not sending a notice that the Rogue Master is going to appear. It¡¯s hard to ept that. ¡°Sending a notice will provoke the that thief. So how about we send it now?¡± ¡°No, not this time. Isn¡¯t it a bit offensive to send a notice just before you steal it in the first ce? We can¡¯t give them time to respond. If you care about the Rogue Master¡¯s reputation, it¡¯s better if we don¡¯t send it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true, but¡­¡± Can¡¯t you just send a notice now ande tomorrow? Jude shook his head again at Scarlet¡¯s gaze. ¡°We¡¯re in a situation where we don¡¯t know how that thief will act. So let¡¯s secure Count Kagehama¡¯s token first and send a notice before we rob Count Luculia¡¯s token. Then we can catch that thief.¡± Jude and Cordelia¡¯s goal was to collect the tokens. It was not to stop that unidentified thief. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± At this point, Scarlet had no choice but to back down. After all, she was quite rational. ¡°Then, are we really going to wear this when we steal? Why are you wearing a rabbit headband in the first ce? Though it¡¯s cute, of course.¡± Cordelia, who was wearing a rabbit ears headband and a butterfly-shaped mask out of habit, responded in a flustered manner at the words of Kajsa. ¡°Well, this is the tradition of the Rogue Master¡­¡± ¡°Hey, there¡¯s no such tradition, okay? Stop making up stuff!¡± As Scarlet growled, Cordelia made an ¡®eueueu¡¯ sound. If I say that it¡¯s Jude¡¯s taste, they¡¯ll think of him as a pervert. ¡®He is a pervert, but I hate it if others call him a pervert.¡¯ If Jude had read her thoughts, he would have strongly denied that he was a pervert, but the two had not made eye contact, so it was impossible for him to know that. ¡°Anyway, it¡¯s fine because it¡¯s cute. And Pink Bomb is known for her butterfly mask and rabbit ears headband, so it¡¯s like my official uniform.¡± ¡°Wait, why are you wearing a rabbit ears headband in the first ce?¡± ¡°How did the Rogue Master¡¯s clothes end up like this¡­¡± After listening to Kajsa¡¯s question and Scarlet¡¯sments, Jude changed the subject like always. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s finish this chat and check our ns for thest time.¡± The thorough Scarlet had conducted an investigation in advance. Written meticulously on the map were the ces where the tokens that Carlos handed to the 7 southern family were. It also included the hiding ce of the token, which was a fist-sized emblem that had the family¡¯s crest in it, as well as the structure of the mansion¡¯s interior, and the movement andposition of the guards. ¡°As expected of the Rogue Master¡¯s descendant. You¡¯re amazing.¡± ¡°Wow, it¡¯s indeed amazing to see this. Have you investigated my house like this too? Do you have one for my house?¡± Cordelia and Kajsa¡¯s admiration made Scarlet chuckle and raise her chin up, but Jude drew everyone¡¯s attention again. ¡°Hey, we¡¯re going to steal something from now on, right? We¡¯re not going on a pic, okay?¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, I know. I¡¯ll follow you. But we just have to wear a mask, attack them, get rid of everything in our way, ande out with the token. Easy, right?¡± Scarlet immediately frowned at Kajsa¡¯s words, but Cordelia unconsciously nodded her head. Come to think of it, most of our thefts in the royal capital was closer to an armed invasion rather than an elegant infiltration. ¡®It¡¯s been a long time since I used the detonating cord.¡¯ Cordelia smiled again as she stroked the new detonating cord that Jude made. Because she felt good from just touching it. And when Cordelia entered her own world, Jude made a simr headache-stricken expression like Scarlet before he spoke. ¡°Let¡¯s at least create a diversion. We¡¯ll turn Count Kagehama¡¯s attention while you get the token.¡± ¡°Are we going to lure his troops by pretending to steal something else?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s the n.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not stealing, that¡¯s an armed intrusion.¡± Scarlet let out a long sigh as Kajsa chuckled again. ¡°Anyway, I don¡¯t like the n, but I understand since we don¡¯t have much time. ck Cloak, if you and that beast girl are going head-on, I¡¯ll sneak in and take the Green God¡¯s Tears that Count Kagehama treasured. Then they¡¯ll think that you guys are a diversion and focus their attention on me afterwards.¡± ¡°Then we¡¯ll leave after that, right? We¡¯ll even say that the diversion is actually a trap! Is that right?¡± ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right. You have the most important role, Pink Bomb.¡± Cordelia giggled and looked proud at the words of Scarlet who frowned again before speaking. ¡°It¡¯s because you have the Moon Crystal. It¡¯s the best means of escape.¡± The Moon Crystal was the Rogue Master¡¯s treasure that enabled short-distance space leaps. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s simple but effective. Anyway, let¡¯s go and move now.¡± Everyone nodded at Jude¡¯s words, but suddenly¡­ Boooooom! The sudden explosion sound turned everyone¡¯s attention. It was from Count Kagehama¡¯s mansion. ¡°No way¡­¡± Did someone get ahead of them in stealing? Boom! Bang! Bang! Bang! Roars broke out in session, and mes arose. A group of men dressed in ck from head to toe were then seen crossing Count Kagehama¡¯s walls. At first nce, they seemed to number twenty, and were crossing the wall opposite the ce where Jude and his group were. That was why they didn¡¯t notice it until the men attacked. ¡°Wait, wasn¡¯t it only a thief?¡± Isn¡¯t that an army? Scarlet could not answer Kajsa¡¯s question right away. Because she was confused too. ¡°S-something changed.¡± The thief didn¡¯t act like that when they previously robbed the four families. No, maybe they were nning to attack from the very start? Or is it possible that other forces intervened in this ¡®battle for the tokens¡¯? ¡°Stop them!¡± ¡°Protect the count!¡± ng! ng! ng! ng! Loud bell sounds rang from inside the mansion alongside the shouts. It was to call the royal knights who were in charge of the port¡¯s security. ¡°What now? Are we just going to watch? I don¡¯t think these people are normal.¡± Even though they were hiding on the other side, Kajsa and Cordelia could tell that the intruders were not ordinary people. Moreover, the movement of the people beyond the wall was unusual. It was clear that they were a proper army and not a gathering of curious onlookers. In response to Kajsa¡¯s question, Jude made a quick decision. ¡®We can¡¯t retreat now.¡¯ They just couldn¡¯t ignore these intruders even if they were not ordinary people. They needed Carlos¡¯ tokens in order to effectively stop Malekith. ¡°We attack them.¡± Their ck-masked group would squeeze into the chaos in Count Kagehama¡¯s mansion and take the token. ¡®And subdue them.¡¯ Their target was that person whom they had referred to until now as ¡®that thief¡¯. An unidentified thief who robbed the 7 southern families. Even if it wasn¡¯t that thief, it would be fine. They just had to subdue those attackers and gather more information. ¡°Scarlet, you move separately and secure the token.¡± ¡°What about you?¡± At Scarlet¡¯s question, Jude put on a ck butterfly-shaped mask and took a deep breath. He looked back at Cordelia who blinked her eyes. But in Jude¡¯s vision, her blue eyes were brightly sparkling. As if answering Jude¡¯s gaze, she grabbed the detonating cord on her waist while a dark smile spread across her face. *** ¡°F*ck bang!¡± Chapter 251: Count Kagehama (2)

Chapter 251: Count Kagehama (2)

My apologies for thete post. The summer heat killed off most of my motivation to trante these days. I couldn¡¯t even y games for that long because myptop was overheating from the heat. Anyway, I¡¯ll try to post another episode tomorrow to make up for it. The 7 southern families were families of seven knights who assisted Dragon yer Carlos. Carlos did not care about a person¡¯s sex, race, age, or ce of origin, and perhaps because of this, his seven knights wereposed of diverse people as if this was on purpose. Fighting Fang Queen, Janifer Ophand, was reborn as a powerful fighter when she awakened both the blood of the divine creature Fenrir and a divine animal. Chris Kan was an elven knight born and raised in the Forest of Eternity. Shiryuu Kagehama was a mysterious samurai who came from the far east. And several others. These various knights lost their lives in the bloody battle against ck Dragon Malekith, and their families were granted control of the southern region by the founder king, Lion D. S?len, leading to the creation of the 7 southern families. ¡°W-what the-! What the hell is going on?!¡± Count Kagehama¡¯s second son, Bardo Kagehama, quickly covered with a white cloth the picture he was eagerly drawing and then raised his voice. Because he suddenly heard a loud explosion. ¡°It¡¯s a raid!¡± ¡°It¡¯s an attack! Young master! Please run!¡± Startled by the servant¡¯s voices, Bardo reflexively looked out the window, but it was midnight and his room was on the third floor. As long as people didn¡¯t stick closely to each other, nothing could be seen except for the moonlight. ¡°Aaah!¡± ¡°Stop them! They must be stopped!¡± ¡°Count!¡± ¡°Fire!¡± Screams and shouts were heard from all over the ce. In the past, Shiryuu Kagehama was a samurai excellent enough to cut a hundred orcs with a single sh of his sword, but Bardo was not like his ancestor. It had already been more than 300 years, so there wasn¡¯t even any trace of his eastern origins on his face. He had dark blonde hair, clear-cut features, and a fairplexion. Instead of grabbing his weapon, he hastily opened the door. And it was at that moment. ¡°Father?¡± ¡°Go in! Hurry!¡± It was Count Kagehama. Although he was close to fifty, he inherited the swordsmanship of Shiryuu Kagehama and had a much stronger body than Bardo who was a young man in his twenties. Count Kagehama pushed back into the room the profusely sweating Bardo who was about to leave the room, and quickly closed the door as he said. ¡°It¡¯s a raid. We have to escape. We¡¯ve strengthened our defense force, but it¡¯s not enough.¡± The 7 southern families knew each other well despite being on bad terms with each other. As Scarlet had said, some of the 7 southern families had kept under wraps the fact that they had been attacked, but the others already knew the situation to some extent. So Count Kagehama had stationed a muchrger number of troops in his mansion than usual. But this raid was too much. It wasn¡¯t because a small number of troops had sneaked in, but because dozens of them had openly crossed the wall. Moreover, their fighting skills were unusual. ¡°Hurry!¡± ¡°B-but where?¡± ¡°This way, there¡¯s a secret passage over here.¡± ¡°In my room?!¡± ¡°It¡¯s a passage that only the family heads and heirs know. Hurry up and follow me.¡± All the family heads of the 7 southern families who had been attacked so far were unharmed. Because the attacker¡¯s targets were not the family heads but their treasures, which was tokens of Carlos. But that had been the case so far. It was possible that their purpose had changed because they had now attacked differently from before. ¡°Father, what¡¯s that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the family¡¯s token. Anyway, now is not the time to talk.¡± Count Kagehama stuffed the fist-sized token that had the crest of Carlos and Shiryuu Kagehama into a pouch on his waist, and knocked on the wall ording to a set order. ¡°Wow, for real?¡± I didn¡¯t know that there was something like this in my room. It was when Bardo¡¯s eyes sparkled at seeing the secret door that appeared between the walls. Bang! The door shattered with a roar, and five men in ck masks entered the room in session. ¡°Eeep!¡± Bloodstains were clearly visible on the swords held by the masked men. It was obvious that they had killed several people on their way here. As Bardo shuddered and stepped back, Count Kagehama spit out a curse and drew his sword. ¡°Damn it! What do you want?¡± But instead of responding, the masked men focused their attention on the count¡¯s waist pouch. Apparently, they were aiming for Carlos¡¯ token. ¡°Attack! Take the token!¡± When the unidentified man standing at the back shouted, the four masked men in front simultaneously kicked the ground. Count Kagehama cursed again and tightly gripped his sword. But it was at that very moment. ¡°F*ck bang!¡± A huge roar engulfed the clear and fine voice. The wall on the other side of Count Kagehama and Bardo exploded, creating arge hole, and the masked men fell down and screamed as they got covered by debris and hit by the shockwaves from the explosion. ¡°W-what the-?¡± Count Kagehama looked at the new intruders in confusion. There were two women, one dressed like a magician with a ck butterfly-shaped mask andrge rabbit ears headband, and the other was wearing a white mask that covered their entire face. ¡®Who are they?¡¯ The masked men were bizarre, but the women in front of them were equally suspicious. Because these women showed up by destroying the walls in the first ce. But it was then. The trembling Bardo¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up and he shouted. ¡°Kajsa! Is that you, Kajsa! You¡¯vee to rescue us!¡± Count Kagehama¡¯s eyes widened when Bardo shouted in delight. Because the woman did indeed look like Kajsa when he heard his son¡¯s words. ¡°Protect the count!¡± ¡°It¡¯s an explosion!¡± ¡°They¡¯re on the third floor!¡± Amidst the loud noises echoing outside, Bardo opened his arms in joy, and Count Kagehama was surprised once again in a different sense. Could it be that my son and Kajsa Ophand are in a romantic rtionship? ¡°Hey! Bardo! Didn¡¯t I say that I¡¯ll kill you if you draw something like this again!¡± But it wasn¡¯t. Count Kagehama was surprised again at her angry shouts, and turned to the direction that the white-masked woman, Kajsa, was pointing before he swallowed hard. Because what was lying on the floor of the room was an obscene drawing with Kajsa¡¯s face on it, though it was still unfinished since it had only been drawn a few minutes ago. ¡°No, this is¡­¡± ¡°You perverted b*stard! I¡¯m killing you today, you hear me!¡± As Kajsa drew closer with a smirk, Bardo stepped back and ran way through the secret door, and Count Kagehama raised his voice again out of urgency. ¡°Kajsa! I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on with you two, but we¡¯re in an emergency. Let¡¯s get out of here.¡± Their families knew each other well despite being on bad terms. Having inherited the blood of beasts, the Ophand family were simple and ignorant. They wouldn¡¯t send out masked assants like this as they were the kind to attack from the front and dere war as they raise their gs high. So at least, the Ophand family wasn¡¯t behind this. Thus, it was fine if they ran away together, though it was strange that she suddenly appeared through a hole in the wall. ¡®If need be, I¡¯ll use her to buy time!¡¯ Count Kagehama opened the secret door again and motioned for Kajsa toe. But instead of Kajsa, the woman with a butterfly mask next to her was the one who spoke up. ¡°Count! That¡¯s not it! You must go this way! We¡¯re here to save you, Your Lordship!¡± It was a voice that was clear and beautiful like an angel¡¯s voice. Count Kagehama was unknowingly moved at her sincere appeal, and headed towards the woman. ¡°Then we¡¯re going through that hole?¡± ¡°Yes! Pleasee this way! Hurry!¡± ¡°Third floor! Go to the 3rd floor!¡± ¡°Euaaaa! Milord!¡± It was noisy outside the room, loud enough to overpower the woman¡¯s voice. It seemed that nearly all the defense forces outside were defeated. ¡°I-I¡¯ll trust you!¡± Count Kagehama approached the woman with the butterfly mask ¨C Cordelia, who reached for the count¡¯s waist pouch. ¡°As expected, it¡¯s here.¡± Carlos¡¯ token. Scarlet hade up with two hypotheses. One was that Carlos¡¯ token was kept in the treasury as per her preliminary investigation, and the other was that Count Kagehama took with him Carlos¡¯ token. ¡®Because a lot of families have be victims, and now, they¡¯ve been attacked too.¡¯ Since four out of seven families had already been attacked, he must have been more worried than usual. And in the meantime, he was attacked too. So if the token was within his reach, he was likely to run away with it. ¡®Thus, let¡¯s split up.¡¯ Scarlet would go to the treasury. Cordelia and Kajsa would head towards the secret passage Count Kagehama was likely to use. And the result was now. Count Kagehama who had been stolen from looked at Cordelia with a bewildered face, and Kajsa immediately swung her fist. ¡°Ack!¡± He was struck in his stomach afterpletely letting down his guard, and her punch was really powerful. Even if Count Kagehama was a swordmaster, he was unable to endure it. ¡°Kaaak-¡­ ugh¡­¡± Cordelia looked down at the fallen Count Kagehama who groaned before fainting. She said to Kajsa as she slightly narrowed her brows. ¡°Wasn¡¯t that too much?¡± ¡°Wasn¡¯t using your angelic voice to deceive him too much?¡± ¡°This way!¡± The shouts and footsteps of the assants drew closer. Cordelia quickly threw herself into the hole instead of questioning the other further, and Kajsa did the same after carrying Count Kagehama like a bag. [Jude! We got it!] Having thrown herself into the air, Cordelia sent a magic to Jude who was waiting on the roof. Kajsa then grabbed Cordelia¡¯s waist with one hand. ¡°Yosha~!¡± One person on her side, and another on her shoulder. Although Kajsa was carrying two people, hernding was very stable, and she looked up the night sky. Perhaps because of the bright moon, she was much stronger than usual. [Cordelia, I¡¯ll tell Scarlet then. First-] ¡°Evade!¡± It was the moment when Jude, who was rying a message to Scarlet and Cordelia on the roof, suddenly jumped from his spot and shouted. Shwaaaaaa-! A bright red and gigantic sword rushed toward Cordelia and Kajsa. It was so fast that it seemed impossible to properly dodge it. ¡°Huaa?!¡± Kajsa instinctively moved. She carried Cordelia in her arms, whom she had been holding with one arm, and jumped high with Count Kagehama on her shoulder. But the sword was faster. A bright red sword came rushing in like a wave as it swallowed Kajsa¡¯s waist. Shwaak-! Kajsa briefly closed her eyes, but nothing happened. Shended on the ground again. ¡°Huh?¡± How? Cordelia knew the answer. Because she had used Fairy Steps just before the sword reached them. ¡°F*ck! Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s one of the Ten Great Swordmasters again!¡± It¡¯s a huge bright red sword! At the time when Cordelia let out a curse. The huge sword moved vertically instead of horizontally this time. It was big at first nce, as it seemed to be more than 5 meters long. ¡°Uooo!¡± But Kajsa was able to react this time. She quickly flew to the right to dodge the sword. And faced the unusually huge sword that came swinging down on her from the front. ¡°Yaaa!¡± A ck dragon powerfully rushed in just before the sharp de cut her head. Lightning struck in session, and Kajsa hurriedly threw Count Kagehama away as she rolled on the ground. ¡°Aah!¡± Cordelia who was in Kajsa¡¯s arms screamed in pain, but now was not the time toin about it. She quickly opened her eyes and saw the ce where Kajsa had been standing on earlier. She saw Jude fighting a veryrge man. ¡°Jude!¡± ¡°Haa!¡± Jude instantly narrowed the distance with Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt, and exploded the energy of the ck dragon again instead of using his sword-like hand to attack. It was to buy time for Cordelia to join him in attacking. ¡®Sr re!¡¯ White light burst out. Having anticipated an attack, the huge enemy ¨C a giant, groaned and stepped backwards, while Kajsa whose eyes had been open then, closed her eyes as she screamed. And Cordelia got out of Kajsa¡¯s arms and stood up. She knew Jude better than everyone, so she had closed her eyes before he used Sr re. ¡°Madhur.¡± He wasn¡¯t one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. She was sure that the man was the corrupt dwarf Madhur, one of Malekith¡¯s subordinates. ¡®Because there¡¯s no other guy like that!¡¯ The giant in front of them was unusual. It was obviously a giant, but it was a bit far from the giants one would normally think of. He was 5 heads tall. He had the body type of a typical male dwarf. A taller person had an advantage in swordsmanship over a shorter person, just like most martial arts. That was why dwarven warriors tried to ovee their reach disadvantage by using long weapons such as halberds. But Madhur had a different idea. If he was small, he should just make himself bigger. Madhur studied magic that turned one into a giant, and eventually seeded in growing his own body several times. It was the birth of a giant dwarf with a big head,rge body, and huge hands. ¡°Fools who resort to petty tricks.¡± With a white beard and grey skin, Madhur scoffed at them as his red eyes glowed. He looked like a giant dwarf golem because of the ck armor he wore over his entire body and the unusually huge sword he held. ¡°Steel Castle.¡± ¡°Typical tank warrior.¡± ¡°Powerful physical attacks thate from his huge weapon and inexhaustible strength.¡± ¡°Has excellent physical and magic resistance.¡± ¡°Basically has a dark attribute, and weak against holy attributes, but not to the point of it being a critical weakness.¡± ¡°Can be dealt with by just attacking him continuously.¡± The two exchanged game information after a long time of not doing so. Kajsa stood up and was shocked at the words of the two. ¡°Madhur? That Steel Castle Madhur?!¡± A legend ¨C no, a historical figure. Marquis Ophand¡¯s library had a record of the battle between Janifer Ophand and Madhur. ¡°This is crazy¡­ like for real?¡± Kajsa had already heard from Jude and Cordelia about Malekith¡¯s resurrection. But it was a fact that she didn¡¯t fullyprehend. A legendary evil dragon was about to be resurrected. She somehow believed it because she already had experienced a Kraken, but there was still a part of her that doubted it. Nevertheless, the reason why she was so active now in helping Jude and Cordelia was because of her sense of duty in repaying her debt to them, as well as the practical reason of messing with Count Kagehama. But it was real. Madhur, one of Malekith¡¯s three knights, had appeared. ¡°Kekeke, you¡¯re not running away even after recognizing me? I admire your courage.¡± Madhur let out a drearyugh and lowered his sword. And at the same time, light began to shine from the pouch on Madhur¡¯s waist and the pouch Cordelia stole from Count Kagehama. The tokens of Carlos were resonating with each other. ¡®Four out of seven families.¡¯ And fifth is the Kagehamas. The way they attacked this family now is different. They have been doing everything in secret before. But when it came to the fifth time, they¡¯re now openly doing it. Why? For what reason? Jude raised his head at that moment. Because a hypothesis was formed in his head. ¡°No way?!¡± The reason he appeared in the fifth. The reason he appeared with all the tokens he had already collected. ¡°Ho, did you notice?¡± Madhur proudly shrugged his shoulders and said. Kajsa didn¡¯t understand what he meant, so she turned to Jude, while Cordelia looked at Madhur and the scene behind him instead of doing the same as Kajsa. Count Kagehama¡¯s mansion was copsing. The garden was on fire, and the masked men from the mansion began to encircle the walls as if they were forming a siege. So Cordelia took a deep breath. Instead of thinking, she felt and naturally understood what she had to do. ¡°Let¡¯s beat Madhur.¡± Let¡¯s take this opportunity to defeat him and take Carlos¡¯ tokens. Jude nodded at Cordelia¡¯s words. After all, if they defeated Madhur here and got the stolen tokens of Carlos, the situation would be favorable for them. ¡°W-wait a second. He¡¯s Madhur. That man¡¯s Madhur.¡± He¡¯s not an ordinary opponent. He¡¯s not even weakened like Sebastian. Kajsa said in a panic, but Jude and Cordelia just stared at Madhur who burst intoughter as if he was full of energy. ¡°That¡¯s not courage. That¡¯s arrogance and madness. If you want to defeat me, you should bring at least one of the Ten Great Swordmasters.¡± ¡°Yeah, those Ten Great Swordmasters.¡± He was correct. Madhur¡¯s condition was not perfect since Malekith had yet to be resurrected, but given his stats in the game, at least someone on the level of a Ten Great Swordmaster was needed in order to defeat him. Ten Great Swordmasters. Someone who belonged to the Ten Great Swordmasters. ¡°Hey, Kajsa.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Look carefully.¡± Angelic wings of light spread behind Cordelia¡¯s back. At the same time, a white ring formed over her head, and she unleashed her strong angelic powers. But that wasn¡¯t all. Madhur winced when lightning suddenly burst. As a ck gale filled with lightning was formed, Jude rushed towards Madhur. He sped up and rapidly opened the sixth door as he awakened the power of Sword Origin. What would happen if Jude could go back to the past month and have a rematch with the Lord Protector? Would he still throw up blood and struggle like he used to? Against the Lord Protector, the weakest among the Ten Great Swordmasters? Booooom! Thunder boomed again. And Kajsa was able to see. Jude¡¯s answer. The swordsmanship of those who had reached the level of a Great Swordmaster! ¡°The f*ck?!¡± Madhur was taken aback. He instantly boosted his strength to avoid the Jude¡¯s attack that was faster and more powerful than he could imagine. He backed away urgently and solidified his defense. He couldn¡¯t understand it. It was something impossible. But the reality was clear. Jude¡¯s energy literally amplified like an explosion as his fist struck Madhur¡¯s shield. And that was why Madhur couldn¡¯t look away from Jude. Madhur¡¯s subordinates, who were surrounding the walls, were also surprised by the sudden burst of power, and all looked at Jude. So did Kajsa. Therefore, Cordelia sent a magic to Kajsa so that thetter could see her soaring into the air. ¡°Ah?¡± Kajsa stared at Cordelia with a dumbfounded expression. Cordelia had a dark smile as she held high a sword that was shining in a very white color. ¡°The best way to deal with an opponent is to strike as soon as it starts.¡± Before the opponent could even properly respond. At a blind spot they couldn¡¯tpletely defend. ¡°Day of Judgment.¡± The true power of heavenly judgment that only angels could use. White des rained down from high up the sky. Chapter 252: Count Kagehama (3)

Chapter 252: Count Kagehama (3)

I¡¯m sorry. I really shouldn¡¯t be making promises of posting chapters when I can¡¯t do it. But it can¡¯t be helped. I got a kitten yesterday who¡¯s now meowing at me for attention. It doesn¡¯t help that I¡¯m a cat person. Pata-pata-pata-pata-pata-! The des of light pouring down like a rain shower was enough to cause fear in itself. Heavenly Judgment. One of the hundred swords that Auriel, one of the Four Archangels of Heaven, had forged for her warriors. Since Cordelia¡¯s angel ranking was still low, it wasn¡¯t as powerful as when Lena used it in the wildnds in the past, but even the weakened version had an earth-shattering power. ¡°O-Oh my god¡­¡± When Kajsa spoke with a voice mixed with fear and wonder, the first de of light reached the ground. Hundreds of des rained down on the outskirts of Count Kagehama¡¯s mansion, or to be exact, on the walls of the property as it destroyed everything it came across. Pata-pata-pata-pata-pata-! It was like heavy rain that struck the ground. Madhur¡¯s subordinates were struck by the endless firing of light des. As the rain of light literally swept them away, their true forms were revealed. These men had hidden their appearances by wearing masks and robes, but they were actually demons and synthetic demonic humans who were made frombining demons and humans. Ruuumbleee-! The walls of Count Kagehama¡¯s property copsed. The demons and demonic humans were overwhelmed by the divine power, and they were unable to avoid the rain of light des as it turned them into ashes. ¡°Aaah¡­ aaaaaaah¡­¡± Kajsa looked up the sky in awe again. The figure of Cordelia as she held a divine sword that was shining white in the night sky was like a goddess rather than an angel. Kajsa put her hands together in prayer out of reverence. If she had been left alone, she might have even knelt down on her knees and worshipped Cordelia. If she had been left alone, that is. Bang! A new roar filled the ce where the des of light had disappeared. It was from Jude and Madhur¡¯s sh. ¡®Crazy!¡¯ Madhur was blocking Jude¡¯s onught with his shield, but couldn¡¯t help looking around. Because it was impossible for him to not look away when des of light had just rained down from the sky. ¡®Angel? And what in the world is this guy¡¯s power!¡¯ The forces besieging Count Kagehama¡¯s mansion were literally annihted in just a few seconds. They were swept away, without a single trace left. It was totally unexpected. Not only Madhur himself, but even Sicily wouldn¡¯t have been able to foresee such a situation. ¡®Where did these two suddenlye from?!¡¯ Sicily had worked hard in gathering information of the current era after she woke up earlier than Malekith. So Madhur knew quite a bit about the powerful people of the present time. He even tried to face two of the Ten Great Swordmasters himself. ¡®The Ten Great Swordmasters and the seven knights of Carlos are equal.¡¯ At least, that was the case with the two whom he faced. Although the two weren¡¯t as good as Janifer Ophand, who was the strongest among the seven knights of Carlos, or Chris Kan, who was an elven knight, the two were skilled enough to be just below Janifer and Chris. ¡®Rare.¡¯ Something that supposed to be umon. Such a strong man was usually rare. Especially among humans. Unlike elves and dwarves who were guaranteed a long youth and a life spanning hundreds of years, the lifespan of a human was only a hundred years at the longest, and most of them were in the prime of their lives at ages 20 to 30. In other words, humans had an extremely short time to train themselves, so it was difficult for their race to be stronger than elves or dwarves. But the reason why strong people like the Ten Great Swordmasters exist was because humans were so numerous that they were iparable to elves or dwarves. True geniuses. People with monstrous talents were born not in one out of hundreds or thousands, but at least in 1 out of 100,000. So people like them weren¡¯t that many. Once they were born, they were bound to stand out and make a name for themselves, whether they liked it or not. But what was this guy in front of him? Where did this guy suddenlye from? ¡°Keuooooooooo!¡± Madhur loudly roared and wildly swung his shield. He blocked Jude¡¯s attack and swung down his lightning fast huge sword at the same time. A vertical strike. An attack that would be impossible for ordinary people to follow with their eyes, but not for Jude. Madhur who hadunched the attack also knew. It would miss. That guy would dodge his attack. And it actually happened. Jude dodged Madhur¡¯s sword attack that came down towards his head by moving to the side. Just as Madhur expected. ¡°Tahaaaa!¡± Madhur¡¯s sword that struck down at a fast speed then defied gravity in an instant. After stopping the downward force of the sword attack, he changed its direction at once as he swung it up diagonally. A V-shaped attack. It was an illogical move for Madhur to suddenly change the course of his sword, but it was good for an unexpected attack. So far, Janifer Ophand was the only one who had avoided this attack. That was why he was sure. It would definitely hit. It would cut his opponent¡¯s body! But the moment he changed the course of his sword, Jude did not falter. Rather, he changed his direction as if he had expected it, and looked at the rising sword. Because he knew. Because he already knew so well that Madhur could pull off this kind of technique! Booooom! A roar burst into the air which had unbelievablye from a sword attack. But Madhur knew. He didn¡¯t feel it. His sword did not cut Jude. He clearly seeded with his attack, but his opponent was unharmed. Madhur hastily raised his head. Jude had jumped up the sky. That guy did not just avoid his sword attack, but even climbed on his own sword. He rode on the upward cut¡¯s force in order to soar up. From Madhur¡¯s perspective, this was so astonishing and absurd. He didn¡¯t expect anyone else to do this besides Janifer Ophand. But he was still Madhur. Though he was flustered, his body was already preparing for the next attack. He pulled back the red sword that he swung in order to attack Jude in the sky. And it was at that moment. Whoooosh! Something wrapped around Madhur¡¯s arm that was holding the sword. Madhur quickly turned his gaze and saw a thin cord wrapped around his right arm, and an angel holding the end of the cord. For Madhur, it was something that he would just sneer at. Are you trying to stop me with those slender arms of yours? Do you think that¡¯s possible? Madhur immediately pulled his right arm. He tried to tell the angel, who had fearlessly tied him up, that they had a huge difference in strength. But it was the time when he pulled his arm. ¡°Huh?¡± The angel let go of the cord without any regrets. As if she had no intention ofpeting for strength in the first ce. Why? Don¡¯t tell me she just wanted to divert my attention? It wasn¡¯t. The bright smile of the angel denied his assumption. It was something else. Her purpose was not to dy. ¡°F*ck bang!¡± Booooooom! His right arm exploded. The wire-shaped detonating cord exploded, and the startled Madhur almost let go of his sword. His arm felt like it was going to break because a part of the detonating cord had injured his joint that was not protected by the armor. ¡°Aaaah!¡± Madhur wrapped his arms with his red aura. He boosted his physical abilities and stopped the bleeding at the same time, before he tried to swing his sword towards the angel. But someone got in his way at that time. It was Jude who was in the sky. ¡°ck Dragon¡¯s Ascent! Burst!¡± Having soared up the sky, Jude fired the energy of the ck dragon towards the ground. When a dozen ck dragons came rushing at once, Madhur was forced to give up his attack. He hurriedly raised his shield and blocked the energy of the ck dragon. Babababababababang! The energy of the ck dragon mercilessly pounded on the shield. The power of each shot wasn¡¯t that strong, but the problem was the numbers. ¡®Is this guy some kind of wizard?!¡¯ What kind of warrior in the world would fire his fist energy as if they were magic missiles? ¡®No, is he a fist fighter in the first ce?¡¯ The guy was obviously barehanded, but it felt like he was fighting a swordsman. ¡°Uooooooo!¡± Madhur shouted again and infused his red aura into the shield. He did not stop at simply blocking the energy of the ck dragon as he roughly swung his shield wide while turning his red sword towards the sky. Just like what Jude had wanted. Swooooosh-! For Madhur to swing his shield and sword. For Madhur to spread out his arms naturally. Cordelia did not miss that opportunity. With her telekic power, she simultaneously controlled four detonating cords to fly in the air and wrap around Madhur¡¯s limbs. She recited the spell while Madhur was startled. ¡°F*ck bang.¡± Baaaaaaang! The detonating cords exploded all at once. Madhur hastily protected his body with his red aura, but his timing was a littlete. Red blood burst out of Madhur¡¯s limbs. ¡°Keuaaack!¡± For Madhur, this was driving him crazy. He had never experienced or even imagined someone to attack like this. It exploded the moment it wrapped around his limbs, so he had not time to tear it away. ¡®If only Malekith had been resurrected!¡¯ The current Madhur was unable to use his full power. He couldn¡¯t use his steel body that he obtained from signing a soul contract with Malekith. If Malekith had been resurrected and he was able to use his steel body, he could have just ignored all these explosions! ¡°ck Dragon¡¯s Ascent!¡± Having evaded Madhur¡¯s sword attack by turning his body, Jude then kicked into the air. Just like Landius, he gained momentum by releasing energy from his soles. And used ck Dragon¡¯s Ascent while in that state. It was truly a fiendish double attack. If Madhur blocked Jude¡¯s attack, Cordelia would attack. If Madhur tried to hit Cordelia, Jude would attack. In the end, Madhur was beaten up by the two in turns. ¡°Aack!¡± Madhur moved his injured arm to block Jude¡¯s attack. The energy of the ck dragon exploded on his shield, and at that moment, the detonating cord wrapped around his right arm again. It exploded once more before he could even say something. ¡°Kaaaaak!¡± His arm did not break this time either. But as injury was added to injury, his arm lost its strength. His right arm drooped, and Jude did not miss that gap. Bang! Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt. Jude instantly disappeared from Madhur¡¯s sight. But Madhur predicted which way Jude would move ¨C to the right. So he quickly defended his right side. It was as he expected. Madhur evaded Jude¡¯s sword-like hand by turning swiftly. He did not stop there as he strengthened his left foot to be an axis while forcibly swinging his right arm. He tried to crush Jude with his huge fist. A counterattack following a picturesque evasion. He was indeed one of Malekith¡¯s three knights, but unfortunately, it wasn¡¯t Jude who was only present in this ce. The moment Madhur gave strength to his left foot, a fiendish voice was heard from his back. ¡°¡± ¡°Aaah!¡± He slipped. His bnce was shaken because of the floor that had quickly be slippery. Therefore, Madhur¡¯s punch became a miss, and Jude dug into that gap. The energy of the sun struck Madhur¡¯s side. ¡°Kaaaack!¡± Power of the Sun. The shock that was transmitted through the armor pushed Madhur back as he vomited blood. He staggered as if he was about to fall, but managed to adjust his posture. But it was not over. Because Cordelia¡¯sst detonating cord wrapped around his waist this time. ¡°The f*ck!¡± Following his sudden curse, an explosion urred again this time. But unlike before, there was no blood. Because Madhur had dispelled the magic that turned him into a giant, returning to a dwarf¡¯s original size. ng! Madhur¡¯s sword and shield fell to the ground. The leg part of the armor also copsed. But the body part remained. Rather, the parts covering the arms and legs thenbined with the body part to form a solid barrier. It was the absolute defense posture that Madhur used before moving on to phase 2. ¡®He hides himself in his armor like a turtle as he recovers his strength.¡¯ Without his giant transformation magic, Madhur was a small person even among the dwarves. Therefore, it was possible for him to hide in the body part of his armor as much as possible. ¡®In the game, we had no choice except to wait¡­¡¯ But this was reality now. Madhur¡¯s armor boasted of an absolute defense, but thew of destruction still applied to it. Jude looked at Cordelia who immediately nodded. Because she instinctively had a simr thought. ¡°Art is an explosion.¡± With a smile, Cordelia took out from her waist a bundle of dynamite that Jude had made, and lit the fuse. She pushed her hand inside Madhur¡¯s armor and shoved it in. Fairy Steps. Being able to pass through all attacks meant it could also pass through anything. Cordelia released the dynamite in her hand and promptly pulled it out. She had used up all of the Fairy Steps today, but it was not aplete waste. Madhur was an enemy worthy of this much trouble. Booooom! An explosion burst inside the armor. The parts of the armor that was building some kind of shelter fell down one after another. Because the explosion inside caused the union of the parts to be broken. ¡°Kaack¡­ haaak¡­¡± Madhur was covered in blood as his armor broke and he threw up ck blood. His eyes were filled with anger and chagrin. ¡°Y-you demons¡­¡± Madhur had never experienced a battle like this. Jude and Cordelia did what they had to do instead of being embarrassed with Madhur¡¯spliment ¨C no, it was not apliment. In the midst of the explosion, Cordelia picked up the pouch that had fallen off Madhur¡¯s waist. ¡°Huh? There are five tokens.¡± There were five tokens of Carlos inside the pouch. But Madhur had only attacked four families. What in the world is going on? Did Scarlet get it wrong? Did she mistake it for four families when five families were actually attacked? But it wasn¡¯t. Scarlet wasn¡¯t wrong. ¡°Because one family betrayed us.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°One of the 7 southern families joined hands with Malekith, or rather, Sicily.¡± So it was five, not four. That was why Madhur attacked Count Kagehama so openly. ¡°You¡¯re also attacking Kajsa¡¯s house now, right?¡± Madhur was startled at Jude¡¯s words. Because it was as Jude had said. ¡°You¡¯ve already collected five out of seven, and all that¡¯s left are the tokens of Count Kagehama and Marquis Ophand. That¡¯s why you¡¯re attacking so openly.¡± If only Count Kagehama had been attacked, Madhur¡¯s subordinates wouldn¡¯t have created such chaos. If Count Kagehama fell first, the Ophands would make preparations to stop an army and not just a thief. ¡°But if you attack at the same time from the very beginning, you won¡¯t have to worry about such things. Isn¡¯t that right?¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Kajsa who had been watching from afar then eximed in admiration, while Cordelia shrugged her shoulders, feeling proud as if she had said it herself. And Madhurughed. Although he was dying, he burst outughing. ¡°Kahaha! Ahahaha! Yes, you are right. Everything is as you said.¡± He also sent troops to Marquis Ophand. The number of troops there were almost three times more than the one mobilized for Count Kagehama. ¡°Marquis Ophand will perish today. We¡¯ll take the tokens, and you¡¯ll never be able to collect all seven tokens!¡± Carlos¡¯ tokens were nothing more than family crests if they didn¡¯t collect all seven. So Madhur smiled brightly. He let out malicious words without holding back. But it was strange. Because Jude and Cordelia were not disturbed at all. They evenughed out loud. ¡°W-why?¡± Why are youughing now? Jude and Cordelia turned to Kajsa instead of answering, and Kajsa grinned as she teasingly said. ¡°No, the token¡¯s here. We¡¯ve already collected all seven.¡± ¡°W-what?¡± She wasn¡¯t bluffing. Kajsa took out the real token of Marquis Ophand from her waist pocket. ¡°W-why?¡± ¡°Just¡­ I just had a bad feeling about it.¡± Cordelia smiled at the reason of the original beast girl, Kajsa, but not for Madhur. Because it reminded him of his lifelong nemesis, Janifer Ophand. ¡°Y-you Ophand family b*stards!¡± You just had a bad feeling, so you took the token with you?! ¡°And perhaps my house will be fine too?¡± Even if Madhur wasn¡¯t there. Even if only demons and low-ranking demonic humans were sent there. ¡°Because mister is there.¡± Sebastian Leguin, the Sword of Swiftness. He woke upte in the afternoon, and had lost all his memories of the past month, but he was nowpletely free of Sicilia¡¯s brainwashing. ¡°Because my father and older brothers are there too.¡± The Ophands and Kagehamas were different. It would be no exaggeration to say that the Ophands were the most powerful of the 7 southern families when it simply came to military force. Moreover, the entire family had gathered due to Kajsa¡¯s sudden return. The current Marquis Ophand, who was normally away from home, and even her first and second older brothers, had all returned home, so one could say that her family was in a perfect condition to fight. ¡°Ugh¡­ guu¡­¡± From Madhur¡¯s perspective, this was a truly crazy situation. What had happened to him also drove him nuts, but he was also surprised that Sebastian Leguin, whom Sicilia had tried to get on their side, was now protecting Marquis Ophand. Sicilia and Madhur knew that Sebastian was at the Ophands, but did not expect that Sebastian would wake up already. And in fact, Sebastian would not have woken up if the sirens hadn¡¯t treated him. ¡°Damn¡­ you¡­¡± Madhur let out a curse before he slumped. It was a natural result since he was holding out as he cursed while being fatally wounded. ¡°Oh, level up.¡± Cordelia smiled as she was surrounded by rings of white, and so did Jude. Although Madhur was in a weakened state, the amount of experience they gained was significant since he was one of Malekith¡¯s three knights. ¡°Wow, we got four.¡± Because of the level up, Jude and Cordelia were almost level 90 now. Cordelia jumped in happiness, while Jude looked back at Kajsa. ¡°Kajsa.¡± ¡°Yes, I know.¡± They still had something to do before heading to Marquis Ophand. ¡°Here, here.¡± When Cordelia brightly smiled and gave her the five tokens Madhur had collected plus Count Kagehama¡¯s token, Kajsaughed out loud at that moment. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just¡­¡± When she thought about it again, the two in front of her were the ones who defeated a Kraken. So it was not surprising that they defeated Madhur. Kajsa had a big smile again as she took the tokens from Cordelia who tilted her head, wondering why Kajsa wasughing. Kajsa then took a deep breath. She turned to Jude and said. ¡°Shall I put it together?¡± ¡°Yes, put it together.¡± To connect the tokens Carlos gave to his seven knights one by one. Kajsa began to join the tokens one by one, and the tokens interlocked with each other as it became one. And thest one. The token of Marquis Ophand. Kajsa moved her hand while Cordelia swallowed hard. The final piece was put together toplete Carlos¡¯ tokens. Chapter 253: Night at Argon Port (1)

Chapter 253: Night at Argon Port (1)

Hype, hype, hype~ The following episodes after this are quite long, so expect some dys in their releases. Anyway, some of you wanted a picture of the kitten, but getting a kitten to stop moving when taking a picture wasn¡¯t easy, hahaha¡­ It still has no name since my family originally thought it was a girl and named it Candy. But I only found out today that it was a boy, so we¡¯re trying toe up with a new name. Terms used in this episode: Magic words ¨C Also known as ¡®kotodama.¡¯ It refers to the Japanese belief that mystical powers dwell in words and names. In Japanese fiction, it¡¯s mostly a special ability to influence someone or something through the power of words. Characters that have a simr ability to this are Toge Inumaki from Jujutsu Kaisen, and Kudou Asuka from Mondaiji. Ancient Dragons were special beings. Even if one looked at the entire history of Pleiades, the number of Ancient Dragons could be counted on one¡¯s fingers. What was the reason for that? Why were the number of dragons who reached the level of an Ancient Dragon so small? It was strange if one thought about it a bit deeply. No one could deny that dragons were the strongest race when viewed as a single entity. They had no such thing as a natural enemy, and were a long-lived race that lived longer than dwarves and elves. The mortality rate of adults was also low because they became stronger as they grew older. In other words, they were a race that had little chance of dying once they became an adult as long as they did not go crazy. But despite this, the number of Ancient Dragons was small. They were such a rare existence that it would not be an exaggeration to say that there was only one in several generations. ¡®Because it wasn¡¯t just about getting older.¡¯ An Ancient Dragon was not just an old dragon. A dragon couldn¡¯t reach the level of an Ancient Dragon by just getting old. In terms of human beings, they were like the Ten Great Swordmasters ¨C no, they were like the Sword Saints who had reached a level that transcended the limits of their race. Most dragons stopped growing at the level of amon old dragon, an Adult Dragon, when they got older. But few of them could be more than that. Ancient Dragons were chosen beings even among dragons. They were monsters that transcended the limits of the dragon race and reached the realm of a god. That was the Ancient Dragon. *** Kajsa gulped as she stared at the tokens of Carlos that had been gathered into one. Dragon yer Carlos. The great hero of the south who defeated ck Dragon Malekith. But he was a different being from other dragon yers. Most dragon yers who left their names in history had only yed Adult Dragons. However, Carlos was different. What he killed was an Ancient Dragon, an existence that was like a god among dragons. ¡®A true great hero.¡¯ The only person acknowledged as his lifelong rival was Lion D. S?len, who founded the S?len Kingdom and subdued countless monsters. Kajsa could not calm her pounding heart. How in the world could she not get excited and nervous now? ¡®Carlos¡¯ legacy¡¯ It was the first time in nearly 300 years since Carlos passed away that the tokens he left behind were gathered in one ce. Kajsa moved her hands while listening to the beating of her pounding heart, andbined the seven tokens into one without difficulty. It became a sculpture that had some angles in it, but was overall round and had a diameter of around 15 cm. Havingpleted the token, Kajsa unknowingly released mana from her fingertips. Somehow, she felt like she had to do that. And it was at that moment. ¡°It¡¯s shining?¡± Carlos¡¯ tokens began to shine. The emblems of each family began to shine until the entire token intensely shone. ¡°Pink Bomb?!¡± Scarlet¡¯s voice was heard from the far side of the mansion. But Cordelia did not look back. Because she instinctively turned her gaze to a distant ce the moment a strong light arose from the token in Kajsa¡¯s hand. Kwagaaaaaang-! A roar was heard from the distance. But it wasn¡¯t the sound of an explosion. The light from the token weakened, so Jude and Cordelia were able to see more clearly. At a distance. Something split the night sky. A pir of light soared high and pierced the sky, giving off a subtle glow. ¡°The port?¡± Broadly speaking, Count Kagehama¡¯s mansion was also located at Argon Port. But if one had to pinpoint the exact location, it would be misleading to say that it was in the port. Because it was located outside the city of Argon. ¡°It¡¯s on the port side! If it¡¯s that far¡­¡± ¡°Central square!¡± Jude added after Kajsa. In the realm of calction, Jude was unparalleled. The moment he saw the pir of light, he unfolded the map of Argon Port in his mind and calcted the exact location. ¡°That¡¯s where the dwarves¡¯ workshop is.¡± To be exact, it was next to it. At the ce where a giant statue of Carlos was erected. ¡°Then let¡¯s go!¡± Jude nodded as Cordelia jumped and spoke. He naturally offered his back and she jumped again as she got on his back. ¡°Pink Bomb? ck Cloak?¡± Scarlet came running just then and called the two. She did not know of the current situation because she was looking for the token in the mansion. But she was quick-witted like a Rogue Master. As soon as she saw the token in Kajsa¡¯s hand and the pir of light soaring from afar, she roughly understood the situation. ¡°Have you sensed it? Then let¡¯s go!¡± When Cordelia urged them again, Kajsa grinned and turned around, but not Scarlet. Unlike the two beast girls, she spoke like a rational person. ¡°W-wait! What about Count Kagehama? Is he dead already?¡± Scarlet pointed to Count Kagehama who was lying on the floor with his tongue sticking out. He seemed to have fainted when Kajsa threw him in the midst of the fight. ¡°He¡¯s not dead. So let¡¯s hurry up.¡± Kajsa beckoned and urged her to hurry as if he was insignificant, and Scarlet unconsciously narrowed her brows and sighed. Because the current situation was unlike a Rogue Master¡¯s work. A garden that had be a sea of fire, and a destroyed mansion. Even the owner of the mansion had fainted with his tongue sticking out. ¡®Is this even a robbery?¡¯ No, this isn¡¯t even a robbery. It¡¯s more appropriate to call it terrorism. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go!¡± Scarlet nodded as Cordelia urged her while on Jude¡¯s back. After all, a huge pir of light suddenly appearing was bound to attract attention. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go.¡± Scarlet replied with a displeased expression, while Cordelia tightly hugged the neck of Jude who kicked the ground. He raced towards the pir of light. *** Scarlet wasn¡¯t wrong. The pir of light that rose up with a roaring sound had attracted a lot of people¡¯s attention. And among them was Sicilia who was watching the situation from afar. Dark Elf Sicilia. The descendant of the high elf royal family who lived in the Forest of Eternity then furrowed her brows. ¡®Madhur.¡¯ She somehow knew on what happened to him because she was also one of the Three Knights of Malekith. Madhur had failed. He not only lost all of Carlos¡¯ tokens, but also lost his own life. ¡®That stupid b*stard.¡¯ She didn¡¯t cry but her heart ached. Because they had been working together for a long time. But now was not the time to indulge in her thoughts. Sicilia gritted her teeth and thought. ¡®Our n has failed.¡¯ Their n to collect all seven tokens by attacking Count Kagehama and Marquis Ophand at the same time had failed. Madhur who attacked Count Kagehama¡¯s mansion had died, and the battle at Marquis Ophand¡¯s mansion had lost its significance. All seven tokens had already been gathered. ¡®Is it time to make a decision?¡¯ After all, the seven tokens had all been gathered, and the location of Carlos¡¯ legacy in the south had been revealed. The reason they attacked the 7 southern families in the first ce was to secure his legacy, so it was only natural for her to make a move now. But she needed to make a decision. Because most of the avable troops she had were gone or busy. Gamorr Khan strangely disappeared somewhere, while Madhur died in his mission. The troops attacking Marquis Ophand¡¯s mansion were being used to bind the marquis¡¯ feet, so in the end, she had to release all the troops she had saved so far in order to take Carlos¡¯ legacy. ¡®Someone who¡¯s strong enough to defeat Madhur.¡¯ She made up her mind. She would only fail again if she held back their forces. Sicilia took a deep breath. She closed her eyes and gave amand. ¡°Go.¡± Go and take Carlos¡¯ legacy. The necromancer¡¯smand soon became magic words and crossed the sea. Those who were hiding in the darkness of the night began to move at once. *** ¡®F*ck! They¡¯re so fast!¡¯ Kajsa swore as they raced under the moonlit night. Because she couldn¡¯t keep up with Jude even with her speed that was the fastest among the Ophands. She could only strive hard to chase after him. Moreover, Jude was carrying Cordelia. No matter how light Cordelia was or how strong Jude was, there should have been a significant difference between running alone and running while carrying someone. ¡®But I still can¡¯t catch up, huh?¡¯ The unyielding Kajsa mustered all her strength to increase her speed, so Scarlet who was running behind a little further ended up swearing. ¡®Hey, you beast b*tches! Wait for me!¡¯ She knew that they were in a hurry, but was still confused with the situation. And frankly, her pride was hurt. She was the Rogue Master¡¯s descendant, yet she was the onegging behind the most. It didn¡¯t make any sense to her. ¡®Haaaa!¡¯ Scarlet shouted out in her mind before adding one more spell on herself. She clenched her teeth at the pain that inflicted her entire body as she sped up. And it was at that moment. ¡°Stop!¡± When Cordelia yelled in a hurry, Kajsa stretched out her hand and grabbed the waist of Scarlet who couldn¡¯t stop on time, forcing her to stop. And Jude moved his hand. Instead of evading, he opted for a head-on fight to protect Kajsa and Scarlet. Baaang! The energy of the ck dragon burst and shook the atmosphere, and the sharp sword flying towards them was pulverized and scattered. To their side. Above the roof. Jude and Cordelia stopped on the roof of a residential house close to the port, and simultaneously looked at the same ce. And Cordelia cursed from the bottom of her heart. ¡°F*ck! As I thought, it¡¯s one of the Ten Great Swordmasters!¡± I knew it! I knew there was a traitor among the Ten Great Swordmasters! Standing on the roof was a tall man with a fine beard. Matteo Luculia. The head of the Luculia family and one of the two members of the Ten Great Swordmasters who lived in the south. In fact, this had already been foreseen. There were only three families that had not been attacked before today, and after excluding the Kagehamas and the Ophands, only the Luculias remained. Matteo frowned at Cordelia¡¯s explicit swearing, but he did not refute it at all. It was true that he, who was called the Sword of Heavy Pressure, had betrayed the other southern families and joined hands with Malekith. ¡°Kajsa Ophand, surrender quietly. I don¡¯t want to be rough on you.¡± As soon as Matteo¡¯s words were over, unidentified men appeared on the roof. They seemed to be in the dozens at first nce, but that wasn¡¯t all. Because swordsmen belonging to Count Luculia showed up everywhere too. ¡°You really betrayed us.¡± Matteo¡¯s betrayal was already confirmed when he appeared here, but Kajsa couldn¡¯t help but say it. The fact that Count Luculia¡¯s swordsmen were here meant that Matteo had indeedpletely betrayed them. What is it? What on earth was promised that he, one of the family heads of the 7 southern families, joined hands with Malekith who had tried to destroy the south in the past? Kajsa didn¡¯t think much about it any longer. He was a traitor anyway, so finding out why he did so didn¡¯t matter to her. ¡®I¡¯ve never liked him even in the past.¡¯ Furthermore, based on what he said, he wasn¡¯t being brainwashed like Sebastian. If so, she just had to knock him down. As Kajsa clenched her fists and growled, Matteo sighed, shaking his head as he drew his sword. ¡°Then it can¡¯t be helped. I¡¯ll have to subdue you by force.¡± Matteo Luculia, the Sword of Heavy Pressure. He was not weak. He was considered to be stronger than Sebastian, the Sword of Swiftness. Therefore, Kajsa broke into a cold sweat as she instinctively felt the difference in power. But not for Scarlet. Her body was sweating, but this was because of her exhaustion from chasing after Jude and Cordelia, and not because she was afraid of Matteo. There was a reason why she was not afraid. It wasn¡¯t because she believed in the strength of Jude and Cordelia. She had never seen Jude and Cordelia fight with their full power in the first ce. There was a reason why she believed in them. A reason why she did not lose herposure even when one of the Ten Great Swordmasters became an enemy. ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to use it?¡± At Scarlet¡¯s question, Cordelia nodded and pulled out an item from the space expansion pocket at her waist. ¡°Kajsa!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Jude grabbed the wrist of Kajsa who reflexively turned her head, while Scarlet ced her hand on Cordelia¡¯s shoulder. Matteo felt that something was wrong and hurriedly sprinted forward, but what Cordelia held in her hand and raised was the Moon Crystal, one of the Rogue Master¡¯s treasures. ¡°F*ck bang.¡± As she said that with a wink, moonlight poured down from the sky. Instead of an explosion, a faint light covered the surrounding area. ¡°No way?!¡± Matteo understood what was happening and hurriedly shot his sword forward. But Jude had no intention of blocking or avoiding it this time. He and Cordelia just smiled. aaaash-! Matteo¡¯s sword pierced the air. It was after Jude, Cordelia, Kajsa, and Scarlet had leapt through space with the moonlight and disappeared. ¡°Damn it!¡± They leapt across space. Matteo quickly closed his eyes and spread out his senses. Because he thought that they couldn¡¯t have gone far since there were many people who leapt through space, and not just one. But it wasn¡¯t. He couldn¡¯t find any traces of them, as they had gone a distance far from what he thought. ¡°Master Matteo?!¡± The swordsmen of Count Luculia approached with bewildered faces, and Matteo raised his head at that moment. He shouted as he pointed to the pir of light still soaring high in the distance. ¡°Let¡¯s move!¡± If they had taken a long-distance space leap from here, they could only go to one ce. Matteo sprinted on the roof again. But it was then. Something moved past Matteo¡¯s head. It seemed to blend into the night sky because of its dark blue scales, but Matteo and everyone present could clearly discern the being crossing above their heads. ck Dragon. Dragons belonging to Malekith¡¯s Dragonflights! There were only two, but their greatness was beyond imagination. Gigantic beings whose body length reached up to 30 meters were flying through the sky, making the sight quite unrealistic. ¡°Rooooooar!¡± One of the dragons roared, and the demons Sicilia gave to Matteo also howled together and revealed their true forms. They followed the dragons and rushed towards the pir of light. *** The group who appeared with the moonlight then raised their heads as soon as theynded. Because the roars of the dragons and demons shook the entire port. ¡°Crazy.¡± At the sight of dragons flying towards them, Kajsa cursed while Scarlet swallowed her breath. She had already heard the situation from Jude and Cordelia, so she believed them to some extent. But after seeing the dragons, she realized that Malekith truly existed. ¡°Hurry up!¡± The dragons were flying straight towards them, so they couldn¡¯t just watch. When Cordelia shouted, Kajsa and Scarlet came to their senses and quickly ran towards the stone statue located in the center of the pir of light, while Jude hurriedly narrowed the distance from the statue by using Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt. ¡°Kajsa!¡± As Cordelia jumped off Jude¡¯s back and shouted, Kajsa threw the token of Carlos in her hand. Cordelia caught the token with her telekic power instead of using her own hands, and looked back at the statue. The moment she faced the huge statue of Carlos that was around 5 meters tall, she instinctively knew where the token should be ced. ¡°There!¡± The sword worn on Carlos¡¯ waist. The token flew towards a hollow spot on the end of the sword handle, and the stone statue reacted. As if it was attracted by a ma, the token settled on the end of the handle. ¡°Roooooooar!¡± The roars of the dragons grew closer. Kajsa and Scarlet shrank back at the Dragon Fear that put the beings around them in a panicked state. And among those present here, Scarlet was the only one ordinary human, so she trembled involuntarily. Kajsa hugged Scarlet¡¯s shoulder. She red at the dragons, growling as if the blood of the divine creature made her do so. And the pir of light disappeared. The magic circle that glowed under the statue disappeared, and a line was drawn in the middle of the statue. It split open, revealing what was hidden inside, and Jude clenched his fist. ¡°Bingo.¡± Carlos¡¯ legacy. A symbol of domination that allowed all the 7 southern families to be under one¡¯s rule. It was a item that did not even appear in the game since it was only a background setting. But on the way here, Jude had already guessed on what Carlos¡¯ legacy might be. ¡®What they were trying to stop was not the forces of the 7 southern families bing into one.¡¯ It definitely wasn¡¯t because they didn¡¯t care about it that much. They did care about it to some extent. But that wasn¡¯t the true reason. ¡®It¡¯s too rough.¡¯ Even though two of the seven families remained, their means of attacking from the front was too rough. If the tokens were truly their goal, it would have been better if they dealt with it secretly like they had previously done. If they had handed over Carlos¡¯ tokens to Count Luculia who was on their side, they would have been able to prevent the union of the 7 southern families, and also prevented it from being used. But the situation changed when they openly attacked with demons and demonic humans now. Even if Count Luculia presented thepleted Carlos¡¯ tokens, it was obvious that he had colluded with the demons to collect it, so the 6 southern families would not have followed his words. ¡®After all, their purpose was not the 7 southern families.¡¯ Their purpose was the legacy itself that could be found through Carlos¡¯ tokens. And if it was something they covet. Especially if it was something Sicilia might be aiming for. ¡°Roooooooar!¡± The ck Dragons roared again. Kajsa yelled at them while Scarlet clenched her teeth to ovee the Dragon Fear. And Cordelia nced at Jude. Instead of getting it for herself, she gave way to Jude. To begin with, it was something that suited the swordsman Jude more than her who was a wizard. ¡°Kuooo!¡± The two ck Dragons swallowed their breaths at the same time. They opened their mouth to fire their Dragon Breaths, but at that moment, Jude reached inside the statue and grabbed Carlos¡¯ legacy. Fuaaaaaaa! They fired their Dragon Breaths. Dark blue beams shot down with a momentum that could swallow the entire central square. But it did not serve its purpose. The Dragon Breaths that they had shot into one were split into two, crushing only the left and right sides of the statue. Kajsa who was hugging Scarlet tightly then opened her eyes. Scarlet panted since her face was buried in Kajsa¡¯s chest, and she looked up at Jude who was standing in front of them. And they both remembered at the same time. The legend of the south. The story of the great hero Carlos. ¡°Ascalon.¡± Ultimate Three. The Dragon Sword that fatally wounded ck Dragon Malekith and sent him into a deep sleep. Jude gripped Ascalon. He red at the ck Dragons with a bitter smile as he heard Valenciaining from the depths of his mind. Chapter 254: Night at Argon Port (2)

Chapter 254: Night at Argon Port (2)

Terms used in this episode: With my sixth door, I¡¯ll pound you into rice cakes. ¨C This is a Naruto meme(?) in Korea. The quote was originally said by Might Guy when he joined the fight against Kisame and Itachi who tried to kidnap Naruto in chapter 143. The reason why I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s a meme or not is because the English trantion tranted that line differently. Guy¡¯s line became ¡®So that is Itachi.¡¯ Pound the rice cake is actually a ng for ¡®to have sex¡¯. So I¡¯m not sure if this was censorship in the English trantion, or Koreans purposely reced the original line with this quote, just for meme purposes. One day, a dwarf artisan from Sword Seeker thought. What is the ultimate sword? What is the strongest sword? Is the ultimate sword simply a sword with a strong attack power? It isn¡¯t. I don¡¯t think it is. Because you can¡¯t properly prove it if it¡¯s the sharpest or the toughest sword in the world. ¡°Then what is the strongest?¡± How can one prove that a sword is the strongest? ¡°The strongest sword is one that can defeat the strongest being. That is the ultimate level we must seek.¡± It was a story that began to get a little weird as it proceeded, but the ancient dwarves were a race that only ran forward once they were fixated on something. The dwarf who originally came up with that idea then gathered dwarves with simr thoughts as him, and these dwarves became one of Sword Seeker¡¯s seven guilds. ¡°The sword that cuts the strongest being. What we need for that is an existence that everyone recognizes as the strongest.¡± The gods of heaven had left the earth. The demons of hell were banished from the earth. Who was the strongest remaining being on the earth then? ¡°Dragon.¡± The strongest race. Those who were born as rulers of winged creatures and wild animals. Descendants of the First Monarch who inherited the ley lines of fantasy. ¡°The ultimate will be realized when we beat the strongest.¡± Thus, the Dragon Bane Guild was created. A group of dwarves who sought to kill dragons. As a matter of fact, it had a somewhat practical purpose. To begin with, the dragons and ancient dwarves were often at odds with each other over the ownership of a mountain range. In fact, many of the dwarves in the Dragon Bane Guild had lost their rtives in the fight against the dragons. ¡°Revenge.¡± A word that described a characteristic trait of the ancient dwarves. Their tenacity to never forget what they had suffered and to enact vengeance. Of course, most of the dragons who confronted the dwarves were themon Adult Dragons. It was too much for the ancient dwarves to face an Ancient Dragon, one that had gone beyond the limits of a dragon. ¡°So we must go beyond it.¡± ¡°A sword that can kill an Adult Dragon is not enough.¡± Their goal was the strongest being. An ultimate sword that could even kill an Ancient Dragon. The founder of the Dragon Bane Guild was Valoran, a dwarf who was born and grew up in Sword Seeker, but it was actually Dragon Hunter Khandomik who led the Dragon Bane Guild. He was someone who not only lost all his loved ones to an ancient dragon who invaded the mountain range, but also lost one of his eyes to it, so he poured out his everything in making a sword that could even kill an Ancient Dragon. But it was an Ancient Dragon. They were the strongest among the dragons who had transcended their limits, so it was not an exaggeration to say that they were like gods who descended on earth. Khandomik and the dwarves of the Dragon Bane Guild created the ¡®Dragon yer series,¡¯ which became the subject of fear, resentment, and hatred for many dragons, but none of these could reach an Ancient Dragon. The Ancient Dragons were too powerful that not a single sword could reach them. But Khandomik and the dwarves did not easily give up. Their tenacity ¨C another word that symbolized ancient dwarves, made them continue despite failing over and over again. And one day. After many failures, they were able toe up with one answer. Or rather, the answer came to them as if responding to their tenacity. ¡°Power, do you want it?¡± Facing the old and weary Khandomik was an Ancient Dragon who was about to die. An Ancient Dragon who hated Ancient Dragons. To an Ancient Dragon like herself, she lost everything she loved as well as her life. ¡°Revenge, do you want it?¡± The Ancient Dragon smiled at Khandomik¡¯s question. To him who answered her question with another question, she nodded her head to the man who had suffered the same fate as her. She gave him everything she had. ¡°Ultimate Three.¡± The third of the seven ultimate swords produced by Sword Seeker. A dragon-ying sword made by forging the soul and body of an Ancient Dragon. It was the birth of Ascalon. *** The Dragon Breath was split. That power, which symbolized a dragon¡¯s strength, destroyed the ground and shook the central square even though it had been split, so it caused an even bigger surprise to those present. ¡°Dragon Bane Ascalon.¡± Kajsa tightly hugged Scarlet as she said with a stunned expression. The sword of the great hero Carlos. The legendary sword he used to defeat the Ancient ck Dragon Malekith. Kajsa¡¯s heart began to pound like crazy. It was only natural because the legend she had longed for since childhood had be a reality and appeared before her eyes. ¡°Aah¡­ Aaah¡­¡± Her body heated up. She couldn¡¯t contain her excitement. Despite the two ck Dragons in front of her, all her senses were focused on the Ascalon that Jude was holding. ¡°Wait a second, wait.¡± Scarlet said just then. She had also admired Jude¡¯s prowess when he split the Dragon Breath with Ascalon, but her reaction was a little different from Kajsa. Because she was a Rogue Master. ¡®You need a Dragon Factor.¡¯ In order to properly use Dragon Bane Ascalon, having the Dragon Factor was necessary. In other words, it was a sword that ordinary humans couldn¡¯t use properly in the first ce. Carlos himself had dragon blood, though he was a quarter dragon. But the moment Scarlet thought that and tried to say her knowledge out loud, she bit her lips again. As she held back her words, she eximed once more in admiration. ¡°Dragon¡­ Factor?¡± Scarlet had seen Ascalon for the first time, but she could tell. Ascalon was crying. Ascalon was roaring in Jude¡¯s hand. ¡®What the¡­ was he a dragon¡¯s descendant?¡¯ He wasn¡¯t. He wasn¡¯t a dragon¡¯s descendant. Unlike Cordelia, Jude was a pure human being. But Jude had the Dragon Factor. And it wasn¡¯t just limited to Jude. ¡°Guardians of the Wild Lands.¡± Cordelia said with a smile. The same pattern appeared on the back of her and Jude¡¯s hands. The emblem of the Golden Dragon King. The guardian symbol given to them by the Golden Dragon King, the god of the wildnds. In the game, there was no way to properly use Dragon Bane Ascalon. Because none of the yable characters inherited the blood of dragons. But now. Jude and Cordelia had the Dragon Factor now. ¡°Hehe, hehehe.¡± Cordelia burst into giggles as her gamer brain began to work, while Jude responded to Ascalon¡¯s roars. By activating the Dragon Factor contained in the Golden Dragon King¡¯s emblem, he epted Ascalon¡¯s power. And it was at that moment. ¡°My sessor is shameless.¡± Time had stopped. The scene in front of him had changed. A world where both the sky and the earth were ck. And a voice full ofints came from behind. ¡°Valencia-¡­nim?¡± Jude turned around in his surprise, and broke out in a cold sweat without realizing it. Because the pouting Valencia was ring at him coldly. ¡°Two-timer.¡± ¡°No, that is¡­¡± ¡°Cheater.¡± ¡°W-wait.¡± ¡°Pervert.¡± ¡°Wait.¡± ¡°You said that you¡¯ll only use me for the rest of your life.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± I never said that? I never said that I won¡¯t use another sword. ¡®Wait, this is making me sound like a scum.¡¯ Jude shook his head as he came to his senses, and said urgently. ¡°Valencia-nim! We¡¯re in an emergency now!¡± ¡°yboy.¡± ¡°Ugh.¡± Come to think of it, she¡¯s a woman whopletely gave up the sword after getting Sword Origin, saying that it was like cheating. So from her point of view, my behavior is no different from cheating itself. ¡®Wait, it¡¯s not cheating! I¡¯m just using two swords!¡¯ Jude tried to calm down and quickly said. ¡°Valencia-nim, I have to use two swords out of necessity. I hope you understand this because I have to fight against dragons.¡± ¡°Are you going to cheat on me then? Is this a harem deration?¡± ¡°Nooo¡­¡± Why is this cheating anyway? ¡®Come to think of it, she didn¡¯t say anything about Cordelia, right?¡¯ But that was natural. Because Valencia herself asserted that she was a sword. ¡°Haa¡­ My sessor, it really can¡¯t be helped.¡± ¡°Valencia-nim?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll specially permit it. As you say, it¡¯s an emergency. My sessor is still not skilled enough.¡± In other words, she was saying that she would allow the use of two swords because he was weak now. ¡°Thank you very much. I¡¯ll make sure that you don¡¯t regret it.¡± ¡°You sound like a real yboy.¡± Valencia said with narrowed eyes, sighing again before she shrugged her shoulders. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s hurry. Time flies slowly because this is the world of your consciousness, but that doesn¡¯t mean it haspletely stopped. We don¡¯t have much left to maintain this current flow of time.¡± Her words were all correct. But why in the world are we hurrying? ¡°Because we¡¯re meeting her. Shouldn¡¯t we at least introduce ourselves since we¡¯re in the same situation from now on?¡± She. A being who had a simr situation as her from now on. Jude turned around naturally. He looked beyond the darkness, and discerned a huge presence. Ancient Blue Dragon Ascalon. A dragon who hated dragons. A being who became a sword spirit after her body and soul was melted into Ultimate Three. A woman stood above the head of the Blue Dragon who was lying down on the floor as if it was dead. She had long sky blue hair and a white fluttering dress that were like that of a goddess. With closed eyes and a gloomy expression, she raised her head. She spoke with her eyes still closed. ¡°Power, do you want it?¡± She didn¡¯t even introduce herself. The space was twisted, and Jude was suddenly in front of the woman. Valencia stood next to Jude and stared at the woman warily, but the woman didn¡¯t stop. She continued to speak with her eyes still closed. All that mattered to her was the will and vengefulness of a dragon. ¡°If you want power¡­¡± Her words were a clich¨¦, but it was fine. Jude took the woman¡¯s outstretched hand, and Valencia held Jude¡¯s other hand as if she didn¡¯t want to lose. Valencia¡¯s hand was warm while the woman¡¯s hand was cold. The woman slowly opened her eyes. She finished her words as she stared at Jude with her blue eyes. ¡°¡­I¡¯ll give it to you.¡± The power to bring about the destruction of dragons. A blue light rose. It swallowed everything around them. *** ¡°Jude!¡± Cordelia shouted and Jude blinked before opening his eyes. Once again, the two adult ck Dragons opened their mouths in front of them. A second shot of Dragon Breath. It was quite hard for them too. But the Ascalon in Jude¡¯s hands forced them to do so. And Jude realized it. Ascalon¡¯s true power had been drawn out, though it was only at the first stage. Kaaaaaaaaaaa-! Ascalon roared. A cry that only dragons could hear then covered the entire port, and the dragons, who had just opened their mouths to fire their breaths, screamed and pped their wings. They soared into the sky as if running away. A Dragon Fear that overwhelmed dragons themselves. Ascalon¡¯s sword was white in color. It was a two-handed sword that was close to a ymore than a normal longsword, and the de and handle were connected as one without anything separating it. And a blue gem. The gem embedded in the part connecting the handle and the de was cold blue in color like Ascalon¡¯s eyes. Ascalon bestowed her power to Jude. The white sword was filled with the energy of the dragon and glowed blue. The ck Dragons¡¯ scales, skin, and so on were powerless against such a power. ¡°Kiaaaak!¡± ¡°Kiaak!¡± The roars of the two ck Dragons shook the sky, and Cordelia smiled but flinched when she looked ahead. Matteo and his men were running towards them. Moreover, they weren¡¯t the only ones. Cordelia instinctively turned around and looked up the sky. ¡°Crazy.¡± Creatures covered the dark night sky. Wyverns belonging to Malekith¡¯s ck Dragonflights. Sicilia no longer spared her troops. She revealed her card called Matteo, and poured out all the troops under hermand. ¡®Ascalon.¡¯ The dragon sword that defeated Malekith. They must take it. They had to steal it. ¡°Keuaaa!¡± Wyverns and Drakes roared as they charged. And it wasn¡¯t just them. ¡°The ground is shaking.¡± It was as Kajsa had said. The ground was shaking because of the group rushing from afar. The Vorgs from the ck Hand Mercenaries. Having lost their boss, Gamorr Khan, they were brought under Sicilia¡¯smand and headed to the battlefield, following her presentmands. ¡°What a spectacr sight.¡± Matteo said with a smile. Their numbers reached in the hundreds with just the demons he was leading now. Count Luculia¡¯s twenty or more swordsmen were added to this, and with the dozens of wyverns in the sky and the hundred Vorgs in the ground, their power was truly astounding. Moreover, there were two adult ck Dragons in the sky. ¡®The 7 southern families cannote forward.¡¯ Argon Port was under the direct jurisdiction of the royal family. It was a kind of neutral ground for the 7 southern families, so the families only stationed a small number of troops in Argon Port. ¡®Ten to twenty at most.¡¯ The southern families wouldn¡¯t send out their troops with just that number. They would be busy protecting or fleeing their homes. ¡®Even if the knight order came forward, it would be useless.¡¯ The Knights of the Sea Lion that were under the royal family¡¯smand were the ones in charge of the port¡¯s protection. But they numbered only around twenty at most. The number of guards were also around thirty, so if they headed to this ce, they would only be killed. ¡°It seems like victory is promised to our side.¡± Matteo spoke softly as he drew out his sword, and so did his subordinates. ¡°D-damn it.¡± Kajsa had blushed when she felt the power of Ascalon that she had admired as a child, but it was different now. Her body had stiffened at the ominous energy that surrounded them, and she hurriedly turned to Cordelia and said. ¡°That thing! That moonlight!¡± The Moon Crystal¡¯s space leap. But it was impossible right now. The Moon Crystal¡¯s space leap could only be used three times a day, and it required a little preparation time before each use. ¡°It¡¯s cooldown time.¡± ¡°What the heck is that!¡± But she could tell from the atmosphere of Cordelia who responded. It seemed like she couldn¡¯t use it right now. ¡°Damn it.¡± Kajsa cursed again before she took a deep breath and pulled out the axe on her back. Now that it hade to this, she had to crazily go wild. Kajsa Ophand was a brave wolf and not a frightened puppy. ¡°A head-on confrontation is stupid. We have to find a way out.¡± Scarlet quickly spoke and lowered her whip sword. Cordelia nodded and spread out her wings as her hair turned ck. It was her Fallen Angel mode. And Jude looked up the sky. As if they were wary of Ascalon, the ck Dragons were preparing magic from high above, and the wyverns were flying at some distance away. There were also the ck Hand Mercenaries who shook the ground as they came rushing in. ¡®My sessor, don¡¯t be afraid. I will be with you.¡¯ Sword Origin Valencia said. Jude smiled at her words. He was surrounded by numerous enemies and faced the worst crisis, but instead of trembling in fear, he turned his head in happiness. His eyes saw Cordelia¡¯s face. ¡°Jude?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know yet?¡± What are you talking about? What is it that I don¡¯t know? So Cordelia looked into Jude¡¯s eyes and immediately understood. She realized that they had been distracted by Matteo and the forces surrounding them. That was why she brightly smiled like Jude. ¡°What the-¡­ Have you two gone crazy?¡± Scarlet nodded her head at Kajsa¡¯s question. Because it was a question that she had also wanted to ask. But it wasn¡¯t like that. The magic spell of the ck Dragons in the sky werepleted, and the wyverns and Vorgs roared as their distance to them had suddenly narrowed before they knew it, and Matteo, a member of the Ten Great Swordmasters, also drew closer. Jude gazed at the night sky. And as he expected, they came. He heard the cries of crows from afar. ¡°Ghostde Kamael.¡± The main protagonist of the first episode of Legend of Heroes. One of the Four Great Swordsmen in Pleiades. The leader of the Vorgs, who was blindly rushing, then copsed. A streak of blue light swept through them as red blood flowed. The bodies of several Vorgs were cleanly cut into two and rolled on the white frosted floor. And the flock of crows scattered. A white-haired swordsman dressed in all ck then appeared in between the crows. Kajsa¡¯s eyes widened. Scarlet looked up the sky and her eyes sparkled. Cordelia said with a bright smile. ¡°Holy Angel Lena.¡± White light rained down from the sky. Just like the Day of Judgment that Cordelia used, dozens of light des struck the wyverns in the lead. ¡°Keuaaaak!¡± ¡°Kaaaak! Kaak!¡± Several wyverns and a couple of drakes in the front plummeted to the ground. The vigorously flying wyverns faltered and instinctively felt fear at the white angel in front of them. The members of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. Those members had arrived at Argon Port a few days before Jude and Cordelia, and they had done their duties properly. They managed to call Ghostde Kamael and Holy Angel Lena to this ce. And the appearance of those two could only mean one thing. Matteo shuddered at the eerie sensation he felt that seemed to stab his back. For the first time since he became one of the Ten Great Swordmasters, he looked back in fear. He wasn¡¯t the only one. The entire force Sicilia mobilized also became aware of that presence. They couldn¡¯t help but notice it given its huge presence. A man who stood tall on the ground. A giant who stood in the middle of the main road across the central square. ¡°May the muscles always be with you!¡± Cordelia shouted in joy. Kajsa was so surprised that she jumped up from her spot, while Scarlet swallowed hard at the appearance of a legend. And that person responded to everyone¡¯s gaze and attention. ¡°A mind of steel, an indomitable will, and an invincible body.¡± Two adult ck Dragons. Dozens of wyverns and a hundred Vorgs. Matteo Luculia, the Sword of Heavy Pressure who was considered to be above average among the Ten Great Swordmasters of the kingdom. The twenty elite swordsmen he raised. Over a hundred demons and more than ten low-ranking demonic humans. There were many of them. And powerful enough to destroy at least one city. But that person wasn¡¯t afraid at all. Rather, he said with a smile that was like the sun. ¡°With my sixth door, I¡¯ll pound you into rice cakes.¡± Iron Man Landius. The strongest force of humanity shook the entire Argon Port. Chapter 255: Night at Argon Port (3)

Chapter 255: Night at Argon Port (3)

We finally named the kitten as ¡®Silver.¡¯ Sicilia knew about the five heroes of Paragon. Hero. It referred to those who had gone beyond the limits of their race and performed miracles that couldn¡¯t be called a coincidence by anyone. The five heroes of Paragon were true heroes. It was no exaggeration to say that they were the legends of this era, as they had defeated a Demon Prince, as well as his army, with just their human bodies. ¡°They¡¯re the same.¡± Those that Sicilia didn¡¯t know, and those that she had experienced firsthand. Just like the five heroes of Paragon, there were also people she knew who caused miracles. ¡°Carlos.¡± The great hero of the southern region. Dragon yer. ¡°Lion D. S?len.¡± The founder of the S?len Kingdom. A person born with the power of gods through atavism. A demigod whose existence was already a miracle in itself. Carlos and Lion were heroes. They went beyond the limits of their race, and created miracles that anyone couldn¡¯t call as coincidental. And they actually performed miracles. With their human bodies, they defeated Ancient ck Dragon Malekith, Sicilia¡¯s master and lover. ¡°They¡¯re the only threat.¡± Carlos and Lion were no longer here. There were people who were called the Ten Great Swordmasters, but their power couldn¡¯t reach that of Carlos and Lion. So Sicilia kept a close eye on the five heroes of Paragon. Because she judged that there was no one else but them who could perform another miracle. The five heroes were scattered here and there and were not gathered in one ce. Both Kamael and Landius traveled across the continent, and Holy Angel Lena disappeared one day and went missing. Velkian went into seclusion and his whereabouts were unknown, while it had almost been 10 years since everyone had contact with Archdruid Fran ever since he disappeared into nature. ¡°So it¡¯s fine.¡± Because the five would never gather as one again. Because the five traversed the continent, but did not gather in the southern region. And even if all five of them were united again, it would be fine if Malekith was fully resurrected by then. Malekith would not allow the five heroes of Paragon to create a miracle again. Sicilia heavily breathed. She saw Argon Port through the eyes of her subordinate wyverns, so her hands trembled without her realizing it. ¡°There you are. Watch clearly then.¡± Landius said. He gazed straight at the wyvern, as if he could see Sicilia standing beyond them. That was impossible. But it was already happening before her eyes. ¡°The first door.¡± Landius regted his breathing. He opened the doors of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors one by one in turn. The entire port shook every time a door was opened. First door. Second door. Third door. ¡°Kiaaaa!¡± The wyverns lost their minds at the huge force that shook the port. The Vorgs were sweating profusely and took a step backwards, and the adult ck Dragons did not even dare to use the magic spell they hadpleted. Fourth door. Fifth door. Sicilia wanted to look away. But she couldn¡¯t. The ability Landius learned by opening the sixth door of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors did not allow her to look away. And the sixth door. When the sixth door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors opened. Baaaang! A roar shook the atmosphere. A golden aura arose over Landius¡¯ entire body, and a power that could only be described as outrageous rose from him, overwhelming everyone around him. Indeed, it was like the sun itself had descended on earth. ¡°How¡­¡± Matteo couldn¡¯t speak properly. Because he was one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. ¡®How is it possible?¡¯ Matteo was one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. Therefore, unlike the others, it was possible for him to roughly estimate how great the power Landius was giving off now. And he could sense it at the same time. ¡®That¡¯s not all.¡¯ It was not the end. Landius was hiding a greater power. That monstrous person could even get stronger. ¡°Rooooooar!¡± A ck Dragon roared. It was unknown if it went crazy because of fear or if it was trying to ovee its fear, but it rushed towards Landius. It opened its mouth wide and fired its breath as it shot the magic it had prepared at the same time. Fuaaaaaa-! The dark blue Dragon Breath shot forward like a ray of light. The power of the curse magic spell as it narrowed the distance let out a strange ghostly wail. Landius saw it. But instead of dodging or blocking, he clenched his fist and yelled. His fist covered by a golden aura then collided with the Dragon Breath. Baaang! His fist crushed the Dragon Breath. The ray of light was destroyed. No, it didn¡¯t stop there as the direction was reversed. Kaboooom-! The dark blue Dragon Breath was pushed back by the golden fist and headed towards the ck Dragons. The curse magic struck Landius, but a mere curse was no problem for Landius who had a mind of steel and an invincible body. ¡°Keuaaa!¡± The ck Dragon shrieked when it got hit by the fragments of the Dragon Breath that flowed back. But not yet. This was only the beginning. Boom! Landius kicked the ground. Thirty-Six World Steps. No, it looked like Twenty-Four Gale Steps. Landius was surrounded by a golden whirlwind as he narrowed the distance between the ck Dragon and himself with just one leap. ¡°Blink spell?!¡± A short-distance space leap magic spell. Scarlet unconsciously cried, but she was wrong. He had just moved so quickly after he kicked the ground. But the effect was like the Blink spell. Landius appeared above the ck Dragon¡¯s head and struck his fist. Booooom! The dragon¡¯s massive body that reached 30 meters in length plummeted down headfirst. It struck the ground so fast that one couldn¡¯t even call it a fall, but Landius narrowed the gap between him and the ck Dragon once more by kicking the air. He grabbed the tail of the dragon who was trying to escape reflexively, and very naturally rotated the dragon¡¯s body around him. ¡°Ooooo!¡± The dragon¡¯s giant body rose upwards as if it wasn¡¯t heavy, and began to be spun around wildly by Landius. It was an unrealistic scene, but it was definitely reality. ¡°Haa!¡± Boooooom! The ck Dragon was thrown by Landius and smashed the ground as it rolled over. The dragon had already been silent since it was hit in the head, but seemed like it had lost its consciousness when it rolled over the floor before its body slumped and stopped moving. Three moves only. The number of attacks that he needed to bring down an adult ck Dragon. No, it wasn¡¯t the number of attacks that mattered. Each part of the process mattered. ¡°I-Is this for real?¡± Kajsa asked, and Scarlet forced herself to breathe. Because she had lost her senses in the midst of hermon sense being destroyed in real time. And Cordelia had a bit of a silly smile. She pulled Jude¡¯s sleeve and made him look at her before she put her hand on her chest and spoke. ¡°It really makes my heart flutter.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Jude had a silly smile too. And at that moment, Landius kicked the ground again. The time at the port, which had stopped due to everyone¡¯s shock and horror, began to flow again. ¡°Kaaak! Kaaaaaak!¡± The other ck Dragon that was in the sky pped its wings in fright. It hurriedly flew up to somehow escape, but it was toote. ¡°Uoooooo!¡± Landius¡¯ fist struck it in the chest. The sight of a huge ck Dragon coughing blood in the air as it suffered was truly bizarre and unnatural. ¡°Kaaaak! Kaak!¡± When Landius began to beat the ck Dragon, Jude and Cordelia looked at each other again. After exchanging nces once, the two of them began to move. Bang! Jude used his Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt. He approached the ck Dragon that had been felled by Landius, and activated Ultimate Three ¨C Ascalon. Aaaaaaaaa-! Ascalon roared. Its hatred for dragons covered the white sword with coldness. ¡®Thank you for the food!¡¯ The dragon was already on the verge of death, so he just needed to deal thest hit. Jude looked at the ck Dragon¡¯s chest with his ability to see through things, and captured exactly where the dragon¡¯s heart was. After climbing on the upper body of the dragon who was lying down on its back, he stabbed Ascalon onto the heart¡¯s location. Aaaaaaaaaaaa-! Ascalon roared once more. It surrounded the heart of the ck Dragon with a terrifying chill and began to devour its soul as well as its strength and magical power. Dragon Bane. A bringer of death to the dragons. A portion of the dragon¡¯s power was absorbed by Ascalon and then transmitted to Jude through the Golden Dragon King¡¯s emblem. It made the dragon power of Jude stronger. And while Jude was busy getting carried by Landius while having done nothing to defeat the dragon, Cordelia spread her wings and flew away. She quickly headed to Lena and widely smiled as she offered the Heavenly Judgment. ¡°Let¡¯s do it together!¡± Something that they had already done once in the wildnds. Lena nodded her head. She likewise had a wide smile as she put one arm around Cordelia¡¯s waist, and the other hand on the Heavenly Judgment. [What are you doing! Fight! Get your act together!] Sicilia hurriedly shouted to awaken the wyverns, but it was toote. When the wyverns hastily opened their mouths, Lena and Cordelia had already invoked Day of Judgment. Bota-bota-bota-bota-bota-! des of light fell like rain from the sky. The power of each de was not ordinary, so the wyverns couldn¡¯t stand it and fell to the ground. ¡°Keuaaak!¡± Just then, a ck Dragon with a smashed head crashed towards the ground. At the sound of the fall, Kajsa and Scarlet turned quickly, and witnessed the sight of Jude who had suddenly ran towards the dragon to deal thest hit. And it was the same for the forces that had been attacking. The demons and Vorgs controlled by Sicilia screamed and rushed at themand that went against their instincts, and Count Luculia¡¯s swordsmen hurriedly turned to Matteo. ¡°W-what should we do!¡± ¡°We should also char-¡­ Master Matteo?!¡± Count Luculia¡¯s swordsmen were bewildered. Because they could not see the figure of Matteo Luculia, who had been beside them until now. ¡°N-no way?¡± One of the swordsmen shouted loudly and turned to a distant ce, and he found out that his guess was right. Matteo had already begun his silent escape when the first ck Dragon was thrown down. ¡°Master Matteo!¡± ¡°W-we too!¡± They were the swordsmen he carefully raised one by one, but Matteo did not look back. Because he knew better than anyone that he would be unable to get out of this ce if he dyed for a bit longer. ¡®The five heroes of Paragon!¡¯ He already knew. Everyone knew that they were strong. But their strength was beyond one¡¯s imagination. He never imagined that they would be that strong. ¡®It¡¯s impossible for me alone.¡¯ They were three and he was only one. He couldn¡¯t count the demonic humans and demons. In a fight against people who had transcended the limits of their race, the number of those who had not transcended were meaningless. ¡®I should escape from here.¡¯ He had to leave first. His priority was to meet Sicilia again and strengthen their forces. And this was something that Sicilia also agreed with. She had sent the Vorgs and demons all over the ce to attack the civilians in the port, and keep the heroes of Paragon, including Landius, busy. In fact, right after defeating the second dragon, Landius flew towards the Vorgs and not towards Matteo. ¡°Master Matteo!¡± The voices of the swordsmen grew increasingly distant. It was natural. Only someone on the level of the Ten Great Swordmasters or more could catch someone from the Ten Great Swordmasters who was determined to flee. ¡°Damn it!¡± Matteo cursed and quickly swung his sword. But Matteo¡¯s sword only cut the air. Dozens to hundreds of crows cawed at the same time and passed by Matteo, flying and scattering in all directions as if thunder had struck. ¡°How foolish, Matteo Luculia.¡± He appeared among the crows. Ghostde Kamael. The strongest in the Guardians of the Holy Cross. He was different from Landius. He was a person who could afford to have victims for the sake of his purpose. ¡®No, there should not be any victims.¡¯ Because Landius was here. Because he would stop any innocent people from bing victims. Kamael¡¯s trust in Landius was absolute. That was why he could fully concentrate on Matteo. Skriiiiiiiiiiiik! Cold air widely spread and the ground froze. Kamael¡¯s cold-looking eyes in between his white hair then stared at Matteo. ¡°Did you think that you could run away?¡± The person standing here was not a clone. It was the main body of Ghostde Kamael, who was said to beparable to the Sword God. ¡°Matteo Luculia, I shall detain you.¡± Kamael drew his sword. He unfolded the Sword of Moon, his power that was opposite Landius¡¯ sun. Chapter 256: Night at Argon Port (4)

Chapter 256: Night at Argon Port (4)

Late post. My house¡¯s inte connection got cut off yesterday because I waste in paying the bills, so I had to use mobile data for this. Oops. ???? Terms used in this episode: ymore mine ¨C an antipersonnel mine designed to produce a direction-guided, fan-shaped pattern of fragments upon explosion. The battle at the port proceeded very quickly. Because the difference in fighting power between the two sides was too great. No one could stop Landius on the battlefield where Matteo and the two adult ck Dragons had dropped out of. Or rather, even if the three were still present in the battlefield, it wouldn¡¯t have changed much. ¡°The Power of the Sun!¡± When Landius raised his clenched fist, the Power of the Sun was focused on its end. The golden aura gave off a strong light and heat, making it seem like he was really holding a small sun in his hand. ¡°Haa!¡± Landius jumped high and moved the sun to his palm that had been focused on his fist earlier, and then spread his hand wide. And in that manner, he threw the now-huge sun into the middle of the demons. ¡°Kiaaaaaaaaaa!¡± The screams of the demons did notst long. As the sun exploded, immense light and heat were released, and the demons within a radius of about 10 meters were literally annihted. It was a truly incredible power. But instead of being satisfied with that, Landius kicked off to the air again in order to prevent the movement of the demons. ¡°Help me!¡± Landius jumped in between the demons and moved his hands and feet, killing five demons in an instant. The one who was struck on the head lost its head, and the one who was struck on the chest lost its chest. In the face of such destructive power that was beyondmon sense, all things were equal. Therefore, Kajsa and Scarlet couldn¡¯t understand Landius words quickly because they saw the demons being defeated with only the shock waves in between the moments Landius flew again. No, they had heard it clearly, but it was almost like their bodies were unable to react immediately. ¡®Help me?¡¯ Help who? Kajsa blinked again, but Scarlet came to her senses. Because she understood what Landius meant by asking for help. ¡°We have to stop them! We must fight too!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Civilian casualties!¡± She no longer exined it further. Scarlet gripped her whip sword and rushed right away, and Kajsa blinked a few more times beforeing to her senses like Scarlet did. Landius was strong. Even if the demons were ten times more than now, that invincible Iron Man would eventually defeat them all, but it would clearly take him a long time to do that. But the civilians at the port were different. They were weak and needed protection. ¡°These trash!¡± The demons scattered everywhere instead of fighting Landius. Because Sicilia changed hermand. ¡®Buy time.¡¯ It was foolish to focus their forces on Landius. If she had done that, it would have shortened the time rather than extending it. So Sicilia dispersed her troops in all directions. The ce they were fighting now was not an open field or an uninhabited ruin. It was a port city with arge number of residents, so she took advantage of that. ¡°Uoooooo!¡± Landius flew again and used his hands and feet to crush the demons. He couldn¡¯t blow them up with his energy or sweep them away like he did before. ¡®Because it will harm the civilians.¡¯ The situation was different from the central square where it was open on all sides. So if he used a powerful destructive technique, the buildings would instantly copse, and the people inside it would be unable to escape death. ¡°Haaaa!¡± Scarlet swung her whip sword and cut the throats of the demons who were about to jump inside a private residence. Kajsa beat up the Vorgs from the ck Hand Mercenaries and took the weapons they were holding before she began to run wild. ¡°Lena!¡± When Landius shouted again, Lena who was defeating the wyverns in the sky then nodded her head. ¡°Cordelia! Go to the ground! Leave this ce to me!¡± ¡°Yes! Lena-nim!¡± Cordelia immediately answered and turned her body in the air as she scattered dozens of magic missiles. She swept away any nearby wyverns as if a ymore mine had exploded before she flew to the ground. Lena red at the wyverns instead of following Cordelia. As expected, the wyverns in the back began to retreat rather than scattering around like the demons or attacking civilians. ¡®The wyverns must be rescued.¡¯ Sicilia had decided that. With the forces she had now, she couldn¡¯t steal Carlos¡¯ legacy, Ultimate Three ¨C Dragon Sword Ascalon. Or rather, they would only be annihted if they tried to steal it. So she had to save what she could save, and give up on what she could give up. Sicilia chose the wyverns and Matteo whom she could save, and gave up on the demons and Vorgs of the ck Hand Mercenaries. ¡°Kyaaaa!¡± ¡°It¡¯s a demon!¡± ¡°Help!¡± ¡°Heeeelp!¡± Screams began to erupt everywhere. It was the screams of people who woke up to the sounds of fighting, opened their windows, or were attacked by the demons. ¡°Stay away!¡± Cordelianded on the ground and simultaneously summoned five ck spears that pierced the heads of five monsters afterwards. ¡°Are you okay?¡± ¡°Haaaa¡­ haa¡­ I-I¡¯m okay¡­¡± The man who seemed to be a store owner replied with a teary face. He did not seem to be injured, so Cordelia quickly turned back and summoned more magic spears. Her senses were telling her something like always. ¡®We need more people.¡¯ They needed a few more people topletely stop the enemies. The ck Hand Mercenaries and the demons numbered over two hundred. Even if Landius and Cordelia were skilled, it was difficult to stop them if they were scattered like now. ¡°Pink Bomb!¡± Just then, Scarlet shouted loudly as she ran on the roof, and Cordelia turned to the direction she was pointing. She then shouted with a big smile. ¡°Carmen!¡± A veteran Saint (holy fighter) of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. She wasn¡¯t alone. Members of the Guardians of the Holy Cross including Manuel, were running from roof to roof. ¡°Nice!¡± The demons could be stopped. If it proceeded like this, they would be able to protect everyone. Cordelia spread her wings and flew up before flying towards the demons again. And at the same time, Jude cut the chest of the second dragon and extracted the Dragon Heart, thereby killing the dragon. One heart was absorbed by Ascalon, but the other had to be taken and given to Cordelia. ¡°Woah, woah, calm down.¡± But contrary to Jude¡¯s words, a biting cold rose from Ascalon¡¯s white de like a me. As a dragon who hated dragons, Ascalon wanted the dragon¡¯s soul and body. ¡°You can¡¯t.¡± Because I have to give it to Cordelia. Jude suppressed Ascalon again before turning his gaze away from the Dragon Heart, a gem that was slightlyrger than a fist. Because the sound of a horn was heard amidst the noise of the battles everywhere. ¡®Are they finally here?¡¯ The royal knights and guards in charge of the port¡¯s protection. The wyverns who had covered the skies then dispersed in all directions and fled. Instead of chasing after them, Lena headed to the ground to clear the demons and Vorgs while treating the wounded civilians. ¡®Has the situation settled down?¡¯ The members of the Guardians of the Holy Cross and the guards were now present, so Jude thought that there was no need for him to step forward. Therefore, Jude turned to the small presence he felt behind him. ¡°Ah! Is this a dragon! Eh, Lord Jude?!¡± It was Bentham who had shouted in surprise. He was dressed in his pajamas as if he had just run out of his bed, but behind him were dwarves in simr outfits, though each of them were holding weapons such as hammers and axes. They had probably ran out after hearing themotion. ¡°Lord Jude, what in the world is this¡­¡± ¡°You can rest assured now since the situation has been resolved. We¡¯ll give you a detailed exnation once it¡¯spletely over.¡± Jude who had opened the sixth door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors was not an ordinary human being. He was a bit closer to a transcendental state, so his words had a supernatural persuasiveness to it. ¡°I-I understand.¡± When Bentham agreed, the other dwarves nodded their heads too instead of saying anything else. Or rather, their interests seemed to have changed when they saw the dragon¡¯s corpse in the first ce. If it weren¡¯t for Jude, they would have rushed in and began dismantling the corpse. So Jude wanted to warn them, but he stopped. Because Landius who had cleared up the ce soon ran towards them. ¡°The dragons?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve finished them.¡± At Jude¡¯s answer, Landius nodded and turned around again. Without a moment¡¯s rest, he flew towards another direction again. It seemed like there was still a lot of work left for him to do. ¡®It¡¯s always amazing to see it.¡¯ Iron Man Landius. The sight of him beating the ck Dragon¡¯s body and throwing it away had remained in Jude¡¯s mind. It was an unbelievable sight when one used theirmon sense, but it was not strange for Landius, as if it was as natural as water flowing from high to low ces. Therefore, Jude felt a sense of incongruity in other areas. ¡®Why is he so strong?¡¯ Landius was clearly a strong person. He was the main protagonist of the first episode of Legend of Heroes. Ancestral Regression and Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors were added to this, so it was natural for Landius to be stronger than the Landius in the first episode since he had trained for ten years. But isn¡¯t he too powerful? Landius¡¯ power was so great to the point that he felt that something was strange. ¡®How did he die in the game?¡¯ Landius was obviously not invincible. Even Malekith, the enemy they were going to face this time, was stronger than Landius. But it was also like saying that no one could kill Landius unless they were on the same level as Malekith. ¡®It¡¯s impossible for Duke.¡¯ He couldn¡¯t imagine Duke killing Landius. There seemed to be some other reason for Landius¡¯ death. ¡®Maybe it has already changed due to the butterfly effect.¡¯ Landius¡¯ survival and even his increase in strength. ¡®Because a lot of things have changed.¡¯ Like the Ascalon he was holding in his hand right now. In the game, Ascalon was kept in the ruins that Gamorr Khan had found. ¡®Of course, that¡¯s how it was mentioned in the game, but I never ever found it in those ruins¡­ Perhaps it was a fake that was kept there.¡¯ It wasmon to disy a fake in order to hide the real treasure. ¡®Anyway, we did it.¡¯ Jude let down his shoulders and restrained the power of Ascalon that was still emitting a biting chill. After returning it back to its normal sword form and wearing it on his waist, he felt that Valencia was smiling in satisfaction in the depths of his mind. She seemed to be pleased that he returned to one sword and gave up on wielding two swords. ¡®But what if I learn dual wielding?¡¯ Will she get mad at me from suddenly having three swords instead of two? Jude was a little curious, but shook his head afterwards. Because Valencia was alreadyining and staring at him coldly because of Ascalon, so it would be far worse if he added another one. Just imagining it was already terrible. ¡®Anyway¡­ the results are good.¡¯ Not only did they acquire Carlos¡¯ token, but they also got Ascalon, a weapon that could be considered as Malekith¡¯s natural enemy. The heroes of Paragon that were led by Landius had also joined in, so the forces that could face Malekith had instantly increased. ¡®We can¡¯t waste any more time.¡¯ Waiting for Malekith to be resurrected before they attack was the worst idea. ¡®We should attack Malekith.¡¯ Before Malekith was resurrected properly, they had to create a situation in which there was no other result but victory. ¡®Sicilia.¡¯ The present attack had convinced Jude. It was Sicilia who was now leading Malekith¡¯s subordinates. Then what would she do from now on? What would she do next after losing Gamorr Khan and Madhur, and failing to get Ascalon? ¡®There¡¯s only one answer.¡¯ The thing she would do next and the consequences of that. And Jude woulde up with countermeasures in anticipation for that. With a dark smile, Jude turned to the south. He looked over the horizon. ***Sicilia raised her head. As soon as she broke her mental connection with the wyverns, she leant back on her chair and roughly breathed. ¡°Haa¡­ haa¡­¡± Her entire body was drenched in sweat, but she didn¡¯t even have the time to wipe it off. Sicilia stabilized her breathing before she got up from her seat and left the room. Gamorr Khan had disappeared. Madhur was killed, and Ascalon was taken by the enemy. Moreover, these were not the only losses. Sebastian whom she had charmed was already free from her spell. The Kraken which had been released in the sea to cause chaos was sealed again too. ¡®Jude Bayer and Cordelia Chase.¡¯ Two people that the demon followers had warned her about. In fact, Sicilia was not aware that everything she had nned had gone wrong because of Jude and Cordelia. The capture of Gamorr Khan, the death of Madhur, the sealing of the Kraken, and the stealing of Ascalon. And even Jabberwock in the Forest of Eternity. Nearly everything that Malekith had prepared to cause chaos to the south before his resurrection had been ruined by Jude and Cordelia. ¡®Matteo Luculia.¡¯ Sicilia erased his name from her mind. He was a man whose life or death had yet to be confirmed, but she had a feeling that even if he was alive or dead, she would be unable to use his power again. ¡®We¡¯ve already been revealed. In that case, I have no choice but to hit them harder.¡¯ Sicilia stopped in her tracks for a moment as she adjusted her breathing again. She then straightened her clothes before looking at therge steel doors in front of her. The being who was beyond that door. One of the Three Knights of Malekith, and a powerful being who was the actual leader of the Dragonflights. ¡°Orga, I¡¯ming in.¡± The steel doors opened to the sides with a dull sound as if responding to Sicilia¡¯s voice. Sicilia swallowed hard at the sight beyond the door that waspletely ck as if it was the entrance to the abyss. She caught her breath once more and clenched her fists in determination before taking a step forward. She entered the residence of Dragon General Orga, Malekith¡¯s sessor. *** ¡°Disciple, how many doors have you opened?¡± ¡°Six doors.¡± ¡°F*ck.¡± Chapter 257: Surprise Attack (1)

Chapter 257: Surprise Attack (1)

It was well past midnight, but Argon Port was noisy as if it were daytime. ¡°This way!¡± ¡°We need more lights!¡± ¡°There! Over there!¡± The knights and guards roamed the streets to search for any remaining ck Hand Mercenaries and demons. ¡°Don¡¯t go around thoughtlessly!¡± ¡°Lock your doors and windows!¡± ¡°Those whose walls have already fallen, gather in the square! That side is safe!¡± Most of the fighting took ce in the central square, but the Vorgs and demons scattered everywhere caused civilian damage. The fact that there were only injuries and no deaths when such amotion had happened was truly surprising though. ¡°Send someone to Count Kagehama as well.¡± Two of the seven southern families were attacked this night. Unlike the Ophands who defended themselves well, the Kagehamas suffered so much damage that not only the mansion burned down and all the walls copsed, but many employees died too. ¡°How is Count Kagehama?¡± The adjutant narrowed his brows at the question of Sir Marcus, head of the Knights of the Sea Lion that were in charge of Argon Port¡¯s security, and answered. ¡°It¡¯s not life-threatening, but I think there¡¯s a problem with his head. The doctors say that it¡¯s short-term memory loss.¡± ¡°Memory loss?¡± ¡°Yes. He said that hepletely forgot on what happened tonight.¡± ¡°Ha, seriously¡­ Any otherplications?¡± ¡°They say that there are no visibleplications right now.¡± ¡°I see.¡± His mansion had been destroyed overnight, but apart from his injuries, he only received a mental shock. ¡°Commander, the guards have arrested seven dwarven artisans in the central square.¡± ¡°Dwarves? Why all of a sudden? Did they get into a fight with the people around them?¡± ¡°Yes, they were caught trying to steal a part of the ck Dragons¡¯ corpse and got into an argument with the Guardians of the Holy Cross.¡± Sir Marcus frowned at the report of his subordinate knight. ¡°They really are dwarves.¡± They were a race that he couldn¡¯t like even if he wanted to because they were not only stubborn, but were also greedy and highly prideful. As themon prejudice on dwarves strengthened on Sir Marcus, the adjutant standing next to him added cautiously. ¡°For the dwarves, it¡¯s like a gold treasure¡­ no, it¡¯s like having a sumptuous feast spread out in front of you but you¡¯re forbidden from eating any of it.¡± ¡°Really? So if you¡¯re forbidden from partaking in that sumptuous feast, you¡¯re going to steal it?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ well¡­¡± The adjutant who got admonished was crushed when his efforts to defend them ended up in vain and even backfired, and Sir Marcus clicked his tongue at the pitiful sight before asking the knight who reported the arrest. ¡°What about the key people in this incident?¡± ¡°They said that they¡¯ll tell us about the circumstances once they¡¯ve treated their injuries.¡± ¡°Tsk.¡± Upon hearing the knight¡¯s report, Sir Marcus clicked his tongue again, revealing his displeasure. Because he was annoyed at the fact that they had yet to tell them of the full situation despite an incident that shook the security of the entire Argon Port. ¡®I am thankful if they should be thanked, but f*cking pissed if they¡¯re the ones who f*cked things up.¡¯ He was grateful that the incident which could have turned into a huge disaster was prevented, but the circumstances regarding the incident had yet to be rified. Perhaps it was their fault that the port was put into danger in the first ce. ¡®Of course, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s the case considering the circumstances.¡¯ In any case, Sir Marcus wanted to hear about the incident¡¯s details by detaining the key people involved, but he couldn¡¯t actually do that. Because his opponents were really big. ¡®It would have been better if was from the 7 southern families.¡¯ The heroes of Paragon. How in the world could he detain those people? ¡°Okay. Just tell them that I¡¯ll meet them tomorrow morning.¡± ¡°Eh? Morning?¡± ¡°It¡¯s almost dawn anyway. It¡¯s better to let them rest properly than just taking a short break.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± When the knight withdrew, Sir Marcus looked back at the central square. Thinking about the dozens of wyvern corpses lying there as well as the dragon corpses that he had only seen in storybooks gave him the chills again. ¡®It¡¯s only for today.¡¯ All these unbelievable things will only be for today. Sir Marcus slowly nodded as he tried to calm himself down. Without knowing on what was going to happen in the future. *** ¡°Disciple, how many doors have you opened?¡± ¡°Six doors.¡± ¡°F*ck.¡± Scarlet flinched when a curse word came out of Landius¡¯ mouth. She had heard that he was strong, but upon seeing for herself the power of Landius that was beyond the limits of a human, she was blown away and became somehow afraid. But unlike Scarlet, Kajsa was examining Landius¡¯ entire body with sparkling eyes. She had such a desirous gaze that it seemed like she wanted to stroke it affectionately. As for another person. Sitting next to Lena who had a gentle smile, Cordelia thought with a big smile. ¡®As I thought, f*ck is an exmation!¡¯ She had always said that it was an exmation. Moreover, Landius¡¯ reaction made Cordelia very happy. ¡®This is my Jude.¡¯ He¡¯s amazing, right? He¡¯s cool, right? He managed to do 50 kills alone in the fightingpetition in the royal capital, okay? Lena smiled again while Scarlet coldly looked at the excited Cordelia who had snorted in pride. As for the people being talked about. Landius and Jude were repeating their previous conversation. ¡°Six doors? Are you really saying that you¡¯ve opened six doors?¡± ¡°Yes, six doors. You¡¯ve seen it yourself.¡± ¡°What an unfair world.¡± He had worked so hard to open six doors. He obviously weed his disciple¡¯s quick achievements though. The fact that Jude had opened the sixth door made him really happy. But still, it hadn¡¯t been that long since they separated at the temple, and his disciple was already in the sixth door. At this rate, he was worried that the next time he saw Jude, his disciple would have caught up to him. ¡®No, it¡¯s better that way.¡¯ He wasn¡¯t just talking about his disciple¡¯s achievements. Because Landius himself had been stuck in the seventh door and was unable to proceed to the eight door for a long time. If Jude was able to open the eight door with the help of his Cheonmujiche, Landius thought that he might get a clue on how to open the eight door. ¡®Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors was suited for those with Cheonmujiche in the first ce.¡¯ Having cleared his thoughts by nodding his head once, Landius began to see Jude from a different perspective. ¡°By the way, Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Master.¡± ¡°You look quite good.¡± ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to Master¡¯s teachings.¡± When they had first met, Jude was skinny, frail, and small, but now, Jude had grown up to 186-190 centimeters, and even had quite a bit of muscles in his body. He was definitely still small and little whenpared to Landius though. ¡°Anyway, Landy, shouldn¡¯t we go back to our previous topic?¡± Landius nodded at Lena¡¯s gentle voice, and Cordelia¡¯s eyes sparkled in a different sense. ¡®Landy? She said Landy, right?¡¯ Not Landius but Landy. It¡¯s a shortened version of his name, but is this his pet name too? ¡®Hmm¡­ Landius and Lena-nim.¡¯ They¡¯re quite a good pair. In the first episode, these two also get along very well with each other. ¡®W-wait. For real?¡¯ Landius is too big. Their difference in height alone is 60 cm¡­ no, it¡¯s almost 70 cm, but there¡¯s something more important than the height. Because Landius¡¯ forearm are thicker than Lena¡¯s waist! ¡®Too much. That¡¯s absolutely too much.¡¯ Cordelia shook her head before looking at Jude again, and thought as she put her hands together in front of her chest as if she was praying. ¡®Please don¡¯t get bigger.¡¯ You¡¯re body¡¯s perfect right now, okay? However, even if Jude really grew as big as Landius, she wasn¡¯t likely to change her mind. Because her mind was rationalizing that being big was also a good thing. In any case, while Cordelia was lost in her thoughts, Landius continued his words. ¡°Ahem, ahem, let¡¯s get back to the topic. I¡¯ve heard about the general situation from the members of the Guardians of the Holy Cross.¡± The group was currently on the rooftop of a building near Marquis Ophand¡¯s mansion. Whether it was Marquis Ophand or the Knights of the Sea Lion, they would definitely suffer from a barrage of questions once they were caught, so they chose this ce to talk. ¡°Yes, everything we have told them is true. Today¡¯s fight is also proof of it.¡± The threat of the ancient ck Dragon Malekith. ¡°Today¡¯s attack is just the beginning. The enemy¡¯s main forces, the Dragonflights, have yet to properly appear.¡± Malekith¡¯s Dragonflights were not a just a group of wyverns and the like. They were a real army of dragons that inherited Malekith¡¯s blood, so their fighting power was naturally iparable to a group of wyverns and the like. Landius furrowed his brow at Jude¡¯s words and looked back towards the west. Seeing the crows that were flying towards them, it seemed like Kamael¡¯s work had beenpleted. ¡°Why don¡¯t we talk in earnest after Kamael is here?¡± ¡°That would be great.¡± ¡°Yes, Master. Then before that, may I ask a question about Master and his colleagues?¡± ¡°A question?¡± ¡°Yes, I want to know why you¡¯re in the south.¡± Landius was not alone as Kamael and Lena were also apanying him, and the three were traveling together. As shown in today¡¯s battle, they could easily wipe out a city if they were united, so he couldn¡¯t help but wonder what in the world these powerful three were after for them to unite together. ¡®Because I need it for the future.¡¯ Jude had not been able to get help from Landius in handling the situation in the north and the royal capital. But he had to change the future. As demonstrated in the south¡¯s current situation, they would be events in the future that Jude and Cordelia would not be able to handle alone. ¡°Hmm¡­ all right. Now may be a good time to talk about it.¡± Other people might consider Jude¡¯s question to be rude, but Landius nodded his head a few times as if he didn¡¯t care, and he narrowed his brows before continuing to speak. ¡°Jude, you already know about this, right? The person responsible for the destruction of the Paragon Kingdom.¡± People often cited the queen who formed a contract with the demon as the cause of the Paragon Kingdom¡¯s fall, but Landius disagreed with that. In the first ce, the queen was just being taken advantage of. That person was the first to deceive the queen. That person not only informed her of the demon¡¯s existence, but also taught her how to form a contract, as well as using her son as a human sacrifice. ¡°Archbishop Manu.¡± ¡°Yeah, that b*stard. I, Lena, and Kamael have been tracking his whereabouts ever since the fall of the Paragon Kingdom.¡± It wasn¡¯t just for revenge. They wanted to prevent Manu from causing a bigger tragedy. ¡°Is Manu here in the south?¡± ¡°Yes, but unfortunately, we missed him.¡± Jude already knew that Landius was traveling all over the continent in search of Manu. But nevertheless, he asked again for confirmation. ¡®Because many things have already changed from the game¡¯s storyline.¡¯ In the game¡¯s storyline, there was no story of Landius and Malekith fighting each other. In other words, Landius shouldn¡¯t have been in the southern region at this time. Therefore, Jude was on alert for other possible reasons, even if it seemed to be unfounded worries. ¡®Archbishop Manu is definitely not an unfounded worry though.¡¯ Archbishop Manu was the actual final boss of Legend of Heroes 2, though it might somehow be different depending on the route one took. Because Archbishop Manu was the one who caused the Great Summons and brought about the Armageddon of Heaven and Hell. ¡®As expected, he¡¯s on the level of a final boss.¡¯ Because he could get away from a group that had Landius, Kamael, and Lena. He was an enemy, but he was quite admirable in terms of power. ¡°That b*stard would suddenly appear and disappear, so I don¡¯t know where he would appear next. I should have caught him this time¡­¡± Landius gritted his teeth in his anger, revealing a slightly murderous look. It was the first time that they had seen him doing that. ¡®Landius.¡¯ His death was not known in the game. It was only inferred from the circumstances that he was killed by Duke, a high-ranking demonic human of the Devil¡¯s Eye. ¡®Is it Manu?¡¯ If it¡¯s not Duke, is it perhaps him? But at this point in time, Manu wasn¡¯t that strong. It was after the 7 major cmities happened that he acquired the strength befitting of a final boss enemy. ¡®Even so, it still won¡¯t be easy.¡¯ Because Lena was with Landius. And on some asions, he was with Kamael too. ¡®And¡­ he¡¯s also strong. He¡¯s unusually strong.¡¯ The two had both opened the sixth door, but there was a huge gap between the strengths of Jude and Landius. The increase of their strength was the same, but their basic capabilities were different. It was the same logic that if you multiply your strength 10 times, one who has the capability of 10 would be 100, while another who has the capability of 20 would be 200. ¡®Of course, it won¡¯t work out exactly as what I¡¯ve calcted.¡¯ In any case, it was true that Landius was incredibly powerful. To the point that it felt abnormal. ¡°Kamael ising. It seems like his job has been sessfullypleted.¡± Jude nodded at Landius¡¯ words as he saw Matteo being carried by a murder of crows. Matteo, the Sword of Heavy Pressure, was indeed above average among the Ten Great Swordmasters, but even so, he was a swordsman who was one step lower than Ghostde Kamael. ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s going to be easy to interrogate him right now.¡± Everyone agreed with Kamael who spoke as soon as hended on the roof. Because Matteo who had copsed on the floor was on the verge of death. ¡°So let¡¯s proceed with our conversation separately from the interrogation.¡± Kamael strode forward and sat next to Landius before he took a deep breath and continued. ¡°I¡¯ve already heard about it from the Guardians of the Holy Cross¡¯ report. As today¡¯s battle proves, Malekith¡¯s threat is real, so we muste up with some countermeasures.¡± Unlike Landius and Lena who wandered around without being associated with any organization, Kamael had spent nearly ten years working for the Guardians of the Holy Cross. There was bound to be a difference between how Landius and him naturally viewed the situation. ¡°We first need to unite the forces of the south, apart from asking for help from the center.¡± Judging by Matteo¡¯s defection, one of the 7 southern families, the Luculias, were already in the enemy¡¯s hands, so there were only six families remaining. ¡°But there is no way that the powers of the south would unite simply because of the appearance of an external enemy.¡± Unifying together in order to confront amon enemy was something that only happened in storybooks. Humans were not that simple. They would pursue their own interests. They would not actively take action to avoid losses, and even if the seven families eventually united, their actual strength would be less than four familiesbined, and their forces would be quite a mess since they would prefer to move separately. ¡°So we need a solution.¡± A means to fully unite the forces of the southern families. When the conversation progressed to this point, Kajsa suddenly turned to Jude and smiled, while Scarlet also had a mischievous smile on her face. Cordelia had a wide smile too. But Kamael continued to speak instead of being confused by the sudden reactions of the three. ¡°We need the legacy of Carlos, the great hero, that has the ability to unite the 7 southern families into one.¡± ¡°Yes, here it is.¡± ¡°Yes, it is¡­ What?¡± ¡°Here, this is Carlos¡¯ legacy.¡± Jude pushed Ascalon forward, and Kamael blinked his eyes. He was speechless as he sat with a stunned expression that he had never showed in the game. Chapter 258: Surprise Attack (2)

Chapter 258: Surprise Attack (2)

¡°So, to summarize, this is Carlos¡¯ legacy and one of the Ultimate Series, Ultimate Three ¨C Dragon Sword Ascalon?¡± ¡°Yes, that is correct.¡± Cordelia responded with a smile to Kamael¡¯s question. Because she somehow felt proud at the fact that Kamael had look so surprised now. ¡°Amazing. Really amazing.¡± Kamael eximed in admiration again as he looked down at Ascalon that his hands were holding. As soon as it left Jude¡¯s hand, Ascalon had returned to its original form ¨C which was its sealed form, so it could only be seen as a beautiful dress sword, but Kamael was someone who was called the Ghostde. He was able to sense the power hidden underneath Ascalon¡¯s sealed form. Moreover, Kamael was not the only one present here. ¡°Jude, and Cordelia. May I take a look at Ascalon too?¡± Cordelia quickly nodded at Lena¡¯s question, and so did Jude. They had no reason to stop her. ¡°Of course.¡± Lena approached Kamael who handed Ascalon to her immediately. ¡°The Ultimate Series¡­ I¡¯ve only heard of it so this is actually the first time I¡¯ve seen one.¡± Lena said in a low voice and examined Ascalon, and Landius drew closer as he looked at the sword too. ¡°It seems to me that it¡¯s been sealed¡­ Do we need a ritual to use it properly?¡± ¡°You¡¯re right, Landy. It cannot be used in this state.¡± Lena sweetly smiled at Landius and looked at Ascalon again, but she soon narrowed her brows. Because she found a crucial difference between a normal sword from the Ultimate Series and Ascalon. ¡°Lena?¡± ¡°Umm¡­ I think this is going to be a little difficult¡­¡± She muttered quietly instead of answering Landius¡¯ question, and when she raised her head, Kamael asked her this time. ¡°Is there a problem? Is it something you can¡¯t unseal?¡± ¡°Well¡­ I think so.¡± Lena timidly smiled and looked at everyone before speaking again. ¡°This sword has a bit of a special seal. If you don¡¯t have a Dragon Factor, you can¡¯t use it.¡± ¡°Dragon Factor? Are you referring to those who have the blood of dragons?¡± Lena nodded when Kamael asked again. ¡°Basically, yes. Because a normal human can¡¯t have the Dragon Factor. It seems like this sword is for¡­ draconians and the like in the first ce.¡± At Lena¡¯s words, Kamael also furrowed his brows. Kamael had been studying and researching ways to fight the demons for the past decade, so he knew about ancient relics more than a wizard. Therefore, he quickly understood Lena¡¯s words that they needed the Dragon Factor. ¡°Is it because a dragon¡¯s body and soul was used to make Ascalon?¡± A dragon who hated dragons. But in the end, it was a dragon. So the Dragon Factor was needed in order to reveal Ascalon¡¯s true power. ¡°By the way, wasn¡¯t Carlos a quarter dragon?¡± ¡°Yes, it was said that he was born with atavism, so his dragon blood was as thick as a half-blood.¡± When Lena replied to Landius¡¯ question, Kajsa quickly nodded too. Because when the conversation mentioned Carlos, the great hero of the south, she unknowingly wanted to join in too. Unfortunately for Kajsa though, the group was not in the mood to discuss about Carlos in length. Because what mattered now was Ascalon. ¡°It can¡¯t be helped. It¡¯s not like we can suddenly have dragon blood in us.¡± Moreover, just having the blood of dragons was not enough. They had to be a person capable enough to fight and wield Ascalon themselves. ¡°Hmm¡­ Then is it impossible to use it as a dragon ying sword? Of course, for the 7 southern families, the legacy is something valuable.¡± Landius spoke with a face full of regret, and Lena lightly pursed her lips as she looked at Ascalon and said. ¡°It¡¯s not that there isn¡¯t a way.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± When Kamael promptly asked, Landius also gazed at Lena with eyes full of anticipation. Lena continued with a smile that was unknown if it was because she found the gazes of the two to be a little burdensome or she thought that Landius¡¯ expectant face was cute. ¡°You can use transformation magic. If you transform into a draconian, you¡¯ll have the Dragon Factor.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± She was correct when they thought of it. If they didn¡¯t have the Dragon Factor, they could just make it so that they could have it. ¡°However, we need a lot of ingredients in order to properly get the Dragon Factor. And¡­ Landy and Kamael probably can¡¯t use transformation magic. You two know why, right?¡± ¡°We know.¡± Because Landius and Kamel were already far from being pure human beings. Landius was born a human and could be a giant through Ancestral Regression, so it was only a transformation that changed his appearance. But transformation magic changed one¡¯s nature itself, which could lead to various side effectster. In Kamael¡¯s case, it was a little different. He had already strengthened both his body and soul beyond its limits through the various secret arts of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, so there was a risk that the bnce of his body and soul would copse if he used transformation magic that changed one¡¯s nature. ¡°But there is no need for me or Landius to use Ascalon. Simply looking for someone capable enough to use Ascalon is much easier than finding someone with the Dragon Factor.¡± Or rather, they didn¡¯t even have to look in the first ce. There was Jude, and there was also Sebastian Leguin, the other member of the Ten Great Swordmasters from the southern region who did not be a traitor. ¡°What ingredients do we need for the ritual?¡± ¡°Basically, we need various dragon body parts. Like their tooth or heart. And to add a few more¡­¡± As Lena enumerated the ingredients one by one, Kamael nodded slowly. ¡°If it¡¯s dragon body parts, there are already two dragon corpses in the square, so we don¡¯t have a problem in that regard. And if I mobilize the Guardians of the Holy Cross, we can quickly get the other ingredients.¡± As soon as Kamael smiled a little, Landius burst out intoughter. And it was at that moment. ¡°Excuse me, can I say something?¡± Jude slightly raised his hand and spoke, prompting Kamael to flinch and look at Jude with anticipation before asking. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you already have all the ingredients mentioned?¡± ¡°Ho, my disciple. Is that true?¡± When Landius and even Lena¡¯s eyes lit up in anticipation, Jude had an awkward smile and waved his hand. ¡°No, it¡¯s not that.¡± ¡°Then what is it?¡± In response to the question of Kamael who looked disappointed, Jude continued to speak while pretending to beposed. ¡°Cordelia and I have the Dragon Factor.¡± ¡°Yeah, the Dragon Fac-¡­ What?¡± ¡°We have the Dragon Factor.¡± As Jude raised his right hand, Cordelia snorted and also raised her hand as the two showed everyone the back of their hands. The dragon emblems that were engraved by the Golden Dragon King himself were seen. Kamael blinked as he looked dumbstruck, while Lena¡¯s eyes widened in surprise. And the only one left ¨C Landius, widely opened his eyes with a stunned expression and soonughed out loud. ¡°As expected of my disciple.¡± You¡¯re quite prepared. Landius was greatly satisfied as he warmly smiled and patted Kamael on the back. Kamael reverted back to his usual calm face, and then cleared his throat. ¡°Ahem, ahem, next time, please tell us that a little earlier.¡± ¡°Yes, I understand.¡± When Kamael coughed again at Jude¡¯s answer, Cordelia sent Jude a magic. [Jude, Jude. Look at Kamael. It¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve seen Kamael¡¯s face turn that red.] [Me too.] In the second episode, Landius and the others were all dead, so Kamael was less talkative and expressive than in the first episode. But the Kamael in front of them now was different. Because he was blushing in embarrassment. ¡®He really looks handsome.¡¯ No, he¡¯s beautiful. Kamael usually had a neutral charm, but he looked more beautiful than a woman now when his embarrassment led to his cheeks and the tips of his ears to be slightly dyed red. ¡°Anyway, that matter is solved then. Because Jude can used Ascalon, right?¡± At Lena¡¯s question, Jude nodded his head and so did Landius. Because he knew that Jude had already reached the sixth door and could be relied on then. ¡°Ahem, that¡¯s good. Now, we just have to think on how we¡¯ll use Ascalon to unite the forces of the 7 southern families. However¡­ I want to ask you something before that.¡± Having barely erased his ashamed expression, Kamael nced at Jude and Cordelia before continuing his words. ¡°Why did you have Ascalon in the first ce?¡± Having Ascalon now saved them from the trouble of collecting the tokens and finding Ascalon, but it was still a matter that needed to be addressed first. At Kamael¡¯s question, Jude replied smoothly like he always did. ¡°Just like what Kamael-nim had thought, I also thought that it was necessary to gather the forces of the 7 southern families in the fight against Malekith.¡± Jude recounted the events at Count Kagehama¡¯s ce one after another. ¡°Malekith¡¯s side were already collecting the tokens of the 7 southern families. Perhaps they were afraid of Ascalon itself rather than the 7 southern families uniting into one.¡± 300 years ago. Ancient ck Dragon Malekith was fatally injured and fell into a deep sleep after his defeat from Carlos, the great hero, and Lion D. S?len, the founder king. ¡°Indeed, it seems like Ascalon yed a bigger role than we thought, given their reactions.¡± Otherwise, they had no reason to put in so much effort just to acquire Ascalon. Kamael nodded in agreement, and Jude conveyed a few more points. ¡°And as you may have already heard from the Guardians of the Holy Cross, we learned a lot of information from Gamorr Khan.¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve heard of that too. What you did was really amazing. It¡¯s amazing that you got those information by defeating Gamorr Khan.¡± Jude and Cordelia had defeated Gamorr Khan at the border between the southern and northern regions, and not at the southern region itself. And as soon as the two captured Gamorr Khan¡¯s soul there, they immediately headed to the south without any dy. ¡°We were lucky.¡± ¡°Luck is also a skill.¡± It was when Kamael revealed an unusually faint smile. Having been silently listening to their conversation, Lena raised her hand and spoke to them. ¡°I apologize since we¡¯re in the middle of a conversation, but why don¡¯t we postpone the rest of the story for now? I think those people are starting to get nervous.¡± Turning their heads as they followed Lena¡¯s gaze, they saw a group of people nervously looking at them. ¡°Ah, my second older brother.¡± There was a handsome young man at the forefront of the group, and as Kajsa had said, he was Ricardo Ophand, the second son of Marquis Ophand. ¡°They seem to be from the Ophands.¡± Kamael nodded quietly at Landius¡¯ words before asking Jude again. ¡°Jude Bayer, do you what it means for us to contact the Ophand family now?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ We¡¯ve already made an agreement with Kajsa here.¡± His words omitted the details, but both sides still understood what he was saying. Because it was obvious on what he meant considering the current situation. ¡®Even if the forces of the 7 southern families are united, they will be divided into the leader and follower roles in the end.¡¯ The power of the 7 southern families were essentially equal. But in the end, the family that had Carlos¡¯ legacy, the Dragon ying Sword Ascalon, would be the new leader of the south. Kamael was asking if the Ophands would take on that role, and Jude answered yes. As he himself had said, he had already made an agreement with Kajsa. ¡°Okay, I will trust your judgment. We¡¯ll join hands with Marquis Ophand.¡± Kamael¡¯s remarks couldn¡¯t be taken lightly. Unlike Landius and Lena who didn¡¯t have any official positions, Kamael was a general of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, and if one exclude that he was a general in that organization, he was also its second most powerful person. So it was strange for him to support Marquis Ophand instead of advocating neutrality. Kajsa grasped the current situation with her wild senses, and grinned as she turned to Jude who likewise smiled before he looked at Cordelia. [I did a good job, right?] [Yes! Good job!] Jude¡¯s question was a little childish, but Cordelia had a big smile and even gave a thumbs up, so he was deeply pleased. *** At dawn. Although they had joined hands with the Ophand family now, Jude and Cordelia did not make an appearance at that time. Because Kamael was with them. Therefore, Jude was able to rest in the guestroom prepared by the Ophands. ¡®Because we¡¯ll be busy again starting tomorrow.¡¯ The Ophands and Kagehamas were attacked, and hundreds of enemies stormed the port. In addition, the Luculias led by Count Matteo Luculia hadmitted a betrayal, so the southern families had to gather in one ce even if the dragon sword was not involved. ¡®They need to punish Count Luculia¡­ and ask the royal family for help¡­¡¯ Perhaps they would argue about Ascalon¡¯s authenticity. There would be a heated debate on who would use Ascalon. No one could use Ascalon unless they had the Dragon Factor like Jude, so it was clear that the southern families would argue on who would formally own it rather than who could actually use it. Now that Carlos¡¯ legacy had reappeared, the southern families who had stood shoulder to shoulder until yesterday would have to bow their heads to one family that would soon be their leader. ¡®Well¡­ Kamael will take care of it.¡¯ Even until now, Kamael was talking with Marquis Ophand. Themoner Landius and the wise and powerful wizard Lena had never been engaged in political activities since they were born. But unlike them, Kamael was originally royalty. Although he was an illegitimate child, he was forced to participate in the political arena since childhood, and he had worked as a general of the Guardians for nearly a decade, so he was very good at this kind of work. ¡®It¡¯s nice to have Kamael here.¡¯ If Landius and Lena were the only ones here, Jude himself would have to take care of this and that. ¡®Good, everything is going well.¡¯ They had safely obtained Ascalon, defeated Madhur, one of the Three Knights early, and even got two ck Dragon corpses. Furthermore, there were the elimination of the traitorous Matteo Luculia and the gathering of Landius and the others, so their gains overnight were staggering. But there was only one thing that he didn¡¯t like. ¡°I miss Cordelia.¡± He was used to Cordelia being by his side every day, but she was not here at his side now. Because she was in the next room with Lena, Scarlet, and Kajsa. It was a kind of side effect (?) caused by the number of people increasing. ¡®Well, it can¡¯t be helped. Let¡¯s just go to sleep.¡¯ It would be morning once he woke up, and he would be able to see Cordelia again by then. Today¡¯s battle had used up most of his strength anyway. But it was the moment when Jude was about to close his eyes. Knock-knock-knock. He heard a knocking on the door. Chapter 259: Surprise Attack (3)

Chapter 259: Surprise Attack (3)

Late post because of Genshin, hahaha. And because my kitten, Silver, kept bothering me while I was tranting. Terms used in this episode: Happiness circuit ¨C a Korean ng which means to imagine a happy future despite being in a bad situation. Or wanting something to happen and adding your personal thoughts on how it will go better for you, assuming that the things you don¡¯t like won¡¯t happen. It waste at night when everyone was asleep. Who was knocking on the door then? Jude enumerated the possible situations as his happiness circuit began to work hard, but he already knew the answer. ¡°Pleasee in.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± As he expected, the one who opened the door and appeared was Landius. ¡°What the-¡­ What¡¯s with that disappointed look?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just¡­ I was just dreaming in vain.¡± Jude smiled while looking soulless, and Landius strode closer and put his big hand on Jude¡¯s forehead. ¡°You don¡¯t have a fever.¡± ¡°Anyway, Master, what¡¯s the matter?¡± ¡°I¡¯m here to talk to you. I couldn¡¯t properly talk to you earlier.¡± Landius said that and sat down on the floor, so Jude also sat down facing him. ¡°You and I need very little sleep.¡± ¡°Well¡­ that is true.¡± Afterpletely opening the sixth door, his sleeping time that was already short had be even shorter. In fact, sleeping for more than two hours a day was close to a habit, so if he willed himself to not sleep at all, he could stay awake for several days while still being healthy. And it was the same for Landius. ¡°Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors is an art that moves away from being a human the more doors one open.¡± Landius was currently at the seventh door. Even if he hadn¡¯t gained the power of ancient giants through Ancestral Regression, his physical abilities had left the realm of humans a long time ago. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m here right now because this is the only time we can talk due to our busy schedule.¡± Jude nodded at Landius¡¯ words. Because after today¡¯s battle, Sicilia wouldunch a full-fledged offensive. They had a lot of things to do first, such as gathering the power of the south, which includes the 7 southern families. ¡°First of all, I want to hear the things that happened to you since then.¡± From the time they parted ways in the Temple of Life. At Landius¡¯ request, Jude talked about what had happened so far as concisely as possible. ¡°So¡­¡± He began with them meeting Princess Darianne and exploring Arkeman¡¯s Dungeon. He continued to talk about the various events that urred after they arrived at the royal capital one after another, and then narrated what happened on their way down to the south. Their encounter with First Sword. Their battle with the Lord Protector. Their bloody fight against Gamorr Khan, and the Ultimate Series. The events surrounding Jabberwock and the elves they met in the Forest of Eternity. In addition, their battles against the brainwashed Sebastian Leguin, the Kraken, and Madhur. After hearing everything that Jude had said, Landius stroked his chin and smiled. ¡°Master?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just¡­ It¡¯s just amazing.¡± Yes, it¡¯s amazing. Everything¡¯s amazing. ¡®What is up with these two?¡¯ Landius himself had been through a lot since he was born, but it seemed like Jude had it worse. It¡¯s like they always get dragged into trouble. ¡®No, it¡¯s not that.¡¯ Rather than getting dragged into trouble, it feels like they¡¯re deliberately pursuing and getting themselves into troublesome events. ¡®But it¡¯s been like that since we first met.¡¯ Their fight against the demon followers who tried to kidnap the children of the 12 northern families. Unlike the present, Jude had ovee that crisis despite having a weak body, and he had been embroiled in all sorts of incidents since then. ¡®Their fights against the demon followers in the wildnds.¡¯ The things that could have happened if Jude and Cordelia had not gone to the wildnds. ¡®Lena could have been dead.¡¯ She would have probably lost her life after she closed the Hell Gate. Moreover, that wasn¡¯t the only one. Perhaps the entire wildnds would have fallen into the hands of the demon followers, causing a huge crisis in the northern region of the S?len Kingdom. ¡®The same goes for the royal capital.¡¯ Without Jude and Cordelia, no one would have been able to stop the Lord Protector. ¡®The annihtion of the royal family and the copse of the barrier. And the chaos it would cause to the entire S?len Kingdom.¡¯ For the S?len Kingdom, that in itself was fatal, and if one added the crisis in the northern region, it was possible that the kingdom would copse. ¡®And this time in the south.¡¯ The threat of ancient ck Dragon Malekith. ¡®It¡¯s like¡­ they know what¡¯s going to happen in the future and then move to prevent it.¡¯ He clearly thought that it was impossible, but Jude and Cordelia were always involved in huge events concerning the S?len Kingdom, or even the entire world. ¡®Furthermore¡­¡¯ Landius closed his eyes for a moment and recalled the first time he met Jude. Jude was much taller now and had muscles in his body, but when they first met, Jude was apletely different person. He was small enough to be simr to Cordelia, and was as skinny as corn stalks. Jude¡¯s changes in that short amount of time had seriously amazed him. But in retrospect, his changes had urred in just one year ¨C no, it was less than a year. ¡®Why? Whis is this guy so strong?¡¯ His growth speed was not normal. Or rather, it was already not on the level of abnormal. His growth pace was already beyond one¡¯smon sense. It was clearly not that impossible if one listed down all the things Jude had. Jude had Cheonmujiche, the incarnation of martial arts from the heavens, and the number of mysterious incidents he had been through was not a joke. Because he ate those mysterious incidents that other people would only experience once in their lifetime, as if those mysterious incidents were just daily meals. ¡®Sixth door.¡¯ The current progress of Jude. It took him just over half a year to reach the sixth door. Even Landius himself took more than five years to reach that door. ¡®He¡¯s a real monster.¡¯ Landius himself didn¡¯t expect that there would be a day when he would think what others had thought of him. ¡°Master?¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I was just thinking of something for a while.¡± Landius gave an evasive answer before looking at Jude again. And he saw Jude tilting his head with a puzzled face and narrowed brows, as if he had no idea on what Landius was thinking about. ¡®Well, it¡¯s a good thing anyway.¡¯ There was nothing wrong if Jude became strong quickly. Landius himself weed Jude overtaking him and rising to a higher door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. ¡®A clue to the eighth door.¡¯ As he had already told Jude several times, Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors was clearly made for those with Cheonmujiche. Therefore, Landius who did not have Cheonmujiche had to risk his life every time he opened a new door. Just like how an adult crustacean risked its life every time it molted. It had been more than a few years since he opened the seventh door. Landius would have normally tried to open the eighth door by force, but he changed his mind after meeting Jude who had opened up to the fifth door. ¡®My old methods are too risky.¡¯ Through Jude, he got to know the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors more properly. And as a result, he realized that what he had been doing until now was recklessness itself. ¡®If I had kept going that way, I might have died already.¡¯ There was a clear difference between taking risks and rushing headlong to one¡¯s death. After all, Landius¡¯ goal wasn¡¯t to be the strongest warrior. It was to drive away the demon followers out of this world so that something like the tragedy of the Paragon Kingdom would never happen again. ¡°My disciple.¡± ¡°Yes, Master.¡± ¡°I wish you all the best in the future.¡± ¡°Eh? Ah, yes. I wish you the best too.¡± Jude tilted his head as he continued to be a bit puzzled, but soon spoke with a smile, and Landius warmly smiled before returning the topic back to Jude. ¡°Moving on¡­ your life is truly full of ups and downs.¡± Jude had already fought more than five strong people on the level of the Ten Great Swordmasters. Moreover, Jude was much weaker than he was now when he fought against the Lord Protector, so it was a miracle in itself that he survived all those battles. ¡°I was lucky.¡± Jude humbly spoke and looked at Landius in front of him. Even though they were both sitting, Landius was really huge. Furthermore, there was the sight he had seen a few hours ago. The figure of Landius beating a giant ck Dragon with just his bare fists. ¡®He¡¯s truly not normal.¡¯ Indeed, he¡¯s humanity¡¯s strongest. Frankly, Landius seems to be much stronger than Kamael or Lena. ¡®His bare fists were already that strong, so what would happen if he opened up to the seventh door and used the Sr de?¡¯ Or rather, what would happen if Landius had acquired Sword Origin? After briefly imagining Landius bing one with that sword, Jude had a bitter smile. Because he could hear Valencia¡¯sints from the depths of his mind. ¡®My sessor is really mean. You¡¯re making me into a two-timer.¡¯ He could somehow see the sulking Valencia puffing out her cheeks in his mind. ¡°Disciple?¡± ¡°Ah, yes. It¡¯s nothing.¡± After quickly erasing the image of Valencia that came to his mind, Jude straightened his posture while Landius tilted his head like Jude had done before, and then said. ¡°Anyway, my disciple. I have a question for you. When the sixth door opened, the female sage didn¡¯t show up, right?¡± ¡°Yes, I don¡¯t know why, but¡­ I haven¡¯t seen her.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Until now, the female sage would appear when you opened a door, but she didn¡¯t appear this time¡­¡± The female sage also held clues about the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. In fact, Jude learned more from the female sage than from Landius about the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, including how to use the energy of the ck dragon. ¡°Well, I guess we¡¯ll have to wait and see for now. Perhaps you¡¯re stillcking in enlightenment.¡± ¡°Yes, I shall work hard as ever.¡± It was not something he should worry about for now. Anyway, once their conversation about that was over, Jude took a deep breath and opened his mouth again. This time, he wanted to discuss about something that he needed a definite answer to. ¡°Master, I¡¯d like to talk to you about one thing.¡± ¡°Well, if you¡¯re worried about getting any bigger, don¡¯t worry. You won¡¯t grow any bigger. Even if you grow taller than now, you won¡¯t reach more than two meters.¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­ yes. That¡¯s a relief.¡± ¡°Hmm, you¡¯re relieved, huh?¡± No, he was really relieved. Because just like Cordelia, Jude himself was worried about growing as big as Landius. ¡®That¡¯s a relief.¡¯ I¡¯m really relieved. Jude sighed in relief and wanted to go to Cordelia under the pretext of quickly rying to her the good news, but he couldn¡¯t. He hadn¡¯t been able to talk about what he wanted to say yet. ¡°Ahem, ahem, Master. What I want to talk about is something else.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s regarding the Supreme Sun Divine Art.¡± Having said that, Jude straightened his posture and slowly calmed his breathing. It was to awaken the ck Sun. What Jude himself hadpleted through the Supreme Sun Divine Art. The power of the sun began to show its true value a little after their fight with the Kraken. ¡°Is this really the Sun?¡± Landius sensed the presence of the ck Sun in Jude¡¯s soul so he straightened his posture too and regted his breathing. It was to awaken his Sun, just like what Jude did. ¡®Golden Sun.¡¯ It waspletely different from Jude. The truly dazzling light was like the light of dawn itself that ended the dark night and weed the glorious morning. Why is there such a difference? Why is Landius¡¯ sun golden while mine is ck? ¡°Because my disciple¡¯s heart is ck.¡± ¡°What?¡± Excuse me? Jude asked without realizing it. He couldn¡¯t help it. Cordelia always called him ck-hearted ck Cloak, but he didn¡¯t expect it to be real. ¡°Well, to be more exact, it¡¯s because my disciple¡¯s soul is ck.¡± Seven Colors, Seven Attributes. Souls had seven colors and seven attributes. ¡°Humans with ck colored souls are very rare. I¡¯ve only read about it in records, so this is the first time that I¡¯ve actually seen it.¡± At Landius¡¯ words, Jude furrowed his brows unconsciously. ¡°Is it a bad thing?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not. There is no significant rtionship between the color of the soul and the character of the person.¡± It was just that very few humans had a ck soul. ¡°Anyway¡­ you did well. You¡¯ve opened the sixth door, and you¡¯ve already created your own Sun.¡± ¡°Is it alright to develop it like this?¡± ¡°Yes, there¡¯s no need for me to teach you. Your Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors and Supreme Sun Divine Art have already be one, so you just have to develop the power of the sun just like what you¡¯ve been doing until now.¡± Jude breathed in relief at Landius¡¯ words. Because he was deeply worried the power of the ck Sun he first revealed in his fight against the Kraken was somehow wrong. ¡®I¡¯m relieved.¡¯ I was doing it right. As expected of having Cheonmujiche. But it was at that moment. After his sigh of relief, Jude suddenly looked up and turned to Landius. Because Landius was looking at him and smiling, but the meaning of his smile was somehow different from before. ¡°Master?¡± ¡°Perhaps we won¡¯t have time to rx for a while. We can¡¯t dy it any longer since you¡¯ve already created a ck Sun.¡± He wasn¡¯t talking about muscle training. Landius looked straight at Jude and continued his words. ¡°Disciple, the reason you had an illness called Gueumjulmaek is because you were born with excessive Yin energy.¡± Gueumjulmaek caused his blood vessels and meridians to be blocked and the cirction of his qi energy to be disturbed due to the excessive Yin energy that umted in his body, thus affecting his body and soul. Jude was born with excessive Yin energy. It meant that he was born with a Yin Body before his Heavenly Martial Body (Cheonmujiche). ¡°Therefore, you had to develop your Yang energy. But now, your Yang energy had grown so strong that you could use the power of the sun.¡± His Yang energy couldn¡¯t even be developed in the first ce because of his excessive Yin energy, but he could use it now due to the Sunflower. It also enabled him to use the Supreme Sun Divine Art and the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. ¡°Until now, you¡¯ve been doing your best to suppress the Yin energy. But the situation is different now that you¡¯ve obtained the Sun. You can already use the Yang and Yin energies so¡­ you¡¯ll be able to handle the power of the two energies at the same time.¡± Yin-Yang Body. A person whose body could handle the two opposing energies at the same time, as well as create a harmonious rtionship between the two. ¡°Isn¡¯t that right, Kamael?¡± The moment Landius spoke, the door behind his back opened. Just like Jude, he was a person with a Yin Body. Ghostde Kamael appeared. The chapter is titled ¡®Surprise Attack¡¯ and spans five episodes, but the actual ¡®surprise attack¡¯ only happens in thest of the five episodes¡­ at the very end. This chapter is mostly about battle preparations. The action begins in episode 262 onwards, including the moment we¡¯ve all been waiting for, so please look forward to it. Chapter 260: Surprise Attack (4)

Chapter 260: Surprise Attack (4)

I changed Yin Body to Extreme Yin Body because this episode exined why. One more thing, this ismon to Chinese philosophy, but I might as well exin the symbolisms because this series heavily uses it. Yin symbolizes cold, the female sex, and the moon, while Yang symbolizes heat, the male sex, and the sun. Extreme Yin Body. One of the various body constitutions that appeared in Legend of Heroes and as its name suggested, it referred to those who were born with extreme Yin energy. Extreme Yin energy. An energy that gave off extreme cold. It wasparable to the Supreme Sun Divine Art because when the Supreme Sun Divine Art reached a certain level, a body that was like the ¡®sun¡¯ was created. ¡®Though the attributes are quite the opposite.¡¯ If the Supreme Sun Divine Art was the sun, those with an Extreme Yin Body were like the moon. In any case, those who could properly use their Yin and Yang energies be really powerful, but unfortunately, most people couldn¡¯t use it properly. Because their bodies got destroyed even before they developed the power to control both the Yin and Yang energies. ¡®Gueumjulmaek.¡¯ It blocked the blood vessels of the entire body and prevented the proper cirction of Qi energy. As a result, both the body and soul be unable to grow fully as it slowly destroyed the body. Among those born with an Extreme Yin Body, more than 80 percent had their blood vessels blocked, and most suffered from a lingering illness and passed away at a young age. Those born with an Extreme Yang Body were also simr. They did not suffer from a lingering illness, but on the contrary, they couldn¡¯t control their overflowing energy so they suffered from fevers or body defects, making them unable to live proper lives. ¡®But if you can control it properly.¡¯ The Extreme Yin Body and the Extreme Yang Body would turn into a blessing rather than a curse from that moment onwards. As for those who were born with a sun-like body, which could only be created if they mastered the Supreme Sun Divine Art at a certain level, one could say that they were people who started at level 50 when others only started at level 1. ¡®No, it¡¯s not only that.¡¯ Being ahead of the starting line wasn¡¯t the only thing. Because there was also a difference in the levels that they could ultimately reach. ¡®Ghostde Kamael.¡¯ An illegitimate child from the Paragon royal family. He was also born with an Extreme Yin Body, but fortunately, his blood vessels were not blocked. It was because Archdruid Nuada, who was living in the Paragon Kingdom at that time, controlled the excessive Yin energy. Nuada was also the teacher of ¡®Druid Fran¡¯ who wouldter be one of the five heroes of Paragon. He had bound Kamael¡¯s Extreme Yin Body with a special seal, allowing Kamael to gradually control his Yin energy as he grew up, and not letting him suffer from blocked blood vessels. ¡®The event that revealed him fully releasing his Yin energy for the first time was freaking awesome.¡¯ Because the powerful Yin energy froze everything around him. Therefore, one of Kamael¡¯s nicknames was Kamaelsa. T/N: Kamael + Elsa = Kamaelsa. Elsa is a reference to Queen Elsa of Disney¡¯s Frozen franchise. ¡®He was beautiful to begin with.¡¯ Perhaps it was because of his Extreme Yin Body, but his neutral appearance was more beautiful than other beautiful women. Jude erased the thoughts that came to his mind and looked straight ahead again. Kamael, who was born with an Extreme Yin Body, and Landius, who acquired a power simr to those with an Extreme Yang Body, stood side by side. ¡®Extreme cold and extreme heat.¡¯ And what the two people wanted Jude to have. ¡®Yin-Yang Body.¡¯ The word ¡®extreme¡¯ was not added to the words ¡®Extreme Yin¡¯ and ¡®Extreme Yang¡¯ for nothing. Those who were born with excessive Yin energy couldn¡¯t use Yang energy because they were biased towards one side, and likewise, those who were born with excessive Yang energy couldn¡¯t use Yin energy. But Yin-Yang Body was different. It was possible for them to simultaneously handle the extreme Yin and Yang energies. And in this world, Pleiades, there was already a person who used the power of a Yin-Yang Body. ¡®Archbishop Manu.¡¯ For the five heroes of Paragon including Landius and Kamael, he was their mortal enemy. He used the power of his extreme Yin and Yang energies in his magic rather than in martial arts, and as a result, he created a terrifying magic spell called . This magic that was Manu¡¯s signature spell collided the extreme Yin and Yang energies, but instead of the two energies simply canceling each other, the spell converted it into a powerful force that erased everything. ¡°Yin-Yang Body.¡± Kamael said aloud, and Landius looked at Jude with a grin. Because like Manu, Jude had a Yin-Yang Body. ¡°You are born with extreme Yin energy in the first ce. Its power is sealed now, but the moment it is unsealed, you will naturally be able to use the power of having excessive Yin. And now that you have the Sun, which is the symbol of extreme Yang energy, the excessive Yin energy will not be able to harm you.¡± It was a repetition of Jude¡¯s previous exnation. Jude nodded, and Kamael said as he slightly narrowed his brows. ¡°As Landius have said, we haven¡¯t talked about it to you before, but we both have wanted for a long time to awaken your extreme Yin energy.¡± They didn¡¯t talk about it so as not to burden him because it was not yet the right time. But Jude¡¯s growth was beyond their imagination. The two honestly never imagined that he had created a Sun already. ¡°However¡­¡± Kamael slowly shook his head. It was a good thing that he awakened the power of the sun much earlier than expected, but that did not mean he immediately awakened his extreme Yin energy. ¡°We¡¯re about to face a huge battle. Awakening the extreme Yin energy itself is easy, but it can destroy the bnce in your body. Even if it doesn¡¯t, it can get in the way of you using the power of the sun.¡± They didn¡¯t know when Malekith¡¯s Dragonflights would attack again. No matter how skilled Jude was, it took time to control the extreme Yin energy, so unfortunately, it was better for them to postpone the opening of his extreme Yin energy to another time. ¡°Do you understand?¡± Kamael persuaded him, and Jude tried to nod his head while regretting it. Because even Jude himself thought that it was not a good thing to create a risk at a time when the battle was just around the corner. However, there was one person here who thought differently. ¡°But Kamael. Can¡¯t we just do it now?¡± Landius spoke as he grinned, and Kamael frowned but did not furrow his brows. So Landius chuckled at his expression that seemed to be asking what nonsense he was saying. He then patted Jude on the back with his huge hand. ¡°My disciple is a bit of a genius.¡± ¡°Landius.¡± ¡°I know, I know. You¡¯re a genius too. I¡¯m also a genius. But my disciple is even more of a genius than me. To the point that I end up cursing without realizing it.¡± When Landius smiled and patted Jude on the back again, Kamael looked at him in doubt before nodding his head. ¡°All right, Landius, if you insist.¡± It¡¯ll be fine if we just awaken his extreme Yin energy for a short while. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s good. As I thought, you listen to me well, Kamael.¡± ¡°Because you¡¯re the one who said it. If someone else said it, I would have ignored it.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah. Anyway, thank you.¡± Landius pped Kamael on the back this time, so Kamael almost fell, but he didn¡¯t get angry. ¡®Because his only friend is Landius.¡¯ Such an exchange only made him happy. Jude looked at him with sad eyes but quickly changed his expression to an innocent look when Kamael raised his head again. ¡°Then please.¡± ¡°Haa, all right. I¡¯ll guide you. Sit over there.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Jude answered right away and sat cross-legged on the floor, while Kamael took off the sword from his waist before sitting right behind Jude¡¯s back. ¡®It¡¯s like those in martial arts novels.¡¯ A master helping their disciple train. No, it was more like a master assisting their disciple in circting their Qi energy. ¡°Close your eyes and concentrate. Don¡¯t forget to follow my guidance. You don¡¯t have to answer.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t need to answer.¡± Jude almost answered ¡®yes¡¯ reflexively again, but quickly shut his mouth. ¡®Is this an upational habit?¡¯ Instantly answering when I¡¯m called? It¡¯s good that I didn¡¯t say out loud my rank and name though. T/N: In South Korea¡¯s military, when a superior calls out a soldier by name, the soldier is required to give their rank and name. Example: ¡°Yes! This is Private John Doe!¡± This has be somon to soldiers that even when they¡¯re not working as a soldier, they automatically answer that when their name is called. In short, an upational habit. In any case, Jude closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Kamael ced his hands on Jude¡¯s back and then matched his breathing with Jude. ¡®He¡¯s cold.¡¯ He could strongly feel it even though only his clothes were touched. Kamael¡¯s palms were as cold as ice. ¡°Restrain the power of the sun. We need to awaken the extreme Yin energy, so we need to restrain the Yang energy for a while.¡± Jude followed Kamael¡¯s advice. After restraining the power of the sun, he stopped the constantly circting energy of the Supreme Sun Divine Art. ¡°Awaken it. Don¡¯t miss it.¡± The sleeping extreme Yin energy that was suppressed by the power of the sun. Kamael awakened Jude¡¯s extreme Yin energy with his Yin energy. He stimted it to elicit a reaction, and Jude sensed the extreme Yin energy begin to flow again from the depths of his body and soul. ¡°Follow my guidance. My lead.¡± Circte the extreme Yin energy throughout your body. Activate the extreme Yin energy. Jude did that. No, he did not stop there. ¡®Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors.¡¯ His Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors guided the extreme Yin energy. Not only did it follow Kamael¡¯s guidance, but it also transformed the extreme Yin energy. To make it more suitable for Jude¡¯s body that had awakened the extreme Yin energy. So that the two extreme energies would harmonize and not repulse each other. His extreme Yin energy grew stronger. Its powerful flow no longer followed Kamael¡¯s guidance. It decided on its own path. Therefore, Kamael couldn¡¯t help but panic. He wanted to stop right away because it left his guidance, but he was surprised at that moment. As Landius had said, Jude was also a genius. ¡®He¡¯s not wrong.¡¯ The extreme Yin energy was not in a runaway state now. It was exuding its presence very naturally and strongly. ¡®Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors¡­ No, it¡¯s Cheonmujiche!¡¯ The incarnation of martial arts form the heavens. An unparalleled talent that only a few had in the long history of mankind. Kamael opened his eyes. And he could see it with his naked eyes. The extreme Yin energy and extreme Yang energy were flowing at the same time. Both were pitch ck, but one was a ck Moon and the other was a ck Sun. ¡°Yin-Yang Body.¡± A person whose body could handle the extreme Yin and Yang energies at the same time. Jude was obviously still inexperienced. He wasn¡¯t at Manu¡¯s level of control. In actualbat, he could only use the two energies alternately. But that alone was enough. Or rather, what was happening now was beyond one¡¯smon sense. After all, he had woken up the extreme Yin energy just a few moments ago. ¡°I told you that he¡¯s a genius, right?¡± Landius said, and Kamael had a bitter smile. With just a single word, he proved that he was Landius¡¯ friend. ¡°F*ck.¡± What an unfair world. Landius chuckled and agreed with him. Along with Kamael, he cursed his only disciple. *** At the same time. While Landius and Kamael were sincerely uttering curse words, Lena was like an angel as she let out words of admiration instead of swearing. ¡°You¡¯re really amazing.¡± ¡°Ehehe.¡± Cordelia blushed at Lena¡¯s honestpliment, shyly smiling as she stretched out her wings for a bit. Because she was both happy and embarrassed from being praised by Lena. ¡°I mean it, you¡¯re really amazing. You¡¯ve grown beyondparison to what you were back then in the wildnds.¡± Cordelia¡¯s angelic power. It was natural. In the wildnds, Cordelia was only in the ninth rank, the lowest rank of an angel, but she had raised her rank now, making her a seventh-ranked angel. ¡®No, it¡¯s not just that. Her power is the highest among the seventh-rank angels.¡¯ In fact, she seems to be nearing the sixth rank. ¡®Is this¡­ what they call a genius?¡¯ She already heard how Cordelia¡¯s rank increased so quickly. Cordelia had said that she absorbed the power of the sun god, Sri, from the divine sword, ¨ªomh Sis, in the royal capital. But it was not possible for anyone to just absorb the power of the divine sword and increase their angel rank. It was only possible because she was Cordelia. ¡°You¡¯re really gifted.¡± A gifted angel. It sounded a bit strange, but it was true. Cordelia was even more embarrassed because of that and became speechless. She then giggled and wiggled her fingers against each other. ¡°You¡¯re really amazing. It¡¯s admirable. You¡¯re asking me for advice but¡­ there¡¯s nothing for me to say to you.¡± Cordelia flinched at Lena¡¯s words, and suddenly raised her head before saying. ¡°Umm, actually, I want to ask you about something else.¡± ¡°Something else?¡± ¡°Yeah, something else. There are some things that I¡¯ve been trying for a while¡­ but it¡¯s not yet ready for practical use.¡± Cordelia said with some hesitation, and Lena was interested, so she asked with a twinkle in her eye. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s this.¡± Cordelia revealed what she had been preparing for back then in the Temple of Life, in her desire to beat Jude. It was something that did not appear in Legend of Heroes 2, but could be done now because this was reality. A new change urred in Cordelia¡¯s entire body, and Lena¡¯s eyes widened. She opened her mouth nkly at the unimaginable sight. *** An hourter. Three of the five heroes of Paragon were gathered in one ce. Iron Man Landius. Ghostde Kamael. Holy Angel Lena. The three of them sat next to each other on a long sofa in Landius¡¯ room as they all spoke in session. ¡°F*ck.¡± ¡°I¡¯m honestly amazed.¡± ¡°They¡¯re amazing.¡± Landius, Kamael, and Lena spoke in that order. The three each recounted what had happened in Jude and Cordelia¡¯s rooms, and once again let out vacantughs. ¡°I thought that we were geniuses too.¡± At Landius¡¯ words, Kamael narrowed his brows and spoke in a low and subdued voice. ¡°But we¡¯re still overwhelmingly strong.¡± ¡°Kamael, you¡¯re envious.¡± ¡°Well, she¡¯s right.¡± Landius agreed with Lena¡¯s rebuke, and Kamael had a bitter expression on his face before he said in a lower voice. ¡°It¡¯s not like that. What I want to say is that we ourselves must be at the forefront.¡± Jude and Cordelia were clearly geniuses. True geniuses who astonished even the heroes of Paragon. But it was also true that they were still inexperienced. The two were able to reach a high level, but they still needed more time and experience to do well. So the three had to protect them. It had to be them who would lead the fight. ¡°You¡¯re right. I agree with that.¡± Landius nodded his head, and so did Lena. Perhaps Velkian and Fran would have said the same thing as they did if they saw the two. ¡°By the way, Kamael, shouldn¡¯t wee up with a countermeasure?¡± Gathering the forces of the southern families was one thing, but they also needed to prepare for the uing next attack. If all the information they learned through Jude were true, the other side had a powerful dragon force then. An entire army of ck Dragons, something that was beyond one¡¯smon sense. ¡°It will be very difficult to defend from air attacks when arge group of them can just fly and attack us easily. We need to do something special about that.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right, Lena. But if that¡¯s the problem¡­ we have some countermeasures.¡± The countermeasures made by a ck-hearted and mean guy. Landius chuckled when he realized the words Kamael omitted from saying, and Lena¡¯s eyes lit up with curiosity. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s like this.¡± That guy¡¯s solution. Kamael spoke about Jude¡¯s n. Chapter 261: Surprise Attack (5)

Chapter 261: Surprise Attack (5)

Morning dawned at Argon Port. The view of the sun rising above the horizon was the same as always, but the scenery that Argon Port had now was different from yesterday. ¡°We¡¯re not allowed to set sail?¡± ¡°Yes, the port is under lockdown.¡± Dozens of ships that were of various kinds were anchored in Argon Port. Normally, the dock would have been busy with ships preparing to depart in the morning, but this was not the case for today. Because no ship could leave the port. It was a sudden order, but the ship owners decided to observe the situation instead of protesting immediately. They didn¡¯t know exactly on what happenedst night, but everyone knew that at least hundreds of monsters attacked Argon Port. Under normal circumstances, those who were afraid of attacks would definitely try to leave Argon Port by boat, but the situation was a little different this time. Because the 7 southern families who were always fighting and having power struggles had all agreed to block the port. ¡°There¡¯s a rumor that Malekith ising back.¡± ¡°Malekith?!¡± ¡°Yeah. Hans said that he saw the corpses of ck Dragons lying in the central square. Members of the Guardians of the Holy Cross were preventing the drooling dwarves from approaching it.¡± ¡°Ho? The Guardians of the Holy Cross?¡± Hearing that name was unexpected, but it was strangely relieving at the same time. ¡°And I¡¯ve heard that it was none other than Paragon¡¯s heroes who stopped this attack.¡± ¡°Is that true?¡± ¡°I heard that too. And think about it. Who else but Paragon¡¯s heroes can deal with all those monsters overnight?¡± ¡°Oh, you¡¯re right.¡± The story of how the five heroes of Paragon defeated a transcendent existence called the Demon Prince was widely known throughout the continent. ¡°And there are rumors that the fantasy couple is here too.¡± ¡°Who are those?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know about the heroes of the royal capital? They¡¯re the young heroes who protected the royal family from the Lord Protector¡­ no, that sted traitor.¡± ¡°Ah, aren¡¯t they the ones who run away from home every now and then?¡± ¡°Uh-huh, but be careful with your words. What if someone hears you?¡± ¡°I mean¡­ they¡¯re quite famous.¡± The fact that the fantasy couple were masters of night escapes was a story that the entire S?len Kingdom knew. The two of them had even created a trend of couples running away at night in the royal capital now. ¡°They say that one should refrain from talking about it so that couples who are in love will not try to run away at night.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem. Anyway, the heroes of Paragon and the fantasy couple¡­ it seems like something really strange is happening.¡± ¡°Perhaps that rumor about Malekith is true.¡± ¡°It¡¯s possible¡­¡± There was no one in Argon Port ¨C no, the entire south who did not know of Malekith. Three hundred years was clearly a long time, but it was too short a time to erase the scars he had carved on thend. The legend of the great hero Carlos and his seven knights. The story of an evil ck Dragon who tried to destroy the south. While all kinds of rumors were circting around the port, the heads of the southern families left their mansions. ¡®Carlos¡¯ dragon sword is back.¡¯ The words written on the letter bearing the crest of the Guardians of the Holy Cross and the Knights of the Sea Lion were enough to move the family heads of the southern families. Because they all knew what having the dragon sword meant. At the Knights¡¯ meeting room. Standing in front of the podium, Kamael looked straight ahead. Behind him sat Landius, Lena, and Sir Marcus,mander of the Knights of the Sea Lion, while on the opposite side were the six heads of the 7 southern families excluding Matteo Luculia, who were seated at a distance from each other. The facial expressions of the family heads varied. Excitement, anger, fear, and concern. As he faced their various emotions, Kamael closed his eyes for a short moment before speaking in a low voice. ¡°Malekith is back.¡± Everyone had already guessed that at this point. But Kamael¡¯s deration was like a final sentence. The family heads reacted differently to the reality that they were finally facing. Some groaned while others struggled to remain calm. There were also those who clenched their teeth in fear, and those who closed their eyes to escape from reality for a while. But no one denied Kamael¡¯s words. Because no one here was so foolish as to not know what happenedst night or what the corpses of the ck Dragons in the central square meant. ¡°And as you can see here, Carlos¡¯ sword is also back.¡± Kamael raised Ascalon. Because it was in its sealed state and no one could feel any divine power from it, it looked like a bit of an ornate dress sword, but none of the family heads doubted the authenticity of the sword. The words of Kamael, who was one of Paragon¡¯s five heroes and one of the Guardians of the Holy Cross¡¯ six generals, had that much weight and power. ¡°Malekith¡¯s subordinates stole the family heads¡¯ tokens and tried to find the sword¡¯s whereabouts. Because they feared the power of Dragon Sword Ascalon, Carlos¡¯ legacy that defeated Malekith in the past.¡± Count Kan, a white-haired old man, clenched his fists as he calmly spoke. He was the oldest among the family heads of the 7 southern families, and the most ardent follower of Carlos among those present here. Kamael continued to speak. ¡°Count Jude August Bayer and Countess Cordelia August Chase defended Ascalon from Malekith¡¯s subordinates. They also saved Count Kagehama¡¯s life.¡± At Kamael¡¯s words, everyone turned to Count Kagehama. Count Kagehama could only narrow his brows because he could barely remember the eventsst night due to his head injury. ¡°I am well aware of what Carlos¡¯ sword means to the south. But I cannot give this sword to any of you. Because we¡¯re in a real emergency.¡± The gazes of the family heads turned sharp at that moment. In the case of Count Kan, he clearly expressed his anger towards Kamael who dared to take away Carlos¡¯ legacy, but the reactions of the other family heads were slightly different. ¡®This is better.¡¯ Now that Malekith was about to be resurrected, the fate of the south was hanging by a thread. So they had to gather the forces of the south. Someone had to take Carlos¡¯ sword and lead the 7 southern families. However, it was quite awkward for one of the 7 southern families to take Carlos¡¯ sword. ¡®But now is not the time to fight.¡¯ This was not the time for the 7 southern families to wage a civil war over who would take Carlos¡¯ sword. A person foolish enough to wage a civil war in the face of amon enemy could not be a family head of the 7 southern families. Count Kan was unable to hide his anger that preceded his emotions, but he did not stand up or shout. Because he understood the current situation just like the other family heads. ¡®Then who is it?¡¯ Who will take Carlos¡¯ sword and lead the 7 southern families? They had guessed it to some extent. But they had to keep their eyes peeled this time too until a definite answer was given. And at the reactions of the family heads, Kamael inwardly sighed in relief. With a smallpliment to the family heads who didn¡¯t act foolishly, he continued his words that were interrupted for a while. ¡°I¡¯m going to give Carlos¡¯ sword to Landius. And when this battle is over, Landius will return Carlos¡¯ sword to the south.¡± As if responding to Kamael¡¯s words, Landius rose from his seat and stepped forward. With the appearance of a giant who was like a moving castle of steel, the family heads did not object this time too. Rather, there were those who breathed a sigh of relief. ¡®It¡¯s as Jude said.¡¯ There were actually six candidates for Carlos¡¯ sword. Kamael himself, Landius, Lena, Jude, Cordelia, and Sir Marcus. Among these people, Jude said that no one would worry if Landius was entrusted Carlos¡¯ sword. ¡°He¡¯s the one person they would least object to.¡± Kamael was a high-ranking member of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. He belonged to a powerful organization that was influential in the entire continent, so from the perspective of the 7 southern families, they couldn¡¯t help but feel burdened. Because the Guardians of the Holy Cross might try to influence the south after taking Carlos¡¯ sword ¨C an assumption that was unlikely but notpletely impossible. ¡°In that sense, neither I nor Cordelia are good.¡± Jude and Cordelia were nobles of the S?len Kingdom. In other words, them taking Carlos¡¯ sword meant that there was a huge possibility that the two would settle down in the south. From the standpoint of the 7 southern families, having their leader be an outsider oring from the 12 northern families was not something they weed. ¡°As for Sir Marcus¡­ I apologize, but hecks authority.¡± Moreover, he worked for the royal family, so the 7 southern families couldn¡¯t help but reject him. Although the 7 southern families were loyal to the S?len royal family, simply belonging to the S?len Kingdom and being directly governed by the royal family was like the difference between heaven and earth. ¡°Then the only ones left are Master and Lena-nim, but Master is probably better, right?¡± Both were wandering people who were not affiliated with any organization and also had a reputation for being one of Paragon¡¯s five heroes, but there were still some clear differences. A fist fighter ¨C no, a swordsman and a wizard. If one had to choose on who would be entrusted with the sword, which of the two would most likely be entrusted? ¡°There¡¯s also the visual reason.¡± Anyone could tell at one nce that Landius looked crazily strong, but Lena only appeared to be a beautiful and slender woman. ¡°So I think we should entrust Ascalon to Master.¡± Kamael also agreed with him. Regardless of the reasons Jude had said, he had also thought that only Landius could lead everyone in this crisis. ¡®Like how he did in Paragon.¡¯ He who did not give in to despair before the Demon Prince. A man like the sun who eventually saved everyone with his mind of steel. Kamael snapped out of his thoughts. He handed over Ascalon to Landius in the presence of the family heads, and Landius respectfully epted it. ¡°I¡¯ll hold the sword of the great hero for a while.¡± When Landius spoke in a serious tone, even Count Kan who wanted to protest ended up nodding his head at that moment. It was because Landius¡¯ appearance as a hero was quite overwhelming. ¡®As expected.¡¯ Kamael uncharacteristically smiled in satisfaction before he continued speaking again. ¡°The situation is urgent, so we¡¯ll move on to the countermeasure meeting immediately.¡± However, Kamael had no intention of exchanging opinions with the family heads. Because he had already decided all the general measures. ¡°Malekith is now asleep here.¡± Kamael said as he pointed to a ce in the huge chart that a squire had set up. It was an ind located quite far from Argon Port, where the surrounding currents were unusual and had a lot of reefs, making it difficult to approach. ¡°Malekith has yet to wake up. So the best thing that we can do is to invade the ind before he wakes up, and use Ascalon to end his breath while he¡¯s still sleeping.¡± Everyone¡¯s eyes turned to Landius at Kamael¡¯s words, and Landius lightly raised Ascalon with a solemn expression. In fact, it was Jude who would use Ascalon in the battlefield, but there was no need to tell that to the family heads since they wouldn¡¯t be going to the battlefield anyway. ¡°Of course, we need a fleet to do that. It¡¯s also necessary to punish the traitorous Luculia family.¡± The forces of the 7 southern families were scattered throughout the southern region. It was a priority to bring all those forces to the neutral Argon Port. They needed troops to take over the ind. ¡°Count Matteo Luculia, the family head of the Luculias, is currently detained by Marquis Ophand. Most of Count Luculia¡¯s men in Argon Port have been captured, but since we don¡¯t know what Count Luculia¡¯s forces might do, we need to hold Matteo as a hostage to control them. I¡¯ll leave this role to Marquis Ophand.¡± At Kamael¡¯s words, Marquis Ophand sharply stared at him before smiling fiercely. If he took on such a role, it was highly likely that the Ophands would be more powerful once the Luculia family disbanded in the future, but the other family heads just frowned and did not particrly object to it. Because it was something that someone had to eventually do, but was also something very troublesome to do. ¡°General Kamael, I have one question.¡± Everyone¡¯s gaze turned to Count Kan when he spoke in a clear voice. He was old and skinny like a withered tree, but his eyes were full of life that it seemed like it was sparkling. ¡°ording to legend, powerful Dragonflights serve Malekith. They¡¯re Dragonflights made up of real dragons and not wyverns and the like.¡± In the legends surrounding Carlos, Dragonflights made up of more than 100 ck Dragons had appeared, and this was all true and not an exaggeration. ¡°We currently don¡¯t know if those Dragonflights existed, or even if they did exist, we do not know if they¡¯re still alive or not. Because it will be almost impossible to go by sea if they¡¯re still alive.¡± His words were understandable. If dozens of dragons spewed their breaths from the sky, sinking was the only fate that lied ahead for the wooden ships on the sea where there was nowhere to escape. ¡°Do we have a countermeasure for this?¡± At Count Kan¡¯s words, the other family heads also looked at Kamael with concern. If the Dragonflights were indeed alive, it would be difficult to defend the south, let alone attack the enemy. ¡®It will be enough for them to just go anywhere, fire their breaths, and then go back.¡¯ The southern region was wide, which meant that there were also many ces to defend. As the family heads focused their gazes on him, Kamael had a faint smile. Instead of saying that they should discuss about that now, he spoke in a confident tone. ¡°We already have a countermeasure to that.¡± Jude¡¯s n. A brief exnation came out of Kamael¡¯s mouth. *** ¡°Dragonflights are real. They aren¡¯t as good as they were in their heyday, but the number of dragons still alive number more than fifty.¡± This came from their knowledge of Legend of Heroes 2 that they disguised as Gamorr Khan¡¯s information. The two did not know much about the southern families, but they knew a lot about Malekith and his subordinates. ¡°Sicilia who lost Madhur and failed to take Ascalon will naturally turn to Orga for help.¡± It was a natural step. And Jude hypothesized on what would happen next. ¡°Orga has two options. One is to attack the south, and the other is to defend their position.¡± Sicilia¡¯s original goal in attacking the south was to steal Ascalon. And as she was on the verge of losing Ascalon, she mobilized their troops, but originally, she didn¡¯t have a n to attack the port with arge force. ¡°Basically, their n is to just wait.¡± An ancient ck Dragon was a being that was different from normal dragons. If Malekith, a being that could even defeat a Demon Prince from Hell, was resurrected, wiping out the south would be not a problem for him, so from their point of view, it was better to quietly wait for Malekith¡¯s resurrection rather than move and exhaust their troops. ¡°ording to Gamorr Khan, Orga is a cautious man. Carlos¡¯ legends also describe him as like a rock.¡± It was the same in the game. He was a general who specialized in defending. ¡°So we¡¯ll provoke him. If we gather forces, form a fleet, and act as if we¡¯re going to attack the ind where Malekith is sleeping, he¡¯s likely to take a step towards blocking the sea route instead of attacking the port.¡± In order to do that, they needed toy some bait. They needed to wipe out the familiar spirits Sicilia spread out all over the port, so as to darken her eyes and ears while spilling one piece of information. In order to make her anxious. ¡°The 7 southern families know the location of the ind where Malekith is sleeping. They are gathering their forces in order to attack it.¡± After they wiped out the familiar spirits, it was necessary to keep in check the reconnaissance troops such as wyverns, who would be scouting from the sky. ¡°And at the same time, we¡¯ll reveal that our side is gathering a fleet.¡± The 7 southern families were gathering their troops. They know the ind¡¯s location. But they couldn¡¯t get close enough to get aplete picture of the situation. Given these conditions, there was only one action that Orga would do. ¡°Blockade the sea.¡± Instead of poorly attacking the port, he would defend the sea. If the 7 southern families send a fleet as he expected, he could just bury them in the sea, and if they did not send a fleet, he would just wait. Now that Malekith¡¯s resurrection was near, time was on the side of the Dragonflights. Kamael was skeptical when he heard Jude¡¯s words. Jude¡¯s words were very usible, but it was all armchair theory in the end. But Kamael eventually agreed to follow Jude¡¯s advice. In the first ce, it was nearly impossible to assemble a fleet inplete secrecy. Under Kamael¡¯smand, the 7 southern families gathered their forces, simultaneously leaking information and blocking it as Jude had said, and the Dragonflights moved as they expected. ¡°We¡¯ll defend our position.¡± Sicilia had an unexinable ominous feeling at Orga¡¯s decision, but she did not object to it. Because Orga was logically right in his decision. ¡®I wanted to take Ascalon before Lord Malekith wakes up, but¡­¡¯ Attacking the port was also a risky thing for the Dragonflights. After all, monsters called the heroes of Paragon were present there, and Ascalon was with the 7 southern families. Moreover, there was no need to reveal the existence of the Dragonflights for nothing because she was confident that they would attack the ind by traversing the sea. As Orga had said, it was more efficient to bury them in the sea. ¡°Time is on our side, Sicilia. And we who dominate the air are invincible at the sea.¡± ¡°Yes, General Orga, I will abide by your decision.¡± Sicilia bowed her head in obedience, and Orga, who had polymorphed into a ck-haired elf, looked in the direction of the Argon Port with a satisfied smile. And half a dayter. Three days had passed since the battle in the central square. Under the dark night sky where even the moon and stars disappeared due to the numerous clouds, the elite forces of the 7 southern families were preparing for the battle on their own ships. The total number of battleships was twenty-seven. Eachrge battleship had dozens of cannons deployed and hundreds of personnel on board. Six frigates were added to this, so the number of ships alone reached thirty-three. It would have been possible to mobilize the troops of the S?len royal family if they took more time, but they didn¡¯t have the time to leisurely gather troops now that Malekith¡¯s resurrection was just around the corner. ¡®What in the world are we going to do?¡¯ Their forces were overwhelming at first nce, but when he thought of it being bombarded by dozens of dragons in the sky, the future in front of them seemed to be very dark. Not only Count Kan, but also the other 7 southern families were looking at the fleet with anxious eyes. ¡°There must be a way.¡± Because he was so confident. Why else would they recklessly sail out to sea? At the words of Viscountess St. Crute who was wearing a splendid red dress, Viscount Oriole, the youngest of the family heads, nodded his head. ¡°Marquis Ophand and Count Kagehama will also be participating in the battle. They will not just sail out to sea.¡± But what are they nning to do? Landius also had the same question. ¡°Then my disciple, what¡¯s your n now?¡± Thest move in the n that Jude had prepared. Cordelia grinned at Landius¡¯ question, and Jude took a deep breath. As if to show respect to all the eyes looking at him as their strategist, he looked back at Cordelia and said with a slightly exaggerated move. ¡°Cordelia, please.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Cordelia answered excitedly as she took out the object she was holding in her arms. She put it in her mouth and Kajsa pped her hands at that moment. Unlike the others in this ce, Kajsa had seen that object before. The Divine Spirit¡¯s Whistle. Cordelia blew as hard as she could the token of oath she received from the Sirens, and soon, a loud and magnificent sound covered the entire port. It echoed once, twice, and when it finally reached thrice¡­ ¡°Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star~ ¡± ¡°Shining beautifully~ ¡± Voices were heard from the sea. ¡°In the eastern sky~ ¡± ¡°In the western sky~ ¡± It wasn¡¯t only in one ce. It was as if the entire sea was singing. ¡°Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star~ ¡± ¡°Shining beautifully~ ¡± Those who stood at the port to see the fleet off were greatly surprised. The sailors on board also went up the deck and looked over the water. The beautiful elves of the sea. Hundreds of Sirens stood on the water surface as they stared at the southern fleet. And the woman in their lead, Iliana Ccanis, the queen of the sirens, raised the staff in her hand. This was not the first time that Jude and Cordelia had used the whistle. The two had already blew it two days ago, and made an agreement with the Sirens to appear today. ¡°We shall keep our oath in this ce.¡± Iliana lightly swung her staff, and the sirens began to sing a new song. They cast a huge and powerful magic. ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°T-the ship?!¡± ¡°The ship is sinking!¡± The crew was greatly shaken, but it was only for a moment. Becauserge bubbles of air covered each ship as if protecting it. The sirens continued to sing. Landius looked around with a stunned expression before he burst intoughter, and Kajsa and Scarlet also blushed in excitement. Lena couldn¡¯t help butugh too. ¡°We¡¯re going to the bottom of the sea.¡± Under the sea and not through the skies nor the sea. Where the Dragonflights would never reach. The fleet sank below the water surface. The family heads who were standing by the dock were dumbfounded and speechless, and the crew aboard the battleships cheered at the sight of the Sirens swimming over the air bubbles and the scenery under the sea. And in the center of all that fuss. At the forefront of the first ship, Jude sneakily hugged Cordelia from the back, and Cordelia wanted to re at him, but she soon smiled and rested her head in Jude¡¯s embrace. She whispered in a sweet voice. ¡°Jude, Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s catch them by surprise.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Let¡¯s catch them by surprise through a route they would never expect. Jude and Cordelia both had dark smiles as they leaned against each other and looked far ahead. They looked beyond the south, in the direction of Malekith¡¯s ind. Chapter 262: Flag (1)

Chapter 262: g (1)

Three hundred and several decades ago. Ancient ck Dragon Malekith led the Dragonflights under hismand and began a war of conquest. In a continent where the ancient elves and ancient dwarves that built powerful civilizations in the ancient times had disappeared, no one could stop Malekith¡¯s Dragonflights. The southern region was instantly devastated, and Malekith¡¯s forces did not only include Dragonflights as a huge armyposed of orcs, goblins, fallen Lycanthropes, and so on in the tens of thousands also joined the war. In normal wars of conquest, the conquerors tended to refrain from killing, burning, and looting to some extent because their purpose was to rule over thend and not to destroy it. But Malekith¡¯s legion did not do that at all. Because Malekith¡¯s war of conquest differed from a normal war of conquest. ¡°To begin with, there are too many humans.¡± Malekith had no desire to upy a continent full of humans. No, it wasn¡¯t just the humans. There were too many inferior races that were like bugs in his eyes. The whole continent seemed to be a nest of bugs. ¡°So let¡¯s clean it up.¡± Clean the ce he lived in. That was the reason why he inducted orcs and goblins too. Let the barbarians fight it out among themselves. Get rid of bugs by using other bugs. If the orcs and goblins fought with humans and killed each other in the battlefield, the continent would be clean enough. Therefore, Malekith¡¯s legion was ruthless. They did not hesitate to ughter the humans in their upied territories as they ruthlessly destroyed towns and cities. Malekith became a symbol of fear. He and his Dragonflights caused immense fear and terror. And ironically, that was how the south united. Their fear of Malekith and the Dragonflights was the catalyst for unity. The great hero Carlos and his seven knights from the south rose against the oppressors. The demigod Lion D. S?len who was known for his courage in the center of the continent also joined the war with the knights under his leadership. The Guardians of the Holy Cross that had been defending mankind from the demons were also added to the forces, dering Malekith and his Dragonflights to be a horde of demons. Humans, elves, and dwarves. Different races united under the prominent heroes, Carlos and Lion, bringing about disastrous losses to Malekith and his Dragonflights who had been boasting of their invincibility. ¡°I¡­ shall definitely return.¡± Malekith was fatally wounded and fell due to the sacrifice of the great hero Carlos, falling into a deep sleep after leaving behind those words. And the half-destroyed Dragonflights fled to the far seas that were out of the humans¡¯ reach in order to protect their defenseless ruler. More than three hundred yearster. Malekith¡¯s resurrection was nearing now. Necromancer Sicilia, Malekith¡¯s lover and one of the Three Knights, gazed nervously towards the north. Because something impossible had happened. ¡°The fleet is gone.¡± The southern army that had gathered at Argon Port suddenly disappeared without a trace. It did not scatter to the surrounding ports, nor did it sail out the sea. It literally disappeared. ¡°Calm down, Sicilia.¡± Dragon General Orga was also puzzled, but he tried to maintain hisposure. ¡°No matter where they disappeared to, they will all end up in this ce. No, there¡¯s no guarantee that they know of the location of this ce to begin with.¡± Orga paused for a moment and caught his breath. He continued his words as if he was talking to himself. ¡°Time is on our side. All we have to do is hang in there until my father wakes up. So we block the sea. We just need to thoroughly monitor the sea around the ind.¡± Wherever they would being from, their destination was obvious. If that was the case, it would be better for Orga¡¯s side to strengthen their defense rather than getting caught up by their enemy¡¯s tactics. ¡°Is that so?¡± Having regained herposure to some extent, Sicilia awkwardly smiled before asking, and Orga nodded to her. ¡°It is. After all, the only thing they can use is a ship. It¡¯s possible for them to fly in the sky, but it will be too much for them to transport a huge army with that. Moreover, we are the rulers of the sky and can easily take them down there.¡± The more that he talked, the more that her anxious mind calmed down. Because it was true that they only needed to closely monitor the sea around the ind. ¡°Include some of the Dragonflights into the troops monitoring the surrounding waters. Even if those humans hide their appearance with illusion magic, they will be powerless in front of our dragons who can see through such magic.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± Sicilia was finally relieved and brightly smiled, and Orga seemed to understand why his father made this elf his lover. ¡®I want her.¡¯ Orga was someone who strongly inherited Malekith¡¯s blood. No one in the Dragonflights was greedier than him. But Orga restrained himself. He knew very well that his father was the greediest. His future would only be death by his father¡¯s hands if he rashly touched his father¡¯s possessions, even if he was the child with the strongest blood or the leader of the Dragonflights. ¡°General Orga?¡± ¡°How much time do we have left?¡± Orga changed the subject by asking a question, and Sicilia smiled again before replying. ¡°Not much time is left. Lord Malekith will wake up in three or more days at the most.¡± Sicilia had been waiting for Malekith to wake up again for three hundred years. What she desired was theplete destruction of the Forest of Eternity and the high elf royal family. Malekith was the only one who could achieve this. ¡°I see, not much time is left.¡± Only three more days or so. Their time of hiding in this small ind would soon be over. Not much time was left before Malekith returns and conquers the continent. And a day passed. The second day passed. The human fleet did not appear. The wyverns under the Dragonflights led by the dragons took turns in monitoring the entire sea, but they could not find even a single boat. But Orga remained vignt. As the time of Malekith¡¯s resurrection approached, he had the sea monitored more thoroughly. And another day passed. The morning the day before Malekith¡¯s resurrection. Orga had mingled all night with his own sisters in order to increase the number of Dragonflights, and he stood by the window as he watched the rising morning sun. The buildings on the ind which the goblin ves used were generally low, and the tallest was only three stories high. Malekith was sleeping deep in the ind¡¯s underground, so there was no need for such tall and huge buildings in the first ce. ¡°One more day now.¡± Orga faced the morning sun and stepped forward. It was to shift back from his human form to his dragon form and fly high into the sky. For him, it was very much pleasurable to look down on the ground from a high ce. But at that very moment. The moment when he was about to kick the ground and fly to the air. Kabooooooooooom! A loud explosion was heard. The whole ind shook as if an earthquake had struck, and explosions resounded one after another. Boom! Boom! Boom! It wasn¡¯t an earthquake. It was evidently a manmade explosion. ¡°Sicilia!¡± Orga shouted with Magic Words as he kicked the ground. After transforming into his dragon form, he pped his wings and flew away in order to view the entire ind. Boom! Boom! Boom! In the midst of that, the explosions continued. Orga looked down the ground. Explosions urred in the buildings where the ves lived. Fires were raging in all directions, and the incredibly frightened wyverns and ves were scrambling to put out the fires. ¡°Catch them! They¡¯re here!¡± ¡°Capture them! Capture them!¡± Voices echoed from everywhere. Women with reddish-pink hair and dressed in ck were running around the ground and causing chaos. Their numbers seemed to be in the dozens. ¡®No! Those are illusions!¡¯ The eyes of a dragon could see through magic. Those women were all just illusions. Then where was the real person? ¡°General Orga! Dragonflights!¡± A few elves who were Sicilia¡¯s servants shouted from the ground. Because in their eyes that couldn¡¯t see through illusions with a single nce like Orga, they thought that they were being attacked by the enemy. ¡®No, we¡¯re under a surprise attack.¡¯ The exact number of their enemies was not known, but explosions continued to ur in all directions. It seemed like the humans had sent an elite few. ¡°General Orga!¡± Orga didn¡¯t respond immediately to them. Instead of trampling the elves who dared to urge him, he focused his attention to a certain ce. He sensed a gaze staring at him from someone standing on the edge of the ind. A human being. No, a giant? A man that was toorge for a human was staring at Orga. With crossed arms, the man grinned and raised his right hand. The man lightly moved his finger towards himself back and forth in a beckoning gesture. ¡®Come here, ck lizard.¡¯ Orga didn¡¯t hear any voice. But he could understand what the man was trying to say. So Orga burst outughing. ¡°How arrogant.¡± He couldn¡¯t help butugh when something so absurd happened. Orga fiercelyughed and did not hide his anger. At the same time, he detected all the humans that were running wild all over the ind. At least ten or so. They weren¡¯t that many. But it was clear that each of them was quite a strong human. The ves could not even properly resist and were being swept away. ¡°Dragonflights! Assemble!¡± Orga roared and the entire ind shook in a different sense than before. The wyverns waiting in the sky flew to the ground, and the dragons that had turned into humans, elves, orcs, and so on reverted back to their dragon forms. Those who were already in their dragon forms in the sky then assembled on the ground. To wipe out with their overwhelming power the humans who infiltrated the ind. To trample those humans! ¡°Crush them!¡± When he ordered one more time, the Dragonflights responded with a roar. Everyone raised their heads high and shouted, once again shaking the entire ind. And that was why they missed it. Because the Dragonflights¡¯ roars drew their attention, they did not immediately notice that something had changed. ¡°Oh my god, this is so scary!¡± Kajsa said as she wandered among the goblins before she suddenly fell t on the floor. Scarlet also trembled at the roar of the dragons and crouched down in the ce she had chosen beforehand. It wasn¡¯t because they lost to fear. It wasn¡¯t because their legs had weakened so much that they couldn¡¯t even dare to run away. Lena cast her magic. Kamael created an ice barrier while Landius let out a wildugh. And Jude and Cordelia held each other¡¯s hand. The magic was activated while they hid behind arge rock. ¡°One.¡± Two. And when they counted three. Fushwaaaaaaa! The water surface broke. It clearly became noticeable even amidst the Dragonflights¡¯ roars. Some of the Dragonflights ceased their roaring. Several of the orcs and goblins that had been distracted by the explosions everywhere now looked in the direction where they heard the sound ¨C at the coast located on the southern side of the ind. Orga¡¯s eyes widened. Sicilia was shocked. Above the sea. Huge battleships soared from below the water surface. And at the forefront, Marquis Ophandughed out loud in his extreme delight. He shuddered before shouting. ¡°All cannons! Fire!¡± The g was waved at the same time as hismand. More than 600 cannons installed on fifteen battleships fired all at once. Boobooboobooboobooboom-! The rain of cannon balls did not aim at the ground. It was slightly higher than that. At a low height. High enough to hit the dragons that had reverted to their true forms and the wyverns that had been descending to the ground. ¡°Fly up!¡± ¡°Get down!¡± Two opposing shouts were heard. The bodies of the wyverns that were hit by the cannonballs exploded, and the dragons who could not open their shields were struck in the head or torso and fell to the ground. The dragons that were close to 30 meters tall were no different from huge targets that could be hit with any shot. ¡°Fly! Fly up! Attack them from the air!¡± At the moment Orga ordered. The moment when some of the dragons made their way through the fired cannonballs. When everyone was preupied with the battleships on the southern coast. ¡°Hahahaha! Wipe them all away!¡± Battleships soared from the east side of the ind as well. In ordance with Count Kagehama¡¯s orders, all the remaining battleships fired their cannons. Boobooboobooboobooboom-! It was a little higher than before. The dragons and wyverns exposed to the cannonballs in the air were swept away, and Marquis Ophand did not miss this gap. Instead of reloading, they fired their second shot with the cannons on the opposite side that had been loaded and moved in advance. This was possible because it was a random bombardment without a specific aim in the first ce, but in any case, the effect itself was outstanding. Boobooboobooboobooboom-! A crossfire. The dragons and wyverns exposed to the crossfire suffered immense damage. Since it was an unexpected and unimaginable surprise attack, a lot of them were fatally injured and even the Adult Dragons who were good at magic were killed. Dragons with torn wings and blown heads fell to the ground, and the blood and flesh of the wyverns covered the sky and earth. ¡°Attack! Do not give them the time to reload!¡± Orga himself flew up and shouted. The remaining dragons soared following him, and Sicilia hurriedly controlled the remaining wyverns. Marquis Ophand and Count Kagehama saw that. Therefore, as they agreed in advance, they made their second move. ¡°All troops! Advance!¡± ¡°Land!¡± The battleships weren¡¯t anchored on the shore. In order to disembark onnd, they had to use a small boat. But they didn¡¯t do that this time. The Siren¡¯s songs resounded between themands of the two family heads who shouted at the top of their lungs. Instead of disembarking from the ships, the elite of the south rushed over the water surface. ¡°Uoooooooo!¡± ¡°Advance!¡± Calix Ophand and Ricardo Ophand took the lead. Except for the minimum number of troops required to fire the cannons again, thousands of troops rushed to upy the ind. ¡°W-what the f*ck!¡± Orga was speechless for a moment before he gave his orders. And at the same time, he turned his gaze towards the ce where his father slept. It was obvious that their goal was his father, so the strongest of them should head to Malekith instead of fighting here. His decision was right. Orga¡¯s choice was not wrong. It was a very logical decision. And because of that, Jude could predict how Orga would behave. Jude was startled by the bombardment and thending, but did not miss the fact that Orga was heading to the ce where Malekith was. ¡°Found it! Over there! I¡¯m sure he¡¯s there!¡± Cordelia could tell the direction and approximate location by just looking. She focused her consciousness on a specific point and felt Malekith¡¯s energy at a distance. Then all that was left was to dash there. It was Jude and Cordelia¡¯s mission to stab the sword into the chest of Malekith who was still sleeping, and give him an eternal sleep. It obviously wasn¡¯t easy. Orga and the enemy¡¯s most elite forces would be guarding Malekith. ¡°Because that¡¯s reasonable.¡± Because it was a logical move. So Jude had also prepared something to intercept Orga. High in the sky. There was someone rushing towards Orga. A person who shattered the magic with a punch and kicked Orga¡¯s head. ¡°May the muscles always be with you.¡± Jude recited like a prayer and brightly smiled. After firmly carrying Cordelia who had jumped in her excitement, he used Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt and became a bolt of lightning. They headed to where Malekith was. A blue light rose from the tip of Dragon Sword Ascalon. Chapter 263: Flag (2)

Chapter 263: g (2)

Sicilia was short of breath as she ran. She was truly baffled with the present situation, but she knew that they had been attacked. The Dragonflights and wyverns suffered heavy casualties from the attack of the battleships, and a thousand humans hadnded on the ind, making their way through the orcs and goblins. So instead of fighting the humans with Orga, Sicilia ran straight towards the center of the ind, or to be exact, towards Malekith¡¯s resting ce located underground. ¡®Lord Malekith!¡¯ There was only a day left until Malekith was fully resurrected. The ¡®Dragon Sleep¡¯ that Malekith fell into in the first ce was a magic ritual, so the number of days required was quite significant, but that did not mean it was impossible topletely wake him up. She had to wake up Malekith. She had to resurrect the ancient ck Dragon, a godlike existence, to ovee their current crisis! The situation was urgent. It was hard to think about anything else because she was in a hurry. Nevertheless, Sicilia looked back. She screamed just before she passed through the door leading to Malekith¡¯s resting ce. ¡°General Orga!¡± The strongest of Malekith¡¯s children. Dragon General Orga was the one who led the Dragonflights. He was only a regr Adult Dragon and not an ancient ck Dragon, but he was an unrivalled figure among them. His body length was close to 40 meters, and his physical abilities such as strength and agility were twice as that of an ordinary Adult Dragon. In addition to the powerful magic weapons bestowed to him by Malekith and his excellent sense ofbat, his fighting power was unparalleled even among all the dragons under Malekith. But such an Orga, the dragon general who led the Dragonflights, was¡­ Booom! Orga¡¯s massive body fell and struck the ground. The shock he received from the aftermath was enough to blow away his consciousness in an instant. ¡°Uuugh¡­¡± Orga groaned and raised his head. He opened his eyes to find the man he had seen just before he crashed. But there was nothing in sight. And it was very natural for that to be so. At a close distance from him. On the ground and not in the sky. There was a small human, but far toorge by human standards, who was running towards him. He fiercely smiled and leapt as he clenched his fist. A human rushing bare-handed towards a giant dragon. It defiedmon sense so much that Orga nkly stared at him without realizing it. He could not directly connect with the present reality the fact that the human in front of him was the one who brought him down, or to be exact, brought him down with just a kick. It wasn¡¯t Orga¡¯s fault. Orga was a rational dragon. Unlike his hasty and ferocious brothers and sisters, he was an intelligent being who could make cold and calm judgments and knew whatmon sense was at the same time. That was why he couldn¡¯t help but be even more perplexed by the sight in front of him. Because it was a human. Because it was a very weak existence that could be squashed and killed if he trampled it! Bang! The fist of the man, Landius, destroyed Orga¡¯s magic barrier. The barrier was something that could block any kind of physical force, but it was shattered so naturally like that. Because it was fist of Landius and not just anyone else. ¡°F-f*cking crazy!¡± But because of that, Orga came to his senses and cursed before he spread the barrier again. The barrier was much stronger than the previous magic barrier he had unconsciously deployed. But it was useless. The barrier was destroyed with a loud roar like before. It was by Landius¡¯ fist again. ¡°Uoooo!¡± Having broken magic barriers in session, Landius soared from the ground. Towards Orga¡¯s head. Orga quickly moved his head and spread his wings at the same time. He was nning to somehow dodge this attack and then fly up to widen their distance. And his n became reality to some extent. Because he was able to dodge by a hair¡¯s breadth the charge of Landius who had soared like a sh of light. But it wasn¡¯t perfect. The moment Orga thought that he had avoided the attack by moving his head sideways, Landius turned his body around. He suddenly turned in the air and kicked Orga in the face instead of punching him. ¡°Gaaaah!¡± Orga¡¯s jaw turned. No, it was beyond that as his huge body copsed in the direction of the kick. The kick was so strong that Landius who did the attack was almost sent flying away due to the repulsive force. ¡°Uuugh¡­ guu¡­¡± It wasn¡¯t just a headache. Orga couldn¡¯t breathe properly. He didn¡¯t even know if his facial bones were broken. ¡°Kaaahk.¡± Orga spit out the blood that had pooled in his mouth and reflexively pped his wings. His actions were close to a survival instinct and not a fighting instinct. Boom! Landius who had been thrown back kicked the ground again. Orga also jumped and pped his wings. But he didn¡¯t have enough time and distance topletely escape. So Orga opened his mouth in a hurry to let out a hastily-made Dragon Breath. Fuwaaaaaaa-! A ck beam of light. A powerful force that destroyed everything in its way, but it was the wrong choice. It would have been better if he had breathed fire. Whaam! Landius punched the Dragon Breath. He struck the ck beam of light with his fist wrapped in a golden aura, breaking it instead of changing its direction. He narrowed his distance between Orga by spurring on the ground as he made his way through the fragments of the Dragon Breath. Orga felt fear. He couldn¡¯t help it. There was a human who could break his shield and destroy his Dragon Breath with just their bare fists. No, was that person even a human in the first ce? He found the man interesting, but didn¡¯t have the time to ponder more. Orga¡¯s desperate pping of his wings somehow raised his altitude. He had thought that if he headed high in the sky, he could somehow distance himself from Landius who ran and leapt with a human¡¯s legs. But the moment he had thought that. At the time when Landius was directly under his feet due to him desperately pping his wings. ¡°Seraphim¡¯s Wings.¡± Landius whispered low. He activated the magic device he was wearing on his back. Shiiiing-! Beautiful silver wings spread out behind Landius¡¯ back. An ancient treasure that gave its user the ability to fly. ¡°C-crazy?!¡± An item? That monstrous b*stard even uses items? This was in fact normal. Humans were beings that used tools. So Orga had never seen anyone attack a dragon without any weapons or items. But the present situation was different. It was so absurd that his body trembled. ¡°Damn it!¡± He cursed and cast an attack magic as soon as he could, but it was toote. His distance from Landius, who had spread his silver wings, had already been reduced. ¡°Aaaaaah!¡± At the time Orga screamed. Landius¡¯ palm touched Orga¡¯s chest. A golden sh of light that resembled the sun dug into Orga¡¯s chest. Booooom! With a roar, Orga fell headfirst towards the ground. It was a truly magnificent sight, but Kamael didn¡¯t even look at it. Because in Kamael¡¯s mind, it was a very natural fact for Landius to be victorious. Therefore, Kamael focused on eliminating the wyverns in front of him. More than half of the wyverns were gone due to the fleet¡¯s barrage, but their number was still quite high. ¡°Sir Kamael! The fleet!¡± Kajsa who was nearby shouted at that moment as she pointed to the shore. Dragons and wyverns could be seen flying above the elite southern troops that hadnded and began fighting. They were clearly targeting the fleet that was reloading their cannons. But Kamael didn¡¯t look at them this time either. Because it was something very obvious. Anyone could naturally predict that the defenseless fleet would be targeted the moment they reloaded their cannons. That was why they also prepared a countermeasure to that. It was a very simple yet foul measure. ¡°Break them! Destroy them!¡± The dragons of the Dragonflights held their breaths after giving order to the wyverns. It was to destroy the fleet with their Dragon Breaths. But right after they shouted that, the dragons were forced to open their eyes widely. ¡°Dive quickly!¡± ¡°Reload under the sea!¡± Unrealisticmands became a reality. After the bombardment, the battleships dived to avoid the attack and reloaded under the sea for real. ¡°Crazy humans!¡± Some of the dragons fired their Dragon Breaths, but it was useless. Because it was almost impossible to properly fire at the battleships that hid under the sea. Furthermore, it was a problem that they didn¡¯t have any other ways to attack the fleet once they had dived like that. ¡°Wicked b*stards!¡± Gnt, a veteran of the Dragonflights, let out curses. Because the actions of the humans were truly wicked. But the real problem was that their wickedness was different. When Gnt cursed at the battleships that dived under the sea, three of the twenty-seven battleships mobilized for this battle rose from the sea at a distance. The battleships fired at Gnt and his siblings who were flying above the battleships that had sunk under the sea. ¡°Gnt! Dodge!¡± ¡°What?¡± By the time Gnt turned his gaze, the cannonballs had already been fired. Gnt barely escaped death by hurriedly spreading his magic, but not for the wyverns around him. ¡°Dive! Dive right now!¡± Hit and run. The battleships were grouped into twos and threes as they repeatedly fired their cannons and dived afterwards. The battleships took turns in attacking the dragons, so it was hard for the dragons to properly attack them, whether it was because the battleships were far away or because the battleships had a pre-determined order in attacking. ¡°Gaaah! Wicked b*stards!¡± Such a situation didn¡¯t happen at the time before Malekith fell asleep. At the present, a single battleship could fire more than 40 cannons at once. In addition, the firepower of the cannons now was iparable to the cannons three hundred years ago. ¡°Humans! Target the humans who havended!¡± Gntmanded his few remaining siblings and wyverns to change their attack targets. He intended to crush and trample the humans who were fighting on the ground against the orcs and goblins. ¡®Things are different on the ground!¡¯ From the standpoint of humans, they couldn¡¯t recklessly fire their cannons to the ground because their allies were mixed in with the enemies. Therefore, afternding on the ground, Gnt swung his tail and spewed fire to wipe out the humans. But just before he could put that into practice. Gnt faced ¡®that.¡¯ The wickedness of a human that knew no end. *** Count Kagehama was a man withmon sense. He did not issue amand to fire at the dragons and wyverns that were mixed in with their allied troops. And it was the same with Marquis Ophand. Even in their dreams, it was unimaginable for these two to fire the cannons over the heads of their allies, saying that it was all for their victory. So the human wickedness Gnt witnessed did not originate from these two. A ck-hearted person. Jude was sprinting like lightning, but suddenly stopped his steps instead of infiltrating the building Sicilia had gone in. Because Cordelia had hurriedly grabbed his neck. ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°Now! Just now!¡± What are you suddenly talking about? He couldn¡¯t look at her in the eyes because she was on his back, so she could have solved it by just talking, but Cordelia was too excited to do that. ¡°I mean, that! Ah, whatever! Just wait for a while!¡± She shouted before putting her hands in her pocket while still being carried by Jude on his back, and then pulled out an object. A trinket with a gem that was glowing gold. It was clearly something that did not shine yesterday, so they had given up on it. But at this very moment, it had begun to shine. Jude¡¯s eyes widened. Cordelia had a big smile and raised the trinket high. Because she had to use things the moment they could be used. Cordelia remembered the expired strawberry cake she was trying to save but had forgotten about, so she shouted without any hesitation. ¡°Velkian! Help!¡± Necromancer Velkian. He had said that they could summon him anytime and anywhere once the gem began to glow. The gem absorbed Cordelia¡¯s mana. The ancient magic tool then created a huge spatial door in the air. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± A calm voice that did not match the battlefield. Velkian, who was dressed in his usual outfit that was like a gue doctor with a beak mask, crossed the spatial door and asked, but instead of giving a long exnation, Cordelia pointed to the sky. ¡°Landius?¡± Velkian blinked his eyes that were hidden by the mask. And he soon found Kamael and Lena too. He was surprised at the battlefield where not only humans, orcs, and goblins were present as there were dragons and wyverns too. But he did not reveal his feelings. Because he understood why he was summoned from the current situation alone. Three hundred years ago, the evil dragon Malekith and his Dragonflights caused many massacres and tragedies in the south. He did not know what happened before and after, but there was no reason for him to lend his hand in the fight against these monsters. ¡°Please!¡± When Cordelia shouted again, Velkian nodded his head and immediately cast his death magic. By recitingplex incantations, he cast a powerful ancient magic to this world. It was not the summoning technique he used in the royal capital. Instead of summoning a Death Knight and raising numerous skeletal soldiers, he used another magic. ¡°Arise, my servants.¡± Undead creation. Raising dead bodies was, in a way, the basic skill of necromancers. But the caster was none other than Velkian. Moreover, there were plenty of high-quality materials lying around now. Kugugugugugugu-! They raised themselves up one by one with an astounding sound. They spread their torn and broken wings as they roared. ¡°Keuaaaaa!¡± Dragons and wyverns that were defeated by the cannon fire. They were reborn. Because of Velkian¡¯s magic, they were granted a new life, or rather, a false life. Zombie dragons raised their bodies and let out horrifying screams. Undead wyverns that only had half their bodies flew up. Velkian looked at them with a cold and subdued expression as he ordered them with the Tiara of Life on his head. ¡°Attack.¡± Attack your brothers and sisters whom you share the same blood. Those who were their allies until just now. The undead obeyed Velkian¡¯s ruthlessmand. They exposed their teeth and ws towards the surviving Dragonflights. ¡°Wow.¡± Cordelia was in awe while Jude was also in a daze for a moment. Because the sight of dozens of dragons and zombie dragons colliding in the sky and on the ground was like a myth in itself. Even the humans and goblins who were fighting each other forgot the enemies in front of them for a while and watched the dragons fight. ¡°Go.¡± Velkian suddenly said. Because with his abundantbat experience, he understood that Jude and Cordelia had another mission. ¡°We¡¯ll be going then.¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyes lit up as she hugged Jude¡¯s neck, while Jude quietly replied before kicking the ground again. To the ind¡¯s underground. They rushed towards Malekith¡¯s resting ce. Tomorrow¡¯s episode is, arguably, the best episode of this series. Please look forward to it~! And to those who know what the next episode is about, please avoid spoiling the others, okay? Let¡¯s all enjoy it tomorrow! Chapter 264: Flag (3)

Chapter 264: g (3)

Dragon Sleep. Healing Sleep. It had several names, but the essence was simple. Heal one¡¯s wounds through sleeping. In fact, if it was only this, there was no need to name it Healing Sleep. Leaving it to one¡¯s natural healing abilities was something that even small creatures did. But the Dragon Sleep had a slightly more special meaning. To be reborn. To throw away the broken body and be reborn into a new one. More than three hundred years ago, Malekith was defeated by the great hero Carlos and the founder king, Lion D. S?len. His life was in danger, and the fatal wounds inflicted by Ascalon, called the Dragon¡¯s Bane, could not be healed with ordinary healing magic. So Malekith chose the Dragon Sleep. He had to sleep for at least three hundred years, but he had no other option. ¡°Protect me until the day of my vengeance.¡± After leaving behind those words, Malekith began the Dragon Sleep on a remote ind. Three hundred years was not a long time for an Ancient Dragon, who could live for eternity, but not for his subordinates. Even for elves and dwarves who lived several times longer than humans, three hundred years was a very long time. And it was the same for themon dragons belonging to his Dragonflights. Therefore, Dragon General Orga made a suggestion to Sicilia and Madhur. ¡°We shall also sleep with our father. But one of us three should stay awake and protect the ind, father, and everyone else who are asleep.¡± He clearly wasn¡¯t talking about a normal sleep. It was hibernation using the magic of freezing time. Sicilia and Madhur considered that it was for the better and followed his suggestion, promising to protect Malekith in turns every 100 years. And now, three hundred years had finally passed. ¡°Lord Malekith, Lord Malekith.¡± Sicilia muttered Malekith¡¯s name several times and hurried her steps. Because the war situation was unusual even though all the troops under Malekith, including Dragon General Orga, had woken up. ¡®It¡¯s okay, it¡¯s not a problem. If Lord Malekith wakes up, it will be resolved.¡¯ There was still a day left before the Dragon Sleep was fullypleted, but she had no other choice. She had to wake up Malekith as soon as possible. Instead of walking down the spiral staircase, Sicilia jumped to the center in order to shorten the distance as she thought of her revenge. Revenge against the Forest of Eternity. The blood price she had to pay. The reason why she, a member of the high elf royalty, became Malekith¡¯s lover. Her fear, anxiety, and panic were gone. Sicilia once again strengthened her resolve and calmed her breathing as she looked over the cavity in front of her. Her eyes caught a glimpse of the huge cavity and the curled up Malekith sleeping inside. Ancient ck Dragon. A huge godlike being with a body reaching 150 meters long. ¡°Haa¡­ haa¡­¡± Most of it was still hidden in her sight, but she unconsciously smiled. Malekith¡¯s massive body alone was enough for her to be relieved. ¡°Lord Malekith.¡± Sicilia muttered once more and hurried her steps, climbing onto the magic circle in front of the cavity and chanting a spell while making hand seals at the same time. Boooooom! It wasn¡¯t magic. An explosion was heard in the distance along with a great shaking of the ground. She had closed the gates while on her way here, but it was clear from the sounds that the gates were being destroyed. Kabooom! Bang! Booooom! The explosions were getting closer and closer. A considerable number of undead were set up to block the path, but it was clear that they were falling down like the fallen leaves of autumn. ¡®A little more, a little more.¡¯ Her mouth was dry. Her hands that were making the hand seals were almost trembling. Her anxiety and fear grew again. How is the fight outside faring? Who is that monster that overwhelmed Orga? Human. Those humans. Why is such a monster born among those short-lived bugs? No matter how huge their poption is, isn¡¯t that still too absurd? Booooom! A roar was heard again. And it was close this time. Sicilia made some hand seals as she hastily turned her head and saw an immense light shining in front of her. The moment the white light filled her entire vision, a series of loud noises urred. ¡°Ah Karuda Noum!¡± Sicilia shouted the chant after she finished the hand seal, and a magic barrier unfolded. At the same time, she activated the magic on the walls to fire a red lightning towards the epicenter of the roars. Baaaaang! The lightning struck and destroyed the surrounding area, but Sicilia clenched her teeth. Because she who had excellent magic senses could vividly sense the person standing beyond the dust. ¡°Angel!¡± The one who destroyed all those red lightning with her white wings of light. Lena¡¯s eyes glowed as her golden hair fluttered. She let out her holy power once again, and all the evil energy that filled the underground was purified at once. ¡°Anchenta!¡± When Sicilia cried out in desperation, a purple barrier blocked Lena¡¯s holy power. But it was just to buy time. As Lena took a step forward and spread her light, the barrier couldn¡¯t hold on for a second and fell apart at that moment. ¡°Kantante!¡± As Sicilia shouted in nervousness again, dozens of evil spears were formed in the air. Each spear was a powerful cursed weapon that harbored the souls of the dead. Lena watched the spears fly towards her and recited the same spell. She summoned divine spears to intercept the cursed spears. Bababababababang-! Dozens of explosions followed in an instant, and Sicilia was satisfied with that. All of her current attacks were just to buy time, because what she needed was to stall for time. ¡°Kordo!¡± Several stone walls soared up between Sicilia and Lena. The walls emerged from the ceiling, floor, and walls, and onlysted for a few seconds in front of the holy light Lena fired, but that was enough for Sicilia. ¡°It¡¯s toote.¡± Sicilia said with a smile on her face. The time hade. The magic circle activated, and although it was a day earlier, she had seeded in waking up Malekith from the Dragon Sleep. Koooooooooo-! A loud echo was heard from the cavity behind her back. Malekith was slowly raising his giant body. Now, the giant Malekith who had been reborn would cast off his old skin and emerge anew. ¡°It¡¯s toote, toote!¡± Sicilia couldn¡¯t control herself in the same way she couldn¡¯t suppress her anxiety and fear. She madly shouted, and Lena didn¡¯t attack Sicilia anymore. She simply agreed and stretched her arms. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s toote.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right! You¡¯re toote-¡­¡± It was then. Sicilia had a strange feeling. Because there was a smile on Lena¡¯s face. Why? Has the angel gone crazy? Why is she smiling like that when it¡¯s toote? The reason for Lena¡¯s smile. Why she said that it was toote. ¡°No way?!¡± It was like a thunderbolt struck Sicilia¡¯s mind. Even though Sicilia had Lena in front of her, she turned away and then saw it. The majestic figure of Malekith as he raised his body and a single bolt of lightning rushing towards Malekith¡¯s chest. A man and woman flew from the ground to the sky! ¡°Lightning!¡± She understood then. She realized it. The light earlier. The immense light Lena created when she first appeared. It was excessive at that time. Instead of attacking Sicilia herself, that woman dug into that gap, aiming for the moment when Malekith raised his upper body. ¡°NOOOOOOOO!¡± Sicilia screamed and hurriedly tried to fly. But Lena did not let Sicilia leave as she spread her light. And Jude and Cordelia reached Malekith¡¯s chest. They could clearly see the scar on the chest that was engraved by the great hero Carlos a long time ago. ¡°Ooooooo!¡± Jude and Cordelia shouted at the same time. They embedded into the chest scar the Dragon¡¯s Bane, the Ultimate Sword containing the body and soul of ancient Blue Dragon Ascalon! ¡°NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!¡± ¡°KEUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-!¡± Sicilia¡¯s cry was buried by the tremendous howl. She sank to her knees and Lena¡¯s eyes widened. Lena had seen a huge crack spreading throughout Malekith¡¯s entire body. ¡°Jude! Cordelia!¡± Lena reflexively shouted. Because she knew at a nce on what the crack in front of them meant. She was a much calmer woman who recognized the current situation than Sicilia who lost herposure. ¡°AAAAAAAAAAH!¡± Malekith roared. At the same time, the cracks that spread through his body grew bigger. Malekith¡¯s outer skin cracked, and Sicilia finally understood the situation. A bright smile appeared on her face as she cried. ¡°Lord Malekith!¡± He responded. Malekith who loudly roared in response to her call flew up as red light radiated from the cracks in his body. Baaaaaang! He broke through the ceiling and flew up. He reached high in the sky and spread his wings. ¡°KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!¡± The dragon¡¯s roar shook the world. At the same time, his body shattered along with the cracks that appeared in his entire body. No, what shattered was only Malekith¡¯s outer skin. Dragon Sleep. A body that waspletely reborn! ¡°Father!¡± Orga loudly cried as he lied on the ground while covered in blood. All the Dragonflights who were struggling hard in the sky and everyone on the ind, such as the humans and goblins, trembled before the overwhelming presence. ¡°KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!¡± Malekith roared again and spread out his wings. He made his presence clear by shaking off all his outer skin. And at that moment, Jude and Cordelia were falling down. Because they could not hold on and were sent flying away when Malekith soared high in the sky and unfolded his wings. ¡°Aaaaah!¡± Cordelia tightly hugged Jude in her hands and pped her wings with all her might. She flew while enduring the heavy load on her body, or rather, she somehow slowed down their falling speed. Fwooooosh! But there was not enough time for her topletely stop them from falling. Jude and Cordelia who were hugging each other flew like cannonballs and crashed into the sea. Saaaaaash-! The two broke the water surface and sank into the depths of the sea. Jude somehow prevented Cordelia from directly crashing by turning their bodies before the crash, but because of that, he felt like his back was about to snap. The shock was so great that he almost lost his consciousness for a moment. But Jude and Cordelia did not continue to sink. Having avoided directly crashing into the sea because of Jude, Cordelia pulled Jude with her arm, prompting Jude toe to his senses as he quickly swam up to the water surface. ¡°Fwaaah!¡± As soon as their heads came out of the water, Jude and Cordelia roughly breathed. They gasped as they tightly embraced each other, and looked up the sky without caring about their wet hair. At a distance. A godlike being was roaring as it spread out its wings in the sky above the ind¡¯s center. He was huge. He was strong. He was a more powerful and fearful existence than anyone else they had ever encountered. However, Jude and Cordelia caught their breaths instead of shaking in fear. Jude looked up Malekith¡¯s body that was so huge that it felt strange, and said. ¡°Sess.¡± To begin with, they had never thought that they could kill that huge monster in one shot. What they were aiming for was his weakness. ¡°Phase 2¡­ no, 3?¡± ¡°Phase 3.¡± Cordelia gasped as she spoke, and Jude responded by relying on his memory. He could clearly see what other people missed because of its massive presence and terrifying roars. ¡°He¡¯s not okay.¡± It was only a day, but Malekith¡¯s body was far from perfect. Moreover, Ascalon had done its job really well. Malekith had invested a long time of three hundred years in healing, but was unable to heal the wound in his chest due to the attack of Jude and Cordelia just before he woke up. Furthermore, Ascalon was embedded in his chest. The dragon who hated all dragons was destroying his body and soul. An imperfect body despite his rebirth. Cracks remained all over his body. His body and soul were slowly being destroyed due to the Dragon¡¯s Bane. ¡°It¡¯s the biggest boss fight ever.¡± It was their toughest battle out of all the battles they had ever experienced since they remembered their past life memories. ¡°It¡¯s totally a raid.¡± A proper boss raid too. Amon thing in RPGs where many heroes gather to defeat a huge boss. Four of Paragon¡¯s five heroes were here. There were also the thousand elite forces of the south and the more than a thousand cannons of the southern fleet. Kajsa and Scarlet were also here, so it was like a gathering of all-stars. But victory was not unconditionally guaranteed. Because the ancient ck Dragon was truly like a god. Because he was a monster who could even defeat a Demon Prince by himself. They had to risk their lives in order to defeat him. ¡°Haa¡­ haa¡­¡± Cordelia swallowed hard again. And so did Jude. He had been through many dangerous events ever since he regained his past life memories, but this moment felt more special. Why was that? Was it because Cordelia was with him? But it was the same in the royal capital, in the wildnds, and in the north. He had always been with Cordelia ever since he recalled his past life memories. They had always been together. In times of joy and happiness, as well as in times of hardship and suffering. Their hearts were pounding. Because of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, the sound of Jude and Cordelia¡¯s heartbeats could be heard by his hearing that had surpassed that of a normal human. He could feel Cordelia¡¯s heartbeat on his chest. He involuntarily turned his face to Cordelia. Blue eyes. Cordelia did the same. She turned to Jude as if drawn by his gaze. So the two faced each other. Cordelia blinked her eyes. She stared at him as though she wanted to ask why. Their gazes were the same as always. But something was different. Whether it was because they were facing the greatest enemy ever or because he had so many impulses that he had suppressed, Jude couldn¡¯t hold back any longer. No, he decided to not hold back anymore. He hugged Cordelia¡¯s waist a little tightly, making her presence clearer in his arms. ¡°Jude?¡± ¡°I like you.¡± He said it out loud. Feeling a strange sense of liberation, Jude went on to say. ¡°I like you. No, I love you, Cordelia.¡± His words came out of the blue. And that was why his words were not made up. in words that didn¡¯t even have any flowery expressions. An iparably unsophisticated confession. Cordelia blinked her eyes. It soon widened afterwards and she stopped breathing. Her face was dyed red. She had to say something. But her mind went nk and she couldn¡¯t think of what to say. So Cordelia acted instinctively as always. ¡°M-me too.¡± Jude smiled at the words that spilled out of her lips. Cordelia¡¯s expression became a mess and she couldn¡¯t say anything else. In the sea. They were wet and floating in the sea while in the sky, a godlike evil dragon was roaring and dragons and zombie dragons were having chaotic shes, and on the ind, humans and goblins were fighting. But those did not matter to them. Jude gazed at Cordelia, and Cordelia gazed at Jude. The distance between the two naturally narrowed at some point. Cordelia gently closed her eyes, and so did Jude. Although both of them had their eyes closed, they kissed each other in the lips so naturally. ¡°KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-!¡± Malekith roared from afar. Once again, the world shook, and the dragons and zombie dragons quivered in fear, and those in the sea and ground trembled at his formidable presence. But Jude and Cordelia did not care. No, they weren¡¯t even aware of what was happening around them. A short kiss. The moment their lips met, she didn¡¯t feel anything fantastic like she had imagined. It wasn¡¯t much different from when she just kissed him on the cheek. But when their lips parted, and when their hot breaths flowed out between the small gap in their lips. When they gently opened their eyes and gazed at each other. Jude and Cordelia realized at the same time. That something had changed. That a lot of things had changed despite having only kissed once. Malekith unleashed his Dragon Fear ability. The dragons and zombie dragons in the sky couldn¡¯t bear it andnded on the ground, while the humans and goblins did not even dare to continue their fight. The whole ind held its breath before the being called Malekith. But Jude and Cordelia still only saw each other. The two focused on each other more after the words Cordelia spoke without realizing. ¡°O-one more time.¡± Cordelia hugged Jude¡¯s neck and spoke in a stupor as if she was drunk, and Jude did not dissuade her. ?He grasped Cordelia¡¯s waist and kissed her on the lips once more. It was sweet. It was soft. It was everything that was good in this world. Jude whose eyes were closed felt all those things. But Cordelia whose eyes were wide open had a slightly different thought. Because it differed a little from what her sister or Dahlia had said. It was pleasant, but she felt that something was a bitcking. Cordelia¡¯s instinct was telling her. Not yet. That only this was not enough. She needed something a bit more intense. Then what? What should I do? Her lips instinctively parted. The tip of Cordelia¡¯s tongue touched Jude¡¯s lips. But just before she pushed her tongue in, Jude¡¯s lips moved away. Cordelia unconsciously followed Jude¡¯s lips and pushed her face to him, but his lips were already too far away from her reach. Hey, why? Why? Cordelia stared at Jude with some resentment, thirst, and sorrow as if she was begging for it, and Jude bit his lips once before caressing Cordelia¡¯s cheek as he said. ¡°Let¡¯s continue the next part after the fight.¡± Next? The next part? What¡¯s the next part? Huh? What¡¯s the next part? What exactly is the next part? Cordelia unknowingly continued her thoughts, but regained her reason at one point. She realized what her instincts, or her beastly self that Jude always called her, was trying to do. ¡®Kyaaaa!¡¯ Cordelia mentally screamed and wanted to cover her face with her hands ¨C no, she wanted topletely run away, but that was impossible. Because he was in front of her. So the next part. Yes, the next part. After this fight is over. After this fight ends! ¡°W-wait a second!¡± This is a g. That¡¯s definitely a death g! ¡°Idiot! You idiot!¡± How could you nt a death g right before a boss fight? Her criticism was groundless, but as always, Jude fully understood what Cordelia meant. So he kissed her forehead. ¡°Chu.¡± But Cordelia¡¯s dissatisfaction wouldn¡¯t go away with just that. No, the dissatisfaction on her face wasn¡¯t about the g in the first ce. ¡®Why are you still doing it on my forehead?¡¯ Neither of them said anything. But it was clearly revealed in her eyes, so Jude acted on it. He locked his lips with Cordelia again and her face reddened once more. Because she was strangely embarrassed. Because the present kiss was strangely more embarrassing than the previous two. ¡°Idiot.¡± Cordelia grinned with a red face when she saw Jude¡¯s flushed face, and hugged his neck again. She took a deep breath and forcefully calmed her breathing before she saw reality again. A gigantic evil dragon roaring in the sky and heroes gathering to fight it. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go. We have to win to do the next part.¡± Next part. Yes, the next part. What¡¯s the next part? Why do I recall Adelia-unnie and brother-inw Ga?l? I want to know now. Cordelia murmured in her mind before correcting her expression. After she suppressed her inner beast that wanted to draw her face closer to his, she spread out her wings. Jude also prepared for battle. He recited the mnemonic chant of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors and activated the power of the ck Sun. [What a relief. I was wondering if I should intervene or not.] [My sessor, I would have intervened if it had been a little longer.] The voices echoed in Cordelia and Jude¡¯s minds. The two brightly smiled instead of saying anything else, and they headed out of the water. The battle against the giant evil dragon who covered the sky finally began. After 263 episodes, the ship has sailed~! Yes, this is the best episode for me. It¡¯s rare to find an action and fantasy Korean series to have a slow developing romance somehow done right. Chapter 265: The Golden Sun (1)

Chapter 265: The Golden Sun (1)

The two episodes were quite short, so Ibined them. Enjoy the double chapter~! Ancient ck Dragon Malekith. As the only Ancient Dragon that appeared in Legend of Heroes 2, he was almost like the final ordeal for the yable characters from the S?len Kingdom. ¡°KRAAAAAAAAAAA-!¡± His roar covered the sky and the earth. A crushing silence dominated the surrounding area. Seeing a gigantic creature with a body length of 150 meters as it roared high in the sky was like a myth in itself. Most of those on the ind were in awe and fear. To them, the current Malekith was almost like a god. And it was the same in the game. This godlike being from the south was much bigger in the game than he was now, but that didn¡¯t mean his status was lower. ¡®The southern region¡¯s greatest ordeal.¡¯ Malekith¡¯s appearance itself was in the first half of the game. It was he who caused the destruction of the south, which became a decisive factor in the S?len Kingdom¡¯s fall, following the great invasion of the northern barbarians and the annihtion of the royal family. One could possibly fight Malekith right in the first half if one wanted to, since Legend of Heroes was a series with a considerable degree of freedom. But even if one yed as Maximilian, the main protagonist of the game, confronting Malekith in the first half ¨C no, even confronting him alone in the middle to second half of the game was just a suicidal act. ¡®It¡¯s possible to fight him in the second half.¡¯ It was only possible after almost all the yable characters joined forces to form a raid party. Facing Malekith alone was impossible for any yable character. ¡®One who is like a god.¡¯ No, he was truly a god. A being who ughtered all the southern humans and burned the Forest of Eternity was then reborn as a wicked god as a result of devouring many deep-seated grudges and vindictive spirits. Obviously, all of these happened in the game. The present Malekith had yet to be a god. Far from devastating the southern region of the country, even his Dragon Sleep had not been properlypleted. But even so, he was an Ancient Dragon. As what was emphasized over and over, he was like a god. ¡°Koooo-¡± Malekith let out a long breath and looked down at the ground. The huge and gigantic being towered over the creatures on the ground. [Sicilia.] His voice reverberated through the sky and the earth. At the same time, his vicious and ruthless will was conveyed to the minds of everyone on the ind. ¡°Aaaah!¡± ¡°Aack! Aaaaah!¡± There were those who shook in fear just from hearing Malekith¡¯s angry voice. It was the result of the powerful Dragon Fear destroying their wills. ¡°Please forgive me. Please forgive me.¡± ¡°Spare me. Please spare me.¡± The weak-minded fell to the ground and begged. Some bowed their heads, and some burst into tears. It wasn¡¯t just the humans. The same happened to the goblins and orcs. Rational thinking became impossible for them as their fears crushed them. Malekith spoke again. At his call, Sicilia stepped forward with tears in her eyes. ¡°Here I am, here is Thy humble woman who serves the great Thee.¡± Sicilia shouted as she bowed her head to the floor. The distance between Malekith and Sicilia was over hundreds of meters, and she was too small and slenderpared to Malekith¡¯s huge body that was reminiscent of a giant, but Malekith did not miss Sicilia¡¯s voice. He clearly identified her among the thousands present here. [What happened?] His question contained anger and rebuke instead of affection and friendliness. Having received the wrath of a godlike being, Sicilia trembled in fear as she removed all the barriers protecting her mind. She opened it and weed his will before it got broken and crushed by Malekith. Memory transmission. Sicilia conveyed everything that she had seen, heard, and felt. It didn¡¯t take much time for Malekith. Shortly after Sicilia opened the door to her mind, he understood all the recent events at once. Therefore, the anger he expressed was even greater. [Stupid and weak bugs.] Malekith¡¯s wrath was not focused on Sicilia alone. But Sicilia, who had fully opened her mind to him, felt like she was being crushed by just a part of his anger. She was so lost in indescribable fear and terror that she was unable to notice the facts. Her series of mistakes. The disappearance of Gamorr Khan and the death of Madhur. The loss of one of the Ten Great Swordmasters whom she had worked so hard to recruit, and their defeat at Argon Port. She also failed to steal Ascalon in the end. It wasn¡¯t just her. Sicilia and Orga even failed to protect the ind. The Dragon Sleep was notplete, and Malekith¡¯s own wounds were not fully healed. He even had Ascalon embedded in his chest. [I will personally punish you.] At Malekith¡¯s deration, Sicilia felt like her soul was being crushed. Because she knew how ruthless Malekith could be. The suffering would be so terrible that one would rather long for death. ¡°I¡¯ve made a mistake. I¡¯ve done wrong. Please forgive me.¡± Sicilia wept and begged, but Malekith¡¯s attention had already left her. He saw Orga. He burst intoughter at the sight of that man¡¯s fallen and wretched appearance even though that man was of his own blood. The Dragonflights. They had been almost destroyed. His army, which he thought he would see after 300 years, was broken and destroyed, and even their bodies were unrecognizable. So Malekithughed. It rocked the entire ind. [You insignificant bugs!] His anger did not subside. His anger towards Carlos and Lion rose again. The very existence of these bugs swarming his ind infuriated him. Erase everything. Destroy everything on this ind. [KRAAAAAAAAAAA-!] The dragon¡¯s anger spread to the skies. The will of the godlike being caused a supernatural urrence. Ruuuuumble-! The climate changed. Dark clouds gathered in an instant and covered the sky, and a strong wind blew under the darkened sky. The waves around the ind became rough and stormy. Craaaaack! Lightning struck from the sky. Dozens of lightning bolts hit the ground. [KRAAAAAAAAAAAA-!] Malekith roared amidst the white shes of light. He released Dragon Fear again, and the weak fell as they grabbed their heads. Rain poured down from the darkened sky. Crack! Boom! Bang! Lightning struck in session. The ground cracked and the whole ind shook. Most of the humans on the ind couldn¡¯t even stand on their two feet due to the devastating earthquake. ¡°Haa¡­ ugh¡­ haa¡­¡± Kajsa couldn¡¯t even properly speak. Even letting out her usual swears was impossible. All she could do was gasp in fear. And it was the same for Scarlet who was beside her. ¡°Haa¡­ haak¡­ ugh¡­¡± Scarlet couldn¡¯t breathe properly. She choked and burst into tears as if she had forgotten how to breathe. Panting was all she could do as she crouched on the floor. Craaaaaackle! Sebastian Leguin looked up the sky but couldn¡¯t think of anything. Count Kagehama didn¡¯t even dare to look up the sky as he fell on the floor and covered his head with his hands, while Marquis Ophand gritted his teeth and looked up the sky, but that was all he could do. Even though he had inherited the blood of a divine creature, he still couldn¡¯t do anything. Lightning shed. Earthquakes and storms ravaged the ind. Most of the battleships that were submerged rose to the surface, and the Sirens could no longer sing. Siren Queen Iliana Ccanis wept like a child as she embraced the staff she inherited from her ancestors. Pure Dragon Fear. Malekith had a view of the ground again. In order to personally exhale fire to purify the ground. However, when Malekith looked down the ground, a strange sight was reflected in his eyes that had the transcendental cognitive abilities of an Ancient Dragon. There was a man with his head up. Despite the Dragon Fear dominating the ce, there were people who were standing and facing him instead of crying and trembling in fear. ¡°Ancient ck Dragon.¡± Velkian narrowed his eyes that were covered by his beak mask. Instead of shivering in fear, he made a hand seal and summoned a mighty and powerful Phantom Steed. The ck ghost horse engulfed in green mes had a piercing glow in its eyes. ¡°He¡¯s weakened.¡± Lena did not lose her reasoning even as a lightning storm swept through the ind. She passed by Sicilia who was crying and trembling with her head bowed. She spread her white wings and flew straight up the sky. ¡°It¡¯s not a god. It¡¯s just a giant monster.¡± Kamael lowered his sword. He had already fought against a transcendental being called the Demon Prince. He did not lose himself even in the face of an Ancient Dragon¡¯s formidable presence. He stepped forward unaffectedly. Like Velkian and Lena, he headed towards one person. ¡°A mind of steel, an indomitable will, and an invincible body.¡± A man muttered and raised his head. The man stood tall on his two feet and confronted the horror in the sky. He was like the sun. A person who never lost his light amidst any despair and fear. One who dispelled the darkness. One who delivered light to those who wandered in the dark. So Velkian was able to go straight anywhere and anytime. He was sure that he was on the right track just by following that man¡¯s back. Lena was the same. She always found hope in him. Because as long as he was with them, an eternal and absolute darkness could not exist. Two people stood next to him. And one more person joined them. Ghostde Kamael. He rarely smiled. Even in front of a godlike being, he smiled instead of shaking in fear. He looked at their own sun who had already cleared the darkness called the Demon Prince once. He stood next to that man and gazed up the sky. ¡°The seventh door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors.¡± The man said. He unlocked its true power. By itself, it erased from the surrounding area Malekith¡¯s binding curse, their fear of that Ancient Dragon. ¡°Supreme Sun Divine Art.¡± The Golden Sun. Landius clenched his fists. He met the gaze of Malekith who was staring right at him, and shot forward to the sky by condensing his energy to his feet. Fwoooooosh! A golden beam of light soared up. The golden light from the ground struck the sky, leading to a miracle. The dark clouds that covered the sky parted, and sunlight shone down. That single ray of light. It stood out even more in the dark. Those who trembled in fear saw the light. The single ray of light shone down from the sky, and the golden beam of light that was soaring up from the ground. And in between those, Landius opened his clenched fist. He summoned it as the sunlight shone down on him. ¡°Sr de.¡± The sword of the sun god Sri shined gold. Malekith unconsciously shuddered at that moment. Instead of attacking or showing his anger, he just watched. He couldn¡¯t help it. The Golden Sun. A man like the sun. Landius held the sword in his hand. He grasped the Sr de. Three hundred years had passed. Malekith clearly felt the flow of time after waking up from his Dragon Sleep. Carlos no longer existed. The demigod Lion D. S?len must have eventually died too. So it was over. There should have been no more human beings who could stop Malekith himself. Carlos and Lion were beings that truly caused miracles. But at this moment. Malekith had an indescribable ominous feeling. He saw Carlos and Lion in the man who bravely stood alone in front of him instead of kneeling down. How did this happen? Did a miracle ur again? He recalled Sicilia¡¯s memories. The information she found out. The five heroes of Paragon. A huge event that urred while Malekith himself was asleep. Demon Princes also had differences in power. A Demon Prince who was just below an Overlord of Hell, and a demon who managed to rise to the position of Demon Prince, were not of the same level. Their difference in power was enormous. But even so, it was a Demon Prince. It was clear that it was a transcendental existence that a human¡¯s strength could not even dare to surpass. But humans defeated such a Demon Prince. It wasn¡¯t just a normal fight either as these human monsters achieved victory in an unfavorable battle at a ce that had already be the domain of the Demon Prince. Malekith decided to not let his guard down. He assumed that the humans in front of him wereparable to Carlos and Lion. Therefore, he did everything he could without hesitation. ¡°Kaaa-!¡± At the center of the golden beam of light. Malekith blew his Dragon Breath towards Landius who was holding the sword of the sun god. The sight of a ck beam of light that was around 40 meters in diameter as it fell down the sky was truly astounding. But Landius did not nkly stare at it. The moment Malekith fired his Dragon Breath, he unfolded the Seraphim¡¯s Wings. Kabooooooooooooom-! The pitch ck beam of light swept across the ground. It left a deep scar on the earth as it advanced forward, and split the sea after it reached the shore. Its power was truly incredible. Those within the attack range of the Dragon Breath werepletely annihted without leaving a single trace. Even those who were outside the range were mesmerized b the terrifying sight created by the transcendent attack. It was so shocking that their mind went nk. But the heroes of Paragon were not like that. When the Dragon Breath touched the ground, Landius soared into the air. The Phantom Steed carrying Velkian hurriedly flew to the side, and Kamael jumped on the Phantom Steed¡¯s back too. Lena flew in a different direction from Landius. The attack missed. However, it was impossible to immediately cut off the Dragon Breath that had been fired. So Malekith perceived Landius by turning his eyes as his breath split the sea. As he did to Carlos in the past, he sent a threatening aura towards the man rushing towards him. Dragon Fear. Malekith¡¯s will was added to that. For Malekith, an Ancient Dragon, using magic was the same as breathing. There was no need for hand seals or incantations. He could automatically cast magic the moment he expressed his will to do so. Thus, as many as seven magic spells attacked Landius at the same time. Starting with , six curse-type magic spells attacked Landius¡¯ mind and body. Hundreds of magic missiles floated around Malekith¡¯s head and sped towards Landius. And Landius acted as always. ¡°HAA!¡± He shook off the curses in one move. For Landius who had a mind of steel and an indomitable will, mental curses didn¡¯t work on him. He was truly like the sun with his invincible body. Boooooooom! His golden aura swept around as he swung the Sr de. Hundreds of magic missiles shot towards him, but none of it ever harmed Landius. Malekith was not flustered. He had already assumed that Landius was equal to Carlos, so he quickly moved on to the next step. Shing-! Malekith¡¯s body suddenly disappeared. It was magic. Malekith, who had moved from high above the sky to down the ground, caused disaster with just one movement. His lower body not only trampled the humans, but also the dragons and wyverns, and instead of focusing his magic on Landius, he unleashed a powerful ranged magic. Lightning. And the storm that followed. Dozens of lightning bolts shed through the sky and struck the ground. It blew up the humans, orcs, and goblins as it swept the surrounding area. It was a trick he learned three hundred years ago. When he destroyed the surroundings like this, Carlos and Lion couldn¡¯t concentrate on him. They had used excessive measures or even reduced their own power in order to protect the people around them. Dozens of lightning strikes hit the ground again. A lightning storm centered on Malekith struck within a 500-meter radius. ¡°Run! Run away!¡± Kajsa who was outside the lightning storm shouted desperately, but her voice was buried by the thunder. Moreover, it was already impossible for those in the lightning storm to escape. Kajsa moved her hand. She grabbed the person close to her and blindly ran. Themanders, including Calix Ophand, also ordered everyone to run away. ¡°To the shore! To the sea!¡± Booooooooooom! The lightning storm gradually expanded its range. Malekith turned his eyes, and at some point, he sensed a powerful magic energy. It wasn¡¯t Landius. The magic he felt was on the ground. One person. A person who did not stop even if he was distressed by the horrors in front of him. A person who could do cold-hearted judgments. Malekith smelled an intense scent of death in that person. It was a kind of power that an average human being should not have been able to use. ¡°Arise.¡± Velkian dered. The corpses responded to themand of he who was born with a human body but was more skilled than the high elf Sicilia. The zombie dragons that were already under his control flew towards each other. Bang! Boom! Boom! Bang! Boom! Bang! Flesh and bones intertwined. They were originally different entities, but they all intertwined and became one. It wasn¡¯t just the zombie dragons. Orcs and goblins were added too in order to fill the gaps. Flesh Golem. A terrifying monster. But it was huge and strong. The monster, which was up to a hundred meters tall, rose from outside the lightning storm. And towards that, Lena ordered. As a powerful master of golems, she brought to life the golem created by Velkian. ¡°Go!¡± Kuooooooooooooo-! The Flesh Golem roared and charged towards Malekith. It let out an overwhelming presence amidst the pouring rain and lightning. Thud! Thud! Thud! The ground rang. Having narrowed its distance with Malekith in just a few steps, the Flesh Golem clenched its fist. Bang! The ground was broken. At the same time, the Flesh Golem¡¯s right fist was also shattered. Malekith was not there. He had used and headed to the back of the Flesh Golem, grabbing its neck as he rotated his body and swung his tail. Kaboooom! His tail split the golem¡¯s waist. Malekith was good at fighting, and he knew how to use his body. The Flesh Golem copsed after having its waist split, and Malekith turned his eyes towards the necromancer who emitted the magic of death and the angel who controlled the golem. Just as Kamael wished. ¡°ying Moon.¡± Kamael swung his sword. He fired a sh, generating a sharp and huge sword aura. aaaaah! It targeted Malekith¡¯s wings. But Malekith didn¡¯t give him a chance even though he was looking away. Due to the sharp senses unique to a dragon, he sensed the danger the moment Kamael swung his sword. He blocked the sh by activating twelve magic shields in one breath. Bababababababang! Kamael¡¯s sword aura lost its power at the tenth shield. And at that moment, Marquis Ophand who had barely ovee his fear then ordered. ¡°Shoot! Cannons, fire! Shoot!¡± Themands and repetition training were for times like this. The moment Marquis Ophand shouted, the sailors aboard the battleships acted reflexively. Although they were a bit slower than usual, they performed the mechanical actions in the midst of their fear and trembling. Boom! Bang! Babababababang! After the first one and two shots, hundreds of cannons fired one after another. Their numbers nearly reached eight hundred even considering the time difference. Since Malekith was huge, it was unnecessary for them to aim it properly. Cannonballs pierced through the rain. And Malekith perceived this again. He lowered his body, raised his head, and then roared. ¡°KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-!¡± The sailors aboard the battleships screamed and copsed at the roar that shook the world. The pouring raindrops bounced sideways or upwards, and powerful waves swept the entire ind. But Malekith did not intend to stop the cannonballs with his current roar. He was merely expressing his strong will in order to unleash a more powerful magic. Malekith¡¯srge-scale magic. It empowered a very naturalw of this world. Bababababababababababababang-! The barrage of cannonballs all fell to the ground at once. Some of the cannonballs drew a parab, but most of the cannonballs that were already weakened by Malekith¡¯s roar plummeted to the ground. . A massive gravity magic. Malekith clenched his teeth. He stamped on the ground once more and expanded the range of the . The Flesh Golem, which was trying to stand up with its broken upper body, fell again. ¡°KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-!¡± Malekith immediately expanded the range of the . It consumed a lot of mana, but he did not care. Fall, be broken, sink. Bend down and crawl on the ground like a worm. Malekith¡¯smands were already magic. The powerful dragon¡¯s magic captured even those who were outside the range of . Some of those who managed to reach the shoreline plunged their heads into the sea, and the Sirens also sank down below the water surface. Kajsa awakened the divine creature¡¯s blood, but it was useless. Her body shook in fear. The legends about Carlos did not lie. Malekith was truly like a god. An absolute being whom one could never resist. Despair. Fear. Terror. Kajsa sat down. She gasped like a person who had forgotten how to breathe, and Scarlet was no different. Everyone on the ind fell into a deep and profound despair regardless of identity. But Malekith was not satisfied. Rather, it angered him. Because there were those who never gave in. Because just like three hundred years ago, there were those who resisted the orders of a godlike being. ¡°Lightning of Divine Punishment!¡± Lena spread her wings. Her knees never gave in despite staggering from the immense gravity, and she eventually raised high the Heavenly Judgment. She turned towards Malekith and invoked Day of Judgment. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Instead of a hundred spears, ten gigantic spears of light rained down on Malekith. ¡°You bugs!¡± Most spears were blocked and destroyed. But Malekith roared in anger, and Kamael fired his sword aura again at that very moment. His sword aura flew up towards Malekith. ¡°Aaaaaaagh!¡± Malekith¡¯s body was nearly 150 meters long, and the natural thickness of a single scale transcendedmon sense. However, Kamael¡¯s sword aura split the scales. It inflicted a wound on the scales and thick leather, blowing cold air to the wound with its extreme Yin energy. The wound was small. In human terms, it was just a scratch. But Malekith was someone who was unable to wake up in a fully healed state in the first ce. Moreover, Kamael¡¯s attack reminded him of Lion. Malekith lost hisposure and began to let out more of his power at random. ¡°Aaaaah!¡± Having resisted to the end, Lena knelt on the ground. Kamael¡¯s sword aura could no longer reach Malekith, and the Flesh Golem waspletely crushed as its form was already unrecognizable. Orga who was within the range of the let out a weak moan. He called out to Malekith, but Malekith ignored him. Sicilia who was in the underground also gasped and suffered, but Malekith ignored her too. Kill. Annihte. Erase everything in this world! ¡°KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-!¡± Only Malekith should survive alone. Anger, rage, and a sense of liberation filled Malekith¡¯s mind. Lena screamed, while Kamael also fell to the ground as his body trembled. But Velkian smiled under his mask. He forced out augh. Because they were sessful. Because they had seeded in grabbing Malekith¡¯s attention! It was the glory of the morning. No matter how deep and dark the night might be, the golden sun always drove it away! ¡°Landius!¡± Kamael shouted to the sky. He cried out. And the sun, the invincible hero who could destroy even despair, answered them. A dazzling light shone high in the sky. Chapter 267: The Golden Sun (3)

Chapter 267: The Golden Sun (3)

¡°Uoooooooooh!¡± High in the sky. The sun rose from a ce that had been turned dark by the pouring rain, lightning, and dark clouds. The sky was split by the sword of the sun that was raised high. Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing-! The darkness was divided. The dark and heavy clouds split, and the sunlight shone on the ground again. Malekith looked up the sky. He felt an instinctive fear at the intense power of the sun that was created by using the energy of the seventh door at once. He quickly soared up and opened his mouth wide. ¡°Kaa-¡± A full power Dragon Breath. It shot to the sky. It headed to destroy the sun. And Landius gripped Sri¡¯s divine sword, the Sr de, with both hands. The immense sword that was born through the power of the sun. Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing! A beam of light soared up. A gigantic de of light over a hundred meters long was swung from Landius¡¯ hands. It was the true sun. The Trailzer Sword that could cut through even any darkness! ¡°Uoooooooo!¡± Landius¡¯ entire body shone with golden light. The Trailzer Sword shed head-on with the Dragon Breath, causing a miracle. The Dragon Breath shattered in front of the Trailzer Sword. Ksssshhhhhh! It was a truly magnificent sight. The Dragon Breath was split by the Trailzer Sword from the front, and the Dragon Breath¡¯s fragments scattered in all directions. The Trailzer Sword did not lose its light after the ck light shattered. ¡°AAAAAAAH!¡± Landius roared. The Trailzer Sword that cut through the Dragon Breath finally reached Malekith¡¯s neck. It headed down and shed Malekith¡¯s chest. ¡°AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!¡± Malekith screamed. His chest was ripped open and bright red blood spurted out, and the godlike being turned into a beast as it rolled over the floor. ¡°AAAAAH! AAAAAAAAH!¡± Malekith continued to struggle. The wound was so hot as if it had been burned. Malekith was weak to pain as he had always been the one to inflict pain, so he had a hard time withstanding the current situation. But Malekith did not copse. His fierce anger overcame his fear. Although Malekith was reduced to a beast, he was still an Ancient Dragon. He suppressed the bleeding with the will of a dragon. The healing of the wound was slow due to the power of the sun, but he forcibly closed it and spread his wings. He flew up and tried to harm Landius somehow. It would be fine even if it was hisst attack. Landius saw him. It was hard for him to even lift up the Sr de again because he had just poured all his energy into the attack, but he wasn¡¯t afraid in the slightest. He looked straight into the eyes of Malekith who was letting out a murderous look. They stared straight at each other. Malekith was even angrier. He opened his mouth to somehow kill Landius. As he had done with Carlos, he wanted to take Landius¡¯ life. And at that moment, Landius opened his mouth. He said in a very low voice. ¡°Go.¡± My disciple. Will you be also the sun that will lead the morning? A smile spread across Landius¡¯ face. At the time Malekith was puzzled, white wings of light left a beautiful trail in the dark sky. Kajsa saw it. Scarletughed. Kamael, Lena, Velkian, and everyone witnessed the two people splitting the sky together. ¡°LET¡¯S GOOOOOO!¡± Let¡¯s get thest hit! Cordelia cheerfully eximed, and Jude tightly hugged such a Cordelia. They flew past Landius and rushed towards Malekith¡¯s chest, or to be exact, towards Ascalon that was still stuck in the middle of the chest. ¡°You b*stards!¡± Malekith angrily shouted. However, he had already lost a lot of his strength due to the Trailzer Sword. Jude overcame Malekith¡¯s Dragon Fear with the power of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. Cordelia overcame the fear in a slightly different way. ¡°Last hit! LAST HIIIIIIIIIIIT!¡± It was thest hit to the Ancient Dragon. Furthermore, if they defeated the Ancient Dragon, they could get the Ancient Dragon¡¯s Dragon Heart. Her gamer brain was on overdrive. She added the power of an angel to ovee the Dragon Fear. ¡°Grab!¡± Jude and Cordelia grabbed Ascalon¡¯s handle. At that moment, Cordelia used magic tond on Malekith¡¯s chest as if they were standing on the ground. ¡°UOOOOOOH!¡± Malekith tried to hit them in his chest. A shadow loomed over their heads as a giant fist approached, but Jude and Cordelia did not care. Attack before defending. The best defense is a good offense! ¡°One hit for now!¡± They released their power through Ascalon. Having been weakened to a certain extent, Malekith screamed in pain in response to their attack, and as a result, his fist did not properly hit the two. It just hit the ce right next to it. ¡°Don¡¯t stop! One more hit!¡± Jude spoke and Cordelia looked at Jude. The two instantly understood what the other wanted, and did what they had to do. One hit using Ascalon. It was simple. They only needed to give Ascalon a huge amount of power. But ordinary power was not enough. No matter how weakened it might be, it was still an Ancient Dragon, so they needed to do their best to defeat it. ¡°UOOOOOOOH!¡± Jude raised both his Yang and Yin energies at the same time. An enormous amount of Yang energy was emitted from the ck Sun, and his natural extreme Yin energy was concentrated on his left hand. But it was not bnced. The extreme Yin energy that had been suppressed since birth could not be equal to the Yang energy of the ck Sun. But Jude did not care. Cordelia was next to him now. ¡°Almas!¡± Cordelia summoned the intensely cold sword in her right hand. After it generated an immense amount of cold air, she activated her magic again. ¡°¡± She pushed the life and extreme cold energies to Jude. She bnced the Yin and Yang energies by replenishing theck of cold! And the Great Protection of the Four Seasons was added. The Winter Protection strengthened the Yin energy, and the Summer Protection reinforced the Yang energy. Yin and Yang. Cordelia¡¯s senses and Jude¡¯s calctions were precisely united to create a perfect bnce. And at that instant, Jude created a tremendous power by colliding the two opposing forces. ¡°ASCALOOOOOON!¡± I¡¯ve pushed it in. I¡¯ve infused it. So wake up now! [AAAAAAAAAH!] Ascalon roared. The dragon-hating dragon who brought death to dragons. Kaboooooooooom! The white light from Ascalon as it revealed its true form pierced Malekith¡¯s chest. It did not stop there as it destroyed the chest itself. His chest burst as if an explosion had urred inside. ¡°AAAAAAAH!¡± Malekith screamed at the excruciating pain. He couldn¡¯t even think because the pain felt like it was burning his brain. He fell to the ground instead of pping his wings. But it wasn¡¯t over yet. There was no white ring around them yet. Jude and Cordelia who had torn Malekith¡¯s chest were thrown into the air along with the scales, but the two looked ahead. Jude was in a bad state mentally and physically due to the aftermath of the explosion of his Yin and Yang energies that he was still not familiar with. Cordelia was the same, as not only her left hand that she used to hold Jude was covered in blood, but also the entire left side of her body. She was unable to even use a bit of her magic. But she still had something to do. On Cordelia¡¯s neck was a gift given to her by Jude a few days ago. The Dragon Heart of an Adult Dragon. Cordelia spread her wings. Jude held Cordelia¡¯s waist, and she absorbed the Dragon Heart¡¯s mana. She pulled back her right fist and focused her gaze on Malekith¡¯s heart beyond the torn chest, shouting. ¡°Spirit King Punch!¡± She punched. At that moment, the Spirit King¡¯s fist broke through the air and appeared, punching Malekith¡¯s huge red heart! ¡°KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-!¡± Malekith cried again. And this time, he couldn¡¯t hold on any longer. Because the Spirit King¡¯s fist did not stop at hitting Malekith¡¯s heart but tore it out altogether. ¡°Keuaa!¡± That was hisst breath. It was the end of Malekith who woke up notpletely healed. ¡°NOOOOOOOO!¡± Sicilia¡¯s screams were drowned by the loud sound. Malekith¡¯s massive body crashed to the ground, creating a storm of dust. Thuuuuuud! Thud! The ground shook. And thest lightning struck. The phenomenon caused by Malekith lost its driving force when Malekith died, and it began to return to normal. The dark clouds dispersed. The rain stopped. The storm subsided, and the water regained its calm. Jude and Cordelianded on the ground. They copsed at the same moment because their legs had weakened, but their faces were full of smiles. ¡°Haa¡­ haa¡­ haa¡­¡± Having fallen first by raising Cordelia up, Jude roughly breathed, and it was the same for Cordelia who was lying on Jude¡¯s chest. The two coughed blood on each other almost at the same time. ¡°Kaaaaak-¡± ¡°Kaak-¡± Jude¡¯s body and mind were in a bad state. Cordelia waspletely exhausted after forcibly squeezing out her mana and suffering from the bacsh. However, the two did not lose their smiles. Theyughed like fools as rings of white light appeared in session. And blood was coughed out again. It was Jude this time, and Cordelia said as she panted over Jude¡¯s chest. ¡°We won.¡± They had defeated Malekith. Even though they had only dealt thest hit, they had saved the south from being destroyed. They had defended the S?len Kingdom. Actually, it wasn¡¯t just thest hit. Jude and Cordelia were the ones who created the present situation. They rescued Lena, changed Landius¡¯ mind, and united Paragon¡¯s heroes. Ascalon was added here too. Everyone including Scarlet and Kajsa were brought together by Jude and Cordelia. They had reached the ind before Malekith woke up, and were able to put Ascalon in Malekith¡¯s chest because of the two. If they hadn¡¯t done these, if only one of these listed facts wascking, it would not have produced the same result as it was now. Jude panted and nodded. He lifted his bloody hand and caressed Cordelia¡¯s cheek. Light shone down from the sky. Bted shouts echoed from afar. ¡°We¡¯ve gained a lot of levels.¡± They didn¡¯t know how many rings of light had appeared. They would have to go to the templeter to check it out, but anyway, it was clear that they had be stronger. Jude stroked Cordelia¡¯s hair. Cordelia wanted to crouch and put her chin on Jude¡¯s chest, but she turned her gaze away. She lightly bit her lips, saying shyly. ¡°Next part.¡± The next part you mentioned earlier. I want to do it now. Jude was startled for a moment before he bit his lips in the same way and nodded. He naturally hugged Cordelia¡¯s head, and Cordelia stretched her neck that was lying face down on Jude¡¯s chest. Their lips ovepped. And then the next part. The tip of Cordelia¡¯s tongue protruded in between the gap in her lips. It gently intertwined with Jude¡¯s tongue and became one. It was such a strange experience. So Cordelia flinched for a moment, but it was only for a moment. She felt her heart pounding as she did things she would never have normally imagined, such as kissing in the lips, shuffling with their tongues, and mixing their saliva. ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­¡± They didn¡¯t even know how long it went on. Their lips parted and Cordelia¡¯s breath touched Jude¡¯s lips. Even before the thin line of saliva was cut off, the warm breath entered Jude¡¯s mouth again. The bitter taste of blood. But it tasted sweet at the same time. ¡°Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± They called each other yfully. Cordelia had a big smile and whispered into Jude¡¯s ear. ¡°I like you.¡± I really, really like you. I¡¯m still embarrassed to say ¡°I love you,¡± but I can say ¡°I like you.¡± Jude held his breath. He opened his mouth to give an answer. But instead of listening to his answer, Cordelia pressed her lips on Jude¡¯s ear and poked her tongue out. Therefore, the startled Jude made a sound he would normally never make. ¡°Idiot.¡± Cordelia giggled and cunningly smiled before she kissed his lips again, and Jude epted her. He embraced her small and slender body tightly. And a dozen meters away. Lena stood at a certain distance as though a line had been drawn, and she looked back at Kamael and asked. ¡°What should we do?¡± ¡°For now¡­ let¡¯s take care of Landius. The remaining troops of the enemy cannot be ignored too, so let¡¯s resolve that.¡± ¡°Uh, okay.¡± As I thought, that¡¯s for the better, right? Kamael and Lena stepped back, while Scarlet and Kajsa, who had been running towards the two, coldly stared at them before turning around. In their minds, they wanted to reprimand the two to consider the time and ce, but they decided to overlook it for now. After all, these two were the heroes who saved the south ¨C no, the entire kingdom. From the wildnds. The royal capital. And now at the south. Under the golden sun, Jude and Cordelia tightly hugged each other. They enjoyed another victory that would lead to a perfect happy ending. Episodes 265-266 Chapter 268: Victory (1)

Chapter 268: Victory (1)

At the ce where the Ancient Dragon, a being said to have a godlike power, copsed. Landius leant against the rubble of a copsed building and stared at the corpse of the huge monster before slowly turning his head. Because he saw people running towards him. ¡°Landius!¡± Kamael shouted first, and Lena who came flying after him inspected Landius¡¯ body. ¡°Are you okay? Are you awake? Are you hurt anywhere?¡± Lena promptly asked as she scanned Landius¡¯ entire steel-like body. He might have looked fine on the outside, but it could bepletely different on the inside. ¡°If you¡¯re feeling any pain, don¡¯t lie and just tell me, okay?¡± At Lena¡¯s warning, or not, Landius warmly smiled. ¡°I¡¯m fine. I¡¯m just exhausted. I only used the Trailzer Sword this time unlike in the past. My energy reserves are empty, and I feel like I will faint soon¡­ but everything else is fine. I don¡¯t even have a scratch.¡± Landius slightly raised his arms to show it off, and Lena suspiciously looked all over Landius¡¯ body before sighing in relief. As Landius had said, he really didn¡¯t have any external wounds. ¡°Then are you feeling unwell?¡± ¡°Because I used that sword. With all my strength.¡± In fact, it was quite reckless in a way. The Trailzer Sword indeed had an earthshattering power, as it not only destroyed Malekith¡¯s Dragon Breath head-on, but also tore his chest. However, it did not immediately kill Malekith. If only Malekith and Landius were present here, the exhausted Landius would be known in history to have died in Malekith¡¯s hands. Landius clearly did not pour all his energy into the Trailzer Sword without thinking. He had heard about Malekith from Jude and Cordelia beforehand, and his reliable colleagues named Kamael, Lena, and Velkian, were here in the first ce. ¡°Haa¡­ Anyway.¡± Lena sighed again before she leaned against Landius and kissed him on the cheek. Landius grinned again and asked Kamael and Lena. ¡°How¡¯s my disciple and the girl?¡± ¡°Unlike a certain person here, doing their best exhausted them and made them cough blood, and they fainted while having a passionate kiss.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± ¡°Shall we do it too?¡± Lena asked in a soft voice, and Landius had a slightly shy expression that didn¡¯t suit hisrge size. The two were drawn to each other. But it wasn¡¯t just the two of them who were present here. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± When Kamael cleared his throat, Landius had an embarrassed smile while Lena snorted and said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We won¡¯t do it in public.¡± Lena knew that certain things had a proper time and ce unlike other people. ¡°Moving on¡­ it¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve seen you use the Trailzer Sword.¡± Kamael spoke to change the subject, and Landius quickly nodded his head and said too. ¡°Is this the first time since we fought Baikazel?¡± ¡°It is.¡± It was the first time they had faced an opponent that required the use of the Trailzer Sword since their victory against Baikazel. No, there was one more opponent that required the use of the Trailzer Sword more, but they didn¡¯t have the chance to use it. ¡®Archbishop Manu.¡¯ Their enemy who caused the destruction of the Paragon Kingdom. Someone presumed to be the strongest among the demon followers. Kamael slightly furrowed his brows when Landius¡¯ expression turned intimidating as he gritted his teeth just from thinking of that person. Although it was not as much as Jude and Cordelia, they were able to understand the other¡¯s inner thoughts just by facing each other. They had chased after Archbishop Manu here in the south. But instead of talking about Manu, Kamael continued their talk about the Trailzer Sword. ¡°Its power has really grown.¡± ¡°Because 10 years have passed. I trained hard in my own way.¡± Ten years ago, the Trailzer Sword was also the one that killed Demon Prince Baikazel who caused the tragedy of the Paragon Kingdom. Its power was great even back then, but if one simply looked at the size of the Trailzer Sword made by the Sr de, it was iparable to that of 10 years ago. At that time, the de of the Trailzer Sword was only around 20 meters long. ¡®It¡¯s already strange to say that it¡¯s only 20 meters.¡¯ But it couldn¡¯t be helped for him to say that. Because the de of the Trailzer Sword that Landius showed in the battle just earlier was well over a hundred meters at the very least. As Kamael and Lena admired him, Landius scratched the back of his head in his embarrassment before saying. ¡°It uses a lot of energy the stronger it gets. So I really don¡¯t have the energy to stand up now.¡± Him exaggerating his hardship was something that Kamael and Lena could see through. ¡°But I¡¯m d that the results are good. Doing our best from the very beginning was worth it.¡± After all, the sooner the fight ended, the better. Especially when their opponent was a monster like Malekith who could destroy the surrounding area by his existence alone. Kamael nodded in agreement to Lena¡¯s words, and then turned around. Because he felt the presence of a fourth person who unaffectedly intruded in their conversation. ¡°Master Velkian.¡± Lena called his name, Kamael gave a light bow, and Landius had a big smile before nodding. ¡°You look like you¡¯re dying, but you also look fine. That¡¯s a relief.¡± As Velkian sat on the Phantom Steed and looked down at everyone, Landius and Lena smiled a bit. Because those words were very much like Velkian. ¡°You saved our lives. It really helped us a lot.¡± Landius¡¯ tone was lower and softer than usual. As though histe 30s self had gone back to his early 20s. ¡°We¡¯ve been greatly helped.¡± ¡°It was a huge help.¡± Kamael and Lena also greeted him afterwards. Kamael was a bit stiff while Lena was very friendly. Velkian was not just an elder to them. For the three of them, he was like their teacher. Although Velkian did not directly work for the Paragon Kingdom, he was a close friend of Bardo Ainsburg, a royal wizard of Paragon, and often taught Bardo¡¯s disciple, Lena. He also taught various knowledge such as strategy and herbal medicine to Kamael and Landius who were members of the Royal Knights then. Therefore, just as the three of them treated Velkian as a teacher, Velkian also treated the three as students. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m d that you three are fine. This battle has somehowe to an end too.¡± In fact, it was a very effective fight considering that they won against an enemy called Malekith, but Velkian didn¡¯t say anything about how this fight did little damage, or that their gains were great. Because the number of people who lost their lives in this fight would at least be a hundred. A hundred out of a thousand. A number that was probably less than 10% in proportion. However, Velkian was a necromancer who dealt with life, so he was more sensitive to the lives of people. Treating people¡¯s lives as mere numbers was one of the things he hated the most. And it was the same with the three who were educated by Velkian. ¡°By the way, Master Velkian.¡± ¡°Say it, Lena.¡± When Velkian pointed to Lena and allowed her to speak, she frowned and pouted her lips. ¡°It¡¯s not ss time right now.¡± ¡°You haven¡¯t changed a bit. That¡¯s an ugly expression, so fix it.¡± At his teacher-like tone, Lena groaned before bringing up the subject. ¡°Anyway, Master Velkian, howe you are here?¡± His appearance, though of great help, was a literal surprise. Kamael nodded in curiosity as well, and Velkian stroked his chin before saying. ¡°It¡¯s because of an agreement I made with Jude August Bayer and Cordelia August Chase. I gave them a trinket that could summon me. I never thought that as soon as I could be summoned though, that I would be summoned to a ce like this.¡± Velkian had a bitter smile under his beak mask and briefly exined what happened in the royal capital. ¡°Wow, that was really great timing.¡± Lena pped her hands in admiration and nodded her head again and again. If Velkian had not appeared, there would have been more casualties in the fight against the Dragonflights, and the battle against Malekith would not have been as easy as it was now. ¡°You could say that we were lucky.¡± As a wizard, Velkian did not deny the existence of luck. One could say that they were indeed lucky in this battle. ¡°But¡­ it¡¯s not just luck. If the events had originally proceeded as it is, even if we had luck, the result we have now would have been different.¡± Velkian was unaware of the flow of events because he suddenly appeared in between, but there were things he could understand just by looking at the current situation. Even at a nce, he could see that he heroes of Paragon were gathered in one ce with the 7 southern families that seemed to have formed an alliance. There was even the dragon-killing sword Ascalon. Moreover, Malekith¡¯s Dragon Sleep was not finished properly, so it seemed like someone had made a situation where only victory was the result. ¡°It was simr in the wildnds. I thought that it was a desperate fight¡­ but they had a way to win.¡± They blew up all the dragon veins to wake up the Golden Dragon King. If it hadn¡¯t been for Jude and Cordelia¡¯s n that turned around the situation, Lena and the warriors of the wildnds would have passed away that day. ¡°The battle in the royal capital must have been simr.¡± Even Velkian who directly participated in the battle at the royal capital was not aware of the Lord Protector¡¯s rebellion itself. But at Kamael¡¯s words that it must have been simr back then, he nodded his head. Jude and Cordelia. Children who had already won three miraculous victories. ¡°It¡¯s as if their eyes could see the future.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s the case.¡± Absolutely prophesizing the future was not possible, but it was possible to see the future to some extent. Their words were clearly not serious though. Because if the two really had the power of foresight, Lena and Velkian himself would not have failed in recognizing it. ¡°By the way, I¡¯m going to ask since we¡¯re talking like this. What happened to Archbishop Manu?¡± He had asked that question despite actually knowing half the answer. So instead of giving a long exnation, Landius answered with a somber expression. ¡°We missed him again this time.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be so discouraged by that b*stard who would suddenly appear and disappear. The mere fact that you¡¯re tracking him will prevent him from doing anything as evil as the one he did in the Paragon Kingdom.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good then.¡± Landius tried to reply with a smile, but he still felt frustrated. After all, they had been tracking him for 10 years, but they always missed him every time they tried to meet him. ¡®Maybe¡­¡¯ Maybe they were all dancing in the palms of Archbishop Manu¡¯s hands. Perhaps it was not that Landius was chasing after Manu and obstructing his ns, but it was Manu who was exposing his location from time to time in order to drag Landius himself here and there. That situation was possible. And if that was the case, that was really agonizing. Lena bit her lips when Landius noticeably became gloomy, so she changed the topic with a slightly cheerful voice. ¡°By the way, Master Velkian, do you have any news about Fran?¡± Druid Fran. The fifth and youngest person among the five heroes of Paragon. He was in his mid-teens when they fought Demon Prince Baikazel, but he must have grown up to be a young man in his prime now. ¡®Where in the world is he?¡¯ Unlike Velkian who at least sent letters, they had not heard from Fran for 7 years. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I don¡¯t know anything too. He has not contacted me either.¡± ¡°Is that so¡­¡± Lena had brought it up to change the mood of Landius who had be gloomy, but this time, she herself became gloomy. Velkian clicked his tongue when he saw Lena like that, and he pulled the reins of the Phantom Steed before saying. ¡°I¡¯ll be going back now. I came here through the concept of summoning, so my summoning has a time limit.¡± ¡°Already?¡± ¡°The time I¡¯ve been here wasn¡¯t that long, but I¡¯ve used a lot of power. Even my summoner is exhausted too.¡± ¡°Umm¡­ It can¡¯t be helped then.¡± ¡°It¡¯s all right. I n to stay in the royal capital for a while, so you can contact me there.¡± Having said that, Velkian made arge circr portal with a gesture of his fingers, and drove the Phantom Steed inside it. His exit was quiet and abrupt, just like his entrance. ¡°He¡¯s gone.¡± ¡°He left.¡± ¡°He went away.¡± Lena, Kamael, and Landius spoke in turn. The three of them smiled quietly as they looked at each other before their shoulders slumped. Because they were exhausted after a long conversation. So Landius leaned a little more against the rubble and opened his mouth. ¡°Kamael, Lena. I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯ll be taking a rest first.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine. Leave the clean-up to me and just rest.¡± ¡°Sleep well, Landy. I¡¯ll wake you upter.¡± When Lena kissed his cheek, Landius closed his eyes in happiness. And a few secondster. As Landius fell into a deep sleep, Kamael crossed his arms andughed. ¡°Fu.¡± It somehow felt like theugh of someone who won. Therefore, Lena narrowed her eyes and said. ¡°Hey, Kamael. Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re happy because Landy called your name first?¡± ¡°Fufu.¡± Kamaelughed again instead of denying it, and Lena puffed her cheeks in dissatisfaction before embracing Landius¡¯ arm. And at a ce around 100 meters away from those two. Kajsa and Scarlet burst intoughter as they watched Jude and Cordelia being carried on a stretcher. ¡°You know what? Aren¡¯t they amazing?¡± Kajsa spoke first, and Scarlet nodded her head in agreement. ¡°They¡¯re not amazing. They caused amotion because they coughed up so much blood.¡± Come to think of it, they¡¯re really amazing. They seriously threw up a bowl of blood and not just a little. Wouldn¡¯t it be disgusting if you kiss like that? As Scarlet began to contemte about their bloody kiss, Kajsa continued with a frown. ¡°No, I mean, they are amazing in a sense. To begin with, they¡¯re younger than us, right? Those two.¡± She wasn¡¯t criticizing them of openly showing affection in front of everyone who was younger than them. She was talking about the strength of the two. The two were only seventeen ¨C no, they were almost eighteen now, but in any case, the strength of those two was phenomenal. Even if they had used Dragon Bane Ascalon, it was none other than two who had killed the mighty Ancient Dragon Malekith. If Kajsa was given Dragon Sword Ascalon and was made to do the same thing¡­ would she have been able to do it? ¡®Impossible.¡¯ She answered her question without even thinking about it. Therefore, Kajsa became a little sad, and Scarlet who had felt the same way since the royal capital incident, clicked her tongue and said. ¡°Our age differences aren¡¯t that far apart to them, so why don¡¯t we treat them like we¡¯re of the same age?¡± At Scarlet¡¯s suggestion, Kajsa blinked her eyes and nodded quickly. ¡°Yeah, same age. It makes you feel a bitfortable when you think that way, right? Hey, we think alike. Let¡¯s be friends.¡± ¡°How old are you?¡± ¡°Huh? Me? I¡¯m neen.¡± Kajsa answered innocently as she blinked her eyes, and Scarlet snorted afterwards. ¡°I¡¯m twenty. So call me unnie from now on, okay?¡± ¡°You said that we¡¯re of the same age.¡± ¡°That is that and this is this.¡± ¡°Whatever you like then.¡± ¡°Uh-huh, I¡¯m your unnie, right?¡± ¡°Hey, you just don¡¯t want to be friends with me, huh?¡± ¡°Even if we¡¯re friends, you should be polite. So from now on, please politely call me unnie.¡± Kajsa pouted at Scarlet¡¯s words, wanting to answer back. But she eventually shut her mouth because she couldn¡¯t think of anything to say, so Scarlet smiled at her victory and turned her head. She once again looked at Malekith¡¯s gigantic corpse. And at the same time. In the maind across the sea. On a hill overlooking Argon Port. Through Maximilian¡¯s eyes, a being looked at the world, the south, and the sea beyond Argon Port. The voice from a higher ce. That being knew. Malekith was dead. The ancient ck Dragon, the evil dragon who had tried to resolve his grudge of three hundred years ago by destroying the southern region. ¡°It¡¯s a relief.¡± The voice from a higher ce did not immediately agree with Maximilian. Instead of answering, the being thought of other things. The failed kidnapping incident targeting the children of the 12 northern families. The battle that urred in the wildnds, and the battle in the royal capital that endangered the lives of the royal family. And now, the death of Malekith in the south. There were two people involved in every case. These two were the ones who caused all these oues. ¡°Voice from a higher ce?¡± When Maximilian looked up the sky and asked, the voice from a higher ce gave an answer. First, the being ordered him to return to the empire. ¡°I will follow your will.¡± Maximilian politely bowed and no longer had any lingering feelings for the south. He headed north where the empire was located. But not for the voice from a higher ce. The being kept thinking of the two. Jude Bayer and Cordelia Chase. The being remembered the actions of the two who changed the fate of the S?len Kingdom. Chapter 269: Victory (2)

Chapter 269: Victory (2)

Battles, whether big or small, always required cleaning up. Like chasing after fleeing enemies, securing prisoners of war, or helping survivors from their side. ¡°I didn¡¯t see Sicilia.¡± Kamael frowned at the report of Carmen, a member of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. Malekith had used so muchrge-scale magic that not only the battlefield but also the corpses were in a mess. If so, was Sicilia¡¯s body also destroyed? Was it possible that Sicilia was among those unidentifiable corpses? ¡®No.¡¯ No matter how difficult it was to confirm a corpse¡¯s identity, it was not to the extent that the race was indistinguishable. If conditions such as a woman, an elf, a body with powerful mana, silver hair, and a pale purple skin characteristic of corrupted dark elves were given, Sicilia¡¯s body could be identified whether her face was damaged or her limbs were missing. But they couldn¡¯t. Sicilia¡¯s body was not found. ¡®Did she run away?¡¯ Given the circumstances, it was highly probable. Therefore, Kamael furrowed his brows and clicked his tongue. ¡°It can¡¯t be helped.¡± Although the great threat called Ancient Dragon Malekith was gone, Sicilia was also a powerful necromancer. If she had escaped the ind alive, it was highly likely that she would harm the continent in some way. ¡°Have the Guardians post wanted posters of her everywhere.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± If it was Sicilia who was good at magic, there was no way she would be captured even if she was dered to be wanted, but it was still better than not doing anything. If it interfered with her progress, whether big or small, the continent would be much safer then. ¡®Still¡­ Is it fortunate that Malekith and Orga were killed?¡¯ Malekith died and only Sicilia, one of his three knights, survived. The Dragonflights were almost annihted, and only a few escaped from the ind, so the threat to the south thatsted for three hundred years was pretty much gone. ¡°What happened to the orcs and goblins?¡± ¡°Most of them surrendered without much resistance. In the first ce, the majority of them were captured by the Dragonflights¡­ and because of their fear from what they saw before them.¡± What they had seen. A 150-meter long evil dragon raged, a giant Flesh Golem attacked the evil dragon, and lightning constantly struck from the sky. A human hero shed the dark sky and the evil dragon at once with a sword of light over a hundred meters amidst the earthquakes and storm. There was even a streak of light that killed the evil dragon, so it was like they had witnessed a legend with their eyes. Any race would have no choice but to give up on even fighting back. ¡°That¡¯s a relief. Did you hear on how they would be handled?¡± ¡°The south still has very, but the numbers are so high that not all would be taken as ves. The south will either give them to the nearby orc tribe for a ransom or contact the goblin kingdom.¡± ¡°It won¡¯t be easy either way.¡± ¡°Yes, but that doesn¡¯t mean we can kill anyone who surrendered.¡± The number of captive orcs and goblins reached thousands, so it was impossible for anyone to turn a blind eye if they were killed. Aside from ethical issues, the orc tribes and goblin kingdoms located around the southern region would not tolerate this. ¡°Well, they¡¯ll figure it out.¡± The subsequent work was up to the 7 southern families. It was not for the Guardians of the Holy Cross to intervene. So Kamael said the more important things. ¡°What about Malekith¡¯s body?¡± ¡°As you have said, the 7 southern families are greedy. Us Guardians are currently guarding it, but they are stubbornly persistent.¡± As always, the spoils of war belonged to the victors. And the best loot in this battle was undeniably Malekith¡¯s corpse itself. Even the corpse of an Adult Dragon was bound to have tremendous value, so what more for the corpse of an Ancient Dragon? It was also 150 meters long! ¡®Frankly, I can¡¯t even imagine it.¡¯ Kamael could quickly estimate things, but he could not immediately estimate the mary value of Malekith¡¯s corpse. Because the number would definitely be astronomical. ¡®They will actively focus on seeking their own interests.¡¯ They had united their power and fought together in front of the threat called Malekith, but that threat was now over. Then what remained was a struggle amongst each other to secure their own family¡¯s interests. And Kamael¡¯s prediction was not wrong. As soon as the battlefield was cleared up to some extent, members of the 7 southern families led by Marquis Ophand and Count Kagehama, family heads who directly participated in the battle, stormed into Kamael¡¯s barracks. ¡°We are not coercing you, we¡¯re just iming our right!¡± When Count Kagehama raised his voice, representatives from the other 7 southern families were united as they nodded their heads. It seemed like they were maintaining their alliance until they have taken Malekith¡¯s corpse from the Guardians of the Holy Cross. ¡°We, the 7 southern families, have spent a lot of money in this battle. We¡¯ve also made great sacrifices. The number of people killed or injured in this battle alone exceed a thousand.¡± When Marquis Ophand spoke quite politely, Count Kagehama clenched his fist as he strongly agreed and said. ¡°Malekith has been us southerners¡¯ longtime enemy. Now we must receive the reward that our ancestors paid with their blood three hundred years ago.¡± Count Kagehama thought that this battle alone was a weak argument, so he even brought out his ancestors. And that was why Kamael smiled coldly. Because all their words were within his expectations. ¡°I know. Your contributions in this battle are not small either. It was the 7 southern families who led the fleet.¡± Count Kagehama widely smiled at Kamael¡¯s words, and the other family representative also had big smiles. But not for Marquis Ophand. Because the divine creature¡¯s blood that flowed in his veins sensed something ominous. And that foreboding of his was right as always. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t the 7 southern families have all the rights to the corpses of the Dragonflights including Dragon General Orga, or in short, all the corpses of the Adult Dragons?¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem. That¡¯s obvious-¡­ Wait, what did you just say?¡± Count Kagehama was nodding with a satisfied face, but suddenly widened his eyes and asked again, so Kamael said it again with a very beautiful and bright smile. ¡°I said that the corpses of the Dragonflights would belong to the 7 southern families.¡± The Adult Dragons of the Dragonflights including Dragon General Orga. Count Kagehama raised his voice upon not hearing about Malekith. ¡°Ha! What are you talking about now? In this battle, us 7 southern families-¡± ¡°You were active. You fought well against the Dragonflights, orcs, and goblins. So the 7 southern families should have all the rights to the orcs and goblins too.¡± ¡°No, what are you talking about! Us 7 southern families-¡± It was then. Count Kagehama whose face was flushed with emotion couldn¡¯t speak anymore. Because Kamael was staring at him with a very cold look. Ghostde Kamael. The strongest swordsman of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, and said to be on par with the Sword God of the empire. A hero of Paragon who defeated the Demon Prince together with Iron Man Landius. His smile was chilling. He spoke as he looked straight at Count Kagehama. ¡°Tell me, what did the 7 southern families do? What role did you y in the fight against Malekith?¡± ¡°T-that¡­¡± Count Kagehama was speechless. Kamael¡¯s cold gaze was frightening, but he really had nothing to say about their role in the fight against Malekith. ¡°We defeated him. So we will have Malekith¡¯s body. The rest is yours.¡± The five heroes of Paragon. Most of them wandered around and didn¡¯t belong to any organization, but not for Kamael. He was the highest among the six generals of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, and in terms of power alone, he was the strongest in the organization. His words could never be taken lightly. ¡°Ugh.¡± Is this how it¡¯s going to be? The battle against Malekith was truly legendary, so the 7 southern families who were ordinary humans couldn¡¯t help much in that battle. As Kamael had said, they pretty much did not help in the battle against Malekith, so they shouldn¡¯t be iming to have rights to Malekith¡¯s corpse. ¡°Then¡­ do you mean that the Guardians of the Holy Cross will be taking everything?¡± When Count Kan¡¯s representative plucked up his courage to ask, Kamael lightly shook his head. ¡°I will share with those who made contributions in this battle. The Guardians of the Holy Cross will only take my share.¡± ¡°Then¡­¡± ¡°It will be divided by exactly six.¡± Four out of the five heroes of Paragon ¨C Kamael, Landius, Lena, and Velkian, would get their shares. And Jude and Cordelia would both have their shares. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. The Guardians of the Holy Cross will be responsible for transportation to the maind.¡± ¡°Umm¡­ I see.¡± Since Kamael was their opponent, the representative couldn¡¯t no longer push it further. Furthermore, it was hard to criticize ethically the Guardians of the Holy Cross for pocketing a share since they also participated in this battle. ¡®If that¡¯s the case, we¡¯ll have no choice but to collect an intermediary fee.¡¯ After all, they would have to go through merchants to dispose of Malekith¡¯s body. The heroes of Paragon were most likely to go through the Guardians of the Holy Cross that had Kamael, but it might be possible to somehow coax Jude and Cordelia who were nobles of the kingdom. ¡®Then, don¡¯t we have the most advantage?¡¯ Marquis Ophand recalled the face of his youngest daughter who participated in the battle. Jude and Cordelia were close friends with Kajsa, so they had the most advantage among the 7 southern families. And Kamael saw the 7 southern families being split with joy and sorrow, so he smiled a little. Because it was clear to him what they were thinking inside. ¡®But it won¡¯t be easy.¡¯ Because the ckhearted Jude was their opponent. ¡®Anyway, I¡¯m relieved.¡¯ It was easy to convince them because the ones here were probably the warriors of their families. No one was so reckless as to insist even in the face of the obvious truth. ¡®Landius and Lena will like it. And Master Velkian as well.¡¯ Just because the three wandered around did not mean that they did not have any material wants. In the first ce, it took a lot of money to wander around the continent. Moreover, in Velkian¡¯s case, he would be more than happy to receive it because he was used to spending astronomical amounts of money for experiments. ¡®Or he could just use it as material for his experiments.¡¯ In any case, he had done his part in securing Malekith¡¯s corpse. ¡°Then let¡¯s discuss the rest.¡± Kamaelpletely changed the topic, and the 7 southern families took a deep breath and discussed about their withdrawal and the transportation of the prisoners of war. *** Two dayster in the afternoon. At a bedroom in a luxury inn in Argon Port, or to be exact, above the bed. Next to Jude who was lying on bed in patient clothing was Cordelia who was also wearing a patient¡¯s clothes. ¡°How are you feeling?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine. It¡¯s still a bit hard to use my energy but¡­ all my external wounds are okay.¡± As a result of using both Yin and Yang energies, Jude¡¯s body was in a bad state. Because unlike Cordelia who simply exhausted her mana, his body and mind were affected. ¡°So you¡¯re better now?¡± ¡°Of course. I have the Sphere of Life inside me, right? I will need some time to recuperate, but I¡¯ll definitely get better.¡± ¡°Hehe, that¡¯s good.¡± Cordelia gently smiled in her relief, and Jude also smiled with her. ¡°More than that, what about you, Cordelia?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine. My mana has been restored. My body is just feeling a little weak, but it¡¯ll get better with some rest.¡± Cordelia raised her biceps as if to show it, and Jude smiled. All he saw was her trying to flex the non-existent muscles of her smooth arm, but anyway, her being healthy and fine was good. ¡°Moving on¡­ we defeated Malekith.¡± Cordelia nodded at Jude¡¯s words. Ancient ck Dragon Malekith. In the game, he was the incarnation of destruction that not only devastated Argon Port, but also the entire southern region of the S?len Kingdom. ¡°Was it possible only in thetter half of the game?¡± ¡°Yeah, maybe¡­ it¡¯s the biggest change in the game¡¯s storyline that we¡¯ve made.¡± Defeating Malekith was only possible at the very end of the game¡¯s storyline. Moreover, his power wasparable to a Demon Prince, which the Lord Protector or the great demon Kriemler, a being who was supposed to appear in the north, were no match against. ¡°The S?len Kingdom will not fall now.¡± Because they had removed all the factors that could cause its ruin. The northern region survived, and the wildnds that was originally supposed to be the invaders were now their strong allies. Although the royal capital suffered a great disturbance, the royal family itself remained strong, and due to the Lord Protector, the current King Henry II was reborn as a wiser and more powerful king unlike the original storyline. Malekith and the Dragonflights, who had the power to topple not only the south but also the entire S?len Kingdom, were defeated and disappeared before they could even properly revolt. They who were said to be invincible were destroyed. At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia smiled in happiness again before she leaned her upper body against the side of the bed and said. ¡°We¡¯ve already prevented two of the 7 major cmities. Now, there are only five left.¡± In the game, the empire copsed in front of the 7 major cmities, but it would be different this time. The number of cmities had been decreased, and a kingdom that could fight it together was still present. ¡°Yeah, so¡­ perhaps from now on, things that we really don¡¯t know about will happen.¡± A great upheaval was needed to bring about the Great Summons. The fall of the S?len Kingdom and the Empire. The chaos caused by the 7 major cmities. The despair brought about by Malekith in the south. The Great Summons urred in the game¡¯s storyline once all these conditions were met. ¡°The one who would cause the Great Summons¡­ In the game, it was slightly different depending on the route, but either way, they won¡¯t stand still. They would try to create a new upheaval that we have no knowledge of.¡± And that upheaval was more likely to ur in the empire than in the kingdom. ¡°Because you need an ember to start a fire.¡± There were no more embers left in the S?len Kingdom. ¡®And¡­¡¯ Perhaps the demon followers would now begin to feel burdened by Jude and Cordelia¡¯s existence. The two had been involved in all the failed things they had nned for nearly a year. ¡°Then Jude, are we going to the empire when you¡¯re all better?¡± ¡°Maybe?¡± Because they had to meet the yable characters from the empire side, including the protagonist, Maximilian. ¡°But we¡¯re going to move a little differently than before. Until now, we only knew that a big danger was going to happen, and were a bit passive in our preparations for that, right?¡± ¡°Yes, yes, we did.¡± ¡°Yeah, but this time, it¡¯s our turn to attack. We are now different from before.¡± Cordelia tilted her head at Jude¡¯s words, but soon understood what he meant. ¡°Because we have strength and power?¡± ¡°Bingo. We also have wealth and connections.¡± If Jude and Cordelia from nearly a year ago had talked about the demon followers, no one would have listened to them. In fact, even in the kidnapping case of the children from the 12 northern families, they had to use all their means to mobilize the knights. But it was different now. Jude himself was Count August Bayer, and Cordelia was Countess August Chase. They also had a fief and a fortune that was not there yet, but would soon be theirs. Was that all? The two were also closely rted to the royalty who led the kingdom. ¡®There¡¯s also the five heroes of Paragon.¡¯ The two weren¡¯t who they were almost a year ago. It was now possible for them to directly attack the headquarters of the demon followers within the S?len Kingdom. ¡°Hehehe, I like it. I like attacking first.¡± When Cordelia had a dark smile, Jude also had a dark smile and nodded his head. ¡°Once we clean up the kingdom, we¡¯ll invade the empire next. Based on our past experience, it may be possible to block some of the 7 major cmities earlier.¡± They needed to get rid of it before it bes a cmity. ¡°Should we take those items in the meantime?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± They had to secure Ultimate Four ¨C Magic ster, thest one in the Ultimate Series that had no owner yet. In addition, they had to get the Arkeman series and collect the tes pointing to Gallus¡¯ tomb. They had to get the protection of the fairies too. ¡°We¡¯re going to be busy.¡± ¡°But we¡¯ll be free for a while. In the game, there was quite a peaceful period of time after the S?len Kingdom was destroyed.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, that¡¯s right. Let¡¯s get some rest for now. Being healthyes first. Let¡¯s postpone training for now, okay?¡± ¡°Yes, ?I will.¡± Cordelia smiled again when Jude answered obediently, and suddenly wiggled her fingers as she nced around. Jude and Cordelia were the only people in therge bedroom. And so, Cordelia bit her lips a few times before her hand reached out to grab Jude¡¯s sleeve. ¡°Cordelia?¡± Instead of answering Jude¡¯s question, Cordelia just pulled his sleeve more, and Jude coughed as he saw Cordelia¡¯s face that had suddenly turned red. The reason Cordelia was wiggling her fingers. The cause of her blushing face and sleeve-pulling as if she was begging. Jude coughed and suppressed his embarrassment, but he eventuallyughed. Because Cordelia¡¯s actions were very cute. So Jude asked in a slightly yful and low voice. ¡°Do you¡­ want to do it?¡± Cordelia¡¯s face grew even redder. But instead of getting angry or swearing as usual, she lightly nodded her head and then pulled his sleeve as she gazed at him with affection. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Jude, who was sitting down with legs crossed, looked around unconsciously before grabbing Cordelia by her hand, and Cordelia climbed on the bed and drew closer to Jude. The two then shared a kiss on the lips. Light and soft, but it soon became serious and passionate. And Jude was forced to admit. Cordelia was also a genius. In just two days, she was perfectly attacking Jude herself. As Jude gently stroked Cordelia¡¯s back, Cordelia hugged Jude¡¯s neck and attacked him more aggressively. The two had not progressed further from kissing yet and just stopped there, but they had significantly improved in many wayspared to two days ago. And one minute, two minutes¡­ The moment when they longed for and attacked each other. Jude and Cordelia were both startled and stopped moving at the same time. Because while the two had been preupied with each other, they had felt a small presence beyond the door. But who came? Even after waiting, the door did not open. Rather, it seemed like the small presence had left. ¡®Was it just a passerby?¡¯ Or a small animal? However, Jude did not entertain his thoughts any longer. Because Cordelia became active in her offensive again after the presence disappeared. At this rate, he would bepletely defeated. ¡®I don¡¯t know the criteria for winning or losing though.¡¯ Anyway, I can¡¯t lose. Jude tightened his hug around Cordelia¡¯s waist, and held the back of Cordelia¡¯s neck as he changed their positions. From being the one in the dominated position to being the one in the dominating position, Judeunched his offensive. And as the battle of the two continued. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± ¡°Ehem, ehem.¡± The two people outside the door. The two counts looked at each other after having hastily hid their presence with magic. Unlike Scarlet, the two were mindful of the situation, so they conveyed their intentions with their eyes, hand gestures, and magic instead of suddenly opening the door. ¡®Let¡¯s have some tea?¡¯ [Let¡¯se back in an hour or so.] Count Bayer and Count Chase. The two counts who had arrivedte carefully left the hallway. And half an hourter. When the two counts were sitting face to face in a caf¨¦ on the first floor of the luxury inn and continuing their heated discussion about children names. Someone knocked on the door of Jude and Cordelia. Chapter 270: Victory (3)

Chapter 270: Victory (3)

Terms used in this episode: Executor Sword ¨C This is a reference to a myth-rank equipment called Jin Myung Hwang¡¯s Conduct Sword in the MMORPG, Lineage 2. This sword is known to be expensive because of its long andplicated crafting process, to the point that it became a term in other games (in Korea) for any sword or equipment that is extremely hard to craft. Even a well-behaved cat would first head to the firece ¨C a proverb simr to ¡®A fair face may hide a foul heart¡¯. It means that even if a person looks and acts good, they may still do or think of something bad. There were no specific regtions prohibiting members from dating or marriage in the Guardians of the Holy Cross. Therefore, there were many married people who had children like Carmen, and there were many members who were interested in dating like Manuel. ¡°Fufu.¡± ¡°Huhuhu.¡± Carmen and Manuel silentlyughed as they faced Jude lying on the bed with disheveled clothes yet had a rather shameless look, and Cordelia who was sitting on a chair by the bed but had even more disheveled clothes as she slightly avoided their gaze. ¡®Their clothes are a mess.¡¯ ¡®Lady Cordelia has some marks on her neck and vicle.¡¯ Manuel and Carmen only spoke to themselves as they studied the other side¡¯s gaze and facial expressions. Cordelia wiggled her fingers as she turned away her blushing face, while the brazen Jude stretched out his hand and grasped Cordelia¡¯s hand. ¡®Lady Cordelia is flustered.¡¯ ¡®But her facial expression says that she likes it.¡¯ A shy but somehow joyful ¨C no, a proud expression. She looked very cute with her head down as she slightly turned her gaze to look at Jude, and then turned her eyes again at their sped hands before giggling. ¡®We have to hurry and get out of here.¡¯ ¡®We have to finish this quickly.¡¯ Carmen and Manuel thought the same despite not exchanging nces, so the two proceeded with their topic. ¡°This is the statement that General Kamael told us to deliver.¡± Manuel handed over some documents to Jude who was sitting on the bed. The documents contained information on the distribution of Malekith¡¯s corpse which was the biggest loot from the battle, and also included the transportation and storage costs. ¡®Hmm, as expected. This statement is very much like Kamael.¡¯ Kamael had an upright personality, so the loot was distributed urately ording to one¡¯s contribution. He also attached the calction form and the basis for how he calcted one¡¯s contributions. ¡®We have the biggest share.¡¯ Individually, Landius had thergest share, but the two had the biggest share whenbined. Moreover, Jude and Cordelia¡¯s shares were not significantly smaller than that of Landius in the first ce. If Landius had 10, Jude and Cordelia had 9 each. ¡®As expected of Kamael.¡¯ He included in one¡¯s contributions not only the battle with Malekith himself, but also the process that led to this battle. As a result, the shares of Jude and Cordelia naturally grew. ¡®We dealt thest hit.¡¯ Jude passed the documents to Cordelia who was looking at him with curious eyes and a happy smile, and sent her a magic. [We also have thergest stake in the Dragon Heart.] [Really?] [Yes, really. It¡¯s written on thest page.] At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia quickly turned to thest page, and her smile grew bigger as if a flower had bloomed. [It¡¯s real.] The Dragon Heart of an Ancient Dragon. It was not in perfect condition. The Dragon Heart had been exposed to the destructive power that came from Ascalon, so it broke and shattered into pieces. But still, it was the Dragon Heart of an Ancient Dragon. Each piece was like a powerful magic weapon that had tremendous power. [Hehe, hehehe.] What will I do with this? What shall I make with these pieces? Cordelia couldn¡¯t stop smiling as she imagined it. Because this was reality now. [Hurray for reality. Reality is the best.] If this was a game, if this was Legend of Heroes 2, the loot one could get from defeating Malekith was quite few. Something like that. But that was not the case in reality. All of Malekith¡¯s corpse could be taken. [Even after getting a full set, it seems like we can form an army wearing dragon equipment from the remaining loot.] Cordelia smiled and spoke via magic, and Jude nodded right away. [That¡¯s right. In the game, one had to work with guilds in order to get at least two myth-rank dragon equipment.] [Yes, that¡¯s why I like it.] Cordelia couldn¡¯t control her excitement as she even trembled. Myth-rank dragon equipment. Those could only be made from the parts of an Ancient Dragon, so they were the most expensive items among the crafted items. ¡®It was the so-called Executor Sword in Legend of Heroes.¡¯ Malekith was the only Ancient Dragon to have appeared directly in Legend of Heroes 2. Therefore, it was impossible to craft a myth-rank dragon equipment in single-yer mode. ¡®Because it¡¯s not something you only collect once.¡¯ However, it was not easy to craft it even if one yed in multi-yer mode. Malekith received various adjustments in multi-yer mode, and he was a raid boss that was difficult to defeat even with a guild full of rotten waters who were fully prepared. The drop rate for materials was also ruthless no matter how many times one defeated Malekith, just like in single-yer mode. ¡®It¡¯s something that a huge guild can only decide to craft as it also takes a year to make.¡¯ Therefore, even Outboxer009 and Yellow Storm, who were the most rotten among the rotten waters, had only known of its existence, but never actually owned any myth-rank dragon equipment. ¡®But this is reality now.¡¯ We defeated Malekith only once and got its full body. How many times would we have to defeat Malekith in order to get this amount from the game? 100 times? 200 times? [Hehehe.] [Fufufu.] Jude and Cordelia exchanged dark smiles as they rejoiced once more. Even if it was not myth-rank equipment, it seemed like they could do a lot with the amount they would receive. ¡®We¡¯re going to have a lot of money.¡¯ The parts of an Ancient Dragon was pretty much the final boss in terms of scarcity. Even one small scale was expensive. [Are we going to be really rich?] [We won¡¯t be just rich as we¡¯ll be as rich as conglomerates¡­ no, maybe we¡¯ll even be as rich as oil magnates?] [Ha. I¡¯m so happy. It makes me very, very happy.] Money can¡¯t buy happiness? Not true. Those whock money can be happy. Cordelia was so happy that she trembled, and Jude turned to Carmen and Manuel before saying. ¡°Thank you very much. Please ry our gratitude to Kamael-nim too.¡± ¡°We will. And¡­ as stated in the statement, it will take a considerable amount of time to transport Malekith and the Dragonflights¡¯ corpses from the ind to the maind. We estimate it to be at least seven days.¡± ¡°Yes, we understand that it will take time.¡± In fact, it would only take three days if all the 7 southern families stepped forward, but Kamael did not trust the 7 southern families. The reason why they were able to lead the 7 southern families was because of themon enemy named Malekith, and of Carlos¡¯ legacy, Dragon Sword Ascalon. Now that Malekith was defeated, it was impossible topletely trust the 7 southern families. ¡®It may take time, but the most reliable method is¡­to call the knights from the Guardians to deal with it from start to finish.¡¯ Jude nodded again before he impulsively pinched the cheek of Cordelia who was still imagining happy thoughts, and then he turned to Carmen and Manuel who were quick-witted enough to not drag it any longer. ¡°Then, we¡¯ll be on our way. I hope you two have a great time.¡± A great time. Carmen snickered as she quickly left with Manuel, and Jude apuded in his mind the two for their quick-wittedness. ¡°Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± Cordelia giggled and crawled back onto the bed instead of continuing to talk. She lied next to Jude and closed her eyes, snuggling into his arms. Their heartbeats and body temperature. Their smell that tickled the tip of their noses. Jude kissed Cordelia¡¯s head before he stretched out his hand and hugged Cordelia by the shoulder. He slowly closed his eyes, feeling Cordelia¡¯s warmth and softness. ¡®It feels really nice.¡¯ Just lying like this. It¡¯s okay if we rest like this for a few days. Because we¡¯ll be really busy in the future. They had to build facilities and hire craftsmen needed to mass-produce dragon equipment, find the legendary craftsman who could make myth-rank dragon equipment, and other things they had to do with the money they would get in the future. He decided to forget all of it for a while. Jude cleared his thoughts and only focused on Cordelia who stroked Jude¡¯s chest and smiled again. ¡°Good night.¡± ¡°Yeah, good night.¡± It was still daytime, and there was still some time before nighttime. But Jude and Cordelia whispered that to each other and fell into a deep sleep. *** Three dayster in the morning. Count Bayer and Count Chase faced each other with satisfaction. Because after three days of heated discussion, they seeded in condensing the list of candidates for grandchildren names into ten. Five names for boys and five names for girls. ¡°Well, shall we call it a day?¡± ¡°Fine, we have a lot of other important things to do.¡± The two of them got up from their seats and moved to the downtown area of Argon Port. It was to look at baby items that was as important as baby names. And at the same time. Unlike Jude who was still lying in bed, Cordelia looked healthy as she chased after Kajsa and Scarlet while wearing a disguise. She was tightly hugging a paper bag to her chest. ¡®She looks like a squirrel.¡¯ A squirrel with a lot of food in its mouth, and was in a hurry for fear that someone might steal it. As Scarlet smiled happily like a mother, Kajsa snickered and said. ¡°Let me know if you need moreter. I¡¯ll show you where there¡¯s even better stuff.¡± ¡°Uhh¡­ thank you.¡± When Cordelia shyly thanked her, Kajsa said with a furtive ¨C no, a sly smile. ¡°It will be a good study material.¡± A study material. A very good study material. In fact, Scarlet didn¡¯t quite agree with that. Because Kajsa¡¯s taste was very bad for studying. ¡°Focus on the things I rmend rather than what Kajsa rmended, okay?¡± ¡°What the-¡­ Hey, what you rmended is too in, okay?¡± ¡°What do you mean by in? And you, I told you to call me unnie, right?¡± Scarlet and Kajsa began to argue, but Cordelia did not intervene. Because she had seen this scene every day for the past few days, and she just wanted to go back to the inn as soon as possible. ¡°I know the way from here on out. Thank you very much for today. I¡¯ll see you two tomorrow.¡± Cordelia bade farewell to her friends, or to be exact, her unnies, and she skipped towards the inn while Scarlet and Kajsa who were arguing thenughed out loud. ¡°Even a well-behaved cat would first head to the firece.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Argon Port as well as the south ¨C no, the entire S?len Kingdom, was buzzing with the news of the Ancient Dragon¡¯s defeat. And one of the people who actually defeated Malekith was thinking of somethingpletely different. ¡°Well, they¡¯ll have a great time, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, a great time.¡± ¡°You speak as if you¡¯ve had a great time yourself.¡± ¡°Hey, what do you mean by that? What are you talking about?¡± ¡°You know what I¡¯m talking about.¡± Kajsa growled when Scarletughed, and Cordelia ignored themotion behind her ¨C no, she was not paying attention to them in the first ce, so she hastened her steps. And around ten minutester. Upon arriving at the inn, Cordelia quickly entered the room and took out the contents of the paper bag. Audiovisual materials rmended by Kajsa, and books rmended by Scarlet. Cordelia first opened the book that Scarlet rmended, titled ¡®70 Shades of Abyss¡¯ in yellow letters on a red cover. Because she was very interested about the part she had seen at the bookstore earlier. Gulp. After ncing around, she opened the cover and focused on reading. ¡°Ueueue.¡± As she read each and every sentence, Cordelia let out a strange sound as her legs lightly shook. Her cheeks were red and her breathing was getting rough, but she couldn¡¯t take her eyes off the letters. Because vivid images were being drawn in her mind. Really? For real? They seriously did this? Things that she never imagined. And that was why it was so exciting. Cordelia swallowed hard again before briefly imagining it in her mind. The male lead as Jude, and the female lead as Cordelia herself. If I reproduce the scene that I just read¡­ Cordelia inwardly screamed. No, she had no choice but to actually let out a sound with her voice. Because she heard someone knocking from the door. ¡°Cordelia? May Ie in?¡± ¡°Eh? EEEEH? Ah! Yes!¡± Cordelia closed the book loudly and jumped up from her seat as she almost fell down, but she wasn¡¯t called a beast for nothing. She managed to somehow bnce herself while hiding the book behind her back, and pretended to be as calm as possible ¨C no, she faced Jude with a red face as she sweated profusely. ¡°W-what¡¯s the matter?¡± Cordelia pretended to be fine, but it was only for a short while. Because the scenes she had just read began to fill her mind the moment she faced Jude. And Jude, who knew what Cordelia was thinking just by looking at her eyes, coughed and looked away. And that was why he found Kajsa¡¯s rmendations sticking out of the paper bag on the table. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± He pretended to not have seen it. He also pretended to not know what Cordelia was desperately hiding behind her back. Because privacy was important. ¡°J-Jude?¡± ¡°Uh, yes. That¡­uh. We got a message while you were out.¡± ¡°A message?¡± ¡°Yes, some, but not all of them, will be arriving at the port soon.¡± ¡°Wow, really?¡± When Cordelia brightly asked, Jude nodded his head and continued. ¡°Yes, so let¡¯s meet them soon.¡± The dwarven craftsmen living in Argon Port. They were the ones who had been struggling to meet Jude and Cordelia for the past three days. ¡®Please! Just one scale! No, only two scales!¡¯ ¡®If possible, some teeth please!¡¯ Because it was none other than an Ancient Dragon. For the dwarves who were artisans since birth, these were all the material of their dreams. ¡°Then, we¡¯ll have an advantage?¡± ¡°It won¡¯t be just an advantage.¡± Jude would simply sell it at a higher price ¨C he did not have such a one-dimensional thought. He was going to get much more than that. ¡°You look absolutely evil.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it a trustworthy smile?¡± ¡°Yes, a really good one.¡± The dwarven craftsmen who lived in Argon Port. Before they meet the legendary craftsman who was able to craft myth-rank dragon equipment, they needed to cleverly talk to ¨C no, they needed to coax some ¡®friends.¡¯ ¡°Then, I¡¯ll be waiting outside.¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­ yes. I¡¯ll be out soon.¡± Jude left the room, and Cordelia breathed out in relief before she quickly hid the red book under the bed. And around an hourter. Jude¡¯s plot ¨C no, his deal that would have a huge impact not only for the dwarven artisans of Argon Port, but also for the 7 southern families, finally began. Chapter 271: Master Craftsman (1)

Chapter 271: Master Craftsman (1)

Adendorf was a dwarven craftsman. He was one of the hundred dwarven craftsman living in Argon Port, but he was a very special dwarf. Having a white and fluffy beard and thick arm muscles, he was much taller than other dwarves by a whopping one handspan. A man who was said to be one of the most handsome dwarves. But there was one more thing that made him special. ¡°Guild master, if we don¡¯t do anything this time, at the next election for the guild master¡¯s position¡­¡± Adendorf frowned at the words of the restless dwarven craftsman in front of him ¨C his nephew, Mariendorf, who was more like a merchant than a craftsman. ¡°I know, I know, you punk. I know that very well.¡± Dwarf Guild Master. The leader of the Dwarf Craftsman Guild representing the rights and interests of all dwarven craftsmen living in Argon Port. The guild master was not a position anyone could have. They had to possess skills that all meticulous and proud dwarven craftsmen would acknowledge, and must be wise and intelligent enough to deal with the timid and clever humans. In addition, they had to maintain a dignity befitting a guild master, so they had to have more than a certain level of assets, and the dwarf guild master must look different from other dwarves, so they had to have a good-looking face too. And most importantly, they must be popr. After all, a guild master¡¯s poprity among the dwarven craftsmen was very important because it was an elected position. In any case, since the position of guild master could only be climbed afterpleting these difficult conditions, there were many things that needed to be taken care of when one became a guild master, from small ones to big ones. 9 years. Adendorf had been the guild master for at least 9 years, but he was worried about the next election. As it had many benefits, there were also manypetitors aiming for the guild master position, but his worries was because of the guy called Tandol from a wizard family who had recently be extremely popr. Even if he was wrong, Tandol was someone who was eagerly looking for a chance to strike him, so if he made a mistake here, it was clear that Tandol would immediately mor that he be impeached or something. ¡°Ah, sh*t. This is driving me nuts.¡± The dwarven craftsmen at Argon Port had already gone crazy over the corpse of amon Adult Dragon. But what about an Ancient Dragon? The corpse of an Ancient Dragon that was even called a godlike being! ¡®I want it. I really, really, want to have it.¡¯ Adendorf was a craftsman before he was a guild master. He wanted to make a weapon or something from the Ancient Dragon¡¯s ws, scales, and teeth, something that he wanted to touch at least once in in his life, something that was normally untouchable for dwarves. ¡®Perhaps it will be my life¡¯s masterwork!¡¯ The so-called masterpiece. Proof that he was born and raised as a craftsman who lived life without any regrets. However, the problem was that the deal was not going as wanted, so Mariendorf was stomping his feet repeatedly. ¡°Mariendorf, are you sure that there are no other methods?¡± When he asked in frustration, Mariendorf took a deep breath and answered. ¡°Yes, guild master. The only way we have now are Count August Bayer and Countess August Chase.¡± There were six people who had the rights to the Ancient Dragon¡¯s corpse. Ghostde Kamael. Iron Man Landius. Holy Angel Lena. Necromancer Velkian. Count Jude August Bayer, the Swordless Swordsman, and Countess Cordelia August Chase, the Explosion Angel. ¡°This is seriously driving me nuts.¡± Ghostde Kamael was a general of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, and that organization had its own craftsman group. Therefore, Kamael had no intention of selling even a small piece of the Ancient Dragon¡¯s scales. All of it would be processed within the Guardians of the Holy Cross. ¡®Velkian is said to be in the royal capital.¡¯ The physical distance was so great that even meeting up for a deal was impossible. ¡®The Iron Man and Holy Angel have said that they would entrust it to the Ghostde.¡¯ Four out of six were gone, so only two were left. However, these two were known throughout the kingdom as the couple of the century, so there was actually only one person in the negotiating table. ¡®What am I supposed to do here?¡¯ Since there was only one supplier, it was impossible to adjust prices or meet the conditions based on different suppliers. Moreover, what the two had was the corpse of an Ancient Dragon, the ultimate in scarcity. One could not establish a market price in the first ce, as even the smallest scales were worth a fortune. ¡®How am I supposed to make a deal with all these!¡¯ The craftsmen instigated by Tandol were pestering him to obtain it no matter what because they all wanted it, but the couple of the century had refused all of their requests for a deal. ¡°Are they trying to raise the price? Surely, Count August Bayer and his wife are not going to hand it over to the Guardians of the Holy Cross, right?¡± ¡°Guild master, the two are still engaged and not married.¡± Aren¡¯t they like a married couple though? ¡°No, you punk. Does that matter now? Still, it¡¯s hard to even call him by hisst name, August Bayer.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem. Anyway, this deal must be sessful. Otherwise, the next guild master election will surely¡­¡± ¡°I know, you punk. Now that I see it, this guy¡¯s not trying toe up with a n, he¡¯s just ying hard to get. He¡¯s not doing this for no reason, he just wants to increase the numbers! Isn¡¯t it?!¡± When Adendorf became angry, Mariendorf sweated profusely so he wiped his shiny forehead with a handkerchief and said. ¡°Anyway, uncle. No, guild master. Unlike before, Countess Cordelia August Chase will also appear at today¡¯s meeting, so it will be little different, right? Rumor has it that Count Jude August Bayer will listen to anything that Countess Cordelia August Chase has to say.¡± ¡°So rather than Count Jude August Bayer, Countess Cordelia August¡­ f*cking sh*t! No more! I don¡¯t want to call them by their full names! We¡¯re the only ones here after all!¡± ¡°Whoa, whoa, calm down.¡± ¡°Haa¡­ huu¡­ Anyway, are you saying that we¡¯ll target the girl? Like bribe her with a ne or something?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not a bad idea. There¡¯s a story about dwarves offering a ne to a goddess and experiencing heaven, right?¡± It was a story of a thousand years ago, when gods actually walked on earth. ¡°Okay, that¡¯s good. We have toe up with a n somehow, so let¡¯s take everything and go. If we take everything that we have, I¡¯m sure the countess will find something that she will like.¡± Having made a decision, Adendorf headed to the luxury inn, the meeting ce, with lots of luggage. And an hourter. ¡°That¡¯s hard. As I¡¯ve said several times, we have no intention of selling it.¡± Count Jude August Bayer. He was very young by human standards, and by dwarf standards, he was a very young kid who was still wet behind the ears, but he was not an opponent to be taken lightly. Neither Jude nor the Bayer family could be taken lightly. ¡®His father is a Sword Saint, his older brother is one of the Ten Great Swordmasters, and he is the hero who saved the royal family.¡¯ What¡¯s with this ridiculous family? Moreover, he was no longer the hero who saved the royal family. He was also the great hero of the south who killed an Ancient Dragon. Ancient Dragon yer. The benefactor of the royal family. A rising star in the Guardians of the Holy Cross. The only disciple of Iron Man Landius, said to be the strongest man in the world. ¡®Crazy¡­ even people like him don¡¯t appear in hero stories.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t just him and his family that were outstanding. His fianc¨¦e and her family were prominent people too. The youngestmander in the history of the Royal Guard Magic Corps, the Magic Tower Master of the Red Dawn Tower, and a famous wizard schr who had published several papers at the Royal Society. It was the background of Countess Chase, the fianc¨¦e of Jude August Bayer. There were rumors that his fianc¨¦e, Cordelia Chase, was not even a human but an angel. A real angel. ¡®Ugh, she¡¯s beautiful, really beautiful.¡¯ Adendorf nced back at Cordelia who was sitting next to Jude with a smile, and he took a deep breath to calm his heart that had begun to pound. Perhaps because she was a real angel, Adendorf¡¯s aesthetic sense kept going crazy. In his mind, Adendorf wanted to make at least one statue with Cordelia as a model right now. But he had to be patient for now. What really mattered was the corpse of the Ancient Dragon. ¡°Count August Bayer. Please reconsider.¡± ¡°I apologize. Again, I have no intention of making a deal.¡± Adendorf took another deep breath when Jude waved his hand as if he found it difficult too. Because he could roughly guess Jude¡¯s innermost thoughts. ¡®You b*stard, it¡¯s not that you don¡¯t really want to make a deal.¡¯ He could tell by the expression, gaze, and attitude that his opponent was a sly fox. Adendorf was a guild master of nine years after all. He was able to see through the other at once. ¡®F*ck it, why must every guy I face to make a deal always be this heartless?¡¯ Count Jude August Bayer is willing to make a deal. He¡¯s just doing this in order to get a more favorable deal for him! ¡®I really want to beat him up.¡¯ But I can¡¯t. Because it¡¯s an Ancient Dragon. Because it¡¯s an ANCIENT DRAGON! Adendorf held back his irritation and opened his mouth again. In order to say something. But at that moment, something unexpected happened. ¡°Guild Master Adendorf.¡± ¡°Yes? Oh, yes. Go ahead.¡± Jude was the first to speak up. As Adendorf quickly sped his hands and took a listening posture, Jude spoke with a smile that looked very beautiful. But for Adendorf, it was a smile that made him want to punch Jude. ¡°As I¡¯ve said before, it¡¯s impossible to sell the parts of the Ancient Dragon to the Dwarf Craftsman Guild. However¡­¡± Adendorf felt impatient upon hearing Jude¡¯sst word, but he endured it and persevered. It seemed that Jude¡¯s true innermost thoughts would soon be revealed. ¡®What is it? What the hell is it?¡¯ Are you trying to ask for a really outrageous price? But it wasn¡¯t. Rather than doing something as shallow as raising the price, Jude said somethingpletely different. ¡°It may be possible in a different way. Not in the buying and selling things way, but in another form of transaction.¡± ¡°What¡­ kind of deal are you talking about?¡± ¡°Actually, it¡¯s not a deal in a way. It¡¯s more like a contract.¡± Contract. Normally, one had to write a contract when making a transaction, but what he meant was a little different from that. Adendorf narrowed his brows and waited for the next words, and Jude continued with the dark smile that Cordelia liked so much. ¡°My offer is as follows.¡± *** The next afternoon. A hugemotion arose among the dwarves gathered at the Guild Hall. ¡°What?! The guild master is gathering people to relocate?¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t he originally go there to buy it?¡± ¡°Wait, rather than that¡­ Are you saying that they¡¯re leaving Argon Port? Where are they going? Why all of a sudden?¡± It was true. The guild master had originally gone there to buy things, but he came back with a strange public announcement that said: Great Migration n to the North The Baranto family led by Adendorf will be leaving the south and moving to the fief of Count August Bayer in the north, which lies exactly at the border between the central and southern regions. Anyone who wants to go with us must submit an application for migration to the Baranto family. ¡°Northwards?¡± ¡°The guild master¡¯s family is leaving? He¡¯s abandoning Argon Port and the guild master position?¡± It was unbelievable. It took over 200 years for the Baranto family to take root in Argon Port. They had built up so many things, yet they were all willing to simply throw that away. ¡°But he¡¯s really leaving. He¡¯s already packing up.¡± It was true. Adendorf and the entire Baranto family was preparing to leave for the central region. What the hell is going on? What is actually happening? And the answer was revealed by Mariendorf who was sent by the Baranto family. ¡°What?! A city of ancient dwarves?!¡± Sword Seeker, the group of dwarves who pursued the ultimate sword? An underground city built by one of them, the ck Horn Guild? They were attracted. They couldn¡¯t help but be attracted. ording to the story, many facilities of the ck Horn Guild still remained. ¡°The art of the ancient dwarves!¡± ¡°The now lost golden civilization!¡± The hearts of the dwarven craftsmen were pounding. A city built by the ancient dwarves. They would live there, creating new works with the tools of the ancient dwarves. ¡°The guild master is said to be the mayor of the ancient city.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s worth moving to then.¡± Because it was a higher position than the guild master position. Moreover, it wasn¡¯t just a city. It was none other than a city built by the ancient dwarves. ¡°But does it really exist? None of us have seen it.¡± ¡°No, but what matters is the source. Do you seriously think Count August Bayer would lie?¡± ¡°No.¡± He was an Ancient Dragon yer and national hero who saved the royal family. There was no way such a person would deceive them with that. ¡°Are you really going then? Are you leaving Argon Port?¡± ¡°Wait, what about the Ancient Dragon? Who¡¯s going to negotiate then?¡± Or rather, are you saying that the guild master is just going to leave and ditch his responsibilities? While the dwarves murmured among themselves, Mariendorf delivered one more information. It was information that made the dwarven craftsmen, and even Tandol from a wizard family, decide to move. ¡°A free supply of Ancient Dragon parts?¡± ¡°No, no. Wait. It¡¯s not a supply. We¡¯ve just been hired to do it.¡± They were hired by Count August Bayer. To live in an ancient dwarven city and respond to Count August Bayer¡¯s requests. ¡°If you¡¯re employed, what else is there to it? How is it different from now?¡± ¡°Yeah, that too.¡± They had been currently making a living by responding to the requests of the 7 southern families. Migration to the center. A city of ancient dwarves. The scales, ws, and teeth of an Ancient Dragon. ¡°Then, let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°LET¡¯S GO!¡± Almost all of the dwarven craftsmen began packing their bags to migrate. In fact, the ¡®Dwarf Workshop¡¯, one of the major industries in the Argon Port area, was entirely leaving. Naturally, this news spread throughout the south within a day, and one of the 7 southern families, Viscountess St. Crute, reacted to it the most. ¡°They¡¯re leaving? They¡¯re leaving for the center?¡± Dressed in a splendid and provocative red dress like always, Viscountess St. Crute blinked her eyes while looking bewildered. She had no choice but to do so. The Dwarf Workshop was the prey that Viscountess St. Crute was keeping an eye on. To be more specific, the situation was as follows. Originally, Count Luculia made the most money through the Dwarf Workshop. But the Luculia family fell in this Malekith incident. ¡®In short, now is the time to swallow the entire Dwarf Workshop.¡¯ But the Dwarf Workshop is moving out altogether? They¡¯re leaving the south? ¡°Does that make any sense? What about the contract they had signed with us this time? What will they do with that?¡± ¡°They¡¯ve just signed the contract and nothing has been done yet¡­ They just have to pay the penalty.¡± ¡°What?¡± One had to pay a penalty if they broke a contract. The situation was surprising, but also confusing. ¡°Are the dwarves leaving us a group? Who in the world is behind this?¡± ¡°That¡­¡± Viscountess St. Crute¡¯s secretary wiggled his fingers and ryed the rumors he heard from the Dwarf Craftsman Guild, and the viscountess clenched her teeth. ¡°Count August Bayer! How could you do this to us!¡± Strictly speaking, the Dwarf Craftsman Guild did not belong to anyone. But how could he rip them off like this! ¡®If I could do as I please!¡¯ She wanted to push them away with the power of the 7 southern families like usual. She also wanted to physically threaten the dwarves. But it was impossible. Because her opponent was an Ancient Dragon yer. Because he was the disciple of Landius, a benefactor of the royal family, and a strong man said to be one of the Ten Great Swordmasters in the future. ¡®This son of a b*tch has everything?¡¯ And his fianc¨¦e is an angel? Is he someone that came out of a hero storybook? ¡®Ah, seriously! Even using a beautiful woman to lure him won¡¯t work.¡¯ His fianc¨¦e was an angel, so something like that wouldn¡¯t work. She couldn¡¯t lure him with bribes. The moment the Ancient Dragon was defeated, the wealth of Count August Bayer surpassed that of Viscountess St. Crute. ¡°What about the dwarves? Is there any way to stop them?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Can we give them an Ancient Dragon¡­ They¡¯ll just ignore us if we don¡¯t have Ancient Dragon parts¡­¡± At her secretary¡¯s words, Viscountess St. Crute patted her chest in her frustration. ¡°No, NO, NOOOOO!¡± I was about to get my hands on the Dwarf Workshop! It was a good time to devour it! ¡°I¡¯m a bit sorry.¡± At a totally different ce. Jude turned to the direction of Viscountess St. Crute¡¯s mansion and said with a bitter smile. He was well aware of the fact that Viscountess St. Crute was targeting the Dwarf Workshop. ¡®However¡­ we¡¯re doing all of this to save the world.¡¯ The fight ahead was likely to be an all-out war against the demon followers. At the present, Jude and Cordelia needed a huge number of equipment that could arm a huge group. ¡°It¡¯s all right. Viscountess St. Crute is a bad person anyway. She uses her family¡¯s power to bully and pressure small merchants, doing a lot of bad things. The dwarves are much better off going with us.¡± Cordelia¡¯s words were simple and honest, so Jude nodded his head. In fact, as Cordelia had said, Viscountess St. Crute was famous for her atrocities. ¡°Hmm, okay. That¡¯s a good enough reason then.¡± For their cause of saving the world, and the atrocities of Viscountess St. Crute. Considering the quality of life of the dwarves, this choice was the best. ¡°Hehe, anyway, it went well.¡± If the dwarves start living in the ancient city, their territory¡¯s industry would naturally develop. Commerce would also develop once a lot of goodse and go. ¡®Then the young people will live well, right? The number of young people will also increase.¡¯ Because there would be many new jobs in the territory. It was clearly a simplistic idea, but it wasn¡¯t entirely wrong either. ¡°Anyway, we¡¯ve solved one thing, so let¡¯s move to the other.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, that¡¯s fine.¡± Cordelia dly nodded at Jude¡¯s words before she suddenly turned her head into one direction. Their next goal. The person they must meet before leaving the south. ¡®The legendary master craftsman Cassius.¡¯ The only person who could make myth-rank dragon equipment with the scales of an Ancient Dragon. In order to meet her who was hiding deep in the south, they had to go through a difficult process, but Jude and Cordelia had no intention of doing that. ¡°You know where she lives, right?¡± Where Cassius lived in hiding. ¡°Yes, of course I know. Shall we go on horseback for a change?¡± ¡°Okay, that¡¯s fine with me. Let¡¯s ride a horse.¡± Cordelia willingly nodded her head, and Jude grinned before summoning his Phantom Steed. Of course, only one Phantom Steed and not two. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Yes, Count.¡± Jude sat in the front while Cordelia was on the back. The Phantom Steed carrying the two of them soared into the air. Chapter 272: Master Craftsman (2)

Chapter 272: Master Craftsman (2)

Cassius Dalton. As a craftsman one could meet at the end of Legend of Heroes 2, Cassius was the best person in Pleiades¡¯ background setting in terms of weapon crafting skills. Not much was known about Cassius. There was the fact that he was a man, and most likely an elf, and that he was obsessed with making the strongest sword just like the ancient dwarves of Sword Seeker. ¡°That¡¯s a little wrong. Cassius is not necessarily obsessed with swords. He just wants to make the strongest weapon. In fact, even that seems to have a slightly different meaning.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand what you¡¯re talking about. Stop beating around the bush and just tell me.¡± ¡°So¡­ Judging from our conversation with Cassius in the game, it¡¯s true that Cassius is seeking to create a powerful weapon, but it¡¯s not because he really wants to make the ultimate or the strongest¡­ and not because he¡¯s seeking enlightenment or something.¡± The dwarves of Sword Seeker were craftsmen who sought the ultimate that they could never reach, but still wanted to reach. But Cassius was different. What he wanted was not the ultimate or the strongest, but a weapon with a certain level of power. ¡°It¡¯s just that his standard of a certain level is too high.¡± ¡°Ah, I think I understand. I¡¯ve read a manga like that. He just wants to be stronger than his father, but because his father is the strongest in the world, he decided to be the strongest in the world too.¡± ¡°Is there a manga like that?¡± ¡°Oh, there is. There was also a primitive man who ughtered dinosaurs with his bare fists, and Miyamoto Musashi who was resurrected as a clone through voodoo magic.¡± ¡°O-okay.¡± Jude had no idea what kind of manga she was talking about. T/N: Cordelia is talking about ¡®Baki the Grappler.¡¯ Baki is the main character who wants to be stronger than his father. The primitive man is Pickle, and Miyamoto Musashi was indeed a clone in that series. ¡°Anyway, the important thing is that Cassius is such a person.¡± A person who sought reality rather than the ideal. But in the eyes of Jude, he was an exhausted person. He had experienced failure several times, so he was exhausted, but he still kept moving forward towards his goal. The reason why he wanted a powerful weapon, and what he intended to do with it, was not revealed in the game. Because he appeared between the second and third episodes, the so-called ¡®episode 2.5¡¯ which could only be yed in multi-yer mode, but did not appear in the third episode. ¡®It seems like he died or hid in a secluded ce.¡¯ His workshop which had been filled with numerous weapons until episode 2.5 was empty in the third episode. ¡°Didn¡¯t he help fight Malekith in the game?¡± ¡°He did. He was interested in making a weapon using the parts of an Ancient Dragon.¡± In fact, there was already a weapon that used an Ancient Dragon as a material. Dragon Sword Ascalon. A sword made from the body and soul of an Ancient Dragon who hated dragons, and possessed a formidable power. ¡°But Ascalon¡¯s power can only be used against dragons.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why Cassius stepped forward.¡± Because he wanted a weapon that could unleash a powerful force against other opponents instead of a weapon like Ascalon that only revealed its power against dragons. ¡®To begin with, it seems like the person Cassius is trying to defeat with a weapon is not a dragon.¡¯ Jude briefly pondered about it, but soon gave up thinking. Because it was something he couldn¡¯t find an answer no matter how much he thought about it. ¡°Moving on, Cassius¡¯ reaction will be differentpared to the game since we have so many materials.¡± ¡°Yes, yes. That¡¯s why I¡¯m very excited.¡± Cordelia smiled and hugged Jude¡¯s waist a little tighter. It was a signal to speed up a bit. Unfortunately, Jude and Cordelia could neither speed up nor go to meet Cassius now. Just as they were about to leave Argon Port, there was a ¡®call¡¯ from the two counts, or to be exact, from Count Chase. ¡°Where are you going in such a poor condition?¡± At the luxury inn. Jude and Cordelia sat facing their fathers with a table in between them, and the two exchanged nces. ¡®Jude, Jude. Is this an artifact withmunication and tracking magic?¡¯ ¡®Maybe? And you should know it better than me since you¡¯re a wizard, right?¡¯ ¡®Argh, is that what¡¯s important now?¡¯ Cordelia lightly pouted her lips and fiddled with the thin bracelet she was wearing on her wrist. As soon as they met a few days ago, her father gave them a lot of things good for one¡¯s health, but it seemed like the real purpose was this monitoring bracelet. ¡®I hate my dad. How could he do this to his daughter?¡¯ ¡®Well¡­ we have a previous record, so it can¡¯t be helped, right?¡¯ A previous record. Because Cordelia had already run away from home several times. ¡®Hey, it¡¯s only half. No, almost all of those was because of you, okay?¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s why I¡¯m wearing it too.¡¯ When Jude gently lifted his other hand, Cordelia pouted again. ¡°Cordelia, do you have anyints?¡± ¡°Eh? N-no. I have noints, Dad.¡± Cordelia answered in a barely audible voice, and Count Chase remained stern and solemn looking. Count Bayer who was next to him said with a gentle voice. ¡°There¡¯s no reason for you to run away again. I mean, you¡¯re still in the middle of your runaway. Isn¡¯t that right, Jude?¡± ¡°That¡­ yes, father.¡± His words sounded gentle, but there was some sarcasm in it. When Jude replied and bowed his head as if he was ashamed, Count Bayer smiled and continued. ¡°Anyway, Jude, where were you going?¡± ¡°Cordelia and I were just¡­ thinking of strolling around the surrounding area.¡± Like a night stroll. ¡®Jude, Jude. Do we really need to lie about this?¡¯ ¡®Now that I think of it, there¡¯s no reason to do so.¡¯ He hid it without realizing, but now that he thought of it, there was no need to hide it. Perhaps if Scarlet and Kajsa had been present here, they would have used him as a scammer. ¡°I see. Anyway, Jude and Cordelia. The reason we called you here was because of the rumors circting the port.¡± ¡°Ru¡­mors?¡± ¡°Yes, you¡¯re trying to relocate all the dwarven craftsmen, right?¡± Count Bayer had a gentle look, and Count Chase had a pressuring look like always. However, Jude answered without hesitation because he already had something in mind. ¡°Yes, Cordelia and I stopped by our fief for a while during our trip, and we found the ruins on an ancient dwarf city there.¡± ¡°What? A city ruin? Of ancient dwarves?¡± Count Chase¡¯s reaction was great since he was a wizard. Jude smiled and continued. ¡°Yes, to be precise, it¡¯s the city of the ck Horn Guild, one of the seven guilds of Sword Seeker. We n to relocate the dwarves there to revive the functions of the ancient city.¡± The facilities of ancient dwarves and the craftsmanship of the present dwarves. And various rare materials from the Ancient Dragon and Adult Dragons were added to that. ¡°It seems like that business is going to be the foundation of your territory.¡± Jude nodded at Count Bayer¡¯s words. It was clearly unlikely to be done as quickly as possible. There were bound to be various minor issues as always in reality. ¡°It¡¯s not very easy to bring a huge number of immigrants into the territory. It¡¯s not something that can only be solved by manpower. Moreover, you must keep in mind that you have not properly inspected your territory yet. To the extent that the actual state of your fief may be different from what it appears¡­ Do you understand what I¡¯m saying?¡± ¡°Yes, father. I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡± As Jude replied politely, Count Bayer smiled and turned to Count Chase. ¡°If you have something to say, say it now.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem. I have a lot to say.¡± Count Chase cleared his throat before straightforwardly asking. ¡°What exactly are you nning to do with the corpses of the Ancient Dragon and the Adult Dragons? It¡¯s not exactly a good situation since you¡¯ve got some great spoils. Those spoils are something that even the royal family will want.¡± Count Chase¡¯s words were right. And that was why Jude had already finished thinking about those worrisome things. ¡°We will rely on the Guardians of the Holy Cross for the transportation itself. And rather than selling the materials, I¡¯m nning to have the dwarven craftsmen work with it in our territory.¡± ¡°A lot of people must have pressured you to sell it, right?¡± ¡°This may sound a bit arrogant, but¡­ it¡¯s times like these that we use our connections. Like we¡¯re sending this and that to the royal family, so we don¡¯t want to sell it lest they get disappointed.¡± Jude¡¯s current position was not low. He was a count with a fief, and the power of his father and future father-inw was not small too. Jude himself would be one of the Ten Great Swordmasters in the future. So if he strengthened their rtionship with the royal family, they wouldn¡¯t have a big problem. Even a duke would not be able to easily pressure Jude. ¡°I see, you have a n like always.¡± ¡°Because you always have one too, father.¡± ¡°Haha.¡± Count Bayer and Jude exchanged some warm words, and Count Chase spoke again. ¡°Are you going to leave again in the next few days?¡± ¡°Yes, we intend to do that. Master, Kamael-nim, and Lena-nim will also go with us to our territory.¡± ¡°The heroes of Paragon?¡± They could understand if it was Landius and Lena. The two of them didn¡¯t belong to any organization and would aimlessly wander around. But it was quite surprising to hear that Ghostde Kamael, a general of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, would also be joining them. ¡°Well¡­ it¡¯s been decided that I¡¯ll be learning a bit from Kamael too.¡± In order to use both Yin and Yang energies properly, it was necessary for him to grow his extreme Yin energy, so they needed Kamael¡¯s martial arts for that. The Supreme Sun Divine Art in contrast to the Twelve Snowke Sword Art. ording to the current n, they would return to their territory and focus on recuperation and training for at least three months. ¡°Hehe, the heroes of Paragon.¡± Iron Man Landius and Ghostde Kamael. They did not belong to the Ten Great Swordmasters, but that was because they were not from the S?len Kingdom. They were humanity¡¯s strongest and iparable existences. Sword monsters whom only the Sword God in the empire couldpare to. ¡®Good, really good.¡¯ Count Bayer had a bitter smile. The fact that Jude was being taught directly by the heroes of Paragon delighted him, but as a swordsman, he was disappointed. The Sword of Wind that was Count Bayer¡¯s swordsmanship. That was already toote for Jude. Because Jude had already flown with his own wings. ¡®It¡¯s regrettable. But it can¡¯t be helped.¡¯ Moreover, Ga?l had already inherited the Sword of Wind. His sessor was one of the Ten Great Swordmasters known as the Sword of Gale, so he couldn¡¯t exactly curse the heavens. ¡°Okay, then to summarize everything¡­ You will return to your fief within the next few days, and will receive training from the heroes of Paragon. In addition, the dwarves will migrate to the ancient city, and the Ancient Dragon¡¯s corpse will be transported by the Guardians of the Holy Cross. You will also give a certain amount of it to the royal family.¡± ¡°It is as you said.¡± As Jude smiled, Count Chase grinned and continued. ¡°Then, let me and Count Bayer help you too. Jude, you are good at this sort of thing, but don¡¯t forget that you¡¯re still inexperienced.¡± In other words, the two counts were willing to help with the management of their territory. ¡°I will keep that in mind, father-inw.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± Because it was a good situation from Jude¡¯s perspective. ¡°Moving on¡­ we have something to tell you this time.¡± At Count Chase¡¯s words, Cordelia blinked her eyes and raised her head. Because she thought that her fathers had something to say regarding the trouble they had caused here and there. ¡°Adelia and Ga?l have decided to get married. It¡¯s been originally nned, but they¡¯ve now decided on a date.¡± ¡°Wow, really? When is it?¡± Count Chase responded with a smile to Cordelia¡¯s question. ¡°Four monthster.¡± ¡°Wait a minute¡­ Wow, it¡¯ll be at springtime then?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Adelia, a spring bride. Jude and Cordelia briefly imagined it and then brightly smiled. ¡°And then you¡¯re next.¡± ¡°Eh, we¡¯re¡­ EH?¡± ¡°Because you¡¯ll be 18 soon after your birthday in a little while. Moreover, you¡¯re both nobles with a count rank.¡± At Count Chase¡¯s words, Cordelia blinked her eyes with a dazed face. So, ording to what my father just said¡­ ¡°Of course, it¡¯s not right now. Adelia and Ga?l will get married first¡­ and after that, we¡¯ll have to wait for a few months. But it¡¯s not so far into the future.¡± At least one year in the future. The situation was sudden, but it was also something very natural. Cordelia blinked several times again. She took a slow and deep breath, and grabbed Jude¡¯s sleeve out of habit. And at this sight, Count Bayer grinned while Count Chase snorted and smiled. ¡°Anyway, that¡¯s all for today. We¡¯ll be going now.¡± ¡°Eh? Already?¡± ¡°What else are we going to do sitting here?¡± Count Bayer said as he prodded Count Chase to stand up and sent the two a wink. Jude tried to kept hisposure as much as possible, but he was stiff for some reason, while Cordelia was blushing while holding Jude¡¯s sleeve. ¡°We¡¯ll be going.¡± ¡°Hmph.¡± Count Chase looked like he had more to say, but Count Bayer was adamant. After saying goodbye to Jude and Cordelia, they hurriedly left the room. And one minute passed. Two minutes passed. ¡°Hey, Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± Cordelia turned to Jude, and so did Jude. They had seen each other¡¯s faces every day. But it was a little different now. The two had turned to each other at the same time. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± ¡°Ehem, ehem.¡± Both of them coughed for no reason, but there was still something that did not change. Like Cordelia¡¯s hand gripping Jude¡¯s sleeve. ¡°Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± ¡°We¡¯re next. So¡­ w-we¡¯ll be getting married next¡­ right?¡± Cordelia faced Jude again, and so did Jude. Marriage. What came after the engagement. It was a natural sequence. But the feeling was different when she said it out of her mouth. When the two counts said it like that, their words came to the two differently. Cordelia¡¯s heart pounded. So did Jude¡¯s heart. Their eyes gazing at each other began to moisten in several ways. And a few secondster. The moment when their lips were about to touch each other so naturally. ¡°Sorry, why do I always have bad timing? It¡¯s like someone¡¯s doing it to me on purpose.¡± At the familiar voice, Jude quickly frowned while Cordelia looked at the window in surprise. ¡°Scarlet!¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s me. Pink Bomb.¡± When Scarlet smiled and greeted her, Cordelia hurriedly got up and headed to her. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± ¡°I came to say goodbye.¡± ¡°What?¡± Goodbye? The shocked Cordelia reflexively grabbed Scarlet¡¯s hand. As if she didn¡¯t want to be separated from her. ¡°Calm down, Pink Bomb. It¡¯s not like we¡¯re saying goodbye forever.¡± ¡°Eh? What?¡± ¡°Yes, it will be just for a while. Around¡­ several months, I guess?¡± Scarlet giggled and Jude spoke in a calm tone as though he had expected it to some extent. ¡°You¡¯re going back to the empire?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve been thinking about it. There¡¯s nothing much I can do if I stay here.¡± Scarlet shrugged and Cordelia quickly pulled her hand, saying. ¡°What about our match? You decided to fight me.¡± Their match for the Rogue Master position. But Scarlet shook her head this time. ¡°Not now.¡± ¡°Now?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll lose even if I tried, right?¡± She had already known since her stay in the royal capital that she was simply behind in terms of power. But this time in the fight against Malekith, she realized it painfully. ¡®The world we live in ispletely different.¡¯ It was impossible for her to even stand shoulder to shoulder with them as she was now. ¡®So I have to be strong.¡¯ I have to be strong enough to stand by their side. Scarlet could have copsed and be frustrated by the huge gap, but she didn¡¯t. She continued as she pinched the cheek of Cordelia who was looking at her in hesitation. ¡°I will go to the empire and collect the remaining treasures of the Rogue Master. I¡¯ll also improve my skills. So¡­ the next time we meet, it¡¯ll be a real fight, okay?¡± ¡°Yes, okay. I¡¯ll look forward to it.¡± ¡°Yeah, be prepared as I¡¯ll surprise you.¡± Scarlet said with a big smile at the end before she pulled Cordelia¡¯s other cheek and then kissed Cordelia¡¯s forehead. ¡°See youter, Pink Bomb.¡± ¡°Yes, Scarlet-unnie.¡± ¡°You call me unnie only at times like this.¡± Scarlet giggled and tightly hugged Cordelia. And Jude, who was watching them, erased the numbers in his mind that he had been counting unconsciously. ¡°I really have to go now. See you next time.¡± ¡°Yes, unnie. See you next time. By all means.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Scarlet pressed her lips on Cordelia¡¯s forehead again before pinching Cordelia¡¯s cheek and then looking at Jude. ¡°Take care too, ck Cloak.¡± ¡°Yes, you too, Scarlet.¡± Her farewell to Jude was short and straightforward. Cordelia wiggled her fingers as if she wanted to hold on to Scarlet¡¯s sleeve, but Scarlet patted her cheek before going out through the window. ¡°She¡¯s gone.¡± ¡°She left.¡± Cordelia suddenly became sad as she had be attached to Scarlet. So Jude stood up and walked over to Cordelia. ¡°Don¡¯t be sad since we¡¯ll see her again in the empire. And isn¡¯t it rather good? We¡¯ll be going to the empire in a few months too.¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. We¡¯re going to the empire too.¡± They would see Scarlet again in a few months. When Cordelia had a big smile, Jude slightly pinched her cheek on purpose. She was so cute that his hand had moved unconsciously. ¡®Besides, she¡¯s not even protesting these days.¡¯ Have you gotten used to everyone pinching your cheeks that I originally started? Or is it because I¡¯m the one pinching it? Jude didn¡¯t think too much about it. He moved his hand that was pinching Cordelia¡¯s cheek, and gently caressed it before his head naturally lowered towards her. ¡°Cordelia.¡± Cordelia did not reply to his call. She simply stretched out her arms and wrapped them around Jude¡¯s neck as she stood on tiptoe. *** Early morning the next day. Jude secured Cordelia¡¯s position on his back before he kicked the ground. Due to their schedule, they had to meet Cassius today. ¡°Dawn¡­ merge¡­ Judelia¡­¡± The sleepy Cordelia murmured, and Jude fixed her position again. Breathing in the cold dawn air, he flew like a gale towards the northwest where the master craftsman, Cassius, was hiding. Chapter 273: Master Craftsman (3)

Chapter 273: Master Craftsman (3)

Princess Daphne gazed out the window. The garden covered by snowst night was very white and beautiful. Perhaps it was thest snow of this winter. Although it was not as cold as the south that was adjacent to the sea, it was time for the central region and the royal capital to gradually be warm. ¡°You¡¯ll catch a cold.¡± But winter was still winter. Prince Dion said as soon as he entered the room, prompting Princess Daphne to close the wide open window and smile. ¡°Did you forget that I haven¡¯t had one since I was five?¡± ¡°The fact that you got sick at the age of five means that you can catch a cold too. Shouldn¡¯t you be careful?¡± When Prince Dion spoke with a rather stern expression, Princess Daphne eventually chose to give up like always. ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right. You¡¯re right as always.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a given.¡± Princess Daphne smiled as she tidied up her clothes, thinking that it was fine if she lost. ¡®And¡­ it¡¯s all for me, right?¡¯ Like most people, Prince Dion thought and acted ording to his own priorities. Just as those who valued money strived to make money, and those who dreamt of the ideal strived to achieve it, Prince Dion worked hard for Princess Daphne. She was the center of his world. His most precious person in the world. ¡®As an older sister, it worries me at times.¡¯ Even if he liked his older sister, he liked her too much. But Princess Daphne decided to not think deeply about it. For Prince Dion, Princess Daphne was not just an older sister but the heir to the S?len Kingdom and the monarch whom Prince Dion would pledge his allegiance to. ¡®There¡¯s no reason for me to not like it, right?¡¯ He was a nice and obedient little brother. So my little brother, let¡¯s work hard together no matter what the future has in store for us. Prince Dion furrowed his brows when Princess Daphne brightly smiled and kept to herself her thoughts. ¡°What is it? Is there something strange?¡± ¡°No, none at all.¡± And when she smiled andughed ¡®fufufu,¡¯ Prince Dion frowned more. But it was only for a short time. Prince Dion soon regained hisposure, clearing his throat before saying. ¡°Rather than that, older sister, have you heard of the news?¡± ¡°If it¡¯s news, I hear about dozens of those and other things every day, but what you¡¯re talking about now are those two people, right?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m talking about the news from the south.¡± For the past few days, the royal capital had been buzzing with what had happened in the south. The resurrection of Ancient ck Dragon Malekith. Malekith had never directly attacked the central region or the royal capital three hundred years ago or now. But his notoriety that weighed down the entire south with fear also spread across the continent. ¡®Because it¡¯s rare to find an evil dragon that has the same power as a god.¡¯ Power and majesty. A godlike being that posed a direct threat to humans. When the news spread that his resurrection was imminent, anxiety and fear spread like wildfire throughout the royal capital. It would not have been this bad if it had been the usual, but the entire royal capital had been struck by a catastrophe just two months ago. Many people were afraid, frommoners to nobles alike. ¡°We must support the south!¡± ¡°The battle against him must end in the south! We must not let him enter the royal capital!¡± The one who raised his voice the most was Duke Balloa, the leader of the aristocrats. When the leader of the royalist faction, the Lord Protector ¨C Duke Antarius who was now known as the Lord Traitor, disappeared along with his subordinates, the situation in the royal capital naturally tilted towards the aristocrat faction. And in the meantime, Duke Spencer who belonged to the dove faction had no other choice but to step back from politics because it was revealed that First Sword, Rhun Froud, whom he had treated like an adopted son, was a traitor who joined hands with the demon followers. As things progressed like this, it was inevitable that the faction that held supremacy in the royal capital was the hawks led by Duke Balloa. ¡®We were really on the verge of sending troops.¡¯ An army led by the Royal Guard Magic Corps was prepared. It was almost close to a preparation for war. But fortunately, the day just before the army departed. Good news came to the royal capital. ¡°Malekith had been defeated! Malekith is dead!¡± It was a delightful news, but everyone in the royal capital did not believe the news for a while. Because the news was so sudden and rather confusing. ¡®Even the Founder King couldn¡¯t do it.¡¯ Founder King Lion D. S?len and the great hero of the south, Carlos. These two heroes could not evenpletely kill Malekith. So everyone was surprised to hear that Malekith died as soon as he was resurrected. ¡®It obviously doesn¡¯t make any sense¡­ but what¡¯s surprising is surprising.¡¯ Of the five heroes of Paragon, four of them participated in the battle that day, so they were notcking in power. Landius, humanity¡¯s strongest warrior that even the ¡®heavenly voice¡¯ recognized, and Kamael, a swordsmanparable to the Sword God. With the addition of Holy Angel Lena and Necromancer Velkian, it was no exaggeration to say that they were actually mankind¡¯s strongest party. ¡®Frankly, it makes my heart pound.¡¯ A huge and mighty ancient dragon resurrected after three hundred years, and humanity¡¯s strongest party fought against it. Moreover, the battle was truly legendary. A godlike giant monster that made everyone fear him by just his existence. A Flesh Golem that was over a hundred meters tall. Dozens of lightning bolts struck from the sky, earthquakes shook the earth, and a violent storm that made it impossible for even the Sirens to swim. There were dozens of reports about the battle that day, and although the nature of the stories slightly differed, they all had one thing inmon. A sword of light that reached over a hundred meters had destroyed Malekith¡¯s Dragon Breath from the front. A sword like the sun came down as it parted the dark sky. When she read the report, she found it hard to tell if this was part of a legend or a progress report of a real event, but everyone was saying the same things. It was not an illusion or dream. All of these happened in real life. ¡®Iron Man Landius.¡¯ The heavenly voice only spoke the truth like always. The strongest man among humans. The strongest of all human beings living in this era. ¡®And those two.¡¯ The young heroes who brought the true end to Malekith was recorded at the end of the report. ¡®I was really surprised at first.¡¯ Because the names of those two came out of nowhere. She knew that they had left the royal capital, but never thought that they were fighting Malekith in the south. Furthermore, ording to the reports that arrived one after another, they did not only dealt thest hit to Malekith. ¡®It¡¯s almost like they created the stage.¡¯ Jude and Cordelia. The two brought together the heroes of Paragon. They found Ascalon and united the 7 southern families, and made the situation advantageous by searching and defeating Malekith¡¯s subordinates who were secretly moving. ¡®How in the world did they get the Sirens involved?¡¯ The method was unknown, but it was clear that the Siren Queen hade to help the two. ¡®It¡¯s the same as the royal capital.¡¯ No, in a sense, it was more outstanding than their actions in the royal capital. ¡®It¡¯s already the third time.¡¯ The third time that the two people of destiny had saved the S?len Kingdom. First was the wildnds. Second was the royal capital. And third was the south this time. Even the heavenly voice who always spoke to her was bewildered ¨C no, it was obviously surprised at the actions of the two. ¡®It was the first time they expressed their emotions in their voice.¡¯ The heavenly voice she had heard since she was a child. Sometimes there was only one voice, sometimes there were several voices, but it all had one thing inmon. The fact that it was always a motherly and warm voice. But that was why she couldn¡¯t feel their emotions. However, it was different this time. Because the heavenly voice was clearly surprised. An emotion other than warmth. Proof that the heavenly voice also had emotions. ¡®What exactly is going on?¡¯ The two people of destiny made even the heavenly voice surprised. ¡®Can they see the future?¡¯ Is that why they are as active as they are now? And if that is the truth. If those two can see the future. ¡®Dangerous.¡¯ That was not Princess Daphne¡¯s thoughts, but Prince Dion¡¯s. Prince Dion always felt anxious about everything he could not control. ¡®It will be fine though.¡¯ It was an unfounded thought, but Princess Daphne did not feel threatened by the two people of destiny. Rather, they were like blessings that the heavens gave to the S?len Kingdom. ¡®I wish Dion could trust someone other than me.¡¯ Moreover, those two are our benefactors who saved our lives, right? ¡®Heavenly voice, please take good care of Dion.¡¯ Princess Daphne prayed to the heavenly voice, and then smiled when she saw Dion looking her way as he frowned. He seemed to be confused when she suddenly prayed instead of talking. ¡°Anyway, what else happened in the south?¡± ¡°That is¡­¡± The bnce between the 7 southern families was destroyed by the changes in the south due to the migration of the Dwarf Workshop and the battle against Malekith. ¡°Is it those two again this time?¡± ¡°Because those two tried to relocate the dwarves, and they handed Ascalon over to Marquis Ophand.¡± Princess Daphne had an awkward smile at Dion¡¯s shining eyes telling her to not be careless of the two, and she looked up the ceiling. ¡®But everything¡¯s fine, right?¡¯ The southern region was likely to be a little noisy in the future, but it was not something that would shake up the entire kingdom. Moreover, events that could threaten the kingdom¡¯s existence had already urred three times in a row. She wondered if another event would ur again. ¡°So you need to know where those two are going and what they are going to do. Do you understand what I mean?¡± Princess Daphne lightly nodded her head Prince Dion¡¯s words, and took the report lying on her desk. It was the report that recorded the most recent activities of the two. *** Princess Daphne was not wrong. The heavenly voices had emotions. And they were also surprised by what had happened one after another. Because while a being like Malekith existed, the power of Paragon¡¯s heroes who stopped such a Malekith exceeded the expectations of the heavenly voices. The heavenly voices were not equal. There was also a rank among those who spoke to Princess Daphne, and they had differences in power and ability. The highest among them. A woman who felt a great sense of difort much more than the other heavenly voices. She looked down at the ground once more. In order to find the cause of her difort that kept bothering her, she traced the path of those two. *** On his return to the empire, Maximilian changed his course and headed for the Forest of Eternity. Because the voice from a higher ce desired it. The voice from a higher ce that he had heard since his childhood. The voice always showed him the way. Where to go, what to do, who to meet, and who to attack. The voice from a higher ce said to him to go to the S?len Kingdom. So Maximilian did. Following the voice from a higher ce, he went to various parts of the kingdom to find ancient relics and cultivate his own strength. Ultimate Two ¨C Divine Sword Balisarda. One of the most valuable and most powerful ancient artifact he ever obtained on his journey in the kingdom. But that was why Maximilian didn¡¯t know. The fact that there was more to the n of the voice from a higher ce. That not only Balisarda, but also Dragon Sword Ascalon was supposed to be given to Maximilian. The voice from a higher ce looked at the Forest of Eternity through Maximilian¡¯s eyes. Something had changed here too. As the one who led the heavenly voices, the voice from a higher ce felt a strong sense of difort. What happened? What is this sense of difort? And why is it rted to the activities of the two people of destiny? ¡°I will follow your will.¡± The voice from a higher ce told Maximilian to enter the forest, and Maximilian obeyed hermand like always. Maximilian de Avis. A being born with the greatest talent and the brightest potential among the humans. But why? What is this doubt? Why do I keep feeling ufortable? The voice from a higher ce stopped thinking for a moment. Through Maximilian¡¯s eyes, she looked at the forest where the traces of the two remained. ***Cordelia had a dream. A small child sat down and arge screen spread out in front of her. And there were two people kissing on the screen. The man was Jude and the woman was Cordelia. But she wasn¡¯t looking back on what had happened the past few days. Jude¡¯s sword stabbed Cordelia¡¯s chest. Fresh blood flowed down along Cordelia¡¯s chin while tears ran down Jude¡¯s cheeks. The two shared theirst kiss. What¡¯s going on? I don¡¯t think there¡¯s a scene like this in the game. When Cordelia became a demonic human, she no longer had any connection with Jude. Of course, they could have met and fought, but I don¡¯t think they ever had such a close rtionship. It rained. Cordelia returned to a human from a demonic human right before she died from the power of Divine Sword Balisarda, and she touched Jude¡¯s cheek once again. With a heavy breath, she left herst words. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Cordelia smiled as she cried. She silently died in Jude¡¯s arms. It rained. The sound of rain swallowed up Jude¡¯s cries. The young Cordelia who was looking at the screen burst into tears as she felt really sad. A strange scene. A scene she didn¡¯t want to see. So Cordelia thought of Jude. The Jude of the present. The shameless, sly, and ckhearted guy who never fought Cordelia herself, the Jude whom she really liked and always went in the same direction as her. ¡°Did you have a nightmare?¡± When she opened her eyes to the warm voice, she saw Jude¡¯s face. He was stroking Cordelia¡¯s own cheek just like the Jude she saw in the dream. But it was different. It was not raining, and Jude wasn¡¯t crying either. He was smiling and pinching Cordelia¡¯s cheek like always. ¡°I had a scary dream.¡± Her memory blurred when she opened her eyes and saw Jude. She couldn¡¯t remember what she saw in her dream, or why she cried in her sleep. But she clearly recalled that it was a very scary dream, a dream she did not like. What is it? What¡¯s with that scene that did not appear in the game? Surely, it¡¯s not a prophetic dream, right? Something that will happen in the future, and not something that has happened in the past. So it was a scene that I have not seen in the game. She was terrified at that moment. She was so scared that she burst into tears again. ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°Hug me. Hug me tight.¡± Cordelia hugged Jude¡¯s neck and spoke as if she was choking, and Jude didn¡¯t understand what was going on, but still hugged Cordelia to his chest. He patted her back andforted her. ¡°Was it a really scary dream?¡± Instead of answering, Cordelia tightly shut her eyes while in Jude¡¯s embrace. And she thought. It was not a prophetic dream. Cordelia had already be an angel. So she could no longer be a demonic human. ¡°Dreams you have during the day are usually dreams that do not have any particr meaning.¡± As Jude spoke awkwardly, Cordelia forced herself to smile. Because she somehow liked the Jude who tried tofort her. As Jude had said, dreams were just dreams. ¡°Have you calmed down?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m fine now.¡± Cordelia smiled and wiped her face with the wet towel Jude gave her before she looked straight ahead. She could see Baikal Forest, Cassius¡¯ hiding ce. ¡°It¡¯s a littlete, but shall we have breakfast?¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s eat. I¡¯m hungry.¡± Cordelia forced herself to answer energetically, sniffing with her nose before sitting down near the bonfire that Jude had lit and looking at Jude again. Jude was holding a frying pan instead of Ultimate Two ¨C Divine Sword Balisarda. My ckhearted scammer. But as she continued to stare, she remembered the Jude in her dream. What happened to the Jude who cried after killing Cordelia himself? What kind of future lied ahead for that Jude? That Jude- ¡°Jude.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°I really like you.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem, me too.¡± Jude awkwardly smiled at her unexpected confession, and Cordelia pouted her lips. It was just a dream of a Jude that did not exist. Still, she looked at the bonfire, hoping that the Jude in her dream would be happy. If you¡¯re wondering why Cordelia said she couldn¡¯t remember her dream and then remembered her dream in the next lines, that was done on purpose by the author. Take it as foreshadowing. Chapter 274: Master Craftsman (4)

Chapter 274: Master Craftsman (4)

¡°Let¡¯s leave now. I¡¯ll lead the way.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± After extinguishing the bonfire, Jude nced at Cordelia. She was putting the magically-washed dishes in a space expansion bag, and she seemed like normal from the outside. ¡®However¡­¡¯ He remembered the crying Cordelia even now when he closed his eyes. ¡®Nightmare.¡¯ A scary dream. But she cried like that from just a dream? ¡®She¡¯s weakened.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t about her body. It was the mind of Cordelia, the so-called mental side. From Jude¡¯s point of view, Cordelia had a very strong mentality. But having a strong mentality meant two things. The first meant that the defense was strong, so it was not scratched by the slightest attack, and the other meant that although the defense was low, the person¡¯s physical strength was so high that it was not shaken by the slightest mental attack. There was a fairly significant difference between the two, which was if they could persist or not. ¡®The formersts a long time.¡¯ The former could bepared to a warrior wearing full body armor. No matter how much they got hit, the only thing that was damaged was the armor, so the warrior inside waspletely fine. But thetter was a different story. A naked warrior with a very strong body. They seemed to hold up well at first, but their body wounds increase every time they were attacked because they were naked. They gradually bled and eventually copsed due to their umted wounds. And from Jude¡¯s perspective, Cordelia was closer to thetter than the former. ¡®She must be exhausted.¡¯ The number of times Cordelia had been in a life-or-death situation so far was more than a dozen. Moreover, it was all horrendous when one looked back at her condition then. Broken bones and bruises. She used up her mana and stamina up to the point of exhaustion, and her small and thin body became a mess that she coughed up blood several times. There was also the time when she temporarily became blind. All of her injuries were immediately treated because of healing magic, but at this stage, it wouldn¡¯t be strange for her to show signs of trauma. ¡®Perhaps it¡¯s a symptom of PTSD¡­¡¯ Post-traumatic stress disorder. It clearly didn¡¯t seem to be serious yet. Even what Jude considered to be a symptom was just his own arbitrary interpretation. However, he couldn¡¯t help but worry. ¡®Because Cordelia is an ordinary person. Not now but in the past, in their previous lives. Jude himself was not an ordinary person. He had been exposed to excessive violence from an early age and became ustomed to it. But what about Cordelia? They had never openly talked about their past lives, but he could figure out what kind of life she had been living through their exchanges. An ordinary girl born and raised in an ordinary family. It was already a great thing that she hade all this way without crying once. ¡®I will force her to take a break when all of this is over.¡¯ Because people needed a break. Let¡¯s go to beautiful ces together, eat delicious food¡­ and take a rest for a least a month. Jude made up his mind and nodded once before he spoke. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± Having finished organizing her bag, Cordelia raised her head as she answered. She looked very lovely when she tied up her hair. ¡°I¡¯ll do my best.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Cordelia suddenly blinked and tilted her head, wondering what he was talking about, but she soon brightly smiled. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll look forward to it.¡± ¡°Yeah, please look forward to it. Would you like a piggyback ride?¡± When Jude showed his back, Cordelia smiled again and nodded. ¡°Okay, this Cordelia will rely on you.¡± Having said that, she carried the bag on her back and leapt on Jude¡¯s back. Her movement was so steady that it was like the demonstration of a skilled instructor. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s work hard today and go!¡± Jude spoke in a lively manner, and Cordelia hugged Jude¡¯s neck as she whispered in a low voice. ¡°But Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± ¡°You¡¯re already doing well.¡± I¡¯m satisfied enough. She shyly spoke before kissing Jude¡¯s ear, and Jude flinched for a moment and cleared his throat afterwards. And one existence. Melissa said in a cold voice as she watched everything. [That¡¯s enough, that¡¯s enough.] You two really don¡¯t know how to do it in moderation. But unfortunately, Melissa¡¯s voice clearly did not reach the two, and Jude and Cordelia continued to make kissing noises as they headed inside the forest. *** Cassius Dalton frowned. It wasn¡¯t because she wasn¡¯t hammering well or she didn¡¯t like the work that she was making today. ¡°What the hell are they doing?¡± Cassius was an excellent cksmith and a powerful wizard at the same time. Because magic was essential in producing weapons above a certain level in the first ce. In any case, Cassius was a wizard, and the Baikal Forest was her magical territory. And a wizard naturally knew everything that was going on in their territory. A young couple. It was umon and asional sight here. There were quite a few monsters in the Baikal Forest, so there were people who visited the forest to kill those monsters. But the two behaved differently from the regr visitors ¨C the hunters. Chu. Chu. Chu. Chu. Chu. Chu. Chuuu. Chu. Chu. Chu. Chu. Chu. The couple were so busy kissing each other nonstop. But the strange thing was the fact that they were walking well while kissing. ¡°Ah, f*cking sh*t.¡± Is this your bedroom? Did youe to someone else¡¯s forest just to do that? Of course, there were lots of couples who looked for ces with no signs of people in order to do the so-called lewd things, but this was Baikal Forest that was far from the vige. Again, it was a forest with monsters. ¡°You¡¯ll experience serious pain if you continue to behave that way. No, you¡¯ll definitely suffer.¡± Cassius then cursed and turned her gaze back to the anvil to divert her attention. She wanted to tell them to go out and get lost, but if she did, she would break the hiding magic she had done her best to create, so she endured it for now. ¡®Let¡¯s just continue hammering.¡¯ Hammer today. Hammer tomorrow. Hammer several times a day. Cassius muttered strange words as she hammered, but only did it a few times. She ended up raising her head again. ¡°What the-¡­¡± What the heck is that? She wasn¡¯t talking about the two constantly kissing each other. It was the monsters. Monsters from everywhere rushed at the couple, but none of them could even approach the two. Because dozens of magic orbs floating around the woman prevented the attacks of the monsters as if it was a self-defense mechanism. But that was not the only thing that surprised her. ¡®They¡¯reing this way?¡¯ The deepest part of her hideout. The couple were heading straight towards Cassius¡¯ workshop. As if they were looking for Cassius herself. ¡®How?¡¯ She looked carefully again just in case, but these was the first time she had seen those faces. ¡®What¡¯s going on?¡¯ The moment she tilted her head without realizing it. The kissing man who was only looking at the back and not the front had now entered the first barrier. It was a barrier that made those who came wandering in to ultimately return to the way they came. However, they did not wander around. The ck-haired man was princess carrying a pink-haired girl whose vicle was being sucked. She flinched and squealed at that action, but moved her hand in the meantime. And at that gesture of hers, the barrier was neutralized. To be exact, she neutralized the maze magic with a pathfinding magic spell. It was a surprising sight. Is it possible for a girl who¡¯s only in herte teens to have that level of skill? No, aside from skill, what¡¯s with that incrediblyrge magic power? That¡¯s impossible for humans. ¡°Eh?¡± The two had crossed the maze. They had reached the next barrier. ¡°Eeeeh?¡± They passed by it again. A barrier that cast fear into the minds of those who entered, making them run away. But the two were calm as they continued kissing. ¡°EEEEEEH?¡± What the-¡­ Why aren¡¯t my barriers working? Are they human? Ande to think of it, aren¡¯t they here now? Isn¡¯t that the entrance to my hideout? Tok-tok-tok. At that moment, Cassius was startled by the sound behind her, and quickly turned around. Because there was a loud voice following the knock from beyond the steel door. ¡°Is anyone there!¡± A human male¡¯s voice. Cassius hesitated for a moment, but strengthened her grip on the hammer and shouted out. ¡°Who are you! What do you want!¡± ¡°We came to see Master Cassius!¡± As I thought. They came here knowing the way as I had thought. But who the hell are they? How did you know about this ce, and how did you know me? ¡°Ah, damn it. I don¡¯t care anymore. Let¡¯s just do it.¡± If they had managed toe all the way here, they could easily open that steel door ande in. Cassius made up her mind, grabbing her sword instead of a hammer and then shouted. ¡°I¡¯ve lifted the seal! Open it ande in!¡± The steel door weighed several hundred kilograms and was difficult for ordinary people to even push. But the door opened normally, revealing a man and woman. ***Melissa was pleased when the steel door opened. Partly because a feast for her eyes might soon unfold in front of her, and partly because she had high expectations that she might be able to meet the survivors of Magen, the magic kingdom. ¡®Considering the circumstances, Cassius is most likely a survivor of Magen.¡¯ Many of the tools Cassius used were from Magen. And above all, Cassius was old. Although he did not say it out loud, it was clear that he had lived at least a thousand years or more. Obviously, not all of Magen¡¯s survivors had a connection with Melissa. They might have not met Melissa, and it was also highly possible that they had no connection to the people who managed Melissa. But for Melissa who had been locked up in the facility for hundreds of years and waited for the researchers who never returned, the fact that Cassius was a survivor of Magen meant a lot to her. [Badump, badump] She was so excited that she even said that herself. ¡®Did she break?¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s impossible.¡¯ I guess it¡¯s because she¡¯s looking forward to it. And the door opened. What appeared was a veryrge but well-organized workshop, and a barely-dressed elf woman standing with her arms crossed. ¡°Stop there. I¡¯ll attack if you cross that line.¡± At Cassius¡¯ warning, Jude and Cordelia looked at their feet and stopped in front of the line drawn on the floor. Cassius Dalton. An elf woman with white hair and red eyes. She had an exhausted look, whether it was because of the dark circles under her eyes or it was something innate in her, and her red tank top and body was covered in sweat as she was in the middle of work. T/N: If you¡¯re wondering why Cassius was earlier referred to as a man in a previous episode, and then a woman here, it was done on purpose by the author. Basically, the game yers thought that Cassius was a man, but in reality, Cassius was actually a woman. ¡°How did you know this ce? Do you know me?¡± At her sharp-tempered question, Jude and Cordelia exchanged nces. So far, it had gone as they expected. ¡®Because we skipped all the events.¡¯ The various events needed to meet Cassius. But it was unavoidable. Because the south¡¯s situation had changed so much, it was impossible to proceed the same as the game. ¡°I am Jude August Bayer. This is my fianc¨¦e, Cordelia August Chase.¡± ¡°We greet Master Cassius.¡± When Jude and Cordelia respectfully greeted her, Cassius¡¯ eyes that were ring at them softened a bit. She seemed to like their politeness. ¡°You know basic manners, huh? However, how in the world did you know about this ce? Who told you about me?¡± It was an important matter from here on. So Jude cleared his throat and started talking with the face that Cordelia liked, which was his scammer face. ¡°The Witch of the West Forest told us.¡± Cassius was more of a sorcerer rather than a regr wizard. Therefore, it was better to use the Witch of the West Forest, who was a legend among witches and sorcerers, rather than giving an unheard of name. ¡®Because we also have enough evidence.¡¯ There was the spell book Cordelia got from the witch, and Cordelia herself was also taught some spells by her. So they came up with the story that they heard of a powerful sorcerer from the Witch of the West Forest, and that based on the things they had experienced on the way, they had guessed that the sorcerer was Cassius. If they presented that kind of story, they would then be able to get out of this current situation like always. ¡®Because there¡¯s no way to check.¡¯ How will you check it? ¨C That was Jude¡¯smon retort. And it worked really well this time. Cassius was absorbed with Jude¡¯s fluent speech, and almost lost her initial hostility before she knew it. ¡®As expected of my scammer.¡¯ Cordelia happily smiled and grabbed Jude¡¯s sleeve, and when he finished talking, Jude brightly smiled. ¡®Now, if I just tell her that we have the skin and scales of an Ancient Dragon, bones and teeth, and even a fragment of a Dragon Heart¡­¡¯ It would be the end of the situation. Just like in the game, Cassius would cling to them. But it was then. ¡°Are they telling the truth?¡± Unexpected words came out of Cassius¡¯ mouth. Moreover, she was looking and talking to a ce other than Jude and Cordelia. At a corner of the workshop. A woman in a ck dress with long ck hair and white skin was sitting on a huge chair. She had a wide smile. Her existence herself was the answer to Jude¡¯s ¡®how will you check it¡¯ line. So how would Cassius check it? She only needed to ask. The Witch of the West Forest. Unlike in the game, the spirit of the great witch was released from the seal instead of ascending. Instead of answering Cassius¡¯ question, she looked at the two, especially at Cordelia who gripped Jude¡¯s sleeve tighter, andughed softly. ¡°Hello.¡± Hello, you two. ¡°Didn¡¯t I say that we¡¯ll meet again?¡± The words that she left when she parted with them. Jude and Cordelia looked at each other and swallowed hard. They awkwardly smiled and faced the Witch of the West Forest. Chapter 275: Master Craftsman (5)

Chapter 275: Master Craftsman (5)

Late post. Got too absorbed catching up to The Unwanted Undead Adventurer which I had read in J-novel a year ago, hahaha. Anyway, I was disappointed with my past self when I realized that I should have tranted ¡®rabbit ears and rabbit tail¡¯ to ¡®bunny ears and bunny tail.¡¯ Bunny ears sounds better than rabbit ears, but why did I use rabbit? The Witch of the West Forest was a great person. Born and raised as a ve who did not know much, she became a prey to the demons but her death was not in vain. With only the power of her strong soul, she formed a contract with a demon, and reversed her rtionship with the demon by bing so strong with her talent that transcendedmon sense. It was a real surprise. The fact that a girl who was only a sacrifice was reborn as a great witch whomanded numerous demons was an unprecedented event even in the long history of hell. Moreover, the Witch of the West Forest was not just strong. She was a real powerhouse. Having mastered numerous spells, her soul did not stop growing as it began to see through the secrets of the world, and in the end, she gained enough strength to stand shoulder to shoulder with Demon Princes, the high-ranking nobility of hell. At this point, even the overlords of hell couldn¡¯t stand still. The Witch of the West Forest had be an overly dangerous existence. It was Belial, the overlord of corruption, who defeated her. He went to the battlefield himself to devour the witch¡¯s soul and make it his own. The ck Bug Army, which boasted thergest number of troops among the armies of hell, moved at once, and the entire ce was covered with bugs and disasters. The wise Witch of the West Forest knew very well that there were only two paths left for her the moment the ck Bug Army moved. One was to surrender. To live as a ve with a cor and shackles under Belial¡¯smand. The Witch of the West Forest did not do that. She didn¡¯t want to do that. That was why the Witch of the Forest raised an army. Despite knowing that defeat awaited her, she chose the path to confront Overlord Belial head-on. And the results were disastrous. The West Forest that used to be her realm was all burned down, and most of the numerous demons she contracted with were killed before Belial¡¯s wrath. The witch¡¯s soul was set on fire. Her body was repeatedly regenerated and destroyed by Belial hundreds to thousands of times, and her soul weakened every day in that endless pain of death. If Asmodeus, the overlord of lust, had not stepped in and stole her soul, her existence would havepletely disappeared from this world. The Witch of the West Forest. An existence out of a sess story. A legendary protagonist who directly moved two overlords of hell despite being defeated. ¡®Yeah, I know she¡¯s great. But why is the witch here!¡¯ Yes! Why is she here! Jude¡¯s bewilderment was justified. In the game, after teaching Cordelia how to be a witch, she ascended to heaven ¨C no, ascending to heaven didn¡¯t make sense as witches were fated topletely disappear. In fact, the Witch of the West Forest neither appeared in thetter half of Legend of Heroes 2 nor the multi-yer Episode 2.5, and waspletely gone in the third episode. ¡®But why!¡¯ Jude actually knew the reason. Because he and Cordelia changed history. In the game, the witch disappeared because she strengthened Cordelia¡¯s body and used up all her power in order to fight Asmodeus¡¯ demonic monster. But it was different this time. She did not directly fight Asmodeus¡¯ demonic monster, and thus avoided her fate of extinction. [J-Jude. What should we do?] Cordelia sweated profusely as she tugged Jude¡¯s sleeve, but instead of answering her, Jude put on a smile that was as natural as possible, though it was somewhat awkward. ¡®Stay calm, stay calm, Jude.¡¯ Just the fact that he called himself by his name revealed that he was not calm at all, but Jude took a deep breath for now. He had experienced something like this several times in his previous life. When he got caught while undercover. In Cordelia¡¯s words, when his scam was figured out. ¡®What should we do?¡¯ Most of the time, he just knocked down the person next or in front of him before he run away. However, he couldn¡¯t do that this time. If they ran away from here, they would never meet Cassius again. The Witch of the West Forest smiled as she gazed at them. She had only recovered a bit of her strength since they had seen her, but she was showing a clear presence as though she was a living person despite being only a soul. What should I do? How are we supposed to get out of this situation! ¡°Helena, do you really know them?¡± At that moment, Cassius asked with some suspicion. Because Cordelia¡¯s nervous appearance was very suspicious. ¡®Gulp.¡¯ Cordelia swallowed hard. She had be ckened and shameless due to spending time with Jude, but she had gone back to her past self at this very moment. In other words, her face was full of embarrassment and fear, just like the time when she acted in monotone. ¡®I¡¯m scared, I¡¯m scared.¡¯ We got busted! Cordelia tightened her grip on Jude¡¯s sleeve, but Jude was also in a dilemma. ¡®Calm down, calm down, Cordelia.¡¯ He had to see the reaction from the other side first. The Witch of the West¡¯s reaction would decide everything. What would she say? How would she answer Cassius¡¯ question? Jude paid attention to the witch¡¯s lips. Her beautiful and attractive lips that were inferior to Cordelia¡¯s then slowly opened. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. I told them.¡± ¡°Really? ¡°Yes, really.¡± The witch softly spoke and smiled at the two, and Cordelia flinched once again. Jude had an awkward smile. ¡°I thought that¡­ it would be like this someday.¡± The witch¡¯s green eyes stared at Jude who had green eyes too. Green eyes that lit up like a me from a dark abyss. A color that was iparably mysterious. ¡°Hey, you can¡¯t just do that. Don¡¯t just give my information, okay?¡± As Cassius grumbled, the witch smiled again while exchanging nces with Jude. ¡°I apologize, but I knew the moment I met them.¡± ¡°About what?¡± ¡°How kind and honest these two children are.¡± The witch smiled once more after she finished speaking, and Cordelia felt her conscience tormenting her. Because she knew that it was wrong. But unlike Cordelia, the ckhearted and shameless Jude somehow endured it. ¡®She¡¯ll turn a blind eye to it for now.¡¯ That seemed to be the situation. In that case, it would be better for him to step forward than to keep silent. ¡°But¡­ how are you two¡­¡± Cassius frowned when Jude opened his mouth, but not for the witch. She smiled and put one hand on her chin as she said. ¡°Because Cassius is a demon.¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°HEY!¡± Jude was puzzled while Cassius was angry. ¡°Why did you say that!¡± ¡°Was it a big secret? It¡¯s not like you¡¯re hiding it anyway.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve never said it openly though?¡± At Cassius¡¯ reaction, Jude was once again confused. ¡®What, Cassius was a real demon? Not a sorcerer or witch?¡¯ ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. Cassius is a demon and not a witch. But don¡¯t worry. By demon standards, she¡¯s a heretic, a good demon.¡± The witch spoke as though she had read Jude¡¯s thoughts. And in that time, Jude understood a lot of things. ¡®It makes sense. No, rather, a lot of things can be understood if she was a demon.¡¯ The enemy that Cassius was targeting. Maybe it¡¯s someone from hell? A demon too. Ad if that demon is an overlord of hell. If it¡¯s Belial, the overlord of corruption who defeated the Witch of the West Forest. The reason why Cassius suddenly disappeared. The weapon she was preparing to face that transcendent being. ¡°Hey, you wanna die? W-what do you mean by a good demon!¡± ¡°Why? Did I say something wrong? You¡¯re kind.¡± When the witch teased her, Cassius¡¯ face turned red, though her reaction was closer to embarrassment than anger. So the witch spoke again in a rxed manner. ¡°It¡¯s fine. They¡¯re really good and nice kids. They¡¯re children who don¡¯t lie and cheat.¡± ¡°Uhh¡­¡± Cordelia was at a loss again at the words she had heard, but Jude straightened his expression. Whatever the reason, the Witch of the West Forest was on their side now. epting her goodwill would be fine then. ¡°Master Cassius, it¡¯s just as the Witch of the West Forest has said. We are here to visit Master Cassius.¡± ¡°Hmph, you want me to make you a weapon? Why should I do that?¡± Cassius who had been embarrassed until just now suddenly crossed her arms and haughtily answered. But based on her appearance, it seemed like she would listen to what he would say. ¡®Then.¡¯ Jude took another deep breath. The witch asked with her eyes on how he would change Cassius¡¯ mind, and Jude answered with his eyes as well to the amused witch before speaking to Cassius again. ¡°Because I have what Master Cassius wants.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Ancient Dragon body parts.¡± Jude¡¯s words suppressed Cassius¡¯ anger. Cassius was about to tell him to immediately get out, but instantly stopped so Jude continued without stopping. ¡°We have the corpse of an Ancient Dragon. There are ws, leather, scales, and even a Dragon Heart.¡± ¡°Y-you¡¯re lying.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s all true. As the witch said, we¡¯re very honest. Right, Witch-nim?¡± When Jude turned to the witch and asked, Cordelia pulled Jude¡¯s sleeve once more in her guilty conscience, but he wasn¡¯t her scammer for nothing. He faced the witch with a face like that of a sly fox. ¡®Help!¡¯ It was a shameless request, but the witch did not get angry. Rather, she grinned and nodded as if she having a lot of fun. ¡°He¡¯s right, he¡¯s right. It¡¯s just as the kid said. They¡¯re very kind and honest children.¡± ¡°Uuugh¡­¡± Cordelia eventually let out a noise after her conscience suffered from the witch¡¯s ¡®attack.¡¯ However, Jude tightly held Cordelia¡¯s hand and looked straight at Cassius. ¡°It¡¯s all true. Moreover, the quantity is not small. We have about this much.¡± Having said that, Jude handed out the documents he had prepared in advance to the bewildered Cassius. ¡°I¡¯ll review it then.¡± ¡°Please do so.¡± Cassius nodded and began to read the documents. Her eyes widened in surprise at some point. ¡°W-what? Is this real? You have everything here?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s all real.¡± ¡°Nonsense! Did you defeat an Ancient Dragon?¡± ¡°Yes, we defeated him.¡± ¡°Yeah, you couldn¡¯t have defeated him¡­ what? You defeated him?!¡± ¡°Yes, we defeated Ancient ck Dragon Malekith.¡± It wasn¡¯t a scam as it was the truth. But that did not mean that Jude¡¯s voice was more confident than before. The difference between the two was that one was true confidence and the other was false confidence. Anyway, it was the truth. ¡°H-Helena. Is it true? Are they telling the truth?¡± ¡°It¡¯s true. They really defeated Malekith. Even I¡¯m a bit surprised, okay?¡± The witch, who had been smiling mischievously, said with widened eyes as if she was indeed surprised. After all, the Ancient Dragon was truly like a god. ¡°Y-you two¡­ no, how in the hell did you two¡­¡± As Cassius began to mumble in extreme confusion, Jude continued with a smile. ¡°It¡¯s a long story. Anyway, everything in the document is true and we came her tomission Master Cassius to make myth-rank dragon equipment. Of course, we will remunerate with you with various Ancient Dragon body parts too.¡± Cassius gulped at his words that flowed out quickly. Because it seemed like she could finally make the weapon she had dreamed of so much with this materials. ¡®It¡¯s done.¡¯ Jude smirked, and Cordelia forced herself to smile despite her guilty conscience. However, both Jude and Cordelia had the same reactions to what followed afterwards. ¡°Myth-rank is a no.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± Cordelia unconsciously asked and turned to Jude who also looked at her. Because it was apletely different story from the game. ¡®W-what? What happened? Eh?¡± We have enough materials. Or rather, the amount is even more than in the game! Cordelia was not wrong. In the game, it was possible to make myth-rank dragon equipment with much less material than this. But why? What¡¯s up with Cassius¡¯ reaction? ¡°Again, myth-rank is a no. Uh, I mean¡­ we can¡¯t just stop at that. We can have up to Awakening Myth-rank dragon equipment.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± Awakening what? Awakening Myth-rank dragon equipment? [What is that? Jude, do you know?] [I don¡¯t know.] It¡¯s the first time I have heard of that weapon rank. But Awakening Myth-rank. Anyway, it¡¯s Awakening Myth-rank! [One more word was added, so it¡¯s definitely better.] At Jude¡¯s magic, Cordelia nodded her head. If there was a higher rank ?than myth-rank, it would probably be Awakening Myth-rank. [Uh, wait. So she¡¯s saying that she can make something better than myth-rank? She really said that?] Superior equipment. A more superior equipment that did not appear in the game, so it was like the true end boss of equipment. Cordelia¡¯s eyes began to sparkle in delight, and so did Jude. Their sleeping gamer brains began to resume its activities. ¡°Thank you very much. We are truly thankful.¡± ¡°Thank you so much. Master Cassius can definitely do it!¡± When the two of them got excited, Cassius got excited as well. And when the three of them were excited, even Melissa became delighted. But there was only one person who, on the contrary, was anxious about the situation. [My sessor, you¡¯re not going to make a sword, right?] You can¡¯t be two-timing, okay? Ultimate One. But at the moment Sword Origin Valencia said that. ¡°A sword spirit? Is that Valencia?¡± The Witch of the West Forest said with a surprised face and immediately snapped her fingers. The figure of a beautiful female elf, Valencia, then appeared next to Jude. [Eh? EEEEH?] As she came out of Jude¡¯s body, the flustered Valencia whose figure was projected outside couldn¡¯t help but blink her eyes and raise her voice. Then, the voice that was usually only heard by Jude was now heard by the Witch of the West Forest and Cordelia too. ¡°It¡¯s really Valencia.¡± The Witch of the West Forest said in awe as if it was a miracle, and Cordelia who saw Valencia was shocked in a different way. ¡®There¡¯s a woman like that inside Jude?¡¯ Such a pretty and cool older woman? Cordelia¡¯s eyes turned sharp. But before Jude could respond to her change in expression, Cassius shouted out. ¡°OOOOH! It¡¯s Valencia! Sword Origin! You! You¡¯re the user of Ultimate One!¡± Cassius loudly said as she staggered towards Jude and stood before him. She suddenly began to touch all over Jude¡¯s body regardless of Valencia and Cordelia¡¯s looks. ¡°H-hey, Master Cassius?¡± Aside from Valencia, even Cordelia¡¯s eyes were getting scarier. But Cassius didn¡¯t seem to care ¨C no, she waspletely absorbed in touching Jude¡¯s body and just eximing in admiration. ¡°Wow, this is amazing. It¡¯s really amazing when I touch it myself. It¡¯s almost like-¡­ no, it¡¯s a perfect body. And you even have Sword Origin in here?¡± Cordelia¡¯s nose fumed when Cassius continuously groped Jude¡¯s firm chest and waist, while Valencia frowned. And at the time when Jude was thinking if he should escape from here by using Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt. ¡°Okay, this is really nice. We¡¯ll proceed differently. It¡¯s better to add the power of an awakening myth-rank equipment to Sword Origin than to make a new one.¡± ¡°Add power?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll make Sword Origin much stronger than it is now.¡± Cassius grinned as her craftsman self was challenged. Valencia was also happy then. [I see. My sessor will no longer be two-timing.] ¡®No, I never two-timed in the first ce¡­¡¯ In any case, Cassius was delighted, Valencia was pleased, and Jude was also in a good mood. And one more person. One good thing happened to Cordelia who had strangely been excluded from the current situation. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry as Sword Origin and your sweetheart don¡¯t have that kind of rtionship. You see, that kid only thinks of you whether he¡¯s sitting or standing.¡± Cordelia was startled by the witch¡¯s voice that was right next to her, and her eyes widened in surprise again. Because she had just been standing next to Jude, but she was now sitting on the witch¡¯sp. ¡°How cute.¡± The witch tightly hugged Cordelia from behind and continued to speak to the startled Cordelia. ¡°Since Cassius is very excited¡­ she¡¯ll probably focus on strengthening Sword Origin for a while. But since Jude is Sword Origin¡¯s user, both of them will eventually be busy. So y with me, baby bunny.¡± ¡°B-baby bunny?¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you a bunny?¡± ¡°No, well¡­ you¡¯re right, but¡­¡± The rabbit ears and tail were almost synonymous to Cordelia herself now. ¡°Then, baby bunny. Isn¡¯t there something that you want to learn from me?¡± Actually, Cordelia had a lot of things she wanted to ask. Like what in the world had happened. Or did she know back then when she said that they would meet again. Or was she able to see the future. However, Cordelia focused on the witch¡¯s question for now. Because as the witch had said, there was something that she had wanted to learn from the witch. ¡°It¡¯s not a spell or incantation. You can learn those things from the spell book I left behind.¡± The witch was right. What Cordelia wanted to learn was more fundamental. Something she couldn¡¯t learn from Lena, an angel. Something she could only learn from the Witch of the West Forest whomanded numerous demons. And what she wanted to achieve through it. ¡°Your idea¡¯s interesting. I think I can help.¡± A trump card she had been practicing since the Temple of Life, but had yet to bepleted. Cordelia no longer hid it. She nodded her head and broadly smiled at the witch who had already seen through everything. ¡°Please help me.¡± ¡°Okay, I will help you.¡± Awakening Myth-rank dragon equipment and the witch¡¯s teachings. The unexpected power-up of the two began. Chapter 276: Interlude (1)

Chapter 276: Interlude (1)

To strengthen the alreadypleted Sword Origin. The Sword Origin that had be one with Jude. At the question of how she would do it, Cassius brightly answered. ¡°It¡¯s like an enchantment. First, I¡¯ll add the power of the Ancient ck Dragon to Sword Origin while also changing itsposition. And if I add the horns, ws, and scales, your body when Sword Origin is activated will be sharper and stronger than it is now.¡± ¡®Then how will you do that?¡¯ Because Sword Origin was one with Jude himself. It was absurd topletely smelt Jude¡¯s own body. ¡°Huh? Nope. I will indeed bepletely smelting your body.¡± Cassius cheerfully said as if she had read Jude¡¯s thoughts from his expression. ¡°But instead of melting you into molten iron and hammering you, I will magically smelt you. Though, to be honest, the smelting part requires the skills of a wizard rather than a cksmith.¡± ¡°Uuuh¡­ I see.¡± He still didn¡¯t have a good feeling about it, but what mattered was that he could be strengthened. [My sessor is quite simple-minded.] ¡°I¡¯m intentionally thinking simple because¡­¡± I don¡¯t like infusing Malekith¡¯s body parts on my body! Just thinking about it already stresses me out so it¡¯s better to keep it simple. ¡±How long will it take?¡± ¡°How long? Hmm¡­ Around 3 months?¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°As I¡¯ve said before, it requires magical smelting. It¡¯s like transforming your body into an Ancient Dragon, so it¡¯s going to take a long time.¡± ¡°Uuuuh¡­ okay. Then during those 3 months, will it be difficult for me to move and do activities?¡± ¡°Oh, of course not. If it makes you feel better, just think that you¡¯ll be living in a half-vegetative state for the next 3 months.¡± Cassius cheerfully smiled again as she patted Jude on the back and continued. ¡°Oh, and I forgot, you¡¯ll need a Dragon Factor to properly handle it just like all weapons that uses a dragon¡¯s body and soul. But it shouldn¡¯t be a problem since you already have it, I guess.¡± Although the condition of ¡®having Dragon Factor¡¯ was added to Sword Origin like that of Ascalon, Jude took it in stride. Jude himself didn¡¯t know if it would be impossible to use in the future since he had already met the conditions for use, but it was an excessive luxury to trouble about if it could be passed on to another person. ¡®Well, that¡¯s not my problem in the first ce.¡¯ Or rather, it¡¯s fine because I¡¯m the only one who can use it. It was the moment Jude had this slightly selfish thought. [My sessor, are you going to make me usable by only you? Can I no longer be used by anyone other than you?] ¡°Eh? Uh¡­ do you perhaps not like it?¡± [No, it¡¯s fine as long as you take responsibility. Don¡¯t be a two-timer.] ¡°Umm¡­ yes. I understand.¡± Though he was nning to use two or three swords in case of a real emergency. ¡®This doesn¡¯t sound right though.¡¯ Because it seemed like her choice of words made more room for misunderstandings. But Jude quickly cleared his thoughts. As he had said over and over again, what mattered now was the reinforcement of Sword Origin itself. ¡°Then I will be in your care.¡± ¡°Yes, I will smelt you properly.¡± Cassius¡¯ response seemed much livelier than in the game, perhaps because she was offered a lot of Ancient Dragon materials, or because the witch was with her. ¡®Moving on, Cassius is a demon. So who is the enemy Cassius is trying to defeat? Generally speaking, it should be an angel, but the witch said that Cassius is good¡­ It¡¯s strange to use the word ¡®good¡¯ for a demon, but if there really is a demon like that, is her enemy an overlord of hell?¡¯ That thought made a lot of sense. It also exined the fact why the demon Cassius was in the human world and not in hell. ¡®Because Hell is the realm of the overlords. So she¡¯s building up her strength by hiding in a ce that is far from the overlords¡¯ reach. Everything makes sense if that¡¯s the case.¡¯ Then, would it be possible to build a stronger rtionship with her in the future since the enemy of my enemy is my friend? Jude continued to think at that time. On the other hand¡­ ¡°By the way, Witch-nim.¡± ¡°Tell me, baby bunny.¡± Cordelia was startled when the witch breathed in her ear and spoke. She suppressed her desire to escape and asked carefully. ¡°Uh¡­ after you parted with us in the forest, what happened then?¡± Now that I think of it, that was almost a year ago. At Cordelia¡¯s question, the witch gentlyughed and whispered again. ¡°I was hiding and recovering my strength. Thanks to you, I can now even touch this baby bunny.¡± Cordelia flinched again when the witch stroked her belly, but she continued what she wanted to say. ¡°Witch-nim. Then from now on¡­¡± ¡°I need to get my power back. I also need to make a new body. I still have a long way to go.¡± The witch was stroking Cordelia who was sitting on herp, but she still did not have a body. Her soul was very powerful so it could maintain a shape, but it was essential for her to have a body if she wanted to continue maintaining her intelligence and exert greater power. ¡®Uuuuh¡­ anyway, it should be fine, right?¡¯ She couldn¡¯t ask the witch for help at this moment, but the witch in the game was originally hostile to the overlords of hell. So one could say that they now had a powerful ally. ¡®Maybe we can get her help to prevent the Great Summons.¡¯ Or rather, the witch would definitely help because of her personality. ¡°Helena!¡± It was then. Cassius who had been talking to Jude for a long time looked their way and loudly shouted. ¡°Pack your luggage! We¡¯ll be out for a while! We¡¯re going to this little kid¡¯s house and eat and live there for several months until my work is done!¡± Having said that, Cassius chuckled like Landius and patted Jude on the back. And upon seeing that, the witch had an elegant smile. ¡°She¡¯s really a good person. Don¡¯t you think so?¡± ¡°Uh, yes. I think so too. But Witch-nim. About Master Cassius¡­¡± ¡°She¡¯s one of the demons I¡¯ve made a contract with. She¡¯s the only demon I have left.¡± It seemed like a long story judging by the look of her eyes, but the witch was not the kind of person who talked about their own life story. She just closed her lips as Cordelia felt sad for her, and slowly stood up from her seat afterwards. ¡°Now then, let¡¯s go too, baby bunny. That idiot Cassius often forgets things like me not having any luggage.¡± In any case, it was clear that she and Cassius were best friends, so Cordelia didn¡¯t think about it anymore. In the first ce, thinking was Jude¡¯s job. ¡®That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right. Jude does the thinking and I do the action. The right person for the right job, right?¡¯ Cordelia shrugged and looked around Cassius¡¯ workshop again before smiling. ¡®Anyway, it¡¯s a power-up.¡¯ It¡¯s good that we¡¯ll be getting new equipment. It was good that Jude¡¯s Sword Origin would be strengthened and that Cassius would get a lot of materials to work with it, and it was also good that Cordelia would be getting new equipment and be taught by the witch. [W-wait a minute. Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re going to forget about me more¡­ That won¡¯t happen, right?] When Melissa questioned them in a low voice as Moonlight could possibly be reced soon, Jude and Cordelia left Cassius¡¯ workshop. *** Three days had passed since Jude and Cordelia returned. Large ships were busilying and going from Argon Port, carrying a huge amount of valuables inside. ¡°This will aid in repairing the damage for the 7 southern families¡­ no, the 6 southern families.¡± There were dozens of Adult Dragon corpses. ¡°Then what about us?¡± ¡°How many castles would you like to build?¡± Cordelia giggled at Jude¡¯s yful reply. Because Jude and Cordelia had really be super rich. There was no teenager richer than the two throughout the entire S?len Kingdom. ¡®Still¡­ most of it will be used to make equipment.¡¯ They could certainly fund magic towers from all over the world with their money, but equipment was more important than money. There were a lot of equipment that even money couldn¡¯t buy. ¡®I¡¯ll only give funds to my future father-inw.¡¯ Because there were so many stuff he was given to eat these days, just like in the past. Like eels, oysters, and wild ginseng. Though for some reason, it seemed like the efficacy of the stuff he was given recently was biased towards a certain direction. T/N: In short, Daddy Chase wants to have grandchildren already. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± ¡°Hmm? What is it?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing. Don¡¯t mind me.¡± Jude shrugged and kissed the happy Cordelia¡¯s forehead a few times before looking at the pier again. The crew were unloading their cargo under the supervision of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, and most of it were the body parts of Ancient Dragon Malekith. ¡°Are we going back now?¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go home.¡± To the mansion of their fief that they had never been to before. Jude and Cordelia¡¯s own house. ¡®Well, it¡¯s not just the two of us going there.¡¯ Not only Cassius and the witch, as Landius, Lena, and Kamael would also be going with them. ¡®There are also the dwarves.¡¯ Their fathers also said that they would be there for a while to help them with territorial management, so it seemed like it would be noisy for at least two months. ¡°By the way, Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± ¡°About unnie and brother-inw. It would be four months from now, right?¡± The marriage of the two. And the next one that their fathers implied. Cordelia leaned on Jude¡¯s chest instead of saying more, and Jude tightly hugged her. And the next morning. Near the north gate of Argon Port. ¡°Bye-bye! Let me know if you need any help! I¡¯ll run even if it¡¯s at the ends of the world! I¡¯ll train hard too, okay?¡± So that they could stand shoulder to shoulder next time. So that she could help them and not just receive help. When Kajsa saw them off and shouted as she waved her hand, Cordelia who was riding in a huge carriage also shouted as she stuck her head out the window. ¡°Bye, Kajsa! See youter!¡± ¡°Okay! That¡¯s a must! Let¡¯s have fun with that young girl Scarlet again!¡± ¡°Yes! Okay!¡± Their conversation was too childish forte teenager girls, and it sounded like a boys¡¯ conversation, but Kajsa and Cordelia couldn¡¯t help it. ¡°Cordelia! Don¡¯t forget it! Just do what you see in the book! Just what you see, okay?¡± ¡°Yes! Thank you, Kajsa!¡± For a moment, Jude recalled the book in the paper bag and tried hard to have known nothing, but Cordelia was unaware of that fact as she continued to wave her hand. And in the other carriages. Helena, the Witch of the West Forest, sat opposite Cassius who was already sleeping. She lit a small pipe and took a puff of it. Her soul that acted like a living person then looked out the window. Around a year. Unlike what she told Cordelia, she didn¡¯t just hide and recover her power. Because she had a sense of difort. A small doubt. She felt that something was strange. And finally, the witch was able to understand some of the difort she felt over the past months. Landius and Lena. The witch herself. Sebastian Leguin and many others in the south. A faint smile spread across the witch¡¯s face. After exhaling the pipe smoke, she looked at the sky and the earth alternately before smiling again. ¡°As I thought.¡± It¡¯s different. It has changed. When I first met Jude and Cordelia almost a year ago. I couldn¡¯t understand it at that time. How Cordelia knew about the seal and me, but didn¡¯t know about my power. Likewise, Jude whose knowledge was imbnced. But I know now. I can guess why. ¡®But should I check a bit more?¡¯ Is my own hypothesis correct? And if the answer is yes, how could such a thing happen? The witch puffed out a long white smoke again and turned her gaze. With her mysterious green eyes, she looked at the St. Crute Monastery far away, at thend where the young goddess Atalia slept. *** Time went by quickly. Winter passed and spring thawed the cold, and the earth also changed its clothes along with the changing seasons. The S?len Kingdom also faced many changes. In the south, a new order was established with Marquis Ophand at the center, and in the north, trade began between the inhabitants of the wildnds and the northerners. Henry II worked energetically. It would not be an exaggeration to say that he had changed since the rebellion of the Lord Traitor, and the central region became much stronger than before under his leadership, leaving no room for the empire to prate. And a month passed again. When three months had passed since the decisive battle against Malekith. A letter arrived to the eighteen year old Jude and Cordelia. It was a wedding invitation for Ga?l and Adelia¡¯s marriage. Chapter 277: Interlude (2)

Chapter 277: Interlude (2)

It was a night with a half moon. Stars that seemed to fall down at any moment when you looked up filled the sky, and the night sea reflecting the twinkling stars was blue and beautiful instead of dark and terrifying. Cordelia sat still and looked up the sky. She turned her gaze to the side and her eyes sparkled more than the stars she saw in the night sky. Jude was looking up the sky. He frankly looked so handsome that her heart felt like it was about to burst. ¡®It¡¯s a foul, a foul.¡¯ She wondered when he grew taller again. He seemed to be in the 185-190 cm range. When they stood side by side, she could only see his shoulders and not his head if she looked straight. So Cordelia had to raise her head. Slightly biting her lips, she looked at Jude¡¯s side profile with bated breath. For some reason, their hair was wet. His disheveled bluish ck hair was dripping wet, so his white skin stood out even more. A sharp nose, soft lips, and a sculpturally perfect chin. But there was something else that Cordelia liked the most. His eyes that were gazing at the sky. It looked really beautiful and not because of the filter in her eyes. That green light diffusing into the darkness as if it was melting was like a mysterious magic. Cordelia lightly pressed down her pounding chest and stretched out her other hand to grab Jude¡¯s sleeve. She could have held his hand, but somehow, she wanted to pull his sleeve. One brief pull. And another. She timidly pulled it, so he couldn¡¯t help but react. Jude who was staring at the night sky turned his head and looked at Cordelia. Green eyes. Cordelia bit her lips again for no reason and averted her gaze. She thought that she would turn strange if she kept looking at him. But it was already toote. Her heart was pounding. It was the normal heartbeat sounds at first, but she couldn¡¯t hear any other sounds around her except for her pounding heart now. What if Jude hears it too? It was at that moment. Jude moved his hand. He held her hand that was holding his sleeve, and Cordelia was unsure of what to do with Jude¡¯s big hand. A little wiggling was all that she could do. ¡°Cordelia.¡± At his call in a low voice, Cordelia lightly trembled again. Strangely, she felt her body tremble just from hearing his voice. The beating of her heart grew louder and faster. Even without looking in the mirror, she could tell that her face had turned red. Because her face had be so warm that it was clear that it was red. Her neck, cheeks, and ears. No, her entire body. ¡°Cordelia.¡± Jude called her again. Cordelia plucked up her courage and raised her head at the sweet voice that tickled her ears. She looked at Jude again, and a wind from somewhere coolly brushed the nape of her neck. ¡®It feels amazing.¡¯ It was the moment she thought unconsciously. Jude¡¯s big hand drew near and touched her dripping wet hair as it went along her ear. It didn¡¯t stop there as it rested on her hot cheeks. Jude¡¯s hands were cold. It was because he was born with extreme Yin energy, but Cordelia liked Jude¡¯s hand regardless. As she silently rested her cheek on his palm, her body seemed to melt. So without realizing it, she raised her hand and ced it over Jude¡¯s hand that was holding her cheek. Judeughed. He smiled and kissed her forehead, passed over the bridge of her nose and ced his lips on the tip of her nose. She was embarrassed. It was endlessly embarrassing, but her body oddly didn¡¯t move. It just wanted to stay still like this. ¡°Cordelia.¡± His third call. Cordelia gently closed her eyes, and Jude kissed her lips. He passed through her jawline and over her neck, lightly licking her protruding vicle with the tip of his tongue. She felt like she was being burned. It was hot, fierce, and agonizing. Cordelia slightly opened her eyes again. Led by Jude¡¯s hand, sheid down on her back. Unknowingly, she sent him a nervous look. ¡°Jude.¡± Jude responded to her call. He also gazed at her nervously. The exhrating thrill. Their pounding hearts. And strangely enough, their pouring sweat. ¡°Huh?¡± With a dazed sound, Cordelia opened her eyes. Her cheeks felt hot and moist. ¡°Ah?¡± She let out another dazed sound and the seconds passed. Having opened her eyes, Cordelia quickly raised her upper body and wiped the saliva all over her face. ¡°Ah, no.¡± The drool from her lips covered the book pages. There were also obscene illustrations drawn next to the words that seemed to be so embarrassing that Maja would faint if she had seen it, but it was now drenched with her drool. ¡°Ueueue.¡± Once Cordelia wiped off her drool, she created a slightly warm heat on her palms. She could naturally let it dry, but it would be a problem if others saw the book, so she quickly did that with magic. ¡®A dream.¡¯ A dream that always ended in the same ce. A dream that strangely didn¡¯t go beyond a certain line. Why? Why does it always end up getting cut off there? What kind of dream will unfold if the scene continues? ¡°Ahem, ahem¡­ Ahem, ahem, ahem.¡± Cordelia quickly covered her face with both hands after briefly imagining it. Her cheeks and neck were so red that it was hard to breathe. ¡®L-lewd demon, no. Get out.¡¯ She quietly muttered to herself before she shook her head a few times and quickly put the book in a box hidden under the bed. ¡®I have to be careful next time.¡¯ Thank goodness that I woke up alone. I would have died from embarrassment if Maja had woken me up. ¡°Ueueue.¡± In fact, this had been a rare ¨C no, a frequent urrence these days. ¡®It¡¯s all because of Kajsa and Scarlet.¡¯ It¡¯s because of the books they gave me. So it¡¯s not my fault. I read it over and over again, but after all, it¡¯s their fault and not mine. ¡®Ahem, ahem, that¡¯s right. The really bad one is Jude.¡¯ Because they had always been together every day and then he disappeared. It had been three months since they arrived at their fief. Cassius, who built a workshop from one of the ruins of the ck Horn Guild, had detained Jude there for three months. Jude was actually staying there for smelting rather than confinement, but it was true that they hadn¡¯t met too. ording to a letter that came every 3 days, it seemed like his Sword Origin was being smelted into Awakening Myth-rank dragon equipment while he was receiving training from Kamael at the same time. He couldn¡¯t move his body properly, but he could still do Qi energy training to some extent. What Kamael was teaching him was the Twelve Snowke Sword Art. The extreme Yin martial art that was in contrast to the extreme Yang martial art, Supreme Sun Divine Art, was a familiar name for Cordelia who had yed as Kamael from the first to the third episodes of Legend of Heroes. ¡°I miss Jude¡­¡± Cordelia unconsciously spoke out loud, pouting her lips several times before she stood up. Usually, she would be depressed and in low spirits, but it was different today. ¡°Hehehe.¡± Because they would meet soon. After 3 months, she would be able to meet and kiss ¨C no, she would be able to face Jude. ¡°Ohmigosh, ohmigosh¡­ Ahem, ahem¡­ ohmigosh.¡± Cordelia was so excited that her shoulders moved up and down, and she reopened the letter on the desk. On the white and pretty stationery were short and simple but very impactful sentences written in elegant letters. The marriage of her older sister, Adelia, and her future brother-inw, Ga?l. The big event was less than a month away. The couple¡¯s wedding was to be held in the north ¨C that is, their hometown of Bailon which was also Jude and Cordelia¡¯s hometown. ¡°Hehe, hehehe.¡± Cordelia giggled as she recalled her older sister¡¯s face and suddenly blushed again. Because she remembered the ¡®next¡¯ that their fathers had said. ¡°Ahem, ahem¡­ ahem, ahem, ahem.¡± Cordelia folded the wedding invitation and left the room after fixing her clothes, but ended up facing Maja. ¡°M-Maja?¡± When Cordelia was startled as if she had been caught stealing, Maja narrowed her brows a bit before she took a step forward and had a small sigh. ¡°Lady Cordelia, your cheeks are a mess.¡± ¡°Eh? Oh, yes. Sorry.¡± Cordelia turned red in embarrassment as Maja pulled out a handkerchief and gently wiped the letters that stuck at Cordelia¡¯s cheeks. Her face had clearly gone red because of what she read, but Maja pretended to not have seen the letters on her cheeks like a skilled maid. Maja would only make the both of them embarrassed if she said anything. ¡°Still¡­ do it in moderation, okay? It¡¯s better to do it in moderation.¡± ¡°Huh? W-what do you mean?¡± Cordelia panicked and stuttered, but Maja spoke no more. She had already conveyed what needed to be said. Maja Tantalotte. She was Jude¡¯s exclusive maid, but left the Bayer territory and moved to the August Bayer and August Chase territory for residency and work. Up until now, she had been Jude¡¯s exclusive maid, but her status here was different. Because she had be the housekeeper of a powerful count household. ¡°What about Dahlia?¡± ¡°She¡¯s on patrol. She said that she¡¯ll be back before lunch, so she¡¯ll be back soon.¡± Dahlia was Cordelia¡¯s escort knight, and she also moved to August Bayer ¨C no, to Countess August Chase¡¯s territory. Her position was Knight Commander who led the territory¡¯s knights. ¡®It¡¯s technically nepotism.¡¯ Dahlia was qualified and skilled anyway. In fact, it was a newly established order of knights, so they couldn¡¯t help but hire those whom they personally knew. ¡°By the way, Maja, it¡¯s tomorrow, right? Tomorrow.¡± ¡°Yes, that is correct. It¡¯s tomorrow.¡± At Maja¡¯s reply, Cordelia was very happy. Because she would finally be able to meet Jude tomorrow after 3 months. ¡°Ohmigosh, ohmigosh¡­ Ahem, ahem¡­ ohmigosh.¡± As Cordelia unconsciously moved her shoulders up and down in happiness again, Maja had aplex and strange expression, but eventually smiled a bit. Besides Cordelia looking cute, Maja herself was very excited about tomorrow. They would have to leave for Bailon to attend the wedding. Cordelia would definitely not be going alone, so Jude would be with her. ¡®I should also show the results of my training.¡¯ Because I seriously read a lot of books. ¡®N-no. Not that.¡¯ Cordelia criticized herself and cleared away the thoughts that begun to fill her head. She then recalled the witch¡¯s face. The Witch of the West Forest stayed with her for around a month before leaving. Because of what she learned from the witch, Cordelia had be much stronger than 3 months ago. ¡®From now on, it¡¯s offense time.¡¯ Cordelia had gotten stronger, and Jude must have also gotten stronger. Up until now, they had been wandering around to prevent the events that would ur in the S?len Kingdom, so their battles were mostly defensive in a way. But it would be different from now on. In order to prevent the Great Summons from taking ce, as well as stopping the 7 Major Cmities, they would need to move more aggressively. Like robbing the branches of the demonic followers, orunching a preemptive attack in advance. ¡®The best defense is a good offense.¡¯ Cordelia clenched her fist and nodded her head. Afterwards, she began to review the various tasks of their territory. Thanks to Count Bayer and Count Chase¡¯s skillful assistance, the fief was running smoothly on its own, but confirmation was still necessary. Afterpleting the paperwork with the help of Dahlia and Maja, Cordelia trained alone. She then ate dinner with Dahlia and Maja, and did this and that before going to bed. For a moment, the box under her bed came to her mind, but Cordelia shook her head. Because she had to sleep early today. ¡®B-because¡­¡¯ Because the real Jude will arrive tomorrow. Not the Jude in my dreams but the real Jude. ¡°Ueueue.¡± Her face immediately blushed when she recalled Jude¡¯s face. There¡¯s a saying ¡®out of sight, out of mind,¡¯ but it seems like that¡¯s all a lie. I haven¡¯t seen him for 3 months, but it only made me miss him more and more. ¡®Okay, okay. I¡¯ve decided.¡¯ I just have to meet him. And when I meet him¡­ Cordelia¡¯s lips squirmed and she covered herself with the nket all the way to the top of her head. Some sounds simr to kisses were heard before she tried to sleep. And the next morning. Cordelia had stayed up all night instead of sleeping. After having breakfast, she got on the carriage. In her mind, she wanted to run and fly by herself, but she had to go with Maja and Cordelia. ¡°Are you that happy?¡± When Dahlia asked as she closed the carriage door, Maja silently grinned while Cordelia nodded. She spoke frankly because she was in front of the two and not anyone else. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m happy. Really happy.¡± I miss him so much. Dahlia and Maja smiled again. And after a while, the wheels of the carriage began to roll in response to the pounding of Cordelia¡¯s heart. Chapter 278: Interlude (3)

Chapter 278: Interlude (3)

Sweet-inducing episode, but there¡¯s some depressing stuff to counter it in the end. Terms used in this episode: The bough that bears most bends most ¨C A Japanese saying which means that the greater you are as a person, the more modest you be. It¡¯s a bit simr to the English idiom ¡®Don¡¯t blow your own trumpet.¡¯ Example is a self-made very rich person wearing simple and cheap clothes despite being able to afford expensive ones. The right hand knows what the left hand is doing, and so does the feet ¨C This is based on a bible verse from Matthew 6:3, and it originally says that ¡®the left hand should not know what the right hand is doing.¡¯ It means that when you do charitable acts, you must not brag about it or let others know of what you¡¯ve done. But Jude changed its wording and interpretation in this episode, so it now means that as a lord, he should know everything that¡¯s happening in his territory. Three months was by no means a short time. Jude and Cordelia¡¯s fief had undergone a lot of changes in the past three months, and the biggest change was in the vicinity of Mount Damos. The fact that thend was virtually abandoned because of the monsters was now just a thing of the past. In truth, it had now be the heart of the territory. ng! ng! ng! nging noises were heard near Mount Damos. The sounds came from ck Town ¨C the ck Horn Guild¡¯s residential area that was revived after hundreds of years. The sounds were quick and light but sometimes heavy. And it was the same with the wagons going up and down the main roads. Day after day, dozens of wagons went to and from Mount Damos. The wagons transported the quality equipment made by the dwarves, as well as the underground resources that lied in Mount Damos. People would gather when a new industry is established, and when people gathered,merce bes active, prompting more people to gather again. Only three months had obviously passed, so the changes were only to the extent that a small vige became arge vige, but even that was a great transformation for those who spent their entire lives near Mount Damos. Moreover, it would still take some time for that virtuous cycle to reach its limit. ¡°Aren¡¯t the new lords amazing?¡± ¡°They aren¡¯t just amazing. Who else made Mount Damos to change like this? Sooner orter, the entire territory will probably undergo a huge development.¡± It was still early in the day, but the market was crowded. Two men were having a conversation in front of simple bar. One looked like a resident while the other appeared to be a peddler. ¡°Are they very different from other lords?¡± When the young man sitting next to the peddler and eating chicken skewers suddenly asked, the peddler nodded his head as if he had been waiting for that question and began to speak. ¡°They¡¯re different, different. I mean, it¡¯s been a long time since I¡¯ve heard of a good lord. Normally, when rapid development like this takes ce, taxes go up a lot, right? They also charge you unusual taxes that you¡¯ve only heard for the first time in your life. In the ce where I came, if the weather was sunny, they charge you sunny day tax, and when it rains, they charge you rainy day tax, and it was truly outrageous.¡± ¡°What¡­ There¡¯s a ce like that?¡± ¡°Of course. There¡¯s lots of money-obsessed people ¨C no, seriously crazy people everywhere. Even the tolls are ridiculous. They only allow you to pass when you cross the bridge, but after that, you have to pay a toll every time you pass through a gate, and there¡¯s not just one or two gates. I¡¯ve seen cases where they built useless gates just for the purpose of collecting tolls.¡± ¡°Hahaha.¡± The residents of Mount Damos blinked their eyes in surprise and the peddler continued even more in excitement. ¡°On the other hand, what about this ce? They do collect tolls, but it¡¯s very cheap and the town¡­no, it¡¯s a city now. Anyway, you only pay once you enter and leave the city. This is why people gather here. If you pay high tolls from the very beginning, you will not much have left, so why will you want to go there? It¡¯s thanks to the skill of the new lords that this ce has developed to this extent in just three months, so praise them to your heart¡¯s content.¡± At the words of the peddler, those around him only smiled andughed without anyone protesting. There was no one who openly praised the new lords like this peddler, but everyone was satisfied with their new lords. ¡°I¡¯ve heard that all the monsters in Mount Damos are gone because of the new lords. Is that true?¡± When the young man asked again, the residents of Mount Damos nodded this time. ¡°It¡¯s true. Thanks to them, we¡¯re really living well. I couldn¡¯t even get close to Mount Damos before, but I can go inside now and pick up firewood.¡± Since all the mountain resources belonged to the lord, even getting firewood needed permission, but the new lords temporarily let anyone enter Mount Damos. Perhaps it was to show off that the monsters were really gone. ¡°There¡¯s also a lot of new jobs, so it¡¯s a good ce to live.¡± ¡°When the vige grew, the nonsense of those young people who said that they would leave for a new ce are now gone.¡± As he said this and that, the young man nodded again and said. ¡°By the way, I¡¯ve heard that the new lord is really handsome.¡± ¡°Oh, he definitely is. He¡¯s really handsome. It¡¯s difficult to find a handsome man like the lord even in the royal capital¡­ no, even in the entire S?len Kingdom.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve heard that thedy is also incredibly beautiful.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right! There aren¡¯t just one or two youngsters in the vige who have suffered from lovesickness.¡± The mood got better than when they talked about taxes. And this was natural. After all, this was about their lord anddy. Their lord anddy being handsome and beautiful was something they could brag about when going to other areas as it made them feel better. ¡°Oh yeah, I¡¯ve heard that new lord is very strong. I¡¯ve also heard that thedy is an angel like Holy Angel Lena.¡± ¡°You¡¯re heard the best of the rumors then. It¡¯s all true. There¡¯s also a rumor in the royal capital that the lord will soon be one of the Ten Great Swordmasters.¡± ¡°Ten Great Swordmasters? Isn¡¯t our lord still a teenager?¡± ¡°He is, and that is why he¡¯s amazing. He definitely is a genius.¡± ¡°And he has an angel too.¡± ¡°I¡¯m envious.¡± ¡°Hahaha, look at this guy talk. Be careful. The lord may hear you.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± ¡°I still can¡¯t help but be envious.¡± ¡°I agree.¡± ¡°Yes, I agree too.¡± The residents reached a consensus and burst intoughter again, and the young man spoke a few more words amidst the friendly atmosphere before standing up. ¡°I really enjoyed hearing good stories. Let me treat you all to a drink.¡± ¡°Woah!¡± ¡°This youngster is really nice!¡± ¡°What a great treat!¡± The young man responded appropriately to the randompliments, and left the bar after paying for everyone¡¯s drinks. And a few stepster. A cold voice echoed in the young man¡¯s head. [My sessor, how dirty.] Spreading rumors that praise yourself out of your own mouth. But Jude shamelessly answered like usual after confirming that the magic was working properly. ¡®I¡¯m just adding a little spice to the public sentiment. They¡¯re not lies anyway.¡¯ Because everything he said was true. Jude himself was handsome, and Cordelia was incredibly beautiful and an angel too. The rumor about the Ten Great Swordmasters was also true. [My sessor, don¡¯t you know the saying ¡®The bough that bears most bends most?¡¯] ¡®But it¡¯s necessary¡­ Moreover, since we came from an unfamiliar ce, we have to control public opinion. Bing friends with the locals also makes our work easier. It¡¯s something that even the peddlers can¡¯t solve.¡¯ Valencia blinked her eyes inside Jude¡¯s mind upon hearing his words. Because she thought that she had just heard something strange. [Wait. Wait a second, my sessor. Something the peddlers can¡¯t solve?] ¡®Yes, I hired a few people to spread the word. Through the proper routes, of course.¡¯ The peddler who came to do business didn¡¯t just sit in the bar and praised the lord for no reason. ¡®The right hand knows what the left hand is doing, and so does the feet.¡¯ Valencia blinked again when Jude randomly talked nonsense. She thought that she had adjusted well in thest 3 months, but Jude was a formidable person. [My sessor, you¡¯re really as sly as a fox.] ¡®So you don¡¯t like it?¡¯ [What the heck are you saying?] Valenciaughed as she found it ridiculous, and Judeughed along with her, but only for a moment. Because he remembered something. ¡®I love it!¡¯ If Cordelia had been here, she would have definitely responded that way. [My sessor, hang in there. Aren¡¯t you supposed to meet her today?] ¡®Yes, that¡¯s why I¡¯m doing my best to be patient.¡¯ In fact, he wanted to meet her outside the city ¨C no, at the mansion where Cordelia was staying, but he couldn¡¯t. Even on Cordelia¡¯s birthday that had already passed, he couldn¡¯t go. ¡®She must have been very sad.¡¯ Unlike now when he could roam around the city, he was struggling and cooped up in a small room at Cordelia¡¯s birthday 2 months ago, so he couldn¡¯t go out. It was also strange for him that he only remembered Cordelia¡¯s birthday after it had passed. [Still, I¡¯ve be much stronger thanks to you. Sword Origin has also grown beyond what I expected. The dwarves of the ck Horn Guild will be surprised to see the current Sword Origin.] ¡®Thank you for saying that.¡¯ Although it still needed a period of adjustment, the Dragon Sword had now been upgraded into an Awakening Myth-rank ¨C no, it was more correct to say that Sword Origin had evolved. [Your proficiency of Twelve Snowke Sword Art has risen. It¡¯s a new but really interesting swordsmanship style, if I may say so.] What Jude had learned was to adapt the Twelve Snowke Art to fit Sword Origin¡¯s style. The process of changing a sword art into Taijutsu was very much fun for Valencia that she always talked about the Twelve Snowke Sword Art whenever she had the time recently. [My sessor, we¡¯ll meet Kamael again, right?] ¡®Yes, we¡¯ll meet again.¡¯ Actually, it wasn¡¯t just Kamael. Landius and Lena had also left the territory. In Kamael¡¯s case, he had work as a member of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, and as for Landius and Lena, they resumed what they had been doing so far ¨C pursuing Archbishop Manu. [Let¡¯s go, my sessor. We have to hurry back. It¡¯s time for Cassius to check us. We need to get checked if you want to see Cordelia quickly.] ¡®Yes, yes. I understand.¡¯ In martial arts, one¡¯s master was like a parent, so Valencia had been nagging at him at some point in time. [My sessor, were you thinking of something rude just now?] ¡®No, not at all.¡¯ Jude snickered before he hurried towards the mansion built on the mountainside of Mount Damos. And an hourter. As a carriage passed the main road, Jude stood at the front door of the mansion and swallowed hard. For no reason, he fixed his clothes, shook his shoes, checked the things in his pockets, and fixed his clothes again. Valencia would have normally said something, but she was silent this time. Because she knew well why he was doing that. [Looks like she¡¯s almost here.] At Valencia¡¯s words, Jude took a deep breath and looked straight ahead. Indeed, a carriage was running at a fast speed. A carriage bearing the emblem of Countess August Chase. Jude waited as he struggled to suppress his legs that wanted to kick the ground right away, and the door of the carriage that finally arrived suddenly opened. And one girl came out running. A girl with striking pinkish-red hair. She raised her head and looked at Jude. Jude also looked at her and they stared at each other after a long time. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± The girl tried to stay calm and maintain her posture as she gracefully stepped forward. She originally should have waited for Maja and Dahlia to get off the carriage, but it was too much for her at that point. So did Jude. He had to stand still and wait, but that was difficult to do since he was itching to go. And at some point. It was Cordelia who moved first in the end. In her impatience, she clenched her fists and instantly run as she widely spread her wings. She shouted as she tried to get closer to him, even for a second faster. ¡°Jude!¡± It really took less than a second. Cordelia had reached Jude even before she finished calling him. She jumped right into Jude¡¯s arms, and Jude tightly embraced Cordelia. He held her waist and lifted her up high, and even turned themselves round and round. ¡°My beast!¡± ¡°Rawr! Rawr!¡± Their exchange was embarrassing for all those who watched, but not for the two. They weren¡¯t in a situation where they could see their surroundings in the first ce. After having spun around Cordelia several times, Jude tightly hugged her again, and Cordelia sniffed him as she embraced him too. She wanted to enjoy the smell of Jude after a long time. ¡°It¡¯s real, it¡¯s real.¡± It¡¯s not a dream or a fake. It¡¯s the real Jude. The moment she thought of that, Cordelia unconsciously burst into tears. Because of her strangely intense emotions. ¡°C-Cordelia?¡± But Cordelia didn¡¯t respond to his call as she buried her face in Jude¡¯s chest. She sniffled and expressed into short words the feelings she had suppressed for three months. ¡°I like you.¡± She felt like her heart would burst because of her intense feelings. Jude tightly hugged Cordelia. It was hard to keep hisposure because his heart was pounding too fast, but he tried his best. A year and a few months ago. What would their past selves, who had just remembered their previous lives, say when they see themselves now? Or rather, what would the past Cordelia say if he told her about themselves a yearter? ¡®What is this crazy b*stard talking about?¡¯ Jude imagined Cordelia saying that with an uninterested expression, and he suddenlyughed. The crying Cordelia raised her head from his chest, and blinked her eyes, wondering what was going on as she looked at Jude. ¡°Jude?¡± Instead of answering, Jude kissed Cordelia¡¯s slightly parted lips. So instead of asking further, Cordelia slowly closed her eyes and received Jude after 3 months. And everyone except for the two looked at each other as they coughed or had a bitter smile. ¡°They look nice, right?¡± ¡°They do.¡± Nothing more needed to be said. Maja and Dahlia shrugged and waited for the two to break up, and finally gave up waiting after 30 minutes or so. They forcibly broke apart the two who were still stuck with each other, and entered the mansion. *** Jude held Cordelia in his arms. He cuddled her still warm body but said nothing. But Jude was aware of his surroundings like always. It was the effect of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors that had reached its highest point. After opening the seventh door, Jude became aware of his surroundings even if he didn¡¯t want it. Jude slowly lifted his head. Rather than speaking out with his dry and cracked voice, he just stared at the door of the church some distance away. The footsteps sounded familiar. As he mentally counted the numbers like a habit, the door of the church opened, revealing a familiar face. ¡°Jude.¡± It was Lucas who opened the church door and appeared. The heir to the Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword, he became a one-armed man due to his fierce battle against Red Wind, but he had be stronger than in the past. Instead of answering, Jude lowered his head again to look at Cordelia, and Lucas gritted his teeth. Because he knew the rtionship of the two better than anyone else. ¡°Jude.¡± Lucas called Jude again. ¡®Is Cordelia dead?¡¯, ¡®Is it finally over?¡¯, ¡®Did she return to a human at thest moment?¡¯ ¨C he didn¡¯t ask those things. Those were things that should not be asked. ¡°Jude, Kajsa is seriously injured. Scarlet broke through the western front.¡± The Crimson Witch. One of the new 7 major cmities. Only Jude from the Guardians of the Holy Cross could be assured of victory if he fought her. That was why Lucas was standing here now. As a rival and friend, he wanted to give Jude time to mourn, but they had to stop Scarlet. Jude didn¡¯t close his eyes. He wanted to look at Cordelia for a longer time even for a moment. He said in a low voice as he recalled her smiling face. ¡°Adide is¡­¡± ¡°She¡¯s stopping Leon. But that is not enough too.¡± Leon Gadreel. A sword monster who reached the level of Maximilian in the field of swordsmanship. Now that Maximilian died, he was the strongest swordsman in the continent. Even Jude could not be sure of victory if he fought Leon. Jude was silent for a moment. In fact, he already knew what Adide was doing. He also knew well that the situation was hopeless, and that their actions were just meaningless struggles. Mankind would eventually perish. The fate of the world had already been decided when they failed to stop the Great Summons. ¡°Jude¡­¡± ¡°Lucas.¡± Jude spoke quietly. He forced himself to smile, but eventually continued to talk with strange expression. ¡°Please wait for a while. Let us be alone for a minute.¡± The Guardians of the Holy Cross¡¯ general. Humanity¡¯s strongest swordsman. The world¡¯sst hope. He wasn¡¯t that. He wasn¡¯t that great person. What stood in front of Lucas now was a small and fragile person who was about to burst into tears at any moment, on the verge of breaking down after losing his other half. So Lucas shut his mouth. He turned around and left the church instead of continuing to speak. The door was closed. Eventually, Jude burst out crying as he held Cordelia and wailed. He shed hisst tears as he touched her engagement ring which she still had in her finger even after she became a demonic human, something that made Jude unwilling to give up on her until the very end. ¡°Cordelia.¡± He breathed divine power into her body stained with evil. He shared hisst kiss with her as she turned to ashes little by little and scattered. The world would perish. In the battle between the demons of hell and the angels of heaven, nothing would be left on earth. Their struggles would only end as struggles. Her ashes scattered. Cordelia no longer existed. And Jude clenched his teeth at that moment. He suffered from fear and emptiness as he embraced the empty space. He despaired that he would never see Cordelia¡¯s face that had scattered into ashes. He hated himself for killing Cordelia and burning her body. How did it be like this? Why did it have to be like this? Jude picked up Cordelia¡¯s ring. He prayed to a goddess who had already disappeared. He did not stop despite knowing that his prayer would go unanswered. I wish to see you again someday. I wish that we can be together again. ¡°Cordelia.¡± Jude grasped the ring and stood up. He took a weary step as he now faced the truly gray world. Chapter 279: Wedding (1)

Chapter 279: Wedding (1)

The overlords of Hell numbered seven. Two of them were gone, so only five remained now. The demon followers who worshipped them were also divided into five groups. The Devil¡¯s Hand served Asmodeus, the overlord of lust. The Devil¡¯s Eye served Belial, the overlord of corruption. The Devil¡¯s Mouth served Lilith, the overlord of love and hatred. The Devil¡¯s Ear served Belphegor, the overlord of cruelty. The Devil¡¯s Horn served Behemoth, the overlord of violence. Archbishop Manu sat on the throne of the destroyed Paragon Kingdom and propped his chin as he looked down at a metal te. The genealogy of the demons were inscribed on it, and seven names representing an overlord were written with the names of mighty demons under the overlords. But it was a record of the past and not the present. Having acquired ancient secret arts and great power in exchange for dedicating the Paragon Kingdom to the demons, Manu formed a contract with five overlords and not just one. Therefore, the demon followers called him ¡°Everchosen,¡± the chosen proxy of all five overlords, and his power was iparable to that of ordinary demons. Even the Great Demons living in Hell could hardly boast of their strength and status in his presence. ¡°I don¡¯t like it.¡± Dressed in splendid and beautiful priest robes in red and white colors, Manu spoke in a low voice. He gained immortality when he became a demonic human, so his appearance was very different from the past. He didn¡¯t look like an old man as he had the appearance of a boy with a face as beautiful as a girl and long white hair that reached his thighs. His golden eyes stared at the metal te he lightly tapped with his long white fingers. The genealogy inscribed on the metal te then turned into somethingpletely different. There were five groups of demon followers. However, the Devil¡¯s Ear was pretty much wiped out. The Devil¡¯s Horn was annihted except for the demonic human Jabberwock, so what remained was the Devil¡¯s Hand, the Devil¡¯s Eye, and the Devil¡¯s Mouth. There were only three groups now. ¡°Our ns had gone wrong.¡± The Devil¡¯s Eye lost control of the wildnds. The Devil¡¯s Hand did not cause tragedy to the royal capital. Their powerful ally, Malekith, died before he could even properly wake up, and the only group that achieved its purpose was the Devil¡¯s Mouth in the distant east. That was why they could not bring about the Great Summons. The mes of turmoil that covered the world was too small and weak. In order to bring about the Great Summons, they needed greater confusion and fear. ¡°The biggest problem is the five heroes of Paragon.¡± Manu¡¯s n for them had also gone wrong. Lena who had been imprisoned in Hell had escaped and was now with Landius, while Velkian whom he tried to trap and get rid of had shut himself in the royal capital, so Manu couldn¡¯t do anything to him. Manu¡¯s biggest problem was Landius. He was originally fated to self-destruct because of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. However, he was still alive and well, and could even use the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors better than before. At this rate, far from self-destruction, he would open the eighth door and be closer to a transcendental being. ¡®Ninth door is not possible for him now. But the eighth door alone is a threat.¡¯ Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors was a power that came from nine worlds that did not belong to Heaven or Hell. So even Manu who had the power to read the World Records could not read everything about the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, but one thing was clear to him. ¡®The one who will open the ninth door will reach true transcendence.¡¯ Someone who crossed the line. Someone who transcended their limits. Just like that transcendent being who killed the overlords of Hell. ¡®Before that dayes, we must create enough turmoil.¡¯ At the present moment, they still had a chance. The Devil¡¯s Eye failed to take control of the wildnds, but instead strengthened its influence within the empire. The Devil¡¯s Mouth also began to encroach the eastern part of the empire, starting with the border of the empire and the distant east, so more than half of the empire was a den of demon followers. ¡®And one more thing, two people I cannot ignore.¡¯ He had been ignoring them so far. But he couldn¡¯t just do that now. Perhaps it was because of these two that all their ns so far had been messed up now. Those two people. Manu moved his fingers, and the faces of those two appeared in the air. Jude Bayer and Cordelia Chase. Seeds of destruction that intervened in everything that was done in the S?len Kingdom, ruining all their ns as a result. ¡°Eliminate.¡± So that those two could no longer interfere with any of their ns. Manu lightly tapped the metal te again and gave a simrmand to the demon followers. The assassination of Jude and Cordelia. He had the Devil¡¯s Hand prioritize it. But unfortunately for Manu, hismand was already toote. *** ¡°Let¡¯s take the initiative.¡± Jude and Cordelia were looking at the same ce. To be exact, Cordelia was snuggling in the arms of Jude who was sitting on the bed, and their eyes crossed the map ced on the bed. ¡°Our goal is to stop the Great Summons one way or another. And the only way to bring about the Great Summons is to cause great turmoil.¡± The Great Summons was not just about opening a portal to another world. It was a world summoning technique that let those from another world descend directly into this world. The worlds of Heaven and Hell would ovep and connect into one. The cost was obviously enormous in order to use this level of magic. ¡°So a great turmoil is necessary.¡± Everyone on the continent needed to have negative emotions such as fear, anxiety, and terror. In fact, the game¡¯s Archbishop Manu seeded in bringing about great turmoil in this world. He destroyed the S?len Kingdom and the Argon Empire, and plunged humans into chaos with the 7 major cmities. However, the current situation was quite different from the game. ¡°The S?len Kingdom is strong and standing.¡± In addition, more heroes were alive than in the game. Both Cordelia and Lucas were safe, and the five heroes led by Landius were also active. On the other hand, the power of the demon followers had greatly diminished. They had lost a lot of demons and low-ranking demonic humans, and also lost their cards called the Lord Protector and First Sword. Malekith¡¯s forces that should have tyrannically reigned the south werepletely destroyed. ¡®Of course, there are still people who are alive like First Sword¡­¡¯ Still, one could say that their current situation was much more advantageous than in the game. ¡°So we¡¯ll change our strategy from now on.¡± From a defensive approach to a preemptive attack. The power of their opponents had been too strong until now, so Jude and Cordelia could only move a few people with their power then. So even if they knew when, where, and what would happen, they could only hurriedly stop it. ¡®Just like how we couldn¡¯t defeat the Lord Protector in advance, and could only wait for the incident to happen before we could stop him.¡¯ But it was different now. Jude did not ignore the changed situation. ¡°We¡¯ll begin by rooting out the demon followers in the S?len Kingdom.¡± Even if the groups were different from each other, they were all demon followers in the end. These groups would be Archbishop Manu¡¯s forces, so they had to destroy the groups when they could. Thest 3 months. Jude and Cordelia devoted themselves into training in that time. But they didn¡¯t just train. Jude had been preparing to attack the Devil¡¯s Hand in those 3 months. ¡°Because we now have their trust.¡± The two knew the location of each branch as well as the headquarters of the Devil¡¯s Hand. But they hadn¡¯t been able to do anything with this information so far. To put it bluntly, it was unlikely for anyone to believe them at that time, and even if people believed them, sending troops was another problem. However, the situation was different now. When Jude told the location of the demon followers¡¯ headquarters, saying that it was information he found out himself, the Guardians of the Holy Cross trusted him. Not only that as it became possible to even move the kingdom¡¯s army. ¡°We¡¯re ready.¡± The generals of the Guardians of the Holy Cross who were spread across the continent had secretly gathered. The kingdom¡¯s army also secretly moved their elite troops in order to annihte the demon followers all over the kingdom. When news of Malekith¡¯s uing resurrection in the south was heard, the kingdom¡¯s army was able to quickly prepare because they had already made some preparations to fight against the demon followers. ¡®Eliminate the Devil¡¯s Hand.¡¯ The Guardians of the Holy Cross was a group who devoted themselves to fighting demons in the first ce. For them, this opportunity was truly like a blessing. Every general was highly motivated. ¡®Even Henry II acted tough.¡¯ He still missed the Lord Protector. He continued to do so, despite knowing that the Lord Protector was a traitor and harmed many royal family members. But he did not avoid it either. And that was why Henry II pointed all his arrows to the demon followers. The demon followers were the ones who corrupted the Lord Protector. He wanted to tear apart those who turned the kingdom¡¯s hero into a traitor. The Ten Great Swordmasters were summoned from all over the country. About half of those whom the two encountered were traitors or enemies, so the probability of them being on their side was like a miracle, but the two could rx now. All the members of the Ten Great Swordmasters that had been summoned this time were definitely on their side. Count Alex Bayer, the Sword of Wind. Ga?l Bayer, the Sword of Gale. Seryu, the Seven-Killings Sword, and Sebastian Leguin, the Sword of Swiftness. Count Frederick Hr?svelgr, the Sword of Holiness. ¡®And Ian McCline, the Golden Sword.¡¯ There was also the ¡®Guardian¡¯ of the Ctes ins who led the Knights of the Golden Lion. And even Jude himself who was called the Swordless Swordmaster. Eight members had already been identified, except for Viscountess Ang Weiss, the Immovable Sword, who guarded the kingdom¡¯s borders with the empire, and the wandering swordsman, Musu, called the Sword of Stars. ¡®The Golden Sword is definitely not a traitor.¡¯ He was not a gentleman whose deeds were as ambiguous as First Sword. ¡°The six generals of the Guardians of the Holy Cross will also be dispatched here, so we have no shortage of manpower.¡± Eight members of the Ten Great Swordmasters and six generals of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. These 14 people were estimated to be stronger than high-ranking demonic humans, and the Devil¡¯s Hand only had 6 to 7 high-ranking demonic humans, so the former already overpowered thetter. Attack before you get attacked. Instead of waiting for the 7 major cmities to happen, they had to get rid of those who would cause the Great Summons. Jude slowly began to have a dark smile, and Cordelia¡¯s lips suddenly squirmed a bit. She said as she held Jude¡¯s hand. ¡°But Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Since we have all these powerful people, can brother-inw Ga?l not join the fight? The wedding is just around the corner.¡± ¡°The wedding is still nearly a month away.¡± ¡°Yes, but for him, isn¡¯t that like¡­ setting up a g? It¡¯s a g, right? They¡¯re in that situation, right?¡± Let¡¯s get married after this fight is over. Let¡¯s live together after this fight is over. At Cordelia¡¯s remark, Jude had a small smile and said as he hugged the serious Cordelia. ¡°What about us then?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Haven¡¯t we set up gs too?¡± After this fight is over. After Ga?l and Adelia¡¯s wedding. We¡¯re the next ones. ¡°I-is that so?¡± Cordelia blushed at Jude¡¯s point, and Jude smiled again. He kissed Cordelia¡¯s soft cheeks and said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. My brother and I have be stronger.¡± Valencia had been reborn as an Awakening Myth-rank dragon equipment, and he had also learned the Twelve Snowke Sword Art. And his sixth door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors had be more natural over the past 3 months of his recovery. Given that his level had risen after defeating Malekith, he was iparably stronger than he was 3 months ago. ¡°I¡¯ve be stronger too.¡± Because she was able to achieve what she wanted to do, though it was iplete. Moreover, the equipment that Cassius made was really useful. The magic wand made from a fragment of Malekith¡¯s Dragon Heart not only amplified her mana as it also allowed her to draw huge amounts of mana from the Dragon Heart at least once a day. ¡°Yes, so it will be fine. After we root out the demon followers from the S?len Kingdom, let¡¯s do¡­ let¡¯s do the next part.¡± Jude said ¡®next part.¡¯ Cordelia didn¡¯t know what he meant by that. But her already blushing face and neck turned redder, and she nodded her head. ¡°Y-yes, the next part.¡± I don¡¯t know what that is¡­ no, I know what it is now, but anyway, it¡¯s the next part. The next part is definitely something rted to the dream that always gets cut off every day. But it was at that moment. Cordelia suddenly began to snicker. She pretended to be indifferent, but doing that was hard because she saw that Jude¡¯s face was very red. ¡°Cute.¡± Cordelia said as she leaned her head back, while Jude understand what her action meant. So he kissed Cordelia again. And at the time when they were being affectionate with each other again¡­ [Hey, I got stronger too, okay? I also had a power-up, right?] Now, I can now create a hologram image and even use magic on my own, okay? You hear me? Moonlight was reborn as an Awakening Myth-rank dragon equipment. And as Melissa that was in Malekith¡¯s Dragon Heart murmured, the night deepened. And two dayster. Around twenty days before Ga?l and Adelia¡¯s wedding. Arge-scale raid targeting the Devil¡¯s Hand began all over the kingdom. The present Ten Great Swordmasters and their sword titles: Former ones: Chapter 280: Wedding (2)

Chapter 280: Wedding (2)

Terms used in this episode: Point organization ¨C A kind of organization where only a few people are connected. Someone belonging to the group does not know everyone, and only knows one direct superior. And that superior also only knows one direct boss. This organizational structure is mostly used in espionage, secret societies, and criminal organizations. The Guardians of the Holy Cross that operated across the continent was kind of like a point organization. A small number of people lived in its hundred branches, and only gathered as needed in resolving cases. There were two reasons why their organization was like that: One was because both the kingdom and the empire would be reluctant to have an international armed group within their countries, and the other was a shortage of personnel. The Guardians of the Holy Cross was a group who devoted their lives to fighting the demons. Naturally, its members often had grudges against the demons or demon followers, and ironically, the greater the number of demon followers, the greater the number of those who hold such grudges. ¡®In other words, now that the demon followers have lessened, those who had grudges naturally lessened too.¡¯ Their weakening was obviously superficial only. The series of events in the wildnds and royal capital proved that the present demon followers were not weak. Rather, they were more like predators who hid themselves in the shadows and waited for opportunities. However, it was true that the activities of the demon followers had declined steadily over the past hundred years, and this had forced the size of the Guardians of the Holy Cross to be smaller. ¡®They have a small number of people, but have to monitor the entire continent, so it¡¯s inevitable that their organization became a point organization.¡¯ They covered the entire continent thinly and widely. But if they were simply scattered, they would not be able to fight the demon followers properly. Therefore, the role of the six generals in the Guardians of the Holy Cross was very important. They were focal points that wandered across the continent and united the branches of the group when necessary. In the case of knights, it wasmon formanders to stand by at the headquarters rather than stand in the front lines. In fact, Adelia who was one of the sevenmanders in the Royal Guard Magic Corps was usually sitting in the office. But the Guardians of the Holy Cross were different. Even Kamael, the leader of the six generals, fought all over the continent. And one of those six generals. Pdin Joanna looked straight ahead with a frown. She was a very serious person who until just a week ago was searching the eastern end of the S?len Kingdom for demon followers. Strict, serious, and sincere. High Elf Eltharion, the eldest among the six generals, described Joanna with those three words, and the rest of the generals except for Kamael and Joanna were warmly acimed people. ¡°Are you in a bad mood?¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be stranger if I¡¯m feeling good?¡± Among the members of the Guardians of the Holy Cross who were conscripted from all over the continent, those who could be called as senior members were murmuring in low voices. Even Joanna who was usually expressionless was now frowning a bit. The reason for that. The flirting couple close to Joanna. Chu. Chu. Chu. Chu. Chu. Chu. Chu. Chu. Chu. Chu. Chu. The kissing sounds weren¡¯t actually that loud. But seeing those two kissing reminded everyone around them on who they were. Count Jude August Bayer and Countess Cordelia August Chase. The couple of the century who everyone in the S?len Kingdom knew. ¡°Are you envious?¡± ¡°Why? Are you envious?¡± ¡°Then you¡¯re not envious?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not envious. I¡¯m really, really envious.¡± ¡°What about me then?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll consider it three times if you¡¯re the only man left in the world.¡± The senior members who were flirting with each other immediately tried to continue talking, but they quickly shut their mouths. Because Joanna¡¯s gaze turned to them. Iron Wall Joanna. Her innate strength was furthered strengthened by the secret arts of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, so she was armed with a war hammer capable of knocking down walls and a huge and gigantic shield that could block even siege weapons. Her entire body was covered in white mail and te armor with some ck cloth, so one could truly call her a moving castle of steel. ¡®Not yet?¡¯ Joanna looked behind her and asked with her eyes, and one of the members answered in a low voice. ¡°Three minutes until the start of the operation.¡± Because it had been decided to raid the branches across the country at the same time. Joanna frowned once more at the member¡¯s answer, and put on the helmet that was on her side before grabbing her war hammer. Clunk. Clunk. It wasn¡¯t something one should do during a secret raid, but fortunately, there was a reaction when she made that small noise on purpose. The fantasy couple flinched and became more conscious of their surroundings. But Joanna was not pleased. Because the couple who realized that the operation was about to start began to flirt more. ¡®Jude, Jude. Joanna is seriously staring at us.¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s fine, let¡¯s continue.¡¯ ¡®Ueueueue.¡¯ I don¡¯t want to escape from here because it feels good. But the operation is about to start now. Cordelia pouted as if to appease her disappointment, and lightly pushed Jude away to widen their distance. [Finally!] Melissa shouted in Cordelia¡¯s mind, and Cordelia cleared her throat before looking over the bushes. It was just a ruin from its outside appearance. The ruins of a copsed castle. But in reality, this was the headquarters of the central branch, thergest branch of the Devil¡¯s Hand. This branch was led by Koros, a high-ranking demonic human. For today¡¯s surprise attack, Cordelia and Jude as well as Iron Wall Joanna and a hundred members of the Guardians of the Holy Cross were mobilized. In addition, even the kingdom¡¯s army was involved in this operation. More than a thousand kingdom troops were led by Seryu, the Seven-Killings Sword, and they loosely encircled the area from a distance. It was their role to narrow their siege at once as soon as the battle began, and to prevent the demon followers from escaping. ¡®Huu, okay.¡¯ Cordelia held Moonlight that was reborn as an Awakening Myth-rank dragon equipment, and touched with her left hand Ultimate Five ¨C Grand Order that was hanging from her waist. Heavenly Judgment was strapped on her back, so one couldn¡¯t tell if Cordelia was a wizard or not from her appearance. ¡®Rear support.¡¯ Standing at the front lines, it was the role of Joanna and Jude to clear the way. So Cordelia mentally counted down and began casting various magic spells on Jude. ¡°, , .¡± Joanna who was standing next to them was surprised at the continuous spells. It was surprising to see Cordelia casting more than ten magic spells without breaking a sweat, but Jude who casually epted that many support magic was also amazing. ¡®As expected of Landius¡¯ disciple.¡¯ Most normal people wouldn¡¯t be able to ept that many support spells on their body. He didn¡¯t look tough because of his smooth and handsome face, but perhaps he¡¯s hiding something huge underneath his clothes. ¡°Dame Joanna.¡± Jude spoke quietly, and Joanna, who was imagining what was underneath his clothes, flinched but nodded her head. It was time tomence the operation. ¡°May the light of the holy sun always be with you.¡± The greeting of the Sri denomination that had now disappeared. Jude responded with a hand gesture of the Sri denomination, and Joanna deeply felt her opinion of Jude to be rising. And right after that. When Jude looked at the front and Joanna closed her helmet. One of the Guardians fired a red re in the sky. Seryu saw this from a distance and conveyed amand. Begin the attack. The battle began. *** The underground of the branch was like an ant nest. Jude and Joanna quickly wiped out the small number of troops above ground, and entered the underground without dy. And in that process, Joanna was amazed several times. ¡®Strong.¡¯ It was a very simple expression, but Jude was fast and sharp. He fought with bare fists in the first ce, so his speed was great. Moreover, his attacks were also strong and not just fast. In addition, the rumor that his limbs were like swords was not a lie. Not only did Jude casually blocked the demon followers¡¯ swords with his arm, but he also split and smashed the walls with his sword-like hand. His rampage was truly iparable. The speed at which he defeated enemies was so fast that Joanna herself was in a hurry just to follow him. ¡®He¡¯s really like the leader.¡¯ She wasn¡¯t talking about his strength that made her naturally follow his back. It was because Jude¡¯s movements reminded her of their leader, Kamael. Jude wasn¡¯t using a sword, but it was clear to her that he was using the Twelve Snowke Sword Art. ¡°Kuooooo!¡± A demon rushed through the dark corridor with a roar. But when Joanna raised her shield and gripped her war hammer, it was already over. The Twelve Snowke Sword Art. Twelve snowkes spread with the sword. The moment Jude shed head-on with a demon, a white blizzard covered its vision. Jude¡¯s sword-like hand shed over the demon¡¯s body whose movement was temporarily stopped, and the demon¡¯s lion-like head and giant body fell into nine pieces. Thud! A dull sound rang as the frosted pieces crashed to the frozen floor. It was the power of the Twelve Snowke Sword Art¡¯s extreme Yin energy. ¡®No, that¡¯s not all.¡¯ The pdin Joanna could tell. There was divine power in Jude¡¯s shes. A Holy de. Divine weapons with heavenly power. And Joanna finally understood. What Cordelia cast on Jude wasn¡¯t just ordinary support magic. ¡®Enchant!¡¯ A magic spell that strengthened weapons. Generally, it was impossible. Even those who strengthened the human body through hard training couldn¡¯t stand the magic that was originally for inanimate objects. But Jude could stand it. It was Jude¡¯s power who had be one with Sword Origin. ¡°Keep going! ¡± Even when Joanna stopped walking in surprise, Jude was moving. Despite being a swordsman, he used magic to light up the darkness and literally eradicated the demon followers who were hiding or looking for an opportunity to attack. As Joanna¡¯s opinion of Jude increased further, she clenched the war hammer and chanted holy words to revitalize herself and everyone around her. ¡°Follow the count!¡± ¡°YEEEEEES!¡± The demon followers strongly resisted, but the Guardians of the Holy Cross was more powerful. While Jude and Joanna opened the way, Cordelia and the other members finished the rest, so all the troops left in the branch were being swept away like autumn leaves. And around thirty minutester. Having reached the lowest level, Jude caught his breath as he stretched out his arms. Behind Jude¡¯s back was the gatekeeper, a giant gargoyle who lied frozen on the floor. A demon with a power equivalent to that of a mid-ranking demonic human. It was the strongest enemy Jude had fought since the battle began, and the reason why Jude was roughly breathing. But his intuition told him that this battle would not achieve its goal. ¡®They ran away.¡¯ Most of the enemies he encountered on the way here were demonic humans. Due to the various events that urred in the S?len Kingdom over the year, the number of low-ranking demonic humans had decreased, but there were still many of them. Moreover, the figure of Koros, leader of the branch and a high-ranking demonic human, was invisible. ¡®Did he notice?¡¯ It wasn¡¯t impossible. He couldn¡¯t help but be careful since six generals that were scattered all over the continent had gathered in one ce. The demon followers would most certainly notice it. Furthermore, there was also a demonic human with a prophetic ability, though imperfect, among Saluzia¡¯s subordinates. ¡®Still, we achieved a lot.¡¯ Only Koros and some demonic humans had escaped. The central branch of the Devil¡¯s Hand was annihted in this battle. The demon followers throughout the S?len Kingdom were wiped out. Arge number of troops were needed to cause a huge-scale turmoil, such as the events in the wildnds and the royal capital. Even if some demonic humans survived, there was a clear limit to what they could do if they didn¡¯t have enough troops to support them. ¡®They¡¯ll most likely run to the empire.¡¯ Since all the things they had nned for the S?len Kingdom had failed, it was possible that they would rather strengthen the empire. ¡®Anyway¡­ we resolved one thing.¡¯ Cordelia nted a g, but it ended without any problems so he was satisfied. With a small smile, Jude touched the small object in his pocket. He specially ordered it from Cassius. ¡°Count August Bayer.¡± At Joanna¡¯s call, Jude turned around as he held the object. ¡°It looks like the high-ranking demonic humans have escaped.¡± Joanna frowned at Jude¡¯s words, but soon corrected her expression and said. ¡°But just in case, I¡¯ll order a search.¡± ¡°Yes, thank you for your hard work.¡± After thanking her, Jude looked around the room on the lowest floor again. It was a ce he had seen several times in the game, but there was a slight difference from reality. ¡®The Devil¡¯s Hand.¡¯ A group of demon followers who worshipped Asmodeus, the overlord of lust. When they entered what appeared to be the room of the branch leader, Koros, the crest of Asmodeus that was painted on the wall immediately caught his gaze. The overlord of lust and Hell¡¯s best swordmaster too. In the game, she was an overlord who directly descended on earth the day of the Great Summons to announce the beginning of Armageddon. ¡®He really escaped.¡¯ There were no objects left in Koros¡¯ room. He took what he had to take, and the rest seemed to have been discarded so that it would not fall into the hands of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. ¡°Jude! Did you find anything?¡± Hearing Cordelia¡¯s call from afar, Jude turned around. After hiding into his pocket the object he was holding, which was a ring, he shouted back. ¡°No! I found nothing! I¡¯ll be going there now!¡± ¡°Hurry!¡± ¡°Okay!¡± Their conversation was a bit silly, but it made him smile even more. ¡®The next part.¡¯ After Ga?l and Adelia¡¯s wedding. The next event that would happen. Jude touched the ring on his chest pocket again before he hurriedly took a step forward. *** A rain of fire poured down the sky. Keynes and Sarah were dead. Adide informed them of Kamael¡¯s critical condition, and Joanna wept as she reported the death of Eltharion, the eldest general and spiritual pir of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. Things didn¡¯t go well. Malekith¡¯s Dragonflights that had devastated the southern region had begun to head north, and the barbarians who took control of the northern region were now heading south. It was no exaggeration to say that the destruction of the S?len Kingdom was eminent because the central region that lost its royalty had no power to stop the attacks from the north and south. Jude sat in the middle of the battlefield. His whole body was covered in blood. Some were shed by Jude himself, and some were shed by others. Some must have been the blood of Keynes and Sarah. Jude let out a long breath. He tried to forget everything for a while by shutting off the magicmunicator device that continuously delivered the news. But he couldn¡¯t. It was impossible to find serenity in this ce where the corpses of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, the demon followers, and many innocent civilians were piled up on each other. ¡®Father.¡¯ The Sword of Wind he inherited from his father. Count Bayer no longer existed. Or rather, the Bayer family itself was gone. The battle in the north killed Count Bayer and his heir, Ga?l who was Jude¡¯s only brother. The Bayer county was destroyed by fire, and Jude could only save Maja. ¡°Thank goodness, young master.¡± Maja was in tears as she looked at his face. Despite losing her legs due to her lower body being crushed, she smiled at the fact that Jude was safe. A month after the disappearance of the Bayer county, Maja died. It was the result of umted injuries and the curses left by the demons. Jude clenched his teeth. He felt like tears woulde out again when he thought of Maja¡¯s face. But it was useless. A single tear streamed down Jude¡¯s sweat and bloodstained cheeks. His father, brother, and Maja. The entire Bayer county. He lost everything. The demon followers took them all. All that remained was the iplete Sword of Wind that he learned from his father. However, Jude could not throw away the Sword of Wind. He practiced the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors and also learned the Twelve Snowke Sword Art from Kamael, but he still used the Sword of Wind as his foundation despite being iplete. Because he was the only one left. Jude continued to cry. He was only eighteen now. He was not even twenty years old. In the end, Jude began to cry like a child. And the sound of footsteps was heard. Jude heard a gentle call. ¡°Jude.¡± A soft whisper. Jude turned his head. A red-haired girl appeared beyond his vision blurred with tears. ¡°Cordelia.¡± Instead of answering him, Cordelia sat down to look at Jude before smiling. She simply spread out her arms and hugged Jude. She buried Jude¡¯s face on her chest as she shared her warmth. Cordelia also lost a lot. Count Chase was killed along with Count Bayer, and her older sister, Adelia, was engulfed in the royal capital rebellion and lost her life. Her older brother, Edward, was still alive, but he lost his mind and became a madman. But Cordelia did not lose her smile. She became the only light in Jude¡¯s gray-filled world. And time passed. When the sky dyed red by the sun had turned dark, and the sea of stars spread out. Jude sniffled as he gently pushed Cordelia away. And at that small gesture, Cordelia smiled again. ¡°Are you okay now?¡± Jude nodded as he blushed. They had already slept together several times, but embarrassing things were still embarrassing. ¡°Oh my. You¡¯re so cute.¡± Cordelia pinched Jude¡¯s cheek and sat down next to him. She held Jude¡¯s hand once again. The deste battlefield. The desperate news that came one after another. But it wasn¡¯tpletely gray. So Jude held Cordelia¡¯s hand and spoke impulsively. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± She looked his way. He became an adult too quickly, but gazed at her with his blue eyes. The ce was not good. It was hard to say that the atmosphere was good too. But Jude couldn¡¯t resist the urge as held out the object he had been hiding in his pocket. A small ring. It was not fancy, but a beautiful keepsake from his mother. They were already engaged. They already had engagement rings. But still, Jude gave it to Cordelia, his beloved, and Cordelia smiled again. She epted the ring with tears in her eyes. ¡°Pretty.¡± Cordelia said as she looked at the ring Jude put on her finger, and Jude¡¯s cheeks reddened again. He whispered to Cordelia who was the only light in his gray world. ¡°I love you.¡± ¡°I love you too.¡± Cordelia shyly smiled and so did Jude. For a brief time, the two smiled together, forgetting the despair that enveloped the world. They looked up at the dark sky that was devoid of stars. Chapter 281: Wedding (3)

Chapter 281: Wedding (3)

Terms used in this episode: Wah-wah. I¡¯m baby (your name). Mama gibbme. ¨C A Korean meme that originated from a Korean forum. It imitates how a baby talks, and is used by people when they pretend to be a baby online as if they had regressed into an infant. It¡¯s mostly used when one wants to act cute, but as time passed, some people added a sexual meaning to the meme too, e.g. ¡®Mamma, gibbme milk!¡¯ (which means ¡®I want to suck your breasts.¡¯) Jude opened his eyes. And blinked. It was just a moment. It felt like he had dreamt in that blink of an eye. After a moment of silence, Jude blinked again and soon forgot most of the things that came to his mind. All that remained was a broken heart. What is this? His question was soon gone. Even his memory of dreaming for a moment disappeared like snow, leaving only a feeling of being absent-minded for a while. So Jude looked straight ahead again. The real Cordelia, and not the Cordelia in his dream that scattered like smoke, was in front of him. Inside the tent. Moonlight shined down the small venttion hole at the roof of the tent, and Cordelia sat with a blushing face while dressed infy pajamas. Why is she blushing this time? Jude searched his memories and soon realized why, so he urged the hesitant Cordelia with a sly smile. Hurry. (Jude) Huh? (Cordelia) Hurry. (Jude) ¡°Ueueueue.¡± Cordelia blushed again as her lips squirmed, and soon twisted her hair with her fingers as she pretended to be indifferent. ¡°S-so¡­¡± ¡°Yes, so?¡± But Jude spoke mischievously as though he wouldn¡¯t let her stop, and Cordelia¡¯s lips squirmed again as she shifted her gaze. She seemed to be asking if she really needed to do it. When Jude nodded, Cordelia took a deep breath. She was embarrassed, but she opened her small lips and said. ¡°W-wah-wah. I¡¯m baby Corde-¡­¡± That was it. Cordelia, who was talking with her face dyed red, saw Jude¡¯s face that was about to burst intoughter so she punched him. ¡°Hey! You told me to do it!¡± ¡°I did, but really¡­ hahaha.¡± Despite being hit by Cordelia¡¯s light punches, Jude continued tough and Cordelia eventually became teary-eyed and shouted. ¡°I hate you! I don¡¯t like you!¡± She looked to be seriously sulking. So Jude hurriedly spoke to Cordelia. ¡°It was cute, it was cute. It was really cute. Can you please do it one more time?¡± Because it was indeed cute. But Cordelia immediately turned her head and firmly said. ¡°No, let¡¯s stop. I don¡¯t want to do it.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t want too? Really?¡± As Jude gently hugged her waist and whispered like a serpent, Cordelia felt herself shaking again. I really hate it but should I say it? Jude wants me to say it, so should I say it? ¡®Okay, fine.¡¯ It¡¯s not like it will kill me. After changing her mind, Cordelia cleared her throat but couldn¡¯t do it right away. Because she was ashamed to do it again. ¡®Huu, okay.¡¯ Cordelia took a deep breath and opened her lips again to speak. ¡°W-wah-wah. I¡¯m baby-.. HEY! Stopughing!¡± ¡°Kuku¡­ but. It¡¯s just¡­ HAHAHA!¡± Jude finally couldn¡¯t suppress it and burst outughing, so Cordelia was seriously angry and pinched his hand. ¡°You¡¯re so mean!¡± ¡°O-okay. I¡¯ll do it too. So forgive me. Wah-wah, I¡¯m baby Jude. Mama, gibbme.¡± ¡°Ah! Seriously!¡± Why am I embarrassed when Jude¡¯s the one doing it? Why am I the only one embarrassed! ¡°Wah, wah.¡± ¡°Ah, seriously!¡± It was so embarrassing that she felt like dying. Therefore, Cordelia covered Jude¡¯s mouth with both of her hands, but he bit her hand. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you today?¡± Why am I really doing this? (Jude) Why do I want Cordelia to spoil me like this today-¡­ no, at this very moment? Jude hugged Cordelia. He gazed up the venttion hole in the roof of the tent, embracing Cordelia who soon calmed down after her physical protests. He saw the moon and stars. Instead of a night sky that waspletely dark, a sea of stars greeted Jude. *** ¡°The raid itself waspletely sessful. However, just like here, the enemy¡¯s main forces¡­ in other words, it seemed like the high-ranking demonic humans had pulled out in advance.¡± The next morning. Upon hearing Joanna¡¯s words, Jude looked down at the map. The branches of the Devil¡¯s Hand that they attacked this time numbered twelve. Four of these wererge branches with more than a hundred residents. ¡®And yet there was not a single high-ranking demonic human.¡¯ All they could think of was that the enemies noticed their n earlier. ¡®Did they cut off their tail and run away?¡¯ In order to save the high-ranking demonic humans, they abandoned the low- and mid-ranking demonic humans and ordinary demon followers. Considering the value of each high-ranking demonic human, it was the right thing to do, but the Devil¡¯s Hand also suffered much damage. ¡°Nevertheless, I think this raid itself has been a significant sess. There are still small branches left, but all the big ones have been destroyed. It¡¯ll probably be hard for them to do anything to the S?len Kingdom now.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Joanna had a faint smile and nodded. ¡°Our leader suspects that the high-ranking demonic humans may have fled to the empire.¡± ¡°That is highly possible.¡± The Devil¡¯s Hand and the Devil¡¯s Eye to be holding hands. It was quite possible. The two groups were originally wary of but not in conflict with each other, so they didn¡¯t get along well. ¡®As I thought, our future battles would be more against the demon followers rather than the 7 major cmities.¡¯ Of course, the remaining 7 major cmities were still huge obstacles. But their real enemy was the demon followers who wanted to bring about the Great Summons. ¡®If only we could eradicate the demon followers in the empire¡­¡¯ Or rather, if they could at least destroy its core. They could prevent the Great Summons. They could prevent Armageddon, the face-to-face confrontation between Heaven and Hell, from taking ce. [Are we going to the empire?] When Cordelia asked with magic, Jude nodded his head. There was nothing more to be done in the S?len Kingdom. After moving to the empire and gathering the yable characters on the empire side, they would start a full-fledged battle against the demon followers. [But not right now. We still have some things to prepare.] [Yeah, there¡¯s also my sister¡¯s wedding.] The wedding of Ga?l and Adelia was twenty days away. By that time, they would be ready to leave for the empire. ¡°I understand, Dame Joanna. We will be heading north then. It¡¯s been an honor to work with you in this operation.¡± ¡°It¡¯s an honor for me too. May the light of the holy sun always shine upon you.¡± ¡°May the sun always be with you.¡± Jude answered in the Sri denomination¡¯smon greeting, and Joanna had a warm smile before she shook hands with Jude and Cordelia. And twenty dayster. At the northern frontier city of Bailon. The wedding of Ga?l and Adelia began. *** Two of the 12 northern families. It was also a union of the Bayer and Chase families that had been gaining poprity these days. Guests from all over the S?len Kingdom and not just those from the north gathered. Having received a letter from Jude, Kajsa came to Bailon with a lot of gifts from the south, and Lucas who lived in the north in the first ce also visited Bailon with the Northern Jackdaws as if this was natural. They weren¡¯t the only ones. Sylvia Crossbell who was on good terms with Cordelia from the beginning was present, and Emma Ficus who became Cordelia¡¯s fan after the royal capital incident was also a guest, and the other 12 northern families also sent someone as guests. Because Ga?l and Adelia¡¯s wedding had be a national event so they couldn¡¯t simply end it with just sending a gift. ¡®A lot of people came from the royal capital.¡¯ Not only the Royal Guard Magic Corps that Adelia had been serving for more than five years, but also several knights from the royal capital who hadpeted with Ga?l in the fightingpetition came as guests. And several prominent nobles. The Bayer family had three swordsmen belonging to the Ten Great Swordmasters, and was also the family that saved the royalty, so the prominent nobles also came. ¡°Congrattions.¡± And Princess Darianne. As the youngest member of the royal family, she visited Bailon to celebrate the wedding on behalf of the royal family. An act that clearly showed how the royal family thought of the Bayer family, and its effect was truly great. ¡°There must be more than a thousand guests, right?¡± Adelia had first thought of a small wedding with her rtives and friends, but it had be a big event now. Therefore, Adelia couldn¡¯t help but act like Cordelia, her younger sister. ¡°Ueueueue.¡± Adelia had blushing cheeks and a tearful face as she was at a loss on what to do, and Ga?l happily looked at her. Brothers were also bound to resemble each other, just like sisters. ¡°But she looks happy.¡± It was just as Cordelia said. Wearing a white wedding dress, Adelia had a smile on her face the entire time. Wedding. An asion where two different people became one. An asion where they pledged to live together. The wedding started in the morning and continued untilte at night. By the time Ga?l, who was so happy that he burst into tears, princess-carried Adelia and left with apuse from everyone, the moon had already risen and shined up high. ¡°But their siblings aren¡¯t here. Where could they have gone?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it natural for them to go somewhere?¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Kajsa and Lucas had be friends and exchanged jokes before they looked out the window. Because Ga?l and Adelia weren¡¯t the only ones who disappeared from the banquet. At Jude¡¯s room overlooking the Bayer family¡¯s garden. Jude and Cordelia kissed on the lips. It started with a light kiss, but soon became a passionate one as they coveted each other¡¯s tongues. And they breathed out. Jude caressed the cheeks of the nervous Cordelia who let out a warm breath. Her soft and warm cheeks. Cordelia inhaled. She blushed again in the ce full of Jude¡¯s smell. After Ga?l and Adelia¡¯s wedding. These two who had been engaged for a long time were next. ¡°Cordelia.¡± At Jude¡¯s call, Cordelia¡¯s lips squirmed before she raised her head and saw Jude. Jude gently held Cordelia¡¯s chin and raised it, briefly kissing her on the lips again. A smile suddenly spread on his lips. Jude pinched the cheek of Cordelia who gazed at him longingly, and he put his hand into his chest pocket. What he prepared three months ago. Something he wanted to give. Jude held out a small ring without saying a word. They were already wearing a few rings as equipment items, but the ring now had a different meaning than before. A silver engagement ring with a blue sapphire simr to the color of Cordelia¡¯s eyes. It was not a gift for an engagement that had been decided since their birth, but a gift for an engagement they truly wanted and longed for. Cordelia knew what the ring meant. She became teary-eyed in an instant and gazed at Jude with wet eyes. ¡°After this is over¡­ let¡¯s get married.¡± He could have said something better. He had clearly prepared better words. But in the end, the words that came out of his mouth were very in. But for some reason. It made her cry strangely. She was filled with emotion. Her emotions surged. She felt that something was out of ce. She felt a sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu. But one emotion overwhelmed all her other emotions. Cordelia finally burst into tears. She nodded and pressed her chest down as if trying to suppress all the swelling emotions that were about to burst. She replied to Jude with a big smile. Jude took Cordelia¡¯s hand. And the two giggled and smiled. Because Cordelia had somehow guessed today¡¯s event and already transferred Count Chase¡¯s ring to another finger. ¡°As expected of Cordelia. You¡¯re fully prepared.¡± Now that I think of it, she used to carry a lot of stuff under her skirt before. As Jude smiled again, Cordelia pouted her lips and slightly waved her hand. It meant that he should hurry up and do it. Jude put on the ring on Cordelia¡¯s finger. While still holding her hand, he kissed her lips and whispered again. ¡°I love you.¡± Words he had repeated countless times. Words he longed to be able to whisper once more. ¡°Me too, I love you.¡± Cordelia felt the same. Although she was crying, she responded with wide smile. There was a feeling that something was out of ce. A sense of difort that wouldn¡¯t go away. But Jude and Cordelia didn¡¯t care too much about it. The important thing was the fact that they were together like this now. The two locked their lips again. They embraced as they both felt thankful. *** Time flowed. Time flows. Time will flow. Things had changed. It had be different. And that change would bring about a bigger change. But this was thest time. A next chance no longer existed. The flow of time flowed strongly. No one could go against it. Everyone could only follow the flow. They opened their eyes in that great flow of time. In front of that dizzyingly fast speed, they forgot it. But the sense of difort remained. A very slight feeling that something was out of ce. And what that meant. Another change that would arise from it. The heavenly voice gazed upon the earth. The voice from a higher ce paid attention to the wounds engraved on the world. And another being. After her long sleep, the young goddess Atalia raised her head and looked up the night sky. Her faded golden eyes reflected the darkness of the sky. Chapter 282: Reunion (1)

Chapter 282: Reunion (1)

The next morning. It was quite early before noon, but several people gathered in the reception room, attracting a lot of attention because of theirposition. There was Lucas Hr?svelgr who was the sessor of Count Hr?svelgr from the 12 northern families and considered the north¡¯s best prospect until the appearance of Jude. There was also Kajsa Ophand who was known for her fighting style and being the precious daughter of Marquis Ophand, the current leader of the 7 ¨C no, the 6 southern families. In fact, it wasn¡¯t quite a strangeposition up to this point. Both of them were descendants of prominent families, and they were famous for being close friends of Jude and Cordelia. However, the presence of the two sitting side by side and the other two people sitting opposite them made the currentposition distinct. A girl with light blue hair had a small frown as she was having a staring contest with Lucas. Her hair color was unusual, but her long pointed ears were even more so. The barbarian from the north appeared to be an elf at first nce, but she was neither an elf nor even a half-elf. But it was fine up to that girl. What felt out of ce here was the huge young man sitting next to that girl. He looked unusual because of his gray skin, but his size was so big that he was three times ¨C no, four times bigger than the girl sitting next to him. The young man¡¯s forearms were thicker than the girl¡¯s waist. The young man with his fangs sticking out between his lips nced at Lucas who was having a staring contest with the girl, and Kajsa stared at the young man because of the new friend she met yesterday. A vtile situation. But it was a subtle war of nerves so it didn¡¯t seem like a real fight. When the maids of Count Bayer appeared troubled at the sight, a girl appeared to end the war. ¡°Oh my, oh my, ahem, ahem, oh my.¡± A reddish-pink haired girl appeared, and she was giggling so much that her shoulders were going up and down. Her words sounded strange, but everyone responded to her in delight. The girl who was ring at Lucas, Red Wind,pletely had a big smile and said. ¡°Unnie!¡± ¡°Red Wind!¡± Cordelia quickly approached and opened her arms as if to hug her, and Red Wind jumped from her seat before she ran and hugged Cordelia by the waist. ¡°Unnie, I miss you.¡± ¡°I missed you too.¡± Red Wind was taller than Cordelia, but she bent down as though she didn¡¯t care about such a thing since she liked it anyway, and rubbed her face on Cordelia¡¯s chest. However, she didn¡¯t forget to let out a snort towards Lucas. ¡®Are you and unnie this close?¡¯ Her eyes seemed to say that. Lucas was pissed off at that moment, but he could not hug Cordelia like Red Wind. Therefore, Lucas turned his attention to the young man who came after Cordelia. ¡®No, hey. It seems fine to do that, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s right to do so, okay?¡¯ Why don¡¯t we just go and hug her? When Kajsa spoke with her eyes and grabbed Lucas¡¯ hand, he was startled but nodded afterwards. Thus, when Red Wind was rejoicing over her small victory. Jude somehow understood the situation and helped Lucas. ¡°Thank you very much for agreeing to meet with us this early in the morning.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s fine since it¡¯s between me and Lord Jude. It¡¯spletely natural since it¡¯s you.¡± Jude spoke to him, and Lucas nced at Red Wind as he snorted, prompting Red Wind to frown and stick out her tongue at him. ¡®They¡¯re like kids.¡¯ Bute to think of it, Lucas and Red Wind are still 17, so it¡¯s somehow right. So Jude spoke to the least childish of those present. ¡°Sun Song, it¡¯s been a while.¡± ¡°Been a while too. Good to see you after so long.¡± Sun Song brightly smiled and answered a little awkwardly in the continent¡¯smonnguage, and Kajsa smiled along him. She was called a beast girl, so she liked the young man who seemed to be a real beast. ¡°His upper body is nice. Very nice.¡± It was the time when Sun Song was smiling brightly again at Kajsa¡¯s murmuring. ¡°For now¡­ let¡¯s have a cup of tea.¡± In response to Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia sat down with Red Wind still clinging to her, and Maja, who came after Jude, served everyone tea. They took a sip. And at the time when everyone quieted down as they drank tea. ¡°Ahem, ahem. Ahem, ahem, ahem.¡± Cordelia lightly cleared her throat and waved her hand for no reason. It seemed like she wanted them to look at it. Because it was such an exaggerated movement, and Cordelia¡¯s cheeks were blushing too, everyone¡¯s gaze immediately focused on her left hand. Unfortunately, Cordelia¡¯s desired reaction did note out immediately for two very simple reasons. First of all, Red Wind and Sun Song were unaware of the continent¡¯s customs. In other words, they didn¡¯t know what a ring on the ring finger of the left hand meant. Second, Kajsa was not attentive enough to care about such things. Because Cordelia was wearing Count Chase¡¯s ring on her ring finger yesterday. Because of that, everyone just stared at her in confusion, so Cordelia was embarrassed and squirmed her lips. ¡°Ah.¡± But there was one person present here who hadmon sense. Lucas was able to understand Cordelia¡¯s desire, so he let out an exmation before looking at Jude and Cordelia with a cheerful smile. ¡°Congrattions.¡± They were already engaged, but it was not strange for engaged couples to exchange rings out of their own volition. Kajsa finally understood Lucas¡¯ words and began to snicker, and Cordelia blushed as she giggled ¡®hehehe.¡¯ ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± As for Jude. After clearing his throat, he changed the topic instead of exining to Red Wind and Sun Song who were tilting their heads, not having understood what was going on. And because of the awkward atmosphere too. ¡°Uh¡­ I¡¯ve said it once, but let me say it again. Thank you for attending this wedding.¡± Jude said it like it was his own wedding, but it wasn¡¯t. It was the wedding of Ga?l and Adelia. Now that I think of it, even if it¡¯s early, it¡¯s almost noon, so why is the mansion so quiet? Normally, Ga?l and Adelia should be busy entertaining the guests. As Jude slightly questioned it out loud, Maja who was behind him then whispered. ¡°Uh¡­ Both of them had yet to leave the bedroom.¡± ¡°Eh? EEEEH? Uh¡­ so it was like that.¡± The reason why they were still in the bedroom. Jude had a rough idea why, so he intentionally blocked his thoughts. He didn¡¯t want to imagine what his brother and sister-inw were doing. However, Lucas and Kajsa imagined it because they were in a different position from Jude, so Lucas turned red and was speechless while Kajsa snickered. But there was one person. While still hugging Cordelia¡¯s waist, Red Wind nodded her head and threw a bomb. ¡°I also didn¡¯t leave the bedroom for three days after the wedding.¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± Cordelia blinked her eyes and Red Wind giggled as her cheeks blushed while Sun Song cleared his throat for no reason. ¡®W-what? You two are already in that rtionship?!¡± ¡®Well¡­ there¡¯s been talks of an arranged marriage when we left the wildnds.¡¯ So her getting married was quite possible. ¡®B-but¡­¡¯ Red Wind and Sun Song? Their height difference is almost 50 cm, right? There¡¯s also the difference in their builds, right? On top of that- ¡®T-three days¡­¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s imagination, which had been distorted by Scarlet and Kajsa, spread its wings and fully soared, so not only her cheeks began to turn red but also her entire body. And likewise, Lucas and Jude were struck with embarrassment. Kajsa stared at Sun Song and was chuckling alone. Maja who was in the back hesitated if she should say something or not. In the midst of that awkward silence, it was Jude who finally opened his mouth again. ¡°Uh, Maja. I apologize, but could you please leave us for a moment? We have something to talk about.¡± ¡°I understand. However¡­¡± ¡°However?¡± Maja stared at him with a stern look instead of saying anything, and Jude felt that he was wronged even though it was not his fault, so he protested with his eyes which seemed to say that it wasn¡¯t him who made the mood strange but Red Wind. In any case, Maja left after a minute. With Maja gone, Jude pped his hands to draw everyone¡¯s attention. ¡°The reason I invited you all today is not just to express our gratitude.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Lucas nodded his head. They were currently in the frontier city of Bailon located deep in the northern region and not near the northern border. It wasn¡¯t a problem for either Lucas or Kajsa to attend the wedding celebration, but it was different for Red Wind and Sun Song who were barbarians from the wildnds. Unlike the Hr?svelgr county that had begun to interact with the wildnds to some extent, the barbarians in this ce were still only a heterogeneous race that was viewed with caution or treated as ves. But Sun Song and Red Wind had taken the trouble toe here because they were invited toe. Thus, there must be some reason for that. A reason other than simply attending a wedding celebration. ¡°First of all¡­ I have one thing to tell you. As you may have already known or guessed, Cordelia and I have a close rtionship with the Guardians of the Holy Cross.¡± Lucas and Kajsa nodded at his words. Jude was a disciple of Kamael, who was the leader of the Guardians of the Holy Cross¡¯ six generals, and Cordelia was rumored to be a disciple or the sessor of Holy Angel Lena. It would be really strange if they didn¡¯t have a close rtionship. ¡°So¡­ I know a little more information that others do not know. And ording to that information, the continent is now being threatened by a great invisible danger.¡± His words were close to a conspiracy theory, but it was none other than Jude who said it. ¡°What I¡¯m about to tell you now is not a lie. All of this has actually happened and will happen in the future.¡± Jude narrated the events one by one. The attempt to abduct the children of the 12 northern families, the battle at Frost Anvil, the conspiracies devised by the Devil¡¯s Eye in the wildnds, the hidden circumstances behind the rebellion in the royal capital, and the behind-the-scenes coboration of Malekith and the demon followers. Lastly, the operation to annihte the demon followers in the S?len Kingdom. ¡°The demon followers who have been silent for so long are now running wild. Their purpose is to cause a great turmoil that will engulf the entire continent.¡± But it had not been sessful so far. The S?len Kingdom overcame all three crises. ¡°They are gathering in the empire. Now that everything they had nned for the S?len Kingdom have failed, they will be bolder in causing incidents in the empire.¡± To somehow bring the continent into turmoil. At this point, it was natural to wonder why they wanted to cause turmoil, but since the culprits were demon followers, they didn¡¯t question it further. In the first ce, the demon followers¡¯ very existence was considered harmful. ¡°Cordelia and I will soon travel to the empire to continue fighting the demon followers.¡± Lucas and Kajsa both widened their eyes in surprise at his words. It was a natural reaction since he who had been active in the kingdom now wanted to go to the empire. But the real surprise had yet to be said. ¡°And I want everyone here to join us on our journey to the empire.¡± The yable characters in the S?len Kingdom. They were obviously weaker than Jude and Cordelia. They were far stronger than their peers, but considering that there were many high-ranking demonic humans among the enemies they would fight in the empire in the future, it was possible that they would be a burden rather than a help. But Jude did not consider that. Because that ce was different from the S?len Kingdom where they could get some kind of help from here and there. So in order to move in the empire, they needed reliable colleagues. And Jude had the means to strengthen the four people who were here now. ¡°I understand. As a noble of the kingdom and as Lord Jude¡¯s rival, I will go with you.¡± As he had expected, Lucas was the first to answer. He liked hero stories so it was easy to convince him. Although he blushed in embarrassment at the ¡®rival¡¯ part, he was still very reliable. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll go with you too. I¡¯ve always wanted to visit the empire someday. I also want to see Scarlet.¡± Kajsa said with a smile while Red Wind and Sun Song also nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll go if you go.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll follow Red Wind wherever she goes.¡± Their answers were as expected. Therefore, Cordelia brightly smiled and thanked everyone, and Jude brought up the story he had prepared. ¡°Good. Then please listen from now on. What I¡¯m about to say is very important.¡± A means to strengthen the power of those present here at once. It wasn¡¯t about the dragon equipment made on Mount Damos. He was definitely going to gear them up too, but he had separately prepared another way to strengthen them. A card that he could only use once. It was only now that it became avable for use. ¡°We¡¯ll defeat a Demon Prince.¡± So that you¡¯ll level up greatly. ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Everyone was bewildered. They couldn¡¯t help it. Demon Prince. A powerful demon from Hell who possessed a title. A disaster itself that drove the Paragon Kingdom to destruction. Even Lucas who liked hero stories was confused rather than excited at Jude¡¯s words. Kajsa blinked, unsure of whether she heard correctly or not as she recalled the Demon Prince mentioned every time one described Malekith¡¯s strength, while Red Wind and Sun Song were reminded of the Demon Prince who nearly descended on the wildnds. We¡¯re defeating it? Us? No, where will we find one in the first ce? Everyone¡¯s questions were justified, and that was why Jude smiled more brightly. He spoke with the dark smile that Cordelia liked so much. ¡°There is one.¡± The Demon Prince that was like a sandbag and nicely packaged in a seal. ¡°Yes, yes, there is one. We promised to see each other again, right?¡± Isn¡¯t that right, Jude? At Cordelia¡¯s dark smile, Jude said with a dark smile again. ¡°Red Moon Leisegang.¡± A mighty and cruel lord of blood. ¡°We will defeat him.¡± Because they could now damage him greatly. They could hit him harder. ¡°Fufufu.¡± ¡°Hehehe.¡± ¡°Hehehehe.¡± Jude and Cordelia exchanged nces,ughing wickedly and happily. Chapter 283: Reunion (2)

Chapter 283: Reunion (2)

Changed ¡®great turmoil¡¯ to ¡®Great Tribtion.¡¯ Terms used in this episode: 4D ¨C a Korean ng which means that someone is entric or hard to understand. This used as apliment for people with a very strong individuality or unique personality. Since ordinary people are considered ¡°3D¡±, a person who is very quirky and thinks outside the box is considered as ¡°4D¡± or 4-dimensional. There were eleven yable characters in Legend of Heroes 2. Four in the S?len Kingdom, two in the wildnds, and five in the empire. ¡®Jude, Cordelia, Lucas, Kajsa, and Red Wind.¡¯ Four were from the S?len Kingdom and already close to each other, with Red Wind from the wildnds being added to the group. However, the remaining yable characters numbered six. They were the main character, Maximilian, and the sword genius, Leon Gadreel. There was Adide who had a 4D personality and was the most beautiful character in the Legend of Heroes series. There was also Keynes, the only elderly character in the game, Sarah who received the protection of the Drunk Dragon, and Kirara, a cat beastkin from the wildnds. Jude¡¯s n was to gather all the yable characters to form a single party, so they would be meeting these people once they had entered the empire. ¡®If I remove Keynes and Kirara, it will be four.¡¯ There was a simple reason why he removed the two. Because among the yable characters who were basically good-natured, the natures of these two were close to evil. ¡®There is a difference between the two though.¡¯ Keynes was a criminal who had experienced all sorts of hardships in this world, from pickpocketing to violent crimes such as robbery and murder, so he had a different mindset from ordinary people. ¡®He just does whatever he wants to do.¡¯ A character that was truly like an ouw. But that didn¡¯t mean he was some kind of vicious psychopathic killer. He was a criminal andmitted crimes as natural as breathing, but he surprisingly had a lot ofmon sense. He also had some humanity in him. Still, that did not make Keynes a good person. One could say that he was like the main character often seen in mafia movies. He often showed a friendly side to those around him, and kept hismon sense to what was right, but was like a viin in the end. ¡®As for Kirara¡­ she¡¯s a traitor.¡¯ If Keynes was a proper viin, Kirara was a minor viin character. She was a selfish and shrewd girl who easily betrayed people, but not a naturally bad person. Kirara was like a stray cat who changed her way of life depending on who she met and how she lived. If Keynes was chaotic evil, then Kirara was chaotic good. In any case, excluding these two, there were only four yable characters left, so Jude and Cordelia could not help but worry. Because Red Moon Leisegang Raid was a card that they could only use once in the future. ¡®If we release the seal this time, it will be difficult to seal him again.¡¯ That was why they didn¡¯t release the seal again after the first time. If they could maintain the seal, they wouldn¡¯t have wasted that opportunity and used him as a sandbag. ¡®We only have one more chance to level up a lot.¡¯ In fact, it was difficult to expect an explosive level-up from defeating Leisegang who had been weakened after being sealed for a long time because Jude and Cordelia had already leveled up a lot when they defeated Malekith. But the other characters were different. The concept of levels existed in Pleiades though it did not appear as openly as Jude and Cordelia, but it was indeed possible to increase one¡¯s levels by gaining experience from fighting powerful enemies. In other words, it was possible to increase the levels of the yable characters at once to strengthen their power. ¡®Are we going to collect them all or are we going to do it only with the people we have now?¡¯ The former seemed ideal at first nce, but it was actually not. As the number of participants increased, the experience gained was also split. Moreover, it was not known how long it would take them to collect all the yable characters. ¡®We may not have a chance to catch them all.¡¯ As for the reason why. It was like a situation wherein you valued and saved a potion to use for the final battle, but it remained unused even after defeating the final boss. ¡®You saved it but it became uselesster.¡¯ So one must use things when given the chance to use them. It was better to increase the survival rate by leveling up a lot and using it when needed rather than uselessly saving it because one did not know what was ahead. ¡°Fuu, fuu. I¡¯m a little nervous.¡± Inside the carriage that was heading to the Belkain Mountains. Lucas said with a flushed face. The closer the carriage got to the Belkain Mountains, the more his heart pounded. [Isn¡¯t he really excited?] [Because it¡¯s Lucas.] Isn¡¯t their current journey to defeat a Demon Prince something like the realization of the dreams of Lucas who¡¯s a hero story enthusiast? ¡®Because he was really restless after hearing the story of our battle against Malekith.¡¯ Lucas appeared to have a fever because of his overexcitement when Kajsa told him about it. If I had been there at that time. Aaah, I should have been there too. Why wasn¡¯t I there? Why didn¡¯t they invite me too? And so on. It had already been more than three months since that event, so a lot of rumors about it had spread, but the story told by Kajsa, who personally participated in that battle, differed because of its realism and liveliness. ¡®Well¡­ The truth though is that Kajsa only watched the fight against Malekith.¡¯ Still, she saw it with her own eyes. ¡®After all, it was a truly spectacr sight.¡¯ The battle against Malekith itself did notst long. But no one could deny how spectacr and grand it was. A golem over a hundred meters tall fought head-on against a giant dragon. The Trailzer Sword that directly shed the Dragon Breath and split the earth as it struck down. It was natural for Lucas to be overwhelmed from excitement. ¡°Oh my, why are you so tense? You look like you¡¯re about to die from excitement. It¡¯s like you¡¯re just going on a pic, huh?¡± Kajsa spoke as she snickered, and Lucas turned redder as he did not deny it. Because he was really excited. ¡°Lucas, it¡¯s good to be honest at times like this.¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°Come on, repeat after me.¡± I¡¯m excited, I¡¯m excited, ahem, ahem, I¡¯m excited. When Cordelia shrugged and spoke those words, Lucas was even more embarrassed, but reluctantly opened his mouth. ¡°I-I¡¯m excited.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, that¡¯s it. I¡¯m excited. I¡¯m excited. Ahem, ahem.¡± ¡°I¡¯m excited.¡± Cordelia urged him again, so Lucas also shrugged and responded with an awkward expression, prompting Kajsa to grab her stomach and beginughing out loud. ¡°Cute! You¡¯re so cute! I¡¯ve never seen a boy this cute before.¡± She was only teasing him, but Lucas started to blush on not only his face but also his whole body. Naturally, Kajsaughed even more when she saw that. ¡°Hmph, how silly. A man must have firm and reliable presence. Just like my Sun Song-oppa.¡± When Red Wind snorted, Lucas groaned and was troubled while Sun Song had a pleased smile. [It really feels like we¡¯re going on a pic.] [Yeah.] After a brief exchange of magic with Cordelia, Jude looked out the window. He smiled when he saw the scenery that was almost identical to the one he had seen a year and a few months ago. It reminded him of the past. His first date with Cordelia after they recalled their past life memories. Back then, both of them insisted that it was a quest and not a date. Even now when he closed his eyes, he could vividly remember the Cordelia of that day. She wore a wide-brimmed white hat and had a very awkward expression. [Why? Why are you suddenlyughing?] Jude lightly pinched Cordelia¡¯s cheek instead of answering, and she pouted her lips, letting him y with her cheek rather than getting angry or pping his hand away. Soft and squishy. Jude wanted to continue ying with Cordelia¡¯s cheek, but slightly coughed as he noticed the gaze around him before he released his hand. ¡°Ahem, ahem. Anyway, we¡¯re almost there now.¡± Their decisive battle against the Demon of the Red Moon, Leisegang. Lucas¡¯ eyes lit up at Jude¡¯s words, and the rest of the party nodded with faces as if the reality still hadn¡¯t hit them. Because there was a huge difference between the current atmosphere and defeating a Demon Prince. Red Moon Leisegang. Blood Demon. Vampire Lord. Just like how Malekith¡¯s notoriety was known in the south, Leisegang¡¯s notoriety was passed down in the north¡¯s legends and myths. Those who directly died to him numbered in the tens of thousands, and three countries were destroyed by his undead legion. If Sri¡¯s champion, Gallus, had not sacrificed his life to stop Leisegang, the northern region itself might have been destroyed. ¡°H-he¡¯s not like Malekith, right? He¡¯s currently sealed.¡± Kajsa deliberately spoke in a cheerful manner, but her eyes looked tense. She also seemed to be nervous. So Jude reassured everyone again. ¡°We definitely have a way to defeat him, so don¡¯t worry. Moreover¡­ we¡¯re well-prepared for any problems that may arise.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, so don¡¯t worry.¡± Cordelia spoke with a wide smile, and everyone forced themselves to smile. And after thirty minutes passed. The carriage finally reached the hill, its destination. *** Beyond the flower fields in full bloom. Cordelia nced down the cliff and turned to Jude, spreading out her arms as she waited for him. ¡°Carry me.¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s different this time?¡± ¡°Because you promised.¡± A promise that he would carry her once his Gueumjulmaek was cured. ¡°Hehe, good.¡± When Cordelia hugged his neck, Jude immediately carried her in the so-called princess carry. A situation that was quite opposite to one year and a few months ago. ¡°Your father will be satisfied now.¡± Because I¡¯m the one who¡¯s carrying you and not you carrying me. Cordelia buried her head in Jude¡¯s chest instead of replying, and Jude grinned before jumping down the cliff. ¡°Sun Song-oppa, me too.¡± ¡°Shall we?¡± Sun Song brightly smiled and carried Red Wind before he jumped down. Thus, only two were left. Lucas and Kajsa unconsciously looked at each other, but soon shook their hands as they awkwardly smiled. ¡°Shall we go down separately?¡± ¡°Y-yes.¡± They weren¡¯t swept away by the atmosphere. So Lucas and Kajsa climbed down the cliff for twenty minutes. Jude ran through the path that had taken him a long time when he first came here, and led everyone to the cave. ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± Cordelia hugged Jude¡¯s arm as he took the lead. Because she was deeply moved when she recalled the past. ¡®My Jude has grown so much. He¡¯s firm now.¡¯ He used to be really small and weak. He was shorter than Cordelia, and his wrists were so thin that if you gripped it a little tightly, it would snap and break. But not now. ¡®He¡¯s grown a lot, his forearms are thick, and his chest is firm.¡¯ She could clearly feel it when she tightly hugged his arm like this. It felt like she was hugging a tree. ¡®And¡­¡¯ He was cute when he pretended to not be nervous from feeling his arm touching her breasts. ¡°Hehe, hehehe.¡± Kajsa coldly stared at them at the sound of herughter rather than finding it cute, but Cordelia continued to giggle and hug Jude¡¯s arm a bit tighter, regardless of whether she knew of Kajsa¡¯s reaction or not. And ten minutes passed. After finally reaching the seal area, Jude let the party rest and began to seriously draw Bestin¡¯s magic circle. ¡°Everyone, let¡¯s check our equipment while Jude works on the magic circle.¡± Everyone nodded brightly at Cordelia¡¯s suggestion. Because they were all equipped with new items for this battle. Kajsa held Grand Order. Cordelia originally used it, but because Grand Order¡¯s form was a huge weapon, it was more suited for Kajsa who had superhuman strength. Obviously, Cordelia didn¡¯t just give it up. Because Kajsa brought Ultimate Four ¨C The Explosive Sword, Magic ster when she attended the wedding. She had taken it ording to the information Jude had left before leaving the south, and it was certainly a weapon Cordelia could use as her graduation item. ¡®Because it has a magic amplification effect.¡¯ To be exact, it had the special function to turn any magic into a powerful explosion, so it was a weapon that seriously suited Cordelia who was a bomber and a wizard. ¡°Lucas, how¡¯s Ascalon?¡± ¡°It¡¯s good. It certainly deserves to be called an ultimate sword.¡± Lucas inspected Ascalon with a flushed face. The sword was originally kept by the Ophand family, but it was too precious a sword to just stay there not being used. Thus, Jude instructed Kajsa to secretly take and swap it with a fake and bring it here. ¡°Cordelia-unnie. Me too. I think this equipment is really good.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, because it¡¯s ancient dragon equipment.¡± Red Wind and Sun Song were fully equipped with dragon equipment made from Mount Damos. And in fact, Lucas and Kajsa was also wearing dragon equipment, with only their weapons being from the Ultimate series. ¡®They¡¯re all matching.¡¯ Everyone was wearing ck dragon equipment, so there was a sense of unity as though they were wearing uniforms. ¡®What should I do¡­ My heart¡¯s getting excited.¡¯ They had gathered the yable characters and armed them with dragon equipment made from an Ancient Dragon. Just looking at them made her heart pound fast. ¡°I¡¯m done.¡± And upon hearing Jude¡¯s deration, Cordelia turned around and held Magic ster. ¡°Are you going to summon him right now?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Because nothing good woulde out if they dyed it any further. Jude nodded and gestured with his eyes, and everyone went to their predetermined positions before Jude spoke to Cordelia onest time. ¡°I need your help again this time.¡± They needed mana in order to activate Bestin¡¯s magic circle. Cordelia lightly wounded her finger and dropped her holy blood into the magic circle. And right after that. The whole cave began to shake. The magic circle shone as the same thing that happened in the past was recreated. A gigantic red being appeared through the space. A being whose limbs were chained and sealed, but whose presence alone created an intense feeling of pressure. Sun Song and Red Wind let out rough breaths. Kajsa unknowingly thought of Malekith, and Lucas recited a verse from ¡®Biltwein the Hero¡¯ in his mind. As for Jude and Cordelia. The two stood next to each other as they faced Red Moon Leisegang. ¡°The seal has definitely weakened.¡± ¡°He¡¯ll be freed when Bestin¡¯s magic circle disappears.¡± Cordelia¡¯s intuition felt it, and Jude was certain of his calction results. And a few secondster. Red Moon Leisegang slowly opened his eyes. He roared as his red eyes shined. [KUOOOOOOOOOO-!] It was not just a wake-up sound, but a cry filled with intense anger. [You bugs havee to me again!] Leisegang did not forget Jude and Cordelia. He had clearly etched the two in his mind. A Demon Prince¡¯s wrath. The whole seal shook. If it wasn¡¯t for Bestin¡¯s magic circle, his powerful mental attack would have swept the entire party. [It¡¯s weakened. The seal has weakened.] Leisegang instinctively felt it. The huge chains creaked and shook as he wriggled the muscles of his entire body and applied force to his limbs. [You stupid bugs. You brought cmity to yourselves. You opened the door to death.] More time was still needed to break the seal. And during that time, Leisegang was still helpless. However, Leisegang didn¡¯t care at all about the time he would be helpless. Compared to him, the bugs in front of him were nothing but trash. In fact, those two couldn¡¯t even slightly damage him when they faced him before. So he would break the seal. And finally return to the world. After killing the humans in front of him, he would destroy that sted Sri denomination and open a Hell Gate to invite his own army. He would sweep and take over this world by fire. Humans would die screaming and crying. [I¡¯ll make you kill each other.] He would kill children and feed it to their parents, and make lovers kill each other. He would make them pay the price for his humiliation and suffering for hundreds of years. [Kekekekekekeke¡­KUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!] Leisegang bellowed withughter in his extreme delight. And Cordelia silently stared at him before saying. ¡°No, you can¡¯t.¡± You assh*le won¡¯t be breaking that seal and leaving. Today¡¯s going to be your death anniversary, okay? Cordelia cheerfully smiled and raised her middle finger, and Leisegang snorted instead of being angry. He burst intoughter at the reckless bravado of the foolish scum. [You scum. Even if my limbs are sealed, you won¡¯t be able to harm-] It was then. Cordelia also raised the middle finger of her left hand as she spread out her angel wings and revealed her angelic halo over her head. An angel. She was no longer a ninth or seventh rank angel, but a fifth rank powerful angel now. The power of a holy angel was added to Bestin¡¯s magic circle. Leisegang was startled at the sudden strengthening of the seal, and soon widened his eyes again. He couldn¡¯t help it. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Phoenix.¡± An immortal bird flew over the head of Red Wind. It emitted a tremendous amount of mana, and Sun Song smiled as he gripped the dragon equipment weapon. Kajsa activated Grand Order. Lucas added the power of the Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword to Ascalon. And one more person. A man stood in front of Leisegang. [Show them, my sessor.] Valencia said. Jude responded by releasing the power of Ultimate One ¨C Sword Origin. And Jude¡¯s limbs were transformed in that moment. A pitch-ck sword. One couldn¡¯t help but think of that when they saw it. A green aura rose from the ck sword. At the same time when Leisegang instinctively felt a sense of crisis at the power of Sword Origin, Jude opened the power of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. The peak of the sixth door. The power of the ck Sun was let out as a result! Leisegang¡¯s power was pushed back in an instant. The energy of Jude filled the seal area as it made Leisegang tremble. [W-wait. WAIT!] Leisegang unconsciously shouted, but Jude had no intention of listening to him. Ten minutes. The time when Leisegang would be unable to resist and could only be beaten. ¡°Hehe, hehehehe.¡± Cordelia had a big smile as she held Moonlight on one hand and Magic ster on the other, while Jude stepped forward. It was now time for an exciting beating. Chapter 284: Reunion (3)

Chapter 284: Reunion (3)

Late post! Anyway, ¡®Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword¡¯ has been changed to ¡®Holy King¡¯s Cross Sword.¡¯ Terms used in this episode: Bus ¨C Korean gaming term wherein a higher-level character helps a lower-level character from leveling up. The higher-level character is ¡°driving the bus¡± while the lower-level character is ¡°riding the bus.¡± Red Moon Leisegang was a legend. On the day of his descent to the human world, he imed 3,727 lives. In just one month, ten cities were burned to the ground, and in less than three months, one country waspletely destroyed. He was the king of vampires. On the ground filled with ashes, numerous undead rose. It spread like a gue, scattering death, pain, and fear to the world. Lots of people lost their lives. As a Great Demon from Hell, he had no interest in taking over the earth. What Leisegang wanted was just more death and suffering, so he devoured everything. Death was the only fate given to those who entered his realm. The Sri denomination could not tolerate Leisegang¡¯s atrocities. The denomination had already weakened from their battle with the demons, but they had a trump card to defeat Leisegang. Pdin Gallus. Sri¡¯sst champion. Leisegang was a legend until the very end. Gallus, who was called the strongest champion of that time, faced Leisegang alone. He cornered the Great Demon from Hell with his human body. But there were limitations in the end. Although Gallus sacrificed his own life, he was unable to kill Leisegang in the end. Gallus died and Leisegang survived, though seriously wounded. [On the day I return ¨C I wonder if you¡¯ll be able to stop me then.] Leisegang left those words just before he was sealed by the Sri denomination. Heughed at the humans who desperately sealed him because they had no means to kill him. I¡¯ll be back. I¡¯ll be back to burn you again. I¡¯ll cover the whole world with death and fear that even the sun in the sky will be overshadowed. It was both a curse and a prophecy. And hundreds of yearster. At the present. ¡°Everyone! Let¡¯s go!¡± Teenagers energetically responded to the cheerful shout. Each shouted and showed off their skills. ¡°Oppa!¡± ¡°OOOH!¡± The small hand of Red Wind held Sun Song¡¯s big hand. The two naturally inteced their fingers, looking straight ahead as they shouted. ¡°The song of war ignites the mes of the earth!¡± ¡°Great Storm! Be a strong wind and sweep the earth!¡± It was both a song and a spell. A prayer to god, a creed to uphold hismands. [KIAAAAAAAA-!] The bird of me screeched. It exerted its power at the behest of its master. ¡°Pierce through!¡± ¡°Crimson mes Combo Attack!¡± As Sun Song and Red Wind stood facing each other, the bird of me turned into a single arrow. The arrow became a sword of me and was wrapped with a strong wind before rushing towards Leisegang! [KEUAAAAAAA!] The bird of me pierced through the chest of Leisegang who was weakened by Bestin¡¯s magic circle. No, it wasn¡¯t just Bestin¡¯s magic circle. Leisegang had already been weakened from being sealed for a long time by the Sri denomination. ¡°Awesome!¡± Kajsa heartilyughed as she watched the spectacr mes scattering, and then kicked the ground. She transformed Grand Order into a gigantic shield sword and made a huge movement. She utilized her superhuman strength to strike his leg, though it was more of a blow than a sh to his chest. ¡°Mountain Breaker!¡± [KEUAAAAA!] Leisegang was hit in the shin and screamed in pain. But this much was still nothing to him. Jude ran. The green mes that rose from his hands turned into ck mes that let out an immense energy. The Supreme Sun Divine Art. And Valencia¡¯s swordsmanship style. Led to the creation of the ck Wings Valiant Sword. The power of the ck Sun was added to Valencia¡¯s beautiful swordsmanship. It was clearly the power of the sun though it was colored ck, so it was ipatible for Leisegang who was the king of vampires that were weak to the sun. [AAAAAAH!] Leisegang¡¯s side was cut and dark red blood gushed out. The ck mes stuck to the wound and endlessly burned, inflicting excruciating pain to Leisegang. [KEUAAA! AAAAH! AAAAAAAH!] It was not just a simple sh wound. It felt like a part of his body had been torn off. [UUUUGH!] But he could still endure it. He could withstand it. No matter how weakened he was, Leisegang was still a Demon Prince. He would endure it. He would ovee it. The magic circle that pressed his entire body was starting to lose its strength at this moment. The seal was also crumbling due to the cracks that spread from the sessive unsealing. So he had to endure. He would somehow endure and withstand it. Until the chains would break. Until the seal of the Sri denomination that imprisoned him would break! ¡°Monster! Stop daydreaming! I¡¯ll punish you right here and now!¡± Lucas shouted with a serious expression at that moment. He was happy with the fact that he had recited a line from Biltwein the Hero, and enhanced it by adding a holy aura to Dragon Sword Ascalon. ¡°Holy King¡¯s Cross Sword.¡± He even recited the technique name. He couldn¡¯t bring out Ascalon¡¯s true power because hecked the Dragon Factor, but he continued to speak. ¡°Holy Spirit Special Move.¡± Ascalon¡¯s de shone white. It was a divine power that was ipatible for demons from Hell. ¡°GO! Holy! Spirit! sh!¡± Lucas shouted it per word before he rushed forward. Although Leisegang¡¯s limbs were tied up and he was unable to move, his size was enormous and the energy he exuded was terrifying. Add to that was Lucas¡¯ dash, and that was enough to recreate a scene from the hero novel. [AAAAAAH!] The king¡¯s holy sword. Holy Spirit sh shed the thigh of Leisegang who screamed in pain again. The wound didn¡¯t burn like Jude¡¯s sh, but his sh clearly went through the bone. But it was then. ¡°Lord Lucas! You were a little fast in the end! Slow down the release of your aura by a second!¡± ¡°Yes! I understand!¡± Lucas nodded at Jude¡¯s advice, and once again concentrated his holy aura on Ascalon. And he used Holy Spirit sh again! ¡°Ooooh! Much better!¡± Kajsa eximed in awe. A much bigger wound than before was left on Leisegang¡¯s thigh. ¡°Awesome!¡± ¡°As expected of Lucas!¡± ¡°p, p, p!¡± ¡°Haha, I¡¯m embarrassed.¡± [You bugs!] Who do you think I am? No, what the hell are you doing in front of me! He was angry. He was really angry. What surprised him more was the fact that these young people¡¯s attacks were properly hurting him one by one. [I-¡­ I-¡­] ¡°Shut up!¡± Cordelia raised both Moonlight and Magic ster at the same time. Instead of using magic on Leisegang¡¯s mouth, she intended to shut his mouth by force. ¡°Here goes!¡± What she would use now was the magic of the sun. A holy power of Sri that she learned from Lena! ¡°My heart resonates!¡± A heat enough to burn. I will do a bright yellow sprint! ¡°Sunlight Yellow Overdrive!¡± T/N: A reference to the protagonist of JoJo¡¯s Bizarre Adventure. This is Jonathan Joestar¡¯s lines when he uses his final attack, Sunlight Yellow Overdrive. The author only changed the part of ¡°The beat of my blood is razor-sharp.¡± into ¡°I will do a bright yellow sprint.¡± Bright Yellow Ripple Sprint is the literal trantion of the Japanese characters used for the attack name, Sunlight Yellow Overdrive. A brilliant sunlight rose over Moonlight and Magic ster. The bright, clear, and beautiful light drove away all the darkness inside the seal area. [AAAAAAAAH!] Leisegang cried in pain and closed his eyes. But it was not the sun that he avoided by closing his eyes. ¡°¡± The sunlight radiated at once over Moonlight and Magic ster. Hundreds of light spheres formed around Cordelia. And at the same time, Cordelia fiercely smiled. ¡°Shoot! Shoot! Just shoot!¡± Babababaababang-! Hundreds of light spheres rushed at once. It literally became a golden storm and engulfed Leisegang. [KEUAAAAAAAA-!] Leisegang was covered in light as he screamed. The number of light spheres was so high that Leisegang could barely be seen. ¡°Stop! Stop! Do it in moderation!¡± Jude cried at that moment. At the same time, he sent a magic. [Hey! It¡¯s a bus! Bus! We¡¯re driving a bus!] [I know!] I¡¯m just giving our attacks a little push! If Leisegang had heard it, he would have shouted in anger, but Cordelia just giggled and withdrew her magic. With the light spheres gone, the battered appearance of Leisegang was revealed. [Kaaak¡­ uuuugh¡­] It would not be an exaggeration to say that he was relying on the chains to barely stand. But it was not enough. The Demon Prince¡¯s power had yet to run out. The reason why Gallus couldn¡¯t kill Leisegang in the first ce was because the stamina of Demon Princes seemingly had no end. Especially Leisegang, the vampire king who had immense endurance. So Cordelia did not let her guard down. She grinned and shouted again. ¡°Everyone! Attack!¡± Hurry up! ¡°UOOOOOH!¡± ¡°Here it goes!¡± ¡°This is divine retribution!¡± Red Wind, Kajsa, and Lucas each shouted as they attacked Leisegang again. [AAAAH! AAAACK!] As the vampire king, Leisegang had recovered from almost everything except for the wounds left by Jude, but his insides were slowly being destroyed. If there was an HP bar floating above his head, it would have shown his declining condition. And 9 minutester. After the party was exhausted from their constant attacks and roughly breathed for a moment to catch their breaths, Leisegang shouted with all his might. [Curse you! Curse you all! I, Leisegang, dere that you will all die bleeding from the holes in your body!] It wasn¡¯t just a simple curse. It was a curse cast by a Demon Prince, a higher being of Hell, so it was a powerful curse. However, Jude and Cordelia nodded their heads, having already anticipated it so they hade up with a countermeasure. ¡°Oh, yes. .¡± Jude tore apart dozens of magic scrolls that he had prepared in advance. Because the curse¡¯s power was so strong that one or two scrolls were not enough. ¡°Yeah, okay.¡± Cordelia also tore scrolls that she had prepared for today. Its effect was strong since she got Lena¡¯s help in making it. His magic power was scattered. The curse disappeared before it even reached them. But Leisegang did not give up. He waited for Jude and Cordelia¡¯s hands to stop before shouting again. [Then as a lord of Hell, I¡¯ll leave thisst curse-] After letting his opponent use up all their defense measures, he would attack again. In simple terms, it was a diversionary tactic, but they didn¡¯t give him a chance. ¡°Yes, yes, I know. We¡¯ve prepared a lot.¡± ¡°As expected.¡± Jude and Cordelia nodded as though they knew this would happen, and each took out scrolls as they tore it again. [Argh! You b*stards!] His cry was full of sincerity. Therefore, Jude and Cordelia instinctively realized. ¡®His HP is very low.¡¯ ¡®Just before he dies.¡¯ If I attack him now, I can get thest hit. I can get thest hit bonus. Of course, I¡¯m driving a bus. But frankly, isn¡¯t it better for us to get stronger than for Lucas or Kajsa to get stronger? In fact, aren¡¯t them riding the bus enough already? As their gamer brains began to work, Jude and Cordelia raised their heads and unknowingly looked at each other. The two could clearly understand what the other was thinking with just a look of their eyes, so they immediately understood what the other wanted. So they moved at the same time. Cordelia hurriedly opened her lips and began to hurriedly chant while Jude simultaneously kicked the ground and released the ck dragon¡¯s energy. ¡°¡± A ck spear formed at the end of Moonlight¡¯s gem and flew towards Leisegang. And at the same time, the energy of the ck dragon that Jude had released then struck Leisegang¡¯s chest. ¡°ck Dragon Cross Strike! Hopf Link!¡± Even though the attack had already struck the enemy, Jude still shouted the technique name. He then hurriedly looked at Cordelia, and she also nced at him. Instead of watching the resentful Leisegang from disappearing, they quickly counted the rings of light that floated around each other¡¯s bodies. And a few secondster. The moment Cordelia instinctively realized who had the most rings. ¡°Oh yeah!¡± ¡°Hey!¡± Jude clenched his fists in victory while Cordelia lost her temper. ¡°Hey, you fu- no, no. Anyway, you fool! Why are you trying to get thest hit? We¡¯re driving a bus!¡± ¡°Wait, you tried to get it too!¡± ¡°Anyway, I didn¡¯t get it! You¡¯re the one who got it! You got thest hit!¡± [Y-you¡­ bugs¡­] Leisegang murmured resentfully, but the two no longer cared about him. Red Wind and Sun Song tilted their heads and muttered ¡°What¡¯s a bus?¡± while Kajsa chuckled at the idiot couple. Only Lucas showed interest in the disappearing Leisegang. Or rather, he was actually immersed in his role ying rather than showing interest in the enemy. ¡°Evil is gone.¡± A line from Biltwein the Hero. Thest words Biltwein would say after defeating a powerful enemy. [Curse¡­ you¡­] Leisegang unconsciously missed Gallus and the Sri denomination as he resentfully muttered and eventually disappeared. As for Jude and Cordelia. The two who had been arguing had kissed at some point. A light kiss. Several more kisses. Followed by a passionate one. ¡°Pwaah! Hey, y-you. Do you think I¡¯ll forgive you just because of this?¡± Cordelia said with a blushing face, but her blue eyes had already lost most of her anger from earlier. Her words were mostly grumbling. So Jude kissed Cordelia again and she naturally raised her hands to hug Jude¡¯s neck. And at that entire sight, Kajsa frowned. ¡°What the-? What¡¯s wrong with them? How did it end up like that?¡± Why are they kissing now instead of arguing? And everyone¡¯s watching, okay? This isn¡¯t your bedroom, okay? Can you two please stop flirting now? But it was at that moment. ¡°Lord Jude!¡± Lucas suddenly shouted. His cry wasn¡¯t of annoyance at the public disys of affection in front of him. At the ce where Leisegang disappeared. While still embracing each other, Jude and Cordelia looked at where Lucas was pointing, and their eyes widened in surprise. Why is that here? No, if you think about it, isn¡¯t it obvious? This was the ce where Gallus had died and where Leisegang was sealed. ¡°Awesome.¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s awesome. Really awesome.¡± I really, really like it. Jude kissed the forehead of the grinning Cordelia, and turned around as a dark smile spread across his lips. He happily walked towards the items Leisegang had left behind. Chapter 285: Reunion (4)

Chapter 285: Reunion (4)

Since it¡¯s pretty much confirmed that Sri is female, I¡¯ve changed ¡®sun god¡¯ to ¡®sun goddess¡¯ in all previous chapters. Since Leisegang was a powerful boss monster, there were quite a variety of items he left behind in the ce where he disappeared. Half of it were already expected, but the other half were not. ¡°So this is where it came from.¡± Cordelia grinned while Jude did not hide his smile either. Because it was a really pleasant surprise. ¡®Leisegang¡¯s Essence and Demon Prince¡¯s Soul also came out in the game.¡¯ In Legend of Heroes 2, the battle against Leisegang was between the middle andte stages of the game, so the battle waspletely different from what it was now. The battle wasn¡¯t against a sealed Leisegang but a Leisegang who had been freed because he broke the seal on his own. ¡®That¡¯s why it has changed.¡¯ Because the ce where they fought and Leisegang¡¯s condition were different. There were two unexpected items. One was Pdin Gallus¡¯ sword. As a champion of Sri, he was said to have wielded two swords. One was the Sr de, sun goddess Sri¡¯s sword that Landius was now using, and the other was the demon killer greatsword, Demon Bane, that was in front of them now. ¡°Wow, it still has some divine power.¡± Cordelia touched the Demon Bane¡¯s de and widened her eyes in admiration. And Jude was surprised too. It was made from Mithril, which was also called Truesilver, so the power he felt from the silver Demon Bane was really amazing. ¡®No, that¡¯s not all.¡¯ There was a sense of difort that he found hard to exin. Or rather, a sense of familiarity. Is it because I¡¯ve already seen it a few times in the game? But that would be the same for the other items as well. ¡°Jude?¡± ¡°Uh, yes. That¡¯s amazing. Let¡¯s give this to Lucas.¡± ¡°Huh? Uh¡­ okay.¡± Cordelia seemed to be momentarily bewildered at Jude¡¯s words, but soon nodded her head. ¡®Because Jude has Sword Origin.¡¯ Sword Origin had been upgraded into an Awakening-Myth dragon equipment, so it was better than Demon Bane. And it was not a waste to give it to Lucas who was using Ascalon now since he didn¡¯t have a Dragon Factor. Because the Holy King¡¯s Cross Sword of Lucas used divine power in the first ce, it was more efficient for Jude to hand him Demon Bane, a divine sword, than for Lucas to use Ascalon. ¡®However..¡¯ Lucas needs to be strong too, and I¡¯m quite proud that Lucas is getting stronger. But Jude should alwayse first. My Jude should be given all the items to be stronger. ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°Huh? Uh¡­ It¡¯s nothing.¡± Cordelia shook her head and cleared her thoughts. Because there was the right person for the right job. And if Jude would have gotten stronger from using Demon Bane, he wouldn¡¯t have told her in the first ce that he was giving it to Lucas. ¡°Good, yes, okay. Let¡¯s give Demon Bane to Lucas.¡± As Cordelia nodded again, Jude held back hisughter. Because he knew what Cordelia was worried about since he could see her wriggling her fingers. ¡®Cute.¡¯ No, she¡¯s adorable. When wee backter, I¡¯ll work hard to make her pretty again. If Kajsa had heard of Jude¡¯s thoughts, she would have frowned again. Jude then turned to Lucas and said. ¡°Lord Lucas, this is the demon killer greatsword, Demon Bane, the sword Pdin Gallus used. I think it would be better for Lord Lucas to use this.¡± Lucas was immersed in the lingering feelings he felt after having defeated a great demon, so when Jude spoke in a fairly loud voice, he widened his eyes in surprise. ¡°Uh¡­ can I have a sword like that?¡± ¡°Of course. Because we defeated Leisegang together. Lord Lucas deserves this sword.¡± Jude offered Demon Bane after he spoke strongly again, and Lucas rushed like Cordelia, epting the sword with trembling hands. ¡°This is the demon killer greatsword, Demon Bane¡­ the sword of punishment that destroys evil!¡± His words seemed to be a mix of some lines from Biltwein the Hero, but anyway, good things were good. Jude left Lucas who was immersed again with his role ying, and picked up another unexpected item. ¡°Sri¡¯s Eye.¡± This divine item from the sun goddess Sri was like a set with the Sun¡¯s Ne he had previously acquired. A brilliantly shining golden gem was embedded in a round frame made of tinum. ¡°I will take this.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, it would be good if youbine it with the Sun¡¯s Ne. It will make your Yang energy grow stronger, right?¡± It was as Cordelia had stated. Even he felt that the Sun¡¯s Ne wasn¡¯t enough these days, so adding Sri¡¯s Eye would let him amplify the power of the ck Sun more than before. ¡°Hey, can I have this?¡± When he turned his head at the voice, he saw Kajsa holding the chains that were used to bound Leisegang. Each chain was quite thick that the size of each chain link wasparable to Kajsa¡¯s waist, but it seemed like she liked it very much. ¡®It wouldn¡¯t be impossible with Kajsa¡¯s superhuman strength but¡­¡¯ It was too big though. So Jude made another suggestion. ¡°I¡¯ll give it to you after we¡¯ve reprocessed it in our fief.¡± ¡°Reprocess?¡± ¡°It¡¯s too big now. We¡¯ll make a new chain for you after melting it. Wouldn¡¯t it be better if it¡¯s in a size that you could handle properly?¡± ¡°That¡¯s good then.¡± With a smirk, Kajsa hugged the chains as though she was really satisfied. ¡®Because it¡¯s an amazing object.¡¯ These chains had bound a Demon Prince, so one could say that it was an amazing treasure in itself. ¡°Unnie, oppa. What is this? It¡¯s pretty.¡± Red Wind had been squatting and looking at the items before she raised her head and asked. At her feet lied thest unexpected item ¨C Heaven Genealogical Record. The item had drawings and letters painted in gold on a te made of Mithril, and as its name suggested, it was a kind of divine relic that could tell the genealogy of Heaven. ¡°It¡¯s the Heaven Genealogical Record. It tells what angels are in Heaven and what their positions are.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s exnation, Lucas and Kajsa who had been engrossed in their own items also raised their heads. ¡°Unnie, are you here then?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve just be one, so¡­ Eh?¡± The Heaven Genealogical Record was quiterge as it measured around 1 meter in width and length, so only angels above a certain rank were recorded, but they were able to find Cordelia¡¯s name in a corner because she was of the 5th rank. ¡°Wow, is this a real-time recorder?¡± In the game, it was nothing more than a divine item that emitted divine power. At the time Cordelia had spoken in surprise, Jude also narrowed his brows and said. ¡°You¡¯re right, it must be real-time. Lena¡¯s name is also there.¡± Lena¡¯s name was not far from where Cordelia¡¯s name was written. Both of them were angels under Sri¡¯s lineage, so it was easy to find their names. ¡°Unnie. I wonder what the ck letters mean.¡± ¡°Huh? Uh¡­ they¡¯re probably the dead angels who no longer exist now.¡± Cordelia said at Red Wind¡¯s question as she ran her fingers through her flowing hair. It was the first time Cordelia had seen it, but this was a fact she could easily infer. ¡®To begin with, there are seven archangels, of which three are ck and four are gold.¡¯ Of the seven archangels who were said to be the highest ranked in Heaven, there were only four left. Among the letters painted in ck was the name of Archangel Sri, the sun goddess who came to the human world. ¡°But it¡¯s not all of them¡­ I think only the names of the important dead beings remained.¡± Cordelia continued her slightly uneasy exnation and nced at Jude. She seemed to be asking for confirmation if what she said was correct, so Jude nodded his head. ¡°It is as Cordelia said. If it really recorded all the names of the angels, close to half of the Heaven Genealogical Record would be ck.¡± ¡°That¡¯s interesting. So you¡¯re saying that there are still four beings like Goddess Sri?¡± Kajsa asked as she squatted down next to Red Wind, and Lucas replied with shining eyes. ¡°Yes, there are seven archangels in Heaven. Among them, three came to the human world and helped us, and Goddess Sri was the brightest, wisest, most beautiful and most benevolent of the three.¡± Lucas appeared to be excited because he liked these kinds of stories rather than being a believer of Sri. One could say that he had seriously researched the settings for his role y. ¡°ording to legends, Sri was the youngest of the seven archangels. But she was the strongest in terms of power.¡± ¡°Yes¡­ that is true.¡± ¡°The Golden Dragon King is also strong.¡± At Lucas¡¯ exnation, Kajsa admired it, Red Wind retorted back, and Cordelia turned to Jude. [What do you think?] About what Lucas had said just now. Realistically speaking and not from a religious perspective. [Well, I¡¯m not exactly sure.] At the time when Sri descended, the world waspletely different from what it was today. Because a part of Hell was also connected with the human world, numerous demons descended on earth. There were many theories about Sri¡¯s death, but the most popr theory was that Sri sacrificed herself rather than being killed. She destroyed the connections of Heaven and Hell to the human world. As a result, the human world became independent again. The Great Summons the demon followers had longed for was to somehow restore that broken connection. If the human world and Hell be connected, it would be possible for demons to cross over the human world without using a Hell Gate. ¡®The problem is that it would also restore the connection to Heaven.¡¯ Jude looked again at the four archangels at the top of the Heavenly Genealogical Record. Among them, the most notable was Auriel, the Archangel of Judgment. She was the creator of Heavenly Judgment which had been their trump card several times, but she was also a very important figure in both the game and the background setting of Legend of Heroes 3. ¡®Heaven¡¯s leader. The archangel who dered the beginning of Armageddon by fighting against Asmodeus, the overlord of lust who was the leader of Hell.¡¯ She was one of the reasons why humans were able to survive in Legend of Heroes 3. Because she brought together into one ce the humans who had nearly been annihted by the series of disasters. ¡®Among the archangels, Raguel was one of the two most popr.¡¯ Raguel, the Archangel of Justice. Since Auriel was like themander-in-chief of an army, the yers felt a sense of distance from her, but not for Raguel who was the archangel that appeared in the beginning of Legend of Heroes 3 and gave help and quests. Her tone of voice was friendly and gentle, so it was inevitable that she became popr. [Moving on¡­ Neither Heaven nor Hell are connected with the human world now. It¡¯s good because we¡¯re not getting directly attacked by Hell, but neither are we getting direct help from Heaven.] [Yes, that¡¯s right. But who do you think is stronger, Sri or Auriel?] [That¡¯s not what¡¯s important.] [Hmph. I just want to know who¡¯s stronger.] As Cordelia hmphed, Jude smiled and shrugged before sending magic again. [I don¡¯t know who is stronger. Anyway, whether it¡¯s Auriel or Raguel, it would be better for us to not meet them and only know of their existence.] [And the overlords of Hell?] [Same situation.] Jude nodded and nced back at the Heaven Genealogical Record again. The remaining four archangels of Heaven. And Cordelia¡¯s name that was added at a corner of the Heaven Genealogical Record. Jude looked at Sri¡¯s name onest time. The benevolent and great archangel who sacrificed her own life for the humans of this world who had nothing to do with her. She was no longer just a background setting. She certainly existed in this world, and it was because of her that Jude and Cordelia could live in the present. So Jude closed his eyes and offered her a brief prayer. He grieved for the god who was now gone. ***Raguel, the Archangel of Justice, closed her eyes and looked down the world. The world that Sri loved. The world that she gave away her life to protect. That was why Raguel loved the world. She loved the human world and the humans as much as she loved Sri. ¡°Sri¡­¡± Murmuring the name of her gone sister, Raguel held the Heaven Genealogical Record. Her long, slender and white fingers slowly stroked the record as her long ck hair covered it. Cordelia. The newly engraved name of an angel. A child who inherited Sri¡¯s blood. A child who was very simr to Sri. ¡°I want to meet you.¡± Raguel muttered unconsciously without opening her eyes. She continued to close her eyes as she looked into the world. *** Auriel, the Archangel of Judgment, stood on a higher ce and looked down on earth. She intuitively realized that Asmodeus, the overlord of lust, was looking up the ground. Her long-time opponent. The war between Heaven and Hell had alreadysted for more than 10,000 years, and during that long war, Auriel had confronted Asmodeus several times. But more than a thousand years had already passed since theirst war. Because the connection between Heaven and Hell was cut off in the aftermath of the connection to the human world being suddenly severed. ¡°Sri.¡± The name of the child she loved the most. The seventh archangel. She sacrificed everything to protect the humans and the human world. Auriel looked down on earth. She stood from a higher ce and nkly stared down. *** The witch of the west forest smiled brightly. An empty and fake smile, but Asmodeus, the overlord of lust, loved that smile of hers. [How interesting. You¡¯re seriously crazy. Out of everyone else, you want to borrow my power.] ¡°Because it¡¯s very important. Shouldn¡¯t I use everything I can use? And isn¡¯t that why you like me?¡± Asmodeus smiled again as the witch of the west forest shrugged. For her, the witch was a woman worthy of saving from Belial. [Demons follow contracts if they would be paid a price. That would be the same for me, an Overlord.] ¡°Pretending to be fair, huh? Aren¡¯t you a scammer?¡± Despite the witch¡¯s usation, Asmodeus did not lose her smile. Sitting on the throne of Hell, she spoke to the witch who was watching via magic goggles. [I¡¯ll lend you my power.] The price would be knowledge. Asmodeus said and the witch of the west forest agreed. Helena looked into the world with the power of the demon that she hated. To confirm the identity of the sense of difort and d¨¦j¨¤ vu that she felt. *** Time flowed. As the archangels gazed upon the earth, the witch peeked at the world, and the overlords of Hell longed for the earth with greedy eyes, the dizzying flow of time did not stop. It just kept flowing. A week after Leisegang¡¯s defeat. Unexpected news was delivered to Jude and Cordelia who were about to begin their journey to the empire. Chapter 286: Argon Empire (1)

Chapter 286: Argon Empire (1)

Terms used in this episode: Yang Family Spear Form ¨C a real-life group of martial arts techniques that uses the spear. After defeating Leisegang, the group decided to stay at Count Bayer¡¯s territory for a while. It was necessary to get used to the explosive growth of their various stats because of the sudden increase of their levels, and it also took time to make new equipment again with the newly-acquired materials. ¡®We have to prepare for our trip to the empire.¡¯ After all, there was a huge difference between traveling inside the S?len Kingdom and traveling outside its borders. In particr, preparation was necessary because they were going to the Argon Empire which had been at war with the S?len Kingdom several times since the kingdom¡¯s founding, though the two countries were maintaining a good rtionship now. ¡°I will go then. It will probably take a week or so.¡± ¡°Okay, leave everyone to me and have a safe trip.¡± Cordelia replied and tightly hugged Jude for a long time without moving. Because she wanted to recharge for a week¡¯s supply of Jude, though everyone except Jude looked at them with lukewarm expressions. In any case, Jude left Count Bayer¡¯s territory in Bailon and returned to Mount Damos to stay for around a week as scheduled. ¡°It¡¯s not easy.¡± At the mansion of Count August Bayer situated in the middle of Mount Damos. Jude was sitting alone in the training room as he meditated, and exhaled as sweat poured down. Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors ¨C Seventh Door. It had already been 4 months since the sixth door was opened, but the road to the seventh door seemed to be far away. ¡®It seems like I need to build a foundation for it.¡¯ Jude had gone through a lot since he first opened the sixth door in the royal capital. With his acquisition of Sword Origin, his body¡¯s durability had be stronger than before, and because of the series of battles against powerful enemies and defeating a huge chunk of experience points that was called the Ancient ck Dragon, he had immensely leveled up. In order to open a new door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, he needed to have a strong body capable of handling the immense Qi energy and the new door. Jude judged that he could do it now because of the explosive level-up and other things mentioned earlier. However, no matter how much he meditated and chanted the mnemonic chant of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, he could not open the next door like previously. ¡®Is this what Valencia-nim meant?¡¯ That one needed enlightenment from the seventh door upwards. It was only up to the sixth door that one could open new doors by simply pouring in more power. In a way, that was actually quite natural. Rather, what he had done so far was unnatural. ¡®Still, it¡¯s four months¡­ No, it will be frustrating if I remain stagnant for around five months.¡¯ If Landius had heard Jude¡¯s thoughts, he would have gotten annoyed, but Jude couldn¡¯t help in thinking that. Until now, he had been opening new doors at least once every two or three months. ¡®Enlightenment.¡¯ A word he only encountered in martial arts novels he had read several times in his past life. Even in the practical martial arts he had learned in his previous life, there seemed to be something called enlightenment. ¡®No, rather than enlightenment, it¡¯s more like the know-how I gained from experience.¡¯ Whether it was in his past or present lives, Jude¡¯s battles were always based on calctions. He predicted how the enemy would move ande up with an appropriate response. Optimal battles were conducted through the simtions created by his natural rationality and umted experience. ¡°Ah, I don¡¯t know.¡± Jude lied on his back and looked up the training room¡¯s ceiling. Landius said that he had an epiphany after continuous battles, but what the hell is that epiphany? ¡®I don¡¯t know.¡¯ He said that he deliberately used his limbs and not his sword for the sake of enlightenment. ¡®I don¡¯t understand.¡¯ What on earth is the rtionship between muscle strength and enlightenment? In fact, given that Landius has been trying everything to achieve enlightenment, enlightenment itself seems to be something ambiguous in the first ce. ¡°Valencia-nim, can you give me some advice?¡± Jude asked in his mind and Valencia immediately gave an answer. [Nothing.] ¡°Excuse me?¡± [Because my sessor, I really have no answer. There is no correct method to an epiphany. Just as a thousand different flowers each possess a unique beauty, the epiphany for each person is also very different. There is no guarantee that the method I used will work for others. There is also no guarantee that the enlightenment that you will gain is the same as mine.] ¡°Can I at least use it as reference?¡± [No, as it could be a hindrance. If the enlightenment of my sessor is the opposite of the enlightenment I have attained, my advice will rather be poisonous to you if the forms arepletely different.] Usually, sessful condescending older people who were confident in their methods would say ¡°I¡¯m absolutely right. Just do what I tell you to do,¡± but Valencia had very little of that attitude. ¡®Rather, it¡¯s somehow like neglect y.¡¯ What Valencia was actively talking about were established skills and techniques. Things like the so-called Yang Family Spear Form or powerful one-shot killing techniques. ¡°Haa.¡± What the hell is this enlightenment? I have to open the seventh door. But I still have a long way to go. ¡®Come to think of it¡­¡¯ Jude closed his eyes and thought of a woman¡¯s face. It was neither Cordelia nor Valencia, but the face of a graceful woman with long ck hair. The unknown female sage. The woman who appeared when he opened the third door and taught him various skills such as using the energy of the ck dragon. However, she had not appeared since the fifth door. Why? Who was she in the first ce? ¡°Why are there so many hidden elements? Will I be able to figure out everything?¡± Judeined to the unknown woman before clearing his thoughts. There was no answer so he continued to think. If I just increase my abilities to the point of recklessness, I can forcefully open the seventh door. I may even awaken in a fight against a strong enemy! Aren¡¯t scenes like thatmon in movies and novels? But it was then. [My sessor, it¡¯s a really bad habit to rely on things that can only be found on hero novels such as awakening at a dramatic moment. There¡¯s no way things in this world will always work that well, right? Even if that kind of awakening is possible, you can¡¯t always do it. So don¡¯t get rely on things that don¡¯t always work.] Valencia usually talks very casually, but why does she sound like a condescending older person these days? Of course, if the condescending older person was such a pretty person, there will be plenty of people who will wee her words with open arms. ¡®I must be tired already.¡¯ Jude stopped his thoughts and lightly shook his head before standing up. ¡°Anyway, Valencia-nim, today¡¯s training will end here.¡± It was now time to head back to Bailon. After leaving the training room, Jude washed his body while watching the sunset over the mountain in the west. It would be night soon, so Jude decided that he should leave at night. ¡°Are you going?¡± When he stood in the garden and looked up the moon, Maja approached him and asked. She began wearing sses for some reason after she became a maid, but she remained calm and elegant like always. Maja Tantalotte. A person he knew since his childhood and was like a real older sister to him. She was the person who knew Jude best aside from Cordelia. So she already had a hunch to some extent. The reason why Cordelia remained in Bailon and what Jude intended to do from now on. Thus, Jude spoke without hiding it. ¡°I¡¯m going to the empire.¡± Maja¡¯s expression slightly shook at Jude¡¯s words. Jude had already traveled all over the S?len Kingdom, so she had a vague thought that his next one would be a foreign country, but she felt like being choked when she really heard the word ¡®empire.¡¯ But Maja soon regained herposure. No, she wasn¡¯t thatposed. ¡°Young master.¡± ¡°Yes, Maja.¡± Maja bit her lips when Jude answered. After taking a step, she raised her head and looked at Jude. Unlike before, she now had to look up in order to see Jude¡¯s face. It had only been a year and a few months. But a lot had of things had changed. It wasn¡¯t about him bing a count or one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. ¡°I miss you sometimes.¡± The Jude of the past. The young master who always depended on Maja because of his weak body. The past days they spent most of their time together. ¡°But I think it¡¯s much better now.¡± You¡¯ve grown up to the point where I have to look up. You¡¯ve be so strong that I can¡¯t recognize you. The kingdom¡¯s hero. The royal family¡¯s protector. The Ancient Dragon yer. She unconsciously smiled. Jude felt so far away despite him being so close to her now. ¡®My little young master.¡¯ She smiled again at that thought. Without realizing it, she said with a bright smile that she normally didn¡¯t make, as though to hide the forming tears in her eyes. ¡°Be safe and take care.¡± Why is such a smile on my face now? (Jude) Why do I feel so sad? Jude faced Maja. He smiled at her while feeling that something was out of ce. He lightly hugged Maja in response to her smile that he had never seen before, but strangely felt familiar deep inside his mind. ¡°Y-young master?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be back.¡± Maja lightly bit her lips at his words. She closed her eyes and hugged back Jude who had suddenly grown so big that she could fit herself in his arms. ¡°Have a safe trip.¡± ¡°Yes, Maja. I¡¯ll be back.¡± Jude patted Maja on the back before summoning his Phantom Steed and riding on its back. He looked at Maja again. A Maja with her hair loose as she broadly smiled and shed tears. A Maja who said that she was happy as her bodypletely lost her warmth. Those were all fantasies. An illusion only. Maja¡¯s long blue hair hung over the shawl on her shoulders as she widely smiled at him. Instead of shedding tears, she waved her hand to see him off. ¡°You muste back safely, okay?¡± ¡°I will. I¡¯ll get you a present when I return. Maja, stay well and healthy too, okay?¡± Maja smiled again when he greeted back. For Jude, the Maja who smiled so much was unfamiliar. But he thought that it was very nice to see. ¡°I¡¯ll be back.¡± He consciously spoke before prodding the Phantom Steed into the night sky. Instead of the smiling Maja with tears in her eyes, he thought of the brightly smiling Maja he just saw as he headed north. *** ¡°I¡¯ve be stronger.¡± The next morning. In the training room, Lucas faced Jude who had arrived at dawn, and said with a confident voice. [He really got strong.] Jude nodded at Cordelia¡¯s further exnation. Because he had already heard Valencia¡¯s evaluation. [His aura is different than before. I think he really became stronger from thest fight.] The effect of their explosive level-up. Humans in Pleaides did not have the level-up effect that Jude and Cordelia saw, but it was possible for them to level up. In other words, level ups were not a cheat that Jude and Cordelia had, but was more of aw of the world that everyone in Pleiades enjoyed. ¡®Of course, we¡¯ve already proven that the level-ups Cordelia and I have are far more efficient.¡¯ Only Jude and Cordelia had a level-up effect. Lucas and Kajsa had not seen a ring of white light even though Jude leveled up in front of them. In any case, their Leisegang Raid definitely worked. Because the levels of both Lucas and Kajsa had risen by almost a dozen, though they hadn¡¯t gone to a temple to urately measure it. He didn¡¯t know how much, but if they had leveled up that greatly, their physical abilities and mana must have more than doubled. ¡°I feel like I¡¯ve fully adapted now.¡± ¡°Hehe, me too.¡± Kajsa leaned against Lucas¡¯ shoulder and smiled as if they had be closer in the past week. ¡®Because Kajsa has a good level-up efficiency.¡¯ She was a woman whose physical abilities grew higher than other yable characters even if she only went up by one level. Looking at her proud smile full of confidence, it seemed like her physical abilities had really grown explosively. ¡°Oppa. We¡¯ve be stronger too. I can handle Phoenix better now.¡± Red Wind said with shining eyes as she ignited her rivalry with Lucas, and Sun Song behind her showed off his chest and nodded. [She¡¯s really strong. She¡¯s still inexperienced but it¡¯s possible for her to unite spirits now.] Jude eximed in admiration at Cordelia¡¯s message. Spirit Fusion was the ultimate skill of Red Wind. She could do it now despite being inexperienced, so perhaps the strongest of the four people in front of him at the moment was Red Wind. ¡®Good, good. It¡¯s worth our hidden card.¡¯ And how should he say it? Should he say that the feeling of guilt that remained in the corner of his heart was slightly relieved? Because Jude and Cordelia had unintentionally (?) stolen the various experience points that Lucas, Kajsa, and Red Wind should have obtained. ¡°That¡¯s good. I¡¯ve brought a present for everyone who worked hard.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, the group¡¯s eyes began to shine again. After receiving the dragon equipment, Jude was like a Santa us who came to visit several times a year. ¡°First of all, Kajsa, this is the Divine Chain.¡± ¡°Oh yeah!¡± The chain was made by melting the chains that the Sri¡¯s denomination used to seal the limbs of Leisegang, and various materials were added to it. Not only had it been improved to a suitable size for Kajsa¡¯s use, but Cassius¡¯ special magic was added, making it really strong. ¡°Hehe, I¡¯m excited.¡± As Kajsa spun the chains, Jude was startled by the voice of a beast girl, but decided to move on because he was her beast. ¡°As for the rest¡­¡± A Demon Bane scabbard for Lucas, a mana amplifier made with Leisegang¡¯s Soul for Red Wind, and a spear made from Leisegang¡¯s horns for Sun Song. After he handed it out one by one, Cordelia drew closer and began pulling his sleeve. ¡°Me? What about me?¡± Don¡¯t I have any? Jude smiled at her begging expression and took out thest items from his space expansion bag. ¡°Here, a newly-upgraded detonating cord and a new bomb.¡± The items were made with the blood of Leisegang and Malekith, and differed from the ordinary detonating cords and bombs in terms of power. ¡°Wow.¡± Cordelia had a happy expression on her face and hugged the detonating cord and new bomb tightly as if it was a teddy bear, and began to jump on her spot. And seeing that, Kajsa said in a very low voice. ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking about it for a while, but aren¡¯t they a bit crazy?¡± A fianc¨¦ who gave his fianc¨¦e a bomb as a present, or a fianc¨¦e who received it and was truly happy. Lucas had a lot of things to say, but struggled to keep his mouth shut because it was against the way of a knight to gossip. In fact, he questioned if Kajsa was qualified to say that as she was really happy from receiving a chain. ¡°Anyway, oppa, are we going to the empire now?¡± Red Wind asked in the continent¡¯smonnguage, and Jude nodded his head. However, an unexpected news came an hourter to the party who had just finished breakfast. ¡°Contact from our branches in the empire have been lost.¡± Kamael¡¯s voice was heard from the crow that flew in haste. The imperial branches of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. Jude and Cordelia looked at each other. Because they had expected the demon followers who had created a mess in the S?len Kingdom to unite in the empire and do something bigger, but they did not expect that the demon followers wouldunch an attack on the Guardians of the Holy Cross like the situation now. ¡°Their exact state is unknown. But it doesn¡¯t seem like they¡¯ve been suddenly destroyed. Rather, we presume that themunicationwork itself has been tampered with.¡± The Guardians of the Holy Cross were able tomunicate with each other at a very fast speed over a long distance through the legacy of Gabriel, an archangel who descended with Sri in the past. To be exact, it delivered magic signals through transmitters located throughout the continent, but if there was something wrong with the empire¡¯s transmitters, contact with them would indeed be lost as it was now. But it was at that moment. Just as Jude was about to ask a few more questions, the door swung open and Dahlia entered. ¡°Miss! Something big happened!¡± What in the world happened this time? Perhaps something happened to Count Chase or Adelia? Fortunately, that wasn¡¯t it. But it was not entirely fortunate. ¡°The empire has dered the truce annulled! All borders have been closed!¡± Even Kamael¡¯s crow widened its eyes as it was startled at Dahlia¡¯s words, and Jude and Cordelia looked at each other again. The empire destroying their ceasefire agreement and the border blockade. What it could only lead to was an all-out war with the empire. An unprecedented situation that did not happen in the original storyline where the kingdom copsed. Chapter 287: Argon Empire (2)

Chapter 287: Argon Empire (2)

Terms used in this episode: HODL ¨C acronym for Hold On for Dear Life. It¡¯s a misspelling of ¡®hold¡¯ of ¡®hold on,¡¯ and mostly used in cryptocurrencies to encourage people to not impulsively sell when a cryptocurrency drops dramatically or rises to be highly profitable to sell. In this series, elves are likely to do this, so they are called HODL elves here. ¡°What?! Then we¡¯re at war with the empire?!¡± When Kajsa shouted in surprise, everyone was startled and turned to Dahlia. ¡°W-well¡­ There is no war yet. I think.¡± Dahlia said so, but even she herself was unsure about it. Because of the proven history between the kingdom and the empire. ¡®War always broke.¡¯ The termination of the armistice agreement and the blockade of borders. Up until now, it had always led to a war when something like this happened. ¡°But we don¡¯t know yet. We don¡¯t know how long it will take until there¡¯s a direct battle. There¡¯s a possibility that it will end up as a mere demonstration of force.¡± Lucas said in the calmest tone possible. It seemed like he was talking to himself rather than others. The S?len Kingdom and Argon Empire had been fighting relentlessly since the founding of the kingdom. In particr, the two had been at war eight times over thest 100 years alone because of the Ctes ins, the continent¡¯srgest breadbasket. Obviously, not all of those eight times were huge fights, but there was also a big war thatsted for several years. ¡®Jude.¡¯ Cordelia pulled Jude¡¯s sleeve with an anxious face and Jude tried to put on a calm expression. ¡°It is as Lord Lucas said. There is no war yet.¡± Once he said that, Lucas was the first person to sigh in relief. Jude thought as he felt everyone¡¯s eyes on him. ¡®There was no war in the original storyline.¡¯ It was natural that there was no war since the S?len Kingdom itself ceased to exist back then, but that was not the only reason. ¡®Because the entire empire had not been taken over by the demon followers.¡¯ The power of the emperor in the Argon Empire was peculiarly not strong. Although it was in name only, there were electors in the remote areas who had the power to elect an emperor, and there was also a strong administrative organization centered on the chancellor inside the empire that supported the emperor and kept him in check at the same time. There was also the possibility that the chancellor had sided with the demon followers as in the case of the Lord Protector and First Sword. Even in the game when one yed as Leon or Maximilian, several confrontation events sessively urred with the imperial chancellor and his fallen subordinates. But in the original, the demon followers did not fully control the politics of the empire. Because there was a group within the empire that could never be dominated by demon followers, and at the same time, had a strong influence. ¡®The elf mafia.¡¯ To be exact, the elf capitalists. In his previous life, the Jewish capitalists exerted a strong power not only in the business world but also in the political world. Unlike the elves of the S?len Kingdom who lived in the Forest of Eternity, the elves of the Argon Empire had already been living as empire citizens for hundreds of years. There weren¡¯t that many elves in the empire since elves had a hard time having offspring. It was no exaggeration to say that the number of elves in the thousands was only a very small number whenpared to the humans who numbered in the millions or the dwarves who numbered in the hundreds of thousands. But the elves had a lot of money. In particr, one could say that the financial sector was the stronghold of the elves. ¡®A long life and eternal youth.¡¯ It was the way the elves made money. The empire used to be a small country in the past. The worth of things were bound to rise in the long run, and the empire continued to prosper for hundreds of years without copsing. In other words, as an example, the value ofnd bought a hundred years ago was bound to rise a hundred yearster. If this happened to humans, only their descendants would be happy, but not for the elves. They were a race that could make long-term investments in terms of 100 or 200 years. Long-term investments obviously could fail too. But fortunately, the capitalist Vincenzo Lombardi, who was known as the father of the imperial elves, was an investment genius, so the elves seeded in amassing vast amounts of capital over the past hundreds of years under his leadership. So in Legend of Heroes, the elves were also called HODL elves, but anyway, the most important thing was that the HODL elves, or the elf capitalists, had never once partnered with the demon followers. ¡®It¡¯s not easy to control them.¡¯ Long life and eternal youth were what the demon followers used the most to attract those in power. After all, the Lord Protector fell for those two things. However, the elves were basically born with those two things to begin with. Then, the next thing they could offer was power, but the imperial elves were already the ruling ss. Moreover, only those who had risen to a certain level by elven standards were able to engage in external activities, so whether it was in swordsmanship or magic, they were viewed as experts by humans. Naturally, one could find people the demon followers could somehow convince if they deeply searched. Greed existed in creatures regardless of whether they were human or elves. But since there was only a few of them, it was almost impossible to control the entire elf capitalists. ¡®In short, they¡¯re a race that has a strong defense against temptation.¡¯ War was a costly thing, so for elves who had the most money in the empire, it was a field that they were the most influential. ¡®The elf capitalists basically don¡¯t want war though.¡¯ Or to be exact, they didn¡¯t want a war they couldn¡¯t win. Because the past history had proven that there was no huge benefit in waging war with the S?len Kingdom over the Ctes ins. ¡®We still have time.¡¯ They had time. Even if there was a butterfly effect, the whole empire would not have fallen into the hands of the demon followers. ¡®The most likely one to have fallen is the chancellor.¡¯ His group had a lot of demon followers mixed in even in the original storyline. It was highly likely that they had tempted the imperial chancellor and attracted him to their side, just like what they did to the Lord Protector. ¡®Let¡¯s stop here. These are things we can¡¯t solve right now anyway.¡¯ They had to go to the empire as originally nned. But Jude couldn¡¯t open his mouth. Because it was highly risky to proceed with their existing n. ¡®It¡¯s different from before.¡¯ The wildnds, the royal capital, and the southern region. All of these ces were notplete enemy territory. There were eastern tribes that had not been corrupted in the wildnds, and there were powerful forces that could be trusted in the royal capital like his father, Count Bayer. In the south, there were the 7 southern families and the heroes of Paragon led by his master, Landius. But not in the empire. Their connection with the Guardians of the Holy Cross which they had believed in was suddenly cut off, and they didn¡¯t know how the demon followers took control of the empire. Many of the high-ranking demonic humans who had fled from the S?len Kingdom must have joined them, so the current empire was an unknownnd of high risk. ¡®But we still have to go.¡¯ The problem wouldn¡¯t be solved if they didn¡¯t go. What they could do in the S?len Kingdom was too limited. They wouldn¡¯t be able to stop the war from happening. ¡®The Great Tribtion.¡¯ It was what the Great Summons needed. The real reason why the demon followers wanted the kingdom and the empire to wage war. The more time passed, the more likely the situation would get worse. So before the war broke out, they needed to enter the empire and change the situation. But why? Why can¡¯t I open my mouth even though I know that it¡¯s necessary? Jude looked to his side without realizing it. He nced at Cordelia who was holding on to his sleeve and trying to maintain a calm expression. Cordelia met eyes with Jude. Her blue eyes filled with her repressed anxiety blinked a few times, and she fixed her expression at some point. She nced at Jude before releasing her grip on his sleeve and turned to everyone as she said. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the empire as nned. It¡¯s most likely a plot of the demon followers. So let¡¯s head to the empire and solve the problem.¡± The situation had worsened, but what needed to be done had not changed. When Cordelia said those words, Lucas and the group nodded vigorously except for Jude, but there was one more exception. ¡°Miss?! The empire?! Did you say that you¡¯re going to the empire now?¡± ¡°Ah, my mistake.¡± She hadn¡¯t told Dahlia about it yet. It was obvious that everyone would stop them if they said that they were going to the empire now, though she wasn¡¯t sure if it would be the same if it was before the situation changed. ¡°Miss?!¡± ¡°That is¡­¡± Cordelia awkwardly smiled and nced at Jude. He gestured to her to go and do something about Dahlia. ¡°I will exin everything. Come with me.¡± Cordelia grabbed Dahlia¡¯s hand and they left, so the group¡¯s attention shifted to Jude again. ¡°Oppa?¡± Jude nodded at Red Wind¡¯s call. He also repeated what Cordelia had said. ¡°We¡¯ll proceed as scheduled. So please get ready.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Lucas and Kajsa responded with determined expressions on their faces before leaving the room, and Red Wind and Sun Song also returned to their rooms. ¡°I will contact you soon.¡± Kamael¡¯s crow also left after a few minutes. Jude went back to his room and sat down at his desk. Even if this world had magic, the news was likely to arriveter than in his previous life. So it was highly probable that the empire had dered the termination of the armistice agreement and the blockade of its borders at least one day before. ¡®So we have to go now.¡¯ Count Bayer and Count Chase would most likely be summoned due to the emergency situation. Ga?l and Adelia were also newly married, but it was unlikely that they would remain here under this circumstances. Therefore, Jude opened the stationery. He had to leave a letter saying that they would be leaving. But it was at that moment. [My sessor.] ¡°Yes, Valencia-nim.¡± [¡­No. Let¡¯s talkter. Now is not the time for this.] ¡°Valencia-nim?¡± [Later. But we must talk. This is something really important for you, my sessor.] He wondered what she meant. But since Valencia wasn¡¯t the kind of person to talk nonsense except when talking about two-timing, Jude nodded first. ¡°I understand. Let¡¯s do that.¡± Jude consciously took a long breath and stared at the stationery again. Normally, he would have written a letter saying that he was going on a trip with his beloved Cordelia. If the situation hadn¡¯t changed, he would have written it that way, but the content had to be changed this time. ¡®We¡¯re going to the empire.¡¯ To prevent the war. To stop the plot of the demon followers and thereby create a world without a Great Summons. [Please also write that this will be thest time you¡¯ll run away from home without permission.] Valencia¡¯s words struck him, so Jude unconsciously smiled. Because it was as she said. ¡°I will. If all goes well, this will be thest time.¡± No, if I think about it, can we even call it ¡®running away from home¡¯ if me and Cordelia are already living separately from our families? ¡®Cordelia.¡¯ The conversation they had on Ga?l¡¯s wedding day. The ring he gave her while talking about the next step. ¡®The next step.¡¯ A rtionship progress that would be a bit more than it was now. [Are you thinking of something lewd now?] Valencia¡¯s sharp remark startled Jude who was lost in his thoughts, and he cleared his throat. She wasn¡¯t exactly wrong. But it was really not the only thing that he was thinking of. Of course, Jude was a man, and Cordelia seemed to be hoping for the next part these days, so it was actually a very natural¨C [My sessor, do you know that you¡¯re seriously obsessed now?] ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Jude coughed as Valencia gave sharp remarks, and he organized his thoughts again. The next part. Their battle against the demon followers would be over, and they would have stopped the Great Summons. ¡°For a perfect happy ending.¡± After that, the two would live happily ever after. Thatpletely clich¨¦ ending was what they wanted to achieve. Jude unconsciously recited those words again before finishing the letter. He left the room to find Cordelia. *** The witch of the west forest woke up amidst the darkness. She had not figured out everything yet. Finding the truth was never easy. But she found a clue. So she was confused. ¡°It¡¯s a bit different.¡± It was not the truth that the witch had thought. The witch closed her eyes again. She once again read the records of the world. Chapter 288: Illegal Entry into the Empire (1)

Chapter 288: Illegal Entry into the Empire (1)

Cordelia, go to horny jail. That night, Jude and Cordelia left Count Bayer¡¯s territory with the rest of the group. It was a little difficult to stop Dahlia froming too, but Cordelia was able to persuade her in the end. [I don¡¯t think sleep magic is persuasion.] Melissa¡¯s point was valid, and Cordelia really didn¡¯t want to cast a spell on Dahlia, but she didn¡¯t have any choice. It would be too dangerous to take Dahlia to the empire. ¡®I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry. Dahlia.¡¯ Cordelia left a letter at the bedside of the sleeping Dahlia, asking her to take good care of their fief. She apologized to Dahlia again in her mind. [She¡¯ll be fine.] In fact, from Melissa¡¯s perspective, Dahlia seemed to be aware of it to some extent. That a huge skill gap had arisen between Cordelia and herself. Obviously, it wasn¡¯t only aboutbat power. Dahlia wanted to apany them despite knowing the difference in skill so that she could protect Cordelia and many other things. Anyway, it was an easy escape after leaving Dahlia behind. Jude, Cordelia, Lucas, and Kajsa formed pairs and rode on the Phantom Steeds while Red Wind and Sun Song rode on the Phoenix as they had done when they first came here. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± To the north. Even before the border blockade, Jude had already plotted several routes into the empire. Because the demon followers took notice of simple travelers who openly entered. So the group would disguise themselves and sneak in. In other words, Jude¡¯s n was to enter the empire illegally. ¡°We¡¯ll enter the empire via the wildnds.¡± The central area where the Ctes ins was located was under strict surveince, so it would be difficult to enter through there. Since the northern borders were also closed now, the general smuggling route couldn¡¯t be used, so they decided to try smuggling themselves from somewhere other than the kingdom. The border between the wildnds and the empire. They would follow the path Kan took when he entered the wildnds from the empire. ¡°Fake identities for us to use have been prepared by the Guardians of the Holy Cross once we cross over. We¡¯ll disguise ourselves as students of the Imperial Academy.¡± ¡°As a student of the Imperial Academy?¡± ¡°Yes, school uniforms and student IDs have also been prepared.¡± ¡°Wow, that¡¯s amazing. How did you get it?¡± Kajsa said in admiration, and Cordelia puffed her chest and snorted. ¡°As expected of my Jude.¡± [But how did you get it? Since when did you prepare?] Jude answered with a smile at her magic that followed after her spoken words. [Kan¡¯s help was great. He¡¯s a professor at the Imperial Academy. And I began preparing before we even went to the royal capital.] Because he knew that they would go the empire one day. [Do you remember that person? Fabian?] [Eh? Uh¡­ Ah! I remember! The transport dealer at Vedrfolnir!] [Yes, smuggling is Fabian¡¯s specialty in the first ce. So I made some preparations in advance. Kan and I exchanged letters through Fabian.] Just like always, my Jude is highly capable. He must have prepared this in the two months after returning from the wildnds and before heading to the royal capital. [I didn¡¯t do everything then.] He only did the preparations from time to time after that. But anyway, Cordelia thought that he was amazing, so she puffed out her chest a bit more. ¡®This is my Jude. There is no one else like my Jude, huh?¡¯ However, Lucas and Kajsa had already grown ustomed to this kind of thing, and Red Wind and Sun Song turned their gazes away at Cordelia¡¯s bragging. And around three dayster. After quickly traveling a distance that would normally take around a week, the group crossed the northern border that was guarded by the Jackdaws and entered the wildnds. ¡°Ha, it reminds me of the old days.¡± No matter how high the stamina and magic power of the party, they could not operate the Phantom Steeds and the Phoenix all day long. So they rested for about half a day, but Cordelia recalled the old days when she was preparing for camping in the wildnds. ¡®At that time, I really didn¡¯t know that our rtionship would be like this now.¡¯ She had a really slight suspicion of it though. In fact, this was somehow natural. Because the two were the only ones who had knowledge of their past lives and also the uing threat in the future. Even now, the only person in this world who clearly remembered and understood the person named Hong Yoo Hee was Jude. Cordelia herself was the only one who remembered and understood the person named Kang Jin-ho, though it was only a part of it. ¡®Come to think of it, I know very little about him.¡¯ Perhaps Jude¡¯s doing this on purpose, but he rarely talks about his past life. What I learned was that his name was Kang Jin-ho and he has a foreign teacher named Alexei, I think? ¡®What in the world was my Jude¡¯s job?¡¯ He must have been someone like a spy or a soldier. He knew how to make bombs and also travelled around the world. ¡®He¡¯s like aic character.¡¯ The very fact that we got reincarnated into the world of the game is strange though. ¡°So unnie, what did you want to ask about?¡± As she was snickering alone, Red Wind approached and spoke to her. Because she had told Red Wind that they should talk once their camp preparations were over. ¡°Eh? Uh¡­ You see¡­¡± Cordelia¡¯s words trailed off before she nced around and grabbed Red Wind¡¯s hand, leading her to a ce with no people. Kajsa who was looking their way also slowly followed them, but it was only Jude, Lucas, and Sun Song that Cordelia were avoiding in the first ce, so she let Kajsa follow them. ¡®Or rather, I would be more embarrassed if Kajsa isn¡¯t here.¡¯ Cordelia slightly blushed and guided them to a ce that she had seen earlier. They sat down as Red Wind tilted her head, not understanding the situation. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Cordelia pretended not to see Kajsa sneaking up on them, and she wiggled her fingers and said to Red Wind. ¡°Uh, Red Wind.¡± ¡°Yes, unnie.¡± Cordelia became more embarrassed when Red Wind smiled innocently, so she eventually chose to whisper instead of speaking out loud. Whisper, whisper. However, Kajsa was more of a beast than Cordelia in terms of physical abilities alone, so she heard their whispers and blushed with an awkward expression. On the other hand, Red Wind was snickering. ¡°Unnie, you¡¯re curious of sex.¡± ¡°W-well¡­¡± You¡¯re the only one I can ask. Since¡­ I¡¯ll do it with Jude someday. Adelia-unnie and Dahlia are definitely a pass. It will be hard for Maja, so pass. Then all that¡¯s left is Kajsa but¡­ ¡°Kajsa has never done it before, but her taste is strange.¡± ¡°HEY! HEYYY! What do you mean I¡¯ve never done it! Huh? What do you mean?¡± ¡°Have you done it then?¡± When Cordelia asked her with a sour expression, Kajsa responded with a defeated expression. ¡°I don¡¯t have a strange taste¡­ Bondage is just something nice¡­¡± Cordelia ignored Kajsa¡¯s mutterings and asked Red Wind again who was snickering from finding the situation to be interesting. ¡°It¡¯s just, uh¡­ J-just¡­ Uh¡­ Just¡­. Can you tell me a bit about it?¡± Red Wind¡¯s experience. After all, she was the only married woman in the group. ¡°Okay. I will tell you.¡± But the truth was, Red Wind was also embarrassed to talk about it, so her lips quivered and it took her some time before she spoke. Cordelia and Kajsa swallowed hard as they waited in nervousness. ¡°So¡­¡± Red Wind¡¯s story began, and Cordelia and Kajsa were introduced to a new world. *** ¡°B-beast.¡± (Red Wind) ¡°Hmm?¡± (Sun Song) Sun Song was watching the bonfire and tilted his head at the sudden and unusual gaze of the female group. ¡°Eueueu, my gosh.¡± (Kajsa) ¡°Aplete beast.¡± (Red Wind) ¡°What about Lucas?¡± (Kajsa) ¡°Definitelycking.¡± (Red Wind) ¡°How do you know that?¡± (Kajsa) ¡°You can tell by just looking at him.¡± (Red Wind) As Red Wind and Kajsa chatted, Cordelia looked towards Jude and her cheeks blushed again when she saw him studying the map with a serious expression. Gulp. Red Wind¡¯s story. The various things described by Red Wind. ¡°Melissa, Melissa.¡± [Oh, you finally talked to me.] It had been a while so Melissa spoke sarcastically, but Cordelia ignored it. Cordelia tightly held Moonlight with a red face and whispered softly. ¡°My Jude is better than Sun Song, right?¡± [That¡¯s a groundless belief.] ¡°Whyyyy. He¡¯s Jude.¡± [Then why don¡¯t you use magic? It¡¯s a magic that lets you see through things.] ¡°Huh?¡± At Melissa¡¯s suggestion, Cordelia blushed once more and nodded her head. She stealthily used magic because the magic to see through things was quite embarrassing. It let her see the body shape, the size of anything, and so on. ¡°L-lies.¡± Right after she used magic, the bewildered Jude turned her way so Cordelia quickly turned around and took a deep breath as she pressed down on her chest with both hands. Because her heart had began to beat like crazy. If I add the story of Red Wind to the result of the Ultrasonic magic¡­ Cordelia unconsciously looked back at Moonlight and squatted down as she covered her face with both hands. She couldn¡¯t control her imagination that had begun to go wild. And the next morning. Red Wind and Sun Song left the party and headed to thend of Golden Dragon King, which was a big city in the center of the wildnds. It was to help the party by leading the forces of the wildnds into the empire. ¡°Be careful, unnie!¡± ¡°YEEES! I¡¯ll be careful! I will!¡± After exchanging greetings that sounded slightly different to Kajsa, the group crossed the wildnds and headed for the empire. T/N: Kajsa understood ¡®be careful¡¯ in a sexual sense. And a few dayster. ¡®Valencia-nim.¡¯ [Yes, my sessor.] ¡®Aren¡¯t Cordelia and Kajsa looking at me a bit strangely these past few days?¡¯ [I think so. Anyway, my sessor, have you thought about what I said?] What she wanted to talk about then. While Cordelia and Kajsa were having a conversation about such things with Red Wind, Jude was having a rather serious talk with Valencia. The topic that Valencia raised was his purpose for fighting. His reason for fighting. In fact, he gave an immediate answer to that. To prevent the world from destruction. To survive. However, Valencia was not satisfied with his answer. She told him to think about it a little more. She said that once they had entered the empire, he wouldn¡¯t have the time to think about it seriously. [Think about it slowly. My sessor, what is fighting for you? What is your goal and desire?] Valencia did not know about Jude¡¯s past life. But there was something poignant with her words. It made Jude look back on his days as Kang Jin-ho without realizing it. The turbulent life of Kang Jin-ho that began as a child soldier, or to be exact, a human shield. Everything that happened when he met Alexei and many other people, and of the time he left them. He felt his chest tighten. After ying the game with Cordelia for nearly five years, he thought that he had forgotten his past memories, but in fact, he merely covered it up. So Jude couldn¡¯t easilye up with an answer. Because the obvious fact that he fought to survive gave him a very vague feeling. [It¡¯s better not to rush. So don¡¯t be in a hurry and find an answer that you can understand yourself, my sessor.] Jude nodded at Valencia¡¯s words and thought again. Before he knew it, he saw the border between the wildnds and the empire. ¡®As expected, it¡¯s different from the northern region.¡¯ The wildnds had fiercely fought with the S?len Kingdom, but surprisingly, they didn¡¯t fight against the empire. The reason was simple. Thends of the empire that were adjacent to the wildnds were barren, so even the barbarians of the wildnds did not desire it. ¡®The road is rough at times.¡¯ The border between the empire and the wildnds was a harsh ce where ordinary humans would likely die upon traversing, but Kan was a dwarf who had good physical strength in the first ce, so he was able to travel to the wildnds despite having a strong bad luck. Of course, it was an easy area for Jude¡¯s party who were equipped with various kinds of items and magic. ¡°Once we¡¯ve reached the empire bynd, we¡¯ll cross Asain Pass and head to the Imperial Academy.¡± ¡°Huh? Uh, yes. Yes, yes, yes.¡± Jude narrowed his brows again at Cordelia¡¯s reply from behind him. Because Cordelia had been acting really suspicious for the past few days. ¡®Suspicious.¡¯ She seemed to be subtly avoiding Jude. She wouldn¡¯t make eye contact and her face turned red more often than usual. ¡®I think it¡¯s because of Red Wind.¡¯ What the hell did you two talk about? It seems like her imagination switch has been turned on. In any case, the party entered the empire more easily than they had imagined, and after recalling the Phantom Steeds, they walked on their own feet and entered the pass. ¡°This is the empire, but I don¡¯t feel it yet.¡± Lucas spoke with a restless face, and Kajsa also nodded. ¡°But well, do people live here? After all, the road here looks really good for bandits. I¡¯ve never met bandits before, but won¡¯t they appear here?¡± At the time when Kajsa was talking with a carefree voice. ¡°HELP! Help me!¡± A young girl came running from the top of the pass, and she seemed to be crying and running away. She was wearing pretty good clothes, but some parts were dirty and torn as if she had rolled here and there. ¡°Lady! This way!¡± Lucas shouted instinctively, and the girl turned their way and ran as if she had barely survived. ¡°H-help me. Help me.¡± She was a very pretty girl up close. Herrge ears that were characteristic of a cat beastkin were protruding through her ck hair, and there was even a red ribbon tied to her long tail on her back. ¡°My group, my group to the bandits. I¡¯m the only one who ran away¡­ Hic. Save them, please. Save them, huhu¡­ My sister.¡± As the girl barely continued to talk, Lucas looked up the pass and immediately expressed his anger while Kajsa also turned her eyes away with an angry face. ¡°We¡¯ll save them. Can you tell us where to go?¡± ¡°There, over there. I¡¯ll guide you. Huhu.¡± Lucas was deeply moved when the girl offered to guide them even though she was trembling in fear. Kajsa also looked at the girl with great admiration. As for the other two. Jude and Cordelia looked at each other and said with their eyes. ¡®Wow, amazing acting.¡¯ ¡®As expected of Kirara.¡¯ There was a high chance of meeting her around here due to the timing, but the butterfly effect worked so much that they didn¡¯t expect that she would appear like this. It truly was Kirara. ¡®It¡¯s a trap, right?¡¯ ¡®The masked bandits must be waiting to ambush us.¡¯ ¡®Are they trying to steal our weapons?¡¯ ¡®They¡¯ll be casting curse magic. Oh, she just tried to stab him with a poisoned needle.¡¯ Given that Kirara was acting like a bait rather than acting as the leader, she seemed to be working under Mountain King. ¡°Lord Jude! Hurry up!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± The innocent Lucas and Kajsa shouted, and the cat beastkin girl, Kirara, looked at Jude and Cordelia with tearful blue eyes. Will you help? Will you? In Legend of Heroes 2, Kirara was a master of betrayal who betrayed people when she was bored. Therefore, Jude and Cordelia exchanged nces and smiled. They did in real life what they always wanted to do in the game. ¡°Kirara! Good job! You¡¯ve infiltrated the Mountain King¡¯s group and did well!¡± ¡°As expected of Kirara! You let the bandits prepare their ambush in the trap we set up in advance, right? It¡¯s working!¡± Jude and Cordelia both shouted, and Lucas and Kajsa blinked their eyes while Kirara was speechless in her confusion. Eh? What did you just say? ¡°Yeah! As expected of Kirara!¡± ¡°You did a great job infiltrating!¡± When Jude and Cordelia shouted again as though they wanted everyone to hear it, Lucas asked in bewilderment. ¡°Uh, is she¡­ an acquaintance?¡± ¡°She is. This is our agent who secretly infiltrated in order to capture Mountain King.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± Your agent? Lucas wasn¡¯t the only one who was bewildered by the sudden situation. Kirara looked back as she sweated profusely. She was good at acting as a bait, but Mountain King¡¯s men were monitoring her. ¡°T-that is¡­ You¡¯re misunderstanding something¡­¡± Who is your agent! How do you know my real name?! And it was at that moment. ¡°¡± Cordelia had scanned their surroundings with magic and fired two magic missiles at the same time towards the bushes. ¡°AAAH!¡± ¡°Sh*t!¡± The two men who had been hiding in the bushes hurriedly escaped the magic and revealed themselves. Both of them were dog beastkin, but looking at the scimitar on their waists, they seemed to be subordinates of Mountain King. ¡°Kirara! You betrayed us!¡± When one of the dog beastkins shouted at her, the frightened Kirara quickly shook her hands and yelled. ¡°N-NO! I haven¡¯t betrayed you yet!¡± ¡°Yet?¡± ¡°HIIIIEE!¡± Because she was thinking of betraying Mountain King someday. Despite being a master of betrayal, Kirara wasn¡¯t good at ending her betrayal well. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s beat them up!¡± Because bandits were bandits. Kajsa instantly jumped like an angry tiger and threw her chain towards a nearby dog beastkin. ¡°AAAH!¡± When the chain quickly tightened around the dog beastkin¡¯s body as though it was a living snake, Kajsa exerted her strength again to swing the chain. After hurling down the beaten dog beastkin to the ground, she tried to hit the other one who had suddenly turned around and ran away. ¡°Wait, stop!¡± But Cordelia shouted at that moment and stopped Kajsa. ¡°Why?!¡± [We have a n!] Once Cordelia responded with magic, she turned to Kirara who screamed at them in annoyance. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you catching him! We have to catch them all!¡± There was no need for her to shout, but she couldn¡¯t help it due to the urgent situation. And at that Kirara, Cordelia shook her head and used magic as if she had no choice but to do so. [Hey, we can¡¯t catch them all. We must let him run away and tell Mountain King that Kirara betrayed him.] ¡°EEEEK!¡± Are you a demon?! ¡°Anyway, we caught you.¡± Kirara had been caught. Jude grabbed the neck of Kirara from behind as he said with a smirk to her who was trying to escape while they were talking. ¡°You¡¯re lucky.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± While Lucas and Kajsa were asking for an exnation, Jude and Cordelia looked at the stunned Kirara before they turned to each other and revealed their dark smiles. Chapter 289: Illegal Entry into the Empire (2)

Chapter 289: Illegal Entry into the Empire (2)

Reallyte post. Punishing Gray Raven just got released yesterday, so I spent most of the time ying it, hahaha. Kirara. A girl with a different name despite being from the wildnds where people were usually named with abination of intuitive words like Red Wind or Sun Song. Because she was a beastkin by birth. Only a few people in the wildnds were pure human descendants. Most of them were mixed-blood elves, dwarves, or orcs, but there were also a few mixed-race beastkin that came from the beastkin races in the western region of the empire. Although there were a lot of beastkin in the western region of the empire, the reason why the mixed-race beastkin were a minority in the wildnds was because of the barbarians¡¯ origin. Most barbarians were descendants of ancient races that fled to the north in order to escape the invasion of the overlords of Hell, or were descendants of Magen, the magic kingdom of the elves that was located in the wildnds. Since the descendants of these ancient races were already settled in the wildnds by that time, the mixed-raced beastkin who came from the empire ended up bing the minority. Most of the beastkin who dared to leave the empire and migrate to the wildnds were criminals. Therefore, beastkin were often ostracized in the wildnds, and Kirara was someone who was even ostracized by her fellow beastkin. Because she was an orphan, a child of a family whose parents both died after having been caught stealing. ¡®From an early age, she had an ufortable life being attentive to other people¡¯s remarks and behavior while not expressing her thoughts.¡¯ In fact, Kirara was a despised character when one yed other characters¡¯ routes, but she was also famous for making one¡¯s eyes moist when one yed her route. ¡®Of course, that¡¯s only for a short time as you¡¯ll get mad at her again if you take another character route.¡¯ Because she was a habitual betrayer. One could have a touching and genuine friendship with her, or a proper master and ve rtionship, but right after a certain event, she would stab you in the back and run away, so it was quite shocking. Fortunately, she was unlike Keynes, the viin-like character of Legend of Heroes 2, as she wouldn¡¯t stab you at a really critical moment. Most of the events would have her running away secretly without anything in hand, or running away with expensive stuff. ¡®In the first ce, she ran away at night from the beginning of her scenario.¡¯ The first major event of the Kirara route was to run away after robbing the house of the vige chief who usually abused and treated her like a ve. ¡®After that, the world fell into chaos while she was heading to the empire and collecting money by repeated stealing and betrayal.¡¯ As anyone could tell at this point, Kirara was a character who slightly deviated from the game¡¯s main scenario. Among the yable characters who fought for a cause, such as Red Wind and Kajsa who fought to restore their hometowns, Jude and Lucas who lost everything and fought the demon followers in their vengeance, and Maximilian and Leon who fought to protect the imperial family and restore peace, she was a character who lived for the sole purpose of survival. ¡°Hiiiiieee¡­¡± When Kirara was grabbed by Jude at the back of her neck, she made a crying sound with her ears and tail hanging down, so she looked really pitiful. A kind of look that stimted one¡¯s protective instincts. But Jude and Cordelia were not easily fooled. Because they knew that Kirara was skilled in pretending to be sick or pitiful. ¡°Lord Jude, what¡¯s going on?¡± What did he mean by an agent sent to catch Mountain King? Who was Mountain King in the first ce? ¡°Is he like the king of bandits? So he¡¯s the mountain king? Hmm, that¡¯s possible¡­¡± Kajsa answered her own question as her eyes glistened with interest, and Cordelia added. ¡°Mountain King is the king of bandits. He¡¯s a tiger beastkin who caused trouble in the far west side of the empire, and he¡¯s quite powerful.¡± He was a figure simr to Gamorr Khan who led the ck Hand Mercenaries in the S?len Kingdom. ¡°Why that person though? Does this have something to do with the Guardians of the Holy Cross?¡± At Lucas¡¯ question, Jude nodded his head. ¡°Yes. There are rumors that Mountain King and the demon followers were in contact, so an agent from the empire was sent to spy on the situation and verify its authenticity¡­ Though it¡¯s more like they hired a local to be exact.¡± As Jude spoke seriously, Lucas and Kajsa didn¡¯t even doubt him a bit. They nodded their heads and even said things like, ¡®I see, so that¡¯s what happened.¡¯ Though from Kirara¡¯s perspective, he was crazy. ¡®What?¡¯ Who was hired by whom? Did I have some split personality who woke up while I was sleeping and secretly made a contract? Kirara had a lot of things she wanted to say but couldn¡¯t say because she was seriously afraid of Jude¡¯s hand holding her neck. ¡°But why did you do that earlier? Why did you openly reveal her identity when you had her work hard in infiltrating?¡± Because Mountain King¡¯s subordinates would have been watching them earlier. In response to Kajsa¡¯s question, Jude turned to Kirara and continued. ¡°I suspected that she has betrayed us.¡± Kirara was taken aback by Jude¡¯s words. There was no betrayal since they never even had a rtionship in the first ce, but she unknowingly reacted to the word ¡®betrayed¡¯ because she had been stabbing people in the back for some time. Seeing that Kirara¡¯s tail stiffened and she began to tremble, Kajsa touched her chin and spoke. ¡°So she¡¯s what was that again¡­ Ah, that¡¯s right, a double agent. Are you saying that she became a double agent or something?¡± ¡°Yes, that is correct.¡± She infiltrated Mountain King¡¯s base, but rather than spying on them, she ended up bing Mountain King¡¯s dog. It was a false usation from Kirara¡¯s perspective, but Jude¡¯s party believed his words to the point that if he said that sun would rise from the west tomorrow, they would believe him. Lucas then spoke in a convinced tone as if he finally understood. ¡°I see. If that¡¯s the case, your talk earlier was to block her route of betrayal.¡± ¡°Oh my. Our Lucas is smart?¡± When Kajsa gave Lucas a shoulder hug and praised him, Lucas blushed like a pure boy and cleared his throat. ¡°Look how shy you are.¡± Kajsa giggled again and slightly tightened her shoulder hug before she gave Lucas a peck on the cheek and let go of her hug. Even though Kajsa was three years older, she was fond of Lucas. ¡°Anyway, she¡¯s a traitor?¡± Kajsa¡¯s gaze turned vicious. Unlike Lucas who had yet to experience betrayal in his life, she grew up in the southern region of the kingdom where the fights among the families were fierce, so she had seen many traitors since her childhood. ¡®No, I¡¯m not a traitor. I haven¡¯t betrayed anyone yet!¡¯ I¡¯ve thought of betraying him someday, but I haven¡¯t done it yet! Kirara looked pitiful as she trembled and her shoulders drooped. It made Jude want to trouble her more. ¡®No, let¡¯s stop.¡¯ Jude came to his senses and shook his head before he organized his thoughts again. To start with, there were two reasons why Jude was holding Kirara by the neck even if he was overdoing it. One was the fact that Kirara was unlikely to survive under Mountain King. She might be Kirara, but judging by the fact that she was wearing a ne with explosive magic on it without her knowing it, she already had something close to a death g. ¡®Is this the butterfly effect on the imperial side?¡¯ In the game¡¯s storyline, she wasn¡¯t treated like this at this point. The reason why Jude held Kirara¡¯s neck so tightly was to prevent those who were watching from activating the magic to kill Kirara. ¡®Use the energy of the ck dragon to destroy the magic.¡¯ Jude had never done it before, but he had gotten strong enough to do it. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± After clearing his throat for a bit, Jude looked down at Kirara again. The second reason why he saved Kirara. Kirara had talent. It wasn¡¯t just about her ability to easily make anyone fawn over her because she was small and cute, or her perfect acting skills that lured in people. ¡®What do you think?¡¯ ¡®Yes, I think her talent had bloomed.¡¯ Jude smiled at Cordelia¡¯s reply via her gaze. Among the 11 yable characters of Legend of Heroes 2, only Kirara had that talent. Kirara had the talent to be a monster tamer. During her childhood, Kirara went to the mountains to find herbs under the orders of the vige chief and almost died after meeting a monster. But she was saved by an unknown man, and from that day onwards, she strangely awakened her talent as a monster tamer. She clearly didn¡¯t know the extent of her talent¡¯s capabilities, so she only used this talent tomunicate with animals. Thus, Kirara was able to form a one-man army and grew up in a different sense from the other yable characters. ¡®Kirara never betrayed the monsters she tamed.¡¯ If one considered that, she wasn¡¯tpletely evil. But she wasn¡¯t called a ¡®chaotic good¡¯ for no reason. In any case, Kirara was a very useful person even if she didn¡¯t create a monster army. He would be able to give her a variety of tasks once she couldmunicate with animals, and monster taming also had a so-called cheat route. ¡®Ghost taming.¡¯ The biggest disadvantage of monster tamers was the fact that they had to bring along their monsters with them, so in the case of big and strong monsters, it was difficult to bring them along. No city allowed monsters to enter. But ghosts were different. They were easy to hide, and even if one had many of them, there were no problems in food or housing expenses. ¡®The problem is that Kirara is deathly afraid of ghosts.¡¯ So it was a hidden cheat route. ¡®Well, even if she¡¯s scared of ghosts, it will be fine if we calm and appease her.¡¯ Rather, their problem was betrayal. How would they prevent Kirara from betraying them? There was an option to put a bomb on her neck and threaten her just like what Mountain King did, but Jude didn¡¯t prefer that. Or rather, it was more than a matter of preference. Because Kang Jin-ho had actually worn a bomb ne before. ¡®Hmm, as I thought, there¡¯s only one way to solve this.¡¯ A way he had already briefly discussed with Cordelia. ¡°Lord Lucas and Kajsa. We¡¯ll be talking to her for a while.¡± Jude said that, and Cordelia walked closer to Jude. ¡°I understand.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s fine since it¡¯s rted to the Guardians of the Holy Cross.¡± Lucas and Kajsa quickly understood, so Cordelia and Jude moved towards the bushes while still holding Kirara. ¡°Huhu, huhu. Spare me. Spare me.¡± As soon as they entered a shaded ce, the scared Kirara immediately began crying and begging. If he released his hand from her neck, she would most likely prostrate herself and lick his feet. The warmhearted Cordelia knew that Kirara was a master betrayer in Legend of Heroes 2, but she unconsciously felt sorry for Kirara. However, Jude was different. While holding Kirara¡¯s slender neck, he made her turn around gently, holding the front of her neck instead of her nape so that he could see her face-to-face. ¡°Huhu, huu.¡± I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m very sorry. Please spare me. I¡¯ll do anything if you spare me. Her blue eyes were filled with tears and her pleading thoughts. Jude opened the space expansion bag in front of Kirara¡¯s eyes and said. ¡°Kirara, I¡¯ll be blunt with you. I will pay you, so work for us from now on.¡± ¡°¡­Eh?¡± ¡°We want to hire you.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Kirara stopped crying and blinked her eyes. ¡°You want to hire me?¡± ¡°Yes, I want you to work for us from now on.¡± Kirara immediately looked moved by Jude¡¯s words, but inside, she was thinking of something else. ¡®I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on, but they need my help!¡¯ If that was the truth, she would ept it. She would make enough money and then run away. At the time when Kirara was having thoughts of betrayal and was about to nod her head despite her neck being held. ¡°This is the down payment for now.¡± Having said that, Jude abruptly pulled out a money pouch from the space expansion bag. A big money pouch. Maybe there¡¯s a lot of copper coins there? Or maybe it¡¯s silver coins? I hope it¡¯s silver coins. Jude read Kirara¡¯s reaction and had a dark smile as if it had gone ording to n. He then opened the pouch. ¡°Wha-¡± At that moment, Kirara was so surprised that she stopped breathing. She couldn¡¯t help it. Because there were many gold coins inside. ¡°I-is this real?¡± ¡°It is.¡± ¡°I pledge my loyalty! Please let me do it!¡± Yay! I¡¯ll grab that and run! It was the time when Kirara thought that. ¡°Here¡¯s another pouch.¡± Again, it was a pouch full of gold coins. ¡°Huaaak.¡± This is so good! I thought my life was about to end, but it was my lucky day! If I grab that and run away, my life will be~ ¡°And one more pouch.¡± ¡°HIIIE?!¡± W-wait a minute. Three bags of gold? You¡¯re giving me three? I have to b-be-betray them. I have to grab it and e-escape. ¡°And one more.¡± ¡°Aaaaack¡­ aack¡­¡± Kirara staggered as she nkly stared from mental shock. And Jude fired thest shot with a whisper to Kirara¡¯s big cat ears. ¡°I¡¯ll give it to you again next month.¡± ¡°W-wh-wha¡­¡± Kirara waspletely defeated. She erased the word ¡®betray¡¯ from her mind. ¡°I belong to my master from now on. Master, you may do as you please. I will serve you with all my heart and strength!¡± Kirara¡¯s eyes sparkled with loyalty. Betray. Yes, betray. It¡¯s the only way for me to survive in this life. It¡¯s how I, Kirara, have lived in this world! Are you trying to break my faith with money?! I can¡¯t! Betrayal is the creed of my life! What exactly do you see me as! ¡­But it¡¯s too much money to say no. ¡°This Kirara is your loyal servant!¡± Look into my eyes. Can¡¯t you see the words ¡®loyalty¡¯ in it? Seeing Kirara wag her tail and turn into the so-called dog mode, Jude and Cordelia looked at each other and realized a truth of the world again. If you tried to do something with money and it didn¡¯t work, then it meant that you didn¡¯t have enough money in the first ce. But if it was money, Jude and Cordelia were overflowing with it. Moreover, it was impossible to hire Kirara for a long period of time. [And we have to take as much as we give.] Because there was no such thing as free lunch in this world. Jude had a dark smile again and Cordelia liked it as she widely smiled. [As expected of my Jude. I like a man who¡¯s good in making things work!] In any case, Jude, Cordelia, and Kajsa were satisfied when the negotiations were over, and Kirara spoke with a very obedient expression. ¡°Master, are we going to hunt Mountain King from now on?¡± She had thought that from the context of the situation. Moreover, Jude and Cordelia had the scent of strong people. The reason that Kirara had lived a good life after her constant betrayals was because she was good at smelling strong people, and the smell from these two were stronger than that of Mountain King. ¡®So let¡¯s kill him. I¡¯m scared of that guy.¡¯ She would be marked as a traitor by Mountain King because of her new masters. Therefore, Kirara wanted to get rid of Mountain King and any repercussions. But Jude shook his head. ¡°No, now is not the time.¡± It had been almost a week since the empire closed their borders. This was not the time to take it easy and beat up bandits. They had to quickly meet Kan and set out on their next task, which was to ascertain the situation in the empire. ¡°W-what about Mountain King? He must be preparing for a fight now.¡± ¡°It¡¯s more convenient then. Now that they¡¯ve heard the name of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, wouldn¡¯t they ready their base for defense?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right. So now is our chance to pass through this ce.¡± There was a saying ¡®he who touches pitch shall be defiled therewith.¡¯ Having been already tainted by Jude, Cordelia began to naturally talk on how to screw over Mountain King. Afterwards, she reached out her hand to Kirara. ¡°Umm, anyway, nice to meet you. I¡¯m Cordelia August Chase. You can just call me Cordelia-unnie.¡± Because Kirara was only fifteen now. ¡°N-nice to meet you too.¡± Kirara hesitated before grabbing Cordelia¡¯s hand, and Cordelia giggled softly before tightly hugging Kirara. ¡®How nice.¡¯ As expected of Cordelia. Kirara¡¯s been moved. June grinned before he turned to the northeast. They had been lucky today, but they still had a lot of work to do. ¡®Let¡¯s head to the Imperial Academy first.¡¯ Towards the empire¡¯s capital where Leon and Maximilian were staying. Jude and Cordelia quickened their steps. Chapter 290-291: Meeting (1)

Chapter 290-291: Meeting (1)

Double chapter to make up for yesterday. And since Inazuma will be released in Genshin on Wednesday, expect a dy in chapters for this week. I changed ¡®Institutional Academy¡¯ into ¡®Ind Academy¡¯ because episode 290 said that its name is based on an ind. Terms used in these episodes: Closed Door Training ¨C Usually seen in cultivation or murim fiction novels where training is done in seclusion in order to focus on breaking through a bottleneck, or to avoid bing distracted at a crucial moment and suffering a bacsh as a result. ¨C Source: Wuxiaworld After passing through Asain Pass, the party continued to the east and headed for Manaple, the academy city where the Imperial Academy was located. It was not easy to enter apletely unfamiliar foreign country and visit a city one had never been to before, but for Jude and Cordelia who were rotten waters of Legend of Heroes 2, the empire was as familiar as the kingdom. Moreover, the empire used themonnguage of the continent like the kingdom, so there was no linguistic difficulty. ¡°But I¡¯m a little hesitant to talk. Isn¡¯t the pronunciation a bit different from ours?¡± Kajsa said and stretched her neck as they had been riding in a carriage for an hour. She was usually bold, but after entering the empire, she was surprisingly acting so calm and cautious as though she was intimidated by the atmosphere of a foreign country. Seeing Kajsa feeling relieved while she fanned with her hands as though she had been sweating, Lucas unconsciously smiled. ¡°What? Why are you smiling?¡± ¡°No, well¡­ it¡¯s just a little surprising.¡± Until they had crossed Asain Pass, Kajsa was clinging to Lucas and telling him to look over here and there, saying that the shape of the mountain was somehow different from that of the kingdom and so on. But right after they crossed the pass and began to see the empire, shepletely shut her mouth. ¡°Lucas, you¡¯ve grown up, huh? Are you making fun of me?¡± Kajsa said a little threateningly, but even though they were in a carriage, she was acting quite different from usual because they were in the empire. After all, her face was red in embarrassment. ¡°Uh, yes, kind of.¡± ¡°Oh, so you did?¡± Lucas had a nonchnt smile instead of saying anything else, and Kajsa pouted and grumbled. And Cordelia, who was watching the two, quickly pulled Jude¡¯s sleeve. [Jude, Jude. Are those two¡­ Perhaps?] [¡­No way, is it Lucas x Kajsa this time?] [I think it¡¯s Kajsa x Lucas?] [What¡¯s the difference?] Didn¡¯t you just change the name order? [No, there¡¯s a big difference, okay? This is a matter that can start wars, okay?] [I don¡¯t understand what you¡¯re saying. Anyway, they suit each other.] [Isn¡¯t it? They are, they are, right? Kajsa¡¯s gap moe is cute, and Lucas is quite versatile. You can pair him with anyone. So you can say that he¡¯s versatile, right?] [Excuse me, they¡¯re all real people now, okay?] [What do you mean? Anyway, I hope it works out.] [Haven¡¯t you paired him with Scarlet before?] Before that, it was Red Wind. [In fact, there¡¯s something I¡¯m looking forward to. Now that we¡¯re in the empire, we can meet Scarlet, right? No, we¡¯ll definitely meet, so it¡¯s going to be a love triangle¡­] [Do you like love triangles?] [I just like to see it. Just see it.] Cordelia said with a smile, and Jude nodded as he looked back at his sleeve that had begun to wrinkle from being held. And it was at that moment. ¡°What¡¯s going on? Are you two having some secret conversation?¡± Having been flustered with her conversation with Lucas, Kajsa interrupted Jude and Cordelia to change the subject, so Cordelia said with a smirk. ¡°Yes, we were. We were talking about how unnie is always by Lucas¡¯ side. And how unnie would understand whoever Lucas will choose.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Hehe.¡± Cordelia smiled again and looked at Lucas and Kajsa before saying. ¡°Anyway, do both of you feel ufortable here in the empire?¡± ¡°Not really, I¡¯m a little nervous but I can still talk¡­ because everything seems to be normal?¡± When Kajsa replied first, Lucas nodded his head and answered with a serious expression. ¡°We¡¯re still on the outskirts but¡­ I¡¯m d I don¡¯t feel the atmosphere of war. At least it doesn¡¯t feel like war is imminent.¡± They wereughing and chatting, but now that the border blockade had been imposed, the empire was their enemy. Moreover, the party had illegally entered into such an enemy country. ¡°I see, I¡¯m d to hear that.¡± Jude replied with ease, but in fact, it was too early to be relieved. In the first ce, Asain Pass was in the empire¡¯s outskirts, and this area was not region that had proper borders with the kingdom. The real atmosphere of the empire was unknown until they entered the border area or in the vicinity of the inds. ¡®Still, he¡¯s not entirely wrong.¡¯ If war was really imminent, the clouds of war would have gathered no matter how far the ce was. ¡®I didn¡¯t expect that Kan will be our lifeline here.¡¯ The existence of Kan, a trusted coborator of theirs within the empire, was very precious now since they could not properlymunicate with the Guardians of the Holy Cross in the empire. ¡®Is he doing well?¡¯ He may have bad luck, but he¡¯s strong. At the time when Jude unknowingly smiled as he remembered Kan¡¯s kind smile despite his hardships. Tok-tok. There was a knock on the carriage door, and the door soon swung open, revealing Kirara. ¡°Master! Master! The carriage will now be leaving!¡± As Kajsa had said, there were some pronunciation differences between the western region of the empire and the kingdom even though they spoke the samemonnguage. Therefore, Kirara, who could be a local, was in charge of their group¡¯s various transactions with the imperial people, including carriage procurement. ¡°Okay, we understand. Good job. Come over here and sit down.¡± ¡°Yes! Master!¡± When Cordelia smiled and beckoned her, Kirara entered the carriage and sat right next to Cordelia with a smile. She looked very cute as her eyes seemed to say ¡®Please praise me, I did well, right? Master is so nice!¡¯ ¡°Yes, yes, you did a really good job.¡± ¡°Hehehe.¡± At Cordelia¡¯spliment, Kirara shyly smiled and fiddled with her tail before she pushed her head towards Cordelia. What that meant. Cordelia was not quite as much as Kajsa, the original beast girl who immediately noticed what it meant, but she did understand so she stroked Kirara¡¯s head. Kirara wagged her tail with an expression as if she was the happiest in the world. ¡®The power of money is amazing.¡¯ Kirara was a traitor. A scammer would recognize a fellow scammer. But even in the eyes of Jude, Kirara did not have any ulterior motives. In short, she was not acting. ¡®Well, it¡¯s not just money.¡¯ Kirara was an actual orphan. Moreover, she was themon property of the vige and abused by the vige chief, so she had never received any proper affection in her life until now. A child of filthy thieves, a liar, and a betrayer. Besides, she had been working for Mountain King until recently. Thus, Kirara became chronically deprived of affection. But right now, a person who could solve herck of affection had appeared. ¡°You really did well. You¡¯re good. You did a good job. You¡¯repetent.¡± ¡°A-a little more.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Praise me more¡­¡± ¡°Yes, yes, why not? Because you really did well. Because you did a great job. And you¡¯ll do a better job in the future, right?¡± Cordelia said that and hugged her tightly, and tears welled up in Kirara¡¯s eyes. It was the like the embrace of a mother whom she couldn¡¯t even properly remember now. Moreover, Kirara was quick-witted, so she was able to understand it clearly. Cordelia¡¯s affection was unconditional. She had no interest in taking advantage of Kirara, abusing her, or building a good impression before betraying herter. It was really just a giving of pure affection. It was definitely not the first time Kirara had experienced this kind of situation. But she had never met anyone who treated her like this despite knowing who she was and what she had done in the past. So Kirara faced Cordelia and tightly hugged back. Instead of expressing into words her feelings that were hard to articte, she simply longed for the warmth of Cordelia. And Jude had a bitter smile upon seeing that. Because it was absolutely impossible for Jude to do what Cordelia did. [Is it really impossible?] ¡®Valencia-nim?¡¯ At the time when Jude wondered about her sudden question. The carriage began running as Kirara had said, andte in the afternoon the next day, the party arrived at Manaple, the academy city where Kan was waiting. *** ¡°So why is this an academy city? Is the whole city an academy?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s an academy city because it was developed around an academy. Manaple Academy is smallpared to the Ind Academy, but it¡¯s a prestigious school with a long history and tradition.¡± It was a conversation between Kajsa and Lucas, and not Cordelia and Jude. Because unlike Kajsa who disliked reading books, Lucas had been studying things rted to the empire when they were still in the kingdom. ¡°Heh, really? So do you know what¡¯s delicious here?¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­ the specialties here are¡­¡± It was the moment when Lucas was thinking like that. ¡°Master, just trust this Kirara. I¡¯ll show you the fastest way.¡± Inside the academy city, horse-drawn carriages were not permitted unless specifically authorized. As a result, they had to walk with their own feet, but Kirara led them the moment she saw Kan¡¯s address. Even before she got caught by Mountain King, Kirara had been stealing around the western part of the continent, so she seemed confident in directions. ¡°Yes, yes, I¡¯ll only trust Kirara.¡± ¡°Hehehe.¡± Now, Kirara wouldugh if Cordelia just responded. In the game, that was unimaginable for Kirara who had so many thorns that she was called a hedgehog. (T/N: ¡®Many thorns¡¯ is an idiom which means to bear malice or discontent.) ¡°This way!¡± ¡°You may trip, so slow down. Shall we hold hands?¡± ¡°R-really?¡± ¡°Yes, really.¡± When Cordelia extended her hand, Kirara hesitated for a moment before she quickly reached out her hand. She seemed to like it very much given the fast wagging of her tail. ¡°But Lord Jude. Didn¡¯t you say that Professor Kan belonged to the Ind Academy and not the Manaple Academy?¡± ¡°Yes, he¡¯s still part of the Ind Academy. But as its name suggests, the Ind Academy is situated on an ind. We¡¯ve decided to meet at the Manaple Academy in the western region of the empire for easier contact.¡± Kan didn¡¯t change his workce as he simply took a vacation leave and was resting. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go. Those two have gone far already.¡± Having said that, Kajsa took the lead while Jude and Lucas looked around before moving forward. It certainly seemed that war was not going to break out in a few days as the atmosphere of war was still not raging in Manaple Academy City, just like in the vicinity of Asain Pass. The group walked for around twenty minutes. Once they arrived at a small house on the outskirts of the city, the group met a friendly face as soon as they knocked on the door. ¡°Jude! Lady Cordelia!¡± ¡°Long time no see, Kan.¡± ¡°I¡¯m d you¡¯re well. I was very worried about you at the sacred ce.¡± They had heard from Lena that he was okay, but they hadn¡¯t seen him in person. At Cordelia¡¯s words, Kan smiled and said. ¡°I do well despite my bad luck. I¡¯m d that the two of you are well.¡± After they warmly exchanged greetings, Cordelia said as she pointed to the group members one by one. ¡°This are my friends, Kajsa, Lucas, and Kirara.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Kajsa Ophand.¡± ¡°I am Lucas Hr?svelgr.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Kirara!¡± Unlike Kajsa and Lucas who showed respect with a slightly wary face, Kirara was very happy. Because Cordelia had called her a friend. ¡°Oh. I¡¯m Indiana Kan. Let¡¯s all go inside for now.¡± The group had a lot of people, so there was no need to stand by the front door and talk. Kan¡¯s house was small and simple, reflecting his personality, and it was very well organized. One could say that it broke themon stereotype of schr¡¯s homes being messy. In any case, after guiding the party to the living room and serving them some light refreshments, Kan took a deep breath and spoke to Jude in a low voice. ¡°Jude, I have something to tell you.¡± Jude couldn¡¯t help but be serious since Kan not only lowered his voice, but also called him out to the outside of the living room. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± By chance, is there a problem with the documents rted to the Ind Academy? Or something unexpected? ¡°Actually, there are guests who came before your group. They arrived this morning and came here because they wanted to meet you two and not me.¡± Jude¡¯s eyes turned sharp at Kan¡¯s words. Only a few people knew that they had illegally entered the empire. Or rather, it was only Kan from the very start who knew that they would be meeting in Manaple Academy City. So how did someone know that they were here? ¡°I was very surprised too. Moreover, those who came were¡­¡± Kan¡¯s words trailed off and he swallowed hard before looking at Jude and continuing his words. ¡°Anyway, it¡¯s not a trap or anything like that. Those who came are not hostile to you two. Rather, they seemed to want the help of you two.¡± The more Jude listened, the more he found it hard to understand. So Jude got straight to the point instead of talking in circles. ¡°Who in the world came?¡± Based on Kan¡¯s gestures, the first guests must be on the second floor. Kan took a deep breath before answering right away in a slightly shaky voice. ¡°They¡¯re guards from the imperial family.¡± *** People who guarded the empire¡¯s royal family. Also known as the Royal Knights. For Jude, the first thing that came to mind when he thinks of the Royal Knights were Maximilian de Avis and Leon Gadreel. At this point, both of them should be working as official knights of the Royal Knights, so perhaps it was those two that came. ¡®What happened?¡¯ What in the world happened if it really were Maximilian and Leon? Even if nothing happened, they were somehow fortunate to meet those two whom they had nned to meet at some point, but he felt reluctant because he couldn¡¯t understand the reason why. ¡®I think one of them is definitely Leon.¡¯ One of them was said to be wearing a helmet so Kan couldn¡¯t see that person¡¯s face, but the other was said to be a young man with blue eyes and long ck hair tied up, so Jude was very sure that it was Leon. ¡®Leon, Leon Gadreel.¡¯ A sword genius who could have be one of the Four Great Swordsmen in Pleaides if he had not died in the third episode of Legend of Heroes. ¡®Is he 23 now?¡¯ He was the second oldest of the yable characters, and a highly skilled person from the very beginning. If he had grown up following the game¡¯s storyline, he would have reached the strength of the Ga?l before eating the Essence of the Silver Moon, at least by now. ¡®Perhaps he¡¯s close to the great swordmasters level.¡¯ Back then, the rotten waters deliberated on the yable characters¡¯ strength, so it was reasonable for Jude to view Leon somewhere between Ga?l and the Ten Great Swordmasters. ¡®Hmm, as I thought. Ga?l and the Ten Great Swordmasters are good standards in measuring one¡¯sbat strength.¡¯ A measure of strength, an S-ss discriminator. After a moment of thinking, Jude turned to his side. Cordelia stared at the door with a determined expression and nodded as she swallowed hard. ¡®Let¡¯s open it.¡¯ ¡®Okay.¡¯ Kan, Lucas, Kajsa, and Kirara were waiting in the living room on the first floor. Because the Royal Knights only wanted to meet Jude and Cordelia. In fact, from Jude and Cordelia¡¯s standpoint, they could just deny their request and leave, but they decided to listen to the request since there was no reason to not do so in their first meeting. ¡®If need be, we¡¯ll defeat them.¡¯ Of course, if the person who appeared was Ghad, themander of the Royal Knights and a famous Sword Master in the empire, it would have been hard for the present Jude and Cordelia to fight him, but the possibility of him appearing was low. ¡®Anyway, let¡¯s go.¡¯ Jude gestured with his eyes at Cordelia and opened the door, immediately meeting eyes with the two Royal Knights who were watching the door, perhaps because they felt the presence of the two. Two people were sitting on the sofa. One was Leon Gadreel as they expected. A handsome young man with wide shoulders and a big build as if he was wearing armor despite wearing a lightweight knight uniform. And the person sitting next to him. As soon as Cordelia saw the Royal Knight covering their face with a helmet, her eyes widened and she spoke. Because she instinctively knew who the other person in front of her was due to the body shape, their dominant hand, the shape of the helmet, and the small essories worn on their chest. ¡°Sarah?¡± At that moment. Sarah who was dressed as a man with her helmet on her head was startled and tried to stand up, but Leon hurriedly reached out and stopped her. ¡®Why? Why is Sarah here? Did Sarah be a Royal Knight?¡¯ Sarah had received the protection of the Drunk Dragon. A strong woman with bad luck and known to have received the twisted affection of the game developers. Basically, it was not impossible for her to be a Royal Knight on her route as she was a swordsman ss character, but it was still quite unusual. Because it was only possible for Sarah if she had defeated either Maximilian or Leon in the Royal Knights selection matches. ¡®What happened to Maximilian? Did Sarah be a Royal Knight because Maximilian lost? Is that even possible?¡¯ Cordelia turned to Jude in her confusion, and Jude calmed himself with a deep breath. Didn¡¯t Sherlock Holmes say those words? When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. The butterfly effect seemed to have worked very strongly. ¡®It¡¯s also possible that Maximilian didn¡¯t even apply from the very beginning.¡¯ In any case, what mattered now was that Leon and Sarah were in front of them. Two young rookies of the Royal Knights had appeared and looked for Jude and Cordelia. Then, who sent them and why did theye here? How did they know that we wereing to the empire? ¡°Amazing. You recognized Sarah right away. As expected of the two people of destiny.¡± Jude and Cordelia were surprised again at Leon¡¯s words. Because they heard words that were quite familiar. Two people of destiny. Words that Princess Daphne often used to refer to them. ¡®What¡¯s going on? Is this perhaps an arrangement of Princess Daphne or something?¡¯ Jude and Cordelia had not yet heard of the ¡®heavenly voice¡¯ from Princess Daphne. Even in the game¡¯s storyline, Princess Daphne never talked about that because she had died. Therefore, Jude hid his restlessness and said. ¡°I am Jude August Bayer.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Leon Gadreel. This is-¡­¡± ¡°Sarah¡­ I¡¯m Sarah Connacht.¡± Sarah spoke in a slightly soft voice, and Cordelia also briefly introduced herself. ¡°I¡¯m Cordelia August Chase.¡± Jude escorted Cordelia to her seat before sitting down, and Jude faced Leon while Cordelia faced Sarah. The group was silent for a while. No one opened their mouths. Should I ask them what they meant by two people of destiny? Or how did they found out that we were here? Jude¡¯s worries didn¡¯tst long. Because Leon opened his mouth first. ¡°The heavenly voice said. They said that we can only ask for help from the two people of destiny who can save the empire from its extremely precarious situation.¡± Jude furrowed his brows. Heavenly voice. Two people of destiny. Words that seemed to have a lot of meaning. But he didn¡¯t have the time to analyze it properly. Because Leon opened his mouth again. ¡°Let me get to the point. We need to save the members of the Imperial Family who have been detained in the Imperial Pce by the Chancellor. Please help us.¡± Leon bowed his head, and Sarah followed him a secondter, bowing her head too. And Jude and Cordelia looked at each other. The atrocity of the Chancellor and the detainment of the Imperial Family in the Imperial Pce. Two Royal Knights and yable characters who were asking for help in rescuing the Imperial Family. In addition to this, a heavenly voice that might have some rtion with Princess Daphne. [Let¡¯s not think too hard. Anyway, this is a quest, right?] If they resolve this, they will get a reward and the story will proceed. It was a very game-like situation, but it wasn¡¯t exactly wrong. Moreover, Cordelia¡¯s senses were telling her of the situation despite the limited information. The Chancellor had arbitrarily enforced a border blockade while detaining the Imperial Family, thus creating the current atmosphere of going to war against the kingdom at any moment. Then rescuing the Imperial Family could be the only way out of the current situation. ¡°Let¡¯s hear the details first.¡± Jude pinched Cordelia¡¯s cheeks for no reason before he quickly told Leon, and Cordelia missed the timing to get angry and grumble so she puffed her cheeks and turned to Leon. ¡°This is the situation.¡± Leon began narrating the situation. There was a reason why Jude did not seriously consider a war against the empire until the border blockade had been imposed. The first reason was that the war itself was not in the game¡¯s storyline, and the second reason was that the structure of the empire itself made it difficult to wage war with just the arbitrary decision of a single group. ¡°As you know, the power of the empire is now divided into three.¡± The Imperial Family and the loyal nobility centered on the emperor who was at the top of the empire. The Chancellor and the subordinate nobles he led. The elves who meddled in all kinds of affairs in the empire with the power of their immense wealth. It was not a very pleasant story for the Royal Knights who were loyal to the Imperial Family, but Leon was a realist so he properly understood the situation. ¡°Not long ago, the Chancellor rebelled and intimidated the Imperial Family. His Imperial Majesty the Emperor, as well as Her Imperial Majesty the Empress Dowager who is now the regent, and the other members of the Imperial Family are currently being detained in the Imperial Pce.¡± It was a story they could roughly guess. If the Chancellor had not intimidated the Imperial Family, they would not have issued orders such as a border blockade. ¡®A lot has changed from the original.¡¯ In the original storyline, the demon followers could notpletely manipte the Chancellor. Or rather if they think about it now, it was not necessary in the original storyline. The S?len Kingdom was destroyed due to the events in its northern, central, and southern regions, and the empire was also in the midst of copse due to the 7 major cmities that urred in session. They had definitely expected that the demon followers who were defeated in the kingdom to be more active in the empire, but they were a bit surprised that the Chancellor had beenpletely controlled. ¡®Because it hasn¡¯t been that long since the kingdom¡¯s demon followers joined them.¡¯ Moreover, themunicationwork of the Guardians of the Holy Cross had been cut off. It was hard to imagine that the Devil¡¯s Eye had done all these things alone when their power had been weakened from their huge loss of low- and mid-ranking demonic humans due to the events in the wildnds. ¡®If the other demon follower groups moved¡­¡¯ The Devil¡¯s Hand from the kingdom. The Devil¡¯s Eye that had taken root in the empire. The Devil¡¯s Mouth that had already taken over the far east. The Devil¡¯s Horn and the Devil¡¯s Ear were pretty much destroyed in the battle against the Guardians of the Holy Cross, but there were still one or two high-ranking demonic humans left, so they couldn¡¯t ignore this two groups too. There were five groups of demon followers in the continent. At worst, all five groups might be working together in the empire. ¡®No, we have to assume the worst first, so that is possible.¡¯ In the game, the five groups were not enemies, but neither were they friendly and cooperative with each other. One of the reasons why the two were able to escape the pursuit of Saluzia, a high-ranking demonic human of the Devil¡¯s Hand, when they first entered the wildnds was the fact that they had entered the domain of the Devil¡¯s Eye. In other words, the demon followers were separated by conflict whether in the game or in reality, but they had now put that conflict aside and united themselves. ¡®And that¡¯s because of me and Cordelia.¡¯ They were the messengers of peace who united the demon follower groups. Jude erased the ridiculous thought he had in his mind and focused on Leon again. ¡°If this continues, the Chancellor¡­ no, that traitor will instigate war between the empire and the kingdom. So rescuing His Imperial Majesty the Emperor and the members of the Imperial Family is a must for the kingdom as well.¡± In the game¡¯s storyline, Leon was far from an eloquent speaker. He was a typical swordsman in the first ce, so he preferred swords to words. Regardless of whether that was the same in reality, Leon tried to convince Jude and Cordelia with his own reasoning, though his words were unsophisticated. ¡®Anyway, that¡¯s how desperate their situation is.¡¯ And Leon was not wrong. If the Emperor and the Imperial Family were rescued, it might be possible to truly prevent a war. ¡®The capitalist elves would not be controlled by the demon followers¡­ so war can be prevented in this situation.¡¯ It was when Jude had thought this far. ¡°By the way, can I ask you one thing?¡± Cordelia who had been silently listening was now looking at Leon as she asked. She was usually a bit inattentive when Jude talked to others, but now that it was a matter of concern and the other party were strangers, she smartened up and gave a rather sharp feeling. ¡°Yes, go ahead.¡± When Leon replied with a slightly nervous look, Cordelia continued. ¡°What is the heavenly voice? And why did you twoe to visit us? In order to rescue the Imperial Family, isn¡¯t it more realistic and appropriate to go the capitalist¡­ I mean, the elves? And¡­ if one actually considered the power of the Royal Knights, I wonder if the two of us joining would make such a huge difference.¡± Jude was a bit amazed by her reasonable questions. At some point in the kingdom, Cordelia had passed on most of the thinking to Jude. Furthermore, thest part stood out in terms of content. Jude and Cordelia were only famous in the kingdom, and not in the empire. There were the exaggerated rumors in the kingdom, the royal family¡¯s propaganda, and all sorts of rumors that came out about them, so it was highly unlikely that the empire would even trust the two that much. ¡®In addition, the rumors are a only a small part of what actually happened in the first ce.¡¯ But they were asking Jude and Cordelia for help despite those rumors being a fraction of the truth. Of course, there was the possibility that they had already asked the elves for help. Perhaps they only wanted to increase their power by adding even a little help. But the ¡®heavenly voice¡¯ came out at the beginning of Leon¡¯s narration, and he spoke in a way as if only Jude and Cordelia could help them. ¡®Moving on, we can learn a lot if he answers Cordelia¡¯s questions.¡¯ So instead of interrupting them, Jude pressed the ¡®Like¡¯ button in his mind and waited for Leon¡¯s answer. ¡°That is¡­¡± Leon¡¯s words trailed off and he turned to Sarah whose facial expression was unknown because of her helmet. But Sarah was clearly nervous given her drooped shoulders, and she nodded her head to him as if they couldn¡¯t help it. ¡°Well, it can¡¯t be helped. It¡¯s something you should know if we¡¯re going to be working together anyway.¡± Having said that, Leon slightly shrugged his wide shoulders and began talking again. ¡°The heavenly voice¡­ is a voice from heaven that the Empress Dowager hears. You can even call it a revtion. A few days ago, there was a story about you two in thest letter of Her Imperial Majesty the Empress Dowager.¡± He appeared to be serious given the look on his face. Therefore, Jude and Cordelia exchanged nces and sent magic. [Jude, that heavenly voice. Is it literally a voice from the heavens?] [Are you talking about the heavenly race?] [Yes, because there¡¯s that possibility.] Her thinking was simple and notplicated. To begin with, the angels in Legend of Heroes 2 did not involve themselves with the human world until the Great Summons took ce. But Heaven is now involved? [The possibility of it being from Hell cannot bepletely ruled out.] The demon pretends to be an angel to seduce the faithful. It was a story that was quitemon. [But if it is really from the demon¡¯s side and they¡¯re able to contact the empress like this, can¡¯t they just send a group of high-ranking demonic humans to assassinate us instead of sending Leon? Ah, assassination is not the right word. Anyway, if it¡¯s from the angels¡­ maybe they know to some extent that we¡¯ll be meeting Kan? Uh¡­that¡­ I can¡¯t remember their name, but there¡¯s an angel with the power of foresight, right?] Cordelia seemed to be logical and sharp today. Therefore, Jude was seriously moved. [I see, my Cordelia is a child who can do it. In the future, please continue to think on your own, okay?] [Hey, I often think on my own, okay? Anyway, don¡¯t you think what I said earlier is possible?] [Hmm, I¡¯m not entirely sure.] With the current situation like this, a third party other than Heaven or Hell could also exist. Though the chances of that happening were slim. ¡°Uh¡­ May I continue my words?¡± ¡°Yes, please.¡± Leon had stopped talking for a while when Jude and Cordelia had exchanged nces, so he now continued his words. ¡°Unfortunately, the Royal Knights are currently unable to properly move. Most of the knights including Knight Commander Ghad have their hands tied¡­ so only a few are actually active, and that includes me and Sarah here.¡± ¡°Have their hands tied¡­ Have they been poisoned or attacked?¡± ¡°There were cases like that. But in the case of Knight Commander Ghad¡­ he was sealed during his Closed Door Training.¡± What did he mean? Leon further exined when Jude and Cordelia blinked their eyes as they did not understand what he meant. ¡°He was in the middle of Closed Door Training in the training center¡­ so the Chancellor sealed the training center itself.¡± In short, he was confined alive. [¡­Maybe Ghad should be rescued too alongside the Imperial Family.] [¡­I think so.] Jude and Cordelia felt a bit sorry as they exchanged magic, and Leon spoke again in a desperate tone. ¡°The Chancellor is nning to move the Emperor and the Imperial Family to another location soon. And perhaps¡­ that will be ourst chance to save the royal family. So please help us.¡± Leon and Sarah both bowed their heads at the same time. Seeing their actions, the two seemed to havee here while grasping at straws. [What should we do?] [We¡¯ll do it.] Their answer had actually been decided from the beginning. ¡°We understand. But from now on, I want my party to listen to your story. Is that fine with you?¡± ¡°Eh? Oh, yes. Of course. It¡¯s fine with us.¡± Leon replied with a bright smile. After all, Jude¡¯s response was positive. And less than 5 minutester. Lucas, Kajsa, Kirara, and Kan who were in the living room on the first floor had alle up to the second floor. But at that moment. ¡°Uh, well¡­ this Kirara will wait outside.¡± Having sensed the strange atmosphere in the room, Kirara spoke out and tried to leave. Because Kirara was a betrayer in trivial stuff and not important ones. Hearing a story that was too important would make it hard for her to move. She would be pursued more harshly when she betrayed themter. Kirara clearly didn¡¯t have any intentions of betraying them due to her love for money and Cordelia¡¯s affection, but the habits she had developed all her life were beyond her control. ¡°No, Kirara. Let¡¯s listen together. Kirara is also a part of our group, so we should listen together. It¡¯s something that involves all of us. Soe over here and sit down.¡± As Cordelia patted the seat next to her, Kirara briefly hesitated before she ran to Cordelia¡¯s side and sat down. Given the look on her face, she seemed to be on the verge of tears. Our group. Our Kirara. ¡°Hehe, hehehe.¡± Kirara giggled as she unconsciously wagged her tail and leaned against Cordelia who wrapped her arm on Kirara¡¯s shoulder. ¡®What would happen if she knew that Cordelia is an angel?¡¯ Would shepletely worship Cordelia? When Kajsa thought that and snickered, Jude warmly looked at Kirara and Cordelia. ¡®It¡¯s really heartwarming.¡¯ Jude had now stopped counting down whenever Cordelia hugged someone. The biggest reason was that his rtionship with Cordelia had progressed a lot, so he was fine with it now. In any case, Leon quickly repeated what he already said when everyone was seated, and the eyes of Lucas and Kajsa, who understood the seriousness of the situation, turned sharp. ¡°So are you saying that we should rescue the members of the Imperial Family with only the people here?¡± ¡°There are still some Royal Knights left. Except for us two, there¡¯s also five¡­¡± It was better than nothing, but it was too little. However, Kajsa frowned as she tapped her thigh with her fingertip before saying. ¡°Having a small number of elites is better than a ragtag team. Especially in battles that require hit-and-run tactics like this. But what about the opponent¡¯s defense? What about their guards?¡± At Kajsa¡¯s question, Sarah suddenly began to fiddle with her fingers, and Leon¡¯s bleak expression turned even more bleak. ¡°Frankly¡­ it¡¯s not easy.¡± ¡°No one thinks that saving the Imperial Family will be easy. What¡¯s their defense force like?¡± Kajsa questioned him again, and Leon gulped before speaking again. ¡°There aren¡¯t that many soldiers. It seems like two toons will be mobilized.¡± Considering the military organization of the empire, the number would be around 60, so it was understandable when Leon said that it wasn¡¯t many. In Pleaides where superhumans existed, the power of properly trained knights surpassed that of a dozen ordinary soldiers. Even Leon who was right in front of them could destroy an entire toon by himself. ¡°The problem is the knights. It seems like around 20 Imperial Knights have joined that despicable and traitorous Chancellor. I think that there¡¯s also three, or even five, wizards who belong to the Imperial Family.¡± But the real problem was the next one. ¡°And¡­ it seems like Sir Jay will appear.¡± Leon¡¯s voice was filled with despair. The distressed Sarah also lowered her head. Jay Karniak. One of the Twelve Sword Masters that the empire was proud of. They were master swordsmen that couldpete with the Ten Great Swordmasters of the kingdom. ¡°D-do you mean that Sir Jay is one of the guards?¡± Kan said in surprise while Kirara¡¯s eyes also widened. They couldn¡¯t help it. Because he was Sir Jay. Because he was a Sword Master! How would they break through the defense forces when there was a Sword Master there! Kan sighed while Kirara shuddered with fear and hugged Cordelia¡¯s waist. Leon and Sarah also deeply sighed as they continued to bow their heads. So Cordelia asked in a slightly reluctant voice. ¡°Uh¡­ and then?¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°Is that all?¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­ T-that is all, I think?¡± Leon unknowingly answered with a slightly stupid look, and Cordelia frowned before she turned to Jude. [Jude.] [Yes, Cordelia.] [I¡¯m just asking for confirmation, but are the empire¡¯s Sword Masters equivalent to the Ten Great Swordmasters?] [Yes, that¡¯s right. They¡¯re on the level of the Ten Great Swordmasters. Perhaps like Sebastian?] The Ten Great Swordmasters. And there was one present here. Lucas had an awkward smile while Kajsa had a pleased smile. ¡°E-everyone?¡± Kan asked with a puzzled expression. So did Leon. Because they did not understand the reactions of those who came from the kingdom. It¡¯s a Sword Master! Someone like a Sword Master is guarding them from escaping! ¡®Ah, this is power intion.¡¯ Cordelia thought with a smile, and Jude looked at Leon. He spoke in a clear tone. ¡°Let¡¯s proceed then.¡± The operation to rescue the Imperial Family. They would easily resolve it. It would be easy for one of the Ten Great Swordmasters here. Smiles spread across the faces of those who were born and grew up in the kingdom. Chapter 292: Imperial Capital (1)

Chapter 292: Imperial Capital (1)

All my excitement for Inazuma disappeared when the update on my side went wrong. Everythinggged and loaded so slow. So it took me several days of uninstalling and reinstalling just to make it work properly now. I even had to uninstall programs and move files just to create memory space. I seriously don¡¯t want to go through that ever again. On another note, here¡¯s a facepalm moment of mine. I previously corrected ¡®institutional¡¯ as ¡®ind¡¯ in thest chapter, right? Turns out the word used there is actually an archaic word for ¡®imperial capital.¡¯ So it was actually ¡°Imperial Capital Academy¡± since it was located in the ¡®imperial capital.¡¯ Ahahaha¡­ ???? Terms used in this episode: Folding screen ¨C a Korean ng used to describe people who has no presence among a popr group of people, e.g. idol groups. Other simr terms are ¡®air¡¯, ¡®invisible¡¯, etc. The helmeted Sarah blinked with a stunned expression. She couldn¡¯t believe the sight in front of her. ¡®Leon¡­lost?!¡¯ Who is Leon? Isn¡¯t he a genius and one of the best prospects among the Royal Knights who areposed of talented people from all over the empire? But Leon had lost. It was just a spar and not a life-threatening battle, but he was stillpletely defeated. Leon was obviously not invincible just because he was a genius. There was no need topare Leon to Knight Commander Ghad, the head of the Royal Knights and the pride of the empire, or the senior knights including the Vice Commander as he was still no match for them. Because they were older and more experienced than Leon. They were the best veterans among the Royal Knights. So even if Leon lost to them, it was understandable. His defeat would not be surprising. But it was different now. Leon, that unrivaled Leon, was defeated by a knight from the kingdom. And by a young man ¨C no, a boy, who was six years younger than him! ¡°I-I lost.¡± Leon said, having dropped his sword and fallen to the ground as he breathed heavily. His expression was more of embarrassment than anger or resentment, perhaps because he was very shocked by the current situation. And in front of Leon. The boy was tense as his sword was still pointed at Leon, and he let out a long breath when Leon said that he lost. He slowly withdrew his sword and said with a slightly awkward smile. ¡°It was a good match.¡± The boy. Lucas Hr?svelgr. Leon gritted his teeth at the words of the boy who had just turned 17 recently. Because he painfully remembered again the fact that he had lost to this boy. ¡®I was conceited.¡¯ I thought that I had no rivals my age except for Maximilian. No, can I really consider this boy, Lucas Hr?svelgr, as someone my age? Isn¡¯t this boy six years younger than me? ¡°Ugh.¡± Leon involuntarily groaned. He didn¡¯t have any injuries from the fight, but he felt like he had been mentally beaten. He lost to an opponent younger than him. Moreover, his opponent was a knight from the kingdom and not the empire. He was a Royal Knight who protected the Imperial family, but lost to a knight who was not yet a proper member of any knight order. Though he still had an excuse. Lucas Hr?svelgr was the only son of Count Hr?svelgr, a Sword Master ¨C no, one of the Ten Great Swordmasters in the kingdom, and had inherited his father¡¯s swordsmanship. ¡°Ugh.¡± No. That wasn¡¯t an excuse. Leon himself didn¡¯t have the blood of a Sword Master, but he was taught by Sir Ghad, the Absolute Knight and a Sword Master. ¡®Don¡¯t be disgraceful, Leon.¡¯ He lost. A defeat was a defeat. So he had to ept it. Moreover, these people would soon be helping them in their rescue operation to save the Imperial Family. The stronger they were than himself, the better it would be. ¡°Fwooo¡­¡± He tried to control his thoughts, but it wasn¡¯t easy. Therefore, Leon¡¯s expression stiffened. His face turned red from shame and frustration, his breathing grew rough, and he felt dizzy from his uncontroble thoughts. Sarah¡¯s surprise deepened when she saw such a Leon for the first time. And having faced the knight from the empire, Lucas did his best to manage his facial expressions. ¡®Don¡¯t smile, don¡¯t smile.¡¯ It¡¯s not polite. It¡¯s not nice. Biltwein doesn¡¯t jump from happiness when he won sparring matches. But the corners of his lips kept trying to rise. He tried to keep a solemn expression, but it was too hard to suppress his smile. ¡®I won.¡¯ I won. I won. I defeated the knight from the empire, the Royal Knight, the genius that First Sword had praised! Lucas clenched his fists and firmed his legs to prevent himself from jumping in ce. Therefore, his body slightly trembled, but he couldn¡¯t help it. ¡®I¡¯m strong.¡¯ No, I¡¯ve always been strong. He was once called the north¡¯s best prospect. In fact, among his peers in the north, there was no one stronger than Lucas, or rather, he couldn¡¯t find anyone on the same level as him. Until Jude showed up. ¡®My rival.¡¯ Now it was embarrassing to say it out of his mouth. Because Jude had be too strong. Because Jude might be even stronger than Lucas¡¯ father now. He honestly found it to be hard. It was very difficult for him. He wasn¡¯t referring to the fact that he kicked his nket in the bed whenever he recalled saying that Jude was his long-aspired rival to Jude himself. It was something much more essential than that. Something so natural that was hard to suppress. He was envious of Jude. He had tried his best to not be envious of Jude. Furthermore, Jude wasn¡¯t just strong. He was the disciple of Landius, a person Lucas admired. Landius did not ept Lucas as a disciple no matter how much Lucas pleaded, but said that he would make Jude his disciple the moment he saw Jude. That wasn¡¯t just it. Jude had Cordelia. A pretty, kind, and talented fianc¨¦e! ¡®They¡¯re always flirting these days¡­¡¯ Lucas was a man too. He was now 17 years old, his teenage period when his curiosity about the opposite sex was at its peak. And in front of such a guy, they were always flirting! They tried to do it in secret, but frankly, it was too noticeable. ¡®Me too, I want to do it too!¡¯ I want to have a pretty fianc¨¦e too! To do this and that! Ah! ¡®N-no. Calm down. Calm down, Lucas.¡¯ What¡¯s important now isn¡¯t that. No, of course that¡¯s something very important, but not now. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Lucas coughed and looked at Leon again. Leon struggled to contain his frustration. Lucas was not a quick-witted person, but he could tell at a nce that Leon wanted to win. And that fact pleased Lucas again. The genius of the empire was looking at Lucas and feeling vexed. Lucas felt proud. ¡®Haa¡­¡¯ How long has it been since I felt this way? I feel like I¡¯m the protagonist of this world. I¡¯ve forgotten this very sweet feeling for a while. This very nice feeling. I am strong. I am strong too. I am a genius too. I¡¯ve always worked hard. ¡°Haa¡­¡± But that was it. After all, Lucas was born with a good and kind personality. Instead of rejoicing in the defeat of others, he began to be grateful. ¡®Lord Jude, thank you.¡¯ Lucas himself had worked hard to be this strong, but Jude had also helped him. If it weren¡¯t for Jude, would he have worked hard like this now? Perhaps he might have neglected his training under the pretext that he was already the best prospect in the north. In addition, there was his recent experience. He was able to face a Demon Prince because of Jude. Lucas had be incredibly strong after that battle. If that day had not happened, it would have been Leon and not Lucas who had won today. ¡®That¡¯s right, so let¡¯s be humble.¡¯ Lucas recovered hisposure and turned around after a simple bow to Leon instead of giving him words of constion. And Lucas saw Kajsa and Cordelia¡¯s smiles full of meaning. ¡®Ayeee, my Lucas. You liked it, right? You were excited, right?¡¯ ¡®Lucas is cool, kind, amazing, and the best.¡¯ Their expressions were so clear that it felt like he could hear the voices of the two in his mind. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Lucas coughed again, but his face couldn¡¯t avoid turning red. Because he was embarrassed that they knew his inner thoughts. ¡°Ayeee.¡± Kajsa giggled again and stretched out her hand to ruffle Lucas¡¯ hair despite him being 10 centimeters taller than her. She then hugged his neck and kissed him in the cheek. ¡°Good job. As expected of my Lucas. Let me praise you a lot.¡± As Kajsa nonchntly showed her affection physically, the pure Lucas was unable to say anything in his embarrassment. And Kajsa became more excited at Lucas¡¯ appearance, so she teased him more by pushing her body closer. ¡°Uuuuhh¡­¡± At the time when Lucas groaned and slightly bent forward. Cordelia had been happy in pairing Lucas and Kajsa in her imagination, but she suddenly turned her gaze to the side. Because Kirara, the small and cute girl who was less than 150 centimeters tall, was in awe as her eyes sparkled. ¡°Why? Are you surprised?¡± When Cordelia suddenly spoke, the startled Kirara quickly nodded her head. ¡°It¡¯s surprising.¡± I never imagined that Lord Lucas would be this strong. He was big and handsome, but somehow didn¡¯t have much presence in the group. Should I say that he feels like a folding screen? Kajsa always teased him. But when you see his true self, he was no joke. ¡®He beat Leon!¡¯ That Leon Gadreel and not just anyone else! Although Kirara had only been active in the empire for over a year, the name Leon Gadreel was something she knew well. The genius swordsman in the imperial capital. The next generation Sword Master from a famous family of swordsmen! But Lucas won. Lucas was not just a folding screen but a very strong folding screen! ¡°But you know what, Kirara.¡± ¡°Yes, Master.¡± ¡°My Jude is much stronger than Lucas.¡± ¡°HIEE?¡± Stronger than that? Much more? ¡°Much more. He¡¯s really, really a lot stronger. Seriously strong.¡± As Cordelia spoke proudly again, Kirara¡¯s eyes sparkled more. Originally, Kirara had a good impression of him that she ttered and acted cute in front of him, but now, she truly admired him. ¡°Did you know that my Jude defeated a dragon? It¡¯s even an Ancient Dragon. It¡¯s a monster that¡¯s 150 meters long.¡± ¡°HIEEEE?!¡± Come to think of it, I heard rumors that the dragon in the southern region of the kingdom had been defeated. But the one who killed it was my master¡¯s husband, Jude? ¡°Hehe, isn¡¯t my Jude amazing?¡± ¡°He¡¯s amazing. He¡¯s really, really amazing.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, my Jude is amazing.¡± Kajsa, who was in the middle of teasing Lucas, snickered when she saw Cordelia boasting. ¡°Hey, Kirara.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°She defeated it too.¡± Kirara blinked at Kajsa¡¯s words. Because she did not immediately understand what thetter said. So Kajsa said it again. ¡°Cordelia along with Jude defeated Malekith who is known as the Ancient ck Dragon. Those two became dragon yers. I saw it with my own two eyes the moment she summoned the Spirit King¡¯s fist and struck the dragon.¡± It was a much better and more detailed exnation than before, but Kirara could still not properly respond to it. Because it was such an unimaginable story. Ancient ck Dragon? Dragon yer? Spirit King? Is this a story from a hero novel? Kirara unconsciously turned to Cordelia who was blushing and trying to hold back her smile before slightly nodding her head. A sign of affirmation. That the story Kajsa told was all true. ¡°Wow, wooooow!¡± Kirara jumped from her spot in her astonishment. She was so surprised that her tail almost stood upright. She was originally skeptical. She was the kind of person who ignored other¡¯s stories or looked at them with suspicion. But she believed what Cordelia had said. It had only been a few days since they had met, but she trusted 100% of what Cordelia said. So Kirara couldn¡¯t help but continue to jump in ce. She had a good, pretty, rich, and good-natured master. But she was actually strong. ¡®O-oh my god!¡¯ My master is a god! When Kirara seemed to be worshipping Cordelia, Kajsa wanted to urge Cordelia to quickly transform into an angel, but she held back. Because she thought that Kirara would be a fanatic if Cordelia really transformed into an angel here. And as for the two people who watched everything. The young knights from the Royal Knights were tasked to meet the two people of destiny, but they didn¡¯t know much about them yet. So Leon and Sarah blinked their eyes in confusion. *** At the time when Leon and Lucas were sparring in the garden, which served a double purpose of testing the other¡¯s skills. Jude was left alone on the second floor of the house as he was trying to contact Kamael, but it was still impossible. To begin with, contact with Kamael was more of a one-waymunication rather than a two-way one, which meant that only Kamael could contact Jude. ¡®Sending a signal is the limit, huh?¡¯ But it was not easy to contact Kamael because they were both constantly moving. ¡®I think the key to this situation is the Guardians of the Holy Cross.¡¯ It was unlikely for the branches of the Guardians of the Holy Cross in the empire to be destroyed. As Kamael had spected while in the kingdom, it was highly likely that only theirmunicationwork had been destroyed. But that was still not reassuring. Since the demon followers had gathered and united, they could have been in the midst of destroying the Guardians of the Holy Cross¡¯ branches somewhere at this moment. ¡®Master.¡¯ Landius and Lena. The two had left for the empire earlier on a different route than Kamael. Their purpose was to track down Archbishop Manu, but now that they were in a ce where the demon follower groups had united, it seemed like it would have been better for Jude¡¯s group to work together with Landius than act separately. ¡®We should join forces with them.¡¯ Though the problem was when and how they would join forces. ¡°Haa¡­¡± Jude stopped thinking and exhaled before looking down at the empire¡¯s map again. Leon and Sarah had said that they were nning to ask the elves for help after rescuing the Imperial Family, and even Jude agreed that it was the best thing to do for now. The Imperial Family and the elves would unite to prevent the Chancellor from causing chaos. ¡®War between the kingdom and the empire.¡¯ The Great Tribtion of the continent that the demon followers wished for. And the Great Summons that would happen as a result. So if they prevented the war and the Great Tribtion, they could stop the Great Summons from happening. ¡®Then all that remains is the 7 major cmities.¡¯ They had already dealt with two, so there were only five left. It was a formidable number, but he didn¡¯t think that it was unstoppable. Just like in the kingdom, they would stop it one by one. And move towards a perfect happy ending. ¡®Let¡¯s rescue the Imperial Family for now.¡¯ The demon followers were not aware of their group¡¯s actions. They would have never thought that Jude and Cordelia had infiltrated the empire, nor imagine the fact that Jude¡¯s group had already conspired with the Royal Knights to rescue the Imperial Family. So Jude¡¯s group would prate at that gap. Objectively, it would be hard to rescue the Imperial Family who would be escorted by a Sword Master and Imperial Knights. But Jude looked away. He gazed at the east where the imperial capital was located. Episodes 290 ¨C 291 It¡¯s okay, Lucas. Harem route exists. Chapter 293: Imperial Capital (2)

Chapter 293: Imperial Capital (2)

Terms used in this chapter: Mind map ¨C a diagram used to visually organize information such as ideas and concepts. It is based on a central idea, and branches out into different ideas and concepts. The group couldn¡¯t stay long in Kan¡¯s house because they were in a rush. Two hours after Leon and Lucas battled it out to understand each other¡¯s skills, the group immediately packed up and left Kan¡¯s house. ¡°I¡¯ll be going then. See you at the Imperial Capital Academy.¡± As Kan chuckled and said, Kajsa tilted her head. She didn¡¯t understand on whether Kan had a different destination or why they had to go separately when their final destination was the imperial capital. ¡®Is he afraid of attracting attention if we go as a full group?¡¯ Kajsa tried to think of a possible reason, but shook her head. If that was the case, they could just split the group into two or three rather than letting Kan go alone. They already had a lot of people, so it didn¡¯t matter if a dwarf joined them. Lucas also tilted his head as if he had a simr thought as Kajsa, but not for Jude and Cordelia. Jude awkwardly smiled while Cordelia pursed her lips inwards as she looked apologetic. ¡°It¡¯ll be bad if something happens on the way. We¡¯ll see himter.¡± They were in the empire and not in the wildnds where they could randomly meet monsters whenever and wherever, but that did not mean that Kan¡¯s ¡°ability¡± wouldn¡¯t be in effect. There was a possibility of minor idents on the way to the imperial capital, so it was better to go separately. ¡°But don¡¯t you think his expression looks better than before? He¡¯s no longer hunching his shoulders.¡± ¡°Yeah, I think so too.¡± It seemed like the various events in the wildnds had a positive effect on Kan. Jude and Cordelia stood still for a while and watched the back of Kan who had gone ahead. They both recalled their time in the wildnds. Back then, Kan took the lead and they followed his back. They also fished for named monsters. The memories the three shared together were quite warm. ¡®Uh¡­ I don¡¯t think it was to the point of warm though?¡¯ Anyway, good things were good. After having sent Kan away first, the group prepared for their journey to the imperial capital. It was only within the imperial capital where the coup actually happened, and the ce had be chaotic due to the border blockade, but that did not mean that martialw was imposed on the entire empire. Therefore, they thought it would be best to just ride a carriage just like how they came from Asain Pass to here in Manaple. ¡°Well¡­ how about we disguise ourselves a bit just in case?¡± Unlike Jude and his group who were originally foreigners, Leon and Sarah were Royal Knights so it was hard for them to openly move around. In Leon¡¯s case, he was famous enough that even Kirara who had only lived in the empire for a year knew him. ¡°I don¡¯t think we need aplete transformation, so let¡¯s just change it a bit.¡± At the time when Cordelia said so and raised Moonlight. [I agree. Even a slight change in hair or skin color can make a big difference in one¡¯s impression. Especially in humans who lookpletely different if their facial features differed by a few millimeters.] Melissa¡¯s remarks were rather sudden, but it somehow sounded desperate. Her exnation was quite long too. ¡°Uh, yes.¡± Cordelia briefly replied and swung Moonlight to activate her magic despite Melissa wanting to talk more. As she herself dered, it was a magic that partially changed one¡¯s looks. She learned the spell from the witch, and it was a magic for disguise. ¡°Oh, this is nice.¡± Kajsa smiled in contentment as her ck hair became blonde, and Lucas who likewise became blonde was also pleased. T/N: I think this is a mistake by the author. Lucas had been first described as blonde in episode 23, so I don¡¯t understand why he became ¡®blonde¡¯ here when he¡¯s already blonde in the first ce. Maybe his hair turned into a lighter or darker shade of blonde? ¡®Hehe, they¡¯re a nice pair.¡¯ Having satisfied her self-interest, Cordelia continued to use her magic and turned her reddish pink hair into ck hair. She then turned Jude¡¯s ck hair into a gorgeous tinum blonde hair, and Kirara¡¯s ck hair into silver hair. ¡®As I thought, it looks good on him.¡¯ Jude with gorgeous tinum blonde hair. If the previous Jude was like a ck gem that seemed to absorb light, the current Jude was like a brilliantly shining diamond. One could say that he looked like a male protagonist from a romance manhwa. If it belonged to the fantasy genre, he would either be a prince or a duke. Cordelia did all that to satisfy her own interests, but it didn¡¯t change the fact that the disguise was necessary. So she looked back at Leon and Sarah, asking. ¡°Will you allow me to cast magic on you two?¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine with me. What about you, Sarah?¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Leon agreed without any hesitation perhaps because he saw the group¡¯s hair change right in front of him. Sarah carefully took off the helmet she had been wearing since they first met, and Kajsa was amazed at that moment. ¡°Ooooh.¡± Sarah¡¯s hair was pink. Her hair wasn¡¯t long as she was a knight, but the pink color really stood out because of her short and luxuriant hair. Moreover, as a yable character, Sarah was beautiful and also had a very innocent look. So when thatbined with her pink hair, one wouldn¡¯t think that she was a knight when they saw her face. ¡°Woah¡­¡± When Lucas saw Sarah¡¯s face and unconsciously eximed in awe, Kajsa instantly reacted. Her eyes slightly turned sharp and she nudged Lucas by the side as she jokingly asked. ¡°What is this? Does my Lucas like innocent-looking older women?¡± ¡°N-no. It¡¯s not like that¡­¡± Lucas stuttered, so Kajsa frowned and nudged him even more to the side. And Cordelia brightly smiled at the sight. [Jude, Jude. What do you think? There¡¯s a possibility for the two, right?] [Yes, anyway, do it quickly. Sarah is embarrassed.] Sarah usually wore a helmet due to her shyness, so she was at a loss on what to do when she saw the ¡®quarrel¡¯ in front of her. ¡°Umm, let¡¯s do this.¡± [I think brown would be nice.] Melissa interrupted once more, and Cordelia nodded before turning Sarah¡¯s hair color into brown. Because Cordelia wanted to heed Melissa who had expressed her opinion after a long time. ¡®Leon has bluish ck hair so red hair would be better.¡¯ Their purpose was to drastically change their image after all. The hair color of everyone in the group changed, and Cordelia also cast magic that lightly obscured one¡¯s facial features. ¡°Wow¡­¡± Kirara nkly stared as she watched the appearance change of the group and her eyes sparkled again. ¡®My master is really amazing! She¡¯s a god!¡¯ She wasn¡¯t surprised by the disguise magic itself. She was surprised that Cordelia could also use disguise magic. It was easy for ordinary people to mistake wizards for being good at everything, but even wizards had their own specialties. Like those who specialized in attack magic, auxiliary magic, and recovery magic. But while traveling for the past few days, it seemed like there was no magic that Cordelia couldn¡¯t cast. Based on Kajsa¡¯s story, she was a wizard who specialized in attack magic, but she could also use recovery magic and knew how to use magic to disguise themselves. She even summoned a spirit. And she was also skillful in using various auxiliary magic, so she was close to an all-around wizard. ¡°Ahem, ahem, that¡¯s my Cordelia.¡± Jude said when he sensed Kirara¡¯s gaze, and Cordelia blushed as she lightly pulled Jude¡¯s sleeve and said. ¡°Why do you look embarrassed? This is nothing.¡± ¡°Yes, yes. Let¡¯s stop here. You two are going to exchange nces and go flirting with each other again.¡± Kajsa said as she blocked the unnecessary skinship in advance by pulling Cordelia¡¯s arm, and then immediately said to the group. ¡°Okay, everyone. Let¡¯s go!¡± [That¡¯s a good idea.] ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± With Melissa and Lucas agreeing, the group hurriedly left Manaple. *** The journey to the imperial capital was surprisingly smooth. As they had expected, martialw had not yet been imposed in some ces, but there was one more basic reason. ¡®It¡¯s money.¡¯ It was true. Money. There was a lot of money here. A border blockade had been issued and it had only been a week since then, but the kingdom¡¯s gold coins were still in cirction within the empire. Because what mattered in the first ce was the gold itself rather than the face of the person embedded on it. Unlike modern currencies where the societal value was more important than the materials used in the currency, the value of money itself was important in civilizations that used gold or silver coins like in Pleiades. Gold and silver coins were literally made of gold and silver. In any case, Jude and Cordelia were rich so they used their wealth in the empire too. Two sturdy and costly carriages. Two skilled coachmen who would lead the group to the imperial capital. Tolls to pay on the way and a few bribes to shove in moderation. There was nothing to worry about at this point. It was only a matter of getting into the carriage and going out when the time to eat came. Therefore, Jude made up the most of this time. He closed his eyes and meditated, suppressing his desire to travel leisurely with Cordelia. He recalled the topic that Valencia gave. The reason why he was fighting. Why he had the will to fight. To survive. That¡¯s the obvious reason. I want to keep living because I¡¯m alive. I don¡¯t want to die. I want to protect my surroundings. I want to protect Cordelia. Maja, my father, my older brother, and the count¡¯s people ¨C I want to protect those close to me. Those were the answers that immediately came to his mind. But he still felt troubled. Because he felt like it was too vague. ¡®She had raised that topic to help me with my enlightenment.¡¯ The enlightenment needed to open the seventh door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. Valencia seemed to have withdrawn her initial statement of not intervening because Jude was having a hard time figuring it out, so she suggested a topic. Unfortunately, it was not something definite and perceptible. Because the answers he came up with had very naturallye to his mind. I want to live because I¡¯m alive. I want to continue living. Isn¡¯t this something natural? Can I really gain enlightenment through this naturalness? I¡¯m not really being asked to figure out why I¡¯m fighting, but something else ¨C a reason that is much deeper. ¡®It would have been better if it was a math problem.¡¯ I don¡¯t know what I¡¯m supposed to think about. To be honest, I don¡¯t even know what I keep thinking about. I just keep thinking whateveres to mind. My mind map is a disordered mess. ¡°Haa¡­¡± Jude eventually opened his eyes. Enlightenment was a very abstract concept to him who relied on calctions to any problems he encountered. ¡®Should I cultivate myself to reach enlightenment?¡¯ Jude murmured quietly out of frustration and lowered his gaze. He saw Cordelia leaning on his chest and sleeping soundly, though he didn¡¯t know when she stuck to him. He also saw Kirara slumbering next to Cordelia. So Jude stroked Cordelia¡¯s head very slowly. Cordelia leaned a bit more to him as if responding to his touch, and he lightly hugged her before looking out the window. Four days after they left the academy city of Manaple. The group arrived at the imperial capital. *** sium, Argon Empire¡¯s capital that was more known as the Imperial Capital, was highly known as thergest city on the continent, but unfortunately, the group did not have the time to tour the imperial capital. As soon as the group crossed the gates of the imperial capital, they moved to the outskirts instead of admiring the grandeur of the center. They then entered a smallmercial building near the slums. ¡°Leon! Sarah!¡± Three knights weed the group after the squire guarding the door let them in. They were all Royal Knights and somewhat familiar to Jude and Cordelia who were rotten waters. ¡°Where are Hans and Jean?¡± ¡°They went out to gather information. They will be back in a little while.¡± The one who answered Leon¡¯s question was a big and friendly-looking knight who made them think of a bear. ¡°Who are these people?¡± ¡°Ah, these are the two people of destiny and theirpanions.¡± Leon said and introduced the knights in the room to the group first. There were two men and one woman named Baine, Meine, and Jaine respectively. ¡®Howzy.¡¯ The way these three were named gave the impression that they were just extras. Jude thought to himself and soon introduced himself along with his group. ¡°What the Empress Dowager said was true. It¡¯s a relief.¡± ¡°I believed from the beginning since what the Empress Dowager says is always right.¡± Jaine said with a confident voice at the words of the big knight, Baine. After all, meeting a person from the kingdom, and not from the empire, in the academy city of Manaple was something truly unrealistic. ¡®Heavenly voice.¡¯ A mysterious existence that gave advice to the Empress Dowager. And he or she might have a deep connection with Crown Princess Daphne of the S?len Kingdom. ¡°Did anything change while we were gone? Has the Empress Dowager contacted us again?¡± At Leon¡¯s question, the knight who appeared to be in his mid-thirties, Meine, answered. ¡°There are no big changes, but there are a few things we¡¯re concerned about. We¡¯ll talk about it when Hans and Jean return.¡± ording to what Leon first said, the Imperial Family would be moved in two days from now. Perhaps because the time was short, the faces of the knights all turned gloomy upon recalling that. And about an hourter. When Hans and Jean returned, the meeting began in earnest. *** [What do you think?] [A trap?] Cordelia replied to the question of Jude who nodded. A trap. Moving the Imperial Family was highly likely to be a trap. In fact, he had guessed it when he first heard it from Leon, but he was even more convinced that it was the case when he heard it from Hans and Jean. ¡®Is their goal to eradicate the Royal Knights?¡¯ ording to Hans and Jean who were holding their breaths now, the ones in this ce were not the only active Royal Knights. All the leaders with the ability to lead the knights, including Knight Commander Ghad, were imprisoned, but like the people here, there were also some knights who escaped the Imperial Pce and were looking for an opportunity. In Pleiades, the imperial knights of the pce, especially the Royal Knights, had the strength of superhumans so it was very foolish to ignore their numbers even if they were less than ten. ¡®Transferring the Imperial Family is bait to attract the Royal Knights.¡¯ Moving the Imperial Family was clearly not just a bait. The current situation was chaotic and the borders had been closed, so if there was really a war after a while, the superpowers of the kingdom led by Kamael would infiltrate the empire. So before that, they nned to move the Imperial Family to a safer ce. ¡®The Royal Knights will not let this opportunity go.¡¯ A trap they would willingly jump into. However, there was still one good thing. ¡®The Royal Knights are prepared for it.¡¯ The target of the trap were the Royal Knights. It also restricted superpowers like Ghad, and only targeted those at the level of Leon. [Lions don¡¯t get caught in mousetraps.] Cordelia said just then. She grinned and turned to Jude as though she knew what he was thinking. A trap prepared for the Royal Knights. But if what was caught was something more than a Royal Knight, the trap itself would be broken. [But Cordelia.] [Yes, Jude.] [Even lions get caught in mousetraps. Humans get caught too, right?] [Eh? I-is that so?] [Yes, it¡¯s true.] [W-well then¡­ ah, that¡¯s right. Elephants don¡¯t get caught in mousetraps.] Cordelia quickly corrected her words and said with a slightly ted face, so Jude silently smiled. And two dayster at night. The operation to rescue the royal family began. Chapter 294: Rescue (1)

Chapter 294: Rescue (1)

A correction: The Imperial Family weren¡¯t actually detained in the Imperial Pce, and that was just MTL messing with me again. Terms used in this chapter: Woldo ¨C A Korean pole weapon used by the Hwarang Warriors. Woldo literally means ¡®Moon de.¡¯ The Imperial Family was currently confined in a small temple located outside the imperial capital. The royal family members were not dragged out of the Imperial Pce located at the center of the imperial capital and imprisoned. In the first ce, the purpose of moving them was to bring the Imperial Family in the temple back to the Imperial Pce. The exact situation was this. ¡°His Imperial Majesty the Emperor and Her Imperial Majesty the Empress Dowager saw through Chancellor Ivan.¡± In other words, they realized that the Chancellor was nning a coup d¡¯¨¦tat and withdrew from the pce in advance. However, their escape was ultimately unsessful due to the immediate pursuit of the Chancellor, so the Imperial Family was temporarily imprisoned at a nearby temple. The reason why they were not returned to the Imperial Pce was because the fight with the Royal Knights who protected the Imperial Family was fiercer than expected, causing various problems. ¡®In short, he wants to take control of the situation.¡¯ Doing this kind of work meant that the Chancellor had not yetpletely taken over the empire. If the empire had truly been under hisplete control, there was no need to proceed with this situation now. ¡®He can just get rid of the emperor.¡¯ Anyway, it wasn¡¯t bad news for them. If the Chancellor had yet to fully control the empire, it was highly likely that he would focus on internal suppression rather than immediately starting a war with the kingdom. ¡®But based on their actions so far, they¡¯re trying to suppress everything through violence.¡¯ They covered the eyes of the Guardians of the Holy Cross by disabling the Guardians¡¯municationwork, and issued a border blockade to hide from the kingdom¡¯s gaze. And in that created gap, the Chancellor would gather the forces of the empire into one by stamping out the other forces that did not ally with him. It was a very hasty move, but that did not mean he had considered a civil war. The purpose of the Chancellor, or rather, the demon followers was to bring about the Great Tribtion into the entire continent. A civil war in the empire was not enough. Since war had to take ce between the empire and the kingdom, the strategy the Chancellor would likely take was to assassinate by mobilizing powerful people including high-ranking demonic humans, or tempt his opponents by using immortality as bait rather than directly moving the army to stamp them out. ¡®Anyway, securing the Imperial Family would disrupt the Chancellor¡¯s ns.¡¯ The empire would enter into a state of civil war if the emperor exposed the Chancellor¡¯s treason at a public event and made a deration to suppress the Chancellor. ¡®Nevertheless, securing the emperor rather than eliminating him means that the Chancellor does not have enough power to overthrow the pro-Imperial Family faction at once.¡¯ Moreover, the empire had a third power, the capitalist elves. The Chancellor had taken control of the imperial capital but still had a lot of things to do before he could do what he wanted. [In short, we just need to save the emperor.] Jude had a bitter smile at Cordelia¡¯s brief summary and looked again at Leon who continued speaking. ¡°We¡¯ll carry it out tonight at 8 pm. We¡¯ll attack them when they pass this point.¡± It was the perfect route for a surprise attack. In other words, it was a route that the other party would have expected too. But in the first ce, this operation was a situation where they knew it was a trap, so they had nothing more to discuss. So Leon swallowed hard and looked at Jude and Cordelia before saying. ¡°Is this really¡­ our n?¡± The rescue n was centered on Jude and Cordelia. If someone else had said it, he would have bluntly said that it was impossible, but the situation was different if it was Jude and Cordelia. Nevertheless, it was so iprehensible that he couldn¡¯t help but ask again. Are you sure? Really? This is possible? ¡°It¡¯s possible.¡± ¡°Do not worry.¡± As Jude and Cordelia both answered, Leon looked at Lucas and Kajsa who were sitting next to each other, and the two nodded immediately. ¡°It¡¯s definitely possible.¡± ¡°It¡¯s possible. We canpletely do it.¡± Leon had asked because he had yet to work with them. He narrowed his brows when Kajsa casually answered, but soon nodded his head. Because it was an unavoidable fight anyway. He just had to believe. He just had to trust them, run, and see for himself. ¡°Let¡¯s begin the operation.¡± ***Jay Karniak. He was one of the Twelve Sword Masters that the empire was proud of, and he slightly pulled the reins of the white horse he was riding on to slow it down. Because the time had nowe. ¡®I can smell it.¡¯ The smell of a fight. The smell of his enemies who were aiming for them. A descendant of a fallen noble family, Jay Karniak had a rough life. Because he had lived as a noble for less than a decade of his early life. Twenty years since then. He lived as a mercenary who traveled from one ce to another, and mercenaries were sometimes synonymous with murderers, rapists, and robbers in the empire or the kingdom. Three years after he became a Sword Master. He finally regained both the territory and title he had lost, but did not like the Imperial Family. The reason of his family¡¯s downfall in the first ce was because the Imperial Family abandoned Count Karniak in a political strife. Therefore, he was closer to the Chancellor than the Imperial Family, and he was still working for the Chancellor. ¡°Get ready.¡± Sir Jay spoke in a low voice, and the men he had been working with for many years spread out a silent hand signal throughout the ranks. ¡®Royal Knights. Imend you for the courage to stick your heads into a battle that you¡¯re bound to lose.¡¯ He sneered before holding his breath and focusing. Sword Masters were superhumans, and their cognitive range was iparable to that of an ordinary person. He could sense it. Those who were hiding nearby. Their number. The smell of their nervousness as they swallowed their saliva. Sir Jay liked to fight. No matter how many times he repeated it, he found it fun to defeat the enemy in front of him with overwhelming power and trample the weak. It would be soon. The only Sword Master belonging to the Royal Knights was the Absolute Knight, Ghad. In the Royal Knights that they had already beat once, there was no enemy who could surpass him, a Sword Master. A fight that only ended in his win. An easy fight in which all he had to do was to trample the weak without risking his life. That kind of fight was something that Sir Jay, who had lived as a mercenary, liked. So he caught his breath. He suppressed his joy and spurred his horse again. The moon was bright. The wind blew. The grasshoppers loudly cried. And now. Right at this moment! ¡°For His Imperial Majesty the Emperor!¡± Voices came from the left and right. The main road. The hill on the left and the bushes on the right. Sir Jay chuckled. With a happy feeling, he shouted. ¡°They¡¯re here! Get in line!¡± Being right made him feel good. The soldiers who had already anticipated the attack reacted immediately. The Imperial Knights, who were escorting the windowless ck carriage which the Imperial Family rode on, drew their swords at the same time, and the wizards also prepared for battle. Although there were fewer than a hundred soldiers, it was truly spectacr to see sixty well-armed soldiers prepare for battle at once. Sir Jay looked ahead. He pulled out the two-handed sword he had used for a long time, and awaited the Royal Knights and their subordinates toe running towards his group. But they didn¡¯te. Or to be exact, they just stood still in the bushes and hill, and didn¡¯t run. What? What are they doing? Are they not even shooting arrows? And it was at that moment. The ground shook. Lightly at first. But right after they felt that it was abnormal, the shaking became rough and strong. ¡°W-what the-?!¡± ¡°Earthquake?!¡± The screams of the soldiers didn¡¯tst. Because the ground violently split and opened, swallowing up the soldiers. ¡°AAAAAH!¡± ¡°E-EARTHQUAKE!¡± It was no ordinary magic. It was impossible to carry out such magic without any signs or hints unless one was the so-called Archwizard. Rumble! Rumble! The ground shook and broke. The rank of soldiers copsed at once, and the wizards were so shocked that they didn¡¯t even lift their wands. Or rather, most of them fell down and were busy rolling on the ground. ¡°H-hold on! It won¡¯tst long!¡± At the time when one of the wizards desperately cried out. Boom! Boom! Boom! Roars erupted from everywhere and gray smoke began to cover the surroundings. The soldiers who were already in chaos from the earthquake then screamed and struggled. ¡°Wizards!¡± When Sir Jay shouted in a hurry, the wizards who fell to the ground chanted their spells. After all, they were all battle wizards, so they immediately figured out what to do even in the midst of confusion. They tried to cast a st of wind to remove the smoke. The earthquake continued, but this was the aftermath of shaking the ground with magic. It was clear that the earthquake would soon stop. So if the wind blew and the smoke was cleared¨C ¡°¡± At that moment, a beautiful voice resounded. Silence ruled the battlefield. The wizards could not hear their own spells, and the magic that was suddenly cut off was unfinished and scattered. ¡°C-crazy?!¡± One of the battle wizards eximed in surprise. Because the spell was cast on the entire battlefield and not to an individual. Was that even possible for a human to do? The wizard was correct. It was impossible for humans. And it was impossible for the angel Cordelia. What mattered was the range of the effect. The wizard had assumed that it was on the entire battlefield, but the actual range was not very wide. It would have been possible to use their magic spells again if they had just rolled 3 meters to the side. The screams and coughing of the soldiers were proof of that. But it was chaotic. No matter how powerful they were as a battle wizard, they could not make a proper judgment because of the aftermath of their magic spells being interrupted. And the Royal Knights dug into that gap. ¡°For His Imperial Majesty the Emperor!¡± The Royal Knights and their squires on the hills and bushes attacked the convoy while wearing gas masks. Although there were more than twice the number of Imperial Knights, the smoke screen helped them. The Imperial Knights couldn¡¯t see properly and also found it hard to breathe, so they couldn¡¯t deal with the Royal Knights immediately. ¡°Guard the carriage!¡± Sir Jay¡¯s roar erupted. It wasn¡¯t just a shout as it was Chivalry, the so-called magic of the knights. Its power was so strong that the smoke screen between Sir Jay and the carriage was entirely dispersed, and the confused soldiers and wizards also came to their senses. ¡°Stop them!¡± ¡°Wizards!¡± The soldiers began to move. The wizards also activated several magic tools while casting their magic spells. They needed to blow away the smoke and prevent the carriage from being damaged. After all, their goal was to secure the Imperial Family, so if their enemies couldn¡¯t break the carriage, they wouldn¡¯t be able to take the Imperial Family with them either! Their decision was correct. It was truly reasonable. And because of that, it did not escape from Jude¡¯s calctions. ¡°T-the carriage!¡± The carriage covered by various defensive magic was floating high in the air. A giant hand made of a green force was lifting the carriage. ¡°S-summoning magic?¡± ¡°No! It¡¯s telekinesis!¡± While the wizards were arguing, the lifted carriage passed above the heads of the wizards. ¡°UOOOOH!¡± At that moment. Sir Jay kicked the horse and flew up. He covered his two-handed sword with a blue aura and cut off the giant arm that was lifting the carriage. Shwaaaaak! The Aura de¡¯s energy dissipated the telekinesis. Therefore, the carriage fell to the ground but the defensive magic protected it. Sir Jay rolled over the ground and hurriedly ran towards the carriage. ¡°For His Imperial Majesty the Emperor!¡± Leon shouted and drew his sword. But instead of rushing to Sir Jay, he charged at the wizards who wanted to unleash their magic and the Imperial Knights who were guarding them. Lucas and Kajsa also did the same. So Sir Jay unconsciouslyughed. He raised his sword with a blue aura in order to punish the three who dared to turn their backs on him. And just before he swung it! Baaang! Sir Jay quickly turned around and struck the ground with his sword. It was a failure. He did not originally aim at the ground. There was a young man in front of him. The moment he faced the young man whose nose and mouth were covered by a mask and had ck energy around his arms, Sir Jay could tell. His intuition that had saved his life for the past twenty years was screaming. Strong. That man was stronger than Sir Jay himself. A beast. A monster. It felt like he was facing a wild beast instead of a human. So Sir Jay fiercely smiled. Instead of kneeling down and surrendering to an opponent stronger than him, he shouted. ¡°Caesar!¡± Baaang! Right after he screamed, one of the carriage doors was broken and a figure came out. A lion beastkin. One of the Twelve Sword Masters of the empire! Caesar wielded a gigantic sword and stood behind the young man as though he was in harmony with Sir Jay. But that wasn¡¯t all. The person hiding in the advance squad that had passed by and deliberately ignored the ambush had now turned and ran. Just like Caesar, she was a beastkin. A female wolf beastkin. She was one of the Twelve Sword Masters, but she actually used a Woldo that was closer to a spear rather than a sword. Pr Wind Matrina positioned herself in the young man¡¯s side, forming a triangle with the other two Sword Masters. ¡°You¡¯re caught in a trap!¡± Joy spread across Sir Jay¡¯s face. They were the ones escorting the Imperial Family. The Chancellor was not a fool, so he assigned a lot of resources into this task. Perhaps their enemies came in despite knowing that it was a trap. But they probably didn¡¯t know that their side was prepared to this extent. Three Sword Masters. Not one or two, but three superhumans. Sir Jay was a mercenary. He had abandoned his pride a long time ago in the first ce. He thought that it would be nice if he could crush the opponent in front of him, whether they surrendered or not. So heughed. Heughed at the young man and the Royal Knights who fell into the trap. But hisugh didn¡¯tst long. Because he found it very strange. The situation would disturb anyone. But the young man in front of him didn¡¯t act like that. Rather, the young man looked at Sir Jay with his green eyes that burned intensely like mes, and said with a smile. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right.¡± As expected. It¡¯s the emperor, so it¡¯s normal to have three Sword Masters after all. Do you have a Sword Saint though? Confusion spread across Sir Jay¡¯s face. Caesar and Matrina also stepped back in surprise. The reason why they did that. [Show them, my sessor.] How strong you have be from your battle against an Ancient Dragon. How powerful you are now. ¡°With my sixth door, I¡¯ll pound you into rice cakes.¡± [My sessor, you can only open up to the sixth door, right?] Jude didn¡¯t answer Valencia¡¯s sharp remark. He released the power of the sixth door to the fullest. If you recall, that pound into rice cakes line originally came from Landius. Jude just copied his master¡¯s line. Chapter 295: Rescue (2)

Chapter 295: Rescue (2)

Aura and energy are pretty much the same thing. So Jude¡¯s ck energy can also be called ck aura. The Sword Masters working for the Chancellor had one thing inmon. It was the fact that they were not from the usual noble families. Caesar was abat ve. After many fierce battles in the arena, he understood swordsmanship and became a Sword Master so he was better at understanding the strength of an enemy than Sir Jay, a mercenary. So did Matrina. She was not abat ve like Caesar, but she was born and raised in the wildnds. Therefore, her ferocity nurtured by the logic of ¡®the weak fall prey to the strong¡¯ in that ce made her sharper and keener than anyone else. ¡®Strong.¡¯ The three Sword Masters of the empire noticed this fact even before Jude seriously unleashed his power. And that thought soon came true. Kwaaaang! An explosion of power. They could only express it as that. A sudden amplification. His energy seemed to have soared nearly 10 times in an instant. But that wasn¡¯t the only problem. If it was just a quick burst of power, there was no reason to think that it was an explosion. ¡®Crazy?!¡¯ It was tremendous. Even if it was tremendous, it was too much tremendous. Half of his face was covered by a mask, but the three could tell. He was young. He was younger than them. But it was unbelievable that he had this much power. If one onlypared the amount of aura or energy he had, he had far exceeded the level of ordinary Sword Masters. Yes, he was on the level of Grand Masters, the so-called Sword Saints! ¡°Watch out!¡± Matrina eximed. Because Jude had kicked the ground when Sir Jay and Caesar were momentarily paralyzed from thinking of his explosion of power. Sword Masters were superhumans. Their cognitive abilities were beyond that of a human, and their reflexes were like that of light. The moment they recognized the enemy¡¯s attack, their bodies moved before their brains could give amand. Jude kicking the ground. They saw it. They automatically read and analyzed Jude¡¯s movements even before he kicked the ground. His shoulder movement. His waist movement. That was why they could predict how Jude would charge. So when Matrina shouted, Sir Jay was not surprised and flustered. Because his body had already moved in response to the sequence. Towards the front. He would block the enemy¡¯s movement with an attack rather than avoiding or defending from it. Thus, Sir Jay swung his sword. Or to be exact, when he was swinging his sword. Right after the rushing Jude was reflected in Sir Jay¡¯s eyes. At that time, Sir Jay had a thought. So he was confused. ¡®What the f*ck?¡¯ He couldn¡¯t even blink at that moment. But Sir Jay was a superhuman. A Sword Master¡¯s thinking speed was different from that of ordinary humans. And that was why he was so confused. ¡®What?¡¯ Jude was bare-handed. His arms that were covered by a ck aura would not be able to block a Sword Master¡¯s sword. Sir Jay also used his aura. The sword covered with his aura and the arm wrapped with aura would collide. The result would be obvious. The arm would be cut. It would not be just a cut as it would bepletely severed! Sir Jay¡¯s sword drew a sharp trajectory. And Jude jumped into that trajectory. In Sir Jay¡¯s eyes, it was nothing but an act of suicide. Sir Jay¡¯s brain which worked ording to reason had thought that the arm would be cut by the sword. But at the same time, Sir Jay¡¯s intuition shouted. Itpletely screamed. ¡®No! That won¡¯t happen!¡¯ Bang! The sword and Jude¡¯s arm met. It collided, but Jude¡¯s arm blocked the sword. Something that was impossible. What Sir Jay felt through his sword at the moment of impact was not a human arm. A de. The aura-covered arm was an Aura de too! ¡®How?!¡¯ The sword slipped at that time. No, Jude¡¯s arm moved along with the sword. It slid over Sir Jay¡¯s sword gently and quickly, pushing it away at the same time. After letting Sir Jay¡¯s sword slip away so naturally, he approached Sir Jay¡¯s arm and swung his sword-like hand. Shwaaaak! Only once. A surprise attack that worked only once when facing an enemy who did not know Jude. The absurdity of blocking a sword with bare hands had always been useful. ¡°Aaaah!¡± Sir Jay¡¯s chest was shed. But that was it. Sir Jay flung his body backwards as Jude¡¯s sword-like hand shed his chest. The sword he swung was pushed back, but he still did it. Crack! It wasn¡¯t the sound of his skin splitting. Instead of a fountain of blood, fragments of light appeared. It was the light barrier that Sir Jay always wore around his chest. The magic tool was disposable and extremely expensive, but it was cheap whenpared to one¡¯s life. ¡°UOOOO!¡± Matrina charged. When Sir Jay stepped back, Caesar also sprinted towards Jude¡¯s back. The thought of a hunt came to Matrina. Caesar remembered the time when he fought an enemy stronger than himself. So they had to destroy the enemy with a pincer attack. Their enemy was not something they could fight alone and win against. Baaang! Lightning struck at that time. Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt. Jude disappeared. They couldn¡¯t sense him. Even with the superhuman senses of a Sword Master, they missed Jude¡¯s movement in that instant. The overwhelming aura. It wasn¡¯t only that. Matrina was the first to notice it. ¡®Monster!¡¯ Their physical abilities were different. She noticed the difference unlike other Sword Masters who did not notice a difference because they had all reached the limits of a human. The physical abilities of the monster in front of her was clearly stronger. Baaang! Caesar received Jude¡¯s attack. Even Caesar himself did not know how he did it. Only after he reflexively blocked did he be aware of Jude¡¯s strength. ¡®Monster?!¡¯ ¡®As expected of a Sword Master!¡¯ Caesar and Jude thought at the same time. Jude¡¯s aura and physical abilities were greater than the three Sword Masters in front of him, but he still couldn¡¯t defeat them easily. Because they too were superhuman and not alone. ¡°Haa!¡± Matrina attacked for the first time. Sir Jay didn¡¯t immediately swing his sword, but he did his part by exposing his movements. Because it was impossible to ignore the presence of a Sword Master. ng! Metal sounds thunderously sounded in session. No one would think that those were the sounds of a human arm and sword colliding, but it was true. ¡°Push!¡± It was three to one. They were obviously faster than their enemy, but that did not mean they were three or four times faster. 1.5 times at most. There would definitely be a huge gap if it was a one-to-one confrontation where the speed was 1.5 times faster. But it was three to one. When one side swung their one sword, the other side had three swords swinging at once. Almost at the same time! Swoooosh!s There was a gale. Jude was no longer in the middle of the three. He became a ck gale and escaped the siege of the Sword Masters. But it was at that moment. ¡°The carriage!¡± One of the Imperial Knights shouted. Because the green telekic force that looked like a giant¡¯s hand had lifted the carriage again. ¡°Stop it!¡± Matrina shouted before running to Jude. Caesar turned around while Sir Jay swung his sword at Jude. As the carriage soared, Caesar kicked the ground. aaash! Sir Jay¡¯s sword reached Jude who swung his sword-like hand to block it, and right after that, Matrina¡¯s woldo struck in session, aiming for that gap in time. From top to bottom. Like lightning strikes. But it was within reason. Jude had already calcted it. So Jude was able to avoid those lightning strikes. With his ck gale, he avoided the woldo by half a step, and Matrina sensed that her attacks had missed so she turned her ankle to change the trajectory of her woldo again. But with Jude¡¯s Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt, he distanced himself from Matrina and looked at Caesar. A sword attack. Right before it was swung. A deep blue aura rose from Caesar¡¯s gigantic sword. Jude reached out to Caesar. It was far away, but he didn¡¯t care. He stretched out his hand. And pulled! Swoooosh! A ck dragon rose from Jude¡¯s fingertips. It wasn¡¯t just one. Many ck dragons rose and encircled Caesar as if they were tentacles. And the dragons pulled him afterwards! ¡°EEEEH?!¡± Caesar screamed in surprise. Moreover, he wasn¡¯t simply grabbed. The moment he was pulled back, ck lightning sparked from the entire bodies of the ck dragons. Craaaackle! Lightning. An electric shock. It stunned him! He couldn¡¯t move. His movement was stopped even if it was only a second or less. And one second was enough to decide the life of a Sword Master in a fight! ¡°NO!¡± Matrina recklessly rushed. So she paid the price. The trajectory of the woldo was swung so directly that Jude urately read it and avoided the woldo with minimal movement. He then rushed to Matrina like the wind and put his palm on her hard abdominal muscles. Power of the Sun. A blow from point-nk range. Boom! The power of the ck sun exploded. Matrina covered her front with her powerful aura, but the immense force sent her flying. At the time the attack struck her, she had protected her abdomen with her aura to prevent her body from exploding, but she was unable to cope with the shock. It was only a short moment, but she almost lost consciousness in that single blow. But Jude did not stop there. He stretched out his hand again. He tried to bring back Matrina who had been blown away. ¡®Grab her.¡¯ The ck dragon. It wasn¡¯t just an embodiment of his energy now. Jude who could not open the seventh door then followed what the rotten waters who reached the max level often did. Dig into. He dug into and deeply studied things. As a result, he acquired powers that he normally couldn¡¯t obtain. Jude was able to control the number and size of the ck dragons. It was even possible to control them freely as though they were really an extension of his limbs. Seeing Jude¡¯s tentacles ¨C no, ck dragons, Valencia frowned and said that it was disgusting, but Jude actually liked this ability. Crackle! Consecutive electrocution. Having been caught by the ck dragons, Matrina¡¯s body drooped and Jude turned his head. Instead of dealing thest hit, he saw Sir Jay rushing towards him. ¡°UOOOOOH!¡± Sir Jay was clearly a mercenary. And mercenaries were usually unable to learn proper swordsmanship. But Sir Jay was no ordinary mercenary. He was a descendant of a fallen noble family, and the fact that his family fell meant that there was a time when it prospered. Sir Jay had learned the exclusive swordsmanship of his family. Caesar and Matrina could not evenpare to his understanding of the sword. ¡®Not all Sword Masters are the same.¡¯ Matrina¡¯s swordsmanship was rough. Her sword didn¡¯t aim at humans. Her sword was aimed at the huge monsters that lived in the wildnds, so her movements were too big and had no technique, so she was unable to read her opponent¡¯s technique. Caesar¡¯s swordsmanship was wild. In the arena where death and killing prevailed, his sword specialized in killing was what turned him into a Sword Master. But it relied on a momentary explosive force. His sword had no depth in it. Sir Jay himself was different. Since he was a pure human, his physical abilities were inferior to the previous two, but his swordsmanship was superior. ¡®I¡¯ll show you my swordsmanship. The sword of Karniak!¡¯ Sir Jay was a veteran swordsman. He was a sword genius. His swordsmanship that he had honed for nearly thirty years was said to be just below the Grand Masters. ¡®Principles subdue monsters. The difference in physical abilities can be overshadowed by techniques!¡¯ His judgment was correct. His idea was not wrong. In fact, Sir Jay had the experience of subduing Caesar and Matrina with his swordsmanship technique. But he had one miscalction. ng! ng! ng! His sword was blocked. All his attacks were stopped. His sword was read. Despite his reach being longer, he was losing. Why? What was the reason? He figured out the answer. So he was shocked. ¡®Crazy?!¡¯ His swordsmanship was good. Despite the young man being clearly younger, his swordsmanship wasparable to Sir Jay himself. With the young man¡¯s superior physical abilities, it was natural for Sir Jay to be on the losing side. ¡®How?! What the hell!¡¯ At this point, Sir Jay knew who his opponent was. Jude Bayer. The new Sword Master of the kingdom. There were too many exaggerated rumors about him, so Sir Jay ignored it. He was a fake genius close to a propaganda that was put forward by the kingdom to fill the empty position in the Ten Great Swordmasters. ¡®No way! That¡¯s ridiculous!¡¯ Jude Bayer¡¯s originally a weakling. He¡¯s a rookie who has not properly learned the sword for two years. But this man is equal to me? Is that possible? That can¡¯t be. Impossible. Although there are means to artificially strengthen or increase your physical abilities or aura, that doesn¡¯t apply to swordsmanship. More than 10 years. If I consider his age, it will take him a little more than 10 years to learn the sword even if he cheated in learning it. I didn¡¯t need that much time. Because I¡¯m a genius. Bing a Sword Master is the proof. But how? Why! ¡°Because of Cheonmujiche.¡± Jude said. He spoke in the midst of their battle. He gave an answer after reading the emotions reflected in Sir Jay¡¯s eyes. If you¡¯re a genius, I have Cheonmujiche. Because it¡¯s the incarnation of martial arts from the heavens! Twelve Snowke Sword Art. The Seventh Snow Flower. Snowke Orchid. Extreme Yin energy poured into Jude¡¯s sword-like hands. As white snowkes covered everything around him, he pushed Sir Jay. Cheonmujiche (Heavenly Martial Body). The incarnation of martial arts. It wouldn¡¯t be named like that if that didn¡¯t make him skilled at everything he did with his body. If a genius could aplish a task in one month that an ordinary person would take ten years, Jude¡¯s Cheonmujiche reduced that month to a week. And Jude had a master. He wasn¡¯t referring to Landius and Kamael. A thousand years ago, she was the continent¡¯s strongest and called the Sword Goddess. Elf Sword Valencia. Her guidance and Cheonmujiche worked in harmony, so Jude was not a typical Sword Master. Bababababababang! ¡°AAAAAAH!¡± Sir Jay¡¯s scream resounded at the end of the sword attack. His left arm soared into the air, and Matrina and Caesar who were released from being stunned attacked Jude again. Theypletely ignored the carriage that had already disappeared into the sky. Because they had to save Sir Jay. For the two of them, Sir Jay was not just a bad-tempered mercenary. For Caesar and Matrina, he was like their life saver. Thus, they attacked. They would stop him. They would destroy him with their perfect teamwork! Roooooar! The roar of the two beastkins echoed in the sky. Due to the fierce and relentless onught, Jude chose to defend instead of coveting Sir Jay¡¯s life, and Sir Jay demonstrated his skill as a Sword Master. He endured the pain by clenching his teeth and stopped the bleeding of his severed left arm with his aura at the same time. He wielded the sword in his right hand and tried to help Caesar and Matrina. A three-man team. Moreover, now that he knew that his opponent was Jude, it couldn¡¯tpare to the previous one. Jude held his breath. He perceived and calcted. After predicting the swords of the three people, he made his move. He pushed away Caesar¡¯s sword. He evaded Sir Jay¡¯s sword. He turned around before Matrina¡¯s sword moved. He sent a back kick towards her abdomen. Baaaang! Matrina couldn¡¯t even scream at the fast kick. She flew backwards like a puppet whose strings broke, and Jude kicked the ground again. He soared to the air with Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt! Booom! Jude soared high into the sky. Caesar and Sir Jay hurriedly followed Jude by raising their heads, and Matrina grabbed her stomach and struggled in lifting her head up. What? What is he trying to do? Is he going to plunge down from the sky? They were wrong. It was not that. Unlike the three who were only focused on Jude, Jude looked around. The carriage carrying the Imperial Family had disappeared. Lucas and his group who were fighting the Imperial Knights had long since retreated. So Jude himself should retreat. In a ce where he didn¡¯t know when reinforcements woulde, facing three Sword Masters at the same time was like walking on a tightrope, so he chose to leave. But how? Should he kick the air like Landius? It was a cool method, but it was not enough. That kind of escape wouldn¡¯t work for Sword Masters. So he prepared a move. ¡°Jude!¡± Cordelia spread her white wings in the sky and weed Jude with her wide open arms. She hugged Jude as hard as she could, andined that he was heavy as she faced him. [Let¡¯s hurry up.] Cordelia nodded at Melissa¡¯s words. She said with a big smile at the Sword Masters and the Chancellor¡¯s troops who were looking at her with bewildered faces. ¡°Goodbye, everyone! Jude and I will be leaving in search of happiness!¡± What? Huh? What is she talking about? After she said those nonsensical words, Cordelia raised the Rogue Master¡¯s treasure, the Moon Crystal, with her hand. And she bade them farewell again. The moonlight shone down the sky and the two people blurred and disappeared in it. ¡°N-NOOO!¡± Sir Jay and Caesar fired their sword auras, but it was toote. Their Aura de cut through the night sky in vain. And dozens of meters away. Jude and Cordelianded on the other side of the hill and changed positions. Jude carried Cordelia in his arms while she hugged his neck and whispered. ¡°F*ck bang.¡± And an explosion urred. Explosions echoed throughout the hill. When Cordelia had used the Moon Crystal, she had also dropped bombs from her waist, and that caused a chain explosion. Sword Masters wouldn¡¯t be taken out from just that, but it would be possible to dy them for a while. It took time for the Imperial Family and Lucas¡¯ group to escape. ¡°Shall we go then?¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go.¡± [Don¡¯t talk and just go.] [I¡¯ll get mad if you kiss here.] At Melissa and Valencia¡¯s remarks, Jude and Cordelia had bitter smiles before Jude kicked the ground. He turned into a ck gale and ran across the hill. Chapter 296: Rescue (3)

Chapter 296: Rescue (3)

Apparently, the Chancellor¡¯s name wasn¡¯t Ivan¡­ Why do I keep making many mistakes recently? ???? Rescuing the emperor and the other members of the Imperial Family was their goal, but they also needed to be taken to a safe hiding ce. The Chancellor had originally ignored the ambush itself in order to catch the Royal Knights on their rescue operation, but that did not mean he would leave the surrounding areaspletely empty. ¡°Good luck!¡± ¡°May the god¡¯s protection be with you!¡± The Royal Knights scattered with the Imperial Family. Since they only had a small number of people in the first ce, there was no point in moving around together and it was easier to escape if they scattered in different directions. ¡°Jude! Let¡¯s run!¡± ¡°Okay!¡± Instead of heading straight to their agreed upon ce, Jude and Cordelia repeatedly appeared and disappeared in various ces around the imperial capital. Because Jude and Cordelia were the strongest in the group and had the most mobility. Twelve hours passed like that. It wasn¡¯t until the morning sun came up that Jude and Cordelia focused on running away, and it was only when the sun reached the top of the sky that they could finally rx. ¡°Master!¡± Upon entering the nameless forest between the imperial capital and the academy city of Manaple, Kirara who had been hiding while waiting greeted Jude and Cordelia with a wide smile. ¡°I¡¯m d that you¡¯re okay!¡± ¡°Yes, yes, we¡¯re okay. Thanks.¡± Cordelia immediately ran and hugged Kirara whoughed and reacted right away. ¡°Hehehe.¡± Kirara blushed and wagged her tail in her shyness, but she liked this moment very much. ¡®Amazing.¡¯ Because Kirara in the game¡¯s storyline never showed such a side. ¡®She¡¯s somehow simr to Red Wind, huh?¡¯ Among the yable characters whom Jude and Cordelia had met so far, Red Wind was the one who showed the biggest change in personality from the original. In the game, Red Wind was cold, sensitive, and did not talk much, but the current Red Wind liked to smile and had a genial personality. One reason had caused that. It was the fact that Jude and Cordelia prevented her from all the hardships she would suffer in the game¡¯s storyline when they bought her from the ve auction house. She was not abused in the ve auction house, did not experience the death of other ves, and most importantly, her hometown was not destroyed. Kirara¡¯s life was not as dramatic as Red Wind, but she also lived a pretty rough life in the game¡¯s storyline. She was a woman who used betrayal as a means of survival, but in reality, she was quite soft-hearted. She felt hurt every time she betrayed someone, and as the game¡¯s storyline progressed, she was devastated. ¡®You again, Kirara?¡¯ ¡®Kirara, it¡¯s not you, right?¡¯ ¡®But Kirara is a traitor.¡¯ The scene where Kirara sat alone by theke shore and cried a lot after she abandoned everyone and ran away, saying that she wanted to be left alone, won the sympathy of many game yers. ¡®Of course, there were a lot of people who called it crocodile tears.¡¯ In any case, the heart of the game¡¯s Kirara was shattered from her constant betrayals, and she often had dead-looking eyes whenever she was alone, but it was different now. Because just like Red Wind, she met Cordelia and became a new person before her heart was broken and shattered. ¡°I like Master very much.¡± Kirara whispered quietly as if confessing, and Cordelia eventually cleared all the thoughts in her head. ¡°I like you too.¡± ¡°Hehehe.¡± When such a heartwarming scene continued, Jude smiled like a father, but he knew that they couldn¡¯t stay like this forever. ¡°Kirara, what about the Imperial Family?¡± ¡°They¡¯re safe. Everyone is here except for Lucas-oppa and Kajsa-unnie.¡± ¡°Eh? The two haven¡¯t arrived yet?¡± Cordelia asked after Jude, and Kirara quickly nodded and said. ¡°They¡¯re not in danger as I think they¡¯re just resting for a bit. The owls said so.¡± Kirara who was able tomunicate with animals was acting as a kind ofmunicationwork by grasping the situation of everyone in the nameless forest and delivering notes through the animals. Everyone had gathered here except for Lucas and Kajsa. Only the two of them were resting somewhere else. ¡°Oh.¡± Cordelia eximed as her eyes immediately narrowed and she said with a snicker and a sly smile. ¡°My Jude, aren¡¯t they trying to hide something? Where is a man and woman in their prime resting, and what are they doing alone? This Cordelia wants to know.¡± Her sparkling eyes served as proof that her imagination had already reached its conclusion. Therefore, Jude pulled her back to reality instead of agreeing and fanning the mes of her imagination. ¡°Lewd devil out. Let¡¯s go now and join the group.¡± ¡°Tsk.¡± Cordelia clicked her tongue, but since she was joking in the first ce, she quickly rxed and took Kirara¡¯s hand as they entered the depths of the forest. They walked like that for ten minutes. ¡°They¡¯re here!¡± ¡°Yeah!¡± The Royal Knights and their squires who were scattered and resting then quickly approached with joy on their faces. It was natural for them to react like that, given that they had seen Jude and Cordelia in rescuing the Imperial Family and their crazy performance in the operation. Cordelia had continuously used powerful magic such as Earthquake while Jude faced three Sword Masters at the same time. Both of them were so skilled that it was hard to believe that the two were only 18 years old. ¡°Pleasee this way.¡± Leon also greeted Jude and Cordelia with a smile on his face. He was a man who badly wanted to win against Lucas, but did not even think about it against Jude. Because the difference was too big. Envy was only possible originally if they were near the same level. So he wasn¡¯t envious of a person who seemed to be on a different level. Or rather, he was on apletely different realm. ¡°Hehe.¡± Cordelia proudly puffed her chest and felt good at everyone admiring Jude. On the other hand, Jude looked at Cordelia and smiled in admiration too. Anyway, the group followed Leon and met the Imperial Family, or to be exact, the young emperor of the empire, the Empress Dowager, and the emperor¡¯s younger siblings. ¡°Uh¡­ are they sleeping?¡± ¡°Yes, It¡¯s been a tough journey.¡± In reality, the emperor and his siblings had fainted and lost consciousness when Cordelia abducted the carriage. Even the Empress Dowager, who had held out somehow, was relieved of her tension and fell asleep after they entered the forest. It was not an audience with the emperor, and showing the asleep and defenseless emperor could be considered rude depending on how one interpreted it, but it couldn¡¯t be help since they had ran away. ¡°Let us get some rest then.¡± ¡°Yes, we n to stay here for a little longer and move at night.¡± Jude nodded a few times in response to Leon¡¯s words, and took a seat next to Cordelia who was being followed by Kirara. A few minutester. Cordelia was half-lying while hugging Kirara, and she looked back at the ce where the Imperial Family was. Because she recalled what she had seen. ¡®There¡¯s a toddler?¡¯ In the game, the members of the Imperial Family other than the Emperor and Empress Dowager were rarely seen, so the reality felt different now. The emperor had three more younger siblings, and because the emperor was young, his siblings were younger. There was a small child who seemed to have just turned two years old. ¡®Children. Baby.¡¯ Cordelia tightly hugged Kirara and began her specialty again ¨C her imagination. Children who wereughing and running around. A child who looked like Jude and a cute child who resembled Cordelia herself. Jude¡¯s sessor who would inherit his count title. ¡®I-I¡¯ll give birth to them?¡¯ Because they would be Jude¡¯s children. Jude¡¯s kids. She tried to imagine it. She would marry Jude, get pregnant, and be a mother¡­ ¡®Ueueueue¡­¡¯ In the past, she would have never imagined marrying Jude. But now that she was imagining marriage, she seemed to have taken a step forward. ¡®But there are many.¡¯ There were four including the emperor. The Empress Dowager was close to a heroine character because of her personality and behavior, and that she even served as a regent. She also had the appearance of a beautiful woman. It was hard to imagine that she had four children. ¡®Come to think of it, most people¡­ had a lot, right?¡¯ Unlike in their previous lives, the people here in Pleiades tended to have a lot of children. Jude¡¯s family that only had two was rather unusual, as most families usually had at least three and at most, five or six children. ¡®Then me and Jude¡­¡¯ How many children should we have? Considering our titles, having two is perfect. Still, after saving the kingdom and the empire, wouldn¡¯t our titles be higher? Since our achievements are not normal, our children will also receive a lot of benefits¡­ ¡®Should I ask Jude?¡¯ How many would you like? ¡®How many children would you like?¡¯ Cordelia asked herself before she immediately blushed and groaned. Because she was too embarrassed. ¡°Ugh.¡± And because of that, Kirara who was being hugged by Cordelia then groaned when Cordelia unconsciously hugged her tighter, but unfortunately, Cordelia was deeply immersed in her imagination and did not hear Kirara¡¯s voice. ¡®Okay¡­ shall I ask him?¡¯ Because it¡¯s important. Yes, yes. It¡¯s very important. ¡®Jude.¡¯ How many would you like? ¡°Eight.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Eight.¡± Jude spoke once more, and Cordelia turned red as she stuttered and wiggled her fingers. ¡°T-that much? T-then if you want to¡­ l-let¡¯s try our best?¡± ¡°Hey, Cordelia. Were you even listening to me?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± What are you talking about? When Cordelia blinked her eyes, Jude had a glum look and sighed. ¡°I was talking about the Sword Masters.¡± There were a total of twelve Sword Masters in the empire. Among them, three had been confirmed as enemies since they worked for the Chancellor. Jay Karniak, Caesar, and Matrina. Of the remaining nine, Absolute Knight Ghad was unconditionally on their side, so there were only eight left. ¡°Uh¡­ there are three elves, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, it has not been confirmed yet, but they are highly likely to be on our side. After subtracting those three, there are five left.¡± Among them, two were definitely on the pro-emperor faction, but they did not know which side the remaining three were on. ¡®Because Legend of Heroes was an RPG and not a political drama.¡¯ Moreover, it was difficult to describe the political strife because the story took ce amidst the chaos of the 7 major cmities and the copse of the kingdom. ¡°The problem is that one of those three is the Sword God.¡± The best swordsman of the empire. The continent¡¯s strongest swordsman who was called the Sword God. The strongest of the four Grand Sword Masters who belonged to the empire. As the owner of Ultimate Six, he was the biggest variable in their uing battles in the empire. ¡°Uuuh¡­ It would be a headache if he became an enemy.¡± But what would happen if Landius was here? Or Kamael? When Cordelia said something that was a little convenient but true to some extent, Jude also nodded. To be frank, it was hard to imagine Landius losing to anyone after seeing him fight Malekith. ¡®Duke killing him is bullsh*t. He must have just picked up the Sr de by ident.¡¯ Judepletely abandoned the theory of Landius¡¯ murder, and had been pushing the theory of Landius killing himself. ¡®He opened the door and died as a side effect.¡¯ ¡°Anyway, why are you suddenly talking about Sword Masters? Are we going to seriously fight them?¡± Jude snapped out of his thoughts at Cordelia¡¯s question, and he nodded again. Due to their battle, the Chancellor and the demon followers would know that Jude had entered the empire, and they would be able to guess on how strong he was. Therefore, it was highly possible that not ordinary Sword Masters, but Grand Sword Masters or simr enemies would appear in the future. ¡®Grand Sword Master.¡¯ In the kingdom, these sword monsters were called Sword Saints. One person came to his mind. He couldn¡¯t help it. A person that Jude and Cordelia had faced once and would surely meet again someday. ¡®First Sword.¡¯ Rhun Froud, the Sword Saint of Light. As if drawn to something, Jude looked back at the direction of the imperial capital. *** The Chancellor¡¯s office was in an emergency. They had lost the Imperial Family including the emperor who was in their custody. It wasn¡¯t that they didn¡¯t defend at all. Even though they had assigned three Sword Masters, they were defeated, so it was hard to me anyone. But someone had to take responsibility for this incident. It would be chaotic. They had to prepare for the future. A number of variables would also arise at the emperor¡¯s absence. Imperial Chancellor Joel Kreusler, the highest-ranking official in the empire and a high-ranking demonic human of the Devil¡¯s Eye, thought of a speed battle beginning with martialw. Because he had to finish taking control of the empire before the emperor could rally the pro-Imperial Family faction. And apart from the troubles of the Chancellor, there was a person who was rxed alone. He smiled despite knowing that this failure would hamper the cause of the demon followers and the many things this failure would cause. He burst intoughter at the fact that three Sword Masters could not stop it despite all of them attacking at the same time. ¡°Hoh, you¡¯ve be really strong, huh?¡± At the training center of Absolute Knight Ghad. No, at the ce that used to be his training center. As his body was drenched in blood, First Sword or Duke, a high-ranking demonic human of the Devil¡¯s Hand, had a white smile. He was truly pleased with Jude and Cordelia¡¯s performance. ¡°Ha, I want to see them.¡± If I had known that they had entered the empire, I would have gone there. ¡°But well, it was quite fun over here too, right?¡± First Sword asked with a smile, but there was no answer. Absolute Knight Ghad. The Royal Knight¡¯s strongest swordsman and a Grand Sword Master that the empire was proud of. The emperor¡¯s sword whose will never broke. So First Sword killed him. He beheaded him. Ghad¡¯s swordsmanship was definitely amazing, but First Sword was even better than him now. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to see them. I miss them. As expected, those two are really good.¡± First Sword threw to the floor Ghad¡¯s head that he was holding. He stood up without any hesitation and left the training center. Sword Demon. A new nickname he gained after uniting with a demon of Overlord Asmodeus. But First Sword preferred a different name. Best Sword. T/N: As I had mentioned in a previous episode, First Sword was supposed to be tranted as ¡®Best Sword¡¯, but I didn¡¯t change it since I didn¡¯t like him. But in the sentence above, the word ¡®best¡¯ fit more than ¡®first¡¯, and thus you see this trantor¡¯s note. In short, he wanted to continue using his old nickname. The peak of swordsmanship that he wanted to realize someday. A world beyond reason that he wanted to reach. ¡°I miss them.¡± With a faint smile, First Sword took a step forward. Whether by coincidence or inevitability, he headed towards the direction of Jude and Cordelia. Chapter 297: HODL Elves (1)

Chapter 297: HODL Elves (1)

Terms used in this episode: Rejuvenation ¨C a martial arts skill that lets the practitioner return to their younger body through a process such as metamorphosis after they had achieved a higher level of realization. Rather than having their wrinkles disappear or their facial appearance turn younger, the body itself be young as their bones and muscles return to what it was in their youthful days. Jude and his group traveled under the cover of night and by dawn, they arrived at a ce where they could take a rest. ¡°We won¡¯t get caught if we¡¯re here.¡± Most of the group nodded at Leon¡¯s words. A cabin stood on the rugged mountain with a forest that people rarely passed through. It was quiterge, but since the ce was rarely passed through, they didn¡¯t need to worry about being caught as Leon had said. ¡°Vigers can see those who areing and going in this cabin in the mountains, but this ce should be fine.¡± One of the Royal Knights exined to the emperor whom he was carrying on his back, and the emperor nodded with a tired face. The emperor didn¡¯t care whatever it was as long as he could go in and rest. [Jude, this is Sarah¡¯s hometown, right?] [It is.] The birthce of the yable character Sarah. Cordelia nced at Sarah who was at the front with Leon, so she could only see Sarah¡¯s back. ¡®Is she okay?¡¯ Because in the game¡¯s storyline, this cabin was a ce that Sarah missed but didn¡¯t want to return to. A ce that was filled with memories of her father. But a ce she wanted to erase from her memories because her father was murdered here. Cordelia was slightly nervous as she looked at Sarah again. But fortunately, her worries were unfounded as Sarah calmly moved forward as if she had already ovee the pain of the past. [Ah, wait. Wait. Did she just hold hands with Leon now?] It was only for a short time, but she did hold his hand, right? And Leon seemed to have held her hand tightly as if tofort her. They did, right? You saw that too, right? As Cordelia¡¯s face brightened up, Jude unconsciously had a bitter smile. Because he thought that Cordelia was really interested in other people¡¯s rtionships. ¡°Don¡¯t do that. Let¡¯s focus on ours.¡± ¡°Eh? Huh?¡± W-what do you mean? At the time when Cordelia blushed and developed strange expectations. [Let¡¯s go in. Let¡¯s move too.] Melissa coldly and indifferently said, and Jude smiled before he held Cordelia¡¯s hand. Naturally, Cordelia shyly smiled as her fingers wiggled before she interlocked it with Jude. [Seriously¡­] Melissa quietly sighed and everyone in the group entered the cabin. *** ¡°It¡¯s a littlete, but let me give you my thanks. Heroes from a foreign country, the two people of destiny. The Imperial Family will never forget your help.¡± The Empress Dowager sat in front of the firece and looked to be very tired. Her clothes appeared to be worn out from their escape, but she still had the dignity as the ruler of the empire. If the First Queen of the S?len Kingdom, Justina F. S?len, had the unique dignity and robustness of a trained warrior, the Empress Dowager had the striking sharpness and ferociousness of a sword. She had a fragile body that had never receivedbat training before, but the power in her eyes seemed to exceed that of the First Queen. ¡®As expected of a regent.¡¯ She should be around 30 now. Even though she was young whenpared to the former rulers of the empire, she had ruled the empire as a true regent for four years and was not just a puppet. ¡°I alsomend you for your service.¡± The young emperor, who was sitting next to the Empress Dowager, stiffened his neck and said. He seemed to be trying to show a dignified figure, but he was still too young and weak for that. He seemed to be only eleven now. ¡°The emperor¡¯s favor is immeasurable.¡± Jude and Cordelia politely bowed their heads and replied, and smiles spread across the faces of the Empress Dowager and the emperor. The Empress Dowager had a relieved smile while the emperor had a bright smile. ¡°As expected of the two people of destiny that the heavenly voice had foreseen. May I look forward to your future performance?¡± When the Empress Dowager asked again, Jude slowly raised his head and answered. ¡°Me and my fianc¨¦e, Cordelia, came to the empire as members of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. We promise to cooperate with the Imperial Family until we defeat the Chancellor who had sided with the demon followers and eradicate them that had spread like a disease throughout the empire.¡± ¡°I promise too.¡± Cordelia said thest words and promptly bowed, and the Empress Dowager sighed in relief again. She seemed to be very relieved as she did not hide her expression this time. She had not seen it in person, but she had heard in detail of the two¡¯s performance from the Royal Knights. It was unrealistic for a young man to be on the level of a Grand Sword Master and a girl to be on the level of an Archwizard, but in any case, what mattered was their abilities and not their age. ¡®We can do it.¡¯ With the power of a Grand Sword Master and an Archwizard, it became possible to make the impossible possible. The Grand Sword Master was such an existence. ¡®Furthermore¡­¡¯ There was one more Grand Sword Master in the Royal Knights that they could absolutely trust. If they could rescue him ¨C Absolute Knight Ghad, their power would double at once. A glimmer of hope shone on the Empress Dowager¡¯s face. But it was only for a moment, and the Empress Dowager soon had a stern face and said again. ¡°It is truly deplorable that the Chancellor and his subordinates are actually demon followers.¡± She thought that they were just a group of rebels, but she now understood that they were monsters who gave up their humanity. ¡°As members of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, we will surely destroy them.¡± ¡°We will annihte them.¡± As Jude and Cordelia spoke again, the Empress Dowager smiled once more. And it was then. ¡°Your Imperial Majesty the Empress Dowager, may we ask you a question?¡± Jude inquired and the Empress Dowager gently nodded. ¡°Is there something that you do not know the answer of? You may ask me.¡± With the Empress Dowager¡¯s permission,? Jude swallowed hard and carefully opened his mouth. ¡°We would like to know about the heavenly voice.¡± The mysterious being who pointed to Jude and Cordelia, calling them the two people of destiny. Who was that being and how did theymunicate with the Empress Dowager? Why did that being called Jude and Cordelia the two people of destiny? At Jude¡¯s question, the Empress Dowager nced at Leon for a moment before nodding again. ¡°The heavenly voice¡­ is a voice from a higher ce that has given me advice since childhood. Perhaps they are the heavenly gods¡­ that is what I think.¡± To be more specific, she would sometimes hear a holy voice and receive an oracle. The Empress Dowager exined that it was a one-waymunication and she could not talk back to them, but they had greatly helped her many times in her life. ¡®Are their true identities angels?¡¯ Half of the gods in Pleiades were originally angels who descended from Heaven. Even Sri was one of the seven archangels in Heaven. ¡®Angels.¡¯ Four archangels are still alive. If one of them is the heavenly voice and that archangel is helping the humans on earth¡­ ¡®It makes sense.¡¯ I don¡¯t know about the other archangels, but it¡¯s possible if it¡¯s Raguel. As the Archangel of Justice, she has cherished and loved humans very much in Legend of Heroes 3. But Legend of Heroes have three episodes. She originally did not exert much influence in Pleiades before the Great Summons in the second episode. But she¡¯s now involved in earthly affairs? And even through the Empress Dowager who rules the empire? ¡®It¡¯s not just the empire.¡¯ Given the circumstances, if the heavenly voice is truly an archangel from Heaven, then the S?len Kingdom must be also under the influence of Heaven. Crown Princess Daphne who is now an adult and has begun to actively intervene in the political affairs of the royal family must have also heard the heavenly voice. [It¡¯s fine since they¡¯re on our side, right?] Jude nodded at Cordelia¡¯s message, but couldn¡¯t help feeling ufortable. Are you saying that the butterfly effect that Cordelia and I had caused has even reached Heaven? It¡¯s possible, but honestly, I think it¡¯s a bit too far-fetched. There should be another cause. Another reason. A reason why the archangels have be interested in earth much earlier than the original. ¡°Count August Bayer?¡± Jude came to his senses at the Empress Dowager¡¯s call, and he bowed his head and stepped back instead of continuing to ask more questions. Because what he found out from the Empress Dowager seemed to be enough for now. ¡°Then I would like to discuss about our future ns.¡± When everyone¡¯s attention focused on the Empress Dowager, the emperor who was watching then gently pulled the Empress Dowager¡¯s sleeve. ¡°Your Imperial Majesty the Empress Dowager.¡± And his small voice followed. The Empress Dowager replied as she narrowed her brows. ¡°Your Majesty, I, too, would like to rescue Sir Ghad. But I think that it¡¯s not only reckless but also not a good time to go and save him now.¡± Although the emperor¡¯s mother was the regent, the supreme ruler of the empire was officially the young emperor. Therefore, the Empress Dowager continued her words with a friendly voice. ¡°First of all, we should unite the forces who are loyal to His Imperial Majesty the Emperor. And in order to do that¡­ we have to cooperate with the elves first.¡± Herst words were directed to the people in this ce rather than the emperor. The elves of the empire. Their first priority was to contact the so-called ¡®HODL elves¡¯ and ask for help. After all, the elves of the empire were descendants of Magen, the magic kingdom, so they hated demons and demon followers. If they learned that the Chancellor had be a demon follower, they would support the Imperial Family with all their power. ¡®Because the head of the HODL elves is a person from that era.¡¯ The elf capitalist, Vincenzo Lombardi. A high elf royalty who was still alive and led the elves of the empire despite his age of over a thousand years. Having lost his parents, siblings, and many friends to the demons, the hatred and vengeance he harbored had not disappeared even after more than a thousand years had passed. ¡°We fully ept the Empress Dowager¡¯s will.¡± The group meeting ended with the Royal Knights respectfully epting the Empress Dowager¡¯s instructions. And that night. Cordelia sneaked up next to Jude who was sitting outside the cabin and keeping watch. ¡°You¡¯re not in the night watch, right?¡± Because wizards were highly valued. They had no need for her as they had enough people to stand as the night watch. At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia smiled and hugged Jude¡¯s arm as she said. ¡°Just.¡± I just want to do this. Because of Kirara these days, I¡¯ve beencking in my Jude vitamins. Jude had a faint smile at Cordelia¡¯s analogy. ¡°Am I an essential nutrient?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. An essential nutrient.¡± Cordelia smirked and turned her head a bit in order to press her lips on Jude¡¯s chin. Their difference in height was so great that it was hard for her to kiss him in the lips unless she straightened her neck while sitting like this. ¡°Hehe.¡± This is really nice. Jude smiled and kissed Cordelia¡¯s cheek and vicle, though Cordelia flinched and said. ¡°Leave a mark.¡± Specifically in her vicle. But Jude tilted his head and said. ¡°You want me to leave one?¡± [Ugh, please. No.] Melissa¡¯s protest were somehow heard, but Jude and Cordelia ignored her because they had been focused on each other for quite some time. A short kiss. It didn¡¯tst long because he was in the middle of the night watch. So Cordelia leaned on Jude¡¯s chest and brought up another topic. ¡°But it¡¯s a bit disappointing.¡± ¡°What is?¡± ¡°I mean, if we go to the HODL elves, we won¡¯t be able to go to the Imperial Capital Academy.¡± That had been their original n. Using the documents that Kan had prepared, they would enter the Imperial Capital Academy and be students. They obviously weren¡¯t going to the academy to have a fun time, but Cordelia still regretted it. ¡°I wanted to wear a school uniform.¡± Because the Imperial Capital Academy¡¯s uniforms were famous for being pretty and stylish. At Cordelia¡¯s words, Jude lightly bit her ear and spoke. ¡°I wanted to see it.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°The uniform.¡± Cordelia in a school uniform. ¡°You want to see it?¡± ¡°Yes, I want to see it. Very much.¡± Cordelia¡¯s face reddened at Jude¡¯s words. She briefly hesitated before speaking in a low voice. ¡°M-me too.¡± Jude in a school uniform. I¡¯m sure he¡¯d look cool. Cordelia momentarily imagined it as she wiggled her fingers. Afterwards, she turned to Jude and said with a big smile. ¡°Jude, Jude. Shall we go to the academy and try it onter after our work in the empire is over?¡± After they had defeated all the demon followers and stopped the Great Summons. Jude smiled a bit at Cordelia¡¯s suggestion and said. ¡°I¡¯d like to, but isn¡¯t this a g?¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine if we¡¯re the main characters.¡± [What¡¯s with the flow of this conversation?] Jude nodded when Melissa interrupted. He hugged Cordelia¡¯s petite body again and promised that they would go to the Imperial Capital Academy. ¡°When everything is over.¡± ¡°Yes, when we get a happy ending.¡± It was bit vague, but they still wanted to aplish it. Jude and Cordelia lightly kissed on the lips. *** At the same time in a distant ce. The one called the Sword God raised his head. He had a wrinkled face and white hair, but he was not weak. Half of it was due to Rejuvenation, and the other was his old age. After walking the path of the sword for a long time that ordinary humans never got to walk, he was able toe to this point. And because of that, he no longer took the name Sword God seriously. ¡°You¡¯re back.¡± The Sword God was the continent¡¯s strongest swordsman. But he didn¡¯t work for the empire. He was only someone who sought and walked the path of the sword. ¡°Have you reached the sword of the heavens?¡± It was an absurd question. It had been a decade or so since the Sword God himself had reached the sword of the heavens. A state that he had reached after more than a hundred years of training. But the Sword God still asked. Because it would have been possible if it was the child in front of him. He had never had a disciple in his life. He was busy walking the path of the sword alone, so he had no time to take care of others. He thought that he would never had disciples until he died. But he changed his mind when he met the child in front of him for the first time. If it¡¯s this child. Will it be possible to go to what is beyond reason? Will it be possible to achieve a trulyplete swordsmanship? So he epted the child. He tried to teach him everything. But one day, the child, his only disciple, left his side and went out into the world. He had received a divine revtion. So he followed the voice from a higher ce. In response to the Sword God¡¯s question, Maximilian, the continent¡¯s best ¨C no, the best sword genius of all time, raised his head and looked at his master. Instead of answering with his mouth, he drew his sword. Ultimate Two ¨C Divine Sword Balisarda. An item that originally should not have been in his possession. Sword God smiled happily. He weed his disciple¡¯s challenge by pulling out Ultimate Six ¨C Final Sword Valcazard. ¡°Let¡¯s have a match.¡± To test his skills just like how they had always done. Sword God smiled and so did Maximilian. The swords and distance of the two narrowed down. Chapter 298: HODL Elves (2)

Chapter 298: HODL Elves (2)

The next morning. ¡°W-what the-? What the hell did you dost night?¡± While Kajsa persistently tried to find out the truth behind the markings left on Cordelia¡¯s vicle, the Royal Knight Sarah was preparing to leave. ¡°Be careful ande back safely.¡± At Leon¡¯s words, Sarah grinned and nodded her head. ¡°If you¡¯re worried, you can also leave some markings.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Marking? Leon blinked his eyes, not understanding what she meant, and Sarah smiled again before checking her equipment onest time. Sarah was now dressed more like a hunter than a knight. As the empress dowager saidst night, the current Imperial Family desperately needed the help of the elves. Because they had to pass through the territory of the elves to get to the northwestern region ruled by Marquis Buckingham, the leader of the pro-Imperial Family faction and the empress dowager¡¯s father. Of course, the enormous wealth and influence of the elves in the empire could not be ignored in the long run. Or rather, it was just incredibly important. The help of the elves was essential in driving out the demon followers who were trying to take control of the empire. ¡°Elves don¡¯t like pink hair. So don¡¯t worry.¡± Leon had a bitter smile at Sarah¡¯s joke, and he eventually put the helmet on Sarah and said. ¡°Yes, make sure to cover your face. Don¡¯t let those weird b*stards drool over you.¡± (T/N: Joke exnation. Koreans have this trope/meme(?) that pink haired characters in anime have deceptive appearances. Pink-haired characters are innocent-looking on the outside, but are actually lewd on the inside. If you think about it, this perfectly describes those erofu, hahaha. As for why elves don¡¯t like pink hair, perhaps it¡¯s because it¡¯s an urate description of them? Or someone called them that and they got offended so it¡¯s an offensive word for them. I¡¯m not sure actually. Anyway, Sarah also seems to fit this trope since she¡¯s innocent-looking but wanted Leon to leave a ¡®marking¡¯ on her. And it also applies to our dear Cordelia.) Sarahughed and nodded before lightly tapping Leon¡¯s chest. Afterwards, she headed to the ce where the empress dowager and the emperor were. It was to courteously greet them onest time before leaving. They needed an emissary to send to the elves. They needed to know if the elves would help or let the emperor and empress dowager pass through. And if they were clearly aware of what was happening in the empire. The emperor couldn¡¯t just enter the elves¡¯ territory without notifying them in advance. Therefore, Sarah, who was the fastest among the Royal Knights and had more mobility than the elves in the forest, was chosen as the emissary. ¡°I shall be going then.¡± ¡°Have a safe trip.¡± ¡°May the blessing of the gods be with you, my loyal subject.¡± After receiving the emperor and empress dowager¡¯s words, Sarah politely bowed and left the cabin. And Cordelia who was watching the scene said to Kajsa. ¡°It smells.¡± ¡°What smell? The smell of Jude whom you hugged all night?¡± ¡°Of course, that¡¯s a nice smell but it¡¯s a different smell.¡± ¡°Wow, look at how shameless you are now.¡± ¡°If you¡¯re envious, you can also hug Lucas in your sleep.¡± Cordelia spoke with a teasing giggle, and Kajsa was flustered at that moment. Her face turned red and she stuttered, which was unlike her. ¡°W-why are you bringing up Lucas here?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± I just poked you by chance. But it went as expected? [Why do all your topics go that way?] Anyway, she thought that Sarah and Leon smelled like a couple or something like that. Cordelia was embarrassed by Melissa¡¯s remark andughed ¡®ehehe¡¯ before speaking again. ¡°Moving on, we can¡¯t stay here for a long time. We¡¯re leaving after breakfast. We¡¯ve already agreed to meet Sarah at a certain ce.¡± ¡°I know. But who are you exining that to?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know!¡± Cordelia thoughtlessly answered and looked in the direction where Sarah had gone. T/N: I actually don¡¯t get this scene. I¡¯m not sure if Cordelia is breaking the fourth wall by exining their ns to us, the audience, or she was talking to Melissa. Sarah was supposed to be a bounty hunter but became a Royal Knight instead. It didn¡¯t seem like her specialty, Spirit Rush, had changed. There were traces of blue spirit aura on the ces she passed. ¡®What changed and what did not change.¡¯ Even though the butterfly effect had urred and several variables had been added, there were still things that did not change. Things that could never be changed. Events that happened as if they were a must. Cordelia shook her head. She drove out the strange thoughts she suddenly had and widely smiled again. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go. Jude¡¯s meals are very delicious, so look forward to it.¡± ¡°Hey, I¡¯ve been traveling with you two for a while now, right?¡± ¡°You know it well then.¡± Cordelia giggled as she boasted and took the lead, while Kajsa unknowingly turned to Lucas. *** Two dayster, aroundter afternoon. The group¡¯s movement speed had noticeably slowed down because the emperor, empress dowager, and the young members of the Imperial Family had joined their group. They alsocked horses, but since the Imperial Family members had a lower stamina than ordinary people, riding on horses for a long time would be hard for them too. But being in a hurry wasn¡¯t a wise move. After all, there was a limit to the ces where they could move until Sarah who was sent as an emissary would return, though they had already eluded the pursuit of the Chancellor. Therefore, the group calmed their impatience and proceeded to the west at a slow but steady pace. ¡®We¡¯re back to Asain Pass, huh?¡¯ The western part of the empire was a barrennd close to the wildnds, but perhaps because it was close to the elves¡¯ territory, the influence of the Imperial Family and the Chancellor was weak here. For this reason, the western region of the empire was often treated as a dangerous ce outside the territorial jurisdiction of any political faction, but it was a safend for the current Imperial Family who were being pursued by the Chancellor. Thus, the further west they went, the brighter the face of the emperor became, and the empress dowager was able to rx a bit too. But there was one person. A person in the group who became more anxious as they headed west. ¡°Kirara, are you okay?¡± ¡°HIIIIE?!¡± Kirara was startled at Cordelia¡¯s question as her tail stood up, but she nodded her head with an awkward expression. ¡°I-I¡¯m okay.¡± I¡¯m not scared at all. It¡¯s not like Mountain King controls the entire Asain Pass¡­ no, he does. Asain Pass belongs to Mountain King! ¡®I-I¡¯m going to be killed.¡¯ I¡¯ll be captured by Mountain King and be tortured to death. Because Mountain King is such a guy! Because he¡¯s the vicious demon of the west! He¡¯ll beat to death anyone who betrayed him! He mightsh at me with a whip. Or he might tear off all my nails and sprinkle salted water! ¡°K-Kirara?¡± ¡°Hic¡­ Huhu¡­ It was a short¡­ huhu.. time¡­ but it was nice meeting Master.¡± ¡°Eh, uh¡­ Kirara?¡± When Kirara began to sniff, the flustered Cordelia tightly hugged her, and Kirara buried her face in Cordelia¡¯s chest as she tried to forget reality. Jude and Cordelia were very strong ording to what she had heard so far, but she was not present at that time. She had only heard about it. But Mountain King was different. She realized how strong and cruel he was several times when she worked for him. Even now when she closed her eyes, she could still see Mountain King tearing off the limbs of the traitor alive, saying that the only price of betrayal was a painful death. ¡®I-I won¡¯t betray them!¡¯ I won¡¯t betray Master this time. I¡¯ll be with Master until the end. For real. Until it gets really, really, really dangerous! ¡®N-no. What am I thinking?¡¯ Kirara continued to struggle between her instinct and reason for a long time. It was the moment when the group entered a dark and unpopted ce that was the Asain Pass. ¡°Here theye.¡± Jude suddenly raised his head and said. Leon who was at the front also shouted urgently. ¡°Enemy attack!¡± ¡°UOOOOOH!¡± The shouts of several people drowned Leon¡¯s voice. So Leon was startled. Because the number of enemies was toorge despite them being on full alert. There were at least 30 people. Does that mean I didn¡¯t notice that many people preparing for an ambush? ¡°They¡¯re Mountain King¡¯s men!¡± Kirara cried out just then. All of the enemies who appeared were beastkin, but one could tell them apart by their unique color. Mountain King¡¯s men also had a ck cloth tied around their right arms. ¡°Kirara! You traitor!¡± ¡°HIIIIIE!¡± When one of Mountain King¡¯s subordinates called out her name, Kirara had a tearful face and trembled. As expected of Mountain King. He was tenacious. Perhaps it was because of Kirara that so many people had appeared now. And it was half true. Traitors must be punished ¨C that was Mountain King¡¯s creed. ¡°Beat them up!¡± ¡°Catch Kirara!¡± ¡°Tear them apart!¡± Not only the beastkin from the front but also those in the left and right began to rush after shouting loudly. ¡°Protect the nobles!¡± ¡°Everyone! Defensive formation!¡± The emperor¡¯s name could not be openly shouted in a ce like this. Therefore, the Royal Knights and squires addressed the emperor as a nobleman, pulling out their swords at the same time as they gathered near the emperor. And in the meantime, Kajsa dered the start of the fight. ¡°Let¡¯s wipe them out!¡± She was famous as a pirate hunter in the south. From Kajsa¡¯s perspective, pirates and bandits were simr in that they were groups that had to be eradicated, so she did not hold back. ¡°Awooooo!¡± Kajsa howled like a beast but did not solidify her defense. Rather, she leapt in the middle of the attacking horde and wildly swung her chains, knocking down several men in an instant. The strength of the divine chains that sealed the Demon Prince was added to Kajsa¡¯s strength, so even the strongest beastkin could not withstand it. Those who were struck by the chain that swept low on the ground copsed, and they could not even stand up due to a broken leg or a muscle injury from the blow. The situation on the other side was not much different. Lucas raised the unique white Aura de of the Holy King¡¯s Cross Sword, and was like a wolf who jumped into a flock of sheep. The bandits who were subordinates of Mountain King had maintained their ranks due to their strong discipline, but they were unable to keep a proper formation because of the two¡¯s actions. The fight quickly turned into a melee, and as a result, the battle began to tilt sharply towards the group with superior individualbat power. ¡°UOOOOOH!¡± Leon and the Royal Knights also gained courage. After all, they were also geniuses selected from all over the empire. They were not inferior to the bandit beastkins who never received proper training in swordsmanship. And around five minutester. More than 40 people fought in the battle, but it was almost settled by that time. Most of the beastkins were wallowing on the ground, and a few in the back began to escape without looking back. Leon let out his breath and wiped the blood off his sword before shouting. ¡°Let¡¯s run before more peoplee!¡± Their numbers were small, but their opponents numbered many. Moreover, they were not dealing with an ordinary bandit now. Leon had heard of Mountain King of Asain Pass before. The king of Asain Pass was said to have hundreds of subordinates. Furthermore, he was a formidable powerhouseparable to a Sword Master ording to rumors. So it wouldn¡¯t just end here. If he stepped back from here, his reputation as the king of Asain Pass would plummet to the ground. The emperor who was frightened by the battle in front of him quickly nodded, and the empress dowager also agreed with a nervous expression. They had to quickly cross Asain Pass. If not, they had to look for apletely different route. But it was then. ¡°Um¡­¡± It was Lucas. Raising his hand slightly, he narrowed his brows and said as the Royal Knights looked at him. ¡°Why do we have to run away?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°I mean, we have them.¡± Lucas said as he nced in one direction, and the Royal Knights followed his gaze. They all stared at the same ce and showed a simr reaction. ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Hundreds of subordinates? A formidable powerhouseparable to a Sword Master? So what? It¡¯s not a big problem. There were two people who did not participate in the fight. Jude and Cordelia who were just protecting the emperor instead of fighting and stealing the experience of ¡®low level yers.¡¯ Jude awkwardly smiled at everyone¡¯s gaze while Cordelia coughed and shrugged before turning to Jude. ¡°Jude, Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Shall we settle this?¡± ¡°That¡¯ll be good.¡± Let¡¯s settle all the events rted to Mountain King that we¡¯ve put on hold for a while. At the same time, let¡¯s relieve Kirara¡¯s anxiety. We¡¯ll have to cross the Asain Pass anyway. It¡¯ll be better for the emperor and empress dowager to rest in a proper house, right? ¡°M-master?¡± Kirara blinked in confusion, and Cordelia had a gentle smile as she stroked Kirara¡¯s head. ¡°Then let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Jude and Cordelia had dark smiles as they headed to one direction. Deep inside Asain Pass. They went towards Mountain King¡¯s hideout. Chapter 299: HODL Elves (3)

Chapter 299: HODL Elves (3)

Terms used in this episode: Nine tails ¨C This refers to the nine tails of a Kumiho, a mythical nine-tailed fox spirit that could transform into a human, usually a beautiful woman, in order to seduce men and eat their heart or liver. The empress dowager frowned. It was not because she did not like the decision of the Royal Knights. She was just in disbelief that they would be fighting Mountain King. The empress dowager did not know much about battles, but there was one thing she knew. The fact that even the most outstanding general could be killed by a stray arrow on the battlefield. ¡®But why¡­¡¯ The empress dowager was not the only one in the group. Although he was still young, the emperor who was the supreme ruler of the empire was with the group. No, it was more of a problem because he was young. How could everyone be so disloyal as to take the emperor to the battlefield when everyone made him avoid even drizzles? Moreover, even the empress dowager had heard of rumors about Mountain King. He was a strong warriorparable to a Sword Master, and all his subordinates were said to be ferocious beastkin. ¡°Haa¡­¡± The empress dowager was frustrated and troubled, but she tried to keep her dignified expression. Because she knew that if she was anxious, the young emperor would be even more anxious. Actually, the empress dowager was very weak now. She was called an irondy on the outside, but she was actually doing her best to endure it for the young emperor. They had desperately escaped the imprisonment of the Chancellor who betrayed them. Frankly, her hands were still trembling every time she thought about the time of their escape. At that time, she heard loud noised from outside and the carriage was being shaken. It was fortunate that she did not faint at the sight of the Royal Knights covered in blood. ¡®This is too much.¡¯ She was referring to the fight just now. The emperor appeared to be excited at the strength of the group, but the empress dowager was honestly afraid. How could one not be afraid when fierce beastkins from all directions were shouting and running at you? But they were now heading to the ce where the boss was. No matter how strong they were, there was no need to take such a risk especially when the emperor was here. She deeply felt uneasy. In her thoughts, she wanted to change the direction of the Royal Knights¡¯ march by shouting out loud right away. But the empress dowager couldn¡¯t do that. Because apart from her personal feelings, she knew that they had to cross Asain Pass. ¡®Eueueue¡­¡¯ The emperor and her young children were by her side, so she couldn¡¯t let her feelings show. Her feelings of frustration and resentment towards the Royal Knights only grew. ¡®No matter how strong you are, how can you take a risk when the emperor¡¯s here!¡¯ But around an hourter. The empress dowager¡¯s thinkingpletely changed. *** This was how the dog beastkin Robin (24 years old, unemployed) described the scene that day. ¡°There was a fire in the vige below, so I went to take a look. But when I came back, our base was on fire!¡± In reality, he didn¡¯t even see it properly. There seemed to be a series of bangs and explosions all over the ce, and the base soon began to burn. In his surprise, he ran out of the building but was struck by a chain in the head and passed out. When he woke up, everything was already over. Their base was burned down and hisrades were tied up in a row. Seeing that the people who had been kidnapped to serve as ves were looking triumphantly at them outside the prison, it really seemed like his group had been defeated. The human boy Philip (11 years old, emperor) had a more detailed exnation. ¡°Spirit King Punch! Spirit King Punch!¡± A rain of arrows poured down from all directions, but he was not scared at all. The pink-haired angel looked back at the emperor and gently smiled. The arrows bounced off the translucent barrier. Roars and loud explosions were heard with each wave of the angel¡¯s hands. As the vicious-looking beastkin bandits approached, the angel spread out her white wings and began throwing bombs with both hands. Boom! Boom! Boom! It was fine if some bandits survived the explosion. Because they couldn¡¯t break through the angel¡¯s barrier like the arrows, and the growling beast girl blew them away with the chain she swung. ¡°Spirit King Punch! Spirit King Punch!¡± The extremely excited emperor shouted and punched the air. He knew that it was an undignified act, but he couldn¡¯t help it as he was so excited. A huge golden fist fell from the sky through the clouds. He had never seen anything so cool since he was born. It was even cooler than the sword dance of Sir Ghad that he liked very much. It was big, strong, and cool. And the angel was beautiful too! ¡°Spirit King Punch!¡± The young emperor and his younger siblings punched the air and made a resolution. I must listen to the angel. I must stay by the angel¡¯s side. And that was why the cat beastkin Kirara (15 years old, mascot) shouted without hiding her delight. ¡°Master is a goddess!¡± Even now when she closed her eyes, she could vividly remember the sight of Cordelia spreading out her angel wings. Those pure white wings and that sparkling angelic halo. She was first surprised by the shield barrier that easily blocked hundreds of arrows, and was surprised for the second time by the explosions that boomed in session. She could only say the word ¡®goddess¡¯ when she saw the angelughed ¡®hohoho¡¯ while causing an earthquake. And as for her other master, Jude. Her master Jude was also a god. He rushed out of the barrier at some point and became a gust of wind that swept away Mountain King¡¯s subordinates. She didn¡¯t know how, but Mountain King seemed to have been defeated by him in one fell swoop. ¡°Masters, please let me eat and live well.¡± Kirara put her hands together and began to pray in respect. For her, Jude and Cordelia were already gods themselves. The group had directly attacked the base guarded by hundreds of beastkins and defeated the king of the far western region who was said to be like a Sword Master. The empress dowager had a dumbfounded expression as she said. ¡°It¡¯s not dangerous.¡± Strange. Isn¡¯t it normal for this to be dangerous? Why is it not dangerous when we¡¯re clearly on the battlefield ourselves? ¡°Your Imperial Majesty?¡± ¡°Huh? Oh, yes. Uh¡­ Sir Leon. Is it always like this?¡± Subjugations aren¡¯t supposed to be this easy, right? Isn¡¯t this supposed to be a fight between Sword Masters? The way the emperor dowager questioned him was not as dignified as usual because hermon sense had broken. But Leon was in a simr situation, so he couldn¡¯t give a straight answer like usual. ¡°Uh¡­ yes. I-I think so.¡± Leon himself couldn¡¯t have imagined that the subjugation would proceed like this. ¡®Isn¡¯t it fine if we just attacked the Chancellor?¡¯ There was no need for them to run away like this. Leon thought of that possibility for a moment, but shook his head afterwards. Because it was a bit impractical. There was the imperial capital¡¯s defense forces and the numerous protective spells cast on the Imperial Pce. Considering the imperial capital¡¯s elite forces that was iparable to mere bandits, both the quality and quantity of the defense forces were not at a level that an individual could prate. ¡®Still, they¡¯re amazing.¡¯ Aren¡¯t those two just 18 years old now? How can 18-year-olds be this strong? ¡®I-I¡¯m a genius too.¡¯ No, at this point, am I really a genius? Maybe there are only three geniuses in this world. Those two and Maximilian. As Leon thought about it, Lucas gazed at Leon with a bitter smile. Because he could clearly see what Leon was thinking. ¡®Hey, you too?¡¯ I think the same too. In any case, Mountain King¡¯s base was subjugated in just one day ¨C no, in one hour, so the group made the Mountain King¡¯s base their resting ce for the night. *** In fact, subjugating a bandit hideout was not as easy as it sounds. To be exact, cleaning up after the subjugation was not easy. In the game, one only had to beat the enemy and it would be over, but in reality, there were a lot of things to deal with, such as the apprehension of survivors and the liberation of those imprisoned. ¡°I can tell them apart!¡± Kirara was a professional betrayer, so she was good in remembering faces. Because she had to properly discern those she had betrayed and those she did not. In any case, all of Mountain King¡¯s subordinates who pretended to be prisoners were found out because of Kirara. Leon and the Royal Knights imprisoned all the surviving subordinates of Mountain King in order to prevent the immediate spread of rumors, and those who were held captive were also released, though they were not allowed to leave the bandit hideout. Because it was better if the rumors did not spread, at least until the group left Asain Pass. And the next morning. Having handed over all the post-processing to the Royal Knights, Jude and Cordelia headed to the top of Asain Pass as soon as dawn arrived. ¡°It should be fine here.¡± They were here to establish contact with Kamael. After installing a signal transmitter that was like an antenna, Jude spread out a nket and sat down. Cordelia sat herself next to Jude and opened the basket she had prepared. ¡°But I feel a bit sorry.¡± ¡°To whom? To Mountain King?¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t feel sorry for him.¡± Because people who did criminal acts such as murder and rape as if they were just eating their daily meals were the lowest of scum. ¡°I just thought that it would have been a good experience for Lucas or Kajsa.¡± ¡°Oh, that is indeed a waste.¡± If Lucas and Kajsa worked together, it would not be impossible for them to defeat Mountain King. However, the empress dowager was worried since the emperor was with their group. From the perspective of Jude and Cordelia, they had to focus on ending the fight quickly even if they had the biggest advantage of the situation. ¡°Well, there will be another chance.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s words, Jude unconsciously smiled. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°No, nothing. It¡¯s just that we¡¯ve be really strong.¡± It was almost like yesterday when they almost died while fighting the Lord Protector who was the weakest of the Ten Great Swordmasters. They had vomited a lot of blood in that fight. ¡°But there are still a lot of strong guys.¡± ¡°This must be the bad effect of role-ying games.¡± The two exchanged jokes that only they understood before bringing out a lunch box. Inside were crepes that were folded beautifully. ¡°It looks good, right?¡± ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to it too.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°You said that you¡¯re good at cooking ramyeon.¡± ¡°I¡¯m only a bit good.¡± Cordelia giggled before opening her mouth and taking arge bite of the crepe. Jude then clicked his tongue and put his hand on Cordelia¡¯s lips. ¡°My goodness.¡± His fingers wiped it. When his fingers removed the cream and honey from the corners of her mouth, Cordelia reflexively bit Jude¡¯s finger and began to suck it lightly. And her eyes looked up at Jude. An innocent yet bewitching look. Jude¡¯s heart involuntarily pounded fast, and he just stared at her without even thinking of removing his finger. Cordelia yfully sucked Jude¡¯s finger as if she was having fun, and afterwards, she licked it. And her eyes had a cute and sly look again. Her eyes made it seem like nine tails woulde out under her skirt if you raise it, so Jude took a deep breath, though he couldn¡¯t stop his face and even his ears from burning red. Cordelia was already beautiful, cute, and lovely, but she was sexy today. ¡°Jude.¡± Cordelia softly whispered and pushed Jude¡¯s chest, making him lie down before she got on top of him like a cat. She bowed her head and lightly sucked on his lower lip this time, and not his finger. ¡°Your face is red.¡± How can it not turn red? Especially in this situation? As Jude protested with his eyes, Cordelia had a lustful gaze at him again. And Melissa thought. Hey, isn¡¯t it morning? What are you doing in the morning? You were eating just now. What are you doing in the middle of eating, huh? Melissa¡¯s voice did not reach Jude. However, Jude seemed to have the same thoughts. ¡°Uh, first of all. There¡¯s a time and ce for this.¡± Because we¡¯re eating. Can you endure it for now? I actually can¡¯t endure it either. Frankly, I feel like going crazy. Jude gently pushed Cordelia away, and she pouted her lips before muttering in a low voice that only he could hear. ¡°I can¡¯t endure it.¡± Jude flinched at that moment. His heart began to pound like crazy. No, uh¡­ That¡­ ah¡­ uh¡­ And it was then. [Jude.] Jude was startled at the voice of Kamael that he heard over his head, and Cordelia who was on top of him lost her bnce and fell to the side. And a few secondster. [Should Ie backter?] Kamael¡¯s voice was heard again from the crow perched on the signal transmitter, so Jude shook his head. He stood up and said, being unable to do anything about his blushing face though. ¡°N-no. It¡¯s okay.¡± [All right.] Because it was hard to contact Kamael. Their conversation with Kamael was currently more important. ¡®And¡­¡¯ To be honest, it was really dangerous just now. Jude breathed in and out as he struggled to calm down his heart that was still beating like crazy. The Maha Prajna Paramita Heart Sutra. His heart calmed down as he quickly recited it in his mind, and after reciting it twice, the usual color of his face returned. And Cordelia¡¯s lips pouted at this sight, but that was only for a moment. She quickly remembered what she had said and covered her face with both hands. What do I mean by I can¡¯t endure it? What was I about to do if I couldn¡¯t endure it! ¡°Eueueue¡­¡± I¡¯m crazy. Cordelia groaned and curled up her body a bit more. And one more person. Melissa seemed to be pleasantly smiling when she saw Jude and Cordelia struggling in their ipletebustion. T/N: This is an analogy. Ipletebustion is when a fuel is only partially burned due to ack of oxygen or low temperature, preventing apletebustion. Jude and Cordelia were almost about to have sex, but got cut off, so their bustion¡¯ was iplete. [Is this perhaps the world deterring you two?] Anyway, Kamael hade, so Jude hurriedly reported to Kamael on what had happened so far, and asked about the things on Kamael¡¯s side. [The situation of the empire is seriously unusual.] Kamael expressed his concerns first and began his story on what happened at the eastern region of the empire. *** At the same time, inside the fortress of the Red Gate, one of the seven gates built by the elves. Sarah was exhausted because she had used Spirit Rush for three days, but she suppressed her desire to copse and rest at any moment as she looked at the elf in front of her. He was the gatekeeper of the Red Gate and the grandson of Vincenzo Lombardi, the elf capitalist. As one of the empire¡¯s Twelve Sword Masters, he nodded as soon as he read the secret letter. ¡°I understand the emperor¡¯s will. As friends of the Imperial Family, we elves promise to spare no effort in assisting him. Please tell His Imperial Majesty that we ept all the conditions of the secret letter. This is my proof.¡± Seeing that he answered immediately, it seemed that Vincenzo¡¯s side had already given them an implicit pledge. Sarah was very relieved and smiled brightly. Perhaps because he had readily epted it, or because his handsome face had looked more handsome now. His hair which seemed to be made from melted silver was brilliantly shining. ¡°Thank you. His Imperial Majesty the Emperor will be greatly pleased.¡± Sarah epted the golden bird crest from Elio Lombardi, the elf she was facing who was the eldest son of the elves¡¯ ¡®crown prince.¡¯ As soon as she finished her greeting, she hastily left the Red Gate. Because she had to deliver this good news as soon as possible to the emperor, so that they could pass through thend of the elves. It was the shortest route to the territory of Marquis Buckingham, the leader of the pro-Imperial Family faction and the father of the empress dowager. Sarah was already exhausted, but she drank a recovery potion and began running with all her strength. And one person watched Sarah leave. Elio Lombardi stood still by the window of his office before he slowly turned around. He raised themunication magic device in order to convey that the emperor of the empire would be stopping by the Red Gate. Chapter 300: HODL Elves (4)

Chapter 300: HODL Elves (4)

We finally reached 300 episodes~! 90 more to go! Quick recap ¨C HODL means Hold On for Dear Life, which means to hold on, endure, and wait until the right time arrives. [I headed east first because of Landius.] As Kamael began to talk in earnest, Jude and Cordelia were focused on erasing their embarrassed looks. Their earlobes were still red though. [Landius and Lena infiltrated the eastern part of the empire to catch the demon¡¯s messenger¡­ Archbishop Manu.] ¡°Will they be joining us?¡± [Not likely.] It seemed like a natural thing to do so, but it wasn¡¯t. It would be huge waste of power to keep the heroes of Paragon together. The heroes of Paragon were strong. Since each one of them wasparable to or greater than a Grand Sword Master, it was more efficient for them to move individually. Nevertheless, Kamael chose to travel east rather than the west of the empire for two reasons. [First, the Guardians of the Holy Cross have more branches in the eastern part of the empire than the western part. Second, the movement in the eastern continent is unusual.] To begin with, Kamael had gone to the empire to visit the imperial branches of the Guardians of the Holy Cross whom they had lost contact with. And broadly speaking, those two reasons could bebined into one reason. ¡®The reason why there are more branches of the Guardians of the Holy Cross in the east is because of the eastern continent in the first ce.¡¯ The Devil¡¯s Mouth, one of the five groups of demon followers. They were almost in control of the Anut Empire, the great nation of the eastern continent. Therefore, the eastern part of the empire was always threatened by demons and demon followers from the east, so the Guardians of the Holy Cross established more branches there to protect the eastern part of the empire. [Many of the eastern branches have been destroyed in a surprise attack. For now, we are trying to gather the survivors and figuring out the number and size of the demon followers from the east.] It wasn¡¯t a very good situation. So Cordelia raised her hand and asked. ¡°Kamael-nim. I have a question.¡± [Speak.] ¡°Can¡¯t Master Landius just infiltrate the imperial capital and defeat the Chancellor?] Her words were both a question and suggestion. And Cordelia thought that it was a very good suggestion. ¡®Can¡¯t they just beat up the Chancellor?¡¯ So the Chancellor would not be able to do anything serious. But as soon as Kamael heard Cordelia¡¯s words, he sighed. [Haa.] ¡°W-why?¡± Cordelia blushed in embarrassment, and the crow clicked its tongue and shook its head. Jude pulled Cordelia¡¯s cheeks that had turned red for no reason. [There are two reasons for that. One is that there is no evidence.] ¡°Eh?¡± [You and Jude are iming that the Chancellor is a demon follower and that the entire House of Lords have been controlled by the demon followers. But do you have any clear evidence of this?] At Kamael¡¯s question, Cordelia blinked her eyes and turned to Jude who shook his head. Because it was just as Kamael had said. [Moreover, attacking the Chancellor means war with the empire. It will be a battle against ordinary humans and not demon followers. This is not the job of the Guardians of the Holy Cross.] ¡°I-I see.¡± Cordelia was speechless and wiggled her fingers before pulling Jude¡¯s sleeve. Jude narrowed his brows and pondered for a moment before meeting Kamael¡¯s gaze. ¡°If we are certain and if we¡¯re not fighting the entire empire¡­ are you saying that the Guardians of the Holy Cross can possibly join the war?¡± [Well, it¡¯s only a possibility. The final decision will be made by the leader of the Guardians of the Holy Cross.] Kamael was the strongest and highest-ranked among the six generals, but he did not lead the entire Guardians of the Holy Cross. As he said, it was the job of themander-in-chief who led the Guardians of the Holy Cross, so it was that person who would decide if the Guardians would go to war against the empire. Cordelia became frustrated at Kamael¡¯s answer, but Jude immediately nodded. ¡°I understand.¡± [Okay, I will contact you again when things have been sorted out to some extent.] The crow said before pping its wings widely, but added a few more words rather than flying away. [And Jude, Cordelia. The elves are strongly resistant to the temptation of demons for generations. Moreover, those who live long do not forget old grudges. It¡¯s a distant past for us, but for them, the descent of the overlords of Hell is not so far in the past. They still remember those days.] So cooperate with the elves. They will be of great help to you and the emperor. ¡°We understand.¡± ¡°May the muscles always be with you.¡± Kamael¡¯s crow that was about to really leaveughed when Cordelia even put her hands together as she gave him that greeting. After whispering the muscles greeting too, the crow spread its wings and flew away. And a few secondster. While watching the crow soaring through the air, Cordelia pulled Jude¡¯s sleeve again and asked. ¡°Exin it.¡± The conversation we had with Kamael. Didn¡¯t he just give us a list of reasons why we can¡¯t attack the Chancellor? At Cordelia¡¯s request, Jude had a bitter smile. Cordelia¡¯s political sense was a bitcking, though her intuition was really good. ¡°Okay. In the simplest words possible, Kamael meant this.¡± Make the emperor dere the Chancellor an enemy. At the very least, let the emperor dere that the Chancellor and the House of Lords are demon followers. ¡°Is it like¡­ a justification for a fight?¡± ¡°It¡¯s simr. Furthermore, in such a situation, it will not be a battle between the empire and the Guardians of the Holy Cross, but rather the forces of the Guardians of the Holy Cross will be joining forces with the empire to fight the rebels who were corrupted by the demon followers. It¡¯s a whole different story.¡± ¡°Umm¡­ I see.¡± She didn¡¯t clearly understood everything, but she roughly got the gist of it. When Cordelia nodded as if she properly understood it, Jude pinched her cheek again and said. ¡°We¡¯re going to meet Marquis Buckingham, the head of the northwestern nobles, right? We just have to safely take the emperor there, and all that Kamael said wille true.¡± ¡°I see¡­ But why are you pulling my cheek?¡± Jude simply smiled instead of answering, so Cordelia pulled Jude¡¯s cheek in the same way. *** The next morning, the group hurriedly left Mountain King¡¯s bandit hideout. Mountain King¡¯s subordinates were locked up in the prison because there was nothing the group could do for now. ¡°Let them starve for a few days and lose their strength before we report it to the lord nearby.¡± ¡°Well, as expected of my Jude. You¡¯re clever.¡± Cordelia was pleased and the group continued their journey. Sarah joined them again around noon the next day. ¡°I met Elio Lombardi, the grandson of the elves¡¯ king. Vincenzo Lombardi had already realized that the situation is very serious, so they immediately epted all of His Imperial Majesty¡¯s requests.¡± ¡°Ooooh.¡± The emperor was delighted with Sarah¡¯s words and turned to the empress who was sitting next to him and had a big smile. ¡°Empress Dowager, it¡¯s good news, right?¡± ¡°Yes, Your Imperial Majesty. It¡¯s a really good news.¡± The elves usually didn¡¯t want to lend their power or influence, but they could be trusted now with their thousands of troops. ¡°Count August Bayer, Countess August Chase. What do you two think?¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s very good news too.¡± The emperor¡¯s smile deepened when Jude replied. After the destruction of Mountain King¡¯s bandit hideout, the emperor had begun to rely on Jude and Cordelia without realizing it. He sometimes seemed to trust and follow them more than the Royal Knights. ¡°Then let¡¯s leave early tomorrow morning. Is that fine, Empress Dowager?¡± ¡°Yes, that would be good. It¡¯s alreadyte today. That¡¯s a great idea.¡± ¡°Hehehe.¡± The emperor giggled at the empress dowager¡¯s praise, and Cordelia who was watching also smiled. Hecked the dignity to be called the emperor of the empire, but he was childlike and cute. ¡°Dame Sarah, you have done a great job. I will never forget your current contribution.¡± ¡°I am honored, Your Imperial Majesty.¡± Sarah expressed her courtesy at the empress dowager¡¯s words, and Leon who was also present had a warm smile. ¡®Well, it¡¯s kind of a heartwarming situation.¡¯ The Chancellor had seized control of the imperial capital and they had desperately escaped, but everyone¡¯s mood was quite good now. ¡®Anyway, good things are good.¡¯ This was much better than crying in despair. Jude came to that conclusion and turned to the north where thend of the elves were. *** The elves of the empire lived in the Shadow Forest located in the western part of the empire. In terms of scale, the forest was bigger than the Forest of Eternity, and it was almost like a small independent country that existed within the empire. ¡®Seven gates protect the elven forest.¡¯ The seven gates that were called impregnable were like iron fortresses themselves, but not all of the gates were facing the outside of the forest. Only the Red Gate and the Blue Gate faced outside, and the other five gates were built inside the Shadow Forest. ¡°Elio Lombardi is the guardian of the Red Gate, a Sword Master, and the eldest son of the crown prince of the elves.¡± The emperor nodded at Leon¡¯s exnation. The emperor liked big, strong, and cool things, so he liked stories about Sword Masters. ¡°I want to meet him at least once.¡± Elio Lombardi. Kamael and Leon called him the son of the ¡®crown prince,¡¯ but it was actually not correct. Because the elves did not truly have a ¡®king.¡¯ However, Elio Lombardi was the heir of the Lombardi family who had the most powerful authority in the Privy Council, the decision-making group of the elves in the Shadow Forest. Moreover, since he was also trusted by the elf capitalist, Vincenzo Lombardi, it was highly likely that he would take over the position of Lord President of the Privy Council after Vincenzo Lombardi passes away. ¡°The eldest son of the crown prince, huh¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like that.¡± Because he was the grandson of someone treated like a king. Jude briefly recalled the Elio Lombardi in the game. In Legend of Heroes 2, he had a good character role. He was a trustworthy NPC whom one fought together in the fight to stop one of the 7 major cmities. ¡®He was popr.¡¯ Because he was handsome. In fact, all the elf NPCs were good-looking, but Elio had a particrly handsome appearance as the king¡¯s grandson. ¡®Ahem.¡¯ Jude unknowingly became worried and hugged Cordelia¡¯s waist tighter which he had been hugging for quite some time, and Cordelia was confused so she turned to Jude. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Nothing.¡± And two more days passed. Having moved along the mountains and forests to avoid themon roads, the group arrived at the Red Gate entrance. *** ¡°Wow.¡± The Shadow Forest and Forest of Eternity had one thing inmon. It was the fact that huge trees densely stood like walls. Thick white fog lied beneath therge trees that were at least 20 meters tall, giving it an imposing atmosphere. And that most people did not dare to enter. But instead of being afraid, the young emperor repeatedly expressed his admiration together with his younger siblings. Because of the presence of a huge and beautiful door between the fog and trees. Red Gate. Arge arched gate that was red as its name implied. But it wasn¡¯t as red as blood. It felt rather cozy as it had a soft red color with a pink tint, which was like Cordelia¡¯s hair color. ¡°Greetings to Your Imperial Majesty.¡± When the Red Gate shining in the moonlight opened wide, well-dressed elven knights and soldiers came out and lined up in front of the gate. In particr, the leader of the group, Elio Lombardi, even politely greeted them as he got off his horse and kneeled down. ¡°We have heard everything. From here on, this Elio Lombardi will serve you.¡± ¡°Ah, yes. I¡¯ll be counting on you.¡± The emperor was greatly pleased with Elio¡¯s polite and elegant appearance, and the empress dowager also had a smile on her face. The elves would often argue when it came to state affairs, but judging by today¡¯s attitude, it seemed like they had not forgotten that they were vassals of the empire. ¡®He¡¯s the most handsome man next to Jude.¡¯ Cordelia thought with a big smile and Jude gently hugged Cordelia¡¯s waist, pulling her closer to him. Melissa looked at them with a cold expression. ¡°Please leave it to me.¡± After bowing again, Elio turned and began to take the lead, and the emperor rode on horseback with the empress dowager, following after him with a wide smile. The group walked behind them in an arranged order. Jude¡¯s group followed behind the emperor, and the elven knights and soldiers moved behind them. ¡°Wow.¡± Seeing the inside of the gate, the emperor expressed his admiration again. Despite it being a military facility and a gateway, the sight inside looked like something that could only be seen in fairy tale books. Houses built onrge trees, rest areas made of huge mushrooms, deer that were as big as horses, and small fairies flying around. ¡®Fairy?¡¯ It was when Cordelia¡¯s eyes shone sharply. ¡°It¡¯ste today, so we shall take you inside and lead you to the Orange Gate tomorrow morning.¡± Elio who had been walking in the lead turned to the emperor and said, and the emperor nodded. And a few stepster. When Jude and his group as well as the elven knights and soldiers who followed them had passed through the gate, and the big and beautiful Red Gate was finally closed firmly. Elio turned around. He swung his sword, cutting the throats of the emperor and empress dowager with his sharp sword. Without any sound or sign. In just an instant. His sharp sword severed the neck without even a single stter of blood. Elio¡¯s sword attack was perfect. And that was why he realized it. ¡°S-Sir Elio?!¡± The emperor eximed. His neck was not cut off. The sword only passed through the air. How? Elio who was not aware of the Fairy Steps then swung his sword a second time instead of asking for a reason. But he was unable to do it properly again. Because the empress dowager hugged the emperor, crying out. ¡°B-blink!¡± A short-distance space leap scroll that a magic scroll craftsman could only make once a month. At the moment of use, the emperor and empress dowager moved to Kirara and Sarah who were holding the emperor¡¯s younger siblings, and Kirara quickly pulled out the Moon Crystal and shouted. ¡°Moonlight!¡± The Rogue Master¡¯s treasure was activated. Elio hurriedly turned his gaze to change the direction of the attack, but by that time, Kirara and the emperor¡¯s group had already disappeared. So Elio understood. That they had noticed from the very beginning. A reaction that they otherwise would not do if they had not known. And he wasn¡¯t wrong. ¡°Ah, I knew it!¡± Cordelia shouted with clenched fists, and Jude furrowed his brows. They were fortunate that they got it right, but it was not a situation they wanted. Elio Lombardi. A good character in the game¡¯s storyline. In addition, the elves were strongly resistant to the demon¡¯s temptation, as many people had mentioned including Jude himself. For the elves who already lived a long life and had enormous wealth, the demon followers had little to offer. However, Cordelia was still suspicious of Elio. No, she felt that Elio would betray them. Why? For what reason? ¡°Because he¡¯s a Sword Master.¡± There was no other reason. That was truly all. But Cordelia had her own reason. ¡®70%!¡¯ Jude and Cordelia had met a total of ten Sword Masters so far. And among them, seven became enemies of Jude and Cordelia, either because they had been brainwashed or because they were traitors. Therefore, a new Sword Master they would meet was more likely to be an enemy than an ally. ¡®There is¡­ a possibility!¡¯ Obviously, it was a baseless calction. It was truly a mess. There was no probability or statistics behind it. But Cordelia strongly insisted, so Jude who was weak against Cordelia and trusted in her unique intuition then prepared a countermeasure, saying that trying it wouldn¡¯t hurt. And as a result. ¡°You b*stard! I knew that you¡¯d betray us!¡± You were a Sword Master! A great swordmaster! And I noticed it when they kept saying that the elves wouldn¡¯t betray us. Wasn¡¯t that a g? At the time when Cordelia¡¯s strangely excited shout resounded, Elio made a decision. No, he had already decided when he drew his sword. ¡°Shoot!¡± The troops who were hidden at the gate in case of an emergency were revealed. The moment Elio ordered them, more than a hundred elves began to attack. ¡°F*ck.¡± Jude spoke and opened the sixth door. Tswakakakakakakakak-! The elves made it rain arrows that covered the sky. Jude thought as he pushed the arrows away with the air waves that were generated when he opened the sixth door. They had saved the life of the emperor who somehow managed to escape because of the preparations they made in advance, but the situation was not good. Except for the emperor¡¯s group, the rest of the party ¨C that is, Jude, Cordelia, Lucas, Kajsa, Leon, and the Royal Knights, were locked in the Red Gate amidst numerous enemies. Jude did not also forget the particr fact that this urred after they rescued the emperor. ¡®They know.¡¯ They knew about Jude and Cordelia. They knew that the emperor had Jude who faced three Sword Masters by himself at the same time, and Cordelia who had already proven that she had risen to the rank of Archwizard when she cast the spell. Knowing that and setting a trap meant that they also had some countermeasures in ce. A countermeasure to deal with Jude and Cordelia. ¡° ¡± Cordelia defended against the arrows by using and magic simultaneously. Lucas drew his sword with an Aura de, and Kajsa swung her chain to strike down the arrows that were falling down the heads of the Royal Knights as well as herself. [They¡¯reing!] At the time Melissa cried out, the rain of arrows stopped and the elves attacked. At the forefront were the elven knights. And behind them were many elves who threws. This was to prevent the wizard Cordelia from flying into the sky. Moreover, Cordelia was able to tell. Mana was surging everywhere. It was various spells that interfered with casting magic. Elves had long lives, so they had a long time to learn and train in anything. There were many cases where they becamezy since they lived long, but most elves had at least the skill of a master in their profession. And that was the current situation. More than five wizards used interruption magic at once, so even if Cordelia was powerful, it would be hard for her to cast magic. So Cordelia did not use her magic. She did not lose herposure despite the fact that the elven knights were rushing in fiercely from all directions. Even when the tightly wovens covered her head, she quickly came to a decision. Like a beast. With her instinctual senses. ¡°Spirit King Punch!¡± Cordelia raised her clenched fist to the sky. Instead of using magic, she gathered her mana and summoned the Spirit King who was fond of the pretty contractor he had after hundreds of years, so he immediately lent his power. A huge golden fist appeared in the sky. It smashed thes and instantly killed the momentum of the elves who were rushing like waves. And one more reason. The biggest reason why Cordelia summoned the Spirit King¡¯s fist! ¡°Kajsa!¡± Cordelia loudly shouted and Kajsa reflexively looked at her. And Kajsa understood it. She was a step above Cordelia in terms of beastly instincts, so she quickly understood what Cordelia wanted. Kajsa moved right away instead of asking why. ¡°Gather up!¡± Kajsa took Cordelia¡¯s hand. She swung her chain wide and wound it around herself and all the Royal Knights. ¡°AAAAH!¡± It hurt because she had swung it strongly. Moreover, when the entire group was gathered around Cordelia, she couldn¡¯t help but scream. But in that time, Cordelia did what she had to do. She dug into the gap created by the summoning of the Spirit King¡¯s fist that stopped the interruption magic. ¡°¡± It was the opposite of magic, a spell that dug the ground. Right after Cordelia shouted, the ground within a 2-meter radius quickly rose. The ground rose to nearly 20 meters high, and a physical distance was created between the group and the elves. They wouldn¡¯t be able to attack the group now. It wouldn¡¯t be easy to throw the because the group was in a higher ce. But there was something else. Another move she thought. Cordelia let out her breath. She looked towards the Red Gate, suppressing her desire to look back at the roar from behind, which was the sound of Jude fighting. The height was just right. It was quite a distance, but those among here now were almost superhumans, so it seemed to her that it would work out. ¡°Jump!¡± The first to understand that was Kajsa. The distance between the dirt tower and the Red Gate was over 30 meters, but she jumped. Lucas, Leon, and the Royal Knights also did the same. It was pure recklessness. But it was possible. Kajsa boasted the strongest physical abilities in Legend of Heroes 2, so she somehow managed to reach the Red Gate, but it was too much for the rest of the group. Even Lucas and Leon were short of a distance from the Red Gate. But behind them was Cordelia. Instead of jumping together, she remained in the dirt tower and used her telekic powers to push all those who werecking in distance towards the Red Gate. Bang! Bang! Bang! There were roars from behind again. Kajsanded first on the wall and swung her chains at the bewildered elves, and Lucas and Leon stood up and helped her after they rolled on the floor. The elves were surprised by the sudden event, but they angrily shouted and began to attack. And that was it. It was up to Kajsa and the Royal Knights to run away from the wall. Cordelia turned around. She gritted her teeth at the expected sight. She cried out in her mind. ¡®High-ranking demonic humans!¡¯ It wasn¡¯t one or two. As many as three high-ranking demonic humans were attacking Jude. They seemed to be from the Devil¡¯s Eye as some of their body parts were shaped like an insect. ¡®Virgo, Kairen, and Paul.¡¯ Cordelia instantly recalled their names and took out Heavenly Judgment and Moonlight instead of Magic ster. The dirt tower shook. The elven knights were attacking the dirt tower to topple it down. Cordelia held her breath. She knelt down on the swaying dirt tower and lowered her posture, seeing Jude and Elio Lombardi beyond the tower. The grandson of the elves¡¯ king. A good character in the game. The events he was involved in. His personality could be inferred from those. Analyzing and reasoning were Jude¡¯s methods. Cordelia just felt it. The moment she saw Elio, she had a vague thought, ¡®Oh, so he was such a person.¡¯ and moved instinctively based on that thought. ¡°Traitor! Why did you betray us! Why the hell! What were youcking!¡± Cordelia spread her angel wings and shouted with all her might. And everyone stopped at her cry. Cordelia, who had turned into an angel, attracted that much attention. And Elio raised his head to look at Cordelia. He lowered his sword and fiercely red at her. His gaze seemed like it was about to stab Cordelia to death. But Cordelia did not avert her gaze from him. Rather than provoking him, she shouted once more as she looked at him. ¡°Why the hell did you do that when you have everything!¡± ¡°I have everything?¡± Anger flowed out of Elio¡¯s mouth. His voice was low and faint, but everyone in the vicinity heard him. He trembled in anger. ¡°What do you guys know?¡± The reason why Elio joined hands with the demon followers. The circumstances that led to it. Everyone focused on Elio. One of the demonic humans who did not hear the reason for Elio¡¯s betrayal was Paul who was a bit frivolous, and he turned his head to see Elio. A temporary ceasefire. Everyone including Jude and Cordelia focused their attention on Elio¡¯s mouth. Elio opened his mouth. Born and raised as the king¡¯s grandson, it was very natural for him to receive the attention and interest of everyone, so he tried to express his anguish and longing out of his mouth. ¡°I-¡± Everyone focused more. They listened to Elio. Everyone except for Jude and Cordelia. ¡°F*ck bang!¡± Cordelia set an explosion in the air. The light and roar blinded and deafened the eyes and ears of everyone who focused on Elio, and Jude leapt at that moment. In an instant, he flew to the top of the dirt tower and hugged Cordelia¡¯s waist. ¡°Let¡¯s run!¡± Who cares about the reason why you betrayed us! You¡¯re just a traitor anyway! Having been carried by Jude, Cordelia raised her middle finger while Jude jumped towards the Red Gate. But the elves didn¡¯t just stand around. ¡®The Red Gate!¡¯ A red barrier rose above the fortress wall. It was a shield unique to the elven gate, which had been activated after Kajsa and the group began fighting at the wall. ¡°Attack!¡± The elves shouted as they opened their eyes after some difficulty. Jude concentrated the energy of the ck dragon on his left hand that was not holding Cordelia, but he soon changed his mind. He wascking in time. It was impossible topletely crush the barrier with a single blow at this moment. Moreover, there was also the variable called demonic humans. Jude changed his mind. By releasing the energy of the ck dragon behind his back, he stopped the flying demonic humans chasing them, and he ran over the shield at the same time. He kicked the air several times and then moved like Landius. Booom! He rushed into the air. Jude tightly hugged Cordelia and elerated in an instant. His movement was towards the inside the Red Gate and not outside. ¡°Catch them!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t let them get away!¡± The elves shouted and the demonic humansnded on the ground as they began running in the direction Jude flew. They were inside the Red Gate, so if they headed that way, it was towards the Orange Gate. If so, they could still catch the two. It was Elio¡¯s jurisdiction up until the Orange Gate. And at all these sights, Elio couldn¡¯t bear it and became angry. How dare you look down on me. You dared make fun of me, the ruler of the elves! ¡°Catch them! You must catch them!¡± Elio ordered again and prodded his Elven Steed as soon as he got on top of it. He rushed towards the direction that Jude and Cordelia flew. *** The reason why Elio Lombardi betrayed them. Jude seemed to have a rough idea. He originally dismissed it as a low possibility, but since Elio had already betrayed them, that low possibility became the correct answer. ¡®HODL elves.¡¯ Elves who held on and endured. But patience was different for each person. Especially if it was a hot-blooded person like Elio Lombardi. [Jude! Everyone didn¡¯t betray us, right?] Just then, Cordelia spoke with magic. They were close to each other, but she was afraid that he wouldn¡¯t properly hear her voice because they were moving at such a high speed. Jude also responded to her with magic. [Perhaps. It¡¯s possible that we¡¯ll be safer if we enter the Orange Gate.] It was only a possibility, but Jude made a gamble. The reason why he fled inward when the Red Gate was blocked. And Jude thought of the reason why Elio Lombardi betrayed them based on all his actions. The reason he betrayed them. It was simple. He clearly couldn¡¯t hold on any longer. *** Elio Lombardi was the grandson of the elves¡¯ king. But he was not young. He had already reached 300 years of age, so he was a mature adult with extensive experience based on ordinary elven standards. But he was still the son of the crown prince, and his father was the crown prince for at least 600 years. Elves lived long. They lived a long life. And the Lombardi family, especially Vincenzo Lombardi, were high elf royalty, so they were bound to live long. Vincenzo was already over a thousand years old. But despite being old, he did not be weak. Perhaps he was blessed with a long life, as he seemed to be healthier than Elio¡¯s father who was growing old. When will my father ever be a king? Will my father ever inherit the throne? Even if his father inherited it, it would be a hundred or two hundred years from now. And at that time, Elio would be over 500 years old. It meant that he would only be the crown prince at an old age. ¡®Will I ever be king?¡¯ When will it happen? What if my father live a long life like my grandfather? How long will I have to wait then? He refused to remain as a crown prince for 600 years like his father. He didn¡¯t want to be a king until he was about to die. Elves certainly lived a long time. But that didn¡¯t mean their time went by faster. A day for a human was a day for an elf. A year for a human was a year for an elf. He couldn¡¯t wait. He couldn¡¯t endure it. A little faster. Not in 700 or 800 years, but now. He didn¡¯t even think about immorality. A regime change. If even that was impossible, he would go to war against the S?len Kingdom. And acquire new territories. And where Elio himself would rule as king. ¡°Catch them, we must catch them.¡± Jude and Cordelia were not his only problems. The fleeing emperor also had to be captured. Elio red at the Orange Gate. He urged his horse and sped up. Chapter 302: Jude Bayer (1)

Chapter 302: Jude Bayer (1)

¡°Gasp! Heuk!¡± She could hear the sound of gasping behind her back. It was clearly the empress dowager. So Kirara didn¡¯t look back. Carrying the emperor on her back was already enough. No, was it really enough? Did she have to bear the burden in the first ce? ¡®Heavy.¡¯ Right after the Moon Crystal was used. So around 10 minutes ago from now. At the time when they seeded in the space leap from the Red Gate, Sarah was the first to move. ¡°Kirara! One more time!¡± ¡°N-not right now!¡± Kirara reflexively eximed at Sarah¡¯s insistence. In addition to the limitation that the Moon Crystal could only be used three times a day, there was another limitation, which was that it could not be used continuously. The so-called cooldown period wasn¡¯t that long. However, since every second and minute was crucial, Sarah chose the next best option. ¡°We must run away!¡± The empress dowager could not immediately answer Sarah¡¯s words as she gasped. It was the aftereffect she suffered from directly receiving Elio Lombardi¡¯s murderous gaze. She had desperately squeezed out all her courage to use the scroll, but it was too much for her. The empress dowager¡¯s face turned white, sweating profusely as she fell down and was unable to get up. Because her legs had weakened. ¡°Your Imperial Majesty the Empress Dowager!¡± Sarah hurriedly supported the empress dowager and looked at Kirara with eyes that were almost ring. ¡°HIIIIIE?!¡± ¡°Now is not the time to be surprised! Carry His Imperial Majesty the Emperor on your back!¡± Kirara was surprised by Sarah¡¯smand, so she hurriedly carried the emperor on her back. After many years of living off someone else, it had be Kirara¡¯s habit to unconsciously obey orders given to her. ¡°Sir Meine.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± Meine carried on both sides the emperor¡¯s younger siblings who had begun crying. But the problem was the fact that there was still one younger sibling of the emperor left. ¡°I-I can walk.¡± At that moment, the empress dowager forced herself to stand straight. She was sweating and gasping in her extreme nervousness, but they had no other way, so Sarah carried the emperor¡¯s youngest sibling, a princess, in one arm and supported the empress with her other arm. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± To the ce they had agreed upon in case of an emergency. At Sarah¡¯s urging, Kirara began running and leapt through space whenever the Moon Crystal¡¯s cooldown time was over. And now. Around 10 minutes had passed since they escaped from the Red Gate and used the Moon Crystal for the first time. ¡®Heavy.¡¯ The distance was quiterge now. But Kirara wasn¡¯t certain if they were safe. Her masters remained in the Red Gate, and she did not know about the other Royal Knights¡¯ situation either. ¡®We have to escape.¡¯ The elves of the Red Gate would definitely be chasing after them. They would surely find them soon. Because they were elves. Because they were masters of tracking. ¡®Heavy.¡¯ The emperor was not much difference in size from Kirara. She wanted to throw him off. She wanted to abandon the heavy and gasping emperor in order to run away faster. Moreover, the emperor was an important figure. Even if the elves gave up on the empress dowager and the other members of the Imperial Family, it was clear that they would try to only catch the emperor. In other words, he was the most dangerous person to her. ¡®Kirara, you idiot. Get rid of him quickly. And escape. What is more precious than your life? You have to live first. You have to survive no matter what!¡¯ Someone said in her head. No, it was Kirara¡¯s own thoughts. I have to escape. I have to betray. There¡¯s nothing I will not do to survive. Survival is the most important thing. I¡¯ve made a promise. I¡¯ve promised myself that I¡¯ll survive no matter what. She felt like her heart was about to burst. She could see illusions even though her eyes were open. Thoughts that she could never erase flooded her mind once again. I have to live. I have to survive. So it can¡¯t be helped. The bad one is not me. So let¡¯s betray them. So let¡¯s escape alone. If I leave the emperor, the elves will just let me go. They¡¯ll just let me go like a stray cat. So let¡¯s leave him. So let¡¯s betray them. So- ¡®No! I must not betray them!¡¯ Kirara eximed in her mind. She strongly shook her head to forget her thoughts. The voice that had been ringing in her head was also driven out. ¡®I won¡¯t betray them.¡¯ I won¡¯t do it this time. It¡¯s not yet time to betray them. Yes, not yet. Not yet. Not yet, not yet, not yet. ¡®No! I don¡¯t want to betray them! I¡¯m not same person back then!¡¯ She recalled Cordelia¡¯s voice. She remembered Cordelia¡¯s hug. She thought of Cordelia¡¯s warmth. No. Not this time. I don¡¯t want to this time. Are you fine though? It¡¯s dangerous and we¡¯re still close, right? ¡®Cordelia may have already died.¡¯ So I shouldn¡¯t follow her. You saw that too, right? There were many elves in the Red Gate. Among them, there was even Elio Lombardi who was said to be the strongest among the Sword Masters. So that must be it. She must have already died. So¡­ So¡­ ¡®Shut up!¡¯ She resisted the voice that kept whispering in her mind. She strongly resisted it, not knowing if it was her own voice or someone¡¯s whisper to her. ¡®Master is a goddess! A god!¡¯ So it¡¯s okay. She¡¯ll be smiling at me again. I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll hug me again! Kirara ran as she cried her heart out. She never looked back. She called Cordelia¡¯s name over and over again. ¡°This way! You knife ear b*stards!¡± Kajsa loudly shouted and swung her chains. Outside the Red Gate. Kajsa had crossed the high wall because of Cordelia, and she saw where Kirara and Sarah were headed. So she moved in apletely different direction. It was to lure the elves. ¡°Kajsa! Behind!¡± As soon as Lucas¡¯ cry reached her ears, Kajsa dodged instead of looking back. She rolled down the ground and evaded the elven knight¡¯s sword that came from her side. She swung her chain afterwards and struck him in the stomach. ¡°UGH!¡± The elven knight bowed from the impact as if he had been hit by a hammer rather than a chain, and Kajsa immediately attacked him. She knocked the elven knight by kicking his leg before stomping on his chest. Crack! A terrible sound was heard as the breastte cracked, but Kajsa did not look away. She kicked the waist of the elven knight who seemed like he would die from breathlessness, and she looked back. The Red Gate was opening. The number of elves who jumped down the wall to follow them had reached ten, but more elves came when the gate opened. Moreover, it wasn¡¯t just the infantry this time. There were several knights riding on Elven Steeds that were famous for being swift horses. ¡°Run!¡± Instead of wasting any more time, Kajsa turned around and began running. The elves came rushing behind them. ¡®He¡¯s not alone.¡¯ Jude thought as he ran while carrying Cordelia on his back. He recalled the map of the entire Shadow Forest and at the same time, continued his reasoning about the current situation. ¡®If this happened because he couldn¡¯t wait to seed the position¡­¡¯ That would have been enough. Vincenzo Lombardi was clearly the leader of the elves, and the foremost contributor in making the imperial elves live and be treated well as they were now, but he was not a benevolent and caring person. He did not trust others. Like most self-made men, he put his own experience first rather than the thoughts and opinions of others, and he was convinced that only he could lead the elves. That was why he never resigned from his position as the Lord President of the Privy Council, or what was considered the king of the imperial elves. He intended to hold on to his position until the day he died. This was not practiced by the elves in Forest of Eternity located in the S?len Kingdom. Most of the time, they passed the throne and retired. So Jude understood Elio. It was the same as understanding logically why the Lord Protector turned into a traitor. ¡®He was nning to attack us at the Red Gate from the very beginning.¡¯ In front of other elves. In other words, the elves at the Red Gate agreed with Elio. The younger generation resisted the older generation. Instead of protesting over the vested interests of the older generation, they wanted to seek a new path by calling for change and reform. It was simr wherever people lived. Jude had seen it several times in his previous life. ¡®The probability that all the elves have turned traitors is extremely low.¡¯ Because Vincenzo Lombardi¡¯s eyes zed in fury at demon followers. As Kamael had said, the elves remembered their old grudges. But Elio was young, and the elves who followed him were younger. ¡®Lack of information. An information gap.¡¯ How much does Elio Lombardi know? Perhaps he doesn¡¯t know that the entire House of Lords had been turned into demon followers. The Chancellor is using the demon followers for a great cause ¨C it¡¯s highly likely that he believes that. After all, demon followers are deceivers. ¡®Elio¡¯s jurisdiction is up to the Orange Gate.¡¯ But it wasn¡¯t after that. The guardian of the Yellow Gate was the head of the Viren family, one of the influential families in the Shadow Forest. ¡°Jude!¡± At Cordelia¡¯s cry, Jude snapped out of his thoughts. He perceived the situation with his wide detection senses. The elves had caught up. In terms of mobility, Jude far surpassed ordinary elves, but they were currently in a forest. Furthermore, it wasn¡¯t just a forest. It was the Shadow Forest that the elves had lived in for a thousand years. Jude quickly made a decision. ¡®Let¡¯s fight once!¡¯ That was better than being caught up to. Jude hurriedly turned around, and Cordelia understood Jude¡¯s intention with that alone. She spread her wings and used Jude¡¯s back as a foothold to jump. ¡°¡± Cordelia¡¯s entire body emitted an intense light, dyeing the surroundings white. And Jude moved at that moment. Shortly after he turned around, just before Cordelia radiated light, he moved along the path he had envisioned in his mind. Bababababababang! A series of roars and hitting sounds followed one after another. Seven elves were blinded by the light and stunned so they fell in session, and Jude sensed it. He blocked the attack of an existence that was not present at the moment before the light shined. Bang! It was a demonic human that had the appearance of a praying mantis. It had wide shoulders and long arms that almost touched the ground. The demonic human¡¯spound eyes glistened. His scythe-like arms relentless swung, and Jude noticed that one of the demonic humans was hiding under the earth due to the ground vibrations. ¡°Die!¡± The elves wildly shouted and ran towards Cordelia. Jude never looked back. He felt the pouring of various spells that prevented the casting of magic, but he believed in Cordelia. He held his breath and focused on the person in front of him. Bababababababang-! He intercepted the attacks. No matter how fast and strong the attacks were, he could read the flow the two arms created in the end. He read the rhythm and pattern, and anticipated it. He struck urately and made all the attacks turn into nothing. A look of confusion spread across the demonic human¡¯s face. That confusion soon turned into fear, and Jude pushed the demonic human further. He counted numbers in his head. One, two- ¡°KIIIIIAAA!¡± The demonic human who was under the earth pierced the ground and soared. A demonic human that was like arva of a cicada then attacked Jude¡¯s side that was defenseless. At that moment, the mantis demonic human who was in front of Jude swung his scythe towards Jude¡¯s corbone. It would hit. It was at an unavoidable angle and speed. Therefore, the attacks of the two demonic humans would hit Jude¡¯s side and corbone! ng! A sound resounded. It wasn¡¯t the sound the demonic humans was expecting. Instead of the sound of cracking bones and flesh, it sounded like two swords colliding. Blood did not stter and the demonic humans¡¯ attacks turned into nothing. No, it wasn¡¯t just a return into nothing. With his sword-like right hand, Jude cut the head of the demonic human who jumped out of the ground. At that moment, he used his strength to rotate his body and drew closer to the mantis demonic human¡¯s body. ¡°Kia?!¡± The mantis demonic human panicked and swung its scythes again, but it was useless. Jude¡¯s sword-like hand lodged into the man¡¯s heart, and blood spurted out the moment he pulled it out. ¡°Kaaak! Ack!¡± The mantis demonic human stepped back and blinked hispound eyes. He did not fully understood the current situation. Why? No, how? Shwaaaak! Jude cut the mantis demonic human¡¯s waist with a sharp roundhouse kick instead of giving an answer. Be one with the sword. The ck Horn Guild¡¯s desire to turn the user into a sword. Sword Origin was not simply to be wielded, but was also to strengthen one¡¯s body. A sword that gave new strength to the user¡¯s body. So if he applied the energy of the ck dragon, his arms or side would be even stronger. ¡°Jude! Behind you!¡± An urgent shout. And with that shout, Jude understood Cordelia¡¯s situation. Believing that she was doing well against the elves, he turned his gaze to the side. [He¡¯sing.] It was just as Valencia said. While Jude fought the demonic humans, Elio Lombardi narrowed the distance. Jude wanted to retreat after fighting once, but it seemed like that would be impossible. ¡®Elio Lombardi.¡¯ He rushed towards Jude. Episodes 300-301 Chapter 303: Jude Bayer (2)

Chapter 303: Jude Bayer (2)

The empire had twelve Sword Masters, of which three of them were elves. Elio Lombardi. A person believed to be close to a Grand Sword Master. Like an elf, he spent a long time in training than ordinary Sword Masters. Even the imperial Sword Masters were inferior to him in terms of training time. Moreover, he was a High Elf. He had physical abilities that was iparable to ordinary humans or elves. And one more thing. Jude looked into Elio¡¯s eyes. The moment he looked into those eyes filled with desire, anger, and impatience, he realized that it was impossible to convince Elio who had been blinded by the demon followers. He had to fight. No matter how many elves were present, it was impossible for them to catch up to Jude. Only a few elves were gathered here in this ce, and he could open the path if he defeated Elio here. ¡°You¡¯re strong.¡± Elio said. Having lived for nearly 300 years, he finally couldn¡¯t bear it and joined hands with the Chancellor, but that didn¡¯t mean he did not have the eyes to see. Two high-ranking demonic humans were defeated. Apart from the stories he had already heard from the Chancellor, he could tell just by looking at Jude now. Strong. So he must also do his best. Elio took a deep breath. He jumped off his Elven Steed and drew his sword at the same time. He shouted as he stopped the attack of Jude who hade rushing at him like a raging wave. ¡°Spirit Fusion!¡± The only one who could use this skill among the yable characters was Red Wind. The earth spirits responded the moment Elio shouted. Spirits sprang up from the earth and inhabited Elio¡¯s body, granting him new powers. ng! Elio¡¯s sword attacks became faster. Jude also responded with quick sword attacks with his sword-like hands, and the sh between the two exceeded twenty attacks in just an instant. ¡°Ugh.¡± Jude groaned. The appearance of Elio changed because he had be a half-spirit due to the Spirit Fusion. Having epted the power of the wild, he was no longer a slender elf. The muscles in his entire body swelled up. Long fangs protruded and his eyes turned red. Deer antlers grew out of his head. ¡°AWOOOOOO!¡± When Elio roared like a beast, a truly majestic aura filled his sword. The earth on his feet gave Elio endless power. ¡°Jude!¡± He heard Cordelia¡¯s voice. Elio¡¯s attacks poured out. The attacks were fast and urate. Moreover, his properly used his sword despite the fact that he epted the power of the wild. His sword that he had trained in for more than 200 years had a sharpness and mysteriousness that was absurd. [My sessor, focus.] Valencia didn¡¯t say much. She only aided Jude as the sword spirit of Sword Origin. She tried to bring out a bit more of Jude¡¯s power. However, she could tell as she was a swordswoman who was called a legend in itself. The more he crossed swords with Elio, the less likely he would win. The reason was simple. Elio¡¯s swordsmanship surpassed that of Jude. Jude was certainly a genius. As Sir Jay had realized, Jude¡¯s swordsmanship was already on the level of ordinary Sword Masters. But the Sword Master in front of Jude was not ordinary. Except for the other elf Sword Masters, Elio had been walking on the path of the sword for so long that no other Sword Master couldpare to the time he trained. Jude was able to overwhelm all the swordmasters he faced in the past because of his physical abilities and powerful energy rather than his swordsmanship. Even a swordmaster with better swordsmanship than Jude could not match his power and speed that were beyondmon sense, nor endure the Power of the Sun, which could only be described as a terrifying force. Because these things filled in the gaps of his swordsmanship. However, Elio was different. His physical abilities after Spirit Fusion was somewhat inferior to that of Jude, but he surpassed ordinary swordmasters, and the power that gushed out endlessly from the earth was enough for him to stand up against the energy of the ck sun released by Jude. He was ahead in swordsmanship. He was not behind in physical abilities and energy. In short, the present Elio was superior to Jude. ng! Their sword attacks continued. Jude clenched his teeth as Elio¡¯s fighting power was stronger than he expected. Valenica was frustrated. As she thought, he needed enlightenment. Only when he attained enlightenment and opened the seventh door could Jude¡¯s sword be better. [My sessor, my sessor.] Valencia was so frustrated that she couldn¡¯t speak properly. Because it was impossible to attain enlightenment though his current swift attacks. One could expect to get that lifelong realization in a life-and-death battle. But it was not something one should expect in the first ce. Valencia herself had previously told Jude that ten lives would not be enough if he relied on such a thing. ng! ng! ng! Their swords crossed. Elio¡¯s sword attacks grew faster. His attacks became more intense. It was truly terrifying to see the immense power exploding with each sword strike. Therefore, Valencia roughly breathed. She clenched her fists over her chest in her frustration and distress. And she blinked her eyes at some point. Because she noticed something strange. [My sessor?] Elio¡¯s sword was getting faster. It was definitely turning stronger. But Jude was blocking all those attacks. Elio¡¯s attacks were getting quicker and stronger because he couldn¡¯t push Jude if he did not do so. Jude faced Elio¡¯s sword attacks. The inferior Jude was somehow moving along with Elio¡¯s attacks. How? How is he doing it? Is he really trying to attain enlightenment while fighting? Valencia focused on Jude. She tried to figure out what was going on in him who had an entric body type. And she realized. What Jude was doing now and what he was trying to aplish. [F*ck.] She cursed like Landius did. But it was not out of anger. It was more of an exmation like what Cordelia always insisted. [Seriously, f*ck.] Can he do it? Is it really possible? The sword spirit who had only cursed a handful of times since she was born had a pleasant smile. She focused her consciousness once more to add even a little more help to the changes that were happening inside Jude. *** The moment he crossed swords with Elio, Jude understood it. He couldn¡¯t win. His opponent had the upper hand. It was impossible to beat his opponent unless he opened the seventh door. But attaining enlightenment was difficult. From the time he left the kingdom up to this day, he thought about it whenever he had a chance, but in the end, he couldn¡¯t even step on the shadow of enlightenment. Enlightenment. An abstract concept. Jude experienced numerous battles in his past life. Therefore, he was well aware that a difference in mindset could lead to a huge difference inbat power. But this kind of realization was so unfamiliar. Furthermore, it was not possible to rely on such uncertainty in the midst of an actual battle, in which not only Jude¡¯s life was at stake but also Cordelia¡¯s. Elio was stronger than in the game. He didn¡¯t know if it was the butterfly effect or if it was some power gained from the demon followers, but he was sure of one thing, and that was he needed to open the seventh door to defeat Elio. So Jude began to calcte. Instead of betting on an uncertain realization, he believed in himself again. He betted on the way he had fought so far. ¡®From the first door to the present.¡¯ Jude thought as he blocked Elio¡¯s attack. He recalled it with his terrifyingly urate memory and felt it once again. The moment he opened the first door. The process needed to open the first door. And the changes that urred in his own body and soul at that time. He examined the second door. He remembered the third door. He found a certain pattern and matched his self at that time with his current self as much as he could. ng! Swords crossed. It was very hard to block Elio¡¯s sword. He was always in a hurry to do so. But little by little, he was able to properly move his sword. It wasn¡¯t by just relying on luck. He brought his sword-like arm to the correct position. It was not a sudden improvement in swordsmanship. His senses were getting sensitive. The closer he got to opening the door, the sharper his senses became. No, it felt like the so-called sixth sense was opening up. Fourth door. Fifth door. He controlled the flow of energy despite being inbat. He harmonized his breathing and perfectly recreated the moment when he finally opened the sixth door. The ck Sun roared. Right after he shed at Elio¡¯s sword, he did a sharp roundhouse kick. He made Elio step back as he kicked the ground with his feet and powered up his body with both Yin and Yang energies. He forcibly detonated the ck Sun. Boooom! It was reckless. Even though Jude had a Yin-Yang Body, this kind of explosion was dangerous. It was almost impossible topletely control such a reckless explosion. But Jude did it. Hisputational ability from his previous life that he retained when he reincarnated made it possible. His Cheonmujiche showed again why it was called the incarnation of martial arts from the heavens. Valencia suppressed the raging explosion by even a little. And one more added to those. He hadn¡¯t seen her since he opened the fifth door. ¡°Indeed, you are Jude himself.¡± She said. In that all ck world, she smiled with a clear and pure voice, stretching out her hand to Jude. The mysterious woman. She was vaguely called a female sage, but no one knew who she was. Was she the ancient sage who defeated the overlord of Hell by making full use of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors in the past, as Landius had guessed? And her words. She said that he was indeed Jude himself. Words that weren¡¯t insignificant. Words that were heavy. Words filled with a meaning. The female sage looked at Jude. She stretched out her hand again, and Jude grabbed it. He followed her guidance and moved forward. He took a step. Bang! Bang! Bang! His energy exploded in session. The energy of the ck dragon shook from Jude¡¯s entire body and covered the surrounding area. A power so enormous that it couldn¡¯t even bepared to the past. It was truly like the power of a sun that descended on earth. Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors ¨C Seventh Door. That was why Jude could see it. Far beyond that horizon. The long road leading to that horizon. And a person standing in front of him. That person turned. That person looked at Jude and smiled. That person whispered and held out their hand. ¡°For the sake of-¡­¡± Light covered his eyes at that time when he faintly heard it. Instead of the horizon and the road, he saw reality. He saw the bewildered Elio shouting and rushing towards him. Elio Lombardi. A Sword Master close to a Grand Sword Master. Jude saw Elio¡¯s sword. He could see Elio¡¯s sword. He could understand it. His understanding of the sword had risen. And one more. The wind blew. A gust of wind blew. It was something that Jude had never seen before, something he did not understand. Elio approached. And unleased a sword attack. So Jude also performed a sword dance. He added one thing to the Twelve Snowke Sword Art. The Sword of Wind. Another path that led to the horizon, something that was handed down by Count Bayer who had reached the sword horizon in the past. It unfolded at Jude¡¯s fingertips. Made up of wind and lightning, it rose once more and let out a roar that shook the world. Wind and Lightning Flurry Strikes. The Sword of Wind and Lightning. Elio¡¯s sword turned into a mess. It couldn¡¯t beat Jude anymore. Chapter 304: Jude Bayer (3)

Chapter 304: Jude Bayer (3)

Some correction: The Sword of Wind was actually created by a Bayer family ancestor and not Jude¡¯s father, Count Bayer. A strong wind blew. A burst of lightning followed. The Sword of Wind sharply cut the world, and the burst of lightning roughly tore the surrounding area. The ultimate skill of the Sword of Wind. The Sword of Wind that the Bayer family ancestor created after he reached the sword horizon in the past. The path of wind and lightning that he left behind. A series of strikes unfolded. Lightning burst in session and twelve sword strikes led to one. Elio mentally screamed. He focused and concentrated in stopping the Sword of Wind that was raging in front of him. He read the wind. He withstood the lightning strikes. Bababababababang-! All sounds were muted by the loud thunder. Elio¡¯s sword followed the trajectory of the Wind and Lightning Flurry Strikes with difficulty. But he couldn¡¯t keep up with all of it. Elio¡¯s sword deviated at the time when he blocked the fifth sword strike because of the lightning that was added to the wind. It was hard for him to withstand the power of the sword. Every time he blocked a strike, his hand trembled and his arm suffered from strain. ¡®No, this is not all!¡¯ The Wind and Lightning Flurry Strikes was not just a series of shing attacks. The sword contained something. There was a mysterious inner essence hidden in it that made the trajectory of the sword hard to read and impossible to block, causing him to miss. Elio who was close to bing a Grand Sword Master was able to realized that instinctively. But that was it. Even he whose swordsmanship was outstanding among the Sword Masters was powerless in front of such a sword. His own sword had already been shaken by the Wind and Lightning Flurry Strikes. ng! He couldn¡¯t properly stop the sixth strike. From the seventh strike onwards, he was almost just forcing himself to block it. He couldn¡¯t even hold his sword by the tenth strike. His sword¡¯s trajectory shook, his arm twisted, and his grip on his sword was released. Eleventh strike. Twelfth strike. He lost his sword but he tried to endure. He tried to dodge by pulling his body back, but it was impossible. The prison of wind created by the sword strikes of Wind and Lightning Flurry Strikes did not allow him to do that. He was sucked in. He was bitten by the teeth of the ferocious wind. ¡°AACK!¡± He couldn¡¯t even scream properly. The thunder swallowed Elio¡¯s scream. The rough wind tightened around his body even more. And Jude prepared for thest thirteenth strike. He pulled his sword-like hand filled with the energy of the ck dragon, and turned his wrist to strike down vertically. Staring straight at Elio who had been imprisoned by the wind prison, he performed thest strike of Wind and Lightning Flurry Strikes. The true Wind and Lightning Flurry Strikes. Twelve strikes that prepared for the final sh. He swung his sword-like hand. He cut his opponent down. But it wasn¡¯t just a sh. It split the atmosphere, the space, and the world. Elio who was imprisoned in the wind prison copsed with a silent scream instead of bleeding and splitting into two. And as if to rece Elio, everything behind his back was split into two. It was an instant, but it gave an illusion that the world itself seemed to split and crack. ¡°Haa¡­¡± Jude exhaled as he stopped moving. The ck sword he had created from the energy of the ck dragon scattered and disappeared, and Jude coughed blood. It was the price of forcefully opening the seventh door. But Jude wasn¡¯t that worried. His current body was able to endure such injuries. Rather, he was more concerned about something else. ¡®The sword¡¯s inner essence.¡¯ What was contained in the Wind and Lightning Flurry Strikes. An illusion he saw in an instant, a power that only those who had reached the horizon of the sword could obtain. It scattered and disappeared. As if his strikes were a midsummer night¡¯s dream, it left Jude¡¯s hands. But the feeling remained. It was impossible topletely forget the swordsmanship he had unfolded with his own hands. The road leading to the horizon. The man who stood on that road. The Sword of Wind that Jude received from that man. [My sessor! My sessor!] Valencia¡¯s voice made Judee to his senses. It woke up his consciousness that was aimlessly floating around, and made him see reality. ¡°Cordelia.¡± The most important person of his world. Jude softly spoke and turned around. And met the gazes of numerous people who were looking at him with stunned faces. Dumbfounded elves. Terrified demonic humans. Cordelia blinked with her mouth wide open as she looked at him, and reflexively gave a thumbs up when she realized that their eyes had met. Awesome. My Jude is seriously awesome! Really awesome! He could see Cordelia jumping from her spot as she let out her admiration. So Judeughed. It was right after he had coughed blood, and he had used up all his energy into the Wind and Lightning Flurry Strikes, so his remaining strength was low. He said as he slowly raised his sword-like hand. ¡°Shall we continue?¡± If Scarlet was next to him, she would have crossed her arms and asked him why he kept surprising people, but it lookedpletely different to those who were present. The elves felt fear. The demonic humans had already began to flee. And Cordelia covered her mouth with her hand and began to tremble. ¡®Y-you¡¯re so cool!¡¯ How can my Jude be this cool? Kyaaa! Cordelia who blushed because of her love filter was going ¡®kya-kya¡¯ in her mind, and the elves and demonic humans who could not ovee their fear began to disperse. Some elves tried to take Elio who had copsed, but all they could do was try. The moment they made eye contact with Jude, they squeezed out their entire courage and opened their mouths, but Jude gave them a reason to run away. ¡°I won¡¯t kill you. I don¡¯t want to fight all the elves.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, the elven knights gritted their teeth and looked troubled before they turned around and began to flee. And their reaction convinced Jude of one thing. ¡®As I thought, it¡¯s only Elio who betrayed.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t the will of all the elves. Then, as he thought, they would be able to secure their safety once they got out of the Orange Gate that was under Elio¡¯s jurisdiction. ¡®He didn¡¯t use the power of demons.¡¯ Elio only used the power of spirits. In other words, it meant that he was in a pure state without any contract with a demon. ¡®As expected, he was deceived.¡¯ He must have thought that the Chancellor he joined hands with was using the demon followers as his hunting dogs rather than the Chancellor belonging to a group of demon followers. He held hands with the Chancellor and the House of Lords to overthrow the emperor. Elio must have likely thought that their current treason was a power struggle within the empire. ¡®Anyway, it would be impossible for him to be the Lord President of the Privy Council since he tried to assassinate the emperor.¡¯ That was it. After Jude stopped his thoughts, he gasped again before staggering and sitting down. ¡°Jude!¡± The surprised Cordelia quickly ran to him and squatted in front of Jude who unconsciously smiled. ¡°Why? Are you hurt? You vomited blood, right? Why are you smiling when you¡¯re hurt?¡± Jude smiled again at her concerned expression. It was a strange feeling. He had always seen Cordelia and was seeing her right now, but he felt like he hadn¡¯t seen her for a long time. And that was why he missed her very lovely self so much. He wanted to thank the world just for the fact that she was sitting right in front of him now. ¡°Jude?¡± Instead of replying, Jude reached out and embraced Cordelia. Both of them were sitting, so their position was awkward, but he didn¡¯t care about that. ¡°Jude? Are you crying?¡± Cordelia was startled by what she said unconsciously, and she wanted to check Jude¡¯s face, but that was impossible. Jude tightly hugged her in his arms, so she was unable to move. As Cordelia had said, Jude was crying. But Jude himself couldn¡¯t figure out why. Tears just flowed down his eyes. [My sessor, are you okay? Is there something wrong with the process of opening the seventh door?] In response to the worried Valencia¡¯s questions, Jude reflexively recalled several things. The road leading to the horizon. The man who stood in front of that road. The female sage whom he saw after a long time and stretched out her hand as she passed some words to him. What she had said. Her words that he was Jude himself. The sword¡¯s inner essence. The Sword of Wind. ¡°Jude. I¡¯m fine. Everything¡¯s okay. I¡¯m here. I¡¯m not going anywhere, okay?¡± Cordelia hugged Jude back and warmly said. She said something she did not exactly understand herself, and Jude was relieved at those words. Although he was afraid that the small and slender Cordelia would be crushed, he hugged her as tight as he could. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m going to sleep for a bit.¡± Having felt fully relieved, Jude softly whispered and released Cordelia from his hug. It was the aftermath of exploding the Yin and Yang energies that had caused the ck Sun to run wild. The cost of using Wind and Lightning Flurry Strikes, which he shouldn¡¯t originally be able to use yet, was not small. ¡°Okay. Leave it to me. I will take care of everything.¡± Cordelia patted Jude on the back. Hearing those words that he trusted so much, Jude smiled and closed his eyes. He fell asleep quickly. ¡°Haa¡­¡± And Cordelia let out a small sigh. He was very tall and thus was incredibly heavy, but she thought that he was over a hundred kilos in weight, so she carefullyid Jude down and stretched out her shoulders. [They¡¯ve retreated, but we do not know what they will do since their leader was caught. So we should quickly run away.] Melissa¡¯s words were right. Cordelia stroked Jude¡¯s face for a moment before she nodded and stood up. ¡°All right, where should we go?¡± Cordelia tapped her foot on the ground before she used her telekic powers to carefully lift Jude up. She then approached Elio who had fainted. ¡°Did he really pass out?¡± She poked his face with her foot, but there was no response. It didn¡¯t seem like he was pretending to have fainted. ¡®Still, you never know.¡¯ Cordelia firmly tied him with magic and even paralyzed him before lifting Elio with her telekinesis. Melissa who was silently watching then said. [Which way are you nning to go now? The Red Gate? The Orange Gate?] It seemed like they could move either way if they took Elio as a hostage. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± If there was a variable, it was the high-ranking demonic humans who appeared in the Red Gate. Those demonic humans had not appeared yet. Perhaps they went to catch Lucas and Kajsa. ¡®If the two of them are together, maybe they can fight a high-ranking demonic human.¡¯ There was the Moon Crystal on the emperor¡¯s side, so it was very likely that they had somehow escaped to the agreed upon ce. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the Orange Gate.¡± [The Orange Gate?] ¡°Yes, Jude is defenseless right now. To be honest, I used a lot of mana to help Lucas and the others escape earlier, and I tried too hard to shake off the interruption magic.¡± Since Cordelia had archwizard-level mana, she clearly had enough mana to fight, but she didn¡¯t want to risk it in the slightest as Jude was defenseless now. ¡°The Red Gate is dangerous.¡± Because they didn¡¯t know what else was hiding. ¡°Besides, they originally nned to kill us and the emperor at the Red Gate, right? I¡¯m sure the defense there would be much tighter than the Orange Gate.¡± And perhaps the Orange Gate¡¯s forces werepletely unaware of the incident. [Then we use him as a hostage to cross the Orange Gate?] ¡°We can do that, or use Elio to threaten those who are beyond the Orange Gate¡­ Like those true elves? The good elves? Anyway, we can call the elves who live in the Yellow Gate. The point is to inform the non-traitorous elves about Elio¡¯s treason and get their cooperation.¡± It would be better if the emperor¡¯s side also joined them there. [Wow.] ¡°Why? Are you admiring me?¡± [Yes, because you could actually think for yourself? You could actually do it, but you did not. It¡¯s not that you could not do it!] ¡°Hey, should I break this? [Eh? Ah, this¡­eh?] While Melissa was confused, Cordelia clicked her tongue once before she lightly rxed her hands and feet. Cordelia always left the thinking to Jude because of her thinking ¡®the right person for the right job¡¯ but she herself was able to do some thinking too. No, isn¡¯t that obvious? There¡¯s no way I can¡¯t think for myself! ¡°I hate you, I hate you.¡± [Cordelia?] ¡°I won¡¯t talk to you for a while.¡± Cordelia childishly stuck her tongue out and turned to the Orange Gate as she held Moonlight that had theining Melissa. The elven realm. This was the first time she had visited this ce since she was reincarnated as Cordelia. But strangely, she had a bizarre feeling. She felt like she was going to meet someone she was very happy to be with. ¡®I¡¯ll find out when I get there.¡¯ Cordelia stroked the fainted Jude¡¯s cheek again and kissed him on the lips before using magic to head towards the Orange Gate. And like always, Cordelia¡¯s beastly intuition was not wrong this time. The Orange Gate. An unexpected person awaited her at what could be said as the beginning of the true Shadow Forest. For those who didn¡¯t get who the person that Jude saw in the road leading to the sword horizon, read along. The person he saw there was Jude Bayer himself. That was why the female sage said ¡®Indeed, you are Jude himself.¡¯ Or to be more exact, ¡®Indeed, you (the present time Jude) are Jude himself (the Jude Bayer who stood in the sword horizon).¡¯ That was why Jude cried and felt like he had not seen Cordelia for a long time. (He felt that Jude Bayer¡¯s emotions.) That was why Jude was able to use the Sword of Wind which he never properly learned in this life. (That Jude Bayer knew how to use the Sword of Wind.) And finally, that was why this chapter is titled ¡®Jude Bayer.¡¯ Chapter 305: Treasure (1)

Chapter 305: Treasure (1)

Red blood sttered. The parched earth greedily devoured the blood, and Jude walked away. Rain began to pour down from the dark and gloomy sky. The spilled blood. It mixed with rainwater. Together, it was absorbed by the earth and disappeared. Jude continued to walk away. The sword in his hand fell to the ground, but he did not pick it up. Divine Sword Balisarda. As its name implied, it was a holy sword. Jude¡¯s own favorite sword and the strongest sword in the world that reached the realm of legends after ying numerous demons. But for Jude, it was also a cursed item. The sword that killed Cordelia. It fully became a curse for having been stained by the blood of his many loved ones. It fell to the ground. Jude didn¡¯t care and kept going. He approached the man lying on the floor, bleeding and nearing his death. He crouched down. It was a demonic human. But not now. Just like Cordelia, the man regained his humanity in the end. The man smiled awkwardly. He rolled his eyes to look at Jude even though his empty eyes made him unable to see, and he said at one point. ¡°As expected, you¡¯re my best rival. You¡¯re the only one.¡± His voice was thin and weak. But there was a bit of a unique refreshing feeling left. A child who loved novels about heroes. He was a pure and good boy who wanted to y an active role like the main character in a hero novel one day. Lucas threw up blood. He was thest of Jude¡¯spanions and eventually became an enemy like Cordelia did, but he began to cry in the pouring rain. He wasn¡¯t afraid of death. Rather, he felt relieved that he would be able to escape the world full of despair and not suffer any more. Nevertheless, he cried because of Jude. Because he was worried about the heart of Jude who had truly be his best friend, his lifelong rival, and apanion who was like half of his soul. Lucas coughed blood again. And he realized. His humanity that had been temporarily restored by Balisarda was disappearing again. The demon¡¯s soul located deep inside him rose once more and tried to control Lucas¡¯ entire body. Lucas gritted his teeth again. As someone who only had his human shell left, he stretched out his hand to Jude who had sat down but didn¡¯t do anything. ¡°Jude.¡± Jude turned his way. Jude knew. So Lucas clenched his teeth. He put the cruelest words in his mouth. ¡°Kill me.¡± While I¡¯m still human. Before I get controlled by the demon again and utter all kinds of curses on you. There was a scene like this in Biltwein the Hero. So Lucas wept. He was too kind and pure to show a heroic and resolute appearance like the protagonist of a hero novel. I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m sorry. For leaving you alone, for making you do this. Lucas remembered the moment he killed Scarlet. He did not forget Kajsa who died in his arms. Jude ced his hand on Lucas¡¯ chest. He had to say hisst goodbye, but he couldn¡¯t bring himself to open his mouth. That was why Lucas opened his mouth first and spoke. ¡°This world sucks, but¡­ it was nice to be able to fight with you. I liked you.¡± There was no strength in his voice perhaps because his consciousness was increasingly blurring. Jude held back his tears and nodded his head. ¡°Me too¡­ I like you too. You¡­ You¡­ are my best rival.¡± Not Maximilian. Not Leon either. Lucas, you were my best rival. You were my best friend. ¡°Of¡­ course.¡± Lucas cried and smiled. He put his hand on top of Jude¡¯s hand that was ced over his chest. Now was really thest goodbye. Jude used his energy. He destroyed Lucas¡¯ heart. He took the life of hisst remainingrade with his own hands. It rained. It swallowed up all the sounds in the world. Therefore, there was no sound in Jude¡¯s scream. No one heard him weep as he copsed on Lucas¡¯ chest. The rain stopped. The sounds returned. Someone stepped on the wet ground and approached him. After picking up the Divine Sword Balisarda that fell to the ground, she approached Jude. ¡°Jude Bayer.¡± It was a beautiful voice full of sorrow. She knelt down near Lucas¡¯ corpse and cuddled the crying Jude. She held him in her arms as he cried like a child. Archangel Raguel. One of the archangels who descended on the human world on the day of the Great Summons. Auriel, the Archangel of Judgment, said. Give Jude Bayer the sword again. Give him the will to fight again. What Auriel said was not wrong. Jude was mankind¡¯s strongest swordsman whom even the archangels could not treat carelessly. The Sword of Wind he wielded when he reached the sword horizon would surely reach the overlords of Hell. But even so. Was it right to force the current Jude to continue fighting? Was it fair to give a sword to the man who had just killed his friend and tell him to get up and fight again? ¡°Cordelia¡­¡± Jude whispered as he cried. Before the Great Summons took ce, before many people were forcibly turned into demonic humans, it was a hard but happy life. The days when he was together with Cordelia. Raguel read Jude¡¯s memories. So she cuddled Jude just like how Cordelia did. Instead of telling him to get up and fight again, she hugged Jude just like how Cordelia did. The rain had stopped. It didn¡¯t pour down anymore. But the sky was still dark and gloomy. *** ¡°Jude?¡± Cordelia who was flying low towards the Orange Gate stopped in her surprise. Because tears were streaming down Jude¡¯s eyes. ¡°Jude?¡± She gently called him again, but there was no answer. It seemed like he was still sound asleep. But why is he suddenly crying? Is he having a sad dream? Or a scary dream? Cordelia was in a hurry, but she could not continue running immediately. Because it felt like her heart was being stabbed when she saw Jude¡¯s crying face. Why? Why do I feel so sad? Cordelia wiped away Jude¡¯s tears. She held Jude¡¯s head to her chest for a moment and patted his back. ¡°Corde¡­lia¡­¡± ¡°Yes, yes, I¡¯m here. I¡¯m here, Jude.¡± When she spoke gently, Jude¡¯s face appeared to be relieved. It seemed like he was still asleep, but his expression had rxed as if he was d to hear Cordelia¡¯s voice. ¡®Thank goodness.¡¯ Because we can be together like this now. Because I can wipe away his tears. ¡®Huh?¡¯ Cordelia blinked at her thoughts that formed without her realizing it, but she did not think about it deeply. After pinching Jude¡¯s cheek for no reason, she began running towards the Orange Gate again. [Mistress Cordelia.] ¡°I know.¡± Cordelia responded in a faint voice to Melissa¡¯s low warning. Elio¡¯s subordinates, the elven rangers. They were elves who agreed with a rebellion but did not join Elio in his rebellion. It was not that they were not loyal to Elio. But to leave Elio alone in the hands of the enemy? That was impossible. In the first ce, half of the reason why the elven knights simply retreated was because they wanted Cordelia to feel at ease. ¡®They¡¯re just looking for a chance.¡¯ The Orange Gate was also under Elio¡¯s jurisdiction. Perhaps the news that Elio had been captured had already spread. So they would ambush Cordelia at the Orange Gate. They would rescue Elio and kill them to shut their mouths. ¡®Of course, I have a n too.¡¯ She wasn¡¯t heading to the Orange Gate blindly. Cordelia herself had her own ns. Cordelia focused her consciousness. After making a contract with the Spirit King of Storms and Lightning, Cordelia was able to read the wind. Everything that was blown away by the wind. Facts that only the wind knew. She figured out the number of elven rangers moving silently in the bushes. Neen. There were more elves than she expected. Therefore, Cordelia was conflicted for a while. ¡®Should I go to n B?¡¯ For some reason, she always felt like they moved to n B whenever they made a n, but she couldn¡¯t help it this time. ¡°Melissa.¡± [Yes, Mistress Cordelia. Please leave it to me.] It was shortly after Melissa replied. A gust of wind rose from Moonlight and swept around them. Soon after, Cordelia pierced through the wind and soared, firing magic missiles in all directions. She attacked the elven rangers in the bushes and reversed her direction as she flew towards the Orange Gate at full speed. Tatatatatak! It was at that moment. The elven rangers who had been hiding in the bushes suddenly revealed themselves and t out began chasing Cordelia. Their speed was truly astounding when they gave up hiding and ran. And a few secondster. After verifying that the elven rangers had left far away, Cordelia dispelled the invisibility magic and stood up. Since she used a fairlyrge magic stone, the illusion magic would hold out until it reached the Orange Gate. ¡°Hmm, good. Our n seeded.¡± Cordelia brightly smiled and Melissa said in a low voice. [Mistress Cordelia, this isn¡¯t ttery but¡­ you¡¯re really amazing.] Because she could use so many kinds of magic spells. Very few of Magen¡¯s elven wizards who were Melissa¡¯s past masters could use as many different kinds of magic spells as Cordelia. At Melissa¡¯s sincerepliment, Cordelia snorted like it was no big deal, but her body was honest. Her shoulders were involuntarily moving up and down in her exhration. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go. They might notice it ande back.¡± [Yes, let¡¯s hurry up.] n B that Jude came up with. The Shadow Forest that was destroyed during the Great Summons became a paradise for monsters, so Jude and Cordelia who were rotten waters of Legend of Heroes 2 knew the Shadow Forest well. ¡®There was a quest before the Great Summons.¡¯ There was a hidden ce in the Shadow Forest. Located between the Red Gate and Orange Gate, it was a ce created by human hands and not elves. Although Cordelia didn¡¯t have an urate map in her head like Jude, she rarely got lost. Because she had a good sense of direction and excellent senses. ¡°It¡¯s over there.¡± Their target location. It would not be an exaggeration to say that this was the best ce to hide for a while until Jude wakes up. Cordelia who had been flying without hesitation stopped at some point. She stopped under a very big rock and looked at the small rocks around her. She changed the arrangement of the rocks by relying on her body¡¯s memory rather than the memory of her head. Something unexpected then happened. The ground opened with a rattling sound, revealing an underground passage. [A hidden mechanism. Indeed, this would be less noticeable to the elves than something that used magic.] It was just as Melissa said. If this ce was hidden by something like an illusion magic, the elves who were sensitive to magic would have discovered it right away. [But what kind of ce is this?] Who made this ce? Cordelia answered with a shrug at Melissa¡¯s question. ¡°This is a ce where a treasure of the Rogue Master lies.¡± Three of the Rogue Master¡¯s treasures were in the empire, and one of those treasures was located right here in the Shadow Forest. ¡®Since I¡¯m here, I might as well take the treasure.¡¯ With a grin, Cordelia hurried into the underground passage before her eyes widened. She couldn¡¯t help it. ¡°Scarlet?¡± ¡°Pink Bomb?¡± Inside the underground passage. Scarlet stood in a ce that was decorated like a temple. *** ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°No, the underground passage suddenly opened, so I prepared myself to fight.¡± Scarlet said as she lowered the whip sword in her hand, but Cordelia shook her head. ¡°I mean, why are you here?¡± Why is Scarlet here? But the same was true for Scarlet who was confused. ¡°Then why are you here?¡± ¡°We¡¯re in trouble.¡± Scarlet had a bitter smile as if she was dumbfounded by Cordelia¡¯s natural answer before she nodded her head. ¡°I suppose so. Given that ck Cloak is stretched out like that. Wait, isn¡¯t that Elio Lombardi? The Lombardi family head¡¯s grandson?¡± When Scarlet asked in surprise, Cordelia replied with a smile. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. He¡¯s one of our troubles too. Simply put, he¡¯s a traitor.¡± ¡°There are so many things that you have omitted in saying, so I think I should listen to the details¡­ but first of all, let¡¯s close the door for now.¡± Scarlet said that and activated the mechanism, but instead of helping, Cordelia asked while looking at the other side where there was a tightly closed stone door. ¡°Were you solving the puzzle?¡± ¡°My clues seemed to be a bitcking so¡­ I think it was a waste of time for me toe all the way here.¡± Based on her words, it sounded like she had been for a short while, but it wasn¡¯t. Seeing the amount of garbage in the corner, she seemed to have been struggling for at least a week. ¡°What about you?¡± Scarlet quickly asked when she felt bothered by Cordelia looking at the trash. Cordelia first put Jude and Elio on the floor and scratched her cheek in reply. ¡°It¡¯s a long story, but to summarize: We came here to save the empire but got attacked by the traitor Elio while passing through the Shadow Forest with the Royal Knights who were apanying the emperor after escaping from the Chancellor. I came in here to rest for some time and avoid our pursuers.¡± Scarlet was dumbstruck by Cordelia¡¯s words, but soon regained herposure. It was an absurd story, but was also a Cordelia-like story. ¡°I see, you came to the empire, so the emperor got involved.¡± They got involved with the Lord Protector and the king when they were in the royal capital, and got involved with the Ancient ck Dragon when they were in the south. So it made sense if they got involved with the emperor here. ¡°What about you, Scarlet?¡± ¡°As you can see, I¡¯m here to find the treasure. I have to be a Rogue Master.¡± It was a much simpler and more reasonable story than Cordelia¡¯s story. ¡°By the way, Pink Bomb. Did youe alone with ck Cloak?¡± ¡°Eh? No. Lucas and Kajsa are also here.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± At Cordelia¡¯s words, Scarlet nodded as if she didn¡¯t care, but that was not true. She asked as she lightly twirled her hair. ¡°How is Lord Lucas these days? Is he healthy?¡± Her question wasn¡¯t really a big deal. But Cordelia who had beastly instincts was able to see through it instantly. Scarlet appeared to be looking away when she asked, but her concentration was at its fullest. She seemed to be a little nervous, yet her eyes were filled with anticipation. And her cheeks were slightly tinged pink. ¡°Hoh?¡± Cordelia had a sly smile and Scarlet furrowed her brows. ¡°Pink Bomb?¡± ¡°He¡¯s fine. He¡¯s not just fine as he¡¯s very cool and strong. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be surprised when you see him.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± Scarlet pretended to not be that interested, but Cordelia knew. The fact that Scarlet¡¯s heart rate elerated in an instant. [Hey, you¡¯re human, right?] While Melissa was questioning Cordelia¡¯s human senses, Cordelia was lost in her thoughts. Scarlet and Lucas. The Lucas x Scarlet ship. ¡®Ah, wait a second.¡¯ Kajsa is with him now. The Lucajsa ship is also in development. Cordelia imagined it again. A confrontation between Kajsa and Scarlet over Lucas. A conflict between love and friendship. ¡®Oh.¡¯ This will be fun. ¡°Pink Bomb?¡± ¡°Eh? Ah, no. Don¡¯t mind me. Hehe.¡± Scarlet looked at her suspiciously, but decided to move on. Because she had more questions to ask. ¡°Anyway, where is Lord Lucas now? If you¡¯re running away, doesn¡¯t that mean that Lord Lucas is in danger?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ maybe?¡± Scarlet had a puzzled face at Cordelia¡¯s answer. ¡°Hey, what do you mean? And why are you so nonchnt about it?¡± Cordelia scratched her cheek at the slightly annoyed remark, but she couldn¡¯t help answering that. ¡°Because Lucas has be stronger.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°He¡¯s be really strong.¡± Besides, he¡¯s with Kajsa now. Her words were not a groundless belief. At the same time in the Shadow Forest. Lucas was proving the veracity of Cordelia¡¯s words. Chapter 306: Treasure (2)

Chapter 306: Treasure (2)

It was no coincidence that Kirara and Sarah escaped with the royal family the moment Elio betrayed them. This was Jude¡¯s personnel arrangement in case of a contingency. ¡®There are three Sword Masters among the elves of the Shadow Forest.¡¯ All three Sword Masters being traitors was not part of their assumptions though. If that had been the case, they wouldn¡¯t have a solution then. ¡®Of course, it¡¯s because we thought that it was highly unlikely.¡¯ The other two were not from Elio¡¯s faction. The elves of the Shadow Forest were definitely subordinates of Vincenzo Lombardi, the leader of the elves, and depending on Vincenzo¡¯s will, not only the Sword Masters but also the entire elven poption could be enemies of the emperor. But unlike Elio who willingly utilized demon followers, Vincenzo Lombardi gritted his teeth at demon followers. The possibility that such a Vincenzo would join hands with the Chancellor, who not only utilized demon followers but also demons, was close to zero. ¡®Anyway, if you look at Elio¡¯s arbitrary decision.¡¯ If the group were to split up and escape, Elio was likely to pursue Jude. Unlike the emperor and the Royal Knights whom his forces could handle, only Elio could deal with Jude and Cordelia. ¡®If we hadn¡¯t though, he was going to make us follow him.¡¯ In any case, the situation went as Jude had expected. Elio Lombardi and the demonic humans chased after Jude and Cordelia while the regr elven troops went after the emperor and the Royal Knights. ¡®The emperor has the most advantage in escaping since they have the Moon Crystal.¡¯ In addition, Kirara and Sarah were professionals in running away. Even if they couldn¡¯t do space leaps, they could still escape sessfully. ¡®So it would be the Royal Knights whom they will focus on pursuing.¡¯ And if they needed power to threaten the Royal Knights, the high-ranking demonic humans who were on the same level as Sword Masters would be enough. Thus, Jude attached Lucas and Kajsa to Leon instead of the emperor. If their opponent was a Sword Master, it would be hard for Lucas and Kajsa to deal with even if they worked together. But the situation would be different if it was a high-ranking demonic human. ¡°All right!¡± The divine chain wielded by Kajsa tightly bound the body of the high-ranking demonic human. The giant high-ranking demonic human who looked like a rhinoceros beetle tried to break the chain with his strength, but that was impossible. ¡°H-how?¡± The chain wasn¡¯t even as thick as his finger. The high-ranking demonic human couldn¡¯t understand how, but in fact, this was natural. It was impossible for a high-ranking demonic human to break the chain that had even once suppressed a Demon Prince. Moreover, Kajsa¡¯s chain wasn¡¯t just strong. ¡°Holy Light of the Sun!¡± ¡°AAAAACK!¡± When Kajsa cast a spell, the aura of a golden sun emitted from the entire chain. The power of the sun goddess Sri affected the high-ranking demonic humans whose powers came from Hell. ¡°GRAAAAA!¡± The high-ranking demonic human twisted his body and tried to unleash his power, but it was not easy because of Kajsa¡¯s strength that was beyond imagination. Even when he twisted his body, Kajsa did not budge. No matter how big she was, she was a woman and only weighed about a few tens of kilograms at most, but she still stood up against the strength of a high-ranking demonic human. Kajsa clearly had a limit too. She remarkably blocked the high-ranking demonic human¡¯s movements, but all she could do was to bind him with all her strength and mana. Neither side had any means of attacking. But unlike the helpless high-ranking demonic human, Kajsa had a solution. ¡°Lucas!¡± Lucas responded to Kajsa¡¯s call. Holy King¡¯s Cross Sword. The sword of the Holy King who protected the world by ying countless demons. The Holy King¡¯s Cross Sword was not a swordsmanship developed for dealing with humans. It was originally a swordsmanship made to deal with demons, so each technique of the Holy King¡¯s Cross Sword boasted a deadly power against demons. Lucas caught his breath. He charged at the high-ranking demonic human who was struggling from the chains, and was not fazed by the tentacles that came rushing towards him. He evaded and blocked the tentacles with minimal movement before unfolding the sword of the Holy King. Grand Cross. The holy cross of heaven. A huge white cross spread over the high-ranking demonic human¡¯s body as he directly got hit by the Holy King¡¯s Cross Sword¡¯s technique. And it became one with Sri¡¯s aura and burned the high-ranking demonic human. ¡°AAAAH¡­¡± The high-ranking demonic human scattered into ashes, and Lucas exhaled as he sheathed his sword. It was like a scene from hero novel when he sheathed his sword into the scabbard, something that he had diligently practiced alone back then in his family¡¯s territory. ¡°Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.¡± In a very low voice, Lucas recited the line of Biltwein, the protagonist of Biltwein the Hero, as the corners of his mouth were slightly raised. He was truly satisfied with their victory. ¡°Oh, Lucas! I knew that I could trust in you!¡± Kajsa widely opened her arms and hugged Lucas by the neck. Surprised by her unhesitant skinship, Lucas had an embarrassed expression as he said. ¡°Uh, that is¡­¡± ¡°That is what?¡± ¡°I-it¡¯s nothing.¡± Lucas shifted his gaze and looked elsewhere. Because when Kajsa hugged him by pulling his neck, Lucas¡¯ face naturally bumped right in front of Kajsa¡¯s chest. But Kajsa didn¡¯t seem to mind it, or rather, she seemed to have done it on purpose as she pulled harder and said with a big smile. ¡°Anyway, you did well. As expected, you¡¯re strong and cool.¡± He felt shy at her openpliments, but he honestly didn¡¯t hate it. Because Lucas was hungry for praise and recognition as revealed in his previous match with Leon. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Kajsa¡¯s eyes narrowed when Lucas blushed and coughed. She smiled like a magician who had seeded in their scheme, and hugged Lucas¡¯ waist instead of his neck as she said. ¡°You and I have good chemistry. Shall we work together in the future?¡± ¡°Yes, because we¡¯re a party anyway.¡± ¡°Hnnn¡­¡± Lucas panicked when Kajsa made a slightly displeased expression, but it was only for a moment. Because Lucas came up with an answer. ¡°Lady Kajsa was also amazing. Because youpletely stopped the high-ranking demonic human from moving. I was really impressed.¡± ¡°Well¡­ that¡­ hahaha.¡± Kajsa pretended not to be embarrassed, but eventuallyughed out loud and asked in a soft voice. ¡°By the way, how long are you going to talk to me respectfully?¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°I mean, we¡¯re pretty close now, right? It feels stiff if you continue to talk to me respectfully.¡± Kajsa said as she lightly twirled the end of her hair, and Lucas stammered again. ¡°I-it¡¯s a bit awkward to speak casually¡­¡± After all, Kajsa was three years older than Lucas. ¡°It¡¯s fine, it¡¯s fine. Just call me Kajsa.¡± ¡°Uuuh¡­ O-okay. Kajsa-noona.¡± T/N: ¡®Noona¡¯ is the Korean suffix used by younger males when they call older females. Calling someone unnie or noona signifies closeness to the older woman, but is still on the respectful side rather than the casual side. Lucas spoke shyly, and a smile spread across Kajsa¡¯s face again. It was a bit disappointing that she was called ¡®noona, ¡® but it was also cute, so she felt good anyway. As for one person watching them. ¡°I think we should hurry up.¡± Leon spoke as he and the Royal Knights looked at the two with sullen looks after defeating the elven forces that appeared along with the high-ranking demonic humans, and Lucas nodded, though he was visibly embarrassed. ¡°Eh¡­ Uh¡­ Yes. Okay. Lady Kajsa¡­ no, Kajsa-noona, let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Hehe, okay.¡± Kajsa smiled and gestured to Leon to take the lead, and Leon let out a short sigh before he began to run in the lead. Their target destination was the ce they agreed upon to meet with the emperor. The Royal Knights and Kajsa quickly ran, while Lucas who guarded their rear stopped and nced back. Beyond the Red Gate. In the direction where Jude and Cordelia fled. ¡®May you two be safe.¡¯ The two were very strong people, but they were the only ones in the enemy camp. After Lucas finished his prayer, he began running again. *** Jude slowly opened his eyes. He saw something familiar instead of an unfamiliar ceiling. A sky covered withrge branches and leaves extending from it. It wasn¡¯t reality. Nor was it a dream. It was a familiar ce. The residence of Sword Origin Valencia who lived in Jude¡¯s own body and soul. ¡°My sessor, are you awake?¡± In response to her gentle and kind voice, Jude stood up instead of speaking. His throat was dry. In Valencia¡¯s residence, only his psyche existed, but he still felt thirsty and found it hard to speak. ¡°Because you still feel tired.¡± Valencia who was sitting on a tree stump approached Jude and held out a wooden cup. ¡°Drink, it will help.¡± Jude swallowed the white liquid in the wooden cup as instructed. He didn¡¯t immediately recover his strength, but he felt like he was a bit alive now. ¡°My sessor, can you talk now?¡± ¡°Can I¡­ have one more cup please?¡± ¡°Please wait a second.¡± Valencia said and covered the top of the cup with her palm before lifting it, and white liquid filled the cup again. ¡°I brought this from my storage somewhere.¡± But how did you do it? And how was this white liquid created in my soul in the first ce? Instead of questioning further, Jude immediately drank the liquid. He didn¡¯t know the taste at first, but it seemed like it had a savory taste. ¡°Is it delicious? It¡¯s because it contains my energy.¡± Valencia softly smiled and casually sat on the ground. Then he began to hear the sounds of the rippling stream and the chirping of birds. He didn¡¯t know because he never explored this ce properly, but the inside of Sword Origin was wider than he thought and seemed to contain various things. Perhaps the liquid he just drank was made by mixing various things inside Sword Origin. ¡°Haa¡­¡± Putting down the wooden cup, Jude sighed as he let his shoulders down. The energy inside him seemed to boil and his mind became clearer and clearer, perhaps because of the white liquid. Several minutes passed just like that. Jude spoke to Valencia who just waited instead of rushing him. ¡°I saw the sword¡¯s inner essence.¡± The horizon at the end of the road. The point reached by the man who had been standing at a far distance. No one told him about the words ¡®sword¡¯s inner essence.¡¯ It just naturally came to his mind. The sword¡¯s inner essence. The principle. The ultimate realm that those who walked the path of the sword wanted to reach. Valencia slowly nodded. As the sword spirit of Sword Origin, she was one with Jude. Therefore, she could clearly see the Sword of Wind that Jude used as if she was the one who used it herself. ¡°It¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve ever seen the swordsmanship you used. It¡¯s a swordsmanship you never told me, and something that even you don¡¯t know.¡± The Sword of Wind. Jude never properly learned the Sword of Wind. Only a few basic techniques of the Sword of Wind were what Jude knew how to do. However, the Wind and Lightning Flurry Strikes used by Jude was a technique that could be called the essence of the Sword of Wind. How did it happen? How did he use a swordsmanship he had never learned at all? The ultimate sword ingrained with the sword¡¯s inner essence. ¡°What happened?¡± Jude traced his memories again instead of immediately answering Valencia¡¯s question. His fight with Elio Lombardi. In order to open the seventh door, he recalled his past memories. He remembered what changes urred in his body when he first opened each door from the first to the sixth, and he forcibly recreated it. The collision and not the harmony of his Yin and Yang energies. The immense energy that resulted from it. He opened the seventh door and saw the horizon. The man who stood between the horizon and him. The female sage who appeared after a long time. What she said to him about himself. Jude slowly told Valencia what he had been through, and she listened to it. ¡°Do you perhaps¡­ know something?¡± Valencia frowned at Jude¡¯s question. ¡°To be honest, it¡¯s full of things I don¡¯t know. The process of opening the seventh door itself is absurd.¡± Valencia spoke sincerely. She didn¡¯t expect him to open the door like that. Or rather, she didn¡¯t expect that to be possible. ¡°However¡­ I think I know a bit about the horizon.¡± Even Valencia didn¡¯t know about the female sage and the man. But if Jude had perceived the horizon, so did Valencia. ¡°The sword¡¯s inner essence.¡± The final destination for those who walked the path of the sword. It was the root and principle of the world. If there was a supreme realm that only the enlightened could reach, it would be beyond that horizon. ¡°I also saw the sword¡¯s inner essence.¡± Valencia quietly said, but it was a truly amazing feat. Even in the long history of elves, the number of swordsmen who arrived at the sword¡¯s inner essence could only be counted in one hand. ¡°My sessor, can you show it to me again?¡± The Sword of Wind that defeated Elio Lombardi. Jude nodded and stood up. Instead of drawing the ck dragon¡¯s energy to make a sword, he took a stance with the wooden sword that Valencia gave him. Wind and Lightning Flurry Strikes. Relying on his memory, he showed it. Although the power was greatly weakened because he didn¡¯t open the seventh door, what Valencia wanted to originally see was the form of Wind and Lightning Flurry Strikes. A powerful chain of attacks made up of thirteen strikes. Valencia watched Jude¡¯s Wind and Lightning Flurry Strikes from beginning to end and narrowed her brows. And Jude knew why. Because Jude himself who showed off the Wind and Lightning Flurry Strikes felt it. ¡°My sessor, your sword does not contain the sword¡¯s inner essence.¡± Even Elio Lombardi who was about to be a Grand Sword Master waspletely subdued by the Wind and Lightning Flurry Strikes. But that was only possible because it had the sword¡¯s inner essence. Jude¡¯s sword did not contain the sword¡¯s inner essence now. It was just a fast and powerful swordsmanship. ¡°However¡­¡± Valencia¡¯s words trailed, but she finished it with a small smile. ¡°Your swordsmanship has greatly improved. That is the only thing that is clear.¡± So far, Jude¡¯s swordsmanship had been too calcted. A domineering yet sharp swordsmanship that used his overwhelming physical abilities and immense energy. But it was a little different now. It did not contain the sword¡¯s inner essence, but it was definitely a step forward. A change that only became possible through enlightenment. But Jude and Valencia knew. That Jude was not in a state of enlightenment now. ¡°Well¡­ Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors seems to have a secret.¡± Jude nodded at Valencia¡¯s opinion. Perhaps the female sage and the man standing on the road had the answer. ¡°I¡¯ll have to talk to master when I see him.¡± Because the expert on Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors was Landius. But at Jude¡¯s words, Valencia furrowed her brows and said with an awkward smile. ¡°Umm¡­ but wouldn¡¯t Landius be frustrated if he heard your story now?¡± For trying to forcefully open the seventh door. Valencia¡¯s argument was quite valid, but Jude shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡± It was Landius. It was his master. ¡°Well¡­ if my sessor says so, then it¡¯s fine.¡± Unlike her words, Valencia had a bitter smile as if she thought otherwise, and she approached Jude again. ¡°Anyway, my sessor, get some sleep for now.¡± Because he was still far from recovery. Valencia poked Jude¡¯s forehead with her index finger and whispered softly, and Jude closed his eyes as if he had been enchanted. He fell into a deep sleep again. *** ¡°Thank goodness. Jude¡¯s expression looks more rxed now.¡± Cordelia had a wide smile as she was giving Jude ap pillow, and Melissa spoke in a pleased voice. [Yes, he seems to be sleepingfortably now.] ¡°Right? Thank goodness.¡± Caressing the face of the sleeping Jude, Cordelia sighed in relief. After all, she had been really worried. A fianc¨¦e who cared for her fianc¨¦ with a pure heart. It was a heartwarming sight at first nce, but Scarlet had a sour look on her face. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ well, you see. You¡¯re the ones who defeated an Ancient ck Dragon, so it¡¯s not surprising for you to have defeated a Sword Master too.¡± Elio Lombardi was lying in the corner like baggage. After hearing the details from Cordelia, Scarlet admired Jude and Cordelia in various ways for getting involved in big incidents ¨C no, at this point, for causing big incidents wherever they go, so she brought up another topic. ¡°Moving on, are you going to rest here for a while and leave when he wakes up? And take that elf with you?¡± ¡°Yes. Scarlet, will you like to go with us? No, let¡¯s go together. Unnie, can you help us?¡± ¡°I¡¯m only an unnie in times like this, huh.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s cutesy act, Scarlet snorted but she didn¡¯t really hate it. Because she found it very attractive to participate as a Rogue Master in a major event where the fate of the empire was at stake. ¡®I can see Lord Lucas there too.¡¯ When she was in the royal capital, nothing strange happened, but when she left the royal capital, Lucas¡¯ face asionally popped up in her mind for some strange reason. I want to help Cordelia. I want to save the empire together with them. But Scarlet was unwilling to open her mouth. Because of one fact. ¡®But am I capable of helping them?¡¯ Frankly, she was confident in her skills. She was also proud of herself on being unmatched among opponents her age. However, she couldn¡¯t help but feel inferior in front of Jude and Cordelia. Moreover, when she heard their story, it gave the impression that Sword Master-level enemies would appear even when they were doing nothing. Considering all that, would she be of any help to them? ¡°Scarlet is good at swordsmanship and magic, right? You¡¯re also good at infiltration¡­ And since you¡¯re from the empire, you¡¯re also well familiar with it, right?¡± ¡°Ahem¡­¡± As if Cordelia had read Scarlet¡¯s thoughts, she gave the right answer. Scarlet¡¯s own worth. ¡°Ahem¡­¡± When Scarlet coughed again, Cordelia grinned. Because she could see what Scarlet wanted. ¡®She¡¯s simple. Very simple.¡¯ Scarlet would haveined if she had heard Cordelia¡¯s thoughts, but Cordelia giggled and continued to praise Scarlet. ¡°You¡¯re good at disguising, you know how to use your beauty, you¡¯re skilled with your hands¡­¡± ¡°Okay, okay. I¡¯ll go with you two. In exchange, you help with my task.¡± Having turned red at Cordelia¡¯spliments, Scarlet spoke as she waved her hand and Cordelia nodded right away before speaking with her beastly intuition. ¡°Are you talking about that?¡± The secret door of the Rogue Master that Scarlet had been trying to figure out the password for the past few days. ¡°That¡¯s right. I thought I¡¯d get some help from ck Cloak when he wakes up.¡± She didn¡¯t want to admit it, but Jude was a real genius. But at Scarlet¡¯s words, Cordelia carefully stood up instead of nodding her head. ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to ask help from Jude. I¡¯ll open it.¡± Scarletughed as though she found it ridiculous when Cordelia said it, so she replied. ¡°Hey, it¡¯s not that easy. I¡¯m not sure about ck Cloak, but Pink Bomb, it¡¯s not something you can easily open, okay? For your information, unlocking spells also doesn¡¯t work.¡± [Mistress Cordelia, I think it¡¯s too much for you¡­] Cordelia was definitely a magic genius, but they couldn¡¯t imagine her figuring out the Rogue Master¡¯s password with that amazing talent of hers. However, Cordelia unhesitatingly walked and stood in front of the panel attached to the secret door, and Scarlet snickered. ¡°Okay, feel free to try. I¡¯m not saying this to belittle you, but if I can¡¯t do it, so do you.¡± [It sounds like a disrespectful statement, but I slightly agree-] ¡°It¡¯s open.¡± [-that you can!] Melissa changed her words quickly, and Scarlet¡¯s eyes widened. What did you just say? ¡°I¡¯ve opened it.¡± Cordelia spoke once more and opened the secret door with a grin. Scarlet was literally stunned while Cordelia shrugged and gave her a charming wink. ¡°It¡¯s really easy, right?¡± Her body remembered even if her mind didn¡¯t remember. Or rather, her soul remembered since she was reincarnated. Cordelia was still one of the best rotten waters even though she kept getting overshadowed by Jude. But only Cordelia herself knew this. The ignorant Scarlet blinked her eyes as if she had been struck in the back of her head with a hammer. ¡°Eh? EEEEEH?!¡± Cordelia opened it? I was stuck here for three days and couldn¡¯t even open it, but she did? Cordelia did? That Cordelia? [I believed in you from the beginning.] ¡°Isn¡¯t that aplete lie?¡± Cordelia snorted at Melissa¡¯s words and gestured to Scarlet again. ¡°Anyway, it¡¯s open, so let¡¯s get it quickly.¡± The Rogue Master¡¯s treasure. Scarlet unconsciously stood up at Cordelia¡¯s beckoning and once again looked in confusion at the wide open door before she turned to thetter and said. ¡°Hey.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Did you do that on purpose? Like pretending to be stupid so that you¡¯ll look cute in front of ck Cloak¡­ was all of that actually just acting?¡± [Gasp, I suddenly got goosebumps.] Cordelia frowned at Scarlet and Melissa¡¯sments. They were going too far with what they were saying. ¡°I took care of it, right?¡± And yet you criticize me just like that? Scarlet was startled at Cordelia¡¯s warning and immediately nodded. Rather than defying Cordelia who was cleverer ¨C no, perhaps a slyer schemer than Jude, she focused on the Rogue Master¡¯s treasure. Chapter 307: Treasure (3)

Chapter 307: Treasure (3)

The Rogue Master had five treasures. The Moon Crystal that let the user leap through space from a moonlit ce to another moonlit ce. The Wings of Speed that granted the user the ability to fly. The Red Dragon¡¯s Armor said to be made the scales of an Ancient Red Dragon. The Blue Dragon¡¯s Protection that blocked all mental attacks. And Sekhmet¡¯s Eye that let the user see through everything. Each of these treasures were powerful artifacts with mysterious powers, and their value was truly enormous. And now, one of them. Scarlet held Sekhmet¡¯s Eye in her hands and blinked. Sekhmet¡¯s Eye looked like an eyepatch and was a relic of the ancient Mu Empire like the Red Dragon¡¯s Armor. It was an artifact specialized in ¡®seeing.¡¯ One could see far like a telescope. A zoom function was also added and it was possible to use it like a microscope or thermal imaging camera. Added to that was its ability to see through things. Its utility was seriously incredible as it could let the user see in the darkness and see through all kinds of illusions. Therefore, Scarlet who was delighted to touch Sekhmet¡¯s Eye asked with a bit of doubt. ¡°Can I really have it? Without winning a match or anything like that?¡± ¡°Yes, you can have it.¡± Cordelia could just use magic. But despite Sekhmet¡¯s Eye being amazing, it was only a Legend-rank equipment. For Cordelia who was equipped from head to toe with Myth-rank items after defeating Malekith, it was something that she did not covet. ¡°Can I really have it? You¡¯re not going to take itter, right?¡± ¡°No, I won¡¯t.¡± As Cordelia spoke unhesitatingly, Scarlet felt both good and bad. ¡®Isn¡¯t this nice though?¡¯ After all, this is the Rogue Master¡¯s treasure. It¡¯s my ancestor¡¯s treasure. Isn¡¯t it normal for one to covet and want it? Scarlet pouted her lips and wore Sekhmet¡¯s Eye on her face for now. Sekhmet¡¯s Eye was a golden eyepatch, but when she touched the tip and chanted a spell, it split into the left and right, turning smaller until it waspletely hidden. After moving her head a bit to see if there was any difort, Scarlet asked Cordelia again. ¡°So what are you going to do now?¡± Scarlet¡¯s own business was over, but not for Cordelia. The emperor was still on the run, and amotion should be urring in the Red Gate and Orange Gate. Elio Lombardi, the heir of the Lombardi family, was tied up and unconscious right now here in the Rogue Master¡¯s hidden ce. At Scarlet¡¯s question, Cordelia immediately responded as if she didn¡¯t worry about it. ¡°I think I¡¯ll wait until Jude wakes up.¡± It was a universally reasonable answer. However, Scarlet narrowed her eyebrows and said. ¡°But isn¡¯t the emperor in danger now? You don¡¯t even know what happened to them.¡± Whenpared to Jude and Cordelia whopletely headed inside the Red Gate ,the situation of the emperor was clearly better since he escaped using the Moon Crystal, but there was still the possibility of something going wrong. But Cordelia shook her head at Scarlet¡¯s question. ¡°First of all, there¡¯s a good chance that they¡¯re not in danger.¡± ¡°Because of the Moon Crystal?¡± ¡°That¡¯s that, but it¡¯s also because they ran out of the Red Gate. And the Elio you see over there is proof.¡± Cordelia nced at Elio who was lying in the corner and continued. ¡°Elio chased after us. In other words, the enemy¡¯s greatest strength followed us. Considering the remaining troops at the Red Gate at that time¡­ there is a very low chance that they can catch up to the Imperial Family who has the Moon Crystal and Sarah who is guarding them and can use Spirit Rush. Ah, Spirit Rush is a unique movement of Sarah, a Royal Knight, but you can think of it as a skill that allows you to move really quickly. She¡¯s even faster than the elves in the forest, so there should be no problem. Anyway, if Elio had known about the Moon Crystal and Spirit Rush, he would have pursued the emperor and not us, but he didn¡¯t actually have a choice. If we had broken through the Orange Gate and reached the Yellow Gate, the Elven Privy Council would have learned of his rebellious act. From Elio¡¯s perspective, that must be stopped. Judging from Elio¡¯s actions, he and his followers had no intention of revealing their rebellion. Perhaps after killing the emperor and us, he would me the deaths to someone else, which would highly likely be the Royal Knights. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t have attacked us at the Red Gate. If they wanted to kill us without fail, wouldn¡¯t the Orange Gate inside the forest be more advantageous for them than the Red Gate which was the entrance to the Shadow Forest? But the reason they gave up on it and attacked like that was because it had to be finished within the Red Gate. Probably, not all of the people inside the Orange Gate were on Elio¡¯s side. And¡­ even if the emperor was captured, it would be better to wait for Jude to wake up. We¡¯re already in a situation where we can do nothing about it. It¡¯s best to wait for our strength to return and get a good picture of the situation.¡± Cordelia who had been continuously exining furrowed her brows. Because Scarlet¡¯s expression was strange. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°W-wow, how scary.¡± You were really just acting. You were just pretending to be stupid to look cute in front of ck Cloak! [I¡¯mpletely terrified right now. I can feel chills down my spine.] Melissa also quietly said. She couldn¡¯t believe that Cordelia could think like that. Cordelia¡¯s words weren¡¯t just a retelling of what Jude had told them. These were words that Cordelia herself had thought. [You can actually do it!] ¡°Should I break this?¡± Melissa turned silent at Cordelia¡¯s warning, and Scarlet rubbed her arm that got goosebumps. ¡°Hey, hey, hey. What¡¯s with that reaction? Are you amazed by what I thought?¡± ¡°I¡¯m amazed. You were always growling, sniffing and saying that it smelled delicious. You liked to eat. You liked to sleep! You usually acted ording to your instincts.¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m not. And hey. I¡¯m a wizard, a wizard. I¡¯m also an archwizard.¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s why I thought that you¡¯re an archwizard¡­ who broke the stereotype that all archwizards are smart.¡± ¡°Why you¡­ Should I take Sekhmet¡¯s Eye?¡± At Cordelia¡¯s superficial threat, Scarlet quickly shook her head and backed down. And Melissa who had been silent for a while said. [Don¡¯t they say that married couples be alike?] Because she really seemed to be like Jude now. Cordelia immediately blushed at Melissa¡¯s words and scratched her cheek. ¡°I-Is that so? Is it¡­ like that?¡± A married couple. They were only engaged though. She twisted her body in her shyness, and Scarlet shook her head, continuing her words. ¡°Moving on, are you saying that we should wait until Jude wakes up?¡± ¡°Yes, I need to recover my mana too. I¡¯m going to meditate, so please watch over me.¡± Cordelia said that and sat down cross-legged next to Scarlet. She closed her eyes and concentrated. One of a wizard¡¯s essential skills was Meditation, which recovered one¡¯s mana. And around two hourster. While chatting with Melissa, Scarlet turned her gaze. Because Jude and Cordelia moved almost simultaneously. ¡°Huu¡­¡± After exhaling, Jude stood up. Cordelia who had been in deep meditation also slowly opened her eyes and looked in front. ¡®Seriously, this fantasy couple.¡¯ The two waking up at the same time was definitely a coincidence, but it seemed like the coincidence happened because it was the two of them. Scarlet was amazed again and tried to speak, but Jude and Cordelia were a bit faster. As soon as they woke up, the two looked at each other and drew closer. ¡°Are you feeling better now?¡± ¡°I am. What about you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m all right.¡± They affectionately asked each other¡¯s condition and caressed each other¡¯s cheeks before they locked lips so naturally. It was a light kiss at first, followed by a long and deep one. Scarlet was momentarily stunned by the sight before her eyes, and then shouted with a red face. ¡°Hey! HEEEEY! I can see you, okay?¡± [I¡¯m always watching here.] Jude stroked Cordelia¡¯s cheek in response to the two women¡¯s protest and said with a calm face. ¡°Yes, I know. So what?¡± What if you can see? What are you going to do about it then? Scarlet and Melissa were left speechless at Jude¡¯s words, and Valencia¡¯s eyes turned cold. Cordelia was thinking very much like herself. ¡®A-are you crazy?¡¯ But why does it look so cool? It was the power of her love filter. In any case, after Jude shamelessly spoke, he cleared his throat and straightened his posture. In fact, even Jude himself found what he did to be a bit too far. ¡®Is this the aftereffect of my emotions that suddenly soared right after I defeated Elio?¡¯ ¡°Jude?¡± ¡°N-no. It¡¯s nothing.¡± As Cordelia became concerned, Jude quickly smiled and hugged her as if nothing had happened. And Scarlet sighed again at the sight. ¡°Haa, fine. Anyway, ck Cloak. I roughly heard about the situation from Cordelia.¡± About the emperor¡¯s situation, Elio¡¯s betrayal, and so on. After talking about the situation with Scarlet and Melissa again, Jude said as he nced at Elio who was still unconscious and lying on the ground. ¡°It¡¯s unlikely that Elio Lombardi ispletely on the side of the demon followers. He probably allied with the Chancellor who is working with the demon followers. So rather than killing Elio, it will be better to let him live and take him to the elves.¡± Scarlet nodded at Jude¡¯s words. It was a usible story for her who was born in the empire. ¡°Certainly, I can¡¯t imagine the elves working with the demon followers at all. It¡¯s a bit shocking though. There are Sword Masters who joined hands with the Chancellor, and even the elf Sword Master here also sided with him.¡± Scarlet had been from the royal capital. So she knew not only of First Sword and the Lord Protector¡¯s betrayal, but also of Sebastian Leguin who became an enemy through brainwashing, and Matteo Luculia, a great swordmaster from the south who joined the demon follower¡¯s side. ¡®Is the Sword Master a symbol of betrayal?¡¯ When Scarlet had a thought that she couldn¡¯t say aloud, Jude and Cordelia had simr thoughts and exchanged words through magic. [Isn¡¯t it crazy if you think about it? Swordmasters are at the core of a country¡¯s military power, but there are so many traitors among them. It¡¯s amazing that the countries haven¡¯t copsed so far.] [That was why they copsed in the game¡¯s storyline.] [Is that so?] As Jude had said, the kingdom and the empire werepletely destroyed in the game¡¯s storyline. When he thought about it in a way, he understood why the kingdom and the empire copsed due to their situation being so bad before they got destroyed. [Yeah, it got so bad that only destruction awaited them.] Because the probability of a country that used to be okay to suddenly copse was low. While Cordelia admired him alone, Jude stood up after briefly taking a look at Elio¡¯s condition. Elio was already half-dead after being defeated by Jude, and would still be quietly sleeping for the next few hours because he was enchanted with various paralysis magic. ¡®There¡¯s no need to dy it further.¡¯ Jude had woken up and Cordelia had regained her mana. Now that Scarlet was added to their group, they should quickly go. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the Orange Gate.¡± Cordelia nodded at Jude¡¯s words. *** It was unexpectedly quiet outside the secret ce where the Rogue Master¡¯s treasure was hidden. ¡°Are there¡­ no search parties?¡± She thought that Elio¡¯s subordinates would be all over the ce looking for them, but they weren¡¯t. Scarlet became very nervous after hearing Cordelia¡¯s words, so she looked around with Sekhmet¡¯s Eye just in case, but couldn¡¯t see anyone. ¡°I don¡¯t think there¡¯s anyone around.¡± Why though? Jude could roughly guess the reason. There was only one reason for such a change to happen in a matter of hours. ¡°Vincenzo seems to have noticed.¡± Elio¡¯s subordinates. Even if the Red Gate and Orange Gate were under Elio¡¯s jurisdiction, he could not have filled all the positions with his own followers. ¡®Maybe that¡¯s why he began their attack at the Red Gate in the first ce.¡¯ His logic was the same as Cordelia¡¯s guess. If Elio had been inplete control of the Orange Gate, he wouldn¡¯t have needed to carry it out in the Red Gate. ¡°Then¡­ are we safe?¡± ¡°We have to go to find out.¡± Vincenzo Lombardi lost his hometown and family to the demons when he was a child. It was unimaginable for him to even form apromise with the demon followers. But just because he didn¡¯t join hands with the demon followers didn¡¯t necessarily mean that he was on their side. The heir of the Lombardi family attempted to assassinate the emperor. Even if Vincenzo was the leader of the elves and the Lord President of the Privy Council, it was a scandal that he could not easily resolved. Therefore, it was difficult to say for sure on how Vincenzo would react on what happened in the Shadow Forest that was like his kingdom. Would he punish Elio? Or would he try to hide the incident in order to erase Elio¡¯s scandal? The former was more likely than thetter. But as Cordelia¡¯s safety was at stake, Jude did not let his guard down. And twenty minutester. In front of the Orange Gate. A lightly-dressed woman with only a sword on her waist was sitting in front of the gate. She had long ck hair and drowsy eyes. ¡°Hi. This is our first meeting. My name is Elune. I heard that Elio¡¯s caused some trouble, right?¡± The strongest elven swordsman in existence. Grand Sword Master Elune greeted their party. Chapter 308: Grand Sword Master (1)

Chapter 308: Grand Sword Master (1)

Like a serpent who climbed over a wall ¨C A Korean idiom that means achieving something by slyly using tricks and cheats without arousing suspicion. Elune Ivrea. She was the head of the Ivrea family, one of the 12 families belonging to the Privy Council. As a pure-blooded High Elf, she was a distant rtive of Vincenzo Lombardi, another High Elf, and if one traced their family tree, she was Elio¡¯s paternal aunt. ¡®Grand Sword Master.¡¯ She was the strongest swordsman among the elves who lived not only in the Shadow Forest but also throughout the continent. But she wasn¡¯t as old as one would think. She was only a little over two hundred years old now. Although she was very old by human standards, she was now in her early twenties by the standards of high elves who lived for a thousand years. However, she was one of the only two Grand Sword Masters among the elves and considered by many to be the strongest elf. The other, Eltharion Prime of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, was too old. And in fact, it was meaningless to consider the ages of the swordmasters, except for cases in which their bodies had weakened due to old age, as was the case of Eltharion and the Lord Protector. ¡®Because they could still grow.¡¯ Sword Masters weren¡¯t just products of effort. Naturally, it was impossible for a person to be a Sword Master if they did not make any effort. But neither could anyone be a Sword Master just through effort alone. ording to Valencia¡¯s exnation, Sword Masters were the only ones qualified to see the sword horizon. Most people did not even know that the sword horizon existed, and even if they knew it, it was impossible to even see it. The Grand Sword Masters were those who advanced towards the horizon. So age did not matter. Valencia had said that what mattered were not one¡¯s experience and skill, but the presence or absence of enlightenment. [That¡¯s why my sessor is a cheat.] How were you able to see the horizon without achieving enlightenment? In fact, the current Jude was not a proper Sword Master. His basic specs were so strong that even a Sword Master couldn¡¯t defeat him, and he had achieved that without even gaining enlightenment in the sword. But now, he had truly be a Sword Master. He naturally climbed to the top like a serpent who climbed over a wall, and he was now advancing towards the horizon. How was that possible? Was it because of his Cheonmujiche? Or was it because of something else? ¡®Elune Ivrea.¡¯ Jude focused on the person in front of him. A barefoot woman looking at them with drowsy eyes, as if she was half asleep while sitting down. In Legend of Heroes 2, she appeared together with Elio. As an ally who helped in the battle against the cmity that befell the Shadow Forest. ¡®In the game, she was killed by Duke in the end.¡¯ A high-ranking demonic human of the Devil¡¯s Hand. Even if one excluded Landius, he was someone among the demonic humans who killed the most named characters in Legend of Heroes 2. ¡®But why is she looking at me like that?¡¯ The game¡¯s Elune was a woman who had no interest in anything except for swordsmanship. She found it bothersome to interact with others. She was so uninterested in other people that she couldn¡¯t even memorize people¡¯s names properly. But the way she looked at them was strange. Because her half-closed and drowsy eyes could not hide the curiosity inside. ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to introduce yourselves? Like, I¡¯m Elune.¡± Elune said as she lied down on the ground as if she became toozy to squat. Her crouched and swaying position seemed to be very natural. ¡°I am Count Jude August Bayer from the S?len Kingdom. This is my fianc¨¦e, Countess Cordelia August Chase¡­¡± ¡°Scarlet Viper, descendant of the Rogue Master.¡± Scarlet introduced herself after Jude, and Elune smiled faintly and muttered. ¡°Jude. Jude. Jude. Jude. Jude. Jude August Bayer. I memorized it. Who are the other ones? Cadellia? Vaikal? Well, it doesn¡¯t matter if I don¡¯t know.¡± Scarlet frowned at her rude words, but Cordelia scowled because of something else. She already knew that Elune was originally such an elf, so she did not really care if her name was not properly memorized. But why? Why are you so obsessed with Jude¡¯s name? Why? Why are you trying to memorize it? ¡®Come to think of it, even a Sword Master can be an erofu.¡¯ It was like she had everything that was really bad (?). Cordelia red, but Elune continued with her words, looking only at Jude as though she was not interested at the others. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you the important thing before I forget. Old man Vincenzo is very angry. Elio will probably¡­ not see the sunlight for at least a hundred years.¡± She spoke in a light tone, but what she said was heavy. ¡®As expected, not all the elves joined their side.¡¯ Vincenzo Lombardi was on the emperor¡¯s side. There was also the possibility that this was bait and Elune would attack them once they let their guard down and entered the Orange Gate. But Jude did not think so. Because it was none other than Elune. It was absolutely impossible for her to do something troublesome that required a high level of acting skills. ¡®If that had been the case, someone other than Elune would have been here in the first ce.¡¯ As Jude thought so, Elune opened and closed her mouth a few times before she spread her palms out and began to read something. It seemed to be a cheat sheet. ¡°Oh yeah. Old man Vincenzo ising to the Orange Gate. He wants you to tell him where the emperor is so that he can wait on the emperor. Please let us know and we¡¯ll bring him over. The Privy Council also specifically sent the Shadow Knights. I¡¯ll make sure that no one will be rude in escorting the emperor. I don¡¯t know if all your doubts have been cleared up, but I hope that you will trust us. Phew, I¡¯m done.¡± Elune smiled brightly after reading, so even the ring Cordelia and Scarlet couldn¡¯t help but loosen their expressions. Because it was such a pure and bright smile. ¡°We understand. We will trust the elves.¡± When Jude responded immediately, Elune smiled once more and slowly sat up. ¡°Since what old man Vincenzo ordered me to do is finished, it¡¯s my turn now.¡± Elune was already standing by the time she finished speaking. Everything looked so natural that it did not seem like she was moving despite them seeing her standing up. She was like the blowing wind and the flowing water. ¡°I¡¯ve heard of what happened.¡± Elune¡¯s outfit was very revealing. Her arms were bare, revealing her white shoulders, and her skirt was so short that her thighs were all exposed. But they didn¡¯t think it was immodest at all. She was just like a part of nature in her white dress. ¡°They said that you defeated Elio? That youpletely beat him up.¡± It came from the reports of eyewitnesses, and they weren¡¯t wrong. In front of the Wind and Lightning Flurry Strikes that contained the sword¡¯s inner essence, Elio was one-sidedly cornered and lost. ¡°So I want to fight you too. Don¡¯t you want to fight me too?¡± In Elune¡¯s green eyes, a faint but unquenchable me of desire burned. This was actually unusual. Because Elune even found fighting against others as bothersome. ¡°What do you think? Won¡¯t you fight me?¡± Elune pestered like a child and took a step. And at that moment, Jude extended his palm forward and stopped Elune. ¡°I have conditions.¡± Everyone paid attention at Jude¡¯s words. An offer and not a refusal. An asking of conditions. Cordelia¡¯s eyes narrowed a bit while Scarlet looked back at the elves who had now filled the top of the wall. And Elune asked. ¡°What is it? What do you want?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a hard condition. Just think of it as a cost for a match. Elune-nim must grant one of my wishes.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia¡¯s eyes narrowed even more, and Scarlet turned to Elune with an expression that seemed to say ¡®No way?¡¯. You wouldn¡¯t ept those terms for a fight, would you? ¡°Okay, let¡¯s do that. So what else do you want?¡± But it was Elune as expected. She gave an immediate answer and did not even think much about it. Therefore, Jude continued speaking with a very friendly yet gentle smile. ¡°Well, there are more conditions. There are always wins and losses in matches. So if I win, you have to grant me one more wish, and if I lose, you have to grant me one more wish.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± It was Scarlet who spoke without realizing it. No, wait. The conditions are the same whether you win or lose? Isn¡¯t this aplete scam? But this time, Elune nodded her head. ¡°Okay, I ept.¡± ¡°Then please sign here.¡± Having said that, Jude approached Elune and took out a contract that he seemed to have prepared beforehand. He also had a red inkpad ready for fingerprint stamping. He had already expected Elune to appear if the elves were not their enemies. ¡°Can you please stamp here?¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll stamp there.¡± As Elune stamped her fingerprint without any hesitation again, Scarlet unconsciously swallowed her groan. ¡®Hey, isn¡¯t the space on the condition field nk?¡¯ Are you saying that you can write anything thereter? This is almost like a fraudulent contract ¨C no, it IS a fraudulent contract. ¡°Thank you.¡± Jude said with an evil smile and rolled the contract paper before walking to Cordelia. ¡°Here.¡± ¡°Uuuuuugh.¡± Cordelia had a rather disagreeing expression, but after epting the contract, she asked in a low voice. ¡°Are you sure about this?¡± After all, Elune was a Grand Sword Master. At Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude smiled and said. ¡°Are you worried?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m not.¡± Jude smiled again at her blunt answer. Scarlet next to them was troubled, but he did not care as he lightly pinched Cordelia¡¯s cheek before turning around. ¡®Grand Sword Master.¡¯ A person who had reached the same level as First Sword whom he must face someday. She was definitely strong. But he never thought that he could not win. Jude also wanted to fight Elune. Because there were things he wanted to experiment with. He gained new abilities when he opened the seventh door. He obtained the ability to see through things when he opened the fifth door, and a mental defense ability on the sixth door. The seventh door was the same. It gave Jude another ability. And one more thing. Another progress he made when he opened the seventh door and met the female sage again. ¡°Shall we do it now?¡± Elune held a sword in her hand. It was a long and thin sword that appeared to easily break, but the light that only a Grand Sword Master could create turned it into a strong and mighty sword. Jude nodded his head. He stretched out his arms and opened the seventh door at the same time. The sudden opening of his energy shook the entire Orange Gate, so Elune knew then. She perceived it and rushed as anguid yet delighted expression filled her face. He¡¯s strong. So I won¡¯t hold back. I¡¯ll do my best from the start. [My sessor is such a scammer.] Jude smiled at Valencia¡¯s words and began. Thunderbolt Twelve Steps. The third step. ck Lightning Covers the Sky. When ck lightning covered the world. Jude disappeared from Elune¡¯s sight. Chapter 309: Grand Sword Master (2)

Chapter 309: Grand Sword Master (2)

CORRECTIONS Exnation: SORRY! This was a trantion mistake of mine. The problem started because ¡®faith¡¯ and ¡®thunderbolt¡¯ used the same Korean words, but their Chinese characters werepletely different. Back when Twelve Faith Steps was first introduced, the author himself did not use any Chinese words in the raws, so I assumed it was ¡®Faith¡¯. But when Jude used it in his first fight against First Sword, the author used the Chinese characters for ¡®Thunderbolt¡¯, so I assumed that it was a different technique. It was only when I was tranting this episode did I finallye to a realization that these two were actually the same. So everyone, I¡¯M SORRY! Really, really sorry. I¡¯ve corrected all the chapters that called it ¡®Twelve Faith Steps.¡¯ In Legend of Heroes 2, the best footwork technique used by Jude was the Twelve Thunderbolt Steps. A fast thunderbolt. But in fact, Twelve Thunderbolt Steps was not just a footwork technique. Because aside from being a footwork technique, it also had a cultivation technique and its fundamental principles in it. It was not originally like that. The Thirty-Six World Steps that was the beginning of everything was close to a pure footwork technique. As it progressed to the Twenty-Four Gale Steps, the fundamental principles of cultivation techniques were added to it. The ck gale became a golden whirlwind and eventually led to the ck Wind¡¯s Advent. It was their main means of transportation in the wildnds. And again, the Twenty-Four Gale Steps became the Twelve Thunderbolt Steps. The first step of the Twelve Thunderbolt Steps was Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt, a footwork technique that gave its user the ability to elerate in an instant. The second step, Thunder God Invokes Lightning, was a technique that made the Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt faster, and it was also a cultivation technique that allowed him to handle the power of lightning. And the third and final step was the ck Lightning Covers the Sky. ck lightning covered the area. Jude disappeared with the lightning, and reappeared with the lightning. An instantaneous eleration ability that transcended Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt and Thunder God Invokes Lightning. No, it was not just that. The current Jude actually leapt through space. Comparing it to magic, it was like a spell and not a spell. Baaaang! Lightning struck. Jude¡¯s sword-like hand appeared behind Elune and flew like a sh of light, and Elune quickly twisted her body and let Jude¡¯s sword-like hand flow along her sword. It was a surprisingly smooth response despite the sudden attack from behind. But the lightning was not over. ck lightning covered everywhere, and Jude appeared from everywhere as heunched an onught of attacks towards Elune. Bang! Bang! Bang! His attacks were unbelievably fast. Moreover, it was not just about being fast. Because he leapt through space like the spell, the range of his retreat path became much wider. He began to use paths that easily let him advance and retreat, something that Jude couldn¡¯t do when using Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt or Thunder God Invokes Lightning, and his attacks appeared to be extraordinary from the perspective of an ordinary swordsman. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Scarlet was in a daze at the continuous sounds. She was not directly fighting and was only watching from a third person¡¯s perspective, but she could not grasp all of Jude¡¯s movements. Nevertheless, Scarlet could grasp some of it because she was immensely talented too. The elven knights watching from the top of the wall could not even properly see Jude¡¯s movements. ck lightning covered the sky. It fell and suppressed the enemy. Elune also could not fully read Jude¡¯s movements. But she was a Grand Sword Master. At the same time, she was like the embodiment of a sword who was born and lived in the way of the sword. If she could not see it, then feel it. She utilized all her five senses in response to Jude¡¯s movements. Elune did not understand his attacks. She did not think with her head and only responded with her amazing intuition. Just like Cordelia. Her sword and his sword-like hand interlocked. She moved with her entire body in the midst of Jude¡¯s onught. Elune did not use force to resist Jude¡¯s attacks that were like raging waves. She received Jude¡¯s attacks with the lightness of a feather flying through the sky and wind. Her dance-like movements looked dangerous yet rxed. While watching, Cordelia realized one thing. Elune¡¯s movements resembled those of Jude¡¯s. It seemedpletely different at first nce, but it was not. There were clearmonalities between the two. One origin. Jude realized it too. Valencia whispered in a joyful voice. [This is my swordsmanship.] The swordsmanship used by Elf Sword Valencia until she got Sword Origin. How did that happen? Valencia replied with a smile at Jude¡¯s question. [My sessor, I had a lot of disciples.] Because she was the best swordmaster on the continent. She did not have many disciples whom she taught and raised like Jude, but she had more than a hundred disciples whom she taught a part of her swordsmanship. Therefore, it was not so strange that Elune, who inherited the blood of high elves, knew how to use the swordsmanship of Valencia. [But it is surprising. It seems like she filled the missing parts with her own style and the changes are very interesting.] Valencia praised Elune¡¯s swordsmanship. So did Jude. Whenever he exchanged attacks with Elune, he felt wonder. You could use the sword like that. That kind of attack was also possible. So this is what it meant by offense and defense bing one. A smile spread across Jude¡¯s face. And it was the same with Elune. The two understood each other in their fierce and high-speed battle that was hard to even follow with the naked eye. Only the two recognized it in the short moment that seemed to have vited the flow of time. They had the same roots. So they resembled each other. Elune read the traces of Valencia from Jude¡¯s sword, and Jude could glimpse the path he had to take from Elune¡¯s sword. Elune had a wide smile. Her entire body seemed like it was screaming to catch up with the intense speed of ck Lightning Covers the Sky, but she kept smiling. She wanted to see it a bit more. She wanted to do it a bit more. And so did Jude. Each time he crossed swords with Elune, Jude¡¯s swordsmanship improved. Jude did not act like himself as he understood and epted it intuitively instead of analyzing and calcting it. Elune staggered. Jude could no longer use ck Lightning Covers the Sky. But the two did not stop. Elune filled in the gaps of her sword. Jude clearly knew which way he had to go. Her sword and his sword-like hand crossed. Their high-speed battle had stopped. His ck lightning and her splendid swordsmanship no longer collided. Their swords interlocked, separated, and crossed again. Elune eventually burst into tears. She was so happy yet in despair that her present happiness would end soon. Jude exhaled. He stopped and in respect to Elune, he showed off the best swordsmanship he could use right now. Wind and Lightning Flurry Strikes. Elune responded to the ravaging wind and lightning sword attacks. Likewise, she responded as best as she could. Flowers bloomed. Evening primroses fully bloomed. Light shattered and scattered beautifully. Thirteen exchanges followed. Jude and Elune both stopped. The staggering Elune copsed due to her weakened legs, and Jude profusely sweated and roughly breathed. He was somehow standing, but his limbs were numb and trembling, so he felt like he was going to copse at any moment. It came to an end. On the surface, it seemed like Elune was defeated, but she was not. Neither did it mean that Jude lost. ¡®As expected of a Sword Saint.¡¯ Grand Sword Master. His swordsmanship advanced in the process of opening the seventh door, but he still had a long way to go. He knew it because he witnessed her swordsmanship that was much closer to the horizon than Jude himself. Elune trembled. She hugged her own shoulders and smiled again. Jude¡¯s swordsmanship. A dazzlingly beautiful ck lightning. Elune thought. If Jude used a swordsmanship simr to herself. If he went further and reached the horizon. It gave her the creeps. So she smiled even more. She wanted to see it. She wanted to cross swords with such a Jude. ¡°I love it.¡± Elune cried andughed, and Jude eventually turned around and sat down. It wasn¡¯t as much as Elune, but he alsoughed. ¡°You, you use Master Valencia¡¯s sword.¡± Elune said. Jude nodded his head, not denying it. ¡°Yes, my sword contains Valencia-nim¡¯s sword.¡± Because both the Supreme Sun Divine Art and Twelve Thunderbolt Steps were reborn by Valencia. Eluneughed like a child again. She raised her fingers as she fumbled her memory before looking at Jude and saying. ¡°Sword Origin. Am I right? Ultimate Sword. The one used by Valencia.¡± ¡°Yes, that is right.¡± Jude nodded again, and Elune¡¯s eyes were filled with envy and joy. Pressing her hands on her reddened cheeks, she soon spoke with sparkling eyes again. ¡°Thank you, it was so good. You were very good too. I like you. I want to marry you. Let¡¯s get married. Old man Vincenzo will definitely allow it.¡± Jude had a bitter smile at her words that came pouring out in an instant. Without any hesitation, he replied to her sudden proposal. ¡°Thank you for your offer. But I¡¯m sorry since I already have a partner.¡± Elune¡¯s eyes turned. She looked at the standing Cordelia and pouted her lips, saying. ¡°I envy you.¡± Jude bitterlyughed this time. He knew too well that she only saw Jude as a swordsman to train with rather than a man, so he stretched out his hand to her as a swordsman. ¡°Next time, let¡¯s cross swords again.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll study everything that I¡¯ve learned today.¡± Elune brightly smiled and Jude smiled too. As for everyone who was watching them. The elven knights on the wall were so stunned that none of them could open their mouths, and so was Scarlet. ¡®What the hell did you do?¡¯ Jude was clearly strong when we were in the south. But it was never to this extent. I haven¡¯t seen Jude for only a few months. Is it possible to be this strong in that short span of time? ¡®It¡¯s possible.¡¯ Scarlet answered her own question. It was so ridiculous, but she thought that it was actually possible. Scarlet had not yet reached Jude¡¯s level. But with her brilliant talent, she could tell. Jude¡¯s sword had advanced. He reached a higher level in his one match with Elune. ¡®F*ck.¡¯ She swore without realizing it. It was so natural. Scarlet herself was a genius, so she was confident in her talent. He was beyond a genius. No, perhaps a true genius was someone like him. Scarlet had mixed feelings. And whether or not Cordelia knew how Scarlet was feeling, she suddenly patted Scarlet¡¯s shoulder. ¡®Why? She asked with her eyes instead of raising her voice, and Cordelia shrugged once and said with a giggle. ¡°He¡¯s my Jude.¡± My kind, nice, and handsome scammer. Isn¡¯t he cool? Don¡¯t you think he¡¯s awesome? Right? Cordelia yearning for an answer was very cute and adorable, but Scarlet turned her head instead of giving the answer Cordelia wanted. ¡°F*ck.¡± She sincerely eximed. *** The Orange Gate was wide open. Following Elune who seriously staggered, the party entered the gate, and the elven knights who had already been lined up were sending heated gazes towards the party, or to be more specific, towards Jude. It was pure respect. The elves of the empire were arrogant. There were many cases where they looked down on humans who lived a very short timepared to themselves. But they could not do it this time. The fight between Jude and Elune made even those arrogant elven knights exim in pure admiration. ¡°Ahem, ahem, my goodness.¡± Cordelia puffed her chest and mumbled, and Scarlet let out a sigh with multiple meanings. And Elune turned around, saying. ¡°Elio will be put in jail. It¡¯ste at night, but please tell me where His Imperial Majesty the Emperor is. The Shadow Knights will pick him up.¡± Elune was so pure and innocent that she appeared to be a fool, but she was not stupid. Her clumsy-sounding words and actions actually stemmed from her indifference and annoyance towards others. She epted Jude¡¯s ridiculous conditions because of her desire to fight against Jude as soon as possible, but it also came from her confidence that she could do just about anything. She was one of the 13 Lords of the Privy Council, and the strongest elven swordsman. The name of a Grand Sword Master was never to be taken lightly. ¡°I understand. We will do that.¡± At Elune¡¯s words, Jude nodded his head. Even at this moment, the Chancellor must be carrying out a n to take over the entire empire, so they had to arrive with the emperor as soon as possible to the northern part of the empire where the Buckingham March was, the hometown of the empress dowager. ¡°Where is His Imperial Majesty the Emperor?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a bit difficult to exin, so I will guide you.¡± ¡°Are you fine already?¡± Elune asked with a worried expression at Jude¡¯s words. But Jude patted his chest as if nothing was wrong, saying. ¡°I¡¯m confident in my physical strength.¡± It was not only because of ck Lightning Covers the Sky that he was able to be equal to Elune in the first ce. His immense physical strength, which was no exaggeration to say that it was infinite, was the reason. Besides, it was not just his physical strength. Jude¡¯s regenerative abilities were also exceptional. It had only been around ten minutes since their match ended, but Jude had already recovered a significant amount of his physical strength. ¡°All right. Please guide them then.¡± As Elune said that, the Shadow Knights dressed in ck armor and cloaks approached Jude. There were seven in total, and each of them seemed to be strong enough to rival Leon. ¡°Cordelia, I¡¯ll be going.¡± ¡°Yes, be careful at night.¡± Jude trusted Elune, so Cordelia also trusted Elune even though she was a swordmaster. [Well, prejudice is not good.] Melissa¡¯s meaningless words rang out, and Cordelia lightly kissed him on the lips before saying goodbye. She took a step back and Jude turned around with some regret. ¡°This way please.¡± Jude and the Shadow Knights left the Orange Gate. And an hourter, when Jude and the emperor¡¯s group met. The number one person in the Privy Council that led the elves of the empire arrived. Vincenzo Lombardi arrived at the Orange Gate. Chapter 310: Breeze (1)

Chapter 310: Breeze (1)

The night sky was vanishing. The twinkling stars faded and the white moon was swallowed up by the darkness, eventually disappearing into a faint and weak light. The sun rose in the distance. It soon began to fill the whole world with its own light as it lit up the vanishing night sky with scarlet light. Darkness came again. The burning sun was forcibly swallowed, and the stars that flickered at the base of the sun gradually lost its light. The witch of the west forest saw it. She sat and nkly looked up the sky before looking in front again. She was at the center of the world. She, who was only a soul, read the records of the world there and finally realized the truth. And that was why she was hesitant to leave the center of the world. The moment she went out, she had to share her knowledge with Asmodeus, the overlord of lust. ¡°I can¡¯t do that.¡± The truth she saw was too dangerous. It waspletely different from what the witch herself expected. If this fact is known¡­ The witch of west forest raised her head. The moon that was spitted out by the darkness guided with its faint glow the stars that had lost their way. ¡°It will only be a matter of time in the end.¡± The witch of the west forest spoke respectfully. She said that even though she knew that the other party could not hear her, and even if they did, they would not understand. In a matter of time. The truth would eventually be known. But it had to be dyed as much as possible. ¡°In the end, I have no choice but to hold my breath and wait.¡± I didn¡¯te here for this. I¡¯d rather help those kids outside than do this. Darkness began to threaten the white moon again. The witch of the west forest lied down and then curled up her body as she looked away from the night sky. She closed her eyes and forced herself to sleep. She wanted to wake up right before the truth was revealed. Or right after the truth was known. The witch of the west forest prayed. May that time be dyed as much as possible. She hoped that it would not happen at all. But she already knew. That day was not far away. Even at this very moment, it was slowly approaching. The witch of the west forest shut her eyes. She remembered the faces of two people, Jude and Cordelia. *** When Jude left, the elves of the Orange Gate led Cordelia and Scarlet to a small but cozy guest room. ¡°We¡¯ll let you know when your party arrives.¡± The elves were more polite to them, whether it was because they had already been acknowledged as guests, or because of Jude¡¯s power they had witnessed. Cordelia nodded in satisfaction and leaned against a long sofa. Scarlet sat next to her. And a few minutester. Having been nkly staring at the pattern on the wallpaper, Cordelia suddenly turned to her side. She saw Scarlet sitting with her back straight. Her eyes were closed, but it seemed like she was not asleep as her fingers asionally shook on herp. ¡®Is she reviewing it?¡¯ The battle between Jude and Elune. In fact, Scarlet was like a yable character in terms of talent. After all, she was one of the future Four Great Swordmen. Perhaps she gained something from the match of the two. ¡®A genius is a genius.¡¯ I¡¯m bored, but I¡¯ll talk to herter. Having made such a decision, Cordelia sat morefortably on the sofa and closed her eyes. She did not review the match like Scarlet, but she was tired so she thought about sleeping for a moment. And a few more minutes. No, perhaps it was a few dozens of minutes. Cordelia who had dozed off opened her eyes with a nk expression on her face. Her sleepy eyes saw Scarlet looking at her. ¡°If you want to sleep, lie down over there. I¡¯ll wipe your drool.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± She said absentmindedly, and Scarlet sighed before wiping Cordelia¡¯s mouth with a handkerchief. ¡°Lie down and sleep.¡± ¡°Lie down. Yes, lie down.¡± Cordelia lied down on the sofa she was sitting on with her feet up, and Scarlet frowned but decided to give up. Because whether she lied down here or on the other sofa did not matter. Scarlet stood up and thought it would be better for her to just sit on the other sofa. ¡°By the way.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± Cordelia was about to fall asleep again, but she blinked and asked back. Scarlet sat down on the other sofa and propped her chin with her hand. She said as she looked elsewhere for some reason. ¡°Are they okay?¡± ¡°Who? Jude? If it¡¯s him, he will be fine. You¡¯ve seen how strong he was, right?¡± ¡°No, not ck Cloak.¡± ¡°Then who?¡± ¡°Lord Lucas. He¡¯s still in a dangerous situation.¡± Jude and Cordelia had said not to worry, so she stopped worrying, but when she sat alone in a quiet ce, she became worried. ¡®There are elven knights. And it seems like there were also high-ranking demonic humans.¡¯ Thest time Scarlet saw Lucas was in the royal capital almost half a year ago. Lucas at that time was a prospect, but one could say that he was still weak. He was definitely strongpared to his peers, but he was weaker than Scarlet and even weaker than the elite elven knights guarding the Red Gate. ¡®Of course, I¡¯ve heard that he¡¯s gotten stronger, but¡­¡¯ When she remembered Lucas¡¯ innocent smile which somehow reminded her of a big dog, she became worried as if she saw a baby by the riverside. ¡°Kajsa is there.¡± ¡°I know that, so he¡¯ll be fine. Because he¡¯s strong.¡± Scarlet roughly spoke, and Cordelia smirked. ¡°Oh my, you¡¯re worried about Lucas, huh?¡± ¡°Not a lot, but a bit.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, I know. I understand everything.¡± Cordelia nodded with a happy expression and soon began tough, and Scarlet pouted in embarrassment. ¡®Strange.¡¯ Scarlet clearly did not have a bad impression of him when she met him in the royal capital, but she was not that close to him either. Why am I suddenly concerned? ¡®No, it¡¯s not sudden.¡¯ Even after I¡¯ve returned to the empire, I remember his face from time to time. How is he? Is he doing well? What is he doing now? Lucas¡¯ face then came to her mind. A Lucas staring at her as he blushed and heavily breathed. A Lucas whispering something to her as he had a sly smile that was uncharacteristic of him. ¡®Huh?¡¯ Wait. What? Have I ever seen his face like that? Or rather, in the first ce, we¡¯ve never been in a situation where¡­ he was blushing and heavily breathing, right? But her doubts were short-lived. It disappeared from her mind at some point like melting snow. All that was left was her vague feelings for Lucas. Love, hatred,passion, and longing. But these quickly disappeared too. She heard Cordelia¡¯s voice. ¡°He¡¯ll be fine. As I¡¯ve said before, Lucas has be very strong too. And he¡¯s gotten a lot cooler. He¡¯s the next coolest after Jude though.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the bestpliment by your standards, huh?¡± Scarlet said a bit sarcastically, but Cordelia did not mind it as she grinned and continued. ¡°But he¡¯s really cool. Should I say that he¡¯s be more manly? He seems like an adult now.¡± He was still obviously like a kid when Biltwein the Hero was involved, so one could call him a ¡®kidult.¡¯ In any case, Cordelia began to sing praises about Lucas, and Scarlet pretended to not be interested, though her ears were clearly perked up. ¡°Anyway, just look forward to it. You¡¯ll be surprised when you meet him.¡± ¡°Ahem.¡± Scarlet still pretended to be indifferent and not show any reaction, but Cordelia did not miss seeing Scarlet¡¯s pink earlobes and faint smile. ¡®How fun.¡¯ When she imagined Lucas and Scarlet being shy and not knowing what to do together, it brought a smile on her face. Lucas and Scarlet. A big dog from the kingdom and a cat from the empire. And one ck panther stuck in between them. ¡®Hmm¡­¡¯ Come to think of it, what about Kajsa? Lucas and Kajsa. Lucas and Scarlet. Kajsa and Scarlet became close friends in the south. I can imagine an awkward situation in the future. But it will be fun at the same time. ¡®Well¡­ I have to stay neutral.¡¯ Let¡¯s have some popcorn and watch in the back. Let¡¯s not interfere. Having made up her mind, Cordelia closed her eyes and lightly tapped her chest that had began to pound for some reason. She recalled Jude¡¯s face again. *** It was around midnight when Jude returned to the Orange Gate with the emperor¡¯s group. Although it was veryte, the Orange Gate was brightly lit as though it was broad daylight. ¡°Greetings to Your Imperial Majesty.¡± The one who led all the elves of the empire. When Vincenzo Lombardi politely bowed, the young emperor and the empress dowager standing next to him smiled even though they were both tired. The attack at the Red Gate made them suspicious of elves, but because it was none other than Vincenzo Lombardi who kneeled and bowed to show them respect, their worries were relieved. I have to trust him. No, I want to trust him. Vincenzo knew the feelings of the two quite well. The emperor was too young and na?ve to hide his true feelings, and the empress dowager was quite clever, but in his perspective, she was only like a newborn who had lived for more than 30 years. He clearly had no intentions of stabbing the emperor and the empress dowager in the back. The power of the elves was great, but it was not enough to overthrow the empire, and even if it were possible, it was impossible to rule the empire from the front. So they had to maintain the present. To exist as part of the empire. He did not need the seat of an emperor. What mattered was the prosperity and development of the elves, and the empire was needed in order to achieve that. ¡°We have prepared a ce for you to rest. Pleasee this way.¡± As Vincenzo began to guide them personally, smiles appeared on the faces of the emperor and the empress dowager once more. For the two of them who had lived in the cozy and safe imperial pce, the journey of the past few days was stimting, though it had been too stimting. [Everything¡¯s okay, now, right?] [Maybe.] Cordelia asked with magic, and Jude immediately replied even though his gaze was still on Vincenzo. ¡®He rarely appeared in the game¡¯s storyline but¡­ we can trust him.¡¯ In Legend of Heroes 2, Vincenzo was close to a character in the background setting. However, he was also known for many things as he was a person with such a great presence. Hostility and anger towards the demon followers. Emotions that could only be described as hatred. Vincenzo was an old man. His tall and thin appearance was like an old tree on the verge of death. His old man appearance was even more impressive among the elves who spent almost their entire lives looking young. ¡®It will be fine.¡¯ After he stopped his needless worries, Jude turned to Cordelia to find his peace of mind. But Cordelia was looking somewhere else than Vincenzo. At Lucas, Kajsa, and Scarlet who were standing some distance from them. It seemed like a story was being created just from the three standing together. Scarlet smiled at Lucas who smiled back warmly like a big dog. And Kajsa saw the two. The moment Kajsa and Scarlet¡¯s eyes met, they felt something. [Jude, I need popcorn.] It was Cordelia¡¯s request, but Jude quickly refused. Because while Jude himself was not very interested in the rtionship of the three, there was something more important than the three. [Let¡¯s go to Elune.] Cordelia reflexively pouted at Jude¡¯s words. Rather than hating Elune, it was because she wanted to watch the drama of Lucas, Kajsa, and Scarlet. [Do we have to go now?] [Because we don¡¯t have much time.] The emperor was still on the run now. No matter how much Vincenzo weed the emperor and promised him their support, this was thend of the elves. In order for the emperor to properly fight the Chancellor, he had to go to thend of Marquis Buckingham that was located in the northern part of the empire. [Uuuh¡­ it can¡¯t be helped.] The convinced Cordelia nodded, and Jude smiled as he pinched her cheek. [What is it? Why?] [It¡¯s just because you¡¯re cute. Ayeee, my beast.] Jude pulled her cheek as he sent that message, and Cordelia pinched Jude¡¯s cheek instead of removing his hand. [Ayeee, my scammer.] [Beast.] [Scammer.] [Rabbit.] [Wolf.] [My sessor, that¡¯s enough, okay?] Thest one was Valencia, and Melissa who was watching them as she clicked her tongue also agreed. Therefore, Jude and Cordelia smiled and held each other¡¯s hands instead of their cheeks. And another ten minutester. Elune was squatting on the ground because she had nothing to do while Vincenzo and the emperor were conversing. She then looked up and saw Jude and Cordelia. ¡°What¡¯s the matter? You want to fight again? I¡¯m all for it.¡± Elune spoke in an expectant voice, but Jude shook his head. ¡°I also enjoy fighting with Elune-nim¡­ but I came here for another reason.¡± Elune¡¯s expression turned sullen at Jude¡¯s answer, but she still asked him again. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the wish.¡± The conditions in their match. Because even an unfair contract was still a contract. Elune blinked at his words and said with a smile again. ¡°Hmm, okay. Because promises are precious. What do you want me to do?¡± Jude and Cordelia looked at each other at her innocent question, and then they both squatted on the ground to be on the same eye level as Elune. ¡°We want you to introduce us to your friends.¡± ¡°Friends?¡± ¡°Yes, Elune-nim¡¯s friends.¡± As Cordelia said with a grin, Elune frowned and looked troubled as she said in a murmur. ¡°I don¡¯t have friends.¡± ¡°You have friends. Right now, you and I are also Elune-nim¡¯s friends.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s words, Elune blinked and tilted her head. ¡°Jude is a friend. But Cadellia is a friend too?¡± ¡°¡­It¡¯s Cordelia. And if you¡¯re Jude¡¯s friend, I¡¯m also your friend.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± ¡°Yes, it is.¡± The conversation skills she had developed while dealing with the fairies were not useless. Cordelia skillfully continued the conversation with Elune. ¡°I know about Elune-nim¡¯s little friends. Actually, Jude and I have a lot of little friends.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s words, Elune held her breath and turned to Jude as she said. ¡°You¡¯re friends with them too?¡± ¡°Yes, we have a lot of friends. Here¡¯s our proof.¡± Jude said and showed him the Fairy¡¯s Bonds he was wearing, and Elune¡¯s eyes widened. Elune¡¯s little friends. The reason why he dared to ask for a wish as a condition. ¡°We want to meet the Breeze Fairies.¡± Silver fairies who symbolized the wind attribute, which they needed toplete the Fairy King¡¯s Protection. And the ancient treasure they were guarding. After pondering for a moment at Jude and Cordelia¡¯s request, Elune nodded. ¡°Okay. I will guide you.¡± Elune got up from her seat and turned around as she began to take the lead. A Lucas staring at her as he blushed and heavily breathed. Ahem, ahem. Scarlet, can you describe this in more detail? ( ?¡ã ?? ?¡ã) Chapter 311: Breeze (2)

Chapter 311: Breeze (2)

¡°Here it is.¡± Elune stopped in front of a pond deep inside the Orange Gate. The white moon was reflected on the water surface, and a few fairies were already turning the leaves into boats. ¡°It¡¯s Elune.¡± ¡°Elune.¡± ¡°Hello, Elune.¡± ¡°Elune, hello.¡± The breeze fairies waved their hands upon seeing her, and their bright faces appeared to be more innocent and purer than the other fairies. ¡°Yes, hello.¡± Perhaps all of them had simr personalities to Elune. Anyway, after Elune greeted them, she immediately pointed to Jude and Cordelia, saying. ¡°This are my friends, Jude and Cudellia.¡± ¡®Is this really on purpose?¡¯ Cordelia was a bit angry that Elune got her name wrong again, but she endured it once more. The face of Elune was too pure and innocent for it to be intentional. ¡®She was originally like that.¡¯ In Legend of Heroes 2, Elune hardly remembered the names of anyone, regardless of which yable character one used. ¡°Handsome.¡± ¡°Pretty.¡± ¡°I want to y with you.¡± As expected of the fairies. Cordelia smiled at their responses which she had expected, and pulled Jude¡¯s sleeve as she sent a magic. [Leave it to me from here. I¡¯ll show you my skills as an experienced assistant.] It had already been half a year since she met the fairies in the Forest of Eternity. But in that half a year, Cordelia¡¯s heart had turned darker, so her skills were far from rusting. Coaxing the fairies after a long time was not that hard for her. [Okay, I shall trust you then.] [Yes, you can trust me.] When Jude spoke as if he was in a y, Cordelia responded the same before she approached the fairies with a confident expression. ¡°Hi, everyone. My name is Cordelia.¡± ¡°Cudellia?¡± ¡°You idiot, it¡¯s Cardellia.¡± Cordelia nearly lost her smile at the words of the fairies, but she endured it. She had already experienced it several times. Cordelia continued with her best smile. ¡°I¡¯m here because of Elune-nim¡¯s introduction. I¡¯d like to y with the queen tonight, what do you think?¡± ¡°The queen?¡± ¡°ying at night is good.¡± ¡°I think we can take them.¡± Most of the fairies nodded without thinking, but some seemingly smart ones raised their hands. ¡°But how did you get here? This is a secret ce between Elune and us.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right.¡± ¡°Did Elune not keep it secret?¡± ¡°Did Elune break her promise?¡± Their faces were still pure and innocent, but it seemed to be colder. The fairies who were chatting with each other all turned towards Elune at once. ¡°Uh¡­ That is¡­¡± As Elune was at a loss on what to say, Cordelia spoke again. ¡°Elune-nim agreed to grant our wish, but our wish was to meet you. We really wanted to meet you, so we stubbornly asked her to do so. Will you please forgive me? Pretty please?¡± When Cordelia acted a bit cutely, the fairies nodded their heads. ¡°It can¡¯t be helped if it¡¯s a wish.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll forgive you.¡± ¡°You said it was your wish to meet us.¡± The fairies shrugged their shoulders and let it go, and Cordelia put her hand behind her back and made a V-sign. Cordelia had clearly mastered on how to handle the fairies. But it was then. ¡°Uh, but what should we do then?¡± Elune blinked and said as she turned to Jude. ¡°The winner of our match has yet to be decided.¡± She had forgotten about it since she had been too happy and delighted when their match ended, but now that she thought of it, she recalled that a winner had yet to be decided. ¡°Umm¡­ I think I lost.¡± From Jude¡¯s perspective, the situation was a plus for him whether he won or lose since he would get one wish either way. But Elune shook her head at his words. ¡°No, Jude did not lose.¡± ¡°Then¡­ it¡¯s my victory?¡± ¡°No, you didn¡¯t lose either.¡± Jude narrowed his brows at Elune¡¯s words. But what Elune said was not entirely wrong. In other words, their match had no proper conclusion. ¡°Let¡¯s make it a tie then.¡± In fact, winning or losing was not important to him. He had already mentioned that he would get a wish whether he won or not. But Elune seemed to have a different idea. ¡°If you win, you get one wish, and if you lose, you get one wish. So what happens if it¡¯s a tie?¡± They had clearly not decided on what would happen if it was a draw. Even the peerless Jude could not immediatelye up with an answer to Elune¡¯s question. But just like the saying ¡°the student surpasses the master,¡± Jude had a student who was now very ckhearted. ¡°If it¡¯s a tie, it means that it¡¯s both a win and a loss, so how about granting two wishes? One for winning and one for losing.¡± Valencia, Melissa, and even Jude were stunned by the astounding solution the smiling Cordelia presented, but Elune blinked again and nodded. ¡°Really?¡± Because a win and a loss were the same if it was a tie. ¡°She¡¯s right, she¡¯s right.¡± ¡°I think she¡¯s right.¡± ¡°She¡¯s smart.¡± Elune nodded more as the fairies agreed, and Jude furrowed his brows as he thought. ¡®Did she be so innocent because of the fairies in the first ce?¡¯ Now that I think of it, you could say that Elune is like arge fairy. ¡®The breeze fairies seem to be purer and more innocent than the other fairies though.¡¯ Anyway, it was a good thing for Jude. He saw Cordelia puffing up her chest while looking at him as if asking for apliment, so he pinched the cheek of his beloved apprentice and then said to Elune. ¡°Elune-nim, can we put off talking about the wish and talk to the fairies first?¡± ¡°Okay, that¡¯s fine with me.¡± Having said that, Elune went into the pond and stood among the fairies, and Jude and Cordelia looked at her. [Hmm¡­ that kid looks like a really big fairy.] Jude had a bitter smile at Valencia¡¯s words and then nced at Cordelia. ¡®Can I leave it to you?¡¯ ¡®Leave it to me.¡¯ Cordelia pounded on her chest and stepped forward. And twenty minutester. ¡°I-I¡¯ll give this to you.¡± ¡°Take this too.¡± ¡°How about this?¡± After receiving the Wind Protection from the Breeze Fairy Queen, Jude and Cordelia seeded in gaining various treasures the fairies were keeping. Most of the treasures were rare and old medicinal stuff, but they thought it would be good to use for raising Lucas and Kajsa¡¯s skills. ¡°Then, here¡¯s the Fairy Chocte.¡± When she generously unpacked the choctes they had brought since they left the kingdom, the fairies squealed in their delight. Because the breeze fairies were so pure and innocent, Cordelia was more generous than usual. ¡°Well, this is fine. This is a free service while we¡¯re at it.¡± Having obtained the EXP Share, a treasure from the magic kingdom of Magen that they were originally trying to get from the breeze fairies, Cordelia made a decision to offer the fairies something that they would love as much as chocte. She used to hate it so much that she had to force herself to do it, but she could do it casually now. [You¡¯ve be shameless.] [It must be because of a certain mister. How many times a day was I embarrassed because of you?] Jude and Cordelia exchanged magic while they acted on a makeshift stage. The love story between the fairy queen and the archmage. When the winter fairies first forced Cordelia to do it, she had a hard time as she was cringing and even acted monotonously then, but not now. Like a certain mister had said, she had be shameless and ck inside. That was not the only reason though. ¡°That¡¯s because¡­ I¡­ love you¡­¡± A line that marked the end of the love between the fairy queen and the archmage. She could not do this in front of the winter fairies. Because she could not even imagine doing a kiss scene at that time. Or rather, it was not only the kiss scene. Just the fact that Jude hugged her waist gave her goosebumps and made her hair turn grey back then. [You were creeped out then?] [Well¡­ Actually, I was a bit nervous at that time.] Cordelia cutely smiled and hugged the neck of Jude who drew his face closer to her. He naturally hugged her waist and kissed her lips. ¡°Whoa.¡± The faces of the fairies who were sitting in groups had all turned bright red. Elune who was watching with the Breeze Fairy Queen on her shoulder also swallowed hard. Silence dominated. That was why even the smallest sound could be heard loudly. They heard the sound of moving clothes. Jude¡¯s hand that was on Cordelia¡¯s slender waist slowly moved upwards as he embraced her. It was quite new to Cordelia, so she trembled for a moment. She soon feltfortable in Jude¡¯s arms and hugged him back too. Since it was a little different than usual, her heart began pounding even more. The fairies and Elune could not even breathe properly now. And at some point. Jude and Cordelia¡¯s lips moved apart. The long string of saliva that was in between their warm breaths was cut off. [Is this the end?] Jude flinched at her question, but it could not be helped. There were a lot of eyes watching them. Instead of answering, Jude had a regretful and disappointed look in his eyes, so Cordelia cutely smiled and then raised her feet as she bit Jude¡¯s neck. [I want to do more. I wish I could touch you a bit more.] Cordelia¡¯s fingertips lightly tapped Jude¡¯s firm chest. She sent Jude a seductive gaze that was more powerful than any other provocation she had ever made. Jude¡¯s face turned red. He was seriously embarrassed and at a loss. He could not even show the slightest bit of his usual sly smile. Jude stared at Cordelia. His hand reached out to her pink lips. But Cordelia gently pushed Jude¡¯s hand away and sent a message with a bewitching smile. [Sorry, time¡¯s up.] That¡¯s it for today¡¯s game. Cordelia lightly pushed Jude¡¯s chest and stepped back before turning around. Jude was troubled at her teasing, but in fact, Cordelia was also troubled with the situation. ¡®W-what have I done?¡¯ I want to touch him? Just thinking about it again makes me feel like my hair will turn grey. Why? Am I seriously crazy? Why did I say that? But it somehow felt natural. The smile, the words, and the emotions at that moment. As if this had already happened. ¡®Haa¡­ haa¡­ Anyway, let¡¯s calm down. Let¡¯s calm down.¡¯ Cordelia took deep breaths whilepletely covering her red face with both hands. Afterwards, she turned around with the best smile she had, but blushed once more at the sight of the still enchanted Jude who was looking at her with a bright red face. Her heart pounded at his expression that somehow seemed to be troubled for some reason. ¡®W-why do I feel good though?¡¯ Is it because it¡¯s none other than Jude who¡¯s doing that? Because Jude ispletely enchanted? Can this be considered myplete victory? ¡®Yes, yes, that¡¯s right. I won. It¡¯s my win. I won, right?¡¯ Cordelia managed to resolve the confusion in her mind by repeatedly saying the same words. She cleared her throat and looked back at the fairies who were captivated like Jude. ¡°And they lived happily ever after.¡± When she slightly lifted the hem of her skirt and gave a beautiful bow, the dazed fairies came to their senses one by one. Jude also bowed though it looked awkward. [Have youe to your senses now?] [Ahem, ahem, ahem.] Cordelia smiled again at Jude¡¯s coughing. It was indeed Cordelia¡¯splete victory today. But it was at that moment. Cordelia suddenly raised her head. Because her extremely sensitive senses caught something new. Something unfamiliar yet familiar. A power that she could feel because she had be a fifth rank angel from Sri¡¯s lineage. Cordelia instinctively understood it. The hidden power was revealed. The y had raised the mood of the entire fairies and shook the mana of the surrounding area, so the hidden power leaked out. The identity of that power. Cordelia knew what it was. ¡°Fairy Queen, I have a favor to ask of you.¡± ¡°Huh? Yes, okay. Anything. I will listen to anything.¡± The Breeze Fairy Queen sitting on Elune¡¯s shoulder warmly said with a flushed face. The other fairies also seemed to be willing to listen to anything. So Cordelia said without hesitation. ¡°First of all, there¡¯s something I want.¡± *** ¡°Today is myplete defeat.¡± At a small underground crypt hidden in the corner of the fairy realm. Cordelia puffed up her chest at Jude¡¯s words and smirked. ¡°I¡¯ll remember today¡¯s victory.¡± ¡°I will never forget it. Including what happened earlier.¡± ¡°Ugh.¡± As expected of Jude. Cordelia groaned for a moment at his sudden counterattack before looking at the object in front of her again. There was a b the size of an A4 paper before her. ¡°The third te of Sri.¡± If one collected all the tes in the graves of the Guardians, they would know the location of the tomb of Gallus, Sri¡¯s champion. Those who would find Gallus¡¯ Tomb would obtain thest treasure of the Sri denomination. ¡®There are four tes in total.¡¯ They had already discovered two in the S?len Kingdom, and thest one they knew was in the empire. ¡°Good, good. I like it.¡± Cordelia grinned and took the third te. Like before, the sarcophagus of Crusader Amelia, thest of Gallus¡¯ three disciples, contained several relics, and they were in a much better condition than the previous two, perhaps because it was in the fairy realm. ¡°Then we just need to find thest te, right?¡± ¡°Yes, there¡¯s only one left now.¡± Four tes. Gallus¡¯ Tomb would be opened once all were collected. Thest treasure of the Sri denomination would be hidden there. It was not the Sr de. It was not the divine sword ¨ªomh Sis. What was it then? What was thest treasure of the Sri denomination? Jude had a guess. Cordelia seemed to have a rough idea too. Therefore, the two had very deep smiles on their faces. ¡°We have to get it somehow.¡± ¡°Yes, somehow.¡± Perhaps thest treasure of the Sri denomination would be the most powerful means they would have in the fight against the demon followers. ¡°By the way, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes, Jude.¡± ¡°There¡¯s only the two of us here, right?¡± [No, I¡¯m here too, okay? The fairies are outside too!] Melissa¡¯s words were not heard. Because Cordelia had already muted her from her mind. ¡°Do you¡­ remember what you said earlier?¡± At Jude¡¯s question, Cordelia gasped and gulped, but she shyly nodded her head. She lightly bit her lips and sent a warm gaze. How many minutes would it take before Elune would ask them if they wereing out? Jude and Cordelia did not think of that for now. Jude¡¯s hand rested on Cordelia¡¯s waist. *** The voice from a higher ce looked down on earth. She praised Maximilian who had reached a higher level from fighting the Sword God, and personally awarded him with angel blood. The heavenly voice whispered to Princess Daphne. Archangel Raguel revealed her identity and exined that the S?len Kingdom must step forward for the empire and the empress dowager. And one more person. A person who had forgotten the world and was hiding in a remote ce. He took a step towards the chaotic empire. Chapter 312: Proclamation (1)

Chapter 312: Promation (1)

The sun goddess Sri. The youngest among the seven archangels, she was also a special being in Heaven. Altariel, the Archangel of Penitence, called her a perfect being. That was Altariel¡¯s natural evaluation because Sri¡¯s power wasparable to Auriel, the Archangel of Judgment, her beauty was on par with Eros, the Archangel of Love, and her personality was as friendly and kind as Raguel, the Archangel of Justice. Auriel, the eldest of the seven archangels, cherished and loved Sri very much. No, not only Auriel as all the angels in Heaven loved Sri. The Archangel of the Sun. A holy being who imparted a bright and warm light to everyone without discrimination. Therefore, it was inevitable that she showed interest in descending. The arrival of the overlords of Hell made the earth into a ce of death,mentation, and grief. Numerous countries copsed and countless people lost their lives. Sri could not bear to see this and chose to descend to the human world, rejecting the disapproval of the archangels including Auriel. Arriving in Pleiades with a group of angels, she wiped out the darkness on earth with the light of the sun. Many people saw the miracles of the archangel. Those who had been wandering around the world with only fear and despair and no ce to go then gathered at Sri¡¯s side. Sri cared for them with love and devotion, and lifted the darkness from their hearts with the light of the sun. People loved such a Sri. Many who were saved from despair began to follow Sri. But it was impossible for Sri alone topletely removed the darkness in the earth. That was why two archangels from Heaven chose to descend on earth to help Sri. The beings of the world regarded the angels from the high heavens as their gods, and Sri became the supreme being called the sun goddess. However, this did not change the nature of Sri. Rather than reigning as a god and controlling the world, she still stood at the lowest level and tried to take care of everyone in the world. But it made some beings angry. The overlords of Hell held hands for the first time to swallow the sun that had descended on earth, and Sri was eventually killed by the sword of Asmodeus, the overlord of lust. The sun fell on that day. However, Sri¡¯s will was not broken. With her remaining power, Sripleted the ritual she had been preparing for a long time, and as a result, Pleiades became an independent world that was not connected to Heaven or Hell. The demons of Hell could not appear in the human world unless they went through the Hell Gate or underwent the process of summoning, and the same was true of the angels in Heaven. The Sri denomination never forgot the sun goddess who devoted her everything even in thest moment. So they followed her will and continued to fight the remaining demons on earth. They prayed even though they knew that there was no longer a goddess to hear their prayers, and continued to love her and keep their faith. But there was a limit. Every time they fought against the demons, the Sri denomination wore out little by little, and met itsplete annihtion in the end. But people¡¯s faith in Sri did not disappear. The denomination had disappeared, but the legacy the denomination had left was still passed down. And one of those legacies. Thest and greatest legacy that the Sri denomination wanted to protect until its moment of copse. The denomination took one action to prevent anyone from finding that legacy. Only those who collected all four tes could find the tomb of Sri¡¯s champion, Gallus, and again, only those who were qualified could find the way from Gallus¡¯ Tomb to Sri¡¯s final legacy. ¡°May the sun be with you.¡± The Sri denomination disappeared, and the four stone tablets became a forgotten past. No one knew the exact location of the tes, let alone its existence. But now. After hundreds of years, there were those who drew nearer to that final legacy. *** ¡°Bye-bye!¡± ¡°Goodbye!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s y again next time!¡± When the fairies brightly smiled and waved their hands, Jude waved his hand as well. As for the other two. Elune¡¯s cheeks were red so she could not properly say goodbye, and Cordelia was the same. Or rather, Cordelia¡¯s state was a bit worse. ¡°Haa¡­¡± She had not gone through all the steps yet. ording to the books that Kajsa had lent her, she was just knocking on the door. She and Jude had only kissed and touched each other. That was all that they had done, but not for Cordelia. She felt like she had run up the stairs at once. Jude¡¯s big hands. She wondered when it had be so big. It was now big enough to hold from her neck up to her vicle, and it was hard and firm that she found it reliable. She had felt it often. Him pinching her cheeks or hugging her waist, so she had often felt his hands. But today was different. ces he normally did not reach. ces that even Dahlia had never touched. ¡®Lewd.¡¯ Was the word ¡®touching¡¯ such a lewd word? Cordelia muttered as she bit her lips and took a deep breath. She kept remembering the ces where Jude had touched, but after she struggled to forget it, she decided to be a bit more brazen. Because Adelia-unnie must have done this after her first kiss. Because everyone else should have done this too. ¡®Yes, yes. That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right.¡¯ I¡¯ve only just knocked on the door. I still have a very long way to go. Moreover, the opponent is none other than Jude. ¡®Jude.¡¯ My scammer. He¡¯s insidious, mean, and shameless, but I still like him. I love him to death. Why do I like him so much? Since when did I like him? My brain feels like it¡¯s melting. Just thinking of Jude makes me smile. ¡®Because I knocked on the door¡­¡¯ Next is to open the door, open the door, open the door¡­ Next is¡­ Just imagining it makes my heart pound. It¡¯s scary, terrifying, and exciting, and it makes my heart race, but one thing is clear. It¡¯s okay if it¡¯s Jude. It¡¯s fine if it¡¯s Jude. It¡¯s not scary if it¡¯s Jude. Yes, it¡¯s okay. Her face was hot, but it strangely felt that this was something new. And it had been red and hot since earlier. Cordelia blinked her eyes. She slowly turned to Jude before giggling and tilting her head. ¡°Jude.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Why are you standing like that?¡± It seemed like he was standing with his body slightly leaning forward. It felt like he was hiding something. ¡°No, uh. Well. Just¡­¡± Jude did not seem to be his usual shameless self. He awkwardly smiled before he turned to Elune and said. ¡°Elune-nim. Thank you very much for today.¡± ¡°Eh? Yeah. I liked it too.¡± Elune blushed as her ears twitched several times. Although she was 200 years old, she was as pure as a crystal. The sight that she had seen today might have been too stimting for her. ¡®What if Vincenzo makes a fusster?¡¯ Jude was a bit afraid of that, but he shook his head afterwards. No way. It was only that much. ¡°Then we¡¯ll go back now.¡± ¡°Will you be continuing that?¡± At Elune¡¯s innocent question, Jude coughed as if he wanted to continue, while Cordelia covered her face with her hands and slightly turned towards Jude. Her blue eyes that could be seen in between her fingers had a slight look of expectation. ¡°Ahem, ahem. Umm¡­ no. Because it¡¯ste at night. And Elune-nim, please keep what happened today a secret if possible.¡± ¡°Is that your wish?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a request, but¡­ okay, let¡¯s make that my wish.¡± After all, Elune did everything they had asked her to do, and his conscience could not agree to the amazing solution that Cordelia had suggested. ¡°Okay, I promise to keep it a secret.¡± Elune nodded a few times and sat down before closing her eyes. It seemed like she was trying to remember something. ¡®Let¡¯s not think about what she¡¯s trying to imagine.¡¯ Jude thought to himself and held the hand of Cordelia who stepped back in surprise. ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°Eh? I-it¡¯s nothing. It¡¯s just¡­ a bit. Yes, a bit. I was a bit surprised. I was really that surprised. Yes, yes, that¡¯s right. It¡¯s like being surprised when you see a worm, being surprised when Melissa says something strange, or sometimes you¡¯re just surprised¡­¡± What the heck is she saying? Cordelia rambled on and on before she went ¡®ehehe¡¯ and sped Jude¡¯s hand. She had always held his hand, but it somehow felt special today. And it was the same for Jude. Small and warm hand. Was it this small? Was it that soft? ¡®Calm down. Calm down, Jude Bayer.¡¯ After taking a few deep breaths and finally calming himself down, Jude walked forward. *** ¡°Master!¡± ¡°Kirara!¡± ¡°Master!¡± ¡°Kirara!¡± When they returned to their guest rooms, Kirara weed Jude and Cordelia, or to be exact, Cordelia. Kirara had been so tired when they arrived at the Orange Gate, so she fell asleep earlier. That was why she had only seen Cordelia now. ¡°I was so scared. I was afraid. I wanted to run away. But I didn¡¯t run away.¡± I didn¡¯t betray you. Kirara continued speaking as she buried her face in Cordelia¡¯s chest, and Cordelia smiled. As she patted Kirara¡¯s head and back, she whispered softly. ¡°Yes, yes, I believed in you. You did a really good job. I¡¯m proud of my Kirara.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s words, or to be exact, at the words ¡®my Kirara,¡¯ Kirara was about to burst into tears. No, she was already crying. She recalled the hundreds of thoughts she had when they escaped, so she clung to Cordelia more. ¡°Master.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, my Kirara.¡± Cordelia could not help but smile like a mother and continued to hug Kirara. And in the meantime, Jude saw something a bit odd. Scarlet was making an ufortable expression for some reason. Lucas and Kajsa seemed to have gone to sleep as they were not here. ¡®Is it really like what Cordelia said?¡¯ A love triangle between Lucas, Kajsa, and Scarlet. From Jude¡¯s perspective, it did not matter who ended up with whom, but the thought of seeing it in front of his eyes made him a bit excited. ¡®I guess I did like Legend of Heroes 2.¡¯ It was a game he became engrossed with because of Yellow Storm, but regardless, he was absorbed in ying it. Lucas, Kajsa, and Scarlet. In Legend of Heroes 2, all three of them lived unhappy lives. Lucas became a demonic human depending on the route. Even if he survived, he lost his loved ones one by one just like what happened to Jude, and eventually became an unfortunate swordsman who lost his life. Although Scarlet survived until the second half of Legend of Heroes 3, she was also a wreck. After losing her body to the demon in the sword in Legend of Heroes 2, the numerous evil deeds, depravity, and continuous killings she did tormented her conscience and soul endlessly. Kajsa¡¯s life did get better, but she was not happy either. She lost everything that she cherished and loved ¨C her hometown, family, and friends, as well as her subordinates, because of Malekith, so she became obsessed with revenge. But it was different now. Lucas did not be a demonic human, Scarlet did not fall prey to the demon in the sword, and Kajsa did not lose her hometown. It became a ro with a love triangle, something which never happened in the original. That fact pleased Jude. It warmed his heart. Because I want to see something like this. Because I want a world like this. From the time I saw the original. No, even before that. ¡°Now that you¡¯re here, I¡¯m going to sleep.¡± Scarlet briefly said before turning around. She must have waited for them because she did not want to make Kirara wait alone. ¡°She¡¯s very kind, right?¡± Cordelia spoke with a grin, and Jude nodded. Scarlet was indeed very kind and nice just like her appearance. ¡°What about Kirara?¡± ¡°I think she fell asleep. It seems like her tension has been relieved.¡± Cordelia smiled softly, stroking Kirara¡¯s head who slept like a baby. *** The next morning, the party immediately prepared to leave the Orange Gate. They still had some time, but it was because of the heavenly voice that came downst night. The empress dowager did not specifically say what the message was, but it seemed to be good news given the look on her face. ¡°We must hurry to thend of Marquis Buckingham.¡± After speaking to the emperor who got on the carriage first, Jude and Cordelia each rode an Elven Steed and looked back. ¡°Goodbye. See you again. I want to spar with you one more time. I want to see the continuation. Umm¡­ because I¡¯m curious.¡± Jude and Cordelia awkwardly smiled at Elune¡¯s rambling about the continuation, and they waved their hands. And Valencia who was watching all this said with a sigh. [My sessor, was it not enough to dye Cordelia ck?] Jude did not answer, and Melissa said something simr to Cordelia. ¡°Then we¡¯ll be on our way.¡± Starting with Leon and Sarah who took the lead along with the Shadow Knights, the group all began to move. It was early in the morning. Kajsa and Scarlet rode their horses to the left and right, with Lucas in between them. Kirara sat while hugging Cordelia¡¯s waist tightly. Jude looked straight ahead. He spurred his horse towards the northern part of the empire, the territory of Marquis Buckingham. Chapter 313: Proclamation (2)

Chapter 313: Promation (2)

HIATUS ANNOUNCEMENT: I¡¯ll be taking a break from tranting Ending Maker this week because all the people in my house got struck by the pandemic. Trantions will resume next Monday, August 23, or after my cough is gone and I¡¯m feeling better. Marquis Buckingham¡¯s estate was truly vast. In terms of size, it was equivalent to the entire northern region of the S?len Kingdom, which was a third of the kingdom. Naturally, it was thergest territory in the empire, and there were two reasons why Marquis Buckingham upied such a vast estate. One was that thend wasrge, but the usablend was surprisingly small, and the other was the fact that the Marquis Buckingham at that time became a joint heir to several blood-rted families, including his mother¡¯s family and rtives, thus inheriting a huge amount ofnd. Thend wasrge, but almost half of it was useless. Therefore, despite the possession of a vast territory, the Imperial Family and the surrounding nobles didn¡¯t seriously keep them in check. Moreover, since Marquis Buckingham had a lot of children, the prevailing opinion was that it was possible to maintain the vast territory as long as the marquis was alive. ¡®Still, thend is big.¡¯ It was true that there were fewer people livingpared to thend, but there were also many people because thend was so wide. ¡®It¡¯s also rich in underground resources.¡¯ In many ways, one could say that the situation was like Russia, or to be exact, the former Soviet Union. The Buckingham March actually had several high-quality mines, and it was also thend where most of the dwarves, who were inseparable from mineral sources, lived. ¡°Marquis Buckingham will meet us.¡± The empress dowager had a good expression since they left the Shadow Forest, perhaps because she was visiting her hometown after a long time. Some preferreding to a ce where they really felt safe, and not in and where there were few people they could trust, but this was also her first visit to her hometown in nearly a decade, so it would rather be strange if her expression was not good. ¡°I like this ce too.¡± After they left the imperial capital, there was always a dark atmosphere in the emperor¡¯s face even when he smiled, but now, he was brightly smiling. A bright smile that was just right for his age. ¡°Your Imperial Majesty, that¡¯s the g of the Buckingham March.¡± When Leon spoke and pointed in front, both the emperor and empress dowager who were chatting put their heads out the window and looked into the distance. ¡°Indeed, it¡¯s the g of the Buckingham March.¡± A coat of arms with a winged lion. The empress dowager spoke with joy, and the emperor stomped his feet repeatedly in the carriage. The empress dowager always nagged about the emperor¡¯s behavior, but she let it pass this time to let the emperor and his younger siblings rejoice to their heart¡¯s content. Two days after they left the Shadow Forest. The group met Marquis Buckingham who was also known as the Crouching Lion of the North. *** While Jude, Cordelia, and the others were meeting with Marquis Buckingham, another group began to march in the northern part of the kingdom, in Bailon. It was a kind of coalition army led by Count Bayer and Count Chase. The two counts had already been summoned once due to the empire¡¯s border blockade, but since the empire had been quite quiet then, they had only been preparing for battle in Bailon but not moving out. But as of yesterday, an order from the royal capital to go to war came. Count Bayer led the knights and soldiers while Count Chase joined Count Bayer¡¯s group with the wizards of the Red Dawn Tower. And a day passed again. Count Bayer and Count Chase, who were each riding on a ck horse and white horse, exchanged words in small voices. ¡°This is quite a problem.¡± They had a letter from the southern region¡¯s Marquis Ophand. The content itself was simple after all the aristocratic rhetoric was excluded, which was about taking responsibility. ¡°Is this our fault though?¡± ¡°He¡¯s insisting that it¡¯s our fault.¡± About the matter of Kajsa Ophand running away. She had gone to attend a wedding in the north, but ran away afterwards with the ¡®runaway pros.¡¯ Although Kajsa used to hunt pirates and yed wildly, she had never ran away from home. Marquis Ophand insisted that this was all because of Jude and Cordelia, and Count Bayer found it difficult to deny that. Because it was a fact known to the entire kingdom that Jude and Cordelia ran away the most in the kingdom, so they were runaway pros. ¡°In that case, Count Hr?svelgr¡­¡± ¡°We got a letter from him too. It was in a much calmer tone though.¡± Lucas Hr?svelgr. A young man who was called the Girin of the North until Jude came into prominence. Lucas also attended the wedding of Ga?l and Adelia, running away afterwards, so Count Hr?svelgr couldn¡¯t help but me Count Bayer and Count Chase. ¡°Moreover¡­ if you read the main points, it seems like Marquis Ophand is in a really difficult situation because of Lady Kajsa.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Count Bayer had a bitter smile at Count Chase¡¯s question. ¡°It¡¯s because of Carlos¡¯ legacy, Ascalon, that Marquis Ophand was able to lead the 7, no, the 6 southern families. You know that, right?¡± ¡°I know.¡± ¡°But that Ascalon is gone. To be exact, the real one has disappeared, and only a fake was left behind.¡± ¡°Wait a second, don¡¯t tell me¡­¡± ¡°It is what you¡¯re thinking.¡± Kajsa Ophand ran away with the real Ascalon. From the standpoint of the other five families who were ufortable because they were suddenly deprived of bing the leader, this was a truly good opportunity. The two did not know, but perhaps the families were harassing Marquis Ophand every day. ¡°But that Kajsa had ran away from home.¡± ¡°With our children.¡± Count Bayer and Count Chase both sighed deeply. ¡°But everything will be fine, right?¡± ¡°I believe it will be fine. They¡¯ve be a lot stronger after all.¡± Both Jude and Cordelia had made remarkable progress. Or rather, those two had gone beyond that to the point of dazzling flowerynguage. In just 1.5 years, Cordelia became an archwizard while Jude who was too weak to freely go outside had now be one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. Their growth felt unreal. But the two counts knew better than anyone that their growth was real. ¡°Anyway¡­ something must be happening this time too.¡± Count Chase nodded, though he frowned at Count Bayer¡¯s words. Because their runaways so far had not been a simple running away because of love. If one looked at the results, Jude and Cordelia always returned with big aplishments every time they ran away. ¡°When they return this time, I think they should just get married right away.¡± ¡°I agree. There¡¯s no need to drag out the engagement.¡± And in fact, there was an additional thing they were hoping for. The two counts both looked back at Ga?l and Adelia whose horses were right next to each other. It was a sight that was overflowing with sweetness. Even though the two were just looking at each other, it seemed like there was a pink aura between them. ¡°It has gotten worse.¡± The two had rarely gone outside since they got married. Right after their wedding, they stayed in the room for more than 3 days. ¡°I¡¯m really happy though.¡± Count Chase spoke with a proud face, and Count Bayer smiled quietly and nodded. ¡°We might be grandfathers soon.¡± ¡°Yes, grandfathers.¡± That was it. The two men finished their conversation with a smile as they looked at each other. They changed their expressions and began discussing the affairs of the kingdom. ¡°Was it the crown princess who summoned us?¡± ¡°Yes, from what I¡¯ve heard. Moreover¡­ it doesn¡¯t seem to be just a precautionary move.¡± Right now, the two counts were leading the elites of their territory. Even the Northern Jackdaws were preparing to move, so perhaps a major war against the empire was about to happen. ¡°We¡¯ll know then¡­ when we arrive.¡± The order from the royal capital was not to head to the border. It was amand to bring the elite soldiers to the royal capital. Why though? What this a kind of n? The two counts looked forward again. They crossed the border between the northern and central regions, and headed towards the royal capital. *** The night they met Marquis Buckingham. Since the Buckingham March was so vast, it took about two days to arrive at Grand Penn, a big city that could be called the territory¡¯s capital. Therefore, the group stayed overnight at the castle of Viscount Lennon, a vassal of Marquis Buckingham. ¡°A te of the Sri denomination?¡± Jude nodded when Scarlet asked as her eyes blinked. ¡°Yes, there are four of these tes, and we¡¯ve collected three already. And I know where thest te is.¡± In Jude¡¯s room, Cordelia, Scarlet, Lucas, Kajsa, and Kirara were present. He had thought of calling Leon and Sarah too, butpared to the previous four, they were not yet close with them. ¡°Lord Jude, are you saying then that¡­ you¡¯re leaving to look for the fourth remaining te?¡± ¡°Yes, we will be doing so. Now that we¡¯ve met Marquis Buckingham, I think it¡¯s fine to go slowly now.¡± Moreover, the fourth te was hidden in Zainan Gorge, one of the border points between the Buckingham March and the Shadow Forest. So considering their route, it was only right to go there now. Cordelia also nodded and added. ¡°They say that if you collect all the tes, you¡¯ll be able to obtain thest treasure left by the Sri denomination. I don¡¯t know what it is, but it will definitely help in our fight against the demon followers. That¡¯s why I think that it¡¯s better to secure it before the war¡­ the civil war begins.¡± Sri¡¯s treasure that one could get when all four tes had been collected had never appeared in Legend of Heroes 2, so even Jude and Cordelia did not know what it was. But still, it was the legacy of Sri, thest treasure left by the denomination. Even if it was not abat weapon, it would be helpful in some way because it would have immense divine power. ¡®We need to be prepared in the end.¡¯ It was the same reason why they gathered as many allies as possible and increased their fighting power in preparation for the fight against the Lord Protector back then in the royal capital. As Jude and Cordelia each finished their exnations, Kajsa scratched her chin and said. ¡°Anyway, is that why you¡¯re going on a treasure hunt?¡± ¡°Well¡­ you could say that.¡± When Cordelia nodded, Kajsa grinned and hugged the neck of Lucas who was sitting next to her. ¡°Hehe, I like that. Lucas likes it too, right?¡± ¡°Eh? Yeah. M-me too. Noona.¡± Lucas was neither used to this skinship nor calling Kajsa ¡®noona.¡¯ As he spoke with a blush on his cheeks without realizing it, Kajsa¡¯s face turned red as well. For some reason, she smacked her lips too. But unfortunately for Kajsa, Scarlet was present. Scarlet grabbed Kajsa by the back of her cor and pulled her so that the two were no longer touching each other. She then turned to Cordelia and continued her words, ignoring Kajsa¡¯s protests. ¡°Are we leaving immediately in the morning then?¡± If one went further north from here, they would see the winding road to Zainan Gorge. In response to Scarlet¡¯s question, Cordelia suddenly wiggled her fingers. ¡°We¡¯re going to leave but¡­ well¡­ It will only be me and Jude going there¡­¡± The way her words trailed in the end was very suspicious. So Scarlet¡¯s eyes narrowed and she asked again. ¡°Are you two going alone?¡± ¡°Yes. It¡¯s not like it needs a lot of people to go there. And I want the three of you to stay here and focus on strengthening yourselves. Yes, yes, that¡¯s it. Seeing that she was nodding her head while speaking, it seemed like she was agreeing to whatever she was saying. Jude and Cordelia will be going to the Zainan Gorge alone. This isn¡¯t actually strange. Because these two have traveled alone together before. But why? Is this something like a Rogue Master¡¯s intuition? Somehow, her words sounds different from usual. ¡°Hmmmmm¡­.¡± Scarlet narrowed her eyes even more, and Cordelia¡¯s lips squirmed as she averted her gaze. And Kajsa sniffed it with her beastly intuition that was not inferior to Cordelia¡¯s. ¡®I smell something. You too, right?¡¯ At Kajsa¡¯s gaze, Scarlet nodded. It was obvious on what Kajsa was saying with her eyes given the atmosphere and circumstances. So Scarlet smiled and spoke. ¡°Then why don¡¯t you take Kirara with you?¡± ¡°Kirara?¡± Not only Cordelia but also Kirara, who was sitting close to Cordelia, blinked their eyes. Because her words were quite unexpected. But Scarlet had her own reasons. ¡°ording to what you said, the fourth te is located in Zainan Gorge, right? Kirara can help you by talking to the animals there. There must be a lot of monsters there that Kirara can tame.¡± Zainan Gorge was notorious for its rugged roads and being the home torge groups of Roc birds. It was a remote ce that was not passed through by people, so only the animals living nearby knew the way there. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. If it¡¯s Miss Kirara, she can ask the animals to find out the way.¡± Lucas spoke and pped his hands, and Scarlet nodded in agreement. ¡°Isn¡¯t that good? You have to be back soon. Moreover, it¡¯s not a ce with much danger.¡± Scarlet¡¯s words were both wrong and right. Zainan Gorge that was swarming with giant monsters was generally considered a dangerous ce. But it was not a dangerous ce for the Grand Sword Master Jude and the Archwizard Cordelia. ¡°Eueueue¡­¡± But if we do that, Jude and I won¡¯t be able to travel alone! Cordelia wanted to shout that, but she could not. Because she was stillcking in shamelessness. So she just groaned, but an even more difficult situation happened. ¡°Wow, am I going with Master then? I like that. I can go together with your, right?¡± Kirara hugged Cordelia¡¯s waist and acted cute, so there was no way for Cordelia to refuse. ¡®Ueueueue¡­¡¯ There was no need to hide her thoughts if she and Jude traveled alone. They did not need to hide it. But it could not be helped. She could ignore Scarlet and Kajsa¡¯s evil smiles, but not Lucas whose innocent face seemed to be saying ¡®Miss Scarlet is smart!¡¯ and Kirara whose sparkling eyes seemed to be saying that she wanted to go with them. ¡°O-okay. Yes. L-let¡¯s go together.¡± ¡°Really? That¡¯s really nice. I like you very much, my master.¡± ¡°Eueueu¡­ me too.¡± Kirara rubbed her cheek against Cordelia¡¯s chest in her joy, and Cordelia had an awkward smile. As for another person. After watching their conversation, Jude looked out the window and let out a long sigh. It was a really long sigh. Chapter 314: Proclamation (3)

Chapter 314: Promation (3)

I¡¯m back. I¡¯m still not a 100% fine, so expect this week¡¯s chapter releases to be slow. The next morning, Jude and Cordelia requested for an audience with the emperor and empress dowager. The two were technically neither citizens of the empire nor the emperor¡¯s vassals, so they had no reason to ask for permission from the emperor, but they still had to talk directly to the emperor. ¡®As I expected, their looks aren¡¯t good.¡¯ After all, the elves had betrayed them after the Chancellor. It was very hard to trust nobles from the S?len Kingdom, a country they were hostile with, as they could not even trust those who were in the same country as them. Moreover, the two were not just nobles. It was natural to be wary since it was a Grand Sword Master and an Archwizard, or as what the empire called it, a Grand Wizard. ¡®Where are you going?¡¯ ¡®Are you trying to do something behind the scenes?¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s just two people, but they¡¯re the Grand Sword Master and Grand Wizard¡­¡¯ ¡®Their cooperation so far may be a trick to betray us in the future. We must not let our guard down.¡¯ It felt like the two could hear the chaotic thoughts from the eyes of the others. Among those people, the most rmed one was Marquis Buckingham, who seemed like he was going to shout at any moment to detain Jude and Cordelia. But no one could hastily open their mouths. Even Marquis Buckingham could only fiercely stare at them, but did not say a single word of disagreement. ¡®Because we¡¯re a Grand Sword Master and Grand Wizard.¡¯ They would be in trouble if they acted wrongly. Moreover, there was clearly no Grand Sword Master in the emperor¡¯s camp now. Absolute Knight Ghad had been captured by the enemy, and Elune had not once in her life ever left the Shadow Forest, thend of the elves. In the case of Sword God, it was impossible to even know where he was, and it was also questionable if he would take the side of the emperor in a civil war as it was not a war with a foreign country. ¡®Thest Grand Sword Master of the empire is Beast King Crassus who is on the side of the Chancellor.¡¯ In other words, there was no one in the current emperor¡¯s camp who could beat Jude on a one-on-one basis. And what if Cordelia, a Grand Wizard, was added here? There was no need to think about it. It was recklessness in itself to pick a fight with them. ¡®To begin with, we¡¯re allies. There is no need to turn us into enemies for no reason.¡¯ Marquis Buckingham was a man who had long protected and developed a barren yet vast estate for a long time. He was naturally hot-tempered but also very patient, and had umted a lot of experience in his life that he did not let his emotions cloud his judgment. ¡®We¡¯re not enemies. They honestly want to control us, but now is not the time yet.¡¯ Jude was a monster less than 20 years old who was on equal footing with Grand Sword Master Elune. But Jude was only one person. If the Sword Masters loyal to the emperor and a sufficient number of wizards gathered in one ce, it would be possible to fight back somehow. So he had to be patient now. He must not turn into enemies those who might be their faithful allies due to his unnecessary suspicion. ¡®He¡¯ll overlook it to some extent.¡¯ A person from the kingdom, and not the empire, had said that he would go to another ce other than helping the emperor. Moreover, it was not peacetime. It was right before a civil war ¨C no, they were pretty much in a civil war already. So it was normal to stop a suspicious move, but Marquis Buckingham decided to take a step back. It was what Jude had expected. ¡®Marquis Buckingham is just like what I have thought.¡¯ Because Jude had profiled even the insignificant mid-ranking demonic humans. Marquis Buckingham was a fairly important figure on the empire¡¯s side, so Jude was already familiar with his character and behavioral patterns. He was bald but had a rich beard. He was a veteran of a hundred battles but not a fool who focused on the trivial things and missed the big picture. ¡®And if Marquis Buckingham allows it¡­¡¯ Jude turned to the empress dowager. Again, her reaction was exactly as he expected. The empress dowager exchanged nces with Marquis Buckingham before softly whispering in the emperor¡¯s ear, and the emperor nodded with an uneasy face and said. ¡°I understand. I will allow it. But you two have toe back soon. Do you understand?¡± ¡°We understand.¡± ¡°Thank you for your permission.¡± When Jude and Cordelia politely answered, the empress dowager¡¯s expression brightened a little. Although it was pathetic that they had to depend on foreigners, it was reassuring to have Jude and Cordelia as their allies when one thought of it. ¡°You may leave if you¡¯re done.¡± At the words of Marquis Buckingham, the emperor bit his lips and looked at Jude and Cordelia. The two once again bowed to the emperor before leaving the room. And twenty minutester. After saying their goodbyes to Lucas and the others who were waiting outside, Jude and Cordelia got on their horses. Jude by himself, and Cordelia with Kirara. [Didn¡¯t the emperor look a little down?] [It seems like he has grown attached to us.] It was natural when one thought about it. From the young emperor¡¯s perspective, Jude and Cordelia were his benefactors who had saved his life several times. [And because my beast is so pretty? Young children like pretty people.] [Hmm, well¡­ my scammer also has a good-looking face.] Cordelia answered with a grin, and Jude slightly tilted his head and asked with a sly smile. [Only the face is good-looking?] [Huh?] [Only the face is good-looking?] At Jude¡¯s question, Cordelia smirked as if she found it absurd, and soon said with a hmph. [I haven¡¯t seen other ces yet, so I don¡¯t know.] [Ahem, you¡¯re right.] Cordelia¡¯s cheeks turned red as Jude grinned. For some reason, she felt like she would be embarrassed again if she continued their present conversation. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go.¡± She deliberately raised her voice, and Jude epted it instead of dawdling further. [Yes, let¡¯s go. Let¡¯s go have a fun trip.] He had to reply with magic because of Kirara. As a child who grew up unweed, even words like this might sound depressing for Kirara. ¡®Frankly, I wanted to go with Cordelia alone.¡¯ He wanted to ride a horse together and stay close to her. But it had already been decided. So instead of grumbling in vain, Jude cheerfully smiled while Cordelia was pleased with his looks again, and said as she hugged Kirara¡¯s waist. ¡°Then let¡¯s go, Kirara.¡± ¡°Yes, Master!¡± ¡°Okay, okay. Let¡¯s go!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Kirara shouted with a flushed face, and Cordeliaughed before she spurred the horse. ¡®Well, good things are good.¡¯ They knew well that a civil war would soon begin wherein the fate of the world as well as the empire was at stake, but that did not mean they should keep a frowning face. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Jude silently spoke and spurred his horse too. *** Not long after Jude and Cordelia¡¯s group left, the emperor¡¯s group and Marquis Buckingham also prepared to move again. Their destination was Grand Penn, the most fertilend in the Buckingham March and a big city where vassals from all over his territory had gathered. After Marquis Buckingham joined them, the emperor¡¯s group grewrger and the number of escorts exceeded a hundred. As a natural result, Lucas, Kajsa, and Scarlet¡¯s positions in the group became ambiguous. They were neither Royal Knights like Leon and Sarah, nor absolutely strong people one would not even dare to recklessly fight like Jude and Cordelia. They were outsiders in an ambiguous position. But Lucas did not pay much attention to the surrounding gazes. He drank the elixirs made from various medicinal ingredients that Jude and Cordelia took from the Breeze Fairies, and focused on training whenever they had spare time. ¡®I¡¯m getting stronger.¡¯ The effect of the elixirs made by Jude was clear. After their battle against the Demon Prince, his power grew so rapidly that it became hard to control, so he thought that there would be no growth for a while, but he was mistaken. Jude made various kinds of elixirs to prevent the efficacy of the elixirs from weakening, so Lucas was able to feel the rapid growth of his body and soul every day. And it was not only Lucas. Kajsa and Scarlet also continued to grow. The two grew stronger and more beautiful day by day. ¡®B-beautiful?¡¯ But that was not wrong either. As a result of absorbing the good energy of the elixirs, Kajsa and Scarlet¡¯s skin and hair were much better than before. Furthermore, their constitution and body shape were also improved, so as Lucas had said, they had be more beautiful as they grew stronger. And this was something that applied to Lucas as well. The three became stronger and more good-looking with each passing day. In fact, this was the result of Jude and Cordelia¡¯s choice and focus. ¡®I¡¯m sorry for Leon and Sarah, but we don¡¯t have enough time and resources to raise them now.¡¯ (Jude) Leon and Sarah were notcking in talent as they were yable characters, but Jude and Cordelia had met them toote. Therefore, instead of raising the levels of five people evenly by 5, Jude and Cordelia chose to raise the levels of three people by 10, choosing to neglect one while focusing on the other. And Jude was right this time. The three were showing growth beyond expectations. Lucas practiced hard to improve himself instead of being envious or harboring wicked thoughts. Kajsa and Scarlet had a strange rivalry with each other ever since they met in the south. The three people¡¯s personalities and their slightly subtle triangr rtionship created a synergistic effect that exceeded expectations. And one more. There was a variable that even Jude had never expected. ¡®What is this? This sensation?¡¯ (Lucas) At certain moments, he felt something that was out of ce. Every time he swung his sword, and every time he got stronger, he experienced a familiar yet unfamiliar sensation. Like he was going back to a ce he had been to before. There was bound to be a huge gap between aimlessly wandering around the open sea and advancing along certain milestones. He was moving forward. He was stepping towards that distant horizon. He was on the road that had already been passed once. So he knew the way. The skills of the three began to explosively grow. And at the same time, the feelings of the three also intensified. *** Three days after they split with the emperor¡¯s group. Jude and Cordelia finally arrived at Zainan Gorge. They were still in the vast and expansive Buckingham March, and Zainan Gorge was the most remote area of the march. ¡°It¡¯s like the Amazon.¡± Cordelia nodded at Jude¡¯s words. The Buckingham March was generally colder as it was located in the north, but Zainan Gorge was an exception. It was a ce dominated by extreme weather as a tropical rainforest and a barren gorge coexisted there. To be exact, it was a barren gorge surrounded by a vast tropical rainforest, so it was either hot and dry or hot and humid. In short, it was a ce that was hard to live in. ¡°Now, all we have to do is go to the desert, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± As they traveled all over the continent, they had encountered all kinds of terrain. Jude narrowed his brows as he looked at the bushes that seemed to be full of bugs and snakes. Even though he had traveled to all sorts of ces in his past life, he had strangely never been to a rainforest like this. ¡®Anyway, about Zainan Gorge.¡¯ In Legend of Heroes 2, it was not an important ce. It was more or less just a hunting ground for leveling up that had an exotic atmosphere. The nearby Catan Mountains was much more important than Zainan Gorge because it was the ce where one of the seven major cmities in the middle tote half of Legend of Heroes 2 would appear. ¡®Maybe we should stop by after we finish our business in the gorge.¡¯ The cmity in Catan Mountains would appear at least a few monthster, but they had long departed from the original storyline flow. With their good luck, it might be possible to stop the cmity before it became aplete problem, just like in the wildnds or the Forest of Eternity. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s hurry.¡± ¡°Okay!¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Kirara immediately answered after Cordelia, and the group headed towards the rainforest. And a few hourster. As the sun went down, Jude and Cordelia began preparing the campsite, and Kirara headed out of the campground to talk to the animals in their surroundings. ¡®Yes, good job. A person must be sensible.¡¯ She began to hear a voice in her head as she moved away from Cordelia. ¡®I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll be annoyed if you keep clinging to her. You¡¯ve already experienced it several times, haven¡¯t you?¡¯ Instead of denying it, Kirara hastened her steps. It was the voice that she began hearing when they run away from the Red Gatest time. No, she wondered if it was even a voice in the first ce. Perhaps it was just Kirara¡¯s own thoughts that sounded like hallucinations, or perhaps it was her thoughts that were brought about from her fear of being abandoned. ¡®It¡¯s a mistake that you¡¯ve already followed her, but it¡¯s fine. Cordelia is weak towards you. You just have to pretend to be a bit pitiful in front of her. You¡¯ve done this a lot before, right?¡¯ To betray, betray, and betray again. Her thoughts imagined Cordelia showing her back out of trust, and her own self stabbing a knife on that back. It was a scene she could never imagine, but it strangely felt real. Kirara sat down and caught her breath. She pped her own head to drive out the bad thoughts. I will not betray her. It will be different this time. It¡¯s not because of money. I will not betray her. I will not betray anyone either. I don¡¯t want to betray anyone anymore. Kirara burst into tears without realizing it, and sniffed several times before standing up again. She held the handkerchief that Cordelia gave her and continued to walk. ¡®I will help them.¡¯ This time for sure. I must this time. It¡¯s not just because I want to make time alone for the two. I really want to sincerely listen to the animals this time. What kind of animals are here? Which animal should I hear from? Kirara looked around and walked. Cordelia told her to not go too far because it could be dangerous, but as she listened to the stories of the small animals, she had gone quite far from the campground. [It¡¯s right there.] At the words of the giant snake looking for an opportunity to eat her, Kirara grasped the dagger and looked away. She stopped breathing at the sight beyond the bushes. Chapter 315: Proclamation (4)

Chapter 315: Promation (4)

¡°She¡¯ste.¡± At the campsite. They were in the middle of a tropical rainforest, but Jude and Cordelia were not sweating even a single drop. It was not because Cordelia was no longer just a human like Jude. To begin with, they had the Cozy 1-pyeong. Most of the items they received from the wild gods like de Song had been reced with better items in ordance with the rules of RPG, but there was one item that they still actively used, and that was the Cozy 1-pyeong. As its name suggested, this item created a tent with 1 pyeong of floorspace that had a cozy atmosphere. Moreover, the archwizard Cordelia was present here. She spread a shield to prevent bugs and the heat from entering, and lowered the temperature inside the shield with ice magic. One would obviously die of suffocation if theypletely covered an area, so there was an air hole near the ice. In addition to this, Jude made a cold juice with the help of his extreme Yin energy. Cordelia sipped the juice while in Jude¡¯s arms, and narrowed her brows as she looked at the direction where Kirara had gone. ¡°Are you worried?¡± ¡°Yes, shall we go look for her?¡± ¡°But she¡¯s a yable character. And we¡¯ve given her lots of items. Maybe it¡¯s better to wait for her first rather than missing out on each otherter.¡± Moreover, Kirara¡¯s growth rate had been quite significant recently. She was initially a child with an aptitude for thievery and monster taming, but these days, her thieving abilities had exponentially grown. ¡®Is it because she met Scarlet?¡¯ It seemed like she had learned this and that from just watching Scarlet. Cordelia agonized over it for some time while Jude was thinking about something else. She soon said in a firm voice as though she had finally made a decision. ¡°Then let¡¯s wait for another 10 minutes. If she is still not here by that time, let¡¯s go look for her.¡± ¡°10 minutes? Not 20 minutes?¡± ¡°Eh? Why?¡± At the time when Cordelia innocently asked. Jude¡¯srge hands gently wrapped around Cordelia¡¯s waist, and Cordelia flinched, turning to Jude with a coy gaze as her lips twitched. Instead of removing Jude¡¯s hand that was slowly going up, she naturally met lips with him. ¡®There¡¯s no way that Kirara got lost.¡¯ (Jude) She¡¯s a smart girl. Maybe she just left for a while in order to make time alone for us two. ¡®She¡¯s a good girl.¡¯ Later, I¡¯ll give her some snacks ¨C no, some delicious food. Jude praised Kirara in his mind before focusing on Cordelia. As his hand felt something incredibly soft and squishy, he gently increased the strength of his hand. And Cordelia did not sit still either. Instead of being swayed by her impulse as a girl who was strong in games, she pushed Jude only with the tip of her tongue. Their battle began in no time. Jude and Cordelia¡¯s cheeks were both flushed red. The two parted their lips for a moment and exhaled as they remained in their own world. And it was at that moment. ¡°Master! Master! Master!¡± Startled by the loud noiseing from beyond the bushes, Cordelia immediately urged Jude to stand up, and Jude poured out curses in his mind. ¡®Cancel the snack!¡¯ Why did you have toe back now? But Jude quickly regained his reason. Kirara yelling and running over to them meant that something had happened. ¡°Kirara?!¡± ¡°Master!¡± Kirara was drenched in sweat as she appeared through the bushes. Arge snake was wrapped around her waist and neck, and she was gasping for breath before shouting again at Jude and Cordelia. ¡°D-demon followers!¡± Kirara¡¯s words ended there. She could not speak any further. BOOOOOOM! A terrifying boom engulfed Kirara¡¯s voice. Jude and Cordelia turned their heads and saw it. What Kirara had meant. What had happened in this ce right now. Cordelia looked back at Jude who nodded his head. They came up with an answer at the same time. *** Caracal, a high-ranking demonic human of the Devil¡¯s Eye, was quick in making decisions. A vast rainforest surrounded Zainan Gorge. It had already been four months since she had settled here and held a ritual. There was one reason why she, a high-ranking demonic human, came to this ce in the middle of nowhere. To create a disaster that would cause a great disturbance in the rear of the empire. After clearing a part of the rainforest that no one passed through, they drew a huge magic circle. They regrly offered sacrifices and gradually increased thepleteness of the ritual. It was a long and tedious work. But after 4 months of hard work, it was finally on the verge ofpletion. ¡®However.¡¯ At a time when the situation in the kingdom and the empire changed, and this disaster n became more important. There was a ck-haired female cat beastkin. They had seen that girl catching sight of the pit full of bodies from the countless sacrifices they had made so far, but could not catch her. So after dissuading her subordinates from pursuing the girl, Caracal made a decision. ¡°Finish the ritual.¡± ¡°What?¡± One of her nearby subordinates blinked their eyes with a puzzled expression. It was natural for them to do so. They still needed more time to finish the ritual. And also more sacrifices. But Caracal had her reasons too. ¡°It¡¯s highly likely that the cat beastkin travels with the Demon yers. In other words, it¡¯s possible that the Demon yers are somewhere in this rainforest.¡± Jude and Cordelia. From the perspective of the demon followers, the two were like gues that always stood in their way. ¡°We¡¯ll only suffer damage if we get careless. So hurry up with the work. Get the job done and withdraw before the twoe and make a mess.¡± Their problems would be gone once the ritual waspleted. Even the infamous Demon yers would not be able to prevent the birth of a disaster. ¡°B-but what about the sacrifices and mana¡­¡± Her other subordinates also nodded at the words of the low-ranking demonic human. In order to forcefullyplete the ritual, they needed more sacrifices and magic power rather than time. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then it¡¯s fine.¡± Caracal said with a smile and waved her hand. One could not deny that the blonde Caracal was a beauty, but the same could not be said of her arm. It became as sharp as a mantis¡¯ arm and swept the surrounding area, severing the heads of the low-ranking demonic humans and demons standing near Caracal. Gush-! As the headless corpses spewed blood like a fountain, Caracal hurriedly chanted the spell. The mana of the low-ranking demonic humans was enough to supplement the mana they werecking in order toplete the ritual. ¡°Go, hurry it up.¡± Be a disaster and cause a tribtion. Caracal said in a whisper and hurriedly flew out of the magic circle. The light that the magic circle began to emit became a red pir, and she watched with a bright smile as the being she had been looking forward for was finally revealed. *** A red pir of light soared. The vivid blood-red color broke and scattered. Thus, the being inside it was revealed. It was far away. But it was so huge that they could see it clearly. A burning giant. A melting being. A red giant covered inva let out a scream. It shook the entire rainforest and the animals were struck with fear, rendering them unable to escape. Kirara fell on her butt. Jude and Cordelia thought as they viewed the giant that was at least 50 meters tall. ¡°It¡¯s different.¡± It was not like the one in the game. The cmity in the game ¨C fire giant Karte, was one of the seven major cmities and also called a natural disaster due to its enormous damage range. But it was a much bigger and more ferocious creature. However, Cordelia was convinced that the roaring giant in front of them now was Karte. Jude also came to the same conclusion based on their past experience. ¡°It¡¯s not yet a cmity.¡± Like the artificial spirit in the magic kingdom of Magen before it was reborn as the Light Dragon Yvaska. Or the monster in the Forest of Eternity before it turned into Jabberwock. It was the same logic. The giant in front of them had yet to be Karte. ¡®I think I know why.¡¯ In the game, the fire giant Karte appeared in the nearby Catan Mountains. The fire giant caused earthquakes just by walking, and made the volcanoes in the northern part of the empire to erupt all at once, leading to a literal catastrophe. Not only did countless people die in the volcanic eruptions, but also due to the massive secondary damage caused by the dust that covered the sky. Such was fire giant Karte. But not yet. In the game, it was around a hundred meters tall, but it was only around 60 meters tall now. ¡®A power source. A catalyst.¡¯ Light Dragon Yvaska was a monster that was created as a result of the absorption of the dragon veins¡¯ power by the ruler of spirits, something that was artificially created by the elves of Magen. The monster Jabberwock was also a creature born from thebination of a monster and a high-ranking demonic human, so theva giant before them also needed a catalyst to be reborn as a cmity. Then, what was it? What was its catalyst back then? There was no need to think long. Jude and Cordelia simultaneously looked at the same ce. Zainan Gorge was situated in the middle of the rainforest. There was a raid boss located at its center. Serpent King Nagaros. The ce where it built its nest. Thend where the dragon veins gathered and radiated the energy of the world! ¡°It¡¯s moving!¡± It was as Kirara had said. Theva giant was moving. Instead of heading their way, it walked towards Zainan Gorge. Boom! Boom! Boom! The ground shook. Fires spread along the path it walked. The rainforest did not burn at once because of its high humidity, but it was clear that it would be a big fire if left unattended. Jude held his breath. At the same time, several thoughts came to his mind at the same time. It had appeared two monthster in the original. Although the situation was quite different from the game due to the butterfly effect, two months was by no means a short period of time. There was a high possibility that it was not normal now too. A giant that was 60 meters tall. It was small whenpared to Malekith whose body length was close to 150 meters, but it was still huge. It was so huge that it seemed impossible to even deal a blow on it in the usual way. What should they do? What should they first do to prevent the birth of a cmity? To stop it from moving towards Zainan Gorge. ¡®It¡¯s walking.¡¯ They still had time to spare if he calcted its movement speed. He did not know if it was possible to stop it by inflicting continuous damage though. ¡°Jude!¡± Cordelia summoned their Phantom Steeds. Jude and Cordelia each rode their steeds while Kirara jumped and sat behind Cordelia. ¡°We have time. Let¡¯s focus our attacks on its legs to slow down its movement speed.¡± Although the giant was 60 meters tall, Jude and Cordelia had enough firepower. Moreover, it was basically a slow-moving creature despite its big strides due to its size. They had enough time. So they could deal with it calmly. They would be able to prevent the birth of a cmity and destroy the conspiracy of the demon followers again. ¡®Kill it before it bes a cmity.¡¯ They were rather fortunate to have found it like this now. But it was then. Kirara was so startled that she hupped. Jude and Cordelia¡¯s eyes also widened and they panicked. ¡°I-it¡¯s flying.¡± Giantva wings. Huge wings soared from the back of theva giant. And the creature with wings began to fly, as all winged creatures usually did. ¡°F-f*ck?!¡± It¡¯s flying? It¡¯s flying instead of walking? Cordelia involuntarily eximed and drove away her thoughts by shaking her head. She kicked the Phantom Steed¡¯s side to urge it to run. ¡°Stop it!¡± The Phantom Steed carrying Jude also ran through the air. They rushed towards theva giant. Chapter 316: Zainan Gorge (1)

Chapter 316: Zainan Gorge (1)

I¡¯m feeling better now, so the trantion will resume with its regr release schedule. There were seven kinds of cmities that led to the destruction of Pleiades in Legend of Heroes 2. In some cases, they were simply strong entities like Light Dragon Yvaska, the monster Jabberwock, and Georg the yer, but there were also cases where the mere existence of a cmity caused disaster. The fire giant Karte. Earthquakes urred wherever it walked. The surrounding area naturally became a sea of fire, and inhaling the toxic gas the fire giant seemed to exhale made the average untrained person die within 3 minutes. But the biggest disaster caused by the fire giant Karte, the biggest reason it was called a natural disaster, was different. Its volcanic eruption ability. It could make volcanoes erupt. In the case of dormant volcanoes, the volcanoes would erupt from Karte just being close, and even in the case of inactive volcanoes, it would erupt again when Karte applied its power to it, covering the ground withva and the sky with dust. The seven major cmities each yed a big role in the copse of the empire, and fire giant Karte yed a huge portion in that. The northern part of the empire was devastated by the chain of volcanic eruptions it caused. ¡®Well, I thought that we¡¯d fight it one day.¡¯ They were nning to search the Catan Mountains where it first appeared. Their n was to deal with it early as it was highly likely not yet a proper cmity, just like the case of Yvaska or Jabberwock. But their expectations were wrong. Their visit made the demon followers hasten the birth of theva giant, which was the predecessor of the fire giant Karte. In fact, it was good up to here. Completing something that was faster than scheduled was bound to have ws. But they had one problem. ¡®Isn¡¯t that already a cmity?¡¯ Theva giant was huge. It was 60 meters tall, and over 20 floors in terms of building floors. Not only was it tall, but it was also so huge that they had no idea where and how to attack it. But that giant even flew. ¡°Draw its attention! We must stop it from going to the dragon veins!¡± Cordelia acted instead of answering to Jude¡¯s shout. She boldly steered the Phantom Steed to the giant¡¯s front. ¡°HIIIIEK?!¡± Kirara screamed in horror, but Cordelia did not stop. She used ice magic in front of theva giant. ¡°Hit! Hit! Hit it!¡± Dozens of sharp ice missiles formed in the air and rushed towards theva giant¡¯s head. It was a literal bombardment of ice. But it did not seem like an attack had happened. The giant did not care whether ice was stuck in its head or not. Itsva-covered face did not even have eyes or a nose, so it was doubtful if it even had a weakness in the first ce. ¡°HIIIIE!¡± Kirara screamed again and hugged Cordelia¡¯s waist. Because theva giant opened its mouth wide as though it would swallow the Phantom Steed. ¡®I should have betrayed them right away!¡¯ ¡°I¡¯m sorry! I¡¯m sorry!¡± At the time when Kirara shouted from the depths of her heart, Cordelia smiled bravely. If theva giant was aiming for them, it was something she weed. ¡°This way!¡± Cordelia yelled and directed the Phantom Steed to the direction opposite Zainan Gorge, which was away from the nest of Serpent King Nagaros. But it was not long before Cordelia realized that her n had gone awry. Because her back did not feel hot. ¡°I lived! I lived!¡± Kirara rejoiced, but Cordelia held back from cursing. Because theva giant ignored them and only proceeded towards the nest of Nagaros. ¡°UOOOOOOH!¡± Just then, Jude pierced the side of theva giant with the firing of a sword. It was one of the Twelve Snowke Sword Art¡¯s skills powered by his extreme Yin energy, but just like Cordelia¡¯s ice missile bombardment, the giant endured it. Part of its side hardened, but soon melted back intova. ¡°Look at me! Look at me!¡± ¡°HIIIIE!¡± As Cordelia shouted again and flew in front of theva giant, Kirara began to cry. But Cordelia only focused on theva giant. She once again cast ice missiles, trying to draw the giant¡¯s attention. Bababababababang-! But it did not work. Its wings continued to p. It did not even look back because it did not have eyes in the first ce. ¡°Save me, save me.¡± Kirara cried her heart out but was ignored. Cordelia just thought and thought again. Theva giant is too big. It¡¯s impossible to stop it with ordinary magic. What about the Spirit King Punch? Will that stop it? Cordelia stopped her thoughts. Because it was a waste of time to continue thinking. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± The Phantom Steed ran through the air again and headed to the top of theva giant¡¯s head. Although it was hot because of the heat under their feet, Cordelia concentrated. She sweated profusely and drew her fist. ¡°Spirit King Punch!¡± The moment she punched, she felt a pain as if an invisible de had pierced her chest. Her immense mana was consumed in an instant, and the Spirit King¡¯s fist apanied by lightning fell from the sky. Boooom! The huge fist pierced the back of theva giant. Theva giant stumbled and fell to the ground. ¡°Wow! You did it! You did it!¡± Kirara eximed in delight, but not for Cordelia. Rather, she was frowning. It was not because of the pain caused by the sudden consumption of her mana. The moment the giant crashed to the ground, Cordelia¡¯s gut feeling told her. ¡®It¡¯s not dead.¡¯ It was as she thought. Lava melted and filled the hole the fist made. Theva giant raised itself again and resumed its flight. It flew away as if nothing had happened. ¡°That¡¯s crazy.¡± The damage should not have been minimal. It was difficult to use the Spirit King punch again, but it did not seem impossible to defeat the giant by inflicting it with damage little by little. But their problem was time. ¡°Snowke Orchid!¡± Jude used Snowke Orchid, one of the secret arts of the Twelve Snowke Sword Art. It was a wide-range attack that could strike dozens of people at the same time, but it was not enough to stop a 60-meter giant that was advancing like a bulldozer. The giant staggered but continued to move, ignoring Jude too. Jude calcted the distance between theva giant and Nagaros¡¯ nest. Considering the speed of theva giant, the remaining time was less than three minutes. ¡®Let¡¯s think, let¡¯s think about the victory conditions.¡¯ We have to stop it. We don¡¯t have to kill it, we just have to stop it. We must prevent it from reaching its destination. What should we do then? Should we use Serpent King Nagaros? No, that¡¯s too risky. Using Nagaros to do that is already a defeat in itself. Theva giant will clearly ignore Nagaros and throw itself into the dragon vein. What should we do then? Is there any other way? ¡°Jude!¡± He heard Cordelia calling him just then. Jude quickly turned around and Cordelia shouted once more. ¡°Buy time!¡± Jude did not get angry nor say ¡®Can¡¯t you see what I¡¯m doing now?¡¯ Cordelia was not stupid. Shouting like that meant that there was a way. ¡°Trust me!¡± Cordelia shouted again and no longer focused on theva giant. She headed beyond that, to the nest of Nagaros. She kicked the side of the Phantom Steed to speed it up. ¡°M-master?!¡± What are you going to do? You¡¯re not going to run into theva giant, right? Kirara whose brain was paralyzed by her panic could no longer make rational decisions. But not for Jude. The moment he saw Cordelia running past theva giant and heading towards Nagaros¡¯ nest, he thought of a possibility. ¡°D-don¡¯t tell me?!¡± No, it¡¯s possible. Because it¡¯s none other than Cordelia. Because she already has a track record of doing it several times! ¡°HEY!¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay! Trust me!¡± Cordelia immediately responded to Jude¡¯s protest and continued her n while Jude let out curses. But at the same time, he admired her. In terms of achieving the victory conditions, Cordelia¡¯s answer was not wrong. ¡°We can¡¯t let it go to its destination, right? Then we just have to get rid of its destination!¡± The reason theva giant is headed to Nagaros¡¯ nest is because of the dragon vein there. So just get rid of the dragon vein. Prevent theva giant from coalescing with the dragon vein by blowing it up in advance! [Most problems can be solved by explosions!] At Cordelia¡¯s magic, Jude let out exmations in session. For Cordelia who had already gone far ahead, he searched for a way to stop theva giant. ¡°Here it goes!¡± Jude did not think for long. Instead of using a wide-area attack, he gathered his extreme Yin energy into his sword-like hand. He directed the Phantom Steed who run as though it was climbing theva giant¡¯s back. [My sessor!] Valencia saw through Jude¡¯s intentions. By amplifying the power of Sword Origin, Jude¡¯s sword-like hand was strengthened. ¡°UOOOOOOOOOH!¡± The Phantom Steed ran on theva giant¡¯s back. Ignoring the burning back, Jude swung his sword-like hand that had his extreme Yin energy. Shwaaaaak-! He aimed for the giant¡¯s wings. The extreme Yin energy hardened theva. The Phantom Steed sprinted into the air and changed directions, and Jude stretched out his empty left hand at the part where the hardened wings, or to be exact, at the ce where the giant¡¯s wings and back were connected. ¡°ck Dragons¡¯ Rampage!¡± Seven ck dragons came out from Jude¡¯s palm. As each dragon moved and grew bigger, theva giant was unable to get rid of the dragons no matter how huge it was. The connecting part was destroyed and theva giant that lost its wings fell to the ground again. Boooooom! The ground shook with a roar. Since it had already entered Zainan Gorge, the surrounding area did not be a sea of fire, but the ground melted as parts of the gorge copsed due to the earthquake and rocks fell down. ¡°Haa¡­ haa¡­¡± Jude thought as he caught his breath. He only dyed it for about ten seconds or so. But if he repeated it, he could buy more time. ¡°KUOOOOOOOOO-!¡± Theva giant roared and sprouted new wings. Instead of looking back at the direction in which Cordelia had flown, Jude evoked his extreme Yin energy again. And in less than a minute. In less than a second. ¡°KIAAAAAA!¡± Serpent King Nagaros roared and stood up. The giant winged snake was a huge monster resembling the White Snake in Frost Anvil. ¡°Hiiiieee¡­¡± Kirara could not even properly cry now, but Cordelia was different. She did not care whether Nagaros roared or not as she only saw one ce. ¡®Over there.¡¯ A ce where the power of the dragon veins gushed out. She would not have known it in the past, but she was able to tell now due to her numerous experience in the wildnds. ¡®It¡¯s not easy.¡¯ The dragon veins were deep. To stimte and explode it at once, an ordinary attack was not enough. ¡°KIIIIIAAAA!¡± ¡°HIIIIIE!¡± Kirara screamed in response to Nagaros¡¯ roar, and Cordelia rushed with the Phantom Steed again. She ran straight towards Nagaros who was rushing at them with its mouth wide open, and then cast while on the Phantom Steed. Swoooosh-! They passed through Nagaros. And she felt it. Fear. The fear magic emitted by the Serpent King. But it worked out for them rather well. Because of the fear magic, there was no living creature around the ce. In other words, there was no need to consider the damage that an explosion would cause. ¡°KIIIIIAAAA!¡± Having missed its attack, Nagaros quickly turned around. It was a gigantic monster that was iparable to a higher being like Malekith, but with its several tens of meters in length, it appeared terrifying when it stretched its wings and twisted its body. So Kirara screamed again, but Cordelia did not even look at her. With a strong wind magic, she blew away the poison Nagaros exhaled, and gripped Moonlight at the same time. ¡°Melissa!¡± [I¡¯ll help you!] Malekith¡¯s Dragon Heart shone. Cordelia¡¯s mana that had been depleted by the Spirit King Punch was instantly refilled, and Cordelia bit her lips, enduring the pain as she chanted a spell. She ran towards the ground as if they were going to crash into it. And soon, she spread out ck wings and shouted. ¡°¡± A huge ck spear formed above the head of Cordelia who was in her Fallen Angel mode. The ground was now close. But instead of hurling the spear right away, Cordelia held Magic ster in her left hand. ¡°Unite!¡± She put the Spear of Cmity in the Magic ster. She converted the powerful magic into pure destructive power! Magic st. As its name implied, it was Magic ster¡¯s special skill! ¡°LET¡¯S GOOOOO!¡± ¡°KYAAAAAA!¡± Cordelia¡¯s shout and Kirara¡¯s scream were mixed into one. Serpent King Nagaros roared behind them as if telling them not to ignore it, but Cordelia only looked forward and yelled as they rushed. ¡°Lance Charge!¡± No need to look back! Let it touch the surface of the ground. Let it collide. Let it smash and turn the ground into a mess! Bang! Magic ster spewed fire. A pure white light hit the ground surface and struck the dragon veins. At the same time, Cordelia¡¯s arm could not withstand the bacsh and broke. The Phantom Steed soared up the sky. ¡°KIIIIAAAA!¡± The enraged Nagaros tried to devour Cordelia and Kirara. Kirara mustered up her courage and stretched out her hand towards Nagaros. She knew that it would not work, but she still tried to talk to it. But it was useless. Cordelia was sweating profusely as she corrected her left arm that was bent in a bizarre angle. She clenched her teeth due to the pain, and looked down the ground. It would reach them. Nagaros would devour them! Kaboom! The explosion stopped Nagaros. Boom! Boom! Boom! The series of explosions baffled Nagaros. Nagaros could not understand the current situation. What? What¡¯s happening now? What¡¯s going on here? ¡°Fly high!¡± Cordelia knew though. So she strengthened the Phantom Steed with a spell. With everything she had, she somehow raised their altitude. Kirara reflexively looked down the ground. Unlike Cordelia, she gasped and froze in fear. Boom! Boom! Boom! The ground exploded. The surface of the ground split. White light from the depths shone out, and a massive earthquake thoroughly destroyed the nest of Nagaros. Babababababang-! ¡°KIAAA?!¡± A huge rock fell on the head of Nagaros who had hesitated in its confusion. With its head injured, it stumbled and copsed as the gorge came falling down towards its head. Babababang! Booboobooboom! The day the capital of Magen disappeared. It was like that time. The entire area of Nagaros¡¯ nest waspletely destroyed, and Kirara was unable to say a word due to the massive signs of destruction. And Cordelia moved. Crying as she aligned her broken arm, she sent Magic ster into the air with her telekinesis. She held Moonlight this time and focused on Nagaros. ¡°Last hit!¡± It¡¯s not our goal, but I still want to kill Nagaros! Cordelia poured her remaining magic towards the head of Nagaros that was on the verge of death from being crushed by the gorge. Bang! Nagaros¡¯ head exploded, and Cordelia was surrounded by a ring of light before she turned to the direction of theva giant. She cried out in joy amidst the pain she felt. ¡°Good!¡± As I expected! Theva giant that lost its destination had stopped in the air. It hesitated as if it did not know where to go, and then suddenly turned to the far west. ¡®Wildnds.¡¯ A ce with many dragon veins. It was not a distance that could be reached in a few minutes. It would clearly take several days to arrive there at the shortest. So instead of running after it, Cordelianded on the ground and unsummoned the Phantom Steed. She slumped to the ground andpletely copsed. ¡°Haa¡­ haa¡­¡± The exhausted Kirara fell besides Cordelia and roughly breathed. After a dozen seconds or so. Jude who had the same thought as Cordelia flew their way. ¡°Cordelia!¡± ¡°Here, here¡­¡± She just murmured small as she could not answer properly, but Jude found Cordelia. He sighed in relief afternding in front of Cordelia who was covered in sweat. ¡°Haa.¡± It¡¯s a relief. A quarter of Zainan Gorge had copsed, but they had prevented a disaster from happening. He thought that was enough for now. Jude sat down in front of Cordelia and looked up the sky again. The animals living in Zainan Gorge were flying in groups as they were apparently frightened by the sudden incident. And in the west direction. Theva giant was slowly flying towards the distant wildnds. It seemed like they could gradually knock it down after they recovered enough of their strength. ¡®Or just leave it to Golden Dragon King.¡¯ Anyway, that was not what mattered now. Jude sat closer to Cordelia and took out a potion for her to drink. ¡°Haa¡­ ugh¡­¡± ¡°Are you okay?¡± Instead of answering, Cordelia raised herself up with a scowl. They had some time now, but they still could not rest. They did not know what else the demon followers might do, so they had to catch their breaths and fight theva giant again. ¡°But drink some potions first.¡± Cordelia gulped down a potion and also poured another potion at her broken left arm. Three minutes passed. Although her whole body was sore, Cordelia pulled herself up and summoned the Phantom Steed again. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Let¡¯s beat up thatva giant. ¡°Okay.¡± If not us, who will stop it? Jude had a bitter smile and pinched Cordelia¡¯s dusty cheek once before riding his Phantom Steed. And after two hours. Lying on top of the wreckage of the destroyedva giant, Jude and Cordelia were sweating profusely and breathing heavily. Jude almost had infinite stamina, but he was exhausted and the same was for Cordelia. They were pretty much lying down like corpses. But they had managed to defeat theva giant. They defeated what could have been one of the seven major cmities that caused the empire¡¯s destruction. ¡°B-by the way¡­¡± As Cordelia gasped, Jude raised his upper body and turned to Cordelia. Cordelia continued as she tightly shut her eyes. ¡°Something, something¡¯s not right.¡± We defeated Nagaros and theva giant. We also leveled up and stopped the plot of the demon followers. But why? Why do I feel so ufortable, as if I forgot something? ¡®Kirara?¡¯ It was not her. Kirara was panting with her face on the ground. She appeared to be tired given her trembling, but it was not life-threatening. What is it then? What in the world did I forget? ¡°Ah.¡± Jude said and Cordelia blinked her eyes. She soon spoke the same way he did. ¡°Ah.¡± What they had forgotten. Their goal that they had forgotten because of theva giant. The fourth te in Zainan Gorge. Jude and Cordelia hurriedly looked east. Theyughed and cried at the sight of the destroyed Zainan Gorge far away from them. Chapter 317: Zainan Gorge (2)

Chapter 317: Zainan Gorge (2)

The fourth te of the Sri denomination. The only te found in the game was in Zainan Gorge. But now, it was somewhere in the destroyed Zainan Gorge. Cordelia closed her eyes. She looked back at Jude and with an awkward smile, stuttered. ¡°I-it¡¯s not there, right?¡± The te¡¯s not there, right? It¡¯s outside the damage area, right? Jude gave an honest answer to Cordelia¡¯s question. To be exact, he shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s there.¡± ¡°Uwaaaa¡­¡± We came here to find the fourth te, but the te is now gone! Cordelia had somehow destroyed it, so she was even more upset. ¡°I-it will be fine, right? That¡¯s right! Since it¡¯s a divine item of the Sri denomination, it should be unbreakable!¡± If it was a normal te, it would have likely been broken, but it was something divine, so it would not break easily. Jude nodded his head with some hesitation. ¡°Yes, it will be fine¡­ It will be fine.¡± Probably. But their problem was still there. The earthquakes and the rockfall. It had turned the ce into a mess. In the game, the fourth te was in a small stone chamber, but it was questionable if the stone chamber was still intact now, let alone the te. ¡°Still¡­¡± Jude¡¯s words trailed off at the end, and he stood up and quietly looked at Zainan Gorge. The earthquake was definitely strong, but he thought that it was still possible to find the te even if the stone chamber had been destroyed. ¡°Let¡¯s hope that it hasn¡¯t gone too far.¡± Maybe it¡¯s near the ce where it should have been. Cordelia understood what Jude had meant, so she put her hands together and prayed. And a dozen minutester. ¡°Hweeeh¡­¡± Kirara who was on Jude¡¯s back opened her eyes as she let out a strange cry. Although she had not lost her consciousness, she was so shocked and exhausted that she had fallen into a daze. ¡°Are you okay now?¡± ¡°Mas¡­ter?¡± Kirara blinked her eyes and slowly checked her surroundings. She had heard Cordelia¡¯s voice a little below Jude¡¯s broad and firm back. Since Jude was very tall, the Kirara on his back was naturally higher than Cordelia. So Cordelia stood on her tiptoes and stretched out her hand to pat Kirara¡¯s head. ¡°It¡¯s okay. It¡¯s over now. Were you that surprised?¡± Cordelia had asked kindly, but the Kirara who always reflexively bowed her head and enjoyed Cordelia¡¯s head pats had flinched now. ¡°Hiiiie.¡± Perhaps it was a kind of PTSD. Beastkin had parts that were closer to beasts than humans, so when they experienced too much fear or shock, they often acted like beasts. Cordelia felt even more sorry when Kirara trembled with a pale face and her tail stiffened. ¡°Uhh¡­ my Kirara looks so pitiful.¡± [Mistress Cordelia, isn¡¯t this your fault that she became like that?] Melissa¡¯sments were often correct, but she was ignored like always. Cordelia stroked Kirara¡¯s head a few more times, and Kirara purred like a cat despite her conflicting emotions of fear and relief. ¡°By the way, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± Jude had slightly lowered his posture to make it easier for Cordelia to pat Kirara, and he pointed to one direction with his chin. The head of arge and white snake with its tongue sticking out could be seen lying under some huge rocks. ¡°I think that¡­ it¡¯s still alive?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± Surprised by Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia turned to Serpent King Nagaros. ¡®I¡¯m sure I got thest hit and all the experience points though?¡¯ She recalled the ring of light earlier. Moreover, it did not appear to be alive from Cordelia¡¯s eyes. The snake had its eyes closed, and it was not moving. ¡°Are you sure that it¡¯s alive?¡± ¡°Yes, I can feel its life energy even though it¡¯s weak.¡± Jude said before putting down Kirara on his back and approaching Nagaros. It was a monster with a body length of several dozens of meters, so its head was so huge that it seemed like it could swallow one person whole. ¡°Serpent King Nagaros.¡± The raid boss of Zainan Gorge. Its leather, teeth, venom, and so on were all valuable. Jude narrowed his eyes as he recited a small chant before he suddenly jumped over its head. ¡°Jude?¡± Instead of replying to her, Jude increased his concentration. He used his ability to see through things and inserted his sword-like hand into the center of Nagaros¡¯ head. ¡°ck Dragon Tentacles.¡± [My sessor? Are you really going to use that name?] Valencia never said anything when Jude shouted the skill names whenever he seriously fought. Because just like Jude, Valencia often shouted the skill names during the time she was alive. But skill names should have some dignity and elegance. It¡¯s ck Dragon Tentacles. ck Dragon Tentacles! At Valencia¡¯s protests, Jude¡¯s lips squirmed but he stood firmly with the skill name. He had first used the skill when he previously fought the Sword Masters of the empire. The skill had allowed him to control several ck dragons as if they were tentacles, but he could also precisely control it by making it small and thin as it was now. [Umm¡­ Intuition is indeed one of the things to consider when naming a skill. But still¡­] Valencia still could not let go of herints, but the energy of the small ck dragon that stretched out from Jude¡¯s fingertips had prated deep into Nagaros¡¯ head. Like a doctor controlling an endoscope, Jude looked inside the Nagaros¡¯ head with his see-through ability while controlling the ck dragon¡¯s energy, and soon grabbed something small and delicate. ¡°Kiaa!¡± The small crying sound was like the cry of a baby. Jude grabbed the neck of the little snake with the ck dragon before dragging it out. Cordelia asked in surprise. ¡°Is that Nagaro¡¯s kid?¡± ¡°No, rather¡­ it¡¯s Nagaros¡¯ rebirth?¡± A snake¡¯s rebirth. Since ancient times, snakes that shed their skins were often regarded as symbols of immortality. And that was true for Serpent King Nagaros who was capable of resurrecting from the dead like a phoenix. ¡°It¡¯s like a phoenix.¡± The phoenix they met in the wildnds was reborn as a baby instead of being resurrected in its adult form. It seemed difficult to tell if the present Nagaros was exactly the same as the previous Nagaros though. ¡°What should we do with it?¡± Cordelia asked again and Jude looked down at Nagaros for a moment. As a highly intelligent creature, the Nagaros that had shiny white scales and yellow eyes knew very well on what action it must take now. ¡°Kyiiii¡­¡± That moment had proved that even snakes had facial expressions. Nagaros pretended to be as pitiful as possible, and Jude grinned before turning to Cordelia and Kirara. ¡°Let¡¯s give it to Kirara.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Oh!¡± Kirara was bewildered while Cordelia was amazed and pped her hands. ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right. It¡¯s good to give it to Kirara. It¡¯s a baby now, but it¡¯s still the serpent king, so it will greatly help her, right?¡± At Cordelia¡¯s suggestion, Kirara blinked a few times before ncing at Jude and Nagaros again. ¡°Kyiiii.. Kyiii¡­¡± It could not speak properly because it was still a baby, but they could understand what it was saying from the look of its eyes and the tone of its voice. Please spare me. Just spare me. It was scared. Its cries sounded desperate. Like the phoenix, some of its past life memories remained. ¡°I-I¡¯ll give it a try!¡± Kirara somehow felt pity andpassion for it, so she raised her hand and spoke. Nagaros whimpered as Kirara climbed up the dead Nagaros¡¯ head. ¡°Uh¡­ Nagaros! W-would you like toe with me?¡± Kirara¡¯s monster taming was more of a supernatural skill than magic. Her face had somehow turned red from embarrassment, but when she held out her hand as a sign of friendship, Nagaros immediately responded. It eagerly nodded its head and twisted its body. ¡°I-I did it.¡± Why did it remind me of the phoenix in the wildnds? (Jude) As Jude rxed his grip, Nagaros quickly transferred to Kirara¡¯s arm and settled on her shoulder as if it was a pet snake she had raised for a long time. ¡°Wow, did you seed?¡± Cordelia excitedly asked after she jumped up with her telekinesis, and Kirara happily nodded. ¡°Yes, I seeded. He¡¯s my friend now.¡± ¡°Wow, my Kirara is amazing. Let me praise you a lot.¡± Cordelia gently stroked Kirara¡¯s head, making Kirara smile again. And Jude who was watching them thought to himself. ¡®It¡¯s a happy ending.¡¯ Nagaros¡¯ life was spared, Kirara got the Serpent King, and Cordelia was happy that Kirara did a good job. Jude particrly liked thest part, and nodded his head with a pleased expression before saying. ¡°It¡¯s small but it¡¯s the king of snakes, so it must have a strong venom. Make good use of it.¡± ¡°Yes, Master.¡± Kirara shyly replied and smiled as she stroked Nagaros¡¯ little head with her fingers. It was truly a heartwarming and pleasing sight. But it did notst long. Because Nagaros was not the important thing now. ¡°Well then¡­ shall we go?¡± To the ce where the fourth te was originally located. It was not an exaggeration to say that it had copsed along with the gorge, but they still had the coordinates. ¡®Even if it was swept away and buried, it would still be nearby.¡¯ It¡¯s probably within a 100 meter radius. Jude had a bitter smile at the number he thought, and he led Cordelia and Kirara to the estimated location. But right after they arrived there. ¡°Huh?¡± Cordelia suddenly tilted her head and spread her wings. She revealed her halo and fully turned into an angel, pping her wings as she said. ¡°I think I know where it is.¡± Because it was an item from Sri. The te emitted a divine energy simr to that of Cordelia who was from Sri¡¯s lineage. Cordelia pped her wings and flew to a certain ce. She used her telekinesis to remove the pile of stones. And around 5 minutester. Cordelia, who was sweating profusely, jumped from her spot and shouted. ¡°I found it!¡± The fourth te of the Sri denomination. It seemed to have reacted to Cordelia¡¯s power as it emitted a faint white glow. ¡°Oooooh.¡± The excited Jude apuded before lifting the fourth te that Cordelia had found. It was undoubtedly the real one. And like thest te, something different happened. The moment the fourth te was found, all three of the remaining tes shone in resonance. ¡°Take it out quickly!¡± At Cordelia¡¯s urging, Jude searched the space expansion bag and pulled out the three remaining tes. Two of the three tes were real, and thest one was a copy that Jude had made, but all three had the same reaction, as though what mattered was the engraved inscription rather than the te itself. White light emitted from the letters. The tes floated in the air. It seemed to go round and round before interlocking with each other and forming a key-shaped light in between the tes. ¡®Material creation!¡¯ It was as Jude had thought. The key-shaped light sucked in the debris on the ground and other surrounding materials, and soon became a real and tangible object. Crecrecreak! Loud sounds were heard in session. It was not a coincidence. The sounds came from the ce where the te was originally located. ¡°The tes are falling!¡± At Kirara¡¯s cry, Jude quickly turned to the tes. The tesnded on the floor like the time it flew, and Jude recovered the key that was floating in the air. The key was big and around the size of a man¡¯s forearm. ¡°Cordelia.¡± Jude handed Cordelia the key and retrieved the tes before running to the direction of the sounds. He cleared the pile of rocks and used his see-through ability. What existed under the rocks. It was a cuboid shape that anyone could tell was artificial! When about ten rocks were removed, white light began to be seen through the remaining rocks. Jude sped up in clearing the rocks, and finally saw the t ground surface. A prayer to Sri was engraved on the floor that was as smooth as metal. Jude lightly stroked the white letters and removed more rocks nearby, excavating the sides of the stone chamber. ¡°There¡¯s a keyhole.¡± It was at the side of the stone chamber. Arge hole was in the middle of a sculpture carved into something like a door. Cordelia¡¯s face became heated in her excitement. There was a key and a hole, so one could not be human if they did not insert it there. ¡°Open!¡± Cordelia inserted into the hole therge key she was holding, and used her strength to turn it. A click was heard, followed by mechanical rumbling sounds again. ¡°Wow.¡± Kirara let out her voice in admiration as light faintly shone out. The door of the stone chamber opened wide. Chapter 318: Zainan Gorge (3)

Chapter 318: Zainan Gorge (3)

The high-ranking demonic human, Caracal, turned her head. She was far from the rainforest that surrounded Zainan Gorge. As soon as theva giant was born, she left the rainforest without looking back, but she was gazing at Zainan Gorge now with a frown. ¡®As I thought, they stopped it.¡¯ She did not know what trick they used, but it seemed like theypletely prevented theva giant from bing one with the dragon vein and be reborn as a true disaster. ¡®Demon yers¡­¡¯ Jude August Bayer and Cordelia August Chase. The two had suddenly be known in the past one to two years, and were more active than the generals of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. The damage caused by the two were truly enormous, whether it was the Devil¡¯s Eye or the Devil¡¯s Hand. ¡®Haraken.¡¯ A high-ranking demonic human of the Devil¡¯s Eye. He left for the wildnds to instigate a war against the S?len Kingdom by controlling the barbarians, but met a tragic death and failed his mission too. He could notpletely subdue the barbarians, and even wasted the Hell Gate created by the Devil¡¯s Eye. And instead of a war, an atmosphere of reconciliation was created between the kingdom and the barbarians who were originally at odds with each other, which was something truly absurd. There was also their loss of personnel. Dozens of demonic humans under Haraken¡¯smand had died fighting. Most were low-ranking demonic humans, but there was something more serious than that. Because more than half of thebat personnel needed to run their organization had been killed. Haraken was not ipetent. He was originally apetent person who made a lot of contributions, so he was entrusted with the huge task of subduing the wildnds. But he failed. A lot of spections were said at that time, but she was sure of it now. ¡®Demon yers.¡¯ Jude Bayer and Cordelia Chase. The two were the culprits behind it all. ¡°Ha.¡± Humans tended tough when faced with such a ridiculous situation. Caracal was a demonic human that was half a human, so she burst outughing without realizing it. ¡®It¡¯s fortunate that I escaped.¡¯ Had she recklessly used theva giant to fight them, Caracal herself would have met the same fate as Haraken. ¡®Perhaps those two are really¡­ the secret weapons sent by Heaven.¡¯ It was a rumor that was secretly circting among the demon followers. Because the growth rate of the Demon yers was so unnatural. ¡®It wasn¡¯t that they got stronger, it was that they were strong in the first ce.¡¯ Up until now, they must have been hiding their power. If the Devil¡¯s Hand that had been observing Jude and Cordelia for a long time had heard her, they would have immediately denied it, but from the perspective of the Devil¡¯s Eye, it was a usible idea. ¡®Grand Sword Master¡­¡¯ It was seriously absurd at this point. A boy who had been weak enough that he could not even go out for a walk had now be a Grand Sword Master within 2 years. Such a development never happened in hero novels. The Devil¡¯s Eye did note up with the idea of them being the secret weapons of Heaven for no reason. ¡®Anyway.¡¯ Caracal¡¯s life was saved, but she had failed her task. She would not be able to avoid being reprimanded when she returned. But Caracal was always optimistic. Even she, a high-ranking demonic human, would not have been able to easily stop them at a time when the the number of demon followers had decreased due to their fights with the Guardians of the Holy Cross. ¡®Moreover, our opponents are the Demon yers.¡¯ Because there were so many people who fell victim to the two, she had a lot of excuses to use to lessen her punishment. ¡®I¡¯ll have to focus on the fact that those two are in the west, that they¡¯re in a remote ce.¡¯ The Devil¡¯s Eye were cautious of the Demon yers. So having secured the fact that those two were in the west, they had two options. Whether to send powerful forces to attack them here or not attack them at all. ¡®If it¡¯s a high-ranking demonic human or anotherplete disaster¡­¡¯ They could kill those two. The two were bound to have limits no matter how strong they were. But Caracal could not imagine the Devil¡¯s Eye to invest all its power in killing the Demon yers. The demon follower groups had gathered under Archbishop Manu, and were focusing their activities on the eastern part of the empire rather than the western part. The Devil¡¯s Mouth had conquered the eastern nations. They who served the overlord of love and hatred, Lilith, had led a huge army and infiltrated the eastern part of the empire. With the help of the Chancellor, they had entered deep within the empire without shedding much blood, and while destroying the bases of the Guardians of the Holy Cross one by one, they had also removed the key figures of the pro-Imperial Family faction located in the east. Jabberwock, the most powerful demonic human of the Devil¡¯s Horn and also called the One-Man Army, had also joined them, so even if Iron Man Landius or Ghostde Kamael appeared, they would not be easily defeated. They would conquer the east. They had failed in the west, but a true disaster would befall the east. ¡®Let¡¯s return.¡¯ Caracal made up her mind and turned around without any regrets. She held no expectations for Serpent King Nagaros, the ruler of Zainan Gorge who had ughtered numerous people in the past. A huge monster like Nagaros would not be able to stop ava giant. Caracal sighed as she spread out her moth wings and flew up. She hurriedly made her way towards the center of the empire, the imperial capital. *** ¡°Wow.¡± ¡°Woah.¡± Cordelia and Kirara eximed at the same time. White light shone out as soon as the door to the stone chamber opened, and a ce that smelled like a treasure trove was revealed. ¡°Wow, wooow, wow.¡± Cordelia in particr was so excited that she was jumping up and down because of a simple reason. ¡®First discovery!¡¯ Because it was a ce that none of the yers in Legend of Heroes 2 were able to find. Therefore, even Outboxer009 and Yellow Storm who were rotten waters of Legend of Heroes 2 did not know what was in the stone chamber and what information it contained. Her heart was pounding from what was unknown. She was excited in possibly hitting the jackpot. Cordelia turned to Jude and pressed down her pounding chest, and smiled beautifully again. Because Jude had a simr expression like Cordelia. ¡®Hey, you too?¡¯ ¡®Yes, me too.¡¯ It was the first time for Jude too. A ce that even Outboxer009 did not find. ¡°Master, let¡¯s go in quickly.¡± Kirara¡¯s eyes sparkled as she pulled Cordelia¡¯s hand. She wanted to go in quickly, but she thought that Cordelia had to go first. ¡°Yes, yes, let¡¯s go. Jude, can I go in first?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°Hehe, I¡¯m number one. First ce.¡± Cordelia, who had been obsessed with bing number one for a long time, carefully stepped inside the stone chamber and soon trembled from excitement. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s so thrilling. I love it. This must be why being first ce is the best.¡± She¡¯s so happy. (Jude) I should have let her win first ce before. Still, she looks cute from jumping in excitement even when she isn¡¯t first ce. How hard must she have wanted to experience it? [My sessor, you sound like a pervert.] It seemed like some of his thoughts had leaked out. Jude cleared his throat as he felt Valencia¡¯s cold gaze and stepped inside the stone chamber. ¡°There are a lot of books.¡± The stone chamber appeared to be only about 17-20 square meters from the outside, but when they went inside, a spacerger than what they had imagined appeared. The distance from one end to another was 50 meters, and the shelves were full of books as though they hade to a huge library. Kirara recalled her childhood treasure, an old fairy tale book that she had lost, as she viewed the books on the bookshelves and stood on her tiptoes. On the other hand, Cordelia looked at the books in a slightly different way. ¡°Wow, seriously?¡± The books had magic in them. Cordelia nced at the books on the one side of the bookshelf and once again eximed in happiness. ¡°Jude, Jude, Jude! These are all dungeon books!¡± All of the bookshelves were filled with dungeon books. They estimated that there were more than a hundred books ranging from basic dungeon books like the dungeon book in the temple at Bailon, to advanced dungeon books with a fairly high level of difficulty. ¡°Did the denomination make it for training purposes?¡± Jude pulled out a few books and studied them, and it seemed that he was right. ¡°There are some books here that the high elves made. These must be something that the denomination had collected.¡± The Sri denomination was destroyed after a fierce battle with the demon followers. But their legacy still existed around the world, and this stone chamber was definitely one of it. ¡°Let¡¯s use this to raise Lucas. And Kajsa and Scarlet.¡± Jude and Cordelia could not find any dungeon books here that were useful to them now, but it was enough for the training of the Lucas, Kajsa, and Scarlet trio. ¡°We¡¯ll all be stronger together.¡± While watching Cordelia pick out books in her excitement of nurturing the three, Jude walked around the ce. The dungeon books and various ancient books were clearly a huge profit for them, but their biggest reason for finding the stone chamber in the first ce was because of something else. ¡°The tomb of the champion Gallus.¡± A pdin of Sri who defeated Demon Prince Leisegang despite his human body. Jude stopped when he reached the end of the stone chamber. Filling the wall were paintings of Sri who was said to be the most beautiful and gentle of the seven archangels in Heaven. She was a red-haired archangel. The goddess of the sun. Jude offered a brief prayer to the now dead goddess before he looked up again. He began to decipher the codes hidden in the paintings one by one. *** Archbishop Manu sat on the throne and frowned. The emperor had escaped, and Elio whom they had hard time in coaxing had failed. Now, it was simply a matter of time before civil war broke out within the empire. It was not good. What Manu wanted was a war between the empire and the kingdom. A civil war in the empire would not create the chaos necessary for the Great Summons. ¡®The Great Tribtion.¡¯ Members of the Devil¡¯s Mouth continued to enter the eastern part of the empire. The demon follower groups originally set their respective regions and kept each other in check, but they had now began to cooperate under hismand, exerting power beyond one¡¯s imagination. But that was not enough. As the demon followers gathered their forces, so too were the opposing forces. In particr was the annoying five heroes of Paragon. Druid Fran had yet to join them, but the fact that the four of them were together was annoying him. They were those who should have died. They should not have been gathered as they were now. He now knew where it went wrong. Demon yers. Jude August Bayer and Cordelia August Chase. The two of them had saved Lena, changed Landius¡¯ mind, and saved Velkian¡¯s life. But Archbishop Manu was not that obsessed with the two. The stage had already grown. Rather than focusing on an individual, it was better to look at the full picture. To give up the west and take control of the east. The disaster born in the east would be sent to the kingdom to cause a Great Tribtion. As soon as the civil war in the empire was over, they would begin a chaotic war with the kingdom. Now was not the time to conserve power. He had to mobilize not only the high-ranking demonic humans, but also the powerful demons and sealed demons. ¡®But it¡¯s still not enough.¡¯ Just a bit more. If I only had a bit more power. Archbishop Manu stared at the darkness. He began his calctions as he moved his fingers. *** Archangel Raguel conveyed her will to crown princess Daphne and the empress dowager. The heavenly voice made it clear to the two women on what had to be done. The nobles of the kingdom were called by the crown princess and gathered in the center. The pro-Imperial Family faction that were loyal to the emperor gathered in the northern part of the empire. King Henry II did not ignore his daughter¡¯s words. Having heard the heavenly voice in person, he finally made a decision. He once again acted so as not to repeat his mistake. The emperor followed the advice of the empress dowager. Together with his trusted and dependable mother, he stood before the Imperial Family loyalists. Henry II caught his breath. The young emperor clenched his fist and opened his mouth. They were in different ces. But what was happening urred at the same time. Henry II spoke. The young emperor proimed. ¡°War.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s begin it.¡± The 301st year of the S?len Kingdom. The 517th year of the Argon Empire. A war was dered that would decide the fate of the continent and the two countries, as well as the entire Pleiades. Chapter 319: Development

Chapter 319: Development

A week after Jude and Cordelia left. Scarlet was walking down the hallway and looked out the window withplicated thoughts. ¡®Are we really in a war?¡¯ Yesterday afternoon, the emperor dered the start of a civil war. To be exact, it was a promation that they would punish the rebels, the Chancellor¡¯s group, but this fight was not a one-sided suppression. After losing the emperor in the imperial capital, the Chancellor did not sit by idly. Whether through assassination or coaxing, he absorbed the rest of the empire and effectively took control of the entire eastern side. ¡®It won¡¯t be easy.¡¯ Whether it was the power of the demons or the influence of the Chancellor who had been running the empire for a longer time than the young emperor, the number of nobles who sided with the Chancellor was not small. A civil war. A war. No one knew how long it wouldst. Moreover, since the war took ce within their own territory and not in a foreignnd, it was terrifying to think on how much damage it would cause. Scarlet closed her eyes and recalled her hometown. A small vige in the eastern part of the empire. She did not think that the outskirts would be a battlefield. But it was clear that they would suffer harshly from the things attached to the war, such as conscription and plunder. ¡°Haa¡­¡± Scarlet wondered what she was doing here. She was definitely on the emperor¡¯s side, which seemed to be a very important ce historically. ¡®Ah, I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ll think about itter.¡¯ Scarlet drove away her bad thoughts by shaking her head. She took a deep breath and straightened her posture. Because of the dark night sky, she saw herself being well reflected by the ss window. ¡°Hmm¡­ good.¡± I¡¯m still pretty. My body is in great shape too. With slightly flushed cheeks, Scarlet pulled out a smallb from her waist pocket and tried tob her hair. And after a while. Scarlet returned herb and took a long breath. There was a reason why she was standing in the hallway at night. It was not to rob some ce as a Rogue Master. No, this could also be a kind of robbing. ¡®Pleasee to my room tonight. I have something important to tell.¡¯ At the end of dinner, Lucas suddenly approached her and said that. He was always a sincere and handsome guy, but when he said that, he seemed to be a bit cooler. ¡®He was serious.¡¯ It seems to be something very important. Something that he wants to tell me. What is it? We¡¯re in a situation where there is war. No, perhaps it¡¯s be more important now because of that. All kind of thoughts began to fill her mind. ¡®Well, lightly, lightly.¡¯ It was normal for a Rogue Master to enter someone else¡¯s room. ¡®But it¡¯s his room, right?¡¯ What do you want to talk about that you have to call me there? ¡°Huu¡­¡± Scarlet caught her breath again. She was no different from Pink Bomb because of her face that had turned red from embarrassment. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go.¡± Scarlet calmed her excitement and lightly walked along the hallway like a cat before arriving at Lucas¡¯ door. She took a deep breath again. And gently knocked. ¡°Lord Lucas?¡± She gulped. It was when she unconsciously swallowed hard. Lucas¡¯ door that had been closed was opened, and Lucas appeared, somehow looking more handsome than he did at dinner. ¡°Miss Scarlet. You¡¯re here.¡± ¡°Because you called me.¡± She spoke with a slightly haughty smile, and Lucas firmly said with a nervous face. ¡°Pleasee inside.¡± Lucas¡¯ room. It was not his real room at his family¡¯s house, as it was just a guest room given to them by Marquis Buckingham, but her heart was still pounding strangely. Until she took a step and entered the room. ¡°Hello.¡± A woman was sitting on Lucas¡¯ bed. ¡°You were also called, huh?¡± When Kajsa smiled and spoke, Scarlet briefly nced at Lucas. Her eyes were asking him to exin what was going on, but he still spoke firmly instead of trying to exin, perhaps because he was dense in that direction or he did not really understand what she was doing. ¡°It¡¯s really important.¡± ¡®What the heck is important?¡¯ Why did you invite me and Kajsa together? Scarlet frowned but soon nodded her head. At this point, she thought that she knew on what was going on. ¡°Girl, I know what you were thinking.¡± Kajsa annoyingly giggled when she sat on the bed. ¡°Hey, aren¡¯t you the same? And didn¡¯t I tell you to call me unnie?¡± ¡°Yes, unnie.¡± Kajsa said with a smile again and Scarlet sighed. ¡®Yeah, this is my fault for expecting something.¡¯ There was no way for him to gather them together in the middle of the night and say ¡®Let¡¯s all get along well!¡¯, so there was only one reason left. ¡°Pink Bomb.¡± When Scarlet stared at one side of the room and spoke, a reaction immediately returned. As if there was a haze, one side of the room became blurry, and the three people who had been hiding appeared. ¡°Oooh, as expected of Scarlet. Aren¡¯t you good?¡± Cordelia winked and praised her, but Scarlet responded by raising her middle finger before turning to Jude and Kirara. ¡°I see that you¡¯ve sneaked in. Are we going to leave the emperor¡¯s camp like this?¡± As soon as she got to the point, the response was as expected again this time. ¡°What? Really?¡± Kajsa¡¯s eyes widened in surprise. ¡°As expected of Miss Scarlet.¡± Lucas innocently admired her. ¡°Hehe.¡± Kirara hugged Cordelia¡¯s waist as if she was not interested. And Jude and Cordelia also reacted as expected. ¡°Our Scarlet is smart.¡± ¡°Yes, it is as you have said. We don¡¯t need to sneak in at night unless we¡¯re going to leave quietly.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Scarlet stroked her chin with one hand and continued. ¡°Certainly¡­ it would be ambiguous for you who are foreigners to be in a real war here.¡± The emperor and empress dowager trusted Jude and Cordelia because the two had saved their lives twice. But that did not change the fact that Jude and Cordelia were foreign nobles from the S?len Kingdom. Would Marquis Buckingham entrust his troops to Jude and Cordelia? That would be impossible. Unless their situation became seriously hard, he would not even send them to the front lines at all. ¡®And¡­ we have no reason to risk our lives to fight in someone else¡¯s civil war.¡¯ Their situation was different from the fights they had so far. Even if the demon followers took control of the Chancellor and his forces as the two had imed, the opponents they would fight from now on would most likely be ordinary people from the empire. Just as the Guardians of the Holy Cross had no reason in joining the fight, the two including Lucas and Kajsa had no reason to stay here. ¡°Because you¡¯re not from the empire. I understand.¡± ¡°Then we¡¯re only leaving Scarlet, an imperial citizen? I agree to that.¡± As Kajsa raised her hand and spoke, Scarlet¡¯s frown deepened. She knew that it was a joke and not something serious, but she was still angry. ¡°Hey, you know that I¡¯m joking, right, unnie?¡± It was only at times like this that she got called that. Scarlet pushed aside Kajsa who was hugging her and giggling, and she looked at Jude again and spoke. ¡°I¡¯ll listen to your destination and decide whether to follow you or not. And your purpose.¡± Her words were valid. So Jude also answered seriously. ¡°We n to return to the northwestern side of the empire, at Asain Pass. It will be easy for us to join forces with the kingdom to support the empire by secretly meeting in the wildnds. Also, I think that my master who is active in the east will join us¡­ After all, our purpose is the same as what we said in the beginning. We are here to drive out the demon followers in the empire.¡± There was no need to add to the group¡¯s anxiety by talking about the Great Summons. Scarlet furrowed her brows at Jude¡¯s words, and soon nodded her head. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll go with you.¡± ¡°Tsk.¡± Kajsa immediately clicked her tongue and sounded disappointed, but Scarlet was pleased. Because Lucas sighed in relief as though he liked her answer. And there was one more person who sighed in relief. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s good. I also did not forget Scarlet¡¯s share.¡± ¡°My share?¡± ¡°Yes, Scarlet¡¯s share.¡± With a giggle, Cordelia exined the events of Zainan Gorge one by one. Lucas and Kajsa¡¯s eyes slightly lit up when they heard that the small white snake that was wrapped around Kirara¡¯s waist was actually Serpent King Nagaros, but the reactions they showed to the rest of the story were exactly as expected. ¡°I see. So you¡¯ve figured out the location of the fifth andst te?¡± ¡°Yes, there¡¯s a saying that if you collect all five tes, the path to Sri¡¯s treasure will open.¡± Collecting four tes would reveal the location of the tomb of champion Gallus, and adding the fifth te would reveal the location of Sri¡¯s treasure. It was a treasure hunt that made someone go from one ce to another, but it was an understandable story from Scarlet¡¯s perspective. The treasures of the Rogue Master were hidden in a simr way, so it was understandable if the treasure of the sun goddess Sri was hidden that way. ¡®I¡¯m curious though.¡¯ What in the world is in there that they hid it that way? ¡°Where is the location?¡± ¡°It¡¯s close to the Shadow Forest. That¡¯s why after moving to Asain Pass, me and Jude will be quickly going there together.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s words, Lucas nodded without giving it much thought, but not for Kajsa and Scarlet. ¡°Wait a minute. Only you two?¡± ¡°Hoh, only you two.¡± The gazes of the two women had a look of suspicion. But Cordelia spoke with a brazen face, as if proving the old sayings of ¡®he who touches pitch shall be defiled therewith¡¯ and ¡®the student surpasses the master.¡¯ ¡°Well, it¡¯s efficient this way. Right, Jude?¡± ¡°It is efficient.¡± Jude also responded shamelessly. ¡°Hmmm¡­ I see. It¡¯s efficient, huh?¡± Cordelia flinched at Kajsa¡¯s attack with her eyes, but still managed to keep her expression. Her idea was a bit different, but it was true that it was efficient. But it was at that time. Scarlet narrowed her eyes and said with a grin. ¡°Pink Bomb, isn¡¯t it more efficient if only one of you go?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I mean, one is a Grand Sword Master and the other is a Grand Wizard, so you both possess tremendousbat power. Why do you need to stick together then? Isn¡¯t it more efficient to go to different ces especially when the situation is chaotic now?¡± ¡°She¡¯s right?¡± Kajsa had somewhat agreed too. Lucas nodded as if it made sense to him. Jude and Cordelia. Together, they were Judelia. A Grand Sword Master and a Grand Wizard. They were only going to look for a te and not going for a fight, so they did not really need two powerhouses to move together. Cordelia stammered at their sharp remarks. It was because she could note up with an excuse. ¡°That¡­ uh¡­¡± What do we do? Should I act like we used to? That I love him so much that I can¡¯t bear to part with him? ¡®I-I don¡¯t think that¡¯s acting though¡­¡¯ Because she could not imagine being apart from Jude now. And it was the same for Jude. ¡°Uh, no. Cordelia and I must go together.¡± Jude dered as he held Cordelia¡¯s waist with one arm. Cordelia¡¯s love filter made her admire his confident appearance that allowed no objections, and the rest of the party looked suspiciously at them, but soon nodded their heads. ¡°Well, actually, I can¡¯t imagine you two being apart each other.¡± ¡°So do I.¡± As Kajsa and Lucas spoke one at a time, Scarlet pouted her lips. ¡°I knew it would be like this.¡± Given the situation, it seemed like she could not forcefully have Kirara go with them again this time. ¡°Okay, so are we leaving right now?¡± After all, they had to eventually leave the emperor¡¯s camp, or to be exact, the mansion of Marquis Buckingham. Jude nodded at Scarlet¡¯s words and said. ¡°We¡¯ve already nned a route to get out of here, so just pack your luggage. Will 10 minutes be enough?¡± ¡°It¡¯s enough. Because I don¡¯t have much luggage.¡± Scarlet shrugged and grabbed Kajsa¡¯s arm, dragging thetter out of the room. And three dayster in the evening. After leaving the mansion of Marquis Buckingham and moving to a ce where they could see the Shadow Forest, the party once again parted ways. ¡°Train with the dungeon books every day, okay?¡± ¡°I will, Master. This Kirara will work hard.¡± ¡°Yes, I believe in Kirara.¡± ¡°Hehehe.¡± Kirara wagged her tail and looked at Cordelia with anticipation, so Cordelia spread her arms out. After hugging the small cat beastkin girl tightly, she talked to Scarlet and Kajsa too. ¡°You two, don¡¯t forget it. I¡¯ll check you two when wee back.¡± ¡°What are you suddenly saying?¡± ¡°Hey, are we kids? Aren¡¯t we older than you?¡± The words of the two were reasonable, but this was Pleiades where Confucianism beliefs did not exist. Cordelia simply snorted at the elders¡¯ remarks before walking to Jude. ¡°Then Lord Lucas, we¡¯ll be going.¡± ¡°Yes, take care.¡± ¡°You, too. Please take care of Scarlet, Kajsa, and Kirara.¡± When Cordelia kindly spoke, Lucas nodded again. ¡°Yes, I will risk my life to protect the three.¡± Cordelia smiled at the sight of him beautifully swearing while even pulling out his sword. After all, this Lucas looked the best when he was like this. A pure and innocent boy. A vengeful and fallen demonic human did not suit him. ¡°Then shall we get going?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± They had two Phantom Steeds, but they only summoned one this time. ¡°Then take care. We¡¯ll be back soon.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll meet you at Asain Pass.¡± Cordelia and Jude greeted the group, and the rest waved their hands as they saw them off. It was a moonlit night. The Phantom Steed lightly flew and the two tightly hugged each other. Scarlet watched Jude and Cordelia moving away under the white moonlight, and unintentionally turned to Kajsa who smiled and said. ¡°Are they going to have an ident this time?¡± ¡°ident? What ident?¡± ¡°Are they finally going to do it?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± In fact, it was more surprising that the two had not done it before. Scarlet shrugged and let out a long breath. Demon followers were running wildly and a war was brewing, yet those two were going to do everything in order to do ¡®that.¡¯ ¡®Well, perhaps this time around, they¡¯ll do it¡­ They¡¯ll have an ident.¡¯ The civil war had yet to begin in earnest. But it was only a matter of time. In a few days at thetest, a real war will begin in which countless people will kill each other and die. ¡®That¡¯s why I¡¯m feeling sentimental.¡¯ How much time would those two have to be together like that? Scarlet shook her head. She rid herself of her anxious thoughts and waved once more to Jude and Cordelia who now looked as small as dots. ¡®Have a safe trip. I¡¯ll listen to your braggingter, so have an ident, okay?¡¯ Scarlet finished her thoughts with a snicker and turned around. She smiled helplessly at Kajsa, Kirara, and Lucas who was oblivious in many ways. Have an ident is a subtle way of saying ¡®having premarital sex.¡¯ Prologue

Prologue

This series is 90% machine trantion (MTL), 1% editing for easier readability, and 9% actual trantion and research for the character names and settings. I don¡¯t speak a single word of Korean, but I really love this series so I¡¯ve decided to trante it in hopes that it will be more popr. [Outboxer009 has logged in] Romantic Cat: Oh, the stagnant water is here. Outboxer009: Aren¡¯t we all stagnant water that are already rotting in this unimportant game? Why are you guys still ying here? It¡¯s been more than 10 years since this game wasunched. (Trantor¡¯s Notes [T/N]: Stagnant water (???) is a Korean ng used by the younger generations. It means that someone has yed a certain game for a long time that they¡¯ve mastered the game. Rotting/rotten water is an extreme version of stagnant water, meaning the stagnant water has pooled for too long that it had gone bad/rotten. Rotten water is higher in level than stagnant water, meaning they have spent time far longer than stagnant water, and are considered game pros, legends, or veterans.) Source: Korean ng of the Day -Reddit Cowabunga: Look in the mirror first and ask yourself. Outboxer009 ¨C Kang Jin-houghed at the reply that came from beyond the screen monitor. Legend of Heroes 2. It has already been 10 years since the game wasunched, and a third installment was even released. However, it was still a ssic game among veteran yers. But why do people y games that are more than 10 years old? ¡®Because it¡¯s fun.¡¯ What other reasons do they need to y the game? In fact, there was one more decisive reason. Kang Jin-ho was one of the longest-ying users of Legend of Heroes 2 ¨C No, he has reached the highest level and gained status as a rotten water. He was a ranker. And in this chat room, there was one more rotten water who as bad as Kang Jin-ho. Yellow Storm: Are you here, Boxer? Are you ready toe down to 2nd ce? Outboxer009: Oh, you¡¯re still dreaming? Please, don¡¯t even look up at trees that you can¡¯t climb. Yellow Storm: Bullsh*t. This time, I¡¯ll be first ce. Outboxer009: Yes, yes. Everyone has the freedom to dream. You¡¯re allowed to dream. Romantic Cat: Both of you shut up. This month¡¯s rankings are up. Legend of Heroes 2 announced server rankings every month by adding up various points earned in the game such as time attacks. And this leaderboard that has been running for a long time has be the battlefield for the rotten waters. [1st ce: Outboxer009 ¨C 315,234,999 points] [23 months in a row!] [2nd ce: Yellow Storm ¨C 315,234,125 points] [22 months in a row!] [3rd ce¡­] Yellow Storm: F*ck! Wht the f*ck is tis? Is this brokenn! AAA: Look at all the typos. You must have had a mental breakdown. Romantic Cat: I think I can hear the sound of trembling! It seemed like he could really hear a trembling sound. After swallowing nervously and then sighing in relief at seeing the results, Kang Jin-ho burst out intoughter from the depth of his lungs. Outboxer009: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Did you see it? Outboxer009: You¡¯re eternally 2nd ce! E etc.! Second-ss! Number 2! Yellow Storm: sdlkghiosdghsodighsdighiofsdoighiosd AAA: Oh, it¡¯s here. Mental breakdown. Cowabunga: It¡¯s more fun to tease because he reacts like that. *shakes head* Outboxer009: Ah, it was fun. I¡¯m going to have a good night¡¯s sleep. Good night to you too, Yellow second-ss. Try harder next month. Yellow Storm: Hey! Why is the difference between us only 800 points?! Outboxer009: Right. I don¡¯t know why you couldn¡¯t get that 874 points. Ah, is this the difference between 1st and 2nd ce? Yellow Storm: The use of abusivenguage is subject to sanctions. Yellow Storm: The use of abusivenguage is subject to sanctions. Yellow Storm: The use of abusivenguage is subject to sanctions. Yellow Storm: The use of abusivenguage is subject to sanctions. Yellow Storm: F*** is an exmation, not a curse! Outboxer009: Anyway, I¡¯m going to sleep. Good night. Dream of me ? Yellow Storm: The use of abusivenguage is subject to sanctions. A few minutester¡­ When a new conversation did not appear in the chat room, the other rotten waters holding popcorn in one hand and watching the monthly event started to speak again. Romantic Cat: What, did they really go to bed? Cowabunga: Did Norfolk go to bed? Doesn¡¯t he have any other words? T/N: Norfolk came from baseball yer, Yoon Suk-min¡¯s nickname, ¡°Norfolk Wars¡±. Yoon was in a ¡°war¡± with another Korean baseball yer, and he was losing in the war while he was at the Norfolk Tides baseball team. So, Yellow Storm is ¡°Norfolk¡±, as she had lost the war in the server rankings. More info about Norfolk can be found before the start of episode 8. AAA: They¡¯re permanently first and second ce in order together. Like a married couple that grows old together. Cowabunga: It¡¯ll be published as a dark BL novel. AAA: Oh, shit. I imagined it. Romantic Cat: What happened? I don¡¯t know about Boxer, but if it¡¯s Norfolk, it¡¯s normal for him to act rashly and talk nonsense. Did the two of them really go to bed? . .. ¡­ [Outboxer009 has logged out.] [Yellow Storm has logged out.] . .. ¡­ [Kang Jin-ho has entered Pleaides.] [Hong Yoo Hee has entered Pleiades.] Outboxer and Yellow Storm are references to real-life StarCraft pro-gamer rivals, BoxeR and YellOw. Even their real names (Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee) are references too, to their real-life counterparts (Lim Yo Hwan and Hong Jin-ho). In the original raws, Kang Jin-ho was actually Lim Jin-ho, but the author changed it into Kang Jin-ho in the revised version of the chapters. Source: BoxeR, YellOw Chapter 1: Pleiades (1)

Chapter 1: Pleiades (1)

Count Bayer. It was once a famous family of swordsmen, and its head was the Margrave of the S?len Kingdom¡¯s northern frontier, but that was all in the past, as they are now just an old family n. But even so, they were the Bayer family. Even if the father and son fell and their family declined in approximately 3 years, they still maintained their position at the bottom ce of the 12 northern families. In the mansion of such Count Bayer¡­ There was a struggling man in the second son¡¯s room, who was called the ¡®anguish of Count Bayer.¡¯ ¡°Kkeuoeo¡­eoo¡­eoo¡± It was a boy in histe teens who held his head and let out strange groans. He had dark blue hair, a white and slender face, and a pair of mysterious green eyes that all blended together to show off his good looks, but now, he was thinking of his situation as he looked at himself. The boy was named Jude Bayer, also known as the second son of Count Bayer. The boy was now thinking as he stared nkly at the mirror hung on the wall. ¡®Is this likeness totally real?¡¯ Is everything that he could see in the mirror real? The fact that Jude Bayer is now Jude Bayer. The sentence was like a y on words, but Jude was serious. He would be, too, because he was both Jude and Kang Jin-ho at the same time. ¡®No matter how I look at it, this is the world of Legend of Heroes 2.¡¯ Two days have passed since Jude ¡°awakened¡± his memory as Kang Jin-ho. And that time of two days was not short. The name ¡®Jude Bayer.¡¯ The situation of Count Bayer. The S?len Kingdom and its surrounding circumstances. None of them were inconsistent with Legend of Heroes 2. ¡®Pleiades.¡¯ A world that is the background of the entire series of Legend of Heroes. ¡®Let¡¯s face it. This world is Pleiades, and I am Jude Bayer.¡¯ It felt a little different from simply entering a game, which wasmon in novels and manhwa ics). Rather, the situation felt like he was born as Jude Bayer, and then remembered his ¡®past life¡¯ as Kang Jin-ho. So, even though he had be Jude, it almost didn¡¯t feel out of ce. Because from the very beginning, he was both Jude Bayer and Kang Jin-ho at the same time. Jude raised his head and looked at the mirror again. He saw the beautiful view of a handsome looking boy with superior looks, sitting down in front of the mirror. ¡®I am handsome.¡¯ He wasn¡¯t just handsome¡­he was exceedingly handsome. Jude rose from his seat and looked around the room. It was spacious, nice, and clean. It seemed to berger than the vi he had lived in when he was Kang Jin-ho, and though the furniture showed signs of age, one cannot deny that the all the furniture were luxury items. Jude considered his situation objectively. The difference between the days of Kang Jin-ho and the days of Jude. He was young again, a dozen times more handsome than before, and he had be a golden spoon noble. It was absolutely perfect. It was an upgrade to the point where he felt like apuding. But then Jude thought. ¡®Isn¡¯t this f*cked up though?¡¯ It wasn¡¯t because of Jude. Although Jude Bayer was a character with some ws among the characters of Legend of Heroes 2, the bigger problem lies in the fact that this was the world of Legend of Heroes 2 itself. The background setting of Legend of Heroes 2 was not a peaceful fantasy world. No, it was a world of great tribtion ¨C demons descended from the demon world, and angels came down to fight against them ¨C all the countries and races of the continent were embroiled and killed in the war. In short, it was a world destined for Apocalypse. ¡®I was fortunate that it wasn¡¯t the third installment.¡¯ Legend of Heroes 3 dealt with the aftermath of the war between the angels and demons, where all human nations had copsed. If he had entered Legend of Heroes 3, he wouldn¡¯t be sitting and looking in the mirror like this, but he would¡¯ve been bitten and torn apart by monsters. ¡®As expected, there¡¯s only one way.¡¯ He must be strong. So that when the times of great tribtione, he could endure it. And if possible, he must be strong enough to protect himself and those around him. In the real world where Kang Jin-ho lived, there were clearly limitations for humans in bing strong, but this was Pleiades, the world of Legend of Heroes. It was possible for an individual here to demolish mountains and be an absolute power that can shake the sky. ¡®Well¡­the authenticity of that is questionable, but moving on¡­¡¯ For a while, he looked at his slender forearm, but soon made up his mind and clenched his fist again. ¡®Let¡¯s do it.¡¯ He can do it. He must do it. Jude himself is Outboxer009. Wasn¡¯t he the rotten water that kept the top spot in the server ranking list for a staggering 23 months! So, Jude decided to consider Jude Bayer¡¯s situation first. Jude Bayer. The second son of Count Bayer. He hails from the Bayer family, which has produced outstanding warriors for generations, but he himself hasn¡¯t mastered even one of the sword basics. Of course, he wasn¡¯t just a useless guy as he was one of the yable characters. Jude certainly had a talent. It wasn¡¯t just an ordinary talent but a truly iparable talent. Cheonmujiche (Heavenly Martial Body). As the name implies, it¡¯s a heavenly talent for martial arts. ¡®But there¡¯s a trap card here.¡¯ Jude was born with an abnormality in the Yin meridians of his whole body, particrly called, Gueumjulmaek (Nine Yin Severed Meridians). ¡®Short-lived, weak, inability to use mana, but possessing a tremendous amount of yin energy.¡¯ These were roughly the effects of Gueumjulmaek. He was an unlucky genius born in a body with both Cheonmujiche and Gueumjulmaek. That was the boy named Jude Bayer. ¡®Couldn¡¯t I just have been Leon? Or Maximilian?¡¯ In Legend of Heroes 2 where various yable characters existed, it was Maximilian who was the main character of the game. A cheat character born with a great talent in both sword and magic. It was the so-called title character prepared by the production team to allow beginners to see the ending of the game. ¡®Then, Maximilian will be here too, right?¡¯ Maximilian wasn¡¯t the only one. There was a high possibility that all the characters in Legend of Heroes 2 existed here. ¡®It¡¯s making me excited for no reason.¡¯ He had justmented that he had fallen into this world, but this was Legend of Heroes 2. His heart began to throb when he thought that he would be able to meet the characters of the materialized Legend of Heroes 2. ¡®Okay, if that¡¯s it, all I have to do is treat my Gueumjulmaek.¡¯ Then the heavenly martial body will start to bloom. Of course, it was not an easy task to cure Gueumjulmaek. The evidence was that Count Bayer had not been able to do anything about Jude¡¯s Gueumjulmaek even up to this day. ¡®But there is a way.¡¯ As the rotten water of Legend of Heroes 2, he was a yer who knew several treatments for Gueumjulmaek. However, knowing and executing it were different. Is it possible to secure a remedy with his current body, which is itself weak because of Gueumjulmaek? No matter how much he thought of it, it was impossible. It wasn¡¯t something he could do alone. But that was not the case if he could leave it to others. All of the methods he could think of were quiteplicated, and he wondered if the Bayer family members would even believe in Jude¡¯s words. ¡®I need allies.¡¯ Someone who will believe and carry out Jude¡¯s words. Someone who will be on Jude¡¯s side anytime and anywhere. But it was then. ¡°Young master, may Ie in?¡± The voice he heard from outside the room was Maja, Jude¡¯s exclusive maid. ¡®Exclusive maid.¡¯ Although it was a world where a great tribtion was predicted and he had a body with Gueumjulmaek, Jude thought that his life was much better now than when he lived as Kang Jin-ho. After his briefpse of thought, Jude immediately raised his head and said. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s all right.¡± With his permission, Maja opened the door silently and entered. She was a woman in her early twenties with her blue hair tied neatly, and her cold expression belied her attractive beauty. As soon as she entered the room, Maja bowed to Jude and said immediately. ¡°Lady Cordelia Chase, your fianc¨¦e, is here to visit you.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± Visiting a sick person. Come to think of it, he thought, it was worth iting here. When he awakened his past memories as Kang Jin-ho, he remembered a lot of nonsensical stuff. Moreover, wasn¡¯t Jude usually considered a sick person here? ¡®What should I do¡­¡¯ He had awakened Kang Jin-ho¡¯s memories, but Jude¡¯s memories did not disappear. In other words, meeting his fianc¨¦e, Cordelia, didn¡¯t pose any problems. ¡®Cordelia.¡¯ She was an iparably beautiful girl with red hair close to pink. Wasn¡¯t the ratio of handsome and beautiful people here too high? Then again, wasn¡¯t the original game characters all like that? Anyway, if it¡¯s Cordelia Chase, Kang Jin-ho knew quite a lot about her. ¡®Chase, the famous family of wizards.¡¯ If Jude¡¯s family, the Bayer¡¯s, were a famous family of swordsmen, the Chase family were a famous family of wizards. Of course, both families were now weakpared to the past. In any case, Cordelia Chase was a wizard character, born with a fairly outstanding magic talent. She didn¡¯t have a natural-borne talent like Jude, but instead, shecked a weakness like Gueumjulmaek, making her easier to handle in the game. ¡®I¡¯m nervous.¡¯ He didn¡¯t think he would meet his fianc¨¦e who¡¯s also a yable character in Legend of Heroes 2. ¡°Young master?¡± ¡°Huh? Oh, yes, okay. I¡¯m going to see her right now.¡± When Jude willingly answered, Maja hesitated for a moment, but soon nodded and stepped back. ¡°She is waiting in the drawing room.¡± After Maja said that, she began to take the lead as she guided him to the ce. ¡®I am a real nobleman.¡¯ It was a new experience for him, but as he stepped out of the hallway, Jude realized that this was a noble family¡¯s house, a residence that once boasted great power. It was a hall that emphasized practicality rather than splendor, but it was so big and grand that it felt like he was walking in a big castle rather than a mansion. ¡°Mr. Jude Bayer has arrived.¡± Maja, who raised her voice once they were in front of the drawing room door, opened the door with a restrained movement. Unlike the hall which gave a stark impression, the drawing room was well-decorated. Inside, there was a girl with red hair close to pink, and a female knight right next to her who served as an escort. ¡®Cordelia Chase.¡¯ Jude Bayer¡¯s fianc¨¦e. Jude swallowed deeply as stepped into the drawing room. He faced Cordelia with a natural smile. But right after¡­ The moment he made eye contact with Cordelia¡­ Jude widely opened his eyes. And so was Cordelia. The two shouted almost at the same time. ¡°¡°Why are you here?!¡±¡± Most of the names used in this series are German in origin. Researching about the correct spelling of the character names was what took up most of the time in this trantion. An example is Jude. The Korean for it is ??, which is read as Yudeo. I first thought it wasn¡¯t Jude because of my knowledge of the Christian bible¡¯s Jude, which is spelt as ??? (Yudaseo). It was when I thought that the names might havee from German that I confirmed that the correct name is Jude, as the German pronunciation of Jude is simr to the Korean pronunciation. It¡¯s the same for Maja, which can also be spelt as Maya or Maia, but I stuck with the most German-sounding name, so it became Maja. Chapter 2: Pleiades (2)

Chapter 2: Pleiades (2)

¡°Young master?¡± ¡°Miss?¡± Maja and Cordelia¡¯s escort, a knight, said almost simultaneously. That¡¯s because Jude and Cordelia looked at each other out of the blue and acted strangely. Why are they here? ¡®Didn¡¯t wee here to meet the visitor?¡¯ ¡®Isn¡¯t it because we came here to visit?¡¯ At a time when Maja and the female knight were thinking rationally, Jude calmed his astonished self and thought of the girl in front of him. Just like himself, Cordelia was also full of emotions, such as confusion, surprise, and so on. ¡®What¡¯s going on? Why does Yellow Storme to my mind when I see her?¡¯ The girl in front of him, Cordelia, was so beautiful that the word ¡°iparable¡± could be attached. The eternal 2nd ce Yellow Storm had nothing to do with Jude¡¯s own fianc¨¦e. But it was strange. When their eyes met with each other, the yer named Yellow Storm came to his mind. It was good to say that it was an absolute feeling. Moreover, it was important to note that the other person showed a simr reaction to him. ¡®No way.¡¯ Is she really that Yellow Storm? It was a dizzying story, but it wasn¡¯t impossible. In the first ce, Outboxer009, who was Kang Jin-ho, had also be Jude Bayer. ¡°Ahem, ahem¡­uh¡­umm. Excuse me for a moment.¡± ¡°Uh¡­ Me, me too.¡± When Jude talked hesitantly first, Cordelia also indecisively answered. However, the way she looked at his side was also unusual. ¡°First¡­ Please sit down.¡± ¡°Uh¡­ yeah.¡± Once the two have sat down, Maja and the female knight tilted their heads at the awkwardness of the two, but it was only for a short while. Maja brought out the newly prepared tea, and Jude continued to exchange awkward nces with Cordelia. ¡®Let¡¯s test her.¡¯ He didn¡¯t know if only he felt something, but he thought that she would have felt something simr too. If the other person really is Yellow Storm like he felt, it would seem like a catastrophe hase, but if it really is, he would likely understand. ¡°Hi, Ye-¡± Hi, Yellow Storm. Jude¡¯s voice trembled because he was embarrassed to say it out of his mouth. But her reaction was right. Cordelia flinched for a moment and her eyes widely opened. ¡°Hi, Out-¡± Hi, Outboxer. Cordelia also spoke quietly, and at the time when Maja and the female knight tilted their heads again, Jude drove the wedge in. ¡°Hey¡­you too?¡± ¡°Hey¡­me too.¡± ¡°Young master?¡± ¡°Miss?¡± Maja and the female knight¡¯s face now had a rather serious look of concern. Why are the two suddenly acting like that? But Jude couldn¡¯t care less about the reaction of those two. ¡®Crazy! Are you really Yellow Storm?!¡¯ When he spoke with his eyes, the other returned a simr answer. Jude first took a deep breath. He wanted to ask a lot of questions right away, like what happened and when did she became Cordelia, but there was Maja and the female knight here. Therefore, Jude tried to speak indirectly to her. ¡°Coop reset 9 o¡¯clock 3-9.¡± One of the contents of Legend of Heroes 2 is the coop mode that resets every night at 12:00 ¨C meaning it was reset at midnight. 9 o¡¯clock refers to the 9 o¡¯clock direction, and 3-9 meant 9 blocks down ¨C that is, 18 meters below the entrance coordinates. Therefore, the interpretation of Jude¡¯s words was as follows. ¡®Let¡¯s meet at midnight in the corner of my garden.¡¯ Honestly, it would be difficult for a normal Legend of Heroes 2 yer to understand what he meant, but it would have been understandable if it was the rotten water Yellow Storm. And indeed, Cordelia nodded and said in a whisper. ¡°Roger that.¡± It was a radio term meaning ¡°understood¡± and is one of Yellow Storm¡¯s peculiar way of speaking. ¡°Ahem, ahem¡­ I¡¯m d that you look healthy. It¡¯s alreadyte today, so I¡¯ll be going back and seeing you next time.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem¡­ it was a pleasure to meet you. I look forward to seeing you next time.¡± Well, they couldn¡¯t have a proper conversation here. So, after deciding on when and where to meet, they quickly ended their meeting. When Cordelia and Jude stood up after talking to each other, it was Maja and the female knight who were confused again. ¡°Yo-you¡¯re going already?¡± ¡°Miss?¡± She was so surprised that Maja¡¯s usual expressionless face was now full of surprise. However, Jude and Cordelia had already reached an agreement and exchanged their greetings. Judeughed awkwardly and saw off Yellow Storm ¨C no, Cordelia, who likewise went out with an awkward smile and a quick pace. ¡°Young master? What is going¡­¡± ¡°Umm, yeah.¡± Just what on earth was this situation? But Jude was at least certain of one thing. The appearance of an ally who would be on his side and believe in Jude¡¯s words. Looking at the entrance of the drawing room where Cordelia had left, Jude clenched his fist. *** Jude Bayer¡¯s father, Count Bayer, was out on a northern expedition with his sessor, Ga?l Bayer, who is the older brother of Jude. It was an annual small-scale expedition where they subjugated northern monsters, and the period from their departure to their returnsted one month. In any case, the quiet part of the house was now even quieter. This is because most of the retainers here went on the expedition following his father and brother. Having finished dinner alone in the room, Jude waited impatiently for midnight toe. And finally, the deepest of night, midnight, came. Jude sneaked out of his room and hurried to the garden. It was still summer in terms of time, but the night air was cold as they were in the northern part of the country. ¡®Will shee to the right ce?¡¯ Standing under a big tree at the promised ce, Jude looked up at the night sky with an anxious face. ¡®I¡¯m really in Pleiades.¡¯ There were two moons hanging in the sky. Selene and Helene. Twin goddesses that illuminated the night sky. In fact, the two moons were even more beautiful and mysterious looking than when they were seen through the monitor screen. ¡°Hey.¡± It was at that moment. With the very small voice that came out of nowhere, Jude became alert and looked up the wall to identify the owner of the voice. The owner of the voice was a red-haired girl wearing a hard-pressed brown hood reminiscent of a monk¡¯s robes. ¡°Yellow Storm.¡± ¡°Outboxer009.¡± Speaking quietly, the same little voice came back. And, whoosh¡­ Cordelia crossed over the wall using magic and looked at Jude with a face full of mixed emotions. ¡°For real?¡± ¡°Yes, for real.¡± They just confirmed each other¡¯s nicknames. ¡°It¡¯s really simr.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Even though you¡¯re crazy, it¡¯s still nice to see you.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s words, Jude nodded. The same was true of himself. He thought that he had fallen alone in apletely different world, but he knew a face ¨C no, he was d to see another person like him. ¡°Since when?¡± ¡°Two days ago. What about you?¡± ¡°Two days ago, too.¡± ¡°It happened suddenly when you opened your eyes?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Jude and Cordelia squatted under the tree then and looked at each other with saying anything first. It was Cordelia who opened her mouth again. ¡°Hey, aren¡¯t you supposed to be a guy? How did you get a girl to go over the wall of a man¡¯s house?¡± ¡°What is this sexual discrimination all of a sudden? And don¡¯t you know Jude? Jude Bayer. Gueumjulmaek. How am I supposed to cross the wall?¡± And when he thought about it, it wasn¡¯t just that. ¡°And how long have you been a woman?¡± ¡°From birth.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Since I was born, you crazy bastard.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s confession, Jude rubbed his eyes and soon spoke in a rather embarrassed voice. ¡°Yellow Storm was a woman?¡± ¡°Then were you a man?¡± ¡°I was a man.¡± ¡°I was a woman.¡± ¡°Is that so? Okay¡­¡± Then again, they¡¯ve known each other for five years, but they¡¯ve never talked with each other in themon voice chat. When they met in the game, they met as game characters, so there was nothing for them to recognize about the other¡¯s real sex. ¡°That¡¯s not what really matters now.¡± When Jude spoke, Cordelia nodded, though she had a bit of a bitter expression. What mattered was that Outboxer009 became Jude, and Yellow Storm became Cordelia, and that this world was the world of Legend of Heroes 2. Jude decided to start with the basics first. ¡°So do you? I mean¡­rather than feeling that I¡¯m inside the game, it was more like my past life was ¡®Outboxer.¡¯ So¡­I thought that it was the same for you too, ¡®Yellow Storm.¡¯¡± ¡°Me too. I feel the same.¡± At first nce, there may not be much difference, but in fact, there was a crucial difference between the two. Whether or not they could return. If they were really reincarnated in Pleiades, the world of Legend of Heroes 2, the destination of ¡®return¡¯ would not exist. They were born again in this world, so where would they go to return? But neither Jude nor Cordelia thought deeply about it. Though they felt strongly about the fact that they were both Jude and Cordelia now, there were also more important issues that they had to resolve. ¡°¡°The Great Summons.¡±¡± An event that triggered when all the necessary conditions were in ce, causing the angels and demons to descend. At first, he only thought about being strong enough to survive in the time of great tribtion, but that was not enough now. They had to stop the Great Summons itself, which would bring destruction to this world. Of course, it was a deste story. The descent of angels and demons was indeed the fate of the world of Pleiades. No matter how much of a rotten water he was, it was too much for him to do it all alone. But if he¡¯s not alone. If the 1st and 2nd ce in the server rankings were together. ¡°I like our character picks.¡± Jude Bayer and Cordelia Chase. Both were non-mainstream characters that were far from weak ones, but the characters they ¡®picked¡¯ that she spoke about wasn¡¯t just about their character¡¯s performance. Cordelia said with a bitter smile. ¡°It¡¯s perfect for sharing.¡± ¡°Bingo.¡± Jude was a warrior, and Cordelia was a wizard. As with all the goods in this world, there was a limit to the number of various skills and items that existed in Pleiades. If Jude and Cordelia were characters walking on the same path, they would inevitably interfere with each other¡¯s growth. But they were both warrior and wizard, so they could share the goods of the Pleiades with each other, as Cordelia said. ¡°I never thought I¡¯d form a party here that I haven¡¯t done in five years.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. This world is truly nasty.¡± It was ridiculous to be reincarnated in the world of a game, but he couldn¡¯t believe that he reincarnated with the forever 2nd ce girl. Moreover, they were also engaged. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯d like to ask for your cooperation.¡± ¡°What cooperation?¡± ¡°I have to treat my Gueumjulmaek.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t it automatically get healed during an event?¡± Indeed, it was true. In the game, after starting as Jude Bayer and somehow spending half a year, an event was supposed to take ce where Count Chase would send to Count Bayer the cure of Gueumjulmaek. In other words, it meant that if he just waited calmly, he couldpletely cure the Gueumjulmaek. But at Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude said, clicking his tongue. ¡°That¡¯s why you¡¯re eternally second ce.¡± ¡°What did you say?¡± ¡°Hey, be honest. You¡¯ve never yed Jude, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not true. I¡¯ve tried it before. I know it gets cured because I¡¯ve yed as him.¡± ¡°But do you agree to that? To just wait for half a year to get treated?¡± There are 6 months in half a year, 180 days in 6 months, and 4320 hours in 180 days. It was a such a waste of a long time. Cordelia returned a bitter expression at Jude¡¯s point. ¡°Then what will you do?¡± ¡°I need to treat it before that. By mobilizing all sorts of tricks.¡± In a way that only they who have climbed over the stagnant water and reached the stage of the rotten water can do. ¡°Come closer.¡± Jude gestured to Cordelia, and began to tell his ns. Chapter 3: Pleiades (3)

Chapter 3: Pleiades (3)

Terms used in this chapter: Reading a Korean book ¨C (??? ??) it refers to monotone acting. It came from students reading aloud the Korean textbooks indifferently without showing any emotion. This expression is usually used for those who can¡¯t act, so they end up saying things in a monotone manner. Gueumjulmaek refers to a constitution in which the inner Yi energy is so strong that an abnormality urs in the whole meridians and the cirction of qi is not properly achieved. Therefore, in order to treat Gueumjulmaek, it was necessary to relieve the Yin energy that were blocking the meridians at once. So, what was necessary to treat Gueumjulmaek¡¯s extreme Yin energy was its pr opposite, something that has extreme Yang energy. ¡°Do you know what Jude will eat in half a year?¡± ¡°I know. It¡¯s the Sunfire Carp.¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s not 2nd ce anymore.¡± ¡°Hmmm, I¡¯m a little¡­rather, why do you keep saying second, second ce?¡± Cordelia warned sharply, but Jude just sneakilyughed. It was fun when he teased her in the chat window, but now that Yellow Storm had be an iparably beautiful girl and showed her expressions, it had be more interesting. ¡°Well, as you know anyway, the Sunfire Carp is a carp that possesses extreme Yang energy.¡± ¡°So, let¡¯s go fishing to catch the Sunfire Carp?¡± ¡°Are you really the second in the server?¡± ¡°I am? I¡¯m the second in the server?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m the first.¡± When Cordelia trembled and clenched her fists, Jude moved on to the next topic. Controlling the degree of anything was important. ¡®And¡­this person was a little different from me.¡¯ They were Outboxer009 and Yellow Storm that had ranked 1st and 2nd on the server back-to-back, but in fact, it was not an exaggeration to say that their ystyles tookpletely different paths. ¡®I was a strategist, and she was a fighter.¡¯ If Outboxer009 was a strategist who gained points for achievements by deeply studying the limit of the characters, events, and items that exist in the game, Yellow Storm was the ultimatebat fighter who raised scores by hunting a lot. Of course, both were rotten water, so Outboxer009 was also a good fighter, and Yellow Storm also knew enough about Legend of Heroes 2, but in the end, their majors were different. ¡®Moving on¡­¡¯ Jude erased the distractions from his head and spoke quickly. ¡°If we can get in our hands an item with powerful Yang energy, we can treat the Gueumjulmaek much faster.¡± ¡°I know that, but was there something like that near here?¡± Cordelia frowned and searched her memories. Although there were quite a lot of items with Yang energy other than the Sunfire Carp that Jude had mentioned, it was questionable if Jude and Cordelia could find it for themselves now. ¡°There is one. It¡¯s close too. You know what I¡¯m talking about, right?¡± ¡°Huh? Uh¡­umm¡­ah, that¡¯s it. That. Ah, there was that.¡± Cordelia nodded, as if awkwardly reading a Korean book. ¡°Yes, that. So please help me in handling that. You know what we need to prepare, right?¡± ¡°Ah, I know. Yes, I know.¡± What does she know? Jude couldpletely see that she didn¡¯t know anything. Jude clicked his tongue and decided to just say the right answer. It was fun to tease her, but time wasn¡¯t infinite. ¡°I can just wear the Sun¡¯s Ne that Leisegang has.¡± ¡°Yeah, if you wear the Sun¡¯s Ne of Leisegang¡­Leisegang?! Demon Leisegang- Eep!¡± A startled Cordelia jumped up from her seat and tried to raise her voice, but fortunately, Jude was able to cut her words in the middle. Jude hurriedly blocked Cordelia¡¯s mouth and said in a low voice. ¡°Hey, we¡¯re meeting each other in secret, right?¡± Midnight was ate hour. It was a good thing that most of the people in the house followed Jude¡¯s father who went on an expedition. Otherwise, someone would havee by after hearing the sound. ¡°Have you settled down? I¡¯ll take my hand off when you¡¯ve calmed down, okay?¡± Cordelia nodded at Jude¡¯s question. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll let go.¡± ¡°Pwaah-! Hey, are you really talking about that Leisegang? The Red Moon Demon Leisegang?¡± As soon as Jude removed his hand, Cordelia asked quickly in a low voice. She looked dumbfounded. ¡°Yes, the Red Moon¡¯s Leisegang.¡± ¡°Are you crazy? How will you defeat him? Don¡¯t you know that its level is like a bully to us right now?¡± The Red Moon¡¯s Leisegang was a demon sealed in the northern part of the S?len Kingdom and was one of the mid-bosses that appeared in the middle of Legend of Heroes 2. Outboxer009 and Yellow Storm were stagnant water who reached the level of rotten water, but as Cordelia had stated, it was impossible for them to defeat the demon with their current power, which was at the level of a game beginner. Jude also admitted it. ¡°Yes, so how do we defeat it? But this is really like you, Yellow Storm. Your head is only thinking about hunting it.¡± ¡°But you said that you needed the Sun¡¯s Ne. That¡¯s the drop item if you kill Leisegang.¡± Five hundred years ago, it was the Sun Pdin Gallus who sealed the Red Moon¡¯s Leisegang. Leisegang took Gallus¡¯ life at hisst attack just before being sealed, and in the process, the Sun¡¯s Ne, the relic of the sun god that Gallus possessed, was sealed with Leisegang. Because Gallus was already dead, the priests of the sun godpleted the seal, believing that the nature of the Sun¡¯s Ne would weaken the power of Leisegang. Thanks to that, the Sun¡¯s Ne became the drop item of Leisegang. ¡°We won¡¯t kill the demon. We¡¯ll just steal the item.¡± ¡°How? And don¡¯t you have to unseal it in the first ce to face Leisegang? How are we going to do that? I¡¯m still only a 1-star wizard.¡± ¡°Yes, and I have a disease, so I can¡¯t even be viger A. So, we¡¯ll use Bestin¡¯s Magic Circle.¡± ¡°Bestin¡¯s Magic Circle?¡± ¡°Bestin¡¯s Magic Circle. If you use it, it¡¯ll be possible to summon Leisegang for some time while maintaining the seal¡¯s power. We just need to take the Sun¡¯s Ne away from the one who can¡¯t move because of the seal, and then seal it again.¡± ¡°Your words¡­does make sense¡­¡± Bestin was a powerful barrier wizard who rose to prominence in thetter half of the heroic period. With the proper application of a magic circle that restricts its movements, it would be possible to call out the main body of the bound demon for a while, as Jude had said, while maintaining the seal of Leisegang. ¡°However¡­¡± ¡°However?¡± ¡°Wasn¡¯t that¡­ extremelyplicated? That magic circle?¡± Cordelia had once visited the game¡¯s walkthrough website. It was rumored to be a good magic circle for restricting a sealed demon, but she gave up thinking of using it now because she found it tooplicated to draw the magic circle, even if a copy was right beside her. At Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude nodded. ¡°Of course, I know. I have scrutinized the magic circle for Leisegang several times already. Ah, are you saying that you can¡¯t draw the magic cicle?¡± ¡°Th-that¡¯s not true? I can draw it too? How many times have I drawn it? Because I memorized everything too?¡± ¡°Is that right? Yes, I think so too. You¡¯re the 2nd in the server, of course. There is no way that you can¡¯t memorize it, right?¡± Jude patted her shoulders as he looked at her with eyes full of trust, while Cordelia had an uneasy smile with a face that looked like she was about to cry. ¡®Wow, it¡¯s all revealed on her face.¡¯ He thought as he now knew why she didn¡¯t use the voice chat. She seemed like the type who couldn¡¯t tell a lie. ¡°Yes, since the wizard is you, I¡¯ll ask you to draw it. That¡¯s really reassuring. I¡¯ll only trust in you, Yellow Storm.¡± ¡°Uh¡­ yes. Tr-trust me only. Yes. Me only¡­¡± Cordelia¡¯s appearance as she insecurely forced herself to smile was quite a spectacle. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s make taking the Sun¡¯s Ne from Leisegang as our first quest goal.¡± ¡°But isn¡¯t it a little far away? It seems impossible to go there ande back here in a short time at the middle of the night.¡± The ce where Leisegang was sealed was an abandoned temple in the middle of the Belkain Mountains. Even if it was close to the frontier city where Count Bayer and Count Chase lived, it was still about a half day¡¯s drive by carriage. ¡°Yes, so I was thinking. There¡¯s a solution for that, too.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°First off, you and I are engaged now, right?¡± ¡°Y-yes, so?¡± At the mention of the word ¡®engagement,¡¯ Cordelia looked like she wanted to evade it, and Jude also had the same awkward expression as hers. Yellow Storm and engagement. A promise of marriage between them. Jude felt dizzy while thinking about that, but in any case, using anything avable was the mindset of a strategist. ¡°So, let¡¯s go on a date.¡± ¡°Date?¡± ¡°A date in a carriage.¡± ¡°Who? Yo-you and me?¡± ¡°You and I. Outboxer and Yellow Storm. 1st ce and 2nd ce who get along well with each other.¡± What would the people in the chat room say when they see this situation? Cordelia¡¯s white face became even whiter ¨C in a word, her face had a creeped-out expression and she became stiff. On the other hand, Jude also had a simr expression. ¡°Ah, it seems like my stealthy ¡®time limit¡¯ has made itself felt.¡± ¡°Time limit?¡± ¡°Yes, my Gueumjulmaek.¡± Jude¡¯s hands and feet were already cold from being exposed to the night air for a long time, and it seemed like the spreading night dew would even worsen his condition. ¡°A-are you okay? Would you like a ?¡± ¡°I¡¯d appreciate it. But how do you use magic? How is it when you use magic? Is it okay? It¡¯s a little different from the game, right?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a lot different. It¡¯s amazing. Well, it¡¯s really fantastic.¡± Unlike Jude Bayer who was born with a disease that made him slow and weak, Cordelia Chase was a trained wizard with basic skills in magic. She even used magic to cross over the wall just a while ago. Since arriving at the garden, Cordelia had felt tired and weak from being teased by Jude, but now, she broadly smiled in self-confidence. ¡°Fufufu, I can use for your body.¡± ¡°Y-yes.¡± Cordelia put her hand on Jude¡¯s forehead, closed her eyes and chanted the spell. The beautiful appearance of Cordelia and the green lighting from her hands harmonized together, making it a truly spectacr sight for the eyes. ¡°How is it? Is there any effect?¡± ¡°Yes. It¡¯s a little easier to breathe now.¡± Jude thought he could get back to his room safely. ¡°Then I¡¯ll go back first.¡± Cordelia put the hood on again. Although Count Bayer and Count Chase were neighbors, they didn¡¯t live right next to each other, so it would take quite some time for her to get back. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. If I can cure my disease, I¡¯ll try to cross over the walls of your house.¡± ¡°No thanks? I¡¯m fine with going on a d-date, okay?¡± She was fine with Jude asking her out for a date. ¡°Hey, if that¡¯s the case, can¡¯t we just call it the quest to attack Leisegang?¡± ¡°Ye-yes. That would be good for our mental health.¡± Jude and Cordelia stood side by side and awkwardly bade each other farewell. ¡°Then, I¡¯ll be going. Have a good night¡¯s sleep.¡± ¡°Yeah, good night to you too. Dream of me.¡± Cordelia answered with a middle finger to his habitual greeting, and then flew up and crossed the wall. ¡°Ha, that¡¯s real magic.¡± The world where angels and demons exist, as well as magic. Jude looked at the wall where Cordelia had disappeared for a while, before turning in the direction of the Belkain Mountains. Red Moon¡¯s Leisegang and the Sun¡¯s Ne. It was the beginning of their first quest in this world. Chapter 4: Pleiades (4)

Chapter 4: Pleiades (4)

The next morning. Jude thought as he woke up with a groan. ¡®I¡¯m really weak.¡¯ Although he was healed by Cordelia, his Gueumjulmaek had still not changed. When he woke up, his body felt heavier than usual and he felt dizzy too. ¡®I must hurry too.¡¯ He couldn¡¯t bear to wait for a month, let alone half a year. He had to cure his Gueumjulmaek as soon as possible. ¡®We don¡¯t have time.¡¯ There was still a few years left until the Great Summons ur, but the problem wasn¡¯t just the Great Summons. It was the various events and items that appeared in Legend of Heroes 2. They were literally left unattended. In other words, it meant that there was a lot of possibility that someone other than Jude or Cordelia could get their hands on it. In the first ce, even in Legend of Heroes 2, if a certain deadline was missed, there were many cases where a person, who didn¡¯t participate in an event or collect an item, wouldn¡¯t have a chance to do it again, so it would be even more true in this world where everything had be reality. The things that he could do were too limited because even a little night walk in the garden was too much for his body that was in a bad condition. He needed to regain a healthy body as soon as possible, so that he could begin his optimization strategies for his ¡®character.¡¯ ¡®Okay, first, the date¡­ no, let¡¯s start my strategy in asking her out for a quest, not a request for a date.¡¯ Cordelia had epted his offer, so while striving to maintain his peace of mind from the word ¡®date,¡¯ Jude got up from the bed and began his morning routine. Wake up, wash up, and eat his meal. If it was the usual times, he would have greeted his parents too, but now, both his father and mother were away from home. ¡®Thanks to that, it¡¯s easy to ask her out for a quest.¡¯ Spending a full day outside while riding in the carriage¡­no, it was a ¡®pic,¡¯ so if it was the usual Jude with his weak body, being allowed to do so would have been difficult. ¡®Of course, it¡¯s unlikely to be easy even now.¡¯ Upon returning to the room after finishing his meal, Jude secretly looked around. Maja¡¯s gaze on him was different than usual, because she was thinking of his mysterious conversation with Cordelia yesterday. Her eyes were mixed with worry, concern, and doubts that the young master had something really wrong with his head, and so on. ¡®In the meantime, how should I make an offer to Cordelia for a carriage date?¡¯ Come to think of it, why the hell does he need to ask her out? Unlike their past life, it would be impossible for them to pick an appointment ce through a messenger app, meet up, and then have a conversation, all on the same day. ¡®No, wasn¡¯t there something simr?¡¯ ording to Jude¡¯s memory, he could write a letter asking for a meeting and send it to Count Chase, and if Count Chase and Cordelia consented to it, he would have to write again to decide when to meet. ¡®It¡¯ll take about one or two days.¡¯ But he couldn¡¯t help it. Although they were engaged, they were both minors and one of them even had a weak body. ¡°Hey, Maja.¡± ¡°Yes, young master.¡± ¡°That¡­how should I say it¡­¡± ¡°Yes, young master.¡± ¡°That¡­ Yellow¡­no, I mean, Lady Cordelia¡­I¡¯m asking her out for a quest¡­no, I mean, a dat-¡­uh, do you have any sites to suggest? That¡­well, like going out for some drinks in a good ce nearby the mountain¡­uh, yesterday! That¡¯s right, when she came to visit yesterday, we couldn¡¯t talk properly.¡± Out of everyone else, why do I have to say that I want to go on a carriage date with Yellow Storm? Jude was seriously distressed right now, but what mattered the most now was Maja¡¯s assistance, and not his mental distress. Even if his parents were away, it was not possible for Jude to do everything as he pleased. It was impossible to go out of the mansion without the help of Maja, who was virtually like his elder sister and was highly renowned and recognized by his family. Therefore, Jude nervously looked at Maja¡¯s lips. He had done a lot of ¡®nonsensical¡¯ stuff in the past few days, but what if he was told to just stay home and get drunk here? ¡®Please, please Maja! Don¡¯t make me say out of my mouth that I want to date Yellow Storm again!¡¯ Did Jude¡¯s earnest heart reach her? Maja nodded with a faint smile instead of a cold expression. ¡°I understand, let¡¯s get ready.¡± And then Maja smiles again, with her face expressing what she was thinking. I see, you actually wanted to get closer to Cordelia. You did that because you were embarrassed yesterday, and I thought my young master had all grown up, but you still haven¡¯t. Or perhaps, because you¡¯re a grown up now, so you did that? Ufufu ¨C I think I can see the true intentions of your heart. ¡®Sob, sob, it isn¡¯t okay? It¡¯s not like what you¡¯re thinking, okay?¡¯ (Jude) However, Jude was in a situation where he could not openly deny it. ¡°Then let¡¯s quickly begin by writing an invitation to send to Lady Cordelia. In the first sentence, how about To my Dear Lady Cordelia whom I deeply love?¡± Maja Tantalotte. Jude Bayer¡¯s exclusive maid. She was usually called the Ice Princess because of her usual cold expression, but in reality, she was a foolish young woman who had the tendency to meddle in everything. ¡°Y-yes¡­¡± With a long sigh, Jude conceded as he lifted his pen and began to write a love letter to send to Cordelia. *** Two dayster. The carriage that departed from Count Chase¡¯s manor and stopped at Count Bayer¡¯s was now running smoothly over the road leading to the Belkain Mountains. Four people were inside the carriage. The first two was Count Bayer¡¯s youngest son, Jude Bayer, and his exclusive maid, Maja Tantalotte, and the other two were Count Chase¡¯s second daughter, Cordelia Chase, and her escort knight, Dahlia Ale. The people of both families sat on seats that faced each other. In other words, Cordelia sat opposite Jude. ¡®Do you not like it? I don¡¯t like it either.¡¯ Because Cordelia also had to reply to the love letter that Jude had sent. Cordelia¡¯s letter was also a love letter, saying something along the lines of going out on a date in a carriage and having some drinks together. ¡®Yes, I know how you felt.¡¯ He felt the same way when he wrote the letter. However, instead of a deep sigh, the corners of Jude¡¯s mouth was slightly raised. It was because of the appearance of Cordelia in front of him. ¡®She¡¯spletely wearing something perfect for a date.¡¯ She was going to see the flowers with her fianc¨¦. She wore a wide-brimmed hat to keep the sun out and her white and heavy dress, with a long skirt filled withces, made her pinkish-red hair stand out. It absolutely andpletely looked good on her. Because anyone had no choice but to admit that Cordelia was an iparably beautiful girl. Jude honestly thought that if he separated the fact that she was Yellow Storm, her appearance was pretty and cute enough to the point of apuse. ¡®Yes, if only she was not Yellow Storm.¡¯ As he thought of the iparably beautiful girl in front of him as the Yellow Storm who asserted that ¡®f*ck¡¯ was an exmation, he let out a giggle. ¡®Well, I¡¯m in the same situation.¡¯ Jude also came here dressed in the best clothes for a date. Furthermore, Jude was also an absolutely handsome boy. Therefore, Cordelia¡¯s cheeks were red when she saw such a Jude. ¡®As expected of Yellow Storm. You¡¯re faithful to your instincts. You¡¯re very much like a beast, a beast.¡¯ ¡®No, I¡¯m not? It¡¯s not like that? Aren¡¯t you the one whose eyes are wide open?¡¯ They only exchanged nces once and they felt like they could hear each other¡¯s thoughts. Then Maja and Dahlia looked at the two, each with a happy face. And Maja and Dahlia very happily looked at the two. ¡®They¡¯re a good match.¡¯ ¡®You¡¯re both cute.¡¯ And as the couple argued and sneered at each other with just their eyes, the other two misunderstood their exchange and an even more happy smile came to their faces. Half a day passed by like that. The carriage finally reached their destination, the middle of the Belkain mountain range. *** ¡°I-isn¡¯t the weather so nice?¡± ¡°Yes. The flowers are very pretty. O-of course, not as much as Lady Cordelia.¡± ¡°D-dear heavens! No way. If you make fun of me like that¡­¡± The two walked for a few minutes while exchanging words awkwardly as if reading a Korean book. After the two barely gained some distance from Maja and Cordelia who were looking at them happily, they let out a long sigh. ¡°F*ck, I really can¡¯t do this.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care if you say ¡®f*ck¡¯ but do it with a smile. Because they can see your face.¡± ¡°Oh my goodness, f*ck. Really f*ck. I can¡¯t do this, f*ck.¡± At the terrible sight of an iparably beautiful girl who kept saying ¡®f*ck,¡¯ Jude¡¯s mind was in chaos as he also felt a sense of shame that his heart was beating at her who kept saying ¡®f*ck,¡¯ so he opened his mouth. ¡°Anyway, hold it in. We¡¯ve alreadye all the way here.¡± ¡°But what are we going to do now? It¡¯s still quite some distance from here to the seal.¡± ¡°I have an idea. Rather, did you bring everything that we needed?¡± ¡°Hmph, of course. Who else do you think I am?¡± ¡°Yellow Storm who¡¯s 2nd in the server.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m the server¡¯s¡­ DIE! No, should I just go back?¡± ¡°Aww, our second ce, don¡¯t be upset. Don¡¯t forget your smile as we¡¯re still being watched from behind. Now, smile?¡± Cordelia gave him a middle finger instead of a smile, as she red at the smiling Jude, who said after clearing his throat. ¡°At least, you¡¯ve got the items.¡± ¡°Hmph, did you know I was troubled hiding it under my skirt?¡± As she said that, she lightly shook her skirt. ¡°Good. As expected of Yellow Storm. I believed in you. That¡¯s my Yellow Storm.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really want to be your Yellow Storm, so tell me the n first. How do you intend to go from here to the seal?¡± They didn¡¯t know if it was just the two of them here, so Maja and Dahlia were watching the two in alertness. Jude gently moved his body,pletely turning his back on Maja and Dahlia, and said in a quiet voice. ¡°It¡¯s simple. See that cliff over there?¡± ¡°I see it. It¡¯s the end of the flower field.¡± ¡°Once we get there, you carry me and jump off.¡± It sounded crazy, but Yellow Storm agreed to his n. She could tell that Outboxer009 could say this to her because he had a ¡®map¡¯ of this ce. ¡°Is there a secret passage under the cliff?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a secret passage, but about 10 meters downwards, there¡¯s a path under the cliff. We¡¯ll use that way to go to the seal.¡± Jude had checked the this and that of the terrain beforeing here. And he was sure of one thing. Although there were some slight differences, if he looked at the situation as a whole, the terrain of this world and that of Legend of Heroes 2 matched. Of course, Jude was sure of that possibility because he was someone who had reached rotten water status among the stagnant waters. ¡°Won¡¯t Maja and Dahlia chase after us?¡± ¡°Because it¡¯s 10 meters down, they won¡¯t be able toe down immediately. And we have a solution for that too.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± Instead of promptly answering Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude paused for a moment. Cordelia was frustrated and tried to say her usual unique ¡®exmation,¡¯ but at that moment, he opened his mouth. ¡°Just make one promise first.¡± ¡°What promise?¡± ¡°Promise to hear me and not call it bullsh*t. And also to not hit me.¡± ¡°¡­What are you going to say?¡± ¡°Is that a promise?¡± ¡°Yes, so what the hell is it?¡± ¡°So¡­¡± Jude started talking in a low voice. And after a while¡­ At the edge of the flower field. Jude looked behind his back and signaled to Cordelia. ¡®Now!¡¯ As they had talked in advance, Cordelia suddenly held Jude¡¯s hand. Maja and Dahlia, who saw the bold skinship, let out surprised voices, but there was still more to be surprised. ¡°Run!¡± Jude and Cordelia ran towards the cliff edge and leapt without any hesitation. ¡°Young master?!¡± ¡°Miss?!¡± No, what were those who were already engaged doing now? It was not like their love was unachievable in this life, so they were trying to achieve that in the next life. As the two had those thoughts, the startled Maja and Dahlia reached the cliff edge in the blink of an eye. And they both breathed a sigh of relief. Because they had witnessed the sight of Cordelia carrying Jude in her arms, andnding on the ground with magic. ¡°Young master!¡± ¡°Miss!¡± Maja and Dahlia each raised their voices and incessantly looked around. They were trying to find a way down. ¡®As expected!¡¯ Dahlia did not know how to use magic. Jude hurriedly urged Cordelia, and Cordelia shouted with apletely red face. ¡°I-I want to spend some time alone with Mr. Jude! We¡¯ll be back before dinner, so just wait! Don¡¯t worry about us!¡± ¡°Miss!¡± Dahlia turned pale from astonishment and cried out, and Jude urged Cordelia again. ¡°Quickly! Say the next line quickly!¡± ¡°W-we¡¯re not going to do anything strange! So don¡¯t worry! Mi-mister Jude is a gentleman!¡± That much was enough. Maja and Dahlia were the only ones out here anyway. Count Chase¡¯s coachman was taking a nap far away at a distance so if only Maja and Dahlia were to shut their mouths, the coachman would not know. In any case, they seeded in getting away from Maja and Dahlia, and they also finished making an excuse to buy some time. The only thing left now was to head for the seal quickly. ¡°Let¡¯s go! Quickly!¡± Cordelia reacted quickly to Jude¡¯s prompting. It was also because she felt like she wanted to hide herself in a mouse¡¯s hole. And after a few minutes¡­ After moving to a ce where they could no longerpletely see Maja and Dahlia, Cordelia burst into anger. ¡°Ah, seriously! Why did I have to do it! No, carrying you while also jumping off a cliff, making excuses, and then I felt like you tried to hit me!¡± She said all that with a frustrated face. For such a Cordelia, Jude exined in his calmest possible tone. ¡°I¡¯ve already said it once, I have Gueumjulmaek. I can¡¯t carry you with these thin arms. And how will I hit you? It doesn¡¯t make sense if I hit you. Come on, I¡¯m a man with Gueumjulmaek.¡± ¡°That b*stard Gueumjulmaek! Gueumjulmaek! Just heal that Gueumjulmaek! ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll carry you when I get better, I¡¯ll also let you hit me.¡± ¡°No thanks? What is this crazy b*stard saying?¡± ¡°Yes, yes. Anyway, are you feeling better now? Then let¡¯s hurry up. We don¡¯t have much time.¡± The possibility that Maja and Dahlia would really wait for them was zero. They had to finish their task before the two found them. ¡°Haa, really. Just heal that Gueumjulmaek.¡± ¡°Yes, as soon as it gets better, I¡¯ll bake or boil or do whatever you want, so let¡¯s go to the seal first.¡± ¡°Take the lead.¡± ¡°Come along then.¡± Looking back on the surrounding terrain, Jude walked in big strides. I take back what I said about this series using mostly German names. First, Dahlia Ale¡¯s name is Anglo-Saxon in origin, and the Ale is not pronounced as ¡°al¡±, but as ¡°eyl¡±. Next is Maja Tantalotte¡¯s name. I couldn¡¯t find a European equivalent to its Korean pronunciation. However, there was a Korean trantion of a Japanese manga called Karubania Monogatari where one of the characters is named Tantalotte too. I used that instead of the English trantion¡¯s name, which was Tantalot, as Tantalotte looked fancier than Tantalot, haha. Lastly is Belkain Mountains, which obviously alludes to the Balkan Mountains, but their pronunciations are different, so I opted for Belkain to make it fit this series¡¯ fantasy setting. Chapter 5: Pleiades (5)

Chapter 5: Pleiades (5)

Terms used in this chapter: Muan Sweet Water ¨C a Korean meme that originated from a religious group in Muan which imed that their ¡°sweet water¡± was miraculous. However, it was not sweet tasting, and upon actual testing, it was found to be just seawater. It became a parody that if you¡¯re suffering from troubles, just throw/sprinkle Muan Sweet Water, wish for a miracle, and vo, your troubles will end. A famous parody of it is that throwing Muan Sweet Water to a roon will allow it to be able to walk upright like a human. ¨C Source: Namu.wiki, Librewiki Doraemon¡¯s pocket ¨C To those unfamiliar with it, Doraemon¡¯s pocket refers to the magical pocket of the Japanese character Doraemon that can store any item regardless of size. Nobita ¨C he is the main character who always gets helped by Doraemon with his items. ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­haa¡­.¡± How long had it been since they started walking? At first, Jude was quickly moving ahead and walking besides Cordelia, but now, he waspletely behind and out of breath. Eventually, the worried Cordelia turned around and asked. ¡°Hey, are you okay?¡± ¡°Haa¡­ haa¡­not, okay. I¡¯m not okay¡­haa.¡± Jude bent down as he continued his words with difficulty, and he suddenly felt like vomiting. At the sight of Jude whose whole body was covered in sweat, Cordelia said with a surprised face. ¡°You¡¯re really weak.¡± ¡°Haa¡­ Don¡¯t talk big¡­ Carry me, carry me on your back.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Piggyback, please. We¡­don¡¯t¡­have¡­much time¡­haa.¡± Jude, who had sat on the ground, feebly stretched out his hands like a zombie. ¡°Haa¡­ quickly.¡± ¡°Whoa, seriously.¡± As Jude iled his arms again, Cordelia deeply sighed and walked to the front of Jude, and then turned around and sat down. ¡°Here.¡± ¡°Haa¡­¡± Jude almost fell down as he leaned on Cordelia¡¯s back. Because Jude was covered in sweat, his smell and sweaty skin didn¡¯t sit well with Cordelia, but she was more surprised by something else. ¡°Hey, you have to gain some weight. Why is a man so light?¡± ¡°Gueum¡­julmaek.¡± ¡°Just use Muan Sweet Water, Muan Sweet Water.¡± Cordelia stood up and adjusted Jude¡¯s position. It was difficult for her to properly carry the exhausted Jude without supporting his buttocks. ¡°Hey¡­ don¡¯t sneakily touch strange ces.¡± ¡°What about you? Where are you cing your hands?¡± Cordelia retorted back to Jude¡¯s protest and strode forward again. Since there was only one path, she didn¡¯t need any specific guidance from Jude. After a few dozen minutes¡­ Cordelia stared at some distance away and asked Jude on her back. ¡°Hey, is that it? I think we¡¯re almost there? Don¡¯t fall asleep.¡± ¡°Huh? Uh¡­ Yes, that¡¯s right, that¡¯s right. It¡¯s almost the same as what we saw in the game.¡± At the end of the winding path next to the cliff, there was a cave entrancerge enough for several people, and though it was damaged by the rain and wind, it was a structure that was obviously made by human hands. ¡°Let¡¯s go quickly, Yellow Storm. Giddy-up, giddy-up.¡± ¡°Are you serious?¡± Cordelia snarled in a low voice, but she hastened her steps for now. The moment she saw the entrance, she wanted to go in quickly. ¡°The Temple of the Sun God¡­¡± ¡°The pdins protected this ce two hundred years ago, right?¡± ¡°They did.¡± Two hundred years ago. The denomination of the Sun God, who had always been at the forefront in the battle against the demons, suffered a devastating blow from the Great Demon Anguirus and was virtually destroyed. Because of that, even a temple that sealed the powerful demon, Leisegang of the Red Moon, had been forgotten and became ruins now. ¡°You can let me down now.¡± ¡°Should I go inside more first?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s okay.¡± ¡°If so, then.¡± Cordelia let down Jude from her back, cast magic, and entered the cave first. And at that moment¡­ ¡°Oh¡­can you feel it?¡± Cordelia turned to Jude and asked, and he nodded with his eyes wide open in surprise. ¡°Yes, I can feel it. You too?¡± ¡°Yes, me too.¡± The moment they passed through the cave entrance, the air around them changed. To be precise, it felt like ¡®divine power¡¯ filled the cave. ¡®So this is how it felt.¡¯ In the game, there was a line that said, ¡®I can feel the divine power of the sun god.¡¯, but now that they were here, they couldn¡¯t express their feelings into words. ¡°I think my mind is being purified.¡± As Cordelia looked around and spoke with sparkling eyes, Jude also nodded. ¡°I think it¡¯s going to be the same as in the game. I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll have to worry about monsters.¡± The divine power of the sun god had the power to drive out demonic monsters. As Jude said that, Cordelia agreed, and he took the lead again. ¡°From here onwards, I know the way, so I¡¯ll take the lead.¡± ¡°But just in case, be careful.¡± ¡°Okay, be careful too.¡± The inside of the cave was wider than expected, but there were sculptures of the sun god everywhere, which startled and surprised Jude and Cordelia. ¡°W-why do these divine creatures look scary?¡± Cordelia, who had taken the lead, said in a trembling voice. It felt like she was in a haunted house because of the terrifying sculptures of the divine beings inside a dark cave. ¡°Hang in there, we¡¯re almost there.¡± Unlike the divine being¡¯s sculptures, Red Moon Leisegang was a real demon. Even if it was trapped in a seal, the fear would be iparable to that of a divine being¡¯s statue. ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± They arrived at a fairlyrge hemispherical room after going through a winding path. It was the ce where Red Moon Leisegang was sealed. Strangely enough, unlike other ces, there was a soft light that lit up the whole room, so it wasn¡¯t dark at all. ¡°The whole room is a facility for sealing.¡± Cordelia said, squinting her eyes. As a wizard, she was much better than Jude at detecting paranormal energy. However, Jude had knowledge of it in Legend of Heroes 2. After a nod, he looked at the magic circles engraved on the ceiling and the floor. ¡°Okay, it¡¯s the same as what I saw in the game.¡± Before they came here, Jude was frankly uneasy. Install a magic circle and summon the demon. It was so dangerous and special that it was iparable to checking the geography or maintaining human rtionships. ¡®Let¡¯s be confident. I¡¯ve already checked several things on the way here, haven¡¯t I? Moreover, Cordelia can use magic. So, it¡¯s possible. Because magic exists in this world.¡¯ Jude thought as he steeled himself, before he looked back at Cordelia. ¡°Cordelia, the preparations.¡± ¡°Look over there and wait.¡± All of their preparations were inside her skirt. When Jude turned around awkwardly, Cordelia removed the skirt itself, andid out the items she had tied to her thighs and calves on the floor. ¡°I¡¯m done.¡± ¡°Wow, you¡¯ve been hiding all this in your skirt? It¡¯s like Doraemon¡¯s pocket.¡± ¡°It was so hard, so be grateful. Don¡¯t be ungrateful like Nobita.¡± The two exchanged some nonsensical talk as they began preparations for drawing the new magic circle. ¡°The best method is to draw it on the ceiling and the floor, but that¡¯s difficult. So, let¡¯s draw a magic circle using a magic potion made by mixing catalysts.¡± ¡°Here, the magic potion.¡± Cordelia poured a red liquid into a wide paper bowl. At first nce, it looked like blood, but it was purely a magic potion made by mixing various ingredients. ¡®I¡¯m d that Cordelia¡¯s from a wizard family.¡¯ Otherwise, it would¡¯ve been difficult to get the ingredients to make the drug. ¡°Give me a pen.¡± ¡°I secretly took it from my father, so don¡¯t break it. Do you understand?¡± ¡°I understand.¡± Cordelia checked her items and brought out a pen made of griffon feathers. ¡®We¡¯re definitely Jude and Cordelia.¡¯ Yellow Storm did not possess Cordelia¡¯s body. Cordelia had remembered her memories when she was still Yellow Storm. What proved it was Cordelia¡¯s current worried appearance and her fear of being scolded by her father. ¡°You¡¯re not taking it?¡± ¡°I¡¯m taking it.¡± Instead of making fun of Cordelia, Jude meekly took the pen. No matter how fun it was to tease Cordelia, he had to consider the time and ce. ¡°I¡¯ll begin.¡± ¡°Yes, fighting.¡± From now on, this was Jude¡¯s stage. Cordelia pumped her fist as she cheered ¡®fighting¡¯, sat down in a corner and watched Jude. He had to draw arge magic circle that took up almost the entire floor, so he shouldn¡¯t be disturbed. One hour after¡­ Jude gestured to Cordelia as he sweated after having finished drawing the magic circle. ¡°Let¡¯s get started. Come here.¡± ¡°Huh? Ah, yes!¡± At Jude¡¯s call, Cordelia was startled but quickly approached him. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing¡± Actually, it wasn¡¯t nothing. Cordelia was seriously in admiration of Jude, or to be exact, of Outboxer009. ¡®As expected of Outboxer009.¡¯ It was obvious that he had prepared something since they hade this far, but she never thought that he really memorized Bestin¡¯s magic circle. ¡°Why? Have you began respecting me? This is how I became 1st ce, okay?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not? Because I can do it too? You¡¯ve always lived idly so I stepped back to give you a chance to work hard, okay?¡± ¡°If you say so.¡± Jude mischievously smiled, and the embarrassed Cordelia pouted her lips. ¡°Let¡¯s start then. I need your help again. I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t have much mana in my blood.¡± ¡°Huh, okay. I just drop it over there, right?¡± ¡°Yes, I don¡¯t need a lot, so don¡¯t hurt yourself too much. Scars will remain.¡± ¡°Wow, were you worried about me?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± In reality, Jude and Cordelia were extremely tense. Red Moon Leisegang was a powerful demon that could only be defeated in the middle tote part of the game. No matter how many times they had done it in the game, their hands and feet trembled when they were trying to do the same thing in this world. That was why the two engaged in trifling talk more than usual. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do it.¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s do it. I¡¯m sure we can do it.¡± Cordelia steeled herself and stood in the area corresponding to the ¡®entry point¡¯ of the newly drawn magic circle, and then took out arge needle and poked her finger. ¡°Activate, Bestin¡¯s magic circle.¡± There was a reaction as soon as Cordelia dropped her blood and chanted in a low voice. The magic circle drawn by Jude glowed red, and the entire air inside the seal began to fluctuate. ¡°Cordelia! Get back!¡± Jude shouted out loud as he looked at the center of the seal, and Cordelia stepped back and stared at the seal¡¯s center too. The seal was opening. In addition to Jude¡¯s magic circle, the magic circle on the floor and ceiling of the seal began to shine too. It was a brilliant golden glow that was reminiscent of the sun. ¡°Jude! Get back!¡± Cordelia cried out this time. This is because the mana density of the seal rapidly increased. The air inside the seal would¡¯ve been poison to the current Jude, who was worse than viger A. But Outboxer009 wasn¡¯t a rotten water for no reason. In the first ce, Jude had predicted the current situation, so he quickly took out a mask he had prepared at home and then used it to cover his mouth and nose. It was an item that was simr to a simple oxygen respirator used on airnes, but the Bayer family had a few items like that since they frequently fought against monsters. ¡°Here ites!¡± Jude shouted. At the same time, the space at the center of the seal began to break. A crack appeared in the air, and soon, a huge presence emerged with dazzling light. Red Moon Leisegang. Among the undead, he was a mighty demon of blood who led the vampires! The red and giant being with a bat¡¯s head and wings gazed at Jude and Cordelia with its piercing red eyes. Jude¡¯s so weak that he got piggybacked by Cordelia, hahaha! Chapter 6: Pleiades (6)

Chapter 6: Pleiades (6)

Terms used in this chapter: Hwa-byeong ¨C a Korean somatization disorder or a mental illness which arises when people are unable to confront their anger as a result of conditions which they perceive to be unfair. It is something that is unique to the Korean culture. Fine y ¨C Japanese and Korean baseball ng. yers usually say this to their teammates if they did well or had an excellent performance. Jude couldn¡¯t move at the sight before his eyes. For a moment, he forgot how to breathe. The being in front of him was huge. Despite the fact that it was kneeling and crouching, the being¡¯s hideous bat head reached the ceiling. The wings on his back drooped and covered the entire floor, making his presence clear. Red Moon Leisegang. The Demon Prince who coveted blood. He was iparable to what they saw in the game. His appearance was the same, but the feeling of intense pressure they felt in his presence made it different. His limbs were bound. Chains that seemed to be thicker than Jude¡¯s waist covered the entire body of Leisegang. But despite that, Jude felt afraid of him. Just by meeting him face-to-face, Jude felt like his own existence was trampled and crushed. ¡°Get a hold of yourself!¡± Suddenly, Cordelia shook Jude¡¯s shoulders. Unlike Jude who couldn¡¯t properly handle mana because of his Gueumjulmaek, she was a wizard, even if she was only a one-star wizard. She then put the ne she had hurriedly prepared on Jude¡¯s neck. ¡°Are you okay? Can you hear me?¡± It was a magic tool that slightly raised one¡¯s magic resistance. She had brought it just in case, but she now thought that it was a good thing that she did. Jude¡¯s eyes began to regain its focus. ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s me! Don¡¯t lose your consciousness! Are you okay?¡± Jude blinked his eyes. He took a deep breath. He gulped as he could feel the enormous presence behind his back. ¡°Red Moon Leisegang¡­¡± He was real. The mighty Demon Prince was in front of them. ¡®We can do it.¡¯ Jude thought. The seal of the sun god was still working. Bestin¡¯s magic circle was also ying its part. Their given time was around 3 minutes. Bestin¡¯s magic circle wouldn¡¯t be able to hold out any more than that. ¡°There it is. Over there, on the waist.¡± Cordelia said in a very nervous voice. It was in Leisegang¡¯s waist. To be exact, the Sun¡¯s Ne was hanging on the handle of the sword that was on his waist. ¡°Huu¡­¡± Jude let out a breath before he gulped in nervousness. Leisegang¡¯s eyes were still closed. He fell asleep on his own to endure the time he was trapped by the seal, but since the seal itself was being maintained, he did not seem to realize that he had temporarilye out. ¡®It¡¯s a chance.¡¯ He only needed to take the Sun¡¯s Ne and then immediately release Bestin¡¯s magic circle. Leisegang would disappear from his sight by then. ¡®You can do it. You can do it.¡¯ It was the moment when Jude took a step forward. ¡°Hey.¡± ¡°Heuk-?!¡± When Cordelia suddenly reached out and held his shoulder, the startled Jude let out a strange sound, surprising Cordelia so she jumped back but managed to suppress her scream. ¡°You scared me!¡± ¡°Because I was really surprised!¡± Jude wondered why did had done that all of a sudden. When Jude looked at her, Cordelia swung a baton that was slightly shorter than her forearm. At her action, the baton expanded by five times in an instant. ¡°Here.¡± It was not magic, but a baton that could be pushed inward to shorten its length. Jude was puzzled for a moment, but soon understood Cordelia¡¯s intentions. ¡°You want me to use this to take that?¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be better than directly taking it yourself?¡± Her idea was definitely better. Jude gave a sincere look of gratitude, and Cordelia snorted while feeling pleased. In any case, time was ticking along in the midst of all this. With the baton, Jude crept to the side of Leisegang. ¡°Here it goes.¡± He stretched out the baton which then reached Leisegang. Jude used the baton to poke between the strings of the ne and lifted it carefully. ¡°Good, good. You¡¯re almost there.¡± Cordelia very quietly spoke as she nodded and gulped in nervousness. And right after that. The moment he finally took the ne out of the handle! Jude was frozen once again. The same was true of Cordelia this time. And the two almost instinctively raised their heads and looked up high.. The Red Moon Leisegang. He opened his eyes. His shining red eyes was revealed as he red at Jude and Cordelia. One second passed like that. No, it felt like an eternity. ¡°Take it!¡± ¡°Run!¡± Cordelia and Jude shouted almost simultaneously. Jude quickly withdrew the baton and greatly retreated. He grabbed the Sun¡¯s Ne that came down along the baton. [You b*stards!] Leisegang shouted. He opened his mouth, and his roar shook not only the seal but also the entire cave. Jude stumbled and fell. Leisegang strengthened his arm in order to grab Jude. Kaduk! But there was a chain. The seal of the sun god was still tightly holding down Leisegang. ¡°Hurry up!¡± Cordelia yelled. Jude stood up as he staggered, and Leisegang opened his mouth again. And at that moment. Jude once again witnessed an incredible sight. A small light burst. In the open mouth of Leisegang. To be exact, an arrow of light flew towards the mouth of Leisegang and exploded. The most basic attack magic that 1-star wizards could cast from the beginning. It was from Cordelia. No, it was from Yellow Storm. At the moment Leisegang tried to attack Jude, her deepmost instinct as a fighter was triggered. ¡°Hey! Crazy¡­?!¡± Jude tried to shout loudly but was then startled and blinked his eyes. And so did Cordelia. ¡°Level¡­up?¡± Cordelia was enveloped in a ring of white light. It was clearly the level-up effect they had seen countless times in Legend of Heroes 2. ¡°Ah.¡± Cordelia eximed. And then she shouted again. Jude shouted with her this time. ¡°Ah!¡± They understood it. It was an embarrassing situation, but the two who were rotten water immediately understood the current situation. Though they were rather confused, the two quickly understood the current situation since they were rotten waters. Levels existed in Legend of Heroes 2. However, for NPCs of Legend of Heroes 2, the status window did not exist, so they had to go a ce like a level temple in order to measure their level. In any case, the important thing was that the concept of levels existed in this world, and it was also possible to be strong through leveling up. So why did Cordelia level up at this moment? ¡®Combat experience.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t necessary to kill the enemy in order to gain experience. The act of attacking the enemy itself could gain experience points. Of course, thetter was far too insignificant whenpared to the former. But in Cordelia and Leisegang¡¯s situation. It was like a 1-star wizard who had just began ying the game had then faced off against a mighty demon who could only be dealt with in the second half of the game. There was a massive difference in levels. He was originally an opponent that a beginner could never even attempt to attack. But that was the reason why thebat experience was amplified! [You scums!] Leisegang roared in anger again. But he was still bound by the chains and could not move. Therefore, Cordelia and Jude looked at each other and understood it the moment they exchanged nces. The fact that had made their gamer brains start to turn. ¡°!¡± Cordelia brightly shouted as she fired a magic missile. Her face was filled with joy instead of fear. Bang! Bang! Bang! A series of magic missiles exploded. The weak magic was just ticklish for Leisegang, but an attack was still an attack. ¡°Oh yeah!¡± After firing three more missiles, a white ring appeared again around Cordelia¡¯s body. It was the second level up. ¡°I, I will level up too!¡± Outboxer009¡¯s gamer brain suppressed his fear. Missing out on getting such level up points was unforgiveable for Outboxer009. ¡°Here ites!¡± Jude narrowed his distance to Leisegang at once and swung the baton like a sword. ¡°Ugh!¡± He had swung hard, but he felt like he had struck steel. The bacsh seemed to have injured Jude¡¯s wrist instead. ¡®But as long as I level up!¡¯ Even if it¡¯s painful- ¡°Huh?¡± But nothing happened. No white rings appeared around him. ¡°Howe¡­ Ah!¡± Like rotten water, Jude soon figured out the cause of the problem. It was the reason why Cordelia burst outughing too. ¡°¡°It¡¯s too weak!¡±¡± It was the truth. Jude was too weak. Jude¡¯s attack was so weak that it was not even recognized as an attack on Leisegang. It didn¡¯t even literally tickled Leisegang! [Which scum dares to¡­] Boom! Boom! Leisegang¡¯s voice was dwarfed by the sound of the magic missiles¡¯ explosion. Cordeliaughed and created another round of magic missiles. She did not hesitate since the seal of the sun god had proven itself to be active. ¡°Oh yeah! Level up!¡± Cordelia once again leveled up. So the impatient Jude thought over and over again. He couldn¡¯t be left behind like this here. He had to somehow make an effective hit to gainbat experience. But how will I do that? What should I¡­ ¡°Bingo!¡± Jude habitually shouted as he threw the baton and clenched his fist, grasping the string with the decorative part of the ne on top of his fingers. ¡°May the great sun god Sri¡¯s blessing be with us, O Sun that illuminates the morning, O Light that drives the night away, Arise, Let thy fire light at my fingertips!¡± As he recited the prayer for the sun god Sri, the ne of the sun god began to shine in a golden color. The effect of the prayer recited by Jude was naturally insignificant since he was neither a believer of Sr nor had much mana. But even so, it was the power of Sri, the sun god who destroyed and burned monsters and impurities! ¡°Haaa!¡± Jude ran and struck Leisegang¡¯s shin with his fist. Just like Cordelia¡¯s , it was only a ticklish attack for Leisegang, but an attack was still an attack. ¡°Level up!¡± A white ring appeared in Jude¡¯s body. And Jude could feel it. It was only a little, but he felt that he had be stronger. His overall physical abilities rose. [These vermin!] Leisegang roared again, but Jude and Cordelia did not stop. The rotten waters¡¯ desire to level up overweighed their fear at that moment. ¡°Time is running out!¡± ¡°Just one more shot!¡± Bestin¡¯s magic circle had a three-minute time limit. Cordelia created magic missiles while drinking mana potions, and Jude sweated as he swung his fists like a boxer hitting a sandbag. [Keuaa! These bugs! I¡¯ll remember your faces! I¡¯ll imprint your souls into my mind! On the day I am released! I¡¯ll let you suffer pain worse than death ¨C these vermin! Listen! Listen to me!] Jude and Cordelia did not listen to his. They only had 10 seconds left. They had to hit one more before the opportunity passed. And 10 secondster. A fifth ring rose simultaneously around Jude and Cordelia. Cordelia was the first to attack, but because Jude waspletely a level 1 due to his Gueumjulmaek that hindered his activities, his experience gain was better. Anyway, 10 seconds had passed, and the effect of Bestin¡¯s magic circle was gone. As the space began to close again, Leisegang vented his anger as he red at Jude and Cordelia. [Vermin! I¡¯ll definitely see you again! Watch my words!] ¡°Yeah, see you again at Act 7.¡± ¡°It was nice meeting you, so see you again next time.¡± When Jude and Cordeliaughed and waved their hands, Leisegang, who was close to having Hwabyeong, gasped and closed his eyes. If his limbs had been free, he would have caught the two by the scruff of their necks. And light shone again. The golden color symbolizing the sun god Sri filled the seal, and the Red Moon¡¯s Leisegang disappeared again at the other side of the space. ¡°Haa.¡± ¡°Huu.¡± When Leisegang¡¯s huge presence disappeared, Jude and Cordelia both sighed. And then they burst intoughter at the same time. ¡°Ha, seriously. I¡¯ve always known it, but you¡¯re a seriously crazy b*stard.¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯re not sane either.¡± Even if Leisegang was sealed, she ignored the warnings of the great demon and attacked him. Jude and Cordelia looked at each other again and cheerfullyughed. Anyway, their quest was a great sess. ¡°Is your Gueumjulmaek healed now?¡± ¡°It will take some time, but I¡¯ll eventually get better.¡± Unlike the Sunfire Carp, the Sun¡¯s Ne couldn¡¯t cure his Gueumjulmaek at once. Because the excessive Yin energy that blocked his entire meridians had to be melted away little by little by the Yang energy of the Sun¡¯s Ne. But that was enough. It was clear that he would then get better from today onwards. ¡°Please be cured.¡± ¡°Yes, yes. When I get better, I¡¯ll carry you, I¡¯ll let you hit me, and I¡¯ll cross the walls of your house.¡± ¡°What is this crazy b*stard saying?¡± Cordelia had a small smile and she stretched her arms once before she suddenly pumped her fist forward. It was one of the actions the characters would do when theypleted a quest in Legend of Heroes 2. So instead of sitting down, Jude walked towards Cordelia. He then lightly bumped fists with Cordelia. ¡°Fine y.¡± ¡°Fine y.¡± It was a little childish, but they did it like in the game. Jude and Cordelia faced each other and smiled. Not only did they get the Sun¡¯s Ne as nned, but they also raised their levels by 5, so it was a great sess. ¡°Let¡¯s go now.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll get scolded a lot, right?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll definitely be scolded.¡± Even if they were engaged, an unmarried young man and woman had gone on a midnight ¨C no, a daytime runaway because they wanted to have some time alone. ¡°Eueu¡­¡± Cordelia¡¯s shoulders drooped in her worry, but Jude put his arms over Cordelia¡¯s shoulders. ¡°Wha-what are you doing?¡± ¡°Please carry me.¡± Because he was very exhausted. Cordelia was dumbstruck for a moment before she asked with a stupefied expression. ¡°Didn¡¯t you level up?¡± ¡°Why do you think I¡¯m still asking you for a piggyback?¡± ¡°Fine.¡± Cordeliaughed as she gave Jude a piggyback ride, and the two began walking again. And that night. Having returned home, Jude and Cordelia were grounded for 10 days. Chapter 7: Dungeon Book (1)

Chapter 7: Dungeon Book (1)

Edit (Jan. 18, 2021) ¨C From this chapter up to chapter 11 or 12, these chapters are unedited and have some issues with the narration¡¯s point-of-view. This would eventually be fixed, as I¡¯m slowly retranting the prologue up to chapter 11 (I¡¯ve already finished retranting the prologue to chapter 6). I didn¡¯t use an online Korean dictionary when I began tranting using MTL, so the machine trantion is apparent in the early chapters. So please bear with the chapters for now. It gets better from chapter 12 onwards. Count Bayer. The Bayer family is one of the 12 northern families that defend the northern part of the S?len Kingdom and is famous for producing powerful knights for generations. Victor Cromwell, a long-time vassal of the Count and now a retired knight, reddened his eyes with tears at the sight in front of him. ¡°Haa¡­. Kuhaa¡­. Kuhaa¡­¡± Jude Bayer, who was called the anguish of Count Bayer because of his Gueumjulmaek disease that even disrupted his daily life, was now running in the training courtyard. Though he gasped for breath as if he was going to die soon. ¡°It is indeed a gift of the heavens¡­¡± During Jude¡¯s and his fianc¨¦e¡¯s tryst¡­ no, their ¡°daytime escape¡±, they got the sun god Sri¡¯s divine item, which helped in the treatment of his Gueumjulmaek. A literal entricity that is too coincidental to be seen as a coincidence but can only be seen as a coincidence. ¡°O Askantor, thank you for watching over the Bayer family.¡± Victor, who prayed to Askantor, the god of war, looked back at the training courtyard with a smile. A red-faced Jude was turning around the corner toplete thestp. 10ps around the training field. For ordinary knights, it was only a warm-up and a barely possible amount of exercise, but for Jude, it was simply a great development. Just a week ago, he couldn¡¯t even properly run ap around the training field. ¡°Haa¡­ Haa¡­ Kuhaa¡­¡± Jude, who managed to keep the running form itself, copsed in ce almost as soon as he finished thestp. ¡°Kuhaa¡­¡± The sky seemed to be spinning. I didn¡¯t think of anything as if my head were empty. ¡°Kuhaa¡­¡± I ended up lying down. I sweated so much that my whole body was wet as if I were drowning. ¡°Haa¡­¡± How long has it been since Iid down? When my breath calmed down to some extent, I was able to think. ¡®I¡¯m dying.¡¯ 10ps around the training field. Considering the distance, it is just over 1 kilometer? It wasn¡¯t that short, but it wasn¡¯t that long either. ¡®Still.¡¯ A smile began to spread on Jude¡¯s face. I could clearly feel that I was getting better little by little. ¡®Sun¡¯s Ne.¡¯ The ne of the sun god, Sri, was still hung on Jude¡¯s neck. Unlike the Sunfire Carp, which injects an enormous amount of Yang energy at once, the Sun¡¯s Ne slowly but continuously supplied Yang energy. Gueumjulmaek meant a blockage of the meridians due to the immense Yin energy. The Yang energy little by little had melted the excessive Yin energy, thus the symptoms of Gueumjulmaek began to ease. Moreover, that was not the only effect of the Sun¡¯s Ne. As the energies of Yin and Yang met to covet each other, the result was the creation of a clear and pure energy. Right now, the mana training method ¨C in other words, the inner Qi cultivation method, was something that Jude couldn¡¯t properly train yet so he couldn¡¯t use the pure energy that was created, but that didn¡¯t mean the energy disappeared. All these pure energies remained in Jude¡¯s body, so if he fully absorbs themter, he could achieve great achievements at once. ¡°Young master.¡± As I rolled my eyes at the call, I could see Victor with a face full of smiles. Having retired after reaching the age of sixty, he didn¡¯t follow Count Bayer¡¯s expedition, but his will to continuously reform/train himself knows no bounds. ¡°I saw you achieve your goal without giving until the end. The Count will be very pleased when hees back.¡± What he said wasn¡¯t just ttery. Jude had managed to finish running 10ps around the field even though he suffered and had a hard time breathing. Even though Jude¡¯s body was still in the process of being restored, Victor appreciated his strong will. ¡®As expected, Jude is also a Bayer.¡¯ Gueumjulmaek was no different from a curse when it was appeared, but the spirit of Count Bayer, the master of the warriors, was also continuing to Jude. ¡°If you recover a little more, you¡¯ll also be able to master the family¡¯s martial arts. Young master, I do you think you¡¯ll be able to unfold the Bayer family¡¯s martial arts¡­ Hoho, I may be old, but it gets my heart pounding. It was Victor who was not very eloquent. But what he said was good, so Jude ended up smiling. ¡®Count Bayer¡¯s Mugong (martial arts).¡¯ Like a yable character, Jude was also given his own growth points. One of them was Count Bayer¡¯s Mugong. The Bayer family now barely upies the lowest level among the 12 northern families, but at one time, Count Bayer was the head of the 12 families and held the margrave position. The Mugong that have been passed down through generations never declined. ¡®It¡¯s Mugong.¡¯ It was not just a martial art, but something superhuman that uses inner Qi, that it is not an exaggeration to say it is magic in a sense. There was nothing strange about the world where not only angels and demons but also magic existed, but I felt amazed every time I felt it again. ¡°Now, young master. That¡¯s enough for today. It¡¯s not good if you overdo it. Don¡¯t forget that getting enough rest is part of the training.¡± After Victor helped him stand up by holding him with his giant-like hands, Jude nodded and took another breath. ¡®One week.¡¯ It had been a week since I got the Sun¡¯s Ne from the Red Moon¡¯s Leisegang. In the next three days, the ban on going out would end, so it was time to prepare for the next step. ¡®If I were alone, I wouldn¡¯t have dreamed of it.¡¯ Attempting to get it after the Sun¡¯s Ne. The ultimate goal of Jude and Cordelia was to protect the world from the armageddon of angels and demons by stopping the Great Summons, but they haven¡¯t made any progress yet. ¡®We¡¯re still powerless.¡¯ It was obvious to say that it was impossible with thebination of a 1-star wizard and a guy who can barely run 10ps. For now, they had to suppress their impatience andy the foundations for growth. ¡®We can do it together.¡¯ I hadn¡¯t intended to do so, but I had leveled up thanks to Leisegang, and so with Cordelia, I¡¯ll be able to proceed to the next step right away. ¡®But¡­¡¯ How to contact Cordelia. It was not that he hadn¡¯t had a means ofmunication. It was just a burden. ¡®Maja would like it¡­¡¯ Afterst week¡¯s flight, she was happy with her eyes even though she scolded me. ¡®Dearest Yellow¡­ No, Lady Cordelia.¡¯ Recalling the first verse of the letter to his fianc¨¦e, Jude became a face of misery without realizing it. *** The next morning, at Count Chase¡¯s. Cordelia, who was training in meditation to raise mana hearts, suddenly opened her eyes shaking. Because I had an ominous feeling. ¡®What, what is it?¡¯ Since her time as Yellow Storm, her senses were good enough to beat Outboxer¡¯s. I can¡¯t believe it¡¯s so sinister that I can¡¯t help but wake up in meditation. However, there was no need to worry for a long time. This is because I saw someone who is believed to be one of the causes of her premonition. ¡°Miss.¡± Dahlia Ale, Cordelia¡¯s escort. She was approaching with a suspicious, no ¨C rather, an ominous smile. ¡°Dah¡­lia?¡± Why? Why is she smiling like that? In fact, she had a rough idea for the reason. I¡¯ve seen her several times in the past week, and the name ¡®Jude Bayer¡¯ always came out when she looked like that. ¡®It wasn¡¯t the act of a chaste maiden, but I support your love.¡¯ Dahlia came up to her and said it to her, who had received a restraining order. Her words were creepy enough that I could remember it without a mistake. ¡®Why, why are youughing like that again?¡¯ You¡¯re going to say something strange this time again. When the anxious Cordelia smiled awkwardly, Dahlia nodded as if she understood everything and said in a soft tone. ¡°Miss, you have half a face. I understand.¡± T/N: Half a face came from the Korean idiom, ??? ??? ??, which literally means, to be half faced. It means to look very haggard from sickness or pain. ¡°I¡¯m telling you. I¡¯ve been training hard. It¡¯s not for any other reason.¡± ¡°Haha¡­if you insist.¡± She said she understands it, but her eyes say otherwise. It was clear that she was thinkingpletely different things. ¡®Oh, really.¡¯ This was all because of Jude. If it wasn¡¯t for that day, or those shameful lines and dialogue, Dahlia wouldn¡¯t have misunderstood this much. In fact, Cordelia wasn¡¯t the only who got punished for her weekly run with Jude. Dahlia was also given a pay cut for failing to escort her properly, but she was still taking the same attitude. ¡®That¡­ she¡¯s like a sister.¡¯ If Maja was like a sister for Jude, for Cordelia, Dahlia was like a sister she had grown up with since childhood. ¡®No,e to think of it, isn¡¯t this an act of revenge?¡¯ While Cordelia was doubting her, Dahlia spoke again. ¡°Anyway, miss. There is good news for the troubleddy.¡± ¡°Good news?¡± ¡°Yes, good news.¡± ¡°What, what is it?¡± ¡°Ufufu¡­it¡¯s news from Mr. Jude Bayer.¡± Dahlia smiled briskly, took out a letter from her arms and held it out. ¡°It¡¯s a letter full of warmth from Mr. Jude Bayer.¡± Letter. Love letter. The moment she heard it, Cordelia got goosebumps all over her body, but she also felt d. It was because she received news from Boxer after a week. ¡°Come on and read it.¡± When Dahlia urged her with shining eyes, Cordelia had aplex and subtle expression as she opened the letter. To my Dear Lady Cordelia whom I truly yearn for. I couldn¡¯t stand it from just the first line. But still, Cordelia swallowed her breath and firmly prepared herself. I had to read anyway. Moreover, it couldn¡¯t have been just a letter. There could be some hidden message. ¡®Is it a vertical drip?¡¯ Or a diagonal drip. T/N: Vertical drip (????) is the Korean version of an acrostic cipher. An acrostic cipher or code is when the first letter or syble of every word, line, or paragraph spells out a secret message. Vertical means that the message is hidden vertically. A variation of it is diagonal drip, meaning the message is hidden diagonally. Cordelia, who painfully read a letter full of sweet sentences from Maja¡¯s corrections, widened her eyes suddenly. It wasn¡¯t because she found a vertical or diagonal drip. At the end of the letter full of words of love. One line of Hangul that is written honestly, without any finesse. Two dayster, let¡¯s meet at the temple of Varuna at 2pm. ¡®Oh, you¡¯ve used your brain?¡¯ The only ones who can recognize Hangul in Pleiades are Yellow Storm and Outboxer. At this rate, it was almost a perfect code. ¡®More than that, Varuna¡¯s Temple?¡¯ It was two dayster, when the ban on going out was over, so I understood the date itself, but the temple of Varuna was on my mind. Varuna, the god of the mirror wall. A guardian and watcher of secrets. There was a temple of Varuna in the border city where Count Bayer and Count Chase lived. It wasn¡¯t that big, but as the god that governs ¡®secrets¡¯, people visited the temple to make confessions. ¡®Is there anything there?¡¯ If you¡¯re asking me to see you there, there must be something. Cordelia traced her memories for a moment, but nothing came to mind. ¡®Anyway, the problem is¡­¡¯ Cordelia, who folded the letter after reading everything, nced slightly towards Dahlia. And as expected. Dahlia¡¯s brightly shining eyes greeted Cordelia. ¡®I hate to say it. I really hate to say it.¡¯ But I still had to. I had to take Dahlia with me to go out in broad daylight, whether the ban is over or not. ¡°Dahlia.¡± ¡°Yes, miss.¡± ¡°That¡­ two dayster.¡± ¡°Yes, miss. Are you going to have a secret love affair with Mr. Jude Bayer a day after the ban ends two dayster?¡± ¡°Eh¡­huh? Se-secret love affair?¡± ¡°Haa¡­Mr. Bayer must have been very sweet. I can¡¯t believe he¡¯s asking you out as soon as the ban ends.¡± At that moment, Cordelia¡¯s mind went nk, but she nodded her head for now. I had to go anyway. The misunderstanding was a bit annoying, but I couldn¡¯t help it. ¡°Ah, anyway. I¡¯m going to the temple of Varuna in two days.¡± ¡°Oh, even the ce looks pretty good. Having a secret love affair at the temple of the god of secrets. Don¡¯t run away this time. I¡¯ll make time for you two.¡± Dahlia, who finished talking with a smile, even winked. What should I say? It¡¯s definitely a helpful story, but I feel like I¡¯m strangled. Cordelia closed her eyes once and took a very long breath. It was for her peace of mind. But Dahlia¡¯s views on it was different. ¡®You¡¯re very relieved.¡¯ The fact that I can finally meet my beloved Jude. Didn¡¯t Cordelia focused on training for the past week to suppress the pain of not being able to meet him? It is not known when love has be so deep, but in nature, instantmunion was more important than absolute time between men and women. ¡®Miss, I¡¯ll help you a lot. Fighting!¡¯ Dahlia looked at Cordelia with warm eyes, and Cordelia who had just opened her eyes, thought with astonishment. ¡®What, what¡¯s wrong with her? What are you delusional about!¡¯ But I didn¡¯t ask out loud. Because I was afraid of what to say. ¡°Ah, anyway. Two dayster. Keep that in mind.¡± ¡°Yes, miss. Two days is not short but hang in there. Okay?¡± She said it cutely, but it wasn¡¯t cute. Why do I have to endure this? ¡®I¡¯d rather die than suffer.¡¯ With a dry nod, Cordelia drooped her shoulders. Chapter 8: Dungeon Book (2)

Chapter 8: Dungeon Book (2)

Ifst chapter I got stuck with martial arts terms, this time it was baseball. I¡¯ve also made some changes to the previous episodes: In the afternoon two dayster. Cordelia, wearing a wide-brimmed hat and a big skirt, went out of Count Chase¡¯s mansion with Dahlia. Ttak-ak-ttak-ak. The sounds of the horse pulling the carriage and of the rolling carriage wheel could be heard. And as if to match it, Dahlia hummed. It seemed that it was Dahlia, not Cordelia, who was going on a date. ¡®No, it¡¯s not a date. It¡¯s not a date.¡¯ It was just a business meeting. It was just a business meeting. Because it is important, Cordelia, who repeated it twice, turned away from Dahlia¡¯s high tension and looked out of the window. The site of the temple of Varuna was located in the outskirts of the border town, but there were many people and buildings. Varuna¡¯s temple was built not only in the S?len kingdom, but also anywhere on the continent ¨C to be exact, it was erected where there was arge floating poption, and the reason was simple. To hide the tree, hide it in the forest. The best way to hide a secret was to make people not interested in the secret itself. If there were many visitors, those who visited the temple of Varuna could easily conceal themselves. ¡°Miss, we¡¯re almost there. You can meet him now.¡± ¡°Yes, yes¡­¡± Cordelia, with a forced smile, hoped the carriage would arrive quickly. Rather than wanting to meet Jude, I wanted to escape from this awkward space and the excited gaze of Dahlia. ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± And finally, the carriage stopped. The heavy voice of the coachman relieved Cordelia, who let out a breath of relief, and Dahlia continued her own misunderstanding this time again. ¡®You are nervous. How cute.¡¯ It was Cordelia who could tell what Dahlia was thinking just by looking at her sparkling eyes, but she tried to turn away this time. It wasn¡¯t something I could deal with right now. ¡°Anyway¡­let¡¯s go!¡± ¡°Yes, miss!¡± Cordelia got off the carriage with Dahlia and looked around. Perhaps because it was afternoon, so the believers of Varuna stood out all over the ce. But it was then. ¡°Hello! Is sister called Cordelia Chase? A child squatting in the corner of the temple rushed to ask. He was a little boy around 5 to 6 years old and held a small folded note in his hand. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Although her strange appearance was only seentely, Dahlia was ostensibly an escort knight of Count Chase. After reflexively blocking the child¡¯s ess, she asked with a low voice, and the frightened child replied hesitantly. ¡°Thi-this! A very handsome brother told me to deliver this!¡± It was the note the child was holding. It was a very suspicious item, but Dahlia¡¯s face loosened at that moment. Because the name of Jude was written on the outside of the note. ¡°Miss.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± When Cordelia gave her permission, Dahlia took the note from the child. ¡°Then I¡¯ll go. I¡¯m sure I told you!¡± Perhaps because he was scared of Dahlia, the child ran out of the temple as soon as he gave the note. But Cordelia and Dahlia had long lost interest in the child. ¡°Come on and open it. Hurry.¡± ¡°Ye-yes.¡± At Dahlia¡¯s prompting, I opened the note, and the content was simple. See you in the confession room. Confession Room. It is one of the reasons why the cult of the god of secrets, Varuna, is enjoying poprity. In Varuna¡¯s temple, there was a confession room where you could confide and keep any secrets. Varuna didn¡¯t perform any miracles for those who told secrets, but the fact that there was a ce to confide secrets to those who lived under the weight of secrecy was bound to beforting. ¡°Oh my, is this a love affair in the confession room? Fufu, how cute.¡± At that moment, Cordelia was worried that Dahlia¡¯s brain had gone haywire, because she kept rting all of Cordelia¡¯s actions to a maiden in love, but she couldn¡¯t protest against it. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Yes, miss.¡± In the temple of Varuna, I had memories that I had visited here several times previously before my memories as Yellow Storm awakened. As Cordelia moved to the eastern section of the temple where the confession room was located, a middle-aged priest, who appeared to be in charge of the confession room, approached and guided the way. ¡°He is inside.¡± He didn¡¯t tell who, but it was obvious who was there. The priest retired with a smile, and Dahlia stopped at the door and smiled brightly. ¡°I¡¯ll stay here.¡± And a wink. It was Dahlia¡¯s helpful consideration, but I feel like I¡¯m falling into a quagmire. ¡°¡­I¡¯ll be back.¡± ¡°Yes, miss. Good luck.¡± ¡°Ye-yes.¡± After responding awkwardly, Cordelia entered the confession room as if she was running away. And it was at that moment. ¡°Yo, long time no see.¡± In the confession room, where a small desk and two chairs were ced, there was Jude was waiting as expected. This side suffered from all kinds of misunderstandings, but the face on the other side seemed to be well fed and well-off. ¡°Haa, I¡¯d rather die than suffer.¡± ¡°Yellow Storm?¡± Instead of answering, Cordelia asked Jude. ¡°How did you borrow this ce?¡± ¡°Ha?¡± ¡°The temple¡¯s confession room. Have you caught the priest¡¯s weakness?¡± Outboxer009 was someone who knew the inner workings of the big and even the small NPCs in the streets. The priest seemed to have quite a weakness, given that he hade all the way to meet her. At Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude blinked once and soonughed lightly. ¡°What is the weakness¡­it¡¯s money.¡± ¡°Money?¡± ¡°Yes, money. He lent it to me because I gave him money.¡± Why would he threaten him with weakness? I have money. ¡°You seem to forget, but I¡¯m the son of a Count.¡± He is also the son of Count Bayer, one of the 12 northern families. Even though they were weaker than they used to be, the Bayer family was still one of the most prominent families. ¡°What, I¡¯m a daughter of a Count, too?¡± ¡°I know.¡± As the awkward Cordelia grumbled for no reason, Jude smiled small and offered her a seat, while Cordelia, opposite Jude, asked, slightly opening her eyes. ¡°How is your Gueumjulmaek?¡± ¡°I¡¯m recovering little by little.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± Perhaps because I heard the story, it did seem that Jude¡¯splexion was better than before. ¡°What about you? Any aplishments?¡± ¡°I think there¡¯s a little more before I be a 2-star. I leveled up a lotst time.¡± A smile spread across Cordelia¡¯s face when she recalled the ¡°fight¡± against Leisegang. I wanted to do it one more time at heart, but unfortunately, Bestin¡¯s magic circle was good for one use only. If we forcibly summoned Leisegang again, there could have been some problems with the seal this time. ¡°Why did you call me anyway? There¡¯s nothing here.¡± ¡°Why not? You know.¡± ¡°Huh? There is?¡± ¡°Oh, there is. Hidden event.¡± In Jude¡¯s response, Cordelia blinked. Because I could not understand. ¡°No way¡­that¡¯s not possible. There was nothing on the walkthrough sites.¡± I wasn¡¯t talking about a typical walkthrough site. She was talking about ¡°Legend of Heroes Wall,¡± a site created by arge number of rotten and stagnant water, including Yellow Storm. Did Cordelia forget about it? But that was not it. Yellow Storm¡¯s memory was correct. The cause of the problem was with Outboxer009, not Yellow Storm. ¡°No wonder there isn¡¯t.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Because I¡¯m the only one who found it.¡± The first discovery notice came up when it was discovered. And Jude kept this event in his mind. No, why would you post hidden event information that you¡¯ve struggled to find on the walkthrough site? ¡°Wait, you didn¡¯t post on the ¡°Legend of Heroes¡¯ Wall¡± walkthrough site?¡± ¡°I do post, I did post, but only the things that everyone knows.¡± Secrets can only have value when they¡¯re kept secret. ¡°What, so you just put it all up? Really?¡± Cordelia didn¡¯t answer, but you could tell the answer by just looking at her face. ¡°Yes, so you¡¯re 2nd ce. No wonder you always came in second.¡± ¡°F*ck, you jerk. I knew there was something fishy. I struggled and couldn¡¯t catch up.¡± ¡°Our Norfolk is na?ve. I never imagined stealing the base.¡± (T/N: For Norfolk, please see the exnation I wrote before the beginning of this chapter. As for ¡°stealing the base¡±, that¡¯s a baseball terminology. Yeah, the author¡¯s a baseball fan¡­) But in fact, I had just guessed it. While I was having fun browsing at people¡¯sments, I saw a clue buried in the guides¡¯ posts. ¡°So, what is it, what is hidden here? Is it yours again?¡± When Cordelia asked with a pout on her lips, Jude hid hisughter and continued to speak. ¡°There is mine, and there is yours too. Do you know the dungeon book?¡± ¡°I know. Is there a dungeon book hidden here?¡± ¡°It¡¯s hidden. The rewards are pretty good.¡± Dungeon Book, as its name suggests was a virtual dungeon that could be entered by using the book. ¡°What¡¯s the reward?¡± ¡°Mine is a mugong (martial art). Yours¡¯s probably magic.¡± ¡°Skill Book?¡± ¡°Skill Book.¡± Using the skill book, you could acquire the skill at once without having to learn it. The tempted Cordelia leaned towards Jude and asked. ¡°What kind of mugong and magic is it in detail?¡± ¡°For mugong, it¡¯s a footwork, but I don¡¯t know for magic.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you know?¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t broken it yet as a wizard.¡± ¡°Sure enough.¡± It was a valid exnation. I had to break it to know. ¡°Rank? It wouldn¡¯t be too high if we could challenge it in the beginning.¡± ¡°B-rank.¡± ¡°B-rank?¡± ¡°B-rank.¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyes widened. She would have, as it was B-rank. Of course, if you looked at Legend of Heroes 2 as a whole, B-rank wasn¡¯t that great. But if you had just begun, it was not an exaggeration to say that B-rank was a rank above the sky. Originally, what you could get at this point was usually E or D, or C- at best. ¡°Uh¡­um, then the magic would be B-rank?¡± ¡°Perhaps?¡± A bright smile came over Cordelia¡¯s face. ¡°Good! Then let¡¯s settle it quickly! Where is it? Where is it hidden?¡± ¡°Here.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Here. I¡¯ve already found it.¡± It was located in a secret room deep in the temple library, but I came in the morning to find it. That was why I asked to meet Cordelia in the afternoon in the first ce. ¡°Time is gold, right?¡± Saying that with a smile, Jude brought out a thin book from his arms and put it on the desk. Varuna¡¯s Dungeon Book. Cordelia stared at the cover of the red book, raised her head and asked. ¡°Right now?¡± ¡°Right now.¡± No further consultation was necessary. Jude opened the book and recited the spell, and pure white light filled the confession room. Chapter 9: Dungeon Book (3)

Chapter 9: Dungeon Book (3)

Dungeon Book. There were quite a variety of types, but the use itself was all the same. ¡®Move the person who opened the book into the dungeon.¡¯ There were times when the dungeon was a virtual space like a virtual reality game, and there were times when it was real dungeon, but in a big way, it was also the key to teleport. Jude slowly opened his eyes. The pure white light faded, and what came to sight was not the narrow and dark confession room, but a ck sky and white floor ¨C to be exact, arge space covered with pure white cloth. ¡®I¡¯vee to the right ce.¡¯ The dungeon book with an unknown author and title, was hidden in the temple of the Varuna, the god of the mirror wall. In Legend of Heroes 2, this was the key to the conquerable dungeon ¨C no, Outboxer009 was the only one who got in and conquered it. ¡®There¡¯s a reason why I held on for more than 10 years.¡¯ The world of Legend of Heroes 2 continues to grow. What it meant was that even now, around 10 years after its release, Legend of Heroes 2 had not stopped its periodic update. It was not only the story of the 2nd episode¡¯s main story for the single-yer gamey, but also the story between the second and third main stages of the multiyer gamey system. Each character¡¯s story, the various quests that result from it, and the unthinkable rtionships between NPCs, etc. Moreover, the number of stories was never small. Rumor has it that the AI using big data continues to create stories, though I don¡¯t know if it was real, but a huge quantity of stories was created with each update. Despite the fact that the game is full of rotten waters such as Outboxer009 and Yellow Storm, Legend of Heroes 2 has not beenpletely conquered yet. ¡®Because there are still elements that I do not know.¡¯ Of course, the fact that there is an realm of ¡®mystery¡¯ here, where you don¡¯t know whether it¡¯s in the Legend of Heroes 2 or the world like the Legend of Heroes 2, was not something to be happy about, as it was closer to a demerit than a merit. What matters now, was the fact that Jude himself had entered the dungeon. ¡®What about Cordelia?¡¯ ¡°Oww, I have a headache. Is this teleport motion sickness?¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s voice came from behind his back, as if to answer. When I turned around, I saw Cordelia holding her head with a painful expression. ¡°Are you okay, Cordelia?¡± ¡°Uhhnn¡­it¡¯s not okay. Are you all right?¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m all right.¡± ¡°Why are you okay?¡± ¡°Why aren¡¯t you okay?¡± ¡°I know.¡± Perhaps because of motion sickness, Cordelia, who responded like a fool, trembled. ¡°Anyway, hooo¡­. This is the dungeon in the dungeon book. Looks like¡­ a virtual dungeon type?¡± The biggest difference between a virtual dungeon and a real dungeon was the presence or absence of death. If it¡¯s a virtual dungeon, even if you die inside the dungeon, you don¡¯t really die. Though you felt pain, you were deported from the book and no injuries were left. Of course, there were penalties besides pain. ¡®Retry is impossible.¡¯ Once kicked out, they cannot return to the virtual dungeon. ¡®It¡¯s much better than dying though.¡¯ There were two reasons why Jude originally chose Varuna¡¯s Dungeon Book at this stage. One was the reward was good, as I had told Cordelia, and the other was to experience actual battle without the risk of life. ¡®Legend of Heroes 2 is a fighting game, after all.¡¯ The journey to stop the Great Summons was also apanied by battles. ¡°Haa.¡± Once again, Jude, who had cleared his mind, looked toward Cordelia, and soon had a little smile on his face. ¡°Wow¡­it¡¯s really real.¡± It was a ce where I went in and out countless times in the game, but in this reality, this was my first time. It was strangely interesting and mysterious, so I looked around with my eyes wide open. ¡®That¡¯s it anyway.¡¯ Jude turned to his left hand and smiled again at Cordelia. ¡°Bingo.¡± As nned, he held arge bag in his left hand. It was a bag he deliberately held just before opening the book. Even in the game, the dungeon book also took inside all the items I was holding. Jude smiled and opened the bag. As the size of the bag wasrge, there were quite a variety of items inside. ¡°I should have brought my bag too.¡± Cordelia said, lifting her skirt slightly. It seems that she has been carrying many things in her skirt again. ¡°What did you bring?¡± ¡°Just the basic stuff.¡± Cordelia, answering Jude¡¯s question, looked around again and said, pouting her lips. ¡°Don¡¯t look back until I tell you.¡± ¡°Should I just turn my back and sit?¡± ¡°That¡¯s good, then.¡± Cordelia, who had said so far,ughed, and Jude quickly turned around and then rummaged through the things in his bag again. ¡°By the way.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°What tech are you specializing on?¡± ¡°You mean magic?¡± ¡°Yes, magic.¡± ¡°First, elemental. I¡¯m going for the me types.¡± ¡°What about buffs or debuffs?¡± ¡°I have to get it. But the base is elemental. Because I¡¯ll need firepower.¡± ¡°Well, what a typical Yellow Storm answer.¡± A life-risking battle maniac. In response to Jude¡¯sments, Cordelia replied with a small smile. ¡°Because that¡¯s me. You can turn around now.¡± ¡°Then without hesitation.¡± Sitting around again, Jude¡¯s eyes widened, and soon smiled again. ¡°It¡¯s our Yellow Storm, as expected.¡± Cordelia, who had just been wearing a wide skirt and a dress full ofce, was wearing her ownbat uniform at this moment. Body-fitting blouse and leather trousers, a dagger in the waist, and a short magic wand shaped like a baton in her hand. Her shoes were not dress shoes but leather boots. ¡°Did you know you wereing here?¡± ¡°No, but I thought something must have happened when you called me, so I brought it in my skirt.¡± ¡°Can you show me the inside of that skirtter? I¡¯m curious about the internal structure.¡± ¡°What is this crazy bastard saying?¡± There was a stream of abuse, but Cordelia was smiling. Jude also shrugged once, and then approached Cordelia with some of the things he took out of his bag. ¡°Come on, put this on, too.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t hesitate.¡± What Jude brought was a leather vest with chains, and hard gaiters and cuff guards made of oiled leather. ¡°There¡¯s also a helmet and a shield.¡± Again, it was made of leather. Jude, who ced the helmet with old aviator googles over Cordelia¡¯s head, smiled contentedly, and Cordelia, looking around at the round leather shield she had somehowe to hold in her hand, squint her eyes wide open. ¡°Outboxer.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°If my eyes weren¡¯t wrong, isn¡¯t this the only armor set in the bag?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°But why are you putting this on me?¡± ¡°That¡¯s because you¡¯re the line.¡± ¡°Front row?¡± ¡°Yes, front row.¡± ¡°The battle line in front of you in battle?¡± ¡°The battle line.¡± ¡°You¡¯re a warrior and I¡¯m a wizard?¡± T/N: Warrior refers to ¡°muin¡± or ¡°musa¡±. In Korea, they¡¯re people trained in martial arts. If you¡¯ve seen a Korean historical battle drama, they¡¯re the ones fighting in the battles. They¡¯re something like the Korean equivalent of Japan¡¯s samurai warriors. So, if you see the word ¡°warrior¡± in this series, like the escort Dahlia or Count Bayer¡¯s warriors, they¡¯re referring to muin. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s wrong with you? I¡¯m a man with Gueumjulmaek. How can I stand in the front lines now? I¡¯m standing behind the line.¡± ¡°You got the Sun¡¯s Ne.¡± ¡°Will it be treated in 10 days? There¡¯s something you overlook, even if it does.¡± ¡°There is?¡± ¡°Even without Gueumjulmaek, Jude is still weak.¡± The limbs were weak, and the body weight was light. Perhaps the muscle mass is even less than Cordelia. ¡°How conscientious it is, though. They¡¯ll dress you in your only armor to stand in front of you.¡± Jude grinned, and Cordelia said with a bright smile, too. ¡°F*ck.¡± ¡°Yes, yes. If my Gueumjulmaek is healed, I¡¯ll carry you, be hit by you, cross over the wall, and even stand in the front row.¡± Jude smiled and raised his thumb again, while Cordelia stood still. ¡°Hey. Yeah, I¡¯ll be in the front line for now. Then what are you going to do in the back row?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to use this.¡± Jude walked back to his bag and took out a bunch of papers he packed inside. ¡°Magic circle?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve made them avable at our level.¡± Originally, Jude had experimented with several magic circles first in order to find out how to start and use Bestin¡¯s magic circle. ¡°Let me see.¡± ¡°Here it is. Take your time.¡± On the paper slightlyrger than the size of a palm, drawings of quiteplex patterns could be seen. ¡®Crazy ba-¡¯ Cordelia, who looked at the magic circles, had no choice but to vent her admiring curses. The number of magic circles that Jude gave out was thirty pages. One-star magic circles were drawn, but the reason Cordelia cursed was simple. ¡®Did you memorize all of this?¡¯ Bestin¡¯s magic circle was amazinglyplex, but well, it was a very special magic circle. However, the magic circles in front of them were not so great. Of course, it would¡¯ve been easy to memorize because it was simple, but with these many, he memorized all these figures? ¡°That¡­¡± ¡°That?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing.¡± At that moment, Cordelia wanted to ask how many more things he memorized, but she decided to hold it in. ¡®I¡¯ll definitely memorize it all.¡¯ And you¡¯ll tease me if I can¡¯t memorize it. ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°Well, good. This should be good enough. There are many different kinds of magic circles.¡± ¡°Yes, so please inject some mana on it.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°No, you have to inject mana into the magic circle to use it.¡± ¡°What about your mana?¡± ¡°Hey, this again. I have Gueumjulmaek¡­¡± ¡°F*cking bastard, bad guy, son of a b*tch.¡± ¡°Woof woof.¡± Of course, thest one who said that was Jude, and this time, Cordelia growled like a dog. And an hourter. Cordelia, who finished injecting mana into the magic circles by drinking the mana potions she had brought, was copsed on the floor. ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­¡± I haven¡¯t started yet, but I want to spread out on the floor. But it wasn¡¯t the time to be spreading. ¡°The speed of time is doubled by how much¡­ huuuu, tell me?¡± ¡°It was one is to 20 times in the game.¡± Cordelia grumbled and asked, and Jude answered refreshingly as he packed up the magic circles. 20 times. In other words, here ¨C 20 minutes inside the dungeon book meant 1-minute outside. ¡°No matter how long much confession we¡¯re having, after half an hour, Maja and Dahlia will be worried. So, let¡¯s finish it before that.¡± ¡°Wait, half an hour? How long does it take to attack here?¡± ¡°Hmm, I don¡¯t know. At our level now, roughly eight hours if you include the resting time?¡± ¡°Crazy. What¡¯s in here?¡± ¡°As I have already exined, B-rank mugong and magic skill books. Of course, we¡¯re going to have to suffer first?¡± At the snap of the answer, Cordelia thought she was rolling her eyes, but soon closed her eyes and gave up a sigh. ¡°You just have to use those stinking magic circles.¡± ¡°No way.¡± Jude, who answered leisurely, sat in front of Cordelia and unfolded arge piece of paper. It was a map of the dungeon drawn in advance based on his memories. ¡°I remember all the roads, but you should know them for now. We should also talk about the monsters that wille out inside¡­why?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing.¡± What can a guy who can even memorize Bestin¡¯s magic circle not memorize? Once again impressed, she and Jude began to talk in earnest about their dungeon strategy. How long had it been since then? After a rough discussion, Jude and Cordelia stood side by side in front of arge arched door. If the ce you are now in is a safe zone, beyond that was a dangerous ce for monsters to appear. Jude took a long breath, then looked at Cordelia, and she also looked back at him. ¡°Shall we get started?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s get started.¡± Varuna¡¯s Dungeon Book attack. The two who stood side by side, took their first steps. Chapter 10: Dungeon Book (4)

Chapter 10: Dungeon Book (4)

The top scorer of Legend of Heroes 2 was Outboxer009, who ranked No.1 in the server rankings. However, the one who hunted the most in Legend of Heroes 2 was Yellow Storm, the No.2 in the server rankings. ¡®If you count the numbers of monsters you¡¯ve hunted, Yellow Storm has twice as more than Outboxer¡¯s.¡¯ She was the one who had experienced the most battles in Legend of Heroes 2. However, Cordelia had not experienced an actual battle. ¡®Leisegang is not counted.¡¯ It couldn¡¯t even move because of the seal, and frankly, at that time, Cordelia herself and Jude went crazy because of the level up. Anyway, this was our first real battle. Therefore, although Cordelia was more nervous than expected, she was able to carry out the battle with ease. ¡®It¡¯s sofortable.¡¯ Varuna¡¯s dungeon book was never easy. Basically, there were goblin monsters in the early stages, but they weren¡¯t ordinary. Goblins with different attributes appeared in each room, and their levels was not low either. In terms of Legend of Heroes 2, it was around level 10 or so. Monsters that were almost twice the level of Jude and Cordelia appeared with different attributes and abilities, so it was not an exaggeration to say that the difficulty was in Nightmare Mode. Nevertheless, Cordelia feltfortable. ¡®The hands and feet are so in sync.¡¯ I don¡¯t want to admit it, but I did. Furthermore, Outboxer009 was the most perfect support y ever experienced by Yellow Storm. As soon as the ck masked goblins with darkness attributes appeared ¨C no, even before they appeared, Jude was already tearing up the magic circle of the light attribute to counter the darkness attribute. When the goblins appeared, they began to feel heavy fatigue as soon as they stepped on the floor with light attributes, and Cordelia bombarded them with magic missiles before they could even approach them properly. Of course, this wasn¡¯t the only one. Jude saw exactly what Cordelia needed. If you run out of mana, mana potions came flying from behind, and if you needed a certain magic circle, Jude came close behind her back and gave the magic circle to her. As a result, the nature of Jude and Cordelia¡¯s hunt was quick and sophisticated at the same time as the surgery of a doctor and nurse who had been working hand and foot for many years. But nevertheless. The sound of ¡®wa-rak¡¯ had Cordelia broke out in anger. ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t just eat thest hit!¡± The average level of enemy monsters was 9 to 10. Nearly twice as many as Cordelia¡¯s, it was almost impossible to knock it down in one shot, and the number of those scurrying to the brink of natural death was also considerable. And every time those guys showed up, Jude put in a gruesomely perfect hit. ¡®When did you also bring a bow and a hand axe!¡¯ Moreover, his hit rate was significant. Because of his Cheonmujiche, Jude was proficient in moving his body. ¡°Kkieek!¡± The goblin, who was hit in the chest by a hand axe, copsed with a scream. It was reeling from a magic missile from Cordelia. When Jude seasons and Cordelia feeds shots, Jude finishes it up again. T/N: For those who don¡¯t get it, they use the word ¡°eat¡± here, as they consider monsters as ¡°food¡± (exp/experience points), so eating food meant getting/receiving exp. The seasons (seasoning) refer to Jude¡¯s support, like he used a light magic circle to counter the enemy¡¯s dark attribute. Cordelia feeding shots is her hitting magic missiles, and Jude finishes is him eating (dealing) thest hit (killing blow). Their breathing was sort of perfect, but why does it feel like it was not Jude but Cordelia herself who was ying support? In any case, the experience itself was the structure in which the person who hit thest hit ate the most. ¡°Here hees again!¡± Jude, who pulled out the hand axe stuck in the goblin¡¯s chest, shouted as he looked straight ahead. The hobgoblin, which is about twice the size of the goblins that have appeared so far, came rushing and screaming. ¡°!¡± Cordelia cried, pointing to the ground. The hobgoblin, who had been rushing recklessly, suddenly stepped on the slippery floor and fell in grand style, and once again, Jude shouted and ripped the magic circle. ¡°!¡± An invisible rope tied the limbs of the fallen hobgoblin. Considering the strength of the hobgoblin, it wouldn¡¯tst long, but it wasn¡¯t a long time anyway. Jude let out a short breath. As he grasped his axe and rushed forward, Cordelia quickly cast a spell instead of looking at such a Jude. ¡°Eurassha!¡± (T/N: Eurassha (???) is a variation of eurachacha (????), which is an onomatopoeic sound. It is a shout of energy when a person lifts or moves something heavy literally or figuratively (lifting yourself up when you¡¯re feeling down). In Jude¡¯s case, it¡¯s his body.) Jude did not lie to Cordelia. Thanks to the Sun¡¯s Ne, his Gueumjulmaek was being treated, but he still had a weak body. Even so, he still possessed minimal strength. If so, it would have been enough to attack a ce where even that minimal strength could strike a critical hit. ¡°Kkeuaaaaaa-!¡± The hobgoblin screamed when an axe hit in between its crotch. The struggle was so severe that the magic was shattered at once. ¡°Oops!¡± Although he was the attacker, Jude who was rolling on the floor to avoid the kick of the hobgoblin, put his hands between his groin without realizing it. And Cordeliapleted her spell. ¡°!¡± Unlike the non-attribute , was of the fire attribute. For Cordelia who was still a 1-star wizard, it was a magic that required time in casting. ¡°Kkeuaa!¡± The arrows of the me fell again between the groin of the hobgoblin, and the fluctuating hobgoblin stretched out at one moment with a crackling sound. It was a shock caused by a series of shocks. ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­ha¡­¡± Cordelia, wrapped in a ring of white light, copsed with a wild breath, and Jude let out a breath of relief too. ¡°It¡¯s the end of the monster waves. Now, only the boss room is left.¡± Hearing the words of Jude who was stretched out on the floor, Cordelia closed her eyes and wiped the sweat off her forehead. Five hours. It was the time it took to get here. Of course, we took a break from time to time. However, it was evident that this forced march was incredibly tiring. ¡®Indeed, it¡¯s Yellow Storm.¡¯ Jude, who sat down as he raised his upper body to soothe his breathing, looked at Cordelia and smiled. Perhaps, if it was someone other than Cordelia who came along, I would not havee here in five hours. ¡®No, I guess I didn¡¯t have to n at all.¡¯ Anyway, I¡¯vee here. It was a virtual dungeon where you never die, so the experience was poor, but because of the level gap between monsters, the level of Jude himself reached 7 just before 8, and Cordelia was 8. ¡®It¡¯s possible.¡¯ Jude, who counted the number of remaining magic circles, nodded. We consumed less than expected against the enemies, so this much was enough to challenge the boss room. ¡°Cordelia, are you exhausted?¡± In response to Jude¡¯s question, Cordeliaid down instead of answering, so Jude decided to take a little more rest. An hourter. Jude and Cordelia, who recovered their physical strength and mana through their respective respite and meditation, stood side by side at therge ck door, which is the entrance to the boss room. T/N: Respite (????, ungijosig, ß\šâÕ{Ï¢) is a term in fictional martial arts that refers to the act of generating energy and controlling the flow through breathing in the pores. It literally means moving (ß\) qi/energy (šâ) to regte (Õ{) breathing (Ï¢). In the game Mabinogi, respite is described as using your inner willpower to restore health and stamina. ¡°What¡¯s going toe out?¡± ¡°Fury Wolf.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a goblin?¡± ¡°Fury Wolf. Its movement is fast. You and I have to constantly move.¡± ¡°What¡¯s our n of action?¡± ¡°I tie him up, you beat him. But¡­¡± ¡°But?¡± ¡°You focus on evading until I give the signal. I have some preliminary work to do. Why?¡± When Jude asked, Cordelia narrowed her eyes once instead of answering immediately. ¡°Are you trying to do something weird?¡± ¡°What¡¯s weird? The two of us are on the verge of catching them when we work together.¡± ¡°Hmm, alright. If you insist.¡± The determined Cordelia rxed lightly and then jabbed at Jude, who opened the door of the boss room. *** The moment I opened the door, silence fell. The atmosphere itself has changed. And covered with white cloth under a ck sky. In the middle of it stood a giant wolf. With its green fur and clear yellow stripes, its eyes lit up yellow and it gave out a hot breath. The distance is about 30 meters. It was never close, but it wasn¡¯t a safe distance either. Jude had a side nce at Cordelia, and so did Cordelia. The two gradually distanced themselves from each other after they exchanged looks. The Fury Wolf did not move hastily. With hot drooling, it alternately between Jude and Cordelia, and at some point, it bristled up its hair and gave strength to its limbs. Right after. When Cordelia exhaled. Kwang! The Fury Wolf kicked the ground. It rushed at Jude, and Jude, who had predicted it in advance, threw his body without dy and rolled on the floor. ¡°Cordelia!¡± Instead of answering, Cordelia tore up the magic circle that she had taken over during the break. The magic struck the Fury Wolf, and in the midst of it, Jude who stood up also ripped a magic circle. It was again. ¡°Keo-heong!¡± The Fury Wolf roared. Cordelia¡¯s was destroyed by the wolf¡¯s roar, but Jude¡¯s tied its body down. ¡°!¡± Cordelia unfolds the magic again. It was between Jude and the Fury Wolf, and the wolf who released the binds by force, slipped on the floor. Jude threw an axe towards the Fury Wolf. He tore up the magic circle without even looking at whether it hit or not. Kwa-kang! It wasn¡¯t a this time. The first one was a that he had saved, and the second one was . A pool of water generated in the air hit the Fury Wolf. Then a single bolt of lightning struck the wet wolf¡¯s head. ¡°Keo-heong!¡± The Fury wolf roared in pain. But Cordelia felt a sense of ipatibility at that moment. ¡°Jude?!¡± She screamed and moved away at the same time. This is because the Fury Wolf rushed towards Cordelia. It was also faster than ever! ¡°Not yet!¡± Jude stomped on the floor and tore another magic circle. Then again, a ray of lightning struck the Fury Wolf. And Cordelia was convinced. Jude wasn¡¯t attacking the Fury Wolf now. Rather, he was strengthening it! ¡°Crazy! Lightning attribute!¡± To the Fury Wolf, the lightning attribute spell was nothing more than a nutritional supplement that strengthens it. Nevertheless, Jude hit it with twice to strengthen it. Why, what for! ¡°Bingo!¡± At the time of Jude¡¯s cry, the Fury Wolf roared into the sky. At the same time, a huge horn shot up between its forehead. Pa-ji-ji-jik-! Lightning shed along its horn. And Cordelia understood. In the first ce, this was Jude¡¯s goal. Strengthening the Fury Wolf to bring out its hidden powers. It was a hidden piece to get the B-rank skill book. ¡°F*ck! I knew something was weird!¡± From the beginning, he had said that it was ¡°safe¡± for a dungeon that gives a B-rank skill book! Enhanced dungeon boss. The horns that grew on its forehead was not the only change in the Fury Wolf. The size itself felt much bigger than before. ¡°Good! It was awakened properly!¡± As Jude shouted in a jubnt voice, Cordelia immediately cursed. ¡°Crazy bastard! Can we catch that?!¡± ¡°We have to catch it! What? Can¡¯t you catch it?¡± ¡°Evil bastard! Damn it, you bastard!¡± In the midst of all this provocation! Cordelia hurriedly swept her hair aside as she fixed a magic wand that looked like a baton. Judeughed hard as held a bunch of magic circles in his left hand and an axe in his right hand. ¡°It¡¯sing.¡± As Jude said that, the Fury Wolf rushed forward. Chapter 11: Dungeon Book (5)

Chapter 11: Dungeon Book (5)

The Fury Wolf and other ¡®wolf¡¯ race monsters shared one characteristic. ¡®Straight line attack.¡¯ Use a powerful angr force to rush forward like a bullet. However, the trajectory of the attack was as simple as that. Therefore, I could avoid it as much as I could with the right timing. The Fury Wolf kicked the ground. Roughly pushing the ground with its hind legs, the whole body of the Fury Wolf shot forward at the moment. Cheu-pa-hak! Lightning rose from the horns. It burst sharply, and the sound ripples was pierced through by the Fury Wolf. A speed that was hard for the eye to chase. The same was true of Jude. He was level 8, but it was only 8. It was impossible to capture the movement of the Fury Wolf with the eye of Jude. But there was something he could do. The moment it departed. When the Fury Wolf hit the ground, Jude also began to move. He threw himself to the left without any hesitation. Kwa-jik! The Fury Wolf had prated the spot where Jude stood. Jude had rolled down the floor, and Cordelia screamed. ¡°Outboxer!¡± It wasn¡¯t that I was mistaken that Jude allowed a valid strike. Cordelia knew. The memories of Yellow Storm shouted. The consecutive attackes. The Fury Wolf, who prated the air, hit the ground. It rotates and spins simultaneously with a terrifying angle. Jude was rolling on the floor. He had not even been able to get up yet. So, it cannot be avoided. This attack will end up hitting him! Cordelia raised her wand. I tried to invoke magic by instinct without thinking. The target area is the empty space between Jude and the Fury Wolf. It is impossible to hit the Fury Wolf. So, I directed the attack between it and Jude! ¡®Please!¡¯ The spell has been activated. This was not a magic that had a properposition, but an attack that simply sends out magical power. But that¡¯s why it was fast. She was able to push the explosion of mana between Jude and the Fury Wolf. Kwa-jik! But there was no explosion. Lightning broke out from the horn on the Fury Wolf¡¯s forehead, and the mana agglomeration, which was hurriedly created by Cordelia, broke down into pieces. ¡°Keo-heong!¡± The Fury Wolf pierced through the remnants of mana. Cordelia screamed out loud, and Jude raised his upper body. The Fury Wolf struck Jude. Cordelia could see it then. The Fury Wolf¡¯s sharp teeth will tear off Jude¡¯s neck at once! Bang! But it was not. Instead of Jude¡¯s scream, instead of the gruesome sound of broken bones and flesh, a small pang sounded. Just before the Fury Wolf reached Jude. Between the moments created by Cordelia to break through the agglomeration of mana. ¡°Ke-kaeng!¡± The Fury Wolf suddenly rolled on the floor in a painful cry. Far from biting Jude, it went further and struggled. How. How the hell! ¡°The smell of dogs is thousands of times that of humans!¡± Cried Jude. Thanks to him, I held my breath and struggled for a short time. Cordelia understood. Without thinking about it, I found out what he did the moment I saw it. ¡®Smell!¡¯ It was as Jude said. The dog¡¯s sense of smell was a thousand times than that of humans. Furthermore, the opponent is the Fury Wolf. All abilities were superior to ordinary dogs. It was a paper envelope that Jude had burst. It was a special odor bomb created bybining various items! He had nned for this from the start to the end. He had to level up first in the dungeon, so he couldn¡¯t beat the Fury Wolf with the frontal attack method (attacking fairly without using tricks) when he first nned this. Thus, he aroused its sense of smell. Evading the first straight line attack and then detonating the odor bomb during the second turn attack. Thereby temporarily neutralizing the Fury Wolf. An intolerable smile spread over Cordelia¡¯s face. Sheughed and clenched her fists. Yes, this is Outboxer. He¡¯s the #1 in the server rankings that I¡¯ve never won against! ¡°Kuhak! Kak! Cordelia!¡± Jude coughed as he shouted, and Cordelia did not miss his cry. No, she was already on the move when Jude started yelling. It wasn¡¯t only Jude who had prepared a number of hidden provisions. Cordelia had prepared for the moment too! ¡°!¡± Cordelia activated the magic stone in her left hand. Like the piece of paper inscribed with the magic circle used by Jude, the stone was filled with mana. It was created by Count William Chase, who was the Chase¡¯s family head at that time before Cordelia¡¯s father. The spell was activated. It was a pit with 3 meters in diameter and 3 meters in depth, which was formed with the Fury Wolf at the center, who was still tormented by the smell. ¡°Kke-ching?!¡± The Fury Wolf that was suddenly stuck in the pit made a sneezing sound, but Cordelia did not stop. As soon as I stopped in front of the pit, I wielded the wand to invoke magic this time. ¡°!¡± ¡°!¡± ¡°!¡± Most of the beginners of Legend of Heroes 2 always chose attack magic as the first magic to learn. It was not strange. Attack magic was needed to deal damage to the enemy. However, attack magic was not the only way to attack the enemy. Moreover, the wizard was not just an artillery unit that fired off attack magic. ¡®The wizard is the one who controls the situation.¡¯ Among the rankers of Legend of Heroes 2, it was Cordelia who risked her life more than anyone else, but she did not forget the most important fact. The wizard was not just an artillery unit. They were the ones who controlled the situation. They were the ones who made it possible to win fights that could not be won. Therefore, Cordelia was not obsessed with attack magic. I learned to make the floor slippery. I learned to dig a pit that can transform the battlefield. ¡°!¡± It couldn¡¯tpare to Count Chase¡¯s . However, it worked because it was used four times in a row on an existing pit. 7 meters deep. If it¡¯s only this deep, the Fury Wolf can somehow escape. But it was okay. Because Cordelia knew it. Because Yellow Storm believes it. ¡°Outboxer009.¡± As soon as she was exhausted and fell on her lips, Cordelia said quietly. And in response to her call, Jude, who had been running, tore up all the remaining magic circles in the pit. ¡°Bingo.¡± Immediately after speaking in a low voice. Jude threw himself at Cordelia. He fell almost at his stomach, and at that moment the ground shook with a loud roar. Kwagagagagagak-! mes, lightning, and wind were rampant. The magic in the narrow space influenced each other to create a greater explosion. Kwagwang! Thest roar. Jude and Cordelia raised themselves up almost simultaneously. The two of them slid their heads into the pit side by side, and soon smiled contentedly. ¡°The level has gone up.¡± Jude spoke loudly, and white rings of light swirled round the bodies of Jude and Cordelia in session. One, two, three. Jude¡¯s level was 11, and Cordelia¡¯s level was 10. And that was not the end. [You acquired the title ¡®Caught the Fury Wolf before level 10¡¯.] [Permanently increases all stats by 1.] The phrase came into my mind. I couldn¡¯t open the status window, but I felt a new surge of energying up like when I level up at the moment. ¡°Title.¡± Bonus points you can get when you achieve something. Jude held out his fist to Cordelia. ¡°Fine y.¡± ¡°Fine y.¡± Cordelia who bumped fists with him, replied with a smile but only for a moment. ¡°Ugh, the smell! Hey, get away first! You smell like shit right now!¡± When the odor bomb was burst, the smell had ng to Jude too. In response to Cordelia¡¯s reproach, rather than feeling sad, Judeughed and leaned towards Cordelia. ¡°Ugh, I¡¯m suddenly feeling anemic because of my Gueumjulmaek¡­¡± ¡°Hey! I can see you¡¯re acting!¡± But still, Cordelia reflexively supported Jude. Jude leaned on against such Cordelia and pointed his chin at the sky. ¡°I guess it finally came out.¡± ¡°It¡¯s true¡­ Wow!¡± Cordelia who was trying to push Jude away, opened her eyes wide and admired. I had no choice but to. ¡°B-rank skill book.¡± Two columns of light formed in the shape of a book and floated in the air. Jude and Cordelia exchanged looks, and a bright smile spread across their faces. *** Skill book. As the name implies, it is a book which you use to acquire skills, and it¡¯s the most popr means to acquire skills in Legend of Heroes 2. ¡®Because it¡¯s easy and simple.¡¯ Using the skill book, you could acquire the skill right away without having to learn it. Of course, each skill has its own skill level, so it was impossible to master it as soon as you learn it, but its biggest advantage was being able to use it right away. ¡®Learning from the NPC or self-studying by reading from a book takes time to learn.¡¯ However, one drawback to this skill book is that it was a one-time use only. When you get the skill, the skill book disappears. Therefore, it is impossible to share it with others. ¡°Wow, it¡¯s really B-rank, B-rank. Can you see that border color? Is our suffering worthwhile?¡± Pointing at the silver border surrounding the skill book, Cordelia smiled brightly. It was the same in the game, but whenpensation time came, Yellow Storm really liked it like a child. ¡®I¡¯m raring to see the reward.¡¯ The number of skill books is two. Moreover, one was martial arts and the other was magic, so there was no need for Jude and Cordelia to quarrel with each other in the first ce. ¡°This was my favorite time.¡± ¡°What? When opening the item?¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m just nervous about what¡¯sing out.¡± Cordelia who showed a charming girl like an absolute beauty, brushed the dirt off after standing up and then reached towards the sky. Then the B-rank skill book slowly flew towards Cordelia. ¡°Whoa, it¡¯s a real B-rank. Hehe, what wille out? But is this a confirmed item? Do you know what wille out?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s a confirmed item. Mine is footwork as I¡¯ve said before.¡± Jude also reached out to the sky to get the skill book. The color of the cover changed ording to the rank of the skill book, and red symbolized the B-rank¡¯s color. Skill book with a red cover and a silver border. Cordelia turned to Jude, embracing her share of the skill book. ¡°So, what is it? What footwork?¡± ¡°Cheonhasamsip-yukbo (Thirty-Six Worldly Steps).¡± ¡°Cheonha-what?¡± ¡°Cheonhasamsip-yukbo.¡± T/N: Cheonhasamsip-yukbo (??????, ÌìÏÂÈýÊ®Áù²½) literally means world (??) thirty-six (???) steps (?), so it¡¯s ¡°World¡¯s Thirty-Six Steps¡±, but ¡°Thirty-Six World Steps¡± sounds better. I¡¯ll be spelling numbers in their word forms (Thirty-Six) instead of their numerical value (36) because it¡¯s more formal-looking for a technique name. In response to Jude, Cordelia frowned and was puzzled. I thought I¡¯ve heard it from somewhere, but clearly nothing came to my mind. ¡°It¡¯s a B-rank Mugong. Besides, you like magic more than martial arts.¡± When Jude shrugged and made excuses instead, Cordelia strained her lips, but she didn¡¯t pretend to know. ¡°So, what is it after all?¡± ¡°As the name suggests, it is a footwork technique made of 36 steps. It specializes in evasion.¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°Hey, this is B-rank?¡± Looking at Cordelia¡¯s eyes to see what more she wanted to know, I nodded. ¡®There is actually more to it.¡¯ The reason why Thirty-Six World Steps is so specialpared to other B-rank mugong. ¡®This is an upgrade.¡¯ The Thirty-Six Worldly Steps was just the foundation. When learned perfectly, the door to the next stage was opened, and the number of steps that make up the footwork decreased as the stages progressed. A-rank footwork technique, Twenty-Four Gale Steps (Jilpung-isibsabo). S-rank footwork technique, Twelve Faith Steps (Sinloesib-ibo). And the so-called ultimate fantasy footwork technique, EX-rank footwork technique, Nine Celestial Steps (Cheon-gugubo). ¡®Can you hide from the sky in nine steps?¡¯ In fact, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is the king and end goal of all existing footwork techniques in Legend of Heroes 2, and even for Outboxer009, he only knew of the footwork technique but never got to learn it. ¡°Thirty-Six World Stepse to think of it, it has a simr name to the Twelve Faith Steps you often used.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Jude, who responded moderately to the naively talking Cordelia, grinned andughed before pointing to Cordelia¡¯s chest ¨C to be exact, the skill book she held in her hands. ¡°Yours?¡± ¡°Huh? You really don¡¯t know?¡± ¡°I really don¡¯t know. I told you I¡¯d never woken up as a wizard.¡± ¡°Heh, really? So, it¡¯s really your first time opening it? I¡¯m excited.¡± Cordelia smiled brightly like a child with a gift box in front of her and opened her skill book. Then the title appeared on the cover. [Fire Missile ¨C B-rank] ¡°Oh! This is good. I like this one.¡± As Cordeliaughed and stroked her skill book, Jude nodded unconsciously. ¡®It¡¯s custom-made.¡¯ The reason why Yellow Storm could stay 2nd in the server rankings, whose knowledge of Legend of Heroes 2 was less than Outboxer009 ¨C no, it was even less than the guys in the top 30. Yellow Storm lived in dealing damage, and mainly yed as a wizard who was good at dealing damage with the highest efficiency, clearly showing why her nickname was ¡°storm¡± in each battle. ¡®The baptism of magic bullets that swept like a storm.¡¯ While others deal with ten at the same time, she was literally creating a storm, dealing hundreds of magic bullets that were difficult to handle at the same time. Having the me attribute of magic bullet in such a Yellow Storm¡¯s hands was like giving the artisan a perfect tool. ¡°Okay, both of us seem to be satisfied. Shall we slowly get ready to go back?¡± Jude looked back at where the Fury Wolf first appeared. A billowing spatial door to escape the dungeon, which was shaking like the surface of a windyke, had appeared. ¡°Wait a minute, let¡¯s change clothes first. We do smell a little. Dahlia will definitely ask.¡± ¡°Well, I suppose so.¡± In fact, Jude had also brought a change of clothes. It was in his intentions to use an odor bomb in the first ce. ¡°Don¡¯t look back.¡± ¡°Just you.¡± Jude and Cordelia, who turned their backs on each other, hurriedly began to change clothes. ¡°By the way.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°The title in on, right?¡± ¡°It came up.¡± ¡°There is no status window, but the title itself is there and its benefits should be applied, right?¡± ¡°Maybe.¡± As soon as I answered, a smile was drawn on Jude¡¯s face. This is because I have a few titles in my head that I can use right now. ¡°Well, then.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°You and I are both over level 10, right?¡± ¡°No more.¡± ¡°Do you have anything in mind for the next step?¡± ¡°Yes. What about you?¡± ¡°Me too.¡± The rustling stopped for a moment. Instead of looking back, Jude opened his mouth again, grooming his clothes. ¡°Shall we speak at the same time?¡± ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°One.¡± ¡°Two.¡± ¡°¡°The Devil¡¯s Hand.¡±¡± Jude and Cordelia spoke the same words at the same time, and both smiled. ¡°You¡¯re good at it?¡± ¡°Just you?¡± Devil¡¯s Hand. I wasn¡¯t talking about items or new skills. In ¡®Cordelia¡¯s Main Scenario¡¯, it was the roaring antagonist ¨C in short, it was the name of a group of demon followers. Legend of Heroes 2 had a variety of yable characters, each with their own main scenario. The main scenario of Cordelia was half a year earlier than Jude¡¯s main scenario, but the day of its beginning was approaching. ¡®About 15 days in the future?¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s main scenario began when she traveled to join a social gathering of children from the 12 northern families. ¡®The main event in the beginning is that the Devil¡¯s Hand attacked the gathering of the 12 northern families.¡¯ Because of that event, some of the children of the 12 northern families were killed or injured, and some were kidnapped by the Devil¡¯s Hand and even brainwashed. ¡®In the game, I had to be contented that Cordelia alone managed to run away¡­¡¯ But this was not a game anymore. Moreover, there were two people who knew what was going to happen in the future. ¡®We should stop the Devil¡¯s Hand.¡¯ In the first ce, Jude and Cordelia¡¯s purpose was not to follow the scenario of Legend of Heroes 2 as it was. The promised bad ending of Armageddon would be waiting for them then. Make a new ending. Stop the Great Summons and the world destruction that lead to Legend of Heroes 3. Stopping the Devil¡¯s Hand was the first step in that journey. ¡°There, so to speak¡­¡± ¡°To speak?¡± ¡°That¡­¡± ¡°That?¡± When Jude asked again, Cordelia pouted and got angry. ¡°You know, right?¡± What Cordelia herself is trying to say now. Still, Jude shook his head deftly. ¡°No, I don¡¯t know. I¡¯d have to hear it myself.¡± ¡°Hey, just now, you already know the answer, right?¡± Judeughed pleasantly. It was as Cordelia said. ¡°But can¡¯t you just tell me first? That¡¯s how I get motivated.¡± ¡°F*ck, I really can¡¯t.¡± Cordelia, who mumbled quietly, took a big breath once and then said in a small but clear voice. ¡°Let¡¯s go together.¡± The social gathering of the 12 northern families will be held at the northern heart of Langesthei. ¡®Jude Bayer¡¯ did not originally go to Langesthei. It was because long-distance travel was impossible due to his Gueumjulmaek. But now it was different. If you are the Jude now, it was possible to go together. ¡®It was why I was in a hurry in the first ce.¡¯ It was one of the reasons for hastening the treatment of Gueumjulmaek. ¡°If my beloved Lady Cordelia wishes for it.¡± On Jude¡¯s answer, Cordelia shuddered for a moment, but only for a short time. After smiling brightly, she finished the hem of the skirt, turned around and said. ¡°Okay, you can turn around.¡± ¡°I¡¯m already looking.¡± ¡°F*ck?¡± Jude, whopletelyughed at Cordelia¡¯s blushing face, walked towards the spatial door and said. ¡°Anyway, hurry up. Time is gold, right?¡± ¡°Just talk, only talk.¡± Cordelia, who was grumbling and pouting her lips, stood beside Jude, and the two took a step at the same time after looking back at each other. The two began their first steps towards a new ending. Chapter 12: Count Chase (1)

Chapter 12: Count Chase (1)

Angie: I took a break yesterday, so the chapter only came out now. Enjoy the chapter~! The kingdom of S?len, which ispeting for supremacy with the Argon Empire for the position of the continent¡¯s most powerful nation, had three major territories. The north, connected with the unexplored northern region, and of severe cold and barbarism. In the center, the Ctes ins which was called the continent¡¯s breadbasket. And the southern region extending its influence on both the ind and foreign seas. The north was like another kingdom that existed within the S?len Kingdom, which protected the kingdom and the entire continent from the barbarians beyond the unexplored regions for many years. For generations, the king of S?len entrusted the rule and defense of the north to the northern margrave, and the northern margrave cooperated with the famous northern families in protecting the borders. Just as the Margrave seat was transferred from Count Bayer to Count Hr?svelgr, the northern families also differed in number or organization from generation to generation, with twelve families upying seats at the present time. ¡®Count Bayer, the famous family of warriors.¡¯ Now that the power of the house had declined, he has handed over the Margrave position to Count Hr?svelgr, but it was still a family whose power cannot be ignored. In particr, the current Count Bayer family head was one of the S?len¡¯s ten great swordmasters and a member of the Northern Sagang (??, Four Rivers), a strong man with the title ¡®Sword General¡¯. ¡®Count Chase, the famous family of wizards.¡¯ Count Chase had the smallest manor out of the 12 northern families. T/N: Manor as innded estate, not a mansion. Red Dawn Tower. One of the five magic towers in the north. At that time, Count Chase was one of the three 7-star wizards in the north and served as the Tower Master of the Red Dawn Tower. ¡¯10 other families.¡¯ It was too long to list each one. In any case, Count Chase, who was practically withoutnd now, built a mansion and settled in the frontier city of Bailon. Then, Count Bayer, who had stepped back from the margrave position, returned to his hometown of Bailon. Thus, the present situation of two families residing in one manor was created. ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­haa.¡± Jude, who was breathing fast and loudly, ran through the training courtyard. His entire body was sweaty, and his face was red, but he didn¡¯t stagger or breathe like a person who was about to die. 10ps around the training field. Just ten days ago, it was almost a life-threatening challenge, but now it was different. ¡®Just, it¡¯s just f*cking hard.¡¯ His mind had gone nk. He was sweating so much that he felt like he had fallen into the water. But his breathing was regr. His limbs were sore, but they didn¡¯t look like they were going to break. ¡®Kuhaa¡­¡¯ Once Jude stopped running, he breathed loudly. Instead of lying down, he bent his upper body, took his breath, and slowly stabilized his breathing. ¡®There¡¯s a result.¡¯ His stamina increased. A lot of it. ¡®Because Jude was so weak at the beginning.¡¯ But still it was that. His visible growth was enough to inspire motivation. ¡®This one too.¡¯ Jude stabilized his breath to some extent and sat upright, as he closed his eyes and focused on his consciousness. Mana training method. In other words, it was to operate the Inner Qi cultivation method. Legend of Heroes 2¡¯s Inner Qi cultivation method was somewhat different from the Inner Qi cultivation method that usually appeared in martial arts. It was the same in its use of the three Dantian, but there was no need to move or stick to a specific posture during training. (T/N: Dantian, loosely tranted as ¡®sea of qi¡¯ or ¡®energy center¡¯, are the Qi focus flow centers, important focal points for meditative and exercise techniques such as qigong and martial arts. It has three categories: the upper, middle, and lower dantian.) It could be said that it¡¯s close to almost the same whenparing the two. Jude tried to use the basic F-rank cultivation skill he learned from Victor. ¡®Feel it.¡¯ He felt the warm and lively energy that was as big as a bean. Moreover, it was pure. It was not an exaggeration to say that the pure energy created by thebination of Yin and Yang energy was the crystallization of purity. ¡®But it¡¯s still tough.¡¯ The Gueumjulmaek hasn¡¯t beenpletely healed yet. There were still many blocked or cramped ces in the big and small meridians, so it was difficult to cultivate properly. But Jude was not in a hurry. Just as his stamina was increasing, his Gueumjulmaek was steadily improving. His stamina was the initial proof that his Gueumjulmaek was being treated. ¡®I¡¯m looking forward to it.¡¯ When he could use martial arts properly. Though it was a little childish, he honestly wanted to try using martial arts at least once properly. One would be able to fly halfway using Qinggong or use Neigong to shoot powerful air waves. T/N: Qinggong and Neigong aremon skills in wuxia stories. In wuxia, Qinggong allows you to circumvent gravity to fly, cover tremendous distances in a single stride, run across surfaces of water, mount trees, and jump over or scale high walls. Neigong is building up and cultivating the qi/energy and use it to attain skills such as superhuman strength, speed, stamina, durability and healing as well as the ability to project energy beams and elemental forces from their bodies. Wouldn¡¯t it be like those superhumans in a hero movie? ¡®I mean, it¡¯s amazing.¡¯ Not only martial arts but magic too. And the world itself, where all that is possible. There are levels, and there are level ups. There is no status window, but titles exist. But this is not a game. This is reality. Even at this moment, Jude himself is alive and breathing. ¡®Yes, that¡¯s the most important thing.¡¯ The fact that he was alive. The fact that he was trying to live. It was not a matter of consideration such as the reason for entering the world of Legend of Heroes 2, and the reason for the existence of a real world like that of Legend of Heroes 2. Therefore, Jude decided to focus on the immediate reality. ¡°Good job.¡± Hearing the voice full of satisfaction, Jude opened his eyes and turned his attention. Victor Cromwell, the old knight in charge of Jude¡¯s physical training, stood with a smile on his face. ¡°Your physical strength is increasing every day. If you keep going¡­by the time the Count returns, you¡¯ll be able to learn the Bayer family¡¯s mugong. Victor said with joy, as if it were his own business. In fact, it was only natural. He was the one who had been watching the whole process of Jude growing up from Jude¡¯s birth up to the present moment. The child who had always suffered and been frustrated by the curse of Gueumjulmaek is now growing up day by day, so why would he not be happy? ¡®The tiger cub is a tiger.¡¯ Victor also liked Jude¡¯s attitude. In terms of Jude¡¯s standard, which are much weaker than the average person, the training itself was conducted faithfully without any tricks. ¡®It¡¯s a blessing for the Bayer family.¡¯ It really was. Because the sincere and faithful Jude had outstanding talents. It had only been twenty days since he began to treat the Gueumjulmaek with the Sun¡¯s Ne, but it wasn¡¯t only Jude¡¯s physical strength. Almost all body functions such as muscle strength, agility, flexibility, etc. have changed beyond recognition. ¡®That¡¯s because I leveled up.¡¯ Level 1 became level 11 now, so it was natural that it would be different. So, whatever the true reason was, if it could satisfy everyone, it was good. He did find Victor¡¯s gaze of admiration to be pleasant. ¡°Young master is talented. So, you don¡¯t have to be disappointed or frustrated to yourte initiation to Mugong. You know what I mean, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Yes, Sir Victor. I will keep that in mind.¡± When Jude answered positively again, Victor smiled with a mixture of joy and sorrow. It was a fact that Jude was now seventeen, and that he was toote to begin his training. ¡®Even so, you look so bright¡­ I didn¡¯t realize it wille so soon¡­ No, have you forgotten the reality in the joy of being able to learn mugong?¡¯ Dark emotions were back in Victor¡¯s deep blue eyes, but the concerned party, Jude, was thinking simply. ¡®Having Cheonmujiche is naturally awesome. Age doesn¡¯t matter.¡¯ Cheonmujiche (Heavenly Martial Body). It¡¯s a cheat talent that makes the main character into a hero. ¡°Young master, please cheer up. Young master, you¡¯ll definitely be able to do it.¡± ¡°Yeah? Ah, yes. I¡¯ll do my best.¡± It was the time when Victor and Jude were working together but having different thoughts. ¡°Young master! Young master Jude!¡± At the urgent call, Jude¡¯s and Victor¡¯s eyes turned at the same time. The call came from Jude¡¯s exclusive maid, Maja. However, the atmosphere was different from usual. She was always cold and calm-looking, but was now approaching quickly with a face that reminded him of when he was running. ¡°Maja?¡± Jude, as well as Victor, were surprised. Maja¡¯s quick steps meant that much. ¡°What happened?¡± At Victor¡¯s question, Maja picked up her breath first before looking at Jude and saying. ¡°Young master, a letter came from Count Chase.¡± ¡°Oh, from Count Chase. Did our cutedy send you a letter?¡± Victor asked with an openly sparkling face. The rumor that the love between Jude and Cordelia had deepened has even reached the Count. ¡®Hehe, our young master is good at it too.¡¯ Everyone had to admit that Cordelia Chase was an iparably beautiful girl. Victor¡¯s face, in which he imagined Cordelia shyly writing words of love while thinking of Jude, was filled with a delighted smile. But it was not. There could be no such thing where Yellow Storm is thinking about Outboxer009 and worrying about writing words of love. ¡°It¡¯s not Lady Cordelia.¡± It wasn¡¯t Cordelia who sent the letter. In Maja¡¯s words, Victor¡¯s eyes flickered, while Jude frowned. At this point, there were only two people from Count Chase that will send a letter to Jude himself. One was, of course, Cordelia Chase. And the other one was¡­ ¡°It¡¯s a letter from Count Chase.¡± Arthur Chase. The present Count Chase. It was the summons of his (future) father-inw. *** ¡°Young master, please don¡¯t be too nervous. He¡¯s Cordelia¡¯s father. And the engagement was decided by Count Bayer and Count Chase together, so your rtionship with her is literally approved. So, a slight deviation will be fine.¡± Slight deviation. The daytime runaway where Jude and Cordelia said that they needed to spend some time alone together. Jude swallowed his saliva unconsciously. ¡®I¡¯m nervous.¡¯ Very much. It wasn¡¯t that strange for him to be nervous. In fact, it was natural. How could he not be nervous when the son-inw is going to see his father-inw? Moreover, the daytime runaway incident was enough to make even Maja, who was called the Ice Queen of the Bayer family, talkative. It was natural to be nervous. ¡°Huu, huu, huu.¡± In a carriage that rattled faster than usual, Jude gathered his breath to stay calm. He closed my eyes and focused on his thoughts. ¡®Arthur Chase. Count Chase.¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s father. He is one of the Northern Four Rivers and is one of the best battle wizards in the S?len Kingdom. In fact, his role in the original scenario wasn¡¯t that big. In ¡®Cordelia¡¯s main scenario¡¯, there were few appearances, and in ¡®Jude Bayer¡¯s main scenario¡¯, his presence was also small. ¡®Because Jude and Cordelia¡¯s engagement eventually fizzled out.¡¯ In Cordelia¡¯s main scenario, the two had be estranged because of Jude¡¯s struggle with Gueumjulmaek. ¡®Because the two rarely met.¡¯ The two may have started in the same city, but when one followed their main scenarios, the areas where they were active were in opposite directions. To be precise, both were active in the north, but when one was in the east, the other was in the west. ¡®In Cordelia¡¯s story, it became out of hand.¡¯ There was nothing else that came to mind in other respects. ¡®Well¡­why did he call for me? Is it because of the daytime runaway?¡¯ But then, why now? Over ten days have passed since the ban on going out was lifted. ¡®Calm down, calm down, Outboxer009.¡¯ It was unusual. His head did not work properly because he was strangely nervous. No, why was he so nervous in the first ce? It¡¯s not a problem¡­right? Isn¡¯t he Cordelia¡¯s father? ¡®Hmm¡­father-inw.¡¯ It was a time that he screamed silently at the strangeness. ¡°Young master, we¡¯ve arrived.¡± When Jude opened his eyes to Maja¡¯s words, he saw Count Chase¡¯s mansion when he looked out the carriage window. The wall that he promised to cross over someday was s¡­high and was too high. If Count Bayer¡¯s mansion was the knight¡¯s castle, Count Chase¡¯s mansion was the wizard¡¯s model garden. After arriving at the front door of the mansion past the well-decorated spacious garden, Jude swallowed down. The reality that he had visited the house of his soon-to-be ¡°wife¡± dawned on him. ¡°We wee your visit. Pleasee this way.¡± Following the butler¡¯s guidance, Jude admired the atmosphere of Count Chase¡¯s mansion, which was clearly different from Count Bayer¡¯s mansion. It was bright, radiant, and splendid. The direction itself felt different from that of Count Bayer¡¯s mansion, which was in and somber that it was reminiscent of the castle on the border. But it was just when he had entered the long hallway. Cordelia and Dahlia, as if they had been waiting in advance for a long time while standing restlessly in the hallway, approached Jude. ¡°Butler Norton, please give us a moment.¡± Dahlia smiled and pressured Norton, and Cordelia pointed at the corner of the hallway with an urgent nce. Her eyes suggested that before going to the boss room, they should have a little operational meeting. Jude was also in a situation where he desperately needed information, so it was not something to refuse. Quickly following her, Cordelia suddenly opened her mouth when the decor hid them from sight. ¡°What are you going to do?¡± ¡°Give¡­please give me your daughter?¡± When Jude replied reflexively without thinking, Cordelia covered her face with both hands. ¡°What is this crazy b*stard saying?¡± ¡°No, why did you call for me in the first ce? Do you know anything?¡± ¡°No. It was just a sudden call.¡± ¡°After all, is this because of the daytime runaway?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, do you think he¡¯ll mention it?¡± ¡°Ha, why did you overdo it¡­¡± ¡°Crazy b*stard, you ordered it! You!¡± ¡°Anyway, now¡¯s not the right time to argue what¡¯s right and wrong.¡± ¡°I want to argue, I want to argue like mad.¡± But it wasn¡¯t really the time to argue what¡¯s right and wrong. If they thought about it, the father-inw only called for his son-inw, so maybe he didn¡¯t have any serious purpose. ¡°Regardless, I¡¯ll do my best.¡± ¡°Okay, I don¡¯t know what to do but good luck. Figh-fighting!¡± After receiving Cordelia¡¯s timid cheering, Jude nodded and approached Butler Norton, and asked to be guided again. And so, in what briefly felt like a minute. ¡°Mr. Jude Bayer has arrived.¡± Butler Norton raised his voice. The boss room ¨C no, Count Chase¡¯s drawing room door was opened. Chapter 13: Count Chase (2)

Chapter 13: Count Chase (2)

I changed Langestrom to Langesthei, which is an actual ce in Austria. Like the rest of the mansion, Count Chase¡¯s drawing room was brightly and beautifully decorated. The white ceiling, paired with a white and clean marble floor, and the wall with severalrge ss doors leading to the garden was turquoise, giving it a cool feeling. There was a carpet that boldly used red and yellow colors to give off a sense of splendor, and several luxurious furniture with a bright overall tone. A foreign presence stood alone in a ce where it would seem more right for beautifuldies to have a tea party here. ¡°Have youe?¡± Arthur Chase. Count Chase. He is a member of the Northern Four Rivers and a 7-star wizard, and one of the most prominent battle wizards in the north. And as if to reveal that fact with his whole body, he was big, scary, and sharp-looking. If Jude couldpare him to a sword, he was like a ymore. ¡®Red Storm.¡¯ Count Chase¡¯s nickname. He is also known as the ¡®Red Monk¡¯, and always wore blood-like red robes, as he is now. ¡°Mr. Jude Bayer greets Lord Chase.¡± When Jude showed proper decorum, Count Chase who was standing while facing the garden, turned around. He had short-cut red hair and a height nearing 2 meters tall. Strong broad shoulders and rock-like muscles presumed to be honed on the battlefield. In addition, sharp piercing eyes that could see through the opponent, and the overall impression was truly overwhelming. Jude felt more like he was facing a mighty warrior than a wizard. ¡®The mother¡¯s genes worked hard.¡¯ All three children of Count Chase, including Cordelia, were good-looking men and women that were as beautiful as flowers. Of course, Count Chase didn¡¯t have an ugly face. Rather, he had a thick, dark, and manly handsome face. It was like the time when they went to Leisegang. All the big talk in his head went out because of his nervousness. ¡°Sit down.¡± Count Chase spoke low again and sat down at the head of the table. Jude took a bated breath after Count Chase sat in his seat of authority. If this was an ordinary meeting, the maids would havee in and served tea and cookies at this point, but only the deep and heavy silence was set between Count Chase and Jude. As such, a dozen or so seconds passed. Around the time the cold sweat began to flow along Jude¡¯s back, Count Chase opened his mouth again. ¡°I heard a few stories.¡± It hase. Count Chased looked down at Jude while maintaining a straight posture, and Jude swallowed nervously as he faced Count Chase¡¯s chilly gaze. Frankly, he was scared. Simr feelings sprang up in his heart like when he first saw Leisegang. But he did not turn away. Jude mustered up and endured Count Chase¡¯s gaze. A few seconds passed then. Count Chase, who looked at Jude with ssy eyes, opened his mouth and said again. ¡°I heard about your actions during the deviation.¡± Deviation (weekend getaway). It was Count Chase who came in hard from the start. However, Jude kept hisposure. What Count Chase mentioned was not just the deviation. ¡°You were lucky to get the Sun¡¯s Ne.¡± Count Chase could not have known that he had nned to get the Sun¡¯s Ne in the first ce. But Jude didn¡¯t answer, and instead took the Sun¡¯s Ne that he had put in his clothes and ced it on the table. ¡°It¡¯s the Sun¡¯s Ne.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± A golden ne engraved with the crest of Sri, the sun god. Count Chase¡¯s gaze, which had been focused on Jude, shifted to the Sun¡¯s Ne. He stroked the ne a few times with his thick, coarse fingers and nodded. ¡°By all means, is it an item that constantly radiates Yang energy? You got a great start.¡± The Sun¡¯s Ne was the divine item used by the sun god Sri¡¯s champion Gallus, and not anyone else. It was not an exaggeration to say that it was a divine treasure of the denomination, so it was natural for Count Chase to admire it. ¡°Whatever.¡± Count Chaseid down the Sun¡¯s Ne. He once again looked at Jude as if searching him before suddenly pulling out a small box from his bosom, pushing it to Jude, and speaking. ¡°This is of no use to me. But I already brought it, so take it.¡± What the hell is it? When Jude sent a nce to ask if he could open it, Count Chase said with a snort. ¡°Hmph, I¡¯m telling you in advance, but it¡¯s not much.¡± It was a little vague, but he thought it was okay to open it, so Jude carefully opened the box and soon opened his eyes wide. ¡®It¡¯s a big deal!¡¯ What was inside was a Yang Earth Pill, which possessed a powerful amount of Yang energy. He had just opened the box, but the fragrant aroma seemed to fill the drawing room. It wasn¡¯t something that could cure Gueumjulmaek at once like the Sunfire Carp, but it was still a valuable item that would be of considerable help to the treatment. ¡°And.¡± Count Chase spoke again before he could even express his gratitude for the Yang Earth Pill. Once again, the Count asked, looking at Jude with fierce eyes. ¡°I heard that Cordelia carried you when you jumped off the cliff. Was it true?¡± ¡°¡­it¡¯s true.¡± ¡°Tsk, how foolish.¡± Count Chase who clicked his tongue in disapproval, searched his arms again and held out a small box. ¡°It¡¯s a fruit that strengthens muscle strength. All I have around me is a bunch of wizards who just need the strength of a cane, that¡¯s why it¡¯s useless to us, so take it. ¡®The Fruit of Strength?!¡¯ Jude once again looked in surprise. The Fruit of Strength was an item that permanently increased muscle strength a little, and it was hard to obtain this in the beginning, as all of these kinds of items do. From the Yang Earth Pill to even the Fruit of Strength. ¡®H-he¡¯s actually a very nice person?¡¯ No, maybe he¡¯s very fond of Jude himself? He seemed to be displeased with the fact that Cordelia carried Jude herself in their daytime runaway rather than the daytime runaway itself. It¡¯s because he had a fierce impression and was awkward at expressing himself, but he was actually a good person. Jude looked up and saw Count Chase. He still had a scary face, but somehow, he looked different from before. ¡°And.¡± He began to talk once again. Now, rather than being afraid of what he¡¯ll say next, Jude began to look forward to it. ¡°I¡¯ve heard that you¡¯re going to join Cordelia in the uing social gathering.¡± Children of the 12 northern families ¨C specifically, it was a social gathering of underage children who have not yet started official duties. This time, Jude had given his word to Cordelia that he would participate too. Jude replied with a little expectation. ¡°Yes, I will.¡± ¡°You need stamina to go a long way.¡± Count Chase was absolutely right. Jude quietly waited, and Count Chase did not disappoint this time either. Jude thought he was just clearing his throat, but once again Count Chase took out a small box from his bosom. ¡°Everyone around me is just a bunch of geeks stuck in theb, that¡¯s why it¡¯s useless, so take it.¡± ¡®The Fruit of Stamina!¡¯ As the name suggests, it was an item that gives a small increase to stamina permanently. For Jude who had poor stamina, it was a treasure as valuable as the Yang Earth Pill. ¡°And.¡± ¡°Yes, father.¡± When Jude quickly answered, Count Chase cleared his throat again and said, putting his hand in his inner chest pocket. ¡°When you say you¡¯re going on a trip, that meddlesome old man, Count Bayer, will do something stupid like a test. It¡¯s not much, but this will help.¡± Jude didn¡¯t say anything this time, but the size of the box gave him a rough idea. It was clear that it was one of the fruit series. ¡®Ah, father. Ah, father.¡¯ If he could y Legend of Heroes 2 again, he¡¯d try to dig into Count Chase somehow. He¡¯s like a treasure goblin ¨C No, a treasure father. T/N: Treasure goblins came from the game Diablo. They are small demons that steal loot and everything that glitters, carrying said treasure in sacks over their shoulders. Attacking them will make them drop loot while running away and killing them will grant you all items it had. Count Chase, who snorted again as Jude shone with deep gratitude, stood up and said. ¡°Hmph, the business is done. Now get out of here.¡± ¡°Thank you very much.¡± ¡°There¡¯s a bag under the table, so put it in there.¡± The small-spoken Count Chase turned to the garden, as he had when Jude first came in. It meant there was nothing more to talk about. It was a bit rude, but Jude didn¡¯t mind. What more do you want from the treasure father who even packed your bag? When Jude quickly packed up the boxes into the bag and left the drawing room, the people who were waiting ¨C to be exact, Cordelia, approached him. ¡°Hey, are you okay? Did anything happen? What did father say? Did you get scolded a lot? Di-did he tell you to break off our engagement?¡± She looked a bit scared. Before answering, Jude looked over Cordelia¡¯s shoulder, and smiled at the figure of Maja and Dahlia standing there restlessly. ¡°Hey, what did you talk about? Come on, tell me.¡± ¡°Father.¡± ¡°Father?¡± ¡°He wants me to carry you around from now on. So don¡¯t carry me.¡± ¡°¡­what?¡± Cordelia opened her eyes widely as if asking what he meant, and Judeughed cheerfully. *** At Count Chase¡¯s garden. Jude and Cordelia walked through the beautifully decorated flower garden, and Maja and Dahlia stood side by side and looked at the two such figures. So, Cordelia said in a small voice, covering her mouth with a hand fan. ¡°So, did father gave and packed you with items?¡± ¡°Yeah, he told me to eat, cheer up, and carry you around. Don¡¯t carry me.¡± When Jude spoke again, Cordelia lightly blushed and snorted. ¡°Well, that¡¯s a relief anyway.¡± ¡°You¡¯re your father¡¯s daughter. That snorting.¡± ¡°What the hell?¡± ¡°It worked out really well anyway. If I eat everything your father has given me, I¡¯ll be in a much better condition than I am now.¡± It was really an unexpected luck. The condition of the Gueumjulmaek is better than it is now, and if he ate the fruits of strength and stamina ¨C and the fruit of agility given to mestly, with a little exaggeration, he¡¯d be 1.5 times stronger than now. ¡®Of course, it¡¯s not very good right now.¡¯ Either way, 1.5 times is 1.5 times. The mere sight of the bag made him smile. ¡°By the way.¡± ¡°Oh, are you going to give me something too? I love you, Ms. Banker. Please call me anytime.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not? Hey, anyway, are you starting that now? ¡®Father¡¯s Test¡¯ quest?¡± ¡°I suppose so.¡± Father¡¯s Test. The first main quest that appears in the main scenario of ¡®Jude Bayer¡¯. As the name implied, it was an event where his father, Count Bayer, recognizes that his Gueumjulmaek is cured and that he¡¯s ready to leave the city. In the game, after beingpletely cured of the Gueumjulmaek with the Sunfire Carp event, he could challenge it if he practiced martial arts for a month or two, but despite it being the first main quest, it boasted an uneven level of difficulty. ¡®It was one of the reasons why Jude is a non-mainstream character.¡¯ As a matter of fact, Jude startedter than other characters, but he had to waste more time because of the ¡®Father¡¯s Test¡¯ quest. Furthermore, unlike other quests, it was a quest that had no particr trick. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. This is why I got the Thirty-Six Worldly Steps. I¡¯ll be able to go with you to Langesthei.¡± ¡°Hmph, I¡¯m not saying that I want to go with you together to Langesthei.¡± ¡°Well, what should I say. It¡¯s a typical dialogue, but it works well with your good appearance.¡± ¡°What¡¯s this crazy b*stard saying?¡± Cordelia blushed like a character with a typical dialogue, and Jude had a smallugh. And Maja and Dahlia, who looked at the two from a distance, also smiled warmly. From afar, they were a cute couple shyly whispering love. ¡°When does it start anyway? First of all, we¡¯ll be leaving after the fortnight.¡± ¡°My father¡¯sing in ten days at thetest¡­so there won¡¯t be a problem with the time.¡± After passing his ¡°Father¡¯s Test¡± quest and preparing for his trip, he¡¯ll head to Langesthei with Cordelia. ¡°Can I trust you?¡± ¡°Just make sure you¡¯re well-prepared for the trip. There are things to pack on the way.¡± This was enough. It was Cordelia who understood exactly what Jude was saying as a rotten water. ¡°Then I¡¯ll be waiting for the news.¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll see you again soon.¡± The two who bumped their fists like a habit, moved towards Maja and Dahlia. And a weekter. Count Bayer is back. Chapter 14: Count Chase (3)

Chapter 14: Count Chase (3)

Late update! I spent the entire yesterday doing a massive edit to all the previous chapters to rify some confusing and vague sentences or correct several mistranted words. Also changed the term weekend getaway to daytime getaway. The story didn¡¯t specify if it happened in the weekend, so the word daytime makes more sense. Andstly, I tried to stick with the correct forms of address for nobles in this series. Jude is formally referred to as ¡°Mr. Jude Bayer¡± or ¡°Mr. Bayer¡±, and Cordelia is formally referred to as ¡°Lady Cordelia¡±. As for how the servants address them, it should¡¯ve been ¡°Sir¡± and ¡°Mydy/Madam¡±, but ¡°young master¡± and ¡°miss¡± sounds better for me, so I used thetter rather than the former. Jude will always be a young master for me even though he¡¯s already 17, hahaha. The mornings in Count Bayer¡¯s mansion were originally quiet. However, it was different today. Led by Barone, the long-serving butler of Count Bayer, all of the servants of Count Bayer¡¯s mansion had been very busy since morning began. This is because the news that Count Bayer, who had been away for more than two months on an expedition, will arrive three days earlier than scheduled. It was the return of the Lord of the Bayer family after their annual expedition to reduce the number of monsters in the Bailon area prior to winter. After all, the preparations for the reception could not be neglected. While sitting in a sunny spot and looking at the bustling servants, Jude turned to his side and asked. ¡°But why are you here?¡± ¡°I know.¡± Cordelia, who was dressed up and sitting next to Jude, answered with a slightly absentminded voice. In fact, both of them knew why Cordelia was here now. ¡°I didn¡¯t realize that your father was this great until today.¡± ¡°He is great, isn¡¯t he?¡± Count Chase. It was because he had appeared with Cordelia today. Count Chase and Count Bayer wererades who have experienced life and death several times. ¡®Did my father-inwe to my house to give his greetings?¡¯ As Jude looked at the front gate as if he were weing Count Bayer¡¯s return, he was secretly feeling stressed as he thought on what would happen once word gets out that he had made Cordelia act rashly. ¡°You know what?¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t our situation too peaceful?¡± About a month after awakening the memories of a ¡®past life¡¯. At Cordelia¡¯s words, Jude turned his head, and soonughed. ¡°Ah, enjoy it now. You know we haven¡¯t started the main scenario yet, right? It¡¯s hard work when we leave home, hard work.¡± ¡°Ugh, I know, right?¡± ¡°Is that the look of a person who knows that?¡± When Jude clicked his tongue, Cordelia wanted to refute it, but she had nothing to say, so she pouted. As Jude had said, once the main scenario began, the hardship gate would be wide open. ¡®Because the attack of the Devil¡¯s Hand is very hard.¡¯ It was a brutal event where several children of the 12 northern families were killed and kidnapped. Even in the game, there were only three routes for Cordelia: be kidnapped by the Devil¡¯s Hand and sacrificed, be killed on the spot, or be in a struggle to survive by barely escaping. In the first ce, Jude¡¯s main scenario began with a trip to find out the whereabouts of the missing Cordelia in Bailon, and if it really went as the original, the future of Cordelia was itself a path of mes that crossed the thorny road. ¡®I¡¯m not going to let that happen.¡¯ They have to change the original story and create a new ending. Changing Cordelia¡¯s main scenario was the beginning. ¡®Well, it¡¯s not because of that.¡¯ When Jude suddenly smiled, Cordelia said with a startling look. ¡°What is it? Those sad eyes?¡± ¡°Jude¡¯s eyes are worrying about the Lady Cordelia he yearns for?¡± ¡°Hey, I got goosebumps. That, aren¡¯t you getting too used to it?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°That.¡± ¡°That what?¡± ¡°You know, that one?¡± ¡°Yearn for? Dear? The cute and lovely Lady Cordelia who is the apple of my eyes?¡± Cordelia shuddered and blushed as Jude spoke shamelessly. ¡°Wha-what is this crazy bastard saying?¡± ¡°Because your father ising.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Father.¡± Cordelia also understood. When she looked back, Count Chase was walking their way. ¡°Lady Cordelia, you¡¯re beautiful again today.¡± ¡°Oh, my goodness, I¡¯m so embarrassed. Thank you, Mr. Bayer.¡± By the time Cordelia responded with a clumsy smile, Count Chase, who had arrived before the two, looked at Jude and said with a disapproving look. ¡°Tsk, you¡¯re still skinny.¡± He had a dissatisfied expression, disagreeing eyes, and was clicking his tongue. But Jude was not afraid at all. Because he knew the next words. ¡°This isn¡¯t much but eat this up.¡± ¡°Thank you, father.¡± When Count Chase pulled out a small box, Jude quickly epted it and thanked him. He was a very precious treasure father. Meanwhile, Cordelia blinked her eyes with a nk face. She had heard it the other day, but it was indeed a strange sight. ¡°Hmm.¡± Count Chase, who looked at the two for a moment to see if he could tell their inner thoughts, said as he turned his eyes. ¡°He¡¯sing.¡± It was pretty straightforward, but Jude and Cordelia immediately understood. Beyond the main gate. Count Bayer wasing back. *** It was the Count of Bayer who would normally lead the order of the knights, but today, he was only apanied by a few subordinates and his eldest son, Ga?l Bayer. Because he hurried home when he heard news of Jude. Count Bayer¡¯s servants lined up in front of the main gate, and Jude stood alongside Cordelia. And how much time had passed? ¡°Jude!¡± Called out a knight riding a red horse that sped up and arrived at the main gate. It was Ga?l Bayer, Jude¡¯s older brother and the next Count of Bayer. With blue hair and blue eyes, he jumped off the horse at once and for a moment, hugged Jude tightly but did not forget the situation. ¡°I greet Lord Chase.¡± ¡°It¡¯s been a long time.¡± It was a hard and cold tone, but Ga?l was more familiar with Count Chase than Jude. After epting it with a big smile, he looked back at Jude. ¡°You¡¯ve be really healthy. I can tell just by looking at your face.¡± Ga?l¡¯s face, which resembles Jude, showed no sense of self-interest. Ga?l Bayer. He is a brother who is ten years older than Jude Bayer. As Outboxer009, Jude was reminded of Ga?l Bayer in Legend of Heroes 2, but only for a short time. Because he was Outboxer009 and Jude Bayer at the same time. A smile also spread on Jude¡¯s face. Ga?l Bayer was a really good brother. ¡°Jude Bayer¡± remembered a number of anecdotes that were not described in Legend of Heroes 2. A genuine brother. One who has faced Jude¡¯s seventeen years of life. ¡°You were lucky, you were really lucky. No,e to think of it, is this all thanks to Lady Cordelia? It is said that they found the Sun¡¯s Ne when they went out to see the flowers together.¡± Ga?l, who spoke pleasantly, looked at Cordelia again. He looked like Jude ¨C but with a more masculine face and a picturesque smile. ¡°Thank you very much, Lady Cordelia. Meeting you would be the luckiest thing for Jude. You are the goddess of luck for Count Bayer.¡± ¡°I¡¯m ttered. Oh, brother-inw.¡± Ga?l smiled again as Cordelia managed to answer. It was because she was so cute when she was shy. ¡°What a lucky thing you are. I envy you.¡± Ga?l, who even winked at Jude, stood aside with a big smile. Because today¡¯s true protagonist has arrived. ¡°Jude.¡± Count Bayer. Count Bayer, riding a ck horse, jumped off the horse. With a tall height and broad shoulders that were second only to Count Chase, he was a ck-haired, blue-eyed beauty. Although he did not make a fuss like Ga?l, Count Bayer¡¯s eyes were also filled with joy. ¡°You have a lot of stories to share. Let¡¯s go in.¡± ¡°Yes, father.¡± It was Jude who reflexively answered, but at that moment, he felt like his heart was shaking. It was because he could clearly feel the heart of his father, Count Bayer, who cared and worried about Jude. ¡°I guess I¡¯m invisible.¡± ¡°How can I not recognize a man as big as you? Thank you foring.¡± Count Bayer, whoughed and tapped Count Chase on the shoulder, also did not forget Cordelia. ¡°Ga?l already said it but thank you very much. Thank you so much.¡± If it weren¡¯t for the daytime runaway, they wouldn¡¯t have found the Sun¡¯s Ne. Ga?l, nodding his head as if he agreed, spoke out. ¡°Father, the love between Jude and Lady Cordelia caused a miracle.¡± ¡°Ha-ha, it really is true, but let¡¯s stop it. Isn¡¯t Cordelia embarrassed?¡± Cordelia was really embarrassed at the father and son¡¯s exchange of words. Her face was red, and she looked helpless, so she eventually tugged the hem of Jude¡¯s shirt. ¡®Hey! Do something!¡¯ ¡®Ha-ha, this will alle to pass.¡¯ To Cordelia¡¯s desperate eyes, Jude answered with tranquil eyes, and everyone who watched the small actions between the two smiled warmly. ¡°Let¡¯s go in for now. Barone?¡± ¡°Yes, my Lord. The banquet is ready. We sincerely wee your return.¡± As Barone, the butler who had been taking a step back, stepped forward, things proceeded quickly. Inside the banquet hall of Count Bayer. Like other ces in the mansion, it was a ce that felt like a hard fortress, but it still looked good because of the various delicacies that were on therge table. At the head of the table was Count Bayer, and at each side were Count Chase and Ga?l. Jude and Cordelia were seated next to Ga?l at a table full of gloomy men, and the pretty boy and girl sitting side by side stood out more than Count Bayer sitting at the top. ¡°What a happy day, a happy day.¡± Count Bayer, who had a drink with Count Chase, spoke with a pleased face, and all those around him nodded their heads, with eyes gathered not on Count Bayer, but on Jude and Cordelia. ¡®Fu-f*ck. I can¡¯t even eat.¡¯ ¡®Ha-ha, this too shalle to pass.¡¯ When he answered Cordelia, who had sent a desperate gaze, his eyes were like that of those who attained Nirvana. Jude then looked at Count Bayer and said. ¡°Congrattions on your safe return, father.¡± ¡°Yes, this expedition was a great sess with no one dead, even though there are injured people. Your brother, Ga?l, was also very active.¡± ¡°Ha-ha, so are you, father. I¡¯m embarrassed in front of Lady Cordelia.¡± He said so, but he was really happy that his mouth was full of smiles. ¡®Hmm, don¡¯t tell me Ga?l likes Cordelia?¡¯ Based on the original story, Ga?l had a fianc¨¦ whom he was about to marry. By the time Jude was on guard, Count Bayer opened his mouth again, looking at Jude. ¡°Jude, I heard from Victor. You said you wanted to join Cordelia in the social gathering, right?¡± ¡°Yes, father. I¡¯d like to join Lady Cordelia.¡± When Jude decisively answered clearly, the eyes of the knights and retainers of the Bayer family were pervaded with delight, and Count Chase also smiled a little with a humming sound. Count Bayer nodded. ¡°Yes, you are a son of our Bayer family, so you deserve to participate. But Jude, our Bayer is a family of warriors. Therefore, in order to leave the house, one must pass a test that proves one can protect one¡¯s own body. You know that, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I know, father.¡± Father¡¯s Test quest. When Jude gave an outspoken answer this time, Count Bayer, who became happier, stood up. ¡°I¡¯d have to set a date for the test, but that would dy the journey. What do you say, Jude? Would you like to be tested right now?¡± It was a sudden offer, but Jude was not embarrassed. As the preparation was already done, the earlier the test schedule, the better. ¡®Can you do it?¡¯ ¡®I can do it.¡¯ Jude, who answered Cordelia with his eyes, took a breath once and stood up from his seat. ¡°I¡¯ll take the test, father.¡± Thest hurdle to start the main scenario. It was a natural conversation, but Jude knew the correct answer. Chapter 15: Count Chase (4)

Chapter 15: Count Chase (4)

Count Bayer¡¯s test for leaving home was simple. Seed in dealing a strike against an opponent, who is at the standard of an ordinary knight, in a duel. Although it was very simple and clear, there was little room for the so-called tricks. Testing only your abilities in a fair manner. Count Bayer passed the test when he was at the young age of twelve, and Gale, though he wasn¡¯t naturally gifted and as good as his father, passed the test at thirteen, younger than the average age. Jude¡¯s age is seventeen. The truth is, at this time, applying for the test was close to irrational because his age was two years older than the average age of passing the test for the Bayer family, which is fifteen years old. ¡®One month at the most.¡¯ Before he got the Sun¡¯s Ne, let alone having proper training, even training his physical strength was difficult for Jude. No matter how long Jude tried to catch up on his training period, it was only a month ago that he got the Sun¡¯s Ne and started his treatment, of which his martial arts training time was less than 15 days. Furthermore, Jude¡¯s condition, as of now, was notpletely cured. His Gueumjulmaek was getting better and he was gradually getting closer to having normal strength, but if one looked at it from the knight¡¯s standard, he was still on the weak side. ¡®However.¡¯ Count Bayer did not intend to humiliate Jude in front of everyone. Of course, he also had no intention of conducting a sloppy test on purpose for his child. ¡®Victor, I believe in you.¡¯ A day before he arrived home, there was a phrase in thest letter that came from Victor, the family¡¯s old knight. The young master will pass the test. Count Bayer believed it then if Victor had said so. He was not one to speak at length groundless stories. ¡®But even so.¡¯ Count Bayer was also a man. His curiosity grew. What was it that gave confidence to Victor that he came to the point in his report? Perhaps it was a stupid idea that Jude did not have talent, and that maybe, Jude actually had a talent that even surpasses his? His heart was pounding. It must have been Count Bayer himself who waited for the current test more than anyone else in this ce. ¡°Father.¡± Ga?l said in a low voice, as he handed a wooden sword to Count Bayer who took his ce in the middle of the indoor training area. Count Bayerughed at Ga?l¡¯s bitter eyes that asked whether the Count even needed to y the role of the opponent himself, but Ga?l eventually abandoned the thought and shook his head, saying in a low voice. ¡°Go easy on him.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± He was no one else but Count Bayer, one of the S?len Kingdom¡¯s ten great swordmasters. Restricting his swordsmanship to the level of an ordinary knight was quite easy. Count Bayer, who received the wooden sword, pleasantly looked at Jude preparing for the test at a distance ¨C to be exact, at Jude and Cordelia. Likewise, Ga?l who looked at the same ce,ughed and said with a smile. ¡°They¡¯re a really well-matched pair, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s really a nice sight. I think it was not to that degree before I left for the expedition¡­but in the meantime, they¡¯ve significantly be closer.¡± ¡°Because they had a good time together.¡± A man taking the test and the fianc¨¦ worrying about such a man. What a beautiful sight it was. Surely, they must be exchanging pretty and sweet words. ¡°Hey, you crazy bastard. Count Bayer directly came out. Ask him to at least change your opponent.¡± ¡°Hey, I¡¯m certain he¡¯ll adjust the level.¡± ¡°And if you lose? You mor about your Gueumjulmaek day in day out.¡± ¡°If I lose, you¡¯re going to Langesthei alone. Main scenario, Fighting!¡± ¡°What¡¯s this crazy bastard saying?¡± Cordelia, who said those ¡®pretty and sweet words¡¯ in a hushed whisper, said with a sigh. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll believe in you. You¡¯re Outboxer, so you¡¯ll do it somehow. Still¡­¡± ¡°Still?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t overdo it and get hurt. Okay?¡± ¡°Yellow Storm.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°You really resemble your father.¡± ¡°Of course, who else will I resemble but my father?¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Jude, who wrapped up the conversation with a gigglingugh, stretched his shoulders and exhaled a long breath. Finally, he looked back at Cordelia and said. ¡°Let¡¯s go together.¡± To Langesthei. To reform the main scenarios of Jude and Cordelia. Jude grinned, and Cordelia snorted, shaking her fist lightly as if cheering. ¡°Fighting.¡± This was enough. Jude fixed his wooden sword and stepped forward, while Cordelia retreated to where Count Chase stood. ¡°Miss, are you all right?¡± When Dahlia asked in a small voice, Cordelia nodded. ¡°He¡¯ll be fine.¡± Outboxer009 said so. Holding back her backbiting, Cordelia looked at Jude as if to observe how he¡¯ll do it, and Jude stood before Count Bayer. ¡°Let¡¯s begin.¡± There was no need to prolong it. Count Bayer spoke at the moment they faced each other, and as soon as Jude took a stance, heunched an offensive. It was the Kingdom Swordsmanship that Count Bayer and any knights who used swords had learned. Count Bayer kept his word. The speed of the wooden sword and the strength he used was at the level of an ordinary knight. But even so, the swordy he wielded was the one of the 10 swordsmanship attack styles. It was an attack that was like the standard of the Kingdom Swordsmanship. And so¡­ ¡®I can do it.¡¯ Jude averted Count Bayer¡¯s sword. In a way, it was a simple avoidance, but in the eyes of the observing knights, it was conspicuously reflected at that moment. Half the step of a footprint. It was the distance that Jude moved to avoid Count Bayer¡¯s sword. He evaded Count Bayer¡¯s sword with minimal movement. Count Bayer¡¯s sword struck in session. The swordy simr to the kingdom swordsmanship continued, and Jude avoided all the Count¡¯s attack without a single one hitting him. Seven times. The moment he avoided the swordy seven times, admiration burst out between the knights. Count Chase¡¯s eyes shone, and Ga?l almost looked like he was going to cheer. And Cordelia understood what made Jude so confident. ¡®You memorized it.¡¯ The Kingdom Swordsmanship. The pattern of the attacks unfolded by the test examiners of Count Bayer, which has been handed down from generation to generation. If this was an indiscriminate sparring, it wouldn¡¯t work. But it was a test, and in order to be a fair test, the examiners had limited patterns of swordy and attack. ¡®What the hell is in your head?¡¯ It was so absurd that she almostughed. But it was true that Jude was familiar with the pattern for one reason or another. Moreover, it was not the only thing that was great. ¡°He¡¯s better than expected.¡± Said Count Chase. He and Count Bayer were already somewhat aware of the fact that Jude memorized the pattern. And in fact, memorizing the pattern itself wasn¡¯t that great. It was a test that has been passed on for several generations anyway. Memorizing the pattern was not enough. It was not enough to pass the test. Ninth. Jude avoided it this time again. The sword passed him just a step away. Ga?l, who was watching, clenched his fist. Jude had a talent for martial arts. It was a tremendous martial arts talent. Otherwise, it was impossible to urately avoid such a rushing sword in front of you. Count Bayer also smiled. This is because he felt more clearly than anyone else in this room that Jude¡¯s talent was genuine. But Count Bayer thought at the same time. Avoiding is not enough. You can neverplete the test conditions just by avoiding it. ¡®Approach more.¡¯ Prate it, don¡¯t just avoid. Don¡¯t just stay outside but step inside. Count Bayer caused his sword to swing wildly. Jude evaded by stepping sideways, and at that moment, Count Bayer¡¯s sword rushed towards Jude as if it were chasing him. Consecutive attacks. It was one attack to another attack, so the attacking side should eventually be overwhelmed by the amount. Jude knew it. He had been waiting for this moment only. Thud! He kicked the ground. It wasn¡¯t a simple takeoff. Thirty-six World Steps. It was the footwork skill. The sword cut through the air. Jude slipped forward. Instead of prating in front, he turned to the left and pierced the gap of Count Bayer. Kwajik! Count Bayer moved his left hand and caught Jude¡¯s sword. Soon after, Jude let go his sword and smiled with a sweaty face. ¡°One jab.¡± That one strike just now. An ordinary knight couldn¡¯t block it. Count Bayer, one of the ten swordmasters, blocked it. A moment of loud silence filled the training area. Count Bayer looked at Jude, and soon burst into a boisterousugh. ¡°I lost.¡± ¡°Ooooh!¡± ¡°Young master!¡± Cheers erupted from all over the ce. Victor¡¯s eyes reddened with tears, and Ga?l ran at once to Jude and hugged him. ¡°Hmph, it was impressive.¡± When Count Chase said that, Jude was in Ga?l¡¯s arms and saw Cordelia, and she snorted and slightly smacked the air with her fist. ¡®Fine y.¡¯ Judeughed again. And Count Bayer, who stopped his continuous and spiritedugh, turned to Count Chase and said. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Arthur, but I¡¯m going to dy the departure by three more days.¡± Originally, they was going to start right away tomorrow, but Count Bayer changed his mind. He¡¯d seen Jude¡¯s talent. He now realized that Jude was not an ordinary child. ¡°Hmph, I¡¯ll wait.¡± Count Chase allowed it, and there was no one who dissuaded him. And at that moment, the rotten water Yellow Storm understood. The reason why Count Bayer changed it into three more days. The reason why Jude was more pleased with the fact that Count Bayer came forward himself. ¡®Additional rewards?¡¯ The only thing Count Bayer could teach for three days was Mugong (martial arts). Cordelia saw Jude and this time he responded. He knocked through the air with his fist slightly clenched. *** Time has passed. In the morning four dayster. Instead of dressing up like she was on a pic, Cordelia was dressed in horseback riding clothes. She stood in front of the carriage, slightly tilted her head, and soon made arge smile. ¡°Have you had some sess?¡± ¡°I have.¡± It was only four days, but Jude, who seemed to have be more manly than before, answered with a grin. At Count Bayer¡¯s gate, there was one big carriage pulled by four horses that was prepared by Count Chase. There were four people in the carriage: Jude, Cordelia, the exclusive maid Maja, and the escort knight Dahlia. And two escorts each from Count Bayer and Count Chase. The social gathering of the 12 northern families in Langesthei was literally a social gathering. Moreover, since it was to gather the minor children together, there was no reason to set up a grand procession that boasted of their family¡¯s power. ¡®But we still havepanions.¡¯ Jude nced at Cordelia, who nodded very small. It was a sign that she was ready for ¡°something to take with you on our way to Langesthei,¡± which he mentioned prior to the trip. ¡°I¡¯m very happy to be with you in going to Langesthei.¡± ¡°Me too. I¡¯m looking forward to the trip with Mr. Bayer.¡± Because they were in front of Maja and Dahlia, the two, who pretended tough ¡®Haha¡¯ and ¡®Hoho¡¯, each settled in the carriage. And Maja and Dahlia, after exchanging warm looks, took their ces beside them. ¡°Then, let¡¯s go.¡± They have already finished the greetings for both of their parents, so their departure shouldn¡¯t take any longer. ¡°Jude! Have a pleasant journey!¡± In the garden, Ga?l raised his voice, while Count Bayer nodded. Count Chase snorted as usual. ¡®You do know ¡®how to pay¡¯, right?¡¯ T/N: The ¡°how to pay¡± phrase that I used here is actually ¡°N?,¡± which is a Korean ng for a paying system where the total cost is divided by the number of people and then paid. For example, five people had dinner at a restaurant and the total sum was $100, so each person has to pay $20 because $100 divided by 5 people is $20. This system is called N? (N-ppang). Cordelia¡¯s gaze turned to Jude¡¯s waist. It was because she saw the money bag that Count Chase gave to Jude when he said hello earlier. Jude shrugged his shoulders, pretending to not know the answer, and then looked out the opposite window. To the northeast. Towards the heart of the north. ¡°Hiyaa!¡± The carriage set off with the cry of the horseman. It was the start of the main scenario. Chapter 16: Sacred Rod (1)

Chapter 16: Sacred Rod (1)

During a night when the very bright moon had hidden the stars. Cordelia sat under the dark blue night sky, and with her beautiful face like that of an angel, she spoke. ¡°F*ck, f*ck, f*ck.¡± ¡°The use of abusivenguage is subject to sanctions.¡± ¡°What is this crazy bastard saying?¡± ¡°Yes, what you¡¯re saying is an exmation, not a curse. Anyhow, decide quickly already.¡± Cordelia wasn¡¯t the only one sitting under the fantastic moonlight. The two were in a ce deep in the mountains. They faced each other at the ce where the sound of the valley river¡¯s ripples were heard. Cordelia was almost about to cry, and as her shoulders drooped, she asked. ¡°Hey, do we really have to do this?¡± ¡°You have to do it. You have to.¡± Cordelia¡¯s main scenario was harsh from the start. They needed topletely defend and not just hinder the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s attack on the social gathering. And so, a holy relic that possessed a power that is ipatible with the demons is needed. One such relic was the sacred rod, Moonlight. ¡°Yellow Storm.¡± ¡°Why.¡± When Yellow Storm answered in a lifeless manner, Jude coughed once and approached her. He ced his hands over her shoulders and said with a serious face and voice. ¡°Only you can do it. Only you can do this.¡± ¡°¡­even if you say it nicely, your nature remains the same.¡± ¡°Err, if you don¡¯t like it, you can stop. Is this my event? It¡¯s your event.¡± The event to get the sacred rod was for Cordelia only. ¡°F*ck, I really hate the game crew.¡± Cordelia spit out curses again. She was in low spirits, so she was starting to give up resisting. Jude felt a mix of various emotions as let out a sigh and tapped Cordelia¡¯s shoulders again. ¡°If you¡¯re going to do it, let¡¯s get ready. We don¡¯t have time. We have to do our best, but we can¡¯t miss the event because we missed the timing, right? ¡°Haa¡­I¡¯d rather die than suffer. Yes, I¡¯ll do it. I¡¯ll do it very perfectly.¡± Jude smiled and gave her a thumbs up. He then took a step back and looked at the night sky again. It was the incident on the road to Langesthei two days ago that started all of this. *** A day after leaving Count Bayer. Their travel schedule was generous in the first ce, so the party was not in a hurry. The group advanced slowly to give the horses time to get some rest during breaks. During the times the group stopped and rested, Maja and Dahlia would go out of the carriage and take a break. Their reason was to get out of the stuffy carriage and breathe some fresh air. The truth though, was to give both Jude and Cordelia some time alone together. ¡°How should I say, we¡¯re very considerate?¡± ¡°They¡¯re a really good couple. Doesn¡¯t it make you want to cheer for them?¡± At Dahlia¡¯s self-praise of being considerate, Maja replied with a smile. The hearts of the two were the same. In the first ce, the promise toe out and make time for the two whenever the carriage stopped was not something the two servants had discussed in advance. It naturally happened because of the consideration of the maid and escort who really thought of their masters. Sitting in the shade of a tree, Dahlia took the offered teacup from Maja. She wasughing ¡®Ufufu¡¯ before she continued her talk. ¡°Originally, they were a good-looking man and woman who got along well, but¡­their rtionship has suddenly improved sincest month?¡± ¡°Yes, especially at the daytime runaway¡­no, after they¡¯ve had their time alone together.¡± ¡°Ha, I¡¯m only telling you this¡­but just before, the youngdy was feeling a little hurt. So, I was really worried, but I guess it was a good thing now because it could¡¯ve been worse in the future.¡± ¡°Oh my goodness, the youngdy too?¡± When Maja blinked as if she was surprised, Dahlia spoke along with an ¡®Aha!¡¯ exmation. ¡°Come to think of it, even the young master at that time was feeling troubled too?¡± ¡°Yes, a little¡­¡± In fact, Maja was just talking nonsense and making a fuss. Dahlia is an escort of Jude¡¯s fianc¨¦e, so she shouldn¡¯t be revealing things about her master in a friendly manner because of Dahlia¡¯s position. Dahlia was in the same situation too. When Cordelia was feeling ¡°hurt¡± a month ago, the youngdy had done a lot of nonsensical stuff as well as spilled a storm of curses that surprised all those who were listening. ¡®What it was really back then¡­¡¯ A prettydy that looked like a doll was pouring out such vulgar curses out of her mouth. Indeed, it was a sight she would never want to see again. ¡°But it worked out really well. The young master¡¯s body is getting better, and they¡¯re going to the social gathering together.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± After they looked at each other, theughing maid and escort gazed at the carriage again. What are the two people inside talking about? Is it just their imaginations that the two were smiling cutely and exchanging sweet words of love? ¡°Hey, be humane and ¡®pay¡¯ properly?¡± ¡°Eh, your father gave me this, who do I have to ¡®pay¡¯?¡± T/N: ¡®pay¡¯ ¨C they¡¯re talking about the paying system ¡°n?¡± that I exined in the previous chapter. ¡°It¡¯s the money my father gave me to buy me something delicious.¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll properly budget it and buy you something delicious.¡± Cordelia and Jude was having an unsatisfactory conversation about the stuffed money bag that Count Chase had given before the trip. The magical carriage boasted of afortable ride even if it ran on the road. However, they were stuck inside for so long that they felt frustrated, and thus, they did some stretching exercises. ¡®But it¡¯s better than ying the fianc¨¦e role in front of everyone.¡¯ Even though it was a bit frustrating, it was much easier and better for the two to be alone together, like their current situation. ¡°Moving on¡­let¡¯s have a productive conversation now.¡± ¡°What? Like the future schedule?¡± ¡°Yes, schedule. Especially¡­what¡¯s going to happen in the future¡­about that.¡± It was a month after Jude awakened his memories as Outboxer009. Jude had already confirmed several times that this world is almost the same as Legend of Heroes 2. However, only the elements that make up the world have been confirmed so far. Those that just exist, such as people, terrain, history, and objects. ¡®Will the story itself proceed just like the Legend of Heroes 2?¡¯ Of course, it would¡¯ve been like the original story if it were to proceed. If Jude and Cordelia intervene in this and that, the story itself would change due to the so-called butterfly effect. But even so, ¡°what¡¯s going to happen¡± had a lot of meaning. ¡°First of all, our departure date is almost the same as that of Cordelia in the original.¡± ¡°If it goes exactly the same as the game¡­¡± ¡°The bridge at the front of the road we¡¯re going on now has copsed, and the road is blocked.¡± In the original work, there were two options. Take a detour by using the mountain path or go south to get a boat for the river. In Cordelia¡¯s main scenario, it was the first multiple choice option that a yer would encounter. And most of those who were stagnant water chose the detour option. ¡°That¡¯s the only way to get the hidden event.¡± ¡°Ugh.¡± At the time Jude spoke, Cordelia had an unwilling expression. It was because of the contents of the hidden event. But it was then. ¡°Young master, there¡¯s an issue I have to report. Would you mind for a moment?¡± A young knight¡¯s voice came from outside the carriage. It was a knight named ¡°Jun¡± whom Count Bayer assigned as one of the escorts for the trip. Jun had made quite a brilliant contribution to the expedition recently despite it being his first campaign. ¡°Yes, I don¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°Excuse me for a moment.¡± When Jude responded, Jun opened the carriage door. For a moment, he nced at Jude and Cordelia sitting face to face, before looking back at Jude and continuing his words. ¡°There were some peopleing back from the road ahead, so I asked them, and they said that the bridge has copsed, and that the road is blocked. It couldn¡¯t be helped, but I think we should take a detour.¡± ¡®As expected.¡¯ Something happened. Jude nced back at Cordelia, who frowned and nodded her head. ¡°All right. Then are we going to take the mountain road?¡± ¡°Yes, Mr. Bayer is knowledgeable of the nearby geography.¡± ¡°Because it was my first trip, I did some studying in advance.¡± ¡°Ah¡­indeed. Yes, we¡¯re going to take the mountain road as young master had said. I¡¯m afraid the schedule will be dyed by a day or so¡­but I think it¡¯s the best we can do right now.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s do that. There¡¯s plenty of time in the original schedule, so we can afford not to hurry.¡± ¡°Thank you for understanding.¡± Jun¡¯s face was stiff at first when he began reporting to Jude, but as Jude appeared to be decent and kind, his expression eventually loosened. He seemed to like Jude more now. ¡°I look forward to working with you, then.¡± ¡°Okay. Although the road we¡¯ll use is off our itinerary, we won¡¯t have any problems with the safety of the two of you.¡± Jun, who dered proudly as a knight, bowed again to Jude and Cordelia and closed the carriage door. And immediately after, Jude said to Cordelia. ¡°It happened.¡± Like in the game, the road was blocked, and a detour was taken. The significant of this event was quite great. The basic conditions for beginning the hidden event were falling into ce. Cordelia stretched her shoulders and said. ¡°Hey, by the way.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°In the game, the event automatically urs when you go to the mountain road and head to a certain area, right?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°But even if we head to a certain area, the event won¡¯t ur automatically here, right?¡± ¡°Of course it won¡¯t ur.¡± Legend of Heroes 2 was a game with a very high degree of freedom, but it was still a ¡®story RPG.¡¯ In other words, when certain events urred, the characters were supposed to take certain actions that were out of the yer¡¯s control. But in reality, their situation was different. There was no way for him to suddenly move his body spontaneously and recite a set line just because he went to a certain area. ¡®If that exists, it¡¯s a problem.¡¯ In any case, the important thing was to trigger the event. If so, what they should do. How can they trigger an event in the game and get the same rewards? It was actually a simple problem. Both Jude and Cordelia already knew the answer. ¡°You have to recreate the event.¡± As they had watched in Legend of Heroes 2, they had to perform certain actions in certain ces. As if like they were performing a y. ¡°Please do a good acting, Yellow Storm.¡± Jude winked and Cordelia raised her middle finger. And two dayster, the time of the hidden event finally arrived. *** ¡°F*ck, f*ck, f*ck.¡± ¡°The use of abusivenguage¡­¡± ¡°Fahk, fahk, fahk.¡± ¡°Ok, I give up. It would be good if you could focus on acting because you¡¯ve rxed your mind by cursing.¡± They were near a valley where one can pass by while on the mountain route. Jude, who had kept his back on the cursing Cordelia, opened a watch he received from Ga?l and counted the remaining time left. ¡®It was midnight when the event started.¡¯ Dahlia¡¯s bedtime was from 11 pm to 1 am, and in these two hours, only Jude and Cordelia were here. It was the only time possible for them. Maja was a maid in the first ce so she was out of the night vigil, and if they asked the other knights to give them time alone, it would not have worked. ¡®The current time is 11:50.¡¯ There were only 10 minutes left until the event started. ¡°Are you ready?¡± ¡°W-wait! If you look back, I¡¯ll kill you.¡± ¡°You¡¯re all dressed up anyway.¡± ¡°F*ck. All right, you can turn around now.¡± When Cordelia gave her permission, Jude turned around and unconsciously let out his admiration. ¡°Wow.¡± He was honestly surprised. He had known before that she was pretty, but he just realized that again. Before Jude¡¯s eyes, Cordelia was wearing only arge towel, and she stood barefoot with her hair untied. ¡®Of course she¡¯s wearing clothes under the towel.¡¯ Still, Jude was speechless. Standing with her hair down under the fantastic moonlight, Cordelia was so beautiful that it was such a mysterious sight. ¡°If youugh, I¡¯ll kill you. I¡¯ll kill you if you turn your eyes around. If you even keep looking at me, I¡¯ll kill you.¡± Of course, if she hadn¡¯t opened her mouth. ¡°Hey, where the hell do you want me to look then?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­anyway, I¡¯ll start now, so hide well. Okay?¡± ¡°I understand, ma¡¯am.¡± The two exchanged nces, and afterwards, they took a deep breath and moved to their respective designated positions. This was the beginning of the event. After using the mountain path, Cordelia finds a valley with a river during her journey. Around midnight, away from people¡¯s eyes, she took a bath in the river to wash off the sweat. ¡®Should I call it¡­the fanservice event?¡¯ In fact, there was a simr event for Jude too. In Cordelia¡¯s event, she was taking a bath while singing against the beauty of the moonlight, but¡­ ¡°Ah, the water¡¯s f*cking cold. Are you crazy? Why would I even go into the valley river in the middle of autumn and not in summer?¡± Cordelia dipped her feet slightly in the water and shuddered. Jude, who hid in the bushes, sent the sign while in a miserable mood. It was a sign telling her to begin singing. ¡°Ha, really. Cordelia¡¯s totally crazy.¡± Cordelia, who was criticizing her game character ¡®Cordelia¡¯, shuddered in the water and opened her lips as she looked at the moon. In fact, at this point she could understand why Cordelia was singing. When she went into the wide valley river alone in the darkness of night, she knew Jude was looking at her, but she was still scared. How should she say it¡­ ¡®It feels like something¡¯s about to pop out of the water?¡¯ is what she thought. If she didn¡¯t sing, she wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand it. ¡°Twinkle twinkle little star~ Shining beautifully~¡± When Cordelia began to sing in a timid manner, Jude sent a sign again. It was a sign to sing the original song, but Yellow Storm was not Outboxer009. How was she supposed to memorize a song that had briefly yed in the event? ¡®It¡¯s roughly the same as a song about stars, so it should work.¡¯ How long has it been since she continued to sing with that thought? Beyond that, under the fantasy moonlight, there were those who responded to the song. T/N: What Cordelia is singing is the Korean version of the children¡¯s song Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. The lyrics are: Source: Mamalisa Chapter 17: Sacred Rod (2)

Chapter 17: Sacred Rod (2)

The original event went like this. The beautiful song of Cordelia softly spread across the tranquil valley. The small animals that went down the valley to quench their throats, tilted their ears to her clear voice and fine tunes. And even the fairy people that lived nearby started to react. The gathered fairies in groups of twos and threes were first surprised by Cordelia¡¯s songs. Second, they were surprised by the dazzling appearance of Cordelia, who boasted a beauty like that of a goddess under the fantasy moonlight. Among them, one fairy opened their mouth and spoke. ¡®Let¡¯s invite her to the Queen¡¯s night banquet.¡¯ ¡®The Queen will be happy, too.¡¯ ¡®We can¡¯t be the only ones to hear it. It¡¯s such a beautiful song.¡¯ Although Cordelia was briefly embarrassed by the appearance of the fairies, she eventually epted the invitation of the cute and lovely fairies. Back to the present time¡­ ¡®I wonder if it could lead to that.¡¯ Jude was watching the situation while hiding in the bushes, as he looked at the valley with a terrible face. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Yeah, well, the song from the original event was about stars. The present situation was simr to the original event because both songs were about stars and had a person singing. But unlike the original where it sounded beautiful and mysterious, instead, it sounded cute and lovely, so it was still nice to hear. ¡®Huh¡­my taste has gone bad.¡¯ Yellow Storm is cute and lovely. Shaking his head to regain his senses, Jude¡¯s anxious eyes stared further away. And at some point, after Cordelia had sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in full three times, she shivered in the water¡¯s coldness because she was soaked up to her shoulders. ¡®It¡¯s here.¡¯ Small lumps of light began to appear. At first nce, it could have been mistaken for a firefly, but the light was too bright and beautiful. Jude sent a sign out of the bush, and Cordelia nodded after seeing Jude¡¯s sign. In fact, she had already noticed. ¡°In the western sky~ In the eastern sky~ Twinkle twinkle little star~¡± Cordelia sang and slowly raised her body which had been deeply immersed in the water. She was still wrapped in a towel, but when she rose from the water, she felt a chill and shivered unconsciously. But this wasn¡¯t the time to be coughing here. Cordeliamitted to singing with a little more emotion under the beautiful moonlight. ¡°She looks beautiful~¡± The lumps of light approached. Blue light, yellow light, green light. They were slightlyrger than the palm, but the fairies were almost no different in appearance from adult women except for the butterfly wings on their backs. They numbered five in total. The fairies came to Cordelia¡¯s side, flocked to each other and raised their voices a bit loudly. ¡°It¡¯s a cute song.¡± ¡°Why is she wearing a towel while taking a bath? How do you take a bath like that?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, rather, her voice is beautiful.¡± ¡°She has a pretty face too.¡± ¡°It¡¯s thrilling, it¡¯s always fresh, and being pretty is the best.¡± All the other fairies nodded their heads as if they agreed to thest fairy¡¯s words. ¡®It¡¯s the same as in the game.¡¯ The world¡¯s best-looking race is probably a fairy. In any case, they approached Cordelia, who was pretty and a good singer, without hesitation. Rather, it was Cordelia who was surprised. ¡®Cu-cute.¡¯ As the fairies were small like the palms of her hands and they moved in front of her eyes, Yellow Storm couldn¡¯t help but feel her girl¡¯s heart was stimted with their cuteness. ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°What is your name?¡± ¡°Would you like to y with us?¡± ¡°The queen¡¯s night banquet will begin.¡± ¡°The queen likes pretty girls.¡± Cordelia grinned at the fairy¡¯s suggestion. The hiding and listening Jude also let out a sigh of relief. He was worried because the song was different, but it seemed to have gone smoothly. ¡®Maybe Cordelia¡¯s appearance is a fact more important than just singing?¡¯ If one listened carefully to what they just said, they¡¯re inviting her only because she was pretty. In some way, the process changed a bit, but things started to proceed ording to the original event. Because of this, Jude erased his idle thoughts and set his eyes somewhere than Cordelia and the fairies. It was the next sequence in the original event. Cordelia hesitated for a moment, but eventually decided to ept the fairies¡¯ invitation. But right after that¡­ ¡°Kkeheong!¡± A beast¡¯s roar burst through the valley. The roar was close to that of a wolf¡¯s howl, but it wasn¡¯t a wolf. It was a Bicorn. Also called a corrupted unicorn, it is ascivious monster in the form of a horse with two horns. Its appearance was on schedule. But not everything was the same as the original event. ¡°Cordelia!¡± As he jumped up from the bushes, Jude shouted. He had no choice but to do so. He ran towards Cordelia and shouted again. ¡°Get out of the water!¡± The roar of the Bicorn resounded. But there was nothing at the spot where the Bicorn had appeared in the original event. He looked around in a hurry, but it was the same. What that had meant. It showed up, but the Bicorn didn¡¯t know where it was. There was something that came to his mind at the moment. It was intuition. That was why Jude yelled to Cordelia to get out of the water. ¡°Kkeheong!¡± The moonlight reflected on the water¡¯s surface was broken. The Bicorn spurted right on the water and rushed towards Cordelia. ¡°Cordelia!¡± Jude kicked the ground. And at the same time, the Bicorn with purple hair and a red mane rammed Cordelia with its head. It was a sudden collision. The fairies shrieked and scattered, and Cordelia soared upwards instead of being bounced off. She was then thrown straight over the Bicorn¡¯s back. It was telekinesis, one of the specialties of the Bicorn. ¡°Kkehihing!¡± As soon as the Bicorn captured Cordelia, itughed pleasantly and burst out of the water, trying to leave as its eyes scattered a red re. But Cordelia did not tolerate it. ¡°Stop!¡± Cordelia twisted her body. She struggled fearlessly on the Bicorn¡¯s back and threw herself into the water, away from the telekinesis. At the moment the water sshed hard with a thud, Cordelia, who fell plop into the water, rose up and floundered. The Bicorn saw such Cordelia. The fairies screamed, and Jude sprinted towards Cordelia and the Bicorn. And Cordelia yelled. ¡°Out-!¡± It was an urgent cry. Shouting without a chance to add ¡®-boxer¡¯ to her cry, she hurriedly took off the towel she was wearing. She was wearing a red leotard. There was nothing to be embarrassed about because it¡¯s considered a one-piece swimsuit. Cordelia spread out the towel. The fairies looked at the towel reflexively, and so did the Bicorn. But Jude didn¡¯t. The moment Cordelia had cried out, Jude understood. Because he figured out why Cordelia was calling him and what she was asking him for! ¡°!¡± Drawn inside the towel was arge magic circle. It is a 1-star magic that only illuminates light at best. However, the magic circle was not drawn for no reason. Several forms amplified the magic. The mana that Cordelia poured covered the whole ce with a pure and intense light. ¡°Kyaa!¡± ¡°Kkeheong!¡± The fairies and Bicorn who were exposed to the vast amount of light closed their eyes and groaned. It was just a moment, but it waspletely blinding. It was the same for Cordelia, who kept her eyes open to focus the light on the Bicorn. Everyone suffered from the blinding light, except for one person. Jude didn¡¯t close his eyes when Cordelia shouted. At the moment when the fairies¡¯ scream was cut off, Jude took off from the ground. Thud! It was Thirty-Six World Steps. The footwork skill using inner Qi elerated Jude. The distance between Jude and the Bicorn was quickly reduced. The Bicorn opened its eyes. But it still couldn¡¯t see properly. Jude rushed at the monster and swallowed his breath. For a moment, he cut off his breath and gave strength to his clenched fist. ¡®Kill it.¡¯ It didn¡¯t stop at driving it away. Now that he hade this far, he had to take him down. Jude did not pull out the ceremonial sword from his waist. What he pulled was the Sun¡¯s Ne, and grasping it by his hand, he used it to give strength to his fisted hands. Bang! Jude¡¯s fist hit precisely in the middle of the Bicorn¡¯s forehead. It let out a shriek, but it was not yet over. Using the Thirty-Six World Steps, Jude poured a series of attacks on the Bicorn¡¯s head. ¡®Lightning Punch!¡¯ Lightning Punch was one of the mugong taught by his father in that three days. It was seven consecutive strikes made up of seven quick punches in the span of one lightning strike. Papapak! Jude¡¯s fist continuously struck the Bicorn¡¯s forehead and cheeks. If it was an ordinary punch, it wouldn¡¯t even damage the Bicorn, who canpete with the bear with its strength. So, what Jude used was a martial art skill powered by his inner Qi. Moreover, the sacred power of the Sun¡¯s Ne did not tolerate the existence of the Bicorn belonging to the demons. ¡°Kkeheongheong!¡± All seven consecutive strikes hit, but it was, after all, a Bicorn. It stumbled for a moment before it shook its head and tried to hit Jude. It was quick and powerful. But at the same time, it was the attack Jude had been waiting for. Hnng! The Bicorn¡¯s horns struck the air. Jude gained distance by using the Thirty-Six World Steps and was satisfied. It wasn¡¯t because he was proud of himself for just evading the attack. It was because he had done his job. He made enough time. It was a short time. Jude exhaled. He smiled at the voice he looked forward to hearing. ¡°!¡± Cordelia shouted. The dashing red magic missile burned through the darkness. As it burned its way forward, it exploded at the same time it hit the head of the Bicorn! Boom! Boom! Boom! There was a roar. In the aftermath of the explosion, not only the surrounding air but also the surface of the water were shaken, and the fairies screamed. But instead of letting out an exmation, Jude and Cordelia immediately prepared for the next step. Because neither side experienced a level-up effect. It was very likely that the Bicorn was still alive! ¡°!¡± Cordelia tried to continuously chant spells. She stalled the Bicorn¡¯s feet and made it fall. However, she clenched her teeth instead of preparing for the next magic. She had a headache. It was unreasonable to chant magic continuously in the aftermath of using the fire missile. The Bicorn did not miss the gap when Cordelia staggered. With a burning tumultuous glow in its eyes between its burnt and messed up head, it rushed towards Cordelia. ¡®As nned.¡¯ It was true that she had a headache. It was no lie that it was too much to chant magic continuously. However, chanting magic wasn¡¯t the only thing that she could do. ¡°!¡± Cordelia shouted as she stretched out the magic stone. The magic stone was made by Count Chase himself and contained the magic of . It was originally given to her to use if Jude tries to pull some bullshit over her. The magic stone had boasted a very powerful and sturdy ability in its binding magic as it contained her father¡¯s heart. ¡°Kkewo-euk!¡± The Bicorn that was tied by the translucent golden string, fell into the water and struggled to regain its footing. ¡°Ugh.¡± Cordelia was not entirely unharmed either. She was already staggering, and the ssh of water caused by the Bicorn when it struggled and kicked made her fall down. But now she was in battle. Yellow Storm¡¯s head did not stop for a moment. ¡®About 10 seconds.¡¯ It was the time when the can withstand the Bicorn¡¯s struggle. ¡®About 15 seconds.¡¯ That was the time needed for Cordelia to use the spell again. It was enough. Time was not running out. ¡®Right? Outboxer009.¡¯ One of the two things passed down by Count Bayer. Something that she already heard in the carriage. That¡¯s why she was looking forward to this moment. Outboxer did not disappoint Yellow Storm¡¯s expectations. When Cordelia caught the Bicorn¡¯s attention, he was already in preparation. ¡®I learned two things.¡¯ Count Bayer properly recognized Jude¡¯s talent. At the same time, he also did not make a mistake of overlooking Jude¡¯s physical condition because he was blinded by Jude¡¯s talent. Therefore, he taught only two things for three days. ¡®Continuous strikes for normal use.¡¯ Lightning Punch. It was a good technique. The power was not weak either, because a sessful strike lets you pour seven consecutive punches in the blink of an eye. But in the end, it was just a normal attack skill. ¡®One shot for the killing hit.¡¯ In fact, it wasn¡¯t the right skill for the current Jude. The preparation time for using that one shot took too long. Moreover, during the preparation time to concentrate the power, he had to be virtually defenseless. But that¡¯s why it was so powerful. Lightning Punch could not evenpare to it in terms of power. Cordelia flopped down into the water and looked at Jude. She smiled at the golden sh of light centered on Jude¡¯s fist. ¡®Lightning Strike Fist.¡¯ Lightning burst from his fist. Jude advanced forward. A lightning bolt dropped over the Bicorn¡¯s head. Chapter 18: Sacred Rod (3)

Chapter 18: Sacred Rod (3)

Kwakwang! A spray of water soared with the lightning strike. As the water surface broke down, the water that soared upwards poured down like a shower. Cordelia gasped while she sank to her knees in the water, and afterwards, breathed a sigh of relief. ¡®We killed it.¡¯ They defeated the Bicorn. The level-up effect has not yet emerged, but the situation was different from before. It¡¯s practically finished. ¡®We killed it.¡¯ A smile spread across Cordelia¡¯s face. Yellow Storm herself admitted that deep down, she was a simple-minded person. Because of that, she fought with the Bicorn and was very happy with the fact that they killed it. ¡®He¡¯s a bit cool, isn¡¯t he?¡¯ There was a person in front of Cordelia. She could see Jude standing with his fist still in a hitting position. Just as Cordelia was an iparably beautiful girl, Jude was an absolutely handsome boy. What she had seen was a handsome-looking Jude standing in a cool posture, so it was quite a nice scenery. ¡®If he wasn¡¯t Outboxer, my heart would have been pounding.¡¯ Cordelia giggled as she swept up her wet hair because of the water that poured, and then opened her mouth. She was going to ask for help in standing up. But right after that¡­ ¡°Kuheok!¡¯ Jude, who had stiffened while still in his punching position, suddenly gasped for air and then copsed. ¡°Ou-outboxer?!¡± The startled Cordelia hurriedly stood up and forced the drooping Jude to rise. ¡°Hey, are you okay? Hey?¡± ¡°Kuhak¡­kak¡­¡± Jude was panting heavily as his mouth tried to say something, but it was hard to understand at that moment. Therefore, Cordelia held and dragged Jude as they got out of the water. ¡°Kuha¡­haa¡­Sun, Sun¡¯s Ne¡­¡± When sheid him down on the ground, it became more difficult to tell whether his condition slightly improved, or he was squeezing hisst breaths. He had held the Sun¡¯s Ne on his right hand with strength, but now it was about to droop. At that moment, Cordelia widely opened her eyes, shook her head and shouted. ¡°Hey! No! You can¡¯t die! I¡¯m not getting any mementos!¡± ¡°Tha..that¡­kuhak¡­ Che¡­chest.¡± Jude made a gasping sound again and drooped his arm, and Cordelia blinked at that moment as she understood what Jude was trying to say. Bring the Sun¡¯s Ne back to his chest. Cordelia hurriedly unraveled the Sun¡¯s Ne that Jude was holding and hung it around his neck. ¡°Don¡¯t die. All right? Huh?¡± As she continued talking while using and checking if it was effective, Jude¡¯s fast breathing lessened and got calmer. ¡°Haa¡­I, I thought¡­I was dying.¡± Jude stuttered as he touched the Sun¡¯s Ne in his chest and panted. Lightning Strike Fist. The principle was really simple, it was quick and powerful like the strike of a lightning. ¡®Gather strength in one ce and then hit.¡¯ To be exact, it was a simple but powerful technique that gathers strength from all over the body into one ce and then strikes the enemy. Although he was sessful in somehow defeating the Bicorn due to the power of the Lightning Strike Fist added to the anti-demon effect of the Sun¡¯s Ne, the aftermath of using Lightning Strike Fist was not small. Though Jude had used the footwork and martial art skills, he had yet to fully recover from his Gueumjulmaek. ¡®This is what happens if I use the inner Qi.¡¯ He didn¡¯t know exactly what the effect was, but he felt like his heart was going to stop because of the chill in his whole body. Fortunately, Cordelia was next to him, or he would have died holding the Sun¡¯s Ne in his hand if there was no one else here. ¡°Haa, you¡¯re not some iron man.¡± Understanding the situation at a nce, Cordelia flopped down next to Jude. It was because the rough tension had broken thanks to the fact that Jude was safe now. But at that exact moment¡­ Several white rings of light emerged around the bodies of Jude and Cordelia. It was the level-up effect. ¡°Ah, we killed it.¡± Cordelia said absentmindedly and Jude nodded. Perhaps the Bicorn, which lost consciousness after being hit by Jude, finally stopped breathing due to its injuries and breathing difficulties ovepping. ¡°Let me see, is it level 14 now? Yours is 15.¡± When Cordelia asked, counting her fingers, Jude answered with only a nod. Since there was no status window, it was hard to know the level unless they memorized it or have it measured at the level temple. ¡®At any rate¡­it¡¯s improving a little.¡¯ Levelling up fully restores your health and mana ¨C no, there was no such kind of service, but somehow, their stats have increased. Whether it was due to a rise in physical strength or a cebo effect, it felt like the recovery was faster. ¡®Then next is¡­¡¯ In the original event, Cordelia protects the fairies and drives out the Bicorn, and the impressed fairies invite Cordelia to the Fairy Queen¡¯s night banquet. ¡®Since I was the one who killed it, wouldn¡¯t they more or less give me more rewards?¡¯ It was when Jude was thinking about it. ¡°Wow! They killed the Bicorn!¡± ¡°I have to report to the queen!¡± ¡°But who else is this?¡± ¡°Handsome!¡± ¡°It¡¯s thrilling, it¡¯s always fresh, and being handsome is the best!¡± The fairies, who fled and ran away, gathered next to Jude and Cordelia and squealed again. Because Jude was not in a position to speak properly, Cordelia cleared her throat and spoke. ¡°This is my fianc¨¦. He was keeping watch for any danger while I took a bath.¡± The lines were prepared in advance in case he got discovered. After hearing Cordelia¡¯s exnation, the fairies looked around among themselves and said. ¡°She¡¯s engaged!¡± ¡°You were watching? You didn¡¯t steal a nce?¡± ¡°But is she really taking a bath while wearing clothes?¡± ¡°Hey, this is not the time. We have to let the Queen know quickly.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right.¡± Fortunately, there was someone who seemed to be smart. The one with green butterfly wings flew close to Cordelia¡¯s face and continued to talk. ¡°Hey, hey, you, what¡¯s your name? I¡¯m Adele.¡± ¡°Adele, I¡¯m Yello¡­Cordelia. This is Jude.¡± ¡°Yellocordelia?¡± ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Okay, Cordelia. Anyway, you and your fianc¨¦ killed the Bicorn who was always bothering us. I was going to invite you because you were so pretty, but now I have to absolutely invite you. Come with us to see the Queen. You will be rewarded by the Queen.¡± It was the flow they wanted. Cordelia seemed to be yelling as she pumped her fist and then looked back at Jude, and Jude nced back with eyes that seemed to be proud of their hard work. ¡°Are you going with us?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll go with you.¡± As Cordelia smiled and answered beautifully, Adele simultaneously smiled, as if she was in a good mood. ¡°Yes, then follow us with your fianc¨¦. You have to go into the water to get to where the Queen is.¡± The fairies were called a race that could be found everywhere and nowhere. It was because they were beings that crossed the walls of dimension and space. ¡°Can you go?¡± ¡°Roughly.¡± When Cordelia asked quietly, Jude nodded his head and raised himself up. ording to the original event, time would not pass so much in the Fairy Queen¡¯s residence. However, this incident caused a littlemotion, so a group led by Dahlia will soone. It was good to finish the work before that. ¡°Grab my hand, I¡¯ll help you up.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± Jude entrusted her to help him stand up by holding her hand. ¡°This way.¡± As theughing fairies got ahead, Cordelia who was diligently chasing them, spoke. ¡°By the way.¡± ¡°Uh.¡± ¡°You defeated the Bicorn?¡± ¡°I killed it.¡± ¡°Then the horns wille out, right?¡± ¡°If you pull it out, it wille out.¡± In the game, the horn was dropped as soon as one defeated it, but this was reality here. ¡°One is mine.¡± ¡°Yes, the remaining one is mine.¡± Fortunately, the Bicorn had two horns. Like the unicorn¡¯s horn, it had many uses, but the mostmon use was to smelt it to make a dagger. The items made from the Bicorn¡¯s horns could cause a variety of status conditions, including confusion, charmed, etc. After their business with the Fairy Queen is over, she¡¯ll ask Dahlia and the escorts to take care of the Bicorn¡¯s corpse. Just imagining it made her feel better, and Cordelia smiled. ¡°It¡¯s so clear.¡± ¡°What¡¯s clear? The water?¡± Instead of answering, Jude just smiled, and Cordelia followed the fairies into the water after tilting her head a few times. *** They could breathe in the water ¨C something like that did not happen. They just closed their eyes and when they opened it, the two were in apletely different ce. It was arge open space nestled amongrge and small trees. A ce that felt very cozy despite the fact that it was in the woods, because the soft and warm yellow light melted the darkness like the moonlight. Dozens of fairies were gathered in the open area, and they were dancing, singing, and bustling about, as if the night banquet was already in full swing. ¡°I feel like I¡¯m in the country of dolls.¡± Cordelia blushed slightly and spoke quietly, but Jude decided to ignore her for now. It was because this was not the online chat, and it was kind of hard to make fun of her offline now. In any case, giants appeared at the ce where palm-sized fairies gathered and yed, forcing everyone¡¯s eyes to naturally focus on the two. ¡°What is it, what is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a human.¡± ¡°But she¡¯s pretty. And he¡¯s handsome.¡± ¡°Are you today¡¯s invited singer?¡± ¡°They¡¯re soaking wet.¡± As they were chattering among themselves, Adele stepped forward and shouted to everyone. ¡°We have to take her to the Queen. They defeated the Bicorn!¡± As they walked forward, a group of four fairies also moved forward and pushed the other fairies away. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go. This way.¡± Moving behind Adele, the road opened up among the fairies like the miracle of Moses. And how far along did they go? Strangely enough, the surroundingndscape changed little by little every step. The surrounding fairies diminished and became fewer every meter, and the gap between the trees narrowed, as if they were walking on a narrow corridor. After moving a few more steps, they stopped. Because Adele, who had taken the lead, was also gone. They were suddenly in a small and round room. Instead of a ceiling, a dark night sky was above, and the moonlight that came down gently lit up the surroundings beautifully. ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since I¡¯ve seen a human child in person.¡± The Fairy Queen was young and beautiful. She had colorful butterfly wings with various colors, and blue eyes and a brilliant blonde hair as if it was made by melting gold. With white skin, she was wearing a grass-green dress and holding a cane studded with jewelry in her hand. ¡°I greet the Fairy Queen.¡± When Jude bowed and greeted, Cordelia was flustered and greeted too, and the Fairy Queen seemed to smile cutely. Like all fairies, she was only the size of a palm, but the Queen is still a queen. They could feel the aura unique to those who are leaders of a group. ¡°I heard the story from Adele.¡± For the fairies that could even freely cross space, even time was not apletely forbidden realm. At the time when Jude and Cordelia were taking a few steps, the Fairy Queen had met Adele and talked to her in a gap of time. ¡°The Bicorn has been one of our oldest troubles. I can¡¯t help but award you for taking care of it.¡± At the Fairy Queen¡¯s words, Jude was slightly nervous. In the original event, the focus was on the fact that Cordelia devotedly protected the fairies, rather than the fact that she kicked out the Bicorn. ¡®What if she gives her something else?¡¯ Because what Jude and Cordelia needed right now was the Sacred Rod, Moonlight. However, unlike Jude, Cordelia¡¯s eyes were glistening with anticipation without thinking of anything else. ¡°Cordelia, I think this would be good for you, the wizard.¡± When the Fairy Queen shook her hand elegantly, the roots of the trees covering the floor opened, and a wooden stick with silver jewels, short to be called a rod, but long enough to be a cane, came out. ¡®Moonlight!¡¯ Jude and Cordelia cheered almost simultaneously in their hearts. ¡°It¡¯s an unusual item, but it¡¯s too big for us to use. It would be better to be in the hands of those who have good hearts than to be left in a ce like this. Take it.¡± Fortunately, it was a line simr to the original event. Jude was relieved, and Cordelia smiled and reach out to the Moonlight. ¡°And Jude, I will reward you too.¡± By the time Cordelia was happy to hold the Moonlight tightly in her hands, the Fairy Queen looked back at Jude and spoke. From this point on, it was not in the original event, but Jude had more expectations than worries. ¡®If I get anything, it¡¯s a plus.¡¯ It was different from Moonlight. Originally, Jude shouldn¡¯t have received anything, but honestly, it was a profit no matter what he would receive. ¡®What will the fairies give me? Fairy Stone? Fairy Whispers?¡¯ During the time he thought of these and other items in his head¡­ ¡°Take it.¡± When the Fairy Queen waved her hand gracefully again, this time, a branch automatically moved and held out a silver ring to Jude. Soon after, Jude¡¯s eyes opened wide. ¡®Don¡¯t tell me?¡¯ It was the identity of the ring. Cordelia was also surprised. If Moonlight was a B-rank item, the item in front of us was actually an A-rank, but in a sense, closer to an S-rank. ¡®Fairy Steps!¡¯ Its effect was simple. The number of daily uses varies from one to three depending on the user¡¯s ability, but the user can jump over space. In fact, from the game¡¯s perspective, it was a rather vague exnation. However, the walkthrough site, Legend of Heroes Wall, summarized the Fairy Steps as follows. Ignore enemy attacks. The moment the attackes in, you will be temporarily moved to another space topletely avoid the attack. What was different from normal evasion was the fact that there was no need at all to move on the spot. It was indeed a tremendous effect, even if there was a daily limit in the number of uses. ¡®You¡¯re giving me this?!¡¯ Of course, defeating the Bicorn was not an easy task. Maybe the Bicorn caused more trouble to the fairies than they could have imagined. But even so, the reward felt a bit excessive. ¡°This has the same reason as the Moonlight. Moreover, the Fairy Steps were originally made to be used by other races.¡± And it wasn¡¯t just that. The Fairy Queen, who can transcend space and even time, felt a strong fate from Jude and Cordelia, though it was limited. ¡®It¡¯s touching.¡¯ The fate of the world. The fate of these two wasn¡¯t going to just end with an individual¡¯s destiny. ¡®If I had been a little stronger, I would have known more.¡¯ The Fairy Queen in this world wasn¡¯t just one, and she was still a young Fairy Queen. But she was definitely a queen, and it was also true that she felt a strong fate. Therefore, the Fairy Queen did not hesitate to pass on the Fairy Steps and Moonlight to Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Thank you.¡± When Jude carefully epted the ring and bowed to her, the Fairy Queen smiled gracefully and then looked at Cordelia. She was happy to get an unexpected high-end item, but in a word, she was also envious and slightly upset because Jude received a higher-than-expected item. Though her appearance was cute, but the Fairy Queen made a deeper smile. ¡°There¡¯s a reason why this is the reward.¡± Cordelia flinched at the Fairy Queen¡¯s words, but soon nodded. In fact, Cordelia roughly knew the reason. She was a wizard, and Jude was a warrior. It was only natural to give a wizard a magic wand, and an evasive item to a closebat warrior. But the Fairy Queen suddenly shook her head. She knew what Jude and Cordelia were thinking, and it wasn¡¯t wrong, but there was actually one more reason. ¡°I like a handsome man more than a pretty woman.¡± The Fairy Queen was a fairy after all. The Fairy Queen wore an elegant smile in front of Jude and Cordelia who looked at her with a nk expression. Chapter 19: Sacred Rod (4)

Chapter 19: Sacred Rod (4)

I¡¯ll be taking a break tomorrow, so I won¡¯t be releasing any chapters then. Next chapter will be released on August 5, Wednesday. Since the song Twinkle Twinkle Little Star was referred in thest chapters, here¡¯s a clip of it on Youtube. It¡¯s quite funny when I think that Cordelia has pink hair like the character in the song, hahaha. And another kid¡¯s song that will be mentioned in this chapter is Three Bears: Time had passed, and when Jude and Cordelia opened their eyes, they suddenly found themselves sitting in the valley at midnight instead of the fairies¡¯ banquet hall. ¡°Achoo!¡± They were in a daze for a while, but when Jude suddenly sneezed, Cordelia came to her senses and looked around. ¡°The valley? Are we back? The banquet¡¯s over, right?¡± They had been desperate earlier, but now, Jude nodded to herment. ¡°That¡¯s right, it¡¯s the valley. The banquet is over. It¡¯s over!¡± ¡°Wow! It¡¯s over! It¡¯s finally over!¡± Cordelia jumped up and down in the water and hugged Jude. He embraced Cordelia too, as they both felt emotional and relieved. For twelve hours, Jude and Cordelia spent their time at the fairies¡¯ banquet hall after their meeting with the Fairy Queen. ¡°Ah, f*ck. I will never sing Little Star again.¡± Cordelia shuddered as she was fed up with it. She was made to sing it not just 6 times but more than a dozen times. Moreover, it wasn¡¯t just Little Star. ¡°Yellow Storm.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Do you only know the nursery rhymes?¡± She had sung Three Bears after Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Cordelia said with a snort. ¡°No, it¡¯s not? I know a lot of other songs. I adjusted it to that of a fairy¡¯s level, okay?¡± ¡°Okay¡­well, it was cute.¡± In fact, Jude himself could only sing in full a handful of popr Korean songs. Judeughed and moved on, and Cordelia pushed Jude away from their hug and then grumbled. ¡°Moving on, I really thought I was dying. In the game, I didn¡¯t understand the true meaning of the line, ¡®Time has passed,¡¯ that was said in passing. But now, I realize that this isn¡¯t something a normal human couldpletely do.¡± ¡°I agree.¡± ying with dozens of fairies felt like taking care of dozens of beagles at the same time. Cordelia was made to sing endlessly, but both also had to struggle hard among the fairies, especially Jude, who was well liked because of his handsomeness. ¡°The Fairy Queen too, was a fairy.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Jude could still remember in his eyes the elegant-looking figure of the Fairy Queen smiling and even encouraging the fairies trying to undress him. If the Fairy Queen hadn¡¯te out in person, he would¡¯ve been very thankful to her. ¡°Haa¡­¡± ¡°Huu¡­¡± Sighing almost at the same time, Jude and Cordelia soon sneered andughed. ¡°Regardless.¡± ¡°Mission clear.¡± The two did a high five before looking at their own loot. Cordelia got her hands on the sacred rod, Moonlight. Moonlight is an item that can be recharged by converting moonlight into mana. It was a very useful tool for wizards who always had to suffer from constantly running out of mana. ¡®It has a built-in lethal move too.¡¯ It was the true reason why Jude tried to get the Moonlight. It would clearly y a big part in their fight against the Devil¡¯s Hand. ¡®And the Fairy Steps.¡¯ Looking at the silver ring on his right index finger, a smile was drawn on his face. The number of uses was limited to once per day at Jude¡¯s current level, but that alone was something to be very grateful of. In essence, it was like having another life. ¡°Hehe, the Bicorn¡¯s good too.¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s good.¡± Twelve hours have passed at the fairies¡¯ banquet, but in reality, only ten seconds have passed. Jude and Cordelia looked back in the direction where the Bicorn copsed. With faces mixed with joy and awkwardness, they looked at the Bicorn¡¯s corpse floating halfway in the water. The reason was simple. ¡°Umm¡­I suppose we¡¯ll have to pull it out from there?¡± At Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude nodded. ¡°Because it doesn¡¯t drop like in the game.¡± But it was also a good thing. When they defeated the Bicorn, they could get two horns. In the game however, it was very natural for it to be an umon drop. ¡®I defeated it, but I only got one horn or didn¡¯t get any at all.¡¯ Whereas in reality, you could obtain not only the horns but everything else too. ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much. The knights would do the collecting.¡± ¡°Oh yeah. We¡¯re the children of counts, right?¡± Cordelia felt the sweetness of power again. ¡°Miss! Young master!¡± ¡°Where are you! Young master!¡± ¡°Miss!¡± From afar came the voices of the knights. It would be strange for them to not notice the bursting of a tremendous amount of light and the roaring sounds. ¡°Miss! Where are you! Lady Cordelia!¡± ¡°Young master Jude!¡± Dahlia and Maja¡¯s voices gradually approached. Cordelia made a long face and said while looking at Jude. ¡°We are¡­¡± ¡°Yes, we are.¡± ¡°¡­in a lot of trouble, right?¡± ¡°In a lot of trouble.¡± They would certainly be scolded. It didn¡¯t stop at the two of them stealthily sneaking out, but they also fell into the water and made a mess of themselves. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Huh? Do you perhaps have a n so that we won¡¯t get scolded?¡± ¡°No, just¡­¡± ¡°Just?¡± ¡°If you give up, it¡¯s easy.¡± Jude smiled refreshingly, and Cordelia gave him a middle finger. *** Jude and Cordelia were exceedingly scolded. Sir Zebeck, a knight from Count Chase, was in charge of the party¡¯s journey. Count Bayer and Count Chase had put him up as their proxy, and so, he issued Jude and Cordelia a ban on going out of the carriage. ¡°If the young master and miss would find it necessary to spend some time alone together, this humble knight would offer to make it possible.¡± In front of Sir Zebeck who spoke very seriously, Jude and Cordelia could only bow their heads. But it wasn¡¯t really that bad for them. In the first ce, there were no more matters that they persistently need to go out and take care of in their journey to Langesthei. Rather, it was good for the two to discuss their future ns while being alone together in the carriage. ¡®I¡¯m sorry for Dahlia, but¡­¡¯ Sir Zebeck severely scolded Dahlia for forgetting her escort duty and exposing the two to danger. He imposed on her a pay cut measure as punishment. Cordelia worked hard to defend her, but it was inevitable. ¡®However¡­is it fortunate that our public opinion is favorable?¡¯ The public opinion referred here was the knights of Count Bayer and Count Chase. In reality, they now didn¡¯t find it surprising for the two to go to the valley. It was because of the circting rumors about how Jude and Cordelia deeply yearn for each other sincest week¡¯s daytime runaway. What the knights paid attention to, was the fact that Jude and Cordelia defeated the Bicorn together. ¡°Young master, you¡¯ve be very strong.¡± ¡°Ha, the young master inherited the count¡¯s talent after all.¡± In the memories of Count Bayer¡¯s retainers and knights, Jude was always sick and couldn¡¯t even freely go outside. They were naturally thrilled that Jude was not only healthy now, but that he could also defeat not just a goblin, but a Bicorn. Especially in Jun¡¯s case, as he was delighted and in a hurry to write and send a letter to the Count. Count Chase¡¯s knights rejoiced in a slightly different sense, focusing more on the fact that ¡®Jude has be stronger,¡¯ than on the fact that Cordelia defeated the Bicorn with Jude. Cordelia was Count Chase¡¯s youngest child, and a pretty woman that everyone in the family sincerely loved. Since Cordelia was going to marry an always sick man like Jude, no one had spoken openly. However, a few were concerned and worried, and there was also a lot of dissatisfaction. Well, how can you not be happy now that Jude was showing quite a reliable figure? Sir Zebeck also immediately wrote a letter to Count Chase after scolding Jude and Cordelia hard. ¡°I like him now.¡± It was a short and boldment, but it really was Sir Zebeck¡¯s respectful feelings. Anyhow, it was sorted out to some extent, and half a day passed. Jude was lingeringly sick inside the carriage. ¡°It¡¯s a cold.¡± As Cordelia had brieflymented, Jude caught a cold. It was caused by having fallen into the valley water on an autumn night, but the biggest cause was wandering around while wet. ¡°Brrr¡­¡± Jude was covered with a nket and had a wet towel on his head. He was half-asleep as he was lying on the carriage seat, and Cordelia clicked her tongue. ¡°I didn¡¯t get sick.¡± ¡®What about it?¡¯ It was the perfect time for Jude to talk back to her, but he had to agonize over his headache. ¡°I¡¯ll change the towel.¡± Cordelia personally changed Jude¡¯s towel, and wiped the sweat off on visible parts like his forehead and neck. ¡°Th¡­thank¡­¡± ¡°Yes, yes.¡± ¡°If¡­Gueumjul¡­maek¡­healed¡­¡± ¡°Yes, yes, I¡¯ll carry you, be hit by you, cross over the wall, stand in the front line, and nurse you when you¡¯re sick, right?¡± When Cordelia spoke fluently, Jude had a nk look, and she soon had a littleugh. ¡°I remember everything, so be prepared?¡± At any rate, she was very happy to have fought back against Jude. ¡°For now, just go to sleep without thinking.¡± Cordelia arranged the towel and sat down again, opening a book. Jude looked at her for a moment before closing his eyes. Late in the afternoon, Jude barely opened his eyes and stood up. He shook Cordelia who was dozing off on the opposite side. ¡°Hey, hey. Wake up. Stop drooling.¡± ¡°Uh?¡± Cordelia quickly lifted her head and wiped off her drool while floundering. ¡®She¡¯s really pretty.¡¯ She was pretty even though she was drooling and floundering. After a moment¡¯s thought, Jude looked outside the carriage window and continued to talk. ¡°Let¡¯s get down to business.¡± ¡°Uh, oh. Huh¡­are you okay?¡± Cordelia shook her head and came to her senses. She opened the lid of the water bottle and asked. ¡°Oh, after a good night¡¯s sleep, I think I feel better. This guy¡¯s also effective.¡± When he lifted the Sun¡¯s Ne from his neck, Cordeliaughed and spoke. ¡°What¡¯s the 2nd cure to Gueumjulmaek?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°It¡¯s Muan Sweet Water.¡± After a certain amount of big talk, the two became ready to discourse. Jude sat down and opened the lid of his water bottle as he said. ¡°Perhaps if we go like this, we¡¯ll arrive at Langesthei in three days.¡± Even if they slowly traveled and run for several days by carriage, their destination was still quite a distance to reach because they both came from the faraway town of Bailon. Cordelia used her fingers to count the days and said as she blinked her eyes. ¡°Uh, so is it about four days before the event starts?¡± ¡°Perhaps.¡± Jude and Cordelia were currently a day ahead of the Cordelia in the main scenario. The events in Langesthei were more than ten, fromrge events to small ones. But Cordelia was talking about only one event now. The first main event in Cordelia¡¯s main scenario was ¡®The Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s Attack.¡¯ This is how the original story unfolds. Minors from the 12 northern families gathered in themercial city of Langesthei. Not all children from the 12 families gathered, like Jude who was absent in the original scenario. There were quite a few families who have been absent for reasons such as ack of minors or being busy at home. In Cordelia¡¯s main scenario, the number of families that participated was only half, or six. With Jude added to this, seven families were now gathered. ¡°Langesthei does not belong to any of the 12 families.¡± It was the reason why it was chosen as the social gathering ce of the 12 families¡¯ members. But not all 12 families in the north were on good terms. After all, it was just the 12 strongest families in the north, and not because they had a great bond or solidarity amongst each other. Depending on the location, there were some families that werepetitors, and in severe cases, had hostile rtions. ¡®We are the exception.¡¯ Engagement and political marriages weremon amongst the 12 families, but there was only a handful of families that really got along, like Count Bayer and Count Chase. ¡°In addition, as you know, this event is very hard from the start. To undergo pain from the beginning of the story¡­that is to say, how the scenario urs.¡± As for the conclusion, the attack of the Devil¡¯s Hand seeded. They killed some of the children from the 12 northern families, and after kidnapping some, they evenmitted brutalities like using the victims as a sacrifice for summoning the devil. The world of Legend of Heroes 2 was moving towards Armageddon. In short, it was a world moving towards the end, and one of the starting points was the attack of the Devil¡¯s Hand. ¡°Can we really stop this?¡± The story was a little strange, but Cordelia liked the character Cordelia. That is, she yed as Cordelia several times when she was Yellow Storm. Therefore, Yellow Storm knew the severity of the attack of the Devil¡¯s Hand. The number of enemies mobilized in the immediate attack exceeded 100 by a ridiculous margin. Even though she now possessed Moonlight, she wondered if they could stop the event with just the power of Jude and herself. ¡°Isn¡¯t it better to just cancel the event itself?¡± ¡°How?¡± When Jude asked back, Cordelia opened her lips, but soon shut it again. It was because she couldn¡¯t think of anything. It was doubtful if people would believe Jude and Cordelia if they talked about the attack of the Devil¡¯s Hand. However, it was too much to create a mess in the social gathering itself just for an excuse to cancel it. If that happened, it was highly likely that Jude and Cordelia would be kicked out of the social gatherings. There was no clear evidence that there would be an attack by the Devil¡¯s Hand. Furthermore, it was possible that the story would get messed up if it was dismissed carelessly. The Devil¡¯s Hand could have attacked the 12 families individually. ¡°Ugh.¡± As Cordelia racked her brains and was distressed, Jude clicked his tongue and unfolded a paper. ¡°I have an idea.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°A good idea.¡± ¡°F*ck.¡± When Cordelia got angry, Judeughed and continued to talk, moving his pen on the paper. ¡°First of all, let¡¯s do this.¡± It was a n that the two rotten waters, Jude and Cordelia, can pull off in this world. Jude began to exin, and Cordelia listened attentively. She soon opened her eyes wide. Cordelia had a bright smile on her face. Chapter 20: Devils Hand (1)

Chapter 20: Devil''s Hand (1)

I¡¯m back! Let¡¯s start the first big arc of the series! Terms used in this chapter (in case you didn¡¯t know): Oppa ¨C what a female calls her biological older brother. It can also be used to call a male friend older than her within the boundary of 10 years. The schedule went smoothly. It¡¯s been three days since the fairies¡¯ night banquet. In the carriage running towards Langesthei, Jude kept his eyes slightly open and looked at the front. Cordelia and Dahlia sat close together, chatting in small voices. ¡®They look like real sisters.¡¯ He already knew that in Legend of Heroes 2, the rtionship between the two were more than an escort warrior and an escort target. However, seeing it in reality now feels new to him. ¡®It¡¯s a relief.¡¯ Cordelia wasn¡¯t the only one worried about the troubles she continuously caused to Dahlia ever since the daytime runaway. Back then, Cordelia had said this in his presence with a tearful face. ¡°What should I do if Dahlia hates me?¡± It was her Cordelia self that was more than her being Yellow Storm too. For Cordelia, Dahlia was not just an escort but a real older sister. She thought of what she should do if she was hated by such a person. ¡®It¡¯s a huge relief.¡¯ Dahlia forgave Cordelia again this time. Of course, Dahlia was not an infinitely virtuous person, so she scolded Cordelia properly this time. Recalling the image of Cordelia who wasughing after being scolded, Jude unwittingly smiled and turned his eyes to the side at that moment. ¡°Ufufu.¡± Jude¡¯s exclusive maid, Maja, was like a real older sister to him. She was curiously watching Jude looking at Cordelia, and her elegant smile was reminiscent of the Fairy Queen. She seemed to be holding back what she wanted to say. ¡®Don¡¯t talk to me, don¡¯t talk to me.¡¯ He could almost tell what she wanted to say. Jude turned away from Maja¡¯s gaze and closed his eyes. And twenty minutester, around the time Jude was blinking and about to fall asleep¡­ ¡°Miss, we have arrived. This is Langesthei!¡± Dahlia¡¯s bright voice suddenly woke Jude up as he opened his eyes and looked around. Cordelia was sticking her head out of the carriage window. ¡°Wow, it¡¯s real!¡± It was Cordelia¡¯s first time in Langesthei. Of course, Yellow Storm had gone in the city back and forth dozens to a hundred times, but just as how Jude felt when he saw Cordelia and Dahlia, there was also an insurmountable gap between the game and reality for her. ¡°Young master should look too.¡± When Maja suggested it, Jude rose from his seat pretending he couldn¡¯t win against her and stuck his head out of the window on the other side. ¡°Wow.¡± It was just as he saw in the game, but in a much grander and more realistic form. The symbol of Langesthei was the huge gate with the 10-meter tall knight statues on the gate¡¯s left and right. People filled the wide road that could fit a couple of carriages at the same time. At the sunlight that broke and scattered throughout the city, Jude took a deep breath. ¡®Langesthei.¡¯ It was the beginning city where Jude and Cordelia¡¯s main scenarios started. It was the same this time. The form and timing were a little different, but the journey to create a new ending will also begin in this city. ¡®Ah, I think I can hear the BGM.¡¯ When you arrive at Langesthei back in the game, the merry theme song of Langesthei would then be ying. As he came back to his seat casually humming, he heard Cordelia humming as well. ¡®Hey, you too?¡¯ ¡®Hey, me too.¡¯ No more words were needed. The two exchanged nces andughed at the same time. Maja and Dahlia who were watching them were puzzled, but they eventually smiled pleasantly. *** ¡°First of all, I have to sell my father.¡± No, this was not a conversation about human trafficking. It was a measure to stop the Devil¡¯s Hand. Jude had prepared an operation that was divided into three stages. As soon as he arrived at Langesthei and took up quarters, instead of lying down, resting, or going shopping in themercial district, he led his entire party, except for Maja, to the Knight Order¡¯s headquarters in the center of the city. ¡®The Order of the Blue Lion.¡¯ The 12 families, led by the margrave, Count Hr?svelgr, were practically self-governing the north, but that did not mean it was an independent area of the kingdom. In cities like Langesthei that do not belong to any of the 12 families, knights dispatched from the royal pce were in charge of public security. ¡°I¡¯m the second son of Count Bayer, Mr. Jude Bayer. I would like to see the knightmander.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± They were in the lobby of the building which was like that of therge top branches rather than the headquarters of the Knight Order. Everyone was bewildered by what Jude had said in front of the squire, who seemed to be handling various applications. ¡°Young master?¡± When Jun asked quietly, as if to rece Maja who was left in their lodgings, Jude raised his hand a little and exined it to the squire. ¡°My father, Count Bayer, wrote a letter to the knightmander. He told me to deliver it myself.¡± When Jude spoke with a low voice, the squire of a simr age to him was surprised. The name of Count Bayer, one of the ten swordmasters of the S?len Kingdom, was a magical word that made the hearts of swordsmen jump, regardless of their nationality. However, that Count Bayer had said that he had asked his son to personally deliver the letter, so it was enough to let Jude meet themander without an appointment. ¡°Please wait for a moment.¡± The squire hurriedly got up and went inside, and Jun asked again. ¡°Young master, was this a secret order of the Count?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not to the point of secrecy.¡± Jude said with a smile, and Cordelia tried hard to conceal her uneasy expression. ¡°Pleasee in. He said he would meet you right now.¡± When the squire came back and spoke, Jude took a small deep breath and turned towards Cordelia. She was the only one here who knew the truth, so she asked with an eye gesture. ¡®Can you do it?¡¯ ¡®I can do it.¡¯ It was just the beginning. The determined Jude told the party to wait and then followed the instructions of the squire to the knightmander¡¯s office. *** The story was simple. Count Bayer identally bumped into a group of demon followers on his way back from the expedition, which resulted in the discovery of a document. It was a cryptographic document, but when interpreted, pointed to a specific ce in Langesthei. ¡°There was nothing else except for a listed ce, so perhaps it¡¯s got something to do with the demon followers.¡± The Blue Lion¡¯smander, who was a typical middle-aged knight, Sir Barua nodded at Jude¡¯s words. He had always respected Count Bayer, and because the count was entangled with the demon followers, which can be said to be the kingdom¡¯s enemies, it was necessary to search that ce. ¡°Well, I understand. I¡¯ll try to move as soon as possible.¡± ¡°Thank you. By the way¡­¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°There is something I would like to ask for.¡± ¡°Tell me.¡± ¡°It¡¯s an immature story, but can Ie with you?¡± ¡°Mr. Bayer?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m ashamed to tell you, but I¡¯ve always been in the house because of my illness, Gueumjulmaek, so I¡¯ve never been involved in a proper family affair. So¡­at least, I would like to participate in this work that my father entrusted to me. What¡¯s more, it¡¯s the Order of the Blue Lion which my father usually praised in many ways, so I think I¡¯ll have a lot to learn¡­¡± As Jude spoke in an earnest tone, he caught a glimpse of Sir Barua¡¯s reaction, which was not bad. Especially in the part where Count Bayer praised the Order of the Blue Lion, the corners of Sir Barua¡¯s mouth was raised. Of course, if Cordelia was here, rather than focusing on the illness, she would havemented on how good of a scammer he was. In any case, Lord Barua hid his delight with a cough, and opened his mouth again. ¡°Hmm. But Mr. Bayer, it can be dangerous.¡± ¡°Yes, I will take the risk. Of course, if it gets really dangerous, I¡¯ll take a step back with Count Bayer¡¯s and Count Chase¡¯s knights so that I won¡¯t cause trouble for the Order of the Blue Lion.¡± ¡°Ah¡­indeed, there was a social gathering of the 12 families.¡± Sir Barua nodded as if his thoughts had gone crazy over hearing Count Chase¡¯s name too. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll allow you to apany me. But like you said, you should just follow us. Do you understand?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind. Thank you very much.¡± When Jude smiled broadly, Sir Barua also smiled pleasantly. Having a connection with Count Bayer in any way was quite a pleasure for any warrior. After two hours has passed. ¡°Let¡¯s start!¡± ¡°Oooh! In the name of the Blue Lion!¡± If this was Korea, it would have had to go throughplicated procedures such as getting warrants, but not in the S?len Kingdom. Members of the Blue Lion, led by the knightmander, Sir Barua, rushed into the building located in the suburbs. Soon, the sounds of fighting, including yelling and screaming, were heard loudly. The knights of Count Bayer and Count Chase, who came all the way here, were somewhat embarrassed, but their eyes changed when the knights began the battle. ¡°Do you think it will work out?¡± ¡°It will work out.¡± As they watched the start of the operation from quite a distance, Cordelia asked in a whisper. In fact, the most important thing was from now on. In Langesthei, the Devil¡¯s Hand gathered in twelve ces. Because more than a hundred people could not be gathered in one ce, they were divided into small groups to lie low. It was only one ce that the Order of the Blue Lion raided. ¡®I only know the locations of six more ces.¡¯ The game did not reveal the locations of all 12 ces. ¡®The problem is how to deliver the locations of the six more ces I know.¡¯ Of course, there was a way to give out the other six locations, saying that Count Bayer found them in some documents, but there were some problems. It was strange that Count Bayer did not immediately give out all seven locations. And the documents that were obtained unexpectedly contained not only the gathering locations but also the information of all the key members of the attack. All of that would seriously feel out of ce. That¡¯s why he prepared this. ¡°It seems to have been sorted out.¡± Jun said when the sound of fighting inside the building stopped. Now that they were going to start searching the ce in earnest, they had to move as well. ¡°Let¡¯s go in too.¡± Cordelia followed Jude as he dered and strode in, and the knights followed them after a moment¡¯s consideration of whether to dissuade him or not. ¡®Okay, let¡¯s start.¡¯ The inside of the building was bizarre, unlike the outside that looked fine. It was because of the symbols and ornaments of demon worship scattered everywhere. As the Blue Lion scoured around the building for more information, Jude slipped in and spotted a box that looked adequate, so he winked at Cordelia. ¡®Now?¡¯ ¡®Now.¡¯ When Jude sent her a sign, Cordelia suddenly ced her hand on her forehead and pretended to stagger. ¡°Aaah, dizzy¡­¡± ¡°Miss?!¡± ¡°So-sorry. I¡¯m a little dizzy¡­¡± It was a performance that was close to reading a Koreannguage book as usual, but the effect was good anyhow. This is because not only their group but also the knights around them were looking at the beautiful and fragile Cordelia, who was dizzy at the sight of the devil¡¯s bust. And in the meantime, Jude quickly moved his hand. As soon as he opened the lid of the box, he lifted up the documents he had brought in his pocket. ¡°Sir Barua! I think I found something!¡± When Jude shouted, Sir Barua and his aides who were looking around the ce rushed to him. The same was true of Jude¡¯s party. ¡°I found these in the box. I think it¡¯s some important documents.¡± Sir Barua received the documents that Jude presented. His expression hardened immediately and then nodded his head. The documents contained information on important members as well as other gathering locations of the Devil¡¯s Hand in Langesthei. ¡°Did it help?¡± ¡°Of course. It was a great help. Your father will be happy too.¡± ¡°I¡¯m d to hear that.¡± Jude breathed a sigh of relief with a bright face at Sir Barua¡¯s loud praise, and Cordelia¡¯s lips cringed. ¡®Wow, that fraudster. Look at him lying through his teeth.¡¯ It was a natural reaction, because Jude had created the documents in the first ce. ¡®Diminish their power.¡¯ He shakes off seven out of the twelve locations. Even if some failed due to information that leaked along the way, it was enough to hurt the Devil¡¯s Hand group in Langesthei. With Sir Barua at the forefront, the Order of the Blue Lion rushed back to their headquarters, and Jude and his party headed back to their quarters. Perhaps some good news would be delivered today or tomorrow. However, the operation was not yet over. ¡°Do you think they¡¯ll give up?¡± ¡°No, because they¡¯re fanatics.¡± The Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s members were the exact definition of a fanatic. In the first ce, they didn¡¯t care about using humans as sacrifices for summoning demons, so they wouldn¡¯t give up easily even if their power diminished. Therefore, Jude looked back at Cordelia and said refreshingly. ¡°So, let¡¯s sell your father now.¡± ¡°What is this crazy bastard saying?¡± In truth, it was far from real selling. Rather thanmitting fraud using Count Chase¡¯s name, it was about getting help. The outline of the second stage of the operation was also simple. ¡®Call up the wizards from the Red Dawn Tower.¡¯ If the Devil¡¯s Hand actually pushes ahead with the attack, they would eventually have to rely on force at the end. That is why the cut the enemy¡¯s power and increase their allies¡¯ strength. In order to defeat ¡°Demonic Human Minos,¡± the attack¡¯s boss, they desperately needed the help of the me Wizard ¡°Ronin.¡± Cordelia, Count Chase¡¯s biological daughter, visits the wizards of the Red Dawn Tower to ask for help. ¡®Demon followers have appeared in Langesthei! Can you help us during the social gathering in case they attack?¡¯ It was a request made by a beautiful girl, who was also the daughter of the Tower Master. In fact, the Order of the Blue Lion were in the middle of rushing around Langesthei, so if you were an ordinary wizard, you¡¯d definitely reply to Cordelia asking for a favor. Because as Sir Barua said, the demon followers were the enemy of the S?len Kingdom. ¡®I had prepared something in case they didn¡¯t listen.¡¯ Cordelia took out the letter she had kept in her inner chest pocket and opened it. It was a summons signed by Count Chase, but it was actually fake and not real. It was a felony to counterfeit official documents with the signature of the Tower Master, so it was made to be used in the worst-case scenario. ¡®Wow¡­how did he make this look so real?¡¯ She had already admired it several times, but the more she looked at it, the more amazing the forgery skill was. Not only did he copy Count Chase¡¯s signature almost perfectly, but the contents of the letter were just as good as Count Chase¡¯s. No matter how much data and information his biological daughter, Cordelia herself, provides, this was impossible. This is absolutely not the skill of an ordinary citizen A. ¡®Was he really a scammer?¡¯ There was the almost perfect forgery skills, the cunning acting performance, and in the first ce, the idea that you can forge documents. ¡®It¡¯s possible!¡¯ The excited Cordelia exhaled loudly from her nose and clenched her fist. Then, Jude spoke, poking her side. ¡°Hey, I can totally see your delusions. For your information, I was aw-abiding good citizen who paid my taxes well.¡± ¡°Tax? You paid taxes?¡± ¡°Then, would you evade taxes? Stop talking nonsense and let¡¯s begin.¡± They needed time for the wizards near Langesthei toe all the way here. They also had to hurry so that they could meet the schedule of the social gathering. But it was then¡­ ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°Huh? Ah, yes.¡± When Cordelia, who was intently thinking about something, suddenly looked up and answered, Jude looked at her in suspicion for a moment. ¡°Let¡¯s hurry.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± However, it was unreasonable to sneak out, so Jude thought he should take Dahlia and Jun too. Looking at Jude¡¯s back who lead the way, Cordelia continued her delusion that was temporarily interrupted. Tax. Pay taxes. Member of society. Real adult. ¡®O-oppa?¡¯ She had never thought about Outboxer¡¯s age. ¡°Hey! Aren¡¯t youing?¡± ¡°Eh?! N-no¡­ Yes! I¡¯ll go!¡± Cordelia answered hurriedly to Jude¡¯s urging, hastening her footsteps. Chapter 21: Devils Hand (2)

Chapter 21: Devil''s Hand (2)

I made some changes to thest chapter: Terms used in this chapter: Tech tree ¨C in strategyputer games, it is a hierarchical visual representation of the possible sequences of upgrades a yer can take. Girin ¨C Also known as Qilin in Chinese, or Kirin in Japanese. It is an imaginary and mysterious animal in the East which is said to appear when a saint is born in the real world. Many things had happened overnight. Recognizing the seriousness of the problem, the Blue Lion¡¯smander, Sir Barua, mobilized not only the knights, but also the general soldiers of the Langesthei Guard, to simultaneously strike all six branches of the Devil¡¯s Hand. Because of that, the Devil¡¯s Hand didn¡¯t have a way to resist the simultaneous raids. Although more than a hundred people had sneaked in Langesthei, the group had been scattered into twelve branches, with around ten people per branch. The Devil¡¯s Hand were overpowered and literally defeated by the human-wave strategy of the knights and soldiers. As a result, six branches were destroyed. Even though one branch noticed the situation and fled, it was already a huge achievement that six out of seven branches were destroyed. This meant that the Devil¡¯s Hand had suffered a huge blow. ¡°Wha-what the hell happened?¡± In a forest near Langesthei, a middle-aged man, with a bulging and protruding belly, burst into an angry voice inside a forest ranger¡¯s cabin. He is Baron Edgar, a man of wealth among the three fingers of the Devil¡¯s Hand, and one of their longtime sponsors. ¡°Seven branches were robbed overnight! Do you know how much money I spent trying to hide those guys?¡± Moreover, the guys that had hidden this time were not just all sorts of people. All werebatants, so the damage caused to the Devil¡¯s Hand was enormous. ¡°I apologize. We¡¯re still trying to figure out the cause.¡± The demon follower, disguised as a forest ranger, bowed his head at the end of Baron Edgar¡¯s gaze. In fact, he was also bewildered. The Order of the Blue Lion knew the location of the branches too urately. ¡°Oh, damn it! What happened to the rest of the branches?¡± ¡°It¡¯s more dangerous to move right now, so they¡¯ve been hiding somewhere else outside the branches.¡± ¡°Ah¡­my blood pressure¡­ Lord Minos, can we still proceed with this?¡± Baron Edgar, who had raised his anger over the forest ranger, asked as he looked at thest person seated inside the cabin. He is Demonic Human Minos, a distinguished figure from the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s headquarters and is inmand of the entire attack. With a pale skin and bluish-silver hair, he looked like a 20-year-old man. However, Demonic Humans who epted the demons into their bodies cannot be judged just by their appearances. Minos was disguised as Baron Edgar¡¯s nephew, and was dressed in a young nobleman¡¯s attire. He then said with a cold smile. ¡°It¡¯s not whether we can or cannot proceed, Baron Edgar. We will proceed as per my orders.¡± Five of the twelve branches still remain. Their troops were more than halved, but there was no option of not carrying out the attack. As he involuntarily flinched at Minos¡¯ glistening eyes, Baron Edgar shut his mouth and stepped back. He had thought that he¡¯d be hit if he insisted in talking about it any longer. Minos had a smallugh at Baron Edgar¡¯s behavior. Edgar was a loud and frivolous man, but the one thing Minos liked about him was that he could read the atmosphere well. ¡°First of all, we¡¯ve managed to obtain information from our side.¡± At Minos¡¯ words, Baron Edgar pricked his ears again and showed interest, but just as it was before, he kept his energy down and did not pressed Minos to talk. The forest ranger gulped and waited for Minos to talk too. Minos continued his story with a slight frown. ¡°Count Bayer¡¯s son, Jude Bayer, and Count Chase¡¯s daughter, Cordelia Chase, arrived in Langesthei this morning.¡± In the first ce, Minos came to Langesthei to attack the 12 northern families¡¯ social gathering. It was only natural to pay close attention to the entry and exit of the 12 families¡¯ children. ¡°As soon as they took up their quarters, they headed for the Blue Lion¡¯s headquarters. Then the Blue Lion¡¯s raid on the branches began.¡± The timing was too perfect to dismiss it as separate events. Baron Edgar raised a fuss, saying. ¡°Ha, you mean that chap and bitch handed over our branches¡¯ information to the Blue Lion? How the hell did they know?¡± Count Bayer and Count Chase resided in the remote and distant Bailon, which was several days away from Langesthei even by carriage. How did the two Counts there get information on the branches of the Devil¡¯s Hand that hid in Langesthei? Minos couldn¡¯t figure out either, so he thought and spoke. ¡°Bring them alive.¡± Jude and Cordelia. Find out how the two got the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s information. Minos was the only one who knew the exact locations of the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s branches that were hidden in Langesthei. But seven locations, if not all, were exposed. How did they find out? What means did they use to find out? ¡°We¡¯ll figure out when we catch them.¡± There were plenty of ways to y with the human¡¯s feeble mind. Furthermore, Cordelia was originally, one of the two most important targets of the attack. It was just a matter of waiting until the day of the social gathering to capture their prey at once. ¡®I¡¯m looking forward to it.¡¯ What secrets do they hide? What kind of scream will ady born and raised finely in the 12 families have? Minos smiled brightly as he straightened his posture. As he told Baron Edgar himself, there was no option to cancel the raid. It was his duty to carry out the mission stamped by headquarters at any cost. ¡°Two nightster, we will execute the n as scheduled.¡± Speaking with a little modtion in his voice, Minos looked out the window as his ss-like eyes glistened in the moonlight. *** Cordelia looked up at the sky. The clear night sky was full of stars, as if dimming the moonlight. ¡°Haaa¡­.¡± However, what came out of Cordelia¡¯s mouth was not a voice of clear and pure admiration. It was a weary sigh. ¡°My legs hurt.¡± She had been walking around all day. In the morning, they and the Order of the Blue Lion raided the branches, and in the afternoon, they met the wizards of the Red Dawn Tower. Not to mention the wizard, Cordelia, but even the trained knights, Jun and Dahlia, were exhausted. As for the other person¡­ ¡°There¡¯s no response. It¡¯s like a corpse.¡± Poking the shoulders of Jude, who had copsed and seemed to have fallen dead on the balcony¡¯s bench, Cordelia giggled freely, and Jude said as he tried to stretch out. ¡°Did you fall behind?¡± ¡°Look at you talk. You have a really foul mouth.¡± Cordelia clicked her tongue, and Jude opened his eyes in chagrin. ¡°Hey, who has a foul mouth?¡± ¡°You.¡± Cordelia replied shamelessly, pushing away Jude¡¯s legs as she sat down at the end of the bench. ¡°I¡¯m d it went well though.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± The wizards of the Red Dawn Tower were more cooperative than expected. Not only did all four wizards they met today promised to cooperate, but the wizards also offered to spread the word around. ¡°Is this the sweetness of money and power?¡± Thebination of things such as being a beautiful girl, her identity as the Tower Master¡¯s daughter, andstly, the Count¡¯s wealth, all gave us more results that we could have imagined. ¡°Maybe they helped me because they were just worried.¡± ¡°That¡¯s better then.¡± It definitely couldn¡¯t have been that. Well, he was sure they feltpassion for a beautiful girl¡¯s pleading, but if it wasn¡¯t for Cordelia¡¯s status and the money offered by Jude, not even one of the four would have responded. The wizard was a job that belonged to the social elite, so in order to move them, a corresponding price was required. ¡°What¡¯s important is that the second stage was also sessful.¡± Among the four wizards we persuaded today was ¡®me Wizard Ronin¡¯. When you choose the wizard tech tree in Legend of Heroes 2, he is someone you¡¯ll meet at least once. And as his nickname suggests, he is a promising wizard in me-based magic. Was he around 30 years old? It was quite a sight to see him flustered at Cordelia¡¯s pleas as if he was weak against women. ¡°Minos handles ice and cold air, so Ronin is the best wizard against him.¡± Strictly speaking, Minos was not a wizard. He epted the demon into his body and became a demonic human, so he could use the different abilities he received from the demon. ¡°He¡¯s close to a battle mage. Can Ronin handle it?¡± ¡°Well, Ronin is not the only one here.¡± Sir Barua, the Blue Lion¡¯smander, wasn¡¯t a weakling. The search operation of the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s branches would make him be suspicious of Langesthei¡¯s security, so he definitely wouldn¡¯t overlook the social gathering of the 12 families. ¡®The social gathering won¡¯t be cancelled, so he¡¯ll send a few knights on that day.¡¯ The knight wasn¡¯t just a knight for no reason. Even Dahlia right now could handle more than 10 ordinary soldiers alone. ¡°Besides, there are other children from the 12 families.¡± Rather than the children, they were talking about the escorts that would have been sent by their families. The 12 northern families weren¡¯t just the strongest in name, so they¡¯ll definitely attach talented people as escorts. Cordelia nodded at Jude¡¯s words, but she soon shook her head and said as she clenched her fist. ¡°But don¡¯t let your guard down. In the game, everyone had escorts attached to them, but in the end, the escorts were all shaken off.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s a good mindset. But don¡¯t worry too much. We knew that in the first ce, so we prepared for stages 1 and 2, right?¡± Cut the enemy¡¯s forces in half and reinforce their allies¡¯ forces. Both the 1st and 2nd stages went smoothly, so it was a much better situation than the game. ¡°Okay, then let¡¯s do stage 3 now.¡± Cordelia asked as her glistening eyes were full of expectations. It was no wonder, because Jude haven¡¯t told her what the 3rd stage is yet. ¡°Well¡­that¡¯s the thing.¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s what?¡± ¡°How should I say it¡­ the third stage is actually almost over?¡± ¡°Huh? What¡¯s stage 3?¡± When Cordelia became confused, Jude replied with a bitter smile. ¡°Guess it.¡± ¡°Guess?¡± ¡°Uh, in the original scenario, the attack itself was literally a raid, and there were a lot of Devil¡¯s Hand members, right?¡± ¡°Oh, I think I know what you mean. You mean their target?¡± ¡°Yes, the target of their attack.¡± In the original story, the number of children from the 12 families that were at the social gathering were six, including Cordelia, and the Devil¡¯s Hand targeted all six of them. ¡°The ultimate goal of these guys is to summon demons after all.¡± It was only a secondary goal to kidnap the children of the 12 families and cause confusion in the north. The easiest way to summon the demon was a human sacrifice, but simply having arge number of sacrifices did not mean that a high-ranking demon will be summoned. ¡®Because the rank should match.¡¯ In order to summon a high-ranking demon, it was necessary to offer a worthy sacrifice. And in terms of human sacrifices, the children from the 12 families were all appetizing prey. ¡®It¡¯s because there is, more or less, angel¡¯s blood flowing in the 12 families¡¯ blood.¡¯ The nobles of Pleiades were really special beings, not just nobles in name. However, though they had the blood of angels, that was already over hundreds of years ago. The angel¡¯s blood may be diluted now, but it was still the blood of angels. asionally, there were people born with a strong awakening of the angel¡¯s blood because of atavism (a recurrence of traits of an ancestor), even among the 12 families¡¯ members. ¡°Their power is only half now. So they won¡¯t be able to go after all the 12 families¡¯ children just like in the game. They will focus all their power on the one person they need to secure.¡± ¡°And we stick to that one person?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s stage 3.¡± To weaken the enemy, to strengthen the allies, and to focus on defending the enemy¡¯s target ¨C those were the three stages. ¡°So who is it? You said it was almost over?¡± At Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude smiled bitterly and looked at Cordelia again as he spoke. ¡°As you already know, if you consider the original development and their goal, they will target two people.¡± Two people. At this point, Cordelia finally guessed it. She let out a long sigh and said as she frowned. ¡°Cordelia and Lucas.¡± ¡°Correct.¡± If Jude was born with Gueumjulmaek and Cheonmujiche, Cordelia was born with a clear, noble soul and the blood of a high-ranking angel. It wasn¡¯t a prominent talent like Jude¡¯s, but it was the ability to have a high endurance depending on Cordelia¡¯s development. At any rate, in terms of offerings for summoning the demon, Cordelia wins as an A-rank prize. The other is Lucas Hr?svelgr. He is a sword genius called the Girin of Hr?svelgr and is one of the yable characters in Legend of Heroes 2. ¡°Eh, I don¡¯t like Lucas.¡± ¡°Huh? Why?¡± Yellow Storm had yed all kinds of characters, but she had yed Lucas less often. She had never written a capture strategy for him. It was more like she just saw the character¡¯s ending for the sake of being a rotten water. ¡®He¡¯s handsome?¡¯ If Jude was absolutely good-looking boy, Lucas was a cool-looking man. It¡¯s not that his personality was bad, so why does she hate him? When Jude tilted his head sideways as if he was clueless, Cordelia said with pouting lips. ¡°If you y as Lucas, Cordelia bes a demonic human.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± He thought he knew. Cordelia and Lucas will both be targeted by the Devil¡¯s Hand at the social gathering, but if you went the Lucas route, he¡¯ll be the main character and Cordelia will be captured by the Devil¡¯s Hand. ¡®She was used as a sacrifice, but became a demonic human afterwards, and eventually became a demon.¡¯ Because she was born with a strong angel¡¯s blood, she had be something like a fallen angel. ¡°You really like Cordelia.¡± ¡°Because she¡¯s my favorite in Legend of Heroes 2.¡± And now she has be her favorite character. ¡®Was Jude my favorite?¡¯ He had yed this character the most, but he didn¡¯t know if Jude was his favorite character. Anyway, now was the time to put aside personal likes and dislikes. ¡°Then, let¡¯s protect both. You do know that if you leave one alone and they got taken away, it will be really difficultter on, right?¡± ¡°I know. If you chose Cordelia¡¯s route, it was really terrible because he blocked the road ahead.¡± Just as Cordelia became a demon on the Lucas route, Lucas became the demon on the Cordelia route. And because his inborn talent for the sword itself was colossal, he became a terrifying monster. ¡°Let¡¯s protect them both.¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s protect Cordelia and Lucas.¡± Cordelia suddenly giggled, as she found it funny to say it with her own mouth. She, who was Cordelia herself now, was talking in the 3rd person perspective to protect ¡°Cordelia.¡± And it was at that moment¡­ ¡°Young master.¡± ¡°Miss.¡± Beyond the balcony window came the voices of Maja and Dahlia. It was a call that implied that they should finish their secret time together ande in now. ¡°I should go to sleep now.¡± ¡°Yes, I think I¡¯m going to sleep very well tonight.¡± It¡¯s been a while since they¡¯ve been to a luxurious amodation, and they¡¯ve had a hard time today. Cordelia had a littleugh at Jude¡¯s answer as she stood up and brushed the dirt off her behind, before grabbing the balcony door¡¯s handle and saying. ¡°Now then, good night.¡± ¡°Yes, dream of me too.¡± In their same exchange as usual, Cordelia smiled and raised her middle finger. She opened the balcony door, but Jude looked up the night sky for a moment instead of following her in right away. ¡°Lucas Hr?svelgr.¡± He is the heir to the Hr?svelgr family, who is the current head of the 12 families. In Legend of Heroes 2, he and Maximilian were the two greatest heroes talented in the sword. ¡®Well, I¡¯m looking forward to Sylvia rather than Lucas.¡¯ Sylvia was an iparably beautiful woman, and belonged to the Crossbell family, one of the 12 northern families. As a man, it was in his nature to expect for an absolute beauty more than a handsome man. ¡®Fairy Queen, you were right.¡¯ As he recalled the Fairy Queen¡¯s graceful smile, he heard Maja¡¯s voice again. ¡°Young master!¡± ¡°Uh, I¡¯ming in.¡± After taking one more look at Langesthei¡¯s night view, Jude opened the balcony door and entered. In the afternoon two dayster, the social gathering of the 12 northern families began. Chapter 22: Devils Hand (3)

Chapter 22: Devil''s Hand (3)

Social gathering. The name made one remember of a social gathering in a bar, but the scale was different when the main participant were the children of the 12 northern families. The social gathering of the 12 northern families was not just a gathering of their children but was also a banquet attended by various people. These people attended the social gathering every year, and those include people who wanted to associate with the 12 northern families, Langesthei¡¯s influential people, celebrities whom the children were usually interested in, etc. As such, the social gathering was one of the big events expected every year for themunity near Langesthei, and one¡¯s evaluation in high society also changed depending on whether they were invited to the social gathering or not. Anyway, for that reason¡­ ¡°¡°Wow.¡±¡± Jude and Cordelia were in pure admiration after the two came out of their respective rooms and faced each other in the drawing room. This is because of the eye-opening beauty of an iparably beautiful girl and an absolutely handsome boy that have made every effort in dressing up for the social gathering. ¡®Beautiful.¡¯ If the Cordelia he saw in the valley was as mysterious as a fairy, the Cordelia today was as beautiful as a goddess. She had pinkish, slightly curled red hair that not only gently fluttered but even glistened, and a lively whiteplexion. She was wearing a red dress. Cordelia usually looked much younger than her age because of her innocent face but wearing a mature dress that totally revealed her shoulders made her hidden seductive beauty be seen. The skirt width was quite narrow unlike the usual wide skirt, and the beauty of her leg lines and her slender legs captivated the eyes of every person at first nce. Of course, Jude looked great too. It was only a month ago, but thanks to eating the various kinds of miraculous medicine that Count Chase gave him, his Cheonmujiche, and his sweating from physical exercise, his skinny body that had once lost weight was rapidly improving. With his naturally good body shape plus his recent body improvements, his clean suit stood out properly. However, Jude proved that thepletion of all fashion is in the face. His face had strong-willed, mysterious green eyes that lie between his gentle facial lines. When the two looked at each other and were fascinated for a while, Dahlia and Maja, who were mesmerized together, soon exchanged nces with a warm smile. ¡®You did great.¡¯ ¡®You too.¡¯ ¡®In fact, he naturally looks good in any clothes.¡¯ ¡®She does too.¡¯ Either way, they were both very satisfied. Furthermore, a smile was drawn on their mouths when they thought that the two would enter the banquet hall together. They couldn¡¯t wait to see other people¡¯s reactions once everyone saw the two. ¡°Let¡¯s go now.¡± ¡°Young master, you have to escort her.¡± ¡°Ah, oh.¡± With Maia¡¯s urging, Jude reached out to Cordelia, who came to her senses too and took Jude¡¯s hand. ¡®Wow, seriously. My heart would have been throbbing if you weren¡¯t Outboxer.¡¯ ¡®You too? It¡¯s the same for me too.¡¯ After exchanging nces, the two smiled as if they felt the same, and entered inside the carriage after passing by the knights who could not hide their admiration. ¡°Huu¡­¡± ¡°Haa¡­¡± Rather than therge four-wheeler carriage they used on the trip, the two rode on a small carriage that operated inside Langesthei, while Maja and Dahlia were going to ride another carriage. Thanks to this, there were only the two inside, and as soon as the door closed, Jude and Cordelia¡¯s straight postures copsed. ¡°You¡¯re very much dressed up.¡± ¡°You too.¡± Cordelia snorted, looked back at herself in the carriage window¡¯s reflection, and grinned. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Because she¡¯s pretty. Cordelia is the prettiest.¡± ¡°Oh, narcissism. Don¡¯t do that in front of others.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s true that Cordelia is pretty though. She¡¯s pretty even when you look at it, right?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s pretty but¡­it¡¯s a relief.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°When I saw you talking in third person, it woke me up.¡± His heart pounded at seeing Yellow Storm¡­is something that shouldn¡¯t happen, he thought. Jude breathed a sigh of relief as he watched Cordelia who wasughing loudly and snorting. He straightened his posture and said. ¡°Moving on, let¡¯s not get carried away. Because today¡¯s an important day.¡± ¡°Did you get some rest? You went through a lot yesterday.¡± He had worked hard yesterday. If he had to say, it was not stage 4, but stage 3.5. At Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude looked sad for a moment because he remembered what happened yesterday, but soon smiled bravely. ¡°Well, it¡¯s worth the trouble. Though, it¡¯s best not to use it at all.¡± If things went well, he wouldn¡¯t need to use it. Cordelia nodded her head as if agreeing with Jude, and then reached out her hands to Jude. ¡°Wait a minute.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Stay still.¡± As she approached with a serious face, Jude unconsciously felt nervous, but he soon found out her purpose. ¡°The tie is crooked.¡± Cordelia grabbed the bow tie that Jude wore, and smiled contentedly after straightening it with a few touches. ¡°Okay, there we go. It looks right now.¡± Cordelia patted Jude¡¯s chest with a thud and sat down again, and Jude tried to clear his throat. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± ¡°Why¡­ Are you shy?¡± ¡°F*ck.¡± ¡°Oh, you had such a cute side?¡± It could be said that her ¡®ufufu¡¯ughs resembled that of the Fairy Queen. ¡°Let¡¯s focus, focus. It¡¯s a very important day. You know, right?¡± ¡°I know.¡± It was like the time they met Leisegang. The tension he felt like back then made them continue talking nonsense to each other. Jude took a breath and looked out the carriage window. The sun¡¯s red glow spread as it slowly set. *** The social gathering was held in one of Langesthei¡¯s most famous restaurants, which was a ce owned and funded by Count Hr?svelgr. Despite the fact that the social gathering had not yet begun, the banquet hall was crowded, and there were a few ces where people were especially crowded. ¡®The children of the 12 northern families.¡¯ There was Lucas Hr?svelgr, the host of this social gathering and the Hr?svelgr heir, whose family currently leads the 12 northern families. There was Sylvia Crossbell too, daughter of Count Crossbell, whose family boasted immense wealth. Among the children of the 12 families who gathered today, they were the two people who were particrly prominent, and as evidenced by this, there were many people who gathered around them. ¡®Well, there some children who are marginalized.¡¯ The 12 families were not equal in power. On the left wall, among her escort knights, stood a dreary-looking girl with a dejected face. She was Vi Langue of Viscount Langue. She spent most of the year in the mansion, or in her own room. However, she was afraid of people, so she couldn¡¯t speak properly in a ce where people gathered. ¡®If you survive, you¡¯ll be a good friend of Cordelia.¡¯ To be exact, they would be like older and younger sisters. Jude turned his gaze again. The male twins of Count Dahut were gazing at Lucas with discontented eyes. Felix Durant of Marquis Durant, the oldest child in this social gathering, was sending a passionate gaze to Sylvia. Therefore, a total of 8 people, including Jude and Cordelia, were the children of the 12 families who attended this social gathering. ¡°Oh, Lady Cordelia. Perhaps the person next to you is your fianc¨¦, Mr. Jude Bayer.¡± When Jude turned reflexively to the voice he heard from his side, he saw a young nobleman of Langesthei talking to Cordelia. Cordelia tried to remember the young man in her dim memories, but soon smiled widely and started reading the same Koreannguage book as usual. ¡°He is my fianc¨¦, Mr. Jude Bayer.¡± ¡°Oh! As expected! Count Bayer!¡± In an instant, the banquet hall stirred with the appearance of the new face, Jude, who had never made an official appearance before. ¡°That guy?¡± ¡°He has an ideal beautiful face like the rumors.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t he look fine despite being called the Count¡¯s anguish?¡± ¡°Has he recovered from his disease?¡± There were lots of chattering here and there in small voices. The scattered children of the 12 families moved towards Jude and Cordelia, and the way opened at once as if it was split like the Red Sea. Cordelia nced at theing Vi from afar. Jude chuckled at the approaching twin brothers and looked at Lucas and Sylvia after moderately turning away from Felix¡¯s gaze, who will not appear at the social gathering next year. ¡®They both stand out.¡¯ While Cordelia still retains her girlishness, Sylvia has grown mature not only in her eyes but also in her small gestures, even though they were only a year apart. Of course, her body had distinct curves too. She had long sky-blue hair and was wearing a snow-white dress, and with her blue eyes full of curiosity, she looked at Jude and Cordelia. And Lucas Hr?svelgr. Today¡¯s most important figure, a blond attractive-looking man, strutted his way to their side. Although he was 16 years old and younger than Jude, he was much taller by almost a head. He has been training since he was young, so his body was firm. ¡°It¡¯s been a long time, Cordelia.¡± ¡°It¡¯s been a long time, Sylvia.¡± When Sylvia smiled and spoke to her, Cordelia answered with a slight blush in her cheeks. Sylvia¡¯s beauty was so alluring that even people from the same sex were enchanted. ¡®But it¡¯s surprisingly bearable?¡¯ Jude had prepared his heart firmly if he ever gets caught up by her beauty, but surprisingly, he felt like he was just watching a Hollywood actress in a movie. ¡®Maybe I¡¯m used to seeing an iparably beautiful girl.¡¯ Sylvia was also an iparably beautiful woman. In any case, Jude was able to introduce himself in a calm manner in front of Sylvia, a woman of great beauty. ¡°I¡¯m Mr. Jude Bayer of Count Bayer. It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you.¡± ¡°Me too, Mr. Bayer. I was very curious about what Cordelia¡¯s fianc¨¦ would be like.¡± Sylvia gracefully smiled at Jude with a slight but observant look, but unfortunately, now was not the time to talk to Sylvia. After entrusting Sylvia to Cordelia, Jude saw Lucas approaching and about to greet him. Lucas opened his mouth first as expected. ¡°I¡¯m Lord Lucas Hr?svelgr of Count Hr?svelgr.¡± He put out his hand as if he were asking for a handshake, but his blue eyes did not contain any emotion. It¡¯s not that he¡¯s indifferent, but it¡¯s just a feeling of weing new guests? ¡®Well, Jude was rumored to have a body unable to master martial arts due to a chronic illness.¡¯ As a person who had a great talent for swords, Lucas enjoyed being strong himself, so he had a bad habit that once he met someone, his degree of interest changed depending on whether they were strong or not. ¡®Is he¡­too?¡¯ There is another reason Jude left for the social gathering and paid attention to Lucas. ¡®yable character.¡¯ The yable characters Jude and Cordelia were the reincarnation of Outboxer009 and Yellow Storm, respectively. So what about other yable characters? Maybe Lucas is someone¡¯s ¨C for example, the reincarnation of the 3rd rank in the server rankings? ¡®I can¡¯t figure it out by just looking at his eyes.¡¯ If his opponent was a ranker of Legend of Heroes 2, he would¡¯ve had simr thoughts. What¡¯s more, the mysterious sensation he felt when he first met Cordelia was not at all felt when he met Lucas. ¡®Psst, I can¡¯t help it.¡¯ He had no choice but to experiment as he did when he first met Cordelia. ¡°I¡¯m Mr. Jude Bayer of Count Bayer.¡± Jude smiled and held Lucas¡¯ hand, and then said with his upper body slightly forward. ¡°Hey, you too?¡± ¡°Mr. Bayer?¡± Lucas, who was shaking hands, was puzzled and looked at Jude as if he was strange. He was thinking along the lines of ¡®What are you talking about suddenly while shaking hands?¡¯ ¡°Ah¡­um, no. I abruptly spoke some absurd words for a moment. My Gueumjulmaek is notpletely cured yet¡­¡± ¡°Ah¡­is it because of the chronic illness?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve shown you my embarrassment. It¡¯s gradually getting better, so it won¡¯t happen anymore.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s an illness. I hope you fully get well.¡± Lucas had a handsome guy¡¯s cool-looking smile on his face. Cordelia who was watching from the side, said with her eyes. ¡®You¡¯re a fool, but isn¡¯t this too much?¡¯ ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Jude had nothing to else to say, so he hid his embarrassment with a cough. ¡®But there are results.¡¯ Lucas wasn¡¯t a ranker of Legend of Heroes 2. He didn¡¯t feel anything special when he bumped into Cordelia, and he was genuinely embarrassed by what he just said. ¡®I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s unfortunate or fortunate.¡¯ There were pros and cons for both rankers and non-rankers. ¡®Because the yable characters are not just one or two.¡¯ Legend of Heroes 2 has over 10 yable characters. What if more than 10 rankers start moving with different ideas? There was no guarantee that the rankers would unite with one mind like Jude and Cordelia. Moreover, he did not enter Legend of Heroes 2 as a ranker, but he lived as a Legend of Heroes 2 character and awakened his ranker¡¯s memory. Among the yable characters, there are not only viins but also demon followers, so there was a possibility that rankers might be powerful enemies blocking Jude and Cordelia. ¡°I¡¯m Lord Felix Durant.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Mr. Jude Bayer.¡± Jude also greeted the other children of the 12 families in a perfunctory manner. The twins of Count Dahut, who disliked Felix and Lucas and were obsessed with Sylvia, didn¡¯t have much impact in the scenario¡¯s progress, even if they lived or died in the social gathering attack. ¡®Of course I¡¯m going to save them all.¡¯ Thinking moderately, Jude looked around the banquet hall. A total of six wizards, including two newly joined wizards who were convinced by the original four on the first day, were scattered around. They were under the leadership of Ronin, and it seemed like they had decided on an area to cover. In addition to them, more than 30 knights were guarding the banquet hall,bined with the 6 knights from the Order of the Blue Lion that were sent by Sir Barua, and the escorts brought by each member of the 12 families. ¡®This is much better than the original.¡¯ What¡¯s left is when theye in. There was no guarantee that they would attack at the same time as the original because Jude had already shaken the board a lot. ¡®In the first game, it just disyed the lines, ¡®Time has passed¡¯.¡¯ And time did pass. Has it been more than an hour since the banquet started? Suddenly, the music that was flowing in the banquet hall changed, and Jude and Cordelia realized that what wasing hade. ¡®Dance time.¡¯ It was a scene that was depicted in Legend of Heroes 2. They danced with Sylvia when they went to Lucas¡¯ route, and they danced with Lucas when they went to Cordelia¡¯s route. But today was different. ¡®Do you feel it?¡¯ ¡®I feel it.¡¯ Maja and Dahlia¡¯s eyes are looking at their side with eager eyes. In particr, Dahlia¡¯s gaze was stinging because she was really showing a lot of excitement for the two of them. Actually, it wasn¡¯t just the two of them. A lot of people showed interest in the engaged couple from the 12 families who first appeared together at the banquet hall. ¡°Lady Cordelia, will you give me the honor to dance with you?¡± ¡°My pleasure, Mr. Bayer.¡± Cordelia answered with an awkward smile, and small cheers and apuse came from around. Moving to the center of a naturally made stage, Cordelia said quietly. ¡°Hey, do you know how to dance?¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you? Have you forgotten that I have Cheonmujiche?¡± Jude smiled and answered gently, cing his hand on Cordelia¡¯s waist and gently grasping her hands, which were flinching for a moment. ¡°Let¡¯s dance.¡± ¡°Hmph.¡± Cordelia, who snorted like Count Chase, entrusted herself to Jude¡¯s guidance, and the two began to dance in rhythm. No, they were just about to start. Bang! Bang! Boom! The whole building shook with a loud roar. Losing their bnce for a moment, Jude and Cordelia leaned at each other and hurriedly turned their eyes. There was a loud roar, an explosion, and a huge amount of smoke in the air. ¡°Kyaaa!¡± Dozens of unidentified men wearing ck masks broke into the balcony windows and walls as people screamed. At the same time, the escorts everywhere also pulled out their swords. ¡°Miss!¡± ¡°Young master!¡± It wasn¡¯t just Dahlia and Maja. The escorts called out the names of the children they served, and fighting began everywhere. In a fleeting moment, Jude and Cordelia had the same idea at the same time. Even if they had gone to the center of the banquet hall to dance, their eyes had still chased the position of a certain person. ¡°Lucas!¡± Lucas Hr?svelgr. As a sword genius, he tried to fight in the current situation by pulling out his own sword. And there was another person. He looked at Lucas the same way, and their eyes crossed with each other. Beyond the broken wall, the demonic human, Minos, was standing. Chapter 23: Devils Hand (4)

Chapter 23: Devil''s Hand (4)

Terms used in this chapter: Rhodos ¨C the goddess wife of the Greek sun god, Helios. She is also the personification of the Rhode Inds in Greece. Demonic human Minos. He was a result of the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s efforts in unifying a human and demon. Minos was not just given powers by the demon, but was united with the demon itself, boasting a power that was different from ordinary demon followers. In Legend of Heroes 2, Minos reigned as the ¡®unbeatable boss.¡¯ In the social gathering attack event, the premise of the story was to lose to Minos in the first ce, so winning was impossible no matter what you tried to do. The condition for continuing the game was not to defeat Minos, but to escape from his hands. ¡®However.¡¯ This was reality. It was different from the game. Furthermore, the time of Minos¡¯ appearance was different from the game. Originally, he was supposed to appear near the end of the event like game bosses do, but he has now appeared at the same time as the start of the attack. Jude and Cordelia thought and moved at the same time when they encountered demonic human Minos. ¡°Lucas!¡± Cordelia called Lucas¡¯ name loudly. Demonic human Minos possessed a ¡®soul tracking¡¯ ability, allowing him to identify and track the souls of beings located in his close proximity. It was this ability that made him distinguish Lucas at once. Therefore, it was not a problem to him whether you¡¯re noticeable or not. What was important to him was to secure Lucas. As he couldn¡¯t attend the banquet while armed, Lucas pulled out a dagger he had for self-defense and turned to Cordelia after hearing her call him. But at that moment, Minos started moving. ¡°La Kusaru Pio.¡± The demonguage flowed from the mouth of the man wearing a white mask without any pattern. His eyes shined blue, and a great amount of cold air began to rise in both of his hands. Jude felt like he was being suffocated. It was because of the pressure of facing an absolutely powerful being, just like the time when he had faced Leisegang. But it was a little different. When he met Minos¡¯ eyes for a moment, Jude felt that his spiritual and physical body were bound. ¡°Outboxer!¡± Cordelia shouted as she hit Jude¡¯s back, and thanks to her, Jude was released from the bondage and he gasped for breath. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Cordelia shouted again. She ran towards Lucas and grabbed his arm to Lucas¡¯ bewilderment. ¡°Lady Cordelia?!¡± ¡°Cordelia?!¡± Sylvia, who was by Lucas¡¯ side, also raised her voice, but Jude saw Minos instead of the three. Minos took a step. The cold air from his arm began to take shape. However¡­ ¡°O fierce mes of Rhodos! Strike down my enemies!¡± me wizard Ronin rushed at Minos, invoking his magic spell. Two beasts of mes materialized beside him and flew towards Minos. ¡°Young master!¡± ¡°Miss!¡± Jun and Dahlia shouted from a distance. Due to the nature of the banquet, they were only waiting outside and couldn¡¯t stay by Jude and Cordelia¡¯s side. Even now, they tried to run and shout, but there were people rushing towards them with swords, so it wasn¡¯t easy to get out of their situation. Jude made a quick judgment. The original n was to move after joining Dahlia, but now that Minos had appeared, there was no time for it. ¡°Lucas! We have to run! This way!¡± Sylvia nodded immediately when Jude shouted, but not Lucas. As a sword genius and the heir of Count Hr?svelgr, the head of the 12 families, he spoke confidently. ¡°What do you mean! Running away from the enemy! As a knight, I must face¡­¡± ¡°What is this crazy bastard saying! !¡± Lucas¡¯ words did notst until the end. Cordelia showed her true colors and used Paralyze magic that caused him to be knocked down. ¡°Co-Cordelia?!¡± Sylvia was terrified, but it wasn¡¯t the time to worry about that. Cordelia picked and grabbed one of the fallen Lucas¡¯ arms and shouted to Jude. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Jude understood right away. Holding Lucas¡¯ other arm, he said to Sylvia. ¡°Lady Sylvia! This way!¡± ¡°Yes?! Ah, yes!¡± Besides, the entire banquet hall had turned into a battleground. Sylvia didn¡¯t have a reason to refuse because she was going to run and not fight back in the first ce. ¡°At..this¡­dis¡­¡± Lucas mumbled as he was notpletely paralyzed, but Jude and Cordelia didn¡¯t care. He may be a sword genius, but his power now was just like in the beginning of the game. He only had a dagger, not a proper sword, so if he tried to fight with a dagger, he¡¯d only be kidnapped. His mumbles made it evident that Cordelia¡¯s magic was currently working. ¡°Young master!¡± The knights of Hr?svelgr shouted, but like Dahlia and Jun, they couldn¡¯t easily pull themselves out because of the enemies in front of them. Moreover, as the fight between Minos and Ronin began in earnest, the inside of the banquet hall truly became a mess, making it difficult to even discern the surroundings. ¡°This way!¡± Jude moved to the corner of the banquet hall and activated a secret door. The restaurant that was used as a banquet hall was originally a mansion of a great nobleman, and as such buildings usually had secret rooms, Jude was well aware of the secret rooms because he was Outboxer. ¡®Stage 3.5.¡¯ Jude and Cordelia had entered the secret room yesterday and made some preparations in advance. It was a kind of panic room. ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­here?¡± Sylvia panted and asked, but Jude and Cordelia continued to move instead of answering. As soon as the still-paralyzed Lucas wasid down on the floor, Cordelia used magic to light up the ce. Jude went to the left corner, removed the carpet, and opened a lid a littlerger than an adult¡¯s upper body. ¡°This way!¡± Unfortunately, it wasn¡¯t a secret passage that led outside. It was a pit that Jude and Cordelia had dug with Dig magic yesterday. ¡°Hurry up!¡± Cordelia urged him, and Jude took out the items he had ced inside. The items kept there were the sacred rod, Moonlight, and various armor, swords, shields, magic circles, etc. ¡°Sylvia, go in. You¡¯re not an important target, so you¡¯ll be fine hiding.¡± ¡°Huh? I¡¯m not an important target?¡± Sylvia had always lived in the center of people¡¯s attention since she was born, so she was surprised at being told that she was not an important target. Cordelia had a bitter smile as she helped Sylvia into the pit, and Sylvia hid herself while being embarrassed at somehow being treated like a burden. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s arm ourselves.¡± Jude handed Moonlight to Cordelia as he wore a leather armor over his tailcoat and held the Sun¡¯s Ne like knuckles. No matter how much talent his body possessed because of Cheonmujiche, he had yet to learn proper swordsmanship, so using a fist was stronger and morefortable for him. ¡°¡± Cordelia swung Moonlight to release the Paralyze spell that she had used on Lucas. ¡°Lord Lucas should ept this too.¡± When Jude quickly handed over to him a sword and armor, Lucas looked at Cordelia fiercely, even as he was arming himself with his less paralyzed hand. ¡°Lady Cordelia! What the hell is this-¡± ¡°!¡± The effect of Silence magic was awesome. He was like the main character in a silent movie, as Lucas shouted with his mouth wide open, but his voice did note out. Cordelia came close to such Lucas, staring straight at him as she said. ¡°Hey, listen up. It¡¯s an emergency right now. Didn¡¯t you just get neutralized with one magic shot? Stop being unruly. The enemy is stronger than you. You should be alert and not nervous. Do you understand?¡± The cold and sharp truth was much more intense than foulnguage. Lucas bit his lips and nodded, and Cordelia, who was fiercely staring at Lucas, smiled brightly. ¡°Don¡¯t be too scared though. Let¡¯s do well together.¡± Tapping his shoulder, she took a long deep breath and exhaled, before boldly ripping off the hem of her skirt. ¡°Wow.¡± ¡°What is it? Are you going to fall in love again?¡± ¡°F*ck.¡± The light exchange was also beneficial to the two. In the midst of all this, the sounds of people crying and struggling from the chaos outside were heard, so no matter how much they had predicted the situation, it was inevitable for them to be tense. ¡°Will hee here?¡± ¡°It¡¯s best if he doesn¡¯te, but maybe he will.¡± The range of Minos¡¯ soul tracking ability was quite short, but it was still enough to cover the entire banquet hall. After defeating Ronin, it was clear that he would head here. ¡°Ah¡­I¡¯m nervous.¡± It was different from that time with Leisegang. Demonic human Minos is an unsealed being who could show off all his abilities to his heart¡¯s content. ¡°You can do it. We are prepared, right? And if we can do it¡­it¡¯ll be a first.¡± ¡°Defeating Minos?¡± ¡°Yes, defeating Minos.¡± It was something that countless rotten waters have not achieved, so defeating him would be a great achievement. ¡°Will we be in a feature article of Legend of Heroes?¡± ¡°It¡¯ll be a hot article.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll get lots of likes?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll totally be bombarded by likes, right?¡± ¡°Hey.¡± Cordelia had a bright smile as she imagined it, and Jude also had a pleasant smile. It was just nonsensical stuff, but they had missed those times and thus enjoyed imagining it. ¡®You told me not to be nervous, but I¡¯m just standing around.¡¯ Lucasined, but because he was still enchanted by the Silence magic, it was just a silent mor. And a few seconds passed. A few minutes passed. At the moment when their cold sweat came. Bang! A roar broke out outside the secret room. Screams and shouts followed, and the sound of fighting swords became even sharper. ¡°It¡¯sing.¡± The door of the secret room froze when Jude instinctively spoke. The chilly air spread along the wall, and soon, the whole wall turned into cold ice. Demonic human Minos. Ruler of the extreme cold! Bang! Bang! Bang! They thought there was just a crack in the frozen wall, but it all copsed at once. The messy banquet hall and thebatants of the Devil¡¯s Hand suddenly came into view, and a bloodstained Minos with a pair of horns on his forehead came in the room. ¡®Ronin.¡¯ Ronin was defeated. But he didn¡¯t just lose. He had seeded in dealing a huge blow to Minos because of their opposing elements. Jude recalled the banquet hall¡¯s map in his mind. He instantly grasped the situation. Their side has prevailed. But the situation was not good. The Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯sbatants were blocking the way, and Minos overpowered Cordelia and Lucas. For him, it was easier to defeat them than to wring a child¡¯s wrist. As if to prove this, a deep smile was drawn around Minos¡¯ mouth. ¡°The rats were hiding here.¡± Minos took a step. Lucas, who was feeling nervous, flinched unconsciously. Cordelia grasped the Moonlight with clenched teeth. ¡®It¡¯sing. He¡¯sing.¡¯ Jude thought. He gave a final look to Cordelia and then stepped forward. Thud! Jude¡¯s footpletely shot forward. At the same time, Minos responded. His eyes followed Jude¡¯s movement before sending a st of extremely cold air towards Jude. ¡°!¡± Jude tore the magic circle to generate heat. However, it was only a 1-star magic at best. The cold air stalled for a moment before quickly hitting Jude, and Minos took another step. Following Jude, he tried to defeat Cordelia and Lucas. And at that moment¡­no, during the time when Jude had stepped forward first. Cordelia cut her palm with a de she had prepared in advance. At the same time as she bled, she struck the floor with the tightly grasped Moonlight. ¡°Such trivial magic!¡± A powerful demonic energy rose and burst from Minos¡¯ body. It was to tear apart Cordelia¡¯s magic formation with his powerful mana. Indeed, it was a terrifying energy. Facing it felt like you were being choked to death. However, Cordelia smiled. It was a bitter smile because of the pain in her palm, but she definitely smiled. As expected of Outboxer009, everything went in the prescribed order. Cordelia had released mana, but it wasn¡¯t magic. She simply released pure mana with her blood that flowed down to the floor through Moonlight, which then triggered the magic circle. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh-! A brilliant light lit up the ce. The emitted light clearly revealed the magic circle hidden by the carpet that had covered the entire secret room¡¯s floor. ¡°What is this-?!¡± Minos stopped talking. No, he couldn¡¯t continue talking. He was choked. His whole body seemed to be entangled in chains. He seemed to be thinking, ¡®Why, no, what the hell is this?!¡¯ ¡°What the f*ck is this? Of course, it¡¯s Bestin¡¯s magic circle!¡± Cordeliaughed cheerfully as she shouted. Bestin¡¯s magic circle boasted of a terrifying power against the demons. Minos had released a strong demonic energy, and so the chains caught his ankles. The stronger the demon¡¯s power is, the stronger the Bestin¡¯s magic circle bes. Of course, there were limitations. They didn¡¯t have the power of the sun god Sri¡¯s seal like that time with Leisegang, so all the power that was used came from Cordelia¡¯s mana. The time to maintain it is, at most, a few dozen seconds. Even so, Cordelia had to do her best to make itst longer. It was too short, but Cordelia did not lose her smile. Though she felt like she was going to die from the hardship, she broke into a cold sweat and shouted again. ¡°Outboxer!¡± Bang! He hit the ground. Thirty-Six World Steps. Jude appeared before Minos¡¯ nose. Minos thought it was impossible. Minos¡¯ chilled air wasn¡¯t just an ordinary chilled air. It was Yin energy that consumed the body and soul. Even if ordinary humans endured the cold, the body would not have been able to move freely because of the Yin energy. But it wasn¡¯t the case for Jude. ¡®Because I¡¯m used to it.¡¯ Gueumjulmaek was a disease that urs due to being innately born with excessive Yin energy. The Sun¡¯s Ne also helped Jude in this situation because of the ne¡¯s opposing Yang energy. Shock spread over Minos¡¯ face. Cordelia copsed as she clung to the Moonlight, before giving Minos a middle finger. Lightning Punch. Seven strikes in the span of a lightning bolt struck Minos¡¯ whole body. Chapter 24: Devils Hand (5)

Chapter 24: Devil''s Hand (5)

Minos lost his senses for a moment. The seven strikes poured like a bombing, aiming at the fatal points of the human body such as the sr plexus (pit of the stomach), philtrum (the area between the nose and upper lip), and the temples (area between the ears and eyes). Although he was called a demonic human, he was still a human now. Since demonic humans maintain a human body and shape, their vital ces were also like humans. But at the same time, it was a demon. Minos lost his senses for a moment because of Jude¡¯s attack, but he did not copse at once. ¡®There is a difference.¡¯ No matter how low level the demonic human was in the game¡¯s beginning, a demonic human was still a demonic human. Their physical abilities and endurance were beyond that of a human being¡¯s. However, he had already expected this. Moreover, Minos was exhausted from his fight against Ronin today and was also weakened from the binding of the Bestin¡¯s magic circle. Jude didn¡¯t stop. Once again, he used the Lightning Punch. Wham! Wham! The sun god Sri¡¯s power from the Sun¡¯s Ne and the demonic energy from Minos¡¯ body shed, and a roar broke out. The Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯sbatants were surprised to see Minos being beaten unterally and tried to intervene. However, they too had the power of the demons, though much lesser. So it was impossible for them to enter because they were blocked by Bestin¡¯s magic circle. ¡°Young master!¡± ¡°Miss!¡± Moreover, beyond the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯sbatants were the 12 families¡¯ escort knights. It was a daunting situation to just stop the escort knights from pushing their way in front of them. ¡®It¡¯s only a matter of time.¡¯ After using Lightning Punch in session, Jude calcted the numbers in his head. The time for Cordelia to maintain Bestin¡¯s magic circle. The time it takes for the escorts to break through the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯sbatants. The time when demonic human Minos adjusts to Bestin¡¯s magic circle and bes able to move. It was all a few seconds apart. It was only a dozen seconds at most, but by those dozens of seconds, lives coulde and go. Thud! Jude stepped forward again and used Lightning Punch for the third time. He felt his breath being choked from the technique¡¯s excessive use, but he couldn¡¯t stop. Wham! Bang! Lightning Punch struck again. But this time, not all seven consecutive strikes were sessful. Thest strike was blocked. Minos desperately moved to stop the attack. ¡°Ra-kuhaa!¡± When the bloody Minos burst out into a roar, lightning sparked all over his body. It was a phenomenon caused by the sh of demonic power and the binding power of Bestin¡¯s magic circle. And it was at that moment¡­ ¡°Lucas! Help us too!¡± Cordelia shouted while she was clinging to the Moonlight with her posture down. ¡°Use the Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword!¡± Cordelia¡¯s cry was almost like a scream at the end. And that had awakened Lucas, who was surprised by the Bestin¡¯s magic circle and Minos. The Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword was said to be handed down by an ancient swordsman and was only used against the enemies of Count Hr?svelgr. As the current heir, Lucas also knew how to use the Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword. His skill may still be at a low level, but it was still the Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword. It was the sword of Graham, the Sage King who built the Holy Kingdom by cutting down five great demons, and it had a powerful effect against the demonic humans who use the power of demons. Lucas¡¯ breathing changed. He raised and activated his whole body at once, as his feetpletely flew towards Jude and Minos. Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword: Sr Eclipse ¨C Holy Sword. Lucas¡¯ sword shone in pure white. It was a holy light that was powerful against demons. When Cordelia shouted Lucas¡¯ name, Jude pulled himself out as he gasped and widened his distance from Minos at the same time. Thus, Lucas dug into the gap that was created. ¡°Kuaaak!¡± Minos screamed as his chest was cut by a holy sword, and ck blood gushed out from his chest. But it was not yet over. In the beginning of the main scenario, Jude and Lucas¡¯ strength was nearly the same. It was difficult for Lucas to defeat Minos by himself. ¡°You lowly beings!¡± Minos shouted in anger and exerted his strength even though he was still bounded, and Lucas had a cold sweat facing such Minos. Jude returned to Cordelia¡¯s side as he supported her and asked. ¡°Can you do it?¡± ¡°I can. Instead, haa¡­I cut it off.¡± Cordelia groaned and answered. It was a difficult to understand conversation at first nce, but not for Jude and Cordelia. What Jude had asked for was the power hidden in the Moonlight. However, the moment she used it, Bestin¡¯s magic circle will be released in a few seconds. Cordelia¡¯s mana was still too weak to operate both Moonlight and Bestin¡¯s magic circle at the same time. Jude calcted it. Cordelia felt it instinctively. Thus, the two reached the same conclusion. ¡°¡°Let¡¯s do it.¡±¡± Will Bestin¡¯s magic circle be maintained until the escorts defeat the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯sbatants? No¡­ the question was how long can Cordelia be able to hold on? After all, it was unreasonable. Minos was faster and could recover his strength by a hair¡¯s breadth. In the first ce, Bestin¡¯s magic circle was not all-around. It was due to a number of realistic problems that Jude had to set up Bestin¡¯s magic circle in the secret room. Renting the entire banquet hall to draw the magic circle was impossible, and so was activating a huge magic circle that covered the entire banquet hall. However, if you draw a small magic circle, it was another problem on how to guide Minos precisely above the magic circle. That is why they chose a secret room. It¡¯s literally a secret room, so if they sneak in the ce, no one will disturb them while he¡¯s drawing the magic circle. Because the room itself is not veryrge, installing a magic circle that covers the entire room eliminates the problem of guiding Minos to a specific area. ¡®It¡¯s the best solution.¡¯ In the first ce, the current situation itself was the best situation that he made with every effort. So let¡¯s try again. Instead of vaguely hoping to seed, let¡¯s struggle in hitting him one more time. Lucas and Minos shed. Lucas groaned at the shock caused by the collision of the Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword and the demonic power. On the other hand, blood spilled out of the nose of Cordelia who was forcibly maintaining Bestin¡¯s magic circle. Jude did not hesitate anymore. As he grabbed and modified the Sun¡¯s Ne¡¯s position, Cordelia clenched her teeth and stood up. The important thing is the timing. In that narrow moment, he needs to urately strike in that gap. Jude calcted again. Cordelia felt it instinctively once again. 1 second. 2 seconds. When Lucas¡¯s sword cut Minos¡¯ chest once again¡­ ¡°O glory of the moonlight! Arise, wake up from your slumber and shine!¡± Cordelia removed the Moonlight from the magic circle. She lifted it up and chanted, releasing from the Moonlight the moon¡¯s mana which had been stored and umted for over a hundred years! There was light. It was a subtle light that spreads in the darkness, and not a light that breaks the darkness. The moonlight filled the secret room. It did not stop there, as it delivered its powerpletely into one ce ¨C the Sun¡¯s Ne, causing it to begin shining too. A light that contained the sacred power of Sri. The mana of the moon umted over a hundred years was not small. From the Sun¡¯s Ne, an equal amount light was emitted like when it was with Gallus, Sri¡¯s champion. ¡°Keuhak-?!¡± Minos winced at the moment the moon¡¯s mana pressed his whole body and closed his eyes with a painful groan. Lucas opened his mouth in surprise. Thud! Jude rushed in. He had to finish it before the effect of Bestin¡¯s magic circle, which had lost its power source, disappeared. ¡°!¡± It was a simple yet fatal magic that came from the magic circle drawn on his left hand¡¯s glove. Minos who had stepped back as his eyes were closed, slipped and fell on the floor. And Jude got on top of him and pulled his fist. He only had one chance. His current blow should deal the most fatal blow. Jude held his breath. Using the power of the sun condensed by the moonlight for his attack¡¯s power source, the Lightning Strike Fist exploded at once. Boom! Lightning and thunder exploded. His fist that hit like lightning struck Minos in the chest. Moreover, it was not just a physical blow this time. The divine power of the sun god Sri prated Minos¡¯ chest. ¡°Aaaghhh!¡± Minos screamed in pain. Dozens of cracks appeared in his entire body. Spirit Stone. Located in the chest, it is an organ that reces the heart of a person who has be one with the demon and turned into a demonic human. It aggregates mana supplied from the outside like a demon¡¯s horn and is what makes a demonic human exist as a demonic human. That spirit stone broke. With the golden light of Sri adding to him being weakened by Bestin¡¯s magic circle and the continuous blows, the weakened spirit stone finally shattered. ¡°No! No!¡± Mana poured out from the cracks in his entire body. Minos struggled. Jude pulled his fist again. ¡°Gobble it up.¡± Is it an illusion that he heard Cordelia¡¯s voice? Jude fiercelyughed. He used the remaining mana of the moon on the Sun¡¯s Ne as his own. As he roared, he dealt thest blow into Minos¡¯ chest. Kuhaaa-! The light burst. As he was struck in the chest once again, Minos¡¯ whole body began to break. The demonic power rose like a smoke and dispersed in all directions. And right after that, a series of white rings of light surrounded the body of Jude. It was not only that. A phrase came into his mind like when he first attacked the dungeon book. [You acquired the title ¡®The One Who Made the Impossible Possible.¡¯] [All stats increased by 5%.] A boss that could not originally be beaten. A scenario designed on the premise of losing. But they overcame it. They became victorious. Jude clenched his fist. Like when he first got 1st ce in the server rankings, the sense of aplishmenting deep inside his heart made him shout in joy. Cordelia felt the same. Despite her bleeding nose, she raised her arms high and shouted in joy too. ¡°Young master!¡± ¡°Miss!¡± The voices of Jun and Dahlia was heard in session. Jude took a long breath. A pleasant smile was drawn on his face. *** ¡°Haa¡­Haa¡­I-I¡¯mpletely wiped out. It¡¯s enough to faint, so please do me a favor.¡± Right after they defeated Minos, Cordelia spoke as she caught her breath and was on the verge of fainting. On the other hand, Jude crawled halfway to Cordelia¡¯s side and responded. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯ll go first, I-I¡¯m going to faint too.¡± ¡°F-f*ck?¡± ¡°Gueum¡­julmaek¡­kekk-¡± Jude, who was lying next to Cordelia, fainted after making a kekk sound. Both of them leveled up a lot, but the stamina and mana consumed were so great. ¡°F-f*cking bastard.¡± Cordelia swore a little, as she copsed on the floor too. Using thest of her mental strength to stay conscious, she told Lucas. ¡°Settle¡­the aftermath¡­please¡­¡± And that was it for Cordelia too. The iparably beautiful girl, who was bleeding from her nose, lost consciousness too. Lucas, who was asked to take care of the aftermath, tried to shout. No, he wanted to shout ¡®How!¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s Silence spell was still in effect. Furthermore, it was difficult to take care of the aftermath because there were so many things that Lucas didn¡¯t even know about. What was that magic circle installed in the secret room? What were the active roles of Jude and Cordelia who defeated the enemy at the end? ¡®A-and the f*cks too.¡¯ An iparably beautiful girl who kept swearing ¡®f*ck¡¯. Wasn¡¯t she a Count¡¯s esteemed daughter? In a sense, the biggest impact of today¡¯s events was Cordelia¡¯s true colors. Untilst year, she was pretending to be an innocent girl, but she was actually different inside. Lucas shuddered unconsciously as he looked over the copsed wall. The escort knights had overpowered the demon followers and wereing in groups. ¡°Miss! Miss!¡± Count Chase¡¯s escort, Dahlia, burst into tears at the sight of Cordelia bleeding from her nose, and Count Bayer¡¯s escort hurriedly took Jude¡¯s pulse. ¡°Young master, are you all right?¡± Lucas nodded to his escort who had a deathly pale face, and then turned to Jude and Cordelia. He looked at the two who had fainted besides each other and had satisfied smiles in their faces. As he recalled how they worked back-and-forth and how Cordelia pleaded to him before fainting, Lucas unwittingly smiled. ¡®Really¡­they¡¯re a fantasy couple.¡¯ No, had he gone mad? As Lucas swallowed his words and thoughts that Jude and Cordelia would have denied had they heard it, he looked back at his escort. He diligently pointed to his mouth andined that he was under magic. Chapter 25: Devils Hand (6)

Chapter 25: Devil''s Hand (6)

Terms used in this chapter: Unnie ¨C Means older sister in Korean, and is used by girls to call another girl who is older than them, or to a girl whom they admire. Time has passed. Just as what a person does when they wake up from a deep sleep, Jude slowly opened his eyes halfway. A lot of things, including the ceiling, came in his blurry vision, but everything was blurred, and he couldn¡¯t properly recognize the shapes. ¡°Ooouuuh.¡± With a voice close to groaning, Jude closed and opened his eyes repeatedly, and the blurriness began to disappear. ¡°Haaa¡­¡± A few seconds¡­no, maybe a dozen seconds after, Jude was finally fully awake and looked around. He was in a well-decorated and luxurious bedroom. It was evident to him that this was the high-ss amodation that he had stayed in when they first came to Langesthei. ¡°Young master! Are you awake?!¡± Just then, he heard Maja¡¯s voice. It was a voice close to a scream that was mixed with anxiety and joy. ¡°Maja.¡± ¡°Young master.¡± In the Bayer family, Maja was often called the Ice Queen, but she often smiled in front of Jude. But now she wasn¡¯t just smiling. Maia was both crying and smiling now. ¡°Young master.¡± ¡°I¡¯m okay, Maja. What about you? Did you get hurt?¡± Maja was like a family to Jude, but outside Count Bayer, she was only an exclusive maid in the end. She was the only one who was ufortable when she was forced to attend the banquet, so Jude had sent her back earlier to their amodation. Of course, this was because he had predicted the attack. ¡°I¡¯m all right. In the first ce, I was staying in the amodation. Rather than that, young master¡­ah¡­¡± As Maja shed tears again, Jude was feeling restless and puzzled on what to do, so he awkwardly reached out his hands and hugged her. ¡°It¡¯s all right. I¡¯m safe.¡± ¡°Young master.¡± After a few minutes, Maja calmed down from her crying storm, and Jude patted her back and asked. ¡°Maja, what about Lady Cordelia?¡± ¡°She¡¯s all right.¡± Maja wiped away her tears and took a breath as she adjusted her posture, and then spoke with a light smile. ¡°She overworked herself, so she¡¯s still lying down, but she has regained her consciousness a little earlier than young master. The doctors said that she was just too tired and that there was no harm to her health.¡± ¡°Haa.¡± Jude breathed a sigh of relief, and then began stretching. He was worried about her one way or another. ¡°Young master, if you don¡¯t mind, would you like to go see Lady Cordelia?¡± As Maja smiled and said that, Jude immediately nodded. ¡°Please.¡± ¡°As you wish, young master.¡± With Maja¡¯s help, Jude got up and left the room after roughly washing and grooming himself. Their rooms were on the same floor, so after passing the drawing room between their rooms, he was now in front of Cordelia¡¯s bedroom. ¡°Lady Cordelia, Mr. Jude Bayer hase to visit.¡± Count Chase¡¯s knight was guarding Cordelia¡¯s bedroom and greeted Jude with a very weing face. He immediately reported to Cordelia about Jude¡¯s visit. Without waiting for too long, Cordelia¡¯s bedroom door opened wide. ¡°Mr. Jude Bayer.¡± Dahlia, who had tear marks on her face like Maja, greeted Jude with a smile. And in the room was Cordelia lying on a bedrge enough to wrestle. ¡°Lady Cordelia.¡± Instead of answering Jude¡¯s call, Cordelia simply nodded once. Her condition seemed much worse than Jude¡¯s, as she had a pale white face and eyes that had no strength that it seemed like she¡¯ll fall asleep anytime soon. ¡°Dahlia, I apologize, but may we be alone for a moment?¡± ¡°Yes, Mr. Bayer. Please take care of thedy.¡± Dahlia readily epted and left the room together with Maja after bowing to Cordelia. After a few seconds, when the door waspletely closed, Cordelia spoke. ¡°I think I¡¯m going to die.¡± ¡°Yes, me too.¡± Coming to the edge of the bed with a wobbly gait, Jude flopped on the chair where Dahlia had sat on earlier. ¡°Is your condition not good?¡± ¡°I used too much mana. My head is so heavy, and I feel like it¡¯s going to break.¡± ¡°Oh, is it simr to a hangover?¡± ¡°A hangover?¡± ¡°Yes¡­oh, maybe it is?¡± Cordelia awkwardly answered as she slouched her shoulders. ¡°I feel sick, tired and about to die.¡± ¡°Well, you really don¡¯t look well.¡± She wasn¡¯t the Yellow Storm that would always whine and retort in front of Outboxer. ¡°Hey, shouldn¡¯t you feel good though? You saw the title too, right?¡± ¡°The One Who Made the Impossible Possible?¡± A smile bloomed like a flower on Cordelia¡¯s face, who was a while ago, had tears on her face and saying that she felt so tired to death. She felt really good that she beganughing ¡®hehehe¡¯ like a fool. ¡°The Legend of Heroesmunity wouldpletely be turned upside down.¡± ¡°The chat window¡¯s going to be a mess.¡± ¡°Will Hero Soft contact us?¡± ¡°Maybe?¡± ¡°It was an impossible story, but that¡¯s why it¡¯s pleasant we changed it.¡± Cordelia took a long breath before speaking again. ¡°Dahlia told me that Vi and Felix are safe. And so are the twin brothers.¡± Originally, they were those who would have been killed or kidnapped in the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s attack. But they didn¡¯t die. They weren¡¯t kidnapped, and they were alive. ¡°I feel excited for no reason.¡± The title was good, and the sense of aplishment from twisting the main scenario as intended was also good, but Cordelia was happier that she had saved many people including the children of the 12 families. ¡°Oh dear~ look at how nice our Yellow Storm is. I feel so proud of you.¡± As Jude smiled happily and stroked Cordelia¡¯s hair, her eyes narrowed. ¡°You will be killed by me. Why are you f*cking petting me?¡± ¡°This is our Yellow Storm.¡± Jude replied as he smiled, feeling satisfied, before leaning on the chair¡¯s back. ¡°With this, we¡¯ve passed over a hump.¡± ¡°What should we do now?¡± ¡°Well, we¡¯ve twisted the main scenario, but we still have to follow it.¡± In Cordelia¡¯s main scenario, she was destined to be kidnapped in the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s attack event no matter what she did. Wasn¡¯t her second mission to escape from her kidnapped situation? If she sessfully escapes, the survival route opens. But if she fails, she bes a sacrifice and it would be game over. The survival route was as follows. ¡°Cordelia escapes from an unknown Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s branch and wanders around a deep and dark forest to escape her pursuers and monsters. She then meets the witch¡¯s soul as if she were led by fate.¡± Cordeliaughed when Jude recited the summary of the story in Legend of Heroes 2. ¡®Are you for real¡­no, are you even a human?¡¯ How can a person remember all those things? She didn¡¯t care if he was a rotten water, but Jude¡¯s memory was far beyondmon sense. ¡®Should I ask him?¡¯ If she asked, he might unexpectedly give her an answer. At the time Cordelia was contemting, Jude continued to speak regardless of whether he knew or not of what she was thinking. ¡°Because she had not been kidnapped by the Devil¡¯s Hands, Cordelia wouldn¡¯t wander around the woods¡­but she has to go. You have to meet the witch¡¯s soul.¡± The meeting with the witch¡¯s soul was not a hidden event like the Moonlight acquisition event. It was one of the main events that was absolutely necessary to continue the game. ¡®Because I have to do a spec-up.¡¯ After all, Legend of Heroes 2 is a fighting game. Aside from hunting, if you steadily follow the main events, you will be stronger. ¡°Uh¡­the forest was probably north of Langesthei, right?¡± ¡°Yes, so we have to go north.¡± It wasn¡¯t just because of Cordelia. Jude¡¯s main scenario, which had not yet begun, was also concentrated in the north. ¡°Well, what should I do?¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°You see, Dahlia told me something earlier, but it¡¯s only been a day since we came to our senses. Not all the news have been spread to each family yet, but the escort knights must have decided on a policy.¡± ¡°What kind of policy?¡± ¡°There may be additional attacks, so it seems like everyone is gathering togetherter in the evening to exchange information on this incident. We¡¯ll have to wait until someonees to pick us up though.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± Given that the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s attack was prevented, the remaining problem was their exnation on the various preparations they made and the fight that urred yesterday. ¡®There¡¯s also the Blue Lion.¡¯ They need a solution regarding the part about Count Bayer¡¯s intervention, which was the lie that Jude made to move the Blue Lion knightmander, Sir Barua. Now that things have grown this big, Count Bayer will definitely hear the story about the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s attack and the Blue Lion¡¯s surprise attack on the branches. ¡°So what should we do? Wouldn¡¯t we need some excuse to go north without going home?¡± Apart from settling the aftermath, they also need measures on how to move forward. Jude answered Cordelia¡¯s question with folded arms. ¡°First of all, I have some ideas.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°First, you and I have to kiss*¡­no, that¡¯s not what I mean? Anyway, we¡¯ll have the people around us to help out.¡± *T/N: This is a pun, based on the idiom ?(?) ???, which can mean 2 different things: Jude was talking about the first meaning but realized that Cordelia could interpret it as the second meaning, so he says ¡°that¡¯s not what I mean¡± afterwards. ¡°Who was around us?¡± ¡°Of course, Luca¡­wait.¡± Jude suddenly stopped talking, as he frowned and tilted his head. He felt like he hadpletely forgotten something important. ¡®What is it?¡¯ They defeated Minos. The kidnapping case ended in failure, and Jude and Cordelia are safe. ¡®Lucas is safe too.¡¯ ording to Cordelia, Vi, Felix and the twin brothers are also safe. Then¡­ ¡°Ah!¡± Jude sprang up from his seat, and at the same time, Cordelia opened her eyes wide too. It¡¯s because the two remembered the same thing and the same person at the same moment. ¡°¡°Sylvia!¡±¡± *** ¡°Uwaaah! Howe¡­how could you forget? Me here¡­me here alone¡­uwaaaah¡­..¡± In the secret room in the corner of the banquet hall, which is now the scene of the incident¡­ Sylvia, who was trapped inside the pit for one day, burst into a sad cry in Cordelia¡¯s arms. ¡°Unnie, I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m really really sorry.¡± Although Cordelia¡¯s face still had a sickly appearance, she repeatedly apologized after facing Sylvia. ¡°I was scared¡­it was dark¡­there was no sound¡­*sniff*¡± Sylvia blew her nose with a handkerchief that Jude gave at the right time, as she kept sniffling. Seeing the confident, pretty, and iparably beautiful woman crying out sadly like a child and revealing her inner thoughts, she really must have been scared over the past day. ¡®The pit did a great job.¡¯ They had worked hard to turn the pit in the secret room into a panic room just in case. He even drew a Silence magic circle inside the pit, in the fear of being caught because of the sound. Because of that, Sylvia, who was forcibly dropped into the pit, didn¡¯t know what was happening outside because everything was in perfect silence and there was no light. ¡°Unnie, unnie, I¡¯m sorry.¡± She was Cordelia now before she was Yellow Storm. She was sincerely sorry because she was now Cordelia, who had always admired the beautiful and elegant Sylvia. ¡®Lucas, what the hell did you do?!¡¯ Cordelia herself and Jude had fainted at that time. It was the very reason that Cordelia had asked him to settle the aftermath after they¡¯ve fainted. ¡®I¡¯ll kill youter!¡¯ At the time when Cordelia made a firm resolve, Jude slightly pulled Cordelia¡¯s skirt to tell her to distance herself from Sylvia. Sylvia had to be entrusted to the knights of Count Crossbell. ¡°Miss, let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Ughhh, okay.¡± Sylvia, who had be very obedient, left the room with the knights, and Dahlia said cautiously as Jude and Cordelia sighed. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Both of you didn¡¯t seem to be stable yet, so we couldn¡¯t tell you the news of Lady Sylvia¡¯s disappearance.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s all right. It¡¯s not Dahlia¡¯s fault. It¡¯s all Lucas¡¯ fault.¡± Cordelia clenched her fists in rage as her fighting spirit was inmed. However, Jude couldn¡¯t join Cordelia. ¡®I have to stop her to avoid causing a problemter on.¡¯ They needed Lucas¡¯ help to get to the north. Jude¡¯s n was as follows. Lucas¡¯ home was located in the northernmost front where a previous Count of Bayer stayed in the past, and where the current margrave, Count Hr?svelgr, now lives in. It was located near the Thunderdoom Fortress, which bordered the barbard. ¡®A Sunflower that possess Yang energy can be found there.¡¯ It was one of the several means to heal Gueumjulmaek. Jude had already obtained the Sun¡¯s Ne to treat Gueumjulmaek, but it was still not cured. ¡®We head to the north on the pretext of getting the Sunflower and speeding up the treatment of Gueumjulmaek!¡¯ And in order to do so, they had to naturally bring out the story of the Sunflower to Lucas and at the same time, lead the conversation of inviting them to the north. ¡°Wait, hey, wait.¡± When they had returned to their amodation, Cordelia frowned after listening to Jude¡¯s exnation. Aside from the mission to draw out the conversation they wanted from Lucas, and the Gueumjulmaek that is evolving day by day into some all-around excuse, there was one more important part that was missing from Jude¡¯s story. ¡°What about me then?¡± Jude will go to the north to cure his disease, but what excuse can Cordelia give to go there too? At Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude cleared his throat once and said while turning his head as if to avoid looking at her. ¡°That.¡± ¡°That what?¡± ¡°Come on, you should already know.¡± How Cordelia will follow Jude. In an instant, Cordelia had a tearful face. Afterwards, she lets out a long sigh before raising her middle finger to Jude. *** ¡°I want to go with my beloved Jude Bayer! We-we¡¯re inseparable!¡± Chapter 26: Devils Hand (7)

Chapter 26: Devil''s Hand (7)

¡°I want to go with my beloved Jude Bayer! We-we¡¯re inseparable!¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s perfect. That¡¯s all you have to do.¡± Jude pped his hands, and Cordelia closed her eyes tightly with a red face and threw up a curse. ¡°Oh, really.¡± ¡°Yes, I understand. I understand.¡± Cordelia¡¯s face flushed even more when Jude sympathized with her. It was not from shame but because of anger. ¡°Hey!¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Why!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Why is it me again? You, you can do it! That¡¯s right! It doesn¡¯t necessarily have to be me!¡± Cordelia¡¯s argument was that Jude and Cordelia love each other and not that Cordelia loves Jude one-sidedly. As if she came to a great realization, Cordelia¡¯s eyes sparkled in excitement, but Jude shook his head. ¡°Hey, that¡¯s not it.¡± ¡°Why¡­what¡­why is it not you? Is this because of Gueumjulmaek again?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not because of Gueumjulmaek. Just think it through withmon sense.¡± Jude made some big gestures with his two hands to calm her down, and then stood up and continued to speak. ¡°Who of us has business in the north? You or me?¡± ¡°You.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, it¡¯s me. So it¡¯s a situation where Cordelia wants to ¡®follow¡¯ me, right?¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°If I say that I don¡¯t want to be separated from Cordelia here, and that I want to ¡®take¡¯ Cordelia with me because we¡¯re in love, it sounds different, right?¡± Jude had an awkward and bitter smile, and Cordelia was in tears again. It was as Jude said. There was a huge difference between Jude ¡®taking¡¯ Cordelia, and Cordelia ¡®following¡¯ Jude. ¡°So, if you think about it rationally, it¡¯s a situation where Cordelia has to appeal to follow Jude. I would have done it had I been in the opposite situation. Really. Cross my heart.¡± Cordelia frowned when Jude put his hand on his chest as if he really swore. ¡°I hate you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I love you.¡± ¡°What is this crazy bastard saying?¡± ¡°I just told you, okay?¡± Jude slyly smiled as he sat back down, and the pouting Cordelia sat down too. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s say that we¡¯ll solve that problem with that. However, we still need to coordinate our stories for the information exchange and so on that will happenter tonight.¡± ¡°Is it because we defeated Minos?¡± ¡°Yes, Lucas helped us, but no matter how you think of it, it was still too much for the three of us to defeat Minos.¡± If Minos had only fought with Jude¡¯s party, he could¡¯ve said, ¡°Minos was just weak.¡± The problem was the fact that Minos defeated none other than the me Wizard Ronin in front of everyone. Everyone would have thought it was strange if Jude and Cordelia had defeated such a strong man. ¡°Hmm¡­how about we say that he was tired and weak because he fought with Ronin?¡± ¡°That will work, but I even sold my father¡¯s name¡­so to draw a big picture, we need to y another card.¡± ¡°Another card?¡± ¡°Come closer for a second.¡± Jude suddenly looked around as he spoke in a small voice, and Cordelia blinked her eyes and sat closer to Jude. ¡°So¡­¡± As Jude exined in a small whisper, Cordelia quietly listened and at some point, nodded. It¡¯s because she thought that it was a usible story. ¡°Hey¡­by the way.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Do we really have to talk in whispers?¡± There was the only the two of them in the room in the first ce. ¡°No, I did it unconsciously. I just went along with the ambience.¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyes narrowed in anger, while Jude made an awkwardugh. ¡®Sometimes I don¡¯t know if he¡¯s stupid or smart.¡¯ She was sure that he¡¯s crazily smart, but he had a clumsy side to him too. ¡®Indeed, Outboxer is a human too.¡¯ Cordelia convinced herself as she nodded and quietly smiled, while Jude continued his words as if to change the topic. ¡°Do you somehow understand it? I¡¯ll go ahead with the whole story, so you can match with my rhythmter.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± They have to pull off their n this evening. Jude and Cordelia looked at each other and nodded. *** Treigian, one of Langesthei¡¯s leading luxury lodgings, was much more crowded than usual. This is because all the children from the 12 northern families who were staying in Langesthei moved to Treigian. And at night, guests from various ces gathered there too, including the knights. While the Order of the Blue Lion and the Langesthei Guard fiercely guarded Treigian, the Blue Lion¡¯s knightmander, Sir Barua, and the Langesthei Guard¡¯s captain were inside. Langesthei¡¯s mayor and the wizards of the Red Dawn Tower, led by me Wizard Ronin, also visited Treigian. And at 8pm, in the conference room located in Treigian¡¯s 1st floor, Jude stood and started talking to everyone. ¡°We met the Fairy Queen.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Fairy Queen. The queen of the fairies. Oh, of course, the fairies have many queens just like humans. It¡¯s not just one.¡± Everyone in the conference room looked around at each other in confusion to Jude¡¯s exnation. Wasn¡¯t he going to talk about how he defeated the demonic human? Why did he talk about the Fairy Queen all of a sudden? Moreover, he met the Fairy Queen? ¡°Are you confused? I understand, but it¡¯s true. Me and Lady Cordelia met the Fairy Queen a few days before arriving at Langesthei.¡± The atmosphere in the conference room shifted to ¡°Let¡¯s hear it for now¡± as Jude calmly spoke. A satisfied Jude continued to speak. ¡°It was a fantastic night with a very beautiful moon. The fairies fell in love with Lady Cordelia¡¯s dazzling appearance and asked her if she wanted to participate in the Fairy Queen¡¯s night banquet.¡± Jude pointed to Cordelia as he spoke, and everyone¡¯s eyes turned to her. Cordelia¡¯s face instantly blushed red and she lowered her head. ¡®W-what¡¯s the crazy bastard saying?¡¯ It was true, but it was still embarrassing. However, Jude asked Cordelia indifferently. ¡°Isn¡¯t it true, Lady Cordelia? The fairies approached and said that Lady Cordelia was so beautiful, and that you were invited to the Fairy Queen¡¯s night banquet, right?¡± ¡°Uh¡­yes¡­¡± Cordelia responded with a despondent voice, but everyone in the room did not doubt her sincerity. It was indeed true that Cordelia was a very beautiful girl. Furthermore, it was cute to see her blushing in embarrassment. ¡°In the meantime, a Bicorn suddenly appeared and attacked us. The fairies said that the Bicorn always bothered them.¡± The word ¡°Bicorn¡± lit up the eyes of the wizards, including Ronin. The Bicorn was a monster that was hard to see like the Unicorn. ¡°This is the horn of the Bicorn we defeated at that time. Me and Lady Cordelia fought together to bring it down, and we took one horn each.¡± Wonder and amazement spread among the wizards as Jude gently shook the Bicorn¡¯s horn he held in his hand. ¡°Wait, can you show me that for a moment?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± In response to the wizard¡¯s request, Jude handed over the Bicorn¡¯s horn through Jun, who was next to him. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s real.¡± ¡°It¡¯s real. It¡¯s clearly the Bicorn¡¯s horn. It¡¯s filled with chaotic energy.¡± The atmosphere in the conference room changed a little when the wizards admired the horn. It slowly became an atmosphere ofplete trust in Jude¡¯s words. ¡°When the Bicorn was defeated, the fairies wanted to invite us more to the fairies¡¯ banquet hall. So they guided me and Lady Cordelia there, and we met the Fairy Queen.¡± ¡°Wow.¡± Sylvia let out a word of admiration. She may be an iparably beautiful woman, but she was also a young maiden of eighteen years and still a girl at heart. If this was a private meeting, she would have approached them right away and asked questions about the Fairy Queen. Jude described the Fairy Queen¡¯s appearance in quite detail for such Sylvia, and then looked back at Cordelia again. ¡°The Fairy Queen gave us one gift for defeating the Bicorn. It¡¯s the Moonlight.¡± It was now Cordelia¡¯s turn. Cordelia gulped before she got up from her seat while holding Moonlight and then stood next to Jude. ¡°This is the Sacred Rod ¡®Moonlight.¡¯ It possesses a powerful amount of the moon¡¯s mana.¡± When Cordelia raised the Moonlight forward, not only the wizards, but also the knights, showed their interest. Jude was satisfied with everyone¡¯s reactions. He had seeded in creating the atmosphere. From now on, whatever he said would sound quite credible as long as he did not make excessive ims. ¡°Moonlight has umted the moon¡¯s mana for the past 100 years. In the fight against the demonic human, Lady Cordelia released its power all at once¡­ As a result, we were able to defeat the enemy, who had been greatly exhausted from his battle with Ronin.¡± There was no need to mention the Sun¡¯s Ne or Bestin¡¯s magic circle. ¡®Lucas doesn¡¯t know much about Bestin¡¯s magic circle anyway.¡¯ Like a swordsman, he¡¯d only think they used some magic and not think about it too much. ¡°I see¡­ so that was what happened.¡± Sir Barua, the Blue Lion¡¯smander, gave Jude the answer he wanted the most, and everyone in the room began to look convinced, as if a line of dominoes copsed. ¡®Okay, it worked.¡¯ The majority were also convinced when Lucas, who actually participated in the fight, had also nodded to their story. Now, no one will raise an objection to this matter. ¡®It would be nice if my exnation for my father¡¯s involvement works well too.¡¯ It was the reason why Jude chose to use the Fairy Queen¡¯s name. ¡®The Fairy Queen told me.¡¯ Something big is going to happen in Langesthei. She said it was a ce where an ominous force was gathered, and she also taught me the ce. ¡®I had no choice but to use my father¡¯s name because I thought you wouldn¡¯t believe what the Fairy Queen said. I¡¯m really sorry. I will ept any deserving punishment.¡¯ Sir Barua had said the source of their information was Count Bayer, so it was clear that Count Bayer would question Jude on where he got such information. That¡¯s why he used the Fairy Queen as the source, as she is someone who cannot easily be found if they wanted to verify the information. ¡®It¡¯s also important that we managed to stop it.¡¯ Thanks to Jude¡¯s information, they were able to capture close to seventy demon followers, and as a result, they were able to minimize the damages from the attack as well. Count Bayer judges a person¡¯s merits and demerits fairly, so the contributions that he made will be enough to cover the fact that he sold his father¡¯s name. ¡®Perfect.¡¯ As Jude smiled with satisfaction, Cordelia was staring from the side with eyes full of suspicion. His ability to create a story by mixing truth and falsehood, and his acting ability to lie without faltering in front of so many people made her suspicious. Was it really possible that Outboxer009¡¯s job was a scammer? ¡®There is a possibility!¡¯ It was when Cordelia snorted and was getting excited¡­ ¡°Hey, I can see what you¡¯re thinking. Anyway, let¡¯s get back to our seats.¡± Jude slightly nudged the stiff Cordelia who squealed from his nudging. The two then descended from the tform and returned to their seats. After that, the talks went on as Jude had thought. ¡°Since the purpose of the attack is still unclear, I would like the children of the 12 northern families to stay only at their lodgings, even if it¡¯s a little ufortable, until reinforcements from the families arrive.¡± The enemies¡¯ purpose was unclear. Only Jude and Cordelia knew that the Devil¡¯s Hand was aiming at Lucas and Cordelia. They wouldn¡¯t know because the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯sbatants were not informed of the attack¡¯s purpose in the first ce, and Minos, who knew their purpose, unexpectedly died. No matter how many times they tortured and threatened the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯sbatants that they had captured, nothing woulde out. ¡®It¡¯s better that their true purpose is hidden after all.¡¯ If it bes known, it will be more difficult to move with Cordelia. It was decided in the meeting that they should prepare for any future attacks of the Devil¡¯s Hand, but frankly, it would be difficult for the demon followers to execute arge-scale operation again when they¡¯ve failed once already. ¡°That is all. The Order of the Blue Lion will be stationed on the 1st floor, so please feel free to contact us if you need help or have any questions.¡± After Sir Barua¡¯s words, the meeting was virtually over. However, only Sir Barua¡¯s party left the conference room. Most of them wanted to talk with each other, and some wanted to talk to Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Thank you so much. I lived thanks to the two of you.¡± The first person that came to Jude and Cordelia was Sylvia. When she, an absolutely beautiful woman, thanked them with tears in her eyes, even Jude¡¯s face was bound to turn red from the sight. Cordelia made a ¡®hmph¡¯ sound at seeing Jude blushing, before she held Sylvia¡¯s hands and said. ¡°No, unnie. You were very scared, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, but even Cordelia herself fought. It was really great. And¡­¡± As Sylvia slightly slurred at the end of her sentence, Cordelia tilted her head and waited for her next words. She was Cordelia, who only showed her Yellow Storm side when she was with Jude. But in front of others, her Cordelia Chase self was more active. ¡°Can we talk a little more? The story of the fight with the demonic human is scary¡­but I¡¯d like to hear more about the fairies.¡± ¡°Of course, unnie. I¡¯ll tell you everything.¡± This time, Sylvia slightly blushed when Cordelia smiled brightly. It was because Cordelia¡¯s beautiful smile was like that of a blooming flower. ¡°Vi,e here too. Let¡¯s talk together.¡± ¡°¡­yes, unnie.¡± Whilst in the corner, Vi trembled at Cordelia¡¯s beckoning. However, when she saw Cordelia¡¯s slightly excited voice and eyes, she was very happy that Cordelia called her. ¡°So, it was a very beautiful night with the moon.¡± As Cordelia began to talk, the twins and Felix slipped in, and the wizards and knights who were interested in the Fairy Queen also gathered. ¡®Okay, let¡¯s leave that side to Cordelia.¡¯ Instead of going to Cordelia, Jude turned to Lucas, who was still present in the room. Their eyes met with each other, whether by coincidence or that Lucas was already looking this way in the first ce. ¡°Mr. Jude Bayer, can I talk to you?¡± Lucas got up from his seat and asked Jude after approaching. It was a wee situation for Jude, who also had something to say to Lucas. ¡°Of course, Lord Lucas. I want to talk about the fight that day. I¡¯ve managed to live because of Lord Lucas¡¯ help.¡± Lucas had a bitter smile as Jude spoke smoothly. Lucas had eyes that could make an urate evaluation of people and things. So he knew that it was Jude and Cordelia who led the fight that day, not Lucas himself. ¡®Now, how do I do this?¡¯ Jude pondered as he sat down with Lucas. As he had told Cordelia, he had to inform Lucas about the Sunflower and at the same time, draw out a story that he wanted Lucas to invite him to the north. ¡®Let¡¯s start talking about the fight.¡¯ Starting with the fight against Minos, he spills the story of his Gueumjulmaek, and tells the story of an implicit cure. It was the moment when Jude had roughly finished nning in his head and was about to open his mouth. ¡°Mr. Jude Bayer.¡± ¡°Yes, Lord Lucas.¡± When Jude responded smoothly, Lucas thought Jude was picking his breath, and said in a slightly lowered voice. ¡°By any chance, have you ever heard of the Sunflower?¡± Sunflower. A gentle smile was formed on Jude¡¯s face. Chapter 27: Devils Hand (8)

Chapter 27: Devil''s Hand (8)

I¡¯ll be taking a break again tomorrow before starting the next story arc. Next chapter will be released on Friday. Sunflower. Beyond the northernmost border of the S?len Kingdom, at the entrance to thend of barbarians, lies a historic site called Frost Anvil. The most prevalent theory is that it is the ruins of an old kingdom built by the Frost Dwarves. However, the important thing about the Frost Anvil area is that it was an extremend with the harshest temperatures. ¡®What¡¯s the coldest ce on the continent? It¡¯s Frost Anvil of course.¡¯ In fact, it wasn¡¯t just a cold ce. It was a ce where if you sprayed water in the air, it would be icicles. Opinions were divided on why this extreme zone was created, with some saying that the Frost Dwarves¡¯ device was still in operation, and the theological view that it was created because of a god¡¯s curse. ¡®There is one legend in Frost Anvil.¡¯ Once every 20 years, somewhere in Frost Anvil, a ¡®Sunflower¡¯ blooms with Yang energy. A flower rich in Yang that blooms in an extremend. And this story was a fact, not a legend. ¡®In a way, it¡¯s more useful than the Sunfire Carp.¡¯ Among the items with Yang energy that appeared in Legend of Heroes 2, the king of items was obviously the Sunfire Carp, but in fact, the Sunfire Carp was an item that didn¡¯t have any other uses except for its Yang energy. On the other hand, the Sunflower may have less Yang energy than the Sunfire Carp, but it had a function that increased the overall abilities of the body, and also transformed the body of the person absorbing it into having a special physical constitution. ¡®Lucas had said it first.¡¯ In the original story, the Sunflower event didn¡¯t happen until the main event. It was close to a hidden event like ¡°Cordelia and the Fairies¡¯ Banquet,¡± and it could be said to be an event prepared for Lucas, although any character in the north, including Jude and Lucas, could trigger it. ¡®Well¡­Lucas only knows that the Sunflower is a flower with Yang energy.¡¯ There is a saying that those with too much Yin or Yang energy can be rather harmful to the body because the energy is biased towards one side. An example is Gueumjulmaek. ¡°I have heard of it. It¡¯s a flower with Yang energy, right?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s a flower that is passed down like a legend in the north. But¡­¡± Lucas suddenly lowered his voice and approached Jude a little closer before speaking in a low voice. ¡°It¡¯s a fact, not a legend. Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s records show the story of a man who discovered the Sunflower 20 years ago.¡± ¡°Ooh¡­¡± Although Jude had already known it, he acted like he didn¡¯t knew. The listener¡¯s interest was the best way to open up a story. ¡°This is now the 20th year. Winter ising soon in the north¡­it is timely too.¡± At this point, it was obvious what Lucas intended to say about the Sunflower. It was a situation in which he was rmending the Sunflower to Jude. ¡®The question is why is he doing this.¡¯ No, he already has an idea why. Jude already knew what kind of person Lucas Hr?svelgr was. ¡°That¡¯s an interesting story.¡± Jude said, gulping down his saliva. Pretending to be uninterested but making it look like he is actually interested¡­it was the kind of acting that Cordelia couldn¡¯t do, but Jude could. Lucas¡¯ dark blue eyes glistened in excitement. ¡°Mr. Jude Bayer, would you like to go to the north with me?¡± ¡®Bingo!¡¯ Jude, who was cheering inside, did not hide his feelings. He yed the role of a young master who was still immature by expressing joy all over his face and then hurriedly calming himself down. ¡°You mean¡­to the north?¡± ¡°Yes. If you are fine with it, Mr. Bayer, I would like to invite you to Count Hr?svelgr. If you want, you can even take Lady Cordelia with you.¡± ¡®Oh, Lucas. Oh, Lucas.¡¯ He was very useful in the fight against Minos. Jude tried to suppress his desire to kiss Lucas¡¯ forehead, and continued his acting by speaking with quivering lips. ¡°Really¡­I¡¯m very grateful for the offer. But¡­why though?¡± The rtionship between Count Bayer and Count Hr?svelgr was neither good nor bad. At first nce, it would seem that there was a bad rtionship between the two because Count Hr?svelgr took over the margrave position, which was previously monopolized by Count Bayer, but in fact, there was one more family between the two. ¡®From Count Bayer to Count Pael before to Count Hr?svelgr.¡¯ It was nearly 50 years ago that the Count of Bayer held the margrave position. Due to the death of that time¡¯s Count Bayer from arge-scale battle with the northern barbarians, the position of Margrave was transferred to Count Pael. However, it wasn¡¯t long before another tragedy happened, and the newly appointed margrave, Count Pael, unexpectedly died. Therefore, the center dispatched Count Hr?svelgr, who was a talented man and at the forefront of the ten swordmasters at that time, and from then on, Count Hr?svelgr maintained his position as the head of the 12 northern families. ¡®We¡¯re not enemies, but that doesn¡¯t mean we¡¯re on good terms.¡¯ It could be said that they were just friends. At Jude¡¯s question, Lucas¡¯ face slightly turned red as he looked away and said. ¡°Because¡­I thought I met a good rival.¡± ¡®As I expected.¡¯ Jude felt like hisughter would leak out at the expected answer, but he kept a serious expression. ¡°You mean¡­your rival?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m a little embarrassed, but up until this day, I¡¯ve never met someone my age who was a good match against me.¡± Lucas was a sword genius. He wasn¡¯t born with Gueumjulmaek like Jude, so he grew up demonstrating his brilliant talent from childhood. ¡°I have no peers I canpare with¡­that may sound good, but in fact, I¡¯ve always felt lonely. An existence that can stand on equal footing with me and move forward with me¡­I¡¯ve always longed for such a rival.¡± Lucas¡¯ face and voice was full of sincerity. He looked like a handsome and attractive-looking man out of a painting, so the listening Jude had to use his all to maintain a serious face. ¡®Ah, really. It¡¯s so cheesy.¡¯ He already knew it from Lucas¡¯ character settings but listening to it in person felt new in many ways. ¡°Mr. Jude Bayer.¡± ¡°Yes, Lord Lucas.¡± When Jude barely answered in time, Lucas stared at Jude with a serious face and abruptly grabbed Jude¡¯s hand. ¡°I was convinced when I saw Mr. Bayer fighting. It became clear to me that Mr. Bayer was my long-aspired rival.¡± ¡®Well, Maximilian was originally his rival, but Jude has Cheonmujiche, so I¡¯m worthy of being his rival. But why is he holding my hand?¡¯ Jude barely suppressed his inner thoughts as he faced Lucas¡¯ strong gaze head on. ¡°So I thought. Let¡¯s heal Mr. Bayer¡¯s disease as soon as possible.¡± If that happens, Jude can use his talents properly. In fact, after we defeated Minos, Lucas¡¯ mind was filled with thoughts of Cordelia. It was not because he fell in love with Cordelia, but because her true colors were so shocking. But as time went by, Jude¡¯s fight kepting to his mind. The movement shown by Jude. His unmatched fighting method. A talented genius that can be recognized by a fellow talented genius. ¡°Mr. Bayer, let¡¯s go to the north together. I will help you find the Sunflower.¡± It was an unexpected proposal. But this time again, instead of answering right away, Jude paused and took his time. It was to keep Lucas in suspense. ¡®Hmm, this should be okay.¡¯ Was it roughly 20 seconds already? During that time, Lucas¡¯ eyes shook, before Jude finally responded in a heavy yet serious tone, as if he was opening his mouth after careful consideration. ¡°Thank you very much. However¡­rather than asking to find the Sunflower together, I am more touched that Lord Lucas, who is called the Girin of Hr?svelgr, regards me as a good rival. I have just begun walking the path of martial arts, but I want to live up to Lord Lucas¡¯ expectations.¡± ¡°Mr. Bayer, your words are¡­¡± ¡°Yes, I will go with Lord Lucas.¡± When Jude spoke with a big smile, Lucas breathed out in relief and brightly smiled too. ¡°I look forward to going north with Mr. Bayer.¡± ¡°Yes, I look forward to it too.¡± Once their conversation came to an end, Lucas rose from his seat with a happy face and returned to the knights of Count Hr?svelgr. Seeing that Lucas¡¯ lingering excitement could be seen in his steps, Jude thought he was still a young boy of sixteen years. ¡®He¡¯s a heroic novel enthusiast.¡¯ The current situation itself was almost the same as the beginning of ¡®Biltwein the Hero,¡¯ one of Lucas¡¯ favorite hero novels. The words that Jude said in the end, about being happier that he became Lucas¡¯ rival more than the Sunflower, was almost the same words that Catn, the rival of the main character Biltwein, said. Lucas must have felt like he was Biltwein during our conversation. ¡®So, does that solve one thing?¡¯ Jude¡¯s shoulders lightly drooped as he turned to Cordelia. Cordelia was even using body movements in telling Sylvia and Vi, who were so absorbed in the story, about the fairies¡¯ banquet. ¡®After all, her Cordelia self bes stronger except when she¡¯s with me.¡¯ Jude and Cordelia have awakened their memories of their previous lives. And as a result, many things have changed. With the sudden addition of twenty or so years of memories to a life that has only lived for more than a decade, his Outboxer009 self was a little more prominent than his Jude self. And it got even worse as he faced Cordelia who equally had memories of her previous life as Yellow Storm. Although Jude and Cordelia were engaged, they were originally in an indifferent rtionship. But it was not for Outboxer009 and Yellow Storm. It¡¯s been 5 years since he had known her, and nearly 3 years since they¡¯ve been arguing with each other in the chat rooms every day, so when they¡¯re together, their identities as Outboxer and Yellow Storm were more prominent than their Jude and Cordelia selves. The proof was that they still call each other by their past lives¡¯ nicknames rather than their present lives¡¯ names. ¡®The affection for our previous lives that only the two of us share¡­maybe it¡¯s something like an obsession.¡¯ Of course, as time goes by, it would change little by little. Right now, the memories of Jude and Outboxer mixed with each other, so his personality has changed as well. The current Jude was close to a new person who was a little different from the existing Jude and the previous life¡¯s Outboxer Kang Jin-ho. ¡®The way we address each other will also change someday.¡¯ Since the first meeting, the frequency of calling each other¡¯s nicknames has gradually decreased. The day maye that they¡¯ll call each other with new nicknames that have special meanings. ¡°Someday.¡± Jude stood up and walked to Cordelia who was still excitedly talking. *** Time has passed, and it¡¯s been two days since the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s attack. The first to arrive was Count Dahut, who was the closest in geographical location. The Golden Deer Knights, the pride of Count Dahut, quickly left Langesthei with the twin brothers. The next to arrive were Count Crossbell and Viscount Langue¡¯s knights. ¡°Cordelia, this social gathering was scary, but it was really nice to meet you. I look forward to next year¡¯s social gathering.¡± ¡°Me-me too. Cordelia-unnie.¡± They were two people who sincerely regretted breaking up with Cordelia because they had be close in thest few days. ¡°I look forward to it too. I¡¯ll miss the two of you so much.¡± Cordelia hugged Sylvia and Vi in turn, and the hug of an iparably beautiful girl made the absolutely beautiful woman and cute girl blush their cheeks. Three days from the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s attack, Sylvia, Vi, and Felix have left. Now, only three people were left in Treigian: Jude, Cordelia, and Lucas. ¡°My family¡¯s knights will be joining halfway through our journey.¡± Lucas, who had been in touch with his family for thest few days, smiled as he said that. The Thunderdoom Fortress, where Count Hr?svelgr is located, was too far from Langesthei. It meant that if Jude and Cordelia were together, then Count Bayer and Count Chase¡¯s escort would be together too, so there would be no problem in terms of escorts. It would be all right for Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s knights to join in the middle. ¡°Are we the ones left?¡± They from Count Bayer and Count Chase. And in the next morning, the group from the two counts finally arrived in Langesthei. *** ¡°Hmph, you¡¯re still weak and frail.¡± ¡°Fa-father?¡± Surprisingly, it was Count Chase himself, not anyone else, who came from the Count Chase side. ¡°Hahaha, Jude. I heard the story. You¡¯ve be incredibly strong in just a few days.¡± It was Ga?l Bayer, the next Count of Bayer, who came from the Count Bayer side. ¡°Count Chase himself went, so shouldn¡¯t our side match their assortment?¡± Ga?l whispered to Jude with a smile. Since it was Count Chase himself who went, Count Bayer¡¯s heir would at least be approximate to match Count Chase¡¯s group assortment. Count Chase looked at Jude with a stern face as usual, as he said with a snort. ¡°You fought against a demonic human?¡± ¡°Yes, thanks to Lady Cordelia and the wizards of the Red Dawn Tower, we were able to take it down.¡± ¡°Hmph, you¡¯re still weak if you can¡¯t take it down alone.¡± Count Chase¡¯s harsh criticism embarrassed those around him, but not for Jude. He had a happy smile when he saw Count Chase, who was now searching for something in his inner pocket. ¡°You¡¯re too weak that my mind can¡¯t be at ease. This isn¡¯t something big so take it.¡± ¡°I love you, father.¡± Jude took the pitch-ck bracelet from Count Chase without hesitation and smiled again. It was because the C-rank dark bracelet had a blessing to increase one¡¯s magic defense. ¡°Tsk tsk, you still look dried up as before. This is something I bought by chance on the way here. Take it.¡± Jude looked back and saw Count Chase¡¯s knight with an awkward smile, who lifted up a paper bag he was holding in his arms. It was clear that the contents were healthy food that was good for the body. ¡°I didn¡¯t really prepare it for you, so don¡¯t be mistaken.¡± ¡°Of course, father.¡± It was at that time when Jude¡¯s eyes were sparkling. Cordelia stealthily peeked at Jude¡¯s side. ¡®Why? Do you want us to properly divide this again?¡¯ ¡®This crazy bastard¡­it¡¯s not that. You know, that one.¡¯ ¡®Ah, that one.¡¯ Aftermunicating with their eyes only, Jude and Cordelia looked back at Count Chase together, and Jude cleared his throat and adjusted his breath before opening his mouth. ¡°Father and brother. I have something to tell you.¡± He then told the story of the Sunflower and of Lucas¡¯ invitation. He also added about Cordelia joining him. ¡°I-I want to go with my beloved Mr. Jude Bayer. I-I don¡¯t want to be separated from hi-him.¡± Cordelia held Jude¡¯s arm tightly as she said that with a flushed and tearful face. She was embarrassed by her act, but in the eyes of others, she seemed like a girl who was strongly in love with him that she even had tears in her eyes because she wanted to be with her fianc¨¦. ¡®My brother will say okay for sure.¡¯ Ga?l was staring at Cordelia with a fully satisfied smile. Jude turned to Count Chase with his arm held by the clinging Cordelia as he gulped unconsciously. Count Chase¡¯s gaze was too scary. But it was only for a moment. Count Chase snorted as he searched around in his inner pocket again and said. ¡°I wonder if this weak guy can protect Cordelia.¡± The way he spoke was aggressive, but there was a new item in his hand already. ¡°These are trivial items, but still take it.¡± What Count Chase offered was a pair of rings. It looked like he casually bought and prepared it for Jude and Cordelia, but it seemed to be items that he had carried for a long time, as one could feel the energy of powerful mana emanating from the rings. It was at that moment. ¡®Please take care of Cordelia.¡¯ Jude heard those words in his mind from magic. As Jude raised his head, Count Chase turned around with a cold expression. ¡°Now that I¡¯ve finished my business, I¡¯m going home. I¡¯ll tell that old man, Count Bayer, well, so make sure to get back safely from the north.¡± ¡°Thank you, father.¡± ¡°Father! I¡¯ll be back!¡± Count Chase replied by raising his hand at the greetings of Jude and Cordelia, as he settled down in the drawing room because he had other business before leaving Treigian. His business with Jude and Cordelia was over, but there were still other things to do, such as meeting with Ronin and the other wizards of the Red Dawn Tower. ¡°Hmph, do your work.¡± When the slightly red-eared Count Chase turned his head and waved his hands, the Count¡¯s knights went to Sir Zebeck, who was in charge of the journey and began to coordinate this and that. Because we were going on a long trip again, there were a lot of things to discuss, which included theposition of escorts. ¡°Father won¡¯t say much either, so don¡¯t worry and leave.¡± Ga?l spoke without hesitation, as he personally arranged the escort group who¡¯d follow Jude. As for the remaining two, Cordelia was fiddling with the ring Count Chase gave her, as she slightly pouted her lips and looked at Jude. ¡°Well¡­what the hell just happened?¡± Jude was invited by Lucas, and she got permission from her father. There¡¯s even a couple ring¡­no, they got a magic item. ¡°It¡¯s a great sess.¡± Jude smiled in satisfaction as he held out his fist to her. Cordeliaughed and snorted as she bumped her fists with him. The next morning, the three groups of Count Bayer, Count Chase, and Count Hr?svelgr set off for Thunderdoom Fortress, in the northernmost part of the S?len Kingdom. Chapter 28: Witchs Forest (1)

Chapter 28: Witch''s Forest (1)

I¡¯m back~! I made some changes to thest 3 chapters. In the raws, Cordelia actually calls Sylvia ¡®unnie,¡¯ which means older sister in Korean, because Sylvia is older than her and is someone she admires. I was internally debating whether I should use ¡®unnie¡¯ or not because for a series that has a Western-style setting, it felt weird to use Korean terms. A readermented though that using ¡®sister¡¯ is weirder, and I kinda agree too. That is why I have now changed/edited the previous chapters on the parts where Cordelia calls Sylvia to ¡®unnie.¡¯ Vi calls Cordelia as Cordelia-unnie, so I edited that too. I also found out from another reader that ¡®Outboxer¡¯ and ¡®Yellow Storm¡¯ are real-life references to Korean StarCraft pro-gamers ¡®BoxeR¡® and ¡®YellOw.¡¯ They¡¯re also known to be rivals and YellOw loses and is always 2nd ce to BoxeR. Even their Outboxer¡¯s Kang Jin-ho, and Yellow Storm¡¯s Hong Yoo-hee are referenced from BoxeR¡¯s Lim Yo-hwan and YellOw¡¯s Hong Jin-ho (Kang Jin-ho was originally Lim Jin-ho in the earlier raws, though the author changed it into Kang Jin-ho in the revised version of the raws.). Read this interview if you want to get a feel on their rivalry: https://tl/forum/starcraft-2/498529-boxer-yellow-their-rivalry-and-e-sports Source: BoxeR, YellOw Terms used in this chapter: Mutually assured destruction ¨C a?military?strategy?in which two opposing military forces are powerful enough topletely destroy each other. The attacker must think that he will be destroyed with his?victim?if he attacks. The theory is that no state would start an attack if attacking its enemy means its own destruction. Jude uses this term to refer to Yellow Storm¡¯s destructive storm-like attacks, which could backfire on her (remember that she bled from her nose and fainted in thest chapters). A day before leaving Langesthei, Jude and Cordelia came to the balcony to have their ¡®t¨ºte-¨¤-t¨ºte,¡¯ which had be a regr event now, and the two immediately began their operational meeting. ¡°Let¡¯s begin with checking our harvest.¡± Jude wasn¡¯t just talking about the things that Count Chase gave them. The two had made their own preparations in their short stay at Langesthei. ¡°I got a couple of potions. These are D-rank potions. Physical strength, mana recovery, detoxification¡­and stimnts just in case.¡± As amercial city, Langesthei had an abundance of magic items. Cordelia did not spare in spending money to secure supplies, as evidenced by the fact that she wasn¡¯t called the ¡®biggest hunting king¡¯ in Legend of Heroes 2 for no reason. ¡°So I¡¯m almost out of money.¡± ¡°Do you not care much about saving money?¡± ¡°Hmph, my father gave me money though. You saw it all, right?¡± She was right. Before Count Chase left, he gave us a bag of gold coins, saying it was to add to our travel expenses. ¡®Thank you, father.¡¯ Jude, who was grateful to Count Chase, changed the topic before Cordelia talks about proper division of money (N?, n-ppang) again. ¡°I got some equipment. Fortunately, the cksmiths in Langesthei were very good.¡± ¡°Oh, knuckles. Youpletely bought something exclusive for you. You¡¯ve gone the martial arts route and not the swordsman route?¡± Until now, Jude had been fighting by holding the Sun¡¯s Ne like knuckles whenever necessary, but it was too much to properly call it knuckles. There were also concerns that the Sun¡¯s Ne might be damaged. Therefore, Jude had a cksmith forge some kind of specialized knuckles that can fit the Sun¡¯s Ne, so that he could fully utilize its divine power. ¡°Well, if you consider your equipment and so on, yourbat power is higher on the martial arts side right now.¡± ¡°Hmm, I have Cheonmujiche, so it¡¯ll be okay.¡± Jude won¡¯t lose that much even if he changed routes on the way. Cordelia was convinced, and soon looked at the other items that Jude had taken out. Most of the items were protective gear. ¡°This is usually worn outside the clothes. Isn¡¯t it good because it¡¯s thin?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a very thin chain mail. Wouldn¡¯t it hardly increase your defense?¡± ¡°But this is reality. It would be much better than nothing. You wear it so that you can avoid directly getting hurt when you get stabbed or cut by a sword in the first ce.¡± ¡°Well¡­sure.¡± Cordelia nodded as she looked at the chain mail made of thin chains and shaped like a T-shirt. ¡°Now, let¡¯s move on to today¡¯s highlight.¡± It was the items given by Count Chase. Jude pointed to the ck bracelet he wore on his right wrist. ¡°You¡¯ve known this bracelet once, right? Magic Defense ¨C This is a C-rank bracelet that is especially useful in blocking dark magic.¡± ¡°Che, give me one too.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll use it reasonably instead.¡± Jude had a wily smile as he next raised his left hand. ¡°Next is the ring.¡± ¡°Are you wearing it already?¡± ¡°Huh? Yes. Why?¡± ¡°I-it¡¯s nothing. Just¡­¡± Cordelia mumbled at the end of her words, before she took out a handkerchief from her pocket and carefully unfolded it. Inside it was a ring that looked exactly like Jude¡¯s. ¡°Put it on your left hand¡¯s ring finger. It¡¯s a couple ring to begin with.¡± ¡°I-I know that, okay?¡± Cordelia took a deep breath and swallowed deeply. And as soon as she was about to pick up the ring¡­ ¡°Give me your hand.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Give me your hand.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± When Cordelia held out her hand reflexively, Jude immediately picked up the ring and naturally put it on her left ring finger. ¡°Well, good. Is it because your hands are pretty? Uh¡­Cordelia?¡± ¡°Huh? Ah, yes. O-of course. Cordelia¡¯s pretty.¡± Cordelia snorted and quickly pulled her hand back, pretending to be calm, and Judeughed at the sight. ¡°Why¡­why¡­¡± ¡°No, just.¡± Jude shrugged once and turned the topic around for Cordelia. ¡°Before your father left, he gave me the instructions.¡± ¡°About the ring?¡± As Cordelia asked while fiddling with her left ring finger, Jude nodded and answered. ¡°First off, there are two effects.¡± ¡°What effects?¡± ¡°The first is that the magical effect of the rings be stronger if it¡¯s worn by two people.¡± ¡°By how much?¡± ¡°1.1 to 1.2 times.¡± ¡°Oh¡­is that good? Does that make attack or curse magic stronger?¡± Both were generally magic, whether it¡¯s attack or curse. At the idea that was truly Yellow Storm¡¯s, Jude showed the rings¡¯ magic circle as he said. ¡°Let¡¯s refrain from talking about mutually assured destruction. Okay?¡± ¡°Che, you¡¯re not even a wizard.¡± He was a martial arts fighter by profession, but if Jude could use magic like an ordinary wizard, it would be a p to the cheek for Cordelia. ¡°What is the second effect?¡± ¡°When the rings are close together, the built-in magic bes stronger. Mine is recovery magic, and yours is defense magic. When we are close to each other, it oveps with the first effect, which greatly enhances its power.¡± Cordelia looked at the ring and found the built-in magic in the ring. ¡°What do you think? It¡¯s faithful to the concept of rings, right?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± The effect is stronger when it¡¯s worn by each other and its performance improves when they¡¯re together. These strangely cute magic effects were precisely made by Count Chase himself¡­ ¡°Hmm, hmm.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°No, I just had a little rude thought.¡± In front of Cordelia who tilted her head while wondering what he was talking about, Jude recalled Count Chase¡¯s stern face, and after taking several deep breaths, he was able to regain his calmness. ¡°Well, that¡¯s it for our harvest inspection, so let¡¯s move on to our operational meeting.¡± ¡°You mean the way to the witch¡¯s forest?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s both in the north, but if we go straight to Count Hr?svelgr, we won¡¯t pass by the witch¡¯s forest. So we need to create a reason.¡± Moreover, monsters even appeared in the witch¡¯s forest. They needed a pretty much good reason to convince the escorts who¡¯d make the safety of their journey to Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s territory their top priority. ¡°So, what do you have in mind? Seeing that you¡¯re talking about it at this point, don¡¯t you already have a n?¡± Cordelia was already familiar with Jude even before they came to Pleaides. Jude wasn¡¯t a person who¡¯d bring up a story like this without having any ns. Indeed, he had a n, so Jude grinned and answered. ¡°Of course I have. Do you remember what I told you during ourst information exchange meeting?¡± ¡°Uh¡­the story of ying another card to draw a big picture?¡± ¡°Yes, the time hase for a new Muan Sweet Water.¡± It would be a new all-around excuse medicine following Gueumjulmaek. A dark smile was drawn on Jude¡¯s face. *** ¡°Did the Fairy Queen say that?¡± ¡°Yes, the Fairy Queen said that. The witch¡¯s forest has an influential connection that will benefit Cordelia, so make sure to stop by if you need to go to the north.¡± When Jude spoke with a very serious face, Lucas turned to Cordelia and she nodded while having the same serious face as Jude. ¡°I¡¯m serious, Lord Lucas.¡± It was indeed true that there was an event for Cordelia in the witch¡¯s forest. ¡®What are they going to do if we said the Fairy Queen said that? Are they going to check it? By what means?¡¯ It was what Jude had saidst night. Jude and Cordelia met the Fairy Queen. It was certainly true, and the Moonlight proved it. ¡®No one else can meet the Fairy Queen.¡¯ In the first ce, the reason why the Fairy Queen¡¯s night banquet was an exclusive event for Cordelia was simple. The fairies invited Cordelia to their night banquet because they found her incredibly pretty and admirable. Sylvia is the only other person they¡¯ve met who has the potential too. You need to have a beautiful girl, go to a fixed date, a fixed time, and a fixed ce to take a bath. Lucas and their party knew nothing about the date, time, and ce, so there was no way for them to check even if they wanted to. ¡®And we¡¯re going to add something extra here. You know Lucas¡¯ character settings, right?¡¯ A heroic novel enthusiast. He is a young 16-year-old boy who wants to live a life like the heroes in novels. ¡°When I close my eyes even now, the day I met the Fairy Queen vividlyes to my mind. It was a really fantastic and beautiful night.¡± As Jude spoke with his eyes closed, Cordelia continued, covering her mouth with both hands. ¡°I-it¡¯s a memory I¡¯ll never forget.¡± It was true. It was a really crazy night where they got harassed by dozens of fairies. Even now, Cordelia breaks into cold sweat when she closes her eyes and thinks of that time. ¡®All right, it¡¯sing across to him.¡¯ Jude slightly opened his eyes and peeked into Lucas¡¯ eyes that became filled with various emotions. Meeting a mysterious entity like the Fairy Queen was one of the ssic situations in hero novels. ¡°Maybe we can have a simr experience this time.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. The Fairy Queen said it on purpose, so I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll have a mysterious experience.¡± It was something like meeting the soul of a witch, so it was bound to be mysterious. Although Cordelia¡¯s acting ability was at the level of reading Korean books, her acting was more natural than usual because what they were talking about was a ¡®fact¡¯ in the first ce. ¡°We may have to fight monsters like when we fought the Bicorn, but that¡¯s also part of the adventure.¡± ¡°Oh my¡­I¡¯m scared, Mr. Bayer.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, Lady Cordelia. If anything happens, I¡¯ll risk my life to protect you. Lord Lucas will also be with us.¡± A knight protecting a beautifuldy. Looking at Cordelia being scared but at the same time, looking forward to it, Lucas inhaled and swallowed his breath for a moment. Lucas had already witnessed Cordelia¡¯s true colors the other day, but even taking that into consideration, the current Cordelia is¡­ to be precise, her pitiful yet iparably beautiful appearance certainly had a tremendous power. ¡°Hmmm¡­it¡¯s only natural that it¡¯s a knight¡¯s mission to protect thedy.¡± When they saw the corner of Lucas¡¯ mouth slightly raise as he politely answered, Jude and Cordelia thought at the same time. ¡®That¡¯s something he had always wanted to say.¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s a wish he wanted to achieve¡­a wish fulfillment.¡¯ The two exchanged nces and gave the final blow. ¡°Lord Lucas, a heart-pounding adventure awaits us.¡± ¡°Ah¡­I¡¯m getting excited because it¡¯s like a heroic novel.¡± Let¡¯s go through the witch¡¯s forest. Let¡¯s enjoy the adventure the Fairy Queen presented us. Lucas swallowed deeply again. Jude and Cordelia. They¡¯re two people who have already experienced a story-like adventure, such as defeating the Bicorn and meeting the Fairy Queen. These two were now reaching out for a new adventure. It was too much of a temptation to refuse. ¡°That¡­¡± ¡°That?¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be dangerous?¡± ¡°It¡¯ll be fine if we have escorts. And¡­I guess, a little risk is the real taste of adventure.¡± ¡®A little risk is the real taste of adventure¡¯ is a frequent line from the novel Biltwein the Hero. Eventually, Lucas nodded with flushed cheeks. ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s go through the witch¡¯s forest for Lady Cordelia.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Thank you very much, Lord Lucas. An exciting adventure awaits us.¡± Cordelia made quite an unusual impressive performance, perhaps because she was influenced by the atmosphere. And she wasn¡¯t the only one who got into the mood. Lucas¡¯ cheeks twitched at the word ¡®adventure¡¯ once again, and he suddenly stood up from his seat as he said. ¡°I¡¯ll be back after talking to my escorts. Both of you should also talk to your escorts.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be going then.¡± As Lucas left his seat in a hurry, Jude and Cordelia exchanged looks before cheerfully bumping their fists together. I¡¯m stillughing at Jude and Cordelia fanning Lucas¡¯ chuunibyou tendencies, hahaha XDDD And Jude casually putting the ring on Cordelia¡¯s ring finger¡­( ?¡ã ?? ?¡ã) Chapter 29: Witchs Forest (2)

Chapter 29: Witch''s Forest (2)

Terms used in this chapter: Noona ¨C Korean term on how younger boys address their older sister or a female older than them. Cordelia uses it to address herself as she is older than Lucas. Trefalgar ¨C This is a reference to Trafalgar, which is an actual ce. I don¡¯t know if the author misspelled Trafalgar, or if it was a deliberate misspelling, because many people get the spelling of the ce wrong too. The witch¡¯s forest¡¯s official name was Trefalgar Forest, a region belonging to a northern viscount, and is located in the northwest of Langesthei. ¡®However, no one really manages it.¡¯ The forest was an important ce beyond one¡¯s imagination. It was a ce where one could get firewood as well as food. Therefore, most lords that have forests in their territory manage it by hiring forest rangers. However, half of Trefalgar Forest was no different from an abandoned forest. ¡®Because monsterse out of the forest.¡¯ There was a clear difference between monsters and wild beasts, such as bears and wild boars, though they were all dangerous. ¡®Enmity against humans.¡¯ Most monsters hated humans. Rather than for any specific reason, it was simply just an instinctive hostility. Moreover, most monsters were smarter than the wild beasts. Even goblins, the epitome of the weak monsters that can be found anywhere on the continent, knew how to use their brains in a clever way, such as digging traps andunching surprise attacks with a group. It¡¯s okay to go to the outskirts of the Trefalgar Forest. However, it¡¯s dangerous to go deep into the ce called the Witch¡¯s Forest. ¡°Frankly, I don¡¯t like it.¡± When he heard that we were going to pass through the witch¡¯s forest, Sir Seornn, a handsome knight of Count Hr?svelgr, frowned. Now in his early thirties, he was the strongest and highest-ranking knight among Lucas¡¯ escorts, and had taken the role of leading the escorts from the three counts for their journey to Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s territory. If he objected, it would be impossible to go through the witch¡¯s forest no matter how much Lucas wanted to. Lucas was only Sir Seornn¡¯s escort target and not his master, Count Hr?svelgr. ¡°But Sir Seornn¡­¡± ¡°Yes, I understand. If the Fairy Queen said we had to stop by, then there must be a good reason.¡± When Sir Seornn spoke with a bitter smile, Lucas¡¯ restless face brightened up a little. ¡°Sir Seornn, then¡­¡± ¡°All right. Let¡¯s go through it. However, there will be conditions.¡± ¡°Condition?¡± ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be at the forefront. Basically, the young master should bear in mind that you are being escorted. Do you understand?¡± ¡°¡­I understand.¡± Lucas answered reluctantly, and Sir Seornn smiled and continued to talk while drawing his face a little closer. ¡°And there¡¯s one more condition.¡± ¡°One more?¡± ¡°Yes, please protect Count Chase¡¯s esteemed daughter like a courageous and honorable knight. Ah, of course, you shouldn¡¯t take the role of Mr. Jude Bayer too much. Do you understand?¡± When Sir Seornn gave a little wink at the end, Lucas¡¯ face brightened at once. ¡°Okay, I promise.¡± ¡°I believe you, young master.¡± Sir Seornn patted Lucas¡¯ shoulder as if treating him like a younger brother and straightened his lowered posture. On the other hand, Lucas turned around with a bright smile and hurriedly ran towards Jude and Cordelia who were standing at a distance. ¡°He looks so innocent while running.¡± Dame Thilion, a murky blonde-haired female knight and adjutant of Sir Seornn, spoke with a frown, and Sir Seornn replied with a bitter smile. ¡°He¡¯s at that age.¡± ¡°Well, I first killed someone when I was 15 years old. My first experience was younger.¡± ¡°Why are youparing based on misfortune? You are different from him.¡± As Sir Seornn, a former mercenary, looked back at Dame Thilion, she looked away and said. ¡°It¡¯s because I¡¯m worried.¡± ¡°I know. You may talk tough, but you care about young master Lucas just as much as we do.¡± If Cordelia was the youngest and loved by everyone in Count Chase¡¯s family, Lucas was the only child born to Count Hr?svelgr, who didn¡¯t have a child for a long time since he got married. He was also a precious child born with a tremendous talent for the sword. It was not an exaggeration to say that among the people of Hr?svelgr, there was no one who didn¡¯t cherish and love Lucas. ¡°He¡¯s finally making friends his age, isn¡¯t that good?¡± ¡°What if it bes a sticky love triangle?¡± ¡°Well, our young master is a little attractive.¡± Sir Seornn began to boast about their young master, but it was fine since there were only knights of Count Hr?svelgr gathered near them, who also shared simr thoughts with him. Dame Thilion also nodded with a serious face and nced at her beloved and innocent young master who was with Jude and Cordelia. *** Since the short trip to Langesthei had turned into a journey towards the northernmost end of the S?len Kingdom, there had been a considerable change in theposition of the escorts. First of all, Maja, Jude¡¯s exclusive maid, was not included in the party. ¡°I¡¯d like to go with you if possible, but¡­¡± ¡°No, go back home, Maja. Your skin has already be rough, right?¡± ¡°Young master, that¡¯s¡­¡± At Jude¡¯s will, Maja eventually lost her stubbornness and returned to Count Bayer¡¯s territory with Ga?l. ¡®Because it¡¯s too dangerous.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t just the witch¡¯s forest. If they n to follow the main story¡¯s flow, it was not an exaggeration to say that the party¡¯s future lies on a path of thorns. It was unreasonable for Maja, who was not a knight, to be with them. ¡®Should I call the rest as numerical reinforcements?¡¯ There are three knights from Count Bayer, and one squire who¡¯ll do the chores. There are three knights from Count Chase, which included Dahlia. There are five knights from Count Hr?svelgr, and two squires. An ordinary knight can bepared to ten infantrymen, so in terms ofbat power, a powerful convoy of more than a hundred infantrymen was formed. ¡°I n to use the carriage until we get near the northern territory, and then walk on foot from the Trefalgar Forest. The carriages will be sent separately to the northern territory.¡± ¡°Afterpleting our adventure, we should give our greetings to the northern viscount.¡± ¡°Yes, I stopped by on my way to Langesthei, and he was a kind and nice man.¡± No northern lord would stay still if a child from the 12 northern families passed by their territory. The children of the 12 families also had to meet the lord in order to be polite, except for times when they had some pressing and urgent matters. ¡®You explicitly emphasize the word adventure.¡¯ Cordelia stared at Jude suspiciously, while Jude responded to Lucas who was exining their schedule with a bright face. Her suspicion about Outboxer009¡¯s job was getting deeper day by day. ¡®Well, I¡¯m an aplice now.¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s lips pouted, and soon she smiled and began supporting Jude. ¡°It¡¯s a little scary that monsters wille out¡­ but it¡¯s reassuring when I think that Mr. Jude Bayer and Lord Lucas is here.¡± ¡°Hahaha, don¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t let them touch even a single fingertip of Lady Cordelia.¡± ¡®Huh¡­have you not seen Cordelia fighting Minos back then?¡¯ Cordelia was capable even if she had only supported them from the rear back then. After swallowing the few questions he had in his mind, Jude took a deep breath and started talking about what was necessary. ¡°Lord Lucas, it¡¯s very important to have information before going on an adventure. We have to figure out in advance where we are going, what kind of ce, what enemies wille out, and what are their strengths and weaknesses.¡± Jude had very much felt responsible for Lucas because he had tricked him. Even though Lucas was a sword genius, he was still a young and innocent sixteen-year-old boy. ¡°Well, that¡¯s what I learned.¡± It was another simr phrase that appeared in Biltwein the Hero. Jude looked back at Cordelia and continued his words. ¡°In the witch¡¯s forest, a poor witch¡¯s soul is sealed. An evil being is suppressing the witch¡¯s soul. The Fairy Queen said she wished to set the witch free.¡± ¡°Such a secret story¡­¡± Like a story that would only appear in hero novels, Lucas naturally admired it as hepletely got sucked in by Jude¡¯s story. And that story now was bing true. While listening to Jude¡¯s story, Cordelia briefly recalled Cordelia¡¯s main story. ¡®After she was obviously kidnapped and managed to run away¡­¡¯ Cordelia desperately escaped through a gap that the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s guard had neglected, and she wanders through the Trefalgar Forest. Cordelia was not only chased by the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s pursuers, but also by the monsters living in the forest. She had frequent brushes with death, and when her mind and body finally reached their limits, she heard the witch¡¯s voice. ¡®The evil being was surely Asmodeus¡¯ subordinate, right?¡¯ Asmodeus was the monarch of lust and one of the five great demons in hell. As one of the enemies in the entire Legend of Heroes series, she was one of the greatest demons that could only be dealt with in Legend of Heroes 3. In any case, the summary was as follows. The witch¡¯s soul is sealed, and Asmodeus¡¯ subordinate, a white-eyed demonic monster, is guarding the seal. ¡®With the guidance of the witch¡¯s soul, the seal is released. The liberated witch¡¯s soul defeats the monster, and Cordelia gets the witch¡¯s power from the witch¡¯s soul afterwards.¡¯ Although she wasn¡¯t as good as Jude in remembering all the story¡¯s lines, Cordelia still had an urate understanding of the game¡¯s story. ¡®But I still have to be careful.¡¯ Well, the battle with monsters was inevitable, and as this was not a game but reality, so it was possible that other variables could appear. Cordelia raised her head as she listened to Jude¡¯s story. She clenched her fist when she saw Lucas. ¡®Noona will protect you.¡¯ Like Jude, Cordelia also felt responsible for Lucas. ¡°I¡¯m really looking forward to it.¡± Lucas smiled naively, and Jude and Cordelia looked at each other. The two exchanged nces of guilt and responsibility. *** The journey to Trefalgar Forest was smooth, and not much changed after entering the witch¡¯s forest. ¡°Uh, it¡¯s a little different from what I imagined.¡± When Lucas spoke quietly, Jude and Cordelia exchanged bitter smiles. The current situation was different from the thrilling adventure that Lucas imagined. ¡®There are eleven knights.¡¯ If you include the squires, it bes 14. Whether it was a wild beast or monster, they at least possessed basic intelligence. Fourteen armed personnel were moving forward with a threatening atmosphere, so only a few ones were dumb and reckless enough to attack first. Very often, unlucky and stupid ones like the forest goblin appeared, but they were cut down instantly. ¡®It¡¯s peaceful.¡¯ In the original Cordelia¡¯s story, the forest was like hell. Everything was hard for Cordelia, who was injured and exhausted from running away. Even a single goblin could threaten her life, so she was extremely nervous that a small sound or a glimpse of a shadow could make her heart jump. But now. ¡°Uh¡­uh¡­¡± Jude was surprised at the appearance of Cordelia who was clenching and opening her fists. So he whispered to her ear. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s wrong? Are you feeling sick?¡± Cordelia frowned at Jude¡¯s question and whispered back. ¡°Something, something is missing.¡± It was a vague exnation, but Jude understood it. ¡®You¡¯re frustrated.¡¯ It must be painful for a hunting king toe to the hunting ground and watch other people hunt. ¡®Well, this is unexpected, but she¡¯s not normal either.¡¯ ¡°What, what were you thinking? Did you think I¡¯m weird?¡± ¡°No, not really. Stay still like that.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Stay still.¡± When Cordelia tilted her head in confusion and stopped walking, Jude loosened the cord from his waist, wound it around her waist, and held the end firmly. ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°If you suddenly run and leave, I can catch you. You¡¯re not allowed to bite anyone.¡± ¡°Shall I bite you first?¡± It was when Cordelia growled like a dog. ¡°Mr. Jude Bayer? What¡¯s going on? Why is Lady Cordelia¡¯s waist¡­¡± ¡°The fog is getting thicker. When the view is blocked, there is a risk of us being scattered, so we used this to connect each other. If it¡¯s fine with Lord Lucas, will you like to join us as well?¡± ¡°Oh¡­I see. Yes, I¡¯ll tie it up too.¡± Lucas nodded and approached Jude, who quickly tied the cord to his waist and handed the remaining cord to Lucas. Cordelia thought while looking at them. ¡®It had an authentic reason?¡¯ She thought of the reason for tying the cord. She had heard of stories that when people climb ces like snowy mountains, they use cords to tie themselves and stay connected with each other. Cordelia was alone in the original, but not now. ¡®The fog is thick.¡¯ The fog that had been up to their ankles at first had now suddenly rose to their waists. When the fog finally came at the top of their heads¡­ ¡°Wait.¡± When Jude, who was in the middle, suddenly stopped, and not only Lucas, who was in the lead, but also Cordelia, had no choice but to stop. Cordelia, whose mind was wandering while walking behind them, hit her forehead on Jude¡¯s back. She then asked while touching her forehead. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°The soil has changed.¡± ¡°What?¡± Instead of answering, Jude turned the soil and showed it to them. He sat down, rubbed the soil, and exined to Lucas and Cordelia, who came close to him. ¡°The soil had changed. The smell, particle size, and theposition are different from the soil of Trefalgar Forest.¡± At Jude¡¯s sudden words, Lucas blinked, and Cordelia sat down too and touched the soil, but she couldn¡¯t tell the difference. She didn¡¯t even know what the soil of the Trefalgar Forest was like in the first ce. ¡°Dahlia! Jun!¡± Jude suddenly shouted loudly, but no one answered back. Lucas flinched and also called the names of Seornn and Thilion, but it was the same too. Cordelia realized at that moment. ¡®I was too rxed.¡¯ She didn¡¯t even think of the escorts until Jude cried out. They had just walked without thinking, even though they lost sight of their escorts. ¡®Barrier.¡¯ It was an independent space like the Dungeon Book. The story fell into ce. The knights that suddenly disappeared. Apletely different soilposition. If they hadn¡¯t tied each other with a cord, not only Lucas, but Jude and Cordelia would also have been scattered. Cordelia quickly turned to Jude, and he nodded. ¡®This is certainly a barrier.¡¯ It was the same as the original, but also different. In the original, Cordelia wandered through the forest alone, so she didn¡¯t even notice the existence of a barrier. But it wasn¡¯t for the party. Several people were heading straight towards the target without wandering through the forest. That was what made the difference. And perhaps, it was a change due to the butterfly effect that urred as a result of stopping the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s attack. ¡°Mr. Bayer? Lady Cordelia?¡± When Lucas asked with a tense face, Jude took a deep breath and stood up. He told everyone to untie the cords that were tied to their waists, as they had already entered the barrier. ¡°Lord Lucas.¡± ¡°Yes, Mr. Bayer.¡± ¡°It seems like¡­a real adventure has started.¡± A real adventure where they had no idea of the oue and process. Tension, anxiety, indescribable joy and anticipation spread simultaneously on Lucas¡¯ face, and Jude and Cordelia looked back at each other. Amidst their concerns and responsibilities, they were prepared to fight. Chapter 30: Witchs Forest (3)

Chapter 30: Witch''s Forest (3)

Terms used in this chapter: Owlbear ¨C a fictional creature originally created for the?Dungeons & Dragons?fantasy?role-ying game. It is depicted as a cross between a bear and an owl, which ¡°hugs¡± like a bear and attacks with its beak. Wereboar ¨C a fictional creature capable of polymorphing into a boar-humanoid hybrid or into a boar, or back into its true form, which is humanoid. When moving in groups, it was very important to have a proper line and formation. Jude spoke, looking at Lucas and Cordelia. ¡°I¡¯ll take the lead, Lady Cordelia will be in the middle, andst will be Lord Lucas.¡± At Jude¡¯s words that he would be at the front line, Cordelia eximed an ¡®Oooh¡¯ in admiration, but Lucas had a slightly dissatisfied look. ¡°Mr. Bayer, me too¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s not because I see Lord Lucas as someone to protect. I entrusted the rear to you as it is as important as the front.¡± ¡°The rear?¡± ¡°Yes, we are in a ce where we don¡¯t know where the enemy wille from. The rear is as important as the front. Please protect Lady Cordelia by keeping an eye on the back.¡± ¡°Okay, leave it to me.¡± Lucas nodded with a serious face. Although he was excited that it was a real adventure, Lucas realized the seriousness of the situation after listening to Jude¡¯s exnation. ¡°Maybe the other knights are also wandering inside the barrier. The best way to ovee the current situation¡­is to free the witch¡¯s soul.¡± ¡°The witch¡¯s soul dispels the barrier?¡± ¡°Probably.¡± Because of the emergency situation, Cordelia¡¯s usual way of speaking reemerged. Jude briefly responded and then spoke to Lucas again. ¡°First of all, we¡¯re going to keep moving in the same direction. We may have entered the barrier, but it¡¯s possible that the way itself remains the same.¡± ¡°Yes, I understand.¡± Lucas energetically answered and immediately drew his sword and prepared to enter into battle. After swallowing his breath at the sight of Lucas, Jude approached close to Cordelia and said. ¡°Frankly, I don¡¯t know the way or where to go. I¡¯ll trust in you.¡± ¡°I know. Are you talking about the witch¡¯s voice?¡± Cordelia likewise kept their faces close and whispered. The voice of the witch was what helped Cordelia in the original story. While she was wandering through the forest, she heard the witch¡¯s voice who guided her on the correct direction. ¡°Keep your ears open.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll keep it wide open. Though about the battle formation, can you change my position?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll let you do other things sooner orter.¡± ¡°Hmph, I¡¯ll look forward to it.¡± After they wrapped up and ended their conversation, Cordelia increased her distance from him. Jude put the Sun¡¯s Ne inside his specialized knuckles and looked through the fog. ¡°Let¡¯s get started.¡± Jude slowly proceeded, being wary of his surroundings, and Cordelia and Lucas followed Jude¡¯s footsteps with three steps apart between each of them. How far have they gone? They took a short break when Jude stopped under arge tree. For some reason, despite being in the middle of the forest, the gap between the trees was very far. ¡°I¡¯ll take a look at the surrounding environment for a moment.¡± Jude spoke in a low voice as he began to carefully observe the soil on the ground or the trees nearby. And Cordelia thought at that time. ¡®What did you do?¡¯ His observation of the surrounding environment was strange. Frankly, Cordelia couldn¡¯t figure out how Jude did it. ¡®It was the same when he said the soil has changed.¡¯ In other words, when they first entered the forest, he was already observing the soil, which was unthinkable for Cordelia. ¡®What did you really do in the past?¡¯ Not to mention the fact that he noticed that the soil has changed while walking. Even if he was number one in the server rankings, his actions were already impossible to exin in words. ¡®Something, there is something about him.¡¯ It was not an exaggeration to say that his memory had exceeded the normal limits. He thought differently than ordinary people and had excellent acting skills. In addition to this, he even had great observation skills. ¡®It smells suspicious.¡¯ It was when Cordelia sniffed once for no reason. ¡°Lady Cordelia.¡± ¡°Huh? Ah, yes?¡± A startled Cordelia turned her head and saw Lucas. But somehow, she felt unpleasant with his smile. ¡°Lord¡­Lucas?¡± ¡°Ah, sorry. Lady Cordelia¡¯s gaze on Mr. Bayer was so touching¡­it was such a profound love. I wanted to experience that kind of love too.¡± When Lucas¡¯ face turned slightly red as if he was really envious, Cordelia thought. ¡®What is this crazy bastard saying?¡¯ Fortunately, the situation was not as urgent as it was in the fight against Minos, so it was possible to prevent the words froming out of her mouth. ¡°Fu-¡­. hohoho¡­I-is that so.¡± Cordelia barely stopped the swear word froming out andughed gracefully, while Lucas wiped his nose in embarrassment. It was at that moment. Cordelia, who wasughing awkwardly, suddenly stood up. Lucas looked around sharply too, though he was slow by one beat. The air has changed. To be exact, they felt piercing sharp gazes directed towards them. ¡°Lady Cordelia.¡± Instead of responding to Lucas¡¯ call, Cordelia grabbed the Moonlight with both hands and shouted. ¡°Jude!¡± The piercing gazes were in front of him. There was a rattling sound that could be heard from the thick fog. It was not one, but many. ¡®Let me think, let¡¯s remember.¡¯ In the original story, there were quite a few monsters that Cordelia met when she wandered through the witch¡¯s forest. In the forest outskirts, it was mainly forest goblins. Deep in the forest, it was savage beasts like the Owlbear and Wereboar, which one must consider fleeing unconditionally when facing them. And in the vicinity of the seal¡­ ¡®Skeleton!¡¯ The power of the seal holding the witch¡¯s soul was not weak. Containing the power of Asmodeus, the monarch of lust, it affected not only the witch¡¯s soul but also the surrounding area. Because of this, death was no longer an eternal rest in the depths of the witch¡¯s forest. Those who have died here were reborn as undead monsters. ¡°Lucas! Sheathe your sword! Hitting is more effective on skeletons!¡± As Cordelia quickly shouted, Lucas hastily returned his sword to the scabbard despite his surprise. The skeletons finally appeared. ¡®Eight.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t a small number. The tottering skeletons were wearing worn-out white clothes that were strangely familiar. ¡®What? Was it like this in the original?¡¯ Cordelia clenched her teeth in worry. ¡°The Guardians.¡± Jude suddenly came to her side and said. The Guardians of the Holy Cross. They were a group of humans who fought against the demons and were influential across the whole Legend of Heroes series. If one thought of the past broadly, the Pdin Gallus and Sri¡¯s priests, who sealed the great demon Leisegang, were also Guardian members. Considering the situation, it was highly likely that they entered the forest to destroy Asmodeus¡¯ subordinate, died and became undead. ¡°The Guardians? Then?!¡± ¡°There should be one more.¡± The Guardians of the Holy Cross moved as a group of nine people. And as if answering Jude and Cordelia, a new skeleton appeared behind the back of the scattered skeletons. Likewise, it was wearing worn-out clothes, but the skeleton was also wearing a distinctive robe with the Guardians of the Holy Cross¡¯ emblem. It was probably the leader of the group. ¡°Mr. Bayer! They are-!¡± Lucas fully shouted in a tense voice. This is because the skeletons that appeared began to form a battle formation. ¡°The Guardian Extermination Formation.¡± It was the Guardians¡¯ most basic battle formation created for the purpose of all-out battle. Moreover, as if it couldn¡¯t get any worse, a red battle aura began to emerge in their hands. They may have be undead monsters, but it seemed that they could still use the Guardian¡¯s skills. ¡°F*ck.¡± Cordelia finally let out a curse and swallowed deeply, and Jude quickly said. ¡°Their pattern is simple. Tie them down with Lucas. I¡¯ll deal with the boss.¡± In the Guardian Extermination Formation, eight would take the form of a defensive fortress, and the leader would strike the enemy by moving inside and outside the battle formation. Therefore, in order to break down the battle formation, they had to tear apart the leader from the Guardian Extermination Formation. Cordelia was convinced by Jude¡¯s exnation. It was a theoretically perfect n. However, there was always a gap between theory and reality. ¡°Hey, wait a second!¡± Cordelia shouted in a hurry, but Jude had already kicked the ground. The skeletons in the Guardian Extermination Formation slowly marched forward, and the leader went out of the formation as if chasing Jude and kicked the ground in the same way. ¡°You evil bastard! Am I you? I¡¯m not you!¡± The pattern is simple. If they knew the pattern, they could easily break it. ¡®I¡¯m not you who memorized everything!¡¯ There were numerous monsters in Legend of Heroes 2, so their patterns that naturally appeared numbered in the hundreds to the ridiculous thousand mark. Who else but Outboxer can memorize all those patterns? ¡°Lady Cordelia?!¡± ¡°Here ites! Stay where you are!¡± Cordelia shouted reflexively as she stamped on the floor with Moonlight while invoking the spell. She first spread magic in a wide area to prevent the enemies from directly approaching, and then shouted to Lucas again. ¡°Start from the right! Up, up, down!¡± ¡°Yes?!¡± Lucas shouted in confusion, but he wasn¡¯t a sword genius for nothing. As if avoiding the magic that Cordelia had spread, hepletely evaded the pressing attacks of the skeletons. ¡®Seriously!¡¯ Up, up, down. Front, front, rear. The three skeletons attacked one after another just as what Cordelia said. ¡°Lady Cordelia!¡± ¡°This time, it¡¯s on my side! Middle, middle, down!¡± Cordelia cast magic on herself and then quickly moved to widen her distance from Lucas. It was to avoid being surrounded. ¡®Ho-how did I memorize this?¡¯ Cordelia soon realized it. Her head doesn¡¯t know, but her body knows. It was hard to say that her body knew because she had reincarnated, but somehow, the subconscious of Cordelia, who had gone through hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands of hunting as Yellow Storm, remembered the pattern of the Guardian Extermination Formation. ¡°Lady Cordelia!¡± ¡°Middle! Up, down, up, down, middle! At the same time!¡± Cordelia, who shouted reflexively, did not try to use her memory. She left her body to her hunting instincts as she said the words out of her mouth. ¡°Up, up, down!¡± Thump! As if piercing through Cordelia¡¯s loud voice, Jude struck the ground hard. Looking at the leader skeleton rushing from the front, he thought with his head instead of his instinct. ¡®Monk. Guardian leader. The grade is low in terms of color. Maybe 7th grade. If so, it can use God¡¯s Fist!¡¯ The Monk martial arts belonged to the immediate higher level of the basic guardian skills that one must learn to be officially recognized as a monk of the Guardian Corps. Just as Thirty-Six World Steps can reach Nine Celestial Steps after several rank-ups, monks start from the basics too as they improve and reach higher levels of martial art skills such as God¡¯s Fist. ¡®Because it had be an undead, its sacred battle aura has weakened.¡¯ Mana, Inner Qi, Sacred Battle Aura. All of them were simr concepts in the end, but there was a slight difference. Sacred Battle Aura is the addition of the Life Force to the inner Qi. Therefore, it was not a power that undead monsters could properly handle. The monk had forcibly used fighting spirit as a substitute for life force, but it was clear that it would not be as powerful whenpared to using life force. Moreover, the monk had no blood or flesh now. The movement of its sacred battle aura could be seen over its pale bones. Thump! Thump! Thump! Jude¡¯s footsteps hit the ground in session. There wasn¡¯t a set pattern like the Guardian Extermination Formation, but Jude couldpletely evade as if he knew all of its attack patterns. ¡®Because I can see it.¡¯ He could see the flow of the sacred battle aura moving along the skeleton¡¯s body. That¡¯s why he could predict what kind of attack would unfold next. Of course, it was a skill that an ordinary person couldn¡¯t pull off whether they saw the flow or not, but it was possible for Outboxer. What¡¯s more, he as Jude had something now that he didn¡¯t have before. ¡®Cheonmujiche!¡¯ The skeleton leader was not weak. Although it was poorly using its sacred battle aurapared to when it was alive, the God¡¯s Fist was still quick and urate. But Jude was also quick. His levels surpassed 20 when they defeated Minos, and his overall physical abilities were also greatly improved. And there was one more added to it. Jude didn¡¯t simply stop at avoiding attacks. He also didn¡¯t stop in thinking of the next attack naturally. Cheonmujiche. A heavenly talent for martial arts! Tsu-hwaak! The mes of a pure white sacred battle aura rose from Jude¡¯s fist. Sacred battle aura. It was the addition of the life force that everyone has to the inner Qi. He figured it out from watching the movement of the sacred battle aura. At some point, how to use the sacred battle aura naturally came to his mind. And the result was¡­ Jude held his breath. He could see the sacred battle aura of the skeleton rushing from his front. He moved the center of his body as he felt the trajectory of the skeleton¡¯s attack. Cheuhwak! The skeleton¡¯s fist pierced the air. The sound of the strike was heard, and Jude, who dodged the attack, clenched his fist. He drew a picture on his head. The attacks the skeleton leader unfolded several times. The unhidden flow of sacred battle aura that he saw several times. All of it became one, as everything naturally connected in his mind. And that¡¯s why Jude was able to unfold his next attack. ¡®God¡¯s Fist.¡¯ The Holy Cross Punch. On Jude¡¯s fist, a pure white sacred battle aura took the form of a cross. With a violent hitting sound, the skeleton leader¡¯s chest was crushed. Chapter 31: Witchs Forest (4)

Chapter 31: Witch''s Forest (4)

Terms used in this chapter: Zhuge Liang ¨C a famous Chinese strategist during the Three Kingdoms period. He is recognised as the greatest and most aplished strategist of his era, and has beenpared to another great ancient Chinese strategist,?Sun Tzu. Li Mu ¨C a prominent military general during the Warring States period of Chinese history. He was named by Chinese historians as one of the four greatest generals of the Warring States period. The pure white cross burst into light. The skeleton leader¡¯s ribs and spine shattered, and it fell and copsed. Jude kept his punching posture for a while before his arms slumped down. ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­haa¡­¡± Holy Cross Punch was one of the skills of God¡¯s Fist and as its name suggests, the sacred battle aura takes the shape of a cross that directly hits the enemy with a powerful punch. ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­¡± After taking afortable posture, Jude¡¯s rough breathing continued. Though he had improved his body with continuous level-ups, the technique still used inner Qi that caused a burden on his body. His body still had a lot of small and narrow meridians that were blocked. ¡®But¡­it paid off.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t just the white ring of light that surrounded his body. There was also the God¡¯s Fist and the Holy Cross Punch. The remnants of the sacred battle aura scattered in the air as Jude happily smiled and turned to Cordelia. As he expected, Cordelia¡¯s side was almost finished as well. ¡°Break away! Defend! Prate the core!¡± Cordelia issued rapid-firemands before gliding on the ground. It wasn¡¯t an ordinary move. She slipped between the skeletons without any hesitation and swung the Moonlight enchanted by a magic to smash their neck bones. With her actions, the battle formation was destroyed. This is because, as Cordelia herself said, she prated the core of the Guardian Extermination Formation. ¡°Oooh! Ooooh!¡± Lucas, who quickly understood Cordelia¡¯smands and guided the skeletons towards himself, cheered with a bright face. There were already three skeletons that had fallen down to his sheathed sword. ¡°Let¡¯s finish this!¡± Cordelia refreshingly smiled as she glided on the ground again. She was like a figure skater that swiftly glided smoothly on the ice. ¡®She¡¯s really Yellow Storm.¡¯ Instead of running to help, Jude admired the sight as he stretched his arms. Cordelia¡¯s movement right now wasn¡¯t just an ordinary move. ¡®You¡¯re using magic to move on a floor applied with magic?¡¯ It was generally not possible. is a magic that causes one to fall on their back, and not a magic that is used to glide like it was ice. But Cordelia could pull it off. ¡®She¡¯s like a real wild animal sometimes.¡¯ If Jude was the type who handled everything through calctions and thinking, Cordelia was the type who entrusted her body to instinct. That phenomenal movement was the result of acting ording to her instincts, and not because of thinking. ¡°It¡¯s the end!¡± Cordelia moved among the skeletons as if she was dancing and swung the Moonlight like a baseball bat. The skeleton¡¯s lower back bones were smashed, and it fell and copsed on its back. ¡°Oooh! That was amazing! Lady Cordelia!¡± ¡°Hehe, V!¡± As Lucas admired her and Cordeliaughed while making a V-sign with her fingers, Jude suddenly smiled as he recalled an old event. ¡®It¡¯s understandable why the guild leaders don¡¯t like her.¡¯ Yellow Storm was a disaster itself in massive battles between guilds. ¡®Damn it! I can¡¯t predict how it¡¯ll move!¡¯ It was a natural reaction. Once she entered the battle, Yellow Storm didn¡¯t do what the others were thinking. ¡®Could it possibly be a genius? Or else, how can it show up like that!¡¯ There was no knowing when, where, or what she¡¯ll do, but strangely, Yellow Storm always appeared in times of need. It was basic of her to stab the enemy¡¯s sore spot, and as she had just showed in the battle against the skeletons, she was also good at destroying the enemy¡¯s camp itself by prating the core of the formation. Therefore, people unfamiliar with Yellow Storm thought of her as a ¡®genius tactician.¡¯ She was like Zhuge Liang and Li Mu, who could see the entire battlefield at a nce and get in the way of their enemies. But Jude knew the truth. ¡®It¡¯s just¡­feeling?¡¯ The words that Yellow Storm spoke in her battle earlier. She simply did it without thinking. Yellow Storm was not the type to stab the enemy¡¯s sore spots by using high-level tactical thinking. ¡®How do I say it, I just do what I feel like I should?¡¯ It was literally a feeling or sense. She feels like she have to do that somehow. At first, Jude thought that Yellow Storm was lying. However, after spending a long time with her, he finally understood it in the end. ¡®It¡¯s instinct.¡¯ Yellow Storm was a genius. She was a genius in the side of battle sense/feeling, and not on the intelligence side. She didn¡¯t calcte the ever-changing situation of the battlefield. She just understood instinctively. And the result was what was shown. What she should do. Where she should attack. Plus one more talent of hers. The reason why Yellow Storm engraved her existence as a true ¡®human storm,¡¯ and her unique ability that even Jude couldn¡¯t imitate. ¡®Incredible spatial perception and multitasking.¡¯ Normally, in Legend of Heroes 2, the highest-level mage could generally use around twenty to fifty magic spells at the same time. But Yellow Storm was different. ¡®274.¡¯ It was the highest record of the number of magic spells that Yellow Storm could use at the same time. She advanced alone with hundreds of magic shots at the same time, making her known as a human storm indeed. She wiped the guild units from the hunting ground by herself, and even smashed the guild alone. ¡®Well, I¡¯m still 1st ce though.¡¯ Jude ended his thoughts with a grin as he looked straight ahead again. He saw Cordelia run to Lucas and push her palm out. ¡°High five!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°High five!¡± As Cordelia waved her hand again, Lucas blinked and soon raised his hand timidly and high fived with Cordelia. ¡°As expected of Lucas, good job. Truly a sword genius. The best.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem¡­Lady Cordelia was amazing too. It was unexpectedly impressive.¡± Lucas said with a slight blush in his cheeks. It was also because of Cordelia, but his heart was pounding at the high five itself. ¡®There is a simr scene in Biltwein the Hero.¡¯ Nodding his head alone, Jude approached the two teenagers who were so excited that they were jumping around. ¡°It looks like the battle¡¯s over.¡± ¡°Yes, I think it¡¯s over too, Mr. Bayer. Hohoho¡­¡± Cordelia said as she pretended to be coy when she saw Jude¡¯s face and read his thoughts. At her sudden change in tone, Lucas smiled and turned his eyes away, as if he deliberately didn¡¯t know Cordelia flirting with Jude. ¡°Lord Lucas, are you hurt anywhere?¡± ¡°I¡¯m okay, thanks to Lady Cordelia.¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid to say this¡­but I¡¯m d that the other side were the Guardians of the Holy Cross.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Lucas blinked his eyes, and soon widely opened them as he asked back. ¡°You mean the Guardians of the Holy Cross? The ones that protect the continent in the shadows?!¡± ¡°Yes, the clothes that the skeletons were wearing¡­and more than anything, the Guardian Extermination Formation itself were all proof of that.¡± Jude answered calmly and ce his hand on Cordelia¡¯s shoulder, who decided to shut her mouth tightly instead of interrupting him. ¡°Count Chase had a bit of connection with the Guardians of the Holy Cross. Thanks to that, Cordelia and I were able to learn about it.¡± ¡°Guardian Extermination Formation¡­¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s the most basic battle formation used by the Guardians of the Holy Cross. It¡¯s notparable to Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s Sage King¡¯s Cross, but it¡¯s a very sturdy formation. Right, Lady Cordelia?¡± ¡°Eh? Oh¡­yes, it is.¡± Cordelia smiled awkwardly and nodded. With her clear smile, she looked like apletely different person than when she swung the Moonlight. ¡°Whatever the circumstances, it seems that a group of Guardians became undead monsters after they were trapped in the barrier.¡± ¡°The Guardians became undead monsters¡­is it the power of the barrier?¡± Lucas asked with a slightly frightened face, and Jude nodded slowly. ¡°It¡¯s highly likely. But don¡¯t worry too much. If we find the witch¡¯s seal and break the seal, everything will be fine.¡± When Jude answered softly, Lucas nodded with a stiff face, and soon made another expression. ¡®Let¡¯s handle this like an adult.¡¯ To Lucas, Jude had acted like the reliable Sir Seornn, even though he was only a year older than him. So in order to be a good rival, Lucas himself thought that he had to look mature. But it was only for a while. Lucas suddenly frowned, as he looked back at the destroyed skeletons and said. ¡°Mr. Bayer, Lady Cordelia. It may be a little unreasonable, but¡­I¡¯d like to ask the two of you a favor.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Can we bury them? If they are members of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, who have worked hard for the peace of the continent, leaving them like this is a little¡­¡± Somehow, Cordelia agreed with Lucas¡¯ words. ¡°With magic, I can easily make a pit¡­how about making argemon grave?¡± She was talking to Lucas, but her gaze was on Jude. Jude looked at her and nodded. ¡°I agree. I also think that it¡¯s not right for the members of the Guardians of the Holy Cross to be left in such a ce.¡± ¡°Mr. Bayer, Lady Cordelia. Thank you very much.¡± Lucas smiled brightly as he quickly put away his sword and began gathering the skeletons¡¯ remains. ¡°I¡¯ll look for a ce.¡± Cordelia briefly said as she looked around and soon settled down in a ce that seemed to be okay and fired her magic. After a dozen minutes, the group buried the skeletons in one ce and erected a tombstone with a sword. They then had a brief moment of silence as they remembered the dead. ¡°May the blessing of the Holy Spirit be with you.¡± It was the brief moment after Jude recited a prayer in silence. ¡°Ah¡­¡± Lucas sighed in admiration. Blue lights had risen like fireflies from the grave of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. Cordelia unconsciously spoke. ¡°There are nine.¡± It was a group of lights with the same number as the Guardians of the Holy Cross buried in the grave. As if greeting them, the group of lights circled in front of Jude, Cordelia, and Lucas and then flew towards one ce. And after they flew in a circle again, the lights soon scattered and disappeared. ¡°Aah¡­the members of the Guardians of the Holy Cross¡­¡± Lucas was moved by the sight as he muttered quietly. On the other hand, Jude shouted inwardly as he clenched his fist. ¡®Bingo!¡¯ There were no events in the original story where Cordelia fought the Guardians of the Holy Cross who had be undead monsters in the witch¡¯s forest, but there were quite a lot of events of a simr kind. ¡®It¡¯s a clich¨¦ that souls who have achieved their wish and can finally rest, would tell you where important objects are hidden.¡¯ In fact, if Lucas didn¡¯te forward first, Jude himself was going to make an offer to do it too. ¡®Cordelia must have had a simr idea.¡¯ ¡°That¡¯s great. It turned out really well.¡± When Jude turned to Cordelia, she spoke quietly with a flushed face. It seemed that she was relieved at the souls¡¯ fortunate circumstances, seeing that her eyes were slightly red. She would too, because Cordelia didn¡¯t actually consider making a grave like Jude did. It was just a skeleton in the game, but this ce was reality. There really was a group of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, and they wandered through the witch¡¯s forest and became undead monsters. How could she not feel sorry for them? ¡°I¡¯m d¡­I¡¯m d¡­¡± The souls of the Guardians of the Holy Cross have finally found eternal rest. With moist and wet eyes, Cordelia saw the lights scattering away. Meanwhile, Jude cleared his throat, somehow unknowingly became the bad guy who didn¡¯t get swept up by the mood. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± ¡°Huh? What is it? Are you not feeling well?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just¡­you are kind, cute, and lovely.¡± ¡°What is this crazy bastard saying? Do you have a fever?¡± Cordelia frowned in worry, but Jude simply shrugged and tapped the shoulder of Lucas who was still moved by the sight. ¡°Lord Lucas, the Guardians of the Holy Cross seemed to have left theirst gift there.¡± ¡°Gift¡­ah! Indeed! They let us know!¡± With his eyes wide open in wonder, Lucas ran straight to the ce where the group of lights had gathered. It was under a big tree with roots that were half-exposed, and it seemed like a good ce to hide something underneath. ¡°Let¡¯s dig.¡± ¡°Yes, Mr. Bayer.¡± Lucas was excited by the hero-like development, and he took the lead in digging up the ground. Soon, a well-sealed wooden box was dug out. Looking at the cross pattern engraved on the box¡¯ surface, it was clearly an item of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. ¡°Lord Lucas should open it.¡± ¡°Me?¡± ¡°Yes, it was Lord Lucas who offered to make a grave for them. So you should open it.¡± Cordelia rmended it following Jude¡¯s statement, so Lucas¡¯ cheeks were flushed as he nodded at the two. ¡°Then, I will open it.¡± Though it was well-sealed, it was simply just a paper seal pasted on the wooden box. Lucas took out a knife and opened the lid after tearing off the paper seal. What came out was a parchment inscribed with aplex form. ¡°This is¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s a technique of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. It¡¯s an attack skill that destroys demons¡­it seems that the Guardians of the Holy Cross hade here to repel the demonic hordes that were sealing the witch¡¯s soul.¡± Lucas nodded seriously at Jude¡¯s exnation, before looking at Cordelia and asking. ¡°Lady Cordelia, can you use it?¡± ¡°Uh¡­yes, maybe.¡± Honestly, she wasn¡¯t confident, but there was also Jude, so she thought that it would somehow work. ¡°There¡¯s also a book about the God¡¯s Fist. Lord Lucas, can I take this?¡± ¡°Of course. I use a sword, so I¡¯ll pass.¡± When Lucas responded inly, Jude smiled and took the martial arts book. It wasn¡¯t a skill book like the one he got from the dungeon book, but it wouldn¡¯t take a long time to learn it because of Jude¡¯s memory and his Cheonmujiche. ¡°If the evil energy here is very strong enough to create undead monsters, then it seems that we¡¯re moving in the right direction. We¡¯ll be able to reach the center of the seal if we walk a little further.¡± It was then when Lucas nodded at Jude¡¯s exnation. ¡°Wait, wait a second.¡± Cordelia quietly said as she suddenly jumped from her seat and started walking in one direction. And Jude understood why she did so. ¡®The voice of the witch.¡¯ The witch¡¯s soul was sealed at the center of the forest. Cordelia turned to Jude as if to answer him. She nodded as her clear blue eyes shined. ¡°I can hear a voice.¡± The call of the witch. Cordelia raised her hand and pointed over the fog. Chapter 32: Witchs Forest (5)

Chapter 32: Witch''s Forest (5)

While wandering through the witch¡¯s forest, Cordelia hears the voice of the witch and reaches the seal under her guidance. In other words, hearing the voice of the witch was like getting a ¡®navigator¡¯ to their destination. ¡®However¡­¡¯ Jude frowned unconsciously. It was not because Cordelia found the wrong way, or the witch¡¯s directions were unclear. Cordelia steadily moved forward, even if she sometimes stopped halfway. [Come to the direction of therge tree with exposed roots.] A clear and pure voice was echoing in his head, though it was somehow faint. ¡®The witch¡¯s voice¡­right?¡¯ As Jude nced back at Cordelia, she was looking around and saw arge tree with exposed roots as mentioned. ¡®It¡¯s correct, but¡­¡¯ Why is Jude himself hearing it too and not just Cordelia? ¡®Can you hear it even if it¡¯s not necessarily Cordelia?¡¯ In the original story, Cordelia heard the voice because she was alone. But it didn¡¯t seem to be the reason. The whole time Cordelia was looking for the way, Lucas was just standing with a nk expression. ¡®Hmm¡­for the time being, let¡¯s keep this a secret.¡¯ It was very clear on what would happen if he told them that he could also hear the voice of the witch. Cordelia would be pouting, and Lucas would be feeling gloomy because he was the only one who couldn¡¯t hear the voice. ¡°This way.¡± ¡°Oh, okay.¡± Cordelia had small smile on her face as she spoke in short words and pointed the direction. She seemed to like the current situation in which she became the main character of the episode, as it was in her nature to like getting attention. ¡®Hmm¡­yes, I should hide it.¡¯ He didn¡¯t have to reveal the truth and break that smile. ¡®But why am I really hearing it?¡¯ Is there a separate condition on why he could also hear the witch¡¯s voice? What does Jude himself and Cordelia have inmon. A characteristic that they do not share with Lucas. ¡®Beautiful¡­and handsome?¡¯ Although Lucas was a handsome man of the manly and gant type, he couldn¡¯tpare to Jude and Cordelia, whose looks are always described as ¡®iparable.¡¯ ¡®Well¡­no way, right?¡¯ The witch is not a Fairy Queen. There must have been something else. ¡®Age? Memories of the previous life¡­though if you say this, it doesn¡¯t exin why Cordelia hears it in the original story.¡¯ As I stepped forward while considering these and other hypotheses, the fog began to fade at some point. ¡°There¡¯s a seal in that cave.¡± Rather than a small and narrow proper entrance, Cordelia had pointed to a crack that had risen from the passage of time. As she exined to Lucas, Jude looked around. He saw the dense trees that have grown more than 10 meters and havepletely obscured the sky. Beyond the small rocky mountain where the cave was located, a demonic monster was guarding the seal. ¡®We¡¯re almost there though.¡¯ Now, if they went in and released the seal, it would be the end of the mission. The soul of the witch released from the seal would solve the problem of the monster. ¡®Cordelia gets the power of the witch, and I get some of the by-products.¡¯ Like the Bicorn, the demonic monster would also leave a body. As Jude had a delighted smile, Cordelia looked at him suspiciously as she approached him and said. ¡°You look like a pervert.¡± ¡°¡­which side?¡± ¡°Just¡­in many ways.¡± Like always, Cordelia said some silly things before she took the lead and went into the cave. The crack was small and narrow but there was no problem with Cordelia, whose build was small and slender, and Jude, who was still quite thin. Lucas struggled, but he also somehow passed. [You¡¯re almost here. Come this way.] Upon entering the dark cave, he not only heard the witch¡¯s voice, but also saw a bunch of green lights, that looked like a group of fireflies, appearing in front of them. [This way.] It was a small cave, so after walking for a minute or so, a fairlyrge cavity appeared with huge steel doors on one side, and on the center, the party was able to discover the witch¡¯s seal. On arge stone pir in the center of the cavity was a block of ice that was almost the size of a human being. Inside the ice was the naked body of a beautiful ck-haired woman, though it looked blurry. [Children, release my seal. To unlock the seal¡­] ¡°We weaken the sealing stones at the corners with holy water and draw a magic circle of unsealing in the center, right? Okay, witch.¡± [Eh? Uh¡­yes. How did you know?] When Cordelia answered quickly, the witch responded with a flustered voice. Lucas, who didn¡¯t know the conversation of the two, let out an ¡®oooh¡¯ in admiration. Cordelia grinned and then approached Jude and said. ¡°I¡¯ll sprinkle the holy water on the sealing stones, so I¡¯ll leave the magic circle to you.¡± ¡°Okay, ma¡¯am.¡± Jude and Cordelia had already obtained holy water at Langesthei. Unlike the original story, they didn¡¯t have to wander through the forest to collect the things that the witch needed for her rescue. [The figure of the magic circle¡­are you a wizard specializing in seals?] The witch didn¡¯t even exin what kind of magic circle it was, but Jude was drawing it well already. Instead of answering the witch¡¯s question, Jude quicklypleted drawing the magic circle. [Uh¡­next¡­you already know, right?] Jude and Cordelia replied in actions to the slightly quivering voice of the witch. Jude took Lucas as they withdrew to the outside of the magic circle, and Cordelia drew a knife and wounded her palm. ¡°Ugh.¡± She groaned with tears in her eyes, clenched her fists, and finally dropped the blood on the magic circle. Blood was needed to get through to the soul. Cordelia¡¯s mana was transmitted to the magic circle through the drop of blood and soon, a bright blue light filled the cavity. And it was at that moment¡­ ¡°Kuooooo!¡± A terrifying roar came from outside the cave. It was evidently the roar of the demonic monster guarding the seal. The tense Lucas hurriedly pulled out his sword spontaneously, but Jude and Cordelia only focused on the witch¡¯s seal. The witch would solve the problem if the seal was released anyway. [Aaaah! Aaaaaaah!] The witch screamed as if to match the monster¡¯s roar. The ice that was sealing her quickly cracked, and the entire cave shook. ¡°Kuooooo!¡± The sound of the monster¡¯s roar grew louder and closer. Cordelia¡¯s lips felt dry as she ced her palms directly to the magic circle and poured more mana into it. And finally, the ice that was sealing the witch broke into hundreds of pieces and scattered. Bang! The doors let out a loud noise. The steel doors, which were actually the front doors of the seal, becamergely indented. The steel doors couldn¡¯t be opened because it was originally intended for sealing, but the demonic monster was now trying to destroy it. Jude recoiled at the deafening roars, but soon braced himself. It flowed simrly in the original story. [It was an excessively long time since I was sealed. Thank you for releasing my seal, children.] The witch¡¯s voice was clearly heard through the banging sounds of the doors. At the center of the seal, a beautiful woman, whose naked white body was covered by her long ck hair, floated in the air. She was in a semi-transparent state because she was a soul, and she looked down at Cordelia affectionately. Bang! The doors let out a loud noise again. Through the dented steel doors, they could see the monster¡¯s red eyes. Jude nervously gulped as he recalled the original story. Right after breaking the witch¡¯s seal, the witch without a body temporarily descends to Cordelia, defeats the demonic monster, and then clears the barrier. Through Cordelia freeing her by breaking the seal, the witch¡¯s soul that was sealed for hundreds of years finally ascended. And Cordelia, who harbored the witch¡¯s soul for a while, learns a part of the witch¡¯s power called the ¡®Witch Transformation.¡¯ It was a great scene that most users who yed Cordelia remembered, because the production crew gave all their efforts to that part by expressing the series of situations into a cinematic video. And now¡­ [Danger is upon you. Dear child, I¡¯ll lend you my strength to get rid of the crisis.] It was flowing like the original story. When Cordelia nodded as if she knew, the witch closed her eyes and recited the spell. The demonic monster seemed to be stimted by the witch¡¯s actions and thrashed the steel doors more violently. Bang! Bang! Bang! Just before the steel doors was torn off, the witch¡¯s soul was scattered with a green light. At the same time, a green light glowed all over Cordelia¡¯s whole body, and her clearly bright red hair turned ck. Her sky-blue eyes also became a mysterious green like that of Jude. It was the witch¡¯s advent. Now, all she had to do was to defeat the demonic monster with the witch¡¯s power. However¡­ ¡°Eh? Eeeeh?!¡± Cordelia looked at herself and was stunned as she blinked her eyes, and Jude realized it at that moment. He understood what happened. ¡®Reproduction of the event!¡¯ In a broader sense, it was like the bathing event in the valley. In the original story event, the fight to defeat the monster by using the witch¡¯s power was expressed in a video. That was why not only Cordelia, but even Jude, missed this detail. She wasn¡¯t a witch. Cordelia, who acquired the power of the witch, was supposed to defeat the demonic monster. ¡°Fu-f*ck?!¡± So Cordelia understood the situation and was embarrassed. She didn¡¯t know how to fight. She didn¡¯t know how to exactly use the witch¡¯s power! Bang! The steel doors were finally smashed to pieces. Two crumpled doors were scattered on the floor, and Asmodeus¡¯ demonic monster, which looked like a huge red gori with horns on its head, came into in view. Despite being in a crouched position, it was as tall as 4 meters as the monster violently smacked its fists. Cordelia looked at Jude, and he looked back at her. The alone Lucas looked at the two as he grasped his sword tightly. It was an unexpected situation. This time, there was no Bestin¡¯s magic circle. Neither was it a battlefield that was prepared in advance. But they still had to fight. ¡°I believe in you!¡± Jude raised his pure white sacred battle aura as he rushed towards the monster. He used the Thirty-Six World Steps, and Lucas also added light to his sword with the Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword. I believe in you. He believed that Cordelia would be able to use the witch¡¯s power. So she had to find a solution before we get crushed by the monster. ¡°Kuoooo!¡± The monster roared as if the rushing Jude was just an insignificant existence. It kicked the ground, and it seemed like it teleported as it had suddenly appeared in front of Jude, and then swung its fist. Smash! The ground was smashed in one blow. Jude barely avoided the attack by rolling on the floor, as he added Sri¡¯s power to his knuckles. He then flew towards the broken steel doors, trying to lure the monster to him. Lucas roared loudly to also draw its attention and ran towards the opposite of Jude. The monster kicked the ground again. It attacked on Jude¡¯s side again. ¡°Cordelia!¡± Jude used Thirty-Six World Steps again. After narrowly avoiding the monster¡¯s fist, he yelled as he struck the monster¡¯s arm with the Holy Cross Punch. ¡°Kuoooo!¡± The monster shrieked in pain, but its steel-like forearm did not budge. Instead of attacking again, Jude kicked the ground and quickly pulled back. At that moment, Cordelia closed her eyes and tried to focus. She tried to use her instinct or whatever to utilize the witch¡¯s power. However, it wasn¡¯t easy. Although she had closed her eyes to block the view, she was still nervous as she could hear the continuous roars and kept thinking of Jude¡¯s current crisis. ¡®Please, please!¡¯ Guide the mana. Use it naturally. It was right at that moment¡­ [What? Don¡¯t you know how to use it?] Cordelia heard the small and tranquil voice of the witch, and she opened her eyes. She shouted spontaneously. ¡°Tell me!¡± What to do. How to use the power of the witch. Before Jude dies. No, before Jude gets hurt! [This is how you use it.] The moment the witch spoke, the witch¡¯s power moved inside Cordelia¡¯s body and soul. Through it, Cordelia understood. She realized it instinctively. She realized how to use the power of the witch. Cordelia¡¯s eyes glistened and shed green. Chapter 33: Witchs Forest (6)

Chapter 33: Witch''s Forest (6)

Once upon a time, there lived a girl. The child was sold by her parents for nine copper coins and soon became a sacrifice for summoning demons. However, thanks to the demon¡¯s whims, instead of ending up as a handful of blood, she became a ve of the demon. The fate of ves were harsh. Rest did not exist for those whose souls were captured by the demon. It was their fate to live being manipted as the demon¡¯s ything, and when they die, to struggle in pain for eternity. And so it was for the girl. That was her destiny. But the girl did not conform to her fate. Instead of bowing down and epting it, she stood up and eventually changed her fate. She is- ¡®I know! I already know this!¡¯ It was the story of the witch. It was the legend of the witch who started as a demon¡¯s ve and ended up subduing the demons. But that wasn¡¯t important now. How to use the witch¡¯s power was more important than the witch¡¯s past. [¡­you know this again.] The witch spoke in a somewhat sulky voice, so instead of showing to Cordelia her past like a flitting film, she directly manipted the body and soul of Cordelia to use her power. Cordelia couldn¡¯t use the witch¡¯s power naturally because it wasn¡¯t hers to begin with. Although the original Cordelia acquired and used the ¡®Witch Transformation,¡¯ it was the future Cordelia and not the present Cordelia. It was like if you want to get a driver¡¯s license in the future, you have to learn how to drive first. Moreover, it was not a situation where magic could be used by pressing a single skill button like in the game, so the know-how to use the witch¡¯s power was necessary. The witch¡¯s power moved. The power of the great witch that subdued demons, spread throughout Cordelia¡¯s body and spirit. Just once, but that was enough. Cordelia instinctively realized how to use the witch¡¯s power, and she opened her closed eyes. ¡°Jude!¡± At the moment Cordelia shouted and her eyes shed, an intense green-colored air wave swept through the entire ce. The tremendous power not only swept away the monster who tried to attack Jude, but even Jude and Lucas who bounced off too. ¡°Oww!¡± ¡°Gaakk!¡± ¡°Kuaaaakkkk!¡± Although the monster was greatly pushed back, it managed to hold its ground and yelled in anger. On the other hand, Jude and Lucas couldn¡¯t stand their ground and ended up rolling on the floor. Especially in the case of Jude, since he was near the wall, he even hit the wall once. Right after her power was released, the seal¡¯s area came into the view of Cordelia¡¯s shining green eyes. She saw the monster holding its ground and yelling in anger. She saw Lucas using his sword to stand up. And she saw Jude lying on the ground and letting out a painful groan. Cordelia¡¯s eyes were filled with rage. She took a step forward and bellowed. ¡°How dare you!¡± You hurt Jude. You knocked down Jude. I cannot forgive¡­ I will not forgive you! [Umm, you actually did that¡­] The witch¡¯s voice did not reach Cordelia. Overwhelmed by her rage, she roughly swung her arms and exerted her power once again. It was the witch¡¯s power again. A kind of telekic power became green smoke and spread out. It became a giant hand and then struck the monster! ¡°Kuooo!¡± The monster was roughly hit. But it didn¡¯t just stand there and do nothing. It turned around in the air and changed directions, kicked the wall and rushed towards Cordelia. ¡°Kuaahh!¡± It opened its mouth widely. There was a red sh in its abyss-like mouth, which soon became a huge pir of light that fired towards Cordelia. ¡°Breath?!¡± By the time Lucas cried out, Cordelia had already reacted. Shergely swung her right hand to make the green smoke strike the monster¡¯s chin, which forcibly changed the direction of the breath attack. Booooom! The ceiling was directly hit by the monster¡¯s breath attack and the rocks broke off and fell down. And Cordelia took advantage of it. She swung her left hand and snatched the rocks with green smoke and caused a whirlwind to collide with the monster. ¡°Kuaaaahh!¡± The rocks became like des and cut the whole body of the monster. But it was still standing. The demonic monster¡¯s skin was thick, and its eyes still glowed red. ¡°Kurrraahh!¡± When it roared with its arms wide open, the whirlwind itself was crushed. ¡°Die!¡± But Cordelia didn¡¯t just watch. When it crushed the whirlwind, she raised her right fist and struck the chest of the roaring monster with green smoke. Booooom! The wall and the monster collided, causing a tremendously loud sound. The impact was so strong that the whole cave shook. ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­haak-¡± Blood came out of Cordelia¡¯s nose. Not only that, but her eyes were bloodshot as tears of blood flowed down. Sweat dripped from Cordelia¡¯s whole body. She only used it for a short time, but the witch¡¯s power was so powerful that it even hurt Cordelia. [Not yet.] The witch spoke, and Cordelia knew it too. It couldn¡¯t have been defeated with just that attack. In the original story, Cordelia borrowed the power of the witch and created a huge magic spear. She was able to finish the monster only when she had pierced it. [Use the Spear of Cmity.] Just as the witch spoke, Cordelia took a breath and waited for the witch to tell her the spell. 1 second passed. And then 2 seconds¡­ ¡°Tell me!¡± [You don¡¯t know this too?] The moment when Cordelia and the witch¡¯s words ovepped¡­ ¡°Kuooo!¡± The monster with hair over its whole body roared once again and kicked the ground. It narrowed the distance with Cordelia in an instant, as if cutting through space. ¡°F*ck!¡± Cordelia roughly released the witch¡¯s power. She somehow pulled away from the monster trying to punch her, as she rolled on the floor and distanced herself from it. ¡°!¡± Cordelia mixed her mana with the witch¡¯s power. Thus, the witch¡¯s power was added into the magic spell that she usually used. Boom! As if it were a ballista¡¯s arrow, a huge was formed in an instant and was fired towards the monster, creating a massive explosion. ¡°Kuhak-!¡± However, the bacsh of using the spell hit Cordelia. At that moment, she bent her body as blood poured out of her mouth. [It¡¯s still impossible to use my power as yours. Use my magic, not your magic.] The witch¡¯s power was not like normal mana. Since the legendary great witch¡¯s power was originally the power of the demon that she subdued, one had to use the spells that the witch had ingeniously created to properly cast spells. Otherwise, if one uses the witch¡¯s power in the usual magic spells as Cordelia did, a bacsh would ur. [Listen carefully.] The witch quickly began to cast the spell. But the monster didn¡¯t give her time to do so. ¡°Kuoooo!¡± Thanks to being hit by the , the monster¡¯s hair was scorched and its whole body was covered with blood, but it was still alive. It narrowed the distance at once and tried to smash the barely standing Cordelia, as it greatly swung its right arm. ¡°Uoooo!¡± Just then, Lucas roared and threw his sword. The sword with the power of the Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword flew like a lightning sh and seeded in grabbing the monster¡¯s attention even for a moment. Thud! Jude used his Thirty-Six World Steps. He desperately ran towards Cordelia and kicked the ground at some point as he hugged Cordelia. But there was not enough time. He tried to escape with Cordelia, but the monster¡¯s attack was faster than him. Boooom! The monster¡¯s hand devastated the ground, as it broke from the tremendous force. ¡°No!¡± It was when Lucas screamed. ¡°!¡± The magic spell exploded once again. The monster was struck on its side and staggered as it let out a painful groan, and Lucas was able to see what had happened. On the ground, Cordelia and Jude were entangled together and had copsed. Cordelia was underneath and had used magic, while Jude breathed a sigh of relief on such Cordelia. Fairy Steps. He hugged Cordelia and activated it at the same time, so thanks to it, he was able topletely evade the monster¡¯s attack. ¡°Kuhak-!¡± However, Cordelia vomited blood again. Jude¡¯s eyes opened wide in surprise, and the witch¡¯s voice came to them. [It¡¯s her limit. The bacsh caused by her unreasonable use of my power is too much. Anymore would be dangerous.] The witch¡¯s tone was soft, but her voice was full of concern. Jude quickly looked at Cordelia, and Cordelia looked back at Jude. At the moment they made eye contact¡­ ¡°Kuaaaaa!¡± The monster stood up while limping, as it roared in anger. Despite having a big wound at its side, it rushed towards Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Noooo!¡± Lucas picked up the sword that fell on the ground as he turned towards the monster. Cordelia opened her lips and whispered to Jude. ¡°Kuhaaaa!¡± The monster jumped. It quickly passed over Lucas¡¯ head and then descended as it punched with its fist. Bang! The magic that Cordelia used from Count Chase¡¯s ring was shattered at once. The monster thatnded on the ground pulled its fist again, and Cordelia saw the monster. Instead of using magic again, she raised her middle finger while looking at the monster with her clear blue eyes. Did she give up? Was thest thing that she did was to swear? It wasn¡¯t that. When the monster had pulled its fist, Cordelia¡¯s hair had returned to its red color. At the same time, Jude, who was on top of Cordelia as if protecting her, suddenly grew his hair quickly. Cordeliaughed with her mouth full of blood. She opened her lips again and said. ¡°Finish it.¡± She realized it the moment their eyes met. The fact that Jude can also hear the witch¡¯s voice. So Cordelia acted and handed over the witch¡¯s power to Jude. ¡°Uoooo!¡± Jude loudly shouted as he raised himself. The witch moved her power to Jude, and he straightly activated the Guardians of the Holy Cross¡¯ technique. [You will get hurt.] There would be a strong bacsh. But Jude didn¡¯t care. He didn¡¯t have time to listen to the witch¡¯s spell now. The current method was the best for him. Jude¡¯s eyes glowed green. The witch¡¯s power triggered the technique, and the pure white light burst. Tsuhuaaaaa! The giant Golden Cross. It was formed from the pure white light. Jude moved forward and tried to strike the monster to burn its body. ¡°Kuooooo!¡± But the monster wasn¡¯t pushed out very easily. It exploded its power to counter the Golden Cross. Dozens of lightning sparks arose as the dark red demonic power collided with the sacred power of the Golden Cross. Blood flowed down from Jude¡¯s mouth. Both of his arms that activated the technique trembled like a leaf and sweat poured down like rain along his forehead. It was a tense and violent sh. No, little by little, Jude began to be pushed back. The cause was not the technique itself but rather Jude who maintained the technique despite his physical limitations. [No, if this situation continues¡­] The witch groaned. But Jude did not give up. Because he trusted her. Because he believed in her. ¡°Cordelia!¡± When Jude screamed, Cordelia was reflected in the monster¡¯s red eyes. Pure white mana was concentrated on the tip of her finger. . It was very small and weak, but it was enough to break the bnce. Cordelia moved her finger as she smiled in pain. The that was about the size of a finger, flew like an arrow and struck the eyes of the monster! ¡°Keaaakkkkk!¡± The pain from the attack broke the bnce. A crack appeared from the demonic power that the monster was using, and Jude did not miss it. Boooom! The monster¡¯s scream and the roar caused by the attack burst at the same time. The Golden Cross promptly pushed back the monster, and the monster flew almost over a dozen meters and crashed into the wall. But that wasn¡¯t the end. The Golden Cross dug into the monster¡¯s body. It did not stop burning until it utterly destroyed the monster. ¡°Aaaahh!¡± With itsst scream, the red glow disappeared from its eyes. Starting from the chest, the monster¡¯s whole body was wrapped in a pure white fire, and it soon became ashes that scattered around. ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­haakk-¡± As he watched the whole scene of the monster burning, Jude thought that he was only breathing roughly, but he soon vomited blood just like Cordelia. Unlike Cordelia, Jude had a poorpatibility with the witch¡¯s power. He had only used it once, but his condition was as bad as Cordelia, who had used the witch¡¯s power several times. [I will withdraw my power. Don¡¯t strain yourself or you will copse.] Jude nodded at the witch¡¯s gentle voice, as his nose bled, and he felt like falling down. He soon copsed besides Cordelia. ¡®The level¡­has risen.¡¯ Several pure white rings surrounded them. Moreover, he heard in his head a voice saying that he got the title of Demon yer. ¡®All abilities +3 and a 5% increase to attacks against Great Demons¡­.¡¯ While on the verge of fainting, Jude thought that he had to take care of things first before passing out. And it was the same with Cordelia. ¡°F*ck, the reward¡­was good.¡± Half of her face was bloody because of the fresh blood from her nose, but even then, her smile was beautiful. ¡®She¡¯s indeed an iparably beautiful girl.¡¯ And that was it. Unlike thest time he fainted, Jude couldn¡¯t even mention about his Gueumjulmaek because he had already lost consciousness and fainted. Cordelia saw such a Jude once again and smiled while mentally swearing. She soon clenched her teeth to keep herself awake. It wasn¡¯t yet the time for her to faint now. There was something else that she had to confirm. ¡°Lady Cordelia! Mr. Bayer!¡± As she saw Lucas running towards them, Cordelia finally sighed in relief. Lucas was also safe. The demonic monster was defeated, and the barrier was probably broken now. So it was okay for her to faint now. ¡°The aftermath¡­please¡­¡± Cordelia spoke quietly as she lost her consciousness, and Lucas nodded at this d¨¦j¨¤ vu scene. ¡®As expected, they¡¯re a fantasy couple.¡¯ From demonic human to demonic monster. The chemistry of the two was really fantastic. Alternating between Jude and Cordelia as if he was envious, Lucas then reached out and properlyid down the two on the ground. And the witch¡¯s soul looked down at Lucas, blinked her eyes several times and said. [Umm¡­I can¡¯t ascend yet, right?] The witch frowned as she looked at Jude and Cordelia¡¯s faces, but soon, just like Lucas, she casually had a warm smile on her face. Chapter 34: Full Moon (1)

Chapter 34: Full Moon (1)

[If you can hear my voice, open your eyes. Wake up and look at me.] Jude slowly opened his eyes at the faintly heard voice. What he saw was a warm light and a cozy space. His eyes then caught the face of a witch with long ck hair and green eyes. [You¡¯re finally awake.] In front of him was a white-faced beauty around thirty years old. The witch wore a ck dress decorated with ck bird feathers, and a wide-brimmed cone hat on her head, which were the typical symbols of a witch. ¡°This ce is¡­¡± [This is the world of my consciousness. Your body was overwhelmed and has fallen into a deep sleep. So I woke you up here to share my story. Now, hold my hand and get up.] In a daze, Jude stood up holding the witch¡¯s hand. And on the other side, he could see Cordelia standing up while holding the witch¡¯s hand as well. ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°Jude?¡± [It¡¯s so nice to see you two taking care of each other here too.] The voice who spoke was not from the two witches standing in front of the two, but rather, from the rocking chair in front of the firece. There was another witch sitting there. [Now, both of you,e here. It¡¯s warm in front of the firece.] When the witch in front of the firece beckoned, the witches in front of Jude and Cordelia suddenly became haze and vanished. Jude and Cordelia looked at each other spontaneously and exchanged nces, and then nodded. ¡®Let¡¯s go for now.¡¯ The witch will not likely harm them. As Jude and Cordelia stood in front of the firece, the witch also stood up from the rocking chair. [First of all, I need to talk about my story. But I¡¯ll ask you in advance, so please answer me. Do you know why I¡¯m sealed here?] She was asking if they knew the real reason why the witch was sealed. In the eyes of the witch who was inwardly full of expectations, Jude hesitated and pretended to not know, while Cordelia nodded without thinking. [I see¡­ You know this again¡­ You know¡­] The witch became openly sullen, drooping her shoulders as she pouted a bit. The real reason why the witch was sealed¡­ Despite being a lowly ve, the witch brought down numerous demons, and the existence of such a witch was enough to offend the five great monarchs of Hell. Eventually, the witch shed with Belial, known as the monarch of corruption, and one of the five great monarchs of hell. She suffered a crushing defeat at the overwhelming power of the great monarch. But just before Belial¡¯s mespletely extinguished the witch¡¯s soul, another monarch stole the witch¡¯s soul, and that was Asmodeus, the monarch of lust. ¡®Asmodeus thought that the witch¡¯s soul, who overthrew countless demons, could be a dagger to stab other great monarchs.¡¯ Asmodeus sealed the witch¡¯s soul deep in the forest of Trefalgar in order to hide the witch¡¯s soul from the other monarchs until the day it would be useful, as well as to make the witch¡¯s soul submissive to them. ¡®That is why the great witch¡¯s soul was sealed in the human world, and why there was only one demonic monster that protected the seal.¡¯ If the witch¡¯s seal was in hell, or even if it was in the human world and had a lot of guardians protecting the seal, it was highly likely that the other monarchs would notice it. Having said that, when the witch made a sullen face, Cordelia hurriedly opened her mouth and said. ¡°Ah, no¡­about that¡­well, I don¡¯t know! Please tell us more about it!¡± [Really?] ¡°Yes, really.¡± The witch was enchanted by Cordelia¡¯s words and bright smile, and soon, a smile spread on the witch¡¯s face too. And Jude thought at that time. ¡®You must have been lonely.¡¯ It was understandable since she was trapped alone in the seal for hundreds of years. [So¡­to begin¡­] The witch began telling her story clearly and softly, and Cordelia¡¯s eyes sparkled as she became a good listener. After four hours or so¡­ [And that¡¯s how it happened.] The witch widely smiled with a satisfied face, while Cordelia and Jude nodded with exhausted faces. It was briefly summarized in the game, but it was a really long story when they heard the full story directly. [Ha, that was refreshing. Now then, let¡¯s get to the main point.] ¡°What?!¡± ¡°You¡¯ve been talking for four hours and you¡¯re only starting to get to the main point now?!¡¯¡± Cordelia was surprised and asked back, and the witchughed and came close to her. [I¡¯ve finally finished telling you about the past. So let¡¯s talk about the future.] In fact, there was no such conversation in the original story. The witch who had possessed Cordelia¡¯s body and defeated the monster, immediately ascended afterwards. [Cordelia, you¡¯re a lovely child. You contained my soul for a moment, and I have seen the potential of your soul and body. The potential that you have the same power as mine.] Unlike before, the witch who has spoken so far had a crafty smile, and then she kissed Cordelia¡¯s forehead, eyes, cheeks, neck, chest, and the back of her hands in order. ¡°Wi-witch?¡± [I left my mark on your soul. Remember my feelings when you use my power. Increase your own strength through that.] The witch whispered in Cordelia¡¯s ear, and after deeply swallowing, Cordelia recited the spell taught to her by the witch. She changed in a moment. However, it was a little different from the previous Witch Transformation made by the witch herself. Cordelia¡¯s hair was dyed ck, but the tips were still red. Instead of both eyes turning green, her usual blue eyes became more vivid. [Go and increase your strength.] Cordelia¡¯s Witch Transformation. It is a reinforced transformation spell with a time limit, and when in the witch state, all magical abilities are greatly increased. As Cordelia nodded and looked at herself, the witch affectionately kissed her forehead one more time. [Look carefully at the ce where I was sealed. There should be a spell book that I wrote there.] It was a spell book that contained all of the witch¡¯s magic spells. ¡°Thank you very much, witch.¡± As Cordelia bowed her head in greeting, the witchughed and hugged Cordelia. And Jude, who watched all these, cleared his throat. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± A cough that meant ¡®You don¡¯t have anything for me?¡¯ Unlike the original story, Jude had also met the witch, so shouldn¡¯t he get something too? Of course, this journey had already given Jude the skills of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, but wasn¡¯t there a saying that stated that ¡®the more, the better?¡¯ At Jude¡¯s appeal, the witch narrowed her eyes and said with a slight lick on her lips. [Jude, you¡¯re notpatible with me. Rather¡­you possess other possibilities.] Jude turned at her unexpected words. ¡®Another possibility?¡¯ In the original story, after the treatment of his Gueumjulmaek, Jude became a powerful warrior with the help of his Cheonmujiche. But now, the witch¡¯s words didn¡¯t seem to be talking about that. [You don¡¯t know much about yourself yet. But don¡¯t you worry. Fate will guide you to it.] Jude blinked his eyes in curiosity, and the witch smiled strangely, acting as if she didn¡¯t know, as she stroked Cordelia¡¯s head. [Find the ce where the demonic monster lived. There must be something that can help the both of you.] And that was it. The witch released her hand from Cordelia and then stepped back, cing both Jude and Cordelia in her sight. [You¡¯ve been dyed for too long. I think I should leave now. But Cordelia and Jude¡­] The witch¡¯s body floated in the air. The area in front of the cozy firece, as well as the surrounding areas, turned into a dark and ck space. [¡­we will meet again.] It was words that implied a reunion, not an eternal parting. Jude and Cordelia were surprised for a moment at the different dialogue from the original story, but that was it. Before they could even speak out, their vision was tinged in darkness. *** ¡°¡°Ah.¡±¡± Jude and Cordelia opened their eyes at the same time and raised their upper bodies simultaneously. ¡°Young master.¡± ¡°Miss.¡± The voices they heard almost at that same moment belonged to Jun and Dahlia, respectively. Jude and Cordelia blinked their eyes and looked at each other before realizing that they were still inside the witch¡¯s sealing area. ¡°Oh, you¡¯vee to your senses!¡± Lucas, who was standing at the side and talking with the knights, came to them with a bright face. ¡°The witch guided the knights. I¡¯ve told everyone about what happened here.¡± ¡°Uh¡­what happened here?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve conveyed everything I saw without exceptions.¡± Lucas proudly stretched his shoulders and taps his chest, and the knights¡¯ facial expressions were as unusual as him. Everyone was looking at Jude and Cordelia with happy and warmhearted expressions. ¡®What¡­what the hell did he say? Why is Dahlia looking like that?¡¯ Cordelia quickly asked Jude with a nce, but instead of answering her, he closed his eyes. Jude had a rough idea on what happened. ¡®As it is, it¡¯s better not to ask.¡¯ However, Lucas already opened his mouth as if not thinking about Jude¡¯s feelings. ¡°The moment when the monster¡¯s attack was about to hit Lady Cordelia! The sight of Mr. Bayer flying towards Lady Cordelia was really amazing. It was a proof of true love that didn¡¯t even fear death.¡± Like a heroic novel enthusiast, Lucas began to speak strangely about what happened. The knights, led by Dahlia, all looked at Jude and Cordelia happily again, and Cordelia looked at Jude. Jude then quickly said with a nce. ¡®No, it¡¯s not? Will they believe me if I told them it¡¯s the Fairy Steps?¡¯ ¡®I know, right?¡¯ The two exchanged a conversation by just looking at each other, and they tried to get over the situation by coughing and clearing their throat as if they had promised each other. Fortunately, Lucas didn¡¯t bother the two too much. ¡°All the knights are fine. The witch said that both of you were very tired, but that there were no problems with your health.¡± Although they were covered in blood, it was as Lucas had said, that they were just tired and had nothing wrong with their bodies. ¡°We¡¯ve decided to stay here overnight and leave the forest early tomorrow morning.¡± ¡°Yes, that sounds good.¡± They had to bring the witch¡¯s spell book and a helpful item that was in the monster¡¯s nest. Of course, the two were also tired and exhausted. Jude closed his eyes for a moment and thought about the flow of the original story. ¡®Cordelia having obtained the Witch Transformation¡­¡¯ Two facts came to light when she repelled the pursuers of the Devil¡¯s Hand in the witch¡¯s forest. One fact was that the Devil¡¯s Hand kidnapped the children of the 12 families to use them as a sacrifice for demon summoning. The other fact was that the ce where the demon summoning ritual was held and what date the ritual was supposed to take ce. There wasn¡¯t enough time to go back to Count Chase to announce the crisis, so in the end, the troubled Cordelia decided to head north to save the children of the 12 families and stop the ritual. ¡®That scenario is already gone though.¡¯ The Devil¡¯s Hand couldn¡¯t kidnap any of the 12 families¡¯ children. Even if Cordelia escaped in the original story, they still carried out the ritual because they used characters such as Lucas and Sylvia as sacrifices. But now, it was questionable if the ritual would be held when none of the children were secured. Moreover, the attack of the Devil¡¯s Hand was enough to raise the awareness of the northern cities. It would be impossible to hold arge-scale attack now that the vignce against the demonic followers have increased. ¡®But there is still a chance.¡¯ The purpose of Jude and Cordelia was not just to follow the main scenario. Their goal was to twist the main scenario and create a happy ending that did not originally exist. ¡®Let¡¯s go to the north.¡¯ If the ritual is held, stop it. He must also twist Jude¡¯s main scenario, ¡®The Northern Barbarians¡¯ Great Invasion,¡¯ from its very roots. When Jude made up his mind and opened his eyes, Lucas continued to exin. ¡°First, we n to stop by the northern viscount¡¯s mansion and stay for a day or two as scheduled. And¡­I think the people from my home will meet us there and join us in our journey to the northern ce.¡± At Lucas¡¯ exnation, Jude and Cordelia looked at each other simultaneously, and they exchanged nces. The reason was simple. ¡®Who ising?¡¯ There was no event in the original story where a number of people were sent to meet each of the 12 families¡¯ children. In other words, the arrival of Ga?l and Count Chase to pick us up earlier was also different from the original story. Who wille to meet them from Count Hr?svelgr? As Jude began to think of the people of Count Hr?svelgr with a serious face, Cordelia just shook her head and looked at Lucas as she asked. ¡°Lord Lucas, do you know who ising?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s someone that I really admire that ising. It¡¯s a bit embarrassing, but it¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve seen him, so I¡¯m looking forward to meeting him again.¡± Jude and Cordelia¡¯s curiosity grew even greater when Lucas spoke with sparkling eyes like he did when talking about adventures. Who is it? Who is it that Lucas had such a reaction? When Jude and Cordelia showed their keen interest, Lucas said with a proud face. ¡°You¡¯ve both heard of the ¡®Red-Haired Warrior,¡¯ right?¡± Jude and Cordelia nodded together. They obviously have heard of him. Red-haired warrior. The Red me Landius. He was one of the five main characters of Legend of Heroes 1. However, in Legend of Heroes 2, he no longer appeared because his setting was to die in the beginning. Chapter 35: Full Moon (2)

Chapter 35: Full Moon (2)

The next chapter is almost double the length of the usual chapters, so expect its release to be dyed tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. Don¡¯t worry though, today¡¯s chapter doesn¡¯t end on a cliffhanger. The content of the Legend of Heroes series grew in scale for every seeding work. In the first episode, there are a total of five yable characters. The stage of the story was also limited to a small country located between the S?len Kingdom and the Argon Empire. ¡®The queen of the Paragon Kingdom was brainwashed by the demon followers, and summons a demon by offering a prince as a sacrifice¡­¡¯ The summoned demon, Demon Prince Baikazel, kills the king and turns the entire pce into a demon¡¯s den. The story of Legend of Heroes 1 was about bing one of the five main characters, and defeating Baikazel, who took over the Paragon Kingdom. ¡°The story of the second episode takes ce in the S?len Kingdom and Argon Empire¡­¡± ¡°The story of the third episode takes ce in a world devastated by Armageddon and is about settling the fight between the angels and demons.¡± Inside one of the rattling carriages, Jude and Cordelia wereying side by side on a temporarily made bed as the two carriages headed to the northern viscount¡¯s mansion. They weren¡¯t lying on the same bed, but on two beds with a low partition in between. The two carriages were prepared in a hurry by Lucas for their group after they wandered through the witch¡¯s forest. ¡°Landius of the Red me.¡± ¡°He is one of the five main characters in the first episode. Landius, along with Ghostde Kamael, are considered to be the de facto main characters of the episode. He is the son of the Paragon Knightsmander, and after defeating Baikazel, he is wandering around the continent looking for the demon followers who were behind everything.¡± ¡°Good job, JudeWiki.¡± As Cordelia pped and apuded like an idiot, Jude was somewhat embarrassed but continued his words. ¡°First of all, depending on which character you yed in the first episode, the hero was different¡­so based on the game¡¯s history, it was either Landius or Kamael who defeated Baikazel.¡± ¡°Search ¡®Kamael,¡¯ Enter.¡± Cordelia spoke, pretending to type in the air, and Jude narrowed his eyes, but soon opened his mouth again. ¡°Kamael the Ghostde. He is the illegitimate son of King Paragon who was murdered by Baikazel. He is a main protagonist of the first episode and is the only one who survived and is active in the second episode.¡± If the main characters of the first episode, who have already be stronger, yed an active part in the second episode, it would be difficult for the main characters of the second episode to stand out. Perhaps because of this, the five main characters of the first episode all met a miserable end in the second episode. ¡°Umm¡­Landius was killed by a demonic human, right?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s a story that doesn¡¯t actually appear and only exists as a setting¡­but he was killed by demonic human Duke, the chief executive of the Devil¡¯s Hand.¡± In fact, the context of this situation was not perfectly revealed in the series. It was a guess made by the users because demonic human Duke carried Landius¡¯ sword, the ¡®Sr de.¡¯ ¡°So you¡¯re saying that he¡¯s not dead yet?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s exactly the important thing.¡± Landius is not dead yet. In the original story, Landius meeting with either Jude or Cordelia was something that did not exist. However, the two had crushed the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s kidnapping plot, causing the current situation to happen. Lucas was not kidnapped, and Count Hr?svelgr asked Landius, who had ties to them, to pick up Lucas from the northern viscount¡¯s ce. Thus, the encounter between the main characters of the first and second episodes, which was not originally possible, was about to be realized. ¡°Can we¡­save him?¡± Cordelia raised her upper body and turned to Jude, as she asked with expectant eyes. Save Landius. Prevent the death of the physically strongest main character in the first episode and make him active in the second episode. ¡°We can save him. No, we must save him.¡± After all, the goal of Jude and Cordelia was to create the ultimate happy ending. There was also a fact that having a strong man alive like Landius, could be a disaster for the demon followers. So they must save him. They had to somehow create the Landius survival route with their uing meeting with him. ¡°Awesome.¡± Cordelia spoke quietly as she lied down again and smiled. ¡°I wanted to save Landius.¡± ¡°Do you like him?¡± ¡°Yes, he¡¯s my second favorite character among the main characters in the first episode.¡± ¡°Who was your most favorite? Lena?¡± ¡°Yes, Lena.¡± She was the wizarddy and the only woman among the five main characters of the first episode. Lena was a disciple of the Paragon Kingdom¡¯s Royal Wizard, and she also faced a miserable end in the second episode. ¡°Can we save Lena too?¡± ¡°We can save her. It was rtively clear when and where Lena dies.¡± He had not talked to Cordelia about it in detail yet, but Jude already had a rough n on how to save Lena. ¡®Because there¡¯s so much work to be done in the north.¡¯ The Sunflower event for curing his Gueumjulmaek. The perfect blockage of Jude¡¯s main scenario, ¡®The Northern Barbarians¡¯ Great Invasion.¡¯ The rescue of Lena, one of the main characters in the first episode. And at this moment, the mission called ¡®Saving the life of Landius¡¯ was added. ¡°Since Landius is strong, just telling him his weaknesses will dramatically increase his chances of survival.¡± ¡°That¡¯s highly likely.¡± Jude replied and nodded. He then turned to Cordelia in silence and she tilted her head in confusion. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just that your enthusiasm is vastly different from when you were about to meet Lucas.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because Landius is cool.¡± ¡°Is Lucas not cool?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­how should I say it¡­he¡¯s a cute one?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t seem to hate him anymore.¡± ¡°Because he¡¯s cute.¡± Should I say that he¡¯s like a puppy? At Cordelia¡¯s evaluation, Jude wryly smiled, and then turned his gaze back to the ceiling. But this time, Cordelia sat up again, tilted her head in curiosity as she turned to Jude and asked. ¡°Erm, well¡­Jude.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Can I ask you a question?¡± Cordelia lightly assumed an air of cuteness as she asked, and Jude unwittingly flinched at her suddenly acting cute and charming. ¡°Wha-what are you going to ask?¡± ¡°No, well¡­it¡¯s not a big deal¡­¡± As the end of her words became a little unclear, Cordelia leaned against the partition and spoke. ¡°Well, I mean.¡± ¡°Uh, you mean what?¡± ¡°So¡­uh¡­umm¡­darn it! Hey, what did you do?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°What did you do? Outboxer¡¯s job, your previous job. You couldn¡¯t have been a real boxer.¡± Cordelia, who had been agonizing over how to say it, gave up thinking and almost shouted. ¡°Why are you suddenly asking about my job?¡± ¡°Something¡¯s weird. No, I¡¯m also curious.¡± Cordelia straightened her sitting position as she continued while pointing her finger at him. ¡°First of all, your memory is ridiculously good.¡± ¡°Maybe it¡¯s yours that¡¯s just bad?¡± ¡°Hey, grab a hundred people passing by and ask. Whether I¡¯m the one who¡¯s normal or you are.¡± Cordelia snorted as she continued pointing her finger. ¡°You said that the soil has changed while we¡¯re walking, but where can you find a person that notices that the soil has changed, unless you¡¯re paranoid and checked the soil when entering the forest?¡± ¡°Here¡¯s that person.¡± ¡°Would you please stop talking?¡± ¡°Yes, yes. So, what else?¡± ¡°From the very idea of scamming and the tremendous forgery skills, and even telling lies skillfully without disying any nervousness¡­it¡¯s not normal no matter how I think about it.¡± Cordelia nodded as she was intoxicated by her own words and said again while she looked straight into Jude¡¯s eyes. ¡°It was a previous life anyway, so it¡¯s okay. Ipletely understand. Then, were you a scammer? Am I right?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not? I was an exemry citizen who paid taxes well, even local taxes, national pension, and health insurance.¡± ¡°Local tax? Health insurance?¡± ¡°Why? Did you not pay? You are¡­¡± ¡°Ah, no? I know about it too? I mean, I paid it too?¡± Cordelia quickly answered as she clenched her fist and tapped on the partition. ¡°Whatever! What if you weren¡¯t a scammer? Then what? Tell me. Okay?¡± ¡°What is with this cute act?¡± ¡°A,e on.¡± ¡°Aw, f*ck.¡± Jude unintentionally cursed as he recoiled and retreated, but Cordelia brought her face closer to Jude. And Jude involuntarily broke into a cold sweat. Because Cordelia was an iparably beautiful girl. Her cute act had a destructive power beyond imagination. ¡°Hwoooo, I can¡¯t help it then.¡± ¡°Wow! Are you finally telling me?¡± ¡°I am¡­¡± ¡°You are?¡± ¡°I used to be a spy. Until¡­¡± Cordelia became wide-eyed at him suddenly speaking in the Englishnguage, blinked in surprise and then asked back. ¡°Spy? Undercover agent?!¡± Jude did not answer and just looked at Cordelia, and she eximed ¡®Ah!¡¯ and nodded. ¡®That¡¯s¡­possible!¡¯ He was simr to the main character of the spy drama that she watched before. Excellent acting skills to hide their disguise and identity. Trained forgery skills for the sake of forging various documents. Excellent memorization, concentration, observation, and so on. ¡°Oooh, ooooooh.¡± When Cordelia was finally convinced as her eyes shined, Jude stifled hisugh but soon burst intoughter. ¡°What spy? Hey, no. No, so don¡¯t have such a strange delusion.¡± ¡°F*ck! Then what really was your job?¡± ¡°Then what¡¯s yours?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°You. What about yours? Isn¡¯t this give and take? If you tell me first, I¡¯ll let you know mine.¡± ¡°That¡¯s so mean.¡± ¡°Hey, isn¡¯t it mean to just ask me but not let me know yours too?¡± ¡°Sh*t¡± Jude¡¯s logic was right, but Cordelia didn¡¯t want to talk about herself. ¡®I might have to call him oppa!¡¯ She didn¡¯t know what Jude¡¯s job was, but it seemed like he was older than her. She can let it pass now that they¡¯ve reincarnated with a simr age and that they don¡¯t know each other¡¯s past, but once they talk about it and express it clearly, the atmosphere between them would be strange. Cordelia pouted as she lied down and said again. ¡°You know what, can you just tell me one thing then?¡± ¡°You just can¡¯t tell me your job.¡± ¡°Not that. Your memory.¡± ¡°My memory?¡± ¡°Yes, your memory. It really doesn¡¯t make sense to me. Just teach me that. How did you do it?¡± When Cordelia stuck her face out of the partition again and asked, Jude frowned a little and then nodded. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll teach you that.¡± ¡°Oh, is this something secret?¡± Cordelia stuck her head out even more in her excitement. Jude was struck by Cordelia¡¯s hair spilling over his head, so he moved over to the side. ¡°There are two things.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°First of all, I¡¯m highly intelligent.¡± ¡°F*ck.¡± What kind of secret is that? Cordelia impulsively curs¡­no, that was just her saying an interjection, but she did not deny Jude¡¯s statement. She already knew that Jude was smart from the time when he was still Outboxer. ¡°And¡­do you know of the Memory Pce?¡± ¡°Memory Pce? Uh¡­ah! I know that! That¡¯s the one Sherlock used, right?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s a mnemonic system that has been passed down since ancient Greece.¡± The Memory Pce. It was a method developed in the ancient times when the means of recording was trivial. It is a mnemonic system where one imagines a virtual space and store memories in the ces they have walked step by step. So, when one needs to remember a certain memory, they ¡°walk¡± through that ce to remember it. T/N: Here¡¯s another definition of it. The memory pce, aka the Method of Loci, is a method of memorizing information by cing each item to be remembered at a point along an imaginary journey. The information can then be recalled in a specific order by retracing the same route through the imaginary journey. And regarding Sherlock Holmes, the Memory Pce was only mentioned in the BBC¡¯s 2010 TV series, ¡®Sherlock,¡¯ and not in the original novels written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The ancient Greek philosophers said that they memorized the content of speeches or books through the Memory Pce. It was a technique that seemed like a superpower at first nce, but it was a skill that ordinary people could acquire through training. ¡°Of course, there are individual differences, and I belong to the special cases, but for the present, I¡¯m using the Memory Pce.¡± ¡°Wow¡­then, are you putting it in something like a library in your head, just like what Sherlock did?¡± ¡°It¡¯s simr. But mine is a bit old-fashioned.¡± ¡°Amazing.¡± Cordelia looked at Jude with pure admiration, and Jude cleared his throat as he was somewhat embarrassed. ¡°Do you want me to teach you?¡± ¡°Really? Can I do it too?¡± ¡°Although repetitive learning is necessary. And Cordelia must be smart.¡± ¡°Well, of course¡­hey! Yellow Storm is smart too.¡± ¡°If you say so.¡± It was when Judeughed a little¡­ ¡°Kya?!¡± At that moment, the carriage shook and rattled greatly. Cordelia, who was leaning over the partition, lost her bnce and fell on top of Jude. ¡°Ugh. Hey, are you okay?¡± ¡°Ah, yes.¡± At the time Cordelia¡¯s head fell on top of Jude¡¯s chest and she responded with a groan¡­ ¡°You¡¯re both fine¡­umm, you¡¯re all right. Have a good time.¡± Lucas had quickly opened the carriage door to check on them after the carriage shook, but soon retreated and closed the door with a red face. Jude and Cordelia sighed, instead of getting angry. ¡°How do I say it¡­wasn¡¯t there a scene like this in novels or manhwas ics)?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­I know.¡± The two sat up andy down on their respective beds again, and the carriage continued to shake. More than an hour passed like that. The carriage finally arrived at the northern viscount¡¯s mansion. Chapter 36: Full Moon (3)

Chapter 36: Full Moon (3)

Next chapter will be posted on Monday, as I¡¯ll be taking my usual break between story arcs. ¡°I am d to greet you again, Northern Viscount.¡± ¡°Oh, I heard the story on what happened at Langesthei. I¡¯m really d to see you safe.¡± ¡°Thank you for your concern. Let me introduce you to mypanions, Mr. Jude Bayer from Count Bayer, and Lady Cordelia from Count Chase.¡± With the introduction of Lucas, the old and white-haired Northern Viscount turned to Jude and Cordelia, and the two bowed and greeted in respect. ¡°Mr. Jude Bayer greets the Northern Viscount.¡± ¡°Lady Cordelia Chase greets the Northern Viscount.¡± ¡°Oh, the two of you are a good-looking couple as I¡¯ve heard. I am the Northern Viscount. It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you.¡± ¡°Thank you for your generous wee.¡± Even though Jude, Cordelia, and Lucas were children of the 12 northern families, they were still nothing but ordinary nobles who did not possess any titles yet. So it was natural for them to show respect to the Northern Viscount, who is their senior and possessed a noble title. ¡°The atmosphere of the mansion is very nice.¡± Cordelia spoke as she looked around the old but not worn-down mansion that was well-maintained, and the Northern Viscount replied with a smile. ¡°It¡¯s a mansion that has existed for three generations. It¡¯s small and old¡­but it¡¯s a precious ce where I was born and raised.¡± The Northern Viscount responded warmly to Cordelia and did not dillydally any longer as he ordered the maids to assign each of them a guest room. ¡®Do you think he¡¯s a good person?¡¯ ¡®He doesn¡¯t look like a bad person, I think?¡¯ In the original story, the Northern Viscount was a person who was mentioned only once, so Jude and Cordelia knew very little about him. They couldn¡¯t fully investigate the Northern Viscount¡¯s background because they were both stuck in the carriage throughout the journey. ¡®Well, I¡¯m sure there would be no problems.¡¯ Although the viscount said that it was small, it was only small whenpared to the mansion of counts, and the mansion itself was not really small. Like the mansion of a nobleman with a manor, it had several guest rooms. Having been assigned rooms on the second floor, they then had dinner with the Northern Viscount, and went back to their respective rooms early to get some rest. And in the balcony of the guest room, Jude and Cordelia began to have their alone time together as usual. ¡°Ah, it¡¯s nice. After a long time, I could finally eat delicious food, take a good bath, and sleep in a proper bed.¡± Cordelia, who was wearing a nightgown, mumbled as she hummed and stroked her hair flowing down over her shoulders. Her hair was very shiny after she had finished her bath. ¡°Well, I did like the bathroom.¡± ¡°It¡¯s great, but do you really have to say it that way?¡± ¡°Moving on¡­¡± The two sat next to each other on the balcony chair as they looked up at the night sky. They saw the usual two moons shining with the stars. Jude was the first to start the conversation. ¡°I think Landius will arrive tomorrow. He will be with us for a while.¡± ¡°Would it be enough to tell him to be careful with Duke?¡± ¡°First¡­we have to give him some hints about Duke¡¯s weaknesses and attack styles. Once he knows that, Landius Gavrail will remember about our usefulness whenever he thinks of us.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­should we be intimately acquainted with Landius first then? That way, he¡¯ll be able to trust in our words and we can deliver more information to him.¡± ¡°You¡¯re probably right.¡± The best situation was for Landius to not fight with Duke at all. ¡°Can we get him to travel with us together? Landius is a wandering warrior. He¡¯s not affiliated with the Guardians of the Holy Cross like Kamael.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right but¡­well, we have to try first.¡± If they could get Landius to travel with them, they¡¯d be able to solve more easily most of the events that would happen in the north. ¡®But¡­it won¡¯t be easy.¡¯ Landius was chasing a demon follower after the fall of the Paragon Kingdom. To be exact, he was chasing after the archbishop Manu, who had deceived the queen of Paragon to summon Baikazel. Since Landius had a clear goal, it was close to impossible for them to make him give up his chase and everything else just to follow Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Well¡­we¡¯ll figure it out once we meet him.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. Since the second episode takes ce ten years after the first episode¡­Landius must have changed a lot, right?¡± ¡°He must have changed. I think he¡¯ll be in his 20¡¯s to 30¡¯s? Kamael covers his bare face with a mask, but their faces should be the same.¡± ¡°It gets me curious though.¡± Legend of Heroes 1¡¯s main characters, Landius and Kamael, were both outstandingly handsome guys. Kamael was an iparably handsome young man with a neutral beauty like Jude, while Landius was an orthodox good-looking guy with bold and intense facial lines like that of Maximilian, the main character of Legend of Heroes 2. The second episode takes ce ten years after the first episode. Kamael bes an executive of the Guardians of the Holy Cross and fights against numerous demons. In the midst of that, he became addicted to the demon¡¯s power itself and his appearance changed quite a bit. Surprisingly though, there were many fans who preferred his appearance in the second episode. ¡®Was it because it added¡­a beauty of corruption to him?¡¯ Jude scratched his chin as he turned his thoughts to Landius again. ¡°Well, it¡¯s something to look forward to.¡± Even when Kamael and all the protagonists of the first episode fell into despair in front of the mighty power of Baikazel, Landius was the man who obstinately stood up and gave everyone hope. In fact, Jude also liked Landius because he didn¡¯t talk very much. His heart was thrilled at the thought of meeting the real life Landius. ¡°We¡¯ll meet him tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, right? I¡¯m looking forward to it.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Jude responded with a nod and stood up as he said. ¡°We¡¯ll be having a difficult time, anyway, so let¡¯s get some sleep for tonight at least.¡± ¡°Oh, okay. Good night to you too.¡± ¡°Dream of me.¡± ¡°Yes, yes. I¡¯ll dream of you.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have a risqu¨¦ dream.¡± ¡°What is this crazy b*stard saying?¡± Cordelia left the balcony after their usual banter, and Jude looked back at the night sky. It was a much brighter moonlit night than usual. *** It was a deep, deep night that was nearing dawn when Jude opened his eyes. The reason he suddenly opened his eyes was simple. Boom! Jude woke up to the sound of an explosion and sprang up from the bed as he looked out the window where he heard the sound. The windows were broken thanks to the traps he had habitually installed earlier, which was triggered when an intruder came in. That intruder was a ck-masked man that was now groaning and bleeding on the balcony. It was an attack. At that moment, one thing came into Jude¡¯s mind. ¡°Cordelia!¡± The moment he equipped the knuckles on his bedside, two more masked men appeared on the balcony. And Jude realized it. ¡®The Devil¡¯s Hand!¡¯ The ones who failed in Langesthei attempted to attack them once again. Though this was quite troublesome. The fact that they¡¯ve attacked Jude¡¯s group even though they knew how much power Jude¡¯s side has could only mean that they¡¯ve sent enough troops to handle it. ¡®I wascent.¡¯ He thought that they wouldn¡¯t attempt a second attack because they had suffered a lot of damage in Langesthei. Each of the two maskedbatants held a small knife. Behind them, another masked man showed up. ¡®I have to avoid them.¡¯ It was a bad idea to deal with these people when he had no idea how many they were. He had to hurry up and join Cordelia first to ensure her safety. And at that very moment¡­ ¡°Jude!¡± The door exploded as a thunderous sound echoed into the air. And what appeared after was an iparably beautiful girl. No, it was a witch with a fluttering ckish red hair, dressed in a nightgown. ¡°Get out of here!¡± The moment Cordelia yelled at the masked people, two magic missiles quickly flew and hit the masked people. ¡°Jude! Come on!¡± He wanted to save her but ended up as the one being saved. However, the important thing was that they have joined up and are now together. Jude hastily ran from the bed as he asked Cordelia. ¡°What about Dahlia?¡± ¡°On the first floor! The knights said that they were having a drink together!¡± That was certainly possible. But the moment he heard Cordelia, Jude suddenly thought. ¡®A trap?¡¯ If you think about it, they were knights on an escort mission. It was an unreasonable for such knights like Dahlia and Jun, to go drinking with a ss or two in someone else¡¯s mansion. Even more when one considers the character of Sir Seornn, the leader of Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s escort knights. This could not have happened if perhaps, the Northern Viscount did not offer them drinks first. If so, there was one possibility. The Northern Viscount himself trapped them. It may be the Northern Viscount¡¯s own work, or some of his servants, but there definitely is someone who was in touch with the Devil¡¯s Hand! ¡°Let¡¯s go quickly!¡± Go to the first floor. To save Dahlia. ¡°Let¡¯s find Lucas before that!¡± It was Lucas and Cordelia that the Devil¡¯s Hand were after. Jude rushed out into the hallway, and Cordelia followed and asked. ¡°But what was that explosion?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°That sound of explosion!¡± She was asking about the sound of explosion in Jude¡¯s room. Jude shouted as he kicked on Lucas¡¯ door. ¡°It¡¯s a trap! I installed it on the windows every day!¡± ¡°Were you really a spy?¡± ¡°No!¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°There¡¯s no one!¡± Lucas¡¯ room was empty. But they didn¡¯t see any signs of an intrusion. ¡°The first floor?¡± Could it be that he slipped in the knights¡¯ drinking party? Or he went to the toilet? It didn¡¯t take him long to think, because they heard the sounds of fightinging from the first floor. ¡°Let¡¯s hurry!¡± ¡°!¡± At the moment Cordelia shouted, five magic missiles simultaneously formed and flew through the hallway. It headed towards the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯sbatants who had infiltrated through the window of Jude¡¯s room. ¡°You turned off the Witch Transformation?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t use it for a long time!¡± He understood then. Jude took the lead and started running, and they found their party on the side of the central staircase. ¡°Dahlia! Jun!¡± ¡°Miss!¡± ¡°Young master!¡± Dahlia and Jun answered at the same time. However, there were only the two of them and some knights. The other knights such as Sir Seornn and Dame Thilion, and above all, Lucas, were not visible. ¡°Where¡¯s Lucas?!¡± ¡°Outside!¡± That was the end of their conversation. More than a dozenbatants of the Devil¡¯s Hand poured in from all sides of the first floor and attacked the knights, and on the second floor,batants attacked and aimed at Jude and Cordelia. It was clear that at least dozens ofbatants were mobilized for this attack. ¡°Cordelia! Hold on to me!¡± Jude held Cordelia by her waist in a hurry as he kicked the ground and jumped down from the central staircase. And Cordelia hugged Jude¡¯s neck. But instead of screaming and going ¡®Kya!,¡¯ she stared at the back and fired magic missiles in session. Boom! Boom! Boom! Thud! The sound of the magic missiles exploding and the noise of Judending on the floor erupted simultaneously. Jude carried Cordelia and kicked the ground once again. ¡°Outside!¡± ¡°!¡± Cordelia, who was still in Jude¡¯s arms, formed a huge me arrow. The knights perfectly understood Jude¡¯smand and formed a wedge-type formation with the two in the center as they rushed towards the central entrance. Boom! The fired by Cordelia destroyed the front door and burned it. At the same time, arrows poured out from all sides. ¡°!¡± Count Chase¡¯s ring activated immediately. A translucent hemisphere wrapped around Jude and Cordelia, and the knights swung their swords in respond to the rain of arrows. ¡°Ack!¡± But it was impossible to stop all the arrows. Several arrows pierced the arms and shoulders of the knights. ¡°Dahlia!¡± ¡°Outside!¡± Cordelia screamed when she saw Dahlia with an arrow in her left thigh, but Dahlia promptly replied and moved forward. They had to get out of the mansion first before the next rain of arrows poured down. ¡°Valiant Charge!¡± Jun¡¯s body was suddenly enveloped in a subtle golden light when he shouted loudly. He then charged like a bullet towards the front door. It was ¡®Chivalry,¡¯ the magic of the knights. Papapapapapa! Arrows rained down on Jun who fiercely advanced, but the golden light caused most of the arrows to bounce or deflect. ¡°Ugh!¡± However, there were limitations. Jun who had charged forward, copsed and fell down. And Jude could see the outside. Lucas and his party were besieged and fighting against thebatants of the Devil¡¯s Hand! ¡°Lucas!¡± After passing through the front door, Jude put down Cordelia, and at that moment, Cordelia began to chant. She was going to use the witch¡¯s spells she learned from the witch¡¯s spell book. The knights who went through the front door in session set up a formation to protect Jude and Cordelia, and a shout was heard from Lucas. ¡°Mr. Bayer!¡± ¡°The enemy is the Northern Viscount!¡± At the time that Sir Seornn shouted¡­ Within a short moment, powerful magic flowed through the entire ce in front of the main entrance. Among those in this ce, it was Jude who instantly recognized the familiar magic while Cordelia was still in the middle of chanting. ¡°Magic circle!¡± It was simr. Just as Jude had prepared a magic circle in advance to fight against demonic human Minos, the Devil¡¯s Hand also prepared a trap. The light of the magic circle rose. The purple lines seemed to be intricately drawn on the ce, and it soon began to suppress everyone, including Jude. It was as if gravity had be several times stronger. ¡®!¡¯ As the name suggests, it was a magic circle that suppresses a group of people through the heavy pressure of gravity. Cordelia who was chanting the spell, fell down and screamed at the sudden pressure. The knights fell into a crooked posture as they were unable to move. ¡°Hahaha! You fools!¡± As Jude turned his gaze after hearing the stereotypical viin lines, the one who was hiding on the garden grounds finally appeared. It was the Northern Viscount. His face had a distorted look, as if his good face earlier had been a mask, and his eyes glowed red. ¡°It¡¯s over. Even if you break through the prepared , there is no hope for you.¡± When the Northern Viscount spoke in theatrics and waved his hand,batants of the Devil¡¯s Hand appeared not only in the garden but also in the mansion. At first nce, they numbered over thirty. Moreover, there weren¡¯t just ordinarybatants. ¡°We still can¡¯t let down our vignce against them because they¡¯re the ones who killed Minos, even if it was by chance.¡± A new demonic human emerged on the side of the Northern Viscount. Unlike the Northern Viscount who was only mentioned once, this new demonic human was a viin whose presence was revealed at the beginning of the original story. ¡®Demonic human Varus.¡¯ In the Devil¡¯s Hand, he was a demonic human equal to Minos. He was the demonic human in charge of transporting the kidnapped children of the 12 families to the ritual site. As opposed to Minos who used ice, he was a demonic human who used hellfire. ¡°Jude.¡± Cordelia groaned as she quietly spoke. There were two demonic humans and thebatants were close to forty, so even if there was no , they were all tough enemies to deal with. ¡®I believed in the original story too much.¡¯ Jude didn¡¯t think that the Northern Viscount was a demonic human. He also viewed the possibility of a second attack as too low. But it was all bted regrets. They had to first ovee their current crisis. ¡°I just need the children of the 12 families. Kill all the knights.¡± Thebatants ordered by Varus stepped into the magic circle. Thanks to the special engraving on their bodies, they were able to move freely in the magic circle. ¡°Jude.¡± Cordelia called Jude again. And at that point, Jude realized what Cordelia wanted to do. Make the witch¡¯s power run out of control. It was for a short time, but the released tremendous power would be enough to destroy the . But her method was close to self-destruction. There were still a lot of enemies even if they destroyed the , and more importantly, Cordelia would fall into a state of near death. Jude saw Cordelia, and Cordelia helplessly grinned. She closed her eyes and began to draw out the witch¡¯s power. Jude instinctively reached out to stop Cordelia. Because Jude knew. There was no way to ovee their current crisis. The fact that Cordelia¡¯s chosen method was the only solution she could offer to resolve their current crisis even though she knew the consequences. ¡®Bu-but suppose that¡­even if were so¡­even so¡­¡¯ As Jude was thinking, that suddenly happened. Bang! Boom! Boom! Boom! The terrifying and huge loud sound reverberated and instantly erased all the sounds in their surroundings. No, Cordelia¡¯s power did not run out of control. Even Cordelia, who was in the midst of drawing out the witch¡¯s power, opened her eyes in astonishment, and she saw the current scene. The scene of the night sky being torn. The scene of a red sh cutting through the darkness. ¡°What is that?¡± The moment she unconsciously spoke¡­ Baaang! A thunderbolt struck from the sky. A red sh came to the ground like a lightning bolt. Booom! The shockwave struck both the heavens and earth. A strong wind rose and pushed away the surrounding air. And the one who stood at the center of it all. A person with bright red hair. He was a man shining like the sun in the dark. Red me Landius. The warrior of the sun who never sumbs to any despair! However, Jude and Cordelia were puzzled by his appearance. It was not because of his dramatic entrance like those in the movies. ¡°¡°La-Landius?!¡±¡± 10 years after Legend of Heroes 1. His changed appearance that no one knew because he didn¡¯t even appear in the second episode. Landius was originally tall. He was close to a gigantic 190 cm. But now he was bigger than that. No, even if he was big, he was too big now. To put the case very mildly, he had be close to 2.3 meters without any difficulty. Landius¡¯ body was in good shape. He originally had a good body with broad shoulders that the yers gave him the nickname ¡®Captain Paragon.¡¯ But now, his body was good, or more like, it was too good. Even if he had broad shoulders, it was too broad now. Even though he had hard muscles, it was too hard now. He was indeed a moving body of steel. He was a gigantic existence. In the midst of this, his face was as handsome as it was in the first episode. His red hair fluttered in the wind like a lion¡¯s mane. His face remained the same, but his size almost doubled. Furthermore, he was not holding the Sr de he used in the first episode but was now bare-handed. ¡°Sir Landius!¡± Lucas cried out, and Landius had a manly smile. Landius loudlyughed as he roughly moved his foot. Thud! That was it. Just a single kick shook the earth¡¯s axis, creating dozens of cracks above the ground. The mana that was forming the magic circle was quickly scattered. ¡°Wh-what happened?¡± When Cordelia spoke, the demonic humans of the Devil¡¯s Hand moved. Combatants fired their crossbows at the same time to create a rain of arrows. And Landius saw it all. He struck the sky with his fist. It was like a st from an explosion. The surrounding air shook with the shock wave centered on Landius¡¯ strike and swept away all the flying arrows. ¡°Crazy! Die!¡± Varus eximed as he urgently shot a huge fireball. It was hellfire, created with his mana as a demonic human. Landius scornfullyughed at the fireballing towards him. He shouted out loud as if he didn¡¯t need to use his hand. ¡°Break!¡± His outrageous Qi-loaded cry was like the roar of a lion itself. The fireball was extinguished in an instant rather than burning Landius. It wasn¡¯t just Varus who was bewildered. Jude and Cordelia, as well as everyone on the mansion grounds, were in shock. His level of strength was truly convincing. Because Landius was the protagonist of the first episode. He was the super strong man who had defeated the Demon Prince with a human body that has now be stronger over the course of a decade. ¡®No¡­no way¡­to be like that¡­¡¯ At the time when even Jude was confused, Landius finally took a step. He crossed the space with a light step and swung his clenched fists. Bang! Bang! Bang! It burst out. It was not a special martial arts skill. Thebatants of the Devil¡¯s Hand exploded with his sheer fists. It was the result of the tremendous physical force his fists generated. It broke the sky and cut the ground. In the literal sense. Several punches that Landius exerted turned the thirty-somethingbatants into a handful of blood. He broke the arms and legs of thebatants by force alone, at a level that his violent blows made the air itself copse. It wasn¡¯t much different for the demonic humans. The Northern Viscountpletely lost his mind to the overwhelming power, and Landius easily seized him by his neck and decapitated him. Varus who was out of his wits also suffered a simr fate. The moment he turned his back to escape, Landius swung his fist. The fearsome air wave did not stop at cutting him into two but evenpletely crushed him. ¡°Weak ones. I don¡¯t even need to use a sword.¡± Landius mockinglyughed, and Jude and Cordelia thought. ¡®Wh-what is that. I¡¯m scared.¡¯ Pleiades was a world of superhumans. Just as the nickname of Yellow Storm was ¡®human storm,¡¯ it was also possible for a strong superhuman to face against hundreds or thousands of people. But even so, there was a limit. It was the difference between the game and reality. There was a difference between seeing in the monitor a warrior cutting dozens of monsters and seeing with his real eyes a person bursting from a punch. ¡®Duke¡­killed him?¡¯ That person? How? Isn¡¯t it more probable that Duke just picked up the Sr de that Landius threw away? While Jude blinked his eyes in surprise, Landius turned. He first looked at Lucas before turning his gaze towards Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Ho.¡± Landiusughed and began walking, while Cordelia unwittingly grabbed Jude¡¯s arm. Jude also hid Cordelia in his back and swallowed nervously. ¡®Something¡¯s not right.¡¯ The meeting with Landius that he and Cordelia thought of was different. No, it was also of what they thought Landius looked like. 2 meters and 30 centimeters tall. The giant¡¯s shadow, which was several timesrger than Jude in size,pletely covered Jude and Cordelia. Even though she had never been afraid when she faced against a demonic human, Cordelia¡¯s shoulders were now shaking, while Jude¡¯s breathing became rough. Landius squinted his eyes as he looked at Jude and Cordelia. He looked at Jude¡¯s whole body with a piercing gaze. ¡°You, Cheonmujiche.¡± A fierce smile spread on Landius¡¯ face. He raised his big hands. And Cordelia responded. Just like when they first met Leisegang, she naturally raised her mana. Jude also flinched as he tried to use the Thirty-Six World Steps, althoughte. But he realized then that Cordelia was just right behind his back. Landius¡¯ hand then grabbed Jude¡¯s shoulder. The aura rising from his whole body scattered Cordelia¡¯s mana at once. ¡®I¡¯m going to die.¡¯ Jude unconsciously thought at that moment. Landius opened his mouth and said something that Jude didn¡¯t even think of. ¡°Be my disciple.¡± ¡°¡­yes?¡± ¡°Be my disciple, boy with Cheonmujiche.¡± Landius of the Red me. The warrior of the sun. ¡°I will pass on to you the Gucheongumun (Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors).¡± Jude looked at Landius with a nk face, and Landius revealed a manly smile. Chapter 37: Ninth Heavens Nine Doors (1)

Chapter 37: Ninth Heaven''s Nine Doors (1)

This is one hrious chapter. Terms used in this chapter: Ninth Heaven ¨C this is the highest levelyer in heaven in Chinese cosmology. For more information on why the Chinese call it Ninth Heaven or their fascination for the number ¡®nine,¡¯ you can read more at this wuxiaworld forum post. Gucheongumun. The Ninth Heaven and Nine Doors. This wasn¡¯t the first time he had heard of it. ¡®I¡¯ve certainly heard of it before. But where?¡¯ He was certain that it was not a martial art technique that appeared in the first episode. It was when Jude tried to enter his Memory Pce out of habit. ¡°Ah!¡± Behind him, Cordelia suddenly eximed. Jude automatically looked at his back and Cordelia moved her lips to convey a silent message. He then understood when he read her lips. ¡®Third episode.¡¯ That was what Cordelia silently said. Thanks to her, he finally remembered. Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors was a fantasy martial art that appeared in the third episode, or to be more precise, in thest expansion pack of the third episode. ¡®It¡¯s simr to Nine Celestial Steps.¡¯ Its existence was known, but the martial art did not appear in the game. But now, rather than anyone else from the third episode, it was Landius, one of the main characters of the first episode, that had spoken of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. ¡®Did Landius learn it? Sometime in the past 10 years? Or perhaps Landius himself created that martial art?¡¯ Either way, it didn¡¯t matter to him for now. Just that it was clear that the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors was the highest in rank for that martial art skill tree, simr to Nine Celestial Steps. ¡°I¡¯ll say it for thest time, boy. Be my disciple. With your Cheonmujiche, you can learn the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors.¡± At Landius¡¯ words, Jude swallowed in excitement. He admitted it. His heart was pounding. Among the numerous rotten waters in Legend of Heroes, there was no one else who had the opportunity to learn and master that fantasy martial art skill, and this fact got him excited. Furthermore, he would be the disciple of the sun warrior Landius, his favorite character in the first episode. There was no way he¡¯d ever refuse that offer. ¡°Ha.¡± Landius smiled in satisfaction as he read the eyes of Jude, and soon, Jude opened his lips. He was about to say that he would be his disciple. But right at that moment¡­ ¡°Wa-wait a second!¡± Cordelia unexpectedly raised her voice while pulling Jude¡¯s arm. Because of that, everyone¡¯s gaze on Jude and Landius turned to Cordelia. Landius looked at her, seemingly wondering what was going on, and Cordelia herself was surprised at her actions and hesitated to open her mouth. It seemed like her voice popped out without her realizing it. ¡°Th-that¡­¡± ¡°Tell me, girl.¡± When Landius spoke magnanimously, Cordelia looked at Jude once and soon plucked up her courage as she spoke. ¡°That Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors¡­if he learns it¡­¡± ¡°If he learns?¡± ¡°Will Jude¡­get bigger?¡± Everyone went nk at Cordelia¡¯s timid question, but soon nodded in understanding. Because Landius was indeed abnormally huge. Even Jude, who just before was thrilled at the thought of bing Landius¡¯ disciple, was startled as he looked at Landius. He was definitely big. Extremely big. ¡°Hmm.¡± Landius touched his chin in amusement, and asked Cordelia again, who was hiding behind Jude¡¯s back. ¡°Girl, what is the rtionship between you and the boy with Cheonmujiche?¡± ¡°He¡¯s my¡­fianc¨¦.¡± ¡°Sure enough, it¡¯s something worth worrying about. Mm-hmm, it is a very important question. An important issue.¡± Landius nodded in understanding, and the knights sporadically cleared their throats as everyone¡¯s faces, except for Lucas, turned red. ¡°Huh? What¡¯s wrong with everyone?¡± ¡°Young master, for a moment.¡± Immediately after, Sir Seornn hastily pulled Lucas¡¯ hand. Landius happily gazed at thepletely red-faced Jude and Cordelia, and thenughed as he spoke. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, girl. It¡¯s not because of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors that I am huge.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not because of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors?¡± Cordelia blinked in surprise as she asked again, and Jude became surprised too, as he looked at Landius. Landius in the first episode was definitely around 190 centimeters tall. It was impossible for his growth period to suddenlye back in histe 20¡¯s, so it must have been due to some acquired cause. But if it was not due to the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, what other reason could it be? ¡°I have the blood of Giants flowing through my body. I used the Ancestral Regression technique to draw out the power of my ancestors.¡± ¡°Ancestral¡­Regression technique?¡± ¡°Yes, the Ancestral Regression technique. It¡¯s a technique to awaken the ancestor¡¯s physical and spiritual powers sleeping in the blood, and regress in a form simr to one¡¯s ancestor.¡± At Landius¡¯ exnation, the knights had faces expressing that they¡¯ve haven¡¯t heard of it, but not for Jude and Cordelia. This is because it was a technique that had appeared several times in Legend of Heroes 2. ¡®In the immediate future, Cordelia also wakes up her angelic blood through the Ancestral Regression technique.¡¯ That was why the two understood Landius¡¯ words. If the blood of the giant had been awakened through the Ancestral Regression technique, it would indeed make sense that Landius¡¯ size had greatly increased. ¡®I never thought that the blood of giants flowed in Landius.¡¯ Although it was a sudden character setting, it was understandable. Landius had an overwhelming physique from the start. ¡°That¡¯s why, girl, even if the boy with Cheonmujiche learns the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, he will not be as big as me. So don¡¯t worry.¡± ¡°Uh¡­yes, I see.¡± As Cordelia faltered and shut her lips tightly, Landius focused on Jude again. ¡°Now answer, boy with Cheonmujiche. Will you be my disciple?¡± A fantasy martial art called Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. A disciple of Landius, one of the main characters of the first episode. It was a very different development from the original story, but there was no reason for him to refuse it. To begin with, Jude¡¯s goal was to destroy the original ending and bring about a perfect happy ending. ¡®Will you do it?¡¯ ¡®I will do it.¡¯ Jude exchanged looks with Cordelia before looking up at Landius and finally replied. ¡°I will be your disciple, Master.¡± ¡°Ha, good. You are my disciple from today. So answer my questions, disciple.¡± ¡°Yes, master.¡± When Jude responded nervously, Landius asked with a magnanimous face. ¡°First of all, what is your name? How old are you? If you have a fianc¨¦e, are you a noble?¡± It was the most basic questions. Though they had be master and disciple, they had yet to mutually introduce themselves. With a dazed look on his face for a moment, Jude opened his mouth and answered the questions of his overly considerate master. *** The next morning. The group had spent the night in the now ownerless mansion of the Northern Viscount. There were opinions that it was still dangerous, but Landius¡¯ presence was the answer to all of their concerns. While preparing to leave in a hurry, they also delivered the news to Langesthei. The fact that a nobleman with a manor was a demon follower, and even became a demonic human, was a very serious matter. ¡°If we go by the standard procedure, we should stay here and cooperate with the investigation¡­but as there had been two attacks already, I think it¡¯s for the best to return to the count as soon as possible.¡± There was a second attack, so there could be a third attack. So it was best to return quickly when Landius was with them. Jude knew that Landius was traveling all over the continent in search of the archbishop Manu. Landius only epted the job this time because he also had to meet and deal with Count Hr?svelgr. So if they got dyed for a long time, he was more likely to leave. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s do that then.¡± Lucas replied to Sir Seornn before enviously looking at the carriage where Jude and Cordelia was in. ¡®I¡¯m really envious.¡¯ He wasn¡¯t talking about Jude having a perfect and harmonious teamwork with a fianc¨¦e that is an iparably beautiful girl. It was because of being Landius¡¯ disciple. Landius had the personality that Lucas longed for, as his visuals and strength seemed to have been torn from a heroic novel, and that Landius had demanded Jude first to be his disciple. That did not happen when he was with Lucas. ¡°Young master, Sir Landius¡¯ martial arts are of a form that cannot be mastered without having a special bodily constitution. It is not because of young master¡¯sck of talent. Landius himself didn¡¯t pay attention to that. If it¡¯s only the talent for the sword, young master is already on par with Ghostde Kamael.¡± ¡°Yes¡­yes, but¡­¡± He knew that. But he was still envious of what he highly desired. The training of Sir Landius. The training from the red-haired warrior. While Lucas stared at the carriage, Jude was lying at death¡¯s door. ¡°Aaa¡­ugh¡­aagh¡­haak¡­aaah¡­¡± Lying on a remodeled bed in the carriage, Jude wriggled his body and let out groans while Cordelia sat down at the bedside of Jude and took care of him. ¡°Does it hurt that much?¡± ¡°It hurts, f*ck. It f*cking hurts. I really think I¡¯m going to die. It wasn¡¯t even like this when I was in Afghanistan. Aa¡­aaaah¡­.¡± It was unlike the usual Jude as he uncontrobly kept popping out curses in just one day. No, it wasn¡¯t just a day but from the few hours of training in the middle of the night that made his whole body scream in pain. ¡®I have to leave again when we arrive at Count Hr?svelgr. I can¡¯t take you with me, so I¡¯ll teach you the basics while we go to the count¡¯s territory.¡¯ It was good so far. He fully understood that. But the training that followed was far beyond Jude¡¯s expectations. ¡°Ah, I didn¡¯t learn like this from my father¡­¡± There was quite a difference from when he learned Lightning Punch and Lightning Strike Fist. He would react like that because Landius overworked all the muscles of his whole body. It wasn¡¯t martial arts training, but some kind of physical training¡­ No, it felt more like physical abuse. Moreover, Landius made him do all possible exercises, or more like continuous abuse, by repeating adequate rest and training that is just right for Jude who didn¡¯t have enough physical strength yet because of his Gueumjulmaek. ¡°So¡­do you know exactly what the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors is?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, but¡­based on the training, it doesn¡¯t strengthen the body itself¡­aah, aaa¡­f*ck, it f*cking hurts. It hurts even if I stay still. Aagh¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t just say f*ck twice.¡± ¡°F*ck.¡± Their positions were reversed from their usual conversation when the door suddenly opened. ¡°Hmm, you look fine. It¡¯s Cheonmujiche, indeed.¡± When Landius spoke with a pleased face at the sight of Jude stretched out on the bed, Jude¡¯s soaring anger burst at that moment. ¡®Are you sane saying that I am fine!¡¯ Fortunately, he still held some degree of reason so he could only shout in his mind. Landius said as he nodded his head in satisfaction. ¡°Let your body rest until lunch. We¡¯ll start the training again every time the carriage stops. Ah, girl. Feed this to my disciple.¡± Landius took a pouch from his waist and threw it to Cordelia. When she opened the pouch, there were a lot of pills inside that were the size of a thumbnail. ¡°Physical¡­no, to be exact, those are pills that helps the muscles recover. From now on, feed those pills at the end of every training session. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Ah, yes.¡± ¡°All right, then see you at lunch.¡± Landius smiled refreshingly as he closed the door and left, and Cordelia turned to Jude with a face full of concern. ¡°Uh¡­umm¡­ Do you want to say ¡®Ah¡¯ first? I¡¯ll give you the pills. Ah~¡± Cordelia had somehow be so eagerly nice to Jude as she pretty much spoke in a gentle voice, and Jude trembled as he opened his mouth. And those unforgettable hellish days continued to Jude for five more days. *** ¡°Aagh¡­ugh¡­ugh¡­¡± On the sixth night after meeting Landius, Jude trembled and fell down in ce after having finished doing squats. ¡°Ma-master.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°M-my legs won¡¯t move¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯re right, your lower body needs to rest a bit now. So let¡¯s train your upper body now.¡± Landius wasughing ¡®hahaha¡¯ as he helped Jude sit in ce before handing him his handmade exercise equipment. ¡°Be quick. We don¡¯t have much time. You need to train your muscles during breaks too. Don¡¯t cry. You¡¯ll lose the water in your body.¡± As he trembled in various ways, Jude began working out his upper body. And after two hours like that, Jude hadpletely used all of his body muscles as he copsed while looking out of breath. ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s good. Repeat the entire training course even when I¡¯m not here in the future. Okay?¡± ¡°O-okay¡­¡± They¡¯ll be arriving at Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s territory tomorrow. ¡®It¡¯s liberation, I¡¯ll finally be free now.¡¯ Jude was flushed with tears, and Landius chuckled as he said. ¡°Don¡¯t be too sad, my disciple. I¡¯m only going to take care of some urgent business beforeing back to see your training. So stop those tears or you¡¯ll lose the muscles you¡¯ve gained.¡± Jude trembled instead of answering, and Landius continued his words. ¡°Now then, there¡¯s only one day left, so let¡¯s start the training for Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors.¡± ¡°Yes¡­what?¡± Jude asked as he looked up and raised his head, even if his body had copsed. What Landius said was too absurd. Start? Training for Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors? So what had he been doing so far? ¡°What is it? It¡¯s muscle training. My dear boy, you¡¯re too weak even without Gueumjulmaek. So work hard repeatedly to build up your body.¡± Landius clicked his tongue, and Jude had a stunned look as he blinked. Simple muscle training, not training for Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. When he thought about it, he agreed too. The training was so hard that he didn¡¯t properly think about it, but in retrospect, it was all pure physical training that had nothing to do with martial arts. It was also true that Jude was weak, even if he didn¡¯t have Gueumjulmaek. But, but even so! ¡®Fu-f*ck!¡¯ Fortunately again, Jude only shouted in his mind. Landius sat Jude upright as he spoke. ¡°From now on, I will teach you the mnemonic chant of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. Learn it by heart.¡± ¡°All I have to do¡­is memorize it?¡± ¡°For now, yes.¡± At that moment, Jude was mortified as a few tears came out of his eyes, but he decided to endure it for now. He had to learn the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s get started.¡± The mnemonic chant of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. Jude closed his eyes and focused on Landius¡¯ voice. A new memory was added to his memory pce. For a while, the mnemonic chant settled down at one point in Jude¡¯s head. It then naturally became one with Jude. And only then did Jude realize. Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors was not abat technique that consisted of attack and defense like Lightning Punch or God¡¯s Fist. However, it wasn¡¯t inner Qi cultivation either. Make nine doors to one¡¯s body and soul. Every time a door is opened, new possibilities are unlocked. All of these will lead the body and soul to reach a higher level. It is a soul training method that is a mixture of both martial arts and magic. It makes the soul evolve. Jude felt the location of the bottommost door as the door was created. The first door. It couldn¡¯t have been this fast originally. But his Cheonmujiche made it possible. In the first ce, Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors itself was one with Cheonmujiche. It was a martial art that could not be properly learned without having Cheonmujiche. Sweat poured down from Jude¡¯s whole body. He forgot the passage of time, and the first door was finallypleted after what felt like an eternity. And at that moment, Jude realized. One of the martial arts that Jude himself had reacted to the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. It advanced to a higher rank. ¡®Thirty-Six World Steps.¡¯ Jude¡¯s footwork technique. Can he reach the ultimate fantasy footwork technique, Nine Celestial Steps, by the end? But why? Why does the Thirty-Six World Steps respond to the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors? The first door opened. The first evolution began in the depths of Jude¡¯s body and soul. And at the same time, the Thirty-Six World Steps took on a new form. ¡®Twenty-Four Gale Steps.¡¯ Jude opened his eyes and faced Landius. Chapter 38: Ninth Heavens Nine Doors (2)

Chapter 38: Ninth Heaven''s Nine Doors (2)

I made one change to the previous chapter. Oral passages has been changed to mnemonic chant. The Korean words used had multiple definitions, but mnemonic chant made more sense in this chapter, so I changed it. ¡°Ju¡­ Ju¡­ De¡­ Ah? He heard a voice. However, he couldn¡¯t hear it properly because it was garbled. Perhaps it was Landius¡¯ voice. His sight returned though it was still blurry, and at that time, he clearly heard an audible voice near him. ¡°Jude? Are you all right? You okay?¡± ¡°Cordelia.¡± His sight became clear the moment he unwittingly spoke. He immediately saw the faces of Cordelia, whose white and pretty face was right in front of him, and Landius, who was looking down at him from a distance. ¡°Are you awake? Do you know how many these are?¡± When Jude suddenly spoke, Cordelia flinched but she soon waved two fingers with a joyful face. ¡°Two. Just like you.¡± ¡°What?¡± Cordelia growled but her eyes seemed to be smiling though. She seemed to be very happy that Jude had woken up. ¡®Did it take a long time?¡¯ Since he began memorizing the mnemonic chant of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, he no longer felt the passage of time. Judging by Cordelia¡¯s reaction though, it looked like a considerable amount of time had passed. ¡°You must be fine if you¡¯re whispering sweet words with the girl.¡± Clicking his tongue as he grinned, Landius approached him and Cordelia stepped aside. Landius spoke again. ¡°It seems to me that you¡¯re not yet aware of it, but it¡¯s been a day since you began memorizing the mnemonic chant.¡± ¡°A day?¡± ¡°Yes, a day. It was night when you closed your eyes, but it¡¯s still night, right?¡± Jude unthinkingly nodded before inspecting his body. Maybe because he was now aware of it, he felt that his whole body was weak and that he was hungry. ¡°That¡¯s why the girl came. Her fianc¨¦ whom she loved more than her life, has not woken up for the entire day, so she was suffering from a heartache¡­ isn¡¯t that right? That¡¯s what Lucas said.¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s right. Yes.¡± ¡°Uh¡­yes! I couldn¡¯t do anything because I was worried that my beloved Mr. Bayer hadn¡¯t opened his eyes for the whole day. Yes, that¡¯s right.¡± When Landius asked with narrowed eyes, both Jude and Cordelia answered quickly. However, Cordelia¡¯s answer was a problem, because as always, her acting was monotone. ¡°Hmm, okay. Moving on.¡± Luckily, the magnanimous Landius didn¡¯t care about such trivial stuff. Moreover, it was true that Cordelia was here because she was worried about Jude. ¡°Disciple, if my eyes are correct¡­you seemed to have opened the first door. Is that correct?¡± ¡°Yes, I think so.¡± Jude carefully answered as he ced his hand over the lower part of his belly. It was the ce where the first door was installed. Cordelia just looked at Jude¡¯s belly as she thought that nothing had changed, but it was a little different for Landius. He had a feeble smile as he looked dumbfounded, but soon burst out into a heartyugh. ¡°Sure enough, indeed. Is this the work of Cheonmujiche?¡± ¡°Master?¡± ¡°You¡¯re fast. It took me over a month to open the first door.¡± But Jude opened the first door in just one day. ¡°As expected¡­was the Cheonmujiche the divine inspiration of the transcendent beings¡­¡± Both Jude and Cordelia focused on what Landius muttered. The divine inspiration of the transcendent beings. Those were words that did not exist in both Legend of Heroes¡¯ first and second episodes. ¡°Master, what you called transcendent beings¡­¡± ¡°Yes, you have the qualifications. First¡­¡± Landius¡¯ words slurred at the end of his sentence as his gaze headed to Cordelia, and she flinched and then stood up from her seat. She thought that Landius was reluctant to talk because of her presence. ¡®Well, Jude will tell meter about it.¡¯ But then, Jude grabbed Cordelia¡¯s hand. ¡®Why?¡¯ Cordelia asked with her eyes, but instead of answering, Jude looked at Landius and said. ¡°Master, Lady Cordelia and I are no different from one body. Lady Cordelia also has the right to know about what happened to my body. Please let us hear it together.¡± ¡°Hmm, you¡¯re right. My disciple and the girl are engaged, so they¡¯re as good as one body.¡± ¡®No, it¡¯s not? Me and Jude are two different bodies, right?¡¯ Thest thought belonged to Cordelia, but only Jude could guess her thoughts by looking at her eyes. ¡°All right. I¡¯ll tell the girl the story too.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Uh¡­thank you.¡± For a moment, Cordelia was dazed but expressed her gratitude afterwards as she quietly sat down next to Jude. Landius began talking after sitting in front of the two. ¡°Disciple and girl. Do you know anything about the great monarchs of hell?¡± ¡°Uh¡­yes. Are your referring to the five great demons of hell?¡± When Cordelia said in response, Landius nodded. ¡°Yes, the five great demons. Asmodeus of lust, Belial of corruption, Belphegor of cruelty, Behemoth of violence, and Lilith of love and hate. But the truth is, the great monarchs of hell were originally seven, not five.¡± Jude and Cordelia also knew of this story. ording to the setting of Legend of Heroes, two of the original seven great monarchs had disappeared, leaving only five. ¡°A long time ago ¨C in what we call the ancient times, two of the seven great monarchs came down to the human world. Numerous human nations were destroyed by the two mighty demons, and some races even went extinct.¡± The High Dwarves, the higher race and ancestors of the current Dwarves, virtually went extinct, and the Elves lost their great empire, which was the most prosperous on the continent. ¡°All the races living on the continent joined forces to confront the demons¡­and after countless sacrifices, they were able to win.¡± They knew of this story up to this point. Ordinary people didn¡¯t know it well, but it was a story that was known to some knowledgeable wizards, schrs, and priests. ¡°If so, then who was it? Who were the people with transcendental powers that defeated the great monarchs?¡± Landius¡¯ gaze turned to the sky. He continued the story as if he was talking to himself, and not to Jude and Cordelia. ¡°I was curious about it. Because I thought that knowing who and how they defeated the great monarchs would greatly help in the future fight against the demons.¡± Unlike the Ghostde Kamael who joined the Guardians of the Holy Cross, Landius wandered all over the continent alone. ¡°After a long search, I was able to find a record in the ancient ruins where the Guardians of the Holy Cross first began. It was a record of the heroes who defeated the great monarchs.¡± Jude and Cordelia simultaneously swallowed in their excitement. This was the first time that the two had heard of this story. ¡°There were seven heroes, who were neither angels nor demons, but possessed divine powers. It was a really impressive formation. The dwarves¡¯ strongest warrior, the elven queen, the sun god Sri¡¯s champion, the best assassin of the continent, and so on¡­each and every one of them was worthy of the title of Great Hero.¡± And there was one of them that caught the interest of Landius. ¡°The transcendent being. The ancient guardians called them a transcendent being, whose name, age, and gender were unknown. And that being used a special martial art.¡± ¡°That¡­¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors.¡± Landius¡¯ gaze returned to Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Only the mnemonic chant remained. And the mnemonic chant wasn¡¯t perfect either. But I couldn¡¯t give up on the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors.¡± After having acquired an iplete mnemonic chant, Landius did not worry alone. Together with his formerrade, the Ghostde Kamael, they asked for help from their colleagues who defeated Demon Prince Baikazel. Each of them began their research and investigation on the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors and the heroes of the ancient times. ¡°The current Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors was restored by Kamael, me¡­and Lena together. And in the process, we concluded that we needed a special talent to fully master the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors.¡± There was no need to say what it was. Cheonmujiche. The manifestation of martial arts talent from the heavens. ¡°In thest thousand years, fewer than ten have been born with Cheonmujiche. So I was on the verge of giving up¡­until I met you.¡± That was why Landius told him to be his disciple, even without having introduced themselves first. Jude and Cordelia were thrilled by the story that was muchrger than they thought. The two looked at each other, and Cordelia opened her mouth first. ¡°Um¡­Landius. What kind of martial arts is the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors specifically?¡± ¡°It is a martial art that allows the body and soul to rise to a higher level. Well, to put it simply, to be a being that transcends humans ¨C it¡¯s a way to be a transcendent being.¡± Jude nodded at Landius¡¯ words. Because he had felt it during the process of opening the first door. ¡°Jude, what changed happened when you opened the first door?¡± ¡°It felt like my soul expanded. My body too¡­I think it got better.¡± The simple story about the soul and such came suddenly, but his body did actually get better. Landius nodded his head. ¡°As its name suggests, Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors consists of nine doors. Every time a door is opened, one bes closer to the transcendent being, and the body and soul itself are reinforced. Many different abilities also appear as an additional effect.¡± ¡°Abilities?¡± ¡°Yes, opening the fifth door gave me the ability to see through things.¡± Landius said, and Jude peeked at Cordelia and she narrowed her eyes. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°No, just¡­¡± Landius cheerfullyughed. ¡°It can only be used when the door is opened, and it is very obvious too. When you open the fifth door, a red energy rises like a me, so if you use the ability to see through, other people can tell with their eyes.¡± ¡°That¡¯s too bad.¡± As Jude sighed, Cordelia¡¯s eyes narrowed at him. ¡°The doors are always open up until the fourth door. From the fifth door and above, the doors are only opened whenever it is necessary. It¡¯s because after the fifth door, the burden on the body is so great that it is difficult to maintain it for a long time.¡± It was a convincing story. ¡°I have opened up to the seventh door. In fact, I turned towards the Ancestral Regression technique to get a clue on how to open the eighth door.¡± Landius, who had talked so far, suddenly had a generous smile as he stood up and said. ¡°The only one who can open the doors of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors is the one who has it. That is why there is nothing more that I could teach you about the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. I can only give you a bit of advice. Ah, of course, that doesn¡¯t mean that I won¡¯t be a teacher. What I can teach you about are a lot of things besides the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors.¡± As he finished his rather long talk, Landius unted his muscles to Jude, while Jude unconsciously flinched when he realized what other things Landius could teach. There was silence for some time. Jude soon regained his reason as he likewise stood up and said. ¡°Master, I have something to tell you.¡± ¡°What is it? Do you think you¡¯re having muscle loss after sitting around all day?¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s not it¡­it¡¯s about the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors.¡± In response to the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, the Thirty-Six World Steps had advanced a rank. ¡°It¡¯s a martial art that I identally got from a Dungeon Book¡­¡± As Jude talked about the Thirty-Six World Steps, Landius¡¯ eyes became very serious. ¡°It responded to the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors¡­so perhaps, the Thirty-Six World Steps is also a martial art of the transcendent being that you¡¯ve mentioned.¡± It was a possible story. Nine Celestial Steps and Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. The fantasy martial arts whose existence itself was unclear. ¡°Okay, then tell me more about it.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°The Thirty-Six World Steps.¡± Landius said in his most excited tone. He really wanted Jude to teach him about it right now. ¡°Uh¡­I understand. It would take some time to tell you both the movement and the mnemonic chant, so I¡¯d like to share a story before that.¡± ¡°What is that?¡± Jude turned to Cordelia for a moment rather than answering right away. ¡®Are you going to tell him now?¡¯ ¡®Now is the only time to do so.¡¯ For six days, hepletely forgot about it because he underwent a hellish physical training, but their original purpose of meeting Landius was not to learn the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. Saving the life of Landius. Warning him on how to deal with Duke. ¡®The question is¡­will it be necessary though?¡¯ Frankly, the current Landius doesn¡¯t seem like he¡¯ll be killed and die if Duke tries to kill him. But there was still a chance. There was nothing to lose in telling him. ¡°This is a story when we met the witch¡¯s soul in the witch¡¯s forest.¡± After the Fairy Queen, it was now the witch¡¯s soul. What if an ancient witch left a prophecy about Landius? Will he be able to verify it? How would he do it? ¡°The witch¡¯s soul said that a great danger would befall the sun warrior we would meet in the future. The danger is that there is a high chance of being poisoned by the red scorpion¡¯s poison, so they shouldy down preventive measures topletely prepare for it.¡± Duke was someone who often uses poison. In particr, the red scorpion¡¯s poison that he used was a poison so deadly that even a graze could kill a person. ¡°Hmm¡­I see. I¡¯ll prepare an antidote then.¡± Jude was worried that Landius would just snort, saying that he was not afraid of poison, but Landius unexpectedly epted Jude¡¯s story seriously. ¡°Well, are you done with your story then?¡± Jude looked at Cordelia at Landius¡¯ question, and she swallowed once before raising her hand to ask. ¡°Sir Landius, may I ask you just one thing?¡± ¡°Ask, girl.¡± ¡°That¡­didn¡¯t you originally use a sword? Like the Sr de or something.¡± One of the reasons why Landius is called the warrior of the sun is because of the Sr de. Landius heartilyughed at Cordelia¡¯s question. ¡°I still use it now. I just don¡¯t use it to train myself.¡± ¡°Training?¡± ¡°Yes, Kamael said that. When you understand the principles, you can use swordsmanship without a sword.¡± It was the so-called intangible sword or the heart of the sword, a state which one reaches when their sword art is above a certain level. But isn¡¯t it more like Landius is using fist-fighting techniques now rather than using swordsmanship without a sword? ¡°Uh¡­so you don¡¯t use a sword?¡± ¡°I¡¯m testing this and that.¡± ¡°Uh¡­yes.¡± With that, their questions were solved. Given that he talked about the Sr de, the treasured item of the Paragon Kingdom, he seemed to still have it. ¡®So that¡¯s it, right?¡¯ ¡®Just¡­for now?¡¯ It would be strange to ask him to show to them the Sr de here. As Jude and Cordelia exchanged nces, Landius smiled as he found them cute, and then he said. ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s good then. It looks like the story is over. Now then, Thirty-Six¡­no, wait. I was so excited that I forgot something important. I¡¯m still not good enough.¡± Landius abruptly stopped his words and reproached himself, before looking over Jude¡¯s whole body and saying. ¡°Eat your meals first. It¡¯s focused on protein. Since you haven¡¯t eaten all day, let¡¯s fill you in with nutrients first, before learning about the Thirty-Six World Steps. When you starve and lose weight, you lose your muscles before your fat.¡± Because muscles are precious. At the urging of Landius, Jude began to eat. The menu was chicken breast meat. Chapter 39: Count Hr?svelgr

Chapter 39: Count Hr?svelgr

Long chapter today. Tranting the first part of this chapter was torture because of that info dump, but the ending of this chapter made it all worth it, hahaha. There were three protectors in the S?len Kingdom. The Knights of the Golden Lion protected the Ctes ins, which has been the biggest battleground against the Argon Empire for generations. The invincible fleet of the 7 southern families dominated the southern waters. And thest one was the Jackdaw Brigade, which blocked the northern barbarians for over the past 300 years. ¡°The Northern Margrave is the head of the Jackdaw Brigade, and Thunderdoom Fortress is the nest of the Jackdaws.¡± If the Knights of the Golden Lion were the king of pitched battles on the ins, the Jackdaw Brigade were experts in fortress defense. The Jackdaw Brigade have always had 10,000 people at all times and built numerous legends together with the Thunderdoom Fortress. In the great invasion 150 years ago, ck Eagle, the legendary chieftain of the barbarians, led more than 150,000 troops against the 10,000 troops of the fortress. Despite the fact that the enemies were ten times more than their own troops, the Count Bayer of that time not only stopped the overwhelming enemies seven times, but also made a record of beheading the enemy ¡®Wild Lion.¡¯ However, Count Bayer was killed, and this great invasion was called the ¡®Tragedy of the Jackdaws.¡¯ ¡°If you live in the north, always thank the Jackdaws. They are the ones protecting your life, your family, and your loved ones.¡± Those statements weren¡¯t wrong, because many northerners do harbor feelings of goodwill and gratitude to the Jackdaw Brigade. And it was when the Count of Hr?svelgr became the margrave, that such feelings of pride and dignity truly reached its peak. Thunderdoom Fortress was not only the nest of the Jackdaws but was also the ce where the Count of Hr?svelgr, ¡®The First Jackdaw,¡¯ lived. ¡®The situation feels delicate now that I¡¯vee here.¡¯ Jude himself was a man from the Bayer family. 50 years ago, the head of the Jackdaws was the Count of Bayer. It was a time before the current Count Bayer was born, and only a few people, including the old knight Victor Cromwell, remembered the days when the Bayer family was a Jackdaw. Moreover, the former Count Bayer was not so much talented in the sword, which was unlike the current Count Bayer, who was such a powerful swordsman that he ranked among the top ten swordmasters of the S?len Kingdom. The current Count Hr?svelgr was also one of the ten swordmasters so it was inevitable that a delicate rivalry rtionship was formed between the two. Well, it didn¡¯t matter to Jude what the actual thoughts between the two counts were. ¡®I only came here because I needed to, and as for Lucas¡­he is someone who¡¯s truly pure of heart.¡¯ In the first ce, it was Lucas who invited him here, and Jude had readily epted it. Of course, Cordelia was also here because she had clung to her beloved fianc¨¦, insisting that she would follow him. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°No, I just suddenly felt like I¡¯ve lost.¡± Cordelia tilted her head in confusion, sniffing as she replied to Jude, and Jude inwardly admired her. ¡®She¡¯s Yellow Storm indeed.¡¯ Her senses were really sharp that she could somehow sense what Jude was thinking of her. ¡®Moving on¡­¡¯ Jude looked at the front again. The group had not actually arrived at the Thunderdoom Fortress. Lucas and Jude¡¯s destination from the very beginning was right here, the trading city of Vedrfolnir, located at the entrance of Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s territory. ¡®Because the Thunderdoom Fortress is literally a fortress.¡¯ So the count¡¯s mansion couldn¡¯t be inside the fortress. Thus, while Count Hr?svelgr almost lived in the Thunderdoom Fortress, his family settled in Vedrfolnir, the most developed city in the Hr?svelgr territory. ¡°My disciple, I¡¯ll be parting with you for a while here.¡± Landius strode over as he said. He was originally on the move to meet Count Hr?svelgr, so he was now going to part with them here and head to the Thunderdoom Fortress. ¡°Disciple, don¡¯t show your tears. Tears are useless¡­¡± ¡°Because it causes muscle loss?¡± ¡°Yes, the time I taught you was short, but you learned really well. That¡¯s Cheonmujiche, indeed.¡± With a satisfied face, Landius heartilyughed and then patted Jude on his shoulder. ¡°But don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll meet you again after I¡¯ve met with Count Hr?svelgr and dealt with some urgent matters. It¡¯ll be a few monthster when we see each other again.¡± ¡°Yes, master. I look forward to the day of our reunion.¡± ¡°Yes, and don¡¯t forget to exercise. Be healthy and let¡¯s meet again.¡± Landius tapped on Jude¡¯s shoulder before turning to Cordelia. ¡°Girl.¡± ¡°Yes, Sir Landius. ¡°Please take good care of my disciple and do what I asked you to.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Cordelia modestly answered and Landius heartilyughed again. Jude had a curious look on his face as he stared at Cordelia. ¡®What did he ask you to do?¡¯ ¡®Please replenish him with a protein diet every day.¡¯ When they had their usual conversation with just their eyes, Landius looked at them happily. ¡°What a nice and loving couple. They¡¯re indisputably soulmates.¡± ¡°I think so, too.¡± Lucas, who had been somehow trying to get involved in their conversation, cut in when he got the chance. Unfortunately, the conversation had already reached its end. ¡°My disciple, I look forward to seeing you again. May the muscles always be with you.¡± ¡°Ma-master too.¡± Jude awkwardly smiled as he couldn¡¯t say the same about muscles being with him. Landius heartilyughed again and lowered his posture. ¡°Then, disciple, girl, Lucas, and the others! May you be healthy until the day we meet again!¡± Boom! Landius kicked the ground and soared up. A dozen meters ¨C no, he soared at almost tens of meters high, and then he kicked again into the air and became the red sh that they saw on the first day. Boom! Boom! Boom! They didn¡¯t hear it wrong. That was the sound of Landius tearing through the air as he soared up the sky. ¡°Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!¡± They nkly stared at the sky for a few seconds while listening to the faint sound of Landius¡¯ughter. Cordelia was the first to open her mouth. ¡°He alone¡­is in a different genre¡­¡± ¡°¡­I agree.¡± Jude strongly agreed as he looked far at the northern sky. *** ¡°You must have umted a lot of fatigue from traveling, so take a good rest for today. If there is something youck or need, please tell us right away. You don¡¯t have to feel burdened about it.¡± ¡°Thank you, Lord Lucas.¡± ¡°Thank you very much.¡± After Lucas guided them directly to the guest rooms, he smiled and left. Jude and Cordelia ate, took a bath, and had a break before having their alone time together as usual. ¡°They¡¯re surprisingly cooperative.¡± ¡°Well¡­we¡¯ve already spent so much time alone together. It must be a routine for the knights now.¡± It was at a level where the knights left the two alone now even though they haven¡¯t said anything yet. Moreover, the phenomenon elerated further after Dahlia returned to Count Chase¡¯s territory because of her injury. They didn¡¯t have any knights closely attached to them now. ¡°Doing that is good, but do you really have to do that now?¡± ¡°It¡¯ll be over soon. I¡¯ll just do one more set.¡± After exercising every day for the past six days, it had be awkward for Jude to not continue his daily exercises. ¡®Disciple, remember. All the strength of a manes from a stable and strong lower body. It is alreadymon sense that the circumference of the thigh is directly proportional to one¡¯s lifespan.¡¯ Jude wanted to ask whosemon sense was that, but he did agree to the fact that training the lower body was important. ¡®Because a person is an animal that stands on the ground with both feet after all.¡¯ The whole body was stable only when the lower body was stabilized, and the whole body had to be stable in order to move the body properly. ¡°Ah, it¡¯s hot. I¡¯m sweating.¡± Cordelia wrinkled her nose as she spoke. She was making a special juice with the help of magic. It was what Landius asked for before he left. ¡°But you must have gotten a lot better with your Gueumjulmaek. You can now exercise that long.¡± ¡°I think the physical part has somehow been solved. It¡¯s also thanks to the opening of the first door.¡± After having finished his squatting exercise, Jude took a deep breath and received the juice from Cordelia. ¡°Look forward to it. Once my Gueumjulmaek is healed, I¡¯ll carry you, cross over the wall, and care for you. I¡¯ll even do all of it as a set.¡± ¡°What is this crazy bastard saying?¡± After their usual exchange, the two sat facing each other and started talking seriously. ¡°Well, we¡¯vee all the way here, so let¡¯s organize our future schedule.¡± ¡°First of all, is our top priority the Sunflower?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, because the Sunflower will bloom in the next 15 days.¡± As legend has it, the Sunflower was a flower that bloomed only once every twenty years and fell on the third day. ¡°We have to get the timing right.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll have to leave in a week at thetest.¡± They had to consider the time to get to Frost Anvil, and the time to travel through all kinds of obstacles to get to the ce where the Sunflower is located. ¡°Eating the Sunflower will almost cure my Gueumjulmaek. In addition, I can also get my hands on a special constitution.¡± ¡°What did you get when you ate it as Jude?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, because I haven¡¯t eaten it when I yed as Jude. It was physically impossible then.¡± Jude¡¯s main scenario happens a yearter after Cordelia and Lucas. When Jude¡¯s scenario began, it was after the Sunflower had already wilted. ¡°Hmm¡­if Cordelia eats it, it will damage her body instead.¡± The Yang energy¡¯s extreme energy was like a poison to ordinary humans. ¡°You¡¯ve be a witch. So it¡¯s my turn this time.¡± ¡°What about the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors?¡± ¡°That¡¯s that.¡± ¡°I hate you.¡± Jude sneakilyughed at Cordelia¡¯s words, and said as he raised his palms as if to calm her down. ¡°But I¡¯m not going to let it go after all. Just as I got the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors this time¡­there¡¯s no rule that says that we have to move ording to the original story.¡± Cordelia tilted her head at Jude¡¯s words, but soon understood it. She spoke with a smile on her face. ¡°Ancestral Regression technique.¡± If Jude was born with Cheonmujiche, Cordelia was born with the very strong blood of a high-ranking angel. Therefore, just as Landius acquired the power of a giant through Ancestral Regression technique, Cordelia could also gain the power of an angel. ¡°It¡¯s an event that only takes ce after the middle part of the original story, but¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have to wait until then?¡± ¡°Exactly. Because I¡¯m here.¡± The Ancestral Regression technique required a very special magic circle and various materials, but the problem of the magic circle could be solved right now. It was proudly stored in Jude¡¯s memory. ¡°JudeWiki is the best. It¡¯s really convenient.¡± ¡°Please use it anytime, ma¡¯am.¡± Jude did an old-fashioned bow like those in ys, and then spoke to Cordelia who wasughing lightly. ¡°But, as you know, you have to collect the ingredients first. Do you know the materials necessary for the Ancestral Regression technique?¡± ¡°I have JudeWiki, so do I have to know?¡± ¡°That¡­you¡¯re right, but do you know though?¡± ¡°I know it. You¡¯re talking about that now, right? The most important material that cannot be reced and varies for each Ancestral Regression target.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± The Ancestral Regression technique was a ritual to awaken the power of the ancestors hidden in the blood, which is the way to go through the soul. And in order to make the ritual a sess, they needed the blood of the target ancestor. ¡°Landius must have conducted the ritual with the blood of a giant. Though he had to go to a remote area to find the giants, it wasn¡¯t that difficult as he could still meet them.¡± But Cordelia was different. She needed the blood of an angel. ¡°Uhhh¡­is there any way to get the angel¡¯s blood early on?¡± ¡°It didn¡¯t exist in the original story, but it should still be possible now.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not¡­ Ah! Lena!¡± She is one of the five main characters in the first episode of Legend of Heroes and is the only woman among the main characters. In the original story, Jude or Cordelia never met her, let alone prevent her death. But this time, it was different. There were two people who nned to meet her in person and save her life. And Lena had the blood of an angel. At the end of the first episode of Legend of Heroes, she was awakened as an angel through the Ancestral Regression technique. ¡°As expected, it¡¯s Lena. We must get it. By all means.¡± ¡°Yes, but we don¡¯t even know where she is right now, so we would only be able to get it at the right time period that we know.¡± There have already been many changes due to the butterfly effect, but Lena¡¯s death event takes ce in the barbard beyond the borders. Like the Sunflower, it was an event that urred in conjunction with a special event with a fixed time period, so it was highly likely to proceed as scheduled. ¡°Then, let¡¯s sort them in order.¡± ¡°Okay. First of all is the Sunflower event.¡± ¡°After obtaining the Sunflower, we will work on twisting the main scenario, ¡®The Northern Barbarians¡¯ Great Invasion,¡¯ from its very roots.¡± ¡°I think I know what you¡¯re thinking.¡± ¡°Oh, really?¡± ¡°Really.¡± Cordelia was the second ce in the server rankings after all. Jude cheerfullyughed and said. ¡°Yes, in the middle of our work on the main scenario, we will save Lena and get the angel¡¯s blood.¡± Then Jude himself will carry out the Ancestral Regression technique to awaken Cordelia as an angel. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to for it to happen.¡± When one awakens as an angel, wings made up of light are formed and it bes possible to fly. ¡°Give me a ride when you awaken.¡± ¡°What is this crazy bastard saying? What are you talking about?¡± ¡°Moving on.¡± ¡°Moving on?¡± ¡°Yeah, moving on¡­in order to do that, we have to first finish the Sunflower event well. One of the materials needed for the Ancestral Regression technique can be found in Frost Anvil.¡± ¡°That¡¯s killing two birds with one stone.¡± ¡°Yes, we achieve two things by just going to Frost Anvil.¡± And as usual, the two then quickly began to make detailed ns for their future schedule. But during the next afternoon, an emergency report from Thunderdoom Fortress threw all their ns into the gutter. ¡°Because we¡¯ve been attacked¡­twice.¡± There had been two attacks from the demon followers that aimed at the children of the 12 northern families. What was even more problematic was the fact that only Jude, Cordelia, and Lucas were attacked for the second time. ¡°Fortunately, Lady Sylvia, Miss Vi, Lord Felix, and Count Dahut¡¯s male twins were not attacked.¡± Some of them had already arrived home, like Count Dahut¡¯s twins, but there were some who weren¡¯t attacked even though they were on the way home, like Sylvia and Felix. And these facts only suggested one thing. ¡®The target of the Devil¡¯s Hand were the three children ¨C Jude, Cordelia, and Lucas ¨C or at least, one of them.¡¯ Therefore, Count Hr?svelgr gave a strict order to Lucas when he returned home. ¡®Stay quietly at home. With the guests.¡¯ Upon hearing Lucas¡¯ entire exnation, Cordelia urgently turned to Jude, who cautiously asked. ¡°Then, Lord Lucas¡­what about the Sunflower?¡± ¡°My father said that he would give a separate order to his subordinates in finding the Sunflower. But before that¡­he said that a major search for the Devil¡¯s Hand was necessary first.¡± At Lucas¡¯ words, Jude and Cordelia looked back at each other again. ¡®Is this for real?¡¯ ¡®Yes, I think it is.¡¯ ording to Lucas, the search operation for the Devil¡¯s Hand must bepleted first before they begin the work for the Sunflower. However, if this happens, there was a high possibility that they would miss the Sunflower¡¯s blooming period. Moreover, if Jude and Cordelia do not directly go to Frost Anvil, the necessary materials for the Ancestral Regression technique would not be obtained. ¡°If we¡¯re in Vedrfolnir, we¡¯re free to go out because my father gave us his permission¡­so, would the two of you like to go sightseeing around the city together?¡± Lucas sweetly offered with an apologetic face. ¡®What should we do?¡¯ ¡®Let¡¯s get out of this one first.¡¯ The two made up their minds and came up with a n without any further discussion. ¡°I understand your concerns well. Thank you for your kindness, Lord Lucas.¡± ¡°It¡¯s our first time in Vedrfolnir, so I¡¯m very excited. I look forward to working with you tomorrow.¡± When Jude and Cordelia responded with a smile instead of disappointment, Lucas became visibly relieved and then continued. ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll be in charge and guide the two of you around Vedrfolnir¡¯s attractions. It¡¯ll be fun. By all means.¡± ¡°I look forward to it.¡± ¡°My heart is already pounding.¡± Cordelia smiled while lightly pressing on her chest, and Lucas unconsciously blushed and hastily said. ¡°Um, then I¡¯ll go now to prepare for tomorrow¡¯s tour. Please have a good rest.¡± ¡°See you tomorrow.¡± ¡°See you tomorrow, Lord Lucas.¡± Jude and Cordelia acted like a married couple as they warmly received Lucas¡¯ offer, and Lucas immediately left the room with a bright face. ¡°Hey, what should we do? If we agree to this, we¡¯ll be stuck in this ce.¡± It was as Cordelia had said. If they followed Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s orders and went sightseeing around Vedrfolnir, they wouldn¡¯t be able to save Lena, as well as get the Sunflower. ¡°I can¡¯t help it. We have no choice but to do that.¡± ¡°That? Is there something we can do?¡± ¡°You know, the usual solution.¡± Jude seriously spoke as he ced his two hands over Cordelia¡¯s shoulder and gave her a deep and quiet look. ¡°Wh-what is it? Why are you looking like that?¡± ¡°Cordelia, do you trust me?¡± ¡°What is this crazy bastard sa-¡± Her words were cut off. Cordelia realized it at that moment. What the usual solution that Jude had mentioned was. Moreover, Dahlia wasn¡¯t here right now. ¡°F*ck.¡± Cordelia cursed, and Jude took out the stationery. *** ¡®I¡¯m going on a honeymoon trip with my beloved Mr. Bayer. We¡¯ll be back in a few days, so please don¡¯t bother looking for us, okay?¡¯ A letter was found on the bed of Cordelia¡¯s room the next morning. It was obviously written by Jude and Cordelia, but by that time, the two had already run off. Chapter 40: Honeymoon (1)

Chapter 40: Honeymoon (1)

Ten hours before Cordelia¡¯s letter was found in Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s guest room. Cordelia ced the stationery on the bed and pouted. ¡°But you know¡­¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Why does it have to me again?¡± When they jumped off the cliff in the middle of the Belkain Mountains, when she said that she wanted to go to Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s territory with him, and now, they were eloping¡­no, they were just running away together, or more like they just want to get out of here. ¡°Well, that¡¯s how it is.¡± ¡°That what?¡± Cordelia asked as her eyes narrowed. If there was no good reason, the look in her eyes seemed to clearly say that he should be prepared for the consequences. Because of that, Jude unconsciously gulped, but soon said with a cunning smile. ¡°Cordelia, imagine it in your head. There¡¯s a beaker full of ink, and there¡¯s a ss rod.¡± ¡°I¡¯m imagining it.¡± ¡°Yes, now dip the ss rod into the beaker and then take it out. What will happen then?¡± ¡°The ss rod will turn ck, right?¡± It¡¯ll be covered in ink. ¡°Yes, then dip it in one more time and take it out. What will happen again?¡± ¡°It¡¯s still ck, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°That¡¯s correct.¡± ¡°That¡¯s no-¡­f*ck?!¡± ¡°I mean, the first offense stood out in the past, so if we do it three or four more times¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s all you wanted to say? You¡¯re all talk!¡± The enraged Cordelia began to seriously smack Jude¡¯s back with her palm. ¡°Hey! It hurts! It really hurts!¡± ¡°It hurts when I hit you? Really?¡± Cordelia, who had been pping Jude¡¯s back, tried to kick Jude¡¯s shin, but he was faster. Pak! Twenty-Four Gale Steps. At that moment, there was a gust of wind as Jude¡¯s foot became blurred, and Cordelia¡¯s kick only hit the air. ¡°Hey! What dirty trick are you using to avoid it? Is that your new skill?¡± ¡°It hurts when I get hit, okay?¡± Cordelia¡¯s hand was more painful than he thought. As Jude shifted his position with an urgent look on his face, Cordelia sighed and said as she ced her hands on her hips. ¡°Anyway, this is extremely embarrassing.¡± ¡°But you¡¯re pretty much used to it now¡­ah, no! It¡¯s not something to get used to.¡± Jude cowered and Cordelia sighed again, then approached Jude and asked. ¡°By the way, what were you nning to do?¡± It doesn¡¯t end with just simply leaving Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s territory. They had to prepare many things for their journey to Frost Anvil. And the Jude that Cordelia knew was not a man who acted without any ns. ¡°First, we ought to be prepared. Measures to protect against the cold are necessary, and in order to get out of Vedrfolnir safely, we need a way to cross the city walls, horses for the two of us, and various travel supplies.¡± It was a reasonable n. But there was a problem. ¡°We don¡¯t have any money.¡± The money from home had already been spent on hiring wizards at Langesthei. The money that Count Chase gave them when they left Langesthei had almost been spent because they bought various kinds of equipment. Moreover, money was not their only problem. It was midnight now. There was only one business type that was open even after the sun sets, which was the entertainment district where one can enjoy various kinds of entertainment, such as drinking and gambling. They didn¡¯t have the time to wait until morning too. The time Lucas gave to Jude and Cordelia for their tour was only a few hours ahead. ¡°So,e closer.¡± ¡°You¡¯re doing it again. It¡¯s just the two of us here in the first ce.¡± ¡°Well¡­it¡¯s the mood.¡± ¡°Regardless of the mood¡­¡± Cordelia grumbled but she soon got closer to Jude and brought her ears closer. And after a while, a bright smile spread over Cordelia¡¯s face when she heard Jude¡¯s words. *** Mick was a professional crook. His specialty was marriage fraud. With his natural-born handsome face, flowerynguage and eloquence that he gained through years of training, he specialized in wheedling innocent virgins and widows suffering from loneliness. And he was now thrown down and being trampled by an iparably beautiful girl. ¡°H-how did you know where I am-!¡± ¡°From the victims of fraud ¨C among them, you can get clues by talking to the redhead, Marybelle. There was also the neighborhood rascal he picked a fight with on the day he first met Mick. The name of that neighborhood scoundrel was Vic. If you look a little around the back alleys of Vedrfolnir, you can meet him, and when you beat him, he tells an interesting story about Mick. Of course, that alone doesn¡¯t tell Mick¡¯s whereabouts. Mick is a shrewd guy. But it doesn¡¯t mean he has very little ie. Marriage fraudsters do not stay in one ce for long, and Mick is one of the few guys who came from another ce. Of course, these guys need the help of the locals in order to adapt to the city. Vic is the guy who teaches him how to contact the locals. The local¡¯s name is Kaal. Insane Knife Kaal. Now then, if you grill Kaal, he will tell you about Mick. Where he came from, and where he is now. But it takes too long to go through all of that process, so I just straight up came here.¡± Listening to that long story stupefied the minds of those present there. And Cordelia spoke with a dizzy expression. ¡°JudeWiki is weird.¡± ¡°The important thing is that we caught him.¡± After hearing Cordelia¡¯s words, Jude squatted in front of Mick, whose head was on the floor, and spoke. ¡°If you catch Mick, you have two choices. One is to put him in jail, and the other is to continue the new linked quest. Vedrfolnir is a bustling city, and like a thriving city, a lot of criminals are also gathered, and one of them wants Mick. To be exact, that person wants him as a gift to the head of the Thieves Guild in Langesthei.¡± ¡°Wh-what?¡± ¡°Marybelle is the youngest sister of the head of the Thieves Guild in Langesthei.¡± Jude¡¯s bright smile made Mick¡¯s handsome face turn pale, and Cordelia immediately spoke after casting magic on him. ¡°Jude.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°You just wanted to do that, didn¡¯t you?¡± Narrating line by line the entire process of catching Mick. ¡°What¡­ Maybe it¡¯s a habit?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Well, we caught him, so let¡¯s go. We don¡¯t have much time.¡± They had to leave Vedrfolnir before dawn at thetest. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go.¡± To Fabian¡¯sir, one of Vedrfolnir¡¯s gangs. The two then hastened their movements. *** Fabian was a sessful transport dealer. People, money, letters, drugs, dangerous goods, and so on. It was good to say that he would transport anything as long as it makes money. And he was now facing in front of him, while still in his pajamas, an absolutely handsome boy and an iparably beautiful girl. ¡°So, you¡¯re going to give Mick to me as a present?¡± ¡°Yes, Fabian.¡± Jude immediately answered. However, his gaze was not on Fabian, but on Fabian¡¯s living room and his men that he urgently summoned. To be exact, it was towards the blonde woman sitting by the window. ¡°Where are you looking¡­¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s okay. I think he already knows.¡± The blonde woman said with a smile as she stood up from her seat. And at her hand gesture, the big-bellied middle-aged man who was the fake Fabian, bowed once and stepped back. The real Fabian was a blonde beauty in her mid-twenties. Among the characters that appeared in Vedrfolnir, she became very popr because of her extraordinary beauty, but in Jude¡¯s eyes, her beauty was nothing. ¡®Cordelia is much prettier.¡¯ Jude unconsciouslypared her to Cordelia as he maintained a calm andposed expression. The real Fabian made a bubbly smile as she spoke while showing her hands. ¡°So, how did you know that I¡¯m the real Fabian?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a clich¨¦. And our Wiki is freaking awesome.¡± Cordelia replied with a smile as she trampled on Mick. Fabian frowned as she wondered what the other was talking about, before speaking with a smile again. ¡°Humph, I think I know the two of you too? No, should I say that you are nobles? You¡¯re members of the 12 families.¡± ¡°Do you know us?¡± They¡¯ve never seen Fabian before. Moreover, it was their first time in Vedrfolnir. When Cordelia blinked in surprise and asked, Fabian shrugged and answered. ¡°Jude Bayer and Cordelia Chase. A ck-haired and green-eyed absolutely handsome boy and an iparably beautiful girl known to be madly in love with each other. The two of you actually look more beautiful than the rumors. But frankly, I didn¡¯t know until you two showed up.¡± She would not have been sure if only one of them showed up. However, a noticeable absolutely handsome boy and an iparably beautiful girl suddenly appeared together, so she couldn¡¯t help but think of the two people from the rumors. Their hair and eye colors were also the same. When Fabian pointed it out, Cordelia was ttered at first, but soon had an anxious look on her face. ¡®Hey, what do we do?¡¯ She wasn¡¯t talking about Fabian figuring out their identities. The problem was the fact that people would figure out where they went, based on their identities. After all, they were currently running away at night. ¡®Don¡¯t worry about it, because we can just disguise ourselves.¡¯ Jude replied with a nce that seemed to say that it wasn¡¯t a big deal, before he looked back at Fabian and spoke. ¡°Okay, since you know who we are, it¡¯ll be easier to talk to each other. Let¡¯s speak without reservations and not drag this out. I¡¯ll hand over Mick, so give us what we want.¡± ¡°What does the young master and miss want¡± ¡°Before dawnes, we want a means to cross the walls of Vedrfolnir and a horse to ride around, plus some basic travel supplies, and in travel clothes to change into. You¡¯re a transport dealer, so you can do all of these, right?¡± This was the reason why Jude chose the ¡®Marriage Fraudster Mick¡¯ among the various events in Vedrfolnir. It was only Fabian, the transport dealer, who was able to surely and quickly prepare the things that Jude had wanted at this time of night. ¡°I can do it.¡± ¡°Then, please.¡± ¡°Well then¡­ Now that I think about it, the children of the 12 families wouldn¡¯t be in a situation where theymitted a sin and needed to run away. Are you two going on a honeymoon trip then?¡± ¡°No, we¡¯re not?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Cordelia and Jude simultaneously gave conflicting answers, and Fabian burst intoughter. ¡°How cute.¡± Fabian nodded again after alternately appreciating the sight of a red-faced Cordelia and Jude who cleared his throat. ¡°Good, I like it. I¡¯m talking about the gift too. I¡¯ll prepare what you asked for right away. Rather than be on bad terms, it would be better if the children of the 12 families are indebted to me.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a debt though? Isn¡¯t it a deal?¡± ¡°Then, let¡¯s call it a friendship.¡± When Cordelia refuted it, Fabian cheerfully spoke again as she looked at her with affectionate eyes, before looking back at Jude and asking him. ¡°Hey, she¡¯s so lovely. Can I hug thedy just once?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine with it but, you¡¯ll have a hard time asking her to.¡± Jude shamelessly replied and Cordelia snarled at their stupid talk, while Fabian burst intoughter again. ¡°Ah, really. I like the two of you so much. More than the rumors.¡± Cordelia asked with an upset face when she heard Fabian mention ¡®rumors¡¯ again. ¡°Hey, what were those rumors that came about?¡± ¡°If I remember, it was about how you¡¯repletely like a parakeet couple who can¡¯t stay away from each other and will die if they can¡¯t live together? Ah, there¡¯s also a story that thedy is more active than the young master. Is that true?¡± Instead of answering, Cordelia stared at Jude with cold eyes, and Jude cleared his throat and said. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯d like you to hurry up.¡± ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll get started right away.¡± Fabian pped her hands and nced at her subordinates, and the preparations proceeded quickly. After all, Fabian and her men were professionals. ¡°I¡¯ll specially guide you myself.¡± Vedrfolnir was a trading city, and like most trading cities were, there were many ces in the wall that were neglected except for the main gate. Arriving on the outskirts of the city with Jude and Cordelia, Fabian passed through the dog hole in the wall, hidden between wooden boxes. ¡°There¡¯s only one horse, but he¡¯s a sturdy one, so it wouldn¡¯t be a problem if two people ride on him. The luggage bag is filled with basic travel items such as sleeping bags, water bottles, tableware and so on. I also filled it with three days¡¯ worth of food.¡± In front of a small hut outside the walls stood arge saddle-mounted horse and Fabian¡¯s men. ¡°I rmend that thedy sit in front.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Cordelia was already agonizing over who should sit in front, so she curiously asked Fabian, who replied with a big smile. ¡°It¡¯s more romantic because you¡¯ll be in the young master¡¯s arms.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll ride in the back.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s good too, because thedy will be the one doing the hugging.¡± ¡°¡­can¡¯t you just get one more horse?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a joke, so don¡¯t be swayed by it.¡± Jude cut off the conversation between the two and approached Fabian as he said. ¡°It¡¯s a deal, but I¡¯m grateful for the fact that it was a good deal.¡± ¡°Because you and the youngdy are likely to be good trading partners.¡± As she had said before, it would be better for her to not be on bad terms with the children of the 12 families. Despite her attitude, Jude still liked Fabian, so he decided to show her some kindness. ¡°Fabian,e closer for a second.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t thedy watching you?¡± ¡°Just stop the nonsense.¡± Fabian smiled with her eyes and brought her face closer, and Jude whispered to her. ¡°Gilto is a traitor. He¡¯s holding hands with Batu behind the scenes to hit you in the back.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Fabian widely opened her eyes. Her eyes were full of questions about how he knew, but Jude didn¡¯t bother answering her. ¡°Look into it. It will be as I said.¡± That was the end of their conversation. Jude lightly got on the horse and reached out to Cordelia. ¡°Get in front.¡± ¡°Hmph.¡± Cordelia snorted after her resistance failed, and soon sat in front of Jude, who took the horse¡¯s reins. As they were children of nobles, both Jude and Cordelia knew how to ride on horses. However, Cordelia suspected that Jude already knew how to ride on horses in his previous life. ¡°I¡¯ll be going then. May good fortune always be with you.¡± ¡°Not muscles?¡± As if to stop Cordelia¡¯s small murmur, Jude immediately got the horse to move. Fabian stood with a stiff face as she saw the two off, and soon loosened her expression. ¡°They¡¯re just like the rumors.¡± They really were a fantasy couple. Fabian shrugged before ordering her subordinates to investigate Gilto¡¯s actions behind the scenes. Chapter 41: Honeymoon (2)

Chapter 41: Honeymoon (2)

Terms used in this chapter: Molecr gastronomy ¨C a subdiscipline of food science that that seeks to investigate the physical and chemical transformations of ingredients that ur in cooking. Ramyeon ¨C Korean word for instant noodles. It¡¯s the Korean version of the Japanese¡¯s ramen. It is made by boiling a precooked and dried noodle block with voring powder or sauce. Binyeo ¨C a Korean traditional hairpin used to hold a woman¡¯s hair bun in ce. (The white hairpin in the picture.) Qinggong ¨C this had been mentioned in previous chapters, but here¡¯s a recap. It¡¯s a martial art skill in wuxia stories that allows you to circumvent gravity to fly, cover tremendous distances in a single stride, run across surfaces of water, mount trees, and jump over or scale high walls. For this chapter, Jude used the ¡®cover tremendous distances in a single stride.¡¯ The next morning, after Cordelia¡¯s letter was found in Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s guest room, the count tried to respond as calmly as possible. ¡®I have to find them.¡¯ Whether they left on their own or not, if some ident happened to Jude and Cordelia, Count Hr?svelgr had no choice but to take responsibility for it. In any case, the two were minors, so Count Hr?svelgr ideally had the responsibility to protect the two who were invited as guests. ¡®Why? What the hell did you do while the kids left the house? Are the walls of Count Hr?svelgr that low?¡¯ Of course, it was unlikely that Count Bayer or Count Chase would say such words themselves, but they would put the me on him with a roughly simr remark. The potential discord among the 12 northern families wasn¡¯t the only problem. ¡°What should we do? If those two get caught by the Devil¡¯s Hand¡­¡± Lucas spoke to everyone with a face full of worry, and the faces of Count Bayer¡¯s and Count Chase¡¯s knights all turned miserable. ¡°They couldn¡¯t have gone that far. Let¡¯s steadily find them around the city.¡± When one of Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s knights intentionally spoke in a lively manner, the other knights were also motivated. Regardless, they had to find the two people first. But contrary to everyone¡¯s expectations, Jude and Cordelia had already gone quite far. *** Five days from their ¡®elopement,¡¯ Count Hr?svelgr was still searching the viges near Vedrfolnir, but Jude and Cordelia had reached near the northwestern border where Frost Anvil was located. ¡°That smells delicious.¡± It was morning, and Cordelia sniffed in front of the campfire while still in her sleeping bag. She had just woken up, her hair was untidy, and she had no makeup on, but as an iparably beautiful girl, she was still pretty and lovely. ¡°Are you awake?¡± ¡°Uh, I¡¯m awake. What is it for this morning?¡± Cordelia faintly smiled as she saw the hard-working Jude cooking in front of the campfire. When Jude and Cordelia left Vedrfolnir, Fabian gave them only one luggage bag, but in thest five days, their household items have pretty much increased. ¡®Magic ze, expansion bag, special insect-repelling incense.¡¯ The Magic ze, also called a portable burner, was received in exchange for helping Koblo escape. The expansion bag, which can store double its size, was received in exchange for finding the memento of Yinsen¡¯s lost mother. The special insect-repelling incense was made from ingredients that Jude had collected during their trip. And there were many other items. Five days ago, they were bare-handed when they left Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s territory, but now, Jude and Cordelia were unbelievably well-supplied for their journey. ¡°A man who has the ability to maintain a livelihood is the best. The number 1 ideal husband.¡± ¡°Uh, okay. Anyway, for this morning, we have French toast, bacon, and cream soup.¡± Jude responded without even looking at Cordelia, but she was already satisfied. It was because Jude¡¯s gaze was focused on the frying pan. ¡°Where did you learn how to cook?¡± ¡°Here and there.¡± ¡°Where is that here and there?¡± ¡°France, Italy, Ennd, China, the Czech Republic, Russia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia¡­it¡¯s literally so on and so forth.¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyes sparkled at Jude¡¯s words, but she pouted by the end of it. At first, it was possible if he had gone to one or two countries, but she didn¡¯t think that he¡¯d really been to all those countries. ¡®Well, he¡¯s good at lying.¡¯ But the important thing was that he was good at cooking, so Cordelia quickly regained her usual expression and used her nose to sniff again the smell of the savory bacon. ¡°Did you learn how to make bacon abroad?¡± ¡°Oh, I learned this from my friend who lives in America.¡± ¡°I heard that cooking is a skill.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s more about urate measurement.¡± ¡°Measurement?¡± ¡°Baking time varies depending on the intensity of the fire. The amount of salt added depends on the amount of ingredients. Of course, it also depends on the person¡¯s preferences.¡± ¡°Is it molecr gastronomy or something?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s simr.¡± Jude, who had spoken so far, suddenly raised his head to look at Cordelia and then shook his head in resignation. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°No, I just remembered the first dish you cooked three days ago.¡± ¡®No, can you even call that cooking?¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s face turned red in proportion to Jude¡¯s miserable face, and she pouted her lips. ¡°Hmph, I have a dish that I¡¯m good at cooking too, okay?¡± ¡°Lying about your weakness¡­¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not? I¡¯m really good at cooking ramyeon.¡± ¡°¡­isn¡¯t ramyeon an instant food?¡± As Jude¡¯s expression became even more miserable, Cordelia¡¯s face turned even more red. ¡°Really. It¡¯s because you haven¡¯t tried it. If you eat the ramyeon I cooked, you¡¯ll fall in love too? If you ask for it, I¡¯ll cook it for you every day.¡± ¡°Yes, yes. If you insist, so be it.¡± ¡°Tsk, I¡¯m serious.¡± Cordelia pouted again, but she soon smiled and said. ¡°Well, someone said that there¡¯s a right talent for the right ce, so in the future, it¡¯ll be good to divide our tasks like this. You¡¯re the cook, and I¡¯m the taster.¡± ¡°F*cking bullshit. I¡¯m in charge of cooking and you¡¯re in charge of washing dishes.¡± ¡°Hey, he said that if his Gueumjulmaek is cured, he wouldn¡¯t even let a drop of water get into my hands.¡± ¡°When did I say that? He said that he¡¯ll carry you, be hit by you, cross over the wall, and also care for you.¡± ¡°I think something is missing.¡± ¡°Anyway, we¡¯re going to eat now, so go and wash your face. Wash your hands too.¡± ¡°Yes, mom.¡± ¡°Phooey, is that whom I¡¯m going to marry?¡± Cordelia stood up as she giggled, and Jude shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ll be right back.¡± ¡°Yes, don¡¯t skip or you¡¯ll trip.¡± ¡°Who do you think is a kid?¡± After Cordelia arranged her long hair into a bun and secured it with a binyeo made by Jude, she began walking with a light gait. She walked towards a nearby stream. ¡®It¡¯s definitely winter now, so it¡¯s really cold.¡¯ Moreover, they had arrived near the northernmost part of the S?len Kingdom. If the weather got a bit colder, the stream itself might freeze. ¡®I¡¯m not sure if we¡¯ll be okay then.¡¯ Frost Anvil would be much colder than this ce. Although they diligently packed items that protected them against the cold, Jude still couldn¡¯t help worrying about it. ¡®It¡¯s a shame. If we had a little more time, we would¡¯ve gotten the winter protection.¡¯ It was a protection that could only be obtained through a special event called ¡®Winter Protection.¡¯ It helped by maintaining one¡¯s body temperature and not hindering one¡¯s movement in the cold. The problem, however, was that the event was a random urrence. ¡®If you consider the circumstances, it seems to be near here¡­¡¯ Jude raised his head and looked around, but he didn¡¯t see the area where he thought it would happen. No matter how great JudeWiki was, he couldn¡¯t figure out the parts that were left out in the game. ¡®Damn, it can¡¯t be helped.¡¯ The encounter with the person who told the event location was really random. Even if they had enough time, they still didn¡¯t know where it was, so they couldn¡¯t wander around here just to get the winter protection. And it was at that moment. ¡°Kyaa!¡± ¡°Cordelia?!¡± Jude heard the screaming sound and spontaneously shouted as he stood up by kicking the ground and simultaneously using the Twenty-Four Gale Steps. Although it was a footwork technique, the Twenty-Four Gale Steps could be used as Qinggong depending on its application. ¡°Cordelia!¡± If she had been attacked, his current shout would be able to draw the enemy¡¯s attention away. Jude shouted loudly once again, as he ran like a gale towards the stream. And when he reached the stream¡­ ¡°Oh, uh¡­ Hello?¡± Cordelia uttered as she stood by the stream with an awkward face, and Jude looked past Cordelia and saw arge man who had fallen down with his head in the stream. ¡°What happened here?¡± ¡°No, that¡­it was a reflex.¡± Cordelia made some small gestures, narrating how she was so surprised that she instinctively used attack magic. ¡°Just like me, you¡¯re not normal either.¡± She was an iparably beautiful girl who would shoot attack magic by reflex. ¡°No, I mean¡­he suddenly came out from the bush, so I was really surprised¡­¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s okay. This is better than if you got hurt.¡± ¡°Mmmmnnn¡­¡± In the midst of Cordelia¡¯s embarrassment, Jude pulled the man who had fallen in the stream andid him down right away. ¡°Is he okay? I didn¡¯t use a strong magic. It was just .¡± ¡°Fortunately, it¡¯s not .¡± Jude tactfully answered as he checked the man¡¯s pulse and breathing. As Cordelia had said, he was simply paralyzed, but because his magic resistance was low, her magic seriously affected him. ¡°What do you think? Did he get hurt when he fell?¡± ¡°He¡¯s all right. Your luck is good.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m talking about you.¡± Jude spoke as he nced at Cordelia who tilted her head. ¡°Look closely. You recognize him, right?¡± It was the face of a man in histe twenties. He had a face that had no special features other than being in-looking, but Cordelia immediately recognized him. ¡°The lumberjack Bambino.¡± ¡°Yes, he¡¯s exactly the person we need.¡± *** Bambino was both a lumberjack and an herbalist. There was no lord who imed ownership of the forest in the northernmost part of the S?len Kingdom, and because of that, whoever took the wood or herbs was the rightful owner. Of course, it was a dangerous ce where not only beasts, but also monsters, would asionally appear as no one managed this ce. One day, while Bambino was walking around and working hard in the forest mountain, he experienced something dreamy and fantastic. He witnessed the scene of a gathering of angels taking a bath. ¡°Angel?¡± Bambino opened his eyes and nkly stared at Cordelia as he spoke. Jude frowned and Cordeliaughed like an idiot as she held out her hand and said in a whisper to Jude. ¡°I won, right? Isn¡¯t Cordelia the prettiest?¡± ¡°Damn.¡± After handing over the copper coin without anyints, Jude spoke to Bambino, who was still in a daze. ¡°We are not angels, but schrs who came from the center to explore Frost Anvil.¡± ¡°Are you guys¡­schrs?¡± ¡°Yes, although we¡¯re still students. We belong to the Royal Academy.¡± When Jude assumed an identity as a disguise without faltering in his acting, Cordelia stealthily turned away and concealed her facial expression. Unlike Jude, Cordelia was not good at lying. In any case, Bambino nodded at Jude¡¯s words. He thought that Jude and Cordelia did not appear to bemon people. ¡®They must be real nobles.¡¯ This was the S?len Kingdom, where there was no deep conflict between the nobility and themon people, but even though they were not nobles with a title, nobility was still nobility. Bambino¡¯s attitude became a little more careful. ¡°You don¡¯t have to be so nervous. What¡¯s your name? I¡¯m Shoot, and she¡¯s Felicia.¡± ¡°Uhh¡­I¡¯m Bambino.¡± ¡°I see, you¡¯re Mr. Bambino. Nice to meet you.¡± ¡°What¡­happened? I don¡¯t remember¡­¡± ¡°Miss Felicia found you lying in the woods here. We don¡¯t want to sound boastful, but Miss Felicia did save Mr. Bambino¡¯s life.¡± ¡°Ah¡­thank you very much.¡± ¡°N-no. Hoho¡­I¡¯m d that you¡¯re okay¡­¡± Cordelia awkwardly answered and quickly averted her gaze again. She was feeling embarrassed. ¡®How can he be so brazen?¡¯ While Cordelia had the same questions in her mind as always, Jude continued to speak. ¡°By the way¡­are you Mr. Bambino who lives in Hobbus vige down here?¡± ¡°Uh, yes. I am that Bambino.¡± ¡°Oh, I must be really lucky. As a matter of fact, I wanted to meet Mr. Bambino.¡± ¡°Me?¡± ¡°Yes, they said that you saw the angels appearing here.¡± ¡°Ah¡­yes, no one believed me¡­but I really did see it. The sight of the little angels gathering¡­and taking a bath.¡± Bambino¡¯s words were true. While he was walking through the forest mountain as usual, he witnessed the scene of angels gathering and bathing. Bambino was fascinated by the fantastic and beautiful sight, so he visited the same ce several times, but it was all in vain every time. ¡°Can you tell where that ce is?¡± ¡°But¡­I¡¯ve been there a few times, but nothing happened.¡± ¡°It¡¯s all right. There might be some traces left. Of course, I¡¯m going to give you somepensation.¡± Bambino¡¯s face glowed when Jude smiled and lightly tapped a pouch full of silver coins. ¡°Please, Mr. Bambino.¡± ¡°Follow me. It¡¯s not that far from here.¡± Bambino unhesitatingly answered and began to take the lead, while Jude sent Cordelia a wink. *** The ce Bambino guided them was a valley located at the foot of the mountain. Looking at the half-frozen valley water, it was a ce where one would freeze to death if they took a bath. ¡°Here it is.¡± ¡°I see. Thank you. If somethinges out of our investigation, I¡¯ll also inform Mr. Bambino. We have to go through the Hobbus vige anyway.¡± ¡°I¡¯d really appreciate it if you did. Because no one believed what I said¡­¡± ¡°Hahaha, now, here¡¯s yourpensation.¡± Moderately cutting off Bambino¡¯s words, Jude sent Bambino away after paying him two silver coins. And a few secondster, when only the two were left, Cordelia said in a firm tone. ¡°I will absolutely not take a bath.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to. You know this event too.¡± What Bambino saw was not the angels. What he saw was the forest fairies. ¡°Winter fairies.¡± ¡°Yes, they¡¯re fairies after all.¡± The two had bitter smiles as they unpacked their luggage near the valley and set up their camp. And that night, under the shining night sky where so many stars shined brightly. ¡°You¡¯repletely handsome. Do you want to y with us?¡± ¡°She¡¯s very pretty too!¡± It was the reason why Bambino couldn¡¯t see the winter fairies even though he had visited this ce many times. And it was also the reason why Jude and Cordelia could meet them in a day. ¡®Indeed, it was the fairies.¡¯ ¡®Yes, it¡¯s the fairies.¡¯ In front of the absolutely handsome boy and iparably beautiful girl who exchanged nces, the white-haired winter fairies gathered in groups of twos and threes. Chapter 42: Honeymoon (3)

Chapter 42: Honeymoon (3)

Late post, sorry. In my defense, this chapter was almost twice as long as the average chapter length. Next chapter will be released on either Monday or Tuesday. It¡¯s impossible for me to release a chapter tomorrow, and I also have to re-edit the past chapters to correct the confusing point-of-views that other readers have pointed out. Some changes I made to the previous chapters: Terms used in this chapter: Minonyeon ¨C Korean word that refers to an old man (60y/o and above) with a beautiful face/looks. Mainly refers to men, but sometimes used on women too. ¡°It¡¯s thrilling, it¡¯s always fresh, and being handsome is the best.¡± ¨C This is a famous quote/answer from Korean actor Jung Woo-sung when he was asked in an interview if he ever gets tired from being called handsome. I only found out about it when I was tranting this chapter. Most of the yable characters in Legend of Heroes 2 wereposed of handsome men and beautiful women. Even Keynes, the only elderly character, was a very dignified, charming, and beautiful old man (minonyeon). ¡®It sounds like a curse. Minonyeon.¡¯ T/N: The Korean word for ¡®beautiful old man¡¯ is ???, which is read as ¡®mi-no-nyeon.¡¯ Its pronunciation is simr to the curse word ???, read as ¡®mi-chin-nyeon,¡¯ which means ¡®crazy b*tch.¡¯ Among these yable characters, there were the Four Great Kings of Beauty, which included the absolutely handsome boy, Jude, and the iparably beautiful girl, Cordelia. There was also the main character, Maximilian, who was not only born with a beautiful face, but also with character, ability, talent, connections, and a golden spoon. Andstly was the transcendental beauty, Adide, who always wore a mask because it was impossible to embody her exceeding beauty with an illustration. ¡®Lucas sort of feels like the minimum standard to enter that beautiful people category.¡¯ It could also be said that Lucas is the lower limit if one wanted to be invited by the fairies. Although he was a manly, handsome, and attractive-looking man, he slightly didn¡¯t conform to the fairies¡¯ preferences. Now then, two of the Four Great Kings of Beauty, whom the fairies couldn¡¯t stop loving, were gathered here together, so it was natural that an enthusiastic response erupted among the fairies. ¡°He¡¯spletely handsome.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll get tired of looking at you all day.¡± ¡°So pretty. Pretty. Her eyes are like jewels.¡± The breaths of the winter fairies surrounding Jude and Cordelia grew restless as they continued expressing their thoughts. Unlike the fairies that Jude and Cordelia met before who yed with them like they were dolls, the winter fairies seemed to have more interest in appreciating beauty. ¡®This is seriously embarrassing.¡¯ Cordelia had lived her life being poured out words saying that she was the prettiest, but now that she was surrounded by dozens of fairies pouring outpliments, it seemed that her growing embarrassment could even pierce the sky. ¡°Look at how shy she is.¡± ¡°Cute.¡± ¡°I want to bite her.¡± Cordelia became more embarrassed from the admiration of the winter fairies, and she could only look at the ground while at her wit¡¯s end. But Jude waspletely different. ¡°It¡¯s thrilling, it¡¯s always fresh, and being handsome is the best.¡± ¡°Kyaa!¡± ¡°Tell me this too, this too.¡± ¡°Not theirs but mine! Read mine!¡± The winter fairies were jumping around and wavingrge pieces of paper in their hands, which were the size of a business card for humans. Each piece of paper was filled with lines that were cheesy and sweet, and the space and time seemed to shrink the moment the fairies heard Jude say the lines. ¡°Now, wait in line, line up. Okay, let¡¯s read this one this time.¡± Jude answered leisurely and chose a piece of paper, and the fairies wildly screamed again. ¡°Kyaa! That¡¯s it, that¡¯s it!¡± ¡°He read that famous line perfectly.¡± ¡®What the hell is he doing?¡¯ As Cordelia turned her head in curiosity, Jude saw Cordelia, and at that moment he wickedly smiled ¨C no, he handsomely smiled. ¡®Cordelia, help me.¡¯ ¡®Huh?¡¯ ¡®What do you want? No, what do you want me to do here?¡¯ ¡®Because I need someone who¡¯ll y the opposite role.¡¯ ¡®Someone who¡¯ll y the opposite role?¡¯ ¡®Just stand still.¡¯ After their almost telepathic conversation, Jude approached Cordelia, who flinched for a moment and froze. And at the same time, dozens of winter fairies shut their mouths. It was to immerse themselves on what was about to happen. ¡®Stay still.¡¯ Jude spoke with his eyes again as he slowly stretched out his hand and gently stroked Cordelia¡¯s beautiful hair. He then brought his face closer to her. ¡®Wh-what is this crazy b*stard doing!¡¯ But Jude didn¡¯t stop. He drew his face closer to a distance she could feel his breath, and while looking straight at Cordelia¡¯s blue eyes, he said. ¡°I can¡¯t do that. Because I¡­¡± ¡®What are you-!¡¯ ¡°You¡­¡± Jude¡¯s eyes moistened, and Cordelia unconsciously gulped. And so did the winter fairies. Jude caressed Cordelia¡¯s cheek. He spoke as if whispering and had a face that seemed to shed tears at any moment. ¡°Because I love you.¡± ¡°Kyaaa!¡± ¡°Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!¡± The winter fairies wildly screamed and lost their minds. It was a scene in the story ¡°Romance of the Fairy Queen and the 9th Circle Archmage.¡¯ The Fairy Queen had destroyed the lifelong wish of the Archmage because of a decisive mistake, so she asked him to kill her. But the Archmage wailed, saying and begging that he couldn¡¯t kill her because of love. And what Jude acted out were the lines that the Archmage had said to the Fairy Queen. ¡°Did you record it? Did you record it?¡± ¡°I even took a video!¡± As the winter fairies went into a frenzy, Cordelia kicked Jude in the shin once. ¡°Aah!¡± ¡°What is this crazy b*stard doing!¡± ¡®My heart was pounding! No, not that¡­¡¯ Cordelia kicked Jude a few more times to suppress her embarrassment and then took a deep breath. And the winter fairies worked hard to take another video, saying that it was good in its own way. ¡®Haa¡­seriously. Was he an actor?¡¯ The way he expressed emotions through his eyes was not normal. When she thought about it, his acting intonation when he read the lines presented by the fairies were a little different each time. ¡®What did you really do?¡¯ As Cordelia was absorbed in questioning Jude¡¯s real job, the winter fairies who were begging them to read their lines again, suddenly shut their mouths and fell silent. It wasn¡¯t because Jude¡¯s new performance began. ¡°Open the way!¡± Unlike the other fairies in mini dresses that were close to one-piece swimsuits, one fairy who was wearing armor and a helmet, shouted loudly, and the entire banquet hall became silent at once as if the fuss so far had been a lie. ¡®Fairy Knight.¡¯ It was the strongest fairy that protected the Fairy Queen. It was the onlybat force that existed among the fairies who rarely went into battle. ¡°Jude Bayer and Cordelia Chase. The Queen is calling for the two of you.¡± At the fairy knight¡¯s deration, most of the fairies¡¯ faces and shoulders drooped. It was a deration that the banquet was virtually over. ¡°Follow me.¡± As the fairy knight spoke with dignity and turned around, the winter fairies stepped aside and opened the way for Jude and Cordelia. ¡°It was fun.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s y againter.¡± Jude responded with a smile to the fairies who only said a few words and sent Cordelia a look. ¡®The real thing starts from now on.¡¯ The only one who could give the winter protection was the Fairy Queen, the head of the winter fairies. However, Jude and Cordelia were aiming for more than that. ¡°This way.¡± As they walked following the guidance of the fairy knight, the trees lined up in a narrow line, creating a corridor-like space. It was almost the same structure as the home of the fairies whom they had previously visited. And after a few steps, the same thing happened again this time. Their vision seemed to blur for a moment, and suddenly, Jude and Cordelia had arrived at the Queen¡¯s room. ¡°I greet the Fairy Queen.¡± ¡°I greet the Fairy Queen.¡± When Jude bowed while greeting her, Cordelia quickly followed suit and bowed while greeting her too. ¡°You are polite children.¡± On top of the icy throne sat the Fairy Queen in a white dress with a bluish glow. If the Fairy Queen they met before had blonde hair, the Fairy Queen now had tinum hair close to silver. She also gave off a much colder impression perhaps because of the color of her dress. ¡®But still, the Fairy Queen is a fairy.¡¯ Jude took a deep breath and straightened his posture, before looking straight at the Fairy Queen. ¡°You are handsome indeed.¡± The Fairy Queen showed a fairy-like reaction with a slight blush on her cheeks as she smiled. She turned to Cordelia for a moment, before returning her gaze to Jude. She had seen the silver ring on the ring finger of Jude¡¯s right hand, which Jude had deliberately lifted towards his chest. ¡°The Fairy Steps?¡± ¡®As expected.¡¯ She recognized it. Or more like, she had no choice but to recognize it. The Fairy Steps was umon. Moreover, the Fairy Steps that Jude was wearing now belonged to the ¡®Fall Fairies.¡¯ ¡®Fairies have ssifications too.¡¯ Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. The fairies symbolized the four seasons. Broadly speaking, they were all the same fairies, but there were some differences, just like how humans ssified each other by race and country. The fairies that Jude and Cordelia met before were fall fairies, and the winter fairies, or to be more exact, the Winter Fairy Queen, held their existence to be of a considerable significance. ¡°Did Lorelei give you this?¡± The Fall Fairy Queen had said that she liked a handsome man more than a pretty woman. ¡°Yes. She gave this to thank us for participating well in the banquet.¡± He had received it as a reward for defeating the Bicorn, but Jude deliberately hid that fact. ¡®Because we didn¡¯t do anything special here, except for ying.¡¯ Of course, they didn¡¯t forget to mention the Moonlight either. ¡°This sacred rod was also given by Lorelei.¡± When Jude softly spoke and gestured to Cordelia, she quickly lifted the Moonlight that she had taken out beforehand. ¡°Moonlight?¡± ¡°She definitely said that it was her hospitality for the guests¡­and we thought that it was too much of an item to give, but nheless, we were grateful.¡± When Gerd, the Winter Fairy Queen, heard Jude¡¯s answer, her expression becameplicated. She thought that she should at least do what Lorelei did. Otherwise, she felt like she had somehow lost to Lorelei. ¡®A fairy is a fairy after all.¡¯ They were a race that were written as cute, lovely, and mischievous, and can be easily read like a child. ¡°Ummm¡­ummmmmm.¡± The Fairy Queen Gerd groaned for a moment, before clenching her fists as if she had reached a decision. ¡°The Winter Fairies cannot fall behind the Fall Fairies.¡± ¡°You¡¯re absolutely right. Seeing it in person like this¡­really¡­ah, no. It wouldn¡¯t be polite to Lorelei or to Gerd either.¡± Gerd¡¯s blue eyes were filled with various emotions when Jude purposely spoke. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? What were you trying to say?¡± ¡°That is¡­¡± ¡°That is?¡± ¡°Because you look to be more beautiful than Lorelei¡­ I¡¯m sure that your heart is more beautiful too.¡± At Jude¡¯s tant lines, Cordelia quickly lowered her head to conceal her expression. ¡®Why is he not embarrassed?! I mean¡­his hidden intentions are just too visible!¡¯ But Jude¡¯s words were effective. The Fairy Queen was also a fairy after all. His straight-forwardpliments made her cheeks blush slightly, and then she smiled. ¡°That¡¯s right, isn¡¯t it? I¡¯m a bit prettier than my sister Lorelei, right? Hehehe.¡± Gerd¡¯s hands fluttered in her happiness, but she soon straightened her face and cleared her throat as she said. ¡°Ahem, ahem. I have seen you please my children. So I will give you a reward like Lorelei.¡± ¡°Thank you very much.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Jude and Cordelia quickly expressed their gratitude at her courtesy, and the pleased Gerd pped her hands. ¡°Bring the Fairy¡¯s Bonds.¡± At that moment, Jude and Cordelia looked at each other, and the two had the same thoughts. ¡®Bingo!¡¯ ¡®For real?!¡¯ They both eximed. The Fairy¡¯s Bonds was a valuable item. It wasn¡¯t an item on the level of an S-rank item. And it was unlike the Fairy Steps which had a direct effect on its user. However, if one considered its prospects, it was actually one of the ¡®end-stage¡¯ top three items that could be obtained from the fairies. ¡®It¡¯s a bracelet that can hold the protections of the fairies from the four seasons.¡¯ Originally, the protection given by the fairies did notst for a long time. It was like a disposable sticker tattoo. However, the situation changed if the protection was ced on the Fairy¡¯s Bonds. Not only has the effect of the protection became much stronger, but the duration and number of times that it can be used have also significantly increased. ¡®But the real deal is once you¡¯ve collected all the protections.¡¯ By obtaining all the protections of the fairies from the four seasons, a special protection called the ¡®Great Protection of the Four Seasons,¡¯ could be activated. And if onebined all the protections of the fairies from the four seasons into one protection, the ¡®Fairy King¡¯s Protection,¡¯ one of the strongest protections in Legend of Heroes 2, would be created. ¡®It¡¯s a total scam if you collect everything.¡¯ The effect of just the Great Protection of the Four Seasons was so powerful. Those who received the Great Protection of the Four Seasons could not only freely use the power of the fairies of the four seasons but were also recognized by the world as one of the fairies and enjoyed various privileges. ¡®It¡¯s a bit of a problem that it¡¯s just a silver bracelet if it doesn¡¯t have any protections, so I guess, we¡¯ll just have to collect it all.¡¯ Rather, the question was whether it was Jude or Cordelia who would get the Fairy¡¯s Bonds. It was a very useful item for either of them. But fortunately, Gerd eliminated those concerns. ¡°The two of you get along well with each other like a couple. So it would be nice if you wore something together.¡± What she revealed then was a couple bracelet. Looking down at the pair of beautifully crafted silver bracelets, Jude and Cordelia brightly smiled as if a flower bloomed on their faces. ¡°Hahaha.¡± ¡°Hohoho.¡± Because their happiness was truly pure. At the sight of the two, Gerd proudly raised her chin and carefully asked as if she was talking to herself. ¡°Lorelei can¡¯t keep up with me, right?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°We really appreciate it.¡± At that moment, Jude and Cordelia resumed their pretensions and answered. Gerd then said after feeling better. ¡°I¡¯m going to give you the winter protection, so hold out your arm with the bracelet.¡± Jude and Cordelia immediately followed her instruction. The winter protection granted by the Winter Fairy Queen. Thanks to the protection being incorporated into the Fairy¡¯s Bonds, the two had felt that they had gained a resistance to the cold. ¡°Well then, tell us more of your stories. How did youe all the way here to this distant ce?¡± Just like the Fall Fairy Queen, the Winter Fairy Queen was also strongly curious about the outsiders. Jude replied that they were on the way to Frost Anvil because of the Sunflower. ¡°Ah¡­I see. I hope that you find the Sunflower. So that you can carry your fianc¨¦e, be hit by her¡­wait, what did you say?¡± ¡°Cross over the wall.¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s it. Cheer up, pretty child. Your beloved will definitely get the Sunflower and then take care of you.¡± ¡°Uh¡­yes. I¡­look forward to it. Hoho.¡± Cordelia was skeptical about Jude¡¯s statement, but she still answered with a smile to the Fairy Queen. ¡°Hmm¡­that¡¯s it. If you¡¯re going to Frost Anvil, I think I can give you a little more help.¡± Gerd nodded her head once as if she had made up her mind, and then said to the fairy knight who was also listening to their conversation. ¡°Ada, go and bring the Fairy Feathers.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡± As the fairy knight politely bowed and left, Gerd looked back at Jude and Cordelia and said. ¡°Do you know about the Fairy Feathers?¡± ¡®Yes, of course I do.¡¯ However, unlike his innermost thoughts, Jude showed an ignorant expression, so Gerd exined with a smile. ¡°The Fairy Feathers are a mysterious item that allows you to traverse space. It¡¯ll let you get to Frost Anvil at once.¡± ¡°Wow, really?¡± Gerd nodded as Cordelia chipped in their conversation. ¡°It¡¯s true. The ancient dwarves, who built Frost Anvil, and us, winter fairies, were once very close. The ancient dwarves gave us the magic coordinates so that we could get into Frost Anvil at once to y with them anytime.¡± In fact, the ancient dwarves gave it to control the fairies whom they didn¡¯t know when and where the fairies would suddenly pop out, because it was the easiest way to satisfy both the dwarves, who were annoyed at the fairies suddenly appearing, and the fairies, who wanted to just y. Jude decided to keep that truth in his mind rather than uselessly pointing it out to the fairies. However, there was a problem. ¡°Your Majesty, there is only one feather left.¡± At the fairy knight¡¯s words, Gerd slightly frowned. The feathers of the Fairy Feathers were one-use items, and only one person could use one feather. ¡°Umm¡­well, it should still be okay. Just use that trick.¡± ¡°That trick?¡± Cordelia curiously asked. One feather per person was needed, so she wondered what trick the Fairy Queen was talking about. ¡°It¡¯s simple. The two of you should tightly hug each other and then use it.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Then the two of you will be able to move together.¡± Gerd smiled as she thought that it was a really easy solution. Cordelia turned to Jude and he said. ¡°Umm¡­well, it can¡¯t be helped.¡± ¡°Why do you have a wicked smile then?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not? I wanted to use one feather per person too, okay?¡± As he whispered in a small voice, Gerda happily looked at them before turning to the fairy knight and saying. ¡°Tell the children to gather. We¡¯ll be sending off our guests.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡± Shortly after the fairy knight answered, the space seemed to fluctuate, and Jude and Cordelia suddenly found themselves standing in the center of the banquet hall, surrounded by dozens of fairies. ¡°Hug, hug.¡± ¡°Free hugs?¡± ¡°Bear hug.¡± ¡°Who¡¯s that crazy kid saying ¡®hug, hug?¡¯ It should be love hug.¡± The winter fairies chattered among themselves and some even resolutely lifted their video recording equipment. Gerda then said with a smile. ¡°Human children, I wish that you¡¯ll get what you want from Frost Anvil. Be happy.¡± ¡°Happy!¡± ¡°Live well!¡± ¡®What does a teleport to Frost Anvil have to do with being happy?¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s face turned miserable in the midst of the continuous support from the winter fairies, and she said to Jude. ¡°Let¡¯s go quickly.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Jude was starting to feel embarrassed too. ¡°Me? Or you?¡± ¡°Me.¡± Cordelia immediately understood what he meant. She took a deep breath before crossing her arms in an X-shape in front of her chest and standing straight. Afterwards, Jude very awkwardly hugged Cordelia. ¡°Wow!¡± ¡°Kiss! Kiss!¡± ¡°Kiss!¡± He couldn¡¯t bear it any longer. Jude urgently activated the Fairy Feather and the two crossed through the space. *** Frost Anvil was one of the seven cities of the great kingdom founded by the ancient dwarves. ¡°Gasp¡­haa¡­haa¡­¡±¡°Huuhh¡­.huuhh¡­¡± The two safely arrived inside a dim room, and they spent some time roughly breathing before raising their heads and looking at each other. ¡°Fairies.¡± After the fallen two sighed and then took a deep breath, they quickly began moving. Cordelia lit up the darkness with a magic light and Jude took out the Frost Anvil map he had drawn in advance. ¡°Frost Anvil?¡± ¡°It looks like we¡¯re inside. Cordelia, can you shine the light over there?¡± ¡°Here?¡± ¡°Yes, there.¡± When she shone the light to the spot indicated by Jude, there were somerge characters inscribed on the wall. ¡°It¡¯s the ancient dwarf text. JuGgle Trantor, what does it say?¡± ¡°JuGgle Trantor?¡± ¡°Do you prefer the GooDe Trantor?¡± T/N: If you don¡¯t get it, Judebined with Google will result in either ¡®JuGgle¡¯ or ¡®GooDe.¡¯ ¡°¡­JuGgle is better. Anyway, just wait. Let me ¡®search¡¯ my memories first.¡± ¡°You sound like a pervert when you say ¡®grope.¡¯¡± ¡°¡­let me ¡®check¡¯ my memories then.¡± T/N: It¡¯s a pun. ??? (deodeumtta) can both mean ¡®to search¡¯ and ¡®to grope.¡¯ When Cordelia pointed it out, Jude used another word for ¡®search,¡¯ which is ???? (salpyeodboda), meaning ¡®to search¡¯ or ¡®to check.¡¯ Jude quickly corrected his words and closed his eyes as he opened his Memory Pce. Even if Jude¡¯s memory was superior, it was impossible for him to remember everything right away. After a few minutes, Jude interpreted the ancient dwarf text based on his memories. ¡°Frost Anvil. 1st floor. Lobby.¡± ¡°Oh, we¡¯re really inside.¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s the room right next to the entrance. What a huge relief. Because it¡¯s not easy to pass through the entrance.¡± Frost Anvil was an underground city built by the ancient dwarves. There was only one entrance called the ¡®Great Gate.¡¯ The entrance itself wasrge and solid, but it was not an easy ce to pass through because various monsters gathered near it. ¡®It¡¯s good to be lucky.¡¯ Thanks to the winter fairies, they easily broke through one of the obstacles to this ce. ¡°It¡¯s cold even though the winter protection is activated.¡± ¡°Because this ce ispletely no different from a freezer. Zip up your cor and let¡¯s start right away. We¡¯ll take a break once we¡¯ve moved to the lounge on the 1st floor.¡± The full-scale exploration activities started from the underground¡¯s 2nd floor onwards, which were infested with monsters, traps, and so on. Cordelia nodded at Jude¡¯s suggestion and increased the brightness of the magic light a little. The two then began walking together. And at that same time, in apletely different ce. The executives of the Devil¡¯s Hand gathered together. Chapter 43: Frost Anvil (1)

Chapter 43: Frost Anvil (1)

Next chapter will be released on Wednesday. I¡¯ve almost finished editing the confusing point of views from the previous chapters. The only ones left are episodes 3-11, so there won¡¯t be a chapter release tomorrow as I intend to finish it by then. Once I¡¯m done with all these editing, the release schedule will resume to 1 chapter per day. There were numerous demon followers in Pleiades. Their history began with the descent of the two great monarchs of hell. More than a thousand years have passed, but even now, they persistently continued to exist. ¡®The demon followers are not just one group.¡¯ Contrary to public perception, they were not all on the same side. Because the great monarchs they served were different. The demon followers antagonized andpeted with each other, as the great monarchs of hell did, and in severe cases, they did not hesitate to shed blood in their shes. The Devil¡¯s Hand is a group who served Asmodeus of lust, one of the five great monarchs of hell. Their ultimate goal is to have Asmodeus descend and take over the world through the realization of her hell, Sabbath, on the real world. ¡°The sacrifice had left the eagle¡¯s nest.¡± At the headquarters of the Devil¡¯s Hand, located at the center of the S?len Kingdom, the key executives of the Devil¡¯s Hand were all gathered in one ce. One was physically present, while others used phantoms that appeared through magic. The eyes of the key executives who stood in each corner of a hexagonal star were all focused on the ck-haired woman, demonic human Saluzia, who was in charge of the northern part of the S?len Kingdom. The sacrifice left the eagle¡¯s nest. Cordelia Chase had escaped from Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s protection. ¡°How did that happen?¡± It was a woman¡¯s low voice that made the listeners feel at ease. She was the leader of the Devil¡¯s Hand, and at her question, Saluzia exined the details of the situation. ¡°Cordelia Chase went on a honeymoon trip with her fianc¨¦, Jude Bayer.¡± ¡°Even though they were ambushed twice?¡± When demonic human Koros, who stood on one corner of the hexagonal star, asked with a wry smile because he found it absurd, the other executives somehow also had the same facial expressions as they too found it to be iprehensible. The first and second attack pretty much stated that the goal of the Devil¡¯s Hand was Cordelia and Lucas. However, there was still more to be dumbfounded about. ¡°Furthermore¡­¡± ¡°Furthermore?¡± ¡°The two had escaped to go on a journey. Count Hr?svelgr have currently dispatched people everywhere to find the couple.¡± ¡°Crazy.¡± The other executives also nodded at Koros¡¯ sentiments. Then, Koros added a few more words to try to lighten up the conversation. ¡°Are you saying that they¡¯re teenagers who have nothing in their brains because they are so blinded by love?¡± ¡°For now¡­I think so.¡± Saluzia answered with a little difficulty before looking back at their leader again and continuing her exnation. ¡°Cordelia Chase¡¯s destination is presumed to be Frost Anvil.¡± ¡°On what grounds?¡± ¡°The very purpose of Cordelia Chase¡¯s visit to Count Hr?svelgr in the first ce was to acquire the legendary Sunflower that blooms in Frost Anvil. That flower is a special medicine which would heal the chronic disease of her fianc¨¦, Jude Bayer.¡± ¡°They went on a trip looking for a drug to cure her fianc¨¦¡¯s illness? I see, so that¡¯s what they were thinking when they left.¡± When Koros spoke quietly again, Saluzia frowned but did not deny his words. Saluzia had thought the same too. But there were two reasons why Saluzia frowned. One was the fact that Koros jumped in her conversation with their beloved leader. The other was the fact that they had already lost three demonic humans and more than a hundredbatants because of those immature and empty-headed teenagers. Saluzia was the one who had nned both operations, so if she looked at it from a broader perspective, she had failed twice because of those immature teenagers. ¡°This is noughing matter. We¡¯ve already lost three demonic humans because of those children.¡± Minos, Varus, and the Northern Viscount were all low-ranking demonic humans, but even so, they were still demonic humans. They had to invest a considerable amount of time, effort, and assets to create them. Moreover, the loss of the Northern Viscount was more painful than the previous two. Before he was a demonic human, he was a nobleman who officially had a manor in the kingdom. ¡°If not for that iron man, we wouldn¡¯t have lost those demonic humans. The two were just merely lucky.¡± The iron man he was referring to was Landius. Koros grumbled a bit as he spoke, and their leader had a gentle smile. ¡°You¡¯re right. Certainly, if that iron man hadn¡¯t intervened, Saluzia¡¯s second operation would not have failed. But don¡¯t forget the fact that those children defeated Minos too.¡± Furthermore, it wasn¡¯t just that. Although they were helped by the witch¡¯s soul, the demonic monster of Asmodeus, who was asleep in the Trefalgar Forest, also died at the hands of those children. They weren¡¯t children that could be easily dealt with. ¡°Saluzia, do you have any other reasons on why you think they¡¯re going there?¡± ¡°Yes, I have. We¡¯ve looked at civilians on the route from Vedrfolnir to Frost Anvil, and we¡¯ve found a small number of people who saw what is believed to be Cordelia Chase and Jude Bayer.¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°Kanos¡¯ foresight also pointed to Frost Anvil.¡± Kanos was one of the few demonic humans with the power of foresight, and was in fact, appointed as the sessor to Saluzia. ¡°The disadvantage of Kanos¡¯ foresight is that you can¡¯t get it whenever you want¡­but it is urate once it appears.¡± As if to help Saluzia, one of the executives spoke in a small voice. It was Nemea, a demonic human active in the Argon Empire. The leader of the Devil¡¯s Hand, who had long blue hair, closed her eyes once. She was silent for a moment as she organized her thoughts, before she opened her eyes and said. ¡°Saluzia.¡± ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡± ¡°What¡¯s your n?¡± ¡°Considering their speed of movement so far, it will take two more days for Cordelia Chase to arrive at Frost Anvil. So before that, I n to deploy troops at the Great Gate, the only entrance to Frost Anvil, to capture the two.¡± It wasn¡¯t a bad n. Moreover, the iron man Landius had already left Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s territory and was heading towards the capital. There would no longer be any unexpected intrusions. ¡°Saluzia, I will trust you once again.¡± ¡°Thank you. I will surely live up to your expectations.¡± Saluzia replied, bowing her head deeply when their leader gave her permission. Koros scornfullyughed at her voice mixed with tears, but in fact, all the executives including him, were deeply fascinated with their leader. If he were in the same situation, Koros would have reacted simrly. ¡°Now that the conversation is roughly over, let¡¯s wrap up today¡¯s meeting. May Asmodeus¡¯ favor be with everyone.¡± ¡°May her favor be with you.¡± As their leader spoke, the executives spoke in one voice. And after a few seconds, the other executives and everything else disappeared. Saluzia slowly drew her breath and opened her eyes. In front of her was arge podium instead of a hexagonal star, and her subordinates waiting for her return. ¡°Master Saluzia.¡± Saluzia slowly nodded at the call of Kanos, a demonic human who was so tall that he was nearly two meters in height. ¡°Our head gave us her permission. But this is ourst chance. We have to mobilize all our strength to secure Cordelia Chase.¡± Cordelia Chase was clearly a valuable sacrifice to summon a high-ranking demon. But now, it wasn¡¯t just a simple matter of securing the sacrifice. In order to keep their leader¡¯s trust and maintain her status among the executives, Cordelia must be captured. ¡°Demonic humans Farragut and Vilkay, and the demon Sisioth have already reached the vicinity of Frost Anvil. They¡¯re probably building a strongpoint in front of the Great Gate by now.¡± They needed to secure the Great Gate before Cordelia Chase arrives, so they had already finished preparation to some extent. ¡°We must seed this time.¡± ¡°We will definitely seed. The only entrance to Frost Anvil is through the Great Gate. Moreover, two demonic humans and even a demon have been mobilized this time¡­so it¡¯s hopeless for them unless the iron man appears again.¡± Saluzia agreed with him. What else could they do if they were ambushed at the only entrance? Would they be teleporting to get inside Frost Anvil then? ¡®That¡¯s ridiculous.¡¯ The ancient Dwarven kingdom copsed more than a thousand years ago. Who in this world would have the teleport coordinates that lead to such ancient ruins? Moreover, teleport magic wasn¡¯t a magic that could be used easily. Unless they were the legendary fairies who could freely travel through time and space, it was not possible. ¡°Carry out the n. May Asmodeus¡¯ favor be with you.¡± ¡°May her favor be with you.¡± Kanos replied with a smile, and Saluzia had a small smile too. ***Meanwhile, at the corridor of Frost Anvil¡¯s 1st floor. Jude suddenly said as he looked at the Great Gate, or more specifically, the inside part of the Great Gate. ¡°As you know, the monsters wille flocking here.¡± ¡°Is it because of the Sunflower?¡± ¡°Yes, because the blooming period of the Sunflower is imminent. Most of the monsters in the vicinity mush have already gathered near Frost Anvil.¡± The Sunflower gave off a unique scent. It was impossible to properly smell it with a human¡¯s sense of smell, but it was not the same for monsters. In addition, the unique scent of the Sunflower had the power to attract monsters. As the blooming period approached, the scent became thicker, so in the next few days, countless monsters would rush into Frost Anvil. ¡°The best thing to do is to leave some troops at the Great Gate and defend¡­¡± ¡°But that¡¯s impossible because there¡¯s only the two of us here.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, so there¡¯s only way left.¡± They would take advantage of the fact that Frost Anvil was constructed with only a single passage leading to a certain floor. ¡°If wey down a bunch of traps on that passage, they¡¯ll die along the way.¡± It was a simple but clear answer. Jude had been drawing magic circles throughout their journey in preparation for today. ¡°We shouldn¡¯t be disturbed during the time when we harvest the Sunflower, so don¡¯t spare on the magic circles. Let¡¯spletely spread it out.¡± ¡°You do know that I¡¯m the one who puts mana in the magic circles, right?¡± ¡°I know, ma¡¯am. So I prepared a lot of mana potions.¡± ¡°I hate you.¡± Jude and Cordelia chatted as usual as they set up magic circles on almost the entire first floor passage. Afterwards, they took a break on the lounge in the 1st floor. ¡°From this point on, the outline of our n is simple. All we have to do is go down to the 7th basement floor where the Sunflower will bloom.¡± ¡°Do we drop by the armory on the way?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Their progression was a little different from the original story. They would go down to the 7th underground floor to get the Sunflower like the original story, but because of the powerful boss monster that could be encountered on the 7th floor, their n was to go to the 7th floor only after securing a weapon in the armory to defeat the boss monster. ¡°We already know what will happen, so we don¡¯t need to walk back and forth.¡± First, they would stop by the armory and secure the ¡®Power Weapons¡¯ that were the legacy of the ancient dwarves. ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to the power weapons.¡± ¡°In the original story, we could only take the one we needed.¡± But this was reality now. They would certainly be able to pick out and take several items that could be of use to them now. ¡°New equipment is always wee.¡± ¡°It¡¯s the virtue of RPG to go shopping first when you enter a new town.¡± ¡°Oh, you understand that much?¡± ¡°It¡¯s one of the pleasures of RPG after all.¡± ¡°Yes, mom. Mom is right.¡± ¡°Yes, so listen well to what mom has to say.¡± The two bantered as always while they securely packed their bags before they finally looked at each other. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± The two spoke together as they began walking forward alongside each other. And at the same time again, in front of the Great Gate, Frost Anvil¡¯s entrance. ¡°Don¡¯t even let a rat pass.¡± Under themand of Farragut, a demonic human with an unusually huge right arm, thebatants of the Devil¡¯s Hand quickly moved and began setting up traps all over the Great Gate. Demonic human Vilkay, a witch of detection, stared at the south with narrowed eyes. The demon Sisioth, whose whole body was entangled with a seal, creepilyughed. Capture Cordelia Chase and Jude Bayer at the Great Gate. ¡®Saluzia will be pleased. And this time, I will go beyond that bastard Kanos and gain Master Saluzia¡¯s favor.¡¯ Farragut leaked out a lowugh as he stood in front of the Great Gate¡¯s firm door and looked south to where Cordelia and Jude would appear. But three dayster, what appeared in front of demonic human Farragut were countless monsters and not an iparably beautiful girl and an absolutely handsome boy. Chapter 44: Frost Anvil (2)

Chapter 44: Frost Anvil (2)

Terms used in this chapter: Silpi (??) ¨C Literally means ¡®loss of blood,¡¯ but ¡®Blood loss¡¯ sounds better. It is a Korean gaming term which meant that the yer/character¡¯s HP is seriously low. Games that use HP bars for their characters, e.g. Pok¨¦mon, have HP bars that turn red in color when the HP is low. And HP is tied to the character¡¯s life, so ¡®red + life = blood.¡¯ Baby Shark ¨C a Korean children¡¯s song about a family of sharks, that went viral worldwide. Its lyrics usually have ¡®doo doo doo doo doo¡¯ in the end. ¡°The flock is endless!¡± ¡°Master Farragut!¡± ¡°Ahh! Save me!¡± The screams of thebatants were heard throughout the cold and harsh winds of Frost Anvil. Demonic human Farragut red straight ahead as he roughly breathed. There was a red re in his eyes as he had already activated his demonization, and Farragut saw the monsters hidden among the rushing snowstorm. ¡®Too many.¡¯ There were hundreds to perhaps, even thousands or more monsters. There were also various types. The monsters weren¡¯t just divided into several species. Among them was a type of monster that even Farragut had never seen before. ¡°Master Farragut!¡± He heard a scream again that came from his back and not in the front. It was because the flying monsters known as Winter Harpies, stormed through the back of Farragut¡¯s battle formation. ¡°Lowly monsters!¡± Farragut yelled in anger and struck his right fist. A terrifying shock wave then rose and spread out, hitting the Winter Harpies. The strength of his attack¡¯s power made the blizzard and gale covering the whole area disappear for a moment. Bang! The Winter Harpies hit by the shockwaves became a handful of blood that scattered in the area, and some of the survivors ran away in horror. But it was only for a short time. Soon, the blizzard struck again, and monsters came flocking too. ¡°Damn it!¡± It wasn¡¯t like this from the beginning. At best, it started with a few Snow Goblins appearing, so it wasn¡¯t strange. Frost Anvil was a snowfield area, and Snow Goblins lived in snowfields. But as time went by, things got weird. The number of Snow Goblins kept increasing as if they were moving in groups, andter, Winter Bears who were the Snow Goblins¡¯ predators, also appeared. Several hours have passed since then. ¡°Master Farragut! I can¡¯t hold on any longer!¡± Thebatant¡¯s heartbreaking scream proved to be true. However, it wasn¡¯t possible for them to leave this ce. ¡®We can¡¯t get away!¡¯ The monsters were too many. There was no way for them to escape because the monsters endlessly came like turbulent sea waves. ¡°Master Farragut! Master Vilkay!¡± Farragut turned his gaze as he smashed the head of a Winter Bear that came right behind his back. He could see Vilkay in the distance surrounded by countless monsters, as she rose to the sky by spreading her wings. Her eyes glowed red and released a terrifying magic power. Booom! An intense red wave swept around Vilkay and the surrounding area. It instantly created a huge vacant lot that was 20 meters in diameter, with its inside filled with the blood of monsters. ¡°Gaak-!¡± However, Vilkay did note out unharmed. After using too much mana in session, she copsed on the floor and vomited dark red blood. ¡°Vilkay!¡± Farragut roughly kicked on the ground. The monsters attacked Vilkay again as if their sense of fear was paralyzed. ¡°Farra¡­gut¡­¡± The horns protruding through Vilkay¡¯s red hair gradually became smaller. Her demonization was released because of excessive use. ¡°Uoooh!¡± In one fell swoop, Farragut struck with his huge fist the monsters rushing at Vilkay, before quickly holding her by the waist using his left arm. ¡°We have to get out.¡± It was unreasonable to hold on to this position any longer. They had to escape somehow. ¡°Let¡¯s fully unseal Sisioth.¡± ¡°Then¡­¡± ¡°He¡¯ll run wild, but it¡¯ll buy us some time.¡± It wasn¡¯t that the demons summoned by the Devil¡¯s Hand were perfectly manageable. Most of the time, they formed partnerships through contracts, but the other party was a demon after all. There were some demons who one-sidedly exploited the Devil¡¯s Hand too. Sisioth was a demon belonging to thetter. Therefore, their leader sealed some of Sisioth¡¯s power with the power she received from Asmodeus, making Sisioth a ve of the Devil¡¯s Hand. ¡°For now, we must live.¡± ¡°If Sisioth goes mad, he¡¯ll kill us first.¡± It was true. Farragut struck the ground with his fist, causing a shockwave again. He then saw thebatants desperately fighting in front of the Great Gate. They had brought close to a hundred people, but only thirty people were left. ¡°We can¡¯t run out there.¡± The monsters endlessly came in droves. If the number of monsters exceeded one¡¯s imagination, even Farragut would get swept away by the monster waves and be killed. Farragut knew of that fact too, so he said with a heavy breath. ¡°Let¡¯s go inside.¡± Inside the Great Gate. Go inside, seal the doors and unseal Sisioth. ¡°The door?¡± Vilkay asked in confusion. The Great Gate was tightly sealed. Count Hr?svelgr had newly installed a huge seal to prevent thieves from entering Frost Anvil. ¡°I will open it. If I use all my remaining power, it would be possible to break the seal and open the door.¡± Go inside, close the doors, and unseal Sisioth. Let Sisioth deal with the monsters while they rest inside to restore their strength. Removing the seal would make it conspicuous from afar so Cordelia might feel that something is strange and not approach this ce out of concern, but now wasn¡¯t the time for them to think about that. ¡°After we¡¯ve recovered, we just need to seal Sisioth again. Even Sisioth would be exhausted from dealing with all those monsters.¡± ¡°Okay, I agree to that.¡± Vilkay nodded. Farragut took a deep breath and gathered all his remaining mana into one ce, and he strongly kicked the ground again. ¡°I¡¯ll open the doors! Evacuate inside!¡± As he shouted loudly, he threw up Vilkay into the air towards thebatants. As soon as thebatants scurried and caught Vilkay, he pulled his fist and focused all his strength on one point. It was not a technique or skill, but just the manifestation of pure power. The moment he punched the doors, a red sh of light struck the Great Gate. The entire Great Gate, which stood at 20 meters high, shook greatly. Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s golden magic seal that was spread out on front of the Great Gate was shattered all at once. ¡°Uoooohhh!¡± Farragut didn¡¯t stop. The Great Gate was slightly opened from the shock, so he inserted his hands on the gap and opened the doors with all his might. ¡°Uuoooooh!!!¡± The Great Gate boasted an enormous weight as much as its size. Despite all his efforts, the gap he created was only enough to fit a couple of people. ¡°Hurry up!¡± Farragut was the first to enter as he shouted, and thebatants followed behind Farragut, rushing inside the doors. ¡°Master Farragut!¡± ¡°We too!¡± ¡°Ahhhhh!¡± Thebatants, who stood at the very back of the formation and stopped the monsters, all cried out to Farragut, but he ignored them. About tenbatants were dying in the struggle while Farragut closed the Great Gate with all his might. Boom! With a dull sound, the doors were closed together. At the same time, Vilkay finished the ritual to release Sisioth¡¯s seal. ¡°Haaa¡­.haaa¡­¡± Farragut roughly breathed as he broke into a cold sweat. Beyond the doors, he could feel the powerful magic of Sisioth that had been unsealed. ¡°Farra¡­gut¡­¡± Vilkay was covered in sweat as she called Farragut. There was a mixture of terror and fear in both their eyes, and a sense of relief that they lived at the same time. Farragut spoke. ¡°Let¡¯s go inside.¡± ¡°Inside?¡± ¡°A little more inside. It¡¯s dangerous to be right in front of the doors.¡± Since the seal was gone, anyone could open the doors as long as they have muscle strength. Whether it was the monsters or Sisioth going crazy, it was equally dangerous. So they should go inside and hide themselves. Make a fire to drive away the cold and eat anything to restore their stamina. ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Nodding her head, Vilkay ordered thebatants to move forward and then supported Farragut, who had sat down on the floor. ¡°Cordelia is probably dead already.¡± ¡°Yes, they must have died.¡± So many monsters flocked to this ce. They would have probably been eaten by the monsters that flocked near Frost Anvil. ¡°I have no idea why this happened.¡± The reason why the monsters suddenly gathered here. The Sunflower was kind of a legend. Therefore, the fact that monsters flocked to the Sunflower when it blooms was not widely known in the world. No one lived near Frost Anvil in the first ce. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Yes, we have to recover our strength.¡± Kill a fewbatants and absorb their souls and vitality, and their strength will return to some extent. It was at that time when Farragut and Vilkay were having simr thoughts. At a certain point. Exactly when they entered a certain point in the corridor. Farragut felt something. Vilkay was the same. ¡°What is this?¡± Right after the words came out. Magic mes shot up from the ceiling, walls, and the floor. *** ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Jude and Cordelia looked at each other. A ring of pure white light had suddenly surrounded each of them. ¡°Level up?¡± ¡°Ah, did the monsters get caught in the trap?¡± ¡°Wow, is this the range of experience that we gained thus far?¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t they almost close to the borderline? We¡¯re on the 3rd floor now.¡± The magic circles that were installed in the corridor on the 1st floor were a joint work of Jude and Cordelia, so it was natural that they gained experience together. However, Cordelia tilted her head again as she wondered. ¡°Uh¡­by the way, isn¡¯t this indirect hunting very effective in gaining experience?¡± Didn¡¯t they level up at once? Aren¡¯t they already level 20? ¡°Well, it¡¯s just a small profitpared to the number of magic circles we installed. Haven¡¯t the monsters triggered most of it already?¡± It was at that moment when Jude had said those words. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± Once again, a ring of light surrounded the two. They leveled up again. Moreover, three rings have appeared in a row this time. At this point, Jude had no choice but to look confused. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°Maybe a big fish got caught?¡± ¡°I made it myself, but I don¡¯t think the magic circles are enough to catch a big fish though?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe it¡¯s ¡®Silpi¡¯ and then they got hit by the magic circle and went aaahh.¡± T/N: ¡®Aaahh¡¯ refers to one¡¯s death cry. At Cordelia¡¯s assertion, Jude¡¯s eyes widely opened and then said as he clenched his fist. ¡°It¡¯s possible!¡± ¡°Uh, that¡¯s my line.¡± ¡°What are you saying?¡± ¡°On another note, it¡¯s nice that we¡¯ve leveled up. I¡¯ve been running out of mana nowadays.¡± The performance of ¡®Witch Transformation¡¯ is dramatically improved the more mana one has. As a magic-specialized character, Cordelia¡¯s mana grew greatly every time she leveled up, so this level up was like the long-awaited rain for a drought. Furthermore, the effect of level up did not simply stop there. The witch¡¯s spell book had a structure in which the number of pages that could be opened were increased every time one reached a certain level, so if she increased by one more level now, Cordelia could open a new chapter. When Cordelia bubbled over with joy, Jude¡¯s expression naturally rxed. He spoke in a serious tone again afterwards. ¡°I find it nice too¡­but we¡¯d better hurry. The monsters have entered the 1st floor after all.¡± ¡°Okay, let¡¯s hurry.¡± After agreeing with Jude, Cordelia walked for a while before stopping again. ¡°Ah, I think I know the way from here. We can go that way, right?¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right. There is a secret passage over there that leads you to the 5th floor.¡± Originally, they had to fight with various monsters that lived in Frost Anvil between the 3rd and 5th floors, but the two decided to skip them all for now. ¡®Because you can get a weapon that can help in defeating them.¡¯ It would be a lot easier to defeat monsters after they¡¯ve grabbed power weapons from the armory. It was not an option for the two who were rotten water, to pass by without defeating the monsters, who were the treasure trove of experience points. ¡°Po~wer weapon doo doo doo doo doo~ It¡¯s so sweet~ doo doo doo doo doo~ In the Anvil ~ doo doo doo doo doo~ Power Weapon!¡± ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°What am I doing? It¡¯s a song of joy.¡± In the original story, they got a Power Spear to defeat the giant White Snake that guarded the Sunflower, but this time, it would be different. She wondered what else is there. She thought about what she could bring. ¡°It¡¯s so sweet~ doo doo doo doo doo~ Power Weapon!¡± Cordelia took the lead as she hummed, and Jude thought as he unconsciously giggled and smiled. ¡®She¡¯s cute.¡¯ She¡¯ll growl if he said it, so Jude kept his thoughts to himself. ¡°What are you doing! Come quickly!¡± ¡°Yes, yes. Doodoodoodoo Power Weapon.¡± ¡°Doo doo doo doo doo.¡± ¡°Doodoodoodoodoo?¡± ¡°Doo doo doo doo doo.¡± ¡°Okay, doo doo doo doo doo.¡± ¡°Hmm, good.¡± Cordelia smiled in great satisfaction, and Jude grinned too as he began walking again. And 30 minutester, the two arrived in front of the ancient dwarves¡¯ armory. Chapter 45: Armory

Chapter 45: Armory

Terms used in this chapter: Gathering dirt to make a big mountain ¨C a proverb/expression which means that even very small things can be huge if they umte. An English equivalent would be ¡®many a mickle makes a muckle.¡¯ Eat it raw/eat something raw ¨C an idiom which means to do or have something without making any effort. So if you see the word ¡®eat it raw¡¯ter in this chapter, it refers to this idiom and not the literal meaning (Edit: And not the lewd one in English too, hahaha). The ancient dwarves were superior in many ways to the current dwarves, and the two had significant differences, especially in terms of physique. ¡°The ancient dwarves were quite tall.¡± ¡°Rather than being tall, aren¡¯t they just bulky?¡± ¡°Well¡­at any rate, they¡¯re grossly big.¡± If the bulky adults of the current dwarves were about 130 to 140 centimeters tall, the ancient dwarves reached an average height of 170 centimeters. ¡®As Cordelia had said, rather than being tall, they are bulky.¡¯ The body type of the ancient dwarves were the same as the current dwarves. They have short limbs, broad shoulders, and quite arge head. Their body type remains the same, but as their height grows, the other parts of their body also grow bigger. They have big hands, big feet, and a big head. Incidentally, all these facts were quite useful for Jude and Cordelia at the present moment. This is because the position of the panel that opens the door to the armory is just at a right height for human use. ¡°Hmm.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°No, I just thought you¡¯re a little big.¡± ¡°Big? Do you mean my height?¡± ¡°Ah, is it because you¡¯re slowly being healed from Gueumjulmaek? Based on when they awakened their past lives as the starting point, Cordelia¡¯s height was about 165 cm, and Jude¡¯s height was around 166-170 cm. Therefore, their differences in height was not enough for her to look up to Jude, but now that they¡¯ve stood parallel to each other, Cordelia had to raise her head quite a bit to make eye contact. ¡°Well¡­there are some cases where Gueumjulmaek hindered growth. In the first ce, the character ¡®Jude¡¯ willter grow to almost 180 cm. So I¡¯ll grow up too.¡± ¡°Hmm, 180.¡± Cordelia took a step back as she evaluated Jude by looking at him up and down. ¡°Hmm, not bad.¡± ¡°Thank you for your kind consideration, ma¡¯am.¡± ¡°Yes, mom. Anyway, just open the door.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t ¡®dad¡¯ better than ¡®mom¡¯ though?¡± ¡°You want to be called ¡®Daddy¡¯? Do you want me to call you ¡®Papa¡¯ from now on then? Okay, Papa. Your taste is unique.¡± ¡°Just call me Mom.¡± After they¡¯ve exchanged a silly conversation, Jude brushed off the umted dust on the panel that was attached to the wall. It was a panel of numeric keys that wasmon everywhere, and the door was only opened after entering a nine-digit password. In the original story, they had to find the notebook of the ¡®forgetful manager¡¯ hidden somewhere on the 5th floor to find out the password, but this time, they didn¡¯t have to. ¡°Open it quickly, quickly. Doo doo doo doo doo.¡± ¡°Wait, let me search my memories.¡± Cordelia pretended to listen as she hummed, while Jude checked his Memory Pce. A few minutes after, when the password was sessfully entered, the seal of the armory¡¯srge steel door was released with a rattling sound. ¡°My heart is pounding.¡± ¡°Me too.¡± Jude replied to Cordelia, and then pushed the steel door that opened sideways to open the armory. ¡°It¡¯s the same as the original.¡± Cordelia spoke small as her cheeks reddened and she looked inside the armory while remembering how the armory in the original looked. It was a square room about 10 meters long on each side, but it was not like a frozen freezerpared to the other rooms in Frost Anvil, perhaps because it was sealed for a long time. ¡°The real deal is further inside, right?¡± ¡°Yes, so let¡¯s take a look here before that.¡± Cordelia quickly nodded as Jude pointed to the shelves on the wall. ¡°Right, right. I really wanted to take these whenever I yed the game.¡± Taking the other items was a pipe dream because they couldn¡¯t be acquired in the game, but now, it was no longer a pipe dream anymore. ¡°Is this a basic armor set?¡± Cordelia ran to the shelf and looked. She then found a set of gloves, shoes, a vest, and a round helmet that could all be equipped as a set. ¡°Umm, sort of. After all, rather thanpletely being an armory, this is a storage room for equipment.¡± ¡°Why? Why do you say that?¡± ¡°No, that is¡­.those are work clothes.¡± ¡°Work clothes?¡± ¡°Yes, because Frost Anvil was an underground city, and it was a ce where mining and expansion were continuously being carried out. So those are a safety helmet, safety shoes, safety gloves¡­stuff like that?¡± But even so, it was the legacy of the ancient dwarves. Moreover, the work clothes were strong and firm in the first ce, so it was perfect to use as an armor. ¡°But it¡¯s too big.¡± It was just an average-sized safety helmet in the ancient dwarves¡¯ standards. Whereas when Cordelia used it, the safety helmet became like arge pot that was flipped over. Jude tried to hold back hisughter that was about to leak out, and afterwards, he likewise rummaged through the shelves. ¡°Look carefully. Even if those are work clothes, it¡¯s a safety set, so there should be ones for children too. The gloves and shoes¡¯ size will be adjusted automatically. ¡± As Jude had said, there were several safety sets prepared for children in the corner of the shelf. ¡°Pfft, you look like a chick.¡± ¡°Hey, aren¡¯t you wearing the same clothes as me?¡± The safety hat, safety shoes, safety gloves, and vest were all yellow. As it was work clothes, it was made to stand out. ¡°Are there anybat uniforms?¡± ¡°It wouldn¡¯t fit even if this ce have those.¡± Children obviously wouldn¡¯t havebat uniforms. ¡°Besides¡­I think this is good enough?¡± Like the equipment of ancient dwarves, both the gloves and shoes were enchanted with magic. ¡°The gloves increase muscle strength¡­does the shoes increase agility?¡± Cordelia said as she jumped in ce. She jumped much higher than usual to check if it really worked. ¡°Good, I like it. This should be enough for a while.¡± After Jude tried his footwork skill, he looked down at his feet with a satisfied look. Safety shoes weren¡¯t usually sturdy, but with these shoes, the attack power of his kicks would now be much stronger. ¡°Let¡¯s open the inside quickly.¡± The Power Spear used to defeat the White Snake in the original story was stored behind the second door, which was the true armory. ¡°Okay, just wait for a second.¡± Jude immediately opened the door by operating the number panel of the second door. And then, the original story¡¯s event urred. [This is Jamu, the person in charge of the armory. Please listen to my story.] A translucent ancient dwarf appeared right in front of the door and spoke in a dignified voice. It was a holographic image, not a ghost, and as Jamu said, he was a kind of artificial intelligence that managed the armory. ¡°It has no physical body, so let¡¯s just pass through it. Besides, his story is just the armory¡¯s general story.¡± Jude said that and tried to pass through Jamu. ¡°Wait, wait a second.¡± Cordelia held Jude¡¯s hand and looked at Jamu with a troubled look for a moment. Afterwards, she immediately spoke to Jude again. ¡°Don¡¯t do that. Let¡¯s listen to his story.¡± ¡°Story?¡± ¡°Uh, this was like that in the witch¡¯s forest. You remember how I went through a lot when I just skipped it, right? In addition, there was a cinematic movie at the event when you get the Power Spear. Wouldn¡¯t it be difficult for us if there was something that was not known in the video again?¡± Cordelia¡¯s words were quite reasonable. Therefore, Jude nodded without hesitation. ¡°It¡¯s possible!¡± ¡°Hey, wasn¡¯t that my line?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s listen to it then. We have plenty of time anyway.¡± Having made up his mind, Jude took a vest from the shelf, spread it out and made it as a mat. ¡°Ma¡¯am, please sit down.¡± ¡°Yes, Daddy.¡± Cordelia squatted next to Jude before looking up at Jamu, while Jude prodded Jamu to begin talking. ¡°Jamu, tell us your story.¡± [May I talk to you?] ¡°Yes, we¡¯d like to hear your story.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Jamu looked to be quite moved. Although it was an artificial intelligence, it seemed to possess some emotion and ego. [Ahem, ahem, I understand. You have an excellent eye for showing interest in my story. So this story begins in Frost Anvil 004, when I first opened my eyes in the armory.] When Jamu hurriedly began to talk, Cordelia unconsciously turned to Jude, and Jude looked back at Cordelia. Somehow, the two had an ominous feeling in the beginning, as if they had heard of this somewhere. And five hourster, their prediction became a reality. *** ¡°It looks like my ears are bleeding¡­¡± Cordelia said with a dying face after hearing all of Jamu¡¯s stories for five hours. If they dozed off in the middle, Jamu repeated the story again from that point, so they were forced to concentrate. Looking back at Cordelia leaning her head with a tearful face, Jude spoke in surprise. ¡°Hey! Your ears are really bleeding!¡± ¡°Re-really?¡± ¡°Is it just me?¡± As Jude clicked his tongue, Cordelia regained her energy and began hitting Jude¡¯s back. ¡°It hurts! It hurts!¡± ¡°I told you before, right? It hurts when I hit you, right? I¡¯m going to hit and hit you again, okay?¡± In any case, the two began stretching before they stood up from their seats. ¡°In the end, it was just some meaningless chat.¡± ¡°No, well¡­it wasn¡¯t really that unhelpful.¡± They heard a summary on how to use the weapons stored in the armory. ¡°Furthermore¡­Jamu seems to be satisfied too.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± As Jude had said, Jamu had a refreshing expression while he stood with his eyes closed, as if he had solved a thousand-year-old problem. If it was not an artificial intelligence but a ghost, it would¡¯ve already ascended immediately. ¡°Now then, let¡¯s go quickly. I¡¯m feeling sleepy.¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s just grab the weapons and take a rest for today.¡± The two entered the true armory while yawning, but it was only for a short time. ¡°Uwaah¡­there are five Power Spears.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t these be useful for us too?¡± While Cordelia admired the Power Spears that she saw lined up on the wall, Jude spoke as he looked at the daggers. ¡°Look at this, there¡¯s knuckles too. Try it on to see if it fits your hand.¡± ¡°Rather than knuckles¡­it¡¯s more like a Power Fist?¡± Jude put on the gauntlet that covered the back of his arm, and then clenched and opened his fist several times. There weren¡¯t any decorations as the ancient dwarves had a in taste. And at the moment Jude wore the gauntlet, it reminded him of the first time he had lifted a gun, which had the distinctive heavy feel of a lethal weapon. ¡°What do you think? Do you think you can use it?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s good. Does it have a left arm too?¡± ¡°Here.¡± Cordelia ran like a squirrel grabbing acorns, and then she brought a Power Fist from the other side of the room. ¡°Hmm, good. This will make it easier to use the Power Spear.¡± ¡°Is that right? How much do you think your attack power has increased? Is it about 1.2 times of your muscle strength? What about the options?¡± ¡°How should I say this¡­you¡¯re really a rotten water.¡± ¡°Tsk, on that subject, I¡¯ve be ¡®oil.¡¯¡± T/N: Just like how ¡®rotten water¡¯ is higher leveled than ¡®stagnant water,¡¯ there are also other Korean terms to signify how long a person ys and masters a game. Other terms include ¡®skeleton water,¡¯ ¡®fossils,¡¯ ¡®oil,¡¯ ¡®asphalt,¡¯ etc. So Cordelia is pretty much saying that she¡¯s already reached the ¡®oil¡¯ level and no longer just ¡®rotten water.¡¯ Cordelia grumbled, but she soon smiled brightly and looked inside the armory again. Because the ancient dwarves were mostly warriors, there wasn¡¯t much useful stuff for Cordelia who was a wizard, but she looked happy in just finding equipment for Jude to use. ¡®Is it the feeling of changing the items of a fellow character in RPGs?¡¯ Jude giggled and then looked at the Power Spears again, which were the reason why the armory existed. The spear¡¯s outer appearance had a simple design in which a huge spear de was attached at the end of the long spear, but its internal structure was quiteplex. ¡®It emits the charged psionic energy through the spear¡¯s de.¡¯ The output was also freely adjustable, and when fired at maximum power, it was more like a beam gun rather than a spear. ¡®In fact, it can only be used once per spear, but there are five spears here.¡¯ Jude nodded with a cheerful face as he took the Power Spears, while Cordelia groaned as she brought stuff like a hammer, mace, and a great sword. They didn¡¯t have anyone that could use those stuff right away, but she thought that it was such a waste to leave those behind. ¡°You¡¯re like a real squirrel.¡± ¡°Huh? Me?¡± ¡°Yes, you¡¯re like a hamster.¡± She stuffed her mouth with food that she would eatter. T/N: Hoarding is a typical hamster behavior in which a hamster will stuff as much food as it can in its cheek pouches and run off to store the food in a hiding ce where it would eat the foodter. So Cordelia hoarding the items made Judepare her to a hamster. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s apliment, so let me hit you once first.¡± ¡°Hey, you can¡¯t do that. For now, let¡¯s take a break here today, eat breakfast tomorrow morning, and go straight to the power room where the Sunflower will bloom.¡± ¡°There was also a secret passage there, right?¡± ¡°There was.¡± The flow from the original story was as follows. On the 7th floor, the main character and their party encountered the White Snake and identally discovered a secret passage during their fierce battle. Once the party entered the secret passage to avoid the White Snake, they obtained clues about the armory from the dead bodies of the ancient dwarves, and then used the secret passage to enter the armory and secure a Power Spear that could defeat the White Snake. ¡°So if we use the secret passage, we can go straight to the power room where the White Snake and Sunflower is.¡± ¡°But we won¡¯t be using the secret passage now, as we¡¯ll be going up and down the 3rd floor to conduct a straightforward attack first, right?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± If they defeated the White Snake now, their levels would rise a few times, but the experience points efficiency of the misceneous monster mobs between the 3rd and 6th floors would only get worse. The experience points system of Legend of Heroes was somewhat mixed with absolute and rtive values/points. The system calctes the basic absolute points granted based on the level differences of the yer and the enemy. So if the yer¡¯s level is low and the monster¡¯s level is high, the yer can get more experience points depending on how far the difference in levels between the two have. ¡°We have to think about gathering dirt to make a big mountain.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right.¡± The thoughts of the two were in perfect harmony with each other. ¡°Because it¡¯s not that urgent. Even if we sweep the monsters from the third floor down, the White Snake will still be in hibernation.¡± As its name suggests, the White Snake is a white snake. To be exact, it was the demonic monster of Leviathan, the ancient great monarch who drove Frost Anvil into ruins, but in any case, the fact that it was a snake did not change. ¡®And the snake is a cold-blooded animal that is sensitive to cold temperatures.¡¯ The White Snake was the true reason on why Frost Anvil became a freezer in the first ce. ¡®The temperature was extremely lowered in order to confine the White Snake in Frost Anvil.¡¯ They couldn¡¯t let the demonic monster out of this ce. So they decided to confine the monster here. It was a heroic decision made by an unknown ancient dwarf. Even if it was in a weakened state due to not getting proper nutrition for a thousand years, the White Snake was a demonic monster that possessed an extremely powerful strength. So when it invaded Frost Anvil during its prime, the powerful and imposing White Snake was said to be truly terrifying. ¡°The White Snake that was normally asleep would wake up for a while to consume the enormous amount of Yang energy that is generated when the Sunflower blooms ¨C isn¡¯t that the setting?¡± ¡°Yes, so it would be asleep for now.¡± In the game, they reached the 7th floor a day after the Sunflower had bloomed, but in their current situation, they could arrive there a few days ahead. ¡°So let¡¯s thrust and bang the Power Spear into the head of the hibernating bastard!¡± Even if its body was several tens of meters long, the monster wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything if it was in hibernation. ¡°Wow, we¡¯ll really ¡®eat it raw.¡¯¡± ¡°So you don¡¯t like it?¡± ¡°No, I love it. ¡®Eating it raw¡¯ is the best. I want to ¡®eat it raw¡¯ every day. Please let me ¡®eat it raw.¡¯¡± ¡°Me too.¡± Jude and Cordelia looked at each other and broadly smiled, as the two hummed and exited the armory. In the morning three dayster, the two reached the 7th floor after wiping out all the monsters that existed between the 3rd and 6th floors¡­and the giant White Snake that had terrified the entire Frost Anvil for a long time suddenly met a mysterious death. Chapter 46: Sunflower (1)

Chapter 46: Sunflower (1)

Late update~! We have a long chapter again, so it took quite some time to trante. As for the next chapter, expect it to be dyed tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. Terms used in this chapter: Macgyver ¨C the title character and protagonist of the American TV series Macgyver. MacGyver is shown to possess a?genius-level?intellect, proficiency in multiplenguages, superb?engineering?skills, excellent knowledge of?applied physics, military training in?bomb disposal?techniques, and a preference for non-lethal resolutions to conflicts. New Year¡¯s Eve bell ¨C In Seoul, a popr event is the bell-ringing ceremony at Bosingak Belfry on the New Year¡¯s Eve. ?People count down together to the New Year and the bell at Bosingak Belfry is struck 33 times to celebrate theing of the New Year. Form is temporary, ss is permanent ¨C a famous sports quote from Bill Shankly. It means that a yer¡¯s form (physical status, recent performance) is temporary and can change, but their ss (natural abilities, talents, skills) is permanent. I won¡¯t borate further about the quote, as it is mostly sports-rted, but in this chapter, the quote is used to mean that even if the enemy is exhausted, their natural abilities are still there (they¡¯re still strong). Leviathan, the great monarch of destruction who drove Frost Anvil into ruins, summoned the giant White Snake in hisst-ditch move. Solid scales that bounced off any weapon of the ancient dwarves, a poison strong enough to melt the body just by being near, and magical eyes that paralyzed anyone it made eye contact with ¨C the White Snake was the fall of Frost Anvil itself. Countless ancient dwarves lost their lives. However, they didn¡¯t just die powerlessly. After driving the White Snake into the deepest power room of Frost Anvil, they chose to die with the demonic monster. ¡®May our deaths be worth it.¡¯ The ancient dwarves destroyed Frost Anvil¡¯s temperature control system by making the magical power furnace runaway. As a result, Frost Anvil became a frozennd dominated by extreme cold as its name implies. ¡°And a thousand yearster. The White Snake had weakened in the constantly flowing passage of time. Its scales, which used to be an invincible shield, was no longer the same as it used to be, and its physical strength and mana had be so weak amidst its long hunger. And¡­the coldness of Frost Anvil was also better than before.¡± Because the Frost Anvil from a thousand years ago was truly a hell of extreme cold. The ancient dwarves who made the power furnace runaway would have be ice sculptures without ever feeling any pain. ¡°White Snake.¡± The demonic beast of Leviathan, the great monarch of destruction. The fall of Frost Anvil. A real monster that reached several tens of meters in length. ¡°But now it¡¯s just our experience.¡± In front of the White Snake with its partly destroyed head, Cordelia nodded and then stretched out her left hand as she started taking a selfie. It was a portable magic camera of the ancient dwarves that they had found along the way. And Jude said as he watched the scene. ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°Commemorative snapshot. Do you want to take a picture together?¡± ¡°I knew it already, but it still feels new seeing you have a strong stomach in such a strange ce.¡± She was an iparably beautiful girl who was pretending to be pretty and taking a selfie in front of a giant monster with a partially destroyed head. Nevertheless, the snapshot was important. Nodding his head, Jude quickly approached Cordelia and took a selfie together. ¡°It came out well. From now on, I¡¯ll take it every time I defeat a boss.¡± ¡°Well, what should I say¡­ It reminds me of a poacher who kills a lion and poses on top of it.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t this be poaching when you look at it broadly?¡± They killed a wild snake. Cordelia surprisingly agreed with him and nodded, while Jude was momentarily speechless before he just nodded his head. ¡°Now then, let¡¯s go and eat.¡± ¡°Yes, Daddy. What side dish are we having today?¡± ¡°Snake side dish.¡± ¡°It¡¯s always a snake!¡± ¡°My princess, you can¡¯t be picky, okay?¡± ¡°Hey, eating only snakes every day is a rather unbnced diet.¡± ¡°It can¡¯t be helped. We only have a snake to eat.¡± The monsters that existed between the 3rd and 6th floors were mostly humanoids like Snow Goblins. It was impossible for him to think of eating something humanoid, even if it was a monster. Though, he wouldn¡¯t know if he could do so when he had nothing else to eat. In the end, Cordelia had a long sigh, and as they walked towards the tent, which was their home, she asked Jude. ¡°Jude, Jude. When does the Sunflower bloom?¡± ¡°Tomorrow¡­it will bloom at exactly midnight today.¡± A few days have already passed since they killed the White Snake. At Jude¡¯s answer, Cordelia turned to look at therge flower located in the center of the power furnace. A Sunflower with apletely closed bud. In the original story, the Sunflower was literally a yellow and crimson flower, but now, it was a purple that is close to blue. ¡°I hope it blooms quickly.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°If you eat that, your Gueumjulmaek will be cured, right?¡± ¡°Maybe. I¡¯ll be almost cured, I think?¡± ¡°Just be well.¡± ¡°What are you going to do if I¡¯m healed?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll do everything that have been dyed then.¡± Cordelia hummed and stepped faster as they got closer to the tent. It was not an exaggeration to say that it was more of a house than a tent, because Jude had added various materials that he had gathered up to this point to make the tent. ¡®Because there¡¯s a dining room and a bathroom.¡¯ She didn¡¯t expect that Jude was really skilled with his hands. ¡°My nickname was the Korean MacGyver.¡± ¡°Who is that?¡± ¡°He is the main character of the ssic American drama that foreign kids love. You must¡¯ve heard of the song, right?¡± ¡°Song?¡± ¡°Tat tt~ tla~ tllll~l~l~ tla~ tla~ tla~¡± ¡°What is that?¡± ¡°O-okay.¡± When Cordelia¡¯s face became sullen, Jude who was unconsciously absorbed in singing, opened the dining room door with an embarrassed look. Since the entire Frost Anvil was like a refrigerator, it was a kind of heated room built to preserve the warmth of food. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s eat.¡± ¡°Yes, Daddy. It¡¯s not much but enjoy your meal.¡± ¡°Hey, I¡¯m the one who set the table?¡± ¡°So reflect on it. Come to your senses. I mean, wake up.¡± ¡°I¡¯m dying from my illness.¡± T/N: These two like using puns. ??? (charida) can both mean ¡®set the table¡¯ and e to one¡¯s senses.¡¯ Jude meant the first meaning, but Cordelia jokingly interpreted it as the second meaning. So in the next sentence, Cordelia used ?? (gaksseong), which both mean e to one¡¯s senses¡¯ and ¡®awaken/wake up.¡¯ And then Jude pretended that he was dying because he was ¡®losing his senses¡¯ and no longer staying ¡®awake.¡¯ And the puns doesn¡¯t end here. ¡®I¡¯m dying from my illness¡¯ could also be read as ¡®I would rather die than suffer,¡¯ which is a Korean proverb. I won¡¯t exin the meaning of that proverb, as it doesn¡¯t make sense in their conversation. Well, their entire conversation was ¡®nonsense¡¯ in the first ce. The two exchanged nonsensical words as always, and they sat down facing each other on the table made by Jude and started eating afterwards. And that night, Jude and Cordelia squatted in front of the Sunflower after having taken a nap in advance. The two, who had big and shining eyes, waited for the moment when the Sunflower blooms. ¡°Not yet?¡± ¡°It¡¯s about time. Shall we count down?¡± ¡°It¡¯s like I¡¯m waiting for the New Year¡¯s Eve bell.¡± Somehow, Cordelia spontaneouslyughed as she looked at the seconds hand of Jude¡¯s pocket watch that he had taken out. Within a second, she opened her mouth again. ¡°5.¡± ¡°4.¡± ¡°3.¡± ¡°2¡­¡± The two counted down in abored and brusque manner as they stared at the Sunflower, and after they¡¯ve counted to two, they opened their mouths again and shouted. ¡°¡°1!¡±¡± The Sunflower¡¯s bud opened. The violet petals gradually turned yellow, and the bud itself began to have a faint glow like that of the moonlight. ¡°Wow¡­¡± It was beautiful. It couldn¡¯t even bepared to the blooming of tulips that she had watched all night long because she had to write an observation journal in elementary school. As the faint light gradually became stronger, the sight was like a sunrise lighting up the surroundings. ¡°Beautiful.¡± When Cordelia¡¯s bright eyes shined as she happily smiled, Jude saw Cordelia instead of the Sunflower, and he also smiled. ¡°Good, this would be a great help in curing my Gueumjulmaek.¡± ¡°Will you be eating that?¡± ¡°To be exact, I¡¯ll be absorbing its energy. You¡¯ve known it in the original story, right?¡± ¡°I know, but¡­it¡¯s somehow regrettable.¡± ¡°The flower will wilt in 3 days just the same.¡± ¡°Even so¡­¡± The Sunflower¡¯s blooming continued even during their conversation, and when it was finally in full bloom, the entire power room was filled with warmth. ¡°The flower of the sun.¡± The essence of an extreme Yang energy that rose in the extreme cold. Jude took a deep breath and walked towards the Sunflower, while Cordelia stood up but stopped in her ce and just stared at it. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°When I absorb the energy of the Sunflower, I probably won¡¯t be able to move for a while.¡± ¡°Should I doodle on your face?¡± ¡°¡­I¡¯d like you to refrain from doing it if possible¡­ Anyway, I¡¯ll be trusting you.¡± ¡°You can trust in this noona (elder sister). I will keep you safe.¡± As Cordelia thumped on her chest, Jude smiled and stretched out his hands toward the Sunflower. ¡°I trust in you, Cordelia.¡± Jude¡¯s two hands touched the Sunflower bud. And at that moment, the Yang energy of the Sunflower converged in Jude¡¯s hands. The Yang energy of the Sunflower reacted to the extreme Yin energy of the Gueumjulmaek. ¡°Aaah, aaaaahhhhh¡­.!¡± The moment when Jude let out a hot breath and yelled, the light burst. The warmth of the Sunflower prated into Jude¡¯s whole body once, and the blue and yellow energy mixed together and began to swirl in Jude¡¯s fallen body. ¡°The extreme Yin and the extreme Yang¡­¡± It was a phenomenon caused by the extreme Yin energy that gradually melted to the extreme Yang energy that was pushed inside his body by the Sunflower, andbined with the Sun¡¯s Ne¡¯s Yang energy too. ¡®Even if it looks dangerous, just leave it alone. It¡¯s the treatment process.¡¯ Recalling what Jude had said, Cordelia nervously gulped as she stood in ce and watched over Jude. Time passed, and it was around the time that the bored Cordelia had squatted and began to scribble on the floor. ¡®Wiiiiiing-!¡¯ An rm rang in her head. It was clearly the sound of the magic circle that Jude had installed in the several passages leading to the 7th floor. Cordelia¡¯s mind cleared and she raised her head as she thought. ¡®Who could it be?¡¯ They had clearly hunted down all the monsters that existed from the 3rd to the 6th floor. Was there one that was hiding? Or is it somethingpletely unexpected? Now was not the time for her to worry. A new rm went off. It was proof that it was approaching to this ce. ¡°Jude.¡± The blue and yellow lights were still mixing and swirling. She couldn¡¯t even guess when it would end. Cordelia closed her eyes once. She took a deep breath and after a moment, she suddenly stood up and moved forward. Protect Jude. She would prevent whoever it was from even approaching the power room. Armed with the yellow work clothes of the ancient dwarves, Cordelia grabbed the Moonlight. She began to run and follow the sound of the rm. *** Farragut was not dead. All of thebatants and his colleague, witch Vilkay, died, but he was still alive. It was all thanks to his quick thinking at that moment. The moment the magical mes burst, he used Vilkay as a shield and destroyed the magic circle with all of his remaining energy. After Vilkay died, he absorbed her soul and remaining mana in the safety zone that he made with great difficulty. Of course, it was far from enough to fully recover his strength. Therefore, he also used thebatants who barely survived from the magic circle as his own nourishment. ¡®It¡¯s not the ancient dwarves.¡¯ These weren¡¯t traps nned from the time of design, as those were usually camouged into the surrounding area. These were new traps made by someone who added magic circles into the area. Because Sisioth would have gone on a rampage outside the Great Gate, Farragut moved a little further inside. And then he found it. ¡®The traces of a fire.¡¯ Traces were left everywhere of what seemed to be somebody camping. Leftover food scraps. Burnt firewood. A strand of long red hair found in a safety zone constructed from various objects. ¡°Kuku..kukukuku¡­¡± He involuntarilyughed. There was only one conclusion he could think of. He didn¡¯t know what methods they used, but Cordelia was already in Frost Anvil. After installing a trap on the first floor, they had moved deeper in search of the Sunflower. ¡®Then there¡¯s only one thing that I have to do.¡¯ Capture Cordelia. Kill Jude who was with her and absorb his strength. If the Sunflower is in bloom, absorb it too. Farragut followed their trail. From the 3rd to the 6th floor. It was not easy to find his way in the cold and dark Frost Anvil. But Farragut was not in a hurry. After patiently moving for several days, he finally reached the 7th floor. And now they faced each other at this moment. ¡°Cordelia.¡± He saw the image of a beautiful girl with bright red hair. Farragutughed in satisfaction again. It was time to hunt. *** It wasn¡¯t as much as Jude, but Cordelia also knew a lot about Legend of Heroes 2. So she could tell the moment she faced him. ¡®Demonic human Farragut.¡¯ He was the strongest among the low-ranking demonic humans of the Devil¡¯s Hand. The cold air seemed to be a lie, as a cold sweat ran along her back. Apart from her knowledge, her instincts knew it. Because her senses were telling her. ¡®He¡¯s strong.¡¯ Jude and Cordelia had defeated three demonic humans so far, but in reality, demonic human Minos was the only one they properly fought. And even then, they wouldn¡¯t have been able to win against Minos without the help of Bestin¡¯s magic circle, a magic circle close to a cheat. How would she fight him now? It wouldn¡¯t be easy too. Even if he was a low-ranking one, a demonic human was still a demonic human. They were the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s tactical weapons made bybining humans and demons. Moreover, the Farragut in front of her was stronger than Minos. He seemed quite exhausted ining all the way here, but as the saying goes, ¡°ss is permanent.¡± ¡®However.¡¯ She still had to fight. She must lure him away so that the aftermath does not affect Jude, who is stabilizing his body at the moment. Cordelia thought then on where they should fight. Farragut had a big build. On the other hand, Cordelia herself was slim. ¡®So why don¡¯t we fight in a ce with many obstacles?¡¯ She then rejected it. Farragut was a demonic human who boasted of a superhuman strength and was an expert in hand-to-handbat. He could smash at once the light obstacles, and the cramped ce would rather restrict her retreat. A spacious ce. A ce where Cordelia herself can make full use of her mobility. Cordelia didn¡¯t think. Instead of using reasoning like Jude, she used her intuition. And that¡¯s why it didn¡¯t take her a long time to make a judgment like Jude. At the moment her intuition worked, she started to move. ¡°All right!¡± Farragut shouted loudly and kicked the ground. At the same time, Cordelia moved forward with magic cast on herself. She had not yet used the Witch Transformation. If she had already used the Witch Transformation, which consumed a lot of mana, she wouldn¡¯t have the time to properly turn it offter. ¡°Hahaha! You¡¯re like a rabbit!¡± Farragut¡¯s mana became stronger. Cordelia did not look back, but she knew. He must have grown horns on his head. It was the demonization that Minos had showed. A state when the demonic human has drawn out its true power. A chill run up her spine while she was running. Farragut¡¯s powerful mana and malice seemed to be stabbing her back. Cordelia did not stop. Like a deer chased by a predator, she moved her feet endlessly. The map of the 7th floor. No matter how hard she tried, Jude was abnormal for having thoroughly memorized it. However, Cordelia could also remember to some degree, a hunting ground that she had passed once. Arge room in the corner of the 7th floor. She didn¡¯t know what it was originally used for, but it was a wide and spacious open area. She entered. It was dark. But the darkness didn¡¯t matter to her. And it was the same for Farragut. ¡°Hahaha! It¡¯s a dead end!¡± Like a rushing tank that broke the ground, Farragutughed aloud, and the brightness of his eyes shone even more. It was the eyes of the demonic human who saw through the darkness. Cordelia exhaled. Instead of being scared and cowering in vain, she activated the Witch Transformation. ¡°Pa-!¡± An intense mana wave rose in the air like a storm around Cordelia. Her hair was dyed ck, and her eyes glowed blue. Farragut¡¯s smile slightly cracked. It was because of Cordelia¡¯s mana which exploded the moment she triggered the Witch Transformation. ¡°Bring it on.¡± Cordelia said, and Farragutughed again. He then rushed towards Cordelia at a terrifying speed! Boom! A loud noise broke out. The floor and walls were smashed. It was a mere difference. Farragut¡¯s fist brushed past Cordelia¡¯s side and carved arge crack in the wall, and Cordelia activated the magic again. A triple casting that ovepped on herself. Regardless of whether the body can withstand it, no ordinary wizard had ever attempted it. Their reason was simple. They couldn¡¯t adapt to the speed of a triple . It was a speed that was too much for an ordinary human. But Cordelia did. And she adapted to it. Papapapapapapak! Cordelia moved at a tremendous speed. The physically adept demonic human Farragut also aimed for Cordelia by speeding up, but his attacks couldn¡¯t hit her. Cordelia wasn¡¯t just simply fast. She was reading Farragut¡¯s attack. ¡®How?!¡¯ They were in a high-speed battle. It was almost impossible to predict the next attack based on Farragut¡¯s own fine movements. And she couldn¡¯t do so, in fact. Even Jude wouldn¡¯t be able to immediately read the next attack in the fight against Farragut at the present moment. But Cordelia could. Because she didn¡¯t calcte it from the very start. An intuition beyond reasoning. A talent to get immediate results. Cordelia felt it. Farragut¡¯s attack. She had a hunch as to what kind of attack would be carried out next. Boom! Boom! Boom! The heavy pressure crushed the walls, ceiling, and floor. Cordelia danced like a butterfly under the rushing pressure like a storm. A breathtaking dance where she would likely be killed at any moment. If she allowed even a single blow, her small self would likely be crushed at that time. But Cordelia was not broken. She continued to dance like a butterfly in the storm. ¡°Foolish human!¡± Farragut¡¯s mana became even more violent. And he thought. Change tactics. If he can¡¯t hit her, then widen the scope of the attack. Even if it misses the mark, she will be caught up in the aftereffect of the attack. An attack to the side, not on a point. Cordelia felt it. And she interrupted Farragut in a way that only Cordelia could. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! A bee¡¯s sting was added between the butterfly¡¯s dance. In the midst of the breathtaking three-dimensional maneuver, a dozen magic missiles was added to the dizzying dance. Farragut¡¯s whole body was struck without mercy. ¡°Crazy?!¡± Farragut was astonished. It wasn¡¯t because of the magic missile¡¯s damage. ¡®Are you saying that you used dozens of magic missiles at the same time as you dodged while fighting against me?¡¯ She also didn¡¯t simply fire the missiles. Cordelia controlled the magic missiles. Farragut had goosebumps at that moment. A shudder rose along his spine. It was a crazy talent. Apart from being a quality sacrifice, Cordelia herself had an immeasurable value. If the girl continues to grow like this. If powerful mana is added to thatbat talent that could only be called crazy. ¡°Kuuooooh!¡± It was not the time for him to admire it. It sounded crazy, but Cordelia was getting stronger in the current battle. He materialized in reality something that would only appear in a heroic novel. ¡°Ga!¡± Farragut loudly shouted. It was sonic attack that overpowered all aspects. Cordelia¡¯s dance was stopped for a while because it was so effective. She faltered, and Farragut did not miss that opportunity. ¡°Die!¡± He no longer thought about capturing her. His all-out blow struck towards Cordelia. It can¡¯t be avoided. Blocking it was ridiculous. Cordelia realized it. So she opened her eyes straight and faced the fist. But his fist just went through her. She had rushed past Farragut as if she was a phantom! ¡®How?!¡¯ Farragut did not understand. But Cordelia understood it. No, she was aiming for it in the first ce. Because Jude was paranoid. Moreover, he was a rational person who valued efficiency very much. ¡®You will wear it.¡¯ Jude couldn¡¯t move while he¡¯s absorbing the energy of the Sunflower. It was much more efficient for her, the onlybatant, to use it. ¡®Fairy Steps.¡¯ Cordelia passed through Farragut and turned around beautifully. She stretched out her arms toward Farragut¡¯s empty back, and the remaining mana of the Witch Transformation was released all at once! Booooooom! The wave of red and clear mana swept not only Farragut, but also nearly half of the open area. The power was so strong that even Cordelia, who fired it, was greatly pushed back to a point. ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­haa¡­¡± Cordelia managed to avoid sitting down, and she roughly breathed as her sweat dripped. A mixture of red air and dust clouds obscured the view. In addition, it was unreasonable for her to see in the dark now that the Witch Transformation had been released. But Cordelia could tell. So she closed her eyes tightly. ¡°Nooo!¡± Farragut¡¯s whole body was covered in blood and he yelled in anger. In the midst of being hit, he exploded his mana to offset some of Cordelia¡¯s attack and somehow managed to endure and barely stand. He then rushed towards Cordelia and drew his fist. Smash. Crush that small body. Farragut madly felt pleasure in thinking of the time he¡¯d stain the pure white snow. And Cordelia raised her head again. She smiled unconsciously. Boom! The wall was broken. Cracks spread not only to the wall, but also to the floor and ceiling because of the attack¡¯s terrifying power. And that was it. Cordelia was not broken. Farragut¡¯s fist pierced only the air. ¡°I said I¡¯d carry you, didn¡¯t I?¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyes widely opened to that shameless voice, and she finallyughed. She faced and hugged the neck of the man who held her in his arms. And what was activated at that moment. Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors ¨C Second Door. No further exnation was needed. Chapter 47: Sunflower (2)

Chapter 47: Sunflower (2)

Apparently, the series ended yesterday at 360 episodes, but the author said that they¡¯ll continue to post extras/side stories for the series. The point-of-view of this chapter was a bit confusing, so I italicized Farragut¡¯s thoughts to make it more understandable. And I kind of made up Sisioth¡¯s true name, from what little I could understand from the Hangul¡­ Jude Bayer. The second son of Count Bayer. He was the anguish of Count Bayer and was born into a famous family of warriors, but due to his chronic illness, he was unable to properly learn martial arts for the seventeen years of his life. These were the facts that the Devil¡¯s Hand knew about Jude, and there was nothing wrong about these facts. That was why Farragut was unable toprehend the current situation even more. ¡®How?¡¯ A gale rose just before his fist struck. A gust of wind took Cordelia away. A footwork skill. A flurry that rose high and was by no means ordinary. And Jude Bayer had used it. He was the anguish of Count Bayer, the fianc¨¦ of Cordelia, and someone who was sick all the time and could not learn martial arts because of his chronic illness¡­yet he be a gale and was able to save her. ¡®Did he hide his skills?¡¯ Had he been hiding the fact that he could use martial arts? For what reason? What the hell would he gain from that? Generally speaking, there was only one possible reason. He had recently learned martial arts. He began to train in martial arts after he became fit enough to travel. ¡®It doesn¡¯t make sense.¡¯ If I think about it, it was a couple of months at best. Are you saying that it is possible for a martial arts amateur to reach that level in just a couple of months? At the time when Farragut had fallen into confusion, Jude and Cordelia looked at each other instead of the demonic human who had lost his senses. It was impossible to properly see in the pitch-dark darkness, but nevertheless, the two could discern each other¡¯s faces clearly. ¡°For now.¡± ¡°For now?¡± ¡°Close your eyes.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia blinked her eyes. She wondered what his words meant. Normally, she would have understood it with her eyes, but it was so dark that understanding it was currently impossible. ¡®N-no way?¡¯ If she closed her eyes while she was hugging him¡­ ¡®That isn¡¯t true, right? We¡¯re in the middle of a fight, right? That¡¯s just ridiculous, right?¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s face turned light red as she tackled that in her mind, and she tried hard to keep calm before closing her eyes. And it was at that moment. Pa! Pa! Pa! Sharp high-pitched sounds rang one after another, and the darkness of the room disappeared at once. The light pouring down from the ceiling was so bright that they lost their sight for a moment. ¡°Ah! My eyes!¡± However, it was only Farragut who yelled and groaned. Cordelia had soon closed her eyes, and Jude was also prepared in advance because he had turned on the lights through the operation of a remote control. ¡°Aaaaaahh!¡± Farragut shouted angrily and wildly swung his fist randomly. Rather than an attack, it was a struggle to block Jude from approaching him. Instead of rushing to such a Farragut, Jude corrected his position of carrying Cordelia in the so-called princess hug, as he carefully observed him. And only then did Cordelia, who opened her eyes, said in a small voice. ¡°Put me down.¡± ¡°Not yet.¡± He couldn¡¯t because Cordelia was exhausted. He had not yet figured out what Farragut could still afford to do. And¡­ ¡°You!¡± At the same time he shouted, Farragut struck the ground and rushed like an angry bull. He rushed in a straight line. Cordelia instinctively crouched while Jude hugged her more tightly as he kicked the ground as well. Twenty-Four Gale Steps. The wind blew. A tiny but powerful whirlwind rose at the same time, and Jude became like the wind. Boom! Farragut¡¯s huge fist punched the innocent floor. Jude carried Cordelia while he run from Farragut for a long time, stopping almost 10 meters away each time as he watched Farragut. Widen their distance to each other. Instead of moving efficiently by dodging enemy attacks with little movements, Jude maintained more than a certain distance from Farragut, even if it was somewhat wasteful. There were two reasons. One was to ensure the safety of Cordelia, and the other was¡­ ¡°You little rat!¡± Farragut lunged at him again. And Jude became a gale again. And several attackster¡­ Jude had evaded all of it. Or rather, the expression ¡°ran away¡± was more appropriate. He kept a considerable distance as if they yed tag. And at some point. ¡°I¡¯ll put you down.¡± Jude said to Cordelia, and she blinked her eyes. Cordelia was neatly curled up in Jude¡¯s arms so as not to fall, and Jude added in a whisper. ¡°I think it¡¯ll work now.¡± Jude had observed him enough. He had entered the pattern in his head. Even Cordelia couldn¡¯t immediately understand what Jude was talking about now. But still, she somehow felt relieved. Because the current Jude was reliable. She really thought that it would work if Jude had said so. Before Cordelia could even answer, Jude carefully put her down on the floor. Farragut saw them both. He clenched his fist again and kicked the ground. Cordelia looked at Jude. Jude smiled at such Cordelia. It was a reversal. Jude turned around and used the Twenty-Four Gale Steps again. But he didn¡¯t run away this time. He headed straight for Farragut. And Farragut¡¯s attack came to naught. ¡°Ah?¡± The attack of Farragut itself was perfect. A straight punch loaded with superhuman strength. A simple but very quick powerful attack. But Jude diverted it. With a little bit interference, he made the attack¡¯s direction deviate as if he knew how the attack would stretch out. And it continued. Jude received all of Farragut¡¯s attacks. Not only did he evade and divert it, but he even stopped some of the attacks from even starting. How did he do it? It was a little different from Cordelia¡¯s sense. Cordelia instinctively sensed what kind of attack woulde and immediately responded ordingly. She used her intuition on Farragut. Jude was different. He didn¡¯t rely on intuition like Cordelia. ¡®He anticipated it.¡¯ There were clear limitations on the movements that humans with limbs could perform. Their individual habits also added to it. So a pattern was inevitably created. Moreover, Farragut was in a state of extreme exhaustion. Due to his injuries and fatigue, his attacks were simpler than usual. Therefore, Jude could anticipate the next attack. Farragut¡¯s next movement was caught and blocked in advance, as if he had run a simtion beforehand. It was something ridiculous. It seemed usible, but it was extremely difficult to implement it in reality. But it was possible for Jude. Due to his Cheonmujiche and the opening and understanding of the 2nd door in the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, he made it possible. As a matter of fact, his excellent intelligence had gotten better. Hisputational power greatly increased. And Cordelia thought, while looking at such a Jude. ¡®Cheonmujiche is too much of a cheat.¡¯ If Jude had heard of her thoughts, he would have shouted that her intuition to reach a result at once without any calctions was a cheat itself. He would also have appealed that his current actions were a result of calcting all possibilities¡­or that¡¯s what Cordelia had thought so. And Farragut further burst into anger. ¡°Aaaahh!¡± From Cordelia to Jude. Who the hell are these bastards? Why do these bastards with pretty and handsome faces even have battle talents that could pierce the sky? Farragut could tell because he directly fought them. Jude was also a monster. Like Cordelia, he was fearful of what Jude would be when he grew up. ¡®I must kill him now.¡¯ Fortunately, he was not aplete monster yet. There was still a side that he could stab. Farragut gradually regained hisposure. Little by little, he borately attacked from the front, forcing Jude to tenaciously block it as he aimed at vital spots such as the neck and sr plexus. Farragut made Jude focus his attention on him. He had Jude pay attention to the defense of his vital spots like the sr plexus. He made Jude forget about Cordelia and be fully aware of him. Because if Jude had done so, an opportunity would be created! ¡®Cordelia!¡¯ Jude looked at Cordelia at that perfect moment. At the same time, Farragut also recalled the existence of Cordelia. It was for a moment, but the two simultaneously turned their eyes to Cordelia. And Cordelia¡¯s eyes blinked in front of the two. ¡°Eh?¡± ¡®Why me? Is there something on me?¡¯ At her lightly dazed and innocent look, Jude frowned while Farragut manicallyughed. ¡°How careless!¡± Did you think your fianc¨¦e would be ready for a fatal blow if you turned your attention? Yes, I admit your talents. You are monsters. You are geniuses. But you¡¯re still young. Youck experience. You¡¯re not yet there! Farragut loaded all his remaining mana into his fist. He drew his fist in an attempt to kill the flustered Jude. And at that moment. When Farragut had truly andpletely erased Cordelia from his head¡­ ¡°It¡¯s fake, you idiots.¡± In a quick whisper, Cordelia stretched out her hand hidden behind her back. In order to deceive the enemy, she had to deceive her ally too. . It was the witch¡¯s spell with a very simple name. But it was powerful. She had secretly prepared it during the deadlock between Jude and Farragut, and so, the spell flew like an arrow and prated Farragut¡¯s back. ¡°Kuaaaah!!!¡± Farragut screamed at the horrible pain. And Jude also moved. As he disced Farragut¡¯s fist, he poured out a series of attacks as swift as an arrow. Bang! Bang! Bang! He repeatedly struck Farragut¡¯s whole body with Lightning Punch and Lightning Strike Fist. Seeing the staggering man after being hit in the chin, Jude drew his fist again. This time, it was the turn of the God¡¯s Fist. The Holy Cross Punch. He struck Farragut¡¯s sr plexus. At the same time, Cordelia controlled the embedded on him and then clenched her fist. ¡°Kaaaaah!!!¡± The Dark de exploded inside Farragut. Not only did it tear apart his internal organs, but it even hit his spirit stone. ¡°Kuaaah! Aaaah!!!¡± The Holy Cross Punch blew away Farragut to the opposite side as he ended up hitting the wall. He then copsed to the floor, suffering from the attack¡¯s damage as he vomited blood afterwards. It was too much for him. The cracks that began from Farragut¡¯s sr plexus spread out to his whole body, and the tips of his limbs gradually became dust and disappeared. ¡°Ridi¡­culous¡­¡± He couldn¡¯t believe he was beaten by mere teenage rookies. He couldn¡¯t believe that even though he was a low-ranking demonic human, he waspletely defeated. But it was only for a short while. Farragut soon acknowledged his death. And once again, he burst into manicughter. ¡°Kuku¡­kuhahahahahaha!¡± He was dying. Now that the spirit stone was broken, there was no room for him to survive. But he wasn¡¯t alone. Cordelia and Jude would soon follow him in the end. ¡°You will die in despair and fear.¡± Sisioth held his ground in front of the only exit, the Great Gate. The unsealed demon was waiting for them. ¡°The demon of the de¡­you¡­¡± And at that moment¡­ When they heard Farragut, Jude and Cordelia exchanged nces and spoke in unison. ¡°If it¡¯s the demon of the de, is it Sisioth?¡± ¡°Is that so? It¡¯s enough for us if he¡¯s on the level of a low-ranking demonic human.¡± ¡°If it¡¯s Sisioth, it¡¯s wind attribute, right?¡± ¡°Yes, he¡¯s a demon that specializes in meleebat and transforms both his arms into des.¡± Although Farragut was in the midst of dying, he unknowingly had a stunned expression. What? Did I ever mention Sisioth¡¯s name? ¡°Seeing that you didn¡¯te together, did you release the seal?¡± ¡°Release the seal? Oh, right. He was sealed, right?¡± ¡°If he¡¯s unsealed, he must have gone mad.¡± What? Why do you know? How do you know the seal, and how do you know about the unsealed status too? ¡°It looks correct from his facial expression.¡± ¡°Uh¡­if it¡¯s Sisioth, we won¡¯t be able to win with our current level, right?¡± ¡°Normally but¡­if we reseal him, the chances of winning will increase.¡± ¡°You need to know its real name to seal it.¡± ¡°Yes, we need its real name.¡± Farragut felt like his emotions disappeared, but he soon carelesslyughed again. Yes, one way or another, it doesn¡¯t change that Jude and Cordelia would die. But he was wrong. Typing in the air, Cordelia asked in a cheerful voice. ¡°JudeWiki, what¡¯s the real name of Sisioth then?¡± ¡°Juncathergo Sisiono Zirvanston.¡± Because he was one of the few demons whose real name was revealed in the game. In response to Jude¡¯s answer, Cordelia looked back at Farragut to confirm, and Farragut answered Cordelia¡¯s question with a look as if he was possessed by a ghost. ¡°Looks like it¡¯s right.¡± ¡°Of course it is.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve thought about it before, but you¡¯re a bit like an uncle, you know?¡± Farragut was unable toprehend the current situation. What¡¯s going on? How do they exactly know Sisioth¡¯s real name? ¡°You know the sealing ceremony, right?¡± ¡°I know.¡± Why would you know that? But that was it. A crack spread all over Farragut¡¯s dying body, and Farragut left the world bearing a face full of questions. Shaaaaaaa¡­. As Farragut¡¯s body turned into dust and scattered, several rings of light appeared around the bodies of Jude and Cordelia. Three for Jude, and four for Cordelia. In an instant, a bright smile spread over Cordelia¡¯s face. ¡°Last hit! I struck the killing blow!¡± ¡°Are you happy?¡± ¡°I¡¯m happy.¡± Cordelia answered with a giggle, before feebly copsing like that. Because she really didn¡¯t have the strength to spare in standing now. ¡°Haa¡­my strength is gone.¡± ¡°What, did you faint? Should I give you artificial respiration?¡± ¡°Why would you give me artificial respiration, you crazy bastard. I¡¯m still breathing, okay?¡± At theid down and panting Cordelia¡¯s response, Jude smiled and approached her. ¡°Make a choice.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Should I give you a piggyback, or just carry you in my arms?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I mean, we have to go back for now. We must also take measures against Sisioth. And now that I¡¯m telling you, I haven¡¯tpletely absorbed the Sunflower yet, okay?¡± It was the truth. He had seeded in opening the second door thanks to the Sunflower¡¯s energy, but he had not yet absorbed all of the extreme Yang energy. ¡°Is that okay?¡± ¡°Well¡­the energy inside my body isn¡¯t going anywhere, so I can absorb it againter. And it can¡¯t be helped, right? Because my princess was in a dangerous situation.¡± ¡°Sob, sob, Daddy is the best.¡± ¡°So what¡¯s your choice?¡± Jude asked once again, and Cordelia gave an answer after a little hesitation. Chapter 48: Sunflower (3)

Chapter 48: Sunflower (3)

Terms used in this chapter: Dolswe (??) ¨C one of the popr male servant names of the Joseon dynasty in Korea. It is often used in Korean traditional or historical dramas. Princess Maker ¨C a series of life simtion games developed by Japanesepany Gainax. In this fantasy game, the yer raises a young girl (daughter) to adulthood, having her learn skills and gain personality attributes through attending sses and working part-time jobs. How she is raised will depend on the yer¡¯s actions and will decide what ending she gets. The best ending of course, is bing a princess or queen. I feel like the author yed this game so much because they have two series (Dungeon Maker, Ending Maker) with the ¡®maker¡¯ word in the title, hahaha. Ghostde ¨C This was previously tranted as ¡®Sword Noble,¡¯ which I thought was just part of Kamael¡¯s nickname. However, I found out today that it is based on a unique ss from the game Dungeon Fighter Online. Because of that, all the previous trantions with the words ¡®Sword Noble¡¯ have now been changed to ¡®Ghostde.¡¯ ¨C Source: Dungeon Fighter Online wiki Pair annihtion ¨C this is something physics-rted and is a reaction that urs when two opposing forces collide with each other, causing both to disappear and release energy. Yin and Yang are opposite forces/energies, so if these two arebined, it will cause total annihtion/extinction. ¡°Giddyap, giddyap! Run, run!¡± When Cordelia shouted cheerfully as she rode on Jude¡¯s back, Jude¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°Ma¡¯am.¡± ¡°What is it, Dolswe?¡± ¡°Please be conscientious and give me some carrots before telling me to run.¡± ¡°Carrot is bullsh*t. Rather than that, how about a whip? Don¡¯t you think I¡¯ll be good at it?¡± At Cordelia¡¯s words, Jude momentarily imagined Cordelia using a whip. Though the outfit was a little tight-fitting, he felt that it was quite fitting for an iparably beautiful girl. ¡°Hey, you¡¯re imagining something strange, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not true. Rather than that, my princess, this dad never raised his child to be like that.¡± ¡°Then how did you raise her?¡± ¡°Something like the Princess Maker?¡± ¡°Congrattions. It¡¯s the Queen ending. She is very good at whipping. The time hase for you to be punished for luxuriously enjoying the money your daughter got from the part-time job you made her do.¡± ¡°We have returned.¡± ¡°We¡¯re back.¡± While they were exchanging their usual nonsensical conversation, they had arrived at the power room. Jude corrected his carrying posture again before asking Cordelia. ¡°Can you stand up?¡± ¡°I can, but since we¡¯vee all the way here, please carry me to our lodgings.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Though Cordelia was talking cheerfully, herplexion was pale. It was caused by her overworking herself. When Jude had a worried expression, Cordelia smiled and patted him on the back again. ¡°Let¡¯s go quickly, giddyap.¡± ¡°Neeeiiigh.¡± Jude danced to her tune and quickened his steps. And about a minute or so again. While lying down on the camp bed, Cordelia abruptly let out a smallugh. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just that I¡¯ve stayed here for a few days, but I felt relieved as if I hade home.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re a homebody. You were born with it, huh.¡± ¡°I am.¡± Cordelia giggled as she stretched her body once more before forcibly closing her eyes. She couldn¡¯t easily fall asleep because the immediate future was too serious. ¡°Sisioth.¡± ¡°The demon of the de. Wind attribute. A monster that specializes in meleebat and is famous for being outrageously wicked when the seal is released.¡± Originally, it was a demon that they met in the middle of the game when they directly confronted the Devil¡¯s Hand. But at the present moment, they were still early in the game. If they calmly looked at it, Sisioth wasn¡¯t an enemy that Jude and Cordelia could fight with. In terms of ability, they were stillgging behind Farragut. ¡°Out of the frying pan into the fire.¡± They were able to defeat the White Snake easily, but they now had to face Sisioth after Farragut. Jude said with a bitter smile as he consoled Cordelia. ¡°Even so, I know its real name and the sealing ceremony¡­or to be exact, the restriction control technique, so there exists a chance of winning. Moreover, if my guess is correct, there will be allies outside the door.¡± ¡°Count Hr?svelgr.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, because if you considered the situation, Farragut must have destroyed the seal on the Great Gate.¡± Count Hr?svelgr had installed arge seal on the Great Gate. In the original story, most of the monsters couldn¡¯t enter inside Frost Anvil because of the seal on the Great Gate. It was to the extent that some of them found a side road or a hidden road in order toe in. But this time, the situation was different from the original. The Devil¡¯s Hand, which originally should not havee and appear in Frost Anvil, hadpletely destroyed the seal on the Great Gate. ¡°If that seal is broken, the wizard would instantly know. Because the seal is that important. I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll send troops to investigate on what had happened here.¡± Furthermore this time, there was the incident of Jude and Cordelia¡¯s ¡®elopement.¡¯ From Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s perspective, the possibility that Jude and Cordelia had destroyed the Great Gate¡¯s seal would also be considered, so he had no choice but to send troops one way or another. Cordelia¡¯s expression became serious at Jude¡¯s words. It was not because she was worried about being involved with Count Hr?svelgr again. ¡°The damage will increase if he sent a few rangers to investigate.¡± Their opponent was the demon Sisioth after all. When Cordelia was worried about the possible casualties, Jude shook his head and said. ¡°It¡¯s all right. I¡¯m sure that Count Hr?svelgr would have realized the monsters¡¯ abnormal movements. He would have dispatched more than a certain size of troops.¡± ¡°Is¡­that so? That¡¯s a relief then.¡± Cordelia smiled as she felt relieved, and Jude smiled with her too, but he had other thoughts inside him. ¡®The damage must already be significant.¡¯ He must have dispatched ten or so rangers together if it was over a certain size of troops. And on that scale, they wouldn¡¯t stand a chance against Sisioth. He could reasonably guess the high likelihood that more than 10 victims have already been reported. If they met Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s forces outside the Great Gate, they would be the second dispatched unit, and not the first one. However, Jude held back this thought to himself. He¡¯d rather not disturb Cordelia¡¯s mind at the moment. ¡°Anyway, there is one thing that we need to do right now.¡± As Jude deliberately spoke cheerfully, Cordelia was influenced by his cheerful words and smiled too. ¡°Is it about the preparation for that restriction technique?¡± ¡°Yes, I have to do that too. But before that, we have to finish the power-up.¡± He hadn¡¯t been able topletely absorb the Sunflower¡¯s energy yet. At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia spoke and beat on her chest though she was lying down. ¡°I¡¯ll protect you this time as well. Trust in this noona.¡± ¡°Yes, but this time, you have to do it too.¡± ¡°Huh? Me too? Do I also have to eat the Sunflower?¡± Cordelia blinked her eyes, wondering what he was talking about, and Jude said after impulsively pinching her cheek. ¡°No, you¡¯re doing something else.¡± ¡®What are you talking about?¡¯ Cordelia thought as she then pinched Jude¡¯s hand that was pinching her cheek. *** ¡°It¡¯s the spirit stone of the White Snake. If I had to give it a name, perhaps it¡¯s Snake Heart?¡± ¡°It somehow looks weak for a Snake Heart, so let¡¯s just use spirit stone.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Jude and Cordelia were looking at the red stone in front of the heart, located in the torso near its head, which was about one-fifth of the giant White Snake¡¯s body. It was the spirit stone of the White Snake that they had taken out of its heart. ¡°There¡¯s not much left as it had used up most of the stored mana for the past 1000 years¡­but it¡¯s still the spirit stone that the demonic monster of Leviathan possessed. It would be very much helpful at Cordelia¡¯s current level.¡± ¡°But in the original, wasn¡¯t it revealed that it can¡¯t be used?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, because it¡¯s the demon¡¯s spirit stone.¡± Using the White Snake¡¯s spirit stone was impossible for Lucas or anyone else. ¡°The demon¡¯s mana is poisonous to ordinary humans. Absorbing it can cause a major abnormality in the body¡­and in the worst-case scenario, they may be a demonic human and a demon¡¯s puppet.¡± ¡°It¡¯s amazing every time you speak like that. Like, how can you recite all that?¡± ¡°In any case, like what the lines ofpanion A said, the spirit stone is generally not absorbable. That is why it didn¡¯t drop as an item in the game after all. But Cordelia, if I¡¯m correct, you would be able to absorb it. Because¡­¡± ¡°Because of the Witch Transformation.¡± Cordelia nodded afterpleting Jude¡¯s words. She had often passed all the thinking to Judetely, but that didn¡¯t mean she wasn¡¯t thinking herself. The power of the witch, which is the source of the Witch Transformation, originally came from the demons. If she used the Witch Transformation, it would be possible for her to absorb the spirit stone¡¯s power. ¡°But just in case, if you feel that something¡¯s weird, stop right away. Okay?¡± ¡°Yes, Daddy. Don¡¯t worry.¡± Cordelia nodded her head after answering, as her hand then carefully touched the red stone which was about the size of a human head. She could feel the strong mana pulsating inside. ¡°Okay¡­it might be difficult right now, but I¡¯ll try it as soon as I transform into a witch.¡± ¡°All right, then I¡¯ll be going back to our lodging and finish absorbing the Sunflower¡¯s energy. If it¡¯s within my expectations¡­I¡¯ll be opening my eyes again by tomorrow morning.¡± ¡°So will your Gueumjulmaek be cured this time?¡± ¡°I would like it if that happened, but maybe not. I had stopped midway, so I have to absorb it again. It would be better if I had done it all at once, but it couldn¡¯t be helped.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s too bad.¡± ¡°Well, it would be closer to a state of being almostpletely cured. So even if you want to hit me, just be patient a little more, my princess.¡± ¡°What is this crazy bastard saying?¡± Cordelia kicked Jude¡¯s ass, but he easily dodged it using Twenty-Four Gale Steps. ¡°Then, let¡¯s meet again tomorrow morning.¡± ¡°Be strong ande back.¡± ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡± The two smiled and headed to their respective work. And that night¡­ Or more like, at dawn, when the morning approaches. After sitting cross-legged and reciting the mnemonic chant of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors while he absorbed the Sunflower¡¯s energy, Jude suddenly opened his eyes. He understood it. That was all that he could absorb right now. He could only absorb around 50 percent of the Sunflower¡¯s energy. But thanks to that, more than 70 percent of hisrge and small meridians, which had been blocked by Gueumjulmaek, were finally opened. His lower abdomen that housed his inner Qi became several times bigger than before, tripling the amount of inner Qi that he possessed. And there was one more thing that he gained from this. A voice was heard in his mind, like the times when he got a title. ¡°Yin-Yang¡­Body?¡± There were several unique physical constitutions in Legend of Heroes 2. There was Cheonmujiche (Heavenly Martial Body), the manifestation of martial arts talent from the heavens. There was Ghostde, the absolute talent of swordsmanship that Lucas and Kamael possessed. There was Manbyeonsinche (Innumerable Illnesses Body), a constitution that lets one understand innumerable illnesses, which the main character Maximilian was born with. Although the name was strange, the performance itself can only be described as crazy. T/N: I¡¯m not 100% sure of Manbyeonsinche, and what it is capable of. Personally, I interpret that ¡®understand innumerable illnesses¡¯ part as him being immune to all diseases because his body ¡®understands¡¯ all diseases, thus giving him immunity. We¡¯ll just have to see in the future chapters if this is borated more. None of the yable characters were born with the Yin-Yang Body physical constitution. However, if one expanded it to the entire Pleiades, there is one more person born with the Yin-Yang Body. ¡®Archbishop Manu.¡¯ Landius¡¯ target and a powerful enemy who exerted a powerful influence throughout the entire Legend of Heroes series. Manu freely handled both of the opposite energies which a normal person could not use simultaneously. In particr, the spell, which deals both Yin and Yang energies to cause pair annihtion, was Manu¡¯s signature spell, and one of the strongest magic in the Legend of Heroes series. ¡®Yin-Yang Body.¡¯ A body that can freely handle the two opposing energies of Yin and Yang. Jude didn¡¯t know much about it right now, so he thought that it was necessary to study on how to use it first, but that didn¡¯t keep him from smiling though. ¡®Well, it¡¯s a trait that the final boss enemy has.¡¯ And isn¡¯t it the unwritten rule of RPGs for the traits/characteristics of final boss-ss enemies to be too overpowered/broken? ¡°This is good.¡± Yin-Yang Body and Cheonmujiche. He was a little sorry for Lucas, but acquiring the Sunflower event was a rewarding oue for him. ¡®Did Cordelia do well too?¡¯ Jude became curious and quickly looked at Cordelia¡¯s camping bed on the other side, but it was no different from yesterday. It seemed like she had spent the night outside. ¡°Cordelia?¡± Jude went outside as he repeatedly called her name, and afterwards, he finally found Cordelia. But instead of continuously calling her name, his face went nk as he stared at her. She was at the spot where the Sunflower bloomed. Cordelia was beautifully seated as if she had reced the Sunflower. Her ck hair fluttered like waves, and a soft blue light enveloped Cordelia¡¯s whole body. She looked at ease and had a small and faint smile on her face. She somehow reminded him of the witch¡¯s soul and the Fairy Queen, as her goddess-like elegance was unimaginable if it was the usual Cordelia. How many seconds has it been since Jude stared at her like that? The goddess opened her eyes. But instead of an elegant one, she spoke in a cheerful voice. ¡°Did you wake up?¡± ¡°Ah¡­I woke up.¡± When Jude answered rather awkwardly, Cordelia tilted her head, but she soon smiled and took a step after standing up. And at that moment, the Witch Transformation was released. Her hair color returned to a vivid red, and the blue light surrounding her whole body also dissipated. She was back to the usual Cordelia¡­or not. Jude could feel something different about her. ¡°Yes, something has changed.¡± Cordelia also said it. Jude opened his eyes wide at the faded appearance of the spirit stone, which had rolled about when she stood up. ¡°Wait a minute, did you really absorb it all?¡± ¡°Oh, it was a little difficult at first, but after some back and forth, it gradually became easier.¡± As Cordelia answered with a faint smile, Jude blinked again. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I feel like I¡¯m seeing a cheat character.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I wanted to say though?¡± No matter how you look at it, Jude¡¯s memory was a cheat. But Jude¡¯s words weren¡¯t wrong either. Cordelia was not only gifted inbat. Strictly speaking, thebat talent was from Cordelia¡¯s previous life, Yellow Storm¡¯s Hong Yoo Hee. The Cordelia of this life was born with an overwhelming ability to adapt to mana. Thinking that these two talents were added, Jude had no choice but to imagine something simr to Farragut. ¡®How much of a monster will you beter on?¡¯ Of course, the more she became a monster, the better for them. ¡®Because Cordelia is our monster.¡¯ The convinced Jude nodded his head alone, and Cordelia said while knitting her brows. ¡°It seems like you¡¯re imagining something strange, so I won¡¯t ask. Instead, when are we leaving?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll leave right away after having breakfast and a little rest.¡± ¡°What about the restriction technique?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll draw it after eating breakfast.¡± At Jude¡¯s reply, it was Cordelia this time who looked strange. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I feel like I¡¯m seeing a cheat character.¡± Cordelia knew it because she was a wizard. The magic circles that Jude usually drew were not something one could simply draw if they had a good memory. Understanding it was also needed together with memorization. Even though he was not a wizard, Jude had understood all theplex forms of the magic circles. ¡°Well, the more of a cheat character he is, the better for us.¡± Cordelia weakly mumbled, and she nodded her head as if she was convinced. On the other hand, Judeughed. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just¡­ Anyway, let¡¯s go and eat first.¡± ¡°Yes, Daddy.¡± And that afternoon. After finishing theirst meal at Frost Anvil, the two reached the 1st floor lobby. Chapter 49: Sunflower (4)

Chapter 49: Sunflower (4)

Next chapter will be released on Thursday. For this chapter, some of Jude¡¯s thoughts are italicized to prevent confusion. Farragut thought that there was only one entrance to Frost Anvil, which is the Great Gate, but that wasn¡¯t the case. There were several dog holes. And in one of them¡­ The moment they came out of the vent, Jude and Cordelia became nervous. The strong and rotten smell of blood irritated the tip of their noses. In front of the Great Gate, it was not an exaggeration to say that the bodies of many monsters had covered the entire snowfield. Fortunately, this was near Frost Anvil where the temperature was cold. If it had been elsewhere, they would have found it hard to breathe because of the rotting bodies¡¯ smell. And the demon stood there. Sisioth stood with his two ded arms hanging down, as if he was guarding the front of the Great Gate. On his skinny body, pitch-ck shells were connected in session, forming a shape that was like an armor. He remained motionless with his head slightly lowered, as if he fell asleep while standing. Although the restriction technique cast by the leader of the Devil¡¯s Hand had been released, that didn¡¯t mean that he waspletely free. Until his consciousness damaged by the Devil¡¯s Hand was restored, he stayed around the Great Gate, bringing death to all those who faced him. And on his opposite side. As Jude had expected, there were some people who could be considered as their allies. ¡°Are they¡­trying to seal him?¡± Jude nodded at Cordelia¡¯s question. About a dozen meters away from the quietly standing Sisioth, six wizards wearing the robes of the Guardians of the Holy Cross were maintaining the seal. However, that was only buying them time. Moreover, even that time seemed to be running out. ¡°It¡¯s the g of Count Hr?svelgr.¡± Jude turned his gaze following Cordelia¡¯s voice, and saw an outpost built some distance away. There were four knights of Count Hr?svelgr and around thirty soldiers. Instead of saying something, Jude closed his eyes once. Considering the general arrangements of Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s troops and the Guardians of the Holy Cross, it seemed that they had already suffered considerable damage as he had expected. ¡°Let¡¯s join them.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s words, Jude nodded. Technically, the Devil¡¯s Hand came here because of Jude and Cordelia. Of course, the two were also victims, so they did nothing wrong, but that did not mean they were free from responsibility. Hunt the demon. Knock it down. After all, it was a path they must pass in order to get to the perfect happy ending. And right at that moment¡­ ¡°It¡¯s going to break.¡± Cordelia abruptly said. Her intuition felt at that moment the slight change in mana. And right afterwards¡­ Jude pounced on Cordelia. He pushed her down to the ground and made her lie down, and at that same time, the air let out a howl. Cordelia¡¯s intuition was correct. The space between Sisioth and the Guardians of the Holy Cross copsed like breaking ss. The moment the invisible wall was destroyed, Sisioth swung his arm. One sh. A huge sh split the space. ¡°Get down!¡± Shouted someone from the Guardians of the Holy Cross. The knights moved and shouted too, but not everyone managed to react. Two of the Guardians of the Holy Cross who were near Sisioth lost their heads. None of the soldiers lost their lives because of the distance, but most of them were terrified, and couldn¡¯t move. The seal of the Guardians of the Holy Cross was broken. Sisioth began to move again. Out of all times, it had to be at this time. No, it was rather fortunate. If it had been before Jude and Cordelia appeared, everyone would have been massacred! ¡°Go!¡± Jude said to Cordelia who was under him. Cordelia responded, and Jude became a gale. Twenty-Four Gale Steps. Cordelia followed the whirlwind that Jude created, as she moved forward and unleashed the witch¡¯s power! ¡°Aaaahh!¡± Cordelia had activated the Witch Transformation. She had yelled out loud. Sisioth reacted with the destructive power of a demon. As he was about to deal a second sh, he turned to Cordelia, but a gale suddenly struck him. Demon Sisioth. He was notparable to demonic human Farragut. His physical ability was truly a wonder itself. Sisioth saw Jude. His pupils turned into slits, like that of a cat, as his yellow eyes caught the sight of Jude. ¡°!¡± Cried Cordelia. Sisioth wildly swung his second sh and Jude evaded it at a close distance. The sh was so fast that without Cordelia¡¯s , Jude wouldn¡¯t have been able to avoid it. ¡°!¡± Cordelia cast in session. Ovepping the use of was in a sense, poison. Not only did it ce a considerable burden on Jude¡¯s body, but it was also possible that like everyone else, Jude would be unable to adapt to the speed that had be too fast. And it was true for Jude. Jude was not Cordelia. It was too much for him to adapt to the speed that had suddenly elerated. So Jude calcted it. His own body. His movements. His speed. The trajectory he wanted to draw! Jude critically avoided Sisioth¡¯s attack. A smile spread over Sisioth¡¯s face, and Cordelia shouted again. ¡°Don¡¯t just watch!¡± At the same time as her cry, she activated her magic. Dozens of magic missiles rushed like a storm towards Sisioth, and the Guardians of the Holy Cross regained their senses at Cordelia¡¯s cry. They turned to each other and began to chant their spell. And Jude¡¯s Cheonmujiche shined. Because of Jude¡¯s calctions, he was able to adapt to the speed that had gradually increased. Their operation was simple. Narrow the distance. Cordelia or the Guardians of the Holy Cross somehow slows down Sisioth¡¯s movement. And Jude himself will strike and thrust the restriction technique on Sisioth¡¯s body. ¡°Kahahahahaha!¡± Sisioth burst into a fiendishughter and began to swing both of his arms simultaneously. Jude deliberately turned his back on the Great Gate, and more than ten attacks shed through the space where he had been, which then collided with the Great Gate. Kaaaaak! His shes were so sharp that several deep lines were drawn on the thick and hard Great Gate. Jude held his breath. Even the movement of exhaling or breathing was a luxury for the current Jude. He focused and concentrated again. His understanding of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors further developed with the opening of the second door, giving Jude a wider and more sensitive sense. The scary thing about Sisioth was the fact that his range of Space-Breaking sh was very vast. Therefore, it was rather bad to widen the distance. This is because if he deals Space-Breaking sh one after another, Jude wouldn¡¯t be able to avoid it. So Jude must fight at a close distance. He must create a situation in which he can avoid Sisioth¡¯s attacks one at a time. The spell of the Guardians of the Holy Cross waspleted. Dozens of golden chains stretched out toward Sisioth. Sisioth used Space-Breaking sh again. He rotated his body and split the space several times, breaking the golden chains. But that was enough for the two. Because Sisioth had turned around. Because he had attacked somewhere other than Jude. It was just a moment. It was too short a time. But there was someone who squeezed into that short time. Cordelia¡¯s cut through space. It flew at the right timing and prated Sisioth¡¯s blind spot. An explosion urred. It wasn¡¯t Cordelia. It was the result of Sisioth exploding the mana surrounding his whole body. The air shook. Cordelia¡¯s was crushed, and the Guardians of the Holy Cross and the soldiers standing far away were unable to withstand the aftermath and fell down. Cordelia clenched her teeth. The moment the was crushed, she withstood the rebound of mana andpleted another magic. It was the power she gained from absorbing the spirit stone of the White Snake. It could only be used at the moment when the eyes of her and the opponent met. Their eyes met. Because Sisioth had crushed the . Because the demon¡¯s mana detection identified who threw the . It was as she desired. As soon as her eyes met with Sisioth, Cordelia¡¯s blue eyes turned like that of a snake. She activated the , a power which the White Snake once possessed. ¡°Aaahh!¡± Cordelia screamed. Blood trickled down from both of her eyes. But Cordelia did not close her eyes. She forced herself to endure it. And the result was that Sisioth stopped. For a very short moment. However, it was infinitely longpared to the moment when Jude turned around to deal a blow. A whirlwind. There was a gale. A golden sh of light rose from the Power Fist covered with a sheet of paper inscribed with the restriction technique. ¡°Juncathergo Sisiono Zirvanston.¡± Said Jude. As he recited that very long name, Jude¡¯s fist reached Sisioth¡¯s chest. Cordelia eventually closed her eyes. She copsed, covering her eyes with both of her hands. But nothing happened to Sisioth. Jude had a bewildered look. Why is it not working? ¡°This should work!¡± As he tried to figure out why it didn¡¯t work, Jude spread out his palm. He raised his palm to the golden-colored restriction technique engraved on Sisioth¡¯s chest and shouted again. ¡°Juncathergo Sisiono Zirvanston!¡± ¡°Aaaahhh!!!¡± Sisioth screamed. The golden light engulfed him, and the terrifying mana he had on his entire body shrank in an instant. Jude swallowed his breath. He shouted as he pulled his fist. ¡°Cordelia!¡± The Holy Cross Punch exploded on Sisioth, and he couldn¡¯t respond properly because it was right after the restriction technique bound him. Sisioth¡¯s jaw turned to one side and Jude used the Lightning Punch in session. It struck Sisioth¡¯s whole body and Jude cried once again. ¡°Cordelia!¡± He called her. And Cordelia responded to him. With her eyes still closed, she stretched out her hand. While she was in the Witch Transformation state, Cordelia¡¯s ability to detect mana wasparable to a low-ranking demon even though it was still underdeveloped. She sensed the mana. She thrust it into the mana that she sensed there. The cut through space again. It prated into the back of Sisioth, who was being beaten up into a mess. ¡°Kuaaaahh!¡± Sisioth let out a shriek. And Jude pulled both of his fists. His next move was based on the Holy Cross Punch. Make a Holy Cross in both hands. Ovep the two Holy Crosses to raise the power more than twice. Double Cross Punch. The attack was great. But it didn¡¯t stop there. Just like Cordelia, Jude also used his newly acquired power. Yin and Yang. On his right hand, the Holy Cross emitted Yin energy. On his left hand, the Holy Cross emitted Yang energy. ¡°Uuoooooh!¡± Jude¡¯s two fists struck Sisioth¡¯s chest. Two Crosses prated his body, opposing each other as the two collided before finally exploding. Booooooom! It was notparable to Manu¡¯s spell, but the two energies of Yin and Yang collided with each other, creating a more destructive power than the Double Cross Punch. ¡°Gaak-!¡± Jude wasn¡¯t uninjured either. Both of his arms became hot red as if he was burned, and a streak of fresh blood flowed down his lips. But that was enough. Sisioth no longer moved. A ring of pure white light surrounded Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Did we kill him? Did I deal thest hit?¡± Cordelia was still sitting with her eyes closed, fumbling in the air as she asked, and Jude wiped the blood at the corner of his mouth and counted the rings of light. Five for Jude himself and four for Cordelia. However, Jude was a man who knew how to tell a white lie. ¡°Oh, you hit it. You got thest hit.¡± ¡°Nice! Last hit! Last hit!¡± It made her happy. Jude felt a strange sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu as he saw the appearance of Cordelia feebly copsing with a happy face, and he looked back. If he could, he wanted to appreciate the newly acquired title, but he had to prioritize handling something first. That something was the Guardians of the Holy Cross and the knights of Count Hr?svelgr. As he expected, they had mesmerized faces when he saw them, and one of Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s knights suddenly eximed. ¡°Jude Bayer! Cordelia Chase!¡± Jude nodded his head. It was just as the knight said. He was thinking of revealing their identities first before talking to them. But the knight¡¯s words weren¡¯t over yet. ¡°Crazy-¡­no, it¡¯s not that! It¡¯s fantasy couple!¡± T/N: There¡¯s a pun here. The knight was about to say ¡®hwan-jang-ui¡¯ (???), which means ¡®crazy.¡¯ However, what he wanted to say was ¡®hwan-sang-ui¡¯ (???) which means ¡®fantasy.¡¯ So he mixed up the ¡®jang¡¯ and ¡®sang¡¯ in both words. This pun continues in the conversation of the knights after this note. ¡°Gasp! For real?¡± ¡°They¡¯re the very crazy couple?!¡± ¡°Fantasy, it¡¯s fantasy. The young master warned us to be careful with those words.¡± ¡°Ah, fantasy. Yes, fantasy.¡± What the hell was their conversation? And is Lucas the young master they¡¯re talking about? ¡®Lucas?¡¯ What the hell did you say to them? And ¡®crazy couple.¡¯ What is that? You warned them to be careful about it because they got confused too often? ¡°Ahem, ahem, my name is Phil Reiner, Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s knight.¡± One of the knights who seemed to be their leader came forward, and then a woman from the side of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, who quickly came to their senses, also spoke to Jude. ¡°I¡¯m Joan from the Guardians of the Holy Cross.¡± Phil Reiner was a big knight who looked to be in his early thirties, and Joan was a woman in herte twenties with such gorgeous golden hair that it was disappointing for her hair to be just short. ¡°¡­as you know, I¡¯m Jude Bayer. I¡¯d like to talk to youter once I take care of my fianc¨¦e first.¡± There were also victims on the side of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. All of their groups needed time to settle things first. Jude ran to Cordelia, and one of the knights who saw them, spoke again. ¡°A couple of the century who would die if they cannot live with each other¡­! That¡¯s what the young master said. It¡¯s just as the young master said.¡± Lucas. What the hell did you say to them? Jude only looked forward as he repressed the urge to look back, and soon, he saw Cordelia covering her face with both hands and expressing her embarrassment with her whole body. Chapter 50: Fantasy Couple

Chapter 50: Fantasy Couple

I made quite a few changes in previous chapters: Dad is now Daddy ¨C someone pointed this out, and ¡®daddy¡¯ does make more sense than ¡®dad¡¯ in the context of this chapter (because of its childish and sexual connotations). Northern Barbarians¡¯ Great Attack ¨C I changed ¡®Attack¡® to ¡®Invasion¡® as it was an invasion and not just an attack. After defeating Sisioth, the story went as Jude had expected. First was the reason why the Guardians of the Holy Cross and Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s knights were here. The Guardians of the Holy Cross had detected the awakening of the demon and thus dispatched some of their troops. As for Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s troops, they were the second unit dispatched after the annihtion of the first unit that was dispatched first, as Jude had predicted. ¡°We entered Frost Anvil to obtain the Sunflower and were attacked by the Devil¡¯s Hand. But we were able to get the demon¡¯s real name and the restriction technique from them. These were the things they used to control the demon.¡± It was Jude¡¯s smooth response to Joan¡¯s question on how he knew the real name and the restriction technique. He did not forget Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s knight either. ¡°I apologize that we¡¯ve caused a lot of trouble to Count Hr?svelgr. We obtained the Sunflower and my illness has improved, so we¡¯ll be going to Count Hr?svelgr ourselves to talk about what had happened and ask for his forgiveness.¡± Phil Reiner just nodded his head at Jude¡¯s words that he said effortlessly again. Because he had nothing else to say to Jude. ¡®After all, they were not the knights who were looking for me and Cordelia.¡¯ From Phil¡¯s standpoint, Jude and Cordelia were their benefactors who suddenly popped out and saved them. He was just grateful and had no such dissatisfaction towards them. So he was just thinking of finishing things up and going back to Thunderdoom, as he really didn¡¯t have any idea on what to do with Jude. But Joan seemed to have different thoughts. ¡°Mr. Bayer, would you like toe with us?¡± It was an invitation to the Guardians of the Holy Cross. In the original story, it was an event that urred after being involved with the Guardians of the Holy Cross several times, but Jude shook his head for the time being. ¡®Going to the Guardians of the Holy Cross is good, but we have to do something about the Northern Barbarians event first.¡¯ They also had to save Lena. ¡°I think we should visit Count Hr?svelgr first. I would be handing over the restriction technique that we got, so I¡¯d like to postpone our visit to the Guardians of the Holy Cross for now.¡± ¡°¡­I see. Our side will contact you again then.¡± Joan said with a look of regret, and with that, their talks were over. ¡°Then I will go back to take care of my fianc¨¦e, Lady Cordelia. You said that the departure is on the morning the day after tomorrow, right?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s the n. Although you¡¯ve already told us some things¡­we still need to do some investigation ourselves.¡± ¡°I understand. Then I¡¯ll be going back. Have a good night.¡± After finishing his words with a smile, Jude left Phil¡¯s tent. ¡®Hmm¡­the morning on the day after tomorrow.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t bad. Rather, it was even a perfect time. Jude nodded alone as he looked inside the tent. There was a new tent added to the several existingrge tents set up here. ¡®But I¡¯m d.¡¯ Because none of the soldiers were dead. Although there were some victims from the Guardians of the Holy Cross, it was good to say that they did quite nicely in fighting against the enemy. Of course, listening to their story, the sacrifices were already significant. Particrly in the case of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, six out of nine died, and only three survived, as many people died while trying to seal the movement of Sisioth. However, it could be said that they were still fortunate. When Sisioth went on a rampage in the original story, dozens of people from the Guardians of the Holy Cross and nearly a hundred soldiers died. ¡°Huuu.¡± But counting people by number also made him feel bitter. Jude thought of the old days for a while, sighing before he headed to the tent where Cordelia was waiting. ¡°Is that you, Daddy?¡± As soon as he entered the tent, he heard Cordelia¡¯s cute voice. She was lying down on a camp bed, with a bandage around her eyes. Jude reflexively looked around, before saying in a small voice. ¡°Hey, hey, what are you going to do if it¡¯s not me?¡± ¡°What am I going to do¡­you¡¯ll be rumored to be a pervert who makes his fianc¨¦e call him ¡®Daddy.¡¯¡± ¡°Uh¡­wouldn¡¯t that be bad for both of our reputations?¡± ¡°I¡¯m kidding, I¡¯m kidding. I knew that it was you.¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°Umm¡­just by feeling?¡± ¡°That¡¯s quite consoling.¡± As Jude spoke with a sour face, Cordelia burst into a giggle. ¡°Anyway, did you have a good conversation?¡± ¡°Yes, I did well. Rather, are you all right?¡± ¡°I¡¯m all right. I¡¯ll be all right. The Guardians of the Holy Cross also took a look at me earlier, and they said it¡¯s just a little strain.¡± The White Snake¡¯s Evil Eye. It was Cordelia¡¯s newly acquired power in Frost Anvil. Even though it was a low-ranking demon, it was powerful enough to overpower the demon who was at its peak and running wild. ¡®But still¡­¡¯ Later on, if Cordelia¡¯s mana bes stronger, she could use it without difficulty, but for now, it was too much for her. Moreover, it was a skill that causes strain not only to her eyes but in other parts of her body too, so he couldn¡¯t help but get worried. ¡°Don¡¯t overuse it.¡± ¡°Oh my goodness, are you worried about me?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m worried.¡± As Jude¡¯s voice became serious, Cordelia¡¯s lips cringed for a moment before she snorted. ¡°Hmph, the sun will rise in the west tomorrow.¡± ¡°Hey, isn¡¯t your face red now?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not red at all.¡± While saying that, Cordelia lightly touched her cheeks. Jude smiled a little again before he approached Cordelia¡¯s side. Then Cordelia, who felt his presence, suddenly sat up and fumbled in the air as she said. ¡°Um, Jude.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Come over here and hold my hand.¡± ¡°Hand?¡± ¡°Yes, my hand.¡± Jude wondered on what was going on all of a sudden. However, Cordelia¡¯s expression was quite serious, so Jude approached withoutint and grasped Cordelia¡¯s hand. ¡°I¡¯m holding it.¡± ¡°Yes, I caught it, you bastard.¡± Cordelia suddenly raised her voice, pulled Jude¡¯s hand, and she began randomly hitting Jude with her empty left hand. ¡°Hey! Hey! It hurts! It hurts!¡± ¡°It hurts when I hit you? Hey, did you think I wouldn¡¯t know? You¡¯re the one who got thest hit, right? Right?¡± ¡°N-no!¡± ¡°No sh*t!¡± Even though she couldn¡¯t see, herbat sense remained, so Cordelia hit him exactly where it hurts. ¡°H-how?¡± ¡°Because the feeling was vague.¡± ¡°Feeling?¡± ¡°Yes, there¡¯s a unique feeling when I get thest hit, but it wasn¡¯t there.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s words, Jude¡¯s face became nk. Feeling. He couldn¡¯t believe she noticed it just because she didn¡¯t have that unique feeling she usually got when she dealt thest hit. ¡°Cordelia, you¡­¡± ¡°What about me?¡± ¡°Are you an animal? Are you not a human?¡± ¡°Woof! Woof!¡± Cordelia barked like a dog and hit Jude more, and Jude was convinced. He didn¡¯t know if there was anything else different, but he was sure that Cordelia¡¯s feeling (instinct) was on the level of an animal. ¡°Haa, moving on. There is one more thing I wanted to say.¡± Cordelia said, having been tired of hitting him for some time, so she lightly stretched her shoulders and let go of Jude¡¯s hand. Jude quickly removed his hand in reflex before he asked. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t do that from now on. And don¡¯t even think about giving up thest hit.¡± ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°Because it¡¯s a real fight at stake. Defeating the enemy is definitely more important than anything else. Do you understand?¡± ¡°¡­okay, I understand.¡± Jude nodded at her unthinkable maturity, and Cordeliaughed again. ¡°Of course, that doesn¡¯t mean that I will give up aiming for thest hit. I will gain it with my own hands.¡± The way she grinned and clenched her fist was very charming. As Jude unknowingly stared at her nkly, Cordelia pretended to notice something with her unique feeling again. ¡°Why? Did you think that you fell in love again?¡± ¡°No, I never fell in love in the first ce though?¡± ¡°Yes, Daddy. If you insist.¡± Cordeliaughed as she lied down before continuing her words. ¡°What happened to your talks anyway?¡± ¡°They said we would be leaving in the morning the day after tomorrow.¡± ¡°Then we¡¯ll have to run away tomorrow night at thetest?¡± ¡°That¡¯s correct.¡± They couldn¡¯t go back to Count Hr?svelgr now, even though he had sweet-talked in front of Phil. ¡®The great invasion of the Northern barbarians¡­¡¯ There were still a couple of months left until the start of Jude¡¯s main scenario, but it would be toote to wait until then. Jude and Cordelia were going to twist Jude¡¯s main scenario, ¡®The Northern Barbarians¡¯ Great Invasion,¡¯ from its very roots. ¡®We can do it.¡¯ At this point, intervention was still possible. The development of the main scenario was as follows. And of barbarians existed across the border guarded by the Jackdaws. The barbarians who lived there weren¡¯t actually one. They were divided into dozens ofrge and small tribes, among which there was a tribe called Angry Bull. A tribe that is neither weak nor strong, and whose power is just in the middle. On a blizzard day, a prophet covered in rags visited the Angry Bull tribe and said. ¡°A great king wille from the Angry Bull. He who will be king, receive the power of the great one and sweep the world.¡± The chieftain of the Angry Bull tribe epted the words of the prophet with a mysterious power as correct and prepared the requested ritual to receive the power of the great one. ¡°It was a story where the Angry Bull tribe that had grown so strong, unified the barbarians under one leadership and moved southwards, right?¡± ¡°Yes, the prophet was a demonic follower, and starting from the Angry Bull tribe, all of the northern barbarians were corrupted by the power of the demon¡­it was such a story.¡± Even in the whole Legend of Heroes 2, it was a very important event. Not only did the invasion brought down the northern borders of the S?len Kingdom and killed countless people, but it also sprawled demonic followers in every corner of the world. ¡°The Devil¡¯s Eye.¡± They were the group of demon followers who were behind the prophet. If the Devil¡¯s Hand served Asmodeus, the great monarch of lust, the Devil¡¯s Eye served Belial, the great monarch of corruption. ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking about it in the past, but don¡¯t you think the names of their organizations are too roughly named?¡± ¡°You¡¯re not the only one who feels that way.¡± Because it wasn¡¯t just the hands and eyes of the devil. Among the groups of demon followers that will appear in the future, there was also the Devil¡¯s Mouth and the Devil¡¯s Horns. ¡°Regardless, the best way is to prevent the invasion itself. In other words¡­¡± ¡°We prevent the unification of the barbarians itself?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s correct.¡± The barbarians had to be unified first before they could invade. And the way to prevent the barbarian invasion was simple. ¡°We need to create an opposing force that canpete against the Angry Bull tribe.¡± ¡°It¡¯s quite simple.¡± ¡°Well, if you start from zero, attempting it would honestly be difficult, but you also about know that, right? The fact about the unfortunate hero.¡± ¡°Red Wind¡¯s father.¡± Red Wind was the only barbarian among the yable characters. Red Storm, her father and the chieftain of the Great Storm tribe, was an outstanding hero who was not corrupted and resisted the demon¡¯s temptation to the very end. In the original story, he faced a tragic death when he was still alive. So they needed to keep him alive. They would make him stand tall as the hero of the barbarians who would confront the corrupted barbarians. ¡°If we seed, we will be able to drastically change the flow of the original story.¡± ¡°That¡¯s exciting.¡± Just imagining it was quite satisfying. Moreover, they also had a very desperate reason this time. ¡®Because if it followed the original story, my father and her father will die in the great invasion too.¡¯ Count Bayer and Count Chase. Jude recalled the two people for a while, especially Count Chase¡¯s face, and he clenched his fist. ¡°We must save them.¡± ¡°Yes, we have to save them. We will be able to save them.¡± When Cordelia nodded with a bright face, Jude suddenly grasped Cordelia¡¯s hand again. ¡°In order to do that, there is something that is absolutely necessary.¡± ¡°Wh-what is it? Is it something that we can do by holding hands?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not that.¡± Jude withdrew his hand and brought his face closer instead as he said. ¡°To save Red Storm, we must cross the border and head to thend of the barbarians.¡± ¡°I know, in order to do that, we must meet Red Wind who had secretly went south in search of a drug to cure Red Storm¡¯s illness.¡± Cordelia answered as she slightly moved her head away from Jude, while Jude immediately continued. ¡°Yes, so in order to do that, we have to get out of here first.¡± At this point, Cordelia had no choice but to notice it. What Jude was trying to say to her. Or rather, what Jude was iming to be necessary now. ¡°Wait, wait, wait, wait.¡± ¡°Yes, wait.¡± ¡°You need a letter now, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°We can¡¯t just vanish into thin air, right? We have to leave a story about being healthy after eating the Sunflower.¡± ¡°Okay, good. Up to there, I can understand. But this time, I don¡¯t necessarily have to be the one to leave it, right?¡± ¡°Well, that¡­¡± ¡°Besides, I¡¯ve already left a record, right?¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem, it¡¯s just as you say.¡± As Cordelia had said, it was not necessary for her to leave a letter. ¡°Actually, your reputation is almost established and irreversible already.¡± ¡°Hmm? What?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing.¡± With a shameless smile, Jude said to Cordelia who tilted her head. ¡°Well then, shall I write it this time?¡± ¡°Yes, you write it. You must write it. Okay?¡± ¡°Well¡­then. I¡¯ll write it this time.¡± ¡°Hehe, how exciting.¡± He should try it too. Cordelia smiled so brightly, and Jude shrugged with a poker face. And the day after tomorrow. As nned, the two had escaped from Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s camp and stopped for a moment on a snowfield devoid of other humans. ¡°Good, good. In a little while, people will find the letter, right?¡± ¡°Yes, they will.¡± It was a letter from Jude. The contents were as follows. ¡°Dear Lord Lucas, I will further continue my honeymoon trip with Lady Cordelia, whom I dearly love more than my life. Please do not worry too much, because I¡¯ve gotten healthier from eating the Sunflower. We are also very sorry to have troubled Count Hr?svelgr because of our reckless behavior. P.S. I am really happy now.¡± As Jude recited the contents of the letter with a wretched face, Cordelia excitedly jumped from her spot. ¡°So good, it¡¯s so much good.¡± ¡°Is it so much good?¡± ¡°It¡¯s so much good!¡± ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t know that you love me so much¡­¡± ¡°What is this crazy bastard saying?¡± T/N: Pun again. Jo-ta (??) can both mean ¡®good/nice¡¯ and ¡®in love with/fond of.¡¯ ¡°Well, moving on. If the Madam is satisfied, this Dolswe is simply happy. There is a long way to go, so let us hurry up.¡± Jude who had spoken so far in a splendid acting like that in a y, began to take the lead afterwards. And Cordelia thought as she looked at the back of such a Jude. ¡°Something isn¡¯t right.¡± It was what Cordelia herself had expected. ¡°Aren¡¯t youing?¡± ¡°I¡¯ming!¡± Cordelia yelled at Jude who was already far ahead, as she pouted her lips before hurriedly stepping forward. Chapter 51: Crossing Point (1)

Chapter 51: Crossing Point (1)

Terms used in this chapter: Lankebuste ¨C this is something I made up. There are simr words to it in German or Norwegian, but they¡¯rebinations of twopletely different ces/words. In German, there¡¯s Lanke + B¨¹ste, while in Norwegian, there¡¯s L?nke + buste. I¡¯ve considered using the Norwegian one as Hr?svelgr and Vedrfolnir are Norse in origin, but frankly, I¡¯m toozy to type ¡®L?nkebuste¡¯ every single time, so ¡®Lankebuste¡¯ it is. No more diacritics or ents please. Demonic humans Farragut and Vilkay died, and the demon Sisioth was extinguished. Demonic human Saluzia, who oversaw the northern branch of the Devil¡¯s Hand in the S?len Kingdom, stared at the Demon Record with a stunned face. ¡°No way.¡± The Demon Record recorded the names of the demons and demonic humans that belonged to the Devil¡¯s Hand, and it also had a special function. If a demon or demonic human that was recorded in it was extinguished or killed, a red line was drawn in the middle of their name. Saluzia stared at those red lines that remained the same no matter how many times she looked at them. ¡®They failed? No, were they exterminated?¡¯ There were two demonic humans and one demon, and even close to a hundredbatants. It was generally impossible. Could it be that the iron man, Landius, had appeared once again? No, that couldn¡¯t be. The iron man¡¯s trail was found in the center of the S?len Kingdom. He was not in the north now. ¡®Jude Bayer and Cordelia Chase.¡¯ There was something about the two of them. If she only considered their skill, the possibility that they extinguished Farragut, Vilkay, and Sisioth waspletely zero, but she couldn¡¯t ignore the connection of the two. In the first ce, the troops were dispatched to aim for the two. ¡®There is no such thing as a god of disaster.¡¯ As she thought about it, five demonic humans have already died because of those two. On top of that, up to two hundredbatants and one demon died too, so the damage caused by them was very serious. ¡®It cannot be like this.¡¯ They had suffered so much damage. Moreover, since she failed three times in a row, there was no way that the other executives would stay still. They would somehow disparage and harass her. It wasn¡¯t the only thing that she was afraid of. Because there was something else that truly scared her. ¡®What will the leader think of me? If she thinks I¡¯m useless and drive me out¡­¡¯ Just imagining it was horrible. Being alive would be painful for her as she thought of their leader looking at her with eyes full of scorn. ¡®I have to somehow make up for it.¡¯ Recovering was already impossible. The expression ¡®settlement¡¯ was more appropriate. Capture Jude Bayer and Cordelia Chase alive. Give those two young ones hellish pain. Sacrifice them to summon a demon much more powerful than Sisioth. ¡°Haa.¡± Saluzia closed her eyes. She closed the Demon Record and stabilized her breathing before slowly getting up from her seat. ¡°Kanos.¡± ¡°Yes, Master Saluzia.¡± Kanos¡¯ answer came back quietly in the pir¡¯s long-casted shadow. Saluzia continued to talk as Kanos prostrated on her feet. ¡°Find the whereabouts of Cordelia Chase. This time, I will move myself. We will mobilize all the power of the northern branch.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± Even Kanos recognized the seriousness of the situation, so he didn¡¯t say anything else. The only exoneration given to Saluzia and himself was to capture Jude Bayer and Cordelia Chase regardless of the means or method. Saluzia looked away from him. She red towards the north where Frost Anvil was located. *** ¡°Thank you for your hard work. Take care of yourself.¡± ¡°Yes sir, yes ma¡¯am. Thank you for employing me.¡± They were in the entrance of Lankebuste, thergest trading city in the Hr?svelgr territory. At the first alleyway after passing through the gates, Jude and Cordelia handed over to a big man hispensation. He was a man living in a vige near Lankebuste, and they had met him yesterday and hired him for a day. ¡°Please keep it a secret.¡± ¡°Of course I will. Even if a knife is held to my throat, I will keep it a secret.¡± The man thumped on his chest and guaranteed it, beforeughing as he left the alley. And Cordelia said. ¡°He won¡¯t keep it a secret, right?¡± ¡°If someone asks him in exchange for a bit of money, he¡¯ll tell it. It¡¯s okay though. It¡¯s not the kind of information that you can actively sell.¡± There was nothing else to be noticed, except the fact that they were a very pretty woman and a handsome young man. Moreover, the two were currently in disguise. ¡°Will we be seen as a brother and sister because of our simr hair color?¡± ¡°When our pursuers listen to the hearsay, they will shake even the smallest information about us. So having a disguise is better than having nothing.¡± The two had dyed their hair in the same brown color and had pretended to be siblings. ¡°Count Hr?svelgr will be looking for a young man and woman. So if you add one more person to our party, it would be hard for them to properly find us.¡± It was the reason why they hired a young man from the neighborhood, so that they could pass through the gates together. ¡°Will they really be fooled so easily?¡± ¡°We are two people who will die if we can¡¯t live together. Take a step back and think about it. How many times do two people who¡¯ve run away from home, saying that they¡¯ll go on a honeymoon trip, will include another person on their journey?¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia thought about it, and she was convinced eventually. ¡°I understand, but it just feels sad.¡± It was about their reputation in public. ¡°Me too.¡± Jude was behind the creation of that reputation, but he nodded his head in agreement too before continuing talking about something different. ¡°Well then, let¡¯s hurry. There¡¯s a high likelihood that the Devil¡¯s Hand will move again.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­.wouldn¡¯t Saluzia move herself if we had caused this much damage to them?¡± ¡°It¡¯s highly likely.¡± She was a high-ranking demonic human who¡¯s in charge of the northern branch, and one of the six executives of the Devil¡¯s Hand. Cordelia remembered her for a moment, and then held the back of her neck as she said. ¡°You know what?¡± ¡°Yes, what?¡± ¡°We¡¯re getting stronger much faster than in the game, but the enemies are also getting stronger much faster¡­or rather, that¡¯s the feeling that I get.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not just your feeling, as it¡¯s correct. And perhaps, this situation will continue to happen in the future.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Why? Because we¡¯re defeating the people whom we are supposed to lose to and breaking the flow of the original story because we got ahead of the situation.¡± They defeated demonic human Minos in order to neutralize the kidnapping attempt of the Devil¡¯s Hand, and as a result of defeating several demonic humans of the Devil¡¯s Hand, they were in a situation where Saluzia was forced to appear much earlier than the original story. Perhaps this phenomenon will continue in the future. ¡°Out of a frying pan into the fire.¡± ¡°So we have to get stronger quickly.¡± ¡°Sob, sob, but what do we do if Saluzia trulyes at us? We can¡¯t beat her if she¡¯s a high-ranking demonic human.¡± Cordelia¡¯s worries were reasonable. Therefore, Jude nodded and replied in a rather serious tone. ¡°It¡¯ll be fine if our travel schedule is not too slow. Thend of the barbarians beyond the border is the realm of the Devil¡¯s Eye. Even the northern branch¡¯s head of the Devil¡¯s Hand will not be able to chase us beyond the border.¡± The Devil¡¯s Hand and the Devil¡¯s Eye were rival groups who served under different great monarchs. If an important figure and the high-ranking northern branch head, Saluzia, moved, the Devil¡¯s Eye would likely respond. So once they¡¯ve crossed the border, they could shake off their worries about the Devil¡¯s Hand. ¡°I feel like I¡¯m going into a tiger¡¯s den just to avoid a lion.¡± ¡°Well¡­it¡¯s not wrong because we have to deal with the Devil¡¯s Eye too.¡± For a moment, Jude shrugged, and Cordelia sighed again. She shook her body as if she was full of energy, and then spoke in a lively voice. ¡°Okay, so moving on, we have to meet Red Wind now.¡± ¡°Did you like Red Wind?¡± ¡°Yes, she¡¯s about next to Cordelia?¡± ¡°I¡¯m just asking, but how much did you like Jude?¡± ¡°Second from the bottom? Because he¡¯s the bum who tried to take Cordelia.¡± ¡°O-okay.¡± Was it fortunate that he isn¡¯t at the bottom¡­was what Jude was thinking. At Jude¡¯s reply, Cordelia burst intoughter and said. ¡°By the way, at this point¡­ she¡¯s probably stuck in a ve auction house?¡± ¡°Yes, considering the time of her appearance, she should be locked up by now. She probably got caught about a week ago.¡± Because Red Wind was one of the yable characters, Cordelia also pretty much knew about her early actions in detail. Red Wind had infiltrated across the border to Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s territory in the S?len Kingdom, in order to get medicine for her father, Red Gale. However, it was unreasonable for her in the first ce to sneak into the territory, when she had only lived in thend of the barbarians all her life. Eventually, Red Wind¡¯s identity was discovered early on, and she got caught by ve merchants and became a ve. ¡°Because Red Wind is pretty.¡± ¡°After all, the Great Storm tribe were elves.¡± The northern barbarians consisted of dozens of tribes, some of which, were made up of different races itself. The Great Storm tribe was a tribe that inherited the blood of the Forest Elves, specifically, the Winter Elves. ¡°Because the early scenario of Red Wind was to run away from the ve auction house¡­are we helping her to escape then?¡± Cordelia smiled happily at the thought of it as she talked, but Jude shook his head. ¡°No, we¡¯re not going to do that.¡± ¡°Why are we not doing that? Are we not going to save Red Wind?¡± ¡°We have to save her. But as I said before, we have an urgent schedule. The reason why Red Wind was able to escape was because of the raid on the ve auction house, but we have to wait for another month for that event to happen.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t we just sneak in ourselves and rescue her?¡± ¡°It won¡¯t be easy. It¡¯s going to be dangerous. The ce where Red Wind is locked up is in thergest ve auction house in the north.¡± ¡°Then, what are we supposed to do?¡± ¡°Red Wind is a ve now.¡± ¡°She is a ve.¡± ¡°Yes, so why not buy her?¡± ¡°You won¡¯t help Red Wind escape?¡± ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s buy her with money peacefully. Without fighting.¡± As if it was a clear solution, Jude even showed a bright smile, but Cordelia pouted her lips. ¡°There¡¯s something I don¡¯t like.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just¡­¡± She had imagined the future of bing Red Wind¡¯s benefactor by punishing the vicious ver. On top of that, she found the situation itself, where Red Wind served as Jude¡¯s ve, as somehow unpleasant. ¡°Come to think of it, there is one more thing that bothers me.¡± ¡°One more thing?¡± ¡°How are we going to get the money?¡± As Cordelia had said, Red Wind was beautiful, so she would be priced very expensively. The two had enough funds from resolving minor events that they encountered on the way, but that was only in terms of travel expenses. Cordelia had remembered that Red Wind¡¯s product rating was in the upper middle. To buy such a woman, they simply needed a huge fortune. But at Cordelia¡¯sment, Jude had an evil grin instead of being discouraged. ¡°Hehehe¡­if that¡¯s the case, I¡¯ve already prepared some measures, Madam.¡± ¡°W-what is it?¡± Cordelia asked as she took a step back without realizing it, but Jude grabbed her wrist instead of answering. ¡°Follow me. You¡¯ll find out right away.¡± She wondered on what the hell was he talking about. Cordelia then nodded with an anxious face. And 20 minutester¡­ In front of a luxurious and enormous building, Cordelia¡¯s eyes blinked as she stood there with a nk face, and soon turned her head to Jude. ¡°Is this our means of making money?¡± ¡°It is.¡± At Jude¡¯s confident answer, Cordelia faced the front again, and read the letters on therge signboard. Lankebuste Casino. Where dreams and hopese true. She had nothing else to say. Cordelia turned around right away and began hitting Jude¡¯s back mercilessly. ¡°It hurts! It hurts! That hurts more! It hurts more!¡± Cordelia dragged Jude into an alley to avoid people¡¯s eyes and yelled after hitting him a few more times. ¡°Hey, you fool! You brought me there to make money at a gambling house? Ha, I can¡¯t believe you!¡± ¡°Heeyy¡­it¡¯s okay though?¡± ¡°That okay is sh*t! Let¡¯s break off our engagement! Break it off! Gambler is out!¡± Cordelia opened her mouth as if to bite him, and Jude took a step back from her and then raised one hand forward like a trainer trying to calm an animal as he quickly said. ¡°It¡¯s really okay. You know who I am, right?¡± ¡°A gambler?¡± ¡°¡­I¡¯m Outboxer009. The indisputable 1st ce in Legend of Heroes 2¡¯s rankings.¡± ¡°I suddenly want to hit you more.¡± ¡°Anyway, trust me. Have you seen me talking nonsense?¡± Jude earnestly spoke as he looked directly at her, and Cordelia seemed to scowl, before she eventually sighed, and her shoulders sank. ¡°Can you really do it?¡± ¡°I can do it.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll believe in you.¡± ¡°Thank you, Madam. I¡¯ll make you lightning-rich soon, so please look forward to it.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t spend it all, don¡¯t waste our money. If you do so, I¡¯ll break off our engagement immediately. Do you understand, fianc¨¦?¡± ¡°I understand. Soe with me.¡± Jude reached his hand out to Cordelia as if escorting her, and Cordelia held Jude¡¯s hand with a dissatisfied look. ¡°Now then, shall we win the jackpot?¡± ¡°You can¡¯t just win it like that.¡± ¡°Hey, don¡¯t worry. And frankly¡­don¡¯t you believe in me?¡± Because he was Jude and not anyone else. ¡°Hmph, I do not?¡± Cordelia snorted right away, but he could tell from her eyes. After all, she would have opposed it to the very end if she didn¡¯t believe in him in the first ce. ¡°I will live up to your trust, mydy.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t say that.¡± In the end, the two walked towards the casino side by side. *** And at that same time. A very important meeting was taking ce in Bailon, the border city in the southernmost part of the northern region. ¡°I can no longer set it aside and wait and see.¡± Speaking in a very serious tone was Count Bayer, Jude Bayer¡¯s father and one of the ten swordmasters in the S?len Kingdom. ¡°If the current situation continues, Count Hr?svelgr will have no choice but to put them in the wanted list. And that¡­that would be the worst situation.¡± Three counts were searching all over the north to catch the two youths who have eloped despite the fact that their engagement was already recognized by both of their families. There was nothing disgraceful about their rtionship, yet the two did that. Moreover, the movement of the Devil¡¯s Hand weighed on his mind too. They had to secure the two before something really big happened. ¡°It would be nice if either you or I could move in person¡­ but that would be impossible.¡± At the words of Count Bayer, Count Chase nodded his head in silence. Whether it was Count Bayer, who ruled Bailon, or Count Chase, who was in charge of the Red Dawn Tower, it was unreasonable for them to go all the way to the distant territory of Count Hr?svelgr. They would most likely be away for more than a month. ¡°So I¡¯m thinking of sending Ga?l instead.¡± Ga?l Bayer. The eldest son of Count Bayer and the older brother of Jude. In fact, Count Chase nodded at the strongest hand that Count Bayer could take out. ¡°On my side, I¡¯ll be sending Adelia.¡± ¡°Adelia? Isn¡¯t she in the center now?¡± Her situation was different from Ga?l, who had stayed with Count Bayer to inherit the territory. Count Chase¡¯s eldest daughter was one of the seven heads of the Royal Guard Magic Corps. ¡°She came here to this faraway ce after she took a vacation. She seemed to have a lot ofints on what happened recently between Jude and Cordelia.¡± Jude, that parasitic younger brother, it¡¯s clear that he¡¯s toying around with the kind, innocent, and angelic Cordelia! ¨C Those were his eldest daughter¡¯s words that Count Chase had omitted. ¡°Ga?l and Adelia¡­should be enough.¡± ¡°They should be enough.¡± ¡°When will they depart?¡± ¡°It¡¯s possible for him to do so right now.¡± ¡°This side too.¡± They could no longer stand by and watch Jude and Cordelia cause trouble to Count Hr?svelgr. Furthermore, they were fathers who were very worried about the safety of the two. And an hourter. Ga?l Bayer and Adelia Chase left the border city of Bailon to arrest the crazy couple. Chapter 52: Crossing Point (2)

Chapter 52: Crossing Point (2)

Next chapter will be released on Monday (UTC+8). I¡¯ve also decided that from now on, this series¡¯ release schedule will be 6 chapters per week, with Sundays as my rest/break days. I could also say that in this chapter, it¡¯s partly the author¡¯s fault for the confusing point-of-views in the narration. The author kept using interrogative sentences in their narration, and the point-of-view can suddenly jump from third person (narrator) to a specific character. The best that I could do was italicize the sentences to imply that they¡¯re the characters¡¯ thoughts. Some trantion mistakes: I used to refer to Count Bayer as one of the S?len Kingdoms ¡®teenage swordmasters,¡¯ but that is incorrect. He is actually one of the ¡®ten great swordmasters.¡¯ The Korean word they used here is Geumho (??), which can literally be tranted to sword (geum) + great (ho). An interesting trivia: Outboxer009 is a reference to real-life pro gamer ¡®BoxeR,¡¯ Lim Yo-hwan. After he retired from eSports, he became a professional poker yer. Terms used in this chapter: Side card ¨C also known as ¡®kicker,¡¯ it is a card in a poker hand that does not itself take part in determining the rank of the hand but may be used to break ties between hands of the same rank. Discard from the family register ¨C South Korea used to have a family register system called ¡®Hoju.¡¯ It has since been abolished since 2008 because it was highly patriarchal and opposed by many groups. Nowadays, it is used by adults as an expression to scold and threaten their children, with an implied meaning that they¡¯ll be ¡®kicked out¡¯ of the family, or ¡®disowned¡¯ if they continue to behave badly. Ga?l Bayer. 27 years old. He is the eldest son of Count Bayer, and the next Count of Bayer. As the sessor of Count Bayer, one of the ten great swordmasters, he was a master of the sword who had gained fame since his childhood. Even though the eldest sons of other counts already had two to three children, there were many reasons why he was still a bachelor. But the truth is, most of those reasons were just a pretext, and there was only one reason why Ga?l was still unmarried and lived alone. Adelia Chase. 24 years old. She is the eldest daughter and the middle child of Count Chase, who had one son and two daughters. She was a genius wizard who joined the Royal Guard Magic Corps of the S?len Kingdom at the age of 19. And after 5 years, she became one of the heads at the young age of 24. ¡°It¡¯s been a long time, Lady Adelia.¡± ¡°It¡¯s been a long time too, Lord Bayer.¡± Ga?l didn¡¯t wear his armor as he wasn¡¯t going on a battlefield, but he was wearing a knight¡¯s usual attire under his coat. And as for Adelia. As the sister of Cordelia, she was also an iparably beautiful woman who resembled their mother and had dark blonde hair. She was dressed in a wizard¡¯sbat attire with the emblem of the Royal Guard Magic Corps on it. It was a luxurious and gorgeous outfit with gold thread embroidered on her ck clothes that fit her perfectly. ¡°Although the reason we¡¯ve met like this is not very good¡­still, it¡¯s good to see you in good health.¡± ¡°Me too.¡± Ga?l was smiling nicely as always, while Adelia answered him a little brusquely as she made a ¡®hmph¡¯ sound before speaking again. ¡°You may have already heard it roughly, but I¡¯ll say it again. The n is simple. First of all, regardless of night and day, we¡¯ll race towards Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s territory until we reach somewhere near the northern border.¡± ¡°Will you use magic after that?¡± Adelia nodded when Ga?l asked as he climbed up on the horse. ¡°I have the ring my father gave me, so we can track them down.¡± ¡°How far is the scope of the magic?¡± ¡°It¡¯s quite wide, as it¡¯s about the size of a small manor. If it¡¯s asrge as Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s territory, we¡¯ll only be able to search it in parts.¡± ¡°Still, it¡¯s reassuring. After all, it¡¯s Lady Adelia.¡± ¡°Hmph, it¡¯s not something to be praised about though?¡± Adelia snorted as she gathered her hair and tied it up, before holding and fixing the horse¡¯s reins. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go. I will take the lead.¡± ¡°I am more familiar with the nearby geography, so I will take the lead. Everyone! I¡¯ll be back!¡± Despite Adelia¡¯s sharp attitude, Ga?l smiled and answered, before greeting those who came to see them off. Afterwards, he made the horse start moving by nudging it with his foot. ¡°Giddyap!¡± As Ga?l had great horseback riding skills, he looked impressively cool as he run ahead, but it wasn¡¯t for Adelia. She looked at Ga?l, who had run ahead, with a displeased face as she made a ¡®hmph¡¯ sound and then looked back at the people sending them off. ¡°I¡¯ll be back.¡± She coldly spoke as she spurred her horse and followed after Ga?l. Though, if one looked at her momentum, it seemed like she was in a race, rather than being hispanion. As for those left behind, among them was Maja and Dahlia. The two looked at each other naturally and smiled awkwardly. ¡°It will¡­be fine, right?¡± ¡°Ah¡­maybe?¡± Ga?l Bayer and Adelia Chase. With a somewhat ominous premonition, Maja and Dahlia looked at the two people who had already gone far. *** Someone had said. ¡°Do you know what a gambling house and a luxury buffet have inmon? It is the fact that the store wins in the end.¡± It was exactly what he said. No matter how much one eats in a luxury buffet to get their money¡¯s worth, all they¡¯ll have in the end was an upset stomach. And no matter how hard one tries at a gambling house, in the end, the visitors were bound to lose their money. ¡°Of course, that¡¯s an average story, and overall, it¡¯s just the casinos that make money, but there are certainly a minority who make money, whether it¡¯s small or huge.¡± Otherwise, no one will go to the gambling house if they didn¡¯t make any money. ¡°So you¡¯re that minority?¡± ¡°I was always the winning minority. I even had the status of being in the ban list of three Las Vegas casinos.¡± Before going to the casino, they stopped by a nearby amodation and were currently in the middle of changing clothes. At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia blinked as she arranged the skirt of her fabulous red dress. ¡°Ban list?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s kind of a cklist. If you go there, you will not be allowed to enter.¡± As Jude talked a little proudly, Cordelia stopped arranging her skirt. She then touched her chin and soon said as she clenched her fist. ¡°As expected! You were a scammer as expected! Humbug! Am I not right? Right?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not? I never cheated, okay? I was just so good at gambling that I was denied entry, okay?¡± ¡°F*ck, who the hell are you then? How can you continuously win if you didn¡¯t cheat then?¡± ¡°It¡¯s nice to hear you saying ¡®f*ck¡¯ after a long time.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t change the subject.¡± ¡°Well, turn around for now.¡± ¡°Have you finished dressing up?¡± ¡°Oh, you¡¯re all dressed up.¡± ¡°This person¡­fu-¡­didn¡¯t I tell you not to turn around?¡± ¡°I just turned around. Come closer. I¡¯ll tighten the straps on your back.¡± ¡°Dahlia used to do it.¡± ¡°Dahlia isn¡¯t here right now.¡± It was as Jude had said, so Cordelia came near Jude and showed her back, and Jude tightened the dress straps one by one as he continued talking. ¡°Do you know about card counting?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°¡­it¡¯s literally counting cards. You remember all the revealed cards and infer which cards haven¡¯t been revealed yet. And based on that, you calcte the probability for each situation and make the best choice.¡± ¡°It¡¯s hard to listen to just that, but if you do that, can you unconditionally win?¡± ¡°No, the win rate is just a little over 50%. In modern casinos, a lot of various techniques have been developed to invalidate card counting so that it isn¡¯t effective. I¡¯m done tightening it.¡± When Jude had tightened all the dress straps, Cordelia turned around and looked back and forth on her own body before picking up the necktie. ¡°So, why were you cklisted? As expected, didn¡¯t you cheat by counting? Don¡¯t move and stay still.¡± ¡°Card counting is basic, and there are a few other techniques. And basically, the game is yed with a dealer, right? Unlike machines, humans disy a lot of information even if they are just quietly standing.¡± And in fact, Jude¡¯s specialty was in poker games like Texas hold ¡®em. ¡°Do you mean, you were a professional poker yer then?¡± ¡°I wonder.¡± In response to Jude¡¯s shameless answer, Cordelia pouted her lips and deliberately tied up Jude¡¯s tie tightly. ¡°Gak-! Hey!¡± ¡°Hmph, I¡¯ll tie it up again.¡± The dexterous Cordelia soon nicely tied up his tie again. ¡°I don¡¯t know about anything else, but I think you¡¯re the best at this.¡± ¡°There are a lot of things that I¡¯m good at too, okay?¡± Despite the fact that she snorted, the corners of Cordelia¡¯s mouth were raised, and her mood became better at hispliment. ¡°In any case, are you confident about this?¡± ¡°I am confident. It¡¯s not even a modern casino that has prepared several preventive measures.¡± ¡°You have a wicked smile.¡± ¡°You will soon love this smile, mydy.¡± ¡°I bet I won¡¯t.¡± Nevertheless, Cordelia was somewhat relieved at his confident appearance. ¡°Well then, shall we go and win some money?¡± ¡°Yes, Daddy. I only trust in Daddy.¡± ¡°Daddy will make our princess rich today.¡± ¡°I¡¯m so excited.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s do this.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± The two stopped their conversation, looked at each other, and took a deep breath before they left the amodation together. And two hourster. ¡°ckjack.¡± The dealer facing Jude turned pale, and Jude had a gentle smile as he looked back at the coins piled up in front of him. ¡®It¡¯s about time.¡¯ After an hour of observation and an hour of winning and winning again, the time hase for the store to put on the brakes on him. ¡®As expected, it¡¯sing.¡¯ A giant man dressed in a high-quality suit was approaching him in big strides. He¡¯ll moderately tell Jude to ¡®get out of here¡¯ in a refinednguage while exaggerating his words and speaking at length. ¡®Well, should I slowly withdraw now?¡¯ Even if he exchanged the coins now, it would already have exceeded Red Wind¡¯s price by 1.5 times. ¡®Okay, this is enough.¡¯ Having made up his mind, Jude turned his head towards the giant and brightly smiled. But without even looking at Jude¡¯s smile, the giant continued to walk away and stopped at an unexpected ce. ¡®What?¡¯ Jude unconsciously blinked his eyes before getting up from his seat and looking at the ce where the giant stopped. It was the roulette ce, and now that he saw it, nearly half of the casino guests were gathered in addition to the supervisor. ¡°I¡¯d like to exchange the coins into money, please. This is a tip.¡± After handing a coin to the dealer, Jude got up and walked towards the roulette ce. And it was at that moment. ¡°Kyaaa!¡± ¡°Oooooooh!¡± ¡°She got it right again!¡± ¡°Awesome!¡± Thunderous exmations of amazement broke out among the audience. They had such enthusiastic reactions that he wondered why he didn¡¯t hear of their sounds before. And in the center of all that enthusiasm was an iparably beautiful girl with long brown hair, wearing a red dress. ¡°Cordelia?¡± Jude unintentionally said her real name while she was going ¡®kyaa¡¯ and being happy. Cordelia then looked back at Jude with a bright face and hugged him. ¡°I got it again! It¡¯s incredible!¡± What? What the hell did you get? And what is this flow? Jude lightly pushed Cordelia away first before seeing the roulette board. He then saw a mountain of coins piled up in front of Cordelia. At first nce, it seemed to be twice or three times as many as what Jude himself had. ¡°Oh¡­little sister?¡± The two had disguised themselves as brother and sister. Cordelia came to her senses at Jude¡¯s words, and said after she widely spread out her shoulders. ¡°Oppa, oppa, I¡¯m totally awesome, it¡¯s awesome.¡± Jude could read from the flow that Cordelia had hit the jackpot in roulette. But how the hell did that happen? ¡°Wow, she¡¯s such an incredible Miss. It¡¯s not a side card but just one red and ck match, yet she¡¯s earned as much as I did.¡± The man who was watching right beside himughably said as if it was his business, but the other nearby spectators also added some words. ¡°I¡¯ve seen her got it 10 times in a row.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t she get it 12 consecutive times?¡± ¡°It¡¯s exactly 17 consecutive times!¡± ¡°17 consecutive?!¡± Thest one was Jude. Cordelia was perfectly satisfied at Jude¡¯s totally startled and utterly bewildered face. ¡°That¡¯s right! 17 times in a row!¡± To win in roulette, the yer determines whether the ball stops in the red or ck pockets. The probability is ?. The dividend of betting on one is the lowest, but it¡¯s a different story if it¡¯s 17 times in a row. ¡®If you bet on only one, the dividend is doubled if you win. But if it¡¯s the 17th win of 2¡­¡¯ 131,072 times. T/N: Frankly, I don¡¯t understand much about roulette, but this is the best exnation I can give. In roulette, you can bet on one or several numbers, and if the ballnds on your bets, your payouts/dividends are determined by the number of your bets. Betting on one only means that you¡¯re betting on either even or odd numbers, or you¡¯re betting on either red or ck. Betting on one only gives you a 50% chance of winning, but the dividend is the lowest, as it only doubles your dividend/payout. Every time you win, your dividend is doubled. So, if you win 17 times in a row, your dividend bes 131,072 times. It¡¯s not 17 times 2, but 2 raised to the 17th power, so the form is 217 = 131,072. Even if she started with the cheapest coin, which is one copper coin, it would increase to a tremendous amount if it was around 130,000 times, so it was natural that a mountain of coins was piled up in front of Cordelia. On the other hand, the probability of winning 17 times in a row could also be said to be one in 2 raised to the 17th power. That is, your chances in winning is 1 in 131,072. ¡°Uh¡­how did you do it?¡± Since he remembered his past life before he came to Pleiades, or rather, in both his current and past lives, Jude had never been as surprised as he was now. Cordelia widely smiled at Jude¡¯s face that seemed to have witnessed the mystery of the universe, and then she spoke in a triumphant tone. ¡°With feeling.¡± ¡°With feeling?¡± ¡°With feeling.¡± ========== ¡®Somehow, I feel that it would stop in red this time.¡¯ ¡®ck this time.¡¯ ¡®ck again this time.¡¯ ¡®Looks like it¡¯s red this time?¡¯ ========== ¡°Are you a real animal¡­¡± ¡°I can hear you.¡± However, Cordelia didn¡¯t hit Jude¡¯s back because of her good mood. She didn¡¯t even try to bite him. ¡°A-anyway! Let¡¯s finish it at this point.¡± ¡°Why? The more money we have, the better.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s end it. It¡¯spletely enough now.¡± At Jude¡¯s remark, Cordelia pouted her lips, and the onlookers around them began booing him. But Jude didn¡¯t pay them any attention. ¡°Let¡¯s go now.¡± Jude strongly spoke, and Cordelia thought for a moment before nodding her head. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Aah!¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you y another round, Miss?¡± ¡°One more round!¡± The spectators around them shouted hardly, and the giant, who seemed to be on the casino¡¯s side, also tried to do something. It now seemed to Jude that he didn¡¯t want to stop the game, but rather, to somehow keep it going. ¡®Because he wants us to eventually lose.¡¯ 17 consecutive wins was undeniably a miracle. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but my brother is strict. Hehe.¡± Cordelia responded with a cute smile to the onlookers , and after exchanging the coins they had, she left the casino with Jude. Jude was very nervous that they would not be able to exchange their currency or be prevented from leaving, but it ended with a strong request to visit again tomorrow and an invitation to the auction house because the amount of money the two had was not enough for the casino to directly pay. ¡®They¡¯re telling us to spend some money in any way.¡¯ The ve auction house, general auction house, and this casino were all owned by Bern, who was called the king of Lankebuste. ¡®Well, it¡¯s not bad. Since there is an invitation to the auction house, participating in the auction would look natural.¡¯ Jude sighed in relief and drooped his shoulders, while Cordelia looked up at the sky with a cheerful face and said. ¡°It¡¯s a beautiful night.¡± Of course it was. Even by the standards of the two as children of the 12 families, they had earned a huge amount in just two hours. ¡°Wow, we are rich now. The casino was a fun ce. It¡¯s a ce full of hopes and dreams.¡± ¡°Hey, it¡¯s funny that I¡¯m telling you this now, but the casino is a pandemonium, okay? You should just go with the thought of spending money and having fun, because it¡¯s usually a ce where people ruin themselves from gambling, okay?¡± ¡°Hmph, it was a nice ce, so why?¡± ¡°No gambling, no gambling. Gambler is out. Okay? Let¡¯s break off our engagement! Break it off!¡± The positions of the two had reversed nowpared to before they entered the casino. And Cordelia had a simr reaction to that of Jude two hours ago. ¡°Heeyy, can¡¯t you trust in noona?¡± ¡°Please.¡± ¡°Okay, okay. Anyway, it was exciting. Red Wind is mine now.¡± Cordelia had grumbled before that it wasn¡¯t good to buy Red Wind with money, but she hadpletely changed her mind. Jude suddenly grabbed Cordelia¡¯s wrist tightly as he spoke again. ¡°I¡¯m saying this out of concern for you, but just think that today was a truly miraculous and lucky day. Do you understand? Okay?¡± ¡°It hurts, it hurts, Cordelia won¡¯t do it again¡­okay, okay. I¡¯ll stop here. I understand. It¡¯s not like days like thise often.¡± ¡°Haa¡­Just don¡¯t make me say that I¡¯ll discard you from the family register.¡± ¡°Yes, Daddy.¡± Cordelia replied like a good child as she took the lead, and Jude followed Cordelia closely while being wary of thieves. Faintlyughing at Jude¡¯s worried appearance, Cordelia tied her long hair together and then asked him. ¡°By the way, Jude, when are we going to the auction house?¡± ¡°By chance, it will be opened tomorrow, so we don¡¯t have to wait for long.¡± ¡°Are there any good items for sale besides Red Wind? We are rich now.¡± In the original story, there was no opportunity for Jude and Cordelia to properly participate in the auction house. Cordelia was busy from being chased by the Devil¡¯s Hand in the beginning of her scenario. On the other hand, when Jude¡¯s scenario began in earnest, the entire north was in a mess because of the barbarian invasion. ¡®It goes without saying that Red Wind was locked up at the auction house at that time.¡¯ Moreover, it was presently an auction that will happen a month before Red Wind¡¯s scenario began at the auction house. In other words, it was an unknown ce for both Jude and Cordelia. ¡°I¡¯m suddenly looking forward to it.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. It¡¯s like I¡¯m looking forward to what would be there? It feels like we¡¯re entering a new town and visiting a weapons store, right?¡± ¡®What items could be there?¡¯ ¡®Perhaps it would be possible to get a jackpot item?¡¯ ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to tomorrow. We¡¯ll meet Red Wind, and also go to the auction house.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡®Maybe we¡¯ll find items that are really necessary.¡¯ And in the next evening. ¡°Seriously, it actually happened.¡± ¡°We have good luck.¡± Cordelia was in front, and Jude was at the back. An unexpected meeting was waiting for the two. Chapter 53: Crossing Point (3)

Chapter 53: Crossing Point (3)

Really long chapter today. I¡¯ve also made some corrections to a previous trantion: Great Monarch is now Overlord ¨C Technically, ¡®great monarch¡¯ is a correct trantion, but ¡®overlord¡¯ sounds more viinous and gives off ast boss vibe, so ¡®Overlord¡¯ it is. Terms used in this chapter: Nodachi ¨C Arge and long Japanese sword, having a long handle suitable for multiple two handed grip positions. The Lankebuste auction house had one special rule. ¡®All participants must cover their faces with masks.¡¯ Partial masks that could somehow make it easier to recognize the face was not allowed. Only masks covering the entire face was permitted. Of course, sex and age could be inferred to some extent from one¡¯s height and body type, but the existence of masks were bound to guarantee considerable anonymity. ¡°They¡¯re selling stuff that you can¡¯t buy if your face is revealed?¡± ¡°Well¡­there are quite a few items that are considered shady. Right now, it¡¯s buying those kinds of ves.¡± In the S?len Kingdom, very was somehow regarded as an old-fashioned evil practice that was slowly disappearing. Moreover, most of the ves traded in Lankebuste were not ves forbor, but ves for dirty and shady purposes, such as ythings for sexual entertainment, subjects for body experiments, andbat ves for diatorpetitions. ¡°I want to save her quickly.¡± Although Jude did not give a specific example, Cordelia already knew the truth to some extent. That is why she wanted to save Red Wind as soon as possible. ¡°It¡¯ll be all right. We¡¯ve got enough money. Let¡¯s not struggle in a vain bid, but just buy her promptly with an immediate offer.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, because it¡¯s exhausting to participate in apetition just to fail.¡± ording to the flow of the original story, Red Wind was sold once at this point of time. And then she came back as a returned item. ¡®Whatever the reason may be, it just meant that there was a buyer.¡¯ There was the concern of getting tired in a fruitlesspetition as Cordelia said, and it would also draw people¡¯s attention unnecessarily. In any case, Jude and Cordelia were ¡®fugitives,¡¯ so it was better to do things as quietly as possible. ¡°Hmm, good. I tied it well today. As expected of me.¡± Cordelia smiled and praised herself after tying up Jude¡¯s tie neatly, while Jude thanked her without anyints and then took out the masks they would be using. They were white masks that covered the entire face and did not have any patterns drawn on them. ¡°I dyed my hair too, so if I wear this, no one will recognize me.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t usually wear a pink dress, but dyeing my hair was worth it.¡± Cordelia said something a little unrted, and after wearing her mask, she looked at Jude who gave a small p. ¡°It looks good.¡± ¡°My face is all hidden, but I still look good.¡± Cordelia answered with a giggle and led the way as if she wanted to go quickly. Jude stared at the back of Cordelia and admired her again even though he already knew it. ¡®Pretty, she¡¯s really pretty.¡¯ She wore a mask that covered her entire face, but he still felt that she was beautiful. Cordelia wasn¡¯t just an iparably beautiful girl for no reason, as her qualities and body itself were pretty. ¡°Of course, I¡¯m an absolutely handsome boy.¡± ¡°What are you saying all of a sudden?¡± ¡°Recharging my confidence?¡± ¡°Juste quickly and stop with the nonsense.¡± ¡°Yes, Madam.¡± Jude quickly answered as he wore his mask and caught up with Cordelia. A dozen minutes passed like that. Jude took a deep breath once they entered the auction house right next to the casino. ¡°Hwoooo¡­haaaaa¡­ good, it smells great.¡± ¡°What smell?¡± ¡°The smell of treasure.¡± At Jude¡¯s remark, Cordelia snorted and sniffed in the same way. She then blinked her eyes and said. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s real.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°It smells like treasure.¡± Jude unconsciously became nervous at Cordelia¡¯s words. Because it was Cordelia¡¯s words and not anyone else. ¡°Where is it? What¡¯s the grade? Is it perhaps Myth grade?¡± ¡°What is this crazy bastard saying? I was just kidding. How can a human smell treasure anyway?¡± ¡°You¡¯re an animal.¡± Cordelia tried to naturally open her mouth to bite Jude, but it was useless because of her mask that covered her mouth. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s stop this nonsensical talk for the moment and get Red Wind first.¡± Of course, they were going to search for treasure, but their top priority was to secure Red Wind. Nodding at Cordelia¡¯s words, Jude spoke as he looked back at the auction house¡¯s interior. ¡°There are two possible ways that you can choose in Lankebuste¡¯s auction house.¡± ¡°Are you talking about the market and the proper bidding ceremony?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s not precisely the correct term, but it¡¯s roughly correct.¡± In front of Jude and Cordelia right now were the items to be sold in the auction. They were disyed in regr intervals like that of an art gallery or museum. ¡®If there¡¯s an item a person wants, they write down their bid first, and after a certain period of time, the item is handed over to the person who had ced the highest bid.¡¯ It was a simple and clear but very time-consuming auction method. ¡°We¡¯re not going to participate in the proper auction?¡± ¡°Yes, because it¡¯s going to draw us some attention. We also don¡¯t know if we really want the items that wille out.¡± The auction was scheduled to be held in the next two hours, in which the moderator introduces the item, and each purchaser attempts to bid by raising their panel, just like what wasmonly seen in movies. ¡°Let¡¯s buy everything that we want and then get out of the auction house.¡± ¡°Are we also getting out of Lankebuste then?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s correct.¡± Jude¡¯s mind was troubled by the Devil¡¯s Hand, aside from Count Hr?svelgr. It was best to cross the border before being spotted by any of them. ¡°Okay, moving on, let¡¯s go and buy Red Wind first.¡± ¡°It¡¯s probably this way.¡± Thinking of Lankebuste¡¯s auction house that he remembered when he yed Red Wind, Jude seemed to be taking some cautious steps forward first, but he soon led Cordelia with a confident manner. 1st basement floor. Unlike the bustling atmosphere of the 1st floor, the ce had a gloomy, dreary, and subdued atmosphere. Inside the ss cases erected at regr intervals, the ves for sale were almost in the state of being naked. ¡°I don¡¯t like it.¡± Cordelia clicked her tongue and stepped forward at once in big strides as they headed to the ce where Red Wind was. ¡°Red Wind.¡± Jude¡¯s eyes finally saw her. A girl from the Great Storm tribe that was 16 years old this year. As she inherited the Winter Elf¡¯s blood, her pure white ivory skin and azure hair reminiscent of the clear blue sky were very memorable. Her long hair that came down to her hips, were deliberately tied to the back to make her long ears visible. Cordelia gritted her teeth as she saw the chains tied to Red Wind¡¯s slender ankles, before looking at Red Wind¡¯s face again. Perhaps because she was confined in a case where she could only see the inside but not the outside, there was a deep fear in her blue eyes that couldn¡¯t hide her anger and hostility. ¡°Let¡¯s buy her right away.¡± ¡°Yes, so just calm down a bit, okay?¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Cordelia gave a short answer as she looked up at Red Wind again, and Jude immediately filled in their purchase price in the bidding column ced next to the case. ¡°The auction house staff wille now.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia tightly shut her mouth instead of answering, because she didn¡¯t want to cause any unnecessary trouble. And after a few seconds. A neatly dressed auction house employee approached them as Jude had expected. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s an excellent choice. It¡¯s hard to find such a beautiful woman among the northern barbarians. However, she¡¯s a little fierce, so please be careful about that part.¡± Cordelia reflexively lost her temper at the auction house¡¯s employee¡¯s words, and Jude quickly blocked Cordelia with his body and shamelessly smiled as he said. ¡°The fiercer she is, the more delicious it is to tame her.¡± ¡°Haha, that¡¯s right. That¡¯s the true pleasure of rearing.¡± The auction house employeeughed and smiled, and then handed out some documents to them. After checking Jude¡¯s ability to pay, he spoke again. ¡°It takes some time to pack, so why don¡¯t you look around for other items in the meantime? Between the next 20 minutes from the start of the auction and until its end, you cane to the sales office on the first floor.¡± ¡°Yes, I will do so. Thank you for your kind guidance.¡± ¡°Thank you very much. We hope you enjoy your shopping.¡± When the employee made a gesture after politely bowing down to them, the light in Red Wind¡¯s case went out. Perhaps they were going to take out Red Wind through the ss case¡¯s floor or through the wall behind it. ¡°Now then, shall we go too?¡± ¡°¡­okay.¡± Cordelia answered in a low voice, and Jude grasped her hand as they hurried up to the first floor. ¡°Hooo, okay. Now that we¡¯ve finished the trade without any problems, let¡¯s really enjoy the auction. There must be a lot of good items.¡± When Jude intentionally spoke in an energetic voice, Cordelia pouted her lips several times before she nodded. She was angry because of Red Wind¡¯s situation, not because of Jude. But she couldn¡¯t unreasonably vent out her anger on this ce. ¡°Since we¡¯vee here, let¡¯s find the true treasure. I will trust in your feeling.¡± Jude added some words again, so Cordelia also spoke in quite a cheerful voice to match his rhythm. ¡°Do you mean, something like a treasure with a stupendous performance, but others don¡¯t know its true value because of its outward appearance, like what ismon in novels and manhwa?¡± ¡°That¡¯s correct.¡± Of course, such an urrence couldn¡¯t have been reallymon. The people at the auction house weren¡¯t fools either. After all, they had a group of experts working for them. But it was just at that moment that they had thought so. ¡°Ah, isn¡¯t that the Heavenly Judgment?¡± ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right.¡± Jude unknowingly replied in a nk manner as he promptly opened his eyes wide. And it was the same for Cordelia. ¡°¡°Why is that appearing here?!¡±¡± The two rotten waters spoke almost at the same time, and they approached the ss case in hurried steps while trying to be inconspicuous as possible. ¡°I¡¯m sure of it, it¡¯s currently in the state before its seal was released.¡± Cordelia blinked her eyes at Jude¡¯s words. It wasn¡¯t because the Heavenly Judgment suddenly appeared before her eyes. It was because Jude spoke in Korean instead of the continent¡¯s officialnguage. ¡°Ko¡­rean?¡± It¡¯s been a long time since she used it, so Cordelia nodded and spoke Korean with a slightly awkward pronunciation. ¡°Because no one else can understand it.¡± It was like the time he used the Koreannguage as a password substitute when he first wrote a letter in the past. The only people who could understand Korean in Pleiades were Jude and Cordelia, so it was a perfect counterintelligence measure. ¡°Ah, it¡¯s somewhat awkward and strange. Moving on, I¡¯m sure that it¡¯s the Heavenly Judgment.¡± ¡°I wandered around, trying to find it prior to when the seal was released, and now, it was actually here.¡± Jude admired it again as he recalled the Heavenly Judgment¡¯s setting. ¡°Heavenly Judgment.¡± It was one of the hundred swords that the Archangel of Judgment, Auriel, forged for her warriors. She was one of the Four Archangels of Heaven, symmetrical with the Five Overlords of Hell. As a sword forged by an archangel, the sword¡¯s performance itself was tremendous and amazing, but the true value of Heavenly Judgment was unlike any other. ¡®Day of Judgment.¡¯ It was the name of the Ultimate skill inherent to the Heavenly Judgment and could only be used by the Heavenly Judgment. Although there were some differences in the power or range depending on the user¡¯s abilities, if the user uses it, the day of judgment will arrive as its name suggests. Numerous des of light woulde pouring down from the sky like a heavy rain. It did not cause any damage to heavenly beings, but it was not an exaggeration to say that it was a skill that rained down death from the heavens for the opposite existences of the heavenly beings, which were the demons and the undead. ¡°The long war between heaven and hell had destroyed most of the hundred swords, leaving only a few¡­¡± ¡°And one of them is here.¡± Cordelia and Jude simultaneously gulped. ¡°I¡¯m d that it was sealed. It seems like its appearance was just recognized as a ceremonial dress relic.¡± ¡°We must buy this one.¡± The Heavenly Judgment in front of them was sealed, so it was nothing more but a little fanciful ceremonial sword as Jude had said. Its de was blunt so it was no different from a club, and the decorations were excessively shy, which would interfere with its use. ¡°But it will all change once you unseal it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, and it is only a heavenly being who can release that seal.¡± Heavenly being. Angel. And what that implied¡­ ¡°Cordelia can unseal it.¡± Of course, it was a story after she awakened as an angel through the Ancestral Regression technique, but the fact that it could be solved was somehow important. ¡°Hahahaha, I want to buy it quickly. I¡¯ll buy it and hug it every night when I sleep.¡± Jude strongly agreed to Cordelia¡¯s words, and he hurriedly looked into the bidding board. There was no immediate purchase price, but without any hesitation, Jude promptly wrote down twice the original purchase price. In the eyes of others, it was just an ordinary ceremonial sword, so there was no one who would challenge this amount of money. ¡°Let¡¯s look around other ces quickly. I really think that there would be more like this.¡± ¡°Yeah, it really smells like treasure.¡± Sniffing with her nose, Cordelia headed to a certain direction, as if she was a person being lured by the treasure with her ¡®senses.¡¯ And about an hourter¡­ ¡°The Cursed Reaper¡¯s Garment, the Ancient Crest, and even the Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword.¡± Cordelia had a silly snicker behind her mask, and Jude said as he abruptly hugged Cordelia. ¡°We hit the jackpot.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, Daddy. We hit the jackpot!¡± Cordelia likewise hugged Jude and rejoiced with him. Because they really hit the jackpot. As its name suggests, the Cursed Reaper¡¯s Garment was a garment that was cursed. However, if the curse was removed, it could be used as a Reaper¡¯s Garment, and the effect of the Reaper¡¯s Garment was as follows. ¡®He who wears the garment of the reaper will exude the force of the reaper. Those who attack a person wearing the reaper¡¯s garment will fall under the reaper¡¯s curse.¡¯ In a word, it was a defensive gear that caused a weak Fear effect to a wide area, and applied debuffs to those who attacked. Since it was a fluttering robe, it was perfect for Cordelia to wear it. ¡®It goes well with the witch series.¡¯ Whether it was a witch, a reaper, or a demon, they were all associated with the power of hell. ¡°The Ancient Crest is a necessary item for the Ancestral Regression technique¡­and this Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword is also really good.¡± What was in Jude¡¯s hands was something like a Nodachi that was much longer than a normal longsword. As its name suggests, it was a fantasy item from the Eastern continent that existed across the continent where the S?len Kingdom was located. The performance of the sword itself was outstanding, but what was important was the fact that it also had an inherent Ultimate skill like the Heavenly Judgment. ¡°Hell¡¯s Blood sh.¡± It was a powerful skill with an impressive name, but it was a skill that he couldn¡¯t use untilter because at this point in the early stages of the scenario, the skill wasn¡¯t good as the excessive force can harm him as well. ¡°It¡¯s a real jackpot, and most of them are cursed or sealed, so their prices are cheap.¡± ¡°Yeah, and even though we¡¯ve bought this much, we still have some money left.¡± The Reaper¡¯s Garment was cursed, and since the ancient crest was kind of a puzzle, it would not function unless it was solved with the proper solution. The Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword was also sealed, so a ceremony was needed to release the seal. ¡°JudeWiki, can you do it?¡± ¡°Of course I can, Madam.¡± It was the time when Jude answered with a smile. ¡°But Jude.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Are you¡­going to continue using fist and foot techniques?¡± ¡°Fist and foot techniques?¡± ¡°Yes, you¡¯ve been continuously focusing on punches when fighting.¡± When Cordelia pointed it out, Jude reflected on himself. As she had said, the weapons that Jude had used recently involved the use of his two fists, which included the Lightning Punch, the Lightning Strike Fist, and the God¡¯s Fist of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. ¡°Why don¡¯t you take this opportunity to slowly change to a sword? Landius is also a swordsman.¡± Despite Landius¡¯ shocking appearance, he was also a swordsman. ording to him, he would only use his sword in a real crisis. Moreover, Jude was the child of Count Bayer, one of the ten great swordmasters in the S?len Kingdom. Most of the warriors of the Bayer family were also swordsmen, and most of the treasures that were handed down were rted to the sword. In other words, it was right to use a sword to receive the family¡¯s favor. ¡°Hmm¡­is that so? But in the original story, Jude also used everything from swords, spears, to fists.¡± ¡°Because of his Cheonmujiche.¡± His Cheonmujiche made him be good at everything that he did with his body. Even in the original story, Jude was a multi-weapons user who could handle virtually any existing weapon, just like Maximilian. ¡°I see¡­you¡¯re right, Cordelia. Since I already got the Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword, I can slowly take the swordsman route.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good, that¡¯s good. If it¡¯s a sword, it will be easy to change items.¡± The mostmon weapon in the Legend of Heroes series was the sword. Even the Heavenly Judgment they got right now was a sword. At Cordelia¡¯s words, Jude spoke after he pondered for a moment. ¡°Umm¡­Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Would you like to learn hand-to-hand martial arts?¡± T/N: The term that Jude actually used is Che-sul (??), which means body technique/skill. However, in Japanese, it ismonly known as ¡®Taijutsu.¡¯ Using the word ¡®Taijutsu¡¯ in a Korean novel felt weird, so I opted for a short description of Taijutsu, which is ¡®hand-to-hand martial arts.¡¯ ¡°Hand-to-hand martial arts?¡± ¡°Yes, hand-to-hand martial arts. Maybe a little swordsmanship too.¡± They were two people who had already disrupted the original story. Then, it wasn¡¯t no longer necessary for them to follow the flow of the original story as well. Unlike the original Cordelia, the present Cordelia had a sense ofbat that could only be described as crazy. Meleebat was not possible for the original Cordelia, as it was sealed in the game for bnce adjustment, but it would be possible for the present Cordelia. ¡°Uh¡­you want me to learn Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors?¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s impossible. It¡¯s a martial art that can¡¯t be learned unless you have Cheonmujiche or have crazy muscles like Master Landius.¡± He could tell that now since he had opened the door. Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors was a new technique developed solely for Cheonmujiche. Unless the person was an iron man like Landius, one wouldn¡¯t be able to ovee the burden of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, and the person¡¯s body would be ruined. ¡°Since Twenty-Four Gale Steps seems to be rted to Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, I¡¯ll exclude it from the list, and teach you how to protect yourself with Count Bayer¡¯s footwork techniques. It will be helpful.¡± ¡°Swordsmanship too?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll be magic swordsman Cordelia. Isn¡¯t that cool?¡± After hearing Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia imagined it for a moment, and soon had a faint smile. And Jude thought while looking at such Cordelia. ¡®I feel like a real princess maker.¡¯ Of course, no matter how crazy Cordelia¡¯s sense ofbat was, it was impossible for her to develop as an expert swordsman like Lucas. This is because the inner Qi of the warrior and the mana of the wizard were simr but also different. Even if Cordelia learned the basic footwork techniques or ordinary martial arts, she would not be able to properly learn higher martial art techniques. So she should focus on her magic first. Then he¡¯d develop her into a ¡®wizard capable of closebat¡¯ by adding hand-to-hand martial arts and swordsmanship into her main skills as a wizard. ¡°My daughter, Daddy will also let you learn ¡®Mushindo.¡¯¡± T/N: I just said that I didn¡¯t want to use Japanese words here, but Jude kept using it so¡­here¡¯s the definition of Mushindo. Mushin in Japanese trantes to ¡°no-mind,¡± which is a mental state that martial artists are said to enter duringbat. It is a condition in which ego and emotions are absent and the warrior reacts intuitively and moves instinctively.?¡®Do¡¯ means method/way, so it¡¯s ¡®no-mind method¡¯ or something like that. ¡°Yes, Daddy. I only trust in Daddy.¡± One way or another, the two were rotten waters of Legend of Heroes 2. For them, the growth of their characters were more enjoyable than anything else. ¡°Now, let¡¯s go quickly. I¡¯ll let you know the methods and direction of the Tempest Step technique, which is the footwork technique of Count Bayer.¡± ¡°Yes, Daddy. Let¡¯s go quickly.¡± They would be stronger. They would also strengthen themselves with means that they could not originally use when it was still a game. The two rotten waters excitedly and hurriedly left the auction house after taking the Heavenly Judgment, the Reaper¡¯s Garment, the Ancient Crest, and the Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword. And around twenty minutester. When the two arrived at their amodation, they simultaneously remembered one fact. ¡°¡°Red Wind!¡±¡± The reason why they went to the auction house in the first ce. The two hadpletely forgotten her existence because of their unexpected jackpot, and hurriedly turned their way back. Chapter 54: Crossing Point (4)

Chapter 54: Crossing Point (4)

Well, it¡¯s still 9pm in my timezone, so here¡¯s the chapter. Some changes I¡¯ve made: ¡°As expected, you¡¯re an expert in rearing. Being neglected and having her sight and hearing sealed for a long time must have left her weaker and dejected.¡± The employee said with a smile after they had gone back to the auction house¡¯s sales office in a hurry. He was the man they met on the 1st basement floor, who specialized in the ve business. Cordelia frowned as she was peeved from hearing the man¡¯s words, but fortunately, her face was covered by a mask, so no one noticed it. However, Jude could guess how she felt just by looking at Cordelia¡¯s small gestures. He then slightly moved to hide Cordelia from the employee¡¯s gaze, before he turned towards Red Wind. She was blindfolded with arge leather eye covering, and her hearing and speech were blocked by a special seal. And just as she was before, she stood upright while being almost naked. There were short handcuffs on both her arms, and her legs were bound by short chains that were barely long enough for her to walk. ¡®Had she been left for more than an hour in that state?¡¯ Even the most dauntless person would be depressed and dejected. In fact, Red Wind¡¯s shoulders were badly drooping, reflecting her depressed state. ¡°I¡¯ll take her then.¡± ¡°Yes, I hope you have a pleasant rearing.¡± Nodding a bit to the smiling man, Jude hurriedly stepped forward as he took therge robe he brought beforehand and used it to cover Red Wind. ¡°Let¡¯s go back to our amodation before releasing her. Okay?¡± Nothing good wille out if she stood out. Moreover, the two didn¡¯t have any significant emotional interaction with Red Wind yet. If they released her here, she would most likely try to escape. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go quickly.¡± Cordelia responded in a low voice and walked closely to Red Wind, who slowly trod out of fear. And thirty minutester. Upon arriving at their amodation, Jude and Cordelia firstid Red Wind in the bedroom before they came out to the living room and started talking in Korean. ¡°First of all, we have to be friends with Red Wind.¡± Jude nodded his head at Cordelia¡¯s insistence. Their future journey would take ce across the border, so the help of Red Wind, who was a local to that ce, was absolutely necessary. And what they needed was a rtionship built on friendship and trust, and not on a coercive master-ve rtionship. ¡°But we¡¯recking in time.¡± The situation where Cordelia and Red Wind became friends was something that could be easily done. From Jude¡¯s point of view, no, even from the point of view of his previous life as Outboxer, Cordelia was kind, pretty, and even honest. Furthermore, Cordelia liked Red Wind. Red Wind herself didn¡¯t exactly have an unfriendly personality, so they could easily be friends soon. ¡®But that soon would at least take more than a month.¡¯ They didn¡¯t meet in a normal way but met in the form of a purchase in the ve market. It would take a considerable amount of time to ease Red Wind¡¯s wariness. ¡°So the way I thought of is¡­why is your expression like that?¡± ¡°Because it looks like you¡¯re plotting something evil.¡± ¡°Heeyy, what evil plot¡­ It¡¯s just a white lie.¡± ¡°In the end, you¡¯re going to deceive her.¡± Just as Jude knew Cordelia well, Cordelia also knew Jude well. As Cordelia¡¯s eyes narrowed, Jude cleared his throat but did not exactly withdraw his statement. They really didn¡¯t have time. And that fact was well known to Cordelia as well. ¡°What¡¯s your way?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a good way.¡± ¡°F*ck.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s sweet to hear that after a long time.¡± When Cordelia recoiled at his response that was smooth like flowing water, Judeughed as if he was aiming for that in the first ce and beckoned to her. ¡°Come closer. I¡¯ll tell you.¡± ¡°You¡¯re always telling me toe closer for a long time.¡± Cordelia grumbled as she moved closer to Jude, and Jude exined his n in a whisper. *** Red Wind swallowed her dry saliva as she was lying down on the bed. She was pretending to stay calm, but she was honestly scared. What will happen now? What kind of people are those who bought me? I need to find a way to cure my father¡¯s illness. What will happen to my father if I can¡¯t return? No, what will happen to me right now? She was scared and afraid. She frequently tried to hold it in, but honestly, she felt like crying. ¡®I have to be strong.¡¯ I have to be strong. I¡¯d rather die than be a northern bastard¡¯s ything. No, I can¡¯t just die. I¡¯ll kill and kill them. Red Wind strongly clenched her teeth, but it was only for a while before her negative feelings disappeared. Because she was suddenly overwhelmed with tremendous fatigue. ¡®I¡¯m feeling sleepy¡­hungry¡­¡¯ Come to think of it, how long had it been since I¡¯ve lied down in a soft and cozy bed? Her feelingspletely changed because of her drowsiness. And it was at that moment. ¡°Wake up, child of the Storm.¡± A woman¡¯s strong and pretty voice made Red Wind suddenly open her eyes. There was no eye covering. She could see ahead of her. But Red Wind immediately closed her eyes again, because of the dazzling light that filled her surroundings. ¡°Do not be afraid, child of the Storm. I am Great Storm.¡± Red Wind held her breath at the voice that resonated like a voice from the heavens. She stood up from her spot, bent down, and respectfully bowed. ¡°Aah! Great Storm!¡± It was a reflexive action. And the voice did not give Red Wind a chance to doubt it. ¡°Red Wind, daughter of Red Gale. The brave child who went on a journey to cure her father¡¯s illness.¡± Red Wind held her breath again. It was real. The pronunciation was a little bad, but that was only a minor problem. The proof was that it knew everything from her father¡¯s name, to the reason why she came across the border and into the southerner¡¯snd. She had never mentioned her father¡¯s name since she came down to the south. Great Storm. It was the guardian deity that the Great Storm tribe worshiped and obeyed. In the Legend of Heroes series, it was one of the beings called the barbarian gods. ¡°Red Wind, a great crisis ising throughout the entire tribe, and even across the Great ins.¡± Red Wind recoiled. Perhaps her father¡¯s illness was also rted to the great crisis, she thought. ¡°Your thoughts are correct. My child, Red Wind, daughter of Red Gale. I gave a divine revtion to two southern humans. Thus they have saved you, so join them. Help them. They will break down the crisis in the north.¡± ¡°Southern¡­humans?¡± Red Wind raised her head and asked. She still couldn¡¯t open her eyes properly because of the dazzling light, but she could vaguely see a person¡¯s silhouette. It was a very beautiful silhouette of a woman. ¡°It is a man and a woman. The woman¡¯s name is Cordelia. The man¡¯s name is Jude. The red-haired woman is very beautiful and good-natured, but sometimes fierce. She¡¯s like an animal. The good man is a handsome, fine, and nice person, who always sincerely understands the animal-like woman. For your information, the woman ispletely in love with the man¡­¡± Why do I somehow have a strange feeling with these lines? What on earth is the content about? Cordelia, who was acting as Great Storm, asked Jude with her eyes, but Jude was consistently ying dumb. She didn¡¯t even know what the written message was about, as Jude had only written down the Korean pronunciation of the northern barbarians¡¯nguage that she was now reading. ¡°Child, trust in those two. Help the two people. The two will be your friends.¡± That was it. As soon as Cordelia finished reading the lines, Jude pushed into the room again the magic created bybining the magic circle and the magic circle. Red Wind, who had low magic-resistance, fell into a deep sleep again. ¡°Good, let¡¯s quickly tie her up again.¡± Cordelia, who was on top of the magic circle that projected light, quickly came down from her spot in the room. There were various magic circles activated in the room to deceive Red Wind¡¯s senses. Each one was a low-level magic, but there were a lot of magic circles, so it made quite a dreamy effect. ¡°If she woke up in a state of being restrained, like before she fell asleep, she will think of this moment as just a dream.¡± ¡°To such a Red Wind, we¡¯ll approach her, saying that we received Great Storm¡¯s divine revtion, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. Then Red Wind will trust us.¡± Because it was the guidance of Great Storm who protected the tribe, and not anyone else. ¡°Eh¡­it makes sense, but I¡¯m somehow ufortable.¡± ¡°It¡¯s for the great cause. Hang in there.¡± ¡°This is sort of¡­isn¡¯t these just the lines that viins would say in games or movies?¡± Saying thus and thus about the just and great cause to protect their selfish desires. ¡°Hey, it¡¯s not. It really is for the great cause. Anyway, let¡¯s quickly restrain her and put away the magic circles.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± Cordelia reluctantly nodded and began to restrain Red Wind who was in a deep sleep, while Jude hastily removed the magic circles. And after about an hour or so. ¡°Hey, can you hear me?¡± Red Wind woke up to the soft and gentle voice. She tried to open her eyes right away, but she could see nothing but ck, because of her blindfold. ¡°Wait a second, I¡¯ll untie it for you immediately.¡± It was the continent¡¯s officialnguage. It was the words used by the humans guarding the wall. Red Wind was not skilled with it, but she was capable of speaking it even though she stammered. She was quite good in listening to it though. ¡®O Great Storm¡­¡¯ Was it a dream, or was it really a divine revtion? As if to calm down her anxiety, Red Wind swallowed hard, and at that moment, her visibility was set free. ¡°Uh¡­¡± She groaned and adjusted to the light, and her eyes caught the faces of two people. She both saw a girl and boy whose beauty was to the point that made her eyes open wide. Great Wind unconsciously began thinking of Great Storm¡¯s words, and Cordelia struck the final blow to her. ¡°Hello, that¡­I am called Cordelia. This is my fianc¨¦, Jude.¡± Cordelia and Jude. The names spoken by Great Storm! ¡°I, Gre¡­¡± That was it. Red Wind tried to hastily say Great Storm¡¯s name, but instead, she was helped in sitting up in a crooked posture. The shackles on her hands and feet were gone. ¡°You don¡¯t have to be so vignt. Great Storm guided us to you. That¡¯s why we bought you at the auction house.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia nodded and then grabbed the hands of Red Wind. ¡°You were really scared, right? It¡¯s okay now. We¡¯re here to help you.¡± Great Storm. The divine revtion. Cordelia¡¯s warm hands and moist eyes. Her warinesspletely disappeared. Ever since she had crossed the border and up to now, Red Wind had been trying to maintain a strong mind, but it was impossible for her now. She felt relieved. Her tension disappeared. Her tears burst and came pouring down from her eyes like a dam. ¡°Uwaaah!¡± Because she was only a sixteen-year-old now. ¡°It¡¯s okay, it¡¯s okay.¡± Cordelia tightly hugged Red Wind who burst into tears, but rather than her tears stopping, it only increased further. However, it was all right. Cordelia hugged Red Wind tightly, and Red Wind sadly cried for a long time in Cordelia¡¯s arms. And as he intensely watched the entire scene, Jude thought. ¡®Bingo.¡¯ He thought like that while the two were in the midst of warmness, and he continued to think that they had seeded in breaking down Red Wind¡¯s wariness. They could now be friends with Red Wind without wasting any time or trouble. ¡®All is good if the results are good.¡¯ ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Jude spoke as he excused himself and looked at Cordelia and Red Wind with a satisfied face. *** ¡°I-I know. A ce to cross the border. Neglect of surveince. Gap. Blind spot?¡± The next morning. Red Wind was exhausted from crying and had fallen asleepst night. She was now eating a sandwich that Jude had ordered from the room service, as she spoke in a stammer. ¡°Can you guide us?¡± ¡°The way only our tribe knows. It¡¯s a secret. But I tell. Cordelia is my friend. Jude is Cordelia¡¯s man.¡± At the end of Red Wind¡¯s words, Cordelia¡¯s faint smile looked somewhat cute, but she tilted her head once and looked back at Jude. ¡°Are we going to start right away?¡± ¡°I guess so. We¡¯ve been her for two days already, so whether it¡¯s Count Hr?svelgr or the Devil¡¯s Hand, our pursuers will catch up to us.¡± ¡°We¡¯re fugitives.¡± When the two had their own conversation, they both spoke in Korean. Because of that, Red Wind was confused as she didn¡¯t understand what they were talking about. Cordelia then looked back at her and said. ¡°We¡¯re going to eat and then go. We¡¯ll ask for your guidance. Do you know how to ride a horse?¡± ¡°I ride horses well. I will guide you.¡± Red Wind energetically answered, finishing her meal as she ate the remaining sandwich in one mouthful and then gulped down the milk. ¡°Okay, then let¡¯s start right away.¡± Their baggage was already loaded on the horse. With the Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword on his back, Jude took the lead, while Cordelia had the Heavenly Judgment on her back and carried the sacred rod as a cane. She stepped forward as she looked after Red Wind. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, just keep it on until we cross the border.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. We can¡¯t help it. I understand.¡± It was because of the ve ne that Red Wind was wearing around her neck. Red Wind with her snow-white hair and long ears were as prominent as Jude and Cordelia. If a northern barbarian walked around without a ve ne, everyone would see it as strange. ¡°Uh¡­who will ride in front this time?¡± As soon as theypleted the check-out procedure and came out, the stableman had already brought forward the horses of Jude and Cordelia. Since there were three people, two people had to ride together, so Jude asked Cordelia, and she replied with a wink. ¡°Shall I ride in front?¡± ¡°As the Madam wishes.¡± But it was at that moment. ¡°Cordelia rides with me. I am lighter than Jude. That¡¯s good for the horses.¡± That was correct. Somehow, Jude had grown tall and started to gain musclestely. ¡°Uh¡­is that so?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± The two somehow unconsciously spoke in an awkward manner, and they all rode on the horses, with Red Wind behind Cordelia. And just before their departure¡­ ¡°Ah!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Cordelia looked back at Red Wind who suddenly raised her voice as if she realized something, and Red Wind spoke with an apologetic look. ¡°I forgot. From now on, I will take a hint. I will not forget.¡± ¡°Uh¡­?¡± You¡¯ll take a hint? What are you talking about? However, Red Wind didn¡¯t speak anymore, and Cordelia was feeling doubtful but didn¡¯t ask any more questions. Why did I get a strange feeling? As for the other person. ¡°¡­well then, let¡¯s go.¡± Jude smiled bitterly as he took the lead, and the three started racing towards the north. And at the same time, at the former northern viscount¡¯s territory. Ga?l and Adelia were frowning as they faced each other. The two had ran and ran again through all sorts of means, such as using magic to relieve the horses¡¯ fatigue. ¡°Are you saying that they headed north?¡± ¡°Yes, they¡¯re still moving north.¡± Adelia also tilted her head as she found it strange. Thest ce that Jude and Cordelia were discovered was in Frost Anvil. It was located at the northwest end of the country, so there was nowhere else they could possibly go if they went north. If they headed north, there would be the bustling city of Lankebuste, and if they go further, there would be Thunderdoom Fortress, the nest of the Jackdaws. But it was strange. Even if they had headed to Lankebuste, it was impossible that Jude and Cordelia would have headed to Thunderdoom Fortress. Moreover, it was the direction the tracking magic pointed to. On the map, the two were heading somewhere other than Thunderdoom Fortress. Where are they going? Are they trying to cross the border? ¡°Kidnapped.¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°Maybe they were kidnapped? Like being caught by the Devil¡¯s Hand and being forced to move¡­¡± Ga?l, who had been speaking so far, stopped talking as he flinched. Because Adelia had a terrifying expression. ¡°There is a possibility.¡± ¡°Hey, Lady Adelia? That was just my guess¡­¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go quickly.¡± Adelia didn¡¯t seem to wait for Ga?l¡¯s answer as she immediately climbed on the horse and started running. Ga?l followed Adelia in a hurry too. And again in another ce¡­ In a deste forest. ¡°They¡¯re heading north. We¡¯ll meet them at the end of the north.¡± At the words of Kanos, who had hidden himself in the shade, Saluzia nodded. The chances of activating Kanos¡¯ foresight was infrequent, but once activated, it boasted of a significant uracy rate. ¡°We go to the northern border.¡± This time, they will catch the two. The demonic humans led by Saluzia began to move. And one more person¡­ Unlike what Jude and Cordelia and everyone else had in mind, the person moved and headed north. Chapter 55: Winter Flower (1)

Chapter 55: Winter Flower (1)

About 300 years ago, there was a king who was called the Civil Engineering King. He built a great wall across the northern border to prevent the invasion of the northern barbarians. It was an enormous andrge-scale construction project. The construction, which began in the fifth year of the Civil Engineering King¡¯s reign,sted more than 30 years and was finally finished in the third year after the Civil Engineering King¡¯s death. The northern wall was guarded by the Jackdaws. However, neither the wall nor the Jackdaws were perfect. As it stretched across the entire border, the entire wall did not have a uniform height, thickness, and defense. There was also a limit to the number of Jackdaws, so it was impossible to keep a close watch on the entire border. Hence, inevitable gaps urred. There were areas where the defense was left only to the wall. ¡°This way.¡± It was the very ce where Red Wind crossed the border. Jude followed Red Wind¡¯s guidance without anyints, while Cordelia dozed off with her head in front of Red Wind as they rode on the horse together. About half an hour passed again like that. In a ce where human traces were scarce and it was deserted and out of sight, Jude decided to take a break. ¡°If the patrol passes by, they¡¯ll see our traces.¡± Because their footprints could be clearly seen on the snowy field. But they didn¡¯t worry about that for now. Jude properly swept the snow under a tree to create a ce to sit. ¡°Cordelia, please.¡± ¡°Huh? Okay.¡± Cordelia was half-asleep and had a sleepy face, but she sluggishly nodded and heated the water canteen to make the cold water lukewarm. No matter how infrequent the ce was from humans, it was still within the surveince area of the Jackdaws. If they started a fire, there was a risk of being caught right away because of the smoke. ¡°Here, beef jerky.¡± ¡°The jerky is hard.¡± Cordelia grumbled, but she knew well that they didn¡¯t have much of a choice. After he gave some to Red Wind as well, they started to chew on the beef jerky. They continued to eat for a long time without saying a word. Suddenly, Red Wind tugged Cordelia¡¯s sleeve. ¡°Huh? What is it?¡± When Cordelia asked with a smile, Red Wind hesitated for a while as if she was choosing her words, before she spoke again. ¡°Cordelia, I, curious about one thing, that.¡± ¡°Yes, what is it?¡± ¡°Fack? F*ck? What does that mean?¡± ¡°¡­huh?¡± Cordelia asked again with a stunned face, and Red Wind said again. ¡°Cordelia, often, you say it. Jude and secret words, words of love, that you share.¡± It was something that was not in the continent¡¯s officialnguage. ¡®Words of love¡¯ that were often used by the two. When Red Wind carefully listened, ¡®f*ck¡¯ was a word that came out very often. ¡°N-no. Wait, wait a second.¡± Cordelia was embarrassed. She was so embarrassed that she didn¡¯t even think about thement on the words of love. ¡°H-how do I exin?¡± It had been quite some time since the two had began talking in Korean, and her old habit had revived. Cordelia groaned and looked back at Jude, and Jude replied with his eyes. ¡®It¡¯s karma, karma. Who told you to swear so much?¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s not a curse? It¡¯s an exmation?¡¯ But it was a useless quarrel. Cordelia turned to Red Wind again instead of the unhelpful Jude, as she said as calmly as possible. ¡°That¡­what ¡®f*ck¡¯ means is¡­¡± ¡°Yes, f*ck.¡± Cordelia flinched at Red Wind saying that with a smile. It felt like the Red Wind that she liked so much was swearing at her. ¡°Ah¡­well, that is. That is¡­an exmation.¡± ¡°Exmation?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­exmation. So cool! Wonderful! Amazing! Well¡­something like that?¡± It didn¡¯t sound like her exnation worked, but when one thought about it, Cordelia had in fact, used that very word for that kind of purpose. Upon hearing Cordelia¡¯s desperate exnation, Red Wind¡¯s eyes sparkled and then she said with a broad smile. ¡°F*ck Cordelia. F*ck Jude. Both of you are f*ck!¡± Red Wind brightly shouted before she sent an impatient gaze to Cordelia. It seemed her eyes were asking for an answer. ¡°Ye-yes¡­Red Wind is f*ck.¡± ¡°F*ck Cordelia, so good, f*ck!¡± As Red Wind hugged Cordelia and cursed, or rather, repeated the ¡®exmation,¡¯ Jude finally couldn¡¯t stop himself fromughing. ¡°Kuku¡­ku¡­haha, haha¡­is this karma?¡± Although Red Wind brightly using foulnguage was shocking, it seemed to be helpful in some way. That way would be Cordelia reducing her use of exmations in the future due to education issues. And indeed, when Cordelia tried to exim in session by reflex, she tightly shut her mouth and was in distress. ¡°Ah, this is so funny. It¡¯s so much fun.¡± ¡°Jude, is this funny?¡± ¡°Uh, I¡¯m d that the two of you are having fun.¡± Jude roughly evaded Cordelia¡¯s angry look and said to Red Wind again. ¡°Red Wind, are we entering the valley like this?¡± ¡°Yes, but the valley is rugged. It¡¯s narrow. The horse can¡¯t go.¡± At Red Wind¡¯s words, Cordelia was surprised as her eyes widely opened, while Jude nodded. Because Jude had already roughly guessed it. ¡®It would be natural as it is a ce where the surveince of the Jackdaws is negligent.¡¯ ¡°Jude, what about the horses then?¡± At the same time he was thinking, he heard Cordelia¡¯s voice. Jude replied with a shrug as they had no other choice. ¡°We have to release them.¡± ¡°They¡¯ll be released?¡± ¡°Oh, they¡¯ll be wild horses¡­or some lucky person will find them.¡± Cordelia had a very unwilling expression at hearing Jude¡¯s answer, as she found the fact to be really hard. ¡°Let¡¯s release them at this point. If we take them deep into the valley, we¡¯ll have troubleing out too.¡± ¡°¡­I understand.¡± Cordelia replied with a gloomy voice before standing up from her seat and releasing the saddle of the horse she had been riding on so far. There was a sense of regret in each of her touch, as if she held a lot of affection for it. ¡®Somehow, you¡¯re very affectionate.¡¯ Jude happily watched her before he rose from his seat too, unfastened the saddle of the horse, and brought together their small luggage. And the time of parting finally came. Jude and Cordelia made the horses run forward by pping the horses¡¯ butt. The two horses began running on the white snow field. ¡°Farewell, Jude.¡± ¡°Farewell, Cordelia.¡± The two who spoke at the same time looked back at each other and said immediately again. ¡°Cordelia? You named the horse Cordelia?¡± ¡°Yours is Jude?¡± ¡°No, it was a male horse.¡± ¡°In that case, me too. It was a female horse.¡± Red Wind burst out into augh at hearing the two¡¯s words. ¡°You¡¯re of the same mind. You two. Really f*cking fantastic.¡± She had a bright, innocent, and pretty smile. ¡®Do something about her.¡¯ ¡®I-I¡¯ll work hard.¡¯ After finishing their conversation with just their eyes, Jude and Cordelia tried to stop Red Wind who was trying to use her newly learned vocabry, as they urged her to step forward again. *** Time had passed. In the afternoon, the group was able to reach the valley¡¯s entrance after passing through the storming blizzard that started. ¡°It widens after passing here. Just have to struggle a bit.¡± Red Wind said as they passed a narrow path that one person could barely pass through, while Jude wondered if they should camp-out tonight or move overnight. And Cordelia suddenly stopped. ¡°Cordelia?¡± Jude discovered it toote as he turned around and asked, but Cordelia didn¡¯t immediately answer. She looked behind her back with a frown. ¡°Hey, it¡¯s a strange story¡­but I don¡¯t have a good feeling here.¡± She had been feeling something ominous since a while ago. It was as if someone was stabbing a spear from behind. If it were someone else¡¯s words, he would have let it go. But it was Cordelia¡¯s words. ¡®Cordelia¡¯s sense is special.¡¯ Her sense was simply great ¨C it wasn¡¯t something that ended at that level. Various abilities existed in Pleiades, the world of Legend of Heroes. In fact, it wasn¡¯t just Cordelia, as Jude¡¯s own memory and calction abilities were in a stronger statepared to the days when he was on Earth and even before he awakened here and opened the 2nd door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. The same could be said of Cordelia¡¯s sensitivity. Perhaps it was a power that belonged to something that was close to foresight. In fact, Cordelia¡¯s sense had been much more urate than before, since she had learned the Witch Transformation. ¡°I don¡¯t see anything.¡± Said Red Wind. As she possessed the blood of winter elves, her vision was superior than that of humans, so she couldn¡¯t see any enemies within her sight nearby them. But Jude believed in Cordelia¡¯s sense. ¡°Let¡¯s hurry up.¡± Jude started to walk as if he was almost running, and Cordelia also increased her speed. Thus, Red Wind had no choice but to run and follow the two people. The narrow path ended, and a wide road came into sight. It was a basin terrain surrounded by steep cliffs. There was still no one near them. It was a quiet ce with only the three of them here. But Cordelia kept looking back. Her ominous feeling kept getting stronger and stronger. The sensation of being stabbed in the back also grew stronger. ¡°Owooooh!¡± At that very moment, the roar of a beast came over their heads. Above the valley. Threerge dogs came down from the steep wall. With dark red fur and yellow eyes, they were definitely not ordinary wild animals. ¡°Hellhound!¡± A demonic dog. It didn¡¯t end with the three. More demonic dogs appeared from above the valley. ¡°Run!¡± The screaming Jude promptly threw away the luggage he was carrying and then carried Red Wind on his back. Cordelia also immediately activated the Witch Transformation and cast magic on herself and Jude. ¡°Owooooh!¡± ¡°Awooh!¡± More than ten Hellhounds came down from the wall in a rush. Jude clenched his teeth and focused only on running. Intercepting multiple enemies was Cordelia¡¯s specialty, and not that of Jude himself. ¡°Get away from us!¡± As Cordelia¡¯s dark red hair fluttered, she released her magic. More than ten magic missiles struck the middle of the Hellhounds¡¯ foreheads as if they were guided missiles. It was a really marvelous skill. In the entire S?len Kingdom, one could barely count in their hands those who can show that level of control while in the middle of running with activated. The Hellhounds who were struck in the middle of their foreheads fell off at random. Cordelia continued to cast in session over a wide area as she caught up with Jude. And while all that was happening, she spit out some strange words. ¡°Something, I can feel there¡¯s something more!¡± A feeling that she found difficult to exin herself. Jude ran and looked back. Thanks to the area with , the Hellhounds were held back and stranded at the pretty much wide area. ¡®They¡¯re the advance party.¡¯ No matter how deserted the ce was, they couldn¡¯t have brought ten Hellhounds from the beginning, so it was evident that they were summoned nearby. And that meant one thing. Saluzia had moved. She, the branch head, had finallye and struck them here. But how did that happen? It was normally not possible. Even if they had noticed that the group¡¯s purpose was to cross the border, it was impossible for them to attack their group in such a deste ce as if it was an ambush. The group didn¡¯t specify their location to anyone else, nor did they give a clue to infer their purpose, as was the case with the Sunflower. There was something. Something that Jude himself didn¡¯t know. Jude cut off his thoughts there. What was important was the fact that Saluzia was somewhere nearby. Jude kept running and thinking. Cordelia¡¯s sense. There was another thing that she felt. It wasn¡¯t Saluzia. Saluzia was with the pack of Hellhounds. It was an ambiguous feeling in the first ce, but that did not mean that it was something chaotic. The other one. The other one that Cordelia felt. ¡°Caaww!¡± Jude and Cordelia simultaneously looked at the sky. They saw a crow. And at that moment, Jude realized it. Cordelia also had a hunch. That was it. That another thing that Cordelia felt. They had to follow that crow to get out of their current crisis. ¡°Jackdaw?!¡± Red Wind who btedly spotted the crow, said in a voice mixed with fear. For her, a northern barbarian, the jackdaw was a bad omen among all the bad omens. But it wasn¡¯t. Thepletely jet-ck bird was different from a jackdaw. It was a pure crow. As for what that meant¡­ ¡°Owooooh!¡± The Hellhounds managed to get out of the area with with some difficulty and began to speed up and bark again. Instead of looking at them, Jude looked up the sky. The crows were increasing. They seemed to increase one by one, and before he knew it, the crows covered the sky. The sound of their pping wings in the sky alone seemed to be ear-splitting. Red Wind was very frightened and shrank her body. Moreover, her eyes saw the direction they were heading to now. ¡°A cliff!¡± It was a cliff. But Jude didn¡¯t stop. Rather, he ran faster. The Hellhounds noisily cried behind his back. ¡°Owooooooh!¡± ¡°Awoooo!¡± Jude saw Cordelia. So did Cordelia, and she nodded. She refreshingly smiled. One could count in their hands the characters in Legend of Heroes who had such a splendid entrance. Or rather, there was only one person that the crow symbolized in the first ce! ¡°Hug me!¡± Jude stretched out his hand. Cordelia threw herself at Jude, and he barely carried Cordelia in his arms while Red Wind was on his back. Together, he threw themselves over the cliff. ¡°Kyaaaaa!¡± Red Wind screamed, but it was for a short time. The pping sound of the wings made by the dozens, or rather, hundreds of birds, swallowed up all the surrounding sounds. The flock of crows shrouded Jude and Cordelia. Cordelia tightly hugged Jude¡¯s neck as she closed her eyes. So did Jude. And time passed. The sound of the wings that seemed to never end gradually died down. Solid ground. A ce where they could step on and stand. Jude staggered for a while, but soon regained his bnce. He slowly opened his eyes, confirming the existence of Cordelia, whom he held tightly in his arms. They were still in a ce covered with white snow. The crows that flew into the sky scattered in all directions and disappeared. And in the front. A person looked at Jude and Cordelia who were supporting each other and breathing roughly. That person had dark blue eyes, pure white hair and a white face, but everything else was jet-ck. Jude knew that person, who was wearing a long ck robe over his head. Therefore, he put that person¡¯s name on his mouth first. ¡°Jude Bayer greets Kamael.¡± The Ghostde Kamael. One of the six heads of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. The protagonist, who together with Landius, were the two giant stars of Legend of Heroes 1. ¡°Landius¡¯ disciple.¡± Kamael spoke in a low voice, responding to Jude¡¯s call. And then stepped towards Jude and Cordelia. Chapter 56: Winter Flower (2)

Chapter 56: Winter Flower (2)

Sorry,te post~! An exnation regarding the chapter¡¯s title: Winter Flower refers to the ¡°Camellia¡± flower. And in somenguages, Camellia sounds simr to ¡°Kamael,¡± so the Winter Flower is indirectly referencing the character Kamael. Why that is so is something the author only knows. Maybe his parents named him after the Camellia flower and because he¡¯s a guy, it became Kamael? I don¡¯t know, but that¡¯s the closest exnation I could give. When one thinks of the word ¡®fantasy,¡¯ it conjures up thoughts of swords and magic. Thus, numerous swordsmen existed in Pleiades, the world of Legend of Heroes. More than half of the characters used swords, and there was also a high proportion of swordsmen among the yable characters. In particr, the main characters of each episode, such as Landius and Kamael in episode 1, Maximilian in episode 2, and Luichel in episode 3, all used swords as their main weapon, so it could be said that among all the characters, those who were called ¡®heroes¡¯ used swords. ¡®Thus, it can be said that the Four Great Swordsmen symbolized the strongest people in Legend of Heroes.¡¯ These Four Great Swordsmen were chosen by yers among the many swordsmen characters. The Four Great Swordsmen was not a title that existed in the setting, as it was a kind of mememonly used like the Four Heavenly Kings and the Four Great Kings, but because it was so widely used in Legend of Heroes, the title was virtually treated as an official setting. ¡®Kamael, Maximilian, Luther, and Scarlet.¡¯ There was a lot of discussion on who among the four was the strongest, but in any case, Kamael took the lead among the Four Great Swordsmen and the allies and enemies altogether. ¡®He was also the only character that appeared in the entire Legend of Heroes series.¡¯ That was why some say that Kamael was the true main character of the Legend of Heroes series. ¡®He had a lot of fans ever since he appeared in the first episode.¡¯ Although Jude himself liked Landius more, Kamael was in the top range if he ranked in sequence all the characters that had appeared in the game. ¡®Now then, about Kamael.¡¯ The Ghostde. He was the strongest in the Guardians of the Holy Cross if you exclude Elendia, their leader, who waspletely shrouded in mystery. As one of the Four Great Swordsmen, he owns the extremely cold magic sword ¡®Almace,¡¯ one of the 7 famous swords in Legend of Heroes. Unlike Landius, who underwent a shocking visual change in 10 years, Kamael remained the same familiar character when he appeared in the second episode. He was dressed in ck with a hood covering his pure-white hair. He had a beautiful face that heavily exuded a neutral charm, and infinitely cold blue eyes that were like gems. As if it was his character setting, he had a stiff facial expression and rarely smiled except when he¡¯s with Landius, who had been with him since the first episode. He quietly stared at Jude before he opened his mouth and spoke again. ¡°I was observing your movements at the request of Landius.¡± Jude nodded a little at Kamael¡¯s words. Because Landius was a magnanimous person and not a foolish one. He wasn¡¯t a person who would leave his disciple unattended. ¡°In fact, I tried to somehow end my observation here in the north, but I couldn¡¯t. Because Saluzia moved.¡± It was Saluzia, one of the six branch executives of the Devil¡¯s Hand. The power of a high-ranking demonic human wasparable to the heads of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, and even as one of the heads of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, he had no choice but to be focused and stay alert in order to immediately respond against her. ¡°I found and saved you while I was tracking down Saluzia¡¯s whereabouts.¡± It was a roughly understandable story. And it was really like Kamael to start an exnation and not care about introductions. To put it simply, he was not interested in anyone other than Landius and his colleagues in the first episode. ¡°Where were you going? If you keep moving north, there wouldn¡¯t be any other ce except outside of the border.¡± It was a low but beautiful voice. Jude pointed towards the trembling Red Wind behind Cordelia and said. ¡°She is Red Wind, a member of the Great Storm tribe. In order to cure her father¡¯s illness, we were crossing the border¡­and on our way to thend of barbarians.¡± Because Red Wind was with them and listening, Jude was reluctant to use the word ¡®barbarian,¡¯ but there was no other different term for it that he could use right now. At Jude¡¯s exnation, Kamael knit his brows. ¡°How is a child from the 12 northern families and a barbarian girl rted?¡± ¡°There was a divine revtion from the barbarian god, Great Storm.¡± When Cordelia stepped forward and spoke, Kamael¡¯s eyes were filled with curiosity. ¡°Barbarian god?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Cordelia replied once again and secretly nced at Jude afterwards. Because it was her asking for help, Jude also spoke. ¡°Great Storm is the barbarian god of the wind who watches over the Great Storm tribe. And¡­I heard that the illness of Red Wind¡¯s father, Red Gale, seems to be rted to the power of demons.¡± Red Wind was startled and surprised by Jude¡¯s words as her eyes widely opened, but on the contrary, Kamael¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°Indeed, that is something worth investigating.¡± Kamael didn¡¯t know much about the demon followers that settled down in thend of the barbarians beyond the border. However, Kamael was someone who had willingly dered an oath to eradicate all the demon followers that existed in this world. His eyes, which had been indifferent until now, were now filled with emotions for the first time. ¡°I see, your purpose is to cross the border. As Landius¡¯ acquaintance, I¡¯ll help you up to there.¡± ¡°Before that, Kamael, I¡¯d like to ask you one question.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s about the movement of the Devil¡¯s Hand. Does one of our enemies have the ability of foresight?¡± First of all, to the best of Jude¡¯s own knowledge, there was no one in the Devil¡¯s Hand who possessed the ability of foresight. However, the Devil¡¯s Hand were their enemy, and not their ally. Naturally, he couldn¡¯t identify all their secrets during the time when he yed it as a game. ¡®They appeared as if they were waiting for us.¡¯ The Hellhounds of the Devil¡¯s Hand. It was only during Frost Anvil that their location was specified, as it was possible for them to gather clues and track them down because Jude had a clear motive to go to Frost Anvil in order to search for the Sunflower. But now, this ce was a snowfield where there were few to entirely no people. It was possible to follow the trail, but it was impossible to predict where they would go in order to set up an ambush. At Jude¡¯s question, Kamael considerably looked at Jude in interest before asking. ¡°Why do you think it¡¯s a foresight ability?¡± ¡°Because it¡¯s hard to exin the ambush if there was no foresight ability. And¡­my guess is, their foresight ability seems to be imperfect.¡± Judging from Kamael¡¯s reaction, it seemed that there was indeed a foresight ability within the members of the Devil¡¯s Hand. But fortunately, it was very likely that the ability was imperfect. Hearing Jude¡¯s words, Kamael¡¯s face became like that of a teacher testing their student. ¡°Why do you say it¡¯s imperfect?¡± ¡°Because of the appearance of Hellhounds.¡± If it was a perfect foresight ability, it would be Saluzia and the demonic humans who would appear in that position instead of the Hellhounds. But it was the Hellhounds that appeared. It could only infer one thing here. Their foresight was imperfect. And because it was not a perfect foresight, they released the Hellhounds over a wide range, and one of them encountered Jude¡¯s party. Kamael had a very faint smile at Jude¡¯s hypothesis, and then he whispered in a low voice. ¡°Are you really the disciple of Landius?¡± Jude wondered on what the connection was between his reasoning ability and Landius, and also wondered why Cordelia was casually humming all of a sudden. But Kamael himself was convinced and had a stiff expression again as he said. ¡°That¡¯s right. In the Devil¡¯s Hand, there¡¯s a middle-ranking demonic human called Kanos who has an imperfect foresight ability. ording to my investigation so far, it seems that his foresight could only tell the rough location. And given that he hasn¡¯t frequently used it, I think that he cannot freely control the ability itself.¡± ¡°Indeed, so it was like that.¡± Imperfect foresight. With that in mind, Jude also understood on what happened at Frost Anvil. They knew that Jude and Cordelia were going to Frost Anvil, but they didn¡¯t exactly know when and what route the two were going through. And that was why they made a mistake when they held their ground and waited for the two on the 1st floor. ¡®Is this the price for being too lucky at the casino and auction house?¡¯ There was no such thing as aw of total luck, so it was natural to think that it was crazy when their foresight that they could not freely control, suddenly seeded in session. ¡®Whatever.¡¯ It was bound to be annoying if there was a foresight ability on the enemy side. Crossing the border would get them out of the Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s area, so they wouldn¡¯t have to pay much attention to the enemy by then, but when theye backter, they would have to resolve that issue. But it was then. Cordelia suddenly tugged the edge of Jude¡¯s sleeve and sent him a quiet nce. ¡®It¡¯s strange.¡¯ ¡®What?¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s just a little strange.¡¯ Kamael was strange. It was a groundless story, but Cordelia¡¯s words bothered him. And at the exchange of the two, Kamael had a faint smile again. ¡°Your sense is good, girl.¡± ¡°¡­it¡¯s Cordelia.¡± Kamael had a simr way of speaking like his friend Landius. He turned back to Jude and said again. ¡°It is my clone who is in this ce now.¡± A clone made from the secret arts of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. Since it had appeared several times in Legend of Heroes 2, Jude was first surprised but was soon convinced. ¡®No, wait. It¡¯s a problem if he¡¯s a clone.¡¯ The strength of the Ghostde Kamael, one of the Four Great Swordsmen, was different from the other heads of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. Two higher-ranking demonic humans like Saluzia was not enough, and three of them must be gathered before they could have a chance at confronting him. However, the story was a little different if it was a clone. ¡®It would be possible for Saluzia to fight against him.¡¯ At his current status, it was certainly possible. If they properly fought, Saluzia was more likely to win. ¡°This clone will now be heading north to strike Saluzia.¡± The Guardians of the Holy Cross was not only active in the S?len Kingdom. As they were active throughout the continent, Kamael did not always stay in the S?len Kingdom. ¡®That¡¯s another reason why he¡¯s using a clone in the first ce.¡¯ ¡°Do not worry too much. I will not leave alone those who have received the barbarian god¡¯s divine revtion. I will protect you until you reach the border.¡± Kamael straightly said that when Jude¡¯s expression became serious. But Jude shook his head. ¡°No, I think it would be better for us to move separately.¡± Do not let Kamael apany them. At Jude¡¯s words, Red Wind blinked her eyes, but not for Cordelia. Because she understood Jude¡¯s real intention. ¡°The only one who can stop Saluzia is Kamael. On the other hand, Saluzia is absolutely necessary on their side in order to stop Master Kamael.¡± ¡°So?¡± Rather than being really curious, his eyes had a testing look again. Therefore, Jude exined in detail like a student making a presentation. ¡°When Master Kamael shows up, Saluzia has no choice but to move. It¡¯s good if they mistakenly think it¡¯s your real body and hide their tails between their legs and run away immediately, but it isn¡¯t bad if they notice that it¡¯s a clone too. Saluzia will not be able to neglect Master Kamael. They will surely think that my group is hiding together with the real Kamael. If it doesn¡¯t work though, Master Kamael can attack Saluzia then.¡± A confrontation between the strongest person of each side. Have the white queen and ck queen engage with each other to prevent each side from moving. Kamael now understood Jude¡¯s real intention. So he asked as his gem-like eyes narrowed. ¡°Can you do it?¡± What Jude meant was simple. As long as it¡¯s not Saluzia. The two can pass through all the other enemies through their own efforts. That is why they needed to separate Saluzia in advance, as she¡¯s the greatest risk factor. They¡¯ll remove Saluzia herself from the battlefield so that they could move. ¡°If the two of us are together, we can do it.¡± When Jude held Cordelia¡¯s hand as he spoke, Cordelia seriously nodded her head too. If the two are together, they can do it. Red Wind, who was not included in their deration, had a gloomy expression, but Kamael only saw Jude and Cordelia. And soon, he smiled. ¡°It reminds me of Landius.¡± If the two of us are together, we can do it ¨C It was what Landius habitually said during their hardships in the Paragon Kingdom. And indeed, Kamael and Landius did it. So Kamael nodded his head. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll move along with your n. But before that¡­¡± The end of Kamael¡¯s words trailed off, as he walked straight towards Jude and stopped in front of him. Kamael then asked, looking straight into Jude¡¯s eyes. ¡°I heard that you ate the Sunflower. But was there any problem while you were ingesting it?¡± At Kamael¡¯s question, Jude nodded after a little hesitation. Because it was true. While in the middle of absorbing the Sunflower, he had quit once and went to battle in order to save Cordelia. However, Jude did not look back at Cordelia. Because he was somehow worried that Cordelia would feel burdened. But Cordelia¡¯s hand, who was still holding on Jude¡¯s hand, slightly twitched. Kamael said again. ¡°Indeed, it was not absorbed properly. It wasn¡¯t that you couldn¡¯t absorb all of it¡­but that it couldn¡¯t fully settle down in your body. But thanks to that, your Gueumjulmaek is almost cured.¡± Kamael, who had spoken so far, ced his hand on Jude¡¯s shoulder. He looked down as he said. ¡°It¡¯s impossible topletely cure it right now. However, the distortion caused by the interrupted flow during absorption can be corrected.¡± Cordelia¡¯s face instantly brightened at Kamael¡¯s words. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes, indeed.¡± Because he was Landius¡¯ disciple, and not anyone else. If it was someone else, Kamael would have ignored it even if Jude had properly absorbed it or not. ¡°I¡¯ll correct the distortion. Then the Cheonmujiche would be able to properly exert its power.¡± ¡°Wait, its proper power?¡± Cordelia asked again. If so, what the hell was that Cheonmujiche that we had seen so far then? ¡°Cheonmujiche is the heavenly talent for martial arts. Even if I correct the current distortion, it is still not possible for it to exert its full power. Because the Cheonmujiche had been suppressed by the Gueumjulmaek for a very long time.¡± In short, what he was saying was that Jude¡¯s current Cheonmujiche was not yet the full power of the true Cheonmujiche. It would still not be at its full power, even after the treatment that Kamael said he would do. ¡®Cheonmujiche ispletely a cheat.¡¯ Cordelia absurdly looked at Jude, but soon, her face brightened up again. Because Jude wasn¡¯t someone else¡¯s cheat, but her side¡¯s cheat. T/N: The word that Cordelia actually used is uri-jip (???), which can mean ¡®my house,¡¯ ¡®our home,¡¯ or ¡®our ce.¡¯ ¡®Uri¡¯ is usually used when addressing your own family members. So technically, Cordelia was sort of unconsciously (?) acknowledging Jude as ¡®belonging to her house/home,¡¯ or that he is hers already, hahaha. I used ¡®her side¡¯ though, as using ¡®my home¡¯s cheat¡¯ looked weird. ¡°We don¡¯t have time. Can I start right now?¡± ¡°Yes, please.¡± Jude couldn¡¯t refuse this opportunity. Or rather, it was the main character of the first episode who had offered him this much opportunity, so he couldn¡¯t refuse. When Jude agreed, Kamael said with a little mischievous smile. ¡°It will seriously hurt like hell.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± That was it. An excruciating pain suddenly struck Jude¡¯s whole body. Chapter 57: Winter Flower (3)

Chapter 57: Winter Flower (3)

I forgot to rify itst chapter, but Kamael¡¯s ¡®clone¡¯ is something like a doppelg?nger. And not some scientifically-made clone. It¡¯s a bit close to Naruto¡¯s shadow clones (kage bunshin). Saluzia stood on the cliff, where Jude and Cordelia had jumped, and clenched her fists. She was crushing the crow¡¯s ck feathers within her grasp. ¡°Kamael, the Ghostde.¡± It was unlikely that it was his real body. It was only 15 days ago that he was spotted in the southern part of the S?len Kingdom. Even if he suddenly appeared and disappeared like a ghost to hide his movements, he would still be not be able to quicklye to the northernmost part from the southernmost part within 15 days. ¡°Don¡¯t give up. I can still capture her.¡± As the branch head herself, she couldn¡¯t leave this ce without delivering any results. Talking to herself, she threw the crow feathers she had crushed into a mess onto the ground as she thought. ¡®Catch Cordelia.¡¯ In addition, she¡¯ll eliminate the clone of Kamael, one of the main forces of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, which was her organization¡¯s enemy. This much would be a considerable achievement. It was still too early for her to give up. And that was the moment. ¡°Caaw!¡± Saluzia immediately raised her head at the crow¡¯s shrill cry. A flock of crows were moving fast in the air from afar. As if it were luring and provoking her. ¡°How funny, Kamael.¡± Saluzia sharpened her eyes at the flock of crows as she red at it with a piercing look. She couldn¡¯t just let that flock of crows leave. Because there was a possibility that Cordelia was with him. She couldn¡¯t just let Kamael¡¯s clone leave as it is. ¡°I won¡¯t let you escape.¡± Splendid and enormous deer-like horns sprouted from Saluzia¡¯s head. At the same time, devil¡¯s wings spread out from behind her back. It was the demonization of the high-ranking demonic human. That alone shook the atmosphere of the surrounding area. A purple evil aura rose like mes from Saluzia¡¯s whole body as it tainted the ground and sky. The snow in the snowfieldpletely melted. Saluzia flew up. As she pursued the flock of crows, she mulled over. ¡®It was you.¡¯ The one who defeated Sisioth at Frost Anvil. The one who wiped out the demonic humans and monsters. She understood it now. It was impossible for Jude and Cordelia to defeat Sisioth with the full power that they disyed in Langesthei. Because those two were no match to the low-ranking demonic humans that she had dispatched together. In fact, even Lucas who was widely known as the Girin of Count Hr?svelgr, couldn¡¯t even properly fight against a low-ranking demonic human. ¡®He¡¯s just a rookie who had only began to learn martial arts.¡¯ In fact, if Jude fought her, he wouldn¡¯t be able to hit her even if he used all his power. It was Cordelia whom she looked out for, but in the end, Cordelia was just an inexperienced novice wizard. It didn¡¯t make sense for such two people to defeat the demon and demonic humans in session. ¡®It was you, Kamael.¡¯ You were hunting the Devil¡¯s Hand with the two as bait. Saluzia¡¯s suspicion soon turned into a conviction. She was worked up as her pursuit became faster. Dozens of light des rose from her purple evil aura and suddenly attacked the flock of crows, but the flock of crows magnificently danced in the air and soon became one as itnded on the ground. The Ghostde revealed his appearance among the dozens of crows. ¡°Kamael.¡± Saluzia also settled down on the ground. Kamael drew a magic sword from the air and faced Saluzia with an indifferent look. ¡°Are you alone? That¡¯s stupid. Did you think Cordelia could run away if you held me back?¡± Saluzia herself did note alone. Among the branch¡¯s troops, only the elite came and gathered here. Kamael knew it too. While he was flying on the way here, he saw Saluzia¡¯s subordinates scattered all over the ce. The Jackdaws guarding the north were looking out beyond the border, and not those who were inside the border. Moreover, it was almost impossible to get the help of the Jackdaws as this was a deserted ce with very few people. Therefore, Jude and Cordelia could only break through the siege of the Devil¡¯s Hand with their strength alone. Impossible. Something like that couldn¡¯t happen. What could those two children do at best? Saluzia¡¯s arguments weren¡¯t generally wrong. They were correct statements. But Kamael replied with a calm expression. ¡°They said yes.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°They said they could run away.¡± Or rather, it wasn¡¯t just that. Jude had said that he would definitely break through. And one more thing. An important fact that he learned while correcting the distortion of the Sunflower. ¡°Yin-Yang Body.¡± He was an existence who had the potential to inherit and possess both Landius¡¯ extreme Yang energy and Kamael¡¯s extreme Yin energy. That was it. Kamael didn¡¯t drag it any longer. Like when he was with Landius, he showed a faint smile and held the sword he had pulled out. He said in provocation to Saluzia. ¡°Come.¡± I will fight you alone. Saluzia burst into anger at the eyes that belittled her. She charged towards Kamael. *** Jude ran. A simple action of moving forward by spurring on the ground with his two feet. But it was different. The feeling itself has changed from before. His hands and feet felt free. There was a pleasure that came from the fact that he can move his own body in the way that he truly wanted. It wasn¡¯t just that. His whole body was overflowing with strength. The cirction of Qi energy became faster. He thought that all the martial arts he had used so far were fake. ¡°Chu-pa-ha!¡± Yelling a cry with an unknown meaning, Jude stepped forward. With a bright smile, he carried out the Twenty-Four Gale Steps. It was the genuine Twenty-Four Gale Steps! Baang-! The air burst. More than ten gusts of wind spread out in all directions, and in the meantime, Jude became a gale. Without hesitation, he swept towards the enemies in front of him. Bang! Bang! Bang! Peals of thunder burst out. In the ce where the gale swept, the heads and necks of the Hellhounds were broken. And then without fail, a golden whirlwind rose and swept around. Cordelia couldn¡¯t even see him properly. In her eyes as a wizard, it was impossible to urately observe Jude¡¯s movement. He swiftly moved and faced head-on. He faced the Hellhound head-on. The Hellhound tried to bite Jude off, but it was impossible. Like the wind, he passed by the Hellhound¡¯s attack. At the same time, a golden whirlwind interrupted the Hellhound¡¯s movement. A peal of thunder burst again. A thunderbolt strike broke the Hellhound¡¯s whole body. Bang! The sound burst! Jude looked back. He checked Cordelia and Red Wind before he became a gale again and ran straight to the front. ¡°Beast.¡± Cordelia unconsciously said. In her Witch Transformation, she ran and used the magic de to deal thest hit to the enemies that Jude had knocked down. At the same time, she identified the pursuers who were gathering. ¡°Haa! Haa!¡± Red Wind was just running and following behind Jude. Thanks to a forbidden elixir made by mixing various potions, it became possible for her to run at Jude and Cordelia¡¯s speed. But as expected, she was still new to it. She was running out breath from just following them. ¡°Haa!¡± Jude ran forward and made a Holy Cross. The huge golden Holy Cross, which was twice as big as before, stretched out and moved towards the front. It was an attack simr to the Holy Cross he had used in the witch¡¯s forest. It was thanks to the inner Qi amplified by the Sunflower. Moreover, Jude could feel it. This was not it. There was still a way to make it more efficient. With it, he can use a stronger and faster sacred battle aura. Cheonmujiche. A heavenly talent for martial arts! The incarnation of martial arts! Boooooom! The monster in front of him collided with the Holy Cross and was shattered. It was a natural urrence for Snow Golems to frequently appear along the northern border. Jude ran through the monster¡¯s shattered body. Cordelia then shouted behind him. ¡°They¡¯re rushing from both sides! 7 o¡¯clock! 2 o¡¯clock! Trees blocked the view of those ces. However, Cordelia¡¯s sense after entering the Witch Transformation was almost as good as a radar. Jude immediately understood Cordelia¡¯s words. She even pointed out the direction, so he easily dealt with the situation. Whirlwind. The continuous gale. And a peal of thunder burst out again! ¡°Yaaaah!¡± Jude cried out, and Cordelia thought again. ¡®You always say I¡¯m an animal or beast, but you¡¯re more of a beast!¡¯ But it was good. Cordelia somehow found herself repeatedlyughing. The only one who couldn¡¯tugh was Red Wind. But she could see them too despite hurriedly running after them. The fact that the power of the two far exceeds that of her peers. It was the reason why the Great Storm chose these two people! ¡°There it is!¡± A piercing roar came from the front. It was the loud cry of someone with purple skin and a giant build. Jude and Cordelia simultaneously saw him. And identified him. ¡°Baras!¡± ¡°Synthetic demonic human made from monsters, not demons!¡± ¡°Specialty is rushing!¡± ¡°Attribute is me! But he doesn¡¯t use attribute attacks, so you can ignore it!¡± ¡°Can only attack in a straight line! Attacking the side is the rule!¡± ¡°Magic defense is unusually high!¡± ¡°Weakness against sh!¡± ¡°Vicious killer!¡± As they shouted back and forth, Baras instantly fell into confusion. ¡°H-how!?¡± Have you ever met me yourselves? No, even if we had met, how do you know me so much! At the time that Baras was bewildered, Jude and Cordelia have alreadypleted their attack on Baras. ¡°!¡± ¡°!¡± Jude and Cordelia shouted in turn. magic bound Baras¡¯ ankles, and at that moment, he lost his bnce and fell on the slippery ground with magic. His high magic defense meant that he was strong against magic damage, not that he could interfere with magic itself. So and would work well enough for him. ¡°Agh!¡± And they continued. Cordelia ran past him and stretched out her hand. With the power of the witch, she used a blue telekic power to flip him over the slippery floor. ¡°Ack!¡± Baras was turned upside down as if he was rolling over ice. Of course, as a synthetic demonic human with the power of a monster, he immediately used his strength to destroy the magic. He sessively enveloped his whole body with mana to increase his defense. Jude just disregarded it. Baras thought that the attacks would continue, so he stood up in a fluster, but he could only see it then. Jude was standing in front of him. He saw the figure of Jude drawing his sword while wrapped around by a whirlwind that had still not disappeared. Jude carried out one attack. The deadly strike of the Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword that he remembered. ¡®Hell¡¯s Blood sh.¡¯ The Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword made a loud noise. At the same time, Cordelia met eyes with Baras. With one eye closed, she used the to paralyze him and interrupt his movement. It wasn¡¯t aplete eye contact, because she was worried about the bacsh. In fact, she had used it weakly just to distract him, but that was enough. A huge red sh split Baras¡¯ chest. ck blood that was unique to a synthetic demonic human spurted out, and a ring of pure white light emerged around Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Haaaaa¡­haaa¡­¡± When Red Wind caught up with the two, Baras fell with a thud, and Cordelia looked straight ahead. She could see a wall that was around 10 meters tall. ¡°We are here!¡± It was the border. Now all they had to do was to cross that wall. But how. There was no time to think. Because Jude had already moved. With Red Wind in one arm and holding the waist of Cordelia in his other arm, he used the Twenty-Four Gale Steps. ¡°I said I¡¯d carry you, right?¡± ¡°Hmph.¡± Cordelia snorted, and Red Wind blushed in embarrassment. But neither Jude nor Cordelia saw Red Wind. Jude kicked the ground again. Cordelia hugged Jude¡¯s neck, and a whirlwind paved the way. The gale reached the top of the 10-meter wall in one fell swoop, and at the end, he made an extraordinarily high leap. They were in the air. Jude and Cordelia saw it. And of the barbarians that widely spread out beyond the wall. And the overwhelming splendor of nature. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Jude spoke again as he kicked the wall. They crossed the border to smash the northern barbarians¡¯ invasion scenario. Chapter 58: Divine Revelation (1)

Chapter 58: Divine Revtion (1)

Ahaha¡­my releases kept gettingte. I didn¡¯t realize the chapter was this long¡­. Anyway, next chapter is on Monday, so enjoy the cliff for now, hahaha. Terms used in this chapter: g/Event g ¨C A condition in game programming that causes a variable to change. Event gs are set off when certain events take ce, like?boss battles,?cutscenes,?leveling up,?or anything that¡¯s important to the plot or to the character¡¯s stats. gs can also trigger anything, from changing a character¡¯s status to activating sub-quests or side-plots to adjusting what sort of?random encounters?show up. Frog in the well ¨C a Chinese idiom that refers to a narrow-minded person who doesn¡¯t see therger world around them. An English equivalent would be ¡®small/little fish in a big pond.¡¯ Carry ¨C used to refer to a high-level yer who tanks for and kills strong enemies for a lower level yer to level up. They are thus carrying the low-level yer until they get stronger, mooching off their kills to get XP and loot. Oh yeah, if you see an italicized ¡®my¡¯ or ¡®her,¡¯ it¡¯s the ¡®uri-jip¡¯ word again, which meant ¡®my house,¡¯ ¡®my home,¡¯ or ¡®our home.¡¯ Someone in thements said that it could also mean ¡®my family.¡¯ It has a possessive meaning, implying that someone/something is part of one¡¯s family/home. In the original version of Legend of Heroes 2, or specifically, its first released version, there were a total of 11 yable characters. ¡°Four in the S?len Kingdom, five in the Argon Empire, and two in the barbariannds.¡± As the two major powers in the continent, there were many characters from the S?len Kingdom and the Argon Empire. And in the case of the S?len Kingdom, it was quite distinct that the hometown of the yable characters were concentrated in the north. ¡°Except for Kajsa, the other three ¨C Jude, Cordelia, and Lucas, were all from the 12 northern families.¡± So, why was it like that? Kajsa is from the south, which meant that there was no one in the center at all. Wouldn¡¯t it have been better to distribute them evenly in the north, the center, and the south? ¡°And when the main story was released, everyone understood it.¡± It was because of ¡®The Northern Barbarians¡¯ Great Invasion¡¯ event that had a great impact on the S?len Kingdom as well as the entire Legend of Heroes 2. Because of the big event in the north, it was naturally reasonable for there to be many people from the north. Added to this were the yable characters from thend of the barbarians, Red Wind and Kirara. Both of them were naturally barbarians, so they had no choice but to be connected with ¡®The Northern Barbarians¡¯ Great Invasion¡¯ event. ¡°In the end, five out of the eleven yable characters, or about half, had a direct connection with the Great Invasion event.¡± The remaining six people were indirectly affected a lot too. It was a great event that would shake up the S?len Kingdom, one of the two major powers. ¡°So if we canpletely destroy this event, we can get closer to the ending that we want.¡± A world with a truly happy ending where there was no Great Summons and no massive war urring between the angels and demons, did not originally exist. So they must take good care of that person without fail. The most important key person who could change the Great Invasion itself into nothing. ¡°Red Gale.¡± Red Wind¡¯s father. The chief of the Great Storm tribe. They had to save him. ***¡°Ya-ha!¡± A few minutes after they¡¯ve crossed the border. After he ran like a gale and hid themselves in a crevice of a rocky mountain, Jude raised both his arms high and shouted. What should he call this feeling? A sense of freedom? A genuine feeling of being alive? ¡°I think you¡¯re a little crazy.¡± Having sat down on the ground, Cordelia frowned and spoke, and Jude guffawed like Landius and said as he looked back at Cordelia. ¡°On another note, I kept my promise, right?¡± ¡°Promise?¡± ¡°I told you I would cross over the wall.¡± Wall. The great wall built at the border was also a wall when viewed from a broad perspective. Though it was excessively high and broad for a wall. ¡°Let me see, I hugged or carried you, I crossed over the wall, I also stood in the front line¡­I¡¯d like to nurse or care for you, but I can¡¯t let you get sick, right?¡± ¡°Yes, you can¡¯t.¡± Jude seriously spoke as he counted with his fingers and Cordelia threw a snowball. Sheughed a few times and then cocked her head to one side. And just like that, she looked up at Jude and said. ¡°You¡¯re like a beast.¡± He acted recklessly while panting. It wasn¡¯t just her impression of Jude being nimble so far, but he was really like a beast when in battle. He was like a big cat or savage beast running wild in excitement. At Cordelia¡¯s words, Jude nodded his head and then said with a serious face. ¡°Madam, tonight, your servant¡­¡± ¡°Stop saying that.¡± ¡°Yes, Madam.¡± Jude obediently gave up joking and squatted in front of Cordelia as he said. ¡°But I¡¯m really overflowing with energy. It feels like my energy is constantly surging?¡± ¡°Have you properly absorbed the Sunflower?¡± ¡°I think so. As Kamael said, it feels like my Cheonmujiche finally opened its eyes.¡± If he thought about it, this kind of growth seemed to be fitting because he ate a flower that bloomed once every 20 years and was also a flower full of Yang energy that bloomed in an area full of Yin energy. And Cheonmujiche. It was difficult for people who were geniuses from birth to realize their own genius because all the talented things they did felt so natural to them, but it wasn¡¯t for Jude. He had memories of a previous life, so it was also possible that it was self-objectification, but as Kamael pointed out, his previous Cheonmujiche was no different to a fake whenpared to his current Cheonmujiche. ¡°It may sound like nonsense, but I can feel it. Jude is a real genius.¡± ¡°It really is nonsense.¡± However, there was a bright smile on Cordelia¡¯s face. Be it a cheat, a genius, or a beast, he was her Jude. ¡°Is it possible that the awakening of Jude, which was scheduled for thest expansion pack of the third episode, was the awakening of the Cheonmujiche?¡± ¡°Perhaps. In the original story, Jude never ate the Sunflower and never met Kamael too.¡± But the current Jude was different. He ate the Sunflower, met Landius, and learned the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. On top of that, he met Kamael and even resolved the distortion. ¡®There¡¯s also the Yin-Yang Body.¡¯ What would happen if he could use both the Yin and Yang energy at the same time? What new heights would he reach? ¡®Kamael¡¯s extreme Yin energy and Landius¡¯ extreme Yang energy.¡¯ Since he had already built a rtionship with the two, he hadid down the groundwork for resolving his gs. ¡°Huhuhu¡­huhuhuhu¡­¡± ¡°You sound like a pervert.¡± Despite Cordelia¡¯sment, Jude did not stopughing. He saw the road to bing the strongest which didn¡¯t exist before, so how could he, a rotten water, not be happy? ¡°Anyway, this still isn¡¯t yourplete awakening, right?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s why I¡¯m so excited.¡± It meant that he would awaken to an even greater genius in the future. ¡°Cheonmujiche is a cheat.¡± ¡°Huhuhu, and when you use the Ancestral Regression technique, you¡¯ll be a cheat character. And so is your Witch Transformation.¡± Wasn¡¯t it an excellent bnce? Cordelia was not born with a special talent like Jude or Lucas. She didn¡¯t have a unique physical constitution like Kajsa. However, Cordelia had Witch Transformation and Ancestral Regression. ¡®Although Lucas is also able to use Ancestral Regression, it is different from Cordelia.¡¯ Because Cordelia¡¯s Witch Transformation ability originated from the power of demons. If Jude had a Yin-Yang Body that could handle both Yin and Yang energy, Cordelia was able to transform into an existence capable of handling the power of angels and demons at the same time. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to see the Fallen Angel mode. You¡¯ll be like a real powerful monster.¡± ¡°Why do you want to see it when it¡¯s mine?¡± ¡°Because Madam is my monster?¡± At Jude¡¯s assertion, Cordelia snorted, but soon smiled andughed. Because Cordelia herself was looking forward to her Ancestral Regression. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to do it.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s work hard in collecting the ingredients and shorten the time it would take uspared to the original story.¡± ¡°Yes, Daddy. I only trust in Daddy.¡± Jude and Cordelia looked at each other andughed ¡®hahahoho¡¯ in harmony, before finally realizing that there was one more person with them. ¡°Huuuk¡­ugh¡­argh¡± At a corner some distance away. Red Wind, who had been gasping and lying on her stomach ever since Jude released her, eventually couldn¡¯t stand it and threw up. It wasn¡¯t because she found Jude and Cordelia¡¯s ¡°disys of affection¡± nauseating, but it was a side effect from the intake of the forbidden elixir/drug. ¡°Red Wind! Are you all right?¡± ¡°Haa¡­ugh¡­it hurts. Stomach hurts. Painful.¡± Red Wind said with a crying face after having thrown up everything in her stomach. She truly looked pitiful with her tears and runny nose. ¡°Sorry, sorry. We¡¯ve arrived here now, so it¡¯s okay. Let¡¯s rest here and then go.¡± Cordelia said as she hugged Red Wind, while Jude quickly cleaned up Red Wind¡¯s vomit before looking around to find a better ce to rest. And immediately after. Red Wind in Cordelia¡¯s arms suddenly burst into tears. The tears she shed was different from her tears of exhaustion from before. ¡°Red Wind?¡± ¡°Different. So different.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Two people. Different. So strong. Much more than me.¡± Red Wind was someone who was confident in her strength. She believed that there were few people, at least within her age, who would be stronger than herself. But she was wrong. Jude and Cordelia were in a different level than Red Wind herself. Although they were older by one year, it didn¡¯t feel like there was a one-year difference between them. She was a frog in the well. Saying that she¡¯ll cure her father, she went to the south alone with just that kind of ability, so it was natural that she got caught and became a ve. If the Great Storm hadn¡¯t seriously pitied her, would it have chosen Jude and Cordelia, who were both foreigners? Of course, aside from her being a member of the tribe and the chieftain¡¯s daughter. ¡°Huuuu¡­huu¡­¡± Her sadness, self-reproach, and disappointment in herself suddenly flooded and made her cry uncontrobly. Red Wind started bawling, and Cordelia, with an awkward face, turned to Jude. ¡®Do something!¡¯ It was an unreasonable demand, but like most men who were asked to take measures, Jude was troubled. Though his troubles were slightly off the point from most men¡¯s troubles. ¡®First of all, it can¡¯t be helped.¡¯ Red Wind was crying because, frankly speaking, she was weak. But there was no way to resolve this. Strictly speaking, Red Wind had not even started her own scenario yet. In a word, she was a beginner. She was in a pure state and had not gone through any events or power-ups yet. However, they couldn¡¯t just take her while they leveled up, or the so-called ¡®carry.¡¯ ¡®Because it¡¯s only me and Cordelia.¡¯ It was a fact he learned as a result of experimenting when he was with Lucas several times. First of all, only Jude and Cordelia could see each other¡¯s level-up effect. Even if they hunted together, it was also only Jude and Cordelia who gained experience points as a party. ¡®It seems like in this world, you can gain experience by defeating a strong enemy, but¡­I and Cordelia are the only ones who could form a party.¡¯ Since the menu itself does not exist in this world, it was impossible to use something like a ¡®party request¡¯ to properly share experience points except for Jude himself and Cordelia, who were considered as a party from the beginning. ¡®It¡¯s a little questionable why only the two of us were a party from the very beginning.¡¯ There seemed to be some cause. Maybe it was because they shared memories of their previous lives, or perhaps they were connected with something like the red thread of fate. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Jude unwittingly cleared his throat as he saw Cordelia, and Cordelia said again with her eyes. ¡®Do something somehow!¡¯ ¡°Well.¡± Jude began to be troubled again. What should he do? As the most obvious solution of a fast level-up was not possible, he eventually had no choice but to choose the next best solution. ¡°Red Wind, it¡¯s all right. You¡¯ll soon be stronger quickly too.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Red Wind raised her head in the midst of crying. She was in the middle of crying because she was sad at herself for being weak, so it was natural for her to react to Jude¡¯s words that she¡¯ll be stronger. Jude squatted in front of Red Wind and then pat her head as he spoke. ¡°Great Storm said this. Red Wind was born with the qualities of a great warrior. She has the talent to be the most powerful spirit warrior in the Great Storm tribe.¡± (T/N: I used the word ¡®spirit,¡¯ but it can also mean ¡®elemental.¡¯) ¡°¡­really? Did Great Storm said that?¡± Red Wind sniffled and asked, and Jude nodded his head. ¡°Really, I¡¯m not the only one who heard it. Cordelia, you heard it too, right?¡± ¡°Eh? Yes! I heard it too. Great Storm certainly said that.¡± Once Red Wind went through the original route, she would be a powerful spirit warrior. Moreover, the Great Storm tribe was supposed to perish during the great invasion of the northern barbarians, so Red Wind had no choice but to be the best warrior of the tribe whether she liked it or not. ¡°Great Storm¡­¡± Red Wind¡¯s crying gradually stopped. She also slightly smiled. ¡°Great Storm is looking forward to Red Wind¡¯s growth.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, Great Storm is looking forward to it. They really care about Red Wind.¡± The smile on Red Wind¡¯s face gradually became bigger as Jude and Cordelia talked back and forth. Red Wind had be pessimistic of the future due to suffering from a lot of hardships, but it was still before the original story began. Moreover, since she had escaped from the ve auction even before suffering from hardships, her purity had remained intact. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll work hard. Be stronger. I live up to Great Storm¡¯s expectations.¡± ¡°Yes, we¡¯ll look forward to it too.¡± When Cordelia hugged her tightly, Red Wind hesitated for a moment, but soon after, she hugged Cordelia back. ¡®It¡¯s nice and warm, heartwarming¡­¡¯ It was when Jude looked satisfied. ¡®Hey, are you sure this is okay?¡¯ Cordelia asked with her eyes, and likewise, Jude asked with his eyes. ¡®What are you talking about?¡¯ ¡®No, can we just pretend like this?¡¯ ¡®It will work.¡¯ There was no way Great Storm would be able to say anything about this. Moreover, Great Storm, or rather, the existence of the barbarian gods themselves were unclear. In the game, only their names were mentioned as the subject of the barbarians¡¯ faith, but not a single barbarian god actually appeared. ¡®And we already spoke of it.¡¯ Since they first met Red Wind, Jude and Cordelia had worked hard and eagerly used Great Storm¡¯s name to their advantage. ¡®Well, that¡¯s true.¡¯ Convinced, Cordelia focused on Red Wind again, and Jude rose from his seat and then looked southwards. ¡®Kamael must have taken care of it and escaped.¡¯ Because he wasn¡¯t one of the Four Great Swordsmen for no reason. And frankly, Jude thought that Kamael was the strongest among the Four Great Swordsmen. Perhaps his clone alone might have defeated Saluzia. ¡®We can do well.¡¯ Although the northern barbarians¡¯ great invasion event was an important event throughout the Legend of Heroes series, the circumstances were not fully revealed. What was fully revealed in the game was the great invasion, and not the war of the Angry Bull tribe to unify the barbarians before the great invasion. Therefore, their information was limited. Not much was known about thend of the barbarians. ¡®But we can do it.¡¯ Or rather, we must pull it off. Jude steeled himself as he gazed to the north. *** ¡°I think I know where we are. After two more days, it¡¯s thend of my tribe.¡± Right after sunset. Red Wind spoke in a small voice inside the igloo created with Cordelia¡¯s magic and Jude¡¯s design and skill. They had thrown away all their luggage while they were running away, so they didn¡¯t have their sleeping bags, but in the first ce, Red Wind was a local who inherited the blood of the winter elves, while Jude and Cordelia had the Winter Protection. In addition, they had stones heated by magic to warm themselves, so it was not an exaggeration to say that there was no risk of them freezing to death. ¡°Yes, yes, you had a difficult time today, so let¡¯s go to bed early.¡± ¡°I understand. Good night, Cordelia. Jude too.¡± Red Wind spoke in a small voice again, as she lied down next to Cordelia and closed her eyes. ¡°Good night.¡± ¡°I feel like a baby.¡± As soon as she closed her eyes, she fell asleep, and Cordelia kissed the forehead of Red Wind before looking towards Jude and saying. ¡°Let¡¯s go to sleep too. We don¡¯t exactly need to do a night watch, right?¡± ¡°Because there¡¯s an magic circle.¡± Even in Frost Anvil, they were able to escape the hell of a double-shift night watch thanks to the magic circle. After almost blocking the entrance, Jude lied down and spoke after a long time. ¡°Good night, dream of me.¡± ¡°Yes, you dream of me too.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have a risqu¨¦ dream.¡± ¡°Bullsh*t.¡± Cordelia smiled as she raised her middle finger, before she kissed Red Wind¡¯s forehead once again and then closed her eyes. And a few seconds, a few minutes. Jude also fell into a deep sleep. *** The surroundings were all white. A white night. A white snowfield. While he was walking aimlessly, Jude realized it at some point. ¡°It¡¯s a dream.¡± Now that I realize it, I guess it¡¯s a lucid dream. Jude looked around again. He was afraid that it was not a dream because everything was a mess before he came to his senses. The sun and the moon were hanging together in the sky, and above the snowfield, countless fish were swimming in the air as if they were in some kind of sea. Then Cordelia appeared. ¡°Uh.¡± The Cordelia that he usually knew was thrown into confusion as she stood among the swimming fish, but suddenly, she widely opened her eyes. ¡°Ah! It¡¯s Jude!¡± The Cordelia in his dream looked his way and came running with a very happy face. And Jude seriously contemted. ¡°What do I do¡­now that it¡¯s like this, should I dream a really erotic dream?¡± ¡°Hey! I can hear everything?!¡± Cordelia¡¯s low kick hit him, and Jude thought. ¡°It¡¯s surely Cordelia. She¡¯s violent even in my dreams.¡± ¡°You haven¡¯t been hit enough.¡± Again, Cordelia hit Jude on the back, and Jude realized. ¡°It hurts?¡± ¡°Of course it hurts if I hit you! Be hurt more! Be hurt more!¡± It really hurt. Because of that, Jude understood it. ¡°It¡¯s not a dream.¡± At least it wasn¡¯t an ordinary dream. The Cordelia in front of him was not a fake created by his own dreams. ¡°How did this happen?¡± Why are our dreams connected with each other? Were our minds connected? At Jude¡¯s question, Cordelia stopped hitting him and said seriously. ¡°I don¡¯t know either. I just slept well, and at some point, I opened my eyes and I was here. I came running because I saw you.¡± Jude first looked at himself before he alternately looked at Cordelia. Now that he saw it, their clothes were different from usual. Each of them were wearing the stylish clothes they wore when they were with their families. ¡°Dream.¡± This was not reality. It was some space in their minds. The minds of Jude and Cordelia were connected. Why? Howe? And who? It was right at that moment. Cordelia suddenly raised her head. Over some distance away, at the sky. The wind blew. It was a small and weak wind. But it soon grew stronger and became a storm. A boy appeared. A white-haired boy with wind all around his body. With his impressively golden eyes shining like stars, the boy looked down at Jude and Cordelia. His eyes quietly narrowed, and his smile was like that of a mischievous boy before he spoke. ¡°You continuously used my name as an excuse quite well.¡± A child¡¯s voice. However, his strong presence shook the entire surrounding area. Like the imposing majesty of a god. ¡°Really?¡± Jude said, and Cordelia nodded her head. Her senses were wildly shouting. Barbarian god. Due to the Great Storm tribe being still alive, it was a being who had not yet lost its power because the power of Belial, the overlord of corruption, had yet to widely spread over the barbariannds. ¡°Nice to meet you, children from the south. I am Great Storm.¡± The barbarian god beyond the northern border. He settled down on the ground. And stepped towards Jude and Cordelia. Chapter 59: Divine Revelation (2)

Chapter 59: Divine Revtion (2)

God. A transcendental being. Unlike in their past lives where there were many arguments of whether it exists or not, gods existed in Pleiades. But strictly speaking, the gods of Pleiades were far from the omnipotent god that they knew in their past lives. They were clearly powerful beings with well-defined limits. They were called immortals, but it was possible for them to disappear. ¡®If I had to bepletely honest, you could say that they possessed stupendously strong supernatural powers.¡¯ But still, these gods were gods. They were the targets of faith and were great existences that human beings dare not to approach. ¡®There are three main kinds of gods in Pleiades.¡¯ First was the heavenly creator called L¨², the god who created the world. However, he or she was close to a conceptual existence, whose existence was even questioned. It was the four archangels who led the heavenly realm, and not the creator god L¨². ¡®The angels were called gods.¡¯ They were originally angels and not gods, but due to human ignorance, they became beings worshipped as gods. Among them was Sri, the sun god, who was their representative figure. Originally, the heavenly archangels only saw humans as livestock that needed rearing, but Sri, the seventh archangel, was different. She regarded humans as young children or younger brothers and wanted to guide and look after them. ¡®Sri wasn¡¯t alone. There were many angels who joined her will, and they descended to the human world and were worshipped as gods by humans.¡¯ But it was all a story of the past. Because of the long-standing war with the demons, these gods on earth ceased to exist. ¡®Thest one were the outside gods.¡¯ They were transcendental beings who existed in the third world, which was neither heaven nor hell. However, their influence in this world was insignificant. It was not an exaggeration to say that the degree of their influence was at a level where people only knew that outside gods existed. ¡®And the wild gods (barbarian gods).¡¯ They were beings that do not belong to any of the three kinds listed so far. ¡®At present, neither the S?len Kingdom nor the Argon Empire recognize the existence of wild gods.¡¯ For political reasons, both countries somehow recognized wild gods as fictional existences created by the primitive folk religions of the barbarians. ¡®Even those who acknowledged their existence only thought of them as spirits who possessed strong powers.¡¯ And Jude also thought simrly. The reason was simple. ¡®Because they do not appear in the original story.¡¯ These wild gods were asionally mentioned in manuals, settings books, item descriptions, and so on, but they never made a direct appearance. ¡®There was a theory that they all died because of Belial, the overlord of corruption¡­¡¯ In any case, that was all a story after the great invasion of the northern barbarians. There was a possibility that at the present moment, which was a point in the past before the event urred, they were still alive. ¡®No, they are alive.¡¯ In front of him right now, there was a being who proimed himself as a wild god. Great Storm. The wild god of the wind who was worshipped by the Great Storm tribe. ¡°You seem to be thinking of something rude?¡± Unlike when he first appeared, Great Storm¡¯s manner of speaking was slightly less serious, perhaps because he looked like a boy. Jude said hurriedly in denial. ¡°No, it¡¯s not. I was just so surprised that I couldn¡¯t think of anything else.¡± In fact, it wasn¡¯tpletely a lie. Because he was really that surprised. He never thought that Great Storm would really appear. And in this way too. ¡°Hmph, you¡¯re a smooth talker.¡± The boy somehow reacted like Cordelia before he made a rock rise from the ground by pointing several of his fingers and then sat down on it as he said. ¡°Well then, I am Great Storm. You have diligently and continuously used my name as an excuse.¡± He talked mischievously with a raised chin, as he tly yed innocent with his eyes and facial expression resembling that of a rascal. ¡®First of all, I don¡¯t think he¡¯s really upset.¡¯ If he was really angry, he would have tried to punish them first for using the name of a god in a deceiving manner. ¡°Uh¡­ahem, ahem, it¡¯s an honor to meet you, Great Storm. My name is Cordelia Chase. This is my fianc¨¦, Jude Bayer.¡± As Jude was in the midst of hesitation and unsure of what to do, Cordelia stepped forward and spoke. Great Storm smiled in satisfaction at her polite manner of showing respect. ¡°But the girl knows what manners is, I like it. If you meet a god, you shouldn¡¯t nkly look at them but reveal your names first. Girl.¡± At the end of his words, he clicked his tongue. Cordelia seemed to have caught his fancy, but not Jude. Instead of being shaken, Jude showed his manners as he politely said. ¡°O Great Storm, I ask of you to listen to our story.¡± ¡°Tell me.¡± His response was within Jude¡¯s expectations. Great Storm did not reveal himself to punish them. ¡®If so.¡¯ Jude took a deep breath and steeled himself. From now on, he had to deceive, no, tell a white lie to a wild god, and not just a fairy queen or a witch. ¡°Beyond the border in th-¡± ¡°Wildnds. That¡¯s what we call it. Not thend of barbarians.¡± Great Storm made ament one step ahead of him, and Jude resumed after expressing his thanks. ¡°I¡¯ve heard of stories that danger was approaching the wildnds.¡± ¡°From whom?¡± ¡°From the fairy queens and the soul of a witch in the south.¡± To begin with, there was no connection between the fairy queens and the wild gods as far as Jude knew. However, instead of specifically pointing out who they were in case Great Storm didn¡¯t knew of them, he showed the Fairy Steps and Fairy¡¯s Bonds he received from the fairy queens. Although his outfit had changed because he was in a dream, the two items were still in his arm. ¡°Hmm¡­setting aside the fairy queens, but a witch¡¯s soul?¡± ¡°Yes, it is the soul of a great witch who fought against Asmodeus, the overlord of lust, for many years.¡± ¡°What did they say?¡± ¡°They told us about the threat of demons that were approaching the wildnds. In particr, the witch¡¯s soul told us about an organization called the Devil¡¯s Eye who seemed to have done something harmful to Red Gale, the chieftain of the Great Storm tribe.¡± Great Storm furrowed his brows at Jude¡¯s exnation. And Jude was certain of it then. ¡®It¡¯sing through.¡¯ As expected, Great Storm didn¡¯t know who the witch¡¯s soul was or what she did. But there was a mixture of truth in Jude¡¯s words. Devil¡¯s Eye. They were doing something harmful to the wildnds. Red Gale was dying from an illness of an unknown cause. ¡°So that¡¯s what the witch¡¯s soul said.¡± ¡°Yes, and my fianc¨¦e here, Cordelia, is the witch¡¯s sessor, who inherited some power from the witch¡¯s soul. Because of this, the witch asked me and Cordelia to go to the wildnds to stop the plot of the demon followers.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Great Storm turned to Cordelia, who blinked her eyes and quickly nodded. ¡°Yes, that is correct.¡± After she answered a little stupidly, Cordelia¡¯s face reddened, but Great Storm felt that appearance to be rather trustworthy, so he said while scratching his chin. ¡°Then, to sum it up, is it something like this? The fairy queens and the witch¡¯s soul warned of the dangers in the wildnds. In particr, the witch¡¯s soul even told you about my tribe and told you to go and help.¡± ¡°Yes, that is correct. On our way to the wildnds, we heard of a story about someone with the blood of the winter elves¡­a girl from the Great Storm tribe, who was caught and held in the ve auction house, so we rescued her. She is Red Wind.¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± Great Storm scratched his chin again and Jude inwardly smiled. Because there were no holes in his story. On their way to meet the Great Storm tribe, they saved a girl from the Great Storm tribe. Can he even find any faults in their story? Jude waited for a while before he hit the nail on the coffin. ¡°We had willfully used Great Storm¡¯s name to win over Red Wind, who had be distrustful after being caught and turned into a ve. I kindly hope you will forgive us.¡± Jude deeply bowed from his waist, and Cordelia, as if by telepathy, bowed her head at almost the same timing. At the courteous apology of the two, Great Storm made a groaning sound before nodding his head. ¡°All right, well, because I¡¯m a little benevolent, I will forgive you two for now.¡± ¡°Thank you very much.¡± ¡°Thank you, Great Storm.¡± Jude and Cordelia promptly expressed their gratitude to Great Storm who decided to actually forgive them. And Jude took it even one step further. ¡°O Great Storm, this humble one dares to ask of you to listen to a little more of my words.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I would like to repay your kindness for forgiving our great sins. I hope that you will allow me and Cordelia to fight for the Great Storm tribe. I would like to be a warrior of Great Storm.¡± It sounded like he was saying that he wanted to volunteer, but the truth waspletely different. ¡®Our self-promation bes official.¡¯ At the moment Great Storm allowed it, Jude and Cordelia would be real warriors of the wild god Great Storm. ¡®We¡¯ll be actively moving in the wildnds anyway.¡¯ In order to reach a happy ending, the two needed to stop the Devil¡¯s Eye and the Angry Bull tribe. Then, wouldn¡¯t an official warrior be better than a self-proimed warrior? If they got a proper certification from Great Storm, their activities in the wildnds would be much easier. ¡®And if we be official ones, he¡¯ll give us something.¡¯ There was no way that a being named god would just appoint them as warriors and solely profit from it. ¡°Ummm.¡± Great Storm narrowed his eyes at Jude¡¯s request and made a grunting sound. He didn¡¯t have a good feeling about it, as he was sure that Jude was up to something, but he couldn¡¯t figure out what was wrong. ¡®It looks bad if I just send them back.¡¯ Because it was true that the demon followers were starting something in the wildnds. In fact, it was the reason why Great Storm appeared to Jude and Cordelia. ¡®Ummm, I feel like they¡¯ll squeeze me dry.¡¯ But he couldn¡¯t do much about it. Great Storm nodded his head after some careful consideration. ¡°Okay, I will grant your request. From today onwards, you two are my warriors.¡± It was at that moment that Great Storm dered it. An intense light suddenly rose from Jude and Cordelia¡¯s right upper arms. It was for a moment, but a deep pain followed it. As they endured the pain that was like a hot iron touching their skin, Jude and Cordelia quickly rolled up their clothes to confirm it and saw a tattoo on their right arms. The pattern of a thunderbird surrounded by the wind. It was the emblem symbolizing the wild god, Great Storm. And the moment they confirmed the emblem¡¯s existence, Jude and Cordelia thought like rotten water. ¡®Aren¡¯t there any special effects?¡¯ ¡®No options?¡¯ Because they didn¡¯t feel any immediate changes. Jude and Cordelia looked at each other and checked each other¡¯s emblem afterwards. And they soon realized it again. ¡®Different?¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s different?¡¯ Jude¡¯s was silver, while Cordelia¡¯s was golden. The two simultaneously looked back at Great Storm, and he said with a smile. ¡°This is my emblem. Show it to my tribesmen and they will recognize you as my warriors.¡± ¡®No, this one¡¯s more important.¡¯ ¡®What¡¯s the difference between silver and gold? The golden one¡¯s better, right?¡¯ Jude and Cordelia enthusiastically spoke with their eyes, and they continued talking as if ignoring Great Storm. ¡°Now that you two have be my warriors, there is something I would like to entrust to you.¡± It was the real reason why Great Storm appeared in this ce. If this was a game, it was the moment a quest was about to begin. However, Jude and Cordelia were more interested in the emblem they acquired right now rather than the quest that was about to start. It was all the more so since it was split into silver and gold. ¡®Shall we just ask?¡¯ ¡®Are you going to cut him off from what he¡¯s going to say?¡¯ It was the moment they exchanged nces. Great Storm finally figured out why the two were so fretful and said with a guffaw unlike that of a boy¡¯s. ¡°What, are you curious about the emblem¡¯s power?¡± ¡°¡°Yes.¡±¡± Great Stormughed again when Jude and Cordelia immediately answered at the same time. ¡°The wind will be on your side from now on, as it is an emblem enchanted with the wind that I control.¡± ¡®Is this something that increase wind attributes?¡¯ ¡®Can we control the wind?¡¯ While Jude and Cordelia were trying their best to interpret it, Great Storm continued to speak. ¡°In the silver emblem, there is the protection of the wind barrier. When used, the wind barrier will spread out and block projectile attacks. In the golden emblem, there are the protection of the wind barrier and the blessing of the wind. If you use the blessing of the wind, you will be able to freely control the surrounding wind for a while.¡± Even if he was a wild god, it doesn¡¯t change that he was a god. The protection of the wind barrier alone was useful, but the blessing of the wind was a very great ability that had a lot of room for application. ¡°Wow! Thank you so much!¡± Cordelia brightly smiled in delight as she re-examined the golden emblem on her arm, and Great Storm smiled in satisfaction too at the pretty sight of such Cordelia. But Jude was different. ¡®Howe?¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s was golden but Jude himself was silver. Was there a numerical limitation? In times like this, don¡¯t they just give you the same thing? Just like the Winter Fairy Queen that fairly gave the winter protection. Jude¡¯s questions were reasonable, and that was why Great Storm could also easily guess Jude¡¯s thoughts. He then said with a smile. ¡°It¡¯s a simple reason.¡± The reason why he gave a golden emblem to Cordelia and a silver emblem to Jude¡­ ¡°I¡¯m a man, so I like a pretty, kind, cute, and honest girl much better than a deep-ck cunning man.¡± Jude blinked at his very honest answer, and Cordelia brightly smiled again. ***¡°Well, it¡¯s not just that, actually.¡± As Jude had guessed, there was a limit to the number of golden and silver emblems, so it was impossible to give both of them a golden emblem. ¡°Somehow, I have a good wavelength with that girl. It¡¯s quite strange, if I have to say it.¡± ¡®Is it because they¡¯re both storm?¡¯ Great Storm and Yellow Storm. Cordelia nodded repeatedly with a smile as if she had a simr thought. ¡°That¡¯s right, Great Storm. I think I fit well with Great Storm.¡± ¡°Right? I think so too.¡± It was a conversation between Cordelia and Great Storm, who had be more friendly. Jude tried hard to swallow down the sense of alienation that he felt, and then proceeded to talk again. ¡°O Great Storm, would you tell us what you wanted to entrust us?¡± ¡°Ah, yes. I was talking about that.¡± Great Storm pped his hands and corrected his sitting position on the rock as he began talking again. ¡°As you had said, the demon followers seem to be doing something. Strange phenomenon are urring in the various sacred grounds that exist in the wildnds.¡± ¡°In the sacred grounds?¡± ¡°Yes, each of us wild gods have our own areas. That area is called the sacred grounds (sanctuary).¡± It could be said that the wild gods were simr to Korea¡¯s local mountain gods. They select a sacred ground within their area, and then build their strength in that sanctuary. Because of that, they could exert enough power to be called a god within their area, but if they go outside their area, their strength will sharply decrease. ¡°There is a ce in the nearby area that used to be a sanctuary. It¡¯s a ce where the wild god, Violent Avnche, used to live. Instead of looking after a tribe, he became one with nature. Anyway, even after he disappeared, the power of the wild god remained, and it continued to function as a sanctuary.¡± It was thanks to the sanctuary, which was full of blessings from the wild gods, that the barbarians could continue to live in the extremely cold areas of the wildnds. ¡°But I think something has gone wrong there. The energy of nature is twisted, and it seems like even monsters have begun appearing.¡± It was a story that they knew somehow. Great Storm continued his words. ¡°As I said for the first time, it seems that it isn¡¯t just one or two sanctuaries that have a problem. In the midst of this, I couldn¡¯t leave the sanctuary, so I sent some of the tribesmen to investigate, but the results weren¡¯t good.¡± None of the warriors who went to the Violent Avnche¡¯s sanctuary came back. Normally, he would have sent Red Gale, the best warrior in the tribe, but it was impossible because he had been sick for several years. ¡°The distortion of the erroneous sanctuaries have begun to gradually affect my own sanctuary. So, children of the south, my warriors. Please investigate the Violent Avnche¡¯s sanctuary.¡± Jude and Cordelia looked at each other. In Legend of Heroes 2, the wildnds did not properly make an appearance. Naturally, the quests rted to the wild gods also did not exist. Therefore, it was highly likely that what would happen onwards would be unknown territory even for Jude and Cordelia, the rotten waters of Legend of Heroes. There was a fear in the unknown. It was a fear that they could not know on what would happen next. But even so. ¡®It sounds a little strange, but it feels like a new expansion pack was released.¡¯ Cordelia said with her eyes, and Jude agreed. His heart was pounding a little with excitement too. And in fact, they had foreseen this. Because the goal of Jude and Cordelia was to destroy the scenario in Legend of Heroes 2. ¡®Furthermore¡­it¡¯s not like we do not have any information at all.¡¯ Although the wildnds did not appear on the stage, the Devil¡¯s Eye and the corrupted barbarians clearly appeared in Legend of Heroes 2. The information about them was in Jude¡¯s head. ¡®There¡¯s got to be rewards too.¡¯ A wild god was still a god. Like how he gave them the emblems, he would give them appropriate rewards. ¡®It¡¯s simple.¡¯ It was something that they needed to do anyway, so shouldn¡¯t they do it unconditionally if they could get some rewards? ¡®Let¡¯s do it.¡¯ This time, Jude said that with his eyes, and Cordelia agreed. The eyes of the two headed to Great Storm. Chapter 60: Great Storm (1)

Chapter 60: Great Storm (1)

Ah, it¡¯s ate release again, hahaha. And next chapter is long, so expect some dys in its release tomorrow. Terms used in this chapter: Wasp waist ¨C Wasp waist?is a women¡¯s fashion silhouette, produced by a style of?corset?and?girdle, that has experienced various periods of poprity in the 19th and 20th centuries. Its primary feature is the abrupt transition from a natural-width?rib cage?to an exceedingly small waist, with the hips curving out below. It takes its name from its simrity to a?wasp¡¯s segmented body.?¨C Source: Wikipedia Yondu ¨C a fictional character in Marvel¡¯s Guardians of the Gxyics. Through a series of whistles, he is able to control an arrow made of a special sound-sensitive metal. Depending on the tone and intensity of the whistle, the speed, strength, and direction can be controlled. The arrow is capable of prating anything and seems capable of moving at a speed of Mach 5 at least. ¨C Source: Marvel Fandom ck card ¨C a highly regarded and exclusive credit card issued through invitation only for bank customers with high ies and A+ credit. The card entitles its holders to VIP ess, upgraded flights, event tickets, and special treatment at stores, etc. In Korea, the ck card is also known as the Hyundai Card. There were two yable characters from thend of the barbarians, but in fact, it was extremely rare for thend of the barbarians to be the stage in the game. The reason was simple. It was because the stage of both Red Wind and Kirara¡¯s main activities were not in thend of the barbarians. ¡®Red Wind is in S?len, while Kirara is in Argon.¡¯ Red Wind began her scenario after escaping from very in the northern part of the S?len Kingdom. She had only been active in the S?len Kingdom up to the middle of her scenario, before she fought against the corrupted barbarians to avenge her father. ¡®Kirara started in the far eastern section of the barbariannds, and as soon as she was finished with the tutorial, she went straight to the Argon Empire.¡¯ She was not affected by the great invasion of the northern barbarians because she had transferred to the Argon Empire and not the S?len Kingdom. Kirara had never thought of going back as the reason why she left her hometown in the first ce was because she had run away. Therefore, in Legend of Heroes 2, there were only two events where thend of the barbarians appeared with great importance. One was the ¡®Homing¡¯ event, where Red Wind mourned at the sight of her hometown that had already be deserted ruins, and the other was ¡®Lena¡¯s Death¡¯ event. *** ¡°Okay, for more details such as the location of the sanctuary and so on, the tribesmen will deliver it. When Jude and Cordelia said that they will take on the investigation of the sanctuary, Great Storm spoke with a sigh as if he had been relieved. Great Storm didn¡¯t want to make it obvious, but he was actually under heavy stress. It was quite difficult for Great Storm, a young wild god, to connect the minds of Jude and Cordelia, who were not his tribesmen, and to also appear before the two. ¡°Then, let¡¯s organize everything for now. When the investigation is over, then¡­¡± ¡°Please wait!¡± Cordelia quickly stopped Great Storm who was trying to stand up from his seat. Because there was still something left to talk about. ¡®Right?¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s right.¡¯ The two had obviously not discussed in advance on what they should do and talk about if they met Great Storm. However, Jude and Cordelia had already talked about how to proceed when they arrive at thend of the barbarians. There was one more important thing that they have yet to tell. ¡°O magnanimous Great Storm. We have some information we must tell you.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± When Jude assumed a very serious expression, Great Storm was curious, so he sat down again. Instead of talking right away, Jude took a deep breath before he spoke in a calm tone. ¡°It concerns the illness that Red Gale contracted.¡± ¡°¡­Tell me.¡± Great Storm¡¯s gaze sharpened. Because Great Storm was also well aware that the illness Red Gale had contracted was unusual and was actually some kind of curse. ¡°The illness, or rather, the curse¡¯s name is ¡®Blue Spider Lily,¡¯ and it¡¯s a spell that followers of Belial, the overlord of corruption, likes to use.¡± T/N: Yes, ¡®Blue Spider Lily¡¯ was the trantion of ?? ???. How a fictional flower from ¡®Kimetsu no Yaiba¡¯ ended up bing the name of a curse or spell in this series is beyond me. Shouldn¡¯t the author have named it as ¡®Blue Spider Lily¡¯s Curse¡¯ or something? The author also called it a curse, but frankly, ¡®poison¡¯ would make more sense. Anyway, I¡¯ll call it the ¡®Curse of the Blue Spider Lily¡¯ from now on, so that it would make more sense. The Curse of the Blue Spider Lily was not a curse to kill the enemy. It was a curse that made its target powerless in order to make them easier to corrupt. The person who contracted the Curse of the Blue Spider Lily would be weak in both body and mind, and eventually be unable to do anything. The one who cursed him was Haraken, a witch doctor and also an executive of the Devil¡¯s Eye. Seven Horns, the chieftain of the Angry Bull tribe, was the first person to be cursed in thend of the barbarians. As the strongest warrior in the Angry Bull tribe, he became very weak in just a month as his condition was no different from a withered tree, and after half a year, it became impossible for him to do anything without the prophet Haraken¡¯s help. And in the seventh month, he was sacrificed by Haraken, ascended as one of Belial¡¯s kin, and was reborn as aplete demon. ¡°The effect of the Curse of the Blue Spider Lily gets stronger the closer the target is to the caster. Fortunately, Red Gale is quite far from the witch doctor, so the illness¡¯ progress is rtively slow, but in the end, he will bepletely helpless.¡± ¡°Is there no other way?¡± Great Storm inquired with a fretful face. As he cared for the tribe, tribal chief Red Gale was like a child to him. ¡°There is only one way to get rid of the curse. You must kill the caster who cast the curse.¡± In fact, there was a much simpler solution. It was to purify Red Gale with a stronger power than Belial¡¯s curse. But that was impossible. Among the wild gods, Great Storm belonged to the fairly strong group, but the opponent was Belial, one of the five overlords that ruled hell. Comparing the two was pointless. ¡°He clearly contracted it when he attended the meeting of the chieftains. It¡¯s obvious that one of the people who attended the meeting was the culprit!¡± Great Storm burst into anger, and Jude nodded. It was highly likely that Haraken attended the meeting of the chieftains and cast the curse on Red Gale, who would be an obstacle to the unification war. ¡°O Great Storm, please calm down your anger. I have a way to improve Red Gale¡¯s condition.¡± ¡°Is that true?¡± Hearing Jude¡¯s words, Great Storm jumped from his seat and asked. Jude nodded his head and took out the Sun¡¯s Ne hidden under his clothes. ¡°Anyone who contracted the Curse of the Blue Spider Lily will be eternally exposed to hellish chills. Therefore, if we get rid of the chill using Yang energy, the progress of the curse will slow down, and his condition would improve.¡± T/N: Yin energy symbolizes coldness, or chills, while its opposite, Yang energy, symbolizes hotness or warmth. So something with ¡®Yang energy¡¯ is needed to counteract the curse¡¯s chill effect. In the first ce, the reason why Red Wind came down to the south was to obtain the Sunflower. ¡®The Sunflower loses its effectiveness the moment it is plucked out of the ce where it bloomed, so it cannot be used to treat illnesses in the first ce.¡¯ Jude had the Sun¡¯s Ne. If a person was sick, Sri¡¯s item that continuously gave off Yang energy would be able to stop the Curse of the Blue Spider Lily. ¡°Ooh¡­then we can give the ne to Red Gale.¡± ¡°Yes, he can borrow it. I will lend it.¡± He didn¡¯t care if he lent it, but it was absolutely impossible for him to entirely give it away. Moreover, Jude wasn¡¯t willing to give it to him for free. ¡®Because the situation has changed.¡¯ If it was before Great Storm appeared, Jude would have lent the ne for free to save Red Gale, but there was Great Storm now. If so, wasn¡¯t it proper to receive a rental fee? ¡°The Sun¡¯s Ne is a must-have item for me to cure my chronic disease. It¡¯s like a lifeline to me.¡± When Jude emphasized the importance of the Sun¡¯s Ne, Great Storm knit his brows. ¡°Chronic disease? Don¡¯t you look healthy?¡± Jude was clearly in good shape. At Great Storm¡¯s question, Jude shook his head and suddenly let out a cough before speaking. ¡°No¡­cough. Even if I look like this, I¡¯m quite weak. Isn¡¯t it? Cordelia?¡± Cordelia suddenly came to her senses when Jude called her, and she immediately stepped forward and said. ¡°That¡¯s right, my Jude is quite weak. Look at that pale skin. His blood vessels are visible. Not so long ago, I carried him on my back.¡± It was true that his skin was clear enough for his blood vessels to be visible and that he was carried on her back. ¡°No, I think he looks healthy¡­¡± ¡°Look at his forearm here. He has a thin waist too. It¡¯spletely a wasp waist, a wasp waist. What should I do? My Jude is so pitiful¡­¡± Perhaps thanks to having traveled together with Jude, Cordelia¡¯s acting skills have rapidly improved. It was obvious that her crying was fake, but the beautiful girl¡¯s tearful acting was enough to shake the heart of the viewer. ¡°Ummm¡­but I am a god of the wind. There is no way for me to provide Yang energy.¡± ¡°It¡¯s all right. If that is so, anything rted to the wind will be of help too.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. Although Jude is weak, it¡¯s not to the point he¡¯ll die right away if he didn¡¯t have the ne.¡± Jude and Cordelia spoke together, and eventually, Great Storm conceded to his inevitable predicament of being scammed by the scammer couple despite being aware of it. ¡°¡­All right, then I will award you the most powerful one among the divine items that I have.¡± ¡°Thank you very much.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll use it well. Great Storm is so cool. Handsome. The best.¡± Cordelia was just saying whatever words that came to her mind, but to Great Storm, it sounded nice. Great Storm burst intoughter and summoned a blue-colored arrow in the air. ¡°It¡¯s the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow.¡± The whole arrow was pure white, as if they were looking at an ice crystal. ¡°It can be manipted ording to the user¡¯s will.¡± ¡°Will?¡± ¡°Yes, the user can manipte it to move in the air through their will.¡± As if responding to Great Storm¡¯s words, the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow began flying through the air at a truly terrifying speed. ¡°Wow! Yondu!¡± ¡°Yondu?¡± Great Storm asked again, but Cordelia just smiled and turned to Jude, who spoke with a serious face. ¡°Because Jude uses it like- Ouch!¡± ¡°Dad joke Out!¡± T/N: It¡¯s a pun. ¡®Yondu (??)¡¯ and ¡®Yudeo (??)¡¯ sound simr in Korean. ¡®Yudeo¡¯ is how Jude¡¯s name is pronounced in Korean. I¡¯m not a 100% sure about this one though, because Cordelia cut him off before he finished his ¡®dad joke.¡¯ As for Cordelia¡¯s ¡®Dad joke Out!¡¯, it¡¯s based on baseball¡¯s ¡®Out!¡¯ that umpires shout when a batter or baserunner is taken out of y. Umpires usually shout ¡®Out!¡¯, ¡®Batter, Out!¡¯ or something like that, so in this case, Cordelia reced ¡®batter¡¯ with ¡®dad joke¡¯ to tell Jude to stop using dad jokes or that his dad joke is ¡®out.¡¯ Cordelia smacked Jude in the back and thanked Great Storm again. ¡°Thank you very much. We will use it well.¡± ¡°Yes, it will be a weapon that suits you well. It¡¯s good for wizards to at least have one long-ranged weapon like that.¡± ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right¡­eh, wait a minute. Are you giving it to me? Not to Jude?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m giving it to you?¡± Great Storm spoke as if it was natural for Cordelia to receive it, and Jude said in surprise. ¡°Wa-wait a second! The Sun¡¯s Ne is the cure for my illness-¡± ¡°So what? I want to give it to her. Are you going to take the stuff I gave to your fianc¨¦e?¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s not it¡­¡± No matter how Jude tried, he couldn¡¯te up with anything else to say. And it was true that the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow was also a weapon that suited Cordelia more than Jude. Eventually, Jude gave up and his shoulders slumped, and Great Storm brightly smiled and said. ¡°When you arrive at the vige, head to the altar. I will put it there.¡± ¡°¡­Okay.¡± ¡°Thank you so much!¡± There was a difference in temperature between the responses of Jude and Cordelia, and after Cordelia thanked him, Great Storm stood up from his seat. It was time for him to return them. But not yet. There was still some things left that they could rip off from Great Storm. ¡°Wait! Please wait! There¡¯s onest thing we have yet to say!¡± ¡°What is it again?¡± ¡°It¡¯s really important.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, it¡¯s really, really important.¡± Cordelia didn¡¯t know what it was about but stopped Great Storm anyway as she sent a gaze to Jude asking about it, and Jude began talking to both Great Storm and Cordelia. *** ¡°Haa!¡± ¡°Haa!¡± Jude and Cordelia¡¯s minds suddenly became clear and they opened their eyes at the same time. They were inside the white igloo. Red Wind was still fast asleep, and the morning dawn shone through a small gap in the entrance. ¡°Haa¡­¡± ¡°Huu¡­¡± Jude and Cordelia first took a deep breath before they simultaneously rolled up their sleeves to confirm the emblem. ¡°It¡¯s real.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t a dream either.¡± They met Great Storm and became his warriors. They also ripped off a bunch of items from him. ¡°Hehehe, gold is gold.¡± As Cordelia stroked her emblem and spoke, Jude¡¯s expression naturally turned sour, and Cordelia¡¯s smile grew even deeper. ¡°Sil-trash, Sil-ronze, Deep sea person.¡± T/N: The above three terms are Korean ng words in League of Legends (LOL). LOL has rankings, and the lowest is the iron tier. Above it are the Bronze, Silver, Gold, tinum, Diamond, etc. ¡®Deep Sea¡¯ refers to those near the bottom tiers, so if you belong to the Iron tier, you are at the deepest of the sea. It¡¯s arguable where the surface of the deep sea is, since it could be Diamond, tinum, or lower. ¡®Deep sea person¡¯ refers to a yer stuck in the ¡®deep sea.¡¯ ¡®Sil-trash¡¯ is abination of the words ¡®silver¡¯ and ¡®trash.¡¯ ¡®Trash¡¯ is a derogatory ng referring to people of low social status or ss. And ¡®silver¡¯ refers to LOL¡¯s Silver tier. So if you¡¯re Sil-trash, you¡¯re someone who belongs to the low-ranking/low ss Silver tier. ¡®Sil-ronze¡¯ is abination of ¡®silver¡¯ and ¡®bronze.¡¯ It refers to people who are constantly going up and down the Bronze I and Silver IV tiers. Meaning they¡¯re always stuck in either of those two tiers. So why is Cordelia using this? Because she got the ¡®gold¡¯ emblem and Jude only got the ¡®silver¡¯ emblem. Gold tier is higher than Silver tier, and since Jude got silver, she called him all these three terms to emphasize that he¡¯s lower than her. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± ¡°Pretending not to hear me, huh?¡± ¡°You were saying silver or gold.¡± ¡°Yes, next time, Sil-ronze wille out for you.¡± It was a squabble that he couldn¡¯t win from the very beginning. Jude gave up before he got to his feet and removed some of the snow blocking the entrance. He looked outside and said to her afterwards. ¡°Let¡¯s just eat enough for this morning and then depart. We¡¯ll have to reach the vige by tomorrow night.¡± They had thrown away all their luggage while running away, but fortunately, he had carried some portable rations on him. It was enough for two days as long as the three ate in moderation. Cordelia nodded at Jude¡¯s words, and said as she rummaged through her pockets. ¡°I want to go quickly. I¡¯m really looking forward to what the store would be selling.¡± It was the norm in RPGs to go to the store first when one stops by the vige. But what was good this time wasn¡¯t just because they were expecting to upgrade their equipment. ¡°It¡¯s free, free.¡± It was what Jude had demanded from Great Storm. ¡°We needed a free pass.¡± ¡°Free pass?¡± ¡°In other words, a ck card.¡± Wasn¡¯t it reasonable for Great Storm¡¯s warriors to receive equipment that they would use to fight for Great Storm? Shouldn¡¯t they support the warriors on their journey to uphold Great Storm¡¯s will by handing over supplies and covering their expenses? ¡®It¡¯s because we actually don¡¯t have any money.¡¯ It was doubtful if the S?len Kingdom¡¯s currency would be epted in the wildnds, and in the first ce, Jude and Cordelia had lost almost all of their money when they escaped across the border. They weren¡¯t exploiting them just for their own benefit, as it was a rather necessary measure. ¡°Jude the Scammer, King of Rip-offs. A vicious man who even ripped a god off.¡± ¡°So you don¡¯t like it?¡± ¡°I love it! A man who has the strong ability to maintain a livelihood is the best! He was her scammer, and not someone else¡¯s scammer. ¡°Daddy, daddy. You¡¯re so cool. You¡¯re a man of this generation who can turn a crisis into an opportunity.¡± ¡°If it¡¯s for my princess, I¡¯d even cheat a god.¡± The two exchanged warm whispers whileughing, and after they woke up Red Wind, they hurriedly prepared for their departure. And on the following night. Not long after the sun had gone down. The three finally arrived at the vige of the Great Storm tribe. Chapter 61: Great Storm (2)

Chapter 61: Great Storm (2)

Yes, the chapter is finally here. Next chapter is also long, so expect some dys again. Terms used in this chapter: Monster Hunter ¨C ?a hack and sh, strategy adventure game. Unlike traditionalputer role-ying games, a yer¡¯s Hunter does not grow and has no intrinsic attributes whatsoever. Rather, the Hunter¡¯s abilities are instead defined by the specific weapons and armor they select prior to leaving on a mission. ¨C Source: Wikipedia ¡°Big.¡± ¡°Huge.¡± Jude and Cordelia said as they stood in front of the huge main gate, which was around 5 meters high. The vige of the Great Storm tribe was bigger than they had expected. At this level, they wondered if calling it a city was more appropriate than calling it a vige. ¡°More than 10,000 people live here.¡± Red Wind spoke with a smile on her face, as Jude and Cordelia¡¯s reactions somehow made her feel better, and Jude came to understand it. ¡®The reason why the Devil¡¯s Eye specifically paid attention to this tribe.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t just the fact that Red Gale himself was a great hero, but also because the power of the Great Storm tribe itself couldn¡¯t be ignored. ¡°Who are you!¡± ¡°Red Wind?!¡± A cautious voice and a delighted voice was heard beyond the main gate at the same time. Red Wind smiled bitterly, and she stepped forward and raised her voice. ¡°It¡¯s Red Wind! I¡¯m back now! I want to see my father!¡± She was bad at speaking the officialnguage of the continent, but naturally, she was fluent in thenguage of the barbarians. ¡°What were they talking about?¡± ¡°Uh¡­I think she¡¯s saying that she¡¯s back? It seems like she wanted to see Red Gale.¡± Cordelia asked in a low voice, and Jude replied in a low voice too. Although Jude was able to read and write in thenguage of the barbarians, he wasn¡¯t fluent enough to speak it naturally. After all, Jude had only memorized the text in the game. ¡®It¡¯s mysterious if you think about it.¡¯ It was a game created for amusement, but the severalnguages that appeared in the game can actually be used like a realnguage. Of course, there weren¡¯t that many fictitiousnguages in the game like those created in the Lord of the Rings or Star Trek, as the game¡¯s fictitiousnguages could be counted in one¡¯s hand. ¡®There are other really mysterious things apart from that.¡¯ This world is identical to the world of the Legend of Heroes series. He didn¡¯t think that they had really entered the game. It was more realistic to think that a world, which was identical to the game¡¯s world, existed somewhere, and that the two were reborn in that world. ¡®If so, why were they identical?¡¯ The reason why this world was so identical to the world of the Legend of the Heroes series. Did the production crew of Legend of Heroes imitate this world? Or was there something else? It was an interesting point to think about for his amusement, but he couldn¡¯t continue his thoughts. Because the main gate was opened. ¡°Red Wind!¡± ¡°Blue Wave!¡± A blue-haired girl appeared after the main gate opened, and she widely opened her arms as Red Wind quickly ran and hugged the girl. ¡°I know her.¡± When Cordelia spoke quietly, Jude also nodded his head. She was the girl who appeared in Red Wind¡¯s ¡®Homing¡¯ event. Her body waspletely frozen and became an ice statue, and the scene of Red Wind hugging her while wailing was still clear in their memories. ¡°Good. Really good.¡± Because it did not turn out like the original. Because they could meet each other again alive andugh like that. With her eyes red with tears, Cordelia turned to Jude and said. ¡°Let¡¯spletely change it.¡± The fate of the two people. The future of the Great Storm tribe, who were destined to be destroyed. ¡°Yes, let¡¯spletely change it.¡± Jude and Cordelia had already changed many futures. As a result, more and more situations that werepletely unknown to them had increased, and the dangers had ordingly increased too, but the two had no intentions of stopping their actions. ¡°Let me introduce you to my friends. They saved me.¡± When Red Wind pointed to Jude and Cordelia, Blue Wave had a wary look but soon smiled widely and extended her hand. ¡°Red Wind¡¯s friend is my friend. Wee to our vige. The chief told me you wereing.¡± Cordelia blinked her eyes while Jude carefully interpreted it in his mind, and Red Wind said with a smile. ¡°Blue Wave wees you. My father said you wereing.¡± Great Storm seemed to have informed about them in advance. ¡°Okay, then let¡¯s go quickly. We have to stop the illness from progressing.¡± Cordelia prodded on, and Red Wind nodded her head vigorously. She had left the vige in the first ce to cure her father, Red Gale. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Red Wind energetically shouted. And 20 minutester¡­ Red Wind burst into tears. ¡°I was wrong! I¡¯m sorry! Uwaaah!¡± It wasn¡¯t tears of deep emotion that she shed in Red Gale¡¯s hug. It was a cry that was 20% shame and 80% pain. Spank! Spank! Pak! Pak! Red Gale was spanking her butt. To describe it more urately, she was lying with her stomach on Red Gale¡¯s knee and was getting spanked in the butt by his palm. Regardless of whether others saw them or not, her pants were lowered as she was spanked, and there was a clear and bright red palm mark on her buttocks. ¡°She left home because of him¡­¡± Cordelia¡¯s words were somehow persuasive as it seemed like Red Wind had left her home for apletely different reason. ¡°¡­but is he really sick?¡± Red Gale was spanking Red Wind. First of all, he was huge. He wasn¡¯t as big as Landius, or rather, his palms were muchrger than Red Wind¡¯s butt, and Red Wind who was on his knee looked like a doll, so he was an enormous person that might beparable to Landius. And he wasn¡¯t just huge. Like Landius, he was a man with tightly packed muscles, and his upper arms were thicker than Cordelia and Jude¡¯s waist. ¡®He¡¯s also needlessly good-looking like Landius.¡¯ Red Gale also inherited the blood of the winter elves who were known to be good-looking. His clean face without a beard gave off a neutral charm that felt closer to Kamael than Landius, though because of his huge build like Landius, it felt different. As Cordelia thought to herself while nodding, Red Gale ended his punishment and withdrew his hand. ¡°For the next month, you are grounded.¡± At the somehow familiar words, Jude and Cordelia reflexively recoiled in surprise, but fortunately, Red Gale¡¯s focus was on Red Wind. He spoke in a very grave tone, before he moved his chin as a gesture to Blue Wave who was waiting in the corner. Blue Wave quickly ran like a squirrel and supported Red Wind, because Red Wind couldn¡¯t even properly walk due to her butt being spanked. ¡°Huhu¡­I hate you, Dad!¡± ¡°Hmph! Take her away.¡± Red Wind didn¡¯t just run out of her vige but even crossed the border. Generally, it was normal for someone to not return in that situation. In fact, Red Wind was caught and confined at the ve auction house. Violence was not good, but Jude understood the feelings of Red Gale who scolded her harshly. ¡°Haa¡­¡± When Blue Wave and Red Wind left, Red Gale let out a sigh, and his face was mixed with concern and relief. Although he looked to be healthy at first, he was worried about what kind of hardships she had suffered across the border. But now wasn¡¯t the time to continue worrying about his daughter. Red Gale adjusted his seating position and then said. ¡°Thank you very much. For saving my daughter. Great Storm told me. Please understand that I can¡¯t get up because I¡¯m unwell. Really, thank you.¡± It was a rather crude pronunciation of the officialnguage, but they had no problems in understanding it. Jude smiled and replied. ¡°It is thanks to Great Storm¡¯s guidance.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Great Storm¡¯s warrior. You are Great Storm¡¯s warriors too. You will help, Great Storm said.¡± While he was seated, Red Gale rolled up his sleeves to show the golden emblem on his right upper arm. ¡°I have one too. But Jude¡¯s emblem is silver.¡± Cordelia was very happy as she showed her emblem, while Jude quickly proceeded with the conversation instead of taking the trouble of showing his arm. ¡°As Great Storm said, you are under a curse now, and not an illness. This ne will stop the progression of the curse.¡± When Jude handed over the Sun¡¯s Ne, Red Gale spoke with a very serious face. ¡°He said that it was necessary to cure your disease. I¡¯m really thankful to you for handing over this valuable item.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. I¡¯m just lending it to you until the curse has been resolved. Please return itter.¡± Jude rified that it was a rented item, and not a gift, before he continued his words. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for the rush, but we¡¯d like to hurry up and get ready for our departure.¡± ¡°Ah! I understand. Great Storm said to help you. You may take anything from our tribe. But there are conditions. I want to wee you today. Prepare now and leave the departure to tomorrow morning.¡± They were strangers, but at the same time, they were his daughter¡¯s benefactors, and Great Storm, the guardian deity of their tribe, had made them his warriors. Moreover, they even presented a solution to the illness he was helpless against, so whether they were strangers or not, Jude and Cordelia were already friends of the Great Storm tribe. It wasn¡¯t just because Red Gale was a mighty warrior that Haraken, an executive of the Devil¡¯s Eye, attempted to get rid of him. His human charm, derived from his honest and upright personality, and his strong bond with the wild gods, were enough to make him the central figure of the barbarians. ¡°Okay. We will do so.¡± ¡°Good. White Frost will guide you.¡± After speaking, Red Gale pped his hands several times, and the young man who was waiting outside the door, entered. He was a handsome young man with white hair like his name. ¡°Guide them to the items storage. Give them whatever they want.¡± ¡°I will do so. Pleasee this way.¡± As soon as he replied to Red Gale, White Frost spoke to Jude and Cordelia as he took the lead, and Jude and Cordelia headed for the items storage in excitement. And 30 minutes after¡­ ¡°Wow, there are a lot of amazing items.¡± ¡°Because barbarian weapons were quite rare in the Legend of Heroes series.¡± Most of the items they first saw were equipment. ¡°Let¡¯s change our armor first.¡± ¡°Yeah, because the dwarf items are too conspicuous.¡± The performance of the ancient dwarves¡¯ work clothes from Frost Anvil were excellent, but their color was a problem. They will have to wander around like mad on the white snowfield in the future, so the yellow color was too eye-catching. ¡°Most of them are made from bones or fur.¡± ¡°It¡¯s like the equipment that appeared in Monster Hunter.¡± Thanks to the Winter Protection, they were rtively free from the cold, so they chose equipment that considered mobility rather than wearing heavy clothes. A dozen minutes passed like that. Cordelia suddenly spoke in a lively voice. ¡°This! This is it! This is the best!¡± ¡°What is it?¡± Jude unintentionally looked back and swallowed his breath in an instant. ¡°How is it, Daddy? Isn¡¯t it cute? It¡¯s so cute that you can¡¯t even breathe, right?¡± Cordelia coquettishly said, and Jude neither affirmed nor denied it. Because she was really cute. Cordelia had white rabbit ears attached on her head. To be exact, it was a headband with rabbit ears attached to it, and it was a cute essorymonly seen in games like JRPG (Japanese Role-ying Game). ¡°The barbarians use animal-shaped equipment to draw out shamanistic power, so this must be real. Equipping the rabbit set increases agility and jumping power. It¡¯s a good choice.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t change the subject. Here¡¯s yours too.¡± Cordelia yfullyughed and held out one more rabbit ears headband to him. ¡°Me too?¡± ¡°Yes, you too.¡± As Jude hesitated, Cordelia said while clicking her tongue. ¡°It¡¯s okay, it¡¯s okay. Because Jude is a handsome boy. It will suit you.¡± ¡°I was handsome in my previous life too, okay?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡± Cordelia somewhat swept his hair back and put the rabbit ears headband over the hesitating Jude¡¯s head. ¡°Wow, it suits you. It perfectly suits you. My Jude is so pretty.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not convincing if you say that with a face that looks like you¡¯ll die fromughing, okay?¡± ¡°But¡­pfft¡­its power is¡­kuku¡­good, right?¡± She was right. Though it was a little embarrassing. ¡°It¡¯s okay, Daddy. I¡¯ll wear it too. There¡¯s nothing to be embarrassed about if we wear it together.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡± Jude sourly replied and looked for other items, but unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t find any equipment that was better than the rabbit set. ¡°Let¡¯s stop looking for armor and begin checking out the weapons.¡± ¡°Is there anything better than the Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword? Barbarians don¡¯t use swords very often.¡± Rather than swords, the barbarians preferredrge weapons such as axes and spears. ording to their settings, Red Wind specializes in the spear, while Red Gale uses a giant halberd. ¡°It¡¯s free though.¡± ¡°Yes, that is why we have to find something.¡± Most of the weapons wererge, so they couldn¡¯t find anything that could be used as a main weapon. Instead, Jude and Cordelia took several useful daggers and hatchets. ¡°Because I have Cheonmujiche.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, Uncle Cheonmujiche is good at anything he does with his body. Lastly, you wear this equipment.¡± Cordelia held out a white, round, and furry item. ¡°What is that?¡± ¡°Rabbit tail.¡± It was the finishing touch to the rabbit set. Jude¡¯s face darkened, while Cordelia¡¯s face brightened in contrast to him. *** Afterwards, their schedule went smoothly. Jude and Cordelia went to the altar of Great Storm and took the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow. They joined in the simple banquet held by Red Gale, and by the next morning, they left the vige of the Great Storm tribe. ¡°It would be good if you learned me Spirit summoning. Great Storm also said that you have an aptitude for it. Your spear skills are good but try practicing archery too. You¡¯ll have good results.¡± Numerous rankers of Legend of Heroes created Red Wind¡¯s strongest tech tree as a result of various experiments. At Jude and Cordelia¡¯s earnest request, Red Wind nodded her head several times while saying that she understood it. And a dozen minutester¡­ Jude suddenly stopped walking and looked back as he said. ¡°Lady Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes, Daddy.¡± ¡°Why do you keep walking behind me?¡± ¡°So that I can see Daddy¡¯s tail well.¡± When Jude¡¯s expression stiffened, Cordelia cheerfullyughed and said. ¡°Okay, okay. I¡¯ll take the lead for a while. Rx by looking at my tail.¡± ¡°I¡¯m okay with it though?¡± ¡°Why are you walking behind me when you said you¡¯re okay with it then?¡± ¡°For fairness?¡± ¡°Bullsh*t.¡± In the end, the two walked side by side as usual. The task that Great Storm had assigned them was to investigate Violent Avnche¡¯s sanctuary. But the two had one more purpose. ¡°Are we also going there?¡± ¡°We should stop by there.¡± In Legend of Heroes, there were few opportunities to travel through thend of the barbarians. It was possible in the early stages of Kirara¡¯s scenario and in the part of Red Wind¡¯s homing, but even in the homing part, the ces they could go to were limited. ¡®They said that all areas will be opened in thest expansion pack.¡¯ And perhaps it was the reason why there were several areas that they couldn¡¯t go then, even though it was obvious that something was there. There was one line that Jude and Cordelia had taken note of. In Red Wind¡¯s homing event, there was a line that said, ¡®There seems to be something.¡¯ However, that area couldn¡¯t be visited despite that fact. That area just near the road to Violent Avnche¡¯s sanctuary, so they thought that they should stop by there first. ¡®If my hypothesis is correct¡­Sri¡¯s ruins would be in that ce.¡¯ The ruins of Sri, the sun god. There were certain patterns in the ruins of Sri located throughout the continent, so in Jude¡¯s hypothesis, several ruins of Sri must have also existed in thend of the barbarians. And as if it was obvious, the ces that they couldn¡¯t go to in the game and the ces that Jude suspected to have the ruins of Sri were both located in the same position on the map. ¡°Let¡¯s go quickly.¡± ¡°Yes, Daddy.¡± However, the two only pretended to walk and did not take a step forward. Because both of them were intending to walk behind the other. ¡°What¡¯s with those intentions?¡± ¡°Are you talking about you or me?¡± Eventually, the two walked side by side again. And at the same time, in apletely different ce¡­ There was a male and female pair who were likewise squabbling. *** ¡°What did you just say?¡± ¡°They must have crossed the border.¡± Adelia appeared in front of Ga?l, who was doing his morning training in their amodation¡¯s yard, and she said with an agitated face. ¡°The signal keeps moving away. They¡¯re still moving north even at this moment.¡± Ga?l and Adelia were now in Vedrfolnir, considered as the entrance of Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s territory. Considering that Jude and Cordelia spent nearly fifteen days traveling from Langesthei to Vedrfolnir, Ga?l and Adelia¡¯s traveling speed was seriously fast. But it was not enough. Jude and Cordelia were still so far away. And what was worse here was the fact that theypletely crossed the border. ¡°Are you saying that Jude and Cordelia crossed over to thend of the barbarians?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯ve been saying! I¡¯ve already told you that a few times!¡± Adelia loudly shouted, before she took a deep breath, puffed out her chest, and then said. ¡°This isn¡¯t the time to argue about this and that. We have to cross the border too.¡± There was a huge difference between wandering within the S?len Kingdom and wandering in thend of the barbarians beyond the border. Thend of the barbarians. It was thend of the savage and cruel barbarians. The S?len Kingdom had been fighting these barbarians for hundreds of years already. ¡®Jude, you evil bastard!¡¯ Going to a nice ce wasn¡¯t enough for you when you took her around, so you dragged Cordelia to such a living hell? No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn¡¯t forgive him. Even if Cordelia objected or her father opposed it, she would have their engagement called off without fail once she caught the two. ¡°I¡¯ll even go by myself, just so you know.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s hurry then.¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s hurry up then.¡± Ga?l didn¡¯t end it with just words alone. He went right back to his room, and within a few minutes, he packed all his luggage and came down. ¡°First of all, we must keep it a secret that Jude and Lady Cordelia have crossed the border. Count Hr?svelgr will somehow get in the way if he knew that we¡¯re trying to cross the border too.¡± Count Hr?svelgr was the margrave that guarded the border. The head of the Jackdaws wouldn¡¯t easily let them cross the border. ¡°Wait, we¡¯re sneaking through?¡± ¡°Were you thinking of openly crossing then?¡± When Ga?l asked in return, Adelia was instantly speechless and blinked her eyes. Because it was as what Ga?l said. Several procedures were needed to legally cross the border. Moreover, it was unlikely that Count Hr?svelgr, who had already been disgraced by Jude and Cordelia, would obediently let them create a new problem. It would be a huge blow to Count Hr?svelgr if he eventually allowed Ga?l and Adelia to cross the border and then some ident happened to them there. Still, Adelia had no choice but to be flustered. ¡°Will that be okay?¡± ¡°Oh, how do you cross the border then? You don¡¯t have to worry about it. Count Bayer knows everything about the border that separates the north. If it¡¯s a route to secretly cross the border, there are about 10 routes that we know.¡± ¡°N-no, that¡¯s not it.¡± It wasn¡¯t just crossing over the wall next door. It was a situation of crossing over the northern wall that bordered thend of the barbarians. During their travel together in thest few days, Adelia had thought that Ga?l was an upright and sincere man. He was a man of integrity himself who did not skip training every morning even during a trip, did not show signs of hardship no matter how hard it was, and solved everything ording to the set rules, whether other people spoke ill of him or not. But this man was trying to sneak across the border. It was also through a secret route that Count Bayer knew. ¡°Do you have any other problems then?¡± ¡°That¡­no, it¡¯s not a problem.¡± He naturally knew that she would object. Or go to Count Hr?svelgr and ask for help. ¡°Let¡¯s start right away then.¡± Before she knew it, Ga?l had already brought out the horses from the stable. The dumbfounded Adelia suddenly found herself riding on the horse and running after Ga?l. She thought it was an unexpected action for him. He was a man who was not fully sincere. No, he was a sincere man, but he could discern the gravity of the situation. ¡°We¡¯re going to change horses in Lankebuste! I¡¯ve contacted them in advance, so we won¡¯t suffer from any dys!¡± In addition, he was a man who was thoroughly prepared. ¡®How reliable.¡¯ He somehow resembled her older brother. Adelia slightly raised her assessment of Ga?l as she unconsciously smiled a little, before she focused on riding again. Their horses continued running towards the north. Chapter 62: (1/2) – Ruins (1)

Chapter 62: (1/2) ¨C Ruins (1)

I¡¯m feeling unwell, so I can only post half of chapter 62 that I¡¯ve already finished tranting. Future releases will be slowed down, up until I get better. The reason why the S?len Kingdom did not expand its influence on thend of the northern barbarians was simple. ¡°Because it¡¯s hard to live here.¡± They didn¡¯t stop at Thunderdoom Fortress just for no reason. There were two main reasons why thend of the barbarians was difficult to live in. One was the harsh natural environment, and the other was the monsters that appeared everywhere. ¡°It¡¯s cold and barren, and there are many monsters, so it¡¯s not a ce for people to live.¡± That was why the barbarians strike the northern border every few years. The north was hard to live in, while the south was habitable. It was to find a better ce to live. ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­this is tough. There¡¯s really nothing but snow as far as I can see.¡± Cordelia panted as she left deep impressions of new footprints on the pure white snowfield without a single footprint. At first, she liked that it was beautiful, but its beauty was only for a while as she began hating the snowfield that spread out endlessly while she walked. The environment in thend of the barbarians was really harsh. The vige of the Great Storm tribe was still a bit livable, as it felt like a vige located in the northernmost part of in Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s territory. However, as soon as they left the vige area, it was slightly like a worse version of Frost Anvil. Blizzards ruthlessly stormed as heaps of snow piled up everywhere. Had it not been for the Winter Protection, it would have been difficult to even breathe properly. ¡°The barbarians are¡­haa¡­really¡­haa¡­the reason¡­haa¡­is¡­¡± Living in this environment naturally made them stronger. No, the weak would not survive in the first ce. Unlike Cordelia, who was gasping and saying whatever she wanted to say until the end, Jude closed his mouth and just checked their direction with apass. They were in the northwest direction from the vige of the Great Storm tribe. After measuring the distance in his head, Jude soon sent a hand signal to Cordelia. ¡°What? Do we have to go a little longer? Hasn¡¯t it been¡­haa¡­like that¡­haa..since a while ago?¡± Jude responded with a hand signal again instead of answering, and Cordelia lost her temper. ¡°Ah, fu-! It¡¯s better if you just say it with your eyes!¡± It was easier for her to understand than a hand signal she didn¡¯t know about. ¡®It¡¯s amazing when I think about it. How did you do that? Is this like an animal¡¯s instinct? As expected of a beast, huh?¡¯ ¡°A beast?¡± Cordelia somewhatprehended Jude¡¯s gaze and hit him hard on the back. Jude continued to speak with his eyes. ¡®It¡¯s really just a little further. Can you see that slightly raised side over there? There is a way down there. An underground cave, I think?¡¯ Seeing Jude¡¯s gaze, Cordelia frowned and groaned as she repeated her question. Because his words were too long, it seemed that she couldn¡¯t properly understand it. ¡°Uh¡­so there¡¯s a way down there?¡± ¡®That¡¯s right.¡¯ ¡°F*ck, just say it yourself. Talk in words. Say it in words, Daddy!¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Jude briefly responded to her whining and began to take the lead again, and Cordelia gasped for breath and continued following Jude. In terms of physical strength, the rtionship between the two waspletely reversed due to the Sunflower. And around 5 minutester¡­ Jude and Cordelia finally reached the entrance of a huge cave. As Jude had said, it was arge cave that stretched downwards, and it was like the entrance to a dungeon. ¡®This ce was in the original story.¡¯ There seems to be something ¨C now that that short line in the game had appeared in front of them, it was impossible for them to not enter this ce. Jude swallowed down and had a small smile. Because his heart was beating at the thought of going to a ce he had never been before and taking a step towards the unknown. Unlike Jude however, Cordelia strongly reacted in surprise as she stood in her spot and then said. ¡°Say, let¡¯s get in there quickly. I don¡¯t want to be exposed to a blizzard again. It would be better once we get in.¡± ¡°¡­But there¡¯s no romance.¡± ¡°Romance and so on is worthless if you¡¯re not warm andfortable. What kind of romance is that when we¡¯re freezing?¡± Cordelia rapidly spit out words without dreams or hopes as she quickly made a magic light and took the lead as she began to go down. ¡°Be careful.¡± ¡°Yes, you too.¡± As soon as they started going down, Jude naturally took the lead. He was three steps ahead of Cordelia. He could feel Cordelia openly gazing at his tail, but from here on, it was not the time to stop and walk side by side. He stood in the front line and protected Cordelia who was in the rear. He became a shield that would protect Cordelia from any danger. ¡°A little reliable, huh?¡± ¡°Ha?¡± ¡°No, your tail is cute.¡± Instead of getting angry, Cordeliaughed and looked around with a little curiosity because the blizzard had disappeared. The cave that led downwards had a very high ceiling, and strangely enough, it widened as it went downwards. ¡°Uh¡­I think I¡¯m getting scared.¡± Nearly 30 meters down, the cave became sorge that it could not be seen with her small magic light. A dark and humid cave where one had no idea on what¡¯s around. The sound of water droplets dripping from afar seemed to be heard regrly, and soon, the sound of a buzzing bug was heard. ¡°Cordelia, can you increase the light a little more?¡± ¡°Yes, wait a second.¡± Increasing the intensity of the light naturally increased the mana consumption but securing their visibility of the surroundings was a priority. When Cordelia added more mana to her spell, the magical sphere that emitted the soft light doubled at once, and the light intensity was more than tripled. Paa-! At that moment, the light devoured the darkness as if they had turned on the light in a dark room. The surroundingndscape was revealed more clearly, and at that instant, Cordelia almost screamed. There were dozens of pairs of eyes in all directions. A surprisinglyrge number of monsters were watching from the sides of the walls and ceiling, and she wondered why they had not noticed so far. ¡°Cordelia! Begin!¡± Jude instantly shouted and Cordelia immediately understood it. She turned around and stood back to back with Jude, while Jude clenched both of his fists instead of drawing out the Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword. The numbers were estimated to be around twenty to thirty at most. Fortunately, the monster itself was a known species to them. ¡°Snow Goblin!¡± ¡°Live in big groups! White skin with a bluish glow! Blue eyes!¡± ¡°Obviously ice attribute!¡± ¡°Poisonous nails and teeth!¡± ¡°Timid and seriously coward personality! If they¡¯re a bit disadvantaged, they run right away!¡± Jude and Cordelia shouted in turns. However, they had no choice but to correct their words. ¡°Hey! Their eyes are red!¡± ¡°Fallen version! If they have that, they won¡¯t run away!¡± ¡°Berserk Mode!¡± The situation had changed for the Snow Goblins who had been corrupted due to their exposure to the power of Belial, the overlord of corruption. They were poisonous species who rushed and fought until thest one died. ¡°Here ites!¡± ¡°Believe in me!¡± When Jude cried out, Cordelia confidently shouted as the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow in her waist flew into the air. Immediately, she used the Witch Transformation and then yelled. ¡°I¡¯ll wipe them all away!¡± ¡°Yondu!¡± Jude looked at the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow in anticipation, and after taking a so-called swordsmanship pose, she deftly moved her hand to control the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow. Shaa-! The Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow seemed to fly at a terrifying speed with a piercing sound and it flew precisely between the forehead of the Snow Goblin in front of Jude. ¡°Kaaa!¡± The monster who was hit in the head fell. Jude cheered as he expected the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow to prate the others in session like what he saw in the movie. But there was nothing more. The Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow was blocked by the Snow Goblin¡¯s skull and couldn¡¯t go any further. ¡°Uh¡­this isn¡¯t it.¡± Cordelia said, and at that moment, the Snow Goblins roared and began to rush towards them. ¡°F*ck! I knew it would be like this!¡± ¡°Great Storm, you fraud!¡± Spitting out an insult after a long time, Jude held his breath and used Twenty-Four Gale Steps. A strong gust of wind was created and quickly swept the area around Cordelia at the same time. He prevented them from approaching Cordelia. He knocked down the enemies with one blow and steadily reduced their numbers. Boom! Boom! Boom! Roars broke out in session, and four of the Snow Goblins that approached in advance and swarmed on all sides, had their heads, necks, and chests smashed before they fell down. However, it was only four of them. The Snow Goblins lunged at them without care like a sea¡¯s surging waves. ¡°Let¡¯s run!¡± Each of them were weak, but there were too many of them. So Jude thought that they should at least change their location for the fight. Jude quickly grabbed Cordelia¡¯s waist at that instant and carried her on his shoulders like a sack. Normally, Cordelia would have said something about it, but she didn¡¯t say anything because they were in the middle of a battle, and at that moment, Jude kicked the ground as he soared up high. ¡°Guaaa!¡± Snow Goblins swarmed into the ce where Jude once stood as they ferociously roared, while Jude stepped on their heads and tried to go back to the path they originally came down from. But it was impossible. Because a new group of Snow Goblins had already appeared and blocked their retreat. ¡®Was it a settlement from the beginning?!¡¯ Snow Goblins often formedrge colonies than the other goblins. If it was really a proper settlement, their numbers could exceed a hundred. ¡®We need to go to a high ce.¡¯ Jude looked for a ce with a higher ground to avoid being surrounded by them. And it was at that moment. ¡°Don¡¯t! I¡¯ll use it again, so carry me on the back! Ah, no! Carry me in your arms!¡± Cordelia abruptly shouted, and Jude automatically followed her words. He shifted her position of being carried on his shoulders to the so-called princess hug. ¡°Go!¡± Cordelia eximed. At the same time, an intense wind swept around Jude and Cordelia. Shaaaaaaaa-! It was the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow. It came out from the head of the monster it first defeated and then passed through the Snow Goblins at a terrifying pace. No, it wasn¡¯t just that. ¡°Kaah!¡± ¡°Ack!¡± ¡°Kiiee!¡± The arrowhead of the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow tore and wound the skin of the Snow Goblins¡¯ neck, waist, and so on. ¡®Crazy.¡¯ Her control skills were truly terrifying. If she couldn¡¯t prate it, then tear and wound them. The theory itself was simple, but it was an arrowhead and not just anything else. Moving it at such a rapid pace and wounding their skin was close to an acrobatic feat. ¡®However.¡¯ It was meaningless if it was just a scratch. The Snow Goblins weren¡¯t that weak enough that they¡¯d kick the bucket from just that. Cordelia was also aware of that fact. So she had added one more measure. ¡°Kuuk!¡± ¡°Kiiee!¡± The Snow Goblins who were wounded by the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow suddenly let out their dying breaths. The reason was simple. ¡°Poison!¡± ¡°That¡¯s it!¡± . With the witch¡¯s spell, Cordelia had added a highly toxic poison to the arrowhead. Moreover, Cordelia¡¯sbo didn¡¯t end there. Because there were new spells that she had learned due to repeatedly leveling up. ¡°Explosion!¡± Cordelia released the spell and clenched her fist. The Snow Goblins¡¯ wounds seemed to swell and soon burst out into something purple. . In a word, it was an explosion of poison. It was a magic that exploded the poison on the enemy, and the greater the amount of poison on them, the greater the power of the explosion was. Boom! Boom! Boom! Dozens of explosions followed one after another as if they were one. Cordelia¡¯s was weak because she had just learned it, but she had already calcted it to that extent, or rather, Cordelia had instinctively understood it. The Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow did not wound them just anywhere. It only targeted ces where even a small explosion could be fatal. ¡°Kiiee!¡± The Snow Goblin with a torn throat choked and fell down, and the one next to it couldn¡¯t even scream properly because its groin exploded. Some of them couldn¡¯t properly move due to their waist and ankle injuries. ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­ha¡­h-how is it?¡± Cordelia had used up a lot of mana and her concentration at once, and as she turned to Jude while breaking out into a cold sweat, Jude first looked around. Over a dozen Snow Goblins had entirely fallen and were making groaning sounds. ¡®She¡¯s Yellow Storm indeed.¡¯ At least in the area of one-to-many hunting, she overtook Jude himself and was said to be the strongest in Legend of Heroes 2. ¡°As expected of the Massacre King.¡± ¡°No¡­it¡¯s not. Even the strong guys are good¡­at ughtering?¡± And that was it. Cordelia painstakingly spoke as blood dripped from her nose and hernguid arms fell down. ¡°I¡¯ll deal thest hit, so just rest for now.¡± ¡°Fu-f*ck¡­¡± With a resentful cry, Cordelia fainted from overexerting herself. ¡®Still, it was incredible.¡¯ Jude and Cordelia had just reached level 30. At this level, Cordelia was probably the only one who can create a scene like that. ¡®I look forward to the future.¡¯ How strong would she be in the future? Jude smiled while looking at the fainted Cordelia¡¯s face, before he began dealing thest hit to the struggling goblins. *** Chapter 62: (2/2) – Ruins (1)

Chapter 62: (2/2) ¨C Ruins (1)

Second half of chapter 62 is here. I¡¯ve also finished tranting a part of chapter 63 so that both parts would have enough content for one chapter, since the next chapter is a bit long too. Terms used in this chapter: Podaegi ¨C a Korean baby sling/carrier with a medium torge rectangle of fabric hanging from a very long strap. Traditionally the rectangle is quilted for warmth and wraps around the mother¡¯s torso, while the straps are wrapped snug under the baby¡¯s bottom and tied around to the front to support and secure the baby on the mother¡¯s back. ¡°Ah.¡± Cordelia opened her eyes. She had a headache and her whole body had no strength. ¡°Uh.¡± She uttered again. She then heard a familiar voice. ¡°Did you wake up?¡± Instead of answering, Cordelia firmly closed her eyes once, before she opened them and looked around. They were still in the cave. She was on Jude¡¯s back. ¡°Uh¡­where are we?¡± ¡°Inside the cave. The deeper we go, the less Snow Goblins there are.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°¡­Isn¡¯t it obvious?¡± ¡°My head hurts. I don¡¯t want to think.¡± Cordelia whined and hit Jude¡¯s shoulder several times with her chin, and Jude said after clicking his tongue. ¡°The divine power is getting stronger. That, do you remember the Leisegang¡¯s seal? It¡¯s simr here.¡± ¡°So, we¡¯re in the right ce?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m certain there are ruins of Sri here.¡± ¡°Hey, that¡¯s exciting.¡± Cordelia weakly responded and then looked at herself. She soon realized that she was tied to something like a podaegi and was hanging on Jude¡¯s back. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I couldn¡¯t find a diaper.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t go too far.¡± Instead of creating a magic light, Cordelia stared at the torch Jude was holding before she spoke. ¡°So, how much longer do we have to go?¡± ¡°I think we¡¯re almost there.¡± It was as Jude said. When Cordelia looked straight ahead, she could see something like a door in that ce. ¡°Sri¡¯s crest.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a mere ruin. It¡¯s simr to a grave.¡± Jude brought the torch closer to the crest engraved on the stone door and scrutinized it once before he spoke. ¡°Cordelia, are you able to walk by yourself?¡± ¡°Perhaps?¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll let you down first.¡± When Jude untied the podaegi, Cordelia seemed to somewhat wobble, but soon seeded in standing on her own feet. ¡°Huu, Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow consumes too much mana.¡± ¡°Its power was a little weak. But its mobility was amazing.¡± ¡°Mana¡­it seems that its power will increase if I pour more¡­but to do that, I think I need to raise my level a lot more.¡± After she said that, Cordelia took out the mana potion from her waist pocket and gulped it down. ¡°Uh¡­bitter. Anyway, let¡¯s go in now.¡± Sri¡¯s historical ruins. If this was a grave, it would certainly have items that would be helpful in fighting demons in the future. ¡°Wait a second.¡± Jude lightly loosened his shoulders before carefully opening the stone door. ¡°Wow.¡± It was like a cave even beyond the stone door, but its appearance waspletely different. Far from being dark and dreary, jewels that emitted a blue light were embedded here and there, creating a mysterious atmosphere. Moreover, the water stream flowing down the wall was so clear that one could see the water about a meter deep. ¡°This is clearly Sri¡¯s power.¡± Thanks to the Sun¡¯s Ne, Jude was familiar with Sri¡¯s divine power. ¡°Can you figure out whose tomb is this?¡± Rather than immediately answering Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude shifted his gaze towards the end of the sarcophagus (stone coffin) some distance away. It was a huge sarcophagus measuring 1.5 meters high and 4 meters long. In addition to Sri¡¯s crest engraved in the coffin, there were several sacred texts inscribed on it. ¡°Oh my god.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the tomb of Galleon.¡± At Jude¡¯s reply, Cordelia blinked before her eyes widely opened and she asked back. ¡°Galleon? The disciple of Gallus? Saint Galleon?¡± ¡°Yes, Saint Galleon.¡± Gallus, Sri¡¯s champion who sealed the Demon Prince Leisegang, had three disciples who inherited his skills. They were Saint Galleon, Pdin Berfa, and Crusader Amelia. T/N: The word ¡®Saint¡¯ in Saint Galleon refers to the ¡®saint¡¯ in the Saint Seiya series, and not the Catholic saints. Saints in the Saint Seiya series are also something like holy fighters. As fo ¡®Crusader¡¯, it means ¡®holy warrior¡¯ in the literal trantion of its Korean word, but I used ¡®crusader¡¯ because Diablo 3 used that word for the Korean trantion of its crusader character ss. ¡°Wow, isn¡¯t there something great here then?¡± ¡°Perhaps?¡± Galleon was also a named person in Sri¡¯s denomination. Cordelia¡¯s eyes began to sparkle. ¡°Let¡¯s quickly open it.¡± If there was something here, it would be inside the sarcophagus. Moreover, Saint Galleon was the progenitor of the God¡¯s Fist used by the Guardians of the Holy Cross. There was a high possibility that it contained useful stuff for the present Jude. ¡®Though if you think about it, isn¡¯t this a tomb robbing?¡¯ It wasn¡¯t a sealed demon or a viin, but a saint¡¯s tomb. ¡°Well, we can¡¯t help it right?¡± They were two people who were likely to sh with the Devil¡¯s Eye during the time that they would be examining the condition of Violent Avnche¡¯s sanctuary. In order to prevent the future that would escte into a catastrophe, they needed a power to fight the demons. ¡°But let¡¯s at least offer a prayer first.¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s offer a silent prayer.¡± It was different from the game. Jude and Cordelia prayed to Sri together and held a moment of silence for Galleon. And after one minute¡­ Jude and Cordelia smiled after looking at each other before they touched the coffin. Trembling in excitement at the thought of finding apletely new item, they tried to lift the seal that locked the coffin. And it was at that moment. [Who dares touch the tomb of the holy fighter!] A rough and angry voice violently shook not only the inside of Jude and Cordelia¡¯s heads but also the entire cave. ¡°Jude!¡± When Cordelia covered her ears using both of her hands, Jude grabbed Cordelia¡¯s waist. He immediately used Twenty-Four Gale Steps to leave the spot where they were standing, and at that very moment, lightning bolts fell from the ceiling and struck the ce where Jude was standing. Craaack¡­Boom! It was a blue thunderbolt. Blue light continuously gathered over Galleon¡¯s tomb and soon took the shape of a winged leopard. [He who defiles the tomb! Ye cannot avoid Sri¡¯s retribution!] A giant leopard with blue fur stood at the top of the coffin and stared at Jude and Cordelia. It was clearly the guardian of the tomb, who often appeared in historic ruins rted to Sri. ¡°Tomb Guardian.¡± ¡°The lowest ranked angel.¡± ¡°No intelligence. Virtually a gargoyle. It¡¯s highly likely that its words are pre-recorded.¡± ¡°Holy attribute. Sri¡¯s angel with an additional sr attribute.¡± ¡°What should we do?¡± ¡°We have to fight.¡± It seemed like prayers and silent tributes were not enough. Whether they had wanted to open Galleon¡¯s coffin or run away, they had no choice but to fight now that it hade to this. Furthermore, their party had one more reason to fight it. ¡°By the way.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Is that an angel?¡± Angel. It was the lowest of the angels, but it was still an angel. It may be simr to a gargoyle, but in the first ce, it was a being made up of flesh and blood. ¡°Angel¡¯s blood.¡± Cordelia said, and Jude nodded his head. The eyes of the two rotten waters began to brightly shine. Chapter 63: (1/2) – Ruins (2)

Chapter 63: (1/2) ¨C Ruins (2)

1st part of chapter 63. This isn¡¯t exactly half of this chapter, but I tranted it so that the content of 62.2 and 63.1 would be equivalent to one chapter. Edit: Since it¡¯s Sunday tomorrow and that¡¯s my usual break day, there won¡¯t be any releases then. Next chapter (63.2) would be released on Monday. All of the angels were ssified into nine ranks, and the Tomb Guardian in front of them was a ninth-ranked angel belonging to the lowest rank. However, even though it was of the ninth rank, it was still a heavenly being. If only its natural skills were taken into consideration, it was a superior existence iparable to that of human beings. Jude and Cordelia recalled the Tomb Guardian that they had encountered in the original story. It would have been possible for them to fight and wipe out an entire army of tomb guardians if it was their original game characters, but now, they were only two level 30 humans. ¡°In terms of level, we can never win.¡± The Tomb Guardian was virtually treated as a level 40 monster. Moreover, this ce was a historic ruin saturated with Sri¡¯s power. Calcting the buff effect that the Tomb Guardian will receive, the two had a long way to go if they wanted to win. However, the tenacity of rotten waters couldn¡¯t easily be extinguished once it had begun to catch fire. ¡°Should we still do it?¡± ¡°We should. We should at least get some blood.¡± Jude had said that they shouldn¡¯t leave the opponent, and Cordelia nodded. ¡°Then we have to defeat it.¡± ¡°We have to defeat it.¡± Literally obtaining the blood was just the minimum. The two looked in front again and saw the Tomb Guardian sitting in a posture full of dignity on top of Galleon¡¯s sarcophagus. Its appearance looked really strong due to the golden light wrapped around its body that came from Sri¡¯s buff. ¡°It reminds me of the old days.¡± ¡°When?¡± ¡°When I first yed Legend of Heroes 2.¡± For the Cordelia who was a newbie that had just started, the Tomb Guardian was definitely a terrifying boss that was the embodiment of despair itself. ¡°Yeah.¡± Jude also remembered his newbie days. He started ying Legend of Heroes 2 by chance after his retirement. ¡®If I hadn¡¯t met that person, I wouldn¡¯t have been here for this long.¡¯ There were two reasons why Jude¡¯s past life, Outboxer009, was crazily immersed on Legend of Heroes 2. One was for fun, and the other was¡­ ¡°Why? You¡¯re thinking of something weird, aren¡¯t you? You have a wicked look in your eyes, you know?¡± ¡°Maybe.¡± ¡°What?¡± Jude smiled again. After somehow winning 1st ce, teasing the 2nd ce Yellow Storm became one of his life¡¯s pleasures. Even Jude himself honestly found it to be really childish. If his former colleagues knew what he was doing, they would have disappointed expressions. But still, he couldn¡¯t help it. He could say that Yellow Storm¡¯s existence made Legend of Heroes 2 really fun. ¡°It¡¯s because of you.¡± He had been ying Legend of Heroes 2 for so long that he had put in his head all those different and unusual knowledge that were useless in real life. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s wrong with you! We¡¯re in a situation where we have to fight the boss, okay?¡± At Cordelia¡¯s prodding, Jude nodded and looked towards the sarcophagus again. The Tomb Guardian was not like a mob with the name and title of ¡®guardian¡¯ who attacked first. Unless the other side attacked first, it would just sit on the sarcophagus and only watch. ¡°In other words, we still have time to prepare.¡± ¡°We can¡¯t cast strong spells in advance. Because it reacts to spells.¡± ¡°I know, so let¡¯s do this.¡± Cordelia frowned at Jude¡¯s nce before she nodded. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s do that.¡± ¡°Did you understand what I wanted to say?¡± ¡°Roughly. Plus¡­the number of times I¡¯ve defeated the Tomb Guardian was twice as many as you¡­no, was it triple?¡± There were things that the current Jude and Cordelia could do with the power they had. After all, in terms ofbat, it could be said that Cordelia was a natural at it. Jude nodded again and said to her. ¡°Okay, then let¡¯s begin right away.¡± No matter how good they were in having a telepathic conversation with their eyes, the two still had some parts that they had to directly put into words. The two exchanged a quick conversation while they began working at the same time, and within a minute or so, they had finished all their preparations. Chapter 63: (2/2) – Ruins (2)

Chapter 63: (2/2) ¨C Ruins (2)

I¡¯m back! My fever has subsided, so I¡¯m feeling better now. Releases will then resume like usual (6 chapters/week). ¡°It¡¯s sort of strange that it¡¯s really waiting for us.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a good boy. That angel.¡± The Tomb Guardian looked down at them with a solemn expression, and Jude and Cordelia spoke some short words before they inhaled at the same time. Afterwards, they slowly exhaled as they prepared themselves for battle. A golden sacred battle aura rose from Jude¡¯s body. Cordelia¡¯s hair turned ck, and her blue eyes glowed. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°!¡± eleration magic was cast on Jude¡¯s whole body. Jude then used Twenty-Four Gale Steps, and the Tomb Guardian reacted to Jude as he shot forward like an arrow. ¡°Aaa-!¡± Sacred Echo. It was a kind of sonic attack that spread out over a wide range. The effect of this debuff lowered the stats of the enemies that got hit with it. The Tomb Guardian always began its attack with Sacred Echo, so Jude was already prepared for it. ¡®Holy Cross Punch.¡¯ A huge golden cross appeared from Jude¡¯s fist and acted like a shield as it blocked the front of Jude. It collided with the Sacred Echo, and at that moment, the Tomb Guardian flew up. Pah! Jude ran forward. The Tomb Guardian¡¯s second attack, Wild des of Light, was a wide range attack. It poured down des of light from the ceiling like rain, and the best way to prevent it from reaching Cordelia was to change the starting point of the light attack itself. Papapapapa! The des of light rained down towards the swiftly moving Jude as he had expected. With his sharpened senses, Jude quickly used Twenty-Four Gale Steps. He avoided the des of light and let the des of light hit the whirlwinds and the Wind Barrier that he got from Great Storm. Boom! Boom! Boom! The des of light crashed into the ground and exploded. As it exploded inside the whirlwind, Jude counted down in his head and then shouted. ¡°Hurry up!¡± ¡°Here it goes!¡± Cordelia moved her hand, and at that moment, the witch¡¯s flew into the air and rushed towards the Tomb Guardian. The Tomb Guardian turned towards the and at the same time, activated a Light Barrier. Paaa! The from the power of darkness, and the sacred Light Barrier shed with each other, causing lightning sparks. And Cordelia smiled. ¡°Bingo.¡± It was one of Jude¡¯s speaking habits. The rushed to the front while the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow that flew as if it were crawling on the floor, soared upwards as it aimed at the Tomb Guardian¡¯s back. It then pierced the Tomb Guardian¡¯s back before it could even react! ¡°Kaah!¡± The power of the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow was weak. Its pration power was also uncertain, to the point that it was blocked by a goblin¡¯s skull. However, Cordelia did not use the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow for attacking in the first ce. The Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow was simply a means to move something. Its real purpose was to move the Bicorn¡¯s horn tied to the arrowhead of the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow. ¡°Kuuuaah!¡± The Bicorn¡¯s curse prated into the Tomb Guardian¡¯s body. But not yet. It was not enough to bring down a heavenly being. ¡°So we prepared one more shot.¡± At the moment Cordelia spoke, Jude threw another Bicorn¡¯s horn. The Bicorn¡¯s horn flew at a terrifying speed and pierced the side of the Tomb Guardian who lost its concentration, and the Bicorn¡¯s curse doubled. ¡°Keuuuuoh!¡± The Tomb Guardian violently charged towards Jude. Cordelia chanted the witch¡¯s curse and the dark energy that came from the Bicorn¡¯s horns bound the Tomb Guardian¡¯s whole body. ¡°Kuaaaaaah!¡± But it was a Tomb Guardian. The heavenly being endured the pain and opened its mouth wide, and a huge wave of light left from its mouth. It was the Tomb Guardian¡¯s strongest attack, Holy Breath. ¡°Jude!¡± Cordelia urgently cried at the terrifying wave of light that covered her eyes, and Jude reminded Cordelia of the one thing that she had forgotten. Using the Fairy Steps, he passed by the wave of light itself and rushed towards the Tomb Guardian! Thud! He kicked the ground hard. Jude flew to the Tomb Guardian¡¯s side and at the same time, he drew his fist. The Tomb Guardian¡¯s gaze headed towards Jude. But it was toote. Jude¡¯s fist was already halfway to hammering the Bicorn¡¯s horn, or to be precise, it was on the verge of hitting the dagger made by processing the Bicorn¡¯s horn. Boom! A roar burst again. Jude¡¯s fist struck the dagger made from the Bicorn¡¯s horn, and as if a hammer struck a nail, the Bicorn¡¯s horn prated deeply into the Tomb Guardian¡¯s body. ¡°Kuaaaaaah!¡± The Tomb Guardian twisted its body. It randomly swung its feet towards Jude, and sharp ws cut through the air. Jude calmly responded. He used the Twenty-Four Gale Steps, and as he evaded its attacks, he prepared for his next move. He counted the numbers in his mind. ¡®The Bicorn has two horns.¡¯ All the heavenly energy that surrounded the Tomb Guardian¡¯s body had been removed. But this was not enough. They had to bring it down a little more. What was the best way to defeat a heavenly being? The answer could be found in ssical literature. Turn it corrupt. Bring it to ruin. Bring down the heavenly being to the ground. Curses poured out from the Bicorn¡¯s horn. And at that moment, Jude found a way through its random attacks. He flew as he prated through the whirlwind, and once again seized on the opportunity to attack. Fist attack. But it wasn¡¯t an ordinary fist attack. A few months had already passed since he opened his eyes in Pleiades. During that time, Jude learned many things and came into a conclusion. There was no need for him to move like this was still a game. Because this was reality. It was a ce where he could do things that were systematically impossible in the game. So he was going to do it. He would use everything that he could to increase hisbat power. Bang! Jude¡¯s fist struck the thigh of the Tomb Guardian¡¯s hind leg. At the same time, a change took ce in the specially made knuckles Jude had requested from the cksmith of the Great Storm tribe. One of the magic circles that had been rolled into the front of the fist, was set aze. What he used was a basic curse magic that slightly reduced the enemy¡¯s stats. He nned to directly hit the magic circle from a close distance. If he had to give it a name, should it be a physical curse? ¡°Kuaaah!¡± The curse gnawed at the Tomb Guardian. Jude continued to punch without stopping. Bam! Bam! Bam! The magic circles, which were loaded like bullets, continued to burn. ¡°Curse! Poison! Curse! Poison!¡± It wasn¡¯t a strong magic, but the Bicorn¡¯s horns had already removed the heavenly protection the Tomb Guardian had. When the curses and poison ovepped, its condition became noticeably worse. Moreover, Jude knew the basics ofbat. He hit the spot where he had once hit. He further damaged the damaged area. ¡°Kuuu¡­.kuu¡­¡± The Tomb Guardian was hit on the thigh one after another, and it copsed when it could no longer stand properly. Since it couldn¡¯t properly attack now, it hurriedly pped its wings and flew away. ¡°Keuuuuuah!¡± It flew up and used its Holy Breath once more. Jude threw a hatchet and a dagger from his waist to the flying one in session. The Light Barrier that it suddenly created again, blocked the primitive weapons that he threw, but it didn¡¯t matter to him. After all, his only purpose was to get its attention. ¡°Isn¡¯t this enough now?¡± At Jude¡¯s question, Cordelia responded to it through her actions. Cordelia shouted towards the enemy that waspletely distracted by Jude. ¡°!¡± It was one of the witch¡¯s spells. Covered in sweat, Cordelia grasped in her right hand a long and huge mass of ck light. The Tomb Guardian hastily turned towards Cordelia, but it was toote. Cordelia threw the towards it, as she bled from her nose. Shaaa! It wasn¡¯t fast. But it wasn¡¯t something that could be avoided. The Tomb Guardian hurriedly opened its mouth to let out an echo of light, but it had lost most of its heavenly powers due to the ovepping debuffs. The echo of light was shattered like ss. The rushed forward and struck the face of the Tomb Guardian! ¡°Kuaaaaah!¡± The pierced its open mouth. Then it continuously burned the enemy¡¯s body with ck mes. Thud! The Tomb Guardian crashed to the ground. Cordelia sank to her knees and panted, and Jude drew the Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword, but it was no longer necessary. Rings of pure white light. The rings surrounded Jude and Cordelia in session. Information about new titles also came into their minds. ¡®You acquired the titles ¡®The one who attacked the heavens¡¯ and ¡®Angel Killer.¡¯ When fighting an angel, all stats increase by 1%. You also gain a weak resistance to an angel¡¯s mind attacks.¡¯ The enemy might be of the lowest rank, but it was still an angel. Jude grinned as he counted the rings of light. ¡®Indeed, it was a level 40 enemy.¡¯ Satisfied with the three rings of light that he had, Jude took a deep breath and then turned to Cordelia. ¡°Uh¡­are you satisfied with this now?¡± ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­f*ck.¡± Without even thinking about wiping off the blood from her nose, Cordelia fell on her back, but her face was smiling. ¡°I got thest hit.¡± ¡°Congrattions, Madam.¡± Jude pped his hands, and instead of approaching Cordelia who was wrapped in four rings of light, he approached the body of the Tomb Guardian. ¡®I¡¯m d it¡¯s like a gargoyle.¡¯ If it was an intelligent angel, it would have been a very difficult fight. ¡®No, if that was so, we wouldn¡¯t had to fight at all.¡¯ Because they might have been able to persuade it. Well, they defeated it somehow. Jude retrieved the Bicorn¡¯s horns and hurriedly collected the angel¡¯s blood into a water bottle at once. ¡°It¡¯s sparkling.¡± It was red, but it was filled with a faint golden glow. ¡°Do you think¡­we can use it?¡± At the feeble voice that came from afar, Jude said as he slightly frowned. ¡°I¡¯ll need to do some experiments first before you take it.¡± It would be possible to use it for the Ancestral Regression technique, but it would be better to use the blood of a high-ranking angel. ¡®She¡¯ll turn into a beast more than she is now.¡¯ After all, it was the blood of a beast-type angel. Jude widely smiled as he thought for a moment the Cordelia that would be more of a beast than now. Because he thought that it unexpectedly suited her. ¡°Ah, it¡¯s time.¡± The body of the Tomb Guardian became light and disappeared. Just as demons became ashes when they died, so did angels be light. Jude approached Cordelia after he had collected all the angel feathers the Tomb Guardian dropped. ¡°Madam, please wake up.¡± ¡°Quickly¡­help me¡­¡± Cordelia panted as she answered and stood up while holding Jude¡¯s hand. ¡°Will you be okay? Do you want to just lie down and rest some more?¡± ¡°I¡¯m tired, so I¡¯ll take some more rest. Let¡¯s just check the contents of the sarcophagus.¡± One wasn¡¯t a rotten water, or even a gamer itself, if they didn¡¯t check the reward after defeating a boss mob. Jude agreed as he carried Cordelia whopletely had no strength left to stand. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Madam.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go, Dolswe.¡± Upon reaching the sarcophagus, Jude put Cordelia down on the floor before he took a deep breath. It was the sarcophagus of Galleon, who was one of the three disciples of Sri¡¯s strongest champion, Gallus, and was also a saint who defeated numerous demons. They wondered what exactly could be inside the sarcophagus. ¡°I¡¯ll open it?¡± ¡°Wait, wait a sec. Give me a piggyback. I want to see it the moment it is opened.¡± ¡°Do you think you can hold on to me?¡± ¡°No, so use a Podaegi.¡± ¡°What a very demanding maiden.¡± Though Jude clicked his tongue, he still obediently followed Cordelia¡¯s wish. After he carried her through a Podaegi, he stood in front of the sarcophagus again. ¡°Let¡¯s open it?¡± ¡°Okay!¡± Cordelia spoke with an expectant face, and Jude slowly opened the sarcophagus as he calmed down his beating heart. And what they found inside waspletely out of their expectations. In a good way. *** Meanwhile at Count Chase¡­ Count Bayer and Count Chase were sitting face to face and enjoying a chat after a long time. ¡°Come to think of it, it¡¯s about time for Ga?l and Adelia tomunicate to us.¡± ¡°It seemed like it took some time because Jude and Cordelia were at the end of the north, but that wouldn¡¯t be a problem for Ga?l and Adelia.¡± ¡°I suppose so.¡± Both of them trusted their eldest son and eldest daughter very much. It was no wonder as their two children had distinguished themselves in their respective fields since their childhood. ¡°Perhaps sooner orter, they¡¯ll bring Jude and Cordelia back.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll also have to write an apology letter to Count Hr?svelgr.¡± ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be a bad idea to increase our exchanges at this opportunity.¡± Count Bayer slowly nodded at Count Chase¡¯s words. The public thought that Count Bayer resented Count Hr?svelgr for losing his margrave position. But no, they only thought so, as Count Bayer himself held no regrets over Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s position. It was a feeling that he handed over the margrave position rather than it be taken away from him. ¡°You¡¯re like a warrior from , no, I mean, a knight.¡± At Count Chase¡¯s words, Count Bayer shrugged his shoulders once and enjoyed his tea. He found the smell of ck tea better than usual perhaps because he was less worried about Jude and Cordelia now. But shortly after that¡­ Rough and thumping steps were heard from outside the door, and soon, the door burst open. It was Norton, Count Chase¡¯s butler. He was not one to have an unsettled appearance, but for some reason, he had an urgent look on his face. ¡°What happened?¡± With a slightly surprised face, Count Chased asked him, and Butler Norton delivered the urgent news after he swallowed down his breath. ¡°We¡¯ve lost contact with Lady Adelia.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°We lost contact with Lady Adelia. It seems like she deliberately stopped contacting us due to some circumstances.¡± Count Chase couldn¡¯t understand it for a moment. Why would Adelia cut off their contact? And as if the timing was right, Count Bayer¡¯s knight hurriedly ran and entered from the door that was already open. As soon as he saw Count Bayer, he shouted. ¡°We lost contact with Lord Ga?l!¡± It was not just Adelia. They also lost contact with Ga?l. What happened? For what reason? ¡°He disappeared after they were heading towards Lankebuste.¡± ¡°Lady Adelia also disappeared after she contacted me that she was heading to Lankebuste.¡± Butler Norton said following the knight¡¯s words. It made sense that they lost contact in the same ce, since the two were acting together in the first ce. But why? For what reason? ¡°No way.¡± Count Bayer unconsciously said at that moment, and Count Chase turned to Count Bayer. And Count Chase also unconsciously said. ¡°Perhaps?¡± It was hard to imagine that Ga?l, who was already Count Bayer¡¯s sessor, and Adelia, who was one of the heads of the Royal Guard Magic Corps, might have been beaten by someone. Then, the remaining answer was that they intentionally disappeared. A young man and woman suddenly disappeared while traveling together. Weren¡¯t they familiar with this situation? ¡°N-no way.¡± ¡°I-it can¡¯t be.¡± The truth was that it was an extreme measure taken by the two for fear that those at home would oppose to them crossing the border, but the two counts were unaware of such a situation. Even their eldest son and eldest daughter followed their second son and second daughter. The two counts facing each other were thrown into distress and confusion. Poor Count Bayer and Count Chase, hahaha. I can totally imagine them thinking, ¡°You were supposed to bring them back, not join them!¡± XDDD Chapter 64: Violent Avalanche (1)

Chapter 64: Violent Avnche (1)

Terms used in this chapter: Fighting (???) ¨C I forgot if I¡¯ve already exined this, but might as well exin it again just in case. The word ¡®Fighting¡¯ is a Korean word of support, cheer or encouragement, much like English¡¯s ¡®go!¡¯, ¡®break a leg¡¯, etc. It¡¯s usually used in sports or when there¡¯s a difficult challenge. Just before Jude opened the sarcophagus, Cordelia unconsciously closed her eyes. Because she thought that there was a strong possibility that the mummy or skeleton of Saint Galleon would appear inside the sarcophagus. Even though she was being carried on Jude¡¯s back, she still didn¡¯t want to see something that was scary. ¡®I¡¯ll open my eyes based on Jude¡¯s reaction.¡¯ At least after Jude screamed, she would be mentally prepared before she opened her eyes. So Cordelia firmly closed her eyes and waited for Jude¡¯s reaction. ¡°Oh.¡± ¡®Oh?¡¯ It wasn¡¯t a scream. Cordelia plucked up her courage and slightly opened her eyes, and soon, she had the same reaction as Jude. ¡°Oh!¡± There was no mummy or skeleton inside the sarcophagus. In the ce where a body should have beenid originally, there was a set of white clothes decorated with gold thread, and on top of it was a pointed te in the shape of a triangle. There was also a spear. ¡°What, what is this? Wasn¡¯t this a tomb?¡± ¡°Wait, I¡¯ll check the te.¡± ¡°What does it say? Ah! I can read it too.¡± Some archaic words were engraved on it, and since Cordelia was a wizard, she could interpret archaic words to some extent. ¡°Uh¡­let me see. ording to the contents of this te¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a tomb.¡± This ce was not Galleon¡¯s tomb. It made sense if one thought about it. Although Sri¡¯s denomination had a strong influence on the entire continent in the past, it was unreasonable for the tomb of Saint Galleon to be in thend of the barbarians, as well as for it to be deep in the underground. ¡°I left a clue. Five of them. It will lead to my master. To the Holy Land that my master protected.¡± Cordelia intermittently read it out, and she suddenly hugged Jude¡¯s neck tightly. ¡°Jude, Jude. Could this be real?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s real.¡± There were several quests in Legend of Heroes 2 that did not have a conclusion, and among those were some quests rted to the Sri denomination. Gallus, the most renowned champion of Sri, died in a fight against the Demon Prince Leisegang. The Sri denomination held a splendid funeral for the sacred hero, but the location of the tomb was not announced to the world. Gallus¡¯ Tomb. ording to several pieces of information found on some of Legend of Heroes 2¡¯s quests, the tomb of Gallus was located somewhere on this continent, and that ce was where the most important secret of the Sri denomination was hidden. ¡°It¡¯s a clue. If we collect them all, we can find out the location of Gallus¡¯ tomb.¡± Jude lifted up the triangr te and spoke, and Cordelia suddenly thought of the finished form of the te. ¡°Pentagram.¡± The reason was simple. Because there was already a quest in Legend of Heroes 2 where you could get simr te pieces. ¡°There was also a clue on Pdin Berfa¡¯s tomb. Perhaps each te has a hint about the location of a different te.¡± ¡°Then, would it be possible to collect them all?¡± ¡°It would be possible. If we collect them all, the path to Gallus¡¯ tomb will be opened.¡± ¡°The Holy Land of Sri.¡± Their hearts were pounding. The Holy Land of the Sri denomination was something that had a great influence throughout the entire Legend of Heroes series. It was also referred to as the ce where ¡®the most important secret¡¯ was hidden. ¡°Legend of Heroes will be turned upside down if they hear about it.¡± ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ll probably get 100,000 likes.¡± After the two imagined what would happen if they could brag about it back when it was a game, they shifted their gaze from the te to the other stuff inside the sarcophagus. Hundreds of years must have passed, but the cleanliness of the clothes and spear made it look as if they were brand new. ¡°It¡¯s the denomination¡¯s clothes. Is it the saint¡¯s clothes?¡± ¡°I think so. Because Galleon was a Saint.¡± Jude quickly took out the clothes and unfolded it. It was a uniform that was likely to be worn by a martial artist. He didn¡¯t know what its stats were right away as this was no longer a game, but he at least knew that the saint¡¯s clothes increased the wearer¡¯s agility and strength, and also helped in the cirction of inner Qi. ¡°It¡¯s a goodbye to the rabbit set.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you just wear the headband? If not, at least just the tail¡­¡± Judeughed as he ignored Cordelia¡¯s words. He then packed up the clothes and looked at the spear. ¡°I know this. Isn¡¯t this Sri¡¯s Holy Lance?¡± ¡°Yes, a javelin. Though it¡¯s a one-use item, its power is outstanding.¡± The Holy Lance itself wasn¡¯t a one-time use item. What made it a one-use only was the Ultimate skill of the Holy Spear called ¡®Sri¡¯s Punishment.¡¯ ¡®Because once it was used, the Holy Lance itself would burn and disappear.¡¯ But as he said earlier, its power itself was outstanding, so it was good to use it as a trump card item. ¡°Good, good. It¡¯s a huge chain quest that no one has ever done. It smells like a jackpot. Let¡¯s depart straight to Pdin Berfa¡¯s tomb! I want to do it now.¡± Cordelia suddenly drooped her shoulders at the end of her words. After all, the two were now in the middle of investigating Violent Avnche¡¯s incident, which was the first step towards stopping the barbarians¡¯ invasion. Jude spoke as he soothed Cordelia on his back as if she was a baby. ¡°Well, the clues are all over the continent, so we can¡¯t do it right away. Moreover, the triangr te that was found in Legend of Heroes 2 was in the Argon Empire, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s true. It¡¯s a shame though.¡± Cordelia let out a sigh before asking Jude again. ¡°Then Jude, are we going to investigate Violent Avnche¡¯s incident right now?¡± ¡°Well¡­if I had to say it, I think it would be better for us to take a day¡¯s rest first. We¡¯re both exhausted.¡± In fact, Cordelia was more of a problem than Jude himself. After all, her mana was severely depleted. ¡°Huu¡­my mana¡¯s depleted, my mana¡­¡± ¡°The monster can¡¯t evene in here because of Sri¡¯s power, so let¡¯s take a rest and leave tomorrow morning.¡± ¡°Yes, Daddy. Please give me something delicious.¡± ¡°My princess, this evening¡¯s meal is jerky boiled in hot water.¡± ¡°Hey, how the f*ck is that good?¡± Jude cheerfullyughed at Cordelia¡¯s response, and then turned his gaze as he looked for a ce to sleep. *** The next morning. The two left the cave early and headed straight to Violent Avnche¡¯s sanctuary. As Great Storm had said, the energy of nature was twisted, but a sanctuary was still a sanctuary, since after they entered a certain area, the blizzardpletely disappeared, making it easier to proceed. But it was also at that moment. Jude and Cordelia raised their heads and then frowned. ¡°We have to climb up this mountain?¡± Violent Avnche lived on top of a rough and rocky mountain. It seemed like a hundred meters high at first nce, but the path leading up to the top looked incredibly tough and difficult to climb. ¡°Won¡¯t the Devil¡¯s Eye or Angry Bull tribesmen ambush us in the middle?¡± ¡°It¡¯s highly likely since the warriors of the Great Storm tribe haven¡¯t returned.¡± It was a rough and rugged rocky mountain. The demon followers and barbarians would be waiting in ambush while hidden among the cracks and crevices of the mountain. Cordelia quietly stared at the mountain before she looked at Jude and said. ¡°It¡¯s not always good to do hard physical work.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll eventually get there if we do it step by step, but we also have to consider efficiency.¡± It would be too exhausting if they climbed that rugged mountain while preparing to be ambushed. Therefore, Jude and Cordelia decided to use a trick since they were both exemry rotten waters. ¡°You¡¯re saying that all we had to do is just get to the top.¡± ¡°Yes, the route is not fixed.¡± In fact, the two had already discussed this to some extentst night. Because of that, it made it easier to implement n B. ¡°Let¡¯s carry out n Unicorn.¡± ¡°Yes, Madam.¡± Jude immediately answered as he attached several magic circles to the wooden board he was carrying on his back and then activated it. What he used was the basic magic. Jude pressed on the wooden board several times as it floated up to the waist level. Afterwards, he did a thumbs-up to Cordelia, and then covered the board with a leather nket on top. ¡°The power itself is weak, but it wouldst for a long time. It would be enough since the duration of the multiple magic circles would be stacked.¡± Cordelia nodded and then took out the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow and attached it under the wooden board. It would be the engine, as well as the steering wheel of their improvised vehicle. ¡°In front? Or behind?¡± ¡°Behind.¡± If she sat on the back, she could lean forward on Jude¡¯s back. It was a conclusion she made when she considered efficiency. ¡°Then Madam, your servant will ride in front of you.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Jude sat on the wooden board, and Cordelia took a seat behind him as she grabbed on the nket. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± And they began floating up. The wooden board carrying the two slowly rose to the top. *** Jude¡¯s prediction was not wrong. A dozen warriors of the Angry Bull tribe were waiting in ambush in the middle of Violent Avnche¡¯s rocky mountain. All of them had abnormally swollen muscles and red ring eyes, which was the result of the corruption of the entire tribe as servants of the devil who were under the influence of Belial, the overlord of corruption. ¡°The Great Storm tribe sent an investigation team again. Don¡¯t let your guard down because they would certainly show up sometime today.¡± Each of the barbarian warriors nodded their heads at the words of Fierce Bull, a warrior of the Angry Bull tribe and was now a demonic human of the Devil¡¯s Eye. The investigation team of the Great Storm tribe. They¡¯ve already killed two teams, but the Great Storm tribe did not give up and sent a third one. ¡®They¡¯ll be here soon.¡¯ At the top of the rocky mountain, Zarakul, an executive of the Devil¡¯s Eye, was currently working on some kind of work. Once his work was done, they could begin a direct attack on the Great Storm tribe. ¡°Come as much as you want. No matter how many times youe here, you¡¯ll all be ughtered.¡± Fierce Bull looked down the mountain while he stroked the de of his belovedrge axe. Each of the barbarian warriors also smiled wickedly. Because they¡¯ve been told that a very beautiful girl was also included in the investigation team. ¡°Hurry up, hurry up¡­¡± They¡¯ve been waiting from morning until now. There was a bit of anxiousness in the fierce eyes of Fierce Bull as he looked at the only path leading to the summit. However, after an hour, and after two hours, the investigation team had yet to show up. The reason was simple. Because Jude and Cordelia were already in a higher ce than Fierce Bull. *** ¡°Haa¡­haa! T-this is hard.¡± The two had risen at about ? of the mountain. Cordelia had temporarily parked the wooden board on a considerably t ce as she panted and said while bathed in her own sweat. ¡°Fu-f*ck¡­isn¡¯t this more tiring?¡± The magic circles didn¡¯t require much mana, but the problem was its duration. Even if the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow flew slowly, it took a lot of mana to keep it running. As he watched Cordelia lying down while panting, Jude calmly spoke. ¡°Well¡­I think this is a lot morefortable.¡± ¡°Of course it is, you evil b*stard!¡± All that Jude do was to just sit down. ¡°Whoa, whoa, please calm down, my princess.¡± ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­you¡¯re not really a princess maker¡­you only make your daughter suffer.¡± ¡°Just hang in there a bit because we¡¯re almost there. Fighting?¡± Cordelia raised her middle finger in response to Jude¡¯s encouragement, and she took a few deep breaths before she climbed back onto the wooden board. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Are we starting again now?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s finish all the hard work at once.¡± Cordelia moderately answered, and she beckoned to him as she found it difficult to say more, so Jude sat down on his seat again. And just when they were about to start again¡­ ¡°Jude, Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Madam.¡± It was shortly after Jude replied. Cordelia suddenly hugged Jude tightly around his waist and said pressed her whole body on him. ¡°I wasn¡¯t going to go this far, but I think we should share the pain.¡± What are you talking about? Share the pain? But Jude could no longer ask that. Because he found the answer through his body. ¡°Ugh.¡± ¡°Haa¡­¡± At that moment, Jude flinched as Cordelia began to grope Jude¡¯s body with her two hands. It was , one of the witch¡¯s spells. Although she was still not good at using it in practice, she could use it as much as she could if her opponent did not resist. ¡°Oooh¡­good, good. You were boasting about it being pure energy, but to think it was this clear?¡± The pure energy was created from the meeting of the extreme Yin and Yang energies. The more she fumbled over Jude¡¯s body, the more Cordelia¡¯s face brightened. Conversely, Jude¡¯s face turned dark. ¡°Hey, hey¡­I have Gueumjul-¡° ¡°Why are you still trying to use your Gueumjulmaek excuse? Ugh! Can¡¯t you just stay still!¡± The excited Cordelia giggled and groped Jude¡¯s body even harder, or rather, she continued using . But after a while, Cordelia¡¯s face soon turned dark too. It was because the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow had begun to seriously drain her mana again. ¡°Ugh.¡± ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­¡± It was a system of Jude having his mana being taken by Cordelia, and Cordelia having her mana being taken by the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow too. Jude and Cordelia became a crazy couple that were exhausted together. ¡°This¡­this isn¡¯t right.¡± ¡°Almost¡­at¡­the top¡­¡± And finally, they were near the summit. Jude and Cordelia fell down from the wooden board, naturally rolled down on the bare ground, and were then buried in a heap of snow. ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­haa¡­¡± ¡°Ha, ugh¡­huu¡­huu¡­¡± What the hell was n B for again? ¡°Haa¡­ugh¡­w-wake up. If we stay like this, we¡¯ll catch a cold.¡± Thanks to the Winter Protection, they didn¡¯t feel much cold, but if they continued to be buried in the snow while covered in sweat, they were bound to get sick somehow. Despite his energy-drained condition, Jude got up like a zombie and then approached Cordelia, whom he pulled up by his hand as she raised herself up. ¡°But we¡¯re here.¡± ¡°We are here.¡± Somehow they had reached the summit. They were confused and didn¡¯t understand much about it while they were in the midst of going up, but now that they¡¯vee to their senses and reached the summit, they clearly felt the energy of nature. ¡°Let¡¯s start our investigation after we¡¯re recovered our stamina around here for now.¡± Jude spoke in a low voice as he dug up the snow and gathered it in lumps to make a resting ce, while Cordelia drank about half of the mana potion and gave the remaining half to Jude. ¡°Here, you too.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Although inner Qi and mana were different, its origin itself was the same, so the mana potion wasn¡¯t ineffective to Jude. After Jude swallowed the blue liquid that was as cold as ice water, he sat down next to Cordelia and spread the nket wide to cover himself and Cordelia together. ¡°.¡± They only had a few magic circles left, but now was not the time to cut back on using them. When Jude tore the magic circle, warm heat rose inside the nket as it warmed the bodies of Jude and Cordelia. ¡°I¡¯m sleepy¡­¡± Cordelia leaned over Jude and slowly closed her eyes, and Jude was not much different either. ¡®It will be fine since there¡¯s the magic circle.¡¯ There was also the Winter Protection. Jude tightly hugged Cordelia and closed his eyes too. And after one hour, and then two hours¡­ When Fierce Bull¡¯s group who were waiting in the middle of the mountain couldn¡¯t wait any longer, they began to go down the mountain. A sharp and fierce cry then woke up Jude and Cordelia. Chapter 65: Violent Avalanche (2)

Chapter 65: Violent Avnche (2)

Jude and Cordelia simultaneously opened their eyes, but they did not stand up right away. Because that action would have been too noticeable. It was clearly a calctive judgement on Jude¡¯s part, who considered the risk of exposure, and as for Cordelia, it was an instinctive action. ¡°Kuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-!¡± Once again, the cries messed up their heads. Cordelia was in pain as she tried to cover her ears, and Jude was not much different either. ¡®It¡¯s close! But it¡¯s beyond the wall!¡¯ They had not immediately heard the cry, as it seemed like it came from beyond the wall or something. The cry that started once again did not stop. Jude and Cordelia eventually gave up waiting for it to stop, so they began to move while frowning. ¡®Over there.¡¯ Jude gestured with his eyes and hand before he quickly lowered his posture and began to cautiously move, and Cordelia nodded and followed after Jude. The two almost crawled on the floor, and then they stuck close to the rock wall before poking their heads out to see what was going on down there. ¡°Ahhhhhhhhhh!¡± It wasn¡¯t just a howl. To be exact, it was a scene where an evil power was making something scream in pain. At a basin on the mountain. There was arge crevice that run through the center of the rtively t summit. The crevice itself was wide and long, making it seem like there was a waterway on top of the summit. Moreover, it was not an ordinary crevice. A blue light flickered inside the crevice, and they also felt a powerful force there. And there was a creature screaming right next to such a crevice. It was a huge bear. A pure white bear that looked to be five meters tall was howling and tied to some chains, and a purple aura surrounded the body of such a white bear. ¡®Violent Avnche.¡¯ It was the wild god that was mentioned by Great Storm. Jude and Cordelia¡¯s eyes met at that time, and the two nodded to each other. It was clear to them that it was Violent Avnche who was howling. And as for those who made it cry in pain. Near the center of the crack stood a gray-haired man with a pair of big horns on his head. He wore a ck robe and held a staff decorated with skulls. The man was reciting a spell on arge magic circle, while several barbarian warriors were spraying blood from arge barrel inside the crevice. ¡°Aaaaaaah!¡± The blue light fluctuated every time the blood was sprayed around, and Violent Avnche also let out terrible screams. And the violet aura increased and began to swallow Violent Avnche. Something wicked was also mixed in its painful howls. ¡°Aaaah! Aaaaaah!¡± Cordelia held her breath after hearing those desperate cries, and quickly hid herself under the rock wall. Jude also lowered himself and met Cordelia¡¯s gaze. Amidst Violent Avnche¡¯s screams, the two began to talk. ¡°Zarakul.¡± ¡°Executive of the Devil¡¯s Eye.¡± ¡°He¡¯s corrupting Violent Avnche.¡± ¡°That ceremony being held in the crevice. I¡¯ve seen that before.¡± ¡°Act 2, at the event that appeared at thest stage of the fight against the northern barbarians.¡± ¡°Mineral vein? Dragon vein?¡± ¡°If we leave it as is, Violent Avnche will be corrupted.¡± ¡°We can¡¯t defeat Zarakul. He¡¯s a mid-ranking demonic human. We have no way of weakening him unlike the Tomb Guardian.¡± ¡°But we have to stop it.¡± Their conversation stopped there for a moment. But it was really only for a short time. ¡°Do you remember thest stage of the event?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t say¡­¡± ¡°That.¡± ¡°You want to do it in reverse?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s do it in reverse.¡± ¡°Crazy b*stard.¡± Cordelia spat out a curse, but he could tell by looking at her eyes. Cordelia also knew. That it was the only way. ¡°What about the means?¡± ¡°Sri¡¯s Holy Lance.¡± ¡°You¡¯re really crazy.¡± ¡°So you don¡¯t like it?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s good.¡± If they had to do it anyway, it¡¯s better to thoroughly do it. ¡°But will that really be okay?¡± ¡°We can¡¯t help it. We have to stop them.¡± It was at the moment that he spoke. ¡°Is there something that you can do? Then help! You have to stop them!¡± They suddenly heard a third voice, and the two pointed a dagger and the Moonlight in the direction where they heard the voice. ¡°Bear cub?¡± It was a real bear cub. It was a white, small, and cute bear cub. ¡°C-cute.¡± Cordelia unconsciously said, and the bear cub then spoke with a look of urgency. ¡°I¡¯m Violent Avnche. That¡¯s my main body over there, and this one here is my clone that I hurriedly split from my main body.¡± The two somehow had a rough idea of who the cub was. So instead of wasting time on unnecessary talk, Jude and Cordelia directly asked the cub. ¡°What are they doing?¡± ¡°They¡¯re polluting the dragon vein! They intend to pollute all the dragon veins throughout the entire wildnd, thereby depriving us wild gods of our power and corrupting the wildnd itself!¡± ¡°Dragon vein?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a huge circr path of energy that was created by the wild gods. They are trying to contaminate that circr path. The power of the wild godses from thend, so if the dragon vein is polluted, the wild gods will also be polluted. The proof is my main body that they are trying to corrupt now.¡± Violent Avnche rapidly spoke as he panted, and Jude and Cordelia looked at each other again. ¡°Dragon vein.¡± ¡°There was a simr word that came out at that time too.¡± At that time in Legend of Heroes 2, the wildnd had already been corrupted and the pollution was already over, so what the yers saw was only the flow of an evil energy that could no longer be called a dragon vein. However, the two could understand what the cub was talking about. ¡°It must be stopped! It must be stopped at all costs! Although the dragon vein is vast, they are not active in my mountain only. If they pollute several sanctuary areas, the dragon vein will eventually be polluted.¡± ¡°Are they spraying something like wastewater on the river?¡± Cordelia briefly summarized it, and Jude nodded his head. ¡°Violent Avnche, we are the ones who came here after receiving a request from Great Storm.¡± ¡°Oh! Great Storm! That brat!¡± ¡°We¡¯ll pretend that we didn¡¯t hear you. Moving on, we have to stop them, but the two of us are not strong enough to do so.¡± ¡°Kuuu¡­I understand. That horned man is really strong. He used a lot of strange spells to seal my strength.¡± Since Zarakul was a mid-ranking demonic human, he was an overwhelming opponent for a wild god who was not worshipped because it didn¡¯t have a tribe that it took care of. ¡°But we still have to stop him.¡± ¡°Yes, you are right. If this continues, I will also be corrupted and be their puppet.¡± As Violent Avnche was speaking so far, the screams of its main body was heard, so it begged Jude and Cordelia while its teeth chattered. ¡°You can do anything. I¡¯ll even throw my life away if you can stop them. So please stop them! Please!¡± The cub said it with a mind that was already grasping at straws. But at its words of ¡®you can do anything,¡¯ Jude and Cordelia¡¯s eyes suddenly began to shine. ¡°Are you saying that you¡¯ll let us do anything?¡± ¡°Can you do something then?¡± At the same time that Violent Avnche heard his question, it felt something like an ominous chill, but it immediately nodded. ¡°As a wild god, I¡¯ll allow it! You can do anything to stop them!¡± ¡°Okay, thendlord has given us its permission.¡± ¡°I feel less ufortable now.¡± Jude and Cordelia exchanged a mysterious conversation with eye gestures and short words that only they could understand, and at that moment, their strategy meeting was finished. ¡°I¡¯ll say it again, but you¡¯re crazy.¡± ¡°Do you hate it then if you said it again?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s good.¡± Cordelia grinned as she bumped her fist on Jude¡¯s chest and said. ¡°Good luck. Don¡¯t get hurt.¡± ¡°You too.¡± Jude likewise grinned before taking a deep breath. After he mentally prepared himself, he kicked off the ground. ¡°Yaha-!¡± First of all, he shouted loudly to gain their attention. Even while Violent Avnche was howling, Jude¡¯s cry was loud enough for them to notice his presence. ¡°Who the hell are you!¡± Zarakul shouted some stereotypical lines as he turned to Jude, and the barbarian warriors quickly reacted too. They tossed therge barrel and grabbed their weapons. Jude was satisfied with their reaction. As hended on the ground while covered in sacred battle aura, he used the Twenty-Four Gale Steps. ¡°Whirlwind!¡± He deliberately shouted. At the same time, the whirlwinds he created were more than usual, thereby capturing the enemies¡¯ gazes. ¡°Fierce Bull, you moron! Don¡¯t let him interrupt the ceremony!¡± After hurling an insult to Fierce Bull, Zarakul made a rough gesture, and the barbarian warriors rushed towards Jude. Their number was eight. They weren¡¯t just big, as all of them were also well-trained warriors. The strength of each and every one of them wasparable to the knight Jun, who was with Jude in Langesthei. However, Jude focused on Zarakul instead of the barbarian warriors. All that Jude had to do was to draw the attention of not only the barbarian warriors, but also of Zarakul. ¡®Believe, believe! Twenty-Four Gale Steps!¡¯ Boom! Jude roughly kicked the ground. He ran head-on to the barbarian warriors as he rushed through the whirlwind. But his purpose was neither offense nor defense. At the gap between the barbarian warriors. He prated through that gap. And passed by them like the real wind! Shaaaaaaaa-! Whirlwind! Gale! The surrounding air was shaken. Jude¡¯s rush was as smooth and as swift as an arrow, and he passed through the barbarian warriors at once. ¡°Baaaastard!¡± Zarakul responded. He attempted to attack the rushing Jude by swinging the cane he was holding. And Jude once again broke Zarakul¡¯s thoughts. Boom! It wasn¡¯t an attack, but the sound of his kick on the ground. Instead of charging towards Zarakul, Jude hastily turned his body towards Violent Avnche, and Zarakul widely opened his eyes. Because he realized Jude¡¯s purpose was Violent Avnche. ¡°I will not let you!¡± Zarakul spurred on the ground and rushed towards Jude. His momentum was terrifying, as he was a mid-ranking demonic human. At that moment, Jude popped the pouch he was carrying in his arms. A terrible smell spread throughout the ce as it got carried by Jude¡¯s whirlwinds. ¡°Ack!¡± No matter how powerful a demonic human or even the trained warriors, they were helpless against their sense of smell. Zarakul and his subordinates¡¯ movements were immediately blocked by the odor bomb that Jude had also used on the Fury Wolf back then in the Dungeon Book. Boom! Jude kicked the ground again. He then ran back to the direction where he came from, and the struggling Zarakul roared in anger as he summoned a strong wind that swept the surrounding area. As soon as the stench was cleared, he rushed again towards Jude. ¡°You slippery b*stard!¡± The barbarian warriors also turned to Jude. And Violent Avnche was watching the entire spectacle through a gap between the rocks, before he repeatedly stamped its feet. ¡°What are you doing! Why!¡± Jude¡¯s n to awaken its main body failed. Jude¡¯s movements were amazing, but that was not enough to defeat Zarakul and his subordinates. Violent Avnche was in tears as it turned its gaze to the side and shouted. ¡°Hey! You said you¡¯ll do any¡­thing?¡± The cub¡¯s voice weakened at the end. Because Cordelia, who was with it just then, had disappeared. ¡°N-no way?¡± Did she run away? Did she abandon her lover too? It wasn¡¯t. At the time when Violent Avnche was surprised and everyone¡¯s eyes were on Jude, Cordelia was also running. ¡°It¡¯s a feint!¡± As soon as Cordelia reached the magic circle that was created for the ceremony, Zarakul quickly shouted. He hurriedly turned towards Cordelia. ¡°Don¡¯t stop my ceremony!¡± They tried to draw the enemies¡¯ attention and then destroy the magic circle. It was a reasonable deduction, but it was not the correct answer. Because what the two rotten waters had thought of was more than that. ¡°Haa!¡± Cordelia used the Witch Transformation and threw her body towards the magic circle. She poured the witch¡¯s mana into the Sri¡¯s Holy Lance that she held in one hand and stared at only one point. It was at thend where the magic circle was, and not the magic circle itself. She stared at where the dragon vein was being polluted. At the crack in the crevice! ¡°No way?!¡± ¡°Stop!¡± It was not only Zarakul who cried, but Violent Avnche too. Because of what Jude and Cordelia were trying to do. In thest stage of Act 2¡¯s event, the desperate Zarakul tried to die with the yer together. He flooded the dragon vein with a strong power. As a result, it caused a huge earthquake and destroyed the surrounding area. It was a dragon vein. And this was a mountain. What would happen if a dragon vein was filled to the brim with power? ¡°No!¡± ¡°Stop!¡± But it was toote. Cordelia raised Sri¡¯s Holy Lance as she filled it with the witch¡¯s magic before she shouted with an enraptured smile. ¡°Art is an explosion! F*ck bang!¡± T/N: ? (Kwang) can mean ¡®bang¡¯ and ¡®boom¡¯ in Korean. I wanted to use ¡®boom¡¯ because it was more of an explosion¡¯s sound, but ¡®bang¡¯ seemed to be intentional on the author¡¯s part. Intentional, as in, its lewd connotation in English when youbine the f-word with bang. I¡¯ll continue using ¡®f*ck bang!¡¯ instead of ¡®f*ck boom!¡¯ unless you guys/gals disagree. She then threw the Holy Lance towards the dragon vein. She chanted the spell and invoked Sri¡¯s power in the Holy Spear! Baaaaaaang! It burst. It exploded. The ground shook, and Zarakul¡¯s face turned deathly pale. Violet Avnche also copsed onto the floor. And the dragon vein waspletely filled with power. The blue light fluctuated greatly without stopping and began to shoot up to the sky. Dozens to hundreds of small cracks spread throughout the crevice. The whole rocky mountain shook like crazy. ¡°Crazy b*tch!¡± That was it. Zarakul could no longer see Cordelia. Because the rocky mountain began to copse. ¡°Aaaaaah!¡± ¡°Help!¡± ¡°My mountain! My mountain!¡± Thest cry belonged to Violent Avnche. While everyone was focused on Cordelia, Jude ran like crazy and suddenly appeared on Violent Avnche¡¯s side as he grabbed the back of its neck. As if he was lifting a kitten, he lifted the clone of Violent Avnche and climbed onto the wooden board. ¡°NOOOOOOOO-!¡± The rocky mountain fell apart and copsed while Violent Avnche was screaming. Fierce Bull¡¯s group who was in the middle could not escape from the sudden disaster. They couldn¡¯t do anything as the whole rocky mountain copsed from the summit to the middle part. ¡°Aaaaaah!¡± The screams of the barbarian warriors were buried in the roaring sounds. The pollutants they used for the dragon vein were also destroyed from the explosion of the runaway dragon vein. Craaaash, ruuuumble, craaaaash. The rocky mountain that was hundreds of meters in height was copsing. Many things disappeared in that endless roar. The magic circle for the ceremony, the contaminated blood, Zarakul, the barbarian warriors, and even the main body of Violent Avnche! ¡°Aaah, aaaaaah¡­.¡± As Violent Avnche let out a devastated voice, Jude stretched out his hand to the dense cloud of dust that rose up. And there was someone who held his hand. ¡°Cough, cough. Fine dust is bad.¡± At the moment of explosion, Cordelia had soared up to the sky with magic. Covered in dirt, Cordelia coughed and said that, as Jude helped her sit on the wooden board. She then smiled. ¡°F*ck bang.¡± ¡°Because art is an explosion.¡± ¡°Good job, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Praise me more and more.¡± As usual, the two exchanged words that only they knew and then refreshingly smiled at each other, while Violent Avnche shuddered in various ways at the sight of the two exchanging smiles after the atrocity of toppling down the mountain. And rings of pure white light rose around the bodies of Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Two rings?¡± ¡°Two rings.¡± There were two rings of light. One was because of the unexpectedly many people who were lying in wait to ambush them on the mountain. The second was because of those in the middle of the crevice. ¡°Aaaaaaaah!¡± A terrifying roar of anger burst out beneath their feet. Jude and Cordelia looked down, and Violent Avnche widely opened its eyes. Zarakul stood up as he pushed aside the big rocks. He was already in his demonized form, and he stood tall at 3 meters and had abnormally developed muscles that reminded them of a monster than a human. ¡°This, this¡­fiendish b*stards! What the hell did you do!¡± I can¡¯t believe that you broke down the entire mountain! Violent Avnche secretly agreed to Zarakul¡¯s pent-up cry that he let out, but Jude and Cordelia did not care about it. Rather, they were thinking like demons. ¡°Doesn¡¯t he look normal?¡± ¡°He was hurt a lot.¡± ¡°One of his horns is broken.¡± ¡°His mana got twisted when he quickly turned into his demonized form in order to survive at the moment the mountain copsed.¡± ¡°His injuries are severe.¡± ¡°His whole body is covered in blood.¡± It was an indifferent analysis. His power was halved, or rather, the current Zarakul¡¯s power reduced by more than half. ¡°Should we beat him up when he¡¯s all beat up?¡± ¡°Whether he can no longer use his powers, weak, defenseless, or took hold of a weakness or hostage, we¡¯ll still do it.¡± ¡°Wow, you¡¯re like a real devil.¡± ¡°Do you hate it then?¡± ¡°I love it. It¡¯s my style.¡± Jude and Cordelia looked at each other again andughed, before they put down Violent Avnche on the wooden board and used magic tond gently in front of Zarakul. ¡°Let¡¯s start the boss fight now.¡± ¡°The boss fight starts at Phase 3.¡± ¡°What?¡± It was when Zarakul and Violent Avnche were bewildered together. Jude and Cordelia no longer spoke to each other. The two forcibly began the boss fight. Chapter 66: Violent Avalanche (3)

Chapter 66: Violent Avnche (3)

Today¡¯s chapter is short, but those info dump and onomatopoeia drove me crazy. And if you¡¯re wondering why the chapters have been gettingte, it¡¯s because I¡¯ve been too absorbed ying Genshin Impact, ehehe¡­ Also, judging by thest chapter¡¯sments about the character Deidara¡¯s iconic quote of ¡®art is an explosion,¡¯ I can safely assume that it really is ¡®bang¡¯ and not ¡®boom.¡¯ F*ck bang! Hahaha! For the overlords of hell, besides their personality and magic, they also had their own distinct characteristics depending on their physical appearance. Because of this, demons and demonic humans also had different physical appearances depending on the overlords they served. ¡°The symbol of Asmodeus, the overlord of lust, is a beast.¡± That was why Asmodeus¡¯ followers take the form of an animal/beast. The demonic monster that guarded the sealed witch¡¯s soul resembled a giant gori, and Saluzia, who was a high-ranking demonic human, had a deer¡¯s antlers and the wings of a winged animal. ¡°An unparalleled powerful monster. A beast that doesn¡¯t get exhausted.¡± In addition, Asmodeus, the overlord of lust, was also a swordswoman. ording to the Devil Book of the Sri denomination, which predated the Guardians of the Holy Cross, she was the greatest swordmaster in hell. She was an overlord with a beautiful appearance and beautiful sword movements. Her appearance while she moved her sword was so beautiful that there were stories about how the enemies she fought had lost their will to fight because of their lust. ¡°But Belial is different. You could say that he¡¯s the exact opposite.¡± Belial, the overlord of corruption. His appearance was so terrible looking that it was difficult to describe it. For this reason, the Devil Book referred to Belial as simr to Asmodeus, that both of them should not be directly seen. Because Asmodeus¡¯ seductive beauty made her enemies go crazy with lust, while Belial was so gruesome and disgusting that it made his enemies lose their minds the moment they faced him. ¡°If Asmodeus is a beast, then Belial is an insect.¡± Belial, also known as the Lord of the Flies, had an insect appearance just like his nickname. Therefore, his demons and demon followers also had forms close to insects when they used his power. ¡°I¡¯ll crush and trample you! I¡¯ll make you beg me to kill you!¡± As Zarakul shouted in an angry voice, his appearance rapidly changed. His horns and huge body remained the same, but a hard shell formed all over his skin, and his face also changed in an instant. His eyes became that of a dragonfly¡¯srgepound eyes, and transparent wings that were unique to insects sprouted from his back. His mouth also turned like that of an insect¡¯s, making him look hideous. ¡®As expected of a mid-ranking demonic human.¡¯ Low-ranking demonic humans did not have much changes in their appearances even in their demonized forms, but for mid-ranking demonic humans, the distinct characteristics of their overlords were vividly revealed. ¡®He¡¯s been weakened though.¡¯ His injuries were severe. Though his appearance hadpletely changed, it was not intact. The shell that covered his whole body was broken everywhere, and one of his leg pairs that grew between his waist waspletely missing. Judging from the way he dragged his right leg, it seemed that he was having difficulties in walking too. And it was at that moment. While Jude was calmly examining Zarakul¡¯s condition, Cordelia had apletely different thought. ¡®Di-disgusting.¡¯ She had thought that it was disgusting back when it was still a game, but it was even more disgusting now that she had seen it in person. She found the boss disgusting, so she honestly wanted to run away rather than to fight. It was as if ¡®that¡¯ showed up in her room. (T/N: ¡®That¡¯ refers to cockroach, hahaha.) Moreover, Zarakul began doing something more gruesome. ¡°The Great Overlord of Corruption will punish you!¡± When Zarakul loudly shouted, dozens of holes appeared all over his body. Cordelia¡¯s face turned pale in fright at that gruesome sight to the point where she couldn¡¯t even scream, and Jude instantly flinched and couldn¡¯t move from his spot. But what happened next was more shocking. Chiiiiiiiiiiirrrrrrr-! Flying insects poured out from the holes in Zarakul¡¯s body. The hundreds of insects that poured out were so many that they made a loud noise in the air as they formed a huge cloud of bugs. ¡°Go! Eat them clean!¡± As Zarakul shouted in high spirits, the insect swarm that looked like flies rushed towards Jude and Cordelia. It didn¡¯t matter if the insects were small, but their clearly gruesome appearance made someone act recklessly. Jude quickly came to his senses and as he tried to evade, he saw Cordelia. On the other hand, Cordelia reflexively chanted a spell the moment she saw the swarm of insects. ¡°!¡± A huge fireball that contained an excessive amount of the witch¡¯s magic rushed towards the front. The fireball exploded the moment it collided into the insect swarm. Booooooom! It was quite a big explosion. It caused some of the swarms of insects that soared and covered the sky to disappear. But Zarakul didn¡¯t lose hisposure. ¡°Hahaha! You can only do that much!¡± Zarakul eximed. Instead of moving himself, he called out more swarms of insects. Numerous insects emerged through the heat of the mes. ¡°Kyaaaa!¡± Cordelia eventually screamed. She already knew about Zarakul and thought that it would be fine if he looked a little disgusting because she had defeated him dozens to hundreds of times in the game, but the reality was different. There was a difference in viewpoints as she had never encountered hundreds of bugs in real lifepared to when it was just a game. ¡°Cordelia!¡± Jude cried out. At the same time, he used Twenty-Four Gale Steps and drew closer to Cordelia. ¡°Chant the spell!¡± Jude yelled as he simultaneously grabbed Cordelia on her waist and carried her away from the insect swarm. Several whirlwinds rose and created a dizzying wind, which then shook off some of the flying insects. ¡®She needs time to adapt!¡¯ Even though he had been through all sorts of hardships, Jude found himself in a tough spot as he couldn¡¯t even punch those bugs, so Cordelia¡¯s reaction was quite understandable. But no matter how gruesome it was, she would eventually get used to it if she kept looking at it. So for now, he had to buy some time and focus on evading. However, he was wrong. He didn¡¯t have to do that. It wasn¡¯t because Cordelia suddenly adapted to the reality before her eyes. She still had a white face and was on the verge of crying. But something else had already been triggered and overpowered her feelings of fear and disgust. Cordelia¡¯s fighting instinct, which Jude himself had admired several times, had already been triggered the moment she faced the enemy. me. mes shot up from both of Cordelia¡¯s hands as it reached the whirlwinds that Jude created. At that moment, Jude understood what Cordelia¡¯s instinct was trying to do. And the conclusion that she instantly reached while bypassing the process. ¡°I think I know what to do! Let¡¯s do it!¡± Thud! Jude kicked the ground. As if traversing space, he distanced himself from the insect swarm at once, and after he immediately let down Cordelia in a fairly high ce, he charged towards Zarakul. ¡°Come! Come here if you can!¡± A purple aura rose from Zarakul¡¯s whole body as he loudly shouted. He was a powerful warrior before he had be an insect master. But Jude didn¡¯t run to him. He kept running around Zarakul, as if he was drawing a circle with Zarakul at the center. ¡°Your trick is useless!¡± Are you thinking of hitting my back after making me dizzy? Zarakul mockinglyughed at Jude. Hundreds of insects swarmed andpletely covered him and his back. But it was all ording to Jude¡¯s n. ¡°Cordelia!¡± Jude called out. Cordelia responded immediately. The witch¡¯s ck me was ignited and burned in the air. Hissssss-! The me burned. It was a small me. But the wind caught it. It was the whirlwinds that Jude had created. The ones that began to rotate following Jude¡¯s movement. ¡°Great Storm! Help me!¡± Cordelia raised her arms high. And then there was a strong glow from the golden tattoo on her left arm. She began to manipte the flow of the whirlwinds that Jude had already created and the new ones that he was creating too. It was the blessing of the wind. Swoooooooosh-! The whirlwinds merged into one. Those that were already rotating along a certain trajectory had merged and became a huge whirlwind. ¡°More! More! More!¡± Jude increased his speed. Whirlwinds continued to be created with his Twenty-Four Gale Steps. Thus, the whirlwinds increased and added to the huge whirlwind. And the huge whirlwind became more and more powerful under the control of Cordelia! Wooooooooooooooooo! Finally, it became a tornado. The great tornado tore the air apart, and Zarakul¡¯s insect swarm couldn¡¯t properly fly. And the me. The ck me burned in the wind. It quickly spread and became one with the wind. The tornado was reborn as a massive fire tornado. ¡°Yaha!¡± Jude cheerfully eximed as he moved away from the tornado. He could tell. It wasn¡¯t just Jude and Cordelia who moved. Violent Avnche who was high up in the sky was also adding power to the tornado. Although Violent Avnche had been weakened, thisnd was still its sanctuary. The power of the wild god who ruled the sanctuary was added to the mes and wind, and the fire tornado¡¯s burning power became terrifyingly powerful. It was impossible for Cordelia alone to create such a massive fire tornado. Rooooooaaaar-! The fire tornadopletely trapped Zarakul. Hundreds of insects were instantly turned into ashes, and the nearby snow melted away at once. The released heat was so intense that it was difficult to breathe near the fire tornado. Jude stopped running. After Cordelia saw and confirmed that Jude was at a safe enough distance, she once again shouted with all her might. ¡°F*ck bang!¡± The first one was an explosion. The second one was another explosion! The fire tornado¡¯s swirl of mes swallowed Zarakul. The dancing ck mes choked Zarakul from all sides, as if the tornado itself squeezed him with two hands. ¡°Aaaaaaaaahhhh!¡± Zarakul¡¯s scream was buried by the roaring sound of the wind. The mountain debris were sucked by the tornado and turned into fearsome des that ruthlessly tore and crushed Zarakul¡¯s body. The witch¡¯s ck me set him on fire. ¡°Amazing.¡± It was spectacr. Though they were at a considerable distance, their bodies could feel the tremendous heat. Jude unwittingly admired it as he smiled in astonishment, while Cordelia increased the mana she used even more, as her dark red hair fluttered like mes. ¡°Finish!¡± Cordelia shouted as she widely stretched out her arms to the side. At that instant, the fire tornado let out a final roar. Baaaaangggg! The mes exploded. After a while, the tornado disappeared, and the air fluctuated once more as the wind blew in all directions. And the terrible heat intensely melted all the snow on the surface. Whoooosh! And Zarakul¡¯s figure was revealed. His whole body was broken and burned to the point that his figure was unrecognizable, and afterwards, his body literally fell apart. As he had already suffocated from the mes, his body immediately became ashes and scattered around. ¡®You have acquired the title ¡®The one who defeated a mid-ranking demonic human.¡¯ When fighting against demonic humans, all stats are increased by 1%.¡¯ A voice came into their heads. At the same time, rings of light surrounded the bodies of Jude and Cordelia. There were three for Jude and four for Cordelia. ¡°Haa.¡± Cordelia¡¯s shoulders drooped as she let out a sigh. Her nose then bled, and both of her legs weakened. ¡°Ah.¡± But Cordelia did not fall to the ground. Instead of falling to the ground, she found herself on Jude¡¯s arms, who had suddenly rushed to her side. ¡°You worked hard, my princess.¡± ¡°Ourbo¡­was good¡­¡± Cordelia raised her thumb as she buried herself in Jude¡¯s arms, and Jude fixed her position as he carried her in his arms before he looked up at the sky. He smiled towards Violent Avnche who was looking down from the wooden board. *** ¡°You can be at ease now. They have been punished for destroying the sanctuary.¡± ¡°You¡¯re the ones who destroyed the sanctuary! You two!¡± Chapter 67: (1/2) – Violent Avalanche (4)

Chapter 67: (1/2) ¨C Violent Avnche (4)

I divided the chapter by half, not because it¡¯s long, but because I¡¯ve been having a headache fromck of sleep. This is what happens when I y games for too long, ehehe. I¡¯ll go to sleep after posting this chapter, and the next half will be released tomorrow. The battle was over. Not only did they defeat the wicked mid-ranking demonic human Zarakul, who tried to contaminate the dragon vein, but they also defeated all of the Angry Bull¡¯s corrupted warriors that Zarakul led. After receiving some medical treatment, Cordelia said with a beautiful smile. ¡°You can be at ease now. They were punished for destroying the sanctuary.¡± ¡°You¡¯re the ones who destroyed the sanctuary! You two!¡± ¡°Sheesh.¡± It didn¡¯t work. Cordelia clicked her tongue and pouted her lips, and Jude spoke with a business smile. ¡°Violent Avnche, the situation was so urgent that we couldn¡¯t help it. Although the sanctuary was partially damaged, we defeated the enemy and protected the dragon vein.¡± ¡°Partially? Is this partially?!¡± ¡°The mountain has notpletely copsed.¡± Cordelia lightly said, and Violent Avnche held the back of his neck and then staggered. It was a dainty bear cub, so even though it had that reaction, it still looked cute. ¡°Uh¡­uh¡­my blood pressure¡­fortunately, it¡¯s a rocky mountain.¡± If it had been an ordinary mountain, countless animals would have died when the mountain copsed. Jude then approached such a Violent Avnche and said in a friendly manner. ¡°Regardless, we defeated those guys.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, we defeated them and saved Violent Avnche and the sanctuary.¡± Jude and Cordelia said in session, and Violent Avnche knit its brows. Because it couldn¡¯t somehow understand their suggestive words. ¡°We defeated not only the mid-ranking demonic human, but also the fallen barbarian warriors.¡± ¡°Jude is right. If not for us, the dragon vein would have been polluted. And you would have been corrupted too. Ah¡­just imagine it, wouldn¡¯t it have been terrible if that happened?¡± They were silently pressuring Violent Avnche. No, they were pressuring Violent Avnche with ¡®gentle words.¡¯ Violent Avnche involuntarily stepped back as the good-looking couple came closer, or rather, it finally realized what the two were asking for. ¡°Are you¡­asking for a reward?¡± ¡°Reward¡­rather than that¡­isn¡¯t it reasonable for us to bepensated?¡± ¡°Give and take!¡± ¡°Great Storm was a wild god who properlypensated us.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right. He gave us this and that.¡± Cordelia gently tapped the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow, and then pointed to the tattoo on her left arm. Then Violent Avnche grumbled as it tried to resist. ¡°The mountain¡­copsed.¡± ¡°The mountain has notpletely copsed.¡± ¡°It was a necessary sacrifice. Everyone will remember this noble sacrifice.¡± The ¡®everyone¡¯ that they referred to were Jude, Cordelia, and Violent Avnche who were present here, but Violent Avnche had a feeling that perhaps it was only referring to Violent Avnche itself. ¡°Haa¡­I can¡¯t help it.¡± In any case, it was true that without Jude and Cordelia, the dragon veins would have been contaminated, and Violent Avnche itself would have been corrupted. It was natural to give them a reward, since they were Violent Avnche¡¯s benefactors who saved more than its life. ¡°But children, I lost my main body, and the sanctuary has been destroyed. The dragon vein had indeed avoided contamination, but I greatly suffered.¡± ¡°Yes, I understand.¡± Cordelia said as if she sympathized with him, and Violent Avnche clicked his tongue this time. And Jude thought. ¡®As expected, the divine items remained safe.¡¯ Just as how Great Storm had the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow, Violent Avnche also possessed some divine items. As Jude had expected, Violent Avnche plopped down on the ground, and began to talk as it looked at Cordelia. ¡°Because I do not have a tribe that I look after, I do not have any divine items that are good for human use like that Great Storm brat. I don¡¯t have items like weapons or armor.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± The reason why Great Storm created a divine item like the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow was to give it to the Great Storm tribe, and not to use it for himself. So it would be strange if Violent Avnche, who did not care for any tribe, had weapons or armor that were suitable for human use. ¡°So I¡¯ll give you this.¡± The sitting Violent Avnche dug a little on the ground, and arge blue gem suddenly appeared. ¡°This is¡­¡± ¡°Freezing stone!¡± ¡°Wow! That came from here?¡± Freezing Stone. It was a beautiful gem made bybining mana and the cold Yin energy. But it wasn¡¯t just beautiful. Because the freezing stone stored ¡®Frozen Time¡¯ inside it. ¡®In other words, it is one of the main ingredients for the Ancestral Regression technique.¡¯ It was an ingredient that could only be obtained after a lot of hard work, so they were really lucky to obtain it here. ¡°You¡¯re lucky.¡± Jude nodded his head, while Cordelia giggled and hugged to her chest the freezing stone that Violent Avnche gave them. ¡°It¡¯s pretty. Thank you, Violent Avnche.¡± ¡°Well¡­I¡¯m d that you like it.¡± After all, Cordelia was really pretty. Although she didn¡¯t wear make-up because they had slept outside and traveled for several days, Cordelia¡¯s cheerful smile still resembled that of a goddess. Of course, since Violent Avnche was a bear, its aesthetic perception was somehow different from humans, but Violent Avnche was the kind of being that would marvel at the sunset that heralds the night and be captivated by the glorious dawn in the morning. Violent Avnche warmly smiled and shrugged its shoulders, and Jude smiled too, before he stepped forward and said. ¡°I think we should discuss about the next thing now. You said that they were trying to pollute the dragon vein, but could you please borate about that a little more?¡± ¡°Of course. It¡¯s a really big crisis. It¡¯s a problem that all wild gods¡­no, all living beings in the wildnd must deal with together!¡± Violent Avnche strongly shouted as it jumped from its spot, and Jude nodded. He then faced Violent Avnche with a serious expression and said. ¡°The Angry Bull tribe is believed to have been corrupted. It seems that a demonic human from a group of demon followers called Devil¡¯s Eye was behind it.¡± ¡°Wait, how did you know that?¡± Violent Avnche roughly knew about demon followers, but it didn¡¯t know about which tribe or group they belonged to, so it widely opened its eyes and asked. Jude then briefly introduced their history. ¡°We came to the wildnds at the request of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. Because they received information that the Devil¡¯s Eye were showing signs of disturbing movements. Furthermore, the witch¡¯s soul and the Fairy Queen warned us about the threat in the north.¡± ¡°Ohhh¡­¡± In reality, Violent Avnche did not know much about the Guardians of the Holy Cross. It also knew very little about the witch¡¯s soul and the Fairy Queen. But that was also why Violent Avnche felt reassured. Just as an unknown threat came, an unknown help also came. And Cordelia thought. ¡®Wow¡­as expected of a scammer.¡¯ When they were inside the border, he eagerly used the wild god¡¯s name, and as soon as they crossed the border, he used the name of the witch¡¯s soul and the southern organizations this time. ¡®I think he¡¯ll seed even if he tried to sell umbres in the desert.¡¯ Cordelia really thought that it would be possible if it was Jude, so she unconsciously let out augh. ¡®Because he¡¯s my Jude.¡¯ She felt that he was reliable. And at that same time. When Cordelia was smiling while watching Jude having a serious conversation with Violent Avnche. A simr situation was urring near the border. *** Chapter 67: (2/2) – Violent Avalanche (4)

Chapter 67: (2/2) ¨C Violent Avnche (4)

Break day tomorrow. See you on Monday! ¡°The Great Wall is, as its name implies, a great wall. It is so huge that it cannot be fully monitored.¡± Furthermore, the Great Wall wasn¡¯t built in a straight line on a t ground, as if one was drawing a line on a map. In reality, the terrain wasplicated. There were mountains and valleys everywhere, and even in ces where there were no rivers and forests, the ground was rugged. Thus, the Great Wall was built in a form that conformed with the natural terrain, so it was natural that the wall had several blind spots. ¡°In the end, people are needed to guard the wall. That way, they can easily notice a massive invasion before it reaches the wall. However, watching over the entire wall is almost impossible in the first ce because only a few people are guarding it.¡± It wasn¡¯t just the words of anyone else, but were the words of Count Bayer¡¯s sessor, whose family held the margrave position in the past for many years. ¡®He is¡­reliable!¡¯ It was not just because of his family¡¯s origins. The moment he found out that Jude and Cordelia had crossed the border, Ga?l¡¯s attitude regarding this matter changed. It wasn¡¯t because he was not serious about this matter before. He was already serious about it, but up until now, Ga?l had been following Adelia rather than taking the lead. But it was different now. He was taking the initiative and trying to resolve the situation. ¡®He looks like an expert.¡¯ Ga?l¡¯s exnation about the Great Wall and the Jackdaws made him look like an expert. Perhaps that¡¯s the reason why Ga?l appeared to be strikingly handsome than before. ¡®He was handsome in the first ce though.¡¯ She didn¡¯t like Jude¡¯s personality or any other side of his, but Adelia at least admitted that he had a beautiful face. ¡®He looks too weak though.¡¯ Nevertheless, the expression of ¡®good-looking¡¯ perfectly suited Jude. Ga?l was Jude¡¯s older brother, and the brothers were alike each other. However, Ga?l was the very picture of health itself. Moreover, he was a master of the sword, and was regarded by everyone to have inherited the title of Great Swordmaster from Count Bayer, one of the ten great swordmasters. In addition to having a strong physique, he had an appearance that resembled Jude but minus the weakness, so it was unavoidable for him not to look handsome. ¡®No, this isn¡¯t the time for this.¡¯ This wasn¡¯t the time for her to evaluate Ga?l¡¯s appearance. After all, Ga?l was now exining how to cross the border with a very serious face. ¡°I apologize, but we have to abandon our horses.¡± ¡°It can¡¯t be helped.¡± If someone else had said it, Adelia would have argued about finding another way instead of abandoning the horses, but now, she unconsciously nodded her head. Because Ga?l¡¯s words were reliable! ¡®If this man said so, it must be true then.¡¯ At Adelia¡¯s reply, Ga?l was somehow a little surprised, but he soon had a small smile and said. ¡°It¡¯s going to be quite a difficult journey.¡± ¡°The journey has been tough even up to now. You do know how many days we¡¯ve been running on horseback, right?¡± ¡°I do know.¡± Ever since they left home, they had been running on horseback every day until they had reached this ce. Running on horseback was a lot harder than most people think. It was severely physically exhausting, and it was seriously painful on the buttocks and thighs. But the two had run every day for more than 10 days. It was a forced march of such difficulty that it would make most ordinary knights cry. ¡®However¡­¡¯ Ga?l unconsciously looked at Adelia. They hade this far but she had never once said that it was difficult. It wasn¡¯t because it was easy. It was hard. Ga?l himself found it difficult, so it would be more serious for Adelia who¡¯s a wizard and a woman too. But she never once said that it was hard. She had a strong will. She endured the hardships in order to fulfill their mission. ¡®It¡¯s the first time.¡¯ It was the first time that he met a nobledy like her. Of course, he had met a few knights with a simr disposition, but Adelia was first and foremost a wizard. There was a difference from those who had trained to be knights since their childhood. ¡®Beautiful.¡¯ He had first thought that she was fierce, but she somehow looked different now. She was like a sparkling gem who held a strong will. Even though she was always frowning, Adelia was still a very beautiful woman. Just as Ga?l was Jude¡¯s brother, Adelia was Cordelia¡¯s older sister. ¡°Ga?l?¡± Adelia asked Ga?l at that moment as she looked up at him. It was natural for her to do so, since the height difference between the two was close to 20 centimeters. But in that instant, Ga?l unconsciously averted his gaze. Because his heart was beating a little fast. ¡®How long has it been?¡¯ The reason why Ga?l himself had not been married even when he was in histe twenties. He had lied to others, saying that he had ady in his heart, but in fact, there was a real reason. Count Bayer also knew of the reason, so he didn¡¯t pressure Ga?l into getting married. ¡°Ga?l? Are you sick?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not. It¡¯s just a little fever.¡± Ga?l lightly answered, as he shook his head and got rid of his thoughts. What was important now was to catch up to Jude and Cordelia. He only had to think about that for now. ¡°I don¡¯t know much about thend of the barbarians. So I will trust in Lady Adelia¡¯s decision in the future.¡± He was referring to the tracking magic in Count Chase¡¯s ring. Adelia nodded her head and said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll definitely get the job done. And¡­¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°If it¡¯s the sword of Lord Ga?l, I¡¯m sure it would be reliable even in thend of the barbarians.¡± Adelia quickly spoke, and at that moment, the two were simultaneously a little embarrassed. Ga?l was surprised when he heard Adelia¡¯s words. He would, of course, since his heart had always been pounding ever since he met Adelia. ¡°It¡¯s an honor for me to receive your trust. I shall do my utmost best to protect Lady Adelia.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go quickly.¡± Adelia hurriedly turned her eyes, as she somehow found it difficult to gaze at Ga?l¡¯s bright smile, and Ga?l stepped forward full of confidence as he had always been. And at that same time, in a ce that was far down in the south¡­ ¡°Uh¡­what? Didn¡¯t it go well at first?¡± Inside Count Chase¡¯s study. A handsome young man with long tinum hair stood in front of his father after a long time. He was Edward Chase, Count Chase¡¯s eldest son and heir. After Edward said that, Count Chase knit his brows. ¡°Isn¡¯t that good for her?¡± ¡°No¡­I must meet them first if it¡¯s Adelia.¡± Adelia was the best among the three siblings when it came to their talent for magic. But maybe because of that, or maybe because she resembled her father the most among the three, she has never had a rtionship with the opposite sex since her childhood. Such a thing as eloping was something that Adelia wouldn¡¯t likely do, but if she had indeed did that, shouldn¡¯t they wee it with open arms then? ¡®There¡¯s no problem if the other person is Ga?l.¡¯ He was handsome andpetent, he came from a good family, and he also had a nice personality. He was certainly perfect. In Edward¡¯s personal opinion, he honestly found Ga?l to be too good whenpared to Adelia. ¡®Of course, that is if the two really eloped.¡¯ Contrary to the concerns of Count Chase and Count Bayer, Edward perceived Ga?l and Adelia¡¯s loss of contact to be different in naturepared to their youngest siblings. ¡®There must be a reason.¡¯ Although she was bold, or rather, even aggressive, he thought that Adelia wasn¡¯t a child who would do things without thinking. Moreover, she was even with the prudent Ga?l, so if they had cut off their contact, there must have been a reason that they did that, and not because it was an elopement or something simr. ¡°Whatever it is, we can¡¯t just leave it as is.¡± Ga?l and Adelia had gone missing after Jude and Cordelia. The rumors in high society was only a secondary problem. The most important thing was to secure the safety of the two ¡®couples.¡¯ ¡°Ga?l and Adelia should be all right. The problem would be Jude and Cordelia.¡± Some people have already evaluated Ga?l¡¯s sword skills as close to the level of the ten great swordmasters. In addition, Adelia was one of the heads of the Royal Guard Magic Corps, so it was highly unlikely that the two would be in danger. But Jude and Cordelia¡¯s situation was different. They had to secure the safety of the two as soon as possible. ¡°Should I set off too? Count Bayer doesn¡¯t have a daughter, so you won¡¯t be losing your contact with me.¡± At Edward¡¯s joking words, Count Chase shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ve already prepared for the chase. You focus on training. I¡¯ve said that it¡¯s very important, but it¡¯s also important for you to reach the next circle.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± Edward obediently epted his words and bowed before he tried to go out. But it was at that moment. ¡°By the way, Edward.¡± ¡°Yes, father.¡± ¡°Did you not get along with that Ga?l fellow when you were a kid?¡± ¡°We¡¯re still rtively close these days.¡± Edward had few people whom he could call as friends, and Ga?l was one of the first among them, whom he could count as a friend. ¡°I see. Then do you know what Ga?l likes?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°I¡¯m saying this just in case. So that we¡¯ll be prepared for any situation.¡± Edward quietly stared at his father speaking with a stern face, and then frowned. However, he didn¡¯t think of this situation too deeply as he always did. At Count Chase¡¯s request, Edward began talking about the things that Ga?l preferred. Chapter 68: Missed (1)

Chapter 68: Missed (1)

Terms used in this chapter: The person near the ink will be ck ¨C a Korean idiom which means that if you are close/get along with bad friends, you will likely be bad like them. In short, a good person will be bad if they hang around with bad people. It is slightly simr to ¡®one rotten apple spoils the barrel,¡¯ but in this idiom¡¯s case, the subject is the already bad person who turns good people into doing bad too. ¡°I¡¯ll exin what the dragon vein is first.¡± Having heard about the story of the Guardians of the Holy Cross and the witch¡¯s soul, Violent Avnche had a face like that of a seasoned veteran. Violent Avnche had been worried on what to do given its very desperate situation, but unexpectedly, a helping hand came and relieved its worries. ¡°First of all, you two should sit down. It¡¯s going to be a long story.¡± Violent Avnche tapped on the spot next to it, before it slightly wriggled its butt to move into a morefortable sitting position. Cordelia sat next to Violent Avnche who was like a teddy bear, while Jude sat opposite them. ¡°The dragon vein is a stream of divine power that flows throughout the entire wildnd.¡± ¡°Does the dragon vein exist only in the wildnds?¡± Violent Avnche nodded at Cordelia¡¯s question. ¡°Yes. The truth is¡­the dragon vein was originally called the ley line, and these ley lines were spread out all over the entire continent¡­or rather, throughout the entire. However, the wild gods used their powers on a portion of these ley lines for quite some time to create what we call the dragon vein now.¡± In short, they removed some of the original infrastructure and upgraded it. Cordelia asked again. ¡°Is the dragon vein something like the wild gods¡¯ source of power?¡± ¡°Not entirely. However¡­it is true that us wild gods have our strength increased when we are near the dragon vein. Thend where the dragon veins flow is what we call our sanctuary, and when we leave our sanctuary, we lose our connection with the dragon vein, and our strength also weakens.¡± ¡°Uh¡­does that mean that it¡¯s difficult for the wild gods if they lose the dragon vein?¡± ¡°It¡¯s notpletely difficult. It¡¯spletely difficult¡­but there are also some strong wild gods who do notpletely rely on the dragon vein¡­¡± But from the way Violent Avnche spoke, it seemed like Violent Avnche belonged to the group of wild gods who found it difficult if they lost their connection with the dragon vein. ¡°The dragon vein is extremely important then.¡± ¡°Yes. I¡¯m not trying to brag, but the reason why everyone can live in the wildnds is because of the sanctuary¡¯s existence that us wild gods look after. But if the dragon vein is destroyed, the sanctuary is also destroyed, and the wildnds will eventually be and of death.¡± Jude nodded his head. In fact, the wildnds that appeared in the game was a barrennd that was uninhabitable for any living beings. ¡°But I think they¡¯re trying to do something worse.¡± ¡°They¡¯re not turning it into and of death?¡± ¡°Yes, they tried to contaminate the dragon vein. Rather than destroying it¡­it seemed like they were trying to use the dragon vein for something bad.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right,e to think of it, you¡¯ve said it before, right? If the dragon vein is contaminated and corrupted, you¡¯ll also be corrupted.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s words, Violent Avnche nodded with a gloomy face. And in the midst of this serious talk, Jude looked at Cordelia, as if he found her talking to be something unexpected. Cordelia would usually be silent when Jude was talking to someone else because she didn¡¯t know much about their discussion, but now, she was listening to the conversation and even responding well to it. Her skill to naturally lead the conversation was also good. ¡®It doesn¡¯t seem like she¡¯s thinking about it.¡¯ She was just doing it naturally. ¡®In fact, I¡¯ve been talking more ever since I met her too.¡¯ Remembering when he first began ying Legend of Heroes 2, Jude was almost preupied with his past memories for a while, but he soon shook his head and dismissed his thoughts. Their conversation with Violent Avnche was more important than his current thoughts now. ¡°As they polluted the dragon vein, I also began feeling strange. I desperately resisted¡­and if you two hadn¡¯te, I would¡¯ve definitely lost my reason and be a crazy monster.¡± Violent Avnche shook its head as if just imagining it was horrible. Cordelia stroked Violent Avnche¡¯s back as she looked at Jude. ¡®You have a rough idea about it, right?¡¯ ¡®Yes, I think I know what happened.¡¯ After he roughly matched the story in Legend of Heroes 2 and in their current situation, he arrived at a conclusion. What Zarakul poured into the dragon vein was Belial¡¯s blood. Of course, it wasn¡¯t literally Belial¡¯s blood, but the sacrifices¡¯ blood that was infused with Belial¡¯s power through a special ceremony. ¡°Violent Avnche, it seems that they¡¯re intending to corrupt the entire wildnds by corrupting the dragon vein and the wild gods.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Violent Avnche shuddered. ¡°Indeed, it¡¯s a horrible situation. They must be stopped.¡± ¡°Yes, they must be stopped. And in order to that, Violent Avnche¡¯s help is absolutely necessary.¡± ¡°My help?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. We really need your help!¡± Violent Avnche was embarrassed for a moment when Cordelia pleaded in an earnest tone, but it soon sprang up from its seat and said. ¡°Okay! I will do what I can!¡± ¡°Thank you very much!¡± Cordelia responded again and then turned to Jude. ¡®But what kind of help are you going to ask?¡¯ ¡®Um¡­the person near the ink will be ck.¡¯ She had impulsively scammed Violent Avnche. Jude felt guilty for a while because he felt like he had led the innocent Cordelia astray, but he soon focused on Violent Avnche and said. ¡°The demon followers have already corrupted the Angry Bull tribe and made them their subordinates. Therefore, we need to iste the Angry Bull tribe.¡± ¡°The Angry Bull tribe? They are one of thergest and strongest tribes in the wildnd.¡± ¡°Yes, so we have to stop them now. You could say that this current situation alone has revealed the plot of these guys.¡± ¡°Plot?¡± ¡°Yes, they¡¯re not only plotting to corrupt the dragon vein. They¡¯re also trying to corrupt the sanctuaries and the wild gods, and even the tribes that live in the wildnd.¡± ¡°What?!¡± ¡°The dragon veins are contaminated, and the sanctuaries are destroyed. Because of that, the tribes will find it difficult to live here. However, even the wild gods whom they have believed and depended on until now are also in a strange situation. The minds of the tribes¡¯ people, who will have no ce to lean on, will be weakened, and the enemies will prate through those weakened gaps. They will incorporate the tribes into the Angry Bull tribe that is already under the control of the demon followers and turn the entire wildnd into a den of demons!¡± ¡°Oh-oh my gosh! That¡¯s evil. Those bastards are truly evil!¡± Violent Avnche trembled as it found that situation scary. Jude then said as he grabbed the small and round shoulders of such Violent Avnche. ¡°Yes, so they must be stopped. We must tell the truth to each tribe in the wildnd and then iste the Angry Bull tribe.¡± The reason why the Angry Bull tribe invaded the northern part of the S?len Kingdom was because they unified the wildnd. Therefore, the two had to prevent them frompletely unifying the wildnd. Or rather, the two had to iste them. ¡°How should I do it? What should I do?¡± ¡°You must go the Great Storm tribe first and tell them the truth. Everyone will listen because it¡¯s a wild god¡¯s words and not anyone else.¡± ¡°Uhh¡­so I have to leave my sanctuary then?¡± Although it had copsed, more than half of the rocky mountain was still left. Despite that, it was still Violent Avnche¡¯s sanctuary. ¡°Violent Avnche, this is a very serious situation. You¡¯re the only whom we can trust and rely on right now.¡± Cordelia spoke in a serious tone with tears in her eyes, and Violent Avnche groaned as it found that to be difficult to do. It was a slightly better situation for the wild god to leave and abandon their sanctuary, which is the source of their power, than to ignore the situation and die. ¡°What if someone else upies this mountain while I¡¯m gone?¡± At Violent Avnche¡¯s hesitation, Cordelia sped its hands and said. ¡°It¡¯s okay, we¡¯ll help you if a thief takes over yournd. We¡¯ll drive the thief away and get your mountain back together.¡± ¡°Yes, Great Storm will also help you.¡± If Great Storm was here, he would have said ¡®Why should I?¡¯, but he wasn¡¯t here, so he wouldn¡¯t have the chance to say that. ¡°Uhhhhh¡­I see. I¡¯ll do it. I will go to the Great Storm tribe and inform them of the Angry Bull tribe¡¯s evil plot!¡± ¡°You¡¯re so cool. Violent Avnche is the best!¡± Cordelia tightly hug Violent Avnche, and Violent Avnche bashfully smiled. ¡°Hmm¡­hmmm¡­.¡± No, Violent Avnche didn¡¯t openly smile, but it was obvious that it liked Cordelia¡¯s actions. ¡®Because a beautiful woman is a treasure of the world.¡¯ Jude giggled, before he immediately brought out the next topic. ¡°Violent Avnche, do you know where the Great Storm tribe lives?¡± ¡°I know it roughly. But not where that Great Storm brat lives.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a relief. I wish you a quick and safe journey.¡± ¡°Yes, thank you¡­wait. You wish me? Aren¡¯t we going together?¡± When Violent Avnche widely opened its eyes and asked, Cordelia also looked at Jude. Jude said as he nodded his head. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sorry to say this, but I think it¡¯s better if you go alone to the Great Storm tribe.¡± ¡°Then, what about you two?¡± ¡°We intend to stop their plot. Violent Avnche, do you know other wild gods¡¯ sanctuaries that are connected to the dragon vein here? Excluding Great Storm.¡± ¡°That¡­Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s sanctuary can be found northeast of the basin here.¡± ¡°We¡¯re thinking of going there. If they¡¯re really trying to corrupt the entire dragon vein, the other sanctuaries are also in danger.¡± What he said made sense. Moreover, Jude and Cordelia had one more reason to move. ¡®Lena.¡¯ They had to reach the ce where Lena¡¯s death event took ce. Although they still had time to spare, it wasn¡¯t wasteful to have too much time. ¡®It takes about two days to return to the Great Storm tribe.¡¯ A round trip would take about four days. Cordelia roughly guessed Jude¡¯s thoughts and asked with a nce. ¡®Will it be okay?¡¯ ¡®It will be okay. We didn¡¯t encounter any danger while on our way here.¡¯ Furthermore, Violent Avnche was a wild god despite being weakened. Violent Avnche would surely be able to find the sanctuary of another wild god. ¡°Violent Avnche, please.¡± ¡°Ummm¡­.I understand. I will go to the Great Storm tribe alone.¡± Violent Avnche nodded as it made up its mind, and Jude bowed again before he asked. ¡°Can you tell me more about the location of Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s sanctuary?¡± ¡°No problem. I have a map that I kept in the past.¡± Violent Avnche sat on the ground again and dug the ground, and suddenly, a map appeared from the ground. Like the Freezing Stone earlier, it seemed to be Violent Avnche¡¯s magic skill. ¡°Here, take it.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Their conversation was over. They had no time to waste because they had to save the wildnd. ¡°I¡¯ll be going then.¡± ¡°Yes, I look forward to seeing you againter.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll see youter.¡± Violent Avnche waved its hand to the polite Jude and Cordelia who waved her hand too, before it quickly began to descend the rocky mountain. Cordelia spoke after looking at the back of such Violent Avnche for quite some time. ¡°Will Violent Avnche be okay?¡± ¡°Violent Avnche will be okay¡­wait, you don¡¯t have a good feeling?¡± Jude trusted Cordelia¡¯s intuition. Jude asked in a panic as he thought that it was more serious than he had thought, but Cordelia pondered for a moment before she shrugged her shoulders. ¡°No, it¡¯s not to the point where I have a bad feeling. I¡¯m just worried.¡± ¡°Violent Avnche will be fine then. Even if Violent Avnche looks like that, it is an old wild god who has lived for hundreds of years.¡± The relieved Jude asked Cordelia again. ¡°Well then, let¡¯s just rest here for today and leave in the early morning tomorrow.¡± ¡°Yes, but I really want to wash myself a little. Is there anything like a hot spring here?¡± ¡°Uh¡­how about gathering the snow together and melting it with a fireball? If it feels like the water is cooling down, then add another fireball in.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia widely opened her eyes and soon clenched her fists as she snorted. ¡°It is¡­possible!¡± It was not something that couldn¡¯t be done. Cordelia would do more than that just for a bath. ¡°Yes, anyway, let¡¯s find a ce where we will sleep first. We also have to eat something.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯m hungry.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll cook the meal right away as soon as we find the right ce.¡± ¡°Is it beef jerky boiled in hot water again?¡± ¡°My princess, didn¡¯t I say that you shouldn¡¯t be picky?¡± ¡°No, f*ck. I¡¯m a picky eater, so try increasing the number of side dishes, okay?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll try.¡± ¡°Eh, really?¡± Cordelia asked as she blinked her eyes, and Jude nodded once before he began taking the lead. Both of them had a hard time today, so he thought that having something special from the little food they saved would be fine. ¡®Hmm, good. We can go like this.¡¯ Jude looked back towards Violent Avnche¡¯s direction before he hurriedly moved forward again. Chapter 69: Missed (2)

Chapter 69: Missed (2)

There were more than a dozen tribes in the wildnd, of which, four tribes were particrly strong. The Angry Bull tribe was made up of powerful warriors. The Great Storm tribe lived with the wind and pursued harmony with nature. The Silent Wolf tribe produced outstanding hunters for generations. The Red Moon tribe was a tribe of shamans full of mystery. Among the four tribes, the Angry Bull tribe had been expanding in recent years. By subduing and uniting the surrounding tribes with force, the power of the tribe had doubled, even though it had only been a few months since their expansion began. ¡°For the Angry Bull tribe!¡± ¡°For the Great Chief Seven Horns!¡± The tribes living in the wildnds had their own wild gods, but not all of the wild gods were strong enough to build their own sanctuary. Moreover, Angry Bull, the wild god of the Angry Bull tribe, was one of the most powerful gods among the wild gods. However, the wild god in this vige was someone who did not properly build a sanctuary, so there was no way for her to resist the enemies. ¡°Ah! My children! My children!¡± A wild god in the form of a girl with small horns on her head, cried out as she saw the burning vige, but it was already useless. Now that most of her power had already been sealed, she was no better than an ordinary girl. ¡°Divine punishment will befall you! The Golden Dragon King will punish you!¡± ¡°Noisy!¡± ¡°Ah!¡± Sharp Horn, a warrior of the Angry Bull tribe, kicked the enraged wild god and didn¡¯t stop there. He violently grabbed the girl¡¯s golden hair to lift her head, and then swung his fist that was bigger than the girl¡¯s face several times. ¡°Ugh¡­aa¡­¡± The wild god girl couldn¡¯t even scream in front of the brutal violence that she faced, and eventually, Sharp Horn kicked the girl and told the warriors around him. ¡°Take her away! Make her aware of the situation!¡± ¡°We understand.¡± The warriors of the Angry Bull tribe had already been corrupted. For them who had forgotten their respect for the wild gods, the girl in front of them was not a being they should worship and respect, but just a toy that they could y with as they please. As his subordinates dragged the wild god girl away, Sharp Horn wiped the blood off his hands, and headed to the ce where arge g was erected in the middle of their main camp. It was to seek an audience to the powerful being who sealed the power of the wild god itself. ¡°We captured the wild god and killed the chieftain. As you had instructed, the warriors are capturing everyone alive, even if they are injured.¡± Inside therge tent made of animal skin, Sharp Horn sat down on both knees and paid homage. ¡°I see, you did well. Sharp Horn. You didn¡¯t disappoint me again.¡± ¡°It is all thanks to Haraken.¡± In a gracious voice, Sharp Horn bowed his head again in courtesy. Ever since the appearance of the being in front of him ¨C the prophet Haraken, the Angry Bull tribe had changed. They had be much more powerful and richer as a result of their continuous war of conquest. And the same went for Sharp Horn who had changed a lot too. Originally, Sharp Horn wasn¡¯t a very strong warrior. Because he was born with a weak body. But Haraken changed everything. He made the body of Sharp Horn to be big and strong, and also made Sharp Horn into one of the most powerful warriors in the Angry Bull tribe. Therefore, Sharp Horn deeply respected Haraken. He considered as the truth the story of Haraken about the wild gods being false gods ¨C that they were just beasts with a little strong power. ¡°You may go. We¡¯ll have to leave for a newnd tomorrow.¡± ¡°Yes, Master Haraken. Please make yourselffortable.¡± Sharp Horn bowed his head again and politely left, and Haraken, who was finally alone, frowned. ¡®How bothersome.¡¯ He wasn¡¯t talking about Sharp Horn. Haraken was satisfied with Sharp Horn¡¯s loyalty. To begin with, he deliberately made the weak to be powerful in order to elicit a sense of loyalty to him like Sharp Horn did just now. What touched his nerves was the sad news that he heard from far away. ¡®Zarakul.¡¯ He lost his connection with the mid-ranking demonic human of the Devil¡¯s Eye. It was obvious then that Zarakul was dead. ¡®What happened?¡¯ Haraken had the appearance of an old man who grew a long and white beard, but this wasn¡¯t his true appearance in the first ce. He thought as hispound eyes, where a human¡¯s eyes should be, blinked. Violent Avnche¡¯s sanctuary. Violent Avnche wasn¡¯t as weak as the wild god of the tribe that they had captured today. It didn¡¯t have a tribe that it looked after, so no one worshipped Violent Avnche, but at the same time, it didn¡¯t necessarily mean that Violent Avnche¡¯s power was weak. Despite living alone, Violent Avnche wasn¡¯t weak. Rather, it was one of the wild gods on the strong side. However, Haraken never thought that Zarakul would fail. Because he gave Zarakul a group of powerful warriors who would remain after they subdued Violent Avnche. But what happened? Who killed Zarakul? It wasn¡¯t Violent Avnche. If Violent Avnche was the culprit, Zarakul¡¯s death would have been much faster. It was someone else. Someone else had killed Zarakul, who had gone to corrupt Violent Avnche. ¡°Red Gale.¡± The strongest warrior of the Great Storm tribe. But Haraken soon shook his head. He clearly put Red Gale under the Curse of the Blue Spider Lily. ¡®The closest one to him is Madgar.¡¯ Madgar was a mid-ranking demonic human who attacked Gentle Snow Breeze, a powerful wild god. In fact, both Violent Avnche and Gentle Snow Breeze were wild gods who lived far away from the home of the Angry Bull tribe, but the reason they took the trouble of attacking the two was because of the Great Storm tribe. They nned to corrupt the nearby wild gods and then iste the Great Storm tribe. They needed to suppress the Great Storm tribe¡¯s power, so that they couldn¡¯t hinder the Angry Bull tribe¡¯s actions. ¡®For now, I¡¯ll leave it to Madgar. I must unify the northeast region of the wildnds first.¡¯ The Angry Bull tribe was located in the northeast region, and likewise, the Silent Wolf tribe was located in the northeast too. They needed to subdue that tribe too, so that they could advance towards their final goal. ¡®To pollute the dragon vein and corrupt the wild gods. And even turn the Golden Dragon King as our ve.¡¯ The Golden Dragon King was the king of the wild gods. Haraken organized his thoughts and then took out a crystal ball. He infused arge amount of mana on it in order to deliver his message to Madgar who was located far away from him. *** Three days after leaving the rocky mountain. Violent Avnche would have originally arrived at the Great Storm tribe¡¯s vige at that time, but it still hadn¡¯t arrived there. The reason was simple. ¡°Sob, sob! Where the hell am I!¡± After it descended from the rocky mountain, Violent Avnche went straight towards the direction that Jude had told it. It had visited the Great Storm tribe once, though it may be a long time ago, so Violent Avnche followed his memory of the way to get there. A day had passed. There was nothing but snow everywhere. Violent Avnche didn¡¯t care much about it. This area was originally only a snowfield. If Violent Avnche went straight ahead, it would eventually reach the vige of the Great Storm tribe. Has Great Storm grown up a lot? Violent Avnche warmly smiled as it recalled a little brat, and afterwards, it continued walking. A day passed by again. There was still nothing but snow everywhere, and Violent Avnche began to feel a little nervous. ¡°Strange.¡± I should have arrived at this point. Great Storm would havee to meet me. Even the Great Storm tribe children would havee. T/N: The children referred here is not literally kids/children. The wild gods referred to the tribes/humans as children, so Violent Avnche was referring to the Great Storm tribe as children. ¡°Are they busy?¡± In fact, there was one more reason that was more likely than them being busy, but Violent Avnche tried to ignore it and continued walking. And a day passed by again. At the present. ¡°Uwaaa! Where is this ce! Where am I!¡± It was only today that Violent Avnche, who had been living in the rocky mountains for hundreds of years, finally realized. The fact that Violent Avnche itself was bad at directions. ¡°What do I do, what should I do?¡± It was a body clone, and not its main body. Moreover, Violent Avnche was weak before it left its sanctuary, so its divine power was even more weak now that it has left its sanctuary. If Violent Avnche had its main body, it would be able to fly with his magic power or contact Great Storm. And even if it can¡¯t do that, Violent Avnche would still be able to detect the presence of Great Storm and follow that direction. But that was all impossible for the current Violent Avnche. The Violent Avnche now was just a talking bear cub, and it was a very far existence from the great wild god it once was in the past. ¡°Uhh¡­I¡¯m hungry. Hungry after hundreds of years.¡± Actually, Violent Avnche had been hungry for the past two days. When Violent Avnche was in its sanctuary, breathing alone was enough to sate its hunger, but now that it had left its sanctuary, Violent Avnche had be hungry as if it was a real bear cub. ¡°Sob, sob, I hate seeing the snow now.¡± Violent Avnche didn¡¯t feel full even if it ate the snow. But the only thing that it could eat right away was snow. Violent Avnche sobbed and burst into tears. And at that very moment. ¡°Eh?!¡± At the moment Violent Avnche felt a chill, Violent Avnche raised its head. Because it sharply felt a stabbing sensation on its back. ¡®No-no way?¡¯ Violent Avnche swallowed his breath, looked back, and soon found the reason why. The moment Violent Avnche met its eyes, the Frost Wolf gave up its stealthy approach and began sprinting! ¡°Bark! Bark!¡± The Frost Wolf even barked. If it was Violent Avnche¡¯s main body, the Frost Wolf would have been beaten with one fist, but now, it was a strong enemy that the current Violent Avnche couldn¡¯t fight against. The quick-witted Violent Avnche began to run in vain. ¡°Awooooh!¡± ¡°Ahhhhh!¡± The surroundings were filled with the sounds of howls and cries. Violent Avnche ran hard, but because it was a bear cub, its legs were too short. Its distance from the Frost Wolf was quickly reduced. ¡°Spare the wild god! Spare the wild god!¡± Violent Avnche desperately shouted and rolled over the ground at some point. Violent Avnche had tripped over a small rock that it didn¡¯t notice because it was covered in snow. ¡°Ahhhhhh!¡± Violent Avnche rolled over the ground and eventually lied down in exhaustion. The Frost Wolf howled and jumped over the head of Violent Avnche. With a single leap, it reached Violent Avnche and pressed down on Violent Avnche¡¯s chest. ¡°Awooooh!¡± ¡°Ahhh¡­¡± The Frost Wolf exhaled and drew its face closer. Drool spilled in between its sharp teeth, and Violent Avnche struggled hard, but it was useless. ¡®Am I going to die like this?¡¯ If it had known that this would happen, Violent Avnche would have chosen to die at its sanctuary. ¡®No, I cannot die now!¡¯ Violent Avnche couldn¡¯t die. Violent Avnche had a noble mission to deliver the news about the dangers that would befall the wildnds! ¡°Hey! Ha!¡± Violent Avnche began to struggle again, but it was only for a short time. As the Frost Wolf stepped harder on the chest, its ws dug into the skin of Violent Avnche. ¡°Ahhh!¡± It hurt so much. Violent Avnche couldn¡¯t stand it anymore and finally screamed. ¡°Help me! Help me! Aaahhhh! Help me!¡± It was thest cry. The Frost Wolf didn¡¯t waste its time and widely opened its mouth. And a me went straight into its mouth. Boom! It was an explosion! The fireball that entered the Frost Wolf¡¯s mouth exploded. It was a magic that was terrifyingly precise. The fireball entering the Frost Wolf¡¯s mouth was not a coincidence, but something intended. Moreover, the adjustment of magic power was precise. The Frost Wolf was instantly killed from the fireball¡¯s explosion, but the damage never went out of its body. ¡°Kke-¡± The Frost Wolf had its throat and intestines burned, and it copsed after a single groan. Violent Avnche blinked its eyes as it realized that its life was saved. Violent Avnche stood up from its spot while roughly exhaling. ¡°Wh-who is it! No, who are you!¡± When Violent Avnche looked at the direction where the fireball came from, it saw a man and woman. Because of that, Violent Avnche had a thought. ¡®They came to look for me!¡¯ Jude and Cordelia. The two had saved me again! ¡°Cordelia! Cordelia!¡± It was the moment when Violent Avnche cried out in joy. ¡°It¡¯s not human?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t attack it!¡± ¡°I know, because it gave us a clue.¡± The voices came from the man and woman. The voices were different, but it resembled the voices of the crazy couple, Jude and Cordelia. Now that Violent Avnche saw them, the color of their hair and their appearance were also different. The woman was pretty. She looked like Cordelia. But her hair was blonde, and she had a fiercer impression. The man was handsome. He also looked like Jude. But his hair was blue, not ck. The color of his eyes was also blue, not green. ¡®He¡¯s also much bigger.¡¯ Violent Avnche blinked its eyes as soon as it came to its senses. While Violent Avnche was thinking about on what to do, the two people in front of him approached at a terrifying pace towards him, so Violent Avnche raised its arms high. ¡°Wait! I¡¯m not an enemy!¡± ¡°A talking bear cub? How cute¡­no, it¡¯s not the time for this.¡± The blonde woman ¨C Adelia, who came close to Violent Avnche, shook her head once to drive away her thoughts, and then asked, threatening Violent Avnche with the short cane that she was holding in her hand. ¡°Who are you? What is your rtionship with Cordelia? Have you met her?¡± Her eyes looked like she would kill Violent Avnche right away, depending on the answer. Violent Avnche unconsciously flinched and urgently replied. ¡°I am the wild god Violent Avnche! Me and Cordelia are f-friends!¡± ¡°Wild god? Friend?¡± Adelia looked at Violent Avnche sharply. She knew little about thend of barbarians, but this was the first time she had heard of the existence of wild gods. And Ga?l spoke. ¡°Violent Avnche, who was Lady Cordelia with? What is the name of the person she was with?¡± The handsome man ¨C Ga?l, spoke, but his eyes were terrifying. Even more so when Violent Avnche realized that he had pulled out his sword. Violent Avnche unconsciously stepped backwards and fell on its back before it quickly said. ¡°Ju-Jude! Jude and Cordelia! The crazy couple!¡± Violent Avnche closed its eyes and curled its body as much as possible, and Ga?l and Adelia looked back at each other. ¡°It seems to be correct?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t agree with the words crazy couple.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t too.¡± Crazy couple. Wasn¡¯t those some rude words to describe their younger siblings? Ga?l and Adelia found it strange that those words somehow seemed to be correct, and they unconsciously exchanged smiles, but soon after, the two cleared their throats and turned towards Violent Avnche. Ga?l opened his mouth first. ¡°We won¡¯t hurt you. Please open your eyes.¡± It was definitely a more friendly voice than before. Violent Avnche carefully opened its eyes and saw Ga?l and Adelia. After sniffing with its nose once, Violent Avnche was convinced. ¡®They¡¯re the rtives of Jude and Cordelia!¡¯ Perhaps they¡¯re their older brother and older sister. Because they smelled almost the same as the two. ¡°You said you were Violent Avnche, right? I¡¯m Ga?l Bayer. This is Lady Adelia Chase.¡± Instead of following up Ga?l¡¯s introduction, Adelia stared at Violent Avnche with fierce eyes, and Violent Avnche flinched again and looked at Ga?l as it courageously said. ¡°Are you Jude and Cordelia¡¯s older brother and older sister?¡± ¡°Yes, we came all the way here to look for the two. Do you know where the two are now?¡± His voice was still friendly, but Ga?l stared sharply at Violent Avnche again. Because of that, Violent Avnche gulped in nervousness before it stood up and replied. ¡°I know. The two left to help Gentle Snow Breeze.¡± ¡°Gentle Snow Breeze? What do you mean by they left to help?¡± Adelia¡¯s eyes were still fierce, but Violent Avnche understood it now. Adelia was worried about Cordelia. She was by no means, an evil person. ¡°It¡¯s a long story. It¡¯s not something I can say in a moment. But to tell you one thing in advance, Jude and Cordelia are trying to save the wildnds. From the threat of demons.¡± At Violent Avnche¡¯s words, Ga?l and Adelia looked at each other. It wasn¡¯t as much as their younger siblings, but after traveling together for more than 10 days, the two could somehow understand the thoughts of each other. ¡®You think there¡¯s something going on?¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a simple runaway.¡¯ Ga?l turned his eyes to Violent Avnche again. ¡°Okay, we¡¯ll listen to your story.¡± ¡°Wait! Before that, I have a condition¡­no, a request.¡± ¡°Request? Have you forgotten that we saved your life?¡± Violent Avnche flinched when Adelia sharply retorted. Ga?l spoke as he tried to dissuade Adelia from lifting her magic wand. ¡°Tell us.¡± ¡°We have to go to the Great Storm tribe. Take me to them. I¡¯ll tell you the story of Jude and Cordelia on the way. A-and you need to go to the vige of the Great Storm tribe anyway if you want to get the directions.¡± Because Violent Avnche didn¡¯t know where it currently was. Ga?l slowly nodded his head. ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s do that.¡± ¡°Will it be okay?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a better option. This is an unknown ce for us as well.¡± Ga?l quietly whispered to her ear so that only Adelia would hear it, before he spoke again to Violent Avnche. ¡°We will ept your offer.¡± ¡°Th-thank you.¡± Violent Avnche breathed a sigh of relief and stretched its shoulders, and Adelia looked down at Violent Avnche as she folded her arms. She was shouting that it was cute in her mind, but she still spoke in a cold voice. ¡°We don¡¯t have time. Hurry up and begin guiding us. And start talking too.¡± Since it had spoken about the threat of demons, Jude and Cordelia could be in danger at this very moment. Violent Avnche replied hesitantly to Adelia¡¯s urging. ¡°Th-that.¡± ¡°That?¡± ¡°Do you know where this is first? I got lost¡­¡± Violent Avnche said as it shrank in shame, and Ga?l and Adelia looked at each other. And at the same time, in apletely different ce¡­ ¡°I¡¯ll entrust it to you.¡± ¡°Just trust me.¡± After he bid farewell to Count Bayer, Count Chase flew into the sky with his hands full of luggage. He was headed towards the north. It was in the direction where his two daughters and the others were. T/N: The title of this chapter is ¡®Missed,¡¯ but in Korean, it is a verb that specifically means, to miss each other on the way. A longer one would be, to fail to meet each other because their directions or timings of passing a certain point are different from each other. The title was a bit spoilerish, so I just left it as ¡®missed.¡¯ Chapter 70: Gentle Snow Breeze (1)

Chapter 70: Gentle Snow Breeze (1)

Terms used in this chapter: Ondol ¨C a Korean form of underfloor heating that uses direct heat transfer from wood smoke to the underside of a thick masonry floor. Soh-wak-haeng ¨C Korean ng that literally means ¡®little but certain happiness.¡¯ It refers to the small/little happiness which one can get very easily in their daily lives. For example, eating one¡¯s favorite dessert after a long day¡¯s work. It may be something that is small/little, but it certainly makes one happy. Ahjussi ¨C Korean word for uncle, but also used to refer to an older man who is within your parent¡¯s generation. Around the time when Violent Avnche went down alone the rocky mountain and headed on the wrong path, Jude and Cordelia were preparing to rest after they had found a suitable ce to stay for the night. ¡°Only when you have a good floor can you sleep well.¡± Cordelia nodded her head several times as if responding to her own words, and she made a bed by using magic and the witch¡¯s power. After having dug the ground a meter or so from the surface, she ttened the ground. She then used the wooden board as a roof to cover the ce, and cast magic so that they could spend a warm night. ¡®Should I ce a t andrge stone, and then cover it with dirt?¡¯ Wouldn¡¯t it bepletely like an ondol if I heated the stone with magic? ¡°Stone bed, stone bed. Long live the stone bed.¡± Cordelia hummed as she worked on the bed, before she turned to the side. Jude was cooking over the campfire, and the smell was quite good. ¡°Jude, Jude. What¡¯s for dinner?¡± ¡°It¡¯s beef jerky porridge, Madam.¡± He put some chopped beef jerky in the hot water, and then added some of the grains he saved. Afterwards, he seasoned it with salt. It was a simple meal, but Cordelia kept drooling because she had been working hard on preparing their sleeping ce. ¡°It looks delicious.¡± ¡°It is delicious. I made it after all.¡± ¡°Hmph, I look forward to it.¡± Despite Jude¡¯s impudence, Cordelia was already used to it now. She hummed a little more, and then nodded her head after she covered the newly made bed with a waterproof cloth. ¡°Hmm, good. It¡¯s well made.¡± The size of the waterproof cloth was not so wide, but it was enough for two people to lie down on. ¡°Are you done?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m done. What about our meal?¡± ¡°I¡¯m also done cooking.¡± ¡°I¡¯m excited.¡± Cordelia danced with a slight wiggle of her hips before she rushed to Jude¡¯s side, and Jude involuntarilyughed. ¡°Why are youughing?¡± ¡°Because what you did was cute.¡± ¡°Hmph, don¡¯t you know soh-wak-haeng? Little but certain happiness. People need happiness, whether it¡¯s big or small.¡± Little but certain happiness. Although it wasmentable that the happiness of the iparably beautiful girl and esteemed daughter of Count Chase, one of the 12 northern families, was the food that they were going to eat this day, Jude agreed with Cordelia¡¯s opinion itself. ¡°You¡¯re right, little but certain happiness is important.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, that¡¯s right.¡± Perhaps because Jude agreed with her immediately, Cordelia felt better and swallowed a spoonful of the jerky porridge that Jude passed on to her. ¡°How is it?¡± ¡°Delicious.¡± It was hot so she couldn¡¯t speak properly, but Cordelia had a contented smile, and Jude also began eating. ¡°But Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Madam.¡± ¡°First of all, we saved Red Gale ahjussi.¡± ¡°Yes, we did. The curse won¡¯t get any worse now.¡± ¡°So what¡¯s our next n?¡± Cordelia roughly knew of their n in the wildnds. As they had said while convincing Violent Avnche, their immediate task was to prevent the Angry Bull tribe from unifying the barbarians. But this was not enough. She needed a detailed n. ¡°First¡­we need to create an Eastern Alliance that is centered on Red Gale.¡± ¡°To fight against Seven Horns and the Angry Bull tribe?¡± ¡°Well, seeing that they¡¯ve already reached this ce, it¡¯s likely that they¡¯ve already moved in the western region of the wildnds.¡± It would be stupid for them to send a military expedition in this faraway ce when they haven¡¯t organized and conquered the surrounding tribes near them first. Cordelia also nodded as if she understood it. ¡°What¡¯s next?¡± ¡°We should rally the wild gods of the eastern region too. The Devil¡¯s Eye would have killed or corrupted the wild gods of the western region. Now that I think about it, it seems like Violent Avnche was one of the enemies in the game.¡± ¡°Violent Avnche?¡± ¡°Yes, do you remember the undead bear that appeared in the middle of Act 2? It had an awful knockback attack.¡± ¡°Uh¡­ah! I remember. Right. Come to think of it, they looked a bit simr.¡± As Jude had said, the bear was in an undead state, so it was literally half-rotten when it appeared, but now that they thought about it, that bear seemed to be Violent Avnche. ¡°To confront the corrupted wild gods, we also need the help of other wild gods. Moreover, we have to fight against the Devil¡¯s Eye.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­you¡¯re right. Mid-ranking demonic humans are already too much for us, so we¡¯ll be unable toe up with a solution if a high-ranking demonic human appears too.¡± It was almost impossible for the power of the current Jude and Cordelia to defeat high-ranking demonic humans. So their n was to let those who can deal with those enemies to be on their side. ¡®Of course, the best thing that we could do is for the two of us to be stronger.¡¯ Jude and Cordelia¡¯s levels were already considerably higher than when they first entered the wildnds. Moreover, both Jude and Cordelia still had plenty of room for growth. ¡®Because the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors is still just at the second door. Furthermore¡­once we meet Lena and obtain the angelic blood, Cordelia would be able to use the Ancestral Regression technique.¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s Fallen Angel mode that he wished to see would then be possible. ¡®I¡¯m looking forward to it.¡¯ Jude briefly imagined the appearance of Cordelia¡¯s awakening as a fallen angel, and Cordelia pped Jude on the back. ¡°Oww! Why?¡± ¡°No, I feel like you¡¯re thinking of something insidious.¡± ¡°Anyway.¡± ¡°What is it? Were you really thinking of something insidious?¡± Instead of answering, Jude diverted the conversation to another topic. ¡°Red Gale is both a powerful warrior and shaman too. If it¡¯s only a curse, he¡¯d be able to deal with Seven Horns.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t change the topic.¡± Cordelia stared at Jude for a while, but it was only for a moment. She soon joined Jude¡¯s conversation. ¡°There must be strong men among the warriors and chieftains of the other tribes, right?¡± ¡°I guess so. There must be some wild gods who specialized in fighting too.¡± ¡°And Lena.¡± ¡°Yes, Lena.¡± She was one of the five main characters in the first episode of Legend of Heroes. It was highly unlikely that she was on the same level as Landius and Kamael, whose strength were already beyond this world, but her strength would still be really powerful. ¡°Uh¡­if I knew where she is right now, I would have gone running immediately.¡± Cordelia said as her shoulders drooped, and Jude nodded as he agreed with her. ¡°Because there are many hidden mysteries regarding Lena¡¯s death.¡± Lena¡¯s death in Legend of Heroes 2 was shown in a cinematic movie. However, the problem was not that it appeared in ordance with the story of the main character, but the fact that a cinematic movie unexpectedly appeared at a certain time. ¡®Because we only know the ce and time.¡¯ In fact, the location itself was unclear, but some of the rotten waters of Legend of Heroes 2 estimated the location based on the background from the cinematic movie. ¡®Raptor Canyon.¡¯ Lena died there. So they had to arrive there in advance and stop Lena¡¯s death. ¡°Raptor Canyon is in the north of the eastern part of the wildnds, right?¡± ¡°Yes, so it¡¯s close to the Argon Empire.¡± Kirara, one of the yable characters from the wildnds, left the wildnd at the beginning of the game and run away at night towards the Argon Empire, and Raptor Canyon was along the route she took. ¡°Hmm¡­it¡¯s not that we are pressed for time, but it¡¯s rather tight.¡± ¡°We have no choice but to leave the establishment of the Eastern Alliance to Red Gale and Violent Avnche. Of course, we can invite the eastern tribes that we meet on our way to our destination.¡± ¡°How do we do that?¡± ¡°This or that.¡± ¡°Hmph, you scammer.¡± Cordelia stuck out her tongue, but her eyes were smiling. She was already skilled in helping Jude with his scams. ¡®It¡¯s fallen, it¡¯s fallen. She hasn¡¯t be a fallen angel yet, but she¡¯s already been corrupted.¡¯ But somehow, Jude unconsciously felt proud. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s wash and sleep after we¡¯ve finished eating.¡± ¡°I want to take a bath, a bath.¡± The idea of making a hot spring and taking a bath was still a bit unreasonable. Therefore, Cordelia wiped her face and neck clean with water that was made by melting the snow, before she lied down. ¡°Haa¡­I had a hard time today again.¡± ¡°Have a good rest.¡± ¡°Yes, you too.¡± That was it. Cordelia fell into deep sleep right away, and Judeughed in admiration at that before he covered her with a nket. *** The next morning. Jude and Cordelia left early as they followed the map given by Violent Avnche and proceeded to the northeast where Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s sanctuary was located. Cordelia couldn¡¯t tell where they were because of the snow everywhere, but there was no hesitation in her steps. Because the almighty JudeWiki was by her side. ¡°JudeWiki, we¡¯re going in the right direction, right?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡± Jude had already packed apass from the very beginning when they left home. At the time when Violent Avnche was lost in the snowfield, Jude and Cordelia steadily moved towards the right direction. Thus, one more day passed. By the third day around lunch time, Jude and Cordelia beheld the sanctuary of Gentle Snow Breeze with their eyes. *** The sanctuary of Gentle Snow Breeze was in arge basin, but it was actually very easy to recognize even without the basin. This is because of the sudden change in environment by just arriving near that area. ¡°There¡¯s no snow.¡± They had been in a snowfield up until now, but there was no snow from a certain area, as if a line had been drawn. Although the weather was also chilly, the weather was at least like autumn. It couldn¡¯t evenpare to other ces that were extreme enough like Frost Anvil. ¡®Is this the power of a wild god?¡¯ It was the reason why the barbarians can live in the wildnds. The vast field was full of green vegetation. It seemed that farming, as well as raising livestock, was possible here. Cordelia was briefly fascinated by thendscape that suddenly changed, but at some point, she raised her head. ¡°They¡¯re fighting.¡± It was as she said. As they climbed up the low hill, they saw the entrance to the basin beyond the wide field. There were hundreds of people fighting around the vige walls. Jude and Cordelia automatically lowered their positions, before they grasped the situation of the battlefield. The ones attacking the wall were monsters and people who wore helmets that have horns on it, and the attacking side¡¯s troops were three times stronger than the defensive side. ¡°They won¡¯tst long.¡± It was as Cordelia said. The defending side was holding on quite well, but it was visible that they were struggling. If they had arrived an hourte, they would have seen a wall that had already been copsed. But what should they do? Should the two rush alone towards the hundreds of soldiers? ¡°I have an idea.¡± Jude said, and a smile spread over Cordelia¡¯s face. *** Madgar, a mid-ranking demonic human of the Devil¡¯s Eye, looked at the battlefield with cold eyes. The warriors of the Angry Bull tribe were waging an onught with monsters that they summoned from hell. Thanks to the Spear of Corruption that Haraken received from Belial, Gentle Snow Breeze couldn¡¯t properly use her strength. This is because the Spear of Corruption was stuck in the dragon vein and suppressed the divine power of Gentle Snow Breeze. Of course, the defending troops were doing all they can to support the warriors that were working hard to remove the Spear of Corruption, but it was useless in the first ce. The number of tribesmen who worshipped Gentle Snow Breeze was small. Although each and everyone of them were strong warriors, the Angry Bull tribe was the most powerful group of warriors in the entire wildnd. They were even strengthened by the power of Belial, and their number was three times that of the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe, so it was hard for the defending side to ovee it. ¡®It¡¯s only a matter of time.¡¯ They have endured well, but it was over now. After destroying the walls and annihting the tribe of Gentle Snow Breeze, they would capture the wild god. ¡°Break it! Kill them! Destroy them!¡± There was power in Madgar¡¯s words, as she wore the bones of a beast on her head, rather than a helmet. As a shaman, her body was filled with patterns drawn with colored paint, and an evil power shook from the skeleton staff she held in his hand. Madgar closed her eyes and smiled. She savored the current situation as if she was tasting delicacies. ¡®I¡¯m different from that stupid Zarakul.¡¯ Zarakul had failed his mission to capture Violent Avnche even though it didn¡¯t have a tribe. He was a stupid bastard. But Madgar didn¡¯t hate him. Zarakul was already dead, and because of his major failure, Madgar had another chance to contribute for herself. ¡®The day I¡¯ll be a high-ranking demonic human is not far away.¡¯ The goals of the demonic humans of the Devil¡¯s Eye were all the same. To get closer to Belial. After bing a high-ranking demonic human, the path to bing a demon prince, a superior demon, would also open. Madgar smiled as she imagined the future that was still far away, but she would surely achieve. But suddenly, she heard the screams of the Angry Bull tribe. ¡°Huh?!¡± ¡°Master Madgar!¡± Madgar hurriedly opened her eyes to the cries of the startled warriors. There was no significant change in front of her. The bloody warriors of the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe, and the almost destroyed walls were just as it was before. But things have changed. Neither the attacking side nor the defending side were fighting. Everyone looked at the same ce with the same stunned faces. At the direction everyone was looking at¡­ Madgar turned. And she saw. ¡°Crazy.¡± Raging waves of fire were moving forward and burning the whole field. A huge and fierce wildfire was attacking their backs. Chapter 71: Gentle Snow Breeze (2)

Chapter 71: Gentle Snow Breeze (2)

I made a mistakest chapter. Madgar was actually a woman. I¡¯ve revised the previous chapter to reflect that. And here¡¯s a picture of a blue evening primrose, because it¡¯s referred to in this chapter: The fire¡¯s momentum was terrifying. The heat spread to the sky, and the mes greatly rose and seemingly reached several meters in height alone. ¡°Master Madgar!¡± ¡°You must run away!¡± The warriors of the Angry Bull tribe were running about in confusion as they cried out. It was a natural reaction. They were in a situation where the raging mes wereing at them like a tsunami. ¡°You Gentle Snow Breeze bastards! Have youpletely lost your minds!¡± To use mes in a ce like this. Are you saying that you want to die together?! However, the mes have already began to burn everything. Madgar urgently ordered then. ¡°Retreat! Leave the battlefield!¡± Madgar gave her orders, and everyone no longer waited. The warriors of the Angry Bull tribe began running like wild beasts as they avoided the wildfire, and Madgar also began to run as she used magic to strengthen her legs. And the mes closely followed the warriors of the Angry Bull tribe. ¡°The wind?!¡± The wind roughly blew. It previously blew from the south to the north, but now, it turned towards the fleeing Angry Bull tribe. The mes naturally began to follow the wind too. ¡°Ahhhhhh!¡± With her arms raised high, Cordelia made a dying sound rather than a spirited shout, and the golden tattoo on her left arm continued to shine brightly. ¡°This is hard! It¡¯s so hard that I feel like I¡¯m dying!¡± Controlling the gusts of wind in a windless area was much harder than before. The amount of wind that she had to handle was much greater as she had to control the widespread mes in the vast field. ¡°Ugh-!¡± Cordelia¡¯s legs trembled. It was so hard that she was in tears. Jude hurriedly opened a mana potion and shoved its contents on Cordelia¡¯s mouth. ¡°Sob¡­sob¡­¡± ¡°Hang in there! You¡¯ll die if something goes wrong!¡± ¡°Bwastwad! Fwak!¡± Cordelia couldn¡¯t swear because she was swallowing the contents of the mana potion, but Jude could tell what she wanted to say just by looking at her eyes. But as Jude had said, failure to control the mes may result to them dying together. Cordelia focused and concentrated again. And then there were people who helped Cordelia. ¡°The shamans of the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe!¡± Jude eximed as he looked towards the walls. Just as Great Storm was a wild god of the wind as his name implied, Gentle Snow Breeze was also a wild god who controlled the wind. A strong wind blew as two shamans wearing colorful ornaments chanted their spells while on the wall. They controlled the flow of the wind in the same direction as Cordelia, so it became easier to control the mes. ¡°As expected! It¡¯s going ording to n!¡± Jude cheered as he had anticipated that the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe would help, and Cordelia decided that she would definitely smack Jude in the backter, but for now, she used the power again. ¡°Go!¡± The controlled mes turned into a raging fire and struck the Angry Bull tribe. Because the mes raged over such a wide area, a number of people were unable to escape and were swept away by the mes, and the intense smoke also slowed down the warriors¡¯ feet. ¡°Ahhhhh!¡± ¡°Master Madgar!¡± No matter how powerful the warriors of the Angry Bull tribe were, they were helpless against the mes. As the warriors cried out, Madgar yelled in anger and raised her skeleton staff high. ¡°Pour down! Strike it! Heavy rain! Heaven¡¯s Tears!¡± Prior to being a mid-ranking demonic human, Madgar was a powerful shaman of the Angry Bull tribe. After she almost used up an enormous amount of mana, the heavens immediately reacted. Shaaaaaa-! Rain poured down from the sky. It was far from enough to cover the entire field, but it was enough to intensively strike the mes. The mes began to die down. However, it did notpletely die down. Having consumed an enormous amount of mana at once, Madgar shouted in exhaustion. ¡°Retreat! Retreat!¡± Although it was only for a short time, the damage caused by the fire was great. In addition, Madgar herself had exhausted her mana, so they had to step back for now and reorganize themselves. ¡°Retreat!¡± ¡°Go back!¡± Several warriors of the Angry Bull tribe guided the other warriors with gs, and the warriors who were in a mess because of the fire, smoke, and heavy rain, hurriedly left the basin. After a dozen minutes¡­ The rain stopped, and the mes disappeared. The warriors of the Angry Bull tribe had run away. ¡°Good, as we had nned.¡± Jude broadly smiled, and Cordelia copsed onto the floor. ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­¡± It was really, really hard. She no longer had any strength left to remain standing. Jude said as he deftly carried Cordelia on his back. ¡°Good job, Gold. As expected of Gold. I¡¯m d that I¡¯m Silver.¡± Because the blessing of the wind was only in the golden tattoo. In the midst of this, Cordelia tried to strangle the cheeky Jude, and Jude began to walk forward. Their destination was naturally towards the walls of the Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s tribe. *** ¡°What the hell were you doing! Did you want to die together?!¡± It was good that the gate opened as soon as they approached the wall, but not after that. Because one of the shamans who helped Cordelia control the wind had yelled in anger. In fact, what the shaman said was true. If the fire had spread across the basin, the mes would have burned the walls to the ground without care. ¡°Stop it, Fine Snow. It was a reckless act, but thanks to them, the enemies withdrew.¡± ¡°But brother!¡± ¡°I¡¯m not saying that you¡¯re wrong. But let¡¯s postpone that for now. We have more urgent things to discuss.¡± When the ck-haired shaman with blue feathers on his head, spoke as if he wasforting the other, the blue-haired shaman with red feathers closed his mouth with a look of discontent. The blue-feathered shaman said as he looked back at Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Nice to meet you. Warriors of Great Storm. I am Clear Snow who serves Gentle Snow Breeze. And this is my younger brother, Fine Snow.¡± Although Cordelia didn¡¯t know thenguage of the barbarians, she could understand what they were saying with her senses. ¡®Are they introducing themselves?¡¯ ¡®Yes.¡¯ Jude nodded his head before he responded in the barbariannguage, though it was on an amateur level. ¡°Nice to meet you. I¡¯m Jude. This is Cordelia. We came to help Gentle Snow Breeze. Great Storm, Violent Avnche, sent us.¡± Each tribe living in the wildnds had a slightly different lineage. Unlike the Great Storm tribe who inherited the blood of the winter elves, the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe inherited the ancient dwarves¡¯ lineage. Therefore, there were many people with a rather short stature and sturdy physique, and the same was true for the shamans, Clear Snow and Fine Snow. ¡°Hmm, as expected. Gentle Snow Breeze wants to see you. Follow me.¡± To begin with, Clear Snow had witnessed Cordelia using the power of Great Storm. There was even the words of Gentle Snow Breeze, so even if Jude and Cordelia pretended to be from the S?len Kingdom, they weren¡¯t particrly wary or suspicious of the two. ¡°I understand. We¡¯ll follow you.¡± Jude immediately replied, and after he conveyed the shaman¡¯s words to Cordelia, he followed Clear Snow. ¡®It¡¯s a small vige.¡¯ Jude avoided the gaze of the unfriendly Fine Snow as he looked around, and he was able to estimate the size and poption of the vige. ¡®The poption is about 300 to 400?¡¯ The interior of the basin was mostly farnd, but the area where people lived was not that wide. ¡®Everyone is exhausted.¡¯ Due to the battle thatsted for several days, everyone was exhausted regardless of age or sex. Had it not been for Jude and Cordelia¡¯s intervention, the Angry Bull tribe would have ravaged the vige by night. ¡°This way.¡± Clear Snow led Jude and Cordelia into a temple that was built in front of ake. It was a temple made of wood, though Jude and Cordelia felt it was just a slightly big wood cabin. But still, it was thergest building in the basin. ¡°O Gentle Snow Breeze, we have brought the warriors of Great Storm.¡± They saw a pair of feet hanging down from inside the cleanly wiped temple, and inside it, a person¡¯s silhouette was seen. As Clear Snow spoke and bowed his head in front of the feet, a voice came from the other side. ¡°Thank you for your hard work. Send them in.¡± It was a gracious voice that soothed the minds of the listeners. After Jude and Cordelia unconsciously held their breaths in nervousness, they followed Clear Snow and entered the temple. ¡°We greet Gentle Snow Breeze.¡± When Jude and Cordelia spoke together and expressed their courtesies, the little sitting girl had a clear smile. ¡°Nice to meet you. I¡¯m Gentle Snow Breeze.¡± The sight of a girl with white hair and big wings was reminiscent of an angel in stories. However, her sickly appearance was clearly shown on her white face. ¡°Thank you for helping. Are you the ones sent by older brother Great Storm?¡± (T/N: They aren¡¯t really siblings, but Gentle Snow Breeze uses ¡®older brother¡¯ to address Great Storm as he is older than her.) As a wild god, Gentle Snow Breeze could talk to them despite their differentnguages. Jude and Cordelia delivered a brief summary of what had happened so far, and Gentle Snow Breeze was deeply troubled. ¡°I can¡¯t believe they destroyed the mountain¡­it¡¯s terrible just imagining it. No matter how evil they are, that¡¯s really cruel.¡± Cordelia cleared her throat as if her conscience was stabbed at Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s words, and Jude said with a calm face. ¡°Violent Avnche sent us in fear that Gentle Snow Breeze would also be attacked. Since the demon followers have taken over the Angry Bull tribe, we must establish an Eastern Alliance to counter them.¡± ¡°I see what you mean. I also think that we have to work together in order to fight against them.¡± Gentle Snow Breeze clenched her fists, slightly moved her body forward, and then continued to speak. ¡°A horde of demon followers did harm to the dragon vein. They attacked the dragon vein with an evil power, so I cannot use my powers properly.¡± That was the reason why Gentle Snow Breeze clearly looked sick. Madgar¡¯s conquest n was to attack the dragon vein to worsen the condition of Gentle Snow Breeze, and then push the tribe into a primitive fight once they lost the powers they got from their wild god. ¡°Without the dragon veins, the wildnds will be inhabitable. Therefore, no one would harm the dragon vein even if there was a quarrel between the wild gods and tribes.¡± That was why Violent Avnche and Gentle Snow Breeze so easily suffered a blow when the dragon vein was attacked. In the first ce, the idea of attacking the dragon vein had long disappeared in the wildnds. ¡°They are suppressing the dragon vein with an evil and powerful object.¡± Gentle Snow Breeze was one of the fairly strong wild gods. However, she was just a small and weak girl now, as her power was suppressed by the damage done to the dragon vein. ¡®If we go with this flow, we¡¯ll get a quest to get rid of the stuff that¡¯s blocking the dragon vein, right?¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s guess was quite reasonable, but Gentle Snow Breeze brought up another story. ¡°The tribe¡¯s warriors have already tried a few times, but the enemy¡¯s defense is strong. It¡¯s impossible to breakthrough head on since they¡¯ve built their main camp in the ce where the dragon vein is suppressed.¡± Sneaking in was also uncertain. Even if they somehow freed the dragon vein, getting out would be a problem. If so, what should they do? Cordelia frowned as she tried to figure out on what they should do, but Jude only looked at Gentle Snow Breeze. Because he thought that she wouldn¡¯t have brought up this story if she didn¡¯t have second-best option in the first ce. ¡°I need the Essence of the Blue Moon.¡± Though Jude knew about almost everything in Legend of Heroes 2, this was the first time he had heard of it. Gentle Snow Breeze continued to exin. ¡°Not far from here is a ce called Moonlight Hill. The dewdrops of the evening primroses blooming there,bined with the essence of the moonlight, is what is called the Essence of the Blue Moon.¡± The mere mention of it made it seem like it was an item with extraordinary power. ¡°Once a month, every time the Fantasy Moons rises, the Essence of the Blue Moon appears. It is something that receives the full moonlight.¡± She was talking about the phenomenon when the two moons in the sky would look like to be the same in size. Jude reckoned that it would be tomorrow. ¡°Even the animals don¡¯t approach the Moonlight Hill because the Essence of the Blue Moon itself has a property that revitalizes the vitality of the fields. They¡¯re afraid that they might harm the Essence of the Blue Moon. But¡­now is not the time to worry about that.¡± He had a rough idea on what the situation was about. ¡°You intend to restore your strength with the Essence of the Blue Moon.¡± ¡°Yes, with the Essence of the Blue Moon, I¡¯ll be able to use my abilities even without the dragon vein. If I use that power to remove the evil object that is damaging the dragon vein, I¡¯ll be able to use my full power without the Essence of the Blue Moon then.¡± The sanctuary and her tribe had already been attacked. Gentle Snow Breeze had no intention of forgiving the group of demon followers who attacked them. ¡°It¡¯s highly likely that they know of the Essence of Blue Moon if they know so much about the dragon vein. Warriors of Great Storm, I¡¯m ashamed of it, but my children are tired and injured from the continuous fighting and their urgency to protect this ce. May I ask you to bring the Essence of the Blue Moon to me?¡± At her careful question, Jude turned to Cordelia, and Cordelia nodded as if she didn¡¯t have to think about it. ¡°We will bring the Essence of the Blue Moon.¡± ¡°Thank you very much. My protection will be with you two.¡± As Gentle Snow Breeze said that and smiled, colorful patterns were added like decorations to Great Storm¡¯s tattoo patterns. Since Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s power was suppressed, there was no magic in the patterns right now, but when she recovers her powers, her protection/blessing would activate. ¡°Clear Snow will exin the details. If there¡¯s anything you need, just tell us.¡± ¡°Anything?¡± ¡°Yes, anything.¡± ¡°We appreciate it. We will do so then.¡± After Jude and Cordelia responded immediately, they left the temple and Gentle Snow Breeze, who was left behind, did not even felt suspicious of them. ¡°Let¡¯s leave behind our conscience.¡± ¡°Because we need to obtain the Essence of the Blue Moon.¡± In fact, the two had almost run out of food and mana potions. So hearing Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s words was just perfect timing for them, since they needed to resupply their provisions. ¡°Did you have a good conversation?¡± Just in time, Clear Snow came and asked them, and Jude and Cordelia nodded. The two then simultaneously spoke. ¡°Please guide us to the armory.¡± ¡°Supplies storage. Please guide.¡± Clear Snow had a somewhat ufortable feeling at the sparkling eyes of the two, but he soon nodded. *** Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s prediction wasn¡¯t wrong. Once they had retreated to their main camp, Madgar thought as she looked at the Spear of Corruption, Belial¡¯s secret weapon, that was currently suppressing the dragon vein. ¡®The Essence of the Blue Moon.¡¯ Madgar was originally a shaman from the wildnds. Before meeting Haraken, she was originally called Blue Starlight, so of course, she knew about the Fantasy Moons and also of the Essence of Blue Moon. Her original n was to capture Gentle Snow Breeze and then take the Essence of the Blue Moon in her free time, but all her ns were ruined by the big fire that urred. ¡®It¡¯s obvious that Gentle Snow Breeze will try to obtain the Essence of the Blue Moon.¡¯ However, she would not be able to send a lot of troops. Even the troops who were protecting the basin werecking in number. Therefore, Madgar herself did not need to send a lot of troops too. Rather, it was better to suppress Gentle Snow Breeze and the basin. But Madgar thought differently. ¡®Those who started the fire.¡¯ Who was it? Was it Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s troops? It can¡¯t be. There were plenty of times that they could have started the fire before. Moreover, burning a field is not something a wild god would do, especially a kind one like Gentle Snow Breeze. ¡®Zarakul¡¯s death.¡¯ The direction in which the mes first urred coincided with the southwest direction, where Violent Avnche¡¯s mountain was located. It could have been a mere coincidence, but Madgar believed in her intuition. ¡®We¡¯ll continue suppressing them.¡¯ Tomorrow morning, as soon as they replenished themselves, they leave the main camp and attack the basin again. And Madgar herself would head to the Moonlight Hill. She would take the Essence of the Blue Moon and trample their only possibility of survival. Madgar slowly nodded. In front of the Spear of Corruption which contained Belial¡¯s power, she held her hands together as if she was praying. *** ¡°Let¡¯s start right away.¡± Cordelia, who was adding feather decorations to her rabbit ears headband, blinked at Jude¡¯s words. ¡°We¡¯ll go there in advance?¡± ¡°If it¡¯s a vacant area that no one has upied, it would be more advantageous to ambush them in advance.¡± The Essence of the Blue Moon would appear tomorrow, but it was not necessary to start tomorrow. ¡°The Angry Bull tribe has now retreated to their main camp. Even if they¡¯re aiming for the Essence of the Blue Moon as Gentle Snow Breeze said¡­their departure will beter than us. They¡¯re geographically farther.¡± ¡°Will they reallye?¡± ¡°It would be better to assume that they areing.¡± It would be much safer if they assumed the worst and moved ordingly. ¡°Uh¡­then I¡¯m homeless again today.¡± They had finally reached a vige after a long time. The crestfallen Cordelia drooped her shoulders, but she did not insist on staying. ¡°Let¡¯s go quickly with what we¡¯ve nned. If we go quickly, I¡¯ll be able to make the bed quickly, and then I can sleep early. I¡¯m about to die because of someone who made me work hard.¡± ¡°I understand, Princess.¡± After checking Cordelia¡¯s condition, Jude immediately conveyed to Clear Snow about their intentions to begin. ¡°You mean right now?¡± ¡°Yes, right now. So hurry up.¡± Clear Snow looked up at the dark sky for a moment after hearing Jude¡¯s answer, but he didn¡¯t particrlyin. ¡°Gounko is a clever guy. He¡¯ll take you well to the Moonlight Hill. May the blessing of Gentle Snow Breeze be with you.¡± ¡°May the blessing of Great Storm be with you.¡± Jude and Cordelia responded to Clear Snow, and then rode on arge stag named Gounko. And that night, when it was nearing midnight¡­ After arriving at Moonlight Hill, Jude and Cordelia let out voices of admiration. ¡°Amazing.¡± ¡°Pretty.¡± The sight of blue flowers on a hill covered with white snow was a really mysterious sight. Moonlight and the starlight, with the white snow reflecting them. It was rtively bright even in the middle of the night, so it was possible to check the surrounding area, and Jude frowned as he saw the Moonlight Hill that was wider than he expected. ¡®The good news is that there¡¯s only a single road.¡¯ Moonlight Hill was the end of a slope, so it was virtually no different from a cliff. Thendform was about 30 meters high, which was too low to be called a mountain, but was quite high for a hill. It was like a cliff that seemed to have its sides shaved, except on the one side going up. ¡®Is it best to block the road until the Essence of the Blue Moon appears, and then run away?¡¯ Then how will they block the road? While Jude was contemting this and that, Cordelia began digging the ground after viewing the evening primroses. It was to make a bed. ¡°Let¡¯s sleep and then think about it tomorrow¡­what is it?¡± Jude stood still and contemted as he looked at Cordelia, or rather, as he enthusiastically gazed at the pit that Cordelia had begun to dig. ¡°Sure enough.¡± ¡°Sure enough what?¡± At Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude smiled and sat close to her as he began to exin. It was a conversation that made Cordelia smile like usual. Chapter 72: Rotten Water (1)

Chapter 72: Rotten Water (1)

Jude and Cordelia did not know much about the wildnds. This was because the opportunities to visit the wildnds were rare in Legend of Heroes 2, and even if they could, the area they could visit was very limited. In addition, they were involved in an incident that was not covered in the game because they had to thwart the barbarian invasion, which can be called the central event of the early scenario in Legend of Heroes 2. Therefore, it was no exaggeration to say that it was an encounter with the unknown, that despite being rotten waters, Jude and Cordelia did not know the beginning, the process, and even the results of the events that were happening at the present time, as they were in the middle of thwarting the enemies¡¯ ns with their own hands. But even so, Jude and Cordelia were rotten waters. Though they may not know of the events that were happening, they still knew about the characters who were involved. ¡°It was Madgar who made it rain.¡± ¡°Mid-ranking demonic human of the Devil¡¯s Eye, a shaman.¡± ¡°She was originally from the Angry Bull tribe. She was abandoned once by her master who was a great shaman, but she met Haraken and gained the power of the demons, bing a powerful demonic shaman.¡± ¡°Her aggressive nature is viewed favorably. She¡¯s sess-oriented and cautious. She has a lot of doubts due to being abandoned once by her master.¡± ¡°She has a personality that prefers to handle everything with her own hands.¡± ¡°She¡¯s too confident.¡± ¡°An arrogant personality.¡± Having spoken so far, Jude and Cordelia looked at each other, and Cordelia said in bewilderment. ¡°Crazy b*stard, did you memorize Madgar¡¯s personality rather than her stats?¡± ¡°Hey, of course I memorized her stats. But I¡¯m surprised you know a lot too?¡± ¡°I¡¯m as rotten like everyone else is.¡± ¡°You¡¯re perfectly rotten. Are you oil now?¡± ¡°Stop that oil nonsense.¡± ¡°Yes, Madam.¡± T/N: Recap in case you forgot ¨C ¡®rotten¡¯ refers to ¡®rotten water.¡¯ And ¡®oil¡¯ refers to someone who¡¯s higher than ¡®rotten water.¡¯ All of these just refer to people who have yed a game for a long time. ¡®Oil¡¯ refers to fossil fuels, which have been around for a very long time, so Koreans ended up using it as a rted ng to rotten water. After the two rotten waters finished plimenting¡¯ each other, they looked towards the front, or more specifically, they looked down the ambush point. ¡°They came.¡± Jude said in a low voice, and Cordelia held her breath. The two were lying down on top of a high peak, and not on Moonlight Hill. There was a high peak overlooking the path that led to Moonlight Hill, and the path that led to Madgar¡¯s main camp too. Waiting for them since morning was worth it, as they were able to confirm that the warriors of the Angry Bull tribe really came. ¡®As expected.¡¯ ¡®Sure enough.¡¯ Madgar was situated in the middle of the warriors¡¯ ranks. She was easily recognizable from afar because of her helmet made of a beast¡¯s bones, and her skeleton staff. After their confirmation, the two crawled and moved a little further down from their original positions, before they looked at each other. ¡®Madgar really came.¡¯ As she was originally from the Angry Bull tribe, Madgar knew well about the wildnds. So she obviously knew about the Essence of the Blue Moon, and of the location of Moonlight Hill. Madgar was skeptical and had a personality that preferred to handle important matters on her own. That was why Jude and Cordelia had thought. It was highly likely that Madgar woulde to take the Essence of the Blue Moon. And that prediction had be a reality. So Cordelia gestured to Jude with her eyes, and Jude nodded his head. ¡®Let¡¯s go as nned.¡¯ It was their contingency n in case Madgar herself came here. A smile spread over Cordelia¡¯s face, and the two quietly stood up from their spot. They hurriedly moved to get ahead of Madgar and her group. *** Madgar¡¯s eyes narrowed when they arrived on Moonlight Hill. Moonlight Hill was a ce where animals did not enter, but there was no indication of any human presence around the hill. ¡®Indeed, it¡¯s a trap.¡¯ For the cornered Gentle Snow Breeze, her only hope was the Essence of the Blue Moon. But if the ce was so quiet, Madgar couldn¡¯t help but think that there was a trap. ¡°Master Madgar?¡± ¡°Wait.¡± Madgar stopped the warriors of the Angry Bull tribe, as she looked at the only path up the hill, and she soon giggled. ¡°How shoddy.¡± Although it seemed like they tried hard to hide it, Madgar could see the traces of aid trap in the middle of the pathway. While it was clean up and down the hill, there were footprints in the middle of the path. ¡°It looks like they¡¯ve set up traps in the pathway.¡± At Madgar¡¯s words, her aide and the warriors were surprised and looked at the pathway. Madgar kindly pointed to the footprints in the middle of the path and said. ¡°Perhaps they¡¯re waiting in ambush up the hill. But that¡¯s just a foolish act. We don¡¯t necessarily need the Essence of the Blue Moon.¡± Her aide tilted his head as he was unsure of what Madgar meant, but it was only for a short time. He soon opened his eyes wide in admiration. ¡°Ah!¡± ¡°Yes, our purpose is to keep Gentle Snow Breeze from getting the Essence of the Blue Moon. We don¡¯t have to get the Essence of the Blue Moon. And even if the Essence of the Blue Moon is right there, the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe cannot get it until the Fantasy Moons rises.¡± In other words, she meant that they could just encircle the surrounding area without having to go up the hill. ¡°Even if they get the Essence of the Blue Moon, they eventually have toe down the hill to return. We just have to wait. We don¡¯t have to go up the stage they made.¡± ¡°Oooh¡­¡± All of the warriors of the Angry Bull tribe admired Madgar¡¯s exnation. They liked battles, but not all battles. What the warriors of the Angry Bull tribe liked was a winning battle. Madgar looked at the pathway and the hill beyond it again, and she scornfullyughed as she said. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be nice to see how patient they are? Spread out and take a rest!¡± ¡°Yes, master!¡± The warriors who followed Madgar went to their positions to monitor the entire Moonlight Hill, and afterwards, they began to rest, such as sitting down or putting down their weapons. ¡®You¡¯ll be the first to run out of patience.¡¯ Time was on Madgar¡¯s side. It was no exaggeration to say that the difference was like heaven and earth for those who would win after tonight, and those who would lose theirst hope after tonight. ¡°Foolish ones.¡± Madgar smiled again before she sat in afortable position and began meditating. And an hour passed¡­another two hours passed¡­ It was sunset atst. Madgar slowly opened her eyes and frowned as she saw the spreading sunset in the sky. ¡®They¡¯re more patient than I thought.¡¯ Perhaps they were thinking of moving at the moment when the Essence of the Blue Moon appears. Madgar gazed at the still quiet Moonlight Hill, before she gestured with her jaw to the warriors as her eyes squinted. It was almost time for the Fantasy Moons to rise, so a battle in any form would begin soon. A few minutes passed. When darkness spread over the sunset and the curtains of night unfolded. The moonlight flowed down. Light came from the two moons that floated between the starlight, and the evening primroses on the hill opened their buds all at once to greet the moonlight. In addition¡­ The warriors of the Angry Bull tribe, who were watching from below, unconsciously eximed. The water droplets among the blooming evening primroses seemingly soared up, and soon after, a concentration of blue light appeared in the center of the hill. ¡°The Essence of the Blue Moon.¡± An excited voice flowed out of Madgar¡¯s lips. They were far away from it, yet she couldn¡¯t help but be distracted. The moonlight¡¯s essence was visible in the center of the blue light. A beautiful and unique blue jewel was floating in the air. ¡°Ahh¡­¡± Madgar quickly opened her eyes, after letting out an exmation again. Because now was the perfect time for those who lie in wait on the hill to reveal themselves. The warriors of the Angry Bull tribe also sensed it. They each pulled their weapons and adjusted their positions, as they breathed like predators waiting for their prey. One minute passed. Two minutes passed this time. ¡°Master¡­Madgar?¡± Her aide turned to Madgar, and Madgar frowned. Were they aiming to attack after some dy in time? Were they inducing us to be caught off-guard by waiting for us and not immediately taking the Essence of the Blue Moon? It wasn¡¯t. It wasn¡¯t that. ¡°Go up!¡± The warriors immediately responded to Madgar¡¯s orders. As soon as they sprinted along the hill¡¯s slope, a response instantly urred. Bang! Bang! Bang! Explosions broke out all over the slope. The warriors who couldn¡¯t escape were caught in the explosion, and Madgar was spontaneously relieved. I was right. There was a trap. There were people here as expected. But after a while. No one took the Essence of the Blue Moon even when the trap was triggered, and everyone was confused. What happened? Did they give up on the Essence of the Blue Moon? ¡°Get out of my way!¡± Madgar burst into anger as she ran straight up the slope. Some traps were triggered, but she was a mid-ranking demonic human. As she protected herself with her powerful magic, the various traps and explosions were useless against her. ¡°The Essence of the Blue Moon.¡± Having reached the center of the hill at once, Madgar took the Essence of the Blue Moon that was floating in the air. It wasn¡¯t fake. It was real. The jewel that was shining on her palm was the Essence of the Blue Moon. Therefore, Madgar could not understand the situation. The trap was real. The Essence of the Blue Moon was the only hope for Gentle Snow Breeze. However, they neglected the Essence of the Blue Moon. There were even some installed traps, but they didn¡¯t see anyone else in this ce besides them. Howe? What the hell is going on? ¡°Master Madgar!¡± She turned her eyes to the cry of her aide. Her aide¡¯s fingertips were pointing to a flying red bird towards them. It was a shaman¡¯s hawk used by the shamans of the Angry Bull tribe formunication. The direction from where it flew was where their main camp was located. It was the entrance to the basin of the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe. While Madgar took the Essence of the Blue Moon, the main camp¡¯s troops were besieging and pressuring the vige of the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe. The shaman¡¯s hawk came flying from there to inform of an emergency. Why? I told the main force to only besiege them, and not to fight. The Gentle Snow Breeze tribe didn¡¯t have enough power to fight outside their walls. The shaman¡¯s hawk arrived amidst the numerous thoughts swirling on her mind. It opened its mouth wide and shouted. ¡°Emergency! Emergency! The wild god descended!¡± Gentle Snow Breeze. She was a wild god whose power was suppressed and unable to make a move. She was anxiously waiting for the Essence of the Blue Moon to liberate her power. Madgar gazed down on her hand. The Essence of the Blue Moon was there. It wasn¡¯t in Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s hands. But how- ¡°Lie.¡± Madgar understood then. She understood what happened. She realized what had happened. So she turned her gaze. She looked in the direction of the main camp. *** Ten minutes before the Fantasy Moons phenomenon urred. Jude and Cordelia did not fail in getting the essence. It was not the Essence of the Blue Moon that mattered. Gentle Snow Breeze only needed the Essence of the Blue Moon in order to regain her powers in the first ce. ¡°So there was no need to do that.¡± There was no need for them to cling to the Essence of the Blue Moon. There was a more direct way to liberate the power of Gentle Snow Breeze. When they had confirmed that Madgar was headed for Moonlight Hill¡­ Jude and Cordelia immediately began to act. Instead of running towards Moonlight Hill, they frantically ran towards Madgar¡¯s main camp. Their idea was simple. ¡®As long as it¡¯s not Madgar, it¡¯s okay.¡¯ Mid-ranking demonic human Madgar. She was a strong opponent that they couldn¡¯t win against yet if they used their usual methods. They were sure of where she was now. They were sure of where she wasn¡¯t now. Therefore, Jude and Cordelia were able to move freely. Boom! Twenty-Four Gale Steps. Gales and whirlwinds rose. As if in response, Cordelia¡¯s hair was dyed ck, and orbs of mana floated around her. ¡°Defend!¡± ¡°Stop them!¡± Madgar wasn¡¯t a fool. She obviously left behind some forces to defend their main camp. Although there were a few of them, it was the warriors of the Angry Bull tribe, as well as a low-ranking demonic human. ¡°All right, a low-ranking demonic human.¡± Cordelia brightly smiled. A smile also spread on Jude¡¯s face. A low-ranking demonic human ¨C to be exact, it was Karaba, a water-attribute and warrior-type demonic human. Jude narrowed his distance to Karaba at once and used the Holy Cross Punch. As Karaba bounced from the attack, he followed it with Lightning Punch, and Cordelia¡¯s also shot and pierced through Karaba¡¯s chest. ¡°We can¡¯t win against a mid-ranking demonic human yet.¡± They calmly admitted it. Because it was true. And what those words meant was true. Cordelia threw the mana orbs everywhere to stop the warriors of the Angry Bull tribe. Jude took hold of the distressed Karaba and dealt the final hit to Karaba¡¯s chest using the Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword. Shiiing-! A ring of pure white light appeared around Jude and Cordelia. Jude rushed towards the warriors of the Angry Bull tribe this time. He used the protection of the wind barrier to block the arrows and swept them with the Twenty-Four Gale Steps. ¡°Haa!¡± Cordelia roughly used the witch¡¯s power as she advanced towards the Spear of Corruption. As her blue eyes shined, she said with an evil smile. ¡°But if it¡¯s a low-ranking demonic human, we¡¯ll win, right?¡± As long as it¡¯s not Madgar. Only Madgar. She was inside Madgar¡¯s tent. Cordelia tightly grasped the Spear of Corruption. As if she was a warrior who was pulling out a holy sword, she pulled out the demon¡¯s spear and liberated the dragon vein¡¯s power. Chapter 73: Rotten Water (2)

Chapter 73: Rotten Water (2)

A brilliant golden light filled their sights. The moment she pulled out the Spear of Corruption, the power of the dragon vein surged and covered the whole area. ¡°Gaaah!¡± ¡°My eyes! My eyes!¡± The warriors of the Angry Bull tribe, who were already corrupted by the power of Belial, were tormented by the sacred power that had been unleashed from the dragon vein. Jude turned to Cordelia, and she nodded. They freed the power of the dragon vein by pulling out the Spear of Corruption, but they did not intend to stop there. Cordelia looked back at where the Spear of Corruption had been thrust. She chanted the spell as she faced the pulsating golden stream under the cracked ground that looked like it was ripped apart. Then shepleted it. Thus, she made it explode! ¡°F*ck bang!¡± The Spear of Cmity struck the dragon vein. It then exploded andpletely made the dragon vein runaway, which had already gone out of control by half. Baaaaaaaaang-! There was a roar. The earth shook one after another, and what Cordelia had hoped for began to happen. ¡°Earthquake! It¡¯s an earthquake!¡± The warriors of the Angry Bull tribe screamed, and the ground that was really shaking began to crack altogether. Jude and Cordelia tried to destroy the main camp itself by making the dragon vein run out of control. ¡°Yahoo!¡± In the midst of the earthquake which cracked the ground and the runaway dragon vein soaring into the sky, Cordelia raised both of her arms up high and brightlyughed, and Jude sighed as he thought that this was his fault. Because the moment he saw her, he imagined that she would look like a perfect gwang-nyeon-i if she put a flower in her hair, and that he thought she was pretty despite that. T/N: Koreans have this superstition/presumption that if a woman puts a flower in her hair, it signifies that she is crazy, as in, mentally crazy, psychotic or a mentally disabled woman. They call these women ¡®gwang-nyeon-i¡¯, which means ¡®crazy b*tch.¡¯ How this originated is a mystery, but it still persists up to this day. ¡°Madam!¡± ¡°Dolswe!¡± Despite the shaking of the earth, Jude could still use the Twenty-Four Gale Steps. Jude used the gale to run at once towards Cordelia, and Cordelia leapt towards Jude. ¡°Merge!¡± She wasn¡¯t really serious. As soon as he heard Cordelia¡¯s shout, Jude turned his back, and Cordelia clung on Jude¡¯s back and then pped it. T/N: ¡®Merge¡¯ used here can also bebine, unite, transform, fusion, etc. This word ismonly used in mecha/robot series, where multiple parts mergebine into one giant robot. An example would be the series ¡®Voltes V¡¯, where the team shouts ¡®let¡¯s volt in!¡¯ to merge into one big robot. ¡°Let¡¯s run!¡± Cordelia hugged Jude¡¯s neck with one hand and shouted cheerfully, and Jude fixed Cordelia¡¯s position before he started running again. ¡°Hold on tight!¡± ¡°I¡¯m already holding on tightly!¡± Baang! Jude kicked the ground. Using the whirlwinds, he spurred on the cracked and shaking ground to escape from the Angry Bull tribe¡¯s main camp. There were various loud sounds heard everywhere, such as shattering, breaking, and copsing, as well as the cries of the warriors of the Angry Bull tribe, but Cordelia, who was the main culprit of everything, merrilyughed. ¡°Yay, so exciting!¡± They were then finally outside the impact zone of the earthquake. From above a barren hill, they saw the main camp itself being destroyed and scattered in all directions. ¡°Mission clear.¡± ¡°Good job.¡± At Jude¡¯s praise, Cordelia cleared her throat and said as she stared at the Spear of Corruption in her right hand. ¡°Jude, Gentle Snow Breeze will regain her power now, right?¡± ¡°She¡¯ll regain it. Or rather, I think her power¡¯s restored now.¡± With Cordelia on his back, Jude turned his gaze towards the direction of the basin of the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe. And Cordelia saw it too. A sacred blue light soared up high from that distant ce. *** Madgar saw it too. And she realized. The enemies had pulled out the Spear of Corruption that was blocking the power of the dragon vein. They ignored the Essence of the Blue Moon and attacked the main camp instead. What they needed was not the Essence of the Blue Moon, but the means to restore the power of Gentle Snow Breeze. She confounded the means with the end. And as a result, Gentle Snow Breeze regained her power. ¡°¡­It can¡¯t be.¡± She thought on what the series of events mean. Failure. It was a disastrous and big failure. Madgar herself failed. She screwed up her mission. ¡°No.¡± Madgar¡¯s breathing became rough. Her eyes turned bloodshot. Madgar hugged her own shoulders as she muttered in a small voice. ¡°I can¡¯t fail.¡± She couldn¡¯t fail. Master Haraken would abandon me too. He¡¯ll abandon me like my master¡­no, that son of a b*tch that calls himself master. I can¡¯t fail. I mustn¡¯t fail. She was as Jude and Cordelia had analyzed. Madgar was sess-oriented and had an arrogant personality. And the root of that personality was the pain of her past from being abandoned by her master. She couldn¡¯t fail, so she had to seed in everything. So that she wouldn¡¯t be someone that would be abandoned. So that she would be in a position where she wouldn¡¯t be abandoned. She armed herself with arrogance. She sought perfection by doing everything in person. ¡°Failure.¡± Madgar had a strong obsession with sess. So this much failure was uneptable. She would do anything to prevent failure. ¡°Master Madgar?¡± Her aide looked at Madgar with a worried look, and Madgar looked up and saw her aide. Her words poured out. ¡°Sacrifice yourself for the great cause.¡± ¡°Master¡­Madgar?¡± That was it. Madgar¡¯s hand touched her aide¡¯s forehead. Before he could respond, Madgar chanted the spell to activate the technique she had prepared in advance. ¡°Ah? Aaah?!¡± A dark red magic circle was drawn on the whole body of the aide with its center on the forehead. And it wasn¡¯t just the aide. All the twenty or so warriors that Madgar had brought also screamed painfully. ¡°Master Madgar!¡± ¡°Wh-why!¡± Madgar did not answer. She recited the spell and clenched her fists, and at that moment, her aide and other subordinates became pools of blood. They became sacrifices to the magic circle, to be offered to Belial¡¯s altar. Human offering. It was the fastest and surest way to borrow the power of the demon. Madgar closed her eyes. Dark red energy gathered in the ce where her aide and subordinates stood, and the energy rushed forward towards Madgar. ¡°I can¡¯t fail.¡± I must seed. Although the dragon vein was liberated, it was only for now. The time when Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s power was blocked was long. Belial¡¯s power had harmed her little by little. So Madgar still had an opportunity now. She could still do it. Madgar opened her eyes. Her eyes shone red, as it changed intopound eyes like that of an insect. Large moth wings sprouted from her back. Madgar flew. She headed towards the basin of the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe. *** Gentle Snow Breeze flew up into the sky. As she widely stretched out her snow-white wings that was like an angel¡¯s wings, she released her power, and the demonic power that threatened the basin was cleansed in one fell swoop. ¡°Go forth, my children! My power shall be with you!¡± Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s power permeated into her tribal warriors. A blue wind wrapped around them, and each of them took their weapons and charged. The Clear Snow and Fine Snow brothers helped the warriors by summoning gusts of wind. ¡°Sweep them away! Gusts of wind!¡± ¡°Run wild! Strong wind!¡± A raging wind rose and pushed its way through the warriors of the Angry Bull tribe, and warriors of the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe followed it. The warriors of the Angry Bull tribe outnumbered them several times, but the direct protection of a wild god was powerful. Moreover, Gentle Snow Breeze did not just look around. ¡°Wind Shield! Wind des!¡± High up in the sky, Gentle Snow Breeze continuously moved her hands. She protected her warriors with a wind barrier and attacked the Angry Bull tribe by directly swinging wind des. Like that, she tore up the enemy troops. After they had driven out the Angry Bull tribe, they would join forces with the other tribes in the south. A smile spread over Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s face. She did not like to fight, but the moment the enemies tried to destroy her and her children, she brought down her punishment. She put off being merciful for a while, and her umted anger burst out. The two sides fought for a long time. As if proving that they were the strongest warrior tribe in the wildnd, the warriors of the Angry Bull tribe endured the onught of the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe, and a powerful energy suddenly drew near. It was such a powerful and extreme energy that even she, a wild god, couldn¡¯t ignore it. ¡°Master Madgar!¡± ¡°It¡¯s Master Madgar!¡± The warriors of the Angry Bull tribe shouted in joy. Although her eyes becamepound eyes and moth wings sprung out of her back, Madgar still had the form of a human. Madgar saw her warriors. She looked back and spotted Gentle Snow Breeze before she wryly smiled. ¡°As expected, you¡¯re weak.¡± Gentle Snow Breeze was not in perfect condition yet. So Madgar still had a chance. Madgar raised her hand. Gentle Snow Breeze had an ominous feeling and hurriedly called forth the wind, but Madgar¡¯s spell was faster. ¡°Sacrifice yourselves for the great cause.¡± Magic circles were drawn, starting from the foreheads of the Angry Bull tribe¡¯s warriors. Her spell reached close to a hundred warriors out of the hundreds of warriors present. ¡°Master Madgar?¡± It was another aide of hers. The warriors of the Angry Bull tribe looked up at Madgar with stupefied faces, and Madgar did not hesitate. She clenched her fist and made an offering again. ¡°Aaaaah!¡± ¡°Hiiii?!¡± ¡°Master Madgar?!¡± ¡°It¡¯s the demon¡¯s magic!¡± Screams and shouts, and voices filled with fear were heard everywhere, regardless of enemies or allies. Madgar ignored everything. She simply epted the temporary power that she gained from offering a hundred sacrifices. ¡°Haha! Hahahaha!¡± It was too much a power for her mid-ranking demonic human body to ept. Therefore, Madgar¡¯s body erged. Her upper body was covered with an animal¡¯s tough skin, and her legs transformed into numerous spider legs. Her arms turned into sharp des like the arms of a praying mantis. Moth wings widely spread out on her back, and numerous horns sprouted instead of hair. She had be a monster and was no longer a human. She had be a demon. But Madgar felt ecstatic. She was thrilled by the demonic power that filled her body. ¡°Gentle Snow Breeze.¡± Madgar crazily smiled. She had be a giant of nearly a dozen meters tall, and she charged towards Gentle Snow Breeze. ¡°Wind Barrier!¡± Gentle Snow Breeze urgently cried and created dozens of wind barriers. Madgar didn¡¯t care. She wildly swung her arms and tore the wind barriers. She moved step by step as she headed towards Gentle Snow Breeze. The clear blue sky turned ck. Madgar¡¯s eyes turned dark red. Every time a wind barrier was torn, Gentle Snow Breeze let out painful groans. The demonic energy overwhelmed everyone. The Angry Bull tribe as well as the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe could do nothing but just look. They just watched the sh between the wild god and the demon. But there were two people. They were two people who did not just watch. *** ¡°Wow, is this for real? Isn¡¯t that a Demon Prince?¡± ¡°It¡¯s crude like the original. As expected of Madgar. It¡¯s the same asst time.¡± Demon Prince. They were strong lords of hell. It wasn¡¯t a demon prince that appeared right now. Madgar forcibly raised her power through human sacrifices, and it was just a temporary monster that would eventually disappear over time. But it was still powerful. ¡°You have to hold out for 15 minutes in the original story, right?¡± ¡°Because she¡¯ll lose that state in 15 minutes.¡± ¡°Gentle Snow Breeze won¡¯tst 15 minutes, right?¡± ¡°You think she can¡¯t hold out for long?¡± ¡°Yes, she basically can¡¯t fight.¡± Even now, she was just standing there and only creating barriers. If it continued like this, Gentle Snow Breeze would be crushed by Madgar in less than 3 minutes, let alonest for 15 minutes. ¡°She has no particr weakness.¡± Jude¡¯s eyes narrowed as he looked at Madgar. Even in the original story, Madgar couldn¡¯t be defeated while in that state. The strategy was to just hold out and buy some time. But this ce was real. Moreover, there was a wild god called Gentle Snow Breeze. So perhaps there was something that they could do. Perhaps there was a side that they could stab. When Jude began to worry about it, Cordelia didn¡¯t think much. She took out a hair tie and neatly gathered and tied her long voluminous hair together. ¡°Put your brain to work. That¡¯s why you aren¡¯t number one.¡± ¡°Hey, I¡¯m number one.¡± Jude hadn¡¯t mentioned it recently about he himself being first ce, and Cordelia being permanently second ce. But Cordelia scornfullyughed. Even if she was permanently 2nd ce, there was one area where she was ranked first. ¡°I¡¯m first ce in hunting.¡± Moreover, it wasn¡¯t just that. ¡°Gentle Snow Breeze is there. It is easier to deal with if it¡¯s such a big monster type rather than a human type. And¡­¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°Because you¡¯re here too.¡± Cordelia had a nice smile, and Jude unconsciously looked at Cordelia with a stunned face. ¡°Shall we go then?¡± Cordeliaughed again. In order to fight doping, she doped herself by taking out the medicine bottle she had kept in her waist and gulped down the liquid inside at once. The Tomb Guardian. The blood of a beast-type angel. In the game, it was a useless item. However, this was reality, and after various experiments, Jude was able to find out where to use it. The angelic blood flowed down Cordelia¡¯s throat. The angel¡¯s power spread all over her body, and temporarily awakened the power that was long asleep in her blood. Cordelia¡¯s hair, which had turned ck because of the Witch Transformation, remained the same. However, her body gained new powers. Her teeth grew into fangs like a beast, and the pupils in both of her blue eyes changed like those of a cat. If one had to name her status, it was the Beast Mode. ¡°You¡¯re like a real beast.¡± Because Cordelia was wearing the rabbit ears and tail too. As Jude softly muttered, he opened the second door of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. He raised his golden sacred battle aura to boost the power of his whole body. ¡°What the¡­wasn¡¯t the second door passive?¡± ¡°No, I thought that I had to do something too.¡± Cordelia blinked at Jude¡¯s reply, and soonughed. She then looked at their front again. Before she knew it, more than half of the wind barriers had been destroyed, and wild god, who was not good at fighting, was about to cry. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± They both said together. The two rotten waters looked back at each other for thest time before they rushed towards the demon. Chapter 74: Rotten Water (3)

Chapter 74: Rotten Water (3)

Terms used in this chapter: Backflip ¨C a type of somersault which involves jumping and turning backwards andnding on one¡¯s feet. Fastball ¨C a type of very fast throw in baseball. Bi-ik-jo intertwining with each other like a single tree ¨C This is a Chinese idiom (±ÈÒíßBÀí). The first half of the idiom (±ÈÒí) refers to the bi-ik-jo, a mythical creature which is a pair of male and female birds with one eye and one wing each who always fly together. It also refers to couples who have a deep and positive rtionship. Thest part (ßBÀí) describes two trees (with different roots) growing closer and intertwining their branches with each other. So what this idiom means is that two people are so close that they be one. It is also used to describe lovers/couples who are deeply affectionate or close to each other. For the boss monsters in games, there existed patterns. Their attack methods. Their attack timing. Their attack sequence. And in fact, it didn¡¯t just happen in games. Even in reality, patterns existed too. The attacks and frequent strikes they execute were often based on the attacker¡¯s habit, preferences, and so on. Their unique movements before the attack. The time required for an attack to be triggered. Their attack range. If one knew all of these, and they had the eyes to assess and the reflexes to react properly, it became possible to do something. Particr actions such as defeating the boss while naked, or dancing while defeating the boss, became something that were possible to do. It was the so-called rotten water¡¯s y. ¡°Catch me if you can~!¡± Cordelia cheerfully shouted as she used the Bayer family¡¯s footwork technique. Due to the magic she cast twice and the footwork technique of a prestigious family, her agility tremendously increased, and her movement was like a beam of light that exceeded the wind¡¯s movements. Boom! Boom! Boom! Madgar¡¯s attacks struck the ces where Cordelia wasst standing. Every time the huge sickle-like arms hit the ground, the earth shook, but there was no hesitation in Cordelia¡¯s steps, even when the ces she had just stood on were being destroyed. ¡°Head! Head! Head! Head!¡± Cordelia didn¡¯t just shout out words. Magic bullets flew in front of Madgar and struck Madgar¡¯s head without fail. But its power was weak. Although it hit Madgar¡¯s head, it literally just hit her and didn¡¯t do much damage. It couldn¡¯t even stop Madgar for a moment. But Cordelia didn¡¯t care. She quickly evaded Madgar¡¯s sharp des that were wildly swung and used the protection of the wind barrier to block the venom from Madgar¡¯s arms. She didn¡¯t stay in one ce for long but kept moving. ¡°Foolish b*tch!¡± Madgar burst with anger and released the demon¡¯s power. She stamped the ground with her eight feet, and a purple aura spread out in all directions. It was impossible to evade because it was an attack that covered the entire area, and not a point or linear attack. ¡°Nope. I can avoid it.¡± Cordelia jumped high as if she was a high jump athlete. With a backflip, she easily evaded the demonic power that spread out on the ground. ¡°Head!¡± Cordelia shot her magic again after her somersault, and the magic bullet flew like a fastball and hit Madgar¡¯s head without fail again this time. ¡°Aaah!¡± Madgar angrily screamed. That b*tch who was idly moving around should have been torn apart by that attack, yet it was not enough as she kept hitting Madgar¡¯s head. If she had thought rationally, it would have been correct to ignore Cordelia and charge at Gentle Snow Breeze, but she couldn¡¯t ignore Cordelia because of her irritation. Furthermore, the demonic power, that she had rapidly received, made her more violent and lose her self-control. Madgar was so preupied with tearing Cordelia apart that she couldn¡¯t even think of attacking Gentle Snow Breeze. ¡®Her aggro is so sick.¡¯ Jude admired it before he created a whirlwind. He steadily did his job, evading Madgar¡¯s attacks while attacking the gaps. He was doing something simr to Cordelia, but also different. It looked like he was dodging and hitting too, but there was a difference in the details. ¡°Leg! Leg! Leg! Leg!¡± If Cordelia was the light, Jude was the wind. Like the wind that couldn¡¯t be caught, Jude ran amidst Madgar¡¯s attacks and persistently aimed at Madgar¡¯s legs only. Unlike the head, Madgar had eight legs, so there were plenty of ces to hit. ¡°Leg!¡± As Cordelia had said,rge monsters were rather easy to deal with. Since Madgar was huge, all of their attacks would still hit even if it were not precise. And Madgar¡¯s attacks were also easy to avoid. Rather, Jude and Cordelia would have struggled more if Madgar had appeared as a mid-ranking demonic human. ¡®Of course, it¡¯s still not easy.¡¯ They would kick the bucket if they get hit by even one attack. In fact, the surrounding area had beenpletely devastated by Madgar¡¯s attacks. It was full of smashed and cracked ces, and there were spots that were contaminated with poison, and spots where the poison even melted the ground. So the Angry Bull tribe or the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe couldn¡¯t even approach out of fear. ¡®This is better though.¡¯ Even a graze would be a serious injury. Anyone who intrudes on the fight would only be a hindrance if they cannot evade all the attacks like Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Heeead!¡± Dozens of magic bullets struck Madgar¡¯s head as if it were beating a drum. It didn¡¯t hurt her. More than half of the flying magic bullets were destroyed before it even reached the head. But Madgar was still angry. Her rage surged and burst out. ¡°Aaaah!¡± Madgar¡¯s irritation exploded, and she opened her mouth wide this time and shot sound waves. And at that moment, Gentle Snow Breeze intervened. ¡°Wind de!¡± A sharp wind rushed and jolted Madgar¡¯s sound waves. The direction of the attack naturally changed, and Cordelia tried to avoid the sound waves by rolling on the ground in a hurry. ¡°Ah! Seriously! Don¡¯t butt in!¡± ¡°Just restrain her! Restrain!¡± Cordelia and Jude simultaneously shouted, and Gentle Snow Breeze flinched and became dejected, before she pouted her lips and concentrated on only restraining Madgar¡¯s power again. In the first ce, Jude and Cordelia were able to fight well against Madgar because Gentle Snow Breeze suppressed Madgar¡¯s demonic power with her divine power. Jude counted the numbers in his mind. This was reality, so it was a little different from the game. The sound wave attack was a new attack that they had encountered for the first time. The existing attacks were also slightly different from the game. However, Jude had a heavenly talent for martial arts, and Cordelia was abat genius. Jude calcted. Cordelia felt it through her instincts. The two rotten waters quickly grasped the new attack pattern and turned Madgar¡¯s attack into nothing. ¡°Head!¡± Cordelia used the protection of the wind barrier. Instead of using it to block the front, she used it as a foothold and jumped, climbing the body of Madgar afterwards. Madgar urgently tried to catch Cordelia, but it was impossible. Cordelia dashed and leapt again at some point, before she struck Madgar¡¯s head with magic bullets again. ¡°Agh! This bug-like b*tch!¡± ¡°You¡¯re the bug!¡± Provocations originally worked better if it were childish ones. As she bled from her head, Madgar exuded a powerful force that blew away the divine power of Gentle Snow Breeze that was restraining her at that moment. Booooooom! Intense airwaves spread out to the surrounding area, and the jumping Cordelia was thrown off at once as if she was swept away by a storm. But it wasn¡¯t called Beast Mode for no reason. Cordelia used the protection of the wind barrier in session as a shield and foothold. Like a cat or savage beast, she kicked on the footholds one after another. Pa! Pa! Pa! Her splendid aerial movements made anyone dizzy from just watching it. Even Madgar watched her in a daze, and Cordelia finallynded on the ground after a beautiful backflip. ¡°Haa.¡± Cordelia lowered her stance as if she was really an animal before she sighed in relief, and Jude rushed forward. He didn¡¯t give Madgar a moment of rest. ¡°Leeeg!¡± ¡°You bug-like b*stard!¡± Their attacks weren¡¯t random. Due to the constant attacks of the two, Madgar missed her tempo several times. Her attacks went badly, and as time passed, she lost herposure. ¡°Why! Why!¡± Madgar herself was a mid-ranking demonic human. She personally sacrificed more than a hundred warriors and temporarily obtained the powerful strength of a demon. But why! Howe! ¡°Head!¡± ¡°Leg!¡± Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s power suppressed Madgar¡¯s demonic powers once again. Jude and Cordelia moved beautifully again. They were indeed like bi-ik-jo intertwining with each other like a single tree. The strikes of the two were like that of one person! Jude continued to count numbers. Cordelia felt it instinctively. And Gentle Snow Breeze became aware of it. Madgar¡¯s power was weakening. The demonic power that she used to confront the wild god was rapidly diminishing. And at some point. ¡°15 minutes!¡± ¡°Five cup noodles!¡± (T/N: Cup/instant noodles usually take 3 minutes to cook. So Cordelia meant that she can cook five cup noodles in a row in 15 minutes.) Cordelia shouted whatever words she had in mind and changed her way ofbat at that moment. She, who had been evading earlier, now concentrated the witch¡¯s power in one of her hands. ¡°It¡¯s breaking!¡± Jude eximed. What he said was true. Cracks appeared in Madgar¡¯s whole body, before it broke apart and copsed. The purple aura disappeared, and ck ash quickly covered their sight at once. Her transformation was undone. She returned to a mid-ranking demonic human. Moreover, there was a penalty. Due to her excessive increase in strength, Madgar¡¯s power temporarily dropped sharply. That was the moment they were aiming for. The moment when the enemy became most vulnerable! Bang! Jude kicked the ground. Instead of shooting forward, he ran in a circle to control the wind. He used the Twenty-Four Gale Steps. Having gathered the whirlwinds and gale, Jude used the created whirlwinds to blow towards Madgar. The ck ash that blocked their view was scattered at once. ¡°I can see her!¡± By the time Gentle Snow Breeze cried, Jude and Cordelia were already moving. Once again, the two moved beautifully like bi-ik-jo intertwining with each other like a single tree. ¡°Heeeead!¡± ¡°Leeeeeg!¡± Now, just by listening to those shouts that she deeply loathed, Madgar reacted reflexively. Despite some difficulties, she spread out the demonic power on her head and legs. Then Jude and Cordelia¡¯s attacks ovepped. Each of them used the strongest attack they could deal on Madgar. ¡°Spear of Cmity!¡± ¡°Hell¡¯s Blood sh!¡± A pitch-ck spear pierced Madgar¡¯s chest. A red sword cut Madgar¡¯s back. Madgar¡¯s chest and back, which had been defenseless, could not withstand the attacks of the two. Madgar vomited ck blood, and ck blood also spouted from her back like a fountain. ¡°Why¡­¡± You said it was the head. You said it was the leg. The moment death was right in front of her eyes, what came out of Madgar¡¯s mouth was a voice full of resentment. Having met eyes with Madgar, Cordelia said as her fangs shined. ¡°You broke the pattern.¡± ¡°You¡¯re really saying whatever you want.¡± It finally ended after Jude¡¯sment. Cordelia released the Spear of Cmity from her hand, and Jude greatly stepped back. ¡°You¡¯re¡­like¡­demons¡­¡± Those were herst words. Countless cracks spread throughout Madgar¡¯s body and it soon burned. Her body became ck ash and scattered. And the two people. Surrounded by rings of white light that rose in session, Jude and Cordelia clicked their tongues as soon as they saw each other. ¡°Wow, that¡¯s really dirty. Did you cut her back when you said leg?¡± ¡°You said head.¡± ¡°I hit her from the front at least.¡± ¡°Back attacks usually deal more damage. It gives you more points.¡± ¡°Do you like getting more points?¡± ¡°I¡¯m d I won 1st ce. I¡¯m happy because I¡¯m 1st ce. The taste of 1st ce is so good.¡± ¡°Evil b*stard. Nasty b*stard. Anyway, you¡¯re a damn b*stard.¡± The two continued to say whatever they wanted before they startedughing and simultaneously looked down. Because they saw what the boss monster had left behind after it disappeared. ¡°It¡¯s pretty.¡± Its beautiful color unintentionally drew them in. A natural gem that was made from the power of the moonlight. ¡°The Essence of the Blue Moon.¡± A divine item that Madgar could not absorb because of its divine power. A bright smile spread over the faces of Jude and Cordelia. Chapter 75.1 – Settlement (1)

Chapter 75.1 ¨C Settlement (1)

We have slightly long chapters this time, so I¡¯ve split it again. Today¡¯s chapter is 2/3 of the chapter, and the remaining 1/3 will be released tomorrow together with 1/3 of chapter 76 since it¡¯s also as long as this one. Terms used in this chapter: Spec ¨C gaming term that can mean a character¡¯s specifications or specialization, or how one distributes skill points among the various skill trees avable. Control ¨C gaming term which means how a user ¡®controls¡¯ the actions of their yable character, including aiming and moving skills, and the ability to use skills appropriately. Gae-mo-tae (???) ¨C A Korean ng used in chat rooms to describe someone who is really bad at ying games. ?Gae (?) means inferior or worthless, while mo-tae (??) means mother¡¯s womb/uterus. Mo-tae is also used to refer to ¡®being born¡¯, ¡®born to be¡¯, ¡®naturally¡¯, etc. If youbine ¡®mo-tae¡¯ with the word ¡®sol-lo¡¯, it refers to people who are single since birth (no GF/BF ever). So, gae-mo-tae literally means being inferior/bad since birth. Jude remembered his first encounter with Cordelia. It was the time before they were reincarnated as Jude and Cordelia, when they were still Outboxer009 and Yellow Storm. They had lived as Jude and Cordelia for many years, and if you count the number of years they¡¯ve known each other, it was 22 years ago, as Jude had first met her in the game more than 5 years ago when he was still Kang Jin-ho. It was the time when Outboxer009, or Kang Jin-ho, started ying the game. In fact, Kang Jin-ho had lived a life that was quite far from games. It was only a coincidence that he suddenly began ying games and RPGs with VR functions. One could say that it was beginner¡¯s luck. Fortunately, Legend of Heroes 2 was a game that Kang Jin-ho really liked. ¡®It¡¯s fun. It¡¯s why people y games.¡¯ In Legend of Heroes 2, there were two modes: single yer and multiyer. In single yer, the yer literally conquered the story alone. On the other hand, multiyer was a mode where single yers who have finished any kind of ending of any character can gather together to take part in adventures. ¡®In order to be strong in multiyer, you have to y all the characters in single yer and get high scores. It was not a joke to delve every corner in order to get high scores.¡¯ There was a ¡®Deck System¡¯ in multiyer mode. It was a system that strengthened the stats of multiyer characters bybining the stats and so on of each yable character that a user yed in single yer mode. In other words, it meant that the character of a user who cleared both Jude and Cordelia in single yer mode was stronger in multiyer than the character of a user who only cleared Jude in single yer mode. On top of that, the multiyer character of a user who cleared Jude with 120 points was stronger than the user who cleared Jude with 100 points. ¡®In short, one had to clear all the characters in single yer mode with the highest scores.¡¯ It was a system that emphasized hard work, so he found it interesting, but didn¡¯t think of actually trying it. He wasn¡¯t really interested inpeting in multiyer mode. ¡®But let¡¯s try experiencing it once.¡¯ The bad ending was also an ending, so when he lost and got the death ending in ¡®The Northern Barbarians¡¯ Great Invasion,¡¯ he gained ess to multiyer mode. ¡®Okay, enter a nickname¡­¡¯ He entered multiyer mode under the name ¡®Outboxer009.¡¯ At first nce, it didn¡¯t seem much different from single yer mode, but there were two very big differences. One was that there were other yers in Pleiades besides Outboxer009 himself, and the other was the fact that the battle difficulty of the game rapidly became difficult. [You have died.] Not long after he went out of town, Outboxer009 identally died and became a corpse that slumped on the ground. ¡®So that¡¯s why you needed to clear single yer mode.¡¯ First of all, it was ideal to be above a certain level, whether it was on spec or control. The enlightened Outboxer009 waited for a while before clicking the Reset button. Because there was a user who was approaching him at that time. ¡®Oh¡­are you trying to help me?¡¯ If one used the Resurrection Feather that was given at the beginning of multiyer mode, it was possible to save those who had just died. At that time, Jude was still a novice gamer, so he was unaware of the attitude of gamers ying multiyer games. Therefore, with a pure heart, he waited for the user to approach him. ¡®Pretty.¡¯ He was sure that character¡¯s name was Cordelia. She was a beautiful girl with striking red hair. The Cordelia user walked right in front of him and looked at Outboxer009¡¯s corpse, and Kang Jin-ho stared at the Cordelia user with expectant eyes. Then the Cordelia user said. [Yellow Storm: LOL game gae-mo-tae] ¡®What?¡¯ The bewildered Jude blinked his eyes, but his character was still dead. The Cordelia userughed a few more times before just passing Outboxer009 and went on their way. After a few seconds¡­a few minutes¡­ LOL game gae-mo-tae Game gae-mo-tae. You¡¯re bad at games since birth. It was a trivial remark. Words that he could just ignore. But strangely, no, mysteriously, the words struck Kang Jin-ho¡¯s mind hard. It waspletely stuck in his head and did not disappear. So naturally, the user who said those words was also clearly stored in Kang Jin-ho¡¯s memory. ¡®Yellow Storm.¡¯ It was the first meeting of the two which Jude remembered but Cordelia did not remember. *** ¡°Hey! Get it quickly!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Quickly!¡± It was right after they defeated Madgar. Cordelia abruptly urged him as she stared and smiled at the Essence of the Blue Moon, and Jude was a little confused. ¡°The Essence of the Blue Moon?¡± ¡°The Essence of the Blue Moon! What if Gentle Snow Breeze takes it away! Take it quickly! No, just absorb it! Okay? Quickly!¡± Gentle Snow Breeze clearly said it. The Essence of the Blue Moon was a very important item, so the animals in the area did not touch it. She decided that he should use it in this extreme emergency. ¡°Just touch it and say that you identally absorbed its power. Yes, that would be good. I¡¯ll help you make excuses.¡± Cordelia who had said so far, quickly picked up the Essence of the Blue Moon from the ground and even ced it on Jude¡¯s hand. The Essence of the Blue Moon was an essence of the pure moonlight, so it was a cluster of divine power. Therefore, Cordelia could not use it properly because she uses the witch¡¯s power. ¡®No, she has the sacred rod Moonlight.¡¯ Wouldn¡¯t the Essence of the Blue Moon be absorbed by Moonlight since it is also moonlight? ¡°Hey, wait a second. What about Moonlight? Wouldn¡¯t it be able to absorb it?¡± ¡°Eh? Oh¡­as expected of my Jude. That¡¯s a good idea¡­no. Just absorb it yourself. That would be better than strengthening equipment.¡± ¡°No, you¡¯ll be the one using Moonlight so¡­¡± ¡°No, no. You absorb it. You consume it and open the third door. That¡¯s much better.¡± The two were yielding the item to each other, which was something that was unimaginable for them to do in the past. And time passed while they were doing things that was unlike them. ¡°Oh no, she¡¯sing.¡± Gentle Snow Breeze was flying towards them. She had a lovely smile on her face, but for Cordelia, it looked like an evil face that hade to take away the item. ¡°I¡¯ll do something about it, okay?¡± ¡°Wha-¡± That was it. Cordelia hurriedly blocked Jude¡¯s mouth, and Gentle Snow Breezended in front of Jude and Cordelia. ¡°You did it, you two! We did it!¡± Gentle Snow Breeze broadly smiled and shouted with her arms stretched out wide open. Instead of hugging Gentle Snow Breeze, Cordelia said with a determined face. ¡°Gentle Snow Breeze!¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°My Jude is sick!¡± ¡°Eh?!¡± Gentle Snow Breeze was startled and turned to Jude, and Cordelia poked Jude in the ribs hard and silently whispered. ¡®Pretend to be sick! Pretend to be sick!¡¯ What the hell is she doing? However, Jude made an exhausted expression to adapt to Cordelia¡¯s intention, and Cordelia continued her words. ¡°Actually, Jude was born with an illness called Gueumjulmaek. Because of that, his body had been very weak since he was young. Look at his forearm here¡­¡± Cordelia tried to emphasize Jude¡¯s thin wrist and forearm, but soon blinked her eyes, and Gentle Snow Breeze tilted her head in confusion. They had no choice but to do that because¡­ ¡®What! When did you be so strong?!¡¯ Jude¡¯s forearm was no longer like a corn¡¯s stalk. It was strong and firm like a club. ¡®No, I mean. Think about it. What are our levels now?¡¯ At Jude¡¯s rebuttal, Cordelia unconsciously gulped. When she thought about it, it was just as Jude said. Because of repeatedly leveling up, the two were already above level 40. It was estimated that the highest level of Legend of Heroes 2 was over level 300, but that was when the great demons appeared. In this world though, the average level of ordinary knights was level 20. Yet the two were around level 40. Basically, one¡¯s physical abilities increased when their level had gone up, so Jude, a martial artist character, had a greater increase than the wizard character Cordelia. In addition, Jude had been constantly exercising every day ording to Landius¡¯ teachings, so it was natural that his forearms had be thicker. ¡®Come to think of it, you¡¯ve also be¡­taller?¡¯ Because the two were close together, she realized their height difference again. She had to raise her head now in order to make eye contact with Jude. ¡®It¡¯s not a teenager¡¯s growth period, since his growth is too fast¡­no, he¡¯s 17 years old so it¡¯s correct to say that it¡¯s his growth period now.¡¯ ¡°Cordelia?¡± Gentle Snow Breeze asked. Cordelia who was in a daze for a while was startled, before she resumed talking. ¡°No, that! Anyway! Even though Jude is fine on the outside, he is in bad shape on the inside. So he needs treatment!¡± ¡°In bad¡­shape?¡± Gentle Snow Breeze looked at Jude again, and Cordelia frowned. She was having a hard time since Jude looked too healthy. Moreover, Gentle Snow Breeze had seen Jude moving vigorously. It seemed very difficult to convince that Jude, who was running like a gale earlier, was actually weak and sickly. But Cordelia didn¡¯t give up. ¡°No, that! He¡¯s really suffering from overworking earlier. Once he lies downter, I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll be throwing up blood.¡± ¡°Re-really?¡± ¡°Yes, so he needs treatment. To heal it, he needs a lot of good energy. Like the Essence of the Blue Moon.¡± Having spoken so far, Cordelia stared at Gentle Snow Breeze with expectant eyes, and Jude managed to hold back hisughter by covering his mouth with his hand. Cordelia was acting and saying nonsense while scamming, but he found her appearance of working hard to scam someone as very cute. Moreover, a smile was drawn on Jude¡¯s face because of the fact that she was trying so hard. ¡°Uh¡­so to summarize¡­Jude is actually sick right now and needs the Essence of the Blue Moon to be cured?¡± ¡°Yes, that is correct. That¡¯s it.¡± Cordelia nervously stared at Gentle Snow Breeze. In fact, Cordelia was in a bit abnormal state right now. Her reasoning and emotions have be simpler because of the Beast Mode¡¯s effect. ¡°Hmm, I see.¡± Gentle Snow Breeze looked back at Jude, and Jude gently opened his hand to show the Essence of the Blue Moon. Gentle Snow Breeze nodded her head. ¡°It¡¯s alright. After all, we can¡¯t return the Essence of the Blue Moon to the Moonlight Hill anyway. It would be better if someone needed it.¡± ¡°Eh? You can¡¯t return it?¡± ¡°Yes, the connection between the Essence of the Blue Moon and Moonlight Hill is already broken. We have no choice but to collect the moonlight and dew to make the essence for a long time again, so¡­¡± Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s words trailed off in the end, but she warmly smiled as she looked at Jude and Cordelia. ¡°I¡¯ve seen Cordelia¡¯s beautiful feelings for her fianc¨¦. I¡¯ll give you the Essence of the Blue Moon because I have to repay you for saving me and my children.¡± ¡°Wow, thank you very much.¡± Cordelia bowed down in gratitude, before she tapped Jude on the chest and then winked. ¡®See? This is what I can do. Who¡¯ll take care of you if not me?¡¯ It was true that the Essence of the Blue Moon gem could no longer be returned. And it was true that Cordelia¡¯s actions led to the gem being handed over to Jude. ¡®All right, should I get started too then?¡¯ ¡®Huh?¡¯ Instead of answering again with his eyes, Jude took a step forward. ¡°O Gentle Snow Breeze, this humble one dares to speak to you.¡± ¡°Go ahead.¡± ¡°I would like to express my utmost gratitude first. Thank you very much for giving me the Essence of the Blue Moon.¡± ¡°No problem, as it¡¯s a fair reward. Without you and Cordelia, I and my children would have still been stuck in this crisis.¡± Gentle Snow Breezeughed softly, and Cordelia was suddenly embarrassed as her cheeks turned slightly red. But Jude was different. ¡°You¡¯re right. As Gentle Snow Breeze said, it is thanks to the efforts of me and Cordelia. But in fact, Cordelia¡¯s achievement is even bigger. Cordelia worked harder and was more active than me.¡± What is he talking about all of a sudden? Cordelia looked at Jude in confusion, and Gentle Snow Breeze innocently smiled. ¡°I see. Thank you very much, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes, so shouldn¡¯t Cordelia also have a reward?¡± Jude replied. The Essence of the Blue Moon was given to Jude, not Cordelia. Cordelia herself hadn¡¯t received any rewards yet. In fact, it was rather unreasonable to demandpensation so directly. But Jude didn¡¯t care. For his fianc¨¦e who had worked hard for him, he had to demonstrate to her the sophisticated way of scamming so that she can do it better next time. ¡°Gentle Snow Breeze, in my opinion¡­¡± Like an expert teaching his skills to his assistant, he showed it to the two innocent girls, Cordelia and Gentle Snow Breeze. Chapter 75.2 – Settlement (1)

Chapter 75.2 ¨C Settlement (1)

As I said yesterday, we have two chapters today. Terms used in this chapter: Puppy cat (Gae-nyang-i) ¨C A cat that acts like a dog. The battle was over. When Madgar died, most of the warriors of the Angry Bull tribe chose to flee, and they suffered great damages while on the run. Fine Snow and Clear Snow did not go too far. After driving out all the warriors of the Angry Bull tribe from Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s domain, victorious shouts broke out, and Jude and Cordelia also joined them. And that night¡­ As she faced Jude and Cordelia, Gentle Snow Breeze asked as she slightly frowned. ¡°It¡¯s nice to see you being affectionate, but¡­is she okay?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s one of the side effects of using Beast Mode. She¡¯ll be fine tomorrow morning.¡± Jude said as he awkwardly smiled, because Cordelia¡¯s head was on top of hisp. Cordelia was clinging onto Jude, as if she was a dog or cat that was carefreely resting on hisp. ¡®She¡¯s like a puppy cat.¡¯ As her body was curled up, Cordelia asionally licked Jude¡¯s hand and purred like a real cat. She was also asking him to pet her instead of sitting still. ¡°Umm¡­she¡¯ll be fine tomorrow morning?¡± ¡°Yes, she¡¯ll clearly remember it¡­perhaps by tomorrow morning, her face will turn red and she¡¯ll pretend not to remember.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem, I see.¡± After clearing her throat, Gentle Snow Breeze brought out a small box. ¡°This is the Memory of the Wind. It meets the requirements that you asked for.¡± ¡°Thank you very much.¡± Inside the box was a green feather that looked to be very old. ¡®We¡¯ve gathered almost all the materials for the Ancestral Regression technique.¡¯ Ancestral Regression was a technique that reverts time, which required items that contained powers from the past. The Memory of the Wind was not originally a required item, but as Gentle Snow Breeze said, it was an item that meets the requirements because it contained the past time like the Freezing Stone. ¡®The only items left are the angelic blood and a special ink to use when drawing the magic circle.¡¯ In thetter case, it was possible to somehow find a substitute since it only required something that had high concentrations of mana. In short, Cordelia would be able to use Ancestral Regression once she obtains Lena¡¯s blood, who was the only angel on the at this point. ¡®The Fallen Angel Mode is just around the corner.¡¯ With a happy smile, Jude said as he looked at Gentle Snow Breeze again. ¡°Gentle Snow Breeze, as I had said, we are thinking of building an Eastern Alliance that is centered on the Great Storm tribe. Would you like to join?¡± ¡°I will join. I can help build the Eastern Alliance by spreading the word to the nearby wild gods and tribes. I¡¯m also nning on taking steps to prevent any further damage to the dragon vein.¡± Great Storm and Gentle Snow Breeze may be children whenpared to Violent Avnche, but in terms of strength, they were in the top ranks among the wild gods. If these two joined forces and called for the creation of an alliance, even the wild gods who had not yet been damaged would be interested in joining the Eastern Alliance. ¡°Maybe¡­the Golden Dragon King may wake up this time.¡± ¡°The Golden Dragon King?¡± It was the first time that Jude had heard of that name. Gentle Snow Breeze said as she warmly looked at Cordelia, who had begun to doze off on Jude¡¯sp. ¡°The Golden Dragon King is the first and the strongest wild god. He is like the parent of all the wild gods living in the wildnd.¡± ¡®In other words, he¡¯s the king of the wild gods?¡¯ But Gentle Snow Breeze said that he might wake up. In short, he was sleeping right now. ¡°A long time ago, when the overlords of hell came down to this world¡­the Golden Dragon King fought a fierce battle against the overlords to protect the wildnd. Fortunately, he was able to drive out the overlords from the wildnd, but the Golden Dragon King also suffered from a lot of injuries.¡± ¡°He fell asleep to treat himself?¡± ¡°Yes, though it¡¯s been almost a thousand years since then.¡± The overlords of hell who came down to this world. Considering the location, it seemed to be referring to Leviathan, the overlord of destruction. ¡°There¡¯s a story that¡­he might wake up if the wildnds is in danger.¡± That story was like a legend even among the wild gods. That didn¡¯t happen in Legend of Heroes 2 though. But that didn¡¯t mean that it won¡¯t happen this time. ¡°O Gentle Snow Breeze, this humble one has a question they dare to ask.¡± ¡°Speak.¡± ¡°Is there something like a hidden secret in Raptor Canyon?¡± It was the ce where Lena died. At Jude¡¯s question, Gentle Snow Breeze briefly closed her eyes as her long eyshes fell, before she nodded her head. ¡°A long time ago, there existed a magic kingdom of very powerful elves. It was eventually destroyed by the overlords of hell¡­but not all of their traces disappeared.¡± ¡°Then Raptor Canyon¡­¡± ¡°Yes, it is the ce where the capital of the fallen magic kingdom was located. There are still ruins of those days all throughout the Raptor Canyon. Only a few of those mysterious ancient races are left.¡± Jude now understood why Lena suddenly appeared in Raptor Canyon. The magic kingdom of the ancient elves. It was destroyed in their fight against the overlords of hell. It was a ce of interest for Lena, a wizard who dered that she would devote her life to fighting against demons. ¡°Jude, are you heading for Raptor Canyon.¡± ¡°Yes, we were asked to go by the Guardians of the Holy Cross. So we must go.¡± ¡°All right, I understand. I¡¯ll wait for you two after forming the Eastern Alliance. I look forward to the moment when I¡¯ll see you again.¡± ¡°Thank you. I look forward to seeing you again too.¡± That was it. Jude bowed again, and then left the temple while carrying Cordelia on his back, who was constantly rolling on the floor earlier, and Gentle Snow Breeze smiled as she looked at the two leaving. ¡®They¡¯re a fantasy couple.¡¯ They really got along well and looked adorable. But there was someone who thought differently. ¡°I admit that they suit each other well. The two are really a crazy couple.¡± ¡°Uh¡­not a fantasy?¡± ¡°They¡¯re crazy, they¡¯re crazy.¡± Violent Avnche strongly asserted, as it once again talked about the fight on the rocky mountain, and Ga?l and Adelia looked at each other. ¡°Well¡­the two indeed had gone too far.¡± ¡°It¡¯s because of someone¡¯s younger brother.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem, Jude is a very gentle child.¡± ¡°Then are you saying that Cordelia is violent?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, she¡¯s violent. She¡¯s aggressive. Very violent¡­not. Umm¡­she¡¯s not.¡± T/N: Not exactly a pun, but just a word with different meanings. Gwa-gyeokada can mean ¡®gone too far¡¯, ¡®violent¡¯, or ¡®aggressive.¡¯ Violent Avnche flinched when Adelia¡¯s fierce eyes interrupted its words, so it tried hard to negate its previous words, and Ga?l who saw that, had a small smile. ¡°Moving on, I think the two had be very strong.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right, the two are pretty good when you hear the story.¡± ¡°Especially Cordelia who was really good at fighting. She waspletely like a fighting cock¡­ I get it. Don¡¯t crush me. Sob sob.¡± As Violent Avnche was being crushed by Adelia, Ga?l struggled in holding back hisughter before he began talking again. ¡°In any case, it seems that it wasn¡¯t an elopement. I feel like they were involved in a lot of things.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. From the Fairy Queens to the Guardians of the Holy Cross¡­¡± In addition, they were now fighting against a plot of the demon followers to seize the entire barbariannds. ¡°We have to hurry up and join the two.¡± ¡°Yes, we must.¡± ¡°Ahem.¡± Thest was Violent Avnche again. Ga?l and Adelia were talking in a low voice while facing each other, before they simultaneously looked back at Violent Avnche, and the white bear cub said as it squinted its eyes. ¡°No, I was just thinking that you look alike.¡± ¡°You mean both Jude and Lady Cordelia?¡± ¡°Yes, they resemble you two.¡± ¡°Lord Ga?l is Jude¡¯s older brother, and I¡¯m Cordelia¡¯s older sister. It¡¯s natural that we resemble each other.¡± ¡°Yes, because we¡¯re siblings.¡± Ga?l spoke as he looked at Adelia and smiled, and Adelia just nodded quietly and not snort like usual. And Violent Avnche thought. ¡®No, that¡¯s now what I meant.¡¯ There was a strange atmosphere between the two. However, Violent Avnche only kept those words in its mind. Because Adelia would surely send a fierce gaze if Violent Avnche put those words out of its mouth. And a dozen minutes passed. ¡°We¡¯re here!¡± Violent Avnche suddenly jumped from its spot and began running towards the front, and Ga?l and Adelia could see it too. The vige of the Great Storm tribe was spread out before their eyes. Chapter 76.1 – Settlement (2)

Chapter 76.1 ¨C Settlement (2)

Terms used in this chapter: The Heart Sutra ¨C one of the most revered Buddhist sutras in both Chinese and Japanese cultures. Some of its lines include: Form does not differ from the void, and the void does not differ from form. Form is void, and void is form. Most Koreans don¡¯t know what it means, but because it seems deep, it is often used in situations where one tries to look cool/deep. Though in this chapter, Jude seems to know its real meaning, so he uses it to calm himself down. I won¡¯t exin what the lines mean, as there are different interpretations of it, but just know that ¡®form¡¯ can refer to one¡¯s body, and ¡®void¡¯ can also mean emptiness. Level is a thug ¨C Korean gaming ng that means that as the levels increase, the stronger or better one¡¯s skills or abilities are. It¡¯s actually hard finding a good exnation about this ng, but it just means that a weak character can be as strong as a thug if they had a higher level. When this ng is used on bosses, it means that boss¡¯ high level makes it so strong that it is like a thug/bully towards the yer. One¡¯s eyes are covered with bean pods ¨C a Korean idiom which means to only see good in someone after falling in love with them. (T/N: OMG, is this a confession, Jude?) Inside the lodging prepared by the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe. Jude, whose face, neck, back of his hands and so on were covered in saliva, stared down at the floor with a look of liberation. Cordelia was curled up on the nket and asleep with a happy face. ¡°Huu¡­Form does not differ from the void, and the void does not differ from form. Form is void, and void is form¡­¡± After reciting lines from the Heart Sutra, Jude covered Cordelia with a nket and sat down on a chair in exhaustion. ¡°So exhausting.¡± It was physically and mentally exhausting. But he eventually smiled afterwards. Because the curled-up Cordelia¡¯s face looked so happy. ¡®Will she make a fuss when she wakes up tomorrow?¡¯ The side effect of Beast Mode made her act like a puppy cat, but her memories of it won¡¯t disappear. Several experiments have already revealed that. A rather wicked smile appeared on Jude¡¯s face as he thought of how Cordelia would act tomorrow. In fact, Jude had already formed a n on how to tease her. ¡°How peaceful.¡± Just a few hours ago, they had a life-and-death battle against a mid-ranking demonic human, so it wasn¡¯t really peaceful at that time. After he smiled again, Jude washed his face with water from a basin before he sat on the floor with his back towards Cordelia. ¡®The Essence of the Blue Moon.¡¯ As he silently stared at the blue gem in his hand, Jude straightened his back and closed his eyes. Reality wasn¡¯t exactly the same as it was in the game, but it was still a world that had many simrities with the game. An example of that was the level. Like what he told Cordelia, as the level increased, the overall stats also increased. Level is a thug, and just as the saying goes, Jude was originally born with a weak body, but after reaching levels 40-42 now, the strength of his body was high enough to look down on most ordinary knights of Count Bayer. His muscle strength had also be stronger, and it was at a level that the strength/power he can exert was almost like a superpower. ¡®It¡¯s not some kind of built-in muscle though.¡¯ Jude had be quite strong, but that doesn¡¯t mean that he became a muscr man like Landius. However, his power was nearly twice that of a typical adult male. ¡®Because these days, I feel like Cordelia is as light as a feather.¡¯ He was fine with holding her on his arms or carrying her on his back. Though it was also true that he had been carrying her a lot these days. ¡®Well¡­maybe it¡¯s a little like bean pods covering my eyes.¡¯ When he thought of that, Jude cleared his throat and tried to clear his mind again. Didn¡¯t he sit with his back on Cordelia to get rid of all the distractions in the first ce? ¡®Anyway.¡¯ Leveling up was the surest and most basic way to be strong. ¡®But this alone is not enough.¡¯ One¡¯s body bes stronger when they level up. Not only did the physical and muscle strength increase, but the physical body itself was strengthened, and the stamina and defensive abilities also increased. But there was no tech/skill tree here. ¡®This is the most painful thing.¡¯ In the game, new skills appeared just by leveling up, but this was reality, so no matter how much he leveled up, no new skills had appeared. ¡®Cordelia¡¯s case is a little different though.¡¯ Cordelia had the witch¡¯s spell book. It was a magical spell book wherein more pages could be opened when she reached a specific level, so Cordelia was able to learn new magic spells at certain levels, just like a game. But that didn¡¯t apply to Jude. ¡®In the end, the only means to be strong now is to level up and the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors.¡¯ He had to open a new door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. Landius had said that it was how he gained new abilities. ¡®I¡¯ll be able to evolve the Twenty-Four Gale Steps.¡¯ When the first door was opened, the Thirty-Six Worldly Steps became Twenty-Four Gale Steps. When the second door opened, a whirlwind was added to his Twenty-Four Gale Steps. Following this pattern, it was highly likely that the Twenty-Four Gale Steps would evolve again when the third door is opened. ¡®All right, let¡¯s open the third door.¡¯ The Essence of the Blue Moon contained the power of the pure moonlight. If he can absorb it all, he would be able to open the third door. Jude closed his eyes and focused his mind. Cordelia¡¯s breathing from behind his back slightly disturbed his mind, but he soon calmed down his mind. With a pure and serene mind, he entered a state where he epted the power of the moonlight from the Essence of the Blue Moon. The pure energy of the moonlight entered his body. It was so clear and pure that it seemed to be harmful to ordinary people. But not for Jude. Jude already possessed a pure energy due to the meeting of both Yin and Yang energies. When both Yin energies met, they became one with each other without much difficulty. T/N: Moonlight is Yin energy, so whenbined with Jude¡¯s Yin energy, the two bes one. Jude slowly controlled his breathing. He recited the mnemonic chant of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, bringing the Yin energies inside and outside of his body into one. Jude forgot the time. He was isted from the passage of time. The pure and clear energy of the moonlight that epted the power of the moon, spread throughout his body. He collected his breathing, and he controlled his breathing. Jude felt it. Thest meridian which had been blocked by his Gueumjulmaek was pierced. As the energy of the moonlight spread throughout his body, his meridians also began to open. His meridianspletely opened. His inner Qi freely cycled his body. A door emerged in Jude¡¯s mind. The third door. The third door of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. Jude slowly opened the door. He opened it at the same time it was installed. He had already done it twice. The opening of the third door was the same as the opening of the first and second doors. No. It was different from before. Jude could feel it. Everything was pitch ck. A white light appeared in this ck area. It covered the sky and the ground. There was someone who stood in that white world that spread out on the pitch-ck darkness. He or she. He didn¡¯t know yet. It was an unrecognizable existence at the level of the third door. But he or she saw Jude. They had a smile on their face. A person who sat inside that white world. A silhouette of a person who seemed to have been drawn with rough ink lines. He or she began to move. He or she made a slow but clear move, as if telling Jude to look carefully. And that was the moment. A new chant came to Jude¡¯s mind. A clear voice echoed in his head. It became a little clearer and more visible. It was a woman. The figure of a woman who seemed to be drawn with rough ink lines taught Jude. New movements, a new chant, and a new skill. ck Dragon¡¯s Ascent. The woman said. She stretched out her hand. At that moment, a giant ck dragon rose from her palm and struck the white world. Roaaaaaaar-! The ck dragon roared. It smashed and destroyed the white world. The woman turned to Jude. Once again, she smiled brightly, and raised her hand to point at Jude. She pretended to use the skill again. Give it a try. You can do it. Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors ¨C ck Dragon¡¯s Ascent. Jude recited the chant. His aura moved. His Cheonmujiche responded. It naturally knew what to do and how to do it. ¡°ck Dragon¡¯s Ascent.¡± Jude said. He stretched out his hand. *** Chapter 76.2 – Settlement (2)

Chapter 76.2 ¨C Settlement (2)

The next morning. Jude and Cordelia left the basin after being sent off by Gentle Snow Breeze, and the two headed towards Raptor Canyon. However, the facial expressions of the two were different. Jude¡¯s face was glowing with a smile, and Cordelia kept looking at him with an awkward face. ¡°Hmm-hmm~huhu-hmm~¡± Cordelia flinched when Jude began to unusually hum. And she studied Jude¡¯s face again. Why is he so excited? Why is he broadly smiling? Um¡­anyway, shouldn¡¯t I behave like nothing happened at that time? ¡®That¡¯s right! Let¡¯s pretend that I don¡¯t remember!¡¯ Having made up her mind, Cordelia cleared her throat and made a cool and dignified expression as if she had not done something shameful, and Jude had a wicked smile and said in a low voice. ¡°Lick, lick.¡± Cordelia¡¯s face turned red. But Cordelia didn¡¯t give up yet. ¡°What nonsense are you suddenly saying?¡± ¡°Lick, lick.¡± ¡°You b*stard! You wretched b*stard!¡± Cordelia eventually gave up and began pping Jude on the back, and Jude just smiled in satisfaction. ¡°Ugh! Hey! It no longer hurts when I hit you? Have you been lying so far that it doesn¡¯t hurt?¡± ¡°No, it hurts a lot. Ouch, it hurts. Ouch, it hurts.¡± ¡°I hate you so much!¡± Cordelia, whose neck had turned red too, began to increase the strength in her hands. ¡°Ack! Hey! Hey! It hurts! It really hurts!¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t hurt!¡± ¡°No, you¡¯re wrong. It really hurts, okay? Your level is high too, right?¡± Though it may be less than the martial artist Jude, the wizard Cordelia also had her physical abilities increased every time she leveled up. As Jude frantically cried, Cordelia asked after reflexively stopping her hand. ¡°Does it really hurt?¡± ¡°It really hurts.¡± ¡°That¡¯s great!¡± ¡°Ah! Ah! Hey! Hey!¡± ¡°More! Be more hurt!¡± ¡°Lick, lick.¡± ¡°Hey! It doesn¡¯t hurt? You¡¯re not actually hurt, huh?¡± ¡°It hurts, but still, lick, lick.¡± ¡°Die!¡± A few minutes passed since the violence and relentless teasing between the two began. Cordelia panted after getting tired, and Jude said. ¡°It¡¯s all right, because it was very cute.¡± ¡°F*cking b*stard. I¡¯ll reconsider using Beast Mode again.¡± Cordelia red at Jude and decided to change the topic instead of hitting Jude more. ¡°Anyway!¡± ¡°Anyway.¡± ¡°Are we going to Raptor Canyon now?¡± ¡°Yes, because it seems that there¡¯s a rtion between Lena and the elves¡¯ magic kingdom, which is said to be in Raptor Canyon.¡± ¡°The ruins of the magic kingdom¡­there must be a lot of rare items, right?¡± ¡°Tsk, tsk¡­you¡¯re greedy for everything.¡± ¡°Die.¡± As Cordelia red at Jude again, Jude cheerfully smiled and said. ¡°Well, I¡¯m looking forward to it too. It¡¯s a magic kingdom, so there¡¯ll be a lot of stuff that you can use.¡± ¡°Moonlight is still worth using, so I hope that there would be a lot of other things. Like armor or essories.¡± ¡°Since you¡¯re using the witch¡¯s magic, wouldn¡¯t it be nice to have items that speed up your mana recovery?¡± ¡°Yes, yes, I mustpletely raise my mana itself. It¡¯s good that the witch¡¯s magic is strong, but it consumes a lot of mana.¡± After she said that, Cordelia suddenly stopped and looked back at Jude. ¡°Come to think of it, did you absorb the Essence of the Blue Moon well?¡± ¡°I absorbed it well.¡± ¡°For real? Then did you open the third door? Are you stronger now?¡± Cordelia asked as she walked up to Jude with her eyes shining. Jude replied as he impulsively pinched Cordelia¡¯s cheeks. ¡°I opened it.¡± Cordelia would have usually called him crazy and asked why he was pinching, but this time, her eyes got bigger and she widely smiled. ¡°Wow! Third door! The third door! How did it go? Has something changed? Did you learn some new skills or something?¡± ¡°Should I show it?¡± ¡°Yes, show it to me. I want to see it. I want to experience it.¡± As she jumped in ce with the rabbit ears headband on her head, Jude smiled again at the sight of such Cordelia, before he suddenly hugged Cordelia on her waist with just one arm. ¡°I¡¯ll show it to you.¡± It was not only the ck Dragon¡¯s Ascent that he learned. Twenty-Four Gale Steps also received a new change. ¡®Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors.¡¯ Nine worlds and nine doors. It was the special martial arts of the transcendent being who defeated the overlords of hell when they came down to this world in the past. ¡°Twenty-Four Gale Steps ¨C ck Wind¡¯s Advent.¡± Jude said in a low voice before he carried Cordelia with both hands. Cordelia clung to him as he stirred up the wind. Dozens of golden-colored whirlwinds rose. And in between that, a jet-ck wind soared up too. ¡°Kya?¡± Judeughed at Cordelia¡¯s scream that was a beatte. He unhesitatingly stepped forward and became the wind itself. Shaaa-! Instead of a deafening roar, what was heard was the sound of something piercing the air. The jet-ck wind that was surrounded by the golden whirlwinds blew. It became a gale as it crossed over the white snowfield. *** At the time when Jude and Cordelia were headed for Raptor Canyon¡­ Ga?l and Adelia were facing Red Wind. ¡°Uh¡­so you mean that Cordelia bought you?¡± ¡°Yes. Cordelia-unnie bought me. To save me at the auction house.¡± Though her fluency in the continent¡¯s officialnguage was poor, Red Wind expressed her admiration for Cordelia with great enthusiasm. Ga?l asked after listening to her story. ¡°By the way, Miss Red Wind, did you happen to hear where Jude and Cordelia got the money?¡± Although Ga?l had never been involved in the ve trade, he at least had some knowledge of it. As the heir to one of the 12 northern families, he understood how the world works to some degree. Red Wind inherited the blood of the Winter Elves, so she was a very beautiful girl, which meant that her price was likely higher than usual due to the nature of the Lankebuste¡¯s ve auction house. But Jude and Cordelia bought her in a normal transaction? At Ga?l¡¯s question, Adelia also had a curious expression. ¡°Come to think of it, you¡¯re right. It¡¯s not something they can do from just their pocket money.¡± In addition, when they looked back on Jude and Cordelia¡¯s journey, the two had constantly spent a lot of money. So they were curious on where the two got the money to buy an expensive ve. ¡°Uh¡­Cordelia-unnie said. She gambled.¡± ¡°Gambled? Uh, you mean the casino?¡± ¡°Right. It was called casino. They made money there and bought me. Jude-oppa said they went to the casino to earn money to buy me.¡± As Red Wind broadly smiled, Ga?l and Adelia looked at each other, and soon, anger rose on Adelia¡¯s face. ¡®He was a gambler?!¡¯ Did they just go to the casino because he wanted to, or did they go to earn money to buy ves? It was one of the two. Either he is too pure and honest, or he is a gambling addict! ¡°Uh¡­ahem¡­it seems they somehow won though.¡± Adelia¡¯s eyes narrowed when Ga?l cleared his throat and spoke. And Red Wind said again. ¡°Right. Cordelia-unnie said she won a lot. Unnie boasted that she was good at gambling.¡± ¡°Wait, Lady Cordelia won?¡± ¡°Unnie is very good at gambling. She said that she¡¯ll take meter.¡± Ga?l¡¯s gaze went back to Adelia at the innocent remarks of Red Wind, and Adelia flinched before she said as she cleared her throat. ¡°Ahem, ahem, she must be lucky¡­I guess. That¡¯s it.¡± ¡°¡­I see.¡± In any case, it was good that they made a lot of money and saved Red Wind, instead of squandering their fortune in vain. ¡°Miss Red Wind, can I ask you to continue your story?¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll continue.¡± Red Wind also talked about the things that had happened after crossing the border. ¡°The Ghostde Kamael¡­¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t expect Jude to be Landius¡¯ disciple.¡± It was an unexpected appearance of important figures. The Ghostde Kamael, and Landius, the iron man. The two were undeniably the continent¡¯s top swordsmen. ¡°Umm¡­I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t really understand what they talked about with that person named Kamael.¡± ¡°No, this is enough. Thanks for telling us.¡± When Ga?l brightly smiled, Red Wind unconsciously blushed and giggled as she left the room, and Adelia spoke after she cleared her throat due to some unexinable difort that she felt. ¡°It certainly doesn¡¯t seem like normal.¡± ¡°Yes, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s just a matter of being involved with demon followers. Them crossing the border seems to be due to an important mission rather than an elopement. Perhaps¡­I don¡¯t know if we should also change the purpose of our trip.¡± They also had to help the two solve the current problem in addition to recovering the immature runaway couple. ¡°Haa¡­Cordelia¡­¡± Adelia bit her lips and let out a troubled voice. It would have been better if they had just run away. ording to what they had heard, Cordelia was running towards an even greater danger. ¡°Don¡¯t be so worried. We¡¯ll be able to join the two soon.¡± ¡°Yes¡­you¡¯re right. Thank you, Lord Ga?l. I¡¯m thankful that Lord Ga?l is here.¡± ¡°I¡¯m also thankful that Lady Adelia is here.¡± Ga?l and Adelia stared at each other. If Violent Avnche was here, it would have a truly ufortable expression at the two staring at each other. It was Adelia who turned her head away first. ¡°Ahem, ahem. Anyway, I think we shouldn¡¯t dy ourselves. Let¡¯s start heading towards the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe.¡± ¡°Okay, I think that¡¯s a good idea.¡± Ga?l casually smiled and stood up from his seat before he held out his hand to Adelia. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Yes, Lord Ga?l.¡± Adelia held Ga?l¡¯s hand and stood up as she wondered why he was being modest than usual, and as they were leaving the room, she suddenly stopped walking. Because there was something else that came to her mind. ¡°That, by the way, Lord Ga?l.¡± ¡°Yes, Lady Adelia.¡± ¡°That¡­Lord Ga?l doesn¡¯t do anything like gambling, right?¡± ¡°Yes, I don¡¯t. That¡­Lady Adelia¡­you don¡¯t too, right?¡± ¡°Yes, me too.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s good.¡± It was relevant to them that the other was a virtuous person. Anyway, the two were relieved by the fact that neither side gambled, and they went out of the room with a small smile on their faces. Chapter 77.1 – Unexpected Encounter

Chapter 77.1 ¨C Unexpected Encounter

This is the longest chapter up to date, as it¡¯s twice the length of a normal chapter, so I split it in half again. Terms used in this chapter: Female sage ¨C Also known as Taoist fairy, female immortal, and angel/fairy but in the Korean traditional style. I¡¯ll use ¡®female sage¡¯ to differentiate it from the fairies and fairy queens of the series. Multi-ss ¨C It means having multiple sses or jobs in games. Ga?l and Adelia tried to leave for the Gentle Snow Breeze vige, but things didn¡¯t go as nned. Because the terrain of the wildnds could bepared with the vast ocean. ¡°Even if there¡¯s a map, outsiders are likely to get lost. Please wait a little longer. I will send messengers to the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe, so go with them¡­yes.¡± Violent Avnche said, tapping its stomach as it leaned its body in afortable-looking leather chair. Next to Violent Avnche was Red Gale, the chieftain of the Great Storm tribe. ¡°Jude and Cordelia. Our benefactors and friends. You, their brothers and sisters, are also our friends. So we¡¯ll help. But wait.¡± When Red Gale awkwardly spoke in the continent¡¯snguage, Adelia frowned and looked back at Ga?l, and he appeased Adelia with a smile as they couldn¡¯t help it. ¡°Red Gale, can you tell us when the messengers will leave?¡± ¡°Tomorrow morning.¡± ¡°I understand. We will wait until tomorrow morning then.¡± ¡°Thank you for your understanding.¡± Ga?l responded with a smile to Red Gale before he left with Adelia, who still had a slightly dissatisfied expression on her face. ¡°Lord Ga?l, would it be all right?¡± ¡°I¡¯m also very worried¡­but one way or another, this is thend of the barbarians. We know little of this ce, so it would be nice to receive their help. We¡¯ll arrive there sooner if we¡¯re with them.¡± ¡°Eh¡­it would be nice if we could leave this afternoon.¡± ¡°They¡¯re already doing us a favor. At this point, it would be better if we concede and let them be.¡± Ga?l gently spoke again, and Adelia nodded her head. It was quite strange. If her aide, Oron, or her fellow Magic Corps head, Catan, had said something like that, she would have opposed it. But when Ga?l spoke, she felt like following him. ¡°For now, let¡¯s go to our tent and relieve our fatigue from travel. You¡¯ve been through a lot, haven¡¯t you? I¡¯ll brew you some tea that¡¯s good for recovery from fatigue.¡± ¡°Yes, Lord Ga?l.¡± Adelia replied with a broad smile unconsciously but was soon embarrassed, and Ga?l who saw Adelia¡¯s bright smile for the first time was also embarrassed. ¡®What¡¯s wrong with me?¡¯ ¡®Beau¡­tiful.¡¯ And then. Violent Avnche clicked its tongue after it saw Ga?l and Adelia came to a halt outside the door because of their embarrassment. ¡°They¡¯re just alike. They¡¯re simr.¡± Violent Avnche clicked its tongue again as it remembered the crazy couple. The siblings resembled each other as Violent Avnche expected. *** In a ce where the white snowfield spread out endlessly¡­ Cordelia was sending Jude a gaze that resembled Violent Avnche rather than Adelia. ¡°Sometimes, I don¡¯t know if you¡¯re smart or stupid.¡± ¡°Huhu¡­¡± Jude and Cordelia were trudging along the snowfield. Rather than specifically going somewhere, they were moving to find a ce to rest for the day. ¡°This is really tough, so tough.¡± The reason for her criticism was simple. Because Jude, who used the ck Wind¡¯s Advent while carrying Cordelia, was too excited. As he focused only on running, they went off their initial route for a long time, and their problem now was that they weren¡¯t sure how far off they were from the original route. Even if he had apass and map, the scale of the map wasn¡¯t urate in the first ce, so they couldn¡¯t find their way back easily. Fortunately, constetions appeared at night, and how to use the constetions to go to Raptor Canyon was a fact that he learned from the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe. ¡®If you go straight in the direction of the Big Axe, you¡¯ll eventually find it.¡¯ It was the teaching of Fine Snow. ¡°But Jude.¡± ¡°Stop ming me, please.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that. It¡¯s just because I suddenly have a question.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± When Jude turned around and asked, Cordelia naturally stretched her arms forward. Jude¡¯s eyes narrowed at once, since he knew what that posture meant. ¡°Hey, you said you have a question.¡± ¡°My legs hurt too.¡± ¡°My princess, haven¡¯t you been walking less on your own feettely?¡± ¡°But I have a Daddy who became stronger from leveling up.¡± ¡°My princess should be independent too. Until when will you be carried in your Daddy¡¯s arms?¡± ¡°Then Cordelia will be a kangaroo.¡± ¡°¡­I¡¯m not even your real dad, but I feel terrible. I suddenly miss father-inw.¡± T/N: Jude is calling Count Chase as father-inw even if he¡¯s still not married to Cordelia. Don¡¯t ask me why¡­that¡¯s just how it was written in the series. I¡¯m not sure if Koreans call their future wife¡¯s father as father-inw already if they¡¯re still engaged. ¡°Anyway, just give me a piggyback ride. Good job getting lost, this is your blunder, right?¡± ¡°It is.¡± ¡°Then quickly.¡± Jude eventually handed the backpack to Cordelia, and Cordelia carried the backpack before she got on Jude¡¯s back. ¡°So what are you curious about?¡± When Jude asked as he adjusted Cordelia¡¯s position, she grabbed his shoulder and said. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be easier to lift me up if I added a handle here?¡± ¡°Hey, were you really curious about something?¡± ¡°Yes, I am. First of all, the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. You said you saw a female sage?¡± ¡°I saw one.¡± It was the woman that he saw in that world in his mind. Jude was able to learn two skills from her, the ck Dragon¡¯s Ascent, and the ck Wind¡¯s Advent. ¡°Will the female sage appear and teach you new skills whenever you open a door in the future?¡± ¡°Perhaps?¡± ¡°Good, good. You finally have a proper skill/tech tree. I like it.¡± Unlike Cordelia whose chosen skill tree lets her instantly learn new magic after leveling up, Jude¡¯s growth route had been somewhat vague so far. ¡°I feel more certain now.¡± Every time he raised the level of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, he would be able to learn new martial arts. His existing martial arts would also be strengthened. ¡°But Jude. Did Landius not tell you this?¡± ¡°Master¡­maybe he didn¡¯t see her.¡± ¡°The female sage?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Why? Because the female sage hates macho men?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t truly mean that, right?¡± ¡°No. Is it because of Cheonmujiche then?¡± ¡°Maybe.¡± Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors was a divine skill that only those with Cheonmujiche can fully master it. Therefore, Landius could not fully learn the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors even though he awakened the power of giants through the Ancestral Regression technique. ¡®He was able to reach the seventh door because he awakened the power of the giants.¡¯ When he opened the third door at that time, Jude realized it. Even though Jude had Cheonmujiche, his body needed to be stronger in order to open a new door. That need became higher as new doors were opened, so someone who didn¡¯t have Cheonmujiche would need a far more powerful body in order to learn Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. ¡®When I think about it, he¡¯s really amazing.¡¯ It meant that he opened up to the seventh door through force. It had indeed be possible for him because of the support of his tremendous physical abilities. ¡®It must be the reason why he talked about muscle loss.¡¯ Without those colossal muscles, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to withstand the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. ¡°Hohoho, but my Jude has Cheonmujiche. Good, good. I like it.¡± Cordelia happilyughed and said as she ruffled Jude¡¯s hair. ¡°But Jude.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°You actually learned Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors by chance, right? Because you met Master Landius.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Then, how did you originally intend to be strong?¡± In the original story, Jude learned Count Bayer¡¯s martial arts and became an orthodox swordsman. However, Jude had left his house much earlier than the original, so he could only learn a part of Count Bayer¡¯s martial arts. ¡°Originally?¡± ¡°Yes, originally.¡± ¡°I was thinking of copying parts of Count Bayer¡¯s martial arts and learning Red Gale¡¯s martial arts in the barbariannds.¡± After all, Jude had a heavenly talent for martial arts. It wasn¡¯t impossible for him to steal and learn others¡¯ martial arts if he was determined to do so. Moreover, Lucas was very friendly with Jude. ¡°I was thinking of learning from Red Gale in return for saving Red Wind.¡± ¡°What an omnivore.¡± ¡°Because I was thinking of learning the King¡¯s Swordsmanship in the future anyway.¡± In Legend of Heroes 2, this was the ancient swordsmanship that the main character Maximilian inherited. But Jude had changed his mind now. ¡°In thest expansion pack, Jude must have eventually learned the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. However, since I learned the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors much earlier, I no longer have to find it. Moreover, there¡¯s Landius and Kamael, right?¡± ¡°Yin and Yang energies.¡± ¡°And a Yin-Yang Body that can incorporate both into one body.¡± He was in situation where he had learned much from the martial arts side already. If it weren¡¯t for the big events where he needed to intervene such as Lena¡¯s rescue and stopping the Angry Bull tribe, Jude would have followed and trained under Landius or Kamael. ¡°In addition, while developing the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors as a foundation¡­I was thinking of getting a sub-job too.¡± ¡°You want to be a multi-ss?¡± ¡°Yes, I want to improve my scroll production skills.¡± Although Jude was already good in drawing scrolls or magic circles, it was mostly limited to basic magic. One needed a corresponding magic ability in order to add high-ranking magic spells in scrolls. ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s good. You¡¯ve put enough thought on how to be stronger. Noona is very happy that her Jude is growing well.¡± Cordelia patted and stroked Jude¡¯s hair, and Jude quietly epted her stroking. Because it felt strangely good. The two talked for a long time like that. When Jude and Cordelia reached the top of the hill, they both looked at the same ce. ¡°Ahhhhhh!¡± A man dressed in white clothes was running like crazy on the white snowfield. It was a ce where there were no people in the first ce, so instead of crying for help, he was just screaming. And right behind that man. A giant monster was running on the snow, making the ground shake with its every step. ¡°Wow, is that a White Giant Bear? So that¡¯s what it looks like before it was corrupted.¡± ¡°It¡¯s bigger than I thought though?¡± It looked to be around six meters tall. ¡°I suppose we¡¯ll have to save him, right?¡± ¡°Because we don¡¯t refuse quests.¡± Cordelia jumped down from behind Jude¡¯s back, and Jude stretched out his waist and slightly loosened the muscles of his hands and feet. ¡°He runs well.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Despite his short limbs, the man who was running away was quite a few feet away, or rather, he was really fast. That was why Jude and Cordelia didn¡¯t rush right in. ¡°But don¡¯t you think we¡¯ve seen him somewhere?¡± ¡°He has short limbs but is incredibly fast.¡± ¡°Dwarf.¡± ¡°ck beard and bald head.¡± ¡°Ah, his hat flew away.¡± The running man¡¯s hat flew away, and they were able to see his bald head shining under the sun. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s him.¡± ¡°Indiana Kan.¡± ¡°An adventurer and archeologist of the Argon Empire.¡± ¡°A man whose bad luck is strong. Troublemaker. One who attracts misfortune.¡± He was a great man who had explored numerous ruins and had brilliant achievements, but he was also a man who was always in trouble, just like his nickname. Because of this, he was one of the NPCs that the beginners of Legend of Heroes 2 should avoid meeting once. But not for the rotten waters Jude and Cordelia. On the contrary, he was a very wee figure. ¡°So he was here at this point.¡± ¡°Uh¡­then, wouldn¡¯t he still live if we didn¡¯t save him here?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure about that. Anyway, let¡¯s save him. He¡¯s really going to be killed at this rate.¡± Cordelia let down the backpack, and Jude kicked the ground. He immediately cried out to Cordelia, who caught up with him using magic. ¡°I¡¯ll show you something good!¡± ¡°Bullsh*t!¡± However, Jude saw that Cordelia¡¯s eyes were twinkling in anticipation. Moreover, there were still new skills that Jude had not shown to Cordelia. ¡°Take care of Kan!¡± ¡°Okay!¡± Jude and Cordelia moved as swift as an arrow. As they passed through the snowfield with a strong whirlwind, Kan and the White Giant Bear, who were in a breathless chase, turned to the two. ¡°Huu¡­¡± Jude exhaled. At that moment, he spurred on the ground and used the ck Wind¡¯s Advent, and the ck wind¡¯s swirling motion blocked White Giant Bear¡¯s view. ¡°Kuooooo!¡± The White Giant Bear who was chasing Kan on all fours, jumped up and roared. However, it couldn¡¯t see Jude despite widening its view. The monster was wondering what had happened. The White Giant Bear hurriedly looked around. At that very moment, Cordelia grabbed Kan¡¯s arm and looked up at the sky with an exmation. ¡°Oh?¡± The ck wind soared into the sky. In a ce that was over a dozen meters away, Judended on the ground. And he stretched out his hand towards the White Giant Bear. Thereby releasing it from his hand. A dragon¡¯s roar shook the air around them! Roaaaaaaaaar-! The ck dragon¡¯s force was released. With its mouth wide open as if it were a real dragon, it charged and swallowed the head of the White Giant Bear. Boooooom! The White Giant Bear copsed with a loud noise. However, the ck Dragon¡¯s power did not stop. It didn¡¯t stop crushing the monster as it shook the ground. The snow that were within a dozen meter radius were scattered at once by the intense airwaves, exposing the ground. ¡°Wow.¡± At the time when Cordelia admired its earth-shattering power, Kan opened his mouth in surprise. Judended on the chest of the fainted White Giant Bear. As it was the first time he used his new skill, it consumed more than half of his inner Qi due to him excessively allocating power to it, but he was satisfied with the result. ¡°What do you think?¡± At Jude¡¯s question, Cordelia replied with apuse. But the time for the two to enjoy it was too short. Because the ground suddenly began shaking despite the fact that the ck Dragon¡¯s Ascent had already ended. ¡°Jude?¡± ¡°Kan.¡± Jude said, and Cordelia¡¯s eyes widely opened. Troublemaker Kan. A man of bad luck who makes a bolt of lightning fall even when the sky is clear. ¡°F*ck.¡± At the end of Cordelia¡¯s swearing¡­ The ground copsed. They all began to fall down. Chapter 77.2 – Unexpected Encounter

Chapter 77.2 ¨C Unexpected Encounter

Second half of chapter 77 is here. Next chapter is on Monday, as tomorrow is break day. ¡°Cordelia!¡± ¡°I leave Kan to you!¡± They didn¡¯t realize it because of the snow, but the ce where they were standing was actually a gap between the cliffs of the canyon. Cordelia hurriedly grabbed Kan and used magic to reduce their falling speed, while Jude kicked the debris as he created a whirlwind. ¡°Jude!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry!¡± Golden whirlwinds spun around Jude, and he used the whirlwinds to reduce his falling speed, as well as kicking the vertical sides of the canyon several times to prevent himself from falling vertically. It was obviously not easy. Twenty-Four Gale Steps was a footwork technique that could also be used as a fighting skill, but it wasn¡¯t a flying skill that could be used to travel through the sky. Jude focused and concentrated again. At the same time that he created new whirlwinds, he read the direction of the wind between the cliffs. While riding on the wind, he estimated in his mind the trajectory of his fall. He kicked the sides again. He corrected his trajectory and looked around him. He couldn¡¯t see anything, but he felt everything through his senses. It got darker and darker. Then came a sound. The sound of the rubble that had fallen first. It wasn¡¯t a sshing sound. It wasn¡¯t a booming or breaking sound either. Thud. There was a snowfield below. Though it was quite deep. But it was clear from the sound that the snow was notpletely soft. The snow piled up below would have been frozen. ¡°Jude!¡± He heard Cordelia¡¯s voice once again. Since she was using magic, Cordelia was falling at a much more stable pace than Jude, but Kan was a problem. Though Cordelia¡¯s physical ability had been strengthened because she was above level 40, her arms that were holding Kan, who had the weight of three adult men, were already sore and exhausted. But she was more worried about Jude rather than her arms or fingers. ¡°Jude!¡± Because Cordelia had alreadynded down, she was able to confirm Jude¡¯s location when she looked up. But not for Jude. As he struggled to ride the wind while in the middle of several whirlwinds, he found it hard to check what was below him. ¡°Cordelia!¡± Jude shouted again. After he clearly remembered the direction from where he heard Cordelia¡¯s voice, he used the wind to guide him to that ce. Shaaaaaaaaa-! The strong wind pierced its way in between the canyon¡¯s cliffs. Jude finallynded on the ground, and he saw a small and shining light. ¡°Jude! Are you okay?¡± It was Cordelia. Her small magical me illuminated the pale-faced Kan who was sprawled out beside her. Kan seemed to have fainted. ¡°What about you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Cordelia breathed out a sigh of relief before she flopped down on the ground. Jude approached Cordelia and looked around. Since they were inside the very deep canyon, the surroundings were dark, and it was abnormally cold. Despite having the fairies¡¯ Winter Protection, the two felt that it was still cold. ¡°What about Kan?¡± ¡°I think he fainted.¡± Jude looked up at the sky again. At his estimate, the height of the cliff seemed to be more than a hundred meters. ¡°I just made a crack.¡± ¡°It was surely Kan.¡± The ck dragon had certainly destroyed the ground in the end, but Jude and Cordelia considered Kan as the cause of this incident. Because in Legend of Heroes 2, Kan was frequently linked to such incidents. ¡°What do we do now?¡± ¡°Is it¡­impossible to go up?¡± ¡°Probably.¡± If Cordelia was alone, it would have been possible with magic, but it was impossible for her to take both Jude and Kan. ¡°The wooden board¡¯s not here.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be impossible even if it¡¯s still here?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­you¡¯re right.¡± Kan was too heavy. The wooden board had risen unsteadily even when there were two people on top of it. ¡°Rock climbing¡­that won¡¯t work with Kan too.¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a little high for me too.¡± Even if Jude had Cheonmujiche, climbing up a 100 meters canyon without a rope or any other safety device was something he would refrain from doing. ¡°So we have no choice but to get out of this canyon?¡± ¡°Yes, I think so. Though¡­this could probably be good too.¡± Cordelia tilted her head at Jude¡¯s words, but soon smiled and said. ¡°Is it because of Kan?¡± ¡°It is because of Kan.¡± Kan wasn¡¯t simply unlucky. He was a man with a strong bad luck. He was a man who always caused idents, but he also benefited from those idents. ¡®I fell off the cliff and got it by chance! It¡¯s the same situation.¡¯ T/N: Jude was actually quoting a trope that ismon in martial arts novels. The character gets chased by viins and falls off the cliff. Somewhere under/below the cliff, they find a superb martial arts skill book, elixir, etc., and once they learn/consume it, they/their martial arts be stronger. And at this moment, their group really fell off the cliff. ¡°Even if this is the wildnds, a canyon like this is umon. The direction is also right¡­so it¡¯s highly likely to be connected with Raptor Canyon.¡± Moreover, the Raptor Canyon was home to the ruins of the magic kingdom that was built by the ancient elves. ¡°Why is Kan from the Argon Empire here?¡± ¡°Is it because of the ruins of the magic kingdom?¡± The two arrived at that conclusion. When it came to ruins exploration, Kan was the best in Legend of Heroes 2. Though he had an adventurous side such as always being chased by someone or escaping from traps, he was a real archeologist. ¡°It¡¯s amazing. His bad luck was real.¡± They couldn¡¯t believe that they fell down from a cliff that was hidden under the snow. As Cordelia blinked her eyes and looked down on Kan, Jude also shrugged. ¡°Well¡­this is a magical world.¡± There was at least one magical person like this. ¡°Eh¡­by the way, we lost our luggage again.¡± Cordelia said with a tearful face. There were new items that they brought when they left the vige of the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe, but they lost it this time again. ¡°But with Kan¡¯s luggage, it¡¯ll work out somehow.¡± Jude said in constion, and he looked around again before waking up Kan. Because it was Kan, so he had to look around just in case. ¡°Wow, it¡¯s real.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I mean, there¡¯s a ce where we could take a rest.¡± They saw a small cave that had a low entrance, but it looked to be good enough for a ce where they could rest. ¡°How miraculous.¡± ¡°Well then, let¡¯s go.¡± Jude and Cordelia grabbed each of Kan¡¯s legs and arms and trudged towards the cave. Once they arrived, they let out voices of admiration again. ¡°Wow, for real.¡± ¡°How is this even possible?¡± Because when they saw it up close, it was not a natural cave but an artificial one. Although it was worn out by the long passage of time, they were able to ascertain that the words inscribed in the cave was the ancient elfnguage. ¡°I think we must be really near the Raptor Canyon.¡± Otherwise, it would be hard to exin why inscriptions of the ancient elves suddenly appeared in the canyon. Cordelia stared at the fainted Kan¡¯s face as if he was really amazing, while Jude frowned as he tried to interpret the ancient elfnguage. It wasn¡¯t because he didn¡¯t know how to read the ancient elfnguage, but rather, the erosion was so severe that it was difficult to recognize the letters. A few seconds passed by like that. This time, it was Jude who let out an astounded voice. ¡°What on earth¡­¡± ¡°Why? Is it a treasure trove?¡± ¡°No, it was just so out of the blue. No, is there anything more unexpected than this?¡± ¡°What the hell is it?¡± ¡°Hot spring.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Hot spring.¡± Cordelia blinked her eyes as Jude repeated what he said. And soon, she let go of Kan¡¯s hands that she was holding and then shouted. ¡°Hot spring?!¡± ¡°Yes, hot spring. By the way, Kan¡¯s head fell off first.¡± Fortunately, Kan was not hurt because of the piled-up snow. Cordelia slightly stooped and carried Kan by the arms again before she asked Jude. ¡°Really? It¡¯s really, really a hot spring? Does it say hot spring?¡± ¡°Yes, perhaps there¡¯s something like an underground water vein here.¡± ¡°Is it still there? It should still work. It still works, right?!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Suppose that it doesn¡¯t work, isn¡¯t having a bathtub more important?¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. If it¡¯s a hot spring, there¡¯ll be a ce where you can put water.¡± ¡°You can pour water and then boil it.¡± ¡°Wooww, hot spring. Bath. I¡¯ll be bathing after an incredibly long time!¡± Cordelia had not been able to take a proper bath sinceing to the wildnds. She had sweat a lot these days, so rather than a treasure trove, a hot spring was more wee to her right now. ¡°He¡¯s really lucky, so lucky.¡± Cordelia giggled as she looked at Kan with affection. If Jude left her alone, it seemed like she would even kiss Kan¡¯s head. Because of that, Jude hastily opened his mouth. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s quickly go in.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Cordelia brightly answered as she hummed and entered the cave, and soon, the two marveled at the ce again. ¡°It¡¯s real.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a real bathhouse.¡± There were a lot of ces that were worn down or broken after a long time, but the inside of the cave, which was much wider than expected, was a bathhouse itself. There wererge bathtubs made of stone that were in between several pirs. What was more surprising was the fact that the hot spring water was still surging. ¡°Huhuhu. Hehehe.¡± ¡°Co-Cordelia?¡± ¡°I love it. I¡¯m so happy.¡± Cordelia said as she shed emotional tears before sheid down Kan on a t floor and then looked at Jude. ¡°I¡¯ll wash first.¡± ¡°O-okay.¡± Because taking a bath was important. Jude searched around and found some things to burn so he set it on fire, while Cordelia took a seat in front of the stone bath that was deep inside the bathhouse. ¡°Thank you. Just, thank you.¡± After Cordelia finished praying to someone unknown, she checked the water quality and the temperature first. She wasn¡¯t that sure, but it seemed to her that the water was quite clear, and the temperature was just right. No, this was enough for her to believe that someone was responsible for this. ¡°Kan is the best. Thank you. Thank you so much.¡± Cordelia held her hands together in prayer, and afterwards, she immediately began to take off her clothes. As he was standing guard, Jude flinched when he heard the sound of her taking off her clothes, but Cordelia only had the bath in her mind. She didn¡¯t hear Jude suddenly chanting Buddhist scriptures and sutras. ¡°Thank you.¡± She expressed her gratitude again and then got in. ¡°Ahhh¡­¡± She had only dipped the tip of her foot, but she felt like a shiver ran up her spine. Cordelia slowly entered into the water, and soon dipped her whole body into the bath. The depth was just right, so when she crouched, only her neck and head were out of the water. ¡°Haaaaa¡­¡± How long has it been since I¡¯ve taken a bath? It¡¯s not that she didn¡¯t wash herself properly with a wet towel or put up with it when she sweated or not, but it really had been a long time since she had a proper bath. Along with the hot steam, happiness spread all over Cordelia¡¯s face, and her lips naturally opened wide. She began to sing a heartfelt song like a whisper. ¡°Twinkle, twinkle little star~ Shining beautifully~¡± She couldn¡¯t stop smiling. Her whole body seemed to melt. And at that very moment. ¡°Wow, look at her. She¡¯s very pretty.¡± ¡°Really pretty.¡± ¡°What, what, who came to our bathhouse? Wow! So pretty! Respect!¡± T/N: Respect here is pronounced as ¡®respect¡¯ in Korean too. It¡¯s meaning though, has nothing to do with the English definition of respect. In Korean, its meaning is more of ¡®good job¡¯ or ¡®you did great¡¯. So the person saying ¡®respect¡¯ here is more like saying that Cordelia did a good job looking pretty or something. It was a story pattern that she heard somewhere before. When she thought about it, she was familiar with the situation itself. Baths. Song. The most beautiful girl. ¡°Hey, hey, won¡¯t you y with us?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right. y with us.¡± ¡°If it¡¯s her, she can y in the night banquet.¡± At the sound of their chattering, Cordelia opened her eyes and saw them. There were tiny and pretty fairies with animal ears on their heads, as well as tails on their backs, like that of dogs and cats. They were the wild fairies, one of the 8 great fairies. Chapter 78: Wild Black Cow (1)

Chapter 78: Wild ck Cow (1)

Terms used in this chapter: Graduation item ¨C a Korean gaming ng that refers to the very best of the top-tier items. If you collect this item, you might as well ¡®graduate¡¯ or stop collecting other items of the same type since it is the very best item of its type already. Nothing else can surpass it. There were various types of fairies in Pleiades, but in general, they could be ssified into eight types. These were the seasonal fairies that symbolized the four seasons of spring, summer, fall, and winter, and the four types of elemental fairies that symbolized the elements of Feng Shui. T/N: Feng Shui actually has five elements, not four, which are wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. The wild fairies belonged to the elemental fairies, and they had the power of earth, which symbolized vitality. ¡®In terms of physical ability, they¡¯re the strongest among the fairies, I think?¡¯ However, they were still fairies. ¡°What are you thinking about?¡± ¡°Your skin is so pretty. Can I touch it? Can I? I can? Okay, I¡¯ll touch it.¡± ¡°Me too, me too.¡± Seeing them behave as they pleased, they were undoubtedly fairies. Cordelia then thought as she watched the fairies nuzzle her cheeks and shoulders. ¡®Why did they appear here?¡¯ Though it made sense for wild fairies to appear in the wildnds. ¡®It is a fact that fairies are scattered everywhere.¡¯ In order to meet the wild fairies in Legend of Heroes 2 originally, one had to go to the border between the Argon Empire and the wildnd. But like how the Fairy Queen was not a single individual, the wild fairies were also not a single group. ¡°It¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve seen a pretty girl.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right. Except for us, only animals live here.¡± ¡°How¡¯s the bathhouse? Do you like it? We managed it.¡± As the fairies began to chatter, the tranquil bathhouse quickly became noisy. Jude, who was trying to act natural and not pay attention to her as much as possible, also heard the voices. ¡°Cordelia? Are you okay? What¡¯s the matter?¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­well¡­¡± It was when Cordelia¡¯s words trailed off in the end. The wild fairies turned their gazes towards Jude and opened their mouths almost simultaneously. ¡°Wow!¡± ¡°Handsome!¡± ¡°Who is he?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s y with him too!¡± ¡°¡­Fairy?¡± Thest one was Jude. Cordelia said after she deeply sighed as if she eventually gave up. ¡°It¡¯s the wild fairies.¡± ¡°Oh! Wild fairies!¡± The reason why Jude¡¯s face became bright was simple. The Great Protection of the Four Seasons could be obtained by collecting all the protections of the four types of seasonal fairies. The Great Protection of the Four Elements could be obtained by collecting all the protections of the four types of elemental fairies. And one more. Only those who have collected the Great Protection of the Four Seasons and the Great Protection of the Four Elements could obtain one of the three strongest protections in the Legend of Heroes series, which is the ¡®Fairy King¡¯s Protection,¡¯ a protection on the level of fantasy since no one had ever obtained it. ¡®As expected of Kan!¡¯ He never thought that they would meet the wild fairies here. It was then that Jude remembered the words of Gentle Snow Breeze. ¡®Didn¡¯t she say that there were several mysterious races left in Raptor Canyon?¡¯ Perhaps, besides the wild fairies, there were other pleasant surprises waiting for them. ¡°Do you know us?¡± ¡°Do you want to hang out with us?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s take a bath together!¡± ¡°Should I do that?¡± ¡°Are you crazy?!¡± When Jude grinned and responded to the fairies¡¯ suggestion, Cordelia immediately reacted, and Jude clicked his tongue. ¡°It didn¡¯t work.¡± ¡°Stop saying bullsh*t and just cover your eyes with a blindfold.¡± ¡°Why a blindfold?¡± ¡°Because I will continue to bathe. I just got in the water.¡± Amidst the conversation between Jude and Cordelia, the wild fairies looked at each other and said. ¡°Why, why, why would he cover his eyes?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve read something like this in a book.¡± ¡°Really? Was the cover red by any chance?¡± At that moment, Cordelia wanted to refute it, but her opponent was a fairy. Having already experienced how the fall and winter fairies acted, she simply waited instead of protesting, and soon, the blindfolded Jude slowly entered and arrived near the bathtub where Cordelia was in. ¡°He¡¯s handsome even if his eyes are covered.¡± ¡°I like it.¡± While the fairies were admiring Jude¡¯s boyish face as if it was an exhibition, Cordelia soaked her head into the water and then resurfaced, before she wiped her entire body and opened her mouth. ¡°Fairies, let¡¯s y together?¡± ¡°Yes, yes, we¡¯ll invite you to the night banquet.¡± ¡°Ah! Also! It¡¯s not just that.¡± ¡°Not just that?¡± ¡°The Queen said so. If you find someone that can help us, bring them.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right. I remember.¡± Someone who could help. The silent Jude immediately cut in. ¡°What do you need help with?¡± ¡°Yes! We have an old problem, and we can¡¯t solve it.¡± ¡°The Queen said she¡¯d give a prize to the one who brought someone who¡¯ll help.¡± ¡°Then the prize is mine?¡± ¡°It¡¯s mine, why is it yours?¡± As the fairies began bickering and quarreling, a fairy with rabbit ears stealthily approached Cordelia and said. ¡°Let¡¯s go quickly while they¡¯re fighting, okay?¡± ¡°¡­You¡¯re just like humans.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Cordelia bitterly smiled at the rabbit-eared fairy who asked innocently, and after getting out of the bathtub, she used magic to dry her head and body. ¡°Uh¡­I want to wear new clothes.¡± But she had no choice. She didn¡¯t have time tounder her clothes. She picked up and wore her clothes that were scattered before she approached Jude, who was sitting on the floor nearby with his eyes blindfolded. ¡°You can take it off now.¡± ¡°Eh? We¡¯ll take a bath together?¡± ¡°Stop with yourme jokes. You¡¯re like an uncle when you keep saying that.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Jude cleared his throat before he took off the blindfold and faced the wild fairies. ¡°I¡¯ve heard your story well. Me and Cordelia wille to help you. Please let us meet the Queen.¡± ¡°Yes! All right!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± ¡°Wait!¡± Thest one was Cordelia. When the fairies and Jude looked at Cordelia together, she pointed towards the low entrance. ¡°We have to bring Kan.¡± Kan was stretched out on the floor in a fainted state. There was a possibility that something might happen if they left him as it is. ¡°You¡¯re right, we need to bring Kan.¡± Jude got up from his seat and ced the wild fairies on his shoulder, but as soon as the wild fairies saw Kan, they disapproved. ¡°We can¡¯t do that.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s unreasonable.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°He¡¯s bald.¡± The other fairies nodded at the words of the rabbit-eared fairy, and Jude was troubled and speechless. ¡°Anyway, we can¡¯t do that.¡± The wild fairies were quite resolute. ¡®Can you make it possible?¡¯ ¡®Aren¡¯t you familiar with the fairies? They¡¯re impossible to persuade.¡¯ If it was the Fairy Queen, it would be possible to persuade her, but it was impossible for the fairies themselves who werepletely like kids. After they finished the conversation with their eyes, Jude and Cordelia thought for a moment on what to do before they immediately began to act. ¡°What¡¯s going on, what¡¯s going on. Why are they tying up the bald head?¡± ¡°It¡¯s called restraint y.¡± ¡°Restraint y?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s what it is¡­¡± ¡°OMG.¡± ¡°Why haven¡¯t they said anything yet?¡± ¡°Do it quickly.¡± Cordelia was tormented by the fairies¡¯ conversation, while Jude tied Kan tightly with a rope from Kan¡¯s luggage andid him down inside the bathhouse. ¡°This is our territory, so the animals won¡¯te in.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, so that won¡¯t work.¡± Jude had also thought of that. He hadn¡¯t seen a single animal hair inside the bathhouse. The reason why he tied up Kan now was because he was afraid that Kan would go out of the bathhouse once he woke up. ¡®We haven¡¯t picked the mulberries yet.¡¯ T/N: This is actually based on the Korean proverb, ¡®meet one¡¯s loved one as well as pick mulberries.¡¯ It is an expression which means that two things can be achieved at the same time. An English equivalent would be ¡®to kill two birds with one stone.¡¯ So what Jude meant is that they had met the loved one (the fairies), but not picked the mulberries yet (they haven¡¯t achieved their other purpose yet). Thanks to him, they met the wild fairies, but they had yet to reach the ruins of the magic kingdom. It was impossible for them to just let go of Kan, who would be a lot useful in the future. ¡°You¡¯re wicked as expected.¡± ¡°Thank you for thepliment.¡± Jude said and bowed as if he was in a y, and then used a pencil he found in Kan¡¯s luggage to write down in a piece of paper. It was full of aristocratic and posh words, but in the end, it could be summarized into one line as follows: ¡®We saved you. So don¡¯t be afraid and just wait. We¡¯ll be right back.¡¯ ¡°Wouldn¡¯t he think that he was kidnapped?¡± ¡°But we have no choice.¡± Because they had to resolve the wild fairies¡¯ problem first. Jude tied a new rope to the ankle of the tightly bound Kan and then tied the other end of the rope to the bathhouse column. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go now.¡± ¡°But Jude. Why are you so good in tying ropes?¡± ¡°I learned it from the Boy Scouts.¡± Jude tactfully dismissed her question and then approached the wild fairies, who were having an intense and heated conversation. When they saw Jude and Cordelia, they all squealed. ¡°Don¡¯t ask me what they talked about.¡± Jude nodded at the words of Cordelia, who seemed to be exhausted already, and then asked the wild fairies. ¡°Would you take us to the Queen?¡± ¡°Yes! Let¡¯s go!¡± The wild fairies pped their wings and gathered around Jude and Cordelia, and afterwards, it was the same experience as before. When they closed and opened their eyes, they were standing in apletely different ce. ¡°Oh¡­did we arrive here right away this time?¡± It was not the living ce where the ordinary fairies lived. They were in the Queen¡¯s residence. If the Fall Fairy Queen¡¯s abode was elegant and the Winter Fairy Queen¡¯s home was refined, the Wild Fairy Queen¡¯s residence was overflowing with life. ¡®It¡¯s just random if you put it in a bad way.¡¯ There were various kinds of flowers and trees that were randomly ced inside. But still, she was the Fairy Queen. The countless flowers and trees seemed to be in harmony of each other, so it didn¡¯t look disordered. ¡°Human children. Nice to meet you.¡± Jude and Cordelia looked at the ce where the deep and profound voice that was different from the other fairies came. Seated in arge sunflower was the Fairy Queen with a lioness¡¯ ears and tail. ¡°Jude Bayer greets the Wild Fairy Queen.¡± ¡°Cordelia Chase greets the Wild Fairy Queen.¡± A smile spread over the Fairy Queen¡¯s face when Jude and Cordelia courteously greeted her. With voluminous red hair and impressive fangs, she was wearing a short mini dress that wasfortable and looked easy to move in, unlike the other Fairy Queens who wore stylish dresses. But she was still a Fairy Queen. Instead of having a mischievous girl¡¯s face, her face was full of maturity and benevolence. ¡°You are not ordinary humans. You¡¯re very powerful. So children, I have a favor to ask of you. Please solve our problem.¡± It was a slightly different pattern than before. But it wasn¡¯t a bad pattern. The story might change a little depending on what their problem was, but it was much easier to sponge off them in this current situation. ¡®Your eyes look evil.¡¯ ¡®Aren¡¯t yours the same too?¡¯ Jude and Cordelia quickly exchanged nces before they looked back at the Fairy Queen almost at the same time, and the Fairy Queen spoke in a serious tone. ¡°Human children, a monster with an evil power appeared on the road connecting our Wild Fairy¡¯s residence and the High Elves¡¯ kingdom. Can you get rid of the monster and reopen the road?¡± The fairies could cross time and space, but that did not mean they could freely jump over space anytime and anywhere. As the means to leap a long distance was limited, the physical road was also important, but a monster seemed to be blocking that road. ¡°Can you tell us what kind of monster it is?¡± At Cordelia¡¯s question, the Fairy Queen chanted a short spell. Then something like a video yed in the minds of Jude and Cordelia. It had a bull¡¯s head and giant back wings, and its body was pitch-ck from head to toe. It was evidently Lacto, a lower-ss demon species from hell. ¡®Just as I thought.¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s understandable why the fairies are asking for help.¡¯ Even though it was a lower-ss species, Lacto was still a demon from hell. Even if it wasn¡¯t, for the fairies who rarely fought in battles, it was an opponent they had no way of defeating. ¡°Can you do it?¡± When the Fairy Queen asked with a nervous face, Jude and Cordelia unhesitatingly nodded. ¡°We can do it.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll try.¡± ¡°Oh¡­thank you very much.¡± The Fairy Queen was relieved, and Jude and Cordelia looked at each other before Jude spoke first. ¡°By the way, Fairy Queen.¡± ¡°You can tell me.¡± ¡°We need help too.¡± ¡°Help?¡± ¡°Yes, help.¡± A smile deepened on Jude¡¯s face, and Cordelia¡¯s eyes slightly narrowed. Jude continued his words. ¡°Fairy Queen, may we ask you for the Earth Protection?¡± ¡°No problem. I will give you the Protection.¡± After the Fairy Queen generously spoke, Jude and Cordelia immediately held out the Fairy¡¯s Bonds. ¡°Thank you very much.¡± ¡°My goodness, it¡¯s the Fairy¡¯s Bonds. I haven¡¯t seen it for a long time.¡± The Fairy Queen innocently smiled and gave the Earth Protection. It was a protection that strengthened the overall physical ability and also granted its user a weak regenerative power. ¡°Are you ready now?¡± ¡°Yes, we need the next help now.¡± ¡°Okay, good¡­next help?¡± ¡°Yes, next help.¡± Jude instantly answered to the Fairy Queen who blinked her eyes, and then continued his words. ¡°Fairy Queen, we need weapons to fight the monster.¡± ¡°Uh¡­don¡¯t you already have weapons?¡± The Fairy Queen¡¯s gaze quickly moved back and forth towards the Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword on Jude¡¯s waist and the Moonlight that Cordelia was holding. However, Jude gave a firm answer again. ¡°This is not enough. Because the opponent is a demon.¡± ¡°He¡¯s right. We need a stronger weapon.¡± Cordelia followed up even if he didn¡¯t ask her to. The Fairy Queen said after a moment¡¯s consideration. ¡°Hmm¡­I don¡¯t know much about human weapons. So children, how about I show you the stuff left behind by the High Elves and you can choose your own weapon from there?¡± ¡°Thank you very much.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve been waiting for those words.¡± It was an immediate answer again. At that moment, the Fairy Queen felt strange and hesitated for a while, but she soon crossed the space with Jude and Cordelia. ¡°You can open your eyes now.¡± It was a stone building. It was very old and dpidated everywhere, but its elegance could not be erased by the passage of time, as it remained in every corner of the ce, such as in the pirs, walls, ceiling, floor, and so on. It was the architectural style of the High Elves, who were also known as the ancient elves. The spacious room looked to be around 10 meters in height and width. The ceiling was also quite high, and it seemed to be 7 meters high, and all the columns were attached to the wall, making the space itself lookpletely open. And the most important thing. Various items were ced on the decorated cabs located between the columns. Now that they had seen it, it really seemed to be a ce where the High Elves stored their collected items, rather than an armory. ¡°Take your time. Call me when you¡¯re done choosing.¡± Having said that, the Fairy Queen instantly crossed the space and disappeared. So Jude and Cordelia were left in the end. With no one to notice their inner thoughts anymore, or rather, no one noticed how they had acted until now, the two became much more rxed and spoke simultaneously. ¡°I¡¯m left.¡± ¡°I¡¯m right.¡± The division ofbor began right away. And in the first disy cab, Cordelia¡¯s breath halted. ¡°No way.¡± Why did this item appear here? At the top section of the beautiful disy cab was a golden brooch with a big red gem. As an item of the High Elves, Cordelia could feel its magical power, and she already knew the name of this brooch. ¡°Spell¡¯s Echo.¡± Its effect was simple and powerful. It repeatedly cast the spell used by the caster. In other words, if Cordelia cast the while wearing the Spell¡¯s Echo, two Spears of Cmity would be cast. As a matter of course, it was an item that couldn¡¯t be abused because the mana consumption was also doubled, but it was a huge advantage to be able to use two spells at the same time in an emergency. ¡°This is it, it¡¯s absolutely this.¡± She didn¡¯t have to look at anything else. The thrilled Cordelia picked up the Spell¡¯s Echo with trembling hands and carefully attached it to her chest. ¡°Jude! I¡¯ve decided! It¡¯s the Spell¡¯s Echo!¡± As she turned around and shouted loudly, Jude immediately responded. ¡°What?! The Spell¡¯s Echo?!¡± Cordelia felt a thrilling pleasure at seeing Jude¡¯s face in great shock. ¡°Yes, yes, it¡¯s the Spell¡¯s Echo. I choose this one. I don¡¯t even need to look at anything else.¡± Because it was impossible that an item better than this would appear. Jude agreed. Among the items currently avable at Cordelia¡¯s level, there were only one to two items that were better than the Spell¡¯s Echo, even in the whole Legend of Heroes series. Depending on the user¡¯s disposition, the Spell¡¯s Echo was even used as a graduation item. But Jude soon shook his head. ¡°What are you talking about? You have to keep looking.¡± ¡°Huh? Ah¡­yes. I¡¯ll look for something you can use.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not that. You have to look for something YOU can use.¡± ¡°Eh? I already chose Spell¡¯s Echo?¡± ¡°Are you going to take just that?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Are you going to take only that?¡± Cordelia blinked several times at Jude¡¯s words and soon realized what he meant. This was reality and not a game. Moreover, the Fairy Queen never said that they could only choose one item. ¡°Aaah, aaaah!¡± When Cordelia¡¯s eyes reflected her enlightenment, Jude smiled and said. ¡°We¡¯ll need a lot of weapons to fight the demon.¡± ¡°Yes, because the opponent is a demon!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, so let¡¯s fully arm ourselves to fight the demon.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, a full set from head to toe. Full, full, set, set!¡± Cordelia cheerfully shouted and ran back to the disy cab, and Jude pleasantly watched Cordelia before looking back at the cabs. ¡®The Earth Protection and the High Elves¡¯ armor.¡¯ But that wasn¡¯t all. There were still some rewards left after they had defeated the monster. ¡®Fairies are so nice.¡¯ With a blissful smile, Jude stepped towards the right cab. *** ¡°Is that¡­all that you needed?¡± ¡°Yes, I need everything.¡± Chapter 79: Wild Black Cow (2)

Chapter 79: Wild ck Cow (2)

I made a mistake while posting the chapter yesterday. The first two paragraphs ended up being repeated, and one paragraph went missing. I¡¯ve already corrected it, but for those who haven¡¯t seen the correction, here¡¯s the missing paragraph: ¡°Is that¡­all that you needed?¡± ¡°Yes, I need everything.¡± As Cordelia spoke with a big smile, the Wild Fairy Queen moved her head up and down again. She was glittering. She was really glittering. Cordelia¡¯s slender and long fingers were wearing numerous rings from her thumb to the ring finger, and even though she had a brooch on her chest, she was wearing another ne. It didn¡¯t end there. Bracelets. Belts. Earrings. Despite wearing boots, she had ankle bracelets. How the heck is that girl wearing all that? Perhaps she was wearing something on the toes of her feet too. In addition to the glittering and shining ornaments of the brightly smiling Cordelia, she also had a tiara with blue jewels on top of her head that was together with the rabbit ears headband. Everything was colorful and sparkling. It was a terrible assortment of fashion essories, and while Jude was admiring the beauty of Cordelia who still looked pretty even in the midst of this, the Fairy Queen looked back at Jude with a miserable face. ¡°You too?¡± ¡°Yes, me too.¡± Actually, Jude wasn¡¯t that much different from Cordelia. All his ten fingers had rings, and he had different earrings on each ear. There were also nes on his neck, belts on his waist, and bracelets on his arms. In addition to the Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword and the Bicorn¡¯s horn dagger, there was also a beautiful elven sword on his waist. A new dagger was also attached to his thigh. And their clothing. Cordelia wore a gorgeous red cape on her back, while Jude wore a veryrge purple coat. All of the High Elves¡¯ legacies were magical items, whether they were strong or weak. ¡°It¡¯s sparkly.¡± ¡°They¡¯re shining.¡± ¡°Pretty! Handsome!¡± While the fairies were thoughtlessly squealing, the Fairy Queen still had a dubious look on her face. Because there was no unity in their equipment. Unlike the fairies who werepletely like kids, the Fairy Queen was an adult. In her eyes, it was very clear that the effects of the two rings, a ring that enhanced the me attribute and a ring that enhanced the cold attribute, would cancel out each other. But they needed all that? ¡°We need it. We really, really need it.¡± As Cordelia pressed her hands together to emphasize their necessity of it, Jude followed up in his mind. ¡®Not now, butter.¡¯ In fact, there was nothing much remarkable if one assessed the items individually. As the Fairy Queen had seen, there were a lot of items whose effects canceled each other out. But what¡¯s wrong with that? Let¡¯s just take it and see. If they had no use for it, they could just sell it. ¡®Take as much as you can when you have the opportunity to take as much as you can.¡¯ It¡¯s better for them to let it sit around in their bags and not use it rather than leaving it and letting it be damaged by time. ¡®It¡¯s a justifiable mindset.¡¯ Jude nodded at himself before he looked at Cordelia and the Fairy Queen again. It was questionable if Cordelia¡¯s persuasion worked well, but the Fairy Queen eventually nodded despite looking at them doubtfully. ¡°Okay. Then let¡¯s go to where the monster is.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°We will meet your expectations.¡± Jude and Cordelia promptly responded, and the Fairy Queen had a gracious smile again as she was a little relieved. ¡°Close your eyes.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°You¡¯re really good at answering. You¡¯re pretty too.¡± ¡°Thank you for your kind words.¡± When Cordelia closed her eyes and behaved politely again, the Fairy Queen¡¯s smile also deepened. ¡°You can open your eyes now.¡± She was indeed the Fairy Queen. They didn¡¯t feel like they had moved at all, but when they opened their eyes, they were inside a huge cavity and not the forest of fairies. It was unknown if this was underground or above ground, but it seemed to be a huge cavity that was made by digging into the mountain or ground. ¡®I saw this in the Lord of the Rings.¡¯ Jude nodded at Cordelia¡¯s gaze before he took a look around. ¡®There it is.¡¯ There was a bridge between the precipice, and in the middle of that bridge, a giant demon was sitting in a crouched position. ¡®Lacto.¡¯ If there was a Tomb Guardian in Heaven, there was a Lacto in Hell. Lacto¡¯s role was usually that of a gatekeeper, and it looked like its Minotaur cousin. It was a slow-witted demon, but it boasted a terrifying power. ¡°Can you defeat it?¡± The worried Fairy Queen asked in low voice, and Cordelia immediately nodded her head. ¡°Certainly. You can watch us.¡± At her confident deration, the faces of the fairies and the Fairy Queen brightened. ¡°Jude, Jude. Since our opponent is Lacto, you know what to do, right?¡± ¡°I know.¡± Jude lightly loosened his wrists and swayed his head several times before he said again. ¡°I¡¯m ready. What about you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m ready too.¡± Cordelia clenched Moonlight as she took a deep breath before she stepped forward. And Lacto reacted to their movement. The demon who was stiff and not moving as if it was a rock, opened its eyes in a sh and saw Jude and Cordelia approaching the bridge. It slowly spread out its wings as it stood up. ¡°Its weapons are a double-edged axe and arge shield. There¡¯s also a whip on the waist.¡± ¡°Judging from its eyes, it looks like a low- to mid-ss Lacto.¡± ¡°But it¡¯s still a demon.¡± ¡°Yes, a demon.¡± Even amon low-ranking demonic human was a ridiculous existence that can rip someone into shreds. Although there was tension in Jude and Cordelia¡¯s footsteps, they were not scared. When they finally arrived in front of the bridge¡­ ¡°Kekeke¡­.I haven¡¯t tasted blood for a long time.¡± An unpleasant voice that sounded like the scratching of iron came out of Lacto¡¯s mouth. The fairies, who were watching from behind, hugged each other in fear, but Jude and Cordelia were rather relieved. ¡®It¡¯s the lines of a small fry.¡¯ ¡®Let¡¯s stick to the n.¡¯ Lacto was on the bridge. Jude started. He stomped hard on the ground and created a golden whirlwind. As his aura wrapped around his body, everyone including Lacto had no choice but to focus their gazes on Jude. ¡°Kekeke¡­it looks like you want to fight.¡± Lacto said and Jude smiled. As Lacto took a step forward, it put down its axe and grabbed its whip. And at that very moment¡­ Cordelia began to chant the spell. The fairies were surprised at the gathering of powerful mana and turned to Cordelia, and Lacto flinched before raising its shield. ¡°Spell¡¯s Echo.¡± She activated it. It echoed Cordelia¡¯s spell and created another magic spell. The mana surged. The whirlwinds rose. Lacto released a powerful aura all over its body. A purple aura gathered on the shield as it prepared to block whatever attack the two had in n. And right after¡­ When the Fairy Queen and everyone else held their breath¡­ Cordelia released the gathered mana with the Moonlight. Instead of rushing towards Lacto, it struck the ground! Baaaaaaang! The bridge shook. A ck energy spread all over the bridge, and the magic that she had already invoked was repeated by the Spell¡¯s Echo again. Booooooom! A crack formed. Numerous lines spread all over the bridge, as if the whole bridge was covered by a spider web. And Jude used his skill. When the ck dragon¡¯s energy was released towards the ground, ck energy soared between the cracks. ¡°Eh.¡± The Fairy Queen said, and Lacto looked under his feet. Cordelia smiled and waved her hand. ¡°Goodbye.¡± It crashed. The cracked bridge literally fell and crashed, and Lacto who was on top of it also plummeted. They heard a session of screams. Cordelia nodded with a satisfied face, and Jude turned towards the Fairy Queen. ¡°We defeated it!¡± They did do it. Lacto. And the bridge. ¡°Th-the bridge is gone!¡± The Fairy Queen cried as she flew towards Jude and Cordelia. She asked them to get rid of the monster blocking the road, but not the bridge itself. When the Fairy Queen who was brimming with emotion tried to shout again, Jude hurriedly raised his hand to stop her. ¡°No, no. It¡¯s okay.¡± ¡°What the hell do you mean it¡¯s okay!¡± The bridge was gone! As the Fairy Queen unconsciously held the back of her neck, Cordelia said. ¡°But fairies have wings.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You have wings, so you can just fly.¡± Lacto, who was obstructing the road, disappeared. The bridge was also gone, but the fairies could fly in the first ce, so the bridge was not necessary. ¡°Isn¡¯t that right?¡± The Fairy Queen felt dizzy at her rather logical words, and Jude said with a smile. ¡°Fairy Queen, I apologize, but could you step back for a while?¡± ¡°I should¡­step back?¡± ¡°Because it¡¯s not yet over.¡± Thest one was said by Cordelia. She looked back at Jude and began to count downwards, and Jude also joined Cordelia. ¡°5.¡± ¡°4.¡± ¡°3.¡± ¡°2.¡± ¡°¡°1!¡±¡± The two shouted at the same time, and at that moment, a roar filled the air. ¡°Uooooooh!¡± It was Lacto. With its bat wings stretched out, Lacto flew up and angrily roared as it saw Jude and Cordelia, who had already activated the magic she had prepared in advance. ¡°.¡± The Spell¡¯s Echo repeated her spell again. A sharp wind de flew towards the target. With a high-pitched sound, it hit and injured Lacto¡¯s wings. ¡°Goodbye again.¡± ¡°Holy Cross Punch.¡± Jude drove the Holy Cross Punch towards Lacto. Because it got hit by the golden cross and its pping wings were no longer moving properly, Lacto lost its bnce at once and plummeted once again. ¡°Guaaaaaah!¡± Boooom! Jude and Cordelia looked back at the Fairy Queen, and the Fairy Queen blinked her eyes and opened her lips with difficulty. ¡°Uh¡­¡± ¡°Let¡¯s finish our conversation. Since fairies have wings, they won¡¯t suffer any inconveniences in using this road even if there¡¯s no bridge.¡± ¡°B-but¡­¡± ¡°Think about it. Now that there¡¯s no bridge, there won¡¯t be any monsters like Lacto who¡¯ll block the bridge.¡± If bees gathered in the flower garden, then they should destroy the flower garden itself to get rid of the bees. It was pure nonsense, but the ones who were listening to him was the fairies. ¡°Wow! You¡¯re right!¡± ¡°How clever!¡± ¡°Without a bridge, there won¡¯t be any more monsters!¡± As the fairies rejoiced, Cordelia smiled and nced at the Fairy Queen, and Jude said again with a smile. ¡°This is all thanks to you, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Thanks to generously giving out such valuable equipment, we were able to destroy the bridge, which was the main cause of everything.¡± ¡°He¡¯s right, this is all thanks to the Fairy Queen.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s give a round of apuse for the Fairy Queen!¡± ¡°Wooow!¡± Jude spoke and Cordelia incited the fairies to do something absurd. The fairies were joyous in nature, so when Cordelia began to p, they also began pping. ¡°Long live the Queen!¡± ¡°Hooray!¡± ¡°Hurray!¡± They managed to convince them. In the end, the Fairy Queen had no choice but to awkwardly smile. ¡°Uh¡­uh¡­yes, yes. You did well.¡± ¡°Wow, wow! Our Queen is the best!¡± ¡°Hurrah for the Queen!¡± ¡°The Queen is so pretty!¡± Thest one was Cordelia. Cordelia knew the fairies quite well since she had been harassed by them in the past. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± The Fairy Queen was still a fairy after all. She blushed with delight at the words saying that she was pretty, and Jude and Cordelia looked at each other. ¡®You think it¡¯s okay now?¡¯ ¡®Yes, all we have to do is finish our job.¡¯ The true end goal for this job. But before that, there was still one more work left to do. ¡°Your Majesty, please step back for a while again.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s words, the Fairy Queen tilted her head, but she soon retreated, and Jude and Cordelia exchanged nces as they started counting down again. ¡°5.¡± ¡°4.¡± ¡°3.¡± ¡°2.¡± ¡°¡°1!¡±¡± ¡°Uooooooooh!¡± The bloody Lacto stuck out its head. Since it had been injured from its fall, its right horn was broken, and blood bled from its head. ¡°Kuuuuu¡­.¡± Rage. Hatred. Anger. The angry monster had crept up the precipice and tried to leap at them at that moment. But it was toote. Jude was standing on top of a magical hand, and the two were already in position. ¡°It¡¯s goodbye at this point.¡± ¡°Bye, bye.¡± Jude strongly stepped on the hand that was supporting him, and Cordelia pushed him away with a magical force. ¡°Aaaaaaah!¡± With a grievous scream, Lacto crashed down once again. It tried to hurl curses at the wickedly smiling Jude and Cordelia at the top of the precipice, but the speed of the fall was too fast for it to do that. And it crashed again. ¡°Oh, level up.¡± ¡°We defeated it.¡± Having seen the pure white rings that surrounded them, Jude and Cordelia smiled in satisfaction before they looked back at the Fairy Queen. ¡°We defeated it.¡± ¡°You can rx now.¡± ¡°Y-yes.¡± The Fairy Queen unconsciously stuttered and thenposed herself with deep breaths. Since the monster was gone, their problem was solved. But why? Why do I still have a bad feeling? The answer came before her eyes. ¡°Your Majesty.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Please hand out the final reward.¡± ¡°Reward? What reward?¡± ¡°A good reward.¡± Shouldn¡¯t there be a reward since they settled the request? Jude and Cordelia stepped forward as the dupe, no, the head of the wild fairies, instinctively stepped backwards. *** ¡°You¡¯re like a demon.¡± ¡°Do you hate it then?¡± ¡°No, I love it!¡± Chapter 80: The Kaplan Effect (1)

Chapter 80: The Kan Effect (1)

Terms used in this chapter: Praise makes even a whale dance ¨C an old Korean saying which means that praises makes a person feel good. Magician of words ¨C also known as wordsmith, which means a person who is an expert in the use of words. Jude also had something called a conscience. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Why are you pretending like it¡¯s someone else¡¯s business? You¡¯re an aplice too.¡± ¡°Cordelia doesn¡¯t know anything. I was just following Daddy.¡± Cordelia pretended to be cute and innocent in front of him, and Jude couldn¡¯t win against her. ¡°Hehe, I¡¯m really cute so you couldn¡¯t win, right?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not?¡± ¡°Hehehe.¡± Cordelia cheekilyughed and lightly knocked on Jude¡¯s chest. ¡°Apparently, you have a conscience here too.¡± Jude¡¯s conscience. As she had said, Jude also had a conscience. Even for Jude, it was unreasonable to extort more from the Fairy Queen as a reward for her single request when they had already received the Earth Protection and over twenty magic tools. ¡®Though the truth is, we have nothing else to extort from her.¡¯ There surely would have been more treasures, but it was questionable if the Fairy Queen would hand it over to them. There was no need to destroy a good rtionship just because of greed. ¡°That¡¯s why you got this?¡± ¡°It¡¯s enough.¡± Jude replied with a smile before spreading out the map he received from the Fairy Queen. ¡°Magen, the kingdom of magic.¡± It was a powerful magic kingdom built by the High Elves, who were also known as the ancient elves. The map disyed and recorded in detail the geography of not only the Raptor Canyon, but also of Endymion, the capital of the former magic kingdom. ¡°Lena must be here somewhere, right?¡± ¡°Perhaps. Even if she isn¡¯t here¡­we still have to know about Endymion in order to save Lena.¡± After nodding at Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia turned her gaze towards the left corner of the map and smiled. ¡°This is the hot spring we¡¯re in now. And since this is the bathhouse sign¡­hehehe, there are more than ten bathhouses in Endymion alone.¡± Although it would not have beenpletely preserved like the bathhouse they were in that was managed by the wild fairies, the fact that there were bathhouses was still important. ¡°Good for you.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, I love it.¡± Seeing Cordelia¡¯s broad smile, Jude¡¯s mood also became better. ¡°Let¡¯s stop by these ces on the way. Anyway, we gained a lot from today¡¯s meeting.¡± ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right.¡± They got the map of Endymion, the Earth Protection, and several magic items, which included the Spell¡¯s Echo. ¡®There¡¯s even information.¡¯ Information such as what monsters lived in Raptor Canyon and which surrounding terrain and so on, that they should be careful of. Jude and Cordelia got more than they had thought. ¡°Let¡¯s change our equipment setting first, minus the items that has effects that cancel out each other. Let¡¯s set it at the highest efficiency.¡± ¡°Leave it to me. I¡¯ll set up yours at the highest efficiency.¡± Cordelia lightly knocked on her chest and began sorting out the equipment they had brought, and Jude approached the fainted Kan who was still lying on the floor. ¡°How¡¯s Kan?¡± ¡°He looks fine. He¡¯s just sleeping well.¡± After answering Cordelia, Jude checked Kan¡¯s pulse before he untied the ropes. ¡®Indiana Kan.¡¯ An adventurer and archeologist from the Argon Empire. He was a character the yer could meet at least once when they explored the ruins in the Argon Empire. He was always involved in idents, so beginners would call him the god of disaster while rotten waters called him the god of bliss. ¡°Are you going to wake him up?¡± ¡°Yes, because we have a lot to talk about.¡± He wanted to know why Kan came to the wildnd, and what and how much Kan knew about Endymion. ¡°Wait, if you¡¯re going to wake him up, I¡¯ll wake him up with magic.¡± Cordelia put the sorted equipment into their newly brought magic bag before she quickly walked towards Jude. ¡°.¡± As she gently stroked Kan¡¯s shiny head and whispered, the spell¡¯s effect was activated. ¡°Uhhh¡­uh¡­¡± Kan opened his eyes with a groan and was half-asleep for a moment, but he soon jumped up and raised his upper body. ¡°Hyuuuk?! Where am I?! What about the monster?!¡± Jude and Cordelia left him alone for now as Kan exhaled roughly and looked around him before he stabilized his position. ¡°Ba-bathhouse? High Elf style?¡± As expected of an archeologist. Jude unknowingly smiled, and then said to Kan who was covered in cold sweat. ¡°You¡¯re Sir Indiana Kan, am I right?¡± Kan flinched at the sudden call, but he soon nodded. He was too busy to look around, so he didn¡¯t properly notice Jude and Cordelia standing next to him. ¡°I¡¯m Indiana Kan. Here¡­n-no. I remember. While being chased by the White Giant Bear¡­¡± ¡°Yes, we saved Sir Kan.¡± ¡°We saved you. If not for us, you would have been eaten by the White Giant Bear.¡± Cordelia emphasized the fact that they saved him even if Jude didn¡¯t ask her to. ¡®Why?¡¯ ¡®No, I¡¯m just proud.¡¯ She grew up well. But he partly felt awful when he thought that he had corrupted an innocent child. In any case, Cordelia¡¯s emphasis on doing him a favor worked. ¡°Oh! You two were my benefactors! Thank you very much! I lived thanks to you two.¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem, now then¡­¡± Cordelia immediately nodded, but Jude stealthily stopped Cordelia as he stepped forward. Because Kan wasn¡¯t a fairy. Emphasizing that he owed them was good, but if it was too obvious, there was a possibility that it would be slightly counterproductive. ¡°It¡¯s an honor to meet Sir Indiana Kan, a renowned archeologist.¡± ¡°Hoho, it¡¯s just a bit of an empty name.¡± Kan stroked his beard as if he was embarrassed, but praise makes even a whale dance. Kan felt much better. ¡°I am Jude, and this is my fianc¨¦e, Cordelia.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Cordelia. It¡¯s an honor to meet you.¡± Cordelia¡¯s courteousness made Kan¡¯s face flushed. ¡°Your fianc¨¦e is a very beautiful woman. I¡¯m envious.¡± ¡°Hahaha, thank you.¡± In fact, Cordelia didn¡¯t notice because she didn¡¯t pay it much thought, but Jude had always stressed the fact that she was his ¡®fianc¨¦e¡¯ whenever they met someone. In the midst of the friendly atmosphere, Kan spoke. ¡°By the way¡­you don¡¯t look like people who live in the wildnd.¡± ¡°Yes, we are from the S?len Kingdom.¡± ¡°Ho! S?len! The S?len Kingdom has long been in war with the barbarians, so howe you¡¯re here¡­¡± ¡°There were various circumstances¡­but the biggest reason is to explore the ruins.¡± ¡°Explore the ruins?¡± ¡°Yes, explore the ruins.¡± At the same time as heughed ¡®hoho¡¯ at Jude¡¯s answer, Kan¡¯s face was filled with curiosity and nervousness. ¡°The ruins you¡¯re talking about are¡­¡± ¡°The capital of Magen, the magic kingdom. The Endymion capital.¡± ¡°Oh! You¡¯re the same!¡± With bright eyes, Kan stood up from his position, and Cordelia immediately continued. ¡°Sir Kan, are you here to investigate Endymion?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. I was a little lost because I didn¡¯t know the exact location¡­but seeing you two gave me hope.¡± Endymion must be somewhere around here. ¡°Yes, Endymion is real. And if you look at this ce on a bigger scale, this is also a part of Endymion.¡± ¡°Ohhhh! As expected! Is this the bathhouse of the High Elves?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡± ¡°Whooaa!¡± Kan was extremely excited as he immediately ran to the wall and began looking and carefully touching the murals, engraved characters, decorations, and so on, that decorated the bathhouse. ¡°He¡¯spletely excited.¡± ¡°Because he¡¯s an archeologist.¡± Jude didn¡¯t want to appear rude, but they still had to finish their conversation with him. So he approached Kan and spoke. ¡°I and Cordelia are researchers at the Academy located in the capital of the S?len Kingdom. By chance, we got a map of Raptor Canyon and Endymion, so we ended uping here.¡± ¡°Map? You mean a map?!¡± ¡°Yes, a map.¡± Kan immediately rushed towards Jude, who took out a neatly folded map. However, Jude didn¡¯t give out the map. ¡°Before that, Sir Kan. There¡¯s something we¡¯d like to know.¡± ¡°What do you want to know?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a big deal. We just want to exchange information.¡± They wanted to know what Kan knew about Endymion. But the reason Kan came all the way to the wildnd was because he wanted to just see Endymion. ¡°Umm¡­as you two know, Magen, the kingdom of magic, is a legend. It¡¯s not that there are no records at all, but information about the kingdom iscking to the point that its existence is even questioned.¡± That was correct. Even Jude and Cordelia did not know of the existence of the magic kingdom itself until they had heard of it from Gentle Snow Breeze. ¡°Because the kingdom¡¯s existence itself is being questioned, the cause of its destruction was also handed down through legends.¡± A long, long time ago. The overlords of hell descended onto this world in an era called the ancient times. ¡°ording to legend, Angelone, thest queen of the magic kingdom, gathered all the forces of the kingdom to confront the overlord of hell. But in the end, they were outnumbered. The magic kingdom eventually fell into the hands of demons and copsed.¡± But they weren¡¯t just trampled. Magen¡¯s High Elves seeded in inflicting a fatal injury to the overlord of hell. ¡°Moreover, it is said that the war between Magen and the overlord of hell did not happen for a day or two. At least a year¡­no, during the war thatsted for many years, Magen¡¯s wizards researched and studied ways on how to fight the demons.¡± It was a convincing tale. It became apparent that the reason Lena came here was to obtain the demon countermeasures that was developed by Magen¡¯s High Elves. ¡°After the tragedy of the Paragon Kingdom, demon followers began to run wild in the Argon Empire. More and more people are concerned about the arrival of a powerful demon.¡± ¡°Then¡­¡± ¡°Yes, it is to find a way to fight against the demons not only for the Argon Empire, but also for the whole world. As a schr, there are also many reasons to move. Of course, there were requests from sponsors too.¡± Despite looking like an old dwarf, him clearing his throat at the end was strangely cute. ¡°I see. In fact, we are here for a simr reason. The Devil¡¯s Hand and other demon followers have been running wild in the S?len Kingdom for a long time too.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­as expected. Demon followers are a worldwide problem. It¡¯s not just one country¡¯s problem.¡± ¡°Yes, so Sir Kan. Let¡¯s explore Endymion together. Let¡¯s leave our position as citizens of the S?len Kingdom and of the Argon Empire, and even transcend our human and dwarf races, and just be people who live together in this era.¡± ¡°Ooh¡­that¡¯s good. Let us do so.¡± As Kan nodded and shook the hand that Jude had stretched out, Jude nced at Cordelia and she gave a thumbs up. ¡®As expected of my scammer!¡¯ ¡®They call me a magician of words.¡¯ After his eye conversation with Cordelia, Jude opened the map, showed it to Kan, and then said. ¡°Sir Kan, we¡¯re going to take a break here today and start exploring tomorrow. So, Sir Kan, let¡¯s have a good rest today.¡± ¡°Oh¡­I see. I understand. Could I see a little more of the map?¡± ¡°Of course. Take your time.¡± Jude inly handed over the map to the overly excited Kan before he drew closer to Cordelia again and said. ¡°Let¡¯s take a rest now.¡± ¡°I have to take a bath and do theundry. Wash yourself a little too. You¡¯re sweaty.¡± ¡°Uh¡­really?¡± ¡°Yes¡­really. So don¡¯t stick close to me until you¡¯ve washed yourself. Do you understand?¡± Cordelia coyly said before she turned around and headed towards the bathtub in the corner, and Jude sniffed and smelled himself before hurriedly heading over to the opposite side of the bathtub. And the next morning¡­ ¡°Uh¡­are we going like this?¡± ¡°Yes! We¡¯re going like this!¡± ¡°We¡¯re going like this!¡± At the hot spring¡¯s entrance. Jude and Cordelia were close together, while Kan stood far away. Was it almost 30 meters apart? Moreover, they weren¡¯t just far away. A rope was tied around Kan¡¯s barrel-like waist, and Jude held the other end of that rope. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. If anything happens, we¡¯ll save you like yesterday!¡± ¡°It¡¯ll be fine since we¡¯re connected with the rope like this!¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just¡­¡± Kan took the lead, while Jude and Cordelia followed him. But since he was tied up with a rope like that, it felt like he was a bait that was hanging from a fishing rod. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s depart!¡± At the urging of Jude and Cordelia, Kan had a baffled expression, but he soon nodded. At any rate, the two were his benefactors, and they even gave him the map and let him take the lead. The value of the map, in which Endymion¡¯s geography was described in detail, was surely around a thousand gold, so Kan himself didn¡¯t feel like he was a bait. ¡®They must have a different idea.¡¯ The two were good enough fighters to save themselves from the White Giant Bear. There must be a reason why they were following at a distance. Kan tried to convince himself before he looked straight ahead with sparkling eyes. The Endymion capital. The capital of the fallen kingdom of magic. Thest city. These were words that stimted his heart as an adventurer and archeologist. ¡®Let¡¯s go!¡¯ Kan proudly advanced and Jude and Cordelia followed Kan at a distance of 30 meters. One hour passed like that. Cordelia raised her head, and Jude spontaneously smiled. ¡°Ahhhh! It¡¯s a monster!¡± ¡°Oooh! It¡¯s an Ice Grizzly, a rare monster!¡± ¡°It¡¯s also named! It has two horns! As expected of the Kan effect!¡± While Kan screamed and ran away, the two widely smiled and then pulled the rope hard to retrieve Kan before they stepped forward. It was a named monster fishing using Kan, an unlucky man who attracts misfortune. With this method, they would be able to encounter rare monsters that were normally difficult to encounter. In addition, they would be able to encounter named monsters that were even harder to encounter. This was called the Kan effect. ¡°My princess, shall we catch a big fish?¡± ¡°Yes, Daddy. Let¡¯s pick the mulberries.¡± The two rotten waters smiled broadly at each other before they moved forward, and the named monster, who sensed the unusual atmosphere, shuddered at that moment, but it was already toote. Jude and Cordelia. The exciting fishing of the two rotten waters began. Chapter 81: The Kaplan Effect (2)

Chapter 81: The Kan Effect (2)

Terms used in this chapter: Mk2 ¨C An abbreviation of Mark II or Mark 2. It often refers to the second version of a product, which is frequently used on military hardware. A Rare Monster, as its name implied, was a rare monster with a low frequency of appearance. ¡®Among those Rare Monsters are what is called the Named Monsters.¡¯ The Named Monster was a special entity that was even rarer than the already rare Rare Monster, and thus, having a name separately ssified it from the other monsters. Moreover, Named Monsters weren¡¯t just rare. Most Named Monsters were much stronger than normal monsters or possessed special abilities, though there were some cases where they were just like normal monsters. ¡®In short, they¡¯re difficult and tricky to fight against.¡¯ However, it was extremely rare for users of the Legend of Heroes series to dislike encounters with the Named Monsters. Even ordinary users weed encounters with the Named Monsters, and it was all the more so for the rotten waters like Jude and Cordelia. Why was it like that? Why did users long for an encounter with a difficult-to-fight Named Monster? Let me say this in advance, it wasn¡¯t that the Legend of Heroes users were weirdos who enjoyed pain and suffering. ¡°What? Wasn¡¯t it like that?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not? No, wait. Surely?¡± ¡°No way, it¡¯s not, really! Of course I¡¯m the exception. I enjoy the thrill of highly difficult games. You and other rotten waters are weirdos who enjoy suffering.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s shameless assertion, Jude nodded and said as he pretended to write in the air. ¡°Cordelia is a weirdo who enjoys pain and suffering¡­memo.¡± ¡°F*ck?¡± Jude, who began to be pped on the back by Cordelia, was thinking as he stared at the White Grizzly whom they had just defeated. ¡®High risk, high return.¡¯ It was difficult to fight against, but in return, the rewards were plentiful. The experience gained was much higher than that of a regr mob, and the quantity and quality of the items that were dropped when they are defeated were also iparable with the regr mobs. ¡®But this not a game. This is reality.¡¯ In the game, if they defeated the White Grizzly, they would get this and that item, but this was reality. The giant White Grizzly was supposed to carry items that were used by humans who were much smaller than itself. ¡®But even if that is so¡­¡¯ ¡°Argh! Why is your pain tolerance so high! Let¡¯s strengthen it!¡± ¡°Hey! It hurts! It really hurts! Why are you using magic to hit me!¡± ¡°Here it goes! Here you go!¡± ¡°Ah! Ah! It really hurts! It really hurts! I think you hit me in the bone!¡± ¡°Nice! Additional damage!¡± Jude barely calmed down the happy Cordelia who had clenched her fist, before he looked back at the White Grizzly. ¡®It¡¯s not just the equipment we could get.¡¯ There was the mana stone embedded in the forehead of the named White Grizzly, and since it was a bear, there was its galldder and its ws that were harder than steel. T/N: The dried gall dder of a bear is used as an ingredient for herbal medicine. There were plenty of parts that they could take. ¡°Wow! Look at this! There¡¯s also an item!¡± ¡°Eh?¡± Cordelia had rushed towards the side of the sprawled White Grizzly and took out a small dagger from its hairy fur. ¡°What¡­why does it have an item?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe it used this as a toothpick. Oh, it¡¯s better than I thought? It¡¯s a dagger with a Freezing curse. If you get stabbed by this, you¡¯ll get frostbite.¡± It was a fact that he often forget, but Cordelia was definitely a wizard. She had grasped the magic of the dagger at once, and afterwards, she began to scour the fur some more with a satisfied face. ¡°Eh, there¡¯s nothing more.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s already strange that an item came out.¡± Perhaps this was also the Kan effect. Anyway, since they had already defeated the White Grizzly and they couldn¡¯t stay here forever, they had to directly harvest the mana stone, galldder, and so on now. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± During the Bicorn, the knights did it for them, but that was not possible this time. Cordelia frowned and was troubled, but Jude smiled and stepped forward. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Leave it to me, step back, and take care of Kan.¡± ¡°Can you do it?¡± ¡°I can do it.¡± ¡°Wow, you¡¯re so awesome.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t fall in love.¡± ¡°Yes, I won¡¯t fall in love.¡± Cordelia nodded right away and then passed by Jude as she headed for Kan, and Jude bitterly smiled before he took out his dagger. And around a minute or so passed. Cordelia shouted as she approached Kan who had copsed at a distance. ¡°Jude! Kan seems to have fainted!¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°He¡¯s timid and weak. He¡¯s a little different from the Kan we know.¡± ¡°Well¡­we¡¯re still in the early stages. Isn¡¯t it because he had been through so much of this that he became the intrepid man of bad luck?¡± ¡°Hmm, that may be true.¡± The convinced Cordelia examined Kan¡¯s condition some more before she turned to Jude. Jude was skillfully collecting all the necessary parts. ¡°Jude, shall we wake Kan up again?¡± ¡°No, just leave him fainted. I think it¡¯ll be morefortable for him that way.¡± ¡°Well, we¡¯ve still got a long way to go, so if he kept fainting, it would be bad for Kan.¡± ¡°Yes, so he doesn¡¯t need to stay awake.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, that¡¯s right.¡± The two had agreed yesterday to create the wooden board Mk2 by attaching the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow to the wooden board they had prepared in advance and using magic to make it fly. ¡°All right, let¡¯s keep going.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s be fishermen who hooks monsters.¡± Jude and Cordelia looked at each other and warmly smiled before they set off with the wooden board carrying Kan. The distance between the wooden board and the two were about 30 meters. ¡°Wow, it¡¯sing already.¡± ¡°His aggro¡¯s really freaking awesome.¡± It had only been 30 minutes since they defeated the White Grizzly. The two joyfullyughed as they stepped forward. Naturally, they caught a big fish again this time. *** Indiana Kan was both an archeology expert and an adventurer. Having served as a professor at the institutional academy, a prestigious school within the Argon Empire, he had already been an extraordinary figure since he was a graduate student and before bing a professor. The discovery of the tomb of Irond, the ancient dwarf king. The unearthing of the tombstones of Lun, an old kingdom. The excavation of the crystal ball of Tatania, proving the existence of Tatania and thend of witches, which had only been considered a legend. The imperial family recognized his achievements and abilities in making discoveries of the century that were rarely made once in a lifetime, and granted him knighthood along with a life-long teaching position at the institutional academy, and Indiana Kan was able to enjoy the honor of being the youngest professor in the history of the Argon Empire. But if there was light, there was darkness. In terms of his aplishments, he was supposed to be a star of the archeological world and the treasure of the institutional academy, but he was always shunned and hated. ¡®Envy.¡¯ He would have felt better if it had been just that. He could have endured it, thinking that it was the envy of the losers towards those who achieved remarkable sess. ¡®Kan was the only one who came back safe this time?¡¯ ¡®There is no such thing as a god of disaster. But howe every time he excavates, an ident happens?¡¯ ¡®Isn¡¯t it on purpose?¡¯ ¡®You mean on purpose? Do you mean that Kan intentionally causes an ident?¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s possible.¡¯ ¡®Howe?¡¯ ¡®Because he wants to take the credit alone?¡¯ It was an outrageous nder. It was nothing more than a conspiracy theory without any evidence. How could he kill or injure researchers who went on an investigation together with him and disguise it as idents just so that he could take the credit alone? ¡®It could be so.¡¯ ¡®How does an ident happen like that every time?¡¯ ¡®In the meantime, he¡¯s the only one who¡¯s fine.¡¯ It was as people said. Despite the many idents, Kan was always alive and well. There were many injuries, but there weren¡¯t really any serious injuries or deaths. ¡®It¡¯s okay, all of it are groundless rumors. How could they me you for the idents that happened? You have been hurt many times too.¡¯ Those were the words of Bartol, who had volunteered for the assistant position that everyone avoided. How much had he been saved by those words? However, even Bartol did notst long. ¡®¡­I¡¯ll quit.¡¯ During his first excavation with Bartol, an ident urred without fail, and Bartol was fortunately saved, but was seriously injured that he had to lie in a hospital bed for five months. Bartol didn¡¯t say anything to me Kan. But he didn¡¯t say that it wasn¡¯t Kan¡¯s fault like before, nor say that it was his own fault. It was from then on. Kan began to go alone. He didn¡¯t work with others when he was conducting research or excavations. Anytime, anywhere. Just alone. ¡°Gasp!¡± Kan suddenly opened his eyes, let out a gasp, and raised his upper body. In the midst of his confusion, several images suddenly filled his mind. A giant monster. White Grizzly. The one who ferociously roared as if it would eat him at any moment. He was alive. He did not die. He seemed to have escaped from the monster again. ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­what a relief¡­¡± That was it. While breathing hard, Kan raised his head. Because he had crazy thoughts that it was his fault that he hadn¡¯t seen his group for a while. ¡®What about Jude?! What about Miss Cordelia?!¡¯ They were definitely strong people. Because they were the ones who saved him from the White Giant Bear. They were safe even though they fell from the cliff. So he had epted their request to apany him. It had been a long time since he had done an investigation with someone else. ¡®Please¡­please!¡¯ ¡°Sir Kan?¡± He heard a voice. It was a clear, pure, and beautiful, as if it came from heaven. Kan turned his head reflexively and then swallowed his breath. The girl who was looking at him with the sunlight on her back was so beautiful that he unconsciously said. ¡°Angel?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not an angel, I¡¯m Cordelia. You remember me, right? Are you awake?¡± Kan nodded, and only then could he fully wake up. ¡°What about the White, White Grizzly Bear?¡± ¡°Me and Jude defeated it. So rest assured. It¡¯s safe here.¡± Cordelia said with a smile. As if it was nothing. ¡®Because we caught a big fish seven times.¡¯ Jude and Cordelia had already received information from the Wild Fairy Queen about the monsters that appeared in Raptor Canyon. There were no monsters among those that the two couldn¡¯t defeat. ¡°Aaah¡­ah¡­thank you. Thank you very much. You were in danger because of me¡­¡± ¡°Eh, what are you talking about? Rather, I benefited from Sir Kan. Thank you very much for being with me.¡± Cordelia was sincere. It wasn¡¯t only Jude, as Cordelia had a conscience too. It bothered her that they had used him as bait to attract the Named Monsters. But it soundedpletely different to Kan, who was unaware of the situation. ¡®Ah¡­is she really an angel¡­¡¯ She received help from him. Thank you for being with me. How long had it been since he had heard those words? No, it wasn¡¯t that long. When he thought about it, he had heard of it when he first became a professor. ¡®How, how can a person be this kindhearted?¡¯ Despite being in danger because of Kan himself, she was worried about him. Cordelia¡¯s warm words were like salvation to Kan, who had already thought of himself as a man who brought disasters like what everyone else thought. ¡°Angel¡­Miss Cordelia must be an angel. Huuk-¡± Kan began to shed tears of emotion. Because all his past sorrows burst out at once. ¡°Si-sir Kan?¡± ¡°Thank you very much.¡± When Kan sobbed as he sped Cordelia¡¯s hand, Cordelia was flustered and broke into cold sweat. ¡®Why is he doing this?¡¯ Did he notice that they used him as bait and was now trying to counterattack? While Cordelia¡¯s delusional circuits was weirdly turning because of her embarrassment, Jude was looking around them. ¡®The entrance of the Endymion capital.¡¯ Jude entered the interior of a structure that looked like a gateway, and he recalled one by one the monsters that they had encountered on their way here. ¡®None of them were rted to the demons.¡¯ The Wild Fairy Queen¡¯s information was urate. None of the monsters who lived in Raptor Canyon were directly rted to the demons. ¡®Lacto.¡¯ It was the lowest-ranking demon in contrast to the Tomb Guardian. It had appeared rtively recently. Not by the standards of the wild fairies who had a twisted sense of time, but by human standards. Then, where did ite from? Who summoned it? Could there be a connection between Lena¡¯s death and the summoning of demons? ¡®The ce where Lacto appeared was the underground of Endymion.¡¯ Jude began to look around to search for a way to go underground. But it was then. ¡°Jude!¡± ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°We found it! Sir Kan found a way to the underground!¡± Jude followed her voice as he went outside and saw Cordelia jumping and the amazed Kan making a satisfied smile. ¡®It¡¯s surely Kan.¡¯ He was a man who picks up artifacts even if he falls down on the road. If Kan had found it, it would certainly be not an ordinary underground path. ¡°This way. I came across it by ident while tying my shoces.¡± ¡°As expected of Sir Kan.¡± With a broad smile, Jude peered down the stairs that were going underground, which was next to an altar. It was tightly sealed, and Cordelia had magically opened it. ¡°It¡¯s not on the map that we got from the wild fairies.¡± ¡°It must be worth investigating.¡± Jude immediately responded to Cordelia¡¯s whisper, before he turned to Kan again. ¡°Sir Kan, we¡¯re thinking of going down right away. Would that be all right?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s fine.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s start right away.¡± ¡°Yeah!¡± Jude was like Cordelia. Far from resenting Kan, he even suggested to continue together. To Kan, they were a such a kindhearted and good-natured man and woman. ¡°I will take the lead.¡± ¡°Yes, be careful.¡± Jude readily took the lead with Kan before he nced at Cordelia. ¡®What happened? He seems to be highly excited.¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t know.¡¯ Cordelia shook her head and shrugged her shoulders, and Jude tilted his head. ¡®Is it because we¡¯re in the early stages?¡¯ The Kan in Legend of Heroes 2 was truly a man of steel. He always had a smile on his face, but it wasn¡¯t a sincere smile. It was a smile for building walls, not a smile formunication. He was a man with an impregnable fortress who didn¡¯t let anyone pass within a certain line. But the current Kan was very different. His attitude towards Jude and Cordelia were warm and tender. ¡®Perhaps because it¡¯s in the early stages.¡¯ Kan had appeared in the middle stages of the game. ¡°Let¡¯s go in quickly too.¡± ¡°Oh, yes.¡± Jude was somewhat convinced and at Cordelia¡¯s urging, he followed and moved downwards. A dozen minutes passed like that. The stairs which seemed to continue endlessly, finally came to an end. Having descended almost a hundred meters down, they arrived at a huge underground temple. ¡°Wow¡­¡± Cordelia eximed as she greatly increased the light of a magic orb, which she had used as a torch substitute. It was so dark that they couldn¡¯t identify everything around them, but the things that caught their eyes at that moment were amazing. The ceiling height was around 30 meters high. Large columns were erected all over the ce, and magnificent sculptures were embossed on the pirs. The sculptures were probably the ancient elven gods that the inhabitants of Magen, the magic kingdom, believed in. ¡°The Endymion capital¡­¡± Kan approached the pirs in admiration. And it was at that moment. Jude and Cordelia almost simultaneously looked at their back. Jude sensed someone¡¯s presence. Cordelia felt her hair stand on end. A gaze that was hiding in the dark and looking their way. It wasn¡¯t a person. Neither was it a monster of this world. A pair of red eyes shed. It silently took a step in the dark. Demon. No, a monster from hell. Jude held his breath. He inferred the height and shape of the monster from the size and height of the glowing eyes. It was around 4 meters tall. Judging from the size of the glowing eyes, it was a humanoid. Another silent step. No, it wasn¡¯t a step in the first ce. Snake. Its lower body was like that of a snake¡¯s. ¡°Nazarus.¡± A monster from hell with the upper body of a human and a lower body of a snake. It was a higher species than Lacto. Moreover, it wasn¡¯t a monster that could be defeated by using tricks like how they defeated Lacto on the bridge. ¡°It¡¯s okay, we can fight against Nazarus.¡± Both Jude and Cordelia had grown a lot stronger. If the two were together, it was possible to fight it head-on. ¡°As long as it¡¯s not rare. No, as long as it¡¯s not Named.¡± Just as a snake¡¯s head was only one, themon Nazarus only had one human upper body. But among the Nazarus were those with two upper bodies. Cordelia nodded at Jude¡¯s words, but only for a moment. ¡°As long as it¡¯s not rare?¡± ¡°Yes, if it¡¯s not rare¡­¡± That was it. As he thought of the same thing as Cordelia, Jude turned his head and gazed at the pir, and the Nazarus in the dark couldn¡¯t wait any longer. ¡°Human! Tear it to death!¡± ¡°Human! Kill and eat!¡± Two voices rang at the same time. Rare. It wasn¡¯t an ordinary Rare Monster either. There was a horn in the middle of the forehead, proving that it was a Named Monster. ¡°Kan.¡± The Kan effect. As if responding to Jude¡¯s babble, the Nazarus that was named Carac raised its voice. It charged towards Jude and Cordelia. Chapter 82: The Kaplan Effect (3)

Chapter 82: The Kan Effect (3)

¡®It¡¯s not Kan¡¯s fault.¡¯ Kan¡¯s ability was to attract rare monsters like the Rare and Named Monsters, and not to create them. In other words, it was to attract rare or named monsters among the monsters scattered all over the ce, and not to strengthen ordinary monsters into rare or named ones. ¡®It had been here from the very beginning.¡¯ This happened because the named Nazarus was in Endymion¡¯s underground from the start. ¡®So it¡¯s not Kan¡¯s fault!¡¯ But¡­but still¡­ ¡°Here ites!¡± Cordelia quickly shouted, and Jude focused on the battle before him. He could hear the startled Kan screaming behind his back. ¡°Named Nazarus.¡± ¡°Carac. Cara and C.¡± ¡°Rare, and they have one body.¡± ¡°Named are capable of dividing itself, also have a special ability!¡± That was it. Carac¡¯s figure was fully revealed from the darkness. It had the upper bodies of a naked man and woman, and its lower body was that of a giant snake monster. Both of them were monsters from hell, so they looked very evil. ¡°Kaha-!¡± The male monster with a spear and shield, C, opened his mouth wide and spewed out fire. To avoid the mes that spread out in a straight line, Jude and Cordelia split as they ran to the sides, and the woman holding a cane, Cara, chanted the spell as if she had waited for it. ¡°Metamorphosis!¡± Paa-! At that instant, a tremendous amount of life engulfed all the darkness underground. Jude and Cordelia knew Carac¡¯s pattern, so they had closed their eyes just before the light burst to prevent sight loss, and thus, they lost the opportunity to track Carac¡¯s movement for a while. Therefore, Jude used his sense of hearing. He tried to figure out the movement of Carac by the sound. ¡°Agh! Eyes! My eyes!¡± But it wasn¡¯t easy. Because Kan had screamed from behind his back and rolled on the floor. Bang! There was a loud noise. It was at their front. At the same time, Jude felt their murderous aura. After having opened the third door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, his sharpened senses filled in the gaps of his hearing and sight. His eyes were closed, but he could somehow sense in the darkness that Carac had divided itself into two. Chwaaak-! A sharp attack pierced through the air. Jude avoided the attack with minimal movement at the exact timing, opened his eyes and then clenched his teeth. This was due to the unexpected situation happening in front of him. ¡®Cordelia!¡¯ Cordelia was in front of him. To be exact, it was Cara who had transformed into Cordelia. The special ability of the named Nazarus was transformation. It wasn¡¯t just a transformation that only mimicked the appearance. With the power of the horns on their foreheads, they were able to glimpse at their opponent¡¯s memories and mind and then use it to create an ideal look that was more real than the real person. ¡®They usually transform into a lover or a colleague who were with the victim.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t quite a great ability in the game, but in reality, it was clearly different. ¡°Jude.¡± It was Cordelia¡¯s voice. Moreover, the Cordelia in front of him had wet hair. It seemed to have taken the form of Cordelia when she was bathing under the moonlight in order to lure the Fall Fairies. ¡°Ugh.¡± It was the appearance of Cordelia that Jude had thought was the most beautiful. Jude was suddenly filled with embarrassment as he thought that his innermost feelings have beenid bare. ¡°Jude, let¡¯s y. Okay?¡± Speaking in a Cordelia-like tone, Cara drew closer to Jude. It was not an exaggeration to say that her approach was full of gaps, but just before he used his fist, Jude stopped and hesitated. ¡®Damn!¡¯ His mind knew that it wasn¡¯t Cordelia. But still, it was Cordelia¡¯s face and voice. He felt a strong reluctance to hit her, and at that decisive moment, he instinctively hesitated. His attacks didn¡¯t hit, or his attack speed slowed down, and Cara broke into that gap. ¡°Will you hit Cordelia?¡± Kara tilted her head and said while she created magic des that moved in the air, and Jude clenched his teeth again. By using the Twenty-Four Gale Steps, he made a dash and avoided the magic des that rushed in to kill him. ¡®Whirlwind!¡¯ The seven whirlwinds surrounding Jude suddenly shot forward and blew away the magic des. In that short moment, it created a path between Jude and Cara. ¡®Gale!¡¯ Jude rushed forward. After narrowing their distance at once, he tried to use the Holy Cross Punch on Cara¡¯s abdomen. But it was impossible. Again, he hesitated just before the attack. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be hurt!¡± Cara shouted in Cordelia¡¯s voice, and his attack went awry, which was enough for Cara. As a monster from hell, she dodged Jude¡¯s fist and blew her breath onto Jude at a close distance. ¡°I love you so much.¡± Along with those sweet words, poison prated into Jude¡¯s body. Jude hurriedly chanted the mnemonic chant of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors and activated the energy of his whole body. It wasn¡¯t an overstatement that the energy inside Jude was unrivalled in its clearness and purity that it not only repelled the poison but alsopletely purified it. ¡°Haa!¡± Jude attacked again with a shout, and Cara quickly stepped back and evaded Jude¡¯s attack. Jude¡¯s attack lost its usual sharpness, but he couldn¡¯t help it. ¡®This won¡¯t do.¡¯ It was more difficult than he thought. Even though it was just her appearance, he kept reacting to it. ¡®What about Cordelia?¡¯ Jude was primarily good at fighting, but he was now struggling like this. So it was natural that he was worried about Cordelia. Despite being in the middle of a fight, Jude diverted his gaze to the side and saw it. No, he ended up seeing it. ¡°This is so good!¡± It wasn¡¯t Cara but the real Cordelia. T/N: Cara and Cordelia actually said the same words in Korean (?? ??), and that was why the next sentence rified that it was the real Cordelia and not Cara. Jo-ta (??) can both mean ¡®love¡¯ and ¡®good¡¯ in Korean. However, Cara¡¯s words were more of seducing or enticing Jude, so I used the ¡®love¡¯ for the trantion, while Cordelia¡¯s words were more of her feeling good about the current situation, so I used the ¡®good¡¯ meaning. She excitedlyughed and one-sidedly cornered C. ¡°Be hit more! Be hit more!¡± A storm of magic attacks raged. C got hit by more than ten magic bullets, and Cordelia clenched her fist. As if this was not enough, she bolted towards C and shouted. ¡°Die! Jude!¡± ¡°Hey!¡± The real Jude eximed, but Cordelia didn¡¯t pay him any attention. He looked exactly like Jude but was not Jude. This was such a good situation. ¡®I don¡¯t have to control my strength!¡¯ She struck him with full power. She hit him with the determination to really kill him. ¡°This is for Hong Yoo Hee!¡± ! ! ! ! Due to the Spell¡¯s Echo, the and spells were cast in session. Cordelia¡¯s fist struck C¡¯s abdomen with frightful precision, and C even vomited blood from the intense impact. ¡°This is for Yellow Storm!¡± Cordelia¡¯s roundhouse kick exploded. It wasn¡¯t just a roundhouse kick but an attack that struck C¡¯s neck like a guillotine. She used again this time. Thud! C¡¯s head hit the floor. But Cordelia did not stop. ¡°This is for¡­Cordelia!¡± She stamped on C¡¯s back, and it seemed to be a little weaker than her previous two attacks, either because of her mood or of the reality. ¡°Die! Die! Die!¡± At any rate, Cordelia repeated her lethal attacks without any hesitation, and C groaned in pain. ¡°Hey! That¡¯s too much!¡± It was when Jude shouted. ¡°Gyaa?!¡± Cordelia¡¯s magic bullet flew at a terrifying speed. As he managed to avoid the attack by rolling down the floor, Cordelia said with a calm face. ¡°Ah, I thought you were a mob.¡± He looked just like C whom she was stepping on now. Cordelia focused on attacking C again while Jude trembled, and Cara, who had unknowingly watched all that had happened, said with Cordelia¡¯s face. ¡°Uh¡­she¡¯s your fianc¨¦e, right?¡± Without affirming or denying it, Jude vigorously raised his strength and ran towards Cara. However, Cara didn¡¯t attack Jude. It was because C¡¯s condition was too serious. ¡°Reunion!¡± As Cara shouted loudly, a tremendous light burst again, and Jude urgently closed his eyes to prevent being blinded. ¡°Aaah! My eyes! My eyes!¡± Hearing Kan¡¯s screams, Jude expanded his senses. He then felt Cordelia approaching him. ¡°Are you okay?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not okay.¡± ¡°What? Were you hit? They¡¯re weak when they¡¯re divided.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not that.¡± It was because of his feelings for a certain someone. But Jude swallowed down what he wanted to say and looked straight ahead again. Carac, the named Nazarus. But it was quite different from before. Unlike Cara who looked fine, C¡¯s whole body was covered in blood. ¡°Wow, you barely hurt her. Fighting gae-mo-tae, really.¡± T/N: Gae-mo-tae makes an appearance again! This time, Cordelia is saying that Jude is bad at fighting since birth. Jude began to tremble again at Cordelia¡¯s words, but he soon calmed himself down. No, he clenched his fists in burning fury. ¡°I¡¯ll take on C.¡± Carac was still transformed into them and he detested it. It was somehow strange, but if it looked like him, Jude could hit it without hesitation. But Cordelia opposed it. ¡°Eh? You want me to hit Cordelia? That¡¯s a bit difficult¡­¡± ¡°¡­Then, let¡¯s just hit both of them.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, that would be good.¡± Cordelia grinned and used the Spell¡¯s Echo to create more than ten magic bullets at once, and Jude kicked the ground. ¡°Gale!¡± It was literally a raging dash. Nazarus, a monster from hell, was not an easy opponent, but Jude and Cordelia had risen in level after they defeated powerful enemies at a rapid pace. Moreover, thebination of Cheonmujiche and Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors was truly like a cheat. Chwaaak! The true strength of Twenty-Four Gale Steps was in the whirlwinds and gale. It wasn¡¯t simply just a footwork technique that was as fast as the wind. Golden whirlwinds rose and not only blocked the enemy¡¯s attack but also controlled the enemy¡¯s movement. ¡°Die!¡± C spewed out fire and Cara sent a barrage of magic des. But none of those could hurt Jude. The whirlwinds blew away the magic des, and the gale twisted the trajectory of the mes. Cordelia¡¯s flying spells made Carac unable to focus on attacking. ¡®They¡¯re buying time.¡¯ As Cordelia had said, Cara and C were weak when divided. But they were now weak even whenbined. Because C¡¯s injuries were severe. Their reunion and use of ranged attacks instead of closebat were all aimed at buying C some time to recover. So don¡¯t let them buy time. ¡®Hit them with the strongest attack.¡¯ ck Dragon¡¯s Ascent. No. ck Dragon¡¯s Ascent was simply not enough. ¡°Jude!¡± Cordelia cried out, and Jude read the wind. Cara¡¯s magic de flew as it aimed for his head, but Jude lightly moved his head to avoid it before he stepped on the wind. As if gliding, he leapt towards Carac and created a golden vortex in his left hand. Kwooo! The wind pulled C. Cara tried to hit Jude, but Cordelia immediately responded. ¡°!¡± It was the power that the White Snake in Frost Anvil had. The pupils in Cordelia¡¯s blue eyes sharply turned into slits, causing not only Cara, but also C¡¯s movement to be temporarily stopped. ¡°Now!¡± Jude drew his fist. He focused his sacred battle aura on his fist. The opponent was a monster from hell. So the sacred battle aura and the Holy Cross skills were nothing but poison to them. However, the Holy Cross Punch wasn¡¯t enough. Its power was weak. So he had to add strength. He applied the power of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors to strengthen the Holy Cross Punch! Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors ¨C Improved Form. ck Dragon Cross Strike! The golden cross became pitch-ck. The huge pitch-ck cross was released from his fists and crushed Cara and C. Boooom! The ground was destroyed. Its giant snake lower body was smashed at once. Andstly. There was still one shot left. Using the recoil from the releasing of the pitch-ck cross, Jude rotated in the air, filled himself with the dragon¡¯s energy, and struck down like a lightning bolt. His heel that was full of the ck Dragon¡¯s power smashed C¡¯s head. Boom! Their transformation was released. At the moment of C¡¯s death, Cara also died since they shared one body, and when the monster from hell died, the air around them fluctuated, just like when demonic humans died. ¡°Huuu.¡± Jude let out a long breath as he looked down on Carac who had turned into ashes. A series of pure white rings surrounded Jude. Then Cordelia¡¯s voice came. ¡°Wow, your new skill is awesome. What¡¯s the new one called?¡± She came running and then asked with brightly shining eyes. It was the real Cordelia. The real one and not the fake. ¡°Haaa.¡± ¡°Eh? Why are you sighing? You did well.¡± She tilted her head as she asked, and her appearance was really cute. ¡°¡­I must be seriously ill.¡± ¡°Eh? What? Have you been poisoned? Should I use ?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing.¡± ¡°What nothing? If you want to say something, just say it. Are you upset because you couldn¡¯t fight?¡± At Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude shut his mouth at once, and soon scratched the back of his head and said. ¡°No, that.¡± ¡°That what?¡± ¡°So that¡­¡± ¡°Ah! I understand! Are you upset that I hit you without hesitation? Is that it? Am I right?¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Cordeliaughed at Jude clearing his throat before she shrugged her shoulders. ¡°But it was too obvious.¡± ¡°Too obvious?¡± ¡°It¡¯s fake. Well, how should I say it? My instincts say it¡¯s not Jude! My intuition told me that. It smells different.¡± ¡°Smell?¡± ¡°Yes, it smelled different from you.¡± Jude frowned at Cordelia¡¯s exnation. Instinct, intuition, and smell. It was certainly very much like Cordelia. ¡°Indeed, you¡¯re a real beast.¡± ¡°You want me to kill you?¡± When Cordelia growled, Jude cleared his throat. Because he was relieved after hearing her exnation. ¡°By the way, you really didn¡¯t injure it. You found it cute. Can¡¯t you do anything because it¡¯s my face?¡± ¡°Because I¡¯m a gentleman.¡± ¡°Bullsh*t.¡± Cordelia cursed, but she had a big smile on her face. One way or another, she seemed to be pleased with Jude¡¯s behavior. ¡°Anyway, we defeated it.¡± ¡°Yes, we defeated it. I think we¡¯ve really gotten stronger.¡± It was something natural when they thought about it. All of the enemies that they had defeated while on the way here were of a higher level than Jude or Cordelia. Therefore, Jude and Cordelia were able to quickly grow stronger beyond belief. ¡°But Jude. Will we continue to go with Kan from now on?¡± When Cordelia spoke in a low voice as she peered at Kan who had fainted under a low pir some distance away, Jude nodded his head. ¡°We should. As you know, Kan¡¯s ability is not to create Named Monsters. He attracts those that already exist. Perhaps if we came here even without Kan, we would still have fought the named Nazarus.¡± ¡°Umm¡­if you think so, then so be it.¡± ¡°¡­It seems like you¡¯re not doing any thinking nowadays.¡± ¡°Because I have JudeWiki.¡± Cordelia proudly spoke as she posed with her chest out. Afterwards, she looked back at Carac, who hadpletely turned into ash, except for the horns that could be called drop items. ¡°Then, we¡¯ll continue to go together with him?¡± ¡°We will. It¡¯s much better to use Kan¡¯s discovery ability if we¡¯re going to encounter rare mobs anyway.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a relief.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°No, I thought that Kan would suffer a lot if we left him.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it somehow be more troubling for the one who took him along?¡± Nazarus appeared after Lacto. There was no knowing how many more monsters or demons were hiding in the underground of Endymion. ¡°Well¡­let¡¯s think about that as we go. We need to save Lena too. In the first ce, Kan would have already been prepared toe all the way here to the wildnds.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Jude nodded before he picked up the horns of Nazarus which were dropped by Carac. It was an excellent item that could show a glimpse of other people¡¯s memories depending on whether it was processed or not. ¡®It¡¯s worth the trouble.¡¯ Gaining experience was also quite good. Jude grinned as she said to Cordelia. ¡°Let¡¯s go wake up Kan and continue moving. There might be other monsters who have heard the sounds of fighting.¡± ¡°Yes, sir!¡± Cordelia saluted like a soldier and ran towards Kan, and Jude turned around as he stared beyond the darkness from where Carac came out. Lacto and the named Nazarus, Carac. Why were they here? Who summoned them? ¡®Lena.¡¯ The hero of the first episode of Legend of Heroes who had died in Endymion. Jude turned back towards Cordelia. He stepped forward to help her pull the groaning Kan. *** At a different ce at the same time¡­ Ga?l and Adelia were heading towards the vige of the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe at a time when Jude and Cordelia were traveling with the fainted Kan. However, their positions were a little different from usual. ¡°Ahem, ahem, is it ufortable?¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine. What about Lord Ga?l?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine too.¡± Red Gale had given them only one stag (male deer). Ga?l stiffly sat in front as he looked forward, and Adelia buried her face on Ga?l¡¯s back as she thought with her lips curled up. ¡®It couldn¡¯t be helped.¡¯ Because the wildnd was unbelievably cold. They had to rely on each other¡¯s body temperature. Moreover, it would be a disaster if she fell off the deer. ¡®Yes, that¡¯s it. It¡¯s a rational and valid enough reason.¡¯ Having convinced herself, Adelia¡¯s lips curled up again, and she hugged Ga?l¡¯s waist a little stronger. And in another ce¡­ In a ce near the border. Inside the territory of the S?len Kingdom. It was ce for a man who did not know that Jude and Cordelia, as well as Ga?l and Adelia, have already crossed the border. ¡°There is nothing like this that could invigorate the body. Just a bottle of this would¡­¡± Count Chase¡¯s eyes narrowed at the words of the merchant who continued his passionate exnation while turning here and there. What was in front of him was a special potion made by processing a giant eel, which was said to be only caught in the northern part of the S?len Kingdom. ¡°This is a secret, but my brother-inw ate this and now, he had twins¡­¡± ¡°Ahem.¡± As Count Chase¡¯s eyes narrowed even more, the excitedly talking merchant shut his mouth. Although he diligently and loudly spoke about his wares, the existence of Count Chase seemed scary. He was tall and had a well-trained body, which was unimaginable for a wizard. His terrifying eyes and serious expression seemed to be able to kill one or two people with just a look of his eyes. ¡°¡­Give me.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Give me two.¡± ¡°Two?¡± ¡°Two.¡± Two, not one. One might not be enough. ¡°Thank you! I¡¯ll wrap it up right away!¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± Count Chase nodded to the merchant who started packing the potions, and his mind was briefly troubled. He had concerns regarding the whereabouts of Ga?l and Adelia, as well as Jude and Cordelia, but what upied his mind now was something different. ¡®I need to get a new bag.¡¯ The bag that he brought was already full before he knew it. As he slowly nodded his head, Count Chase turned his attention to the other items on the shelves. He couldn¡¯t just put two bottles in his new bag. ¡°What is that?¡± ¡°Ah, speaking of that¡­¡± The merchant¡¯s exnation continued again, and Count Chase listened with a serious attitude, as a small but satisfied smile came to his face. Chapter 83: Returnees (1)

Chapter 83: Returnees (1)

Last chapter for the week. See you on Monday! Jude and Cordelia entered one of the empty rooms near the entrance and sat down in a corner after thoroughly searching the surrounding area. They were behind arge fallen stone pir, which hid them from sight when viewed from the entrance of the room. ¡°Shall we wake him up now?¡± When Jude nodded at her question that was said in a low voice, Cordelia immediately ced her hand on the fainted Kan¡¯s forehead. ¡°.¡± ¡°Gasp!¡± As soon as the spell was cast, Kan opened his eyes at once and gasped. ¡°Haaak! T-this is?! What about the snake? What about the monster?!¡± ¡°Jude and I defeated it. So please calm down. It¡¯s safe here.¡± Cordelia gently smiled and spoke in a soft tone, and Kan gulped and nodded his head. ¡°Have you calmed down?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve calmed down. Huuu, I¡¯m fine.¡± Kan nodded as his cheeks lightly flushed, and Jude, who had been quietly watching, cut in. ¡°Ahem, ahem, Sir Kan.¡± ¡°Jude. No, Sir Jude.¡± ¡°You can just call me Jude.¡± ¡°Then, Jude.¡± Kan was, for some unknown reason, fidgeting. He wondered if Kan was bashful and enamored of Cordelia¡¯s beautiful face which transcended race, but that was thoroughly Jude¡¯s opinion. There seemed to be something else. ¡°Sir Kan?¡± Cordelia asked as she tilted her head, and Kan tightly clenched his fists and breathed several times before he made a resolution. He prostrated as if he had made a mistake and then said. ¡°It¡¯s all my fault.¡± The moment they came down to the underground, they met a powerful monster. Furthermore, it was Kan himself who found the way down to the underground. Cordelia smiled and said that they defeated it, but it must not have been easy. She might not know it, but it must have been a life-threatening fight. ¡°I¡¯m really sorry. I¡¯m really, really sorry.¡± All of this happened because of Kan himself. Because these things always happened wherever Kan goes. As he desperately apologized, Kan thought. What would happen if even Cordelia and Jude hate him? No matter how kind-hearted the two were like angels, in the end, the two were still humans. ¡®It might be better to go on separate ways like this.¡¯ He thought that he wouldn¡¯t be able to stand it if Cordelia told him that she didn¡¯t want to apany him anymore, or that this was really Kan¡¯s fault himself. ¡®Let¡¯s go on separate ways.¡¯ Let¡¯s move separately. It¡¯s better that way. It¡¯s right to do so. So- ¡°It¡¯s okay, Sir Kan. It¡¯s not your fault.¡± Kan flinched. He had no choice but to flinch. Cordelia¡¯s voice was the same as before. No, it was rather be more kind thanst time. ¡°But¡­¡± ¡°Cordelia is right.¡± Jude helped raise Kan up and then looked at him straight into the eyes. His eyes were full of fear. Yet his eyes were like that of a child who had not given up hope for their kindness. ¡®Is that it?¡¯ Jude realized it now. The Kan who appeared in the middle of Legend of Heroes 2 was always smiling, but he never allowed anyone to be near his heart. Although it was possible topel him to follow like stalking, it was impossible to make him apanion. Because the wounds were repeated. Because he had closed his heart due to not wanting to be hurt anymore. He was a man who always pretended to be bright and had a false smile, but his insides were tormented, and he felt worthless and empty. But not yet. It was possible to change Kan¡¯s future now. ¡®Of course¡­it may be useless meddling but¡­¡¯ But even so. ¡®And one more.¡¯ Jude nced back at Cordelia. Her gaze at Kan was full of sadness. So he had to say it. He had to protect Kan¡¯s heart for Cordelia¡¯s sake. ¡°Is Sir Kan a god?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°You¡¯re literally a god.¡± ¡°That¡­like a god of disasters¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like that. A true god. Or someone with divine powers.¡± Kan shook his head at Jude¡¯s serious question. ¡°No.¡± ¡°Yes, Kan is just an ordinary dwarf. No, you¡¯re special because you became a lifelong professor at the institutional academy at such a young age¡­but you¡¯re still a dwarf.¡± It was not a disparaging remark. It was an enumeration of facts. ¡°You are not god. You may have bad luck, but that¡¯s it. Does Sir Kan create monsters? Can you create and summon monsters that do not exist? No, it¡¯s not. That¡¯s impossible. Sir Kan is not a god but a dwarf. You just ran into the monsters who were originally there.¡± Kan bit his lips. A faint smile was drawn on Jude¡¯s face. ¡°It¡¯s not Sir Kan¡¯s fault. Saying that it¡¯s Kan¡¯s fault¡­that¡¯s rather arrogant. Who is Sir Kan? He¡¯s just a dwarf with moist and attractive eyes.¡± Kan¡¯s eyes turned red at Jude¡¯s words. It wasn¡¯t much, but Jude had told him the words he really wanted to hear and what no one else had said. ¡°So don¡¯t apologize anymore. Okay?¡± ¡°Okay¡­I understand.¡± Kan sniffled and replied before he eventually broke down in tears, and Jude patted Kan on the shoulder and turned to Cordelia. ¡®Good job.¡¯ Cordelia gave a thumbs up and widely smiled, and Jude was satisfied. After patting Kan on the shoulder once again, a small smile formed on his face. Cordelia¡¯s smile was kept, but it was also because of his own feelings of satisfaction about something in his mind. ¡®Aplete happy ending.¡¯ The best ending where everyone was happy. Jude smiled again at the thought that came to his mind, and he waited for Kan¡¯s crying to cease. And a dozen minutester¡­ ¡°Are you fine now?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine. I¡¯ve shown you something embarrassing.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, it¡¯s just between us.¡± Cordelia mischievouslyughed and said, and Kan began to be flustered as his cheeks reddened again, and Jude cut in for the second time. ¡°Ahem, ahem, anyway, Sir Kan.¡± ¡°Yes, Jude.¡± ¡°We n to continue the exploration as it is.¡± Jude and Cordelia had yet to find any clues about Lena. They absolutely couldn¡¯t leave Endymion while that was the case. But not for Kan. ¡°This is the second time we¡¯ve encountered a monster from hell in Endymion. Perhaps there are a few more of those monsters roaming around Endymion.¡± It was a very dangerous ce. At Jude¡¯s exnation, Kan gulped and nodded his head. Because he roughly understood what Jude was trying to say. ¡®Let¡¯s go back.¡¯ Because he would only be a burden if they went together. ¡°Okay¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s why this is our selfish request from here on. Sir Kan, will you continue to explore with us?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°It is as we had said. Cordelia and I belong to the academy, but we are still very inexperienced. It would be a great help if you could join us as a veteran archeologist, Sir Kan.¡± Jude wasn¡¯t just talking with the Kan effect in mind. Endymion was an area that did not even appear as a cinematic movie in Legend of the Heroes 2. Therefore, even if Jude and Cordelia were rotten waters, they would inevitably have difficulties in exploration. Even if Jude was knowledgeable about stars, he knew little about archeology or exploring ruins. But Kan was different. Kan¡¯s archeological knowledge and exploration experience would definitely be of great help. ¡°May I ask you a favor?¡± ¡°Please.¡± Kan immediately nodded when Cordelia spoke at the end. Because it was the first time he was asked to continue the expedition together, despite already having an ident once. ¡®No, that¡¯s not all.¡¯ He wanted to be helpful to Jude and Cordelia. He thought he could do anything for the two who were like angels that came down on earth. ¡°I¡¯m not good enough, but I¡¯ll be with you. I¡¯ll try to help.¡± As Kan¡¯s eyes burned with enthusiasm, Jude was satisfied, and Cordelia breathed a sigh of relief. ¡®Fortunately, he didn¡¯t lose his motivation.¡¯ ¡®You¡¯re right.¡¯ In any case, Cordelia was kind. After thinking about Cordelia again, Jude proceeded with the conversation. ¡°I¡¯m thinking of going inside a little more. The map of Endymion that we found does not show this ce, but I think it is roughly connected in this way when viewed on arger scale.¡± Jude opened the map and talked, and Kan nodded with a very serious face, while Cordelia took a step back and began to look around. Thinking was Jude¡¯s role. And in fact, Jude was thinking of several things at the same time. One of them was the origin of the monsters from hell that began to appear in Endymion¡¯s underground. ¡®The most likely is a demon summoning.¡¯ Over a thousand years had already passed since Endymion¡¯s destruction. It was hard to think that the demons who had destroyed Endymion in the past would still have remained here. ¡®If they were summoned, was it the Devil¡¯s Eye?¡¯ The Devil¡¯s Eye were the only demon followers who were active in the wildnds. But then, there was something that was a little strange. Why did they summon the demon in Endymion? Wouldn¡¯t it have been better to do the summoning in the main camp or thend of the attacking wild gods? A considerable sacrifice was needed for demon summoning, and sacrifices didn¡¯t just rise from the ground. In arger scale, it was amodity that was scarce after all. ¡®What I can think of is the distinct characteristics of Endymion.¡¯ It was thend where the overlord of hell came down in the past. Maybe it was and that had something advantageous for summoning demons. ¡®The Devil¡¯s Eye, the newly summoned demons, and Lena.¡¯ Lena fought to the death in Raptor Canyon, not Endymion. Maybe she had a big fight against the Devil¡¯s Eye and the demons in Endymion¡¯s underground? As a result she wiped out the demons in Endymion, but she was also seriously injured and ended up losing her life. It was quite a usible hypothesis, but in the end, it was only a hypothesis. He had to move to confirm the truth. ¡°Let¡¯s begin again.¡± They finished talking about the route while they were taking some rest. ¡°Go-go-go.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take the lead.¡± Cordelia and Kan stood up from their spots and said, and Jude nodded his head. Although Kan fainted in every battle, he was a man who had ovee many crises. They were able to easily proceed while carefully not making any sounds. Thus, thirty minutes passed. Jude praised himself for his decision to join Kan. Because Kan discovered a secret path that was hidden in the dead end. ¡°This way.¡± Since it was a secret door frequented by the slender elves, it was a little hard for Kan, whose body was shaped like a keg, but it was not to the point where he couldn¡¯t pass through it. ¡°It seems like a real secret passage. It¡¯s like a drama theatre.¡± As she whispered very small on Jude¡¯s ear, Cordelia pointed at their feet. There was a floor about seven meters down, and where the party was standing now was above the ceiling with holes on it. Although it was a stone floor, it reminded Cordelia of the scaffolding that hang from the ceiling of the theatre. ¡®I¡¯ll keep going.¡¯ It was the moment when Kan expressed his intention using a hand signal instead of speaking as he began to take a step. ¡®! !¡¯ Cordelia hurriedly reached out to Kan and cast two spells, while Jude held his breath and focused his consciousness on his hearing. They had heard footsteps. Jude and Cordelia had be more sensitive to things happening on the ground than before, perhaps due to the Earth Protection. ¡®Monsters.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t one or two. There seemed to be about a dozen monsters like Lacto and Nazarus that were moving together. It was more than they imagined. Moreover, seeing the magic lights lit up everywhere, it was highly likely that they had been using this path for a long time. ¡®Let¡¯s wait.¡¯ The group let them pass by. No matter how strong Jude and Cordelia were, that number was too much. Cordelia nodded at Jude¡¯s eye signal. Kan couldn¡¯t move because he was paralyzed, but thanks to that, he was able to stay still. They stood still like that. They waited for the monsters to pass by¡­ ¡°Ceiling!¡± A Nazarus suddenly shouted, and the Lactos wielded their whips at once. It was right under their feet, so they didn¡¯t even have time to react. Craaaaash-! The ceiling copsed. Jude hurriedly flew with Kan in his arms after Cordelia cast magic. It was impossible to go back the way they came from because of the Lacto¡¯s whipping here and there. Boom! Thud! Crash! Debris fell and crashed onto the floor. Because of that, some of the Nazaruses and Lactos were distracted as they avoided the falling rocks, and Jude and Cordelia used that opportunity. ¡°Run!¡± An all-out battle was too much. As soon as he touched the floor, Jude ran like a gale, and Cordelia repeatedly chanted spells right after casting several times. ¡°!¡± ¡°!¡± ¡°!¡± She made the floor slippery. She froze the air to make a thin wall of ice and made the floor rise to block the path. However, all of these were just temporary measures. The Lactos avoided the greased area by flying low, and then literally threw themselves to destroy the ice wall and the rising floor. ¡°Continue!¡± But it was not without effect. To widen the distance even a little, Cordelia continued to cast spells. Jude ran while carrying Kan as he checked the surroundings. ¡®It¡¯s a ce on the map!¡¯ It was in his memory. So he could imagine the path they should take. ¡°! !¡± She even mobilized the Spell¡¯s Echo, and in an instant, fouryers of stone walls were created. Jude thought of an escape route, or to be exact, a route where they could get rid of those who were following them. Because it was a path that forked into two, their pursuers would have to make a good choice. But it was at that moment. [This way!] A sharp voice rang in their minds. It was magic. Who was it? Where did ite from? ¡°Over there!¡± Cordelia figured it out through her instincts. Jude turned his gaze, and at that moment, a stone wall that was muchrger than Cordelia¡¯s rose from the floor. Baaang! The stone wall that rose with a terrifying speed then crashed into the ceiling. A session of clouds that came from somewhere covered the stone wall. [Hurry!] It was the magic once again. ¡°This way!¡± Cordelia ran, and Jude erased the map from his head. Her beastly instinct was also an intuition, but she was a wizard. Her ability to feel and understand magic was far superior than that of Jude. Boooom! Loud noises came from their backs. At the same time, they also heard the roars of the monsters. They had to hurry. Jude looked straight ahead, and Cordelia pulled on Jude¡¯s shoulder. Like that, he threw himself straight at the wall on his side. Swooosh-! It wasn¡¯t the noise of an impact. Instead of crashing into the wall, Jude and Cordelia went past through the wall and crashed into the floor. ¡°Gaak!¡± Kan squawked as he fell on his stomach, and while protecting Cordelia in a hurry, or to be exact, Jude hugged her and put her on top of himself. Having seeded in protecting her, Jude breathed a sigh of relief. And above such Jude¡¯s chest, Cordelia raised her head and swallowed her breath. She swiftly raised her upper body from Jude¡¯s chest. What happened? No, he understood. Therefore, with Cordelia still on his chest, Jude turned his head and looked at the same ce as her. The reason why Cordelia swallowed her breath. The person who made her cheeks blush in excitement. ¡°Lena.¡± A blonde woman with a gray hood over her head stood before their eyes. Chapter 84: Returnees (2)

Chapter 84: Returnees (2)

Lena. Her full name is Lena Ainsburg. She was the favorite disciple of Bardo Ainsburg, a royal wizard of the Paragon Kingdom. For Bardo who had been single all his life, she was no different from a real daughter, and the orphan Lena also treated Bardo like her real father. Though her beginnings in magic were rtivelyte, she had an earnest desire to repay Bardo¡¯s guidance in cultivating her innate magic talent, and perhaps most importantly, his self-sacrifice for her. She officially earned the wizard position at the very young age of 15 and then entered the Grey Tower, where Bardo also studied at, and aplished the feat ofpleting the whole schstic course in just 3 years. ¡®Master.¡¯ Eighteen. The still young girl went home to meet her beloved teacher and father, Bardo, with a smile on her face. It was unimaginable for her that the end of her journey would be marked by tragedy. When Jude recalled the story of Lena that was depicted in the first episode of Legend of Heroes, Cordelia gasped and stared at Lena. ¡®It¡¯s really Lena.¡¯ She was Lena whom she liked after Cordelia. Or rather, if Lena had actually been a yable character in Legend of Heroes 2, Yellow Storm would have been greatly troubled in choosing between Cordelia and Lena. So when Cordelia faced the real Lena in person, her head went nk in that instant. ¡®I like her so much.¡¯ She just liked her so much. She was so happy because she liked her so much. Cordelia was smiling so affectionately to the extent that Jude, who looked at her, felt like his heart ached. But Lena didn¡¯t see what Cordelia and Jude were feeling underneath. ¡°This ce is dangerous. There is no guarantee that I can help you several times. So please leave this city as soon as possible.¡± With her hood down, she blurted those words and turned around, bing light and disappearing before Jude and Cordelia could say anything. ¡°Lena!¡± Cordelia urgently cried, but she was already gone. White light particles scattered as if the fact that Lena had just stood there was just an illusion itself. ¡°Shadow magic.¡± Or to be exact, Shadow Clone Arts. It was a magic that created a doppelganger and was one of Lena¡¯s ultimate skills that can be learned in thest half of the first episode of Legend of Heroes. ¡®She was originally able to make it only within her field of view.¡¯ Now, they couldn¡¯t even guess how far the main body was from the doppelganger. It seemed that Landius and Kamael were not the only ones who became monsters in 10 years. ¡°Uh¡­Lena.¡± As Cordelia was about to cry, Jude turned his head back to her and said. ¡°It¡¯s still a sign. Because it means that Lena is alive and that she is certainly somewhere in Endymion.¡± It was not toote yet. There was still a chance to save Lena. At Jude¡¯s exnation, Cordelia quickly looked at him. ¡°Can you find where she is?¡± ¡°I can find her. So can you get off me first?¡± It wasn¡¯t because she was that heavy or that he hated it, but he¡¯d be able to move more freely once he got up. Cordelia quickly nodded, got off Jude¡¯s chest, and then sat down. ¡°Ah, right! Sir Kan! Are you all right?¡± ¡°Mmf, mmf! Mmmf! Kan still had and cast on him. Feeling sorry for Kan wriggling on the floor, Cordelia hurried to him. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯ll release you in a minute.¡± ¡°Mmf-mmf.¡± While Cordelia released the magic spells on Kan¡­ Jude stood up and focused his attention beyond the illusionary wall. Fortunately, he could not feel the presence of monsters. Lena¡¯s magic seemed to have tricked them into going somewhere else. ¡®Is this illusionary wall originally part of Endymion itself?¡¯ Something that originally existed in Endymion, and not made by Lena herself. ¡®Did Lena activate it¡­or was it activated when the monsters awakened the functions of Endymion?¡¯ There were magical lights in the hallways where the monsters passed. Whether it was Lena, the monsters, or the Devil¡¯s Eyes who wanted to summon monsters, someone seemed to have restored Endymion¡¯s city facilities. ¡®Lena must be somewhere in Endymion.¡¯ Lena used expressions such as ¡®this ce is dangerous¡¯ and ¡®leave this city.¡¯ If Lena was outside the city, she would have used expressions such as ¡®the city,¡¯ ¡®that ce,¡¯ or ¡®there.¡¯ ¡®It sounds like a simple pun, but her words are understandable.¡¯ T/N: ¡®The city,¡¯ ¡®that ce,¡¯ and ¡®there¡¯ all sound simr in Korean, though I personally feel that it¡¯s more of a tongue twister than a pun. Lena was somewhere in Endymion. Then, where was she? What was she doing in Endymion, and what is going on in Endymion? ¡®Angel¡¯s Feather.¡¯ There was a white feather in the ce where Lena disappeared. It was not ordinary bird feather but was evidently that of the angel Lena¡¯s feather. ¡®Is that the core of her doppelganger?¡¯ It was when Jude was looking at the white feather that was slightly emitting light. ¡°Jude, Jude.¡± Having even cast a recovery magic on Kan, Cordelia approached him in quick steps. As soon as Jude turned around, she hastily spoke. ¡°Lena came to help us because we were in danger, right? So if we¡¯re in danger again, won¡¯t Lena appear?¡± It was quite a usible suggestion. It was possible if Lena¡¯s character was as good as the saint in stories. But Jude shook his head right away. ¡°It¡¯s too dangerous.¡± There was no guarantee that Lena could respond to every danger. Lena didn¡¯t even appear when they fought the named Nazarus back then. ¡°But¡­¡± ¡°Let¡¯s find another way.¡± If this was a game, he would have epted Cordelia¡¯s suggestion. But this was reality. Even if he knew that it was the only way, he couldn¡¯t gamble with his only life. ¡°Cordelia, that¡¯s Lena¡¯s feather. Would it be possible to use that to trace her?¡± Cordelia frowned at Jude¡¯s expectant question, and soon shook her head. ¡°That¡¯s unreasonable. I can¡¯t think of any magic that I can use for that now.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± ¡°That¡­if it¡¯s tracing back, there¡¯s a way.¡± At thosest words, Jude and Cordelia simultaneously turned their heads. The barely recovered Kan wiped his sweaty head and stuttered. ¡°I¡¯m not sure¡­but have you ever heard of the name ¡®Begio¡¯?¡± Begio. Jude and Cordelia blinked once and then looked at each other. Nobody said anything first. ¡°Ah.¡± ¡°Aaah.¡± ¡°Aah!¡± ¡°Ah.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± ¡°Jude? Miss Cordelia?¡± When Kan felt left out between the two who couldmunicate with just their eyes, Jude opened his mouth again. ¡°Begio. That¡¯s right, Begio. There was that.¡± ¡°Will we find Lena if we had Begio?¡± ¡°I guess.¡± There was even a feather here. As Jude nodded, Cordelia jumped up from her position and ran straight to Kan, hugging his head. ¡°You¡¯re the best, Kan! I¡¯m d Kan¡¯s here!¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem. Uh, ahem.¡± With his head buried in Cordelia¡¯s chest, Kan blushed and cleared his throat, and Jude¡¯s eyes narrowed as he counted numbers. ¡®One, two, three.¡¯ This was enough. Jude stealthily came closer and stopped the hug by pulling Cordelia¡¯s arm before he quickly spoke. ¡°Sir Kan is right. If we have Begio, we can find Lena.¡± ¡°But that¡­we have to first look for Begio¡­¡± Although he promptly said it, it was actually not easy to find Begio. Kan himself knew little about the Begio¡¯s habitat somewhere in Raptor Canyon. But not for Jude and Cordelia. ¡°I know where Begio is.¡± ¡°I know exactly who has Begio, and how to meet them.¡± Mystical beast Begio. A magical beast who could track even small traces of mana as small as fingernails. ¡°Oh! Is that true?¡± ¡°It¡¯s true.¡± Cordelia replied with a big smile and looked back at Jude to confirm, and Jude nodded his head. ¡®Because they were the ones who raised the Begios in Legend of Heroes.¡¯ So he assumed that they would have raised it here in reality. ¡°Where should we go? It¡¯s clear that something big has happened to Endymion, given that the monsters are going around like this. Getting out of the city may not be easy.¡± Unlike Jude and Cordelia, Kan was absolutelycking information on their current situation, but he was not a lifelong professor at the institutional academy for no reason. Despite their insufficient information, Jude smiled big and replied in a coherent manner. ¡°We don¡¯t have to go out of the citypletely. We can go to a ce that is marked on the map. What¡¯s more¡­it¡¯s not too far away.¡± Having said that, Jude opened Endymion¡¯s map for Cordelia and Kan, and Cordelia soon pointed to a ce marked by a checkmark. ¡°We have to go here.¡± ¡°There¡­what is there?¡± When Kan blinked and asked, Jude and Cordelia exchanged nces, and soon, Cordelia ced her hands on her hips and said. ¡°Bathhouse.¡± *** ¡°How¡¯s the temperature?¡± ¡°Just good. How about your blindfold?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t see anything, so I might fall. Can I take it off for a second?¡± ¡°Hmph, no.¡± Cordelia giggled and looked elsewhere before she said. ¡°Sir Kan, please be patient even if it feels ufortable.¡± ¡°It¡¯s all right.¡± Inside the bathhouse located outside Endymion. Just like the hot springs in the canyon, this ce was well maintained. Jude and Kan sat on an empty bathtub with blindfolds on, while Cordelia prepared to take a bath in front of a bathtub filled with hot water. ¡°Now then, shall we start?¡± After entering the bathtub, Cordelia began washing herself with hot water. It was an act that was questionable since monsters from hell were wandering around Endymion¡¯s underground, but in fact, it could be called a very important ceremony. ¡°Hmm~ hmm~ hmm~¡± The humming Cordelia began to wash her hair, and Jude cleared his throat and said. ¡°Cordelia, are you going to keep bathing?¡± ¡°Tsk, I¡¯m just washing my hair.¡± The chance to take a hot bath didn¡¯t juste at any time. Cordelia washed her hair with great care, deeply took a breath, and then uttered a magic spell to call the fairies. ¡°Twinkle, twinkle little star~ Shining beautifully~ In the western sky~ Eh, they came.¡± She was used to it by now. ¡°Wow! So pretty!¡± ¡°Really pretty!¡± ¡°But haven¡¯t we met her before?¡± ¡°We have met.¡± Thest one was Cordelia. After getting up from the bathtub, she dried her body with magic and told the wild fairies looking up at her with sparkling eyes. ¡°Would you like to y with me?¡± ¡°Eh! That¡¯s surprising!¡± ¡°What are we going to y?¡± As the wild fairies jumped and shouted in the bathtub, Cordelia slowly nodded. After peeking at Kan and Jude who flinched at the voices of the fairies, she dressed herself and then said. ¡°First.¡± ¡°First?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s see the Queen.¡± ¡°The Queen?¡± ¡°The Queen.¡± A viinous smile spread over Cordelia¡¯s face. *** The Wild Fairy Queen. Having rich blonde hair like that of a lion¡¯s mane, she was lying in bed and rxing. She was a fairy one way or another, but if the other fairies were kids, as a queen, she was a girl. Therefore, she had not yet fully recovered from the aftermath of a stormy pair who had swept through them just a while ago. ¡®I feel tired.¡¯ It was mental fatigue and not physical fatigue. A subtle feeling of having solved a problem but not having solved it. She felt dejected every time she saw the almost empty warehouse of the High Elves. ¡®No, it¡¯s not something that we can use in the first ce.¡¯ There was something though. There was something that she really felt. ¡®Anyway, it¡¯s all over.¡¯ That¡¯s it. Yes, yes, that¡¯s it. The Fairy Queen thought like a fairy and tried to fall into a deep sleep. But it was at that moment. ¡°Queen!¡± ¡°Queen!¡± ¡°Queen!¡± The Fairy Queen opened her eyes in surprise at the sounds of the fairies calling her and was even more surprised that she fell out of her bed. Because there was a beautiful human girl among the fairies. ¡°Queen! I missed you!¡± When Cordelia brightly smiled, her face was so pretty and lovely that the Fairy Queen unconsciously smiled but it was for a moment only. ¡°Uh¡­aren¡¯t you done with your business already? You¡¯ve been rewarded.¡± You¡¯re not asking for more rewards, right? You also have a conscience, right? Cordelia said with a bright smile again at the Fairy Queen¡¯s question. ¡°I¡¯m not here for rewards. We have already received enough.¡± ¡°Is that so? Yes, I knew right away that you were good children.¡± Having been assured that she didn¡¯te to get rewards, the Fairy Queen graciously smiled. But it was too early to judge. ¡°I don¡¯t need rewards, but I need help.¡± ¡°Help?¡± ¡°Yes, the Queen¡¯s help. It¡¯s very, very important. In a way, it¡¯s actually also for the fairies, and not us, who¡¯ll be helped. Rather, we¡¯ll help the fairies.¡± The fairies would receive help. It was a word choice that made her feel something ominous, but the Fairy Queen decided to listen to Cordelia¡¯s story first. ¡°Let¡¯s talk.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡± After taking a deep breath, like what she learned from Jude, Cordelia began her scam¡­no, she began her story. Chapter 85: Returnees (3)

Chapter 85: Returnees (3)

While Cordelia met with the Wild Fairy Queen, Jude took off his blindfold and left the bathhouse with Kan. ¡°Let¡¯s go back to the underground and join Cordelia there.¡± Their exact destination was the bridge where Lacto had appeared, the ce where the Fairy Queen had requested the two to get rid of Lacto. There was no bridge now, but the other side was still connected to the outskirts of Endymion. ¡°To be able to secretly meet the fairies in this way¡­it would be a great study. When I get backter, I must try it in a ce where there are fairy legends.¡± ¡°Uh¡­yes. Good luck.¡± It would probably be difficult. A girl who was as beautiful and lovely as Cordelia would not bemon even in the vast empire. ¡®It¡¯s not because of bean pods.¡¯ T/N: This is aeback of the Korean idiom, ¡®One¡¯s eyes are covered with bean pods¡¯, that was used on Episode 76.1. It means ¡®to only see the good in someone after falling in love with them.¡¯ Aftering up with such an excuse to himself, Jude opened his mouth again. ¡°Moving on, it¡¯s still in a rtively safe area, so I¡¯d like to tell you of some information we know.¡± ¡°Does that have something to do with the situation right now?¡± ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right. In fact¡­we are not just affiliated with the Academy.¡± Kan nodded at Jude¡¯s words. Because he had seen with his own eyes the powers of Jude and Cordelia, who were too powerful to be just undergraduate students. ¡°We actually have a connection with the Guardians of the Holy Cross.¡± ¡°Ah! I see!¡± The Guardians of the Holy Cross, who were active throughout the continent, engaged in fierce battles against the demon followers. ¡°I understand now.¡± Why the two came to Endymion. Why the hearts of the two were so beautiful. ¡®A female saint and a holy man.¡¯ ¡®There seems to be some misunderstanding, but since it doesn¡¯t look bad, let¡¯s just leave it.¡¯ When their thoughts were over, the two resumed their conversation. ¡°The woman we met earlier was Lena Ainsburg. Have you heard of her?¡± ¡°Of course. How could I not know one of the five heroes of the Paragon Kingdom, the Holy Angel Lena?¡± Though there were many stories about the tragedy of the Paragon Kingdom, the incident itself was widely known throughout the continent. It was a great event since an entire kingdom was destroyed by the Demon Prince who was summoned from hell. ¡°She¡¯s as famous as the Iron Man Landius or the Ghostde Kamael.¡± Holy Angel Lena. She was thest angel who was born and raised on Pleaides. Among the five heroes of the Paragon Kingdom with all kinds of nicknames, she was the only woman and was symbolized as an ¡®angel.¡¯ That was why she always yed the beautiful heroine in the songs of bards who sang about the tragedy of the Paragon Kingdom. ¡°I never nned to meet Lena here. We came here to investigate¡­but somehow, something bigger than we had expected is happening here in Endymion.¡± With a serious face, Kan nodded at Jude¡¯s exnation. They had already seen that many monsters from hell. ¡°That¡¯s all I can exin right now.¡± ¡°That¡¯s enough. I¡¯ll do my best to help you.¡± Kan thumped on his chest and stepped forward with enthusiasm, and Jude felt a strange satisfaction at Kan¡¯s appearance that was quite different from the game. And time passed. After following the map, Jude and Kan were finally able to arrive on the opposite side of the bridge. ¡°Ah! Jude is here!¡± Cordelia was sitting on the ground and chatting with the fairies before she jumped up from her seat and said. The appearance of her brightly smiling and waving her hand was a heartwarming sight for Jude. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Our talks went well. Isn¡¯t that right, Your Majesty?¡± When Cordelia quickly asked the Wild Fairy Queen sitting on her shoulder, she nodded. ¡°I heard everything from Cordelia. You were really working hard for us fairies. As the Queen of the Wild Fairies, I wish to express my gratitude to the both of you.¡± At the words of the Wild Fairy Queen, Kan blinked his eyes, wondering what she was talking about, but not for Jude. Because Cordelia smiled and sent a gaze saying that she worked hard. ¡®I did a good job, didn¡¯t I?¡¯ ¡®Good job. I¡¯ll stamp it for youter.¡¯ ¡®Bullsh*t.¡¯ T/N: To those who didn¡¯t get it, some teachers stamp ¡®good job¡¯ to the papers of students who did a good job on something. However, Cordelia¡¯s smile grew wider as if she was satisfied. What Cordelia did was actually simple. ¡®It¡¯s not totally a scam.¡¯ Something unusual was indeed happening in Endymion¡¯s underground. The appearance of Lacto was not a coincidence. More demons would appear in the fairies¡¯ territory if they had left it unattended. ¡®I can¡¯t let the fairies be in danger. In order to protect the fairies¡¯ territory, Jude and I will investigate it. It would be very dangerous, but we¡¯ll still do it. For the safety of the fairies and the Queen!¡¯ There was a slight change in the order of events, and some beautiful words were added, but it wasn¡¯t a lie. After all, if they saved Lena and solved Endymion¡¯s problem, won¡¯t the fairies be safe? ¡®It¡¯s a win-win situation.¡¯ Dredge a ditch and catch a crawfish. Sweep the yard and pick up coins. T/N: The above two lines are Korean/Chinese proverbs that pretty much has the same meaning of the English idiom, ¡®kill two birds with one stone.¡¯ ¡°I really don¡¯t know what to say. I resented you for a while when you thought of us like that back then¡­¡± ¡°Eh? Resented?¡± ¡°No, no. I never resented you. Of course not.¡± The graceful Fairy Queen was flustered when Jude asked her. But Jude was just joking. She was robbed like that in the first ce, so it wouldn¡¯t make sense if she didn¡¯t feel any resentment. ¡®Anyway, our n still went well.¡¯ The original n was Jude and Cordelia begging the Fairy Queen to lend Begio, and the Fairy Queen granting it out of her gratitude for their sacrifice and service. There was a very big difference between the two. ¡®Particrly if there¡¯s a reward or not.¡¯ Jude¡¯s eyes suddenly shone for a moment, but he pushed his self-interest aside and began talking. ¡°Fairy Queen, as you¡¯ve already heard from Cordelia, Lena Ainsburg, one of the five heroes of the Paragon Kingdom, seems to be somewhere in Endymion. We need to find her.¡± ¡°Yes, I heard about it from Cordelia. You two have worked so hard for us, so it makes sense for us to help you too. My children have already gone to pick up Begio, so they¡¯ll be here soon.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Thank you very much.¡± It was shortly after Jude and the Fairy Queen exchanged an amiable conversation. ¡°Queen! Queen!¡± ¡°We brought Begio!¡± ¡°Good boy, good boy.¡± Thest one was the words of the fairy on top of Begio¡¯s head. ¡°Oooh! It¡¯s a real Begio! It looks exactly like the one in the legend!¡± ¡®Yeah, though it really looks like a golden retriever.¡¯ It was a golden retriever that had a white color and had wings. Begio flew with the fairies on its head and back, and its personality resembled a golden retriever as it was panting with a gentle face. ¡°C-cute. Your Majesty, can I hug it?¡± ¡°You may do so.¡± When the Fairy Queen gave her permission, Cordelia widely smiled and hugged Begio. ¡°Wow, it¡¯s soft. Jude, Jude, it¡¯s cute, right? Right? Kyaa~¡± Her small ¡®kyaa¡¯ at the end was because of Begio. Begio had licked Cordelia¡¯s cheek with its tongue. And so, instead of answering Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude counted numbers in his mind. ¡®One, two, three, four, five.¡¯ Done. That was enough. Three for people and five for animals. Jude interrupted the hug by pulling the scruff of Begio who was in Cordelia¡¯s arms and switched the topic right before anyone could say anything. ¡°Your Majesty, please forgive for hurrying because we don¡¯t have much time.¡± ¡°Yes, I know the urgency of the matter. Begio needs to remember the traces of mana, so can you give me the feather?¡± ¡°Here it is.¡± Jude took out Lena¡¯s feather and the Fairy Queen infused some magic into the feather that was almost the same as her height. ¡°Luke, remember this, okay?¡± At the Queen¡¯s question, the Begio named Luke immediately panted, nodded and wagged its tail. ¡°Yes, good boy.¡± The Queen smiled and said as she looked at Jude again. ¡°The Begio will lead you.¡± ¡°Thank you. And Your Majesty, the introduction waste, but this is Sir Indiana Kan. He is a lifelong professor at the academy in Argon Empire and is a valuablepanion of us.¡± The Fairy Queen gracefully smiled at Kan when Jude introduced him, and Kan blushed and got teary. Because Jude had said that he was a ¡®valuablepanion.¡¯ ¡°Indiana Kan greets the Fairy Queen.¡± When Kan courteously greeted her with a quivering voice, the Fairy Queen answered with an elegant voice. ¡°Indiana Kan, thank you so much for helping us. And¡­since you¡¯re a friend of Jude and Cordelia, it would be reasonable to give you a Protection too.¡± It was when the Fairy Queen who had said so, tried to approach Kan. ¡°No, no. He¡¯s bald.¡± ¡°Potbelly.¡± ¡°Short-heighted.¡± The fairies who brought Begioined and expressed their opposition. They were indeed fairies who highly valued appearances. But the Fairy Queen was a little different. Unlike the other fairies who acted like kids, she was thoughtful and caring so she said to the discouraged Kan. ¡°That¡¯s not true. Look at him too. These beautiful moist eyes. It¡¯s like I¡¯m looking at a jewel.¡± Having said so, the Fairy Queen kissed Kan¡¯s broad forehead. ¡°May the Protection of the Earth be with you.¡± The Fairy Queen¡¯s smile was so benevolent that everyone who saw it would think of her as a saint. ¡°Thank¡­you.¡± Kan fell into a trance and barely expressed his gratitude, and the Fairy Queen giggled like a fairy, flew back, and then said to Jude and Cordelia. ¡°May the protection of the earth be always with you, too.¡± ¡°Thank you, Fairy Queen.¡± ¡°Thank you very much.¡± Jude and Cordelia bowed again, and the Fairy Queen waved her hand at them before taking the fairies back. Just as Jude had said, it was an urgent situation, so they couldn¡¯t dy it any longer. ¡°Come and see me again when you¡¯re done.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°We will!¡± It was questionable if they could receive a reward after returning Begio, but getting rewards was also important. Jude waved his hand at the Fairy Queen and began moving again with Begio in the lead. And quite some time passed. ¡°Woof-woof! Woof-woof-woof!¡± Begio stopped in ce and barked. ¡°What is it saying?¡± Although Jude was familiar with the variousnguages in the Legend of Heroes series, he couldn¡¯t understand the dog¡¯s words. But it was at that moment. Cordelia said as her eyes slightly narrowed. ¡°Uh¡­it seems like it can feel a lot of mana.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± Jude blinked in surprise and asked again, but Cordelia looked at Begio instead of answering. ¡°Luke, are you saying that there are feathers in many ces?¡± ¡°Woof-woof! Woof-woof-woof!¡± ¡°I see. There must be feathers everywhere. I think it¡¯s asking which one to look for.¡± Begio nodded and wagged its tail at Cordelia¡¯s interpretation. The two seemed to be exactly the same. ¡°As expected of a beast. You canmunicate with each other.¡± ¡°Do you want to die?¡± Jude nodded at Cordelia¡¯s cute threat and said after thinking for a moment. ¡°Tell it to follow the one with the greatest trace of mana.¡± ¡°Okay. Luke, follow the one with the greatest trace of mana¡­wait, you can do it too.¡± ¡°No, I thought you¡¯d trante it into beastnguage¡­ Oww! That hurts! It hurts!¡± ¡°Would I hit you if it doesn¡¯t hurt? Woof-woof! Woof-woof-woof!¡± Cordelia snarled and pped Jude¡¯s back before taking a deep breath and speaking to Luke again. ¡°Luke, please.¡± ¡°Woof-woof.¡± Luke nodded and began to move forward again. And quite some time passed by again. The group approached the center of Endymion slowly but surely. While on the move, they encountered the monsters from hell several times, but fortunately, only a few appeared, so the two were able to defeat them without much difficulty. But when a rxing time passed like that¡­ Jude strongly felt that something was out of ce. ¡®It¡¯s strange.¡¯ They encountered several monsters on their way here. There were also five different types. However, there were no demonic humans among them. They hadn¡¯t encountered a single demon follower. He wondered on what had happened. They were no longer outside. They were on the way to the center. ¡®Moreover, the monsters were also strange.¡¯ They had defeated all the monsters they had encountered so far. However, the rm had not sounded yet. There seemed to be no monsters who realized that they were moving. How can this be? If someone had summoned the monsters for a purpose, there would be some organizational structure among the monsters. Why is this happening? What is the cause of this strangeness? ¡°Woof-woof.¡± It was then. Begio barked, and Cordelia nodded with a tense face. ¡°Jude, Lena¡¯s mana feels strong here. And¡­from here on, this seems to be a different section.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s words, Jude quickly opened the map. As she had said, if they left the area they were in right now, they would enter the ¡®underground city,¡¯ the center of the Endymion capital. ¡°On the map, it looks like the city was built in a huge cavity¡­is it like a city of ancient dwarves?¡± When Kan asked in a low voice, Jude nodded. Until now, it had been amon underground facility, but from here on, it was different. It was the beginning of a true underground city with buildings that were tens of thousands of meters in height that were built inside the huge cavity. ¡°Let¡¯s proceed more carefully.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Cordelia replied with a very tense face, spoke quietly as she patted Begio¡¯s back, and Begio began to take the lead again. And a few minutes passed by again. The group arrived in front of an enormous stone gate and unconsciously frowned. ¡°Can you feel it?¡± ¡°I can feel it.¡± Jude could feel it and Cordelia could also feel the demonic mana because of the witch¡¯s power. No, even Kan who was insensitive in that direction could also feel the immense power that was being transmitted beyond the stone gate. What is it? What¡¯s beyond the stone gate that we could even feel this level of power? ¡°It¡¯s not right across the door. It¡¯s far away.¡± Cordelia said after she had closed her eyes and maximized her senses. Jude couldn¡¯t also feel such a power right behind the stone gate. ¡°Lena¡¯s mana is in between that power.¡± It was the link between Lena¡¯s death and some sort of incident in Endymion. Judeposed himself as he took a deep breath before looking back at everyone. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°We¡¯re ready.¡± ¡°Woof-woof.¡± After hearing everyone¡¯s answers, Jude opened the stone door. And immediately afterwards, the moment they saw the sight before their eyes, Jude understood it. He figured out the only answer that could exin all the incongruities up to now. ¡°Hell¡­Gate.¡± It wasn¡¯t something like a summoning. It wasn¡¯t an incident involving the Devil¡¯s Eyes either. The monsters from hell suddenly appeared. They had been wandering around without any chain ofmand. It was natural. They weren¡¯t summoned with a special purpose in the first ce. They just stepped into Endymion through the Hell Gate. In the center of Endymion was a giant magic sphere like the sun. It was something that could be seen at a far distance. The purple aura of hell overflowed between the cracks of that huge space. Chapter 86: Returnees (4)

Chapter 86: Returnees (4)

Short chapter today because tomorrow¡¯s chapter is long. Hell Gate. Something that directly connected hell and this world. That was why there was no need for a separate summoning ceremony. Sacrifices were not necessary as the demons were able to descend on this world through their own power. ¡°No way.¡± Cordelia unconsciously said. Jude agreed. It was too early. The Hell Gate had only appeared in thetter half of Legend of Heroes 2. Fortunately, the Hell Gate was still not in itsplete form. It was currently just a crack, so there was a limit to both the quality and quantity of demons that could cross over. However, it would be catastrophic if left unattended. The moment the Hell Gate reached itsplete form, it would be possible for even the overlords of hell to descend to this world. ¡®So that was why.¡¯ He fully understood it now. The reason why Lena died in Raptor Canyon. It was because of the Hell Gate. Lena must have sacrificed her life to close the Hell Gate. It was a dilemma. If they neglected the Hell Gate, a catastrophe would be unavoidable. But to close the Hell Gate, it required the sacrifice of someone like Lena. ¡®No, let¡¯s not jump into conclusions. That isn¡¯t the only conclusion.¡¯ He had not yet fully grasped the situation. He only knew that Lena had sacrificed herself to close the Hell Gate, but he didn¡¯t know how she closed it or how she used up her power at that time. So it was still too early to give up. Perhaps there was something else. ¡°Woof-woof!¡± It was then. Begio suddenly began to bark, and Jude and Cordelia, who were distracted by the Hell Gate, came to their senses. ¡°Woof-woof! Woof!¡± ¡°Lena! It knows where Lena is! Let¡¯s go after her!¡± They should meet Lena first. They should meet, get some information, and find a way to solve this situation. Cordelia¡¯s words were right. Jude lifted up Kan who was suffering from the energy of hell, and then nced at Cordelia. ¡°Luke! Guide us!¡± ¡°Woof-woof!¡± At Cordelia¡¯smand, Begio began running fast. They all ran forward. It was like they were racing towards the Hell Gate. And Jude saw. The closer they got to the Hell Gate, the more that they could clearly see. There were demons from hell. Between the purple aura of hell and the green aura that resembled poison, they could see the silhouettes of countless monsters. Some of the demons seemed quite powerful. ¡®Less than a hundred.¡¯ It was the number of demons that had already passed through the gate. He wondered if they could fight against that number of monsters even if they had closed the gate. ¡°Woof-woof!¡± ¡°Jude!¡± Begio called their attention again. Cordelia¡¯s call brought Jude to his senses and into the reality in front of them. ¡°Lena.¡± Jude could feel her now. At a ce just two hundred meters away from the Hell Gate located in the middle of the city. Lena was in a five-story building that looked like a tower. He could feel her power. And the other side too. ¡°Kya?¡± At the time of Cordelia¡¯s small scream, Jude felt his vision darken. It was just a short moment, but he lost his body¡¯s freedom and struggled in the air before he saw the light again. ¡°Oww!¡± That was Cordelia. She had fallen from the air andnded on her butt, while Jude safelynded thanks to his special body constitution (Cheonmujiche) and put Kan down before he looked at his front. A person stood there as he had expected. ¡°Haven¡¯t I told you to run away?¡± It was a blonde woman with a gray hood covering the top of her head. She had used politenguage, but her words had a mixture of anger and a little irritation. No, it was more of nervousness. ¡°Now you know. This ce is dangerous. Run away and avoid the monsters. I can¡¯t afford to take care of you!¡± It was a firm tone, as if she would not allow any objections. But Jude didn¡¯t heed her words. Rather, he had to change her mind. And Jude knew what to say. ¡°Landius¡¯ disciple, Jude Bayer, greets you.¡± It was a short statement, but it was enough to shake Lena¡¯s mind. She quickly spoke at the words of Jude. ¡°Can you prove it? No, even if you¡¯re Landius¡¯ real disciple¡­¡± ¡°May the muscles always be with you!¡± It was Cordelia. As she jumped up from her spot and shouted, Begio and Kan suddenly blinked their eyes at the words that seemed like nonsense, and even Jude was embarrassed. But not for Lena. Although it was hard to see her face because of her hood, she evidently became dazed but soon nodded her head. ¡°Landius¡¯ acquaintance¡­moreover, a close acquaintance.¡± Because Landius was the only one who made such an odd greeting. In addition, Landius wished for the protection of muscles only to his really close acquaintances, which was something Jude and Cordelia didn¡¯t know. ¡°Yes! Jude is Landius¡¯ disciple!¡± When Cordelia spoke again, Jude came to his senses and followed up to her words. ¡°Master taught me the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. As I said before, I am Jude Bayer. This is my fianc¨¦e, Cordelia Chase.¡± Lena reacted once again to Jude¡¯s words. Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. After the tragedy of the Paragon Kingdom, Landius dered that he would devote his life in mastering the transcendental being¡¯s martial art. It wasn¡¯t just Lena who was surprised. Kan managed to keep with the current conversation and expressed his shock at somethingpletely different from Lena. ¡°Bayer and Chase! You two were children from the 12 northern families!¡± Among the 12 families in the northern part of the S?len Kingdom, it wasn¡¯t an exaggeration to say that the Bayer and Chase families were particrly well-known. ¡°No, wait. So you¡¯re saying that you are children from the 12 northern families, and at the same time, you are researchers at the capital¡¯s academy and also members of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, and that you¡¯re the current disciple of Iron Man Landius?!¡± ¡°Yes, roughly.¡± They weren¡¯t researchers at the capital¡¯s academy. But Cordelia had be ustomed to ¡®I didn¡¯t lie¡¯ kind of words that she had learned from Jude. In any case, what Kan said didn¡¯t matter right now. Jude stepped closer to Lena and said. ¡°We must close the Hell Gate. It¡¯s still in the early stages, or to be exact, it is close to the end of the first stage and the start of the second stage, so if it continues to grow, it would be a catastrophe. When it reaches the fourth stage and a Demon Prince descends, the tragedy of Paragon will be repeated in the wildnds.¡± Lena already knew about that fact, but Jude had to mention it. It was to convey to Lena that their group was not ignorant about the Hell Gate too. ¡°I¡¯m Landius¡¯ disciple. I¡¯ve inherited the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors though I¡¯ve only been able to open up to the third door. As for Cordelia, she inherited the power of the witch, or more known as the ¡®Witch of the West Forest.¡¯ Whether it¡¯s something small or big, we will help.¡± Lena reacted again to his barrage of words. Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors and the Witch of the West Forest, which was the nickname of the witch who confronted the overlord of hell in the past, was enough to stir her heart. ¡°But¡­but it¡¯s really dangerous.¡± ¡°Of course. It is dangerous. But Master Lena closing the Hell Gate would also be in danger. So please allow us to help. Isn¡¯t there a saying that two heads are better than one?¡± At his sincere words, Lena covered her face with both hands and soon nodded. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s do it together. I think you already know¡­I am Lena Ainsburg.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Jude.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Cordelia!¡± Cordelia quickly followed up after watching Jude convince the anxious Lena. ¡°Jude and Cordelia. The one over there¡­¡± ¡°I-I¡¯m Indiana Kan. I¡¯m a professor at the institutional academy of Argon Empire.¡± Kan stammered a little, but after he introduced himself, Lena nodded and then told Jude and Cordelia again. ¡°I think you¡¯ve already figured out the situation to some extent, so I¡¯ll tell you quickly. As Jude said, the Hell Gate is at the second half of the first stage. If we leave it like this, it will enter into the second stage, and then higher-ss monsters will appear. Named demons will also be able to descend. So we have to close the Hell Gate before that happens.¡± There were two ways to close the Hell Gate., and one of them was the ¡®Heavenly Seal,¡¯ a heavenly spell that the sun god taught when it descended in this world. ¡°Are you going to use the Heavenly Seal?¡± Lena was surprised at Jude¡¯s question but immediately nodded. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. But I wasn¡¯t strong enough to use the Heavenly Seal, so I was working on a n.¡± ¡°You¡¯re¡­not strong enough?¡± Cordelia asked as her eyes blinked. She would react like that because it was the Holy Angel Lena, and not anyone else, who was standing before her. Having acquired the power of an angel through Ancestral Regression, she was no longer human. She was the strongest of the five heroes if one was to only talk about the amount of mana. So it didn¡¯t make sense for Lena to not have enough power to properly use the Heavenly Seal. ¡®There¡¯s something.¡¯ Although the Heavenly Seal was a spell that required an enormous amount of mana, it did not require enough power to the point that it would take Lena¡¯s life. But Lena sealed the Hell Gate and died from exhausting her power. Why? What is the missing link between the two? And one more. How did Lena know about it and came here? As Jude himself and Lena had said several times now, the Hell Gate was around the second half of the first stage. At this stage, the power of hell did not leak out of Endymion. Even the Fairy Queen, whose territory was currently at the outskirts of Endymion, did not know about the existence of the Hell Gate. But how did Lena know about it? By chance? When Lena came to Endymion, the Hell Gate was already opened? It wasn¡¯t an impossible situation. But other questions arose here. Who opened the Hell Gate? Why was the Hell Gate opened? These questions were listed in Jude¡¯s mind. Lena¡¯s death. Lena¡¯s condition of being unable to properly use the Heavenly Seal. Lena finding out that the Hell Gate was opened in Endymion faster than anyone else. Instead of asking someone for help, she handled the situation alone. ¡®The Hell Gate. The reason why the Hell Gate opened.¡¯ During the time when Lena hesitated to immediately answer Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude made a deduction. One answer came out. ¡°Lena, it was you.¡± It was consistent and reasonable with his earlier andter words. Cordelia and Kan couldn¡¯t understand what he meant. But not for Lena. She hunched her shoulders and clenched her teeth. Her face was not visible because it was covered by her hood, but he could imagine her distressed face. ¡°Jude?¡± When Cordelia called him, Jude closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He came to an answer that could exin the entire current situation. He said as he looked at Lena and not Cordelia. ¡°Lena, you opened the Hell Gate.¡± It was not the Devil¡¯s Eye. They were not involved in this situation at all. It was the Holy Angel Lena who opened the Hell Gate. Cordelia was stunned at Jude¡¯s words, and Lena nodded her head. She said as she took off the hood she was wearing on her head. ¡°You are right, Jude. I¡­.opened the Hell Gate.¡± Chapter 87: Hell Gate

Chapter 87: Hell Gate

Long chapter is long. Holy Angel Lena. A bright, gentle, and benevolent woman. A kind woman who suited the word ¡®angel¡¯ more than anyone else. She opened the Hell Gate. Because of that, countless monsters entered Endymion. But rather than that fact, Cordelia was troubled by something else. Her eyes widely opened, and she approached Lena. ¡°Lena!¡± Lena¡¯s face wasn¡¯t the one that Cordelia knew. It was also different from her dying face in the cinematic movie. Her hair was still blonde, but her white skin was now a pale purple. She now had red and ck eyes instead of her clear blue eyes. The white sclera in her eyes were nowpletely ck, and her red eyes had slit pupils like that of a serpent¡¯s eyes. What had happened? Lena was originally a holy angel. She was an angel of this world, someone who gained the power of an angel through Ancestral Regression. ¡°Don¡¯te too close. You can¡¯te close.¡± Lena hurriedly retreated to avoid Cordelia¡¯s hand. The teary-faced Cordelia turned to Jude. Cordelia didn¡¯t know why Lena became like this now, but she at least knew what Lena¡¯s condition was. ¡®Demon Syndrome.¡¯ A disease that ate away a creature¡¯s body when exposed to the aura of hell. Most humans immediately died the moment they were exposed to the aura of hell, but some people who were mentally and physically strong ended up having Demon Syndrome. The effect of Demon Syndrome was simple. The afflicted creature bes a demon. They usually became lower-ranking demons with almost no intellectual capacities, but those who had well-trained bodies and truly noble and strong minds became demons with intellectual capacities. And now, Lena had Demon Syndrome. Through that, Jude was able toe up with a moreplete answer. ¡°You escaped from hell. And in the process, the Hell Gate opened.¡± Lena slowly nodded. ¡°I was dragged to hell when I was fighting demons in the Argon Empire. I struggled and fought many times there and was able to barely escape at the end¡­but in the aftermath, the Hell Gate opened.¡± Lena had a very distressed look. She thought of the tragedy of Paragon and of all her loved ones whom she lost, including her master who she considered as her father. However, she had opened the Hell Gate with her own hands, which might once again lead to something simr to the tragedy of Paragon. She couldn¡¯t bear it. She had to solve this problem even at the expense of her own life. ¡®She couldn¡¯t properly use the angel¡¯s power because of the Demon Syndrome. But just before she died, she recovered from the Demon Syndrome because shepletely used up her angel powers.¡¯ It made sense. Lena sacrificed herself to close the Hell Gate and then died a lonely death. ¡°I have to close the Hell Gate. I¡¯ll do anything to close it.¡± Lena said in an earnest tone. Her expression and voice seemed like she was confessing her fault. ¡°It¡¯s not Lena¡¯s fault.¡± Cordelia said. But Lena shook her head. ¡°No, it¡¯s my fault¡­¡± ¡°No. Definitely no. You didn¡¯t open the gate on purpose. You¡¯re a good person, and you¡¯re still trying to somehow close the Hell Gate. That¡¯s right. So don¡¯t look so distressed. Jude and I will help you. We¡¯ll close the gate together and go back happy andughing.¡± Cordelia poured out her thoughts as she held Lena¡¯s hand and then smiled. Her words might not have presented a solution to their problem, but Lena smiled after hearing Cordelia. It started awkwardly, but for the first time since the Hell Gate opened, Lena had a proper smile. And that made Cordelia smile even more. With a broad smile, she said as she hugged Lena. ¡°We can do it. My Jude is excellent. Jude will somehow find a solution. Isn¡¯t that right?¡± This time again, her words offered no solutions. But at her words full of strong faith in him, Jude nodded his head. ¡°We can do it. So let¡¯s check the situation first. Lena, do you have a way to replenish your powers?¡± Jude began to lead the conversation. Lena looked back at Cordelia and Jude instead of replying immediately, and soon, she smiled again. ¡®It¡¯s like I¡¯m with Landius.¡¯ A person who was absurdly optimistic and reliable that could make one feel at ease anytime and anywhere. ¡°I¡¯m thinking of using Endymion¡¯s Grand Magic Circle.¡± Lena moved her hand in the air and used magic. After a full map of Endymion appeared in the air, aplex figure made of white light was drawn over the map. ¡°The ancient High Elves bet on everything for their final decisive battle against the Demon Prince in Endymion¡­and as a result, the entire capital became a weapon itself.¡± After absorbing the mana of all the citizens living in the capital at once, the magic circle was activated to inject the concentrated and amplified power into one person who would fight against the Demon Prince. ¡°I discovered that there¡¯s still a lot of mana stored in Endymion. If we activate the magic circle¡­we can somehow gather the mana necessary to use the Heavenly Seal.¡± It was a usible solution. But Jude thought of a problem in her solution, while Cordelia instinctively realized it. ¡®The method Lena used in the original.¡¯ That one and only method led to Lena¡¯s death in the end. But she didn¡¯t die because of that method alone. Something must have changed and brought her harm. ¡°Wait, if you use this magic circle, shouldn¡¯t an angel be the target of the gathered mana?¡± At that moment, Kan, whose presence was almost forgotten together with Begio, spoke as he looked at the full map in the air. As a professor in archeology at the institutional academy, he was familiar with ancientnguages. ¡°That¡­.¡± Lena hesitated for a moment as if she had been stabbed in her sore spot before she slowly said again. ¡°Yes, in order to use that magic, one must have the genes of an angel. Though I am afflicted with Demon Syndrome¡­I haven¡¯t lost my angel¡¯s genes. That is why I¡¯m sure that I can do it.¡± Lena said that with a smile, but Jude and Cordelia were not fooled. It was this. It was the reason why Lena lost her life. Lena was not a real angel right now because of her Demon Syndrome. So Lena was greatly hit and suffered from the concentrated sacred power. So they had to change her n. And the two had another solution. ¡®I¡¯ll do it.¡¯ Cordelia said to Jude with her eyes. Although she had not yet used Ancestral Regression, Cordelia had the genes of an angel. She fought against the demons with the witch¡¯s power, but she wouldn¡¯t be dealt a huge blow by the sacred power if she was not transformed into a witch. ¡®Are you sure?¡¯ ¡®Definitely.¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s eyes seemed to be on fire. Therefore, Jude conceded. It was impossible to stop the current Cordelia. Jude wanted to avoid Cordelia¡¯s n, but she was correct. The best solution was for Cordelia to rece Lena. ¡°Let¡¯s do it.¡± ¡°Leave it to me.¡± After she charmingly smiled, Cordelia straight away began to exin about herself to Lena, while Jude turned to Kan. ¡°Will you help us, Sir Kan?¡± ¡°Me?¡± ¡°Yes, we need Sir Kan¡¯s help in activating the magic circle. Someone has to manipte the console in order to operate the magic circle.¡± This was Jude¡¯s first time in Endymion, but not the first in Magen, the magic kingdom of the High Elves. He had already encountered a simr kind of magic circle somewhere in the ruins of Magen. ¡®The reason why it took so long for Lena was because she did everything herself.¡¯ But not now. If Kan was here, it would be possible to easily operate the console which used the ancientnguage of the High Elves. ¡°I¡¯m d that Sir Kan is here.¡± Kan flinched at Jude¡¯s words, but he soon nodded and widely smiled. ¡°Leave it to me. I¡¯ve seen something simr in my research.¡± ¡°Yes, I believe in you.¡± After tapping Kan on his shoulder, Jude advanced towards Cordelia and Lena. Lena was a little surprised at Cordelia¡¯s exnation, but instead of being doubtful, she looked apologetic. ¡°The burden will be great.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. Even if I look like this, I¡¯m very strong.¡± Cordelia grinned and thumped her chest before she turned to Jude. ¡°Jude, when we activate the magic circle, the demons will notice. So we need to turn their gaze somewhere¡­why is your face like that?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just amazing that you came up with this¡­I¡¯m sorry. Please don¡¯t hit me.¡± When Jude made a yful remark, Cordelia clenched her fist and made a ¡®hmph¡¯ sound, but she soon loosened her face. In the first ce, she knew that he was trying to lighten the mood because of Lena. ¡°Lena, please draw the magic circle for the Heavenly Seal.¡± It was absolutely impossible for them to currently learn high-ranking magic such as the Heavenly Seal with little preparation. Lena smiled again at Cordelia¡¯s request. ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll prepare it right away.¡± In just a few minutes, the group¡¯s moodpletely changed. Close the Hell Gate and solve Endymion¡¯s problem. Save Lena¡¯s life. ¡°We can do it.¡± Jude said in a small voice and then took a step forward. They began their operation. *** In order to activate Endymion¡¯s magic circle, all nine magic stones at the outskirts of the underground city had to be activated. But it wasn¡¯t that difficult. Six of them were already activated by Lena. While Kan controlled the console and Lena drew the magic circle of the Heavenly Seal, Jude traveled around the outskirts of the city and activated the remaining magic stones. Jude used the Twenty-Four Gale Steps to jump to higher ces in order to hide from the low-ranking demons who did not have a propermand system. He hid so well that even his shadow was not noticed by the monsters. He finally activated thest magic stone. Now, it was time to return to the central tower and join Lena in order to begin their feint operation of drawing the demons¡¯ attention. ¡°Jude!¡± ¡°Lena!¡± Upon reaching the first floor of the tower, Lena quickly came to him. She had just finished drawing the magic circle. Everything went smoothly. If their n proceeded as it is, they would be able to close the Hell Gate sessfully. But as always, not everything went ording to n. Time had passed while he traveled around activating the magic stones. The Hell Gate finally went beyond the first stage and began its transition into the second stage. Aaaaah-! Something like a ghost¡¯s wail shook the entire underground city. The aura of hell became much stronger, and an overpowering dark and cold energy spread everywhere. The Hell Gate also became bigger. The crack grew wider and it now really looked like a gate. And more demons began to cross over. A Named Demon also appeared. Their distance was quite far. The distance between the Hell Gate and the tower was hundreds of meters. But it was still huge enough to be clearly seen. On a huge chariot pulled by hell dogs stood a Lacto that emitted a powerful energy. It wasn¡¯t amon Lacto but a powerful Named Demon. As soon as it appeared, the air in the underground city shook once again. Its appearance alone made their hairs stood on end. ¡°Bandaizel.¡± Jude and Lena spoke almost simultaneously. For Jude, it was a boss who appeared in the middle of Legend of Heroes 2, and for Lena, it was a persistent pursuer who chased after her several times in Hell. ¡®We need to draw the attention of this guy.¡¯ Bandaizel wasn¡¯t normally a strong opponent. But if they thoughtlessly activated the magic circle, the tower could be smashed before the magic circle concentrated its power on Cordelia. So they had to fight him and buy some time. Jude and Lena¡¯s job was to keep him away from the tower. ¡°We need to hold our ground for 3 minutes.¡± Lena smiled at Jude¡¯s words. ¡°Yes, three minutes.¡± ¡°It¡¯s going to be a really long three minutes.¡± ¡°I know.¡± Lena was not in normal condition now. But she was one of the five heroes. Even though she had the Demon Syndrome, she was still one of the heroes who ended the tragedy of the Paragon Kingdom. ¡®It¡¯s a strange feeling.¡¯ He was fighting together with the hero in the first episode of Legend of Heroes. They were in an equal position, and not him being protected or helped. ¡®I must be a little crazy too.¡¯ His heart was pounding amidst their situation. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Lena.¡± Jude and Lena moved towards the Hell Gate. And Bandaizel sensed them. Standing in front of the Hell Gate, he looked at the far distance and sneered. ¡°Lena.¡± Bandaizel was a named demon. At the moment he appeared, the group of monsters who were moving around without any order suddenly transformed into an army. Everyone looked in the same direction at once. There was still some distance from them. Dozens of buildings were lined up in between them. But that didn¡¯t mean much. ¡°It¡¯s three minutes.¡± ¡°3 minutes.¡± It would work out somehow. Jude grinned and activated the power of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. Lena also focused her mana on both of her hands. ¡°Cordelia.¡± Jude unconsciously spoke, and his words became a signal. Jude and Lena kicked the ground. At the same time, Bandaizel loudly shouted, and the charging of the monsters from hell reverberated on the ground. Booooom-! Another sound was added. The ground roared and a strong and beautiful light instantly drove out the darkness of the underground city. Pirs of light rose up from the nine magic stones at once. The ground lit up, and the mighty and ancient magic circle began to operate. The demons hesitated for a moment. But not Bandaizel. He didn¡¯t have a clear grasp of what was happening now, but he knew well of the fact that he had to move right away. ¡°Break it! Destroy it! Sweep it all away!¡± At Bandaizel¡¯s yell, the demons began to move again. Bandaizel spread out hisrge wings and spurred the chariot. Jude and Lena split up to y their respective roles. Lena was the only one who could stop the numerous monsters that were flocking towards the tower. Thus, Jude¡¯s role was naturally fixed. ¡°3 minutes.¡± Round 1 against Bandaizel. ¡°Cordelia.¡± Jude recited Cordelia¡¯s name once again as if in prayer before he began moving. He flew towards Bandaizel who was charging straight towards the tower. ck Dragon Cross Strike! He showed off his strongest skill from the very beginning. Bandaizel stopped his charge as the mighty ck cross broke through the air. He swung his iron whip on the ck cross that was rushing towards him. Baaaang! The ck cross was instantly destroyed. In addition, the air was torn apart, and above the ground, mes rose along the trajectory of the whip. A Named Demon. An unsealed and powerful monster that just came out of hell. The demon smiled. He sighted Jude beyond the ce where he destroyed the ck cross. ¡°Hi.¡± Jude said, and the monster went mad. He generated ck waves that were like mes, and then charged towards Jude. Crack! The iron whip cracked through the air again. And everything in its trajectory was destroyed. Ruuuumble! Booom! It wasn¡¯t thunder. It was the sound of the buildings copsing at once. Jude kicked the ground. He ran through the rubble of the copsing building. ¡®Let¡¯s focus on evasion.¡¯ He had to act like Outboxer. He had no chances of winning in a head-to-head confrontation. He had to fool the enemy with his mobility. Faster. A little faster! Boom! A huge hammer smashed the ce where Jude had just stood. Bandaizel had a warhammer on his right hand. He was about 7 meters tall. He was like a giant to Jude, but he was not slow. Bang! There was a loud noise again. It was Jude this time. Rather than widening his distance from Bandaizel, he narrowed it down as he created a whirlwind and became a gale. Running around wasn¡¯t the only way to get its attention. Hell¡¯s Blood sh. The red sword shed Bandaizel¡¯s waist. It was a shallow sh. But the sh was enough to cause bleeding. ¡°You little rat!¡± The enraged Bandaizel furiously shouted and turned around as he flung his whip towards Jude. A sharp and fast attack. His attack was inescapable. Therefore, Jude did not avoid it. He did not deviate from the trajectory of the iron whip. Crack! The ground was destroyed. But Jude wasn¡¯t. He ignored the attack through the use of the Fairy Steps. After the attack passed through him, he began sprinting. ¡°Baaastard!¡± Bandaizel spread out his wings. It was a fast action. So Jude had to be faster. Twenty-Four Gale Steps ¨C ck Wind¡¯s Advent. A pitch-ck wind blew. The ck wind moved between the buildings, breaking and splitting some of the buildings. ¡°Uoooh!¡± Bandaizel raised his speed. His iron wind tore apart the space itself, and his angry roar shook the ck wind as well as the air. ¡°Ack!¡± The running Jude got thrown on the ground. He couldn¡¯tpletely avoid the wave-like attack, so he rolled on the floor and Bandaizel appeared in front of Jude, swinging down his hammer at that moment. Boom! He rolled and avoided it. But once was his limit. When Bandaizel flung his iron whip again, he had now way of escaping this time. The iron whip cracked through the air. It rushed to turn Jude into a pool of blood. He had already used the Fairy Steps. So he had to use something else. He had to avoid the attack somehow. What should I do? There was no time. The ck Dragon Cross Strike took too much time. It was impossible to avoid the iron whip that struck the surroundings by a few steps. What should I do then? How do I do it? In that moment. In that crack of time. Jude calcted. No, he didn¡¯t calcte it. At that moment, he felt it instinctively like Cordelia. It was new and strange to him. It was such a short time, but he was able to think in that moment. It was even possible to recite the mnemonic chant. So Jude acted. He added the mnemonic chant of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors to the Thirty-Six World Steps, not the Twenty-Four Gale Steps. Just as the Holy Cross Punch advanced to the ck Dragon Cross Strike, it gave new power to the Thirty-Six World Steps. And the result¡­ Baaaaang! It was like thunder. The fearsome iron whip struck and swept the surrounding area, destroying everything. But Bandaizel couldn¡¯t smile. His face was distorted. Because not everything was destroyed. There was a man who stood alive amidst the storm of fearsome destruction. Jude was standing. He didn¡¯t move far away. He stood on the spot where he originally stood. The Thirty-Six World Steps was a footwork skill that defended the user by evading attacks that came from all directions. Moreover, the power of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors was added. Thus, Jude was able to escape. No matter how violent the iron whip¡¯s attack was, in the end, it was an attack that created a single line. If he could pinpoint the direction in which that linended, he couldpletely avoid that single line. With the Thirty-Six World Steps, it became possible to fly in any direction continuously and deviate from the trajectory of the whip¡¯s attack. Thus, he finally avoided the attack itself. ¡°Ugh.¡± Jude roughly breathed. Subsequently, blood flowed down from his lips, and his legs shook before he copsed onto the ground. ¡®It¡¯s still too much.¡¯ He couldn¡¯t handle it properly. Avoiding the attack was a miracle in itself. Bandaizel was bewildered. But he soon regained his reason. It was true that Jude made a miraculous move, but he was now seated on the ground. ¡°Die.¡± A clich¨¦ line. The sitting Jude panted as he saw the enemy¡¯s hammer, but he remained on the ground. He recited the name of a person. ¡°Cordelia.¡± It was time. Three minutes had passed. The tower began to shine. Bandaizel realized it too. He didn¡¯t know that an immense amount of power was concentrated on the tower. But he didn¡¯t care. He was in a hurry to kill Jude who was right in front of him. He didn¡¯t make the mistake of looking at the tower. He just consistently held the hammer. He wanted to strike and crush the enemy in front of him. That was the right thing to do. This was his iron rule that had saved his life many times. But that was why Bandaizel didn¡¯t see it. The approach of a woman who valued Jude¡¯s life more than the closing of the Hell Gate. Instead of activating the magic circle as soon as she gained Endymion¡¯s power, the woman rushed to the ground with clenched fists. ¡°Jude!¡± Boom! There was a roar. Bandaizel was forced to look back, but it was alreadyte at that time. An intangible force that was so powerful struck Bandaizel and blew him away. Craaaaash! The giant Bandaizel rolled on the ground and crashed into a building. And Cordelia didn¡¯t care. Her whole body was covered with a pure and white light, and shended next to Jude. ¡°Hey! Are you okay? Hey!¡± ¡°I¡¯m okay, I¡¯m okay.¡± He was grateful for her concern, but it was rather difficult to breathe because she pulled on his cor. ¡°The seal, quickly¡­¡± Jude said as he held Cordelia¡¯s hand. He was thankful that she ran to save him, but she had to hurry to close the Hell Gate. Endymion¡¯s power could be maintained for a few seconds at most. She also had to go back to the tower and activate the magic circle of the Heavenly Seal that Lena installed on the top floor of the tower. However, it was before Jude could finish what he wanted to say. Bandaizel stood up again. At the same time he got up, he sent off a powerful air wave, and Cordelia hurriedly waved her hand to stop him. Boooom! There was a terrible loud sound, and Cordelia swallowed her scream. Because Endymion¡¯s power was too strong. If she continued maintaining that power, Cordelia herself would be destroyed. Jude figured it out too. So he tried to speak again, but Cordelia was faster. She suddenly made a charming smile and said as she looked straight at Jude. ¡°Hey.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Do you trust me?¡± What is she talking about all of a sudden? At the moment when Jude made a confused expression, the blown away Bandaizel broke the rubble of the building and stood up again. There was no time now. Jude stared at Cordelia. Cordelia was looking at Jude herself with a smile that showed her front teeth. As he stared at those blue eyes, Jude nodded. ¡°I trust you.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll do it. Luke will take care of Kan, so don¡¯t worry about him.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± That was it. Cordelia didn¡¯t talk about it anymore. She was going to do it. Jude trusted her, so she would do it. Cordelia stood straight and looked at Bandaizel. She spoke to him and Jude at the same time. ¡°I figured it out while I was looking at the map on the tower. There was a dragon vein flowing under here too, you know?¡± A flowing dragon vein. What do you mean all of a sudden? Why all of a sudden- He understood. He realized it. So Jude jumped up and shouted. ¡°Hey! Hey!¡± No! Hey! No way! Hey! But it was toote. He already said that he trusted her. ¡°The second way to close the Hell Gate.¡± And that was to destroy the ce where the Hell Gate had opened. ¡°As a bonus, the demons are also defeated.¡± Bandaizel still couldn¡¯tprehend it. Instead of stopping Cordelia, Jude gave up and closed his eyes. And Cordelia ferociously smiled as her teeth shined. She gathered all of Endymion¡¯s power and created a before stabbing it into the ground. The power of Endymion hit the dragon vein. And what urred because of it. The stuff that was done by Cordelia. ¡°F*ck bang.¡± The moment Cordelia gracefully spoke. The dragon vein runaway along with a tremendous roar. Thest day of the underground city of Endymion had begun. Chapter 88: Crazy Couple (1)

Chapter 88: Crazy Couple (1)

Terms used in this chapter: What color is your blood? ¨C a famous quote of the character Rei from the Japanese series Fist of the North Star. Frequently used when criticizing viins for their evil deeds. The day of destruction. It was thest day of Endymion, the capital of the magic kingdom of Magen, which did not copse even in a direct confrontation with the mighty Demon Prince of Hell. Ruuuuumble-! At first, it was a vibration. Soon there was a tremendous roar, and the surrounding area ¨C no, the whole underground shook. Craaack! Craaack! It was not an ordinary earthquake. Dozens to hundreds of cracks appeared on the ground. The huge cracks spread, destroying the beautiful and elegant buildings built by the High Elves a long time ago. Boooom! Craaaash! Hundreds of buildings copsed like dominoes. It did not stop after that, as the reverberation on the ground grew stronger and countless debris began falling down from the ceiling. Dragon vein. A great stream of power that flowed in the underground of the wildnds. A strong and unusual power that was the wild gods¡¯ source of power. A portion of it began to run out of control. The dragon vein that the High Elves used as the city¡¯s energy source in the past now exploded after having been stimted by the Spear of Cmity. Baaaaang! mes shot up through the torn ground. And then there was a blinding light. The terrifying power soared to the ceiling and destroyed everything it came across. It only took a few seconds for all of these to happen. ¡°Aaaaah!¡± ¡°Waaah!¡± ¡°Gaaaak!¡± The monsters from hell were screaming. Even Bandaizel struggled in the midst of the fearsome natural disaster, so he couldn¡¯t look back at Jude and Cordelia. But not for Jude. He opened his eyes and shouted, grasping Cordelia¡¯s shoulders. ¡°Hey! You¡¯re crazy!¡± They were in an emergency and an extremely dangerous situation, but he couldn¡¯t help but say those words to her. And Cordelia struck back at such Jude. ¡°You said that you trusted me!¡± ¡°F*ck! Why did I trust you!¡± ¡°Ugh! You cursed! That¡¯s too much!¡± ¡°You always do it!¡± That was it. They ran out of time to argue. The ground shook and then copsed as it began to sink, and the ceiling also fell down. The rubble that crashed into the ground scattered in all directions. Boom! Boom! Boom! ¡°F*ck.¡± Jude cursed again. It was a serious expression and not an exmation, but Cordelia didn¡¯t care. Cordelia suddenly hugged him and shouted. ¡°I trust in you too!¡± And she activated the shield. After using up most of her power to create the Spear of Cmity, she used her remaining power to activate Count Chase¡¯s ring. A translucent blue shield appeared and covered the two. ¡°Fuuuck.¡± Jude swore again and then carried Cordelia. He carried her with the so-called princess carry and then looked up at the ceiling. ¡°I trust you.¡± Cordelia¡¯s voice sounded small whenpared to the roaring sounds around them. But instead of responding to her, Jude immediately jumped up. It was something that was seriously crazy to do, but if he didn¡¯t, they would die. ¡°Uooooooh!¡± He darted on the copsing ground. He grasped the location of the falling debris andputed his route in an instant. Jude held his breath. He created a whirlwind and used it to fly up like a gale. Boom! Boom! Boom! The deafening roars continued. In the midst of that, Jude continued to yell. He climbed up and up, kicking on the falling debris. Bang! The wreckage hit their shield. They were not injured because of the shield, but it caused Jude to fall down. But it was only for a moment. Jude spun around in the air and created a strong wind, and their fall stopped at that moment. Cordelia hugged Jude¡¯s neck, and supported him with magic. ¡°Let¡¯s goooo!¡± Cordelia cried and Jude turned himself around again. He used the whirlwind to break through the debris. Baaaaang! The whirlwind blew away the debris. The shield pushed away the small rubble. Just a little further. He avoided the wreckage. He avoided the copsing ceiling¡­ Booom! But it was too much. The falling debris from the ceiling this time was too big. As if it covered the sky. However, Jude didn¡¯t give up. He strengthened his arms that held Cordelia and then shouted. ¡°Cordelia!¡± ¡°OK!¡± Jude removed the shield. Cordelia threw a into the sky, which she had made by scraping up her remaining energy. ¡°Spiral!¡± The Spear of Cmity rotated and pierced the ceiling like a drill. It didn¡¯tpletely destroy the debris, but it seeded in making a hole. Jude rushed through that hole. After he passed through the hole that was 2 meters in diameter, he made another leap by using therge ceiling rubble as a foothold. ¡°Uooooh!¡± ¡°It¡¯s the sky!¡± It was as Cordelia said. The chilly blue sky weed Jude and Cordelia. The sunlight that poured down was so beautiful. They finally saw the sky. The soaring Jude looked down at the ground, and unknowingly apologized to countless people. A huge crater emerged, measuring hundreds of meters in diameter. Hundreds and thousands of pieces of broken wreckage were messily piled upon the shattered ground. ¡°Crazy.¡± ¡°Ehehe.¡± Thest one was Cordelia. She had an awkward look as if she was ashamed, but she still stuck out her tongue. And Judended on the ground. Jude stared at Cordelia with a face full of mixed feelings, and Cordelia squeezed her lips once and tried to make an excuse. But not yet. Ruumble¡­ It was quite silent at first. Ruuuumble! But the sound grew louder. It was not the sound of the already destroyed underground city. The cracks continued to spread out. The cracks stretched out as if it wanted to destroy not only the central underground city, but also the entire Endymion, and it eventually began to spread through the Raptor Canyon. ¡°Uh¡­¡± At the moment the dazed Cordelia said that¡­ Baaaaaaang! The second major copse began. An avnche urred when parts of the Raptor Canyon copsed, followed by a series of explosions and copses across an area spanning hundreds of meters in diameter and several kilometers in length. Boom! Boom! Boom! Bang! Bang! Bang! Unexpectedly, the time of the crashing itself was short. Because everything shattered and crashed all at once. Ruuumble¡­ It was thest sound they heard from afar. Silence followed afterwards. The canyon surrounding Endymion copsed halfway down, and the direction of the wind changed, so the blowing wind struck Jude and Cordelia. A few seconds passed. Jude put Cordelia down on the ground, and as she stood, Cordelia hesitated for a moment before she awkwardly smiled and made a V-sign with her fingers. ¡°P-problem solved!¡± Because in spite of what preceded, the Hell Gate was closed. Because they achieved their goal. Jude quietly stared at such Cordelia and moved. He raised both of his hands and pinched Cordelia¡¯s cheeks. ¡°Problem solved? Problem solved? What problem was solved?¡± As he pulled her soft cheeks to the side, Cordelia became teary-eyed and immediatelyunched a counterattack. ¡°I sholved the froblem!¡± As she said with a strange pronunciation, Cordelia pinched Jude¡¯s cheeks too. ¡°Heyyyy? What are you doooing?!¡± ¡°O! It hurts! Schtapp!¡± When Jude increased his pulling strength, Cordelia shouted almost as if she was crying, but she didn¡¯t back down. Cordelia pinched him harder when he didn¡¯t let go of her cheeks. ¡°Let gwooo!¡± ¡°You leeet go firssst!¡± It was the moment when they continued to pinch each other in the cheeks. Papapapapapa-! White rings of light appeared in session around Jude and Cordelia. It came so quickly that it was hard to count, but it seemed to be close to ten. ¡°Revel-up! Level-up! Thanks to me!¡± Because they had wiped out the monsters from hell who broke into Endymion. The experienced was reduced because it was an indirect defeat and not a direct one, but the number of the monsters was so high that they leveled up a lot. ¡°Let gwo! Let gwoo!¡± ¡°Ugh.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s insistence, Jude let go first as he grunted. Then Cordelia took her hand off Jude¡¯s cheek, not to keep their agreement, but to cover her own cheeks. ¡°Ack! It really hurts. It¡¯s too much. You¡¯re mean.¡± The sight of a beautiful girl crying as she covered her burning red cheeks was enough to make Jude a bad guy in the world¡¯s eyes, but only Jude and Cordelia were here. Jude said as his eyes narrowed. ¡°Think about what you did based on your conscience.¡± ¡°Sob, sob. You said that you trusted me.¡± At the time when Cordelia pretended to cry again¡­ Booom! With a loud noise, Lena broke through the debris and appeared. Moreover, she was not alone. The pale-faced Kan and the Begio, Luke, also pushed their heads out of the ground. ¡°Jude? Cordelia?¡± ¡°Lena! I¡¯m d you¡¯re okay!¡± Cordelia ran straight to Lena and eximed, and Jude moved towards them after sighing. Lena was strong, but he had been worried about Kan and Luke. And after a few steps¡­ What Jude had expected happened. ¡°E-Endymion! Endymion, the capital of the magic kingdom of Magen¡­!¡± Kan was an archeologist, and he knew the value of Endymion better than anyone else here. ¡°Aaah¡­aah¡­.¡± As he grabbed the back of his neck and staggered, Kan fell down because of his internal distress, and Jude understood why it made him like that. The ancient ruins had been intact for over a thousand years. The city of the High Elves that survived the battle against the mighty Demon Prince, was now destroyed to the point where it was hard to find any traces of it¡­ It was aplete tragedy. ¡°Haa-haa. Woof-woof!¡± Luke barked as it licked the distressed Kan¡¯s cheek. Unlike Cordelia, Jude couldn¡¯t understand the animal¡¯s words, but it seemed like Luke was saying to Kan that it was okay. And in the midst of this, Cordelia embraced Lena and asked with a big smile. ¡°Lena! The Hell Gate is gone, right?¡± ¡°Yes? Uh¡­yes. It must have disappeared. Probably¡­no, absolutely¡­¡± It was not an exaggeration to say that Endymion itself was gone. With her mouth wide open, Lena stared nkly at the surrounding area after the great destruction, but Cordelia was pleased with her answer. She turned to Jude and brightly smiled, shing a V-sign again. ¡°I solved the problem after all! Whaach?!¡± The strange sound at the end of her words was because Jude pinched her cheeks again. ¡°It hurts!¡± ¡°I¡¯m pinching you so that you¡¯ll feel the pain.¡± Though his thoughts were slightly different this time. ¡®It¡¯s soft and smooth.¡¯ Her rebellious side when she was being pinched was also cute. With a bit of an ulterior motive, Jude continued to punish Cordelia. ¡°Aaaaaaaaah!¡± A fearsome roar came from afar. No, it was clearly an angry voice. Boooom! The huge demon flew out of the wreckage. Bandaizel. The leader of the Lactos soared from the rubble and spread out its huge bat wings. After all, it was a named demon. He managed to stay alive while the other monsters from hell were being wiped out. ¡°Bandaizel¡­¡± Tension spread over Lena¡¯s face. But not for Jude and Cordelia. Cordelia turned while her cheeks were still being pinched, and Jude gently removed his hands on her cheeks before turning around. Bandaizel. The demon released its power in its rage. ¡°He¡¯s covered in blood.¡± ¡°He¡¯s hurt a lot.¡± ¡°His head is bleeding.¡± ¡°If you look closely, his horns are a bit broken.¡± Bandaizel was not able to easily avoid the debris because of hisrge size. He had felt like he was buried alive under the rubble. ¡°So Jude. Isn¡¯t this situation familiar?¡± ¡°It¡¯s happened before.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it? It¡¯s the same as then, right?¡± The stage boss who was half dead because the stage itself was destroyed. A smile spread over Jude and Cordelia¡¯s faces. And from afar, Bandaizel finally caught sight of Jude and Cordelia and then burst into an angry roar again. ¡°Aaaaah! What color is your blood!¡± He couldn¡¯t believe that they destroyed the city itself. If the ancient High Elves knew about this, they would cry tears of blood! But Jude and Cordelia didn¡¯t think that way. Cordelia said as her eyes sparkled. ¡°They¡¯re the same.¡± ¡°It looks like they¡¯re teaching clich¨¦ lines in hell.¡± ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s getting frequent.¡± Jude and Cordelia began talking nonsense as usual before they looked at each other and took out potion bottles. And they gulped it down. Bandaizel was enraged again. Lena alternately looked at Jude, Cordelia and Bandaizel with a mixture of tension and confusion. After they had emptied the potion bottles at once, Jude and Cordelia turned at the same time. They simultaneously threw the potion bottles and then stepped forward as they talked. ¡°Shall we start the boss fight?¡± ¡°This time, it¡¯s not phase 3¡­it¡¯s around phase 2.¡± Bandaizel¡¯s condition was better than the mid-ranking demonic human whom they had faced before. Even if his condition had worsened, he was still a named demon. But Cordelia wasn¡¯t worried. She said as her teeth shone. ¡°It¡¯s all right. Because we have Lena.¡± ¡°Shall we ask for help?¡± ¡°It¡¯s time to repay us.¡± The dazed Lena blinked her eyes because she didn¡¯t understand what they were talking about. Jude and Cordelia stared back at each other. They exchanged nces, and at the same time, the two spurred on the ground. Chapter 89: Crazy Couple (2)

Chapter 89: Crazy Couple (2)

Final chapter for the week! And just a small notice ¨C a super typhoon will be arriving at my country tomorrow, so the next chapters on Monday onwards may be dyed if my area¡¯s electricity/power lines get hit. Though, if I post the next chapter on Monday, it means that everything is fine on my end. Bandaizel was strong. Although he didn¡¯t have a title, he was still a Named Demon. ¡°Very powerful physical abilities.¡± ¡°Weak magic abilities.¡± ¡°But his magic is strong.¡± ¡°His true name is unknown.¡± While they were talking at a distance, Bandaizel clenched his fists and cursed. ¡°I¡¯ll drag you two to hell. I¡¯ll make you realize how merciful death is!¡± There was power in the demon¡¯s words. Bandaizel¡¯s deration was like an oath, so if they really lost to him, Jude and Cordelia would be dragged to hell and suffer all kinds of hardships. But instead of being afraid, Jude and Cordelia clicked their tongues. ¡°As expected of Bandaizel. His vocabry iscking.¡± ¡°A musclehead.¡± Fortunately, the voices of the two did not reach Bandaizel. Bandaizel cursed again, while Jude looked back at Cordelia and said. ¡°Cordelia, you¡¯re over level 50, right?¡± ¡°Eh? Yeah. I must have gone beyond that, I think?¡± Her level was originally in the 40s, but because she leveled up around 10 times, her level was now around the 50s. ¡°Let¡¯s do this then.¡± As Jude quickly exined the operation, Cordelia¡¯s eyes widely opened, and she brightly smiled as she listened to him. ¡°Wow, it¡¯s really evil.¡± ¡°Do you like it then?¡± ¡°Yes, I love it.¡± Jude had a faint smile when he saw Cordelia¡¯s smiling face before he turned his gaze back to Bandaizel and said. ¡°I ask of you.¡± ¡°Yes. Be careful too.¡± Because they needed someone to buy them time. Jude took a deep breath before he activated the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors and used the ck Wind¡¯s Advent. Using the ck wind, he became like a gale and rushed towards Bandaizel. Swoooooooosh! The wind wildly blew. The cold wind surrounded his whole body as the pitch-ck wind danced together with the golden whirlwind. Cordelia didn¡¯t watch him for long. She turned around and ran towards Lena. ¡°Lena!¡± ¡°Cordelia! We have to help Jude!¡± Having taken Kan and Luke to a safe ce, Lena ran and shouted at Cordelia. Cordelia immediately nodded. ¡°We need your help. So Lena, please listen to our n.¡± Boom! At that very moment, a roar burst out. It was the sound of Bandaizel smashing the ground with his giant warhammer. Cordelia flinched for a moment, but she didn¡¯t look back. He was Jude. His Cheonmujiche made him extremely good in moving his body. So he was going to be fine. No, he would be fine. The important thing now was to properly spend every second of time that Jude bought for them. ¡°Lena!¡± Cordelia grabbed Lena¡¯s wrist. Lena was about to run straight towards Jude, but she stopped and looked at Cordelia, and then nodded. ¡®Lena is not in her normal state now.¡¯ It was Jude¡¯s words. ¡®She can¡¯t use her angel powers.¡¯ In the first episode of Legend of Heroes, Lena could already use the powers of an angel. In short, most of Lena¡¯s fighting power came from her angel powers. But even so, she was Lena. She was a powerful grand wizard before she became an angel. ¡®So she can do it.¡¯ Lena had used different kinds of magic in Legend of Heroes. Jude and Cordelia remembered all the kinds of magic she had used, so Jude informed Cordelia of the magic they needed for this battle, and in turn, she told Lena about that. ¡°Can you do it?¡± Boom! Boom! Boom! Cordelia asked amidst the loud noises behind her. Lena nodded right away. ¡°I can do it.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s get started!¡± Boooom! She could hear the ground copsing from afar. Cordelia turned around and was relieved. The ck wind was still moving beautifully with the golden whirlwind. ¡°Haa.¡± Cordelia unconsciously sighed in relief before she immediately got serious. At the same time that she used the Witch Transformation, she opened the witch¡¯s spell book with a chant. ¡°¡± The witch¡¯s spell book could be opened by a simplemand. It was usually small and hung from Cordelia¡¯s waist, but at her invocation, the book floated in the air and opened as it became several timesrger than her upper body. ¡°¡± At the touch of Cordelia¡¯s hand, the pages of the spell book began to flip quickly. What she wanted to read was thest page that she could open now. New spells were opened when her level exceeded 50. Cordelia quickly recited the spell. Through the witch¡¯s spell book, she crammed the new magic into her head. And at that moment, Lena ran to the ce where Cordelia had pointed earlier and invoked a spell. ¡°¡± It was a spell that created a golem. Not many people knew about it since she gained the powers of a Holy Angel through Ancestral Regression, but Lena¡¯s specialty was originally the production of magical objects, which included the creation of golems. ¡°Rise! Rise and fight, my child!¡± Lena had already used up a lot of mana when she fought alone the monsters from hell who flocked to the tower. But she did not hesitate. She poured her remaining mana to help in realizing Cordelia¡¯s n. ¡°Uuuugh-!¡± The ground shot up. It had looked like that. The ground that had copsed in the great copse caused by Cordelia had now taken shape and stood up. It was a huge stone golem created from the countless debris. ¡°Ooooh!¡± It was huge and colossal. Perhaps it was around 30 to 40 meters ¨C no, it was a giant that was almost 50 meters. Moreover, it wasn¡¯t just tall. Its whole body was made of rock, and it resembled a knight wrapped in massive and heavy armor. Thud! The ground shook as it took a step. Bandaizel reflexively turned after lifting his warhammer that he used when he tried to smash Jude, while Jude smiled in admiration. ¡°Kuuuuraaaaa-!¡± The golem roared and charged towards Bandaizel. Its rush was slow perhaps because of its big build. An enormous pressure restrained Bandaizel. ¡°Ridiculous!¡± Bandaizel yelled as he crushed his fear, and then tightly gripped his warhammer and rushed towards the golem. He moved in order to smash the head of that slow-moving golem. It was literally a monster showdown. But Jude didn¡¯t just watch it. He turned his gaze to confirm Cordelia¡¯s location, and Cordelia also turned to Jude as if their minds were connected. ¡®Are you ready?¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m ready!¡¯ Shortly after exchanging nces, Jude saw Bandaizel again. It was a Named Demon after all. The sight of him jumping high and wielding the warhammer to hit the golem¡¯s head was like a scene from myths and legends. Baaaang! A loud noise erupted when the golem¡¯s head was smashed in half from Bandaizel¡¯s blow, and the golem stepped back. Bandaizel continued pursuing the golem as he sessively struck it. ¡°Hahahahahaha!¡± A big golem couldn¡¯t even be an opponent! Every time Bandaizel swung his warhammer, a part of the golem broke down. At first, the golem tried to counterattack, but itter became beaten down as it continued to step back. Bang! Bang! Bang! The loud blows continued in session. The golem lost its head and both of its arms and shoulders, but it continued to step backwards and finally returned to the ce where it was created. ¡°It¡¯s over now.¡± When Bandaizel spoke in a cool manner and drew his warhammer¡­ Lena had been manipting the abnormally huge golem with all her strength, and she suddenly stretched out her hand to Bandaizel. ¡°¡± It was the spell that was one of Cordelia¡¯s specialties. Their distance was quite far. In addition, there was no direct contact. Therefore, the duration of the spell was only a few seconds. But that was enough. When Lena stretched out her hand, Jude climbed on the golem. He became a ck gale, soaring into the sky before he fired it towards Bandaizel with all his strength. ck Dragon Cross Strike! The huge ck cross from his fist struck Bandaizel. But it was not enough. Defeating Bandaizel with just that blow was impossible. Jude knew that too. So the purpose of his attack was not to defeat Bandaizel. The purpose was to push him away. Shwaaaak-! The ck cross pushed Bandaizel forward. The paralyzed Bandaizel was helplessly pushed and thrown into the ce where the golem had risen. Bang! A loud roar broke out after he was blown nearly tens of meters and mmed onto the ground. But Bandaizel¡¯s body was unusually hard. Finishing him off with that kind of fall was impossible. In fact, his paralyzed state immediately wore off after he fell so he tried to raise himself up. Jude saw it. And he saw the others too. ¡°Cordelia.¡± She was standing. She added the Spell¡¯s Echo to the she acquired at level 50. One spell invoked four magic spells at the same time. ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting.¡± When Cordelia¡¯s canines shone as she brightly smiled, the monsters from hell ran towards Bandaizel. To be exact, they were the monsters of hell that Cordelia raised through necromancy. ¡°Gwaaa!¡± ¡°Kwooo!¡± ¡°Kaaack!¡± Dozens of monsters ran and shrieked as they crushed Bandaizel¡¯s body. Cordelia¡¯s necromancy was clumsy since charging was all that they could do, but in the first ce, they had died from being crushed, so only a few of them had intact limbs. Butbat power was not important anyway. ¡°You scoundrels! No, you evil bastards!¡± Bandaizel yelled as he tried to stand up. The monsters from hell were just zombies in the end. It was possible to wipe them out with just one swing of his iron whip. Cordelia knew that too. So she didn¡¯t take her time. She snapped her fingers as she cast her new spell. ¡°.¡± An explosion of corpses. The monsters from hell that clung to Bandaizel caused a chain of explosions. Dozens of monsters exploded in session, and the explosive power was seriously tremendous. Boom! Boom! Boom! Bandaizel¡¯s screams were heard in between the explosions. Then Cordelia looked back at Lena for the finishing blow. ¡°Lena.¡± Lena responded to her call. She didn¡¯t just create a giant golem that couldn¡¯t properly fight so that Cordelia could excavate the monster corpses. ¡°Kwoooo-!¡± The golem stepped forward with a final roar. It moved its body just above Bandaizel¡¯s head. Despite the numerous explosions, Bandaizel saw it. He instantly realized what Jude and Cordelia had nned. So he couldn¡¯t help but shout. ¡°Y-you demons!¡± The noise of the corpse explosions buried Bandaizel¡¯s voice. Lena chanted the final spell. ¡°.¡± The golem dismantled. Numerous debris that were used to form the body of the almost 50-meter giant golem fell over Bandaizel¡¯s head. Bang! Bang! Bang! Boom! Boom! Boom! The explosions continued, and the rocks fell. Bandaizel¡¯s miserable screams rang in between that. Bang! The huge rock that formed the golem¡¯s head made thest noise. Bandaizel was buried under that small rocky mountain and could no longer be seen. ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­¡± Having cast that immense magic, Lena sat in ce and tried to catch her breath. Despite the extreme cold, her whole body was wet as if she had been hit by rain. And Cordelia jumped from her spot. She joyfully shouted as the white ring appeared around her. ¡°We defeated him! Yahoo!¡± She cheerfully shouted and hurried to the ce where Lena sat down. ¡°We defeated him! We defeated him, Lena!¡± She was refreshing, lively, and adorable. So Lena unconsciously smiled, and Cordelia embraced Lena. ¡°I love you! Lena is the best!¡± Lena was a bit embarrassed at her very friendly attitude, but she soon hugged Cordelia back. She didn¡¯t know why this girl liked her so much, but thanks to her, they crossed the big hurdle. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Jude!¡± At Jude¡¯s call, Cordelia suddenly jumped again before she hugged him too. He thought that she was just giggling, but she abruptly gave a sharp sideways nce and said. ¡°You¡¯re really bad. You¡¯re like a real demon. How could you be so evil?¡± ¡°Do you like it then?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Cordelia promptly replied and brightly smiled again. And as Lena watched the scene, she faintly smiled. It hadn¡¯t been that long since they met, but just looking at the lovely couple made her smile. ¡®Yes, everything went well.¡¯ Not only did they close the Hell Gate, but they also wiped out a hundred or so demons that had already crossed over. In addition, they defeated Bandaizel, a named demon. So it was finally over. It was enough. The two saved the world. No, it was something like that. Endymion waspletely destroyed, and half of Raptor Canyon had copsed, so Lena tried hard to look away from that and just watched Jude and Cordelia again. Lena smiled again as she gazed at the fantasy ¨C no, the obviously crazy couple. *** And in the evening of that same day¡­ At the outer part of the ruins that was formerly called Endymion. Lena¡¯s thoughts became like a prophecy. ¡°Uh¡­so you were saying¡­that the problem was solved?¡± ¡°Yes, we solved the problem. Endymion is gone, so no more demons will appear on Endymion!¡± In front of that bright and lovely smile, the Fairy Queen couldn¡¯t bear it any longer. With an elegant smile, she held the back of her neck and copsed. Chapter 90: Sacred Place (1)

Chapter 90: Sacred ce (1)

The storm passed, and it was not as worse as I thought in my area. Anyway, here¡¯s the chapter! Terms used in this chapter: Satan lost his job today ¨C Korean meme about human acts that are so evil and vicious that it makes Satan lose his job. This meme has a lot of variations and is not limited to ¡®Satan lost his job today.¡¯ The Wild Fairy Queen, Eonelle, raised her head. The beautiful light shone down from the colorful ss ceiling. The sunlight was scattered and diffused ording to precise calctions, giving off a sense of fantasy and mystery to the viewer. ¡°Wow¡­¡± A childlike voice came out of Eonelle¡¯s mouth. Surprised by her voice, Eonelle blinked and looked at herself, and she realized that her limbs were much shorter than usual. She wasn¡¯t a Fairy Queen. She was now her younger self before she became the queen. It was during the time when her mother was still alive. Eonelle blinked her eyes and smiled. She thought like a fairy, not a queen. Whether she was in a dream or not now, she thought that she should enjoy this moment. ¡°How exciting.¡± Instead of an elegant smile, Eonelle had a cute and adorable smile before she looked around again. And she soon remembered where she was now. This was the greenhouse of the High Elves located deep in Endymion. Besides magic, the High Elves of the magic kingdom Magen also attained outstanding achievements in various fields of study. They created a much more beautiful garden in the underground than the one they had above the ground, and the fairies who were fond of pretty and lovely things would visit their gardens with the permission of the High Elves. ¡°Pretty.¡± Flowers of numerous colors filled her sight. There were so many varieties that if it was a garden made by humans, it would have looked disordered because of the too many varieties, but this was the garden of the High Elves. Numerous flowers and trees were arranged together, but there was harmony in their arrangement. Far from looking disordered, the flowers and treesplemented each other, forming a very beautiful sight. ¡°It smells good.¡± Eonelle closed her eyes and enjoyed the garden¡¯s fragrance. And then came into her ears a voice that she had long missed. ¡°Eonelle.¡± ¡°Mommy!¡± Eonelle reflexively shouted as she jumped from her position and turned around. There stood her beautiful and caring mother, the previous Fairy Queen, with an elegant smile. ¡°Mommy!¡± Eonelle ran like a child and hugged her mother¡¯s waist. ¡°You¡¯re still a child.¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. I¡¯m a child. Hehehe.¡± How long had it been since she acted cutely like this? It had been a while since she spoke and acted like a normal fairy. The former Fairy Queen had a bit of a lonely smile when she looked at her daughter¡¯s face. Because in her eyes that could see beyond time and space, she saw the grown-up Eonelle, her daughter who had be the Fairy Queen. The previous Fairy Queen caressed Eonelle¡¯s cheek with emotions that could only be described as proud, regretful, and affectionate. ¡°Eonelle, do you like this ce?¡± ¡°Yes, I like it. It¡¯s very pretty.¡± ¡°Yes, when Magen¡¯s High Elves left Endymion¡­they especially asked us to take good care of it.¡± The High Elves had already left Endymion when Eonelle was born. However, the previous Fairy Queen remembered the time when the High Elves lived in Endymion. ¡°Mommy was a friend of the High Elves, right?¡± ¡°Yes, I was. The High Elves were friends of us wild fairies. They let us use the hot springs and the garden to our heart¡¯s content.¡± ¡°I like the hot springs too.¡± ¡°You¡¯re truly my daughter.¡± ¡°Hehehe.¡± The previous Fairy Queen stroked Eonelle¡¯s head, and Eonelle enjoyed her touch. This moment was just a dream, but as a fairy, she didn¡¯t care about distinguishing reality from the dream. ¡°Eonelle.¡± ¡°Yes, mommy.¡± ¡°This ce¡­take good care of Endymion. Someday¡­on the day when the High Elves return, we can be proud¡­we can say that us fairies have never neglected our friendship with the High Elves.¡± It was impossible to manage the entire Endymion. Even the High Elves had given up taking care of it. So just the ces where the High Elves and fairies shared their friendship, which were the hot springs and gardens, were what they could preserve well. ¡°Yes, mommy. I¡¯ll definitely do it.¡± ¡°Fufufu, that¡¯s a good girl.¡± ¡°I promise. Definitely. Pinky promise.¡± ¡°All right, it¡¯s a pinky promise.¡± ¡°Yes, mommy.¡± Eonelle prettily smiled, and the previous Fairy Queen hugged her tightly. They shared each other¡¯s warmth under the sunlight shining down from the colored ss ceiling. ¡°Mommy.¡± Eonelle opened her eyes. And she realized that she was the Fairy Queen now. But for a moment, she was engrossed in her dream. Instead of facing reality, she chose to escape it for a while. Tick tock. Tick tock. She suddenly stood up and left her room, with the hem of her dress trailing on the ground. She faced the sight in front of her. ¡°Haha¡­hahaha¡­¡± Didn¡¯t they say thatughter sometimeses out when one faces a very absurd situation? The sight in front of her did not change. The scene in her dream only remained in her dreams now. It waspletely ruined. The site where the great copse took ce could only be described as ruins. The Fairy Queen struggled to maintain her elegant smile. She soon felt faint again but turned around and firmly stood. But she couldn¡¯t stop her weak voice froming out of her mouth. ¡°It wasn¡¯t¡­a dream.¡± It would have been nice if it was a dream. If it was just a dream¡­ If it was just a lie¡­ ¡°Mommy, I¡¯m sorry.¡± Eonelle couldn¡¯t keep her promise. I¡¯m a bad child. I¡¯m sorry. When tears streaked down the Fairy Queen¡¯s cheeks, there were some who were watching the scene secretly. ¡°Ju-Jude. What should we do? She¡¯s crying.¡± ¡°¡­Then should she not cry?¡± Endymion waspletely destroyed. When Jude spoke with narrowed eyes, Cordelia pouted her lips, timidly pushing her index fingers against each other. Jude sighed again when he saw her with that appearance and then said. ¡°Haa¡­in addition to that¡­are you a real demon? How could you say that?¡± ¡°W-what¡­¡± ¡°Endymion is gone, so no more demons will appear on Endymion¡­ Such words made Satan lose his job today.¡± It was such a diabolical idea. No, apart from having such an idea, she put it out of her mouth and said it. And with such a lovely face and expression. ¡°Uhhh¡­¡± Jude¡¯s remarks made Cordelia shrink even further, but she had something to say in her defense. ¡°Y-you taught me.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I mean, that¡­when we broke the bridge¡­¡± Cordelia was talking about the time when they broke the bridge to defeat Lacto. Jude was the one who originally said that statement, not Cordelia. However, Jude clicked his tongue at Cordelia¡¯s timid rebuttal and said with narrowed eyes. ¡°Is this the same as that? And isn¡¯t there something like a time and ce?¡± He was correct. Cordelia shrank even more, and Jude pulled the cheeks of such Cordelia with both of his hands. ¡°Ugueu¡­¡± Cordelia would normally be angry and resist it, but this time, she didn¡¯t. She just epted her punishment with a bleak face. But that did notst long. ¡°I know you¡¯re watching. Come forward.¡± At the Fairy Queen¡¯s call, Jude and Cordelia flinched at the same time before they cleared their throats and stepped forward. ¡°Jude, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Your Majesty.¡± Jude answered in a small voice, and Cordelia bowed her head after looking at the Fairy Queen¡¯s eyes. The Fairy Queen graciously smiled at their appearance. ¡°It¡¯s all right. You don¡¯t have to make such a dejected face. To defend Endymion¡­no, to save¡­no, it was for the world anyway.¡± Though she was a bit unsettled in the middle, the Fairy Queen still kept her elegant smile until the end of her words. ¡°To close the Hell Gate, right?¡± ¡°Yes, if the Hell Gate had just grown like that¡­there would have been a terrible tragedy. Cordelia¡¯s actions were rather excessive, but there was no other way back then. Because of Cordelia¡¯s decision on behalf of everyone, she was able to save my life too. If you punish her, let me receive it instead.¡± When Jude didn¡¯t just stop defending her and even went as far as to say that he would be willing to receive the punishment instead, Cordelia was startled and blinked, and the Fairy Queen shook her head. ¡°No, it¡¯s not fair to punish you. As you said, Cordelia saved everyone. And¡­I think I¡¯m at fault too for neglecting the management of other areas besides the original areas we maintained. Because I didn¡¯t even know of the fact that the Hell Gate opened here.¡± The Fairy Queen was also well aware of the Hell Gate¡¯s dangers. If the Hell Gate had grown just as Jude had said, the fairies would be the first to be at risk. ¡°So Cordelia, straighten your chest. Although Endymion is gone¡­isn¡¯t it clear that you saved the world and us fairies?¡± ¡°Your Majesty¡­¡± Cordelia was deeply moved and began to tear up. The Fairy Queenughed a bit at Cordelia¡¯s response before she continued. ¡°I know of the name Lena. Holy Angel Lena, one of the five heroes who ended the tragedy of the Paragon Kingdom. But looking at her now, it seems she got the Demon Syndrome.¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. We have to treat Lena.¡± Cordelia quickly spoke without thinking, and the Fairy Queen also nodded her head. ¡°Yes, you are right. She is also our benefactor, so she deserves to be helped.¡± ¡°Your Majesty¡­¡± Cordelia¡¯s face was flushed with deep emotions again. Jude also expressed his admiration of her in his thoughts. ¡®She¡¯s a real queen.¡¯ It was unbelievable that the benevolent woman in front of him was of the same race as the fairies he knew. In any case, the truly gracious Fairy Queen turned around and said. ¡°Demon Syndrome is a disease caused by the umtion of hell¡¯s aura in the body. So if you wash away hell¡¯s aura with holy aura, you¡¯ll be able to cure the Demon Syndrome.¡± What she said was the truth. In fact, the quickest way to treat the Demon Syndrome in the game was to go arge temple, give as much donation money as possible, and listen to choir¡¯s hymns while bathing in holy water. ¡°There is a sacred ce not far away. It¡¯s the ce where the golden dragon, the king of the wild gods, interacted with Sri, the ancient sun god.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± Jude unknowingly expressed his surprise. Because ording to the Fairy Queen¡¯s story, it was and where two gods temporarily stayed together. It was literally a sacred ce among the sacred ces. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you the location, so take Lena there to cure the Demon Syndrome.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes, really.¡± ¡°Wow! Her Majesty is the best! Thank you very much!¡± Cordelia was ready to embrace the Fairy Queen at that moment, but their absolute difference in heights prevented her from doing so. The Fairy Queenughed a little at the appearance of Cordelia hesitating when she tried to hug her, and she soon looked back at Jude and said. ¡°Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°I¡¯m saying this out of concern¡­¡± The Fairy Queen¡¯s words trailed off at the end before she suddenly cleared her throat and said while looking elsewhere. ¡°You can¡¯t destroy that ce.¡± The sacred ce. Especially the sacred ce. ¡°Of course. I¡¯ll try to prevent the worst situation from happening.¡± Cordelia¡¯s face turned red at the moment Jude spoke with a determined look as if he was swearing an oath. After she struggled in that state, she spoke to the Fairy Queen in an urgent tone. ¡°I-I promise! I¡¯ll just go quietly! Really!¡± ¡°Yes, I believe in you. Truly. Really. Please. Please¡­¡± Her elegant smile remained the same, but at the end, there was some desperation in the Fairy Queen¡¯s words. It wasn¡¯t really just a sacred ce. Because they had to protect that sacred ce. Especially that sacred ce! ¡°I-I promise. Really¡­¡± The dispirited Cordelia shrank her shoulders as she made a promise, Jude stepped forward again. ¡°Your Majesty, I will take responsibility and protect the sacred ce from Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes, I believe in you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a demon¡­¡± Cordelia timidly murmured shortly after the Fairy Queen¡¯s worried face and Jude¡¯s determined oath. The Fairy Queen turned to Cordelia again and spoke. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯ve made you dispirited. As I said earlier, it¡¯s true that you saved us. You can be proud of that. You¡¯re a warrior who made a decision that couldn¡¯t be easily made.¡± ¡°Sob, sob, Your Majesty.¡± She (Fairy Queen) did a grievous harm to someone and then pretended to help her (Cordelia). The Fairy Queen smiled a little mischievously at Cordelia whose thoughts were clearly revealed in her face, and Jude also smiled. *** ¡°Ah, thank goodness. There¡¯s a way to cure Lena.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± The fairies¡¯ residence, which differed in time and space from ordinary ces, wasn¡¯t a very good ce to take a proper rest. For this reason, Lena and Kan were staying in a bathhouse in the outskirts of Endymion, which did not copse. ¡°Ufufu, I¡¯m excited. If we go to the sacred ce, Lena will be cured from the Demon Syndrome, then Lena will regain the power of an angel, and we¡¯ll be able to obtain Lena¡¯s blood. Isn¡¯t that right?¡± On the road to the bathhouse, Cordelia energetically walked andughed, and she even began to sing. ¡°Le~na¡¯s blood~ doo doo doo doo doo~ Sacred ce~ doo doo doo doo doo~ Angel mode~ doo doo doo doo doo~ Lena¡¯s blood~.¡± Her singing and gestures were seriously cute and adorable, and Jude tried to distance himself from her. And Cordelia having caught such Jude, red at him. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°No, are you asking because you don¡¯t know? Look at yourself.¡± A beautiful girl was smiling brightly while singing about blood. ¡°Umm¡­¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it weird?¡± ¡°Hmph. It¡¯s not strange though?¡± However, she seemed to be embarrassed as her face turned red. Jude smiled and continued his words. ¡°Moving on, it¡¯s good. We saved Lena, and if we go on like this, we¡¯ll obtain the angel¡¯s blood.¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll be able to use Ancestral Regression¡­then it¡¯ll be possible to use this too!¡± Cordelia spoke out loud as she took out the Heavenly Judgment, which she had worn on her back throughout their entire trip. It was one of the hundred swords that the Archangel Auriel himself forged, and a powerful magic item that could use ¡®Day of Judgment.¡¯ It was currently sealed, so it was more of a club than a sword, but once she gained the power of an angel, she would be able to remove the seal. ¡°It¡¯s a happy event, a happy asion.¡± ¡°Yes, I especially like that we saved Lena.¡± She had seen her die a lonely death with a painful expression in the cinematic movie, and that scene still remained in her eyes. But they had saved Lena. They saved the hero from Legend of Heroes¡¯ first episode, who should have died. ¡®It means a lot.¡¯ Among the five main characters in the first episode of the Legend of Heroes, the Ghostde Kamael was the only one who was active after the second episode. So if that didn¡¯t happen. If all the five main characters survived and joined the fight to stop Armageddon¡­ ¡®We have to make it happen.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t just Lena. They somehow saved Iron Man Landius even though the cause of his death was still unknown. ¡®The other two too.¡¯ Necromancer Velkian and Druid Fran too. And furthermore, the heroes of the Legend of Heroes 2 too. ¡°What are you thinking about?¡± ¡°A good idea.¡± ¡°You¡¯re saying something strange again.¡± Jude grinned at Cordelia¡¯s rebuke, and returned the topic to the sacred ce. ¡°Anyway, I hope that there¡¯s no dragon vein in the ce we¡¯re going this time.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing.¡± Jude shamelessly replied and pretended to be ignorant, while Cordelia pouted but it was only for a moment. ¡°Let¡¯s hurry. I want to give Lena the good news.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± The two who were walking together began to speed up their pace. And under the feet of those two. Deep underground. The runaway of the dragon veins were continuously causing abnormalities. Chapter 91: Sacred Place (2)

Chapter 91: Sacred ce (2)

¡°Lena! We¡¯re back! Lena!¡± Cordelia entered the cave with a loud shout. It was the bathhouse where Jude and Cordelia met the wild fairies for the first time. ¡°Cordelia.¡± Inside their temporary shelter, Lena hadid down a mat inside an empty bathtub and was modestly sitting on it. When she responded to Cordelia¡¯s call, Cordelia brightly smiled and ran to her. ¡°Lena, Lena. Good news! We found a way to cure Demon Syndrome!¡± Cordelia quickly clung to Lena¡¯s side and conveyed their conversation with the Fairy Queen. ¡°So we¡¯re thinking of going to the sacred ce. Isn¡¯t that good news?¡± ¡°It is. Thank you very much for helping me in various ways.¡± ¡°Eh, you¡¯re wee. Hehehe.¡± The happy Cordelia¡¯s cheeks blushed, and Lena unconsciouslyughed. In fact, Lena was familiar with this kind of affection. Because almost all those who knew of Lena¡¯s nickname, Holy Angel, were very friendly to her. But she felt that Cordelia was a little special. Not just because she liked Lena, but because she was concerned with Lena herself. ¡°Cordelia is so cute.¡± ¡°Yes? Eh¡­hehehe.¡± When she kindly said that, Cordelia¡¯s faced blushed even more as she let out a sillyugh. But Cordelia looked so cute that Lenaughed again. ¡°What a heartwarming sight, very nice¡­¡± It was when the pleased Jude was watching that scene from the entrance¡­ ¡°Jude, are we heading to the sacred ce now?¡± The Dwarf Kan, whom the Fairy Queen recognized for his gentle and moist eyes, asked with sparkling eyes. The ruins of Sri and the sacred ce of a wild god. For him, an archeologist, it was like getting many valuable things in only one package. ¡°Yes, we will.¡± ¡°Oooh¡­¡± Though not as adorable as Cordelia¡¯s, Kan¡¯s ecstatic face and flushed cheeks was also enough to make him smile. ¡®Come to think of it¡­¡¯ Kan had be strangely brighter than before, even after going through this incident. ¡®Perhaps he found some confidence?¡¯ Jude and Cordelia had said to Kan many times that they were d to be with him. But it wasn¡¯t just that. Kan¡¯s cheerfulness had another slightly different reason. ¡®I was nothing.¡¯ Kan was called a god of disaster because an ident happened wherever he went. But in retrospect, it was merely idents such as falling rocks, activating hidden traps, or encountering monsters. ¡®It¡¯s trivial in front of these two, it¡¯s trivial.¡¯ It was trivial in front of these two who didn¡¯t stop at destroying a city but even copsed half of Raptor Canyon. Moreover, he found out that this wasn¡¯t the first time when he listened to their story. When they went to a mountain, they copsed it. When they went to the fields, they burnt the fields. When they went to an underground city, they were truly destruction incarnate as they annihted it. In front of these two, Kan himself was merely a drop in the ocean, so he felt that his worries so far were just something trivial. Of course, the biggest reason for him finding his confidence was because Jude and Cordelia repeatedly reassured him, but it couldn¡¯t be denied that he was also humbled by the great destruction caused by the two. ¡®Let¡¯s be stronger too.¡¯ Just like Jude and Miss Cordelia. So that whatever difficulties that maye, he can break them down and move on. With a renewed determination, Kan gazed at Cordelia who was warmly acting like a spoilt child in front of Lena, while Jude narrowed his eyes. ¡®Somehow¡­it somehow feels different from what I intended.¡¯ But that didn¡¯t matter. The important thing was that Kan found his confidence. ¡°Jude, Jude. When are we leaving?¡± He heard Cordelia calling him just then, so Jude turned to her and answered. ¡°Well¡­there¡¯s no reason to drag it out. Miss Lena, if you don¡¯t mind, I¡¯d like to start right away¡­is that okay with you?¡± Jude asked somewhat carefully. Because Lena¡¯s condition had worsened after the battle. Demon Syndrome would worsen whenever mana was used, and Lena had already used a lot of mana before joining Jude and Cordelia¡¯s group. If she used a little more mana now, it would really lead to an irreversible situation. Cordelia had a worried look upon hearing Jude¡¯s question, but Lena held Cordelia¡¯s hand and said as if she was okay. ¡°I don¡¯t have a big problem in terms of physical strength. Let¡¯s start right away.¡± ¡°Okay, then let¡¯s hurry.¡± Lunchtime was already approaching, so even if they depart now, they had to hurry to get there before sunset. About an hour passed by. As they were heading northeast towards the sacred ce, Cordelia quickly approached Jude who was leading the group. ¡°Jude, Jude.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± He was d to see the approaching Cordelia, who had been by Lena¡¯s side for the past hour, but Jude became curious why she came to him. He asked as he tilted his head, and Cordelia said while keeping her voice down. ¡°We¡¯re going to the sacred ce now.¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°ording to the Queen, the sacred ce is where the golden dragon, the king of the wild gods, and Sri, the sun god, interacted in the past, right?¡± ¡°Yes. So it¡¯s a sacred ce for both the wild gods and the Sri denomination.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, so there must be a dragon vein in the sacred ce, right?¡± Jude was about to nod his head immediately at Cordelia¡¯s words but stopped. His eyes narrowed and he then said in a low voice. ¡°What¡­ Is this a murder notice? No, is this a terror warning? What terms are you demanding?¡± ¡°Hey, it¡¯s not like that.¡± ¡°No, it is. And put your hand on your heart and ask your conscience. Think if your words were excessive or not.¡± ¡°Umm¡­it¡¯s excessive. That¡¯s right, Jude said it was wrong.¡± Cordelia put her hand on her chest and calmly said as if she really heard the voice of her conscience. And at that sight, Jude unwittingly sighed. ¡°Huu¡­your acting skills have improved.¡± ¡°It¡¯s because of someone evil. And it wasn¡¯t acting just now. It really was the voice of my conscience.¡± ¡°If you say so¡­ Anyway, why did you bring up the dragon vein?¡± ¡°Ah, no¡­it¡¯s just in case.¡± ¡°Just in case?¡± ¡°Yes, just.¡± ¡°Hey, I¡¯m saying this just in case then. Not the sacred ce. Seriously, not the sacred ce. The Queen will weep bitterly. Do you understand? She¡¯ll weep and cry.¡± ¡°I know, I know. I understand. I don¡¯t want to make the Queen cry too, so don¡¯t worry.¡± Cordelia said before going back to Lena while humming, and Jude had a somewhat ominous feeling as he continued to move forward. *** Byte afternoon, the group was able to reach the sacred ce. Located in the northeast of the Raptor Canyon, the sacred ce was a basin simr to Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯snd, and it was a ce that stood out from afar. ¡°Only that ce has no snow.¡± It was a greennd in the middle of a pure white snowfield. Furthermore, it wasn¡¯t just without snow. As they approached the ce, they could feel a warm wind blowing from inside the basin. It was as if only that ce was spring. ¡°I can feel Sri¡¯s divine power.¡± It was as Lena said. They could feel Sri¡¯s divine power all around them, just like when they entered Leisegang¡¯s sealing ce. Inside the small basin that was about a hundred meters in diameter. A ce where it was spring despite being winter all around it. ¡°Ooh¡­it¡¯s clearly Sri¡¯s ruins. The architectural style is old too.¡± Kan said in an excited tone as he closely approached the pirs that served as gates at the entrance of the basin. But Jude and Cordelia focused more on another ce. ¡°Tomb Guardians.¡± Beyond the pirs sat four Tomb Guardians. They seemed to have no intention of doing anything that was particrly harmful, but their eyes that were looking at the group were those of a watcher. So instead of going in further, Jude stopped in his ce and shouted loudly. ¡°We humbly ask Blue Whiskers, guardian of the sacred ce, to allow us entry! The Wild Fairy Queen sent us!¡± At the same time, Cordelia raised the Fairy¡¯s Bonds that contained the Earth Protection. ¡°The Fairy Queen sent us!¡± When Cordelia shouted and the Fairy¡¯s Bonds shined, the direction of the wind changed in an instant. The wind that blew from the inside stopped as a loud voice came. ¡°Blue Whiskers greets the visitors!¡± A deep and loud voice was heard from therge temple located inside the basin, and the owner of the voice was soon revealed. As is name implied, it was a dragon with long blue whiskers. ¡°I am Blue Whiskers, guardian of the sacred ce! State your names!¡± It had blue scales and splendid deer antlers. Blue Whiskers looked more of an oriental dragon rather than a western dragon, and as it came forward with a dignified figure, Cordelia quickly bit her lips and held back herughter. ¡®C-cute.¡¯ She couldn¡¯t help it. Blue Whiskers was huge and around 7 meters longs, but because its shape was really like that of an oriental dragon, its limbs were too short and undersized whenpared to its whole body. But as he stood on his small hind legs and toddled, Cordelia thought that the harmony between its dignified upper body and lower body was poor. Cordelia tried hard to hold back herughter by biting her lips, and Jude stepped first like always and said. ¡°We are Jude Bayer and Cordelia Chase, who are under the protection of the Fairy Queen.¡± ¡°I-I am Indiana Kan.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Lena Ainsburg.¡± After Lena introduced herself, Blue Whiskers looked at them with narrowed eyes and then nodded. ¡°You¡¯re all good people. Though the woman at the back has a strong demon¡¯s aura¡­ Oh, did youe here to wash away that aura?¡± Blue Whiskers wasn¡¯t a guardian of the sacred ce for no reason. At his urate analysis, Jude immediately nodded. ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right. The Fairy Queen informed us that she could wash away the demonic energy in the sacred ce.¡± ¡°Hmm, indeed.¡± With his tiny hand, Blue Whiskers stroked his stomach instead of his chin, raised its head and said. ¡°Come in! Those sent by the Fairy Queen don¡¯t have to go through the test!¡± Blue Whiskers cried out loud and began to return to the temple, while Jude and Cordelia quickly turned around to Kan and Lena. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°I¡¯m d that the conversation went well.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Although Lena looked somewhat puzzled as she was surprised by Blue Whiskers¡¯ outspokenness, she soon smiled and stepped forward. And after a few minutes¡­ Having entered the temple, Jude and Cordelia let out awes of admiration. ¡®It really was a ce where they interacted.¡¯ Unlike the outside which followed the typical style of the Sri temple, the inside followed the style of the wild gods. It was like a western church on the outside but was like a greenhouse on the inside. With the pirs and such everywhere, it was undoubtedly an artificial structure, but because it blended with the surroundings, it all felt natural. In particr, there was a pond about 10 meters in diameter at the center of the temple. The pond was surrounded by stone pirs and had a faint yet beautiful light rising from it, giving the pond a mysterious feeling. ¡°It¡¯s a sacred pond. It¡¯s a ce where you can wash off anything.¡± Blue Whiskers spoke in a proud tone and continued to look at Lena. ¡°I can tell from your eyes. Though you have been stained by the demon¡¯s power, you are a truly good person. You are allowed to enter the pond, so wash away the darkness and regain the light.¡± The voice of Blue Whiskers echoed loudly in the temple, as if it was a voice from heaven. After Lena bowed to Blue Whiskers who was stroking its belly while still looking holy, she nced at Jude and Cordelia before approaching the pond, and the two then stared at Lena¡¯s back. ¡°Hey, Blue Whiskers.¡± ¡°Say it.¡± ¡°How long will it take Lena to wash away the demon¡¯s aura?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know exactly how long. But it will take some time if she was tainted by the demonic aura for a long time.¡± Satisfied by the sincere but a little vague answer, Cordelia looked at Lena again. As Lena entered the pond with her clothes still on, the surrounding stone pirs glowed green. ¡°It¡¯s the light of purification. Don¡¯t be afraid and move on to the center of the pond.¡± Lena did not doubt Blue Whiskers¡¯ words. She moved further and reached the center of the pond, and a green light covered her and the whole pond. ¡°Is this¡­okay?¡± Worried about Lena who was no longer visible due to the light, Cordelia asked, and Blue Whiskers nodded. ¡°It¡¯s all right. All you have to do is wait.¡± ¡°Thanks for everything.¡± ¡°I am the guardian of the sacred ce, so it is natural to help those in need.¡± Blue Whiskers replied with a smile andter walked to a corner of the temple which seemed to be its dwelling ce, and Cordelia tried hard to only see Blue Whiskers¡¯ upper body. Several seconds passed. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± She turned around at his call, and Jude pointed outside the temple with his chin. ¡°I¡¯ll go out for a while and look around.¡± There was nothing to do here except to rest and wait anyway. So it was better for him to monitor the surrounding terrain like what he usually did. ¡°Uh¡­ Then I¡¯ll go with you.¡± ¡°Okay, if you say so. It¡¯s fine if we leave Kan alone, right?¡± ¡°Yes, he doesn¡¯t look bored. Let¡¯s call him at dinnertime when we get back.¡± Because Kan¡¯s focus was on the walls as he eagerly observed this and that. ¡°Mr. Blue Whiskers! We¡¯ll go out for a while and get some fresh air!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t go too far! My protection cannot reach beyond the sacred ce!¡± Blue Whiskers replied to Cordelia¡¯s shout, and Jude unconsciously had a bitter smile. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°No, I just thought that you quickly became close.¡± ¡°Because he¡¯s like a kind uncle.¡± Cordelia replied with a smile, and the two left the temple and went up the basin. Because they wanted to climb to a high ce and survey the surrounding area. And a few minutester. Having arrived at the highest ce, Jude and Cordelia both frowned. ¡°Devil¡¯s Eye.¡± There were peopleing from far away and heading towards the sacred ce. Even if their numbers were small, it was around fifty or so. There were many knights who wore heavy armor, and they looked like they came from the Argon Empire, and not the wildnds. ¡°The one in the lead¡­is Billvine, right?¡± ¡°I think you¡¯re right.¡± He was a huge man whose whole body was covered in a ck armor. Among the mid-ranking demonic humans of the Devil¡¯s Eye, he was someone who belonged to the particrly strong group. Unbeknownst to Jude and Cordelia, the Devil¡¯s Eye had actually felt a great sense of crisis when they lost two mid-ranking demonic humans due to the actions of the two. At this rate, their n to swallow up the wildnds would be disrupted. So in order to contaminate the eastern dragon veins, a stronger group was needed. Thus, they decided to deploy ck Knight Billvine and his men, elites of their group in the Argon Empire, which was the home of the Devil¡¯s Eyes. ¡°It¡¯s not a simple formation. There¡¯s some monsters mixed in their group.¡± In terms of number alone, they were less than in the previous fights, but the quality of each one of them was different. Just fifty of them would be able to fight against 500 royal soldiers of the S?len Kingdom. In addition, they also had prepared a method to deal with the wild god. What should we do then? He thought on how they would be able to protect the purity of the sacred ce from those who were trying to contaminate the dragon vein. ¡®If I consider on a simple way to defeat them¡­¡¯ They could bait the enemies towards the middle of the basin and blow up the dragon vein to annihte them. After he thought about it, Jude looked up in surprise and said to Cordelia, who look quite distressed. ¡°No, this demon. Anything but that.¡± ¡°Eh? What are you talking about?¡± ¡°No, you can¡¯t.¡± ¡°What exactly are you talking about?¡± ¡°That, that method.¡± Having no idea what he was talking about, Cordelia somehow felt it unfair and frowned,? and Jude turned to Billvine and his men. He counted the remaining time until they reach the sacred ce. At the same time, he thought about Lena and the sacred ce¡¯s situation. And a few secondster. Something came into Jude¡¯s mind. Chapter 92: Sacred Place (3)

Chapter 92: Sacred ce (3)

ck Knight Billvine. One of the strongest mid-ranking demonic humans of the Devil¡¯s Eye. He raised his head and gazed at the basin. ¡°The sacred ce.¡± He came from a fallen family of knights in the Argon Empire, so he did not know much about the barbariannds. But even he could not help but feel that there was something special in the sacred ce ahead of him. ¡®ording to the information, it¡¯s guarded by one wild god and four low-ranking angels.¡¯ In fact, the western part of the barbariannds was already in the hands of the Angry Bull tribe and the Devil¡¯s Eye. Because of that, the Devil¡¯s Eye was able to acquire all kinds of information about the barbariannds, including the eastern wild gods¡¯ information, location of the dragon veins, the sacred ce, and so on. ¡®Blue Whiskers is a wild god in the form of a dragon.¡¯ Although he was a dragon, he was still a young one, so he wasn¡¯t that strong. Nevertheless, he was both a dragon and a wild god. He was not an easy opponent to fight against. ¡®Moreover, our goal is to capture him alive.¡¯ Billvine¡¯s mission was to pollute the dragon vein, subdue the wild god, and the corrupt Blue Whiskers with the power of the great overlord Belial. ¡®After luring him, we¡¯ll trigger the spell. If we defeat the Tomb Guardians while the wild god is tied up, the sacred ce will be an ownerlessnd.¡¯ After confirming their strategy in his mind, Billvine stopped at about a hundred meters from the entrance of the sacred ce and ordered his subordinates to go into their battle positions. ¡®He¡¯ll have no choice but toe out.¡¯ The dragon veins spread out like awork of threads throughout the barbariannds, like that of a human body¡¯s veins. The sacred ce was where such dragon veins gather and circte, which was like the heart of a human. In order to properly contaminate the dragon vein, the dragon vein¡¯s heart must be captured, so that the rest of the dragon veins would easily be contaminated. ¡°Begin.¡± ¡°As you wish, Sir.¡± When Billvine ordered in a low voice, the men in ck armor obeyed their master and began to stab spears with the curse of the overlord Belial into the ground. ¡°May the power of Belial fill thisnd¡­¡± After the cursed spears were stabbed on the ground, Billvine chanted the spell to activate the curse, and the snow around the area began to melt. A purple aura surged along the spears, and at the same time, a deadly green curse permeated the ground. Billvine looked up and watched the entrance of the sacred ce. What he had hoped for wasing true. *** Ten minutes before Billvine stabbed the cursed spears on the ground. Jude and Cordelia looked at each other and quickly exchanged words. ¡°Billvine isn¡¯t just a musclehead character.¡± ¡°He has a brain, right? He also has a cautious personality.¡± ¡°Yes, do you remember what Violent Avnche said?¡± ¡°The method to subdue the wild gods?¡± ¡°Yes, that method. Violent Avnche said that its movements were restricted because of the evil energy and curses that they had prepared. So there¡¯s a high possibility that they¡¯ve prepared something simr this time.¡± ¡°So we block Blue Whiskers and prevent the Tomb Guardians from leaving?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. We have to crush Billvine¡¯s n from the ground up.¡± ¡°How? With a F*ck Bang?¡± ¡°No, not that. Though it¡¯s true that if we blow up the sacred ce, they wouldn¡¯t be able to upy it.¡± ¡°I¡¯m kidding, I¡¯m kidding. I¡¯m not a bomber. I¡¯m not that kind of person.¡± ¡°¡­Then, apart from that.¡± ¡°Apart from that?¡± ¡°What do you think Billvine is missing right now?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you just tell instead of asking me? It¡¯s bothersome to think.¡± ¡°¡­Madam, your servant doesn¡¯t want Madame to give up yet.¡± ¡°Okay, okay. You want me to say it, right? What Billvine is missing.¡± Billvine had no information about Jude and Cordelia. Moreover, Jude and Cordelia had unintentionally annihted the demonic humans of the Devil¡¯s Eye and their subordinates in Violent Avnche¡¯s mountain and in Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s fields. So it was highly likely that they had not yet been informed of Jude and Cordelia, and even if they were informed, they wouldn¡¯t easily think that the two would appear in the sacred ce. ¡°Ooh¡­as expected. My child could do it. Let¡¯s keep working hard in the future.¡± ¡°That¡¯s enough work for my brain. Moving on, the root of his n is Blue Whiskers, right?¡± ¡°Yes, Billvine¡¯s n is likely to start with ¡®restraining Blue Whiskers.¡¯ In other words, if he couldn¡¯t restrain Blue Whiskers, we¡¯ll be able to get rid of his n from the very roots.¡± ¡°What about their method?¡± ¡°That.¡± Jude turned around and pointed to the sacred ce¡¯s temple, and Cordelia narrowed her eyes. ¡°Uh¡­you said we shouldn¡¯t blow it up.¡± ¡°No, not the dragon vein. I¡¯m talking about the temple of the wild gods and the sacred ce of Sri.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia blinked her eyes several time before she understood it. Jude and Cordelia knew little about the wild gods, but not for Sri. ¡°Can you do it.¡± ¡°I can do it.¡± ¡°Will it be on time?¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I need to hurry from now on.¡± Cordelia nodded at his words before she ran towards the entrance and shouted. ¡°I¡¯ll buy time!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t overdo it! Okay?!¡± ¡°You too!¡± She roughly shouted and then ran without looking back. On the other hand, Jude headed to the temple. And around ten minutester¡­ Blue Whiskers reacted to the cursed spears that Billvine stabbed on the ground. *** ¡°Who dares pollute the dragon vein!¡± Blue Whiskers burst with anger as he ran out of the temple. He was about to rush towards Billvine and his men at that moment. No, he would have done that if he was alone. He had been protecting the sacred ce for nearly a hundred years, but this was the first time it had been attacked. But Cordelia was there. ¡°Wait! Stop! You can¡¯t go!¡± Cordelia boosted her power with the witch¡¯s power and shouted, and Blue Whiskers stopped on his feet but still remained angry. ¡°What do you mean by stop! Can¡¯t you see what they¡¯re doing!¡± They stabbed cursed spears on the ground and spread Belial¡¯s curse. Cordelia had already seen simr things in thend of Gentle Snow Breeze, so she understood what was happening, but she still didn¡¯t back down. ¡°I know! But it¡¯s a trap! It¡¯s obviously a trap!¡± In order for them to properly contaminate the dragon veins, they had to go to its heart. In other words, what they were doing was a pointless task, and there was only one reason for doing such a pointless task. ¡®Fishing!¡¯ It was a bait to lure Blue Whiskers. ¡°Jude is inside, okay? He¡¯s drawing a magic circle inside, okay? We have to wait until Jude is done!¡± Jude might be ignorant about the dragon veins, but he knew a lot about Sri. He was drawing a magic circle to use the power of the sacred ce, so they shouldn¡¯t behave rashly until hepletes the magic circle. ¡°But they¡¯re polluting thend!¡± ¡°We can cleanse itter!¡± ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s true.¡± Having been alone in the sacred ce, his eloquence was weak, so Blue Whiskers slowed down for a moment, but only for a brief moment. ¡°Eiii! I won¡¯t stop! I am the guardian of the sacred ce! I¡¯m going to beat those guys up! Tomb Guardians! Get up and face the enemy!¡± ¡°Kwoooh!¡± The four Tomb Guardians at the entrance responded to Blue Whiskers¡¯mand and spread their wings at the same time. Cordelia stamped her foot with a look of urgency, and soon made a decision. ¡°¡± ¡°What?!¡± magic was Cordelia¡¯s second specialty. However, Blue Whiskers was a wild god. Cordelia¡¯s spell made paralyzed him, but it didn¡¯tst long. On Blue Whiskers¡¯ neck hung Sri¡¯s ne, which gave off a blue glow and canceled Cordelia¡¯s magic. ¡®Sri¡¯s Curse-lifting Ne!¡¯ It was a ne that protected the wearer from harmful spells once a day. Although there was a limit on the number of times it could be used per day, its power of protection was so strong that it was a must-have item. In any case, the ne¡¯s power repelled Cordelia¡¯s magic, and Blue Whiskers angrily shouted. ¡°I thought you were a good child, but you weren¡¯t!¡± ¡°No! Just listen to me! Okay?!¡± ¡°Get out of my way!¡± Blue Whiskers yelled in a threatening manner as if he was going to attack if she interfered further, and he then kicked the ground and rose to the air. He rode on the wind and clouds and together with the Tomb Guardians, he flew towards Billvine. ¡°Ah, seriously!¡± Cordelia held back her cursing and then looked at the temple where Jude was as she clenched her teeth. She was worried about Blue Whiskers, but she had to stay near the temple in case something else happened. ¡®Please!¡¯ Since that¡¯s what happened, show me the majesty of a wild god! It was the moment when Cordelia wished for that. ¡°Belial¡¯s Cursed Hammer! Strike the enemy! Cursed Net! Capture the enemy!¡± When Billvine loudly shouted, five of his men cut their own throats, offering themselves as human sacrifices. The vivid red blood spilled into air, and at that moment, a dark red power rose from the cursed spears and headed towards Blue Whiskers. The Devil¡¯s Eye had invested a long time to develop this sealing curse for the wild gods in order to carry out their ns. ¡°Kuaaaah!¡± Blue Whiskers grew stronger as time passed, but heckedbat experience so he couldn¡¯t properly fight against the curses that came in session. He was hit by the Cursed Hammer, crashed to the ground, and the Cursed Net tied not only his flesh but also his soul. Sri¡¯s ne, which already used up today¡¯s protection, was useless. No, it didn¡¯t change even if it hadn¡¯t been used up. To begin with, what the Devil¡¯s Eye prepared was something that activated ten curses in a row. ¡°Strengthen the curse! Seal the wild godpletely!¡± When Billvine shouted, five of his men stepped forward again and cut their own throats. They were brainwashed offerings that had been prepared as human sacrifices in the first ce. ¡°Kuaaaah!¡± Blue Whiskers painfully screamed as he desperately fought against the curse. The power of the curse nearly doubled the moment the five humans were sacrificed again. ¡°The wild god is sealed. Let¡¯s strike the sacred ce now!¡± Billvine drew his sword and shouted, and his subordinates raised the g and blew on the horns. They were like an order of knights that belonged to the Devil¡¯s Eye, and they passed by Blue Whiskers and began charging towards the sacred ce. ¡°Kuaaaah!¡± The Tomb Guardians spread out their wings and rushed towards Billvine¡¯s men. However, they had already prepared countermeasures against the Tomb Guardians. By forming groups of ten people each against the four Tomb Guardians, they created a situation that was simr to a hunter and a prey on a hunt. ¡°I¡¯ll cut their breaths one by one.¡± As he grasped his pitch-ck sword, Billvine hurried towards the Tomb Guardian instead of immediately heading to the sacred ce. It was a simple yet reliable hunting method in which Billvine himself killed the Tomb Guardians while ten of his men tied its feet. ¡°Kaaa¡­¡± The first Tomb Guardian lost its life helplessly. As she watched it, Cordelia clenched her teeth and thought. The situation had already gone badly. So she had to step out and protect the Tomb Guardians. Working with them was the best in order to stop Billvine and his men. ¡°I¡¯ll go.¡± Cordelia took a deep breath and then kicked the ground. But at that moment, a loud noise broke out from behind her back. Kwaaaaa-! The noise came from the temple. There was an open space at the top of Sri¡¯s temple which let the sunshine in, and from there, a bright golden pir of light shot up. Cordelia quickly turned around and saw the pir of light before she cheered. Because she realized what Jude¡¯s n was. ¡°Long live the sun!¡± Cordelia raised her hands up high to worship the sun. Her actions had no meaning, but the pir of light responded as if it reacted to her. Craack-! The pir of light split into hundreds to thousands of pieces with a sound simr to breaking ss. The pieces remained in the air as if the time froze, and the world was soon covered with an intense light. . It was a magic technique which temporarily created a sacred ce for Sri by spreading Sri¡¯s power around the surrounding area. And its effect was truly amazing. ¡°Oooooh!¡± The size of the Tomb Guardians grew. Their eyes glowed gold, and the sacred power that surrounded their entire bodies became twice as strong. The effect was not only that. Belial¡¯s curse that was suppressing Blue Whiskers was also broken at that moment. Billvine and his subordinates¡¯ power also weakened. ¡°As expected of my Jude!¡± The magic technique used up the power of Sri that was stored in the sacred ce, but what mattered now was to repel Billvine and his men. Cordelia widely smiled as she looked at the temple¡¯s entrance. She waited for Jude toe out so that they could attack Billvine together. But contrary to her expectations, Jude did note out. Or rather, he couldn¡¯te out. Because something happened that neither Cordelia nor Jude would have thought of. ¡®The magic technique, the magic technique won¡¯t stop!¡¯ At the center of the temple. At the center of therge magic circle, Jude stood with a puzzled expression. There wasn¡¯t anything wrong with the magic technique. He had seeded in casting by using the power of Sri that was stored in the temple. But the magic technique didn¡¯t stop. Despite having already exhausted the stored power of Sri, it continued to gather power. And Jude realized it. At the present moment, the magic circle was not gathering Sri¡¯s power that remained in the sacred ce. The magic circle was actually devouring the dragon vein¡¯s power. ¡°Jude!¡± Cordelia appeared at the temple¡¯s entrance. She looked at Jude and realized it with her animal-like instincts. ¡°Hey! You told me not to blow it up!¡± The dragon vein was violently shaking. It seemed that an incident simr to when Cordelia deliberately made the dragon vein runaway was about to happen at any moment. And two realized it again. Jude detected it because he was standing above the magic circle while Cordelia became aware of it through her animal-like instincts again. It was different. The flow of the dragon vein was not normal, but it was not a runaway. An explosion wouldn¡¯t happen either. It was something different. Not an explosion, but something that made the power of the dragon vein to re up. It wasn¡¯t the magic technique. The magic technique was just an opportunity for that something, and it was the will of that ¡®something¡¯ that moved at that moment. Kwaaaa-! ¡°Jude!¡± A golden pir of light shot up again from the magic circle. At the moment she saw it envelop Jude, Cordelia thoughtlessly rushed towards the magic circle without considering the consequences. She threw herself at the pir of light and tried to grab Jude. And thus, he saw Cordelia. Jude was the only one who originally saw it, but now that she was here, they saw the sight in front of them. A golden color. A world that was full of shining gold. ¡°Cordelia!¡± Jude hurriedly pulled Cordelia towards him and directed her to his back as if to hide her. As she stood behind Jude¡¯s back, Cordelia raised her head and stared at the sky instead of saying anything. They were no longer in the temple. They didn¡¯t know if they were in a real or mental space, but what appeared in front of them was not the sunset against a dark sky but the eyes of a huge being. ¡°Golden Dragon.¡± When Cordelia spontaneously spoke, Jude also raised his head. Cordelia was right. A huge golden dragon covered in golden scales was looking down at them with shining blue eyes. ¡°I am the one who is called the Golden Dragon.¡± The voice spread out from the sky to the ground. At the voice of the huge and enormous being, Jude and Cordelia felt their very existence be smaller. ¡°I am one with the dragon vein-¡± The head of the golden dragon that was up high began to slowly descend towards Jude and Cordelia. Cordelia flinched but raised her mana, and Jude moved half a step to the side to hide Cordelia a little more. ¡°I recently experienced a series of explosions in the dragon veins. And those explosions were caused by you.¡± The golden dragon¡¯s voice sounded monotonous. So they couldn¡¯t read its emotions. After he inly enumerated those facts, Cordelia bit her lips and winced again while Jude thought over and over again on how to protect Cordelia from that great being. ¡®Should we run away? No, that¡¯s impossible. If this space itself is the golden dragon¡¯s mental space, we cannot escape. Then, should we ask for forgiveness? It was to save the wild gods¡­ If you ever punish us, please punish me instead-¡¯ While Jude¡¯s head was busy thinking, Cordelia stepped forward. With a determined face, she opened her lips that were tightly closed. ¡®I¡¯m sorry. Please forgive me. Please let Jude off. Everything is my fault.¡± It was the moment when she was about to let out her voice. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°I was wrong- eh?¡± The stunned Cordelia blinked her eyes, and the golden dragon spoke again. ¡°Thank you. Thanks to you, I was able to open my eyes.¡± What is he talking about? Didn¡¯t the golden dragon appear to punish them? ¡°I am one with the dragon vein. That is why I live and die together with the dragon vein. Evil groups have taken full control of the wildnds in the west. By taking advantage of the time I was asleep, they polluted all the dragon veins in the west, making me fall into a deeper sleep.¡± The golden dragon did not wake up in Legend of Heroes 2. Because the Devil¡¯s Eye polluted not only the western dragon veins but also the eastern dragon veins, causing the golden dragon to sleep forever. But Jude and Cordelia, or to be precise, Cordelia changed the situation. They prevented a series of attempts to pollute the eastern dragon veins. Only the western dragon veins were contaminated, so it was still possible for the golden dragon to wake up and recover its consciousness. ¡°The runaway of the dragon vein.¡± Jude said in a small voice. He figured it out the moment he spoke to himself. The explosions in the dragon veins caused ripples throughout the entire dragon vein. And the ripples reached the deeply asleep golden dragon¡¯s consciousness. ¡°At first, it was a small ripple. But I was able to open my eyes because of the recent big shock.¡± The big shock was the big explosion she caused at the dragon vein in Endymion that caused the whole city to copse. Cordelia blinked her eyes again. Although she didn¡¯t fully understand it like Jude, she roughly understood the general circumstances through her intuition. So she spoke in a rather timid tone. ¡°Uh¡­then did I do well?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve done a good job. Your actions deserve praise.¡± A bright smile spread over Cordelia¡¯s face. Her back and shoulders which had been hunched over the past few days were now straightened out. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Cordelia raised her chin up and Jude struggled to avoid Cordelia¡¯s gaze. He then asked the golden dragon. ¡°O Golden Dragon, may I inquire if you are fully awake now?¡± ¡°No, sadly not. Though I opened my eyes, I only regained my consciousness for a while because of the shock. So children, do me a favor. Help mepletely open my eyes.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll help you!¡± When Cordelia shouted right away, a small smile spread over the golden dragon¡¯s face. ¡°Thank you, child. Then listen to my instructions carefully and carry it out.¡± The golden dragon closed its eyes once, and a map of the wildnds appeared over the golden sky, with the dragon vein locations drawn over the map. ¡°Blow up the polluted western dragon veins to shake off the evil power and create ripples throughout the entire dragon veins. I¡¯ll be able topletely open my eyes then.¡± ¡°¡­.Eh?¡± Jude couldn¡¯t help but ask back. In short, we have to blow up all the western dragon veins? ¡°Wow, so we¡¯re legal now?¡± Jude tried hard to look away from Cordelia¡¯s awe as he thought rationally. ¡®Yes, thend¡¯s contaminated anyway.¡¯ Everything in the western part of the sacred ce was contaminated already. Thus, blowing it all up was the only way. ¡°The wicked will try to protect the polluted dragon veins. But don¡¯t give in and destroy them all.¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll surely do that. I promise!¡± ¡°I see, thank you.¡± Good and evil seemed to have been reversed. Jude felt confused at the golden dragon and Cordelia¡¯s warm but not warmhearted conversation. But he soon came to his senses and said the most necessary words at that moment. ¡°O Golden Dragon, we will follow yourmand, so please give us the strength to carry out your will.¡± Whatever the case, if there was an opportunity to get it, then they should get it. Cordelia also came to her senses at Jude¡¯s words and said as she bowed politely. ¡°Please give us your protection.¡± ¡°I will. My blessing will be with you, so that all the wild gods will help you.¡± And at that moment¡­ A burning sensation was felt at the back of Jude and Cordelia¡¯s left hands, and the emblem of the golden dragon was tattooed there. ¡®Eh! The Dragon¡¯s Emblem?!¡± It was an emblem that gave its owner the power of a dragon. Among the numerous emblems in Legend of Heroes 2, it was particrly rare, and it allowed its owner the power to use the dragon¡¯s power in their human body. ¡®Warriors became dragon warriors, and wizards could use the dragon¡¯s mana.¡¯ Particrly for the wizards, if the power of the emblem continued to grow, it would even allow them to use dragon magic, which is the magic used by the dragons. ¡°Uwaaa¡­¡± Cordelia¡¯s face loosened as she looked at the emblem as if she was looking at a diamond ring. And in fact, Jude was no different. ¡°Children, please. The wildnds-¡­ All those who live in the wild-¡± After saying itsst request, the golden dragon closed its eyes. Jude and Cordelia also followed it and closed their eyes. When they opened their eyes again, they were back at the temple. ¡°The magic circle has stopped.¡± Jude said, and Cordelia gazed at the back of her hand again. It was a white hand without a mark, but when she focused on it, the golden dragon¡¯s emblem came to her mind. ¡°It¡¯s real. In addition, I got a license.¡± ¡°License?¡± ¡°Yes, an explosion license.¡± It was permitted by Golden Dragon, the king of the wild gods and the true master of the wildnds. Now, no one could stop Cordelia¡¯s actions. ¡°N-not a chance. It¡¯s not a license to kill.¡± ¡°But it¡¯s permitted? And it¡¯s an explosion license, an explosion.¡± Cordelia stuck out her tongue and faintlyughed before she lightly clenched and opened her fist. She did not measure it, but she realized that time did not actually pass during the moment when they met the golden dragon. ¡°Anyway, shall we go now?¡± To defeat Billvine and save Blue Whiskers. ¡°It¡¯s time for the legal troubleshooters.¡± Cordelia brightly smiled with her canines visible before she stepped forward, while Jude looked up the sky for a moment instead of walking together with her. ¡®Golden Dragon.¡¯ Perhaps it made a slight mistake. ¡®No, maybe not a slight one.¡¯ Jude bitterly smiled and lowered his gaze as he looked straight ahead. He spurred on the ground to catch up to Cordelia, who had already passed the temple¡¯s entrance. Chapter 93: (1/2) – Legal Guardians

Chapter 93: (1/2) ¨C Legal Guardians

Had to split this chapter into two because the first half took too long for me to trante due to the attack names and moves. Terms used in this chapter: Hammer and anvil ¨C a military tactic that works by using two forces, one stationary and one mobile. The stationary force ¡°fixes¡± the adversary and prevents escape while the mobile force moves toward it with the adversary caught between. The opponent then, is caught between the two forces and can¡¯t flee because of the stationary force (anvil), nor can it stay because of the moving force (hammer). ¨C Source: justiceacademy.org Push kick ¨C Taekwondo term for a kick that pushes the opponent away using the bottom of one¡¯s foot. Rolling sole kick ¨C Poprized in wrestling as a spin kick variation. The wrestler spins around and then kicks the opponent with their outer leg, striking the opponent in the torso with the sole of their foot. Bajiquan ¨C a Chinese martial art that features explosive short-range power and is famous for its elbow and shoulder strikes. Iron Mountain Attack ¨C one of the trump card moves of Akira Yuki, the character and mascot of Sega¡¯s Virtua Fighter video game series. Akira Yuki uses the Bajiquan as his fighting style. Pincer movement ¨C the act of attacking an enemy on both sides at the same time. The number of enemies did not change. Excluding the people who were originally brought as human sacrifices, the number ofbat troops remained the same. But Jude¡¯s face did not have the same look of concern that he had when he first saw the enemies. And it was the same with Cordelia. ¡°Let¡¯s do hammer and anvil!¡± As soon as Jude caught up to her, Cordelia shouted as if she waited for him. Hammer and anvil. A smile spread over Jude¡¯s face. ¡°Am I the anvil?¡± ¡°I¡¯m the hammer!¡± They decided their roles. Cordelia¡¯s idea was somewhat different from the usual hammer and anvil tactic, but they didn¡¯t need to further talk or discuss about it because just an exchange of looks was enough for them to decide their roles. ¡°I trust you!¡± ¡°Me too!¡± Thud! Jude added power on his legs and roughly kicked the ground. Within a breath, he amplified his speed more than twice, leaving Cordelia¡¯s side like a ray of light while creating a whirlwind at the same time. Bang! ck Wind¡¯s Advent. As he rushed and flew using the wind, Jude saw the entire battlefield. Inside Sri¡¯s Land, he grasped the location of the Tomb Guardians and saw the squirming Blue Whiskers raise himself up. And it wasn¡¯t just that. The location of the enemies. The number of enemies. The location of Billvine whom Jude himself must hold down as the anvil! Bang! He elerated once again. All of the enemies including Billvine were surprised by the loud noise and whirlwind, and they looked at Jude. ¡®Mid-ranking demonic human.¡¯ Billvine was especially strong as he was also a Named one. So what? ¡°Ha!¡± Jude rotated his body. As the whirlwind and gale swirled into a vortex, the surrounding snow flew around and blocked the sight of his enemies. And Jude saw it. Satisfied with the figure of Billvine reflexively taking a defensive pose by raising his shield, he concentrated his whole body¡¯s strength onto his toes. ck Dragon Cross Strike ¨C Dragon¡¯s Power. The power of the dragon¡¯s emblem was added to the ck Dragon Cross. The ck Dragon¡¯s power became stronger as a result. As he spun his body in the air, Jude¡¯s back kick struck Billvine¡¯s shield. The pitch-ck cross plus his attack that was closer to a push kick than a rolling sole kick exuded a terrifying power. Baaaang-! Billvine¡¯s defense was solid like that of a wall. Despite the heavy blow, his defense was not broken. But he couldn¡¯t help being pushed back. Billvine was pushed more than twenty meters away, and for a moment, he waspletely separated from his subordinates. And Jude charged again. He made the whirlwind and gale even bigger, making it look like a tornado as it surrounded himself and Billvine. The windblown snow blocked Jude and Billvine from everyone¡¯s eyes. ¡°ck Knight Billvine.¡± He was a strong man. When it came to a one-on-one confrontation, he was an unrivaled existence among the few mid-ranking demonic humans in the Devil¡¯s Eye. ¡°However.¡± Jude knew of Billvine¡¯s level. He knew his battle pattern too and was familiar with all his characteristics and weaknesses. ¡®I wouldn¡¯t have been able to do it until recently.¡¯ But it was different now. Jude had raised his level by nearly 20pared to when he fought Zarakul in Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯snd. His physical abilities had be stronger, and he had also opened the third door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. ¡®We also have some stat bonuses.¡¯ They were now much stronger than ordinary level 55 yable characters. If they simply calcted their stats, they were around level 60 or higher. ¡®Billvine¡¯s level is 62.¡¯ It was really high. But Jude could handle him. He had be strong enough to be the anvil that would hold this guy down. ¡°I am Jude Bayer from the Count Bayer family. ck Knight Billvine, I challenge you to a duel.¡± When Jude suddenly bowed and spoke, Billvine flinched, but he soon responded by taking a dueling stance. ¡°I am ck Knight Billvine. I ept your challenge.¡± Billvine was formerly a member of a fallen knight family, but he still held pride for his family even when he was now a demon follower. The evidence was his slightly happy look when Jude courteously asked him for a duel. ¡®Okay, let¡¯s drag it out for a few seconds.¡¯ 20 seconds was enough for a few and polite exchange of words. ¡°I have long heard of the ck Knight¡¯s high prestige. So it¡¯s an honor to fight with you like this today.¡± ¡°I have heard of the Count Bayer name too. I am also honored to exchange swords with a descendant from the famous family.¡± ¡®s, Billvine. s.¡¯ Jude clenched his fists and spoke again, and Billvine sincerely answered again. The whirlwind that spun with the snow blocked not only the view but also even the slightest sound, so the two could focus on each other only as if they were in a separate space. ¡°I¡¯ll begin.¡± ¡°Come, descendant of the famous family.¡± Billvine continued to speak seriously, and Jude waited for Billvine¡¯s words to end before he immediately sped up on the ground. Although Billvine was weakened because of , he was still the ck Knight. For a swordsman, a moment of carelessness could lead to their death. Swooosh! Billvine¡¯s sword headed towards Jude¡¯s chest. It wasn¡¯t just a lunge, as he had read Jude¡¯s course and thrust his sword to a position where it would inevitably hit Jude. So Jude did not avoid it. He blocked Billvine¡¯s sword attack with his knuckle gloves as if he knew what attack woulde out first. He gently pushed with the back of his arm to change the trajectory of the attack. Bam! Jude¡¯s arm prated Billvine. And at that moment, Billvine¡¯s wall-like shield was pushed back again, but Jude wasn¡¯t flustered. Because he knew that one of Billvine¡¯s specialties was the use of a shield. Swoosh! The wind rose again. ck Knight Billvine¡¯s attribute was the earth, so Jude hadpletely optimized his equipment to those that possessed wind attributes. The whirlwind had be stronger in the first ce because of his equipment. Baaaang-! The wind attacking the shield broke Billvine¡¯s stance. Once again, Jude turned his body and prated through Billvine¡¯s defense as he strongly pushed Billvine¡¯s chest. His attack that was simr to the Bajiquan¡¯s Iron Mountain Attack pushed back Billvine, but it wasn¡¯t enough. Billvine quickly corrected his posture and swung his sword at Jude. No, he tried to swing it. Bam! It was blocked. Jude¡¯s arm struck Billvine¡¯s arm before his sword could move. Immediately after blocking the attack, Jude turned again and hit Billvine¡¯s side with his other hand. Bang! Billvine¡¯s armor rang like a bell at Jude¡¯s close-range strike. ¡°Ugh!¡± The moment Billvine stepped back, Jude exhaled. He clenched his teeth and used the Lightning Punch. Babababam! Seven consecutive strikes that were as quick as lightning struck Billvine, but he didn¡¯t back down. He used his shield to block all of Jude¡¯s attacks. Bang! Bang! Bang! The iron shield nged, and Jude was hit by the power of the earth that was wrapped around Billvine¡¯s shield. It was unfortunate that the full setting of Jude¡¯s equipment was focused on wind and speed, but if he had not done that, Jude would have suffered more damage from his own attack. Swing-! It was at that moment. The defending Billvine suddenly swung his sword at a frightening speed towards Jude¡¯s neck. Jude was aware of this attack. He had even prepared his mind in advance. But he could barely avoid it. He lowered his posture to evade the sword attack, and several strands of Jude¡¯s hair was cut and flew into the air. Billvine used that opportunity to strike Jude¡¯s face with his knee. Wham! Jude stopped Billvine¡¯s knee with his palm. He let himself be pushed away by Billvine and then made a big leap backwards. Thud! That was the sound of Billvine stepping on the ground with his foot that pushed Jude away. He fixed his posture at once and swung his sword towards Jude in session. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! He should have evaded those attacks as much as possible, but the three consecutive sword attacks drew different trajectories. Therefore, Jude did not avoid it. He used the ck Dragon Cross Strike to offset the sword. Baaang! The cross and sword attack were destroyed. Having drawn out his strength too quickly, Judended on the ground and swallowed a groan, while Billvine had already kicked the ground. He swung his sword at once, narrowing the distance as if he was trying to corner Jude. ck Lightning. ck Knight Billvine¡¯s special attack move. Jude¡¯s eyes shined when the lightning strikes were unleased while drawing a ck trajectory. He reacted immediately, as if he had been waiting for that moment. Swaaaaang! Billvine¡¯s sword struck the ground. It tore through the whirlwind and with a loud noise, the entire whirlwind was destroyed. Shaaa- The snow that had risen in the wind fell down from the sky. And in the meantime, Jude moved. Jude evaded the ck Lightning with his Fairy Steps, as he unhesitatingly widened his distance from Billvine. ¡®Because lightning strikes twice.¡¯ ck Lightning wasn¡¯t an attack with a single strike. The second lightning strike was supposed to be struck with the hand that held the shield. Moreover, now was the time. ¡°Cordelia.¡± Jude smiled as he looked at the sight beyond the destroyed whirlwind. On the other hand, Billvine widely opened his eyes in surprise. A witch with dark red hair was literally smashing Billvine¡¯s subordinates. Running like a beast with the Tomb Guardians, she was a natural disaster herself. Double casting. Spell¡¯s Echo. She was able to cast four spells with just one spell. Every time she cast a multi-shot magic missile, dozens of magic missiles were created, and all of those swept the area like a storm. ¡°Human disaster.¡± That was Yellow Storm¡¯s nickname in Legend of Heroes 2. Billvine¡¯s men were already weakened by the effect of . In addition, the Tomb Guardians emitted a sacred aura, and Blue Whiskers had stood up and joined them, making their enemies helpless. ¡°Were you aiming for this?¡± Billvine red at Jude as if he had been betrayed, and Jude smiled. Wasn¡¯t it his fault that he fell for a one-on-one duel without fully grasping the power of his opponents first? And there was one more reason why Jude smiled. ¡°Is that Beast Mode?¡± Jude was talking to Cordelia, not Billvine. Although there were still quite a few of Billvine¡¯s men left, Cordelia entrusted them to the Tomb Guardians and Blue Whiskers as she approached Jude and Billvine. Pretending not to have heard Jude, she said to Billvine. ¡°Now that the hammer is here, shall we start round two?¡± Hammer and anvil. Billvine flinched again before shouting at Jude. ¡°Coward! Are you going to use the pincer movement in a one-on-one duel!¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± At that moment, Billvine was stunned at the refreshing answer of the two, and Cordelia then said as she took a step forward. ¡°No, you¡¯re the one who¡¯s a coward since you came with a bunch of men in the first ce.¡± Because the proportion was originally forty is to two. Billvine gritted and clenched his teeth at Cordelia¡¯s words, and her expression softened a little. She opened her mouth and shamelessly said to Billvine. ¡°ck Knight Billvine, I will fight you as an agent of the golden dragon.¡± Because Billvine liked this kind of deration. However, Jude figured out Cordelia¡¯s innermost thoughts. ¡®You liked it.¡¯ She was recognized by the golden dragon as a bomber ¨C no, as an agent. But if he pointed that out, her face will turn red, so he only smiled and fixed his posture. He breathed and took a step with Cordelia. ¡°Ha! Come!¡± Billvine eximed and the other two did not hesitate. Jude and Cordelia advanced towards Billvine. *** Chapter 93: (2/2) – Legal Guardians

Chapter 93: (2/2) ¨C Legal Guardians

Second half(?) is here. And yes, the chapter didn¡¯t show Jude and Cordelia¡¯s battle against Billvine. It just skipped to the ending of the battle. ¡°We won!¡± Two rings of light emerged around Cordelia as she widely smiled and made a V-sign with her fingers. In the battle¡¯s aftermath, her hair became disheveled, her clothes had tears everywhere, but her broad smile seemed to be shining. Jude pped his hands and approached Billvine who had scattered into ashes. They would have a bit of a hard time in fighting him if he had used his demonized form, but just as how he died in the game, he had fought as a human until the end, so Jude offered a brief moment of silence for him. ¡°I¡¯ll use it well.¡± He was referring to the armor and shield that was left by Billvine. Jude wasn¡¯t into heavy armor, but it would have some use if he took it. For example, he could give it to Lucas or just sell it. ¡°I think they¡¯re done there too.¡± As Cordelia had said, Billvine¡¯s men were virtually annihted. Some of them tried to escape, but the extremely angry Blue Whiskers flew into the sky and did not miss anyone who fled. ¡°He seemed to be embarrassed, right?¡± ¡°He must be embarrassed.¡± Because he almost died after he charged and ignored Cordelia¡¯s dissuasion. His life was saved, and he could make up for his disgrace thanks to the two, but Blue Whiskers couldn¡¯t help but be embarrassed as he still had a sense of shame. ¡°Hehe, then we can bleed him dry.¡± ¡°¡­Eh?¡± ¡°I mean, he¡¯s indebted to us and feels guilty, so he¡¯ll listen to us, right? I¡¯m going to take Sri¡¯s ne no matter what.¡± ¡°Yes, yes.¡± When Cordelia said that with an angelic face and faintlyughed, Jude immediately agreed with her, but his conscience somehow felt guilty. What is this? It¡¯s like I feel guilty for seriously dirtying a pure white snowfield. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with your expression? Are you sick? Did you get stabbed?¡± ¡°No, just¡­I remember the old days of innocence.¡± Where had the old days gone, when Cordelia spoke in monotone because she was bad at lying? ¡®No, I was definitely the one who corrupted her.¡¯ While Jude struggled alone in his guilt, Cordelia tilted her head several times before she smiled again and headed back to the temple where Lena was in. *** ¡°What do you mean? It¡¯s going to be dyed?¡± ¡°The fight had used up much of the sacred ce¡¯s power. The power to naturally wash away dirt had also be insufficient¡­so it couldn¡¯t be helped.¡± Blue Whiskers was overwhelmed by Cordelia¡¯s furious voice as he replied with an embarrassed face. Sri¡¯s power had been used up so much that there was not enough power to heal Lena. So it would at least take a month for Sri¡¯s power to be restored and for Lena to be healed. ¡®As expected.¡¯ Unlike Cordelia, Jude had expected the current situation to some extent. He was the one who used up Sri¡¯s power in the first ce. ¡°Cordelia, we have no choice. It¡¯s a good thing that recovery is still possible, so let¡¯s just leave her here and go.¡± ¡°Ugeueu¡­¡± Cordelia and Jude didn¡¯te to the wildnds just to save Lena. Now was the time for them to return to the vige of the Great Storm tribe, join forces with the tribe to form the Eastern Alliance, and fight the Angry Bull tribe that dominated the western part of the wildnds. ¡°Uuuuu¡­haa¡­it can¡¯t be helped. Mr. Blue Whiskers, please take good care of Lena, okay?¡± ¡°All right.¡± Blue Whiskers said as he gazed at Sri¡¯s ne that was on Cordelia¡¯s waist. Unlike the huge Blue Whiskers, the ne was too big for Cordelia, so she wore it around her waist rather than her neck. The ne had now be Cordelia¡¯s property and not Blue Whiskers¡¯. And it wasn¡¯t just that. Several relics of Sri that had been kept for many years in the sacred ce was now all over the bodies of Jude and Cordelia. Although Blue Whiskers himself gave it to them and there was a clear reason to give it to them, he couldn¡¯t help but feel as if he was robbed. ¡®They saved my life, protected the sacred ce, and both are guardians of the wildnds who were recognized by the golden dragon¡­¡¯ How could he disobey the golden dragon¡¯s words to not spare their support? Blue Whiskers secretly shed tears, and Cordelia turned to Kan and said. ¡°Will Sir Kan stay here?¡± ¡°Yes, I will study the sacred ce and wait for Lena to wake up.¡± At Kan¡¯s lively words, Cordelia smiled as she hugged him once and said. ¡°Thanks to Sir Kan, we were able to solve the problem in Endymion. So thank you. Sir Kan is like an angel of luck for Jude and me.¡± Because of Kan, they were able to meet the wild fairies and find the hidden paths of Endymion. In addition, the fact that there was a dragon vein in Endymion was also information that Kan had learned thanks to him interpreting thenguage of the High Elves. ¡°Miss Cordelia¡­¡± Kan¡¯s eyes were filled with tears in an instant. She was grateful that he continued to be together with them, and she even called him their angel of luck. Weren¡¯t those words he had never heard of, or he had thought he would never hear in his life? ¡°I look forward to seeing you again.¡± ¡°Yes, we¡¯ll definitely see you again.¡± Kan wiped away his tears and broadly smiled, and Cordelia grinned as she turned around. ¡®Come on, you too.¡¯ When Cordelia winked at Jude, who was somehow counting numbers behind her, he also opened his mouth and said. ¡°Sir Kan, please don¡¯t forget. Sir Kan isn¡¯t a god. He is just a diligent and reliable explorer and archeologist.¡± ¡°Yes, I will not forget it, Jude.¡± After he shook hands with Kan, Jude bade farewell to Blue Whiskers and then left the temple with Cordelia. ¡°Are we going back right now?¡± ¡°I suppose so. It¡¯s a bit unfortunate that we wouldn¡¯t be able to see the Fairy Queen, but it would take some time if we go to Endymion, so let¡¯s just go straight from here.¡± They would travel in a straight line without passing through Raptor Canyon. Cordelia nodded when Jude showed the way to her by drawing on the ground instead of opening the map. ¡°All right, then let¡¯s start right away.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°But Jude.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Did something good happen? You look brighter than usual.¡± ¡°Because you won?¡± ¡°Mmm, yes, because I won.¡± Cordelia softlyughed before she took the lead and began walking. Jude stepped forward and walked together with Cordelia. And at the same time¡­ ¡°If we go one more day from here, we¡¯ll reach Raptor Canyon. ording to Fine Snow, Jude and Cordelia would be there.¡± She already knew of that information, but because those were Ga?l¡¯s words, she listened before letting out a sigh of relief. ¡°Haa¡­seriously. They¡¯re just going around the entire wildnds.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± They thought their journey would end at Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s territory, but they ended up crossing the border and continuing their journey here. Moreover, Count Chase¡¯s ring, which was the only magic device that could roughly track Cordelia¡¯s location, had been damaged after entering the wildnds, making tracking more difficult. ¡®Well¡­thankfully, the destinations are clear.¡¯ Though the wildnd was wide, there were only a few ces where people lived. And there was also the fact that it was beyond the border, and that Cordelia didn¡¯t hide her destination, so all these reasons made it easier to track them. ¡®Haa, anyway, I¡¯ll spank their butt when we meet.¡¯ Of course, she was referring to Jude¡¯s butt and not the kind and gentle Cordelia¡¯s butt. ¡°Lady Adelia.¡± ¡°Yes?! Ah, yes. Lord Ga?l.¡± Adelia was startled but managed to answer, and Ga?l tilted his head. He then asked again in a serious tone. ¡°Will your leave of absence be fine? We¡¯ve already gone way beyond our initial schedule¡­¡± ¡°Well, it can¡¯t be helped. Stuff like this happened.¡± Adelia shrugged and bitterly smiled, and Ga?l said with a sincere look. ¡°This has already gone beyond a simple runaway. Now that it has be a big incident that is greatly rted to the defense of the north, I¡¯ll write a petition to the Royal Guard Magic Corps under Count Bayer¡¯s name¡­ No, I¡¯ll write a formal statement and send it.¡± ¡°Umm¡­thank you.¡± Adelia would have normally told the other to not overdo it, especially if her aide was the one who said it, but it was different this time since it was Ga?l¡¯s words. ¡®Well, how do I say it? Beyond being simply sincere¡­¡¯ Should I say that he¡¯s earnest? He¡¯s a trustable and dependable man who gives me a sense of security. ¡°Lady Adelia, it might be difficult, but we¡¯ll find a ce to rest if we go a little further. So let¡¯s start moving again.¡± Ga?l rose from his seat first and politely stretched out his hand to Adelia, who cleared her throat and stood up while holding his hand. ¡°Shall we go?¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go. Lord Ga?l.¡± Ga?l and Adelia looked at each other and smiled as they walked forward together. And because of that, the paths of Jude and Cordelia, and Ga?l and Adeliapletely diverged. As for another person¡­ ¡°This is a big problem.¡± Looking back at his bag that had be four bags now, Count Chase checked his budget and soon made up his mind. He hurriedly wrote a letter to the Red Dawn Tower. ¡®Send me a space-expansion bag.¡¯ As the trip got longer, just one bag wasn¡¯t enough. Currently in the northernmost city of Lankebuste, he was still not aware that his two daughters, his soon-to-be son-inw, and a person who might be his son-inw were all beyond the border and in the wildnds. Cordelia: Did something good happen? You look brighter than usual. Jude is obviously looking forward to the aftereffects of Beast Mode, hahaha. Chapter 94: Phoenix (1)

Chapter 94: Phoenix (1)

I didn¡¯t realize this chapter was long, hahaha. Anyway, break day tomorrow, so next chapter will be released on Monday. Terms used in this chapter: Hair grows in one¡¯s heart ¨C An idiom which refers to a brazen person. An English equivalent would be ¡®having a lot of nerve.¡¯ Haraken, a high-ranking demonic human of the Devil¡¯s Eye and the main person in charge of all their ns in the wildnds, couldn¡¯t retain his human form. In his anger, hispound eyes, wings, and horns were all revealed, but he managed to suppress himself from screaming loudly. ¡®Billvine¡¯s dead?¡¯ ck Knight Billvine. Among the mid-ranking demonic humans of the Devil¡¯s Eye, he had the bestbat power. ¡®What is it? What¡¯s going on in the east?¡¯ The demonic humans who were dispatched to pollute the eastern dragon veins had their connections cut off one after another. When Zarakul first died, he thought that something like that could possibly happen. When Madgar died, he was extremely surprised. So he asked for support from the Devil¡¯s Eye¡¯s headquarters in the Argon Empire and they sent Billvine. But Billvine also died. ¡®The east.¡¯ Something like this had never happened in the west. But strange things were continuously happening in the east. ¡®Red Gale¡¯s condition is not getting worse either.¡¯ If it went ording to their original estimation, he would have been dead or lying sick and unable to move, but that didn¡¯t happen at all based on his spies¡¯ information. His condition had rather improved than before. ¡®That¡¯s not the only problem.¡¯ The Eastern Alliance. Now that the west was about to be unified under the g of the Angry Bull tribe, their intelligence reported that Red Gale was trying to establish an Eastern Alliance centered around the Great Storm tribe. ¡®No, that is uneptable.¡¯ Wasn¡¯t that the reason he cursed Red Gale in the first ce? Wasn¡¯t it to prevent the current situation? However, his condition was improving little by little. And as Haraken feared, he was trying to establish an Eastern Alliance. ¡®In the end, should I solve it through force?¡¯ By polluting the eastern dragon veins, they tried to incapacitate the wild gods and the tribes under them. He tried to maintain the power of the barbariannds as much as possible for their fight against the S?len Kingdom, but that seemed to be impossible now. ¡®Once this military expedition is over, I¡¯ll gather the troops from the entire west to strike the east.¡¯ After he made up his mind, Haraken calmed himself down by taking a deep breath. He returned to his human form of a prophet with a long white beard andid his eyes on at the map showing the locations of all the tribes in the barbariannds. ¡®Great Storm, Violent Avnche, Gentle Snow Breeze, and the sacred ce in the east.¡¯ Who was it? Who in the world was protecting the eastern dragon veins? Was it one person? Or was it several people? ¡°Who is it, who are you¡­¡± Haraken¡¯s low and angry voice was heard inside his tent. *** At the same time, at a ce far away from Haraken who was in the far west¡­ One of the people Haraken hated had slowly wiggled her body and opened her eyes. ¡°Uuugh¡­¡± Cordelia grunted as she barely opened her eyes before closing them again. But instead of falling asleep, she let out her voice again. ¡°Mmnnn¡­¡± It was the typical sleepy voice. Those who let out such a voice would normally fall back to sleep, but Cordelia was a little different. She reopened her falling eyelids and forced them to stay open. ¡°Uhhhh¡­¡± She uttered a groan as she tried to move. Cordelia barely opened her eyes as she felt refreshed but also felt a slight pain as if her muscles were being pulled. ¡°Oww¡­¡± ¡°Are you awake?¡± Upon hearing Jude¡¯s voice, Cordelia blinked her eyes and somewhat became aware of her position. ¡®I¡¯m on his back.¡¯ She was being carried through a podaegi on Jude¡¯s back. Instead of recalling why she was in such a situation, Cordelia rested her cheek on Jude¡¯s back. ¡®It¡¯s cold.¡¯ Did the leather get cold when I took my head off for a while? But it wasn¡¯t very cold. As she found the coolness to be pleasant, Cordelia replied. ¡°Mmm¡­I¡¯m awake. I¡¯m awake.¡± Although her voice sounded weak, it was quite clearpared to when she just woke up. But Jude slightly fixed his carrying position and peeked at Cordelia as he said. ¡°Would you like to sleep for a bit more?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯ll wake up. I will wake up.¡± Cordelia wiggled her body again and then removed her head from Jude¡¯s back. She thought she would fall asleep again if she kept leaning her head on his back. Jude said again to Cordelia. ¡°Are you no longer exhausted? You made such a fuss yesterday.¡± ¡°Huh? Yesterday? Yesterday I¡­ahhhh.¡± At the end of her words, Cordelia turned red and buried her face on Jude¡¯s back. She wanted to crawl into a hole and die. The fuss she made yesterday. Her shameful behaviorst night. ¡°It¡¯s because of Beast Mode, so I understand.¡± Jude spoke in an exuberant voice, and Cordelia groaned once again before she snorted and said. ¡°I was going to get off, but now I won¡¯t. I¡¯ll continue taking advantage of this situation. I¡¯ll continue this luxury. I¡¯ll break Jude¡¯s spine.¡± T/N: Kind of a pun here, as Cordelia was both referring to an idiom and of literally breaking Jude¡¯s spine because he was carrying her. Break (someone¡¯s) spine is a Korean idiom which means to exploit or take another¡¯s fortune in every possible way. Also referred to as ¡®spine breaker¡¯ andmonly used on parents and children. Children are ¡®spine breakers¡¯ if they demand something that is so expensive or ¡®burdensome¡¯ to their parents that ¡®it breaks their parent¡¯s spine because of the burden.¡¯ ¡°If you insist. I¡¯m fine with it because the warmth in my back feels like I¡¯m walking around with a stove.¡± Cordelia sulked even more at Jude¡¯s sly answer, but she felt like she¡¯ll lose if she continued further. So Cordelia changed the topic. ¡°But Jude.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°How long have we traveled?¡± ¡°Based on my estimation¡­I think we can see it now?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Over there. There. Can you see it?¡± Cordelia silently shifted her gaze to the direction Jude was pointing with his chin, squinted her eyes, and soon shouted in surprise. ¡°What! Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s basin?!¡± It was clearly Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s basin that was situated on a snowfield that was like a vast ocean. As she nkly stared at the basin located at the foot of mountains that surrounded it, Cordelia gasped for a moment before she looked back at Jude again. ¡°Oh my gosh. Hey, how long have you walked while carrying me? What time is it now?¡± ¡°About half a day? It¡¯s roughly 3 to 4 in the afternoon, I think?¡± ¡°Half a day?!¡± In terms of time, that was about 6 hours. The startled Cordelia writhed her body while still being carried in a podaegi as she asked. ¡°Are you all right? Does your legs hurt? What about your waist?¡± It was no less than 6 hours. Just walking was already hard, but he continued walking while Cordelia was on his back? Moreover, Jude had one more luggage. The small rope tied around his waist was connected to a sled full of luggage that he was dragging. When Cordelia was flustered and worried, Jude said as he pretended to wipe tears from his eyes. ¡°My princess is all grown up now. She knows how to worry. Daddy is going to cry.¡± ¡°Wow, you must be reallyfortable if you can talk such nonsense. Has my Jude really be stronger?¡± ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to Madam.¡± Whether he was acting or not, Jude¡¯s voice had indeed, sounded rxed. Cordelia suddenly touched Jude¡¯s back and shoulder, and she widely smiled at Jude¡¯s strong and firm body that resembled a savage animal, or rather, a beast. ¡°Yes, Daddy. That¡¯s a good mindset. Please continue to thank me. Ahem, ahem, it feels nice.¡± After smiling at the appearance of Cordelia who cleared her throat while wanting to be thanked more, Jude looked at the front again and said. ¡°Now then, just stay on my back as we¡¯ll get there if we go a little further.¡± They could see the basin, but it was still at a distance that would take 30 minutes on foot. But Cordelia shook her head, patted Jude on his back and said. ¡°Jude, Jude. Can¡¯t you just go fast? Just create some wind and go swoosh-swoosh.¡± ¡°No, over there. Can¡¯t you see the luggage sled? Walking is okay but running is impossible, okay?¡± If he did that, all their luggage would be turned upside down. However, Cordelia said with a bright face as if it was not a problem. ¡°Why don¡¯t you just leave the luggage sled for a while, take me to the basin, and thene back alone to take the luggage with you?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Leave the luggage sled and only take me as you run fast, and then Daddy wille back alone to take the luggage.¡± She rephrased it in an innocent-sounding tone, but the content itself was cruel. ¡°You must be really Satan.¡± ¡°Come on,e on. Cordelia wants to go to the vige, sitfortably, and then drink hot tea.¡± ¡°Does hair grow in your heart?¡± ¡°No, my heart is always kind.¡± Cordelia retorted and grinned, while Jude had a nk face before he smiled. ¡°Well, okay. Shall we go?¡± ¡°Eh? Really?¡± Cordelia was taken aback as she blinked her eyes and asked. It¡¯s just a silly joke but is he really going to do it? ¡°I¡¯ll have to do what my princess wants.¡± ¡°No, wait. Wait a minute. I was really just joking¡­¡± Her words were cut off at that moment. Jude untied the rope that was connected to the sled and even untied the podaegi. He grabbed Cordelia who was about to slip down, threw her into the air as he quickly turned around and caught her again. ¡°Eeeh?¡± Why is he now carrying me in his arms when I was clearly on his back just now? And why is Jude¡¯s face in front of me? ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Jude grinned and said, while Cordelia remained speechless. She unconsciously nodded her head while blushing. And Jude was pleased with Cordelia¡¯s response. He held Cordelia in his strong arms and kicked the ground. ¡°ck Wind¡¯s Advent.¡± A ck gale and golden whirlwind surrounded Jude and Cordelia. *** Jude and Cordelia simultaneously raised their voices in front of Gentle Snow Breeze whom they met again after being gone for a few days. ¡°What?! My older sister?!¡± ¡°What?! My older brother?!¡± ¡°Yes, your older sister and brother came here. They smelled and looked to be really rted to you in many ways, so I told them that you two went to Raptor Canyon¡­ Looking at your reactions, you must have missed each other.¡± At Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s words, Jude immediately pped his hands without even needing to recall the map in his head. They gone diagonally without passing through Raptor Canyon. Perhaps by now, Ga?l and Adelia were at the beginning of Raptor Canyon. ¡®We might have really met them if we had gone through Endymion.¡¯ It was when Jude was thinking that. ¡°W-what should we do? My sister came? She must have chased after me? Eh? Did shee here to catch us?¡± Cordelia was flustered as she fell into a panic. Her face turned white even if Adelia wasn¡¯t really that scary. ¡°Cordelia, calm down. The two came here to find us who run away. Not to hunt us.¡± ¡°N-no? It¡¯s because you don¡¯t know my sister? Perhaps she really came here to hunt us? That¡¯s right, she¡¯s definitely hunting us.¡± ¡°Woah, woah, calm down. Calm yourself. If my brother and Adelia havee this far, they would have roughly known what we are doing. So let¡¯s be positive. My brother and Adelia are strong. They¡¯ll be a great help in the fight against the west.¡± Though it was not urate because he didn¡¯t experience it directly in Legend of Heroes 2, but if he inferred it from the background and settings information, Ga?l and Adelia were clearly strong enough to fight against a mid-ranking demonic human alone. ¡®They could at least do that much.¡¯ Ga?l was the heir of Count Bayer, who is one of the ten great swordmasters, and Adelia was a genius wizard who became the youngest head of the Royal Guard Magic Corps. The minimum they could handle was just a mid-ranking demonic human, and it was highly possible that they could fight those who were stronger than that. But despite hearing Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia still couldn¡¯t shake off her anxiety. ¡°No, it¡¯s because you don¡¯t know. And you¡¯re more in danger than me. My sister might try to kill you.¡± ¡°Ei, no way. And you¡¯ve seen it, right? I¡¯ve be quite strong now, right?¡± He was right. So Cordelia seemed to calm down for a moment, but she soon shook her head and said again. ¡°No, my sister is a wizard so she might cast a curse on you. Yes, a curse. I have to set up some precautions against the curse. I have to learn magic resistance spells and be familiar with them.¡± The magic spells that were written in the witch¡¯s spell book exceeded a dozen and even reached in the hundreds. There were quite a few spells that she hadn¡¯t learned because she didn¡¯t need it then, but she thought that now was the best chance to learn it. ¡°Uh¡­it seems that you¡¯re going a little overboard, but it isn¡¯t bad to learn it.¡± ¡°Uuuuh¡­is there any other way to stop my sister?¡± ¡°There is one.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Umm¡­it¡¯s been a while since you¡¯ve done it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s been a while?¡± ¡°My beloved¡­¡± They haven¡¯t said those words ever since they left Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s territory. ¡°My beloved Mr. Jude Bayer¡­¡± ¡°Okay, okay. That¡¯s it. You know what it is, so that¡¯s it.¡± Cordelia gasped as her face turned red, and then fanned herself with her hand before making a trouble expression again. ¡°Uhhhhh¡­ Okay, I¡¯ll do it. I¡¯ll do it. It¡¯s not my first time, so I can do it.¡± ¡°Yes, you¡¯ll get used to it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, I¡¯ll get used to it.¡± Cordelia unconsciously repeated Jude¡¯s slip of the tongue that he said quietly, and she nodded a few times before clenching her fist. ¡°I can do it. I¡¯ll protect you. I¡¯ll protect you, Jude.¡± ¡°Thank you, Cordelia. You¡¯re the only one who can do it.¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­ahem, ahem.¡± Cordelia was suddenly embarrassed as her cheeks turned red and she cleared her throat before averting her gaze. Because of that, she ended up meeting eyes with Gentle Snow Breeze who was watching her. ¡°Uh¡­is it over now?¡± ¡°I-it¡¯s over.¡± As Cordelia¡¯s face turned redder, Gentle Snow Breeze smiled and said to Jude who had a sly look. ¡°Jude, there¡¯s actually something more urgent than that.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t tell me¡­did the westunched an attack already?¡± Jude asked back in surprise. Because he couldn¡¯t see any signs of war from the appearance of the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe while they were on the way here. ¡°No, it¡¯s not an attack. We just have a problem in establishing the Eastern Alliance.¡± ¡°A problem?¡± When Cordelia asked her, Gentle Snow Breeze paused for a while as if she organized the story in her head before she began to exin. ¡°The establishment of the Eastern Alliance went smoothly. Not only me and Violent Avnche, but also Great Storm¡­ Because of us three wild gods, the other tribes and wild gods near us also cooperated. The only problem is the de Song tribe in the north.¡± ¡°de Song.¡± He was one of the strongest beings among the wild gods in the east. The de Song tribe that he cared for was abat race that was both tenacious and belligerent and was second only to the Angry Bull tribe. ¡®If the Great Storm tribe are elves, then the de Song tribe are orcs.¡¯ In fact, they inherited the blood of the ancient Orcs. ¡®The Angry Bull tribe and the de Song tribe were the ones who always took the lead in the battle against the S?len Kingdom.¡¯ There was only one reason why the de Song tribe would cause a problem in the establishment of the Eastern Alliance. ¡°It¡¯s a battle for leadership.¡± ¡°Yes, the de Song tribe agreed to the formation of the Eastern Alliance itself but insisted that they be the head of the alliance.¡± ¡°Are there people pushing for the Great Storm tribe?¡± ¡°Not necessarily. However, they were against the de Song tribe in bing the leader of the alliance. If the de Song tribe became the leader of the alliance, the fight against the west will cause even greater damage. Moreover, since the power of the wildnds have now been gathered as one, they will try to fight against the S?len Kingdom again.¡± Her words were convincing. Cordelia had been quietly listening before she raised her hand and asked. ¡°What did the wild god of the de Song tribe say?¡± ¡°The tribes of the wildnd tend to resemble the wild gods who take care of them. That de Song had been a war fanatic in the past and even now in the present, so it¡¯s hard to talk to him.¡± It seemed impossible to solve the problem with a conversation in the first ce, as the Gentle Snow Breeze who always used gentle words like her name spoke like that. ¡°Is there any other way?¡± ¡°There is. And that way is why it became a problem.¡± ¡°Uh¡­there is a way but that¡¯s what caused the problem?¡± When Cordelia asked again, Gentle Snow Breeze nodded her head and replied. ¡°Yes, the de Song tribe applied for a Karaval to the Great Storm tribe.¡± Karaval. Cordelia blinked her eyes as she thought what that meant, but Jude frowned. Because he remembered it from his memory in the corner of his Memory Pce. ¡°It¡¯s a one-on-one fight. A way to settle a dispute through a duel.¡± Most tribes were unfamiliar with that method that if it weren¡¯t for the tribes that were battle fanatics like the de Song tribe or the Angry Bull tribe, they wouldn¡¯t know about Karaval. However, there were no tribes in the wildnd who denied the authority of the Karaval itself. ¡°Normally, it would have been Red Gale¡­¡± Thanks to Jude, his curse was prevented from progressing, but he was still sick. ¡°The de Song tribe also took that into ount and sent the chieftain¡¯s son, Sun Song, as their representative for Karaval.¡± ¡°Uh¡­ Then, so our side should send the next strongest warrior after Red Gale, right?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not. Since the de Song tribe sent out Sun Song, our side must also send the chieftain¡¯s child as the representative for Karaval.¡± As the conversation progressed, Jude and Cordelia finally realized what the problem was. ¡°Red Wind.¡± She was the person who must be sent as the representative for Karaval. Gentle Snow Breeze nodded her head when Cordelia reflexively said her name. She then spoke to summarize everything that she had said. ¡°Red Wind must beat Sun Song.¡± That was the only way to properly establish the Eastern Alliance. Jude and Cordelia turned to each other. Chapter 95: Phoenix (2)

Chapter 95: Phoenix (2)

The wild god de Song and the barbarian warrior Sun Song. Jude and Cordelia had in fact already knew of them. ¡®Because they were the vanguards in the barbarian invasion event.¡¯ de Song was a cruel and violent wild god, while Sun song was called ¡®Bloody Hands¡¯ because both of his hands were always soaked with the fresh blood of victims. Both of them had the impression of being berserkers crazy for blood, but after listening to Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s story, they seemed to have an aggressive nature even before they had been corrupted. ¡®I¡¯m d we know his fighting style.¡¯ Not much was known about how he changed before and after he was corrupted, but he would not havepletely and suddenly changed his way of fighting just because he got corrupted. ¡®He used a de and shamanic songs, right?¡¯ Jude nodded at Cordelia¡¯s gaze. The warriors of the de Song tribe always sang while fighting even when they were corrupted. This was to strengthen themselves with songs full of shamanic power as well as to weaken the strength and morale of their enemies. ¡®Do you remember his battle pattern?¡¯ ¡®Yes.¡¯ ¡®As expected of my Jude.¡¯ A smile spread over Cordelia¡¯s face, and that smile pleased Jude again. ¡®But it¡¯s really strange.¡¯ ¡®What¡¯s strange?¡¯ ¡®How we canmunicate with just the look of our eyes.¡¯ ¡®You¡¯re right.¡¯ Perhaps they were both thinking different things and simply misunderstanding that the other was municating this and that with their eyes¡¯. ¡®Well, I suppose it isn¡¯t to that extent .¡¯ That extent might just be some subtle differences. Regardless, Jude turned to Gentle Snow Breeze and asked again. ¡°O Gentle Snow Breeze, can you tell us when the Karaval would be held?¡± ¡°The fight was decided on the day of theing sun, which is 8 dayster.¡± 8 dayster. He had expected that the schedule would be quite tight. Jude asked again. ¡°The reason why this is a problem¡­is also because Sun Song is stronger than Red Wind as of now, right?¡± At the question he threw to rify, Gentle Snow Breeze looked depressed and nodded her head. ¡°Sun Song is one of the best geniuses in battle in the de Song tribe which has many strong warriors. He was also born with the talent for shamanism. When he was born, de Song went around boasting about him¡­ Sigh¡­ In addition, they have quite an age difference. Red Wind is only sixteen years old, but Sun Song is already twenty-two years old.¡± If the Red Wind now was just a sprout that was on the verge of bing stronger, Sun Song was already a young tree that grown stronger and on its way to its prime. Cordelia seriously cherished Red Wind so she had a depressed look like Gentle Snow Breeze, but she then raised her hand and asked again. ¡°Gentle Snow Breeze, does having Karaval make sense even though they have such an objective difference in power?¡± It was quite a logical argument, which was unusual for Cordelia, but Gentle Snow Breeze nodded. ¡°Yes, it might be a bit unreasonable, but the wildnd is basically the world of where the strong prey upon the weak. Moreover, this Karaval¡¯s goal is to elect a representative for the alliance¡­ There are many opinions that a strong warrior should naturally be the representative.¡± In other words, a tribe that couldn¡¯t send a strong warrior for the Karaval was not qualified to be a representative in the first ce. ¡°As expected¡­the only way is for Red Wind to win against Sun Song.¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s why I¡¯m worried.¡± Their objective difference in power was quite visible. Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s shoulders fell as she became depressed, while Cordelia likewise drooped her shoulders before she turned to Jude. Cordelia¡¯s gaze was saying ¡®What should we do?¡¯ but in the eyes of Jude, it seemed to say, ¡®Please do something,¡¯ so Jude stepped forward and said. ¡°Okay. Cordelia and I will do something about it.¡± ¡°The two of you?¡± Gentle Snow Breeze blinked her eyes and asked. Because Gentle Snow Breeze had no expectations from the very beginning and had just brought up the story to share her worries. However, Jude and Cordelia had already saved several wild gods and defeated demon followers one way or another. Gentle Snow Breeze was delighted with a vague belief and expectation, and Cordelia also thumped on her chest. ¡°That¡¯s right, Jude and I will do something. Don¡¯t worry too much.¡± ¡°Aah¡­ Thank you very much. You two are truly the saviors of the wildnd.¡± When Gentle Snow Breeze held her hands together as if she was praying, a thought suddenly came to ?Cordelia¡¯s mind at that moment, so she raised her head up and looked at Jude. ¡°That¡¯s right! We¡¯re the guardians of the wildnds, right? We¡¯ve been recognized by the Golden Dragon King. So wouldn¡¯t it work if we asked de Song?¡± Didn¡¯t the Golden Dragon King say that all the wild gods in the wildnd will support Jude and Cordelia? But Jude shook his head. ¡°No, even if it works¡­Red Wind must beat Sun Song in order to properly establish an alliance.¡± ¡°Uuuugh¡­is that so¡­¡± It wouldn¡¯t be a proper alliance if they were united through force and authority. ¡°Uh¡­ but you two, what did you mean by ¡®guardians of the wildnds¡¯?¡± ¡°Oh, that¡­¡± Gentle Snow Breeze asked as she tilted her head, so Cordelia briefly exined what had happened after they arrived at Raptor Canyon. ¡°My goodness, such a thing happened.¡± Her eyes were mixed with countless emotions such as confusion, anticipation, anger, joy, and so on. Gentle Snow Breeze then pped her hands. She was angry at the demon followers for trying to pollute the entire dragon vein and corrupt the wildnds but was also expectant of the Golden Dragon King to return and solve all their problems. ¡°I was originally thinking of epting any request you two have, but it is even more so now that the Golden Dragon King had made you two as guardians. Tell me if there¡¯s anything you need.¡± Gentle Snow Breeze clenched her fist as she said that and Cordelia thought of various divine items, but Jude demanded something more urgent. ¡°O Gentle Snow Breeze, please send our luggage to the vige of the Great Storm tribe.¡± ¡°Eh? Your luggage?¡± ¡°Yes, I think that we have to hurry.¡± Having said that, Jude looked back at Cordelia and she blinked her eyes for a moment, wondering what he meant, but she understood at some point. So she nodded her head and said to Gentle Snow Breeze. ¡°We¡¯ll head towards the vige of the Great Storm tribe and meet Red Wind. I don¡¯t think we can take our luggage with us because we have to hurry.¡± ¡°Ah, is that so. Leave that to me then.¡± Gentle Snow Breeze pped her hands in understanding, and Cordelia immediately looked back at Jude. He turned around without a word and showed his back to Cordelia. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Cordelia instantly replied before she jumped and clung on Jude¡¯s back as if used to it. ¡°See you at Karaval then.¡± ¡°See you then!¡± ¡°Uh¡­yes.¡± Gentle Snow Breeze waved her hand with a somewhat surprised face, and the two didn¡¯t waste their time. As soon as Jude left Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s residence, he created a golden whirlwind while Cordelia hugged Jude¡¯s neck and said. ¡°Let¡¯s go, JuDelia.¡± Since Jude and Cordelia were unified as one, it became JuDelia. Jude almost lost hisposure at her sudden words, but he soon fixed Cordelia¡¯s position and said as he kicked the ground. ¡°I¡¯m d it¡¯s not CorDe.¡± ¡°Do you like that better?¡± That was the end of their conversation. Jude became the gale instead of answering, and Cordelia closed her eyes as he sprinted. She hugged Jude¡¯s neck a little harder. *** ¡°Ah! Cordelia-unnie! Jude-oppa!¡± At the vige of the Great Storm tribe¡­ Jude and Cordelia arrived at the vige of the Great Storm tribe before the day ended, having run and run again, though they took a few breaks in the middle. They were then greeted by Red Wind. ¡°It¡¯s been a while, how have you been?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been doing well. Look at this. It¡¯s my new friend.¡± Red Wind spoke with a wide smile as she spread out her palm and a small me sprang up. It was Saria, a me spirit belonging to the lowest grade. ¡°I followed Unnie¡¯s words. I studied spirits.¡± Both Jude and Cordelia smiled at Red Wind¡¯s wide smile that was so bright and cheerful, but when the two looked at each other, they had a different look. ¡®As expected¡­she hasn¡¯t gotten much stronger, right?¡¯ ¡®Because it hasn¡¯t even been a month yet.¡¯ It seemed like they had been going around here and there, but the time Jude and Cordelia had spent in the wildnds was actually less than a month. Even if she was at her peak at the age of sixteen, she wouldn¡¯t get that much stronger within a month. ¡®Then, what about us?¡¯ ¡®Uh¡­we¡¯re abnormal?¡¯ Because the two had gotten several times stronger in a month. But what mattered now was Red Wind, not Jude and Cordelia. Therefore, the two focused on Red Wind again. ¡°Red Wind, are you the one participating in Karaval this time?¡± When Cordelia carefully asked, Red Wind¡¯s face went stiff for a moment before she smiled again and nodded. ¡°Yes. I will do my best. I will fight for everyone.¡± She clenched her fists and confidently spoke, but Cordelia instinctively felt it while Jude saw through Red Wind¡¯s acting. ¡®I¡¯m scared.¡¯ The fact that she had to fight against someone stronger than her was not scary. What would happen if she was defeated? She feared betraying everyone¡¯s expectations. Unlike a little while ago, her stiff smile revealed a lot of things. So Cordelia sped Red Wind¡¯s trembling hands and said. ¡°It¡¯s all right. Jude and I will help. You¡¯ll be able to beat Sun Song.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Really.¡± With a wide smile, Cordelia tightly hugged Red Wind who was on the verge of tears. She didn¡¯t cry, but it was visible how stressed she was. ¡®Umm.¡¯ Jude quietly waited and after a long hug, Cordelia said as she touched Red Wind¡¯s cheek. ¡°It¡¯ste today, so let¡¯s rest for now and finish our conversation tomorrow. Okay?¡± ¡°Okay. Unnie, I like you so much.¡± ¡°I like you too.¡± Cordelia coddled and tightly hugged Red Wind again, and Cordelia sent a nce to Jude, who then nodded. *** ¡°But what should we do?¡± Inside the lodging that Red Wind guided them to¡­ Because it was alreadyte at night, their talk with Red Gale and Violent Avnche was dyed until tomorrow. Jude and Cordelia lied beside each other as they stared at the tent¡¯s roof. The remaining time was only a week. Would it be possible for Red Wind to be strong enough to beat Sun Song in that time? ¡°Shall we have her follow Kan?¡± Wouldn¡¯t it be possible for her to be hugely strengthened if she defeated a bunch of named monsters? ¡°It¡¯s possible, but we¡¯re running out time. It¡¯ll take a few days just to get to where Kan is.¡± The remaining time was only 7 days. They shouldn¡¯t waste their time in traveling. ¡°Uuuuu¡­what should we do then? Should we temporarily lend her items?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the basic n¡­but that¡¯s not enough, right?¡± No matter how good the items were, there was a limit. Jude and Cordelia were able to get full sets of items by attribute thanks to the benevolent Fairy Queen, so they had full sets that matched their level, but it wasn¡¯t possible to assemble a set of legend-grade or myth-grade items. ¡°But items with basic specs will fit her.¡± ¡°We can also strengthen her attribute¡¯s power.¡± Red Wind had begun handling a me spirit, so items with a fire attribute would be good for her. ¡°Haa¡­it¡¯s not enough. There needs to be something more.¡± Cordelia squirmed while lying down in her bed before she turned her head to the side. Jude was lying sideways on his bed a few steps away from her, and their gazes met. ¡°Jude?¡± ¡°I think we have no choice but to take a hard-line approach.¡± ¡°Hard-line approach?¡± When Cordelia sat up and asked, Jude also sat up and replied. ¡°Let¡¯s get the Phoenix.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°The Phoenix.¡± ¡°We¡¯re getting the Phoenix at this point in time?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s the only way.¡± Phoenix. Or Reckless Fire to be exact. In the original game, it was an essential spirit that Red Wind must obtain in her Spirit Warrior skill tree. ¡°If she gets the Phoenix, her potential as a Spirit Warrior would crazily grow, and the skills she could immediately use are also incredibly strong.¡± The story of the Phoenix that appeared in the original game was as follows. Reckless Fire, a powerful but evil me spirit,mitted all sorts of tyranny in the wildnd, but an unknown spirit warrior became angry and subdued Reckless Fire before sealing it in an ancient temple. ¡°Everyone forgot about it after a long time, but Red Wind identally found the ruins.¡± ¡°Red Wind defeated Reckless Fire who woke up from its seal-¡± ¡°The Phoenix died and then resurrected. At its resurrection, its personality was reversed, and it became a good spirit.¡± ¡°It recognized Red Wind who defeated it and acknowledged her as its master.¡± The way the story itself unfolded sounded easy to do too. They had no problem in locating the ruins because of JudeWiki. ¡°Thank you for believing in me.¡± ¡°Do you not know it?¡± ¡°I know where it is.¡± So the real problem now was the timing of the event. ¡°The northern barbarian event was over, so Red Wind who had already be quite strong, visited the vige of the Great Storm tribe that was in ruins.¡± In short, it was a story at a time when Red Wind was at least ten times stronger than she was now. ¡°No, it¡¯s impossible. How will Red Wind defeat the Phoenix now?¡± Cordelia said as her shoulders drooped, but Jude shook his head. ¡°Not, it¡¯s possible. We can help her.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good? No, even if the two of us joined forces right now, we may or may not be able to defeat the Phoenix, you know?¡± ¡°We have to try. And¡­it might be possible if she gets thest hit.¡± It was also necessary for her to be recognized by the Phoenix. ¡°Will that work?¡± ¡°I hope it works.¡± Because that was the only way they had right now. ¡°Uuuuuh¡­ Okay, let¡¯s do it. Yes, we can do it.¡± ¡°Yes, we can do it.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, we can.¡± Cordelia cheerfully said before she lied down on her bed again, pulled up her nket, and shut her eyes. ¡°Let¡¯s sleep for tomorrow then. Good night, Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, dream of me.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll think about it.¡± Cordelia coyly replied before falling into sleep, and Jude who had a hard time today, also deeply fell asleep. And the next morning¡­ ¡°Wow¡­is this all for me?¡± Red Wind widely opened her eyes and looked at herself as she asked. She was really sparkling. Red Wind was covered in magic items from head to toe. And at her innocent question, Jude replied with a refreshing smile. ¡°No, we¡¯re lending it to you.¡± He had to say it to make sure that she knew. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± When Cordelia smiled and spoke with an awkward expression, Red Wind¡¯s shoulders dropped as if she was somewhat disappointed. But for a while, she had a cheerful expression again because of her increased strength due to the magic items. ¡°I feel a lot stronger. Now I can fight Sun Song.¡± ¡°Yes, but it¡¯s still not enough. So let¡¯s practice now.¡± ¡°Practice?¡± ¡°Yes, practice for getting used to the faster speed and stronger power.¡± Cordelia said before casting and magic on Red Wind. ¡°Now, run.¡± ¡°Eh? Run¡­?!¡± Red Wind couldn¡¯t adapt to thepletely different speed and power than usual, so she splendidly fell. Jude and Cordelia looked at each other with rxed expressions as they anticipated this situation. ¡°Will it take half a day?¡± ¡°That¡¯s enough for her to adapt.¡± For now, she had to be familiar with her enhanced state. Jude and Cordelia sat down as they quietly watched the struggling Red Wind who couldn¡¯t control her body. And a few minutes passed. Cordelia suddenly turned to Jude and said. ¡°But Jude.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°What if, seriously, what if?¡± ¡°Yes, what if?¡± ¡°What if the Phoenix thinks of you or me as its master?¡± At Cordelia¡¯s simple question, Jude paused for a moment before he replied with an awkward smile. ¡°Ei, no way.¡± ¡°Is that right? There¡¯s no way that would happen?¡± ¡°Yes, no way.¡± But why? This ominous feeling. After a brief silence, Jude and Cordelia looked at the front again as they saw Red Wind falling down on her butt again. Chapter 96: Phoenix (3)

Chapter 96: Phoenix (3)

While Cordelia oversaw Red Wind¡¯s training, Jude went to meet Red Gale and Violent Avnche. He had to talk to them about the status of the Golden Dragon King and their n to obtain the Phoenix. ¡°I see¡­¡± Red Gale slowly nodded after hearing the whole story. Perhaps due to Sri¡¯s Ne, his condition had improved than before. ¡°I can¡¯t believe the Golden Dragon King was in that condition. Moreover, the demon followers have already taken the west¡­¡± Violent Avnche squatted on the floor as it held its head and groaned. The fact that all of the western dragon veins had already been contaminated could only mean that all the wild gods in the west had turned into enemies. ¡°The Golden Dragon King said that its condition would improve if we blow up the western dragon veins.¡± When Jude spoke as if he was consoling them, Violent Avnche flinched and had a reallyplicated expression on its face. ¡°Y-yes.¡± Violent Avnche seemed to recall the scene of its own entire rocky mountain disappearing. Red Gale said again. ¡°Jude, are you saying that Red Wind should obtain the Phoenix?¡± ¡°Yes, I think that¡¯s our best option for now.¡± A long time ago, an unknown spirit warrior sealed the Phoenix, an ancient spirit. Red Gale hadn¡¯t known that the sealing ce of the Phoenix was near their vige, but he didn¡¯t doubt Jude¡¯s words. Jude was Red Wind¡¯s benefactor, but he also personally met the Golden Dragon King and was recognized as a guardian of the wildnds. ¡°Hmm¡­I think I¡¯ve heard of a simr story when I was young.¡± A violent and evil bird of me. Violent Avnche scratched its chin as it spoke, and Jude gazed at everyone again. ¡°Red Wind has the talent to be a spirit warrior. If she obtains the Phoenix, she¡¯ll be able to win against Sun Song in the Karaval.¡± That was actually their only option. Red Gale closed his eyes and was in deep thought for a while. He soon nodded and agreed to Jude¡¯s n. ¡°I understand. It is as you said. In her current state, Red Wind cannot beat Sun Song. She needs the Phoenix¡¯s power.¡± It was a n to unseal a violent ancient spirit. The dangers it posed if something went wrong were high, but Red Gale decided to trust Jude. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Thank you too. If you need anything, just say it. I¡¯ll do my best to help.¡± If he was the Fairy Queen, Jude would have immediately jumped on his words and bleed him dry. But Red Gale and the Fairy Queen were different. Instead of smiling with sparkling eyes, Jude talked about the support he really needed for the n to work. ¡°I see¡­ If you say so. I understand. I will prepare it.¡± Red Gale epted his request and Jude was relieved. He then turned to Violent Avnche. ¡°Violent Avnche is going to help us, right?¡± ¡°Eh? Me too?¡± ¡°Yes, Violent Avnche.¡± ¡°Uh¡­yes! That¡¯s right. It¡¯s for the wildnds, so I¡¯ll help as much as I can.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Violent Avnche became even more anxious upon seeing Jude¡¯s bright smile, but it couldn¡¯t take back the words it had already spoken. The wild god awkwardly smiled and lightly thumped its chest, as if putting up a bold front. ¡°I¡¯m nning to capture the Phoenix tomorrow¡­ Will the preparations be ready by then?¡± ¡°It will be possible. The preparations will be ready by tomorrow morning.¡± ¡°Me as well.¡± Red Gale courteously answered and Violent Avnche got up from its seat and replied too. They now had the support of a wild god and the Great Storm tribe. With this, it would be possible to implement a strategy that was not possible in the game. ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll see you tomorrow.¡± There were 7 days left until the Karaval. Jude went out of Red Gale¡¯s house. *** ¡°So it ended with us going there tomorrow?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t have much time left until the day of the Karaval. Even if she obtained the Phoenix, she¡¯ll need time to get used to it.¡± Inside Jude and Cordelia¡¯s lodging¡­ The two had spread out a bunch of magic items on the bed and were thinking about what items would suit Red Wind. Jude nced at the figure of Cordelia as she folded her arms and groaned in serious contemtion. He then asked while she picked up a ring with a freezing attribute. ¡°How is Red Wind?¡± ¡°She got used to it. She¡¯s remarkably talented since she¡¯s a yable character in the first ce. It¡¯s now possible for her to fight with and cast on her twice.¡± Cordelia stretched out her hand and slightly lifted the tiara that had a freezing attribute. ¡°Hmm, do I have to take off my headband to wear this?¡± She had worn the rabbit set ever since the time they stopped by the vige of the Great Storm tribe. Jude had removed his and changed into the saint¡¯s clothes somewhere in the middle of their trip, but Cordelia had been wearing the rabbit ears and tail all the time. ¡°Hmm¡­it¡¯s possible to wear it together.¡± This was reality and not a game, so it was possible to wear equipment in the same area. ¡°Take this off first and try this one on¡­¡± Cordelia tried to take off the rabbit ears headband while talking to herself, but her words trailed off. Because she had felt Jude staring at her. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°No, that¡­¡± Jude¡¯s words trailed off too for some reason and Cordelia tilted her head. But her eyes soon sparkled, and she giggled. ¡°What is it? Are you sad that I won¡¯t be wearing the rabbit ears anymore? Would you like me to continue wearing it? Do you miss it?¡± She said that because she wanted to see Jude be flustered. As she triumphantly smiled inside her thoughts, Cordelia intentionally spoke in a cunning manner. Jude immediately responded to her. ¡°Uh, I want to continue seeing it.¡± ¡°If you say that you want to see it, then I¡¯ll continue¡­eh?¡± ¡°I want to continue seeing it.¡± Jude looked straight into Cordelia¡¯s blue eyes and seriously spoke while Cordelia blinked her eyes with a stunned expression. And she began stuttering. ¡°N-no. That¡­what¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s cute, Cordelia.¡± Jude spoke again and Cordelia¡¯s face turned red. No, what is he talking about now? Did he eat some weird medicine? Cordelia was at a loss and didn¡¯t know what to do. Jude seriously looked at her and then said with a pleasant smile. ¡°The rabbit ears are cute, the rabbit ears. Oh, the rabbit tail is cute too.¡± ¡°You!¡± Cordelia pped the back of Jude who spoke shamelessly, but the physical abilities of the two already had a lot of differences. Jude snickered and pretended to be hurt while Cordelia hit Jude even harder. And the next morning¡­ ¡°Wow, Unnie is so cute.¡± Red Wind was wearing items with me attributes all over her body and she then said in admiration as she gazed on Cordelia¡¯s head. A silver tiara with blue jewels was sitting atop Cordelia¡¯s head together with the rabbit ears headband. Cordelia, the second daughter of Count Chase, answered after making a ¡®hmph¡¯ sound. ¡°Because a certain mister desperately pleaded to me.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t plead though?¡± ¡°Should I take it off then?¡± ¡°No, Madam. You¡¯re the cutest.¡± Jude wily spoke and Cordelia turned away as she let out another ¡®hmph¡¯ but did not remove her headband. Anyone who saw her would see that her cheeks were slightly red. And Violent Avnche said after seeing the two. ¡°Ha, how cheesy.¡± As expected of the crazy couple. The people rted to them are crazy too. ¡°So cute.¡± When Red Wind giggled and spoke, Cordelia¡¯s face turned even redder and her lips twitched several times before she changed the topic. ¡°Anyway, we¡¯re going now. Are you ready?¡± ¡°We¡¯re ready.¡± Red Wind was the first to answer energetically, followed by Violent Avnche who reluctantly nodded its head. ¡°It seems that the Great Storm tribe is also ready.¡± Jude said as he pointed out to them, so Cordelia nodded her head. The shamans of the Great Storm tribe were fully equipped and prepared as they were approaching the group. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go then. JudeWiki, please take the lead.¡± ¡°Yes, Madam. I will lead the way.¡± Jude politely answered and led the way with Cordelia behind him, followed immediately by Red Wind, Violent Avnche, and the shamans of the Great Storm tribe who were lined up in a file. And about an hour or so¡­ As he headed westward, Jude suddenly turned around and said. ¡°By the way, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we start practicing?¡± ¡°What practice?¡± ¡°Adelia Countermeasures practice.¡± Jude¡¯s words made Cordelia had a face that looked like she didn¡¯tprehend what he was talking about, but she soon understood it and said after saying a ¡®hmph.¡¯ ¡°I don¡¯t need to practice, okay? I¡¯ll just do it when she arrives, okay?¡± ¡°No, you still have to practice. The opponent is none other than Adelia. My brother Ga?l will roughly let it pass but not Adelia, right?¡± ¡°Ugh.¡± It was as Jude had said. A lot of Cordelia¡¯s actions were basically suspicious, and her doubtful actions would grow deeper if she faced Adelia. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you at least be able to speak naturally?¡± There was truth in his words. But Cordelia wasn¡¯t a fool either. Practicing was necessary, but she didn¡¯t have to do it now. Besides, he seemed to have said that to tease her. ¡°I can¡¯t, I won¡¯t do it now here. Ah,e to think of it, it¡¯s not just me who should practice. I¡¯m not the only one who likes you¡­ No, what am I saying. Anyway, aren¡¯t we known to like each other in the first ce?¡± ¡°Then, shall I go first?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°My beloved Lady Cordelia. You¡¯re very beautiful today. No, you¡¯re very lovely.¡± The moment Jude said that with a charming smile, Cordelia had a brain fart. She stood stupefied before she began hitting Jude at random. ¡°Don¡¯t say it! Don¡¯t!¡± ¡°No, I have to practice! Ah! It hurts! Hey! It really hurts!¡± ¡°I know that you¡¯re not really hurt, okay?!¡± ¡°No! If you hit me like that, it hurts, okay?!¡± Cordelia changed her method of attacking by pping his skin like a whip. She was indeed a battle genius. Cordelia could find a way to do him damage somehow. While Jude and Cordelia were moving forward while squawking with each other¡­ ¡°This very lovey-dovey couple making a fuss¡­¡± ¡°Unnie is cute. Hehe.¡± Violent Avnche clicked its tongue while Red Wind¡¯s eyes sparkled. And about a dozen minutester¡­ ¡°Stop, stop hitting me. We¡¯re almost there.¡± ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­we¡¯re still far away¡­eh, seriously?¡± They were in front of a huge tomb with rocks piled up on top of each other. Down there was a hidden path that lead to the underground ruins where the Phoenix was sealed. ¡°All right, let¡¯s get started then.¡± The Phoenix would resurrect even if it dies, so it was unnecessary for them to use a capture ¨C no, an annihtion strategy. Jude and Cordelia exchanged nces while Violent Avnche held a silent prayer for the Phoenix that they haven¡¯t yet met. *** In the original story, the entrance to the rock tomb was revealed due to a natural disaster, but that only happened when the wildnds were in chaos. Therefore, Jude and Cordelia decided to use a different method. ¡°Is there a dragon vein here?¡± ¡°No, you demon.¡± ¡°Ei, why? It¡¯s legal.¡± Cordelia acted cute as sheughed and said, but Jude shook his head and turned to Violent Avnche. ¡°Please help us.¡± ¡°Uh¡­my body isn¡¯t that powerful.¡± ¡°But it¡¯s better than nothing.¡± He had brought Violent Avnche for other things and not for strenuous work, but a wild god was still a wild god. ¡°Alright! I¡¯ll use a little power!¡± The rocks in the tomb shook as Violent Avnche opened its arms and let out an ¡®Uooh¡¯ sound. The rocks easily moved when Violent Avnche slightly lifted the rocks with a telekic power. ¡°Me too then.¡± Cordelia used Witch Transformation and showed off her telekic powers too. Whenever her blue eyes shone, arge rock was moved to the side. ¡°Jude-oppa, what should we do?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t have any telekic powers, so let¡¯s just watch.¡± Unfortunately, there was no popcorn here. Jude stroked the head of Red Wind as they waited for a while. After five minutes or so, the rocks blocking the tomb were cleared, revealing a round entrance. ¡°This is definitely an ancient magic form. I can see traces of the High Elves.¡± Jude nodded at Violent Avnche¡¯s words. Considering the situation, it was highly likely that the unknown spirit warrior was a high elf from the magic kingdom of Magen. ¡°The inside of the sealing ce isn¡¯t big, but it¡¯s still called a dungeon. There¡¯s a defense system in ce to protect the Phoenix¡¯s seal.¡± ¡°Yes, I know. I¡¯ve read the things you wrote down yesterday several times.¡± ¡°I have read it many times. It¡¯s easy to read because it¡¯s in ournguage.¡± When Red Wind raised her hand and spoke, Jude happily smiled before looking at everyone. ¡°Only me, Cordelia, Red Wind, and Violent Avnche will enter the sealing area. However, the real battle against the Phoenix will be outside the ruins, so please be prepared.¡± ¡°We understand, Guardian.¡± On behalf of the Great Storm tribe¡¯s shamans, the great shaman called Frost Wind spoke. He was Red Gale¡¯s friend and a powerful wind shaman. ¡°Okay, are you ready?¡± ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡± Cordelia said after drinking the potion bottle¡¯s contents and wiping her lips, and Jude approached the seal¡¯s entrance. He had released the seal that was blocking the entrance by drawing a magic circle for unsealing. ¡°¡± The moment he said the word, the ground cracked and rumbled before the floor on which the seal was drawn had copsed. The diameter of the created hole was more than 2 meters. As he nced inside the hole, Jude nodded. Like in the original, the ce was roughly 10 meters high. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Hmph.¡± Cordelia snorted once before she moved to Jude¡¯s side, and let herself be carried by Jude. ¡°Red Wind, please take care of Violent Avnche.¡± ¡°Leave it to me.¡± Red Wind smiled and raised her thumb before carrying Violent Avnche who was in the form of a bear cub. ¡°Please be well prepared.¡± ¡°Please leave it to me.¡± Judestly asked Frost Wind to prepare before he jumped inside the hole. Chapter 97: Phoenix (4)

Chapter 97: Phoenix (4)

Sorry for thete release. A storm hit my countryst night, and the strong winds made the electricity in my house to fluctuate. The wind has died down now, but it still hasn¡¯t stopped raining. Thud-! Judended like a feather because of the brilliant golden whirlwind. He put Cordelia down while Red Windnded with a series of thudding sounds. ¡°Be careful, the attack would begin as soon as you cross that line.¡± Cordelia spoke in a low voice and promptly lit a magic light to drive out the darkness. ¡°As expected, this is the High Elves¡¯ architectural style. The unknown spirit warrior must have been a high elf.¡± Hearing the words of Violent Avnche, Jude and Cordelia looked into the distance. They could see the rock egg where the Phoenix was sealed straight ahead. ¡°Are you ready?¡± ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡± ¡°What about you, Red Wind?¡± ¡°I¡¯m ready too.¡± ¡°Okay, then let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Why are you not asking about me?¡± The voices ended with Violent Avnche speaking. Jude just looked ahead but the kind Cordelia opened her mouth for Violent Avnche. ¡°Are you ready, Violent Avnche?¡± ¡°I am.¡± ¡°Alright, then let¡¯s go.¡± Cordelia said as she tapped the back of Jude who then nodded. In his mind, he recalled the dungeon in the game. ¡®A series of straightforward traps.¡¯ A series of straightforward me attacks would beset them in the passage leading to the sealing area, perhaps because a Phoenix was sealed here. But if they knew where, what, and how the attack would unfold, they would be able to fully respond. ¡°Formationplete. Let¡¯s go!¡± Thud! Jude kicked the ground and took the lead. At that moment, mes shot down above his head, but Jude unhesitatingly raised his right hand high. He made a shield using Count Chase¡¯s ring to stop the mes and passed the me zone in less than a second. ¡°¡± And Cordelia ran right behind him. Because Cordelia was wearing items with Freezing attributes, she wasn¡¯t even slightly harmed by the mes at all. The me¡¯s momentum was broken by Jude who had already passed by, and then pushed away by the magic that Cordelia cast so she was able to easily pass too. ¡°Uooo!¡± Violent Avnche just ran, and so did Red Wind. She was wearing items with me attributes in the first ce, so Red Wind was strong against the mes in a different sense than Cordelia. ¡°Let¡¯s move on!¡± ¡°Here I go!¡± Cordelia took the lead this time. She blocked the mes in advance on both sides by using a telekic power covered with the spell, while Jude stepped forward and spread out the shield to stop the suddenly appearing mes. ¡°Uooo!¡± Violent just ran this time again and Red Wind was not much different. And that repeated for five times. After finally breaking through all the traps and arriving at the sealing area, Jude and Cordelia exchanged nces and immediately took action. ¡°¡± She had changed the spear version of Cmity which she had always used into a sword version. With the jet-ck me sword, Cordelia broke the magic circle that was drawn on the floor which led to the seal itself to be destroyed. Szzzzzk-! Sparks rose from the ground and magical energy erupted everywhere, making Red Wind swallow her breath. She then swung the blessed blunt weapon in her hand and struck the rock egg. Booom-! A thunderbolt struck. The rock egg shattered with the sound of thunder, and a huge roar shook the entire sealing area at that moment. ¡°Kiaaaaa-!¡± The roaring of the Phoenix was simr to why a chicken cries in the bright morning. mes burst out in front of them and a yellow color filled their vision. The heat they felt seemed like it could melt their whole bodies. ¡°Uooo!¡± At that very moment, Violent Avnche jumped up. Jude grabbed such Violent Avnche and pushed Violent Avnche into their pre-calcted position. Boooom-! The raging mes, or to be precise, the shooting mes collided into Violent Avnche. Although Violent Avnche was weak, it was still a wild god. Violent Avnche was also the wild god of avnches who ruled a rocky mountain. The mes were stopped by the force of an immensely cold air, and the death mes that urred when the Phoenix awoke were neutralized and disappeared. ¡°Gaaah!¡± Jude hastily recovered the screaming Violent Avnche before he raised his head. This is because the Phoenix who woke up had spread out its wings and flew outwards. ¡°Hurry up!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s merge!¡± Cordelia sprinted and merged with Jude as he carried her. Jude ran after the Phoenix while Red Wind followed them after carrying Violent Avnche. And immediately after¡­ ¡°Kiaaa!¡± The Phoenix shrieked when it tried to fly out of the sealing area. It was because of the magic circle cast by the shamans of the Great Storm tribe who were waiting outside the sealing area. ¡°Okay!¡± In the original story, Red Wind had to face the Phoenix alone, but not now. So they came up with this n. An easy and fast strategy that they couldn¡¯t do in the game! ¡°Cha-cha!¡± Jude kicked the wall as he jumped up at once and flew out of the entrance. While holding Cordelia, he rolled on the floor once before they quickly stood up. ¡°Kuooo!¡± The Phoenix angrily screamed and rushed towards Frost Wind, the great shaman of the Great Storm tribe. It was as expected and as nned. ¡°Cordelia!¡± ¡°Okay!¡± Booooom-! Frost Wind and the shamans¡¯ spells blocked the Phoenix. The Phoenix tried to attack Frost Wind like a bird catching its prey. When its feet touched the ground for a moment, Cordelia dug into that gap. ¡°¡± It was a simple freezing spell that bound the target. But it was important to note that the caster was Cordelia. ¡°! !¡± One spell quickly became four. In addition, Cordelia¡¯s level had reached around 60, which let her use a new skill. ¡° ¡± High-Speed Chanting. A unique skill of wizards that allowed them to use magic in quick session. Because it was a rtively simple magic, it was possible to use it four times in a row, even if her mastery of High-Speed Chanting was still low. And if Double Casting and Spell¡¯s Echo was added to this¡­ ¡°Kkeuaaa!¡± The Phoenix screamed in pain as something surprising happened. The whole body of the Phoenix began to freeze. ¡°16 Freeze shots!¡± Jude shouted while Cordelia¡¯s nose bled. Because she had randomly shot magic spells too quickly. But Cordelia was undaunted and swallowed the contents of a potion. Jude ran forward and tore the magic circles he had drawn overnight. ¡°? ¡± What he used were spells that increased the duration of the already cast magic and reduced the enemy¡¯s magic resistance. The Phoenix was a me spirit whose whole body was made of mes. So in order for it to remain frozen, he had to do at least that much. ¡°Okay! Here we go!¡± Cordelia wiped the blood from her lips and nose before she powerfully shouted and cast 16 Freeze shots again. The already frozen Phoenix was frozen even more. ¡°Kkeuaaa!¡± The Phoenix continued to scream in the midst of this. Well, it could still scream after all. Because Jude and Cordelia adjusted the magic spells so that only the Phoenix¡¯s head did not freeze. Why was that? Why did they leave out the head? ¡°Red Wind!¡± ¡°Head! Head! Head! Head!¡± Cordelia shouted at Red Wind, who waste ining out of the sealing area with Violent Avnche. And Red Wind responded to Cordelia¡¯s call. As she had been taught yesterday, she shouted ¡®head¡¯ and swung her blessed blunt weapon. ¡°Ack! Ack! Ack!¡± The Phoenix was a me spirit that had no substance, so it was immune to most physical attacks, but Red Wind¡¯s attacks were an exception. The blunt weapon that was blessed by the three wild gods ¨C Violent Avnche, Gentle Snow Breeze, and Great Storm, hit the Phoenix¡¯s spirit body itself. ¡°Head! Head! Head! Head!¡± The frozen and immobile Phoenix had its head pounded like mad by Red Wind. The Phoenix shrieked and tried to break the ice, but it was impossible. Jude and Cordelia did not let it do so. ¡°16 Freeze shots!¡± ¡°? ¡± Crack! Crack! Crack! If the ice seemed to slightly break, the ice froze again. Because of its lowered magic resistance, Red Wind¡¯s attacks were more painful. ¡°Kkeuaaa! Ack!¡± ¡°Head!¡± Red Wind did not stop. She was sweating a lot while Jude calcted the health of the Phoenix and of Red Wind¡¯s attack. As a result, he figured out the total number of attacks she still needed to do. ¡°Just 50 more!¡± ¡°Hiiek?!¡± The Phoenix swallowed its scream at Jude¡¯s cry. 50 more hits from now. 50 more. ¡°Kkiaaa!¡± When the Phoenix loudly screamed, Cordelia turned to Violent Avnche. As if she had looked for an interpreter, Violent Avnche quickly understood. ¡°It¡¯s saying that it would rather be killed by just a knife.¡± ¡°I see.¡± But that was impossible. Red Wind didn¡¯t have the ability to do that yet. She had to work hard and hit the Phoenix blow by blow to reach 50 hits. ¡°Tsk-tsk-tsk, I somehow feel guilty about this.¡± Violent Avnche clicked its tongue and offered a silent prayer for the still alive Phoenix. And in the midst of that, Jude faced Cordelia and asked. ¡°Can you do it one more time?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll try!¡± Cordelia was actually feeling dizzy, but she deliberately spoke energetically and cast again afterwards. The situation seemed to be easygoing at first nce, but it wasn¡¯t at all. The shamans of the Great Storm tribe were able to narrowly restrain the Phoenix due to the magic circle they had set up and activated, but if they let their guard down for just a bit, the Phoenix might break the ice and run away. ¡°Red Wind! Hurry!¡± This was thest time that Cordelia could continuously cast magic. At Jude¡¯s urging, Red Wind shouted in concentration and swung her blunt weapon again. ¡°Head!¡± Bang! Bang! Bang! Red Wind climbed up on the Phoenix¡¯s back and bombarded it with three consecutive strikes before she flinched and jumped down in an instant. Because at the moment of herst attack, she ¡®felt¡¯ it. ¡°Okay! We¡¯ve reached 50 strikes!¡± Jude eximed as he supported the staggering Cordelia, and Cordelia saw it at that moment. Shwaaaa-! The ice that had sealed the Phoenix melted away. And the Phoenix¡¯s me also died down. But it was only for a moment. A small me rose again in the air. The me that started as yellow in color became blue and then turned into red as it greatly intensified before turning into a new bird of me. ¡°Aaah!¡± It was a clear and ringing voice. Just like in the game, the evil Phoenix died and was reborn as a new pure and innocent baby Phoenix. ¡°Wow¡­¡± Red Wind dropped her blunt weapon as she let out a voice in awe, and so did the shamans of the Great Storm tribe. But Jude and Cordelia were rather tense as they gulped in nervousness. This moment was somehow more important than defeating the Phoenix. ¡®Choose Red Wind as your master!¡¯ When Jude mentally shouted, the Phoenix flew in the air and surveyed everyone on the ground. ¡°Uh, our eyes met.¡± The moment Cordelia said that, the baby Phoenix suddenly shuddered and then flew towards Red Wind. It somehow looked like it was running away from Cordelia. ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s better, that¡¯s an excellent choice.¡± Cordelia narrowed her eyes at the words of Violent Avnche, but she widely smiled afterwards upon seeing the Phoenix sitting on Red Wind¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Looks like it worked.¡± The newly born Phoenix recognized Red Wind as its master. Red Wind carefully stretched out her hands to Phoenix, and the newly born Phoenix who was small and a littlerger than a dove, sat on Red Wind¡¯s hand as if it responded to her. Their actions could only mean one thing. ¡°Would you like to be with me?¡± When Red Wind asked in the wildnd¡¯snguage, the Phoenix nodded and then rubbed its head against the Red Wind¡¯s cheeks, as if it signed a contract with her. ¡°Hehehe. It¡¯s a Phoenix! A Phoenix!¡± Red Wind widely smiled and looked at Jude and Cordelia. The two sighed with a look of relief before smiling together. ¡°We got one thing done.¡± ¡°We got one thing done. We also gained something.¡± ¡°Eh? Gained something?¡± What are you talking about? Didn¡¯t the Phoenix be Red Wind¡¯s? Cordelia tilted her head and Jude smiled as he took out what he packed earlier when they got out of the sealing area. It was a golden feather filled with a red aura. An item that contained not only the power of a strong me but also the power of regeneration. ¡°The Phoenix¡¯s feather.¡± It also belonged to a Phoenix that was over a thousand years old. ¡°Uwaah.¡± Cordelia admired it like a child, making Jude smile before he put the feather on her hair. He then said with a brilliant smile. ¡°Do you like it?¡± ¡°Yes! I like it!¡± Cordelia promptly answered as sheughed like Red Wind. She then spoke again after she straightened her posture. ¡°Okay, we have 6 days left. When we return, we¡¯ll start the special training right away.¡± Because getting the Phoenix wasn¡¯t everything they had to do. During the remaining time left, Red Wind had to engrave in her mind and body not only on how to use the Phoenix but also on how to fight Sun Song. Jude said as he nodded his head. ¡°Yes, you also have to practice in your spare time too.¡± ¡°Ugeue¡­¡± Practice. Cordelia had a troubled look on her face and Jude delightedly smiled as he mentally thanked Ga?l and Adelia. When you¡¯re so scary that the g you nted runs away from you¡­ Chapter 98: Cross (1)

Chapter 98: Cross (1)

Sorry for thete release. As an apology, I¡¯ll be releasing two chapters today! Enjoy the ships~! Inside Jude and Cordelia¡¯s tent at night¡­ The lit candles diffused a faint light and warmth all over the ce. And in the middle of that ce. There was a beautiful girl in a white dress with rabbit ears on her head. She had a shy expression on her face as her lips quivered. Although the candle¡¯s faint light was very small and weak whenpared to the night¡¯s darkness, it? brought out the girl¡¯s captivating beauty like a ray of light in the darkness. She had burning red cheeks, misty eyes, and lips that drew nice-looking curves whenever it quivered. The girl hesitated for quite some time before she swallowed her saliva and her long white neck trembled a little. She opened her lips and a nervous voice came out with her breath. ¡°M-my b-beloved Mr. Jude Bayer.¡± The girl¡¯s cheeks turned redder at her words that expressed love, and the surrounding area that was gently warmed by the candlelight also became hot. ¡°A-and¡­¡± Sweat flowed along the girl¡¯s smooth jawline, and the girl put her hands together and squeezed them, as if she was plucking up the courage to confess before she spoke. ¡°I-I¡­c-can¡¯t live without J-Jude, Mr. Jude Bayer.¡± Her words came out slightly stuttered before she bit her lips. Her voice seemed to have a mixture of shyness and determination. But it didn¡¯t end there. The girl took several deep breaths, mustered her courage and spoke again. ¡°I-I belong to Mr. Jude¡­ Mr. Jude Bayer is mine¡­ No! F*ck! Hey!¡± That was it. Cordelia threw the script she had in her hand onto the floor and then bellowed at the watching Jude. ¡°Hey! You evil b*stard! What¡¯s with the script?!¡± She could overlook ¡®my beloved Mr. Jude Bayer.¡¯ Yes, she could somehow understand the ¡®I can¡¯t live without Jude.¡¯ Because its purpose was to protect Jude from Adelia. But what about the next? ¡°Am I yours? Am I yours?¡± It was just some words in the script, but it was difficult to say them. How am I supposed to say this in front of others! ¡°Woah, woah. Rx, rx.¡± ¡°Wurf-wurf! Grrrrrr! Wurf!¡± ¡°No, what am I supposed to do when you¡¯re cute even if you¡¯re angry.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°No, anyway. It¡¯s actually fair. You¡¯re not one-sidedly saying that you are mine, you¡¯re saying that I am yours too, right?¡± The script¡¯s contents were indeed fair. When Jude spoke with a calm face, Cordelia hesitated for a moment, but she eventually wasn¡¯t fooled. ¡°No! I don¡¯t give a damn about fairness! What¡¯s with that script?¡± ¡°Is there a problem?¡± ¡°Everything¡¯s a problem from start to finish!¡± ¡°Ei, what are you talking about? Now, now, take a deep breath and think.¡± ¡°What am I supposed to think?¡± ¡°Think about the past. Do you remember when you first acted?¡± ¡°Roughly.¡± ¡°I remember it clearly. It was this line back then.¡± Having said that, Jude cleared his throat once and then said in a feigned voice as if reciting a poem. ¡°I-I want to spend some time alone with Mr. Jude! We¡¯ll be back before dinner, so just wait! Don¡¯t worry about us!¡± ¡°Ah.¡± It came across her mind again. When they went on an outdoor date to get Sri¡¯s Ne from Leisegang. ¡®I-It¡¯s still okay.¡¯ It was okay. She could endure it if it was this much. But it was actually not over yet. ¡°After that, it was something like this.¡± Jude cleared his throat and then said in a slightly more charming voice than before. ¡°I-I want to go with my beloved Mr. Jude Bayer. I-I don¡¯t want to be separated from hi-him!¡± ¡°Ugeueu¡­¡± Cordelia¡¯s face turned red. No, it was not only her face as her neck and ears were red too. But unfortunately, this wasn¡¯t the end. ¡°I¡¯m going on a honeymoon trip with my beloved Mr. Bayer. We¡¯ll be back in a few days, so please don¡¯t bother looking for us, okay?¡± ¡°Uwaaa¡­.¡± Cordelia unconsciously let out a crying sound from her mouth as she covered her face with both of her hands. Her legs weakened and she even sank to her knees. ¡°And then I left a letter like this: I will further continue my honeymoon trip with Lady Cordelia, whom I dearly love more than my life. Please do not worry too much, because I¡¯ve gotten healthier from eating the Sunflower. P.S. I am really happy now.¡± ¡°S-stop¡­¡± ¡°For your information, that was what you ordered me to do. You loved it so much.¡± What he said was true. She remembered that she eventually ordered Jude to do it once and that she really loved it. Why did I do that? Why did I do that on that day? Cordelia who was squatting on the floor let out a troubled voice while Jude had such a pleasant look on his face. He then concluded his recap of the events with a happy smile. ¡°So, now that you¡¯ve heard it, don¡¯t you agree that the intensity has been growing stronger little by little? You could say that there¡¯s progress in our rtionship. Therefore, shouldn¡¯t we go a little further this time?¡± What he said was reasonable. What he said made sense. But! But even if that is so! ¡°Aaaaaaah¡­¡± She felt like she wanted to quickly stand up and hit Jude, but she didn¡¯t have the energy to do that. The current situation had been too stimting for a girl who only had a lover in the games that she yed for certain periods of time. Thus, Jude approached Cordelia and gently said. ¡°Umm¡­anyway, wouldn¡¯t this be enough to stop Adelia?¡± What he said was true. In the first ce, the reason why they were rehearsing the script was to stop Adelia. Adelia was Cordelia¡¯s older sister. She was also an older sister who really cares about Cordelia, so if Cordelia extremely loved Jude, it was highly likely that she would concede even if she didn¡¯t like it. It was said that parents have a soft spot for their children. ¡®In this case, it¡¯s about an older sister and her younger sister.¡¯ In any case, Jude waited for Cordelia to recover. After she had slightly recovered, Cordelia began hitting Jude in the back. ¡°Ugeu! Uu!¡± ¡°You should calm down and speak in humannguage first, okay?¡± Perhaps this was a side effect of Beast Mode. Jude half-jokingly said, and Cordelia pinched Jude before taking a deep breath. She stood up from her spot and shouted. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll let everything go! I understand!¡± To protect Jude from Adelia! I¡¯ll say stronger lines than before to show the progress of our rtionship! I¡¯ll let everything go. I somehow understand. But why! ¡°W-why is Violent Avnche here!¡± As Cordelia pointed to the corner of the tent and shouted, the being involved ¨C Violent Avnche, was sitting in the corner and watching Jude and Cordelia¡¯s skit. The wild god then nodded and said. ¡°That¡¯s right. I also wanted to ask. Why are you showing me this? I have to admit that it¡¯s cute though.¡± Upon hearing the word ¡®cute¡¯, the cheeks of Cordelia who had just calmed down turned red again. On the other hand, Jude spoke with a calm face. ¡°Because she needs to be able to do it naturally in front of others.¡± ¡°No, I think you don¡¯t need to practice about your rtionship.¡± Violent Avnche had no idea of the true rtionship between Jude and Cordelia, and their current practice had seriously made Violent Avnche feel out of ce. Apart from that, Violent Avnche doubted the necessity of the practice itself. ¡®Isn¡¯t it obvious that they¡¯re a crazy couple?¡¯ The couple were so perfectlypatible that one might think that they were born for each other. ¡°Well, anyway, let¡¯s take a break.¡± ¡°Uuuu¡­do I have to do it again?¡± ¡°You have to do it again. You have to get used to it.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia nodded with drooping shoulders. She was so embarrassed that her head grew feverish and her normal thinking became somewhat difficult. Regardless, the strangely quiet Cordelia sat down on her bed and Jude spoke again after turning to Violent Avnche. ¡°Violent Avnche, how is the establishment of the Eastern Alliance?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a serious topic all of a sudden.¡± The topic suddenly came in, but it was necessary to talk about it. It had been two days since Red Wind got the Phoenix. Violent Avnche walked to the front of the bed and stretched its arms, and Cordelia lifted up Violent Avnche and sat it on the bed. ¡°Huu¡­that¡¯s good. Anyway, about that, it¡¯s going faster than I thought.¡± There were three wild gods involved so the establishment of the Eastern Alliance was initially progressing quite fast. It was then elerated by the addition of what happened to the Golden Dragon King, which was a recent news brought by Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Because the west is already contaminated and there was also a request from the Golden Dragon King¡­ The wild gods who were very hesitant and evasive have also began to move forward. Perhaps when this Karaval is over, a strong Eastern Alliance would be established that is centered on one tribe, which would either be the Great Storm tribe or the de Song tribe.¡± At Violent Avnche¡¯s exnation, Jude¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°Then the scale of this Karaval would probably be bigger than originally nned.¡± ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right. The basic one-on-one battle of Red Wind and Sun Song would remain the same, but the number and quality of the audience would be different. Most of the tribal chiefs of the east would probably get together to watch the Karaval this time.¡± They would be here to discuss the establishment of the Eastern Alliance and not just to watch a fight. Jude asked Violent Avnche again. ¡°Is there any response from the west? I think that your side don¡¯t know much on what¡¯s going on there either.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like we don¡¯t have spies there, so we at least know a little about it. We¡¯re also keeping a close eye on the events in the west. However¡­our judgment is that they seemed to be more preupied with theplete unification of the west. The Angry Bull tribe is currently preupied with their military expedition on the west.¡± In other words, they hadn¡¯t taken measures against the eastern side because they were preupied with the unification of the western side. ¡®It¡¯s understandable.¡¯ Everything that they had done in the east so far was close to a small-scale covert operation. ¡°But Violent Avnche.¡± Cordelia finally recovered while their conversation went back and forth, so she raised her hand and asked. Violent Avnche epted her question with a smile. ¡°Yes, what are you curious about?¡± ¡°You said earlier that most of the tribal chiefs would be gathering.¡± ¡°I did.¡± ¡°Then would the wild gods also be gathered?¡± Jude and Cordelia did not know much about the wild gods¡¯ existence until they hade to the wildnds. But it was different now. By personally meeting Great Storm, they learned that wild gods exist. And when they met Violent Avnche, they found out that the monsters in the original whom they thought to be monsters from hell were actually the corrupted wild gods. ¡®Wild gods protected the tribes.¡¯ The tribesmen greatly respected the will of the wild gods they served, as could be seen in the case of Gentle Snow Breeze and Great Storm. In short, the will of the wild gods rather than the will of the tribal chiefs were more important in the establishment of the Eastern Alliance. Violent Avnche roughly understood the meaning of Cordelia¡¯s question, but it smiled and shook its head. ¡°Most of the wild gods would probably not participate. Each wild god has its own sanctuary and living in it is basic for us. An example right now would be Gentle Snow Breeze who made an alliance with Great Storm but still lives in her sanctuary in the basin.¡± Thus, the other wild gods would be more focused on protecting their sanctuaries at the present moment. ¡°Then what about Violent Avnche?¡± Wild Avnche was also a wild god, but it was staying in Great Storm¡¯snd. At Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude slightly turned his nce away while Violent Avnche indignantly shouted. ¡°You two destroyed it! You two!¡± My sanctuary! My rocky mountain! Of course, Violent Avnche¡¯s rocky mountain did notpletely copse, as half of it still remained. ¡°Ahem, ahem, moving on, Violent Avnche will be watching the Karaval then.¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡± When Violent Avnche grumbled and answered, Cordelia felt sorry, so she hugged the wild god who did not refuse the beautiful girl¡¯s touch. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Thebination of a bear cub and a beautiful girl was really nice to look at, but Jude was somehow ufortable with it, so he cleared his throat and then pulled Violent Avnche¡¯s hand before speaking. ¡°On another note, there¡¯s not much time left until the Karaval.¡± ¡°Yes, but I believe in Red Wind. She got the Phoenix and isn¡¯t she also practicing really hard now?¡± Violent Avnche was right. Red Wind¡¯s growth had been explosive after obtaining the Phoenix. In addition, Jude and Cordelia¡¯s customized teachings for her had been increasing her winning rate at Karaval day by day. ¡®Cordelia is teaching Red Wind¡¯s uniquebat method with the me spirit.¡¯ Because the character Yellow Storm yed the most after Cordelia was Red Wind. Moreover, Cordelia was better than Jude when it came to battle skills, so hepletely entrusted Red Wind¡¯s growth to Cordelia. ¡®My task is to take the role of her opponent, Sun Song.¡¯ Jude had memorized all of Sun Song¡¯sbat patterns. Of course, what Jude had memorized were thebat patterns of the corrupted Sun Song. However, only Sun Song¡¯s temperament and personality had changed when he was corrupted, so it was highly likely that his basic physical skills remained the same. ¡®She¡¯ll learn how to fight from Cordelia and then have a mock battle with me who can fight like Sun Song.¡¯ It was the best training method they could do for her right now. ¡®But time is running out too.¡¯ There were only four days left until the Karaval ¨C essentially, that was a little over three days. ¡®Will she make it on time?¡¯ ¡®She will make it.¡¯ Jude exchanged nces with Cordelia before he nodded once and turned to Violent Avnche. When he met eyes with Violent Avnche, the wild god suddenly pped its hands, jumped off the bed and said. ¡°Ah,e to think of it, there¡¯s something that I have to tell you.¡± ¡°Something to tell us?¡± They had just talked about the establishment of the Eastern Alliance, but was there something else they had to talk about too? When Violent Avnche saw Jude and Cordelia¡¯s curious eyes, the wild god had a little evil ¨C no, a happy smile and said. ¡°Your older brother and sister will arrive in two days.¡± Ga?l and Adelia would be returning after their vain efforts in going to Raptor Canyon. They wereing to meet Jude and Cordelia. They wereing to apprehend the two! ¡°Eueueueu¡­¡± Cordelia tightly shut her eyes while Jude held Cordelia¡¯s hand. Though he had made fun of Cordelia, Jude was also nervous when he thought about meeting them in person. But it was their inevitable fate. Four days left until the Karaval. Two days left until the invasion of their older brother and sister. The night grewte. *** It was a particrly sunny day. Jude and Cordelia stood side by side on the pure white snowfield as they looked into the distance but didn¡¯t find anyone. Two days after hearing about the situation from Violent Avnche¡­ That day had finally arrived. ¡°Huu¡­huu¡­¡± Cordelia took some deep breaths as her cheeks were stiff from tension. Jude asked as he nced at Cordelia. ¡°Are you nervous?¡± ¡°I am nervous.¡± ¡°It¡¯s all right, you have me.¡± ¡°I¡¯m nervous because of you, okay?¡± She had to protect Jude from Adelia. ¡°Huu¡­huu¡­¡± Cordelia took some deep breaths again before clenching her teeth and straightening her posture. Jude also straightened his posture like Cordelia and then looked straight ahead. ¡°They¡¯reing.¡± The two saw the other side. Ga?l and Adelia finally appeared. Chapter 99: Cross (2)

Chapter 99: Cross (2)

Second chapter for the day. And frankly, I still don¡¯t understand why the chapter title is about a cross when there¡¯s no mention of one here. Or perhaps it was just symbolic since the chapters have a lot of ¡®suffering¡¯ or ¡®hardships¡¯ for the characters. Ga?l Bayer and Adelia Chase. The two did not have anyrge roles in the second episode of Legend of Heroes. ¡®Because both Ga?l and Adelia were killed in battle.¡¯ The fate of the two did not change much whether it was on the Jude route or the Cordelia route. Ga?l was killed during the Northern Barbarians¡¯ Great Invasion event while Adelia was caught and lost her life in the ¡®S?len Kingdom¡¯s Capital Destruction event¡¯ that would happen a little moreter. Such were the fate of those two. ¡®So I actually don¡¯t know much about them.¡¯ Because he didn¡¯t have many chances to meet them in the game. All he knew about Ga?l was that he was good-natured, talented, and an older brother who had a huge age gap with Jude ¨C that was all that he knew. As for Adelia, all he knew was that she was a mother-like older sister who cared for her younger sister Cordelia. ¡®Of course, I was able to build a rough profile of the two bypiling various pieces of information that came out in the game.¡¯ Even so, he had very little absolute information about the two. ¡®But it¡¯s different now.¡¯ They suddenly became Jude and Cordelia one day ¨C no, Outboxer009 and Yellow Storm did not take over the bodies of the two. They were reincarnated as Jude and Cordelia and spent seventeen years before they awakened the memories of their previous lives. Therefore, Jude knew well about Ga?l, and Cordelia knew well about Adelia. ¡®My older brother.¡¯ He was his genuine sibling and no longer a simple NPC. ¡®He¡¯s kind, sincere, and reliable, but in fact, he has a delicate side too.¡¯ Despite being the eldest son of a famous family from the very beginning, there was one reason why he was still not married. That one reason. An incident that Ga?l went through when he was 20 years old. Jude stopped thinking about it and shifted his gaze a little to the side. He could see a brave woman proudly walking in precise steps from afar towards them. ¡®Adelia Chase.¡¯ A genius wizard who held the title of the youngest head in the history of the Royal Guard Magic Corps. He had spent 17 years as Jude, but he knew little about her. In the first ce, Jude wasn¡¯t even close with Cordelia in the past before they awakened their previous lives. He had never met Cordelia¡¯s older sister who was in the royal capital. ¡®But something¡­there has to be a reason, right?¡¯ For Cordelia to be so cautious and nervous. ¡°Huu¡­huu¡­ I can do it. I can do it. Protect. Protect.¡± Cordelia repeated the same words in a small voice, as if she was reciting a spell. She seemed to be strengthening her resolve in her own way. ¡®Cute.¡¯ How could she be not cute when he could see that she was trying to protect him and not anyone else? ¡°Okay, okay, okay.¡± Cordelia took several deep breaths again before she stepped forward and stood as if to hide Jude. It was a position that Jude often did to protect Cordelia, but it was the exact opposite this time. There was naturally a difference. Cordelia was taller than Jude before they had awakened their memories, but not now. That had beenpletely reversed in just a few months, and there was now quite arge difference between Jude and Cordelia. It was impossible topletely hide Jude with Cordelia¡¯s small and slender body, but she still puffed out her chest, stretched out her arms, and hid Jude as she took a deep breath for thest time. She kept herposure and looked straight ahead. And upon looking at the back of Cordelia¡¯s head, Jude happily smiled and then raised his head as he suddenly recoiled. ¡®Adelia.¡¯ Their distance had been narrowed quite a bit, so they could now see the other side¡¯s faces. Unlike Cordelia who had red hair like Count Chase, Adelia inherited their mother¡¯s blond hair. She had a whiteplexion and bright golden hair that seemed to be made by melting the sun. She was beautiful like Cordelia, but her eyes¡­her fierce eyes were no joke. Ba-thump, ba-thump, ba-thump, ba-thump- It felt like he was under heavy pressure. As he continued hearing the sound of his heartbeat as if it was an auditory hallucination, Jude gulped his saliva. Drops of sweat trickled down his tightly clenched fists. He was tense. She was someone who could make the person facing her feel fear. Was this how he felt when he fought against the named demon Bandaizel at Endymion? He could now understand why Cordelia was very nervous. ¡°Finally.¡± Adelia spoke. A beautiful yet terrifying smile spread out on her white face. Jude Bayer. The crystallization of evil who sweet talked, deceived,mitted acts of brutality, and even lured the kind, cute, adorable, lovely, and innocent Cordelia into making wrong choices! ¡®Finally!¡¯ They faced each other. The moment where she could let out her anger finally came. ¡°You!¡± Adelia raised her voice first. She raised up her hand to point at Jude before she tried to spill out her words. ¡°You kidnapped by deceiving my kind, cute, adorable, lovely, and innocent Cordelia¡­¡± That was it. Adelia¡¯s words trailed off in the end. Because she had felt Ga?l¡¯s gaze behind her back. It was just a gaze. He didn¡¯t exactly re. He just gazed at her. But Adelia unknowingly faltered. She couldn¡¯t say what she was originally going to say. ¡°No, your elopement¡­¡± Elopement. That was not it. That was not what she originally wanted to say. Adelia frowned as she was distressed for a while before she changed her words again. ¡°Honeymoon trip! Anyway, about your honeymoon trip!¡± Her words were already a huge mess. ¡®Eueueu, why am I doing this?¡¯ Why can¡¯t I say what I wanted to say? After all, Jude and Cordelia were already engaged and the Bayer family was a famous family that stood in equal rank with the Chase family, so she couldn¡¯t just thoughtlessly say rude words to him. But Ga?l¡¯s presence was greater than that. Ga?l might be bothered so she couldn¡¯t say anything that was too harsh. ¡®No, it¡¯s not. That¡¯s not it.¡¯ When Adelia groaned in her confusion and distress, Jude and Cordelia stared at Adelia in suspicion. ¡®What¡¯s wrong with her?¡¯ ¡®Something, there¡¯s something different from my usual sister.¡¯ Why? Why is she doing that? ¡°Ack! Anyway! Jude Bayer! You know what you¡¯ve done, right?!¡± After herpromise, the words she spoke out were not as harsh as she thought. Moreover, her terrifying aura and energy that resembled a demon from hell also disappeared, and her angry voice felt a little more like she was begging. But it looked a little different to Cordelia. She knew best about Adelia one way or another, so she flinched at her sister¡¯s words and then shouted with her arms stretched out widely to the side. ¡°I-It¡¯s not Jude¡¯s fault!¡± ¡°Cordelia?!¡± ¡°It¡¯s true! I definitely wasn¡¯t deceived¡­ We-we discussed it together!¡± What? You discussed the honeymoon trip together! Adelia flinched at Cordelia¡¯s argument, but she soon took another step and shouted. ¡°Then the letter! You wrote that you love Jude sooo much that you¡¯re head over heels with him! Are you saying that you purposely wrote down all that? It wasn¡¯t Jude¡¯s order?¡± ¡°Uwuwuwu¡­¡± If Cordelia had a little more reason left, she could have refuted that she had never written anything like that, but she had already been cornered from the start. She groaned in distress and then shouted with a face that seemed to say ¡®whatever.¡¯ ¡°That¡¯s right! I wrote that! I wrote all that! That¡¯s what I wrote!¡± It was correct that Jude had originally ordered her to do so. Jude was the one who gave her all those lines! Cordelia¡¯s face turned red, and her neck and ears were burning red too. It was a result of her embarrassment and shame, but Adelia¡¯s filter interpreted her reaction as shyness and her blushing as embarrassment. ¡°Co-Cordelia!¡± But it wasn¡¯t over yet. It had already happened. So to perfectly defend him, Cordelia dealt the final blow. ¡°I-I¡­c-can¡¯t live without J-Jude! I belong to Jude and Jude is mine!¡± It was the lines that were written in the script which she had thrownst time. Cordelia was so embarrassed that her eyes were slightly reddened with tears, but in the eyes of Adelia, she looked like she was pleading while crying. ¡°Co-Cordelia¡­¡± She seriously turned pale in surprise. Adelia staggered for a moment, but she was still one of the seven heads of the Royal Guard Magic Corps. She somehow corrected her posture, and then said after taking a deep breath. ¡°No, no, he¡¯s weak and only has a handsome face¡­¡± That was it. Adelia was trying to speak about what she usually thought about Jude, but her words trailed off in the end. It wasn¡¯t because of Ga?l this time. It was just because of the visible reality. ¡®W-what?¡¯ Jude Bayer. A child born with Gueumjulmaek. A sick but handsome boy who was stuck in his room and couldn¡¯t learn swordsmanship because he had a weak constitution. But it was not what she saw. The Jude in front of her was definitely a handsome boy, but he did not look weak and frail. ¡®When and how did he get so well?¡¯ Adelia had also heard of him obtaining Sri¡¯s Ne and using it to heal his Gueumjulmaek. But how can that make his body so well all of a sudden? First and foremost, he was tall. ording to the information Adelia herself gathered, Jude was about the same or a little shorter than Cordelia. But Jude was now much taller. There seemed to be a difference of at least ten centimeters. And he was bulky. He didn¡¯t exactly have bulging muscles, but he had broad shoulders and firm muscles too. Although Jude was dressed up quite a bit because of the snowy weather, Adelia had met numerous knights in the royal capital for business purposes. Just by looking at his fit, she could roughly tell the shape and thickness of the muscles. ¡®It¡¯s firm.¡¯ His muscles were well-honed and firm, and not the bulging kind. It was almost at the level of Lord Ga?l ¨C No, his was less than Ga?l¡¯s, but anyway, his bulky body couldn¡¯t make her speak or even joke about him being nothing but skin and bones. ¡®Something, I need to say something, but I can¡¯t.¡¯ In the first ce, it was difficult for her to say anything because Ga?l¡¯s gaze was on her. Adelia couldn¡¯t say anything because there was nothing bad she could say about Jude. And Jude did not miss the current situation. While Adelia was struggling in embarrassment and Cordelia was out of breath from her own struggle, Jude dug into that gap. He grabbed her. Jude took a step forward and held the shoulder of Cordelia who was standing as if to protect him. He pulled her towards himself, and Cordelia who found herself in Jude¡¯s arms was suddenly embarrassed in a different sense than before. ¡®Ju-Jude?¡¯ Cordelia had already been ustomed to being hugged or carried by Jude. But it was strange. She didn¡¯t care until now whether he hugged or carried her, but she was feeling strange now. Ba-thump, ba-thump. Her heart suddenly began to beat faster. As she looked up at Jude, her cheeks burned red in a different sense than before. ¡®W-what is this. It¡¯s strange.¡¯ Cordelia unknowingly became calm as she kept her head down, while Jude tightly hugged Cordelia and then opened his mouth. ¡°Lady Adelia.¡± Adelia reacted to her name being called. Jude faced her blue eyes that stared straight at him before he said without any hesitation. ¡°Cordelia and I are in love with each other.¡± There was a twitch. It was Cordelia. She had flinched before she reflexively raised her head to look at Jude and tried to shout with her gaze. ¡®W-who! You and me?¡¯ ¡®You and I. Just ept it for now. Adelia is watching, so act natural, okay? It would be easier if you give up.¡¯ ¡®Uwuwuwu¡­¡¯ Cordelia quieted down as she bowed her head again, but in Adelia and Ga?l¡¯s eyes, Cordelia¡¯s appearance seemed to be her shy affirmation. ¡°It was definitely wrong for us to go on a honeymoon trip. Yes, it was my fault too. Cordelia did nothing wrong. She was just following my unreasonable desire to spend a little more time alone with her.¡± Adelia looked slightly dispirited at Jude¡¯s desperate-sounding words, and Cordelia raised her head again. Because his words had taken a strange turn. ¡°N-no! It¡¯s not Jude¡¯s fault! I¡¯m the one who said that we should go! Yes, yes! It¡¯s because I¡¯ve been begging him that I wanted some time alone with him. I even left a letter, right?¡± She had decided to protect Jude from Adelia, but she couldn¡¯t let it all be Jude¡¯s fault. In fact, there was no need for Cordelia to do this due to the current atmosphere, but as her face became heated because of the series of events, it became difficult for her to think normally. Either way, Cordelia¡¯s deration was effective. A boy and girl who were begging that they should be punished instead of the other and insisting that that it was their own fault and not the other. Anyone could obviously tell that they were in love with each other to the point that they would resort to lies. ¡°Uuugh¡­¡± Adelia groaned before she deeply sighed in the end. She had really wanted to crush Jude, but now that she hade this far, she couldn¡¯t do it. What could she do when Cordelia said that she really loved him? And in fact, Adelia understood it. The fact that she couldn¡¯t do much when they actually meet each other. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Just then. Ga?l who had been silent until now, cleared his throat and drew everyone¡¯s attention. He then stepped forward and stood next to Adelia. He didn¡¯t use his hand like how Jude hugged Cordelia in his arms, but he simply stood next to Adelia. Adelia looked captivated and felt reassured at his support, but in the eyes of Jude and Cordelia who were watching the two, the thought that ¡®maybe¡¯ came into their minds. ¡°Jude, and Lady Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes, brother.¡± ¡°Yes, brother-inw.¡± Jude and Cordelia quickly responded. Ga?l smiled at being called ¡®brother-inw¡¯ before he said. ¡°I¡¯ve learned in many ways about the activities of you two while on the way here. I could also see with my own eyes how much the two of you care and love each other.¡± At Ga?l¡¯s words, Jude nodded but Cordelia was mentally shaking her head to the sides. ¡®No, it¡¯s not like that.¡¯ Her reason had somewhat returned, so her reaction was a subconscious opposition. But anyway, she was just mentally shaking her head in denial. Ga?l warmly exchanged nces with Jude before he took a deep breath. He then spoke with a rather stern face unlike before. ¡°But the actions of you two were clearly wrong. The disrespect you inflicted on Count Hr?svelgr was so great that it might be hard to be forgiven. You should know well that it also greatly hurt Lord Lucas who considered you two as his friends, right?¡± When Lucas was mentioned, both Jude and Cordelia had apologetic faces. And Ga?l was pleased with their reaction. ¡°That¡¯s not all. Because of your actions, our Bayer family and even the Chase family were struck with bad rumors.¡± Because there were groups of people who criticized and ridiculed the families on how they educated their children. Shame and guilt spread on Jude and Cordelia¡¯s faces after they felt sorry, and Ga?l¡¯s expression became even more strict. ¡°Of course, we should listen to your circumstances, but apart from that, there are many things that have happened because of what you two have done. And the responsibility for all that lies on you two.¡± Ga?l wasn¡¯t angry. He didn¡¯t even raise his voice. But Ga?l¡¯s words had some weight. ¡°Let¡¯s assume responsibility when we return. Instead of running away or avoiding it, you two should fix what you have done. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Yes, brother.¡± ¡°Yes, brother-inw.¡± When Jude and Cordelia obediently replied, a smile spread on the strict Ga?l¡¯s face again. Having reverted to his usual expression, he affectionately looked at Jude and Cordelia who stood side by side before he spoke. ¡°I am relieved though. Both of you are safe. I was very worried.¡± It was a carrot after a stick. No, he wasn¡¯t such a calctive person. Ga?l¡¯s pure heart deeply moved the two, especially Cordelia. And one more person. ¡®As expected, he¡¯s nice. He¡¯s the right person.¡¯ A smile spread over Adelia¡¯s face as she gazed at Ga?l¡¯s profile. Her face loosened and she smiled as if she was looking at Cordelia. ¡°Lady Adelia.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Erm¡­ Lady Adelia?¡± ¡°Yes? Ah, yes!¡± Adelia flinched in surprise and she straightened her posture, making Ga?l smile before he said to Jude and Cordelia again. ¡°Lady Adelia was very worried about the safety of you two. To the point where her emotions became intense. So how about thanking her properly?¡± Adelia and the two had been at odds as soon as they met each other. At Ga?l¡¯s words, Cordelia opened her mouth first. ¡°U-unnie. Thank you. And I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°Sorry and thank you.¡± Adelia felt awkward when Cordelia and Jude bowed to her, but she was happy at the same time. She would have never heard of this if only she herself hade. ¡°Because you were very worried.¡± As Ga?l smiled and said in a low voice, Adelia¡¯s lips curled up and she slightly nodded. And upon seeing her cheeks evidently changing color though it was light, Jude and Cordelia reacted. ¡®Wait a minute, is this perhaps that?¡¯ ¡®Perhaps?¡¯ Jude and Cordelia¡¯s eyes narrowed, and Cordelia opened her mouth again this time. ¡°Unnie.¡± Just one word. But because of her guilty conscience, Adelia flinched at that word and said in a fluster. ¡°I-it¡¯s nothing! There¡¯s nothing between Lord Ga?l and me! I-isn¡¯t that right, Lord Ga?l?¡± Her actions only made their suspicions deepen rather than stopping it. At the same time, her reaction proved that Adelia had the blood of Count Chase like Cordelia. And at this moment, Ga?l also proved that he was a man of Count Bayer, who had the same blood as Jude. ¡°Is there¡­nothing between us?¡± Adelia flinched at his unexpected remark. No, why is he suddenly saying that? I don¡¯t hate it, uh, I certainly don¡¯t hate it. ¡°N-no, that¡­¡± Adelia¡¯s face turned red, and her heart was pounding so hard that she stuttered and couldn¡¯t speak properly. And upon seeing that, the warmth in Jude and Cordelia¡¯s eyes subsided. ¡®I see, so it was like that.¡¯ ¡®Hehehe.¡¯ Their eyes had cooled down in the same way, but their reactions were a little different. Jude felt like he was really like his brother, while Cordelia was still going ¡®hehehe.¡¯ ¡°Anyway, instead of standing and talking like this, let¡¯s go inside and talk. I¡¯m sure we have a lot to talk about.¡± Ga?l didn¡¯t push ahead. He stealthily retreated and smoothly resolved the situation. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Lady Adelia.¡± ¡°Yes, Lord Ga?l.¡± With her shyness being twice than usual, Adelia answered and cleared her throat before she walked with Ga?l, while Jude watched the two and struggled in holding back hisughter before he stepped forward. Or more like, he tried to step forward. ¡®Jude.¡¯ ¡®Yes?¡¯ ¡®Can you let me go now that it¡¯s over?¡¯ ¡®No, not yet. Adelia can still see us.¡¯ Adelia could obviously see them, but she was so embarrassed, shy, and so on, that it was questionable if she could see them properly. ¡®Hehehe.¡¯ ¡®Anyway, let¡¯s go. You¡¯ll get used to it.¡¯ Jude walked while holding Cordelia on her shoulder, and Cordelia moved along with him. Thus, the two couples left the ce. Even though they were together from the beginning to the end, the fifth party felt like an outcast as it got up from its seat and brushed its butt. ¡°If they¡¯re going to be like this, why did they have to call me? Right?¡± The fifth party was Violent Avnche. Comining as it vented its thoughts to no one, the wild god looked in the direction Jude and Cordelia were heading. After it shrugged its shoulders, the bear cub began walking like a toddler. Chapter 100: Gathering

Chapter 100: Gathering

We finally reached a hundred chapters! We have around 25 more chapters before the end of the wildnds arc. As for thete release, ehehe, I have no excuse for that. Terms used in this chapter: Gap moe ¨C Japanese ng for a person/character who does somethingpletely contradictory to their usual habits, personality, character, or appearance, which then makes them look cutely attractive. The two men from the Bayer family and the two women from the Chase family gathered inside Jude and Cordelia¡¯s love nest. T/N: Puns are back. ¡®Love¡¯ can also mean ¡®guest/reception room,¡¯ while ¡®nest¡¯ can also mean ¡®home.¡¯ Combine the two and it would also mean the house¡¯s reception room. ¡®Why are we seating like this?¡¯ ¡®Well, just trust me. Just think like it¡¯s part of our act.¡¯ Anyway, the group had sat down. The Great Storm tribe had a culture of sitting on the floor using cushions and not on chairs, so the two pairs were sitting while facing each other with a fire pit in between them. ¡®This isn¡¯t strange.¡¯ Because Jude and Cordelia sat beside each other and Ga?l and Adelia sat next to each other. Jude and Cordelia were still in a shoulder hug even when they were seated, while Ga?l and Adelia sat side-by-side but were not that close to each other. They were just at a proper distance from the other. ¡°Hehehe, hehehe.¡± Cordelia leaned her body on Jude¡¯s side as she mischievously looked at Adelia and Ga?l. She had already forgotten the series of actions Jude had done earlier that made her heart pound as she had now focused all her senses on Adelia and Ga?l. And it wasn¡¯t really strange. ¡®Because I¡¯m used to it.¡¯ Cordelia had been carried by Jude on his arms or his back almost every day since they entered the barbariannds, so she was ustomed to it already. ¡°Hehehe, hehehe.¡± The Cordelia who was afraid of Adelia¡¯s arrival was nowhere to be found. The only person sitting here now was a younger sister who had a cat¡¯s mouth and mischievous eyes as she let out strange sounds that seemed to say, ¡®I see, so that¡¯s what it was.¡¯ ¡°Ueueueu¡­¡± She was indeed Cordelia¡¯s older sister. Adelia was still blushing and groaning while she sat. She couldn¡¯t even look at Ga?l¡¯s side and just kept staring at the ground. ¡®She¡¯s shaking.¡¯ Her heart and mind were shaking. Jude¡¯s guess was right. The events that had just happened were ying over and over again in Adelia¡¯s mind in a beautified manner due to being blinded by love. ¡®Is there¡­nothing between us?¡¯ His gloomy eyes had looked sad and heartbroken, yet his voice and expression seemed to say that he didn¡¯t want to give up expecting. ¡®Why are you like this, why are you doing this to me? Uwaaa¡­¡¯ She did not let out a voice, but her reactions were really like Cordelia¡¯s. ¡®Adelia Chase.¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s older sister. One of the seven heads of the Royal Guards Magic Corps. A genius wizard who fully inherited Count Chase¡¯s talents. She was high-handed, hot-tempered, and even had violent tendencies, but- ¡®She really is Cordelia¡¯s older sister.¡¯ She was absolutely pretty. Unlike Cordelia¡¯s vivid red hair, her golden hair that seemed to shine even if it was not fluttering, was beautiful in itself. And her fairplexion and fierce eyes gave her a sharp and urban beauty. Furthermore, her cheeks were red from embarrassment and she was at a loss on what to do. Thanks to her unusual appearance, she was now exuding on what was called ¡®gap moe.¡¯ ¡®Hmm, but Cordelia is still better.¡¯ Because Cordelia was more beautiful than Adelia, and she was even lovely. Jude gave a subjective opinion that waspletely unobjective. He then nodded a few times to himself before turning his gaze towards Ga?l. ¡®Did he¡­ovee it?¡¯ The reason why the eldest son and undeniable heir of Count Bayer was still not married in histe twenties. He didn¡¯t know it when he was Outboxer009, but he now knew when he was reincarnated as Jude Bayer. The incident that happened to Ga?l. The incident that made Ga?l stop thinking about marriage and devote himself to training for some time. It was an incident that he could not ovee in the original story. No, perhaps he was ready to ovee it, but the tragedy of the barbarians¡¯ great invasion in the north robbed him of that opportunity. ¡®Older brother.¡¯ He was Jude Bayer¡¯s own brother and not just a supporting character of Legend of Heroes 2. He was looking at the embarrassed Adelia with a warm smile. He was sitting calmly, but Jude could tell. Ga?l¡¯s earlobes were slightly red. He was somehow embarrassed like Adelia too. ¡®But still.¡¯ The way he looked at Adelia was really that of love. Do I have such a loving look when I gaze at Cordelia? ¡°Hehehe, hehehe.¡± Jude quickly looked back at Cordelia who was still giggling and letting out a silly snicker as she watched Adelia. In any case, they had to proceed with their conversation now. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± When Jude cleared his throat, Ga?l and Cordelia shifted their gazes to Jude. Adelia was still staring at the ground, but she seemed to have heard him given that she had flinched. ¡°Moving on¡­let¡¯s continue our conversation.¡± Because they had a lot of things that they really needed to talk about. ¡°You¡¯re right, Jude. Let¡¯s start with you. Did you be Iron Man Landius¡¯ disciple? And I heard that you became involved with the Guardians of the Holy Cross. Can you tell me when it all began?¡± Because the two were not involved with the Guardians of the Holy Cross until the time they had left Langesthei. At Ga?l¡¯s calmment, Adelia also stared at Jude and Cordelia after having recovered to some extent, and Cordelia also looked back at Jude. ¡®Are you going to tell them that?¡¯ ¡®Yes, I am.¡¯ After their eye conversation, Jude cleared his throat again and began talking. ¡°It all started when we met the Fairy Queen.¡± To summarize, Jude¡¯s story was as follows. The Fairy Queen warned them of the demon followers¡¯ attack at Langesthei, and also informed them of the witch. After the incident in Langesthei, they headed to the witch¡¯s forest to meet the witch¡¯s soul. They then heard a warning about Landius and the demon followers¡¯ atrocities that were happening across the northern borders. On their way to Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s territory, they met Landius and Jude became his disciple. They finally made a decision at that time too. ¡°Did you mean about your decision to go north and stop the demon followers?¡± ¡°Yes, brother.¡± But it was a story with very little evidence. Moreover, Count Hr?svelgr was trying to prevent Jude and Cordelia from leaving Vedrfolnir. Therefore, Jude and Cordelia were forced to escape Vedrfolnir using a honeymoon trip as an excuse. ¡°After that¡­¡± On their way to the north, they headed to Frost Anvil to cure Jude¡¯s illness, and while obtaining the Sunflower there, they ended up facing the demon followers. ¡°Because of that, I was convinced that something was going on in the barbariannds ¨C no, the wildnds.¡± They crossed the border via Lankebuste after that, and in the middle of that, they met the Ghostde Kamael. ¡°I¡¯m sure you already know what happened after that.¡± They became the guardians of the wildnds who busied themselves in stopping the plot of the group of demon followers called Devil¡¯s Eye from undermining the wildnds. ¡°As expected¡­it wasn¡¯t a simple runaway¡­no, I mean, an elopement.¡± ¡°I was immature and couldn¡¯te up with other excuses. Like you¡¯ve said, we¡¯ve troubled a lot of people.¡± When Jude made a sad expression, Ga?l felt sorry for him while Cordelia stealthily nudged him in the ribs. ¡®Do you think it worked?¡¯ ¡®Of course.¡¯ He was the one who created this story after all. With a very faint smile that only Cordelia could see, Jude spoke again as he looked again at Ga?l and Adelia. ¡°Older brother and Lady Adelia. Once the demon followers seize the wildnds, there will be a big war between the north and the barbarians again. That alone must be stopped.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. Moreover¡­as I traveled around thisnd myself, my thoughts changed a little. Perhaps we were too prejudiced against the barbarians.¡± But that was just it. The S?len Kingdom and the barbarians in the barbariannds have already confronted each other many times in the past, and all of those confrontations were not the plots of the demon followers. It was clear that those who lived in the wildnds were not beasts in human form but were humans too like those who lived in the northern part of the S?len Kingdom themselves, and as such, the kingdom¡¯s citizens did not harbor wild fantasies about that fact. In the first ce, the Argon Empire were humans too, but they were at odds with the S?len Kingdom too. ¡°I will help Lady Cordelia and Jude. What about you, Lady Adelia?¡± Ga?l clearly and decisively revealed his intentions and then asked Adelia, who replied after taking a deep breath. ¡°I will help too. Because it is for the defense of the kingdom.¡± After all, she was one of the seven leaders of the Royal Guard Magic Corps. The current situation had changed from a personal matter of catching a runaway younger sister while on her vacation to a public one for the defense of the kingdom, so it was natural for her to step forward as she was a public official of the kingdom. ¡°Thank you, Unnie.¡± ¡°Hmph, I¡¯m not doing this specifically for you.¡± ¡°Hehehe.¡± At the appearance of Cordelia and Adelia talking like Count Chase, Jude and Ga?l happily smiled. ¡°And Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, brother.¡± ¡°Maybe it¡¯s not just us.¡± At Ga?l¡¯s words, Jude and Cordelia tilted their heads together. It wasn¡¯t just Ga?l and Adelia. What were they talking about? ¡°No, how should I say it¡­ we did something like a runaway too.¡± ¡°Run¡­away?¡± ¡°Because we intentionally cut off contact with our families in order to cross the border.¡± ¡°Because it¡¯s obvious that our families would oppose it if we said that we¡¯ll cross the border after you.¡± Adelia remarked following Ga?l¡¯s words, and the other two looked at each other before they said something different from the other. ¡°Just as I thought.¡± ¡°Then, is Unnie in a honeymoon trip too?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not?! It¡¯s not like that!¡± Adelia reflexively shouted before she flinched at that moment and looked at Ga?l. Ga?l didn¡¯t say anything, and Adelia said as she fidgeted. ¡°N-no! What I meant to say is this! That¡­ I¡¯m not saying that there¡¯s nothing between Lord Ga?l and I, ah, no¡­eueueue¡­¡± Adelia eventually self-destructed as she blushed and groaned again, and everyone who saw Adelia thought. ¡®Cute.¡¯ Since when had Adelia been this cute so far? Everyone warmly looked at Adelia and upon feeling their gazes, Adelia was at a loss on what to do and repeated the vicious cycle of showing off her cuteness. The first person toe to his senses was Jude, and he asked while staring at Ga?l. ¡°So are you saying that¡­another person from our families wille to chase us?¡± ¡°Yes, that is highly likely.¡± People wereing after them one after another. ¡°However¡­we do not intend to clearlymunicate the current situation to our families.¡± Because they had gone across the border. It would be cumbersome if their families offered to actively help Jude and his party. ¡°Let¡¯s think of asking help from the family as ast resort.¡± If the scenario of the wildnds falling into the hands of the demon followers everes, then the whole north might have to take military action at that time. ¡°I understand.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Having said all that, Ga?l turned his gaze to Cordelia and said to her. ¡°Lady Adelia and I have already talked about it. We ask for your understanding, Lady Cordelia.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, brother-inw.¡± Cordelia modestly replied at the end and widely smiled, and Ga?l also warmly smiled. And one more person. No, one animal ¨C or rather, one being. ¡°Are you done?¡± At the question of Violent Avnche who was squatting in the corner of the tent, Jude and Cordelia nodded their heads while Ga?l and Adelia were a little embarrassed. ¡°Why in the world did you even call me for, why¡­¡± The grumbling Violent Avnche rose from its seat and sat down again in the middle as it faced the two couples and said. ¡°Well, now that you¡¯ve roughly organized everything, we¡¯ll be working together to defeat the demon followers, right?¡± ¡°We need to win the Karaval before that.¡± Violent Avnche nodded at Cordelia¡¯s words. ¡°Yes, the Karaval.¡± It would be held in the next two days and in addition, it would be a single-round match that would decide the fate of the Eastern Alliance and the whole wildnds. ¡°Unnie and brother-inw. I have a favor to ask.¡± Because Red Wind needed to be a little stronger in order to win. And to do that, they also needed the help of Ga?l and Adelia. ¡°So¡­¡± Cordelia nced at Jude before she narrated the conversation the two had the other day, and Ga?l and Adelia nodded their heads with serious faces. And in the middle of that, Violent Avnche thought alone. ¡®So why did you call for me in the end?¡¯ Did they really need me for this meeting? Either way, the conversation continued, and time also passed. *** ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°To thend of Gentle Snow Breeze.¡± ¡°To thend of Gentle Snow Breeze.¡± All of the barbarian tribes in the east began to move. From the small tribes with just a hundred people to therge tribes with over tens of thousands of people. The tribal chiefs led their warriors to the basin of Gentle Snow Breeze. To watch the Karaval hosted by the beautiful and wise wild god, Gentle Snow Breeze, and to witness the history of the formation of the Eastern Alliance that would influence the future. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Red Gale also led his warriors. He had to participate in this Karaval even though he had a serious illness and refrained from going outside. Great Storm sent off his greatest warrior. He blessed his greatest warrior¡¯s daughter, the girl who would decide the fate of the Eastern Alliance. ¡°Daughter of the wind, be the red and beautiful wind that will freely roam the world. You can be anything, you¡¯ll be able to do anything.¡± Though he had the form of a young boy, he was a wild god who had cared for the tribe for a long time. Red Wind epted Great Storm¡¯s blessings with gratitude. She promised him that she would do her best. ¡°Let¡¯s go too.¡± At Ga?l¡¯s words, Adelia was the first to nod while Cordelia mischievously giggled ¡®hehehe¡¯ as she pinched Adelia¡¯s side. And Jude sent his gaze towards the west. Devil¡¯s Eye. Haraken, a demon follower who dominated the Angry Bull tribe and the west. And the mighty demon who killed Count Bayer and Ga?l in the game. ¡®Are we in the second act?¡¯ The confrontation between the east and west. Karaval would be the beginning of it. ¡°Jude, Jude. Why are you frowning like that? Are you all right?¡± ¡°No, I was justposing myself. Is my princess all right too?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine. Let¡¯s quickly go and stop this nonsense.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Afterpleting their usual nonsensical talk, Jude took a step forward and tried to ignore Adelia who looked at them after hearing Jude say, ¡®my princess.¡¯ Together with Cordelia, they headed to thend of Gentle Snow Breeze where the Karaval would be held. And at that same time. Count Chase was writing a letter inside a luxurious lodging in Lankebuste. The recipient was his long-time friend, Count Bayer, the parent of his soon-to-be sons-inw. The content of his letter was not very long. Like Count Chase, it only contained a in exnation. ¡®It looks like the children have crossed the border.¡¯ They were not in the north. They were neither dead nor seriously injured. Then what remained was the barbariannds beyond the border. Count Chase paused his writing for a moment. He faintly smiled and added one more line. ¡®I¡¯ll go ande back.¡¯ This was enough. Count Chase sealed the letter and wore his red cloak. He held a space expansion bag that was filled with bags in one hand, and a jeweled staff in the other hand. ¡°To the north.¡± Count Chase left his lodging. He took a step towards the north. Chapter 101: Karaval (1)

Chapter 101: Karaval (1)

Terms used in this chapter: Jon-mot ¨C Korean ng that is used when insulting someone as ¡®very ugly.¡¯ It¡¯s actually an abbreviation of ¡®?? ????¡¯ which means ¡®f*cking ugly¡¯ or ¡®you look so ugly.¡¯ However, it could also mean as ¡®you¡¯re not good enough.¡¯ Pavlov and ssical conditioning ¨C a behavior theory by Ivan Pavlov which proposed that a condition stimulus makes an organism react to something because it is associated with something else. A popr example is Pavlov¡¯s experiment of a dog salivating when it hears the sound of a bell because it was ¡®conditioned¡¯ to be fed while a bell is ringing at the same time. Outboxer009 met Yellow Storm again after Kang Jin-ho began actively ying Legend of Heroes 2 in earnest a month after that ¡®incident.¡¯ ¡®I finally found her.¡¯ T/N: Outboxer009 actually has no idea of Yellow Storm¡¯s real sex, and the Korean words do not use a he or she pronoun when referring to Yellow Storm. However, since Yellow Storm¡¯s character is Cordelia who is a female, I will be using female pronouns for reading convenience. In fact, he had been tracking her since the incident a month ago, so it was more like he finally faced her rather than found her. Yellow Storm had not logged into Legend of Heroes 2 for nearly a week. ¡®Is she a student? No, she must be a student.¡¯ Moreover, she must be an elementary school student. Perhaps she wasn¡¯t able to log in because of the exam week. Regardless, what was important was that Yellow Storm had logged in again and the fact that Outboxer009 was now stronger than Yellow Storm. ¡®One month.¡¯ Over the past month, Outboxer009 had invested all of his abilities into Legend of Heroes 2. He crammed the game settings in his head, he bought the game¡¯s virtual currency using real-life money, and except for his sleeping time, he immersed himself in Legend of Heroes 2 for 24 hours a day. He himself honestly found it stupid and a huge waste of human resources, but he still did it. He really wanted to do it. ¡®How strange.¡¯ When he thought about it with his hand on his chest, he was certainly a good person, but that didn¡¯t mean he had a good personality. He was the type to hold a grudge. But it was little different this time. He had never been so absorbed in something like this just because of one insult he heard that was said in passing. ¡®Amazing.¡¯ Yellow Storm. You should be proud of it. There had been only three people in thest decade who had made me so immersed just for a particr day. Outboxer thought in his mind that his former colleagues would have frowned and clicked their tongues if they heard what he was doing, but he pushed that aside and looked ahead of him again. He smiled at the situation he expected. ¡°Aaah!¡± Yellow Storm fell from the onught of the unique monster which Outboxer009 had lured. [Help! Help!] Outboxer009 smiled as he saw the Help message pop up before he moved forward. Using scrolls and poisoned daggers that he prepared in advance, he defeated the boss monster that Yellow Storm had fought halfway before he turned around in a cool manner. And he met eyes with Yellow Storm. In the game, Yellow Storm had died and became a corpse, but it was clear that she was looking at him judging from the fact that a help window popped out. ¡®She doesn¡¯t recognize me.¡¯ It was a bit disappointing but that didn¡¯t matter. Outboxer009 took out the Resurrection Feather as if to resurrect her. He then said to Yellow Storm as he put back the feathers in his inventory to make her feel frustrated. ¡°You¡¯re bad at games.¡± Tuk- It was the sound of something breaking. Of course, he didn¡¯t actually hear it. But Outboxer009 could tell. The various messages that immediately popped up from Yellow Storm¡¯s corpse proved it. [The use of abusivenguage is subject to sanctions.] [The use of abusivenguage is subject to sanctions.] [The use of abusivenguage is subject to sanctions.] ¡°See you next time, jon-mot.¡± Why does it feel so good doing this? Outboxer009ughed out loud and turned around. Several messages popped up from behind Outboxer¡¯s back. [The use of abusivenguage is subject to sanctions.] [The use of abusivenguage is subject to sanctions.] [The use of abusivenguage is subject to sanctions.] [Hey, you eeevil baastard!] ¡°Yes, sure. You¡¯re f*cking bad at games.¡± Outboxer009 waved his hand and left without looking back, and Yellow Storm struggled as she continued to yell over and over again. She was absolutely not beautiful, and truly had a nasty mouth. But it was the first meeting of the two that Yellow Storm remembered. *** And at the present. As he breathed in the fresh morning air, Jude looked down at the asleep Cordelia. The morning sun had risen and almost everyone around them had woken up and was preparing to leave. Despite all of that, she alone was still traveling in the world of dreams. As Cordelia talked in her sleep and babbled like a baby, Jude quietly watched Cordelia before he faintly smiled and drew his face closer. He slightly shook her shoulder and gently said. ¡°My princess, you should get up soon.¡± Cordelia responded to his gentle voice. It had already been more than two months since she traveled with Jude. She had heard Jude¡¯s voice every morning to the point that it was like Pavlov and the dog drooling at the sound of the bell, so when she heard the sound of him calling her ¡®my princess,¡¯ she naturally called him ¡®Daddy.¡¯ ¡°Mmnnn¡­ Daddy¡­ I don¡¯t want to¡­ I¡¯m going to sleep more¡­ Cordelia want to sleep more¡­¡± Cordelia was usually bad in waking up early so she didn¡¯t open her eyes and just murmured. Jude shook Cordelia¡¯s shoulder again and said. ¡°Don¡¯t say that, my princess should get up now, okay? It¡¯s morning, morning.¡± ¡°Unnnnn¡­¡± Cordelia grunted again and instead of covering herself with a nket, she feebly moved her arms forward and continued to talk while still half-asleep in dreand. ¡°Unnnn¡­ Daddy, please¡­ Carry me on your back so I could sleep more¡­ Cordelia will be a kangaroo¡­¡± That was it. If it was the usual, Jude would have pampered and let Cordelia continue sleeping on his back so she could have more time to sleep, but it was different this time. She instantly became sober and opened her eyes. ¡®A gaze?!¡¯ A sharp and stabbing gaze that came flying from behind her. Cordelia¡¯s instincts crazily rang like a bell, and due to that, Cordelia finally came to her senses and saw. ¡°My¡­ Prin-cess? Da~ddy? Kangaroo?¡± There was a blonde beauty whose arms were on her hips as she coldly stared at Cordelia. Cordelia herself loved that person dearly, but at the same time, that person was her older sister. Not as her mother but as her older sister. ¡°Eets nott!¡± With an odd scream, Cordelia jumped up from her spot and Adelia¡¯s eyebrows twitched as she returned what Cordelia had done to her yesterday. ¡°Hehehe, hehehe.¡± So that¡¯s what you normally call each other. Youpletely call him daddy. You are very used to being called a princess. You seem to be carried often enough on his back that you even ask him that while sleeping, huh? ¡°Hehehe, hehehe.¡± Cordelia struggled at Adelia¡¯s lukewarm gaze and eventually covered her face with both hands. ¡°N-no. I mean¡­ That¡­¡± The sight of a beautiful girl, who was red down to her neck and crouching on the bed as she was at a loss on what to do, caught everyone¡¯s attention as they stopped what they were doing and looked at Cordelia. And Cordelia¡¯s unrivalled cuteness naturally intensified. ¡°Hmm.¡± And one more person. Like everyone around him, Ga?l was getting ready to leave but he looked towards the two sisters and warmly said without hiding his feelings. ¡°Cute.¡± ¡°Adorable.¡± Jude agreed with a happy smile, and the brothers simultaneously opened their mouths again. ¡°Lady Adelia.¡± ¡°Cordelia.¡± The brothers looked at each other. Jude spoke first. ¡°No, brother. In that scene right now¡­that, Lady Adelia¡¯s cute point is¡­¡± He was so embarrassed that he unconsciously spoke in detail. And Ga?l calmly replied as if proving that he was ten years older than the other. ¡°Don¡¯t you think she¡¯s cute when she teases her younger sister? I¡¯ve been thinking about it for a long time, but Lady Adelia really resembles Count Chase.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Jude had no choice but to agree without saying anything this time. ¡°Anyway, isn¡¯t it about time for you to help her?¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Jude grinned and quickly approached Cordelia who was struggling and searching a solution by herself instead of actively sending a help message. And half an hourter. Standing in the middle of the ranks of the Great Storm tribe as they moved towards Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s basin, Jude nced at his side. To avoid standing out in the gathering of the various tribes, Cordelia wore the traditional clothes of the Great Storm tribe as she walked while sulking. ¡®How mysterious.¡¯ Her rabbit ears were drooping as if to reflect her emotions. Of course, her rabbit tail too. ¡°Hey, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Why.¡± At her curt reply, Jude drew his face closer and whispered. ¡°Do your legs hurt? Should I carry on my back?¡± Cordelia would normally have said okay at his piggyback offer, but it was different this time. She frowned and said as she pped Jude¡¯s upper arm. ¡°Go away, you demon.¡± Wouldn¡¯t everyone look at her if she got carried on his back? Especially Adelia. ¡°Hey, aren¡¯t you doing this on purpose?¡± ¡°Huh? What?¡± ¡°Stop pretending to be ignorant. You deliberately called me princess when you woke me up earlier, right?¡± Because Jude was the only one in the world who knew best on how she would react. Wasn¡¯t he intentionally making her feel troubled? ¡°Heeey, what kind of person do you see me as?¡± ¡°A scammer and an evil b*stard? A beast? A thief?¡± ¡°No, even if I was like that in the past, haven¡¯t you been increasingly saying whatever you want as time goes on?¡± ¡°But you admitted that you were like that in the past.¡± ¡°Hey, Lady Cordelia?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Anyway, I was troubled because of you.¡± ¡°Umm¡­ I¡¯m sorry about that. Would you like a piggyback ride as an apology?¡± ¡°No, you demon. Stop tempting a goodmb into your evil ways.¡± She could feel Adelia¡¯s sharp gaze on her back even until now. If Adelia just took one more step forward, Cordelia would be able to hear her saying ¡®hehehe, hehehe¡¯ at that moment. ¡°Well¡­it can¡¯t be helped then.¡± Jude shrugged and Cordelia said as her shoulders fell. ¡°Ugeueu¡­ it wasfortable when it was just the two of us.¡± About a third of their traveling time had Cordelia being carried on Jude¡¯s back orfortably seated on a sled pulled by Jude. ¡°You¡¯re right, I liked it when it was just the two of us.¡± The na?ve Cordelia nodded at Jude¡¯s words. And a little ahead of those two, Red Wind was riding a big wagon as she hugged Violent Avnche and said. ¡°Violent Avnche.¡± ¡°Yes, Red Wind.¡± ¡°Can I do well?¡± With the help of Jude and Cordelia, she was able to be friends with the Phoenix, a powerful ancient spirit. Of course, the reborn Phoenix was just like a baby, so it was not yet able to use its power like in its prime, but a Phoenix was still a Phoenix. Compared to Red Wind¡¯s normal strength, she had be three times ¨C no, at least five times stronger than before. ¡®Unnie taught me a lot of things.¡¯ Cordelia was vastly knowledgeable about spirits despite being a wizard. She gave detailed instructions on how Red Wind should fight and how to fight together with the Phoenix while fully understanding each other¡¯s thoughts and intentions, which was unexpectedly perfect for her. ¡®Oppa helped me a lot too.¡¯ She wondered where he learned it, but Jude almost perfectly reproduced thebat method of Sun Song, her opponent in Karaval. Red Wind had obviously not directly met Sun Song, so it was unclear whether thebat method Jude demonstrated was exactly the same as Sun Song¡¯sbat method, but Red Wind trusted Jude. Since Jude said it was true, it must be true. ¡®His big brother also helped.¡¯ It was only one day, but Ga?l also helped her. Jude was smaller than Sun Song, so even if he fully reproduced Sun Song¡¯sbat method, there would inevitably be some missing parts, but Ga?l made up for thatcking parts. ¡®They¡¯re really amazing.¡¯ How could they easily imitate other people¡¯sbat method like that? Ga?l reproduced Sun Song¡¯sbat method almost as perfectly as Jude, and Red Wind was able to acquire a more realistic sense of battle. And now. Red Wind felt anxious. It was unavoidable. The fate of the wildnd was literally at stake in this Karaval. Red Wind was a young girl. Her experience wascking enough to the point that the only thing she had been responsible so far was caring for the horses they raised at home. For her, Karaval was too big of a burden. No matter how hard she trained, she felt like her whole body was overwhelmed by fear every time she opened her eyes in the morning. ¡®What if I don¡¯t win?¡¯ If she lost. Then the de Song tribe would be the head of the Eastern Alliance. Obviously, the Great Storm tribe would not suddenly be annihted if the de Song tribe became the leader of the alliance. It was a gathering of the east to liberate the west that was upied by the demon followers. Whether she won or lost, the Great Storm tribe and de Song tribe were allies, not enemies. But even so. ¡°Red Wind.¡± ¡°Yes, Violent Avnche.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s going to be fine.¡± ¡°Really¡­?¡± ¡°Yes, trust me. And them too.¡± ¡°Unnie and oppa?¡± ¡°Yes, didn¡¯t they train you? I hate to admit it, but they are incredible people. I understand why the Golden Dragon King recognized those two as guardians even though they were not from the wildnds.¡± If Jude and Cordelia had note, Violent Avnche itself would have been corrupted with its sanctuary and became a monster. Gentle Snow Breeze would have also be a crazy monster, and the Raptor Canyon would have be thend of demons. Blue Whisker¡¯s sacred ce would have been taken away by the demon followers too. The two had stopped all of that. Therefore, Violent Avnche couldn¡¯t help but admit the two¡¯s contributions. ¡°Even if you don¡¯t believe in yourself¡­you can trust those two, right?¡± ¡°Yes, I trust them.¡± Because the two had saved her from the auction house themselves. ¡°It¡¯s a temporary measure. After all, you have to believe in yourself. But if you find it hard right now¡­trust those two then. And don¡¯t you know those two well either? If your skills weren¡¯t enough, they would have somehow pestered you excessively even now.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± The two were really strict when she was training. A girlish smile spread over Red Wind¡¯s face while Violent Avnche happily smiled and spoke. ¡°It¡¯s your first time going to Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯snd, right?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s my first time.¡± ¡°Then you¡¯ll see something wonderful. There¡¯s a wide field in front of the basin. The waves of the green fields as it sway and follow the wind are truly spectacr.¡± ¡°Uwaa, really?¡± ¡°For real.¡± A fresh green field that is not covered by snow. It was not far now. She would see it soon. However. ¡°What is this?¡± Why can¡¯t I see it? Why are there widespread signs of a fire everywhere? Where did the field go? Why do I keep thinking of my copsed rocky mountain? What happened? What ha- ¡°No way.¡± Violent Avnche¡¯s head turned. Red Wind also looked at the same ce as the wild god. And a flinch. Cordelia instinctively felt the gazes of the two and flinched. It was impossible for her, but she still tried to avoid Violent Avnche and Red Wind¡¯s gazes. [Can youe here for a minute?] She heard Violent Avnche¡¯s voice in her head, and Cordelia pulled Jude¡¯s arm. ¡°Tsk, it can¡¯t be helped.¡± Jude took the lead as if hiding Cordelia as he faced Violent Avnche, but the wild god stared at Cordelia instead of Jude. The wild god sent a nce to Cordelia, who was kinder, more honest, and more innocent than Jude, as it asked for an exnation. ¡°Uh¡­that is¡­¡± ¡°That is.¡± ¡°That is, the field¡­¡± ¡°The field?¡± ¡°Th-that, there was, there was not.¡± What is she talking about? Instead of continuing to speak more, she pulled Jude¡¯s arm hard, and Jude gave his own exnation again. *** ¡°They are the gods of destruction, the gods of destruction.¡± When Violent Avnche heartfully said that, the ranks of the Great Storm tribepletely stopped moving. Because they have reached the entrance to Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s basin. ¡°We wee the Great Storm tribe!¡± People gathered from all over the ce as Fine Snow and Clear Snow, the great shamans of the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe, shouted together. Most of them were from the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe who gathered to wee them, but some of them were the heads of other tribes who came from far away for this Karaval. ¡°Violent Avnche, my older brother.¡± ¡°Gentle Snow Breeze, it¡¯s been a while.¡± Violent Avnche jumped off the wagon and ran towards Gentle Snow Breeze on all fours, and Gentle Snow Breeze tightly hugged the bear cub in her arms. ¡°You¡¯ve be so cute.¡± ¡°It somehow happened.¡± ¡°But you¡¯re still my older brother. I feel reassured with you here. Thank you foring.¡± Gentle Snow Breeze smiled before releasing Violent Avnche from her arms. She then faced Red Gale, the chieftain of the Great Storm tribe. ¡°Red Gale greets Gentle Snow Breeze.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you, Red Wind and the Great Storm tribe. I wee your visit here.¡± The friendly attitude of Gentle Snow Breeze deeply moved not only Red Gale but also the entire Great Storm tribe. Though in the form of a little girl, she was clearly a wild god, someone who transcended humans and a target of worship for those living in the wildnds. ¡°Then, let¡¯s get inside first. Take a rest from the fatigue of your journey.¡± It was the moment when Gentle Snow Breeze said that. Violent Avnche suddenly turned around, and so did Cordelia, whose senses were the best amongst all the people here. They hadn¡¯t seen it yet. They didn¡¯t hear a sound. But after a while. They heard footsteps. The vibrations from a distance shook the ground, and the sound of a big horn came with the wind. ¡°The de Song.¡± A tribe of belligerent warriors who repeatedly fought against the Northern Jackdaws. And the person who lead them. It was no exaggeration to say that he, the chieftain of the de Song tribe, was the strongest warrior in the east at a time when Red Gale was sick. ¡°Nine des.¡± And his son, Sun Song, a participant of the Karaval. They advanced forward with severalrge and colorful gs. As they loudly sang and yed drums, they approached the entrance of the basin. One day left until the beginning of the Karaval. Chapter 102: Karaval (2)

Chapter 102: Karaval (2)

Late release! And the page length of the next chapter is almost twice as one chapter so expect some dys in its release. Terms used in this chapter: Weight ss ¨C a measurement weight range for boxers in boxing. Flyweight ¨C weight division in boxing for boxers who weighed between 48.98 ¨C 50.80 kg. Heavyweight ¨C weight division in boxing for boxers who weighed 90.71 kg and above. Marten ¨C a slender-bodied carnivorous mammal of the weasel family that lives in the northern hemisphere. Ecological disturbance ¨C a force of nonbiological or biological origin that brings about mortality/death to organisms and changes in pattern in their territorial behavior in the ecosystems they inhabit. If the Great Storm tribe inherited the blood of the Winter Elves, one of the ancient elves, then the de Song tribe inherited the blood of the Hyjal Orcs, one of the ancient orcs. ¡®Just as I thought.¡¯ The Great Storm tribe or the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe that they had met so far were somewhat different from what the people of the northern part of the S?len Kingdom thought of as ¡°barbarian.¡± The barbarians were likerge, fierce, and wild beasts. This was their prejudice, but the de Song tribe resembled what the northerners thought of barbarians in many ways. ¡®Because the de Song tribe or the Angry Bull tribe were the ones who led the invasion every time in the first ce.¡¯ It had always been the Angry Bull or the de Song tribes who directly fought against the Jackdaws for hundreds of years. ¡®But it¡¯s a little different.¡¯ In the game, they looked more like beasts or monsters than ordinary orcs, but at the present, they looked more like humans than orcs because they had not been corrupted. Their heads wererger than ordinary humans, and they hadrge bodies and broad shoulders. Their upper bodies wererger and bulkier than their lower bodies that it looked like an inverted triangle. They looked like orcs up to this point, but their faces were different. The tips of their ears were a little sharp and their overall appearance was masculine and bold, but their faces itself were clearly that of humans. ¡®And gray skin.¡¯ The clearest proof that they possessed the blood of the Hyjal Orcs. ¡°Nine des greets Gentle Snow Breeze.¡± Their leader, Nine des, courteously greeted her with a raucous voice. One way or another, for him who was born and grew in the wildnds, the wild gods were beings they worshipped and respected. ¡°Wee, Nine des.¡± Gentle Snow Breeze smiled at Nine des whose hair was tied into nine braids as if to reflect his name. The wild god then nced at Sun Song. ¡°You are Sun Song.¡± ¡°It¡¯s an honor to meet Gentle Snow Breeze.¡± Sun Song politely bowed and greeted her. And Cordelia stared at such Sun Song with narrowed eyes. ¡®Umm¡­doesn¡¯t he seem to be better than the one in the game?¡¯ ¡®Somehow.¡¯ Because in the game, he was literally a raving beast. Compared to then, his personality seemed calm, and he was a little smaller in size. Or more like, his height was the same, but his muscle mass was different. ¡®He¡¯s still big.¡¯ He was roughly 2 meters tall. In addition to the characteristics of the de Song tribe whose upper bodies were greatly developed, his shoulders, arms, fists, and so on, were much bigger than a normal human, making him lookrger than he really was. ¡°Eueue¡­it¡¯s not fair. Their weight sses are iparable.¡± Cordelia let out a very small groan. And she was correct. Aside from being six years older, Red Wind was basically no match for his weight ss. Red Wind¡¯s height was in the lower 160¡¯s. She only weighed 40kg since she inherited the lightness of the elves. On the other hand, Sun Song seemed to be around 150kg, so their fight was more like a fight between a flyweight and a heavyweight. It was unfair. Everyone who saw it could tell that it was an unfair match. ¡°But that¡¯s why we can do it too, right?¡± Cordelia nodded at Jude¡¯s words. It wasn¡¯t just Sun Song who could take advantage of this notion of unfairness. ¡°That¡¯s right. Let¡¯s show them unfairness too. Let¡¯s show them the power of capitalism.¡± ¡°Something seems to be wrong with your words¡­but then again, it doesn¡¯t sound very wrong.¡± Jude grinned before he and Cordelia watched Sun Song again. Red Gale was greeting Nine des. ¡°It¡¯s not as bad as I thought, huh?¡± ¡°Because they thought of each other as rivals. If he was a real rival¡­ he would hate seeing Red Gale¡¯s sickly appearance.¡± Just as Jude said, Nine des had a very bitter expression when he saw the weak Red Gale, and he was furious at the west ¨C or to be exact, the Angry Bull tribe and Haraken. ¡°The alliance itself will work out well.¡± ¡°The remaining question is, who will lead it?¡± If Nine des¡¯ tribe gained supremacy, the fight against the demon followers could even lead to a fight against the northern part of the S?len Kingdom. ¡°Let¡¯s believe in Red Wind.¡± ¡°Yes, and the power of capitalism.¡± Cordelia nicely smiled as her canines glistened, and Jude looked back at Red Wind. *** Karaval traditionally started in thete afternoon, and supposedly came to an end when the sun set. ¡°It¡¯s time¡­ I guess we should start.¡± As Gentle Snow Breeze stared at the sky and spoke, Violent Avnche who was sitting next to her also nodded. In fact, the chieftains and warriors of various tribes had already gathered. The venue of the fight was in the field where Jude and Cordelia had ¡®cleared away¡¯ (because they had burned it down). An arena was built by driving stakes into the ground to mark the area, and colored gs that symbolized each tribe were also set up, creating a fairly decent stage. ¡°Here theye.¡± The first one that appeared was the de Song tribe. The group headed to their ce in the north before sitting down, while their opponents, the Great Storm tribe, naturally sat down in the south. ¡°Everyone¡¯s excited.¡± The faces of the Great Storm tribe and the de Song tribe were filled with tension, but not for the other tribes. The other tribes couldn¡¯t enjoy it because the nature of the alliance would change depending on which tribe wins, but the overall atmosphere was still close to a festival. ¡°Because it¡¯s Karaval.¡± Violent Avnche nodded at Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s words. Karaval. A violent custom of determining everything through a duel. But if one thought about it a little seriously, Karaval was rather the violence to prevent brutal violence. ¡®Because it ended conflicts between tribes through a one-on-one fight.¡¯ It was obvious that if two tribes directly fought each other, much blood would flow. Death, killings, and loss of possessions. If such a thing was repeated in the wildnds that was already difficult to live in, the only thing left was the annihtion of both sides. So Karaval was created. It was measure that allowed the tribes to ept the results and minimize the damage at the same time. ¡®Therefore, it¡¯s not just a one-on-one confrontation.¡¯ Because Karaval was a substitute for wars between tribes. It was a means to show off the capabilities of the entire tribe. Our tribe can train such a strong warrior. Our tribe can strengthen a warrior to this extent. Boom! Boom! Boom! Fine Snow and Clear Snow beat the drums to announce the opening of the Karaval. The ferocious chieftains and warriors suddenly yelled out cheers around the arena, and the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe gave their enthusiastic support too. ¡°Gentle Snow Breeze and Violent Avnche are here to witness this event! I hereby dere the beginning of the Karaval!¡± ¡°Uoooooooahh!¡± The atmosphere heated up as hundreds of people cheered at the same time. Gentle Snow Breeze and Violent Avnche had flushed faces at the heated atmosphere. The children of the wildnds were also excited and happy as they were influenced by the wild gods who took care of them. And so were Fine Snow and Clear Snow, who became excited too. Although Fine Snow was usually serious, he wasughing with lively eyes before he shouted as he pointed to the de Song tribe with a drumstick. ¡°Warrior of the de Song tribe! Sun Song!¡± Boom! Boom! Boom! ¡°Uwooooooaaaah!¡± The whole field shook with the loud cheers of the de Song tribe. And Sun Song came forward. His outfit waspletely different from when he first entered thend a few hours ago. ¡°Woah! Isn¡¯t that a purple marten¡¯s leather?! They say that it can block any de despite it being leather!¡± ¡°Wow! They have such a precious item?¡± ¡°After all, the de Song tribe are incredibly wealthy!¡± Smiles spread on the faces of the de Song tribe¡¯s warriors, including Nine des, as the tribal chieftains and warriors chattered when they saw the marten leather clothes Sun Song was wearing. ¡°That isn¡¯t all though? Look at that bracelet. That¡¯s obviously Murmur ck steel. It¡¯s an equipment that grants superhuman strength to its wearer!¡± ¡°Woah! That means the de Song tribe defeated a Murmur!¡± ¡°You are right! It is as you have guessed. It¡¯s a feat worthy of the de Song tribe.¡± Nine des shrugged his shoulders and everyone from the de Song tribe cleared their throats. But it was still not the end. ¡°What he¡¯s wearing on his neck is Bardo¡¯s Light. Have you heard of it?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve heard of it. Isn¡¯t that a mysterious gem that can only be collected by luck from the bodies of Bardo, which are hard to catch and see?¡± ¡°That¡¯s it. It¡¯s a very precious, expensive, and amazing item that bestows its wearer a mysterious power.¡± ¡°As expected of the de Song tribe. But how do you know all these things?¡± ¡°I¡¯m a little knowledgeable.¡± In fact, the de Song tribe had dispatched a storyteller to intentionally create such an atmosphere. ¡°Kyaa¡­look at Sun Song¡¯s imposing body. The purple marten leather garments he¡¯s wearing, the Murmur¡¯s Steel Bracelet, and Bardo¡¯s Light Ne!¡± ¡°His equipment is overwhelming.¡± ¡°Is this even a fight?¡± Roars ofughter spread, and Nine des¡¯ smile deepened. ¡°How much money did they spend for today?¡± The use of various expensive equipment was not just to boost Sun Song¡¯s fighting power. It was to show off the power and wealth of the de Song tribe to the various tribes, and to inform to the world that the de Song tribe was the rightful tribe to lead the alliance. ¡°Of course, his performance is excellent too.¡± Even if he didn¡¯t have those equipment, Sun Song¡¯s physical abilities were overwhelming. It was even boosted by his expensive equipment, so Red Wind was no match for Sun Song no matter how hard she tried. ¡°Haha, I guess the other side would being out now.¡± ¡°Poor thing. If she hade out first, she wouldn¡¯t look so awkward.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. I feel so sorry for her.¡± It was clear that she wouldn¡¯t be a match for Sun Song no matter how hard they adorned her with items. She must have done her best to adorn herself, so how could they not feel sorry for her now that she was being ridiculed? ¡°I heard that Red Wind was a young girl, so it¡¯s really pitiful.¡± ¡°Would she be crying even before the fight begins?¡± ¡°Hahaha! That¡¯s ridiculous!¡± ¡°But don¡¯t you think she¡¯ll end up crying?¡± ¡°Perhaps yes. She¡¯ll be sad at her miserable reality and cry.¡± As the warriorsughed out loud, Nine des raised his hand to calm everyone down. ¡°That¡¯s enough. They can hear it.¡± But there was a deep smile on his face. It was regrettable that he could not directly fight Red Gale, whom he had considered his rival for many years, but he continuously smiled at the thought of winning the Karaval with an overwhelming victory. ¡°Now, let¡¯s continue watching.¡± What would she do when shees out? Nine des looked at the other side, and Clear Snow soon shouted as he raised the drumstick high. ¡°Warrior of the Great Storm tribe! Red Wind!¡± ¡°Uwoooahh!¡± The Great Storm tribe cheered, and Red Wind came forward. Soon after, astonishment spread throughout the tribal chieftains and warriors. ¡°Se-seriously?!¡± ¡°H-how?¡± ¡°Eeeeh?!¡± Everyone couldn¡¯t even speak properly. The de Song tribe, who was in high spirits earlier, was also mesmerized for a moment as their mouths were left open. She was sparkling. She was shy and brilliant from head to toe. It was not an exaggeration, because Red Wind¡¯s entire body was really sparkling. She had a tiara on her head, earrings on her ears, ne on her neck, bracelets on her arms, rings on all her ten fingers, a sparkling belt, trinkets around her thighs, and anklets on her ankles. It wasn¡¯t just shy ornaments. Breathless voices flowed from the mouths of those who were watching. ¡°T-that¡­ isn¡¯t that a dragon scale?¡± It was the blue shoulder armor on Red Wind¡¯s shoulders. They were right, as it was really dragon scales. Because Jude earnestly packed the scales that fell off when Blue Whiskers was hit directly by the curse. ¡°Seriously! Look at that! Isn¡¯t that Murmur¡¯s steel?¡± ¡°No! It¡¯s not just Murmur¡¯s steel! That¡¯s the steel of Murpara, the higher species of Murmur!¡± It was a correct answer again. Thanks to Kan, Jude and Cordelia received a lot of materials from the rare named monsters. They had so much that their sled was filled with rare items. ¡°W-what the heck. Are you saying that she¡¯s wearing all that in her body?¡± ¡°T-the Great Storm tribe had that much wealth!¡± The tribal chieftains and warriors were astonished, and the de Song tribe led by Nine des could only shake and clench their teeth but couldn¡¯t say anything. And at their appearance, Cordelia puffed out her chest and sneakilyughed. ¡°Heu heu heu, heu heu heu heu.¡± This is the power of capitalism. You have no such thing in your house, right? ¡°Agh! Sun Song! Take it out!¡± When one of the de Song tribe members suddenly shouted, Sun Song flinched before taking out what he had brought from his waist. ¡°Oooh! Is that a scroll?!¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t those only found in ancient ruins!¡± Scrolls containing magic were rare in the wildnds where shamanism was more advanced than magic. However, Sun Song took out as many as five scrolls from his waist. ¡°Oooh! Is he going to use all five in this Karaval?¡± ¡°As expected, as expected of the de Song!¡± The atmosphere was somewhat reversed. And Cordelia smiled again. ¡°Scroll? A scroll?¡± The reason for that smile was¡­ When Red Wind opened the pouch on her waist, a second wave of astonishment spread out in the entire field. A bunch of scrolls, no ¨C something as great as a scroll book was taken out. ¡°This is my Jude, okay? This is MY Jude, okay?!¡± Cordelia puffed out her chest while Jude had a faint smile. He had stayed up all night drawing all of that, but Cordelia¡¯s smile and the reactions around her seemed to wash away all his fatigue. ¡°Ughh¡­ Uuugh¡­¡± The faces of Nine des and the de Song tribe were crumpled, and Red Gale only had a satisfied smile. And Violent Avnche said. ¡°As expected, those two are ecological disturbances.¡± Jude and Cordelia. When Violent Avnche first met them, they didn¡¯t have anything, but they have so much stuff now. ¡°Hey! Sun Song! Use the scroll! Quality over quantity!¡± Since both sides have gone to their positions, the Karaval had formally begun. Sun Song followed his father¡¯s orders and tore the first scroll. ¡°¡± ¡°.¡± Red Wind also tore a scroll after he did. The magic dispelled the magic so Sun Song hurriedly tore the second scroll. ¡°¡± ¡°.¡± ¡°¡± ¡°.¡± ¡°¡± ¡°.¡± ¡°Eh¡­uh¡­ ¡± ¡°.¡± Five scrolls were torn from his side, and five scrolls were torn in return from her side. ¡°T-that¡¯s unfair¡­¡± Someone who was watching eximed as the now five useless scrolls rolled on the floor and got swept by the wind. But from that moment on. It really became unfair. ¡°S-sorry.¡± Red Wind unconsciously apologized as she also began tearing two scrolls at a time. ¡°, .¡± ¡°, .¡± The magic spells brilliantly enveloped Red Wind. Nine des nkly stared at the sight before he hastily shouted to his son. ¡°Sun Song! Attack her!¡± He could no longer just watch her strengthening herself with the scrolls. Sun Song also thought the same. He had already kicked the ground before Nine des had shouted. ¡°Uooh!¡± The giant Sun Song came rushing at a terrifying speed, and his momentum was like a tank. But Red Wind remained calm. She didn¡¯t stop tearing the scrolls despite retreating greatly. ¡°, , .¡± It strengthened her skin, increased her courage, and raised her entire body¡¯s energy. The double Red Wind had on her tremendously increased her speed. Sun Song was fast but even touching Red Wind seemed to be impossible. ¡°Spirit! Use the spirit, Sun Song!¡± Nine des shouted again. Spirit Warrior. It wasn¡¯t somethingmon. Only the best warriors in the wildnds could form a contract with the spirits to be spirit warriors. ¡°Child of me!¡± As Sun Song shouted as if singing, mes rose from his scimitar. Smander, a mischievous me spirit, sat on Sun Song¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Oooh! A spirit!¡± ¡°That¡¯s clearly a Smander!¡± The atmosphere was overturned again. But instead of quickly smiling, Nine des looked towards the Great Storm tribe. And then frowned. Because the beautiful red-haired girl still stood with a triumphant smile. Red Gale and the warriors of the Great Storm tribe couldn¡¯t hide the smiles on their lips. ¡°Howe?¡± It was the moment he said so. Red Wind drew her sword and wildly swung it. She called the name of her new friend. ¡°Bold me.¡± Reckless Fire. mes soared in response to her call. It was a beautiful and huge me that was the stuff of fantasies which was iparable to Smander¡¯s measly me. ¡°Kiiaaaaa-!¡± The bird of me spread its wings and roared. Those who were watching, and even Sun Song, was fascinated for a moment as they gazed at the bird of me. ¡°P-phoenix.¡± ¡°Phoenix!¡± The bird of fantasies. The beast of mes. The Phoenix perched itself on Red Wind¡¯s shoulder. It piercingly stared at Smander with fierce eyes, and the Smander hid itself inside Sun Song¡¯s clothes as it was petrified from fear. An overwhelming difference. No, it was overwhelming difference in gears! T/N: ?? (tem-ppal) is actually used when you say that someone is good at games thanks to their items and not because of how good the person is at ying the game. Interestingly, the Korean title of the series ¡®Overgeared¡¯ is ¡®tem-ppal¡¯ too, but I couldn¡¯t use the word ¡®over¡¯ again since there was an ¡®overwhelming¡¯ word before it, so I tranted it as ¡®overwhelming difference in gears.¡¯ ¡°This is the power of capitalism.¡± Cordeliaughed and beautifully smiled as she spoke, and Violent Avnche who had called the two as ecological disturbances also cackled. After all, the two were the ecological disturbances on the wild god¡¯s side now. And Jude said. ¡°Show them, Red Wind.¡± That she wasn¡¯t just good at fighting because of her items. Red Wind kicked the ground. As her name implied, she and the Phoenix became the red wind. Chapter 103: Karaval (3)

Chapter 103: Karaval (3)

It¡¯s finally here. And while tranting this chapter, I finally realized that Violent Avnche was male¡­ which is something I should have figured out earlier given the clues. I feel like an idiot now, hahaha. Terms used in this chapter: Dark Ghost ¨C also known in Korean as ¡®eudoksini.¡¯ It is a ghost or demon that will swiftly grow in size and be powerful if they are continuously stared at, though it will shrink and eventually disappear if ignored. The warriors of the de Song tribe who inherited the blood of the Hyjal Orcs were physically superior. They were more like beasts than humans in terms of physical abilities such as strength, agility, and so on. Sun Song was one of the best among the warriors of such a tribe. Red Wind wouldn¡¯t be able tost a few seconds if she fought him head-on in a battle of strength. Or rather, it was clearly at a level where her whole body would crumble because she couldn¡¯t bear it. ¡®I¡¯ll be honest. If you got hit with just one blow, it would be difficult for you to win.¡¯ Their weight difference alone was more than three times. Their difference in muscle strength might as well be more than six times. If she got hit, that was it. If she suffered from a blow on her chest or stomach, she wouldn¡¯t be able to properly breathe. ¡®So you can¡¯t get hit even once.¡¯ It was an unreasonable demand. But if she couldn¡¯t do it, she had no chance of winning. And one more added to this. A word from Cordelia, who was silently watching Jude teaching her while next to him. ¡®It¡¯s okay, don¡¯t think too hard about it. You just have to look carefully and avoid it. I¡¯ve always done that.¡¯ She said that with such a big smile that Red Wind couldn¡¯t even refute her words. ¡°Uooo!¡± His shout shook her eardrums. Sun Song roughly kicked the ground and rushed at her in a terrifying speed. Red Wind concentrated. She even held her breath and looked at him. She naturally recalled Jude¡¯s words. ¡®Well, this beast¡¯s words aren¡¯t wrong.¡¯ ¡®Beast? Beeaast? Wurf-wurf! Wurf-wurf! Grrrrrr!¡± No, not this one. The next thing he said. ¡®Look carefully andpletely avoid it. It¡¯s possible to do it. I will ¨C no, we will make that possible to do.¡¯ Time had stopped. She could see the grains of sand rising in front of her. She could also see the salivaing out of Sun Song¡¯s big mouth. Having the blood of Winter Elves, Red Wind¡¯s eyes were innately good in the first ce. Jude¡¯s magic scroll additionally helped her. . A spell that maximized the eye¡¯s ability to discern shapes and details of everything it sees. That wasn¡¯t enough, so Jude trained her. ¡®This is how Sun Song moves.¡¯ ¡°Kuooo!¡± Sun Song swung his scimitar. Red Wind had met Sun Song for the first time today, and it was also the first time she had seen him swing his scimitar with all his strength. But it was familiar. That attack. The speed of Sun Song. ¡®Look.¡¯ Jude wasn¡¯t just talking about momentary movements. How the attack would continue. What the scimitar¡¯s trajectory was and how far would it reach. Jude taught her. Jude made her be familiar with it. ¡®Look carefully andpletely avoid it.¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s words. And another of her words. ¡®Then you¡¯ll feel it. Not only through sight but you¡¯ll feel it with your whole body at some point.¡¯ She didn¡¯t understand what Cordelia was talking about then. She wondered what Cordelia meant about feeling the attack with one¡¯s whole body. She really liked Cordelia, but she thought that Cordelia wasn¡¯t good at exining. But Cordelia wasn¡¯t wrong. Her unnie told her how to do it. ¡®I can feel it.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t just the sight. Her sense of hearing reacted. Her sense of touch reacted. She felt it beyond her five senses and perceived it through her sixth sense. Sound, the vibration of the air, and the momentum of Sun Song¡¯s force. ¡®I think I understand.¡¯ She understood what it meant to feel with one¡¯s whole body. And what she should do now. ¡®There are two things.¡¯ The scimitar gradually approached in the slow-moving time. She recalled Cordelia¡¯s words whispering to her again between Sun Song¡¯s roar. ¡®Once you feel it, there are two choices you can make.¡¯ The de drew near. It felt like it would reach her anytime soon. Red Wind saw Sun Song. His face that was yelling a battle roar was terrifying as if proving that he had the blood of Hyjal Orcs. His canine teeth protruding from his mouth reminded her of a beast than a person. And his eyes. His bloodshot eyes that stared at Red Wind. A person¡¯s face was reflected in his eyes. It was Red Wind¡¯s own face. But the face reminded Red Wind of Cordelia. The beauty who enchanted even those of the same sex, spoke as her canine teeth shined. ¡®Either you step back or move forward.¡¯ She usually stepped back. It was normal to step back. But that just meant running away. There were times when she had to move forward. ¡®The criteria for judging it¡­hehe, you¡¯ll know it yourself when that momentes.¡¯ ¡®You¡¯re talking as if there¡¯s something, but you¡¯re not actually thinking about it. ¡®Coz you¡¯re a beast.¡¯ ¡®Do you want to die?¡¯ She remembered unnecessary things, but it wasn¡¯t bad. A smile spread over Red Wind¡¯s face. She was surprised when she widely smiled, but she took a step forward. Shaaak-! The scimitar cut the air. Above the head of Red Wind who evaded the attack by bending her waist backwards. The scimitar cut off a few strands of her pure white hair and scattered it. Sun Song was unable to control the power of his swing and continued moving forward while Red Wind disappeared from his sight. T/N: Okay, it seems that the author made a mistake here. When Red Wind was first introduced, she was described as having azure hair that was reminiscent of the clear blue sky. But the paragraph above said that she had pure-white hair. I double-checked the Korean words used in the earlier chapters and here, and it really referred to her hair. Perhaps it was a typo by the author and the azure color being referred was her eyes and not the hair. It was just a second. A mere moment. ¡°Huu.¡± Red Wind exhaled. She straightened her back and saw Sun Song¡¯s clearly exposed back. Instead of looking at the face of Sun Song who hastily turned his head to find her, she swung her sword. The sh stirred up the wind. aash-! Her sword only shed the air. But she had intended it. The Phoenix rose and followed the sword¡¯s trajectory as it charged and attacked. Stretching out like a sword, the Phoenix struck Sun Song whose giant body was then greatly hurled backwards. Boom! There was a st. No one heard of the small and light footsteps that echoed together with the st. Thump. After rotating once, Red Wind fixed her position and held her breath. She felt Sun Song again with her whole body. She sensed him flying away, rolling on the floor, and groaning in pain. ¡°Haa.¡± She let out her breath. And Red Wind thought. ¡®This¡­is this the world you live in?¡¯ She was wrong. The world of Cordelia was more special. Jude had met geniuses of all kinds, but even he had to admit that the world seen by abat genius, who could only be described as a beast, was impossible for the current Red Wind to reach. But it was enough for now. If she could feel and read Sun Song¡¯s movements, then it was enough. Bang! Red Wind kicked the ground this time. She rushed towards Sun Song. It was a splendid fight. Red Wind quickly moved amidst the mes. But like a seasoned warrior, Sun Song did not let himself be swept away from the battle. He knew. Just one hit. That he could win with just one hit. So he endured it. As he endured the pain, she wildly swung her sword again and again. Red Wind refused to give up as she danced with her sword like willow leaves fluttering in the wind. sh! sh! Red Wind¡¯s attacks poured out in session. Sun song received Red Wind¡¯s attacks with his body and shot a series of attacks towards her. Baaaang! mes sprung out. Since both sides used fire, the fight looked shy and splendid. Different mes came together and shed. ¡°As nned.¡± Jude said as he watched. Cordelia nodded her head. Because Jude had memorized all of Sun Song¡¯sbat patterns, Red Wind was able to ¡®feel¡¯ Sun Song. Although it was the result of receiving help from different kinds of magic, what she felt was the real deal. ¡°Red Wind will win.¡± Jude agreed with Cordelia¡¯s conviction. Because Jude¡¯s calctions agreed with the words of Cordelia who perceived results while skipping the process with an intuition that was close to foresight. Red Wind would win. It would take some time, but it would eventually lead to her victory. So Jude averted his gaze. While everyone gathered here were focusing on the fight between Red Wind and Sun Song, he took a step back and thought. ¡®An unfounded apprehension?¡¯ Several chieftains gathered in Karaval. The Eastern Alliance would be established regardless of who won the Karaval. So if they moved, now was the perfect moment. If someone wanted to interfere, it should have been now. However, the Angry Bull tribe did note. Perhaps they hadn¡¯tpleted their military expedition in the west yet. Maybe they were trying to avoid a situation where it would be dangerous if they moved the troops they left behind in their home base. It was a possibility. But would they just let go of this opportunity and watch? Jude thought about thend of Gentle Snow Breeze where the Karaval was held. It was an open in on all sides, so they would know early on if someone wanted to invade it. ¡®It¡¯s impossible with a few troops.¡¯ It was ridiculous to count the number of warriors gathered here. There were also several powerful chieftains, so even if they dispatched elite troops, they would still need a dozen units. ¡®If that¡¯s the case, they would have been sighted.¡¯ Moreover, Gentle Snow Breeze was here now. She had retained her powers unlike Violent Avnche. But even then, she did not detect any movement of troops when she looked around. No enemy wasing. The west had given up hindering the establishment of an eastern alliance. So everyone was focused on the Karaval only. Everyone who had gathered here focused their attention on the battle between Red Wind and Sun Song. Jude had been doing that until now. That was why he doubted it once more. He wondered if there was anything he missed. Perhaps there was something he did not think of. ¡®Sky.¡¯ It was still clear and blue. Sunset would arrive soon, but the sky was still blue now. ¡®West.¡¯ Jude turned his head and looked west. There was still nothing visible. Only the in with white snow was seen. ¡®Am I worrying for nothing then?¡¯ Though that would be the best scenario. Jude bitterly smiled and tried to watch Red Wind¡¯s fight again. But someone pulled on Jude¡¯s arm before that. ¡°Jude.¡± Cordelia. He understood it the moment their eyes met. He understood from Cordelia¡¯s frowning expression and her twisting her body about as if she wanted to answer the call of nature. A foreboding. Cordelia couldn¡¯t really exin what that ominous thing was, but she certainly felt something. So Jude focused. He tried to find something he missed. And Cordelia pulled Jude¡¯s arm again. ¡°Tremor.¡± She said with widely opened eyes and pointed to her feet by gesturing with her chin. Therefore, Jude also figured it out. The moment he heard Cordelia¡¯s words, he concentrated and managed to notice it. He could feel the vibration. Very small tremors. It was hard to feel unless one was as sensitive as Cordelia. It grew bigger. It was getting closer. ¡°Under.¡± Jude and Cordelia looked at their feet at the same time. They raised their heads and simultaneously shouted. ¡°Watch out!¡± ¡°It¡¯sing from underground!¡± The invasion from outside finally happened. As if an earthquake had urred, the tremors instantly became violent and the ground cracked! Booom! Massive spikes shot up from the ground. Whether it was their aim or just an idental coincidence, it came from under Red Wind and Sun Song¡¯s feet. Baaang-! Red Wind simultaneously saw both Sun Song and the soaring spikes as the spikes shot up like a de. Her instincts told her that the spike would soon pierce Sun Song¡¯s body. So Red Wind moved. Her instincts that preceded her thoughts was what made her move. Because Sun Song was not an enemy. Because he was their eastern ally who would join forces with them against the west! Pooook! Red Wind hit Sun Song. She threw her whole body and pushed him away. And blood. A piercing scream. ¡°Red Wind!¡± Shwaaak! Arge spike grazed Red Wind¡¯s slender waist. Red Wind fell down on top of Sun Song as she groaned and crouched her body. Red blood spurted from her torn waist. ¡°Run away!¡± Cordelia¡¯s cry was heard. The ground was broken, and a huge monster shot up. Strange creatures that seemed to be a mix of humans and monsters came out one after another from the hole leading underground. Sun Song hurriedly lifted and carried Red Wind on the spur of the moment. ¡°Attack!¡± ¡°Help Sun Song!¡± ¡°Red Wind!¡± Voices burst out simultaneously. The warriors who gathered for Karaval drew their own swords. It wasn¡¯t just them. Even Gentle Snow Breeze angrily yelled and widely spread out her wings. And it was at that moment. ¡°Aaaah!¡± The monster that broke the ground stood up as it roared. It was like a giant mole that was around 5 meters tall. There were several horns on its head, and it had glowing red eyes. A purple aura entangled its body as if it was cursed. ¡°O-oh my goodness! Dark Ghost!¡± Violent Avnche screamed and Gentle Snow Breeze widely opened her eyes. Dark Ghost. It was the first time Jude and Cordelia had heard of that name. But they realized it based on the two wild gods¡¯ reactions. The monster in front of them was a corrupted wild god. No, it wasn¡¯t even properly corrupted. From the perspective of the Devil¡¯s Eye, Dark Ghost was notpletely corrupted and was just a failure that went crazy. ¡°Aaaah!¡± Dark Ghost let out a tormenting scream. The eastern warriors were tormented by the cry that contained the power of a wild god, and the increasing dozens of monsters prated into that gap. ¡®Failures!¡¯ They were one of the attempts to mass-produce demonic humans bybining humans and monsters. If it had seeded, it would be a low-ranking demonic human who possessed the power of monsters and a human¡¯s intelligence, but if it had failed, it just became a monster. ¡°Kiaaaa!¡± The deformed monsters moved towards the warriors. And Ga?l pulled out his sword. Having secured Adelia¡¯s safety, he condensed his Qi energy and diffused it as he roared like a lion. ¡°Go!¡± At his tremendous roar filled with Qi, the curse in Dark Ghost¡¯ scream was canceled at that moment. The warriors came to their senses and Ga?l quickly moved on the ground. ¡°Save Red Wind!¡± Ga?l unhesitatingly charged into the middle of the enemy¡¯s group. Adelia also raised her hands and cast magic in session, and a fight broke out between the monsters and the warriors who barely came to their senses. ¡°Dark Ghost!¡± ¡°Brother Dark Ghost!¡± Violent Avnche and Gentle Snow Breeze cried out, and Gentle Snow Breeze even tried to run towards Dark Ghost. ¡°No! He¡¯s not the Dark Ghost we used to know!¡± Violent Avnche grabbed Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s feet to stop her. He tried to ovee the current situation by calming down Gentle Snow Breeze who burst into tears upon seeing Dark Ghost¡¯s changed appearance. ¡°Damn it! What the heck happened!¡± Violent Avnches had lost most of his powers, but not Gentle Snow Breeze. So he wondered on how they tricked the senses of Gentle Snow Breeze. Even if the ground was that deep, she would have noticed if they had approached near her. Was there something that could hide their powers? And the corruption. The wild god was corrupted together with the dragon vein and sanctuary. The fact that Violent Avnche himself could have been like that gave him goosebumps. He felt like his heart was being torn at the fact that Dark Ghost had been corrupted. And it was at that moment. A voice rang in the minds of Jude and Cordelia. It made Jude and Cordelia stop at once from helping Ga?l who was trying to save Red Wind. [Ki¡­kill! Please¡­kill me!] It was Dark Ghost¡¯s cry. Jude and Cordelia could hear his pained screams because they were recognized as guardians of the wildnds by the Golden Dragon King. [N-no. I-I don¡¯t want to. Hurt everyone- Violent Avnche- Gentle Snow¡­Breeze. N-no. Please kill¡­me¡­] Dark Ghost¡¯s scream grew louder, and the power of the curse also became stronger again. Gentle Snow Breeze radiated her power to cancel the curse but that was all. She couldn¡¯t do any more than that. ¡°Jude!¡± Violent Avnche shouted. Because he too heard Dark Ghost¡¯s cry. And he also knew. The reason why Dark Ghost told them to kill him wasn¡¯t just because of the pain! ¡°Bomb.¡± Cordelia said with a pained look. Dark Ghost was a bomb. The Devil¡¯s Eye n was to wipe out the eastern chieftains by causing a huge explosion in the middle of the ce where the Karaval was held. ¡®Expendables.¡¯ They were failures after all. Using them like this was an effective tactic. Even if it failed, it would at least cause damage. It was a good way to dispose of a defective product. ¡°Son of a b*tch!¡± Cordelia angrily cursed. She was furious at the actions of the Devil¡¯s Eye. Jude deeply inhaled. He watched Ga?l escape with Red Wind and Sun Song before he focused on Dark Ghost¡¯s voice. [Run¡­away!] Dark Ghost should have originally blown himself up as soon as he broke and shot up from the ground. Causing a disturbance without exploding was due to a part of Dark Ghost¡¯s remaining will because he had not beenpletely corrupted. But he didn¡¯tst that long. He didn¡¯t have that much time. ¡°Kiaaaaaa!¡± Dark Ghost let out a curse-filled scream again. At that moment, Gentle Snow Breeze burst into tears. Because she realized it. Dark Ghost¡¯s will had died down. None of it was left. What was in front of them was just a monster that had gone crazy. ¡°We don¡¯t have time! Run away, everyone!¡± Violent Avnche repeatedly stamped his feet and shouted. Now that the will of Dark Ghost had disappeared, the monster in front of them was a bomb that they were unsure on when and how it would explode. But it was impossible. The battle between the warriors and monsters had already began. If they turned around to run away in the middle of this, they would only be killed. ¡°Huu¡­huu¡­¡± Jude took a deep breath again. He searched for a solution. What do I do? What must I do? It was also impossible to run away because of the monsters. But if they leave it like this, everyone would be swept away by Dark Ghost¡¯s self-destruction. ¡®I have to find a way.¡¯ Something different, something else other than just running away from the range of explosion. ¡°Jude!¡± Jude¡¯s eyes widened in surprise. Cordelia was right in front of him. She shouted as her blue eyes sparkled. ¡°Let¡¯s burst it!¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s explode it before it self-destructs!¡± What is she talking about? Is there a difference between an explosion and self-destruction? Wouldn¡¯t we die even if we kill it anyway? ¡°No! Not that!¡± Cordelia eximed as if she was frustrated. She couldn¡¯t exin it properly, so she conveyed it through her eyes, and Jude eventually figured it out. He unwittingly said. ¡°You¡¯re a genius.¡± ¡°Of course!¡± Cordelia smiled. Jude impulsively hugged Cordelia tightly, and she struggled. ¡°Hey! Hey?!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Jude immediately released Cordelia. Resisting the urge to kiss her on the cheek, he advanced towards Dark Ghost. ¡°Let¡¯s goooo!¡± Cordelia transformed into a witch and chased after Jude. Adelia shouted from behind, but she didn¡¯t listen. She had to reach Jude as soon as possible. ¡°Unnie! Open the way for me!¡± At Cordelia¡¯s cry, Adelia let out a curse. Adelia suddenly clenched her fists and gathered them in front of her chest before she swung them widely to the side. ¡°¡± And double casting. Mana was released from Adelia¡¯s small body like an explosion, and an outrageous feat took ce. Booooooooooooooom! Two walls of fire spread out along with a roar. The fire of nearly 3 meters tall rose and made a path, and all of the monsters caught in between it were burned. Not one of them dared to approach Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Wow!¡± ¡°Unnie is the best!¡± Jude and Cordelia ran in the path surrounded by mes. The monsters tried to attack, but it was impossible. ¡°¡± The magic attack wasn¡¯t wasted. As the monsters slipped because of the grease, the fallen monsters hit the walls of fire. Kwaaaa! Even when the mes were burning, Jude and Cordelia did not stop. They trampled on those who did not touch the fire walls or did not slip luckily as the two ran towards Dark Ghost. ¡°Keuaaaaa!¡± Dark Ghost screamed. Ga?l had ran ahead first as he carried Red Wind in his arms and tried to run away from the explosion range. On the other hand, Sun Song slightly offset Dark Ghost¡¯s scream with his battle roar. ¡°Oooooh!¡± Dark Ghost went mad and swung both of its hands. Its force was so terrifying as it tore the air with his de-like nails. But Jude and Cordelia did not stop. Rather, they sped up and shouted. ¡°I am anvil!¡± ¡°I am hammer!¡± Their coordination was over. Jude soared using a golden whirlwind while Cordelia stretched out both of her hands forward and began using a telekic power. She poured out all her power to block Dark Ghost¡¯s movement. ¡°Aaaaaah!¡± She didn¡¯t just bind him. She applied force towards a certain direction. At the same time, she opened her eyes wide and activated the . ¡°Kaaaak!¡± Dark Ghost let out a gasp and was paralyzed. Tears of blood flowed down from Cordelia¡¯s eyes. ¡°Juuuude!¡± ¡°Cordelia!¡± Jude pulled his fist in the air. As he cried out Cordelia¡¯s name, he struck his fist on the head of Dark Ghost who couldn¡¯t move. ¡°ck Dragon Cross Strike!¡± He shouted out loud. A pitch-ck cross appeared from Jude¡¯s fist as it shot and struck Dark Ghost¡¯s body. It pushed Dark Ghost into a certain direction. ¡°Oooooooh!¡± Jude added his Qi energy into his cry. He fully mobilized all his inner Qi in his lower abdomen, while Cordelia asked for help. Violent Avnche caught on their n and shouted to Gentle Snow Breeze afterwards. ¡°Help them! You have to push Dark Ghost into the hole!¡± Gentle Snow Breeze did not immediately understand what he was talking about. But she understood that she had to help Jude. So she released a force that headed in the same direction as Jude. Booom! Dark Ghost was pushed away. He fell into the hole he himself had dug. ¡°Get in!¡± Cordelia shut her eyes and used thest of her powers. Jude¡¯s ck crosspletely pushed down Dark Ghost. And Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s power pushed Dark Ghost into the deepest part of the hole. Cordelia¡¯s n was simple. Detonate before it self-destructed. Under the ground. Inside the hole it dug! ¡°Art is-!¡± She couldn¡¯t continue her words. She had a headache from using too much of her power. Her legs were trembling, and her breathing became rugged. But Cordelia did not fall down. Jude ran as he roughly breathed before he held Cordelia on the waist. And continued the words on her behalf. ¡°An explosion.¡± Jude poured a potion into Cordelia¡¯s mouth. Cordelia suddenly hugged Jude¡¯s body and used . ¡°Ugggghhh¡­¡± Both of them let out painful groans at the same time. But Cordelia¡¯s mana was restored because of this, and Cordelia promptly cast a new spell using the mana she just got. ¡°.¡± A witch¡¯s spell that she could control. Cordelia leant her head in Jude¡¯s arms as she moved her fingers. She fired the spell by pulling her index finger as if she was using a real gun to shoot. Shwaaaa! The dark de flew like a bullet into the dug hole. It reached the point where Gentle Snow Breeze and Dark Ghost¡¯s powers collided. The power that Dark Ghost suppressed. The dark de stimted it. It lit the fuse. ¡°Bang.¡± Cordelia said while Jude hugged her. The moment he turned his back to protect her, a tremendous explosion started from the ground. Baaaaaaaaaang-! The ground shook. It shook like an earthquake. All who were standing ended up falling down, regardless of warriors or monsters. A tremor of that magnitude. An explosion that shook the earth. But it was deep underground. A purple pir shot up from the hole, but that was it. The aftermath of the explosion never reached the ground. Ruuuuumble- Aftershocks. The second tremors. But it was small. It quickly subsided. ¡°Ack.¡± Jude gasped. To protect Cordelia from the possible aftermath, he lied her down on his chest, so he felt her weight. ¡°Haa.¡± Cordelia fell on top of Jude¡¯s chest as she let out a sigh of relief. Her cold sweat trickled down before she said with a bright smile. ¡°We lived.¡± Jude also smiled at her short words. As the ring of light appeared around them, he hugged Cordelia once again. Chapter 104: Conclusion (Karaval)

Chapter 104: Conclusion (Karaval)

The explosion was over. Dark Ghost¡¯s self-destruction was stopped, and they no longer heard the pained screams of the wild god. But not everything was over. ¡°Hey! Jude! Hey!¡± Cordelia shouted as she struggled in Jude¡¯s arms. Dark Ghost was gone, but the monsters that appeared with him were still present. ¡°Jude! Hey! Stand up!¡± Cordelia¡¯sst words were buried among the roars and shouts. Because the monsters and warriors had begun to fight again. ¡°Uhh¡­did you pass out?¡± Cordelia herself had used up most of her power, and so did Jude. Moreover, since Jude was even drained of his mana, he no longer had enough energy to spare. He was clearly not lying on his stomach, as he was lying on his back with Cordelia in his arms ¨C to be exact, it was nearly impossible for him to have fainted given that he had enough strength to prevent Cordelia from getting out of his arms. But Cordelia immediately began to act instead of thinking deeply about it. ¡°.¡± ¡°Gah?!¡± ¡°Oh, you woke up.¡± ¡°How could I not wake up?!¡± As soon as Cordelia used , Jude groaned in pain and opened his eyes in a sh. ¡°I mean, did you use on a person who had already passed out from exhaustion?¡± My power is already at 0, yet you¡¯re still taking more of it from me? ¡°Hey, you won¡¯t die from it, you won¡¯t.¡± ¡°That¡¯s still a problem, okay?¡± ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m d you woke up. First of all, let¡¯s drain some more mana.¡± ¡°What? Hey, sto-¡­uuuggghh.¡± Cordelia raised herself from Jude¡¯s upper body and continued to use while sitting. She then ced on her chest the hand with the ring and activated the magic. ¡°.¡± It was the defense magic in Count Chase¡¯s ring. Since Jude and Cordelia were close to each other, the shield became stronger. Cordelia then stretched her shoulders in relief. ¡°Huu, I didn¡¯t have enough mana to use the shield magic.¡± She had used up all her mana in pushing Dark Ghost and dealing thest attack. ¡°It¡¯s a good thing the battery is next to me.¡± Cordelia giggled and tapped Jude¡¯s chest, while Jude looked up at Cordelia and had a sullen expression. ¡°You¡¯re really a mean person.¡± ¡°You¡¯re the only one I¡¯m mean to.¡± Cordelia giggled again before looking outside the shield. Because they were near the center of the explosion, there were no monsters around them. But at less than 10 meters around the explosion¡¯s center, the monsters and warriors were engaged in a fierce battle. ¡°We have to help. Do you have any potions?¡± ¡°I only have a stamina potion.¡± Their supply of potions had been cut off since they came to the wildnds. The one he fed to Cordelia was thest mana potion. ¡°Umm, so you have a stamina potion?¡± Cordelia grinned as she rummaged Jude¡¯s waist pockets while Jude trembled. ¡°Hey, hey, no way¡­ Isn¡¯t this n of yours demonic if you¡¯re going to drain my mana after I¡¯ve recovered from the stamina potion you¡¯ll feed me?¡± When Jude urgently spoke, Cordelia¡¯s eyes became round and she pped her hands loudly as she said. ¡°Oh my, there was such a way? You¡¯re a genius.¡± ¡°Ugh¡­your acting has improved.¡± Look at her pretending to be ignorant. But why does that make her look pretty too? It was when Jude was feeling skeptical about his own love blindness. Cordelia moved her bottom from the top of Jude¡¯s torso as she sat on the ground. She then said after finding the stamina potion and handing it over to Jude. ¡®Isn¡¯t it nice that it¡¯s quiet around us?¡± ¡°I suppose so.¡± Because the two didn¡¯t have enough strength left. And the warriors of the wildnds were not weak. Since they were the elites of each tribe, they were not overpowered by the monsters. And two more people. Among the various warriors, there were some who were particrly prominent. ¡°She fights well.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it? My sister is good at fighting, right?¡± Cordelia boasted as she looked in the direction where Adelia was. ¡®As expected of abat wizard.¡¯ The Royal Guard Magic Corps was a group of fighting wizards like their name ¡®corps¡¯ suggests. Adelia was one of the seven leaders of the Royal Guard Magic Corps, so herbat power was undoubtable. ¡®If she could use wide-area magic, she would¡¯ve cleared this ce in no time.¡¯ Since this was a melee battle of enemies and allies, she couldn¡¯t use wide-area magic. But Adelia was definitely an experienced fighter. Instead of simply using attack magic, she used magic that affected the entire battlefield by using abination of fire and earth wall magic to divide the battlefield and iste the monsters. ¡®As expected of a leader.¡¯ She was someone who was capable ofmanding an army and not just a mere corps. ¡°I think Red Wind will be all right.¡± Cordelia pointed to the very end of the battlefield. The de Song tribe were there, and among them was Sun Song who protected Red Wind. ¡°Ga?l is strong too.¡± ¡°He¡¯s strong.¡± In the midst of their conversation, the situation on the battlefield was rapidly improving. This was because Adelia and Ga?l were actively fighting in the south and north sides respectively. ¡°Chivalry.¡± The magic of the knights. Ga?l strengthened himself with Chivalry and easily cut down the monsters across the battlefield. Like a warrior from the Bayer family who aimed to be the ¡®wind,¡¯ his momentum was like a storm as his sword danced freely. ¡°Umm, I seriously think we can just rest.¡± ¡°Right?¡± Cordelia smiled and stretched out her hand to Jude. He grabbed her hand, raised his upper body, and sat down next to her. And it was at that moment. [¡­Guardians.] A low voice talked to Jude and Cordelia in their minds. The voice was somewhat garbled, but the two showed no repulsion to it. Because they were able to guess whose voice it was. [I am¡­Dark Ghost¡­] The only wild god who was forced to die by the Devil¡¯s Eye. His soul regained its freedom after losing his body, but his contaminated soul was not washed clean. [Soon¡­I will disappear¡­so I¡­wanted to¡­say goodbye¡­] Cordelia had a gloomy expression as she heard the voice that became broken little by little. She had met him for the first time today and didn¡¯t even got to talk with him much, but she was heartbroken by what happened to Dark Ghost. [Thank you¡­for stopping me. Thanks to you¡­I could not harm¡­them.] Violent Avnche and Gentle Snow Breeze. And the children of the wildnds. [Farewell¡­Guardians¡­ This is myst¡­reward for you¡­] A piece of memory came into the minds of Jude and Cordelia. It was a fraction of the things Dark Ghost had seen, heard, and felt, and also information about thest thing he could leave for Jude and Cordelia. [Goodbye¡­] Dark Ghost¡¯s voicepletely disappeared. Cordelia turned her tearful face away, and Jude could see the sobbing Gentle Snow Breeze and Violent Avnche wiping away his tears. Perhaps he delivered his farewells to the two wild gods too. ¡°Goodbye¡­¡± Jude paid a silent tribute for Dark Ghost, and Cordelia brought her two hands together in prayer. They grieved for Dark Ghost. *** The battle was over. Since the recovery of the casualties was a priority, each tribe focused on cleaning up the battlefield instead of talking about the Karaval. And the next morning. A memorial service was held for Dark Ghost and the deceased, under the supervision of Gentle Snow Breeze. Violent Avnche lit a great fire and cremated them. Gentle Snow Breeze created a wind and blew their ashes and souls up high into the sky. ¡°Those evil western demons.¡± Gentle Snow Breeze was usually meek, but she was clearly angry at the present moment. She sharply looked at the western direction before she turned her gaze to Red Gale and Nine des. It was to talk about the Karaval. The first to open his mouth was Nine des. ¡°O wild gods who look over the wildnds, I have something to say if you will permit it.¡± When Nine des politely spoke, Gentle Snow Breeze and Violent Avnche nodded and allowed him to speak. Having knelt down to show his respect, Nine des stood up from his spot and then headed to the center as he looked at everyone. He then shouted out loud. ¡°Karaval couldn¡¯t proceed normally because of an unexpected incident! But you all know about it! The rules of Karaval!¡± Red Gale frowned while Violent Avnche and Gentle Snow Breeze had awkward expressions. Because they also knew the rules of Karaval. ¡°Karaval ends when either side deres defeat or be unable to fight. In other words! Thest one standing is the winner of Karaval!¡± The words that Nine des wanted to say. The argument that he wanted to make. ¡°You must have seen it too! That it was Sun Song who stood until the end yesterday!¡± Red Wind fell. She couldn¡¯t stand up. On the other hand, Sun Song stood until the end of the battle as he protected the injured Red Wind. ¡°Th-th-that shit- mmf, mmf!¡± Jude covered the angry Cordelia¡¯s mouth as his eyes narrowed. He restrained the struggling Cordelia and waited on what would happen next. ¡®I don¡¯t have a good feeling like Cordelia.¡¯ It was unlikely that it would end like this. Sun Song might not be like Nine des, but he had yet to speak. ¡°Mmf, mmf!¡± Jude stopped Cordelia from struggling by hugging her tightly as he looked at Sun Song. Sun Song stood up with a stiff face and began walking forward. He thumped on the ground and caused a loud noise. Boom! Everyone was startled and looked back at the sound¡¯s epicenter, and Sun Song met their eyes with a calm face. Nine des also saw Sun Song. Instead of saying something, he just walked away as if opening the path, and Sun Song continued to walk. After passing Nine des, he stood in front of Red Wind who was standing next to Red Gale. ¡°Mmmf?¡± Cordelia suddenly became quiet as she wondered what he was doing, while Jude quickly understood it. ¡°I see, perhaps that¡¯s it.¡± It was a little cheesy but pleasing development. This was a possible development since Sun Song was a true warrior with the spirit of a warrior, and not a corrupted demonic human like in the game. ¡°Those are the rules of Karaval. But there¡¯s an absolute rule in Karaval.¡± He deliberately talked about the rule of Karaval. Karaval¡¯s absolute rule. Only the two warriors who fought in Karaval would decide the winner and loser. ¡°I lost.¡± Sun Song inly spoke. No one else knew, but he knew. Red Wind saved him. He owed his life to her. ¡°It¡¯s your victory, Red Wind.¡± Sun Song grinned as he dered it with his hand on his chest, and Red Wind had a faint smile. She knew it too, because she had crossed swords with him. The fact that Sun Song was a true warrior. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you be scolded by your father?¡± Red Wind asked a little mischievously, but Sun Song just shrugged his shoulders. ¡°It¡¯s all right. It¡¯s better than being a shameless human who forsakes his benefactor. And I was already scolded a lot yesterday. So I won¡¯t get any more scolding.¡± Red Wind smiled again at Sun Song¡¯s strange answer. Red Gale looked at Nine des, who snorted but had the corners of his mouth slightly rising. Because Nine des was also a warrior who knew of honor. ¡°You are the winner of Karaval. I have dered my defeat, so dere your victory.¡± It was the most ideal end of Karaval. The winner and loser acknowledged each other and dere the end of Karaval together. Red Wind nodded. After cing her fist on her chest, she dered in a loud voice. ¡°I ept the deration of the true warrior Sun Song. The winner of this Karaval is me, Red Wind!¡± Cheers erupted at her confident deration. Violent Avnche and Gentle Snow Breeze happily smiled at both the deration of the end of Karaval and the official winner being Red Wind. ¡°Mmmmmff.¡± ¡°Yes, it came out all right.¡± ¡°Mmmmf.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Jude just happily smiled when he saw Cordelia¡¯s eyes telling him to let go of her now. ¡®From this moment on.¡¯ Now that the Karaval was over, the Eastern Alliance would be established. The east and west would be confronting each other head-to-head. It was the beginning of a war that would affect the wildnds and even the S?len Kingdom and the entire Pleiades. ¡°Mmmf, mmmf.¡± ¡°Yes, you did well.¡± ¡°Mmf!¡± She meant something else. Therefore, Jude hurriedly turned his gaze towards Red Wind and Sun Song, and he soon understood why Cordelia was trying to scream. ¡°No way.¡± ¡°Mmf, mmf.¡± It couldn¡¯t be that one. Jude removed his hand that was blocking Cordelia¡¯s mouth and he was able to see it. Sun Song thumped on the ground once again. After gathering everyone¡¯s attention with the loud sound, he bowed in front of Red Wind. His face was stiff in a different meaning than before, and he cleared his throat. After swallowing his saliva, he said in a tense voice. ¡°Red Wind, a true warrior, I will convey my true heart to you. Please marry me.¡± It was really that one. And he had clearly dered it. *** ¡°N-no, no matter how clich¨¦ that was, wasn¡¯t that too much?¡± The second deration of Sun Song caused a lot of shock. It was from the de Song and Great Storm tribes. Because they were two tribes who inherited the blood of the ancient orc and ancient elves. Moreover, the two were the eldest son and eldest daughter of the chieftains. ¡°It seemed to be an arbitrary decision, right?¡± Ga?l nodded when Jude spoke to everyone. ¡°Perhaps. The de Song tribe was also greatly surprised.¡± In fact, it was not an exaggeration to say that everyone except Sun Song was surprised. ¡°What about Red Wind?¡± Jude asked and Cordelia grumbled at the clich¨¦ development. ¡°She was very embarrassed. But she was sort of¡­ she was a little happy.¡± ¡°Eh¡­seriously? Red Wind likes Sun Song¡­?¡± ¡°No, rather than that, she enjoyed the fact that she was proposed to, I think? She¡¯s still a child, after all.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s words, everyone including Jude, narrowed their eyes in an instant. They reacted like that, since Red Wind and Cordelia were only one year apart in age. ¡°Why, why, why? Did I say something wrong?¡± Cordelia had spoken quite shamelessly, but her face had now turned red from embarrassment. ¡°I apologize for this, Lord Ga?l. She is still a child¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s all right. It¡¯s a bit of a rude remark but¡­Lady Cordelia is really cute.¡± As Adelia and Ga?l talked warmly, Cordelia¡¯s face turned red, while Jude had to bite his lips in order to hold back hisughter. ¡°Anyway.¡± Jude opened his mouth again for Cordelia and said with a shrug of his shoulders. ¡°Sun Song and Red Wind exchanging feelings¡­realistically, their union would be difficult.¡± Sun Song and Red Wind did not belong to a single warrior tribe. They were also the next chieftains who would lead their tribes someday. ¡°It would be difficult unless the two tribes are united into one.¡± It was as Ga?l said. The union of the two was impossible even for political reasons. ¡°I¡¯m sure Sun Song would have known that too¡­but perhaps, he just wanted to convey his feelings?¡± ¡°It¡¯s likely that.¡± As Adelia and Ga?l exchanged another warmhearted conversation, Cordelia mumbled under her breath. ¡°No, even if it¡¯s possible, I won¡¯t allow it.¡± Marriage between Sun Song and Red Wind. Even if Red Gale allowed it, Cordelia herself couldn¡¯t allow it. She was not fine with it. However, Ga?l and Adelia were not interested in Cordelia¡¯s thoughts. In fact, they weren¡¯t much interested in Red Wind and Sun Song. ¡°I¡¯m d there¡¯s Edward.¡± Ga?l suddenly said in passing, and Adelia blinked her eyes. She then turned her head to the side as if to hide her burning red cheeks. Ga?l and Adelia were also the eldest son and eldest daughter. But Count Chase had an eldest son named Edward Chase who would seed his Count title. ¡°Ahem, ahem. R-right. I¡¯m d I have an older brother.¡± Adelia spoke very quietly, and Ga?l smiled happily. And Jude and Cordelia watched the other two. Violent Avnche who was squatting in the corner again, said as he looked at Jude and Cordelia. ¡°You know how I usually feel now, right?¡± Why am I like a third party in this again? And why in the world did you call for me again this time? The grumbling Violent Avnche stood up from his seat, looked at the two couples, clicked his tongue and then left. And the next morning. The Eastern Alliance, headed by the Great Storm tribe, was finally established. Chapter 105: Departure for the Front (1)

Chapter 105: Departure for the Front (1)

Terms used in this chapter: Pitched battle ¨C a battle in which both sides choose the fighting location and time. The corrupted wild god¡¯s appearance while Karaval was going on brought about a huge shock to the eastern tribes. Although the number of witnesses were only a few people from the east, its impact was extraordinary because most of the witnesses were leaders of a tribe. ¡°We have to attack the west as soon as possible.¡± When even Gentle Snow Breeze, who had a gentle personality among the wild gods, strongly insisted on attacking, the opinions of the eastern tribes easily became one. ¡°To begin with, this fight is not a defensive fight. We must strike the west and drive out the demon followers from the wildnds.¡± And if it was a war that would happen anyway, it was better to fight in the west than in the east. ¡°After all, fights in the wildnds are all about pitched battles. So we don¡¯t have to use ournd as a battlefield.¡± Naturally, there were supply problems, and it wasmon for the defending side to be in an advantageous position than the attacking side because they had the geographical advantage even if the pitched battle is held in a ce without walls. But the east had one more reason to attack the west. ¡°We must wake up the Golden Dragon King from his deep sleep by blowing up the contaminated dragon veins.¡± It was an order directly entrusted by the Golden Dragon King to Jude and Cordelia, the guardians of the wildnds. No one in the east doubted the words of the two since the wild gods, Gentle Snow Breeze and Violent Avnche, affirmed that the two were guardians. ¡°We gather the powers of the east to strike the west.¡± They made a decision. The tribal chieftains who gathered to watch the Karaval hurriedly returned to their tribalnds, and full-scale preparations for the military expedition began. And three dayster. Four days after the Karaval, the Great Storm tribe and de Song tribe gathered again in thend of Gentle Snow Breeze. *** Meetings in the wildnds basically proceeded in the form of sitting in a circle on the floor as the participants exchanged opinions. Therefore, the meeting hall organized by Gentle Snow Breeze was prepared in the form of everyone sitting in a circle with arge map ced on the center, and one special arrangement. ¡®Four seats of honor.¡¯ There were fourrge chairs behind the people seated in a circle. It was none other than the seats of the wild gods. ¡°It¡¯s been a long time.¡± ¡°It¡¯s been a long time, brother.¡± Gentle Snow Breeze warmly greeted Great Storm who sat in the seat of honor in the south. She was seated in the east, and Violent Avnche was seated in the west. And on the seat of honor in the north. ¡°I don¡¯t know how long it¡¯s been since the four of us gathered in one ce.¡± A handsome young man with a short ck beard said with a bitter smile. The wild god de Song. He was in human form, but hisrge body and intense eyes seemed to reveal that he was a wolf. ¡°You still like colorful things.¡± ¡°Because I¡¯m splendid.¡± Great Storm frowned at the reply of de Song who chuckled and shrugged his shoulders as he showed off the colored tattoos on his naked upper body. ¡°Okay, sit down first. We have to begin our meeting. The children can¡¯t talk if we¡¯re talking amongst ourselves.¡± ¡°Oooh¡­ Violent Avnche. How did you be so cute? No, were you originally cute?¡± ¡°Yes, yes. I was originally cute, so sit down first.¡± ¡°Haha, as expected of a mature and experienced one.¡± When his provocation did not work on Violent Avnche, de Song chuckled again and sat at the seat of honor in the north. ¡°Let¡¯s begin now.¡± Violent Avnche gestured with his eyes and spoke, and Gentle Snow Breezed lightly pped her hands, prompting those who were waiting outside to enter the meeting hall. ¡°Red Gale of the Great Storm tribe greets the wild gods.¡± ¡°Nine des of the de Song tribe greets the wild gods.¡± ¡°Fine Snow of the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe greets the wild gods.¡± As the chieftains courteously greeted them in turns and sat on their assigned ces, the leading figures of each tribe also sat down. And in the meantime, Jude and Cordelia also joined them. ¡®Jude, Jude. That b*stard keeps looking at us.¡¯ ¡®You do know that you shouldn¡¯t be looking at him too, right?¡¯ ¡®I know, but I want to look at him.¡¯ ¡®¡­If you don¡¯t look at him, I¡¯ll do something amazing.¡¯ ¡®You¡¯ll be doing something amazing anyway.¡¯ ¡®We¡¯re on the same page, right?¡¯ ¡®Uh¡­perhaps?¡¯ After having a conversation with their eyes, Jude and Cordelia looked at the front again. The gaze that Cordelia was talking about. Jude could also feel it. de Song who sat on the opposite side was openly staring at Cordelia and him. ¡®He must have found us interesting.¡¯ Because the Golden Dragon King granted the status of guardians not to someone from the wildnds, but to a boy and girl from the S?len Kingdom, which had been in conflict with the wildnds for many years. Unlike the Great Storm tribe which was located in the south and had little direct confrontation with the S?len Kingdom, the de Song tribe was always at the forefront of the fight against the kingdom. Since their basic customs and way of life were different, it would had been stranger if de Song gazed at them nicely. ¡°Then, let¡¯s begin the meeting.¡± Clear Snow dered the opening of the meeting, and they began talking about the fundamental stuff. ¡°The allied forces will be gathered first in the east seven days from now. I¡¯m thinking of departing for the front eight dayster.¡± If all the troops in the east were gathered, the numbers would exceed 50,000 and even reach 100,000, but that was if a total mobilization order was issued. If they considered the troops for defense, the troops to maintain the supply line, and the movement speed of the tribes located in geographically distant locations, the number of troops that could gather at the first gathering was between 20,000 to 30,000. ¡°The 1st unit will advance to the west first, followed by the 2nd unit to support them.¡± The basic strategy itself had few difficulties. Because the existence of the great mountain range, which separated the east and west sides, limited the routes where they could be attacked in the first ce. ¡®The problem then, is the corrupted wild gods.¡¯ Basically, the wild gods were supposed to stay in their sanctuary, but the chances of the Devil¡¯s Eye leaving the corrupted wild gods with nothing to do was close to zero. They would be actively deployed in the battlefield. ¡°We will stop the wild gods of the west.¡± As de Song spoke with a frown, Great Storm also frowned and nodded his head. Although it was ufortable for them to leave their sanctuaries, it was also a painful reality for them to fight their fellow wild gods. ¡®Those are the basic points of the n.¡¯ Therge army from the east would advance to the west, and the wild gods would join the main army and fight against the wild gods of the west. Jude and Cordelia would have normally been assigned roles, but Jude had a bit of a different idea. ¡°Cordelia and I are going to move separately.¡± Unlike the Great Storm tribe whom they had already exchanged their ideas, the de Song tribe cocked their heads and found it odd. They questioned why the two would move separately and what they would do in the fight between tworge armies. ¡°Exin.¡± Cordelia frowned when de Song ordered them to talk as if he was their superior, but Jude got up from his seat and stepped forward before politely bowing as if it wasn¡¯t a big deal. ¡°As you can see, there¡¯s arge mountain range that¡¯s lined up like a wall between the east and west.¡± Therefore, the eastern army was nning to march their troops into the southern ins between two mountains. ¡°Instead of joining the main army, Cordelia and I will attempt to strike the defenseless tribes in the northwest beyond the Sky Roof mountain range.¡± The west would also be watching the movement of the east, so they would also be dispatching not only troops, but also the wild gods to the southern ins. Thus, their rear would naturally be empty, so Jude was saying that they would cross the mountain range and attack their rear. ¡°The goal of Cordelia and I is to blow up the contaminated dragon veins, so we do not need to confront the tribes in the rear. We just need to infiltrate and make the dragon vein runaway.¡± The enemies would naturally strengthen their defenses if one dragon vein exploded, so it would be difficult to repeat, but if they could really infiltrate the rear beyond the Sky Roof mountain range, they could at least blow up two dragon veins. ¡°This would have a huge strategic effect. The enemies would have to pay attention not only to the front, but also to the rear, and they would be anxious about their hometowns taking a huge blow.¡± The dragon veins were sacred for those who lived in the wildnds, but it was also a target for contamination by the Devil¡¯s Eye, a group of demon followers. In other words, it was the fact that Jude and Cordelia were the only ones in the wildnds who saw the dragon veins as targets for explosion. ¡®An attack that destroysmon sense is always useful.¡¯ It was something unimaginable, so they wouldn¡¯t be able to properly defend. At Jude¡¯s exnation, the de Song tribe blinked their eyes, and de Song who was quietly listening burst intoughter. ¡°Crazy people. But I like it.¡± Blow up the dragon vein and destroy the sanctuary. It sounded simple, but for him, a wild god, it meant something special. The destruction of the sanctuary was tantamount to destroying the base of a wild god, and it also meant blowing away the homes of those who lived in the wildnds. ¡®But the Golden Dragon King allowed it.¡¯ It was actually the most efficient way. It was a better way to protect the east and defeat the enemy than razing to ground the entire west of the wildnds. ¡°The ruggedness of the Sky Roof mountain range is beyond imagination. Will you two be able to cross the mountain range safely and on time?¡± When de Song provocatively asked, Jude smiled and said. ¡°It will be hard and difficult. That¡¯s why we need de Song¡¯s assistance.¡± ¡°My assistance?¡± ¡°Yes, it would be possible with your assistance.¡± Jude still kept the smile on his face, and de Song narrowed his eyes. ¡®How impudent.¡¯ Rather than be discouraged by the question of whether they could do it, he asked for help instead. ¡®Interesting.¡¯ It was a question that he asked with the thought of pressing Jude down a bit, but instead, he was trapped. He couldn¡¯t say that he couldn¡¯t help because Gentle Snow Breeze and Great Storm were watching him in this ce. ¡®It was also me who asked him if he could do it.¡¯ What would they say about de Song if he tried to escape from here? It was also a ce where the wildnd¡¯s children were watching. ¡°You have some guts.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Jude gently responded, and de Song had no choice but to sincerely smile in the end. ¡®Now that we¡¯re here, let¡¯s give him something big.¡¯ He actually liked Jude. Like his belligerent personality, de Song liked the brave ones without fear. ¡°Tell me, what kind of help do you need?¡± ¡°Is it all right to tell you about it?¡± ¡°Yes, feel free to tell me. What do you need? I¡¯m not a stingy man like Great Storm.¡± When de Song said and snickered, Great Storm frowned but did not open his mouth. Because he had already talked about it with Jude. And one more person. Cordelia quickly nced at Great Storm. ¡®Will he give it to us to match yours?¡¯ ¡®Yes, he¡¯ll match it to some extent.¡¯ Great Storm knew de Song¡¯s personality well. And Jude had expected de Song to say the same thing now after he had heard about de Song from Great Storm. de Song was not a stingy man like Great Storm. In other words, he would help them more than Great Storm. So what would happen if he exaggerated the extent to which Great Storm helped? And what if Great Storm also admitted to helping him? ¡®Thank you very much.¡¯ ¡®Thank you!¡¯ What does the fierce, vigorous, and handsome de Song have inmon with the benevolent and beautiful Wild Fairy Queen? Cordelia had a nice smile, and Jude gently opened his mouth and began talking. *** ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Really.¡± ¡°Re-really?¡± ¡°Really, really.¡± Having received de Song¡¯s desperate gaze, Great Storm pretended that it was the truth as he bit his lips. He tried his best to control the corners of his mouth from rising. ¡®Kekeke, you¡¯ve beenpletely robbed.¡¯ Divine protection was just the beginning. de Song had to bring out the items he treasured, and at the end, he had to take out and offer the ancient medicine he had hidden for a long time. ¡®Ugh¡­ah, how long had I been saving that?¡¯ It was a hundred-year-old medicinal wine. It was something that he had saved for a long time. de Song¡¯s psychological resistance was naturally immense since he had to bring out such items, but he was eventually forced to bring out what he had one by one. ¡®As nned.¡¯ Even if de Song was a prideful wild god who had honor, what he did was strange if not for the words Jude had said in advance. Because Jude had arranged for this strange event to be reality. ¡°Ooh! As expected of de Song!¡± ¡°How magnanimous!¡± ¡°As expected of brother de Song. You¡¯re really amazing.¡± ¡°I have no choice but to admit it¡­you¡¯re the best, de Song.¡± ¡°Hahaha, he¡¯s amazing. It¡¯s not an exaggeration to say that he¡¯s the best in the east.¡± The Gentle Snow Breeze and Great Storm tribes made a fuss about it, and even Gentle Snow Breeze, Great Storm, and Violent Avnche also helped one-by-one. As de Song took honor very seriously, he was caught in a checkmate and couldn¡¯t escape. ¡°What the heck, here! Take it!¡± ¡°Thank you!¡± Jude received the items and ancient medicine with immense gratitude. It seemed like he could hear Cordelia¡¯s voice as she widely smiled behind his back. ¡®My Jude is the best! The best man to marry!¡¯ Of course, Jude didn¡¯t just randomly rip him off. de Song was an important being who would help in leading the fight against the west, so taking his supplies for the war would be a huge loss to all their allies. Therefore, Jude intensively ripped off items that were difficult to use in a war but would be useful to Cordelia and himself. ¡®Great Storm, Gentle Snow Breeze, Violent Avnche¡­ Thanks to all of you.¡¯ The three wild gods not only provided information about the various items of de Song, but also agreed to help him with asking for the items. The new items they got from de Song would be useful for crossing the Sky Roof mountain range, and the ancient medicine with a huge amount of life energy would be helpful in opening a new door of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. ¡®I did a good job, right?¡¯ ¡®Yes, you did a great job. So good. I want to praise you.¡¯ Cordeliaplimented Jude with her eyes as she brightly smiled. Jude then sat next to Cordelia and gestured to Red Gale. It meant that they should proceed with the meeting again. About half an hourter¡­ The first meeting for the military campaign for the west was concluded, leaving a bitter wound on the chest of a wild god. What have you done, Jude? You managed to ¡®corrupt¡¯ the wild gods in a different way by getting them to help you with your scam, hahaha. Chapter 106: Departure for the Front (2)

Chapter 106: Departure for the Front (2)

Terms used in this chapter: Pyeong ¨C a Korean unit measurement of area and floor space. 1-pyeong is equivalent to 3.3052 m2 when converted to the unit measurements used globally. Pyeong is usually used for real estate floorspace. Examples are an average house having 25 pyeong and a studio apartment having around 8-12 pyeong. ¡°Sho exciting, sho exciting, eheim, eheim, sho exciting.¡± Inside the tent of Jude and Cordelia after the meeting. While Cordelia acted cutely upon seeing the new items from de Song that was on the floor, everyone else smiled. ¡°They¡¯re all travel-rted items.¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s for our cause after all, so it¡¯s justified.¡± They needed help to cross the Sky Roof mountain range ¨C that was their justification, so they couldn¡¯t ask for items that had nothing to do with that. If Jude had only focused on ripping him off, the wild gods would not have cooperated with Jude from the very beginning even if de Song had agreed to it. ¡°They¡¯re all new items that are quite useful.¡± Adelia nodded at Cordelia¡¯s words. ¡°You¡¯re right, they all look useful.¡± They were referring to the three new items that de Song gave them. The items were ¡®Mysterious Canteen¡¯, ¡®ck Wolf Skin¡¯, and ¡®Cozy 1-pyeong.¡¯ ¡°To exin this¡­it¡¯s something like a space expansion canteen, a transformation skin, and a tent that can be easily used anytime and anywhere?¡± When Ga?l asked everyone, Jude nodded his head. ¡°Yes, they¡¯re all useful items.¡± Unlike Cordelia¡¯s bamboo canteen that was the size of her forearm, the Mysterious Canteen could hold enough water to fill several bathtubs. And if one wore the ck Wolf Skin and chanted the spell, they would be able to transform into a big ck wolf. Lastly, the Cozy 1-pyeong was a small ball that when thrown, would be a tent around 1 pyeong in area size. ¡°It sounds like some kind of shelter creation spell.¡± Adelia said as she stared at the Cozy 1-pyeong that had the shape of a ball made of leather. Just as she said, it was an excellent magic shelter with many additional functions. And thest one was an ancient medicinal drink. Ga?l and Adelia didn¡¯t talk much about the specifics of the ancient medicinal drink. Because it was an item rted to Jude¡¯s growth rather than for traveling convenience. ¡°Sho exciting. If Jude drinks this, he¡¯ll grow stronger.¡± Cordelia said with an innocent-looking face. She was happy to see Jude get stronger since she helped him rece his equipment and so on. Jude knew that Cordelia had more of a ¡®raising a game character¡¯ mentality, but it lookedpletely different to Ga?l and Adelia. ¡®Sigh, you love him that much?¡¯ ¡®You really love him.¡¯ She loved Jude that much to act and say it like that. Ga?l¡¯s eyes were filled with happiness while Adelia also smiled as if she had no choice but to concede. ¡°Anyway, Jude, can I talk to you for a moment?¡± Ga?l told Jude when he had finished arranging their newly acquired items. They had already discussed about their future ns, but this was to rify some things. ¡°Yes, older brother.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s go out for a while and walk.¡± Having said that, Ga?l spoke to Adelia to excuse them for a moment and left the tent with Jude hurriedly following him. ¡°Eh¡­?¡± But why do they have to go out? Cordelia blinked her eyes as she looked back at Adelia before she unconsciously flinched. Adelia was staring at her with a sharp look. ¡°U-unnie?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s talk a bit too.¡± Adelia grabbed the wrist of Cordelia who reflexively tried to get away, but she sat close to her younger sister and spoke. ¡°Cordelia, I¡¯ve already told you that Lord Ga?l and I will be moving separately from you.¡± ¡°Yes, but?¡± ¡°Jude and you will be going to the Sky Roof mountain range alone.¡± ¡°Yeees.¡± Are you worried about the Sky Roof mountain range because of its rough terrain that even barbarians are reluctant to approach? ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes, unnie.¡± ¡°You have to be careful.¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll be careful. I¡¯m good at mountain climbing. I also have a Winter Protection so it wouldn¡¯t be very cold for me.¡± ¡°No, not the mountain and the cold but Jude.¡± ¡°¡­Eh?¡± Be careful of Jude? Why? Cordelia tilted her head with an innocent face and Adelia frowned. Adeliamented the fact that she had to leave her gentle, kind, and innocent sister to a ck-hearted man like Jude. ¡°So¡­¡± And she whispered to Cordelia. As Cordelia nkly listened, her face turned bright red. ¡°Got it? You should be careful, okay? You¡¯re definitely engaged, but it¡¯s still just an engagement, okay? You¡¯re not married. Plus, you¡¯re both minors. You understand what I¡¯m saying, right?¡± Adelia strictly warned Cordelia, but thetter thought she heard wrong. No, what the heck are you talking about? ¡°No.¡± Me and Jude? M-me and Jude? It was something unimaginable for her. No, he¡¯s definitely my fianc¨¦ and we¡¯re engaged, but to do something like that with Jude¡­that¡¯s something unimaginable. ¡°What do you mean by no?¡± ¡°No¡­that, that¡­that¡¯s right! W-we¡¯re not like that?¡± Me and Jude? Aren¡¯t we just teasing and harassing each other? Cordelia felt a strange sense of relief at the excuse she struggled to create, but not at all for Adelia. She asked, snorting as if she found it absurd. ¡°Look at you. Then what in the world is between you two?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t live without Jude. I belong to Jude and Jude is mine.¡± Her straightforward words made Cordelia turn even more red. ¡°N-no¡­that, that¡¯s right¡­¡± She couldn¡¯t deny that because she had already said that. In fact, the situation would have passed if she just said yes and that she would be careful, but Cordelia couldn¡¯t say it well because her reasoning stopped. She then chose to counterattack to get over the situation. ¡°U-unnie too!¡± ¡°Eh?¡± She just screamed that, but Adelia¡¯s expression changed. Cordelia, abat genius, instinctively pierced that gap. ¡°Unnie, exin! Y-you and brother-inw, Ga?l!¡± This time, it was Adelia¡¯s face that turned red. At any rate, Cordelia and Adelia resembled each other because they were sisters. ¡®G-good. Counterattack sess.¡¯ It was when Cordelia breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°That¡­we¡­ahem, ahem, first of all, we¡¯re both adults¡­¡± Adelia slightly turned her head and quietly spoke while Cordelia blinked her eyes. No, what the heck is unnie talking about now? You¡¯re both adults? Adults? ¡°Wait a second, what is unnie¡¯s rtionship with brother-inw Ga?l?¡± There was definitely a pink atmosphere between the two, but they weren¡¯t like that when she first saw the two. Cordelia hurriedly asked as she pulled her arm, and Adelia pretended to be a bit ignorant as she said with an indescribably sweet face, which was something her subordinates in the royal capital would have never imagined her doing so. ¡°Ah¡­with Mr. So-and-so, I¡¯m not in a rtionship, not in a rtionship, not?¡± What the hell is that? What the heck are you saying? No, I think I know without her saying it. Her unnie¡¯s red-hot cheeks told her everything. ¡°Hehehe.¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyes narrowed, and Adelia cleared her throat. And outside. While the two sisters were in the midst of an embarrassing conversation, the two brothers were having apletely different conversation. ¡°Whether the west or east wins, the north needs to be prepared.¡± Ga?l had his usual calm expression, but his eyes looked different. He came to thisnd as Jude¡¯s older brother, but he was a knight of the north at the same time. He had no choice but to prioritize the security of the kingdom rather than the turmoil that urred in the barbariannds ¨C no, the wildnds itself.. ¡°If the west wins, there will surely be a war. Even if the east wins¡­war could also happen. It would be quite regrettable to just disperse the power that was already gathered.¡± He was well aware of Red Gale¡¯s character. Red Gale certainly had a good character. But an individual¡¯s character and war werepletely separate things. The chieftains of the wildnds who had invaded the S?len Kingdom in the past were neither lunatics nor bloodthirsty warmongers. All were respected leaders for their respective tribes. But nevertheless, war broke out. ¡®When power is gathered, it leads to war.¡¯ Moreover, Red Gale wasn¡¯t precisely a king. He was the leader of the tribal alliance. If the chieftains¡¯ thoughts were inclined to war, he had to consider war too. ¡®War can happen regardless of which side wins.¡¯ Whether the west wins or the east wins. Therefore, the north must know in advance and be prepared. ¡°Perhaps we could help.¡± It was better for the east to win than the west which had fallen into the hands of the demon followers. But supposing they helped, they would not step forward unless there was a really crucial moment. For the north, the best thing was for the west and east to destroy each other. It was a heartless calction. But Jude understood Ga?l. He was a northern knight who swore to protect the North. ¡°Are you going with Lady Adelia to the Jackdaw¡¯s nest?¡± ¡°Yes. I¡¯d like to take you as well¡­but that¡¯s impossible.¡± Jude and Cordelia were chosen as guardians by the Golden Dragon King, the king of the wild gods. The elopement of the immature children was already a thing of the past, given that they were also rted to Iron Man Landius and the Guardians of the Holy Cross. ¡®They also have the power to do their mission.¡¯ Jude was weak only a couple of months ago, but he was now so strong that he seemed to have be apletely different person. Furthermore, it wasn¡¯t just Jude. Cordelia was also several times stronger than when she was in Langesthei. ¡®Maybe it¡¯s the will of heaven.¡¯ The strange events that happened to the two one after another. In reality, Jude and Cordelia artificially created those strange events starting with the Sun¡¯s Ne, but Ga?l had no way of knowing that. Each event that sessively happened was surprising, so in Ga?l¡¯s eyes, it seemed like the will of heaven was with the two. Thus, Ga?l inly admitted it. The two had their own mission. And he would not interfere with their mission. ¡°But I¡¯ll be back soon. Our purpose ining here is to stop the honeymoon trip of you two, but at the same time, to protect the two of you.¡± ¡°Will the knight Ga?l Bayer individually help the wildnds?¡± ¡°That sounded a little grand, but yeah, something like that.¡± ¡°What about Lady Adelia?¡± ¡°I want her to help too¡­but I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s possible.¡± She wasn¡¯t the kind of person who would be easily dissuaded or heed other people¡¯s words. Ga?l smiled as he talked, and Jude took a deep breath. He looked in the same direction as Ga?l and asked in passing. ¡°Are you¡­all right now?¡± The reason why Ga?l had yet to be married. The events in the past. Are you okay now? Have you ovee the pain from that time? ¡°I¡¯m not sure. But¡­nearly 10 years have already passed. I¡¯m not sure, maybe I just needed an opportunity.¡± And if that was really the case, he owed it to Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Thank you, for running away.¡± When Ga?l abruptly said that, Jude blinked his eyes while Ga?l smiled again. He looked back at Jude and said with a serious face as if he had never said anything earlier. ¡°Please take good care of Lady Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes, brother. I will cherish her more than my life.¡± ¡°Is that so.¡± Ga?l pat Jude on the shoulder and looked towards the south again. *** Both Jude and Ga?l did not waste their time. The day after the meeting, they packed up and headed for their respective destinations. ¡°Be careful.¡± ¡°Cordelia, remember what I said? Be careful, okay? Do you understand?¡± After a simple farewell from Ga?l and a long one from Adelia, the two headed south while Jude and Cordelia headed north. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes?!¡± Cordelia was startled when she was called, so Jude frowned and asked as he cocked his head. ¡°Are you all right? Did something happen with your sister?¡± ¡°No? Nothing happened. Yes, nothing happened. Yes, yes, yes, the snow is very white. It¡¯s white in color. Why is the snow so white?¡± Jude¡¯s eyes narrowed a little because of her extremely suspicious words. ¡®I¡¯m sure there¡¯s something if she¡¯s stammering and rambling from embarrassment.¡¯ What is it? What the hell did you talk about with Adelia? ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Cordelia, who had been quickly walking in front, turned around a little exaggeratedly. Jude asked as he pretended to act like normal. ¡°We have a long way to go, so would you like me to carry you on my back?¡± If it was the usual Cordelia, she would have cried ¡®OK¡¯ and then threw herself on his back. But today, her eyes shined for a moment, but she promptly shook her head afterwards. ¡°No, it¡¯s okay. I¡¯ll just walk today. Yes, yes.¡± Because she was ashamed. Until now, she didn¡¯t care whether she was hugged or carried by Jude on his back, but because of Adelia¡¯s words, she was suddenly embarrassed. ¡°Let¡¯s go quickly, quickly.¡± Cordelia took the lead as she began to walk more quickly to hide her red cheeks, and Jude narrowed his eyes but did not specifically question her. The two headed towards the Sky Roof mountain range. *** Time had passed. Three days after the first meeting of the Eastern Alliance. After havingpleted their western conquest, the main troops of the Angry Bull tribe headed east. The western forces also began to converge in one ce. The east didn¡¯t just watch the movement of the west. As what they had confirmed at the first meeting, the east began their military expedition to make the west their battlefield. And three dayster. At the moment when the direct confrontation between the east and the west began. An incident happened to Ga?l and Adelia as they were heading for the border. Chapter 107: Encounter (1)

Chapter 107: Encounter (1)

Tomorrow¡¯s chapter is a bit long, so there might be some dys. It¡¯s a really good chapter though, so look forward to it. The sight of 30,000 eastern troops heading west was simply spectacr. As the wild gods joined the ranks, their advance became different in many ways from normal troops. The most noticeable one was the changing of nature. ¡°Blessings of the Spring Breeze.¡± Gentle Snow Breeze began to sing, and the hot air of the spring breeze melted the snow and drove away the cold. It was something that she couldn¡¯t do now that she had left her sanctuary, but she was not alone. Great Storm added power to the wind, and de Song strengthened the power of the song by singing in harmony with her. The troops moved forward as winter was driven out. The troops moved forward as spring trailed after them. Each time the wild gods used their powers, the miracles became more powerful, and the morale of the eastern army soared up high as if it would pierce the sky. ¡°It feels like victory is in front of us.¡± Sun Song spoke with a pleased expression as he walked side by side with Red Wind who also smiled. His hasty proposal had already been rejected, but that did not mean Red Wind and Sun Song could not see each other. ¡®I¡¯m honestly not sure about getting married. Couldn¡¯t we be friends though?¡¯ After Red Wind rejected his proposal, Sun Song decided to take a step back. Even he himself had thought that it was a hasty proposal. Moreover, the Great Storm and de Song tribes became the center of the eastern army, so the two would-be leaders of their tribes had to work together to properly fight. ¡°The western army have also begun their march¡­we¡¯ll probably meet them in Snow Breeze in.¡± Red Wind nodded at Sun Song¡¯s words. This single fight wouldn¡¯t determine the fate of the east and west, but it was the first head-to-head confrontation, so they must not lose. They had to win. ¡®Unnie.¡¯ Red Wind nodded again to Sun Song as she looked north. The Sky Roof mountain range divided the wildnds into the east and west. Due to the harsh environment, it was and of death that not only people but even the wild gods avoided. Jude and Cordelia were there now. They were there for their crazy n of striking the west at its rear by going through the Sky Roof mountain range. ¡®They¡¯re seriously crazy.¡¯ The two alone would cross the Sky Roof mountain range. The two alone would destroy the rear of the west. ¡®But I think they can do it.¡¯ If it was the two of them¡­ If it was Jude and Cordelia¡­ ¡®And if they really do it¡­¡¯ The west would stagger from the unexpected punch. It was a n that even the east, who was their ally, thought was crazy. ¡®Unnie¡­and oppa.¡¯ I look forward to seeing you again. In good health. Red Wind gently closed her eyes as she brought her hands together in prayer. She thought of the smiling faces of the two. And at that same time¡­ While was Red Wind was imagining them warmly smiling, Cordelia was yelling curses. ¡°F*ck! I think I¡¯m going to die!¡± In the middle of the Sky Roof mountain range¡­ Jude and Cordelia were on their way as they fought against the powerful icy cold wind that blew violently as if to cut their flesh. ¡°F*ck! F*ck!¡± It was Jude this time and not Cordelia. Jude usually didn¡¯t swear, but the Sky Roof mountain range made even him spout curses. ¡°Haa, ugh¡­mana, I¡¯m running out of mana.¡± Cordelia gasped and said as she worked hard in maintaining the magic while on Jude¡¯s back. Jude began to look around in order to find a ce where they could rest. ¡°How long can you hold out?¡± ¡°5 minutes?¡± Jude and Cordelia¡¯s climbing method was simple. Cordelia was carried on the back of Jude, who had drunk the ancient medicinal drink and gained a stronger body. While being carried on his back, she spread out the shield to block the wind and also warmed the air inside the shield to somehow maintain warmth. Jude steadily went up the mountain in that condition. It was an iparably simple method but was quite effective. ¡°Found it! Hang on for five minutes! Okay?¡± ¡°Okay¡­brrrrr! Fu-!¡± As Cordelia grit her teeth, Jude hastened his steps. He approached a ce where there was a rock face and found a suitable crack that was not exposed to the wind. He drew his fist as he shouted at Cordelia. ¡°Release the shield!¡± ¡°Ack!¡± Cordelia screamed instead of answering as she tightly hugged Jude¡¯s body and released the shield. And at that moment, the violent and biting wind struck Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Juuude!¡± Cordelia cried right behind his back, but he couldn¡¯t properly hear it. Jude strengthened his lower body to maintain his bnce as he thrust his fist in between the unexposed crack in the rock. ck Dragon¡¯s Ascent! Instead of a cross, he released a pure energy to break the rock face, thus making the crack even bigger. ¡°Good!¡± This much should be enough. Jude quickly pulled out the Cozy 1-pyeong from his waist and threw it into the crack, and a round tent was created in the span of one breath. ¡°Get in, get in.¡± Cordelia weakly said as her teeth chattered, and Jude opened the tent¡¯s entrance without dy before going inside with a jump. ¡°Haa.¡± A breath of relief came out when the entrance was sealed up. Even though the Cozy 1-pyeong was carelessly expanded inside the crack in the rock, it had a cozy feeling as its name implied. ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­¡± It had only been a few seconds after she released the shield, but Cordelia¡¯s whole body seemed to have frozen hard. Jude quickly untied the podaegi and put her down on the floor before he used the ck Wolf Skin and transformed into a wolf. ¡°Okay, the fur isple-¡± Cordelia stretched out her hands before Jude could finish speaking. She tightly hugged Jude, who now had shiny ck fur, and curled herself up. ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­so cold.¡± The cold wasn¡¯t a joke as it was worse than when they were in Frost Anvil. They felt cold even though they had the Winter Protection, but if they didn¡¯t have that, they would have frozen to death the moment the shield was released. ¡°Cold, cold.¡± As she repeatedly said the same word, Cordelia hugged Jude tighter. Her embarrassment and so on caused by Adelia had already disappeared a long time ago. She no longer cared about being embarrassed as living was more important. ¡°Ah¡­warm¡­¡± It was thanks to Jude circting his Qi energy around his body to give off heat. Cordelia said as she buried her face in the fur of Jude who was like a human heater ¨C no, a wolf heater. ¡°Haa¡­I can rx a little now¡­¡± Six days after they headed to the Sky Roof mountain range¡­ It had only been two days since they actually started climbing, but the two had already climbed up the Sky Roof mountain range by half. ¡°We¡¯re only two days away now.¡± Jude spoke as ifforting Cordelia, who closed her eyes. It was a feat that would surprise even the wild gods if they heard that they crossed the Sky Roof mountain range in just four days, but for Cordelia, her only thought was that she had to do this crazy method for two more days. But she was Cordelia. After having calmed down, she asked in a worried voice. ¡°Jude, are you okay? Does your back hurt?¡± ¡°Eh, it¡¯s okay. Though a certain someone wasn¡¯t as light as a feather when I carried them on my back.¡± ¡°F*ck.¡± ¡°My princess, why are you suddenly swearing?¡± ¡°Because Red Wind isn¡¯t here?¡± ¡°Wait a minute, has your swearing recently decreased then?¡± ¡°No, well¡­it¡¯s not just because of Red Wind.¡± Cordelia¡¯s foulnguage had significantly decreased for the past month. As she had said herself, it was because of Red Wind ¨C or to be more exact, what triggered it was the embarrassing incident that took ce near the border, but there were actually other bigger reasons for her change. ¡®Is her Cordelia side showing more now?¡¯ More than two months had passed since they awakened their memories of their past lives. In the beginning, the influence of her previous life that suddenly appeared was so strong that she became more like Yellow Storm than Cordelia, but it was not now. Her two selves had begun to assimte with each other. ¡®Because we were reincarnated and not transmigrated.¡¯ Both of them had lived for 17 years as Jude and Cordelia. And every time he thought about it, he realized. This was also a real world. It was not the same as the world in the game. But that made him even more afraid. The future that awaited them. If everything went ording to the original story in the game, this world will eventually meet its end and be destroyed. ¡®No, we can change it.¡¯ Many things had already changed. They had caused numerous butterfly effects. ¡®It¡¯s mostly about people.¡¯ That was what Jude and Cordelia could do themselves. Things that could heavily affect the rolling wheel of fate. They saved people. They gathered people. Conversely, they eliminated those who would be their enemies. ¡®Lucas and Cordelia.¡¯ The two were originally ipatible. If Lucas lived, Cordelia became a demonic human, but if Cordelia lived, Lucas became a demonic human. But not now. Moreover, the rtionships had also changed. ¡®In the original, the rtionship between Lucas and Cordelia was such that they literally only knew the other¡¯s face and name.¡¯ But not anymore. Lucas was close not only to Cordelia, but also to Jude himself. They had helped and received his help a lot of times. ¡®There¡¯s also Red Wind.¡¯ In the original, Lucas and Red Wind never worked together. Lucas was a knight from the north who had been taught that barbarians were beasts and not humans. And Red Wind came to hate the northern humans after her life in very. If the two had met, they could only be hostile to each other. But what about now? If the two had met while Jude and Cordelia were with them? ¡°What are you thinking about?¡± At Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude spoke of the things that came to his mind, and Cordelia smiled. ¡°You¡¯re right, all of us can be friends, right?¡± It was line that would usually appear on children shows, but at that moment, Jude felt like he had been enlightened. He already had thoughts about it, but he was suddenly convinced that it was possible now. ¡®If it¡¯s Cordelia.¡¯ It might be possible. It was impossible for Jude himself, but it could be possible for Cordelia who had amazing sociability. They would not only save all of the yable characters, but also get all of them to work together asrades. All of the yable characters would fight together with Cordelia at the center. ¡°Wow.¡± Just imagining that scene thrilled him. In the original game, that was absolutely impossible, but that could be possible in reality. If it¡¯s Cordelia, we might really be able to that now. ¡°What, why are you suddenly saying ¡®wow¡¯?¡± ¡°Ah, I just thought that it would be great if all the yable characters fought together.¡± He deliberately left out the idea of cing Cordelia in its center, as the idea of all yable characters fighting together was enough. ¡°Wow, that¡¯s really wow.¡± Her motivation suddenly soared. She now felt optimistic that they could really stop Armageddon and achieve a happy ending. ¡°Are you saying that Maximilian and Leon would be fighting together? And leave their backs to each other?¡± Maximilian was the main character of Legend of Heroes 2, and Leon was his rival. Would the two people who were at odds with each other to the very end of the game really work together? ¡°Perhaps even Red Wind and Kirara would fight together.¡± The two were both from the wildnds but hated each other. ¡°Wooow, I think I¡¯m getting goosebumps.¡± They could feel such emotions because the two were rotten waters of Legend of Heroes 2. It also meant that pairings that were usually found in fanfiction could now be possible. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s possible for Lucas and Red Wind to get married?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°I mean, I thought it would be better to give her to Lucas than to Sun Song.¡± ¡°Red Wind is not an object.¡± ¡°Anyway.¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyes brightened. Because she remembered the yable characters who would be present in the royal capital of the S?len Kingdom. She would be able to meet them once they had safelypleted their mission here. ¡°We saved Lena too.¡± It was the best result they had achieved at the present. They hadpletely saved Lena¡¯s life. ¡°Can we save the other two?¡± She was referring to two of the five main characters in the first episode of Legend of Heroes. Necromancer Velkian and Druid Fran. ¡°I guess so. And above all¡­we need to save Landius.¡± Iron Man Landius. He was Jude¡¯s own master and the man who might be the strongest among the five heroes in the first episode. ¡°I think it might be more difficult than Lena.¡± The rotten waters of Legend of Heroes spected that Landius was killed by Duke, a high-ranking demonic human of the Devil¡¯s Eye, but no matter how much the two thought about it, it seemed to be impossible. ¡°Landius is too strong.¡± He wasn¡¯t the Landius that they knew in the first episode. The Landius in the second episode was literally a superhuman. Duke killed Landius? That doesn¡¯t make sense. ¡°I¡¯ve considered the idea that¡­ Landius was corrupted and became Duke, but that¡¯s also impossible.¡± ¡°Why? Because Landius couldn¡¯t be corrupted?¡± ¡°No, their sizes are different.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± Landius was a staggering 230 cm tall, while Duke was only 180 cm. They couldn¡¯t even think of the two as the same person. ¡°Perhaps finding out the cause of Landius¡¯ death¡­and saving Landius might be the key to victory.¡± Jude couldn¡¯t open a new door after consuming the ancient medicinal drink, but after he reached approximately 4/5 to the next door, he realized it. Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors was literally a powerful martial art. And Landius was a superhuman who opened up to the seventh door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. Based on this point in time, Landius was probably the strongest among all the living ¡®humans.¡¯ ¡°It¡¯s just absurd. We have to figure out why a person who¡¯s too strong to be killed had died.¡± ¡°Perhaps he won¡¯t just die if we don¡¯t do anything.¡± ¡°That might really be possible if it¡¯s Landius.¡± Jude and Cordelia recalled Landius¡¯ face and body for a moment and simultaneously smiled. ¡°May the muscles always be with you.¡± ¡°Sob, sob, Master. I will do my best.¡± ¡°No, don¡¯t cry. You¡¯ll lose your muscles.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s vocal impersonation, Jude flinched instead of smiling. Because he remembered the trauma that originated from those few days. ¡°That was a really horrible time.¡± ¡°But thanks to him, your body has improved a lot.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± When he looked back on it, it wasn¡¯t all bad memories. He had such a hard time back then that he couldn¡¯t properly enjoy (?) Cordelia very gently taking care of him. ¡°Are you having another strange thought?¡± ¡°No, I was just thinking that we could achieve many things if we win this fight.¡± He said that to change the subject, but what he had said was the truth. ¡°Are you talking about your father and my father?¡± ¡°Because the two were originally killed during the invasion of the northern barbarians.¡± However, if they destroyed the west and the invasion of the northern barbarians itself, they would be able to save the lives of their fathers. Even if a war between the east and north happened as Ga?l feared, they wouldn¡¯t just stand around and watch as they would then twist history as much as possible. The survival of Count Bayer and Ga?l. It wasn¡¯t just a simple matter of doing their best to stop Armageddon. It was something he wanted to achieve as Jude Bayer. ¡°Haa,e to think of it, it¡¯s really amazing.¡± ¡°About what?¡± ¡°I mean, unnie and brother-inw.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± He didn¡¯t seriously expect the two to be a potential couple. ¡°How interesting.¡± Cordelia giggled and tightly hugged Jude as if he was a doll, while Jude wanted to provoke Cordelia with the word ¡®double inws,¡¯ but closed his eyes and enjoyed the warmth instead. And as soon as both of them were about to fall asleep. ¡°Is¡­anyone there?¡± A voice was heard along the sound of the wind. Chapter 108: Encounter (2)

Chapter 108: Encounter (2)

I got tired of using head or leader for Adelia¡¯s position in the Royal Guard Magic Corps (RGMC), so I decided to assign her the mander¡¯ title. Frankly, the leader of a corps is a lieutenant general, but this is a fantasy story, somander should suffice. P.S. I squealed multiple times while tranting this chapter. ¡°Haa¡­I can rx a little now¡­¡± Having settled down inside the tent made by Ga?l, Adelia stretched her legs and sighed in relief. She had suffered from the icy st a moment ago, so a tent that blocked the wind was something highly valuable. ¡°Don¡¯t overwork yourself. We¡¯ll take a break here for today.¡± ¡°Yes, Lord Ga?l. Pleasee here too, Lord Ga?l. I¡¯ll cast some magic.¡± ¡°Thank you. It¡¯ll befortable thanks to Lady Adelia.¡± ¡°Making itfortable is a piece of cake, no problem.¡± Ga?l also smiled when Adelia responded with a gentle smile. It was a very vibrant smile that the people from Count Bayer were familiar with. ¡°Please excuse me then.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Adelia gently answered and quietly waited for Ga?l to sit next to her. If Count Chase ¨C no, her subordinates in the royal capital saw the current Adelia, who was far from her usual self, they would repeatedly blink their eyes. However, there was no one here who cared about that. ¡°.¡± As soon as Adelia chanted the spell, a wave of heat began to warm the inside of the tent. Her frozen fingertips and toes that felt like rock began to warm, and blood started to circte again with a tingling sensation. ¡°Haaw¡­¡± Adelia reflexively let out her voice as she felt the tingling sensation, while Ga?l had a small smile as he slightly moved his body and said. ¡°It would be better to take your shoes off as you may get frostbite. I will take it off for you.¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­yes. Please¡­do so.¡± Adelia gently replied again. If her subordinates in the royal capital ¨C no, her fellowmanders in the Royal Guard Magic Corps saw her, they would exim, ¡®It¡¯s an evil doppelganger! Where is the real Adelia!¡¯, but she wasn¡¯t fake. The person here now was the real Adelia. ¡®He¡¯s kind.¡¯ Adelia thought as she watched Ga?l carefully take her shoes off. In fact, if it was the time when they had just begun to travel, Adelia would have coldly rejected Ga?l¡¯s kindness and said something like ¡®I have hands too. Go away.¡¯, but not now. ¡®Nothing, there¡¯s nothing between us, we¡¯re not in a rtionship.¡¯ That day. The words Ga?l said as he gazed at Adelia with his eyes moist with tears. ¡®Is there¡­nothing between us?¡¯ His voice that sounded like that of a woundedmb changed everything. It opened up thest lock in her heart which resisted to the very end. ¡°Whoa, as expected, it¡¯s frozen. I¡¯ll give you a massage so don¡¯t be too surprised.¡± Ga?l softly spoke again as he began to carefully massage her feet, and Adelia blushed as her lips squirmed. ¡°That¡­doesn¡¯t it smell?¡± Her shoes had been wet for a long time. ¡°It¡¯s all right.¡± As a person who was born and grew up with knights, Ga?l was not quite good with his words. However, what was important in this situation wasn¡¯t really about his words. The power of love was that great. ¡®He¡¯s kind¡­¡¯ She liked it when he spoke genuinely instead of saying one thing after another. Moreover, she saw the look in his eyes and felt his touch as he massaged her feet. Wasn¡¯t it clearly noticeable that Ga?l was purely worried about Adelia and didn¡¯t have wicked thoughts? ¡®It¡¯s okay if you have a bit of those thoughts.¡¯ Adelia recoiled when she realized her unconscious thought, and Ga?l misunderstood her sudden stiffness and carefully asked. ¡°Did it hurt by chance?¡± ¡°N-no. It¡¯s okay. Thank you, it made mefortable.¡± Adelia pretended to be calm as she quickly withdrew her two feet, and Ga?l smiled again as he sat down next to Adelia. And Adelia thought. ¡®Should I also give him a massage?¡¯ No, wouldn¡¯t that be a little strange? Should I just make hot water for him to wash his hands? There was snow all around them, so she could create water by heating the snow with magic. While Adelia¡¯s mind was spinning, Ga?l took off his shoes with his own hands and began to massage his own feet. ¡°I need to air it a bit. I¡¯m sorry.¡± Ga?l awkwardly said before slightly opening the tightly sealed tent entrance, and the cold and fresh air that blew inside made Adeliae to her senses. ¡®Huu, huu. Let¡¯s calm down, calm down. Adelia.¡¯ They were not in a romantic rtionship, but their rtionship was also something that was not clearly defined. ¡®That¡¯s right, let¡¯s calm down. Rx, Adelia.¡¯ Adelia took a deep breath and regained herposure. In the meantime, Ga?l took out the nket from their luggage, sealed the tent entrance, and handed the nket to her. ¡°Cover yourself. I¡¯ll take a little rest and then prepare the meal.¡± ¡°Lord Ga?l should warm yourself too.¡± When Adelia covered herself with the nket and spoke, Ga?l hesitated for a moment before sitting down beside Adelia, who covered him with the nket too. ¡°I wonder how Jude and Cordelia are doing?¡± ¡°They should be doing well. It¡¯s only been two months¡­but it seems like they¡¯ve both grown a lot during their trip.¡± He wasn¡¯t just talking about their physical power. The two had alsorgely grown up mentally. ¡°When did they be adults?¡± ¡°I agree. I thought that they were immature children in love¡­¡± Ga?l¡¯s words trailed off and he smiled as he gazed at Adelia, and Adelia also stared at Ga?l. And the two realized it. The fact that their faces were too close. That they were very close to the point that they felt each other¡¯s breath. Adelia unknowingly opened her lips a little. Ga?l stared at Adelia¡¯s lips, and at some point, the eyes of the two met again. The two simultaneously narrowed their distance. Adelia let out a hot breath and gripped the nket as her heart trembled in fear and anticipation before she slowly closed her eyes. And right after she did that. Baaaang! The tent was destroyed with a loud sound. At the same time, no, a little earlier than that, Ga?l pushed her down as he avoided the attack that flew straight at them. Tuuuk! The tent had been destroyed, and a bolt trembled as it stuck to the stone wall. Finding herself under Ga?l, Adelia opened her eyes in a sh and the pink atmosphere between them was instantly broken. Bang! A second st went off. It was Adelia this time. The tent was broken by the powerful wave of magic and even the bolt that was about to explode was blown away. And Ga?l stood up. He quickly drew his sword and red in the direction where the arrow came from. ¡°Nine.¡± He figured out the number of enemies at once. The number was determined not only by sight but also by feeling. ¡°Demon follower.¡± Perhaps a demonic human too. A giant who held a small ballista in his hand, smiled from a distance. Around him were some horribly disfigured monsters like those seen in Karaval, that were wearing dog cors and drooling as they sharply looked at the two. Ga?l thought. He figured out at once why they appeared in this ce far down south. ¡®They thought like Jude.¡¯ Jude left to destroy the rear of the west. The same was true of the west. Having a simr thought, they also sent some troops to the east. ¡®Sky Roof mountain range.¡¯ And of death where even the wild gods did not live in. Therefore, instead of crossing the Sky Roof mountain range, they took arge detour southward to infiltrate the east. The current situation of the two was that they ran into these guys who were moving like that. ¡°I¡¯m lucky.¡± Garad, the mid-ranking demonic human who attacked Ga?l,ughed. The moment he saw Ga?l and Adelia, he was also thinking. ¡®It¡¯s obviously them.¡¯ The coldblooded monsters who did not hesitate to kill and destroy one-by-one the demonic humans of the Devil¡¯s Eye who operated in the east. It was a considerable misunderstanding and aplete misidentification of the wrong people, but Garad¡¯s misunderstandings also had their own basis. It was difficult to think why a couple with eye-opening looks from the S?len Kingdom would be here in the wildnds. ¡°Haraken will be pleased.¡± There was no need for him to take their lives, so he thought that he could vite them to his heart¡¯s content. The corners of Garad¡¯s mouth was raised and he began his transformation. His eyes that were glistening with ambition and vulgar desire split into dozens of pieces and becamepound eyes, and his giant body swelled and even became bigger. A ck and glossy shell resembling that of a stag beetle surrounded his whole body like an armor. Horns sprouted from his forehead, and his jaws split as it became like the mouth of an insect. ¡°I¡¯ll make you my puppets.¡± Garad thought what he would do after winning. The small ballista on his right arm shook as he also began running. ¡°Go!¡± Ga?l loudly cried at that moment. He dashed across the ground towards the running Garad, while Adelia began to chant a spell. The low-ranking demonic humans who were together with the monsters screamed as they also began running towards them. Baaaang! The moment Garad and Ga?l collided, a loud sound reverberated. To be exact, it was the sound of Garad¡¯s huge fist breaking the ground. Twaaaaak! Like the wind, Ga?l evaded Garad¡¯s attack as his sword glowed blue and violently struck. His sharp sword broke apart the shell on Garad¡¯s waist. ¡°Gaah!¡± Garad was flustered by Ga?l¡¯s attack, which was more powerful than he expected. But his body was already too close for him to step back. So he swung his fist again and ordered his subordinates. ¡°Kill the woman!¡± This was to distract Ga?l. It was a reasonablemand. But even at the moment Garad shouted, Ga?l did not look back at Adelia. Because he believed in her. No, he just knew. Adelia¡¯s power. Her strength. Boom! Boom! Boom! Lightning struck. The powerful lightning that was created from Adelia¡¯s specialty, High-Speed Incantation, hit the low-ranking demonic humans who were charging at them. It didn¡¯t end with one shot as it spread around as if bouncing. . Even within the Royal Guard Magic Corps, she was called the ¡®sh¡¯ because her spell chanting was three times the normal speed. In addition, theposition of her magic and its precision did not significantly drop despite her fast incantation. ¡°Aaaaaah!¡± As the lightning bounced, the low-ranking demonic humans who were trapped in the hellish lightning chain screamed and rolled over the floor, but this was only the beginning. ¡°These scumbags!¡± Adelia cursed and chanted a new spell again. The sight of her eyes glistening as she released attack magic with the white snow on the background was like the battle angel Sri who descended into this world. Boom! Boom! Boom! Adelia did not show them any mercy. Or rather, she cornered the enemies with excessive power more than what she usually used. Because she was angry. ¡®Of all times! Of all times! Of all times!¡¯ It was at that moment! ¡®It was my first time!¡¯ No, it was going to be my first time! The situation that happened just a dozen seconds ago came to Adelia¡¯s mind. No, even a few seconds before that too, the knowledge she remembered and the numerous stories she listened to but pretended not to be interested in¡­ ¡°Burn! Be ripped apart! Copse!¡± Adelia cast three different spells in session. . . . Even within the Royal Guard Magic Corps that boasted of their history and tradition, Adelia was called a genius as her skill in consecutive casting made her the youngestmander in history. ¡°Kaaaaaah!¡± ¡°Aaack!¡± The low-ranking demonic humans were ughtered one-by-one before they could do anything, and Garad was in a panic. ¡®They¡¯re too strong!¡¯ He guessed that they were strong because all the demonic humans who were dispatched to the east were at least mid-ranking ones or higher, but the two were too strong. Furthermore, it wasn¡¯t just the wizard. The man in front of him was also not an ordinary knight. aaash! A sharp wind blew. Ga?l became the wind, and at the same time, he controlled the wind. It was impossible for Garad¡¯s wild and crude attacks to even graze Ga?l. ¡°Gaaa!¡± In the end, Garad bellowed as he kicked the ground with all his power. At the same time he gained distance from Ga?l through force, he threw up the re that was on his waist. Boom! Boom! Red lights exploded in the air. It was an action that might expose all of the troops in the detour route, but he couldn¡¯t help it. ¡®We were supposed to gather in the first ce!¡¯ Seven troops from the west were dispatched to infiltrate the east. Since their starting points were different from each other, they had nned to gather around this area eventually. ¡®In other words, the other should be around here too!¡¯ Garad frankly admitted it. The couple in front of him were not at a level that he could handle alone. He now understood why the demonic humans, who had been dispatched to the west, died without making any significant achievements. So he shouldn¡¯t be uselessly greedy. He had to focus on holding on until the other demonic humanse! ¡°Ouuuuuu!!¡± Garad unleashed his power. He focused on enduring Ga?l¡¯s attacks. His judgment was correct. Garad¡¯s n wasn¡¯t wrong. But, nevertheless. ¡®Why aren¡¯t theying!¡¯ It seemed like some time had passed since the re was fired, but no one had showed up. At the very least, they should have contacted him when they saw the signal, but they didn¡¯t evene. Why? Why the hell are they noting? No way, are they trying to get rid of me? So they saw the signal but chose to ignore it? ¡®No! No way!¡¯ It doesn¡¯t make sense. How did the other troops know about my situation yet still do something like this! ¡®Come on! Please! Quickly!¡¯ As he desperately prayed, Garad confronted Ga?l. But it was already hopeless. Having eliminated all the low-ranking demonic humans, Adelia approached with a turbulent power, and Ga?l¡¯s sword became increasingly sharper. And it finally came to an end. ¡°Uuggh¡­.¡± The proud giant¡¯s arms were cut off, and Ga?l¡¯s sword stabbed Garad¡¯s chest. The tip of the swift sword let out an explosion as it broke the hard shell on his chest and turned Garad¡¯s body into a mess. Booom-! Garad stepped back in the aftermath of the explosion before he copsed while vomiting blood. He eventually stopped moving. Starting from his toes, his body turned into ck ash before he finally disappeared. ¡°Haa.¡± Ga?l exhaled as he clenched his sword and looked up the sky. The light of the re that Garad shot had vanished, but the two continued to remain alert. ¡®There must be reinforcements.¡¯ Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t even fire a re. But for some reason, the reinforcements did not appear. Adelia was also worried like him, so she closed her eyes and used magic. However, she found no one. ¡°I think it¡¯s okay. There are no enemies within at least 200 meters around us.¡± At Adelia¡¯s words, Ga?l exhaled again and sheathed his sword. He suddenly asked Adelia. ¡°Any injuries¡­?¡± ¡°Is that even possible?¡± Adelia shrugged and thenughed, and Ga?lughed too. Even though she defeated eight low-ranking demonic humans who wildly ran like beasts, not even a single fingertip of hers was hurt. ¡°The tent¡­ I don¡¯t think we can use it anymore.¡± ¡°Ueueu¡­¡± Adelia was visibly disappointed by Ga?l¡¯s words. But they were quite fortunate. In one to two days from now, they would be able to reach Thunderdoom Fortress, the nest of the Jackdaws. ¡°It¡¯s a good thing you didn¡¯t get hurt.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Adelia drooped her shoulders but still smiled, and Ga?l quickly approached Adelia. ¡°Lord Ga?l?¡± When Adelia asked as her eyes blinked, Ga?l smiled again and said. ¡°Will you excuse me for a moment?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± At Adelia¡¯s question, Ga?l lowered his gaze and she understood it then. Because both of them were barefoot. ¡°That¡­¡± ¡°Yes.¡± When Adelia gave her permission, Ga?l acted like a member of the Bayer family, or to be exact, he acted like his brother Jude. He so naturally carried Adelia in his arms. In fact, there was no need for him to do this. There was also a way in which Adelia would just stand as he picked up her shoes. No, Adelia could use magic in the first ce. But Ga?l didn¡¯t do that, and Adelia was satisfied. She wanted to curl up her body while in the arms of Ga?l, but she soon moved her body and met his eyes again. In that position. Her heart was pounding. The adrenaline that was released because of the battle led to new chemical reactions. In that few seconds. When the two let out their breaths at each other. Bang! There was a roar in the air. Ga?l and Adelia reflexively looked, and they soon saw it. A man stood in the air as his red cloak fluttered. The one who ughtered all the mid-ranking demonic humans who were dispatched from the west to the east, except for Garad. When he saw the re, he flew in a hurry but spotted Ga?l and Adelia. The two who were hugging each other flinched and turned around for a moment. He awkwardly looked around as if he didn¡¯t see the two before he flew away to another ce. And a few secondster. Ga?l and Adelia¡¯s voices simultaneously flowed out. ¡°Co¡­unt?¡± ¡°Dad?¡± Count Chase, one of the Northern Sagang (Four Rivers) and the Tower Master of the Red Dawn Tower. The reason why he suddenly went away after seeing the two. Ga?l and Adelia understood it at the same time. Both of them blushed, and Ga?l cleared his throat. ¡°Ahem, ahem, let¡¯s get our shoes first.¡± He felt apologetic (?) to Count Chase who avoided their ce because the atmosphere had already been broken. Adelia frowned at Ga?l¡¯s words, and soon made a decision. Because she thought that a moment like this wouldn¡¯t always happen. ¡°Lord Ga?l.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± That was it. Adelia hugged Ga?l¡¯s neck and moved her upper body. She drew her face closer to Ga?l, and bravely acted again. Adelia¡¯s lips touched Ga?l¡¯s cheeks. ¡®Ueueu.¡¯ This was not her original n, but it was impossible for her to push it further. The atmosphere had already been broken. She felt like she would die of embarrassment. Adelia blushed as her eyes remained close, and ironically, Adelia¡¯s action and appearance created a strange atmosphere again. The atmosphere was quite different from the tent, and was funny in some way, but it was enough to move Ga?l. ¡°Adelia.¡± He moved after he called her in a low voice. On the white snowfield, the figures of the two ovepped into one. And far away¡­ No, not that far, but just the right distance. Count Chase hid behind arge rock and held his breath. He looked at the expansion bag after unlocking it with magic and thought while stroking it slowly. ¡®I did a good job in preparing.¡¯ For a possible situation. Otherwise, it would have been pretty difficult for him now. Count Chase praised himself for his readiness and closed his eyes for a moment as he waited. He actually had a lot of questions. The reason why the two crossed the border. The whereabouts of Jude and Cordelia. But now was the time to be patient. ¡®I also have to write a letter to my friend, Count Bayer.¡¯ Count Chase lightly stroked his chin and gently smiled. He thought of the new things he had to prepare. *** At the same time, in the Sky Roof mountain range. Jude and Cordelia flinched and opened their eyes at the same time. The ship has sailed!!! Chapter 109: Encounter (3)

Chapter 109: Encounter (3)

While tranting this chapter, I finally figured out that Jude had indeed transformed into a wolf. Whether he turned into a wolf or a werewolf still remains a question. More sweet moments at thetter half of this chapter. ???? At the same time, in the Sky Roof mountain range. Jude and Cordelia flinched and opened their eyes at the same time. They heard a voice along the sound of the wind. ¡°Did you hear that?¡± Cordelia said in a hushed whisper and Jude slowly nodded. He then said in a low voice as if to confirm. ¡°Is someone¡­there?¡± ¡°Uh.¡± Cordelia replied to Jude with a nervous face. Or rather, it was more of a slightly frightened face than a nervous one. And at that very moment¡­ ¡°Are you there? You¡¯re in there, right?¡± They heard the voice again. The sad and faint voice of a woman traveled along the harsh wind as if it was being swept away by the wind. ¡°What, what. What was that?¡± Cordelia hugged Jude and quickly spoke. Her face was stricken with fear. ¡°Cordelia? Are you okay?¡± ¡°I-isn¡¯t that a ghost? There¡¯s no one here but us.¡± They were in and where not only humans, but also wild gods did not live in. A woman¡¯s voice came from such a ce. It was also heard together with the wind that sounded eerie. ¡®Her words are also strange!¡¯ Are you there? You¡¯re in there, right? That pattern only appears in scary stories, right? ¡°Eueueu¡­¡± Cordelia seriously didn¡¯t like scary stories. There was always one child in ss who would try to cover their ears and not listen to people telling scary stories in ces like retreats, and Cordelia was such a case. ¡®I keep thinking about it!¡¯ When she went to the bathroom at night. When she took the elevator alone at night. When she walked alone at night. ¡°Are you¡­there? Can you¡­hear my voice?¡± The voice got closer. But the closer it got, the more they realized that it was not the voice of a human. The voice seemed to be torn by the wind. It had a slow yet spooky tone that was a bit different from that of an ordinary woman. ¡°Hiik.¡± Cordelia became even more frightened as she firmly shut her eyes and tightly hugged Jude. And Jude thought to himself. ¡®You¡¯re cuter when you¡¯re scared.¡¯ How can she be so pretty and cute? But now was not the time to rx and appreciate it. He would always wee Cordelia hugging him, but if she kept hugging him tightly, his waist and back might be broken. Cordelia was weaker than Jude, but her physical abilities were far more superior than the average adult male because of her high level. ¡°Cordelia, are you scared of ghosts?¡± At his question, Cordelia flinched and with a face that was about to cry, she red ¨C no, she stared at him. ¡®What? You¡¯re not scared then?¡¯ It¡¯s a ghost, okay? Jude understood what she meant through the look of her eyes like usual, so he said with a smile while still having the face of a wolf. ¡°No, because it¡¯s this world. Even if ghosts appeared, we could just eradicate it, right? With sacred battle aura or magic.¡± Because it was this kind of world. Jude demoted the existences of ghosts and supernatural phenomena to just your ordinary monster A, and Cordelia blinked her eyes. And replied in a small voice. ¡°Is that so?¡± ¡°Yes, it is.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. Most problems can be solved with an explosion.¡± If you blow up a ghost, it will die! ¡°Umm¡­that didn¡¯t sound right, but let¡¯s think about thatter.¡± Because it was more important that Cordelia had recovered. Although Cordelia¡¯s blue eyes seemed to have a slightly dangerous glint, Jude was satisfied that she somehow brightened up, so he turned his gaze towards the tent¡¯s entrance. ¡°Please answer me.. Is there¡­anyone there?¡± They heard the voice again. The voice was near the tent, so it was quite clear. ¡°Let¡¯s go out for now. It¡¯s disadvantageous for us inside.¡± The two were inside a crack of a rock face that they had forcibly expanded. In that ce, it would be hard for them to properly evade, escape, or attack. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go outside.¡± Cordelia seemed to be scared again judging by her voice, but she answered with a much better face than before as she let go of Jude whom she had tightly hugged with her arms. ¡°Human form.¡± Jude said in a low voice and the transformation was undone. After taking off the ck Wolf Skin, Jude carried Cordelia on his back with the help of a podaegi. ¡°Wear the wolf skin over you.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± They had originally searched for a resting ce due to her mana being depleted, so she was stillcking in mana. She couldn¡¯t used magic, so the only way to keep her body warm was by using the wolf skin. ¡°What about you, Jude?¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. Because I have Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors.¡± As Jude grinned and said that, Cordelia blinked her eyes before she smiled. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°No, I just thought that you had changed. It seemed like yesterday when you pretended to be this and that while using your Gueumjulmaek as an excuse. This older sister is touched.¡± ¡°Haven¡¯t I been good at fulfilling my promises?¡± He promised that he would carry her when his Gueumjulmaek gets better, and now, he had been carrying her almost every day. ¡°Yes, yes, good job. My Jude kept his promises well. This older sister greatlypliments you.¡± Cordelia pulled her hand out from the podaegi and patted Jude on the head, making Jude smile again. And at that moment¡­ ¡°Please¡­answer me. Please¡­answer if¡­you¡¯re¡­there¡­¡± Maybe it was because of the atmosphere between the two, but the voice sounded a little irritated. It sounded like a cry to stop their public disys of affection ande out quickly. ¡°Well then, let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Yes, yes.¡± Cordelia ced her hands inside the podaegi again and gulped in nervousness, while Jude carefully opened the entrance of the tent. To prepare for any possible attack, he jumped up to the ground while sharpening his senses. Tswaak! Jude rose more then 5 meters from the tent. He surveyed the area around them, and Cordelia then said. ¡°There!¡± It was near the rock face where the two were in. There was a figure of a woman, who was either a ghost or just translucent, that was swaying feebly in the blowing wind. ¡®She¡¯s not a wild god.¡¯ No matter what anyone said, Jude and Cordelia were the official guardians of the wildnds. If it was a wild god under the authority of the Golden Dragon King, the wild god would have recognized them. But the woman didn¡¯t. If so, what was she? Was she really a ghost? If not- ¡°Spirit.¡± At the moment Cordelia spoke, the woman looked up and stared at Jude. Her face with well-defined features were definitely beautiful, but they could see at a nce that she wasn¡¯t human. Despite being out in the biting cold, the woman was naked without a single piece of clothing on her, and there was no white in her eyes. The entirety of her eyes only had one color. ¡®Snow spirit?¡¯ Or is it a wind spirit? Instead ofunching an attack, Jude approached the woman, and the woman with long white hair spoke again along with the wind. ¡°As expected¡­there were people. I¡¯ve been waiting¡­for a long time. I kept¡­waiting. For someone¡­toe¡­¡± Jude frowned at the woman¡¯s words. Even if the woman in front of them was a spirit, he wondered how she found the two of them. And he wondered what she meant about waiting. ¡°Ah! I understand!¡± He heard Cordelia¡¯s voice behind his back just then. Having been covered by the wolf skin, Cordelia nodded to herself and continued her words. ¡°Phoenix¡¯s feather.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± Jude also understood it now. A by-product they obtained during the time they defeated the Phoenix. He had forgotten about it for a while after he put it on Cordelia¡¯s head, but Cordelia had kept and treasured it. ¡®It¡¯s the power of a strong spirit¡­so she recognized it.¡¯ Moreover, if the woman was indeed a snow or wind spirit, she would be the opposite of the Phoenix, a me spirit. For the woman, the Phoenix¡¯s feather would have been clearly visible to her as if it was a fragment of light in the darkness. ¡®But that¡¯s why it¡¯s strange.¡¯ The woman and the Phoenix were opposite existences, so why did shee here? She must have needed something if she had waited and searched for people to talk to. ¡°Come this way,e this way. Before the harsh¡­winter coldes.¡± The woman took a step closer and beckoned to them with her hand. Jude reflexively took a step back as his eyes narrowed. The harsh winter cold. A woman who beckons you to go somewhere. ¡°Let¡¯s follow her.¡± ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°We can¡¯t ignore her anyway. And we also got a quest, so we have to check it out first.¡± At her answer that was typical of a rotten water, Jude frowned but he was soon convinced. He might have said that he had Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, but the coldness in the Sky Roof mountain range was indeed murderous. If they continued to stay outside, the two of them would seriously suffer. ¡°We¡¯lle with you. Please guide us.¡± Jude politely spoke after he retrieved the Cozy 1-pyeong, and the spirit woman smiled and turned around. ¡°Follow me.¡± The woman began moving, and Jude ran after her. And Cordelia said in a small voice. ¡°Don¡¯t give it weird looks. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Hmm, could she be feeling jealous? I hope so. After he thought that, Jude smiled a little as he looked forward again, focusing his gaze on the back of the woman¡¯s head. And around 5 minutester¡­ Whether she had thought that Jude was able to move fast, or she simply just had no idea, the woman who was moving at a fairly high speed stopped in front of arge natural cave. ¡°We¡¯re¡­here. Come¡­inside.¡± The woman who had just been talking had then dispersed in the wind. It was as if she was a fading me. ¡°Ju-Jude.¡± ¡°I think we¡¯re almost there. Just hang in there.¡± It had only been around five minutes, but Cordelia¡¯s voice sounded so weak as if she had lost most of her body warmth. Jude hurriedly entered the cave, and at that moment, he widely opened his eyes. The cave had an open entrance, but the temperature changed as soon as he entered the ce. ¡®It¡¯s warm?¡¯ Jude was bewildered for a moment, but he soon calmed himself down. The important thing was that the coldness was gone. ¡°Are you okay, Cordelia?¡± ¡°Yeees¡­I¡¯m okay. What about you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m strong.¡± Jude deliberately answered with some exaggeration before he looked around again. The cave was quite spacious, but he could tell that it was a man-made structure. ¡®Did they erge a natural cave?¡¯ Something like the underground city of the dwarves. ¡°This way¡­please.¡± They heard the woman speaking again. She was in front of a structure in the innermost part of the cave. ¡°No matter how much I look at it, that¡¯s an elevator¡­right?¡± At Jude¡¯s question, Cordelia barely opened her eyes and then nodded her head. ¡°I think so.¡± It was arge cylindrical structure with double doors. And it would lead one to the underground. Though Jude and Cordelia had the Winter Protection, they were still worried about dying from the cold, yet there were people who could build such a structure of this size in this ce¡­ ¡®Magen?¡¯ The magic kingdom founded by the ancient elves. Perhaps one of their cities was hidden beneath the Sky Roof mountain range. ¡°Come¡­quickly¡­¡± Jude nodded at the woman¡¯s urging and continued to walk after fixing the podaegi. ***Ga?l and Adelia stared at each other. Ga?l was clearly carrying Adelia in the beginning, but it was different now. The fact that they were hugging each other was the same, but the two were facing each other. He held and supported Adelia¡¯s back and waist with one hand while Adelia ced her hands on her chest and exhaled. The two were so close to each other. Ga?l caressed Adelia¡¯s cheek with his left hand, and Adelia took a deep breath again. She gazed at him with dreamy eyes and said. ¡°One, one more time.¡± Ga?l was embarrassed for a moment, but he soon smiled. And like that, he kissed Adelia on the lips again. It was unbelievable that a man near his thirties and a woman in her mid-twenties was inexperienced in kissing, as they only kissed on the lips, but that was enough for them. The distance from their lips widened again. As the two withdrew their faces, Adelia thought. It was little different from what she read in storybooks. It was different from Samantha¡¯s story which she intently listened to while pretending not to listen. She had heard that there was a thrilling and tingling sensation, but there was nothing like that. Even when they put their lips together, she didn¡¯t feel any of those sensations. However, it was a really strange feeling. She could only describe it as really strange and mysterious. She felt like strangely smiling. The blushing Adelia squirmed her lips, and Ga?l caressed her cheek. And drew their lips together again. ¡®The third time.¡¯ Adelia¡¯s face reddened again as she flinched but did not avoid it. She then slightly opened her lips. But that was it. Ga?l slowly withdrew his lips. Adelia opened her eyes with regret, but she couldn¡¯t help it. ¡°Father.¡± Ga?l called him ¡®father¡¯ instead of ¡®Count.¡¯ It was a subtle change in address, but Adelia came to her senses when she heard it. She then asked in a very low voice. ¡°Is he watching?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like that¡­but I think he¡¯s considering when he shoulde out.¡± Having reached the level of a master, Ga?l could tell. No, he just knew with his imagination. The sight of Count Chase hiding behind a rock and flinching while thinking about whether toe out or not. ¡°Ueueue.¡± Adelia covered her face with both hands and let out a groan. Because she thought of it again. The fact that she had kissed him on the cheeks first, or that she asked him to do it again. Add to that was her embarrassment. ¡®Dad!¡¯ She didn¡¯t do anything wrong on purpose, but Count Chase must have felt bitter while watching. Ga?l then drew his face close to Adelia¡¯s ear. It was to leave something that must be said before they faced Count Chase. ¡°Adelia.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°I love you.¡± Adelia¡¯s heart stopped at his simple words. No, her heart began thumping like crazy. ¡°Me-me¡­me too¡­¡± I love you. Herst words were so small that she didn¡¯t even know if she really said it or not, but that was enough. Ga?l tightly held Adelia again and took a deep breath. Adelia¡¯s face was so obviously red, but Ga?l¡¯s face was also burning red. ¡®I really admire those two.¡¯ Jude and Cordelia. How could they say such words openly? Cordelia would writhe in embarrassment after saying those words, while Jude would say it was as nned whileughing evilly. But Ga?l cleared his thoughts as he let down Adelia before he shouted. ¡°Count Chase! This is Ga?l! Lady Adelia is with me!¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem!¡± A cough returned in response to his loud call. Count Chase came out from behind the rock after a while, looked around as if he was looking for the whereabouts of the voice, and then widely opened his eyes as if he spotted Ga?l. ¡°It¡¯s a coincidence.¡± He said with his usual stern face. As if he had just arrived. ¡®Ah, please. Dad, please, Dad, don¡¯t do it.¡¯ While Adelia was mentally screaming, Ga?l just had a kind smile and stepped forward. He was still hugging Adelia on the waist with one arm. ¡°Ahem.¡± And Count Chase looked at Ga?l and squinted his eyes. Instead of asking what happened, who did they fought, were they injured and so on ¨C things that were asked in normal situations, Count Chase said somethingpletely different. ¡°You¡¯ve be weak since Ist saw you.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± When Ga?l widely opened his eyes at the unexpected remark, Adelia covered her face with both of her hands, and Count Chase tried to hide his warm smile. He lifted up the space expansion bag that was filled with bags and then said. ¡°I got it by chance on the way here. Take it.¡± He then opened the bag. After taking out a bag from the space expansion bag, which anyone could tell was carefully packed inside, he then held it out to Ga?l. ¡°It¡¯s nothing much.¡± ¡°Eh¡­yes. Thank you¡­very much.¡± ¡®Dad¡­please¡­¡¯ Ga?l awkwardly spoke, and Adelia immediately spoke in her mind. Count Chase closed the bag as he mentally restrained himself, and then made a stern expression again. ¡°What happened?¡± An ambiguous question that might vary ording to one¡¯s interpretation. Ga?l and Adelia looked back at each other and had a conversation with their eyes, though they were not skilled with it. ¡®I¡¯ll do it.¡¯ ¡®Yes, I¡¯ll do it.¡¯ ¡®Leave it to me.¡¯ ¡®Trust in me.¡¯ Was a conversation with their eyes still not possible? The twopletely misunderstood each other as they smiled and turned to Count Chase. They then opened their mouths at the same time. Chapter 110: Snow Queen (1)

Chapter 110: Snow Queen (1)

¡°Wow.¡± When the elevator they were riding on reached the underground¡­ Cordelia¡¯s eyes widely opened in awe, while Jude also had a bit of an amazed expression. ¡®I¡¯m certain this is the ruins of Magen, the magic kingdom.¡¯ The fact that there were several buildings built inside arge cavity, which seemed to be about a dozen meters high from the ceiling to the ground,pletely reminded them of Endymion. To be more urate, it could be called a mini-Endymion. If Endymion was a city, the sight that spread out before their eyes could be called a small town. ¡°It¡¯s the elves.¡± Cordelia said as she pointed to one side, and Jude nodded. As she had said, lined up on the wall were stone statues of beings who had long ears, a trait unique to the elves. ¡®The High Elves of Magen.¡¯ There were several simr statues in Endymion, but because of the very urgent situation then, they didn¡¯t pay it much attention. ¡®Was this structure built at the same time as Endymion?¡¯ If Kan had been here, he would have looked around in excitement. He would have also answered Jude¡¯s question. Unfortunately, Kan was far away, and Jude had no archeological knowledge to guess the time period of the ruins. ¡®But there¡¯s a clue.¡¯ As Jude looked back at the translucent woman, Cordelia suddenly poked his side. ¡®Ah, right.¡¯ Don¡¯t give it weird looks. Because the woman was actually naked. However, her hair was very long that it covered everything that needed to be covered. ¡®Umm.¡¯ For a moment, Jude contemted where he was going to look at the woman. The woman then opened her mouth and spoke. ¡°My¡­masters. Are¡­no longer¡­here. They¡­left¡­this ce.¡± Her gloomy voice made it seem like she would burst into tears at any moment. ¡°I missed¡­them, but I couldn¡¯t see them¡­¡± The woman¡¯s shoulders eventually fell, and she began to sniff. Cordelia then patted Jude¡¯s back. She was telling him that she wanted to get off his back. ¡°Wait a second.¡± Jude quickly untied the podaegi, and Cordelia got off his back and approached the woman. ¡°Are you all right?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not okay. But I can¡¯t¡­do much about it.¡± She was like a child. The woman spoke honestly and met eyes with Cordelia who felt sorry for her. ¡°Pretty. More than¡­my masters.¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­thank you. Hehe.¡± Cordelia softlyughed and the woman also had a small smile before she turned around again and said. ¡°If you go¡­to the center¡­it bes¡­clearer.¡± What do you mean by clearer? Cordelia tilted her head, but Jude seemed to understand what she meant. Because the figure of the translucent woman had be a bit clearer than before they came down to the underground. ¡®Her voice also has a little more presence now.¡¯ Perhaps when they reach the center, her thinking abilities would improve. ¡°What, what is it? Why am I the only one who didn¡¯t get it? Please exin it to me.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s that. As I had thought, Cordelia is very pretty. More than the high elves.¡± ¡°Hmph, of course I am. I¡¯m Cordelia, okay?¡± Cordelia shrugged as if to brag, but her face quickly turned red. After all, she was Cordelia herself. And that was why she was embarrassed. ¡®Because it¡¯s not transmigration.¡¯ It was reincarnation. Her awareness that she had be Cordelia herself had grown stronger than before. ¡°What are you embarrassed about? It is true.¡± ¡°Eueueu.¡± Cordelia blushed even more at Jude¡¯s words, and she turned around to hide her embarrassment. Jude then said as he stepped forward. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s follow her. She has already gone quite far.¡± ¡°Come¡­quickly¡­¡± The woman urged them at that perfect moment, and Cordelia also quickly moved. ¡°Here¡­this way¡­¡± She headed for the center after saying that, and about 30 meters ahead of them, arge cylindrical structure that was like an elevator appeared again. ¡°Ride¡­down¡­on this¡­¡± Another way down to the center. Jude and Cordelia reached the elevator and got on it right away. And around tens of seconds or so¡­ The elevator stopped after descending more than a dozen meters. ¡°Don¡¯t be surprised. It won¡¯t harm you.¡± At the moment they heard her voice, Jude and Cordelia were astonished when they saw the woman. Her figure no longer looked stretched or blurred. Her voice was also clear. In addition, even her appearance was different. She was still translucent, but unlike before, the woman was now wearing clothes that looked like a pure white racing suit. ¡°I¡¯ll open the door.¡± The elevator door opened when the woman moved her hand as she smiled at the gazes of the two, and Jude and Cordelia immediately understood why she told them not to be surprised. ¡°Wow.¡± ¡°Dragon vein.¡± As soon as the door opened, a faint golden light poured in. On the other side of the underground cavity was a flowing golden stream on where the wall should be. ¡°Is this the dragon vein?¡± They had seen the dragon vein several times, but the viewpoint was different. They had looked down at the flowing dragon vein from above. But it was different now. They were in the dragon vein itself. They weren¡¯t looking down from above nor looking at it from the outside. ¡°Aquarium¡­no, is it more like an underwater hotel?¡± It was a structure submerged in the dragon vein and was surrounded by ss walls. ¡°My masters built this facility in the dragon vein.¡± The woman spoke with a small smile and stepped out of the elevator. Cordelia hesitated for a while before going out of the elevator. ¡°Pretty.¡± It wasn¡¯t just gold. Multiple colored lights circted in the flowing dragon vein. The brightness and intensity of each color changed depending on the flow, and white light appeared here and there, making it look like the sparkling of stars. ¡°I¡¯m telling you in advance, but no explosions.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t do it.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t blow it up.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t.¡± Cordelia puffed her cheeks, but only for a while. She suddenly pped her hands and looked back at Jude. ¡°But, but Jude. Wouldn¡¯t exploding the dragon vein make it easier to cross the Sky Roof mountain range?¡± Half of it would disappear like Violent Avnche¡¯s rocky mountain. At Cordelia¡¯s innocent idea, Jude flinched and said. ¡°N-no way. You demon. You can¡¯t.¡± What would happen if half of the Sky Roof mountain range got blown up? A literal catastrophe. An enormous catastrophe. ¡°But no one lives here anyway. There are no animals.¡± It would be a mess, but nobody would die, right? Jude froze for a moment at Cordelia¡¯s words, and soon shook his head. ¡°No, what are you talking about? You know what will happen if half of this mountain range explodes, right?¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± ¡°That¡¯s how it is. So let¡¯s not do it. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Okay, okay. It was a joke anyway.¡± Cordelia giggled and turned around again, while Jude stared at her with anxious eyes. The woman then said. ¡°This way.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± As Cordelia ran, Jude also headed towards the woman. There was arge cylindrical pir in the center of cavity. Drawn all over the white pir were multiple thin ck lines, which was some sort of magic circle. ¡°What is this?¡± At Cordelia¡¯s question, the woman slightly smiled and then took a deep breath. ¡°I¡¯ll start by greeting you. My name is Melissa. I am the artificial spirit who is in charge of the management of this facility.¡± The woman, Melissa, politely introduced herself, and the two also introduced themselves. ¡°I am Jude Bayer.¡± ¡°I am Cordelia Chase.¡± An artificial spirit. Beings who were artificially created and did not exist in nature. ¡°I am a spirit that was created for the management of the entire facility, so it bes difficult for me to maintain my form if I move away from the center.¡± ¡°Ah, is that so.¡± Melissa couldn¡¯t speak well and didn¡¯t even materialize any clothes when they met her outside the facility. Cordelia nodded in understanding, and Melissa continued to speak. ¡°As you can see, this facility is located inside the dragon vein. It was done so that the power of the dragon vein could be directly used.¡± They could understand to that extent just by looking. What mattered to Jude was what the heck were they using the power of the dragon vein for. Jude narrowed hie eyes and began to be troubled, but Cordelia just asked Melissa with an innocent face. ¡°What kind of facility is this?¡± It was incredibly straightforward question, but it was effective. ¡°This is a facility to create a ruler of spirits.¡± ¡°A ruler¡­of spirits?¡± ¡°Yes, to be precise, it¡¯s an artificial ruler of spirits.¡± Melissa took a deep breath and exined with her arms wide open. ¡°My masters had done a lot of research to fight against the overlord of hell. Among those was a n to create a new artificial god created by elves ¨C a being that would be capable of directly fighting the overlord.¡± The Melissa in front of them proved it, because the technology of Magen even created artificial spirits who were capable of thinking on the same level as humans. It was obviously impossible to create a real god-like existence, but it was different situation for the ruler of spirits. ¡°This facility was built as part of the n for the ruler of spirits. The dragon vein supplied the enormous amount of power that is needed to create the ruler of spirits.¡± Having spoken so far, Melissa paused for a moment before slightly moving her hand. Images of light appeared in the air then. ¡°It was unfortunate, but to begin with, the creation of the ruler of spirits failed. What was created was just a crystal of powerful energy and not a proper spirit.¡± In the video, a mass of blue light and the disappointed looks of the high elves appeared one after another. ¡°But my masters decided to wait instead of scrapping the facility. They did not disregard the possibility that a ruler of spirits would be born if enough time passed.¡± The high elves leaving the facility and Melissa seeing them off appeared in the video. ¡°I was created to manage the facility while my masters were away, and I had been doing my job up to now.¡± Melissa¡¯s eyes were filled with pride and self-confidence, but only for a moment. ¡°One day, I couldn¡¯t get in touch with my masters. The signals in the surrounding facilities that were also in good working conditions were cut off¡­ and not long ago, the signal of Endymion also disappeared.¡± The capital, Endymion. Cordelia flinched at that moment and turned to Jude, who nodded his head. It was obvious why Endymion¡¯s signal was cut off, but they did not know about the other ces. ¡°Cordelia? Are you feeling ufortable?¡± ¡°N-no! It¡¯s nothing!¡± Cordelia automatically denied it and shut her mouth in a hurry. Jude then moved forward and changed the topic. ¡°By the way, Melissa.¡± ¡°Yes, Jude.¡± ¡°Why did you call us here?¡± Magen¡¯s high elves tried to create a ruler of spirits to confront the overlord of hell, and it was apparent that this facility was part of the n. But for what reason did Melissa bring the two here? ¡°I need your help.¡± Melissa immediately answered and the video changed again. There was a space withplex magic circles engraved on the floor as well as the walls and ceiling. A circr sphere wrapped in blue light was in the pir at the center. ¡°That sphere is the ruler of spirits, who is also known as the Snow Queen, and is currently in this facility. It is located below the ce where we are standing.¡± At that point, Jude roughly understood why she called them. ¡°You have a specific problem.¡± ¡°Yes, because too much time had passed. The flow of the dragon vein has changed from before, and as a result, the stability of the facility is getting worse day by day. If it continues like this, the bnce will eventually copse¡­and in the worst case, the power of the Snow Queen may run out of control.¡± The Snow Queen had absorbed the power of the dragon vein for at least, hundreds of years. The umted power in it was indeed beyond one¡¯s imagination. But the problem wasn¡¯t just the runaway. It was the ce where the Snow Queen was located. If something went wrong, the dragon vein could explode, and the entire Sky Roof mountain range could disappear. ¡°Wow.¡± There was a possibility that the words Cordelia had said as a joke would be true. ¡°It¡¯s not just a normal problem if it really happened. There will be a great catastrophe. However, I hadn¡¯t been in contact with my masters for hundreds of years, and the signals from the nearby facilities continue to be cut off¡­so with a worried thought, I went out to look for help, but there was no one! I became stupid when I moved away from the center!¡± Melissa¡¯s voice grew louder. She must have been frustrated. ¡°But you two appeared. You were my only hope.¡± Cordelia asked Melissa, who was about to burst into tears at any moment. ¡°How many years¡­were you in the mountain¡­?¡± ¡°37 years, 9 months, 12 days, 8 hours, and 21 minutes.¡± ¡°That¡¯s worth crying about.¡± That meant that for nearly 40 years, she had been wandering in the Sky Roof mountain range where no one went to. But Jude was focused on something else. ¡°It¡¯s been nearly 40 years since the danger warning?¡± ¡°Yes, so it¡¯s really dangerous now. Frankly, it wouldn¡¯t be strange if a problem arises at any moment.¡± Today or tomorrow. Perhaps right now. Jude unconsciously gulped in nervousness as he turned to Cordelia. Although the two had yed the game, the Sky Roof mountain range was an off-limits area. Just like Melissa, neither of the two had any information if the Sky Roof mountain range would explode, or when it would happen if it did. ¡°What should we do?¡± ¡°You just need to separate the Snow Queen from the pir. I couldn¡¯t do it because I have no substance.¡± Melissa had now begun to cry. Her sadness seemed to have burst out as she spoke. ¡°D-don¡¯t cry. We will help you.¡± Cordelia reached out to soothe Melissa with the method she used to soothe Red Wind, but Melissa truly had no substance. Rather than being able to hug her, her hand just passed, and Melissa cried louder. ¡°Huhuhu¡­why was I made like this!¡± ¡°Ca-calm down.¡± Cordelia pretended to hug Melissa as if she was a mime, and Melissa pretended to lean on Cordelia¡¯s arms. And Jude waited for the two before saying. ¡°We just need to remove the crystal?¡± It was this kind of facility. It was clear that besides Melissa, there would be some defense mechanisms. ¡®Perhaps a guardian or something.¡¯ A guardian of a treasure. A knight of steel who would protect the Snow Queen. And it was as Jude expected. The sobbing Melissa moved her fingers and showed a new video. ¡°It has a guardian. It can be neutralized if we had my masters¡¯ crest, but they haven¡¯t arrived or contacted me¡­huhuhu.¡± In short, the two had to forcefully get it. Therefore, Jude looked at the Guardian in the video once again. A giant white being was crouched down in front of the pir. It had a dragon¡¯s head and a tiger¡¯s body. But it looked familiar to him. And it wasn¡¯t just Jude. ¡®Yvaska.¡¯ Cordelia gulped her saliva and spoke with her eyes, and Jude nodded his head. Light Dragon Yvaska. A mighty monster that appeared in the middle of Legend of Heroes 2. One of the seven major cmities. If horns and wings were added to that guardian and it grew several times in size, it would be the Yvaska in the cmity. And that was why Jude and Cordelia understood it. ¡®As Melissa had thought. There¡¯s a problem with the sphere.¡¯ ¡®The Snow Queen would merge with the guardian during that time?¡¯ ¡®Perhaps.¡¯ Light Dragon Yvaska was born at that time. It depended on which character was yed, but in the end, the mighty monster killed either Red Wind or Kirara, or even both. ¡®We have to defeat it here.¡¯ Before it became Yvaska. Before the Snow Queen¡¯s sphere ran out of control. ¡°Will you help me?¡± When Melissa asked as she cried, Jude and Cordelia nodded. Even if it wasn¡¯t Melissa¡¯s request, it was a problem that must be taken care of. But- ¡°By the way, Melissa.¡± ¡°Yes, Jude.¡± ¡°Do you have a stockroom or something? Like a treasure room.¡± ¡°Treasure?¡± ¡°Yes, a treasure room.¡± Since they had to take care of things, they should also get what they could get. At Jude¡¯s question, Melissa blinked her eyes while Cordelia gave him a thumbs up. Chapter 111: Snow Queen (2)

Chapter 111: Snow Queen (2)

This chapter was lot harder to trante than I had thought. And for a battle chapter, it had too many walls of text. Terms used in this chapter: Time difference attack ¨C volleyball term where the yer first acts like they¡¯re about to jump but holds that position when the blockers react (jump). Then the yer attacks during the quick instance when the blockers are falling down. Light Dragon Yvaska. A mighty being who was one of the ¡®7 major cmities¡¯ that appeared throughout the middle tost part of Legend of Heroes 2. ¡®Its other nickname is PC Killer.¡¯ The seven major cmities weren¡¯t called cmities for no reason. Each major cmity caused enormous damage to Pleiades, the stage of Legend of Heroes, and among them was Yvaska who was a famous cmity that killed a lot of PC (yable character). ¡®If you went the Red Wind route, it would be Kirara, and if you went the Kirara route, it would be Red Wind.¡¯ And if one was ying a yable character who was not from the wildnds, there was a high probability that it would be both Red Wind and Kirara. Yvaska was notorious among the 7 major cmities because aside from the two, other yable characters would also die depending on one¡¯s progress. ¡®A lot clearly died, but¡­¡¯ In the game, Yvaska¡¯s origin was not fully revealed. Except that it was just a dragon with an ice attribute who came down from the north one day. ¡°But it was actually created here?¡± The legacy of Magen, the magic kingdom. The false ruler of spirits ¨C the Snow Queen, and its guardian merged into one, giving birth to Yvaska. ¡°We have to defeat it before it grows.¡± Before the ruler of spirits and its guardian merged and became the light dragon. Before it was reborn as one of the 7 major cmities. ¡°We¡¯ll save Red Wind.¡± Just as they saved Lucas by defeating the low-ranking demonic human, Minos, of the Devil¡¯s Hand, they were now in a position to save Red Wind by stopping one of the 7 major cmities. Being particrly fond of Red Wind, Cordelia spoke as she revealed her canines, and Jude nodded his head. ¡®The consequences are great if we can stop it here.¡¯ The problem wasn¡¯t just the yable characters. The existence of Yvaska would alter the events in the world itself. ¡®The events in the Argon Empire would be lessened.¡¯ The Argon Empire had a hostile rtionship to the S?len Kingdom, but it was still a human country like theirs. If Light Dragon Yvaska disappeared and the western part of the empire remained intact, the future catastrophe and its aftermath would also be different. ¡°For a perfect happy ending.¡± In a low voice, Jude chanted that like a spell before he turned to Cordelia. Wearing a whitebat suit with a design simr to what Melissa had worn, Cordelia breathed in and out and then clenched and opened her fists. Looking at her flushed face, she seemed to be quite nervous. ¡°Nervous?¡± ¡°I am nervous. It¡¯s Yvaska.¡± Yvaska was not one of the 7 major cmities for no reason. In the game, an entire army was even mobilized to defeat Yvaska. ¡°Considering its specs, it¡¯s possible to do it.¡± It wasn¡¯t Yvaska yet. Considering the guardian¡¯s specs, it wasn¡¯t at a level that they couldn¡¯t defeat. ¡°But Jude.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°I think you¡¯ve be taller?¡± Cordelia said as she looked up at Jude who was wearing a simr whitebat suit just like herself. He was clearly in the mid-170¡¯s during the past few weeks, but he was now in thetter half. Cordelia was clearly a bit taller than him back then, but that had been reversed and they now had a height difference of more than 10 cm. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s because I didn¡¯t really talk much about it, but my knees and calves had been greatly aching for some time.¡± He grew more than 10 centimeters in two months. ¡°Does it still hurt?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Perhaps he¡¯ll be in the mid-180¡¯s if he continued growing like this? After Jude replied, Cordelia narrowed her eyes and studied him up and down as if evaluating him. ¡°Ahem, it¡¯s nice to look at.¡± He didn¡¯t just grow tall as his body also got better. It was not an exaggeration to say that the current Jude was like a Greek sculpture because hisbat suit clearly revealed his physique. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± She somehow unconsciously felt proud of it. And at the time Jude had a simr thought as hers while staring at Cordelia¡­ ¡°But Jude.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°That¡­wouldn¡¯t you get bigger?¡± Just like Landius. ¡°N-no way.¡± Landius had said that it wouldn¡¯t be that much. ¡°Hmm¡­but if he grows up to 2 meters and 10 centimeters, or less than 2 meters and 30 centimeters¡­¡± Cordelia¡¯s words trailed off in the end, and she slightly raised her gaze and imagined a 2-meters-tall Jude. ¡°That might be a little disgusting¡­¡± She spoke in a low voice as if she was talking to herself, but there was no way Jude couldn¡¯t hear it because he was right next to her. Jude flinched, and for the first time in his life, he wished that he wouldn¡¯t grow any taller. ¡®I never thought I¡¯d make such a wish.¡¯ Wouldn¡¯t that wish be almost hard to fulfill since it¡¯splicated and difficult? In any case, Jude¡¯s trivial and serious concerns allowed both of them to be less tense. ¡°Anyway, shall we go?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll stand in the front line, so I¡¯ll leave the rear to you, Madam.¡± ¡°Oh, are you standing in the front line now?¡± ¡°How can I let Madam be on the front line?¡± Jude spoke in a theatrical fashion before he pushed a button to open the elevator door. A spacious and tranquil ce. The Snow Queen¡¯s core was in the center, and a guardian was guarding in front of it. ¡°Dragon attribute, holy attribute.¡± ¡°It constantly receives power from the field. Virtually infinite MP.¡± ¡°Breath weapon. The jewel on its forehead glows prior to using it.¡± ¡°Can use Dragon Fear.¡± ¡°It uses two Living Swords and two Living Shields as auxiliary weapons.¡± This was the guardian¡¯s information that Melissa gave them. ¡°, .¡± Double casting. Cordelia cast spells on Jude and herself. At the same time, Jude tore the scrolls. ¡°, , .¡± The three spells strengthened one¡¯s vision, spiritual power, and mental defense, respectively. The assistive spells covered the bodies of the two, and at the same time, light rose from the magic tools they were wearing. They got the magic tools from the Wild Fairy Queen and the new ones from Melissa. ¡°Witch Transformation.¡± Cordelia¡¯s hair turned ck. The magic tools she wore on her entire body glowed red, and Cordelia¡¯s mana was amplified. ¡°I¡¯ll be the damage dealer.¡± It would be difficult to gain an advantage over the guardian¡¯s nature, who possessed both dragon and holy attributes. Therefore, they had to attack it with pure firepower. Cordelia concentrated her mana on Moonlight and looked straight ahead. And Jude stepped forward as he said. ¡°I¡¯ll be the tank.¡± Jude himself became the anvil and Cordelia became the hammer. The two left the elevator. The crouched guardian then raised its head. The blue eyes on its dragon-like face glowed, and a blue aura spread over its entire white body. And one more. The floor began to shine. The power of the dragon vein started to rise from the bottom. Jude took a deep breath. He opened the power of the third door and created a golden whirlwind. ¡°I¡¯ll protect you.¡± Jude said and Cordelia had a small smile instead of telling him off. He then kicked the ground. ¡°Go.¡± Bang! Jude dashed at lightning speed. The guardian quickly stood up and Jude¡¯s fist ¨C the ck Cross, exploded on the guardian! Boom! Victory went to the one who made the first move. When the ck cross was destroyed in the collision with the guardian, Cordelia¡¯s eyes shone. They needed to reduce the guardian¡¯s high magic defense first, so she repeatedly chanted the witch¡¯s curse. , , , ! and . The purple curses flew toward the guardian in session. And at that moment, the guardian roared. The huge Living Swords and Living Shields that were around 3 meters long popped out from the floor and ceiling and yed their respective roles. ¡°Rooooar!¡± The guardian¡¯s roar was like the roaring of a lion. It charged towards Jude, who likewise kicked the ground and generated Qi energy-filled air waves, which offset the guardian¡¯s roar. At the same time, he saw the Living Swords heading towards him, so he calcted the trajectory and threw himself without hesitation. Screeeeech! It was impossible topletely avoid the swords. So Jude blocked the Living Sword¡¯s de with the gauntlet on his arm. Instead of pouring attacks on the Living Shield that blocked the front like a wall, he soared up high with the ck wind. Chwaak! He jumped over the wall-like Living Shield. Jude met eyes with the guardian, who opened its mouth at that moment. Kwaaaa-! Breath weapon. He had predicted it. So he gained distance by propelling himself from the edge of the Living Shield. He threw himself to evade the pir of light that came from the guardian¡¯s mouth, and as soon as hended on the floor, he rolled once and stood up. He kicked the Living Shield in front of him. ¡°Corde-!¡± She responded to his cry. Cordelia fired dozens of magic missiles which flew towards the space Jude had secured. The missiles then exploded on the guardian. ¡°Keuaaa!¡± The guardian moved away. Jude kicked the Living Swords that aimed at Cordelia instead of pursuing the guardian. One was blown away by the wind while the other one was kicked by Jude. ¡°Aaaah!¡± Cordelia let out the witch¡¯s scream. The ear-splitting shriek shook the entire ce and briefly stopped the movement of the Living Swords and Shields. ¡°Haa!¡± He used the ck Dragon Cross Strike in session. He turned around and fired five ck crosses, which consecutively hit the guardian. Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Light burst together with the booming sounds. And Jude realized it. Cordelia felt it. It was blocked. And they were right. In front of the guardian was a barrier of light that blocked Jude¡¯s ck Dragon Cross Strike. It was something that should normally not happen. But it did happen, and Jude figured out why. And as usual, Cordelia arrived at the conclusion without going through the process. ¡®The power of the dragon vein!¡¯ It was stronger than they thought. The guardian maintained the barrier of light that should have been broken because the dragon vein constantly supplied it power through the ground. Moreover, it wasn¡¯t just that. The Guardian was heavily damaged by Cordelia¡¯s attack, but it was fine now. Because the dragon vein¡¯s power healed its injuries. Paa! The barrier of light was broken. The Living Swords and Shields headed towards the guardian¡¯s side, and the guardian snarled and stared at Jude and Cordelia. A blue light rose from its feet. ¡®We can¡¯t defeat it as it is.¡¯ Cordelia was certain of that. Its recovery because of the dragon vein had exceeded their expectations. They had to think of another strategy. ¡®Should I hold it in the air?¡¯ To cut off its link with the ground. They would then hit it while it was floating in the air. What she needed then was her telekic power. Cordelia herself would lift it, while Jude would kill it. Would it be possible? Would Cordelia herself be able to endure while Jude attacks? Would it be really possible to lift it up? Cordelia felt it without thinking. So she stopped focusing on it at some point. She unconsciously looked around. And she witnessed a strange sight. ¡°Jude?¡± Jude had consumed a considerable amount of energy right after the battle had begun. But he was fine. No, he now looked better than before the fight had begun. And one important thing. Blue lightning rose near the soles of Jude¡¯s feet. It was another unexpected situation. ¡°Wow.¡± Jude eximed. Cordelia had a hunch at that moment. Jude was also able to absorb the power of the dragon vein on the ground. But how? ¡°¡°Dragon Aura.¡±¡± Jude and Cordelia spoke simultaneously. What rose from the ground was the processed power of the dragon vein. It was a power that the guardian could absorb because of its dragon attribute. The Snow Queen could also absorb it because it had been getting its power from the dragon vein for a long time. The life force. The energy of the dragon. Cordelia could not absorb the dragon aura. But not for Jude. Because Jude had the Dragon¡¯s Emblem. Jude was able to use the dragon aura too. And as to what that meant¡­ Boom! Jude shot a series of ck Dragon Cross Strikes. Right after he stunned the guardian for a moment, he moved back to Cordelia and shouted. ¡°We have a chance at winning!¡± It wasn¡¯t just the guardian. Jude was also able to receive the dragon vein¡¯s power. So how do we take advantage of this situation? Should we exchange attacks until either side is exhausted? Certainly, that¡¯s one way to do it. But it¡¯s too stupid, and there¡¯s a better way to do it. That ¡®way.¡¯ ¡°Please protect me.¡± Jude said. His words were too short, but the two were good at eye-to-eye conversations. Cordelia figured out exactly what Jude wanted her to do. ¡°F*ck, you crazy b*stard.¡± She had cursed after a long time. And she realized that the one in front of her was Outboxer. He was a really crazy b*stard. And that was why this man was able to remain as first ce all the time. ¡°Rooooooar!¡± The guardian roared. It fired its Breath Weapon, and the Living Swords also flew like a time difference attack. Kwaaa! Jude and Cordelia flung themselves to the side. The Breath Weapon pierced between the two and hit the wall before being absorbed. Cordelia then used her telekic power against the ruthlessly charging Living Swords. ¡°Aaaah!¡± Bang! Bang! The Living Swords hit the ground. Instead ofunching further attacks, Jude ran towards the elevator, and Cordelia stood in front of the guardian as if to hide Jude. Please protect me. ¡°F*ck!¡± As she had expected, it would be quite some time before she graduated from the front line. Cordelia became a wall to protect Jude, who ran and eventually stopped to straighten his posture. Since they were inbat, he would be defenseless once he concentrated his consciousness on the power from the ground. It was what Jude had wanted to do. It was the reason why Cordelia cursed because he really was a crazy b*stard! ¡°Aaaaah!¡± Cordelia cursed again as she randomly fired magic attacks. She switched from defense to attack in order to buy time. She wanted to turn the guardian¡¯s gaze away from Jude, so she bravely dashed towards it. Shwak! Shwak! Shwak! The Living Swords cut through the air. Cordelia avoided the Living Sword¡¯s des as if she was dancing, and she hurriedly ran in front of the guardian¡¯s eyes. Her purpose was to catch its gaze and buy time. ¡°Roooar!¡± The guardian¡¯s roar aimed at Cordelia. The sound waves shook the air as it headed to her, and Cordelia swung the to cut the air. She split the waves itself and used the gap to direct her gaze. The Living Sword that was flying towards Jude stopped as it was paralyzed by her . ¡°Uuuuugh!¡± It was difficult. Tears of blood flowed down from her eyes, and she had a dull headache. Her nose was also bleeding. But not yet. A golden whirlwind surrounded Jude¡¯s body, and Cordelia turned to him. A real crazy b*stard. He was not fighting because he was doing something. But Cordelia knew. That this was for the best. And the guardian also noticed it. That Cordelia¡¯s actions were focused on defending Jude rather than attacking the guardian. ¡°Rooar!¡± As the guardian roared, the Living Swords and Shields rushed towards Jude. It didn¡¯t stop there as they steadily rose from the ground. Though the room was wide, its diameter was only in the dozens of meters. Cordelia clenched her teeth. At the same time, she used it again to stop the five attackers. ¡°Stop!¡± Paralyzing . She didn¡¯t target anything specific. Rather, she targeted everything in her field of vision. Bang! Bang! Bang! The Living Swords and Shields stopped their flight and fell to the floor. The guardian also fell to the ground from its jumping position. 1 second. 2 seconds. 3 seconds. Her eyes felt like it was burning. Her vision began to turn white, and Cordelia¡¯s intuition felt it. She wouldn¡¯t be able to see. After a second or so, she lost her sight. It wasn¡¯t permanent. However, it would be hard to recover at least within this battle. So Cordelia had remembered everything she had seen earlier. She bit her lips, endured the pain, but she eventually screamed. In the meantime, one of the Living Shields rose up from the ground. ¡°Aaaah!¡± It was right in front of Jude. Cordelia remembered its trajectory that she had seen at thest moment. She sensed it with her whole body, and then stretched her arms forward to use her telekic power. She blocked the Living Shield that tried to crush Jude. ¡°Aaaah!¡± She swung her arms wide and flung it away. She couldn¡¯t see, but she sensed it. She then squeezed all her remaining mana to create dozens of magic missiles and set off a storm. Shwaaaaa! The magic missiles swirled around Jude and Cordelia. The Guardian did not dare to jump, but the flying Living Swords were hit by the magic missiles and fell to the side. And like that, 1 second, and 2 seconds passed again. Sweat poured down from her whole body like rain. She couldn¡¯t properly tell on how much time had passed. But Cordelia didn¡¯t copse. She kept the swirling magic missiles while standing in front of Jude. So dozens of seconds passed again. Eventually, herst magic missile was gone. There were no longer any magic missiles swirling around them. The Living Swords and Shields were also crushed and broken here and there, but they were no longer in a state where they could rise and fly up again. It was what the guardian was waiting for. It had constantly struck the swirling magic missiles with the Living Swords and Shields while it gathered power. The guardian widely opened its mouth. At the moment the magic missiles disappeared, it released its Breath Weapon. Cordelia raised her head. She lifted her trembling hand towards theing Breath Weapon. And then a crash. The light was shattered. A roar had shaken the air. Cordelia smiled. She couldn¡¯t see it, but she knew. She could feel it. The firm arms on her waist. The powerful force that blocked the guardian¡¯s Breath Weapon had arrived right in front of the guardian. Jude stretched out his hand. With one hand holding Cordelia¡¯s waist, he blocked the Breath Weapon with the power of the mighty ck Dragon. The method that Jude had chosen to do. What he had done during the time Cordelia had bought. ¡®Did he open it? I¡¯ll be mad if he couldn¡¯t open it.¡¯ With her blind eyes, Cordelia asked Jude, who nodded at her. He held Cordelia¡¯s waist tighter and clenched his fist. The ancient medicinal wine. Added to it was the power of the dragon vein. The pure dragon aura. A new door was finally opened after all of the above were gathered. Jude didn¡¯t have to say anything. He just showed it. He made Cordelia feel it. Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors ¨C Fourth Door. ck Dragon¡¯s Roar. Four ck dragons rose from Jude¡¯s fist. The fierce roar became beams of light to crush the enemy. Chapter 112: Snow Queen (3)

Chapter 112: Snow Queen (3)

Cordelia lost her sight. But she could clearly feel it. The arm of Jude whom she could trust and depend on as he tightly hugged her waist. When did he grow up like this? ¨C Cordelia thought while in Jude¡¯s arms. And she could hear it. The roar of four dragons. The surging powerful force that awakened, bringing destruction and ruin to everything. The hairs on her entire body seemed to stand up. A shudder ran along her back, and her heart was pounding. Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors ¨C Fourth Door. The cause that changed everything. Four ck dragons were released at the same time. ¡®Strong.¡¯ He definitely changed. He didn¡¯t be a little stronger because he reached the fourth door after being 1/5 away from it. Rather, he entered apletely different realm when he opened the fourth door. ¡®Scary.¡¯ That was the short thought that crossed her mind. Because the dragon¡¯s energy that rose from Jude¡¯s entire body was so chaotic. Anger. Rage. Violent emotions that seemed to burst out anytime soon. ¡®It hurts¡­¡¯ Jude hugged Cordelia on her waist so tightly that she felt like being crushed. She felt like her back was going to break. ¡®This fool!¡¯ But her voice didn¡¯te out properly. She had no strength left in her entire body to the point that she couldn¡¯t do anything. But she felt his touch. Because her sight was gone, her senses became more sensitive and she could perfectly feel it. The hand of Jude which had released the ck dragons earlier were now caressing Cordelia¡¯s cheek. Cordelia flinched. She became more scared. But it was for a short moment. Because she soon understood it. Why Jude was angry. And the very gentle and soft touch of Jude¡¯s hand on her cheek. ¡°.¡± Jude touched Cordelia¡¯s closed eyes and chanted a spell. The white light from the ring seemed to be absorbed by Cordelia¡¯s eyes, and she slowly opened her eyes. ¡°Ah, I can see.¡± Her vision was still blurred, but she could see roughly. After hearing Cordelia¡¯s exmation, Jude sighed in relief and caressed her cheek again. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, it must have been really painful, right?¡± His voice was slightly different than usual. Moreover, he was touching her cheek. So Cordelia was embarrassed and pretended to be calm to ovee this strange situation. ¡°Hmph. It was very difficult.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Jude apologized again, and Cordelia was seriously overwhelmed by a strange feeling. She wanted to shout to him to just behave like usual and not act like this. She felt like closing her eyes was better while her heart began beating as if it was going to burst. ¡®Why, why are you doing this¡­¡¯ The reason why Jude was acting like this to her. And Jude moved again. He stared straight into Cordelia¡¯s eyes and said. ¡°I¡¯ll be back.¡± Cordelia unconsciously nodded. Jude unexpectedly smiled after seeing her blushing face as she meekly nodded. He then moved her very carefully. He gently sat Cordelia who plopped down because of her weak legs, before he looked back at the guardian. Cordelia felt him letting out his repressed anger. ¡°Grrrr¡­¡± The guardian weakly growled. But it was different from before. It felt fear. It felt like being restrained by energy of the powerful dragon emanating from Jude. ¡°Grrrrr¡­¡± It wasn¡¯t waiting for Jude and Cordelia. However, it had no choice but to only wait. ¡®Because it¡¯s scared.¡¯ Cordelia sensed the guardian¡¯s fear. She could clearly feel it because of her senses that were more like a beast than a human¡¯s. The energy of the dragoning from Jude. The power of the ck dragon burned like a ck me and covered Jude¡¯s whole body. Cordelia¡¯s eyes were notpletely cured. It was still blurry, and she couldn¡¯t see the colors well. But that was why she could clearly see it. Jude stood in front of her. She saw Jude¡¯s back. And the ck dragon just before it soared into the sky. ¡°Come.¡± Jude spoke in a low voice. It was a small voice, but she could clearly hear it. His voice was like the gentle ripples that spread out. ¡®W-what is this? This shyness.¡¯ Why was she feeling shy? The guardian reacted while Cordelia was fidgeting. It loudly roared as if to shake away its fear. ¡°Rooooarrrr!¡± The Living Swords and Shields moved at the same time. They flew in to crush and smash Jude and Cordelia. In all directions. At the same time. But Jude was not afraid. He saw, felt, calcted, and took action. Thud. A low and dull sound. But what happened then was so fast and light. ck Wind¡¯s Advent. The jet-ck wind and the golden whirlwinds. Jude traversed the ce. He looked to the right and stretched out his hand to the Living Shield. ck Dragon¡¯s Ascent. The ck dragon roared as it rushed forward. It not only struck the Living Shield, but also pushed it. The center of the Living Shield sunk, and it flew straight to the wall and crashed. Baaang! There was a loud noise. But it was toote. Jude had already run to the left. The Living Sword. The de flew straight ahead. Jude rotated his body in the air. As he did that, he sent a kick towards the flying Living Sword. The ck dragon¡¯s energy was released at the same time. He swung his foot to the ground. Baaaang! The flying Living Sword was struck to the ground. And it only took two seconds for all of that to happen. That short duration of time. Thus, the Living Swords and Shields could not attack the sitting Cordelia. One second was insufficient for that. In that one second. Jude crossed the space. At the moment the Living Sword hit the floor and made a loud noise, he kicked the ground and became faster than sound. He turned to Cordelia and stretched out his arms. He added a ck gale to the ck dragon¡¯s energy. ck Dragon ¨C Gale Form. Kwaaaa-! Two ck dragons came out from Jude¡¯s hands and wildly shook with the air. The Living Sword and Shield were trapped in a ck vortex and ended up being flung onto the wall and ceiling. Baaaaang! A loud sound reverberated at almost the same time. Cordelia blinked her eyes, and Jude turned his head. He rushed towards the guardian, who was flustered that the Living Swords and Shields were no longer moving. ¡°Roooarrr!¡± The guardian roared and charged forward. But its momentum was weak. It was dispirited, so its actions and thoughts seemed to be all visible. Baaaaang! ck Dragon ¨C Thunder Form. The jet-ck energy exploded with the golden thunderbolt. Jude¡¯s spin kick struck the guardian¡¯s head. The emanating ck dragon¡¯s energy hit the guardian¡¯s head and sent it to the ground. Thud! The guardian¡¯srge body copsed. After having turned several times in the air, Judended on the ground and made another dash. Thunder Strike. Baaaang! A thunderbolt burst again. The lightning strike hit the chest of the guardian, who couldn¡¯t even properly scream. Baaaang! But it was a guardian. It absorbed the dragon aura from the ground and the lightning that struck its whole body. As soon as it stopped Jude¡¯s attack, it roared. ¡°Kaaaaaa-!¡± Dragon Fear. A power that causes fear. Bang! But it was useless. Jude roughly stomped on the ground and caused a loud noise. It was to stop the guardian¡¯s skill as he let out the dragon¡¯s energy at the same time. The guardian¡¯s Dragon Fear was neutralized by the noise filled with a stronger dragon¡¯s energy. ¡°Keuaaaaa!¡± The guardian writhed and screamed. And Jude calcted it again. The height of the ceiling, the size of the guardian, the power required to make it fly up, and the time it would stay in the air. ¡®I have to finish it in the air.¡¯ He was in a situation where he had to do everything himself, but it took too long for him to finish it off through that way. After sending it flying into the air and cutting off its power supply from the dragon vein, he had to finish it with one strike. He needed to do two things. A means to send it flying into the air, and a powerful technique to finish it off while in the air. ¡°Keuaaa!¡± The guardian writhed again. So Jude halted his thoughts and moved. Jude punched the guardian in the chest, making it crouch again. He retreated and deliberately let the guardian have time to get up before he struck it again. Whaam-! The guardian was a four-legged beast, so when he struck it on its back, he saw its chest and belly. As the guardian was lying on the floor, Jude did a handstand and aimed for the guardian¡¯s abdomen at the same time. He kicked the guardian¡¯s abdomen with all his power. Bang! The ck dragon¡¯s energy soared. It hit the waist and sent the guardian into the air. Bang! The guardian crashed into the ceiling. Then it began to fall. The remaining time until it reached the ground was only a few seconds. Jude corrected his posture and drew the Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword from his waist. He infused it with the ck dragon¡¯s energy. Then he realized. The ceiling was too low. There was not enough time to gather enough power to kill it off. But Jude did not stop. Because he saw it. A green power swallowed the guardian. It was the witch¡¯s telekic power which held the guardian in the air. ¡°After all¡­¡± ..you can¡¯t do it without me. He heard Cordelia¡¯s voice from behind him. It also seemed like he heard the words that she left out saying. Cordelia. Combat genius. She didn¡¯t just watch. She restored her mana by using on the dragon aura rising from the ground. The efficiency was definitely not very good. But even so, she could recover her mana from it. And as a result. ¡°As expected, you¡¯re the best.¡± Jude said. He smiled and drew the Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword before swinging it towards the guardian who was stuck in the air and couldn¡¯t move. ck Dragon ¨C Hell¡¯s Blood sh. The ck de did its job well. The violent sh tore up the ground and cut across its neck. aash-! The guardian¡¯s neck snapped, as if it had been bitten by a dragon¡¯s teeth. Cordelia released her telekic power, and the guardian¡¯s giant body fell to the ground. Boooom! The guardian¡¯s head and neck hit the ground, and the floor cracked with a loud noise. And a session of white light rings appeared around Jude and Cordelia. Level up. Jude was now 65. Cordelia was now 64. ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­haa¡­¡± Cordelia panted as her shoulders drooped down, and Jude turned to Cordelia. The Snow Queen was important, but for now, he wanted to go to Cordelia. Cordelia looked up and saw Jude. Jude saw Cordelia. And immediately after. Craaaack. They heard a sound. The two raised their heads at the same time, and saw a crack spreading on the ceiling. Craaaack- And the sound was heard again. It was on the walls and floor this time, and the two looked at each other. ¡°Ah.¡± ¡°Aah.¡± The crack grew bigger. It wasn¡¯t surprising. Because they had done all sorts of violent acts. Which had randomly struck the walls and ceiling. ¡°Hurry up!¡± Cordelia shouted, and Jude quickly turned around. After running to the pir, he removed the Snow Queen¡¯s core through the process Melissa had told them. Chuuk, chuuk- Debris fell from the ceiling little by little. The cracks kept growing, so it was possible for arge debris to fall down soon. But the biggest problem was the walls and floor. Golden energy began toe out from the cracks in the floor. It was evidently the pure energy of the dragon veins. ¡°Hurry!¡± Cordelia shouted again, and Jude quickly ran. He snatched the waist of the standing Cordelia and he turned towards the elevator at the same time. He had no way of opening the door, so he broke the elevator door with a drop kick. Bang! ¡°Up!¡± Fortunately, Melissa responded. The elevator began to rise, and the two saw the walls and floor of the development room copse through the broken elevator door. And they also saw the golden energy engulf the guardian¡¯s body. Kuwaaa- The elevator continued to go up. ¡°Haa, haa.¡± Jude sank to his knees and copsed, and Cordelia groaned as she ended up falling on the floor too. ¡°Are you okay?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not okay. My eyes can¡¯t see. My bones are aching too. Everything hurts.¡± Jude smiled at her unconscious grumbling. Just like Cordelia, he said unconsciously too. ¡°I¡¯m lucky.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Because you¡¯re with me.¡± Jude turned to Cordelia. He revealed a bit of his inner thoughts. But whether he was lucky or not, Cordelia¡¯s eyes were notpletely healed. So their eye-to-eye conversation failed this time. ¡°Hmph. It¡¯s good if you realized that.¡± Cordelia snorted and spoke like usual, and Jude slightly frowned but soon had a sly smile as always. ¡°You¡¯re not wrong, my princess.¡± ¡°Hmph, you¡¯re just good at words.¡± After deliberately grumbling more than usual, Cordelia leaned her head against Jude¡¯s chest. She didn¡¯t want to admit it, but she felt relieved when she leaned her head on him. She closed her eyes and let her body recover from the fatigue. She deeply fell asleep. *** ¡°Thank you very much. Thank you so much.¡± As he carried the deeply sleeping Cordelia in the so-called princess carry, Jude nodded and stepped out of the elevator. ¡°What happened to the development room?¡± ¡°Itpletely copsed. But it¡¯s fine. The Snow Queen¡¯s core was removed, so an explosion won¡¯t happen.¡± As Melissa smiled and spoke, Jude automatically turned to Cordelia. ¡®Umm, I must be seriously ill.¡¯ When he heard the word ¡®explosion,¡¯ he thought of Cordelia¡¯s widely smiling face. No, it was Cordelia who was ¡®ill¡¯ and not Jude himself. In any case, the copse of the Sky Roof mountain range was prevented, and the birth of the Light Dragon Yvaska was also stopped. It was clearly a great achievement. ¡®The only ones who know are Cordelia and me¡­there¡¯s also Melissa.¡¯ In fact, Melissa didn¡¯t know anything about Light Dragon Yvaska, so she only thought that the two did a good job. ¡®Well, that¡¯s enough.¡¯ Jude himself was a man. If he was the only one who knew that he saved the world, he would have found it regrettable, but he wasn¡¯t alone. It was a knowledge he shared with Cordelia. He felt warm with that thought alone. ¡®I got a lot of things.¡¯ He opened the fourth door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. And not only did he learn on how to use four ck dragons, but he also learned about the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors itself. ¡®Let¡¯s think about itter.¡¯ His second meeting with the female sage. The things he got from meeting her. ¡®And.¡¯ The Snow Queen¡¯s core was in Cordelia¡¯s arms. The failed ruler of spirits who ended up creating Light Dragon Yvaska. He had already decided on how it would be used. ¡®Cordelia also needs her powerup.¡¯ Because Jude himself thought that it was unfair if it was only him. ¡®It¡¯ll take quite some effort though.¡¯ In order to realize Jude¡¯s own idea, they would have to do some hard work first. But he wanted to start right away when he thought of the smile Cordelia would have when they finished it. ¡°Ju-Jude? What are you thinking?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°No, that¡­you keep smiling.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Jude hastily cleared his throat while he carried Cordelia and spoke to Melissa again. ¡°First of all, can we get some rest? If possible, we¡¯d like a meal too.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, my masters left behind some emergency food.¡± Melissa widely smiled and Jude followed after her. At the same time¡­ Near the northern border of the S?len Kingdom. ¡°Really, did that happen?¡± Count Chase spoke in a low voice as he looked towards the north. He nodded as he thought of Jude and Cordelia, who would be somewhere in the vast expanse of the wildnds. ¡°Ga?l, as you have said, the Jackdaws have to be prepared.¡± Ga?l¡¯s judgment was right. They had to tell the north on what was happening in the barbariannds. ¡°I will go north and join that Eastern Alliance that you mentioned. Ga?l, you go with Adelia to the Thunderdoom Fortress.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± It was as he had expected. But what would happen next was unexpected for Ga?l. ¡°By the way, Ga?l.¡± ¡°Yes, Count.¡± ¡°As I see you again, you look weak and frail. You don¡¯t have strength.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± Unlike Jude, Ga?l couldn¡¯t adapt to Count Chase. Therefore, Count Chase clicked his tongue and opened the space expansion bag. It would take a while until they met again if they parted here. Even if it was a little awkward (?), he had to settle this at once. ¡°Are you eating properly? You¡¯re not starving Adelia, right? Hmm, hmm¡­that sword is old. I don¡¯t think it can be fixed.¡± ¡°Co¡­unt?¡± Ga?l blinked his eyes because he didn¡¯t understand what the count was talking about, but Adelia covered her face with both hands and screamed in her mind. ¡®Daaaaaaaad.¡¯ She was embarrassed. She was very, very embarrassed. But she didn¡¯t think of stopping him. Why would she stop it if her father would be giving something to Ga?l? Count Chase¡¯s bizarre nitpicking continued, Ga?l looked in disbelief as the bag in front of him increased into two, and Adelia sat down as she was at a loss on what to do. A dozen minutes passed like that. After Ga?l and Adelia¡¯s luggage multiplied by several times, Count Chase saw them off as they headed to Thunderdoom Fortress, and he turned around to go his way. He then headed to the north. Chapter 113: Joining

Chapter 113: Joining

The main forces of the east and west headed towards Snow Breeze in. If they continued moving forward, the two sides would face each other three days from now. Morale was very high on both sides. The east had a great cause of saving the wildnds from the demon followers. The wild gods were also with them, so their morale couldn¡¯t be low. ¡°But we shall win.¡± There was a reason why the morale of the west was high. Since its first military expedition, the Angry Bull tribe had never been defeated. Their wins and victories kept piling up like a mountain, giving confidence to the Angry Bull tribe but fear to the defeated and absorbed tribes. ¡°In the end, it¡¯s a head-on fight.¡± The pitched battle in Snow Breeze in would determine the fate of the wildnds. ¡°However¡­¡± Haraken, a high-ranking demonic human of the Devil¡¯s Eye and the one in charge of the n in the wildnds, suppressed his angry voice froming out. The reason was simple. ¡®They were annihted?¡¯ The demonic humans and troops he had prepared to infiltrate and corrupt the eastern dragon veins were annihted. At first, he thought there was a problem with the Demon Record, because seven mid-ranking demonic humans suddenly disappeared, but it wasn¡¯t that. Seven mid-ranking demonic humans really died and disappeared. ¡®There¡¯s only one possibility.¡¯ It was highly likely that the western troops who infiltrated the east by taking a detour to the south, ended up meeting eastern troops who also nned to infiltrate the west by going on a detour to the south too. And there was one group which came to his mind when it came to infiltration. ¡®Duo of Death.¡¯ A duo of a man and a woman. An evil witch of explosions who blew up anything that got in her way, and a coldblooded ck-haired cultivator. They got this information bybining the pieces of information left behind in the thoughts of the demonic humans who died, so they had no specific information about the Duo of Death, but it was clear that the two were the ones who defeated the mid-ranking demonic humans dispatched to the east. ¡®And this infiltration group too.¡¯ The eastern side must have also sent the Duo of Death as infiltrators, so they had annihted the infiltrators dispatched from the west. ¡®If it¡¯s true¡­¡¯ And if those two hit the rear of the west¡­ ¡®No, it¡¯s not a problem.¡¯ Haraken pondered for a moment but soon suppressed his thoughts and made up his mind. The rear of the west was not empty. Everything that was happening in the wildnds was for two goals, and one of those goals were assigned to those who were left behind so that they could proceed with the ritual. ¡®It will be to our advantage if there ever was a confrontation.¡¯ The power of those who were left behind greatly exceeded that of a mid-ranking demonic human. Even if the Duo of Death had interfered with everything in the east, they were clearly no match for those left behind in the west. ¡®And there¡¯s only two of them in the first ce.¡¯ The situation was different from the east where the duo had to find and kill the infiltrators. What could only two people do in the vast west? ¡®Yes, there¡¯s only two of them.¡¯ Even if they were strong, there were limits to what two people can do. No, even if they took more people to infiltrate, what could they do? Were they going to contaminate the dragon veins like what the Devil¡¯s Eye did? ¡®Let¡¯s focus on the head-on fight.¡¯ If they destroyed the main forces of their enemy, everything would go ording to n. Haraken regained hisposure and covered the Demon Record. He repeated again to himself. ¡°There is nothing you can do in the first ce.¡± At best, they would attack the logistics, but in main areas, ¡®they¡¯ were there. So it was okay. There was nothing the Duo of Death could do even if they infiltrated the west. ¡®What I should focus on more is this.¡¯ Haraken stroked his long white beard. He sharply looked at the east with hispound eyes like that of an insect. *** The sleeping Cordelia, who was curled up on the bed and drooling, suddenly raised her upper body and shouted. ¡°Explosion!¡± Her shout seemed like a response to something. And Jude thought after he had entered the room at that perfect timing. ¡®What the hell were you dreaming of?¡¯ What kind of dream did she had that made her talk in her sleep and shout ¡®explosion¡¯? Jude had a hunch but decided not to think too much about it as he approached Cordelia. ¡°My princess, are you awake?¡± At his gentle question, Cordelia replied by sniffing with her nose. Because she smelled something delicious. ¡°Au¡­ Aaa¡­¡± Cordelia said in a nk voice as she sniffed and began stretching her arms. She seemed to have woken up. ¡°Eueueu¡­¡± Cordelia¡¯s waist bent like a bow as she did some stretching. Instead of falling down, she leaned forward and said in a still sleepy voice. ¡°Jude? You¡¯re there, right?¡± She could smell Jude together with the delicious smell. Despite catching his scent, Cordelia asked in confirmation because of her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m here. Can you still not see?¡± ¡°Uh, my sight is worse than before¡­¡± Cordelia¡¯s blue eyes didn¡¯t have any focus. Jude frowned and replied. ¡°Melissa said that it¡¯s a temporary disability caused by straining yourself. But all your external wounds have been perfectly healed, so you¡¯ll recover in time.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a relief.¡± She was pretending to be calm, but she was also scared of the possibility that she wouldn¡¯t be able to see permanently. ¡°But I can feel that something¡¯s growing. If I be stronger than I am now, I think I¡¯ll be able to use the Evil Eye of Paralysis without any difficulty.¡± In the beginning, she had to make eye contact with the specific target in order to paralyze it, but now, she could paralyze anyone within her line of sight at the same time. The duration of the paralysis was obviously shorter, and she lost her eyesight as a price, but her skill had clearly grown. ¡°Haa, even if I tell you not to overdo it, you wouldn¡¯t listen.¡± No, wasn¡¯t it my fault in the first ce that she overworked herself? Jude sighed and sat in a chair next to Cordelia¡¯s bed. He ced the tray he was carrying onto the bed. ¡°It smells good. What food is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s soup.¡± Cordelia¡¯s face brightened at Jude¡¯s answer. ¡°Wow, I¡¯m really hungry.¡± She reflexively pat her stomach before her hands groped and touched the air. She seemed to be looking for the tray and spoon, so Jude clicked his tongue and said as he grabbed Cordelia¡¯s wrist. ¡°Stop, how are you supposed to do it if you can¡¯t see it? I¡¯ll feed you. Ah~¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be feeding you, so say ¡®ah.¡¯ Ah~¡± Cordelia blinked at Jude¡¯s words. If it was the usual ¨C no, if it was the Cordelia back then at Frost Anvil, she would have asked him to feed her and opened her mouth, but it was a little different now. ¡°I-I¡¯m fine. I think I can eat it with my own hands?¡± Why is he treating me like a kid? ¡°Okay, then don¡¯t spill it.¡± ¡°I can do it.¡± Cordelia said before she focused on her senses. Her eyes weren¡¯tpletely blind, so as soon as she grasped the position of the tray, she stretched her hand and grabbed the spoon. She then began eating the soup with good skills. ¡°How is it? Can you eat well?¡± Being able to eat soup without spilling was not something a 17-year-old girl should be proud of, but he certainly found it admirable that she could do that despite being somewhat blind. ¡°Wow.¡± Wouldn¡¯t it be normal if something spills? This isn¡¯t something that people usually train about. While Jude was admiring her, Cordelia felt better and said with a smile. ¡°Hehe, you¡¯re not the only one who¡¯s good at moving your body, okay? I¡¯m also good at moving my entire body.¡± ¡°Tsk, I should have tied your hands.¡± ¡°What?¡± Jude pretended not to hear Cordelia¡¯s question. With a look of regret, he put away the bib he had intentionally prepared before he spoke again. ¡°Now then, listen while you¡¯re eating.¡± ¡°Wow, this is really delicious. Can I have another bowl?¡± Cordelia continued to eat while Jude spoke. He replied that there were three more bowls before he returned to their main topic. ¡°First of all, we did a good job. Although the development room copsed, we secured the core of the Snow Queen. There was no explosion, and the dragon vein was safe. Don¡¯t be sad. We¡¯d all be dead if it exploded, right?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m not sad. I was just a little disappointed.¡± With a spoon in her mouth, Cordelia made a regretful expression, and Jude wondered how she ended up like that, but soon realized why. ¡®Ah, she was originally like this.¡¯ Because Yellow Storm wasn¡¯t called a human disaster for no reason. She had liked explosions and destruction in the first ce. ¡°Why, why, why¡­ Are you thinking of something strange right now?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m thinking about something nice and proper. Anyway, we have prevented the birth of Light Dragon Yvaska, so one of the seven major cmities is gone. This may perhaps be the biggest butterfly effect that we have ever done.¡± ¡°It¡¯s quite unbelievable.¡± If they hadn¡¯t gone to the Sky Roof mountain range. If they didn¡¯t have the Phoenix¡¯s feather. ¡°Everything led to this result. You can¡¯t say that it¡¯s all luck.¡± The smiling Jude continued his words. ¡°Anyway, we got the Snow Queen¡¯s core, right? Now that the development room is gone, we can¡¯t just leave it alone in this ce. So I¡¯ve decided that we¡¯ll take it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good idea, but did Melissa agree?¡± ¡°Of course. Melissa even helped.¡± Jude said and then lifted up the Moonlight that was under the bed. ¡°She imnted the Snow Queen¡¯s core into the Moonlight.¡± ¡°Ah! That¡¯s right. Moonlight has sockets.¡± The sacred rod originally had socket holes for the purpose of strengthening it, but she was a bit uncertain if the core could be imnted there. However, the imnt went more smoothly than she had thought. ¡®Perhaps Moonlight was also made by Magen¡¯s high elves.¡¯ In any case, the Snow Queen¡¯s core was imnted into Moonlight, and as a result, the B-rank Moonlight was now reborn as an item with a minimum rank of A. ¡°Not S or SS?¡± ¡°Because the Snow Queen¡¯s core is imperfect. We don¡¯t know what¡¯s going to happen if we use it at full power. But¡­if we find a way to stabilize it, you may be able to use the same power as Light Dragon Yvaska one day.¡± ¡°Wooow.¡± A wand with the same strength as Light Dragon Yvaska, one of the seven major cmities. ¡°Is it mine?¡± ¡°Can I use it then?¡± ¡°Hehehe, I love it. It¡¯s a powerup, powerup.¡± It was nice that Jude got stronger, but the best thing was that she could be stronger too. ¡°Wow, the ice attribute was added, huh?¡± ¡°Because it¡¯s the Snow Queen.¡± The moon attribute, which could be called the basic attribute of Moonlight, was a good match with the ice attribute. ¡°I¡¯ll be able to use ice magic.¡± ¡°You should study then.¡± ¡°Yes, teacher.¡± Cordelia cheerfully responded as she put her spoon down and began to grope the sacred rod. And at that perfect moment, Melissa entered the room. ¡°Is your body okay?¡± ¡°Melissa? Is that you, Melissa?¡± Unlike Jude, Melissa had no smell because she had no substance. When Cordelia asked as she looked in the direction of Melissa¡¯s voice, Melissa nodded her head. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s me.¡± She warmly responded before standing next to Jude and asking in a low voice. ¡°Jude, have you told her?¡± ¡°No, I was about to do it now.¡± ¡°I will tell her then.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Thest one was Cordelia. Melissa had a small smile before she spoke. ¡°I am very thankful to the two of you. Because of you two, we were able to avoid the worst.¡± ¡°Ah, that. Hehehe.¡± Cordelia was weak to praises, so he cheeks quickly turned red. ¡°I¡¯ve already told Jude, but I¡¯ll guide you to a shortcut to cross the mountain range. It¡¯s a passage that my masters used.¡± ¡°Oh, really?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s a tunnel through the mountain, so you don¡¯t have to go outside. You can also save a lot of time.¡± ¡°Wow, that¡¯s the best. Thank you very much.¡± Cordelia was more pleased in being able to avoid the murderous cold than the time being shortened. ¡°But Melissa.¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± ¡°What will Melissa do now then?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°I mean, you said that the development room is gone.¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s gone.¡± ¡°Then, there¡¯s nothing for you to do now, right?¡± Melissa was an artificial spirit that was created to manage the facility where the development room was located. The reason for Melissa¡¯s very existence was gone, so at Cordelia¡¯s question, Melissa thought as she frowned and then replied with a slightly lonely voice. ¡°But I don¡¯t know when my masters will return. I should tell them about what happened here when theye back¡­¡± ¡°You can write a letter.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°A letter, letter. I¡¯m leaving because of and so on.¡± Melissa blinked at Cordelia¡¯s words. Because she had never thought of that. ¡°I¡¯m leaving¡­after leaving behind a letter?¡± ¡°Yes, wouldn¡¯t that work? No, I mean, you¡¯re leaving to find your masters, right?¡± ¡°Find them?¡± ¡°Yes, to find them. Jude and I will be going around the ruins of Magen anyway. Then, wouldn¡¯t it be possible to meet your masters there? We might also get clues there.¡± Magen¡¯s high elves were beings with a transcendent lifespan. And there were survivors of Magen in Pleiades, though not as yable characters. ¡®We met a few of them in the second half of the game.¡¯ So wouldn¡¯t it be nice if Melissa went with us? Cordelia turned to Jude, and Jude understood what Cordelia wanted to say, despite her inability tomunicate with her eyes. He nodded and added something more convincing. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry if it¡¯s the way to go there. Moonlight has one more socket left. We can put Melissa¡¯s core there.¡± ¡°Re-really? Can you do that?¡± ¡°Of course. And this is actually something I¡¯d like to ask you to do. We need Melissa¡¯s help in stabilizing the Snow Queen¡¯s core.¡± If she could really do that, they would be able to increase the output of the Snow Queen even more than now. In other words, the Moonlight that had been upgraded to A rank would immediately be upgraded to A+ or S rank now. ¡°That¡¯s the best thing to do. Come with us, Melissa. Will you be my spirit?¡± As Jude and Cordelia persuaded her, Melissa struggled for a while before she nodded. She didn¡¯t like being alone anymore. Moreover, as the two said, there was no reason for her to remain in this facility. ¡°Okay, I¡¯lle with you. I look forward to working with you.¡± Melissa epted, and Cordelia widely smiled. Her heart had ached when she thought of leaving Melissa in a ce where there was no one. And Jude smiled in a different way. ¡°Then Melissa, let¡¯s clean up this ce while you are out.¡± ¡°Eh? Clean up?¡± ¡°Yes, clean up.¡± The items left in the storage room. Jude and Cordelia also had a conscience. Therefore, they did notpletely empty the treasure room of the wild fairies back then. Even before they fought the guardian this time, they only took enough to take care of the guardian. But things had changed. They would now vacate the facility. They were thinking of taking Melissa along as well. ¡°There¡¯s no reason to leave it behind.¡± Jude¡¯s argument was persuasive, and Melissa unknowingly nodded. And Cordelia thought. ¡®He¡¯s reliable.¡¯ As expected of my Jude. He¡¯s a first-ss groom, the best one you could ever have. If it¡¯s Jude, wouldn¡¯t it be possible to bathe in the desert and drink orange juice full of ice? And half a dayter. Jude and Cordelia eventually packed their luggage into the space expansion bag they had and began their journey to the west again. Their purpose was to blow up the contaminated dragon veins and cause confusion. At first nce, it seemed to be a terrorist¡¯s goal, but their actions were legal because they had the permission of thendlord. ¡°We have to pop it in a star shape.¡± I¡¯ll make it pretty when I blow it up. Cordelia babbled as she moved while her rabbit tail shook, and the love-blind Jude didn¡¯t say anything as he just stared. And two dayster again. The first explosion that heralded the second and third ones had begun. Chapter 114.1 – Twist (1)

Chapter 114.1 ¨C Twist (1)

Short chapter today. I had to split the chapter in half(?) because it¡¯s too wordy. And because I still don¡¯t understand the StarCraft strategy Jude was talking about in the next half. Episode 115 is short, so I¡¯ll release it with 114.2 tomorrow. The invasion of the northern barbarians, a major event that took ce in the early part of the game, was more of a background setting than an event that the yers actually took part in. Regardless of which PC (yable Character) one chose, the difference in levels between the PC and the enemies were toorge that it was impossible for the PC to actually go to the front line and fight. Therefore, their actual participation came after the Thunderdoom Fortress guarded by the Jackdaws fell to the barbarians and demon followers, wherein the PC escaped or entered the devastated northern part of the S?len Kingdom. ¡®Each yable character faced a different enemy.¡¯ There were the fallen wild gods that Jude did not know were the wild gods back then because there was no information about them in the game. Likewise, there were the corrupted barbarian warriors who became the puppets of the demons. If one chose the Jude route, they would face Violent Avnche and Sun Song. And if one chose the Cordelia route, they would face the fallen Gentle Snow Breeze, and the Fine Snow and Clear Snow brothers. ¡®And the enemies you¡¯d face regardless of which character you chose.¡¯ The ones who led the northern barbarian invasion and conquered the north had caused confusion and fear. ¡®The great warriors.¡¯ They were special barbarian warriors, including Seven Horns, the chieftain of the Angry Bull tribe, and were in fact, equivalent to mid-bosses in the northern barbarian part of the game. ¡®And Haraken.¡¯ A high-ranking demonic human of the Devil¡¯s Eye one would meet in the beginning and the end of the northern barbarian invasion. He was the first high-ranking demonic human one would encounter if they normally proceeded and was like a kind of wall that clearly informed the yers of the difference between a high-ranking and a mid-ranking demonic human. ¡®Thest one.¡¯ The final boss of the northern barbarian part. One of Overlord Belial¡¯s henchmen, the Great Demon Kriemler. The demon of the magic sword who killed Count Bayer and Ga?l Bayer, as well as Count Chase. He was the strongest enemy in the north that Jude and Cordelia must stop. *** The eastern and western forces who were steadily moving towards Snow Breeze in stopped marching at a certain point, as if the two sides had an agreement with each other. They were at the point where both sides had the Snow Breeze in in their sight. They built their strongpoints, and there was nomunication between the two sides, but the eastern and western forces knew. Tomorrow morning, the wheel of fate of the wildnds would begin turning. ¡°We will win.¡± At the words of Sun Song, Red Wind awkwardly smiled as he looked at the Snow Breeze in with a nervous face. She wanted to brightly smile like Cordelia, but it was impossible for her. This was her first war. This was her first time in the front lines with so many people. So she was scared. Frankly, she was afraid. Thus, she had a very frightened expression on her face. ¡°It¡¯s natural to be scared. It was the same when I first went to the front lines. No, it was more than you. I¡¯m only saying this to you here, but I wanted to run away at that time.¡± Red Wind¡¯s eyes widely opened when she heard Sun Song speaking quietly. Although she had won with the help of Jude and Cordelia, she would clearly be defeated nine out of ten times if she fought Sun Song now again. He was a strong and seasoned warrior. He seemed to have been courageous since birth, so she couldn¡¯t imagine him being young and weak. But there was a time when he was a baby, and there was a time when he was a novice. ¡°But you have to ovee it. If you don¡¯t ovee it on your first time, you won¡¯t be able to go on any further.¡± It wasn¡¯t just in battles. All of the things one faced in life had a beginning. And only by oveing that first time would one be able to move forward. ¡°Aren¡¯t you the one who beat me? You¡¯re already a great warrior.¡± Sun Song was friendly on his own way ¨C but no matter how one looked at him, he had a hideous smile. But Red Wind also smiled. ¡°Thank you, Sun Song.¡± ¡°Yes, and I¡¯ll say it again¡­ Don¡¯t be afraid. I will protect you.¡± His voice faltered at the end of his words, which was unlike of a powerful warrior. He also avoided looking at her in the eye. Red Wind widely opened her eyes again, and she brightly smiled this time. ¡°I¡¯ll look forward to it.¡± ¡°Um, yes. Look forward to it.¡± His words were a bit of a mess at the end, but his feelings came through to her. Sun Song cleared his throat several times and stared at the distance where the western forces were. The chilly wind of the battlefield brushed past the neck of Sun Song. *** Ga?l and Adelia finally arrived at Thunderdoom Fortress, but the atmosphere wasn¡¯t very good. Even if they were the eldest son and eldest daughter of a family from the 12 northern families, the two had appeared beyond the border and in the barbariannds, and not anywhere else. ¡®As expected of the Jackdaws.¡¯ Although they passed the city gate, Ga?l and Adelia were treated as potential enemies of uncertain identities, and not as guests. Therefore, instead of being guided inside, the two had to stand in the middle of the training ground while surrounded, and Ga?l was able to see Adelia¡¯s real self after a long time. An unparalleled sharp and vicious expression, and an unmatched tumultuous force. Her nickname as the demon of the Royal Guard Magic Corps was not a false reputation. She was surrounded by more than ten Jackdaws, but far from being dispirited, she red at each of them as if to kill them. ¡®Um¡­what should I say?¡¯ I think I can hear her growling. If Jude had been here, perhaps he would admire and say that she was indeed Cordelia¡¯s older sister. If Cordelia was clearly a small dog, Adelia was a real leopard or tiger-like beast. In any case, nothing good woulde out of her tumultuous force. To begin with, they didn¡¯te here to fight. ¡°Adelia.¡± Ga?l wondered what to say but ended up only calling her name. However, the effect was great. The tumultuous force emanating from Adelia¡¯s entire body disappeared at once. It wasn¡¯t only that. At Ga?l¡¯s call, Adelia was startled and surprised for a moment, and then blushed and made a somewhat shy expression. ¡®Uwaaa, what should I do?¡¯ I was so angry that I forgot that Ga?l was here. What if he thinks of me as a scary woman? Adelia hunched her shoulders and was at a loss, and the already love-blind Ga?l unwittingly smiled in delight. Of course, the Jackdaws had lukewarm expressions at the dramatic change and the cause of the change. A few seconds passed by again. A man who could put an end to this situation finally appeared, as if to save both Adelia and the Jackdaws. ¡°It¡¯s been a long time, Ga?l.¡± He was Count Hr?svelgr, one of the ten great swordmasters of the S?len Kingdom and also the head of the Jackdaws. Ga?l was naturally impressed by his appearance as he wore a white cloak and an armor with a golden eagle crest. It was their first meeting in years, but far from declining, Count Hr?svelgr seemed to be more robust. ¡°Ga?l Bayer greets Count Hr?svelgr. Let me also introduce Lady Adelia Chase from the Chase family.¡± ¡°Adelia Chase greets Count Hr?svelgr.¡± When Ga?l politely greeted first, Adelia followed him and gave her greetings by cing her hand on her chest ording to the etiquette of the Royal Guard. ¡°It¡¯s nice to see you both. I am Count Hr?svelgr. This is my son, Lucas.¡± ¡°Lucas Hr?svelgr greets the two of you.¡± Standing next to Count Hr?svelgr was Lucas who gave his greetings by thumping his chest with his fist like how knights do. He had met Ga?l once at Langesthei, but this was his first time in meeting Adelia. ¡°Let¡¯s talk in detail inside.¡± Count Hr?svelgr already had many things to talk about with Count Bayer and Count Chase regarding Jude and Cordelia. However, Ga?l and Adelia¡¯s problem was added to it. Because the two had crossed the border from the barbards side and not anywhere else. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you all about it.¡± ¡°Yes, you will have to.¡± Count Hr?svelgr quietly answered and turned around, and Lucas, who had a face full of questions, also hurriedly turned around. And Ga?l and Adelia looked at each other. ¡®I¡¯ll do the talking.¡¯ ¡®Yes, I will protect Lord Ga?l too.¡¯ Their conversation with the eyes failed again, but the two did not know about that fact and just smiled at the same time before they began walking with satisfied faces. Chapter 114.2 – Twist (1)

Chapter 114.2 ¨C Twist (1)

It took me hours before I finally figured out what the English equivalent of that StarCraft term was. Researching about this also made me realize that I¡¯m really bad at strategy games. Like, this is too much for my brain to handle. On another note, chapter 115 will be released tomorrow, not today as I¡¯ve said yesterday. I¡¯ve actually finished tranting 3/4 of it, but I¡¯m really sleepy now, so I¡¯ll post it tomorrow morning once I¡¯m done with it. Terms used in this chapter: Fait apli ¨C French phrasemonly used to describe an action which ispleted before those affected by it are in a position to query or reverse it. One-punch fight ¨C aka Han-bang timing/attack; StarCraft terminology A Han-bang attack refers to a move when a yer stops improving their own economy in order to mass an army to attack and finish the game, sometimes at a specific?timing window. It shouldn¡¯t be confused with an?all-in?move as a yer performing a han-bang style attack will prepare for it from at least equal footing with their opponent and as such it isn¡¯t a move made out of desperation from a disadvantaged position. The term han-bang trantes from Korean as ¡°one punch¡± referring to its nature. The eastern and western forces faced each other with the Snow Breeze in in between them. Red Wind and Sun Songforted each other, and Ga?l told Count Hr?svelgr about the circumstances. A day before. At a time when the prelude to the great battle that would determine the fate of the wildnds would begin. ¡°Oooh, it¡¯s a real star!¡± ¡°If you say so, it must be like that then.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s a real star, okay? You saw how the light spread when it exploded with a ¡®bang!¡¯.¡± ¡°If my princess says so, it must be like that then.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s true, okay?¡± ¡°Dobby believes in what the master says.¡± ¡°I hate it, stop annoying me.¡± Cordelia was annoyed even though he believed in her, so she stomped her feet and grumbled, and Jude saw Cordelia¡¯s actions as cute before he turned to the scene of the explosion. ¡®As expected.¡¯ The rear of the western forces, which was located beyond the Sky Roof mountain range, did not have much defenses. All of the already corrupted wild gods had been mobilized for the battle, and each vige or city only had a few troops left to maintain security, so it was virtually empty. ¡®Because they would never have imagined that we would cross the Sky Roof mountain range.¡¯ There was a reason why Melissa waited for almost 40 years. The Sky Roof mountain range was like a roof in the sky, so no one could cross it. ¡®Anyway, we should focus on this now.¡¯ The dragon veins in the west numbered twenty-one in total. It was natural that the Golden Dragon King couldn¡¯t open his eyes and was weak because all of the dragon veins were contaminated. ¡®If we blow up the rear, the front will be shaken.¡¯ Therefore, Jude chose to hit the rear instead of directly going to the front line. They wouldn¡¯t be able to properly fight if they were anxious of their back. ¡®The longer the battle, the more it would be advantageous for us.¡¯ Jude and Cordelia were not just operatives. They were powerfulbatants who could fight against a mid-ranking demonic human alone. Therefore, sending a small number of troops would only help a little and even aggravate the situation in the long-term for the enemies. However, the enemies couldn¡¯t just watch their rear being destroyed, so they would have to mobilize a lot of troops in the end. ¡®Then we can pick and hit them.¡¯ There were as many as twenty points to defend, and the enemies had no way of knowing on which of those points would Jude and Cordelia attack. ¡®There¡¯s also our mobility.¡¯ Jude wasn¡¯t talking about running with Cordelia on his back. He was talking about the benefits of getting Melissa. ¡®We¡¯re able to use the central tunnel.¡¯ The research facilities built by Magen¡¯s high elves. Most of the sites ovepped with the sanctuaries of the wild gods, probably because they were research facilities that utilized the dragon vein. In other words, if they could use the underground tunnels between the research facilities, they would be able to quickly go back and forth the dragon vein stream without being noticed. ¡®Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, they¡¯ll be in touch with the front.¡¯ When the news that the rear was being exploded would reach the front, it would be difficult for Haraken to fight properly. In short, the battle between the eastern and western forces would not be a one-punch fight, so it would be possible to conquer the western forces with a strategy. ¡®It will probably be tomorrow when they will move.¡¯ If they focused on defense, the two would be able earn enough time. ¡®Then the only problem left is Kriemler.¡¯ The great demon of Belial who destroyed the northern part of the S?len Kingdom. Numerous northern powers were killed by that powerful magic swordsman. ¡®Father and brother.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t just Count Bayer and Ga?l. Count Chase was also killed by him, and Count Hr?svelgr, the head of the Jackdaws, also died from his sword. ¡®We can¡¯t win with our usual methods.¡¯ Jude and Cordelia had be stronger than when they first entered the wildnds, but it was still impossible for them to fight against Great Demon Kriemler. However, not stopping him would make their dream of a perfect happy ending to be unachievable. ¡®The time when he was summoned.¡¯ It had yet to ur. Haraken had conquered the barbariannds first before summoning Kriemler to this world. A great demon like Kriemler wasn¡¯t summoned the usual way. ¡®Our best course of action is to stop the summoning itself.¡¯ If he had not yet been summoned, they would have to prevent him from being ever summoned. ¡®Our second-best option is the Golden Dragon King.¡¯ They could quickly wake up the Golden Dragon King, even for just a moment, to stop the summoning orpletely kill Kriemler. It might only be a short moment, but the power of the Golden Dragon King they had personally met was tremendous. They would be able to defeat Kriemler with that power. ¡®We can do it.¡¯ His original n was to stop Kriemler with Lena¡¯s power, but things had changed. They would stop Kriemler with their own power or use the power of the Golden Dragon King to defeat Kriemler. If they couldn¡¯t do any of the two, they would then get Landius and Kamael involved regardless of the means and methods. It would obviously take a considerable amount of time to mobilize the two people who were in the central and southern parts of the S?len Kingdom, so the method was almost a lesser evil, but it was better than nothing at all. ¡®Okay, let¡¯s do it.¡¯ Jude himself had already greatly disrupted Haraken¡¯s ns with their activities in the east. Unlike the original, Haraken failed to take control of the east nor could he kill Red Gale. The Eastern Alliance was formed, and the Devil¡¯s Eye had lost several mid-ranking demonic humans. Jude didn¡¯t know yet, but they also lost as many as ten mid-ranking demonic humans because of Count Chase and Ga?l, so the Devil¡¯s Eye had suffered a devastating blow. Therefore, Haraken himself had to join the big battle between the east and west which he didn¡¯t have to do in the game. Jude was slowly driving Haraken into a corner. Just a little more now, and they would be able topletely defeat him. It was a grand strategy to gradually tighten the enemy¡¯s breath. It was Jude¡¯s own specialty and favorite method. ¡°Your eyes look evil. You must be thinking of something bad.¡± Cordelia said as she narrowed her eyes and looked up at him. As their difference in height widened by more than 10 cm, it became difficult for them to see each other at eye level unless she jumped, or Jude lowered his posture. Because of this, Jude saw the fluffy rabbit headband first in front of him. He saw Cordelia¡¯s face afterwards. Naturally, it was Jude himself who thought of the grand strategy he was pursuing with a long-term n. ¡®It¡¯s a fait apli.¡¯ He would first establish the environment. He would then make the people around that environment believe it to be so. If his former colleagues had seen him, they would say, ¡®what¡¯s this crazy guy doing?¡¯ and be unable to avoid clicking their tongues. Because this was Jude¡¯s own way of fighting. Gradually, little by little. Drive the enemy to the corner step by step. ¡°What, what is it¡­ What are you seriously thinking?¡± ¡°Good thoughts, righteous thoughts, beautiful thoughts.¡± ¡°Are you sick? Do you have a fever?¡± Cordelia touched Jude¡¯s forehead, and he smiled. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the next area. Let¡¯s pop it in a star shape this time.¡± ¡°No, it was a real star, okay?¡± ¡°Yes, if you insist.¡± Jude intentionally replied mischievously, and after hearing the grumpy Cordelia¡¯s grumbling, he moved forward. And the next morning. When the eastern and western forces shed, and a second dragon vein exploded. An unexpected variable shook the wildnds. Chapter 115: Twist (2)

Chapter 115: Twist (2)

This is the only series where I felt sorry for the viins. Those two are just evil¡­hahaha. Great warrior Garammaru. He was originally a powerful spirit warrior, butpletely changed after epting Overlord Belial¡¯s power through Haraken. He extinguished the spirits that were no different from his kin with his own hands, and epted the ancient evil spirits, thus bing a powerful being who knew many ancient secret arts. ¡®He was quite unusual even in the game.¡¯ It was the great warriors, and not the chieftains of each tribe, who led the barbarians in the destruction of the northern part of the S?len Kingdom. Therefore, they reigned as rulers of the north, and were not meant to be encountered in the early stages of the northern barbarian event. Fighting them would only lead to death. ¡®Because the level difference was so great.¡¯ The yable characters¡¯ levels were bound to be low since the northern barbarian event itself was an event that took ce in the early stages of the game. Though Cordelia had rtively enough time to level up then, she still had a low level because the time-skip ¨C ¡®A few months have passed since then,¡¯ suddenly appeared in her route. On the other hand, Jude had begun his route right before the northern barbarian event started, so his level was obviously low too. ¡®20-30 levels at most.¡¯ And the levels of the warriors were around 65. There was such a disparity that no one would think of trying it given the odds of winning. One way or another, levels were like bullies in RPGs. ¡®Level 65.¡¯ The great warriors were confident of their own strength. Haraken was also confident in them. This was natural since they were stronger than ck Knight Billvine, the strongest mid-ranking demonic human in the Devil¡¯s Eye. ¡®Great Warrior Garammaru.¡¯ In the game, he was someone to be avoided. A man who was like a reaper of death when one faced him. But now¡­ ¡°Sorry, we¡¯ve be too strong.¡± Cordelia spoke as her canines glistened, and Jude spoke as he wrote down Cordelia¡¯s words in a notebook. ¡°We¡¯ve be too strong¡­memo.¡± ¡°What, why are you writing it down? What¡¯s that? Eh?¡± ¡°This, this is just for ckmail- no, for negotiationter.¡± ¡°ckmail?!¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyesight sharpened as she read the text on the cover of his notebook. ¡®Cordelia¡¯s collection of shameful lines.¡¯ ¡°Hey!¡± ¡°Ah! The mes are rising!¡± As Jude quickly closed his notebook and shouted, Cordelia looked at the front while gritting her teeth. Just as Jude said, the great warrior Garammaru had mes rising from his body. ¡°You b*stard and b*tch!¡± A huge me rose from Garammaru¡¯s whole body. Having acquired the power of the ancient evil spirit, me Master Killoman, he was able to create a strong me even in the wildnds where coldness dominated, and it was also possible for him to quickly turn the surrounding area into and of scorching heat. He then red at Jude and Cordelia. Once again, he tried to burn everything with the mes of hell. ¡°Uoooooh!¡± He roared. And Cordelia chanted the spell. And what happened afterwards¡­ ¡°You b*stards!¡± Ssh! A tremendous amount of water poured down just above Garammaru¡¯s head. But his mes were clearly the mes of hell. Although the intensity weakened a little, the mes were not extinguished. Garammaru shouted again. ¡°I¡¯ll thoroughly-!¡± Ssh! Once again. Because Double Casting and Spell¡¯s Echo were not mere decorations. ¡°Burn you-!¡± Ssh! ¡°I¡¯ll make you-¡± Ssh! x4. The mes died down, and Garammaru became like a rat that was wet with water. But he didn¡¯t give up. Because the evil spirit told him that the spell was over. So now was the time to start the mes again! ¡°Uooooh!¡± The mes rose again. And Cordelia said. ¡°.¡± It was a spell that she chanted again. Fsssssssh! Water poured down from the air like a waterfall and extinguished the reignited mes of Garammaru again. However, Garammaru never gave up. ¡°I¡¯ll-!¡± Ssh! ¡°Never-¡± Ssh! ¡°Give up-¡± Ssh! ¡°Hey! You f*cking b*tch! Hey!¡± Garammaru lost his temper and cursed, and Jude nodded his head as he said. ¡°T-that¡¯s too much.¡± He must have worked hard to gain that power. He must have had a clever wife, cute children, and an old mother waiting for him at home. Cordelia immediately protested at Jude¡¯s stare. ¡°Hey, why is this too much? And wasn¡¯t he a really evil b*stard? Didn¡¯t he kill his entire family with his own hands?¡± She also knew the background setting of the mid-boss to some extent. It was as Cordelia had said. After bing an evil spirit warrior, he became an immoral person who destroyed his n with his own hands. ¡°I¡¯ll give you a beating!¡± Garammaru angrily shouted and ran as the muddy water sshed around. Even if he couldn¡¯t use the mes, he had a strong body. He was about 2 meters tall, had wide shoulders, and his forearms and upper arms were thicker than a woman¡¯s waist. He had enough power to kill the slender Cordelia in a single beating! But Jude blocked her front. After standing firmly in front of Cordelia, he received Garammaru¡¯s charge from the front. Boom! Jude and Garammaru faced each other. Their hands confronted each other in a battle of strength. ¡°A weak b*stard with only a handsome face!¡± Although he had recently grown fast, Jude was still in the mid-tote 170s. He was a head shorter than Garammaru, who was nearly 2 meters tall, so their difference in height was more than twice. Added to that was their difference in muscle. Just by looking at the thickness, the difference was already several times more, so it was normal for Jude to be crushed. However. ¡°Sorry.¡± Jude was not pushed back a bit. At their current level, Garammaru was still above them, but Jude and Cordelia were not ordinary yable characters. They had stats from the titles they had umted so far. They had all kinds of auxiliary magic on them. They also had an overwhelming difference in items (overgeared). It wasn¡¯t an exaggeration to say that Jude¡¯s strength was virtually a superpower. ¡°Euaaaaah!¡± Garammaru tried to push and twist Jude¡¯s arms, but he screamed as his own arms were the ones that got twisted instead. Jude then pushed back Garammaru. After he shook off Garammaru, he turned to Cordelia. ¡®You know, right?¡¯ ¡®Yes.¡¯ . The blue lighting from Moonlight swallowed Garammaru who had fallen on the floor in one fell swoop. Garammaru couldn¡¯t resist the magic since he was soaked with water and they were in the cold wildnds. Tsuk-tsuk-tsuukk-! Tsuk! Garammaru became a frozen ice sculpture and Jude used the ck dragon¡¯s power to strike Garammaru on the chest as he yelled. A white ring of light surrounded Jude and Cordelia when the ice shattered. ¡°Haa, defeating him was easier than I thought.¡± ¡°Because the ce is cold, both water and ice magic are strengthened. Moonlight also got a serious power-up.¡± If it weren¡¯t for Moonlight having the Snow Queen incorporated into it and thus bing stronger, it would not have been possible to defeat him that easily. ¡°Hehe, anyway, it¡¯s awesome.¡± She was naturally happy to easily defeat great warrior Garammaru since he was someone who couldn¡¯t be defeated at the beginning of the northern barbarian event. Jude lovingly looked at Cordelia and her flopping rabbit ears, and soon turned his gaze away. ¡®Demonic magic circle.¡¯ The two were standing at a huge altar located some distance from the dragon vein. Arge magic circle was engraved on the floor for arge-scale ritual and nine pirs inscribed with demonic characters were around the altar. ¡®As I thought¡­is this it?¡¯ Preparations for summoning the great demon Kriemler. It was a simple and effective way to hold small rituals in various ces to store power for arger ritual. ¡°Doesn¡¯t it look like the ritual here is already¡­over?¡± Cordelia said as she looked at the altar. The entire stone altar was stained with the blood of so many sacrificed offerings. ¡®Did they even sacrifice the demon followers?¡¯ Despite the existence of such an altar, there was no enemy around here except for Garammaru. Given that there were few people in the vige, it seemed that arge number of humans were sacrificed. ¡®There¡¯s too many.¡¯ Too much blood had been offered. It was naturally true that great demon Kriemler could not be easily summoned, but even if that was so, Jude felt that it was still too much. ¡®Because this isn¡¯t the only ritual.¡¯ The rituals of the demon followers varied in form ording to its purpose. And the ritual that was now held here was just a preparation ritual for the bigger ritual that Jude knew well. ¡®Too many.¡¯ Jude thought so again. Too much blood was offered for preparation. What is this for? Does summoning Kriemler require more offerings than I thought? Or the preparation ritual was not conducted by all of the great warriors, but only a few including Garammaru, and the preparation rituals that had to be done in five ces were only conducted in three ces, so more blood had to be given. ¡®That would make sense.¡¯ But it was strange. He still felt that something was out of ce. ¡°Jude?¡± At Cordelia¡¯s call, Jude raised his head. She was frowning as she stood in front of the altar. He had admired Cordelia¡¯s intuition several times since they started working together. And such Cordelia¡¯s intuition was telling them. Something was different. The altar in front of them was far different from what Jude and Cordelia thought. And her intuition wasn¡¯t wrong again. Following Cordelia¡¯s gaze, Jude¡¯s eyes widened as he studied the magic circle that was engraved in the center of the altar. ¡®Different.¡¯ It was different from the one in the game. It was not the original magic circle that was found in the ruins of the northern part of the S?len Kingdom. Jude rushed to the altar and began analyzing it. Theplex magic circle was disassembled on his head and arranged in a row. He read the truth contained in the magic circle. And at some point. Jude understood. The ritual conducted by Garammaru. The reason they needed more blood. And why all of this happened. What drove Haraken to make a different choice from the game. It was Jude himself. What Jude himself had done so far led Haraken to make a different choice. Red Gale did not die. As a result, the Great Storm tribe survived. Violent Avnche, Gentle Snow Breeze, and Blue Whiskers did not be corrupted. The mid-ranking demonic humans who were dispatched to the east were annihted, and the east was not divided. Karaval was not obstructed. As a result, an eastern force was formed. What Jude himself and Cordelia had done so far. And the positive changes that resulted from it. Jude¡¯s ns seeded. Haraken was driven into a corner. Hence, Haraken made an extreme choice that he did not make in the original. ¡°Jude?¡± Jude raised his head and stared at Cordelia. And he thought. If it really was what he analyzed. If that was really what Haraken prepared for. Where would he hold the big ritual? Where would he summon ¡®that¡¯? ¡°Eastern forces.¡± He unconsciously said. There was only one thing he could think of. And this time, Jude wasn¡¯t wrong. At the same time. In the Snow Breeze in located farther south from where Jude and Cordelia were. While the eastern forces were on the verge of shing with the west, Haraken receivedte the news about the first explosion that Jude and Cordelia caused. But he wasn¡¯t much bothered. Because his preparations were over. ¡°Get started.¡± Haraken ordered, and hismand spread throughout the western forces. The battle began with the roar of Seven Horns who led the Angry Bull tribe. Chapter 116: Twist (3)

Chapter 116: Twist (3)

Jude¡¯s strategy was simple. The eastern forces would be an anvil, and Cordelia and Jude himself would be the hammer. While the eastern forces would lead the confrontation in the pitched battle that would begin on Snow Breeze in, Cordelia and Jude himself would go and destroy the rear, making them unable to maintain the front line. The hammer had seeded at the present moment. After the two crossed the Sky Roof mountain range, their meeting with Melissa allowed them to use the underground tunnels left behind by Magen¡¯s high elves. They had the full advantage in striking the rear of the west because of the deserted mountain. But this alone was not enough. The sess of the hammer alone did notplete the strategy. ¡®If the anvil can¡¯t hold out.¡¯ If the anvil was crushed by the enemy¡¯s offensive. If his strategy was destroyed as a result of his enemy¡¯s tactics. That was usually impossible. But Haraken could make it possible because he had a few aces up his sleeve. *** ¡°Ararara-rai! Arara-rai!¡± Seven Horns, who was reborn as Belial¡¯s puppet, roared as his red eyes shed. Tens of thousands of warriors joined in the cry that shook heaven and earth, and their vigor alone was enough to crush their enemies. And Red Gale didn¡¯t just watch it. Knowing the importance of fighting spirit, he raised his hand, and the chieftain of the de Song tribe, Nine des, roared on behalf of Red Gale. ¡°Kurara! Kurara!¡± The eastern forces also shouted together. Horns were blown everywhere, and the wild gods with the eastern forces let out angry roars. They tried to cover the Snow Breeze in with divine power. ¡°Aaaaah!¡± ¡°Aaaaah!¡± But it wasn¡¯t easy. Something countered their divine power. The western wild gods, who became hellish monsters as a result of corruption, also howled as their colossal evil thoughts offset the divine power. The eastern forces numbered around 30,000. The western forces numbered around 28,000 after losing some of their troops during their unification of the west. Boom! Boom! Boom! The drums boomed. Wearing a helmet decorated with the horns of a stag, Seven Horns rode on a hellish monster that resembled a rhinoceros and moved forward, and the corrupted tribal chieftains lined up beside him. They formed a wedge formation like they usually did and prepared to charge like turbulent waves. Red Gale had expected it, so he raised his hand again. gs fluttered everywhere as the eastern forces went into formation to counter their attack. ¡°Kuraha! Kuraha!¡± The eastern forces struck the ground with the end of their spears. The western forces roared again as they raised their weapons. Haraken watched the scene from behind. His henchman, Sharp Horn, took a deep breath to calm his frightened mind. The mid-ranking demonic humans all over the ce waited for the start of the battle. And at some point. When Haraken exhaled, and the moment Jude realized the truth from afar¡­ ¡°CHAAAARGE!¡± Seven Horns loudly shouted and dered. The warriors of the Angry Bull tribe charged forward. Boom! Boom! Boom! Tens of thousands of people charged at once, causing the ground to shake. Red Wind swallowed her saliva at the tremendous force that filled her eyes, and the nearby Sun Song took a deep breath. Nine des drew his sword. He turned to Red Gale, who remained silent but was looking straight ahead as he counted down numbers. It was the know-how in hunting. Not too soon, and not toote. Sweat trickled down the forehead of Red Gale. It was the first time for a seasoned and bold warrior like him to fight against such arge army. One breath. The Angry Bull tribe crossed the Snow Breeze in. The roars of the wild gods and monsters reverberated in the sky. ¡°Now!¡± Red Gale shouted. Nine des swung his sword, and the hand gs fluttered. The crouching and waiting de Song sprang up and shouted, and Great Storm spread his cries throughout the battlefield with his wind. Violent Avnche stood up. Gentle Snow Breeze sang. ¡°Garaaaaaa!¡± The eastern forces charged. Likewise, it shook the ground. The front lines of both sides. Those who were at the forefront. They were immersed in extreme excitement. Drunk in the madness of the battlefield, they finally met each other¡¯s breath. Baaaaaaaang! The waves met. And broke each other. Those at the forefront were crushed and ughtered, whether they were from the eastern or western forces. In an instant, dozens to hundreds of people lost their lives. It was a little different from what Red Gale anticipated. The western forces¡¯ vigor and violence beyond one¡¯s imagination had led to that result. But Red Gale did not lose hisposure. It was only a few hundreds out of tens of thousands. Battles on the first day were bound to cause heavy damage anyway. They had to stop them in Snow Breeze in in order to prevent the horrors of war from reaching the east, so they were prepared to have losses on their side too. ¡®Our guardian deities are with us.¡¯ Those who dwell in the wildnds call those guardian deities as wild gods. Red Gale¡¯s belief wasn¡¯t wrong. The song of Gentle Snow Breeze healed the warriors. Great Storm boosted the warriors¡¯ energy, and Violent Avnche¡¯s cheering wasn¡¯t very helpful, but it was better than nothing. And de Song. He did not hide his temperament. He turned into a huge ck wolf and headed to the battlefield himself as he showed off the power of a wild god. ¡°Be ripped to death!¡± He didn¡¯t stop at trampling and biting them off. de Song used his divine powers to summon dozens of invisible des around him to rip apart the western forces. ¡°de Song! de Song!¡± It wasn¡¯t just the de Song tribe. The eastern forces loudly cheered, and de Song felt better as he went around the battlefield. Red Wind also fought hard. Instead of going to the front line, she used the Phoenix in a ce somewhat behind it, and her gaze was drawn to the back of Sun Song who fought at the forefront. Great Storm headed up to sky after reverting his true form of a giant bird. From there, he monitored the entire battlefield and conveyed what he saw to Red Gale. Although the battle between the eastern and western forces were violent enough that those in the front lines were crushed, it had now entered a lull. Instead of people dying one after another, they were just pushing each other away. It wasn¡¯t bad. The western forces did not make any tactical maneuvers. There was no mobile unit in the back, nor was there anything unusual in the reserve. It was just a thoughtless charge. ¡®Perhaps we can do it.¡¯ Would we be able to destroy the western forces altogether instead of just holding our ground? Both ends of the eastern forces stealthily headed toward the front. They intended to besiege the western forces who was thoughtlessly attempting to break through the front. If they seeded in their besiegement¡­ Great Storm thought that they would be greatly victorious. The song of Gentle Snow Breeze reminded him of a victory song. And Haraken looked up at the sky. Haraken saw Great Storm, the beautiful white bird looking down from above, before he moved his hand. ¡°Do it.¡± The ritual. What they had been preparing for. Sharp Horn lifted the g. The demonic humans scattered all over the battlefield began to move, and the corrupted wild gods who remained seated rather than step forward since the battle began, finally stood up. Haraken looked up at the sky again. He no longer hid his demonic human form¡¯spound eyes. *** Cordelia knew Jude well. She could tell what he was thinking just by looking into his eyes. So she lowered her posture. She sat in front of the altar and made eye contact with Jude, who had a stupefied look on his face. ¡°Jude.¡± She called him again. Jude came to his senses and stared at Cordelia, who looked at him again instead of talking. Jude took a deep breath. He calmed down after doing that several times. He returned to the Jude that Cordelia knew well. ¡°What kind of ritual is it?¡± It was not a ritual to summon the great demon Kriemler. Cordelia could understand that much. Jude opened his mouth. He told her what he found out. And soon after, Cordelia¡¯s intuition felt it. Her instincts told her. The eastern forces would be defeated. They wouldn¡¯t be able to beat the western forces. And as always, her intuition wasn¡¯t wrong. *** Haraken easily captured the wildnds in the original scenario. Almost all of the wild gods in the west and east were corrupted and went under hismand, and Red Gale and the other rebellious chieftains were purged, so the barbarians were united into a single army. Therefore, the headquarters of the Devil¡¯s Eye in the Argon Empire did not interfere with Haraken¡¯s movements. Rather, they did not spare their support for him. Thus, Haraken did not summon the great demon Kriemler in the wildnds. He unified the barbarians, who together with the corrupted wild gods, destroyed the northern border area of the S?len Kingdom before Kriemler was summoned. He didn¡¯t need to do it before. It wasn¡¯t until the two swordsmen, Count Bayer and Count Hr?svelgr, defeated the barbarian chieftains as well as the corrupted wild gods, did he have enough losses. But everything had changed. Jude and Cordelia made it that way. Haraken was cornered and made a choice that he did not make in the original. ¡°O Belial.¡± Haraken creepily smiled. The west was virtually devastated. All were sacrificed except for the great warriors on the battlefield and the minimum number of personnel for rear support. A river of blood flowed at the ritual conducted by the great warriors. ¡®No one will be spared.¡¯ The wild gods. All the firewood would be burned. In front of Haraken. In a ce located a little behind the battle between the western and eastern forces. At a point where both ends of the eastern forces were slowly approaching. The corrupted wild gods gathered there. The demonic humans gathered together. Harakenmanded them. The will of Belial dominated the demonic humans, and they struck the throats of the sacrifices they brought. The ground became wet with blood as they stabbed themselves in the neck one after another. Blood. The medium of the soul. The blood covered the ground. A circle was drawn. And the corrupted wild gods stood around the circle as they offered themselves to the magic circle. The wild gods were close to twenty. Tens of thousands of human offerings. And what was made from it. ¡°Aah¡­aaah¡­¡± Haraken was filled with joy. The blood in the magic circle seemed to be wriggling, and the circle waspleted by itself. Intricate patterns were engraved on the ground, and Great Storm who saw all that from the sky widely opened his eyes. It must be stopped. They had to somehow stop it. But how would they do it? de Song who had ran amok on the battlefield raised his head. He perceived the power concentrated in the magic circle of blood. He saw the evil energy that began to swirl above the magic circle. Gentle Snow Breeze realized it. Violent Avnche copsed and swallowed his scream. ¡°Open.¡± Haraken said. He burst outughing from the depth of his lungs. Boooooooooom! The space cracked. Then opened. And from within, it soared. A huge gate. A huge crack that connected this world to another world! ¡°Hell Gate.¡± Jude said. Cordelia looked south. Harakenughed, and the Hell Gate opened. Numerous monsters appeared. *** The Hell Gate was tens of meters in height. No, its size didn¡¯t matter. At that moment, everyone on the battlefield felt it. So they all turned. For a moment, the entire battlefield stopped. The eastern forces raised their heads. The western forces looked back. A small monster walked out of the huge gate. In fact, it was a 3-meter giant, but the gate was so huge. And then it continued. The demonic monsters continued to walk out. Dozens, and hundreds. Then the time that had stopped began to flow again. A new fight had begun. *** ¡°Run away!¡± Nine des desperately cried. The battle line had already copsed for a long time. The monsters poured out from the Hell Gate and broke through the front. The western forces, who were fighting against the eastern forces, were split and torn along the eastern forces. It was pandemonium. The demons did not distinguish between the eastern and western forces. All the humans in front of them were torn and crushed to death. The evil energy of the Hell Gate overwhelmed the divine power of the wild gods. ¡°We can¡¯t win.¡± Great Storm said. It wasn¡¯t because he was terrified. It was a level-headed judgment. ¡°We have to escape.¡± It was important to escape from here. If they fought here, the entire eastern forces would be destroyed. de Song understood that. So he didn¡¯t show his back to it. Rather, he stepped forward and shouted. ¡°Warriors of the de Song!¡± At themand of the wild god, the warriors of the de Song tribe turned their heads. Nine des looked at his guardian deity, and de Song bitterly smiled. He dered to his warriors. ¡°It¡¯s today.¡± This is the ce. Where we will die. The ce to sing ourst song. Nine des understood it. And he smiled. Because he was a warrior of the de Song. Because he stood on the battlefield while singing death. Moreover, it was a fight to protect. It was a beautiful and worthy fight. A good song was about to be made. ¡°de Song.¡± Great Storm spoke, and de Song just smiled. He didn¡¯t say any weak-sounding words to his long-time rival, but he still had to leave a word. ¡°Please take care of the children who were left behind.¡± The children who did not stand on the battlefield. The children who would continue the song of de Song. ¡°Brother!¡± Gentle Snow Breeze shouted, but de Song did not look back. He fiercely smiled and charged. ¡°Go! My warriors!¡± The warriors of the de Song turned around. They charged together with their guardian deity. They became a living wall to buy time for the eastern forces to retreat. ¡°Father!¡± Sun Song shouted, and Nine des saw Sun Song. He smiled and said goodbye. ¡°Go.¡± Lead the children who were left behind. de Song wants it too. That was it. Nine des no longer looked back. He charged together with the warriors of the de Song tribe. He bought time with his blood and life. ¡°Retreat!¡± Red Gale loudly shouted. Gentle Snow Breeze cried tears of blood and sang. She raised the energy of the warriors of the de Song and added strength to the feet of the fleeing eastern forces. Red Wind cried and grabbed the arm of the roaring Sun Song. The eastern forces retreated. The de Song tribe became a wall. The western forces broke down the wall, and demons poured out from the Hell Gate. ¡°Golden Dragon King.¡± de Song¡¯s entire body was covered with blood as he confronted the monsters from hell and thought of the king of the wild gods. He remembered the cheeky children who had the dragon¡¯s emblem. Why though? At thest moment, the faces of the two came to his mind. ¡°Farewell.¡± de Song flew towards the monsters. He sang hisst song. *** The eastern forces copsed. The Snow Breeze in was stained with blood, and the western forces was also virtually destroyed by the Hell Gate and the demons that poured out of it. About half of the western forces¡¯mon soldiers were corrupted and became low-level monsters that could no longer be called humans, and the other half were sacrificed to maintain the Hell Gate. Haraken won one battle, as he dered. He had to sacrifice too many things to do that, but he didn¡¯t care. It was already spilled water. Moreover, his purpose was to cause chaos in the wildnds and in the northern part of the S?len Kingdom. The method was different, but what was more important was the result. Inside the Hell Gate. A demon with an immense power was approaching. If he coulde down to this world. If that happened before Haraken¡¯s life ended, before he could no longer maintain the Hell Gate. ¡°O Belial.¡± I will dedicate the wildnds to you. At the time when Haraken prayed as if worshipping a god. Violent Avnche fell alone while running away, and then raised his head. He saw a man with a red cloak standing in front of him. It was a man he had never seen before, but the man somewhat reminded him of Cordelia even though they did not look alike at all. The man saved Violent Avnche who was being chased by the monsters. The man looked away and saw the Hell Gate that rose far away. Having deeply studied the tragedy of the Paragon Kingdom, he knew about the Hell Gate. ¡°Cordelia.¡± The man spoke in a low voice, and Count Chase turned to Violent Avnche. And at the same time. At the edge of the east. A ce called the sacred ce. Blue Whiskers shriveled at the terrifying aura he felt in the west and raised his head as he looked at his back. He hastily flew into the temple. And he faced that person. The white wings of the angel spread out. The angel who washed away the aura of hell opened her eyes. Lena Ainsburg. One of the five heroes who ended the tragedy of the Paragon Kingdom. She woke up. And looked west. Chapter 117: Holy Angel (1)

Chapter 117: Holy Angel (1)

Hell Gate. It wasn¡¯t something unfamiliar to them. The chances of seeing the Hell Gate in the Legend of Heroes series were surprisingly numerous. But the timing was wrong. Only one gate appeared in the first episode of Legend of Heroes. Demon Prince Baikazel, the final boss who caused the tragedy of the Paragon Kingdom. Thest battle in the first episode involved defeating him and closing the Hell Gate he opened. ¡®The next one was in the middle of the second episode.¡¯ Opening the Hell Gate on this world was by no means ordinary. In addition to numerous offerings, a catalyst was needed in order to open the Hell Gate. ¡®Catalyst.¡¯ Things that came together with the overlords of hell when they descended on this world in the past. The catalysts varied in form and were different from each other, but they were notmon. Even inrge organizations like the Devil¡¯s Hand or Devil¡¯s Eye, there were only one to two catalysts that could open the Hell Gate. ¡®Lena¡¯s situation was different.¡¯ The Hell Gate that opened in Endymion was not summoned in the usual way. A link had formed when Lena escaped from hell and returned to this world. Therefore, it differed from the usual Hell Gate in several ways. The Hell Gate was opened in the opposite way ¨C from hell to this world and not from this world to hell, so the Hell Gate remained open because it could replenish its power from hell without any additional support (sacrifices). ¡®But that¡¯s not it. He didn¡¯t do that.¡¯ Jude stared at the altar once again. He interpreted the disassembled magic circle in his head. It was the usual Hell Gate. It was like the one he saw several times in Legend of Heroes 2. ¡®It can¡¯t be kept open for a long time.¡¯ It needed power to maintain the Hell Gate. If the Hell Gate was opened on Snow Breeze in as Jude had thought, there would be no other means to maintain it other than through sacrificial offerings. ¡®About a week at most.¡¯ There would naturally be some miscalction because he inferred it from the various events in the game, but the difference wouldn¡¯t be that great. ¡®Did I go too far? No, did he turn the board upside down?¡¯ T/N: The ¡®board¡¯ here refers to a game board, like a chessboard. Basically, Jude and Haraken are ying a game of ¡®chess¡¯ and Haraken¡¯s ns are losing to Jude¡¯s strategy, so he flipped/turned the board upside down. I exined it here because the word ¡®board¡¯ gets mentioned several timester in this chapter. There were few opportunities to summon the Hell Gate. In the game, instead of summoning the Hell Gate, Haraken corrupted the wild gods and took control of the barbarians before attacking the northern part of the kingdom because it was much more efficient. ¡®He opened the Hell Gate after destroying the northern part and attacking the royal capital.¡¯ Which would be more effective ¨C opening the Hell Gate in the wildnds or opening it in the royal capital of the S?len Kingdom? He didn¡¯t even have to think about the answer. It was definitely thetter. To begin with, he had no information if Haraken had a catalyst. But it made sense. Even Jude himself wouldn¡¯t waste the catalyst in that way. The best way was to summon the Hell Gate in a key ce after subduing the wildnds, the barbarians, and the northern part of the S?len Kingdom. ¡®But he didn¡¯t do that.¡¯ Because Jude himself had obviously interfered with Haraken¡¯s ns every time. Compared to the game, Haraken was currently in a very bad situation. But summoning the Hell Gate was excessive. This was almost a desperate move on Haraken¡¯s side. It meant that he gave up most of the power in the wildnds that he had secured. ¡®Why?¡¯ Wasn¡¯t it better to have the western and eastern forces fight? Why did Haraken give up the fight? There was a reason. An incident that changed Haraken¡¯s mind that Jude didn¡¯t know about yet. Ga?l and Adelia. Count Chase. The three annihted the infiltrators who were trying to infiltrate the east via the south. It made Haraken think that there was no other way to do anything except for a head-on battle, so Haraken made a decision. If he failed in whatever he nned, then he would do something that he wouldn¡¯t fail in. He would do something that his enemies couldn¡¯t stop. Because that was better than aplete failure. That was the time he turned the board upside down. The power of the wildnds had already been cut in half. In his situation, even if the eastern forces were defeated in the head-on battle, the damage would be too great. He wouldn¡¯t be able to properly carry out his original n with just half of the power. So he flipped the board. He created a new board. But Jude didn¡¯t know about that even if he was a rotten water. Therefore, Jude stopped worrying about it. He needed information first. Their present location was not a good ce to keep thinking about it. ¡°Cordelia.¡± Cordelia immediately responded to Jude¡¯s call. She also had a stiff face as she was worried about it in her own way. ¡°Let¡¯s move for now.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± She had to brighten up at times like this. Cordelia energetically responded on purpose and took the lead. He didn¡¯t tell her where their destination was, but there was only one ce to go in this situation. ¡®The underground passage left by the high elves of Magen.¡¯ Melissa gave them information that was not avable in the game. Magen, the magic kingdom. The elves in Pleiades weremonly thought of as mostly living in forests and mountains. Even the dark elves refused to live underground unless they had no choice. However, the high elves of Magen built a city underground. Most of the facilities were built under the mountains or under the ground as if they were dwarves. ¡®It¡¯s because of the dragon vein.¡¯ Magen¡¯s high elves discovered an unknown power under the ground. They researched and studied on how to somehow use that great stream, and as a result, they set up a livable base underground that was close to the dragon vein. ¡®An infrastructure across the wildnds.¡¯ The high elves built the infrastructure along the dragon vein stream. In addition, several facilities were installed to use the power of the dragon vein. The facility in the Sky Roof mountain range was one of those. ¡®The dragon vein was different from what it was.¡¯ It was much thinner and was blocked everywhere. But Magen¡¯s high elves resolved that. They smoothened the flow of the dragon vein, and ry facilities were built throughout the wildnds to strengthen its flow. ¡®And that¡¯s how the current dragon vein was made.¡¯ And as Jude had expected¡­ ¡°Jude.¡± Jude came to his senses at Cordelia¡¯s call again. The two had gone back to the underground passage. Jude took a deep breath. And he thought again. ¡®The gate is open.¡¯ That was clear, apart from the others he thought of. Cordelia¡¯s intuition and the ritual altar guarded by Garammaru also informed him of this fact. What should we do now? Should we break the western dragon veins as nned? ¡®We don¡¯t have enough time.¡¯ The reasons for opening the Hell Gate in the game all led to one answer. To call out a mighty being to this world who couldn¡¯t be summoned in the usual way. Haraken went overboard. He opened the Hell Gate using several catalysts from the Devil¡¯s Eye. If so, he wouldn¡¯t be satisfied with someone on the level of Kriemler. He would try to call someone higher than Kriemler to this world. How many days would that take? If he calcted the time requiredpared to the other events in the game¡­ ¡®Five days at most.¡¯ If it was short, three to four days. Then, it was impossible for them. Even if they used the high elves¡¯ tunnels that they had opened, they wouldn¡¯t be able to make it. The wildnds was too wide for them. ¡®Town Portal.¡¯ A space-leaping door that was used by the high elves. ording to Melissa¡¯s investigation, there were still a few functional space-leaping doors in the west. They would be able to immediately return to the east once they got to that door. But there was no way to directly go to that door from here. Going there would consume time anyway. Jude¡¯s thoughts deepened. He thought and thought again. And Cordelia saw such Jude. She groaned and began to worry about it like him. Is there any other way? Maybe there¡¯s a solution. ¡°Eueu.¡± This kind of thinking didn¡¯t suit her nor was it something she liked to do. So Cordelia groaned and repeatedly stomped her feet. But she didn¡¯t stop thinking. And at some point. ¡°Ah!¡± Cordelia raised her head. She grabbed Jude¡¯s shoulder in a hurry. After forcibly pulling out the struggling Jude from the pit of thoughts that he had sunk into, she talked about the idea that came to her mind. ¡°What do you think?¡± It wasn¡¯t a specific idea. Just one idea. Jude stared at Cordelia. He didn¡¯t blink once, and in response, Cordelia¡¯s shoulders drooped, and she made a glum expression. Was that not it? What was I thinking? I guess it¡¯s not something I should think about. So when Cordelia began to be dispirited¡­ Jude unexpectedly burst intoughter. He brightly smiled and hugged Cordelia all of a sudden. ¡°Ju-Jude?¡± ¡°You¡¯re the best. My princess, my angel.¡± ¡°W-what?¡± My what? The grossed-out Cordelia got goosebumps at his choice of words, but Jude didn¡¯t care much about it. He tried to resume his thoughts again to make Cordelia¡¯s idea a reality. But at that very moment. Jude and Cordelia looked at each other again. They focused on the voice they heard in their minds. *** Thanks to the heroic sacrifice of de Song, the eastern forces were able to leave the battlefield. But too much blood had already been shed. ¡°But even so.¡± Great Storm looked towards the west with sunken eyes. He stared at the Hell Gate located far away that was radiating a chaotic aura even at this moment. He was at a great distance. But his eyes could see at a far distance from up high. He could still see the monsters crawling out of the Hell Gate at this time. That was why he dered. ¡°It must be closed.¡± Great Storm didn¡¯t know much about the Hell Gate. Only a few wild gods remembered the days when the magic kingdom Magen fought the overlord of hell. Excluding the Golden Dragon King, there was no other wild god at that time who was active at the present moment. Therefore, the wild gods didn¡¯t know much about the demons. They couldn¡¯t even guess how long the Hell Gate could be maintained, and what beings woulde out of it, so they thought of a more resolute response. ¡°At any cost.¡± If the Hell Gate stayed as it is. If more demons came out of it. The wildnds would cease to exist. It would just be a small hell ruled by the demons from hell. ¡°Brother, Violent Avnche¡­¡± Great Storm looked at his back. Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s face was filled with tears as she sniffled. She didn¡¯t like de Song very much, but that didn¡¯t mean she deeply hated him. But de Song had saved everyone and died. He made a heroic sacrifice. Even his tribe, and even the numerous children in the wildnds. And even Violent Avnche¡¯s whereabouts were unknown now. Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s tears did not dry out. She couldn¡¯t stop crying. But Great Storm reached out to her for a moment and wiped her tears. He said with a forced smile. ¡°He will be fine. He¡¯s a wild god even if he had lost his powers. He has lived far longer than we have.¡± He just took the wrong road and didn¡¯t lose his life. ¡°Is¡­that so?¡± ¡°Yes, it is. Yes, it is.¡± Great Storm hugged Gentle Snow Breeze and patted her back. It was like he was soothing a child, but Gentle Snow Breeze was actually taller than Great Storm in terms of their human forms, though that didn¡¯t matter to them. She held back her tears in the arms of Great Storm. ¡°We must gather the wild gods.¡± Every single wild god in the east had to be gathered. The surviving main force and the remaining troops in the east had to bebined in order to form the final do-or-die army. de Song and his children sacrificed their lives to give the east ¨C no, the wildnds, one more chance. So they had to live up to their songs. ¡°Gentle Snow Breeze, gather the children. Gather the wild gods.¡± Gentle Snow Breeze nodded. She wiped her face several times before she turned around and ran. Great Storm gazed at the back of Gentle Snow Breeze. He then turned around and looked at the west. ¡°Hell Gate.¡± It reminded Great Storm of de Song. He remembered the wild gods of the west that he hadn¡¯t seen for a long time. All of them were dead. And now, more wild gods might die. But even so. ¡°It¡¯s our calling to protect the wildnds.¡± Great Storm let out a cold breath. He prepared for the final battle. *** Haraken stared at the Hell Gate. The creepy aura of hell gave him a new power. Haraken smiled. His stronger power had now allowed him to sense someone approaching from beyond the Hell Gate. He paid his respects to it. Demon Prince. A demon with a title. It surpassed the great demon Kriemler and was a being in the same ss as Baikazel, who caused the tragedy of the Paragon Kingdom in the past. Haraken¡¯s smile turned wry. His thoughts had changed too, perhaps because of the aura of hell. ¡®Indeed, this was my calling.¡¯ So what if it wasn¡¯t the royal capital of the S?len Kingdom? It would be enough if the Demon Prince descended. He would lead the demons and end the wildnds. They would then advance to the S?len Kingdom. The demons and monster that came out from the Hell Gate did not go through a contract process. Therefore, they did not follow or were under Haraken. But that didn¡¯t matter to Haraken. Because the demons and monsters knew it. The Demon Prince wasing. It was their calling to follow itsmand. ¡°Master Haraken.¡± Haraken turned to the voice that was mixed with fear. The ever-faithful Sharp Horn looked at him with eyes full of hesitation. Sharp Horn couldn¡¯t help it. The western forces were destroyed, and the Angry Bull tribe who epted the aura of hell had now be creatures that could no longer be called humans. Even at this moment, human offerings continued to be offered in order to maintain the Hell Gate. Haraken looked at Sharp Horn. Sharp Horn was no longer a human too. He was close to a monster. His human mind still remained, but it was only a matter of time. So Haraken showed him a little mercy and told him the words that he wanted to hear. ¡°Not bad. You did well. It will be fine if you follow me as always.¡± Sharp Horn nodded at Haraken¡¯s words. He let go of his fear and blindly believed in Haraken¡¯s words. He wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand the current situation otherwise. ¡°Just wait. For the greater glory shall be with us.¡± Haraken brightly smiled and looked at the Hell Gate again. He waited for the moment of its advent as he fully enjoyed the aura of hell. *** ¡°Lena?¡± An answer came back when Cordelia spoke. There were no specific words, but a clear feeling was conveyed. Lena woke up. The holy angel came back to this world. And what that meant. Another possibility rose. ¡°Lena.¡± Jude and Cordelia then knew. That she had spread out her wings of light. She left the sacred ce that was guarded by Blue Whiskers and flew towards the west. The connection was lost. But that was enough. Lena conveyed her will to the two. Having known that the Hell Gate had been opened on this world, she immediately took action. ¡°Lena woke up.¡± Cordelia¡¯s voice was filled with excitement. She would obviously do that. Because Lena woke up. Holy Angel Lena, one of the five heroes who ended the tragedy of the Paragon Kingdom. But that wasn¡¯t the only one. The reason why Cordelia got excited. The reason why Jude wanted to embrace Cordelia once again. The two had the same idea at the same time. They looked at each other andughed, and Jude opened his arms. However, Cordelia stepped back and brightly smiled instead of hugging Jude. She took out the item she had always carried since she got it and kept it where her eyes could reach even when she was taking a bath. She took the item from her back and ced it in front of Jude. ¡°Heavenly Judgment.¡± A sword forged by the god herself, by Auriel, the Archangel of Judgment. A sacred weapon that only angels could use. And the other possibility. Something Lena could try to do now that she was awake. ¡°My angel.¡± Jude tried to hug Cordelia as he shamelessly spoke, but Cordelia retreated with disgust. She soon giggled and said as her canines glistened. ¡°I¡¯ll show you a nice look.¡± For the battle ahead. There might not be one angel who would fly in the skies. Jude nodded his head. And he smiled in satisfaction. Because he finished it right at this moment. Their best strategy. ¡°As expected of my Jude.¡± Jude was satisfied with Cordelia¡¯s smile. They went into action again in order to reach a perfect happy ending. Chapter 118: Holy Angel (2)

Chapter 118: Holy Angel (2)

Expect some dy for the next chapter as it is more than twice the length of an average chapter. Yes, I¡¯m not kidding. So it¡¯ll be dyed by a day at the most. One more thing ¨C in episode 116, there was a line that said that blood is the ¡®currency¡¯ of the soul. I reced ¡®currency¡¯ with ¡®medium¡¯ as that seemed to fit it better. Terms used in this chapter: Orabeoni ¨C a term younger females use to call older males within their generation but is more formal and respectful than ¡®oppa.¡¯ Oppa is more casual and friendly. Time had passed. Four days after the battle on Snow Breeze in. The Hell Gate was still present, and the Snow Breeze in was covered with the purple aura of hell. The eastern forces gathered again. Arge army of 40,000 troops was created when the main forces who were defeated in Snow Breeze in were joined up with the troops who came from all over the eastern side. ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to de Song and the sacrifice of his children.¡± The missing Violent Avnche did not return. But they did not have the time to search for him. Great Storm gathered all of the wild gods in the east and sought for a way to destroy the Hell Gate. ¡°I don¡¯t know much about it, but I think we can only attack it head-on.¡± The other wild gods nodded at the words of Heavy Steps, a new wild god from the eastern side. It was because of the information they had newly acquired. ¡°I¡¯ve heard that if you leave the Hell Gate open for a long time, there¡¯ll be more problems than just the increasing number of monsters.¡± It was the Hell Gate¡¯s nature to grow more and more as long as it remained open. The only ones who could cross over the recently opened Hell Gate were low level monsters or demons without a name. But as time passed for a day or two, the Hell Gate becamerger and more serious, and higher beings were also able to descend to this world through the gate. ¡°The longer this drags on, the more disadvantageous it would be for us¡­ And the worst coulde.¡± The faces of the other wild gods grew somber when Blue Whiskers spoke with a grave expression after he had heard about the Hell Gate from Lena. ¡°Until the afternoon of the 5th day at thetest¡­we must close or destroy the Hell Gate.¡± Blue Whiskers didn¡¯t say the reason. But there was no one among the wild gods who did not know the reason. ¡®A mighty being will arrive.¡¯ A being whom they would be helpless against even if they gathered the power of the entire east. The eyes of the wild gods centered on Great Storm, who was considered the representative of the eastern wild gods. Great Storm gently closed his eyes and spoke with a calm face. ¡°Tomorrow morning, we¡¯ll attack the Hell Gate.¡± The forces of the east were brought together in just four days, which was not enough time for those injured in the battle on Snow Breeze in to heal their wounds. But they no longer had time, so they had to enter the decisive battle now. All of the wild gods had nervous faces. Even more so because it was the first time that arge number of wild gods were gathered to fight in this manner. ¡°Umm, by the way¡­¡± A wild god sitting in the corner raised his hand. He was a little boy with fox ears on his head, and as his appearance showed, the young boy ¨C Murmur, was the youngest and weakest among the wild gods gathered here. He slightly raised his hand and spoke with a faint voice, but it sounded strangely loud because it was so quiet around them. All of the wild gods turned to Murmur, who flinched and stiffened as he hesitated before speaking. ¡°That¡­those two¡­have they arrived?¡± Everyone¡¯s gaze returned to Great Storm at the question Murmur threw as he hugged his fluffy tail. Even though no one had said anything about it, all of them were actually curious about the two. Those two. The guardians of the wildnds who saved Violent Avnche, Gentle Snow Breeze, and Blue Whiskers, and also fought in the crisis at Karaval. However, few knew the truth. They were a much-rumored existence for the wild gods. ¡°I heard that they destroyed Raptor Canyon¡­¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that they had already closed a Hell Gate once?¡± ¡°Do they really blow up anything?¡± ¡°I heard that nothing was left of the ce.¡± The mountain of Violent Avnche copsed, the fields of Gentle Snow Breeze were burned, and the topography of Raptor Canyon waspletely changed. Gentle Snow Breeze awkwardly smiled at the fact-based rumors, and Great Storm bitterly smiled. Although it was sad that they were currently in a situation where the wild gods had to depend on two humans to protect and help them, he somehow understood them. ¡®Because even I do too.¡¯ Wouldn¡¯t they do something if it¡¯s those two? That was probably why Murmur opened his mouth again. ¡°They must have arrived by now. They will also participate in the decisive battle tomorrow.¡± ¡°Oooh.¡± ¡°Can we meet them?¡± Murmur asked as the wild gods were relieved, but Gentle Snow Breeze shook her head. She stroked the still young Murmur¡¯s head. ¡°The two have to do something very important from now on. It¡¯s theirst preparations that are necessary before we head to the decisive battle.¡± ¡°Umm¡­then we shouldn¡¯t bother them?¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. Let¡¯s talk to them after the decisive battle. Because we will win.¡± At the words of Gentle Snow Breeze, Murmur widely opened his eyes and answered with a wide smile. ¡°That¡¯s right! Because we will win!¡± A child¡¯s smile would always bring hope. His smile spread over to the wild gods, and Great Storm met eyes with Gentle Snow Breeze and leaned back for a while. ¡®But what in the world is their preparation?¡¯ He thought that they had already prepared this and that before they came here in the first ce. ¡®I¡¯ll knowter.¡¯ He didn¡¯t have the opportunity to properly talk to them until now. If it was necessary, he would have to talk to the two first tonight or tomorrow morning. ¡®The guardians of the wildnds.¡¯ What would the difference be between the first fight in the Snow Breeze in and now? How would the presence or absence of two people affect it? Great Storm pictured the faces of Jude and Cordelia in his head. *** ¡°Unniiiiie!¡± ¡°Red Wiiiiind!¡± Red Wind and Cordelia hugged each other as they turned around in circles ¨C or to be exact, Red Wind turned around in circles while hugging Cordelia. ¡®I¡¯m the older sister.¡¯ But Red Wind was much taller than her. In any case, the Red Wind who Cordelia liked had hugged her, and after almost turning around ten times, Red Wind looked at Jude. ¡°It¡¯s nice to see oppa too.¡± ¡°Umm, yes.¡± He could feel the difference in treatment, but he couldn¡¯t help it. ¡®However¡­is the situation better than I thought?¡¯ Red Wind had a good expression. She was obviously forcing herself to cheer up, which meant that they were not in a desperate situation for her to be able to do that. Cordelia then asked. ¡°Red Wind, what about your father, Red Gale?¡± ¡°He¡¯s preparing for the fight tomorrow. He¡¯s with Sun Song-orabeoni.¡± ¡°Ora¡­beoni?¡± ¡°Yes, Sun Song-orabeoni. He¡¯s big, strong, and nice.¡± As Red Wind spoke with a broad smile, Cordelia frowned at once and looked at Jude. ¡®What do we do? It¡¯s like she dumped Lucas.¡¯ ¡®¡­Shouldn¡¯t we listen to Lucas¡¯ opinion too?¡¯ Whether he was really dumped or not. At any rate, Red Wind¡¯s potential romance story was not what mattered now. ¡®That¡¯s mean! This is about Red Wind!¡¯ ¡®No, because we have a decisive fight tomorrow, remember?¡¯ ¡®Jude is cold-hearted¡­memo.¡¯ ¡®You don¡¯t even have a notebook.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m taking notes in my head, okay?¡¯ ¡®Oh, really? Are you for real? In your head?¡¯ ¡®Ummm¡­o-only for important things.¡¯ The eye-to-eye conversation between the two had already reached the realm of telepathy. Red Wind watched the two facing each other and found their ever-changing expressions to be interesting. ¡°By the way, unnie, Lena is waiting.¡± Lena was both a holy angel and a powerful wizard. She already had a brief conversation with themst night throughmunication magic. ¡®She said that she¡¯ll begin the preparations.¡¯ It was the ritual for Cordelia¡¯s Ancestral Regression. Jude and Cordelia exchanged nces again and smiled. But Red Wind opened her mouth again. ¡°Unnie.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°You look very tired. So is Jude-oppa.¡± Now that she saw it, Cordelia had a haggard face. Furthermore, Jude also had dark circles under his eyes, and even if he didn¡¯t have it, the fairplexion of his face had lost its color, making him lookpletely pale. What in the world happened to them before they got here? No, what did the two of them do? ¡°There were¡­a lot of things.¡± ¡°It was really hard¡­¡± Their journey over the past four days. The time needed to make Cordelia¡¯s idea a reality. Red Wind tilted her head as Jude and Cordelia both muttered with a look of liberation. ¡°Unnie?¡± ¡°Sorry, I¡¯ll tell you about itter. Let¡¯s go to Lena first.¡± ¡°Yes. I won¡¯t ask!¡± Red Wind cheerfully replied as always and began to take the lead, and Jude and Cordelia hurried along. After around ten minutes¡­ Lena stood on a hill that was somewhat remote from the main camp where the 40,000 troops were gathered. The sight of the sunset spreading as she looked west with her back facing them was like a painting. ¡°Wow¡­¡± Havingpletely returned to a holy angel after recovering from Demon Syndrome, Lena looked different from before. A real angel. A being who could only be expressed that way. Her dull blonde hair had regained its golden luster, and her fair-skinned face seemed to glow. And a pair of wings. It was white like snow, and when mixed with the light of the sunset, it gave off a warm yet faint glow. ¡°Lena!¡± ¡°Cordelia.¡± Lena gently smiled and turned around, and Cordelia ran before hugging her. ¡°Are you fine now?¡± ¡°It¡¯s thanks to the two of you.¡± She was able to cure her Demon Syndrome because Jude and Cordelia brought her to the sacred ce. ¡°Hehehe, that¡¯s a relief.¡± Lena smiled at Cordelia¡¯s clear smile before she looked at Jude. ¡°Jude.¡± ¡°It¡¯s nice to see you again.¡± ¡°Me too. I¡¯ve arranged all the preparations we talked about.¡± The ritual for Ancestral Regression. Lena had already done it twice. One was for herself and the other was for Landius. And at this moment, her third Ancestral Regression ritual was prepared for Cordelia. ¡°I was a little surprised.¡± She was surprised at the fact that Jude and Cordelia had already collected all the materials necessary for the Ancestral Regression ritual rather than the fact that angelic blood flows in Cordelia. ¡°We studied in preparation for it a bit thoroughly.¡± Cordelia smiled as she still clung to Lena and looked up the hill. There were several small circles on the magic circle that Lena drew, which were the ces where the offerings for the Ancestral Regression would be ced. ¡®Ancient Crest, Frozen Time.¡¯ Judeid down the materials they had collected while traveling so far. Then he saw an empty bowl in thest spot. The empty bowl was a container for something. That something was the key material for Ancestral Regression. ¡°Doing the Ancestral Regression would not make you into a powerful angel right away.¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll be starting at the ninth rank, right? There¡¯s also the maximum rank that would be determined by one¡¯s inherited blood and individual aptitude. Of course, it¡¯s notpletely fixed, but it¡¯s possible to go up a higher rank due to various opportunities or one¡¯s efforts.¡± ¡°Cordelia, you¡­¡± ¡°Because I also use the power of a witch, it needs to be bnced with the power of the angel. I can only use one of the two at a time, either the angel or the witch. It¡¯s too dangerous tobine the two right away. To be precise, the angel¡¯s power iscking.¡± Lena blinked her eyes when Cordelia listed the information she knew, which was unlike Cordelia, but she soon smiled. ¡°That¡¯s impressive. I guess you really studied it thoroughly.¡± The Ancestral Regression wasn¡¯t actually something that one could study in preparation if they wanted to, but not for Jude and Cordelia. For the two, the Ancestral Regression to be an angel was a review, and not a preparatory study. ¡°Okay, then let¡¯s begin now.¡± The decisive battle was tomorrow morning. Cordelia would need time to adjust in being an angel, so they had to proceed with the ritual as soon as possible. ¡°Are you ready to be an angel?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Cordelia blushed as she answered the question that was a little cringy. She hurriedly took off her coat. She was wearing a thin one-piece dress, and after removing the rabbit headband and tail, she headed to the center of the magic circle while Jude stood back and took a deep breath. Jude had originally intended to carry out the ritual himself from beginning to end, but Lena was here now. It was better to leave it to an expert and just step back. ¡°Thanks in advance.¡± ¡°No problem, Jude. Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± Lena giggled a little before quickly correcting her expression to a serious one. After she wounded her wrist and filled the bowl with her angelic blood, she began the ritual. ¡°Blood is the medium of the soul.¡± So she used her blood. Her blood remembered it. The magic circle shined. A white light rose and enveloped Cordelia. ¡°It¡¯s something that doesn¡¯t disappear but just sleeps.¡± The soul was connected through one¡¯s blood. The memories of one¡¯s ancestors were imprinted in one¡¯s soul. The light got stronger. The white light gradually turned red. He had seen this sight many times in the game. But reality was different. The light that began from the magic circle stretched out into the sky. The light broke into fragments and danced in harmony with the night that came, creating a beautiful trail of light in the night sky. ¡°From heaven to earth.¡± The present went into the past. It followed the path that lead it into one. In the pir of light that engulfed Cordelia, he could see a faint silhouette inside. That of a beautiful girl. And in addition to that. Snow white wings. Heavenly ring (halo). Things that symbolized a heavenly being. ¡°Now, you will reach it.¡± Thus, she wouldpletely inherit it. The Ancient Crest broke. The Frozen Time melted. Lena¡¯s blood became light and scattered, and the pir of light grew stronger. It turned redder and redder and then exploded at some point. An explosion of light. What that color meant. And what that light meant. The color of Cordelia. The color of her soul. The attribute of Cordelia. The power that symbolized her. There was no sound, but the beautiful and colorful explosion of light filled the night sky. There was amotion in the main camp located far away, and even the wild gods were surprised at the mysterious sight before them. And Jude. He didn¡¯t hide his ecstatic feeling as he faced the mysterious sight. The girl in front of him. The white wings of light wrapped around her exposed body with wless skin. Jude held his breath. And at that moment, the girl opened her eyes. She faced Jude with her blue eyes. She looked pure and innocent. But soon, Cordelia¡¯s yfulness revealed itself. Her canines glistened as she beautifully smiled. ¡°What do you think?¡± Jude promptly replied to Cordelia¡¯s question that was somewhat pompous. ¡°Beautiful.¡± ¡°No, not that one.¡± Cordelia¡¯s face turned red at his words, and Jude cleared his throat and said with a very serious face. ¡°Very beautiful.¡± ¡°Hey!¡± What are you saying? Are you making fun of me now? Judeughed. And Cordelia said the answer she wanted to hear. ¡°I got stronger.¡± Cordelia literally transcended a human being at this moment. In the first ce, an angel was a superior race whenpared to a human. Even the lowest rank ¨C rank 9, was iparable to an ordinary human. Especially the mana. ¡°1.5 times?¡± ¡°Perhaps.¡± The base value of her mana had increased. If she added her witch¡¯s power, her mana would explosively increase. ¡°It will be perfect.¡± If the allure of the fallen angel was added to the pure and innocent Cordelia. Jude nodded his head with a pleased look, and Cordelia nodded in quite a different meaning. ¡®It¡¯s not far.¡¯ The moment she would show her true power as a human disaster. If she could even be a witch, she would be able to use her ¡®7 Prohibited Magic¡¯ that was Cordelia¡¯s exclusive trademark. ¡°Perfect.¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s perfect.¡± The two nodded as they misunderstood each other after a long time, but soon became in harmony with each other as they moved. Jude quickly brought out the clothes that Cordelia would wear, and Cordelia covered herself with her wings as she properly dressed herself. However. ¡°Um, Mr. Jude.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°What¡­is this?¡± ¡°Cat set. It¡¯s better than the rabbit set.¡± It was a ck cat headband and tail. A set item that greatly increased not only one¡¯s agility but also their flexibility. ¡°Excuse me, Mr. Jude?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll be stronger.¡± Cordelia narrowed her eyes, but soon finished wearing it as if she was being generous to him. And Lena smiled at the sight of Jude and Cordelia. ¡®Interesting.¡¯ Ancestral Regression was not something normal. It was a matter of throwing away one¡¯s self and bing a new person. But the two of them were calm. They were veryposed. ¡®And.¡¯ What is this? They were in a situation where a decisive battle was in front of them, and the tragedy of Paragon might be repeated, but a smile still came out of her. She actually knew the reason. So Lena said to the two who were bickering. ¡°Shall we do the final arrangements?¡± What Jude and Cordelia had prepared for the past four days. And what Lena herself had prepared. Thest one to wrap it all up. ¡°Here it is.¡± Jude brought out the Heavenly Judgment, and Cordelia took it. She handed it to Lena. Heavenly Judgment could only be unsealed by an angel. It was a divine weapon that was forged by Auriel, the Archangel of Judgment. Cordelia and Lena exuded a divine power. The night sky was filled with light once again. Chapter 119: Guardians of the Wild Lands

Chapter 119: Guardians of the Wild Lands

It¡¯s finally here! Be prepared for a loooong chapter. Dawn arrived. The sun rose, and the eastern forces began marching. The western forces ¨C no, the demonic hordes since they could no longer be called the western forces, soon became aware of the approaching eastern forces. ¡°Are theying too?¡± There was no longer an old man with a long white beard. Harakenpletely revealed his demonic human form of an insect as he stroked his chin with his insect hands. ¡°Those who are lowly but still call themselves gods.¡± They must have felt something even if they didn¡¯t know much about the Hell Gate. ¡°How splendid.¡± The timing of their attack. As if they knew that there wouldn¡¯t be any opportunities for them except for now. After cackling, Haraken showed no further reaction. The Angry Bull tribe was still under his control despite them bing monsters, but that was all. The monsters and demons that surrounded the Hell Gate did not listen to his orders, and Haraken was unwilling to give them orders too. ¡®Because we all want to serve the same being.¡¯ Demon Prince. He was truly a great demon with a fearsome power even among the demons with titles. Haraken then looked east. As he caught the scent of the blowing wind, he anticipated the uing fight he would lead to be like a bloody feast of fear and terror that would rise and spread amidst the deaths and killings. *** Great Storm watched from far away. Many things were reflected in his blue eyes. The Hell Gate was now nearly 30 meters high. And the monsters surrounding the gate was in the thousands ¨C maybe even the tens of thousands. He broke into a cold sweat just from looking at it. As he watched the purple aura of hell leaking out of the gate and the monsters roaming around the now deadnd, the monsters noticed his gaze and red at his direction, and Great Storm thought that it was impossible to tell whether this ce was the wildnds or hell. Great Storm forced himself to smile. He gazed at the Hell Gate as he suppressed all sorts of emotions that seemed to burst out at any moment. ¡®She¡¯s right.¡¯ It was as Lena said. An absurdly powerful being was approaching. He could see iting from beyond the purple aura of hell towards this ce. ¡®If we can¡¯t close it.¡¯ If that being took a step on this world. The wildnds would cease to exist. Thisnd would be a part of hell, filled with despair and death. Great Storm closed his eyes. He blocked from his sight the Hell Gate that by just looking at it, seemed to draw him in and make him be unable to get out if he took a single step in. And then he heard. The voices of the eastern forces. What they were praying for. Those who sought their gods to gain the courage to somehow fight, and not to despair from theing disaster. The wheels of the wagon rolled. They got closer to the Hell Gate little by little. The time when they would fight, which might be theirst, had finallye. Great Storm slowly opened his eyes. He unknowingly said the name of de Song out of his mouth. Is this some kind of prayer too? Am I believing and relying on someone in order to gain the strength to fight? ¡®If it is, please give me your strength.¡¯ To not at least despair. To be able to fight to the end as a wild god who leads and cares for his tribe. The wind blew. Great Storm smiled at the sound of the wind that sharply brushed past him. Because he felt like he heard an answer from de Song. ¡®Yes, leave it to me.¡¯ Gentle Snow Breeze and the children of the wildnds. Great Storm was no longer afraid. The wheels of the wagon continued rolling, and the time for the decisive battle hade. *** Red Gale touched the Sun¡¯s Ne. After faintly saying a prayer to Sri who prevented his curse from progressing, he raised his head and looked down the hill. Snow Breeze in. A beautiful snowfield covered with white snow. It was no more. All the snow had melted away, and the ground had turned purple. Hideous monsters covered the ground, and winged demons were in the sky. And the Hell Gate. It was located just a few hundred meters from where he stood now, but he had to break through thousands of monsters and demons in order to reach it. Red Gale held his breath. The air that was polluted with the evil aura was murky. But that was only for a while. A fresh wind blew and pushed away the polluted air. It was Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s wind. So Red Gale held his breath again, deeply inhaled and then exhaled as he listened. Arge army nearing 40,000. They had gathered and held their breaths. 40,000 thoughts, 40,000 emotions. Red Gale looked straight ahead. The back of Nine des came to his mind like an illusion. He sacrificed his life for today. Even though he knew that he was going to die, he stayed and fought. And today. Red Gale and 40,000 troops were gathered. ¡®In the end, it¡¯s the same.¡¯ They would fight today too. In order to go hunting and fight beasts for tomorrow¡¯s food. In order to greet tomorrow. In order to protect. In order to continue the flow of life. ¡®I¡¯ve be sentimental.¡¯ What was I thinking when there¡¯s a fight right in front of me? But thanks to those thoughts, he managed to calm down. So Red Gale was able to calmlymand the forces as he watched the monsters begin to rush forward. ¡°Beat the drums.¡± The battle had now begun. The gs were raised. Hundreds of drums boomed at the same time. Boom! Boom! Boom! The monsters dashed towards the hill. The eastern forces on the hill raised their shields and held their spears. And at some point. The storm descended. *** ¡®We won¡¯t charge. We defend first.¡¯ Those were the words of Red Gale. Great Storm raised his arms high. His blue eyes shone as he showed off his power as a wild god. Great Storm. History had called him by that name. The wind blew. The weak winds gathered and became a strong wind, which intensified and became a gale. And it grew stronger again and became a storm that filled the skies and shook the ground. Craaackle-! A thunderbolt struck from the sky. Dark clouds appeared one after another. Rain heavily poured down from the sky. It wasn¡¯t the work of one wild god. Behind Great Storm stood other wild gods such as Gentle Snow Breeze. Gentle Snow Breeze added frost to the wind. Heavy Dark Cloud called forth rain and lightning. They strengthened the power of the storm. ¡°Go.¡± The body of Great Storm rose into the air. His eyes were shining, and blue sparks came out of his entire body. And the storm raged. It headed straight towards the Hell Gate and swallowed everything that it came across. Craaaackle-! Lightning and strong winds. A de-like blizzard. The eastern forces cheered at the wonders that happened before them. At the same time, the monsters that bypassed the storm headed to the hill. ¡°Ground!¡± Heavy Steps heavily stepped on the ground. He was a rhinoceros, but he was huge even in his human form. Boom! Boom! Boom! He wasn¡¯t alone. The rookie wild gods, Wild Boar and Cool Fangs, provided support, and many other wild gods stepped on the ground together. They caused an earthquake. The ground along the hill split, and cracks soon spread towards the Hell Gate. Craaaaaack-! The charging monsters fell into the cracks. The upheaved and raised ground became like a wall. Storm and earthquake. Disasters brought on by the wild gods. And Red Gale raised his hand. He finally gave themand. ¡°Shoot!¡± Dozens of gs were simultaneously raised. The eastern forces who were behind the raised wall received hismand. Red Wind shot an arrow. Sun Song next to her threw his spear, and over ten thousand arrows and spears covered the sky. Shhhhaaaaa-! The rain of arrows poured after the storm psed. Showers of blood spurted everywhere as the spears hit the heads of the monsters and demons. ¡°Kiaa! Kaak!¡± The running monsters that jumped over the cracks ended up dying. There was no way for them to avoid the inescapable rain of arrows. But it was not enough. Only a small portion died. Most of the monsters ignored the arrows. The demons manipted the wind and twisted the arrow¡¯s trajectory, and some even offset the attack with mes and lightning. ¡°Raise the shields!¡± Red Gale shouted again. Soldiers bearing shields stepped forward together. They crossed over the raised wall and began to directly confront the monsters that poured down from the sky. ¡°Awoooooh!¡± The shouts and screams mingled with each other. A wolf-like monster that jumped over the wall was stabbed to death by several spears, and two warriors of the Great Storm tribe were beheaded by a greatsword that was swung by a demon that descended from the sky. ¡°Keuhoong!¡± Some of the wild gods revealed their true forms. A giant wolf and tiger leapt into the battlefield and bit the demons, and Great Storm became furious when a sight caught his gaze. A demon covered in the skin of a ck wolf. That was clearly de Song¡¯s skin. ¡°Storm!¡± Great Storm caused the storm to reach the Hell Gate. The eastern forces turned around and struck the backs of the attacking monsters. It was pandemonium. The barriers copsed and those in the front lines died. Monster howled and fell while demons were brought to the ground and crushed. Gentle Snow Breeze trembled at such a violent scene. But she kept her eyes wide open. The Hell Gate. She stared at the ce that was much higher than the Hell Gate ¨C the sky. ¡°This is enough.¡± The fighting intensified. A sufficient number of monsters and demons attacked the eastern forces. So now. At this very moment. At the sky. At a very high ce. A ce that was too high to be properly discerned from the ground. A wooden board flew. Three people rode on top of it. Jude looked at the ground and had a simr thought like Gentle Snow Breeze. It was now. ¡°Should I remove the shield?¡± ¡°Wait, let me mentally prepare myself for thest time.¡± He wanted to see something he liked just in case. Jude gazed at Cordelia¡¯s face, and Cordelia tilted her head. She touched her face and wondered if there was anything on it. Jude then smiled. Lena also smiled. But it was only for a moment. Jude took another deep breath. He gestured with his eyes to Cordelia, who was still touching her cheeks with both hands. She eventually nodded and removed the shield. Swoooooooooooosh-! A violent wind blew. It was natural because they were seriously high up. Their altitude was really high. They had flown as high as possible to avoid being detected by the demons. ¡®Can you really do it?¡¯ ¡®Uh, maybe.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t because he had never tried descending at a high altitude. It was clearly because this was his first time doing it without a parachute. ¡®I had nned this, but I must have gone nuts.¡¯ But he could do it. No, he had to do it. ¡®Let¡¯s go.¡¯ At the end of his brief thought, Jude jumped off the wooden board. Afterwards, Cordelia and Lena followed him as they threw themselves towards the ground. Swiiiiiiiiiiiish-! His speed gradually increased. Jude himself became like a de that tore the air. And Jude could then see. The sight of the ground. The Hell Gate gradually getting closer and the winged demons covering the sky. ¡°Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors.¡± Nine heavens and nine doors. A road that connected to nine worlds. Jude closed his eyes. The mnemonic chant of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors awakened the power of the ck dragon. Four dragons were freed and released at once. ¡°Kuwaaaaaaaaaaaa!¡± The dragons roared. And surrounded Jude. A golden whirlwind appeared, and the four ck dragonsbined and became a huge ck energy. ¡°Kaaaak!¡± ¡°Craaaah!¡± The demons in the sky noticed it. They looked up at the sky. And Jude saw them. It rushed towards them like a dive bombing in WWII. ¡°Roar! O ye ck Dragon!¡± Let your roars shake the heavens and earth! Go, ck Dragon! The ck dragon wildly moved. The great dragon¡¯s energy swallowed up the demons. It cleared and opened the path like that. ¡®Aren¡¯t you embarrassed!¡¯ What was that?! The visuals were cool since the energy of the ck dragon pushed its way through the demons before exploding beautifully. ¡®But what was that cry! Are you a kid?¡¯ The red-faced Cordelia spread out her wings of light. She was curious if Lena had heard it or what her reaction was if she did, but she didn¡¯t bother to look back. Lena then held Cordelia¡¯s hand. They went through the road that Jude had made as they sharply gazed at the Hell Gate. ¡°Stop them!¡± Haraken shouted from the ground. It wasn¡¯t only him as several demons screamed too, and the winged monsters flew to the air at once. Their numbers weren¡¯t small. The eastern forces had drawn their attention, but hundreds of monsters and demons still gathered. It was impossible to fight them all with the energy of the ck dragon that was created by Jude. So Lena spread her wings. Together with Cordelia, they grasped the Heavenly Judgment. Swoosh! A reverse in direction. Cordelia and Lena who were falling had now flown and soared up. They spread their wings of light and raised the Heavenly Judgement that they held together. The demons in the ground. Their flock in the hundreds. The two saw them all. Cordelia swung the sword at them, to where the energy of the ck dragon had gone, while Lena cast a spell. She called forth the light. The heavenly power. Right at that moment, the time of divine punishment arrived! Day of Judgment! Fwaaah-! The sky opened up. It could only be expressed that way. And it fell. From the heavens to the earth. Brilliant gold dazzlingly fell! Kwagagagagagaga-! It was light, only light, a light that shed gold! Dozens and hundreds of it prated the air. It descended on earth and literally melted the monsters and demons. ¡°Aaaaaah!¡± The bodies of the demons burned. They screamed at the sweeping light. Since they had flocked to attack Jude, hundreds of monsters and demons could not escape the Day of Judgement. Kwagaga-! It was an awesome sight. A terrifying power. A light that destroys demons. The heavenly power heavily fell onto a ce filled with the power of hell. The true power of Heavenly Judgment could only be exercised when Lena, a holy angel, was present. ¡°Uooooooooh!¡± The entire eastern forces shouted in a roar. The whole battlefield came to a standstill at such an overwhelming sight. The monsters and demons attacking the eastern forces also looked at the heavenly light with stunned faces. ¡°Wow.¡± So did Jude. As he looked up at the sky while surrounded by the ck dragon¡¯s energy, Jude couldn¡¯t hide his awe. The power of Day of Judgment was to burn demons. Therefore, it did not harm him a little, and Jude was able see with his own eyes the light that fell from the sky and the appearance of two angels. And what followed afterwards. The reason why Cordelia was together with Lena on using the Day of Judgment for the first time. It wasn¡¯t because of the rings of light that continuously surrounded Cordelia. Leveling up was important, but there was a more important reason. The battlefield was cleared. Thus, the Hell Gate was fully exposed. Cordelia was exhausted on her first use of Day of Judgment and released her hold of the Heavenly Judgment. Lena concentrated all her power on the Heavenly Judgment. She would directly attack the Hell Gate. Since it was muchrger than the one in Endymion, she poured out her heavenly power to break and weaken it. She would reduce it to a size that they could close. ¡°Stoooop!¡± Haraken screamed from the ground. Some of the demons shrieked. And some of the demons fighting the eastern forces threw themselves to the Hell Gate. But it was too far for them. There was no one between Lena and the Hell Gate at this moment. ¡°Power of Judgment.¡± Lena poured out all her power. Instead of using the Day of Judgment that covered the ground, she focused it all into one spot and fired the light towards the Hell Gate. In order to break the Hell Gate. To reduce it by breaking it into half. And Cordelia used her remaining angel powers to use magic that would seal the gate. They would close the Hell Gate and stop the enemy¡¯s ambitions. (T/N: ¡®Seal the gate¡¯ is a Korean word ¨C ¡®bong-mun¡¯ (??), with a double meaning. It does not literally mean to seal or close a gate/door, but the author used its figurative meaning andbined it with its literal meaning to intentionally make a word with a double meaning, which you can see in the next sentence after ¡®seal the gate.¡¯ First is the literal meaning ¨C seal the gate. Cordelia wanted to use her magic to literally seal or close the Hell Gate. The second would be its figurative meaning ¨C to close the doors of opportunity. She wanted to stop the enemy from having the opportunity to fulfill their ambitions. The light moved forward. In a moment, in an instant. It felt like it wouldn¡¯t reach it because time seemed to have stopped. Haraken squirmed. The demons turned their eyes to the nearing heavenly power. They did not dare confront it. And at that moment. When the Power of Judgment was about to crash into the Hell Gate. Jude saw it. What quickly came out from the Hell Gate. What came out at that moment and collided head-on with the Power of Judgment. Booooooooooom! The light exploded. The immense sh of light blinded everyone in the battlefield. But Jude realized it. Lena¡¯s intuition felt it. Demon Prince. The demon¡¯s anti-air attack! Boooom! The Power of Judgment was shattered. It couldn¡¯t reach the Hell Gate. Cordelia forced open her eyes and turned to the Hell Gate. And she could see. A huge ck arm had squeezed through the Hell Gate. The hand of a demon. That was what stopped the Power of Judgment. It protected the Hell Gate. The Power of Judgment was just a few inches away from the Hell Gate. The demon¡¯s hand burned. It dropped to the ground with a loud sound. But it didn¡¯t break. It did not disappear. Rather, it evoked a purple aura to attack Lena, who was standing in exhaustion. ¡°Lena!¡± Cordelia hurried flew over and pushed Lena away. The purple sphereunched by the Demon Prince pierced the air and killed everything it passed by. ¡®¡¯ The highest-ranked magic that humans couldn¡¯t even use unless they were on the level of an archwizard. Although it was small in size, it was definitely . The Demon Prince had instantly materialized that terrifying magic of destruction. ¡®No.¡¯ Cordelia looked at the ground again. The Demon Prince had not yet passed through the Hell Gate. Only an arm hade out, and that arm was severely damaged when it blocked the Power of Judgment. It had fought back, but that was all. As evidenced by this, the arm was stretched out but did not fire any magic again. But Lena¡¯s face turned pale. Because she had used up too much power, and that she also felt despair in their current situation. ¡®There¡¯s no other way.¡¯ She had put all of her power in that one blow. She couldn¡¯t afford to do it one more time. She stopped the Demon Prince¡¯s right arm, but time was now on the enemy¡¯s side. Lena herself couldn¡¯t stop the Demon Prince. Cordelia¡¯s power was not enough to close the Hell Gate. ¡°Lena!¡± Cordelia cried. She flew higher to evade the attacks of the monsters and demons that flew up higher too. She hugged Lena and cast her eyes on the ground. It was to find Jude. ¡°Keuooo!¡± ¡°Kaaah!¡± The monsters rushed when Judended on the ground. The golden whirlwind surrounded Jude, but there were too many monsters that came at him from all sides. Harakenughed. He sighed in relief, and soon burst intoughter because of his overwhelming emotions. Ah, that was it. That was the strategy you prepared. Yes, I admit it. I was rmed. If the Demon Prince was a littlete, and if it didn¡¯t strain itself, the Hell Gate might have been closed. But it didn¡¯t close. The Demon Prince¡¯sing was only dyed because it tried to stop the attack, but time was on their side. The battle between the eastern forces and the demons began again. Haraken looked at the ground with a smile. He saw Jude who was fighting well but would soon be crushed by the monsters, and also saw the two angels in the sky. ¡°It was you.¡± Those who interfered with my ns. Forced me to make the choices I¡¯ve made now. But I don¡¯t hate you two. I think I made the right choice because of you two. Haraken continued tough. He saw Jude fighting desperately and Cordelia who was at risk of falling down. He enjoyed seeing Lena¡¯s despair. And Cordelia looked at Jude. She held Lena¡¯s waist in her right hand and threw a re with her left hand as she gazed at Jude. And Jude received her gaze. They were too far to have a conversation with their eyes, but as the two saw each other, they understood each other like always. ¡®Should I do it?¡¯ Jude bitterly smiled at Cordelia¡¯s question. ¡®Yes, let¡¯s go to n B.¡¯ In case Lena¡¯s n had failed. Cordelia smiled. She forcibly did so. She revealed her best smile and drew her fist. She turned off her angelic power and unleased the power of the witch. Fwaaa-! Cordelia¡¯s hair turned ck. A dark red power burned on Cordelia¡¯s right arm. Lena turned to Cordelia. Cordelia widely smiled and swung her right arm. She threw the towards the ground. Haraken saw Cordelia¡¯s action. He followed the trajectory of the Dark de. The ground. At a crack caused by the earthquake that the wild gods had triggered. The Dark de pierced through it. And Haraken realized it. What Cordelia was trying to do. So heughed. He mockinglyughed at Cordelia¡¯s foolishness. ¡°You foolish one.¡± Yes, a dragon vein also flowed in the Snow Breeze in. But that was all. There was no massive pool of the dragon vein here. Even if they made the dragon vein runaway, it would only cause a small explosion. Whatever they did, the Hell Gate would remain intact. He was not wrong. It was a good judgment. And Jude and Cordelia also knew it. ¡°Bang.¡± Cordelia said. And there was a small explosion. The ground shook because it still touched a part of the dragon vein. The monsters that flocked to Jude stopped at once upon hearing the explosion. And that was it. Their job ended with just that. But not yet. Cordelia did not lose her smile. Because this was just the beginning. She just pulled the trigger. What Jude and Cordelia had prepared. What they wanted to do before they learned about Lena¡¯s recovery. ¡°My Jude is awesome.¡± Cordelia spoke, and Lena blinked her eyes. Haraken sharply stared at Cordelia again. One. Two. As she was counting down, Cordelia broadly smiled again. She said with her best smile. ¡°F*ck bang.¡± And an explosion happened. Bang. It wasn¡¯t that big again this time. But it continued. Explosions urred in session under the ground. Bang, bang, bang. It was unusual. Everyone wondered on what the hell was happening. The demons all saw the same ce. And Haraken realized it. The explosion was continuing in one direction. It was ¡®moving.¡¯ ¡°Because art is an explosion.¡± Booooooom! There was a tremendous, a really huge explosion. It was far away. It wasn¡¯t close. But even that continued. The explosion continued. To the east, to the west. In a line. Along the stream. ¡°Dragon vein.¡± A stream. Something that was all connected into one. Cordelia¡¯s idea was simple. The dragon vein is a stream. Let¡¯s use that stream. An idea that she virtually passed to Jude, without knowing how to do it. But that was enough. The idea was realized in Jude¡¯s mind. The infrastructure built by the high elves of Magen. A research facility built by the high elves of Magen. The reason why the other dragon vein pools did not explode in session even after some exploded was because the distance between each dragon vein pool was long. But if there was something that ryed it in between. If the dragon vein can cause a chain of explosions like falling dominoes. The Snow Queen was not one. There were abandoned research facilities in the east and west too. The infrastructure of the high elves made the flow of the dragon vein clearer. Jude and Cordelia set bombs on the dragon vein. Bombs that were frozen by the Snow Queen¡¯s power. And they ran and made the most of the Town Portal. They made all the dragon veins in the research facilities they could reach to be on the verge of a runaway. And at this moment. n B was put into motion. They pushed the first piece of the dominoes. Boom! Boom! Boom! Explosions continued at distant ces that were out of their sight. The reason Cordelia did not use the Snow Queen in this battle was simple. It was used as a bomb to burst the dragon vein. Naturally, even Jude and Cordelia couldn¡¯t mass produce bombs that could be used throughout the entire dragon vein in just four days. But that wasn¡¯t necessary in the first ce. Because the dragon vein was a stream. If it run out of control above a certain level , the entire dragon vein would eventually runaway. Just like now. Boobooboobooboom! The dragon vein shook. The dragon vein pools run out of control in session, and every time one of them went out of control, the runaway of the entire dragon vein elerated. Artificial spirits exploded one after another. The high elves¡¯ research facilities that were deep in the ground exploded, which added to the power of the runaway. East and west. The entire wildnds. The whole dragon vein! Babababababang-! The earth shook. It was a result of all the eastern and western dragon vein streams running out of control. The ground shook, and earthquakes urred everywhere. The wild gods could not conceal their shock. Gentle Snow Breeze felt her sanctuary exploding, and Blue Whiskers sensed the sacred ce to have been blown away. Great Storm stared at Jude and Cordelia with a stunned face. Boobooboom! There was also an explosion in the Sky Roof mountain range far away. The fight stopped again. They had no choice but to do so since the runaway of the dragon vein shook the entirety of the wildnds. Even Haraken looked at Cordelia with a stupefied face. He tried to understand the current situation somehow. The west was already in ruins. The sanctuaries of the wild gods and the dragon vein streams were quite far from the tribes¡¯ dwellings, so even if the entire dragon vein exploded, there would almost be no casualties. But even if that is so, you made the entire dragon vein runaway? You blew up the sanctuaries of all the wild gods? They¡¯re not normal. No, there¡¯s something else that¡¯s more important than that. Why in the hell- What would you gain from that? On the other hand, Great Storm knew the reason. So he couldn¡¯t help butugh while also cursing. ¡°You crazy b*stards.¡± But they were his crazy b*stards. Gentle Snow Breeze also knew. Blue Whiskers realized it too. The entire dragon vein had exploded. Thus, the entire dragon vein was purified. The aura of hell was shaken off by the explosions. And as a result. There was one who woke up because of that. Kreuaaaaaaaaaaaa-! A roar broke out in the sky. The sky split at once, and a golden light covered the ground. Haraken stared at the sky in a daze. Lena blinked her eyes, and Cordelia smiled as her canines glistened. ¡°The Golden Dragon King.¡± Jude spoke. The dragon emblem on Jude and Cordelia¡¯s hands shined, and the roaring continued in the skies. It was the roar of the master of the wildnds and the king of the wild gods, the one who was the dragon vein itself. The aura of hell that rose from the Hell Gate disappeared. The Snow Breeze in was purified in an instant. And a thunderbolt struck. A huge golden sh of light struck from the sky to the ground, to be exact, it struck Jude. ¡°Jude!¡± Cordelia hastily shouted, and Lena stopped her when she tried to rush towards him. Because Lena, a holy angel, knew. The Golden Dragon King did not punish Jude. Rather, he handed over his power to Jude. [How bold.] Golden Dragon King said to Jude. He permitted them to burst the contaminated dragon veins, but he never thought that they would explode the entire dragon vein. [Thanks to the two of you, I¡¯m not normal either.] He woke up but couldn¡¯t move properly. Therefore, Golden Dragon King chose Jude. He entrusted his power to the guardian of the wildnds. [Finish it.] Destroy and put an end to the Hell Gate. The power of the wildnds shall be with you. Light burst out. The monsters and demons surrounding Jude all vanished with a scream. And Jude stood. With his entire body colored with a golden radiance. He became the incarnation of the Golden Dragon King. ¡°Shall we start?¡± Jude said as he looked up the sky, and Cordelia nodded. The power of the wildnds was also transmitted to Cordelia through the Dragon¡¯s Emblem. All that was left now was to close the Hell Gate. Jude and Cordelia looked at each other again. After exchanging smiles like always, they looked at the Hell Gate again. Chapter 120: Legend of Heroes

Chapter 120: Legend of Heroes

Sorry for thete chapter. It was a bit longer than I expected. On another note, I still don¡¯t know what ¡®Sagang¡¯ is. I tranted it as ¡®four rivers¡¯ in the previous chapters, but the ¡®four¡¯ word could also be read as ¡®death¡¯, so it could also mean as ¡®rivers of death¡¯. Since I still don¡¯t know what it means, I¡¯ll continue using the Sagang word. Boom! Boom! Boom! The explosions continued. From a faraway ce to a ce further away. The Golden Dragon King had already awakened, but he couldn¡¯t stop the chain of explosions that had begun earlier. de Song¡¯s sanctuary, arge wolf den, blew up. Sri¡¯s temple, which had been protected by Blue Whiskers for a long time, exploded. And several subsequent explosions. The wildnds shook. The explosion in the Sky Roof mountain range was so enormous that the aftermath was even visible in the Snow Breeze in. And in the midst of all those explosions, Haraken staggered. He couldn¡¯t fully ept the current situation. The Golden Dragon King woke up. He understood their logic ¨C purify the contaminated dragon veins by exploding it. It made sense. It was fully possible. But even so! Boom! Boom! Boom! Whether it was an auditory hallucination or something real, he could still hear the explosions from afar. It included not only the west but also the east. Yes, the east too. ¡°Crazy b*stards.¡± It was the first time he had seen people like this. He had never experienced meeting b*stards like them before. That was why he broke out in a cold sweat. He couldn¡¯t hide his confusion and fear. He felt like he witnessed what real madness was. And. Shaaaaa-! Light burst out. The monsters surrounding Jude disappeared at once, and a golden pir of light shot up. And the person who stood there. The incarnation of the Golden Dragon King. The fair-skinned, attractive, and good-looking boy, who looked like an angel himself, brightly smiled. But for Haraken, that smile looked like that of a demon offering a contract. And in the sky. Another angel. The girl whose face wasn¡¯t just like an angel¡¯s, but was a real angel, had now be a witch. Cordelia also had a golden radiance like Jude. And she realized it. ¡®It won¡¯tst long.¡¯ The power of the Golden Dragon King was so immense. Even if they leveled up many times, Jude and Cordelia¡¯s bodies wouldn¡¯t be able to handle the power for a long time. And one more. The reason why the Golden Dragon King couldn¡¯te out directly and only gave his power to Jude and Cordelia. ¡®The Golden Dragon King is not feeling normal too.¡¯ Since the entire dragon vein exploded, the Golden Dragon King was unable to properly control his body. The time he could lend his power wouldn¡¯t be that long. It would truly be game over if that time ran out. Thus, they didn¡¯t have time to waver or hesitate. ¡°Haaaaaaa-!¡± Cordelia curled up her body and gathered power. The golden light that had spread in all directions had now condensed around Cordelia, and the light gradually got brighter. Standing next to her ¨C to be exact, flying next to her was Lena who stared at Cordelia with a stunned face. She understood the situation itself like Haraken did, but her senses couldn¡¯t keep up with that understanding. And on the ground. Jude came to the same conclusion as Cordelia. They didn¡¯t have much time. So they had to hurry and get the best results with the little time left. ¡®Cordelia.¡¯ He knew what Cordelia was trying to do. Jude himself was confident that he knew Cordelia¡¯s thoughts better than anyone else in the world. If that was what Cordelia was preparing to do, he should then do the other job. He would push the Demon Prince¡¯s arm that was about to get up again back to the Hell Gate, and then close the gate! ¡°Haa!¡± Jude let out a spirited shout. He gathered the power of the Golden Dragon King into his fist and carried out the best thing he could do now. ¡°Titan¡¯s Advent!¡± Jude shouted as if roaring. If Cordelia had heard him, she would have turned red and cried out to him not to shout the skill name while releasing the power of the wild god. The light took on a shape. Kooooooooo-! There was a sound. It was the sound of the light as it stretched out and took on a shape before it finally stood on the ground. Thud! A golden giant made from light stood as it towered above the Snow Breeze in. Everyone on the battlefield were left agape at its appearance that was nearly 30 meters tall. They were in a daze as they let out their awe and fear at the imposing titan. ¡°Hwaaa!¡± And the light titan moved. It strongly grabbed with its hands the Demon Prince¡¯s arm that was about to rise again. And Jude was truly skilled. The titan skillfully bent and twisted the wrist of the Demon Prince. In that short moment, he lessened the power of the Demon Prince¡¯s arm. ¡°Uoooooh!¡± The light titan pushed the Demon Prince¡¯s arm. Haraken woke up from his momentary daze and screamed after seeing the Demon Prince¡¯s arm being twisted. ¡°Nooooooooooo!¡± Boooooooom! Jude pushed the Demon Prince¡¯s arm with all his might. At the moment hepletely pushed it inside the Hell Gate, Cordelia stretched out her curled-up body and let out her power. ¡°Aaaaah!¡± Light burst out as she cried. Just like the Day of Judgment, it was a light wave explosion that only destroyed evil beings. Boooooom! The explosion struck the Hell Gate. It swallowed up the monsters and demons around it, and Red Wind who was watching from afar was filled with admiration. ¡°It¡¯s a star!¡± Gold Star Explosion. The aftermath of Cordelia¡¯s skill move that Jude named on the spot was enormous. The monsters and demons had already retreated in fear from the pir of light and the light titan, so not much of them were extinguished, but what mattered to the two was the Hell Gate. ¡°It got smaller!¡± Lena excitedly shouted. The Hell Gate was nearly half destroyed and in a state ofing apart. Just then, a terrifying sound was heard from inside the Hell Gate. It was the Demon Prince. The Demon Prince whom they didn¡¯t know its name yet was clearly doing something. So they had to finish it before that. Jude expressed his intentions to Cordelia through the emblems, and she immediately responded. ¡°Take it!¡± The golden light radiating from Cordelia¡¯s entire body faded. All of the wild god¡¯s powers that had been lent to the two were now concentrated on Jude. Cordelia loudly eximed. ¡°It¡¯s bigger!¡± The light titan had grown even bigger. Its 30-meter height had be 50 meters, and its right arm became abnormally huge. Jude concentrated all of his power on its right hand. As everyone in the battlefield watched, the titan struck the Hell Gate with a knifehand strike (aka karate chop). Kwoooooo! The golden knifehand strike crashed into the Hell Gate. They heard a piercing shriek from inside the Hell Gate, and a tremendous power was released. The roar of the Demon Prince. A roar that evokes fear! And its curse worked. The power that spread like an explosion hit the eastern forces who were fighting on the hill. Fear and terror made them kneel in despair. But it stopped there. It couldn¡¯t do any more than that. Because Jude was there. Because the light titan used up itsst strength! Boooom! The knifehand strike split the Hell Gate into two. Then it was crushed. The light titan grabbed the Hell Gate with both hands. It pressed and crushed the two sides together as Cordelia and Lena recited a spell while in the sky. It was the sealing spell that Cordelia learned in Endymion. ¡°The Hell Gate, the Hell Gaaaate!¡± Haraken screamed. Red Wind stood up from the Demon Prince¡¯s curse. Great Storm shouted in a voice filled with divine power. ¡°The power of the wild!¡± Baaang! The Hell Gate disappeared with a loud noise. It ceased to exist. And the light titan fell. Particles of light scattered along the golden whirlwind. Kwahaaaaaaaaa-! The air cried. It was because of the void created by the disappearance of both the Hell Gate and the light titan, which let out an enormous power. And there was a tremendous roar. It was the cry of the eastern forces that burst out despite being under the Demon Prince¡¯s curse. ¡°Haa.¡± Jude fell from the air to the ground. Cordelia hurriedly flew and snatched Jude by carrying him in her arms. ¡°It¡¯s been a long time.¡± Jude spoke out of the blue while in her arms, and Cordelia understood it. During the time they went to the Belkain Mountains to get the Sun¡¯s Ne. She carried Jude in her arms as she jumped off the cliff. ¡°You did well.¡± Cordelia casually spoke as she headed to the ground with Jude. She wanted to fly towards the eastern forces at the same time, but she no longer had the strength to do so. ¡®I feel like dying.¡¯ Her whole body didn¡¯t have any strength left. It was just like how they felt when they epted the power of the wild god, and even if Jude and Cordelia were powerful, it was too much for their bodies to handle. The twonded on the ground, and Lena hurried after them. And Haraken saw these three people. Anger spread on his face as he lost his senses. ¡°Euaaaaaah!¡± He was so angry that he couldn¡¯t even properly say a word. Haraken¡¯s face became contorted, and his body swelled. The Hell Gate had disappeared. The Demon Prince¡¯s arrival failed. What that meant. Haraken¡¯s own failure. A disastrous failure that only consumed enormous resources and power in the wildnds, but eventually achieved nothing! ¡°Because of you! You!¡± Several horns protruded from Haraken¡¯s forehead and back. His already huge body was covered with a ck and hard shell. And Haraken was not alone. The monsters and demons still remained. They did not disappear just because the Hell Gate disappeared. And Haraken still had the Angry Bull tribe whom he did not dispatch to the battle. ¡°Kill.¡± He had to kill them. Those two damn b*stards must be ripped apart. Haraken looked far away as he roughly exhaled. The fight began on the hill again. The battle was fierce in the first ce. Because of the Demon Prince¡¯s curse, the wild gods were unable to hastily move. They were busy from pushing away the Demon Prince¡¯s curse. So he had time. Enough time to crush those b*stards in front of him! ¡°Go!¡± The Angry Bull tribe responded to Haraken¡¯s orders. They got up from where they were waiting and rushed towards Jude and Cordelia. The monsters and demons did not stand still. They vented their hatred towards the two who closed the Hell Gate. ¡°I will not allow it!¡± Lena loudly shouted and let out her magic. Her mana was almost depleted because she sessively cast Day of Judgment, but she was still one of the five heroes. She was one of the best archwizards in the entire Pleiades. Golems rose from the ground. They formed a defensive formation and became a wall to stop the attacking demons. But it was not enough. Lena¡¯s legs were trembling. She alone could not stop all the monsters and demons. Moreover, the Angry Bull tribe would be joining in a little while. ¡°Haa, haa¡­ Golden Dragon King.¡± Cordelia looked up the sky as she profusely sweated. She wanted to me him for the rough consequences of using his power, but Cordelia still had a conscience despite that. The Golden Dragon King wasn¡¯t feeling normal due to the explosions in the entire wildnds. He must have done his best for them already. ¡°What should we do?¡± Cordelia asked Jude who was lying in her arms, and he answered in that condition. ¡°Let¡¯s go to n C.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°I suck the potion, and you use mana drain.¡± Then they would somehow be able to take some emergency measures. Jude drank the remaining stamina recovery potion, and Cordelia absorbed Jude¡¯s stamina and converted it into mana. She then cast a powerful shield with Count Chase¡¯s ring instead of using offensive magic. Bang! Bang! Bang! The rushing monsters banged on the shield after destroying the golems Lena had summoned. Lena sank on her knees with a thud, and Cordelia clenched her teeth. She had to hold out somehow. The eastern forces would solve the current situation if she endured for some time. And she was right. Great Storm sensed the crisis of the three people and guided a do-or-die squad led by Red Wind and Sun Song as they left the front lines in order to rescue the three. ¡®Endure, endure, let¡¯s endure this, Cordelia!¡¯ Cordelia grit her teeth as she continued to sweat. Whenever the monsters hit the shield, her entire body ached as if she had been directly hit, but she endured and endured. A little more, a little more! ¡°No way¡­¡± Lena said. Jude sensed the reason. It was in the ground. Monsters were approaching from under the ground where the shield couldn¡¯t cover. They were in a very dangerous situation. A crisis after a miraculous reversal. ¡®Only Cordelia.¡¯ Jude clenched his teeth. His stamina was drained because of mana drain, but he somehow stood up and chanted the mnemonic chant of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. He tried to create a golden whirlwind once again. And then, at that very moment. Cordelia blinked her eyes. She was doing her best to maintain the shield, but she was the first to notice. Because her very sensitive senses noticed it. ¡®The ground.¡¯ It was reverberating. It was vibrating. It was not because of the dragon vein¡¯s runaway. It was not because of the monsters who were digging the ground. A different kind of vibration. Another vibration that came from the south and heading north. ¡®Really?¡¯ Cordelia looked at Jude, and he blinked his eyes. He got up and turned to the south. He unconsciously opened his mouth in delight. ¡°Weak guy.¡± In the south. In the outskirts that were somewhat far from the center of the Snow Breeze in where Jude and Cordelia were. Count Chase stood there. To be exact, he was riding on a pure white horse, and Violent Avnche was sitting behind him. He did not see it. But as a powerful wizard, he could feel it faintly. What urred in Snow Breeze in. The miracle caused by both Jude and Cordelia. ¡°He¡¯s stillcking.¡± In protecting Cordelia. Jude was still extremely weak. So he would help them just this once. Count Chase¡¯s horse ran. Within a short time, he charged towards the Angry Bull tribe, the monsters, and the demons who turned to him. And Jude saw it. Cordelia could feel it once again. The vibrations in the ground. Those who followed Count Chase. ¡°Jackdaw!¡± Jude cried out in a roar. Those who guarded the northern border. The shield of the S?len Kingdom. The brave knights of the north! ¡°Jackdaw! Annihte the enemies!¡± Count Hr?svelgr caught up with Count Chase and cried. The Jackdaws responded to hismand while on their ck horses. ¡°Annihte!¡± ¡°Annihte!¡± Half of the ten thousand Jackdaws were here now. Thanks to Count Chase¡¯s wide range assistive magic, they marched at an unusual pace and reached this ce in time. Over 5,000 elite cavalry who wore ck cloaks and rode on ck horses charged towards the Angry Bull tribe! ¡°Jude! Cordelia!¡± Lucas yelled. And Jude and Cordelia changed their expressions as they recognized Lucas. The two burst into a bright smile at the same time. And the two then knew. The fact that Ga?l and Adelia were among them too! Baaang! The vanguard of the Jackdaws smashed and trampled the Angry Bull tribe. The charge of the great northern horsemen was no different from a disaster itself. ¡°Go!¡± Trample and crush them. The trained knights of the Jackdaws boasted abat power that made them the strongest in the north! ¡°Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword!¡± Jude eximed as Count Hr?svelgr showed off the majesty of the true Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword. He ran through the battlefield with a white Aura de, and no one dared to stop him. And Count Chase. He soared up into the sky. He saw the monsters pushing the eastern forces and unleashed on their backs the powerful magic he had prepared for the past two days. ¡°Rain of Fire.¡± He cast magical arrows with a wave of his hand. And a barrage of fire fell down from the skies. Count Chase was indeed one of the Northern Sagang. Hundreds and thousands of fire arrows fell down from the sky and burned the monsters and demons. It assisted the eastern forces in pushing against the monsters. ¡°Open the way!¡± Red Gale shouted. The eastern forces finally began to overpower the demons. The squad led by Great Storm joined the Jackdaws. Haraken angrily screamed at them. Count galloped straight towards that guy. And Jude turned to Cordelia. Cordelia also turned to Jude. Jude smiled as he leaned his head on Cordelia¡¯sp. Cordelia also showed her best smile. A scene that was unimaginable in the original. A world where Red Gale led the eastern forces, Red Wind and Sun Song ran together, and the wild gods were not corrupted. A world where Count Chase and the Jackdaws led by Count Hr?svelgr, fought to protect the wildnds. Lena stood right next to them. Ga?l lived and didn¡¯t die and was with Adelia. ¡°This is the best.¡± Cordelia said at some point, and Jude agreed with her. The two looked at each other again and exchanged their best smiles. Chapter 121: Resolution (1)

Chapter 121: Resolution (1)

Terms used in this chapter: Dongsaeng ¨C Korean word for younger sibling. It can refer to either a younger male or female. One can also call close friends who are younger than them as their ¡®dongsaeng.¡¯ -nim ¨C a Korean suffix that is added to a name or position to denote that the person is higher ranked than oneself. It is also used towards someone whom one reveres and admires for having a significant amount of skill, intellect, knowledge, etc. Example is Ga?l-nim, which means that the person calling them highly respects Ga?l for his skills and so on. Haraken was a high-ranking demonic human of the Devil¡¯s Eye. He was a meticulous and cunning person. Under the orders of their organization¡¯s leader, he infiltrated the wildnds. The first thing that he did was to corrupt Angry Bull, the guardian deity of the Angry Bull tribe who took pride in being the strongest tribe in the west. ¡®He seized control of the Angry Bull tribe first.¡¯ Having corrupted Angry Bull with a powerful item he received from his leader, Haraken proceeded to Seven Horns next, cing a curse on the chieftain of the Angry Bull tribe. Seven Horns suffered from the curse, so he naturally visited Angry Bull andined. Angry Bull had already be Haraken¡¯s puppet, and thus introduced Haraken to Seven Horns. ¡®Everything went fast after that.¡¯ Far from breaking the curse of Seven Horns, Haraken who had be a great shaman put a few more curses to corrupt him and eventually seizedplete control of the Angry Bull tribe. ¡®And to the west.¡¯ He conquered the west with the power of the Angry Bull tribe. He increased the number of corrupted wild gods by polluting the dragon veins, and he spread a curse at the meeting of the tribal chieftains. ¡®Red Gale died.¡¯ He was the chieftain of the Great Storm tribe who would most likely hinder the unification of the wildnds. While he was in the process of taking control of the west, he sent demonic humans to the east to corrupt the wild gods. His purpose was to weaken them before his full-scale capture of the east. Haraken didn¡¯t make any mistakes. In the game, he conquered the wildnds without a single mistake. ¡®The corrupted Violent Avnche and Gentle Snow Breeze assassinates Great Storm, Red Gale dies from his curse, and Red Wind bes a ve in the north. The Great Storm tribe who lost their head falls into ruin, and the wild gods of the east are corrupted one by one.¡¯ And when he finally corrupted de Song. Haraken invaded the northern part of the S?len Kingdom, leading the wild gods, who degenerated into hellish monsters, and the warriors who were reborn as demonic humans. Haraken also won in this war and took control of the northern part of the S?len Kingdom, which had been the long-cherished desire of the wildnds. But all of that was the story in the original. ¡®Why! Why! Why!¡¯ Haraken cried out at the reality before his eyes. Everything was a disaster. Things that had been going well all went wrong at some point, and everything had beenpletely destroyed now. The starting point. The first domino. The survival of Red Gale. The safety of Violent Avnche. Red Wind returned to the north. ¡°Keueug¡­ Keuaaaa!¡± His head was about to burst. Haraken knew. A future did not exist for him now. His leader would not forgive him. No, the Demon Prince whose arrival to the ground was just around the corner would trample Haraken himself. There was only despair in his future. ¡°Keuha! Keuhahaha!¡± He did not yearn for a life in despair just because he was a demon follower. He also refused to live in fear and terror. Harakenughed. It was all over anyway. It was over now. What was left now was his obstinacy. So at least, even if it was only that b*stard and b*tch. He must get that b*stard and b*tch at all costs! ¡°Keuaaa!¡± Haraken unleashed a terrifying power. Although he had not participated in battles so far, he was still a high-ranking demonic human. Furthermore, he became closer to a demon due to his exposure from the aura of hell that flowed out from the Hell Gate. Haraken¡¯s body swelled up. He no longer had a human figure. His appearance was a mixture of a giant mantis and a beetle, and he let out a horrible shriek as he looked at the battlefield with hispound eyes. At the ce where the Hell Gate once stood. At the small area protected by stone golems and a shield magic. Haraken saw it. A girl with red hair sat inside the translucent shield. A boy who was lying in the arms of the girl with an angelic beauty. There was also an angel standing next to them, but he did not see it. Haraken only saw the boy and girl and did not conceal his anger. Just looking at them made him send a murderous look that was enough to rip his enemies apart. And that girl who met his murderous look, stared at him instead of shaking in fear. She raised her middle finger and said something, but it was clear that she was swearing. ¡°Crazy b*stards.¡± You feel ted because everything turned out as you desired. You think that you¡¯vepletely won. Then I¡¯ll crush that thought. I¡¯ll make a mess of that angelic face! Thud! Haraken ran straight towards the shield. Cordelia instantly flinched at his terrifying force but did not lower her finger. She saw it. Behind Haraken, who was unable to look around because of his anger. A knight who cut through the monsters and demons as if he was cutting rice stalks. As he rode on his ck war horse, he saw Haraken rushing towards Jude and Cordelia. He charged towards Haraken without any hesitation, and the light on his sword that he was holding increased. Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword. Unlike Lucas¡¯ sword that was still immature, his sword that cuts evil had reached maturity! ¡°Ooooooh.¡± As Cordelia admired it, Jude slightly frowned and said. ¡°What a waste.¡± ¡°What? The Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword? Won¡¯t Lucas teach you if you ask him?¡± ¡°No, not that.¡± ¡°Then what?¡± ¡°Experience points.¡± ¡°Ah, you¡¯re right. That¡¯s right.¡± Haraken was a high-ranking demonic human, and he was the final boss of the wildnds in the game. Jude and Cordelia spoke in turn, and Haraken¡¯s body was cut into two. The man who fell on the floor stretched out his hand as he looked at Jude and Cordelia. He uttered the words of a curse amidst his deep-rooted grudge. And Cordelia said as she stroked Jude¡¯s hair. ¡°Ah, fu-. Why did you say that? It¡¯s such a waste.¡± ¡°It feels great.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just this moment.¡± ¡°What are you saying?¡± Cordelia snorted as she stroked Jude¡¯s forehead, and Jude closed his eyes in that pleasant mood. And Haraken let out hisst words. ¡°Curse¡­you¡­¡± So listen to me. Look at my side too¡­ Stop whispering words of love to each other¡­ That was it. The Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword of Count Hr?svelgr shined once more, and Haraken turned into ck ashes and scattered. And at that moment, a clear voice echoed in the minds of Jude and Cordelia. [You acquired the title ¡®Guardian of the Wild Lands.¡¯] [You acquired the title ¡®Destroyer of the Wild Lands.¡¯] Guardian and destroyer. Two conflicting titles. And why they got those at the same time. Cordelia¡¯s face turned red. Because she remembered what they had done. ¡®I-it¡¯s a really good win but¡­¡¯ They acquired titles that was impossible to obtain at the same time. How would they face the wild godster? ¡®It¡¯s all right because we saved the wildnds. Everyone will understand.¡¯ ¡®Is that so?¡¯ ¡®Yes.¡¯ Jude randomly said and closed his eyes again to enjoy the touch of the hesitant Cordelia but was soon forced to reopen them. ¡°Jude! Cordelia!¡± ¡°Lucas!¡± Cordelia happily replied to the familiar voice. Before she knew it, Lucas reached the shield and stood with a lively face. And it was at that moment. ¡°Unniiiiiie! Oppaaaaa!¡± Red Wind appeared on the opposite side of Lucas as she said in a high voice. With a flushed face, she brightly smiled in a spirited manner and Cordelia happily replied again. ¡°Red Wind!¡± And right afterwards. Lucas and Red Wind looked at each other. Both of them frowned. Because they felt a tingling sensation the moment they faced each other. Old foes, rivals, cats and dogs, and so on. ¡®Who is that barbarian woman?¡¯ ¡®Who is that tall northern swordsman?¡¯ T/N: The ¡®swordsman¡¯ used here is more of a derogatory term. I can¡¯t think of an English equivalent for this, hence this trantor¡¯s note. ¡®Who are you to Mr. Jude and Lady Cordelia?¡¯ ¡®Who are you to my oppa and unnie?¡¯ ¡® ¡®Why are you pretending to be close to them?¡¯ ¡¯ The two people who thought the same thing at the same time sensed it again. What the other was thinking. ¡°Mr. Jude, Lady Cordelia. I¡¯m here. I¡¯m your close friend, right?!¡± Lucas first spoke as if appealing, and Red Wind responded before Cordelia could even reply. She seemed to flinch, but then spoke as she red at him. ¡°Unnie! Oppa! I¡¯m here! I¡¯m your pretty and adorable younger sister, right?!¡± A younger sister is higher than a close friend, right? Red Wind sent a nce to Lucas, and he perfectly understood it. He answered with his eyes too. ¡®You¡¯re not even rted by blood, so why are you their younger sister! And what was that? Adorable?¡¯ ¡®Because I call them unnie and oppa, okay? So I¡¯m their dongsaeng!¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m actually their dongsaeng too, okay!¡¯ How could the twomunicate so well when thenguage they spoke was foreign to each other? Growing up as a knight in the north, Lucas held a deep-rooted hostility towards the barbarians, and even though he already heard an exnation from Ga?l and Adelia, he felt hostile the moment he faced Red Wind. Red Wind¡¯s prejudice against the northerners was reduced because of Jude and Cordelia, and her affection for Jude and especially Cordelia was unusual. But on the contrary, her reckless side remained the same because she did not live in very. With these two facing each other, it was natural for both sides to react with more excitement than usual. ¡°Uh¡­you two?¡± What¡¯s wrong with you two all of a sudden? What¡¯s with the atmosphere between you two? Cordelia hurriedly turned to Jude who was doing his best to hold back hisughter. ¡®What, what. Why are youughing?¡¯ ¡®No, it¡¯s just interesting.¡¯ It was a situation that was unimaginable in the original. A situation where Lucas and Red Wind were arguing on who were closer to Cordelia rather than crossing swords with each other. ¡®Cordelia¡¯s ambition seems impossible.¡¯ How would she bring Lucas and Red Wind together? ¡®No, perhaps there¡¯s a possibility¡­?¡¯ There was no rule that enemies and rivals would argue with each other all the time. ¡®What, what is it? Why do you keep snickering?¡¯ Cordelia pulled Jude¡¯s hair, but Jude even enjoyed her touch. And when Jude was on the verge of awakening to a new world, a new couple arrived. ¡°Jude.¡± ¡°Cordelia!¡± It was Ga?l and Adelia. Having yed a tremendously active role among the Jackdaws, the two left the front lines to protect Jude and Cordelia and were now here. ¡°Ga?l-nim.¡± ¡°Adel-unnie!¡± Lucas and Red Wind said separately, and the two red at each other again. ¡®Why are you pretending to be close to them?¡¯ ¡®What about you?!¡¯ There was a violent exchange of nces again, and Ga?l and Adelia left those two alone as they headed to Jude and Cordelia. The surrounding enemies had already been wiped out, so Cordelia released the shield, and Lena also withdrew the golems. ¡°Unnie, say hello. This is Lena-nim. Lena-nim, these two are my older sister and brother-inw.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s introduction, Adelia widely opened her eyes. ¡°Eh! Are you Lena-nim?!¡± ¡°I am Lena Ainsburg.¡± Adelia¡¯s face turned red when Lena elegantly answered her despite being exhausted. ¡°I-I am Adelia Chase. I am the 7thmander of the Royal Guards Magic Corps.¡± Adelia nervously introduced herself, though she had stiffened. Because Lena was Adelia¡¯s idol. Adelia felt dizzy because of her pounding heart, so Ga?l quickly held her waist before he introduced himself. ¡°I am Ga?l Bayer. I greet the Holy Angel-nim.¡± Having heard Ga?l¡¯s greeting, Lucas came to his senses and also greeted her politely before he looked at Red Wind again. ¡®I¡¯ve already said hello before, okay?¡¯ So what will you do? Lucas remained silent instead of retaliating, and Lena smiled again at the somehow noisy atmosphere. ¡®Ha¡­that had felt so nice.¡¯ And a man who was dissatisfied for not having enough. He had been enjoying the luxury of feeling Cordelia¡¯s touch while he was in her arms as his eyes were closed. ¡®But I should still continue to lie down.¡¯ Because he was exhausted too. However, Jude¡¯s ck desire didn¡¯tst long. It wasn¡¯t because Cordelia noticed Jude¡¯s ck intentions. ¡°You¡¯re still lying in her arms.¡± It was a voice from the sky. Jude widely opened his eyes and hurriedly raised himself up and then saw it. An imposing man who was walking down the air with his hands full of bags. ¡°¡°Father.¡±¡± Jude and Ga?l spoke at the same time, and Count Chase¡¯s serious face warmly smiled for a very short time. ¡°¡°Dad.¡±¡± And his daughters simultaneously greeted him. Both of them were at the sides of his handsome future sons-inw. But Count Chase maintained a stern look. Things had changed a lot, but Count Chase did not forget why he went on a journey in the first ce. ¡°It¡¯s been a long time, Jude. And Cordelia.¡± He came to thisnd to catch the runaway children. Count Chasended on the ground. He took a step towards the two. Chapter 122: Resolution (2)

Chapter 122: Resolution (2)

Ehehete post. This chapter concludes the battle in the wildnds. Next chapters will be about the post-war events before the conclusion of the wildnds arc. Arthur Chase. The current Count Chase who was also the Tower Master of the Red Dawn Tower. Red Wind was having a war of nerves with Lucas but flinched and became stiff at his appearance. ¡®He¡¯s not an ordinary person!¡¯ She could tell it the moment she met him. It wasn¡¯t just because of his height and appearance that would make people believe that he was a first-ss warrior rather than a wizard. It wasn¡¯t because of his handsome face that embodied sternness and seriousness. The Phoenix was telling her. The man in front of her was someone who was loved by fire. He was a me wizard who had scaled great heights. He wasn¡¯t a spirit. He didn¡¯t even control spirits. But the strong power of fire that she felt in him was simr to that of a wild god¡¯s. ¡°Ah.¡± Lena was also impressed. She had met several wizards after the tragedy of the Paragon Kingdom, but the man in front of her now was the best. Her intuition told her the moment she met him that he was talented and a high level of ability. ¡®It¡¯s like I¡¯m seeing Fran.¡¯ Druid Fran was one of the five heroes. He also had arge and robust body that resembled a warrior, and an immense magical power based on an elemental force, so he resembled Count Chase in many ways. ¡®And the look on his face.¡¯ Fran also had a face that was like the embodiment of sternness and seriousness. But his real personality waspletely different. ¡°Dad! I-I mean¡­Father. Please allow me to introduce you to the Holy Angel, Lena Ainsburg.¡± It had been at that moment. Adelia had blocked Count Chase who had been heading towards Jude and Cordelia, and urgently said. Because she couldn¡¯t just leave Lena standing there. ¡°Holy Angel-nim?¡± ¡°Yes, Lena-nim.¡± Adelia widely smiled and directed his attention to Lena. Count Chase quickly turned to Lena and modestly greeted her. ¡°Arthur Chase greets the hero of the Paragon Kingdom.¡± ¡°Lena Ainsburg greets Count Chase, the Tower Master of the Red Dawn Tower.¡± When Lena politely greeted him, Count Chase looked somewhat surprised, while Cordelia and Adelia were greatly pleased. ¡®As expected of my dad!¡¯ Lena mentioned the Red Dawn Tower even though they didn¡¯t inform her about it. In other words, she had roughly known about Count Chase even before she met him today. ¡°How could I not know about Red Storm, the pride of the S?len Kingdom.¡± It was Count Chase¡¯s nickname. After all, it was something natural. Count Chase was such a great man. He was one of the Northern Sagang and one of the most powerful battle mages across the entire continent. His fame was also widely known in foreign countries because he had umted a lot of war achievements in his youth. ¡°Ahem, ahem, I am deeply honored.¡± Count Chase coughed and politely spoke, but Adelia could tell. That the corners of her father¡¯s mouth went up. Lena softly smiled and said. ¡°Count Chase, you don¡¯t have to be so polite to me.¡± When it came to their ages, Count Chase was older than Lena by ten years. But Count Chase shook his head. ¡°No, how can I not be polite to Lena-nim?¡± It wasn¡¯t because she was one of the five heroes who ended the tragedy of the Paragon Kingdom. Lena was someone who had reached the level of an archwizard at a young age. ¡°I see, I think I now understand why I admire Lady Cordelia every time I see her.¡± ¡°I am ttered.¡± After they exchanged warmpliments, Lena stepped back. Because she didn¡¯t want dy Count Chase from his business for a long time. Count Chase replied in silence at Lena¡¯s consideration, and then turned to Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Jude, you particrly look weak and frail today.¡± It wasn¡¯t his usual spotting faults and making excuses. The current Jude had a pale face and dark rings under his eyes, making him look like a real patient. ¡°That is¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s not Jude¡¯s fault! It¡¯s because I used Mana Drain on Jude!¡± Cordelia quickly stepped forward and shouted. Count Chase slightly frowned at the sight of her stretching her arms wide open as if to protect Jude. He liked that the love between the two was deep, but he disliked the fact that Cordelia was protecting Jude. And one more thing. ¡°Cordelia, did you say ?¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­yes.¡± When Cordelia flinched and answered, Count Chase clicked his tongue. ¡°It must be a witch¡¯s spell.¡± ¡°¡­Yes.¡± The fact that Cordelia had acquired the power of a witch had already been reported by Lucas. Count Chase frowned again, but he wasn¡¯t angry. Mana Drain was obviously an effective and efficient magic, but it was also a dark magic. It was a spell that forcibly took life energy and converted it into mana. ¡®It¡¯s too bad, but this must be fate.¡¯ She already had that power. It would be reckless to suppress it. But it was at that moment. ¡°Father, this is my fault. I¡¯m the one who asked Cordelia to use Mana Drain.¡± Jude said as he stepped forward again, and Cordelia was startled at his deration, so she pulled Jude in a hurry. ¡°N-no! I¡¯m the one who insisted! Jude did nothing wrong! Please don¡¯t punish him!¡± Everyone felt simr emotions when they saw the desperate cry of the two ¨C or at least that of Cordelia. Touching. Cute. Adorable. And at the same time, annoying. A couple who were trying to protect each other by saying it was their fault and not the other. ¡°Well, good. If you¡¯re weak, I¡¯ll make sure that you won¡¯t remain weak.¡± As he said so, Count Chase put down his bags, and Jude¡¯s eyes began to shine. But at that moment. ¡°Maybe not now.¡± Count Chase said in a small voice. It was because of the situation in the battlefield. Though the Jackdaws were pushing the Angry Bull tribe, the battle had yet to end. The fate of countless people may change depending on Count Chase¡¯s participation in the battle, so now was not the time for him to rx here. ¡°Ga?l, Adelia.¡± ¡°Yes, father.¡± ¡°Yes, dad.¡± He looked at the faces of the two after they answered, and they seemed to already know what he wanted to say. Therefore, Count Chase straightforwardly said. ¡°Protect Jude and Cordelia. I will be back.¡± ¡°Yes, father.¡± ¡°Yes, dad.¡± As soon as the two replied, Count Chase bowed to Lena again before flying back into the air. ¡°I¡¯ll be right back.¡± He then headed towards the Jackdaws. When Count Chase was gone, Cordelia unconsciously sighed in relief while Jude seemed to stagger for a moment before falling on Cordelia¡¯s arms. ¡°Ju-Jude?!¡± ¡°I apologize, my legs had weakened.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t push yourself. Let¡¯s lie you down again. I¡¯ll give you a knee pillow.¡± Cordelia carefully lowered her posture as she held Jude in her arms and gave him a knee pillow as she had said. ¡°How is it, are you all right?¡± ¡°Uh¡­it¡¯s perfect. Thank you.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s question that was full of worries, Jude gently replied before closing his eyes. ¡®You¡¯re so kind.¡¯ Whenever he was sick or in pain, Cordelia would be unusually kind to him. ¡®This is so nice ¡­¡¯ It was paradise. While Jude was enjoying the situation inplete bliss again, Adelia narrowed her eyes. Because in her eyes, she couldpletely see Jude¡¯s dark desires and him deceiving the kind and innocent Cordelia. ¡®You, you. You¡¯repletely a trickster.¡¯ But saying what she wanted to say was awkward. Because Ga?l was right next to her. ¡®He¡¯s really something.¡¯ Ga?l immediately figured out Jude¡¯s true intentions more than Adelia. He bitterly smiled and looked around the battlefield, while Lucas and Red Wind started a fight with their eyes again. And after a half hour or so. When the war turned to the point where the Jackdaws began to chase the defeated troops of the Angry Bull tribe ¨C no, when the battle had in fact been over, Count Chase came back to them. ¡°Are you still weak?¡± Count Chase clicked his tongue and opened his bag, and everyone¡¯s gaze focused on the bag at that moment. ¡®As expected of father.¡¯ What kind of things did he bring today? Jude was full of expectations, and Count Chase didn¡¯t fail him. ¡°Eat this. It¡¯s not much, but it will help you recover your strength.¡± ¡°Heok-¡± Jude received the item he threw before he widely opened his eyes in surprise, and so did Cordelia. ¡®Isn¡¯t this Baraman¡¯s Elixir?¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s right! It is!¡¯ It was a rare item that not only increased physical strength, but also the absolute limit of one¡¯s strength. It appeared only after the middle part in the original game, so it was extremely difficult to obtain it at this point. ¡°Hmph, this one¡¯s not much too. Take this as a bonus.¡± And he threw an item again. The eyes of Jude and Cordelia sparkled again. Because it was the Will of Steel, which when eaten, hardened one¡¯s bones like that of steel. This was also a rare item that one could not obtain in the beginning of the game, even if they wanted to. ¡°Fa-father. Fa-father.¡± Jude¡¯s eyes were filled with respect, gratitude, and love, while Cordelia was excited too. But there was one person who didn¡¯t. ¡°Dad, wait a second.¡± Adelia took a step forward as her eyes narrowed when she looked at the items in Jude¡¯s hands, before she turned to Count Chase. ¡°Dad, isn¡¯t that too much?¡± Count Chase cleared his throat at her short words that implied the obvious. ¡°Ahem¡­ That¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s too much. Isn¡¯t this discrimination?¡± ¡°I¡­ Lady Adelia.¡± ¡°Lord Ga?l, please just stay still.¡± Adelia dissuaded Ga?l from going forward, and then looked at Count Chase who coughed again. As Adelia said, he in fact, did discriminate between the two. If the items given to Ga?l were high-grade items, the items that were given to Jude were the highest-grade items. The reason was simple ¨C it was a difference in preparation time. Unlike Jude whom he had been preparing items for a long time, Ga?l¡¯s items had indeed been urgently prepared. So it was natural that there was a difference in quality. There was one more reason. ¡°Unnie, my Jude is in his growing period. He¡¯s still growing up now.¡± Cordelia opened fire when she sensed the crisis that Jude¡¯s share might be taken if she stayed still. She was her Jude one way or another. How could she let her position as Princess Maker ¨C no, Jude Maker, be taken away? Adelia had a sharp look when Cordelia went into battle mode. She never thought her adorable sister would change like this. She felt betrayed. ¡°Hey, what are you saying? And my Ga?l still has room for further growth too, okay?¡± ¡°No, ahem, ahem. Lady Adelia.¡± Ga?l was already in histe twenties. He wouldn¡¯t grow bigger anymore. ¡°Why not? You can build your muscles, eat something good for your body, and also make your body better.¡± Adelia cut off Ga?l¡¯s dissuasion as she red at Cordelia again, and Cordelia had a serious expression as if she wouldn¡¯t lose to her. And their battle between ¡®their¡¯ Jude and ¡®their¡¯ Ga?l continued. Jude and Ga?l were both embarrassed and satisfied, but Count Chase clicked his tongue and released his magic. The release of his powerful magical power shook the surrounding air, and when Cordelia and Adelia flinched, he immediately spoke. ¡°That¡¯s enough. I will take more care next time.¡± ¡°No¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s enough.¡± Count Chase ordered in a low voice, and Adelia closed her mouth and stepped back while Cordelia sighed in relief. ¡®I won.¡¯ She somehow kept it. Cordelia turned to Jude with a very small smile, and Jude praised Cordelia with his eyes after trying to hold back hisughter. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯ll continue.¡± He had to give out the things he brought. When Count Chase put his hand back into the bag, everyone¡¯s eyes focused on the bag again, but Count Chase instantly frowned when he half took out the item from the bag. ¡®Hmm, this isn¡¯t good.¡¯ It was the highest-grade sexual stamina supplement he found in Lankebuste. He had inadvertently bought it, but it was not yet the time. It was too early. It was simply too early. But he had already taken out half of it. When he tried to put it back in, Cordelia didn¡¯t let it slide. ¡°Daaaad, what is that? Why are you putting it in? Aren¡¯t you going to give it to my Jude?¡± He would eventually give it to him. However¡­ ¡°Huu, it can¡¯t be helped.¡± Count Chase quietly spoke and then threw the nicely packed sexual stamina supplement to Jude while using magic at the same time. [Eat it in a year. I won¡¯t forgive you if you eat it now. No, not after a year. After the wedding. You understand, okay? Do you understand?] Jude automatically nodded at his terrifying and forceful words, and he hid the item in his bosom. Cordelia asked what it was as her eyes sparkled, but he couldn¡¯t rashly answer. And thus, a dozen minutester. Count Chase had a satisfied look on his face as he finally handed over an empty bag to store all the items he had given out, while Cordelia also had a bright smile. And then someone arrived at that moment. ¡°It¡¯s noisy.¡± Count Hr?svelgr. The atmosphere changed when he appeared on his ck war horse. He wasn¡¯t particrly hostile, but he was a man who could change the atmosphere just by appearing. ¡°Father.¡± Lucas tried to say something, but he stopped talking when his father looked at him. The count then turned his gaze towards Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Indeed, you¡¯re a fantasy couple.¡± His gaze, expression, and voice were all in, but Jude and Cordelia uncontrobly gulped in nervousness. Because of their guilty conscience on all the sins they had done so far. But Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s pressure did notst long. In the first ce, Count Chase was also here so he did not intend to scold the two, but there were new arrivals too. ¡°Jude, Cordelia.¡± Great Storm appeared with his wild god powers still emanating. The eastern forces seemed to have somewhat finished their fight against the monsters on the hill. And Sun Song stood behind Great Storm. A tension that couldn¡¯t be hidden rose between Count Hr?svelgr and Sun Song. Even the bickering of Lucas and Red Wind with their eyes were gone. The North and the wildnds. Two forces that had been at odds for many years. That was why they couldn¡¯t shake each other¡¯s hand quickly. They had somehow joined forces in this battle, but too much blood had spilled from both sides so they couldn¡¯tugh and rejoice together. Jackdaws gathered behind Count Hr?svelgr. Warriors stood behind Sun Song. And Great Storm stepped forward. He looked at Count Hr?svelgr and Count Chase in turn, before he eventually returned his gaze to Jude and Cordelia. Jude had a rather calm face, but Cordelia was at a loss on what to do with the current situation. ¡®Please do something!¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s gaze told him. Great Storm ended upughing. Regardless of their method, the wildnds was saved ¨C no, the future of the wildnds was saved in the end, so he stepped forward for the two. ¡°I shall dere victory. I shall confer my blessings upon the victorious heroes.¡± Great Storm was a wild god. Count Hr?svelgr and Count Chase paid their respects to his divinity, and Great Storm turned to the warriors of the wildnds. After he also looked at the Jackdaws, he shouted high up into the sky. ¡°The Hell Gate has been destroyed! The corrupted ones have been annihted!¡± His voice echoed in the sky. The entire eastern forces on the hill focused on Great Storm, and so did the Jackdaws. ¡°They were evil demons! They tried to destroy the entire wildnds, but they couldn¡¯t. The guardians of the wildnds, Jude and Cordelia, stopped their plot. The two stopped some of the destruction our enemies had caused, and then destroyed the Hell Gate that they had opened!¡± The sky echoed once again. The wild warriors cheered and cried out the names of Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Cordelia!¡± ¡°Cordelia!¡± ¡°Guardians of the wildnds!¡± ¡°Jude!¡± Even Jude flinched at their thunderous shouts that was beyond imagination. But it wasn¡¯t bad. He felt a thrill as if the hairs on his entire body stood on end. So did Cordelia. She felt like the strength in her legs weakened but was ovee with emotions at the same time. ¡®But Jude.¡¯ ¡®Yes?¡¯ ¡®Isn¡¯t his words a little weird?¡¯ They were the ones who blew up the wildnds, but Great Storm was talking as if Haraken was the one who did it. ¡®Just let it be.¡¯ Because it was Great Storm¡¯s consideration and inevitable choice. How could he tell that the guardians of the wildnds were the ones who blew up all the sanctuaries in the wildnds? Jude nced at him, and Great Storm bitterly smiled. With clenched fists, he dered in a louder voice than before. ¡°We won! Victory is ours! Glory to the wildnds! Honor be to the Golden Dragon King! Praise be to the guardians of the wildnds!¡± ¡°Uwoooooah!¡± ¡°Guardians of the wildnds!¡± ¡°Jude! Cordelia!¡± The entire eastern forces cheered. At their cries that shook the ground, Great Storm nced at Count Chase and Count Hr?svelgr, who raised his sword. He used Chivalry to raise a loud cry. ¡°Jackdaws! We destroyed the evil ones! We won! Glory be to the knight and wizard of the north, Jude and Cordelia! Praise be to the victory of the Jackdaws who were braver than anyone else!¡± ¡°Oooooooooooh!¡± The Jackdaws also cheered with all their might. They felt like they couldn¡¯t lose to the eastern forces¡¯ energy. This was the measure Great Storm came up with for what had happened today. It emphasized that Jude and Cordelia were heroes for both sides, so that each side would recognize that they were not enemies, at least at this moment. ¡°Jude!¡± ¡°Cordelia!¡± ¡°Jude!¡± ¡°Cordelia!¡± Cordelia felt dizzy amidst the incessant cheering, She bit her lips with a red face, and she couldn¡¯t calm her wildly beating heart, so she roughly breathed. She had never experienced something like this before. Her heart felt like it would burst. Her legs weakened, and it seemed like she would copse anytime soon. Jude hugged Cordelia on her waist. He quietly spoke as he held her firmly. ¡°Just enjoy it.¡± This moment. Proof that what they had been doing so far wasn¡¯t wrong. ¡°Okay!¡± Cordelia widely smiled, and Jude also smiled. The two enjoyed their victory amidst the enthusiastic cheers. Chapter 123: Resolution (3)

Chapter 123: Resolution (3)

Night arrived. The eastern forces and the Jackdaws who hurriedly moved in the daytime settled down in different ces at night. The Jackdaws built their camp on the Snow Breeze in. After the unit that leftte joined them, they built a fence, set up camps, and tightened the security. The eastern forces returned to their camps. The western forces had already been defeated, but their tension did notpletely disappear. Because the other was present. Because they were wary of each other. For the Jackdaws, they were in enemy territory. For the eastern forces, the Jackdaws were their long-time enemies. Water and oil. Two groups that couldn¡¯t be mixed together. It was impossible to conciliate the two groups with just one fight when they had fought countless times before. ¡°But they can¡¯t keep fighting.¡± Jude nodded at Cordelia¡¯s words. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s better if they part ways without a fight for this time at least. For both sides.¡± The two were talking inside the eastern forces¡¯ camp, and not the Jackdaws¡¯ camp. They did that for political reasons, but to put it bluntly, it was as follows. Jude and Cordelia were from the north. So when the northerners arrived, they should move their lodgings to the northerner¡¯s camp. After all, the two were undeniably northerners. But the fight with the western forces had left the eastern forces greatly exhausted. So if Jude and Cordelia were on the northern army¡¯s camp, what would happen if the northern army attacked at night? Would they be able to stop it? In other words, such a situation would instigate fear, tension, and so on. On the other hand, if Jude and Cordelia stayed in the eastern forces¡¯ camp, the following psychological effects would happen. Jude and Cordelia were also the guardians of the wildnds. If the two were on this side, the northern army would not be able to easily attack. The two were children of highly respectable families in the north. In a way ¨C no, frankly speaking, they were viewed as hostages, but that was unavoidable. It was unavoidable if one thought about the rtionship between the north and the wildnds. Returning to the northern army¡¯s camp would naturally irritate the eastern forces, while staying in the eastern forces¡¯ camp would irritate the Jackdaws, but things were different if one took a step back. ¡®The eastern forces can¡¯t attack the Jackdaws.¡¯ They incurred a lot of damage so it wouldn¡¯t happen. Moreover, those who were gathered here today were not the elite troops of the east. This was the result of recruiting as many people as possible who could fight in order to increase their numbers. Would they take another risk in this situation? At a time when a lot of people had already died, and countless homes had been destroyed? ¡®There are the wild gods too.¡¯ They were gods one way or another. Furthermore, the representative of the wild gods, Great Storm, was a wise being. The representative of the humans, Red Gale, was also the same, and Great Storm and Red Gale had always been opposing any fights against the north. In short, it meant that the eastern forces attacking the Jackdaws first was highly unlikely. ¡®But the Jackdaws¡¯ situation is different.¡¯ The eastern forces had more troops, but this was natural for the Jackdaws. In the numerous battles the two sides had fought in the past, the number of Jackdaws had never been greater than the barbarians of the wildnds. And the Jackdaws could see. The eastern forces were now weak. So if they trample them here now, if they stab them in the back now¡­ It would be possible to destroy the wildnds. It would be possible to eliminate their troubles, the long-time enemy of the north. It was such a big temptation. In addition, unlike the eastern forces where themand was divided, only one person had themand of the Jackdaws. Count Hr?svelgr. If he decided, the Jackdaws would attack the eastern forces even if Count Chase opposed it. ¡®So we have to stay here.¡¯ To reduce the possibility of a fight even by a little. ¡°Haa, it¡¯splicated. We just held hands and fought together, so it would be nice if we could all be friends~¡± Cordelia said as her shoulders slumped in her seeming depression, and Jude gave her some warm tea tofort her. ¡°It¡¯s all right. Even if it¡¯s impossible to be friends¡­they won¡¯t be enemies at least.¡± ¡°That would be nice.¡± Cordelia deeply sighed again and epted the teacup from Jude, and he smiled again. In fact, Jude had one more evil purpose on why they stayed in the eastern forces¡¯ camp. ¡®Because we¡¯ll be in separate tents if we returned.¡¯ They wouldn¡¯t let them share the same tent even if the two were engaged. Of course, they weren¡¯t doing anything suspicious when they shared the same tent, but Jude still wanted to be with Cordelia if possible. ¡®Hmm¡­I¡¯m somehow desperate and troubled too.¡¯ How did something like this happen to me? While Jude was worrying by himself, Cordelia widely opened her eyes. ¡°Wow, this is delicious¡­?¡± Because the tea tasted good. Her sad feelings seemed to have been relieved somehow. ¡°You should drink too. It¡¯s really delicious. It feels like my stamina will increase.¡± ¡°Yes, I know that even though I¡¯m not sure what you meant by increasing stamina.¡± Jude responded with a smile and slowly drank his tea as he looked away. ¡®They should be done soon.¡¯ The meeting between the Jackdaws and the eastern forces. The representatives of both sides were having a meeting in a kind of neutral zone located between the camps of the Jackdaws and the eastern forces, which were far from the tent of Jude and Cordelia. The representatives of the Jackdaws were Count Hr?svelgr and Count Chase, while the eastern forces¡¯ representatives were Great Storm and Red Gale. ¡®I hope it ends well.¡¯ He had a rough idea on what they were talking about. It would be the withdrawal of the Jackdaws and a non-aggression pact with the eastern forces. Neither side wanted to fight, so it should be amicably resolved. ¡°But Jude.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± When he turned his head to her sweet-sounding call, Cordelia who had been sitting while covered in a nket raised her chin that was in between her knees and said. ¡°Because the wildnds episode is over¡­we¡¯ll be heading to the royal capital now, right?¡± ¡°I suppose so.¡± The S?len Kingdom, one of the two great powers of the continent, would be facing its destruction through three events. The first of these was the invasion of the northern barbarians, and the second was the ¡®Night of Massacre.¡¯ ¡®An unprecedented situation in which the royal family of the S?len Kingdom was virtually annihted.¡¯ With the north bing a wastnd and the royal family disappearing, the S?len Kingdom was on its path to destruction even if they were a powerful kingdom. ¡°If we can stop the events that will happen until the Night of Massacre¡­it will really improve the situation. We¡¯ll be able to ovee all the 7 major cmities.¡± By the time the 7 major cmities began in the game, the S?len Kingdom was already on the verge of destruction so it couldn¡¯t help in stopping the cmities. But if it survived and preserved its national power that was on par with the empire, they would be a great help in preventing the 7 major cmities. ¡°Heh, I¡¯m excited.¡± ¡°In saving people?¡± ¡°Huh? Yes. There¡¯s that too¡­ But the royal capital is fun.¡± Cordelia replied with quivering lips as if she was a little embarrassed. And Jude nodded too. ¡°You¡¯re right. The royal capital episode was fun.¡± Although the north was in chaos, it was notpletely destroyed when the royal capital episode was still in progress. So until the royal capital episode ended, the S?len Kingdom would remain standing. There were many big and small events in the royal capital where lots of people gathered, and among those events, there were a few that stimted the girl¡¯s heart of Cordelia. ¡®The flow of events would clearly be different.¡¯ Because they would be going to fancy events like balls, and not just be fighting. ¡®Yes, the ball. The 300th anniversary of the country¡¯s founding.¡¯ Jude very much looked forward to the ball that would be really grand. It would be a ce where he could show off the beauty of Cordelia not only to the S?len Kingdom, but also to the foreign figures who would be gathered. ¡°Ahem, ahem, that would be nice.¡± Cordelia frowned when Jude smiled like a fool. ¡°What is it, what are you thinking? You have a creepy smile.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not. It¡¯s nothing. Would you like more tea?¡± ¡°Yes, give me more.¡± ¡°Here it is, Madam.¡± Jude poured tea into Cordelia¡¯s teacup and resumed talking again. ¡°Anyway, there will be a lot of encounters if we go to the royal capital. Several new yable characters will be making their appearance.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right. Princess Daphne and Prince Dion.¡± Cordelia¡¯s cheeks flushed as she gazed into the distance and imagined it. ¡°Do you like Daphne and Dion?¡± ¡°Yes, because he¡¯s attractive. Dion is handsome. Dion is really handsome. He¡¯s cool. I like his personality.¡± As Cordelia giggled and spoke, it was the opposite for Jude as his face hardened. ¡°Jude?¡± ¡°No, umm. Right. Attractive. Handsome.¡± Dion. He kept that name in his mind. Dion. Jude¡¯s expression coldly sank, and Cordelia blinked her eyes and tilted her head, wondering if her senses had be dull at a time like this. And it was at that moment. ¡°Can Ie in?¡± At the question that came from outside the tent, Jude and Cordelia looked at each other and nodded. ¡°Yes, you maye in.¡± Jude gave his permission, and a boy entered from outside the tent. It was Great Storm. ¡°What happened? Did the meeting go well?¡± Cordelia asked, and Great Storm nodded. ¡°Um, yes. It went well. The northerners would withdraw tomorrow, and a non-aggression treaty had been signed wherein both sides would not attack each other for the next five years.¡± ¡°Wow! That¡¯s great! Isn¡¯t that right, Jude?¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. This much is the best.¡± Cordelia was relieved when Jude agreed, and she then said to Great Storm. ¡°Are you here to tell us?¡± ¡°Yes, there is that too¡­but I think I have to tell you something too.¡± Great Storm spoke and looked at Jude who handed him a cup of tea that had already been prepared. ¡°I told you about this during the day, that the demon followers would be med for blowing up the dragon veins. So you two should say that too. Rather, you reduced the aftermath of the great explosion. Got it?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°¡­Yeah.¡± Jude calmly answered with a slightly embarrassed face, while Cordelia timidly replied as she hunched her shoulders. Great Storm smiled at the reaction of the two, and then resumed his words after sipping his tea. ¡°And this¡­ I just want you to know. Because you¡¯re the guardians of the wildnds.¡± The surrounding area changed at that moment. They were still inside the tent of Jude and Cordelia, but the air itself changed. The sanctuary of Great Storm. His sacred ce. ¡°The dragon vein has changed in the aftermath of the great explosion.¡± Jude and Cordelia flinched. They knew that there would be an impact, but it seemed to be more than they had imagined. The wildnds was originally an uninhabitablend. It became possible to live there because of the wild gods who drew their powers from the dragon vein, so if they had caused a problem with the dragon vein itself, if the wild gods could no longer use their powers like how they used to¡­ ¡°Don¡¯t be scared. There¡¯s nothing to worry. It actually got better.¡± ¡°It got better?¡± ¡°Yes, how should I say this¡­rather, it had be smooth-flowing? You could say that the veins widened.¡± Everything that obstructed the flow of the dragon veins were blown away by the great explosion, and the infrastructure of the high elves were even incorporated into the dragon veins. It was natural that the cirction of the dragon vein became smoother as the blocked areas were opened and the veins had widened. ¡°Moreover, the Golden Dragon King woke up. And he is nning to recover his strength in the Snow Breeze in. In short, a new dragon vein stream ¨C one on a colossal scale which had never existed before, would be created.¡± As soon as he heard Great Storm¡¯s words, Jude understood why Great Storm wanted only the two of them to know about this conversation. ¡°Will a kingdom¡­be built?¡± Cordelia blinked her eyes at his question that skipped the process on how it got there, but not for Great Storm. The wild god nodded with a bitter smile. ¡°Probably.¡± The west was greatly affected by the corruption and in ruins, and because the wild gods there were also annihted, it became an uninhabitablend for the time being, even if there were dragon veins there. The east was also notpletely free from the aftermath of the dragon vein¡¯s explosion. All of the sanctuaries of the wild gods were destroyed, and it would be difficult to enjoy the same life as before until they had restored their sanctuaries. ¡°So a new one will bepletely made.¡± On the Snow Breeze in. Several wild gods would join forces. A ce where various tribes would live together, a huge city that would be the center of the wildnds. ¡°It would probably a better ce to live than before.¡± ¡°Wow.¡± Cordelia was in pure admiration, but not for Jude. The fact that the tribes in the wildnds that had been scattered until now would live in one ce could only imply the possibility of a new kingdom being built. And it also hinted at another possibility. ¡®War.¡¯ The fight between the north and the wildnds was really long and old. But the battles so far were not properly united, since they were nothing but a union of several tribes and were not really united as one, so their battles were just a fight between the many barbarians and the northerners. But if a kingdom was established in the wildnds, if the barbarians became one¡­ ¡°I¡¯m not sure yet if a kingdom will really be established, or if it will eventually be divided again.¡± Great Storm said as he read Jude¡¯s thoughts. And Jude realized the fact that he was Jude Bayer, the second son of the Bayer family. A threat to the north. A threat to the S?len Kingdom. ¡°It will be fine.¡± Cordelia held Jude¡¯s hand. After figuring out the general flow of the conversation between the two, she smiled once again. ¡°It¡¯s Red Gale and Red Wind¡¯s country. It will take a long time to build, and there¡¯s now that says you must fight because you founded something, right? We can be friends.¡± Her thoughts were too soft. It was optimistic. But Jude unconsciously nodded. It wasn¡¯t just because he was in love with Cordelia. Because it could really be what Cordelia said. They didn¡¯t have to give up hope. ¡®She looks like an angel.¡¯ No, wasn¡¯t she a real angel now? As Jude¡¯s mood softened, Great Storm opened his mouth again. ¡°We will heal our wounds here and be powerful again. So Jude and Cordelia, the guardians of the wildnds.¡± Great Storm stopped talking at once and stood up. He respectfully bowed and said, as if treating them like the Golden Dragon King. ¡°Come to us whenever you need help. We will never forget the favors you had done for us. Even if you leave the wildnds, even if you are far away, even if the dizzyingly fast passage of time passes between us and you ¨C we will not forget. We will remember your names. You two are our benefactors. Guardians of the wildnds, our sworn allies.¡± Jude and Cordelia got up from their seats and respectfully bowed too. Cordelia nodded while feeling overwhelmed, and Jude spoke on behalf of them two. ¡°We heard it clearly. You won¡¯t regret itter, right?¡± ¡°¡­Just do it moderately, moderately.¡± In any event, they would help the two. After he shook hands with Jude and had a three-second hug with Cordelia, Great Storm left their tent, and Cordelia suddenly jumped in her spot. ¡°Oh, it feels nice. I¡¯m really happy.¡± She felt it on the battlefield too, but she thought that it was really fortunate that they came to the wildnds. And so did Jude. Aside from the benefits of getting help from the wildnds in the midst of the numerous events that would happen in the future, he was also thrilled. He felt it to be heartwarming. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go to sleep now. Tomorrow onwards, we¡¯ll have to immediately return to the S?len Kingdom.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, let¡¯s sleep.¡± Having already washed themselves, the two lied down straight away, and Jude damped down the fire. Jude felt that his heart was still overwhelmed, but he fell asleep as soon as he lied down, perhaps because a lot of things had happened today. But at that very moment ¨C just when he was about to fall asleep. ¡°But Jude.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°I have a question.¡± ¡°Uh, what is it?¡± Jude turned to Cordelia, who had already turned to him. The only thing in between the two was the firewood fire that had almost gone out. ¡°What was thest thing that my dad gave to you today? It was the first time I had seen something like that.¡± ¡°Umm.¡± ¡°Umm?¡± ¡°Umm.¡± ¡°What is it? Huh? If it¡¯s good, let¡¯s eat it together. Okay?¡± No, I want to eat that together with you. Let¡¯s stop there. Jude turned around right away and suppressed his voice out of fear that it and his eyes would leak his thoughts. ¡°Go to bed. Later, I¡¯ll tell youter.¡± ¡°Tsk, you¡¯re mean.¡± Cordelia grumbled, and Jude tried to calm the agitation of his heart. Fortunately, recalling Count Chase¡¯s face in a hurry was very helpful. ¡®Go to sleep.¡¯ For tomorrow. Jude nced back at Cordelia for thest time and smiled at the sight of Cordelia falling fast asleep. *** The next morning. After the crying and clinging Red Wind said her farewells and Violent Avnche jumped up and down as he waved his hand, Jude and Cordelia left the wildnds. And at the same time, in apletely different ce. ¡°Is that so, I understand.¡± Princess Daphne curled her sparkling long blonde hair that seemed to have been made by melting gold, as she stared at the zing fire and whispered. She slowly turned around and gazed at the sky. ¡°Jude Bayer and Cordelia Chase.¡± Two people of destiny. She quietly whispered and faintly smiled, and a white bird flew towards the north. And at another ce again. Beyond the S?len Kingdom, in the heart of the Argon Empire, thergest territory on the continent. A young man drew his sword. He looked at the distant south. Maximilian de Avis. The main character of Legend of Heroes 2. One of the Four Great Swordsmen in Pleaides. He took a step forward. He began his trip to the S?len Kingdom. Chapter 124: Engagement Ceremony (1)

Chapter 124: Engagement Ceremony (1)

Late post again, sorry. And to those who are talking about the rtionship of our crazy couple, let me just say that if the wildnds arc focused on Jude¡¯s side (his feelings), the royal capital arc will focus on Cordelia. So look forward to the next arc. I mean, this chapter in itself had already begun it. Terms used in this chapter: Wartime operational control ¨C amander¡¯s right to control military operations during wartime. The northerners had a simple reason on why they were in a hurry to return as soon as the battle was over. Because the Jackdaws were reluctant to stay in the wildnds, which they considered as enemy territory. ¡®Of course, it¡¯s obvious why.¡¯ They had been hostile with each other for many years. In fact, helping the wildnds that was beyond the border was a miracle in itself. ¡®To be exact, it would be more correct to say that rather than helping them, they were putting out the fire before it spread to their side.¡¯ The tragedy of the Paragon Kingdom was a great event that shook the entire continent. It also happened only 10 years ago, so there was no Jackdaw who did not know about the tragedy of the Paragon Kingdom. This military operation became possible because of that. No one was sure on what would happen afterwards if they left the Hell Gate open in the wildnds. ¡®Count Hr?svelgr made a bold decision, and if it was my father, he would do so too.¡¯ He probably did not submit a proper report to the royal capital and used his wartime operational control to advance to the wildnds. If Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s decision was made half a day ¨C no, just one hourte. ¡®It would have been difficult to remain unharmed.¡¯ At least for Jude himself. He was confident that he could protect Cordelia¡¯s life somehow, but it was honestly questionable if he could take care of his own life under the circumstances they were in at that time. ¡®Thank you.¡¯ Jude thanked the count in his mind before turning his gaze to the side. He saw Lena and Cordelia beside each other as they rode on horses not far away from him. The two angels wereughing as their horses moved forward. ¡®Lena¡¯s move was critical.¡¯ She was one of the five heroes and was originally destined to die in the wildnds. But she didn¡¯t die, so she was now heading to the S?len Kingdom to meet the other heroes, Landius and Kamael. How would her survival affect the fate of Pleiades? ¡®Would it help the survival of Landius?¡¯ Jude actually found Landius¡¯ death to be the biggest mystery now. Why in the world and how did he meet his death? ¡®I don¡¯t know the cause, so I have no idea on how to stop it.¡¯ The Landius he first saw in the game and the Landius he met now. Jude¡¯s perception of him had changed. Because his understanding of Landius¡¯ power itself changed. ¡®I understand now that I¡¯ve grown stronger.¡¯ There was a difference between the situation of simply knowing the power of a game character through numerical values and the situation where he actually developed and used that power. Landius¡¯ strength was on a truly colossal level. Jude couldn¡¯t even imagine how strong Landius was now, given that he had opened up to the seventh door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, which was the current Landius¡¯ limit. ¡®There¡¯s something, something.¡¯ Landius had said that he himself woulde find Jude in due time. There was a high possibility that he would contact Jude in any way once he hears from Lena that Jude himself had opened the fourth door. ¡®Perhaps that action alone would help him avoid death.¡¯ After he tried to think positively, Jude looked at Lena and Cordelia again. He saw the beautiful sight of Cordelia looking up at Lena and chattering like a baby bird. ¡®Ahem.¡¯ At the moment he tried to enter into listening mode¡­ ¡°Mr. Jude.¡± ¡°Lord Lucas.¡± Jude turned to Lucas whose horse approached him, and then smiled. Because Jude had a conscience too. Jude felt that he had a lot of things to apologize for to Lucas. ¡°I apologize. I had left just like that¡­¡± ¡°No, you had your circumstances. I didn¡¯t expect the two of you to be working undercover for the Guardians of the Holy Cross¡­ Rather, we Hr?svelgr almost spoiled your ns.¡± The information Lucas heard seemed to have been distorted, so his misunderstanding deepened. He seemed to think that their mission from the Guardians of the Holy Cross was what originally made the two leave the Hr?svelgr territory and head for Frost Anvil. ¡®What should I do about this?¡¯ Jude had used the Guardians of the Holy Cross and the Fairy Queen as an excuse for some time, but things were a little different this time. It was better to not use false information if it could be verified, or if it would be a problem when the truth was revealedter. ¡®Lucas and I will be meeting each other more in the future.¡¯ Red Wind had promised toe to the S?len Kingdom and help Jude and Cordelia once she had improved her skills in the wildnds. Lucas also had to properly train so that they could fully use his power for the yable Character Alliance that they would form in the future. ¡®Hmm¡­well, I¡¯ll think about thatter.¡¯ Not for now, but when the situation had calmed down a bit. They hadn¡¯t returned to Thunderdoom Fortress yet. ¡°Say, Mr. Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Lord Lucas.¡± Lucas¡¯ face suddenly flushed when Jude softly answered. Jude instantly flinched at his shy reaction but maintained hisposure. Lucas then said while fidgeting. ¡°That¡­I wish to ask you a favor.¡± ¡°Yes, go ahead.¡± ¡°May I¡­spar with you?¡± His face was still red, but his gaze was serious. Now that Jude thought about it, the reason why Lucas approached him in the first ce and asked to be his friend was because Lucas said something like ¡®I need a good rival!¡¯. ¡®Ah, so that¡¯s why his face turned red.¡¯ He said that he needed a good rival, and that he had no opponents around his age, but Jude and Cordelia had run away then because they had other priorities. ¡®Ahem.¡¯ Jude faintly smiled as he faced Lucas who was looking at him. As he saw Lucas¡¯ sparkling eyes, he realized again that the other was a 16 year old boy. ¡®I can do it if it¡¯s sparring.¡¯ The question was to what extent he would be fighting against Lucas. Because it was not an exaggeration to say that the current gap between Jude and Lucas was like heaven and earth. Lucas was much stronger than Jude just two months ago, but that two months was a problem. Jude had gone through a seriously drastic change. ¡®Even Cordelia will have the upper hand when it came to their physical abilities.¡¯ Lucas would have practiced and worked hard too, but his limits were clear. He should only be around level 20 now. On the other hand, Cordelia had a level of 71. Level was a thug, and even if their professions of swordsman and wizard were widely different, Cordelia was still much stronger than him. Not by her totalbat power, but by her physical abilities alone. But Jude¡¯s physical abilities were far greater than Cordelia¡¯s. ¡®Wouldn¡¯t he be depressed if I really fight against him?¡¯ Even Red Wind who chased after Cordelia and called her unnie had a time when she cried in frustration at the difference of their skills. Lucas who was proud of his talents might end up falling into despair. ¡®Let¡¯s do it moderately.¡¯ Moderately, to a level where Lucas can foster a sense of rivalry with him. ¡°Mr. Jude¡­?¡± The fidgeting Lucas yed with his fingers as he looked at Jude with an anxious face. Lucas opened his mouth again when Jude was worrying by himself, but Jude then nodded his head. ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s have a fight when we arrive at Thunderdoom Fortress. I feel excited when I think that I¡¯ll be fighting Lord Lucas.¡± ¡°So do I! Since a long time ago¡­¡± When Lucas excitedly replied but suddenly trailed off his words, Jude smiled again. He told Lucas whose actions he found to be rather cute. ¡°The best way to improve your skills is topete with your rival.¡± ¡°Haha¡­you¡¯re right.¡± It was a line from Biltwein the Hero. Lucas was actually aware that Jude was stronger than himself one way or another, so he was embarrassed when he said that Jude was his rival, but he was really happy when Jude considered him a rival too. His face turned redder. ¡®Cute.¡¯ Jude tried to suppress hisughter, and Lucas cleared his throat before he turned to Cordelia and said. ¡°Lady Cordelia has be more beautiful.¡± ¡°Yes, she is a real angel now.¡± She seeded in Ancestral Regression and became an angel. She had only done that in the game around the time of the 7 major cmities, so it was a huge progress. Jude spoke with a happy face, and Lucas blinked his eyes and soon had an awkward expression. ¡°Lord Lucas?¡± ¡°Yes? Ah¡­yes. That¡¯s right¡­ She is Mr. Jude¡¯s angel. Lady Cordelia.¡± Lucas awkwardlyughed, and Jude justughed along and didn¡¯t correct him. ¡°I¡¯ll see youter then.¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll see youter.¡± After they silently exchanged greetings, Lucas prodded his horse to head towards Count Hr?svelgr, and Jude looked back at their schedule. ¡®First, we¡¯ll go to Thunderdoom Fortress¡­ After that, we¡¯ll head to Langesthei via Vedrfolnir¡­ And it¡¯s important that we get the Fall Protection in the valley.¡¯ They needed to secretly meet the Fall Fairies in a valley that was in the middle of two mountains. It wasn¡¯t difficult for them to get it as Cordelia only needed to call them by singing Little Star while taking a bath. However, getting to that ce on purpose was a bit of a challenge. ¡®Well, it will work out somehow.¡¯ They could just run away for a while again. Jude thought that Adelia would immediately be angry if she heard about this. He then looked in front of him again because Cordelia was approaching him. ¡°Jude, Jude.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°You see, you see.¡± As she drew closer to Jude, Cordelia looked around her and then said in a very small voice. ¡°Unnie and brother-inw¡­they¡¯re acting strange.¡± Something was unusual. Jude turned to Adelia and Ga?l before having a lukewarm expression. Because the two were near each other and were having a pleasant chat as they looked at each other, creating a pink atmosphere around them. ¡°See? Aren¡¯t they strange?¡± It was the moment Cordelia spoke. Ga?l and Adelia took a quick look at their surroundings, brought their faces closer, and shared a very brief kiss. Just a second. The two distanced themselves after their quick kiss, and Ga?l awkwardly smiled while Adelia blushed and was at a loss on what to do. And the Jackdaws who happened to witness the scene all had the same awful expressions, while Cordelia widely opened her eyes. ¡°Ju-Jude?¡± T-they just kissed! Kissed! Jude strongly gazed at them again and frowned. There seemed to be a notable incident that caused the rtionship of the two to rapidly progress in the few days they left the wildnds and headed to Thunderdoom Fortress. ¡®Wha-what is this? What happened? What happened between you two? In just a few days?¡¯ At the time when the overly excited Cordelia sent a nce to Jude. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Huh? Do you know something? Do you know anything about it?¡± ¡°No, but your sister ising.¡± Cordelia almost fell off her horse at the time when Jude spoke, and managed to bnce herself before quickly turning her head. As Jude had said, Adelia wasing their way. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°U-unnie.¡± The two sisters had red faces, though the reasons behind it were different. Adelia nced at Jude and spoke to Cordelia again. ¡°I have something to tell you. Come with me.¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll go with you.¡± Cordelia took a peek at Jude before she moved towards Adelia, and the horses of the two sisters began to move forward beside each other. ¡®What is she going to say? No, I want to ask her more than that.¡¯ On what had happened. Cordelia waited as she tried to control her pounding heart, and Adelia spoke after taking a deep breath. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°When we return, we¡¯ll have an engagement ceremony.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Engagement ceremony? With whom? At Cordelia¡¯s gaze that clearly asked what she meant, Adelia suddenly cleared her throat and said a little shamelessly. ¡°Me. Lord Ga?l and me.¡± They would have an engagement ceremony. Because a wedding was too early. There were things that had to be settled for both sides. Cordelia¡¯s eyes widened at Adelia¡¯s bombshell deration, and her mouth opened and closed like a carp. ¡°Wow, wow, wow.¡± ¡°Why? What is it? Why?¡± ¡°No, anyway, this is not right, okay? How many days have you two seen each other?¡± This is not a Disney cartoon where one falls in love as soon as they meet and agree to get married within a day! Adelia snorted and replied at Cordelia¡¯s strong argument. ¡°I¡¯ve seen him for over a month.¡± Not just a few days. It was more than a month, so several dozens of days. But Cordelia still looked unconvinced, and Adelia said as her lips quivered. ¡°All nobles get married anyway. It¡¯s rare for something like lo- lo¡­lo¡­love to develop between the two. So I have to somehow grab an opportunity like this. And it¡¯s not a shotgun marriage. We had never met much before this.¡± Adelia stuttered several times at first, but her words went smoothly at the end because of her enthusiasm. When Cordelia couldn¡¯t immediately answer at her sudden counterattack, Adelia dealt an extra blow. ¡°But now that we love each other, we cannot live without each other. You understand, right?¡± ¡°Ah, no, that¡­¡± Jude and I are not really head over heels each other¡­ Adelia thought that Cordelia was embarrassed when she hesitated, so she said with a giggle. ¡°Anyway, just know that. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Yeees.¡± ¡°Why are you looking like that? You don¡¯t like it?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s really great. Congrattions, unnie.¡± ¡°Yes, you too¡­I wish you happiness. The two of you.¡± Anyway, the two were a really well-matched pair. After Adelia smiled and stroked Cordelia¡¯s hair, she went back to Ga?l¡¯s side and Jude headed to where Adelia had been. ¡°Did she say that they were engaged?¡± ¡°Eh? Uh. How did you know?¡± ¡°There are times when I wonder if your senses are good or not. Did your senses specialize inbat only, just like that of beasts?¡± ¡°You wanna die?¡± Cordelia reflexively cursed and pouted several times before she turned to Adelia. Adelia looked so pretty and lovely while she was chatting with Ga?l. ¡®Is this for real?¡¯ She couldn¡¯t believe her sister was getting engaged. And with brother-inw Ga?l too. ¡®Engagement.¡¯ A phase before marriage. A phase where a couple would dere to the world that they would be getting married. ¡®Wow¡­¡¯ Really? We really changed the original by a lot. Unnie, unnie is getting married. She¡¯s getting married. Cordelia was in a daze as she let out oohs and aahs several times, but she suddenly realized one fact. Engagement. Marriage. ¡®Wait.¡¯ Wait, wait, wait. That one fact. In fact, her thoughts were all over the ce because she was only thinking of changing the future depicted in the game, so she forgot that one fact. The future had changed. Cordelia wasn¡¯t kidnapped by the Devil¡¯s Hand in Langesthei, and she obviously didn¡¯t go missing. Jude did not go to the north to search for his fianc¨¦, and the northern barbarians¡¯ invasion did note true. Count Bayer was alive, and Count Chase was alive too. And the results of that change. Jude and Cordelia¡¯s engagement were naturally dissolved in the original. But not now. Rather, it even became as firm as rock. Cordelia quickly looked at Jude and stared at the handsome Jude¡¯s profile. When Jude felt her gaze and turned to her side, she swiftly turned her head again and avoided his gaze. That one fact. It was ridiculous that she only remembered it now, but it was still something very important. ¡®I¡­ At this rate, won¡¯t I end up marrying Jude?¡¯ With Jude. With Outboxer009. Cordelia blinked her eyes. Her mind went nk and she couldn¡¯t think of anything else. Chapter 125: Engagement Ceremony (2)

Chapter 125: Engagement Ceremony (2)

Sorry for thete release again. I¡¯ve been quite busy this past few days. The next chapter will also be long, so expect it to be released on Saturday. Hopefully, I¡¯ll be less busy by next week. Terms used in this chapter: Ax disease ¨C Korean ng in which a person believes that everybody has a crush on him/her. Marriage. She had never seriously thought about that when she was reincarnated as Cordelia or even in her time as Hong Yoo Hee in her previous life. Because both were too young to consider marriage seriously. ¡®I¡¯ve never had a proper rtionship after all!¡¯ I went to an all-girls high school after an all-girls middle school! Of course, some of my ssmates had gone on dates and such. ¡®A-anyway!¡¯ Marriage. Holding hands, hugging, ki-ki¡­ Yes, even kissing! ¡®Th-that¡­¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s face turned red. Because she remembered what Adelia had talked about just then. Something she had never thought about seriously. As if it was a faraway fantasy¡­ But it¡¯s be a reality now? And that Jude is my partner? ¡®Le-let¡¯s imagine.¡¯ Cordelia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It wasn¡¯t something she should do while on the back of a horse, but she did it anyway. ¡®Good, my mind is clear.¡¯ Cordelia first thought of Adelia and Ga?l. The sight that she had just seen. Two people who shared a quick kiss while the Jackdaws were watching them. ¡®Okay, I remembered it. So¡­¡¯ If she changed Ga?l to Jude and Adelia to herself¡­ ¡®Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!¡¯ Cordelia silently screamed. Her head went nk again, and she almost fell off her horse. But was Cordelia after all. She took pride in her ability to move her body as she pleased, which was not inferior to Jude¡¯s talent brought about by his Cheonmujiche, so she was able to quickly bnce herself and not fall off her horse. But she couldn¡¯t stop the confusion, fear, and other things from her wildly excited mind. ¡®No way, no way.¡¯ But contrary to her own will, her imagination continued. The one Adelia had said just before. The flirting the two had done. She reced it with Jude and herself, and Cordelia silently screamed once again. ¡®Aaaaaaah!¡¯ What do I do? What do I do? Her original fair looking face was nowpletely burning red. As if it would explode if she just touched it. ¡®No way, no way. That¡¯s right, that¡¯s ridiculous!¡¯ It¡¯s a delusion. An extreme delusion. Because the partner is Jude. Outboxer009! That evil b*stard who always made fun of me! That wicked b*stard who made fun of me for being bad at games from the very first time we met! ¡°Huu, huu.¡± Cordelia took slow and deep breaths, and somehow calmed her pounding heart. ¡®That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right. No way. Yes, yes, it doesn¡¯t make any sense.¡¯ Jude and me getting married. Hmph, that¡¯s ridiculous~ Yes, yes, so I don¡¯t have to worry about this~ ¡®F*ck.¡¯ Having an optimistic mindset was not easy. But Cordelia thought again after calming down her heart with one curse word. ¡®Anyway, marriage is between two people, right?¡¯ There was also the situation of the union of two families. So it was something two parties were involved in. ¡®So it¡¯s okay.¡¯ They were Jude and Cordelia. And in the future, Pleiades was going to be in a huge mess. When the 7 major cmities began, the whole world and not just the S?len Kingdom would be involved, so the future events would be so bad that it couldn¡¯t get any worse than that. Thus, there was a possibility that the engagement would somehow be dissolved. ¡®Of course, our goal is to prevent the future events from getting any worse.¡¯ Anyway, marriage was still a long way off. It was not something she should be worried about now. ¡®That¡¯s right! I¡¯m young!¡¯ She was still a minor. Of course, she was legally considered a minor, but marriages between underaged men and women were verymon in Pleaides. ¡®Good, good. Come to think of it, it¡¯s not something I should worry about alone. If it¡¯s Jude, he¡¯ll definitely find a way to do something.¡¯ If it¡¯s my Jude! ¡®Ah, how reassuring.¡¯ One way or another, she seriously felt reassured that he was on her side. After regaining her peace of mind, Cordelia raised her head and gazed at Jude¡¯s profile again. She unintentionally thought. No, she fell into thinking. ¡®Wait.¡¯ Didn¡¯t we hold hands a lot of times? It was often enough that I stopped remembering the fact that he held my hand¡­ Come to think of it, we did that today too. I think he held my hand more than 10 times today. ¡®As for the hugging¡­¡¯ When they wandered in the wildnds, they had hugged each other and slept together almost every day. Princess carry, piggyback, princess carry again. A very natural routine. ¡®Wha-what. What is this?¡¯ She was very embarrassed. Her face turned red again. ¡®N-no. It¡¯s okay. It¡¯s okay.¡¯ I didn¡¯t do it consciously. It was because of the environment. Comrade, friend. Yes, yes, something like that. Cordelia forcefully rationalized her past actions and took a deep breath before looking at Jude, but she ended up turning her head again. ¡®Damn! What¡¯s wrong with me?¡¯ Why do I only see his lips? ¡®Eueue¡­it¡¯s Adelia-unnie. Adelia-unnie filled my head with poison!¡¯ Why were you kissing in public where everyone could see you! Cordelia med Adelia for a moment, which allowed her to regain her peace of mind. ¡®Huu, good. Anyway, if I think about it logically, there¡¯s now that says that I have to marry Jude. Yes, yes, that¡¯s right.¡¯ Because the future was something no one knew. ¡®But what about Jude?¡¯ Did he question it? It¡¯s a bit annoying, but there¡¯s no way that Jude didn¡¯t think of what I had thought. Did Jude thought about getting married to me? What he did he think of when he thought about it? ¡®Wait a minute.¡¯ At that moment, Cordelia¡¯s eyes narrowed. And Cordelia recounted one by one on what had happened with Jude in the wildnds. Jude became very kind at some point. Jude was always kind to her. Jude would ask her if it was hard before giving her a piggyback. ¡®He always served me delicious food.¡¯ Hmm. Hmm. Hmmmm. Cordelia¡¯s eyes became narrower. And after a long time, she activated her woman¡¯s intuition and not her beastly intuition. ¡®Maybe¡­he likes me?¡¯ Jude likes Cordelia. ¡®Hahaha! That doesn¡¯t make sense! That¡¯s nonsense! Yes, yes, it¡¯s ridiculous. Hahaha. It¡¯s nonsense, but¡­?¡¯ Just because he was nice to her didn¡¯t mean he liked her. Maybe he¡¯s nice to me because he likes me? ¡­That¡¯s such a silly idea. ¡®Should I just ask him?¡¯ D-do you like me? Can I say that? ¡®N-no. F*ck. This is no good.¡¯ Cordelia took a deep breath again as a curse naturally came out after a long time. No matter how much she thought about it, asking him directly was too risky. ¡®That¡¯s right, and what if I was wrong?¡¯ If I ask, ¡®Do you like me?¡¯ and he answers ¡®No, I don¡¯t?¡¯ He¡¯ll seriously treat me as a patient with ax disease. ¡®No way. I can¡¯t stand that. I can¡¯t do it. I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll make fun of me for it over and over.¡¯ So she couldn¡¯t directly ask him. She needed to find another way. ¡®Okay, then let¡¯s observe and find out.¡¯ I have plenty of time to observe because we¡¯re always together. ¡®Yes, yes, that¡¯s right. I¡¯ll figure it out!¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s thoughts seemed to have seriously digressed, but in the first ce, her continuing delusions and worries was what led her to do that in order to get rid of her panic. Since she hade to a conclusion, Cordelia began to work out on a n for a while. And in the ce right next to her. Jude was unaware of Cordelia¡¯s dynamic change and her face repeatedly turning red to the point that one would be worried about her blood pressure. Because he was closely looking at something other than Cordelia¡¯s face. ¡®What a shame.¡¯ Her cat ears and tail that swayed every time she moved. It really suits her. It¡¯s so cute. But she can¡¯t go around the S?len Kingdom wearing that. ¡®It¡¯s too bad.¡¯ But I¡¯ll still keep it. Jude didn¡¯t tell Cordelia about it, but he had kept the rabbit headband and tail too. ¡®All right! I¡¯ll figure it out!¡¯ ¡®I¡¯ll ask her to wear it if an opportunityes in the future.¡¯ Cordelia and Jude were having different thoughts, and Ga?l and Adelia watched the two from a distance before they looked at each other and sweetly smiled. ¡®They really get along, right?¡¯ ¡®Of course. You¡¯re really beautiful, Adelia.¡¯ Just like always, the two were still bad at having a conversation with their eyes. And the Jackdaws all frowned when they not only saw the actions of Ga?l and Adelia but also that of Jude and Cordelia. What a nasty world. What the hell were we fighting for in the north? The march continued while everyone was lost in their thoughts, and time smoothly passed by. Two dayster. Jude and Cordelia finally saw the fortress city that the north boasted of as the strongest ¨C Thunderdoom. *** ¡°Glory be to the victorious Jackdaws!¡± ¡°Hurrah!¡± The Jackdaws weren¡¯t the only ones who lived in Thunderdoom Fortress. As a fortress city, the ordinary citizens weren¡¯t a few as tens of thousands of them were enthusiastic of the victorious return of the Jackdaws. ¡°Long live Count Hr?svelgr!¡± ¡°Whooo!¡± ¡°Long live the Jackdaws!¡± ¡°Yeaaaaah!¡± The whole fortress city was filled with a festive atmosphere. It was natural to show such an enthusiastic reaction since the Jackdaws who always guarded the border had directly crossed it and went on an expedition to the barbards for the first time and even imed victory. ¡®They only had a few festivals to begin with.¡¯ This was a fortress city that was wary of the barbarians since no one knew when they would be attacked. So there was no way they would miss this opportunity to have a festival in this ce where entertainment wascking. ¡°Our count was amazing!¡± ¡°Ha, you should have seen it. The valiant charge of thences of our Jackdaws!¡± ¡°Those guys were just a bunch of weak demon followers!¡± The Jackdaws talked about their exploits everywhere, and the Jackdaws who were unable to participate in the expedition because they had to protect the fortress were struggling in regret. There was alcohol, music, and delicious food. The night deepened. Cordelia wore a white and flowing dress after a long time, and she looked around to her left and right. ¡®They¡¯re gone.¡¯ Ga?l and Adelia. They suddenly disappeared like ghosts at some point. ¡®Eueueu¡­¡¯ What are they doing that they had to leave? Cordelia tried to calm herself as her face turned red, before she threw a sharp gaze at her target. Jude Bayer. Cordelia¡¯s own fianc¨¦ who was sharing a ss of juice with Lucas instead of a ss of alcohol. ¡®Let¡¯s sound him out.¡¯ Not to the point of¡­seduction, but anyway, let¡¯s find out if he likes me or not! Cordelia steeled her mind and headed to Jude with a pounding heart. But when she got closer, the atmosphere between Jude and Lucas was strange. ¡°May I ask you for the favor?¡± ¡°You mean now?¡± ¡°Yes, I know it¡¯s a rude request¡­but I can¡¯t wait any longer. All I can think of is Mr. Jude.¡± ¡®What?!¡¯ Thest one was Cordelia, and fortunately, she only shouted in her mind. ¡®W-what? Lucas only thinks of Jude?¡¯ Why? Why is that? N-no way? Around the time when Cordelia¡¯s delusional thoughts were about to run wild¡­ Jude stood up and called Cordelia. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Huh? Ah! Yes!¡± Cordelia quickly replied and ran to Jude who then said with a slightly awkward smile. ¡°Lord Lucas has asked me to spar with him¡­so we¡¯re thinking of going to the training area now.¡± ¡°Spar? Ah! Sparring! Aha, so it was like that, huh?¡± What a relief. Jude was puzzled when Cordelia sighed in relief, but he soon went back to the main topic. ¡°Moving on, since we¡¯re going to the training area, would you like to go with us there?¡± Cordelia immediately nodded at Jude¡¯s suggestion. ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll go. Can Ie with you, Lord Lucas?¡± ¡°No problem.¡± Lucas responded with a slightly stiff face. Not because he was dissatisfied with Cordeliaing along, but because he was nervous about the fact that he was going to spar with Jude. ¡°Let¡¯s go then.¡± Jude said with a smile as he naturally took Cordelia¡¯s hand and began to escort her. Cordelia would have normally walked without thinking, but her eyes narrowed for a moment. And Lucas followed behind the two. ¡®I think I¡¯ll go easy on him.¡¯ ¡®You mean you¡¯ll easily defeat him?¡¯ ¡®Easily defeat? Is Lucas a mob?¡¯ ¡®Eh? Oh, Lucas. Umm. Go easy on him, do it gently.¡¯ The two had a conversation with their eyes for some time. The three then arrived at the training area located in the basement of Thunderdoom Fortress. There was also an outdoor training area, but he didn¡¯t want their match to be seen by others. ¡®This would be better for Lucas.¡¯ He said he would go easy, but Lucas was still a sword genius. Lucas would notice it if he didn¡¯t seriously fight. So he must go easy but not hide his strength at the same time. And if that happened¡­ ¡®Lucas will be crushed.¡¯ It would be quite a mess. So he couldn¡¯t let others see it. They had to spar in a quiet ce. ¡®I hope it will be a chance for him to break from his shell.¡¯ That was what they did to Red Wind. She cried and was frustrated by their difference in power, but she soon got up and trained harder. The magic sphere lighted up the darkness. Lucas stood on the stone floor of the training area and took a deep breath. ¡®I¡¯m going.¡¯ ¡®Good luck. Fighting!¡¯ Cordelia spontaneously cheered with her eyes before she went to a corner, and Jude headed to Lucas. But it was the moment when the two faced each other. They sensed the presence of someone. They hadn¡¯t felt it until now, but they suddenly felt a strong presence at that moment. Jude and Lucas reflexively turned and saw Count Hr?svelgr standing on one side of the training area. One of the ten swordmasters of the S?len Kingdom. Lucas¡¯ father and a user of the Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword. ¡°Do not mind me. Just start.¡± He spoke in a low voice and stood next to Cordelia who unconsciously flinched and looked at Jude. And Jude had a bitter smile. This was Thunderdoom Fortress. Since it was the nest of the Jackdaws, it was impossible to do something without Count Hr?svelgr knowing about it. ¡®Count Hr?svelgr.¡¯ One of the Northern Sagang. A swordsman at his peak who was said to be evenly matched with Count Bayer. Does he want topare Lucas and me, or perhaps he wants to gauge the power of Count Bayer through me? ¡®Maybe it¡¯s just pure curiosity.¡¯ Jude got rid of theplicated thoughts that filled his mind. Lucas and Count Hr?svelgr were both their allies. Especially Lucas who was like a pure child. So it would be better to think of it as pure curiosity. ¡°Shall we begin?¡± Lucas was startled at Jude¡¯s question. He was already nervous so when Count Hr?svelgr appeared, he seemed to havepletely frozen. But he was still Lucas. As one of the best yable characters with a talent for the sword, his mood changed when he held his sword. His shook off his tension with one breath. ¡°Let¡¯s begin.¡± Lucas said, and Jude clenched his fists after worrying a bit. He wrapped his arms with the energy of the ck dragon and then faced Lucas. A spar with Lucas. And perhaps the next person would be- ¡®Count Hr?svelgr.¡¯ Jude cut off his thoughts. With a cry, he raised his fist and rushed towards Lucas. Chapter 126: Engagement Ceremony (3)

Chapter 126: Engagement Ceremony (3)

The chapter is finally here. And I¡¯m finally free now, so chapters will be released in its usual release schedule starting on Monday. Terms used in this chapter: Dynamic vision ¨C the ability of the eye to visually discern the fine details of a moving object. Equal breathing ¨C a breathing technique where inhtion and exhtion have the same/equal duration. It is a yoga technique that helps in lowering stress and calming the mind and body. Beyond the skies ¨C an expression that means something is so high or great that it is higher than the sky. Sword and fist. Jude could fight using both, but the truth was, he was not properly trained in either. ¡®Because I was born with Gueumjulmaek.¡¯ ¡®Jude Bayer¡¯ never properly learned any martial arts until he was 17. Training with a body that couldn¡¯t even exercise every day was like a death wish. But after he got the Sun¡¯s Ne, the symptoms of his Gueumjulmaek weakened and he became able to fight quite well. He also passed the Bayer family¡¯s test and didn¡¯t have much difficulty in using techniques and skills when he fought against monsters. And the reason was simple. ¡®I learned some techniques in my previous life.¡¯ Kang Jin-ho lived in the modern times, so what was called ¡®swordsmanship¡¯ there was the knife fighting he learned a little. But it was a different situation for ¡®fist technique¡¯ ¨C or more precisely, ¡®bare-handedbat.¡¯ Because Kang Jin-ho had the experience of learning various martial arts that were utilized in kickboxing. ¡®Of course, that doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯ll be fighting that way.¡¯ The martial arts that one could learn in Pleiades enabled humans to move in superhuman ways, and it was also possible to materialize a destructive force that could not be created with ordinary martial arts. The opponents were also monsters or demonic humans, and not the same human beings, so he had no choice but to fight in a different way from modern martial arts. ¡®But even if that is so.¡¯ ¡®Kang Jin-ho¡¯ was a man who was good at bare-handedbat, so ¡®Jude¡¯ naturally continued to fight with his bare fists rather than using a sword. He used a sword from time to time, but he mainly used his fists. ¡®So I¡¯ll be using my fists.¡¯ It was possible for him to fight with a sword too. Jude and Lucas had an enormous difference in physical abilities, so it was possible for him to win with just a sword. But he didn¡¯t want to do that. ¡®He can tell.¡¯ Lucas was a genius of the sword. He had been training with swords for a long time, so he developed eyes that could tell his opponent¡¯s strength. ¡®Lucas knows it too.¡¯ The fact that he was no match for Jude. But nevertheless, he challenged Jude. Even though he knew that he would lose, even if he knew that he would get beaten. ¡®So I¡¯ll do it seriously.¡¯ I¡¯ll sincerely respond to your sincerity. He obviously didn¡¯t mean that he would use his full strength to defeat Lucas, but he at least wouldn¡¯t fight Lucas carelessly. ¡°Haa!¡± Lucas¡¯ yell cut off his thoughts. No, Jude¡¯s focus was already on Lucas in the first ce. Lucas¡¯ movement. The trajectory drawn by his sword. Jude naturally calcted it. He read Lucas¡¯ next move and intention based on the information he obtained by using not only the visual information but also his five senses. And he responded to it. His body had be so powerful that it couldn¡¯t evenpare to the days when he was Kang Jin-ho. His muscr strength, agility, endurance, and so on were already on the level of a superhuman, and his reflexes and dynamic vision were also iparable. Add to that was his Cheonmujiche. His heavenly talent for martial arts made it possible for him to analyze his opponent by just looking at his opponent¡¯s sword. Lucas swung his sword. Jude avoided the sword with minimal movement. By doing so, he prated into that gap and threw a punch. -ng! Lucas¡¯ sword blocked Jude¡¯s fist. To be exact, he hastily pulled his sword halfway to forcefully block Jude¡¯s fist which was close to hitting him. Either way, he managed to defend himself. Lucas took a step back and Jude chased him. ng! ng! ng! Sharp sounds burst as the sword and fist collided. Lucas with his sword had a far better advantage in terms of reach, but itsplete advantage didn¡¯t work on Jude. Jude¡¯s arms that were covered with the ck dragon¡¯s energy continuously blocked Lucas¡¯ sword, and Lucas got cold sweats from Jude¡¯s kick attack which he rarely experienced fighting against. ¡®He¡¯s barely holding his ground.¡¯ Cordelia thought as her eyes narrowed. If Jude increased his speed a bit more, Lucas would lose a bit of his concentration and¡­ ¡®It would end at once.¡¯ Jude knew it, and Lucas knew it. And Count Hr?svelgr knew it too. ¡®Unbelievable.¡¯ Count Hr?svelgr was a warrior too. He was apetitive man, so he was quite interested in Count Bayer, who was considered as one of his best rivals by people everywhere. Therefore, he was familiar with Jude. Not so long ago, Jude was a child who couldn¡¯t even go outside as he pleased because of his Gueumjulmaek. But the current Jude was beating Lucas, who the famed sword genius himself, Count Hr?svelgr, admitted as having more talent than himself in his youth. It was like a fight between an adult and a child. Perhaps the difference was even more than that. ¡®How odd.¡¯ Is it possible to have such an explosive growth in just a few months? Did Count Bayer deceive everyone by saying that his son had an illness? ¡®No, that¡¯s not important.¡¯ The important thing was the fact that Jude¡¯s skills were real and different from what was known in the past. ¡®I want to see it.¡¯ Jude¡¯s real skills. The greatest power he could exhibit. ng! Lucas¡¯ stance copsed along with the loud sound. The sword that could not withstand the onught of Jude rolled on the floor, and Jude¡¯s fist stopped right in front of Lucas¡¯ chest. Lucas exhaled a rough breath. But he looked at Jude and held his breath. He dered it after he clenched his teeth for some time as he suppressed his emotions. ¡°I lost.¡± ¡°It was a good match.¡± When Jude withdrew his fist, Lucas sank on the floor. At the moment he dered his defeat, the tension on his legs ¨C no, his whole body loosened. ¡®I lost.¡¯ He knew that he was going to lose, but he had lost for real now. And he confirmed it. The absolute gap between them. ¡®At least one or two months.¡¯ The time when Lucas himself did not see Jude. In that time, Jude achieved a seriously tremendous growth. ¡°Haha¡­hahaha¡­¡± Is this what frustration is? Is this what despair is like? He was born as a genius, so he had never felt something like this before. He was shattered by the overwhelming gap that he couldn¡¯t even feel like he would ever catch up to Jude. ¡°Lucas, get up.¡± Lucas¡¯ body involuntarily stiffened upon hearing the voice behind him. He forced himself to stand up. ¡°Good job. You¡¯ve improved.¡± Lucas was stunned at the words of Count Hr?svelgr. But Count Hr?svelgr was telling the truth. Lucas had naturally be more skilled than what he had previously seen. ¡°I¡¯ll talk more about itter. Take a break for now.¡± ¡°Yes, father.¡± Lucas obediently responded this time before he headed to the side. Only then did he saw the restless Cordelia standing alone that he realized that Jude and Count Hr?svelgr were left in the training area and facing each other. ¡®Father?¡¯ Lucas turned around and upon seeing Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s eyes, he realized it. His father had a serious look. ¡°Can we have a match, if it¡¯s all right with you?¡± Count Hr?svelgr said, and Jude bitterly smiled. He had expected this to happen, and now that it became real, he couldn¡¯t help but feel pressured. ¡®Still, this is also an opportunity.¡¯ Count Hr?svelgr was a considerably strong man even in the entire Pleaides. After all, he was one of the best in the S?len Kingdom, and one of the continent¡¯s strongest. ¡®The so-called swordmaster.¡¯ A swordsman, a great swordmaster. How many times would I have a chance to fight against the sword of a swordsman at his level? ¡®Of course, there will be many opportunities when I arrive home.¡¯ After calming himself a bit with his idle thoughts, Jude did some equal breathing before he nodded his head. He turned to Cordelia at that moment. ¡®I¡¯ll do it.¡¯ ¡®Are you sure?¡¯ Their conversation with their eyes was almost like telepathy. Jude clenched his fist, and Cordelia repeatedly stamped her feet before deeply sighing. She likewise clenched her fists and looked at Jude. ¡®Hit him once if you¡¯re going to do it! Okay?¡¯ ¡®If it¡¯s possible.¡¯ ¡®No, it¡¯s not if it¡¯s possible. You must seriously do it!¡¯ ¡®Okay.¡¯ Cordelia widely smiled after being satisfied with Jude¡¯s answer, and Jude was pleased too. He faced Count Hr?svelgr again and said. ¡°It would be an honor.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s begin then.¡± Count Hr?svelgr held up a wooden sword, and Jude took a long breath before getting into position. ¡®It¡¯s quite the opposite now.¡¯ The opposite of his spar with Lucas. No, perhaps it was more than that. Jude ended his smile and erased his useless thoughts. He focused on Count Hr?svelgr and then charged at some point. Bang! A sudden noise. And countless sounds resounded one after another. Jude poured a barrage of fierce attacks, and Count Hr?svelgr stopped all his attacks. He ignored, blocked, or sometimes avoided it. ¡®He used his battle aura.¡¯ Count Hr?svelgr used his battle aura for Jude. So that Jude could seriously give it his all. Booooooom! The energy of the four ck dragons jumped from Jude¡¯s hands. The surface of Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s sword was filled with a faint glow, and a pure white aura soon appeared on his de. Lucas even forgot to breathe as he watched the fight of the two. Count Hr?svelgr stopped defending from Jude¡¯s attacks. As soon as Jude¡¯s energy reached its peak, Count Hr?svelgr began his attack at that moment. A straight downward cut. It was a simple attack but was hard to block or avoid. Jude saw the downward cut rushing before him. He couldn¡¯t even think on what he should do, so he just moved frantically. He evaded the sword attack by gaining distance as far as possible. He couldn¡¯t do anything else except to step backwards. But it was just the beginning. Count Hr?svelgr took a step forward. Jude had tried his best to evade but he didn¡¯t manage to get far away yet, so Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s one step immediately closed the distance between them. And his sword struck again. It was an ordinary horizontal sh this time. No, it was by no means ordinary. Jude realized it at some point. ¡®Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword.¡¯ Count Hr?svelgr was now using the Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword. An invisible flow of Qi energy was incorporated into the Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword with his every move. ¡®As expected of a great swordmaster.¡¯ It continued. Each of his small movements embodied the Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword. A smile spread over Jude¡¯s face. He had no choice but to do that. Several more sword attacks assailed Jude. Each time he evaded, blocked, and ignored the attacks, Jude¡¯s movement increasingly became more unstable. Cordelia was feeling amazed and distressed at the same time. She was happy that she witnessed Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s swordsmanship that was close to a superhuman skill, but it was very distressful for her to see Jude being driven into a corner. Moreover, Cordelia could see it. The next attack would be thest. Jude would bepletely defeated by the Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword with the next attack. ¡®I hate it.¡¯ She knew it was unreasonable, but she still hated it. She did not want to see it. Because he was Jude. Because he was Outboxer009. Because he was the guy who always wanted to be number one. Cordelia grit her teeth. With clenched fists, she wished and wished again. She stubbornly wished and prayed for Jude. And at some point. When Count Hr?svelgr finally raised his sword for thest attack. ¡°Eh?¡± Cordelia unknowingly uttered. Because she saw it. Because her talent for skipping the process and grasping the results had informed her. Something unusual. Something that broke the natural flow. The corners of Cordelia¡¯s mouth were raised. She saw the eyes of Jude, and brightly smiled again. She calmed her pounding heart and cried out in her mind. ¡®Jude!¡¯ Bang! Jude stepped on the ground. He observed Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s sword. It was still iparable. An insurmountable wall. But something changed. No, Jude himself made it happen. ¡®Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword.¡¯ He caught a glimpse of it from Lucas. He felt it through Count Hr?svelgr. And he could tell. It was the same as the martial arts of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. That it was a martial art that once walked along the same path as the other. But that was not the important thing. Jude could feel it. He sensed the Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword itself. Cheonmujiche. The incarnation of martial arts from the heavens. Something added to that. Nine heavens and nine worlds. The power of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors that could flow into all things, as it epassed the entire heavens and earth. He was not conscious of it. His body had naturally moved at some point. He wondered if this was the world Cordelia usually saw. No, he was wrong. Because Jude was still making calctions at that moment. Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s sword was perfect. So he tweaked it. He twisted the path of the sword. All he needed then was power. The strong energy that rose was something that Jude himself had yet to use, and it caused Count Hr?svelgr to be confused. Bang! Cordelia witnessed it. Jude kicked the ground strongly. He shifted his center of gravity at once, clenched his fist, and reproduced what he saw and felt into a mnemonic chant of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword. Sage King¡¯s Cross Strike. The dragon¡¯s energy gathered in Jude¡¯s fist. Count Hr?svelgr was flustered at that moment. Because he understood at the very moment he saw it. And Jude¡¯s attack burst. It crushed Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s attack! Shwaaa-! The cross of the Sage King, which was the symbol of the Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword, was drawn in the air. Count Hr?svelgr was pushed back, and his attack became useless. But it was just a moment. Count Hr?svelgr swung his sword again. It broke and destroyed Jude¡¯s cross at once, and by the time Jude raised his head, his sword had already touched Jude¡¯s neck. The conclusion. The match was decided. Jude was defeated. But Cordelia jumped from her spot and liked it, while Lucas couldn¡¯t close his open mouth. Count Hr?svelgr also let out a short and rough breath. ¡°I lost.¡± Jude said, and Count Hr?svelgr withdrew his sword. And he swallowed the words that seemed toe out of his mouth. ¡®How.¡¯ He already knew the answer. Jude didn¡¯t steal the secret of the Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword, nor did Count Bayer study the Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword for a long time. ¡®Cheonmu¡­jiche.¡¯ The incarnation of martial arts from the heavens. No, it wasn¡¯t just that. There was more to Jude than that. ¡®He¡¯s a monster.¡¯ Laughter flowed out unknowingly. They said thatughteres out when one faces an absurd situation, and that seemed to be true. ¡®No, no. It¡¯s not just that.¡¯ His heart was pounding. He was excited to see on how much this guy in front of him would grow, and how he wouldpete with himself in the future. ¡°It was fun. You can go back now and rest. If you need it, I¡¯ll send someone to assist you.¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright. Instead¡­I¡¯ll take a rest at the training area before heading back.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s do that then.¡± Count Hr?svelgr returned the wooden sword instead of saying anything more and headed to Lucas who was still nkly staring. He lightly patted his shoulder to bring Lucas to his senses before they went out of the training area together. ¡°Haa.¡± Jude exhaled and fell to the floor. ¡°Haaaa.¡± He lied down on his back and stretched out his whole body. ¡®Is this the power of one of the ten swordmasters?¡¯ Neither Landius nor Kamael had ever shown a real sword in front of Jude. The same was true for Count Bayer. But Count Hr?svelgr showed him the real sword just now. ¡®It¡¯s really like the sky.¡¯ There was a reason why they use the phrase, ¡®beyond the skies.¡¯ But he continued to smile for some reason. I¡¯ll be able to reach it someday. I¡¯ll rise to a higher level. ¡®It¡¯s been a long time.¡¯ In the past, Kang Jin-ho devoted himself into training for some time because he just liked the fact that he would get stronger. ¡°What, what is it? Why are you snickering? Have you gone mad?¡± ¡°Why are you snickering too then?¡± ¡°Hehehe.¡± Cordelia approached Jude and sat by his side before she giggled again. ¡°Is my Jude stronger now?¡± ¡°I have to be strong, so that I can protect my princess.¡± ¡°Oh my, I¡¯m so proud of you. As a prize, I¡¯ll help you up. You¡¯ll catch a cold if you sleep in this ce.¡± Cordelia shamelessly spoke like Jude before she helped him up and supported him. ¡°Ugh, the smell of sweat.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem, I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°No, that¡­it¡¯s okay.¡± It was not as bad as she thought. Cordelia walked as she supported Jude who had unexpectedly grown 10 cm taller than her, and Jude leaned on her as he was out of it for a while. After all, he was tired. And that was why Jude didn¡¯t notice it. Cordelia was staring at the side of his face. ¡®He¡¯s¡­handsome?¡¯ No, he was rather cool? She could see him covered in sweat, and she roughly breathed too. ¡®Wh-what¡¯s going on?¡¯ I¡¯m strangely looking at him again and again. I keep thinking that he¡¯s cool. My heart keeps pounding. ¡°Corde¡­lia?¡± ¡°Huh? Ye-yes. Let¡¯s hurry.¡± Cordelia smiled and increased her pace as she diligently moved forward, while Jude tilted his head once but didn¡¯t question her anymore. He leaned against Cordelia as they walked together. *** Two dayster. With Count Chase in the lead, Jude¡¯s party left Thunderdoom Fortress. Count Hr?svelgr and Lucas came out to see them off, and Jude was able to face Count Hr?svelgr after two days had passed from that day. ¡°I hope that it would help in your path.¡± He was referring to the Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword that Jude had partly learned. Jude responded with a smile, and Lucas stood in front of him. ¡°Mr. Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Lord Lucas.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve began to learn the Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword from my father since yesterday.¡± He was already learning about it, but the idea was different this time. It was beyond the idea of simply learning the family¡¯s martial arts, as he had begun his training to be the martial art¡¯s official sessor. ¡°Congrattions.¡± ¡°Thank you. And this is presumptuous of me¡­but I¡¯ll definitely catch up.¡± Lucas¡¯ face was burning red. Because of his shame. He knew better than anyone else the difference in skill between Jude and himself. Jude looked into Lucas¡¯ eyes. And then he smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll look forward to it. I also want to have a good rival.¡± His words were cringey, and it might had sound sarcastic in some way, but Jude didn¡¯t think so. Jude¡¯s words were sincere, and he had nothing more to say than this to boost Lucas¡¯ spirit. ¡°I¡¯ll work harder.¡± ¡°Then, I¡¯ll look forward to it again.¡± Jude and Lucas shook hands, and their farewell ended as Count Hr?svelgr happily watched the two. And after their party had traveled quite far¡­ Adelia sat under the tree during their break, and she stared at Cordelia with eyes full of annoyance. ¡°What is it? What do you want?¡± ¡°Unnie, aren¡¯t you overreacting?¡± ¡°Because you¡¯re interfering with my time with Lord Ga?l. It¡¯s difficult for us to have some time alone.¡± ¡°You¡¯re always together! How is that difficult!¡± ¡°What about you? Don¡¯t you know that feeling of wanting to see each other even if you can see each other? I¡¯ve heard that you asked everyone to let the two of you have some time alone even though you¡¯re always together with Jude.¡± ¡°N-no. T-that is¡­¡± ¡°What do you mean ¡®no¡¯? You¡¯re quite a cheeky little girl.¡± At Adelia¡¯s rebuke, Cordelia was speechless and thumped on her chest. No, you¡¯re the one who¡¯s flirtatious. Unnie, you¡¯re the one who¡¯s really flirtatious! You were kissing in front of everyone! (T/N: The Korean word ¡®balng-kkajida¡¯ (?????) can both mean ¡®flirtatious¡¯ and ¡®cheeky.¡¯ Adelia and Cordelia used the word in a way that both meanings can be applied.) ¡°I¡¯m an adult.¡± You¡¯re still a minor, Cordelia. Adelia counterattacked, and Cordelia was left speechless again at her attack that was a fact. ¡°By the way, what were you going to say?¡± ¡°I-I, I have a question.¡± ¡°What is it? Are you asking on what it feels like when you kiss?¡± ¡°N-no, it¡¯s not?! I¡¯m not curious about that at all, okay?!¡± ¡°R-really?¡± ¡°I-I might be a little curious¡­ A-anyway! What I¡¯m curious about is something else!¡± Adelia smiled as she saw the blushing Cordelia who objected. Because it seemed like Cordelia hadn¡¯t kissed yet based on her reaction. ¡®Because you¡¯re still a child.¡¯ Your rtionship is still wholesome. ¡®I¡¯m an adult.¡¯ Adelia was pleased again before she shrugged once and asked. ¡°Okay, what are you curious about then?¡± ¡°That is¡­¡± ¡°That?¡± ¡°W-when did unnie know?¡± ¡°About what?¡± ¡°That brother-inw Ga?l likes you.¡± Adelia¡¯s face turned red at Cordelia¡¯s question. ¡°W-why are you asking?¡± ¡°N-no¡­I just want to know a bit¡­¡± The sisters resembled each other as they blushed and fidgeted, and Adelia eventually opened her mouth. ¡°Ahem, ahem, you see.¡± ¡°Yes, yes.¡± ¡°That¡­at some point¡­I noticed it. When we looked into each other¡¯s eyes. Ah¡­I love this person. And¡­this person loves me too.¡± ¡°What? Did you just feel it at some point?¡± ¡°Yes, at some moment. I can only express it like that.¡± ¡°Eueue¡­I can¡¯t use that as reference. If I do it that way¡­¡± I mean, there was no such moment when we looked at each other. But that doesn¡¯t mean that Jude doesn¡¯t like me, right? ¡°Is it because of Jude?¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­yes.¡± ¡°How odd. You two are head over heels in love with each other.¡± ¡°I-it¡¯s not like that¡­¡± ¡°Come up with an excuse that makes sense. Anyway¡­perhaps it¡¯s because you¡¯ve been together for so long?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°No, I mean¡­it¡¯s be too natural. For the two of you.¡± ¡°I-is that so?¡± ¡°Maybe?¡± Adelia shrugged and stood up as she brushed off the dirt. ¡°Now then, I¡¯m going to Lord Ga?l. Stay strong too.¡± Adelia giggled with a blushing face as she quickly walked in her happiness to see Ga?l, and Cordelia blinked her eyes. ¡®How can a person change that much?¡¯ Cordelia herself seemed to be somehow a bit embarrassed by her sister¡¯s actions these days. ¡®Anyway, she looked into his eyes and felt it, right?¡¯ Okay, the eyes. I¡¯ll look into his eyes. I¡¯m confident if it¡¯s that. Cordelia clenched her fists and stood up from her seat. And five dayster. The party led by Count Chase finally reached Langesthei. Chapter 127: Engagement Ceremony (4)

Chapter 127: Engagement Ceremony (4)

Upon their arrival at Langesthei, the party came to stay at the luxury amodation they had previously stayed. ¡°Go and take some rest.¡± As soon as he unpacked the luggage in his room, Count Chase left the ce with Ga?l and Adelia. It was to greet the important people in Langesthei, including Sir Barua, the knightmander of the Order of the Blue Lion that were in charge of the security in Langesthei. ¡°Don¡¯t cause trouble, okay? Do you understand?¡± ¡°Okay, okay. We aren¡¯t kids, okay?¡± ¡°Uh, you¡¯re a child. You also have a record of running away several times.¡± Cordelia pouted at Adelia¡¯s perfect and sudden counterattack that were facts, so she couldn¡¯t defend herself, but Jude¡¯s situation with Ga?l was slightly different. ¡°Please give my regards to him.¡± ¡°Yes, I will.¡± Jude and Cordelia were slightly acquainted with Sir Barua, the knightmander of the Order of the Blue Lion. It would originally seem sensible if Jude went too and greeted him together. But¡­ ¡°Just stay quiet for a while.¡± ¡°Yes, brother.¡± Jude and Cordelia were embarrassed to show their faces everywhere due to their midnight love escapade that caused a stir in the entire northern part of the S?len Kingdom. So it was better to be quiet for a while like Ga?l had said. ¡°Don¡¯t do anything weird just because the two of you are alone, okay? Do you understand?¡± ¡°I understand!¡± Cordelia answered without hiding her slight annoyance, and Adelia smiled before she immediately approached Ga?l and held his arm. ¡°Let¡¯s go then, Lord Ga?l.¡± ¡°Yes, Lady Adelia.¡± Ga?l slightlyughed before he escorted Adelia, and Count Chase quietly watched them before he left with a very small smile. And the two were now left alone. ¡°Ah, seriously. I get the chills when I see them looking at each other.¡± ¡°Why? They¡¯re cute.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not cute at all. It¡¯s my sister and not anyone else, okay?¡± Cordelia frowned, and Jude snickered before he extended his hand to her. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I mean, we have to go too. Now that the two of us are left, we have to settle the work that we¡¯ve put off.¡± ¡°Work that we put off? I mean, when it¡¯s just the two of us alone?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s because only the two of us are left. Let¡¯s go quickly.¡± Jude replied with a smile and grabbed Cordelia¡¯s hand as if snatching it, and Cordelia blinked her eyes as her cheeks flushed. ¡®What is it? What, what, what is it?¡¯ There¡¯s something we have to do since the two of us are alone? Cordelia was now 17 years old, and just like children her age, she was brimming with curiosity and imagination. And that was why she had some unusual delusions in the short period of time when they headed from the lobby on the 1st floor to Jude¡¯s room on the 3rd floor. ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± ¡°W-wait. My heart isn¡¯t ready yet¡­¡± Cordelia reflexively spoke, but Jude was indifferent as he opened the door. She hesitated but entered the room when Jude pulled her by hand. And around 30 secondster¡­ ¡°Tsk.¡± ¡°Cordelia?¡± Cordelia frowned and pouted her lips when Jude asked her. What is this, this unexinable feeling of disappointment. ¡®No, what I mean is¡­I had a feeling this would happen. It would have been awkward and difficult if it wasn¡¯t.¡¯ Various items were nicely arranged in a row on the bed in Jude¡¯s room. ¡°Because settlement and organization are essential.¡± Jude said with glistening eyes, and Cordelia sighed before nodding. ¡°Fine, let¡¯s organize everything together.¡± ¡°Okay. First of all, I arranged the items we used a lot.¡± Jude said with a bright face as if he was someone who originally liked to organize items like this, and he pointed to the object on the far left of the bed. ¡°First is Moonlight. I¡¯ve removed the Snow Queen¡¯s core, but Melissa is still there. It¡¯s still enough for you to use as your primary weapon.¡± ¡°But we still need to upgrade it once, right?¡± ¡°It will be possible once we get to the royal capital. If we participate in Medb¡¯s auction house, we¡¯ll be able to get better items.¡± Medb¡¯s auction house was thergest auction house located in the royal capital of the S?len Kingdom. It was a must to stop by at that ce when one goes to the royal capital because there were various sub-quests avable there. ¡°Next is the Heavenly Judgment?¡± ¡°Yes, I thought about giving it to Lena¡­but we also need a trump card.¡± Cordelia had just be a ninth rank angel, so she could not draw out the full power of the Heavenly Judgment. But it was too precious to hand it over to Lena. ¡°You just need to raise your rank. My princess, work hard, okay?¡± ¡°Yes, Daddy. Just give me lots of pocket money.¡± Cordelia replied before looking at the Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword that was lying next to the Heavenly Judgment. ¡°Jude, will you go the swordsmanship route?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll think about it when we return home.¡± Jude was thinking of changing his job from bare-handed fighter to knight, but he changed his mind again after opening the fourth door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. The power of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors could be ced in everything under the heavens and earth, but the most natural way to unleash its power was the fist and leg techniques with a pure body as its foundation. ¡°But I have no intention of giving up this sword. I can use it for its killer technique.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s true.¡± After all, the lethal skill of the Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword, Hell¡¯s Blood sh, felt like shooting a pistol. ¡®Because there are many swords with built-in lethal moves.¡¯ He had enough reasons to carry the sword even if he didn¡¯t use it as his main weapon. Cordelia herself didn¡¯t use a sword, but she still carried the Heavenly Judgment. ¡°Then your main weapon is the gauntlet?¡± ¡°It will be for the time being.¡± The gauntlet he obtained from Frost Anvil was remodeled by the cksmiths in the wildnds. It also contained the power of the wild gods, so it could be used as his main weapon for a while. ¡®I think I¡¯ll change this once I go to the royal capital.¡¯ He felt a little sorry for the wild gods, but he couldn¡¯t help it. One of the pleasures of ying RPG was to change to the highest level equipment every time one went to a new town. ¡°We can use the divine items of the wild gods for a long time in the future, right?¡± ¡°Because they¡¯re highly useful tools.¡± de Song¡¯s divine items ¨C the Cozy 1-pyeong and the ck Wolf Skin. Great Storm¡¯s divine item ¨C the Wind¡¯s Wing Arrow. As Jude had said, these items were highly useful and would be helpful even if they became stronger than they were now. ¡°Next is¡­¡± Cordelia smiled and turned her gaze to the side before her eyes suddenly narrowed. Jude coughed and feigned ignorance. ¡°Hey, Mister Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Miss Cordelia.¡± ¡°What is this?¡± ¡°It¡¯s useful equipment.¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyes grew even narrower, and Jude¡¯s coughing increased a bit. The rabbit set and cat set were boldly ced among the items that they needed to take in the future. There were no problems in wearing it in the wildnds since many people wore simr equipment there but wearing it in the S?len Kingdom was actually courageous in itself. ¡°Are you telling me to wear this?¡± ¡°No, but wouldn¡¯t it be useful someday if you had it?¡± Jude took a peek at Cordelia¡¯s face, and Cordelia quietly stared at Jude with almost closed eyes now. A few seconds passed like that. ¡°Ahem, ahem, let¡¯s move on to the next.¡± Jude coughed again and pointed to the items ced next to the rabbit and cat sets. ¡°Magen¡¯s ancient artifacts that we got from the wild fairies are for enhancing the power of attributes, so it would be better to carry everything with you even if it¡¯s a little ufortable.¡± ¡°Ahem.¡± Cordelia¡¯s gaze was still on the rabbit set, and Jude hastily pointed to the things next to him. ¡°The next are the items your father gave to me. Most of them are for me to consume, but¡­ Cordelia, there are items that may help you, so I arranged them here first.¡± Numerous drugs filled half of the spacious bed. Most of them were items to increase Jude¡¯s physical strength, but Cordelia didn¡¯t highly desire any of it. But only one, there was only one that bothered her. ¡°Eh? Why isn¡¯t that here?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I mean, you know, what my dad gave to youst time. What he gave you to eatter.¡± Cordelia spoke while her hands moved and drew the shape of a box, and Jude unconsciously flinched and cleared his throat as he said. ¡°Ahem, ahem, I¡¯ll eat itter as your father had said¡­¡± ¡°What was that?¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem, it¡¯s that kind of drug. Kids don¡¯t need to know about it.¡± ¡°Hey, aren¡¯t you a kid too? You and I are of the same age.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t because you can¡¯t even guess it at this point. I¡¯ll tell youter.¡± Having said so far, Jude tightly shut his mouth, and Cordelia puffed her cheeks in dissatisfaction, but didn¡¯t pry any further. She knew well that once he shut his mouth in that way, he wouldn¡¯t open it no matter what. ¡°Tsk, tsk, tsk¡­ Anyway, are these all the items?¡± ¡°Yes, there are some trivial stuff but¡­they¡¯re not something that we¡¯ll continue to use in the future. These are all we need to take when we go to the royal capital.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­Then we should prepare some defensive armor first. Even if it¡¯s not armor.¡± ¡°It can¡¯t be helped. Light armor suits you and me rather than heavy armor, so we should try to get it once we arrive there.¡± Since Count Chase joined them, Jude and Cordelia were wearing clothes that were appropriate for a noble young master anddy. It looked good but was ufortable, and the clothes didn¡¯t even have any defensive features. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s move on to checking our abilities. Do you remember our levels?¡± ¡°Of course. I¡¯m 71. You¡¯re 70.¡± Cordelia grinned and even shed a V-sign with her fingers, and Jude clicked his tongue as he said. ¡°Do you like it?¡± ¡°Yes, yes, you¡¯re~ notgood.¡± After all, she beat Jude or Outboxer009. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m so good. I¡¯ll reverse it soon.¡± (T/N: These two love their puns. ¡®Like¡¯ and ¡®good¡¯ are the same word in Korean. On the other hand, mu (?) can mean ¡®not¡¯ and ¡®so,¡¯ thus, ¡®not good¡¯ can also be read as ¡®so good.¡¯) ¡°What are you talking about? Your level is lower than mine. Can¡¯t you hear my words well because you¡¯re a low level loser?¡± Cordelia trembled her shoulders in excitement, and Jude clenched his teeth. He remembered the day when he first met Yellow Storm. ¡°Moving on.¡± ¡°Yes, moving on.¡± Cordelia agreed to change the topic as if she was being merciful, and Jude sighed before speaking. ¡°If we add up all the titles we¡¯ve obtained so far, our stats almost reached around level 80. And because I have Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors while you can be a witch and an angel, you could say that we¡¯re actually in the mid-80s or higher.¡± ¡°If you considered Cordelia¡¯s route, her average level at the beginning of the royal capital event was usually in the early to middle 40s¡­ My level is so high now, right?¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. Moreover, it¡¯s even more amazing that we¡¯ve reached this far before the event started.¡± There was originally a time difference of half a year between the beginning of the Cordelia route and the Jude route. Since both Jude and Cordelia were rotten water, they didn¡¯t find it necessary to talk about it with each other, but the events of the game were perfectly arranged in chronological order inside their minds. ¡®The time when we recovered the memories of our previous lives was almost the same time as the starting point of the Cordelia route, so if I use that as a standard¡­¡¯ The starting point of the Cordelia route was zero. The northern barbarians¡¯ invasion began about half a year from zero. The 300th anniversary ball, which could be considered as the beginning of the royal capital event, was also held about half a year from zero. But no matter how the yer proceeded in the routes, the 300th anniversary ball was slightly ahead of the northern barbarians¡¯ invasion. ¡®And now, we are currently about three months from zero.¡¯ In other words, there were still three months left until the 300th anniversary ball. ¡°Should we go straight to the royal capital?¡± At Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude shook his head. ¡°No, it would be nice if we went ahead and prepared¡­but it¡¯s too early. We have no justification for going to the royal capital at this moment. And even if we hastened our traveling schedule, arriving a month before the founding ball in the royal capital will be enough time for us.¡± ¡°So we won¡¯t do anything for two months?¡± When Cordelia asked in surprise, Jude shook his head again. ¡°No, that¡¯s not right. Because time is gold. So after we do our own training for one month and prepare this and that, we¡¯ll go to the royal capital.¡± ¡°After a month of training and another month for our travel to the royal capital, we¡¯ll begin the quest, is that right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Both Jude and Cordelia had rapidly be stronger in the wildnds, so they needed time topletely get used to their newly acquired powers. In the game, one just leveled up and they were done with mastering their powers, but this ce was reality. ¡°What are you preparing for apart from training? What are you nning to do?¡± At Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude had a wicked expression and a creepy smile as if he was waiting for her to ask that question. ¡°Hahaha¡­should I say that it¡¯s the secret to stealing the hearts of the people in the royal capital?¡± ¡°Don¡¯tugh like that because it¡¯s disgusting. You¡¯re like a scammer.¡± ¡°Yes, Madam.¡± Jude quickly corrected his expression, and Cordelia asked as she sat down on the bed. ¡°Steal their hearts? What are you talking about?¡± ¡°Even if we¡¯re children of the 12 northern families, we¡¯ll still be treated like little kids from the countryside when we go to the royal capital. And as you know, we can¡¯t proceed with the royal capital event by just beating and forcing our way through.¡± ¡°But isn¡¯t that possible now? Our levels are high.¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s not it. You should know that force alone cannot solve the event. In the first ce, there are enemies there who are much stronger than us now.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± It was not a ce like a snowfield where the uninhabitednd was many timesrger than the habitablend, just like in the wildnds. The royal capital. The capital of the S?len Kingdom, one of the continent¡¯s strongest powers. It was swarming with strong people, and there were those who possessed great power apart from pure strength. ¡°It¡¯s not just about force alone. We need to y politics to some extent.¡± One of the enemies was Duke Antarius, the Lord Protector and one of the ten great swordmasters. So there was a limit to breaking through with just force. ¡®Of course, we¡¯ll be using force in the end.¡¯ The main enemies of the royal road event were the Devil¡¯s Hand and the corrupted high-ranking nobles. In order to deal with them ¨C no, in order to lead the politicalndscape of the royal capital, it was necessary for them to be greatly influential just as how they were powerful. ¡°Umm¡­okay. So what are you preparing for in the end?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll try it first and tell you if it goes well. I¡¯ll be needing your help anyway.¡± ¡°Ah, really. Don¡¯t make me curious and just tell me.¡± ¡°Later.¡± Jude tightly shut his mouth again, and Cordelia stamped her feet in annoyance as she knew that he wouldn¡¯t tell it to her again. ¡°Okay, is everything over then?¡± ¡°Almost. There¡¯s onest thing left.¡± Thest one. Cordelia¡¯s eyes sparkled from curiosity. ¡°Jude, are you in there?¡± Jude and Cordelia were startled and turned to the balcony where they heard the voice. Because it was Count Chase¡¯s voice. ¡°Father?¡± ¡°Dad?¡± Jude and Cordelia hurried to the balcony and opened the door, and Count Chase stood there with his red cloak and stern face as he slightly frowned. ¡°Were you two together?¡± ¡°Yes, we were organizing our luggage together. The ones that we brought from the wildnds.¡± Cordelia replied, and Count Chase nced over the bed behind the two before he rxed his expression and said. ¡°I see. Anyway, Jude, this is something new but is quite small. Take it.¡± ¡°Ah, yes.¡± Jude quickly extended his hands and epted the leather pouch. ¡°It¡¯s not much, but it will help. And¡­keep this a secret from Adelia, okay?¡± At his slightly lowered voice than usual, Jude and Cordelia blinked once but soon understood it. Because they figured out why a person who went out to greet people suddenly came back and why he appeared through the balcony rather than the door. ¡°Hehehe, my dad is the best.¡± Cordelia hugged his arm as she widely smiled, and Count Chase smiled for a very short time before he cleared his throat and spoke again. ¡°I will go now.¡± ¡°Yes, please take care.¡± ¡°See youter, Dad.¡± When Jude bowed his head and Cordelia waved her hand, Count Chase nced at the greetings of the two before he flew back into the air and left the balcony. ¡°He¡¯s a very nice person.¡± ¡°Hmph, it¡¯s to be expected as brother-inw Ga?l is already big. It¡¯s proper to take care of my Jude first.¡± Cordelia smiled at her unexpected victory before she turned to Jude again. ¡°So what is it?¡± ¡°Growing drug. It¡¯s a medicine that makes you grow 1 cm when eaten.¡± ¡°Oh, that! Wasn¡¯t it the best item that was ranked 3rd in reality?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Jude cheerfully smiled and kept the pouch before he returned inside the room with Cordelia. ¡°Well, it¡¯s good. Now, if we sneak out at night to go meet the Fall Fairies in order to get the Fall Protection¡­¡± ¡°I feel like I¡¯ve gotten so used to getting away at night.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not an escape at night this time but just a short night walk.¡± ¡°You have a way with words. Anyway, what¡¯s thest?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I mean, you said that there¡¯s onest left.¡± ¡°Oh, that.¡± Jude suddenly grinned as if it was on purpose, and he took Cordelia¡¯s hand and whispered to her. ¡°Close your eyes for a minute.¡± ¡°My eyes? Why?¡± ¡°Close it first. Don¡¯t you trust me?¡± What is he nning? Cordelia was suspicious but she closed her eyes and Jude led her to a small room that was attached to hisrge room. ¡°You can open your eyes now.¡± He said it was thest one, so was it a surprise present? Cordelia¡¯s heart slightly palpitated as she gently opened her eyes, but she soon frowned. ¡°What is this?¡± There were only a few bundles of ck cords that were rolled up like a thread on the table. It was an item she had never seen before in Legend of Heroes 2. But her reaction was to be expected. It was an object that didn¡¯t originally exist in Legend of Heroes 2 or in the world of Pleiades. ¡°Detonating cord.¡± Jude said, and Cordelia blinked her eyes. ¡°Detonating cord?¡± ¡°Detonating cord.¡± But Cordelia still blinked her eyes. Because it was the first time she had heard of that name. ¡°What is that?¡± She didn¡¯t exactly know what it was, but the name somehow made her heart pound. So Jude gave Cordelia a short but full exnation. ¡°It¡¯s a cord that explodes.¡± Detonating cord. As its name implied, it was an explosive that was shaped into the form of a tape or cord. It was something that he made little by little in the remaining time after their battle on Snow Breeze in. ¡®It¡¯s still a prototype.¡¯ He was thinking of making something more proper when he returned home. ¡®It will have plenty of uses if Cordelia uses her telekic power to cause an explosion anytime and anywhere.¡¯ Since she always boasted that she was good at anything she did with her body, it would be possible for her to use the detonating cord as if it was her hands and feet. ¡®Will she like it?¡¯ Jude looked at Cordelia, and Cordelia gazed at the detonating cord with a nk expression. But her blue eyes were soon filled with ecstasy. ¡°Detonating cord.¡± Cordelia trembled and soon turned to Jude. She jumped up and hugged Jude. ¡°I love it! My Jude is the best!¡± Jude was slightly anxious at the ecstasy that spread over Cordelia¡¯s eyes, but he eventually smiled. He strengthened his hug and enjoyed Cordelia¡¯s embrace for some time. The meeting between the detonating cord and Cordelia. It was the moment when the ¡°Explosion Witch¡± was born, one that would shake the entire S?len Kingdom in the future. The detonating cord here seemed to be something that explodes in itself, and not the real life detonation cord/fuse that is a medium for an explosive. Chapter 128: Engagement Ceremony (5)

Chapter 128: Engagement Ceremony (5)

Changed ck Dragon Release Technique into ck Dragon¡¯s Ascent. Terms used in this chapter: Chuunibyou ¨C colloquial term typically used to describe early teens who have?delusions of grandeur, who so desperately want to stand out that they have convinced themselves they have hidden knowledge or secret powers. ¡®Explosion Witch¡¯ or ¡®Explosion Angel.¡¯ Either way, a few hours passed after a fearsome being was born. Jude¡¯s appearance was revealed under the full moon that illuminated the deep night alone. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Over here.¡± His call in a low voice was answered by a low voice too. On the roof of the luxury amodation. Cordelia gestured while she was seated at the edge of the roof. She was wearing ck clothes so that she could travel in secret. ¡®Her hair stands out so much though.¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s bright red hair seemed to glow under the moonlight. Her long hair was tied together and arranged in the so-called ponytail, and a smile spread over Jude¡¯s face. ¡°What are you doing? Are you noting?¡± ¡°Ah, yes.¡± A ponytail is better than twin tails after all. Jude absentmindedly thought before he quickly went to Cordelia and sat down next to her. Just like Cordelia, Jude was wearing a ck and skin-tight garment. ¡°Let¡¯s go right away. Wear this on your back.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± When Jude handed her the backpack, Cordelia quickly wore it on her back before she crawled on the roof and moved towards the back of Jude. ¡°How long will it take?¡± ¡°If our time is not wasted on negotiations¡­we¡¯ll definitely be able toe back before sunrise.¡± ¡°Good, you have no problems with your stamina then?¡± ¡°None, Madam. Your servant has extremely good stamina.¡± ¡°Bullsh*t.¡± Cordelia giggled and smoothly moved like a mollusk again as she climbed and attached herself on Jude¡¯s back. ¡°Let¡¯s hurry. It will be a big problem if we get caught.¡± ¡°No, it won¡¯t be a big problem.¡± They would just get scolded a little more since they had done it before already. Jude smirked and corrected Cordelia¡¯s position on his back. He took a deep breath before raising his head and looked at the distance. Twenty-Four Gale Steps. ck Wind¡¯s Advent. And a golden whirlwind arose. Jude lightly and silently raced on the roofs as he became a gale. He crossed Langesthei at lightning speed. ¡°Wow!¡± Cordelia was a bit amazed as the wind brushed past her cheeks. She tightly hugged Jude¡¯s neck and enjoyed their speedy movement. Tak-tak-tak. Lightly, lightly, lighter. Jude jumped from roof to roof without any difficulties. He ran on the roof as if he was running on t ground, and he jumped high at some point. ¡°ck Dragon¡¯s Ascent!¡± Jude shouted out loud and Cordelia instantly got goosebumps. ¡®That¡¯s embarrassiiiiiing!¡¯ Why are you not ashamed! But it was real and not something made up. It was a real power and not something a Chuunibyou made up. Jude used the energy of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors to increase the ck dragon¡¯s strength. As its name implied, he soared high as if ascending and jumped over the walls of Langesthei at once. ¡°Kyaaa!¡± Cordelia delightedly screamed without realizing it as she felt like she was on a ride, and Jude¡¯s smile deepened. And they reached the forest. Cordelia raised her voice as Jude continued running without hesitation. ¡°By the way, Jude!¡± ¡°Yes! Princess!¡± Cordelia¡¯s cheeks turned red again at Jude¡¯s cry. She was familiar with that nickname now since he had called her that a lot, but she was still embarrassed about it sometimes. ¡°A-anyway! What are you nning?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Fairy Queen!¡± They spoke in a series of words that were difficult to understand without knowing the context, but the two were Jude and Cordelia. They could read each other¡¯s thoughts by just looking at the eyes of the other, so they could understand each other even with those short words. ¡°You mean, how are we going to get the Fall Protection from the Fairy Queen?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± The Fall Fairy Queen. She was the toughest opponent out of the three Fairy Queens whom Jude and Cordelia had met. ¡®The Fairy Queen is not a dupe!¡¯ The other Fairy Queens could be duped, but not for the Fall Fairy Queen. They had to pay a reasonable price if they wanted to receive her protection. She might have given them the Moonlight when they first visited, but she didn¡¯t give them the Fall Protection. ¡°I have an idea, but what about you? Do you have any ideas?¡± Jude asked while he continued to run fast, and Cordelia replied as if she was waiting for him to ask her. ¡°If you don¡¯t give me your protection, something will explode!¡± ¡°What? You mean the Fairy Queen herself?¡± ¡°Are you crazy? I mean the valley or the fairy forest!¡± ¡°Hey, you seriously sound like a terrorist right now, okay? Threats are a crime, a crime!¡± ¡°Tsk, it¡¯s not.¡± ¡°What do you mean it¡¯s not?¡± ¡°I mean, in my experience so far, most of the problems have been solved once we blew it up. Isn¡¯t that right?¡± ¡°No, you demon. I won¡¯t allow it even if you say it cutely.¡± ¡°I neber shed ith cutely.¡± Cordelia childishly spoke, and Jude closed his eyes for a moment and doubted himself. ¡®This is serious.¡¯ He felt that this side of her was cute too. In any case, Jude opened his eyes again as he began climbing the mountain to head to the valley where they could meet the Fall fairies. Cordelia spoke again. ¡°What was your n then?¡± ¡°Cordelia, you have the backpack with you, right?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Inside, there are three boxes of premium choctes from Langesthei that I bought earlier.¡± ¡°Wait.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I mean, are you going to lure the Fairy Queen with chocte?¡± ¡°Yes, with luxury chocte.¡± ¡°Hey, is the Fairy Queen a kid? Will she listen to you just for chocte?¡± ¡°She would, right?¡± Cordelia blinked her eyes at Jude¡¯s question, and she soon nodded and said. ¡°Come to think of it, you¡¯re right.¡± He was correct on the queen being like a kid. Because even the queen was still a fairy. ¡°Wow, my Jude is clever. Let me praise you a lot.¡± Cordelia said so and stroked his head, and Jude lifted up her position on his back as he said. ¡°More, please praise me a little more.¡± ¡°What more should I do?¡± ¡°Think about it.¡± The rather sincere Cordelia really began to think about it, and Jude increased his speed even further. And they finally arrived in front of the valley. Cordelia grumbled as she soaked herself in the cold valley water and seeded in calling out the fairies by singing Twinkle Little Star. ¡®Fairies are easier to deal with than I thought.¡¯ They had thought at first that there was a set date and time, so they struggled a lot back then, but now¡­it felt like a vending machine that would make somethinge out if they just pressed the button. At any rate, Jude and Cordelia met the Fairy Queen and after some negotiations, they seeded in achieving their goal. No, they didn¡¯t just seed. It was a great sess. ¡°Wow, wow, wow.¡± Cordelia stood alone under the full moon and turned her body around several times, and Jude was lost in admiration. Because she was so beautiful. Cordelia was like a goddess now ¨C no, she was like a fairy. It wasn¡¯t because Jude had a love filter in his eyes. Cordelia was really like a half-fairy now. ¡°Fairy Dress!¡± Instead of her ck clothes, Cordelia was now wearing a white dress that looked to be fluttery and translucent. Made of a soft yet shiny cloth reminiscent of a fairy¡¯s wings, the main material for this dress was moonlight. ¡°A fantasy dress made by collecting the fantasy moonlight.¡± JudeWiki made its appearance after a long time, and smiles spread over the faces of Jude and Cordelia. ¡°They gave this one for that?¡± ¡°They gave this for two boxes of chocte, right?¡± One box was enough for getting the Fall Protection. After tasting chocte for the first time, the Fairy Queen revealed her true nature as a fairy, and the two were able to close a sessful deal under very favorable terms. As Cordelia turned around in ce, the wide skirt beautifully spread out as if it was a blooming flower bud. ¡°It¡¯s pretty, hehe.¡± Smiling brightly like a fairy, Cordelia grabbed the hem of her skirt and randomly posed several times. ¡°Fairy Dress. A-rank.¡± Jude and Cordelia knew that the Fairy Dress wasn¡¯t really meant forbat. Nevertheless, the reason why the Fairy Dress was an A-rank item was because it was really faithful to the natural role of a dress. ¡°It increases the Charm stat by 1.5 times.¡± It didn¡¯t increase the absolute value, but it was still a striking piece of equipment that made its wearer stand out. It also corrected the appearance values, so it gave the wearer a fairy-like mystique. ¡®When the ball is held, everyone will be enchanted.¡¯ What will happen if Cordelia fully wears makeup and dons the Fairy Dress when she goes to the founding ball? What if she appeared in her awakened mode instead of her normal look now? ¡®She can turn into an angel after all.¡¯ Just imagining it felt amazing. He couldn¡¯t stop the corners of his mouth from rising. ¡®They¡¯ll be really captivated.¡¯ She would dominate the founding ball itself. ¡®No, of course it¡¯s not like a beauty pageant, so there is no need for her to dominate it.¡¯ Still, what was good was good. And if she could really dominate the ball, it would be possible to take advantage of it. ¡°Hehe, I¡¯m a bit embarrassed.¡± Cordelia bashfully said as she shylyughed with a red face, and Jude was grateful that the girl in front of him was his fianc¨¦e. He then straightened his expression afterwards. ¡°Okay, anyway, let¡¯s go back.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, let¡¯s go back.¡± Cordelia felt better and quickly changed her clothes. She rode on Jude¡¯s back again and the two became like a gale as they returned to Langesthei. And two dayster in the afternoon. ¡°Yoooooooung master!¡± ¡°Majaaaaa!¡± At the mansion of Count Bayer, located in the frontier city of Bailon. Maja¡¯s nickname as the Ice Princess was brought to shame as she expressed quite intense emotions, and Jude didn¡¯tg behind too. As he hugged Maja who hade running, he lifted her by the waist and even turned around. ¡°Yo-young master?!¡± ¡°Hahaha! I miss you! Maja!¡± Jude got used to lifting people this way because of Cordelia. Maja was flustered with a red face, and she soon burst intoughter. It was because she was reunited with Jude after a long time, and also because she realized that Jude had be really healthy now. ¡®He got bigger.¡¯ Jude was originally smaller than Maja herself, but not now. He grew tall enough that she had to look up, and his body that seemed to be delicate enough that he looked like a girl than a boy was now firm and made him look strong. ¡°Young master, I have a lot of things I want to hear.¡± ¡°I also have a lot of stories I want to tell you, Maja.¡± Because Maja was like a real older sister to Jude. But there was an order to everything. Jude carefully put Maja down before he turned his head and saw Count Bayer facing Ga?l. ¡°Father.¡± ¡°I heard the situation from Count Chase. But I want to hear more from you.¡± Everything that had happened since they left Vedrfolnir. Joy and curiosity coexisted in the eyes of Count Bayer. Because his sons whom he were worried about, brought so many gifts on their way home. ¡®He got stronger.¡¯ Count Bayer was one of the strongest among the ten great swordmasters. He could roughly guess Jude¡¯s condition just by looking at him. Unnatural. His growth couldn¡¯t be exined in the usual way. But Count Bayer also thought that it was natural. ¡®Did his talent that had been suppressed for so long exploded at once?¡¯ Cheonmujiche had once been suppressed by his Gueumjulmaek. Add to that were the several lucky coincidences that he encountered. ¡®I can¡¯t wait to test him.¡¯ How strong Jude was, at which level he was now, and how much stronger would he be in the future. And there was another joyful news for him. ¡°We have already began the preparations. Let¡¯s hold the engagement ceremony after two weeks.¡± ¡°Yes, father.¡± Ga?l replied a little awkward as if he was shy, and Count Bayer smiled. He was very happy. He actually felt sorry for Jude, but Ga?l¡¯s engagement touched his heart more than Jude¡¯s achievements. ¡®It was long.¡¯ 10 years. Ga?l didn¡¯t even mention the word ¡®marriage¡¯ after the incident of that day. ¡°A happy asion, what an auspicious asion.¡± He didn¡¯t expect his second son¡¯s runaway to turn out like this. Count Bayer once again happilyughed, and as he looked around, he saw all the people in his mansion who were also delighted at the return of his two sons. ¡°Let¡¯s go in. Tonight will be a long night.¡± ¡°Yes, father.¡± Ga?l replied, and Jude smiled as he followed the two. And two weekster. Ga?l and Adelia¡¯s engagement ceremony was held. *** The Bayer family and the Chase family, two of the twelve northern families. The union of two families was something to be wary of and not celebrated, but unexpectedly, the reaction of the 12 northern families was positive. ¡®Because there were members who will be united anyway.¡¯ To begin with, the two families had tried to unite through the marriage of Jude Bayer and Cordelia Chase. The marriage of Ga?l and Adelia would have made the rtionship between the two families a little closer, but that was it in the end. ¡®No, I¡¯d say it became better.¡¯ Marriage was originally a union between two families. Even more so for high-ranking nobles such as the 12 northern families. Count Bayer and Count Chase lost the opportunity to grow their power by marrying Ga?l and Adelia to other families. ¡®Well, Bailon is a city where one can just fool around.¡¯ It was just a frontier city anyway. That wasn¡¯t a very good reason, but in any case, the 12 northern families sincerely blessed Ga?l and Adelia¡¯s engagement for this reason. ¡°It¡¯s rare to have an engagement that everyone sent their well-wishes like this.¡± ¡°Huh? What do you mean? It¡¯s an engagement, so everyone would obviously wish them well.¡± When Cordelia tilted her head and asked, Jude simply smiled instead of properly exining it to her. Because he didn¡¯t want to dirty the pure Cordelia¡¯s mind with the hardships of life. ¡°Unnie is pretty.¡± At the garden of Count Bayer. Many people were gathered in the banquet hall that was fully decorated by the two counts, and there was one person who stood out as if she was shining alone. Adelia Chase. She was, indeed, Cordelia¡¯s older sister. She was a beautiful woman even when she was not dressed up, and her beauty was to the point that she was like Helen of Troy. She was as beautiful as a goddess in her white dress that gave her a very elegant look after her lovely blonde hair that was nicely tied up by ace had now been let down. And Ga?l Bayer was next to her. He was handsome as he was Jude¡¯s older brother, but his sense of stability stood out. Despite being in a ce where the attention of many people gathered on him, he maintained his usual expression, so Cordelia felt that his calmness of mind made him a reliable adult. ¡°He¡¯s somehow cool.¡± And she was somehow envious. As the light of longing filled Cordelia¡¯s sparkling blue eyes, Jude said in a small voice. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°What is it, Jude?¡± ¡°Should we ask for it?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°An engagement ceremony.¡± Cordelia blinked at Jude¡¯s words. I¡¯m having an engagement ceremony? With whom? Jude and me? ¡°I mean, we never had an engagement ceremony since we were engaged while we were still in our mother¡¯s wombs.¡± Cordelia recalled her memories for a moment before she nodded her head. Because it was as Jude had said. ¡®We were indifferent to each other before we remembered our past life memories.¡¯ It was rare for her to talk and see her fiance¡¯s face, so she didn¡¯t like him much. ¡®Because Jude was sick and stuck at home all the time.¡¯ She was worried about her fianc¨¦, but there was no particr feeling beyond that. Their rtionship was literally nothing more than a fianc¨¦ and fianc¨¦e who their families had decided to engage. ¡°What do you think? Should I ask them to do it?¡± When Jude asked again, Cordelia looked at Ga?l and Adelia again. They were standing in front of everyone as they faced each other, and one could see how much they loved each other even from a distance. ¡®What if I rece it with Jude and me there?¡¯ She imagined it for a moment. And Cordelia covered her face with her hands. ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°Wait, wait, wait, wait.¡± And thought again. Jude was asking for an engagement ceremony. Jude was asking if they could do it too now that he had seen Ga?l and Adelia¡¯s engagement ceremony. ¡®Do you really like me?¡± You¡¯re asking this because you like me¡­right? But she didn¡¯t feelfortable with it. Because he was Jude. Because he was Outboxer009 who irritatingly teased her everyday in the chat window! ¡®Eyes, look at his eyes.¡¯ Because her unnie did it. She would be able to tell by looking at his eyes. Cordelia took a deep breath before she lowered her hands that covered her face and then gulped nervously. She turned her head and tried to face Jude. However¡­ ¡®Euaaaaah! I can¡¯t look at him!¡¯ Because she and Jude couldmunicate with just the look of their eyes. As she thought back now, he would be able to clearly read her thoughts at that moment. ¡®Hey, do you like me?¡¯ ¡®Why are you looking at me and asking if I like you? What is this, ax disease?¡¯ ¡­Something like that would happen. So it was impossible. She couldn¡¯t meet eyes with Jude right now. ¡®Then, how do I check it?¡¯ Should I find another way? ¡°Cordelia?¡± Jude tilted his head and asked, but Cordelia was lost in her thoughts as she covered her face with both hands. The engagement ceremony continued while the two were like that. And time passed. ¡°Ah, they¡¯re kissing.¡± ¡°What?¡± Cordelia raised her head after struggling from all kinds of delusions, and she was able to see Ga?l and Adelia kissing each other after they exchanged rings. Both of them looked to be very happy. ¡°We made this.¡± Jude spoke in a small voice, and Cordelia nodded her head. Everyone who was gathered in the banquet hall gave the couple a warm apuse. May they continue to be happy. May they be able to continue protecting their happiness. Cordelia erased her thoughts about Jude from her mind, and she held her hands together and prayed. She sincerely wished for it. And what they needed to do to achieve that. The fate and future of everyone that needed to be changed again. One month after the engagement ceremony. One month and 15 days before the 300th anniversary of the country¡¯s founding. Invitation letters from the royal capital arrived at the homes of Count Bayer and Count Chase. Chapter 129: Invitation (1)

Chapter 129: Invitation (1)

Late post~! Genshin had an update yesterday, so I spent most of the day ying it and forgot about the trantion, hahaha. As for the next chapter, there might be some dy in its release because I would have to help with the Christmas eve food preparations (noche buena). Terms used in this chapter: Mildang ¨C Korean ng for a love strategy where the BF/GF try to control their love so that they do not look too much needy. It¡¯s sometimes tranted in English as ¡®ying hard to get.¡¯ ¨C Source: Art of Mildang Three weeks after Ga?l and Adelia¡¯s engagement ceremony. Cordelia was quietly sitting in front of the desk as she pouted her lips. And there was one woman who was watching her. Cordelia¡¯s escort, Dahlia, who was like an older sister to her, smiled and said in passing. ¡°Miss, miss. Are you sulking?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m not?¡± Cordelia automatically responded, and Dahlia smiled again. ¡°Don¡¯t say that. You¡¯re sulking, right?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not?¡± Cordelia replied in annoyance and even snorted, but Dahlia became more certain because of that. ¡®She¡¯s really upset.¡¯ You look sulky. Dahlia shifted her gaze a little further away and looked at the paper Cordelia was scribbling on. It was the paper that she used to write forms in her magic studies, but small scribbles could be seen everywhere, and as Dahlia had thought, the scribbles was about someone specific. ¡®Stupid Jude. Idiot.¡¯ Upon seeing the clumsy scribbles, Dahlia quickly raised her hand to cover her mouth. Because she smiled like a mother. ¡®How can you be so cute?¡¯ The reason why Cordelia was sulking. It was something simple and obvious. ¡®Because Mr. Bayer had stopped writing to her.¡¯ Around three weeks had already passed since thest one. An unexpected letter arrived once with a gift five days after Adelia¡¯s engagement ceremony, which had happily surprised Count Chase and everyone, but no other letters had arrived since then. ¡®How coldhearted.¡¯ He hadn¡¯t been in touch with Cordelia for almost 15 days. ¡®I roughly heard the reason why, but¡­¡¯ After Cordelia lost contact with Jude, she was like a flower that withered away day by day ¨C of course if she had heard Dahlia¡¯s thoughts, she would have excessively denied it, but Dahlia had already gone to Count Bayer¡¯s ce once for Cordelia. ording to the exnation of the knight, Jun, whom she became acquainted with during their journey to Langesthei, it was as follows: ¡°He has been practicing hard every day with Count Bayer from early in the morning tote at night.¡± In short, Sir Jun said that Jude was busy practicing every day. ¡°Well¡­it can¡¯t be helped.¡± ¡°Yes, the young master was so quick to learn¡­so the count was also very passionate.¡± Jude¡¯s extraordinary talent had already been proven by the various events that urred. So she could also understand why a fire was lit in Count Bayer¡¯s eyes and he began to actively train Jude. ¡°Young master Ga?l and even the count was convinced. Young master Jude will be the strongest knight in the north.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± The weight of the count¡¯s words was different from the words of a parent who often bragged about their child. Count Bayer. One of the Northern Sagang and one of the ten great swordmasters with the title ¡®Sword General.¡¯ Jun saw the count say that Jude would be the strongest, so it seemed to him that Jude had immense talent. ¡®In fact, Iron Man Landius coveted his talent.¡¯ Iron Man Landius was one of the five heroes of the Paragon Kingdom and the man who was always mentioned when people discussed about the strongest people in the world. Jude was a disciple of Landius, and there was only one reason why Landius made Jude his disciple. ¡®Cheonmujiche.¡¯ The incarnation of martial arts from the heavens. ¡°So¡­please take care of Lady Cordelia. They¡¯re a really good couple but if they ever have a falling-out¡­¡± ¡°Yes, I won¡¯t let that happen. I¡¯ll have a talk with the miss when that urs.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Knight Jun sighed in relief as if this was his business. One way or another, it seemed like he was devoted to his young master Jude. ¡®It¡¯s a good thing.¡¯ Ga?l and Jude had a very close rtionship, so Count Bayer did not have any problems with the two. ¡®Anyway.¡¯ Dahlia stopped recalling her conversation with Jun and looked at Cordelia in front of her again. Cordelia was sitting in front of the desk and ying with her pen, and every small gesture of hers expressed her annoyance and dissatisfaction, just as Dahlia thought. ¡®If she really wanted to see him, she should contact him first.¡¯ She could also visit the Bayer mansion once. But Cordelia didn¡¯t do that. She puffed her cheeks and pouted her lips every day, but she never tried to contact him first. ¡®It¡¯s mildang.¡¯ Ufufu. How cute. -I want to see you, I want to meet you, but I have to endure and hold back my feelings.- But her mildang had a small drawback. While Cordelia had plenty of time to think about Jude, Jude could not afford to think about anything else because of his one-on-one training with Count Bayer. ¡®So I¡¯ll have to help the young miss for a little bit.¡¯ Because Dahlia had an idea on how to tease Cordelia who was sulking today. ¡°Miss.¡± ¡°Whyyyyyy.¡± ¡°A letter has arrived.¡± ¡°A letter?!¡± Cordelia jumped up from her seat, but she soon blushed a little and then cleared her throat. ¡°A letter isn¡¯t that important.¡± She quickly sat down and turned around, but Dahlia could see it. The corners of Cordelia¡¯s mouth was slightly raised. ¡®Hmph, I knew you¡¯d give up first.¡¯ ¨C Are you thinking of something like that? ¡°Ahem, ahem. By the way, Dahlia.¡± ¡°Yes, miss.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not really curious, but you know that, right?¡± ¡°Yes, miss.¡± ¡°But he wrote it first, right? So wouldn¡¯t it be polite for me to check it?¡± ¡°Maybe?¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem, you¡¯re right. So bring me the letter.¡± Cordelia turned around very slowly and stretched out her hand as if she was not interested. But there was something she couldn¡¯t hide, and that was her eyes. ¡®You¡¯re anxious.¡¯ After suppressing herugh, Dahlia handed over a letter in a white envelope. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± And then. Cordelia grabbed the letter as if snatching it, and opened the letter in a contradictory behavior, as she did it as slowly as possible yet was quite quick too. But Cordelia soon frowned. ¡®She can¡¯t help it.¡¯ The letter wasn¡¯t Jude¡¯s. The letter that arrived was an invitation from Count Ficus. ¡°Birthday party?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s a party to celebrate Lady Emma Ficus¡¯ 17th birthday.¡± ¡°No, I know that too.¡± It was natural for Cordelia to frown. The Ficus family was one of the 12 northern families, but wasn¡¯t very close to the Chase family. It wasn¡¯t that bad that they would fight each other, but they didn¡¯t have a friendly rtionship either. Moreover, Emma Ficus had long been a person who was arguing with Cordelia, and had a strange yet burning desire topete with Cordelia in the past. ¡®She¡¯s hardly seen in the game.¡¯ There was a rted sub-quest involving her, but she only appeared once so Yellow Storm didn¡¯t remember her. But it was different for Cordelia. Emma invited Cordelia on her birthdayst year and bragged about her fianc¨¦ a lot. ¡®Oh, is Mr. Bayer absent again? I¡¯m so sorry, I feel so sad thinking about it. Butter¡­you¡¯ll have no problems with the wedding, right? I¡¯m worried that it¡¯s because of a problem with his health¡­hohoho.¡¯ That voice. That look. That behavior made her very angry even before she recalled the memories of her past life, or even when she was much gentler back then. But she got even more angry when she looked back on the memories of her past life. ¡°Miss, it¡¯s time to show them what you¡¯ve got.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Mr. Bayer will be with you this time.¡± When Dahlia spoke with sparkling eyes, Cordelia blinked because she didn¡¯t understand her immediately, but it was only for a moment. Cordelia¡¯s eyes were suddenly filled with a will to fight. ¡°We have to pay back the grievances she had caused! And this is an excuse ¨C no, we have to discuss this with Mr. Bayer who ising too.¡± That was why Dahlia didn¡¯t lose her smile when she handed Count Ficus¡¯ invitation that would surely upset Cordelia. It was a justification for Cordelia to visit Jude first! A way where Cordelia wouldn¡¯t look like she lost against Jude, and a way where she could say that it was unavoidable! ¡°Ju-Jude?¡± ¡°Yes, there is something you need to discuss with Mr. Bayer. It¡¯s also urgent.¡± They didn¡¯t have much time since Emma Ficus¡¯ birthday was five days from now, and it would take a full day of travel in the carriage to get to the Ficus territory. In addition, Cordelia had one more reason. ¡®Come to think of it, it¡¯s about time for that event to happen.¡¯ The time when the royal capital sent invitations to everyone for the 300th anniversary¡¯s founding ball. Emma Ficus¡¯ birthday was a trivial event that one could just ignore, but the founding event was different. It was their third task for a perfect happy ending. ¡°Yes, yes. This is really important. So I have to discuss it with Jude.¡± As Cordelia spoke to herself, Dahlia immediately followed. ¡°Yes, miss. It is as you had said. So let¡¯s go to Count Bayer¡¯s mansion. In order to meet Mr. Bayer.¡± ¡°Hmph, that¡¯s right. I¡¯ll meet with Jude.¡± ¡°Okay. Then let¡¯s begin now.¡± ¡°Huh? Now?¡± ¡°Yes, now. Before it¡¯s toote.¡± In fact, Dahlia had already sent a letter to Count Bayer, saying that they woulde to visit today. ¡°W-wait a second.¡± ¡°Yes, so you have to dress up and be pretty. We still have enough time.¡± ¡°I-it¡¯s not like that? There¡¯s no need for me to look pretty for Jude.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°That¡­ahem, ahem. But I should do the basics. For decorum.¡± Cordelia murmured as ifing up with an excuse before she quietly moved in front of the mirror, and Dahlia smiled again. And three hourster. ¡°Let¡¯s call it a day.¡± ¡°We¡¯re done?¡± Inside the drill hall. Jude tilted his head and asked after hearing Ga?l¡¯s words, as he sat on the floor and wiped his sweat. Because it was too early than the usual time. ¡°Yes, we¡¯re done. There¡¯s something scheduled for today.¡± ¡°Did you get a letter from sister-inw Adelia?¡± Jude asked him teasingly, but Ga?l shook his head as if it was absurd and then said. ¡°If it¡¯s letters, ites every day. I also write back every day.¡± ¡°I-I see.¡± Ga?l was his usual self, but Jude was very surprised with Adelia. ¡®It feels like her real nature itself has changed.¡¯ Adelia was like a hedgehog in the original, so he never thought that she would be ady so deeply in love now. ¡®It would be worth seeing her at the founding ball.¡¯ Unlike Jude and Cordelia who were just hanging out at home, Adelia was a royal wizard for the Royal Guard Magic Corps in the royal capital. She took a long vacation to catch Jude and Cordelia, but she still served as themander, so she had no choice but to return to the royal capital. ¡®It was another reason why the engagement ceremony was hurried.¡¯ But Adelia was due to retire sooner orter, since the engagement ceremony alone wasn¡¯t enough. She was supposed to quit her job as amander and return to her hometown after the founding event. ¡®Because my brother Ga?l has to inherit the title of Count Bayer.¡¯ They came to this conclusion because it was impossible for Ga?l to go to the royal capital even if Adelia could go to Bailon. ¡®She must have really loved him.¡¯ She easily gave up her position as amander of the Royal Guard Magic Corps. ¡®Anyway¡­it would be sooner orter.¡¯ There was a month and twenty days left before the 300th anniversary founding ball. If he followed the flow of the original, an invitation to the royal capital would probably arrive within a week. ¡°Well, it seems like the time hase. Go quickly and wash off your sweat first. It¡¯s been a long time, so shouldn¡¯t you look the best?¡± ¡°Eh? What in the world are you talking¡­¡± That was it. Jude quickly turned to the piercing gaze he felt behind him, and he finally saw her after a long time. ¡°Cordelia.¡± There was a red-haired girl standing and looking down on the balcony overlooking the drill hall at a distance. ¡°I hear that she has something to urgently discuss. It seems like she got an invitation for a birthday party at Count Ficus¡¯ territory.¡± Jude nodded when he heard Ga?l¡¯s exnation. In the original, there was no event like an invitation to a birthday party because Cordelia was not in Bailon at that point, but the event was bound to naturally happen now that the situation had changed. So instead of raising questions about Count Ficus, Jude just stared at Cordelia and asked Ga?l in a low voice. ¡°But brother.¡± ¡°Yes, my younger brother.¡± ¡°She somehow looks upset, right?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­maybe?¡± Ga?l and Jude looked at the girl on the balcony together, and the girl ¨C Cordelia, changed her expression and Jude thought he could hear her snorting at him. ¡°Go quickly.¡± ¡°Yes, brother.¡± Jude smiled as he stood up right away and hurriedly moved. *** ¡®Are you upset?¡¯ ¡®No, I¡¯m not? I¡¯m not upset at all, okay?¡¯ ¡®But you look like you¡¯re upset?¡¯ ¡®No, it¡¯s not. I¡¯m totally not upset at all, okay?¡¯ Jude and Cordelia were seated across the table and quickly exchanged nces, and Maja and Dahlia warmly smiled at the affectionate air between the two. ¡®They really look good together, right?¡¯ ¡®Yeah.¡¯ The two had a simr conversation with their eyes before they quickly got up and left their seats. It was to allow Jude and Cordelia to spend their time alone together. ¡°Aren¡¯t you upset?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m not! There¡¯s no way I¡¯m upset just because you haven¡¯t contacted me for 16 days!¡± ¡°Oh.¡± 16 days. She was counting the days. ¡®I¡¯m touched.¡¯ Jude smiled in satisfaction, and Cordelia snorted without realizing the mistake that she had just made. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m sorry. I was too preupied with training.¡± ¡°Hmph, it¡¯s okay. I do not mind it.¡± ¡°I am d then.¡± When Jude smoothly said that, Cordelia frowned for a moment, but she couldn¡¯t take her words back now. ¡°So, is your training going well?¡± Jude immediately nodded his head at her slightly sulking voice that she was unconscious of. ¡°Yes. I¡¯m training on how to further utilize the power of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors¡­ Specifically, I¡¯m learning how to fight while using it together with the Bayer¡¯s swordsmanship.¡± ¡°I see.¡± She didn¡¯t really understand what he meant, but it seemed to her that he was working hard. ¡®I guess he really can¡¯t help it.¡¯ Should I forgive him? ¡®No, he didn¡¯t do something for me to forgive in the first ce.¡¯ Cordelia herself had never been that upset. ¡°Anyway, Cordelia, what about you?¡± ¡°Me?¡± ¡°Yes, you wouldn¡¯t be just doing nothing, right?¡± ¡°Of course, I didn¡¯t. I practiced really hard.¡± Cordelia loudly snorted again before she pulled out a detonating cord from her waist. She looked like she wanted to show off her training achievements. ¡®But a detonating cord out of all things?¡¯ No, it was definitely a tool that required training in order to be properly used, and it was something that Jude himself gave her. ¡°Why? Are you impressed?¡± Cordelia asked in a quiet voice, and Jude immediately nodded. If he pretended to be tactless at this point, she would really be upset. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m impressed. I¡¯m very much impressed.¡± ¡°Hmph, well¡­if you say so.¡± I guess I¡¯ll have to give you a demonstration. The corners of Cordelia¡¯s mouth was raised, and she promptly picked up the detonating cord. However, she definitely couldn¡¯t use the detonating cord inside the drawing room. Therefore, Jude said as he slightly dissuaded Cordelia. ¡°Let¡¯s put that off for a moment because we have to go to the training area to see it. Before that, there¡¯s something that I want to show you.¡± ¡°Something to show to me?¡± ¡°Yes, you came here today in the first ce because of the invitation from Count Ficus, right? There¡¯s also the invitation for the founding ball that will arrive soon.¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡± She had forgotten it for a while, but her primary purpose for visiting was to discuss on how they would respond to the invitation of Count Ficus. ¡°We¡¯ll have to crush her.¡± She was a girl who was not satisfied in arguing with Cordelia every year, but even leveled insults at her. Jude had no intention of letting her get away with it. ¡°Hey, Jude? We¡¯re going to a birthday party, right? We¡¯re not going on a fight, okay?¡± ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right. It¡¯s not a fight. We¡¯re just going to crush her one-sidedly.¡± Cordelia frowned at Jude¡¯s words, but she decided to let it go since she somehow felt much better and relieved. ¡°The timing is perfect. We can use it for practice before using it in the royal capital¡­let¡¯s consider it as a demonstration.¡± Cordelia tilted her head when Jude spoke again. She couldn¡¯t understand what he was talking about. ¡®Ah,e to think of it¡­¡¯ Was it in Langesthei? Jude had said that he was preparing a secret weapon to increase their influence in the royal capital. ¡®That¡¯s right, that¡¯s what he is talking about now.¡¯ Jude had immediately said that without checking if Cordelia had understood him, so Cordelia decided to ask instead of thinking more about it. ¡°So, what is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s these.¡± Jude smiled a little more evil than usual as he put the things he had prepared over the past three weeks on the table. Chapter 130: Invitation (2)

Chapter 130: Invitation (2)

The chapter is finally here. And yes, I spent a lot of time in Dragonspine again, but I got so distracted by everything that I hadn¡¯t even reached 50%, hahaha. Anyway, next chapter is on Monday, so enjoy Jude ying Princess Maker for now. Terms used in this chapter: Be a squid ¨C Korean ng for someone who looks ugly or inferior in appearance whenpared to a more handsome or beautiful person. So if a person with an average-looking face sits next to a person with a very beautiful face, the average-looking person bes/looks like a squid. And just a note: Regarding Cordelia¡¯s hair color, it is color pink (just like in the cover art of this series). However, the author likes to use the Korean word for red to also describe Cordelia¡¯s hair. If we go by color theory, pink is just a tint of red, so the author isn¡¯t exactly wrong. Emma Ficus. She was the second daughter of Count Ficus, and never really liked Cordelia because of a very simple and in reason. ¡®Annoying.¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s very existence was annoying. A pretty girl who looked like a doll and was even nice. She didn¡¯t like the fact that Cordelia was truly nice and not pretending to be nice. ¡®I¡¯m excited on trampling her this year.¡¯ She liked using Cordelia¡¯s fianc¨¦ as a way to bully her because Cordelia waspletely embarrassed about it, but the situation was slightly different this year. ¡®Because you seriously dug your own grave.¡¯ Were you so excited that your fianc¨¦ who couldn¡¯t even go out much had be a bit healthy? Cordelia had prepared a lot of things to be embarrassed about in thest two months. ¡®Ah, I can¡¯t wait.¡¯ Emma Ficus trembled and sat in front of the dressing table as she looked at the mirror. She saw a petite and charming girl with long pink hair. In fact, the main reason why Emma Ficus disliked Cordelia was because of the color of their hair. They had the same red hair, so they were alwayspared everywhere. ¡®Good, good. I¡¯ll seriously trample you this year.¡¯ With a wicked smile that didn¡¯t match her lovely appearance, Emma Ficus remembered what she had prepared. Her father had prepared her new dresses and essories, and she had a fianc¨¦ who was good-looking enough to be envious of. ¡®Ah, I really can¡¯t wait.¡¯ I hope my birthdayes soon. With an evil smile again, Emma Ficus looked at the mirror again. Without knowing the fact that there was a man far away in Bailon who was looking forward to her birthday more than she herself. ***Five dayster at Count Ficus¡¯ mansion. Sylvia Crossbell, the eldest daughter of Count Crossbell who belonged to the 12 northern families, unknowingly frowned. ¡®She still has a shy taste.¡¯ At Count Ficus¡¯ garden that was not just spacious but also vast, the banquet hall was excessively and shily decorated. Fresh flowers filled the banquet hall even though it was still winter, and a temperature control magic device made it possible to hold the event outdoors. An ordinary noble would have been worried enough of their finances with just those two, but the quality of the various items used to decorate the banquet hall was also high. ¡®One way or another, she¡¯s a Ficus.¡¯ It was a fact that Emma Ficus was strangely obsessed with Cordelia, but there was nothing bad with the rtionship between the Chase and Ficus families. Their field of activity was vastly different even if they both belonged to the 12 northern families. Count Chase owned a magic tower but did not have a proper manor, so he maintained his influence with the power of his talent. On the other hand, Count Ficus possessed not only the best granary in the north but also the best transit trading city, due to the fact that the Sillikones River Delta, which was called the lifeline of the north, was in his fief. In short, he maintained his influence with the power of his outstanding territory. Therefore, Count Ficus¡¯ real rival was Count Crossbell and not Count Chase. ¡®North is Crossbell, south is Ficus.¡¯ Count Crossbell made colossal amounts of money through their financial business, while Count Ficus made huge profits through agriculture andmerce. It was when Count Ficus began to enter the financial industry that the rtionship between the two families with the most wealth out of the 12 northern families began to fall apart. Naturally, whenpared to Count Crossbell who already dominated the financial world in the north, Count Ficus¡¯ financial business was like child¡¯s y, but the Crossbells found it uneptable. ¡®It¡¯s an annoying fact, but Count Ficus has the potential.¡¯ It was currently at the level of a child¡¯s y, but it was unknown when and how it would grow. Count Ficus was no less than Count Crossbell when it simply came to their financial strength. ¡®Haa¡­I normally wouldn¡¯t want toe here.¡¯ From Sylvia¡¯s perspective, Count Ficus¡¯ ce was no different to enemy territory. The Crossbell and Ficus families had, in fact, avoided ever meeting the other. The Ficus family did not participate in the social gathering of the 12 northern families¡¯ children. But for some reason, Count Ficus always sent invitations to Emma Ficus¡¯ birthday party. Despite the fact that the distance between the two families¡¯ territories were so far that it took several days to travel from one point to another. ¡®Well, I can guess what their intentions are.¡¯ Did we touch a nerve? We¡¯re just doing this much for you. We sent you an invitation out of courtesy, but it¡¯s up to you if you want toe or not. Since Count Crossbell who was famous for his fiery personality could not let go of Count Ficus¡¯ provocations, Sylvia had to fully dress up and attend Emma Ficus¡¯ birthday party every year. ¡®Although there is one more reason why I¡¯m here.¡¯ It was none other than Cordelia. Emma Ficus had been strangely mean to Cordelia for a long time, and Cordelia was unable to properly defend herself because she had fewdy friends due to the fact that she rarely went outside her home. Her situation was perfect, so Emmashed at her as much as she could. ¡®This year will be more intense thanst year.¡¯ Sylvia couldn¡¯t properly help Cordelia because Emma Ficus always attacked her with facts, but she was nning to protect Cordelia this year even if it was beyond her abilities. She had to return the favor at Langesthei. ¡®And¡­it will be a little different this year.¡¯ Emma Ficus primarily used Cordelia¡¯s fianc¨¦ to attack Cordelia. Sylvia recalled what happened in Langesthei in the past and revealed an uncharacteristically evil smile. Because she was looking forward to it. ¡°Oh my goodness, Lady Sylvia. You¡¯re so beautiful this year.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t Lady Mia very lovely too? I¡¯ve thought about this before, but you really have a good fashion sense. The color of the dress you chose is a perfect fit for you again.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Mia Ballun, the second daughter of Viscount Ballun, reddened her cheeks at Sylvia¡¯spliment, but there was no other girl who approached Sylvia except for her. ¡®Because it¡¯s Count Ficus¡¯ party.¡¯ It was basically a ce where they were conscious of Count Ficus. All the invited families were also located near Count Ficus¡¯ territory, so it was natural for them to not approach Sylvia, the youngdy of the Crossbell family. ¡®Mia is peculiar.¡¯ But judging from the other youngdies¡¯ troubled expressions while looking at her side, it seemed like Mia wouldn¡¯t approach her next year. ¡°Wow, it¡¯s Lady Emma.¡± As Mia spoke with sparkling eyes, Sylvia gently moved away from her. There was a high possibility that the lost child would be in trouble if Emma Ficus found out that she was close to Sylvia. ¡®Anyway¡­the main character has arrived.¡¯ Emma Ficus and her fianc¨¦, Darren Filov, proudly entered the banquet hall. It was annoying to admit it, but Count Ficus was a formidable opponent after all. ¡®He isn¡¯t just some nouveau riche.¡¯ Although he had an inclination to be a nouveau riche, he knew how to properly spend his money because of his heritage. Emma Ficus was wearing a light pink dress, and the design of her dress and her jewelry were all unusual. ¡®Fairy.¡¯ A lovely design that hid the shorings of the small and petite Emma Ficus and highlighted her strong points. Emma Ficus was like a fairy, and Darren Filov who was dressed in white formal clothes decorated with gold thread was like a prince in a story. ¡®She really stuck to a concept, huh?¡¯ But it did look quite good on her. All the youngdies in the banquet hall were seriously in awe. ¡°Oh my, is Lady Cordelia still not here?¡± Emma Ficus lightly greeted the youngdies in the banquet hall and said while slightly fussing as if she had remembered Cordelia, and the young girls around her immediately responded to her words. ¡°I guess she¡¯ste.¡± ¡°She seemed to be in a lot of troubletely¡­ Could she have been banned from going out?¡± ¡°Maybe she¡¯ste because of her fianc¨¦¡­¡± ¡°Well, he must not be feeling well. He seems to have gotten a little better¡­buttely, he¡¯s a bit¡­ he must have overdone it. Don¡¯t you think?¡± Emma faintly smiled and said, and thedies promptly agreed. ¡®Haa, seriously.¡¯ It was such an annoying sight, but Sylvia decided to put up with it. Because it was meaningless for her to step in when the person being talked about was not here. ¡®Why is shete anyway?¡¯ Cordelia was neverte for this kind of event. Why is shete today? ¡®Did something happen?¡¯ Did something happen to Jude like they said? She was half right and half wrong. Their reason for beingte was because of Jude, but it wasn¡¯t because of a problem. There was a reason why Jude deliberately made them arrivete. There was a reason why he let all the youngdies gather first, and why he also waited for Emma Ficus, the main character for today, to show up. ¡°Lady Cordelia from Count Chase has arrived.¡± Everyone¡¯s eyes were gathered into one ce after hearing the butler¡¯s words. It was natural to do that. All of thedies had arrived except for Cordelia. ¡°I guess she has only arrived now.¡± ¡°Is it because of her fianc¨¦?¡± Some youngdies openly gossiped to please Emma Ficus, but it was only for a moment. They couldn¡¯t talk any more about Cordelia. Because they were captivated. Because they lost their senses and were left gaping one after another. ¡°Wow¡­¡± Mia Ballun nkly let out a voice. Not only her but also all the youngdies who gathered in the banquet hall had dazed looks. Cordelia Chase. Her beauty had long been famous. Everyone knew that she was such a beautiful girl that even those from the same sex would nkly stare at her. But this time, it wasn¡¯t that. Simply saying that she was beautiful wouldn¡¯t describe the sight in front of them. ¡°Cor¡­delia?¡± Even Sylvia was captivated. All that she could do was let out an astonished voice and blink her eyes. A goddess. An existence that was beyond human. Dressed in a light pinkish white dress, Cordelia entered the banquet hall with an elegant smile. Her reddish pink hair seemed to shine, and the essories everywhere sparkled but wasn¡¯t excessive as they even further made Cordelia¡¯s beauty shine. A truly overwhelming beauty. ¡®W-what?¡¯ Sylvia was the first toe to her senses and she blinked her eyes several times. She had always been a pretty girl, but was it this much? And when Sylvia came to her senses, she noticed something else. ¡®They¡¯re the same?¡¯ The design of the dress Cordelia was wearing. It wasn¡¯t really the same. But the design concept was the same as Emma Ficus¡¯ dress. ¡®The color is simr too?¡¯ Simr clothes. So even if she hated topare it, she had no choice but topare the two. The other youngdies came to their senses one by one and noticed it too. They unconsciously looked at Emma Ficus and at Cordelia again. No one opened their mouths, but everyone knew. The difference between the two could only be described as overwhelming. Emma Ficus was a lovely girl too, but it wasn¡¯t an exaggeration to say that the current Cordelia was like a goddess. She was taller and had a better shape. They wouldn¡¯t have known if her clothes were different, but Emma Ficus, the lovely girl who wore the same clothes, was quickly crushed and became a squid. ¡®It¡¯s not just the clothes.¡¯ Sylvia¡¯s sharp and discerning eyes began to take note of other things. The essories worn by Cordelia. All of it were unusual. What was even more shocking was the fact that the location and number of essories were the same as those of Emma Ficus. ¡®All of it are superior?¡¯ -You used gold? Sorry, but ours is tinum. -Diamond? I beg your pardon, but ours is bigger and more beautiful. That¡¯s the impression I get? ¡®It seems like you¡¯ve made a decision.¡¯ To crush Emma Ficus. Topletely erase Emma Ficus¡¯ presence in this banquet hall. And the person who came up with this plot also thought the same. ¡®All ording to n.¡¯ Jude wickedly smiled as he observed the banquet hall that waspletely overwhelmed by Cordelia, who looked at Jude with confusion. ¡®Jude, Jude. What is this? What¡¯s going on?¡¯ ¡®Yes, it¡¯s just as nned.¡¯ Jude had already figured out what clothes Emma Ficus would wear and what essories she would use. She was a character that appeared in a sub-quest once, so JudeWiki contained information about her. ¡®I snooped around a bit too.¡¯ Count Ficus spent a lot of money for today. So it was inevitable that there would be rumors in the business circles on what kind of dress and essories she would wear. Perfection was achieved by adding the information he got from snooping around to his existing knowledge. Jude had met the Fall Fairy Queen again to specifically prepare for the dress to be used today. The dress and Magen¡¯s essories were profusely blessed by the fairies. And he added another weapon to her. ¡®Look, look at that shiny and smooth hair.¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s hair was much more beautiful than usual. The reason was simple ¨C because she used shampoo and conditioner. ¡®There¡¯s no shampoo and conditioner here.¡¯ There were basic cleaning products like soap because it was a world where civilization was quite developed, but there was no shampoo and conditioner. Ever since Jude had taken the Sun¡¯s Ne from Leisegang, he was doing some research on it and eventually seeded in developing a shampoo and conditioner that was suitable formercial use. ¡®There is no woman who is not interested in beauty.¡¯ I mean, if you were at least an upper-ss woman, you would have no choice but to make yourself beautiful even if you were not interested in it. The reason why Jude developed the shampoo and conditioner was simple. He intended it to be used as a bargaining material when they meet the royal family or the high-ranking nobles in the royal capital. ¡®It¡¯s working.¡¯ Sylvia and the otherdies good at discerning had noticed the peculiarity of Cordelia¡¯s hair. What would happen if we approached them and offered them the shampoo and conditioner, saying that they can be like her if they used it? And what would happen if we gave it to Cordelia¡¯s friends in particr, and not to anyone else? ¡®She¡¯ll dominate the banquet.¡¯ It might have begun as Emma Ficus¡¯ birthday party, but he made it into the new Cordelia¡¯s fantastic debut stage in the end. And it was just the beginning. Jude still had a lot of things he had prepared. First was Jude himself. ¡°I am Jude Bayer. I greet all the youngdies whom I¡¯m meeting for the first time today.¡± When Jude stepped forward and courteously greeted them, small groans and screams spread among the youngdies. Jude Bayer. A man who upied a ce among the best looking characters in Legend of Heroes 2. It was natural that screams spread among the women since Jude had went all out in dressing up. ¡®And I match him too.¡¯ He matched the clothes and essories of Emma Ficus¡¯ fianc¨¦. Even their hair styles. Jude¡¯s n worked again this time, and Darren Filov met the same fate as Emma Ficus as he was crushed and became a squid too. ¡®It¡¯ll be difficult if you croak with just this.¡¯ Not yet. I prepared a lot of things, so don¡¯t be crushed like this yet. Perhaps Jude¡¯s wish was heard, because Emma Ficus came forward with spiteful words. She weed Cordelia while maintaining a calm expression. ¡°Oh my, you¡¯re a good-looking person as I¡¯ve heard. No wonder Lady Cordelia left such a letter.¡± Such a letter. Cordelia¡¯s nighttime escape that she did several times. Cordelia¡¯s face turned red at that moment, and murmurs were heard among the youngdies. Emma Ficus¡¯ face regained a bit of its color. But Jude¡¯s wicked smile had yet to disappear. Because he naturally expected this to happen. ¡®It¡¯s about time they arrive.¡¯ Those whom he invited for today. Jude mentally counted down, and the sound of footsteps were heard at just the expected time. ¡°The Guardians of the Holy Cross has arrived.¡± As soon as the bewildered butler¡¯s voice ended, the elite members of the Guardians of the Holy Cross who were dressed in pure white entered the banquet hall. ¡°The Guardians of the Holy Cross?¡± ¡°My goodness, did theye here to congratte Emma on her birthday?¡± The Guardians of the Holy Cross protected the continent from the demons. They never had a low prestige. In a sense, they were a group that held authority beyond that of the royal family. Everyone¡¯s attention were once again focused on the appearance of the Guardians of the Holy Cross who were dressed not in just theirbat uniforms, but in their best ceremonial clothes. Their gazes were directed at a pdin of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, the good Sir Eindolph who was the manifestation of dignity, as he went to his destination with an unwavering attitude. ¡°Oh my, did they reallye to celebrate Emma¡¯s birthday?¡± ¡°The Guardians of the Holy Cross?¡± Low voices were heard among the youngdies, and feelings of embarrassment and expectation spread on Emma Ficus¡¯ face. And Sir Eindolph knelt down to show his respect. In front of Cordelia and not Emma Ficus. ¡°The Guardians of the Holy Cross greet our benefactor.¡± ¡°We greet our benefactor.¡± The guardians behind Sir Eindolph courteously greeted at the same time, and a scene like those in religious paintings was created. Cordelia turned to Jude in embarrassment, and Jude said with a smirk. ¡°Sir Eindolph, we just did the right thing. Please stand up. Cordelia would prefer that too.¡± Eindolph slowly stood up at Jude¡¯s words. At the same time, surprise, wonder and an unbearable curiosity spread among the faces of the youngdies. Why? Why are the Guardians of the Holy Cross courteously greeting Jude and Cordelia? But there was more to be surprised. Jude signaled to Cordelia, who hesitantly proceeded with the n she agreed to. She transformed into an angel without bringing out her wings. The atmosphere of Cordelia changed at that moment. She was like a goddess even if she wasn¡¯t, but the air around her began to really feel sacred now. And the most sensitive to her change was the Guardians of the Holy Cross. Sir Eindolph unconsciously blinked his eyes in awe. ¡°A-angel?¡± The staging was a bit crude, but the effect was magical. Cordelia was a woman given the title of an angel because a pdin from the Guardians of the Holy Cross ¡®mistook¡¯ her for one. ¡°N-no. I¡¯m not an a-angel.¡± Cordelia stuttered with apletely red face, and Jude¡¯s smile deepened. The reason why he called the Guardians of the Holy Cross here. The reason why he promised to cooperate in the future and then requested that the Guardians of the Holy Cross be sent here today. It was to clear the various rumors that had spread regarding Jude and Cordelia. From teenage escapees who were head over heels with each other and repeatedly ran away, to newly packaged heroes who fought the demonic followers in the north and made a big enough contribution that the Guardians of the Holy Cross paid their respects to them. ¡®Perfect.¡¯ Sir Eindolph saw Jude¡¯s eyes signal and began to speak in front of everyone about the activities of Jude and Cordelia in the north. A lot of the events in the wildnds were naturally omitted, and his story had many dramatized parts here and there, but it was enough to reverse public opinion. ¡®Good.¡¯ Jude made a deep smile and turned to Emma Ficus. He very much liked seeing her stunned face as her eyes blinked. ¡®I don¡¯t even have to do anything anymore.¡¯ He could just leave the rest to them. And it really went as Jude thought. When the Guardians of the Holy Cross led by Sir Eindolph left, Sylvia spoke to Cordelia, and Jude advertised the shampoo and conditioner to Sylvia. ¡°You should try it too.¡± The moment Cordelia handed over the small jar to Sylvia, a change urred once again. The youngdies who were only watching from the side had begun approaching her. From Emma Ficus to Cordelia Chase. The main character of the banquetpletely changed, and that changed atmosphere remained until the end of the banquet. Andte in the afternoon. Jude stared at the banquet hall and party that ended much earlier than expected, before he turned to Cordelia and asked. ¡°Were you satisfied?¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyes narrowed at his sly question, and she kicked Jude¡¯s shin afterwards. ¡°Ouch! Why?!¡± ¡°What do you mean by why! Do you know how embarrassing it was?¡± Especially when Eindolph was surprised and said ¡®Angel?!¡¯ while in awe. Cordelia¡¯s face turned red again, and cutely struck Jude on the chest with her fist. ¡°The shameful part is always mine!¡± At least tell me in advance! ¡°Haha, but didn¡¯t it go well?¡± ¡°That¡¯s why it¡¯s more annoying, okay?¡± At Cordelia¡¯s words, Jude snickered and quickly moved his feet. He moved to Cordelia¡¯s side in an instant and hugged her slender waist. ¡°So, you don¡¯t like it?¡± ¡°No, I love it!¡± She actually felt sorry for Emma. Nevertheless, all of her frustrations that had umted so far had been relieved at once. ¡°As expected of my Jude, right?¡± ¡°Yes, yes, it¡¯s my Jude.¡± Cordelia cheerfullyughed and soon tied her hair as she said. ¡°But Jude.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Do you still have any shampoo and conditioner prototypes left? Besides the one we¡¯ll bring to the royalty.¡± ¡°There is?¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s give some to Emma too. Let¡¯s carefully give it in a way that doesn¡¯t offend her.¡± No matter how much she thought about it, they seemed to have gone too far. Today was her birthday after all. Jude smiled again at Cordelia¡¯s words and nodded his head. ¡°If that¡¯s what you want.¡± And he thought that her blood wasn¡¯t the only one that was angelic. Satisfied by Cordelia¡¯s consideration, Jude stretched out his hand to escort her, and Cordelia gently held Jude¡¯s hand. And a week or so passed by. When rumors about the shampoo and conditioner circted among the youngdies in the north. Invitations announcing the beginning of the foundingmemoration at the royal capital finally arrived at Count Bayer and Count Chase¡¯s mansions. Chapter 131: To the Royal Capital (1)

Chapter 131: To the Royal Capital (1)

After the birthday party that could only be described as Cordeliaing out as the superior one. It was unsurprising that there was an uproar in Count Ficus¡¯ mansion. ¡°So annoying! I¡¯m so annoyed!¡± Unlike her petite and lovely appearance, Emma Ficus didn¡¯t have a gentle and sweet personality. Whenpared to a puppy, she was like a chihuahua that couldn¡¯t get over her anger and was running amok. Not only did she break, tear, and destroy things in her room, but she also pped the maids and kicked a fuss to the point that the concerned Count Ficus asked what happened in her birthday party. ¡°Exin it in detail.¡± Count Ficus, who had his youngest daughter at the age of 40, had arge and fierce appearance. In response to his question that he asked in an irritated voice, the butler described what happened at the party while profusely sweating. Cordeliapletely dominated it. As a result, Emma Ficus who should have been the main character of the party had be a squid. After hearing the exnation, Count Ficus burst intoughter and then broke the ornaments in the desk before he knocked over the bookshelf in his office as he roared in anger. ¡°How dare you do that in my house?!¡± Who was the source of Emma Ficus¡¯ terrible personality? It was Count Ficus¡¯ genes and education. Count Ficus flew into a rage and the servants including the butler, spent their days under tremendous stress and suffering. And upon hearing all of these, Jude said with a very brilliant smile. ¡°What else could they do then?¡± What else could they do other than going crazy and destroying stuff in their house? At Jude¡¯s confident attitude, Cordelia frowned and asked a bit timidly. ¡°Won¡¯t he do something really bad to us?¡± Because Count Ficus was very powerful. When it simply came to their wealth, the gap was so wide that even if Count Bayer and Count Chasebined theirs, they wouldn¡¯t have half of Count Ficus¡¯ wealth. So if Count Ficus wanted to do something bad to Count Chase or Count Bayer¡­ Just imagining it was horrible as Cordelia was almost in tears, but Jude shook his head. He lightly pinched Cordelia¡¯s cheeks and said. ¡°That¡¯s not going to happen. Offend only those you can offend. So he can¡¯t do anything, okay?¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Really. Let me exin why.¡± Jude sat next to Cordelia who was quietly crouching on the sofa, and he began to exin it step by step. ¡°First, he has no justification.¡± ¡°Justification? Even though we ruined the party?¡± ¡°Yes, because of how we ruined it. Think about it. Where would he go toin? Cordelia was as beautiful as a goddess that my daughter became a shrimp. Isn¡¯t this unfair! ¨C Something like that.¡± He was right. After all, the fundamental reason why the party was ruined was because Cordelia was much prettier whenpared to Emma. ¡°Should he go to your father and say this? ¨C Your daughter is so beautiful! How can she be as beautiful as a goddess! Because of your daughter¡¯s heavenly beauty, my daughter¡¯s mortal beauty is suffering! Exin to me why she is so beautiful! Exin it!¡± As Jude spoke with clenched fists, Cordelia¡¯s face turned red in an instant. She understood that he was only exining it, but she still became very embarrassed. ¡°Or should he go to my dad andin? ¨C Why is your daughter-inw so beautiful? Why is she so beautiful that it broke my daughter¡¯s heart?¡± ¡°S-stop¡­¡± ¡°Or should he say it to other nobles? ¨C Cordelia Chase¡¯s beauty was like that of a heavenly goddess¡­how could there such an atrocity? How could someone be born with such a beauty and break my daughter¡¯s spirits?¡± ¡°S-stop¡­¡± ¡°Or should he say it to the residents of his fief? Cordelia¡¯s beauty was so great that it reached the skies-¡± ¡°You crazy b*stard, stop it! ¡± Cordelia¡¯s face turned so red as if it would explode, and she used magic but Jude quickly tore a scroll to dispel her magic. ¡°.¡± ¡°Eh?!¡± ¡°Woah, woah, calm down.¡± The effect was immediately visible when Jude stroked Cordelia¡¯s chin as if he was calming down a puppy. Cordelia¡¯s eyes narrowed and she began to growl. ¡°Anyway, he has no justification. Cordelia, you understand now why there¡¯s no justification, right?¡± Cordelia nodded with a red face at Jude¡¯s question. Because it was definitely a reason that was hard to disagree with. But in reality, there was one more reason that Jude didn¡¯t tell her. It wasn¡¯t just because of Cordelia¡¯s beauty that turned Emma Ficus into a squid. ¡®Superior items.¡¯ All of the clothes and essories worn by Jude and Cordelia overwhelmed Emma Ficus and her fianc¨¦ in all aspects. What would people think about that? They would think about the fact that Count Bayer and Count Chase having much better essories would mean that Count Ficus was no better than the two counts. It was an issue that was hard to contest even if Count Ficus protested. ¡°And Count Bayer and Count Chase are not easy opponents. If it¡¯s just about military force, they¡¯re one of the top families among the 12 northern families. Will he pick a fight with two of such families? It will be too much for Count Ficus even if he¡¯s wealthy.¡± The royal family would definitely not allow an armed conflict between the families of the 12 northern families, so there would be no direct armed conflict, but the families could still wield their swords if need be. And Count Ficus could never thoughtlessly confront the Bayer and Chase families who were called the swords of the 12 northern families. ¡°He could quietly put some pressuremercially¡­but as you know, our Bailon is not a frontier city for no reason. After all, Langesthei is where the influential merchants mainly do business.¡± Count Ficus might be a master in trading, but that did not mean he controlled the entire north. ¡°In short, even if Count Ficus got mad, he wouldn¡¯t be able to crush our families¡¯ finances, or to be exact, he can¡¯t do any harm to the people of our families. So don¡¯t worry. Okay?¡± ¡°Okay.¡± When Cordelia replied with a smile as if she was a bit relieved, Jude also smiled in satisfaction. ¡°Any more questions?¡± ¡°Uh¡­there is. The shampoo and conditioner.¡± ¡°Yes, what about that?¡± ¡°How did you make it? I mean, howe you know how to make it?¡± I¡¯ve been trying to figure out his previous job. What is it? What kind of human knows how to make a detonating cord as well as shampoo and conditioner? Cordelia directly asked as her eyes narrowed, and Jude shrugged as he replied. ¡°My friend taught me.¡± ¡°Is your friend a chemical nt employee?¡± ¡°No, it was a person in the same line of profession as I had, but it was that person¡¯s hobby.¡± Jude thought of his old friend¡¯s face for a moment as if he missed that person, and then he continued to speak again. ¡°That person taught me so that if I went to some ce that didn¡¯t have shampoo and conditioner, I wouldn¡¯t have a hard time. So it remained in my Memory Pce.¡± Cordelia frowned when he said it like it was nothing. Because it was strange no matter how she thought about it. ¡®Why would you go to some ce that didn¡¯t have shampoo and conditioner?¡¯ Where is such a ce anyway? ¡°Did your friend expect you to be reincarnated in the game world?¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s not possible. It¡¯s just in case I went to some remote ce.¡± Jude and Cordelia thought of apletely different ce when he said, ¡®remote ce.¡¯ They might have been able to talk with their eyes, but the topic came to a halt because the two had a different image in their minds. ¡°What about the detonating cord then?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just part of my job?¡± ¡°What was your job? Are you really a spy? Are you 007?¡± She had previously thought that it was nonsense, but the more that she thought about it, the more she thought that it might be real. First of all, Jude wasn¡¯t just weird but was too weird. Even if she separated his ridiculous Memory Pce on which his JudeWiki was based on, he was not an ordinary person. ¡®No ordinary person would habitually install traps near their sleeping ces.¡¯ They must have a mental illness if they did. On top of that, Jude knew how to make explosives like a detonating cord, and he was also good at plotting and scheming. ¡®He¡¯s good at collecting information.¡¯ How else would he know what kind of clothes and essories Emma Ficus and her fianc¨¦ would be wearing? ¡®If I put it all together¡­¡¯ Spy, 007, legendary mercenary. All of those were things that likely appeared inics, but Cordelia¡¯s eyes began to be filled with excitement and conviction at the same time. ¡°There is¡­a possibility!¡± ¡°I know what you¡¯re imagining, but I won¡¯t tell you, okay?¡± ¡°Why not!¡± ¡°What about you then?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°What was your job? You know give and take, right?¡± Cordelia was at a loss from Jude¡¯s words, and her gaze turned to another ce. ¡®Eueu, what should I do?¡¯ Should I just tell him? That I was a student? But then¡­ ¡®I might have to use honorifics to Jude!¡¯ The real reason wasn¡¯t actually because of honorifics. She was somehow feeling anxious. The current rtionship they had might change if they fully disclosed their past lives to each other. ¡°Shall we speak at the same time at the count of three?¡± ¡°I won¡¯t do it.¡± ¡°Eh? You won¡¯t?¡± ¡°Yes, I won¡¯t.¡± Cordelia kept her mouth shut, and Jude blinked his eyes but soon smiled. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s not do it.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Cordelia was still quiet as she pouted her lips, but she soon came up with a different topic. ¡°By the way, Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Why did you not agree to making the shampoo and conditioner as amercial product?¡± The next morning after the shampoo and conditioner were presented at the party. Sylvia Crossbell appeared with fluttering hair, and suggestedmercializing the shampoo and conditioner. ¡°This will sell! This will definitely sell!¡± Sylvia who was the embodiment of elegance had shouted that with excitement, but Jude declined her offer without even thinking much about it. Why did he do that? Even Cordelia herself thought that it would sell well once it was made. ¡°Because we have to use it in the royal capital.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the connection between using it in the royal capital and not selling it in the north?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a big connection.¡± Having said so far, Jude stood up and continued to exin. ¡°In any case, the north would always be the north. It is a remote area from the perspective of the royal capital.¡± Cordelia bit her lips at Jude¡¯s words, as it was true since she knew it from having been born in the north. ¡°Put yourself in the shoes of the royal capital and the royal family, and think about it. Wouldn¡¯t it look bad if they epted and used items that were popr in a remote area?¡± ¡°You mean, they don¡¯t want to ept the fashion trends of the remote areas?¡± ¡°To be frank, yes. It also includes¡­the fashion trends of those below them.¡± ¡°I feel upset.¡± ¡°But you understand, right?¡± ¡°¡¯I¡¯m feeling upset because I understand.¡± She thought that she knew what he roughly meant. She had to endure it for now in order to make the shampoo and conditioner fashionable in the royal capital. ¡°What would happen after we¡¯ve made it popr in the royal capital?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll spread it all across the country and make sure we get our share of the profit. That way, my princess can buy a lot of delicious and pretty things.¡± ¡°Ahem.¡± Cordelia cleared her throat and pretended that it was not true, but he could see it in her eyes. She seemed to be very pleased. ¡°Well, anyway, an invitation will arrive from the royal family soon, so we just need to go to the royal capital.¡± Cordelia used to go to the royal capital with Count Chase every year at the founding ceremony, even if her fianc¨¦, Jude, was sick. Because it was a precious opportunity to meet Adelia who was working in the royal capital. ¡°Would they allow us if we said that we¡¯ll be leaving first?¡± ¡°We can use the name of the Guardians of the Holy Cross to make it possible. It was for this reason on why I met with them at that time.¡± Jude and Cordelia didn¡¯t have any intentions in going to the royal capital quietly. They had to do some power-ups by doing all the quests that were avable on the way from Bailon to the royal capital. ¡°We must specifically stop by the Temple of Life and the dungeon of Archwizard Arkeman.¡± Each was a ce where things needed to power up Jude and Cordelia were present. ¡°We need to find clues so that we could meet Fran.¡± Jude immediately nodded at Cordelia¡¯s words. Lena didn¡¯t have much information about the location of the other two of the five heroes, Druid Fran and Necromancer Velkian. ¡°I wonder how Lena¡¯s doing.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure she¡¯s fine. Perhaps she met my master by now.¡± Lena left for the southern part of the S?len Kingdom in order to meet Landius. Cordelia took out the feather Lena had given her. It was a token of Lena¡¯s friendship, but she also got it to reassure Fran and Velkian when they meet the two. ¡°We¡¯ll do quests on the way, and find traces of Fran and Velkian if possible. We¡¯ll get to the royal capital first and do some undercover work. We¡¯ll be very busy.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­okay. If my Jude thinks so, this Cordelia will follow you. Got it?¡± ¡°Yes, Madam. I shall do my best to take care of it.¡± Jude exaggeratedly bowed as if he was acting in a y, and then he extended his hand to her. ¡°Would you like to go now that our conversation is over?¡± ¡°Yes, Mr. Bayer.¡± Cordelia deliberately answered in a modest manner as she took Jude¡¯s hand and stood up. They headed to Count Bayer¡¯s office. They were going to get permission to leave for the royal capital first. *** A few dayster, in apletely different ce. Saluzia, a high-ranking demonic human of the Devil¡¯s Hand, had a faint smile. ¡°They¡¯re finally back.¡± Jude Bayer and Cordelia Chase. The two who fled across the border to thend of the barbarians had returned to the north. ¡°Are we attacking them this time?¡± Saluzia slowly nodded at the question of Kanos, her subordinate. ¡°We¡¯ll target the two as they head for the royal capital.¡± The two were apanied by Count Chase when they returned to Bailon, so they couldn¡¯t even touch the two, but if the two went on a trip alone again, the situation would change. ¡®Foolish ones¡­¡¯ Did you think that the Devil¡¯s Hand would easily give up? Or did you think that you werepletely free from the past after having been to a distant ce? It doesn¡¯t matter either way. I just have to capture the two foolish, yet unrivaled and sweet offerings. ¡°What should we do? Are you going to do it yourself again?¡± ¡°No, we might make the Guardians of the Holy Cross move. Just send three mid-ranking demonic humans.¡± Jude and Cordelia had a power equivalent to a low-ranking demonic human. They were that much strong when shest met them, so they couldn¡¯t have be much stronger than that in just a month. The three mid-ranking demonic humans was definitely something excessive, but she was determined to not fail again. ¡°I shall follow your orders.¡± Kanos bowed and left the room, and Saluzia who was now alone, opened the Demon Record. It was to contemte on which demon would she summon with Cordelia as the sacrifice. ¡®It¡¯s an exaggerated story anyway.¡¯ She had heard that Jude and Cordelia yed an active part in the events across the border. Saluzia knew that the Devil¡¯s Eye who upied the barbariannds had greatly failed, but she did not know the exact details. ¡®They must have made a significant contribution.¡¯ But it was clear to her on what the two people with only the strength of a low-ranking demonic human could do. Count Chase and Count Hr?svelgr must have done the really important stuff. ¡®I¡¯ll make you regret it.¡¯ That they didn¡¯t let themselves be caught quickly, that they weren¡¯t sacrificed immediately. A small smile spread over Saluzia¡¯s face. It wasn¡¯t because she found the perfect demon to summon that would use Cordelia as a sacrifice. She was thinking of the trust of their leader whom she would recover once she caught the two. Her position would be firmly established again. ¡®I hope that dayes soon.¡¯ The day when Jude and Cordelia would go on a trip to the royal capital. Saluzia¡¯s smile deepened, and she turned her gaze to the Demon Record. She moved her long and thin fingers as she flipped the pages of the Demon Record. Chapter 132: To the Royal Capital (2)

Chapter 132: To the Royal Capital (2)

Late post again. Genshin is always to me for myte posts recently, hahaha. An invitation to the founding anniversary of the kingdom. The founding anniversary itself was naturally a big event, but it was also a rtivelymon event that happened every year. Therefore, a lot of countryside nobles didn¡¯t attend it, and the royal family did not encourage the countryside nobles from attending too. But it was different this time. Because it was the celebration of the 300th founding anniversary. People had interestingly attached meanings to numbers that were perfectly matched. Like 10, 20, or 30. But this time, it was 300. It was just 299 bing 300 when viewed objectively, but its significance was bound to be different. ¡®It¡¯s amazing that the kingdom has been around for 300 years.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t just a small country in some remote area, as it was one of the two strongest powers in the continent, a major power that had stood for 300 years. So it was a seriously outstanding aplishment. ¡®Nobles from all over the country will gather.¡¯ The royal family even issued invitations to low ranking nobles in the countryside. It was literally unreasonable for Count Bayer and Count Chase, who both belonged to the 12 northern families, to pull out of such an event. ¡°Ga?l, Jude, and I will go to the royal capital, so I¡¯ll leave the territory to Sir Victor.¡± No one opposed Count Bayer¡¯s deration. While it was normal for either Count Bayer or Ga?l to remain in order to manage the territory, the founding anniversary made the situation different. Even in the Chase family, Count Chase and his sessor Edward, as well as his youngest daughter Cordelia, would be going to the royal capital too. ¡®It¡¯s quite different from the original.¡¯ Around 4.5 months after the beginning of the Cordelia route. In the original, Jude was still suffering from his illness while Cordelia was missing, so neither of the two counts went to the royal capital with a joyful heart. ¡®Only Edward headed to the royal capital as the Chase family representative.¡¯ Even in the Bayer family, it was Ga?l who headed for the royal capital because their intelligencework had reported that there were unusual movements in the barbariannds. ¡®Because Haraken had almost taken over the western side of the wildnds at that time.¡¯ But everything changed, so the two count families decided to go to the royal capital as if they were going sightseeing. ¡°Are you saying that the two of you¡­would be going first alone?¡± ¡°Yes, father.¡± The original n was for the Bayer and Chase families to pack up and set off for the royal capital together. But the trip to the royal capital was long, and the preparation itself took quite some time since they also had to prepare gifts to exchange with the nobles in the royal capital. ¡°We have some things to discuss with the Guardians of the Holy Cross regarding the wildnds. Most importantly¡­I have to meet my master too.¡± Iron Man Landius. Count Bayer was forced to step back when that name was mentioned. The tremendously talented Jude had inherited the martial arts of a foreigner instead of the swordsmanship of Count Bayer, so it would have been normal for Count Bayer to be angry, but the mentioned foreigner was that Landius. Iron Man Landius was always mentioned in discussions about the continent¡¯s strongest people. And Jude would soon inherit the martial arts of an ancient person who had defeated the overlords of hell in the past. So Count Bayer was fine with Jude learning from Landius. ¡°I understand why you have to go first. But as for going with Lady Cordelia¡­¡± Count Bayer¡¯s words trailed off in the end, and Jude nced at Cordelia who was standing next to him. She had a slightly resentful look before she blushed and said. ¡°That¡­ I-I¡­ Mr. Bayer¡­ I love him so much¡­¡± ¡°So do I. I want to be with her all the time.¡± Cordelia fidgeted and stuttered while Jude openly spoke and flirted. A smile then spread over Count Bayer¡¯s face. ¡°Ahem, well¡­ since you said that, I guess I¡¯ll allow it.¡± What a cute couple. Count Bayer warmly looked at the two, and Jude turned to Cordelia as he had a happy expression too. On the other hand, Cordelia awkwardly smiled and looked at Jude. ¡®Hey, is this really the only way?¡¯ ¡®It is? I mean, it¡¯s effective.¡¯ ¡®Eueue¡­¡¯ Why is it always me who says the embarrassing words, and why is Jude fine and I¡¯m the only one who¡¯s embarrassed? And why is the shame always mine? ¡®Anyway, let¡¯s finish this. Smile, quickly.¡¯ When Jude said that with his eyes, Cordelia reflexively smiled, and Count Bayer spoke afterwards. ¡°I¡¯ll allow it if Count Chase gives his permission. But I have one condition.¡± ¡°Condition?¡± ¡°Yes, regrly report your activities and contact us. Traveling like you¡¯ve did before is not permissible. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Yes, father.¡± ¡°Yes, father.¡± Their discussion ended at that. Jude and Cordelia obediently answered, and Count Bayer smiled again. He told them to talk to him again after they had obtained Count Chase¡¯s permission. And a few dayster. During the time when Saluzia heard the news that Jude and Cordelia were heading to the royal capital. ¡°It went smoothly.¡± Inside a two horse carriage driven by a coachman, Jude looked out of the window with a peaceful expression. Just like Count Bayer, Count Chase had also allowed the two to travel. ¡®He also generously took care of our travel expenses.¡¯ As expected of my future father-inw. I really love you. ¡®It¡¯s going really smoothly now.¡¯ Being allowed to go first was nice, but the most important part was being allowed to go on a trip with just the two of them. ¡®Because it would be difficult to do the quests if someone else is with us.¡¯ They wouldn¡¯t be directly heading to the royal capital, as they would be stopping here and there while on the way. So it would inevitably be difficult for them if someone else joined them. ¡®We¡¯ll have to exin why we have to go somewhere else while on the way, and why we know of such a ce.¡¯ But fortunately, the two were allowed to travel alone, and Count Chase greatly helped them too. ¡®Hmph, I don¡¯t like that you still look weak and frail¡­but it would be okay if it¡¯s the two of you. I¡¯ll allow it.¡¯ Count Chase said that with his usual serious and stern face, and even brought him a gift like always. ¡®Thank for helping me always, Father.¡¯ Jude mentally thanked him as he continued to look out of the window with a smile. The world looked so beautiful to him now that his worries were resolved. And across from him. Cordelia crouched her body and was troubled as her lips quivered. ¡®Eueue¡­.¡¯ She was like that because her conversation with Dahlia the night before their departure had continued to bother her. She squinted her eyes and then closed it, and Cordelia recalled yesterday¡¯s conversation. ¡°Miss, please remember what I¡¯m saying. You¡¯re not married yet, so you should never cross the line. Do you understand?¡± ¡°What are you talking about? What do you mean by crossing the line? There¡¯s nothing like that, okay?¡± It was just the delusions of her older sister Dahlia. When Cordelia had unknowingly opposed it strongly, Dahlia narrowed her eyes and said as she touched her chin. ¡°Good. However, you two can kiss instead. Just kiss but don¡¯t cross the line. Do you understand?¡± ¡°H-he won¡¯t! Ju-Jude is a gentleman, okay?¡± ¡°He is. He is a gentleman. But he¡¯s a man too, right? He¡¯s also a wolf, okay?¡± ¡°W-wolf?¡± When the protesting Cordelia became curious, Dahlia quickly nodded and said as she drew her face closer. ¡°Mydy, I find you very pretty, cute and lovely even if I¡¯m a woman too.¡± ¡°Are you angry?¡± ¡°Not really. Anyway, how would you look like in Mr. Bayer¡¯s eyes? Wouldn¡¯t he see you as a real angel?¡± ¡°Umm¡­¡± She was a real angel in the first ce. Because of Ancestral Regression. ¡°Mr. Bayer must be holding back a lot too. So I¡¯ll tolerate kissing. If it¡¯s that much¡­you¡¯re 17 years old now and can do it.¡± ¡°W-what are you talking about? What do you mean by tolerate? A-are you saying that Jude wants to kiss me?¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t he? He¡¯ll seriously want to, right?¡± ¡°T-that¡¯s ridiculous.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not ridiculous. It¡¯s something that¡¯s reasonable. Mr. Bayer is also a man, a man. He¡¯s a human. He¡¯s not a stone statue but a person made of flesh and blood. A human.¡± Cordelia stepped back at Dahlia¡¯s fiery speech. But instead of protesting, she quivered her lips from worry again. Because Dahlia¡¯s words somehow made sense. ¡°R-really? Jude is like that with me¡­¡± ¡°He is. Absolutely. Somehow.¡± As Dahlia emphasized that with clenched fists, Cordelia also clenched her fists without realizing it, and soon quivered her lips again. ¡°Anyway, just kissing is fine. You understand that you can¡¯t cross the line, okay?¡± That was her conversation with Dahliast night. After she finished recalling it, Cordelia thought as she covered her face with both hands in order to calm herself whose cheeks had turned red. ¡®It¡¯s ridiculous.¡¯ A delusion. Cordelia forced herself to smile as she lowered her hands and peeked at Jude. What is so good outside that he¡¯s looking out the window with a happy face? But now that I see it, he has such well-shaped lips. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡®The color is pretty. It seems to be soft.¡¯ ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡®But it¡¯s still lips so it¡¯s simr to mine, right?¡¯ ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡®Why are his lips so close¡­¡¯ ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Kyaa?!¡± It was right in front of her. Cordelia was startled by Jude¡¯s face that was within the reach of her breath, so she threw herself in the corner of the chair while Jude tilted his head and frowned. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong, okay? I didn¡¯t think about that, okay? I was just looking there, okay?¡± Jude narrowed his eyebrows again at Cordelia¡¯s strong reaction. ¡°Think about what? What¡¯s the ¡®there¡¯ you¡¯re talking about?¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing! Anyway, what is it!¡± ¡°Do you have a fever? Shall I take your temperature?¡± Jude drew near her again to touch her forehead, but Cordelia shook her limbs in a fluster and said. ¡°I-I¡¯m fine. I can use .¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes, really. So, it¡¯s fine. I¡¯m not sick at all. is the best, the best.¡± ¡°By the way, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Why can¡¯t you look into my eyes?¡± ¡°You¡¯re wrong, okay? I¡¯m just closing my eyes because I¡¯m tired, okay? It¡¯s not because I can¡¯t look at you, okay?¡± Cordelia forcefully closed her eyes to not see him as she was quite in a panic. She didn¡¯t know what thoughts woulde out of her mind if she looked into his eyes now. Cordelia snorted with her eyes closed, and Jude narrowed his eyes but soon decided to change the topic. ¡®She¡¯ll get angry if I say that she¡¯s cute here.¡¯ That will make her cuter though. But instead of tormenting Cordelia further, Jude sat back in his seat and said to her. ¡°Moving on, let¡¯s talk about our schedule.¡± ¡°Schedule? You already told me about that.¡± ¡°I did. I said that we¡¯ll be heading to the Temple of Life as our primary destination.¡± The ce which Jude and Cordelia set as their primary destination was the temple of the goddess of life, Aerith. Unlike the Sri denomination that still maintained its legacy, the Aerith denomination hadpletely disappeared, so there was no one who knew about the location of their temple now. ¡®Except for us.¡¯ In the game, the temple was hidden deep in the mountains just like the temple of Sri where Leisegang was sealed, so it was a ce where they knew the location only after going through a special event. ¡®But there¡¯s JudeWiki.¡¯ It was a bit embarrassing to say ¡®JudeWiki¡¯ out of her own mouth, but Cordelia couldn¡¯t help it since she had called it JudeWiki for a long time. ¡°We¡¯ll head to the Temple of Life to secure the Sphere of Life. I need an enormous amount of life energy to open a new door of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. I¡¯ll be able to easily open the fifth door if I use the Sphere of Life.¡± ¡°I can also raise my angel rank there, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, you¡¯ll be able to raise your angel rank if you absorb the remaining divine power in the temple. If you¡¯re lucky, you might even get a divine blessing.¡± Just as the invasion of the northern barbarians in the game had ended in the defeat of the S?len Kingdom, the events in the royal capital also ended with the defeat of the S?len Kingdom. A catastrophe urred when the royal family was massacred, and more than half of the royal pce copsed. ¡°As you know, the levels of the enemies are higher in the royal capital.¡± ¡°Even if we passed through all of them, there¡¯s still the Lord Protector¡­¡± Duke Antarius. He was a distinguished swordsman who was one of the ten great swordmasters whom the S?len Kingdom was proud of. Moreover, he was also a war hero who had made great contributions in the war against the Argon Empire. ¡°We have to be as strong as possible.¡± It was impossible to fight against the Lord Protector in the game. Death only awaited them when they tried to fight him. ¡°The Lord Protector¡­are you nning on bringing the First Sword to our side to deal with him?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the first n.¡± A man who was called the First Sword because he was ranked first among the swordmasters. Also known as the Sword Saint of Light, he was not in the royal capital during the day of the founding anniversary. ¡®But we can change history.¡¯ In the same way that they saved the leader of the eastern forces, Red Gale, who was fated to die. ¡°Anyway, it¡¯s us who¡¯ll be the main actors in the end. So we have to be strong first.¡± ¡°Yes. Let¡¯s be stronger.¡± Cordelia said as she clenched her fist, and Jude unconsciously smiled before he spoke about their issue at hand. ¡°Anyway, it¡¯s time for them to appear.¡± ¡°Are you talking about the Devil¡¯s Hand?¡± ¡°Oh, you know about it?¡± ¡°Hmph, do you think I¡¯m stupid? Of course I know.¡± Cordelia said as she shrugged before crossing her arms. ¡°Saluzia personally appearedst time. They probably waited for us to return from the north.¡± ¡°Why had they not attacked us so far?¡± ¡°Because your father was with us on our way home. And we were both at home for quite some time.¡± Attacking them during Emma Ficus¡¯ birthday was also impossible. To begin with, it only took one day to travel to the Ficus territory. ¡°But we¡¯re now on a long journey to the royal capital. In addition, there¡¯s only the two of us who have gone on this trip.¡± ¡°It¡¯s the perfect time to attack us.¡± If Count Bayer and Count Chase had known how obsessed the Devil¡¯s Hand was with Jude and Cordelia, they would have never allowed the two to travel alone. ¡°Anyway, do you have any ns about this matter?¡± ¡°ns?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t feign ignorance. You¡¯re not the kind of person who will stay still when you¡¯re expecting an attack.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. You know me very well.¡± ¡°Because I see you all the time.¡± ¡°Yes, you¡¯ve seen me all the time.¡± Jude said as he nodded his head before he beckoned to Cordelia. ¡°Come closer to me first.¡± ¡°Are you going to whisper to me again?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s an important topic.¡± ¡°No one is listening anyway. Why are always doing this?¡± Cordelia grumbled but eventually moved to the side of Jude quietly and pricked up her ears, and Jude drew his face closer to Cordelia¡¯s ear. ¡°W-wait a second.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°No, um. Okay.¡± Cordelia took a deep breath to calm herself as she closed her eyes for some reason, and Jude tilted his head but drew his face closer to her again. And he began to tell her of his plot like always. ¡°What do you think? Do you like it?¡± ¡°Yes, I like it.¡± A bright smile spread over Cordelia¡¯s face. Chapter 133: To the Royal Capital (3)

Chapter 133: To the Royal Capital (3)

Terms used in this chapter: Residual thoughts ¨C Japanese term used in paranormal phenomenon wherein various strong thoughts and feelings such as resentment, obsession, or unresolved wishes, remain at a certain ce after death. ¡°First of all, a mid-ranking demonic human would probably be sent.¡± Cordelia nodded at Jude¡¯s words. Because she agreed and thought that they wouldn¡¯t dispatch a new low-ranking demonic human now. ¡°During the time theyst chased us, we easily cut down the low-ranking demonic human. So Saluzia probably thinks of us to be barely as strong¡­ as one low-ranking demonic human.¡± ¡°Barely?¡± ¡°She¡¯ll rate us to be that much. Think about it. We had a hard time fighting the low-ranking demonic human in Langesthei, right? It¡¯s only been a few months from that time, so she wouldn¡¯t think that we had be stronger than how we were at that time.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Cordelia meekly answered and smiled at the end of her words. Because she enjoyed the fact that they were several times ¨C no, almost ten times stronger than what Saluzia had thought. ¡°She¡¯ll dispatch a mid-ranking demonic human anyway. And because of Saluzia¡¯s personality, there¡¯s no way that she¡¯ll send just one. Considering her failure when she personally wentst time, she¡¯ll probably send three of them.¡± Saluzia had a rather cautious personality. And given the precedent so far, the number of demonic humans who Saluzia mobilized to capture them was always more than two. ¡°She must have been really worried and impatient to capture us given that she personally camest time. She must have been put in a difficult spot within their organization because of us.¡± ¡°So she¡¯s sending three mid-ranking demonic humans?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s likely because of Saluzia¡¯s personality.¡± Cordelia nodded her head when Jude affirmed it. Somehow, it must be true if Jude was the one who said it. ¡°And perhaps¡­the mid-ranking demonic humans who would being to capture us would be them ¨C Lou, Ken, and Kargo.¡± ¡°You know who¡¯sing?¡± ¡°Because Saluzia doesn¡¯t have many options. Mid-ranking demonic humans are not amon resource.¡± ¡°Huh¡­notmon?¡± ¡°I mean, Haraken pretty much poured all of his resources in the wildnds. So the Devil¡¯s Eye must have suffered a huge loss from his operation in the wildnds. They lost a lot of mid-ranking demonic humans after all.¡± ¡°Ohhh.¡± ¡°Anyway, the Devil¡¯s Hand is made up of six branches, and Saluzia is the head of one of them. The number of mid-ranking demonic humans under her are six at most.¡± ¡°But it¡¯s three out of six. Why did you think it¡¯s Lou, Ken, and¡­¡± ¡°Kargo.¡± ¡°Yes, Kargo. Anyway, to guarantee that it¡¯s those three¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure of it.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia blinked her eyes again and pondered. What is it? What makes him confident to say that? ¡°Should I tell you?¡± ¡°Yes, yes, tell me.¡± Cordelia asked like a girl curious about a magic trick, and Jude smiled before he said. ¡°As you know, our information about the Devil¡¯s Hand isn¡¯t perfect. We didn¡¯t know that there was someone with a foresight ability even if it was imperfect right now.¡± ¡°So?¡± ¡°But that doesn¡¯t mean we don¡¯t know them at all. The personality and bearing of those who were grouped together can be grasped from their dialogue and mutual rtionship that was shown in the game.¡± Saluzia had a cautious nature, so she handled everything meticulously. In other words, she was a boss who would consider thepatibility of her subordinates when she gave them joint missions. ¡°Sending people with a bad rtionship with each other will inducepetition¡­so it¡¯s not good to group those people when they must seed in their mission. Saluzia has a conservative personality, so she¡¯ll choose those who can work well together. Therefore, if we put together all the evidence so far, the most likelybination we¡¯ll get is-¡± ¡°Lou, Ken, and Kargo?¡± Jude smiled and Cordelia gulped nervously. Because it was so amazing to see Judee up with that conclusion just from analyzing the facts they had. Of course, there was a possibility that Jude¡¯s words were wrong¡­ ¡®No, I don¡¯t think so.¡¯ He was none other than Jude. ¡®I¡¯m really d that Jude is on my side.¡¯ It would have been terrible if Jude was on someone else¡¯s side. ¡®Yes, he¡¯s terrible. He makes fun of me all the time. He¡¯s evil.¡¯ Cordelia frowned as she remembered the events of the past five years, and Jude looked confused as he was unaware of her thoughts. ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°You¡¯re mean.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Um, anyway. What¡¯s next?¡± Cordelia asked with sparkling eyes, and Jude was confused again but did not dare question it, so he continued his exnation. ¡°Moving on, since we know who¡¯sing, we can build a strategy based on their personalities and abilities.¡± ¡°Are we using traps?¡± ¡°Yes. And the ce will be here. It¡¯s Markville, a town that is a part of Count Ficus¡¯ fief. Our opponent¡¯s foresight ability can only foresee the approximate ce, so we don¡¯t have to be afraid that they¡¯ll find out the location of the traps we¡¯ll set up.¡± Cordelia was startled and surprised when Jude tapped and moved his fingers as if he was drawing figures in the air. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I mean, won¡¯t people get hurt if an explosion happens in the town? Like innocent civilian casualties.¡± ¡°Wait, why are you talking about an explosion?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a trap.¡± ¡°It is a trap, so why would it explode?¡± ¡°Because traps explode. It¡¯s an unspoken rule that traps explode.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know when such an unspoken rule was established, but we¡¯re not doing that this time.¡± ¡°Tsk, how boring.¡± Cordelia pouted her lips, and Jude unwittingly nced at the detonating cord bundle on her waist. I made it because I wanted to make her happy, but was that a mistake? ¡°Anyway, what kind of trap is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a bit quieter, moderate, and simple trap.¡± With a smile on his face, Jude stared into space as he thought of Markville¡¯s map in his mind. ¡°First of all, there is only one inn in Markville where nobles like us can stay. In other words, if we can lure them into the fact that we¡¯re heading to Markville, they¡¯re going to focus on the only inn ¨C White Dove Inn.¡± The two knew who wereing, so they knew how to wee them too. ¡°What if they don¡¯te to Markville?¡± ¡°Then we¡¯ll have to set up the next trap. But it¡¯s highly likely that they wille this time.¡± ¡°Because Saluzia is impatient?¡± ¡°Bingo.¡± She, who was a high-ranking demonic human and also the branch head, had personally gone in the past to capture the two of them. Perhaps she wanted to go this time too. ¡®But she must be busy with their ns for the royal capital now.¡¯ The founding anniversary was also a very important event for the Devil¡¯s Hand. ¡®In any case, Saluzia is in a hurry, and now that we¡¯vee out looking so defenseless, there¡¯s a high possibility that she¡¯ll make a quick decision.¡¯ Therefore, she would settle on White Dove Inn, Markville¡¯s only luxury amodation. ¡°We¡¯ll only get one room.¡± ¡°Uh, wait. Just one?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a trap after all. We won¡¯t really need two, right?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll only end up sleeping if they don¡¯te and trigger the trap.¡± ¡°That¡­you¡¯re right. Well, but haven¡¯t we done it before?¡± They always shared the same room in the wildnds. ¡°And this is to narrow down their targets into one too.¡± ¡°Ugghhhh.¡± Cordelia puffed her cheeks as she hesitated, but soon nodded her head. They had done it before as Jude had said. ¡®We¡¯ll be saving on expenses too. Yes, that¡¯s it.¡¯ Cordelia was relieved after she added another reason, and she focused on their n again. ¡°What about the room?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll noisily enter the room, and then sneak out and hide ourselves in a ce where we can watch the room.¡± ¡°Is that possible?¡± ¡°Yes, I know the secret passage.¡± Jude replied so naturally to Cordelia¡¯s question that she blinked her eyes but decided to stop thinking about it and soon said. ¡°JudeWiki is awesome.¡± ¡°Hehe, it¡¯s not called a wiki for no reason.¡± Jude pretended to show off before he concluded his exnation. ¡°We¡¯ll defeat the one who try to attack us or run away. It¡¯s simple but effective.¡± In order to catch an assassin, it was necessary to bring out the hidden assassin from its hiding ce. ¡°But Jude, will it really work as you said?¡± ¡°It will turn out well. It¡¯s Lou, Ken, and Kargo.¡± He designed the trap based on his understanding of the personalities of the three demonic humans. But it was at that moment. Jude¡¯s confident smile suddenly turned into a mischievous one as he said. ¡°Shall we make a bet?¡± ¡°What kind of bet?¡± ¡°If my n will work or not.¡± ¡°What will we bet?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­well. How about granting a wish for anything?¡± ¡°Anything?¡± ¡°Yes, anything.¡± Jude said with a good-natured smile, but Cordelia knew. That Jude¡¯s expression was what he makes when he scams someone. ¡®But.¡¯ Wouldn¡¯t it be impossible for Jude to get everything right such as where they would attack, their numbers, and who would be there? ¡°If you miss one, will I win?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°You said ¡®anything¡¯?¡± ¡°Yes, anything you wish. Well, it can¡¯t be helped if you¡¯re scared.¡± The provoking Jude had a wily smile, and Cordelia pouted and thought about it as she clenched her fists. Because her desire to win, which had been burning every day for the past 5 years, had been lit anew. ¡°Okay! Let¡¯s do it!¡± ¡°Thank you, dear customer. You can sign here.¡± Jude pretended to give her a paper in the air, and Cordelia pretended to stamp her fingerprint on it. ¡°Thank you. Then shall we wait for the result?¡± Jude said, and Cordelia somehow felt something but quickly shook her head. Even if he is Jude, he can still get one thing wrong. He¡¯ll get one thing wrong. He has to be wrong. Please. And that night. When darkness descended because the clouds covered both the light of the moons and the stars. ¡°Well, it really happened.¡± Jude abominably said and Cordelia was about to cry. *** Lou, Ken, and Kargo. Among the three mid-ranking demonic humans of the Devil¡¯s Hand, it was Kargo who personally entered the inn. He was bewildered by the empty room and searched under the bed, inside the closet, or any ce where they could possibly hide, but not a single trace of Jude and Cordelia was seen. ¡®What happened?¡¯ He clearly saw them entering the inn. But nothing will change if he denied the reality in front of him. Kargo went out of the balcony and signaled that the operation had failed. Then he tilted his head again. ¡®What?¡¯ Why is a reply noting back? Kargo shook his head and shrugged at the ominous feeling that began to deeply creep inside his heart. He sent a signal again. ¡®What¡¯s going on? What in the hell is going on?¡¯ Lou and Ken should have received his signal. But not even one of them were responding. Something must have gone wrong. That was all he could think of. ¡®Let¡¯s get out of here first.¡¯ It was foolish to check on Lou and Ken in this current situation. The priority was to get out of here first, even if it was only Kargo himself. Having made up his mind, Kargo took a few breaths and then left the room slowly. He went through the hallway and took a normal route instead of jumping down from the balcony, and after leaving the inn as inconspicuously as possible, he hid himself in the shadows. He left the town just like that. It all went smoothly for him. He was able to get out of the town without any difficulty. ¡°Haa.¡± Kargo unconsciously sighed in relief. But he was suddenly robbed of his breath. Chwllak-! Right after he left the town. A ce where damage would not reach the town. The ck detonating cord wrapped around Kargo¡¯s neck in an instant. Its swiftness seemed to be like that of a live octopus¡¯ tentacles. ¡°Gak?!¡± Kargo immediately transformed into his demonic human form after being strangled. His body instantly grew, and three horns rose above his head. ¡°Who are you!¡± At the moment he cried out, the detonating cord flew in the air again. Kargo tore off the detonating cord that was wrapped around his neck, and roughly swung his right hand that had turned into a de, but the flying detonating cords swam in the air to avoid his attack. Just like tentacles again, the detonating cords wrapped around Kargo¡¯s left arm and waist. ¡°Ugh?!¡± A telekic power. And it set off one after another. Babababang! The detonating cord exploded and Kargo¡¯s left arm fell. His waist was also severely injured, and his neck was half broken. ¡°Haa!¡± But Kargo had a regenerative power. He immediately recovered from his wounds and threw his gaze towards the direction from which the detonating cords came from, but a golden whirlwind suddenly blew behind his back. One blow. Jude¡¯s fist that was filled with the energy of the ck dragon swiftly prated Kargo¡¯s back. It struck the heart and destroyed it. ¡°Ahh!¡± Kargo turned around as he vomited ck blood. But he couldn¡¯t see Jude. A golden whirlwind appeared again, and a de of light flew in the dark towards Kargo¡¯s chest and pierced the spirit stone that was right next to his heart. Heavenly Judgment. The pure white de was filled with the angel¡¯s power. ¡°Light of Judgment.¡± As Cordelia chanted it like a spell, the de of Heavenly Judgment shone again, and Kargo¡¯s entire body turned into ck ashes and scattered in the air. They defeated him through a series of surprise attacks. A ring of light appeared around Cordelia and Jude. ¡°As expected of my angel.¡± Jude let out in admiration, and Cordelia hmphed and recovered the Heavenly Judgment. Because she was happy that she was able to properly use her angelic power one way or another. ¡°And¡­¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°That¡¯s all you¡¯re praising me?¡± Jude blinked his eyes when Cordelia asked, but he soon understood it. ¡°Detonating cord.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± ¡°It was amazing. I really thought that it was a tentacle.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Cordelia let out an aura that was asking for more praise, but Jude stopped there for now. Because they still had some work to do. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s begin our counterattack. Let¡¯s join the Guardians of the Holy Cross at the city of Mte.¡± When Jude suddenly spoke in a firm tone, Cordelia blinked her eyes but soon came into an agreement. Because she met eyes with Jude. ¡°Okay, I understand. Is it arge-scale surprise attack?¡± ¡°The troops of the Guardians in the S?len Kingdom will gather together. Now¡¯s the time to eradicate the Devil¡¯s Hand in the north.¡± Jude said that and looked at her again, and Cordelia perfectly understood him as they began to quickly run. 5 minutes passed by like that. Cordelia turned to Jude when she thought that they had widened their distance enough. ¡°What was that? Are we really attacking them? Was there such an event? No, did you talk to the Guardians?¡± ¡°No, there isn¡¯t. It¡¯s a lie of course.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a lie?¡± ¡°Yes, a lie.¡± Jude smiled as he exined to Cordelia who began to frown. ¡°Because Kargo can leave residual thoughts. Probably by tomorrow morning, the Devil¡¯s Hand will find out that they died. They will also collect Kargo¡¯s residual thoughts.¡± And Kargo¡¯s residual thoughts wouldpletely convey their conversation. And the changes that would result from it¡­ Saluzia¡¯s branch would stop chasing Jude and Cordelia and instead prepare for the Guardians of the Holy Cross¡¯ surprise attack which they didn¡¯t know when it would begin. He even mentioned clearly the name of the city where their branch headquarters was located, so they couldn¡¯t just ignore it. ¡°Wow, you damn scammer.¡± Cordelia said in admiration, and Jude smirked as he asked like always. ¡°So, you don¡¯t like it?¡± ¡°I love it so much. It¡¯s so good.¡± Cordelia broadly smiled, and the satisfied Jude gently stretched out his hand. It was to escort her. ¡°Well then, my princess. Shall we go to the Temple of Life?¡± The Devil¡¯s Hand would probably not care for them for some time. ¡°Yes, Daddy.¡± Cordelia grinned and answered, but she climbed on Jude¡¯s back instead of holding his hand. Jude then created a golden whirlwind. ¡°By the way, Princess.¡± ¡°Yes, Milord.¡± ¡°I can wish for anything, right?¡± Cordelia stiffened instead of answering him, and Jude had a shameless smile. ¡°What should I wish for?¡± Cordelia unconsciously gulped in nervousness, and Jude deliberately stopped talking. By doing that, Cordelia woulde up with all sorts of delusions on her own. ¡®So cute.¡¯ Jude mischievously smiled before he quietly turned into a gale. He headed to the Temple of Life with Cordelia who was beginning to grumble. Chapter 134: Temple of Life (1)

Chapter 134: Temple of Life (1)

Reallyte post, but anyway, Happy New Year to everyone! Terms used in this chapter: Words can be a seed ¨C Korean proverb that means if something negative is said repeatedly, it may actually happen. Aerith, the goddess of life. Although she was not an archangel like Sri, she was a powerful celestial being just below the archangel rank ¨C a Seraphim. The earth where she first appeared was apletely different ce from now. Danger was everywhere, and disasters such as earthquakes and floods happened on a daily basis. The humans could not even found a proper country as they were nothing more than prey to be chased by the demons who upied more than half of the continent. ¡°The benevolent Aerith couldn¡¯t leave the humans alone like that.¡± Her original reason foring down on earth had nothing to do with taking care of humans. It was to stop the demons who were trying to advance on earth since her ultimate goal was to protect the heavens. But at some point, she began to focus more on protecting and taking care of the humans, and the humans worshipped her as the benevolent goddess of life. ¡°But just like Sri, Aerith didn¡¯tst forever.¡± Sri, the goddess of the sun. A supreme being. The most powerful god of the humans. But she died in a fight against the overlord of hell, and disappeared from earth. Aerith wasn¡¯t much different either. The opponent she fought was not the overlord, but she also lost her life after repeatedly fighting to protect the humans. ¡°Aerith disappeared, and her denomination lost their central figure and began to decline. The demons then used their followers to thoroughly destroy the Church of Life.¡± That was not the only cause of their downfall. After the disappearance of the goddess, the power that the priests of the Aerith denomination could use was greatly limited, so countless people turned to the other still standing denominations in search of a stronger power and strength to protect themselves. ¡°The death of the goddess, the persistent attack of the demons, and then the people who changed denominations¡­those were the obvious reasons on why the Church of Life disappeared and became history.¡± The Church of Life disappeared, and everyone forgot about its existence. ¡°But her legacy has notpletely disappeared. Aerith loved the humans on earth, so her thoughts¡­no, her love still remains on earth.¡± The Temple of Life and the Sphere of Life that was enshrined there were evidence. ¡°So¡­are you listening? Cordelia?¡± Jude asked the person on his back, but an answer did not immediately return. ¡°Hey, Cordelia? You asked me about their story, right?¡± He asked again, but there was still no answer. ¡®I don¡¯t think she¡¯s sleeping.¡¯ It was difficult to see her face because she was on his back, but he could tell by the sound of her breath. The breathing of a sleeping person was unique. ¡®There¡¯s also the feeling when she¡¯s on my back.¡¯ Because there was a clear difference between carrying a sleeping person on his back and carrying a still awake person who steadied themselves to prevent falling from his back. ¡®Eh¡­don¡¯t tell me she¡¯s still thinking about that?¡¯ They had reached this far from the town they left. At least two hours had passed by at this point. And Jude¡¯s guess was right on target. ¡®What? What is it? What kind of wish will he ask?¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s worries gradually intensified, and her delusions also ran wild. ¡®It can¡¯t be, right? It can¡¯t be, it can¡¯t be, ¡­right?¡¯ Dahlia¡¯s endless delusions lingered in Cordelia¡¯s mind. To be exact, it was Dahlia¡¯s words that lingered. ¨C ¡®Wouldn¡¯t he? He¡¯ll seriously want to, right?¡¯ To kiss. To touch each other¡¯s lips. Mouth to mouth. The one Adelia-unnie really liked to do. ¨C ¡®Mr. Bayer is also a man, a man.¡¯ She was right. Jude was also a man. Just as Dahlia said, he was a man. And Cordelia was a teenage girl who was at the height of her dreams and delusions. ¡®What if it¡¯s true?¡¯ If Jude asks me to kiss him as his wish. If something like that is what he really mentions. If he really wanted to kiss me. Cordelia¡¯s face turned red. Blood rushed to her head, and her delusions further grew. The kissing scene between Adelia and Ga?l that she saw on the day of engagement was reyed in her mind, and that scene was greatly beautified through the filter of a girl¡¯s delusions. ¡®Uuunnnnn¡­¡¯ Embarrassing. It¡¯s so embarrassing. But. But if somehow¡­ ¡®Aaah! No! I have to stop thinking! He¡¯s Jude! Jude! Outboxer009!¡¯ The b*stard who insulted me and ran away during the first time we met, saying that I¡¯m bad at games! ¡®That¡¯s right! So he won¡¯t ask for such a strange wish! He¡¯ll definitely make another wish!¡¯ Rather, it would be reasonable for him to make a wish to humiliate Cordelia. ¡®Yes, yes, that¡¯s more logical.¡¯ But. But what if¡­ Suppose if¡­ ¡®The possibility¡­¡¯ Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh! Cordelia silently screamed and tried to catch her breath. But even though she tried to do so, her glowing red face did not lessen. ¡®Ah, I don¡¯t know! First of all, I¡¯m a woman who keeps her word!¡¯ I¡¯ll do it if he asks me to do it! So what if I do it! A kiss doesn¡¯t make your lips wear out! It¡¯s not anyone else but Jude! ¡®That¡¯s right, Cordelia. Let¡¯s be open-minded!¡¯ We made a bet and I lost, so I¡¯ll ept it. I¡¯ll ept the result and not be a sore loser!¡¯ ¡®I can do it!¡¯ As a result of her continued delusions, Cordelia had alreadye to the conclusion that his wish would be a kiss, even though there was no basis for it. And new thoughts sprang up because of that. ¡®My lips¡­are fine, right?¡¯ It¡¯s not chapped, right? It seems fine when I touch it. It¡¯s soft and moist. ¡®Wait, what if it smells?¡¯ Come to think of it, when did I brush my teeth? Did I brush after dinner? ¡®What was the dinner menu this night?¡¯ I clearly ate at White Dove Inn. Steamed pork with potatoes and carrots, bread and¡­chicken soup! Cordelia quickly covered her mouth and slowly let out her breath. As she hurriedly sniffed it, she felt like she smelled a bit of pork in it. ¡®N-no. At this rate, my first kiss will be a steamed pork kiss¡­wait, wait-wait-wait!¡¯ I missed something very important. More important than a steamed pork kiss! ¡®M-my first kiss!¡¯ This is my first time. First. First. First time. And that other person is Jude? ¡®Wait, so Jude will get my first kiss achievement? First ce? Is he number one again? I¡¯m letting Jude get first ce with this? Even this?¡¯ Her head turned a bit cold. But it didn¡¯t help much because it was a result of her delusions running wild in the first ce. ¡®Calm down, calm down, Cordelia. Take a deep breath. Count the prime numbers. Yes, yes, let¡¯s count the prime numbers.¡¯ 2, 3, 5, 7, 11¡­ ¡®Prime numbers are solitary numbers that can only be divided by 1 and itself. They give me strength.¡¯ (T/N: The above is a reference to Enrico Pi from Jojo¡¯s Bizarre Adventure.) It was helpful. She could finally rx after thinking of the manga character¡¯s lines. ¡®Cordelia, Cordelia. Be strong. You promised, right? That you¡¯ll grant him anything. So you¡¯ll keep your word because you agreed to the bet!¡¯ Jude had never asked for a kiss, nor had he even mentioned anything, but it was already a settled matter in Cordelia¡¯s mind. ¡®Okay, let¡¯s brush my teeth first.¡¯ Make it clean and refreshing. Let¡¯s make my mouth clean with the mint I bought some time ago. Cordelia slowly closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She said in a calm voice, unaware of the fact that Jude had called her several times already. ¡°Jude.¡± ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°Yes, Jude. I want to brush my teeth.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Why so suddenly? ¡°It¡¯s important. I really want to clean it.¡± As Cordelia spoke again in a voice that somehow sounded very respectful, Jude frowned but he soon nodded. ¡®It¡¯s strange but¡­¡¯ A day or two had not even passed before Cordelia had spoken. Besides, they didn¡¯t have time to properly wash up after dinner. So her mouth seemed to have be dry. ¡®We¡¯ll have to brush it before we sleep anyway.¡¯ Jude nodded his head and replied as he continued to look in front of them. ¡°Hang in there a bit more. In one¡­no, in about 10 minutes or more, there¡¯ll be a ce where we can camp out.¡± ¡°10 minutes?¡± ¡°Yes, 10 minutes.¡± Cordelia¡¯s heart began to pound fast because of Jude¡¯s words. 10 minutes. 10 minutes from now. 10 minutester. It would be 10 minutester from now. ¡°Cordelia? Are you not feeling well?¡± ¡°Eh? Uh. I¡¯m fine. I¡¯mpletely fine.¡± ¡°Your breathing is¡­rough?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not. Yes, it¡¯s not.¡± Cordelia slowly and deeply breathed, and Jude increased his running speed instead of asking her further. He thought that they could talk about it once he put her down from his backter. And indeed, 10 minutester. Cordelia got off Jude¡¯s back and diligently brushed her teeth. Her mind had gone so delusional that the throbbing of her heart had even felt painful now, but she somehow continued to take deep breaths to calm herself. ¡®Good, good. Alright.¡¯ The moonlight is good enough. It seems to set the mood a bit. ¡®Let¡¯s go. Let¡¯s do it.¡¯ After packing up her toothbrush, Cordelia mentally prepared herself before turning to Jude. And Jude said. ¡°I¡¯ve made the bed, so let¡¯s sleep. I¡¯ve set up and spells, so we don¡¯t have to keep a night watch.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go. I¡¯m tired.¡± He fought once and even ran for more than 2 hours. In Cordelia¡¯s case, she didn¡¯t run and was carried on his back, but it was also difficult to be on the back of Jude who was running at a fast speed. Just like getting tired after riding a horse for a long time. ¡°Then good night, dream of me.¡± ¡°Yes, good night¡­no, wait!¡± ¡°Cordelia?¡± As Jude blinked his eyes, Cordelia unknowingly answered in her excitement. ¡°No! Hey! You¡¯re just going to sleep?¡± ¡°Then what?¡± ¡°W-wish! Tell me your wish!¡± ¡°Can I do itter?¡± ¡°No! I won¡¯t let you do itter!¡± Cordelia shouted as if whining, and Jude blinked his eyes but nodded his head afterwards. ¡°Okay, then I¡¯ll make my wish now.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia flinched and then gulped in nervousness. Her heart pounded fast and she even closed her eyes. And after 1 second, 2 seconds. Jude said his wish. *** ¡°Hey.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Is this really a wish?¡± ¡°Should I wish for something better then?¡± ¡°No.¡± Jude was lying on Cordelia¡¯sp as a pillow, and Cordelia was cleaning Jude¡¯s ears. ¡®Something¡¯s not right.¡¯ It¡¯s good that¡­we didn¡¯t cross the line. It¡¯s really good. But what is this, this feeling that I¡¯ve been deceived. This strange frustration. ¡°What did you think I was going to make you do? This is perfect. It¡¯s also nice. I don¡¯t know how long it has been since I¡¯ve had someone clean my ears.¡± ¡°Umm¡­¡± He wasn¡¯t exactly wrong. Cordelia herself never had someone else clean her ears except when she was very young. ¡°But Jude. Do you really like this?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s nice.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­then I¡¯ll clean your ears once in a while.¡± ¡°Eh? No strings attached?¡± ¡°Yes, no strings attached.¡± Cordelia hadn¡¯t actually spoken about it until now, but she had always felt indebted to Jude. ¡®Jude always cooked for me.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t just the meals. Jude carried her on his back when her legs hurt, and he prepared their sleeping ce all the time. Cordelia had honestly felt indebted to Jude that she was worried if there was any way for her to repay him. ¡°Tell me if your ears feel itchy in the future. I¡¯ll clean it for you.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s deration, Jude said with a deeply touched face. ¡°My princess, are you all grown up now?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m all grown up. I¡¯m an adult. So turn around. I¡¯ll clean the other side.¡± ¡°Yes, Madam.¡± When Jude turned around, Cordelia swept back his hair that had fallen to the side and focused her attention on the ear again. And the next morning. Standing at the entrance of the Temple of Life that was hidden deep in the mountains, Jude and Cordelia lightly clenched and opened their fists. ¡°Do you remember the original?¡± ¡°Yes, I remember.¡± One could visit the Temple of Life 8 months after the Cordelia route in the original, but it was now almost four months earlier than the original. ¡°It may not have anything unusual like the Temple of Sri where Leisegang is sealed¡­but such a possibility still exists.¡± The Temple of Life which Jude and Cordelia knew was the one that was four months from now. Therefore, a situation different from what the two knew could happen inside the temple. ¡°But Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± ¡°It¡¯s rather ominous if you keep saying that. Don¡¯t you know that words can be a seed?¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s true.¡± In fact, the situation was unlikely to be different four months before the original. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go then.¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go.¡± Jude was in the front and Cordelia was in the rear. As they formed a line, the two entered the cave which was the entrance to the temple. And around 30 minutester. ¡°Hey! I told you that words can be a seed!¡± ¡°It¡¯sing!¡± ¡°Explosion!¡± Cordelia¡¯s magic exploded inside the temple which waspletely different from the one they remembered. Chapter 135: Temple of Life (2)

Chapter 135: Temple of Life (2)

30 minutes ago. Right after they entered the temple. The entrance to the forgotten Temple of Life was connected to cave hidden in an unfrequented ce, just like the temple where Leisegang was sealed. ¡°.¡± Cordelia created a small light and Jude slowly advanced as he searched his memories. ¡®The Temple of Life.¡¯ An open dungeon that could be conquered by any character. But given its location, only the yable characters from the S?len Kingdom like Cordelia, Jude, and Lucas could actually conquer it. ¡®It¡¯s impossible to explore it after a certain period of time.¡¯ Usually, the best time to conquer it was between the 8 months to 1 year from the beginning of the Cordelia route. Because by this time, the entire S?len Kingdom had already be a battlefield after the barbarians¡¯ invasion of the north and destruction of the royal capital. ¡®But it¡¯s different now.¡¯ Only four months had passed since the beginning of the Cordelia route, and the barbarians¡¯ invasion of the northern part of the kingdom would not happen now. ¡®All that we can get from the Temple of Life is the Sphere of Life.¡¯ A divine item that contained the power of Aerith, the goddess of life, and granted a strong regenerative ability to its user. ¡®It¡¯s on the 3rd floor of the basement¡­and there would be small mobs and temple guardians on the way.¡¯ Since Jude and Cordelia were over level 70, there were no particrly difficult opponents for them in this ce except for the low-ranking angel that guarded the Sphere of Life. Well, it was that kind of ce. But. ¡°Screeeeeeeeech!¡± With their wildly eerie shrieks, monsters that looked like giant bats attacked them without end. ¡°F*ck! So disgusting!¡± The giant bats weren¡¯t the size of a palm but were at least over a meter tall from head to toe. It would actually be more correct to describe them as scary rather than disgusting. Cordelia unknowingly swore and hurriedly caused an explosion in front of her. ¡°Why! Why is this happening! These monsters did not exist in the original!¡± ¡°Keeeeeeeea!¡± Five or six bats were blown away by the explosion, but there were still many bats left. Dozens of them swarmed again as if to fill in the void created by the explosion. ¡°ck Dragon¡¯s Ascent!¡± Jude stretched out his hand and released the energy of the ck dragon. A couple of bats were swept away by the ck dragon, and the rest of the bats were greatly split left and right. ¡°Let¡¯s jump!¡± ¡°¡± With Double Casting and Spell¡¯s Echo! Four balls of fire that were around a meter in diameter soared into the sky. Jude hugged Cordelia¡¯s waist and lifted her up as he ced her over his shoulder because he realized what Cordelia was about to do next. ¡°Split! Explosion!¡± As Cordelia swung the Moonlight and shouted, the balls of fire split into dozens of smaller balls and covered the ceiling. When it exploded, all they could see was a zing inferno. Bang! Bang! Bang! ¡°Kiaaaaa!¡± The bats screamed and fell to the floor while Jude eximed. ¡°Hey! Are you crazy?! The cave will copse at this rate!¡± ¡°Run before it copses then!¡± Cordelia quickly shouted and gasped as she poured out all of her mana at once, but did not stop her movement. She raised her left hand and activated Count Chase¡¯s ring. ¡°¡± The golden whirlwind created by Jude blew away the mes and smoke, and Cordelia¡¯s shield protected them from the bats that fell from the ceiling. From a closer look, the giant bats were even scarier and more disgusting. ¡°What happened? There wasn¡¯t anything like this in the original!¡± ¡°We¡¯re 4 months early!¡± They arrived four months earlier than the time it could be explored in the original. But monsters that were not seen in the original were now swarming inside the cave. And what could be inferred from that was¡­ ¡°Eh? Then someone had entered the Temple of Life in the original in those four months?¡± ¡°It¡¯s possible?¡± Jude arranged Cordelia¡¯s position on his shoulder and shouted back, while Cordelia who was in a prone position and could see Jude¡¯s back ¨C to be exact, she could only see his back and buttocks, so she forcibly raised her upper body, looked behind her and shouted again. Because she suddenly remembered something. ¡°The empty room on the 2nd floor!¡± There should have been something on the second floor of the Temple of Life given the ambience and structure, but it was just an empty space with nothing! Jude paused for a moment at Cordelia¡¯s cry, before he immediately understood it. ¡°As I thought, you¡¯re a rotten water too!¡± Cordelia was a rotten water too, but it was less obvious because of Jude himself. She wasn¡¯t just some rotten water, as she was the 2nd ce in the server rankings, making her one of the most rotten among the rotten waters! ¡°Hey! Are you trying to boast that you¡¯re first ce?¡± ¡°Anyway! You¡¯re right, Cordelia! The empty room on the 2nd floor!¡± The reason why it was empty. ¡°Because someone had already taken it!¡± Cordelia eximed, and Jude agreed with her. And the gamer brains of the two activated after a long time. ¡°Someone strong enough to change the ecosystem of the cave!¡± ¡°The stuff that such a strong person took!¡± ¡°They didn¡¯t even stop by the third floor!¡± ¡°Their purpose was the second floor from the very beginning, and they knew what was there!¡± ¡°ck Dragon¡¯s Ascent!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t shout the skill name! ¡± Jude released a ck dragon with his right hand, and the dragon smashed the giant spider-looking monster in front of him. On the other hand, the wall of mes created by Cordelia had blocked the monsters that were trying to attack them from behind. ¡°You shouted it too!¡± ¡°It¡¯s a spell! It¡¯s necessary!¡± ¡°Anyway!¡± ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t change the topic!¡± The bats swarmed above them again. The cave felt really big in the game, and it was indeed a really big cave in reality. ¡°I¡¯m jumping! Clench your teeth!¡± ¡°Yes!¡± As soon as Cordelia closed her mouth, Jude jumped high above the ground. Because there was a dark body of water in front of them. ¡°Hiiissssss!¡± A snake-like monster rose from the river in the cave, and it was so dark that they couldn¡¯t tell how deep the river was. ¡°¡± ¡°Kiaaak!¡± Cordelia shuddered as she threw the white magic missile into the mouth of the snake-like monster, and Jude held Cordelia¡¯s waist more tightly as he kicked the air. He created a ck gale and jumped over the river that was nearly 10 meters wide. ¡°There are too many monsters!¡± ¡°We¡¯re almost there! It¡¯s the second floor!¡± At Jude¡¯s yell, Cordelia forcibly raised her upper body and twisted it a bit to be able to look at Jude¡¯s front. She could then see the white stairs that led down. ¡°Cordelia!¡± ¡°¡± Since it was narrow, Cordelia created a me barrier to block the way to the stairs, and Jude quickly went down the stairs. ¡°¡± She cast the magic again. The white light drove away the darkness, and Jude panted as he put down Cordelia from his shoulder onto the floor. ¡°There¡¯s too many of them.¡± Jude and Cordelia¡¯s levels were so high now that they wouldn¡¯t earn that much experience points with these trivial mobs, but if the monsters numbered this high, it seemed like their levels would rise by one if they defeated everything. ¡®We¡¯ll sweep themter.¡¯ They had to achieve their purpose first. But it was then. Cordelia panted beside Jude and suddenly tapped him on the shoulder. ¡°Jude, Jude.¡± ¡°Yes? Why?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t the ceiling here¡­originally white?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± The ceiling of the Temple of Life. Jude reflexively looked up at the ceiling and saw a ceiling that was covered in green and not white. Why? Why is the ceiling green when it was originally white? Moreover, why does it seem to be moving like jelly? ¡°F*ck.¡± Jude said and Cordelia agreed. So she said it too. ¡°F*ck.¡± ¡°Run!¡± The ceiling shook at that moment as if responding to Jude¡¯s cry. The green mass split into dozens and hundreds of pieces and began to fall down from the ceiling to the ground. ¡°Acid Sh-! Slime!¡± Cordelia bit her tongue once when Jude carried her over his shoulder again, but she managed to finish her words properly. Acid Slime. As it name implied, it was a slime whose acid melted everything that it touched. ¡°¡± Saaash-! A fist-sized green mass fell on top of the shield that Cordelia quickly spread open. It came from the slime¡¯s body, and as soon as it touched the floor, it prated the ground with a sizzling sound. ¡°ck Wind¡¯s Advent!¡± Jude created a ck gale as he ran on the ground, and Cordelia made Jude¡¯s body fly in the air with magic. Because more than half of the ground was already covered with slime. ¡°Let¡¯s run!¡± There were too many of it that it would be hard to fight them one by one. Jude manipted the wind to push himself in the air, and Cordelia looked around. There was a possibility that other monsters mighte out other than the slime. ¡°Someone defeated all these? Did an armye?¡± Jude frowned at Cordelia¡¯s question. Because there were too many monsters that it would be hard to fight all of them alone. An army as Cordelia said. If not, someone who could create an army. ¡®Summoner?¡¯ If that person was the famous summoner of Legend of Heroes 2¡­ ng! ng! ng! A sharp metallic sound interrupted Jude¡¯s thoughts. Because sharp des rose from both walls like a trap. ¡°It¡¯s a Living Sword!¡± Cordelia¡¯s words were not wrong. The soaring des flew towards Jude who broke through the slime zone as he began to run at a terrifying speed on the ground. ¡°What are you nning to do?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll go first to the empty room on the second floor!¡± It was a dead end, but the entrance was not so wide, so it was a good ce to fight against multiple enemies. In addition, there would have been one more there that he was expecting. ¡°We¡¯re almost there!¡± ¡°Hurry! There are even Living Armors now!¡± The Living Armors appeared and made rattling sounds as they united with the Living Swords by grabbing them before closely following Jude and Cordelia. They seemed to number thirty by Jude¡¯s rough estimate. ¡®What kind of temple is this!¡¯ There were too many monsters despite it being a temple. The Living Armors that were quickly following them were not of the Guardian type, but armors that were stained with the demon¡¯s power. The ce was more of air of demons rather than a temple. But that was why Jude saw the possibility. ¡°As expected!¡± The empty room on the second floor. Jude clenched his fist as soon as he got inside, and Cordelia saw what was over Jude¡¯s shoulder after he put her down. In the original, they only saw the remains of a pure white golem! ¡°Kuoooo!¡± A pure white golem that was 4 meters tall raised its body. It seemed to have reacted to Jude and Cordelia. ¡°It¡¯s the guardian of the temple!¡± The Church of Life¡¯s emblem that was engraved on its chest made it clear to them. And Cordelia also understood what Jude was nning. Let¡¯s use this. Let¡¯s have the golem deal with the monsters! ¡®You know what to do, right?¡¯ ¡®I know!¡¯ Immediately after they exchanged nces. Cordelia turned and looked at their back while Jude looked in front. The two who faced the Living Armors and the golem shouted at the same time. ¡°¡°Now!¡±¡± A perfect timing. Cordelia turned around and threw herself, while Jude also threw himself. They rolled between the legs of therge golem and run away. And the result that happened was¡­ The Living Armors and the Guardian Golem came face to face with each other. ¡°Kuooo!¡± As they had expected, a battle urred between the Guardian Golem and the Living Armors. Jude and Cordelia quickly stepped back and caught their breath. ¡°Haa, haa¡­¡± ¡°Huu, huu¡­¡± A short time had only passed, but both of them were sweating a lot because they were running under serious stress. Cordelia wiped the sweat on her forehead as she watched the Living Armors and the Guardian Golem battling it out. ¡°Who do you think will win?¡± ¡°The Guardian Golem?¡± When Jude said that, Cordelia nodded and pulled out the detonating cord from her waist pocket. And around 5 minutester. The Guardian Golem¡¯s giant fist smashed around ten Living Armors, and the remaining ones stepped back and began to flee. As Jude had expected, it was a victory for the Guardian Golem. ¡°Kuooooo!¡± The Guardian Golem roared in its victory before it turned around. There was still an enemy that it needed to take care of in its domain ¨C because Jude and Cordelia were still in the room. And that was why Cordelia used her telekic power. Chachachag! Something flew towards the Guardian Golem¡¯s chest as soon as it turned around. The Guardian Golem lowered its head to look at its chest and saw the detonating cord forming into the shape of a star. A pentagram. And a big circle around the stars. ¡°Kuo?¡± The Guardian Golem raised its head and Cordelia snapped her fingers. Baaaang! A really beautiful star-shaped explosion. Moreover, its power was extraordinary. It was the result of not only adding Cordelia¡¯s explosion magic to the firepower of the detonating cord, but also from the star shape which somehow formed a kind of magic circle that amplified the power of the explosion magic once more. ¡°Kueoeoeo¡­¡± The Guardian Golem had its core broken so it copsed, and Cordelia turned to Jude and shed a V-sign with her fingers. ¡°Ta-da!¡± It looked like a simple attack, but it was an attackbining the detonating cord, explosion magic, and a magic circle! Jude grasped the power and difficulty of her attack at once, and replied with sincerity. ¡°Sure enough, it¡¯s a Star Explosion indeed!¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not? That¡¯s not its name, okay?¡± But Cordelia seemed to secretly like it as the smile on her face did not disappear. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go again.¡± The monsters woulde back since the Guardian was now gone. But Cordelia clicked her tongue and threw the detonating cord in her waist into the air again. Chak! Chak! Chak! The detonating cord that was controlled by her telekinesis were then attached to the ceiling near the entrance, and Jude understood what Cordelia was trying to do. Boooom! Detonating cords were originally used at construction sites in order to cut rocks and other things into a desired shape. Cordelia skillfully broke the ceiling and blocked the entrance with the rocks that fell from the explosion. ¡°How is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s awesome.¡± Jude pped his hands and realized again that Cordelia was abat genius. ¡®I wouldn¡¯t have even thought of using it that way.¡¯ It was not an exaggeration to say that her understanding and skill in using weapons were superior to that of Jude himself. ¡®She won 2nd ce through battles alone.¡¯ ¡°What are you thinking?¡± ¡°My princess is so pretty.¡± ¡°What is this crazy b*stard saying?¡± Cordelia hmphed, but the corners of her mouth were still slightly raised up. ¡°How cute.¡± ¡°You wanna die?¡± ¡°Anyway, we can take a rest now thanks to you.¡± They had hurriedly ran so they had used up quite a bit of their mana and stamina. So he thought that they should go out after they had rested enough. ¡°Isn¡¯t there something else we need to check?¡± ¡°There is something we have to check.¡± The reason why there was an empty room in the second floor. An item targeted by the person who entered the Temple of Life within the four months before it could be explored in the game. Jude and Cordelia turned around and headed towards the altar that was guarded by the Guardian Golem. ¡°I can feel a divine power.¡± Cordelia naturally turned into an angel and absorbed the divine power, while Jude stopped in front of the altar. ¡°Please.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia nodded once and stepped forward. She then touched the box on the altar. It was a fairlyrge box that was the size of an adult¡¯s upper body, so she had no idea on what was inside. ¡°Open.¡± When Cordelia said in deration as she put her hand on the box, an immense divine power was released as if to devour Cordelia. If Cordelia had not been an angel, her whole body would have been burned by the divine mes. ¡°Are you okay?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m okay.¡± Cordelia unconsciously let out a bewildered voice, but she shook her head and concentrated. Considering the situation, this was more like the real trap to protect the divine item rather than the Guardian Golem. ¡®I¡¯m d I¡¯m an angel.¡¯ Thank you, Lena. Thank you, Jude. Cordelia mentally thanked the two people who helped her with her ancestral regression, before she turned her gaze back into the box. It was a tiara, a small crown that was worn over the head. The beautifully shaped golden tiara had several jewels embedded in it. ¡°The Tiara of Life.¡± An S-rank item that not only increased the rank of life attribute magic of the user by 1 rank, but it also unconditionally doubled the number of creatures that could be summoned with life-rted summoning magic. Moreover, that wasn¡¯t the only effect. If one became the true owner of the Tiara of Life, they would be able to use the one of the highest ranking magic in the life attribute skill tree, . ¡°Wow¡­¡± Cordelia fully admired it as she gulped several times. Because it was the graduation item for wizards who used life attribute magic or for priests who used life attribute magic from the very beginning as their foundation. ¡°That item came from here.¡± The item only came out in the second half of the game. Cordelia admired it again before she tried to gently ce the tiara above her head. ¡°H-how is it? Does it suit me?¡± She asked somehow shyly, but Jude blinked his eyes and suddenly clenched his fist instead of answering. ¡°I got it.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I got it.¡± Who entered the Temple of Life within that four months. Who took the Tiara of Life. Jude was obviouslycking in evidence. Only a few conditions were met. But Jude was strongly convinced on who it was. ¡°A man who usesrge-scale summoning.¡± It was also a person who used summoning magic based on the life attribute. Someone who yearned for the Tiara of Life because they had studied magic that could grant life for many years. ¡°They didn¡¯t even stop by the third floor.¡± They did not covet the Sphere of Life. They were satisfied with the Tiara of Life. The Tiara of Life was their only goal. A person who valued it. A person who did not appear in the game even though they had the Tiara of Life. That person wasn¡¯t just hiding. That person died a few months after getting the Tiara of Life. So the Tiara of Life was found somewhere else in the second half of the game. And there was one more evidence here. The remains of the Guardian Golem that were scattered in the empty room on the second floor. It was destroyed by a powerful life attribute magic. A smile spread over Jude¡¯s face. A natural smile that he made after solving a mystery. ¡°Jude?¡± ¡°I think I know that person.¡± There was only one person he could think of when he put together all the clues they had. ¡°Necromancer Velkian.¡± One of the five heroes. A hero from Legend of Heroes 1 who disappeared and was not seen in Legend of Heroes 2. ¡®I found it.¡¯ How to make Velkiane out of hiding. How to make him find Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Y-you¡¯re smiling like a scammer again.¡± Despite Cordelia¡¯sment, Jude¡¯s smile deepened. He looked at the Tiara of Life as if he was a fisherman who found the best bait. Chapter 136: Temple of Life (3)

Chapter 136: Temple of Life (3)

Sorry for thete chapter. I had to help my mom file taxes online for my aunt¡¯s business, so it took quite some time since they were not familiar with online filing and stuff. Anyway, the next two chapters might be dyed because they are long. The chapters are always long when that person is involved, hahaha. Terms used in this chapter: CAD ¨C abbreviation forputer-aided design. It is the use ofputer software to design and document a product or project¡¯s design process. Engineers and architects are some of the people who use CAD for their projects. Those who studied it usually get a certificate for it. Most of the yable characters in Legend of Heroes 1 were young people at the peak of their youth. But like what the word ¡®most¡¯ meant, there was one old man who was above the average age, and that was Necromancer Velkian. ¡®Everyone was in their 20s, but he alone was in the 70s¡­¡¯ He was a skinny and temperamental old man with gray hair. So there were a lot of theories that the reason he did not appear in Legend of Heroes 2 was because he naturally died from old age. The second episode took ce 10 years after the first episode, so he would have been an old man in his 80s who was nearing 90. But Jude didn¡¯t believe in that theory. Because Velkian in his 70s boasted a strength that wasparable to Kamael who was in his 20s. He was an old man who perfectly fit the words ¡®hale and hearty.¡¯ ¡®Because he is a necromancer.¡¯ The necromancers of Pleiades had a deep connection with the power of life. The Death magic they used was developed from Life magic, so one could say that they were also life attribute wizards. ¡®A schr who absolutely did not want to die.¡¯ Even in the first episode, he was a schr who loudly grumbled about extending his life, so he must have lived his life looking for ways to prolong it. ¡®He was a man who would even be willing to be a Lich if it was possible.¡¯ Velkian was unlike a necromancer- no, perhaps it was because he was a necromancer that he had such a strong obsession with life. ¡°So you think that it was Velkian who entered the Temple of Life within those four months?¡± ¡°Yes, probably. It¡¯s very highly likely that it was him.¡± Judeid out the reasons on why he thought so, and Cordelia nodded her head several times. ¡°Hmm, I see. Anyway, if Velkian wanted the Tiara of Life, did that mean he also knew what was inside the Temple of Life?¡± Cordelia¡¯s words made Jude¡¯s eyes open wide. ¡°Wow, my princess is smart!¡± ¡°Do you have a death wish?¡± Cordelia immediately cussed, but he could see from her face that she looked happy. In any case, Cordelia said as she crossed her arms. ¡°Hmm¡­ So you want Velkian toe to us? Velkian wants the Tiara of Life.¡± ¡°Yes, and maybe because of that-¡± ¡°We can save Velkian¡¯s life?¡± ¡°Bingo.¡± They did not yet know how Velkian died, but it might be possible to avoid the event that caused his death if theypletely changed where he went in the future. ¡°The problem is how to tell Velkian that we have the Tiara of Life.¡± ¡°Huh? That¡¯s easy.¡± ¡°It¡¯s easy?¡± ¡°I mean, we can just write a letter and put it in the box, right? If we write something like: Oh, we beat you to it? Neener neener, aww¡­are you mad? ¨C wouldn¡¯t Velkiane to us right away because of his personality?¡± It was Cordelia¡¯s knee-jerk idea, but Jude reacted to something else. ¡°B-beat you to it¡­¡± Neener neener, aww¡­are you mad? Cordelia was embarrassed at Jude¡¯s stare and cleared her throat, but she continued to be brazen. ¡°It can¡¯t be helped because we need him to get angry.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, if you insist.¡± ¡°Hey, moving on, we can solve the problem if we write a letter, right?¡± ¡°Yes¡­perhaps it¡¯s better than spreading rumors that we have the Tiara of Life.¡± The Tiara of Life was a treasure coveted by even those who did not use life attribute magic. There was also a possibility that treasure hoarders would gather besides Velkian. ¡°But for now, let¡¯s hide your real name and write down an alias. Something like: Come to the capital and find Phantom Thief Pink Bomb.¡± ¡°Wait, Pink Bomb?¡± ¡°Yes, Pink Bomb.¡± Jude shed a smile, and Cordelia also smiled, though she gathered mana in both her hands. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯ll write the letter. You set up some traps.¡± ¡°So that others won¡¯t get it?¡± ¡°Yes, because someone other than Velkian mighte here.¡± Because there was also the possibility that contrary to Jude¡¯s expectations, Velkian had nothing to do with the Tiara of Life in the first ce. ¡®That¡¯s why we¡¯ll use an alias.¡¯ Bringing Velkian to the capital was the important part. Jude began writing words in an ancientnguage on a scroll that he had taken out from his pocket. ¡°You¡¯re even using some secret code?¡± ¡°Because I want Velkian to be the only one to recognize it as much as possible.¡± And it would be impossible for Cordelia to understand what he wrote. ¡°Are you doing something suspicious?¡± ¡°Hey, that¡¯s not true.¡± Jude strongly wrote the alias ¡®Phantom Thief Pink Bomb¡¯ in the ancientnguage before he turned to Cordelia. ¡°How¡¯s the trap?¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m almost done.¡± Cordelia was infusing divine power into the box while in her angel form, but somehow, she unconsciously had a wide- no, a suspicious smile. ¡®Why?¡¯ Jude felt uneasy, but he didn¡¯t try to make eye contact with Cordelia. Because she might figure out what he wrote in the letter. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s put it inside.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem, I¡¯ll put it in then.¡± When Jude put in the letter he wrote, Cordelia sealed the box and ced it on the altar. ¡°Okay, problem solved.¡± ¡°The only thing left is to hope that Velkian finds it as soon as possible¡­¡± From now up to 4 months in the future. The events in the royal capital would fully take ce a month and a half in the future, so it would be fortunate for them if they got Velkian¡¯s help during the incident in the royal capital. ¡°It¡¯ll be fine.¡± Cordelia said with a wide smile, and Jude unknowingly nodded his head. She had no basis for that, but Jude thought that it would really be fine when Cordelia said it. ¡°Then, let¡¯s get back to our goal. The Sphere of Life is on the 3rd floor, right?¡± ¡°Yes, probably. And if my guess is correct¡­¡± Jude¡¯s words suddenly trailed off in the end as he began drawing something on the temple floor. ¡°Is that a map of the temple?¡± ¡°Yes, ording to my calctions, the Sphere of Life is around here¡­so it must be right below.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia looked at him in amazement. She was no longer surprised that he memorized the map, but it was a different story that he could determine the location by connecting the maps and then visualizing them in three dimensions. ¡°Does your mind have a CAD?¡± ¡°Oh, you know about CAD?¡± ¡°Yes, I have a certificate.¡± When Cordelia spoke with a smile, it was Jude who widely opened his eyes this time. ¡°What, are you a woman from a vocational high school? Or an engineering college?¡± ¡°Hey, why are you trying to probe on a woman¡¯s secret?¡± Cordelia shrugged and grinned, and Jude stroked his chin while having a surprised face. Perhaps she likes explosions because she¡¯s from a vocational high school or an engineering college? If vocational high school and engineering students from all over the country heard his thoughts, they would have called it nonsense. But in any case, Jude was happy that he learned something new about Cordelia, and Cordelia was pleased with the fact that she surprised Jude. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s dig a hole.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Cordelia took out the detonating cord from her waist and began to arrange it on the floor. Naturally, it was in the shape of a star again. ¡°Star Explosion¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s not its name, okay?¡± But Cordelia didn¡¯t give it a different name. She then snapped her fingers and an explosion followed. Detonating cords were originally used for construction, so it was possible to destroy the floor in their desired shape by controlling the direction of the explosion. ¡°Good, I¡¯ll finish this.¡± Although it was broken to some extent, the floor was notpletely destroyed. So when Jude used the ck Dragon¡¯s Ascent to open the floor, a round hole opened with a boom. ¡°As I thought, clearing a dungeon without making any effort is the best.¡± Jude strongly agreed with Cordelia before he opened his arms. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°We need to jump, so let me carry you, Princess.¡± ¡°You can go alone, Milord.¡± Cordelia coldly spoke and used magic on herself before jumping down the hole, and the disappointed Jude followed her as he jumped into the hole. Thud. Jude gentlynded even though the ceiling reached a dozen meters high, and he looked up and saw Cordelia who wasing down with magic. ¡°Come this way.¡± ¡°Just get out of my way before I step on you.¡± Cordelia safelynded next to Jude who had his arms wide open, and she looked around. A half-destroyed temple and a broken statue of the goddess. Just like what they saw in the game. ¡°It¡¯s the Sphere of Life.¡± Jude nodded at Cordelia¡¯s words as he began to walk. There was an altar in the center of the room like that in the 2nd floor, and a stone statue of a beautiful goddess stood there while holding the Sphere of Life. ¡°I don¡¯t think there are any active guardians here just like in the game.¡± They saw broken Guardian Golems scattered all over the temple. ¡®As expected, it¡¯s the signs of a battle.¡¯ A battle had urred against the demons on the 3rd floor of the Temple of Life. There were signs of destruction on the walls and floor, and the bones of saints who lost their lives while fighting against the demons lied around the floor. The entrance was blocked by a pir that copsed. ¡®It seems like the theory that the demon followers infiltrated the temple and summoned a demon on the 3rd floor was true.¡¯ This ce was known as thest temple of the Church of Life, which began to decline after losing its goddess, Aerith. The remaining divine items were kept here in thest temple. During the time when the power of the denomination was strong, there were many divine items that were much more powerful than the Sphere of Life or the Tiara of Life, but there were no more divine items that exceeded the Sphere of Life at the time before the denomination copsed. ¡®Is this thest relic they risked their life to protect¡­¡¯ Jude stared at the statue of the goddess where the Sphere of Life was ced, and Cordelia slowly walked towards the stone statue. ¡°I¡¯ll use it for good. That is¡­for world peace¡­¡± Cordelia bowed her head to the statue and said that before her hand reached out to the Sphere of Life. The Sphere of Life was a blue spherical marble a little bigger than a clenched fist, and it was ced inside a round casing that was in the arms of the goddess statue. The Sphere of Life began to glow at the moment when Cordelia¡¯s hand touched it. ¡®Someday, I hope it will be passed on to someone.¡¯ The low voice of a man. Perhaps it was the final words left behind by thest saint of the Church of Life. ¡®May the blessing of the goddess be with you¡­¡¯ The voice was scattered, and so was the light that filled her eyes. Cordelia was surrounded by a powerful force of life instead of being engulfed in divine mes, and she took a deep breath. Because she felt the emotions of the saints who fought until the end to protect the Sphere of Life so that it would be used by someone for the world and not for the demons. ¡°Thank you. Thank you very much.¡± It was like the dwarves who trapped the White Snake in Frost Anvil. Ancestral heroes who sacrificed themselves for future generations. Cordelia thanked all of them once again before she slowly opened her eyes and faced Jude. ¡°The Sphere of Life.¡± A divine item of the goddess of life that gave its user a strong life energy and regenerative power. Jude took the Sphere of Life from Cordelia, and he deeply breathed before sitting down in front of the statue. ¡°I¡¯ll begin now.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± As Cordelia took a step back, Jude arranged his posture and held the Sphere of Life with both hands in front of his lower abdomen. Jude¡¯s n was to open the fifth door by absorbing the enormous life energy within the Sphere of Life. ¡®I¡¯ve leveled up enough already.¡¯ His body could now withstand the opening of the fifth door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. What he onlycked now was an immense amount of life energy to open the door in one go. ¡®For a perfect happy ending.¡¯ Jude whispered to the goddess statue just like what Cordelia did, and he immediately closed his eyes as he began to recite the mnemonic chant of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. Nine heavens and nine worlds. As Jude himself presumed, Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors was not an ordinary martial art. A divine art close to magic that led humans born with a mortal fate to a higher level of transcendence. When he closed his eyes and recited the mnemonic chant, a small light appeared in thepletely dark world. The white light spread as it created a world of ck and white, and he saw a woman standing in that world. Female sage. Perhaps she was the Ninth Heaven¡¯s female sage of legends, since it was called the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. If not, she might have been the person from ancient times who helped defeat the overlords of hell together with the heroes of legends. Jude gazed at the woman, and the woman stared at him too. Because the world was made up of only ck and white, the woman¡¯s face was white while her long hair that touched the floor was ck. Jude stepped towards the woman. And at the same time, the immense life energy in the Sphere of Life began to flow towards Jude. The energy didn¡¯t just flow to Jude. It was the woman who made it flow to him. She reached out to Jude, and Jude approached the woman and touched her hand. ¡®Nine worlds.¡¯ And the nine doors that connected to those nine worlds. The ck and white world fell apart. The sky became white and the earth became ck. Huge ck doors appeared in the air then. One, two, three, four. Four doors that had already been built and a fifth door that was being newly built. ¡®You shouldn¡¯t stop building doors. This is still not enough.¡¯ Said the woman. Jude was able to see the woman¡¯s face clearly for the first time. ¡®The true meaning of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. What the nine doors that are connected to nine worlds mean.¡¯ But that was it. The immense life energy swallowed up Jude¡¯s soul and body, and Jude could no longer continue his thoughts. Guiding the flowing energy to build the fifth door was not easy. ¡®I hope we can meet again.¡¯ The woman¡¯s voice gradually disappeared. The world of ck and white fell apart again. A white door was built in that world of ck. Jude stretched out his hand. He opened the fifth door. *** Cordelia opened her eyes. Jude¡¯s entire body shook, and the energy released from the Sphere of Life swirled around him. Jude¡¯s eyes shone. Eventually, the body of Jude who was sitting on the floor had floated into the air. The opening of the fifth door. Cordelia vaguely felt it. She was able to perceive the changes that urred in Jude¡¯s soul and body. But she somehow felt scared. She felt like Jude was going far away, to a ce where she couldn¡¯t reach him even if she reached out to him. Why? What¡¯s going on? Jude let out a roar. The energy of life fluctuated even more. Cracks of light began to spread all over Jude¡¯s body. ¡°Jude!¡± She was scared. She was going crazy because she didn¡¯t know if it was going right or if something was wrong. Can I touch him? Should I leave him alone like this? Shouldn¡¯t I do something? And it was at that moment. Cordelia hurriedly looked behind her. She could sense it. The vibrations that were transmitted through the floor. The unique scent that came in with the wind. The monsters on the 3rd floor. The monsters were heading towards them. The monsters gathered because they either felt the life energy released by Jude or heard Jude¡¯s roar. At the cracks on the fallen pir in the entrance. ck and grotesque spider-like monsters poked their heads out. The Acid Slime that filled the ceiling of the 2nd floor then melted the pir and flooded in. She also heard continuous stomping sounds. Cordelia thought of the monsters on the 3rd floor and realized that the sounds were the footsteps of the Living Heavy Armors, the main enemies in the 3rd floor. Cordelia quickly transformed into a witch. She concentrated her mana on both of her hands and looked in front, but at the same time, she flinched when she heard Jude roar behind her again. She had to protect Jude first. She had to monitor Jude¡¯s condition at the same time. But how? How can I stop the monsters and monitor Jude at the same time! ¡°Kiaaa!¡± Several spider-like monsters that were slightlyrger than a human rushed towards her as they screamed. Cordelia threw a ball of fire that she held in her hands. And right after that. At the moment when the monsters and the ball of fire were about to collide. Booooooom-! A pir of light filled Cordelia¡¯s sight. It came from the ceiling and devoured the spider-like monsters as it destroyed them. The ball of fire Cordelia made was also destroyed and vanished. A huge pir of life. It wasn¡¯t magic. Life energy. A tremendous amount of life energy. So Cordelia figured it out. She unconsciously shouted in joy. ¡°May the muscles always be with you!¡± ¡°You haven¡¯t forgotten what¡¯s important, girl.¡± She heard the voice above her head. The person who made the pir of light that pierced not only the ceiling of the 3rd floor, but also of the 1st and 2nd floor ceilings, had done it all with one punch. He was the only person who could solve all the current problems, not only the monsters but Jude¡¯s condition too. ¡°May the muscles always be with you.¡± Iron Man Landius. The master of Jude and the strongest man on the continent. He finally appeared. Chapter 137: Long Live the Sun (1)

Chapter 137: Long Live the Sun (1)

Terms used in this chapter: Conqueror¡¯s spirit ¨C Also known as Haoshoku Haki, it is a rare form of Haki (spiritual energy) that allows the user to exert their own willpower over others. This term came from the Japanese series, One Piece. Light poured from the ceiling. And in that light, he slowly came down as if he was walking down the sky. A halo shined behind his huge and beautiful steel-like body, and he was like a legendary hero- no, he was like a god who popped out from a myth. ¡®Why did he appear?¡¯ Why did Landius appear here at this point in time? He seemed to know exactly where we were, given that he showed up and broke the ceiling. ¡®Ah, I don¡¯t know!¡¯ That wasn¡¯t important now. The only important fact was that Landius appeared in this crisis like a cheat key that would solve all their problems! ¡°Help!¡± ¡°I will, girl.¡± Landius answered with a gentle smile andnded on the ground. He looked once at Jude who was floating in the air and shining before he turned to the monsters again. ¡°Girl, I¡¯ll be back.¡± ¡°What about Jude?¡± Cordelia¡¯s question was not clearly heard. Because Landius had immediately sped on the ground, causing a huge vacuum and a loud roar. Boobooboom-! The entire temple shook as if an earthquake had struck, and the spiders that had vigorously popped out were now hesitant. Landius just stared at those spiders, and that was enough. Dozens of spiders suddenly shrieked and began to scatter and escape. ¡°Wow.¡± It wasn¡¯t some kind of conqueror¡¯s spirit. Cordelia unknowingly let out a stunned voice at Landius¡¯ imposing presence, but it was not yet over. Landius stepped forward to the Living Heavy Armors that rushed inte. ¡°Landius-nim! I¡¯ll do that!¡± Cordelia btedly came to her senses and shouted. Even if it was Landius, the enemies were Living Heavy Armors. They numbered over 30 too, so it would take a considerable amount of time to deal with them. That was why she had to change it. Cordelia herself would fight the Living Heavy Armors while Landius would check Jude¡¯s condition- Bang! A powerful pressure. An explosion in the air caused by his fist. And the light that rose. An intense sh of light. Landius¡¯ fist smashed the Living Heavy Armors, causing them to explode. Furthermore, that wasn¡¯t the only thing scary about him. Bang! Bang! Bang! It was a tragedy for the monsters that stood in a square formation. Even those who were behind the Living Heavy Armors were hit by his attacks and exploded one after another. Boobooboom-! Five went down with just one punch. Living Heavy Armors were known for their strong defense, but they were no different from sheets of paper in front of Landius¡¯ fist. ¡°Wow.¡± Cordelia let out a stunned voice again as Landius continued to move. The Living Heavy Armors quickly recovered, but he ignored their attacks and just did what he had to do. Bang! Bang! Bang! Fist, fist again, and a kick. An explosion urred in just three moves of his. Those that were hit by Landius¡¯ fist exploded, and those he missed were blown away in the aftermath and torn like sheets of paper. Obviously, the Living Heavy Armors didn¡¯t just stand there doing nothing. Those that did not know fear tried to hit Landius¡¯ naked upper body, but not a single one of their attacks on his chest did anything because he was Landius. ng! ng! ng! It wasn¡¯t the sound of a sword hitting iron. It was the sound of a sword hitting muscles. ¡®What the heck?¡¯ Why are the swords bouncing off his muscles? Why is his skin fine despite being hit by a sword? It didn¡¯t seem like he was using magic. It didn¡¯t seem like he was using a special technique. It was simply a passive skill. The defensive power of his muscles was so high that it was like some kind of armor. ¡°Girl! Close your eyes!¡± Landius suddenly shouted, and Cordelia reflexively closed her eyes. Because it was natural for her to follow Landius who carried a godlike dignity. And right after that. Cordelia instantly felt that she was engulfed in a bright light despite closing her eyes. Because a truly immense amount of light was released not far away from her. Light. Heat. A transcendental life energy. Cordelia realized it then at that moment. The one thing she forgot because she was overwhelmed by his imposing muscles. ¡®The warrior of the sun.¡¯ Landius¡¯ nickname in the first episode of Legend of Heroes. Sun Warrior Landius! Shaaa-! She heard the howling of the wind after the light, which was then followed by silence. ¡°I¡¯m done now. You can open your eyes, girl.¡± Cordelia slowly opened her eyes upon hearing Landius¡¯ words and held her breath in surprise. All of the Living Heavy Armors that numbered over thirty were scattered on the floor, and there were some whose surface had melted. ¡®As expected of the warrior of the sun.¡¯ Those chosen by the Sun had a powerful Yang and life energies. ¡®Wouldn¡¯t it be possible for Landius to fight the Demon Prince alone?¡¯ The power of the sun was good against demons. Cordelia unknowingly nodded, but promptly shook her head. Because what she was thinking wasn¡¯t important now. ¡°Landius-nim! Jude!¡± ¡°I know, girl.¡± Landius said as he walked towards her. Landius¡¯ bearing and tone made him seem like an old man even though he was only in histe 30s, or less than 40 years old. In fact, his face had a smooth skin that didn¡¯t have any wrinkles. ¡®S-scary.¡¯ She felt like a wall was approaching as the 2 meters and 30 centimeters- no, perhaps Landius was taller than that, headed towards her. Landius faintly smiled when he saw Cordelia involuntarily shrink back as if he understood the reason before he looked at Jude besides her. ¡°Indeed, it¡¯s that.¡± ¡°Do you know what happened to him? Is he okay?¡± When Cordelia urgently asked, Landius frowned first instead of answering. He then raised his big hand and ced it on her shoulder. ¡°My disciple is now opening a new door and undergoing a change in his body and soul.¡± ¡°Is that good?¡± ¡°You can say that it¡¯s good. But something not good is also happening.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± What in the world does he mean by good yet not good? Cordelia looked teary-eyed at that moment, and Landius gave her an exnation in a calm tone. ¡°It¡¯s good that he¡¯s opening a new door and breaking the existing frame of his body and soul, but he¡¯s going too far. He¡¯s trying to get to the point where it¡¯s too much for him right now, so his body and soul itself will be destroyed if he makes a mistake.¡± ¡°W-what? Then we have to stop him! Quick!¡± ¡°I will stop him. But girl, I alone am not enough. You also have to support me.¡± ¡°How? S-should I give you something like mana?¡± Landius shook his head when Cordelia blinked her eyes and asked. ¡°Girl, listen carefully. As I said before, my disciple is now undergoing a change in his body and soul. If he continues like this, perhaps it will be possible for him to undergo metamorphosis and be reborn with a new body and soul. So we can¡¯t touch him right now.¡± ¡°Metamorphosis¡­is that something good?¡± ¡°Yes. It¡¯s better for him to utilize the current flow¡­and runaway until the metamorphosis ispleted. Therefore, I¡¯ll aim after his metamorphosis is over. I¡¯m going to help in pacifying his energy with my energy.¡± ¡°I think I understand what you¡¯re saying.¡± She remembered reading something simr in a martial arts webtoon. It was a scene where the master saved the main character from the jaws of death. ¡®The master put his hand on the back of the main character, who was sitting cross-legged, and injected his energy¡­something like that?¡¯ It seemed like he would do something simr. ¡°What about me then?¡± Landius definitely said that he needed Cordelia¡¯s support as well. Does he need mana too? ¡°Girl, your role is important.¡± ¡°So what in the world is it!¡± The cracks of light that spread all over Jude¡¯s body grew bigger while they were talking like that. Jude seemed to have been quiet for a while, but he began to roar and scream again. ¡°Girl, your role is to call the soul of my disciple.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I will stabilize the body of my disciple with my energy. But Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors is a superhuman art that leads the body and soul to a higher level, so it is necessary to call my disciple¡¯s soul who is now trying to reach out to the door that is beyond the door that he had already opened. And I think that only you, girl, can do it.¡± She roughly understood it. In short, he was saying that she had to awaken his consciousness. ¡°How should I do it?¡± ¡°Call my disciple.¡± ¡°S-shout at him?¡± ¡°Any method is okay. When I begin stabilizing my disciple¡¯s body, you should call his soul.¡± ¡°Noo! It¡¯s too vague!¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not. I have seen some of it myself, but Lena also talked about that. She said that my disciple and you, girl, love each other so much that you¡¯re always together. The power of love you two have for each other is truly great, so you¡¯ll be able to bring back his soul if you appealed to him.¡± ¡°W-what?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the power of love, girl.¡± Landius seriously spoke while Cordelia blinked her eyes. She thought after she unconsciously gazed at Landius¡¯ big hand on her shoulder. ¡®S-stop talking bullsh*t with a serious face!¡¯ Po-power of love? There isn¡¯t anything like that between Jude and me! ¡°I¡¯ll begin.¡± ¡°W-wait!¡± ¡°There¡¯s no time to lose!¡± At the moment when Landius suddenly raised his voice. ¡°Aaaaah!¡± Jude screamed as an immense amount of light was emitted from the cracks of light that had spread throughout his body, and the light swallowed up Jude¡¯s entire body. ¡°Girl!¡± Landius loudly cried as he closed his eyes and reached out to Jude. A golden aura then began to rise like a me in Landius¡¯ entire body. Then it continued. The golden light from the tips of Landius¡¯ hands enveloped the white light that covered Jude. It felt like a river that was about to overflow but was blocked by a dam. ¡°Hurry!¡± Landius shouted again as he closed his eyes and concentrated. Sweat began to pour down all over Landius¡¯ entire body. ¡°Eueueu¡­¡± Cordelia stamped her feet for a moment before she ran straight to Jude and shouted as loudly as she could. ¡°Hey! Jude! Hey!¡± ¡°With love!¡± ¡°Uuugh!¡± Cordelia was about to cry when she heard Landius, so she shouted again. Whether she meant it or was just acting, she let out a cry that would satisfy Landius but would surprise Jude if he heard it. ¡°Continue!¡± ¡°F*ck!¡± She cursed. And continued her appeal full of love again! ¡®Don¡¯t you dare note back!¡¯ I won¡¯t forgive you! She seemed to be either embarrassed or desperate. Cordelia¡¯s eyes reddened as she shouted once more. She earnestly shouted Jude¡¯s name. ¡°Jude!¡± *** ¡®Cordelia?¡¯ Light and darkness. A world of ck and white. Jude just left his body to be carried away by the flowing current that moved forward like the flow of time, but he regained his consciousness at some point. Fifth door. And the sixth door. He was in the space between the two doors. ¡®Ah.¡¯ Jude blinked again. He recognized the world of ck and white. Fifth door. He opened it by using the Sphere of Life. But he got greedy. He reached out for the sixth door that he could faintly see. ¡®I can¡¯t reach it.¡¯ Not yet. For now. If I continue like this, all that will be left is catastrophe. A future where I couldn¡¯t reach the sixth door and only copsed in front of it. ¡®It¡¯s not enough.¡¯ To open the sixth door. Not only his life energy but also his physical strength, his mana, the skill of Jude himself, and the size of his soul¡­but it was at that moment. His consciousness faded again. His consciousness was gone again amidst the flowing current. If he closed his eyes, it would be over. So he wanted to close his eyes. Just like that- As it is- ¡°Juuuuuuude!¡± He came to his senses. Cordelia¡¯s call. Cordelia¡¯s cry. He was clearly hallucinating. After all, the real Cordelia would never repeatedly call his own name like that. But that was enough. At the moment he heard Cordelia¡¯s voice that was either his hallucination or something else, his fading will to live began to burn again. ¡®I have to go back.¡¯ Cordelia would be alone if he disappeared. Even if she could do well, she would be left alone with a bad ending, a world that was heading towards a sad ending. So he had to go back. He had to go back and be with Cordelia. And- And- ¡°Cordelia!¡± Jude shouted. He turned in the current and resisted its fierce flow. He forced his way back to the fifth door. Because not yet. Because he couldn¡¯t die like this yet. It wasn¡¯t right to leave Cordelia alone. He also thought that he should stand next to her and be her support when she was in danger. But it wasn¡¯t just that. Jude¡¯s own greed. Jude¡¯s own aspirations. His personal and human desires. And everything that he wanted to do with Cordelia! ¡°Cordelia!¡± Jude¡¯s soul was set aze. He resisted the powerful flow and moved. He took one step towards the fifth door, took one more step forward, and he eventually began running. ¡°Juuuuude!¡± Cordelia¡¯s call. She stood in front of the fifth door. Jude kicked the ground. He jumped over the powerful current. *** A golden sh of light burst. Landius groaned and stepped backwards before he hurriedly raised his head. And then he smiled. Jude Bayer. He saw his disciple. His reborn disciple woke up from his metamorphosis and revealed himself. The white light surrounding his whole body hadpletely disappeared, so he could fully see Jude¡¯s appearance. ¡°Jude?!¡± Cordelia was standing in front of him as she urgently called out to him. Jude had be naked because of the metamorphosis, and he was bigger and more good-looking than before. Their difference in height which used to be around 10 centimeters had now widened so she had to raise her head in order to make eye contact with Jude. She could see Jude¡¯s green eyes between his ebony-like hair that unevenly fell. Cordelia¡¯s own face was reflected in his eyes, which mysteriously seemed to draw her in the more she looked at it. ¡°Jude? Are you okay? Jude!¡± Jude took a step instead of answering her, and he stumbled as if he was going to fall. Cordelia hurriedly hugged Jude and was surprised again. ¡®Fi-firm.¡¯ Jude¡¯s body was firm and toned like that of a well-polished sword. She felt like she was holding someone else and not the same person. ¡°Are you okay? Are you okay now?¡± Cordelia shook her head to collect herself, and Jude slowly nodded his head. He forcibly raised his upper body a bit to see Cordelia before he said in a slightly dazed voice. ¡°Pretty.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°It looks good on you.¡± She wondered what he was talking about. Cordelia blinked her eyes as she then somehow understood him. That time when she got the Tiara of Life on the 2nd floor. It was the question she asked when she wore it on her head. ¡°You¡¯re supposed to say it at that moment.¡± Jude smiled a little at her slightly resentful but shy words, and he leaned against Cordelia. He lost consciousness and fainted. And at that appearance, Landius burst intoughter. His disciple had passed out without even greeting his master because he had exhausted his energy to flirt with his fianc¨¦ and spoke without hiding how happy he was. ¡°Indeed, is this the power of love?¡± ¡®No? It¡¯s not like that, okay?¡¯ Cordelia quickly refuted it in her mind before she hugged Jude and eventually smiled. Because it was strangely cute to see him sleeping like a baby even though he was bigger than her. ¡®No, it¡¯s just because I¡¯m happy.¡¯ It was not because she loved Jude, but because she was happy that Jude had returned safely. She spoke to herself as she came up with an excuse, and Cordelia closed her eyes to enjoy the present moment. Chapter 139: Long Live the Sun (2)

Chapter 139: Long Live the Sun (2)

Landius chapters are long chapters. Anyway, the next chapter will be dyed again because I have to attend my school¡¯s zoom meeting today, mostly to talk about our graduation that has been dyed for almost a year due to the pandemic. Though I¡¯m not that bothered by the dy because this is already my second degree and I have experienced graduating once. I¡¯m a registered nurse who somehow became an IT student, hahaha. Terms used in this chapter: Dantian ¨C aka energy center, it is where the Qi energy is stored and controlled. There are three dantians in the body: the lower, middle, and the upper dantians. Jude opened his eyes. His mind was nk at first. He felt like he slept soundly without even dreaming. ¡°Ah.¡± Jude said in a daze as he blinked his eyes. The things he could see in his blurry vision gradually became clearer. The Temple of Life. And Jude realized something. ¡®I¡¯m hungry.¡¯ He was extremely and seriously hungry. Once he realized that he was really hungry, he couldn¡¯t think of anything else. He felt like his stomach- no, all the cells in his body were demanding for nutrition. ¡®I¡¯m hungry.¡¯ I¡¯m seriously hungry. I think I can eat anything in front of me. But it was at that moment. ¡°Jude?¡± Jude came to his senses when he heard the pleasant-sounding voice and then turned his head. He saw Cordelia¡¯s red and flowing long hair and her fair-skinned face looking down at him. ¡°Cordelia?¡± Cordelia brightly smiled when Jude barely squeezed out his voice, but she soon became teary-eyed. ¡°Does it hurt? Are you okay? Landius-nim!¡± Cordelia loudly cried and tried to turn around, but she couldn¡¯t. Because Jude had reflexively grabbed Cordelia¡¯s wrist. ¡°Ouch! Jude?¡± His strength was crushing. Cordelia screamed again when she tried to get up but fell on her butt. Because she felt like her wrist held by Jude would be broken. ¡°It hurts! It hurts!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Jude automatically released his grip when Cordelia screamed in pain. There was a hand-shaped red mark on Cordelia¡¯s wrist even though he had held it briefly. ¡°Hey! Are you crazy?!¡± Cordelia rebuked him, but it was only for a moment. Because she noticed that Jude didn¡¯t look normal. ¡®His eyes are sunken!¡¯ It wasn¡¯t just his eyes. The metamorphosis had made his already fairplexion better, but he looked really tired and exhausted. Why? What happened? ¡°Because he grew up.¡± Cordelia flinched and then turned around when she suddenly heard the voice behind her. Landius passed by Cordelia and stood in front of Jude. He then sat down and said. ¡°Girl, what about the one I asked you to prepare earlier?¡± ¡°It¡¯s ready. I¡¯ll bring it.¡± Cordelia quickly got up and ran while Jude¡¯s gaze naturally followed Cordelia¡¯s back. Landius unwittingly smiled at Jude¡¯s look. ¡®He¡¯s probably not sane because of hunger¡­or is this the power of love?¡¯ It was both a misunderstanding and not, but anyway, the pleased Landius opened his mouth again. ¡°Disciple. First of all, do you recognize me?¡± ¡°Ma¡­master?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s me.¡± Jude¡¯s gaze that was chasing after Cordelia¡¯s back then turned to Landius. Landius spoke in a loud voice so that Cordelia could hear it too. ¡°You¡¯re in a state of incredible hunger now. It¡¯s because you¡¯ve grown as I said earlier.¡± ¡°I¡­grew up?¡± ¡°Yes. You grew taller, so you also got bigger. The metamorphosis itself consumed an enormous amount of energy¡­ so it was natural for your body to scream for food now that you had grown up to that height.¡± ¡°Ah! So that was it!¡± That exmation was from Cordelia. She ran back and sat next to Landius while holding arge container that had an unknown murky gray liquid inside. ¡°Sit up. And drink this.¡± Jude slowly raised his body at Landius¡¯ order and took the container from Cordelia with an inquiring look. ¡°Drink¡­this?¡± ¡°Yes, it will fill you up with the nutrition that you¡¯recking at once.¡± As Landius grinned and Cordelia awkwardly smiled, Jude looked inside the container again. A gray liquid. The unidentified drink seemed to be made by grinding several misceneous ingredients. ¡®Is this like a¡­protein drink?¡¯ Something one drank when they workout. ¡°Hurry up and drink it. Quick.¡± At Landius¡¯ urging, Jude turned to Cordelia again who somehow avoided his gaze. ¡®What¡­what¡¯s in it?¡¯ ¡®Cordelia doesn¡¯t know anything.¡¯ Jude felt anxious again, but it was Landius¡¯ order and he was also very hungry. He gave them the benefit of the doubt and began to drink the contents of the container big enough that he had to hold it with both hands. Glug. Glug. Glug. Cordelia unconsciously gulped as she watched Jude in nervousness, while Landius happily smiled. ¡°How is it, can you feel yourself being filled with nutrients?¡± Jude continued to drink instead of answering. And he gulped it again. After he finally emptied the contents, Jude gasped as soon as he lowered the container. ¡°Ugh.¡± He somehow made a contradictory expression of pain and joy. ¡°Are you okay?¡± Cordelia asked in a small voice, and Jude forced himself to smile. It seriously tasted terrible, but he was so hungry that he couldn¡¯t stop drinking. Moreover, he felt crazy at the fact that he was still hungry to the point that he wanted to drink more of that. ¡°The medicinal effects are kicking in. Girl, bring some more.¡± ¡°Eh¡­yes.¡± When Cordelia scampered to somece again, Landius gave an exnation. ¡°It¡¯s a special drink that I consume when I exercise. I taught the girl on how to make it, so make sure to drink it from time to time.¡± ¡°Umm¡­yes¡­¡± I have to drink more of that? At the time when Jude broke into a cold sweat again¡­ ¡°Here.¡± Cordelia handed him a second container, and Jude gulped and swallowed the gray liquid again. ¡°Kuuggh¡­¡± Jude cleanly emptied the container again and he breathed out as if he could finally live. He felt like he had drank nearly 4 liters in total. ¡°Excessive loss of one¡¯s life force can lead to muscle loss. So now that you¡¯ve been nourished, don¡¯t forget to train before going to bed.¡± At Landius¡¯ words, Cordelia shifted her gaze while Jude remained silent and avoided answering, but Landius did not let it go. He looked at Jude with a steady gaze so Jude eventually had no choice but to answer that he would do so. ¡°Anyway, congrattions on your metamorphosis, my disciple.¡± Jude looked at himself upon hearing Landius. Metamorphosis. The act of literally recing one¡¯s bones and changing one¡¯s skin. A reconstruction of the body. ¡®It¡¯s real.¡¯ His body changed. It was not an exaggeration to say that he had be apletely different person. He was sitting down, but he could tell that he had grown taller. His body, which had been in a bit of a mess because of the sudden growth and increase of his muscles, was nowpletely bnced. His muscles had also be shapelier and was functionally reconstructed. ¡°Your appearance is not the only thing that has changed.¡± Jude agreed with him. The cirction of his Qi energy was corrected. His meridians that had been obstructed by his Gueumjulmaek were already beyond the level of being cleared as his entire body feltpletely new. It was faster. It was smoother. He could now easily circte the energy of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, but Jude was surprised once again. ¡®Middle dantian.¡¯ The second dantian was located in his sr plexus. The energy of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors had always been stored in his lower dantian until now, but he had newly created a middle dantian. If onepared it to cars, one could say that he now had two engines. ¡°You seem to have felt the change yourself.¡± Landius happilyughed and turned to Cordelia who was nodding her head with a red face. ¡®Oh my gosh. Please cover yourself!¡¯ Jude¡¯s lower body was covered with a nket, but he was still naked above his waist. His immactely clear and milky white skin was reminiscent of a Greek statue, but his muscles weren¡¯t that excessive. And¡­ ¡®Oh my gosh!¡¯ Cordelia quickly shook her head and raised her head to see Jude¡¯s face, but her mind had already begun to recall the past. Right after Judepleted his metamorphosis. She was so happy that Jude was back that she didn¡¯t have time to be embarrassed about something. ¡®Euaaaah! This lewd demon! Get out! Disappear!¡¯ Cordelia had not actually seen it properly. So it was all just her delusion. As Cordelia struggled with her own thoughts, Jude raised his head to face Landius. ¡°Thank you very much, master.¡± ¡°No, you are my disciple. It¡¯s natural for a master to take care of his disciple. And if you are grateful, thank the girl more than me. If it wasn¡¯t for the girl, you wouldn¡¯t have regained consciousness no matter what I did.¡± Landius chuckled and pped Cordelia¡¯s back with his palm, and Cordelia involuntarily screamed and lifted her head. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Y-yes, Jude.¡± It was really sudden, so she was a bit embarrassed to face Jude. But this time, she wasn¡¯t embarrassed because she remembered something like Jude¡¯s naked body. ¡®It feels like he became an adult.¡¯ In the process of his metamorphosis, Jude¡¯s height grew, and his height was now in the early 180s. But it wasn¡¯t just his height that grew as his build itself felt more manly. His shoulders broadened too. ¡®His face too.¡¯ She had a troubled expression because he had be an adult. She felt like he could no longer be called a boy as it seemed like she might unconsciously call him ¡®oppa¡¯ now. ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°Yes? Uh. Yes. Ahem, ahem.¡± Cordelia calmed herself by clearing her throat as she haughtily spoke to hide her embarrassment. ¡°Anyway, like your master said. You should be thankful to me. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Yes, Madam. I understand.¡± As Jude responded like usual, Cordelia widely smiled without realizing it. She felt a little ufortable because of his changed appearance, but one way or another, she could ascertain that he was Jude. ¡°The two of you look cute and sweet when you¡¯re flirting.¡± Jude bitterlyughed at Landius¡¯ words. Because he suddenly remembered Violent Avnche. The bear cub grumbled about that often. Jude wondered if he was doing well now. ¡°Anyway, disciple. I want to ask you one thing. How many doors have you opened? Second door? No, wait. Since you also had a metamorphosis¡­¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it and speak.¡± ¡°Fifth door.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­the fifth door.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Five doors.¡± Even though Jude replied three times, Landius blinked and had an expression as if he didn¡¯t hear it properly. He had no choice but to. ¡°Fifth door?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°The fifth door, seriously?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°One, two, three, four, five¡­five doors?¡± ¡°Yes, five doors.¡± Landius had a stunned face again at Jude¡¯s answer, and Cordelia was a little surprised at seeing Landius like that for the first time, but she soon smiled and proudly shrugged her shoulders. ¡®Fufufu, because he is my Jude, okay?¡¯ He¡¯s different from other people, really different. While Cordelia raised her chin and snorted, Landius opened and closed his mouth several times. Fifth door. The real fifth door. Five doors. Landius finally epted it as he looked up the sky and suddenly burst intoughter. ¡°Hahahahahahaha! F*ck.¡± Did they hear it wrong or was hisst word really a curse? Jude and Cordelia flinched when Landiusughed and swore again. ¡°What a nasty world.¡± ¡°Ma-master?¡± ¡°No, I mean¡­for a moment, I thought about the nastiness of Cheonmujiche for a moment. How long has it been since you¡¯ve learned Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors? Well, it¡¯s a good thing. Of course. It¡¯s a great blessing that my disciple achieved things faster.¡± It was like he was talking to himself. But it was natural for Landius to act like that. He underwent hardships when he opened the doors. Even though he was called a genius everywhere, it took him 6 years to open the fifth door. He also had to undergo an intense and life-threatening training before that. ¡®As expected of Cheonmujiche. It¡¯s a cheat, a cheat.¡¯ ¡®But isn¡¯t this the result of adding other things?¡¯ ¡®It is. You had a lot of good opportunities, so it¡¯s fine to be criticized.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t just because of Cheonmujiche that Jude was able to open the door very quickly. It became possible because of his rapid level ups from their fierce fighting in the wildnds, and also because of the various potions given to him by Count Chase. ¡°Huu, good. Anyway, fifth door. Congrattions, my disciple.¡± ¡°Thank you, master.¡± ¡°Yes, five doors¡­hoho, hohoho. I can¡¯t help but change my n.¡± ¡°Your¡­n?¡± ¡°Yes, I had made a training n.¡± The reason why he left after only teaching Jude the mnemonic chant of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors was because he thought that it would be a great achievement if Jude could open the second door by their next meeting. But Jude opened up to the fifth door, so he had to revise his n. ¡°First of all, I think I¡¯ll need to thoroughly examine on how you opened up to the fifth door. And how it differed from my situation.¡± Landius didn¡¯t have Cheonmujiche. So his process of opening the doors and its effects would also be inevitably different from that of Jude. ¡°And¡­we also have to review the things you got after opening the fifth door.¡± ¡°Are you talking about¡­abilities?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m definitely talking about the abilities.¡± Landius had talked about it when he first taught him the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. From the fifth door onwards, he would be able to acquire mysterious abilities one by one. ¡®Somehow, I think I know what it is.¡¯ Nobody taught it to him, but he seemed to know how to use it like a bird who instinctively knew how to p its wings and fly. Jude looked at Cordelia, and Cordelia stared at Jude. ¡®Why?¡¯ Jude¡¯s dark green eyes then glimmered. ¡°Oh! It¡¯s working!¡± Jude said, and Landius turned to Cordelia who blinked her eyes a few times before she understood what was happening. She then punched Jude in the face. *** ¡°I mean, I didn¡¯t see it properly¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s despicable that you even tried.¡± ¡°No, I didn¡¯t really do it on purpose¡­¡± ¡°So you did the right thing? You didn¡¯t do anything wrong?¡± ¡°I was wrong. Huhu.¡± Jude was on his knees and pretended to cry, but Cordelia was still looking coldly at him. When the fifth door opened, Jude got the ability to see through things. In subcultures like novels andics, the ability to see through one¡¯s clothes was a truly convenient ability, but the reality was different. ¡®To be exact¡­it seemed like her body looked a little transparent.¡¯ He felt like he could grasp the position of the muscles, bones, and organs. Jude could already calcte his opponent¡¯s movements to some extent through their fighting skills, but with this new ability, it seemed possible to grasp the opponent¡¯s movements more closely. ¡®It seems like I can see their weaknesses.¡¯ It was a very useful ability one way or another. Moreover, it wasn¡¯t just that. ¡°Hohoho, my disciple. You¡¯re still inexperienced, but it will be fine when you¡¯re a little more skilled.¡± ¡°Eh? Really?¡± Jude¡¯s eyes sparkled and Landius smiled like a man, but Cordelia red at them coldly. ¡°Ahem, ahem, ahem.¡± ¡°Ehem, ehem.¡± Jude and Landius both cleared their throats, and Landius brought up a different topic to calm the current situation. ¡°Now then, my disciple, I guess you really opened the fifth door since you can now use that ability. I¡¯ve said it before, but congrattions again.¡± ¡°Thank you, master.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, the girl helped you a lot, so be grateful to her too.¡± ¡°Yes, master. You are right.¡± Jude earnestly nodded and turned to Cordelia as he said with a serious face. ¡°Thank you very much, Cordelia. I¡¯m grateful to you for everything.¡± ¡°Ah, yes. I understand.¡± ¡°No, I mean it. Thank you very much for being with me.¡± ¡°Well, at least you know. Hmph. You finally understand.¡± Cordelia hmphed and turned her head to the side, but she seemed to be happy given that the corners of her mouth were slightly raised. ¡®Her anger seems to have been a bit appeased.¡¯ Jude sighed in relief afterwards and asked Landius again. ¡°But master, how did youe here?¡± Landius¡¯ appearance was very much weed, but it was quite sudden at the same time. Landius answered with a smile at Jude¡¯s question. ¡°Because I met Lena. I didn¡¯t know that you were qualified enough to open five doors¡­ but I was in a hurry to meet you because I heard from her that you had be very strong.¡± ¡°Wa! You met her? Is Lena-nim doing fine?¡± Cordelia¡¯s face brightened when she heard about Lena, and Landius nodded his head. ¡°Yes, she¡¯s still beautiful.¡± ¡°Hehehe.¡± My Lena is pretty, right? As Cordelia brightlyughed, Landius alsoughed loudly before he continued to speak. ¡°Lena went south to meet Kamael. I went north to meet you two. I found your exact location with this.¡± Landius took out a small hand mirror from his waist, and Jude and Cordelia immediately understood it. ¡°Is this something Lena-nim gave you?¡± ¡°Yes, Lena said that she gave the girl a gift, and that gift had Lena¡¯s mana. So I could track your location with this exclusive mana tracker.¡± Cordelia nodded with satisfaction again at Landius¡¯ exnation. Because while Lena had attached a tracker on her in a way, Lena didn¡¯t have any bad intentions in the first ce, and they were also able to get help from Landius thanks to it. ¡°Then master, are youing with us?¡± Cordelia raised her head upon hearing Jude¡¯s question as she looked at Landius too. If Landius went with them to the royal capital, they wouldn¡¯t have to worry about the Lord Protector. Unfortunately, Landius¡¯ answer was a negative. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I can¡¯t. I have to go south to help Kamael and Lena.¡± Landius had only gone north for a while to see Jude¡¯s condition, so he had to immediately return to the south afterwards. ¡®What are they doing in the south?¡¯ At Cordelia¡¯s gaze, Jude fell into deep thought. Because this specific information did not appear in the game. ¡®Is it possible that Landius died in the south?¡¯ Jude shook his head at Cordelia¡¯s next question. Landius died while he was alone. It wouldn¡¯t happen if he was with Kamael. ¡®Moreover, Lena is here now.¡¯ Lena¡¯s survival and her joining him with his work. Perhaps this alone would have changed Landius¡¯ future. ¡°My disciple, and girl. Why are you suddenly silent?¡± ¡°I-it¡¯s nothing. I apologize.¡± ¡°Yes, me too.¡± Jude and Cordelia awkwardly smiled and gave an evasive answer. Landius then spoke with a kind look. ¡°Don¡¯t be so sad. I¡¯ll teach you a lot of things before I leave.¡± ¡°What kind of things?¡± Landius chuckled again when it was Cordelia who showed more interest rather than Jude. ¡°First is a way to develop steel-like muscles that can stop ded objects.¡± Cordelia¡¯s expression turned odd at Landius¡¯ words. Although it was a really good ability, she didn¡¯t like the thought of Jude having a body like Landius. ¡°There are a lot of other things¡­but there is one most important thing.¡± Having said so far, Landius suddenly took a deep breath and straightened his posture. He looked straight at Jude and continued. ¡°Jude Bayer, my disciple.¡± ¡°Yes, master.¡± ¡°You have opened the fifth door of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. Your body has be strong, so you will no longer suffer from the immense cold you were born with. So I believe it¡¯s time for you to learn my own martial arts.¡± Jude nervously gulped at Landius¡¯ words. His own martial arts. It was as Landius said. Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors was a creation of a transcendent being and not Landius¡¯ own martial arts that he had developed in his life. ¡°I heard it from Kamael. The fact that you¡¯ve been reborn with a Yin-Yang Body. So even if you were born with extreme Yin energy, you¡¯ll be able to use it.¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyes widely opened. Because she understood what Landius was talking about. Sun Warrior Landius. The true reason why he was the continent¡¯s strongest warrior. ¡°The power of the sun will be with you.¡± The Supreme Sun Divine Art. A golden aura rose like a me from Landius¡¯ entire body. Chapter 139: Long Live the Sun (3)

Chapter 139: Long Live the Sun (3)

Sun God¡¯s Ultimate has now been changed to Supreme Sun Divine Art. Terms used in this chapter: PTSD ¨C abbreviation of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. It is a mental health problem that can ur after a traumatic event. The two main characters of Legend of Heroes 1, Kamael and Landius, were like night and day in many ways. Both were good-looking, but one was beautiful enough to be mistaken for a woman due to his fine features and fair face, while the other was manly and vigorous with his masculine appearance and well-defined features, the so-called cheerful person. Their heights were also different since Kamael was a little shorter than the average person while Landius was already a giant who was over 190cm tall and had bulky muscles at the time of the first episode. ¡®Their personalities differed too.¡¯ Kamael was a realist who could be described as calm,posed, and rational, while Landius was a ssic warrior full of passion, hope, and courage. ¡®A song of ice and fire.¡¯ Kamael used Yin energy while Landius used Yang energy. The two were known for their martial arts, the Twelve Snowke Sword Art and the Supreme Sun Divine Art. ¡®The warrior of the sun.¡¯ Landius was like what his nickname meant. When Kamael and Lena as well as all the survivors of the Paragon Kingdom fell into despair and fear before the absolute power of the Demon Prince, he was the only one to not fall into despair. He did not give up. ¡®He¡¯s like the sun.¡¯ Like the sun rising alone in the pitch-ck darkness to light up the world. A man who drove out the fear and terror in everyone¡¯s hearts and instilled them with hope and the courage to fight again. ¡®The Supreme Sun Divine Art is like Landius.¡¯ An endless life force/vitality. The power of light that drives out the darkness. The martial arts of a man who always did his best to destroy the enemy in front of him without any petty tricks. ¡°Disciple, do you know about the Supreme Sun Divine Art?¡± At Landius¡¯ question, Jude came to his senses and slightly nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve only heard¡­a bit about it.¡± ¡°Okay, then do you know what makes the Supreme Sun Divine Art distinct?¡± When Landius asked again, Cordelia¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Excessive strength! Increasingly very high stamina! Fast recovery speed! The attack itself is simple but the power of his one punch is strong! Landius is surely the best one-punch damage dealer out of the five main characters! He¡¯ll make you taste that one punch gathered in his fist!¡± If one analyzed the Supreme Sun Divine Art in game terms, it would be like what Cordelia thought. But Jude couldn¡¯t say all that, so he summarized it nicely. ¡°I heard that it¡¯s a martial arts that is based on a strong vitality¡­like the sun.¡± ¡°Yes, you are right. The Supreme Sun Divine Art will turn you into the sun, and if you seed well in it, the endless power of life that will never be exhausted will be with you.¡± ¡®That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right! You get superb strength! You¡¯ll surely never get tired! Like an energizer! You can work all day long like Captain America! No, you can work for many days and nights! You¡¯ll be Captain S?len!¡¯ As Cordelia¡¯s eyes sparkled again, Jude bit his lips and held back hisughter. Landius spoke again. ¡°I created a new Supreme Sun Divine Art by adding Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors to the existing Supreme Sun Divine Art. But disciple, I will teach to you the existing Supreme Sun Divine Art.¡± Jude¡¯s Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors was different from that of Landius himself. ¡®Twenty-Four Gale Steps.¡¯ Jude¡¯s footwork techniques changed with the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. Having learned about the Thirty-Six World Steps from Jude, Landius came up with a hypothesis. If Jude couldbine the Thirty-Six World Steps with the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, wouldn¡¯t it be also possible with all the other martial arts in the world? Landius himself couldn¡¯t do it, but Jude who was born with Cheonmujiche could do it. Something that only Jude, who had learned the more perfect Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, could do. ¡°If you can indeed do that, I canpare it to my new Supreme Sun Divine Art. And through that, I can also improve my Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. Of course, your Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors too.¡± Jude nodded his head. He couldn¡¯t find the timing to talk about it, but he actually wanted to talk about the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, the female sage he met every time he opened the door, and what he learned when he opened the fifth door this time. ¡®Umm¡­by the way, Jude.¡¯ It was at that moment. Cordelia slightly raised her hand and gazed at him, and Jude immediately responded to her gaze that was different from before. ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°C-can I ask a question?¡± Landius was also interested in Cordelia¡¯s question. ¡°Girl, what is it? Are you curious about the Supreme Sun Divine Art?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s¡­the Sphere of Life.¡± Jude got the Sphere of Life, the divine item of Aerith, the goddess of life. Because of that, the Sphere of Life was no longer just a beautiful ornament. Because its power waspletely absorbed by Jude. ¡®But the Sphere of Life has several unique effects.¡¯ Like regenerative power or the amplification of one¡¯s peak life force. ¡®Wouldn¡¯t those effects be passed on to Jude?¡¯ Her question was quite reasonable. When Cordelia honestly spoke aloud about her thoughts, Landius looked at Jude who began to think as he closed his eyes. ¡®The Sphere of Life.¡¯ If the life energy I absorbed wasn¡¯t the only thing inside it. If the goddess¡¯ blessings were also in it. Jude went into meditation. He went deep down below the surface of his consciousness and looked at his soul and body. Perhaps he also got a skill that he didn¡¯t know when he opened the fifth door. He went deeper and deeper. He found it when he observed his own soul and body. New abilities that Jude himself had acquired. ¡°Wow.¡± Jude unconsciously eximed before he pulled out a dagger from his waist and wounded his forearm. His sudden action surprised Landius and Cordelia as their eyes widely opened but they did not shout. Because his small wound healed in an instant. ¡°Regeneration?¡± ¡°Wow, it doesn¡¯t even show.¡± Cordelia said in admiration as she touched Jude¡¯s arm. Because there wasn¡¯t even any trace of the wound left. ¡°Amazing. The blessing of the goddess of life remained in my disciple¡¯s body. Indeed, it¡¯s the blessing of the goddess¡­a miracle from the goddess. Be thankful.¡± Landius said before putting his hands together to pray. It was very natural for him to pray because he was a pdin in the first ce. ¡°Thank you, goddess. Thank you very much.¡± Cordelia also prayed and Jude was swept away by the atmosphere too as he closed his eyes and expressed his gratitude. ¡°Anyway, that¡¯s good. Now that you have a regenerative power, you can just tolerate the training unlike before.¡± When Landius chuckled and said that, Jude blinked his eyes. He had no choice but to do that. ¡®What?¡¯ I can just tolerate the training? No, that before¡­are you talking about tolerating that crazy training we did before? ¡°Disciple, there¡¯s no time to lose. I have a lot of things to teach you, and a lot of things I want to learn from you, so let¡¯s hurry.¡± ¡°W-wait a minute. Master?¡± ¡°Hohoho, your regenerative power must have activated, right? Now that I look at you, your strength seems to be overflowing. The regenerative power seems to have elerated the absorption of nutrients.¡± ¡°No, that can¡¯t be possible.¡± Is there a rtion between my regenerative power and elerated digestion? ¡®Perhaps?¡¯ He wasn¡¯t hungry. He had used up his strength because of the metamorphosis, so he no longer had any strength in his entire body, but not at the present moment. He felt like he had absorbed all the nutrients from the 4 liters of that horrendous liquid prepared by Landius. His vision was clear, and his limbs were full of power. ¡°Kekeke, that¡¯s good. There¡¯s no risk of injury, recovery is quick, and you can digest food as soon as you eat it. Your body is definitely optimized for training. So from now on, let¡¯s train without taking any breaks.¡± Landius was delighted as he jumped from his seat and threw a training uniform at Jude, who looked at Cordelia with a face full of distress. ¡®He-help me! No, save me! Cordelia!¡¯ His eyes were like that of a dog who got soaked in the rain because it wandered around without an owner. Cordelia¡¯spassion surged at that moment, but she could only do one thing. ¡®Fighting.¡¯ Don¡¯t die. I¡¯ll give you ap pillow and clean your ears¡­anyway, I¡¯ll treat you nicely. So my Jude, I¡¯ll cheer for you, okay? ¡®Hey! Cordelia! Hey!¡¯ His silent screams remained as silent screams. Landius forcibly carried Jude with his big hands, and the nket covering him fell so Cordelia quickly covered her face with her wide open fingers. *** Time passed. As Landius himself said, he trained Jude really hard. He trained all the time except for the time he ate and slept, but his meals were the gray liquid and not a proper meal, so it was like he was being tortured separately with the force feedings. As a natural result, Jude¡¯s only pleasure in the day was his sleeping time. ¡°Sob, sob. Cordelia. Huhu.¡± Cordelia bitterly smiled as she stroked Jude¡¯s head in herp as he trembled like a PTSD patient. She only saw the training for a short time on the first day, but it seemed like a hellish training when she saw Jude broken like this in just three days. ¡°My Jude, you better sleep. You have to sleep. You only have 3 hours of sleep a day. You now only have 2 hours and 53 minutes left.¡± ¡°Sniff, sniff.¡± Jude trembled again at Cordelia¡¯s words, and he closed his eyes as he tried to sleep while Cordelia continued to stroke his head. And around 10 minutes passed. Cordelia gently removed her legs under Jude¡¯s head after he waspletely asleep as she slowly stood up. It was Jude¡¯s sleep time, but for Cordelia herself, it was the time to start her new routine. ¡°Girl, are you going again today?¡± As she came out from the entrance of the small room where Jude slept, she heard Landius¡¯ voice. Landius didn¡¯t really need to sleep because he seeded in using the Supreme Sun Divine Art, so he just sat cross-legged like that when his training with Jude was over. Cordelia replied with a small smile. ¡°Yes, I think it¡¯s paying off.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t overdo it. Immediately send me a signal if it bes dangerous. I know that you¡¯re strong, but no one can tell on what will happen in real life.¡± ¡°Yes, thank you for your concern.¡± Cordelia answered nicely and left the training room on the 3rd floor as she headed deep into the Temple of Life. Cordelia was doing something while Jude was training with Landius. ¡®It looks like I got everything on the 3rd floor.¡¯ Cordelia was wiping out the monsters in the Temple of Life. Because she had nothing to do during Jude¡¯s training, but she had other reasons too. ¡®I can¡¯t stand still.¡¯ It¡¯s good that Jude is bing stronger. It¡¯s not some empty words because I¡¯m really happy. Because he¡¯s my Jude. The enemies we¡¯ll be fighting in the royal capital are tough. I really hate seeing Jude getting hurt. I always thought and wished that he would be stronger and not get hurt. But apart from all these feelings. ¡®I have to be strong too.¡¯ I have to level up by collecting even a little more experience points. I have to look for new ways to grow, and not settle for what I have now. This is reality and not a game. There are other ways to be stronger aside from the established methods. Jude is striving forward. I¡¯m scared because his speed of getting stronger is too fast. So I have to catch up. I have to be strong. ¡®I want to stand by his side.¡¯ No, it wasn¡¯t that tender feeling. She wasn¡¯t thinking about him in that way, as the emotions that welled up in her heart was a little different from that. It was something more fundamental. Cordelia¡¯s own feeling from her previous life that she still held in her present life. ¡®I have to be strong.¡¯ Not only because I want to see a perfect happy ending. Not only because I want to ovee the challenges ahead. But for a more fundamental reason. A simple but strong wish of mine. ¡®Even if that Outboxer had be my Jude¡­¡¯ I don¡¯t want to lose. I really want to win someday. ¡®I will not lose.¡¯ A fierce smile spread over Cordelia¡¯s face. She clenched her fists and looked straight ahead. The power of a holy angel then emanated from her entire body. She spread open her wings of light, and an angel¡¯s halo floated above her head. But it didn¡¯t stop there. She tried something new. Because she wanted to get ahead of Jude, and even go beyond winning against him as she wanted Jude to never beat her. Cordelia closed her eyes. She released a new power that did not appear in the game. Chapter 140: Unexpected Encounter (1)

Chapter 140: Unexpected Encounter (1)

Sorry for thete chapter. Had a serious case of procastination yesterday, so I only finished the chapter today. Terms used in this chapter: Rote learning ¨C memorization of information based on repetition. Examples include memorizing the alphabet, numbers, and multiplication tables. Morning on the seventh day since Jude began training with Landius. Jude and Landius sat face to face in order to converse with each other. It was to organize the things he learned and experienced from his training over the past seven days, and what they understood from it. ¡°My Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors and your Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors.¡± To be exact, they were talking about the difference between the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors of someone who didn¡¯t have Cheonmujiche yet forcibly trained oneself with it, and the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors of someone born with Cheonmujiche and was like the incarnation of martial arts chosen by the heavens. ¡°First is the existence of the female sage.¡± In the beginning, he could only see the female sage¡¯s silhouette that was like a drawn painting, but it was different now. When he opened the fifth door. Jude was able to clearly see the face of the female sage. Her ck hair and white face. She was an elegant and beautiful woman. ¡®But Cordelia is prettier.¡¯ Even if everyone else said otherwise, she was prettier in Jude¡¯s eyes. He wasn¡¯t joking as he was serious about it. ¡°Disciple?¡± ¡°Yes, master.¡± Jude flinched but answered almost immediately, and Landius slightly tilted his head before he spoke again. ¡°I also saw the female sage. I first saw her back when I opened the fifth door. It was when I opened the seventh door that she finally turned to me.¡± But when Jude opened the third door, he not only met the female sage but also learned her skills. And when he opened the fifth door now, he even heard her voice. ¡®But Cordelia¡¯s voice is prettier too.¡¯ Jude nodded to himself before he shook his head to shake off his trivial thoughts. He should be focusing more on his current conversation with Landius. ¡®I guess I had a hard time these days.¡¯ He wouldn¡¯t be able to survive the hellish training every day if it wasn¡¯t for Cordelia. For Jude, Cordelia was already a real angel and his heart¡¯s oasis. ¡°In any case¡­we both saw the female sage. In other words, Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors and the female sage seems to be deeply rted. Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors is not just some martial art but a superhuman martial art that leads its practitioner to a higher level¡­ Perhaps that female sage is its first practitioner who transcended.¡± If it really was that, several possibilities opened. One was that she was the founder of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. Another was that she was the ancient person who fought against the overlords of hell. Thest one was that she was not either of the two, but was just an ancient practitioner of it. ¡°Nine heavens and nine worlds. The true meaning of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors.¡± Landius had already opened up to the seventh door, but even he didn¡¯t immediately understand what that meant. But Jude had a vague idea about it. ¡®Though it feels like I can¡¯t exin it properly.¡¯ There were a lot of parts that he found hard to express into words. It seemed like he needed to train more in order to understand it. ¡°Anyway, it¡¯s not bad. Since we both saw the female sage, it means that we¡¯re on the right path.¡± Landius and Jude were obviously different. If Jude was moving forward on the right path, Landius was forcibly making his way in the somewhat twisted path. ¡®But what¡¯s important in the end is that we¡¯re moving forward.¡¯ Landius restrained his thoughts and continued to speak. ¡°There is also a difference in the Supreme Sun Divine Art.¡± Although Jude¡¯s training period was short, it was possible topare it with Landius since he managed tobine the Supreme Sun Divine Art with the mnemonic chant of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. ¡°My conclusion is that¡­it¡¯s not that suitable for me. Or to be exact, it¡¯s perfectly suitable for you, my disciple.¡± ¡°Yes, I think so too.¡± The new Supreme Sun Divine Art that was created by adding the mnemonic chant of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors to its existing form was not suitable for everyone. It could be said that the new one was specialized for Jude, that it was a martial art thatpletely suited Jude. ¡°To begin with, the Supreme Sun Divine Art uses the middle dantian among the upper, middle, and lower dantians. And I had already created my middle dantian before I even opened the doors of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. But disciple. You said that you only created your middle dantian when you opened the fifth door, right?¡± ¡°Yes, master.¡± ¡°In that case¡­I guess that my prediction that Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors will use all three dantians when you master it is correct.¡± The numbers of Jude¡¯s dantians wouldn¡¯t just increase because a synergistic effect would also be created through the interactions of the three with each other. So if he got to use all three dantians, the effect might perhaps be not just three times more, but even be five times more. ¡°The lower dantian, middle dantian, and upper dantian all have different roles. So if you can use all of them, what you can do will also vary.¡± It was part of the lesson he had been learning in the past seven days. Jude nodded his head, and Landius moved on to the next topic instead of repeating the specific details about the dantians. ¡°The ck dragon that you¡¯re using¡­ I wonder if that too is the result of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors being tailored to you rather than the natural power of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors.¡± Landius couldn¡¯t use the ck dragon. But he didn¡¯t think that it was because he forcibly trained himself with the martial art, or that he didn¡¯t have Cheonmujiche. ¡®And this is just something I simply felt.¡¯ A kind of feeling that only those who have actually trained that martial art could feel. Instead of being able to use the ck dragon¡¯s energy, the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors of Landius strengthened the power of the sun which was his foundation. If the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors of Jude was the ck dragon, the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors of Landius was the sun. ¡°But now that you¡¯ve began to learn the power of the sun, the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors may change once again. It¡¯s regrettable that I don¡¯t have the time to properly observe it.¡± He tried to teach Jude as much as possible in the little time they had, but they only had seven days, or six days to be exact. Even if Jude was born with Cheonmujiche, it was impossible for him to learn the Supreme Sun Divine Art in just a few days. ¡®But as expected of Cheonmujiche. It¡¯s really incredible.¡¯ Landius taught Jude who was quite ignorant of the Supreme Sun Divine Art through rote learning. They didn¡¯t have enough time so Landius crammed the concepts into Jude¡¯s memory. And Jude had managed to do something that difficult in reality. Although it was hard enough that it would drive someone a bit crazy, what mattered was that he did it. ¡®It¡¯s not only his Cheonmujiche. His intelligence is extraordinary too.¡¯ When one¡¯s martial arts reached a certain level or more, their intelligence would increase. That was why Landius himself had an excellent memory. However, Jude¡¯s memory wasn¡¯t at a level that could be simply evaluated as excellent. It was seriously amazing. ¡®I never thought that I could cram all eight of it in him in just six days.¡¯ The Supreme Sun Divine Art didn¡¯t just involve mental cultivation. It also had a lot of skills, and Landius was able to cram around eight of it into Jude¡¯s soul and body. ¡®He¡¯ll be able to properly use the skills one by one when his mastery increases.¡¯ And the next time they would meet again, he would teach Jude the secret skills of the Supreme Sun Divine Art. ¡®Of course, the training awaiting him will be harder than now.¡¯ But that did not matter. If it was someone like his disciple before him, they would be able to endure it. ¡°Hohoho.¡± Landius chuckled in delight, but Jude flinched for a moment and then broke out in a cold sweat. Because he somehow had this ominous foreboding. ¡°Anyway, my disciple.¡± ¡°Yes, master.¡± ¡°You got stronger too quickly.¡± At Landius¡¯ words, Jude nodded his head again. Because Jude himself understood well what those words meant. ¡°I can¡¯t say that rapid growth is bad. That only shows how excellent your talent is. But even then, it¡¯s too fast. The speed of your growth is too fast that I sometimes think it¡¯s scary.¡± Jude reached the fifth door of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors in just a couple of months. When Landius first met him, it was impossible for him to fight against a low-ranking demonic human, but the child was now capable of beating a mid-ranking demonic human. In just a couple of months. ¡°It¡¯s too fast. So I¡¯m worried.¡± He hoped that this growth wouldn¡¯t overwhelm Jude. He hoped that Jude¡¯s ankles wouldn¡¯t be caught by the things he missed because he ran too fast. T/N: The above sentence is something figurative. Basically, Landius is saying that he hopes that Jude wouldn¡¯t suffer any drawbacks or consequences because he learned too fast. ¡°Disciple, I¡¯ll be honest with you. I¡¯ve been called a genius since I was a kid. It was quite well-known too.¡± Landius suddenly cleared his throat after having spoken. Because he felt embarrassed even though he said it himself. ¡®But it¡¯s true.¡¯ It was true. Objectively speaking, Landius himself was a genius. ¡°Kamael is also a genius. Lena is a genius too. I myself am a genius, and I have seen many geniuses in my life. But you¡¯re the best among them.¡± Cheonmujiche. It was indeed the incarnation of martial arts from the heavens. In reality, the original Cheonmujiche wasn¡¯t as good as what Jude had now. But like what Jude himself thought, the Jude and Cordelia now were different from the ones in the game. Even in his previous life, Kang Jin-ho was the genius who was also known as Outboxer009. Kang Jin-ho¡¯s genius self was added to Jude¡¯s Cheonmujiche. And by training in the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors and having his intelligence increased, the current Jude was much more talented than the original Jude in the game. ¡®The same goes for Cordelia.¡¯ In Jude¡¯s opinion, it was a fact that Cordelia was the real genius. Her ability to arrive at the results without going through the process could not be expressed in any other way except for the word ¡®genius.¡¯ Jude himself didn¡¯t just assess things, as he also calcted things through his analysis. ¡°That¡¯s why, my disciple, I look forward and am worried about you at the same time whenever I see you.¡± It was his first time meeting someone with this talent, so he couldn¡¯t even guess how it would go in the future. His growth speed was too fast that if he went down the road without stopping for a brief moment, he might go too far. ¡°So, my disciple. Don¡¯t be too hasty. You¡¯ve already gone too fast. Be a little more patient than be in an extreme hurry. Do you understand what I mean?¡± ¡°Yes, master. I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡± Landius¡¯ concern was actually a bit too much. ¡®Because leveling up is also my talent.¡¯ The reason why Jude was able to be stronger so quickly was because his body rapidly became stronger through leveling up. Everyone in Pleiades naturally had levels, and their abilities get enhanced as their levels increased, but what they felt was different. In Jude and Cordelia¡¯s case, they felt that their stats had risen every time they leveled up, while for others, they felt that their levels rose because their abilities had risen above a certain standard. The two seemed simr at first nce, but there was a clear difference between the two. ¡®Anyway, he¡¯s a bit worried because he overestimated us but¡­it¡¯s not that bad to keep that in mind. For both Cordelia and me.¡¯ No, rather than me, it should only be for Cordelia. ¡°Well, I¡¯ve said everything I wanted to say. I think that¡¯s enough to wrap up this training.¡± Having said that, Landius tried to get up as he brushed the dirt off his clothes, but Jude hurriedly raised his hand and said. ¡°Master! I want to ask you one more question.¡± ¡°What is it, disciple?¡± ¡°I¡¯d like to ask you about Velkian-nim and Fran-nim.¡± Like where the two were now. Or if there was any way to contact them. At Jude¡¯s question, Landius furrowed his brows once and said with a bitter smile. ¡°If it¡¯s Master Velkian¡­I don¡¯t know either. After we fought the Demon Prince, he disappeared while saying that he¡¯d do some personal research. He didn¡¯t have much long left to live in the first ce, so I didn¡¯t even stop him¡­ Disciple. Why are you looking at me like that?¡± ¡°Eh? Ah, no. It¡¯s just a little¡­amazing.¡± Master Velkian. He couldn¡¯t believe that Landius used honorifics for Velkian. ¡®Landius is now forty.¡¯ On the other hand, Velkian was already in his 70s at the time of the first episode. It was a matter of course. ¡°Boy, why are you saying something random? Anyway¡­I don¡¯t know about Fran either. I¡¯ve been in touch with him 5 years ago, but I lost contact with him after that. But since he¡¯s a druid, he must be living well somewhere. Perhaps he¡¯s doing something like hibernation.¡± Jude thought that even if a druid hibernated, five years was a bit too much, but he nodded his head. ¡®I have no choice but to find them one by one since we don¡¯t know.¡¯ They first needed to catch Velkian by fishing him with a bait. ¡°Well, that¡¯s quite a sly smile, my disciple.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± ¡°You sly boy. Are you thinking of the girl?¡± When Landius asked with a furtive smile, Jude felt that he was being misunderstood. Or rather, why was Cordelia connected to his sly expression? Especially when Jude himself thought of Cordelia with a pure heart¡­ ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Jude who was thinking about her suddenly coughed again. Because he was embarrassed when he thought of her. ¡°I guess you have a conscience.¡± Landius said that as if he knew what Jude was thinking, so Jude cleared his throat again from his embarrassment. After about an hour. Jude, Cordelia, and Landius stood facing each other at the entrance of the Temple of Life. Because it was now time for them to go their separate ways. ¡°Master, please stop by the royal capital when you¡¯re done with your business.¡± Landius was heading to the southern part of the kingdom where Kamael and Lena were in order to resolve some business there. Though Jude was anxious that Landius didn¡¯t give him a proper answer even after he asked several times, he decided to be understanding of Landius. ¡®There must be a reason.¡¯ A reason why Landius didn¡¯t want to say it. Perhaps there was something really dangerous there. ¡®I hope that he¡¯ll be safe.¡¯ Although he didn¡¯t have aplete picture of the events since it was not urately described in the original, it was not yet time for Landius to die. Moreover, Lena who was not present in the original was now together with them, so if their business got settled well and was much better than the original, the chances of Landius dying would be low. ¡°Yes, Landius-nim. I¡¯ll also be waiting for you in the royal capital. Cordelia gracefully added, and Landius chuckled and nodded his head. ¡°Okay, I understand. If it¡¯s possible, I¡¯d go see the two of you at the founding ball.¡± The 300th anniversary founding ball. As it was a gathering of many people from all over the country, it would be full of good-looking men and women, but Landius was sure of one thing. That it would be Jude and Cordelia who would shine the brightest on that day. ¡°Now then, I have to go. Your level was much higher than I expected, so I got dyed a bit.¡± ¡°Thank you very much, master.¡± Jude replied a bit awkwardly at Landius¡¯ slightly mischievous words, and Landius chuckled again. ¡°My disciple, I look forward to our next meeting. Practice hard until then. Build your muscles. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Yes, master.¡± Jude¡¯s face turned pale due to the trauma he remembered in thest few days, but fortunately, Cordelia was next to him. Cordelia held the staggering Jude with her arms and said to Landius. ¡°Then, see you next time. May the muscles always be with you.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s greeting, Landius stared in surprise but he soon cheerfullyughed and rose from the ground. ¡°Don¡¯t cry as it would lead to muscle loss! May the muscles always be with you!¡± A golden aura exploded from Landius¡¯ body as he soared high in the sky. It brightly shined as if another sun had risen in the sky. ¡°See you again! Disciple! Girl! May the muscles always be with you!¡± Hahahahaha! Landius burst into a vigorousughter as he moved in the air and flew at a terrifying speed towards the south, and Cordelia said with a nk expression like usual. ¡°It¡¯s amazing whenever I see it.¡± Why is that not magic? How in the world does he fly like that? ¡°Aren¡¯t you amazed too¡­ Jude?¡± Cordelia who was supporting Jude with her arms unknowingly stepped back. Because Jude¡¯s body shook and theughter he suppressed finally burst out. ¡°Kukuku¡­kukuku¡­I¡¯m free. I¡¯m free!¡± He was free from the training of thosest six days. Those hellish days! ¡°Are you that happy?¡± ¡°I¡¯m very happy!¡± Jude broadly smiled as he held Cordelia¡¯s waist in his joy and lifted her up high. ¡°Yes! Wahoo!¡± The two spun around. Cordelia was frightened by his smile that was like that of a madman, but she soon spoke with a sympathetic face. ¡°I¡¯ll give you ap pillow today.¡± ¡°Sob, sob! Thank you, Madam!¡± ¡°Yes, yes, my Dolswe.¡± Jude spun around a few more times before he brought Cordelia down on the floor. *** The next afternoon. At the branch headquarters of the Devil¡¯s Hand located in Mte. The enduring Saluzia, a high-ranking demonic human who was in charge of the northern part of the S?len Kingdom, finally screamed in anger. ¡°What the hell is going on!¡± The intelligence she received eight days ago. The information that Jude and Cordelia would join forces with the Guardians of the Holy Cross at the headquarters of the Devil¡¯s Hand in Mte ¨C or to be exact, it was information about attacking the branch that Saluzia was in charge of in the whole north. It was information that she couldn¡¯t just ignore. All the branches of the Devil¡¯s Hand were run in secret. Naturally, it wasn¡¯t an exaggeration to say that only a few people knew about the locations too. But they pinpointed Mte. ¡®In addition, they made three mid-ranking demonic humans vanish off the face of the earth.¡¯ She found it hard to believe that Jude and Cordelia alone could have done that. It was obvious that the Guardians of the Holy Cross were deeply involved. ¡®Kamael.¡¯ The most powerful person in the Guardians of the Holy Cross. There was a high possibility that his clone was also involved in this event. No, perhaps he wouldn¡¯te at all. He probably knew that he cannot defeat Saluzia by himself. Therefore Saluzia went on the defensive. After gathering all of their forces in the north to counterattack those who would be invading their headquarters, theyid out a trap and waited. A day passed. Two days. Three days, four days. Finally at the eight day! ¡°Why aren¡¯t theying!¡± Saluzia didn¡¯t just foolishly stayed indoors. She sent intelligence agents outside several times in order to monitor the movements of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. And what she found out as a result was that the Guardians of the Holy Cross were not making any significant moves. She thought it was a trap at first. She thought they were ying tricks in order to perfectly surprise them. But now. Eight days had now passed. She could tell it now. There would be no attack. It didn¡¯t matter if the information itself was false in the first ce or if the Guardians canceled their operation midway, but what mattered was that an attack wouldn¡¯t happen. ¡®Either way, it doesn¡¯t matter.¡¯ The important thing was the fact that she wasted eight days and that there was a setback in their operation in the royal capital because she had gathered their troops in a hurry. ¡®If the leader get disappointed at me over this¡­ If shepletely renounce me¡­¡¯ Just imagining it was terrible. Saluzia shuddered in fear as she covered her face with her hands and breathed in and out several times. She would rather die than suffer as she didn¡¯t want to face a future where she was abandoned by their leader. She wouldn¡¯t be able to take it. ¡°Find Jude and Cordelia.¡± The root of all evil. So that their leader won¡¯t be disappointed in her anymore. So that she could make up for her past mistakes. ¡°Locate the two! Hurry!¡± Saluzia angrily shouted at the demon followers gathered in Mte and they scattered all over the north to begin searching. They began their search in the major cities of the north as well as the viges near the roads to the royal capital. But none of them could find traces of Jude and Cordelia. And that was something natural. The two didn¡¯t use the proper road in the first ce. They headed to apletely different ce and not for the royal capital after they left the Temple of Life. The entrance to the capital. At a vige located in a ce where there were only mountains as far as the eye could see. Jude and Cordelia were there. *** A business had to have customers just like all businesses do. In the case of an inn, there must be someone who would stay, so there were usually two types of guests. One was an outsider who was looking for a ce to stay. The other was a vige insider who needed a ce for a one-night stand. The Pink Pig Inn, the only inn in Hans¡¯ vige, was mainly intended for outsider guests. Because there were no fools who would stop by the inn to y with someone in a small vige where everyone knew each other. ¡®But there aren¡¯t that many outsiders.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t exactly a tourist destination or near a major road. The reason why there was an inn in the vige was because many outsiders once visited the vige in search of a job. A mining industry. An industry in which minerals and so on were extracted by digging the ground. ¡®It used to be a hit.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t that far in the past. Around five years ago, the mining industry was so active that there were three inns in the vige. But now, it was a mining town where most of the tunnels were abandoned. ¡®That¡¯s why it¡¯s weird.¡¯ How many years has it been since so many outsiders were present at the inn? Hans sat at the counter as he took a peek at the people on the first floor that was being used as a tavern. There was a male and female couple sitting in the left corner. Both were so handsome and pretty that he thought they weren¡¯t human when he first saw them. Especially the female whom he unconsciously felt that the word ¡®angel¡¯ would suit her. And there was another group of people on the right. Most of them wererge men, but there was a small girl among them. ¡®Interesting.¡¯ It was rare for the tavern to be full, but even the people inside it were all unusual. ¡®But I have to suppress my curiosity.¡¯ He might get seriously hurt if he pushed his head out of curiosity. Except for the small girl, all of the guests had swords on their back or waist. Even the ¡®angel.¡¯ ¡®Let¡¯s not even look at them.¡¯ I¡¯ll find myself in trouble if I make eye contact. Having made up his mind, Hans turned his gaze away, which was a wise move. Because a silent battle had already began in the tavern, though Hans didn¡¯t feel it. The group of people where the small girl was with stared at the young man and woman sitting in the left corner ¨C at Jude and Cordelia, and the two exchanged nces. ¡®It¡¯s her, right?¡¯ ¡®Yes, it¡¯s her.¡¯ They never imagined that they would meet her in a ce like this. Jude and Cordelia exchanged nces again and turned to the girl simultaneously. A brown hood was worn from the top of her head and covered more than half of her face, but even so, her young-looking face couldn¡¯t bepletely covered. She was clearly Princess Darianne, the younger sister of Princess Daphne and Prince Dion who were known to be the key people in the royal capital incident. Chapter 141: Unexpected Encounter (2)

Chapter 141: Unexpected Encounter (2)

Double chapters today to make up for not posting one yesterday. Regarding family and ns: This series uses a lot of wuxia and murim terms, so I want to rify this stuff. Family usually refers to blood-rted rtives or those with marriage ties. But in the world of wuxia or murim, family could mean the sect or n they belong to and does not necessarily mean they have blood rtions. You¡¯re a knight of Count Bayer? Then you belong to the Bayer family or n. What makes this confusing is the fusion of western and eastern culture in this series. Knights are vassals of a lord, and technically do not belong to the lord¡¯s family or n, but in wuxia or murim, they do. So the 12 northern families are actually 12 sects with a feudal noble as their head. And if you¡¯re wondering why there is this fusion, this series technically belongs to the ¡®fusion fantasy¡¯ genre, where there¡¯s a fusion of two or more genres in a story. In this case, it¡¯s a fusion of western medieval fantasy, wuxia/murim fantasy, reincarnation, and game-like elements. Princess Darianne. Her official name was Perdarianne de S?len. As the child of the Second Queen, she was half-siblings with Princess Daphne and Prince Dion who were the First Queen¡¯s children, but the rtionship of the three were quite good. ¡®Because they have a huge age gap and the probability of Darianne inheriting the throne is low.¡¯ ¡®Because Darianne is the cutest.¡¯ Jude frowned at the reason Cordelia gave, but she wasn¡¯t exactly wrong. If a cute child clings to her older sister and brother, it would be hard for people to not react or resist it. ¡®Anyway, about Princess Darianne.¡¯ Why is she, the darling of the S?len royal family, sitting here now at an inn in a mountain vige like this? ¡®Though I have pretty good idea why.¡¯ ¡®You know why?¡¯ ¡®You, you didn¡¯t properly read the character settings, right?¡¯ ¡®No, I did. I know how many favorite shoes Cordelia has, okay?¡¯ ¡®Hey, you¡¯re Cordelia.¡¯ ¡®Is that so?¡¯ Cordelia smiled with her tongue slightly sticking out to hide her embarrassment, and Jude wryly smiled but was still happy. Because she was cute. ¡®Anyway, it¡¯s just a guess?¡¯ ¡®What?¡¯ ¡®But isn¡¯t this conversation with our eyes too high level? Do you understand what I¡¯m talking about?¡¯ ¡®Uh¡­roughly?¡¯ No matter how well we understand each other, is it possible to have a conversation with our eyes like this? Isn¡¯t this almost telepathic? ¡®Is this the power of love that master said?¡¯ ¡®You must be nuts if you keep repeating that bullsh*t.¡¯ Cordelia said with her eyes as she smiled prettily, and Judeughed before tearing a scroll under the table. The two had an almost telepathic conversation with their eyes, but it was still impossible to convey specific information without understanding the circumstances and context. So in this case, it was better to just use magic. [She probably came here because of the duke.] [The duke¡­isn¡¯t he the maternal grandfather of Princess Darianne?] [Bingo. He is Henry Spencer, the father of the Second Queen and the current Duke Spencer whose family has royal blood flowing in their veins because they are coteral rtives of the royal family.] [Isn¡¯t he suffering from an illness?] [That¡¯s why she came here. To get some medicine that will cure her grandfather¡¯s illness.] [Ah, aaaah!] Cordelia pped her hands a little as if she understood now. [Medicinal herbs in Arkeman¡¯s Dungeon.] [Bingo again this time.] A medicinal herb called the Seven-Colored Herb naturally grew in the deepest part of Arkeman¡¯s Dungeon, and though it was not as good as the Sunflower, it had a rather strong life energy. [Will it perhaps cure an ordinary chronic illness in one dose?] [But in the original, he was still suffering from it. Her duke grandfather.] [I guess she couldn¡¯t get the herbs in the end.] [Well, it¡¯s because Arkeman¡¯s Dungeon is difficult.] Arkeman was a particrly entric freak among the many entric Archwizards. A wizard¡¯s dungeon was originally more like ab with excellent crime prevention measures rather than abyrinth full of traps and monsters. After all, it was a ce created to conduct research. But Arkeman¡¯s dungeon was different. The dungeon was filled with powerful traps and guardians as if the dungeon¡¯s purpose was crime prevention and not research. [In particr, the dungeon boss is a problem.] A chimera created by Arkeman. A creature that was created bybining three different beasts into one, and an inferior monster that could be taken care of in a funny way. [Anyway, we¡¯ll talk about itter.] That was it. Jude looked to his side, and so did Cordelia. Because one of the big men standing next to Princess Darianne approached them. ¡°Hey, you two.¡± It was a deep and intimidating voice. Because of her traveling with Jude, Cordelia¡¯s acting skill had be excellent so she blinked with a frightened look on her face, and Jude slightly leaned forward as if to protect Cordelia before he spoke. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Are you travelers?¡± ¡°Yes, we¡¯re travelers.¡± When Jude immediately replied, the big man frowned instead of talking again. ¡®He¡¯s bad at this.¡¯ ¡®He¡¯s clumsy.¡¯ He was probably sent here by his superior, but it seemed like this was his first time doing it. ¡®Isn¡¯t he a duke¡¯s knight?¡¯ ¡®I think this is the first time he¡¯d ever gone undercover like this.¡¯ What would I say if you asked me if I was a traveler at a ce like this? Of course I would say I¡¯m a traveler. The man hesitated for a moment and looked back, and he caught the gaze, or more like the re, of a fierce-looking middle-aged man sitting next to Princess Darianne. ¡®Get it together?! ¨C I think he¡¯s being told something like that.¡¯ ¡®I think so too.¡¯ Shortly after Jude and Cordelia exchanged nces, the man flinched again and turned to Jude and Cordelia as his mouth opened and closed several times before he spoke. ¡°Why were you looking at our side?¡± ¡°It¡¯s strange that there¡¯s a lone child among adults. Their face is also covered with a robe.¡± Cordelia spoke naturally, and the man was flustered again. Because when he thought about it, she was right. There was a small child who was alone among big men. Their body and face was also covered by a robe. ¡®Even I would look at it.¡¯ The young knight of Duke Spencer, Hunt, was troubled but he couldn¡¯t look back again. Because his superior would clearly scold him severely. ¡®I think I can already hear it, huhu.¡¯ In fact, Hunt felt that it was unfair. Any of the knights who came with him would also respond in the same way as he did. ¡°Umm¡­is there a problem?¡± When Cordelia cautiously asked, Hunt¡¯s face slightly blushed and he faltered again. Although he had some difficulties on how to respond, the main cause was Cordelia¡¯s beauty. ¡®She¡¯s so pretty.¡¯ She was pretty when he saw her at a distance, but she was much prettier when he saw her closer. ¡°Hunt!¡± Hunt flinched after hearing the angry voice behind him, and he shook his head to clear his mind. Since it had already happened, he had to do something even if it would be a sess or a failure. ¡°You two, you¡¯re too suspicious. Identify yourself. Are you really just travelers?¡± He felt ashamed at the words that he said himself, but he couldn¡¯t help it. And at his shameful lines, Jude sighed and looked at Cordelia as he sent her a gaze. ¡®Let¡¯s just do it then.¡¯ ¡®We¡¯re going to get involved with them?¡¯ ¡®Because it would be nice if we can get close to Princess Darianne.¡¯ He was wondering on how they would go to the royal capital and meet Princess Daphne, but the problem would be solved at once if they became close to Princess Darianne. After taking a deep breath, Jude stood up and said. ¡°Sir Knight.¡± ¡°Eh¡­what? I am not a knight. I¡¯m just a traveling veteran mercenary.¡± ¡°I understand. You¡¯re a knight of Duke Spencer, right?¡± Right after Jude said that. The air in the inn rapidly changed. The men around Princess Darianne stood up at once, and even the bewildered Hunt gave off a sharp pressure and grabbed the sword on his waist. He was ready to pull it out. Then one person moved. The middle-aged man sitting right next to Princess Darianne. He was Sir Cornwell, the head of the Knights of the Red Rose who were known as Duke Spencer¡¯s sword. ¡°Who are you? Depending on how you answer, your life could be at stake.¡± He did not give off a sharp pressure like Hunt. He did not even hold a weapon in his hand like everyone else. But the quality of his sense of pressure was different. Jude took on his pressing gaze as he took a deep breath once and stepped forward. He stood in front of Cordelia as if to protect Cordelia from Sir Cornwell and everyone else before he opened his mouth. ¡°The second son of the Bayer family, Jude Bayer, greets Sir Cornwell of the Knights of the Red Rose.¡± At Jude¡¯s smooth words without any sign of fear, Sir Cornwell slightly narrowed his eyes, and Hunt and the other knights could not hide their confusion. ¡°H-how?¡± ¡°Bayer?¡± Several very small voices were abruptly heard, but soon disappeared. Because Sir Cornwell began to let out a terrifying sense of pressure. But it didn¡¯tst long. ¡°Stop it, Sir Cornwell.¡± The cheerful voice of a girl, which did not match the current mood, broke the ufortable silence. Sir Cornwell seemed to frown once before he looked back at Princess Darianne who smiled and walked towards Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Mydy.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. Sir Cornwell is next to me, right?¡± At the words of Princess Darianne, Sir Cornwell eventually sighed and then stepped aside. ¡°Hehehe, thank you. As I thought, Sir Cornwell is the best.¡± Princess Darianne cutely said before she took off the hood she was wearing on her head. The golden hair that was called the symbol of the royal family, and her pretty doll-like face were then revealed. ¡°Whew, that¡¯s better. It was quite stifling after all, huh?¡± Mumbling to herself as if she was talking to someone unknown, she then took a deep breath and said as she looked up at Jude. ¡°Good-looking oppa, please try to guess who I am.¡± Who she was. Jude smiled at her provocative question, and Princess Darianne¡¯s cheeks slightly turned red. Although he was overshadowed by Cordelia, Jude was like her too as he was one of the Four Great Kings of Beauty. Just as a beautiful woman¡¯s smile was effective for men, a handsome man¡¯s smile was effective for women. Moreover, Jude even took it a step further. ¡°Let me properly introduce myself.¡± Jude spoke in a lowered voice as he knelt on one knee and gently held the princess¡¯ hand before he kissed the back of her hand. ¡°Jude Bayer of the Bayer family greets Princess Perdarianne.¡± And he brightly smiled again. Princess Darianne held her breath without realizing it, and Cordelia¡¯s eyebrows twitched when she saw everything. Because she somehow unconsciously felt upset about it. ¡®Hey, hey. Don¡¯t go overboard, okay?¡¯ Don¡¯t seduce an innocent girl, okay? She shot a re at him, but perhaps because she shot it in the back of his head or he deliberately ignored it, Jude continued to hold the hand of Princess Darianne and kept his sparkling smile. And a few seconds passed. Princess Darianne came to her senses and said with a shy smile. ¡°That¡¯s surprising. Are you really Count Bayer¡¯s¡­ Are you Mr. Jude Bayer?¡± ¡°Yes, Your Highness. I am Jude Bayer.¡± But that was it. Sir Cornwell who was listening quietly stepped forward again. ¡°Prove it. No, more than that, answer my question first. Why did you think that we are the people of Duke Spencer?¡± When Sir Cornwell showed a coercive attitude again, Princess Darianne slightly frowned, but she didn¡¯t really stop him. Because Sir Cornwell and the princess were also curious about it in the first ce. How in the world did he know? ¡°It¡¯s not that surprising.¡± Jude softly replied and stood up as he faced Sir Cornwell and gave an exnation. ¡°First of all, your outfit is too unnatural for a mercenary.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, the rest of the knights except for Sir Cornwell looked at themselves. Because their clothes such as their cloak, leather armor and so on, were quite like that of a mercenary. ¡°The quality is too good. Most of it are new. Especially the shoes.¡± Mercenaries were those who carried swords while traveling all over the ce to look for work. Their shoes were always worn out from their rough journey. ¡®Perhaps they asked for clothes that were fit for a mercenary.¡¯ But the knights of Duke Spencer who came from the capital would have found it hard to wear second-hand clothes worn by mercenaries. Everything they purchased must have been brand new. ¡°In addition, most mercenaries don¡¯t wear such a perfect full set. They don¡¯t bother about color schemes too.¡± At Jude¡¯sments, the knights looked back at their clothes, and deep furrows lined Sir Cornwell¡¯s forehead. ¡°And most of all, the sword. The sword on the waist of the first person to talk to us¡­it was the sword of the Spencer family. I saw the crest engraved on the handle and figured it out.¡± Sir Cornwell hurriedly turned to Hunt at Jude¡¯s words, and soon red. He seemed to be yelling with his eyes that the other was stupid for carrying the sword with the duke¡¯s crest. ¡®Because weapons are difficult to change.¡¯ For a knight, the sword was like their own life. In the first ce, a knight who was unskilled in going undercover would have unconsciously carried his usual sword. ¡®In fact, it seems like there are more of them.¡¯ Some of the knights who saw Hunt being scolded had flinched and covered their swords with their cloaks. ¡°And to add one more thing¡­ Everyone was too handsome to be a mercenary.¡± At the words of Jude, the rest of the knights except for the cowering Hunt cleared their throats. They were quite embarrassed, but felt that it was nice at the same time. ¡®Of course, it¡¯s not like they¡¯re really handsome, but they have the air of a rich person.¡¯ In any case, most of the knights were convinced of Jude¡¯s words. Because they liked such usible talk. ¡®Of course, the truth is that it¡¯s just some random guess.¡¯ Mercenaries wouldn¡¯t always use old things. They would use new ones sometimes. Moreover, if they were a high-end mercenary who specialized in escorting, there were a lot of times that they matched their clothes well. There were many cases where their customers and escort targets would want a good-looking escort. In the end, it was possible to argue his points one by one if they thought about it calmly, but what mattered was the atmosphere. Ah, that makes sense. I think he¡¯s right? Once that kind of atmosphere was formed, they overlooked his other words unless there were too many irrational things behind it. ¡®As expected of my scammer.¡¯ Jude felt Cordelia¡¯s satisfied(?) smile behind his back and turned to Princess Darianne again, who was fascinated by Jude¡¯s exnation and asked with sparkling eyes. ¡°What about Sir Cornwell and my name?¡± ¡°It was a lot easier.¡± Jude knelt on one knee again to make eye contact with Princess Darianne and then said. ¡°Because Sir Cornwell is the only one in the Spencer family with such a splendid physique and a nice beard.¡± Princess Darianneughed and pped her hands at Jude¡¯s words. ¡°That¡¯s right, Sir Cornwell¡¯s beard is really nice. It¡¯s probably the coolest beard in the royal capital.¡± ¡°Your Highness¡­¡± Sir Cornwell said in a quiet voice as if he was embarrassed, but he seemed to be happy as the corners of his mouth was slightly raised. ¡°And the princess¡­ How can I not recognize such a lovely princess?¡± Princess Darianne¡¯s face turned red at Jude¡¯s sweet whispers. Her red face seemed like it would burst if one touched it. But as for one person. ¡®Hey, hey. Isn¡¯t this too much? Hey!¡¯ Cordelia somehow got angry and sharply red at him, but Jude didn¡¯t budge. He continued to sparkle in Princess Darianne¡¯s eyes, who twisted about before she loudly said. ¡°Fantasy couple!¡± What is she talking about all of a sudden? Jude and Cordelia reflexively thought, and Princess Darianne quickly spoke in a voice full of excitement. ¡°I¡¯ve heard the rumors too. A fantasy couple who are already betrothed with each other, but they love each other so much that they runaway at night because they want to love the other more!¡± It was a blow that made even the mature Jude falter. No, it¡¯s good that it¡¯s already an established fact. It¡¯s good if that¡¯s what the royal capital thinks so. Jude nced at Cordelia whose face was so red that it was like a ripe persimmon that was about to burst. ¡®D-do something!¡¯ Seeing Cordelia¡¯s eyes that were at a loss, Jude nodded his head and turned back to Princess Darianne as he said. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ First of all, you¡¯re right that we¡¯re the fantasy couple but¡­¡± ¡°I knew it!¡± Princess Darianne pped her hands again and turned to Cordelia who flinched and btedly stood up to give her greetings. ¡°Cordelia Chase of the Chase family greets Princess Perdarianne.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s greeting, Princess Darianne blushed again in happiness. But it was at that moment. ¡°Prove it.¡± Sir Cornwell raised his big hand and cut in Princess Darianne, Jude, and Cordelia as he stared at Jude and said. ¡°I know well now how you recognized us. But that does not prove that you are children from the 12 northern families. So prove your identity.¡± The atmosphere in the inn sharply changed again at Sir Cornwell¡¯s sharp remark. ¡®As expected of the head of the Knights of the Red Rose.¡¯ He didn¡¯t get the position of knightmander for no reason. Instead of being flustered, Jude got up and pulled out something hidden in his inner chest pocket. ¡°This is a crest of the Bayer family that only the legitimate children of Count Bayer have.¡± It was not the crest of some vagrant family but was that of the Bayer family, one of the highest-ranked among the 12 northern families when it came to military power. Sir Cornwell immediately nodded upon receiving the crest. ¡°You are the child of Count Bayer. If so, what about you?¡± As Sir Cornwell¡¯s gaze shifted to Cordelia, she blinked her eyes and looked at Jude. Because unlike Jude, she didn¡¯t carry anything like a crest. ¡®Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll take care of it.¡¯ ¡®How?¡¯ ¡®Leave it all to me.¡¯ Jude smiled and lowered his posture again before he spoke as he faced Princess Darianne. ¡°Princess, my fianc¨¦e unfortunately does not have a family crest at the moment. But¡­do you really need proof?¡± At Jude¡¯s question, Princess Darianne showed her curiosity with her sparkling eyes, and Sir Cornwell frowned. And Jude continued his words. ¡°My fianc¨¦e, Lady Cordelia Chase, is rumored to be the most beautiful girl in the north. If you¡¯ve heard the rumors about us¡­ I¡¯m sure Princess Darianne already knows about it, right?¡± ¡°Yes, I heard about it. She¡¯s an angel-like beautiful girl with vivid red hair and blue eyes that sparkle like gems.¡± Princess Darianne¡¯s description made Cordelia¡¯s face turn red again. And Jude pushed it further. ¡°That¡¯s right. She¡¯s the most beautiful girl in the north. A girl who¡¯s truly like an angel that descended on earth.¡± As he spoke dramatically, some of knights unknowingly nodded, and so did Hans who was sitting at the counter. ¡°A woman who¡¯s like a flower and is so lovely and pretty that it makes you want to look at her more even though you¡¯re already looking at her.¡± ¡®F-f*ck. Stop. Stop it! Hey!¡¯ It was unknown if Jude could hear Cordelia¡¯s screams in her mind or not, but he continued to speak as a smile bloomed on the face of Princess Darianne. ¡°I see, are you saying that her beauty itself is the proof of her identity?¡± ¡°Yes, wise princess.¡± Princess Darianne giggled at Jude¡¯s words before she looked up at Sir Cornwell, who nodded and sighed as if he couldn¡¯t help it. In fact, identifying them was pretty much done at the time when he saw the Bayer¡¯s crest. Asking for the Chase family¡¯s crest to be presented was in reality more of a trick. ¡°I guess the rumors are true. I¡¯d like to hear from you two, so can you tell me? Ah, are you still in your runaway of love?¡± The way she asked with her slightly lowered voice was very cute and lovely, so Cordelia covered her face with both hands instead of answering, and Jude gently shook his head. ¡°No, Your Highness. The runaway of love is over.¡± ¡°Then?¡± ¡°We¡¯re on a journey of love now.¡± Jude shamelessly said, and Princess Darianne had a face like that of a dreaming girl while Cordelia couldn¡¯t remove her hands from her face. Chapter 142: Unexpected Encounter (3)

Chapter 142: Unexpected Encounter (3)

Gossip could travel fast. Rumors about Jude and Cordelia had widely spread beyond the north and even reached the country¡¯s capital where the royal family lived. ¡®No! Why?! What happened?!¡¯ Because it was something strange and unusual. Lovers who loved each other but were forced to break up due to the opposition of their families so they run away at night with their lover ¨C such a setting was exclusive to sad romance stories. But two people who were already engaged would still have a nighttime runaway of love? The two of them had the full support of their families since they had already been engaged since birth, yet they still did that? The reactions of those who heard the rumors about Jude and Cordelia werergely the same. ¡°What did you say?¡± ¡°Eh? What the hell did you just say?¡± A story that was hard to understand. That was why they were curious about the whole story. Moreover, the story of Jude and Cordelia were so filled with attractive things that spiced it up. ¡°Have you heard about the letters Lady Cordelia left behind¡­¡± ¡°Oh my gosh, how bold.¡± Cordelia¡¯s letters expressing her love for Jude were quite direct and straightforward. ¡°I guess they wanted to have some time alone.¡± ¡°Ah¡­I think I somehow understand why.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it?¡± It was difficult to create a situation where two unmarried people of the opposite sex were alone with each other, even if they were engaged, of noble lineage, or belonging to the 12 northern families. Because a lot of people would follow right behind them for this and that, such as their exclusive maid or escort knight. ¡°How could they do that¡­those two have gone too far.¡± ¡°Indeed¡­Lady Cordelia must still maintain the dignity of a noble youngdy.¡± ¡°To be honest, I¡¯m a bit disappointed in her.¡± ¡°She must have read too many romance novels. Hohoho.¡± One way or another, a scandal was a scandal. Just like Emma Ficus, there were many people who said bad things about Jude and Cordelia since this was the perfect opportunity for them. And as always, bad rumors were bound to spread more widely than good rumors. ¡°But¡­isn¡¯t it a bit envious though?¡¯ ¡°In fact, me too¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m a bit envious.¡± The story of the two wasn¡¯t simply a scandal where they could criticize and look down on the two. Because it contained elements that were yearned for by young girls and even women who were quite old or those who already have multiple children. ¡°The two must really love each other, right?¡± ¡°Like those in love stories.¡± For nobles, most marriages were arranged by their families. A political marriage. A marriage with an unknown partner. A sudden engagement with someone they thought was someone else until yesterday. A forced marriage with no love on both sides. But Jude and Cordelia were different. Despite being engaged since birth, the two strongly loved each other ¨C they were truly in love like the main characters of romance stories. They would be lying if they didn¡¯t felt envious. ¡°And¡­have you heard about the rumors of Mr. Bayer? He¡¯s really handsome, right?¡± ¡°Lady Cordelia has been famous for her beauty for a long time.¡± ¡°Count Chase is a bit too¡­¡± ¡°Hey, it¡¯s been rumored too that Lady Adelia would have been the most beautiful woman in the north if she just shut her mouth, right?¡± ¡°I remember that.¡± The two shined as an iparably beautiful girl and an absolutely handsome boy even when considered separately, so how great would the two shine now when they are a couple? In any case, the rumors about Jude and Cordelia quickly spread beyond the north and even to the capital because of these reasons. And in fact, the rumors had already spread to the south, so the whole kingdom knew about the story of Jude and Cordelia. From a fantasy couple to a couple of the century. The love story of two people that was recognized by the entire kingdom. ¡®F*ck, what is this¡­ What in the world is this?¡¯ Cordelia felt dizzy when she heard their story from Princess Darianne¡¯s mouth, while Jude nodded with a very happy face. ¡°It¡¯s a very exciting story. I really envy you, Lady Cordelia.¡± ¡°Th-thank you.¡± As Princess Darianne¡¯s eyes brightly sparkled in admiration, Cordelia was forced to smile and acknowledge it. ¡®How did this happen?¡¯ It clearly began as an excuse to avoid Dahlia and Maja¡¯s watchful gaze. The next thing she knew, the whole kingdom ¨C no, perhaps the entire continent had publicly recognized them as a lovey-dovey couple. ¡°By the way, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Yes, Mr. Bayer.¡± ¡°Has the second story¡­not spread yet?¡± ¡°Second story?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the secret story behind me and Cordelia¡¯s journey. Our connection with the Guardians of the Holy Cross¡­¡± Princess Darianne blinked her eyes at Jude¡¯s words, and Sir Cornwell who was listening next to her coughed and opened his mouth. ¡°The reason why the two fled at night was to actually help with the mission of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. Count Hr?svelgr, the head of the Jackdaws, had reported that they were also very active in the military operations in the barbariannds.¡± ¡°Wow, really?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know the other details, but that¡¯s what I heard.¡± Being the duke¡¯s knightmander did not mean he could read the military reports that Count Hr?svelgr sent to the royal capital. It was a rough story he gathered from exchanging information between his fellow knights. ¡°But¡­we might be able to find out the details now.¡± Having spoken so far, Sir Cornwell looked at Jude who shed a smile. ¡°I can¡¯t tell you the details because it¡¯s confidential¡­but the real reason why Cordelia and I ran away from home was to fulfill our mission from the Guardians of the Holy Cross.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Sir Cornwell urged him to say a little more, but it was in vain. Jude maintained his smile and Sir Cornwell just frowned as he couldn¡¯t directly pressure Jude to say it. Sir Cornwell was both a viscount and the knightmander of Duke Spencer¡¯s knights, but he was not exactly in a position to order Jude on what to do. ¡®Because he¡¯s a noble too.¡¯ Although Jude had no title and was unlikely to inherit the title because he was the second son, a nobleman was still nobility. ¡®And perhaps¡­he¡¯ll receive a baron rank sooner orter.¡¯ Count Hr?svelgr had reported the contributions of Jude and Cordelia in the barbariannds, so it was highly likely that they¡¯d receive the higher-ranked title of baron and not the lower-ranked title of knight. So Jude leisurely smiled again, and Sir Cornwell looked displeased as he couldn¡¯t say anything to Jude. But not for Princess Darianne. Upon hearing the conversation between Jude and Sir Cornwell, her shoulders suddenly sank, and she spoke in a very disappointed tone. ¡°Then¡­was everything a lie?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°The love story between you two.¡± She had longed for something like that and thought it was amazing, so she wished for that kind of love too. ¡®Please say no.¡¯ At Princess Darianne¡¯s gaze, Jude turned to Cordelia who was visibly embarrassed. ¡®W-what should I do?¡¯ ¡®What do you mean? Let¡¯s just do what we always do.¡¯ ¡®Wait, what we always do?¡¯ ¡®Then will you make Princess Darianne cry?¡¯ Cordelia flinched at Jude¡¯s question before she turned to Princess Darianne and flinched again when she saw the princess¡¯ moist eyes. ¡°Princess Perdarianne.¡± ¡°Yes, Mr. Bayer.¡± ¡°What I said earlier¡­ Do you remember that?¡± Princess Darianne blinked her eyes and tilted her head at Jude¡¯s question, and she soon brightly smiled. ¡°You said that it was a journey of love.¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. Our runaway of love is over, and we are now on our journey of love. The reason that we ran away was because of the mission from the Guardians of the Holy Cross¡­but our love for each other is not a lie.¡± ¡°Wow¡­¡± Princess Darianne said in admiration as her hands touched her cheeks and she looked back at Cordelia while looking like that. And she attacked them with her eyes again. She stared at them with her big and beautiful eyes that were moist but had a different feeling than earlier. ¡°J-Jude is right. We really¡­lo-love each other.¡± Cordelia awkwardly affirmed it, and Darianne¡¯s face brightened up. ¡°Then Lady Cordelia¡­no, Cordelia-unnie. Can I call you unnie?¡± ¡°Eh? That¡­yes, it would be an honor.¡± Even if it was in private, it was umon for a princess to call someone ¡®unnie.¡¯ When Cordelia answered with difficulty, Princess Darianne slightly closed her eyes and giggled before she said. ¡°Then, that letter too¡­is that real? I always want to be together with my beloved Mr. Bayer¡­I don¡¯t want to part with him¡­ Even death will not be able to separate us¡­¡± At the phrases she recited like a girl who was dreaming, Cordelia suffered an enormous mental blow, but she couldn¡¯t do anything. She couldn¡¯t say no here. ¡®No, wait! How did it be so exaggerated?!¡¯ I certainly said that I want to be with my beloved Mr. Bayer, and that I didn¡¯t want to part with him, but I never said that death h h! But it was a rumor that had already spread, and the original rumor had be exaggerated when it spread. ¡°I thought it was really cool. Is it real? Cordelia-unnie?¡± At the adorable Darianne¡¯s question, Cordelia felt a cold sweat run down her back, but she was forced to smile and nod her head. ¡°It¡¯s a bit exaggerated, no, a lot of it is¡­¡± ¡°Exaggerated? So you did not say that you love Mr. Bayer? You don¡¯t want to part with him¡­¡± ¡°No, no. That¡¯s true. T-that¡¯s what I wrote.¡± s, Cordelia. s, Cordelia. (T/N: This is Jude¡¯s thoughts.) Her face and neck turned red, and sweat poured down as she was at a loss on what to do, but the knights and Hans in the counter thought the same at her appearance. ¡®Lovely. I want to kill him.¡¯ The first one was for Cordelia. Thest one was for Jude. And Jude who was the direct cause of all these events and one of the parties involved, did his best to hold back hisughter. ¡®Ah, Cordelia, please. Why are you so cute?¡¯ But it was at that moment he thought that. ¡®Hey! Help me!¡¯ ¡®Yes, Madam.¡¯ Jude immediately responded to Cordelia¡¯s SOS signal as he opened his mouth to change the current situation. ¡°By the way, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Yes, Jude-orabeoni. Can I call you orabeoni?¡± ¡°Of course. Thank you for this great honor.¡± ¡°Hehehe, thank you for allowing me too. But what¡¯s the matter? Oh, do you have more love stories to tell?¡± ¡°Of course, we have a lot of stories to tell but¡­ I think we should postpone that for now.¡± Having said that, Jude nced back at Sir Cornwell and spoke again. ¡°The reason Cordelia and I stopped by this vige was to actually get medicinal herbs.¡± ¡°Medicinal¡­herbs?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s a medicinal herb called the Seven-Colored Herb that grows in the wild at Archmage Arkeman¡¯s Dungeon.¡± As soon as Jude¡¯s words were spoken, the atmosphere in the inn changed once again. Sir Cornwell¡¯s eyes turned fierce, and the hesitant knights also quickly changed their gazes and posture. ¡®As expected.¡¯ This reaction. It¡¯s clear that Princess Darianne and her group also came to this vige to look for the Seven-Colored Herb. If so, how will they respond to my current remarks? Jude looked at Princess Darianne who couldn¡¯t hide her feelings like that of a child. She sped her hands tightly and seemed to be restless as she turned to Sir Cornwell. ¡°Sir Cornwell.¡± When she asked him on what to do while staring at him with those eyes, Sir Cornwell sighed before nodding his head. ¡°It can¡¯t be helped. They¡¯re children of the 12 northern families, so I think we can discuss it.¡± To be exact, it was because the two were children from the 12 northern families that they had to talk about it with the two. If they weremoners, they would have driven them out or in extreme cases, eliminate them, but that was impossible if they were children from the 12 northern families. ¡°Jude-orabeoni.¡± ¡°Yes, Princess Perdarianne.¡± ¡°Please call me Darianne. Because it¡¯s my nickname.¡± ¡°Yes, Princess Darianne.¡± Jude corrected his address, and Princess Darianne bit her lips once before she smiled and said again. ¡°Sir Cornwell and I also came to get the Seven-Colored Herb.¡± ¡°You mean¡­the Seven-Colored Herb?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve also heard the story that it grows in the wild in Arkeman¡¯s Dungeon.¡± She did not disclose her source of information, and Jude did not ask her. The important thing was that they both wanted the Seven-Colored Herb. ¡®Wait, we want the Seven-Colored Herb? What we want is something else.¡¯ ¡®Yes, that¡¯s right. But I want Princess Darianne and Sir Cornwell to think it so.¡¯ Cordelia blinked her eyes and soon understood Jude¡¯s hidden intention. ¡®Wow, a real scammer.¡¯ ¡®Thanks for thepliment, Princess.¡¯ Jude¡¯s hidden intention. The future scheme of Jude. ¡°Jude-orabeoni, please join us. We¡¯ll get the Seven-Colored Herb together and then share it.¡± At the suggestion of Princess Darianne, Jude shouted bingo in his mind but didn¡¯t make it obvious. Instead of epting it right away, he asked in a cautious tone. ¡°Will that¡­be fine?¡± He directed the question not only to Princess Darianne, but also to Sir Cornwell. And in fact, the answer was already decided. ¡®Because it was decided by Princess Darianne and they don¡¯t have a reason to refuse it.¡¯ They had already identified the two as Jude and Cordelia. Moreover, Sir Cornwell also knew that Jude and Cordelia had made a contribution in the barbariannds. In other words, he knew that the two were not ordinary nobles nor innocent children. ¡®It¡¯s more like our power increased rather than our number of escort targets increased.¡¯ Naturally, it wouldn¡¯t be pleasant for them if others intrude even if the outsider¡¯s identities have been proven and were invited by the princess. But he had no reason to refuse it strongly, so just epted it. ¡°I¡¯ll be counting on you.¡± ¡°Thank you, Sir Cornwell.¡± Jude smoothly answered and looked back at Princess Darianne. And the moment he faced Princess Darianne and her group, he told them about his n. ¡°Princess Darianne, I have one suggestion.¡± It was a win-win n of one stone hitting three birds where everyone here would be happy, though Jude and Cordelia would naturally be happier. Jude then began to talk. Chapter 143: Chimera (1)

Chapter 143: Chimera (1)

Archwizard Arkeman. He was a character who had lived hundreds of years ago but only existed as a background setting in Legend of Heroes 2, and was a person whose name frequently appeared when one yed the main story. ¡®A genius creator of magic tools.¡¯ He was a great wizard and an excellent cksmith at the same time, and one of the top three artifact craftsmen in history. So the more one proceeded to the second half of the game, the more they would see his name because the yer would be equipping high-ranking equipment at that time. ¡®It was called the Arkeman series.¡¯ > or > ¨C such were the descriptions of the items he made. Usually, the items he made in his youth were just in (?) A-rank ones, but those he made in his middle and old age were at least S-rank items that guaranteed a really terrifying average performance, so it became an unwritten rule in Legend of Heroes to obtain one of the Arkeman series when it became avable for the yer. ¡®Of course, that was the standard for ordinary yers.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t such an attractive series for rotten waters. Because there were many more powerful items than that series. ¡®But even so.¡¯ Items that were at least S-rank were not something weak. For the current Jude and Cordelia, the Arkeman series were dream items. ¡®Add to that are the ranks of the Arkeman series.¡¯ The items were not at most S-rank items. They were at least S-rank items. Even some rotten waters drooled and struggled to possess items from the Arkeman series. ¡®They were called Arkeman¡¯s 7 Treasures.¡¯ Jude raised his head as he snapped out of his thoughts. He continued his words to Princess Darianne who had sparkling eyes and to Sir Cornwell who was showing interest one way or another even though he had a slightly displeased look. ¡°Princess Darianne.¡± ¡°Yes, Jude-orabeoni.¡± ¡°Did you know that we met the Fairy Queen?¡± ¡°Yes, I heard of that story too. But is it true? Did you really participate in the fairies¡¯ banquet?¡± Princess Darianne¡¯s eyes were filled with a light of excitement. It was umon to meet fairies in reality. First of all, there weren¡¯t that many fairies, and most of them lived in hiding deep in the mountains. Moreover, their preference for beautiful things or people was a problem. Because even if someone found their habitat, they wouldn¡¯t meet anyone who didn¡¯t had a certain level of beauty. ¡°Orabeoni, orabeoni. Then is it true? That the fairies first showed up because of Cordelia¡¯s beauty.¡± ¡°Of course, it¡¯s true. Everyone went crazy and said that she was as pretty as a goddess.¡± ¡°Wow¡­¡± Princess Darianne¡¯s gaze naturally turned to Cordelia, and so did Sir Cornwell and the other knights. ¡°Ah¡­ Uh¡­¡± As for Cordelia. Her face was red as ever, and she didn¡¯t know what to do so she bowed her head. No, she reached under the table and pped Jude¡¯s thigh. ¡®Do something! No! Hurry up and change the topic! Change it!¡¯ She couldn¡¯t even exchange nces with him because she had bowed her head, but her thought was clearly conveyed because of her desperation. And Jude thought. ¡®Shouldn¡¯t you be used to it by now?¡¯ But being embarrassed like this every time was part of Cordelia¡¯s charm. ¡®Hurry up!¡¯ She pped it again. Jude nodded his head and changed the topic for Cordelia. ¡°Anyway, Your Highness, Cordelia and I met not only the fairies but also the Fairy Queen, who is the queen of the fairies. But are you aware of it? The fact that the Fairy Queen is not just one?¡± ¡°Yes, I heard it from Daphne-unnie. Fairies also have dominions, so there are many queens.¡± ¡°Yes, it is as you said. The Fairy Queen is not one but many. And Cordelia and I met another Fairy Queen across the border¡­in the wildnds.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s true.¡± ¡°How? Did the fairiese to meet you first again?¡± Jude nodded his head when asked by Princess Darianne who was so excited. ¡°That¡¯s right. The fairies fell in love with Cordelia¡¯s beauty again¡­¡± p! p! Cordelia hurriedly pped Jude¡¯s thigh, but she was toote. Princess Darianne, Sir Cornwell, the knights, and Hans at the counter looked at Cordelia in unison. ¡®Juuuude!¡¯ The voice of her thoughts were heard once again. Jude pretended not to know her thoughts and quickly spoke again. ¡°The Fairy Queen who lives in the wildnds is very beautiful, wise, and friendly.¡± Wild Fairy Queen Eonelle. Among the Fairy Queens whom they had met so far, she was the easiest to dupe- no, she was the most benevolent and kind woman. At Jude¡¯s sincere words, Princess Darianne suddenly closed her eyes. She was probably imagining the Fairy Queen in her mind. Jude had a small smile at the childlike appearance of Princess Darianne, and he continued to talk. ¡°I heard from the Fairy Queen about Arkeman¡¯s Dungeon. She had told us of a story when she first met Arkeman a long time ago.¡± ¡°Wow¡­ Then the dungeon that Fairy Queen said is¡­¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s a hidden dungeon here. I heard from the Fairy Queen about the Seven-Colored Herb and that a fearsome and powerful chimera guarded the Seven-Colored Herb.¡± It was obviously a lie. The Fairy Queen never said anything like that. But what mattered was that it was a usible story. An archwizard and a Fairy Queen. Two beings that somehow fit together. ¡®It¡¯s impossible for them to verify it.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t possible for them to meet the Fairy Queen here or the Fairy Queen in the wildnds. And in fact, verifying it was already unnecessary. Because Jude had created an atmosphere where everyone believed in his words. Even the doubtful Sir Cornwell was interested in something else rather than the truthfulness of Jude¡¯s story. ¡°Did you say chimera?¡± The dungeon boss who protected the Seven-Colored Herb. ¡®Although it¡¯s not the Seven-Colored Herb that it is guarding.¡¯ The Seven-Colored Herb was just a wild grass that grew in the dungeon, but it was true anyway that the Seven-Colored Herb was in the room the chimera was guarding. So if he slightly changed the story, he could be say that the chimera was also guarding the Seven-Colored Herb. ¡®Hey, Mr. Jude. Isn¡¯t this called a scam?¡¯ Rather than flinching at Cordelia¡¯s gaze, Jude shrugged and made a serious look as he then answered Sir Cornwell¡¯s question. ¡°Yes, I heard that it¡¯s a very powerful chimera. It¡¯s almost like a dragon when inside the dungeon because it is supported by the numerous magic circles that Arkeman had set up.¡± ¡°D-dragon?!¡± A surprised voice came among the knights. It was Hunt, but no one including Sir Cornwell, reprimanded him. Because everyone was equally surprised. ¡°But Jude-orabeoni. Is there any other way? Otherwise, orabeoni and unnie wouldn¡¯t havee here.¡± When Princess Darianne asked with her sparkling eyes as if she found it interesting, the knights including Sir Cornwell were also interested. Because what she said was true. If there was no secret to dealing with the chimera which isparable to a dragon, it would have been useless toe here. Princess Darianne stared at Jude with a smile that seemed to goad him a bit, and Jude nodded his head. ¡°Yes, wise princess. It is as the princess said. There is a secret to dealing with the chimera.¡± ¡°What is it? Please tell us.¡± Princess Darianne urged him to talk, and Jude immediately came up with the answer instead of dragging it on. ¡°Arkeman¡¯s chimeraes out of the dungeon twice a month to absorb the power of the sun. It¡¯s not for a long time, but the dungeon will clearly be empty at that time.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll aim for that gap then?¡± ¡°Yes, but the problem is that the gap is not very long. So when the chimeraes out of the dungeon, that is, at a ce where it can no longer receive the dungeon¡¯s support, someone has to defeat it or draw its attention.¡± At Jude¡¯s exnation, Princess Darianne pped her hands in admiration, but Sir Cornwell¡¯s expression did not brighten. Because it was primarily a synthetic beast, the strength of a chimera varied per individual, but all chimeras possessed a minimum level of strength. Moreover, its basic form was likely to be quite strong, as it was said to be a chimera that became like a dragon when it received the magical support of the dungeon. And Jude was pleased with Sir Cornwell¡¯s response. Because it was the response he had expected. ¡®Bingo.¡¯ We¡¯re almost done now. Jude held Cordelia¡¯s hand and said with a serious face. ¡°Princess Darianne, Cordelia and I will buy time for you.¡± ¡°Orabeoni and unnie?¡± As worry and fear spread over Darianne¡¯s face, Cordelia quickly smiled and said. ¡°It¡¯s alright, Princess. We have prepared ourselves to fight the chimera in the first ce. Also, if the Princess and her knights can help us¡­ we just have to buy time and not defeat it.¡± It was said that experience was the best teacher. Having witnessed Jude¡¯s numerous scams because she was always with him, Cordelia said exactly what was needed even though no one instructed her on what to do. ¡°But¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright. It¡¯s a bit embarrassing to say it, but we¡¯re pretty strong, you see.¡± Cordelia said with a big smile, but Princess Darianne¡¯s face remained gloomy. Because Jude and Cordelia didn¡¯t honestly look to be that strong. ¡®Although I think Jude-orabeoni is a little strong.¡¯ She thought that he was quite tall and that his body was firm. But Cordelia¡¯s body looked thin and delicate, so she thought that Cordelia wasn¡¯t that strong. But it was at that moment. ¡°It will be fine.¡± ¡°Sir Cornwell?¡± ¡°The Bayer and Chase families are among the 12 northern families who are particrly powerful. If that is true¡­they must be verypetent then.¡± ¡°Is that true?¡± ¡°Yes, and Lady Cordelia is a wizard. Wizards are people whose strength cannot be assessed by their appearance alone.¡± ¡°Ah¡­that¡¯s right. It is as Sir Cornwell said.¡± Princess Darianne answered with a nod, as something came into her mind at Sir Cornwell¡¯s words. Sir Cornwell smiled and continued. ¡°Moreover, Adelia Chase, Cordelia¡¯s real sister, is one of the sevenmanders of the Royal Guard Magic Corps. She is also young and beautiful, but she is one of the best in the Royal Guard Magic Corps.¡± So let¡¯s trust them. Let¡¯s leave the chimera to Jude and Cordelia. At the unexpectedly high evaluation, Cordelia looked at Sir Cornwell with amazement, but Jude bitterly smiled. The reason Sir Cornwell was doing that was obvious. ¡®Because they don¡¯t want to fight the chimera.¡¯ Unlike the other knights who were captivated by Cordelia¡¯s beauty, Sir Cornwell might have liked her beauty, but it wasn¡¯t to the point that it clouded his judgment. Therefore, he was able to calmly choose the best option for himself, the knights, and for Princess Darianne. ¡®They¡¯ll pass the chimera to the two of us and enter the dungeon that has be empty.¡¯ This was the best way to preserve the power of the knights and secure the safety of Princess Darianne. Jude was not particrly resentful of Sir Cornwell. He was rather impressed by Sir Cornwell¡¯s rationality and capability. ¡°The chimera wille out of the dungeon within two days from now. So for the rest of the time, I¡¯d like us to exchange information with each other.¡± Sir Cornwell gently nodded his head at Jude¡¯s words, and Princess Darianne stared at Cordelia with a worried look, but did not say anything. ¡°Then let¡¯s talk about it in detail.¡± Their light chat quickly became a meeting, and Jude who was suspected earlier had now be the leader of the meeting. It was something that naturally happened. After he received Cordelia¡¯s admiring gaze, Jude opened his mouth again and began to talk. *** That night. Jude came back to his room after dinner as he stretched his body and walked towards the bed. But Cordelia stood by the door, looked at his back, and spoke to him. ¡°Hey.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You¡¯re doing this on purpose, right?¡± ¡°What?¡± As Jude made an innocent look and pretended to not know, Cordelia growled as she frowned. ¡°I¡¯m angry, okay? I mean, I won¡¯t be cleaning your ears anymore, okay?¡± Jude flinched at her cute threat, but he said with a sly smile. ¡°No, rather than on purpose¡­what I said is true though? Cordelia is the best in the north¡­no, it¡¯s true that you¡¯re the most beautiful girl in the S?len Kingdom, right? It¡¯s true that you¡¯re like an angel because you¡¯re a real angel. Yes, yes, it¡¯s true.¡± A shameless smile and shameless remarks. Cordelia blushed like always in response to Jude¡¯s usual answer, but she was not as helpless like the time when they were on the ground floor. There were only the two of them here now. ¡°Hey! Then you¡¯re the most handsome boy in the S?len Kingdom¡­no, you¡¯re a young man now! Th-that¡­ you¡¯re more beautiful than flowers!¡± You should be embarrassed too! Cordelia smiled with her canines glistening as she happily counterattacked, but Jude only found it funny. ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I mean, I am a young man. Kyaa~ Just as I thought, being handsome is the best. It¡¯s thrilling. It¡¯s always fresh. I love it so much.¡± Cordelia was momentarily shocked by his shameless words that her face stopped turning red, but she soon grinded her teeth, ran to Jude, and began hitting his back. ¡°Hey! Hey! What are you doing!¡± ¡°I hate you! I really hate you!¡± ¡°Princess?¡± ¡°I won¡¯t give you ap pillow again, okay?¡± ¡°I will behave. You can hit me.¡± When Jude showed his back while looking at her in reverence, Cordelia sighed and sat down on the bed. Because she was somewhat depressed. ¡°Hey.¡± ¡°Yes, Madam.¡± ¡°I have a question.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± Jude asked as he sat down next to Cordelia, and she fiddled her hair with her fingers before speaking. ¡°The reason that you said that our goal was the medicinal herb¡­is there more to that?¡± The Seven-Colored Herb was not what the two were aiming for, but one of the 7 treasures hidden in Arkeman¡¯s Dungeon. But Jude told Princess Darianne that their goal was the Seven-Colored Herb. ¡°At first, I thought that you were afraid of the treasure being stolen by the princess¡¯ group, is that right? But there seems to be another reason besides that.¡± Another reason. She didn¡¯t have any specific basis for it. But she felt that to be the case, and Cordelia trusted her senses. ¡°Cordelia.¡± A genius who arrived at the result without going through the process. Jude admired it before he smiled and beckoned to Cordelia. It was a signal for her toe closer so that he could whisper to her. ¡°You¡¯re always whispering.¡± There was no one else in the room who would listen to them anyway. But Cordelia gently brought her face closer to Jude, and he whispered in a small voice into Cordelia¡¯s ear. Another reason why Jude said that their goal was the Seven-Colored Herb. ¡°Wow, you¡¯re a real scammer.¡± ¡°But you like it, right?¡± ¡°Yes, Daddy. I like it so much.¡± After all, he is my Jude. Satisfied with Cordelia¡¯s bright smile, Jude boastfully shrugged and Cordelia smiled again. And two dayster. Jude, Cordelia, Princess Darianne, and herpanions began their hike. Chapter 144: Chimera (2)

Chapter 144: Chimera (2)

Mount Plex, where Arkeman¡¯s Dungeon was located, consisted of nine peaks. The five peaks close to the vige had manyrge and small mining tunnels. However, all but one were abandoned now. ¡°It was said that there was a lot of silver here in the past.¡± Princess Darianne energetically spoke like a child announcing that they had had done their homework at home, and everyone, including Jude, listened to her story. ¡°There are several mines in the estate of Duke Spencer, which are mostly iron and copper mines. I heard that silver and gold mines are very rare.¡± It was almost as if Princess Darianne was born and raised in the Spencer Duchy. So it was natural that her story always ended about the Spencer Duchy. ¡°We¡¯re almost there.¡± At the crossroads between the seventh peak, which was the highest peak, and the eight peak, which was thergest peak. The hole where the chimera regrly appeared from was on the seventh peak, and the entrance to Arkeman¡¯s Dungeon was on the eight peak. ¡°Ah.¡± Princess Darianne who had been chattering like a baby bird with a cheerful voice until now, had a gloomy expression for a moment. But it was only for a while. Princess Darianne¡¯s face became spirited again, and she said to Jude and Cordelia. ¡°I wish you two the best of luck. Orabeoni and unnie.¡± ¡°Thank you. May fortune be with you as well, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t overdo it, okay?¡± At Cordelia¡¯s request after Jude¡¯s greeting, Princess Darianne vigorously nodded her head this time. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine since I have Sir Cornwell. There are other knights too. Duke Spencer¡¯s knights are very strong.¡± Princess Darianne thumped on her chest and looked at the knights in confirmation, and all of the knights responded to the princess¡¯ smile with a smile too. ¡°Jude Bayer and Cordelia Chase.¡± Sir Cornwell who had been by Princess Darianne¡¯s side then approached Jude and Cordelia. It was to go through their operation for thest time before they left. ¡°You¡¯ll send a signal when the chimera appears, and our side will begin exploring at that time.¡± ¡°Yes, please enter as soon as the scroll shines.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Sir Cornwell looked at the scroll before he nodded his head and spoke again. ¡°If the chimera escapes or you fail to defeat it, please don¡¯t forget to send a signal again.¡± ¡°Yes, I will keep that in mind.¡± When Jude unreservedly spoke again, Sir Cornwell closed his mouth once and then said in a slightly soft voice. ¡°You¡¯re still young. I hope you don¡¯t overdo it with your desire to make a contribution. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Yes, Sir Cornwell. Thank you for your concern.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± After Cordelia gently responded, Sir Cornwell cleared his throat while Jude had a small smile as he suddenly remembered Count Chase. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s get going. I wish you good luck.¡± ¡°I wish you all the best of luck too.¡± Jude and Cordelia waved their hands to the knights and Princess Darian before they headed straight for the seventh peak. They had already investigated the ce yesterday, so the two did not hesitate or stop walking. ¡°By the way.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°I said this yesterday, but¡­is it alright if Princess Darianne followed them?¡± ¡°Well¡­Sir Cornwell decided that it was fine, so I¡¯m sure it would be fine. Besides, Princess Darianne isn¡¯t just some powerless girl, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± Those who inherited the blood of King S?len, his direct line descendants, weren¡¯t ordinary humans. A strong divine power inherited from their ancestors flowed in their blood, so it wasmon for royal children to awaken some supernatural powers before they became adults, whether it was early orte. ¡®It¡¯s also the reason why the royal family was exterminated.¡¯ Sacred blood flowed in the veins of the S?len royal family. The extermination of the royal family was not just to destroy the S?len Kingdom but to cut off that sacred blood. ¡®I mean, this is the event that will soon happen.¡¯ But it had yet to happen here. ¡®I won¡¯t let it happen.¡¯ Jude resolved to himself and then said to Cordelia who was energetically walking ahead of him. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes, mister.¡± ¡°Do you want a piggyback?¡± ¡°Gosh, are you alright?¡± After all, they were almost there. The seventh peak where the chimera would appear. ¡°I thought that it was cool yesterday, but it really is cool.¡± ¡°I think that he made it on purpose for the chimera.¡± ¡°Maybe it¡¯s like that?¡± There was a huge rock at the top of the peak, and it looked like a throne that was prepared for the chimera. And a big hole underneath it. The hole was nearly 10 meters in diameter and was steep enough to be almost vertical, but it was obvious to them that Arkeman made this hole on purpose, though they were not sure about the rock at the top. ¡°Well, let¡¯s do our part today.¡± ¡°By the way, mister. How much time do we have left?¡± ¡°Uh¡­about 40 minutes?¡± Jude had taken into ount the time it would take for Princess Darianne and her group to arrive at the eight peak when he nned their schedule. 40 minutes from now. Cordelia suddenly smiled at Jude¡¯s words and said in a quiet voice. ¡°Shall we have lunch then?¡± ¡°Already?¡± ¡°We have to be strong before we fight. And I wanted to eat it. Since this morning. We also cooked it together this time.¡± ¡°Hey, Princess. Today¡¯s lunch is packed sandwiches, right?¡± ¡°Yes, yes, a delicious ham and egg sandwich.¡± ¡°Since when is putting ham and eggs between bread considered cooking?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not? No. Why are you discouraging this Cordelia? I mean, I did my best.¡± Cordelia pouted her lips as sheined, and Jude eventually nodded. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s eat.¡± ¡°Hmph, it must be delicious. I put my heart into it.¡± ¡°You put your heart in putting it together.¡± ¡°Hey, why do you keep doing that? Don¡¯t you know that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step?¡± ¡°Well, the willingness to learn is also important.¡± Jude smiled and put down the basket after having prepared a ce to sit, and Cordelia hummed as she took out the sandwiches and orange juice from the basket. ¡°It seems like we came here for a pic. The view is also nice.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± They were in the highest peak after all. ¡°Here, it¡¯s the best that I made.¡± As if she was being generous, Cordelia handed him a sandwich that was precisely cut in the shape of a right triangle, and Jude received it andughed at that moment. Because he remembered the sandwich that Cordelia tried to cut into the shape of a star but ended up being ruined. ¡°Why are youughing?¡± ¡°I just like it.¡± ¡°Do you have a fever? Have you gone mad?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not.¡± Jude grinned and bit into the sandwich he received, and Cordelia also took a bite of her sandwich. ¡°Mmm.¡± Perhaps it was because of the surrounding scenery, or because he really felt like they were on a pic, or because Cordelia put her heart into it like she imed. Jude smiled at the sandwich that tasted more delicious than usual, and Cordelia smiled in relief from seeing Jude¡¯s reaction. *** Around 30 minutester, at the deepest part of Arkeman¡¯s Dungeon. The chimera opened its eyes at the same time as usual, and lit a big torch with its wing before it flew straight up to the ground. Arkeman¡¯s chimera had a typical appearance. It had three heads consisting of a lion, griffin, and a drake. It had a bear¡¯s body, eagle wings, and a highly venomous snake as its tail. But one peculiarity was the fact that Arkeman¡¯s chimera was a magic tool and not a creature. Although the materials he used were real beasts likemon chimeras, its operating principle was more like an undead monster such as zombies and skeletons. Arkeman created this chimera not because he specialized in the creation of magic tools and not biology, but because it was better for a machine rather than a living creature to guard the dungeon for a long time and to do exactly what it was ordered. And one more thought of Arkeman was added to this. ¡®Isn¡¯t it inhumane for a living creature to be stuck in a dungeon forever and act as a gatekeeper?¡¯ Like an entric archwizard, Arkeman¡¯s humanity sometimes revealed itself in strange ces. In any case, the chimera was created as a magic tool by Arkeman, and like a machine, it went out of the dungeon to absorb the sun¡¯s heat at a fixed time without a single error for over a hundred years. A familiar road that it had passed hundreds of times. The chimera¡¯s eyes began to shine after it passed through the short distance space leap magic circle in the middle. Above its head. A ce where the bright sun shined unlike the always dark dungeon. ¡°Kuoo.¡± The chimera widely pped its wings and headed for the exit above its head. In order to get out of the dungeon, feel the wind, and face the sun again! ¡°Kuoooo!¡± It was the moment when the chimera roared and left the exit. Baaaang! A tremendous impact struck the chimera with a roaring sound. At thepletely unexpected tremendous impact, the chimera was unable to recover from its senses even after it was thrown into the rock while rolling on the ground. So what had happened? What on earth had happened? ¡°Bingo.¡± 15 minutes before the chimera came out of the exit. Jude stood in front of the exit as he clenched his fist and began to gather his energy. Power of the Sun was one of the skills of the Supreme Sun Divine Art that he inherited from Landius. ¡®The longer you gather your energy, the stronger will your power be.¡¯ It was a really simple, but a very powerful skill. A ck me-like aura rose from the entire body of Jude who had closed his eyes and gathered his energy into his right hand. It was the energy of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors that merged with the Supreme Sun Divine Art. ¡®ck Sun.¡¯ It was Jude¡¯s Supreme Sun Divine Art. The Power of the Sun was newly defined by the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. ¡°You look like a viin.¡± Jude flinched at Cordelia¡¯s criticism, but he stayed calm and maintained his concentration. He naturally recalled the teachings of Landius. ¡°Disciple, Power of the Sun is a skill that is difficult to use in practice. It¡¯s a kind of practice skill to learn how to control the immense energy of the Supreme Sun Divine Art.¡± The reason was simple. Because it took too long to gather energy. It was absolutely impossible to gather it for a few minutes without moving while in the middle of an actual battle where just one moment could decide their life. ¡®However.¡¯ It was different now. He knew when and where the chimera woulde out. ¡¯15 minutes.¡¯ At Jude¡¯s current level, it was the time he needed to use the Power of the Sun. For this reason, Jude stood in front of the exit 14 minutes and 30 seconds before the set time as he took into ount some slight errors. ¡®Of course, there¡¯s no electronic watch here so all of this is just my feeling.¡¯ And around 15 minutester. The chimera went out at the set time like a magic tool, and Jude unhesitatingly stretched out his fists. He used the ck Dragon Cross with the energy of the Power of the Sun strengthening it. The strongest punch he could do! Baaaang-! The energy of the ck dragoning out of Jude¡¯s fist struck the chimera¡¯s abdomen. The giant body of the chimera that was soaring into the sky was struck from a distance that was nearly zero, and its body bent into a right angle before it copsed to the ground. Boooom-! The chimera¡¯s gigantic figure hit the ground. After being thrown nearly 10 meters, it collided with the pile of rocks that formed the top of the seventh peak, and the entire peak was shaken by the tremendous impact. ¡°Wow.¡± Cordelia let out a small voice of admiration before she giggled as she passed by Jude and quickly approached the chimera. She then wrapped her detonating cord on the neck and wings of the unconscious monster. ¡°Good.¡± Next was the scrolls. Cordelia took out threerge leather bags from her waist and then connected them with the detonating cord. These bags contained dozens of scrolls that Jude had madest night. ¡®It would be perfect next time.¡¯ She then pushed the bags one by one into the chimera¡¯s mouth. Even though it was much bigger than Cordelia¡¯s fist, the bags were smaller than the chimera¡¯s throat, so they fit in well. ¡°Okay! I¡¯m ready!¡± At Cordelia¡¯s cry, Jude immediately raise his hands to cover his ears, and Cordelia who was far away from the chimera had then flicked her fingers and set the bags on fire. And the scene that followed. A loud explosion that shook not only the seventh peak, but also the entire Mount Plex! Boobooboobooboom! The dozens of scrolls inside the leather bags exploded at once. In other words, it destroyed the chimera from the inside. Moreover, the detonating cord wrapped around its wings and neck also yed a significant role. It dealt a huge blow not only in the chimera¡¯s insides but also to its outside body. And a few seconds passed. Cordelia coughed amidst the huge amount of dust, and she looked straight after pushing the dust away by fanning her hand, and soon had a satisfied smile. ¡°Problem solved.¡± And a ring of white light rose around them. Cordelia had dealt thest hit, but perhaps because of the level difference, rings of light emerged one by one for both Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Wepletely did it without that much effort.¡± Because they couldn¡¯t help it. They knew when and where it would appear, but they couldn¡¯t take it head on. ¡°Jude! Are you okay?¡± ¡°Cough, cough. Kak. It¡¯s just, cough, some dirt.¡± Since Jude had run out of energy, he couldn¡¯t do anything but sit quietly in the dust. As he answered with a face that looked like he was about to die or in pain, Cordelia clicked her tongue before she pulled him up and used magic to brush the dust away. ¡°Anyway, it¡¯s over. All we have to do is wait now, right?¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s wait for Princess Darianne and her group to get the Seven-Colored Herb.¡± They defeated it easily, but they didn¡¯t have to reveal to the others that they easily defeated it. The one that was barely knocked down looked to be well even after a fierce battle. ¡°Ahem, ahem. You look like a viin too, right?¡± Cordelia smiled instead of contradicting what he said. She sat down on Jude¡¯s side before she turned to the hole and said. ¡°But Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Princess.¡± ¡°Will it go as nned?¡± ¡°Maybe?¡± Jude¡¯s idea. Around three hourster then, when Princess Darianne and her group returned. Jude¡¯s words became reality. Chapter 145: Arkemans Treasure (1)

Chapter 145: Arkeman''s Treasure (1)

Long chapter today. I was nning to release two chapters today to make up for yesterday, but 146 was also a long chapter, so perhaps it would be released by tomorrow. Terms used in this chapter: PvP ¨C short for yer versus yer. A gaming term where two yers/teams fight against each other. At the crossroads between the seventh and eight peaks. Jude sat next to Cordelia and was looking towards the eight peak when he suddenly spoke. ¡°They¡¯reing.¡± He didn¡¯t see them with his eyes. He had felt and confirmed it through sound. Ever since he had opened the fifth door, his five senses and also his ability to sense the presence of people had remarkably improved, so he could sense anyone approaching from tens of meters away in such an unfrequented ce. ¡®Of course, it¡¯s because I know in advance which direction they¡¯ll being from, and that we¡¯re waiting for them.¡¯ Moreover, he had scattered some branches on the road where Princess Darianne and her group woulde from in order to hear the sounds more clearly. So he would hear a sound if they stepped on it. ¡®Anyway.¡¯ Princess Darianne and her group wereing. At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia pricked her ears and then said in a slightly nervous voice. ¡°Isn¡¯t this weird?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not weird. It¡¯spletely natural.¡± ¡°Ummm¡­¡± She asked if it was weird, but he replied that it wasn¡¯t really weird, so Cordelia thought it was strange. Because they were pretending to be injured. ¡°Do we have to go this far?¡± ¡°We have to. And as I said before, it¡¯s not just to appeal to everyone that we fought in a fierce battle.¡± ¡°I know, you want to lie about our real power, right?¡± ¡°Yes, not because of Princess Darianne and her group¡­but because of the enemies waiting for us in the royal capital.¡± The more the enemies misjudge the power of Jude and Cordelia, the more favorable the fight on the royal capital would be for the two. ¡°Whether we like it or not, our history will be known to some extent through Princess Darianne¡¯s group. It will be difficult if it is known that we are skilled enough to defeat a giant chimera without any injuries.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­I see.¡± In PvP, it would be disadvantageous for one side if things like the number of items and treasures they have were known. There was also the need to leak false information so that the enemies would misjudge the power of Jude and Cordelia. ¡°I¡¯m just nervous because I can¡¯t see.¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright. I¡¯m next to you, okay?¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m nervous.¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyes were now covered with a bandage. Their story was that she had temporarily lost her eyesight because of excessive magic usage, but regardless, she felt ufortable and nervous because she couldn¡¯t see what was in front of her. ¡®If we do this, I won¡¯t be able to know the reaction of Princess Darianne¡¯s group.¡¯ But Jude seemed to be thinking something different, as he tightly held Cordelia¡¯s hand and said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll hold your hands like this so that you won¡¯t fall or bump into anything.¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s not it¡­¡± ¡°Here theye. Shh!¡± ¡°Mmph!¡± Cordelia immediately closed her mouth and pretended to be injured, and Jude looked ahead while feigning to be exhausted. After a few seconds. ¡°Jude-orabeoni? Cordelia-unnie!¡± Princess Darianne finally appeared and made a startled voice before running towards them. ¡°Your Highness. You came¡­¡± Jude stood up from his seat and then groaned as he frowned, and Princess Darianne became even more surprised and asked. ¡°Does it hurt so much? W-what¡¯s wrong with unnie¡¯s eyes?!¡± Jude had bloodied bandages wrapped around his arms, legs, and so on while Cordelia¡¯s eyes were covered so she couldn¡¯t even see anything. Jude felt a bit guilty about Princess Darianne¡¯s reaction, as her eyes quickly reddened as if she was going to cry at any moment, but he couldn¡¯t say that they were just acting. ¡®Let¡¯s finish to the end what we¡¯ve already started.¡¯ Jude pushed away his thoughts and said as he skillfully acted. ¡°Please don¡¯t worry too much about our injuries. We¡¯ve already treated it.¡± ¡°B-but¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright, Your Highness. Please don¡¯t worry too much.¡± Although Cordelia spoke in a kind voice after Jude, Princess Darianne¡¯s eyes became even more teary. Because she was heartbroken to see Cordelia fumbling in the air as if she was looking for the princess. ¡°U-unnie¡­your eyes¡­¡± ¡°Ah, it¡¯s okay. It¡¯s a temporary condition. I used too much magic¡­and I was slightly, really slightly, hit by the chimera¡¯s poison. Cordelia ended her words with a smile, but Princess Darianne became gloomier at Cordelia¡¯s appearance. Cordelia had a harrowing and beautiful appearance when she said that she was okay out of her worry for Princess Darianne, even though she had been blinded by poison. ¡°Unnie¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright, Your Highness. Is Her Highness alright?¡± At Cordelia¡¯s question, Princess Darianne strongly nodded but soon said aloud. ¡°Yes, I wasn¡¯t hurt at all.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a relief. The knights¡­¡± As Cordelia¡¯s words trailed off, Princess Darianne quickly turned around and Sir Cornwell and his knights approached the three just in time. ¡°There are some with minor injuries, but no one is seriously injured. It¡¯s all thanks to the information you gave us.¡± ¡°Haa¡­that¡¯s a relief.¡± She thought that it was worth it conveying various information about the dungeon to the princess¡¯ group by saying that they had heard it from the Fairy Queen. When Cordelia touched her chest as she sighed in relief, the knights were moved. ¡®Angel.¡¯ ¡®She¡¯s a saint, a saint.¡¯ She was sincerely worried about others even though she had suffered from an injury that caused her to lose her sight, even if it was temporary. Not only did she have a beautiful face, but she also had a heart of gold. In any case, at the time when everyone was focused on Cordelia¡­ Jude somehow felt lonely, so he spoke while very naturally acting like a wounded person. ¡°By the way¡­how did it go?¡± Did you find the Seven-Colored Herb? The expressions of Sir Cornwell and the knights hardened at Jude¡¯s question, and Princess Darianne was on the verge of tears again. It was as he expected. ¡®Just as I thought.¡¯ Sir Cornwell¡¯s voice was then heard. ¡°We found the Seven-Colored Herb. But¡­there was only one that had grown enough to be useful¡­ The rest were still young sprouts.¡± ¡°Then¡­¡± ¡°We could only dig one root.¡± Sir Cornwell dejectedly answered with mixed feelings as he looked at Jude, and the knights turned their gazes away from Jude. They had decided to split the Seven-Colored Herbs that they would acquire, but they only got one root. They couldn¡¯t just divide one root into two. ¡°Jude Bayer.¡± Sir Cornwell closed his eyes for a while before he opened them and tried to continue his words, but Princess Darianne tugged at his arm at that moment. She shook her head and said. ¡°No, Sir Cornwell. This¡­I have to be the one to say it.¡± ¡°Your Highness¡­¡± Princess Darianne¡¯s eyes were red as if she would shed tears at any moment, but she had a determined expression. As a member of the royal family and as a representative of the group, she must be the one to speak. Sir Cornwell felt sorry and happy at the same time at her straightforward behavior even though she was still young. ¡°I understand.¡± Sir Cornwell took a step back, and Princess Darianne gulped and met eyes with Jude. ¡°Orabeoni.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Highness.¡± ¡°As Sir Cornwell said, we could only get one root of the Seven-Colored Herb. So¡­ So¡­¡± The words that should have followed. The words conveying that she couldn¡¯t give the Seven-Colored Herb to Jude and Cordelia. But those words wouldn¡¯te out of her mouth. Princess Darianne eventually began to seriously cry, and Cordelia was flustered at her crying. ¡°Princess?¡± Princess Darianne finally shed her tears upon seeing Cordelia groping in the air again. And among the knights, those who were softhearted like Hunt were almost in tears too. Then Jude knelt down on one knee. ¡°It¡¯s okay, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Jude-orabeoni?¡± ¡°It cannot be helped if there¡¯s only one root. It¡¯s not Your Highness¡¯ fault. So please don¡¯t look so sorry. Take it with you. It¡¯s really okay for me and Cordelia.¡± When Jude kindly spoke, Princess Darianne bit her lips and Sir Cornwell shut his mouth. Sir Cornwell had acted quite unfriendly with Jude until now, but that didn¡¯t mean he really disliked Jude. He only maintained the minimum vignce he should have as an escort. ¡®Jude Bayer¡­¡¯ But it seemed that he couldn¡¯t act unfriendly anymore. Sir Cornwell thought that he himself couldn¡¯t say something like ¡®he was okay¡¯ with such a selfless face. Could he say to them to take the Seven-Colored Herb and smile while saying he was okay with it? ¡°B-but orabeoni and unnie are¡­badly hurt¡­¡± Princess Darianne looked at the bandages wrapped around Jude¡¯s arms and legs, and raised her head to look at Cordelia. She ended up crying again at the appearance of Cordelia¡¯s awkward and sad smile and the bandage that covered both her eyes. ¡°You two, you two¡­the Seven-Colored Herb¡­¡± ¡°Your Highness, it¡¯s okay. It¡¯s really okay.¡± Cordelia quickly lowered her posture and hesitated for a while before she carefully opened her arms, and Princess Darianne hugged Cordelia. ¡°Unniiiie.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. I¡¯m not that hurt.¡± Having said so far, Cordelia faced Princess Darianne again, and Jude opened his mouth. ¡°Your Highness, are you nning on giving the Seven-Colored Herb to Duke Spencer?¡± ¡°Sob¡­ Yes, orabeoni.¡± When Princess Darianne responded while in Cordelia¡¯s arms, Jude continued. ¡°Yes, so all the more does Your Highness should take the Seven-Colored Herb. Because Duke Spencer is like a strong pir that supports the royal family¡­and the S?len Kingdom. Furthermore¡­¡± Jude¡¯s words slightly softened at the end, and he looked away as if thinking of someone. He then said as he looked at Princess Darianne again. ¡°Because Duke Spencer is Your Highness¡¯ family. I also have people whom I really care about and love in my hometown. People who I care about like my life. Duke Spencer is such a person to Your Highness, right?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°So please take it. Please protect your family.¡± Jude warmheartedly smiled, and Princess Darianne was about to cry again. Sir Cornwell and the other knights looked at Jude with deeply moved faces. ¡®He¡¯s the example of a knight.¡¯ ¡®As I thought, he is the child of Count Bayer, the Sword General¡­¡¯ He was loyal to the royal family and thought of the country. Moreover, he was worried about the feelings of Princess Darianne. ¡°I-is orabeoni really okay with it? The one who needs to be treated with the Seven-Colored Herb is¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s me.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°It¡¯s me. My illness is not yetpletely cured¡­ I was thinking of getting the Seven-Colored Herb to help me. But it can¡¯t be helped. I¡¯ll put if off for the next opportunity.¡± ¡°W-wait. You aren¡¯t healed yet?¡± ¡°Ah, I mean¡­I just feel some difort at times. But it¡¯s usually fine. I still look very healthy now, right?¡± Jude smiled and appealed that he was healthy by pulling off his sleeve to show off his muscles, but in the eyes of Princess Darianne, Sir Cornwell, and the knights, his muscles weren¡¯t visible. They could only see an ideal knight who deferred to the royal family and the princess even though he was ill. ¡®Ah, how could there be someone like him?¡¯ He took on the most dangerous mission of luring the chimera and also provided the most information about the dungeon. But despite that, he generously gave up on the Seven-Colored Herb. ¡®I have to admit it.¡¯ ¡®He deserves to be with the angel.¡¯ ¡®They¡¯re good people.¡¯ The knights looked at Jude with the same thoughts, and Sir Cornwell made up his mind and nodded before speaking. ¡°Jude Bayer. I¡¯ll make sure to tell Duke Spencer about your loyalty.¡± ¡°Eh? No, you don¡¯t have to¡­¡± Sir Cornwell firmly shook his head when Jude said so with a surprised face. Princess Darianne also clenched her fist and spoke. ¡°No, we have to tell him. I¡¯ll also tell Daphne-unnie and Dion-orabeoni about you two. And¡­please ept this.¡± What Princess Darianne took out of her arms was a small seal made of jade. ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°Yes, this is my seal. A token of my pledge to help the owner of the seal no matter what.¡± Princess Darianne had actually questioned the need of it ever being used, but she still carried it ording to royal tradition. But now, she thought that it was fortunate that she had it. Because she really wanted to express her gratitude to them. But instead of happily receiving the seal, Jude shook his head. ¡°No, it¡¯s fine.¡± ¡°Orabeoni?¡± Jude looked at Cordelia instead of answering right away, and Cordelia groped the air to find the small hand of Darianne before she slightly pushed it away. ¡°It¡¯s okay, Your Highness. We did not hope for something like this. We don¡¯t want to pressure Your Highness too much.¡± ¡°But¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s really okay. And there¡¯s something that I want instead of the seal.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± At her unexpected words, Princess Darianne widely opened her eyes, and Sir Cornwell frowned for a moment. Is she now revealing her greed? It¡¯s not even anyone else but she herself? Of course, what they did was worthy enough to ask for something¡­ But still. Cordelia had yet to finish talking. ¡°Your Highness, do you know the story of Marie?¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­are you talking about the fairy tale?¡± ¡°Yes, Marie and Annie exchanged coins with each other as a token of their friendship.¡± ¡°Ah!¡± Princess Darianne broadly smiled, and the faces of Sir Cornwell and his knights brightened up again. ¡°I think that¡¯s enough. Umm¡­is asking for that too rude?¡± ¡°No, rather, I¡¯d like to do that too. Do you think of me as a friend?¡± ¡°If you allow it.¡± As Cordelia gently smiled, Princess Darianne unconsciously blushed. Because Cordelia really looked like an angel. And Sir Cornwell was in admiration again. ¡®Ah¡­they¡¯re ideal nobles.¡¯ Howe both of them have such noble and beautiful hearts? ¡®They¡¯re really a fantasy couple.¡¯ ¡®They look so good together.¡¯ ¡®I have no choice but to admit it.¡¯ ¡®Lady Cordelia is a real angel.¡¯ Warm expressions spread on the faces of the knights, and Princess Darianne wiped away her tears and shyly smiled as she hugged Cordelia. ¡°I¡¯ll give you the prettiest coin I have when we arrive at the inn.¡± ¡°Me too, Princess.¡± It was a beautiful scene like a scene straight out of a story. A satisfied smile appeared on Jude¡¯s face. *** ¡°Hohoho, hohohoho.¡± As soon as they entered the inn, or to be exact, their room on the second floor, Jude dramaticallyughed, and Cordelia who was holding Jude¡¯s hand because he was escorting her, pulled her hand away and clicked her tongue. ¡°My goodness, my scammer. Why are you so good?¡± ¡°Hey, what do you mean by scammer? Everything was real.¡± Did theye forward to y the role of the bait who was the most in danger? Yes, they really dide forward. Though they very easily defeated the chimera. Did they need the Seven-Colored Herb but gave it up? That was also true. Because it was true that the Seven-Colored Herb was a mysterious herb that contained life energy. Whether he ate it right away or carried it around in case of an emergency, he did give up on what could have been helpful to him, so it was true that he conceded. ¡°All ording to n.¡± There was no need for them to worry about on how to get acquainted with Princess Daphne and Prince Dion now. Furthermore, Duke Spencer, an influential member of the royal family, wouldn¡¯t treat them unkindly. ¡°More than anything, we might meet the First Sword.¡± The Sword Saint of Light, Rhun Froud. He was said to be the strongest among the Ten Swordmasters and held the title of the First Sword. ¡°He¡¯s close to Duke Spencer, right?¡± ¡°He¡¯s almost like an adopted son.¡± Currently, the father of First Sword was the leader of the Knights of the Red Rose, the knights who served Duke Spencer. First Sword also served as a member of the Knights of the Red Rose in his youth. ¡°Good, good. With this momentum, we¡¯ll be able to save everyone in the royal capital!¡± They would save the royal family by destroying the Devil¡¯s Hand and the conspiracies of the Lord Protector. Cordelia spontaneouslyughed when Jude spoke as he clenched his fist. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just funny.¡± A scammer who does his best in scamming in order to save everyone. ¡®As expected of my Jude.¡¯ After taking off the bandage on her eyes, Cordelia smiled again as she looked at the coin she was tightly holding in her hand. It was the prettiest silver coin that Princess Darianne chose and gave. ¡°So nice.¡± ¡°Who? My princess?¡± ¡°I mean, Princess Darianne.¡± She was genuinely apologetic that she even cried. At Cordelia¡¯s words, Jude nodded too. Although Jude was aware of Princess Darianne¡¯s character through the game, he couldn¡¯t help but be surprised when Princess Darianne shed tears. ¡®Because she¡¯s not like royalty.¡¯ People who took the sacrifice and concession of others for granted. In the first ce, there were people like that because they were trash, but the situation was a bit different for the royalty. ¡®Because they¡¯re literally royalty.¡¯ They had received the sacrifices and concessions of others since they were born as if it was as natural as breathing, so it was also natural for them to be numb to it. Like how people usually didn¡¯t understand the preciousness of air or water. ¡°Perhaps she¡¯s the reincarnation of the Second Queen. When she was young, she was actually raised by the duke rather than the royal family.¡± ¡°But isn¡¯t the duke technically royalty?¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. He has the natural personality of an angel. Just like my princess.¡± ¡°Stop saying nonsense again and again and again.¡± Judeughed when Cordelia growled, and he sat down on the bed and said. ¡°Anyway, you did well. Princess Darianne was also happy to be friends with my princess.¡± ¡°Is it okay?¡± ¡°What is?¡± ¡°We didn¡¯t get the seal.¡± In fact, it was Cordelia¡¯s ad-lib when she said to exchange friendship tokens instead of getting the seal. Because she truly didn¡¯t want to put a heavy burden on Princess Darianne. ¡°Why, are you worried about it now?¡± ¡°Yes¡­a little?¡± She had arbitrarily done something without consulting him. Doing things without consultation was certainly Jude¡¯s specialty, so she really didn¡¯t need to feel sorry about it, but the situation was different. In a way, Cordelia had thrown out something that they could have greatly used. ¡°It¡¯s okay. I was the first to refuse it.¡± ¡°What, you truly refused it? You didn¡¯t reject it for some reason?¡± ¡°Hey, how exactly do you see me as? Do you think I¡¯m the kind of person who¡¯ll take the seal from Princess Darianne?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± When Cordelia answered straight away without even hesitating, Jude looked hurt and Cordelia giggled. ¡°Well, if I have to say the truth, my Jude is a scammer but not a viin.¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m not even a scammer in the first ce.¡± ¡°Yes, Daddy. If you insist.¡± Cordelia spiritlessly answered before she giggled again and sat next to Jude and said. ¡°Anyway, shall we just wait now?¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s take a break and move at night.¡± To Arkeman¡¯s Dungeon. To get Arkeman¡¯s treasure hidden in a secret ce. And it was at that moment. ¡°Mr. Bayer, Lady Cordelia. Her Highness is waiting for you two downstairs.¡± Jude immediately raised his voice to the knight¡¯s polite voice that they heard from outside the door. ¡°Yes! We¡¯ll be out soon!¡± Perhaps she wanted to have a meal together. ¡°Uh, I have to cover my eyes with a bandage again.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Princess. I¡¯ll perfectly escort you. I¡¯ll also feed you your food. Just be like a baby bird and be good in saying ¡®ah¡¯.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just say that my eyes are better now.¡± ¡°No, no, that doesn¡¯t make sense. The princess is waiting, so let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Yes, yes.¡± Cordelia covered her eyes with a bandage again and naturally extended her hand, and Jude smiled as he held her hand. They had so naturally extended and held hands. ¡°Hmm, this is good.¡± ¡°Huh? What are you talking about?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing.¡± Jude shrugged and left the room as he led Cordelia who had tilted her head. And a few hourster. When the night was deep, and everyone was asleep. ¡°Hold me tighter.¡± ¡°Tighter?¡± ¡°Yes, tighter.¡± Cordelia, who was dressed in ck, hugged tighter the neck of Jude who was also wearing ck clothes, and Jude took a deep breath. He used Twenty-Four Gale Steps that was based on Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. They were now about to reach thepletion stage of their n. ¡°Let¡¯s go, to Arkeman¡¯s Dungeon.¡± Jude said in a small voice and then kicked the ground. He turned into a ck gale and traversed the dark night. Chapter 146: Arkemans Treasure (2)

Chapter 146: Arkeman''s Treasure (2)

¡°We¡¯re here.¡± At the words of Jude whonded silently like the wind, Cordelia opened her closed eyes and looked in front of her. A pile of rocks that were roughly piled up. Cordelia couldn¡¯t see anything that resembled an entrance, but she still said with a smile. ¡°It¡¯s the same as in the game.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right and¡­can you feel it?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s weak, but I can feel the flow of mana. It¡¯s quite faint though.¡± There was some kind of barrier in the area. The arrangement of mana in the ce was done in a very strange way that a normal wizard wouldn¡¯t be able to sense that something was out of ce, but Cordelia was different. ¡®Because she is a genius in sensing and manipting mana.¡¯ A talent that the present Cordelia was born with and had nothing to do with her previous life. ¡°But Jude, how did you know?¡± ¡°Because of my Cheonmujiche¡­no, when I opened the fifth gate, my senses became sharper.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± Cordelia had tried to pull his ear to stop him from bragging about his Cheonmujiche, but withdrew her hand afterwards, so Jude sighed in relief and said. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go in.¡± ¡°Yes, put me down.¡± ¡°Oh, you¡¯re right. You were so light that I forgot that I was carrying you.¡± ¡°Hey, there¡¯s something like a limit to ttery, okay?¡± Cordelia reproached him but her face had a smile. Satisfied with that fact, Jude took the lead as he said. ¡°Then, I¡¯ll go in first and check if there¡¯s anything dangerous we may not know.¡± ¡°What are you talking about? Let¡¯s go together.¡± ¡°Well, okay. If you say so.¡± In fact, Princess Darianne and her group had already passed through the entrance, and even in the game, there was no such trap in that ce. But there was still a possibility. The original might have been twisted due to Princess Darianne entering the dungeon. ¡®Rocks that are made of magic.¡¯ The pile of rocks could be passed through since it was a fake image created by something simr to a hologram, and that fact alone demonstrated how skilled Arkeman was. Creating a barrier thatsted for more than a hundred years was not easy. ¡°In any case, I¡¯ll go in first.¡± Jude quickly spoke as he moved and passed his body through the pile of rocks. He sharpened his senses as he looked around. ¡®Well, I guess I was worried for nothing.¡¯ The relieved Jude rxed his posture when he didn¡¯t sense any particr danger, and Cordelia¡¯s voice was heard behind him. ¡°.¡± A basic level magic that created a light made from magic. The yellow light from Cordelia¡¯s fingertip drove out the darkness in the dungeon, and Jude and Cordelia unconsciously let out astonished voices. ¡°Wow, you can tell that someone passed here.¡± ¡°Because Sir Cornwell has a cautious personality. He must have acted a little thoroughly because of Princess Darianne.¡± They reacted like that because of the sight that spread before their eyes. Traces of destruction remained all over the straight lined corridor of the dungeon, and traps and what seemed to be traps were also lying broken everywhere. ¡°We¡¯ve told them about most of the dangerous traps¡­but this must also be because of Princess Darianne¡¯s power, right?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s said in the game that she has a searching ability.¡± The superpowers the children of the S?len royal family were born with. The game didn¡¯t properly describe it, so it was impossible to guess how good their abilities were, but it seemed to be quite a powerful ability given the sight in front of them. ¡®Because they immediately found the trap as they moved.¡¯ Her search range was unknown, but he could at least guess that its duration was superb. ¡®More than three hours.¡¯ It took them only three hours to go to the end of the dungeon and return even though they broke the traps one by one. It would have taken them much longer if she took a break after using her ability. ¡®Anyway, it¡¯s much easier now because of them.¡¯ If the princess¡¯ group had destroyed all the traps, all they had to do was to run fast as if they were running on t ground. ¡°Wow, that¡¯s quite bold of them. Doesn¡¯t that trap seem to have exploded?¡± An explosion in a narrow dungeon. It was obviously limited to a small scale explosion, but considering the fact that Sir Cornwell was a ¡®knight,¡¯ it was quite surprising. ¡°I¡¯m suddenly beginning to like Sir Cornwell.¡± Jude narrowed his eyes at Cordelia¡¯s words, and Cordelia giggled and continued her words. ¡°After all, when you don¡¯t know what kind of trap it is, you just make it explode, right?¡± ¡°No, you demon. That¡¯s not true.¡± Having said that, Jude pinched Cordelia¡¯s cheek as he thought that now was his chance to do so. ¡°Aah?!¡± ¡°Wow, it¡¯s so soft.¡± ¡°You wanna die?¡± Cordelia quickly moved her foot and tried to step on Jude¡¯s foot, but Jude was already one step ahead of her. He retreated like the wind and then said. ¡°Let¡¯s hurry up, Mdy. We have a long way to go. Shouldn¡¯t we go back before sunrise?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll be toote even if I step on you a few times.¡± Cordeliaughed ¡®hohoho¡¯ and clenched her fists, and Jude turned around while snickering as he hurriedly walked as if he was running away. ¡®Cordelia is actually a bit correct though.¡¯ If you didn¡¯t know what kind of trap it is, you could just make it explode. That was actually the best option if one was pressed for time. In fact, there had been many times when Jude had made a simr choice. ¡°Hey! Once I catch you, I¡¯ll¡­¡± ¡°This way!¡± Jude quickly shouted at the crossroads as he dashed towards the right path, and Cordelia ran after Jude in a hurry. There were several forked roads, various traps and even hidden paths that deceived the eyes of visitors. Even Jude thought that the whole terrain of Arkeman¡¯s Dungeon could not be properly explored in one day. However, all they had to do was run since Princess Darianne¡¯s group had already destroyed all the traps, so they reached their destination in not just an hour but almost half an hourter. ¡°We¡¯ve arrived quickly.¡± Judefortably said after having arrived first, and Cordelia who was a step behind him gasped and pped Jude on the back several times. ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­ I¡¯m exhausted.¡± ¡°But we arrived early, right?¡± ¡°So exhausting.¡± Cordelia pped Jude¡¯s back again before she raised her upper body and looked around thest room, where the chimera had resided. ¡°It¡¯s the same as the game.¡± ¡°Yeah, and the ceiling hole is over there.¡± It was the passage the chimera went through to absorb the sun¡¯s heat. The special passage could only be used by the chimera because it was a ce with a short distance space leap magic circle. ¡°It¡¯s somehow scary when there¡¯s such a big hole in the ceiling of a cave.¡± Cordelia¡¯s voice faltered as if she was afraid and she forcefully turned away from the ck hole and looked in front of her. Beyond the chimera¡¯s seat, she saw the plot ofnd where the Seven-Colored Herb was grown. ¡°There are really only sprouts here.¡± ¡°It takes a long time for it to grow up. And¡­this arrangement makes it easy for others to think that the treasure of the dungeon that is guarded by the chimera is the Seven-Colored Herb.¡± The medicinal efficacy of the Seven-Colored Herb was quite good. If counted as an item, it was a medicinal herb that was around A-rank. ¡®The problem is that I¡¯ve already eaten a lot of S-rank stuff.¡¯ From the Sunflower and the Essence of the Blue Moon to the Sphere of Life. So for the present Jude, the Seven-Colored Herb didn¡¯t really mean much to him. Just as defeating low-level monsters when one¡¯s level was already high would hardly increase one¡¯s experience points, the efficacy of the medicine would be weak for the current Jude if it was not at least S-rank. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s move. First, let¡¯s take the hidden treasure chests.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll take the left one.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯m right.¡± There were hidden treasure chests at both corners of the altar where the chimera usually lied down. ¡°Just as I thought, we can take it because this is reality.¡± In the game, it was treated as a background item so they couldn¡¯t take it. Cordelia broadly smiled as she packed magic orbs that were some kind of mana battery, and Jude also packed jewelry with a happy expression. ¡°Now, next is the real thing.¡± Cordelia finished filling up the bags they had prepared and ran before stopping as she stood in front of a wall. Aplex pattern simr to a magic circle was drawn with blue paint, and that pattern could be said to be the real treasure that the chimera guarded. ¡°Cryptogram.¡± It was some kind of guideline left behind by Arkeman which exined the way on how to get his treasure. But neither Jude nor Cordelia had any intention of cracking the code of the pattern. Because they already knew the correct answer. ¡°This unexpected thing made me not like his personality.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± In order to get Arkeman¡¯s treasure, one had to find and decrypt seven cryptograms like the pattern in front of them, and after deciphering it all, the following answer woulde out. ¡®Go back to the first dungeon.¡¯ The treasure was hidden behind the wall where the first pattern was drawn. How does it feel to run around in excitement without knowing that the treasure was right in front of you? ¨C Those words was how the chain quest showed well on what kind of person Arkeman was. ¡°In the game, we had to go to many ces even though we already knew the answer¡­¡± But this was reality now. They could break the wall in front of them without even using the trigger to open it. ¡°Should I blow it up then?¡± ¡°Do you want to destroy the cave? Stand back. I¡¯ll take care of this.¡± ¡°Yes, Milord.¡± Cordelia stepped back as she gave the opportunity to Jude, squatted on the floor, and became spectator A. Jude then once again used the Power of the Sun. ¡®It won¡¯t be just a single blow. The impact should be widely spread in order to destroy the wall.¡¯ He spent only 3 minutes in gathering the energy. Jude judged that he had gathered enough energy, so he stretched out his palm instead of his fist. ck Dragon¡¯s Ascent. As the energy of the ck dragon was released straight to the wall, hundreds of cracks appeared on the wall. And a few secondster. When Jude withdrew his palm, it was like a signal for the wall to copse with cracking sounds. The wall was destroyed, and a big hole was created. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s amazing.¡± The wall itself was in good condition, but a hole with a diameter of 2 meters had been created as if it had been cut out. That was much more difficult than simply breaking down the entire wall. Cordelia pped her hands and Jude bowed like a magician on stage before he pointed to the inside of the hole. ¡°Please take it.¡± ¡°Yes, Milord.¡± Cordelia stood up from her seat and illuminated the hole with her magic, and the two smiled in delight at the sight they saw. ¡°Arkeman¡¯s treasure.¡± ¡°Among them, it¡¯s number five.¡± ¡°Amplification Earrings.¡± The artifact had a simple name and effect, but it was also a powerful artifact. ¡®Because the simpler the item description, the stronger the item is.¡¯ The effect of the Amplification Earrings was simple. It amplified the magic¡¯s effects of its wearer. It could be used to amplify any kind of magic. However, the mana consumption was also terribly amplified. Though it was quite a good thing if one could use a strong attack in the middle of a battle. Especially for battle enthusiasts like Cordelia. ¡°Ah, I love it. I might go crazy from loving it.¡± Cordelia said as her eyes sparkled when she quickly ran in front of the small tform where the earrings were ced. ¡°Haa, it¡¯s pretty. It¡¯s good performance is also nice.¡± In addition, the fact that it was earrings was important. Since Cordelia was already wearing multiple bracelets, rings, and nes, she would have to give up wearing one of those if it was an essory that was not earrings because it would ovep with the others. ¡®It¡¯s not something burdensome to wear like a tiara.¡¯ The smiling Jude approached Cordelia who had already equipped the Amplification Earrings, and she widely smiled and turned to Jude. ¡°How is it? Does it suit me?¡± She asked him shyly just like the time when she wore a tiara, and Jude promptly nodded. ¡°It looks great on you. As I thought, you¡¯re an angel.¡± ¡°Hmph, stop ttering me.¡± Cordelia snorted but she seemed to be pleased given the smile on her face. ¡°Ah, I¡¯m excited. If I use this to amplify my magic together with Spell¡¯s Echo and even Double Casting¡­¡± A really big explosion. A shy, spectacr, and powerful big explosion that she hadn¡¯t dare to make until now would be possible! ¡°Just imagining it gets me excited.¡± Cordelia¡¯s ecstatic expression was really beautiful to see, but her words were a problem. A big explosion that was iparable to the past. At that moment, the appearance of the royal capital and the copse of Endymion ovepped in Jude¡¯s mind, and he quickly shook his head. ¡®No way, no way.¡¯ That can¡¯t happen. ¡°Jude?¡± ¡°No, it really suits you.¡± ¡°Hehehe.¡± Cordelia giggled again before she slightly bit her lips and immediately drew closer to Jude and said. ¡°By the way, Jude. No, my dear Sir.¡± Jude felt himself blushing at that moment at her cutesy voice, but soon came to his senses. Because her actions were really suspicious. ¡°What?¡± He deliberately spoke a little bluntly, but Cordelia continued to act cute. ¡°Cordelia has something she wants.¡± ¡°What? Is it a bomb?¡± ¡°No, no. It¡¯s not a bomb¡­¡± Cordelia¡¯s words trailed off at the end as she pointed to her waist, and Jude was only able to understand it then. Cordelia had nearly used up the detonating cord he had given herst time. ¡°Will you make it again? Please?¡± She was cute. She was so cute that he seriously wanted to say yes. But Jude didn¡¯t forget something important. ¡°Hey, Mdy. The detonating cord is also a kind of bomb, okay?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be so mean. Please?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll consider it after seeing how you act.¡± He had actually made a few more sets already, but it was better to seize opportunities like this when it came. ¡°Shall we go back and talk about it? Perhaps they¡¯ve noticed that we¡¯re gone.¡± ¡°Yes, Milord.¡± Cordelia beautifully answered for the sake of the detonating cord, and immediately put herself on Jude¡¯s back. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be nice if I can hear you speaking nicely like this all the time?¡± ¡°This is how I normally speak though? I mean, I¡¯ve always spoken like this, right?¡± ¡°Yes, yes. If you insist.¡± Jude giggled and fixed Cordelia¡¯s position on his back before he used Twenty-Four Gale Steps. *** ¡°Unnie! Orabeoni!¡± At the first floor of the inn in the vige. Even though it waste at night, Princess Darianne and all the knights were on the first floor. They seemed to have somehow noticed Jude and Cordelia¡¯s disappearance. ¡°At first, I thought you were out for a night walk, but I was worried since you didn¡¯t return no matter how long I waited.¡± They couldn¡¯t have left first given that their luggage was still in their room, but they hadn¡¯t returned even after some time. ¡°But I¡¯m d that you two are back.¡± Princess Darianne smiled as she was satisfied with the fact that the two returned safely, but not for Sir Cornwell. He asked while looking at Jude and Cordelia with a somewhat questioning look. ¡°But where did the two of you go?¡± He had asked that without much thought at first, but Sir Cornwell¡¯s eyes turned sharp in an instant. Because he saw the earrings on Cordelia¡¯s ears. She wasn¡¯t wearing that during the day. So where did thate from? And what were the two doing at night that they had to go away for a few hours? It wasn¡¯t unusual for Cordelia to have recovered her eyesight. In the first ce, it was a temporary disability due to her excessive magic usage, and a few hours had already passed since they fought the chimera, so it would have been cured if she had been given some recovery measures such as medicine or magic. But even if that was so, a disability was still a disability. Yet these two dared to go on a night walk and not rest? Was there any reason on why they did that? In fact, he didn¡¯t throw that question because he specifically doubted them. It was kind of an upational disease of his, and as the knight in charge of the safety of Duke Spencer, he developed a habit of looking at everything with suspicion. But at Sir Cornwell¡¯s rather sharp question, Cordelia instantly flinched, and Princess Darianne and the knights were surprised at her embarrassment. Why did she do that? Why was Lady Cordelia embarrassed by the question of where they had been? And it was at that moment. ¡°For some time¡­we wanted to have some time alone. For only us two.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Princess Darianne and the knights blinked their eyes, and soon had an understanding expression. ¡°O-oh my goodness.¡± Princess Darianne eximed as her imagination run wild and she blushed and squirmed her body. ¡°Ahem, ahem, it¡¯s possible because they¡¯re two people in their prime.¡± Hunt tactlessly said, and the other knights coughed and nodded. ¡®W-what¡¯s wrong with them? What are they imagining?¡¯ At Cordelia¡¯s question with her eyes, Jude looked at Sir Cornwell instead of answering her. Because Sir Cornwell was still looking at her earrings. ¡°And¡­I confessed to her again.¡± ¡°Co-confessed?¡± Princess Darianne¡¯s eyes sparkled as she asked, and Jude nodded his head. Cordelia quickly lowered her head to hide her expression that seemed to ask what nonsense he was talking about, but the others only saw her actions as that of embarrassment. ¡°Yes, I confessed. I dered my love to Lady Cordelia again¡­and gifted her with earrings as a token of my love.¡± At Jude¡¯s brilliant acting, Princess Darianne eximed in admiration as she stared at Cordelia¡¯s earrings, and so did the knights. Her beautiful golden earrings with small red gemstones shined and glittered. ¡°Oh my goodness, that¡¯s so lovely.¡± Although they were already engaged, they confessed their love to each other again and even gave a present as a token of love. It was a scene that could only be seen in love stories. Princess Darianne eximed in admiration and she soon had a gentle and warm expression. The knights also smiled as if they saw something that was so cute. Sir Cornwell did too. ¡®Hmm, that¡¯s good. Problem solved.¡¯ Jude sent a wink to Cordelia and Princess Darianne opened her mouth before Cordelia could respond to Jude. ¡°Then, unnie. What about you? How did unnie respond?¡± Her answer to Jude¡¯s confession. Everyone¡¯s gaze turned to Cordelia again, and in the eyes of others, she replied with a face that seemed like she would die from embarrassment. ¡°O-of course, I epted it.¡± ¡°Aww, I feel so envious.¡± Princess Darianne trembled as she covered her cheeks, and the knights all had a warm smile. They didn¡¯t say anything, but they all looked like they wanted to wish the two happiness. ¡°Ahem, ahem. Then, can we go up now?¡± ¡°Eh? Ah, yes. You can go up.¡± ¡°Then¡­¡± Jude turned to Cordelia who reflexively stretched out her hand to Jude. She had gotten used to Jude escorting her now. ¡°We¡¯ll go up first. Good night, everyone.¡± ¡°Good night, Your Highness.¡± After Cordelia curtsied, they began to climb the stairs, and Princess Darianne and all the knights watched the two with happy and unexinably warm expressions as if they were seeing off a newlywed couple on their honeymoon. Without being able to imagine what kind of conversation the two had with their eyes. *** The next morning. Jude and Cordelia left the vige with Princess Darianne¡¯s group as they headed to the royal capital, or to Duke Spencer to be exact. They were already near the capital and the knights were also with them, so it was unlikely that the Devil¡¯s Hand would attack them on the way. ¡®Perhaps the fight will begin once we get to the royal capital.¡¯ The Devil¡¯s Hand was the mastermind behind the royal capital incident after all. It was now the turn of the Devil¡¯s Hand after the Devil¡¯s Eye. ¡®The royal capital.¡¯ They were heading to the royal capital in order to save Princess Daphne, Prince Dion, and the other royal family members. As he was seated in the rattling carriage, Jude looked at Cordelia and Princess Darianne sitting opposite him before he turned his gaze to the window. The faint sunlight shined down as the cold winter wind blew. Chapter 147: Entrance to the Royal Capital (1)

Chapter 147: Entrance to the Royal Capital (1)

Had a really bad day today with two people trying to steal my TCF summaries and not crediting me. Thankfully, both incidents have been resolved and my faith in humanity has been restored. Terms used in this chapter: Pabalma ¨C Korean word for horse couriers. These horses were used in Korea¡¯ste Joseon dynasty in order to convey urgent military information and official documents. Carriages were driven by horses, a living animal. For this reason, a carriage could not run for 24 hours a day. Second, the coachman would be exhausted from whipping horses that couldn¡¯t run around the clock. ¡°In fact, the endurance of humans is better.¡± Cordelia was sitting outside the carriage and taking a rest, and she widely opened her eyes at Jude¡¯s words. ¡°Really? Isn¡¯t that some ridiculous lie? Who are you trying to fool? I won¡¯t be fooled. Last time, you lied about storks giving birth to babies and not eggs.¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s the fault of the one being deceived¡­ not. It¡¯s my fault for deceiving you.¡± ¡°Hmph.¡± ¡°Anyway, that¡¯s that, but this is real. Human beings may be different, but their endurance is amazing.¡± When Jude spoke quite seriously, Cordelia furrowed her brows as she found it suspicious before she asked. ¡°Is that true?¡± ¡°It¡¯s true this time.¡± It might be an unbelievable story, but it was true. Horses were naturally superior to humans when it came to reaching their top speed within an instant, but humans were much superior to horses in their ability to keep running while maintaining their speed. Therefore, it would have been faster for a person to run than to ride on a horse if they were traveling for a long distance. ¡°Somehow, your story is bing harder and harder to believe, okay?¡± ¡°But it¡¯s true.¡± ¡°Then, why do we ride on horses? In the movies and dramas I watched, they always rode on horses when they want to deliver an urgent message. Yes, that¡¯s right. It¡¯s a fact. I¡¯ve learned about Pabalma at school.¡± Cordelia wasn¡¯t guessing this time, because she recalled that fact from her memories and pointed it one by one with her fingers. In historical dramas and even textbooks, the people who delivered urgent news were always riding on horses. ¡°That¡¯s because of a simple and obvious reason.¡± ¡°What reason?¡± ¡°It¡¯s hard for a person to run with their own feet.¡± Running while on the back of a horse was hard, but running with one¡¯s own feet was also hard. As Jude had said, it was a simple and obvious reason. ¡°B-but when you¡¯re in a hurry, it¡¯s better to put aside the hard stuff and just deliver it quickly.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. So you have to ride a horse even more.¡± ¡°What? You just said that a person is faster earlier.¡± ¡°You can change horses in the middle of your trip.¡± ¡°Ah?!¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyes widened and she unknowingly pped her hands. ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Horses could be changed in the middle of one¡¯s trip. So if one had to any news to deliver urgently, they could maintain their speed by continuously changing horses. One could ride a new horse before the horse they were riding on was exhausted and slowed down. ¡°Wait, then can¡¯t everyone just do something simr to pass the baton? It¡¯s usually a letter or something that¡¯s used to deliver the news.¡± ¡°That makes sense, but a horse¡¯s speed is faster, right? If you approach it from the perspective of continuing to change horses before the horses get tired, it will seem like horses are faster than people, right?¡± ¡°Hmmm.¡± He was right. And Jude smiled at Cordelia¡¯s reaction. Cordelia had imed at first that ¡®horses are faster,¡¯ and then her thinking changed towards ¡®people are faster so why do you need to ride a horse?¡¯ ¡®This is the foundation of persuasive speech.¡¯ To naturally induce the other person¡¯s thoughts to your side. To make them affirm what they had denied without them realizing it. ¡°And there are times when the person itself is important, right? So it¡¯s better to ride a horse in the end.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­.I see.¡± As Cordelia nodded, Jude smiled again and continued his words. ¡°A person needs to properly rest when they travel on horseback after all. People can get tired sooner than they thought.¡± ¡°Hmm, I think I understand what you mean.¡± They had already done that several times when they traveled by carriage. But it was at that moment. Cordelia grinned at her sudden thought and looked at Jude as she said. ¡°In that sense, my Jude is the best ride of all because he can run all day, right?¡± He was faster than a horse, and he didn¡¯t get tired. When they had gone back and forth in Mount Plex, Jude had run with Cordelia on his back without even taking a single break. ¡°Yes, you were awesome. I like it. My horse, Jude.¡± Cordelia stroked his head as if praising him, Jude narrowed his eyes and said. ¡°Come to think of it, I haven¡¯t given you the detonating cord yet.¡± ¡°My horse. No, Lord Jude. Are you tired? Would you like ap pillow? Cordelia is always ready.¡± When Cordelia spoke as she patted herp, Jude smiled at her appearance and thought that making that detonating cord was a good idea. ¡°You look like you¡¯re thinking of something bad.¡± ¡°You¡¯re mistaken. I was just thinking of making something a bit better than the detonating cord.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a great idea. I wish that it¡¯s a bit lighter than now. I also wish that it bends better. To be honest, it looks like a wire now.¡± When the topic changed to the detonating cord, Cordelia mischievously spoke at first, but she suddenly became very serious. Not just because she found explosions to be good, but because she wanted to better utilize the detonating cord, which was a fairly practical and powerful weapon. ¡®She looks like a real warrior at times like this.¡¯ What if Cordelia was a warrior character and not a wizard? ¡®Perhaps she¡¯ll be stronger than she is now.¡¯ In fact, she had a pretty good aptitude for martial arts. Her speed in learning the Bayer¡¯s martial arts was also very fast. ¡°And I¡¯m going to make something like dynamite¡­ Like C4¡­¡± ¡°Wait, wait. Dynamite? C4?¡± ¡°Uh, is that a bit too much?¡± ¡°No, you can make it.¡± ¡°What? Really?¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyes instantly turned crazy- no, her eyes sparkled, and Jude hunched his shoulders as he spoke to her while trying to calm her down. ¡°No, no. I¡¯m just saying that it¡¯s theoretically possible. There¡¯s time and other things¡­¡± ¡°But you¡¯re saying that you can really make it, right?¡± ¡°Maybe¡­?¡± He had in fact already made a detonating cord. C4 might be impossible for him, but it was possible for him to make something like dynamite. ¡°Wow! My Jude is the best! Truly the best!¡± Cordelia got up from her seat and eximed as she hugged Jude, and everyone¡¯s eyes gathered on them. ¡°Hey, hey. Cordelia. Hey!¡± ¡°Ah! You¡¯re so good! My Jude is so good!¡± But Cordelia didn¡¯t see the gazes around her when she hugged Jude¡¯s head and said that she loved him, and Jude shut his mouth in the midst of his embarrassment and joy. (T/N: Pun. ¡®Good¡¯ and ¡®love¡¯ have the same Korean word. So Cordelia¡¯s words could also be read as: ¡®Ah! I love you so much! My Jude, I love you so much!¡¯) ¡®Everyone, I¡¯m sorry.¡¯ He could feel the knights ring daggers at his back, but he couldn¡¯t help it. However, Jude¡¯s happy moment didn¡¯tst long because he felt a gaze that he couldn¡¯t ignore. ¡°Cordelia! Cordelia!¡± ¡°Huh? Uh? Ah. Uh.¡± Cordelia came to her senses and blushed when she heard the sound of someone coughing from around her. She awkwardly smiled and headed to the carriage while Jude rose from his seat and faced the approaching Sir Cornwell, whose gaze he couldn¡¯t ignore. ¡°Jude Bayer. Can I talk to you for a minute?¡± ¡°Of course, Sir Cornwell.¡± Jude promptly responded, and Sir Cornwell pointed with his eyes at a ce far away. ¡°Let¡¯s walk for a while.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Sir Cornwell who had always not left Princess Darianne¡¯s side, led Jude to a ce quite far away, perhaps because there were many knights around them now. And so a few minutester. Sir Cornwell stopped walking at a ce where their conversation would not be heard by others. ¡°Jude Bayer.¡± ¡°Yes, Sir Cornwell.¡± ¡°It¡¯s sudden but¡­thank you.¡± ¡°Are you¡­thanking me?¡± ¡°I mean, thanks to you and Lady Cordelia, we were able to get the Seven-Colored Herb.¡± All that Princess Darianne knew was the location of Arkeman¡¯s Dungeon and the information that the Seven-Colored Herb were wildly growing at the dungeon¡¯s deepest part. ¡°If it were not for you and Lady Cordelia¡­ we wouldn¡¯t have been able to get the Seven-Colored Herb. Even if we had obtained it, we would have suffered serious injuries.¡± They were able proceed with ease because they urately knew in advance the structure of the dungeon and the types of traps installed in it. No matter how powerful Princess Darianne¡¯s ability was, she couldn¡¯t know what kind of trap awaits them. And the chimera. Sir Cornwell was basically a warrior, but he also had some knowledge of magic as the knightmander. Several auxiliary magic circles were drawn in thest room where the chimera lived. Like what Jude had said, they would have greatly failed if they had fought the chimera there. ¡°That is why I would like to thank you now.¡± His tone was still stiff, but there was a friendliness in Sir Cornwell¡¯s eyes that was unlike before. His expression was more sincere than the harshness Jude had seen before in him. ¡®Well, he couldn¡¯t help it.¡¯ He was escorting royalty and not just anyone else. Moreover, Princess Darianne didn¡¯t act much like a royal, either because she grew up outside the ce since her childhood or because of her nature. Even if she was with her maternal family¡¯s knights, she was a young girl who went on a trip without a maid. ¡®Escorting missions are typically a bit hard.¡¯ Jude himself had several unpleasant memories rted to escorting during his time as Kang Jin-ho. So Jude understood Sir Cornwell¡¯s burden and harshness. ¡°I merely did my duty as a noble of the S?len Kingdom.¡± Sir Cornwell had a small smile again when Jude bowed and spoke politely. ¡°You¡¯re truly an ideal knight. As expected of the son from the prestigious Bayer family.¡± The son of Count Bayer, the Sword General. Sir Cornwell didn¡¯t show it much, but he actually had a fairly good impression of Count Bayer. After all, Count Bayer was a famous swordsman who had protected the north for many years. ¡°As Her Highness said, we would like you to visit Duke Spencer. The duke will surely wee you and Lady Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes, we¡¯ll definitely visit after dropping by the royal capital.¡± Duke Spencer owned a mansion in the royal capital as he was one of the great nobles in the kingdom, but he usually stayed at his main home outside the royal capital because of his illness. Because Jude and Cordelia had already told Princess Darianne and her group that they would go their separate ways once they had entered the royal capital. ¡®That¡¯s probably why he¡¯s being honest to me now.¡¯ They were going to part ways soon. Since they would no longer be traveling together, he was genuinely treating Jude as one of the duke¡¯s benefactors. ¡°And¡­I would like to tell your story to Rhun.¡± ¡°Are you talking about¡­the First Sword?¡± Sir Cornwell slowly nodded at Jude asking him again. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you fight in person¡­but I have a good eye too. I can tell that your talent for martial arts is above average just by looking at you.¡± It was actually one of the reasons why Cornwell continued to show a harsh attitude towards Jude. ¡®Too strong.¡¯ As he said himself, he did not know how good Jude¡¯s martial arts talent was, but one fact was at least clear to him. If Jude became an enemy, he was the only one in the group who could stop Jude. The other knights wouldn¡¯t be able to stop Jude. But they were parting ways now. So Sir Cornwell was able to see the strength of Jude in a pure manner. ¡°Rhun had said to me. He saw people with monstrous talents in the Empire.¡± Children with monstrous talents. They were sword monsters who were in theirte teens and early twenties at most, and might be close or even at the level of the Ten Swordmasters in the next few years. ¡°Rhun was worried about the future after they grow up¡­and if they would really be monsters.¡± The S?len Kingdom was a powerful country. The Argon Empire was the country with thergest territory on the continent. Naturally, a war between two such countries would likely be a huge fight, to the point that tens of thousands of people being mobilized would just be a trivial number. Nevertheless, having strong knights were a way to show one¡¯s might. ¡®Because superhumans exist in Pleiades.¡¯ The Ten Swordmasters were not militarymanders. They were tactical weapons on the battlefield. Therefore, the existence of tactical weapons that could subdue other countries¡¯ tactical weapons was important. ¡®Maximilian and Leon.¡¯ Perhaps they were the children in the empire that Rhun Froud, the Sword Saint of Light, was wary of. Both were yable characters, and Maximilian was the main character born with cheat talents. ¡°Of course, we have many prospects in the S?len Kingdom. I¡¯ve heard that Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s sessor is an outstanding young man. But¡­I still have a human heart. I can¡¯t help but be anxious too after hearing Rhun¡¯s story, but seeing you has made me feel relieved.¡± If there was Maximilian in the empire, then there was Jude in the kingdom. Even Jude slightly blushed at his strongparison, and Sir Cornwell warmly smiled. ¡°Rhun will also be interested in hearing your story. Perhaps he¡¯lle to see you.¡± His words were something Jude could not have imagined. He would then have a point of contact with the First Sword Rhun Froud, the Sword Saint of Light. ¡°Thank you for your kind words.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t help but admit that you¡¯re good.¡± Because Jude was a truly upright young man who was born with an outstanding talent. ¡°I look forward to seeing you again at the duke¡¯s estate.¡± ¡°Yes, I look forward to that day too.¡± Sir Cornwell was pleased when Jude bowed again, and he patted Jude on the shoulder several times before he lightly turned around. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Yes, Sir Cornwell.¡± Sir Cornwell quickly reverted to his harsh expression again because he returned to his escort duty, but Jude could see and feel that it was different from before. *** ¡°Orabeoni! Unnie! I¡¯ll wait for you at the duke¡¯s estate! You muste! By all means!¡± ¡°Yes, Your Highness. We¡¯ll definitely visit you.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll be there soon.¡± She had already said goodbye several times, but Princess Darianne continued to wave her hands and stuck her face out of the carriage window as if she felt that it was stillcking. Naturally, Sir Cornwell said that it was dangerous and struggled hard to stop Princess Darianne. ¡°It must be hard.¡± ¡°Huh? Sir Cornwell?¡± ¡°Yes, Sir Cornwell.¡± Jude quietlyughed and Cordelia tilted her head once before she quickly hugged Jude¡¯s arm and asked. ¡°Jude, Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Princess.¡± ¡°What did the two of you talk about?¡± ¡°Something good.¡± ¡°Ohmigosh, was that it? Did you talk about the detonating cord?¡± ¡°¡­We talked about Rhun Froud.¡± ¡°The Sword Saint of Light?¡± ¡°Yes, the First Sword.¡± When Jude briefly exined his conversation with Sir Cornwell, Cordelia pped her hands. ¡°That¡¯s great! It feels like the heavens are helping us, right?¡± She didn¡¯t expect the harsh Sir Cornwell to have thought of them that way. Moreover, it was a plus for them to have Sir Cornwell connect them to Rhun Froud. ¡°Let¡¯s sort it out now that we¡¯re talking about it.¡± ¡°You mean, what we are going to do in the royal capital?¡± Jude nodded at Cordelia¡¯s question and took a deep breath. The massacre of the royal family was one of the two events that destroyed the S?len Kingdom. ¡°The process itself is simple. The purpose of our enemies is to cut off the sacred blood that has been inherited by the S?len royal family. They will carry out their n on the 300th anniversary celebration of the founding of the country where all the royal family members will gather, so that they could kill off everyone.¡± ¡°The Devil¡¯s Hand is the mastermind.¡± ¡°Their wish is to weaken the guardian of the royal capital through the severance of the royal family¡¯s sacred blood.¡± Deep inside the royal capital of the S?len Kingdom, there was a powerful guardian who suppressed the power of the demons. Due to the presence of a powerful guardian who protected not only the royal capital but also the surrounding areas, the demon followers could not summon demons nor create demonic humans in the capital. ¡°But what they really want is not just the destruction of the guardian.¡± ¡°¨ªomh Sis, the divine sword that is the main body of the guardian.¡± A heavenly weapon used by the sun god Sri. ¡°In the game, the divine sword was stolen by the demon followers.¡± ¡°A long story unfolds for the yer in order to retrieve the stolen divine sword.¡± But if it didn¡¯t get stolen from the beginning. No, if they couldn¡¯t do anything to the guardian itself in the first ce. ¡°We have around a month or so before the founding ball is held.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll be preparing in advance during that time, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, we have to make our side stand against them, and most of all, we have to make the royal family trust us.¡± So that they would listen to the two when an emergency happens. So that the two could approach and be close enough in order to protect the royal family. ¡°There¡¯ll be a lot of big shots in this battle on the royal capital.¡± ¡°Because my father and your father will also being now.¡± Count Chase and Count Bayer. It wasn¡¯t just the two counts. It was an extravagant event where numerous names would appear, such as the Lord Protector, the other Ten Swordmasters, themanders of the Royal Guard Magic Corps, and so on. So it would be a little different from their fight in the wildnds. They needed a tactic to block the other side¡¯s hand with their hand as if they were ying chess. ¡°Again, you¡¯re making a wicked expression again.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not? It¡¯s an expression I have when I feel it¡¯s fun, okay?¡± At Jude¡¯s counterargument, Cordelia clicked her tongue before she naturally got on Jude¡¯s back. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go. The royal capital is waiting for us.¡± ¡°We¡¯re not looking for a carriage?¡± ¡°My horse is faster, right?¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Jude nodded his head and adjusted Cordelia¡¯s position on his back before he flew towards a sparse forest. Even though she was his fianc¨¦e, it would be bad if a rumor spread that he ran with her on his back. And an hour or soter. Jude and Cordelia arrived at the south gate of the royal capital and met some familiar faces. *** ¡°You ran away again, again, and again!¡± ¡°O! U-unnie, it¡¯s not like that!¡± Chapter 148: Entrance to the Royal Capital (2)

Chapter 148: Entrance to the Royal Capital (2)

The power outage in my area has been resolved, so here¡¯s the chapter! ¡°You ran away again, again, and again!¡± ¡°O! U-unnie, it¡¯s not like that!¡± Cordelia cried as Adelia mercilessly pulled her cheeks, but it was hopeless. ¡°What do you mean by it¡¯s not! I told you to contact me regrly, but you only did it once! And then you contact me when you¡¯ve arrived at the royal capital, huh?¡± ¡°Ahhh! It hurts! It really hurts!¡± ¡°Good! It should hurt! Be hurt more! Be hurt more!¡± Tears welled up in Cordelia¡¯s eyes as Adelia twisted her cheeks even more, and Jude thought. ¡®Indeed, they¡¯re sisters.¡¯ Given that they were doing the same thing. ¡°Helf! Heilp!¡± ¡°What do you mean by help? Are you saying that you did not do anything wrong?¡± ¡°I wash wrong! I was wrooong!¡± Adelia red at her and kept pulling her cheeks, and Cordelia continued to cry while Jude thought again. ¡®I¡¯m envious.¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s cheeks were really soft. He wanted to pull it too. That mysterious and pleasant feeling when he pulled her cheeks. I feel like I¡¯m being healed. ¡°You always run away from home!¡± ¡°Sob, sob. I was wrong.¡± ¡°I want to pull it too.¡± Jude¡¯s thoughts went out of his mouth without him realizing it, and he was embarrassed at that moment, but fortunately, no one seemed to have heard him. Cordelia would have been able to tell what he was thinking by just looking at his eyes, but she was busy crying now. In any case, Jude snapped out of his thoughts after being embarrassed and he slightly coughed. In order to get Adelia¡¯s attention. ¡®Why do I feel like I¡¯m jumping into the fire?¡¯ ¡°Ahem, ahem. Ehem, ehem, ehem.¡± Please look over here. Please release Cordelia. When he coughed harder, Adelia who was still pulling Cordelia¡¯s cheeks looked at Jude, and Jude said in the calmest tone possible. ¡°That¡­sister-inw.¡± He chose his words well. Its effect was magical. Adelia¡¯s eyes that were filled with a strong will to smack Jude after she was done with Cordelia, were then filled with shame, shyness and a little affection. ¡®It¡¯s working! Help me!¡¯ Jude noticed Cordelia¡¯s desperate eyes, so he continued his words in a hurry. ¡°There are a lot of people watching. Let¡¯s go somewhere else¡­¡± ¡°.¡± At the moment Adelia spoke, her powerful magic changed the surrounding area. ¡®Light refraction magic.¡¯ As its name implied, it was a powerful spell that refracted the light from the surrounding areas in order to create an invisible area. ¡°This should work, right?¡± She was caught off guard by the word ¡®sister-inw,¡¯ but that wasn¡¯t enough for her to change her mind. They were at the south gate of the royal capital, so she used a spell that was said to be non-lethal, though using such a powerful magic wasn¡¯t normal. ¡°Uh¡­you can continue.¡± ¡°Hey!¡± What do you mean by continue? Aren¡¯t you going to help me?! If you look at it, you¡¯re an aplice too! Jude opened his mouth again after her single cry, and Adelia waited for Jude¡¯s words with a face willing to hear what he was going to say. ¡°First of all, we did not run away. There was a reason why we couldn¡¯t contact you.¡± ¡°What? Is it the Guardians of the Holy Cross again?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°It¡¯s true.¡± ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°That is¡­¡± Jude narrowed his distance from Adelia a bit before he delivered a made-up story. ¡®Because she¡¯ll restrict our activities if we talk about getting attacked by the Devil¡¯s Hand.¡¯ The probability that they would be confined to one ce in order to be protected was high, just like what Count Hr?svelgr did. Thus, Jude made up a story that they had spent more time than they had expected in exploring an ancient temple with the Guardians of the Holy Cross. ¡°What ancient temple?¡± ¡°The temple of Aerith, the goddess of life. Isn¡¯t that right, Cordelia?¡± ¡°Yesh, yesh, hish right.¡± Her pronunciation was a bit weird because her cheeks were still being pulled, but Cordelia enthusiastically replied. Adelia narrowed her eyes but she soon released Cordelia. ¡°Hwuah!¡± Having regained her freedom after some difficulty, Cordelia covered her sore cheeks as she ran and hid behind Jude. ¡°What? Are you hiding?¡± ¡°I-I object to violence. I object to violence.¡± When Cordelia timidly spoke, Adelia snorted and took a step forward. Cordelia then flinched and quickly hid her head behind Jude¡¯s back. ¡®So cute.¡¯ Jude really wanted to watch the cute sisters¡¯ quarrel more, but now was not the time. ¡°Si-sister-inw.¡± ¡°I warned you in advance, so you¡¯re at fault too, okay?¡± ¡°No, I mean, we didn¡¯t run away from home¡­¡± ¡°But you should have contacted us. Do you know how worried our fathers were? Lord Ga?l was also very worried. Of course, I did too.¡± Jude and Cordelia were clearly strong. Adelia had witnessed firsthand their activities in the wildnds so she knew it better than anyone. But that didn¡¯t mean she wasn¡¯t worried. There were many people in this world who were stronger than Jude and Cordelia. ¡®No, that¡¯s not the problem.¡¯ Their strength wasn¡¯t important. Even if they were the strongest in the world, she couldn¡¯t help but worry if she suddenly lost contact with them. Maybe something happened. Maybe they got hurt somewhere. Why did we lose contact with them? ¡®Because we¡¯re family.¡¯ Adelia was Cordelia¡¯s real sister. Jude was her brother-inw. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Being more honest and sincere was better than excusing themselves. Jude bowed his head and asked for forgiveness, and Cordelia bowed her head too. ¡°We were wrong.¡± I¡¯m sorry for not contacting you. Adelia sighed at the sight of Jude and Cordelia bowing their heads together, and asked again after having calmed down a bit. ¡°Were you two injured?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°We¡¯re both healthy and not hurt. Unnie, what about you?¡± ¡°What? Me? I¡¯m always healthy.¡± Adelia replied with a shrug, and she had a small smile on her face. Because one way or another, she was d to see the two again. ¡°But don¡¯t you have a carriage or horse? Don¡¯t tell me¡­ you walked to the royal capital?¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­ That is¡­¡± Cordelia¡¯s words slightly slurred at Adelia¡¯s question, and she became hesitant and worried if she should talk about it or not. She eventually opened her mouth. ¡°I rode on Jude.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°No¡­that is¡­Jude carried me on his back¡­ and then he ran?¡± The more she exined it, the weirder she felt, but it was the truth after all. ¡®I don¡¯t want to lie anymore.¡¯ But sincerity didn¡¯t always work. Adelia frowned and seemingly didn¡¯t understand it so she said as she gestured with her chin. ¡°Try it out.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Show me how you got here.¡± But her mood was unusual. Cordelia thought that her sister was trying to not be violent, so she couldn¡¯t help but obey her. ¡°Umm, like this?¡± She then jumped on the back of Jude who reflexively adjusted Cordelia¡¯s position. Their actions were so natural that anyone could tell they had done it countless times. Adelia nkly stared at the two before she burst in an angry voice. ¡°Hey! Cordelia! Hey!¡± You really came here on piggyback? You stuck close to him? Aren¡¯t you ashamed?! ¡°Eek!¡± Adelia approached her with a face looking like a goblin, and the terrified Cordelia covered her cheeks first with her hands, but it was futile. There were a lot of ces that the other could pull besides her cheeks. ¡°Hey you! You!¡± ¡°Ah! It hurts! It hurts!¡± Adelia pulled her ear and didn¡¯t care if Cordelia cried or not from the pain as she continued to shout. ¡°You cheeky girl! You know what you did? You¡¯re an unmarried girl!¡± ¡°Hey, he¡¯s my fianc¨¦! We¡¯re engaged!¡± ¡°You¡¯re engaged but not married, right? This unnie told you not to cross the line, right?¡± ¡°O! It hurts! It hurts!¡± ¡°It will hurt from being pulled!¡± She was right. It was the first time Cordelia¡¯s ear was pulled, so it definitely would hurt. ¡°Jude! Help me!¡± ¡°Jude,e here too! Come here and give me your ears! You¡¯re Lord Ga?l¡¯s younger brother, so you¡¯re also my younger brother now!¡± As Adelia stretched out her hand, Jude reflexively retreated and was troubled. How do we ovee this crisis? ¡®Should I say that we haven¡¯t crossed the line yet?¡¯ He clearly didn¡¯t know the extent of the ¡®line¡¯ Adelia was talking about, but he really didn¡¯t do anything except for getting ap pillow, hugging her at times, and giving her a piggyback ride. ¡®D-did we cross it?¡¯ Up to what extent is the line Adelia is talking about? Jude broke out in cold sweat as Adelia signaled to him with her finger toe quickly, while Cordelia struggled and cried. ¡°Unnie too! Unnie did it too with brother-inw Ga?l! Mmmph!¡± ¡°Y-you¡¯re going too far with your words!¡± ¡°Mmmph! Mmph! Mmph!¡± Adelia quickly covered Cordelia¡¯s mouth while her other hand continued pulling the ear, but Cordelia kept shouting. ¡°Mmmmph! Mmph!¡± ¡°W-we¡¯re also engaged just like you, but Lord Ga?l and I are adults, okay? You two are still children!¡± ¡°Mmmmph!¡± That¡¯s not fair! Unnie, are you saying that it¡¯s okay if you do it but it¡¯s not if others do it! Jude thought that this was enough at that point, so he tried to intervene again. ¡°Si-sister-inw.¡± ¡°Huh? What is it!¡± ¡°You¡¯ve refracted the light but¡­we can still be heard, right?¡± Adelia was startled by Jude¡¯sment, and she looked around and bit her lips. Because while she couldn¡¯t see anything in particr, she could hear the sound of people murmuring. ¡°Uuuuh.¡± Adelia¡¯s face and even her neck turned red, and she quickly spoke in a hushed voice. ¡°B-be quiet. You understand?¡± ¡°Mmmph.¡± Cordelia nodded in affirmation, so Adelia slowly withdrew her hands. ¡°Haa, that¡¯s good. Let¡¯s first move and finish our talkter. Because of you, I had to take a half-day today.¡± ¡°Half-day?¡± ¡°Half-day off. I took a half day off.¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyes widened in surprise at Adelia¡¯s exnation. If you want to rest, then you should take the day off. But what do you mean by half a day off? ¡°Unnie, is the Royal Guard Magic Corps a ckpany?¡± ¡°What is this kid saying? Stop being weird and quickly fix your appearance. Your hair is a mess.¡± Having said that, Adelia straightened her clothes and appearance first. ¡®Come to think of it, that¡¯s the uniform of the Royal Guard Magic Corps.¡¯ Adelia whom Jude had seen wearing a dress or equestrian uniform was now wearing the blue uniform of the Royal Guard Magic Corps. Her upper and lower clothes were reminiscent of the blue beret and military uniform on Earth. It had a fantasy feel but was still realistic as instead of a skirt, she wore pants and ckbat shoes. ¡®Her hair is tied in a ponytail too.¡¯ She had previously let her hair loose. ¡®Cordelia looks good in a ponytail too, right?¡¯ Should I ask her to do itter? While Jude was lost in his silly thoughts, Cordelia fixed her disheveled clothes and hair before seeing Adelia looking at her. ¡°Are you done?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°How are you done? Your hair is still in a mess. I¡¯ll give you a hair tie, so just tie it up like mine.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Cordelia meekly received the hair tie and skillfully tied her hair together, and Jude recorded Cordelia¡¯s appearance in his memory pce. ¡°Thank you, sister-inw.¡± Adelia suddenly tilted her head as she wondered what he was thanking her for before she walked to Jude. ¡°By the way, Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, sister-inw.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve suddenly¡­grew taller?¡± Jude was originally around 175 cm, but he now seemed to have grown to around 180 cm. ¡°Ah, that is¡­the result of training.¡± ¡°That¡¯s interesting.¡± There¡¯s a martial art that lets you grow taller. Adelia was interested in it, but she didn¡¯t ask any further. Moving was more of a priority for now. ¡°If you¡¯re done, let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Umm, wait a second.¡± With her hair all tied up, Cordelia turned to Jude instead of following Adelia. ¡®Does it suit me?¡¯ She couldn¡¯t ask him out loud because Adelia was next to her, but she could talk to him with her eyes. Jude immediately nodded at Cordelia¡¯s shy question. ¡®It looks really good on you. You¡¯re so pretty.¡¯ ¡®Hmph. You¡¯re ttering me again.¡¯ But Cordelia smiled as if she wasn¡¯t offended. And as for the other person watching the two. ¡°I¡¯m somehow upset. I want to see Lord Ga?l.¡± Adelia muttered small before she pulled Cordelia¡¯s wrist in order to not waste time. ¡°Come on, it¡¯s really time to go. We don¡¯t have that much time.¡± ¡°Okay, unnie. But where are we going?¡± Did you book a hotel room? Where do you usually stay? Adelia smiled at Cordelia¡¯s question and then said with a fairly confident expression. ¡°My mansion.¡± *** The heart of the S?len Kingdom was definitely the royal capital, and it was also the ce in the kingdom with the highest poption. For this reason, the current royal capital which was nearing its 300th founding anniversary had be a ce where habitablend was scarce. ¡®It¡¯s because of the city walls.¡¯ The residential area could be increased, but the walls that had already been built did not allow it. Inside and outside of the walls. The inner residential area and the outer residential area. ¡®And nobles usually have big mansions.¡¯ They also had to have a garden even if it was small. ¡°This year, a mansion was finally given to me.¡± It had already been several years since she became one of themanders of the Royal Guard Magic Corps, but Adelia was constantly pushed back in the order of distribution of mansions due to her young age. ¡°I bade farewell to the dormitory.¡± The dormitory attached to the headquarters of the Royal Guard Magic Corps was naturally much easier tomute to and from work, but a dormitory room was iparable to a mansion. ¡°What do you think? Isn¡¯t it nice?¡± Cordelia immediately nodded after Adelia puffed out her chest and pointed to a pretty 2-storey mansion with a small garden. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s pretty. It¡¯s cute and picturesque.¡± The pretty mansion was actually big by modern standards, but Cordelia had lived for more than a decade as the second daughter of Count Chase. Compared to therge mansion of their family, the mansion in front of her was small and picturesque. ¡°I¡¯ll give you two rooms on the second floor.¡± When the overly excited Adelia entered her mansion, a young maid greeted the group. ¡°I am Becky who serves Lady Adelia.¡± Cordelia blushed at the greeting of a pretty ck-haired girl who looked like a doll. She greeted back and it was Becky who blushed this time. ¡®It¡¯s heartwarming.¡¯ Jude thought in admiration before he followed Adelia to the guest rooms on the second floor. The rooms with a single bed each were small, but he didn¡¯t think that they were ufortable to stay in. ¡°Then I¡¯ll be going back. See youter in the evening. I¡¯ve booked a restaurant for us.¡± ¡°Okay, I look forward to it.¡± ¡°Yeah, just wait and don¡¯t overeat on snacks.¡± ¡°Yes, unnie.¡± They had quarreled when they met at the south gate, but they had gone back to being close sisters now. Adelia hurriedly left the mansion after a hug, and Jude grabbed Cordelia¡¯s wrist as soon as Adelia left. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because we have to talk about our ns.¡± There was no time to waste as they only had a little more than a month left before the founding celebration. ¡°Okay, shall we talk in my room?¡± ¡°Eh, it¡¯s fine to do it in my room.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s do it in my room.¡± Cordelia insisted as she took Jude¡¯s hand and led him to her room. ¡°Should I leave the door open in case Becky misunderstands?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think she¡¯ll misunderstand us. She¡¯s just monitoring us, so let¡¯s just talk with magic.¡± Jude quickly spoke as he sat opposite Cordelia with a small table in between them before he tore the scroll. [So, what do you want to talk about?] [The first thing we have to do when we arrive at the royal capital.] [Something other than getting close to Princess Daphne?] [Yes. The first thing we must do.] [What is it? You didn¡¯t tell me about thisst time.] [I only thought about it today. Specifically, while I was running with you on my back.] [Okay, so what is it?] At Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude took a deep breath and put his hands on the table as he said. [As you know, the Lord Protector and the Devil¡¯s Hand have been preparing for this operation to annihte the royalty for quite some time.] [And?] [One of the evidences is the control of the underworld. The ck Moon, thergest thief guild in the royal capital, is no different to a limb of the Lord Protector.] Cordelia nodded at Jude¡¯s words. In the original, the Lord Protector manipted the underworld of the royal capital to turn the founding celebration into a mess. [They not only caused various acts of terror but also blocked roads to make it difficult for the knights and soldiers to move.] [So? Are we going to destroy the ck Moon?] [No, that¡¯s impossible. We only have a month left. Assassinating the top leaders is a bit tricky since the ck Moon is not the only one under themand of the Lord Protector.] [Then, what should we do?] It was impossible for Jude to have brought up this story if he didn¡¯t have a solution. As Cordelia looked at him with anticipation, Jude smiled and continued. [It¡¯s simple. Let¡¯s build an organization too.] [Wait, build an organization? Against the ck Moon?] [Yes.] Cordelia frowned at Jude¡¯s answer. Because it seemed to be more difficult than destroying the ck Moon. But Jude clearly said that it was simple. If so, he must have had a solution to simplify such a difficult task. [Exin it a bit more.] [In fact, we do not need to build aplete organization. Our purpose is to prevent the ck Moon from interfering with the founding celebration a monthter. We just need enough forces to hold them back.] [Where are we going to get those forces?] [From the other thief guilds in the royal capital.] The royal capital was big, so there were several thief guilds in it. Obviously, there was no organization that wasparable to that of the ck Moon since it was supported by the Lord Protector, but when all the other organizations werebined, it would be simple to hold back the ck Moon. [The more I ask, the more questions I have¡­ How would you make the other organizations work together?] Through the power of money? We did bring a lot of things here. But Jude shook his head at Cordelia¡¯s words. [I don¡¯t want to belittle their job, but our opponents are thieves who specialize in running away with money. Money alone can¡¯t control them.] [Then?] [We need charisma. A romance that can even tickle the hearts of jaded thieves.] Having said that, Jude looked at Cordelia who blinked her eyes. She soon smiled and said. [Rogue Master.] [The legendary thief. The king of thieves.] A phantom thief who could get whatever they wanted. A legendary person who shook not only the S?len Kingdom and the Argon Empire, but also the entire continent. [If the Rogue Master says so, the thieves will move. No, maybe even the ck Moon will have a lot of traitors.] Because the Rogue Master was such a person. Because such a person was like a god to the thieves. [But the Rogue Master is in the Argon Empire now. No, it¡¯s before she became the Rogue Master.] Her words were a bit strange, but it was true. Because the soon-to-be Rogue Master was still in training. She was Scarlet who would be one of the Four Great Swordsmen in the future. A prospect who would seed the Rogue Master title. She was quite a good thief now, but she wasn¡¯t the Rogue Master yet. Because she had still yet to get the Rogue Master¡¯s treasure that proved that she was a Rogue Master. [So that¡¯s better for us. A new Rogue Master can appear for the time being.] [A new Rogue Master?] [Yes, a new Rogue Master.] Jude replied with a smile and stood up before he dramatically spoke. [No one knows where the tomb of the Rogue Master is. Except for us.] The Rogue Master¡¯s tomb was hidden in the royal capital. [Rarely does anyone know all the various legends of the Rogue Master. But there is one person here who knows it all.] It was time for JudeWiki to shine. Cordelia knew then. What Jude was nning. The appearance of a new Rogue Master. The birth of a new Rogue Master. [Wow!] [Do you understand now?] [Yes! I understand now!] [Then, I look forward to your cooperation.] [Huh?] [Please do your best.] Because the new Rogue Master will be you, Cordelia. Jude grinned as he took out a ck butterfly mask from his arms and put it on the face of the stunned Cordelia. Chapter 149: Phantom Thief (1)

Chapter 149: Phantom Thief (1)

Terms used in this chapter: Seokguram ¨C the Seokguram Grotto is a Buddhist cave temple constructed during the Unified Si Period (668-935 CE) of ancient Korea. Cordelia blinked her eyes at first. Jude blinked his eyes at the same time as her before he took a step back to view Cordelia¡¯s face with a butterfly mask more broadly. ¡°Hmm, it looks good on you.¡± A ck butterfly mask made of leather that had the appearance of a butterfly spreading its wings open. Cordelia unconsciously reacted to the words ¡®it looks good on you,¡¯ and furrowed her brows before she spoke as if she had finallye to her senses. ¡°What did you just say?¡± ¡°It looks good on you?¡± ¡°Before that.¡± [You are the new Rogue Master.] As he said it again with magic, Cordelia narrowed her eyes again and crossed her arms. [What¡¯s the reason?] [Huh?] [I mean, why should I be the Rogue Master?] Since either Cordelia or Jude had to be the Rogue Master, she wondered why she herself and not Jude was chosen from the two options from the very start. ¡®Why does it smell suspicious?¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s instinct that was equal to- no, better than that of wild beasts, was telling her that. There is something. There must be some underhanded scheme here. ¡®Because he¡¯s Jude!¡¯ Before he became my scammer, he¡¯s the guy who risks everything for achievement scores because of his obsession with taking 1st ce. He¡¯s not someone who¡¯ll just let go of the opportunity to be the Rogue Master. When Cordelia sniffed with her nose in front of him because of her suspicion, Jude shrugged once before he gently opened his mouth as he had expected this to happen. [It¡¯s simple. Do you remember Scarlet¡¯s sex?] [She¡¯s a woman.] The contemporary Rogue Master was the only woman among the Four Great Swordsmen. No, in the game, she was the person who would be the contemporary Rogue Master. [You¡¯re right. Then, what is the sex of the first Rogue Master?] That person did not directly appear in the game because they were a character that lived hundreds of years ago, but that person was a Rogue Master who left behind many stories about their deeds. If Cordelia had done any of the quests rted to Scarlet, she would have no choice but to know that the first Rogue Master¡¯s sex was ¡®female.¡¯ [Woman¡­?] [Yes, she¡¯s a woman. So it¡¯s better for the new Rogue Master to be a woman. There¡¯s already a preconceived notion that the Rogue Master is a ¡®woman.¡¯] [Hmmm.] She felt like she was being dragged into this, but what he said was true to begin with. ¡®Of course, the second generation was a man, and the Rogue Master just before Scarlet was also a man.¡¯ Jude thought to himself as he faced the troubled looking Cordelia before he spoke again. [And because we need to properly act the role of Rogue Master. The Rogue Master left five treasures, and the only one we can get among those is the Moon Crystal, thest treasure.] [Umm¡­because Scarlet already has two?] [Yes, the third and fourth treasures are in the empire.] It was the reason why Scarlet, who was originally from the S?len Kingdom, went to the empire in order to find the treasures of the Rogue Master. [The Rogue Master¡¯s treasures are like the symbols of the Rogue Master. The biggest symbol is the Moon Crystal, but that alone isn¡¯t enough. In order to call yourself a Rogue Master and be recognized by the people, you have to pretend that you also have the other treasures.] At this point, Cordelia could roughly understand what Jude was trying to say. [In short, you¡¯re saying that we¡¯ll use magic, is that it?] [Bingo.] The Rogue Master¡¯s treasures were magic tools that gave its user various mysterious powers. But Cordelia was a real wizard, so she just had to use her magic. [I can¡¯t tear a scroll every time I need to do something.] [Hmmm.] What he said made sense so far. [Is there anything else?] [Isn¡¯t this enough?] [That¡¯s true, but¡­] Why? Why do I still feel ufortable? As Cordelia showed signs of hesitation, Jude pulled out his trump card. [Anyway, let¡¯s not waste our time in worries. There are many ces we have to stop by before our dinner with sister-inw. Our schedule is tight, okay?] [I know, we only have one month. But where are we going to stop by? The Rogue Master¡¯s tomb?] [There¡¯s that, but this is more important.] Something so important that would make Cordelia forget about everything else. [Where?] [Alchemy Guild.] [Why there?] [You asked me to make dynamite.] [Eh?] [Dynamite.] Jude spoke again, and Cordelia opened her mouth first before she joyfully smiled. Her blue eyes seemed to sparkle in excitement. [Will you really make it? Really?] [Yes, so let¡¯s go now. We don¡¯t have much time.] [Yes, yes! Let¡¯s go quickly!] [Before that, what about the Rogue Master?] [I¡¯ll do it.] [Really?] ¡°Yes, yes, really!¡± Cordelia spoke in a childish voice before she grabbed Jude¡¯s arm as if she wanted to go quickly, and Jude left the room with Cordelia while pretending that he couldn¡¯t win against her. *** The structure of dynamite was simpler than one would think. Dynamite was made by simply having nitroglycerin, one of the substances typically used for explosives, be absorbed by a small amount of diatomaceous earth. ¡°Diatomaceous earth is a type of sand made from the remains of single-celled algae, and is frequently used for many things because of its high absorption capabilities.¡± Because diatomaceous earth itself was a non-mmable material, pure nitroglycerin was actually better than dynamite in terms of its simple explosive power. Nevertheless, diatomaceous earth was used because nitroglycerin, a highly sensitive substance, could then be stored and transported rtively safely. ¡°We¡¯ll need nitric acid and sulfuric acid to make nitroglycerin.¡± Both were substances that were difficult to immediately obtain unless they were in an alchemy guild. ¡°And?¡± When Cordelia asked with an interested face, Jude resolutely turned her down. ¡°A more detailed description will be omitted.¡± ¡°How mean.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter since I¡¯ll be making it for you anyway. And it¡¯s dangerous. It¡¯s not an easy challenge for beginners.¡± Moreover, if he told her how to make it, he wouldn¡¯t be able to use dynamite as bait in the future. He should only give her fish but not teach her how to fish. ¡°Tsk, tsk, tsk.¡± ¡°So you don¡¯t like it?¡± ¡°No, Milord. Milord¡¯s words are absolutely correct.¡± Satisfied with her quick change of attitude, Jude quickly finished his shopping and they headed to the east gate. ¡°Aren¡¯t you making dynamite?¡± ¡°We have to get the Rogue Master¡¯s treasure first.¡± It was still in the afternoon, so they still had some time left until their dinner with Adelia. ¡°The gates are closed when the sun goes down, so it will be less suspicious for us to go now ande back by that time.¡± ¡°Eueu, it can¡¯t be helped.¡± She had no choice but to postpone what excited her for a while. ¡°Then, let¡¯s go quickly.¡± ¡°Yes, Madam. I¡¯ll take you there very fast.¡± It was Jude¡¯s first time in the royal capital, but JudeWiki hadpletely recorded not only the small side roads of the royal capital but also the underground roads. So he led Cordelia to a shortcut that even the locals didn¡¯t know, and as soon as they left the east gate, he turned his back on her and Cordelia very naturally got on Jude¡¯s back. ¡®I feel like I¡¯ve be toofortable with this.¡¯ She had be toofortable with being carried on Jude¡¯s back. She felt like she was really merging with him when she was carried on his back these days. ¡°What are you thinking about?¡± ¡°I think it would be nice to go quickly.¡± ¡°Hold on tight.¡± Jude smiled and soon became a gale as he ran east, or to be exact, towards a small mountain in the northeast of the royal capital. ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± ¡°It seems like you left out a lot of exnation, but I guess it¡¯s fine.¡± Cordelia muttered quietly as she got off Jude¡¯s back and looked behind her. ¡°Wow.¡± The mountain was small, but it was still a mountain. A panoramic view of the royal capital surrounded byrge and magnificent walls came to her eyes, and she was left amazed. ¡°Amazing.¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s amazing. The capital is beautiful.¡± The walls were very high so the inside of the capital couldn¡¯t be seen, but he had seen it hundreds to thousands of times in the game, so he could think of its shape in his head. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s hurry.¡± Jude turned around and squatted in front of a long rock that looked like a tombstone on top of the hill, and he squinted his eyes. ¡°If I touch it like this¡­¡± When Jude touched the side of the rock, a sudden click was heard, and the entire rock soared to about 30 cm. ¡°It¡¯s a password board. It¡¯s the same as the original.¡± Cordelia squatted next to Jude, and just like she said, there was a password board with a ratherplex pattern at the bottom of the newly revealed rock. The board was only solved by pressing it in a set order, but Jude began to move his hand without any hesitation. ¡®Originally, the password can only be known when one collected all four of the treasures.¡¯ ¡°Fufufu, this is the power of my JudeWiki.¡± Cordelia proudly spoke and Jude spontaneously smiled and continued to move his hand. The Rogue Master was still a much better person than Arkeman because she didn¡¯t do anything mischievous like hiding thest treasure next to the first clue. ¡°I¡¯ve unlocked it.¡± After he pressed thest button on the board, a click was heard again and the ground near the rock soon soared with a rumbling sound. ¡°It¡¯s the entrance.¡± There was a metal door at the bottom of the slope, and it was clean as new perhaps because of some magic spell. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go in.¡± Jude opened the metal door with his strength and Cordelia created a magic sphere of light. ¡°Gentleman first.¡± ¡°Yes, Madam.¡± Jude promptly answered and headed down the stairs beyond the metal door. ¡°It¡¯s like Seokguram.¡± ¡°Have you been there?¡± ¡°Yes, for a school trip.¡± Cordelia quietly responded as she raised the sphere of light and looked around them. It was a small stone chamber with a door leading to the next stone chamber on the opposite side of the stairs. ¡°You do know that we have to be careful from here on, right?¡± ¡°I know.¡± Cordelia gave a short answer and then quickly cast several types of magic in session even though Jude didn¡¯t tell her to. She cast , a flying magic that was the higher rank to the floating magic . She also activated the magic in Count Chase¡¯s ring, cast the to strengthen their minds, and the so that they would not be fooled by illusions. Each magic spell she cast was like a substitute to the Rogue Master¡¯s treasures. A floor installed with traps that activates when stepped on. An illusion magic that makes one go round and round a small cabin. A banshee¡¯s voice that disturbs the minds of those who entered. Even a hydrochloric acid trap that poured overhead and couldn¡¯t be avoided. Jude and Cordelia blocked everything since they were prepared, and stopped in front of a tombstone at the end of the stone chamber. [If you have reached this point, you are well qualified to seed me. My entire legacy is yours from now on.] Cordelia smiled at the nicely-sounding sentence written in the tombstone before she injected her mana into it. And Jude quickly moved his hand and grabbed the arrow that was fired from the front. It was thest trap that triggered when the person was reassured that it was all over. ¡°She has a bad personality.¡± ¡°That¡¯s typical of a Rogue Master, right?¡± They had known all about it anyway. Cordelia smiled after she finished injecting her mana, and the tombstone rose as it revealed the real tombstone hidden on the floor. [Desire] Only that word was engraved on the first Rouge Master¡¯s tombstone. A word that she loved the most, and one that she had pursued throughout her life. ¡°As expected of the Ruler of Thieves.¡± ¡°It¡¯s good to be honest.¡± And she left her own treasure in this manner. A jewelry box was revealed with the tombstone. Jude and Cordelia opened it at the same time, and they obtained the Moon Crystal, thest treasure of the Rogue Master. *** Night came. After having finished a fantastic meal at the fine dining restaurant Adelia had made a reservation with, the group ate a 3-tiered chocte parfait for dessert that was famous in the royal capital. They then looked around the streets of the night market which was a tourist attraction before they returned to the mansion. ¡°You have to properly sleep in your rooms, okay? Do you two understand?¡± ¡°Yes, we understand.¡± ¡°This is my house. So I can see everything here like the palm of my hand, okay?¡± ¡°Yes, yes. We understand.¡± After their conversation was finished, all of them headed to their bedrooms and slept for a few hours. When Adelia was deeply sleeping, Jude and Cordelia met with each other in Cordelia¡¯s room. And after ten minutes. Cordelia said with a chilly gaze as she crossed her arms. ¡°Milord, what is this?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the Rogue Master¡¯s costume.¡± When Jude answered, Cordelia looked back at herself and had a chilling smile. ¡°This?¡± A short and pink miniskirt was on top of tight-fitting ck leather pantsplete with boots, and her top consisted of a ck leather clothes with her shoulders exposed. The white cor on the neckline resembled that of a tuxedo, and long ck leather gloves that reached up to her upper arm were added, making her cute outfit seem like a female magician. Up to that point, Cordelia wasn¡¯t that much displeased. She wore a miniskirt but also had pants underneath, so she had nothing to be particrly ashamed of. The problem was the next part. She had arge ck ribbon that tied her long hair together into a ponytail, a ck butterfly mask that covered her face, and arge bow tie with the Moon Crystal in the middle ¨C she could tolerate it all up to that point. ¡°Milord, what is this?¡± ¡°Rabbit ears and rabbit tail. It¡¯s a good item set that increases agility and jumping power.¡± Cordelia was very familiar with the equipment set that was on top of her head or attached near her butt. Jude had thought that it was so unfortunate that he couldn¡¯t see it again after their time in the wildnds. ¡°Hey, did you bring this all the way here?¡± ¡°There¡¯s the cat set. Would you like to change into that?¡± ¡°You asked me to be the Rogue Master because of this?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not because of this.¡± ¡°Then remove the rabbit set, okay?¡± ¡°Aww, my Princess. Do you really want to say that? Here¡¯s the improved detonating cord.¡± As Jude smiled and handed her the detonating cord bundle, Cordelia snorted in her excitement and no longer questioned the rabbit set. ¡®Because it¡¯s cute.¡¯ She was not ashamed because she was wearing a mask anyway. Cordelia giggled as her tail slightly shook, and Jude looked at Cordelia as he took a deep breath. Because the real hard part would begin now. ¡°Okay, then Cordelia. There is onest thing to do. No, in fact, it¡¯s already been done.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°That is¡­¡± Jude awkwardly smiled and held out a well-made card, and Cordelia finally understood. The fact that there was something more shameful even if she wore a mask. *** ¡°Hey! Is this the reason you made me do this?!¡± ¡°Yes, that is correct.¡± ¡°Are you serious?!¡± Phantom Thief Pink Bomb. A name that must be used and be famous enough in order to surely summon Velkian, the necromancer. It was the name of the new Rogue Master who would shake the S?len Kingdom and the entire continent. Chapter 150.1 – Phantom Thief (2)

Chapter 150.1 ¨C Phantom Thief (2)

Sorry, everyone! Today¡¯s a short chapter since I got too absorbed with reading manga and ended up only tranting half of the chapter. I¡¯ll try to post the next half plus episode 151 together tomorrow. ¡°No, f*ck. No, f*ck!¡± Pink Bomb? PINK BOMB? ¡°Are you kidding me?¡± ¡°Well, I mean. Like I said, we have to lure Velkian, right? In order to do that, the name of Phantom Thief Pink Bomb must be famous, right? Famous enough that Velkian will know wherever he is, okay?¡± He was right. It was quite a convincing story. But Cordelia wasn¡¯t a fool. ¡°No! In the first ce, why is it Pi- mmph!¡± ¡°Shh! Adelia might wake up!¡± Jude quickly covered her mouth with his hands and Cordelia struggled to talk before she swiftly cast magic. [Hey! F*ck, do you think I¡¯m stupid? In the first ce, why did you use the name Pink Bomb in your letter to Velkian? Care to exin?] [Didn¡¯t you agree to using it back then? Pink Bomb?] [I seriously thought you were joking then!] [Hey, I didn¡¯t lie to you.] [Argh, f*ck. Are you trying to get me mad on purpose? You didn¡¯t lie? My scammer, Jude?] [But I¡¯m still part of yours.] [If you don¡¯t exin it properly, you¡¯ll be someone else¡¯s Jude from today onwards! Do you understand?!] T/N: Here we are with the word y again. The literal trantions are actually ¡®My house¡¯s scammer,¡¯ ¡®But I¡¯m still part of ¡®our house,¡¯ and ¡®you¡¯ll be the Jude of someone else¡¯s house¡­¡¯ It¡¯s hard to exin in English about the ¡®house¡¯ thing because it¡¯s something unique to Korean culture, but you can just think or rece it with the word ¡®family.¡¯ So when Cordelia calls Jude as her family¡¯s scammer, Jude retorts by saying that at least, he¡¯s still part of her family. But Cordelia threatens to kick him out of her family, thus bing the Jude of ¡®someone else¡¯s family.¡¯ [Okay, I¡¯ll exin.] [What, you¡¯ll really exin it?] Cordelia blinked her eyes and asked. Is there a good reason for the use of a weird name like Pink Bomb? [Yes, I can exin.] [W-what is it?] [Pink Bomb is a special name for Velkian. It¡¯s the name of the main character in Velkian¡¯s favorite novel.] Cordelia¡¯s eyes narrowed at Jude¡¯s words, but she couldn¡¯t say anything else. Because while she had heard of this for the first time, it was something that came out of Jude¡¯s mouth. ¡®Was there something like a hidden character setting?¡¯ Cordelia tilted her head and asked again. [Is that why you used the name Pink Bomb?] [Because we want it to remain strongly in Velkian¡¯s mind and arouse his curiosity.] [Hmmm¡­] His words were quite convincing. Phantom Thief Pink Bomb. It was definitely a name that would leave a deep impression to anyone who had heard it. But if someone liked a novel with a main character having such a name, that person would certainlye to the royal capital out of curiosity. [Haa, so annoying. Who the hell is that person? Who in the world names their main character Pink Bomb!] [Calm down, calm down. I mean, Yellow Storm and Pink Bomb are the same, right?] [It¡¯s different! It¡¯s really, really,pletely different, okay?!] [Yes, it¡¯s different. Very different. Yes, yes, it¡¯s different. It¡¯s very different.] When Jude said that as if he was soothing a child, Cordelia immediately tried to kick Jude¡¯s shin but failed. Because Jude had reflexively used his golden wind. [F*ck, you¡¯re so annoying.] You avoided it? You even used a skill? [I mean, it will hurt if I get hit.] [Evil b*stard, ugly b*stard, nasty b*stard, f*cking b*stard.] [Umm¡­ It¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve heard you say so many curse words, so it¡¯s kind of nice¡­ Should I give you a reward?] [What is this crazy b*stard saying? Hmph.] Cordelia was so angry that tears seemed to involuntarilye out of her eyes. Jude said as he squatted to make eye contact with Cordelia who sat down on the floor in exhaustion. [Anyway, Cordelia, you don¡¯t have to worry about it too much. You¡¯ll be able to do it well.] [Hooo, hey. Are you worried that I¡¯ll do something wrong? I won¡¯t. I will not. I can do it. I will be Pink Bomb.] [Umm¡­well¡­ I can¡¯t help it if you dislike it that much.] [Eh? Really? You¡¯ll really do it?] [Well¡­ the clothes may not fit, but I can fix it.] [Wait, what are you talking about? The clothes don¡¯t fit? You¡¯re going to wear this?] [I should wear it. Even if the clothes look like that, I should still look like the first Rogue Master, right?] At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia closed her eyes for a moment and imagined it. She imagined Jude wearing tight-fitting ck leather clothes, a pink miniskirt, rabbit ears, and tail. [Fu-f*ck¡­ I¡¯ll just do it. I¡¯ll do it.] She couldn¡¯t bear to see something like that. After all, he was her fianc¨¦. No, apart from being her fianc¨¦, she unconsciously felt disgusted at the thought of seeing Jude going around like that. It was a bit embarrassing. It was when Cordelia grumbled while she was deep in thought. Jude smiled and said as if he knew what Cordelia was thinking. [Thank you. It could only be you.] [Hmph, you won¡¯t get anything if you say that, okay?] Cordelia reflexively snorted and tried to get up, so Jude naturally stretched out his hand to help her. [Okay, I¡¯ll concede to you once and be Pink Bomb.] [Thank you, Princess. I¡¯ll do my best in making dynamite.] [Whatever.] You¡¯ll somehow find a way out anyway. Just like a sly person. [And Cordelia, don¡¯t be too worried. After all, the ¡®Return of the Rogue Master¡¯ will leave such a deep impression that you¡¯ll rarely be called Pink Bomb.] [Is that so?] [Yes, it will happen. It¡¯s the Rogue Master after all and not anyone else, right?] [Hmm¡­] She was also convinced of his words. Scarlet actually had several aliases, but she was always called the Rogue Master in the end. [Anyway, we don¡¯t have much time. We must do our work as soon as possible.] [I know that, so are we delivering it today? The notice card?] [Yes, this card is the notice card.] Cordelia received the card from Jude and read it as it shone in the moonlight. On the day of the full moon two dayster, I will take the Green Goddess¡¯ Teardrop. ¨CRogue Master Pink Bomb There were several lines written in a very neat handwriting on the white card, and a pink lip mark was at thest part. [Whose lips are these? No way¡­] [Ahem, ahem. That¡¯s a sample¡­ But let¡¯s put my princess¡¯ kiss mark for the real thing.] When Jude slightly blushed and coughed, Cordeliaughed and nodded her head. [I¡¯ll keep this though. It¡¯s proof that my Jude is a human being who also knows how to be embarrassed.] Cordelia giggled as kept the card like a precious item. She then saw Jude handing her new cards. [Three more?] [One will be sent to a corrupt and rich woman who¡¯ll be the victim, and the other two will be sent to the ck Moon and Blue Moon.] [Blue Moon? Is that thergest guild among the thief guilds that do not cooperate with the ck Moon?] [That¡¯s right. Our goal is to publicize the name of the Rogue Master.] The founding celebration was a month away, so they needed to build a reputation that would be enough to move the guilds within three weeks. [We¡¯ll deliver the notice today and steal the gem two dayster.] [By the way, who is the person we¡¯ll be robbing this time?] [It¡¯s a wealthy and corrupt woman who¡¯s one of the Lord Protector¡¯s source of funds. If we¡¯re going to steal things, it¡¯s better if it¡¯s a person from the Lord Protector¡¯s side.] [The Green Goddess¡¯ Teardrop¡­ Is this a gem?] [Yes, it¡¯s a gem that can give the blessing of the war god. We¡¯re going to steal something useful. It¡¯ll be a hot topic.] Everything that he said was correct. Cordelia did not say anything else and just walked to the dressing table to apply lipstick on her lips. [Give me the cards.] [Here.] [Why are there four cards? You said that you¡¯ll send the notice to three ces.] [I want one of them as a keepsake.] [Hmph.] Cordelia hmphed and stamped her lips on all four before she handed it to Jude. [Are you going to deliver it now then?] [Yes, I¡¯ll go ande back, so just go to sleep. You¡¯re not familiar with this area yet, right?] [Okay, I¡¯ll be going to sleep, so you can go.] [Yes, Princess. I¡¯ll see you tomorrow morning.] Jude gracefully greeted her in a theatrical manner before he flew out of the window like the wind, and Cordelia stared at her reflection in the vanity mirror. A phantom thief who wore a ck butterfly mask and had rabbit ears in her head. ¡®It looks cute.¡¯ Cordelia wiggled the rabbit tail and even tried to strike a pose before she let out the following words from her mouth. ¡°I-in the name of justice¡­I will punish you?¡± She was embarrassed. She was seriously embarrassed. She felt that she would die of embarrassment even though she had muttered it very quietly. But she felt a bit ecstatic at the same time. A joy that was difficult to describe. However, it was only for a moment. Because she felt a gaze behind her back. ¡°Uh¡­ I left something behind.¡± Jude smiled as naturally as possible and he picked up something that fell on the floor without saying a single word before he went out of the window again. Cordelia who was left alone then squatted on the floor and covered her face with both hands. She stayed and did not move from that position for a long time. In the name of justice, I will punish you is a reference to Sailor Moon¡¯s famous line, In the name of the Moon, I¡¯ll punish you. So Cordelia was posing like Sailor Moon, hahaha. Chapter 150.2 – Phantom Thief (2)

Chapter 150.2 ¨C Phantom Thief (2)

I changed the ¡®corrupt rich man¡¯ part into a ¡®corrupt and wealthy woman¡¯ because the victim was actually a woman. And I promised yesterday that I¡¯d post 151 today, but I didn¡¯t expect it to be that long, so I had to push it back for tomorrow. Sorry. Terms used in this chapter: I thank Selene for allowing me to be a righteous thief again ¨C This is a reference to the Japanese series, Saint Tail. Saint Tail¡¯s original line was ¡®Lord, please allow me to be a righteous thief again today.¡¯ And Cordelia¡¯s Pink Bomb outfit is totally based on Saint Tail¡¯s outfit. At night two dayster. In the mansion of Viscountess Venus who was known for being a wealthy and corrupt woman. Despite it being midnight, countless people gathered around her house which ran a loan-sharking business. Around one third of those were guards from the royal capital, while the other two thirds were spectators. ¡°Is it true? Did she really appear?¡± ¡°It¡¯s true!¡± ¡°Look! It¡¯s an explosion again!¡± Boooom! The windows loudly broke and pink smoke spread around. And inside the mansion. Beyond the door where the pink dynamite exploded. ¡°How dare you!¡± Cordelia narrowed her eyes at the thunderous cry of Viscountess Venus, ady wearing a ckbat uniform. Viscountess Venus held a dagger while four mercenaries took up their weapons. But the biggest problem was Venus¡¯ vault which resembled the huge and solid vaults of banks. ¡°Ha! Do you understand now? It¡¯s no exaggeration to say that the whole room is a safe! You won¡¯t be able to open the safe even if you¡¯re the real Rogue Master!¡± It made sense. It was a safe that she could be confident in. It was a safe that seemed like it would take a considerable amount of time to open using straightforward methods. ¡°Of course, you won¡¯t even be able to open it in the first ce!¡± The four mercenaries who apanied Viscountess Venus herself were not ordinary ones. They were brutal and powerful warriors who earned the nickname of ¡®Four Swords¡¯ in the underworld of the royal capital. ¡°Get her!¡± The four mercenaries moved almost simultaneously at the cry of Viscountess Venus. And Cordelia also moved. She threw dynamite from both of her hands and induced an explosion by firing magic at the same time. Baaaang! It was loud and the explosive power itself was weak, but it was a kind of smoke bomb that filled the room with pink smoke. ¡°I can¡¯t see!¡± ¡°Cough! Cough!¡± People would usually stop moving if their vision was obstructed. Cordelia ran towards the vault door while the mercenaries coughed from breathing in the smoke. ¡°Crazy bi-?¡± Viscountess Venus barely opened her eyes and swore at the appearance of Cordelia that would soon crash into the door. I thought that she was quite a good thief, but was she just a crazy b*tch? But she was wrong. Just before the collision. No, at the moment when Cordelia and the door collided! ¡®Fairy Steps!¡¯ The space of the fairies and reality ovepped. Cordelia turned translucent in an instant and passed through the vault. ¡°Wow.¡± Having passed through the vault door, Cordelia let out a voice of admiration as she stroked the ring they received from the Fall Fairy Queen. The Fairy Steps were originally for evasion, but they didn¡¯t need to just use it for evasion since they could use it in other ways. ¡®One more use.¡¯ The number of uses increased because of their repeated level-ups, so the Fairy Steps could now be used twice a day. It could be perfectly used once for getting in and the other for going out. ¡®Here it is.¡¯ The Green Goddess¡¯ Teardrop. A beautiful gem that shined on its own even in the dark. With an ecstatic face, Cordelia stared at the gem which was the size of two fingers together and was veryrge for a gem. She eventually shook her head and came to her senses. Because now wasn¡¯t the time to be admiring the gem. ¡®Get the gem and leave the card.¡¯ After her series of actions, Cordelia threw herself towards the wall whose opposite side faced outside. Shwaaa- She used the Fairy Steps again. She jumped into the outer wall and found herself in the air, but it wasn¡¯t a problem. ¡®Angel Mode!¡¯ Cordelia spread her wings of light and flew as she headed straight to the roof of the mansion, and cheers erupted again among the spectators. ¡°It¡¯s real! It¡¯s real!¡± ¡°The Rogue Master really walked in the sky!¡± Spreading her angel wings allowed her to move freely in the air. As Cordelia climbed onto the roof, not only the spectators but also the guards of Viscountess Venus focused on one ce. Everyone¡¯s eyes. All eyes focused on one ce. ¡®W-what should I do? I¡¯m getting addicted to this.¡¯ What is this strange yet pleasant feeling? Cordelia unknowingly smiled and took out the Green Goddess¡¯ Teardrop for everyone to see instead of saying anything, and the spectator¡¯s cheers burst out again at that moment. ¡°It¡¯s the real one! The real one!¡± ¡°The Green Goddess¡¯ Teardrop!¡± They had obviously never seen the Green Goddess¡¯ Teardrop properly, but they knew it was a big green gem anyway. ¡°What are you doing?! Get her! No! Shoot her!¡± ¡°To the roof!¡± The guards responded to Venus¡¯ cry and hurriedly moved, and some even shot at Cordelia with their crossbows. But it was at that moment. A ck wind suddenly swept away all the arrows that headed for Cordelia. It was the wind caused by the kick of Jude, who was hiding in a blind spot. [Let¡¯s go!] [Okay!] Cordeliamunicated with magic before putting away the Green Goddess¡¯ Teardrop and taking out a new big gem. The Moon Crystal. The Rogue Master¡¯sst treasure! ¡°I thank Selene for allowing me to be a righteous thief.¡± Cordelia smiled and gracefully said before she bowed to the audience like a magician and then raised the Moon Crystal high. ¡°In Selene¡¯s name.¡± The goddess of the moon who watched over everyone. It was at the moment when Cordelia injected her mana into the Moon Crystal. The strong moonlight fell from the sky and shone on Cordelia. Because of the moonlight that acted like a spotlight, Cordelia¡¯s impressive appearance was further imprinted in the minds of everyone. A very bright pink hair and ck leather clothes that revealed her nice figure. And cute rabbit ears and tail. A few seconds passed. The moonlight that was like a spotlight gradually became smaller before it disappeared, and so did Cordelia. She disappeared with the moonlight. ¡°Rogue Master!¡± ¡°Woaaaah!¡± This was the power of the Moon Crystal, thest treasure of the Rogue Master. ¡®You can leap in space three times a day in any ce where the moonlight shines.¡¯ A simple yet powerful ability. It was the reason why the Rogue Master had never been caught in the act despite her numerous thefts. ¡°How was it? Did you think it went well?¡± ¡°You were the best, really the best. It really went well.¡± At the second floor of Adelia¡¯s mansion. Adelia had fallen into a deep sleep because of a hard day¡¯s work, so Jude and Cordelia had gone out and in without being noticed, and the two burst intoughter while facing each other. ¡°This is so pretty.¡± The Green Goddess¡¯ Teardrop. There was a legend that the gem was made from the teardrop of a beautiful and gentle goddess, but for some mysterious reason, those who possessed it would obtain the blessing of the war god. ¡®If a real warrior has it in their possession, this excellent item will increase their stats just by having it.¡¯ It was not an absolute increase in value but an increase in percentage. ¡°Haa, it¡¯s so exciting. It¡¯s more fun than I had thought.¡± ¡°Weren¡¯t you excited in throwing bombs?¡± ¡°There¡¯s that too.¡± Cordelia giggled as she took off her mask and untied her hair that had been tied together. The sight of her very bright pink hair turning back into reddish pink in an instant was very beautiful and mysterious. ¡°Why are you looking at me like that?¡± ¡°Because you¡¯re so pretty.¡± ¡°W-what are you saying?¡± Embarrassed with Jude¡¯s straightforwardpliment, Cordelia said in a hurry. ¡°Anyway, the news will spread throughout the royal capital by tomorrow, right?¡± ¡°The Rogue Master is back. The Rogue Master has returned.¡± ¡°Hehe, I¡¯m excited.¡± Cordelia brightly smiled and closed her eyes as she imagined it. A beautiful and strong Rogue Master. A righteous thief who appeared and disappeared like a ghost. ¡®Actually, it¡¯s kind of funny for a thief to be speaking of righteousness.¡¯ But she didn¡¯t care about that. Cordelia opened her eyes again and looked forward to tomorrow with a happy face. And the next morning. ¡°Hey! What is this?! What is this!¡± ¡°Umm¡­was it a problem with pink hair? Or that the color of the dynamite was pink¡­¡± ¡°Aaah, so annoying!¡± The front page of the newspaper which they had bought in the streets at morning contained articles about the Rogue Master as they had expected. Jude and Cordelia seeded in informing the entire royal capital of the Rogue Master¡¯s return as they had expected. But there was one minor problem. PHANTOM THIEF PINK BOMB APPEARS PHANTOM THIEF PINK BOMB, IS SHE REALLY A ROGUE MASTER? PHANTOM THIEF PINK BOMB¡¯S BRILLIANT DEBUT That name was mentioned much more often than the Rogue Master wherever they looked. ¡®Well, as I had nned.¡¯ Frankly speaking, if the names Pink Bomb and Rogue Master were written side by side, the former would most likely stand out. ¡®Now, Velkian will soon know of it.¡¯ The Phantom Thief Pink Bomb name. Jude grinned while the annoyed Cordelia cursed for some time as she seriously cut out the articles with her scissors to keep them as newspaper clippings. And on the night two dayster. Jude and Cordelia began their next move. Chapter 151: Phantom Thief (3)

Chapter 151: Phantom Thief (3)

Minister of Defense had now been changed to Lord Protector. Please do note that the ¡®Lord Protector¡¯ used in this series is more of a nickname than an actual title. Kalium, the capital of the S?len Kingdom, was the secondrgest metropolis in the world, boasting a poption that was more than that of a small country, and of being the wealthiest city in the kingdom. Tens of thousands of people would travel to and from the royal capital every day, and huge amounts of money were traded daily, enough to fill up a hundred wagons. The City of Light. The gloriousnd that shines the brightest in the Holy Kingdom of S?len. But the brighter the light was, the darker was the shadow. The underworld of the royal capital was greater and more threatening than the underworlds of any city in the kingdom. ¡®Because there are several thief guilds in just one city.¡¯ A thief guild sounded like a decent organization, but in reality, it was different. It was not an exaggeration to say that the thief guilds were actuallyprehensive criminal organizations. They did not only steal but also did all kinds of shady and illegal things. The adult entertainment industry such as gambling and prostitution were a given, and if one went further, there were also some guilds involved in violent crimes such as contract killing, kidnapping and abduction. ¡®The ck Moon is the most vicious among them.¡¯ The ck Moon dominated more than half of the royal capital¡¯s underworld starting from pickpocketing in the back alleys up to human and drug trafficking. The reason the ck Moon could do all that so boldly ¨C no, there were two reasons why they ended up dealing with such dangerous stuff in the first ce. ¡®One, their guild leader, Karma, is the embodiment of desire.¡¯ There was no good or evil for him. There was only loss and profit for him. Will it benefit you? Then kill your parents. Will it cost you? Then kill even the children. He was a ruthless and cruel tyrant, and that allowed him to devour the underworld of the royal capital. ¡°He doesn¡¯t hesitate.¡± It was Karma¡¯s habit and it was true. He was a blood and iron ruler who did not hesitate to even kill his own father. ¡®The second reason is that he has the protection of the Lord Protector.¡¯ The ck Moon received the full support of the political forces centered on the Lord Protector. Whatever goods the ck Moon had were able to quickly cross the gates unquestioned, and all kinds of criminal activities that took ce every day were buried in the dark and not revealed. That was the reason. And as to why that reason came to be. Karma and the ck Moon were the hounds of the Lord Protector. They were hunting dogs who earned a lot of money, listened well to him, and handled all kinds of dirty stuff for him. ¡®But even the ck Moon couldn¡¯t get its hands on the entire royal capital.¡¯ The royal capital was too wide for them. Since so many people lived there. Moreover, the Lord Protector wasn¡¯t the only influential person as the royal family also possessed a strong influence. There were political forces that were clearly against him. ¡®And that is why several forces still remained.¡¯ Those who were not active in the main part of the royal capital, which was the center, but upied the outer part instead. Among those forces was an organization called the Blue Moon. A so-called thief guild that was proud of their history and tradition, and was thergest force in the royal capital before the ck Moon gained power. ¡°Is she reallying?¡¯ When asked by the blonde beauty, Janifer, who was his loyal right arm and the guild¡¯s second-inmand, the quite dignified and handsome middle-aged man who was the guild leader and first-inmand, Supp¨¦, nodded his head. ¡°She will reallye. Because she¡¯s the real Rogue Master.¡± As he spoke in a voice mixed with a bit of delight, he took out the white card again. It was the calling card of the Rogue Master Pink Bomb, who caused an uproar and became the talk of the town. The palm-sized card had the following text prettily handwritten. I¡¯ll visit you tonight. -Rogue Master Pink Bomb A brief yet meaningful sentence was written, and behind the card was the stamp of a beautiful woman¡¯s lip mark. ¡°It¡¯s pink.¡± As Supp¨¦ touched the card¡¯s lip mark with an ecstatic face, Janifer said with narrowed eyes. ¡°I¡¯m saying this out of concern, but surely¡­you haven¡¯t tried kissing it with your lips, right?¡± ¡°N-no, I did not? I just looked at it. No, I¡¯ve only touched it! I-I haven¡¯t kissed it!¡± Supp¨¦ hurriedly answered and nced at Janifer as he read her expression, and Janifer¡¯s eyes narrowed more before she said in a chilling tone. ¡°If you want to do it, do it secretly. Without anyone knowing.¡± ¡°B-but I didn¡¯t, okay?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll trust your words then.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Supp¨¦ cleared his throat before he put the card back into the drawer and corrected his posture. Supp¨¦ and Janifer. The number 1 and number 2 of the Blue Moon Guild. The base of the Blue Moon was located near the east gate of the royal capital and was arge bar that paid its taxes well and operated normally. Supp¨¦ and Janifer were the bar owner and top bartender respectively. The ce where the two were in as they faced each other was the bar owner¡¯s office. ¡°Why is the Rogue Master looking for us anyway?¡± ¡°Because she needs information for her thefts?¡± ¡°She didn¡¯t go to the ck Moon?¡± ¡°Janifer, you¡¯re my guild member, right? And why are your words getting shorter?¡± ¡°It¡¯s suspicious. Why is she contacting our Blue Moon instead of the ck Moon? No, perhaps it¡¯s not just us. She might have already visited the ck Moon.¡± When Janifer, who was dressed as a bartender, narrowed her eyes again, the tuxedo-wearing Supp¨¦ frowned and said. ¡°Well, we¡¯ll see about that when we meet her. Because she¡¯s a real Rogue Master. That fact alone makes meeting her worth it.¡± ¡°By the way, boss.¡± ¡°When we¡¯re in the store, call me chief.¡± ¡°You care about the trivial things, Mr. Fastidious Chief.¡± ¡°Why do I keep you as number 2?¡± ¡°Because I¡¯mpetent and beautiful?¡± ¡°It¡¯s sad that both are true.¡± ¡°Because I¡¯m the chief¡¯s mistress after all.¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m single on my family register, right? So the thing between us isn¡¯t an affair, right? So please don¡¯t say that and just ept the ring.¡± ¡°I tend to avoid dating at work.¡± Janifer cut him short and Supp¨¦ pouted before he leant on his chair. ¡°Anyway, what were you saying?¡± ¡°Why are you so sure that Pink Bomb is the Rogue Master? Frankly, I¡¯m not convinced. She may have sent a notice and pulled it sessfully, but it was only once.¡± ¡°Hohoho¡­that¡¯s what amateurs think.¡± ¡°Well, she did not fight and only run.¡± ¡°What did you say?¡± ¡°I said thatst night¡¯s chief was really awesome.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem, was I a bit intensest night?¡± ¡°Yes, but I want you to tell me in what way I¡¯m an amateur.¡± As Janifer smoothly changed the subject again, Supp¨¦ stroked his beautifully grown beard and said. ¡°You¡¯re an amateur when ites to the Rogue Master. On the other hand, I can be called an expert of the Rogue Master.¡± ¡°Are you saying you¡¯re crazy about them?¡± ¡°I¡¯m a big fan.¡± Supp¨¦ smiled as he opened a drawer and took out some well-made cards that he arranged on the desk. ¡°Trading card?¡± ¡°It¡¯s my collection. The Rogue Master is the eternal idol of thieves.¡± Different tools were drawn on the five cards, and Janifer then understood what each card meant. ¡°These are the treasures of the Rogue Master.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, and the most important of those was thest treasure, the Moon Crystal.¡± Supp¨¦ picked up the card with a beautiful crystal drawn on it, and flicked his fingers on it before saying. ¡°Janifer, do you know anything about the past Rogue Masters?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know much.¡± ¡°Then you¡¯ll know this time. Let me exin.¡± Supp¨¦ smiled again as he looked at the remaining four cards and said. ¡°There had been a total of five Rogue Masters so far. But the only one who had all five treasures was the first.¡± ¡°They didn¡¯t pass the treasures to the next generation?¡± ¡°The first didn¡¯t let them directly inherit it. She hid the five treasures in different ces and hoped that the next Rogue Master would find it.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°To test the next Rogue Master. Like whether they truly deserve to be a Rogue Master.¡± Supp¨¦ grinned and seemed to be asking if that was cool, but Janifer still didn¡¯t smile. ¡°It seems like they weren¡¯t able to collect all the treasures from the 2nd generation onwards.¡± ¡°Yes, the 2nd generation only collected four treasures. He couldn¡¯t find thest treasure in the end. But¡­there¡¯s where the tragedy began.¡± ¡°Tragedy?¡± ¡°Yeah, tragedy. The 2nd generation hid all the treasure back in their original position before they retired in order to follow the 1st generation¡¯s dying wish. He repaired the traps and stuff like that. But the 3rd generation didn¡¯t do that. The 3rd generation who only found 3 out of the 5 treasures simply handed them over to the 4th generation¡­so they handed the treasures over to their child.¡± ¡°I think I understand. They were supposed to find each and every one of them in order but¡­ they just handed it over without putting it back to its original location, so they couldn¡¯t find the rest of the treasures even if they wanted to?¡± Janifer spoke in a calm tone, and Supp¨¦ was surprised and blinked his eyes. ¡°What¡­how did you know?¡± ¡°I naturally got it from the context.¡± Supp¨¦ furrowed his brows at Janifer¡¯s answer but soon nodded. She was second-inmand because she was verypetent in the first ce. ¡°In any case, the 4th generation only got three treasures¡­and in the 5th generation, it became unknown to them on where the original Rogue Master hid her treasures.¡± And the 5th generation disappeared without being followed by a 6th generation. No one knew where the three treasures he got had disappeared to. ¡°And then Pink Bomb appeared. She also had the illusory treasure, the Moon Crystal!¡± Janifer nodded as Supp¨¦ excitedly raised the card with the Moon Crystal. ¡°I see, so it¡¯s real?¡± ¡°Yes, she has thest treasure. She is the new Rogue Master who inherited all the treasures of the first in a true sense, unlike the Rogue Masters of the 2nd to the 5th generation.¡± The Moon Crystal was real. He couldn¡¯t imagine it to be fake and just be some staging and special effects. ¡°She¡¯s real. Pink Bomb is the real Rogue Master!¡± ¡°I see. I think she has arrived.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Eh¡­hello?¡± The first was Supp¨¦, next was Janifer, and then Supp¨¦ again, with thest one being the woman with pink hair who was standing in front of the window. ¡°Pi-Pink Bomb?!¡± Supp¨¦ stood up from his chair in surprise while Janifer touched the dagger she had hidden in her waist. And at that moment, another person appeared within a ck wind. A ck haired man who wore all ck from the clothes to the mask and the cloak. Tension spread in Janifer¡¯s face, and Supp¨¦ nervously observed Jude, the new person who had appeared. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t be so vignt. This is my assistant.¡± The smiling Cordelia, who had tied up her hair together because she was Pink Bomb now, twirled a lock of her hair with one hand and spoke. ¡°Say hi to them, ck Cloak, my assistant.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s introduction, Janifer narrowed her eyes while Supp¨¦ frowned. ¡°ck¡­Cloak?¡± ¡°Yes, ck Cloak. Right, ck Cloak?¡± As Cordelia said with a bright smile, Jude hurriedly nced at her. ¡®Hey, ck Cloak?¡¯ ¡®Yes, ck Cloak.¡¯ You should try it too. It¡¯s exciting. Cordelia mischievously smiled and snorted, while Jude grinned and politely said to Supp¨¦. ¡°It¡¯s an honor to meet you. I am ck Cloak who serves Pink Bomb. Pink Bomb named me herself, so I¡¯m really proud of my ck Cloak name.¡± Supp¨¦ and Janifer¡¯s gazes turned to Cordelia again at Jude¡¯s self-introduction. A gaze that seemed to look at her strangely. ¡®Well, she named herself Pink Bomb in the first ce.¡¯ ¡®ck Cloak is a good one though.¡¯ Even though the two weren¡¯t Jude, it seemed like Cordelia could hear their thoughts by just looking at them. ¡®N-no! It¡¯s not me! I didn¡¯t create it! So don¡¯t look at me with those eyes!¡¯ Cordelia shouted in her mind and looked at them in earnest, but the only one who could understand her was Jude. Therefore, Jude happily smiled to Cordelia whose face and ears had turned red. ¡®Haha, who were you trying to boss around?¡¯ ¡®I hate you. I really hate you.¡¯ Cordelia red at him as her lips quivered, and she coughed once before she turned to Supp¨¦ again. ¡°Are you Supp¨¦, the guild master of the Blue Moon?¡± ¡°Yes, I am Supp¨¦, the guild master of the Blue Moon. This is Janifer, our guild¡¯s second-inmand.¡± ¡°I am Janifer.¡± Following Supp¨¦¡¯s introduction, Janifer bowed and introduced herself, and Cordelia nodded with a satisfied face. ¡°I think we¡¯ll have a wonderful conversation.¡± ¡°The Rogue Master is the envy of Salen¡¯s- no, of all the thieves in the continent.¡± Supp¨¦ gently smiled and spoke, and Cordelia¡¯s smile grew wider. She was worried about on what to do if he had doubted her, but he seemed to have believed in herpletely. ¡®But don¡¯t let your guard down.¡¯ ¡®I know.¡¯ Cordelia shrugged her shoulders and greeted Supp¨¦ again. ¡°Anyway, nice to meet you. I am the Rogue Master, Pi-Pink¡­Bomb.¡± Cordelia spoke with some difficulty before she stretched out her hand. Supp¨¦ was embarrassed for a moment before he quickly grabbed Cordelia¡¯s hand. ¡°It¡¯s an honor.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, but don¡¯t say that you won¡¯t wash your hands in the future.¡± As she said that with a wink, Supp¨¦ staggered and grabbed his chest. Because she was so pretty. ¡°Chief, even if I¡¯m not your mistress, I think it would be very bad to show that in front of your lover.¡± When Janifer quickly and quietly spoke with her eyes feeling more sharp than usual, Supp¨¦ came to his senses and corrected his posture. ¡°But what is the Rogue Master doing here?¡± The appearance of a Rogue Master wasn¡¯t that pleasurable from a guild¡¯s perspective. She was a big figure who would remain even if the existing order was shaken. At Supp¨¦¡¯s question, Cordelia smiled again and said as she moved closer to Jude. ¡°Because I¡¯m a neer who had just entered the royal capital. Isn¡¯t it natural for me to greet the Blue Moon Guild who has supported the underworld of the royal capital for a long time?¡± ¡°Even if the ck Moon is strong now¡­it¡¯s just something temporary. The Blue Moon is the true owner of the traditional underworld.¡± Jude spoke after Cordelia, and Supp¨¦ immediately looked at Cordelia instead of smiling. And Cordelia said as she looked into Supp¨¦¡¯s eyes. ¡°I won¡¯t go to the ck Moon. Because they crossed the line. There¡¯s a line that even thieves have to follow, right?¡± Cordelia provocatively spoke with a little anxiety as she drew her face closer to Supp¨¦, who smiled instead of being flustered. He then asked in a quiet voice. ¡°Are you thinking of stirring up the darkness in the royal capital?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll have to wait and see.¡± Cordelia softly spoke and stepped back, and Supp¨¦ smiled as he found it interesting before he pointed to the sofa in the middle of the office. ¡°Let¡¯s listen to some more stories first. You aren¡¯t just here to say hello, right?¡± The guild master position in the Blue Moon wasn¡¯t an easy task. Cordelia straightly nodded and sat down on the sofa while Jude sat by Cordelia¡¯s side and slightly moved forward as he began to speak. ¡°We want to buy information.¡± For future activities. And to make them believe that we¡¯re going to behave in some secret way. Information didn¡¯t just flow in one direction. The fact that they wanted some information was enough to let the other person know. ¡°That sounds like a good deal.¡± Supp¨¦ smiled as he faced Jude. *** Their conversation didn¡¯tst long. It was literally short but meaningful. After the deal was done, Supp¨¦ asked Cordelia who had stepped back after the deal was made. ¡°Pink Bomb.¡± ¡°You can call me Rogue Master.¡± I mean, please call me that. Please. ¡°Then Rogue Master.¡± ¡°Yes, guild master.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll prepare the information you want by tomorrow but¡­will it be okay? It will be the founding celebration soon.¡± An eventmemorating the 300th founding anniversary of the country was just around the corner. Since many guests woulde from abroad, the security in the royal capital was bound to increase. Is it possible to be active by this time of the year? Shouldn¡¯t we just wait for some time? Cordelia smiled a little at Supp¨¦¡¯s question. She directly stared at Suppe¡¯s face and said. ¡°Supp¨¦, I¡¯m the Rogue Master.¡± In a way, her deration was childish yet provocative. But that mystery captured Supp¨¦¡¯s heart. There was still the young boy in his mind who considered the Rogue Maser as his hero. ¡°I look forward to it.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll look forward to Supp¨¦ too.¡± May tomorrow¡¯s information be perfect. Cordelia winked before she stood up while Jude widely opened the window for Cordelia. ¡°See you tomorrow.¡± Cordelia lightly waved her hand and flew out of the window, and Jude bowed in a theatrical manner before he threw himself out of the window. And a few minutester. After they had left the area where the Blue Moon was located, Jude and Cordelia hid in the back alley and quickly changed back to their original clothes. Because they had to return to Adelia¡¯s mansion before it was toote. ¡°Get on my back.¡± ¡°Yes, but Jude. Before that, I have a question.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Can we think this through first?¡± Should the Rogue Master just rush over? I¡¯m sure the royal family would be very worried about the security of the royal capital. At Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude said with a face that was saying that this was too obvious. ¡°Of course, we have to consider things.¡± If the royal capital just before the founding anniversary was noisy because of the Rogue Master and the thief guilds, it would be an embarrassment for the royal family. ¡°We have to do it a lot, but two times will be the limit, I think?¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes, so we have to pick those two and rob them.¡± As effectively as possible. While widely promoting the name of the Rogue Master, it would also deal a blow to the Lord Protector and the ck Moon. ¡°Hmm¡­will it go well?¡± Instead of answering Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude brought up another topic. ¡°You know what, Cordelia?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Absolute power will absolutely corrupt a person.¡± They shouldn¡¯t act foolishly like those demon followers. ¡°Are you saying that we should watch our backs?¡± ¡°There are many things that we shouldn¡¯t reveal.¡± Because there would be too many ces for them to be stabbed at. It would be troubling to not know where they would be stabbed. ¡°Well, good. This kind of work should be left to my Jude. Birds of a feather flock together.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± ¡°Cordelia knows nothing. Anyway, let¡¯s go quickly, ck Cloak.¡± ¡°Okay, Pink Bomb.¡± Jude and Cordelia exchanged jabs at each other and awkwardly smiled before they headed to Adelia¡¯s mansion. Chapter 152: Rogue Master (1)

Chapter 152: Rogue Master (1)

Terms used in this chapter: Arrow receiver ¨C a person or army who stood in the front of a group in order to stop arrows from flying towards the group. Basically a human shield for arrows. Penal battalion ¨C a military formation consisting of convicts who are mobilized for military service. One more thing, Saint Tail¡¯s line of Lord, please allow me to be a righteous thief again today is usually said before her magical girl transformation: The Ten Great Swordmasters. The ten great swordmasters who were the pride of the S?len Kingdom. Each one of them could not be simply defined as a knight. They weren¡¯t ordinary people They were the chosen ones. They were those geniuses who had been gifted by the heavens with a talent for swordsmanship and eventually rose to the level of superhumans after endless efforts. Therefore, each one of them was a legend, a living incarnation of the sword, and a goal for everyone who walked the path of the sword. Duke Antarius. He was the oldest among the ten great swordmasters, and was also the hero who saved the country in the war between the S?len Kingdom and the Argon Empire. He was more famous for his nickname ¡®Lord Protector,¡¯ but he wasn¡¯t of noble origin. He was presumed to be amoner¡¯s child. A war orphan who did not even know who his parents were. So he began his life from the very bottom. Before he grew up, he worked as a pickpocket and moved around the back alleys, and after he grew up, he was conscripted and became a soldier. He wasn¡¯t even a proper soldier, but an arrow receiver stuck in the penal battalions. But he did not face a miserable death. When he picked up a sword instead of a mediocre spear which he didn¡¯t knew if it came from their allies or enemies, he felt a strange sensation as if the sword had stuck to his hand. And he survived. He sharpened and polished his swordsmanship in actual battles, and when the war was over, he was no longer a criminal conscripted into the penal battalion but a nobleman with a title. ¡®A sess story.¡¯ War hero. He started out as amoner but became a nobleman through his own skills. The soldiers loved him and were proud of him. He became a legend in the war against the Argon Empire at a time when the king was just crowned. Not only did he lead numerous battles to victory, but he also saved the king¡¯s life. He eventually ended the war by defeating the imperial swordmaster, Carlos, who was the actualmander-in-chief of the enemy. He had stopped the invasion of the Argon Empire. He had protected the Ctes ins, the most fertilend on the continent. ¡®That is why he¡¯s the Lord Protector.¡¯ A hero who protected and saved the country. The man then raised his head. He saw the duke to be around sixty to seventy but still looked healthy. The duke¡¯s back was very straight, and the muscles in his entire body did not weaken at all. That was why Count Lohan bowed down and held back his fear as he faced the Lord Protector. ¡°Did you say Rogue Master?¡± ¡°Yes, someone who imed to be that stole the Green Goddess¡¯ Teardrop and several treasures from Viscountess Venus¡¯ mansion.¡± ¡°So?¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°So what?¡± The eyes of the Lord Protector as it looked down on Count Lohan were very cold. Count Lohan unconsciously gulped and realized it. The Lord Protector wasn¡¯t angry at the Rogue Master. He was indifferent and only a bit angry. Did Lohan talk to him when only Venus¡¯ own possessions were stolen which weren¡¯t important to him? Should he pay attention to such trivial things? ¡°I will make sure it will not interfere with our work.¡± Count Lohan quickly spoke, and the Lord Protector gently turned around. Feeling more anxious about the duke¡¯s movement, Count Lohan opened his mouth again. ¡°Apart from Viscountess Venus¡¯ work, the preparations for the revolt are steadily progressing.¡± The 300th founding anniversary of the S?len Kingdom was only a month away. That day would also be the beginning of a new history for the Lord Protector and those who followed him. ¡®A new royal family.¡¯ A restructuring of the political circles. Count Lohan¡¯s face did not hide his joy. For him, the founding anniversary was the day of the revolt where the existing royal family would disappear and be reced by a new royal family, and that Count Lohan himself would be the new center of power. The Lord Protector knew what Count Lohan was thinking deep inside. But he did not bother to correct Count Lohan¡¯s misunderstanding since it was an idea that he himself had nted in the first ce. What Count Lohan wanted and what the Lord Protector wanted. They looked simr, but were different in essence. ¡°We don¡¯t have much time left. Prepare thoroughly.¡± ¡°I will do so.¡± Count Lohan bowed before he hurriedly left the room of the Lord Protector. As the Lord Protector had said, he shouldn¡¯t be bothered by the theft. ¡®I have no choice but to leave it to the ck Moon.¡¯ He didn¡¯t bring up the Rogue Master¡¯s story because of Viscountess Venus. It was because a second notice had arrivedst night. Like Viscountess Venus, the Rogue Master would visit Count Macan¡¯s mansion tomorrow night, a man who was in charge of moneyundering and other shady things. ¡®It would be perfect to stop a thief with another thief.¡¯ Those were things they were used to doing in the first ce. Count Lohan spoke to himself as he hastened his steps. As the Lord Protector had said, they only had a month left until their revolt, so he shouldn¡¯t be caught up in trivial matters. ¡°Marquis Lohan¡­ No, Duke Lohan.¡± Count Lohan stroked his well-groomed beard and imagined his future self. He did not hide his smile. He joyfully smiled and walked forward. *** And the next evening. Adelia sat at the head of the high-end table she bought after spending half a year¡¯s sry, and she held her chin with a very sullen expression even though she was eating. It was because of the sight that was happening before her eyes. ¡°Wow, this is really delicious.¡± ¡°Yeah, isn¡¯t the sauce really good?¡± ¡°Milord, Milord, can you cook this?¡± ¡°Perhaps?¡± ¡°Wow, as expected of Milord.¡± ¡°Why? Do you want to eat it againter?¡± ¡°Yes, I want to eat this again next time.¡± ¡°If my princess wants it. But Princess, isn¡¯t it bad to be a picky eater? You should eat your carrots.¡± ¡°Do I have to eat boiled carrots when I have Milord? Eat some for me instead. Here.¡± Cordelia took a carrot with a fork and held it out to Jude, who skillfully grabbed the fork and held it out to Cordelia. ¡°Here, say ¡®Ah.¡¯ Ah.¡± ¡°Hey, what are you doing? I¡¯ll just eat it so give it to me.¡± ¡°So you don¡¯t want to say ¡®ah¡¯?¡± ¡°You¡­ Ah. Okay. Ah~¡± As Cordelia opened her mouth like a baby bird, Jude fed her the carrot while Adelia said words out of her mouth after enduring it. ¡°You two are seriously crazy, damn it.¡± Can¡¯t you see I¡¯m here? You two have fallen into a world of your own, haven¡¯t you? I miss Lord Ga?l. We are sweeter and more affectionate than you two. ¡°Ahem, ahem, ahem.¡± Upon realizing Adelia¡¯s existence, Cordelia quickly took back her fork from Jude who held back hisughter and began eating again. But Adelia decided to bring up a different topic instead of continuing to eat with them. ¡°My younger siblings, it¡¯s good to be lovey-dovey, but pick the time and ce, okay?¡± ¡°We¡¯re not lovey-dovey.¡± Cordelia timidly refuted it but immediately closed her mouth when Adelia red at her, while Jude waited for Adelia¡¯s next words. It was probably that time now. ¡°Our father and father-inw areing.¡± ¡°Lord Ga?l too?¡± ¡°Lord Ga?l will alsoe. Ah, our older brother will alsoe.¡± ¡°Edward-oppa?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s the 300th founding anniversary celebration.¡± One person was always left in their house whenever an event happened, but the event this time had the entire household leaving without anyone remaining behind. ¡°May I know when they would arrive?¡± ¡°If nothing goes wrong, they¡¯ll arrive around the afternoon on the day after tomorrow.¡± A smile spread across Adelia¡¯s face in her excitement to see Ga?l. ¡°By the way, unnie.¡± ¡°Yes, my younger brother.¡± ¡°Will we all stay in unnie¡¯s mansion?¡± ¡°That would be impossible.¡± Adelia¡¯s mansion wasn¡¯t very small, but it was notrge enough for one or two counts to stay in. ¡®In addition, there¡¯ll be a lot of people following them.¡¯ Perhaps Maja and Dahlia would be following hem, so their group would number almost twenty. ¡°The royal family decided to provide a part of the royal pce as a residence for nobles who do not have a mansion in the royal capital. These pces are in the outer part, but it¡¯ll be much better than most luxurious amodations.¡± ¡°Uh, wait. Will we move too then?¡± ¡°You have to move too. I¡¯ll go too.¡± After answering Cordelia¡¯s question as if it were natural, Adeliaid down her fork and continued. ¡°So¡­having fun at night would only be until today, okay?¡± Having fun at night. At Adelia¡¯s words, Cordelia flinched while Jude was also surprised. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you two? Haven¡¯t I told you? This is my house, so I can see everything like the palm of my hand. Do you think I wouldn¡¯t know that you¡¯ve been going out to have fun every night?¡± Adelia was not an ordinary noble youngdy. She was one of the sevenmanders of the Royal Guard Magic Corps. ¡®Wha-what should we do?¡¯ ¡®Don¡¯t worry about it. As far as my observation goes, she doesn¡¯t know of the fact that you¡¯re Pink Bomb¡­¡¯ ¡®Rogue Master. Rogue Master. Rogue Master!¡¯ ¡®Yes, she because she doesn¡¯t even know that you¡¯re the Rogue Master.¡¯ Maybe she thought that they were really going out to have fun at night. Because there were several streets that were open at night in this huge and big city. ¡°Do you understand what I said?¡± ¡°Yes, I understand.¡± Cordelia nodded her head and Adelia grinned before saying to Jude. ¡°I know that both of you are strong, but don¡¯t go to dangerous ces. Stay in safe and crowed ces. If you go into a secluded ce and try to do something shady, I¡¯ll be really mad, okay?¡± ¡°Uh¡­yes. I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡± ¡°Good, I¡¯ll trust in you.¡± Adelia smiled with her lips but did not smile with her eyes before she then stood up. ¡°Anyway, go and have fun. Don¡¯t be out toote.¡± ¡°Yes, unnie. Thanks.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Adelia smiled and turned around as she left the dining room, and Jude and Cordelia who were left looked at each other again. ¡®We can do it today, but what about the next?¡¯ ¡®We¡¯ll have to make a gap somehow. Let¡¯s just focus on today¡¯s work for now.¡¯ The second activity of the Rogue Master. Cordelia nodded as she resumed eating, and Jude pushed the boiled carrots that Cordelia had pushed away, back into the center of the te. *** ¡°Goddesses of the moons, please allow me to be a righteous thief again today.¡± In the name of Selene and Helene. Afterpleting the prayers that Jude imed to be a necessary ritual, Cordelia quickly began to change her clothes. ¡°Because there¡¯s no magical girl transformation.¡± ¡°Hey, don¡¯t look this way. Just get changed.¡± Unlike Jude who only had to wear a cloak and mask, Cordelia had a lot of clothes to change in. Cordelia wore the rabbit ears and tail before she dyed her hair bright pink and then looked at Jude. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Yes, Madam.¡± Cordelia quickly climbed on Jude¡¯s back, and Jude became a ck gale as he traversed the night of the royal capital. Around 30 minutester. Cordelia crouched on the roof as she looked and frowned at the distant mansion. Because dozens of lights illuminated the darkness, and what seemed to be a hundred people were closely guarding the walls of the mansion as well as the garden. ¡°No matter how much I think about it, the Rogue Master is really crazy.¡± Why would you send a notice at the ce you were going to steal at? Jude strongly agreed with Cordelia¡¯s words, but he couldn¡¯tin. It was also because of the notice that the Rogue Master was able to be the ruler of thieves. ¡®A truly free thief.¡¯ The ruler of thieves who could get anything they wanted and can ovee any hindrance. ¡°Isn¡¯t that half of the ck Moon?¡± ¡°Yeah, perhaps. A bunch of them would be inside the mansion too.¡± She couldn¡¯t help but sigh at her situation. She had no choice but to go with it now, especially when she had decided to be the Rogue Master. ¡°ck Cloak, are you ready?¡± ¡°Of course, Pink Bomb.¡± Jude responded in a theatrical manner before he opened his prepared bag while Cordelia brightly smiled. ¡°Shall we make it explode?¡± ¡°Do it as much as you want. But if you do that, you¡¯re no longer a thief, okay?¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m the Rogue Master. Not Thief Master.¡± Jude had a nk look at Cordelia¡¯s assertion before he soon nodded. ¡°Well, it¡¯s convincing.¡± ¡°You agree, right? Anyway, let¡¯s begin.¡± Cordelia held a bag full of pink dynamite in one hand as she took out the Moon Crystal with the other. And Jude naturally hugged Cordelia as the moonlight shone on the Moon Crystal and activated it. The legend of the pink explosion angel had begun. Chapter 153: Rogue Master (2)

Chapter 153: Rogue Master (2)

Terms used in this chapter: Lulupi, Lulupang, Luluyap ¨C a reference to Saint Tail again, but only for the Korean dub. These are the lines Saint Tail says when she magically transforms in the Korean dub. The English and Japanese dubs have Saint Tail only saying ¡®one, two, three.¡¯ Mission Clear ¨C a line usually seen in games when you¡¯vepleted a given mission or goal. Lloyd, a 23 year old man working as a guard for the royal capital, stared at the night sky in a daze. He had no choice but to do that. The moonlight illuminated the night sky. And an angel descended as she headed for the roof. The angel was real and not a metaphor. A beautiful and pretty woman who could only be seen in fantasies and dreams had widely spread her wings of light. Therefore, Lloyd and the other 40 members of the Royal Capital Guard, the 30 private guards of Count Macan, and the 30 armed personnel sent by the ck Moon, all looked at the angel. None of them thought of sounding the rm or shouting. A few seconds passed. The angel finallynded on the roof and brightly smiled, and even though half of her face was covered by a ck butterfly mask, Lloyd unknowingly blushed and was entranced. And it wasn¡¯t just Lloyd. Everyone present regardless of age or sex were fascinated by the beauty of the angel for some time. ¡®Wha-what¡¯s wrong with them?¡¯ Cordelia was rather embarrassed and blinked her eyes, and the only one who could answer her, Jude, was hugging her from behind so she couldn¡¯t make eye contact with him. So Cordelia decided to just act instead of worrying about it. ¡°Lulupi, Lulupang.¡± As she recited the strange chant Jude taught her, Cordelia widely spread out her arms and transformed into a witch instead of an angel. She used her telekic power to scatter dozens of pink dynamite in the air. The dynamite flew in all directions. Only then did Lloyd and the guards came to their senses. ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Ah?¡± ¡°Ah?!¡± They btedly screamed, but it was toote. Cordelia cheerfully smiled and said thest chant. ¡°Lulu~yap!¡± And she flicked her fingers. The dynamites ignited at the same time. ¡°Dodge!¡± ¡°Get down!¡± Some of the royal capital guards who had guarded the mansion of the first victim, Viscountess Venus, shouted as quick as lightning. And the sound of a real lightning swallowed up all their cries. Babababababang! A series of explosions rang as one. Pink smoke engulfed the entire mansion of Count Macan. And a huge bang sounded again. The roar this time was created by Jude¡¯s skill and not from the dynamites. Baaaaaaaaaang! When Jude¡¯s fist hit the roof, dozens of cracks appeared like a spider¡¯s web. Cordelia jumped back and Jude clenched his fist again. He struck the center of the cracks! Baaang! There was a roar. The cracks broke and a hole of with a diameter of 3 meters was created on the roof, but it did not stop there. The energy of the ck dragon from Jude¡¯s fist pierced through the 4th floor. Baaaang! Baaaaang! Baaaang! It pierced through the 3rd, 2nd, and 1st floors! After the energy of the ck dragon broke through the floors, Jude and Cordelia passed through the 4th floor andnded on the 3rd floor. They raised their heads and widely smiled. ¡°Good evening?¡± ¡°Nice to meet you.¡± They greeted those who stood on the third floor. Nine knights equipped with splendid armor were with a typical potbellied noble dressed in very luxurious clothes. ¡°Get them!¡± The potbellied noble, Count Macan, cried out, and the knights drew their swords at once. But Jude created a golden whirlwind. Twenty-Four Gale Steps. The whirlwind formed. Bang! Jude disappeared. He became a gale that swept through the knights, and thunderous sounds filled the room. Babababang! Thunder roared. Seven knights copsed in one lightning strike. The two remaining knights failed to properly respond to the scene that happened so quickly, and Jude disappeared again. In an instant, he was behind the knights and poured out attacks on them. ¡°Ack!¡± The two knights fell without even being able to scream properly. Count Macan was so surprised that he stepped back, and Cordelia opened the door with telekinesis. She threw dynamites as she looked at therge hallway and the guards there. And Luluyap. Baaang! Baaaang! Baaang! The dynamites this time had explosive power unlike the previous ones that were close to smoke bombs. The ceiling and walls of the hallway copsed at the force of the terrifying explosion, and left the room with Count Macan in it isted from the mansion. ¡°Problem solved.¡± Reinforcements would nevere through the hallway since the hallway was now gone. The satisfied Cordelia made a V-sign while Jude thought that Cordelia was right. ¡°You¡¯re a real rogue. Not a thief.¡± An armed robbery. No, he thought that she was a terrorist at this point. ¡°Hello, Count Macan.¡± ¡°Eeek! Eek!¡± As Cordelia waved her hand to say hello, Count Macan stepped back and fell on his butt. And Jude spoke. ¡°He¡¯s an imposter.¡± ¡°He is?¡± A double who pretended to be Count Macan. The real Count Macan was elsewhere, and Jude knew where that ce was. ¡°Praise be to JudeWiki.¡± When Cordelia cheerfully said that, Jude smiled and then punched the stomach of the trembling Count Macan imposter to knock him out. ¡°See youter.¡± ¡°Take care of yourself.¡± ¡°You too.¡± Jude grinned as he carried the Count Macan imposter on his shoulders and then went out of the window. It was to give Cordelia enough time. ¡°The count has been kidnapped!¡± ¡°Get him!¡± ¡°Shoot the arrows! The arrows!¡± Cordelia ignored the loud sounds outside the window and moved the books on the bookshelf as Jude had told her. Pull the red book at the top and the blue book in the middle. ¡°Bingo.¡± Cordelia suddenly spoke what Jude habitually said, and she took a step back as the bookshelf opened with a mechanical sound, revealing a secret door. ¡°Count Macan! I came to pick up the things that I notified you about!¡± Cordelia loudly shouted towards the inside of the room before she stepped in. As soon as she entered the dark room, she left everything to her instincts. Gale Steps. The Bayer family¡¯s footwork techniques that she learned from Jude. Cordelia¡¯s body seemed to lean sideways as if she was falling, but she moved like the wind. She easily dodged the sword aiming for the top of her head and threw the detonating cord from her waist at the same time. Shwaaak! The detonating cord moved like a living snake and wrapped itself around the neck and torso of the man who had shed at her. The man was probably an assassin from the ck Moon. Dressed in ck clothes, the man moved his hand to remove the detonating cord, but Cordelia pushed away the man with telekinesis and shook her head. She pulled out a short detonating cord and threw it high so that the man could see it before she triggered the ignition spell. Baaang! The detonating cord exploded in the air. The firepower was not that strong, but it was still an explosion. Cordelia looked at the detonating cord around the man¡¯s neck and torso, and the man understood it. He calmly put down his sword and knocked himself out by hitting his head against the wall. ¡°I like smart men.¡± Cordelia quietly spoke before she turned around and threw a detonating cord at the same time. Shwaaak! Like a living snake again. The detonating cord moved across the air and wrapped around the neck of a man who was about to ambush her. Cordelia then pulled the detonating cord and threw the man to the floor. And she stared again. Bang! The man knocked himself out by mming his head on the floor, and Cordelia began to think about the training of the ck Moon¡¯s assassins. But it was only for a moment. Thest secret door, located beyond the secret passage, burst open and a big man appeared. ¡°Kuoooo!¡± The man loudly shouted and charged at Cordelia without saying anything else. Cordelia hurriedly tried to pull a new detonating cord, but the man was quicker than she expected. He immediately lowered his posture as if he was crawling on the floor, and attempted a powerful tackle towards Cordelia¡¯s slender waist. Bang! The man crashed into the wall with a loud sound. Cordelia should have originally been caught by the man and mmed into the wall, screaming and vomiting blood, but that did not happen. ¡°Who are you trying to hug?!¡± Having avoided the man¡¯s tackle with Fairy Steps, Cordelia turned around and fired her magic while using the Spell¡¯s Echo and Double Casting at the same time. ¡°4 consecutive !¡± Shaa! Shaa! Shaa! Shaa! Two spells froze both legs of the man to the floor and made his feet be bound to the floor. This alonepletely stopped the man¡¯s movement, but Cordelia remained vignt. She had an expression of extreme disgust, but she couldn¡¯t help it, so she clenched her fist and exerted her telekic power on a specific body part of the man. ¡°Aaaah!¡± A body part where no amount of training could build up its defense. The man fainted after screaming once, and the extremely disgusted Cordelia wiped her hands with her clothes before she stepped inside the secret door. ¡°Hello, Count Macan. This is Rogue Master, Pink Bomb.¡± Cordelia slightly grabbed the hem of her skirt and bowed, and the real Count Macan stepped back and cursed. ¡°What Rogue Master bullsh*t! You¡¯re not a thief! You¡¯re a bombing wizard!¡± ¡°Well, it actually is like what you said.¡± Cordelia shrugged before she moved her hands and threw the detonating cord. The detonating cord that was like a living snake moved with her telekic power and wrapped around Count Macan. ¡°Hey! Do you know who¡¯s behind me?! The Lord Protector will not forgive you!¡± ¡°Yes, I know.¡± ¡°Yeah what?! Do my words sound ridiculous?!¡± ¡°Well¡­you don¡¯t need to be awake because I know everything anyway, okay?¡± ¡°What?¡± Cordelia kicked Count Macan in ¡®that ce¡¯ instead of answering him, and Count Macan passed out without even being able to scream. ¡°Well¡­anyway, problem solved.¡± She was a bit ufortable, but she still solved the problem. Cordelia shrugged and began to pack the necessary items into the expansion bag. Dangerous drugs and artworks that were known to be stolen or disappeared. And even a secret ledger handwritten by Count Macan. ¡®Did he say that this was the most important?¡¯ She honestly questioned where and how they would use the ledger, but she took it because Jude was knowledgeable in this. I did well on my own. ¡°Shall we go then?¡± Cordelia lightly moved her hand as she took the bag and left the secret room. Hearing that there were still loud sounds outside the window, she thought that Jude seemed to be doing well. ¡®I have to quickly join him.¡¯ Jude could have gotten hurt because of a mistake. Cordelia urgently moved as she spread her angel wings and flew up. She stepped out of the 4th floor¡¯s roof and looked at the ground. The Count Macan imposter was hang likeundry on the wall, and most of the guards were gathered on the sides of the wall. And a ck wind blew from behind her. ¡°You¡¯re here?¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m here.¡± Cordelia thought that she was worried for nothing, and felt a strange sense of relief before she immediately took out the Moon Crystal. ¡°I took the treasures of Count Macan!¡± As if to match Cordelia¡¯s cry, Jude took out several paintings from the bag and disyed it to everyone. These were the treasures that they had informed in advance in their notice card. ¡°I thank Selene for allowing me to be a righteous thief again.¡± Jude and Cordelia simultaneously bowed in a theatrical manner, and the moonlight shone like a spotlight to them. Once the moonlight disappeared, it would be Mission Clear. The second heist of the Rogue Master would be a huge sess too. But it was at that moment. Cordelia suddenly turned her head to the side. Jude also noticed it a stepter. He looked at the same ce as Cordelia, and at that moment, an iron whip flew in with a snake-like movement. At that moment. Cordelia felt it with her senses. Jude made his calction. So the two moved instead of relying on the Moon Crystal¡¯s space leap. Shwaaaaak! Cordelia used her telekic power to twist the trajectory of the iron whip. However, the iron whip flew too fast, and its power was also strong. She couldn¡¯t twist itpletely. But that was enough. Jude grabbed Cordelia by the waist and moved forward. His ck Dragon¡¯s Ascent further shook the already twisted trajectory of the iron whip. Bababang! The tip of the iron whip hit the roof. Since it was filled with a strong energy, an explosion urred, and the roof was broken. Cordelia then saw the owner of the iron whip ¨C no, a very long whip sword. She was a beautiful woman with red hair the color of blood. Cordelia knew her. And so did Jude. ¡°Scarlet?!¡± One of the future four great swordmasters. She was the great granddaughter of the 5th Rogue Master and aimed to be the contemporary Rogue Master, but whichever route the yer took, she would be a fierce enemy that they had to fight in the middle tote stages of the game. She kicked the ground. Thanks to the Rogue Master¡¯s treasure, Wings of Speed, she narrowed the distance within a moment. And Jude moved forward. He released a move from the Supreme Sun Divine Art instead of attacking or flying. ¡°The Sun¡¯s Sphere!¡± Jude had called it that even though it had a separate official name, and the attack¡¯s effect was clear. A tremendous amount of light shed from Jude¡¯s forehead in an instant. The light was so intense that even the guards who saw it from a distance were blinded too. ¡°Ugh!¡± Scarlet screamed as she rolled on the roof because she had faced the light from the front and was within a short distance from it. Right after that. Jude thought. Why is Scarlet here? Wasn¡¯t she in the empire now? And why did she attack us? Did the appearance of a new Rogue Master provoke her? In any case, those were questions forter. It was not something he should think about for now. ¡°Don¡¯t run away!¡± Scarlet loudly shouted as she stood up. She immediately opened her eyes and looked straight ahead to verify if that attack was from magic. She met eyes with Jude. Not with Jude and Cordelia, but with Jude only. ¡°We¡¯re not running away.¡± A voice came from nearby right after she opened her eyes. Scarlet hurriedly looked behind her but it was toote. Cordelia used Gale Steps to get behind Scarlet as she wrapped the detonating bomb on Scarlet¡¯s neck and whispered again. ¡°Why should we run away?¡± We¡¯re stronger than you. You¡¯re going to be one of the four great swordmasters in the future, but you¡¯re not a great swordmaster now. Moreover, this is a chance to get the remaining treasures of the Rogue Master! Cordelia gazed at Scarlet¡¯s red eyes with her blue eyes before she smiled. She pulled the detonating cord which choked Scarlet. Chapter 154: Rogue Master (3)

Chapter 154: Rogue Master (3)

in sword has been changed into Whip Sword. This is what a whip sword looks like: This is Red Chili Paste with Anchovies: And Front Lotus is an attack used by Rock Lee from the Naruto series. Scarlet Viper. She was a femme fatale character who was especially popr among the various characters in Legend of Heroes 2. When one selected a yable character from the Argon Empire, it became possible to go on an adventure together with her, which was the ¡®Search for the Rogue Master¡¯s Treasures,¡¯ a quest rted to her. ¡®You can go along with her in collecting the Rogue Master¡¯s treasures.¡¯ This was the reason why Jude knew where the Moon Crystal was hidden and the password to open the ce. One would eventually encounter that ce when they cleared the quests rted to Scarlet. ¡®But the problem is that she¡¯ll eventually be an enemy.¡¯ One couldn¡¯t avoid bing an enemy with Scarlet regardless of whichever yable character they chose. ¡®Soul Taker.¡¯ A magic sword with a soul-taking demon sealed in it. Having collected all the Rogue Master¡¯s treasures, Scarlet then tried to challenge and obtain the treasures of the ancient Mu Empire. Scarlet tried to use the Soul Taker as a tool for demon hunting by suppressing the demon in it, but she failed in the end and fell under the control of the magic sword. ¡®But even then, she was still the Rogue Master.¡¯ Scarlet fought against the magic sword with her superhuman willpower, and she eventually seeded in reversing the situation and controlling the magic sword. ¡®The problem is¡­that event only urred on the second half of Legend of Heroes 3.¡¯ In other words, it could be said that Scarlet became an enemy in theter parts of Legend of Heroes 2. A descendant of the 5th generation Rogue Master. For the first time since the 1st Rogue Master, she had all the five treasures, making her a true Rogue Master. ¡®And a sword genius.¡¯ She was a top swordmaster and one of the four great swordmasters in the entire Legend of Heroes series, though this was from the perspective of Legend of Heroes 3. When it came to her talent, she was more of a genius than Lucas, and might even be a monsterparable to Maximilian. ¡®But¡­¡¯ That was something that would happen in the future. Now, she was just a 19 year old young person. ¡®Of course, we are younger!¡¯ If they considered their age after reincarnation, Jude and Cordelia were both 17 years old and two years younger than Scarlet. But that wasn¡¯t what mattered now. What mattered was that Cordelia perfectly aimed at Scarlet¡¯s gap and wrapped the detonating cord on her. ¡°Ack?!¡± Scarlet groaned when the detonating cord tightly wrapped around her body, but that was all she could do. She instantly tried to use her sword, but that alone couldn¡¯t help her. Because Cordelia had moved instinctively. Instead of considering this or that, she believed in her own sixth sense and did it. ¡°Explode!¡± ¡°Eh?!¡± Before Jude could say anything, Cordelia ignited the detonating cord and greatly stepped back. Scarlet didn¡¯t know what the detonating cord was and only widely opened her eyes as she felt something ominous about it, and the detonating cord exploded at that moment. Boooom! What would happen when a detonating cord was tied to a person and it was detonated? Jude immediately recalled something terrible, but fortunately, something like that didn¡¯t happen. Instead of sttering blood and having maimed body parts, apletely different sight came into Jude¡¯s eyes. ¡°Red Dragon¡¯s Armor!¡± One of the Rogue Master¡¯s five treasures. It was thin and stuck to the body like a gymnastics suit, and it didn¡¯t have the dragon name for no reason. Unlike its long johns appearance, it boasted a tremendous defensive power. ¡°You!¡± And Scarlet eximed in anger. It was not because she almost died if she did not have the Red Dragon¡¯s Armor. It was not even because the outer garments she cherished were all torn from the explosion¡¯s impact. Her hair. It was because of her blood red, long and attractive hair! It fluttered in the wind. Nearly three-quarters were cut off by the explosion, and Scarlet quickly became a short-haired beauty from a long-haired beauty. ¡°Die!¡± Scarlet hastily turned around and greatly swung her whip sword. Bits of her half-torn clothes scattered in the wind, and her whip sword increased to more than three times in an instant as it aimed at Cordelia like a snake. Shwaaak! It was fast and urate. Nevertheless, Cordelia had already foreseen where the attack woulde, so she managed to avoid the attack. ¡°Pink Bomb!¡± Jude had then shouted and looked at Cordelia. Cordelia immediately understood what Jude wanted her to do from looking at his eyes, so she rushed towards Scarlet. ¡°Don¡¯t y with me!¡± Scarlet turned again and swung her whip sword. This time, it was a cutting motion and not a piercing one, so Jude read its trajectory. He kicked the ground at once and became a gale with his golden whirlwind. Shwaaaaak! The whip sword cut through the air. Instead of retreating, Jude rushed faster and let the trajectory of the whip sword flow behind his back before he stretched out his hands and hugged Scarlet¡¯s waist. ¡°What?!¡± Scarlet was bewildered because she had thought that she would get hit by an attack. She hastily tried to hit Jude, but it was physically impossible. Jude strengthened and tightened his hug on her waist, and she unknowingly screamed and tilted her head backwards. And Cordelia hugged Scarlet from behind. Scarlet was confused again when Cordelia used her mana and held the Moon Crystal in front of Scarlet¡¯s face. ¡°Moon Crystal Power!¡± The moment she quickly shouted the spell, moonlight shone down from the sky and Scarlet realized the purpose of the two. Space leap. They wanted to leave their current location first! ¡°Get them!¡± ¡°Shoot!¡± As the personnel gathered in the garden shot their crossbows, dozens of arrows instantly covered the sky, but it was already toote. The moonlight faded, and the two plus Scarlet leapt over space. And right after that. At a vacant lot outside the outer wall, a few kilometers or more from Count Macan¡¯s mansion. Thud! Jude, Cordelia, and Scarlet transcended space with the moonlight andnded on the ground, and at that moment, Scarlet promptly activated the Red Dragon¡¯s Armor. ¡°me Dragon!¡± The red dragon who lived in mes! Having recited the spell, a dragon¡¯s me rose from the entire Red Dragon¡¯s Armor. But Jude and Cordelia were already prepared for it. Cordelia hurriedly released her hug and jumped back, while Jude threw Scarlet away. Bang! She hit the ground hard enough that a roar was heard, but Scarlet stood up right away. The Red Dragon¡¯s Armor had absorbed the shock of her being thrown. ¡°Ugh¡­¡± But she wasn¡¯tpletely unharmed. She had stood up, but she gritted her teeth while making a pained face instead of attacking them right away. ¡®As I thought! We are still stronger!¡¯ Jude nodded at Cordelia¡¯s gaze. It was not an exaggeration to say that Scarlet was in fact, stronger and superior whenpared to her peers, and the same could be said of Jude and Cordelia. Moreover, she was alone now while Jude and Cordelia were two. ¡®We can win now.¡¯ We can defeat her before she had be one of the four great swordmasters. And it was at that moment. Scarlet pulled out a dagger from her waist and threw it, and at the same time, Cordelia swung her detonating cord. Shwaaak-! Bang! The detonating cord exploded in the air and shook the atmosphere. Scarlet¡¯s dagger brushed Cordelia¡¯s cheek, and when the furious Jude kicked the ground, Scarlet activated the Wings of Speed and rushed towards Cordelia. Wings of Speed. A relic from Magen that granted its user not only the ability to float, but also the ability to rapidly elerate! It was just an instant. A distance of more than a few meters was nothing to the Wings of Speed. But this was Cordelia. Her instincts had already sensed the danger before Scarlet had even activated the Wings of Speed. At the moment when the Wings of Speed activated, her most efficient counterattack was her reflexes. Bang! Telekic power. It burst like an explosion and pushed away Scarlet who had rushed to her at a terrifying speed. Scarlet bounced and rolled over the ground a lot because her rushing speed was seriously fast, and Cordelia did not miss that opportunity. She followed with her eyes and triggered her magic at the same time. ¡°!¡± Spell¡¯s Echo, Double Casting, and high-speed chanting in session! Bababababababang-! Twenty magic missiles was instantly created and pursued Scarlet. The magic missiles¡¯ tracking ability was almost doubled because of Melissa¡¯s assistance in the Moonlight. Bang! Bang! Bang! Scarlet turned in the air and swung her whip sword to protect herself at the same time, and the magic missiles that were cut and split by the whip sword exploded, causing a chain explosion. And in those explosions, Scarlet flew. She spread her white Wings of Speed and soared into the night sky, and she looked down to the ground with a very enraged face while Cordelia stared at Scarlet. ¡°Crazy b*tch!¡± As Scarlet let out a curse, Cordelia responded by widely opening her eyes and raising her middle finger. ¡°What are you saying, you lowly b*tch!¡± ¡°Woah, woah, so much swearing¡­¡± Jude unknowingly said that, but neither Scarlet nor Cordelia paid him any attention. Scarlet continued as she pointed her finger at Cordelia. ¡°I can¡¯t forgive you! I¡¯ll never forgive you!¡± ¡°Why should a b*tch like you forgive me? Are you my unnie? My master? Your head is like you put red chili paste with anchovies in your hair!¡± Jude was stunned for a moment at her swearing that poured out like a storm, but he soon realized it. She had been cursing less recently, but Cordelia was originally a foul-mouthed person who always cursed with her mouth. ¡®But Cordelia, your hair is reddish too.¡¯ Jude held back his thoughts froming out of his mouth, and Scarlet shouted again. ¡°Aaaah! Okay! Okay! I can forgive you for being Rogue Master! I can understand! The Rogue Master is one who moves in the night under the moonlight, and is a position everyone grew up envying!¡± Scarlet spoke as she poured out her words, clenching her fists while trembling. She then shouted again as she pointed her finger to Cordelia. ¡°But! But! Pink Bomb?! The Rogue Master¡¯s name is Pink Bomb?! I can forgive everything else, but I can¡¯t forgive that!¡± She said that. And that was it. The reason why Scarlet was mad in anger. The reason why she chose to go to the royal capital instead of returning to the empire. Pink Bomb. The Rogue Master¡¯s name was Pink Bomb! ¡°You have the dignity of a Rogue Master! But what the hell is Pink Bomb! Pink Bomb!¡± At Scarlet¡¯s intense criticism, Cordelia clenched her teeth and couldn¡¯t say anything in return at that moment. Because Cordelia actually had the same thought as her. But her silence wasn¡¯t that long. Cordelia clenched her fist again and let out a barrage of curses. ¡°Why are you saying sh*t about my name! So what?! What can you do? You¡¯re not my Ju- anyway! It¡¯s none of your business, okay?!¡± It was bad. Once again, it was really bad. The naming sense was the worst ever. But it was still a name Jude had given her. Cordelia had unconsciously thought that it was fine criticizing it if it was her, but she couldn¡¯t tolerate others criticizing it. ¡®You dare criticize it!¡¯ Who do you think you are to criticize my Jude! The determined Cordelia spread out her wings of light instead of talking any more, and Scarlet was shocked and surprised at Cordelia¡¯s wings of light. ¡°Wings of Speed?!¡± ¡°Mine is better, okay?!¡± After all, the Wings of Speed were imitations made by Magen¡¯s high elves in order to imitate the wings of angels! Cordelia flew straight like an arrow, and Scarlet swung her sharp whip sword. Despite being almost 20 years old, the power of the sword was terrifying like that of her future great swordmaster self. But Cordelia was not afraid. She continued her charge instead of blocking or avoiding it. Shwaaak! The whip sword cut Cordelia. No, it tried to cut but couldn¡¯t. Fairy Steps. Cordelia escaped the sword by using herst use of Fairy Steps for today. She hugged Scarlet¡¯s waist and made a vertical flight towards the ground as she rotated their bodies. ¡°Are you crazy?!¡± ¡°Front Lotus!¡± Cordelia held Scarlet as they turned around and headed to the ground. Scarlet couldn¡¯t even scream because of the terrifying dive in their flight. And in an instant. Cordelia released Scarlet right before they hit the ground. She soared high against the immense gravity. Boom! The ground shook with a loud noise after she collided. Having collided into the ground, Scarlet¡¯s body twitched as she let out a breathless sound. She did not die. But her whole body was numb and tingling, and she couldn¡¯t properly breathe. Even if her Red Dragon¡¯s Armor was that good, it couldn¡¯tpletely reduce the damage she received. ¡°Ack¡­Ugh¡­¡± Scarlet groaned as she gritted her teeth and stood up, but that was her limit. It was the same with Cordelia who also suffered from her reckless flying, but there was a crucial difference between the two. She wasn¡¯t alone. Because there weren¡¯t only two people in this ce right now. ¡°Finish it.¡± Cordelia said, and Jude had already drew closer to Scarlet. Scarlet desperately swung her whip sword but he avoided it and ced his palm on her abdomen. He struck his energy directly to the shock-absorbing Red Dragon¡¯s Armor. Heart of the Sun. One of the five techniques of the Supreme Sun Divine Art that pushed the condensed sun¡¯s energy into the enemy¡¯s interior. The energy of the ck sun passed through the Red Dragon¡¯s Armor and struck Scarlet¡¯s abdomen. Chapter 155: Rogue Master (4)

Chapter 155: Rogue Master (4)

¡°Gasp!¡± Scarlet threw up blood as she was greatly thrown backwards. She was sent flying for almost a dozen meters or more before she rolled on the floor. ¡°Khu¡­kugh¡­¡± The fallen Scarlet held her stomach that was struck by the energy of the ck dragon and threw up blood again. She then stopped moving as a puddle of blood formed under her head. ¡°I-is she okay? She¡¯s not dead yet, right?¡± The startled Cordelia flew to Scarlet, but Jude calmly raised his hand to stop her. Because Scarlet wouldn¡¯t die from just that. ¡®Frankly¡­I was a little surprised.¡¯ She had vomited so much blood, so he had flinched at that moment. But she wore the Red Dragon¡¯s Armor. It didn¡¯t just had a strong defensive power, as it was an item that gave its wearer the regenerative ability of a dragon, so she would not have died despite throwing up a lot of blood. And it was as Jude had expected. Scarlet was in a state of near-death, but she was groaning and did not die. However, ¡®her not dying is enough¡¯ was Jude¡¯s standard and not Cordelia¡¯s. ¡°Hey, hey. Are you okay? Hey? Don¡¯t die. Don¡¯t die.¡± Cordelia unknowingly said as she let Scarlet spit out the blood left in her mouth before sheid Scarlet down. ¡°Se-secure the airway.¡± Open the mouth and tilt her head back slightly. And check for breathing. ¡®Eueu, think, think. Cordelia. Remember, Cordelia.¡¯ You learned first aid in ss before. The firefighter uncle praised me for being good. Cordelia put her hand near Scarlet¡¯s mouth. It was weak but she could feel Scarlet¡¯s breath. ¡°G-good. She¡¯s breathing.¡± Let¡¯s skip artificial respiration. What¡¯s next then? ¡°Hey, hey. Are you awake? Hey.¡± When she tapped on Scarlet¡¯s cheek lightly, Scarlet let out a very small groan. It didn¡¯t seem like she waspletely unconscious. Then there was only one thing left. ¡°¡± A spell that recovers one¡¯s health very fast. This was actually a chance for her to get the treasures of the Rogue Master, and she had also wanted those, but that was that, and this was this. Cordelia had no intention of killing Scarlet and taking the treasures away. Scarlet wasn¡¯t a viin. If she hadn¡¯t been possessed by the Soul Taker, she would at least not be an enemy even if she didn¡¯t be their ally. ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­¡± Perhaps the recovery magic worked since Scarlet¡¯s face color improved and her breathing stabilized. And after a minute or so. After she had recovered enough to be able to speak, Scarlet stretched out her body instead of raising herself up. She wiped the sweat on her forehead and said to Cordelia as if letting out a breath of relief. ¡°Just kill me.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Just kill me.¡± Scarlet had a faint smile. She continued to talk as she faced Cordelia with empty eyes. ¡°I lost. I lost to you. I couldn¡¯t even keep the Rogue Master¡¯s honor.¡± Scarlet¡¯s eyes looked red, and tears flowed down her blood-stained cheeks. ¡°N-now, the honorable name of the Rogue Master will forever be dishonored by the name of Pink Bomb. I can¡¯t bear to see that¡­ Just kill me. Kill me.¡± Rogue Master Pink Bomb. Aaaah, Rogue Master. Aaaah, Pink Bomb. Father. Grandfather. I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m really, really sorry. Scarlet couldn¡¯t be the Rogue Master. I couldn¡¯t even keep the honor of the Rogue Master. Scarlet began topletely cry, and Cordelia felt a mix of emotions and was at a loss. ¡®Fu-f*ck.¡¯ What do I do? What should I do? Scarlet was saying some really extreme words, and Cordelia could understand Scarlet¡¯s sad feelings. Scarlet was a person who took great pride in the fact that she was a descendant of the Rogue Master. ¡®Jude, Jude! What do I do?¡¯ Cordelia looked back at Jude with a face showing her troubled thoughts. Jude seriously pondered when she gazed at him with eyes that were asking him to do something, and he soon had a bitter smile. It was a bit cringey, but it was a good idea. Scarlet¡¯s personality. Her disposition. That was why it was the best answer he could give now. ¡®Ah.¡¯ But it was then. Before Jude could give an answer, Cordelia also looked like she came up with something in her mind. Because she was also a rotten water of Legend of Heroes 2. ¡®Hey, Jude. I¡¯ll do what I want this time. Just this one time.¡¯ Jude nodded at Cordelia¡¯s gaze. Because Jude himself came up with a simr idea. And there was one more reason. ¡®Because you¡¯re the Rogue Master.¡¯ Cordelia was the Rogue Master and not Jude. Cordelia nodded her head at Jude¡¯s reply and looked at Scarlet again as she said. ¡°Hey, asshole.¡± ¡°It¡¯s Scarlet. And don¡¯t bother me anymore. Just kill me.¡± ¡°Yes, Scarlet. Let¡¯s put the killing behind us and¡­le-let¡¯spete.¡± ¡°What?¡± When Scarlet opened her closed eyes to ask what Cordelia was talking about, Cordelia said with a smile. ¡°You¡¯re the Rogue Master. Not the Warrior Master.¡± Scarlet blinked her eyes at Cordelia¡¯s words and soon understood it. So she couldn¡¯t hide her surprise. ¡°Are you saying¡­¡± ¡°I have the Rogue Master¡¯s treasure and you have the Rogue Master¡¯s treasures too. Both of us are candidates for the Rogue Master position. So¡­let¡¯spete for the title. The one who wins in our match will be the real Rogue Master. What kind of match it is¡­you should know, right?¡± Scarlet¡¯s cheeks instantly turned red when Cordelia winked and smiled. Because Cordelia¡¯s smile revealed by the moonlight was so beautiful. ¡°Do you understand what I¡¯m talking about?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ I-I understand.¡± Scarlet unconsciously stuttered and she took several deep breaths before raising her upper body in order to stand up. Cordelia had suggested that they shouldpete for the position of Rogue Master. Then what kind of match should Rogue Masters have? To say it directly, it was stealing. To say it more elegantly, it was the act of unauthorized transfer of ownership. ¡°Do you agree?¡± When Cordelia asked, Scarlet slowly nodded. But she soon added some words. ¡°In return, there are conditions.¡± ¡°Conditions? Hey, do you honestly think you¡¯re in a situation where you could ask for that?¡± ¡°Listen to the end.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± Cordelia questioned as her head tilted sideways, and Scarlet avoided her gaze and coughed a few times. She blushed even more, and then put the words that Jude had expected out of her mouth. ¡°You won this match. Nevertheless, you gave me a chance to have an honorable showdown¡­so I¡¯ll return the favor. I will make you wishe true whatever it is.¡± ¡°My wish?¡± ¡°Yes, your wish.¡± ¡°Anything?¡± ¡°I mean, that¡¯s a bit¡­ As long as it¡¯s within my abilities. That¡­you know. Something like a job I can do.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± As Cordelia pped and smiled, Scarlet avoided her gaze again, and Jude who was watching them from a distance clenched his fist. ¡®Bingo!¡¯ As expected, she¡¯s the same as Lucas. Just as Lucas was obsessed with reenacting Biltwein the Hero, Scarlet was particrly obsessed with reenacting the anecdotes of the first Rogue Master. ¡®Something like this also happened to the first Rogue Master.¡¯ To be exact, it happened between the first Rogue Master and her rival, Thief Master. Rogue Master, who was still an inexperienced thief before she called herself Rogue Master, fell into the trap of Thief Master once and waspletely and helplessly defeated. But Thief Master admired the talent of Rogue Master and gave the same offer as Cordelia. ¡°Let¡¯s have a match. A real match between the two of us.¡± In response to Thief Master¡¯s suggestion, Rogue Master said that she¡¯d have the match after she had returned the favor for this incident, just like what Scarlet had now said, and Thief Master was willing to regard such Rogue Master as an honorable person. ¡®And in the end, Rogue Master won and received the Wings of Speed from Thief Master¡­ it¡¯s a beautiful story where the two continued to be close friends afterwards.¡¯ That was probably the reason why Scarlet¡¯s face had turned red. She must be really excited and happy to reenact the anecdote of that time and be in the same position as the first Rogue Master. ¡®Of course, we don¡¯t intend to follow the story until the very end.¡¯ After all, what mattered now was Scarlet¡¯s promise and not the match against Scarlet. She would make any wish of Cordeliae true. In other words, it was a very useful way to get Scarlet involved in their fight at the royal capital. ¡®It¡¯s better if we get close to her with this opportunity.¡¯ Scarlet had be a viin all because of the Soul Taker. If they became close from the very start and prevented her from touching the Soul Taker, she would likely remain their ally until the very end. ¡®As expected of Cordelia.¡¯ Cordelia wasn¡¯t a calctive person like Jude. She might have thought that Scarlet would respond that way because of Scarlet¡¯s personality, but it was clear that Cordelia wouldn¡¯t have thought of such conditions like that now. But Cordelia had said that. Because she liked the Scarlet who fought for the honor of the Rogue Master. Because she wanted to be friends with Scarlet who had always been an enemy, rather than have to kill her once again. ¡®I can¡¯t be like that.¡¯ It didn¡¯t suit Jude to act so purely with such a pure heart. ¡°W-what do you think? About my conditions?¡± Scarlet timidly asked and Cordelia looked like she was thinking for a moment before she said with her canines glistening. ¡°Okay, we have a deal. So let¡¯s shake hands.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s shake hands.¡± When Cordelia stretched out her hand, Scarlet held that hand and blushed again. Because she was embarrassed. ¡°Anyway, just go back for now. I¡¯ll tell you what I wantter. Do you know of the Blue Moon?¡± ¡°I know them.¡± ¡°What about the guild master?¡± ¡°Are you talking about Mister Supp¨¦?¡± ¡°Yes. I¡¯ll contact you through that uncle. Is that okay with you?¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± ¡°Oh my, look at how well my Scarlet answers.¡± Cordelia giggled and helped Scarlet up, and Scarlet said as she pouted. ¡°Hey, but how¡­how did you know my name?¡± Because Jude and Cordelia had clearly called her Scarlet before she had introduced herself. Cordelia replied to her rather sharp question with a flustered expression. ¡°Eh? Uh¡­that¡­ah! Because you walked on the path of the Rogue Master. I mean, I¡¯ve already figured out who my rivals are.¡± Cordelia said as she thumped on her chest, and the corners of Scarlet¡¯s mouth were slightly raised. She seemed to be quite pleased with Cordelia¡¯s words. ¡®She¡¯s like Lucas.¡¯ She was a bit na?ve. While Jude had a wicked smile, Scarlet shook Cordelia¡¯s hand before she spread her Wings of Speed and flew up to a low roof. ¡°Hey! Pink Bomb!¡± ¡°Why, Red Hair.¡± ¡°Hey, you have pink hair.¡± ¡°Anyway, why?¡± ¡°That¡­ Don¡¯t make me wait too long, okay?¡± ¡°Eh¡­ Okay. I¡¯ll contact you as soon as possible.¡± Cordelia replied with a cute giggle, and Scarlet blushed again before she spread her Wings of Speed and flew up into the night sky. As for how Cordelia looked from behind¡­ Jude thought that Cordelia looked really cute than cool. She then turned towards Jude and proudly raised her hand to make a V-sign with her fingers. ¡°Problem solved.¡± They seeded in their theft and also made a connection with Scarlet. Cordelia cleared her throat while looking proudly, and Jude gave her a light apuse. And two dayster. The second theft of Rogue Master Pink Bomb was now widely known throughout the royal capital. And the carriages of Count Bayer and Count Chase arrived at the royal capital together. Chapter 156: The Dukes Invitation (1)

Chapter 156: The Duke''s Invitation (1)

Late post~ Got too busy with Genshin since I ended up pulling Xiao and had to enter artifact farming hell. And the first half of this chapter was atrocious with all the politics, idioms, phrases, etc. Terms used in this chapter: Doves and hawks ¨C Doves represent those who oppose the use of military power to resolve a dispute, while hawks are those who favor going into war. To weep while beheading Ma Su ¨C This is an archaic Chinese phrase which means to mete out punishment for the cause of justice regardless of one¡¯s personal feelings. It¡¯s from China¡¯s Three Kingdoms period where the strategist, Zhuge Liang, had to order reluctantly and tearfully for the beheading of Ma Su, who was like a son to him, because Ma Su vited militarymand. There was a saying that when two peoplee together, a rtionship of power would be formed, and when three or more peoplee together, politics would begin. There were numerous nobles in the royal capital, which naturally led toplex political structures being formed. ¡®Why do people form groups?¡¯ There were many reasons, but the biggest reason was for survival. Power was strengthened when people formed groups, thereby preventing danger and allowing them to acquire necessary things. ¡®The political circles in the royal capital.¡¯ Several groups were created there. Several divisions were also formed in a group, and if one counted the number of groups in the royal capital, it would be more than a dozen. However, all these groups could be ssified into either of the two factions. The royalists and the aristocrats. The former were groups of nobles centered around the royal family, and thetter were groups centered on arge coalition of nobles powerful enough to keep the royal family in check. Both factions consisted of nobles in the S?len Kingdom, but theirposition revealed quite a different appearance. ¡®The royalists has many rtively new nobles while the aristocrats areposed of nobles with a long history and tradition.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t a structure created by the new nobles because of their high loyalty to the royal family. There was a more realistic reason hidden in it. ¡®They need someone to lean on.¡¯ From the perspective of the ¡®old nobles¡¯ who already held vested interests, the ¡®new nobles¡¯ were nothing but thorns in their eyes. Because they were opponents whom they had to share their wealth and power. For this reason, the new nobles were ostracized by the existing noble society, so they chose to be loyal to the royal family as their means of survival. The new nobles depended on the royal family, and the royal family absorbed the new nobles and developed their strength in order to fight the aristocrats made up of the old nobles. ¡®It sounds like dreams or romance do not exist, but this is reality.¡¯ Of course, some of them were deeply loyal to the royal family. ¡®Something like that isn¡¯t bad after all.¡¯ It was clearly unproductive for royalists and aristocrats to fight for power, but it was also productive at the same time. ¡®Because absolute power will absolutely corrupt anyone.¡¯ If one faction drove out the other faction and monopolized power, corruption was bound to begin from that moment onwards. Therefore, confrontation was necessary even if it was a needless waste of energy to keep each other in check. ¡®Anyway, about the royalists and the aristocrats.¡¯ There would always be a leader when factions are formed. Naturally, the royalists and aristocrats also had leaders who led their factions. ¡®For the royalists, it¡¯s the Lord Protector.¡¯ Duke Antarius. He started as amoner and rose to the position of a duke, so he was the dream and hope of the new nobles. And from the perspective of the royal family, he was a rtively easy person to handle for the long term. ¡®So we have to get the leader.¡¯ The proponent of the n to kill the royal family was no one else but the Lord Protector. So the royal family was actually nourishing a snake in their bosom. ¡®In any case, it¡¯s the Lord Protector who is currently leading the royalists.¡¯ Therefore, they had to borrow the power of the aristocrats and not the royalists in order to keep the Lord Protector in check. ¡®The power of the hawks and not the doves.¡¯ Since it was a coalition of nobles, the aristocrats were established in the form of having multiple leaders. But if one looked at them in the big picture, they could be divided into the moderate doves and the radical hawks. ¡®Duke Spencer leads the doves. And Duke Balloa leads the hawks.¡¯ The dove group¡¯s Duke Spencer was inws with the royal family and was virtually neutral and did not move, so it was necessary for Jude and Cordelia to borrow the power of the hawks in order to actively attack the Lord Protector. ¡°Complicated. It¡¯splicated!¡± ¡°Just go to Duke Balloa¡¯s house and give it to him.¡± ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you just say that? Why did you have bother to me withplicated exnations?¡± ¡°Huhu, this Daddy doesn¡¯t want his princess to give up in using her brains to think.¡± ¡°I usually do a lot of thinking, okay? Like what to do tonight, how to make a prettier explosion, and so on.¡± ¡°A beast woman indeed¡­ I haven¡¯t heard you growl for a long time.¡± ¡°Wurf! Wurf!¡± Cordelia tried to bite Jude¡¯s hand and then barked like a dog. Afterwards, she dressed up as phantom thief Pink Bomb and asked Jude again. ¡°Anyway, I should just leave this at Duke Balloa¡¯s house, right?¡± ¡°Yes, with this important letter.¡± Jude spoke with a smile before he inserted a letter with Pink Bomb¡¯s signature in the secret ledger they found at Count Macan¡¯s house. ¡°If we bring it to them, they¡¯ll be the ones who¡¯ll hit the forces of the Lord Protector.¡± ¡°Well¡­dispensing medicine should be left to the pharmacists.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll leave it to the professionals.¡± Even if they had the secret ledger, it was impossible for Jude and Cordelia to directly air the Lord Protector¡¯s dirtyundry in public. However, it would be a different story for the aristocrats who were always searching the royalists for a weak point to stab. They would obviously rummage and search everywhere in excitement. ¡°Okay. Then we¡¯ll have to scatter these treasures in specified ces, right?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s evidence of the royalists¡¯ corruption.¡± If it was a simple treasure, it would be a sin to just stash these riches. But it was a problem that all of these treasures were stolen goods. ¡°It¡¯s mostly the royal family¡¯s items.¡± ¡°From the royal family¡¯s perspective, it¡¯s like they raised thieves, right?¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. They¡¯ll be weeping while beheading Ma Su.¡± As Jude smiled a bit wickedly, Cordelia¡¯s face instantly lit up and she nodded. ¡°Yes, yes, to weep while beheading Ma Su. That¡¯s a really nice phrase.¡± ¡°Oh, you know about that?¡± ¡°Hmph, of course, I know that. Did you perhaps think I wouldn¡¯t know that?¡± Cordelia smugly said, and Jude pped his hands in admiration. ¡°Do you like the Three Kingdoms?¡± ¡°Yes, I like Zhuge Liang.¡± I like smart men. Cordelia somehow held herself back from saying that thought before she stood up and brushed away the dirt in her rear. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s wish the aristocrats good luck.¡± And the next afternoon. The aristocrats began to move stealthily and quickly, and Jude counted the number of newspaper extras that wrote about Cordelia¡¯s activities. ¡®I think it¡¯ll somehow work out until the founding anniversary.¡¯ It was a thief¡¯s simple thoughts to wish for the royalists of the Lord Protector to copse with only one secret ledger. What they could expect was the downfall of Count Macan and several working-level officials, and the ck Moon shutting down several businesses. It would only slightly affect them, but this was actually enough. The two just had to break the Lord Protector¡¯s perfect n. ¡®Of course, I¡¯ll have to continue thinking of follow-up measures.¡¯ ¡°You¡¯re thinking of something evil again.¡± At the snide remark he heard from his side, Jude smiled and turned his gaze. They were in front of the south gate. They were at the ce where Adelia had weed Jude and Cordelia a few days ago, but this time, they were the ones waiting at the gate. Obviously, Adelia was still in the waiting position both then and now. ¡°No, no. There¡¯s a huge difference in her energy levels.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Unlike Jude and Cordelia who were sitting on a bench and calmly waiting, Adelia had been restlessly walking around near the south gate for some time. ¡°Her neck¡¯s going to fall off at this rate.¡± Adelia had been raising her head and upper body as she tried to see as far as possible. The reason why Adelia was so restless was simple. ¡°They¡¯re here!¡± The carriages of Count Bayer and Count Chase. To be exact, Adelia¡¯s beloved who was on board the carriage! The very excited Adelia was about to run towards the carriages at that moment, but she clenched her fists and restrained herself. No matter how much she loved him, she couldn¡¯t act like a silly woman and run towards the carriages. Especially in front of Ga?l. ¡°Good, good. I can endure it. You can endure this, Adelia. Yes, yes, you can do this.¡± ¡°Unnie, don¡¯t do that and just recite the prime numbers. That will work.¡± Cordelia advised from the side, but Adelia didn¡¯t hear her at all. Adelia touched her chest and repeatedly did some deep breathing exercises. And a few minutester. After that time which felt like an eternity to Adelia, the carriages of Count Bayer and Count Chase finally arrived at the south gate. *** ¡°Lord Ga?l.¡± ¡°Lady Adelia.¡± ¡°Lord Ga?l.¡± ¡°Lady Adelia.¡± ¡°Lord Ga?l!¡± ¡°Lady Adelia!¡± At the garden of Adelia¡¯s mansion. Before moving to the amodation provided by the royal family, the group stopped by to rest for a while, and Ga?l and Adelia faced each other as they exchanged words and gazed at the other. The two hugged and kissed each other, and various expressions appeared on the faces of those who saw them. ¡°It¡¯s nice to see them like that.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Maja and Count Bayer warmly smiled. ¡°I never thought Adelia would be like that, even in my dreams.¡± ¡°Me too.¡± Dahlia and Cordelia were happy yet somehow embarrassed at the same time. ¡®It would be nice if they didn¡¯t forget that this is a public ce.¡¯ Why are couples not bothered in being affectionate at public ces? Jude shook his head as he clicked his tongue. ¡°The world must be ending¡­ The world must being to an end.¡± Edward, the eldest son and heir of Count Chase, said as he doubted his eyes and somehow seemed to be forgotten by everyone. ¡°Hmm.¡± And Count Chase had a calm expression while having a small smile. ¡®Well, they don¡¯t seem to care at all.¡¯ Jude looked at Ga?l and Adelia having a passionate kiss and shook his head before turning his gaze to the excited Cordelia who had covered her cheeks and lips with her hands as she received an audiovisual education. He then turned his head in surprise. ¡°Jude, don¡¯t we have something to talk about?¡± ¡°¡­Yes, father.¡± Count Bayer wasn¡¯t particrly angry, but his eyes were more subdued than usual. He would be like that since Jude was gone for weeks ¨C no, he ran away again while heading to the royal capital. ¡°Adelia¡¯s letter contained some of your circumstances¡­ but I¡¯d like to hear it directly from you.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± Jude replied with an awkward smile, and Count Bayer couldn¡¯t help but smile before saying. ¡°You¡¯ve changed a lot. No, you¡¯ve gotten a lot stronger this time.¡± It had only been around three weeks since he left the house, and Jude¡¯s abilities had made rapid progress in that time. Count Bayer would be able to tell exactly how strong Jude had be if they fought, but the count could already feel just from facing Jude that he had be strong enough that he was like apletely different person from the previous Jude. ¡°You¡¯ve grown a lot.¡± Jude was smaller than Cordelia just a few months ago, but he now seemed to be a head taller than her. ¡°A lot of things happened.¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s talk about thoseter. But first, that seems to be more urgent.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°I mean, that way, that person.¡± Count Bayerughed and entered the mansion, and Jude saw Count Chase looking at him with his usual expression. ¡°Father.¡± ¡°You¡¯re still small.¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°You¡¯re still small.¡± Jude had grown a lot, but he was still small by Count Chase¡¯s standards. That was true since the current Jude was around 180-185 cm, while was Ga?l was around 186-190 cm, and Count Chase was a giant nearly two meters tall. ¡°Yes¡­?¡± As Jude said in anticipation, Count Chase suddenly looked back at Adelia. Having confirmed that she was still distracted by the passionate kissing, Count Chase walked to Jude and said. ¡°It¡¯s a third-rate item.¡± Count Chase handed a small leather bag in Jude¡¯s arms and quietly spoke as he kept an eye on Adelia. ¡°Eat in secret.¡± Without Adelia knowing. Alone. Don¡¯t get caught. ¡°Yes, father. I will do that for sure.¡± Jude was moved and didn¡¯t even check what was in the bag as he talked, and Count Chase snorted like always and was about to walk away. However. ¡°Ah.¡± Count Chase stopped and came back as he looked at Jude. ¡°Father?¡± Are you going to give me something else? Jude looked at him in anticipation again, but not this time. Count Chase looked at him as if he was hesitating and soon said in passing as he gazed at a distance. ¡°Something¡­did something change?¡± ¡°Change¡­in what?¡± ¡°No, um, it¡¯s nothing.¡± It¡¯s rather good if there aren¡¯t any changes. It¡¯s good. Because they haven¡¯t even had theiring-of-age ceremony yet. ¡°Father?¡± Jude asked once again, but Count Chase switched to a stern expression instead of answering, and headed towards Adelia and Ga?l who was startled and raised his head. ¡®Hmm¡­that¡¯s a nice look.¡¯ Jude had a small smile as he saw Ga?l¡¯s face before he tried to approach Cordelia who was lost in her thoughts as she held her red cheeks with her hands. But it was at that moment. ¡°It looks like a letter has arrived.¡± Maja said as she looked towards the main gate before heading there, and Jude saw a man standing beyond the metal fence and waiting for the gate to open. He was wearing the outfit of a nobleman¡¯s messenger. ¡°Who is it?¡± ¡°He¡¯s from Duke Spencer.¡± When Jude responded to the question Cordelia had muttered, she raised her head in surprise. ¡°How do you know?¡± ¡°Because there¡¯s an emblem on his outer clothes that shows he¡¯s from the Spencer family. Perhaps¡­ it¡¯s an invitation for you and me.¡± It was time to see the benefits they had gained from giving Princess Darianne the Seven-Colored Herb. And as Jude had thought, the messenger who appeared at the front gate was from Duke Spencer. But there was one thing that was different from what they had expected. ¡°This.. it seems like we¡¯re not the only ones invited?¡± An invitation in a slightly different form than what they had thought. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think it would be a problem since it¡¯s an invitation anyway, right?¡± Cordelia said with a smile, and Jude thought the same too. ¡®Well, I guess you¡¯re right¡¯ ¡®Yes, yes, I¡¯m right.¡¯ It didn¡¯t matter what way they used, as long as they were able to go to Duke Spencer and meet the Sword Saint of Light, Rhun Froud. ¡®So don¡¯t worry and let¡¯s go there proudly.¡¯ ¡®Okay.¡¯ Jude nodded in response to Cordelia¡¯s gaze, and Cordelia brightly smiled again. Cordelia didn¡¯t know at that time. No, Jude didn¡¯t expect it either. The fact that this invitation would, for the first time, make them do something that real lovers did. They would be doing something that real lovers did. Thosest lines¡­ we¡¯ll have to wait for episode 159 for that. ???? Chapter 157: The Dukes Invitation (1)

Chapter 157: The Duke''s Invitation (1)

¡°Is it an invitation from Duke Spencer?¡± Smiles spread across the faces of Count Bayer and Ga?l as they checked the invitation. The two did not know yet that Jude and Cordelia had be friends with Princess Darianne. But even if they did, they would still react the same. They would be thankful for the invitation. No, they felt that it was natural for that invitation toe. They were relieved and felt proud. The two looked at Jude with faces full of happiness. ¡®What¡¯s going on?¡¯ Jude knew all kinds of things from Legend of Heroes, but he knew little about Duke Spencer¡¯s invitation. Because none of the yable characters who could visit the royal capital at this time had any contact with Duke Spencer. ¡®If we went with the flow of the original, Jude was still suffering from his illness at home.¡¯ Cordelia had gone missing and was wandering in the north. In Lucas¡¯ case, he did visit the royal capital at this time, but he didn¡¯t have any point of contact with Duke Spencer. ¡®First of all, Duke Spencer was sick and suffering from his condition.¡¯ It was impossible for him to invite guests when he was ill. Moreover, Lucas was a young man from the north who was aplete stranger to Duke Spencer. He wasn¡¯t an important visitor that could meet the bedridden duke. ¡®But the situation has changed.¡¯ Princess Darianne who should¡¯ve gone home empty-handed was able to get the Seven-Colored Herb with the help of Jude and Cordelia. Thus, Duke Spencer was freed from his chronic illness and recovered his strength. ¡®So I thought he¡¯d invite us.¡¯ For Duke Spencer, Jude and Cordelia were his benefactors who healed his chronic illness and at the same time, they were friends of Princess Darianne whom he cherished and was the apple of his eye. ¡®I was expecting he¡¯d invite us to a tea party.¡¯ But it wasn¡¯t a tea party invitation that arrived. It was to an event with a cheesier and grander name than that. ¡®The Banquet of Swords.¡¯ That was the reason why Count Bayer and Ga?l were very happy. ¡°Those good old days. I once participated in Duke Spencer¡¯s Banquet of Swords.¡± ¡°I agree, father. I also remember participating in that.¡± The father and son said as they recalled it, and Adelia suddenly raised her nose and bragged about it. ¡°Hmph, that¡¯s natural. It¡¯s to be expected of Lord Ga?l and father-inw.¡± Edward clicked his tongue at Adelia proudly talking as if she was involved in that, while Cordelia tilted her head and Jude unconsciously nodded. ¡®Simr.¡¯ They really are sisters. Adelia was almost acting the same as Cordelia. ¡®What¡¯s simr?¡¯ ¡®I mean, you¡¯re like that.¡¯ ¡®Tsk, I¡¯m not like that, okay?¡¯ Cordelia pouted, and Jude didn¡¯t say anything after that. ¡®Aren¡¯t you like that every time you boast about me?¡¯ Jude thought to himself as he avoided her gaze before he quietly smiled and looked at Ga?l and Count Bayer again. ¡°Father, what is the Banquet of Swords?¡± In fact, he had roughly guessed it, but it was still a guess. There was no need for him to continue guessing it when an answer could be given to him now. At Jude¡¯s question, Count Bayer replied with a smile. ¡°Haha, as its name suggests, the Banquet of Swords refers to a banquet where swords gather. To be exact, it¡¯s a banquet where young and promising swordsmen gather.¡± Count Bayer slowly spoke and gently tapped the sword on his waist, as if he became conscious of the fact that he was a swordsman again. ¡°Jude, as you know, the Spencer family are known for their long history and tradition with swords.¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s a family that has a longer history than the kingdom.¡± The Spencer family was one of the meritorious families that greatly contributed to the founding of the S?len Kingdom, and the Duke Spencer of that time was also the sworn brother of the founder king, Lion D. S?len. ¡®In fact, their family was in charge of the military in the early days of the kingdom.¡¯ While Duke Wotan from one of the other meritorious families provided troops, Duke Spencer provided powerful and outstanding swordsmen to be the vanguard and lead the troops. As a result, the founder king, Lion D. S?len, was able to win several battles, and he praised the Duke of Spencer for his distinguished service and awarded him a special honorary title. ¡®Sword Teacher.¡¯ He who guided all the swordsmen in the kingdom. At the time of the kingdom¡¯s foundation, Duke Spencer was a man befitting of the name ¡®Sword Teacher.¡¯ He was undeniably the best swordsman in the kingdom. But that wasn¡¯t the case for the next generations. They had a lot of excellent swordsmen, but no one appeared to be capable enough of being called the best in the kingdom. ¡®But even so, they were still a family renowned for their excellent swordsmen.¡¯ The best swordsmen in the kingdom no longer came from the duke¡¯s direct descendants. The Spencer family was no longer a family that produced the best swordsmen in the kingdom. But the ¡®Spencer Sword School¡¯ was different. The Spencer Sword School produced at least one great swordmaster per generation. ¡®Sword School.¡¯ A group where people could teach or learn swordsmanship. This was the result of the pride and responsibility of that time¡¯s Duke Spencer in their honorary title as the ¡®Sword Teacher.¡¯ ¡°A long time has definitely passed. The honorary title of the past, Sword Teacher, has almost disappeared now. But as a Sword Teacher, the current Duke Spencer has not given up his responsibility to improve the military¡­ or to be exact, the skills of the swordsmen in the S?len Kingdom.¡± To the Bayer family, Lucas Hr?svelgr was a stranger. They wereplete strangers, not rted by blood nor swordsmanship style. But not for Duke Spencer. To him, Lucas was a swordsman of the S?len Kingdom. ¡°The Banquet of Swords refers to an event that gathers young swordsmen with promising talent from all over the country. It¡¯s an event to tell these prospects, who have lived like frogs in the well, that there is a wide world beyond them.¡± Count Bayer said in a slightly self-deprecating voice, but Count Chase snorted and said. ¡°I don¡¯t think a noble who went to the Banquet of Swords and crushed all the other prospects should be saying that. Ah, there¡¯s no way that you¡¯re just bragging about yourself, right?¡± At the criticism that Count Chase said because he was a long-time friend, Count Bayer replied as he felt pleased and embarrassed. ¡°This friend of mine exaggerated it a little, so don¡¯t listen to him.¡± ¡°Hmph, it¡¯s not an exaggeration.¡± Count Bayer was actually the strongest swordsman in the S?len Kingdom now if one limited it to those of a simr age as him. There were ten great swordmasters, but their difference in ages widely varied. ¡®If I recall correctly, Count Hr?svelgr is almost ten years younger than father.¡¯ Because of his age, Count Bayer could no longer attend the banquet as a prospect even if he wanted to. ¡°In any case, it¡¯s certainly an honor to be in the Banquet of Swords. It¡¯s an event where you can even be proud of the fact that you were invited.¡± Before Count Chase could tease him again, Count Bayer quickly finished speaking and turned to Ga?l. Ga?l nodded at his father¡¯s look that seemed to ask him to exin further. ¡°Just as father has said, being invited to the Banquet of Swords means that you are already a promising swordsman in the S?len Kingdom who¡¯s recognized by the Duke of Spencer, the Sword Teacher.¡± Ga?l gave a clear exnation, but his cheeks were somehow slightly red, and Jude knew the reason why. ¡°As expected of my Lord Ga?l who had once been invited to the Banquet of Swords.¡± When Adelia hugged Ga?l¡¯s arm and spoke, Ga?l¡¯s face turned even more red, and joy spread on Count Bayer¡¯s face. ¡°And now, Jude has been invited as well.¡± Because the letter was an invitation of Duke Spencer to Jude and his fianc¨¦e, Cordelia, to attend the Banquet of Swords. ¡°It¡¯s really nice. Really nice.¡± Count Bayer smiled in satisfaction as his eyes began to turn slightly red. Jude had always been weak from birth and could barely go outside, let alone go to the royal capital, so Count Bayer was always worried about him. But now, Jude was not only very healthy but was also invited to the Banquet of Swords. He was deeply moved by that. ¡°Hmph, it¡¯s only natural that Duke Spencer has eyes too.¡± As Count Chase snorted and spoke, a series of small and cute snorts followed. ¡°Hmph, that¡¯s right. He can¡¯t be proud of being a Sword Teacher if he doesn¡¯t recognize the swordsmen of the Bayer family.¡± ¡°Hmph, Duke Spencer understands it.¡± ¡°Why do I feel a strange sense of alienation every time they do this?¡± Adelia hugged Ga?l¡¯s arm and snorted, Cordelia bragged as she stood next to Jude, and even Edward who was standing alone in a corner spoke. At the remarks of Count Chase and his three children, Count Bayer and his sons could only smile. ¡®Indeed, cuteness flows in the Chase family¡¯s blood.¡¯ How can all of them be so cute? ¡®Ah, except for Edward.¡¯ Count Bayer himself felt a sense of alienation towards the man who was alone in the corner and feeling alienated. ¡°Anyway, Jude, you can go there. Those invited to the Banquet of Swords are all prospects of the kingdom, so you can broaden your horizons there.¡± ¡°Hmph, would that happen though?¡± Count Chase interrupted Count Bayer, but no one was offended by it. Because everyone knew what Count Chase meant. ¡®Because my Jude will not broaden his horizons, but will be the one to broaden the horizons of the prospects.¡¯ Jude was unusually strong now. And everyone, including Count Chase, had already witnessed Jude¡¯s strength more than once. ¡®And, and, and!¡¯ Cordelia couldn¡¯t stop the corners of her mouth from rising as she snorted again in excitement. She knew of one thing that everyone in the ce did not know. ¡®He also underwent metamorphosis.¡¯ In addition to opening the fifth door, he also learned the Supreme Sun Divine Art. Strong people like Count Bayer and Count Chase would have naturally noticed, just from facing him, that Jude was stronger than before he had left for the royal capital. But no matter how strong they were, they would not be able to find out at once on what changes happened to Jude as a result of his metamorphosis. ¡®But father-inw seems to have felt something more.¡¯ After a month or so, Jude had grown to nearly 10 cm tall, so even strangers would be able to easily tell that Jude had be stronger. However, Count Bayer seemed to have noticed some of the changes that happened in Jude¡¯s body besides his increase in strength. The cycle of Qi that was reestablished due to metamorphosis. And the other things that urred to Jude. The changes that seriously increased his efficiency. ¡°Hehehe, hehehehehe.¡± Cordelia was very pleased and snickered, and everyone began to smile again. Because the Cordelia who was brimming with pride for her fianc¨¦ was very cute and adorable. ¡®I need to set the date quickly.¡¯ ¡®Shouldn¡¯t we wait for theing-of-age ceremony?¡¯ ¡®No, they should just get married sooner.¡¯ ¡®How cute.¡¯ As everyone were having different thoughts, Jude opened his mouth. ¡°Then father, will you be going to the pce with father-inw?¡± ¡°I think so. The Banquet of Swords is a gathering of young prospects. Me and Count Chase¡­will be able to meet His Excellency, Duke Spencer, when we have the opportunity.¡± ¡°Hmph, we don¡¯t need to meet him.¡± Count Bayer and Count Chase who belonged to the 12 northern families were close to the aristocrats, but since they were nobles from the north, they didn¡¯t exactly feel a sense of belonging with the aristocrats centered on Duke Spencer. The same was true of the aristocrats in the royal capital. ¡°I, Count Chase, and Edward will be going today to the amodations the royal family has provided. Ga?l¡­you¡¯ll stay here with Adelia, right?¡± ¡°Yes, father. That¡¯s my n.¡± As Ga?l answered with a faint smile, Adelia blushed and slightly lowered her gaze. Edward frowned like a real older brother as he saw the appearance of his younger sister acting shy, while Cordelia also narrowed her eyes like a real younger sister. ¡®W-what are you nning to do with only the two of you?¡¯ Technically, Becky was present too, so they weren¡¯tpletely alone, but still¡­ Cordelia seriously sent a criticizing gaze at her sister, but Adelia didn¡¯t care. As she had emphasized many times already, Adelia was an adult unlike Cordelia who was still a minor. ¡®We¡¯ll do this and do that too, and¡­kyaaa~¡¯ Adelia¡¯s thoughts were revealed in her face, and Edward and Cordelia frowned even more. But Count Bayer and Count Chase looked very happy. ¡°Anyway¡­ Cordelia and I will visit Duke Spencer then.¡± ¡°Yes, you¡¯ll probably stay for two days if it¡¯s short, or three days if it takes a long time. Come to our amodations when your business is done.¡± ¡°Yes, father.¡± Jude immediately tapped the shoulder of Cordelia who was still frowning, and Cordelia looked up at him. ¡®Why?¡¯ ¡®You know.¡¯ Jude smiled and slightly moved his arm to Cordelia who tilted her head, and Cordelia reflexively grabbed his arm. She was very used to Jude escorting her now. And around four hourster. When they had packed up and arrived at Duke Spencer¡¯s estate, Jude and Cordelia were weed by very happy faces. Chapter 158: Banquet of Swords (1)

Chapter 158: Banquet of Swords (1)

Trivia: Owning a building in South Korea is considered a symbol of wealth. There is a strange phenomenon in South Korea wherein owning a building is considered the number one dream of teenagers. Duke Spencer. One of the only five dukes in the kingdom and someone who belonged to a prominent family that possessed wealth, power, and military force. The Spencer family¡¯s great power came from their immense wealth and position among the nobility, and on the strength of their military forces that could even wipe out a small country by itself. Where did their wealth and military forcee from then? ¡°First of all, theirnd is wide.¡± It wasn¡¯t just wide, but enormously wide. Duke Spencer¡¯s territory not only had half of the Ctes ins, which was the continent¡¯srgest breadbasket, but also the whole region of the Gigantos Mountains, which bordered the Argon Empire. ¡°So you¡¯re saying that they¡¯re rich and have a lot of money?¡± ¡°Well, sort of. Cordelia, do you know why argend can make you rich?¡± Cordelia leaned against her seat on the carriage and spontaneously replied to Jude¡¯s question. ¡°You get a lot of building rent?¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s the case for building owners. Take a more fantasy-like approach¡­ no, from an ancient times perspective.¡± ¡°Hmm, if thend isrge, you can farm a lot and getrge amounts of grain¡­is that right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. One thing to note here is that there are a lot of people too.¡± ¡°I see. So there¡¯ll be a lot of people who¡¯ll be paying taxes then?¡± ¡°That¡¯s true, but it¡¯s also because they have an abundantbor force. You need a lot ofbor to farm, right?¡± ¡°Umm¡­I guess so. Maybe.¡± Cordelia replied in a way that showed that she was a bit unsure. She had never seen a real rice field, let alone did any farming. ¡°In any case, thend isrge and there are a lot of people. They¡¯re also the breadbasket region, and have several mines.¡± It was at a level where they had everything. ¡°Thanks to Duke Spencer, various industries have also been developed. Thus,merce was also naturally developed. They have arge trading city where they trade with the empire when we¡¯re not at war.¡± ¡°That means they¡¯ve got everything that¡¯s good.¡± ¡°Yes, something like that.¡± Their rich territory could also be counted as one of best sources of the kingdom¡¯s immense wealth. Where did their military forcee from then? ¡°Sword School?¡± ¡°There¡¯s that, but it¡¯s also because of the location¡­how do you say it, like it¡¯s the reason¡­ Anyway, it¡¯s because of the location of his territory.¡± The Spencer duchy was one of the shields that defended attacks from the Argon Empire. In particr, they were in a position to protect the Ctes ins, which was the reason the Argon Empire waged war several times, so they always had to maintain a strong standing army. ¡°If other nobles formed a standing armyparable to the size of Duke Spencer¡¯s army, people would be suspicious of them. People would wonder if they¡¯re trying to raise a rebellion.¡± ¡°But you¡¯re saying that Duke Spencer is allowed to maintain a standing army of that size because of his geographical location?¡± ¡°Yes, and in addition to that, there are only a few nobles who can maintain a standing army of that size in the first ce.¡± Duke Spencer was able to maintain a standing army because of his immense wealth. ¡°Moving on, it¡¯s because of his great and powerful family that makes him very powerful. It is no exaggeration to say that he¡¯s the king of a small country.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why it¡¯s so big.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°That one.¡± Cordelia shifted her gaze to outside the carriage window, and Jude naturally followed her gaze. He saw it on the side of Cordelia who sat opposite him. ¡°That. You see that?¡± Outside the window. There was a huge castle in the distance. People called it the Red Rose Castle. Though Jude had exined this and that at length, the Red Rose Castle was actually a very familiar ce for both Jude and Cordelia. ¡®Because it¡¯s the ce where the Raid Boss appeared.¡¯ By the time the entire continent began to be devastated by trials and tribtions, the S?len Kingdom was nearly in ruins already. ¡°Duke Spencer has a particr nature. You can say that the vi over there is a bit¡­ too much for social exchanges with the royal capital. But that¡¯s something normal for him.¡± ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s really rich.¡± ¡°A seriously rich man.¡± And it was highly likely that this seriously rich man had a favorable impression of Jude and Cordelia. ¡®I¡¯m sure we can rip off a lot from him.¡¯ He had a lot of excellent items. Because Duke Spencer was a man of honor. Jude smiled in delight, and Cordelia burst outughing, having guessed his thoughts from seeing his eyes. ¡®Should I say that you¡¯re really great in making a living?¡¯ Or should I say that you¡¯re really wicked? ¡®Either way, that¡¯s so like my Jude.¡¯ Cordelia eventually ended her thoughts with a smile, and she looked out the window again. The reflection of the Red Rose Castle in their eyes gradually grew bigger. *** ¡°Wow.¡± Cordelia unconsciously eximed upon seeing the Red Rose Castle up close. Her reaction wasn¡¯t because the castle was very big and beautiful, but because of the nice smell that came out the moment they entered the castle. ¡°Sniff, sniff, the scent of roses?¡± Cordelia said as she sniffed, and Jude nodded. ¡°Yes, the sense of smell couldn¡¯t be reproduced in the game.¡± There was only the perception that the castle was filled with roses in full bloom, but the smell of roses was so clear and strong that they could understand why this ce was called the Red Rose Castle. ¡°It¡¯s amazing. It¡¯s like I¡¯m in a flower shop.¡± Cordelia said with a bright smile before she closed her eyes and sniffed again. Jude looked at Cordelia and then turned his gaze to the window. ¡®This ce wasn¡¯t built for defense.¡¯ He had thought about it in the game too, that the Red Rose Castle was more of a pce than a castle. The walls were very low, the structures were also aesthetically beautiful, and there were many parts that were not suitable for it to be a defensive fortress. ¡®If you think about it, it¡¯s like that French pce.¡¯ Jude silently nodded as he briefly recalled the Pce of Versailles. He had talked to Cordelia about the power of Duke Spencer, but in the end, the S?len Kingdom was a monarchy, and Duke Spencer was a vassal of the royal family. It was not eptable to build a fortified castle adjacent to the royal capital and make it a home. ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± Cordelia said at some point despite having her eyes closed, and the carriage stopped at that moment. ¡°We wee Mr. Jude Bayer and Lady Cordelia Chase.¡± When they got out of the carriage and handed over their invitation, the butler bowed and politely greeted them. The ce where the carriage had currently stopped was at the entrance of the Red Rose Castle, so they had to travel via Duke Spencer¡¯s carriage from here on. ¡°This way please.¡± As soon as they got on the roofless carriage, the coachman who was waiting bowed to them before he began to drive the carriage. ¡®He¡¯s seriously rich.¡¯ ¡®Yeah, he¡¯s really rich.¡¯ Count Bayer and Count Chase belonged to the 12 northern families, so their families weren¡¯t inferior, but Duke Spencer was still different. They could only admire the vast garden and the ces within the castle as the carriage passed through it. ¡®And it¡¯s very pretty.¡¯ ¡®I agree.¡¯ As they passed through therge and beautiful central garden decorated with colorful roses, the coachman drove the carriage towards the annex on the right side of the central mansion where Duke Spencer stayed. Jude recalled that this ce had a training field. ¡®Isn¡¯t this where the Sword School is?¡¯ ¡®Yes, because that¡¯s just how Duke Spencer is.¡¯ Jude answered with his eyes before turning his gaze back to the front. Three employees dressed in butler clothes, who seemed to be servants assigned to the annex, came out and politely greeted them as if they had been contacted in advance by those in the front gate. ¡°We wee Mr. Jude Bayer and Lady Cordelia.¡± ¡°Please allow me to guide you to your rooms.¡± Jude and Cordelia didn¡¯t have to do anything as the servants received the luggage from the coachman, and another servant led the two inside. ¡®Woah, the inside is so shiny.¡¯ Compared to the mansion of Count Bayer, which was close to a fortress, Cordelia was born and raised in the bright and beautifully decorated mansion of Count Chase. But the sight in front of her was far superior. Because there was a significant difference between the bright and beautiful structure to the splendid ¨C no, the luxurious structure. ¡®It¡¯s like the royal pce.¡¯ Unlike Jude, Cordelia had already visited the royal pce before when she attended a founding ceremony in the past. Jude nodded his head and replied with his eyes. ¡®Indeed, it really looks like the Pce of Versailles.¡¯ ¡®Have you been to the Pce of Versailles?¡¯ ¡®I once passed by it and saw it for a moment.¡¯ ¡®How envious.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t long before they arrived at the guest rooms while they had a conversation with their eyes. ¡°This way please. We have servants waiting around her at all times, so if you need anything, you can ring this bell.¡± Jude nodded at the young butler¡¯s exnation and then looked around the room. It was in the form of two bedrooms facing each other with a small living room in between, and it seemed like they had allocated such a room in consideration of the two being engaged minors. ¡°Mr. Bayer, the guests who have arrived first are currently having a tea party. Would you like to participate in it?¡± At the butler¡¯s question, Jude turned to Cordelia who immediately nodded and used magic. [I wonder who¡¯s there.] Since it was a time where nobles from all over the country gathered to participate in the founding anniversary, the number of young prospects who would be attending the Banquet of Swords was also higher than before. [Maybe there¡¯s another yable character?] Among the yable characters from the S?len Kingdom, there was still Kajsa Ophand from the 7 southern families. [But Cordelia, doesn¡¯t Kajsa use an axe?] [That¡¯s true.] Kajsa Ophand. A youngdy from Marquis Ophand¡¯s family, one of the 7 northern families. She boasted of having the strongest physical ability among the 11 yable characters, and preferredrge weapons such as a halberd or battle axe. ¡°Her de is so light that it looks like a toothpick.¡± She likedrge weapons that could disy her full strength. It was a line in the game that clearly revealed the personality of Kajsa. However, she was sailing in the seas as a sailor of a private fleet, so she would not havee to the royal capital. And even if she hade to the royal capital, she would not have been invited to the Banquet of Swords. [But Jude.] [Yes.] [You¡¯re not a swordsman either.] He wore the Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword on his waist, but he didn¡¯t pull it out except when he used it for lethal moves. Jude just shrugged at that point that everyone had forgotten. [It¡¯s alright. Master is also a swordsman, but he doesn¡¯t use a sword. So I can be a swordsman without using a sword.] [Wow, that¡¯s quite an answer.] [Anyway, let¡¯s answer him. The way he¡¯s looking at us is getting weird.] At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia looked back at the servant and awkwardly smiled. In the eyes of the servant who did not know that they were using magic, Jude and Cordelia would have looked like a lovey-dovey couple who did not answer because they were busy flirting with just their eyes. ¡°We¡¯ll attend.¡± ¡°I understand. Please allow me to guide you there.¡± When the respectful butler spoke and began to take the lead, Jude slightly moved his arm towards Cordelia who naturally held Jude¡¯s arm. And a few minutester. The two came out of the annex and arrived at the garden entrance, and they saw a group of people having a tea party in the center of the garden. And among those people was someone who was very happy to see them. ¡°Lucas!¡± ¡°Lady Cordelia!¡± ¡°Lucas!¡± ¡°Lady Cordelia!¡± As Cordelia ran towards them, Lucas widely opened his eyes in surprise and stood up from his seat as he also ran the same way and stood in front of Cordelia. ¡°Lucas, you were also invited?¡± ¡°Yes, I was invited.¡± Lucas spoke with a big smile, and Cordelia suddenly opened her arms, making Lucas hesitate for a while before he lightly hugged Cordelia. And one, two, three. Jude finished their short hug by very naturally going behind Lucas¡¯ back and pulling Lucas¡¯ clothes. ¡°Lord Lucas.¡± At Jude¡¯s call in a subdued voice, Lucas turned around and widely opened his eyes in surprise again. ¡°Mr. Bayer?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve grown a bit taller, right?¡± Lucas nodded several times at Jude¡¯s words. Jude was previously much smaller than Lucas, but had now grown to a height that was almost level with their eyes, or to be exact, Jude was now slightly taller than Lucas. ¡°You really surprise me every time I see you.¡± ¡°It happened somehow.¡± Jude smiled and Cordelia drew closer to Lucas and added. ¡°Lucas, Lucas. He didn¡¯t just be tall, right?¡± At Cordelia¡¯s words, Lucas looked back at Jude and widened his eyes at one point. Because it was as Cordelia said. ¡®It¡¯s different.¡¯ He really didn¡¯t just be tall. Lucas didn¡¯t know on what had happened, but he could tell that Jude¡¯s body had undergone aplete transformation. ¡®It¡¯s like¡­he was reborn with a body fit for fighting.¡¯ His thought was correct. After his metamorphosis, Jude had been reborn with a body optimized for martial arts, or to be exact, for Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. ¡°Somehow, you¡¯ve somehow made some great progress.¡± Lucas spoke with an admiring face, and Jude slowly nodded. ¡°Yes, I was lucky. But¡­Lord Lucas has changed too.¡± Jude didn¡¯t say that topliment Lucas. Jude was not the only one who had significantly changed in just a month and 15 days. Lucas was also much stronger than before. ¡°You¡­can tell?¡± ¡°To be honest, I can tell somehow.¡± Lucas blushed in embarrassment at Jude¡¯s words before he said with a bright smile. ¡°I¡¯ve been training quite a bit.¡± ¡°A bit?¡± ¡°Actually, a lot.¡± ¡°To the point that the soles of your feet sweat?¡± Lucas nodded as Cordelia, who was listening to him, joked and cut in their conversation. ¡°Yes, I honestly trained so hard that I thought I might die. My father was also very motivated.¡± When Lucas¡¯ face was filled with confidence and pride, smiles spread across the faces of Cordelia and Jude. They were worried on what they should do if he was still in low spirits because of theirst sparring, but it seemed that Lucas had ovee it well and rather used it as a driving force for growth. ¡°Amazing. Our Lucas is amazing. This sister praises you a lot.¡± ¡°Haha, thank you.¡± Lucas replied with a shy smile, and Cordelia became more excited and tried to stroke Lucas¡¯ hair as she stood on tiptoes, but Jude quickly grabbed her hand and stopped her. ¡®Why?¡¯ At Cordelia¡¯s gaze, Jude pointed to the other men and women gathered at the tea party, and Cordelia flinched and hid her hand behind her back as she pretended to look elsewhere. ¡®Good.¡¯ Jude prevented the unnecessary skinship and also the situation that would embarrass Lucas and Cordelia. He then said as he turned to Lucas with a pleased face. ¡°Lord Lucas, may I ask you to introduce us to the other people?¡± ¡°Ah, of course. The joy of meeting you two was so great that I forgot about that for a moment.¡± Lucas immediately answered before he led Jude and Cordelia to the center of the garden where the tea party was being held. Chapter 159: Banquet of Swords (2)

Chapter 159: Banquet of Swords (2)

It¡¯s finally here! Terms used in this chapter: You can fold if you¡¯re scared ¨C A phrase that is used to mock someone. Ites from the Korean gambling movie, Tazza: The High Rollers. Fold is a poker term used when one gives up their cards at hand, but in Korea, ¡®fold¡¯ can be called ¡®die¡¯ too, so the phrase can be read as ¡®You can f*king die if you¡¯re scared.¡¯ There were about a dozen people sitting on severalrge tables, and most of them looked in curiosity at the three as Jude and Cordelia approached with Lucas at the lead. ¡°Let me introduce everyone to Mr. Jude Bayer from the family of Count Bayer who came from the north like me. The one next to him is his fianc¨¦e, Lady Cordelia Chase from the family of Count Chase.¡± ¡°I am Jude Bayer.¡± ¡°I am Cordelia Chase.¡± When Jude and Cordelia courteously introduced themselves, Lucas continued. ¡°Both of them are very skilled. Lady Cordelia is an excellent wizard from the Chase family known for their wizards, and Mr. Jude Bayer is¡­¡± That was it. Lucas stopped as he recalled that he had never seen Jude use a sword. Is Jude a swordsman? Isn¡¯t he a fist fighter? As the confused Lucas stopped talking, the young men and women gathered at the tea party looked at Lucas and Jude in puzzlement, and Jude softly smiled and lightly patted the Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword on his waist as he said in a low voice. ¡°I am a swordsman. My master, Landius, is also a swordsman.¡± ¡°Ah, yes. That¡¯s right.¡± Landius was also a swordsman, but he was never seen carrying a sword. It seemed like the disciple was walking a simr path like his master. ¡°Ahem, ahem. Let me introduce him again. This is Mr. Jude Bayer, an excellent swordsman and son of the Sword General, Count Bayer.¡± Lucas¡¯ introduction caused the young men and women to let out voices of awe and admiration. Because no swordsman in the S?len Kingdom who walked the path of the sword would not know the name of Count Bayer. ¡°By the way¡­ the ones in the rumors¡­ is it them?¡± When the young woman, who looked to be in her mid-teens and was sitting close to Lucas, shyly asked, various expressions appeared on everyone¡¯s faces. Rumor. The ones in those rumors. They were the main stars of the rumor that started from the north and spread to the royal capital, to the point that even the princess had heard of it. There was a young woman whose eyes were shining with curiosity. There was another young woman who stared at them in admiration. There was a young man who was doing his best to hold back hisughter, and there was also a young woman who looked at them in ridicule. Their expressions truly varied. ¡°Hahaha¡­ That¡­¡± Yes, that¡¯s true. Those rumors are true. As Lucasughed awkwardly since he couldn¡¯t just let out his thoughts, Cordelia¡¯s face turned red while Jude kept his usual shameless expression and stepped forward, hiding Cordelia from everyone¡¯s sight. ¡°Ahem, ahem, I am aware that there are some rumors about us. But¡­ some parts of it has been distorted.¡± ¡°Which part? Is it true that you two love each other so much that you eloped¡­ N-no, I-I mean, a honeymoon trip?¡± Asked the brown-haired young woman who was sitting next to Lucas and looked to be the youngest among everyone present in the tea party. Jude responded as smoothly as always to the question of the young woman, whose eyes were shining like Princess Darianne and even looking at them a little enviously. ¡°That part is true.¡± ¡°Oh my gosh.¡± A wide smile spread over the young woman¡¯s face, and everyone made various expressions again. A ck-haired young woman strangely flinched but kept her mouth shut. The blonde man beside her had a determined look as if he somehow made a resolution to himself. And a curly-haired young man slightly moved his body in his want to see Cordelia hiding behind Jude in more detail. Jude received their gazes with an expression that seemed to say that he had nothing to be ashamed of, and Cordelia tugged on Jude¡¯s clothes at that moment. It was a signal that he should stop talking nonsense and sort out the situation quickly. ¡°There are several unrevealed things, such as why we had to go on a trip. I apologize if I cannot talk about it here because it is rted to the security of the north.¡± ¡°Mr. Jude Bayer is correct. The two of them have made great contributions in the north.¡± ¡°Oh, that rumor?¡± ¡°Wasn¡¯t it just a rumor?¡± Lucas followed up after Jude, and whispering sounds among the guests were soon heard. They were those who had heard the story of Count Hr?svelgr and the Jackdaws marching into the wildnds. ¡°Ahem, ahem, let me finish my introductions. Mr. Bayer, Lady Cordelia, this is Lady Cana Glyce who is from the north like us.¡± ¡°I am Cana Glyce. It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you.¡± The brown-haired young woman slightly blushed as she politely greeted Jude and Cordelia. ¡°These two are Lady Rachel Bloom and Lord Marcus Chen from the north too.¡± They were the ck-haired young woman and the blonde-haired young man sitting at the same table as Cana. ¡°I am Rachel Bloom.¡± ¡°I am Marcus Chen.¡± Rachel quietly greeted while Marcus introduced himself with a somewhat excited face. ¡°And¡­¡± It was when Lucas was going to introduce the curly-haired young man with a frivolous expression. ¡°The northern bumpkins are excited.¡± The words were said in a low voice, but all of them heard it because the ce was quiet in the first ce. Lucas and the other prospects from the north turned to the direction where they heard the voicee from, and the owner of the voice and those sitting around that person received their gazes without any signs of embarrassment. ¡°What, did I say something wrong? The northern part is the countryside, so those who live in the north are country bumpkins.¡± A young man with gorgeous blonde hair who looked to be over 20 years old said with a shrug, and the group who sat around him giggled and burst intoughter. ¡°That¡¯s right, the north is the countryside.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be offended by his words. He just felt sorry for you guys.¡± ¡°Look at them talking loudly and getting excited to see each other.¡± ¡°There¡¯s a rumor going around that¡­people from the north are unscrupulous and brazen.¡± Every word they said was full of ridicule. Eventually, Lucas couldn¡¯t take it anymore and said as he red. ¡°Lord Lucian. You¡¯re going too far.¡± ¡°No, what¡­ But what I said is all true though? Isn¡¯t that right?¡± The gorgeous blonde man, Lucian, looked around and asked, and the prospects from the royal capital, who seemed to be part of his clique, nodded and agreed. But it was then. A ck-haired girl with an alluring appearance who was sitting next to Lucian said with a smile. ¡°Lord Lucian, don¡¯t be so mean. They¡¯re still children.¡± ¡°Hmm, I see. I guess that¡¯s why she could leave a letter like that. It seems I went too far.¡± A letter like that. The ck-haired girl nced at Cordelia and smiled, and Cordelia understood it right away. She had brought up those words now to make fun of Cordelia from the very beginning. ¡®F*ck?¡¯ When Cordelia managed to stop the swear word froming out of her mouth, Jude narrowed his eyes and studied Lucian and his clique. ¡®Lucian Dior.¡¯ The eldest son of Count Dior. A young man from a powerful family in the royal capital, and favored by Duke Wotan, one of the prominent figures among the aristocrats who was in the same rank as Duke Spencer. In the game, there was not much information about him because he only appeared for a short time, but Jude quickly understood the situation. ¡®He¡¯s trying to pick a fight.¡¯ The kind who lorded over others. He was like an alley boss who used this opportunity toy down thew to the prospects from the north. ¡®There¡¯s no mastermind behind him.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t some political plot but just an immature man¡¯s mischief. Jude knew those kind of people who were like Lucian. Those who grew up under their parent¡¯s prestige could easily be such an audacious bastard especially when they were born with little talent. Everything in the world would look insignificant to them. ¡°Lady Lorraine.¡± When Lucas raised his voice again, the ck-haired woman, Lorraine, said with wide open eyes. ¡°Oh my, are you mad at me now? Me?¡± When Lorraine asked again as her face instantly turned tearful, the innocent Lucas was flustered and left speechless, and Lucian¡¯s clique burst intoughter again. ¡°Isn¡¯t he really mean? Right, Lord Lucian?¡± ¡°Yes, Lucas is quite mean. I can¡¯t believe he raised his voice to my pretty Lorraine. That¡¯s not something a man should do.¡± As Lucian hugged Lorraine¡¯s waist, she leaned against Lucian and spoke very naturally. ¡°But do forgive him. He¡¯s still young.¡± ¡°Well, I guess I should. There¡¯s something called a senior¡¯s generosity.¡± ¡°How nice of you, Lord Lucian.¡± Lorraine said in a whisper, and Lucian jerked his chin to Lucas as if he really forgave Lucas. ¡°I¡¯ll forgive you for being mad at Lorraine, so why don¡¯t you sit down?¡± ¡°Ha.¡± Augh eventually came out of Lucas¡¯ mouth. His tolerance also had its limits. Lucas fiercelyughed and tried to draw out his sword. But it was at that moment. ¡°Let¡¯s stop there.¡± Jude spoke in a low voice as he put his hand on the back of Lucas¡¯ hand and dissuaded the other from pulling the sword. He then looked at Lucian. He thought that Lucian was simply a dirty bastard, but there was a rather clever side to him as well. Let Lucas draw the sword first. He would then draw his sword and defeat Lucas as if he couldn¡¯t help it, and im that Lucas was responsible because he drew his sword first, regardless of how it began. ¡®Of course, that¡¯s the story if that bastard can defeat Lucas.¡¯ It was clear that Lucian was quite skilled. He could tell from looking at Lucian¡¯s body that he had worked hard to train even if that didn¡¯t suit his personality. But that was it. His fate had already been sealed the moment he mocked Cordelia. ¡°Lord Lucian.¡± Jude smiled after he spoke, and Lucian slightly frowned. Because he instinctively sensed that Jude was different from Lucas or the other northern prospects. ¡°I understand that you are here for the Banquet of Swords. The Banquet of Swords has not yet officially begun¡­ so is there really a need to talk with such a loud and willful mouth?¡± His words were unexpected, but Jude was handsome. To the extent that his looks could be called ¡®iparable.¡¯ When Jude brightly smiled and said that, Lorraine was unconsciously mesmerized at him for a very short time, and Lorraine¡¯s reaction and Jude¡¯s words offended Lucian. ¡°So, let¡¯s have a match?¡± As Lucian scornfullyughed, Jude smiled again this time. After he said those few words, he added a phrase that was perfect in goading immature people like Lucian. ¡°If you¡¯re confident.¡± You can fold if you¡¯re scared. Jude smirked, and a smile spread on Lucas¡¯ face. Even the prospects from the south, who were a third party to this, found it to be interesting. ¡°Ha, why are country bumpkins like this?¡± Lucian shook his head as if he was dumbfounded before he got up from his seat. His well-trained body and 190 cm height was enough to make him look intimidating. ¡°Shall we do it here?¡± ¡°As I said before, if you¡¯re confident.¡± ¡°Country bumpkins from the countryside must be really stupid. Aren¡¯t you the guy who couldn¡¯t even move much because of his illness just half a year ago?¡± ¡°I think you¡¯re misunderstanding something right now, but Lord Lucian is a in noble without a single title. You¡¯re not a count. You¡¯re not even a duke.¡± Even counts had something like a level. The famous and influential counts in the royal capital weren¡¯t on the same level as the counts from the north. It was probably this reason why royal capital nobles like Lucian trampled on noble children from other ces many times. ¡®If the opponent wasn¡¯t Lucas or me, he would have acted more bluntly.¡¯ However, the two were from the 12 northern families. They were also the ten great swordmasters¡¯ children. So Lucian had to be cautious and only provoke the other side to draw their sword first. But what he wanted didn¡¯t happen. Lucian couldn¡¯t stand it anymore when Jude calmly told the truth without losing his smile. He left his seat and drew his sword. ¡°Let¡¯s do this.¡± Lucian red at Jude and said, causing a stir among the prospects from the royal capital. The enraged Lucian drew out a real sword, so they were somehow worried of a possible bloodshed. The prospects from the north were also worried and looked at Jude and Lucian alternatingly. Except for one ¨C Lucas. ¡®You must have a death wish, Lucian.¡¯ Lucas alone had a calm expression and even sat down, and various reactions urred again because of his calm attitude. ¡®Is it okay to not stop him?¡¯ ¡®Lord Lucas.¡¯ ¡®You¡¯re the strongest among us. Shouldn¡¯t you do something?¡¯ Those were the worries of the prospects from the north. ¡®Is he provoking us?¡¯ ¡®Maybe he gave up?¡¯ The prospects from the royal capital had different thoughts. Naturally, the prospects from the south also reacted. ¡®Can we make a bet?¡¯ ¡®Would they mind if we make bets?¡¯ And a prospect from the royal capital reacted again. Lorraine got up from her seat and approached Lucian. Because she knew better than anyone else here on how enraged her fianc¨¦, Lucian, was. ¡°Go easy on him. He¡¯s still a noble of the S?len Kingdom, right?¡± She reached out to Lucian as she spoke, and Lucian naturally hugged Lorraine¡¯s waist and kissed her in the lips. ¡°I will dedicate the victory of this duel to you, Lorraine.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll look forward to it.¡± Lucian regained hisposure to some extent, and Lorraine smiled as she went back to her seat. Everyone¡¯s eyes turned to Jude and Cordelia spontaneously, or to be precise, they turned to Cordelia. ¡®Will she do it?¡¯ It was the gaze of Cana Glyce, the youngest. ¡®Shouldn¡¯t she¡­do something like that too?¡¯ It was the calm yet somehow warm gaze of Rachel Bloom. ¡®Well, no one¡¯s forcing her.¡¯ Marcus Chen cleared his throat while the curly-haired young man who had yet to reveal his name gazed at Cordelia with expectation. Cordelia jumped at everyone¡¯s gazes at her and turned to Jude, who was staring at her with a calm expression. ¡®It¡¯s okay. It won¡¯t be long.¡¯ Jude spoke with his eyes and tried to step forward, but Cordelia reflexively grabbed the hem of Jude¡¯s clothes. ¡®Cordelia?¡¯ ¡®Wa-wait a minute.¡¯ Surprised by the fact that she grabbed Jude¡¯s clothes, Cordelia took a few deep breaths and looked up at Jude again. She looked into Jude¡¯s eyes and soon saw Jude¡¯s lips. She gulped and swallowed her saliva. ¡®Corde¡­lia?¡¯ Cordelia did not respond. She raised her head again to face Jude with a very red face, and bit her lips as she stood on tiptoe. She wrapped her arms around Jude¡¯s neck to lower his posture, and then closed her eyes and drew her face closer. A light kiss. Cordelia¡¯s lips lightly touched his cheek before she quickly pulled away her lips as if she was running away from shyness. But the atmosphere in the garden was clearly influenced by it, as it changed and became warm for a while. The prospects from the north and south all had simr smiles, and even the prospects from the royal capital were affected by the pink atmosphere for a moment. But Cordelia didn¡¯t see all of that. She didn¡¯t turn her head away, as she looked at Jude and whispered very quietly, instead of grumbling or saying that she was forced or hated it. ¡°D-do your best.¡± Do you understand? You must win, okay? Jude responded with action to her shy cheering. He lightly pressed his lips on the forehead of Cordelia, who waspletely caught off-guard. ¡°I¡¯ll be back.¡± Jude said, and Cordelia blinked as she realized on what had happened to her forehead. Not only her face but also her neck and ears turned red for a while, and she couldn¡¯t think of anything else. And Jude walked to Lucian. He smiled so brightly at Lucian who was angrily looking at him. ¡°Hey.¡± ¡°What? What¡¯s with the hey?¡± ¡°Ah, that. Thank you very much.¡± Really, really. Thank you very much. So. ¡°I¡¯ll go easy on you.¡± Originally, he was going to beat him half-way, but he¡¯d go really easy on him now. Jude gently touched his cheek and provocatively gestured at him with a happy smile, and Lucian couldn¡¯t bear it any longer and burst with anger. He rushed towards Jude. Chapter 160: Banquet of Swords (3)

Chapter 160: Banquet of Swords (3)

Terms used in this chapter: One who has tied the knot must untie it ¨C A saying that means whoever created the problem must be the one to solve it. An English equivalent would be ¡®You¡¯ve made your bed, now lie in it.¡¯ Throwing technique ¨C A Judo technique to unbnce one¡¯s opponent and throw them to the floor. One full point ¨C Also known as ¡®ippon,¡¯ it is a score given in judo when one executes a skillful throwing technique which results in one contestant being thrownrgely on the back with considerable force or speed. An ippon in judo is equivalent to a knockout punch in boxing. Lucian Dior. Born as the eldest son of Count Dior, he enjoyed all sorts of luxury and was the kind of man Jude had expected. He was a man with a bad personality, but was quite clever and had a natural talent for swords. But unlike those kind of bastards who whiled away their time in alcohol and women, he walked the path of the sword quite seriously. He devoted himself to training from early in the morning every day, and never stayed up all night even after drinking and ying games with his clique. His fianc¨¦e, Lorraine, highly praised Lucian¡¯s diligence which she found to be surprising, but there was actually one more reason why he was diligent. ¡®Fear.¡¯ If Lucian had to choose two things that left a deep impression in his life of more than 20 years, one was meeting his fianc¨¦e, Lorraine, and the other was his first meeting of ¡®a person higher and stronger than his father¡¯ when he was five years old. ¡®Duke Wotan.¡¯ Lucian was walking inside the mansion like always and happened to witness a conversation between his father and Duke Wotan, which greatly shocked him. Duke Wotan wasn¡¯t doing anything strange. Whatpletely surprised Lucian was his father, Count Dior. ¡®Father?¡¯ For the child Lucian, Count Dior was like a god. He held absolute power within the family, and always wielded that power to its utmost. Lucian had noticed that the maids, butlers, and even his mother always trembled in fear when they stood in front of such a father. Lucian liked such a father. He thought that someday, he would be like his father. Count Dior. His god-like father. But not that day. His father whose back was always straightened up, had bent it over like that of an old butler. He bowed his head repeatedly in subservience, smiled like a secretary, and tried to please Duke Wotan. And Lucian realized it that day. The fact that his father was not a god, and that his son, Lucian himself, was also not a god. The fact that there were stronger and greater people in the world. That was why unlike other bastards, Lucian looked at his opponents differently and cleverly used his head. He knew it. He knew so well that neither he nor his father were gods that could do whatever they wanted. After witnessing that shocking sight, Lucian began to make an effort in his training. Because he was very scared. He had to be strong. He must continue to stand in the position of the strong one. In order to not be left behind by greater beings than him such as Duke Wotan, he must be someone skilled. He must have the ability to reign over things that were equal or inferior to himself. Lucian¡¯s original personality didn¡¯t change. He still liked to bully the weak and used that to boost his ego. He constantly wanted to confirm that he was still strong. ¡®The ten great swordmasters¡¯ children.¡¯ They weren¡¯t just children of great swordmasters, but also children of those who upied a ce in the 12 northern families. Lucian instinctively felt a sense of crisis. So he thought like he usually did. He had to beat them. He must hold the dominant position. And¡­ And. ¡®How nice would it feel?¡¯ If he beat those people. If he could instill to those people, who have lived thinking that they were strong, of the fact that they were actually weak. But when he first saw Lucas, he couldn¡¯t make any hasty moves. Because Lucas Hr?svelgr wasn¡¯t someone he could easily offend. ¡®Margrave.¡¯ He was the first child of Count Hr?svelgr who led the Jackdaws. Even if Count Dior was favored by Duke Wotan, the Hr?svelgr family wasn¡¯t a family he could thoughtlessly offend. If that was the case, he had to win with his own abilities in the end, but that wasn¡¯t easy either. ¡®Lucas Hr?svelgr.¡¯ A sword genius whose name was known even in the royal capital. Lucas was still four years younger than him, but he didn¡¯t think he would lose. But he didn¡¯t think he could easily win either. But new faces then appeared at the tea party. Jude Bayer and Cordelia Chase. There were rumors about them in the royal capital like Lucas, but the content of the rumors werepletely different. One was a sword genius. The other was about two young people who were crazily in love and eloped. But it wasn¡¯t only that. Unlike Cordelia who was quite healthy, Jude had suffered from an illness that he couldn¡¯t go out much until half a year ago. ¡®Easy.¡¯ He could beat Jude as much as he wanted to. So he immediately picked a fight with the other. Even if Lucas had drawn his sword, Lucian was determined to goad Jude into a match through provocation. ¡®I want to see it.¡¯ To see that handsome face be wrecked into a mess. When it came to their looks, Cordelia Chase wasparable to Lorraine ¨C no, she was even better looking than his fianc¨¦e, and he wanted to see such Cordelia cry as she realize that her beloved was actually a weak idiot. As he felt thrilled by his sadistic thoughts, Lucian provoked them even harder, and Lucas drew his sword as he expected. But it went wrong after that. ¡®Cocky bastard.¡¯ Jude Bayer. It was obvious that Jude didn¡¯t know much about the world yet. It was obvious that Jude was like him in his childhood, not knowing that there was a heaven above the sky. Then he had to teach Jude. How lowly his existence was. The purpose of the Banquet of Swords was to broaden one¡¯s horizons, so he would teach Jude once as his senior. As he charged towards Jude, the word ¡®defeat¡¯ did not exist in Lucian¡¯s mind. He only dreamed of winning and scorning the weak like always. And¡­ ¡°Huh?¡± At the moment he first swung his sword, Lucian unwittingly let out a word in surprise. Because when he tried to immediately strike Jude with his sword, Jude evaded it, so nothing happened. ¡°Oops, I forgot one thing.¡± Lucian¡¯s eyes turned sharp when Jude retreated more than ten steps in an instant and slyly smiled before speaking. Because it was the first time he had seen that considerable level of footwork technique. ¡°Lord Lucian, let¡¯s make a promise.¡± ¡°Promise? What promise?¡± ¡°If Lord Lucian loses, he would kneel and apologize to Cordelia. Together with Lady Lorraine. With sincerity.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°To begin with, this match started because Lord Lucian arrogantly mocked and shamed Cordelia. As the saying goes, one who has tied the knot must untie it, so shouldn¡¯t Lord Lucian be the one to put an end to it?¡± ¡°Crazy b*stard.¡± Lucian cursed, and the prospects from the royal capitalughed out loud while the prospects from the south found the current situation to be interesting. But the prospects from the north thought. ¡®No, weren¡¯t we insulted too?¡¯ ¡®Weren¡¯t we the first ones to be shamed?¡¯ But that didn¡¯t matter to Jude. What mattered to Jude was Cordelia. ¡°Would you like to make a promise?¡± ¡°What if you lose then?¡± ¡°I will prostrate myself in front of Lord Lucian and Lady Lorraine. I¡¯ll apologize for acting arrogant.¡± ¡°No, you alone is not enough. Your fianc¨¦e should be with you.¡± ¡°Crazy son of a b*tch, I thought I¡¯d cut you some ck, but you must be desperate to die, huh?¡± ¡°W-what?¡± ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s make a promise, okay?¡± When Jude let out curses and then asked him with a smug smile, Lucian was taken aback before heughed. One could onlyugh if they found something to be so ridiculous, and that was exactly what happened to him. ¡°Crazy son of a b*tch, I¡¯ll beat you to a pulp.¡± ¡°If you can.¡± At that moment, Lucian made up his mind. He had thought of teaching Jude a lesson moderately, but that wasn¡¯t enough now. He should at least put a cut on Jude¡¯s face. ¡°You brought it upon yourself.¡± ¡°Yes, you brought it upon yourself.¡± Jude grinned again, and Lucian kicked the ground. And this time, Jude did not avoid it. And right after that. When Lucian¡¯s lightning-fast sword lunged at Jude. ¡°Huh?¡± Lucian let out a surprised voice again. But this time, it was different from before. Lucian found himself flying in the air. To be exact, he found his head falling downwards to the ground. Throwing technique. At the moment Lucian lunged at him, Jude narrowed the distance at once with Twenty-Four Gale Steps. He grabbed Lucian¡¯s right hand that held the sword that thrust at him, and immediately did the throwing technique. He used his strength to flip Lucian over his head. And right after that again. When Lucian realized that the positions of the sky and ground had reversed. Lucian didn¡¯t fall to the ground headfirst. Just before his head touched the ground, the sky and ground changed positions again. Something supported the back of his neck, so he only fell to the floor on his back. ¡°Ah.¡± And he realized it. What touched the back of his neck was the top of Jude¡¯s foot. Jude had brought his foot to the back of Lucian¡¯s neck after the throwing technique to prevent Lucian¡¯s head from falling headfirst to the ground. ¡°One full point.¡± Jude smiled and said, prompting the voices of those who were watching at that moment. Confusion, awe, and fear. ¡°What- what happened?¡± ¡°Did he throw Lucian behind his head?¡± ¡°No, he supported Lucian with his foot at the end, I think? So that Lucian wouldn¡¯t fall headfirst? Is that even possible?¡± They honestly didn¡¯t see it properly. Jude had moved closer to Lucian as he grabbed Lucian¡¯s arm, and moved his foot after he turned over Lucian in an instant. ¡®As expected of Mr. Jude.¡¯ Lucas was the only one here who saw all of Jude¡¯s movements, and he was impressed and amazed. Because Jude¡¯s physical abilities were truly superhuman. ¡®It¡¯s not just that.¡¯ Lucian¡¯s swordy was real. His thrust was not something that Lucas himself could take lightly. But Jude not only correctly read the attack but also used it. ¡®It sends chills up my spine.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t just because he admired Jude¡¯s superhuman abilities. There was another reason. ¡°Stand up, let¡¯s keep going.¡± Jude told Lucian, who was lying on the floor with a stunned expression. Then Lucian started sweating buckets and quickly stood up, widening his distance from Jude as if he was running away. And he realized it. The reason why he was sweating buckets. The reason why he was scared. ¡®He could have kicked me with his feet.¡¯ Jude could have just kicked him instead of supporting the back of Lucian¡¯s head with his foot. And if he had did that¡­if that really happened¡­ No, it was a vicious idea to try to kick your opponent¡¯s head as it would kill them in the first ce. ¡®Duke Wotan.¡¯ Jude was Duke Wotan. Lucian himself was a strong man, but he was helpless against Jude. Lucian had realized that, so he couldn¡¯t move. ¡°Lord Lucian?¡± ¡°Lucian?¡± Each of the prospects from the royal capital called out to him from behind his back. Lorraine¡¯s voice was included among them, but Lucian couldn¡¯t respond to them. He found it impossible to look away from Jude for a moment. He was afraid. Lucian himself was like a frog in front of a snake. Jude slightly narrowed his eyes at Lucian¡¯s reaction. And he decided to be a little generous to Lucian. ¡®Because he¡¯s my benefactor too.¡¯ Jude touched his cheek once before speaking in a lowered voice to Lucian who had turned pale. ¡°Lord Lucian, don¡¯t let me draw my sword.¡± In truth, Jude would immediately be weaker if he drew his sword, but Cordelia was the only one who knew that. Jude¡¯s warning was very effective. He was already very strong with his bare hands, so what would happen if he even drew his sword? The prospects who were watching swallowed hard, and Lucian bowed his head. ¡°I lost. I-It¡¯s my loss.¡± When Lucian dered his defeat in low spirits, Jude turned to Lorraine instead of answering him. He smiled as he looked at her flinching. Fulfill your promise. Apologize and regret mocking Cordelia with your cocky mouths. Jude¡¯s gaze was firm, and Lorraine was unable to endure it. She couldn¡¯t even bite her lips properly as she walked towards Lucian. Because they had to kneel in front of Cordelia together. It was an unexpected humiliation, but a promise was a promise. ¡®How surprising, so they still know how to be courteous?¡¯ Or do they want to save their faces that much? Either way, Jude was satisfied. ¡®Because the Banquet of Swords has just begun.¡¯ Did you think this alone would forgive you for your sin of insulting Cordelia? In addition, you spoke ill of Lucas. Did you think I¡¯ll only stop at an apology? Jude brightly smiled and now turned to look at Cordelia whom he had deliberately avoided looking at earlier. Since he was very curious on what kind of expression she would make. ¡®They¡¯re trembling a bit.¡¯ But he didn¡¯t think much about it. Jude cleared his throat as he faced Cordelia before he unconsciouslyughed. Because Cordelia was just standing there nkly as her eyes blinked. ¡®She¡¯s lost in her thoughts.¡¯ It was the expression Cordelia always made when she began to think deeply, or to be exact, when she fell into her senseless delusions alone. ¡®What are you thinking?¡¯ He was curious and wanted to know what she was thinking, but he was also a bit scared to know about it. Unaware of Jude¡¯s thoughts and emotions, Cordelia was still struggling in her delusions. ¡®What? What, what, what was that?¡¯ Cordelia, you yourself ki-ki-kissed him on the cheek, so it shouldn¡¯t be a big deal. The two over there had kissed, so we had to match them. In other countries, kissing on the cheek was a way to greet close friends. ¡®That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right. Jude and I are close.¡¯ He¡¯s also my fianc¨¦, right? So this is eptable. It¡¯s nothing to worry about. ¡®When I said do your best¡­that was just to cheer for him, right?¡¯ Yes, yes, to cheer for him. It¡¯s natural to tell him to do his best since I was rooting for him. She actually didn¡¯t even think that Jude would lose, but she also knew of Jude and his opponent¡¯s gap, so she honestly wondered if he really needed her cheering. But she still had to cheer for him. Because I don¡¯t want to see Jude losing. I want him to win. Unnie keep showing me strange things, so my heart sometimes pound when I see Jude. ¡®N-no, not this. Anyway!¡¯ I just kissed him on the cheek generously and told him to do his best. Her face didn¡¯t turn red, and she was indifferent and cool about it, like those cool beauties she saw in movies. But. But. ¡®What? What, what, what was that?¡¯ Jude pressed his lips on her forehead. It was only for a short moment, but she definitely felt it. She felt like her forehead was on fire at that moment. ¡®What was that? Does he really like me? Does he like me?¡¯ But he did it on my forehead? What does it mean? ¡®N-no. In the first ce, I also kissed him on the cheek because of everyone¡¯s gazes on me, right? It could be the same for Jude. No, it¡¯s highly likely that it¡¯s the reason he did that.¡¯ That¡¯s right, so rx. Let¡¯s rx, Cordelia. You shouldn¡¯t misunderstand and think otherwise for no reason. So stop. You don¡¯t want to lose to Jude again, right? The person who falls in love first loses! ¡®What am I thinking now?¡¯ This is so confusing me that I don¡¯t know what I¡¯m thinking about. Isn¡¯t it Jude¡¯s job to think in the first ce! Anyway, Cordelia was struggling and lost in her thoughts, so it took her longer than expected to notice the scene happening in front of her eyes. ¡°Excuse me, Lady Cordelia?¡± ¡°Lady Cordelia!¡± ¡°Eh?!¡± Cordelia unknowingly uttered a strange sound and faltered as she stepped back, and it was only then that she saw Lucian and Lorraine kneeling in front of her. ¡®What, why are they doing this? What in the world did Jude do?¡¯ Cordelia hurriedly looked for Jude as she turned her head, and she was able to find Jude who was doing his best to suppress hisughter. ¡®I knew it, this crazy b*stard!¡¯ Look, look at himughing. After he left these people feeling troubled! And he¡¯s trying to make me feel troubled this time too! ¡°Excuse me¡­ Lady Cordelia?¡± ¡°Eh? Uh, yes.¡± Cordelia quickly responded to Lucas¡¯ call, and turned to Lucian and Lorraine again. Something must have happened to make Lucian¡¯s expression turn really pale. It seemed to her that Jude had threatened him. ¡®Whatever.¡¯ Because they were vicious. Cordelia clicked her tongue before she smiled again at Lucian and Lorraine, who apologized to her for their rudeness. ¡°Okay. I ept your apologies. You can stand up now.¡± It was the difference between Jude and Cordelia. Eventually, Lucian and Lorraine stood up from their kneeling position at the kind words of Cordelia, who felt like a real angel, and everyone who watched them, including the prospects from the royal road, had warm expressions. ¡°Whew.¡± Cordelia exhaled a little and looked again towards Jude. She was able to stop her delusions because of that disturbance, but her strange feelings still remained, so she unconsciously made a shy expression. But Jude did not face such Cordelia. He definitely wanted to see Cordelia¡¯s reactions, but at the present moment, he had to look elsewhere. ¡®He¡¯sing.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t just because of Cordelia that Jude did not beat Lucian halfway. There was another reason why he showed his ability for a short moment instead of taking Lucian lightly. That person had been watching them since themotion had begun. And that person had begun to approach them only after themotion was over. ¡°The Sword Saint of Light.¡± The man who was called the First Sword because he was the strongest at the Sword School. Rhun Froud, a member of the ten great swordmasters. With his long dark blue hair, he came towards them from the side. He stared at Jude with an interested look, and Jude smiled at him. ¡®Let¡¯s begin.¡¯ To change the story. For a perfect happy ending. Jude looked at Cordelia, and she turned to Rhun Froud after snorting at Jude. Together with Jude, they greeted the Sword Saint of Light. Chapter 161.1 – Banquet of Swords (4)

Chapter 161.1 ¨C Banquet of Swords (4)

Only half a chapter today, not because the chapter is long, but because I spent too much time ying Genshin due to the new events released today, hahaha. In Pleaides, there were several titlesmonly used by the entire continent. Great swordmaster, a title referring to a swordsman who had reached the top. Archwizard, a title for a 6-stars or higher wizard. The great swordmasters in the S?len Kingdom were ten in number. They were called the Ten Great Swordmasters. Masters of the sword that the S?len Kingdom were proud of. There were all strong. It was not an exaggeration to say that they were considered as tactical weapons in war, and were superhumans who had surpassed the limits of a normal human. But that didn¡¯t mean all of them were the same. There were those who were superior even among the Ten Great Swordmasters. ¡®But they cannot ascertain or prove on who is more superior.¡¯ The reason why was simple. Because the use of the most reliable verification method was prohibited. ¡®The Ten Great Swordmasters cannot fight against each other.¡¯ Each and every one of the Ten Great Swordmasters were valuable tactical weapons. The damage would be seriously tremendous if any of them were lost. ¡®The Ten Great Swordmasters are superhumans.¡¯ If they had a match to determine on who was stronger, and both sides did their best in the fight, one side was bound to be crushed. They would be destroyed. ¡®Because of this reason, it became impossible to directly rank the Ten Great Swordmasters.¡¯ But people did not give up. After all, it was human instinct to rank those who were stronger. ¡®Sword Saint.¡¯ This term referred to swordsmen who had reached the stage of the so-called ¡®bing one with the sword,¡¯ and was particrly used for outstanding great swordmasters. There were only three among the Ten Great Swordmasters who held the title of Sword Saint, and the number of sword saints in the whole continent had never exceeded ten. ¡®Rhun Froud.¡¯ The Sword Saint of Light. A monster of the sword, who at a young age, rose to the position of great swordmaster and eventually, a sword saint in his early thirties. He was the strongest swordsman in the Sword School, the pride of Duke Spencer, and it was for this reason that he was called the First Sword as he ranked first in swordsmanship in the Sword School. ¡®Some say that he¡¯s the strongest among the Ten Great Swordmasters, but¡­¡¯ That was still something unknown. Fights among the Ten Great Swordmasters were forbidden. ¡®Even in the game, none of the Ten Great Swordmasters fought with each other.¡¯ But if Jude had to give a reason on why he wanted to know on what was unknown, and excluded a bit of his own interest in it, the reason would be¡­ ¡®Because my father belonged to the Ten Great Swordmasters.¡¯ Count Bayer. A swordsman who was a great swordmaster. Jude unknowingly made a bitter smile and saw what was in front of him again. Before he knew it, their distance from Rhun Froud had narrowed. ¡®The Sword Saint of Light.¡¯ A handsome man with long dark blue hair who seemed to havee out of a beautiful painting. But he didn¡¯t have a beautiful face that could be mistaken for a woman like the Ghostde Kamael. Neither was he a cheerful guy with a masculine and bold appearance like Landius. To describe him, he was a handsome man with a sharp look. However, he didn¡¯t give off a cold impression because of his business smile and the yfulness that lingered in his eyes. Rather, Rhun Froud was like the neighborhood older guy one was familiar with. ¡°Yo!¡± He approached them like those good-for-nothing neighborhood guys as he slightly raised his hand and greeted them, gathering the attention of everyone who were looking elsewhere. ¡°Nice to meet you all.¡± It could be said that First Sword¡¯s sudden appearance and greeting confused the prospects from the north and south, but not for the prospects from the royal capital. Because they already knew that the man who had just appeared in front of them was none other than Rhun Froud, the Sword Saint of Light. ¡°I greet the Sword Saint of Light.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet the Sword Saint of Light.¡± As the prospects from the center courteously greeted him almost at the same time, the prospects from the north and south also hurriedly rose from their seats and respectfully greeted him. For those who walked the path of the sword, the Ten Great Swordmasters were people they envied, but among these great swordmasters, the First Sword was special. ¡®Because he is young.¡¯ He achieved the title of great swordmaster much earlier than others, and even climbed to the position of sword saint. A young genius. He was a person who shined like his nickname ¡®Sword Saint of Light.¡¯ And he was a very handsome guy too. Like young fans who had met the idol singer they admired, all the prospects looked at him with sparkling eyes and blushing faces, and some of them even felt dizzy. But Jude didn¡¯t act like that. The same was true for Cordelia. And that fact once again stimted First Sword¡¯s curiosity. He brightly smiled as he walked past Lucian, who didn¡¯t know what to do and was wondering if he should talk to the First Sword or walk away. ¡®Here hees.¡¯ First Sword. The key solution they needed to prevent the genocide of the royal family. ¡®We need to get close to him.¡¯ They did not need to control the First Sword. They only needed one thing from him. They needed the First Sword to attend the founding celebration. In the game, he was not present at the ball, so they needed to somehow make him stay in the royal pce now. That was enough. ¡®Of course, it would be nice if he helped us further.¡¯ The best scenario was to have the First Sword defeat the Lord Protector. So Jude made a friendly smile, but it was only for a short moment. His eyes soon turned ice-cold unknowingly. Because the First Sword who was walking towards Jude had suddenly turned to Cordelia. ¡°Your beauty is truly like that of a rose. I am called Rhun Froud. May I know mdy¡¯s name?¡± First Sword gently kissed the back of Cordelia¡¯s hand and smiled softly, making Cordelia blush a bit. Even if his lines were nothing but foolish remarks, First Sword¡¯s handsome face and sweet voice made his words sound beautiful, and it was the first time Cordelia had received this kind of greeting from a man other than Jude. ¡®Come to think of it, why is this my first time?¡¯ I¡¯m the daughter of a count, right? At the time Cordelia was lost in her thoughts again¡­ ¡°I am Jude Bayer from the family of Count Bayer. This is Lady Cordelia Chase, my fianc¨¦e.¡± When Jude suddenly stood next to Cordelia and greeted naturally, Cordelia blinked her eyes before she widely smiled. ¡°I am Cordelia Chase from the family of Count Chase. It¡¯s an honor to meet the Sword Saint of Light.¡± Jude had told her that they had to get close to the First Sword. So Cordelia thought that she should do what she could. When she responded with a bright smile, First Sword broadly smiled again and then turned to Jude before he lightlyughed. ¡°Sorry, sorry. I¡¯ve also heard of the rumors. You could say I wanted to tease you a bit? Of course, Lady Cordelia was so beautiful¡­ I really thought she was an angel from heaven, so I wanted to talk to her.¡± At First Sword¡¯s words, the prospects also lightlyughed as if they found it funny, and Judeughed too as he thought. ¡®It will be difficult.¡¯ To be friends with him. No, it will be easy to get acquainted to him, but that¡¯s it. ¡°Hahaha, please do forgive me. The love you two shared for each other was so great that rumors of it had even spread to the royal capital. I was quite impressed.¡± ¡°Thank¡­you.¡± ¡°Hahaha¡­thank you.¡± Jude and Cordelia answered a bit awkwardly, and First Sword took a step back instead of pushing his teasing further. As a great swordmaster, he was well-aware of the importance of not overdoing it. ¡°There are actually a lot of reasons on why I¡¯m interested. But since your situation has ended up like this, how about I resolve this first? So that you won¡¯t have to go through anything like this again.¡± He finished his words with a wink, and turned to the prospects before Jude and Cordelia could say anything. ¡°My young friends, all of us who have gathered here are prospects who are talented in the sword, except for Lady Cordelia here. Generally speaking, this is a bit strange, right?¡± Some of the prospects eximed in agreement with the First Sword. Because when they thought about it, he was right. Everyone who were invited to the Banquet of Swords was a swordsman, and among those swordsmen, only prospects whose talents were recognized had been invited. There had never been a case where a fianc¨¦e of a prospect was invited, and Duke Spencer was not the kind of person who would ept uninvited guests without a proper reason. ¡°Then why did this happen? Why was Lady Cordelia invited by Duke Spencer?¡± At the words of the First Sword who talked like a storyteller in the street, the prospects looked at each other. Lorraine, Lucian¡¯s fianc¨¦e, was a swordswoman. She was also an excellent swordswoman who was promising enough to be invited to the Banquet of Swords. Then why was Cordelia here? Just as the First Sword said, why was she, a wizard, here? ¡°Lady Cordelia, have you started practicing swordsmanship?¡± When Lucas asked with his eyes wide open, the prospects around Lucas turned to him, wondering on what he was saying. They would indeed act like that because Cordelia was a wizard. ¡®Is the Banquet of Swords a joke?¡¯ ¡®I know that Lord Lucas has a bit of a stupid side, but this is a little¡­¡¯ Everyone looked at Lucas badly, but Lucas was serious. ¡®Because Lady Cordelia is abat genius.¡¯ He had already witnessed that talent in the Witch¡¯s Forest. With that much talent, it would have been possible for her to be a great swordswoman. ¡°Lady Cordelia?¡± ¡°N-no. I haven¡¯t learned swordsmanship yet.¡± She had only learned footwork techniques and bare-handed fighting from Jude. Cordelia denied it, and Lucas fell into thought again. First Sword then smiled and pped his hands to draw everyone¡¯s attention to him again. ¡°I would love to see Lady Cordelia as a beautiful female swordsman, but that¡¯s for ater story. First of all, there is a reason on why she was invited.¡± First Sword said and suddenly turned to Jude who nodded his head. Because he kind of knew what the First Sword would say. ¡°I¡¯ll talk about it since the parties involved have given their permission. Jude and Cordelia here have made a very big contribution. Thanks to the Seven-Colored Herb that they helped obtain, His Excellency, Duke Spencer, was freed from his longtime chronic illness. In other words, Mr. Jude Bayer and Lady Cordelia Chase are His Excellency, the Duke of Spencer¡¯s guests. They¡¯re also friends of Princess Darianne. If I may add to this¡­ His Excellency, Duke Spencer, is also thinking of personally backing the two.¡± At his yfully said words, the prospects were unable tough or talk like before. The meritorious deeds that Jude and Cordelia had done. Their acquaintance with Princess Darianne. In addition, the personal backing of Duke Spencer. Duke Spencer was famous for not forgetting to repay the ingratitude done by his enemies. He was someone who paid back ten times more. If Duke Spencer felt indebted to Jude and Cordelia, then they could no longer say anything. ¡®We touched them wrong.¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s a relief that they¡¯re okay, right?¡¯ The prospects from the royal capital looked back at Lucian, and Lucian and Lorraine looked pale as they had simr thoughts. If they had crushed a guest Duke Spencer had brought in as his benefactor, if they had made a cut on his face as originally nned¡­ ¡°Aren¡¯t you d that Mr. Jude Bayer is strong?¡± First Sword said with a smile, but his eyes were not smiling. Lucian barely nodded with a pale face, and First Sword looked back at Jude. ¡°Now, I¡¯ve resolved it.¡± ¡°¡­Thank you.¡± Jude answered with a fairly exhausted face, and First Sword smiled again. ¡°Cornwell had said to me. He met someone really talented. So I asked him, ¡®Did you see him fight?¡¯, and he said no, so I kicked him on the butt. But now I know. Why Cornwell said that.¡± First Sword¡¯s eyes did not smile again this time. His smart-looking brown eyes was seen under his dark blue hair. Just as Landius recognized Jude¡¯s talent at a nce, First Sword also recognized Jude¡¯s talent. Furthermore, unlike the time when Jude encountered Landius, Jude had now opened the fifth door and even undergone metamorphosis. ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe that until half a year ago, you were suffering from Gueumjulmaek.¡± First Sword spoke as if he was talking to himself, and before Jude and Cordelia could even say anything, he took the initiative and opened his arms wide, turning around exaggeratedly as he said. ¡°Anyway, the Banquet of Swords begins now. In the first ce, the Banquet of Swords was designed to broaden the experience of young prospects. So don¡¯t get involved in useless stuff and try to learn as much as you can in tomorrow¡¯s tournament. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Yes! We understand!¡± ¡°We ept the First Sword¡¯s words.¡± When some of the prospects loudly answered but not at the same time, the satisfied First Sword turned to Jude. ¡°The Banquet of Swords had been held again after several years because of the duke¡¯s health recovering. Moreover, nobles from all over the country have gathered because of the founding anniversary this time. This will probably be the best Banquet of Swords ever in terms of size. That is why I heard that the tournament prize they have prepared is great.¡± The prospects here weren¡¯t the only ones attending the Banquet of Swords. Some prospects had yet to arrive, while others were resting in their rooms instead of joining the tea party. ¡°There¡¯s a lot of good things that you¡¯ll want, and it¡¯s not just the 1st prize, so don¡¯t give up in advance. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Yes! We understand!¡± First Sword nodded in satisfaction upon hearing the answers that were more unified than before, and he looked at Jude again and said. ¡°See you then tomorrow, Super Rookie.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll see you tomorrow too.¡± ¡°See you tomorrow.¡± Jude and Cordelia reflexively answered, and First Sword smiled again before he turned around and left the garden. Although he was the Sword Saint of Light, he was a man that felt like a gale blowing wildly. ¡®Today was mentally draining.¡¯ ¡®I agree.¡¯ Jude and Cordelia briefly exchanged nces, and the chaotic tea party eventually ended. Chapter 161.2 – Banquet of Swords (4)

Chapter 161.2 ¨C Banquet of Swords (4)

Here¡¯s the umm¡­other half (?) of episode 161. As for the next chapter, I don¡¯t want to split it into two again, so please expect it by tomorrow. Because of Genshin again. I¡¯m seriously bad at tower defense games, so it¡¯s going to take me some time to adjust and get some decent scores for it. If all else fails, I¡¯ll just rely on coop, hahaha. Terms used in this chapter: Honey is dripping down ¨C Something that is too sweet. Usually refers to couples who act so sweet with each other. The word ¡®honey¡¯ in Korean can also be read as ¡®sweet¡¯, so it can also be interpreted in English as ¡®sweetness that is overflowing.¡¯ And that night. All the prospects attending the Banquet of Swords were gathered together and ate dinner. It was indeed a luxurious dinner that matched its name of a ¡®banquet,¡¯ but most of the prospects went back to their rooms after eating enough except for some prospects withrge appetites. Because they were nervous about the most important part of the Banquet of Swords, a tournament between the prospects, which would start tomorrow. ¡°Then we¡¯ll see you tomorrow.¡± Jude and Cordelia greeted Lucas before they headed straight to their rooms like the others, and finished bathing with the help of the maids. And after they ate and took a bath. The two maids courteously bowed in front of Jude and Cordelia who had changed into pajamas. ¡°We hope you have a good night.¡± ¡°Uh¡­good night to the two of you too.¡± The maids perfectly greeted them politely like the maids of a duke, and they gently smiled at Cordelia¡¯s greeting before they quietly left the room. And a few secondster. After the door was closed with a soft thud, only the two, Jude and Cordelia, were left in the room. They were sitting besides each other on arge sofa. ¡®What, what is this atmosphere?¡¯ I ate well and even took a bath in warm water, so I just need to sleep now. I should just say good night like always and then go to bed. But it¡¯s strange. For some strange reason, my mouth won¡¯t open. Why? What¡¯s going on? No, why is it so awkward in the first ce? It¡¯s not the first time for us to be alone together. We usually slept in the same room every day in the wildnds and on our way to the royal capital. Cordelia swallowed hard unconsciously, and Jude responded to the sound of her swallowing. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Huh? Uh, what?¡± Cordelia answered in a hurry as she turned to Jude, and finally realized why it was so awkward. Because that happened today. It was such a big issue that she couldn¡¯t just think it was nothing. Cordelia looked at Jude¡¯s cheek. His cheeks were smooth and fair like always. Perhaps because of the metamorphosis, his clear and soft skin was like the skin of a baby. My lips touched there. How did it feel? I didn¡¯t think much of that. But afterwards, a hot feeling emerged as if I was being burned. Jude¡¯s lips. My own forehead. ¡®Ueueueue¡­¡¯ What was Jude thinking then? I did it because I had to root for Jude. Because I had to meet everyone¡¯s expectations then. Well, anyway, I had a lot of reasons for doing it, but what about Jude? Was it on impulse? To show off how much we love each other? ¡®Ah.¡¯ She stepped on andmine at that moment. You mean, we love each other? It¡¯s not like that. It¡¯s not like that yet. Cordelia¡¯s head began to be feverish, and because of that, her fantasies continued over and over again to the point she was unaware of what she was saying in her mind. Why? Why did he put his lips on my forehead? Does Jude like me, like what I thought for a moment during the day? ¡®Should I¡­just ask?¡¯ I can just stare at him and not say anything. Then he¡¯ll figure it out and give me an answer. ¡®But what if he says it¡¯s not?¡¯ Is there anything more embarrassing in the world than that? ¡®That¡¯s right, it¡¯s Jude we¡¯re talking about and not anyone else.¡¯ He teased me so much every time the rankings were revealed. It¡¯s obvious that he¡¯ll tease me every day if I ask him now. ¡®Eueue¡­ Is there no other way?¡¯ There must be a way to check it. There must be a way to feel or catch that feeling. ¡®Should I do it again?¡¯ Wouldn¡¯t I know if I do it again? But what excuse should I give? ¡®G-good night?¡¯ That¡¯s too irrational. I don¡¯t think that will work. ¡°Cordelia.¡± There should be something else, something more natural¡­ ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Eh?!¡± He was right in front of her. Startled by Jude¡¯s face close to hers, Cordelia pulled back her body and Jude said with a worried face. ¡°Are you okay? Your face is red.¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­yes. I¡¯m okay. Haha, it¡¯s just hot today.¡± Cordelia awkwardlyughed and tried to open her mouth to say good night as she thought of running away to the bedroom quickly. But the problem was that she made eye contact with Jude. Jude smiled after reading Cordelia¡¯s thoughts, and made a new move. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°It¡¯s been some time since you¡¯ve cleaned my ears, so can you do it?¡± ¡°Eh? N-now?¡± ¡°Yes, now. And it¡¯s too early for us to sleep. We need to talk about First Sword. We also need to talk about the Banquet of Swords tomorrow, of course.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± They came here in the first ce to meet First Sword. ¡°He said that the tournament prize was great, right? I¡¯m looking forward to it. Since it¡¯s the Banquet of Swords, will it be a sword? What swords are rted to Duke Spencer?¡± Cordelia¡¯s gamer brain began to work, and she spoke fervently instead of her earlier shyness, and Jude spontaneously smiled at that. He somehow thought that this was so like Cordelia. ¡°Anyway, can I ask you to clean it?¡± ¡°Hmm, okay. Since I agreed to it.¡± Cordelia calmly replied and used her telekic power to get her bag on the table and take out the ear pick. She tapped on herp and said. ¡°Lie down.¡± ¡°Yes, Madam.¡± Jude immediately answered and lied down on his side as he put his head on Cordelia¡¯sp. It was something familiar to them since they had already done this several times. But today was a bit different for some reason. It wasn¡¯t only Cordelia who felt that way as Jude felt it too. Thus, an indescribable atmosphere was formed between the two. It was something that couldn¡¯t be described as awkward. Jude and Cordelia gulped at the same time. The two tried to open their mouths to say something. But it was at that moment. ¡°The honey is seriously dripping, seriously dripping down. Makes me want to stab you two.¡± A loud voice came from behind their backs. Having been focused on each other, Jude and Cordelia looked back in surprise at that voice, and Jude jumped out of his seat and even assumed abat posture. And the one who stood in front of those two now. She was wearing thedylike maid uniform of those who worked for Duke Spencer, but it somehow looked strange on her because of her vibrant red hair. ¡°Scarlet?!¡± Cordelia eximed in surprise, and Scarlet pinched and pulled Cordelia¡¯s cheek, having caught her off-guard before saying. ¡°Yes, Pink Bomb. I¡¯m Scarlet.¡± Why was she here? No, how did she know that Cordelia was Pink Bomb in the first ce? As the two thought that, Jude couldn¡¯t hide his surprise while Cordelia was so surprised that she couldn¡¯t even resist on what was being done to her cheek. Therefore, Scarlet was deeply satisfied. She said with a mischievous smile. ¡°Because I¡¯m the Rogue Master.¡± Though she was still a candidate. She smiled again and began to talk as she continued pulling Cordelia¡¯s cheek. Chapter 162: First Sword (1)

Chapter 162: First Sword (1)

It¡¯s here~! As for Genshin, I somehow managed it by watching youtube guides. And Chongyun. Terms used in this chapter: 3D¡¯s upation ¨C 3D¡¯s refers to jobs/upations that are avoided because they are Difficult, Dirty, and Dangerous. Difficult can also be reced by Demeaning. Stab with a bamboo spear ¨C This is sort of a ng in Korea. It¡¯s something you say if you¡¯re dissatisfied with something. I won¡¯t exin about the origin since it involves history, WWII, the Japanese, etc., which all confused me too. Rubbing salt into the wound ¨C an expression used to criticize the things that lovers do to signify their love. It generally means that couples do something in front of single people to show off their love to one another, making the single person feel very jealous and angry. ¡°First of all, it isn¡¯t that difficult to sneak in this ce. It¡¯s really wide and has a lot of people. Of course, the most important reason is that I¡¯m the Rouge Master. But this is really soft. It¡¯s pleasing to touch.¡± Scarlet then began to rub Cordelia¡¯s cheeks with both hands, and Jude instinctively reached out for her hand. He tried to grab Scarlet¡¯s wrist in order to remove her hand from Cordelia¡¯s cheek. Scarlet tried to avoid Jude¡¯s hand, having already expected it when Jude made a move, but she failed to do so. Jude¡¯s hand movement was so fast because he had predicted where Scarlet¡¯s hand would move next, so she was unable to escape from his hand. ¡°Let go of the other side too.¡± Jude spoke in warning to Scarlet, and Cordelia happily looked at Jude at that moment. But Scarlet who was still holding Cordelia¡¯s right cheek then frowned and said. ¡°Okay, how about we each take one side? This side is mine, the other is yours.¡± ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s fine with me.¡± Jude immediately nodded at Scarlet¡¯s suggestion and grabbed Cordelia¡¯s left cheek, and Cordelia blinked her eyes upon realizing that both her cheeks were being pulled. And a few secondster. Jude and Scarlet pulled Cordelia¡¯s cheeks, and the confused Cordelia was quiet for a few seconds before she snapped. ¡°What are you two doing!¡± As Cordelia jumped to her feet and swung her arms wide, Jude and Scarlet withdrew their hands at the same time. ¡°It really feels good. I want to pinch it every day.¡± ¡°Are you envious? Those cheeks are mine.¡± ¡°Tsk, I¡¯m really envious. Will the next target be Pink Bomb¡¯s cheeks?¡± Scarletmented and Jude bragged before Scarlet spoke again. But Cordelia eximed again. ¡°Hey!¡± What the heck are you two talking about? And my cheeks are mine, why is it yours! Thest one was what her nce said to Jude, but Jude remained calm and replied with a look. ¡®I¡¯m your fianc¨¦, your fianc¨¦. In addition, we love each other very much. So we need to get our story straight since we¡¯re in front of Scarlet.¡¯ Cordelia flinched at Jude¡¯s gaze, but it was literally just for a moment. ¡®Hey, do you think I¡¯m stupid? What does this have to do with that? And right now, there¡¯s no need for us to emphasize that we¡¯re in love, okay?¡¯ To begin with, the opponent is Scarlet! ¡®Tsk, it didn¡¯t work.¡¯ ¡®Are you for real?¡¯ ¡®Anyway, don¡¯t be too angry. It¡¯s all because your cheeks are so plump.¡¯ ¡®Mr. ck-hearted ck Cloak, you think I¡¯ll believe yourpliments just because you¡¯re good at it?¡¯ ¡®I mean, it¡¯s true though.¡¯ ¡®Hmmm¡­¡¯ At Jude¡¯s gaze, Cordelia slightly pouted her lips before she touched her own cheeks. It certainly felt nice. ¡®Am I not right?¡¯ ¡®Dammit, I admit it.¡¯ As the two were chatting with their eyes, Scarlet was amused at first, but she gradually had an unpleased expression. ¡°What are you two doing when there¡¯s a person in front of you? Shouldn¡¯t those kind of stares be done in the bedroom?¡± Cordelia looked bothered by what Scarlet said, so she replied in a fluster. ¡°W-what do you mean by those kind of stares being done in the bedroom!¡± ¡°Then where else do people exchange such lovey-dovey stares if not the bedroom?¡± ¡°I-it¡¯s not like that, okay?¡± We just had an argument with our eyes, okay? But Cordelia¡¯s counterargument was futile. First of all, most people would think that having an argument with your eyes was silly, and such an exchange of nces was clearly done between lovers only. ¡°Nooo!¡± Cordelia patted her chest in her frustration that she couldn¡¯t get her point across before she gave Jude a look. Do something. Make her understand. Jude nodded at her desperate gaze and looked back at Scarlet as he said. ¡°To begin with, isn¡¯t it your fault for intruding in the intimate time of an engaged couple?¡± ¡°Tsk, that¡¯s true. I apologize, Pink Bomb. For disturbing you.¡± Scarlet humbly apologized, and Cordelia was flustered again. It was good that she received an apology, but the process was a problem. ¡®No, hey! Exin it to her, rify!¡¯ Why are you deepening the misunderstanding! ¡®It can¡¯t be helped. But we should continue talking to her first.¡¯ ¡®Eueue, alright.¡¯ Cordelia grumbled and epted it as she no longer acted stubborn. Therefore, Jude smiled and said to Scarlet. ¡°I¡¯m sure you didn¡¯t intrude in Duke Spencer¡¯s ce to steal, right? Is it because of us then?¡± ¡°No, what¡­ uh, sort of?¡± Scarlet made an awkward smile unlike before, and Cordelia narrowed her eyes in suspicion while Jude smiled quite wickedly. ¡°I can somehow guess why.¡± The reason why Scarlet showed up here now. At Jude¡¯s remark, Cordelia sent him a look to tell them already, and Scarlet unconsciously flinched. ¡°You couldn¡¯t wait, right? For the day you and Cordelia would meet again.¡± ¡°I-it¡¯s not like that, okay?¡± ¡°What? Was it like that?¡± Jude, Scarlet, and Cordelia spoke in turn. In particr, Cordelia looked delighted and giggled before she said. ¡°My Scarlet missed this unnie, huh? Are you upset that this unnie didn¡¯t call you quickly?¡± ¡°Hey! It isn¡¯t like that, okay? It¡¯s just that you said that you¡¯d contact me, but you never contacted me, okay? And why are you the unnie? I¡¯m two years older than you, right?¡± Cordelia was 17 and Scarlet was 19. When Scarlet, the sexy and haughty femme fatale, turned red in embarrassment, Cordelia giggled again. ¡°Oh my, you¡¯re so cute. Then shall I call you unnie? Is that okay? Scarlet-unnie?¡± As Cordelia teased her, Scarlet blushed again but she didn¡¯t get upset this time. Because the moment Cordelia called her unnie, she felt that something deep in her heart was satisfied. ¡°Well¡­if that¡¯s what you want to call me, that¡¯s fine.¡± You can keep calling me unnie. No, call me unnie. Cordelia giggled again at Scarlet¡¯s barefaced expression. ¡°Wow, I can see your thoughts on your face. Why is my Scarlet so cute?¡± ¡®You¡¯re the same too though?¡¯ Jude thought at the fact that he could also see all of Cordelia¡¯s thoughts on her face. But now was the time to attack Scarlet and not Cordelia. So instead of teasing Cordelia, Jude opened his mouth again as he saw the dazed Scarlet still being teased by Cordelia who was excited after a long time. ¡°Moving on, I guess you couldn¡¯t bear it.¡± The reason why Scarlet showed up here. At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia had a gentle smile as she put her hands on her waist as if asking if she was going to make an excuse again, so Scarlet said in annoyance. ¡°Argh, hey! Honestly, this is your fault! I mean, you said that you¡¯ll contact me, but you never contacted me, right? Do you know how long I¡¯ve been waiting on the Blue Moon¡¯s roof?¡± Cordelia replied with a shrug at Scarlet¡¯s question mixed with resentment. ¡°No, I said that I¡¯ll contact you soon, but I didn¡¯t say that I¡¯ll contact you right away. And why were you waiting on the Blue Moon¡¯s roof?¡± ¡°Because she¡¯s the Rogue Master.¡± When Jude responded instead, Cordelia opened her eyes wide and said as if she had been enlightened. ¡°Ah, is that so?¡± ¡°It¡¯s like that.¡± ¡°Being the Rogue Master is hard.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not easy. You could say that it¡¯s a bit close to a 3D¡¯s upation.¡± ¡°So it was true, huh.¡± Thest one was Scarlet as she thought that the two were indeed a fantasy couple and a crazy couple. Scarlet fiercely stared at them as they beat her up with words, and Cordelia said while feeling a bit sorry for her. ¡°But it¡¯s only been two¡­no, three days? Anyway, only three days have passed, so aren¡¯t you too impatient?¡± ¡°Three days are enough. When in the world were you nning to contact me?¡± ¡°Eh¡­umm¡­¡± Cordelia was at a loss because Jude was the one who managed their schedule. She turned to Jude and Scarlet looked at him too, and Jude replied to the two beautiful girls with reddish hair. ¡°Around 10 dayster?¡± ¡°That¡¯s too long!¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s an importantpetition for the Rogue Master position. Isn¡¯t it more problematic to do it in a day or two?¡± ¡°So it was like that.¡± Cordelia nodded as she agreed with Jude¡¯s words, and Scarlet was dazed again before she realized something. ¡®No, I¡¯m at a disadvantage whatever I do.¡¯ Scarlet herself had rushed here in a hurry, but she had the disadvantage in numbers. No matter what she said or did, the two would always team up with each other, so how could she win against them? ¡°And.¡± It was the moment when Jude opened his mouth again. Shhwaak! With a sharp sound, Cordelia¡¯s detonating cord wrapped around Scarlet¡¯s body. While Jude was talking and making jokes, she had recovered that item with her telekinesis. ¡°Did you really think we were only talking and joking?¡± Cordelia provocatively said, and Scarlet was unable to move. She wore the Red Dragon¡¯s Armor under her maid uniform, so she could withstand an explosion, but she felt helpless from the fact that she was restrained by Cordelia. ¡®And that.¡¯ Jude¡¯s palm had suddenly touched her abdomen. Scarlet had already experienced Jude¡¯s technique. She shuddered when she recalled herself spilling lots of blood at that time. ¡°Scarlet, I¡¯ll only ask you once. How did you find out? Did you follow us?¡± The fact that Cordelia was Pink Bomb. Cordelia was startled by Jude¡¯s chilly voice and turned to him, while Scarlet swallowed hard. Because the eyes and voice of Jude who had been joking around until now had be something she didn¡¯t expect. Scarlet knew this kind of look. The look of people who had be very sly after going through all sorts of difficulties. Like her father who gave her everything she needed in order to be the Rogue Master. Like her father¡¯s colleagues. Like the guild master she met in the empire. In any case, it wasn¡¯t a look that a 17-year-old would make. That was why Scarlet was flustered and didn¡¯t act stubborn. ¡°Okay, okay. I¡¯ll tell you. So stop looking so scary, okay?¡± ¡°Depends on your answer.¡± Jude¡¯s expression softened, but he still had a fierce look. Because this was rted to Cordelia¡¯s personal details and not about anything else. ¡°Yes, as you had guessed. I followed you.¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°Vargo¡¯s Tracking Powder.¡± ¡°Did you smear it in our bodies?¡± They had stored their clothes in a space expansion bag, so it would have blocked them from being tracked. Scarlet gently nodded again at Jude¡¯s question. ¡°Yes, when Pink Bomb used recovery magic on me.¡± ¡°Wow, you smeared tracking powder on me then?¡± So she did that while on the verge of death, telling us to kill her since she no longer had the will to live? ¡°You¡¯re indeed a Rogue Master. Was all of that just acting?¡± Jude provocatively asked, and Scarlet flew into a rage. ¡°It¡¯s not, okay? I really wanted to die back then, okay? It was just¡­some sort of upational habit of mine.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not nice to smear tracking powder on the body of a person who is trying to heal you and prevent you from dying.¡± ¡°Hey, I was dying because of you two in the first ce, right? And you too, you also wanted to be the Rogue Master, right?¡± Scarlet pouted her lips and spoke, and Cordelia responded to her. ¡°Anyway, did you find out after tracking the powder?¡± ¡°Yes, I was a bit shocked too. I didn¡¯t expect that the descendants from the 12 northern families¡­ from those prestigious families to use the names ¡®Pink Bomb¡¯ and ¡®ck Cloak.¡¯¡± Scarlet shook her head as if she was really disappointed, and Cordelia was immediately embarrassed and pointed to Jude as she said. ¡°I didn¡¯te up with that name. He did.¡± ¡°Cordelia was the one who came up with ¡®ck Cloak.¡¯¡± Cordelia flinched at Jude¡¯s in counterattack, and Scarlet thought. ¡®They¡¯re truly made for each other.¡¯ They had the same childish naming sense. ¡°Anyway, that¡¯s how I found out, and it¡¯s also true that I approached you first because you didn¡¯t contact me.¡± Scarlet plopped down on the sofa and drooped her shoulders while Cordelia looked at Jude in restlessness. ¡®What should we do?¡¯ ¡®Well¡­ to begin with, I was thinking that she should be our ally rather than be someone hostile to us.¡¯ Furthermore, Jude was now convinced of something after this incident. That Scarlet was still immature. Before she became the skilled femme fatale in the original, she was a girl who still had a na?ve side. Why did he think that? Because Scarlet seemed unwilling to be an enemy to Pink Bomb, or to be exact, to Cordelia. ¡®Rather, she wants to be friends with Cordelia.¡¯ Otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t have appeared here and lounge around like this. ¡®Cordelia has the same thought.¡¯ A magical woman who secretly charmed every person she met. ¡®Huh? What is it? What did I do?¡¯ Jude closed his eyes for a moment and thought, so Cordelia who couldn¡¯tmunicate with her eyes then tilted her head. Afterwards, Jude opened his eyes and looked at Scarlet again rather than answering Cordelia. ¡°Okay, there¡¯s nothing we can do about it. In this case, silencing her through murder is fundamental.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± ¡®Ju-Jude?!¡¯ Silencing her through murder? Killing her so that she won¡¯t talk? Scarlet was visibly shocked while Cordelia was also surprised as she widely opened her eyes. ¡°Of course, I won¡¯t really kill her. She hasn¡¯t repaid her debt to us, or have the match that will determine on who will get the Rogue Master position.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia and Scarlet simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief. But it was too early to be relieved. ¡°So I¡¯m going to feed her this.¡± Jude took a small ss bottle from the bag he had ced on the table, and suddenly pushed something inside Scarlet¡¯s mouth. ¡°Mmn?¡± ¡°Swallow it. It will melt in your mouth anyway even if you don¡¯t swallow it.¡± Scarlet trembled for a moment when she closed her mouth and tried to not swallow it. Because it melted in her mouth just as Jude said. ¡°I-is it poison? Did you use a slow release poison?¡± Like if she doesn¡¯t take an antidote in a few days, she would die. Scarlet looked at Jude with eyes full of spite, and Cordelia nervously turned to him too. Jude then said as he nodded his head. ¡°It¡¯s the candy that Cordelia particrly likes. It¡¯s from the wildnds, so you can¡¯t get it here even if you want to. There are only five left, so if you want to steal it,e back in five days.¡± ¡°¡­What?¡± ¡°Cordelia¡¯s favorite candy. Don¡¯t you want to steal it?¡± When Jude asked, Scarlet unconsciously nodded and Cordelia frowned at them. I¡¯m d that he didn¡¯t poison Scarlet by force, but what kind of bullsh*t is this? Scarlet was freed from her embarrassment and looked at Jude with a simr but also different thought, and Jude spoke to Scarlet as he looked her in the eye. ¡°You want to be friends, right? With Cordelia.¡± Like the Rogue Master and Thief Master who became friends. That was why she came here defenseless. Feeding her candy was sort of a confirmation done by Jude. A sense of betrayal was then revealed in Scarlet¡¯s face. An emotion that she would never reveal if she didn¡¯t trust them in the first ce. ¡°I¡¯m sorry to have scared you, but you¡¯re the one who interrupted our time to begin with. Think of it as a sweet punishment.¡± Jude spoke as if he was appeasing a child before he removed the detonating cord himself. Scarlet firmly bit her lips as her face was filled with a mix of embarrassment and shame. Her current situation was somewhat embarrassing, but she was also ashamed of the fact that he had figured her out. ¡°Now that I¡¯ve released you, you can leave. I¡¯d like to enjoy the cozy atmosphere with Cordelia again.¡± Scarlet shuddered when Jude smirked, but Cordelia quickly hugged Scarlet¡¯s arm. Because Cordelia wanted to run away rather than go back to that previous atmosphere. ¡°Scarlet, since you¡¯re here, let¡¯s hang out. Okay?¡± ¡°What?¡± Hang out? ¡°Yes, yes, I mean¡­something like girl talk?¡± As soon as she said that, Cordelia raised Scarlet up and said to Jude before he could say anything. ¡°Then I¡¯ll talk to Scarlet and go to sleep. Good night, Jude. Let¡¯s go, Scarlet.¡± Cordelia quickly pulled Scarlet¡¯s arm without listening to Jude¡¯s answer as they headed straight to her bedroom. And a few secondster. Cordelia closed the bedroom door tightly and breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°What the heck?¡± Scarlet stared at Cordelia as if she had seen something strange. Because she couldn¡¯t understand the current situation or the so-called girl talk. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I mean, you two were rumored to be so blind in love with each other, so I find it suspicious that you two smell so fresh as if you¡¯ve only just began dating.¡± As expected of the original Rogue Master. Cordelia thought and flinched at Scarlet¡¯s sharp observation that was aplete bullseye, and she quickly walked to her bed while trying to act indifferent, but it was only for a moment. She soon turned around and asked Scarlet. ¡°By the way, Scarlet.¡± ¡°Scarlet-unnie.¡± ¡°Then Scarlet-unnie, does it look¡­real?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Does it look like Jude and I are da-dating?¡± Like a real couple? Cordelia¡¯s cheeks blushed as she shyly asked, and she looked really cute and adorable at that moment, but Scarlet could only say one thing to her. ¡°I want to stab you two.¡± I want to stab you two with a bamboo spear. What exactly are the lovers of the century, whom the entire S?len Kingdom knows, saying now? Is this a new way of rubbing salt into the wound? Scarlet couldn¡¯t bear it anymore. She grabbed the cheeks of Cordelia, who was still fidgeting in embarrassment, and pulled the cheeks without mercy. *** The next morning. Jude and Cordelia greeted each other a bit awkwardly than usual, and walked together as they headed for the Red Rose Castle¡¯s main building. For three purposes. One was to meet with Duke Spencer, and the other was to build a closer rtionship with First Sword, whom they had talked to yesterday. And the third purpose was the most important one, at least on the outside. ¡°We will begin the Banquet of Swords starting now.¡± Prospects had gathered from all over the S?len Kingdom. At Sir Cornwell¡¯s deration, the Banquet of Swords officially began. Chapter 163: First Sword (2)

Chapter 163: First Sword (2)

¡®Banquet of Swords.¡¯ A small banquet organized by Duke Spencer for swordsmen. It wasn¡¯t such a big event in terms of form. It was not much different from the usual tea parties the nobility routinely held. ¡®But if its history and tradition reach 300 years.¡¯ And if the organizer was Duke Spencer, a prominent noble and someone who held the title of ¡®Sword Teacher,¡¯ it would be a different story. ¡®Its authority is considerable.¡¯ That person did well in the Banquet of Swords. That person was recognized at the Banquet of Swords. Stories like that might seem insignificant, but it had a significant meaning in the S?len Kingdom. ¡®The Banquet of Swords is a ce where only true swordsmen are gathered.¡¯ The reason why the Banquet of Swords continued to stay at a level of a ¡®small event¡¯ in terms of size was because Duke Spencer had set a high standard for attending the Banquet of Swords. Even if your name was quite known in your area, you would not be able to attend the Banquet of Swords. Even if your parents or teachers were famous, you would not be given an invitation. In order to be invited to the Banquet of Swords, you must prove that your skills are real by either having an interesting story that no one could deny, or a letter of rmendation from a considerably skilled person in his or her own honor. In the former case, it was near impossible to pass it by lying because the people of Duke Spencer would carefully investigate the story for any truth or exaggerated parts, and in thetter case, the honor of the rmender was at stake, so it would obviously be impossible for them to rmend a mediocre person. ¡®After all, this is the Banquet of Swords.¡¯ It was a very prestigious event for swordsmen in the S?len Kingdom. What would happen if there was a rumor that a mediocre person was rmended to such a ce? ¡®Having a bad discerning eye wouldn¡¯t even work as an excuse.¡¯ It was literally a rmendation with their honor on the line. ¡®Anyway, it¡¯s that kind of event.¡¯ It was such an event of immense authority that just an invitation to it allowed you to boast of that fact. For the swordsmen born and raised in the S?len Kingdom, it was literally the stage of their dreams. But Jude didn¡¯t know much about this great event. The reason was simple ¨C he had no information about the Banquet of Swords in either his past life or present life. ¡®Because it was never held in the game.¡¯ After all, the Banquet of Swords was an event held by the Spencer family. Therefore, it could not be held if the head of the family, Duke Spencer, was sick. So from the beginning of Legend of Heroes 2 up to its end, or to be precise, from the time Duke Spencer was still sick up to the point when the S?len Kingdom fell, the event was not held because Duke Spencer had died at that time too and the Red Rose Castle had be the birthce of a raid monster. In short, the event never happened in the game. ¡®It was only a background setting.¡¯ One would only hear stories about that event. The stories rted to it were only at the level of character lines, like for example, ¡®Will the Banquet of Swords not be held this year? It¡¯s such a shame.¡¯ ¡®But I didn¡¯t expect it from my present memories too.¡¯ The stories that he had heard when he lived as Jude. Count Chase had snorted and bragged about his friend, Count Bayer, and his prospective son-inw, Ga?l, having attended the Banquet of Swords and performing well in it. ¡®And those two are my father and older brother.¡¯ So it would not have been strange if Jude knew about it in great detail, but unfortunately, Jude knew little about the Banquet of Swords. Because Count Bayer judged that it would be too much to talk about the Banquet of Swords to Jude who couldn¡¯t learn swordsmanship even if he wanted to, because of his Gueumjulmaek. ¡®I like his personality.¡¯ One could say that he was a father who really cared about his child. Count Bayer and Ga?l were both pure-hearted when it came to their personalities. ¡®Well, there was no need for me to know about the details in full anyway.¡¯ Because the Banquet of Swords changed its format little by little each time it was held. To begin with, the purpose of the Banquet of Swords was to gather the prospects of the S?len Kingdom and broaden their horizons, and not to determine who the best prospect was. ¡®Whether they hold a tournament or something else, I just need to do my best and get a prize.¡¯ He didn¡¯t have any intentions of hiding his power. There was no benefit for him if he hid his power. ¡®Of course, if I hide my strength, the bullies whoe at me without knowing anything would be surprised¡­ it¡¯ll be fun to step on them.¡¯ Just like what happened to Lucian yesterday. But Jude didn¡¯t really find it that enticing. In the first ce, Jude wasn¡¯t the kind of person who enjoyed teasing people. ¡®Except for Cordelia.¡¯ Teasing Cordelia was no different from the pleasures of life that Jude had enjoyed in his previous life. ¡®It¡¯s really amazing.¡¯ Why was he so obsessed with Cordelia in his previous life even though he didn¡¯t know her face, age, or sex? ¡®Is this¡­ fate?¡¯ Jude was instantly flustered at the thought that came to his mind unconsciously, and he turned his gaze to side as his face slightly turned red. Because he wanted to see Cordelia after having those thoughts. But when he looked at her, he found Cordelia to be a little strange. Since it was the Banquet of Swords, Cordelia who wore a dress alone stood out more than usual at a ce where even women wore training outfits, but that wasn¡¯t what made her look strange. ¡®She¡¯spletely lost in her thoughts.¡¯ She stood there with her eyes looking ahead, but she wasn¡¯t actually looking ahead of her. He wasn¡¯t sure if she was imagining or recalling something, but it was clear to him that she was thinking of something else. ¡®Is it because¡­ of what happened yesterday?¡¯ Or of what happenedst night with Scarlet? Sir Cornwell was saying some good things about the Banquet of Swords in front of them, but Jude had gradually stopped listening to him. Because he was worried about what Cordelia was thinking. So Jude stared at Cordelia who continued to stare nkly in front of her. And as Jude had thought, Cordelia was in the middle of thinking about the events that happenedst night. ***¡°Oh, this is quite frustrating. I definitely want to stab you to death, but touching your cheek feels so nice that I want to forgive you.¡± It feels like I¡¯m touching a cat¡¯s paw pads. No, those two are iparable. Her cheeks are truly like the finest delicacy. ¡°I really want to touch it every day¡­¡± Scarlet sighed without realizing it, and the startled Cordelia struggled to remove Scarlet¡¯s hand. ¡°Stop, stop touching me. It¡¯s not yours, okay?¡± ¡°What? Is it ck Cloak¡¯s then? Is it his so I can¡¯t touch it?¡± ¡°Eh, it¡¯s mine though? But why are you suddenly talking about Jude?!¡± ¡°But isn¡¯t it ck Cloak¡¯s?¡± ¡°It¡¯s mine, it¡¯s mine.¡± ¡°Then, since it doesn¡¯t have an owner, can it be mine?¡± ¡°What?¡± What kind of logic is that? And why does it not have an owner. I just said that it was mine! Scarlet giggled when the annoyed Cordelia cutely grumbled, having expected it. She then hugged Cordelia all of a sudden and stroked Cordelia¡¯s head. ¡°Ah, I¡¯m being healed.¡± ¡°Hey, why me? And what¡¯s wrong with you?¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m not sure either?¡± Scarlet giggled in a bit of a silly manner as she hugged Cordelia¡¯s waist again, and Cordelia eventually slouched her shoulders, having given up resisting. ¡°Okay, just do what you want, do what you want.¡± ¡°Really? Can I really do what I want?¡± Scarlet¡¯s question made Cordeliae back to her senses. Because Scarlet¡¯s eyes looked really dangerous when she saw it. ¡°Excuse me? Ms. Rogue Master?¡± ¡°Just kidding, just kidding.¡± Scarlet giggled again before she released Cordelia from her embrace and asked as she held her own chin. ¡°Anyway, Pink Bomb. Why do you want to avoid being alone with ck Cloak and used the excuse of girl talk?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Hey, even if I¡¯m like this, I¡¯m the Rogue Master, okay? And you said something earlier.¡± Cordelia had asked if she and Jude had looked like they were dating. ¡°Huh, wait a second. No way¡­are you two not in a rtionship?¡± Cordelia winced at Scarlet¡¯s question. And Scarlet became more suspicious at Cordelia flinching. Does that mean that the rumor was false? What about the elopement then? ¡°Y-you¡¯re wrong! We love each other so much, okay?! That¡¯s why, you know! That¡¯s why all those rumors came out!¡± Scarlet¡¯s eyes narrowed as Cordelia hurriedly rose from her seat and spoke in a hurry. Because she found Cordelia acting so frantic to be very suspicious. ¡°How suspicious.¡± ¡°W-what is suspicious? Aren¡¯t you the one¡¯s who¡¯s suspicious? You said that you wanted to stab me to death.¡± We¡¯re not rubbing salt into your wound, okay? Cordelia tried hard to make excuses, but it was counterproductive. Rather, Scarlet¡¯s doubts even deepened. ¡°Okay, then give me proof.¡± ¡°Proof?¡± ¡°Yes, proof. Proof that ck Cloak really loves you.¡± At Scarlet¡¯s words, Cordelia fell into even more panic. Because that was what she had been thinking about these days, and she had yet been able to find an answer to that. ¡°You can¡¯t?¡± ¡°N-no, I can, okay? There¡¯s just a lot, okay?¡± ¡°Fine, then I¡¯ll listen. Come here and tell me one by one.¡± Scarlet lied down on the bed and gestured with her chin as she pointed at the spot next to her. She seemed to be suggesting that they should lie down and talk. ¡°T-there? Now?¡± ¡°Yes, here and now. Let¡¯s have a girl talk.¡± Scarlet smiled and patted the spot next to her with her palm, and Cordelia looked very hesitant but eventually nodded. She approached next to Scarlet and also lied down. ¡°Okay, tell me then. Proof that ck Cloak likes Pink Bomb.¡± ¡°W-wait a minute. There¡¯s a lot. I don¡¯t know where to start.¡± ¡°Hmmm, I see. There¡¯s so many to choose from.¡± As Scarlet teased her, Cordelia looked even more adorable, and Scarlet was able to feel the same way as Jude. ¡®This is fun.¡¯ It¡¯s so fun. How can such an adorable person be so fun to tease? Scarlet began to be excited again at Cordelia¡¯s cuteness while Cordelia could only fret and barely open her mouth as she found it hard to get over the trial right in front of her. ¡°First.¡± ¡°Yes, first.¡± ¡°Jude calls me P-Princess.¡± ¡°Oh, you have a pet name, huh?¡± ¡°Yes, a pet name. That.¡± ¡°But to call you a princess¡­ Eh¡­ really?¡± ¡°W-what¡¯s wrong with being called a princess?¡± ¡°I mean, why is it not something like baby? Anyway, keep going.¡± At that moment, Cordelia imagined Jude calling her baby and suddenly felt reallyplicated. It was crazily embarrassing, but also felt strangely nice. ¡®Have I gone crazy?¡¯ Why is my heart beating so fast again? ¡°Hey, hey, keep going. Could it be that you¡¯ve run out things to talk about?¡± ¡°N-no. There¡¯s just too many to choose from, okay?¡± ¡°Yes, yes. There must be too many to choose from.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Cordelia regained herposure because of Scarlet, and said as she raised her finger. ¡°Next, Jude always gives me a piggyback ride whenever we travel to a far ce. So that my legs won¡¯t hurt.¡± ¡°Whoaaa.¡± What is this? This feeling of wanting to tease her yet feeling I¡¯m being made fun of at the same time? Scarlet really wanted to hit her but also felt like she had been hit, so she decided to hold it in for now. ¡°And?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ Ju-Jude always escorts me. Every time we go somewhere.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that natural since you¡¯re his fianc¨¦e?¡± ¡°I-is that so?¡± He did it because I¡¯m his fianc¨¦e? ¡°Well, we¡¯ll see if you tell me more. Continue.¡± ¡°Uhhh¡­ and¡­ uh¡­ that¡¯s right. Jude always cooks for me. And he¡¯s really good at cooking. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll fall in love if you eat the meals Jude cooks.¡± Cordelia spoke with shining eyes, but on the contrary, Scarlet¡¯s eyes dimmed. ¡®Is he taming a wild animal with food?¡¯ But that proof seemed believable. However, she still had some doubts about it. ¡°Hey, I¡¯d like to ask. Do you like your family¡¯s cook the same way as him?¡± ¡°B-but Jude does it even though he¡¯s not a cook.¡± Come to think of it, he neverined about doing it. Is there a special reason why? But it was then. ¡°Ah, I think I know why.¡± ¡°Huh? Really? You know?¡± ¡°You¡¯re bad at cooking, right?¡± When Scarlet pointed it out, Cordelia felt like a hammer struck her head at that moment and couldn¡¯t say anything else. The reason why Jude always cooked their meals. The reason why he didn¡¯t allow Cordelia to do it even if she asked him to let her do it once. ¡®It¡¯s¡­possible!¡¯ And that was why she looked like she was struck by a hammer on the head. She was greatly disappointed. And her emotions came rushing in without her understanding why. ¡°Is that so? Is it because he doesn¡¯t want to eat what I cook for him? Because it¡¯s really bad?¡± Cordelia asked as she cried a little without realizing it, and Scarlet hurriedly shook her head. ¡°N-no. That¡¯s not it. I¡­ I¡¯m just saying it¡¯s possible. D-don¡¯t mind it. You can¡¯t always put your heart into cooking if you have to do it all the time. Yes, that¡¯s it. Cooking outside is troublesome work.¡± Their situation had suddenly be the opposite, but now was not the time to think about it. Scarlet was now the one who was in a panic as she realized that she made a big mistake when she saw Cordelia feeling depressed. So when Scarlet frantically spoke, Cordelia blinked her eyes and asked. ¡°Is it¡­like that?¡± ¡°Yes, it is. It¡¯s definitely like that.¡± Scarlet quickly nodded head before she suddenly smiled and sat up. ¡°Moving on, it¡¯s like that, huh? He calls you princess, always carries you on his back, escorts you, and cooks for you.¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡± Scarletughed again when Cordelia nodded as if she herself had realized it. ¡°Well, I understand. But it¡¯s somewhatcking? It¡¯s not enough.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not enough?¡± ¡°Yes, it just feels like he¡¯s your dad.¡± ¡°Ah, Daddy?¡± ¡°Yes, daddy. But why do you look like that¡­ No way, is his nickname Daddy?¡± ¡°I-it¡¯s not? That¡¯s just what I call him when we y with puns sometimes.¡± ¡°You really called him that.¡± ¡°Uhhh¡­¡± ¡°Anyway, that¡¯s fine. Then what is his pet name?¡± ¡°Eh? His pet name?¡± ¡°I mean, ck Cloak calls you princess as your pet name. Then you must have a pet name for ck Cloak. Don¡¯t tell me you don¡¯t have a pet name for him?¡± At Scarlet¡¯s remark, Cordelia began to think again. In fact, every time Jude called her Princess, Cordelia would either call him Milord or Dolswe, but those didn¡¯t feel like pet names. ¡°Don¡¯t make that look. Hey¡­ don¡¯t do that. Don¡¯t be sad. ck Cloak is also a human, a human. If you¡¯re fine with it, you can make his pet name as Prince.¡± ¡°Uh¡­ o-okay.¡± But prince is a bit¡­ However, Cordelia wrote that in the list in her mind. ¡°Anyway, is that it? Is that all?¡± ¡°N-not yet! There¡¯s the love letters!¡± ¡°Oh¡­ did ck Cloak write love letters to you? Can you show me something like that?¡± ¡°Eh? Ah, n-no. Not that one. I mean¡­ t-the ones that became known. The letters I wrote to Jude.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ the letters you left each time you two run away? It is quite famous.¡± Cordelia turned beet red again at Scarlet¡¯s words, but she firmly continued. ¡°It¡¯s not just me. Jude also wrote to me.¡± Scarlet pped her hands when Cordelia said it as if she was proud of a life achievement. ¡°Yes, yes. He wrote to me once while I wrote to him three times.¡± ¡°Wow.¡± In fact, it wasn¡¯t just three times. If one counted the number of times she said lovey-dovey words just so that she coulde with Jude, it would be more than five times. ¡®Ugh, I¡¯ll have to think more about that tomorrow.¡¯ The messages that she left as if she was the more active one in love. And the rumors that spread around. Cordelia did not realize that she had dug her own grave, but she added those things into the list in her mind, and Scarlet finally made a conclusion. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ve heard your story well. My judgment is out.¡± Scarlet crossed her arms and made an expression that looked that of a femme fatale after a long time, and Cordelia sat up in a hurry. ¡°What is it? Do you really think that Jude likes me?¡± Cordelia unknowingly revealed her innermost thoughts, and Scarlet replied as she clicked her tongue. ¡°I don¡¯t know about that. But I am sure of one thing.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I want to strangle you to death!¡± These damn couple who rubs salt into my wounds! Scarlet grabbed Cordelia¡¯s neck and halfheartedly shook it. ¡®And one more.¡¯ What I clearly learned after hearing her words. But I don¡¯t intend to tell you that. ¡®It really is love.¡¯ I don¡¯t even have to say who I¡¯m referring to. ¡°Ah, I really want to kill you.¡± Scarlet began to pinch Cordelia¡¯s cheeks again. And back to the present. ¡°Cordelia.¡± Scarlet is mean. She didn¡¯t even give me a proper answer. ¡°Cordelia.¡± She just pinched my cheeks. I mean, Jude had only pinched my cheeks a few times. ¡°Corde¡­lia?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± Cordelia finally came to her senses after being called three times, and she turned to Jude who pointed to the stage in the banquet hall. Sir Cornwell was giving a lengthy speech, but the prospects were listening to his speech with sparkling eyes. ¡®Did you not sleepst night?¡¯ ¡®Eh? Oh¡­yes. Because of Scarlet.¡¯ ¡®Does that person like you a lot?¡¯ ¡°Eh?!¡± Cordelia unconsciously raised her voice, but her voice wasn¡¯t heard that loudly because of Sir Cornwell¡¯s loud voice while giving a speech. But she was ashamed by the surrounding gazes, so Cordelia hunched her shoulders and looked into Jude¡¯s eyes again. ¡®W-what are you talking about?¡¯ ¡®I mean, Scarlet. I think she likes you?¡¯ ¡®Ah, yes. I think she likes me a lot.¡¯ I like Scarlet too. But it was at that moment. Cordelia suddenly remembered on what happened yesterday, so she pulled the hem of Jude¡¯s clothes. ¡®By the way, Jude.¡¯ ¡®What is it, Cordelia?¡¯ ¡®You¡­no. I¡¯ll tell youter.¡¯ If she found it too embarrassing to say ¡®Prince¡¯ with her eyes, it would be even more so if she said it with her voice. She then thought that she had toe up with another pet name. ¡®Cordelia?¡¯ ¡®I think the speech is over.¡¯ Cordelia found the end of Sir Cornwell¡¯s speech to be quite a good timing. Jude had no choice but to look at the front again, and Sir Cornwell faintly smiled when he met eyes with Jude. Since he was freed from his escort mission, he became a really nice person just as Jude had thought. ¡°Then I¡¯ll exin the rules of the tournament next.¡± It was a Banquet of Swords that had been held after several years, so naturally, it was the first tournament after a few years. Lucas who was sitting nearby, and all the other prospects around them also felt nervous and excited at that moment. And sensing all that enthusiasm, Sir Cornwell pleasantly smiled. ¡°The mood here is quite heated up. So let¡¯s make it even hotter.¡± Sir Cornwell pped his hands once, and a knight who was waiting behind him appeared with a pushcart. A pushcart covered with white cloth. And what was under that cloth. It was obviously the prize of this tournament. ¡°Let¡¯s reveal the prize.¡± Sir Cornwell pulled the cloth, and Jude and Cordelia widely opened their eyes in that instant. The two looked at each other unconsciously, and shouted in their minds simultaneously. ¡®Jackpot!¡¯ ¡®Bingo!¡¯ The prize that was revealed. In the game, there was no way to obtain it because the Banquet of Swords was not held. First of all, it was a sword. It was also a very good sword that anyone would covet. But it wasn¡¯t the reason why Jude and Cordelia were excited. ¡®Its real identity.¡¯ The secret hidden in the sword in front of them. The gamer brains of Jude and Cordelia began to activate again. Chapter 164: First Sword (3)

Chapter 164: First Sword (3)

Pleiades had a long history, and several countries had existed before the S?len Kingdom and the Argon Empire. Like Magen, the magic kingdom founded by the ancient elves, or the Iron Kingdom, a kingdom founded by the ancient dwarves. Among those countries, the Iron Kingdom was actually a union of seven city states, but each city was located far away from each other, so their cultural developments differed. ¡®Sword Seeker.¡¯ Sword Seeker was one of the Iron Kingdom¡¯s seven cities and was considered together with Frost Anvil as twin cities. As the city¡¯s name implied, the dwarves living in Sword Seeker sought for the ultimate sword. The most perfect sword. The ideal sword. The sword of swords. Since it was a ce where many dwarven artisans gathered, each dwarf naturally had a different opinion on what an ultimate sword should be, but the dwarves of Sword Seeker eventually came to a decision to focus their resources and skills into one goal. ¡®Let¡¯s make seven swords.¡¯ If they couldn¡¯t have the same opinion on what a perfect and ideal sword was, they should then make seven swords and not just one. One could say that it was no longer an ultimate sword from the moment they decided it to be seven, but all the dwarven artisans enthusiastically cheered and approved that proposal. ¡®Once we finish it, the swords that we made will be recognized as the ultimate sword!¡¯ So until then, let¡¯s keep it a secret so that we can still receive operating expenses. Maybe those other dwarves are thinking of the same thing, but maybe they aren¡¯t either. ¡®Coz In the end, we¡¯ll the ones to make the ultimate sword! It was said that King Endymion, the king of the magic kingdom of Magen, heard this storyter on and figured out the intentions of the dwarves, and he was said to have left the followingments. ¡°Those arrogant b*stards. But that¡¯s just how dwarven artisans are.¡± They were arrogant and self-righteous but were also the kind to pour endless love and effort to their creations. Like King Endymion had said, the dwarves created those swords for their own reasons, and thus, the seven swords of Sword Seeker, the so-called ¡®Ultimate Seven¡¯ series, were born. ¡®And the key you need to get that Ultimate Seven series.¡¯ ¡®The Key Sword.¡¯ Sword Seeker¡¯s dwarven artisans made into a sword the key where the Ultimate Seven series were sealed, and as dwarven artisans of Sword Seeker, they didn¡¯t just haphazardly create the Key Sword. Because of that, the Key Sword was considered a proper sword and not a key after the fall of the Iron Kingdom, and nearly a thousand years after its copse, it became a situation where only a few people knew of the existence of the Key Sword. ¡®But it¡¯s right here, right now.¡¯ ¡®That Key Sword has appeared!¡¯ Cordelia and Jude looked at each other and smiled again. Lucas and the prospects from the north, who were sitting at the same table as them, were curious about the two suddenly looking and smiling at each other, but it was only for a short time. It was a famous fact that they were a couple who acted so sweet that they would smile from just looking at each other. Therefore, Jude and Cordelia avoided suspicion, and the two began to exchange a more detailed conversation through magic. [The Key Sword is a jackpot, a jackpot.] [If it¡¯s the Ultimate Seven series, I agree, I agree. It¡¯s almost a graduation item if I get this.] [Ufufu, I like it. One of the Ultimate Seven series can be used by a wizard.] She was talking about the magic sword, Magic ster, one of the Ultimate Seven. [Explosive de?] [Yes, the Explosive de.] Cordelia¡¯s eyes seemed to be sparkling, and she eventually began to be ecstatic. The magic sword of explosions. The Explosive de, Magic ster, could deal powerful explosions. [Ah~ I want to have it.] [Uuuh¡­yes. I¡¯ll definitely get it for you.] But Jude thought that it would have been better if she had wanted a pretty, cute, and lovely item. ¡®Anyway, I have no choice but to get it since Cordelia wants it.¡¯ [By the way, Jude. Are you aiming for that?] [Yes, that.] One of the swords in the Ultimate Seven series, and the one that seemed to suit the current Jude the most. [Ufufu, I like it.] [Well, I¡¯ll have to get that Key Sword first.] [Eh? Isn¡¯t that ours already? Isn¡¯t my Lord Jude the winner already?] As Cordelia spoke in a cute manner after a long time, Jude took a deep breath before he turned to Lucas sitting next to him and the other prospects around them. He then recited a heartfelt apology in his mind. ¡®I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯ll be doing my best.¡¯ I really need that Key Sword. Moreover, Cordelia¡¯s looking forward to it, so I have no choice but to do my very best. But it was at that moment. When Sir Cornwell stepped back after introducing the tournament¡¯s prize, the true host of the banquet, Duke Spencer, appeared. ¡®Princess Darianne is also with him.¡¯ Cordelia saw them. Princess Darianne quietly stood next to the tall and thin Duke Spencer, and as she looked around the banquet hall, she prettily smiled when she met eyes with Jude and Cordelia. It seemed like she was looking around to find the two in the first ce. ¡°I am Duke Spencer. The person next to me is Her Royal Highness, Princess Darianne, so be sure to greet her respectfully.¡± It hadn¡¯t been long since his chronic illness was healed, so he looked a little pale, but his voice sounded clear and strong. Duke Spencer and all the prospects courteously bowed and greeted her, and Princess Darianne greeted them briefly in return. Duke Spencer then spoke again. ¡°I¡¯ll cut it short and get to the point.¡± Whether it was his original personality, or he found it difficult to speak for a long time, Duke Spencer¡¯s speech was short and clear, and to summarize his words, it was as follows. They were originally going to hold a tournament in a form of a fighting match, as per tradition. But at the founding celebration, the kingdom would be hosting a fighting tournament too. If someone got injured in the Banquet of Swords, they wouldn¡¯t be able to participate in the kingdom¡¯s fighting tournament, so after much consideration, it was decided that a somewhat different tournament would be held this time. Having spoken so far, Duke Spencer turned to the side and greeted the man, who had mysteriously erased his presence earlier, as he now came up to the stage. ¡°I¡¯m sure everyone knows him. He is the pride of the S?len Kingdom and the First Sword of my Sword School, the Sword Saint of Light, Rhun Froud.¡± Duke Spencer¡¯s voice was full of pride as he introduced First Sword, and the way he looked at First Sword was also very warm, as if he was looking at his own child. ¡°Fortunately, thanks to Rhun¡¯s cooperation, we are able to avoid any possible injuries and hold a tournament for all the prospects gathered here. Rhun, I¡¯ll let you exin the rest.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Excellency, Duke Spencer.¡± First Sword politely thanked him before he stepped forward and spoke with a yful smile. ¡°This tournament will be a match against me. Of course, that doesn¡¯t mean that you have to win against me. Frankly, that would be a bit unreasonable. It would be more like a scam if we had a contest like that.¡± First Sword said it while slightly jesting, but no oneughed at it. It wasn¡¯t because First Sword¡¯s joke wasn¡¯t funny. Rather, the prospects were excited about the fact that they would get a chance to fight against First Sword. First Sword. The strongest person in the Sword School. A young genius who gained the title of Sword Saint in histe twenties. They would be facing him with their swords. They would be crossing swords with him. Unlike Lucas and Jude who had someone from the Ten Great Swordmasters as their parents, the other prospects had never even crossed swords with a swordsman at that level. But now, they would be able to cross swords with the Sword Saint of Light, First Sword. It was natural for them to be fired up. ¡°The rules are simple. The first prospect to make me move six times is the winner.¡± Six times. First Sword raised five fingers before he winked, and the target of his wink was very obvious. Jude Bayer. The second son of Count Bayer, one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. ¡®Actually, it¡¯s because of you.¡¯ The reason why they held this kind ofpetition instead of the usual tournament. It wasn¡¯t just because of the kingdom¡¯s tournament. There was one more important reason. ¡®He¡¯s too strong.¡¯ He was much stronger than the other prospects. Perhaps Lucas was the only one here who couldpete against Jude. Wouldn¡¯t the prospects look too pitiful if there was such a difference in skill? ¡®The Banquet of Swords is for the sake of the prospects.¡¯ It was not to see a diator-like battle of the prospects from all over the country. Since their growth was the goal, they couldn¡¯t just force them to fight like a survival of the fittest. ¡°What do you think? Do you think it¡¯s worth it trying to make me move just five times?¡± First Sword asked in jest again, and the prospects¡¯ eyes sparkled as they roughly breathed. Everyone seemed to be very excited. ¡°Hmm, I like this. Don¡¯t you think so, Your Excellency?¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. The mood is very heated.¡± Duke Spencer smiled like a teacher and nced at Sir Cornwell, who stepped forward with a box that one could put their hands in. ¡°From now on, we¡¯ll decide the order of who will fight First Sword first. Let¡¯s begin with the prospects from the capital, pleasee forward.¡± Lucian and the other prospects from the capital stood up with very nervous faces, and they were followed by those from the south and then the north. ¡®Jude, Jude. What¡¯s your number.¡¯ ¡¯21.¡¯ ¡®You¡¯re thest one?¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s like I¡¯m the main character.¡¯ As Jude smiled and stared at her, Cordelia smiled in surprise and soon nodded. ¡®Then, will you show me a protagonist-like performance?¡¯ ¡®Yes, since the heroine is watching.¡¯ ¡®Hmph, what are you talking about?¡¯ Cordelia snorted but she looked pleased as she turned to the side. She saw Lucas holding a slip of paper with an excited face like that of a child, and when she peeked at the slip of paper, the number 19 was written on it. ¡°Alright! Shall we get started now then? Number 1,e forward!¡± First Sword spiritedly shouted before he climbed up the stage that had already been prepared. It was arge stage with a length and width of nearly 20 meters each, and it was so high that one had to climb up five steps. ¡°You don¡¯t have to be so reserved. Just don¡¯t cross the line.¡± At Duke Spencer¡¯s words, the prospects blinked their eyes as they couldn¡¯t understand his words right away, so Sir Cornwell smiled and pointed to the lines drawn around the stage. In other words, they could stand and watch from the sides. ¡°T-then.¡± ¡°Then, me too.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go too.¡± Most of the prospects were children of nobles so they were naturally quite reserved, but in the end, they were still humans. As soon as they got up from their seats, their appearance as they quickly ran towards the line looked somehow cute. ¡°I wish the audience seats were a little higher.¡± Cordelia spoke as she stood in tiptoes, and Jude smiled before he said. ¡°My princess, would you like to sit on my shoulders?¡± ¡°Hey, I¡¯m wearing a skirt, okay?¡± No, before that, what do you mean by sit on your shoulders? Everyone will look at us if that happens. Cordelia clicked her tongue as if to tell him to consider the time and ce, and she looked back towards the stage while Jude giggled before he looked in the same direction too. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get started.¡± First Sword stood in the middle of the stage and casually spoke as he stretched out his arms, and the young man from the south, who pulled the number 1 slip, took a deep breath as he closed his eyes. Because he didn¡¯t want to waste this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He calmed down his excitement and regained hisposure. So that he could show them the best that he could do. First Sword found such a prospectmendable. He waited for some time, and when the prospect finally drew his sword and charged, First Sword showed off his quick sword that made everyone call him the Sword Saint of Light. Shwaaak-! His sword made the other sword slip. The sword swung by the southern prospect with all his might was flung out so naturally. ¡°When you swung the sword, your power was not fully transmitted. Let¡¯s do it again.¡± As First Sword gently smiled and said, the southern prospect looked shocked, and so did those who were outside the stage. What his words meant. His deration of ¡®let¡¯s do it again.¡¯ ¡®An educational sparring match!¡¯ First Sword said that the person who could make him move six times was the winner. In other words, he meant that he would y with his opponent up to five times. ¡°A bit of shy technique is fine. Your skill is good even if you had trouble making it work well.¡± First Sword¡¯s words sounded reassuring. The southern prospect almost looked like he was about to cry, but he soon picked his sword and repositioned himself while looking very moved. He looked at First Sword with respect, gratitude and all kinds of good feelings, and First Sword answered with a smile. ¡°Come.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± The southern prospect answered in reflex and rushed towards First Sword again, and First Sword very simply turned the attack of the prospect into nothing again this time. Two more times left. And after the five times were done¡­ The southern prospect missed in thest and fifth exchange, but his face was full of joy. ¡°Thank you very much.¡± ¡°Your skill isn¡¯t bad. Will you be better by the next time we meet?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°Okay, I look forward to it.¡± It was the words of First Sword and not anyone else. The prospect had a boyish face as if he yed with the sports yer that he admired, and he came down the stage with tears of emotion. Rachel Bloom, the prospect from the north who picked the number 2 slip, climbed onto the stage very quickly. ¡°Ahem, I¡¯m sorry for person #1, but I like person #2 more. Beauties are the treasures of this world.¡± At First Sword¡¯s joke, Rachel¡¯s cheeks flushed red, but it wasn¡¯t that evident. Because her face was already red before she went onto the stage. ¡°I¡¯ll begin.¡± ¡°Do as much as you can.¡± And once again, it happened five times. Rachel got off the stage with a very excited face, and the prospects stepped onto the stage one after another. ¡°Is this the Sage King¡¯s Cross Sword? You have inherited well Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s sword. Five times are almost not enough.¡± First Sword said as he pointed his sword to Lucas¡¯ neck, but it wasn¡¯t idle chatter. Unlike the previous prospects who he easily dealt with, even the First Sword had to be really sincere when he fought Lucas. ¡°Thank you¡­for thepliment.¡± Lucas¡¯ expression was also different from the previous prospects. Rather than the joy of facing the First Sword with their sword, regret and frustration were in his eyes since he couldn¡¯t make First Sword do it for the sixth time. ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± His expression made First Sword even happier. Because he liked Lucas¡¯ desire to improve. ¡°Next.¡± The 20th prospect. The boy, who was a prospect from the royal capital, was not much different from the previous prospects. Their spar was finished in five moves with a rtively calm atmosphere. And the time had finallye. Sir Cornwell¡¯s eyes were filled with the light of anticipation as he watched with a rxed face, and Duke Spencer also watched in seriousness. ¡°Jude Bayer.¡± The second son of Count Bayer. The younger brother of Ga?l Bayer, who was said to be one of the next Ten Great Swordmasters. Jude climbed up the stage, and all the prospects who had witnessed his fight with Lucian swallowed in nervousness. Lucas also looked up the stage with mixed emotions. This was because of the fact that only Lucas and Cordelia were aware of. ¡®Landius-nim¡¯s disciple.¡¯ Iron Man Landius. A man who might be the strongest among all the humans in Pleiades. Jude was the only disciple of such Landius. No, even before he was a disciple of Landius, he was a genius who had already shown amazing talent. ¡®Cheonmujiche.¡¯ The incarnation of martial arts from the heavens. Lucas wanted to see Jude in making the First Sword move his sword for the sixth time. But on the other hand, he didn¡¯t want to see it. Because of the childish envy that still lingered in his mind. ¡®No, it¡¯s not like that.¡¯ Because I just want to see him be much stronger. Because I want to see the appearance of my rival moving far away, and make me want to pursue him even more. With clenched fists, Lucas calmed himself and looked at Jude¡¯s back, while Cordelia prayed as she held her hands together. ¡®Please let Jude win!¡¯ As always, let him be #1 again! And as for First Sword. The person who originally proposed this kind of tournament. ¡°The time hase.¡± First Sword smiled as he looked at Jude standing in front of him. His smile was very yful, but also felt creepy at the same time. ¡®Don¡¯t tell me¡­¡¯ At the moment Jude had flinched, First Sword moved. Unlike before, he readied his sword in his light-like swordsmanship style. Among the numerous swordsmanship in the Sword School, his Light Swordsmanship boasted of being the fastest. The fastest sword that gave First Sword his name of the Sword Saint of Light. ¡°Can I give you a little special treatment?¡± First Sword said, and everyone around the stage became enthusiastic at that moment. It wasn¡¯t because they heard First Sword¡¯s voice. It was enthusiasm from the fact that Jude had made the First Sword drew his sword and made him take a stance. ¡®F*ck.¡¯ Jude thought to himself, and so did Cordelia who was outside the stage. ¡®First Sword is a crazy b*stard!¡¯ He¡¯s shameless! But First Sword did not hear Jude and Cordelia¡¯s protests in their minds. Even if he had heard it, he would have ignored it. ¡°Come, let¡¯s go.¡± Show me your skills. Jude took a deep breath at First Sword¡¯s provoking look. He gently turned his head and looked at Cordelia as he asked with his eyes. ¡®Cordelia. Shall I do it?¡¯ At Jude¡¯s question, Cordelia blinked her eyes, but she immediately smiled. She swung her fist into the air and answered. ¡®Show them.¡¯ How strong my Jude is. What Cheonmujiche can do that made Landius say curse words out of his mouth. Winning was impossible. It was nearly impossible for the current Jude to subdue him who had the names of First Sword and Sword Saint. But if it was just to make him move six times. If Jude didn¡¯t lose within those five times. Jude took a deep breath. He chanted the mnemonic chant of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, and stimted his newly developed middle dantian. It had risen to a new level during his time at the Temple of Life. A power that had never been seen before. The Supreme Sun Divine Art responded. A ck energy rose from Jude¡¯s body, and at the same time, the doors of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors began to open one by one. First door. Second door. Third door. Fourth door. And. ¡®Fifth door.¡¯ The fifth door. The one that reached apletely different level from his previous ones! Bang! His energy exploded. Not only the atmosphere, but the stage also shook for a moment. Everyone who were watching were surprised by the sudden rise of power. First Sword was no different. His eyes that had looked easygoing were now surprised. And immediately after. When everyone were still in shock of what had happened. Jude kicked the ground. He turned into a ck gale and rushed towards First Sword. Chapter 165: First Sword (4)

Chapter 165: First Sword (4)

I¡¯m sorry, everyone! I didn¡¯t realize that I made a mistake in copy-pasting, and didn¡¯t copy the first page of the chapter! So I¡¯ll be reposting this one, and deleting the chapter with the mistake. I renamed it 165v2 because it didn¡¯t get picked up by NU¡¯s bot. Some interesting trivia: Alexei is a Russian name. And that is true for this series too. Anymore would be spoilers, but just know he¡¯s a very important guy in Kang Jin-ho¡¯s life. ¡®Always remember the victory conditions.¡¯ Alexei always said that. Killing didn¡¯t always work. Depending on the battlefield, the conditions for winning could vary. ¡®Formte a strategy to meet the conditions of victory.¡¯ Depending on the victory conditions, the way you fight could vary. Alexei was an objectively good teacher, and Jude respected him as a teacher whether in his past or present life. Because of this, he didn¡¯t be someone who was all talk and no action, or did things randomly without any n. Until the day he was lucky enough to safely retire, and even when he got addicted to games and became an unemployed person who generously spent his money and enjoyed a life of pleasure, Jude never forgot the victory conditions. He formted strategies depending on the situation. Bang! The air fluctuated in the aftermath of the fifth door¡¯s opening. A golden whirlwind rose amidst the roar, and Jude became a ck gale as he rushed towards First Sword. ¡®Make him move six times.¡¯ The victory conditions. Therefore, he formted his strategy and tactics based on that. ¡®Observe.¡¯ He was fortunate enough that he got thest number. And because of that, Jude was able to observe it twenty times. ¡®The pattern is always the same.¡¯ First Sword would guide them up to the third time, turn the attack into nothing on the fourth time, and make them surrender on the fifth time. Therefore, Jude¡¯s initial n was to receive guidance until the third time. But the situation changed the moment First Sword positioned himself in the Light Swordsmanship style. So Jude took out n B which he had prepared just in case. ¡®I¡¯ll do everything fast like a raging storm.¡¯ Due to First Sword¡¯s nature, it was unlikely that he would attack from the beginning just because he changed his swordsmanship style. After all, he would still treat Jude as a prospect. So Jude would push him. He would make First Sword defend for several times. And to add another to it. ¡®Something unexpected.¡¯ Because First Sword would think that Jude was a swordsman. As an opportunity for their own personal growth, all the 20 prospects who stood in front of First Sword had used proper swordsmanship in their match against him. A sharp, refined, and beautiful dance of their swords. So Jude would approach it in apletely different way. A blunt, unrefined, and rough dance ¨C like that of a raging storm! ¡®ck Dragon Cross Strike!¡¯ At the same time he rushed forward, he thrust his fists forward and shot the energy of the ck dragon from both his fists. A long-range strike. And a non-linear attack at the same time. ¡®Here!¡¯ ¡°Hopf Link!¡± He shouted at the same time as he thought. He drew his fists and manipted the two separate energies of the ck dragon. The two energies of the ck dragon flew into a circle as it intersected with each other, causing a loud roar as it powerfully exploded. Hopf link ¨C in mathematical knot theory, it¡¯s two circles that are linked to each other but do not intersect. I will not go into more detail since it¡¯splicated, but for this chapter, it¡¯s just Jude firing two energies of the ck dragon from both his fists. But in this case, the two energies that flew in a circle crossed each other, causing an explosion. Jude, why are you calling this a Hopf link if the two intersect! Bang! Bang! Bang! A series of explosions was heard. As the ck dragon¡¯s energies violently twisted, it dug up the floor and shook the air. But that was all. In the midst of those explosions, the sword of First Sword shone and at that moment, a line split the explosions into two. Shiiiing-! A sword of light. His dazzlingly fast sword split the explosion. It stopped the roars of the explosion, and even the aftermath of the shock was split, preventing it from reaching First Sword. And First Sword raised his head. But most of the prospects didn¡¯t see it. They were caught off-guard by the powerful explosion and the splendor of First Sword¡¯s attack that turned the explosion into nothing. So only two people, Cordelia and Lucas, saw the same thing as First Sword. ¡®Head.¡¯ Midair. It was a new option Jude could choose since he became a superhuman, which was something he would¡¯ve never imagined in his previous life. Jude was seen in First Sword¡¯s eyes. The explosion caused by the ck Dragon Cross Strike was both an attack and a foundation for his next move. Jude made the ck explosion create the effect of a smoke bomb detonating, and kept everyone¡¯s eyes on the ground with its loud roars and aftershocks. And at the same time, he soared up the ground. ¡®Like a magician.¡¯ Just like what Alexei taught. ¡®ck Dragon Cross Strike!¡¯ From the sky to the ground. Jude kicked down from the air as he aimed at First Sword¡¯s head. And at that moment, the energy of a giant ck dragon vertically headed towards the ground. Rooooarrr! The roar was like a dragon¡¯s roar. A smile spread on First Sword¡¯s face, and he swung his sword again. The light¡¯s trajectory split the energy of the ck dragon again. Bang! Bang! Having been split into two, the energy of the ck dragon broke the ground. At the time fragments of the stone stage flew into the air, Jude had alreadynded on the ground. He lowered his posture as if he was almost sticking to the ground, and then leapt forward as he aimed for First Sword¡¯s back. First Sword turned around and looked at Jude. It was just a moment, but Jude was able to read First Sword¡¯s thoughts through his eyes. ¡®It would be impossible for you.¡¯ From the ck Dragon Cross Strike that encircled each other to the ck Dragon Cross Strike from above. He had continuously used powerful techniques in such a short time. First Sword did not know much about the techniques used by Jude, but even then, he knew about ¡®that¡¯ since he had reached a certain level. That there should be a dy now. That there should be a cooldown between using two techniques. First Sword¡¯s thoughts were not wrong. He thought of Jude as a swordsman who was two levels above Lucas, and even if he was a swordsman two levels above Lucas, it would be impossible for Jude to immediately use a third technique. But Jude could do it. He made possible something that First Sword thought was impossible. ¡®Middle dantian!¡¯ He had used up all the energy in his lower dantian. But the energy in his middle dantian remained. So Jude skillfully used the energy in his middle dantian for his next attack. Bang! He stomped on the ground with his left foot. He kept his lower body down as he struck the air with a clenched fist. And what he shot at that time. It was the energy of the sun. The ck and unmatched energy of the sun! ¡°Roar! Explode!¡± The energy roared and exploded. The energy of the ck sun exploded, and darkness engulfed everything. It was only for a short moment, but it had blinded everyone. The explosion. The roar. Shiiing! But the light strongly struck again. Once again, the light split the explosion, the roar, and the shockwaves. And First Sword felt it. He momentarily lost his sight, but he perceived it with his superhuman senses. The ce where Jude was located. Jude¡¯s breath. The fourth move Jude wanted to do. A smile spread on First Sword¡¯s face again. Because he sensed it. Jude was putting his hand on his sword. He was finally going to use his sword. ¡°Haha!¡± First Sword opened his eyes and refreshinglyughed. He fully enjoyed the beating of his heart as he saw Jude. Cordelia forcibly opened her eyes, but her sight was still blurry. And Lucas also tried to see Jude and First Sword. Sir Cornwell btedly opened his eyes and was also excited. ¡®Sword!¡¯ Jude would finally use the sword. Jude, who was so strong without a sword, would finally use a sword! A moment. A short time. But First Sword shouted fast in his thoughts. He looked at Jude as he cried out in his mind. ¡®Show me.¡¯ Your skills. Your sword! Shiiiing! Jude drew the Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword. And at that moment, First Sword was confused. He had been surprised when Jude had opened the fifth door and charged, but he was now more surprised at the situation. ng! The Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword fell to the ground with a clear sound. Cordelia smiled while Lucas widely opened his eyes. Jude didn¡¯t use his sword. He had drawn the Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword and threw it towards First Sword. By doing so, he seeded for a moment in stealing the attention of not only First Sword, but also everyone who were watching. ¡®Something unexpected.¡¯ He heightened their tension. He made them look forward to it. And then he threw all their expectations into the gutter. ¡®As light as the wind.¡¯ Without any sound, without any forewarning. At the time when the Oriental Warrior¡¯s Sword was tossed away by First Sword¡¯s defensive instinct, thereby making him move for a fourth time. Jude became the wind. He even used the roaring sounds that he caused whenever he charged. He tried to distract First Sword a little by continuing to show the same pattern but performing different actions. Shwaaaa-! Jude got behind First Sword. If he attacked from behind again instead of prating through the front, he could make First Sword move for the fifth time. And if that happened, First Sword had to move for a sixth time. In other words, it would be Jude¡¯s victory then. But in that instant. When he tried to release the energy of the ck dragon again! ¡°I won¡¯t let you.¡± He heard First Sword¡¯s voice. In reality, it was such a short moment that he didn¡¯t even hear First Sword say those four words, so it was impossible for him to have heard First Sword¡¯s voice in that short moment. But Jude had heard it. He felt that he had heard it. And he wasn¡¯t wrong. First Sword turned around. His sword moved faster than Jude. It was an attacking move. It was not a defensive move, but was First Sword¡¯s attack to end the match with this move! ¡°Sorry.¡± This will hurt a lot. You won¡¯t die though. His sword of light. His dazzlingly fast sword! Shiiing! The light shed. A sharp sh of light trailed as it cut through time and space. Jude¡¯s intuition felt it. He already knew it the moment First Sword moved for the fifth time. He couldn¡¯t avoid it. The wind could never beat the light. So he would be cut. The light would destroy the wind. But if it was not the wind. If it was faster than the wind. One that precedes the sound. If it moved faster than the thunder that shook the earth! Bang! An explosion. He could only express it like that. The power of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors and the energy of the sun were all condensed at once, and the resulting explosion made the impossible possible. It was stillcking. It was still iplete. But it was something that he had to do. ¡®Because Cordelia wants it.¡¯ He wanted to show her an amazing performance. And above all. ¡®Because I want to win.¡¯ Baaaaang! A bolt of lightning struck. The light from the tip of the sword split the air. And lightning jumped over it. First Sword turned the attack into nothing. Cordelia clenched her fists at that moment. She was ecstatic as she held her chest as if to suppress her overly excited heart. Because Cordelia knew. What Jude was trying to do. What technique Jude was trying to do. ¡°Juuude!¡± As if responding to Cordelia¡¯s cry, the lightning continued. Not only did it dodge the sword of First Sword, but it also quickly narrowed the distance between Jude and First Sword. Thunderbolt Twelve Steps. The first step. Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt ¨C a thunderbolt that was faster than the wind. First Sword was genuinely surprised by the advance of Jude. So he also moved his feet. He widened his distance again from Jude, who had quickly narrowed their distance, and First Sword reflexively swung his sword. An attack again. Moreover, it was a real offensive attack and not just a swinging of his sword like before. ¡®I will block it.¡¯ His words were short, but it was true. He used his sword technique that made him known as the First Sword of the Sword School. Heavenly Light. He would have originally dashed with his sword. But First Sword only sent out his aura. A giant bird of light ¨C a powerful energy of light rushed towards Jude. Jude then used his technique almost simultaneously as if he had predicted it. He released most of the energy from the ck sun. He cried out in his mind as if he was roaring. ¡®Roar! ck Dragon!¡¯ Shatter the skies, O ck Dragon! It was a line that Cordelia would have been embarrassed if she had heard it, but no one would have cared even if he had shouted it. Because the scene in front of their eyes was so overwhelming. Booooom! The ck Dragon and the Bird of Light collided head on. A tremendous force exploded, and the light blinded their eyes. The dust covered everything on the stage. ¡°Crazy.¡± Sir Cornwell unknowingly said. And most of the prospects spoke simr words. They already knew that Jude was strong. But they didn¡¯t expect it to be this much. ¡®He¡¯s stronger than me.¡¯ If Sir Cornwell himself had stood on that stage instead of First Sword, would he have been able to distance himself from Jude? Would it have been possible for him to block all the techniques Jude had used in session? Moreover, there was one more surprising thing. ¡®W-what had happened to him?¡¯ Jude was only 17 years old now. But what kind of amazing things had happened to him? Did he consume elixirs as his normal meals? Sir Cornwell was amazed and surprised, while Lucas couldn¡¯t close his open mouth either. But Cordelia was a little different. She became teary-eyed and almost shouted. ¡°Jude!¡± At thest collision. They had yet to see the results. If Jude had been injured. If Jude had not been able to resist the Heavenly Light of First Sword. Cordelia¡¯s hair turned ck. Her eyes turned red. Her intense emotions caused her to transform into a witch. And it was at that moment. The swing of First Sword¡¯s sword blew away the dust. Therefore, everyone saw the two on top of something that used to be the stage, and all of them let out gasps. First Sword and Jude were still standing. The only difference was that First Sword¡¯s clothes were a little dirty, but he was fine. On the other hand, Jude had vomited blood, and his mouth and chest were red, while his clothes were torn all over his body. ¡°Cough. Kaak.¡± Jude vomited blood again. But it was clear red blood and not ck blood. ¡°Haaa.¡± It was all because of the Sphere of Life that had beenpletely absorbed in Jude¡¯s body. The aftermath of the collision between the ck Dragon and the Heavenly Light would have struck him, and he would have internal wounds because of excessively using his power. If he had been an ordinary person, he would have copsed and died as he vomited blood, or he would be in a state of near-death. But Jude was not an ordinary person. The fifth door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors made him a superhuman, and the Sphere of Life gave him regenerative power. ¡°Amazing.¡± First Sword spoke with a smile, and Jude just drooped his shoulders, suppressing his desire to raise his middle finger. ¡°Jude!¡± It was Cordelia. She ran to Jude at once and tightly hugged him without caring if his clothes were dirty or not. She then began to use her recovery magic. ¡°Hey, are you okay? Jude? Are you fine?¡± As Cordelia asked with tears in her eyes, Jude blinked for a moment, but he soon said with a smirk. ¡°I¡¯m fine. Wasn¡¯t I a bit cool?¡± ¡°What the heck do you mean by cool! You like you¡¯ve been beaten up!¡± ¡°No, I¡¯ve never been hit, okay?¡± He had just been unable to escape from the aftermath, so he had looked like this now. Jude shrugged and Cordelia¡¯s fist lightly hit Jude on the chest before she red at First Sword. And First Sword said at her re. ¡°I should¡¯ve been more serious.¡± In using Heavenly Light. Cordelia began to unconsciously growl at his words, and Jude hugged her waist to pacify her as he looked at First Sword and said. ¡°Ahem, ahem. Anyway, I¡¯m the winner, right?¡± Because First Sword had moved six times. Moreover, Jude was still standing. He didn¡¯t look to be fine since blood poured from his mouth, but in any case, First Sword would need to move a seventh time if he wanted to subdue the current Jude. First Sword bitterly smiled at Jude¡¯s remark, and the prospects who were mesmerized in many ways finally came to their senses. But they still murmured with a surprised look on their faces, and no one was able to properly speak. ¡°You monstrous guy. I somehow see you as my young self.¡± Jude awkwardly smiled at First Sword¡¯s words, and Cordelia snorted. Her expression seemed to be asking on what the heck was he talking about. ¡°Heeey, most people would have been greatly honored, okay?¡± The Sword Saint of Light hadpared Jude to his young self and not anyone else. But Cordelia still snorted, and First Sword was forced to end the match with a bitter smile. ¡°Alright, alright. The first prospect to make me move six times is Jude Bayer. In the name of I, Rhun Froud, the Sword Saint of Light, I hereby dere the victory of Jude Bayer.¡± He said it in a calm but clear voice, and Duke Spencer began to p at that moment. ¡°Blessings to the winner¡± ¡°Blessings to the winner!¡± Princess Darianne shouted along as she broadly smiled and enthusiastically apuded. She was followed by Sir Cornwell and the Knights of the Red Rose. The prospects also cheered and pped, starting with Lucas. ¡°Hehehe.¡± Cordelia felt better and Jude likewise felt better at Cordelia¡¯sughing before he raised his hand. When everyone cheered, he moved her head so naturally as he kissed Cordelia¡¯s forehead. ¡®What, what, what was that?¡¯ The startled Cordelia looked at Jude, and instead of saying something, Jude pointed at everyone with his eyes and faced his right cheek at her. What he had meant by that. What Jude was asking her now. ¡°O-only this time, okay?¡± Cordelia quickly spoke with a blushing face, and Jude nodded. And a light kiss. As soon as Cordelia¡¯s lips touched Jude¡¯s cheek, Princess Darianne cheered, First Sword frowned, and Lucas looked somehow proud. And after a while. When the heat had subsided to some extent, and it was time for Jude and Cordelia to descend from the rubble that used to be the stage. ¡°By the way.¡± The voice of First Sword was heard by Jude and Cordelia again. The two naturally looked back at First Sword, and he bitterly smiled with crossed arms as he spoke in a very small voice. ¡°You¡¯re not a swordsman, right?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m a swordsman.¡± Jude responded reflexively, and picked up the Eastern Warrior¡¯s Sword that had fallen on the ground before he bowed politely to First Sword. ¡°Then, I¡¯ll be going in order to treat my injuries.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll receive the prize instead of Jude.¡± The two thenughed as they went down the stage as if they were running away. ¡°How interesting.¡± They were interesting. It was certainly a good reason for him to remain in the royal capital. ¡°Indeed¡­they¡¯re a fantasy couple.¡± As he stared the backs of Jude and Cordelia as they walked among the prospects, First Sword lightly shook his hand. He looked up the sky as he ignored his somehow aching side. Thunderbolt Twelve Steps is a new technique of Jude, and not me mistaking it for Twelve Faith Steps. Chapter 166: Entering the Palace (1)

Chapter 166: Entering the Pce (1)

ATTENTION! I¡¯ve made a mistake in thest chapter (I forgot to copy the first page of episode 165), so to those who haven¡¯t read the chapter with the ¡®fixed version¡¯ in the title (aka, those who have read it within 5-6 hours of me posting it), please do read episode 165 again. There¡¯s some info there about Alexei and some clues about Kang Jin-ho¡¯s past life. Click this to go to the fixed version of episode 165. The demon follower groups in Pleiades could bergely ssified into five. The Devil¡¯s Hand served Asmodeus, the overlord of lust. The Devil¡¯s Eye served Belial, the overlord of corruption. The Devil¡¯s Mouth served Lilith, the overlord of love and hatred. The Devil¡¯s Ear served Belphegor, the overlord of cruelty. The Devil¡¯s Horn served Behemoth, the overlord of violence. In Hell, the five overlords were virtually equal in power, but in the mortal world, their followers were not equal in power. After a fierce battle with the Guardians of the Holy Cross, the Devil¡¯s Ear was pretty much destroyed, and the Devil¡¯s Horn and all their demonic humans were also annihted, except for the demonic human called ¡®Jabberwock,¡¯ who was also known as ¡®Behemoth¡¯s avatar.¡¯ ¡°But the remaining three are still quite powerful.¡± In particr, the Devil¡¯s Hand boasted of a wide sphere of influence, being active in both the Argon Empire and the S?len Kingdom. They also had the highest number of demonic humans under theirmand. ¡°The leader of the Devil¡¯s Hand.¡± A long blue-haired woman whose identity was unknown. She was believed to be the avatar of Asmodeus and a mysterious person whose identity was not fully revealed in the second or third episodes of Legend of Heroes. ¡°She is probably the strongest among the demon followers.¡± But fortunately, she rarely made a direct appearance on the battlefront. She would always be sitting and watching from behind the scenes. ¡°The Devil¡¯s Eye is in the west of the Argon Empire, and the Devil¡¯s Mouth is in the distant east.¡± Therefore, only the Devil¡¯s Hand and the Devil¡¯s Eye were the main enemies in Legend of Heroes 2, which was set on the western continent. ¡°Between those two, the main enemy of the S?len Kingdom was the Devil¡¯s Hand.¡± Three of the six branches of the Devil¡¯s Hand were located in the S?len Kingdom, and their headquarters were also in the center of the kingdom. ¡°They cannot get close to the royal capital because of the barrier, so they¡¯re probably in the capital¡¯s outskirts.¡± Specifically, it was located on the edge of the border with the Argon Empire, and the demonic human in charge of the central branch was the aggressive Koros, one of the six key executives of the Devil¡¯s Hand. Like the other key executives, he longed for the favor of their leader, so he devoted himself to the ¡®S?len Royal Family Genocide n¡¯ in order to destroy the barrier in the capital. It was to the point that he would be willing to ask for the help of Saluzia, the head of the northern branch whom he did not get along well. *** ¡°Saluzia.¡± At the call of Koros, Saluzia took off her hood and revealed her face. Her fair face and purple eyes in between her very dark ebony-like hair made her look impressive under the dim light. ¡°Koros.¡± Wearing a white robe, Saluzia deeply sighed as her shoulders slumped a bit. The two were both key executives who usually fought for the favor of their leader, so they were actually rivals, but it had slightly changed because of their current situation. ¡°Your pretty face looks haggard. You must have had a hard time.¡± The demon followers who served Asmodeus of lust generally had outstanding looks. Koros was no different since he had a very handsome face, well-defined features, and a masculine appearance. But his eyes were so intense that it seemed fierce even if he smiled quietly. On the other hand, Saluzia was an elegantly beautiful woman with a feminine and delicate appearance, but her purple eyes had an intense look too. Instead of answering him, Saluzia looked around and sat on a chair that seemed appropriate. ¡°Everything had gone wrong since they appeared.¡± Saluzia spoke in a low voice, and Koros understood right away on who she was talking about. ¡°Are you talking about Jude Bayer and Cordelia Chase?¡± It was not an exaggeration to say that the entire S?len Kingdom knew of the two as the couple of the century. But for Saluzia, they were known as the two who had escaped from the difficult situations she had put them in several times. ¡°They must be in the royal capital now.¡± ¡°I know.¡± She had tried to kidnap the two while on their way to the royal capital. ¡°Is it hard to touch them now?¡± At Koros¡¯ question, or rather, at his half provocation, Saluzia frowned. Aside from what he said that it had be difficult to touch Jude and Cordelia now, she also found Koros¡¯ current attitude as annoying. ¡°Koros, isn¡¯t it you who¡¯s asking for help and not me?¡± ¡°Of course it is. Should I say that I¡¯m just concerned for my mate?¡± Koros shrugged and Saluzia sighed again, but she no longer said anything. It was true that they were mates as Koros had said, but the reasons on why she sighed were because of her rtionship with Koros and that they both wanted to please their leader, so they had cooperated like this. ¡®Since Koros had asked for my help, I¡¯ll have to do my best with this task¡­ but it¡¯s also to help me after my recent failure.¡¯ You could say that we¡¯re just mutually helping each other. The rtionship between Koros and Saluzia was quite long and deep. Because the mate that Koros referred to was not limited to the Devil¡¯s Hand. ¡®Orphanage mates.¡¯ Their childhood days that she didn¡¯t remember much anymore. T/N: The word ¡®mate¡¯ her refers to a person who entered the samepany/institution in the same year as you. So in the Devil¡¯s Hand, the two are workmates who joined the group at the same time. As for the orphanage, the two probably entered it at the same time. Saluzia bitterly smiled without realizing it, and she opened her mouth as she made a face that she would never make in front of Kanos or her subordinate demonic humans. ¡°So Konny, are you asking for more help?¡± ¡°Yes, Sannie. I think I need all the help I can get.¡± A smile had spread on the faces of the two when they called each other by their orphanage nicknames after a long time, but it was also because they were both demon followers. The story they wanted to share now was a terrible conspiracy that would cause the sacrifice of innocent people. ¡°The Lord Protector¡¯s limbs are being cut off.¡± The ck Moon and his subordinate nobles were being attacked. If the aristocrats¡¯ offensive continued, there was a possibility that they could not proceed as nned on the day of the anniversary. ¡°So you want me to help you?¡± ¡°To make it bigger. I¡¯m going to do things more boldly.¡± Koros opened his arms as he looked at Saluzia, and she realized what he was talking about. That was why her shoulders slumped again. ¡°Konny, are you betting your life into this?¡± ¡°Because it¡¯s worth it.¡± The barrier in the royal capital. The divine sword, ¨ªomh Sis, maintained that barrier. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be nice if it screwed up the couple of the century as a bonus?¡± ¡°¡­That is a bit pleasing.¡± When Saluzia spoke frankly, Korosughed out loud. ¡°Our leader has given us permission.¡± Tobine all the forces of the central and northern branches. ¡°Do you have anything in it for me in order for me to ept it?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s why I¡¯m begging you like this now.¡± At Koros¡¯ words, Saluzia loudlyughed and said. ¡°I¡¯ve thought about this for a long time, but you really don¡¯t know how to ask for a favor, Konny.¡± ¡°But I can do this because we understand each other, right? You know me, Sannie.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m the only one who knows you.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m only doing this to you. What do you think? Are you not happy that you know?¡± ¡°Ha, you¡¯ve really set your mind on doing this n.¡± Saluzia spoke sarcastically, but she wasn¡¯t in a bad mood. Or rather, in order to make up for her past failures, she had no other choice but to work together with Koros and make this n to exterminate the royal family sessful. ¡°But I won¡¯t agree if you don¡¯t give me an exnation. Tell me about it in detail.¡± In what way and the amount of work she would do. When Saluzia asked him about it, Koros grinned and drew closer to her. He began to tell her about it in a low voice. *** In the afternoon, after Jude¡¯s match against First Sword was over. Cordelia sat on the sofa and happily smiled as she stared at the sword glimmering in the sunlight. ¡°Ah, it¡¯s so pretty no matter how many times I look at it.¡± How can its color be so beautiful? How can the gem in its handle be so brilliant? Cordelia¡¯s face became ecstatic, and she unknowingly hummed. Jude was sitting next to her and said in quiet voice as he gazed at her. ¡°Cordelia, my love. I dedicate to thee what thou had asked for.¡± Instead of being embarrassed by his dramatic and romantic lines, Cordelia giggled and tapped Jude on the shoulder with her hand. ¡°Yes, yes, good job. Continue to devote yourself and be loyal as you are now. Do your best always, okay?¡± ¡°No, Princess. Isn¡¯t it time for you give me a prize or say thank you?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t. If I continue to be nice to you, you¡¯ll be spoiled. Don¡¯t you know that the carrot-to-stick ratio is important?¡± Cordelia said with a mischievous look as she snorted, and Jude smiled again at her appearance. ¡°Well, if it¡¯s a carrot, I already got it.¡± Carrot. It was so sweet that my teeth seemed like it would melt. Cordelia flinched again because she quickly understood what Jude meant, but she didn¡¯t immediately say what it was. Becauseplicated thoughts filled her mind. ¡®As I thought, d-do you like me?¡¯ Did he do that because he liked me? Did he do that because I asked him to do it? ¡®Well¡­ they do say that people do a lot of strange things because of that.¡¯ But it was typical of Cordelia to straightforwardly change the topic. ¡®A-anyway!¡¯ But if it is true¡­ If Jude really likes me¡­ Cordelia nced at Jude, who faced her with his usual sly face. And it was at that moment. ¡°His Excellency, Duke Spencer, wishes for you to enter.¡± The two where currently in the waiting room of Duke Spencer¡¯s ce. Jude and Cordelia were guided by a ssy old butler, and they passed through the splendid and beautiful hallway before they reached Duke Spencer¡¯s drawing room. ¡°Mr. Jude Bayer and Lady Cordelia Chase have arrived.¡± Soon after the butler spoke in a solemn voice, the clear ringing of a bell was heard from the inside, and the old butler opened the door very politely. And the sight that was revealed. The drawing room with beautiful ss windows was filled with the scent of flowers, and two people were sitting on the fancy sofa in the center. ¡®Duke Spencer and Princess Darianne.¡¯ Duke Spencer was a tall and thin old man, and he wasfortably sitting while dressed in purple clothes. Princess Darianne was sitting next to him and she gently smiled as she slightly waved her hand. ¡°I am Jude Bayer from the Bayer family.¡± ¡°I am Cordelia Chase from the Chase family.¡± When Jude and Cordelia courteously greeted them, the highest-ranked person in the room, Princess Darianne, greeted them with a big smile. ¡°It¡¯s nice to see you both. This is my grandfather, Duke Spencer.¡± Duke Spencer cleared his throat a bit at her friendly introduction that seemed to have brushed aside her manners, but instead of scolding her, he said as he faced Jude and Cordelia. ¡°I am Duke Spencer. The two of you may sit down.¡± The two of them bowed again after being allowed to sit, and Jude escorted Cordelia to the sofa. While remaining courteous, they gently sat in front of Princess Darianne who was looking at them in joy. The two were the children of nobles, so their manners weren¡¯tcking, so Duke Spencer had a satisfied smile on his face. ¡°Indeed, you two are children from the 12 northern families. But the princess wants you to sitfortably, so you don¡¯t have to be so nervous. Do you understand?¡± ¡°I understand.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Excellency.¡± When Jude and Cordelia answered formally again, Duke Spencer nodded with a satisfied smile again, and Princess Darianne said as she pulled Duke Spencer¡¯s sleeve. ¡°Grandpa is really¡­ If you keep doing that, unnie and oppa will have no choice but to act formal.¡± Could there be a person who¡¯d really act informal just so that the person higher in rank than them would feelfortable? Rather, they would only feel burdened. ¡°Unnie, oppa, it¡¯s really okay. Grandpa isn¡¯t that strict. So you can be informal with us.¡± ¡°Haha¡­ Yes, I understand.¡± ¡°Yes, Princess.¡± But the same was true for Princess Darianne who was a higher-ranked person. Moreover, unlike Duke Spencer¡¯s words that were actual formalities so anyone could quietly listen and respond appropriately, it was a problem that Princess Darianne truly wanted Jude and Cordelia to actfortably. You could say that they feel more troubled actingfortably with Princess Darianne. As a result, Jude and Cordelia answered formally and did not loosen their postures. Fortunately, Duke Spencer was not as strict as Princess Darianne had said. He fully understood Jude and Cordelia¡¯s difficulties. ¡°Haha, I give up. The princess¡¯ stubbornness is strong. Let me apologize instead. I want you to understand.¡± ¡°Grandpa?¡± Princess Darianne¡¯s eyes widened, and she seemed to be asking what he was talking about, but Duke Spencer just grinned while Jude and Cordelia also faintly smiled. ¡®He¡¯s a good person.¡¯ ¡®Yes, it seems like he really cares for Princess Darianne.¡¯ In the original, Duke Spence had never made a proper appearance because he was sick. Of course, they could guess his personality to some extent from various indirect information, but they felt relieved after meeting him in person and confirming that he was a good person. ¡°Now, let¡¯s get to the point. First of all, let me express my gratitude. Thank you. Thanks to the two of you giving me the Seven-Colored Herb, I was freed from my chronic illness and regained my health.¡± ¡°Thank you very much.¡± When Duke Spencer expressed his gratitude, Princess Darianne also broadly smiled and thanked them again, and Cordelia beautifully recited the greetings she had prepared. ¡°We are also very pleased to see the princess be happy and His Excellency to have recovered. Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to do good, Princess Darianne.¡± As she finished her words with a bright smile, Princess Darianne unconsciously blushed and said as she pulled the sleeve of Duke Spencer again. ¡°Look, isn¡¯t Cordelia-unnie really pretty? She has a pretty face and a beautiful heart.¡± ¡°Indeed, it¡¯s more than the rumors.¡± Duke Spencer spoke with a satisfied face, and Cordelia was delighted but had some questions at the same time. ¡®What rumors are they talking about?¡¯ ¡®It must be the rumor that you¡¯re as pretty as an angel. Let¡¯s thank Lady Emma Ficus for that.¡¯ Thanks to her, he was able to show the world the full beauty of Cordelia. ¡®Of course, it would be even better at the day of the founding anniversary.¡¯ He would let Cordelia wear the Fairy Dress, an item that would enhance her beauty, so that the S?len Kingdom, and even the world, would know about Cordelia¡¯s beauty. ¡®Hey, are you thinking of something wicked again?¡¯ ¡®No, I¡¯m not? I¡¯m just thinking of something that is nice and true.¡¯ The two had their usual prolonged eye conversation, but the other two didn¡¯t mind it. Duke Spencer opened his mouth again. ¡°If you¡¯ve done something good, you should be awarded. I cannot reward my benefactors with nothing when they have helped me this much.¡± Having said that, Duke Spencer lightly rang a bell, and the old butler waiting at the door then put down a silver tter on the table. ¡°You two are my benefactors, so you can use my name anytime and anywhere.¡± Duke Spencer said that in a serious tone unlike before, and the two focused their attention on the silver tter, or to be exact, on the rose emblem of Duke Spencer on it. It was actually a token of his willingness to treat the two as his people. ¡®Bingo.¡¯ Since they had the backing of one of the aristocrats¡¯ leaders, they could do a lot of things with this emblem alone. It was not an exaggeration to say that their act of giving the Seven-Colored Herb was returned to them several times more. But Duke Spencer had no intention of stopping there. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think I should say this with my own mouth¡­ but this alone can benefit you greatly. However, shouldn¡¯t a reward have a material form? I¡¯ve been wondering on what to give you, so I¡¯ve decided that this is the best.¡± Duke Spencer rang the bell again, and the old butler put down a new silver tter on the table. Jude and Cordelia then unknowingly opened their eyes wide in surprise. ¡°I will not allow you to refuse it. Please take it.¡± On the silver tray was a white and rectangr paper. It was a paper with a huge number of zeroes written on it. ¡®Woah.¡¯ A Royal Bank cheque. In short, it was cash. Moreover, the amount was enormous. It was equivalent to the total annual ie of Count Bayer¡¯s territory. ¡®He really is a big shot among the nobles.¡¯ One could count within three fingers the nobles in the S?len Kingdom who possessed such great wealth. ¡°There¡¯s a lot of things I want to hear from you two. The princess has told me a lot of stories, so I¡¯ve been quite curious. Like, what are you two actually like? I¡¯ve been wondering if you two are really the characters of the story the princess has told me. But before we start talking, I think I should let her tell you something first. It seems like my princess is quite anxious to show it to you two quickly.¡± Duke Spencer yfully spoke, and Princess Darianne pouted her lips but it was only for a moment. She soon smiled childishly and brightly before she rang the bell to bring in a new silver tter. ¡°Please take it.¡± What Princess Darianne had prepared. What she wanted to give to Jude and Cordelia. ¡°My unnie and oppa also wanted to see you, unnie and oppa. They gave me a chance to show off unnie and oppa.¡± Her words had a lot of repetitions. But the people she was referring to as ¡®my unnie and oppa¡¯ werepletely different, and Jude and Cordelia quickly understood on who she was talking about. ¡®Princess Daphne and Prince Dion.¡¯ The next queen and her younger brother who were both sessors to the throne of the S?len Kingdom. On the silver tter was an invitation to a tea party hosted by Princess Daphne. Chapter 167: Entering the Palace (2)

Chapter 167: Entering the Pce (2)

Late post. Had to settle some of my graduation requirements yesterday. As for the next chapter, I¡¯ll try to post it within the usual time. Terms used in this chapter: Jeon-eum ¨C a Korean fictional martial arts term that refers to the skill of secretly transmitting your voice to your target without being heard by other people. Jeon-eum literally means ¡®sound transmission.¡¯ The present king of the S?len Kingdom, King Henry II, had many children. He currently had three queens and seven concubines. However, it was only the children of the queens who were the official sessors of the throne, and among them, the First Queen¡¯s children were the highest in the line of session. ¡®The first in line to the throne.¡¯ The direct descendants of the present king were higher in the line of session than the king¡¯s siblings. In the S?len Kingdom, there was no distinction between men and women when it came to inheriting titles, so as soon as Daphne, the eldest child of the First Queen, was born, she naturally became the first in line to the throne. ¡®Princess Daphne.¡¯ Children of nobles in the S?len Kingdom were only recognized as adults when they reach 20 years of age. It was veryte whenpared to the fact that children ofmoners were treated as adults when they reach 15 years of age, but this was unavoidable. ¡®Nobles are different frommoners.¡¯ So they had to assume more responsibility and show that they had better skills. Naturally, there were many people who became adults because they reached the age requirement, but it was a bit different if the person was a proper noble or the firstborn child. They really had to show a noble figure. ¡®Anyway, about Princess Daphne.¡¯ Or rather, the Crown Princess. She was the so-called all-around superhuman who excelled in both schrly knowledge and martial arts. Her innate talent undoubtedly yed a big role in that, but in fact, it was more because of her efforts than her being a genius. ¡®The next monarch is the Crown Princess.¡¯ Princess Daphne had heard that statement every day since her childhood. Oftentimes, when people of her position hear that kind of statement, they would bezy or spend their time idly, saying that ¡°I¡¯m the next king anyway!¡±, but Princess Daphne was different. Her personality was sincere, and she studied and studied every day in order to be a person fit for the monarch position. ¡®She has a younger brother.¡¯ Prince Dion, who was also a child of the First Queen. He was two years younger than Princess Daphne, and as he saw his older sister crazily studying hard, he thought. ¡®I¡¯ll be the monarch if my older sister is gone. So I should study hard like my older sister!¡¯ His words didn¡¯t mean something like ¡®I¡¯ll be the next monarch if my older sister is gone, so I have to get rid of her!¡¯ He studied hard in order to prepare for the scenario of his older sister dying, and in the midst of that, Prince Dion came to learn of her tremendous efforts and nearly worshipped her. ¡®I¡¯m the second in line, so I¡¯ll assist you perfectly!¡¯ So Prince Dion studied magic. Princess Daphne studied so much that 24 hours a day was insufficient, and she learned about the monarchy, politics, swordsmanship, foreignnguages and so on, but magic was the only thing she didn¡¯t learn. Thus, Princess Daphne found Prince Dion¡¯s efforts to be veryudable ¨C no, she thought it was cute. A younger brother who worshipped his older sister, and an older sister who cared and loved such a younger brother. Moreover, since they were the first and second in line to the throne, problems rted to the session of the throne did not happen in the S?len Kingdom. ¡®That¡¯s why Princess Darianne was able to get along with Princess Daphne and Prince Dion.¡¯ The position of Princess Daphne was so firm that Princess Darianne, who was the firstborn child of the Second Queen, was not seen as a rival who threatened her session, but considered to be just a cute and pretty younger sibling. Because of that, Princess Darianne was loved by Princess Daphne and Prince Dion, and though she wasn¡¯t as good as Prince Dion, she became Princess Daphne¡¯s faithful follower and spent her days happily. ¡°I¡¯m excited because unnie¡¯s tea party will be in a few days.¡± Princess Darianne lightlyughed, and Duke Spencer who was a leader of the aristocrats but also a moderate, smiled too. However, Jude and Cordelia had bitter feelings amidst their happiness. ¡®Their fates in the game.¡¯ In the game, the Lord Protector¡¯s n to massacre the royal family had seeded. It wasn¡¯t only Princess Daphne and Prince Dion, but also included Princess Darianne and the children of the concubines whose names were not even mentioned in the game. In fact, all of the children who possessed the current king¡¯s blood ended up dead. Among those deaths, Princess Daphne and Prince Dion¡¯s deaths were gruesome. The bodies of the two, who fought hard in order to protect their younger siblings in a situation where their retreat was blocked, were torn apart by the demon followers who were angry at their strong resistance, and dumped on the streets, bing food for the stray dogs. ¡®It will be different this time.¡¯ The future would have a happy ending. It would be the ssic good triumphs over evil. Because they wanted the good to be blessed and the evil one to be punished. Jude and Cordelia looked at each other and simultaneously smiled. Because they realized that the other was thinking of the same thing. ¡®She¡¯s really nice.¡¯ ¡®Even if his insides are dark, my Jude is not an evil person.¡¯ The two smiled once more before they looked in front again and continued to chat with the excited Princess Darianne. More than an hour passed by. After talking for quite a long time, their chat finally came to an end. Aside from Princess Darianne, Duke Spencer had a lot of business to attend to since he had recovered from his illness. ¡°Then, please enjoy the Banquet of Swords. I¡¯ll look forward to meeting you again.¡± ¡°Thank you very much for everything.¡± ¡°Thank you very much.¡± When Jude and Cordelia courteously thanked them in turn, Duke Spencer concluded the tea party by bowing to Princess Darianne, the person with the highest rank in the group. And ten minutester. Having finally left the main building of the mansion, Cordelia groaned to suppress her desire of stretching out her body. Because Duke Spencer¡¯s staff was still in front of them as the staff guided them back to the annex. [I want to go in quickly and stretch out. And change into morefortable clothes.] Sheined as she let out her frustrations through magic, and Jude burst into a smallugh. [Yeah. If we were in the wildnds, I would have carried you on my back and went back to our tent.] [Eh¡­that¡¯s awkward. Come to think of it, the Banquet of Swords is until tomorrow, right?] [Yes, tomorrow seems to be a time where the prospects are free to have fun or do what they want.] [Haa¡­that¡¯s bothersome. I¡¯ll just hide behind you and watch.] Cordelia wanted to make friends, but because this was the Banquet of Swords where only swordsmen gathered, the wizard Cordelia felt out of ce. [Anyway, we earned a lot today.] [Duke Spencer seems like a nice guy. He¡¯s a big spender. Ufufu~ We¡¯re rich now, we¡¯re rich~] [Exactly¡­ I feel that the scale is different.] Count Bayer¡¯s one-year ie wasn¡¯t that great. It was close to the lowest ones among the 12 northern families. But he was still a count and part of the 12 northern families. To befortable with spending such an amount equal to the yearly ie of Count Bayer, Duke Spencer was indeed one of the wealthiest people in the S?len Kingdom. [And there was also the talk about our titles, right? First of all, a knighthood is guaranteed, huh?] [Yes. After this month, you¡¯ll be Dame Cordelia and I¡¯ll be Sir Jude.] [As for the baron title¡­ Duke Spencer-grandpa said that he is working hard for us to receive it, right?] [Perhaps we¡¯ll get it.] Jude nodded pleasantly before he looked straight ahead. Because they had arrived at the annex. The sun had already began to set, so the area around the annex was very quiet. Most of the prospects staying in the annex were probably in their own rooms or gathered in a drawing room to chat. And because of that, he could feel it. The sudden piercing gaze. [Oh,e on. I want to rest.] Cordelia felt the gaze too andined through magic, and Jude had a bitter smile before he turned his gaze. Under a low tree. A young man with dark blue hair stood there and was smiling. [Do we still have to meet him? Do we still have to get close to him?] [We have to get close to him. Should I meet him alone? Would you like to go in first and take a rest?] [No, let¡¯s go together. I think that we should not be careless around him. He¡¯s a really sly guy.] Having said that, Cordelia ended her magic and straightened her posture, and Jude dismissed the staff before hepletely turned towards the young man standing under the tree and waiting for them. ¡°First Sword-nim.¡± ¡°Oh, I was waiting. Would you like to go on a short walk?¡± The voice of First Sword came into the ears of Jude and Cordelia like magic. ¡®It¡¯s Jeon-eum.¡¯ ¡®Can you do that too?¡¯ ¡®Uh, perhaps it¡¯s possible for me now?¡¯ Jude and Cordelia exchanged short nces before they walked towards First Sword and not prolonged their conversation further. ¡°Did you wait for us on purpose?¡± ¡°Yes, I wanted to talk to you. Can we talk for a moment?¡± At First Sword¡¯s question, Jude and Cordelia simultaneously nodded, and First Sword had a small smile again. ¡°It would have been a dull conversation between guys, so I¡¯m d Lady Cordelia would be with us.¡± ¡°I¡¯m also interested in what First Sword-nim wanted to say.¡± Cordelia firmly answered, and First Sword quietly smiled before he turned around and took a step. ¡°Then I¡¯ll get to the point and talk. It¡¯s not my style to drag out a conversation.¡± First Sword said as he headed towards a bench in the garden which they could see. ¡°Frankly, I was a little surprised today. I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d really make me move six times.¡± When First Sword naturally brought it up, Jude nodded as if he knew that to be the case, but not for Cordelia. Because she realized it again. ¡®Come to think of it, that¡¯s true!¡¯ First Sword had defeated all the prospects within five moves except for Jude. He taught them until the fourth time, and won within the fifth move. In short, he had always intended to end it in the fifth move. ¡®And there was that.¡¯ When he fought against Jude, he even changed his stance into his swordsmanship style. As if he didn¡¯t want Jude to make him move six times. ¡®Don¡¯t tell me he had no intention of picking a winner in the first ce?¡¯ There¡¯s no winner, so I¡¯ll be taking this sword! Did he want to say something like that? As Cordelia looked at First Sword in suspicion, he raised and shook his hands as he said. ¡°I think you¡¯re having a terrible misunderstanding, so to put it directly¡­ I was thinking of ending everything within five moves.¡± So what I had thought was true. Cordelia thought as she frowned, before she spoke to him. ¡°But First Sword-nim, there would have been no winner if you did that.¡± ¡°No, he¡¯s the winner because I decided that he was that good and no one canpare to him. He made me move six times, so yourpanion did a good job. I think he¡¯s the winner.¡± As he said that, he tapped Jude on the shoulder, and it seemed like he had picked Jude as the winner from the very beginning. ¡°I changed to my swordsmanship style against him¡­ Even if it ended within five moves, no one would have disagreed, right?¡± Thest question was directed at Jude, who nodded with an awkward expression before he spoke to Cordelia. ¡°And¡­ First Sword-nim didn¡¯t lose on purpose in the first ce. It would be a problem if he refused to move for a sixth time.¡± ¡°Well¡­ that¡¯s true.¡± It was correct when she heard his words. ¡°But well, I did overdo it. Especially the sixth move.¡± The sixth move done by First Sword. Heavenly Light. It was originally a charging move, but the fact that he only released his aura and not charged towards Jude was because it was the skill of someone called the Sword Saint among the Ten Great Swordmasters. If it had been someone other than Jude, they might have been seriously injured or lost their life. ¡°Did it somehow trouble your mind?¡± ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right. I was indeed troubled. It¡¯s a bit embarrassing.¡± In fact, the sixth move was unnecessary. Since five moves couldn¡¯t defeat Jude, then he was obviously the winner. The reason why First Sword used Heavenly Light was because he himself got fired up, which was no different from the fact that he failed to control himself. ¡°But perhaps¡­ if the same situation happens, I¡¯ll use Heavenly Light again. I¡¯ll charge this time.¡± ¡°¡­ Do you want to kill me?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that. I¡¯m just excited by the appearance of a great prospect.¡± First Sword mischievously smiled before he exhaled and straightened his posture. He then asked Jude again. ¡°I wanted to ask you this earlier¡­ but, uh, are you Landius-nim¡¯s disciple?¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyes widened in surprise at First Sword¡¯s question. ¡°Do you know Landius-nim?¡± ¡°Anyone who walked the path of the sword would know of Landius-nim¡¯s name, right?¡± When First Sword replied with a question, Cordelia nodded without realizing it. It would indeed be strange if a swordsman didn¡¯t know Landius, especially someone like him who was one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. But there was a significant gap between knowing Landius and presuming that Jude was Landius¡¯ disciple. That was why Cordelia was surprised. ¡®First of all, Jude is not as muscr as Landius!¡¯ Of course, it didn¡¯t mean that Jude didn¡¯t have any muscles in his body. Jude¡¯s body was simr to those of Greek statues. But Jude¡¯s muscles and Landius¡¯ muscles were different. They were very much different. ¡®Jude¡¯s body is cool, splendid and¡­ beautiful? B-but Landius¡¯ body is scary.¡¯ It was her really honest impression. Landius¡¯ body was really scary. He was 2.3 meters tall, and his forearm was thicker than Cordelia¡¯s own waist. He was almost ten times bigger than her, though it was a bit exaggerated, so it wouldn¡¯t be strange if she was scared of him. ¡°I can tell what you¡¯re thinking by looking at your face¡­ but I didn¡¯t think of that by looking at his muscles. It was a hunch since I saw him not using a sword but iming to be a swordsman.¡± A swordless swordsman. But someone was the strongest in the world. ¡°Anyway, it seems like I¡¯m correct that you¡¯re Landius-nim¡¯s disciple.¡± ¡°Yes, I am Master Landius¡¯ disciple.¡± It was pointless to hide it since he had already figured it out. Moreover, from the point of view of Jude who wanted to make First Sword their ally, the more things he had that would attract First Sword¡¯s interest, the better. ¡°That¡¯s a relief. So it was Iron Man Landius¡¯ disciple that made me move six times. If it¡¯s like that, then it¡¯s less embarrassing for me.¡± First Sword reverted to his mischievous face and put his hands in his pockets as he said. ¡°I originally wasn¡¯t supposed to attend this Banquet of Swords. Until Cornwell told me to see you at least once. I was nning to go back to the Sword School after just seeing you.¡± At First Sword¡¯s words, Cordelia swallowed hard. First Sword didn¡¯t appear at the founding anniversary celebration in the game. ¡°But I¡¯ve changed my mind. Perhaps I¡¯ll attend the founding celebration this time.¡± ¡°That¡­ is it because of me?¡± ¡°Well¡­ it¡¯s because of this and that? I want to see how you¡¯ll fight in the tournament, and I want to see your girl¡¯s skills too. After all, she¡¯s the daughter of Count Chase, the Red Storm, and the younger sister of Adelia Chase, the youngestmander.¡± Cordelia unconsciously puffed out her chest at First Sword¡¯s words. Because she was proud of hearing about her father and older sister. ¡°Of course, I¡¯m looking forward to the ball the most.¡± First Sword winked at Cordelia, and her lips squirmed. But Jude had a very proud face. ¡°Please look forward to it. You¡¯ll see the most beautiful woman in the world.¡± ¡®Hey! Cordelia wanted to kick Jude¡¯s shin at that moment ¨C no, she did try to kick it, but Jude quickly dodged it before he said to First Sword while looking at him. ¡°You muste. Please.¡± ¡°Haha, okay. I¡¯ll look forward to it. Not just Lady Cordelia but you too.¡± First Sword winked again before he turned around as if he had nothing more to say. He then waved his hand to say goodbye and began heading towards the main building. ¡°What the- is he going to leave just like that?¡± ¡°Because he¡¯s said everything that he wanted to say.¡± He apologized for what happened today, and said that he would attend the founding anniversary ball. ¡°I don¡¯t like him even though he said that.¡± ¡°Well, it still worked out for us, right? We¡¯ve achieved what we wanted despite not putting in much effort.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± First Sword would participate in the founding anniversary ball. ¡°The Lord Protector should feel nervous now.¡± ¡°Just the presence of First Sword himself would put him under pressure, right?¡± ¡°Yes, and even if the First Sword belonged to the aristocrats¡­ it¡¯s not in his nature to ignore the royal family dying in front of his eyes. He¡¯ll probably fight against the Lord Protector.¡± ¡°Hohoho, does that mean we got rid of our biggest headache?¡± ¡°We still need some fine adjustments to it.¡± But it was true that they were relieved of a heavy burden. They had been looking for a way to get First Sword to attend the founding ball, so their problem had been solved now. ¡°Haa¡­I¡¯m tired. Let¡¯s go in and rest.¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go back and get some rest today. We have to do a lot of preparations starting tomorrow.¡± ¡°Preparations? For what? For Princess Daphne¡¯s tea party?¡± ¡°Because there are only three days left. In addition, it¡¯s a tea party where all the popr youngdies in the royal capital will be gathered. So we have to be prepared.¡± In a way, it was a prelude to the founding anniversary ball. ¡°Hehehe¡­ I¡¯ll show them. The angel-like beauty of my Cordelia¡­¡± Cordelia unconsciously flinched when she saw Jude¡¯s sly smile, and she pulled on his sleeve. ¡°Hey, do you know that you like a pervert now?¡± ¡°But we need to promote our shampoo and conditioner. Yes, that¡¯s right. From today on, I¡¯ll be supervising it properly. With Cordelia¡¯s beautiful face, I¡¯ll make them forget about Princess Daphne.¡± As Jude clenched his fist, Cordelia narrowed her brows and said. ¡°Princess Daphne is a woman too, okay?¡± ¡°Is there a problem with that?¡± When Jude tilted his head, Cordelia shook her head and sighed. ¡°Anyway, you keep thinking about dressing me up, but I¡¯ll dress you up too, okay? I¡¯m going to be a Prince Maker, okay?¡± ¡°Sure. Let¡¯s improve ourselves by learning from each other.¡± Jude smiled and extended his hand to Cordelia, and she automatically held his hand. ¡°Then, let me escort you back to your room, my beautifuldy.¡± Cordelia smiled when Jude politely spoke to escort her, and she shrugged her shoulders before heading back to their rooms. And that night. Under the night sky where the moon and stars very brightly shone. Something that Cordelia didn¡¯t expect to happen then happened. Chapter 168: Entering the Palace (3)

Chapter 168: Entering the Pce (3)

¡°Nnngh¡­ Jude¡­¡± Cordelia quietly mumbled before she exhaled and turned her body to the side. Is it 9 o¡¯clock? Cordelia had gone to bed earlier than usual because of her exhaustion, but at some point, she suddenly woke up. Because she could feel something moving. ¡®Jude?¡¯ She could hear footsteps, though it was very light. She couldn¡¯t check right away because her back was turned to the door, but she could feel someone approaching from behind. Someone was stealthily approaching. Someone was rustling something. ¡®Rustling?¡¯ She heard the sound of someone touching the bed, and not just approaching it. ¡®What¡¯s going on?¡¯ Jude, is that you? And what¡¯s going on? Why are you sneaking into my room in the middle of the night? Why are you approaching the bed while I¡¯m sleeping? ¡®And.¡¯ Why am I staying still? Why am I pretending to sleep with my eyes closed instead of waking up and asking him on what happened? In the short time she was troubled, her heartbeat increased, and the rustling sounds continued, indicating that someone was drawing near. Light footsteps. The sound of someone taking off their foot from the floor. The sound of someone gently climbing on the bed. Who could it be? Who is it? Is it Jude? Is it really Jude? But why? She could get up and ask, but Cordelia continued to pretend to be sleeping without realizing it, and someone finally reached out to her. She felt them gently putting their hand on her shoulder, and then going up. From her red hair to her covered nape and then to her ear. From there, it went down along her jaw line and stopped on her soft cheek. She felt a gentle touch as if someone was caressing her. Cordelia¡¯s body somehow gradually hunched, and she swallowed her saliva. At that moment, she felt the long and thin fingers touching her cheek suddenly do something. It pinched Cordelia¡¯s soft cheek and pulled it straight. With a very familiar hand gesture. ¡°Ah?¡± Familiar? In that instant, Cordelia opened her eyes and grabbed the hand pulling her cheeks as she raised her body at the same time. ¡°Scarlet?¡± ¡°Ah, you were awake?¡± Scarlet shamelessly smiled while dressed in a maid uniform, and Cordelia¡¯s brows furrowed. She was fine with the shameless expression itself, but she did not expect to see Scarlet¡¯s face. ¡®No, what am I saying?¡¯ Cordelia shook her head to rid herself of her useless thoughts, and she pulled Scarlet¡¯s arm and asked. ¡°Hey, what exactly are you doing in my bedroom in the middle of the night?¡± ¡°What am I doing? I was pinching my princess¡¯ cheek.¡± ¡°My princess?¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyes grew fierce, and Scarlet said with an awkward smile. ¡°Ah, is that a pet name only Jude could use?¡± ¡°Do you want to retire today?¡± When Cordelia brightly smiled and gathered mana in her empty left hand, an eerie blue light rose, but Scarlet quickly grabbed her hand and said. ¡°Okay, okay. I¡¯ll stop ying around. Let¡¯s have a serious conversation. ck Cloak! Come in!¡± ¡°Jude?¡± Cordelia blinked her eyes and turned to the door. And it didn¡¯t take long before the door burst open. ¡°Scarlet, didn¡¯t I ask you to wake her up quietly?¡± ¡°I did wake her up quietly. Very gently.¡± Scarlet shrugged and gave her a wink, but Cordelia red at her again as she sat up straight. ¡°What¡¯s going on? Why are you here in the middle of the night?¡± Scarlet quietly smiled at Cordelia¡¯s slightly irritated voice, and she sat down next to Cordelia and spoke. ¡°It¡¯s only 9 o¡¯clock. Isn¡¯t it too early to say it¡¯s the middle of the night? Of course, it¡¯s the time when good kids go to sleep.¡± ¡°Are you picking a fight?¡± Cordelia fiercely red at her again, and Scarlet shut her mouth while Jude deeply sighed before he approached the bed. ¡°Scarlet, don¡¯t say anything else and just get to the point. Cordelia was woken up from her sleep, so her mood is bad now.¡± Jude persuaded her as he handed to Cordelia the teacup he was holding. It was warm honey water that she usually enjoyed drinking. ¡°Oh, thank you.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mention it.¡± Jude replied with a smile before he sat next to Cordelia and nced at Scarlet again. He gestured with his eyes for her to talk quickly. ¡°Tsk, this couple rubbing salt into my wounds. Will something bad happen if you stop making me feel salty?¡± ¡°Hey, I can hear everything, okay? Oh, this is delicious. As expected of my Jude.¡± ¡°I¡¯m d Madam likes it.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, my Jude is awesome.¡± When Jude responded as if he was in a drama, Cordelia gently smiled, and Scarlet frowned again at the appearance of the two. He told her to stop annoying Cordelia, but they rubbed salt into her wounds again. He told her to get to the main point but continued to act shameless. ¡°Hey, Pink Bomb.¡± ¡°What is it, b*tch?¡± Scarlet was momentarily stunned at Cordelia swearing naturally, but she soon nodded her head. Because Scarlet knew that Pink Bomb was foulmouthed in the first ce. ¡°Hmm, you¡¯re a natural.¡± ¡°Stop ying around and get to the point. You do know that waking up someone who¡¯s sleeping well isn¡¯t nice, right?¡± ¡°Alright. I¡¯ve already told ck Cloak about this, but I¡¯m here for work.¡± ¡°Work? Are you stealing something?¡± ¡°No, not stealing. Do you think the job of a Rogue Master is to only steal?¡± ¡°Hmm, you do have a point. Because a rogue does a lot of stealing, assault, terrorism, and so on.¡± Cordelia nodded as if she understood Scarlet, who frowned when she saw Cordelia¡¯s actions. She was right, but that only made Scarlet feel bad. ¡°Hmph, you do know what you¡¯ve done to my cheek is assault, right?¡± ¡°I do know it¡¯s assault. Anyway, I want us to work together. Actually, yesterday¡¯s visit was part of my investigation.¡± When Scarlet said that while avoiding Cordelia¡¯s eyes, Cordelia tilted her head and looked at Jude, asking him with her eyes. ¡®What¡¯s wrong with her?¡¯ Why is she avoiding my eyes when she¡¯s asking us to work with her? Her face is also red. At Cordelia¡¯s gaze that reflected her confusion, Jude bitterly smiled and replied with his eyes. ¡®Ourpetition hasn¡¯t been settled yet. So she must have felt awkward asking us to work with her. She must be embarrassed.¡¯ Cordelia let out an ¡®Ah¡¯ after Jude exined it to her, and she teasingly smiled as she looked back at Scarlet. Because Scarlet whom she had found annoying until now, had looked very cute. ¡°Oh my, you¡¯re so cute.¡± Scarlet was surprised when Cordelia pinched her cheeks, but she didn¡¯t try to resist because she had also done the same thing to Cordelia, and that she was asking them for a favor now. ¡®Ah, so this is how it feels.¡¯ It was a situation where a provocative-looking beauty was blushing while her cheeks were gently being pinched. Besides, her cheeks felt squishy, so Cordelia was feeling very happy at its texture. Cordelia¡¯s face loosened as she continued to y with Scarlet¡¯s cheeks, and Jude sighed since their conversation stopped, so he opened his mouth instead. ¡°Cordelia, Scarlet¡¯s suggestion is for us to explore a dungeon. Or to be exact, she wants us to go with her to the stone tablet-type dungeon book lying underground the Red Rose Castle.¡± ¡°Dungeon Book?¡± Cordelia removed her hands from Scarlet¡¯s cheeks and asked again with her eyes. ¡®Are you talking about the Pce of Mirrors?¡¯ ¡®Yes, that¡¯s right.¡¯ ¡®I see, so that was the reason.¡¯ The Pce of Mirrors was a dungeon book that could not be entered alone. It was an instant dungeon which required a certain number of people before they could enter. ¡®It¡¯s the reason why Jude and I didn¡¯t n on entering it.¡¯ By the time one entered the Pce of Mirrors in the game, Duke Spencer and the S?len Kingdom were already gone, and the Red Rose Castle was in ruins, but that was not the situation now. Not only was the castle intact, but the number of people residing in it was considerable, so it was hard to sneak in and bring other people. ¡®No, it¡¯s possible if it¡¯s only infiltration, but it is hard to find someone reliable whom we can bring.¡¯ She could ask Ga?l or Adelia to go together with them, but they would definitely scold the two as soon as Jude and Cordelia told them about it. ¡®It¡¯s impossible to ask the prospects whom we just got to know today.¡¯ If it were a dungeon in a quiet forest somewhere, it would have been possible to persuade them, but the situation was different if it was inside Duke Spencer¡¯s mansion. They would clearly show reluctance the moment they were asked to go. ¡®The Pce of Mirrors is a 4-yer dungeon, right?¡¯ ¡®Yes, that¡¯s why neither you nor I were thinking of entering it.¡¯ But little did they know that Scarlet had appeared and suggested it herself. If you add Cordelia, Jude, and Scarlet, then they numbered three, so they needed one more person in order to enter the Pce of Mirrors. Just one more person. Thest person. ¡®You¡¯re thinking of the same person as me, right?¡¯ ¡®Yes, you¡¯re right.¡¯ A person they could trust, not only because of his skills, but also because of his personality. In addition to that, a boy whom they could give a chance to improve his skills at least once. ¡®I think it¡¯ll be easy to lure him.¡¯ Jude did not deny Cordelia¡¯s words, and the two soon began to smile wickedly. ***¡°Lucas, this is Scarlet. Scarlet, this is Lucas.¡± Inside the room of Jude and Cordelia. Lucas had been called out in the middle of the night, but he was still nice and well-mannered. As soon as Cordelia¡¯s introduction was over, he politely greeted Scarlet. ¡°I am Lucas Hr?svelgr.¡± ¡°I¡¯m¡­ Scarlet.¡± Scarlet had initially tried to answer casually, but she politely spoke in the end. Because Lucas¡¯ eyes were too serious to just ignore. ¡®I knew it! I knew he¡¯d be weak against this!¡¯ Just as Lucas liked stories about heroes, Scarlet also liked those stories especially those of the Rogue Master¡¯s stories. Cordelia screamed happily in her mind, and she quickly looked back at Jude. ¡®Jude, Jude. Don¡¯t you think that they look good together?¡¯ Her eyes sparkling with anticipation made her look very cute, but Jude just smiled at her excitement. ¡®Hey, you said that you wanted him to end up with Red Wind back then.¡¯ ¡®But Red Wind is in the wildnds. She seemed to be getting along with Sun Song.¡¯ So let¡¯s pair Lucas with Scarlet. They¡¯re enthusiasts of hero stories, so they¡¯ll get along well. Isn¡¯t that a match made in heaven? ¡®A young master from a noble family and a provocative-looking beautiful thief. Plus, the woman is older. Hmm, hmm¡­it looks good, it looks good.¡¯ As Cordelia continued to be immersed in her imagination, Jude briefly put aside the conversation with their eyes and exined the rough situation to the two, or rather, to Lucas. ¡°Oh, I see¡­ So there¡¯s a dungeon book hidden in the basement of this Red Rose Castle?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡± ¡°Miss Scarlet is Mr. Jude and Lady Cordelia¡¯s adventurepanion.¡± ¡°Yes, we had an adventure together just before we came to the royal capital.¡± Cordelia seriously nodded when Jude replied with a smile, and Scarlet affirmed it though her expression was strange. ¡°To sum it up, you need four people to enter the dungeon book, so you came to me, is that right? In order to enter the dungeon book together.¡± ¡°Yes, to go on an adventure together.¡± Lucas flinched for a moment when Jude emphasized a certain word, and Cordelia¡¯s wild instincts did not let her miss that moment. ¡°Lucas, don¡¯t you think it¡¯s going to be fun? We¡¯ll be essing the hidden secret of the Red Rose Castle. There¡¯s also an enigmatic and mysterious beauty with us.¡± ¡°Who? Me?¡± Scarlet questioned if Cordelia was referring to her, but Cordelia continued to speak. ¡°It¡¯s a dungeon book, so Duke Spencer¡¯s ce will not be damaged. We don¡¯t have to worry about dying either. We can literally enjoy an adventure. A great adventure.¡± Cordelia continued to emphasize the word ¡®adventure,¡¯ and Lucas flinched each time she said it. Because he had focused so much on sword training that he had forgotten his longing for adventure for a while, so his longing had been revived now. ¡°Lord Lucas, will you join us? This is my suggestion to Lord Lucas, my good rival. I can¡¯t just monopolize the opportunity to grow further.¡± In fact, it was because of the four-people restriction, so they needed one more person, but there was no need for them to reveal such a thing. The important thing was to lure Lucas. ¡°Mr. Jude¡­¡± ¡°Lord Lucas, let¡¯s grow together.¡± As if to respond to Lucas¡¯ unsure look, Jude tightly held Lucas¡¯ hand as he emphasized it again, and its effect was amazing. Lucas was overwhelmed by his emotions and he nodded his head. ¡®Wow, as expected of my Jude, a really good scammer.¡¯ It would be really terrible if he was someone else¡¯s scammer. Cordelia breathed a sigh of relief while Scarlet who was watching from the side, squirmed as if she was going to die from cringe. And a few secondster. Lucas finally made up his mind and clenched his fist as he said. ¡°I¡¯ll try to help you even if my skills arecking. Let¡¯s grow together and be better!¡± ¡°Wow.¡± Jude and Cordelia apuded as if they had waited for his reaction, and Scarlet was also forced to apud after Cordelia stepped on her foot. ¡°Now then, let me tell you the details before we leave.¡± The exact location of the dungeon book and the enemy they would encounter inside. Scarlet was amazed by Jude¡¯s knowledge, and she continued to nce at Cordelia to ask how he knew about it. But Cordelia was only humming and didn¡¯t give her a proper answer. As for Lucas, he was busy listening to Jude with a serious face. ¡°It won¡¯t be easy. But the joy of achieving that much will be great.¡± Jude told everyone before he stood up from his seat, and Lucas quickly followed him with sparkling eyes. ¡°As you said, I think it¡¯s a necessary challenge for me now. Mr. Jude. Thank you very much.¡± ¡°Because it¡¯s for my rival.¡± ¡°Mr. Jude¡­¡± ¡°Lord Lucas.¡± As Jude and Lucas shared a heated look, Scarlet¡¯s eyes grew cold, while Cordelia giggled and pulled Jude¡¯s sleeve. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go.¡± Cordelia was also very interested in the special enemy she would face in the Pce of Mirrors. ¡°Yes, my princess. Everyone, this way please.¡± Jude opened the window very naturally, and Cordelia who was dressed in the usual pants she wore while they were on a trip, quickly passed through the window and went outside. ¡°Please go first.¡± ¡°Uh¡­okay.¡± And followed by the serious Lucas and the awkward Scarlet. The four young men and women cautiously and secretly walked as if they were running away at night. Chapter 169: Entering the Palace (4)

Chapter 169: Entering the Pce (4)

Scarlet Viper. She was the great-granddaughter of Elijah Viper, the 5th andst Rogue Master at that time. As she was on her way to bing the 6th Rogue Master after several decades, she stumbled upon something that made her seriously question someone. ¡®What? Who is he? What is he doing?¡¯ Jude Bayer. He was the second son of Count Bayer and known to be madly in love with Cordelia Chase, the daughter of Count Chase. Together, they were known by the entire S?len Kingdom as the couple of the century. ¡®And ck Cloak.¡¯ He was the sidekick as well as the assistant to Pink Bomb, the 6th generation Rogue Master who was actually Cordelia Chase. He was 17 years old. His birthday wasn¡¯t that far, so he would be eighteen soon. He was 180 centimeters tall and weighed about 70 kilograms. He had ck hair and green eyes. He had a seriously good-looking face. To put it simply, he was a handsome young man. From what she had seen so far, he had a very calctive personality. A ck-hearted man who was really cunning and sly. He liked Pink Bomb. His weak points were his destructive naming sense and Pink Bomb. But it was difficult to regard it as a main weakness because she did not know how he¡¯d react if someone touched Pink Bomb. His strength was very powerful for someone his age. She estimated it to be around a minimum B- to a maximum of B+. He imed to be a swordsman, but in reality, he fought with his fists in actualbat. His family was also very strong. He mainly used martial arts that utilized his Qi/energy instead of the ¡®Chivalry¡¯ used by knights and swordsmen. Scarlet momentarily recalled the information she had gathered about Jude, and she even questioned it more. Because she couldn¡¯t understand him. ¡®Is he a hidden child of Duke Spencer?¡¯ Like an illegitimate child. Or a child who was born from his close rtives and had to be hidden. If Count Bayer had heard of her thoughts, he would have drawn his sword in rage, but the reason she began questioning it was simple. Because the amount of information Jude had was too much. ¡°Wait here for a second. One, two, three. Okay, let¡¯s go quickly while the guard turns to the corner.¡± First of all, his understanding of the guards¡¯ movement was perfect. Of course, there was nothing particrly strange about it because the movement of the outside guards was basic information that small-scale thieves figure out first before entering. But the problem was after that. ¡°If you lightly press the wall here¡­¡± ¡°Oooh, it¡¯s a secret passage.¡± ¡°It leads to the inside. Let¡¯s hurry.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Pink Bomb broadly smiled and listened to Jude as if this was something natural, but Scarlet felt differently. Because she couldn¡¯t understand. ¡®Why do you know this?¡¯ No, how do you know? It wasmon for the secret passages of a mansion to be only known by the owner and their sessors. Those were emergency routes used in certain situations. But Jude knew of all the secret passages in Duke Spencer¡¯s Red Rose Castle as if it was his own house. How the hell does he know? That was information that even someone like the Rogue Master wouldn¡¯t be able to find. ¡®Come to think of it, it seems that Pink Bomb already knew about the Pce of Mirrors¡­¡¯ Could it be that the two had done a preliminary investigation before? ¡®That makes sense, but¡­¡¯ But it was very strange that he knew all the secret passages. ¡®It was the same with the previous case¡­ is his intelligence source that great?¡¯ But it seems like he had met the Blue Moon for the first time back then. It also seems like he has no connections with the intelligence groups in the royal capital. ¡®Is it possible that he has his own intelligencework?¡¯ That¡¯s possible. He is the child of someone from the 12 northern families. ¡®No, that would be a bit¡­¡¯ That would have been the situation if they were in the north. Moreover, the families of Jude and Cordelia were not particrly famous for their intelligence or wealth, though their individual strength was strong. ¡®What is it then? What in the world is it?¡¯ The secret of ck Cloak. His source of information. Scarlet thought hard before she suddenly looked next to her. Because she instantly became interested in Lucas Hr?svelgr, the fourth person in their group. ¡®What¡¯s his reaction?¡¯ Anyone could tell that it was strange for Jude to know all the secret passages and also the movement of Duke Spencer¡¯s guards. So what does Lucas think of the current situation? ¡®But if he epts it as if it was natural¡­¡¯ Maybe Lucas knows something too? Something that I myself do not know. Right after Scarlet changed her target and began to nce at Lucas, Cordelia snickered when she saw it. ¡®Jude, Jude. Look at that. Scarlet must be interested in Lucas. Hehe, our Lucas is kind and handsome. He¡¯s also pure.¡¯ When Cordelia said with her eyes a lot of good things about Lucas, Jude somehow narrowed his eyes before he sent her a nce with a very short message. ¡®Handsome?¡¯ ¡®He¡¯s handsome. Our Lucas is clearly handsome¡­ ah, my Jude, are you feeling upset now? Just because I said that Lucas is handsome?¡¯ Jude didn¡¯t give an answer, so Cordeliaughed again and sent him a look. ¡®No, well¡­ my Jude is more handsome. But rather than being pure, your insides are more of pure ck in color¡­ Wait, if it¡¯s pure ck, does that mean you¡¯re pure too?¡¯ ¡®Ahem¡­¡¯ But Jude looked satisfied, perhaps because he heard from her that he was more handsome, and Cordelia shook her head at him, finding it to be absurd. ¡®Sometimes, you¡¯re really childish.¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t want to hear that from Pink Bomb.¡¯ ¡®Hey, you¡¯re the one who gave me that name, right?¡¯ While Jude and Cordelia exchanged nces and were having an almost telepathic conversation, Lucas and Scarlet also nced at each other, and their eyes met. Scarlet¡¯s red eyes and Lucas¡¯ blue eyes. Scarlet flinched while Lucas slightly blushed and averted his gaze, acting like a pure boy just as Cordelia had said. And him acting like that was certainly quite effective. ¡®Cute.¡¯ Scarlet unknowingly smiled and looked at Lucas again, while Lucas opened his mouth at that moment as if he was trying to shake off his embarrassment. ¡°Umm¡­ Mr. Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Lord Lucas.¡± Jude answered in a low voice, and Lucas asked again in a hushed voice. ¡°Your information about the Red Rose Castle¡­ did you hear it from your master too?¡± Master. At Lucas¡¯ question, Scarlet perked up her ears while Jude nodded his head. ¡°Yes, I heard it from Master.¡± ¡°Ah, I see¡­¡± Landius had also be famous for exploring ruins around the world after the fall of the Paragon Kingdom. The Red Rose Castle was originally a renovation and expansion of an ancient ruin, so Landius could have known about its secret passages ¨C that was what Lucas thought, and his answer was true to some extent. But Scarlet was thinking something different again. ¡®What? Who? Who is ck Cloak¡¯s master? Who¡¯s that person?¡¯ Unfortunately, not many people knew that Jude was Landius¡¯ disciple. Because neither Count Bayer nor Count Chase talked about it. ¡®If you think about it, it should be Count Bayer, right?¡¯ Because Count Bayer was a swordsman, and not just any other swordsman. So it was strange that someone who was one of the Ten Great Swordmasters would hire a separate master for Jude. ¡®But¡­ that¡¯s also possible.¡¯ Jude¡¯s specialty was fist fighting and not swordsmanship. If he was a student of Count Bayer, the Sword General, he would be a swordsman, so it was possible that someone else was his master. ¡®Somehow, I have an idea on who it is.¡¯ It was quite unbelievable that a child from the 12 northern families would im to be the Rogue Master. But if it was someone¡¯s dying wish¡­ If Jude¡¯s master was someone who might be after the Rogue Master ¨C for example, a descendant of the Thief Master¡­ ¡®That exins everything.¡¯ It would exin everything from the fact that Jude used his fists instead of a sword, that Jude had Cordelia im to be the Rogue Master, and that he had his own powerful intelligencework. ¡®Who is it?¡¯ Jude and Cordelia¡¯s master. The one who made the two walk the path of the Rogue Master! She couldn¡¯t ask that from Jude and Cordelia. Because Jude wasn¡¯t someone she could induce into answering, while Cordelia was always next to Jude. Then, Lucas could be her only source of information. ¡®Lucas Hr?svelgr.¡¯ Scarlet slightly licked her lips and stared at Lucas with eyes full of desire (to know), but Cordelia saw it and looked back at Jude while trying to suppress her want to shout. ¡®Jude, Jude. Look at Scarlet¡¯s face. I think she has already fallen for Lucas. Maybe she¡¯s worried about their difference in status.¡¯ ¡®Eh, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s it. ¡®Why? It¡¯s possible, right?¡¯ ¡®No, it¡¯s not. Anyway, since we¡¯re here, please light up the ce.¡¯ Jude signaled to her, and she lit up the surroundings by creating arge magic light. ¡°Ugh.¡± Scarlet groaned and frowned at the sudden bright light, while Lucas looked around with squinted eyes. They were in a small stone chamber around 5 meters in diameter. The ceiling was quite high at around 3 meters tall, and at the center of the stone chamber was a stone pir around 1 meter high with four round amber stones each in the direction of the east, west, north, and south. ¡°That pir is the Pce of Mirrors.¡± Lucas blinked his eyes when Jude pointed and spoke like a guide. ¡°It¡¯s a dungeon book but not in the form of a book?¡± ¡°Everyone makes it into a book these days, but in ancient times, dungeon books¡­no, I mean, instant dungeons¡­ those were often in the form of a stone pir like this or a stone statue.¡± ¡°I see¡­ Come to think of it, I¡¯ve seen a simr story in a hero¡¯s biography that I have read before.¡± Lucas was speaking calmly, but his feelings could be seen in his face. He wanted to run at that moment and touch the stone pir. As for Cordelia, her hand was already touching the amber stone. Jude just smiled before he exined it to Lucas and Scarlet. ¡°To enter the Pce of Mirrors, four people must simultaneously instill their mana or energy into the amber stones. Cordelia is already touching the south, so I¡¯ll take the north. The two of you, please take the east and west respectively.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± Lucas immediately replied and walked to the east as if he was almost leaping, while Scarlet headed to the west with fairly quick steps. ¡®Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s go.¡¯ Despite Cordelia¡¯s urging, Jude walked in a rxed manner before he opened his mouth again as he touched the amber stone in the north. ¡°When I count to three, please instill your energy into the amber stone.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Unlike Cordelia and Lucas who immediately replied, Scarlet didn¡¯t say anything, but Jude never expected her to answer anyway. As he felt his heart begin to pound, Jude slowly counted the numbers. ¡°One, two-¡± ¡°Three!¡± When Cordelia shouted instead of Jude and instilled her mana, Lucas and Scarlet spontaneously instilled their energy to the amber stones too. Jude did the same, having known that Cordelia would behave like that. And right after that. At the moment when the amber stones reacted to the energy of the four people and glowed red. ¡°Good luck.¡± Everyone¡¯s vision turned white after they heard Jude¡¯s low voice. *** ¡°Haa.¡± Jude deeply breathed as he slowly opened his eyes and looked around. Stone walls and a stone floor. He was inside arge stone chamber like the one in the game. ¡®But it¡¯s a bit different now that I see it in person.¡¯ It felt much bigger than when he saw it in the game. Jude raised his head and looked at the ceiling. Technically speaking, the stone chamber had no ceiling. The walls headed to the beyond without any signs of ending, and a faint light simr to moonlight had lit up the ce, with nothing else obstructing the view. ¡®Its size should be¡­ around 30 meters in both height and width.¡¯ It was such arge space that it was already hard to call it a stone chamber. Cordelia, Lucas, and Scarlet were nowhere to be seen, but Jude did not even think of finding the three. To begin with, the mystery of the Pce of Mirrors was that it only needed four people to enter, but it was actually a one-yer dungeon. ¡®The difficulty also widely varies for everyone who enter.¡¯ Therefore, there were many different rewards, and since the Pce of Mirrors was a dungeon book developed for training in the first ce, intangible rewards such as increasing stats or developing one¡¯s abilities were more important than material rewards. ¡®Lucas¡­ I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll do well.¡¯ Scarlet would also do well on her own because she was one of the future four great swordsmen. Rather, it was Jude himself and Cordelia who might have a problem. ¡®There¡¯s a reason why it¡¯s called the Pce of Mirrors.¡¯ There was no pool of water in the stone chamber where you could see your face, nor was there a mirror. There was only a small door in front of them. But this was the Pce of Mirrors, and there was a reason why this ce was called that. ¡®A fight with yourself.¡¯ The small door in front opened, and as he had expected, a man who looked exactly like Jude then entered the stone chamber. ¡°Hmm, he¡¯s handsome-looking too.¡± Jude said that, and the ¡®mirror man¡¯ raised his hands with a sly smile. And with that movement, mana filled both his hands, and Jude had a bitter smile when he saw that. ¡®Is it another me?¡¯ The self they faced in the Pce of Mirrors was not exactly the same as their original selves. The image reflected in a mirror naturally reversed the positions of the left and right. ¡®In this case, it¡¯s the person you would have been if you had walked a different path.¡¯ Usually, only the weapons or skills used would change, but it seemed to be thepletely different this time. ¡° in the right hand, and in the left hand.¡± The mirror man said, and the wind and mes rose at the same time. A violent wind blew through the wide wall of fire as itbined and filled the stone chamber with fierce mes. It was extremely difficult to invoke two different magic spells at the same time, but that was only for ordinary people. Jude Bayer. A genius in calction. ¡°F*ck.¡± Jude spoke like Cordelia before he kicked the ground. He then rushed towards the mirror man, who was a wizard. *** Cordelia raised her head. She then swallowed hard as she stared at the mirror woman before her. She had no choice but to do that. Cordelia Chase. A woman born with wild instincts like that of a beast. A woman with geniusbat senses. The mirror woman held a long sword instead of a wand, and she brightly smiled as she spread out her angel wings of light. Hernguid smile and gestures were as graceful and deadly as that of big cats and ferocious beasts. ¡°As expected of Cordelia. She¡¯s very pretty.¡± Cordelia muttered to relieve her tension as much as possible, and she soon smiled as her canines glistened. As if responding to the mirror woman¡¯s angel form, she transformed into a witch and held a detonating cord in her hand. ¡°Come.¡± Cordelia said, and the mirror woman responded. She flew up with her angel wings of light. It¡¯s a cliff again. Oh well, see you all on Monday~! Chapter 170: The Road Not Taken (1)

Chapter 170: The Road Not Taken (1)

Correction: I found out that the line, ¡°a thunderbolt that was faster than the wind,¡± from episode 165 was actually an attack name. This was the first step of Thunderbolt Twelve Steps that Jude used in his fight against First Sword. So I¡¯m naming the attack as Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt from now on. *** Jude had his moment in his fight with First Sword, so it¡¯s Cordelia¡¯s turn to shine now! In the game, the Pce of Mirrors was a fairly popr dungeon. Because the battle against oneself, who took a different path, gave yers some room for thought. Did I choose the right job? Should I have chosen another skill tree? Perhaps another job is better than this job? Whoooosh! mes were added to the violent wind. An intense heat filled the stone chamber, and the vortex of fire headed towards Jude. It was strong and fast. Moreover, the surrounding air was burned at a terrifying speed. Therefore, Jude understood what the other was nning. The goal of the mirror man ¨C the wizard Jude, was not to burn Jude directly with the ming wind. It was to actually induce suffocation by filling the surrounding area with a huge swirl of fire while making it look like he was only nning to burn the real Jude. ¡®He¡¯s cunning.¡¯ Or rather, should I say that he¡¯s vicious? Jude praised the familiar tactic he had seen before, and immediately used his golden whirlwind. He pushed away the ming wind with his golden wind and rushed over the wall of mes, towards the wizard Jude. Whooooooosh! The wall of mes split. The wizard Jude was reflected in the eyes of Jude who kicked the ground at that moment. He narrowed his distance to wizard Jude and sent a punch at the same time. ck Dragon Cross Strike! Roooar! The energy of the ck Dragon roared as it soared. And what happened afterwards was something he expected. Just before the ck Dragon Cross Strike hit the wizard Jude, the air seemed to fluctuate, and the wizard Jude disappeared. ¡®Blink!¡¯ A short-distance space leap magic. He had quickly responded since had predicted it. As soon as he turned around and spread out his senses, he found the location of wizard Jude. ¡®As expected, it¡¯s the back!¡¯ users liked to leap behind their opponent¡¯s back. Because they could gain advantage if they headed for the back at once. Furthermore, while the ce was quite spacious, the space was still limited. The wizard Jude had to move to the other side in order to widen his distance from the real Jude. ¡°Bingo!¡± The wizard Jude shouted, and powerful curses was cast over Jude¡¯s entire body in an instant. . . . . Four simultaneous magic spells that were simple yet powerful. So how did he do it? Even if it was the real Jude himself, it would be impossible to simultaneously cast four magic spells at a fast speed. The answer was actually simple. The real Jude had seen what the wizard Jude had done at the moment he turned around and was beset with curse magic. ¡®Scrolls!¡¯ Just because he was a wizard didn¡¯t mean he no longer used scrolls. Rather, he was able to make even more advanced-rank scrolls because he had be a wizard. ¡°¡± In the instant Jude¡¯s knees weakened because of the curses, the wizard Jude loudly cried out before an immense amount of water poured over Jude¡¯s head. Shaaaaaaa! The high-speed chanting continued! ¡°¡± An invisible force crushed Jude. It made Judepletely kneel on the floor that waspletely wet because of the water that fell. And as Jude had expected. If wizard Jude had used after casting . Then it was obvious on what wizard Jude would do next. ¡°.¡± The wizard Jude soared from the floor after using magic that made him float. He then tore a magic scroll again. He invoked the punishment from the heavens. A thunderous white lightning! ¡°.¡± The wizard Jude¡¯s words quickly became reality. A white lightning struck the ground and spread throughout the water that covered the stone chamber¡¯s floor. *** p! The mirror woman flew up, but Cordelia ran forward instead of stopping. Because she instinctively had a hunch on what the mirror woman ¨C the warrior Cordelia, was nning to do. Boom! Boom! Boom! Booming sounds were heard in session as daggers stabbed the spots where Cordelia had been standing earlier. Their impact was so powerful that it broke the stone floor. ¡°Angel Mode!¡± The Cordelia in front of her was a warrior. She did not take the wizard route, nor did she learn witchcraft. One could say that she devoted everything into her Angel Mode. ¡®She¡¯s strong.¡¯ Because angels were beings that surpassed humans. It wasn¡¯t just their mana that was stronger. Their basic physical abilities were significantly different. Cordelia could also use Angel Mode. But it was impossible to be an angel like the warrior Cordelia in front of her. ¡®Battle Angel.¡¯ Among the angel sses, they were a kind of knight who specialized in hand-to-handbat. They possessed tremendous physical abilities. The warrior Cordelia smiled. She smiled brightly and beautifully, throwing a dagger again which Cordelia evaded in response. Boom! The roar caught Cordelia¡¯s attention again. But she did not look back. Because she felt that there was no need to do so. And her beast-like instincts were correct again this time. Shortly after throwing the dagger, the warrior Cordelia took advantage of her wide wings¡¯ ability to fly freely and dived down, rushing towards the real Cordelia in a low position like a snake slithering on the floor. Her move was so swift and silent that it would feel that the warrior Cordelia ¡®disappeared¡¯ if the real Cordelia had turned her head for a moment because she was surprised by the roar. Cordelia opened her eyes. She had clearly seen it, but warrior Cordelia was too fast. So she left it to her instincts instead of her thoughts. As soon as the warrior Cordelia dropped sharply, she spread on the floor. ¡®Trip!¡¯ Slip on it. The warrior Cordelia would definitely slip the moment she stepped on the floor that had its friction coefficient lowered greatly. But the warrior Cordelia was still Cordelia. Herbat sense surpassed that of wild animals, making her a real beast. She stepped and slid on it. But she didn¡¯t slip. Her body seemed to spin in the air, but she bnced it like a cat and beast. And instead of kicking the ground again, she slid her body and dashed as if she was skating on ice. ¡°Fu-¡± The real Cordelia didn¡¯t have the time topletely let out a curse. She threw her body backwards and swung the detonating cord at the same time. And in one move. Shwaak-! The detonating cord was split. Before it had ignited and caused an explosion, the sword wielded by the warrior Cordelia had sliced it. It was quick and urate. She moved one step ahead as if she saw the future. The Cordelia who became a warrior. The aloof beast who raised her wild instincts to the limit! ¡°Roooooar!¡± The warrior Cordelia bellowed as she pursued the real Cordelia who retreated. Her cry was not something simple, but was actually ¡®chivalry,¡¯ the so-called magic used by knights. Booooooom-! The sound exploded, causing ripples in the air. It struck Cordelia who had jumped backwards, making her lose her footing. ¡°Kya?!¡± Cordelia lost her bnce and fell onto the floor. The warrior Cordelia was then in front of her. The moment Cordelia raised her head, the warrior Cordelia swung her sword. *** Boooooom! Lightning struck. The white lightning covered the ground, causing a series of small explosions. Water. A conductor. Lightning filled the stone chamber. The curses ate at the real Jude. Gravity magic held him down. The wizard Jude truly was like Jude, blocking all possible ces to retreat as he checkmated the real Jude. The wizard Jude smiled. And at that moment, Jude strongly stepped on the ground. The energy of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors exploded! Baaaang! The water that covered the ground sshed upwards. The electric current in the water caused by the lightning was negated in that instant. And he activated Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt. He went against the suppressing force of gravity. He escaped the trap with a force stronger than it. Bang! Jude soared high. He escaped from the gravity magic and jumped nearly 20 meters or more, and caught sight of the entire stone chamber at the same time. He saw the wizard Jude. And the real Jude thought. ¡®He¡¯s also a cheat.¡¯ The wizard Jude¡¯s magic chanting was too fast. He also simultaneously used more than one magic, and erased the blind spots of his spells by using advanced-rank scrolls. He was what Jude would be if he had be a wizard. A wizard who made the most of his inhuman calction ability. He was strong. He was impressive. But a smile came to Jude¡¯s face instead of regret. He had no choice but to do that. ¡®Imperfect.¡¯ The wizard Jude wasn¡¯t perfect. He failed to fully utilize the talents of his present and previous lives. The only thing he could use was his previous life¡¯s talent, Outboxer009¡¯s talent. So he was imperfect. Therefore, he couldn¡¯t reach the current Jude¡¯s talent. ¡®Cheonmujiche.¡¯ The incarnation of martial arts from the heavens. The wizard Jude couldn¡¯t properly utilize his Cheonmujiche. Even though he was born with the finest jewel in his hand, his failure to utilize it was no different to throwing that jewel into the trash. ¡®No, it¡¯s not just Cheonmujiche.¡¯ The Jude of this present life. The Jude from the original Legend of Heroes 2. He wasn¡¯t as strong as the present Jude now. He couldn¡¯t be as strong as the present Jude now. What would happen if the original Jude had his Gueumjulmaek cured as soon as possible and began walking on the same path that the present Jude had walked? Would he be able to have the same strength as the present Jude? ¡®Impossible.¡¯ It was unattainable. His Cheonmujiche alone would not be able to reach the present Jude¡¯s level. There were reasons why the present Jude had be so strong at a very fast rate. It was because of their quick level-ups, which he had talked about with Cordelia several times. It was also because of the rare ¡®elixirs¡¯ that he periodically consumed. But one more added to these two reasons. Perhaps it was the most important reason. ¡®My understanding of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors.¡¯ If one thought about it, Cheonmujiche was a talent on how to properly utilize the body. It was an ability close to the beastly instincts that Cordelia was born with. But Jude¡¯s calction ability and high intelligence were added to this. He understood the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors and applied it to his body exactly like a machine. By doing so, the power of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors was added to his Cheonmujiche. ¡®It¡¯s like I¡¯m praising myself.¡¯ But it was true. The reason why Jude and Cordelia were strong now wasn¡¯t simply because they had their memories of the time when they were rotten waters. Abination of two inborn talents. It became possible because they had the talents of two people in their present bodies. The calctive ability and intelligence of Outboxer009 was added to the Cheonmujiche of Jude Bayer. The beastly instincts and the terrifying and outstandingbat talent of Yellow Storm were added to the innate magic talent of Cordelia Chase. ¡®So I¡¯ll show you.¡¯ The reason why I didn¡¯t choose the wizard path. The proof that my current choice is the best. Jude soared into the air at that time. He used Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt again. *** The warrior Cordelia¡¯s sword cleaved the top of Cordelia¡¯s head. Her head should have split, and blood would have sttered, but nothing happened. At the moment when the warrior Cordelia¡¯s sword attack hit the head of Cordelia. The warrior Cordelia realized it. The Cordelia in front of her was a fake and not the real one. When did she rece it? No, how did she do it? Fsssssh! The illusion created by magic dissipated like smoke. The warrior Cordelia turned around in a hurry, and found Cordelia crouching and smiling in the corner, in the ce where the dagger was thrown first. Cordelia was covered in cold sweat. She was quite exhausted, and her breathing was also rough. But she was clearly smiling. She did not lose her smile as her slightly exposed teeth glistened. The reason. The reason why she was not afraid or scared. ¡®As I thought, she¡¯s not that good.¡¯ The warrior Cordelia was only a warrior. She wasted Cordelia¡¯s talent. The warrior Cordelia was also cool, but the wizard route suited her better. If the warrior route was stronger, if training as a warrior was the path to bing stronger¡­ ¡°Why would I, a Cordelia fan, take the wizard route?¡± Cordelia said in a whisper as she raised herself up. She continued her words as she faced the blue eyes of the warrior Cordelia who was watching her. ¡°I was hiding this to surprise Jude¡­¡± Come to think of it, Jude is in another room and having a one-on-one fight right now. He probably won¡¯t be able to even see this fight. So I¡¯ll show you. What Cordelia who chose the wizard path can do! Tak. One step. But the moment she took that one step, the scenery of the stone chamber changed. Smoke appeared like an explosion as a fierce wind blew it and filled the stone chamber, and the warrior Cordelia raised her senses instead of moving prematurely. She strengthened the grip on her sword in order to immediately respond to whatever the other would do. So the real Cordelia smiled. Because it was what she had thought the warrior Cordelia would do. The warrior Cordelia seemed to be on guard instead of moving. Then the smoke was lifted. The warrior Cordelia unconsciously turned pale at the sight that was revealed to her. ¡°Shadow Clone.¡± The Cordelias who filled the stone chamber all said at the same time. Thirty shadow clones. No, forty shadow clones. In any case, it was a number that could be described as in the dozens. The dozens of shadow clones created by high-speed chanting and Spell¡¯s Echo all smiled at the same time. They then charged towards the warrior Cordelia. ¡°Rooooooar!¡± The warrior Cordelia roared like a lion and swung her sword in session, shing and cutting down the dozens of illusions. Then the warrior Cordelia realized. The real one was not among the rushing crowd. She thought she couldn¡¯t tell apart the real one because all the illusions that rushed at her looked the same, but that wasn¡¯t it. In the first ce, all of them were fake so it was impossible to detect who the real one was. ¡°Roooooar!¡± The warrior Cordelia wildly swung her sword once again. She split at once the powerless waves of illusions that charged at her. And right after that. The warrior Cordelia realized a new fact. What the other was nning in the time she was distracted and tried to get rid of the dozens of illusions. ¡®Buying time.¡¯ The illusions were simply just a diversion. The mana and effort involved in the creation of the shadow clones were clearly not small, but Cordelia managed to do it anyway. Because she had topletely divert the warrior Cordelia¡¯s attention. Because she needed time to prepare for the perfect shot. Above the sky. The sky above the stone chamber that did not have a ceiling. The warrior Cordelia stared up the sky in a cold sweat, while the real Cordelia charmingly smiled. It was quite strenuous that she felt like dying, but she still brightly smiled and said with a pale face. ¡°A hundred magic missile shots.¡± There was strength in numbers. The warrior Cordelia screamed and dashed towards Cordelia, but the magic missiles were faster. Dozens of magic missiles shot down from the sky like a bombing attack. Bang! Bang! Bang! Babababababang! The rain of magic missiles were created by high-speed chanting, , and Spell¡¯s Echo. Each one of it was weak. But there were a lot of it, and Cordelia¡¯sbat sense and spatial perception that was on a level of genius made it possible for her to manipte each magic missile as naturally as breathing ¨C something that seemed to be impossible. Bang! Bang! Bang! It wasn¡¯t just a random bombing attack. The rain of magic missiles persistently aimed at a spot, hitting the same ce again and again. And another more added to it. The skill that Cordelia gained because she walked the witch¡¯s path now! ¡°Don¡¯t move!¡± She used her to paralyze the other. The warrior Cordelia froze when she met eyes with the real Cordelia, and the magic missiles continued to rain over her defenseless body. Bang! Bang! Bang! The explosions continued. Which was followed by a sword attack! aaaaash! The warrior Cordelia shed the magic missiles. The magic was dispelled with the power of her Angel Mode, and a space was created when she expanded her wings of light and moved her sword freely as she cut the surrounding area around her in an instant. ¡°F*ck.¡± The warrior Cordelia was indeed Cordelia. Abat genius! Bang! The warrior Cordelia kicked the ground again. As her angel wings of light spread out, her speed became so fast that it was difficult to follow her movement with just the eyes. So Cordelia left everything to her senses. She felt it instead of seeing with her eyes, and she moved her body to evade the sword of the warrior Cordelia. ash! The sword grazed Cordelia¡¯s shoulder. Red blood spurted out, but Cordelia used one of the attack techniques of the Bayer family. Because the present Cordelia was not just a wizard. Because she was a fighting wizard with ferocious power, having been created from the addition of her past life memories as Yellow Storm! Baaang! A thunderbolt struck. It wasn¡¯t lightning. It wasn¡¯t magic either. Lightning Punch. The seven quick strikes like a thunderbolt hit the warrior Cordelia. Obviously, not all of her strikes hit. The warrior Cordelia also possessed the same beast-like instincts. But that was enough. Cordelia chanted the magic at the moment of the final blow. It became possible because the present Cordelia was born with genius magic senses. ¡°¡± Gravity magic. The body of the warrior Cordelia was bent at that moment. She could quickly dispel the if she unleashed the power of her Angel Mode and spread out her wings of light, but it took time to do that. So in that time. There were a lot of things the real Cordelia could do at that time! Booom! The force of the gravity magic became more than three times stronger in an instant, and the warrior Cordelia fell to the floor as if she was almost mmed into it. What the real Cordelia had been hiding. What she had thought of hiding in order to surprise Jude. Cordelia¡¯s hair turned ck as it fluttered everywhere. With red eyes instead of blue, she looked down at the warrior Cordelia who was stuck in the ground. It wasn¡¯t just a witch transformation. The pitch-ck wings that spread behind her back proved it. Thebination of an angel and a witch. A choice she made because she walked the path of a wizard. What will Jude say if he saw this sight now? How will he react if a cute, pretty, and lovely girl bes sexy? ¡®No, what am I thinking now?¡¯ Cordelia bitterly smiled at her own thoughts, and she looked down at the warrior Cordelia again. She gathered all of her mana in order to finish everything within one blow. Her mana was explosively reinforced by her Fallen Angel Mode. Added on to it was Arkeman¡¯s treasure that amplified all kinds of magic. Naturally, there was a price. Her mana consumption was iparable to her usual mana consumption. But for one shot. If she bet everything in this one shot. The warrior Cordelia red at Cordelia with bloodshot eyes. She cried like an animal chained down by which had frighteningly be stronger. And Cordelia raised her left hand. She made a spear of ck lightning as she said. ¡°Cordelia is a wizard.¡± This Cordelia fan can guarantee it, okay? A charming smile spread on Cordelia¡¯s face, and the spear of ck lightning exploded as it struck its target. It was her strongest blow that shook the entire stone chamber. Chapter 171: The Road Not Taken (2)

Chapter 171: The Road Not Taken (2)

Late post~! But I¡¯ll still post the next chapter in the usual time today. Edit (02-25): It seems that I¡¯ll only be able to post it tomorrow, sorry. 172 is a bit hard to trante. Terms used in this chapter: You, as well as me, can die from one strike of a bamboo spear. ¨C This is based on a Korean meme. It means that everybody is equal because everyone can die by just one strike of a deadly weapon. So even if one is rich or strong, and another is poor or weak, they will still die the same if they get stabbed by a deadly weapon. One more thing: I changed ¡®Khoooong¡¯ to ¡®Roooar¡¯ in the previous chapter since it was supposed to be like a lion¡¯s roar. ¡°Haa¡­ haa¡­¡± Cordelia profusely sweated and roughly breathed. She sat down on the floor as if she had copsed, and eventually lied down on the ground. ¡°Haa¡­¡± She closed her eyes as the fatigue overwhelmed her. She felt like she would fall asleep right away if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that she was catching her breath. ¡°Haa¡­¡± But she couldn¡¯t fall asleep. Around 5 minutes passed by. Perhaps even longer than that. Cordelia managed to calm her breathing before she raised her hands to cover her face, loudly breathing out and wiping off the sweat from her forehead with both hands. She swept aside the hair on her face as she opened her eyes. ¡°F*ck.¡± It was an exmation rather than a curse. As proof of this, Cordelia¡¯s sharp fang-like teeth became visible as the corners of her mouth went up. ¡°I won.¡± I won. I won. I won! Cordelia expressed her joy by stretching out her arms upward in a hurrah. But she struggled keeping her arms up due to her exhaustion. ¡°Hehehe. I¡¯m so tired.¡± She was so tired that she felt dizzy, and she was exhausted after her strenuous fight. But she still felt good. Because the pleasant feeling of satisfaction filled her entire body. ¡°I won.¡± I¡¯m not wrong. As I thought, Cordelia is a wizard. She is a wizard. ¡®It¡¯s a bit¡­ different from the game.¡¯ In reality, it was not a bit, but a lot. The original Cordelia was a pure wizard, so it was impossible for her to do the same ¡®high-speed movement battle¡¯ that the present Cordelia did in this battle. ¡®Well, back then in the game, I used to move fast.¡¯ But she had not ovepped its use three times as excessively as now. She was just a wizard to the very end. ¡°Hehehe.¡± The present Cordelia was not like that though. ¡®Hmm, this is somewhat embarrassing.¡¯ It¡¯s like I¡¯m talking about myself in third person. Cordelia knew that no one was around, but she looked around nheless, covering her cheeks that had turned red from her excitement and joy of the earlier intense battle. She gave strength to her waist as she raised her upper body up and looked at the sight in front of her. ¡®So strong.¡¯ She had created that very sight in front of her, but she couldn¡¯t help admiring it. Because it was really strong like she had just said. ¡®Arkeman¡¯s treasure plus the Fallen Angel Mode¡­¡¯ In exchange for maximizing her power, her mana consumption was also maximized. There was a deep ck hole in front of Cordelia¡¯s eyes. Its diameter was around 10 meters. A sign of the destruction she caused by throwing the ck Lightning Spear. But what she really referred to as strong wasn¡¯t the destruction of the floor. ¡®Was she almost¡­ annihted?¡¯ The warrior Cordelia held down by . She awakened as a battle angel in her Angel Mode, and her magic resistance was terrifying. Despite being hit by a hundred magic missiles, she could still move without any problems. But such a warrior Cordelia disappeared with just one shot. She had naturally resisted it for a while with her immense magic resistance, but the fact that she failed to ovee it and disappeared was important. ¡®One shot.¡¯ Herst shot consumed all her remaining mana. She had obviously done a lot of things that consumed much of her mana, such as the magic or the one hundred magic missiles, but Cordelia had always been a character with immense mana. Moreover, if you counted the total amount of mana she used for her Fallen Angel Mode, abination of her Angel Mode and Witch Transformation, her so-called mana pool was more than Adelia, one of the sevenmanders of the Royal Guard Magic Corps. However, she used up all of her mana in just one shot. ¡®It¡¯s a crazy bargain.¡¯ Not a good one, but a bad one. But not simply a bad one. Because its power was really crazy. ¡®It¡¯s aplete bamboo spear.¡¯ You, as well as me, can die from one strike of a bamboo spear. She was at least confident about the power of that one shot. Even if her opponent was a strong person on the level of the Ten Great Swordmasters, they would not be able to ignore the power of the ck Lightning Spear. ¡®No, it¡¯ll only take one shot.¡¯ She was confident that she can even defeat someone on the level of the Ten Great Swordmasters if she could properly hit them with her strongest shot. ¡®I have to use up all my mana though.¡¯ And she also wondered if she could easily hit someone on the level of the Ten Great Swordmasters. ¡®Still.¡¯ There was a big difference between having and not having a skill that could knock down someone of that level in one shot. Therefore, Cordelia was immensely satisfied. ¡°Hehehe.¡± Augh came out again. She couldn¡¯t help it. ¡®In fact, this isn¡¯t its full power yet.¡¯ Shecked mana. Cordelia¡¯s mana was still too little to demonstrate the full power of the ck Lightning Spear. ¡®It¡¯s seriously crazy.¡¯ Her mana pool was higher than Adelia, amander of the Royal Guard Magic Corps, but it was still not enough. But Cordelia was not disappointed or upset by it again. Because Jude was not the only one who had a gamer brain. ¡®It¡¯s easy to increase the mana pool itself.¡¯ The mostmon way to increase one¡¯s mana pool was through items that increased one¡¯s mana. ¡®Once I increase my mana.¡¯ Once my mana pool greatly increases, it will be possible for me to unleash the full power of the ck Lightning Spear and to fire it at random too. ¡°Hehehe.¡± It felt good imagining it, so sheughed like a fool again. If I can increase my mana pool¡­ if I can speed up my mana recovery¡­ ¡®Good, good. I can see the tech tree, I can see it.¡¯ What skills she should learn for the future. What equipment she needed to get. ¡®The other skills were good too.¡¯ Shadow Clone and Fallen Angel Mode. In the former case, it was actually an application of illusion magic and not a fictional ninja technique, but nevertheless, she was highly satisfied with it. ¡®Cordelia¡¯s talent.¡¯ A new power Yellow Storm gained after she reincarnated as the current Cordelia. Cordelia was born with excellent magic sensitivity, which allowed her to learn almost any kind of magic. ¡®Thanks to the Witch Transformation and Angel Mode, I can use evil or angelic magic which are difficult for ordinary humans to use.¡¯ She¡¯d be an all-rounder in the field of magic. A literal archwizard. ¡®And a fallen angel.¡¯ It would truly be Cordelia¡¯s own specialty and a change from her game self. ¡®What will Jude say when he sees it?¡¯ Come to think of it, he¡¯s been saying for a long time ago that he wants to see the Fallen Angel Mode. ¡®Will his face just turn red?¡¯ Will Jude be embarrassed and speechless? I want to see it. I want to see Jude like that. ¡®Jude must have won too, right?¡¯ Perhaps for Jude, a wizard Jude will appear, but I don¡¯t think he¡¯ll lose. ¡®He¡¯ll win it somehow.¡¯ By using all sorts of wicked, mean, and insidious schemes. He wouldn¡¯t be my Jude otherwise if he didn¡¯t. ¡°Haa.¡± Cordelia sighed before she lied down on the floor again and looked up at the sky. A shiny skill book was floating in the sky. ¡®My level has risen, my stats have also increased due to unlocking mytent skills, and now I¡¯ll even acquire a skill book?¡¯ Since her mana had been all consumed, Cordelia forced herself to stand up again instead of using her telekic power, and she touched the skill book with her hand. A-rank skill ¨C Battle Meditation. ¡®Woah, this is good.¡¯ As its name suggested, it was a skill that allowed her to meditate even in the midst of a battle. Obviously, it was ridiculous to close your eyes and meditate while in the middle of a fight. So rather than a real meditation, the skill allowed you to enjoy the effect of mana recovery through meditation. ¡®I guess it¡¯s like a movement skill.¡¯ Something like directing the energy in your body through a breathing technique while also moving around. ¡®Hmm, good. It¡¯s not bad.¡¯ Cordelia used Battle Meditation as soon as she got the skill book, and she slowly recovered her mana before she healed the wound on her shoulder. ¡®But I still have a long way to go.¡¯ She was very satisfied with this and that, but she also thirsted for more. What Cordelia herself wanted. What she was secretly practicing in the Temple of Life in order to beat Jude. It was not the Fallen Angel Mode. It was not the ck Lightning Spear either. It was something else. Something that she had not even attempted in the game, but she could try now because the present Cordelia had the memories of her past and present lives. ¡®Let¡¯s not be too hasty.¡¯ Let¡¯s do it one step at a time. After all, I still want to get ahead of Jude. ¡®I can¡¯t wait to show it to him.¡¯ The Fallen Angel Mode. Shall I show it to him once we get back to our room? I think his face will really turn red. ¡®I want to see it.¡¯ A blushing Jude. No, just Jude himself. ¡°Ahem, ahem, what am I thinking?¡± Cordelia cleared her throat to somehow get rid of her sudden embarrassment. She took a potion from her waist pocket and drank it, taking a deep breath afterwards. ¡°Okay, shall I go?¡± To the waiting room beyond the door. Cordelia took a step. *** ¡°Pink- I mean, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Lady Cordelia.¡± Scarlet and Lucas were already in the waiting room where several stone pirs toweringly stood. ¡°Oh, did you both win?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°It was a good lesson.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s question, Scarlet haughtily replied while Lucas answered with a bright smile, and Cordelia spontaneously smiled at the answers of the two. ¡®They¡¯re like a cat and arge dog.¡¯ Is Scarlet a Russian Blue while Lucas a Golden Retriever? Cordelia lightly imagined it as she looked at Scarlet and Lucas with warm eyes. It seemed like she could see Scarlet pricking up her cat ears and Lucas wagging his dog tail. ¡°It seems like you¡¯re thinking of something really rude.¡± ¡°Lady Cordelia?¡± Scarlet crossed her arms and spoke in a low voice while Lucas furrowed his brows with a worried expression, and Cordelia said after coughing a bit. ¡°What about Jude?¡± ¡°He just arrived.¡± Cordelia quickly turned her head when Scarlet answered. Indeed, a messy-looking Jude walked out from one of the four doors in the room. ¡°Oh, did everyone win?¡± ¡°We won. But what happened to your clothes?¡± ¡°Well¡­ it was a bit hard.¡± Jude looked at himself when Cordelia asked, and he smiled bitterly. Because his clothes were seriously tattered. ¡°But the Pce of Mirrors is more like image training. My clothes will go back to normal once we go outside.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a relief. Did you get hurt?¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m fine.¡± ¡®Because I have a regenerative ability.¡¯ At his voice and look that seemed to be hiding something, Cordelia widened her eyes in surprise and sent him a message via magic. [What? Did you really get hurt?] [Eh? Uh¡­ but I¡¯m fine. Because I have a regenerative ability.] In fact, he didn¡¯t have any wounds or scars now. Jude showed his skin by opening a gap in his torn clothes, and Cordelia drew her face closer to see if he was really hurt. And Scarlet and Lucas, who didn¡¯t understand the conversation between Jude and Cordelia, looked at the two with strange expressions. ¡®Wha-what kind of y is this?¡¯ ¡°Ahem, ahem. Ehem, ehem, ehem.¡± Scarlet stared at Cordelia with a cold look before she turned to Lucas who had reacted by clearing his throat. Having turned red because of Jude and Cordelia, Lucas then faced Scarlet. And Cordelia saw the moment when the two turned to each other and thought. ¡®Ooooh, is something going on between them?¡¯ Is this the case of a younger man and a haughty beauty, who is actually a kind and innocent woman, whispering sweet nothings to each other naturally?! [Uh, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s that.] [You always say it¡¯s not.] Jude did not respond to Cordelia¡¯sint as he turned to Lucas and asked. ¡°Lord Lucas. Have you made any progress?¡± Being here now meant that he had won the battle against himself who had gone on another path. And it wasn¡¯t just level-ups, increased stats, or a skill book that one could get as a result of that fight. ¡®Self-confidence and conviction.¡¯ Confidence that you had taken the right path as you go straight ahead. Confidence that your choice was not wrong. When asked by Jude, Lucas nodded with a bright expression. ¡°Yes, Mr. Jude. Thanks to you, I had a very good experience. Thank you very much.¡± ¡°I¡¯m d to be of help.¡± Lucas shyly smiled at Jude¡¯s answer while Scarlet¡¯s eyes turned cold again. Because it felt strange to see a scene that usually appeared in youth novels. ¡°What? Do you want to have a conversation like that? Shall I do it for you too?¡± ¡°No need.¡± Scarlet rejected Cordelia¡¯s offer, and Cordelia pouted her lips several times before saying. ¡°Anyway, since we¡¯re all here, we can go out now, right?¡± ¡°Okay.¡± After his short answer, Jude stretched out his hand to Cordelia who automatically held his hand. Being escorted had pretty much became a norm. ¡°Shall we go then, Princess?¡± ¡°Yes, Milord.¡± Jude and Cordelia exchanged words in a natural manner before they took the lead as they headed out of the dungeon, while Scarlet and Lucas saw them and unconsciously looked at each other. They exchanged nces. Somehow, they sympathized with each other. Both of them shrugged their shoulders and headed towards the exit afterwards. *** Unfortunately for Jude, Cordelia chose to wash and sleep instead of showing him the Fallen Angel Mode as soon as they returned to their rooms. Because when she arrived at their room, the thought of lying down on her bed and sleeping had dominated her mind. And a few hourster. Cordelia only slept less than half the usual time because of their midnight exploration, and she smacked Jude in the shoulder with a tired face. ¡°Why are you not tired?¡± ¡°Because I have a regenerative ability.¡± The Sphere of Life did its part. Jude carefreely replied and attended the Banquet of Swords with Cordelia, and they spent their time easily answering the questions directed to them. ¡®Because we¡¯ve aplished all our goals.¡¯ They met Duke Spencer and became acquainted with First Sword. They also got him to agree in going to the founding anniversary ball. As a bonus, he even won in the Banquet of Swords, increased their stats at the Pce of Mirrors, and gave Lucas the opportunity to grow, so it was not exaggeration to say that their visit to Duke Spencer was a great sess. ¡°By the way.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± Inside the carriage that was leaving Duke Spencer¡¯s estate. Jude raised his head at the call of Cordelia who was sitting across him, and Cordelia said as she slightly tilted her head. ¡°You really didn¡¯t hide your skills at this Banquet of Swords, huh?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± There¡¯s no reason for me to hide it. ¡°But didn¡¯t you say that we had to hide itst time?¡± Last time. When they defeated the chimera in Arkeman¡¯s Dungeon. At that time, Jude pretended to be injured and said that they had to hide their skills. Cordelia herself blindfolded her eyes with a bandage to pretend that she was temporarily blind. ¡°I did?¡± ¡°You did, right?¡± ¡°Well, things are bound to change. I also needed to win to impress First Sword.¡± ¡°Hooooh.¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyes narrowed in suspicion, and Jude spoke about something else while maintaining a calm expression like usual. ¡°But Cordelia, how was the Cordelia you fought in the Pce of Mirrors? Was she a warrior?¡± It was obviously a diversion, but it was too attractive to refuse. So Cordelia immediately replied to Jude¡¯s words. ¡°Yes, yes, it was a warrior Cordelia. She was like ¡®roar-roar¡¯ when she used Lion¡¯s Roar.¡± Cordelia pretended to roar as she acted like a lion with her hands, and Jude¡¯s eyes widened before he asked. ¡°Roar-roar? Did she roar like a real lion when she used Lion¡¯s Roar?¡± ¡°Eh? Uh. She did? Isn¡¯t it strange?¡± ¡°No, well¡­ it¡¯s just like Cordelia.¡± Because it was normal to roar like a lion when doing a spirited shout. ¡®But¡­¡¯ A smile spread on Jude¡¯s face when he thought of Cordelia going roar-roar like a beast, and her roar-roar soon turned into rawr-rawr and then growl-growl in his mind. ¡°What? What are you thinking?¡± ¡°Something nice and proper.¡± ¡°No, you won¡¯t even show me your face.¡± ¡°Anyway, how was your fight? How did you win?¡± Jude pretended to be calm and spoke again, and Cordelia replied to Jude¡¯s words again. And two dayster in the afternoon. The tea party of Princess Daphne, the so-called Jewel of the Royal Capital, finally began. Chapter 172: The Crown Princess (1)

Chapter 172: The Crown Princess (1)

Sorry, this episode was supposed toe out yesterday, but I had to redo most of the trantion since the MTL was so weird that I had to manually trante some of the sentences myself. As for the next chapter, it would be dyed and released by tomorrow since it is quite long. Two important characters who have been introduced earlier will finally make their appearance (and no, it¡¯s not Daphne and Dion). Terms used in this chapter: Girin ¨C This has been mentioned earlier when Lucas was first introduced in the series since it was his nickname. Girin refers to a mythical animal, but it is also used to refer to children/young people who have promising futures because of their extraordinary wisdom or talent. Out-of-ce artifact ¨C a historical artifact that should not be found in the ce or manner that they are found ording to known historical knowledge. Like having a battery-looking device in an era where batteries had yet to be invented. Or finding a helicopter in Egyptian hieroglyphs. Mansour ¨C Mansour is referring to the name of a UAE royalty, politician and billionaire. There was a rumor in 2017 that a family member of Mansour proposed to the Korean singer, Anda. But in this chapter, ¡®Mansour¡¯ is used in a sense of ¡®rich person.¡¯ So ¡®Am I a Mansour?¡¯ could be read as ¡®Am I a rich person?¡¯ When you looked at stories centered around the protagonist, whether in games or novels, events that were only indirectly handled were often not described in detail. Because the protagonist wasn¡¯t there. Because the protagonist wasn¡¯t involved with that event. And so on and so forth. These events were often referred to as background events or background settings, and Legend of Heroes 2 had numerous background settings. ¡®Strictly speaking, the annihtion of the royal family is close to a background setting.¡¯ Because there were no yable characters who were directly involved with it. There were a total of four yable characters from the S?len Kingdom, three were from the north and thest one was from the south. In other words, there were no yable characters who started in the royal capital. ¡®The only ones who could be involved were Lucas and Kajsa.¡¯ At this point in time in the game, Jude had just cured his illness while Cordelia was still wandering in the middle of the north. And Lucas and Kajsa, the ones who could be involved, only had the event briefly mentioned in the game. ¡®The other yable characters are foreigners.¡¯ Therefore, Princess Daphne and Prince Dion, who could be said to be the protagonists of the royal family genocide event, were characters that only existed in the background, and not characters that could actually be met and talked to in person. ¡®But they were still popr.¡¯ The genocide of the royal family itself was so important that there were five cinematic movies alone, three of which were about Princess Daphne and Prince Dion. ¡®They perfectly chose the characters for the event.¡¯ Perhaps because they were the main characters of the tragedy, Princess Daphne and Prince Dion were perfect superhumans and even had good personalities. If these two had grown up without any trouble and the Crown Princess had risen to the throne, they would have been the ideal royals who were good, pretty, capable, and had a sense of responsibility. ¡®We can save them.¡¯ This was reality and not the game. Theirs was not a destined fate, but a fate that could be changed. ¡°For a perfect happy ending.¡± Jude whispered as if he was reciting a spell, and he picked up the invitation with Princess Daphne¡¯s seal. *** King Henry II of the S?len Kingdom was neither a saint nor a tyrant. He was just an average king. Nothing much could be said of him, and his rule wasn¡¯t exemry. Of course, one could say that his administration of state affairs was pretty good since he smoothly ran it without having much problems, but despite that, the public still viewed Henry II as an ¡®ordinary king.¡¯ In fact, he was a person who did not have any particrly outstanding abilities, except for his handsome appearance. But the evaluation of his children, especially his eldest daughter and eldest son, were different from Henry II. Geniuses. Girins. Children of the century. Some said that the outstanding blood of the founder king, Lion D. S?len, was awakened again, while others ¨C the rotten waters of Legend of Heroes in particr, said that it was the result of the First Queen¡¯s genes. Because unlike Henry II who was an ordinary person, the First Queen, Justina F. S?len, was a really outstanding person. Born in the house of Duke Fable, one of the kingdom¡¯s five dukes, she was a distinguished genius in both schrly knowledge and martial arts. She was also the eldest child of Duke Fable, so if she hadn¡¯t married Henry II, she would have be the head of the Fable duchy. However, she chose to marry Henry II who she had been affectionate with since childhood. Thus, the S?len Kingdom was able to obtain a beautiful, wise, and strong queen, as well as very outstanding royal children. The jewels of the royal capital. Royal treasures. And now, one of them ¨C no, the two had shown interest in Jude and Cordelia. They wanted to meet the two people. ¡°Are you done?¡± ¡°No, not yet.¡± Cordelia slightly frowned at Jude¡¯s answer and pouted her lips, but Jude did not care. He just worked hard to trim Cordelia¡¯s hair over and over again. ¡®Just where did you learn this?¡¯ His scissoring skills were unusual. No, before that, when she thought about all the things that had happened sincest night, Cordelia seriously felt dizzy. ¡®Did you run a beauty shop?¡¯ The fired-up Jude said that this was the preliminary match before the founding anniversary ball, and he dolled up and beautified Cordelia with serious enthusiasm and passion. ¡®It¡¯s my first time taking a milk bath.¡¯ Why is a bottle of milk more expensive than c? ¨C was Cordelia¡¯s serious question when she took a bath in a bathtub filled with that expensive milk. It wasn¡¯t over with that. When the milk bath was over, she had to take a second bath with rose-scented essential oil while applying something on her body again. She had to wash her hair again and again with shampoo and conditioner. ¡®I think I took a bath for three hours.¡¯ Maja and Dahlia who took a bath with me seemed to be very satisfied. In any case, as a result of washing herself over and over again, Cordelia¡¯s fair and smooth skin began to glow, and a subtle rose scent was added to her pleasant-feeling skin. ¡®Miss! My hair is shining! It¡¯s so soft!¡¯ Having used it for the first time in her life, the shampoo and conditioner received great reviews from Dahlia. In reality, she had no choice but to do so. Shampoo could be viewed as something that was just for washing, but the conditioner that softened the hair itself was no different from an out-of-ce artifact that would literally cause culture shock if one considered the standards of this era. Cordelia was then forced to sleep. And as soon as Cordelia woke up in the morning, Jude was waiting in front of her bed before he grabbed and made her go through a difficult time again. She was bathed in milk and essential oil again. Then a chiropractic massage and physical exercise. Followed by a really long hair treatment. ¡®I feel like I became a doll.¡¯ ¡°Yes, you¡¯re indeed a doll. No, you¡¯re a work of art.¡± Jude said to Cordelia, having read her thoughts from seeing her eyes in the mirror. Cordelia¡¯s shoulders then drooped as she sighed. ¡®Why is everyone else excited?¡¯ Jude had been working hard since morning, and so did Maja and Dahlia. ¡°You¡¯re so beautiful.¡± ¡°Yes, miss. You¡¯re really pretty. Ah¡­it feels like my childhood days again.¡± ¡°You yed with dolls?¡± ¡°Yes, I did.¡± Dahlia always got excited with romantic stuff, and it seemed like she was the kind to get excited with beauty treatments too. No, she just got excited with everything rted to Cordelia. ¡®Ugh, alright. I¡¯ll agree to be a doll until the tea party tomorrow.¡¯ Because Cordelia had to impress Princess Daphne and Prince Dion. Furthermore, it was highly likely that the influential nobles of the royal capital, or to be exact, their children, would participate in the tea party. Because it was a tea party hosted by the crown princess and not anyone else. ¡®You¡¯re going to¡­ dampen their spirits?¡¯ They were children of influential families who grew up in the royal capital. But Jude had argued that there could be another person like Lucian, so they should prevent it in advance. ¡®I don¡¯t know what that has to do with making mepletely pretty or preventing it in advance though.¡¯ But if Jude said so, maybe there are people like that. Maja and Dahlia were also in agreement with Jude. ¡®Can I be prettier than Princess Daphne though? Princess Daphne is the main character of the event, right?¡¯ Isn¡¯t there an unwritten rule that you shouldn¡¯t look prettier than the bride when you go to her wedding? ¡®Cordelia is already pretty, but if you beautify her like this, she¡¯ll really be the most beautiful woman in the kingdom¡­no, she¡¯ll be the most beautiful on the continent.¡¯ The eyes of others might turn cold if they had heard her thoughts, but in the end, they would have to admit that it was true. Cordelia continued to think quite seriously, and in the midst of that, Jude¡¯s hair styling was finally over. ¡°Okay, it¡¯s over.¡± ¡°Really? Is it really over now?¡± ¡°Yes, so we have to choose your clothes now.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± I¡¯ll be choosing clothes and wearing them? ¡±Don¡¯t worry. You only have to try on 20 of them, so it won¡¯t take long.¡± ¡°Twenty?! No, wait. I only brought three dresses to the royal capital, if I recall?¡± When did it be 20? ¡°That¡¯s because I brought it separately. I bought it in the royal capital.¡± ¡°W-wait. With what money?¡± It obviously couldn¡¯t be Count Bayer and Count Chase¡¯s money. Of course, both had a considerable ie whenpared to the average noble since they were from the 12 northern families, but it was still not enough to buy a lot of expensive dresses. ¡®Because dresses are ridiculously expensive!¡¯ The present Cordelia considered dresses as expensive, and if she added the opinion of her previous life too, she regarded those dresses as ridiculously priced. So when did you increase the number of dresses like that by 17? ¡°We didn¡¯t have much time, so I had to buy something that was already made¡­ but I¡¯m satisfied with this arrangement for the time being.¡± ¡°Wait, where did the moneye from?¡± They received a huge amount of money from Duke Spencer in the means of a cheque, but they had only received it two days ago, so they hadn¡¯t exchanged it at the bank yet. But where did the money to buy all those dressese from? When Cordelia asked again, Jude nced at Dahlia and Maja before he looked back at her and said with his eyes. ¡®Pink Bomb.¡¯ ¡®Pink Bo-¡­ wait, Rogue Master? From stealing?¡¯ They had only done it twice, but those two times were really profitable. ¡®I said to Dahlia and Maja that we¡¯re just selling off the treasures that we got from our travels. But it¡¯s also true to some extent, right?¡¯ ¡®Euaaaaaah¡­¡¯ Cordelia fell into even more panic when she found out their source of funds. She had no choice but to do so. How much money does it cost to buy twenty dresses? ¡®Hey, are you crazy? Did you use all our money for that?¡¯ ¡°Because Cordelia is precious to me.¡± ¡®What are you talking about! And why are you saying that with that tone!¡¯ Jude just smirked at Cordelia¡¯s protest with her eyes, but for Maja and Dahlia who didn¡¯t know their conversation, they only heard ¡®Because Cordelia is precious to me¡¯ and began to exim ¡®kyaa-kyaa¡¯ among themselves. [You¡¯re crazy, really crazy. That¡¯s an extravagant habit. I¡¯ll have to seriously consider breaking up with you. All the more when you¡¯re a gambler!] As soon as she sent him a message via magic, Jude lightly shook his head. [It¡¯s different from gambling. We have a lot of profitable stuff, right? And we can always resell the dresses if we¡¯re in a pinch.] [Uuuh¡­ but still¡­] A fianc¨¦ who spends money for her generously ¨C no, a fianc¨¦ who spends money for her like crazy. Should I be happy with this or not? [Don¡¯t worry. If it¡¯s this much money, we can earn it again.] [Ugh¡­ you¡¯re somewhat reliable yet annoying at the same time.] She honestly found Jude to be smart and excellent. She thought that even if he threw off his clothes and became dirt-poor, he was the kind of person who¡¯d make enough money to enjoy a movie a weekter. Moreover, Jude now had a huge amount of money from Duke Spencer. There was a saying that money begets money, so if Jude really made up his mind to earn money, he¡¯d easily earn enough money to buy twenty dresses. [Eueue¡­ But this is too much. Can¡¯t I just wear the Fairy Dress? That¡¯s the best one anyway.] [No way. You can¡¯t wear a dress you¡¯ve worn once. The Fairy Dress should only be worn at the founding ball.] [Wait, what did you just say? I can¡¯t wear what I¡¯ve worn once?] [Yes. Not your everyday wear, of course. I¡¯m talking about the dresses that you wear when you go out, which must be changed every time. Those are single-use only.] [What?] What are you talking about? I¡¯ll wear those expensive dresses only once? Am I a Mansour? [Because Cordelia is precious to me.] [What the heck are you talking about!] Do you think that I¡¯ll let it pass if you say it in such buttery words with such a smug smile? Of course, it doesn¡¯t feel bad hearing it, since it honestly feels nice every time I hear it. [Anyway, Princess, just let me take care of you. I¡¯ll make you the prettiest girl in the world.] [Haa¡­ you¡¯re seriously crazy.] You must have been seriously ying with dolls in your childhood. Cordelia thought of a little Jude ying with dolls for a moment, and she smiled without realizing it. On the other hand, Maja and Cordelia who were watching her from the side, happily smiled as they misunderstood her. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s begin the fashion show.¡± They would have to choose what she would wear, and then modify and do some arrangements too. ¡°Haa¡­ this is the first time I¡¯ve ever hated Jude being an all-around.¡± Frankly, I want to decrease the number of clothes myself. Cordelia eventually lowered her head in resignation, and she let herself be the doll of Jude, Maja, and Dahlia. And after four long hours. By the time Cordelia waspletely tired and exhausted from repeatedly wearing and taking off clothes, Jude, Maja, and Dahlia finally chose a dress. ¡°Because you shouldn¡¯t stand out too much.¡± ¡®Did those words juste out of your mouth?¡¯ If you wanted me to not stand out, why were you so passionate about dressing me up in the first ce? Jude lightly ignored Cordelia¡¯sint with her eyes, and he began to alter the soft pink dress. ¡®Uh¡­this is creepy.¡¯ Can¡¯t you just alter it? Why do you have to look so delighted when you¡¯re altering it? But in any case, her long suffering that startedst night finally ended, so Cordelia hunched her shoulders. ¡®I can rest now.¡¯ But she couldn¡¯t. It was Cordelia¡¯s mistake for thinking that it was really over. ¡°Then mydy, let¡¯s go take a bath.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Because the tea party is tomorrow. We have to do some massage and exercise again, right? We also have to trim your nails.¡± Dahlia and Maja spoke one after another, and Cordelia blinked her eyes with a stunned face before she was dragged along by them again. And the next morning. Cordelia suffered from Jude¡¯s beauty treatments again and was only liberated from her room at around 2 in the afternoon. ¡°Everyone is crazy¡­¡± ¡°But the results are good, right? Ah, your dress might get wrinkles, so please sit with your back straight. Don¡¯t just lean anywhere.¡± ¡°I hate you, I hate you.¡± Cordelia cursed at him with tears in her eyes, but she still heeded his words well. Because she sat with her back upright and did not move much. ¡°But it¡¯s worth it. It¡¯s worth it. I¡¯m looking forward to how the nobles of the royal capital will react.¡± ¡°How vexing. I wanted to dress you up too.¡± Cordelia was so busy with being beautified that she didn¡¯t have the time to dress up Jude. But in fact, she didn¡¯t need to do anything. Since Maja and Dahlia wouldn¡¯t stay still anyway. ¡®In the end, those two seemed to have had the most fun dressing us up.¡¯ Cordelia looked at the other carriage where the other two were as it followed their carriage before she turned to Jude again and said. ¡°Now then, Jude. All we have to do now is meet Princess Daphne and Prince Dion, right?¡± ¡°Yes. There¡¯s still the process of getting close to them, of course, but¡­ you¡¯re already good at that.¡± ¡°Ugh¡­ meeting with royalty is hard.¡± She was also the crown princess and not just some royalty. The present Cordelia was born and raised as a noble of the S?len Kingdom. She might have memories of her past life, but she still felt nervous meeting royalty. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Princess Darianne will be there too.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a relief then.¡± Cordelia recalled Princess Darianne¡¯s bright smile, and she took a deep breath as she slightly stretched out her arms. After all, it had already happened. Moreover, it was necessary to get close to Princess Darianne in order to achieve a perfect happy ending. ¡°I can do it.¡± ¡°Yes, you can.¡± There would also be other nobles besides Princess Darianne. Jude cheered on Cordelia, and he looked out the window of the carriage. The main pce of the S?len Kingdom, which was much bigger and more beautiful than the Red Rose Castle, came into his sight. *** ¡°This way please.¡± The pce interior was splendid and gorgeous. The inner pce and courtyard were also elegant-looking, but the person who guided them was mesmerized with Cordelia for a while. However, Cordelia was so confused with all the walking they did that she didn¡¯t even know where they were. Nevertheless, Jude was escorting her like always, so she maintained a fairly elegant appearance even if she was slightly distracted. And at some point, Cordelia unconsciously eximed. ¡®Wow.¡¯ At an indoor flower garden. The appearance of colorful flowers harmoniously ced under the sunlight shining down from the ss ceiling was like that of a painting. It was unrealistically beautiful. But it was clearly real. ¡®As I thought, the royal pce is in a different level.¡¯ After all, it was the royal pce of the S?len Kingdom, one of the continent¡¯s two great powers. Like Cordelia, Jude was also amazed at the sight. But it was only for a while. When they entered the garden, they strongly felt ufortable. ¡®There¡¯s¡­ no one?¡¯ Cordelia and I are the first guests? That was possible. But it was not what Jude had thought. ¡®There¡¯s only one ce.¡¯ To be exact, there was only one table. If it was a tea party with many nobles participating, there should be several tables, but there was only one small table that could amodate four people in the ce. ¡®No way.¡¯ Is the tea party different from what I thought? I even got a list of the tea party¡¯s participants through the Blue Moon. Could it be that Princess Daphne had a sudden change of schedule? But why in the world? Why? ¡°Because I wanted to focus on only the two of you.¡± They heard a beautiful yet noble and dominating voice, one that was distinct of rulers. Jude and Cordelia turned to the direction of the voice, and they were able to see a blonde beauty wearing a white dress and a golden tiara on her head. Princess Daphne. A woman who was called the jewel of the royal family. Chapter 173: The Crown Princess (2)

Chapter 173: The Crown Princess (2)

The long chapter is finally here. And I made a mistake in thest chapter: Maja and Dahlia actually came with them via another carriage. I¡¯ve already corrected that part in the previous chapter. ¡°Wee to my garden.¡± Princess Daphne said, and the tea party with only three people, which differed from the original schedule, then began. ¡°I am Jude Bayer from the Bayer family.¡± ¡°I am Cordelia Chase from the Chase family.¡± When Jude and Cordelia courteously greeted her, Princess Daphne replied with a faint smile. ¡°Nice to meet you. I am Crown Princess Daphne. As I¡¯ve already said, I wee you to this ce again.¡± Princess Daphne had a clear and beautiful voice, but it was not sweet or gentle-sounding. It was a charismatic voice that captivated the listener with its power and strength. ¡®She¡¯s elegant.¡¯ Rather than being pretty, she was elegant. Obviously, that didn¡¯t mean she wasn¡¯t pretty. Because she was Princess Daphne who was praised for her good character design in the story of Legend of Heroes. She was an elegant yet detached beautiful woman. Despite wearing a dress, her elegance made it seem like she was wearing a uniform. ¡®Princess Daphne.¡¯ While Cordelia was grasping the sensuous parts of Princess Daphne such as her ¡®elegant air,¡¯ Jude was studying her figure. Height, weight, body type, and her trained body. ¡®First of all, she¡¯s tall.¡¯ Her height was almost in thete 170s. Perhaps it was close to 180 cm. Next, her body that was clearly hardened by training seemed to be firm like that of a sword. ¡®A predator from the cat family¡­¡¯ If Cordelia reminded him of a graceful leopard, the Princess Daphne before him was a lion then. Because her hair was tied up in a bun, her fair and long neck was openly revealed as its slenderness gave it a straighter look. Her shiny dark golden blonde hair seemed to be made from melting gold and was like a crown itself. And green eyes. Its strong and vivid color was different from Jude¡¯s green eyes, and her eyes seemed like it could see through the other person. ¡®A born ruler?¡¯ Those kind of people existed. People who naturally rose to the leader position when they were in groups. Those who made others look at their backs. The fact that she was born and educated as royalty undoubtedly yed a very important role in that. But Jude was convinced. That Princess Daphne was born with it. Even if she was born as amoner and not royalty, she would still captivate the hearts of many people with her charisma. ¡°You may sit down.¡± Princess Daphne spoke, and the two sat down. The table was circr, but it was arranged in a way that Jude and Cordelia sat besides each other with Princess Daphne seated across them. ¡°Alena.¡± When Princess Daphne called out quietly, a maid approached them while pushing a small food trolley. Inside the trolley were various sweet snacks, pretty teacups, and arge and elegant teapot fit for a tea party. ¡°Because this is a tea party. The royal capital¡¯s snacks are a bit sweeter than those in the north, so tell me right away if you don¡¯t like them.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Royal Highness. Thank you for your consideration.¡± Cordelia gracefully responded first, but her mind was thinking a bit differently. She would naturally be like that. After all, how could she express her dissatisfaction with the sweets a royal princess had given her? ¡®But it also looks to be delicious.¡¯ Most of the snacks in the north tasted a bit in, just like what Princess Daphne had said. Compared to modern-day sweets thatvishly used sugar, the sugar here was still a fairly valuablemodity. As Cordeliaid her eyes on the various sweets, Princess Daphne waited for the teacups of Jude and Cordelia to be filled with tea before she slightly reached out and bit on a snack. It was a kind of act which the host showed to their guests in order to directly confirm that the food did not contain anything dangerous like poison, and it was also a very important procedure at tea parties among nobles. ¡°Hmm¡­ as I thought, it¡¯s too sweet.¡± Princess Daphne muttered to herself, smiling bitterly and offering Jude and Cordelia the snacks and tea. ¡°My taste buds are just picky, but these are the finest products that the royal family are proud to offer. Please do enjoy it.¡± ¡°Thank you, Your Royal Highness.¡± ¡°Thank you for your consideration.¡± Jude and Cordelia smoothly responded before they touched their tea and snacks, and both of them smiled in satisfaction. ¡®It¡¯s good?¡¯ ¡®Delicious!¡¯ Jude didn¡¯t actually like ck tea, so him thinking that it was good definitely proved that the tea was of a high quality. Secondly, the scent of the tea was really good. As for Cordelia, she was delighted with the snacks. Because she had tasted something really sweet after a long time. ¡®Sweet, sweet. It¡¯spletely sweet.¡¯ It was a sweet taste that made you feel guilty and think that you shouldn¡¯t eat a lot of it since your teeth might melt from the sweetness. When a bright smile appeared on Cordelia¡¯s face, Princess Daphne softly giggled and said as she looked at Cordelia as if she was appreciating a work of art. ¡°How lovely.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve seen a lot of children from the royal capital¡­ but this is the first time I¡¯ve met a pretty child like you.¡± ¡°Th-thank you.¡± At the directpliment, Cordelia blushed and bowed her head while Jude clenched his fist as he seriously felt satisfied and delighted from the bottom of his heart. ¡®As expected of Cordelia.¡¯ Although his original purpose of showing off Cordelia in front of numerous nobles was not achieved, it was still fine. After all, the most important person had acknowledged Cordelia¡¯s beauty. ¡®Maja and Dahlia should have heard her words.¡¯ If this was an ordinary tea party, it would have beenmon for a guest to be apanied by a maid or escort, but since Princess Daphne dered it as a ¡®three-person tea party,¡¯ the two could not even enter the garden. Perhaps by now, the two were waiting for them in a waiting room. In any case, Jude was immersed in a really good mood, while Princess Daphne continued to watch Cordelia before she spoke. ¡°Are you surprised to be invited in a tea party that only has three people?¡± ¡°Eh? That¡­ uh¡­ a bit?¡± Cordelia answered a little timidly, and Princess Daphne¡¯s smile deepened, seemingly liking Cordelia¡¯s timidity. ¡°I wanted to meet and focus on you two closely, like I said for the first time. After all, you¡¯ll be the first people to be awarded titles since I was born.¡± ¡°Titles?¡± Cordelia asked with widened eyes, and Princess Daphne nodded and spoke again. ¡°Yes, both of you will be conferred baron titles. A separatend will not be distributed, but it will hold more weight than just a knighthood.¡± After all, it was a baron peerage. Although they would be barons in name only, it was clearly a higher position than a regr knight. ¡®Awesome!¡¯ Cordelia looked back at Jude who responded with his eyes before he turned his attention to Princess Daphne again. The reason Princess Daphne talked about that. The first title conferment ceremony since she was born. Princess Daphne was only 20 years old. Hering-of-age ceremony had been heldst month. ¡®But is that all?¡¯ It must have been very nerve-racking to perform her first official duty as royalty. But was that really the reason why she even changed the schedule of the tea party and made it for three people only? Princess Daphne spoke as if answering Jude¡¯s question. ¡°And¡­ it¡¯s because you two were famous. I wanted to meet you in person and hear your story. I wanted to know what kind of children you were. Certainly¡­ there are people who gain a reputation in the S?len Kingdom in some way. Well, yours seem to be quite blown out of proportion though.¡± Princess Daphne talked a bit mischievously and gazed at Cordelia with a look that seemed to ask if her words were correct, and Cordelia¡¯s lips squirmed before she replied ¡®yes.¡¯ ¡°In truth, I had first thought that it was nonsense.¡± There were so many stories about them, and some of those sounded ridiculous. Moreover, what was passed on to Princess Daphne was not like the ¡®rumors¡¯ that Princess Darianne met. The royal family¡¯s informants collected information from all over the country and reported it, and that included a report Count Hr?svelgr had written himself as a margrave. ¡®Demon yer.¡¯ It was the code name that royal informants had given to Jude and Cordelia. As the name implied, they were ¡®demon hunters¡¯ who had already killed several demonic followers and demonic humans. They defeated the demonic human who tried to kidnap the children from the 12 northern families in Langesthei. Afterwards, they defeated the demonic beast in the Witch¡¯s Forest. They then defeated the demonic humans in the northern viscount¡¯s residence. They defeated the demon and the demonic humans in Frost Anvil too. Up to this point, all of these were already unimaginable achievements for children of ordinary nobles, but their activities beyond the border were also added. ¡®Guardians of the Wild Lands.¡¯ The figures who defeated the corrupted barbarians and the empire¡¯s demonic human, and then stopped the massive war nned by the ¡®Devil¡¯s Eye.¡¯ Of course, Count Hr?svelgr¡¯s report did notpletely describe the achievements of Jude and Cordelia, but the battle in the ins alone, which was the final decisive battle, far exceeded the other achievements of the two. ¡®But it¡¯s not just their war achievements.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t because of their fantastic merits that led to Jude and Cordelia being called a fantasy couple. An immature couple. Despite being already engaged, that didn¡¯t stop the two from running away at night because of love. And the shameless letters they left behind when they would escape. It was unbelievable that they were the same people who made all those achievements listed above, but thetter parts were also true. ¡®And Darianne¡¯s story.¡¯ To begin with, Darianne was a good child. A pure child who was affectionate and bright, and not yet aware of the horrors of the world or the dark side of humans. But that didn¡¯t mean she was a fool. Darianne also had an eye for judging people. Moreover, Darianne¡¯s ability that she awakened as royalty was also rted to her eyes. But such a Darianne praised Jude and Cordelia. Without hesitation, she even called them ¡®unnie¡¯ and ¡®oppa.¡¯ ¡®The finishing blow.¡¯ Their performance in the Banquet of Swords. Jude¡¯s match against the Sword Saint of Light clearly revealed how strong he currently was. ¡®Too strong.¡¯ A skill that couldn¡¯t even bepared to his peers. A strength that overwhelmed Lucas Hr?svelgr, who was known as the Girin of the North. ¡®The more I hear about it, the more it feels strange.¡¯ They stimted the curiosity of others, making other people ask many times if the protagonists of these stories were really the same people. It was evidently one of most important reasons why they were here now, but even if that wasn¡¯t the reason, Princess Daphne would have still invited them here. ¡°Moving on¡­ It seems it was a good idea to invite you two here. I could at least confirm one thing immediately.¡± What one thing? Are you talking about the rumors that Jude and I love each other? Cordelia unknowingly became tense and her hand groped the air near her thighs, and Jude grabbed and held Cordelia¡¯s hand. The warmth was not transmitted because both of them were wearing gloves, but the fact that they held each other¡¯s hands made Cordelia feel much better. ¡®He¡¯s reassuring.¡¯ Should I say that he makes me feel calm? Having beenforted by Jude¡¯s firm hands, Cordelia faced Princess Daphne again, who suddenly got up from her seat and approached Cordelia, saying. ¡°You¡¯re really beautiful, Cordelia.¡± As she whispered, her hand moved and touched Cordelia¡¯s cheek before it slowly moved down to the neck. She then spoke as her hand quietly headed to the chest of Cordelia who was unable to move from extreme tension. ¡°Your scarf is crooked.¡± The white scarf on the upper part of her pink dress. Princess Daphne fixed Cordelia¡¯s scarf, and Cordelia lightly bit her lips unconsciously. ¡®W-what is this? Why is my heart pounding?¡¯ Why is my heart beating like this when we¡¯re both women and wearing a dress, and she¡¯s just fixing my scarf? Cordelia¡¯s face flushed red and she gazed at Princess Daphne as if she was a bit bewitched. On the other hand, Jude squeezed Cordelia¡¯s hand a bit tight to make here to her senses. ¡°Fufu, how cute.¡± Cordelia. No, Jude too. Princess Daphne quietly smiled at the two before she nced at Jude as she ced her hand on Cordelia¡¯s shoulder instead of sitting down again. ¡°Jude Bayer. The second son of the swordmaster, Count Bayer.¡± He looked naturally strong just by his physical looks alone. He seemed to have been practicing martial arts since his childhood. But Princess Daphne had already reviewed Jude¡¯s records several times. Everyone knew that Jude was born with Gueumjulmaek, and that only half a year ago, he could not even do basic physical training, let alone martial arts. ¡°What happened?¡± Only half a year had passed. What had happened in that time that made him as strong as he was now? Princess Daphne gently squeezed Cordelia¡¯s shoulder. She looked straight at Jude who had the same but different green eyes as her and asked. ¡°Can you exin how you became so strong?¡± Her eyes had a cold and piercing gaze. Therefore, Jude replied honestly. ¡°I had a lot of strange encounters.¡± The Sun¡¯s Ne with the power of Sri. A meeting with the Fairy Queen. The absorption of the Sunflower and so on. Jude didn¡¯t necessarily list it one by one. In fact, it was very strange for someone to experience all of these within a short period of time. ¡°Strange encounters.¡± Princess Daphne smiled. She stroked Cordelia¡¯s shoulder and continued. ¡°Perhaps you signed a contract with a demon?¡± A way to be a strong person in a very short time. A contract with a demon. To devote one¡¯s soul to an overlord of hell and be reborn as a demonic human. At her unexpected suspicion, Cordelia raised her head and tried to open her mouth, but Jude tightened his grip on her hand as if to hold her back from speaking. Because he knew it when he made eye contact with the other. That Princess Daphne wasn¡¯t serious with what she said. ¡°Though, that is impossible. Because you¡¯re the disciple of Iron Man Landius, the hero of the Paragon Kingdom and not just anyone else.¡± Princess Daphne slightly tilted her head, seemingly asking him if that was true, and Jude replied with a small smile. ¡°It¡¯s true.¡± It wasn¡¯t really a big secret. All the knights of Count Bayer and Count Hr?svelgr who were with them during the incident at the northern viscount¡¯s residence had known of it. ¡°But even if I take all of these into ount¡­ it¡¯s true that you¡¯re too strong. That¡¯s why it¡¯s good.¡± Princess Daphne said something they didn¡¯t understand, and she softly smiled before pulling a chair next to Cordelia and then sitting down. ¡°Then Cordelia, is the fairy story true?¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­yes. It¡¯s true.¡± The story of their meeting with the fall fairies was quite famous. When Cordelia added the stories of them meeting the winter fairies and the fall fairies in the wildnds, Princess Daphne spoke as she gently touched her own chin. ¡°Hmm¡­ I see. There¡¯s no special condition¡­¡± ¡°Princess?¡± ¡°The truth is, there is one such ce in the royal pce. There¡¯s a legend that fairies appear there¡­ but I¡¯ve never met any fairies there before. Is it because of myck of beauty?¡± Princess Daphne yfully said and sent a mischievous look at Cordelia who was left speechless at that moment with her mouth wide open, and Princess Daphne said with a giggle as if she found Cordelia¡¯s reaction cute. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ve decided. I need to experiment with Cordelia.¡± ¡°Experiment?¡± ¡°Yes, experiment. Come back at night two dayster. Let¡¯s take a bath together.¡± ¡°That¡­ at the ce where the fairies appear?¡± ¡°Yes, at that ce. I¡¯m also curious about the secret of this gorgeous hair.¡± Princess Daphne gazed at Cordelia¡¯s shiny hair and spoke before she looked at Jude again. ¡°Jude Bayer, can I borrow your fianc¨¦e?¡± ¡°If Cordelia epts, I¡¯m fine with it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what he said.¡± Princess Daphne said as she looked at Cordelia again, and Cordelia wriggled her hand away from Jude before replying. ¡°I¡­ I will go.¡± ¡°Fufu, thank you for epting it. I¡¯ll look forward to that day.¡± Having been close to Cordelia, Princess Daphne withdrew and straightened her posture again. She then suddenly asked with narrowed eyes. ¡°It seems like you¡¯ve done some magic on your hair¡­ Can you tell me the secret?¡± ¡°Why not leave it as a question for two dayster?¡± Jude smoothly responded, and Princess Daphne smiled again and nodded. ¡°Very well, I¡¯ll look forward to the night two dayster.¡± And that was it. They spent a few more minutes with some small talk about the events that happened after their time in the wildnds, and Princess Daphne eventually bade them farewell after she helped Cordelia get up. ¡°Then, I look forward to meeting you two in two days. Of course, I had fun in today¡¯s meeting too.¡± ¡°We also enjoyed it.¡± ¡°We¡¯re very honored that you spared us your time.¡± When Cordelia and Jude answered in turn, Princess Daphne allowed the two to leave, and the tea party ended with Jude and Cordelia leaving the flower garden. And around a dozen secondster. After Jude and Cordelia left the garden and some time had psed, Princess Daphne sat down in a chair and raised her voice. ¡°What do you think?¡± She spoke with a much softer and warmer voice than when she faced Jude and Cordelia, and a curt answer came back to her. ¡°Not bad.¡± A very handsome blond young man walked out of a corner in the flower garden, where the flowers and trees had been arranged in order to form a kind of barrier. He was Prince Dion, Princess Daphne¡¯s strongest and reliable ally. At his evaluation, Princess Daphne stretched her shoulders and asked again. ¡°Why is it not bad?¡± ¡°First of all, they seem to be good people, but we¡¯ve only met them for a very short time. However¡­ I¡¯m certain about their abilities.¡± ¡°And the reason?¡± ¡°I was noticed.¡± ¡°Landius¡¯ disciple?¡± ¡°Landius¡¯ disciple too.¡± Princess Daphne slightly frowned at Prince Dion¡¯s answer. Because she did not expect that. ¡°Are you saying that Cordelia noticed you too?¡± ¡°Yes, rather, she was faster than Landius¡¯ disciple.¡± The reason Cordelia was flustered when she first faced Princess Daphne was not simply because she was overwhelmed by Princess Daphne¡¯s charisma. It was because she noticed the presence of Prince Dion who was hiding in the corner. So Princess Daphne asked again as she furrowed her brows. ¡°Because she¡¯s a wizard?¡± ¡°She didn¡¯t use any search magic. Moreover, this flower garden is my magic realm. I can perceive any shoddy tricks.¡± ¡°Then?¡± ¡°Her senses are good.¡± She was almost like a wild animal. Or more like a beast than a human. ¡°Perhaps you should have juste out and greeted them.¡± ¡°No. I learned some things from my observation of them while hiding. Furthermore¡­ it would do more for us to be careful, I think? Those two may determine our fate¡­ and the fate of the S?len Kingdom.¡± The two people of destiny. Princess Daphne slowly nodded at Prince Dion¡¯s words. She stared at the door of the flower garden where Jude and Cordelia had gone out of. *** Outside the flower garden. Having arrived at a hallway under the guidance of a pce staff, Cordelia immediately nced at Jude. ¡®Hey! Why did you agree to it!¡¯ ¡®What? You mean the bath?¡¯ ¡®Yes, the bath. I¡¯m somehow scared!¡¯ Princess Daphne. She was definitely a beautiful, elegant, and charismatic princess, but she was somehow scary. ¡®Is that a big deal? Besides, it¡¯s an opportunity.¡¯ ¡®An opportunity to get acquainted with the princess?¡¯ ¡®An opportunity to actively lure her with shampoo and conditioner.¡¯ Cordelia blinked her eyes at Jude¡¯s reply, and Jude cleared his throat and said again via magic. [And if you do well, you may be able to meet the fairies, right? As for the fairies who might be residing in the royal family¡¯s residence¡­ chances are high that it¡¯s the summer fairies, right?] [Yes, probably. Wait, you didn¡¯t tear a scroll just now, right? Did you just use magic?] [Because Message magic is simple to cast.] Cordelia frowned when Jude shrugged as if it was something trivial. [This is why talented people are so unlucky.] [Hey, didn¡¯t you also master Lightning Punch and my family¡¯s wind-like footwork techniques in an instant?] [That is that, and this is this.] [You still have some hair in your heart, huh? You must be feeling warm then?] T/N: Word y again. ¡®Hair in your heart¡¯ is an idiom that refers to a brazen or shameless person. So Jude was saying that she was shameless. But he also used it literally in his next sentence. Hair provided warmth to one¡¯s head, so if one¡¯s heart had hair too, their heart would also feel warm. [Yes, it¡¯s so warm. It feels nice.] [It must feel nice, huh? Anyway, did you notice him?] [Prince Dion?] [Yes, he was observing us while hiding.] [Eueue¡­ did we do something bad?] [I don¡¯t think it¡¯s that¡­ It¡¯s more like he¡¯s cautious of us or something.] Something that Jude himself did not understand why. Perhaps it was some information that only Princess Daphne had. [Haa¡­ anyway, we have toe back in two days.] [Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll properly make you beautiful then.] Jude smiled and looked at her, and Cordelia responded with a worried gaze. But it was then. Jude and Cordelia suddenly straightened their postures and looked in front of them. Because someone was heading towards them, or to be exact, someone was walking towards Princess Daphne¡¯s flower garden. That person¡¯s gray hair revealed their age. But their physique and fierce eyes didn¡¯t match it. Jude and Cordelia knew who he was. ¡®The Lord Protector.¡¯ The main culprit in the royal family¡¯s genocide, and the actual final boss who must be stopped in their uing battle in the royal capital. It was a natural rule that a lower-ranked person should not greet a higher-ranked person unless thetter one spoke to them first. Therefore, the pce staff stopped to wait for the Lord Protector¡¯s words, and so did Jude and Cordelia. But the Lord Protector did not speak to Jude and Cordelia. He just looked at them with his cold eyes before passing by as he headed to the flower garden. [Nothing bad will happen¡­ right?] The main culprit behind the royal family¡¯s genocide was going to see Princess Daphne. Cordelia asked as she felt troubled, and Jude nodded his head. [Because it¡¯s not yet the day of the founding anniversary.] The Lord Protector was the head of the royalists, so he was a person who frequently met with the next monarch, Princess Daphne. Perhaps today¡¯s meeting wasn¡¯t such an eventful meeting. [I¡¯m relieved then¡­] Cordelia lightly bit her lips, and she squeezed Jude¡¯s hand which she had been holding since the beginning of the tea party. The Lord Protector, one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. An opponent they had to fight in person fifteen days or soter. [It will be fine. We have First Sword.] Jude said, and Cordelia nodded again. She took a step and suppressed her ominous premonition. *** At the same time, in a ce far from the royal capital. A man frowned at an old temple located in the border between the central and northern parts of the kingdom. He unknowingly said aloud. ¡°Pink¡­Bomb?¡± It was a really weird name, so it was something he would never forget the moment he heard himself say it. And now, he felt that it was two words that he should remember. The man, Necromancer Velkian, folded the letter with his long and thin fingers before he raised his head to look towards the northeast. It was in the direction of the royal capital. Chapter 174: Countdown (1)

Chapter 174: Countdown (1)

Jude and Cordelia sat next to each other as they looked at the invitation with fancy handwriting. The invitation was made from a very high-quality paper and sealed with the royal family¡¯s seal. ¡°Uh¡­ Does that mean we¡¯ll all be taking a bath together?¡± ¡°I think so. The contents are a bit different from what we first heard.¡± An hour or so after their tea party with Princess Daphne. If he summarized the contents of the new invitation that Maja brought to them, it was as follows: Let¡¯s y in the water together two nightster. Together with Jude, Dion and Darianne. ¡®Hey, isn¡¯t this a bit too much for a bath?¡¯ Since it was an act of revealing their naked bodies, he didn¡¯t want others to see Cordelia¡¯s naked body, even if they were of the same sex as her. ¡°The ce remains to be the same¡­ Perhaps we¡¯ll be wearing swimwear in something like a hot spring. Or is this kind of like a night pool?¡± When Jude muttered to himself, Cordelia¡¯s eyes widened before she asked. ¡°Night pool? What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s literally a swimming pool that you go to at night. That is, if the pool in broad daylight is a yground for the whole family, the night pool is like a yground for adults.¡± Because no kids would be there. At Jude¡¯s vague exnation, Cordelia frowned and began to think before she asked again with a curious face. ¡°Is it like a club then?¡± ¡°There are ces like that in clubs, and there are ces like swimming pools in hotels that are only open at night.¡± Having said that, Jude stared off into the distance for a while as if he was recalling something. Cordelia then asked in an unexpectedly fast tone. ¡°Had you gone there in the past? Who did you go with? A woman? A girlfriend?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Who did you go with?¡± Cordelia¡¯s face drew closer. So Jude¡¯s shoulders flinched in reflex, and he unconsciously said as if he was making an excuse. ¡°That¡­ I¡¯ve never gone there to y, I just happened to know about it.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes, really. Why would I pretend to have been there, or lie about never going there¡­right?¡± ¡°Hmmmmmm¡­¡± Cordelia narrowed her eyes and Jude spontaneously gulped in nervousness before she soon smiled. She couldn¡¯t help it. ¡°What? Why are you smiling all of a sudden?¡± ¡°Why? I just want to smile.¡± Jude narrowed his eyes like Cordelia did before he slyly smiled. Cordelia somehow got annoyed and pinched the back of Jude¡¯s hand. It didn¡¯t hurt much though. ¡°Moving on, we¡¯ll have to get prepared.¡± ¡°Prepared?¡± ¡°We have to buy swimwear. We didn¡¯t bring any swimwear.¡± Because it was winter now. No, even if it was summer, they wouldn¡¯t have brought swimwear. How could anyone even imagine that they would be swimming and ying with the princess in the future? ¡°I¡¯ll cash the cheque we got into easy money. We need to prepare for the other events too.¡± As Jude enumerated the other events one by one, Cordelia looked at the invitation again before raising her head. ¡°What about the preparations for the ball?¡± ¡°There is that too¡­ but we really have little time left before that day arrives. We have so much to prepare.¡± Their n to foil the ns of the ck Moon, which was the limbs of the Lord Protector in the royal capital, was not yet perfect. The political position of the Lord Protector had been somewhat weakened due to the attacks of the aristocrats, but the attack time itself was too short in the first ce, and ck Moon and the Lord Protector wouldn¡¯t just copse from a few of their corruption cases being revealed. They needed a stronger shot. ¡°Are we doing that for the third time?¡± ¡°Yes, it will be the third andst notice of Phantom Thief Pink Bomb.¡± The third target for their crime had been decided a long time ago. Including what they had decided to steal. ¡°In addition to that¡­ there are other things to prepare, right?¡± ¡°Yes, I have to n an escape route¡­ and there are a lot more people to protect here than in Langesthei.¡± At that time, only Lucas and Cordelia needed to be protected. But this time, the number of royalty they needed to protect far exceeded 10 people. ¡®Of course¡­ if we¡¯re just going to prevent the destruction of the barrier, protecting Princess Daphne only will be enough.¡¯ But that was really the worst case scenario. ¡®We need to save as many royalty as possible. No, we need to make sure no one dies.¡¯ It would be best to make sure that there were no victims. Cordelia would wish for that too. ¡°One way or another¡­ it will be a big fight in the end, right?¡± Cordelia said with gloomy face. Even if they seeded in protecting all the royalty, it would be impossible topletely ensure that there would be no casualties. ¡®A bloody uprising.¡¯ The Lord Protector¡¯s side would be fighting to the death, so damage was inevitable among those who guarded the royal capital, such as the patrol guards and guard knights, as they would be stopping the enemies. ¡®What we can only do is to minimize the casualties.¡¯ Destroying the ck Moon was also just to reduce the damage. ¡°Eueue¡­ I feel a bit frustrated at times like this. I wish I could just tell them everything and make them understand.¡± If they could inform the royal family in advance of the n to annihte them, they could detain or execute the Lord Protector. But that was impossible. People wouldn¡¯t believe what Jude and Cordelia would say. Who would believe that the Lord Protector, the hero who saved the country, was plotting to annihte the royal family just because the two recalled the memories of their previous lives? Rather, they would imprison Jude and Cordelia or send them to a mental health facility. Jude nodded in agreement to Cordelia¡¯s words, and he ced his hand over her hand. ¡°Aren¡¯t we lucky though?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Because we¡¯re together in this.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia was puzzled as her eyes widened before she giggled and said. ¡°Hey, you too?¡± Are you happy to have me? Are you relieved that I¡¯m here? Jude nodded his head at her cute look. ¡°Yes, me too.¡± If I was alone, I would have to do all of these things by myself, so it would be much harder and lonely than now. ¡°I would have be Pink Bomb if I was alone.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not toote for that, Mister ck-hearted ck Cloak.¡± ¡°Yes, Miss White-hearted Pink Bomb. I am satisfied with just being ck Cloak, your sidekick.¡± Jude smirked like always before he stood up and said. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go. It¡¯s shopping time, shopping time. Shouldn¡¯t we spend the money we earned?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ well, that¡¯s fine. We came to the royal capital, but we didn¡¯t have the time to properly tour the royal capital¡¯s weapon stores. I was thinking of getting a whip.¡± As Cordelia grinned and answered, Jude had a bitter smile. What kind of girl would be thinking of a weapon store first when going shopping? ¡°Why? Did I say something weird?¡± ¡°No, Princess. You said it very well. Let¡¯s hurry while we¡¯re at it.¡± ¡°We¡¯re going now?¡± ¡°Is there a problem? It¡¯s not even dinner time yet. Shall we go to a restaurant this time? We¡¯re in the royal capital, but we haven¡¯t eaten much from the restaurants here.¡± Cordelia turned and looked out the window after hearing Jude¡¯s words. It waste in the afternoon, but there was still some time left before the sun sets. ¡°Let¡¯s go shopping, have dinner, go to a bridge or something, and see the night view.¡± ¡°And eat parfait?¡± ¡°If my princess wants it.¡± As Judeughed, Cordelia slightly nodded in agreement to the n. But it was at that moment. ¡®Uh, wait a minute.¡¯ Go shopping, have dinner, and see the night view? Just the two of us? No, of course, we¡¯re almost stuck together every day. Even so. To do something like that. Isn¡¯t that a bit different from what we¡¯ve been doing together so far? As if we are going on a¡­ ¡®D-date?¡¯ At the word that came to her mind, Cordelia raised her head and met eyes with Jude who looked at her as he tilted his head. ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­yes. That, yes, yes.¡± What¡¯s wrong with a date? I can do it. ¡®That¡¯s right. We¡¯re engaged.¡¯ It¡¯s natural for us to d-date. It¡¯s not weird at all. Rather, it¡¯s strange that we haven¡¯t done that so far. Yes, yes, that¡¯s right. I can at least go on a date. ¡®With Jude.¡¯ That was it. Cordelia lightly bit her lips and looked up at Jude again. She could see his usual smirking face and green eyes staring at her. ¡°Anyway, you¡¯re really wily.¡± ¡°Eh? Why are you falsely using me of something?¡± ¡°Hmph.¡± In any case, Cordelia felt strangely better, and she stood up at once and said. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go now. My father will allow it if I tell him my sister will be watching us.¡± Because it would be reallyte if they were going to see the night view. The royal pce doors would be closed once the sun fell, so they would have no choice but to stay outside. ¡°Well, it¡¯s not a bad excuse, but would your father really want that¡­¡± Adelia and Ga?l ¡®watching¡¯ us. Will he really want that? Wouldn¡¯t that cause some problems instead? ¡°You¡¯re thinking of something strange again.¡± ¡°No, I just felt sorry for your father.¡± ¡°What are you talking about? That¡¯s enough of your nonsense. You should dress up too. I¡¯ll go out once I¡¯m done dressing up.¡± It was a bit sudden, but this was their first date. Cordelia spoke while thinking of something different, and Jude exaggeratedly greeted her as if he was in a y. ¡°I look forward to seeing you.¡± ¡°Yes, Milord.¡± With a bright smile, Cordelia turned around and hurriedly walked out. And after 30 minutes or so. A carriage carrying Jude and Cordelia, who had hurried as much as possible to leave the pce before sunset, passed over arge drawbridge. *** At the Salome Dress Shop, the so-called flower of Velden Street which led the fashion industry in the royal capital. Madame Salome¡¯s niece, Marlene, had been working here for three years, and she looked at the couple in front of her with a happy face. ¡®How cute.¡¯ Are they in their mid-tote teens now? A young woman with bright red hair and a handsome and tall young man with ck hair. The girl in a white dress with a pure impression was wearing a white hat with a wide brim, and she looked around the dress shop with feelings of curiosity, fear, a bit of envy, and some expectation, as if she was unfamiliar with everything. ¡®It¡¯s an expression I¡¯ve seen a lot of times.¡¯ Especially from thedies who came from far ces. ¡®She seems like a youngdy from a fairly good family, but¡­¡¯ She could tell by just looking at the white dress the girl was wearing. The design was modest, but it wasn¡¯t made of ordinary fabric. She had a ring on her fingers and a brooch on her chest. The designs of those weren¡¯t thetest ones, but she could clearly tell that those essories were of considerable value. And above all. ¡®She¡¯s so pretty!¡¯ It feels like I saw a doll who became a real person. How can her eyes, nose, and mouth look so delicate in that tiny face? And the young man next to her. He¡¯s probably a lover or fianc¨¦, and he¡¯s a handsome man who looks like he came out of a painting. Unlike the girl, the man seemed to be quite familiar to the ce as he acted naturally. Marlene was attracted to the young man¡¯s face, though she still behaved properly. ¡®I have to be careful.¡¯ From the moment they entered the store. It only seemed to be a normal walk, but the veteran Marlen knew. The young man was always alert of the girl¡¯s movements wherever she went. Like an ideal escort. An escort who paid attention to everything in order to protect the girl anytime and anywhere. ¡®There¡¯s that too.¡¯ The young man did not take his eyes off the girl for a single moment. Even when he looked elsewhere for a moment, he always put the girl in a corner of his sight. ¡®He¡¯s interested.¡¯ When someone came to a dress shop like this, it was usually the woman who was excited and would look closely while the man would take a step back and have a silent expression. If you asked the man if they liked it, he would just reply with one word. But this couple was a bit different. Because the man was much more enthusiastic than the woman. ¡°Ha, this won¡¯t do. Anyway, it would be better if there were more variations.¡± The young man, Jude, muttered before he looked back at Marlene and said. ¡°Just give us everything from here to here.¡± From the left end to the right end. Around ten dresses. At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia was surprised and quickly pulled Jude¡¯s sleeve. [Hey! Are you crazy?! You¡¯re seriously crazy!] [No, I¡¯m not. Why are you saying that?] [You¡¯repletely overspending! Squander out! I refuse! No! Absolutely not!] Cordelia firmly dered with magic, and she looked around in a hurry and said, pointing to the dress disyed on the other side. ¡°That one! Please give me that one!¡± If I don¡¯t properly choose something, Jude might persist with his actions again. It looks a bit expensive, but I¡¯ll pick the prettiest one if I have to choose. But it was at that moment. ¡°Oh, as expected of Cordelia.¡± ¡°You have a good eye.¡± Jude and Marlene spoke in turn, and Cordelia was forced to blink her eyes. ¡°Eh? A good¡­eye?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s the best item in our shop.¡± Marlene brightly smiled and said, and Jude quietly whispered into Cordelia¡¯s ear instead of using message magic. ¡°That one is more expensive than the ones on this wallbined.¡± ¡°What?!¡± Jude had whispered, but not Cordelia. She shouted loudly without realizing it, and she shook her arms afterwards, not caring if Marlene was surprised or not. ¡°C-cancel! Completely cancel it! Super cancel it!¡± Cordelia was so surprised that she spoke some strange words, and she stepped hard on Jude¡¯s foot because he was smirking at her, while Marlene bit her lips and barely held back herughter. And another half an hour or so passed. After purchasing two dresses and three swimwear to wear for two dayster, Jude and Cordelia went out of the dress shop with a lively face on one side and apletely exhausted face on the other. ¡°The world must have obviously gone crazy.¡± ¡°Because the dress is too expensive?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just stupid.¡± Cordelia was from the Chase family, one of the 12 northern families, so she was ustomed to a ¡®noble¡¯s spending habit¡¯ since she spent 17 years of her life as a noble. But there was a limit to a noble¡¯s spending habit. ¡°It¡¯s a total waste. Aplete luxury. Besides, I think you¡¯ve lost your sense of money, Jude. Don¡¯t you know not to spend so much just because you suddenly have a lot of money?¡± Cordelia spoke like she was giving a sermon, and she walked forward before continuing her words. ¡°It¡¯s really hard to stop once you begin to spend moneyvishly. That¡¯s why ruined nobles spend their moneyvishly even after they¡¯ve gone bankrupt or been disgraced. It¡¯s not that they¡¯re stupid, it¡¯s just their human disposition in the first ce.¡± ¡°Where did you learn that?¡± ¡°My school¡¯s economics teacher.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s reply, Jude grinned as if he was saying, ¡®Really?¡¯, and Cordelia pinched Jude on the cheek. ¡°In any case, I hate that.¡± And she stepped back. At the moment she crossed the bridge and stepped into the long shadows made by the setting sun. ¡°Why don¡¯t youe out now?¡± Cordelia suddenly spoke to behind her, and Jude also realized it at that moment. Who Cordelia had noticed. And who Jude himself knew too. It was outside the range of his ¡®detection field.¡¯ Because it was located exactly one step away from the edge of the detection field Jude always unfolded, and that person was determined to hide their presence, so Jude had not noticed him earlier. But Cordelia sensed that person. Her senses, which were sharper than a wild beast, made it possible. Cordelia turned around, and Jude stood by her side and looked too. A man whose presence was like a ghost. ¡°Hey, your senses are good, huh?¡± A man with a mischievous face and long and neat dark blue hair. ¡°I was just passing by, and I saw you two. I followed you two because I wanted to eat with you together. Uh¡­ did I interfere with you two or something?¡± Rhun Froud, the Sword Saint of Light. Commonly known as First Sword. A man who was shameless enough to interrupt the date of a sweet couple. First Sword slyly smiled, and Jude and Cordelia ¨C especially Jude, faced him with a sulking look. Chapter 175: Countdown (2)

Chapter 175: Countdown (2)

Terms used in this chapter: Yaksha ¨C a kind of supernatural being that is often depicted as having supernatural power, great strength, and a frightening appearance. Can also be called a demon. Its Japanese equivalent is an oni. And if you y Genshin Impact, Xiao is an adepti who is thest of the Five Yakshas. As the heavens knew, the earth knew, and Cordelia knew, Jude was the kind of person who was meticulous in his preparations. You could say that he always had a n for everything. Naturally, there were many times when the situation changed during a battle, so he also had to do some improvisations, but such situations were unavoidable. Even in battles, he would take out a trump card he had prepared in advance and use it. And in order to do that, he had to predict all the possible situations and prepare ordingly. His date with Cordelia. He had already assumed that it would happen. When Jude had done some investigation regarding the royal capital, it was not only the ck Moon and Blue Moon that he paid attention to. What is the best dress shop? What is the most famous restaurant? What are the best ces for sightseeing? Is there any ce with a lot of attractions that we can go to anytime? ¡°I know a nearby ce where they serve some amazing steaks. Would you like to go there with me?¡± First Sword slyly said, and Jude took a deep breath first. Because he already knew where the best steakhouse that First Sword was referring to. ¡®The Shepherd¡¯s ce.¡¯ ¡°It¡¯s a shop called The Shepherd¡¯s ce, and the chef there is amazing.¡± Just as Jude had thought. ¡°It¡¯s like fate that we met here like this, so let¡¯s go there, okay? It¡¯ll be my treat.¡± A talk with First Sword. A meal with First Sword. If you were a promising swordsman in the center, no, in the S?len Kingdom, you would not refuse it. Rather, you would want to go with him even if you had to be the one to pay for the meal. But. Still. ¡®Haa¡­¡¯ F*ck. Just like what Cordelia always said, him saying ?¡®f*ck¡¯ was more of an exmation than a curse. How else could he fully express his feelings? ¡®We should go.¡¯ We must go. Because we have to get close to First Sword. It will be easier for us on the day of the founding anniversary if we get close to him. ¡®But why did it have to be now?¡¯ He had nned to get close to First Sword on another day. And that day was not today. ¡®Haa¡­¡¯ Jude sighed again in his thoughts, and the person next to him lightly pulled his sleeve. ¡®Jude, Jude. We should go, right?¡¯ He¡¯ll treat us to a meal. We have to get close to First Sword anyway. No, I¡¯m not saying that we should go because he¡¯s treating us to a meal. Anyway, we should just go with him. At the words that Cordelia conveyed with her gaze, Jude was silent for a while before he nodded his head. ¡®It can¡¯t be helped.¡¯ ¡®Yes, yes, let¡¯s eat with First Sword today.¡¯ When Jude saw Cordelia¡¯s eyes that seemed to soothe him, he fixed his gaze on her face for a moment instead of looking back at First Sword. There was a feeling of regret in her blue eyes. Jude was satisfied with that. He faintly smiled before he turned to First Sword. ¡°Thank you for your offer. It¡¯s an honor to have a meal with First Sword-nim.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯m grateful that you willingly epted it.¡± First Sword slyly said again, but they could tell from looking at his face. ¡®He¡¯s very excited.¡¯ ¡®He¡¯s a really sly person.¡¯ He was simr to Jude but also different. In any case, Jude and Cordelia epted his offer, and First Sword was delighted and approached the two. He then stretched out his hand to Cordelia. ¡°Lady Cordelia, may I have the honor of escorting you?¡± At First Sword¡¯s shameless offer, Cordelia first turned to Jude before she smiled. She gracefully acted as someone who had lived as a count¡¯s daughter for 17 years. ¡°It¡¯s an honor that the Sword Saint of Light wants to escort me. But¡­¡± Cordelia nced at Jude again, giving him a mischievous look before she turned to First Sword and apologized. ¡°My jealous fianc¨¦ is next to me. I hope you understand.¡± Cordelia answered a bit cutely, and First Sword chuckled and immediately nodded. ¡°It can¡¯t be helped then. But Lady Cordelia, you shouldn¡¯t be indulgent with his excessive jealousy. That¡¯s not a good habit, you know?¡± ¡°Thank you for your valuable advice.¡± Cordelia beautifully responded again, and First Sword stepped back with a pleased smile. His expression seemed to say that he was fine now since he had managed to nd a punch¡¯ on Jude. ¡°Now then, let me lead you two there.¡± First Sword turned around and strode forward. His strides were quite big, so she thought that they should quickly follow him. ¡®Jude?¡¯ At Cordelia¡¯s gaze that seemed to beughing, Jude narrowed his eyes and suddenly grabbed Cordelia¡¯s hand. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Princess.¡± His face was a bit different from his usual sly face, as he now had a face like that of a child whose innermost thoughts had been revealed. Cordelia tried to hold back herughter and then nodded. ¡°Yes, my jealous fianc¨¦. Please escort me~ okay?¡± She acted a bit cute and teasing at the end, and Jude walked forward instead of answering, so she finallyughed out loud. Jude¡¯s earlobes were burning red. ¡°Ah, I¡¯m starting to like First Sword all of a sudden. He¡¯s a nice uncle.¡± Jude did not respond to Cordelia¡¯s monologue, nor did he say anything. No, he did react a little. Because he slightly strengthened his grip on his hand that held hers. ¡®How cute.¡¯ Cordelia giggled and adjusted her fingers in Jude¡¯s big hand before she looked in front and saw First Sword looking their way. The man who seemed to be somehow excited until now was standing there with a very annoyed look. Why? What¡¯s wrong with him? Cordelia stepped forward instead of asking him. The clean and cold night air of the royal capital seemed to be hot today. *** The Shepherd¡¯s ce was clearly a ce that deserved its reputation for its food. The moment she took a bite, the steak seemed to melt in her mouth. ¡®Delicious.¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s steak consumption speed slightly became faster, while Jude habitually analyzed the kind, part, and degree of roasting of the steak. And First Sword looked at the two before saying. ¡°It¡¯s delicious, right? This steakhouse is the best one in the royal capital. It¡¯s a ce I visit often when I¡¯m in the royal capital.¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s really delicious. Thank you very much for introducing it to us.¡± When the happy Cordelia cheerfully answered, a satisfied smile spread on First Sword¡¯s face. He had fun ¡®attacking¡¯ Jude, but a girl¡¯s smile that was as beautiful as a flower was more enjoyable. ¡°Anyway, eat as much as you want. I can afford all of these.¡± Cordelia slightly turned red at First Sword¡¯s suggestion, and she nodded her head. The serving size wasn¡¯t that big, but she wanted to eat at least one more te of steak if it had tasted as delicious as this. ¡®And it¡¯s free too!¡¯ Given the very luxurious atmosphere of the restaurant, it was clear to her that one te of steak was ridiculously expensive. ¡®Maybe that¡¯s why it tastes better.¡¯ Because she was eating meat that was paid for by First Sword. Cordelia happily put a cut of steak in her mouth, while Jude focused a bit more after seeing Cordelia¡¯s appearance. He had to analyze the taste of the food in this store as much as possible. ¡®A near-perfect copy.¡¯ Let¡¯s do this. It had been a long time since Jude gave his all in utilizing his talents for such a meaningless purpose. When they had finished eating to some extent, First Sword was the one to talk first. ¡°It¡¯s a bit sudden to bring this up, but¡­ are you really a swordsman?¡± Jude replied with a calm face instead of being embarrassed to his question. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s correct.¡± ¡°Ah, don¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t take away the prize given to you just because you¡¯re not a swordsman.¡± ¡°But it¡¯s true. Jude¡¯s master is also a swordsman.¡± Cordelia spoke from the side, and First Sword looked at her instead of Jude and said. ¡°Well, you¡¯re right. Landius-nim is originally a swordsman.¡± Originally. At First Sword¡¯s sullen remark, Cordelia smiled a bit. ¡®He was a real swordsman in the first episode.¡¯ A powerful swordsman who wielded a huge sword energetically. But how did he end up like that now? ¡®Please don¡¯t let Jude be like that.¡¯ It¡¯s good if he bes strong, but if he bes that huge¡­ please, no¡­ As Cordelia suddenly began to pray in her mind, First Sword looked back at Jude and asked. ¡°So, how is Ga?l doing?¡± ¡°He¡¯s fine. He¡¯s doing well.¡± First Sword was in his early 30s while Ga?l was in histe 20s, so it was hard to say that they belonged to the same generation because they were about 5-6 years apart in age. But as the Girin of the Sword School, First Sword was already acquainted with Ga?l because they met at a previous Banquet of Swords. ¡°I see¡­ that guy should really get married though.¡± It was rare for a count¡¯s eldest son to be not yet married despite being in histe twenties. Having just finished her prayer, Cordelia softly answered when First Sword spoke as if he was worried. ¡°He¡¯ll be married soon. With my sister.¡± ¡°I see, your sister¡­ Wait, what? Ga?l is getting married? And with the Golden Yaksha¡­ I mean, with Adelia?!¡± When First Sword asked in surprise, Cordelia smiled again and nodded. ¡°Yes, with my sister.¡± The Golden Yaksha. The Hell Witch. All of these referred to Adelia Chase, the 7thmander of the Royal Guards Magic Corps, and that was why it made First Swordugh. ¡°That¡¯s really amazing. That Ga?ld would be marrying Lady Adelia¡­ How did he win over her?¡± First Sword murmured low, and the other two stared at him with a slightly surprised face. Because they did not expect First Sword and Ga?l¡¯s connection to be that close. ¡°Well, congrattions anyway. Please tell them that my congrattions.¡± ¡°We will.¡± Jude politely answered, and First Sword returned to his usual idle posture before he spoke again. ¡°As I¡¯ve said before, one of the main reasons I chose to stay was because of you two. I feel like I have to stay in the royal capital when I see you two.¡± ¡°We also want to be close whenever we see First Sword-nim.¡± Cordelia spoke in a charming manner, and First Sword smiled in satisfaction. ¡°Yes, maybe it really is fate. To begin with, I really like the two of you. Aren¡¯t you talented geniuses?¡± ¡°I¡¯m ttered.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not that much.¡± First Swordughed at Jude¡¯s humble response, and he said as he buried his back in the chair. ¡°Have you heard it from Cornwell? I had gone to the empire and met some monsters.¡± ¡°Yes, we¡¯ve heard about it.¡± ¡°Maximilian de Avis and Leon Gadreel.¡± Jude and Cordelia narrowed their eyes at the two names mentioned by First Sword. Because they had already expected to hear those names. Even among the yable characters made up of geniuses, one was the owner of a monstrous talent who was the true protagonist of Legend of Heroes 2, and the other was a sword genius who could face such a monster. ¡°In my life, I had seen many people who were called geniuses, but it was my first time meeting someone like them. What surprised me in particr was their strength that didn¡¯t fit their age.¡± First Sword himself was strong right now. But what about in ten years? What about in twenty years? ¡°Even if we¡¯re the Ten Great Swordmasters or Sword Saints, we¡¯re still human beings in the end. We have no choice but to get weaker as we get older. In the past, the Lord Protector boasted of an outstanding strength among the Ten Great Swordmasters, but the present him is not as good as he used to be.¡± First Sword continued to ramble before he ended his words with a bitter smile. He looked at Jude again and said. ¡°I don¡¯t know if Cornwell has already said this, but I¡¯m quite excited about you. The kingdom should also have at least one monster, and not just the empire.¡± Jude nodded at First Sword¡¯s words. He responded with a serious face, as if he wanted to meet First Sword¡¯s expectations. ¡°I will do my best.¡± ¡°Ah, darn it. If it weren¡¯t for Landius-nim, I would have taken and made you my disciple.¡± ¡°Thank you very much for your kind consideration.¡± ¡°You¡¯re really polite.¡± First Sword chuckled again before he stood up instead of continuing their conversation. ¡°Anyway, we¡¯ve had a good meal, and I¡¯ve said hello, so this unwanted guest will show himself out. I¡¯d like to stick with you until you go home, but¡­ uh¡­ what do you think?¡± ¡°Thank you for your thoughts.¡± Jude made a stiff smile, making First Swordugh loudly. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s natural for you to decline it. Anyway, see you next time. Lady Cordelia, see you next time too.¡± ¡°Thank you for the meal. I look forward to seeing you next time.¡± ¡°Me too.¡± First Sword greeted Cordelia back in a theatrical manner, and he turned around after greeting Jude for thest time. Jude then stared at the back of such a man. First Sword. The Sword Saint of Light. A bright, energetic, mischievous, and cheerful man. As Jude continued to stare at First Sword, Cordelia asked in a low voice. ¡°What is it? Is it because he may leave without paying?¡± ¡°There¡¯s that too.¡± Anyway, he was one of the most important characters in their quest. ¡°Ah, he paid it.¡± Cordelia said while Jude nodded his head. It was only then that he looked back at Cordelia. *** ¡°Haa, I¡¯m happy. It was really delicious.¡± Around 30 minutes after First Sword was gone. After drinking tea followed by dessert, Cordelia left the restaurant and patted her stomach with a very satisfied face. ¡°Ahem, it definitely seem to be a bit bigger than usual.¡± ¡°What did you say? You wanna die?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t say anything. Anyway, it was delicious. Let¡¯s stop by that ce again next time.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ rejected. It¡¯s too expensive. Wastefully spending money is a sin.¡± She had been surprised in seeing the price tag on the menu when they had ordered dessert. They had eaten it because First Sword had paid for it, but Cordelia had no intention of eating it if they had asked her to pay for it. ¡°You¡¯re a strange frugal woman, you know that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that I¡¯m strange, but it¡¯s you who is weird, Jude. You waste your money on luxurious stuff. I do buy items, but I don¡¯t crazily spend my money on clothes and food.¡± ¡°So items are okay?¡± ¡°Items are okay. Because it increases mybat power. Which is directly rted to my life.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s argument that was more reasonable than he expected, Jude nodded his head, prompting her to speak cheerfully. ¡°Moving on, I have decided. I¡¯ll be the one to manage our moneyter.¡± ¡°Later?¡± ¡°Yes,ter.¡± ¡°Whatter?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I mean,ter. What do you mean byter?¡± Cordelia blinked at Jude¡¯s question. She had to do that. Later. After everything was over. To be more specific¡­ ¡°Lter ister, andter is somewhere in the future. Anyway, let¡¯s go see the night view. Yes, yes, the night view. The night view. Yes, I¡¯m excited to see it.¡± Cordelia spoke gibberish as her face turned red. Therefore, Jude snickered before he said. ¡°Okay, but there¡¯s a ce we have to stop by in the middle.¡± ¡°Stop by?¡± ¡°Yes, I did talk about the third crime of Pink Bomb, right?¡± ¡°Yes. Ah, so you¡¯re sending a notice?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. After all, it would be hard toe out at night when we¡¯ve entered the pce. Considering the rest of our schedule¡­ and so on, we¡¯ll have to send a notice today, rob them tomorrow, and meet Princess Daphne the day after tomorrow.¡± ¡°How busy.¡± ¡°Because that day is just around the corner.¡± The time after the 300th founding anniversary ball was over. The time after it had reached its peak. ¡°Okay, so tomorrow is also the day we¡¯ve decided to meet Scarlet. What¡¯s our goal this time? What are we going to steal?¡± ¡°We¡¯re going to raid the headquarters of the ck Moon that¡¯s disguised as a shoppingplex. Our target is the ck Moon¡¯s terror n for the day of the founding anniversary.¡± ¡°Eh? Was there something like that?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s this.¡± Jude naturally responded as he took out some documents in his enchanted chest pocket and showed them to Cordelia, who looked at him with wide open eyes. ¡°Hey, Jude, the second son of Count Bayer. Is that thing you are holding the ck Moon¡¯s terror n?¡± ¡°Yes, Lady Cordelia, the second daughter of Count Chase. It¡¯s the terror n that you¡¯ll be stealing from the headquarters of the ck Moon.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to steal it, but you¡¯re already holding it?¡± ¡°Yes, the important thing is that we made everyone believe that we seized the terror n of the ck Moon in their headquarters, and not the fact that a terror n existed in the first ce.¡± It was the same trick they used in Langesthei. False evidence. But those documents contained real information that could put the ck Moon into deep trouble. Cordelia shifted her gaze to the documents in Jude¡¯s hand before she looked back at Jude again. ¡°Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± ¡°You¡¯re a really, really bad guy.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that good? Aren¡¯t you attracted to bad guys?¡± When Jude shamelessly retorted, Cordelia looked at him as if she heard something ridiculous, but she soon widely smiled. She grabbed Jude¡¯s arm and answered. ¡°I primarily like good guys.¡± ¡°Primarily?¡± ¡°Yes, primarily.¡± Cordelia spoke quite haughtily and gestured with her chin, and Jude got up right away. ¡°Then let¡¯s go, Mdy.¡± ¡°Yes, Milord.¡± To be a righteous thief again today and tomorrow. To turn the ck Moon and the Lord Protector upside down again. The fantasy couple walked forward in a close manner. Chapter 176: Black Moon (1)

Chapter 176: ck Moon (1)

ck Moon. They were a huge guild that ruled the underworld of the royal capital. They did petty crimes like pickpocketing and up to serious ones such as prostitution, drugs, and murder. They were hyenas who did all kinds of dirty work in the royal capital as long as they were paid money. Therefore, the Lord Protector looked into the ck Moon and made them his hounds. Hound. Hunting dog. Beings who were only allowed to exist because of their ability to catch prey. ¡°She must be stopped.¡± Karma Bonn, the guild master of the ck Moon, said once again. The pink card he was holding seemed to be out of ce in his rough and shapely hands that were from his street fighting days. Bad kid, isn¡¯t it time for punishment? I¡¯ll visit you at 9 pm tomorrow, so be prepared for a scolding. I¡¯ll pick up the stuff you¡¯ve hidden in the big safe, okay? -Rogue Master Pink Bomb The message was written in rounded and cute handwriting, and an elegantly-written signature was underneath the message. It was like a child¡¯s prank, but he couldn¡¯t ignore it. There had already been two cases. Five men and women stood in front of Karma Bonn, who was twice as big as them. They were the pride of the ck Moon and the ¡®Five Fingers¡¯ who dominated the underworld of the royal capital. The fields they specialized in and the weapons they used were different, but their skills were definitely the best among the ck Moon. The main room was guarded by the Five Fingers and Karma Bonn, the guild master himself. In it was a huge vault that contained all the important documents of the ck Moon. ¡°Is it okay if we don¡¯t stay outside?¡± When asked by Philia, the blind swordsman and one of the Five Fingers, Karma Bonn turned to her. She was a blonde beauty whose eyes were covered with a red cloth. She was unable to see since she was born blind, but she could ¡®see¡¯ through her sense of hearing and touch that was much more than those whose eyes were fine. Her hearing and touch had developed far beyond a normal person. She was the index finger, the second of the Five Fingers, but she was the first in the ck Moon in terms ofbat. In other words, she was in a position that could ask any question to their guild master. ¡°I¡¯ll leave it to the men outside and the royal capital¡¯s guards. Anyway, Pink- no, the Rogue Master¡¯s goal is the treasure in this vault, so she¡¯ll have no choice but to show up here eventually.¡± So it was the perfect way to protect the vault while not needing to distribute their forces. They were fully prepared to stop whoever woulde. ¡°If that is what master wants, I will obey.¡± Philia responded with an elegant voice, and Karma Bonn looked at the other members of the Five Fingers. ¡°What about you guys?¡± ¡°I understand.¡± ¡°I will obey master¡¯s will.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll crush her.¡± Satisfied with the answers of the other Five Fingers, Karma Bonnid his eyes on Pon, thest man who spoke and a giant young man who reminded Karma of his younger self. A born fighter who was into wild and raw fighting. He looked like he was 30, but he was actually only 20 years old and the weakest among the people in the room, but the situation would change in the next 10- no, in just 5 years. ¡®He¡¯d probably be the strongest by that time.¡¯ In chess, he was like a pawn, the weakest piece, but would eventually be a queen, the strongest piece. ¡®Yes, this is just a passing event.¡¯ A minor troubling incident before the big event in half a month. ¡®But I can¡¯t let my guard down.¡¯ In back alley fights, a moment of carelessness could immediately lead to your death. In any case, losing to the Rogue Master might endanger his status as the Lord Protector¡¯s hunting dog. ¡®No, before that, my position of dominating the royal capital¡¯s underworld¡­ might bepromised.¡¯ The underworld was a ce with a lot of strong people who were waiting for him to show a gap. ¡®Rogue Master.¡¯ A daredevil whose shamelessness was unrivaled for using a truly unscrupulous name. But her skills were real, and Karma also admitted that. So he was even more determined. ¡®Come.¡¯ I¡¯ll stop whatever you have prepared. No, I¡¯ll capture you, take away your entire freedom, and make you an ace prostitute. Karma had a somewhat fishy smile like those gangsters in back alleys before he suddenly raised his head. Because he heard a loud noise from outside the building despite the fact that the room where the vault was in didn¡¯t have a single window. ¡°Rogue Master.¡± As he thought of his ns again, he clenched his fist with the notice card. On the other hand, the Five Fingers maintained their positions and remained vignt. And at the same time. There was a woman running wildly and shily as she jumped on the roofs of the red light district where all kinds of shady shops in the royal capital had gathered. ¡°Lulupi! Lulupang! Lulu~ yap!¡± She threw pink dynamite in all directions, shouting a spell that made her cringe before she jumped high on the roof again. ¡°It¡¯s Pink Bomb!¡± ¡°Catch her! Get her!¡± ¡°Encircle her!¡± It wasn¡¯t just the members of the ck Moon. The royal capital¡¯s guards, whose pride had already been sullied twice by Pink Bomb, also joined in the chase as they formed a circr formation. ¡°Ha! Is that all you can do? To catch this Pink Bomb!¡± The rabbit-eared woman, Rogue Master Pink Bomb, sneered as she ran on the roofs while her rabbit tail wiggled. ¡°Continue to corner her! It will be our win if we corner her!¡± ¡°Uooooo!¡± Almost a hundred people ran and shouted together, and their spirited shout was quite loud. And that was why Jude smiled. ¡®Bingo.¡¯ The woman running on the roofughed. But she was different from before. She was a bit taller, her waist was slightly bigger, and her beauty couldn¡¯t bepared to the original one. The Pink Bomb in front of them was a fake. [Hey, hey. What was that? Those words. You should say it in a cuter, prettier, and more adorable manner, okay? Like how Cordelia did!] At Jude¡¯s request, the fake Pink Bomb, Scarlet, sprinted on the roof and burst with anger. [The heck is that nonsense! I already feel like I¡¯m about to die from embarrassment, okay!] [What? Didn¡¯t your voice sounded a little joyful earlier? Weren¡¯t you enjoying this?] [I don¡¯t enjoy this! You crazy b*stard!] [You¡¯re not being honest.] [Ugh, you¡¯re so annoying!] Scarlet disliked it, but Jude¡¯s words was true to some extent. Because her voice had indeed sounded happy despite saying that she didn¡¯t want to do it and that she¡¯d die from embarrassment. ¡®It¡¯s her first time wearing that.¡¯ Wouldn¡¯t she feel good wearing something different? It was the reason why people wear animal ears headbands when they went to amusement parks. [Okay, okay. Ipletely understand you. I understand.] [What do you mean by you understand me!] [Compared to Cordelia, your waist is bigger, your chest is smaller, and your beauty iscking, but you are doing your best. Moreover, you¡¯re wearing a mask, so whatever beauty you have is hidden.] [Hey! What did you just say? What the hell!] [I¡¯m disconnecting the audio. So quickly shout ¡®Pink Bomb.¡¯ Complete your mission!] [Ugh, f*cking b*stard.] Scarlet cursed like Cordelia before doing a backflip in the air and shouting in exasperation. [I am Pink Bomb!] Her cry rang out in the night air like the roar of a lion, and Scarlet¡¯s face turnedpletely red. [Seriously! Really! Really! Hey! Why the hell is it Pink Bomb?! Why!] You should¡¯ve named her Pink Boom or Pink Bomber. No, why is it pink in the first ce? There¡¯s red, blue, green, and so on. Anyway, there¡¯s a lot of colors that are less embarrassing! Hiding in the shadow of arge chimney, Jude calmly responded to Scarlet¡¯s protest. [Because Cordelia will be embarrassed if it¡¯s Pink Bomb.] [What?] [An embarrassed Cordelia is the cutest in the world.] Scarlet tripped and almost fell off the roof when Jude replied. Having barely escaped her fall by spreading her Wings of Speed, Scarlet sent a magic as she touched her arm that developed goose bumps. [Hey, did I hear it wrong? You named her Pink Bomb because you wanted to see Cordelia being embarrassed? Because it was cute?] [She is cute, right?] [Of course she¡¯s cute- No! Damn it! That¡¯s not what I meant!] Scarlet threw everywhere as many pink dynamite as she could, and she thought as it all shily exploded. ¡®This brat, what will happen if I don¡¯t do something about this quickly?!¡¯ Cordelia is in danger! This guy is really dangerous! ¡®Wait a minute, that¡¯s not what I should be angry about in the first ce.¡¯ The only reason why the respectable Rogue Master¡¯s name became Pink Bomb was because ¡®the embarrassed Cordelia is cute.¡¯ As a descendant of the Rogue Master, something like that was absolutely unforgiveable. [You, you, you, I will expose everything to Pink Bombter.] [Ha, are you trying to spread a false rumor? Do you have any evidence?] [Ugh, so annoying. Why does Pink Bomb like this b*stard anyway?] [That¡¯s nice to hear, but you should concentrate again. Because you might make a mistake. The ck Moon and the royal capital¡¯s guards are really serious now.] [I know. Rather than that, is Pink Bomb doing well as nned?] [Yes, I¡¯m sure she¡¯s doing great.] [What? How can you be so sure? Do you have any means to check? There¡¯s only you here, you know!] She could count the number of her conversations with ck Cloak in one hand, but she had already fully understood his personality. He was the kind of person who was calctive, thorough, and liked to n ahead. ¡®He¡¯s also a pervert!¡¯ Scarlet added thatst line based on her personal feelings, and she moved her body in the air as she evaded the arrows raining everywhere, sprinting with her body lowered to the point that she was almost crawling on the floor. [But is there a way for you to check?] [No, unless Cordelia contacts me first. But I don¡¯t really need that.] [Why?] [Because I know that Cordelia will do well.] [This crazy-¡­ Your seriously blinded by love, okay?] What happened to that calctive guy? But Jude shook his head at Scarlet¡¯s remarks. It was true that he was blindly in love with Cordelia, but that was not the reason why he thought that it was unnecessary. [Because she¡¯s Cordelia.] She was the best genius among the countless people Jude had met in his past and present lives. [My beast can do it.] [Did you just call her a beast?] [Because she¡¯s a real beast. She¡¯s also proud and beautiful¡­ like that of a wild beast.] At Jude¡¯s words, Scarlet shuddered again as she kicked the roof. Beast, wild beast, or whatever. ¡®Hurry! Pink Bomb!¡¯ Come and do something about him! After her silent scream, Scarlet ran on the roof again. She focused her eyes on the countless people chasing after her. *** At a time when Scarlet was struggling from embarrassment and cringe. The real Pink Bomb, Cordelia, had already infiltrated the building. The hugemercial building was different from the old mansion that she had stolen from in the past. But in the end, it was still a building, and the fact that it was made up of walls, ceilings, and floors remained unchanged. ¡®Good, it¡¯s really loud out there.¡¯ For a moment, Cordelia listened to the sound outside the building before her face flushed red. Because she heard Scarlet cried out ¡®Pink Bomb.¡¯ ¡°I¡­ am¡­ Pink¡­ Bomb!¡± She faintly heard Scarlet¡¯s shout that was like a scream. And despite being far away from it, Cordelia¡¯s soft cheeks burned red. ¡°Eueueue¡­¡± Cordelia briefly covered her face with her hands because of her embarrassment. But she eventually calmed herself down by deeply breathing. ¡®It can¡¯t be helped. That¡¯s right. It¡¯s the name of the main character of Velkian¡¯s favorite novel. So it can¡¯t be helped. We have to use the Pink Bomb name in order to lure Velkian.¡¯ It¡¯s a valid reason. So it¡¯s okay. It¡¯s not some shameful y. ¡®But what kind of novel did Velkian read where the main character¡¯s name is Pink Bomb?¡¯ He didn¡¯t seem to be strange, so was his hobbies weird? Her continuous thoughts seemed to be effective. Because Cordelia¡¯s face returned to its usual color, so she quickly began her mission. ¡®Just as Jude told me.¡¯ Jude had obtained the blueprints of the building from the Blue Moon in advance. ¡®If you look at theyout, you can roughly tell how their forces will be deployed. Because there are rules for efficiently cing your troops.¡¯ Jude had said that, and he produced a hypotheticalyout of their forces based on the number andposition of the ck Moon¡¯s members. And like always, his guess was highly urate. ¡®As expected of my Jude.¡¯ I can really count on him. Knowing theyout would let you roughly know how their forces would be deployed. ¡®I can roughly understand their strategy too.¡¯ Their best defense was focusing their elite forces in the room with the vault. ¡®Then I should y along with them.¡¯ Smiling a bit like Jude, Cordelia took a deep breath before she transformed into a witch. As her mana explosively increased, she created numerous illusions. ¡®Shadow Clones.¡¯ Numerous shadow clones that would cause chaos inside the building. Cordelia lightly pped, and as many as a dozen Cordelias scattered in all directions to cause confusion. ¡®And what I should be doing is¡­¡¯ Cordelia looked at her own waist, and smiled as she gazed at the dynamites neatly attached to herrge belt. Chapter 177: Black Moon (2)

Chapter 177: ck Moon (2)

A mistake in the previous chapter: The young man from the Five Fingers was actually named ¡®Pon.¡¯ His name got lost in the MTL, so I didn¡¯t realize it until I tranted this chapter. Terms used in this chapter: Four Freedoms ¨C These are goals that US President Franklin D. Roosevelt said in his speech in 1941. He proposed that there are four fundamental freedoms that people everywhere in the world ought to enjoy. These are the freedom of speech, the freedom of worship, the freedom from want, and the freedom from fear. Boom! Boom! Boom! The entire building was shaken by a series of explosions, and all the windows broke and shattered. ¡°Boss!¡± Pon shouted with a frightened look that was unbefitting of hisrge build, but Karma Bonn was not shaken. Rather, he even had a confident smile on his face. ¡°Don¡¯t panic, Pon. This is the Rogue Master¡¯s trap.¡± ¡°Trap?¡± ¡°Yes, she¡¯s trying to disperse us by creating amotion. But Pon, don¡¯t forget. The Rogue Master¡¯s goal is the treasures of this vault. So no matter what the f*ck she does outside, that b*tch is bound toe to this room in the end.¡± So just wait. Be patient. We¡¯ll eventually capture the Rogue Master once she appears here. ¡°Ohhh, I see¡­¡± When Pon nodded his head in admiration, Karma Bonn smiled, and the other Five Fingers except for Philia also smiled andughed at Pink Bomb. ¡°Come. Just taking away your four freedoms aren¡¯t enough.¡± Karma Bonn spoke in a low voice and creepilyughed. And 10 minutes passed. 20 minutes. 30 minutes. The explosions had already stopped. The loud noise from outside the building had also stopped. But Pink Bomb had yet to appear in the room with the vault. ¡®What¡¯s going on?¡¯ Why? Why isn¡¯t sheing? Is she trying to catch us off guard? Will she do a surprise attack the moment we think that it¡¯s over? Indeed. She is indeed the Rogue Master. Her name may be ridiculous, but her skills are the real deal. ¡°Don¡¯t be shaken. This is the Rogue Master¡¯s trap too. It¡¯s a trick to catch us off guard by making us think it¡¯s over.¡± ¡°Ohhhh¡­¡± Pon was impressed again at Karma Bonn¡¯s words, while the other Five Fingers remained silent. They felt like they should stop, but Karma Bonn wasn¡¯t wrong either. 10 minutes passed. 20 minutes. When 30 minutes had finally passed. ¡°Boss?¡± ¡°Master?¡± The quiet Philia spoke after Pon, and the other Five Fingers looked at Karma Bonn in doubt. What happened? Why is Pink Bomb not showing herself here? ¡®What¡¯s going on? Did she give up?¡¯ Because we didn¡¯t move no matter how long she waited? Because she didn¡¯t dare to infiltrate this room with the vault? ¡®Is that truly the reason?¡¯ So she knows her ce? Karma Bonn unconsciously snickered before he shared his thoughts to the Five Fingers, and most of them nodded their heads. ¡°But don¡¯t let your guard down until the end. We¡¯re not leaving this room until the sun rises. Do you all understand?¡± ¡°Yes, boss.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± Philia answered after Pon, and the other Five Fingers also epted his words by nodding their heads or answering. ¡®Rogue Master.¡¯ It will be my victory this time. With a satisfied face, Karma Bonn looked at the notice card that he had crumpled before he smiled. And at the same time. In apletely different ce. Scarlet stood under the light of the twin moons, Selene and Helene, and asked with wide open eyes. ¡°What? How the hell did you steal that?¡± ¡°Ufufu. I did it through that.¡± ¡°That?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a Rogue Master¡¯s trade secret, okay?¡± Cordelia cheekily but cutely answered, and she handed over the ¡®documents she had stolen¡¯ to its real creator, Jude, who pretended to skim the documents before nodding with a pleased expression. ¡°Don¡¯t ask too much, Scarlet. We¡¯ll bepeting for the Rogue Master¡¯s position next time, right? So we can¡¯t tell you our secrets.¡± ¡°He¡¯s right. Because you¡¯re a strong opponent. We can¡¯t let our guard down, okay?¡± Cordelia cutely spoke as she tilted her head and stared at Scarlet who pouted her lips. ¡°Tsk. Okay. I understand.¡± But contrary to her words, Scarlet continued to say ¡®tsk-tsk¡¯ as ifining. She was sulking and tapping the ground with her toes. ¡®Oh my, how cute.¡¯ She was taller and older than Cordelia, but she still looked cute. Cordelia smiled like a mother as she watched Scarlet, and then used magic to Jude. [As you said, they locked themselves in the room and didn¡¯te out at all.] [That¡¯s good. I¡¯m d that Karma Bonn is a really patient person.] If you knew your enemy, you could win every battle. Analyzing your opponent before a fight was one of the basics. Karma Bonn¡¯s personality. The paths he took to make the ck Moon the best thief guild in the royal capital. Jude¡¯s data was sufficient, and analysis was his specialty, so his profiling of Karma was correct as always. ¡®Because our goal is to make it look like Pink Bomb stole something.¡¯ There was no need for her to attack the room with the vault or fight against Karma Bonn and the Five Fingers. The ck Moon would naturally say that their vault was safe as proof that they were not beaten, but that wouldn¡¯t do anything. What mattered were the facts that Pink Bomb attacked the ck Moon¡¯s headquarters and the evidence that ck Moon was plotting acts of terror. ¡®It¡¯s iplete though.¡¯ The Lucas and Kajsa routes did notpletely show how the royal family was annihted. But that did not mean there was no information. Lucas and Kajsa did not follow the exact same route. But if someonebined the perspectives of the two in their different routes, they would be able to get a lot more information than they would expect. ¡®There¡¯s also the cinematic movies.¡¯ Even if it was impossible to get a full picture of the event, it was easy to identify the main goal of the ck Moon and the overall flow of the event. ¡®And what can be deduced from it.¡¯ The ck Moon¡¯s hideouts. The various weapons the ck Moon were hiding. As Jude had thought several times, that wasn¡¯t everything. It was only a small part. ¡®But it¡¯s useful information.¡¯ The situation was simr to the time when they caught the demon followers in Langesthei. It was easy to attack once you knew their hideout. And they were criminals too. If the ce where they hid their illegal items were found, they would be forced to give up their hideout, and it wouldn¡¯t be easy for them to suddenly set up more than 10 new hideouts even if they were the ck Moon. ¡®Because there would be people who would interfere.¡¯ Jude wasn¡¯t referring to the royal family or the royal capital¡¯s guards. He was referring to the rest of the underworld that was centered on Blue Moon. The Blue Moon were Pink Bomb¡¯s passionate helpers who wished for the fall of the ck Moon. ¡®Even if she is revered as the Rogue Master, a thief is still a thief.¡¯ So even if Pink Bomb shouted that she would protect the royal capital with her own hands, no one would believe her. Thus, Jude prepared a different slogan instead. ¡®The downfall of the ck Moon.¡¯ ¡®The underworld of the royal capital will be led by the wolves and not the hounds.¡¯ ¡®The era of the Blue Moon ising.¡¯ It was impossible to make the Blue Moon and the other thieves to defend the royal capital, but it was possible for them to attack and destroy the ck Moon. ¡°Anyway, I did well. I kept my promise.¡± Jude and Cordelia simultaneously nodded at Scarlet¡¯s words. ¡°Yes, yes, you did a good job. And as promised, let¡¯spete for the Rogue Master position next time.¡± ¡°No matter who wins, you¡¯ll ept it without anyints. Are you fine with this condition?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Cordelia, Jude, and Scarlet spoke in turn. Scarlet acted haughtily again as she cleared her throat and removed the rabbit ears and tail which were the symbols of Pink Bomb. She then said as she turned her hair back into red. ¡°I¡¯ll wait for the day of our match, so don¡¯t make me wait for too long likest time.¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll contact you soon.¡± Cordelia waved her hand as if she was saying goodbye to a friend, and Scarlet faced her and reluctantly waved her hands too before she jumped and disappeared from the roof. And so, only the two were left. Jude and Cordelia exchanged nces, and they bumped fists just like how they did a long time ago. ¡°Shall we go back then, Mdy?¡± ¡°Yes, Milord.¡± Both of them had worked hard today. Right after they bowed to each other, Jude turned around while Cordelia jumped and climbed on Jude¡¯s back. ¡°Merge in the rooftop! JuDelia!¡± Cordelia was in high spirits because of their sessful mission, and she yfully shouted while Jude fixed her position in his back before saying. ¡°Hey, be honest with me.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°You really like the name Pink Bomb, right?¡± It¡¯s something that fits your taste, right? ¡°No, it¡¯s not. I don¡¯t like it, okay? Mister ck-hearted ck Cloak ispletely mistaken, okay?¡± ¡°Well, if you insist.¡± ¡°Hey, I really don¡¯t like it, okay?¡± ¡°Yes, yes. If you say so.¡± ¡°No! Ah, you¡¯re really annoying!¡± ¡°Coochy coo, coochy coo. Is my princess angry?¡± ¡°Die! Just die! Go die or something!¡± Cordelia began to strangle Jude who ran across the roof like a gale despite being choked by her. And early in the morning of that day. Information about the ck Moon¡¯s terror n and their hideouts in various ces became known throughout the entire royal capital. *** It was hard to decorate things, but it was much easier to mess it up. It was unlikely for the royal family to take the terror n seriously and destroy the ck Moon. But they would still move. Because the founding anniversary was just around the corner. It was a time when they had to pay attention to information that they would normally ignore. And that was it. Even if only a part of the ck Moon was hit, it would be easier for the rest of the underworld, especially the Blue Moon, to attack the ck Moon. As for their terror n. ¡®A secret loses its value when it is revealed.¡¯ Secrets were valuable because they were a secret. Once their terror n was known, the Lord Protector and the ck Moon would need to revise it, but they didn¡¯t have much time left. Creating a new and hastily-made n would likely lead to a poorly-made one. ¡®That would cut off the limbs of the Lord Protector.¡¯ They would limit his moves and prevent him from doing what he originally nned. And they would block the Lord Protector with First Sword. ¡®Strong people like my father, my father-inw, Ga?l, and Adelia would also have their own roles to y.¡¯ All to prevent the tragic genocide of the royal family. ¡®And there¡¯s one more thing that I need to do.¡¯ Revealing in advance that the Lord Protector betrayed the royal family would not work. Because the Lord Protector was the hero of the country. It would be Jude who¡¯d be suspected if he tried to say anything like that. So he shouldn¡¯t be too greedy. He should just build a closer rtionship with the royal family, so that they would listen to him better on that day and not be stubborn. ¡®Yes, so this is a must.¡¯ It was not his personal desire, but a public necessity. Furthermore, it was like a sacred and historical mission to save the world¡­ ¡°Does it suit me?¡± Cordelia shyly asked as she wore a white one-piece swimsuit with cute frills, and Jude nodded as he wore tight-fitting ck trunks while showing off his statue-like figure. ¡°It looks perfectly good on you.¡± ¡°Hmph.¡± Cordelia snorted for no reason before she took a quick peek at Jude and smiled a bit as she blushed. Because Jude¡¯s muscles were amazing every time she saw it. ¡®Those are some fine muscles.¡¯ She had mentioned about those muscles several times to Scarlet. ¡®I want to touch it.¡¯ Jude¡¯s fair-skinned, firm, and flexible muscles. ¡®Is it as firm as a rock?¡¯ But wouldn¡¯t it be soft since it¡¯s a human¡¯s body? Cordelia was lost in her thoughts for a moment, but she eventually shook her head and dismissed her thoughts. What mattered now wasn¡¯t Jude¡¯s muscles. It was the evening after their attack on the ck Moon¡¯s headquarters. Despite the night air being cold since it was still winter, the two were wearing swimsuits. They then held each other¡¯s hand before they walked together. They had to be close to the royal family, who would be waiting for them in the night pool not far away from their location. Princess Daphne and Prince Dion. And Princess Darianne too. Jude recalled the faces of the three and added one more objective. ¡®If possible, we need to catch the summer fairies too.¡¯ It was a ce where they had no information about any fairies appearing except for Princess Daphne¡¯s story, but he somehow felt like they would be able to meet the fairies. Jude would naturally think that since tonight¡¯s Cordeliapletely looked perfect. ¡®Perhaps those fairies that didn¡¯t appear much would finally appear?¡¯ Jude nced at therge white ribbon on Cordelia¡¯s hair before he looked away again. Under the sea of stars that seemed to fall down from the sky any minute, Princess Daphne immersed herself in the hot and steamy night pool as she waited for the two. Chapter 178: Summer Festival (1)

Chapter 178: Summer Festival (1)

Late post~! Honkai Impact 3 got an update yesterday, and I ended up ying it for hours¡­ehehe. As for the next chapter, I¡¯ll release it by tomorrow since my college graduation is finally today (though it¡¯s a virtual one), and I¡¯m not sure how long the virtual graduation would take. Terms used in this chapter: Giving up is easy. ¨C A Korean meme that originally came from a line by Anzai-sensei, the coach of Shohoku High School basketball team from the anime m Dunk. The original line was ¡°Until the very end, never lose hope. It¡¯s when you give up that the match is over.¡±, which meant that you should not give up to the very end. But the meme version, ¡°Giving up is easy¡±, has a slightly different interpretation, as it meant that it¡¯s also fine to give up. Royal Night Pool. It was called like that, but as Jude climbed the stairs, he was certain of it. ¡®It¡¯s an outdoor hot spring.¡¯ In short, it was just a bathhouse. ¡®Uh¡­ my heart is pounding.¡¯ His heart was pounding in excitement not because he was wearing a swimsuit or that he was going to the bathhouse with Cordelia. ¡®Of course, that is a bit true.¡¯ No, perhaps it wasrgely the reason why his heart was pounding fast. Anyway, there was a real reason why his heart had begun pounding. ¡®An unknown ce.¡¯ An outdoor hot spring in the royal pce. He had never heard of it or ever been there. If this was a game and not reality, it wouldn¡¯t be strange for the notice window of the first discovery achievement to pop out in front of him. ¡®I¡¯ve changed a lot too.¡¯ In the past, he would be nervous when he came to an unknown ce. He was always alert for any possible danger lurking in the unknown. But it waspletely different now since he was excited to visit an unknown ce. [Jude, Jude. We¡¯re here. I¡¯m so nervous. Are you okay?] At the moment when Jude was lost in his thoughts, Cordelia spoke to him via magic. Because of that, Jude came to his senses and looked straight ahead after taking his eyes off the white andrge ribbon on Cordelia¡¯s head. ¡°Jude Bayer and Cordelia Chase. Thank you foring.¡± A court attendant dressed as a butler stood at the entrance and bowed, greeting the two. Jude and Cordelia also briefly greeted the butler before they were guided in. As they walked, it became clear to them that this ce was used as a bathhouse like what Jude had thought earlier. ¡°Unnie! Oppa!¡± After passing through the wooden screens, a well-decorated outdoor hot spring was revealed, and one of the people who were soaking inside the hot spring stood up and shouted. She was Princess Darianne who was wearing a green swimsuit. ¡°Princess Darianne.¡± Cordelia smiled softly before she bowed in greeting. She was much more delighted than usual perhaps because she saw a familiar face while she was feeling nervous. ¡°Hehehe, both of you shoulde in quickly.¡± Princess Darianne innocently told them, but unfortunately, they couldn¡¯t immediately obey her words. Because she wasn¡¯t the only one in the hot spring. ¡°Jude Bayer from the Bayer family and Cordelia Chase from the Chase family greets Her Royal Highness, Crown Princess Daphne, and His Royal Highness, Prince Dion.¡± Jude spoke as their representative, and Cordelia courteously bowed to them again. And Princess Daphne, who was wearing a white one-piece swimsuit, nodded her head at his greeting. ¡°It¡¯s good to see you again. This is my younger brother and the pride of the royal family, Prince Dion.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Dion.¡± Following the introduction of Princess Daphne, Prince Dion greeted them. His body was immersed in the hazy hot spring water so they couldn¡¯t see itpletely, but it seemed that he had a rather sturdy build despite being a wizard. ¡®He also has a handsome face.¡¯ His face had a charm like his older sister, Princess Daphne. Added to that was his bright golden blonde hair and his slightly sexy look, brought about from being soaked in the hot spring. ¡®I don¡¯t like him.¡¯ Jude unconsciously thought that when he saw Cordelia staring at Prince Dion. He then turned his gaze to Princess Daphne again. She said as she lightly gestured to Jude and Cordelia, facing them with eyes full of wisdom that one would not find in a 20 year old. ¡°The night air is cold. Come on in.¡± ¡°We are most grateful.¡± Jude and Cordelia courteously said again before they carefully soaked their feet into the hot spring water. It was hotter than they thought, but the night air was cold just like what Princess Daphne said, so their cold feet had suddenly felt warm. ¡°It¡¯s warm, isn¡¯t it?¡± When Princess Darianne brightly smiled and asked, Cordelia responded with a smile as she sat down with the water up to her shoulders. ¡°Yes, Your Highness. It feels very warm and nice.¡± The bottom wasn¡¯t that deep for a child like Princess Darianne, so the princess was able to fully immerse her body when she adjusted her sitting angle. ¡°We would like to thank you again for inviting us.¡± Jude politely thanked her again, prompting Princess Daphne to wave her hand. ¡°You don¡¯t have to be so formal. I invited you two here because I wanted us to be closer.¡± The two were certainly treated differently since they were soaking in hot spring water together with royalty, though they were all wearing swimsuits. ¡®The fairies seem to be more of an excuse¡­¡¯ It seemed to Jude that the fairies were literally an excuse, and that her real purpose was to get closer to them, as she had said. ¡®This is indeed weing, but¡­¡¯ Why is Princess Daphne showing an interest in me and Cordelia, more than I had expected? Is this because of Princess Darianne? Or does Princess Daphne have a different reason? ¡®Nheless, an opportunity is still an opportunity.¡¯ It was a really good thing if the person they wanted to get close to in the first ce had wanted to be close to them too. They had no reason to refuse it. ¡°I¡¯ve realized yet again that you¡¯re really cute¡­ No, you¡¯re lovely. Don¡¯t you think so, Dion?¡± Princess Daphne said as she looked at Cordelia, and Prince Dion nodded his head. ¡°Yes, dear sister. She¡¯s more than the rumors.¡± ¡°See? What I said was true, right?¡± The lively voice of Princess Darianne followed the calm voice of Prince Dion. She was more excited than usual because she was with her favorite older sisters and brothers. ¡°T-thank you.¡± Princess Daphne smiled again when Cordelia looked up with a red face. ¡°You¡¯re cute too. You must have been told that you were pretty since you were born, but it¡¯s also very lovely that you get embarrassed every time you get told that.¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­yes¡­¡± Cordelia¡¯s red face turned even redder, and the three royal family members looked at her warmly. ¡®Cordelia is cute, but¡­¡¯ She¡¯s also lovely. Jude strongly agreed and happily smiled. On the other hand, Cordelia somehow felt that she was by herself, so immersed herself a bit deeper in the water. ¡°Now then, it¡¯s nice to talk about this and that, but I want to start right away. We gathered here for a purpose, after all.¡± There was a reason why they all gathered in the evening at a ce that was usually used as a bathhouse. ¡°Dion-oppa wants to see a fairy too. That¡¯s why he came here.¡± As Princess Darianne spoke with a wide smile, Prince Dion asked in a calm voice. ¡°Is there any special ritual that we need to do? Or a procedure?¡± He definitely still had a dignified posture, but his gaze seemed to be more intense than before. Therefore, Jude straightforwardly spoke instead of beating around the bush. ¡°It¡¯s simple, but we need to do one ritual.¡± ¡°Oh, what kind of ritual is it?¡± ¡°I¡¯m curious too.¡± ¡°Me too!¡± When all the royal family members expressed their interest, Jude¡¯s face turned proud as he spoke. ¡°First of all, it should be at night. It should also be a moonlit night when Selene and Helene are brightly shining.¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°We need a beautiful woman. Not just an ordinary beauty, but one with an extraordinary beauty.¡± A woman so beautiful that the word ¡®iparable¡¯ had to be used to describe her. Everyone turned to Cordelia at Jude¡¯s exnation, and they all nodded at the same time. ¡°Indeed.¡± ¡°It¡¯s already been prepared.¡± ¡°It¡¯s undeniable.¡± Cordelia¡¯s face grew redder at the words that followed, and her neck was even red now. The pure, beautiful, and lovely girl soaking in the hot spring water blushed and hunched her shoulders. ¡°And we need a song. A beautiful girl¡¯s song.¡± At Jude¡¯s exnation, Prince Dion nodded immediately. Because he was convinced of it. ¡°Songs can be found in countless rituals and ceremonies across countries and cultures. Moreover, fairies are a race known for their love of dancing and singing. It is indeed usible.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Princess Daphne nodded her head in agreement to Prince Dion¡¯s exnation, and she said as she looked at Cordelia again. ¡°Will Cordelia sing a song here then?¡± ¡°Yes, if there are really fairies around here, they¡¯lle out in response to Cordelia¡¯s beauty and song.¡± There had already been a few precedents. When Jude spoke confidently, expectation and excitement rose on the faces of the royal family members, thought there were some slight differences. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to hear it.¡± ¡°Me too.¡± And they naturally urged her to do so. Jude pulled Cordelia¡¯s hand in the water, and the startled Cordelia lightly bit her lips and looked back at him. ¡®Hey! You evil b*stard!¡¯ Stop making things bigger! Don¡¯t exin it like that! ¡®Why? It¡¯s all true though.¡¯ ¡®No! Even if it is true!¡¯ ¡®But you knew this would happen, right? That¡¯s why you practiced.¡¯ ¡®Eueueue¡­¡¯ In fact, she was already familiar with what to do. Her only problem was that it was more embarrassing than she had thought. Cordelia nced at Princess Daphne again, who greeted her gaze with a beautiful smile. ¡°Go ahead.¡± I know you don¡¯t want to because you¡¯re embarrassed, but I still want to hear it. No, your embarrassed look is also why I want to hear it. ¡°Unnie, I want to hear it too. Dion-oppa feels the same too, right?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯d love to hear it too.¡± After Princess Darianne and Prince Dion spoke, Cordelia felt that she was truly cornered. Add to that was the magic that followed. [Anzai-sensei said this. Giving up is easy. So just give up.] It was a message from Jude. Cordelia wanted to shout, ¡®Who is Anzai-sensei?,¡¯ and she also wanted to shout, ¡®Even you, Jude?!¡¯, but she managed to calm herself down. Because she knew this would happen, just like what Jude said. It was something that she would have to do eventually. ¡®Yes, let¡¯s just give up.¡¯ Though she was not sure on what she was giving up on. ¡°Haa¡­¡± Cordelia stood up after letting out a long breath. A beautiful girl with long wet hair stood under the fantasy moonlight. She was like a painting, and the royal family members were in awe at her appearance. ¡®As expected of Cordelia.¡¯ Jude also gazed at Cordelia in happiness, and Cordelia took some deep breaths again. And just before she finally opened her lips. ¡®Wait.¡¯ Cordelia stopped moving for a moment and pressed her lips together. Because an important fact came to her mind. ¡®D-do I have to sing that here? That song?¡¯ Twinkle Twinkle Little Star? It was neither a beautiful and sad song, nor was it a divine song that lightened the heart when one heard it. That Twinkle Twinkle Little Star?! In her panic, Cordelia shifted her eyes and looked around. Jude and the royal family members were looking at her with expectant faces. And even though they were not looking at her, the royal court attendants and maids were perking up their ears while looking at another direction. ¡®This is too much! Anyway, this is too much!¡¯ I have to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star here in this situation?! Of course, Twinkle Twinkle Little Sar isn¡¯t a bad song. It¡¯s a very good song. But still. But still! [Cordelia? Is something wrong?] [I don¡¯t know! I hate you! I really hate you!] [Cordelia?] What¡¯s suddenly wrong with you? Jude was confused after Cordelia let out all her resentment at once, and she took a deep breath again. I have to sing anyway. I can¡¯t make Princess Daphne wait any longer. ¡®Yes, let¡¯s just give up.¡¯ I don¡¯t know who Anzai-sensei is, but I¡¯ll do it just like what he said. Cordelia let her shoulders down as she closed her eyes to reduce her embarrassment, and then opened her lips as she began to sing. ¡°Twinkle, twinkle, little star~ Shining beautifully~ In the eastern sky~ In the western sky~ Twinkle, twinkle, little star~ Shining beautifully~ ¡± It was a mysteriousbination of a slightly nervous voice, a red face, cute lyrics, and an adorableness that made anyone want to keep teasing her. Princess Daphne bit her lips to suppress herughter, Prince Dion turned his head andughed, and Princess Darianne just brightly smiled. Jude tore up a scroll. ¡®Recordingplete.¡¯ He was d that he could take a great video. And it was the moment when everyone except for Cordelia was happy in their own way. ¡°Wow, she¡¯s really pretty.¡± ¡°So pretty~.¡± ¡°I want to pinch her cheek.¡± Lines that she was familiar with. And the small high-pitched voices that followed. ¡°I think her cheeks are soft.¡± ¡°Hey, won¡¯t you hang out with us?¡± Cute little fairies glided on the water surface. Even the refined Princess Daphne widely opened her eyes at that moment, while Princess Darianne was in awe. ¡°Uwaah.¡± Real fairies. Fairies that were the size of a palm and in the form of little girls with wings. Prince Dion stood up in his surprise, and the royal court attendants and maids openly looked their way, unlike what they had done before. And Jude clenched his fist. ¡®Bingo! As expected! Summer Fairy!¡¯ The evidence was their Latino look ¨C curly hair and soft brown skin that looked like sunburn. ¡°Haaaa¡­¡± Cordelia opened her eyes when she heard the fairies, and she sighed in relief and sat down as if she had copsed. Because her tension had been relieved. ¡°Look, there are a lot of pretty kids.¡± ¡°So many beautiful people!¡± As each of the fairies giggled, Prince Dion asked with a serious face. ¡°Is it a song? A song about stars is a prerequisite for calling fairies? Is that why you haven¡¯t appeared to my sister until now?¡± In fact, this outdoor hot spring was a ce where Princess Daphne frequented at least ten times a month. But a fairy had never appeared in thest decade or so. ¡°Is it because it¡¯s not a song? I see¡­ that is highly likely. If it¡¯s humming, I¡¯m sure my sister would have hummed at least once in a while.¡± It seemed to be a researcher¡¯s peculiar monologue rather than a question for someone, but everyone had heard it because they were all gathered closely. Prince Dion¡¯s hypothesis. That fairies only appear when someone sings a song about stars. It was his rationale on why Princess Daphne had not been able to call the fairies. Princess Daphne and Princess Darianne nodded their heads at his fairly convincing words, and the royal ?court attendants and maids were also in agreement. But it was at that moment ¡°What did you say?¡± ¡°We only show up when there¡¯s a pretty girl though?¡± ¡°The song doesn¡¯t really matter, okay?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t show up just because we¡¯re called or something, okay?¡± ¡°I just came out because she¡¯s so pretty, okay?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not because of the song that we haven¡¯te out until now, okay?¡± The fairies¡¯ blunt remarks and what could be inferred from it. The light in Prince Dion¡¯s eyes dimmed while Princess Darianne awkwardly smiled. As for the royal court attendants and maids who had been watching earlier, they quickly averted their gazes. And in the midst of all this, the one whose only sin was being born very pretty ¨C Cordelia, found herself in a very awkward position and felt like crying, so she groped her hands in the water. She was trying to find Jude¡¯s hand. [Eueuaah! What should I do, what should I do, Jude? What if we get executed?] Before responding to the magic that she unconsciously sent, Jude tightly gripped Cordelia¡¯s hand. And he looked at the front while whispering via magic too. [It¡¯s fine. Princess Daphne is a magnanimous person.] [What the heck are you saying!] [Woah, woah, calm down. We didn¡¯t do anything wrong, right?] They were just invited and did what was ordered of them. It was the fairies who caused trouble, and not Cordelia. [Is that so.] [Yes. Look, even the princess is just smiling.] [Isn¡¯t that apletely stiff smile?!] A smile that could be described as stiffness itself. But as Jude said, Princess Daphne was a magnanimous person ¨C no, she was a tolerant and understanding person. ¡°Everyone has their own preference. I fully understand that.¡± At her deration that seemed to be a bit sloppy but indicated that she was fine with it, the royal court attendants and maids breathed a sigh of relief, and Cordelia also loosened her shoulders. And Jude didn¡¯t miss that gap. He changed the topic very naturally like always. ¡°Summer fairies, these people are human royalty. So if it¡¯s possible, can we meet your Queen?¡± ¡°Our Queen?¡± ¡°Yes, your Queen.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, the summer fairies blinked their eyes, and the royal family members also became interested in the new development. They had been interested in seeing the fairies, but it seemed that they might even be able to go a step further and meet the Fairy Queen. ¡°Should we?¡± ¡°Well, she¡¯s so pretty.¡± ¡°The Queen will also like them.¡± Their flow of conversation was familiar. Thus, Jude decided to scale it up. ¡°If you take us to your Queen, we¡¯ll give you something good.¡± ¡°Something good?¡± ¡°Yes, very good stuff.¡± Very good stuff that had already been clinically tested on the fall fairies. Jude said with a very friendly smile, and the fairies pondered and looked at each other before nodding. ¡°Okay! We will!¡± ¡°Come with us!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s all y this night!¡± The fairies eximed with innocent faces, and Jude smiled in satisfaction. But in the eyes of Cordelia that was a bit covered with bean pods, it was the wicked and reliable smile of her scammer. T/N: If you recall the Korean idiom ¡®one¡¯s eyes are covered with bean pods¡¯ that I mentioned in earlier chapters, it means to only see the good in someone after falling in love with them. So this is pretty much the author¡¯s subtle confirmation of Cordelia¡¯s feelings for Jude, hahaha. *** Chapter 179: Summer Festival (2)

Chapter 179: Summer Festival (2)

Terms used in this chapter: He who touches pitch shall be defiled therewith. ¨C A biblical proverb which means that if you get involved with wicked people or illegal activities, you cannot avoid being corrupted yourself. The husband sings and the woman follows. ¨C An old Chinese proverb which means that the best way to maintain domestic happiness was for the wife to follow her husband¡¯s lead. ¡°Are we really going to fairnd?¡± ¡°Yes, Your Highness. We¡¯re going to fairnd.¡± Cordelia beautifully answered Princess Darianne¡¯s question, while Princess Daphne happily looked at the two before she shifted her gaze. ¡°You have a lot of stuff.¡± The royal family didn¡¯t pack anything since they hade to the hot spring in order to rx in the first ce. But Jude and Cordelia were different. Because they had prepared special gifts, or rather, trading goods in case the summer fairies really appear. ¡°We had met the fairies several times, so we had prepared in advance.¡± When Jude answered politely, Princess Daphne¡¯s eyes narrowed a bit before she nodded. ¡°It¡¯s natural to give gifts when visiting, especially when you visit frequently. So it would be better for our side to prepare a gift too.¡± Our side. At her meaningful words, Jude felt relief and a sense of crisis at the same time. After all, Jude and Cordelia were nobles of the S?len Kingdom while Princess Daphne was royalty, so it was possible for her to ¡®requisition¡¯ the goods Jude and Cordelia had prepared if she wished for it. ¡®Of course, it¡¯s unlikely that she¡¯ll openly requisition it.¡¯ Tyrants were the only ones who openly seized things. But it would also be difficult if they presented money as a gift. Money had no value for fairies. ¡®Of course, they could also give pretty-looking money.¡¯ In any case, Jude was worried because items were better to give than money, but when he heard her say ¡®our side,¡¯ it seemed like she had no intention to take away the things that Jude and Cordelia had prepared. ¡®The problem is that the rarity of our gifts would decrease if there are more gifts.¡¯ He had naturally prepared a trump card to somehow negotiate for the ¡®most important deal,¡¯ but¡­ ¡°You¡¯ve prepared chocte, right? Then, our side will prepare some snacks too.¡± Perhaps it was just him. At Princess Daphne¡¯s words, Jude closed his eyes once before he gave a positive answer. ¡°Yes, Your Highness. The fairies really love sweets.¡± ¡°Indeed, they have their own preference.¡± Princess Daphne said and smiled a bit, but it seemed like she was still feeling bitter about it. What the fairies liked. What kind of physical appearance the fairies preferred. ¡®Well, of course, there¡¯s that, but¡­¡¯ Alright, that¡¯s enough. Jude stopped his thoughts for Princess Daphne¡¯s honor, and he turned to the gift again. ¡®Isn¡¯t it good if it¡¯s a snack?¡¯ If her snacks were apletely different type, he could push for aparative advantage. ¡®And.¡¯ Even if this was the royal pce, they was a limit to the number of snacks they could prepare in a hurry. A chef could prepare some amazing and freshly-baked sweets in a short amount of time, but¡­ ¡®The fairies won¡¯t wait for that.¡¯ They were already whining about leaving right now. Fairies had always been childish whenever the two met them, but this time, their childish nature was quite helpful for Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Quickly. Quickly. How long do we have to wait?¡± ¡°The Queen goes to bed early.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right. If you keep dying, she might be asleep by then.¡± As the fairies raised their voices, Princess Daphne flinched and looked back at the royal pce¡¯s maids, and the maids nodded their heads, bringing out some snacks they had prepared in case the royalty wanted to have some tea. ¡®It would be impossible to wrap all that up.¡¯ But still, Princess Daphne was satisfied with the fact that she had some gifts, so she nced at Jude and said. ¡°Our side is ready.¡± ¡°I understand. I¡¯ll convey your message.¡± Jude bowed and turned to the fairies, who immediately responded to him. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re all done now?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go then?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go~!¡± It was the moment when the pestering fairies shouted. The unique space movement magic of the fairies that was familiar to Jude and Cordelia, but unfamiliar to the royal family was unfolded. ¡°W-wait! Escort!¡± ¡°Your Royal Highness!¡± The royal court attendants and maids hastily shouted, but it was useless. Because they had already moved in the blink of an eye. They crossed the space into thend of the summer fairies. Fairy vige. ¡°Wow.¡± Princess Darianne eximed as her eyes widened at the sparkling forest that suddenly appeared. On the other hand, Princess Daphne and Prince Dion were amazed and surprised for an instant before they quickly suppressed their emotions like adult royalty. ¡°What is this? What is this?¡± ¡°Are these children from outside?¡± ¡°They¡¯re humans.¡± ¡°Oh~ She¡¯s really pretty.¡± ¡°Cute.¡± ¡°He looks scary.¡± ¡°Yes, he¡¯s like a lion.¡± ¡°Wow! Look at her! So pretty!¡± ¡°Uwaaaah! I want to touch her!¡± The fairies acted as expected. Dozens or more gathered in an instant as they loudly chattered, and Jude smiled. ¡®Well, just as I thought. As expected of Cordelia.¡¯ Because nearly half of the fairies flocked to Jude and Cordelia. ¡®Let¡¯s proceed quickly.¡¯ The royalty were distracted by the appearance of the fairies now, but they would be displeased once they realized the difference in treatment. Jude approached and quickly spoke to the fairy who was in the middle of the tumult ¨C that is, the fairy who brought Jude and his group here. ¡°Can you guide us to your Queen? I¡¯ll give you the special gift we promised.¡± ¡°It¡¯s really special. So we¡¯ll give it only to you.¡± As the saying goes, he who touches pitch shall be defiled therewith. Having been corrupted by Jude already, Cordelia brightly smiled and said, and her words were quite effective since the fairy liked the words ¡®only to you¡¯ and quickly nodded. ¡°Yes-yes! I¡¯ll guide you!¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Cordelia smiled again and nced at Jude who replied with a pleased smile. ¡®Cordelia, you¡¯ve grown up.¡¯ ¡®Because I have a really great teacher.¡¯ The husband sang and the wife followed. Because they were like husband and wife. Obviously, they were still engaged and not married. Anyway, Princess Daphne approached Jude and Cordelia while they were having a conversation with their eyes. ¡°Jude Bayer, Cordelia Chase. Are we going to meet the Fairy Queen like this?¡± ¡°Yes, we will.¡± ¡°I understand. Dion! Darianne! Come here.¡± ¡°Yes, dear sister.¡± ¡°Yes, unnie.¡± As Prince Dion and Princess Darianne approached while holding the sweets they received from the pce maids, Jude turned to Cordelia who quickly checked the chocte boxes before she nodded. They were ready. ¡°Then, let¡¯s go!¡± Right after the fairy shouted with excitement. Their surroundings changed again, and a wide flower field came into view instead of the forest. ¡°Uuuugh¡­¡± And the fairy in front of them turned pale and copsed. She seemed to have weakened because she transported several people together by herself alone. ¡°T-the Queen is here in this flower garden¡­¡± ¡°Yes, we got it. Thank you very much. You¡¯re a really special fairy. Here¡¯s your gift.¡± ¡°Hehehe¡­¡± Satisfied with the ring box-sized chocte that Cordelia gave her, the fairy smiled and closed her eyes, while Princess Darianne flinched and asked. ¡°S-she¡¯s not dead, right?¡± ¡°She just fell asleep.¡± Jude immediately answered but checked the fairy¡¯s breathing just in case. Fortunately, she was just very tired and seemed to be not in danger of dying. ¡°Let¡¯s go then.¡± It was the moment Princess Daphne spoke while looking at the center of the flower garden. ¡°Humans.¡± ¡°How interesting.¡± ¡°It¡¯s been a while.¡± ¡°It¡¯s been a long time.¡± The flowers at their feet spoke out at once. Each had a different tone and pitch, but they could tell the moment they heard it. They weren¡¯t saying different things. They were only sharing the words of one person and conveying it. And that one person. ¡°Nice to meet you, human children.¡± In front of them. A fairy with a proud smile sat on top of a big and ornate throne that had suddenly appeared. She wore a crown of flowers and a red dress reminiscent of a rose. Butterfly wings were on her back, and she had lovely ck hair and charming brown skin. ¡°We greet the Summer Fairy Queen.¡± When Jude and Cordelia courteously greeted her, the Fairy Queen nodded with a happy face before she turned to Princess Daphne. ¡°Are you not going to greet me?¡± Princess Daphne had a bitter smile at the queen who talked down to her, and Jude quickly opened his mouth before Daphne could say anything. ¡°Fairy Queen, this is Her Royal Highness, Princess Daphne, the Crown Princess of the S?len Kingdom.¡± ¡°Is she a human princess?¡± ¡°Yes, you are correct.¡± At Jude¡¯s answer, the Fairy Queen looked at Princess Daphne again, and Princess Daphne faced the Fairy Queen with her usual dignity as she immediately greeted the queen politely. ¡°Daphne D. S?len, the Crown Princess of the S?len Kingdom, greets the Fairy Queen.¡± After all, one was a queen while the other was just a crown princess. Princess Daphne was the one who politely greeted her first, and the Fairy Queen was satisfied and epted the greeting. ¡°Yes, nice to meet you. I¡¯m Carmen, the Summer Fairy Queen.¡± The Fairy Queen looked a bit younger than the Fairy Queens that the two had met before since she appeared to be in herte teens. Carmen then said as she stood up from her throne. ¡°I have a lot of guests, but I¡¯m only one, so give me a moment. I¡¯ll talk to you individually.¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± It was the moment when Prince Dion asked on what she meant. The space was divided. No, it was duplicated and arranged in a row. It was the same flower garden as before. But it was definitely a different flower garden. ¡°Now, I can focus on you more. Don¡¯t you agree?¡± The Fairy Queen sat on her throne and asked before she smiled, and Jude nodded to her. He agreed with her because he understood what she had done. The queen in front of him was no longer a singr being. She had duplicated herself along with the space. Perhaps by now, Princess Daphne, Prince Dion, and Princess Darianne were each meeting a Fairy Queen alone. ¡°Uh, what about us then?¡± Cordelia unconsciously spoke following Jude, having realized what had happened, and the Fairy Queen said again with a giggle. ¡°Because you two are a set. I thought that I shouldn¡¯t separate you two.¡± ¡°S-set?¡± ¡°Yes. Do humans call it the red thread of fate? Anyway, there¡¯s a very thick line between you two. I can see it with my eyes.¡± At the Fairy Queen¡¯s exnation, Jude and Cordelia turned to each other, and Cordelia was convinced. She didn¡¯t know what the red thread of fate was, but it was true that Jude and Cordelia were bound by a tight rtionship. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s talk now. I want to quickly eat the chocte too.¡± Jude¡¯s eyes shone for a moment at the Fairy Queen¡¯s urging. Because her words inferred a lot of things. ¡°Have you heard the rumors?¡± ¡°Yes, I even met and heard it in person. The Fall Fairy Queen¡­ I mean, Lorelei-unnie bragged a lot. She kept praising it but didn¡¯t give out much.¡± There were many mountains, fields, and viges between Langesthei and the royal capital, but they were fairies who could move across space. Moreover, both were queens, so it was not impossible for them to have a meeting by suddenly jumping over that distance. ¡°She bragged a lot but only gave me one piece. And she told me that if I wanted to eat more, I should ask for it myself.¡± The Fairy Queen grumbled andined as she pouted her lips, while Jude and Cordelia quickly exchanged nces. ¡®Good, she already knows.¡¯ ¡®We can easily do this now, right?¡¯ The Fairy Queen had already tasted chocte, and she even wanted more. Furthermore, it was important that she knew the Fall Fairy Queen, Lorelei. ¡®Because it¡¯s much easier to instigate when youpare her to someone she knows.¡¯ An evil smile spread on Jude¡¯s face while Cordelia¡¯s eyes were filled with a bit of slyness. ¡°I heard that you exchanged two boxes of premium chocte for a Fairy Dress¡­but I¡¯m not someone who could be easily pushed around. Lorelei-unnie had said that she gave it as a proof of friendship. So you¡¯ll have to rethink the terms of the deal.¡± The Fairy Queen smiled and said, having already known the price, and Jude nodded his head. ¡°Yes, we¡¯ll proceed with different conditions.¡± Because they were going to rip off a lot more- no, they were going to make a better deal. ¡°Isn¡¯t that right, Cordelia?¡± ¡°Yes, Milord.¡± The already corrupted Cordelia beautifully smiled, and the deal began with everyone smiling. Chapter 180: Summer Festival (3)

Chapter 180: Summer Festival (3)

¡®It¡¯s not always good to make excess profits.¡¯ One of his old colleagues had said that, and Jude agreed with those words. At the time when Cordelia heard him say that, she had asked, ¡®What? Haven¡¯t you been doing that so far, so why now?¡¯, and Jude had replied. ¡®If it¡¯s a one-time deal, making an excess profit is good. But if it¡¯s not, if we need to make continuous deals, it will be better for both sides to benefit.¡¯ If the deal only benefitted one side, the rtionship of the two parties would quicklye to an end. Both parties had to benefit enough in the deal so that they would continue to trade with each other afterwards. ¡®But one should still remember.¡¯ To get as much as you can when you have the opportunity to do so. To not forget about scarcity. Cup noodles or bottled water that were being sold at the top of a mountain were often several times more expensive than those being sold at a local convenience store. ¡®But they still get sold.¡¯ Because cup noodles and bottled water were scarce at the top of the mountain. So people still bought it at that price. ¡®The situation now is the same.¡¯ The fairies wanted chocte. But they couldn¡¯t just get chocte anywhere. Basically, fairies had very high standards. The cut-off point to their high standards was someone like Lucas. Therefore, it didn¡¯t matter if the chocte was priced high. What mattered here was that the fairies did not feel that they were unfairly ripped off. If the buyer was satisfied with the price despite it being really high, it would be a fair deal and not an extortion. ¡®I disagree. I still think it¡¯s a scam.¡¯ Cordelia briefly criticized him with her eyes, but Jude replied with a shameless face like always. ¡®Do you hate it then?¡¯ ¡®No, I love it.¡¯ Because the current Cordelia had be cunning like Jude. Anyway, they would have to constantly meet with the Fairy Queens in order to obtain the Fairy King¡¯s Protection. If they excessively ripped off the other side now, there was a high possibility that it would be difficult for them when they meet the other Fairy Queens. ¡®So.¡¯ We should keep our profits in moderation. I repeat, in moderation. ¡°Okay! Deal! I¡¯ll give you the Fairy Shoes!¡± ¡°Thank you for the good deal.¡± Four boxes of chocte in exchange for the Fairy Shoes. Two boxes of chocte in exchange for the Summer Protection. And tomemorate their sessful deal, they gave one box of chocte for free. ¡®Haa, if it wasn¡¯t for Princess Daphne, we would have finished the deal with just three boxes.¡¯ Because of the sweets brought by the royal family members, the value of their chocte had slightly decreased. The emergence of apeting product had inevitably shifted the demand curve, which led to a fall in price. ¡®But I¡¯m already satisfied with this.¡¯ Because they got the Fairy Shoes and not just some random item. Since the Fairy Dress and Fairy Shoes were a pair, this would bring Cordelia closer to a more perfect existence. ¡®It¡¯s effect would be great.¡¯ The Fairy Shoes weren¡¯t just pretty. Just like the Fairy Dress, it also possessed a special effect. ¡®I can¡¯t wait to see it.¡¯ The moment Cordelia enters the founding anniversary ball while wearing the Fairy Dress and Fairy Shoes. The surprised look of the S?len Kingdom¡¯s nobles when they see it. ¡®Jude, Jude. You have a weird look in your eyes.¡¯ ¡®Because I¡¯m ying Princess Maker.¡¯ His reply sounded like it was nonsense, but he was telling the truth. Jude then quickly fixed his expression. Because their most important deal had yet to be made. ¡°Fairy Queen.¡± ¡°Yes? Are there any items left that you still want to trade?¡± ¡°There are.¡± A special item he had prepared just for today. ¡°It¡¯s a really special item that the Fall Fairy Queen had yet to taste.¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± The Fairy Queen pretended to be not interested but was interested, so Jude made a serious expression as he took out a small box around the size of a ring box. ¡°This is the item.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that? More chocte?¡± ¡°Please see it for yourself.¡± Jude knelt in front of the Fairy Queen and slowly opened the box, and at that moment, the Fairy Queen¡¯s pretentious expression copsed. ¡°This is?¡± ¡°This is Fairy Chocte.¡± A very small chocte made to fit the size of the fairies. Fairies were basically the size of a human¡¯s palm, so a human was a dozen timesrger than them. That was why a chocte piece that was only a bite for humans would actually be really huge for fairies, since its tremendous size made it impossible for them to hold it with both arms. The chocte would indeed taste good, but they would not be able to fully enjoy the taste. ¡°There is cream in it.¡± ¡°Cream?¡± ¡°Yes, when you bite it in your mouth, the white cream will ooze out¡­ so if you chew it with chocte, it will taste heavenly.¡± A taste that could only be felt when they chew it in one bite. It was the same reason why rice, meat, and lettuce would taste different if eaten separately instead of eaten together. ¡°It¡¯s a special treat prepared only for Your Majesty. It¡¯s a really special treat that Queen Lorelei¡­ or the other Fairy Queens, had yet to taste.¡± ¡°Uwaaah¡­¡± In the end, a Fairy Queen was still a fairy. Just like the Fall Fairy Queen, Lorelei, the Summer Fairy Queen also began to reveal her true nature. ¡°I want it! I want it!¡± ¡°Yes, but it¡¯s really special.¡± ¡°What do you need?! Tell me!¡± What in the world do you want?! At the Fairy Queen¡¯s urging, Jude took some time to respond instead of answering right away. In order to make her even more anxious. In order to make her want more and more. And at some point. When he judged that the Fairy Queen had be stimted enough. ¡°I would like to ask you for a favor.¡± ¡°What is it? Tell me quickly, okay?¡± The Fairy Queen anxiously cried, and Jude turned to Cordelia. He finally opened his mouth after they exchanged nces. ¡°My request is¨C¡± *** Their negotiation was over. The Fairy Queen and the fairies were very satisfied, and so were the royalty who had a good time. ¡°Thanks to the two of you, I was able to have a good time. I¡¯ll make good use of use the shampoo and conditioner too.¡± ¡°We are much obliged.¡± Jude and Cordelia politely thanked Princess Daphne, and they left the hot spring area after courteously saying their goodbyes to Princess Darianne and the serious Prince Dion who smiled and waved their hands. And after around a minute or so. As they walked down the long stairs while following the royal court attendant, Cordelia suddenly sent a magic. [It¡¯s a huge sess! Aplete sess!] They met the Summer Fairy Queen, and got not only the Summer Protection but also the Fairy Shoes. In addition¡­ What Jude had obtained from the Fairy Chocte, their secret weapon, was in a sense, much more important than the Summer Protection or the Fairy Shoes. [Do you think Princess Daphne was also happy?] [Yes, because she kept smiling.] She was skillful in hiding her facial expressions as someone who had been educated as a royal princess from childhood, but her gaze was something that she could not hide despite her repeated training. ¡®It wasn¡¯t just Princess Darianne who was excited in meeting the fairies.¡¯ Princess Daphne did not reveal it that much, but it seemed like she was greatly satisfied with going to thend of the fairies, which was a truly fairy tale-like experience. [Do you think she likes the shampoo and conditioner?] [Of course. Wasn¡¯t she in awe several times?] Her gaze after experiencing the shampoo and conditioner herself. That nce that understood why the fairies only reacted to Cordelia. ¡®You¡¯re deluding yourself though, Your Highness.¡¯ But it¡¯s a nice delusion. Jude suddenly smiled brightly before he sent a magic to Cordelia again. [Now that we¡¯ve introduced it to the princess, we can promote it to the nobles of the royal capital. It can be a special product if we advertise it well.] [Yes, yes. That¡¯s great.] Cordelia nodded her head and grinned again. [Why?] [No, I just want to smile. Because it¡¯s so nice.] Everything they had prepared had gone well. They seeded in establishing a rtionship with Princess Daphne, and their deal with the summer fairies ended well. They also did a great job in promoting the shampoo and conditioner. [We¡¯re just one step away from the Great Protection of the Four Seasons, right?] Now that they had obtained the Fall, Winter, and Summer Protections, they only needed to obtain the Spring Protection in order to obtain the Great Protection of the Four Seasons. [We still have a long way to go with the elemental side since we only got the Earth Protection¡­ but even then, we already collected four out of eight protections, so we can say that the Fairy King¡¯s Protection is within our grasp.] The Great Protection of the Four Seasons could be obtained by collecting all the protections of the fairies from the four seasons. And if they collected all the protections of the fairies from the four elements, they would be able to attain the ¡®Fairy King¡¯s Protection,¡¯ the highest-ranked protection in Legend of Heroes 2. [Hehe, I¡¯m excited.] Cordelia giggled as her gamer brain began to work when she thought of the multiple protections, and Jude smiled at such a Cordelia. But it was then. Cordelia looked in front of her, and realized they were only a few steps left. Once they arrive at the bottom of the stairs, they would head to the dressing room and change back into their normal clothes. ¡®Normal.¡¯ The clothes I usually wear. Clothes that have little exposure, unlike the swimsuits we are wearing now. Cordelia blinked her eyes once, and looked back at Jude without realizing it. She saw Jude¡¯s usual handsome face, and underneath it, his firm chest and clearly perfect abs. ¡®Abs.¡¯ The ce she emphasized so much with Scarlet when they talked at Duke Spencer¡¯s residence. ¡®It¡¯s amazing.¡¯ Humans have simr bodies, so how can it be so different? ¡®Is it firm? Is it hard?¡¯ Just like that of a statue. Even if it isn¡¯t, Jude¡¯s body is like a statue. It must be hard. I can tell that much even without touching it. But I¡¯m still curious. Of the real thing. How will it really feel if I touch it? ¡®I¡¯ve held his hand.¡¯ His skin was fair and spotless, so perhaps it¡¯s the same? No, those are muscles so they¡¯re different, right? ¡®I want to touch it.¡¯ I want to try pressing it hard. It may not be the same to a cat¡¯s paw pads, but I still want to press it. ¡®Sh-should I ask?¡¯ Can I touch it a bit? Can I press it? She thought and then blushed. She couldn¡¯t help it. ¡®No, f*ck! That¡¯s weird!¡¯ What do I mean by touch it a bit! What do I mean by pressing it! ¡®W-well.¡¯ I want to ask. I want to touch it. And if it¡¯s Jude, he¡¯ll probably allow it. It will not wear out just by touching it a bit. ¡®Will it be crazy of me to ask?¡¯ Should I ask him? ¡®W-wait a minute. No. No. He is Jude. He is Jude.¡¯ He will not just listen. It¡¯s obvious that he¡¯ll attach some conditions while smiling evilly. ¡®Yes, that¡¯s right. Because he¡¯s Jude.¡¯ He will also ask to touch mine, saying that it was an exchange. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and a chest for a chest. Cordelia imagined it for a moment, and then blushed to a point that her face couldn¡¯t turn red anymore. ¡®Good thoughts, good thoughts, good thoughts.¡¯ Lewd demon out! Crazy thoughts out! Cordelia took a deep breath and managed to regain herposure. ¡®Okay, let¡¯s bear it. Let¡¯s bear it. Why do I need to touch those abs?¡¯ Yes, yes, I don¡¯t have to touch it. It¡¯s definitely hard. Yes, it must be. ¡®Good, I¡¯vepletely recovered.¡¯ I¡¯vepletely regained my calm. The satisfied Cordelia smiled and looked straight ahead, and only did she realize it. The fact that Jude¡¯s face was right in front of her. ¡°Uweeh?!¡± The flustered Cordelia let out a strange sound as she stepped back, and she soon faced Jude again with a reddish face. It wasn¡¯t just because his face was close to hers. She had remembered something in that moment. ¡®When did he look at me?¡¯ Since when exactly did he make eye contact? He was able tomunicate and almost telepathically converse with Cordelia with just their eyes. Because he was Jude. So if he had met her eyes earlier than she had thought. If he had seen Cordelia¡¯s eyes at the time while she was in the midst of her thoughts¡­ ¡®N-no. It can¡¯t be.¡¯ If he had been staring at her earlier, she would have noticed it. And their conversation wasn¡¯t really telepathic. How will he know what I¡¯m imagining unless he¡¯s a mind reader? ¡®Yes, yes. It¡¯s alright. It¡¯s alright.¡¯ Cordelia spoke to herself and cleared her throat instead of continuing to face Jude. She then stepped forward and headed to the dressing room. And that was why she didn¡¯t see Jude¡¯s eyes and expression. Jude Bayer. 17 years old. The young man who was head over heels for his fianc¨¦e, looked at his belly and raised his hand to slightly touch it. And he thought. ¡®Should I increase¡­ my abdominal workout?¡¯ Should I add one more set? No, perhaps two sets¡­ Jude was troubled for a while before he coughed and headed to the dressing room. He had to change his clothes first. As for the other person. The court attendant had seen the two suddenly look at each other, blush, touch their stomachs, and then clear their throats. After witnessing such a strange sight, the court attendant clicked their tongue and turned around. They climbed up the stairs again. *** It was deep at night. The light of the stars that seemed to fall down anytime was now buried in the darkness and lost its light. Selene and Helene also hid behind the clouds, and the night sky was filled with darkness and destion. Pure darkness. He was scared because there was nothing in it. An ending he might face someday. The Lord Protector clenched his teeth. He turned his gaze towards the night sky. ¡°You¡¯re here?¡± ¡°I¡¯m here.¡± The man, demonic human Koros, answered as if he was ying with words, and approached the Lord Protector with a smile as thetter faced him. The Lord Protector was willing to hold hands with the devil in order to get what he wanted. ¡°It¡¯s good to be honest with your desires.¡± Koros grinned as if he had read the heart of the Lord Protector, but the Lord Protector coldly stared at him instead of smiling. A person he wouldn¡¯t normally be facing like this. An enemy of the kingdom he would have shed with his sword if it was the him of 10 years ago. But that wasn¡¯t him now. The situation had changed now. Because time had passed. Because he wasn¡¯t the him of ten years ago anymore. Because he himself had chosen to be an enemy of the kingdom. His reason for doing so. His reason why he betrayed the royal family whom he had served for his entire life, and why he held hands with the devil. The Lord Protector eventually had a bitter smile. As the demonic human in front of him had said, he was just honest with his desires. In order to attain what he wanted, he readily abandoned what he had cherished so far. He abandoned his faithfulness and loyalty, and held hands with the devil. It was already irreversible. No, he had no intention of reversing it if that was even possible. Therefore, the Lord Protector didn¡¯t waste any more time. Instead of continuing his useless emotions, he resumed his business with the devil. What they were about to discuss was the founding anniversary celebration around 15 dayster, and the tragedy that would happen on that day. ¡°There are some changes.¡± ¡°My side too.¡± Both sides had their reasons for doing so. The Lord Protector and Koros continued their conversation. And the decisions they made. A new event that did not appear in the original game. A simr but different development. ¡°Then I¡¯ll see you on that day.¡± Koros spoke with a smile, and vanished as if he had blended into the darkness. The Lord Protector was left alone, and he turned towards the royal capital. Around 15 days from now. And everything that would happen after that. The tragedy that would take ce in thend that the Lord Protector had dedicated his entire life to. ¡®I¡¯ve already made my decision.¡¯ So I only need to put it in action. The Lord Protector walked forward. He headed for the royal capital. Chapter 181: The Calm Before the Storm (1)

Chapter 181: The Calm Before the Storm (1)

Terms used in this chapter: Cost-performance ratio ¨C an equation used to bnce the cost of an item against its effectiveness. Law of conservation of mass ¨C scientificw which means that even if something changed its form, its mass/weight would still remain the same. Core exercises ¨C exercise that trains the muscles in the pelvis, lower back, hips and abdomen, like push-ups, sit-ups, and abdominal crunches. 5 am. Jude hadn¡¯t set an rm clock, but he opened his eyes at that time. His sleeping hours weren¡¯t that long in the first ce, and after his metamorphosis, he only needed 3 hours of sleep in order to fully regain his strength, so he usually slept for around 2-4 hours every day. ¡®3 hours and 30 minutes.¡¯ His sleeping time for today. After he checked the time, Jude slowly raised himself and headed to the corner of a back room where arge barrel tub he had brought for bathing was ced. ¡®Taking a shower in the morning is a must.¡¯ Jude took off his clothes as he walked, and he stood in the middle of the barrel tub and tore a scroll. . The lukewarm water pouring down like a waterfall woke him up, and the drowsiness he felt dissipated. ¡°Hoo.¡± This feeling was the reason why he made this scroll. magic was also the best way to make water that poured down. ¡®However, I should still research on making something simr to a shower.¡¯ The water falling down from the shower should be less than the magic used inbat, and its power should also be weak, so I should use cheap paper to make the scroll, though it wouldn¡¯t have a very good cost-performance ratio if I have to use it every time I shower. In short, it¡¯s a luxury. ¡®It¡¯s a bit inconvenient.¡¯ He had to use it once when he began his shower, and then use it again to rinse himself. And in between those two times, he also had to recycle and wash himself with the water from the first spell. ¡®Well, to begin with, this is the level of technology here.¡¯ They said that the biggest reason why perfume was developed in the western world was because people did not frequently take baths, and it was true to some extent, but was also not the full reason for it. ¡®Because they didn¡¯t have things like hot water gushing down when they turned the faucet.¡¯ Up until the Middle Ages ¨C no, up until the modern times, bathing was considered a luxury by most people. It was difficult to get enough clean water to wash one¡¯s body, and one had to boil it hot too. ¡®You can¡¯t just ignore the price of the fuel.¡¯ And the effort involved. They had to boil water, transfer it to a bathtub, and boil water again for rinsing¡­ It was a luxury that consumed a lot of time, money, and manpower. In that sense, using magic for a morning shower had a good cost-performance ratio. ¡®Anyway¡­ it was really difficult in persuading Maja.¡¯ Maja was the one who suffered the most when Jude¡¯s wake-up time became earlier. She was his exclusive maid, so she was not supposed to get upter than her master. In addition, Maja had to do a lot of various tasks in the morning, which included helping him with washing his face, so she had to be up almost two hours earlier. ¡®Just sleep. It¡¯s okay. I¡¯ll do it myself.¡¯ ¡®But young master!¡¯ It took him almost a month to persuade her. ¡®No, it was more of an order than a persuasion.¡¯ He was psychologically reluctant to force Maja in doing that, since she was like his real older sister, but he couldn¡¯t help it. Because the dark circles around Maja¡¯s eyes had noticeably increased. ¡®Anyway.¡¯ After using the shampoo and conditioner, Jude once again used the spell before he left the room carrying therge barrel tub full of water. ¡®Throw out the water¡­ and then begin my exercise.¡¯ Once he was back in his room, Jude rxed for a short time before he started his morning workout. He had been exercising in the morning everyday since he became Landius¡¯ disciple, and he had now be ufortable for the whole day if he skipped doing it for a day. ¡®Let¡¯s do it lightly for 1 hour and 30 minutes.¡¯ It was the time Jude had invested every day for his morning workout. After he woke up, he¡¯d take a shower and dry himself for 15 minutes. He would then exercise for an hour and a half before taking a shower and drying himself for 15 minutes again. ¡®Good, I¡¯ve gained some weight.¡¯ Jude currently weighed in the 75-80 kg range. He had suddenly grown taller because of his metamorphosis, but even if it was some fantasy metamorphosis, thew of conservation of mass still applied. Right after his first metamorphosis, he was very thin and still in the 60-70 kg range. But Jude had now gained a weight that matched his height as a result of his hard work. ¡®My weight is in thete 70-80 kg range, and my height is in the 180-190 cm range.¡¯ Jude looked all over his body before he slowly nodded his head. ¡®Good, let¡¯s keep it at this range for a while.¡¯ In the third episode of Legend of Heroes, Jude had grown into the 180-190 cm range even when he didn¡¯t meet Landius. His body had growth potential in the first ce, but it became possible for him to grow a bit taller due to his metamorphosis. ¡®I would like it to be around 185-190 cm.¡¯ But height wasn¡¯t something that he¡¯d get just because he wanted it, so he left it to the heavens. ¡®Good. Moving on, today will be abdominal exercises.¡¯ He mostly did exercises for his entire body, but he always ended it with exercises that tightened his abs. And he had to do one more set than usual now. Because he didn¡¯t know when Cordelia might change her mind. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Jude unknowingly cleared his throat before he began to focus on his workout routine again. And after an hour and 20 minutes. Before he knew it, the sun had risen outside his window, and he could hear the sound of the chirping birds from afar. And one more. ¡°Jude. Kyaa?!¡± Cordelia had appeared with Dahlia when she had quickly opened his bedroom door, and she screamed and covered her face with both hands afterwards. It was because of the sweaty and hot naked body of Jude, though to be exact, it was only his upper body that was naked, but anyway, it was because he was in front of her. [A-are you crazy? Why are you naked?] [Because I¡¯m exercising?] Jude immediately responded to her hastily sent magic, and Cordelia looked in front of her again as she peered in between her fingers that covered her face. She could see that Jude was clearly wearing pants properly. In terms of exposure, it was much less than when they went to the outdoor hot spring. Cordelia unconsciously stared at Jude¡¯s abs before she raised her head and sent a magic again. [Why did you take off your clothes?] [Because I¡¯ll be sweating?] It was ufortable if he sweated while wearing clothes. Cordelia was forced to nod at Jude¡¯s argument that was rational and logical like always. [Anyway, quickly put on your clothes. You do know that there¡¯s a tea party this morning, right?] [I know. But let me just finish one more set of this.] [What?] [Only one more set.] Jude answered briefly, and he lied down on his back and began his abdominal exercises, or to be exact, the so-called core exercises. His body that was as beautiful as a sculpture moved smoothly and precisely, and Dahlia admired it as she slightly blushed. ¡°Miss, Mr. Bayer¡¯s body is amazing.¡± Dahlia said in a whisper, and Cordelia replied as the corners of her mouth slightly raised up. ¡°Is that so? Jude has a fit body, huh?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s incredible.¡± ¡°Hmph, he¡¯s my Jude, so this much is normal.¡± Cordelia shrugged her shoulders and then looked back at Jude, while Maja tried to hold back herughter. Because Cordelia looked very cute when she hmphed and bragged about Jude. Anyway, around 30 minutes passed after that. Jude and Cordelia then had breakfast served by the employees led by Maja, and they left their amodation after dressing up. ¡°Recently, we¡¯ve gone to tea parties every day.¡± ¡°Because this is the peak right before the founding anniversary.¡± Since it was the 300th founding anniversary of the country, all the local nobles who usually didn¡¯t attend the anniversary celebration had now gathered in the royal capital. So it was only natural for tea parties to be held every day because there were many things they had to do, such as exchanging information and building friendships with one another. ¡°Do men go to huntingpetitions or something like that?¡± ¡°It would have something like that if it were in the other parts of the country, but this is the royal capital. So instead of hunting, we have something like a chess meeting or a simple drinking party.¡± ¡°Drinking? You¡¯re going there too?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s for my father and your father.¡± It wasn¡¯t just Jude and Cordelia who were busy these days. Count Bayer and Count Chase also had to go on several meetings in a day. ¡°But in the first ce, it¡¯s not normal to have a tea party in the morning.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right, because it¡¯s usually held in the afternoon.¡± It wasmon to have a light tea party in between meals, so for tea parties that had as many as 10 participants, it was always held between lunch and dinner ¨C in other words, it was a kind of unspoken rule to hold tea parties in the afternoon. ¡°Now then, let¡¯s do our best today. It seems that the effect of our promotion is good.¡± ¡°Are you talking about the shampoo and conditioner? Are there many people who want to buy it?¡± ¡°Yes. Yesterday, three merchants from the royal capital had visited.¡± ¡°Wooow.¡± Five days after they met with Princess Daphne and the other royal family members. Jude and Cordelia had participated in seven tea parties in the past five days, and they actively promoted the shampoo and conditioner. ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to our advertising model.¡± Jude smiled and lightly touched Cordelia¡¯s hair, and Cordelia hmphed before she touched her hair too. Her flowing hair that was soft, smooth, and shiny. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll have to do my best again today.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll trust in my princess.¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll make itpletely sell out.¡± Shampoo and conditioner had been made into the specialty products of the frontier city of Bailon. As a result, it developed the city¡¯smerce and increased their tax revenues, making Count Bayer and Count Chase wealthier. Jude and Cordelia smiled at the same time, while Maja and Dahlia who were watching the two from the opposite side also smiled. ¡®They¡¯re cute.¡¯ ¡®They¡¯re very sweet again today.¡¯ And around a dozen minutester. Upon arriving at their destination, Jude and Cordelia straightened their clothes and got out of the carriage. The tea party was hosted by Count Morrigan, one of the 7 southern families. Jude faced the entrance of the splendidly decorated mansion, holding out his hand to Cordelia before saying. ¡°Now then, let¡¯s do our best today.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Cordelia energetically responded, and she took Jude¡¯s hand before the two entered together. *** Tea party. A gathering where you could enjoy drinking tea and eating snacks. In other words, it was basically a gathering where they sit together to chat. After they greeted each other and the tea and sweets were served around, theserge-scale tea parties would usually split into small groups which began their own meetings. ¡®Hmm¡­there are some people whom I¡¯ve only seen for the first time.¡¯ Cordelia sipped her tea as she gazed at the youngdies sitting at the same table. Three faces she knew, and two faces she didn¡¯t know. The faces she knew were Sylvia and Vi from the 12 northern families. There was also Rachel from the Banquet of Swords. The faces she didn¡¯t know were Count Gerard¡¯s Lady Titania, and Viscount Baraen¡¯s Lady Annie, who were both nobles from the royal capital. The host, Lady Medb, was walking around the ce. Hmm, this is good. First of all, I know 3 out of 5 here, so I feelfortable. ¡®And Sylvia liked the shampoo and conditioner.¡¯ She was a nobledy who had said that the Count Crossbell family were willing to invest in it, so she would also be a good help in promoting it. ¡®Good, good. Today will also be an exciting promotion time.¡¯ And it did happen. Both Titania and Anne were greatly interested in the shampoo and conditioner. But even then, it was impossible to just talk about the shampoo and conditioner, so their conversation had eventually shifted to another topic. ¡°So¡­ in the end, how far did you go?¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± At Titania¡¯s question, Cordelia asked in surprise, and Titania replied with a giggle. ¡°You know¡­¡± ¡°How many times have you run away from home?¡± Annie also asked and giggled, and one could tell that their eyes were filled with lewd thoughts. ¡°Ahem, ahem. I don¡¯t think we should talk about this in a ce like this.¡± Sylvia cut in their conversation, but Titania and Annie did not easily give up, perhaps because of the cultural differences between the royal capital and the northern region. ¡°Don¡¯t say that.¡± ¡°Please tell us just one story.¡± Although the two looked cute when they asked her, Cordelia had nothing to say. She didn¡¯t have anything to talk about. She couldn¡¯t just talk about their traveling here and there because she had always been on Jude¡¯s back at that time. But it was then. ¡°Ehem, ehem¡­ Lady Cordelia. Can I tell what happened at the Banquet of Swords?¡± Cordelia blinked her eyes and slightly bit her lips at Rachel¡¯s suggestion. Because she remembered what she did at the Banquet of Swords. ¡®W-will that be okay though?¡¯ They saw me kissing his cheek. Yes, yes, that¡¯s not a big deal. We¡¯re engaged, so something like that is fine. At that time, Cordelia was in a situation where she couldn¡¯t think of anything else because of her red face, so she had soon forgot much of what had happened that day. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s fine.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem, then¡­¡± Sylvia and Vi were also greatly interested when Rachel talked about the match between Jude and Lucian at the Banquet of Swords, and what had happened between Jude and Cordelia. Cordelia also felt very strange when she heard the story of herself and Jude from the eyes of a third party. ¡®I did that?¡¯ Cordelia had looked at Jude with affectionate eyes, and Jude had hugged her waist as he passionately gazed at her. ¡°I will definitely win for you.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t get hurt, my beloved.¡± Rachel acted like the two and even changed her voice and touched her lips on the back of her hand, and the other youngdies, who understood what that meant, pped their hands as they squealed. ¡°That¡¯s so sweet.¡± ¡°It¡¯s like a love story.¡± As Titania and Anne spoke, Vi looked at Cordelia with dreamy eyes. And Sylvia. ¡°Our Cordelia has grown up.¡± She looked at her with well pleased eyes. ¡®N-no. That¡¯s not how it went.¡¯ The story has twisted a bit. I only did it on the cheek, and not more than that. But she could not say that given the mood. It seemed like the misunderstanding would grow bigger if she said something wrong. ¡°So Mr. Jude Bayer always went with Lady Cordelia?¡± ¡°Does he always do that? Does he always escort you?¡± ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right. He often escorted her during the Banquet of Swords, so everyone was envious. They really stood out.¡± Titania, Annie, and Rachel spoke in turn. Vi stared at Cordelia with sparkling eyes, while Sylvia quietly smiled and sent her nce to do it in moderation. ¡®W-why? Is it that strange?¡¯ Is a fianc¨¦ escorting his fianc¨¦e strange? Isn¡¯t that something natural? When Cordelia asked Sylvia in a small voice, Sylvia bitterly smiled as if she found it preposterous, and she said. ¡°Of course not. You don¡¯t do that when you enter a ce. Are you thinking that it¡¯smon for couples to hold hands like that, or your escort to always go wherever you go?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t do that in the royal capital.¡± ¡°Look at the other couples going aroundter. You¡¯ll immediately see the difference.¡± This time, Sylvia, Titania, and Rachel spoke in turn. ¡°I-is that so?¡± ¡°It is.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s question, Titania, Annie, and Rachel firmly replied. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, do you always hold hands like that?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°I mean, how you hold hands. Lovers do it more like this¡­¡± Titania¡¯s words trailed off as she sped her right and left hands together. ¡°It looks a bit different from how you hold hands normally, right?¡± Her fingers were literally interlocked with each otherpletely. Cordelia nodded without realizing it, and Titania giggled and spoke. ¡°Try itter. It will feel different, okay?¡± sping hands. As Cordelia stared at Titania¡¯s interlocked fingers, she slowly nodded. *** ¡®sping hands.¡¯ sping hands. It¡¯s not a big deal. We¡¯re just holding each other¡¯s hands. ¡®Still¡­¡¯ sping hands. No, it¡¯s not like I really want to sp my hands with Jude. It¡¯s just¡­ because others might think it¡¯s weird. You¡¯re engaged, but you haven¡¯t even sped your hands? Are you really engaged? ¡®T-that¡¯s right. It might expose our acting!¡¯ So this is necessary. Yes, yes, we¡¯re pretending to be a fantasy couple who are head over heels with each other, so we have to do it. ¡®sping hands, sping hands.¡¯ I have a lot of chances to do that. Jude will escort me when I leave. Then easily. Yes, I¡¯ll do it easily. ¡®sping hands, sping hands.¡¯ Cordelia made up her mind and touched her pounding heart as she waited for the time when they would leave, and the time when she faced Jude again finally came. ¡°Did you have fun?¡± ¡°Yes, the youngdies I newly met today were nice.¡± Cordelia calmly answered as she nced at Jude¡¯s hand, and Jude stretched out his hand to her like always. And Cordelia realized it at that moment. How one held hands with their escort. When a woman lightly raises her hand, a man would gently lift it as if he was supporting the woman¡¯s hand. So in other words¡­ ¡®I can¡¯t sp his hands if he escorts me this way!¡¯ What is this? What is this? I was looking forward to it! No, I wasn¡¯t looking forward to it, but I just wanted to try it, okay? Just a little bit¡­anyway! [Cordelia? Is there a problem?] At that very moment, Jude sent her a magic, and Cordelia groaned for a while before turning her head away. Because she couldn¡¯t say that she wanted to sp his hands no matter how much she wanted to do so. ¡®That¡¯s right. He¡¯ll figure it out if he sees my eyes.¡¯ So I should just turn my head away. [It¡¯s nothing. Let¡¯s hurry.] [Cordelia?] But Cordelia no longer replied, and Jude was confused. ¡®Did I do something wrong?¡¯ Did I make a mistake? I just did it like usual. I didn¡¯t do anything particrly strange. [Aren¡¯t we going?] [Ah, yes, let¡¯s go. Let¡¯s get going.] At her slightly blunt message, Jude quickly responded and moved forward. And around 30 minutester. Jude had been worrying about Cordelia who was still sulking a bit, and they faced a new development as soon as they arrived at their amodation. ¡°You¡¯re here.¡± Ga?l and Adelia. Ga?l didn¡¯t look much different than usual, but Adelia looked very tired as there were some dark circles in her eyes. ¡®As I thought, they¡¯ve be busy.¡¯ Because of Cordelia¡¯s actions, the ck Moon¡¯s n was known throughout the royal capital. The Royal Guards, who had been on alert for the uing founding anniversary celebration, began to investigate the ck Moon, and the situation had been getting busier day by day because of the new evidences they found in the process. ¡®Because the Royal Guard Magic Corps solely exists for the security of the royal capital.¡¯ Naturally, the wizards under the Royal Guard Magic Corps became busy, and since Adelia was one of theirmanders, she was forced to work overtime. ¡°It¡¯s hard, it¡¯s hard¡­ it¡¯s been a few days since I¡¯ve been up all night.¡± Adelia muttered, resting her head on Ga?l¡¯s shoulder, and Cordelia nced at their hands instead of the heads and shoulders of the two. Because she wanted to see if they were sping each other¡¯s hands. ¡®sped hands.¡¯ Their fingers were tightly interlocked with each other. [Cordelia.] sping hands. [Cordelia.] I¡¯m not saying that I really want to do it. I-it¡¯s just for our acting. [Cordelia?] ¡°Yes?!¡± Cordelia came to her senses at his third call, eximing in surprise, and Jude quickly sent a magic again. [Are you okay? What exactly happened at the tea party?] [No, nothing happened. So, what were you saying?] [There¡¯s something I want to talk about. You could say that there¡¯s something I want to ask of you.] [Huh?] Ask? What do you want to ask? Jude took Cordelia to his room first, and once inside, they sat down face to face and used magic again. [As you may have felt it over the past five days, things have changed a lot from the original.] Due to their early deterrence of the barbarians¡¯ n to invade the northern region of the country, arge number of nobles who would not have originally participated in the founding celebration had nowe to the royal capital. Count Bayer and Count Chase. Two powerhouses of the north. [A lot of things have changed because of the Rogue Master¡¯s activities.] The Lord Protector¡¯s influence had decreased a little, and many of the nobles who would be his hands and feet had to withdraw from the founding celebration. Added to that was the ck Moon¡¯s problem. The ck Moon wouldn¡¯t copse or be destroyed just because of this problem, but it was at least impossible for them to continue their original terror n. [We twisted history a lot. So we have to take that risk too.] The situation had changed. It had now be a much different situation from the original that Jude and Cordelia knew. Therefore, the response of the enemies would also be different. [I¡¯ve made some predictions. But¡­ there are times when calctions alone are not enough.] He needed her intuition in this case. Something that couldn¡¯t be exined by logic alone. [Cordelia, what do you think they will do?] I mean, where and how do you think the enemies will attack? Cordelia¡¯s geniusbat sense was triggered duringbat. She had the ability to see the flow of the battlefield by gathering clues yet not conscious of all the variables, such as the atmosphere, breathing, their gazes, and so on. So it was highly likely that she could not fully demonstrate that ability now since the battle had yet to begin. But even so. Cordelia¡¯s instincts were like that of a beast. ¡°I¡­¡± Cordelia slowly opened her mouth and spoke, and Jude nodded his head. Hebined his own calctions with Cordelia¡¯s intuition in order to make a clearer n. Chapter 182: The Calm Before the Storm (2)

Chapter 182: The Calm Before the Storm (2)

Time continued to pass. Eight days before the founding anniversary ball. After the tea party hosted by Duke Wotan, one of the aristocrats¡¯ leaders, the daily social events finally came to a close. The reason was simple ¨C there were a lot of official events scheduled for next week. ¡°We also have an event scheduled.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia grinned and nodded her head. Because it was an event that she had been looking forward to. ¡°The day after tomorrow?¡± ¡°Yes, the day after tomorrow.¡± ¡°I¡¯m excited.¡± ¡°Are you that happy?¡± ¡°Are you not happy then? Does Milord not want a title?¡± ¡°I¡¯m happy, I want it too.¡± Title. Jude and Cordelia¡¯s conferment ceremony. ¡°Hehe, hehehe. Baroness Chase.¡± Cordelia muttered and then giggled, and her body soon trembled in excitement. ¡°Hehehe, Baroness Chase. I¡¯ll finally have a status and title.¡± ¡°Yes, Baroness Chase. Congrattions.¡± ¡°Thank you, Baron Bayer, Congrattions to the baron too.¡± When Jude bowed and politely congratted her, Cordelia slightly lifted the sides of her skirt and curtsied as she politely congratted him too. Baron. It had the lowest rank among the noble titles, but even so, a title was still a title. ¡®The difference is like the sky and the earth if you are a in noble.¡¯ The reason Cordelia childishly liked it was because of the influence of her present life more than her previous one. Because for nobles, having a title was really important. ¡®It¡¯s not because I personally aspire to be distinguished.¡¯ Bing a baron did not mean that they would suddenly enjoy enormous wealth and power. In particr, it was not an exaggeration to say that it was actually an honorary title since Jude and Cordelia will only receive a title and not a manor. But even so, it still held a lot of meaning. ¡®If all descendants became in nobles, there would be no end to the lineage of nobles.¡¯ In the S?len Kingdom, only one person could inherit their father¡¯s family title. Usually, the eldest son or daughter inherited the title, and the children who did not inherit the title would be nobles without a title, the so-called in noble. ¡®Children of in nobles are treated equally among the in nobility but¡­¡¯ The situation was different from the in noble¡¯s grandchildren, which was the third generation. If they did not receive a title, they would be treated as amoner instead of a noble from then on. It was aw designed to control the number of nobles, but there were obviously many other ways to avoid it. ¡®You can prevent yourself from bing amoner by just getting a knight title¡­ Otherwise, you can just buy a title with money.¡¯ But what if a person didn¡¯t have the skills to be a knight, or didn¡¯t have any money to buy a title? ¡®They¡¯ll be amoner.¡¯ In the case of the S?len Kingdom, the lives of themoners weren¡¯t that bad. There were manymoners among the wealthy merchants or college intellectuals. ¡®But even so.¡¯ It was rare for a person to rescind their noble status, just because they preferred being amoner. After all, the S?len Kingdom was a feudal society, so in many ways, being a noble was more advantageous than being amoner. ¡°Hehe, Baroness. Baroness Chase.¡± The eldest son, Edward Chase, was the heir to the Count Chase title and the future count. The eldest daughter, Adelia Chase, gained the title of 7th Commander of the Royal Guard Magic Corps when she climbed to that position with her own skills. In other words, Cordelia was the only in noble in their family. But now that she would be ¡®Baroness Cordelia Chase¡¯ instead of ¡®in noble Cordelia,¡¯ it was natural for her to be feeling excited. ¡°Our child won¡¯t have to worry anymore, right?¡± ¡°Yes! We¡¯re both barons, so there would be no problem if we had two¡­eh?¡± Wait. I think I just said something weird right now. Cordelia who had answered brightly suddenly blinked her eyes, and Jude had a sly expression as he tilted his head, pretending that there wasn¡¯t anything weird about it. Our kids. Our children. Jude and Cordelia¡¯s own children. ¡®T-that¡¯s ridiculous.¡¯ Children? Who¡¯ll give birth to that? I? Me? For a moment, Cordelia tried to imagine herself holding a baby, and her face quickly turned red. ¡®N-no. We¡¯re not there yet. Yes, we¡¯re still far away from that.¡¯ That¡¯s still in the distant future. I still have a long time left, so I don¡¯t need to think about that now. ¡®Yes, yes, so let¡¯s get that thought out of my head!¡¯ If Dahlia had heard her thoughts, she would have said, ¡®But you didn¡¯t deny it.¡¯ Cordelia then took a deep breath to calm herself down, and she looked at Jude again. ¡°Anyway.¡± ¡°Anyway?¡± ¡°Yes, anyway.¡± Cordelia tried to change the topic by saying whatever came to her mind, and her fingers twitched as she continued her words. ¡°Since we have to go the conferment ceremony, do I have to dress up again?¡± ¡°Of course. I¡¯ll make you really beautiful.¡± ¡°It¡¯s always exhausting though.¡± Cordelia bitterly smiled before she rose from her seat and opened her arms. She had attended in so many tea parties that she was now quite used to being a ¡®doll.¡¯ ¡°Now then, Milord. Let me know what I¡¯ll be wearing the day after tomorrow.¡± ¡°As a matter of fact, I¡¯ve already prepared it, Princess.¡± Jude smiled and turned around to open the closet door, and Cordelia then spontaneously said. ¡°Wow¡­ you look so excited.¡± Is it really that fun to dress me up? ¡°Because it alwayses out good no matter how I dress you up. Ah, I have to call Dahlia and Maja too. If I don¡¯t call them, they¡¯ll be sadter.¡± ¡°Hey, Milord. I¡¯m not the only one going, but Milord too, right?¡± ¡°Yes, Princess. After we¡¯ve dressed you up, I¡¯ll be a quiet doll for the princess, so you can y with me as much as you want.¡± Jude responded with a shameless face, and he pulled a dress out of the closet and rang the bell to call Maja. ¡°Seriously¡­¡± The disgruntled Cordelia sat down and watched Jude happily choosing a dress before she opened her mouth again. ¡°By the way, Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Were you a beauty shop owner in your previous life?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Then how do you know so much?¡± From beauty treatments up to hair cutting methods. At Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude replied while still looking at the dresses. ¡°Because I studied it.¡± ¡°In your past life?¡± ¡°No, in the present life. After I regained my memories of my previous life.¡± In Pleaides, there were no chemical products like shampoo and conditioner, but the beauty treatment methods itself were quite developed. However, Cordelia had no choice but to tilt her head at Jude¡¯s answer. ¡°You learned it on purpose? Why?¡± ¡°To make you beautiful.¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°Because Cordelia is precious.¡± Cordelia scrunched her lips at Jude¡¯s words. If he had said that a few months ago, she would have responded by telling him to stop talking nonsense, but nowadays, she just somehow felt restless about it. ¡°Ahem, ahem, Cordelia is indeed precious.¡± ¡°Yes, she is the most precious one in the world.¡± ¡°W-what are you saying?¡± How can you say such a thing so casually? Shouldn¡¯t your face change color, even for just a bit? Cordelia mumbled quietly, and suddenly looked up again. Because there was one thing she didn¡¯t understand. ¡°Wait a minute, you studied beauty treatments. But what about trimming my hair?¡± ¡°That¡¯s because of my Cheonmujiche.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Because it makes me good at anything I do with my body, remember?¡± Jude pretended to scissor with his hands, and Cordelia was speechless before she smiled. ¡°What a cheat. It¡¯s a scam, a scam.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a cheat that is useful in many ways, so it¡¯s good to use it.¡± Jude smoothly replied and raised his head. Because he heard the footsteps of Maja and Dahlia outside the door. ¡°So, shall we start now?¡± The door opened, and Jude looked back at Cordelia who calmly rose from her seat and opened her arms. *** Six days before the founding anniversary ball. Jude and Cordelia headed for the main pce while riding a carriage. Because it was the night of the title conferment ceremony. ¡°Look, look. Look at the corners of her mouth.¡± Adelia sat next to Ga?l, giggling as she said that, and Cordelia nced at Ga?l and Adelia¡¯s sped hands before she pouted her lips and said. ¡°Isn¡¯t it natural for me to smile?¡± ¡°Yes, because your status has risen. My Cordelia is a baroness now. I can¡¯t help but smile too.¡± Adelia giggled again, and Cordelia eventually followed. She was in a good mood today, so she felt like she couldugh if someone just tapped her arm. And since the women¡¯s reactions were like this, the men¡¯s reactions were naturally simr. Jude and Ga?l just smiled without saying a word. They were inside a carriage pulled by two horses. Count Bayer, Count Chase, and Edward Chase, who was Count Chase¡¯s eldest but somehow had a faint presence, was riding in the carriage ahead of theirs, while Maja and Dahlia rode in the carriage that followed theirs. ¡®Because those two people are like family to us.¡¯ So they couldn¡¯t leave out those two in such a happy asion. ¡®But what exactly is she doing for a while?¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s fingers had been twitching strangely and unusually. Is her hand itchy? ¡°Anyway, don¡¯t make a mistake just because you¡¯re too excited. Because it¡¯s not just you, okay? Do you understand?¡± ¡°I understand. Do you think I¡¯m a kid?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. You¡¯re not yet an adult, right? Are you trying to say that you¡¯re not a kid and that you¡¯re all grown up now?¡± Her older sister really acted like an older sister. Cordelia was troubled on how to refute Adelia¡¯s words, and she scrunched her lips again while Ga?l said with a small smile. ¡°Because it¡¯s also the first official event of Princess Daphne. So don¡¯t be too nervous. You¡¯re not the only ones receiving a title today.¡± If they added the ones who would receive the knight title, there would be around ten people. In fact, the real protagonist of today¡¯s event was not those who would be conferred titles, but Princess Daphne who would be bestowing titles. It was her first official work as an adult. However. ¡°But among those who¡¯ll receive titles, you two are the main characters. You¡¯ll be barons and not a knight like the others, and you two are the youngest among those who¡¯ll participate in the event. It may be burdensome, but¡­ it¡¯s something to be proud of. Yes, that¡¯s right. I¡¯m very proud of you.¡± ¡°Unnie.¡± ¡°I want to hug you, but the dress might get wrinkled. So I can¡¯t.¡± Adelia spoke to Cordelia with wide open arms as she smiled with her eyes, and Cordelia smiled while pretending to scowl. ¡®Because we¡¯re the main characters.¡¯ Jude agreed too. After all, Jude and Cordelia were the youngest among those who would receive a title this time. ¡®Moreover, we skipped the knighthood and directly became barons.¡¯ It was rare for a minor to gain a noble title all by themselves. Moreover, the reason for gaining a title was special. ¡®Meritorious service.¡¯ Because their activities in the wildnds were rted to the safety of the northern, and even the entire S?len Kingdom. It was not possible to convey at face value on what had happened in the wildnds, but the adaptations alone were enough for Jude and Cordelia to gain titles. ¡®Baron Bayer.¡¯ And Baroness Chase. The birth of a baron couple was rare, and since they were the famous couple of the century, it was natural that they would be the main characters in the conferment ceremony, just like what Adelia said. ¡®Good.¡¯ Our efforts were recognized. What we¡¯ve been doing so far is not wrong, and is something that deserves praise, just like what other people say. Jude smiled and stared at Cordelia again, whose fingers were still twitching. But why? Why does Cordelia keep twitching her fingers even after she¡¯s holding her hands? Jude tilted his head, but Cordelia did not look at him, and the carriage continued to head to its destination. Chapter 183: The Calm Before the Storm (3)

Chapter 183: The Calm Before the Storm (3)

Terms used in this chapter: A tiger who lost their teeth ¨C someone who used to be powerful but became powerless and poorter. Five and a half days before the founding anniversary ball. Lucas had visited the event venue of the conferment ceremony to congratte Jude and Cordelia, and he softly smiled at some point. Because he found a familiar face. ¡°Miss Scarlet?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± A surprised face returned his call. She would be like that because she was in the middle of hiding and concealing her presence. How did he find out? No, it¡¯s natural for him to find out. He may be overshadowed by Jude and Cordelia, but he¡¯s also a genius from the north. Those two are so overwhelming, but Lucas is also one of the best among his peers, and one of the best in the entire continent and not just the S?len Kingdom. ¡®Moreover¡­ it¡¯s because I dressed myself up.¡¯ She was dressed as a young nobledy who attended the event, and not as a maid or butler. She had been hiding in order to get rid of the men who had been swarming at her like fruit flies, but if it was Lucas with his sharp senses, it was natural for him to find her. ¡°Did youe to congratte Mr. Bayer and Lady Cordelia?¡± ¡°Well¡­sort of. Because we know each other.¡± Scarlet said that as if she was indifferent, maintaining a haughty expression, and Lucas smiled again. ¡°Would you like toe with me? I¡¯d like to introduce you to my friends who are nobles from the north.¡± ¡°Thank you for your offer, but I have to decline. I¡¯d like some silence for now.¡± It was a slightly rude answer, but Lucas nodded with an unbothered expression, closing his mouth and looking straight ahead. What the hell is going on? Is he angry that I rejected him? As Scarlet slightly furrowed her brows and nced at him, Lucas replied with a bright smile. ¡°Well¡­ you said you wanted me to be silent.¡± ¡°Ah¡­yes.¡± She meant that she wanted to be alone, but he interpreted it differently. Is he the so-called airhead? ¡®Or he¡¯s just not good at reading the room.¡¯ But I don¡¯t hate it because he¡¯s handsome. He¡¯s innocent and cute too. ¡®Should I say he¡¯s like a big dog?¡¯ That girl, Pink Bomb, is a dog. She pretends to be a proud cat, but in reality, she¡¯s a dog. ¡®ck Cloak is ck-hearted fox.¡¯ It was quite fun to think of them as animals, but Scarlet quickly came to her senses. Because the music that was ying at the venue had changed. ¡°I think it¡¯s about to start.¡± When Scarlet spoke, Lucas immediately turned to the stage, and she eventually had no choice but to suppress herughter. Because Lucas really seemed like a big dog. He had no tail, but she unconsciously looked at his butt. ¡°Miss Scarlet?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing.¡± Scarlet¡¯s haughty yet elegant smile, which was a more honest smile than before, made Lucas¡¯s face slightly turn red, and he soon looked back at the stage. *** First Sword stood by the window and looked at the stage. Several women, who admired him for being young, handsome, and a Sword Saint, talked to him, and he responded to them with a friendly face, but he pushed the women away after a few words. He liked alcohol and women as much as he liked the sword, but today, he wanted to distance himself from worldly pleasures. ¡°How unusual.¡± He wasn¡¯t talking about himself for wanting to stay away from alcohol and women. He was referring to the people gathered here. Two people came into First Sword¡¯s sight. One was Duke Antarius, who was called the Lord Protector. The other was Count Bayer, the Sword General. Both of them were masters of the sword who belonged to the Ten Great Swordmasters, just like First Sword himself. ¡®They¡¯re still strong.¡¯ Because they were one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. Because they were those who reached the pinnacle of the many swordsmen in the S?len Kingdom. ¡®However.¡¯ The passage of time was inevitable. The Lord Protector was old, and Count Bayer was also getting old. Their skills would inevitably decline due to their aging bodies. The Lord Protector had be so weak that he could no longer bepared to the time when they were at war with the empire. ¡®Well, they¡¯re still great swordmasters though.¡¯ The expression ¡®a tiger who lost their teeth¡¯ would be too much to describe them though. They were great swordmasters who represented the S?len Kingdom, so they still had some considerable skills. ¡®Count Bayer, the Sword General.¡¯ Although he was in histe 40s, he looked much younger than someone who had reached the peak. He was a very handsome man in the first ce. As for his sword. Count Bayer¡¯s sword, which First Sword had seen through Ga?l, was literally like the wind. It was unrestrained and free, so one couldn¡¯t hold it even if they reached out their hand. ¡®Hmm, I knew it. I like the sword best.¡¯ He liked alcohol and women, but he still preferred the sword. In some way, it was natural since he was someone who became known as First Sword because he was the best in the Sword School. He had seen swords since he was born, and up to now, he had wielded a sword every day. ¡®I don¡¯t even get tired of it.¡¯ He wanted topete whenever he met someone strong, and he wanted to reach a higher level, so he sharpened and polished his own sword. He wanted to go a bit higher. He wanted to be a bit stronger. ¡®I want topete with Landius and Kamael at least once.¡¯ The Iron Man and the Ghostde. Both were heroes of the Paragon Kingdom and were also called the world¡¯s strongest swordsmen. He wanted to know what swordsmanship they used. He wanted to know how strong he waspared to them. No, he wanted to know if they were really stronger than he himself. ¡®Ah, it¡¯s starting.¡¯ First Sword who had been imagining then smiled and straightened his posture. And he directed his gaze towards the stage. The music changed. The audience turned silent. ¡®And.¡¯ The main character appeared. The moment Princess Daphne appeared in a golden dress, apuse erupted, and First Sword also pped lightly and looked down the stage. He saw Cordelia in a white dress, smiling with an excited face, and Jude was next to her, pretending to be calm. ¡°How cute.¡± First Sword spoke in a small voice, and the event began as if his words were the signal. *** ¡°It¡¯s too early. For them to be barons at that age. They need to gain more experience.¡± ¡°So you don¡¯t like it?¡± Count Bayer casually asked Count Chase, who responded like always. ¡°Hmph.¡± ¡°You really say the opposite of how you feel.¡± Count Bayer quietly smiled and looked at the stage. Princess Daphne, the jewel of the royal capital, was conferring knighthood to a young woman. ¡°It¡¯ll be soon.¡± ¡°Hmph, they¡¯ll only be barons. They should at least get a viscount title.¡± ¡°You just said that bing a baron was too early.¡± ¡°It means I¡¯m not satisfied with the current situation.¡± ¡°You really have a difficult personality. But you¡¯re actually happy.¡± ¡°Hmph, not a chance.¡± Count Chase scoffed, but his hands were the ones being honest. He was holding in his hand a mana orb for video recording. ¡°Does that record the sound?¡± ¡°Of course. So be quiet. Because you¡¯re noisy.¡± Count Bayer smiled and was silent at Count Chase¡¯s grumbling, and Count Chase then used his magic. Jude and Cordelia were on the stage. The two of them finally appeared. ¡®I¡¯m deeply moved.¡¯ Just a year ago, Jude was a guy who couldn¡¯t even go outside that much. He couldn¡¯t believe that Jude was so healthy now that he even performed such a huge meritorious deed. Count Bayer unconsciously became tearful, and he looked back at Count Chase and smiled calmly. His friend had always not been honest, but at this moment, he was acting differently. ¡®This man.¡¯ How nice would it be if he always smiled like that. A bright smile was on Count Chase¡¯s face. Count Bayer looked back the stage, pretending to not have seen it, while Count Chase continued to focus on his video recording. *** ¡°Jude Bayer, Cordelia Chase. On ount of the great contributions you have made for the S?len Kingdom, I confer the baron titles on you two. From now on, you two are barons of the S?len Kingdom.¡± Although she was still a crown princess, it was no exaggeration to say that her dignity was that of a queen. As she solemnly proimed and lifted the sword, Jude and Cordelia knelt in front of her and bowed their heads silently, and soon after, Princess Daphne¡¯s sword lightly tapped on their shoulders. Baron Bayer and Baroness Chase. The first barons who attained the baron titles by themselves, and not through inheritance. Cordelia bit her lips and tried to hold back her smile, but she soon decided to just smile. Because she was very happy. ¡®It¡¯s not just because we became barons.¡¯ It was not just because everyone recognized their meritorious deeds in the wildnds. The identity of the overwhelming emotions that filled her heart. The reason why she was delighted. ¡®I changed it.¡¯ Cordelia herself and Jude. Originally, the barbarians¡¯ invasion of the north should have started by now. Count Bayer and Count Chase would have hurried back to the north, and Duke Spencer would have still been sick and unable to get up. First Sword would not have been here. Ga?l and Adelia would not have been in a rtionship. And Scarlet and Lucas. Even Cordelia herself. ¡®I¡¯m going to change it more.¡¯ So that everyone can be happy. And to have a perfect happy ending. Cordelia nced at Jude, and Jude also nced at Cordelia. The moment their eyes met, they smiled at the same time. Because they could understand what the other was thinking. ¡®For a perfect happy ending.¡¯ Jude said with a nce, and Cordelia nodded. The two simultaneously raised their heads to face Princess Daphne. ¡°Congrattions, Baron Bayer and Baroness Chase.¡± Princess Daphne spoke with a friendly smile, and apuse broke out once again from everywhere. No one could deny that they were the most apuded that day. *** Four days before the founding anniversary ball. Blue Moon and the other small guilds attacked the ck Moon in earnest. The ck Moon, which had been divided in half due to the attack of the Royal Guards, failed to actively fight back against the wave offensive, and the war situation eventually became the Blue Moon one-sidedly hitting them, and the ck Moon one-sidedly getting beaten. ¡°Aren¡¯t we lucky that we bet on Pink Bomb?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like we bet on them, but rather, we made a choice.¡± ¡°Haha, whatever. Anyway, what¡¯s important is that we¡¯re winning. So when will you get me a ring?¡± ¡°When this fight is over?¡± ¡°Oh, really?¡± The Blue Moon guild master, Supp¨¦, grinned, and Janifer had a small smile instead of her usual poker face. *** Three days before the founding anniversary ball. Saluzia stood beside Koros and looked at him. The Devil¡¯s Hand¡¯s northern and central branches. The maximum number of troops they could mobilize. ¡°Let¡¯s do it, Sannie.¡± Koros said, and Saluzia slowly nodded. The founding anniversary celebration. The day when the fate of Saluzia and Koros would be decided. And the names of the two people that came to her mind at that moment. ¡®Jude Bayer.¡¯ And Cordelia Chase. Saluzia bit her lips. As she turned towards the royal capital, she fiercely red. *** Two days before the founding anniversary ball. The Lord Protector stood by the wall and gazed at the pce. First Sword stood on the training ground and looked at his sword. Princess Daphne turned her attention while talking with Prince Dion. She stared at Princess Darianne who was learning horseback riding with a bright face. Lucas and Scarlet met on the street. In their series of repeated encounters, Lucas recalled the three idental encounters between the main character, Biltwein, and the heroine, Elena, in Biltwein the Hero, while Scarlet recalled the chance encounter between the first Rogue Master and her lover, Vanessa. Count Bayer gazed at his sword. He quietly stared at it, before closing his eyes and feeling the wind. Count Chase watched the video over and over again, and suddenly thought that Jude¡¯s shoes were a bitcking. ¡®Shoes with a darker color and better leather¡­ memo.¡¯ Count Chase focused on the video again after adding a line to his notebook that was filled with stuff about Jude and Ga?l. And a day passed. One day before the founding anniversary ball. ¡°This is the royal capital of the S?len Kingdom.¡± A young man with long blonde hair like the sun stood on the hill and beheld the royal capital. He was tall and handsome like a man from a painting. He had blue jewel-like eyes and a fairplexion. The young man¡¯s name was Maximilian de Avis. The man who was called the main character of Legend of Heroes 2. The monster from the empire who First Sword had recognized. Maximilian took a deep breath and gently touched the sword on his waist. Feeling his heart pounding, he took a step forward towards the royal capital. Chapter 184: Founding Anniversary Ball (1)

Chapter 184: Founding Anniversary Ball (1)

The ball is about to begin. The battle for this current arc willst for around 14 episodes, with a twisting around in 3-4 episodes from now (actually, the battle will start at the twist). I¡¯ll try not to take a break day in releasing the chapters, since I¡¯m excited with this arc too. As for why this chapter waste, it¡¯s all that Seven-Killings fault. It took me a while to realize that ¡®Seven-Killings¡¯ was a name and not some weird attack move. Terms used in this chapter: Forward operating base ¨C a secured military base used to conduct further operations and act as a strategic center. They are supported by the main operating base. Seven-Killings ¨C An ancient Chinese deity and one of the 10 Gods used in BaZi, a Chinese astrology thing. It also refers to a warrior or general. In this series though, it is mostly used as an alias of a character. Deep-rooted trees are not shaken by the wind. This was amon saying used to describe the country since the S?len Kingdom was indeed a great andrge country with a vast territory and immense national strength. To the extent that it wouldn¡¯t even budge if it got pushed a bit. ¡®That¡¯s why they raised the scale.¡¯ Even deep-rooted trees could shake. ¡®Just like how even a healthy person wouldn¡¯t survive if they suffer from a series of serious illnesses.¡¯ The demon followers prepared three events to destroy the S?len Kingdom. ¡®One is the barbarians¡¯ invasion of the north.¡¯ The horrors of war engulfed the wildnds and the north, causing great chaos. They directly destroyed the north. ¡®The other is the annihtion of the royal family.¡¯ They erased the royal capital and the royal family, turning the S?len Kingdom into a headless nation. At the same time, they destroyed the barrier of the royal capital and opened the Hell Gate to maximize the confusion in the center. ¡®Thest one.¡¯ Their final n to plunge the south into the depths of destruction. All three of these were sessful in the game, which led to the disastrous fall of the S?len Kingdom. ¡®And the seven major cmities that followed.¡¯ Their nightmarish scheme to destroy the Argon Empire after the S?len Kingdom. After a long adventure in the mid-tote half of Legend of Heroes 2, the protagonists eventually seeded in defeating all the seven major cmities. However, their victory was nothing but a painful victory. The Argon Empire had already been destroyed, and the entire continent was burned to ashes by the mes of war. ¡®It would have been a good thing if it had ended there.¡¯ But that didn¡¯t happen. Because the Great Summons began. A gate linking the three worlds of hell, earth, and heaven was created, and through this, the demons of hell and the angels of heaven appeared directly on earth. The overlords of hell tried to conquer the earth and make it a forward operating base to strike the heavens. The archangels of heaven tried to keep the army of hell on earth, and not get to heaven. The life of humans, who were the earth¡¯s inhabitants, did not matter to either side. ¡®Armageddon.¡¯ The Great War of Hell and Heaven. The sh of the otherworldly beings caused the destruction of earth, and countless humans died. Apocalypse. Human kingdoms ceased to exist. Compared to before the downfall of the S?len Kingdom, not even a tenth of humans survived, and those who managed to save their lives simply continued their lives amidst hunger and fear. ¡®Legend of Heroes 3 took ce a few years after Armageddon.¡¯ A story of finding hope again in a world that had turned into ashes. ¡®Yes, it¡¯s good if it does not fall into utter despair.¡¯ But even that wasn¡¯t an eptable ¡®future.¡¯ Pleiades was no longer a world seen on theputer monitor, but a real world where Jude himself was born and grew up in. ¡®We¡¯ve already prevented one of the three.¡¯ The wildnds maintained its power, unlike the original, though it suffered great damage. And the northern part of the S?len Kingdom was able to literally avoidplete destruction. ¡®On the contrary, the Devil¡¯s Eye was severely hit.¡¯ Not only did they lose as many as fifteen mid-ranking demonic humans, but even Haraken, a high-ranking demonic human, was killed. ¡®And there¡¯s the Hell Gate.¡¯ In the Devil¡¯s Eye, or even among all the demon follower groups, there were only a few catalysts that could open the Hell Gate, and it was not easy to increase that number either. Moreover, it was no exaggeration to say that it was a blow greater than losing demonic humans since they lost one catalyst. ¡®Even Kriemler couldn¡¯te to earth.¡¯ Kriemler was the great demon who killed Count Bayer and Ga?l in the game. Jude closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. Because of his relief and happiness in saving his father and older brother. ¡°And the genocide of the royal family.¡± The flow in the game was as follows. Right after the ball, which was thest part of the founding anniversary celebration, was over. ck Moon, the hunting dog of the Lord Protector, caused terror throughout the royal capital, and the Lord Protector used it as an excuse to gather the royal family into an emergency shelter hidden in the basement of the royal pce. ¡®And genocide.¡¯ Not only King Henry II, but all his siblings and children. To cut off the blood of the founder king and neutralize the barrier in the royal capital. ¡®It¡¯s more terrible after that.¡¯ The Lord Protector did not leave the royal capital after collecting the divine sword, ¨ªomh Sis, which served as the core of the barrier. He appeared in front of the nobles who were confused with the sudden ¡®disappearance¡¯ of the royal family, and while leading the search, he attracted the demon followers to the royal capital where the barrier had disappeared in order to create a bigger disturbance. ¡®He¡¯s eventually killed by a yable character though¡­¡¯ It was after the royal capital had already lost all its functions as a capital. ¡®We have to stop him before that.¡¯ They had already done all the necessary measures they could do. They neutralized the ck Moon, the main culprit of the terror attacks, and also made the Lord Protector¡¯s close allies, the ones who helped him in the royal family¡¯s genocide, withdraw from the front line. ¡®It¡¯s impossible to stop the Lord Protector in advance.¡¯ Although they had be close to the royal family, it was only a friendship that began a month ago. The Lord Protector had dedicated his entire life to the S?len Kingdom, so it was impossible for them topete with him. ¡®In the end, we have no choice but to solve it on the spot.¡¯ The moment the Lord Protector revealed his true colors, they would instantly stop him and save the royal family. It was an operation that was truly like walking on a tightrope. ¡®But we have to do it.¡¯ Jude took a deep breath and looked at the n and map in front of him. The things that the Lord Protector could do under the current situation. And all of Jude¡¯s countermeasures to it. ¡®It¡¯s like chess. You win if you capture the king.¡¯ But the situation was like they needed to immediately capture the king if they wanted a chance to win. For this reason, Jude had also prepared measures in order to capture the king- the Lord Protector. ¡®Though there are a lot of conditions¡­ and it¡¯s notplete.¡¯ It was impossible to set up a trap in advance at the royal pce. Therefore, the only thing they could do was a head-to-head match. ¡®In order to defeat the Lord Protector, who is one of the Ten Great Swordmasters, we need someone from the Ten Great Swordmasters too.¡¯ Count Bayer and First Sword. And Count Chase, who were on the same level as the two. The problem was that none of the three could be told about this. ¡®The only thing possible is to give them a few clues.¡¯ As for the rest, they had no choice but to make the three face the Lord Protector directly on the spot. ¡®I can just get anyone of them to apany me and then face the Lord Protector.¡¯ His colleagues who worked with him in his past life would obviously have something to say about that if they saw his current n, but this was the best he could do right now. ¡®There are a lot of strong people in the royal capital.¡¯ Not only on their side, but also on the other side. There were also some people in the Royal Guard Knights and the Royal Guard Magic Corps who were on the Lord Protector¡¯s side. In particr, the Lord Protector had many disciples in the Royal Guard Knights. ¡®Four out of the Ten Great Swordmasters would be in the royal capital on the day of the founding anniversary celebration.¡¯ The remaining six were not present for reasons such as keeping the border, like Count Hr?svelgr did. ¡®My father and First Sword will be on our side, and the Lord Protector would be on the other side. And having Seven-Killings Sword is better than nothing.¡¯ One of the Ten Great Swordmasters was Seven-Killings Sword, Seryu. Born in the far eastern continent, she was someone like the wind. She had a habit of wandering around, so she couldn¡¯t settle in one ce and wandered all over the S?len Kingdom. Unlike First Sword who belonged to an organization called the Sword School, Seryu did not belong to any group. ¡®She¡¯s known for her random encounters since you can¡¯t even guess where, when, and how she will appear.¡¯ First of all, given that her name was on the guest list, it seemed that she was in the royal capital, but it was unclear whether she would appear at the ball. ¡®I tried to contact her in advance, but it was impossible.¡¯ After spending time with First Sword, whom they clearly knew his location, they had been busy with tea parties and the Rogue Master¡¯s activities. ¡®Of course, I tried to search for her but¡­¡¯ It was in vain. He even put a request in the Blue Moon, but they couldn¡¯t find Seryu, the Seven-Killings Sword, in the end. ¡®Well¡­she¡¯s a generous person who¡¯ll help anyway, so I¡¯ll just let her be.¡¯ After all, she was one of the Ten Great Swordmasters who swore their loyalty to the S?len Kingdom. Like First Sword, she wasn¡¯t a person who would ignore the crisis that would befall the royal capital. ¡®In the end, the key is for the Ten Great Swordmasters to confront each other.¡¯ The best thing would be his father and First Sword working together to stop the Lord Protector, but if only one of them was present, it was still possible to stop the Lord Protector. ¡®Because both are likely to be stronger than the Lord Protector in a one-on-one fight.¡¯ As First Sword had said, even if they were the Ten Great Swordmasters, a decline of their skills due to aging was inevitable. ¡®If they fight one-on-one, our side will win.¡¯ Jude took a deep breath and looked at the n once again, checking the details. It was a crude n that had to rely on improvisation for almost everything because the enemy¡¯s tactics were clearly unknown, and that they had severely changed the original course of events. ¡®However.¡¯ Even if that was so, it was still meaningful to prepare. If ever an unexpected situation urred, he would be able to respond to it more calmly if he had ever thought about it at least once. ¡°Tomorrow night.¡± The night of the big fight that will determine the fate of the royal capital. And at the same time, a night where his incredibly anticipated event will ur. ¡®Founding anniversary ball.¡¯ Jude covered his face with his hands and said to himself. ¡®Yes, I know.¡¯ I must be crazy for thinking and wanting to dance with Cordelia at the ball in the midst of all these events. ¡®But¡­ I can¡¯t help it, okay?¡¯ We¡¯ll be attending a ball anyway. The event will happen after the ball is actually over. Then¡­ isn¡¯t it okay for me to enjoy it a bit? ¡®Furthermore¡­¡¯ It¡¯s my first time. To dance with Cordelia at an official event. ¡°I want to see Cordelia.¡± Jude unconsciously spoke, and he soon smiled bitterly. ¡®This is serious.¡¯ I really am a serious case in many ways. ¡°Cordelia.¡± Jude spoke out loud again and closed his eyes. He imagined what she would look like tomorrow. *** ¡°Miss.¡± Despite Dahlia¡¯s call, Cordelia did not answer as she pretended to not have heard it. What¡¯s going on? Is she suddenly going into puberty? ¡°Miss?¡± Dahlia called again, and Cordelia slightly pouted her lips. Seeing her reaction, it¡¯s not that she can¡¯t hear me, but she¡¯s dissatisfied with something. ¡®Ah, I know what she¡¯s dissatisfied with.¡¯ Dahlia cleared her throat and said in a small voice. ¡°Baroness Chase?¡± ¡°Yes, I am Baroness Chase. I¡¯m not in noble Cordelia, but Baroness Chase.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s response, Dahlia finally burst outughing. ¡°Do you like it so much?¡± ¡°Yes, I like it.¡± She was in front of Dahlia and not anyone else, so she was honest. As Cordelia talked and snorted, Dahlia hugged Cordelia as if she couldn¡¯t take it anymore. ¡°My cute miss.¡± ¡°Miss?¡± ¡°Cute baroness.¡± ¡°Ehem, ehem.¡± Cordelia answered in a cute way, and then hugged Dahlia. Dahlia was someone who sometimes felt more like her real sister than Adelia, so sharing warmth like that made her feel like she was in her mother¡¯s arms. ¡°Ha, seriously. I¡¯m so excited.¡± ¡°Of what?¡± ¡°Tomorrow¡¯s ball. And how pretty mydy¡­no, my baroness will be. People will be surprised to see the baroness. I really want to see you dance with Lord Jude.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem¡­¡± A lot of people were indeed expecting that. ¡°What about Dahlia? Dahlia is also beautiful, so you¡¯ll be very pretty if you dressed up.¡± ¡°Thank you for saying that even if it¡¯s just empty words.¡± ¡°I really mean it. Aren¡¯t there other knights nning to dance with you tomorrow?¡± ¡°Thank you for your words.¡± ¡°No, I really mean it, okay?¡± ¡°Yes, yes, surely, you really mean it.¡± Dahlia had a mature smile and gently touched Cordelia¡¯s cheek. ¡°It¡¯s now time for my baroness to go to sleep. You know you shouldn¡¯t stay up all night because you¡¯re so excited from thinking of Lord Jude, right?¡± ¡°Am I a child? And I¡¯m not excited because of Jude, so I won¡¯t stay up all night, okay?¡± ¡°Yes, yes, if you say so. I agree. It¡¯s not like that.¡± ¡°I hate Dahlia.¡± ¡°Really? Do you really hate me?¡± When Dahlia met her eyes and spoke, Cordelia had no choice but to surrender. ¡°Somehow, you¡¯re resembling Jude more and more these days, you know?¡± ¡°It¡¯s because the baroness is so cute.¡± It was an irrelevant answer but could also be called a wise answer to a stupid question. ¡°Anyway, you should go to bed now. See you tomorrow.¡± Dahlia made Cordelia lie on the bed before she covered her with a nket and stroked her hair. Dahlia¡¯s behavior and affection was definitely almost like that of a sister and not just that of an escort knight. And that was why. Cordelia grabbed Dahlia¡¯s hand so that she would turn around. Dahlia turned around to ask what Cordelia wanted, and Cordelia slightly opened her mouth when Dahlia faced her. ¡°Miss?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing. Good night, Dahlia.¡± ¡°Yes, miss. Good night too.¡± Dahlia had a wide smile as she left the room, and Cordelia closed her eyes after staring at Dahlia¡¯s back for a while. ¡®Dahlia.¡¯ It¡¯s not just the founding anniversary ball tomorrow. A really big incident will happen. Because there¡¯s very little chance that the Lord Protector will back out from his n. The Devil¡¯s Hand will do something too. ¡®Please don¡¯t get hurt.¡¯ Please don¡¯t get injured from overdoing it. I don¡¯t want to think about Dahlia dying. Because it¡¯s scary to even imagine it. ¡®The genocide of the royal family.¡¯ I¡¯ve been preparing to stop it. Jude and I have even stopped the ¡®war¡¯ that took ce in the wildnds, so we have to stop this event too. But why? ¡®I have this slightly¡­ slightly bad feeling.¡¯ A slightly unfounded worry. She began to have this unidentified ominous feeling after the Banquet of Swords, as if she was sitting on pins and needles. ¡®Is it because we changed history?¡¯ It was after the Banquet of Swords that they began to stop the ck Moon¡¯s terror n in earnest. ¡®But it will be fine.¡¯ We prepared a lot in advance. Because Jude and I did our best that we could do. This ominous feeling is just like a fear of the unknown future. ¡®We¡¯ll protect it.¡¯ The royal family. The royal capital. Everyone including Jude. Cordelia closed her eyes and went to sleep. As Dahlia had said, she should go to sleep early to prepare for tomorrow. But. 1 minute, 2 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes¡­ Cordelia opened her eyes again in the end. She had no choice but to do so. ¡®I can¡¯t sleep!¡¯ Because I¡¯m scared of tomorrow yet looking forward to it too. Because I keep imagining myself fully dressed up and dancing with Jude. ¡®Am I a kid getting excited about a pic?¡¯ Cordelia scolded herself and shut her eyes again, but she soon had to admit it. The fact that her heart kept pounding and that she couldn¡¯t sleep. ¡®Anyway, this is Jude¡¯s fault, this is Jude¡¯s fault.¡¯ Unlike her, he must be sleeping well by now. Cordelia pouted her lips for no reason and turned to the direction of Jude¡¯s room, closing her eyes while feeling a bit annoyed. ¡®I want to see him.¡¯ No matter what. Yes. I want to see him. ¡®What am I thinking?¡¯ Cordelia suddenlyughed a bit before she took a deep breath and focused on trying to sleep again. Because tomorrow was a very important day. It was uneptable if her physical condition was bad because of her excitement. ¡®Sleep.¡¯ For tomorrow. Repressing the ominous feeling in her chest, Cordelia slowly adjusted her breathing. She tried to sleep. *** The morning was bright. It was the same as always, but at the same time, it was different from the usual. In the end, Jude had stayed up all night with his eyes open, and he smiled at Cordelia who had the same tired eyes as him. ¡°Did you not sleep?¡± ¡°I only slept a little¡­ What about you?¡± ¡°I only slept a bit too.¡± Jude and Cordelia eventually looked at each other andughed, while Maja and Dahlia watched the two and thought. ¡®They¡¯re really sweet even in the morning.¡¯ ¡®Oh my, she didn¡¯t sleep.¡¯ But Dahlia could understand it. Even Dahlia herself was so excited that she could only sleep a bit, so Cordelia must have had it harder. The day of the founding anniversary ball. It was a day of the event that they were waiting for. After having breakfast, Jude and Cordelia began their preparations. A final review of their operation and an inspection of theirbat equipment. They dressed themselves after that. Time flew fast and it was nowte in the afternoon. Standing in front of the carriage and looking up at the sky as the sun began to set, Jude suddenlyughed. ¡°Why, why, why.¡± Cordelia was heading his way. She hadn¡¯t changed into the Fairy Dress yet, and she hadn¡¯t even used Angel Mode, but she was still the most beautiful girl in the world. The makeup on her face was quite borate than usual, and she had an expression that looked bashful yet strangely hopeful. Added to that was her beautifully arranged hair. Jude gazed at Cordelia with an enchanted look, and Cordelia somehow felt satisfied with his reaction, oohing as she checked Jude. Jude¡¯s appearance, which was as well-dressed as her, made her raise the corners of her mouth. His wise and mysterious green eyes filled with a strong-willed look. His ck hair went well with his ck tailcoat suit that perfectly fitted his sculpture-like body. ¡®Is it because he¡¯s handsome?¡¯ No, is it not just that? Hearing the beating of her heart that began to pound, Cordelia drew closer to Jude a bit more, and Jude naturally raised his hand. ¡°Let¡¯s go together.¡± ¡°Yes, Baron.¡± The two spoke in a theatrical manner at almost the same time, and they giggled before riding inside the carriage. The distance from the detached pce to the main pce was only a few minutes. However, during that time that felt much longer than usual, Jude and Cordelia were silent instead of talking to each other. They just held each other¡¯s hand tightly and focused on each other. The beating of their hearts became one. Their breathing that was not in harmony at first had now be unified too as if they were one person. An odd tension. Unlike their hot chests, their heads were gradually turning cold. It wasn¡¯t strange. Since the two of them were heading to the battlefield now. ¡°Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s do our best.¡± ¡°You too.¡± The day of the ball and the battle that would decide the fate of the royal capital had now arrived. The carriage stopped, and the two gulped in nervousness. After ncing at each other, they smiled confidently. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± The two simultaneously spoke before they got off the carriage and gazed at the big and beautiful main pce. Two hours before the founding anniversary ball. The time of their decisive battle had arrived. Chapter 185: Founding Anniversary Ball (2)

Chapter 185: Founding Anniversary Ball (2)

Terms used in this chapter: A thief who has learned stealingter than others will not even realize that the day breaks whilemitting a theft. ¨C An idiom which means that when a person bes interested in a certain thingter than others, they tend to be more enthusiastic about it. Saluzia stood and nkly stared at the royal capital. The sun was setting. The red sunset covered the sky, and beyond that red and yellow light, a dark purple gradually spread. The night wasing. The darkness wasing. As she gazed at the sky, day and night changed at some point. The moon and stars shone in the dark blue sky, and below it, the royal capital seemed to forget the night as it shined beautifully. ¡°City of Light.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Koros reacted to Saluzia¡¯s words. He was in his demonic human form because he couldn¡¯t maintain his human form due to the royal capital¡¯s barrier. He was almost 3 meters tall, and two horns stood tall on his head. In terms of size, he was several times taller than Saluzia. Saluzia¡¯s deer antlers grew on her head and she looked back at Koros. It had been 30 years since then. Saluzia spoke about the past in front of her childhood friend who knew everything she wanted to hide because he had been with her from the very beginning as far as she could remember. ¡°Do you remember? On what happened in the royal capital when we were children?¡± ¡°You mean when the director sold us as ves? When we were loaded into a ve wagon that rattled?¡± ¡°Yes, that time.¡± Saluzia was eight years old and Koros was nine years old then. The skinny boy and girl withrge shackles on their ankles sat in a wagon covered with dirty straw and suffered from hunger. ¡°I thought it was pretty.¡± The big and colorful city they saw in the distance. What kind of people live in such a pretty city? Everyone must have a mother and father, right? They can wear pretty clothes and eat delicious food. They don¡¯t get beaten or hurt every day. ¡°Someday¡­ when I be an adult. I promised myself that I would go there once.¡± A vague hope. That something would change when she bes an adult. That this painful life would end when she grows up. That she would be happy. ¡°But I couldn¡¯t go there even when I became an adult.¡± Because the royal capital had a barrier. Saluzia herself had be a demonic human by selling her soul to the devil. ¡°Konny.¡± ¡°Yes, Sannie.¡± ¡°The ce is different from what I imagined, right?¡± ¡°ces like that exist wherever people live. So if you go in a little deeper, it will be the same hellhole.¡± At Koros¡¯ words, Saluzia unknowinglyughed. No, shepletelyughed out loud. ¡°Sannie?¡± ¡°Just, it¡¯s just funny.¡± The city she envied when she was a child. She really wanted to go there once, but she couldn¡¯t. ¡®But I¡¯m going to burn that city now.¡¯ Her heart no longer ached for it. Saluzia herself was a demonic human now, and all of this was for her beloved leader. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Konny.¡± ¡°Yes, Sannie.¡± To destroy that city full of colorful lights that seemed to have forgotten the night. Saluzia closed her eyes and stepped forward. She hummed as she breathed in the cold night air. *** A singing voice. Jude stood by the window and watched the sunset for a while before he turned his gaze back to the front. The grand banquet hall where the founding anniversary ball was held was full of light. The chandeliers under the magnificent ceiling shone beautifully, and magical lights on the walls drove out the darkness. The floor that was shiny enough to reflect the face, and the chattering voices of the people. And the bright and cheerful song of the lively minstrel from afar. Jude took a step back to widen his view, but it was impossible to capture the banquet hall at a nce. In the very spacious banquet hall, around 300-400 people were gathered. Nobles from all over the country and guests from other countries. On top of that, dozens of royal court attendants were active at work for the smooth progress of the banquet, so it was natural that it was crowded. ¡®Henry II.¡¯ Jude¡¯s gaze turned to the end of the upper seats. The notpetent but not that ipetent Henry II was certainly a good king, and he was chatting andughing with his First Queen while the Second and Third Queens were sitting next to him. ¡®There really are a lot.¡¯ In addition to Princess Daphne and Prince Dion sitting next to the queens, there were more than fifteen children of the king. Excluding the first three children, all of them were children of the concubines, so they were far from inheriting the throne, but they were still royalty who possessed the blood of the founder king in their veins. Jude looked at all the royal children except for Princess Darianne, who was currently not present due to some circumstances, and he turned to the wall again. ¡®Duke Antarius, the Lord Protector.¡¯ He stood near the royal family and was chatting with his disciples. They didn¡¯t have any swords since they were at a ball, but they were all swordsmen with excellent skills. ¡®It¡¯s fortunate that themander of the Royal Guard Knights isn¡¯t on the side of the Lord Protector.¡¯ Jude turned his gaze away from the Lord Protector so as not to be suspicious, and he nced around the banquet hall again. From time to time, familiar faces caught his eyes. ¡®Emma Ficus.¡¯ She came with her well-mannered fianc¨¦, but she looked rather down than usual. She would be like that because this ce was the royal capital and not the north. She was a young nobledy who was only popr in the north because of Count Ficus, but in the royal capital, she was just an average noble. ¡®Of course, the 12 northern families are not average nobles.¡¯ It was just how they were normally treated here. Most of the nobles from the royal capital had the notion that they were somehow above the local nobles. ¡®There¡¯s Rachel too.¡¯ Was her name Rachel Bloom? He had met her at the Banquet of Swords, and she together with Lucas¡¯ friends were gathered together as theyughed and chatted. ¡®Sylvia¡¯s here too.¡¯ Sylvia was one of the most beautiful women in the north, though she was a bit less than Cordelia. So even among the noble children of the royal capital, she exhibited a clear presence. She was chatting with Cordelia¡¯s brother, Edward, and it seemed to Jude that they were talking about something business-rted. ¡®My brother should have been there too.¡¯ As the next Count Bayer, he should have been talking with the next Count Chase and the next Countess Crossbell. However, Ga?l did not even attend the founding anniversary ball. Since Adelia chased Cordelia in the north and the wildnds, she had taken so many vacation days that she couldn¡¯t even take a leave for the seeding years. Thus, Adelia was on duty tonight, and Ga?l had gone to the guard post in order to spend time with her. ¡®Since when did he be such a romantic?¡¯ A thief who had learned stealingter than others would not even realize that the day breaks whilemitting a theft, and that was the case for Ga?l. Maja would have said that the two brothers were exactly the same if she had heard Jude¡¯s thoughts, but in any case, Jude did not stop Ga?l from leaving. ¡®It would be reassuring if we even had one stronger ally but¡­ I¡¯m worried about Adelia too.¡¯ It was unknown how the Lord Protector and the Devil¡¯s Hand would act. Adelia was a capable person who could take care of herself in any situation, but there was still a possibility. So he was relieved that Adelia and Ga?l would be together. ¡®My father and her father are over there though.¡¯ Jude had asked them to stay close to the royal family as much as possible, but since the two couldn¡¯t help but meet people, they were moving farther away. ¡®Seryu is not here.¡¯ Seven-Killings Sword, Trickle. But Jude thought that rather than attending the ball wearing a dress, she would look better smiling while lifting a wine ss alone as she leant on the wall. ¡®And Lucas.¡¯ The boy stood alone on the wall as his shoulders drooped like a crestfallen golden retriever. Jude couldn¡¯t help but talk to Lucas when he saw that face. ¡°Lord Lucas.¡± ¡°Oh, Mr. Jude. I mean, Baron Bayer.¡± ¡°You can just say Lord Jude. It¡¯s just between us.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Lucas nodded with a very happy expression. ¡°Thank you for saying that.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. By the way¡­ you look down?¡± When Jude asked openly, Lucas replied as his shoulders fell again. ¡°The truth is¡­ I invited Miss Scarlet to attend the ball with me. But I was rejected.¡± After he finished talking, Lucas¡¯ head lowered a bit, and Jude nced at Lucas¡¯ butt unconsciously. It somehow seemed to Jude that Lucas had a drooping tail. ¡®No, more than that.¡¯ You invited Scarlet to be your partner? ¡®Isn¡¯t what Cordelia saying true then?¡¯ As Jude looked at him in surprise, Lucas opened his mouth again. ¡°After the conferment ceremony¡­ we met on the street by chance.¡± ¡°By chance?¡± ¡°Yes, just like how Biltwein met Elena identally in Biltwein the Hero.¡± Lucas¡¯ gaze and voice were filled with warmth, and Jude was convinced. ¡®He¡¯s in love.¡¯ Well, Scarlet is a beauty. In addition to being confident, she¡¯s also secretly nice. ¡®If Cordelia knew this, she¡¯d love it.¡¯ Whether there was a chance or not, Cordelia was enthusiastic with shipping couples. ¡°Lord Lucas.¡± ¡°Yes, Lord Jude.¡± ¡°Scarlet loves roses.¡± ¡°Excuse me? Ah, yes!¡± Jude could do nothing else but root for Lucas. If it really went well with Lucas, it seemed like Lucas would unshakably be on ¡®their side.¡¯ ¡°I-is there¡­ anything else?¡± Lucas timidly asked, and Jude quietly recalled Scarlet¡¯s setting. And it was at that moment. ¡°Hey~ You were here.¡± The owner of the voice he heard from behind him was First Sword. Greeting both Jude and Lucas, he approached with a smile and tapped Jude on the shoulder before raising his hand. ¡°Nice to meet you.¡± ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you too.¡± It was nice if the man he wanted to stick close to came to him on their own. Jude smiled while Lucas followed his greeting. First Sword looked around then and asked. ¡°But where is your pretty fianc¨¦e?¡± ¡°If it¡¯s Cordelia, she¡¯s preparing with Princess Darianne right now.¡± ¡°With the princess? Why?¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­we prepared a bit of a special dress.¡± The Fairy Dress and Fairy Shoes. Princess Darianne had heard that something mysterious would happen in the process of wearing it, and was so eager to see it so Cordelia had no choice but to change her clothes at the main pce. ¡®I want to see it too.¡¯ It was no exaggeration to say that the Fairy Dress was a kind of polymorph item that turned its wearer into a fairy. There were so many things to see, such as the mysterious light that would appear in the process of wearing it, the wings of light that would appear and disappear for a short moment, and so on. ¡®Of course, even if Princess Darianne wasn¡¯t there, I wouldn¡¯t be able to see it.¡¯ If I said that I wanted to see it, she would have hit me. ¡°Hey, look at that smile. You¡¯re smiling because you¡¯re thinking of your fianc¨¦e, right?¡± ¡°Perhaps¡­?¡± ¡°Ah, you seriously look so happy. It makes me want to stab you.¡± ¡°F-first Sword-nim?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a figure of speech, a figure of speech. It¡¯s not real.¡± At the words of First Sword, Lucas exhaled as if he was truly relieved, and First Sword was interested in Lucas¡¯ innocent appearance. Because he thought that it would be fun to tease Lucas. Anyway, it was the moment when Jude¡¯s imagination and First Sword¡¯s grumbling were about to continue. A small sound. The sound of the one of the doors in the grand banquet hall slowly opening. It was such a small sound. It was just a small sound that could be buried by the sound of the music and the people¡¯s chattering. But at that very moment. When the girl who came to the ballte took a step. Those standing near the door turned their gazes inadvertently. Then they saw the royal court attendant who had opened the door to have frozen in ce, as the attendant stared at one ce with an enchanted face. What¡¯s going on? Why is he like that? Their questions did notst long. The moment their eyes followed the gaze of the attendant, they knew the reason. There were no exmations. There were no words of wonder. There was only silence. They forgot what they were saying the moment they saw her. They were mesmerized the moment they gazed at her. The girl walked in steps. The sound of her footsteps were weak and small, but the sound gradually began to be noticeable. Her footsteps didn¡¯t get louder. It was because her surroundings had be quiet. The silence spread. The stillness spread out. The sound of her footsteps became more and more clear. The silence quickly spread like a me wherever the girl walked. The chattering stopped. And Jude could finally hear it. Her footsteps. Even though his back were facing them, Jude could tell the changes that urred to the countless people. The sounds that had filled the banquet hall diminished. The court musicians¡¯ hands seemed to be slowing down, but they stopped before anyone noticed it, and the minstrel who was singing forgot the lyrics. Henry II and First Queen Justina who were having a conversation also sensed the change in the banquet hall. They raised their heads to know what was going on, and their faces became like the others. And one step. The sound of herst step before the total silence. Except for Jude, hundreds of people looked at the same ce. They couldn¡¯t help but gaze at that ce. It was sopelling. An overwhelming and intense beauty. In that absolute silence, Jude gulped in nervousness. And he finally turned around to face her. ¡°Corde-¡­¡± He opened his mouth and stopped. He couldn¡¯t even properly call her name. The moment he saw her, he was spellbound. Because he fell in love again. A star. A girl who shone alone among the countless people. The Fairy Dress wasn¡¯t that fancy. She didn¡¯t tighten her waist, nor was it filled with heavy and dull decorations. The fluttering white cloth flowed down along Cordelia¡¯s smooth shoulder line, and her skirt naturally ?drew a soft line. And a faint heavenly aura surrounded the girl. The girl stood shyly and seemed to pout before she smiled with her fangs visible. She took a step again and drew closer to Jude, whispering. ¡°How long¡­are you going to keep me waiting?¡± Perhaps because of everyone¡¯s gaze, she spoke with a red face, and Jude finally came to his senses. No, he took Cordelia¡¯s hand while still captivated. ¡®Correction¡­effect.¡¯ The Fairy Dress and Fairy Shoes had effects that greatly increased one¡¯s beauty and charm respectively. In addition, there was a correction effect because of her Angel Mode, so it was natural that a truly transcendental beauty was born. Therefore. Thus. In the end, Jude admitted it. He gave up exining it through its game effects. No matter how much he tried to understand it by recing it with numbers, he still couldn¡¯t understand it. ¡°Cordelia, let¡¯s dance.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± Cordelia unconsciously asked. She would act like that because the ce was really silent now. There wasn¡¯t even a small sound of music, let alone a song, and everyone present was even looking her way. But he wants to dance now? That¡¯s too much. That¡¯spletely too much. But Cordelia nodded her head without realizing it. She did that the moment she met eyes with Jude. And after that, everything went naturally. Jude hugged Cordelia¡¯s waist, and she gently leaned against him. And one step. The dance of the two began. Chapter 186: Founding Anniversary Ball (3)

Chapter 186: Founding Anniversary Ball (3)

Well, I tried to release a chapter on my break day, but I only ended up doing 1/3 of it yesterday, ehehe. Anyway, here¡¯s the chapter that I nned to release yesterday. I¡¯ll ¡®try¡¯ to release the chapter for Mondayter since this episode ended with a cliffhanger. Who came to their senses first? No one knew. But it was clear that the time that had stopped at some point began to flow again. Their eyes reflected Jude and Cordelia dancing. The two didn¡¯t know what they should dance since there was no music, but that didn¡¯t matter in the first ce. They were two people who could understand each other¡¯s thoughts by just looking into their eyes. Light steps. Rather than sticking to a dance pattern, they just enjoyed this present moment. Smiles appeared on the faces of those who were watching with rapt attention. Just like the silence, admiration and joy quickly spread too. And music began to y again. People stepped back and made room, and the minstrel tried to capture the scene in front of his eyes instead of singing. Count Bayer smiled. Count Chase hurriedly searched his pockets in order to find a mana stone for video recording. And Jude and Cordelia gazed at each other. Before they knew it, they forgot the stares around them and only focused on each other. They did not suppress the smile spreading on their faces. ¡®Come to think of it, this is our first time.¡¯ ¡®First time?¡¯ ¡®To dance like this.¡¯ ¡®Because the timing wasn¡¯t good when we were in Langesthei.¡¯ At the social gathering of the children from the northern families. They had clearly prepared for the ball then, but they didn¡¯t have the time to dance because the ce was attacked. ¡®During Emma¡¯s birthday party, the atmosphere wasn¡¯t good for dancing.¡¯ ¡®You¡¯re right.¡¯ Because Cordeliapletely destroyed the atmosphere there. ¡®In fact, isn¡¯t it the same now?¡¯ Something big would happen to the royal capital in a few hours at thetest. ¡®I guess. But it won¡¯t make a difference if we made an impression now, right?¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s also true.¡¯ Cordelia smiled and leaned a little more on Jude. His arm that held her waist firmly supported her. ¡®Lord Jude from the Bayer family.¡¯ ¡®What is it, Lady Cordelia from the Chase family?¡¯ Giggling at his yful response, Cordelia looked up again at Jude and said. ¡®Aren¡¯t you a bit good in dancing?¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s because of my Cheonmujiche. Didn¡¯t I say that it makes me good at anything I do with my body?¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s too good.¡¯ Will something bad happen if you don¡¯t brag for a day though? But I don¡¯t hate it. I can¡¯t hate it. Cordelia averted her gaze and looked elsewhere. It wasn¡¯t because she was suddenly embarrassed to face him. It was because she didn¡¯t want him to know her thoughts. Just a few minutes ago. When Jude had turned around towards her. ¡®Hehe, he was very enchanted earlier.¡¯ He stood there with his mouth agape. I wish I could somehow take a picture of that. I didn¡¯t expect theposed Jude to make such a stupid looking face. ¡®And¡­¡¯ The reason why he made such a face was because of me. My face had strangely turned red at that. But why did my own cheeks flush red when it was him who did something embarrassing? Cordelia slightly pouted her lips and nced away before she looked at Jude again. The moment she faced his green eyes, the gaze of her blue eyes shifted to another ce as if running away. ¡°Hehehe.¡± Why is heughing? Should I know why? No, I don¡¯t want to know why. ¡®It¡¯s hard.¡¯ Jude¡¯s arm. I mean, Jude¡¯s embrace. I didn¡¯t think it was like this when we were in the wildnds. When did he be so reliable? T/N: ???? can both mean ¡®hard¡¯ and ¡®reliable.¡¯ So Jude¡¯s arm is hard/firm, while his embrace made Cordelia feel that he was reliable. ¡®He¡¯s grown so tall.¡¯ She was able to tell now that she faced him from the front like this. And his arms had berge enough for Cordelia herself to fit in his embrace. ¡®His hands are big too.¡¯ He had long fingers. She thought that there would be a difference of more than a few centimeters if they touched each other¡¯s palms. Cordelia¡¯s fingers twitched unconsciously at that moment, and Jude also moved his hand. Their hands that were holding each other moved in different directions, and their hands soon found their proper ces as if they were cogwheels interlocking with each other. In between each other¡¯s fingers. It was so natural after that. As if it had been like this from the beginning, their hands filled each other¡¯s gaps and became one. sped hands. The hold of their hands felt much tighter than usual because of their interlocking fingers. Cordelia bit her lips. Otherwise, she felt like she was going tough like a fool. Why? Why is my heart pounding like this? ¡®It feels strange.¡¯ It¡¯s so different from our usual holding hands. It feels like I¡¯m restraining Jude and I¡¯m being restrained by him too. But I like the feeling of us restraining each other like this. Far from feeling uneasy, my heart keeps pounding. ¡®My face is red.¡¯ I can tell without looking in the mirror. Because my face feels hot. I can feel my cheeks burning hot. Cordelia shifted her gaze once more to see Jude, and she bit her lips again. She tried her best to suppress her smile, but she ended up smiling brightly. Because Jude¡¯s face was red. It was burning red. ¡®How exciting.¡¯ It¡¯s Jude and not anyone else. It¡¯s the Jude who¡¯s unashamed in writing words of love when we¡¯re separated, the Jude who can casually say out loud that I am precious. But he has a shy and red face now. Just look at those red earlobes. ¡®Ufufu.¡¯ What can I call this feeling? A feeling of achievement? A feeling of satisfaction? It feels like I¡¯ve won? Like, you¡¯re embarrassed too, right? You now know how I feel when my face turns red, right? ¡®Hey, your face is red too, okay?¡¯ ¡®Why are you being childish. Are you embarrassed that your face is red?¡¯ ¡®You¡¯re red too though?¡¯ ¡®Yes, yes, in my case, my face turns red often. But what about you? What about you?¡¯ Cordelia slyly smiled, and Jude eventually gave up. Because the brightly smiling Cordelia was so lovely. And they continued their dance. Jude and Cordelia listened to the music. Their dance had began spontaneously, but they were able to match to the beat of the music in a short time because the two were skilled in moving their bodies. And after some time, the two knew. The fact that the song would soon end. The time when their dance would be over was now approaching. Therefore, Cordelia looked at Jude instead of closing her eyes. Jude also met eyes with Cordelia. Instead of having a conversation with their eyes, they simply stared at each other. And the end eventually came. Both of their feet stopped, and they sighed in relief. But they didn¡¯t release their sped hands. Their fingers twitched as if expressing their regret. If possible, they wanted to keep doing this. But the two knew that it was impossible. Because thunderous apuse filled the grand banquet hall, filling in the void of the music that had ended. ¡®It¡¯s 12 o¡¯clock.¡¯ The grinning Cordelia closed her lips and left Jude¡¯s arms. She slightly lifted the sides of her skirt with her hands, and gave a bow to everyone. And the sound of apuse burst again, followed by music that began ying anew. Several people began to dance at that moment. ¡°Haa.¡± At a balcony of the grand banquet hall. Cordelia hid behind the curtains to avoid people¡¯s gaze for a while, and she took several breaths. ¡°I can live now.¡± Because the air was cold. Her burning red face seemed to cool off for a bit too. Cordelia panted as if she was exhausted, and nced at Jude before smiling in satisfaction again. Just like her, Jude¡¯s face was red, and he was also catching his breath. ¡°Fufufu. I won.¡± ¡°Wait, what did you win from?¡± ¡°I won, I won. I won. I won, okay?¡± The grinning Cordelia put her arms on the balcony railing and smiled again. ¡°Haa, I¡¯m tired.¡± ¡°Are you okay? Would you like a potion?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine though? What about you?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve absorbed the Sphere of Life, so if I just stand still, my HP and stamina will fill up again.¡± ¡°I see, that¡¯s great. You¡¯re like Captain America. You can move all day long without getting tired, huh?¡± ¡°If it¡¯s just dancing, I can do it for days, okay?¡± ¡°Oh my, look at you bragging nonsense.¡± As Cordelia clicked her tongue, Jude coughed in his awkwardness. ¡°Anyway, are you okay?¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m fine.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you feel cold? Your clothes look thin. Your entire shoulders are exposed. You might catch a cold.¡± When Jude viewed the Fairy Dress and spoke, Cordelia confidently smiled as her fangs glistened. ¡°It¡¯s fine, I¡¯m really fine. Have you forgotten? The Winter Protection?¡± ¡°I see. But you still look cold, so let¡¯s put something on.¡± As he said that, Jude took off his coat and put it over Cordelia¡¯s shoulders, and Cordelia¡¯s lips squirmed. ¡®What¡¯s wrong with me?¡¯ Originally, I was going to say ¡®Wow~¡¯ and tease him. But I can¡¯t do it. Somehow, my lips are tightly sealed. ¡®Jude¡¯s smell.¡¯ Of course, it seems to be a sweaty smell because he¡¯s sweating, but anyway, it¡¯s the smell of Jude. As Cordelia sniffed a bit, Jude was visibly embarrassed, pulling the sleeves of his hanging coat in order to sniff it. ¡°This¡­ Does it smell?¡± ¡°Yes, it does. A lot. Hmm~ it smells a lot.¡± At the words of Cordelia known for her animal-like senses, Jude tried to retrieve his coat again, but he couldn¡¯t. Cordelia held the coat with both her hands and snorted. ¡°Why are you trying to take what you gave me?¡± ¡°You said it smells.¡± ¡°That¡¯s that and this is this.¡± ¡°What is that and this?¡± ¡°I wonder?¡± Perhaps her red face had clouded her judgment, but Cordelia did not stop smiling. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m really happy.¡± ¡°I feel happy too. Everyone in the world knows now. The beauty of Cordelia.¡± ¡°My goodness, seriously. Hey, this is my beauty. It¡¯s not yours, okay?¡± ¡°Hey, why are you saying that? I¡¯m someone who knows everything about you.¡± ¡°What do you know? You don¡¯t know everything about Cordelia.¡± If someone had seen the two, they would have taken out their bamboo spears in their annoyance and want to stab the two, but the two were the only ones here, and both of them were satisfied with their childish banter, so there was no problem. ¡°But Jude. If you think about it, isn¡¯t this a problem?¡± ¡°What part?¡± ¡°I mean, like¡­ we seriously stood out on Emma¡¯s birthday party, right?¡± ¡°We did.¡± ¡°But if you think about it, today is the birthday of our S?len Kingdom, right?¡± ¡°So?¡± ¡°Then, umm¡­ aren¡¯t the royalty the main characters today?¡± At the development of her quite good reasoning, Jude nodded his head. ¡°They were. You might not know since you were changing your clothes¡­ but until you came out, Princess Daphne had led the opening ceremony and was actually the main character.¡± ¡°Oh, it was like that. I see¡­ Wait, what? Princess Daphne was the main character?¡± ¡°Yes, Her Royal Majesty, the First Queen, still has a jaw-dropping beauty, but it¡¯s natural for Princess Daphne to be the main character of the ball since she¡¯s single and of marriageable age. She¡¯s also the royalty acknowledged as the next monarch.¡± It was a sound argument. But that was also the reason why Cordelia turned pale. ¡°Hey, you crazy b*stard! You knew that would happen, right?¡± What am I going to do! What if Princess Daphne gets angry! As Cordelia hit Jude in the shoulder and chest with her fist, Jude responded, pretending that it wasn¡¯t painful. ¡°It¡¯s okay since it¡¯s a little different from a birthday party. This isn¡¯t a wedding too. Besides, we¡¯re from the S?len Kingdom and not from another country, right? So it¡¯s not a problem.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s true.¡± ¡°Will you take responsibility?¡± ¡°Of course, Princess. I will take full responsibility.¡± ¡°Hmph. Okay, I¡¯ll forgive you.¡± ¡°Thank you, Your Highness.¡± Jude replied in a theatrical manner, and Cordeliaughed while criticizing him for being weird. ¡®Come to think of it¡­¡¯ sped hands. Cordelia¡¯s fingers twitched as she gently smiled. ¡®Let¡¯s try againter.¡¯ Not today butter. I actually want to do it now, but I should do itter. ¡®No. Should I just do it now?¡¯ There¡¯s nothing wrong with it. It¡¯s not that of a big deal. Cordelia pretended that it was fine, and she nced at Jude. She slowly stretched out her hand towards Jude. And when the ck-hearted Jude smiled a bit slyly at her actions. Cordelia suddenly raised her head. She roughly reached out and grabbed Jude by the cor, shouting as she pulled him towards her. ¡°¡± A transparent shelter. And at that moment, Jude also realized it. No, he had no choice but to realize it. The light. And the explosion. The ceiling of the grand banquet hall copsed with a tremendous roar. Chapter 187: Founding Anniversary Ball (4)

Chapter 187: Founding Anniversary Ball (4)

It¡¯s here~! The twist is here. Anyway, it¡¯s a cliff again, hahaha. Adelia and Ga?l, who were facing each other and having a sweet kiss, jumped from their seats and looked out the window. Towards the royal pce. They didn¡¯t hear wrong. There was indeed a tremendous roar. But they had no time to figure out why. The two were forced to turn towards the opposite window. Beyond the guard post. Higher than the walls that surrounded the royal capital. Hundreds of people dived down amidst a rain of mes. *** The Seven-Killings Sword, Seryu, was sitting in a crouched position as she raised her head. She was surprised by the roar from the direction of the pce. But instead of running to the pce, she drew her sword. The main gate of the royal capital. Usually, the gate should have been closed when the sun set, but it was now open. And there were peopleing from beyond it. What happened? No, who ising? Seryu turned to the pce again and made a decision. Instead of the royal pce, she flew towards the main gate of the royal capital. *** While sitting on a high spire and watching the street y on the roadside, Scarlet turned to the pce. Most people didn¡¯t hear it because of the noise from the festival, but not for Scarlet. An explosion sound from the royal pce¡¯s direction. And at the same time, shouts began to be heard from the side of the capital¡¯s walls. What is it? What¡¯s going on? ¡°Pink Bomb.¡± Scarlet unknowingly murmured as she kicked the ground. *** Koros stood at the main gate of the royal capital and stretched his arms. He chillingly smiled when he saw Seryu running towards him. The east and west gates were opened. It was not from outside but from inside. Mion and Barras, officers of the Royal Guard, didn¡¯t stop at just opening the gates as they set fire to the gunpowder and food storage areas. As disciples of the Lord Protector, they reced the roles of what the ck Moon should have yed. *** mes soared all throughout the royal capital. The demonic followers came in through the east and west gates, joining those who had already infiltrated. All those who pretended to visit the royal capital in order to celebrate the founding anniversary finally showed their true colors, and their number reached a thousand. Their plot was simple. They abolished their original n to cause terror in several ces in the royal capital, and decided to attack the royal capital itself. The Blue Moon¡¯s guild master, Supp¨¦, was attacking a branch of the ck Moon and felt the situation changing. He ordered his men to retreat and looked back at Janifer. ¡°Let¡¯s run.¡± Let¡¯s leave it to the knights to fight back. Janifer did not refuse. *** The main pce copsed. Just as how the Devil¡¯s Hand raised the scale, the Lord Protector also raised the scale. Destroy the grand banquet hall. Forcefully create a situation in which the royal family must escape. And block at the same time. Those that made him uneasy. The strong people that the Lord Protector himself couldn¡¯t easily fight. ¡°Kyaaa!¡± ¡°Save me! Help!¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been buried!¡± Screams were heard in the dust and smoke. So the Lord Protector closed his eyes for a while and waited. It was not just the copse of the building that he had prepared. ¡°Keuaaaak!¡± A different kind of scream rang out. Screams followed one after another, and their fear finally took shape. ¡°Z-zombies!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t get bitten! Run!¡± The royal pce servants had been infected. They were released in time with the copse, and they became wild beasts as nned, causing fear and confusion in the grand banquet hall. It wasn¡¯t a true undead monster, but a beast created through a disease by infecting living people, so it was easily spread inside the royal pce. ¡°Lord Protector! Lord Protector! This way! Lord Protector!¡± At the desperate cries, the Lord Protector faintly smiled. King Henry II was looking for him. As he had expected. ¡°Your Majesty!¡± The Lord Protector cried out loud before he headed towards the royal family. *** Emma Ficus thought that she would die. Because a huge b of rock fell over her head. But she did not die. Her head was not crushed, nor did she shed a drop of blood. ¡°Corde¡­lia?¡± Cordelia did not immediate respond to Emma¡¯s stunned voice. After throwing away the rock she had lifted with her telekic power, she turned to Emma and shouted. ¡°To the center!¡± The center of the grand banquet hall. Emma reflexively followed Cordelia¡¯s words and saw. Count Chase was standing there. Giant stone pirs rose from the floor and supported the copsed ceiling, forming a safe zone. Of course, it was usually much safer to go out of the pce. But not now. The garden was on fire, and they could hear the screams of zombies. The outside was a more dangerous ce than inside the copsing pce. ¡°F*ck.¡± The situation was bad. This was originally not supposed to happen. It was normally impossible to install magic circles and explosives that could explode in the royal pce, or hide zombies all over the banquet hall, or even sprinkle mmable chemicals in the garden. The Royal Guard was on patrol. But they were able to do it. Since the Lord Protector received the king¡¯s absolute trust, it was possible for him to trick the eyes of the Royal Guard and do the things that were happening now. The two had considered dropping a few hints to Princess Daphne, but it was still impossible for them topletely block it. Jude and Cordelia did not have the permission to search the royal pce. ¡°Hurry!¡± Cordelia shouted again, but Emma couldn¡¯t get up and run. Because her legs had weakened. But her fianc¨¦ was with her. He somehow carried Emma on his back while trembling, and he ran towards the center protected by Count Chase. ¡°There¡¯s no sword!¡± Someone shouted, and Lucas strongly agreed. He had no sword. The only ones who could bring a sword to the ball where the king attended were the Royal Guard Knights, who served as the royalty¡¯s guards, and the Ten Great Swordmasters, the pride of the S?len Kingdom. ¡°Give me a sword!¡± When Lucas shouted at some Royal Guard Knights who were swinging their swords against the zombies, one of them drew a spare sword and threw it to Lucas. There were only a few traitors among the Royal Guard Knights, but the zombies had risen into the dozens before they knew it. Lucas stopped thinking for now. He swung his sword and cut the zombies in front of him. ¡°Jude!¡± Cordelia cried. And Jude understood what Cordelia was talking about. Instead of running to the center where Count Chase was, he threw a sharp gaze. King Henry II shouted something to the Lord Protector who nodded his head. At that moment, a bright light covered the ce. ¡®The royal family¡¯s exclusive teleport!¡¯ An emergency escape n that was only for the king, which would lead them to a shelter hidden in the basement of the royal pce. But only a few people could be moved. Only the king and the three queens, as well as their immediate descendants ¨C Princess Daphne, Prince Dion, and Princess Darianne, were allowed to use it. The concubines, their children, and Henry II¡¯s cousins were forced to rely on the Lord Protector and his disciples. ¡°Come this way!¡± The Lord Protector led the royal family. He probably made an agreement with the king to meet again at the shelter. ¡®Just like the original.¡¯ To annihte the royalty there. ¡°Lord Protector!¡± Jude shouted out loud. His shout was quite loud and thunderous, but the falling rocks buried Jude¡¯s cry. The Lord Protector and the royalty left the grand banquet hall through a secret door. Instead of running towards Count Chase, Cordelia ran after the Lord Protector, and so did Jude. No, to be precise, she ran towards a man who was on their path. ¡°First Sword!¡± Even though they omitted adding honorifics to his name, First Sword faced Jude with a serious face instead of being angry. ¡°Do you know something?¡± ¡°This way!¡± They didn¡¯t have the time to exin. Jude simply appealed, and First Sword did not take a long time to agree. He immediately nodded and started running after Cordelia. The screams continued. An explosion sounded again, and part of the pce copsed while the fire that burned the garden spread to the main pce. Due to the Royal Guard Knights¡¯ struggle, the number of zombies rapidly declined, but the situation was still chaotic. ¡°Lord Protector!¡± Cordelia shouted again and kicked the secret door. And she swallowed her scream when she smelled the scent of blood that pierced her nose. The royal family had been killed in the secret passage. Not only the concubines but also the children. Moreover, they suffered terrible deaths. Some had broken necks, while some were split into two from their waist. They had irregr and rough wounds, as if they were bitten by a beast¡¯s teeth. As soon as they entered the secret passage, the Lord Protector had killed the royalty. After he killed the young and weak ones with his rough swordsmanship, he left. To kill more royalty. To kill the immediate royal family members who would be hiding in the shelter. Jude and Cordelia had to stop him. They had to catch up to the Lord Protector and stop him. Cordelia used her magic. At the same time she transformed into a witch, she smashed the secret passage with her powerful mana. Beyond the wall. Where the Lord Protector had passed. Jude took the lead. Cordelia and First Sword followed. Outside the secret passage. The hallway of the main pce was ruined by the copse and explosions. They saw the back of the Lord Protector. Jude called him, and Cordelia fired a de of ck mana. ng! The Lord Protector turned and swung his sword. As he deflected the ck de, he saw Jude, Cordelia, and First Sword next to him. Jude clenched his fist. They had to stop him here. In this ce, they had to stop the Lord Protector. Jude himself and Cordelia. And even First Sword. They had enough power. They would be able to stop and subdue the Lord Protector. Rather, the only thing they should worry about was the Lord Protector escaping. And the disciples of the Lord Protector they hadn¡¯t seen. Where did they go? Did they go ahead first? Or were they nning something different? The two did not know. Therefore, they focused on the Lord Protector. They made stopping him their top priority. ¡°Lord Protector, you traitor.¡± Jude said. By saying such strong words, it attracted the attention of the Lord Protector. Cordelia also screamed and took a step. ¡°I know all your ns! You¡¯re nning to cut off the blood of the royal family and neutralize the barrier of the royal capital!¡± It worked. The Lord Protector looked their way with surprised eyes. Instead of turning around and running away, he showed interest in Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Indeed, you¡¯re the demon hunters.¡± One of the aliases given to Jude and Cordelia as a result of their achievements in the north. ¡°We won¡¯t let you! We¡¯ll stop you here!¡± Cordelia shouted again, and spread out her angelic wings of light. She was nning to use Fallen Angel Mode, but she had spread out her wings first in order to get the Lord Protector¡¯s attention even by just a bit. And it worked again. At the sight of the pure white light that spread, the Lord Protector let out a small voice of surprise. ¡®A little over 30 meters.¡¯ Jude awakened the energy of the ck dragon and measured the distance between himself and the Lord Protector. ¡®What I need is one attack.¡¯ An attack that would grab his feet but not necessarily defeat him. ¡®That will do.¡¯ They had First Sword with them. His quick sword that was like the light would deal with the Lord Protector. ¡°Is it the Guardians of the Holy Cross?¡± The Lord Protector asked, and Cordelia nodded again. She silently chanted a magic spell. And the Lord Protectorughed. Not because Cordelia¡¯s words were ridiculous. Because he, who did not know much about Jude and Cordelia, could only think that the Guardians of the Holy Cross had known all of his shady actions. ¡°It¡¯s the end.¡± The end of living under the name of the Lord Protector. All that was left now was just a traitor who betrayed the royal family. No, he knew this would happen anyway. He had raised the scale in order to create the current situation now. The Lord Protector let his shoulders fall down. Instead of raising his sword and taking a battle posture, he sheathed his sword. What was the reason? Did he give up? Did he admit that he had no chance of winning? It wasn¡¯t that. It wasn¡¯t the reason. The Lord Protector just thought that there was no need to fight. That was why he sheathed his sword. Why? What made him do that? ¡°Jude!¡± Cordelia quickly screamed, and Jude hurriedly used Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt. A sword. He was cut. No, he wasn¡¯t injured. He had mistakenly thought that he was cut because of the terrifyingly fast sword. Jude¡¯s breathing grew rough. Cordelia too couldn¡¯t hide the restlessness she felt. The ominous feeling. Her unidentified worry after the Banquet of Swords. She now knew. Why such feelings arose after the Banquet of Swords. ¡°I told you, right?¡± First Sword. The Sword Saint of Light, Rhun Froud. ¡°Because of you two, I decided to stay.¡± He smiled as he raised his sword. Chapter 188: Founding Anniversary Ball (5)

Chapter 188: Founding Anniversary Ball (5)

First Sword is actually supposed to be ¡®Best Sword¡¯, and I only realized it at the part when he was called ¡®Best Sword¡¯ because he was the ¡®best¡¯ in the Sword School. But having read the future chapters, I didn¡¯t bother changing it because I didn¡¯t like him in the first ce. Terms used in this chapter: Sr re ¨C this was actually the blinding light attack move Jude used on his match with First Sword in the Banquet of Swords. It¡¯s a reference to Dragon Ball¡¯s Sr re move, and Sr re is also known as Sun Fist or Sr Fist. What happened? Why was First Sword on the Lord Protector¡¯s side? First Sword in the game. He was not in the royal capital. To begin with, the Banquet of Swords itself was not held, so he went back to the Sword School after taking care of a few things in the royal capital. What had happened after that? He wasn¡¯t involved in anything big. He was a character whose setting was close to Princess Daphne and Prince Dion. After the S?len Kingdom was nearly destroyed, he also died when the Sword School was destroyed by one of the 7 major cmities, Georg the yer, but that was all that they knew about him. Even if Jude and Cordelia were rotten waters, it was impossible for them to know what was not known in the game. It was the same reason why they didn¡¯t know how Lena died, or where and what Velkian and Fran were doing at this time. ¡®But¡­ but even so¡­¡¯ They had never imagined it. Although First Sword¡¯s achievements that was indirectly revealed in the game was short, there was nothing very strange about it. ¡®Moreover, the reason for his betrayal.¡¯ The reason why such a swordsman turned to the demon followers. Jude knew why the Lord Protector became a traitor. He was afraid of death. To be exact, he wanted to live and enjoy a long life. But he did not want to be an undead with a rotting body. Rather, he wanted to recover his body in his prime, and there was only one way to fulfill his wishes, to the best of his knowledge. ¡®Turn himself into a demonic human.¡¯ Be one with the demon. And in doing so, he would be an immortal being that transcended humans. The Lord Protector wanted to be united with a great demon, who would raise his existence to a higher level and not be just an ordinary demon, so the Devil¡¯s Hand demanded that he annihte the royalty in return. Jude understood the Lord Protector. Rather than sympathizing with his thoughts, Jude reasonably understood why he had such an idea and why it motivated him to betray the country he had protected for his entire life. The reason why the Lord Protector developed into that kind of person could be shortened into the phrase, ¡®the strong prey on the weak.¡¯ His character was formed by that. An obsession with life. He had been strong at one time, but he had now declined and was considered the weakest among the Ten Great Swordmasters. But First Sword was different. He was still young. It was strange to say that he was younger than Jude because of Jude¡¯s previous life, but in any case, it didn¡¯t make sense for him to betray the country because he was afraid of dying from old age. Moreover, he was a recognized genius. What on earth did heck? Why did he betray the S?len Kingdom? When he saw the talents of Maximilian and Leon, wasn¡¯t he someone who even worried about the S?len Kingdom¡¯s need for such a talent? ¡®There are two possibilities.¡¯ One was that First Sword took apletely different path from the game due to the butterfly effect that they caused for the past six months. But that possibility was low. Rather, the other one was much more realistic. It was possible that he was a person rted to the demon followers even in the game. Among the Ten Great Swordmasters, there were some who turned to the demon followers after the fall of the S?len Kingdom. And most of them abandoned their old names and took up new names. If that was the case, it was possible that First Sword did so too. His death while protecting the Sword School was a hoax, and he started using a different name on that day. ¡®That isn¡¯t important right now.¡¯ In one breath. No, maybe even a little longer than that. Jude had many thoughts at once, but he did not continue it for long. ¡°It¡¯s useless.¡± Cordelia said, and Jude agreed. The reason for First Sword¡¯s betrayal. The rtionship between First Sword and the demon followers. Would it be possible to change the mind of First Sword by finding out the reason? Would Jude be able to suggest something better so that First Sword would point his sword to the Lord Protector? That was impossible. Looking at the current First Sword, Jude himself could tell. The eyes of First Sword was shining. Like a child with an interesting toy in front of them, First Sword smiled as his eyes glistened. ¡°I¡¯ll leave it to you.¡± The Lord Protector turned around and began running again. But Jude and Cordelia, nor First Sword, looked at him. Because the former could not let their guard down even for a moment, while thetter was more interested in the two in front of him than the Lord Protector. ¡°I wasn¡¯t really going to get involved.¡± First Sword and the Lord Protector. Were they really colleagues? Was their rtionship something that one could call as true colleagues? First Sword had no intention of intervening in the Lord Protector¡¯s n. The Lord Protector did not ask for help, perhaps because of his pride, and he did not strongly ask for help from the Devil¡¯s Hand either. There was a separate contract between First Sword and the Devil¡¯s Hand. ¡®So until that day came¡­ I tried to live quietly as First Sword.¡¯ The S?len Kingdom. The S?len royal family. In the first ce, First Sword¡¯s loyalty to the royal family wasn¡¯t very strong. He was the best sword in the Sword School, and not a royal knight unlike the other Ten Great Swordmasters. ¡®Cornwell seemed to misunderstand it a bit though.¡¯ When he told Cornwell what he felt in the empire, thetter misunderstood it as loyalty to the kingdom. It was quite a reasonable misunderstanding, but it was useful for him here and there. ¡®Especially to these children right now.¡¯ He talked about the future of the kingdom with a serious look on his face, and the good children believed him. First Sword snickered as he stared at Jude and Cordelia again. The Banquet of Swords that he thought would never be held. The two people he met there. Children who further amplified his thoughts that Maximilian and Leon had started. ¡°Jude, did you know? That I like you and Cordelia.¡± He was serious. First Sword liked the two. He did not lie when he said that he stayed in the royal capital because of the two. He wanted to see it once. What these children could do. And what would happen then. ¡®I also wanted to see them at the ball.¡¯ And he waspletely satisfied with the result. Cordelia was astonishingly beautiful, and the young love between the two was very cute and adorable. ¡®To the point where I want to destroy it.¡¯ Just like a desire to stain the pure white snow. I want to break them. I want to humiliate them. I want to trample them. ¡®Yes, I¡¯ve been waiting for this.¡¯ The very moment we would face each other as enemies. I wanted to do so from the first time we met. I wanted to break you two. ¡°I won¡¯t kill you.¡± Because I like you two. It¡¯s such a waste to kill you two here. Cordelia did not curse like usual. Jude opened his mouth to speak instead of attacking or running away. ¡°Do you know¡­ what will happen?¡± When all the royal family members die. When the barrier would disappear as a result, and the divine sword ¨ªomh Sis would fall into the hands of the demon followers. ¡°Yes, I know. Roughly.¡± ¡°Is that true? Do you really know? The barrier does not just defend or search for enemies.¡± The barrier had the ability to reveal the true form of demonic humans and could capture the location where demonic energy was released. It suppressed the power of demons that could be used for summoning demons in the royal capital, and even in the creation of demonic humans. But it wasn¡¯t just that. A properly operated barrier could do more than that. ¡°That¡¯s right. That¡¯s why the demon followers are trying to get rid of the barrier. And in the midst of this, I like that you two still use polite words to me.¡± First Sword smiled and Jude made up his mind. It was impossible to buy time with words anymore. ¡°As I thought, I like you two.¡± First Sword said. And then the light burst. There was no sound. A swift sword faster than the eyes could see cut through the space. ¡®Five moves.¡¯ It was simr to that time in the Banquet of Swords, yet also different. Back then, it was a simple test, but now, it was a real battle. But it was simr in that First Sword was not doing his best. He would not kill them. He limited himself to a number of moves that would not kill them. He suppressed his power. He also lowered the speed of his sword attack by a bit. Twaaaak! The space above Jude¡¯s head split. Rather than avoiding the attack, Jude flew as if he was running away, and he lowered himself to the ground and looked at First Sword. The moment First Sword swung his sword the second time, Jude kicked the ground. Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt. A thunderbolt that was faster than the wind. But it was seen in First Sword¡¯s eyes. As an experienced swordsman, he was able to read and calcte Jude¡¯s movements. In addition, one that Jude overlooked. ¡®Yes, I won¡¯t overdo it.¡¯ Because he had no intention to kill them. But even so, it was still the Sword of Light. He sharply turned his sword the moment he unfolded his sword attack. Jude saw it. He read the trajectory. But the only thing he could do was to avoid it. Even the attack that was slower than usual was still fast. No, it was the difference of his absolute skill and not just his speed. Jude¡¯s cheek was cut. The tip of his shoulder was cut a bit too, and warm blood flowed. But Jude couldn¡¯t stop. He had to buy time. The third move of First Sword should not be aimed at Cordelia. He used Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt again. But it was toote. The moment Jude groaned in pain, Cordelia rushed towards First Sword. Three consecutive spells. A tremendous speed that was unimaginable for a wizard, but First Sword was someone who could even read the Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt. He swung his sword. He tried to hurt Cordelia with the same trick he used on Jude. And Cordelia saw the sword of First Sword. She understood it the moment she saw it, without the process of reading or calcting it. She instinctively did something that Jude couldn¡¯t think of ¨C no, he thought of it, but it was not something he could execute. ¡®He won¡¯t kill us.¡¯ She used those words in reverse. Cordelia believed in the skill of First Sword. So instead of twisting her body to avoid the sword, she pushed her own throat into the direct line of his attack. ¡°Cordelia!¡± Jude screamed and First Sword was confused by Cordelia¡¯s sudden behavior. He quickly changed the course of his sword, and as a result, he exposed a gap. And Cordelia did not miss that moment. An animal. A wild beast. A monster who instinctively read the flow of the battlefield. Blood flowed down Cordelia¡¯s fair neck. Cordelia rushed towards First Sword, and before he could do his next move, she fired a shot of pure mana. Bang! She pushed out First Sword. After he crashed into the wall, she kept pushing. Because Jude wanted it. Because Jude wanted to buy time. ¡°Aaaaaaah!¡± Double casting, Spell¡¯s Echo, and high-speed chanting. She didn¡¯t use Arkeman¡¯s treasure. Instead, she poured out all the mana she could muster in an instant towards First Sword. ¡°Die!¡± She knew it was impossible. But she was still serious. And Jude threw his body. He grabbed Cordelia by the waist and rolled on the floor. A sword attack. A burst of light cut the magic attack. A pure white light cut through the ce where Cordelia was standing until just now. ¡°¡± Cordelia shouted, and the Sword of Light struck the translucent shield. It couldn¡¯t stop it. The sword of First Sword couldn¡¯t be blocked by magic. But Cordelia still shouted. To buy even a bit more time. The shield cracked. It made his sword attack dull, even by just a bit. It slowed the speed of his sword attack. And at that moment, Jude opened the fifth door. The entire ce was shaken by the explosive release of his internal energy. Bang! Bang! Bang! The sword attack twisted. Jude charged towards First Sword while Cordelia shot her magic. Although it was for a moment, the smile on First Sword¡¯s face disappeared. His sword attack split the space. No, it shrouded it. Instead of attacking, Jude released the ck dragon¡¯s energy to defend, and the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors¡¯ fifth door gave him the power to block the sword attack of First Sword. But First Sword did not stand still as he swung his sword. He used the unique footstep technique of the Sword School to narrow his distance with Jude, and Jude expected it and sent a punch. It was literally a Lightning Strike Fist. It was fast and powerful, but First Sword¡¯s hand pushed Jude¡¯s fist. First Sword grabbed Jude¡¯s fist and pulled it closer, breaking Jude¡¯s bnce. But he was wrong. Jude let himself be pulled. Instead of resisting, he let his body go faster than First Sword expected, and as he approached closer, he used Heart of the Sun from the sun¡¯s energy he gathered on his own heart. A type of prating attack that he already used on Scarlet, and it was an attack that directly struck the sun¡¯s energy on the enemy¡¯s body, ignoring the armor. He applied it. Jude released the energy of the sun from his own heart! ¡°Gah?!¡± Even First Sword couldn¡¯t help but be surprised by the attack from aplete blind spot. But that was it. At the same time he let go of Jude¡¯s wrist, he twisted his body and brushed past the Heart of the Sun, swinging his sword again. ¡°¡± At that moment, Cordelia shouted. It was to deprive First Sword of his vision with a blinding light, just like the Sr re attack he used a few days ago. But First Sword¡¯s reaction was faster. At the same time he closed his eyes, he swung his sword towards the ce he sensed Jude. He wouldn¡¯t kill Jude. But he wouldn¡¯t spare the other from losing a limb. Jude¡¯s arm was seriously cut. His injury was so great that it was difficult to say that First Sword had missed, but instead of screaming in pain, Jude kicked the ground and threw himself into the secret passage. Cordelia flew over to Jude and they hugged each other in the air. The sword of First Sword cut through the air. Jude and Cordelia nullified the sword of First Sword with Fairy Steps at once, and they both fell to the floor with First Sword rushing towards them again. And Jude didn¡¯t think of escaping. Because he calcted it. Because Cordelia had a hunch. The reason why they were buying time. The reason why they threw themselves into the secret passage. There was one reason. Unlike First Sword, it was an ally they could ask in advance, and someone who could fulfill their request. The sword of First Sword bounced. It wasn¡¯t because of Jude and Cordelia. A sword attack was shot from the secret passage. Attacks flew like the wind one after another! ng! Swords collided. Light and wind raged, and First Sword looked at his front in joy. He met the man standing in front of Jude and Cordelia who had hugged each other and fell. ¡°Count Bayer.¡± One of the Ten Great Swordmasters. A swordsman from the north. And another name he had. A title that he returned himself after a defeat in the past, but was something that was clearly his once. ¡°The Sword Saint of Wind.¡± Count Bayer did not bother to answer in words. He responded by showing the other his Sword of Wind. It¡¯s Daddy Bayer to the rescue~! Chapter 189: Intensification (1)

Chapter 189: Intensification (1)

2nd chapter of the day?! Well, this is just how hyped I am for this arc. Anyway, tomorrow is the day of the Genshin update, so be prepared for some dy. I lost to the 50/50 when Venti was first released, so here¡¯s hoping I¡¯ll get him tomorrow since I got Mona from my 50/50 of the Hu Tao banner. Count Bayer. Jude Bayer¡¯s father. One of the Ten Great Swordmasters. A powerful swordsman with the title Sword General. But despite being the father of Jude, one of the yable characters, his presence in the game was not very strong. ¡®He doesn¡¯t appear much.¡¯ Moreover, the Sword of Wind that he used ¨C Count Bayer¡¯s swordsmanship and martial arts, did not receive much attention. ¡®There were no practitioners.¡¯ To be exact, none of the yable characters could master Count Bayer¡¯s swordsmanship. In the game, Jude immediately disappeared after training to some extent when his illness was resolved, as he left for the north in order to search for the missing Cordelia, so he wasn¡¯t able to properly learn Count Bayer¡¯s swordsmanship. In addition, not long after he left, a major event called the northern barbarian invasion urred, and Count Bayer as well as his sessor, Ga?l, were killed during the war by the great demon Kriemler, so Count Bayer¡¯s swordsmanship was more or less disappeared. ¡®Although there were some knights of Count Bayer who survived¡­¡¯ All they had learned were basic techniques, such as Gale Steps and Lightning Punch. It was only the direct descendants of the count who could properly learn the ¡®Sword of Wind.¡¯ ¡®Count Bayer¡¯s strength.¡¯ He was one of the Ten Great Swordmasters, so he was definitely strong. But how strong was he? Would his sword, which had no record in the game other than the fight with the great demon Kriemler, be able to reach the Sword of Light? Wind and light crossed. The cries of their swords burst out once again. ***¡°Jude!¡± On the floor. Cordelia called him. A spectacr battle took ce before his eyes. The wild wind and the brilliant light. Babababababang! The ce was filled with loud sounds that could not be imagined from shing swords. The surroundings were destroyed in the aftermath of their skills. This was a battle between two great swordmasters. No, this was a battle between sword saints! ¡®The Sword Saint of Wind.¡¯ Jude had not fully heard of it. He didn¡¯t know the full story. If Count Bayer was indeed a sword saint, why did he return that title? ¡®No, before that.¡¯ Is that really Count Bayer¡¯s swordsmanship? He had only seen it a few times. But it seemed like he was seeing apletely different kind of swordsmanship from the swordsmanship of Count Bayer that Jude had known so far. And Jude realized it. Count Bayer¡¯s swordsmanship, the Sword of Wind, was not that strong in the game. There was no opportunity for it to be revealed in the game, but the true Sword of Wind was really powerful. First Sword burst outughing. Heughed andughed again as he enjoyed the current fight. It had be possible. Originally, the Ten Great Swordmasters were forbidden to duel each other. If one of the Ten Great Swordmasters used their full power, one of the two was bound to die or be fatally wounded. The power of their Aura des was too powerful for a body made up of bones and flesh that even a wound from a missed attack could cause fatal injuries. Therefore, the Ten Great Swordmasters were prohibited from fighting each other. The empire also strictly prohibited fights between their country¡¯s swordsmen who were equivalent to the Ten Great Swordmasters of the S?len Kingdom. But now, a duel between two great swordmasters was taking ce at full strength. ¡°Hahaha!¡± First Sword uncontroblyughed. Because he enjoyed this very much. It had already been 6 years since he became one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. It had already been 3 years since he became a sword saint. In those six years, he didn¡¯t have a proper battle. He couldn¡¯t fight anyone with his full strength. Unlike in the heyday of the Lord Protector, the S?len Kingdom and the Argon Empire were now only growling at each other and not engaged in war. It was forbidden topete with the other Ten Great Swordmasters within the S?len Kingdom. ¡°This is it!¡± How long had it been since he fought against a swordsman who could match his sword in this way? There was a separate reason why he held hands with the Devil¡¯s Hand, but at this moment alone, he thought that it was worth it. Count Bayer wasn¡¯t as crazy as First Sword. But he also felt his blood boil. His sword was faster and stronger than usual. ¡®Jude.¡¯ Jude had talked about a possibility of an attack around the time of the founding anniversary celebration. In addition, Jude gave him an artifact that could help him know Jude¡¯s location, and was asked to save them in case a situation arose. As parts of the pce copsed and the zombies ran wild, an emergency signal came in. After leaving the situation to Count Chase, he reached this ce through the half-open secret door. What he had seen on the way. The torn apart bodies of the royal family members. And as soon as he left the secret door, he witnessed First Sword attacking Jude and Cordelia. He blocked it reflexively. And he realized. He didn¡¯t know the exact situation, but he understood that First Sword was an enemy. If so, he had to stop First Sword with all his power. He must do his best to defeat the enemy in front of him! ng! ng! ng! Count Bayer¡¯s sword was usually very gentle. But not now. He entered into a mad frenzy and pushed First Sword. If First Sword had a sharp and quick sword, Count Bayer¡¯s sword was a wild and strong gale. Jude himself was unconsciously drawn to the Sword of Wind. But now was not the time. After he came back to reality, he looked back at Cordelia. She was the same as always. She was instinctively focusing on what she had to do right now. Jude¡¯s own treatment. Although he had regenerative abilities due to the Sphere of Life, it was not at the level of a werewolf. Cordelia cast a powerful recovery magic by adding the power of an angel to the Tiara of Life¡¯s power, and Jude¡¯s arm healed in an instant. So Jude did his job too. He sought a way to ovee their current situation. ¡®The situation.¡¯ He didn¡¯t even have the time to think about it as a whole. Therefore, he only thought of the most important thing. In front of us is First Sword while the Lord Protector is running towards the shelter in order to massacre the royal family. My father is blocking First Sword. Then, the remaining problem is the Lord Protector. We have to stop him. We have to do something about him. But how? He already left. So how do we catch up to him? If we catch up to him, how do we stop him? Should we go to the banquet hall and move after Count Chase joined us? No, that¡¯s impossible. Even if I get up and run right now, it¡¯s highly likely that we won¡¯t be able to catch up to the Lord Protector. It¡¯s also impossible to help my father in defeating First Sword. Aside from whether we can intervene in a fight between sword saints, everything will be over at the moment the Lord Protector massacres the royal family. We don¡¯t have time. None of the options can give us enough time. I don¡¯t even know if thinking like this even now is a waste of time. Then, what can we do? What should we do? ¡®Victory conditions.¡¯ Always remember the victory conditions. Killing doesn¡¯t always work. Alexei¡¯s teachings came to his mind. It was as he said. Victory conditions. Our goal is not to kill the Lord Protector. Our goal is to save the royal family. There is no need for us to defeat the Lord Protector. ¡®If we arrive first.¡¯ It¡¯s impossible in this difficult situation to even catch up to the Lord Protector, but if we can. If we can reach the shelter before the Lord Protector. If we can get in touch with the royalty who are standing nkly while waiting for the Lord Protector to arrive. There will be a way. We can fulfill the victory conditions. But how? ¡°Follow me!¡± Cordelia cried. She grabbed Jude¡¯s hand and ran. How? Did she see my eyes and read my thoughts? Or did I speak out my thoughts without realizing it? No, where are we going right now? Jude recalled the map of the royal pce. And he realized where Cordelia was heading. The grand banquet hall. A secret passage. The corridor over there. And one of the many rooms connected to that corridor. Bababang! The walls and ceiling copsed due to the battle between Count Bayer and First Sword. But Cordelia ran without looking back and almost broke the door with her telekic power. ¡°Found it!¡± Cordelia eximed and Jude saw. Arge bathtub in one side of the room. One of the bathrooms set up all over the royal pce by the previous king because of his love for bathing. ¡°Quickly!¡± Cordelia ran holding Jude¡¯s hand, and the confused Jude entered the bathtub with Cordelia. And he realized it. What Cordelia was trying to do now. The gamble she did. ¡°¡± Water fell down over their heads. It made Jude and Cordelia wet, and she opened her mouth. Jude did the same, opening his mouth to do what she was trying to do. ¡°Twinkle twinkle little star!¡± ¡°Shining beautifully!¡± It was almost like a yell and not a song, but now was not the time to think about that. The n B Jude himself had prepared. It was different from that. There was a separate ce that they had agreed on in advance. But Cordelia ignored it. She revised the n with her beastly senses. Would it work? Even though they were within the royal pce, it was still quite some distance from the outdoor hot spring area. But could they do it here too? Would the fairies appear here too? Jude looked at Cordelia. Cordelia looked at Jude. They opened their mouths at the same time to say the next lyrics, and a third voice came at that moment. ¡°Did you call?¡± The Summer Fairy Queen. She received a box of fairy choctes and epted the deal. Jude hugged Cordelia. He couldn¡¯t help it. ¡°You¡¯re a genius!¡± Cordelia screamed for a moment because he hugged her too tightly. But she tightly hugged Jude back. And what he wanted to do from now on. He wanted to kiss Cordelia¡¯s forehead and cheek while whispering words of love, but they had something to do before that. Jude turned to the Fairy Queen. Sitting on arge box, she was grinning with her hands on her chin as if she was watching the two. ¡°Continue. The two of you will be kissing now, right? Like the love story of the Archwizard and the Fairy Queen?¡± At her question asked in anticipation, Jude shook his head instead of saying yes. ¡°The n has changed.¡± Their deal with the Fairy Queen was to take the royal family outside. But things had changed. The destination had changed. Instead of moving outside the royal pce, the two would be moving to the shelter. If she had been a human merchant, she would have charged a new fee here, but she was a pure and innocent fairy. With a big smile, she epted Jude¡¯s request. *** mes soared from all over the royal capital. The demon followers released zombies everywhere to increase the infected, and fierce battles urred between the fighters of the Devil¡¯s Hand and the Royal Guard members at the east and west gates. At the west gate. In one of the bases of the Royal Guard Magic Corps. ¡°¡± Adelia shouted loudly and threw a ball of me, but it did not hit its target who was fighting Ga?l. Saluzia stopped Ga?l by swinging like a sword the two pairs of wings from her back, and at the same time, splitting the ball of fire thrown by Adelia. ¡°Ga?l!¡± Adelia shouted once more and tried to support Ga?l with magic, but Saluzia¡¯s guards who were mid-ranking demonic humans did not allow it. Apart from the fighters who were likely to be a hundred in number, there were three people who prated inside the Royal Guard Magic Corps base and ran wild, so Adelia was in a hurry to protect herself and her subordinates. ¡®Too strong!¡¯ A female demonic human with deer antlers on her head. Her magic power was terrifying. Moreover, her magic power wasn¡¯t the only strong part of her. Her skill in hand-to-handbat that pushed Ga?l was truly amazing. Despite it only being a few minutes, Ga?l¡¯s body was full of wounds. How much longer could Ga?l endure? How much longer could Adelia herself stay on the front line? ¡®We have to hold on.¡¯ Until the othermanders arrive. She wondered how manymanders would gather here when the royal capital was in chaos, but at least three, or even two! ¡°¡± Adelia cast a wall of fire. She lit up the night with a 3-meter high me, creating a wall for her subordinates that could support them even for a moment, and then she turned to Ga?l. She screamed at the sight she saw. ¡°Noooo!¡± Saluzia¡¯s wings headed straight towards Ga?l¡¯s head. *** At the same time. On top of the drawbridge leading to the south gate. Koros and Seryu shed. The attack of Koros, who was the strongest among the high-ranking demons of the Devil¡¯s Hand, was truly destructive. The air burst out as if it were exploding, and a part of the bridge was on the verge of falling. But Seryu responded calmly. She was a master of counterattacking, attacking back when the enemy attacked. Koros in his demonic human form was around 3-4 meters. On the other hand, Seryu was only 160 cm tall, so their difference in size was almost thrice. It was clear that if she allowed even a single blow to hit her, it would crush her slim body. But she was one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. Koros¡¯ attacks hardly reached Seryu. Her skillful swordsmanshipbined with her unique light and flexible physical abilities deflected all of Koros¡¯ attacks. But Seryu was also seldom able to counterattack. Because Koros¡¯ attacks continued without a pause. How long would she be able to deflect Koros¡¯ attacks? How long would Koros be able to continue his onught that did not even give her a chance to counterattack? Korosughed. Seryu clenched her teeth. Once again, fist and sword crossed. *** ¡®Pink Bomb!¡¯ Running on the rooftop, Scarlet was anxious. The royal capital was burning. The royal pce was also on fire. Scarlet¡¯s reasoning said this. This is the royal capital of the S?len Kingdom. Even though it may seem dangerous right now, the situation will be solved over time. It¡¯s a ce with that much power. But she felt anxious. Will that really happen? No, even if it did, what about the damages that will ur in the meantime? ¡®Was it this? Was it this?¡¯ Pink Bomb said that on the day of the founding anniversary celebration, an incident might ur in the royal pce, so she had to be careful. So Scarlet did not hide in the royal pce. She decided to enjoy the festival on the streets. But it happened. It was a lot bigger than what she had imagined. She was worried about Pink Bomb. Lucas¡¯ brightly smiling face also kepting to her mind. However, Scarlet was forced to stop running towards the royal pce. ¡°Heeelp!¡± ¡°Mommy!¡± Under a roof. A roof had fallen on a woman, and her child was crying, but people were too busy running away and didn¡¯t have the time to help the two. And zombies flooded in between the mes and smoke. Scarlet cursed and drew her sword. She took a final look at the pce before she threw herself at the horde of zombies. She began her fight to protect the people. *** At the southwest side of the royal capital. Someone stopped running and gazed at the burning royal capital. He had a weird look. His entire body was covered with a ck robe, and his entire face was covered with a mask reminiscent of a bird¡¯s beak. The burning royal capital. The burning city. The past and present crossed. Because the sight in front of him brought back memories of the past. The Paragon Kingdom. A city destroyed by demons. And another one. The masked man could feel it. Death was spreading on the royal capital. Dead people were being mass produced. ¡°Giddyap!¡± The man did not think anymore. The closer he got to the royal capital, the stronger the barrier worked, but not all necromancy came from the power of demons. Life Magic. The horse the man was riding on revealed its true nature. The eyes of the ghost horse ¨C a Phantom Steed, glowed green, and smoke rose from its hooves. Its harrowing ghostly wail shook the night sky. Necromancer Velkian. One of the Paragon Kingdom¡¯s five heroes. He headed for the royal capital. He crossed the night sky with his Phantom Steed. Chapter 190: Intensification (2)

Chapter 190: Intensification (2)

Double chapters again~! And I finally got Venti today, though I only have 61 primogems left, hahaha. Traverse space. It wasn¡¯t just an ordinary fairy but the Summer Fairy Queen. ¡®I know that ce!¡¯ For the summer fairies, the royal pce was both a residence and a yground for a long time. Before the Summer Fairy Queen became a queen, one of the ces she used to hang out when she was a child was the shelter for the royalty. ¡®It was still under construction then. Is the construction finished now?¡¯ At the Fairy Queen¡¯s voice, her memories flooded in. The figure of a very young girl, who would be the future Fairy Queen, and a man who was conversing with her. His face resembled Princess Daphne. No, it would be more correct to say that it was Princess Daphne who looked like him. The founder king, Lion D. S?len. As his name suggested, he was also called the Lionheart King because he was as brave as a lion. His golden hair that was a symbol of royalty had grown as rich as a lion¡¯s mane, and he wasughing as he looked at the side. He then continued speaking. She wanted to hear it. But she couldn¡¯t hear it. So she read his lips. To know what he was saying. This was a story of the founder king that remained in the memories of the Fairy Queen. Her memory blurred. Jude closed his eyes and caught his breath. He focused his entire mind on the right hand he was holding on to as his body kept blurring. His hands that were sped with Cordelia¡¯s hands. It was small, warm, and soft. Her fingers that twitched sometimes were very cute. Jude exhaled again. He held Cordelia¡¯s hand tighter and opened his eyes. Light. And reality. Having exited the subspace that could only be essed by those who could use Fairy Steps, they saw it. It was wider than he thought. His sight saw a dark room with magical lighting and the people in it. ¡°Eh? What is this? This ce is weird!¡± The Summer Fairy Queen spoke, and Jude could hear other voices too. ¡°Unnie and oppa?¡± ¡°Jude Bayer?¡± ¡°Baroness Chase?¡± Princess Darianne, Prince Daphne, and Prince Dion. It wasn¡¯t just the three who were sitting on the long sofa. Next to the sweat-covered King Henry II was First Queen Justina and Second Queen Henrietta, the birth mother of Princess Darianne. And next to the Second Queen was the Third Queen who was still young and of the same age as Princess Daphne, and she was sitting with a frightened expression. ¡°W-who are you! How did youe here all of a sudden?!¡± Henry II shouted in surprise, and First Queen Justina lightly pressed his shoulders with her hands to calm him down before she looked straight at Jude and Cordelia. The reputably brave woman was indeed brave as she remained calm even in the midst of extreme chaos. ¡°Baron Bayer and Baroness Chase?¡± They were originally supposed to kneel and bow. But that wasn¡¯t the time for it now. Therefore, Jude thought of the situation instead of being polite. ¡®We got ahead.¡¯ They had arrived before the Lord Protector. So it was time for their next step. First, he checked what the Fairy Queen said. ¡°What do you mean by weird?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a wall. I think it will be difficult to get out even though we cane in. I have to fly myself.¡± It was difficult to understand at first nce, but Jude understood it right away. Wall. She wasn¡¯t talking about a physical wall. Leaping over space was difficult. There was something that hindered jumping over space, so they could enter but could not get out. So they had to walk. It wasn¡¯t very good news. But to some extent, it was expected. ¡®We¡¯re too close to the core of the barrier.¡¯ The shelter was located in the center of the main pce, and the core of the barrier was located a little further below that. Even if she was the Fairy Queen, it would be difficult to leap over space if they were close to the core of the barrier. ¡°Is itpletely impossible?¡± ¡°It¡¯s difficult. Even if I can do it alone, it¡¯s impossible to take all of you.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Jude gave up regretting it. They had to do the next step right away because they didn¡¯t have enough time. ¡°Jude, Cordelia. What¡¯s going on?¡± Princess Daphne spoke, and there was a bit of anger in the eyes of First Queen Justina who was ignored. But Jude did not look at the two of them. Hepletely turned away and did his job. Anger spread on the faces of the royalty. Princess Daphne¡¯s eyes also turned sharp, and the nervous Cordelia opened her mouth. ¡°I-it¡¯s a big problem! The Lord Protector has turned traitor! He killed the other royalty! He¡¯sing here now!¡± Cordelia shouted as soon as she could, but she knew. That her words wouldn¡¯t work. ¡°What nonsense are you talking about! The Lord Protector is a traitor! He killed the royalty! That¡¯s crazy!¡± Henry II jumped up from his seat and angrily shouted. It was natural. From his birth up to the present day, he had always lived under the protection of the Lord Protector. To him, the Lord Protector was not a mere vassal. The Lord Protector was the reliable shield of the kingdom, and the hero who saved the kingdom, someone he admired since his childhood. The fact that he betrayed. The fact that he killed the other royalty. ¡°You evil one! I will punish you severely!¡± ¡°No!¡± Cordelia stomped her feet and thumped her chest. She had known it would be like this. She knew it would be like this, but she was so frustrated that she felt like going crazy. ¡°Princess Daphne! It¡¯s the truth! Please believe me!¡± At Cordelia¡¯s appeal, Princess Daphne did not immediately respond. She frowned and looked at Prince Dion, while Princess Darianne clung to her side and gazed at the adults with a frightened face. ¡°Ah, f*ck!¡± As she thought, it was impossible. They only had been friends for a few days, so it was impossible for Cordelia to make them believe her more than the Lord Protector. The fact that Henry II went into a fit of anger instead of being grateful was proof. ¡°You b*tch! How dare you curse at us! Do you really want to die!¡± Henry II shouted again, and Cordelia beat her chest with her fist. She wanted to shout that she was going to die of frustration because of him, but he was still a king. It was clear that the situation would only worsen if such words were said. Then what should I do now? How can I ovee this current situation? ¡®Jude!¡¯ That¡¯s right, it¡¯s Jude. Isn¡¯t Jude the one who¡¯s in charge of this situation originally? Cordelia turned to Jude, calming her beating heart with a little resentment and anticipation. And she unknowingly blinked her eyes. ¡°Jude?¡± What are you doing now? While Cordelia was arguing with the royalty, Jude had never thought of talking to them. Because he knew very well that it would be a meaningless and time-consuming conversation. ¡®Victory conditions.¡¯ Keep the royal family alive for the barrier to keep functioning. That¡¯s all they need to do now. Then, what should we do? Separate. Separate the royal family and the Lord Protector in order to eliminate the dangerous situation itself. When Cordelia began a war of words with Henry II, Jude opened the box that the Summer Fairy Queen hadid down, which was something that they had entrusted to her in advance. The box was filled with necessary equipment and other things, and he took out some of the items that filled more than 80% of the space in the box as he began to install those items at the only entrance. Pink dynamite. Detonating cord. C4 prototype. ¡°Jude?¡± Cordelia looked at Jude, and the eyes of the royal family which had been focused on Cordelia had also turned to Jude. And Jude continued moving instead of answering. Ignition. Basic magic. The fuse burned. The moment the detonating cord caught fire, the sound of an explosion rang, and the dynamite and C4 prototype caused a series of explosions. Boom! Boom! Boom! Babababababang! The entrance exploded with a roar. A part of the secret passage connected to the entrance also exploded, and the walls and ceiling copsed. The falling rockspletely blocked the entrance. Cut off the road. Make it impossible for the Lord Protector to even reach the shelter. Jude turned to Cordelia. It was her long-awaited explosion, but instead of smiling wide, she was blinking her eyes, and the king and royal family were all shocked and speechless. Even Princess Daphne and First Queen Justina who did not budge in most situations had stunned faces now. ¡°Y-you b*stard!¡± Henry II yelled, but Jude ignored him. He thought like a machine. The passage has been destroyed, but I can¡¯t rx yet. Our enemy is the Lord Protector. Though he may be weak now, he¡¯s still one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. The destroyed passage can be pierced with a strong sword attack of his. So we have to get out of the shelterpletely. We have to escape from the Lord Protector. But how? My n to forcefully move the royal family with the power of the Fairy Queen is now useless. Then, do I have to persuade the royal family as the second best option? ¡®No, that¡¯s not possible.¡¯ Princess Daphne, Prince Dion, and Princess Darianne can be convinced. But Henry II and the queens are also here. Aside from whether we can persuade them, we¡¯ll also be wasting a lot of time. So persuading them isn¡¯t our second best option. Let¡¯s do that other option then. Judepletely ignored Henry II. The king got angry again and even First Queen Justina fiercely red towards Jude who continued to do what he had to do. Hebined the dynamite and detonating cord with an adhesive before he threw it towards the walls and ceiling. Tak. Tak. Tak. The explosives urately stuck because of the adhesive. On the ceiling and walls. An arrangement capable ofpletely destroying the shelter from just a small explosion. Jude lit the long fuse. He turned nonchntly to the royal family and said. ¡°It will explode in 30 seconds.¡± So run if you want to live. Jude spoke with a gentle smile on his calm face, and the royal family sweated coldly at his madness. ¡°Nooo!¡± The Third Queen screamed in her panic due to the series of events. Henry II jumped from his seat and tried to yell. And the First Queen made a decision. She punched Henry II in the stomach as he was about to get up. With a choking sound, he lost consciousness and she carried him with one arm and ordered. ¡°To the exit!¡± There were two doors in the shelter. One was the door leading from the pce to the shelter. The other one was a door that allowed them to exit the pce from the shelter. All of the royal family members acted reflexively at the First Queen¡¯s orders as she carried Henry II on her back in one fell swoop. They hurried to the exit. And Jude nced at Cordelia. She stared at Jude with a stunned face, and then opened her pretty lips, saying. ¡°You¡¯re totally crazy.¡± ¡°Do you hate it then?¡± ¡°I like it!¡± She cheerfully shouted and jumped, hugging Jude¡¯s neck, and Jude carried Cordelia in his arms. The Summer Fairy Queen widely smiled at the two in the so-called princess hug, and she settled in Cordelia¡¯s chest. And a golden wind rose. The moment Jude pushed himself into the exit, Cordelia looked over his shoulder to see the shelter. Instead of waiting for the fuse that was still burning, she beautifully winked and activated her magic. ¡°F*ck bang ?¡± And it exploded. The shelter exploded with a tremendous roar. *** The explosion underground shook the entire main pce. The Lord Protector instinctively realized where the epicenter was. What¡¯s going on? What happened? Instead of running, the Lord Protector confirmed two things. The presence or absence of the barrier. And the other one. Things were going wrong. He didn¡¯t know what happened, but his n kept going awry. Whose fault is it? What the hell happened? I don¡¯t know. I can¡¯t dy much longer. The Lord Protector looked in front again. He sprinted towards the shelter. *** The fierce battle between Count Bayer and First Sword continued. Lucas roughly breathed after shing thest zombie¡¯s throat, and the Royal Guard Knights moved to quell the situation outside the royal pce. And another person. Count Chase cast magic in session again. He supported the main pce, which was about topletely copse, with his strong mana, and reced the copsed walls by causing stone columns to rise in session. He knew. That Count Bayer was fighting a fierce battle over there. That Jude and Cordelia continued to send emergency signals. And one more. A fact that other people had yet to know. ¡®The royal capital.¡¯ He knew because of the rough flow of magic. The royal pce wasn¡¯t the only one with a problem. Something big was happening outside the royal pce. Count Chase clenched his teeth. He stopped his thoughts, and focused only on preventing the copse of the royal pce. He had to hurry up. But he had to do it step by step. New magic spells poured out of Count Chase¡¯s mouth. Chapter 191: Intensification (3)

Chapter 191: Intensification (3)

de-like wings headed down. It headed to his head. Its force tried to smash Ga?l¡¯s head at once. Adelia screamed. Because it seemed to her that it was an attack that could not be blocked or avoided. And her judgment was not wrong. Most Royal Guard Knights would have no choice but to be hit by such an attack. But Ga?l was different. The Sword of Wind he learned did not allow it. Do not block. Do not avoid. Let it flow. Like the wind. Like a breeze and not like a gale. An instantaneous change of position and wrist movement, a skillful adjustment of the angle of his sword, and a sword move peculiar to the Sword of Wind that allowed his power to flow. All of thatbined saved Ga?l¡¯s life. Saluzia¡¯s attack hit the ground instead of splitting Ga?l¡¯s body. But that was it. Ga?l dodged the attack with all his power, and in that short moment, he lost all his strength and became defenseless. It was a very short time, but it was enough time for Saluzia. Saluzia¡¯s hand moved. It wasn¡¯t a simple push, but a sharp attack that would cut and tear Ga?l¡¯s chest. One stroke. Blood sttered. Ga?l escaped death again, but a scream erupted from Adelia¡¯s mouth. ¡°Gaeeeeeel!¡± He was hit and fell to the ground. Ga?l¡¯s left arm was torn off and rolled over the ground. Adelia dashed towards him. In that situation, her reason was gone, but herbat experience gave her the correct answer. She made use of other magic spells instead of ones that could cut or destroy the wings. The ground shook. . The earth rapidly soared and pushed Saluzia away as Adelia pulled his right hand. Instead of attacking Saluzia, she moved the ground and pulled Ga?l towards her. Saluzia was not flustered. She spread out her wings as she soared and swung her arms towards Ga?l and Adelia. At that moment, dozens of magic spears wereunched at the same time they were created. Babababababang-! A literal bombardment. Ga?l clenched his teeth and swung his sword. He couldn¡¯t properly control his body due to the shock of his arm being ripped off, so he shot a surprisingly fast and strong aura de that he had created in a moment. Booom! The aura de and magic spears collided. It exploded, and as Adelia flung herself at Ga?l, she stretched out her arms to cast a shield. Bang! Bang! Bang! The magic spears did not only point to the two. It poured down like rain towards the wizards of the Royal Guard Magic Corps and the Royal Guards, and the front line copsed in an instant. This was the power of a high-ranking demonic human. Saluzia once again spread out her four wings. She looked down at Ga?l and Adelia wriggling like worms under the shattered shield. And she widely smiled. She knew who the two were. Because she already knew that they were the older sister and brother of the two children who interrupted her in everything. ¡®It¡¯s just the beginning.¡¯ What would happen if the Lord Protector destroyed the barrier tonight? It would be the beginning of the real n prepared by Saluzia herself and Koros that would bring about the ruin of the S?len Kingdom. ¡®But you first.¡¯ Then your younger siblings. A rain of magic spears poured down at the p of her wings. Adelia¡¯s mana flowed back in the aftermath of the shield¡¯s destruction, so she could not use her magic, and Ga?l had to choose. Would he escape alone, or would he save Adelia? He did not choose. His body naturally moved. Ga?l put all of his spare strength behind his back and hugged Adelia. ¡°Ga?l.¡± Adelia said, and Ga?l gently smiled as he stared at Adelia. Magic spears poured on Ga?l¡¯s back. The impact. The blood. Ga?l lost the light in his eyes. ¡°It can¡¯t be.¡± Adelia said. But it was hopeless. Ga?l¡¯s body copsed. When the magic spears disappeared, his blood endlessly flowed all over the ce. Adelia¡¯s hands that groped Ga?l¡¯s back turned red. Tears fell down from her eyes without end. Although he was still breathing, his injuries were severe that it wouldn¡¯t be strange if he died anytime. ¡°Aaaaah!¡± Adelia stood up and screamed as her mana exploded. The invisible force became fierce des of wind as it swept towards Saluzia. But it didn¡¯t work. Her power was definitely great, but even if she was in control of it, she wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything to Saluzia. Saluzia wouldn¡¯t be hit by an attack that was recklessly shot like that. Her four wings crushed all the waves of magic power that Adelia let out. And in a few seconds. Having exhausted all her strength, Adelia fell on her knees. Her trembling hands fell on top of Ga?l, and she was unable to lift her hands anymore. Saluzia smiled as she gazed at those two. She imagined the future of Jude and Cordelia in the figures of the two. ¡°I¡¯ll be merciful.¡± I¡¯ll at least let you two go together without pain. Saluzia moved her hand. She finally fired a magic spear towards the lightly trembling and powerless Adelia. And at that moment. Just when the magic spear left Saluzia. The night sky shook. The ground rocked. The whole ce ¨C no, the world literally shook. It was a moment, but all the magic spells in the area were nullified. The one who made it that way. A person who could exert that much power. Saluzia looked up in a hurry. Above the city walls. Under the night sky. Powerful magic fluctuated. No, it wasn¡¯t just strong. It was a power that instinctively caused fear. Magic that put an end to everything like death. ¡°Demon followers.¡± A voice mixed with hate that seemed to tightly grip one¡¯s heart. A person rode on top of a Phantom Steed with green eyes. He saw Saluzia. He saw the groaning Adelia and Ga?l under her as he lost his warmth. He saw the Royal Guard Magic Corps and the Royal Guards. He captured in his eyes the demon followers and the burning royal capital. Unforgivable. Uneptable. When his cold anger made everyone freeze. Velkian let out his power. The green aura of death covered the night sky. *** Koros raised his head. The immense power let out from far away made him turn that way. At the northwest direction. At the direction where Saluzia was. At the western sky that turned green, Koros figured out one fact. That was why he felt fear and anxiety at the same time. ¡°Sannie.¡± Saluzia. A being who could threaten even her, a high-ranking demonic human. Koros clenched his fist. He strengthened his legs as he tried to head where Saluzia was. And the gap he made when he did that. The woman did not turn her gaze in the midst of the western sky shaking, and she did not miss the gap because she was only focused on her fight against Koros. Seven-Killings Sword. Seven killing strikes. Seryu¡¯s sword gave off a sharp light. *** ¡°Haa¡­ haa¡­ haa¡­¡± Scarlet felt the limit of her stamina. Her whole body was covered in sweat, and her breathing was rough. Her arm that held her sword fell down. It was natural. In the first ce, her stamina and endurance were her weaknesses. She only had one body, but there were so many enemies that she had to fight against. Behind Scarlet was a dead end with people crying or swallowing screams. Some of them were quite strong people, but they couldn¡¯t do anything. It was impossible to attack zombies with their bare hands. She breathed. She consciously exhaled and stared straight ahead. There were only around 30 zombies in front of her right now. How many can I stop? And what will happen to the rest of the people behind me if I fall down while blocking the zombies? They will die. They will all be zombies. Then, is there really a need for me to fight with my life here? They¡¯re going to be a zombie anyway, right? ¡®If it¡¯s now.¡¯ It was not toote yet. If she was alone, she could pull herself out. She could ignore the people who wereplete strangers to her. ¡°F*ck.¡± Scarlet smiled. It was so hard that she might die, but she still stayed. Even if she died, she wouldn¡¯t do something like pulling out. She never really thought of herself as having a sense of justice, but she couldn¡¯t imagine herself running away from here. ¡®Rogue Master.¡¯ Yes, the Rogue Master. The Rogue Master of this world wouldn¡¯t escape just because she was afraid of the zombie hordes. Scarlet grinned and pushed herself up. She put into her view the entire horde of zombies in order to achieve the maximum effect with minimal movement. ¡®Six moves.¡¯ It was possible if she took advantage of the characteristics of her whip sword and deal as much damage to as many as possible. She didn¡¯t know what would happen then if more zombies came from behind the current ones, but she thought that she could somehow wipe out the ones in front of her. ¡®This is your job, Royal Guards.¡¯ Scarlet swallowed herstint and fiercely red. At the same time she held her breath and kicked the ground. She greatly swung her whip sword as her first move. The whip sword with her orange aura ferociously struck and tore the necks of the zombies in the lead, and she did not stop. She prated into the center of the zombies and rotated her body as if she was dancing. The third and fourth moves were done in session. Every time the whip sword struck, at least five or six zombies were killed. Their heads rolled on the floor, and dark red blood covered the air. But that was it. In her fifth move, the de of her whip sword broke. She struggled for air. Her legs suddenly weakened, and she fell to her knees. The hand holding her whip sword trembled. The limit of her stamina. An area beyond the control of her willpower. But there were still some zombies remaining. They rushed towards Scarlet, and she roughly breathed. She tried to swing her whip sword somehow, but it was impossible. ¡®F*ck.¡¯ I¡¯ll be dying like this. But why is Pink Bomb¡¯s face the one thates to my mind at this moment? It would be nice if it was a handsome man¡¯s face. I¡¯ll be angry if Jude¡¯s face is the one thates to my mind though. Scarlet red at the zombies, erasing the useless thoughts that popped up in her mind at the moment of her death. Before she knew it, the number of zombies gathered around her were in the dozens, but she did not close her eyes in fear. As a Rogue Master, she bravely faced her death. And thus, she was able to see it. The golden aura de that swept. A man with a sword that shone like the sun slowly walked towards the zombies. Light burst. It could only be described that way even though it was swordsmanship. Every time the man swung his sword, the zombies around him were wiped out. But his movements weren¡¯t rough. The man walked so naturally and lightly as if he was taking a stroll. Scarlet copsed on the ground and looked up at the man¡¯s face who had suddenlye right in front of her. He was so handsome that the expression ¡®excessive¡¯ was appropriate. He had a gorgeous golden blonde hair and a fairplexion. His blue eyes were like gems. His presence made one feel as if they were facing the sun and not a person. Scarlet had seen this man for the first time. But she could immediately recall this man¡¯s name. ¡®Maximilian de Avis.¡¯ A man called ¡®god¡¯s mistake¡¯ because he was so perfect. He looked at Scarlet. And gently smiled. Chapter 192: Intensification (4)

Chapter 192: Intensification (4)

Only one episode today. The next three episodes will focus on Jude and Cordelia¡¯s fight against the Lord Protector, followed by two more episodes about the other characters¡¯ fight. I¡¯ll try to release all of this before the end of this week. ¡°This way!¡± With the shelter copsing, Jude and Cordelia could hear Princess Daphne¡¯s voice. Standing on the side of the passage, she faced the wall. Another secret passage in the secret passage. As Princess Daphne moved her hand, the walls split, revealing stairs that headed down. The sound of the other royal family members¡¯ footsteps as they descended the stairs could be heard in the pitch-ck darkness. ¡°Hurry!¡± At the urging of Princess Daphne, Jude and Cordelia went down the stairs instead of saying anything. Princess Daphne swallowed hard before she immediately followed the two. The stairs were much longer than the two had thought. It was only after going down several tens of meters did they reach the floor. ¡°Ah!¡± While still in Jude¡¯s arms, Cordelia opened her eyes wide and eximed. Because she realized it when they arrived. ¡®The barrier¡¯s room!¡¯ The center of the barrier that covered the royal capital. A ce that could be called the core of the barrier. In the middle of a wide and circr space of about 50 meters in diameter stood a pir of blue light, withplex magic circles spread all around it. ¡®That means¡­¡¯ Cordelia looked more closely at the pir of light. The blue light was so intense that it was hard to recognize it, but she was able to distinguish the silhouette of a beautiful sword in the center of the pir of light. ¡®Divine sword, ¨ªomh Sis.¡¯ The sword of the sun god, Sri. The heavenly weapon they left on earth. ¡®Isn¡¯t thatpletely awesome?¡¯ It was a sword that the sun god Sri, who was a heavenly archangel and not just anyone else, had used themselves. How powerful is its attack? What are the additional effects? There should be a special move built in with such a sword, right? Will my stats go up by just equipping it? It was a weapon that had never appeared in the game, so there was plenty of room for imagination. Several heavenly weapons appeared in Legend of Heroes 2, but those swords were not used by the archangel themselves. ¡®I want it.¡¯ It would be nice if we could put that in our inventory. I really think it would be nice if my Jude can have it. If Landius has the Sr de, though he doesn¡¯t use it, shouldn¡¯t Jude do the same? My Jude should have a good sword. He should. Cordelia¡¯s eyes began to sparkle with greed as her gamer brain began to work. [Cordelia.] [Eh?] [Get a hold of yourself.] [Huh? Ah, yes. I have to calm down.] Cordelia was freed from temptation because of Jude¡¯s message magic, and she shut her eyes and pushed away all the distracting thoughts in her mind. And perhaps it worked because she realized something then. [Put me down.] [Huh? Ah¡­ You are quite light, so I forgot I was carrying you.] [Hmph.] Why do lies alwayse out of your mouth? Cordelia slightly red at Jude who smirked and put her down. ¡°Wait, wait.¡± The Fairy Queen sitting on Cordelia¡¯s chest pped her wings and moved over Cordelia¡¯s shoulders. She could go back if she was alone, but it seemed she stayed with them for a while. And right after that. Princess Daphne came down the stairs and closed the passage door, and Jude and Cordelia nced at the royal family gathered on one side. ¡°Baron Bayer. And Baroness Chase.¡± It was an elegant and dignified voice. First Queen Justina stood up and looked at Jude and Cordelia. Prince Dion stood next to the First Queen but kept his mouth shut, while Princess Darianne had an uneasy expression as she hid behind Prince Dion and was at a loss on what to do. As for the Second Queen and the Third Queen. The Second Queen was sitting next to Henry II who waspletely unconscious, but unlike the First Queen, she had a very scared and worn out face. And unlike the Second Queen who took care of Henry II, the Third Queen looked anxious as if she would burst into tears at any moment. ¡°We greet Your Majesty, the First Queen.¡± When Jude and Cordelia politely bowed, Princess Daphne passed by the two and stood next to the First Queen. And at their actions, Jude thought. ¡®They¡¯re willing to listen to us.¡¯ The royal family had run ahead of them. They could have left Jude and Cordelia and hid themselves here without the two knowing. But Princess Daphne stayed and showed them the way. It was proof that she did not view the two as enemies. ¡®But that doesn¡¯t mean that they consider us asplete allies.¡¯ Nevertheless, it was important that there was room for dialogue. Furthermore, First Queen Justina was different from Henry II. Unlike him who had such deep faith in the Lord Protector that rational thinking was impossible, she was able to look at the current situation calmly. ¡®We can convince them.¡¯ They weren¡¯t in such a dangerous situation as when they were in the shelter. Even if he was the Lord Protector, it was unlikely for him to know that there was another secret passage in the secret passage. ¡®If he knew, they wouldn¡¯t havee here.¡¯ The First Queen and Princess Daphne wouldn¡¯t hide in a ce the Lord Protector knew, especially when he was used to be an enemy. ¡®Okay, we just have to wait now.¡¯ The Lord Protector had caused a huge uproar, but that did not mean he overturned the entire royal pce. The Royal Guard Knights would soon put an end to the situation, and the fathers of the two woulde help them too. The only variable was First Sword. If he ever beat Jude¡¯s father¡­ Jude clenched his teeth. It was a painful assumption, but he came to a conclusion soon. ¡®It¡¯s all right.¡¯ Even if he was First Sword, he couldn¡¯t upy the pce by himself. Even if there was the Lord Protector and his disciples, they would have to eventually get out of the pce. ¡®Because there¡¯s Seven-Killings Sword.¡¯ In addition to her, there were many strong people in the royal capital such as themanders of the Royal Guard Magic Corps who First Sword couldn¡¯t easily defeat. And it was just his assumption of a worst-case scenario. Perhaps his father already defeated First Sword. ¡®The Sword of Wind.¡¯ Jude swallowed hard and stopped his thoughts. He came back to reality and heard the voice of the First Queen. ¡°Exin. The words and actions that you did.¡± At her order that she said in a low voice, Cordelia turned to Jude who slowly opened his mouth to answer. ¡°As Cordelia said, the Lord Protector is the leader of this incident. This is his plot to annihte the royal family, and he has already killed the other royal family members.¡± Jude exined the situation one by one. He revealed the n of the Lord Protector to kill the royal family after they had gathered in the shelter, and he also told them about the royalty whom he had already killed, and even yed the Lord Protector¡¯s voice Jude had recorded as evidence. ¡°Lord Protector, you traitor.¡± ¡°I know all your ns! You¡¯re nning to cut off the blood of the royal family and neutralize the barrier of the royal capital!¡± ¡°Indeed, you¡¯re the demon hunters.¡± ¡°It¡¯s the end.¡± Following the voices of Jude and Cordelia, the low voice of the Lord Protector yed in session. Cordelia was surprised as she stared at the mana stone in Jude¡¯s hand, and Jude sent her a nce. ¡®I did that on purpose.¡¯ He did not bring up the word ¡®traitor¡¯ simply to infuriate the Lord Protector. Securing a means to persuade the royal family was also part of his n. ¡®My Jude is smart.¡¯ Cordelia looked at him in admiration and praise, and Jude had a small smile before he continued to y the voice. The words of the Lord Protector that seemed to admit rather than deny his crimes were followed by the voice of First Sword. When the yback of the mana stone was over, the First Queen shut her eyes tightly. Princess Daphne and Prince Dion also gritted their teeth with angry faces. It was a natural reaction since two of the Ten Great Swordmasters ¨C the Lord Protector, who was a hero of the country, and First Sword, who was the best swordsman in the Sword School, had betrayed the royal family. ¡°Okay, I heard your story well. But we have to do a final confirmation. Daphne.¡± ¡°Yes, Mother.¡± Princess Daphne replied to the call of the First Queen, and looked back at Cordelia, saying. ¡°Baroness Chase, pleasee here. I have to verify the truth.¡± ¡°Your¡­Highness?¡± ¡°The direct descendants of the S?len family each possess a special ability. I can tell if anyone in contact with me is speaking the truth or lying.¡± It was the first time they had heard of it, but it was also natural for that to be so. Princess Daphne was a character close to a background setting, so her special ability as a royalty was never revealed in the game. ¡°I understand.¡± They were telling the truth to begin with, so there was nothing for her to be hesitant of. Cordelia calmly replied and walked towards Princess Daphne after she looked back at Jude. ¡°Come a little closer.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Highness, the Crown Princess.¡± Cordelia drew closer and Princess Daphne touched the forehead of Cordelia and closed her eyes. ¡°Tell me one more time. Is the Lord Protector the main culprit of this incident? Are you two moving to stop him?¡± ¡°Yes, that is correct.¡± ¡°Did he kill the other royal family members? Did you actually see their bodies?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ that is all true.¡± Cordelia was a bit embarrassed because their faces were too close, but she answered calmly, and Princess Daphne bit her lips. Because all that Cordelia said were true. ¡°Two people of destiny¡­¡± Princess Daphne mumbled before she raised her head again. Having confirmed it, she turned around to convey it to the First Queen. But it was at that moment. ¡°He¡¯sing.¡± The Fairy Queen sitting on Cordelia¡¯s shoulder suddenly said, and everyone in the room looked at her. In particr, the faces of Princess Daphne and Prince Dion, who knew that she was no ordinary fairy but the Summer Fairy Queen, immediately turned serious. It was the words of the Fairy Queen who could go somehow see the past and future time, so her saying that he wasing was believable. ¡°He¡¯sing straight. He¡¯s very angry. He has a frightening murderous look.¡± The Fairy Queen had bepletely frightened by the end of her words and turned to the entrance. And Jude and Cordelia could also hear it. On top of the stairs. They heard the sound of someone breaking the door. How? It was somehow understandable if he had pierced through the copsed shelter, but it was hard to understand how he came through the hidden passage immediately. ¡®The demon followers were the ones who took ¨ªomh Sis in the game.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t the Lord Protector. He did not know the exact location of the room. ¡®No, even if he had known it.¡¯ How did he get here right away? Even if he knew the hidden passage, it would have been the exit that led outside the royal pce and not this ce. And it was at that time. The First Queen looked into the chest pockets of the unconscious Henry II and took out a small trinket with a blue gem, holding it out to Prince Dion. A feeling of frustration spread on Prince Dion¡¯s face. ¡°It¡¯s a tracking device.¡± It was simr to the one Jude gave to Count Bayer and Count Chase. Perhaps Henry II directly handed over the other tracking device to the Lord Protector. Because for him, the Lord Protector was a hero he could trust and rely on at any time. ¡°He¡¯sing.¡± Cordelia was the one who spoke this time. They heard the sound of footsteps quickly approaching from beyond the door. They no longer had any time. Jude turned to the First Queen and urgently cried. ¡°We¡¯ll stop him! Run!¡± They had to save the royal family. They had to grab the foot of the Lord Protector and buy enough time for the royal family to escape. He might have be weak, but he was still one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. It was obvious that he would be a tough opponent. But even so, they had to fight. Jude nced at the ¨ªomh Sis and the core of the barrier. He opened the fifth door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors and began to use the Supreme Sun Divine Art. Cordelia also switched into Fallen Angel Mode by unleashing the powers of an angel and a witch at the same time. ¡°He¡¯s here!¡± Princess Daphne quickly shouted and pulled the sword she had hidden under her skirt. Prince Dion cast various support magic to Princess Daphne in session while the First Queen did not hesitate. She picked up the unconscious Henry II again and ran towards the exit in the opposite direction. The most important thing was the king¡¯s life. The king and the other queens would only be a burden to the four if they stayed here. Thud! Thud! Thud! The stairs echoed. The Second Queen hugged Princess Darianne and ran, and the Third Queen cried and followed the two queens. And right after that. A dark blue aura de split the door. The Lord Protector finally appeared. Chapter 193: Lord Protector (1)

Chapter 193: Lord Protector (1)

This is the 1st of the 2 episodes for today~! The war against the Argon Empire was over. But neither side thought that true peace hade. It was a mere temporary truce. ¡°The war is not over.¡± The empire did not want to give up on the Ctes ins, the continent¡¯srgest breadbasket. And so did the S?len Kingdom, which was already enjoying the benefits of the Ctes ins. ¡°A fight that will only end if one side falls.¡± But neither side wanted it to escte into an all-out war. Because neither side had an absolute advantage. Therefore, the S?len Kingdom and the Argon Empire had fought as many as eight times in the past hundred years. There had been hundreds of battles, including small local battles. ¡°I don¡¯t hate it.¡± If it weren¡¯t for the war, his life would have ended at best as a back alley thug. Perhaps he wouldn¡¯t even be able to do that because he¡¯d die from starvation. When war broke out, there would always be a shortage of troops. He was moving around the back alleys and became a soldier when he was told that he would be given bread. It was good at first. After all, he had bread to eat at every meal, and he had a bed which he could lie down andfortably sleep on. The life of eating and sleeping without being deprived of food or being attacked while sleeping was like heaven to him at that time. But the situation changed when he stood on the real battlefield. He couldn¡¯t remember the day of the first battle no matter how much he thought of it. All he remembered was the fact that he was the only one who survived in the barracks where 20 people lived together, and the fact that the tall guy who was always talking loudly in the bed next to him had been shot to death by an arrow on his forehead as soon as the battle started. The war continued, and the skinny boy struggled to not die as he began to learn the know-how of surviving. And in the end, he didn¡¯t just survive as he even learned how to kill others. ¡°I don¡¯t want to die.¡± He lived his life in pain, yet he was obsessed with living. He fought to live and killed to live. He couldn¡¯t even remember when and where he did his first kill, but he did remember what he called his first murder ¨C the murder he consciouslymitted. When the spear pierced the other person¡¯s chest. When the soldier in front of him, whom he even didn¡¯t know their name, died. He didn¡¯t experience much joy in surviving. He didn¡¯t experience any sort of pleasure in killing and ending a life with his own hands. He was just afraid. Of death. Of dying. Time passed, and he learned more and more ways on how to fight. His know-how became skills, and his skills made him work hard. It was natural for a person to want to do better if he did well on something. Moreover, his efforts to not die on the battlefield made him be stronger. The war ended, and the beggar from the back alleys who didn¡¯t even receive a name from his parents eventually became a knight. ¡°And 20 yearster.¡± After a moment of peace and two wars. The knight became a count, and the count became a duke. Lord Protector. The hero who saved the country in its crisis. He just fought and fought as he rose in rank and even received such a grand name. ¡°Lord Protector, there¡¯s a child I want to introduce to you.¡± The second king. He had no significant rtionship with the first king he saw at the post-war knighthood ceremony. But he had quite an exchange with the second king. Because he saved that person¡¯s life, and that person made him a count. When thest war ended, that person made him a duke, someone like him who was once amoner and didn¡¯t even know who his parents were. ¡°He¡¯s my son. He was born on the eve of the war, so I didn¡¯t have the chance to introduce him. Still, you must have heard of him, right?¡± The second king smiled with his good-looking face, and the other counted the numbers in his head. The third war of his lifested for as long as seven years, so if the child had been born on the eve of the war, the child would be around eight years old. ¡°Henry,e here.¡± When the king beckoned, the little boy hiding behind the queen ran and stood next to the second king. The child who would be the third king in his life if nothing bad happens. The boy was very excited for some reason, and he looked up at the Lord Protector with a blush on his face, greeting the Lord Protector in a clumsy yet serious manner before the Lord Protector could greet him first. ¡°I¡¯m Henry D. S?len. Lord Protector.¡± The child¡¯s eyes were sparkling as if he was looking at a hero from a storybook and not at a vassal. The Lord Protector knelt in front of the child with the same name as the first king he met, and after some time, he put his name out of his mouth. ¡°The Duke of Antarius, Gray Antarius, humbly greets you.¡± Thest name was given by the first king, and the title was given by the second king. At his greeting, the future third king brightly smiled like the sun in his excitement. *** ¡°¡± ¡°¡± Cordelia and Prince Dion shouted almost simultaneously. Because both of them knew well that ordinary attack magic did not work on someone from the Ten Great Swordmasters. So they dug the ground and pulled him down with gravity. They focused on preventing his movement. Boooom! The Lord Protector was mmed into the ground. But Cordelia and Dion did not let their guard down. Even though their opponent had declined from age now, he was still the hero who saved the S?len Kingdom in its crisis in the past, and was the Lord Protector, one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. ¡°Uuuuugh!¡± Prince Dion sweated as he strengthened his gravity magic, but he couldn¡¯t beat the Lord Protector. He also couldn¡¯t stop the sword attack the Lord Protector did while being pulled down by gravity. Shing-! The Lord Protector cut the air. No, he cut the magic with his aura de. The magic formation was broken, nullifying the magic. It was generally not possible. A magic formation wouldn¡¯t just break from the sh of an aura de in the air. But it was the sword of someone from the Ten Great Swordmasters. It was possible for them to read the flow of mana and urately cut its core. ¡°Ugh!¡± Prince Dion suffered from the bacsh of the forced destruction of his magic, stepping back as he groaned while Jude and Princess Daphne held their breaths. Right after the magic was broken, they focused all their attention on the Lord Protector who leapt up from the pit. ¡®We need to buy time.¡¯ That¡¯s the victory condition for this fight. We must not overdo it. We should focus on buying time. We should actively utilize Daphne and Dion. We should fight together instead of protecting the two. ¡®They don¡¯t need protection.¡¯ Henry II, his queens, and Princess Darianne had fled. Even if Princess Daphne and Prince Dion died, the blood of the founder king would still continue. ¡®Let¡¯s go.¡¯ He didn¡¯t have the time to think anymore. Even if it was hard, they had to stop the Lord Protector from and moving as they hold him back. ¡®ck Dragon¡¯s Roar! Link!¡¯ T/N: The word ¡®link¡¯ here refers to the link in mathematical knot theory, which is a collection of knots that do not intersect but can be linked or knotted with each other. An example of that is the Hopf link we saw in a past chapter. But seriously, Jude¡¯s naming sense for his attacks is just weird¡­ Jude shot out the ck dragon¡¯s energy in session towards the Lord Protector. Princess Daphne closely watched the Lord Protector destroy the ck dragons with his sword covered with a dark blue aura. When he defeated the fourth ck dragon, she kicked the ground. Princess Daphne¡¯sbat power. Her sword was sharp and fast. But it wasn¡¯t enough to reach the Lord Protector. He rotated his body like a top and the sword he swung deflected her sword, but Jude narrowed the distance with his Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt. As he charged at a tremendous speed, he threw his fist filled with the energy of the ck dragon towards the Lord Protector. Booooom! The energy of the ck dragon missed. The Lord Protector stretched out his sword aura and made the ck dragon¡¯s energy hit the wall. He lowered his body as if lying on the ground before he soared like a snake and aimed for Princess Darianne. ¡°The Holy King¡¯s Light!¡± At that moment, Prince Dion cried out and a white light from the sky covered Princess Daphne. ¡°Haa!¡± Princess Daphne let out a spirited shout as she swung her sword, locking swords with the Lord Protector. Though her precision and skill proficiency was iparable to his, it became possible for her to be on par with the Lord Protector in that momentary increase in power. ¡°Euaaa!¡± When Princess Daphne let out a spirited shout again and crossed swords with the Lord Protector, he let his sword go with the flow instead of resisting. He stepped back and looked at Princess Daphne. ¡°Is it the blood of the Holy King?¡± The special ability of the first king. It gave the first king, Lion D. Salen, a powerful strength for a moment. It seemed that it was Prince Dion who inherited that special ability rather than Princess Daphne. Instead of answering, Princess Daphne fixed her sword stance while Jude instantly measured Princess Daphne¡¯s power. If he added Dion¡¯s support, her overallbat power was stronger than Lucas but weaker than Jude himself. At this rate, it was possible for them to fight together. ¡®I must match with Princess Daphne.¡¯ Princess Daphne was not Cordelia. It was impossible for him and the princess to team up as naturally as he and Cordelia did. But if neither side helped each other, it would be hard tond a proper attack. ¡°Crown Princess!¡± ¡°Support me!¡± At the moment Jude shouted, Princess Daphne cried and rushed towards the Lord Protector, and Jude also kicked the ground. And Cordelia thought as she watched all this. ¡®It¡¯s impossible.¡¯ We can¡¯t win this way. The moment she saw it, she knew. Their difference in power was too big. Wild beasts were able to instinctively sense the strength of their opponents the moment they encountered them. So did Cordelia. The Lord Protector was strong. It was worse than the strange feeling she felt the moment she met First Sword, but it was clear to her that the Lord Protector was a strong person she and Jude could not win against. What should we do then? How do we ovee this current crisis? Jude and Daphne¡¯s teamwork began. Prince Dion couldn¡¯t do anything else because he was having a hard time in just supporting Princess Daphne. ¡®Should I join?¡¯ Should I work with them? No. My senses and intuition are telling me no. I have to do something else. I have to find another way. Cordelia¡¯s gaze turned to the divine sword. Divine Sword ¨ªomh Sis. But she couldn¡¯t just take it away. Because she had already discussed it with Jude. ¡®You can¡¯t use the divine sword.¡¯ First of all, it was dangerous. It was the sword used by Sri, an archangel and the one who was called the sun god. Cordelia used Ancestral Regression and became an angel, but she was still an ordinary angel, so if she tried to rashly use it, she wouldn¡¯t be able to handle its power, and there was a possibility of her soul and body being damaged. ¡®The core of the barrier will break too.¡¯ The divine sword was both the core and the power source of the barrier. Just as how a remote control would no longer work if it didn¡¯t have batteries, the barrier would disappear as soon as the divine sword was removed. ¡®He can¡¯t remove it too.¡¯ The reason why the Lord Protector decided to kill all the royal family members was because it was impossible for him to pull out the divine sword. ¡®Perhaps if it¡¯s you¡­ You¡¯re an angel, so it may be possible. But then, it¡¯s like we¡¯re fulfilling the wish of the demon followers ourselves.¡¯ That was what Jude had said. In the game, the demon followers ced demonic humans and demons on the royal capital when the barrier disappeared, and they summoned a Hell Gate in the end. Boooom! Along with the roar, Princess Daphne was greatly thrown back while Jude managed to escape the Lord Protector¡¯s sword with the Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt. The dark blue aura de that was originally intended to cut Jude left deep marks on the floor and walls instead. ¡°Cordelia!¡± Jude shouted. He tried to send an attack towards the Lord Protector, but thetter naturally avoided it. And Cordelia understood. Apart from Jude¡¯s cry to join them, she realized why she felt that the fight was futile the way it was now. ¡®The difference in experience.¡¯ She could say that Jude had a slight edge when it came to their physical abilities. But if she added the Lord Protector¡¯s skills and experience, a gap that Jude could not ovee was created. ¡®Great swordmaster.¡¯ He was that strong even though he had declined because of his age. Among the Ten Great Swordmasters, the Sword of Light was one of the strongest ¨C so how powerful was First Sword? ¡®He was nice to us back then.¡¯ He didn¡¯t want to kill us. He didn¡¯t fight us with his full power then. ¡®Father-inw.¡¯ She remembered Count Bayer who was fighting against First Sword at that moment. But Cordelia stopped all her thoughts. She sharpened her senses when she saw Princess Daphne charging towards the Lord Protector again. Cordelia herself began to think. She focused. Thus, she awakened her wild beast¡¯s senses. What they needed the most now. The way to be victorious. Her eyes turned to the divine sword again. And there was a sh of light again. ¡°Uooooh!¡± Jude roared and let out the energy of the ck dragon, and the Lord Protector cut down the energy with his sword attack. Princess Daphne attacked from behind, but he easily blocked it. If it continued like this, they wouldn¡¯tst long. Both Jude and Princess Daphne were struggling and wasting their stamina and energy. So before they werepletely exhausted, she had to do something before they copse. Boooom! The attack of the Lord Protector did not stop at destroying the floor as it also split the entire floor into two. The aftermath of the devastating attack alone was enough to send Jude and Daphne flying. And Cordelia flew with her wings. She pierced through the center of the barrier and stood in front of the divine sword. ¡°Jude!¡± At her loud cry, Jude turned his gaze and made eye contact with Cordelia. Cordelia¡¯s thoughts. And what they should do from now on. She couldn¡¯t tell him all. But telling him some were enough. ¡®Trust me.¡¯ Jude stopped his calctions. He once again rushed towards the Lord Protector. Princess Daphne roared and joined him, and Prince Dion¡¯s eyes turned bloodshot as he awakened the special ability of the Holy King. And Cordelia looked at the divine sword. She widely spread out her angel wings and grabbed the divine sword. Chapter 194: Lord Protector (2)

Chapter 194: Lord Protector (2)

This is the 2nd of the 2 episodes for today~! ¡°Lord Protector, Lord Protector.¡± The third king in his life didn¡¯t have a heartless personality. ¡°Lord Protector, so this is where you are.¡± He had no talent for the sword either. He was not very smart or decisive, and he was not good at judging. ¡°Lord Protector, what should I do?¡± But he wasn¡¯t that ipetent either. His personality wasn¡¯t that heartless, but he wasn¡¯t a sociable person either. He didn¡¯t have a talent for swords, but he did not ck off. Heughed and continued his training even though he was annoyed that his skills did not improve much. He couldn¡¯t make up his mind at once, but he wasn¡¯t that indecisive. He just took a long time to ponder and think before making a decision. Of course, he couldn¡¯t help but have a poor judgment. He was not stubborn, but he did not have a proxy either, as he deemed it pointless. When people who were better than him talked, he listened, but he did not heed their advice either. ¡°Lord Protector, should I confess to her?¡± The third king was also fortunate to have helpful people around him. His first wife was his childhood friend, lifelongpanion, and reliable advisor. ¡°Lord Protector, I¡¯ve be a father. I¡¯ve be a father.¡± He had a loyal prince who would not betray his sister, who was a crown princess that was as clever as their mother. ¡°Lord Protector, my father¡­ My father¡­¡± On the day the second king died, the third king burst into tears like a child. He had a hard time saying goodbye to his father, but he was also afraid to be king. ¡°Daphne is smart, so if I could do as I please, I want to pass the throne to her quickly¡­ but I can¡¯t do that, right?¡± The third king who grew up seeing the second king knew what being a king meant. It was not a position where he could do whatever he wanted. It was not a position where he could wield his authority as he pleased. A king shouldn¡¯t be like that. A king was the leader of a country. It was a position that had a lot of responsibility and power. ¡°I¡¯m happy though. I have the First Queen, the smart Daphne and Dion¡­ and more than anything else, I have you, Lord Protector.¡± The third king always smiled brightly, despite being almost 40 years old. Like a child. Like the day they first met. *** Bababababang-! The Lord Protector¡¯s sword was a sword sharpened from his battles on the battlefield. It was rough and unrefined, but at the same time, it was a sword terrifyingly specialized in killing. ¡®He¡¯s different from First Sword.¡¯ His sword wasn¡¯t smooth. It wasn¡¯t even a quick sword that resembled light. ¡®Rough.¡¯ His evasion and blocking skills were rough. His sword was too difficult to deal with. So Jude decided to give it up. It was a fight against a much stronger opponent in the first ce. Jude gave uppletely avoiding. He epted having some injuries. ¡°Haa!¡± With a roar, the power of the Supreme Sun Divine Art surrounded his whole body. The regeneration of his body was strengthened by activating the power of the Sphere of Life that was absorbed by the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. ¡®He¡¯s too powerful.¡¯ The Lord Protector¡¯s skill was far superior. His attack power was also terrifying, so if Jude approached him carelessly, he and Daphne would only end up flying. Jude held his breath. He kicked the ground with a golden whirlwind, and pushed the Lord Protector with his speed. Bang! Bang! Bang! The roaring sounds caused by the Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt was like thunder. The energy of the ck dragon was released to the extent that it was almost wasteful, but the Lord Protector cut it. Princess Daphne couldn¡¯t keep up with Jude¡¯s speed, so she just supported him. She couldn¡¯t keep up with him, but she didn¡¯t just watch. Whenever Jude¡¯s attack was blocked, she stretched out her sword and drew the attention of the Lord Protector. But it was only for a short time. The Lord Protector adapted to Jude¡¯s speed. He began to read Jude¡¯s attack, and he made Jude¡¯s attacks simpler by limiting Jude¡¯s movements with his sword attacks. Blood sttered. Jude¡¯s entire body began to turn red. In contrast to the Lord Protector who did not have a single scratch, Jude was covered in blood. ¡°Juuuuude!¡± And Cordelia shouted at that moment. It was a signal, and Jude pulled out one of his aces without hesitation. ¡°Sr re!¡± An intense light emanated from Jude¡¯s fist. The Lord Protector anticipated the attack, hurriedly backing away and closing his eyes. On the other hand, Princess Daphne¡¯s eyes were blinded for a moment and she took a step back. And Jude ran towards Cordelia. He was also unable to see, but he recalled the exact map in his mind, so he did not make any mistake in the direction and distance. The light only stopped the Lord Protector for a few seconds. And time was up. But Cordelia carried out her nned move. ¡°Aaaaaah!¡± Cordelia absorbed the power of the divine sword, ¨ªomh Sis, and the divine power of Sri, the sun god. It was too much for her. Cordelia¡¯s arms that held the divine sword was burned by a white me, and she screamed in pain as if her soul and body were burning. But Cordelia did not give up. She held on despite the pain that seemed toe from the nerves of her entire body. She grabbed Jude¡¯s hand who hadnded next to her. ¡°, ¡± She cast her magic. The immense divine power of the divine sword was converted into life energy within Cordelia and passed on to Jude. It was a really crazy n. The burden and pain on Cordelia increased several times because she had to absorb the divine power and convert it into life energy at the same time. But she did not stop. She widely spread out her white wings and continued to transmit the power. This was what Cordelia thought. If the difference in their basic specs was a problem, then match the other¡¯s specs. Like what the two did in the wildnds. Just as how Jude absorbed the power of the dragon veins from the ground and opened a new door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. In the Temple of Life, Jude opened the fifth door. Because the power contained in the Sphere of Life was not enough to open the sixth door as it was impossible to go straight from the fifth to the sixth door at once, Jude almost died when his soul and body were almost destroyed. But now. Now that he got used to the fifth door, he could now absorb the divine power that Cordelia herself converted into life energy, which was far greater than the energy from the Sphere of Life. ¡°Aaaaaaah!¡± Cordelia screamed. Jude dived deep into his consciousness. It was harder than when he opened the fifth door. But he had to do it. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t have a future. And at that very moment, the Lord Protector opened his eyes. He had yet to fully recover his eyesight, but he blurringly saw Jude and Cordelia. He felt a sense of crisis at the colossal power from the divine sword. ¡°Haa!¡± The Lord Protector kicked the ground. He tried to cut down Jude and Cordelia at once. Their distance was only around a dozen meters at most, but for the Lord Protector, it was a distance that could be narrowed within a blink of an eye. But he couldn¡¯t reach it. Because space was manipted. A distance of hundreds to thousands of meters was created between the Lord Protector and Jude. The Summer Fairy Queen. As soon as the battle began, she hid in a corner, but she did not just curl up and tremble. She watched the fight and realized what she could do. She was the Fairy Queen who as good in manipting space. It was more like a superpower than magic, so the Lord Protector was not able to respond like he did before. ¡°Aaaaaaah!¡± Cordelia continued to scream, and at that moment, a ck me-like energy erupted from Jude¡¯s entire body. The Lord Protector made a decision. That was why he turned away from Jude and Cordelia. He rushed towards Princess Daphne and Prince Dion who had barely opened their eyes. ¡°Nooo!¡± The Fairy Queen cried and hurriedly tried to manipte space again, but it was impossible. Because she had used too much power in manipting the distance between Jude and the Lord Protector. The Lord Protector narrowed his distance with Princess Daphne. Having barely opened their eyes, Prince Dion screamed while Princess Daphne clumsily moved her sword. And blood sttered. Princess Daphne¡¯s right wrist that held her sword was roughly cut as if it was torn apart and then flew in the air. He began to use his next sword attack. The second sh of the Lord Protector aimed at Princess Daphne¡¯s neck. Cordelia released her hold from the divine sword as soon as he was about to strike. She copsed on the floor in exhaustion, and she saw Jude opening his shining green eyes while still covered in a ck me. But they were out of time. The sword of the Lord Protector struck Princess Daphne¡¯s long neck. ¡°Lord Protectooooor!¡± In that moment. In that short nick of time. The scream ¨C no, the cry that stopped the movement of the Lord Protector. The Lord Protector reflexively stopped his sword and unconsciously had a stunned face as he turned to the direction from which he heard the sound. ¡°Lord Protector, Lord Protector, Lord Protector.¡± There was a man there who repeated the same words with a face covered with tears and snot. He struggled with his pronunciation because he had run in a hurry and was out of breath, and his knees were shaking as if he was about to copse now, but he looked their way and cried like a child, and the Lord Protector had no choice but to be distracted by him. ¡°Lord Protector.¡± He said in tears. He repeatedly called him like a real fool, but the Lord Protector understood. His voice echoed in the Lord Protector¡¯s head. It¡¯s a lie, right? That you betrayed us. That you killed the royalty. Those are all lies, right? It¡¯s not true, right? Just this time, Justina is wrong, right? It¡¯s not true, right? Lord Protector. It isn¡¯t, right? Please, Lord Protector. Please. Please say something, please say it¡¯s not true. Lord Protector. Lord Protector. Please! The third king in his life. He was a guy who was always smiling brightly since they met for the first time. The guy who didn¡¯t even know that the Lord Protector would kill him, the guy who gave him a tracking device and said that he was relieved if the Lord Protector was here. Henry II sat down on the floor. He gasped for breath and sent a pleading gaze. He wasn¡¯tpetent, but he wasn¡¯t a fool either. When he first woke up, the First Queen said to him. She said that the Lord Protector betrayed them. She said that the Lord Protector had be the enemy of the kingdom. She said that he killed the other royal family members that were left behind in the banquet hall. Henry II never once doubted the words of the First Queen in his life. But he denied her words for the first time. He ran away from her when she tried to exin and convince him. Because he was scared. He felt like he would admit that the Lord Protector had betrayed them if he listened to her. But it was useless. Because he already knew. Because he knew better than anyone that First Queen Justina would never make up such nonsense. But he couldn¡¯t stop himself. He still couldn¡¯t admit it. ¡°Lord Protector¡­¡± He burst into tears. He howled like a child. And at the sight of such Henry II, the figure of the third king made the Lord Protector feel a bit shaken. His fingertips trembled even though he had already made up his mind. It was just a moment, but he felt like he wanted to hide somewhere. But he didn¡¯t do that. Because he already drew his sword. Even if the third king, Henry II, would forgive him for everything he had done now, because the third king was such a person, it was already toote. ¡®No, it¡¯s not a matter of being toote from stopping.¡¯ Nor was it a matter of whether he could go back or not. Because the Lord Protector himself had no intention of going back. ¡®I¡¯m getting old.¡¯ He was already close to seventy years old. No, he didn¡¯t know the exact date of his birth, so perhaps he was already seventy. He had wrinkles on his face. His fingertips became wrinkled, and his energy weakened little by little, as if it was sand that slipped through his fingers. He had not neglected training for even a single day ever since he first came back from the battlefield. But at some point, he hit the point where it all came spiraling down. He no longer became stronger no matter how hard he trained. Rather, he became weaker day by day. When he naturally realized that he wouldn¡¯t be able to hold his sword anymore. When the naturally continuing flow was cut and stopped flowing. He felt fear rather than despondency. Because he realized that he was dying. ¡®I don¡¯t want to die.¡¯ The words he had forgotten for a while after the war. He was called the Lord Protector, dressed in fine clothes, and received the king¡¯s trust, but his fundamental part remain unchanged. I don¡¯t want to die. I want to live. I want to be stronger. I don¡¯t want to be weak. Like the tall person who died from an arrow in the head. His pupils became pitch-ck as if there was nothing in it. He lived most of his life on the battlefield, inflicting death to countless people. In the process, he was at risk of death dozens of times. But it was different from then. It was apletely different situation from the time he could live by just killing the enemy first. He couldn¡¯t avoid it. Whatever he did, he wouldn¡¯t be able to escaped his fated death. Every day, he headed towards a death where he wouldn¡¯t be able to see or feel anything, something that could only be expressed as nothingness. ¡®I¡¯mpletely helpless.¡¯ Like a ve tied to a chain. The Lord Protector came back to reality. She was only twenty years old now, and she was quite good in swordsmanship because of the fact that she was devoted to training daily, but he couldn¡¯t cut such a princess with his sword. Even though he was doing his best, he couldn¡¯t do such a thing to these children. Weak. He had be so weak. And even at this moment, he felt like he was getting a bit weaker. He couldn¡¯t stand it. He was afraid. He hated the feeling of his fated death squeezing his throat. So he cut it off. He shook off his superficial rtionships. He would destroy the barrier by killing all the royalty, and in return, he would be united with a great demon. He would be a demonic human and escape from his fated death. He would break his chains and free himself from the curse of aging! ¡°Lord Protector!¡± He didn¡¯t hear it anymore. He ignored the screams of the third king, Henry II, and looked at Princess Daphne. He red at her as if to kill her, and tried to swing his sword again. But he couldn¡¯t. The Lord Protector¡¯s experience and instinct made him wield his sword in a different direction. aang! The powerful energy that rushed towards him was cut off by his sword. And then he realized. What he cut right now was just the aftermath. It wasn¡¯t an attack. The appearance of Henry II bought them some time. His cries prevented the death of Princess Daphne, and it gave Jude and Cordelia the least amount of time to forcefully finish their n. Cordelia swallowed her groan. While lying in front of the divine sword, she clenched her teeth before forcibly raising her head to see the Lord Protector, despite her body trembling from the pain and suffering. Facing his flushed face, she smiled as her fangs glistened. ¡®F*ck him up.¡¯ Her voice didn¡¯te out of her mouth. Because she couldn¡¯t even do so. But an answer came back. Jude responded to Cordelia¡¯s call like always. Thunderbolt Twelve Steps. The second step. The Thunder God Invokes Lightning. And the power that made it possible. Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors ¨C Sixth Gate. ck Sun. The Supreme Sun Divine Artpletely became one with the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. Thus, the ck Sun was born. Jude raised his head and saw the Lord Protector. He clenched his fist and took a step at the same time. And at that moment. In that time. As thunder shook the heavens and earth, ck lightning exploded. Chapter 195: Black Lightning

Chapter 195: ck Lightning

Only one episode today. Genshin¡¯s mini-games took up most of my time today, hahaha. Anyway, the next two episodes will be the conclusion of the other characters¡¯ battles. So I¡¯ll try to release at least one episode tomorrow even if it¡¯s supposed to be my break day (because I¡¯m so excited to reach episode 200). Baaaang! The roar filled the entire room. Sound was erased, and lightning struck again in the area that had be silent. ck. Just like lightning that split the night sky, it drew a line at once. It stretched out at a fearsome speed. Bang! At the time of the second thunder, the Lord Protector was unable to properly see the attack. He managed to avoid the attacks due to his strong obsession with life and his longbat experience, but he didn¡¯t even know himself what or how he avoided it. But he was the Lord Protector. He was one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. Heunched a counterattack before even realizing that he had avoided the attack. His rushing left hand was filled with a dark blue aura. Shwaaaak! It was cut. The dark blue aura cut Jude¡¯s chest. And it was only at that time that the Lord Protector became fully aware of the surrounding situation. He realized almost simultaneously of the fact that he had evaded Jude¡¯s punch by twisting his upper body, and that Jude had likewise twisted his upper body to avoid the counterattack. And ck lightning burst again. ck energy exploded from Jude¡¯s body and filled the sight of the Lord Protector, and Jude¡¯s beastly onught soon unfolded. Bang! Bang! Bang! The ck Sun in the middle of Jude¡¯s heart let out an immense energy. The Thunder God Invokes Lightning created lightning, and Jude¡¯s fist was covered with ck lightning as his Lightning Strike Fist tore the air apart. It was fast and strong. At the same time, it was extremely rough. Because it was too much for him. He didn¡¯t have the time. It had only been a month or so after he had opened the fifth door. He had yet to fully adapt to it. Moreover, he didn¡¯t experience any massive growth at that time. It was impossible for him to open the sixth door. If his physical and spiritual body had not erged due to the metamorphosis, he would not have been able to open the sixth door without the variable that was the divine sword, ¨ªomh Sis. A runaway. A state in which normal functions were rendered impossible. His heart was beating too fast and irregr. It felt like his heart, where the ck Sun was located, was about to burst. The ck lightning emitted from his whole body not only burned the air but also cut and tore Jude¡¯s skin without stopping. The attack was fast and strong enough, but it was too rough. There was no trace of the precision Jude usually showed. Self-destruction. His fate would be his destruction if he was overwhelmed by that destructive force. A fated catastrophe that he brought on to himself. He would be destroyed. If he used his fist attack again. If he pushed it a little further. It would cause a runaway. It would bepletely uncontroble. The ck Sun¡¯s energy would destroy Jude! Bang! Another thunder roared. Jude¡¯s fist was filled with ck lightning that exploded. But Jude did not copse. His heart still pounded as if it was going to burst, and the raging lightning continued to add new wounds to Jude¡¯s arms and legs, but he remained unbroken. He managed to control the power he couldn¡¯t handle. Cheonmujiche. The incarnation of martial arts from the heavens. Add to that was Jude¡¯s concentration and calction skills that were beyondmon sense. His whole body that was going berserk finally confined the power that he couldn¡¯t control himself. ¡°Uooooo!¡± Jude roared like a beast and struck the Lord Protector. Instead of his usual way of calcting the attack direction, he entrusted himself to the berserk power. He literally became a beast andunched an onught. Bang! Bang! Bang! The Lord Protector could notpletely avoid the attacks. He couldn¡¯t even attack Jude with his sword. He was in a hurry to protect himself from the wild beast. But when Jude¡¯s attacks reached the seventh number, the Lord Protector slightly adapted to Jude¡¯s attacks. When the twelfth attack unfolded, he finally found a gap where he could counterattack. ¡°Uoooo!¡± The Lord Protector clenched his teeth as Jude roared. He swung his sword at Jude despite the pain of his injured left shoulder. His unmatched sword attack tried to bite the neck of Jude. Baaaaang! His sword was like the teeth of a beast. A peculiar sword style that left very rough scars. But he couldn¡¯t reach it. At the time when the Lord Protector aimed for a counterattack, Princess Daphne and Prince Dion could only watch as they couldn¡¯t even intervene in the fight. And Cordelia did not remove her hand from the sword. She released the life energy that she had forcibly converted from the enormous power of the divine sword, so the nerves of her entire body felt like it was burning, but she did not close her eyes despite the tremendous pain. She had watched the fight, so she was able to instinctively know what she should do at that moment. ¡®.¡¯ The magic spell Cordelia cast in the midst of pain. A basic magic spell that was so basic that even beginners who had just began to learn magic could easily use it. But that was why she could use it at the current situation now. Moreover, Cordelia knew it better than anyone else. Although she recognized herself as a fan of firepower, she did not forget one thing. How a wizard fought. The role of the wizard. Someone who made miracles through the so-called magic. He slipped. At the moment when the Lord Protector tried to avoid Jude¡¯s attack andunch a counterattack himself, her chance to turn the tide finally came. The sudden slippery floor prevented the Lord Protector from properly stepping on it. He did notpletely fall down, but his attack deviated. The attack itself was also dyed. And Jude did not miss that gap. Bang! Lightning Strike Fist. Jude¡¯s fist struck the Lord Protector¡¯s abdomen. For the first time since the start of the battle, he dealt a perfect blow to the Lord Protector. ¡°Kaaak!¡± The Lord Protector coughed blood. His body slightly rose into the air, and Jude¡¯s second attack aimed at the heart of the Lord Protector. Bang! The Lord Protector flew and roughly hit the wall. Jude rushed towards him, and the Lord Protector swung his sword at that moment. As a man who had wielded a sword for most of his life, his body had reacted to the impending attack. But it was different from before. Jude could see the sword clearly. So he swung his fist towards the sword covered in dark blue aura. ck Dragon Cross Strike. His attack aimed at the surface of the sword and not the ded part, which was normally a reckless attack. But his Cheonmujiche made it possible. ck lightning and the dark blue sword collided, and the sword of the Lord Protector exploded with a loud sound. Baaaang! The de shattered. It broke into pieces and cut the bodies of Jude and the Lord Protector. Then Jude turned his body around using his right fist. His downward roundhouse kick filled with the energy of the ck dragon shot down diagonally like a lightning bolt. Baaaang! Lightning burst again. But the Lord Protector did not copse. He defended Jude¡¯s attack with his left arm. He somehow endured and exploded his dark blue aura. Shwaaaaa-! It blinded Jude¡¯s eyes. He somehow used that opportunity to attack and strike a blow into Jude¡¯s chest just before he run away. He no longer had a sword. It had broken and was unusable. But something like this frequently happened on the battlefield. The Lord Protector concentrated his dark blue aura on his clenched fist. ¡°Uoooo!¡± The Lord Protector sent his fist. But Jude was not fooled. Even in the midst of the ck Sun going out of control, he read the aura of the Lord Protector with his sharpened senses. Heunched his fist at the exact direction of the fist heading towards him. Bang! Their fists collided. The ck lightning and dark blue aura canceled each other out with a roar, and the fists of Jude and the Lord Protector broke at the same time. But there was a stark difference between the two. The Sphere of Life. Jude¡¯s regeneration ability amplified by the energy of the ck Sun. ¡°Uoooooo!¡± The Lord Protector had lost both his left arm and right fist. But it wasn¡¯t for Jude. He poured out a one-sided onught towards the Lord Protector. Bang! Bang! Bang! He destroyed the dark blue aura. He broke the body of the Lord Protector! Baaaang! The ck Dragon Cross Strike struck the chest of the Lord Protector. He threw up blood and was greatly pushed back while Jude who was about to deal thest blow also coughed blood. It was his limit. Doing one more attack was impossible. If he continued using the ck Sun, his heart would really burst. That was why Jude withdrew his energy. He did that despite knowing that he still had some strength to spare. Because Jude did not forget. That there was one more person. That there was a woman who instead of being satisfied and copsing after her decisive support, she had clenched her teeth and waited for the chance to deal thest hit. ¡°Finish him.¡± Jude said, and Cordelia responded. She leant on the divine sword as if hanging from it, and greatly spread out a white light. It wasn¡¯t only Jude who absorbed the power of the divine sword. In the midst of converting and releasing the life energy, she literally covered herself with Sri¡¯s divine power. Thus, a new power was added to her wings. Her rank as an angel rose. Therefore, her divine power became stronger! ¡°Aaaaaaah!¡± Cordelia screamed as she shut her eyes. She once again epted the power of the divine sword and released a divine lightning despite the pain. Baaaaaang! A white lightning that was the exact opposite of Jude¡¯ ck lightning. The divine power that came from the divine sword struck the heart of the Lord Protector. It destroyed the source of his dark blue aura, and all that remained of it. And the copse that followed. The Lord Protector fell to his knees. He couldn¡¯t stand any longer and copsed. ¡°Haa¡­ haa¡­¡± Jude panted as he roughly breathed, and he plopped down on the floor. And so did Cordelia who was leaning on the divine sword. Her hands didn¡¯t slide down along the sword, as she fell to the floor with a thud. But until the end, Cordelia did not let go of her consciousness. She wanted to faint right away, but she held on by gritting her teeth. The white rings had yet to appear. Because the Lord Protector was still breathing. They knew that it was impossible for him stand up any more even if he was a great swordmaster, but they couldn¡¯t say that the fight was over until his life was really over. With her blue eyes, Cordelia looked at the Lord Protector. As he shallowly breathed, Henry II approached him. *** The Lord Protector breathed slowly. It was painful. He felt like his thin breath would stop at any moment. His eyesight blurred. It got darker and darker. And the Lord Protector realized. I¡¯m dying. This is my end. Like how that tall guy reached his end. I want to struggle. I want to scream and resist. But I can¡¯t. My breath is getting thinner and my body is losing its strength. It¡¯s scary. It¡¯s frightening. I don¡¯t want to die. Tears fell from his eyes. And his blurred vision became more blurred. And the Lord Protector saw. As his eyes lost its light, it reflected a person¡¯s face for thest time. ¡°Lord Protector.¡± It was the third king. He couldn¡¯t see it properly, but he could see it. He could immediately recall the tearful face of that man. ¡°I-it¡¯s my fault. Because I was too ipetent¡­ Because I was too¡­ ipetent¡­¡± Otherwise, the Lord Protector would not have betrayed him. He couldn¡¯t even imagine why the hero who saved the country in its crisis would point his sword towards the S?len Kingdom. The Lord Protector smiled. He smiled without knowing or even realizing it. It wasn¡¯t because of Henry II¡¯s stupidity. It wasn¡¯t because he was stunned by the other¡¯s foolish beliefs that blindly trusted him. He couldn¡¯t see any more. Even the sobbing of Henry II was no longer audible. His senses were gradually getting dull. And the Lord Protector opened his mouth and said. ¡°That¡¯s¡­not true.¡± It¡¯s not your fault. It¡¯s just my greed. I didn¡¯t want to die, I didn¡¯t want to get old, I wanted to regain my strength. For that, I betrayed you, I betrayed the country, and I killed the royal family. It was only for me. It was just for my own self. I never considered someone like you in the first ce. I didn¡¯t even care. I just moved for myself. He could no longer hear. So he could no longer tell what the other was properly saying. ¡®Why?¡¯ In myst moments, why? Why am I leaving such words at the time of myst breaths? I should be pouring out curses. If Henry II didn¡¯t appear, it might have ended differently. Why, why am I pouring out words like this instead of curses? ¡°Lord Protector¡­¡± You¡¯re a stupid guy. You always smiled like a fool, and now you¡¯re just crying. He could no longer see or hear. It had now be impossible for him to even connect his thoughts. Death. The fated end. At thatst moment, the Lord Protector opened his mouth and let out his breath. Thest thought in his mind disappeared. And the Lord Protector ceased breathing. Darkness took away his consciousness. *** Henry II fell on the body of the Lord Protector and swallowed his tears. Princess Daphne copsed on the spot and roughly breathed while Prince Dion recovered Princess Daphne¡¯s hand that had fallen on the floor. And Jude saw. The white rings of light appeared around the chest of the wriggling Cordelia who had copsed. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. On Jude¡¯s chest, there were only four rings, one less than her. It was over now. They finally defeated the Lord Protector and prevented the royal family from being annihted. He felt sorry for the crying Henry II, and there were still many things they had to sort out, but it was finally over. Therefore, Jude moved his body with thest bit of his strength. He halfway crawled as he approached Cordelia. ¡°Kaak¡­urk¡­¡± He somehow turned Cordelia, whose face was buried in the blood she threw up, and settled down next to her as he copsed. Cordelia harshly breathed. So did Jude, and he soon felt it. Cordelia¡¯s approaching hand as she groped the floor, her small hand that was cold and even trembling. Jude reflexively grabbed Cordelia¡¯s hand. He sped her twitching hands, and Cordelia turned her face to the side to see Jude. She didn¡¯t even have the energy to open her mouth, so she just spoke with her eyes. ¡®Jude, Jude.¡¯ ¡®Why, Cordelia.¡¯ ¡®We won.¡¯ At Cordelia¡¯s gaze, Jude smiled and then vomited blood. And it was the same for Cordelia. Like him, she threw up blood and panted. They were aplete mess. Jude waspletely covered in blood. He didn¡¯t have any wounds due to his regenerative ability, but it was not an exaggeration to say that he was bathed in blood. On the other hand, Cordelia looked fine. No, she actually wasn¡¯t. Her whole body was covered with shining sweat, and her cheeks and lips were full of blood. Her hair was soaked in blood and sweat as it stuck to her face and the floor, so she was not in good shape too. And her insides were in a more serious condition. Her limbs kept shaking. Her body temperature continued to drop, and even though she held Jude¡¯s hands, her senses became dull so she couldn¡¯t feel Jude¡¯s warmth. But Cordeliaughed. And so did Jude. Although both of them felt pain fromughing and looked like they were about to die, they exchanged nces again. ¡®You¡¯repletely nuts.¡¯ I can¡¯t believe you absorbed the divine power of the divine sword and passed it to me in that way. That wasn¡¯t even a gamble. You were like a sessful suicide bomber who miraculously survived. At Jude¡¯s gaze, Cordelia responded with moist eyes. ¡®So¡­ do you hate it?¡¯ Judeughed again at hearing the words he had always spoken. He felt like his heart was being torn because of hisughing, but he did not look away from Cordelia. ¡®Ipletely like it.¡¯ ¡®Me too.¡¯ Cordelia giggled and sent him ast nce before she closed her eyes, and Jude followed her. The two fell into a deep sleep while next to each other. Chapter 196: Royal Capital (1)

Chapter 196: Royal Capital (1)

Terms used in this chapter: Spartoi ¨C In Greek mythology, they are mythical beings who sprang up from a dragon¡¯s teeth. Koros¡¯ chest split. The long diagonal sh broke his corbone as ck blood gushed out. His muscles were as hard as armor, but this was the sword of Seryu, the Seven-Killings Sword. Her silver sword that resembled the subtle moonlight was sharp enough to cut Koros¡¯ body. But when his ck blood spurted, Seryu also coughed blood. She was pushed back and staggered. ¡°Kaaahk.¡± It was not an illusion that Seryu¡¯s sword cut Koros¡¯ body. It was definitely real. But it was also true that Koros¡¯ fist hit Seryu. ¡°Kuuhhk.¡± As soon as the silver sword shed his chest, Koros moved forward instead of stepping back. Seryu¡¯s sword cut through his vicle and he stretched out his fist at that time. He didn¡¯t do it with thought. Koros¡¯ instinct, which could be called a reckless move in itself, reacted to it. And its effect was enough. He struck his opponent in the same way with his powerful strength, but the power of their attacks differed. After all, their physique, weight, and race differed. Koros was a giant over 3 meters, so his fist was almost as big as Seryu¡¯s upper body. Despite the fact that she reduced the strength of the attack by moving her body backwards at the moment of the attack, the blow she received was enormous. ¡°Kaakh¡­kuuhk¡­¡± Seryu threw up again and stumbled while Koros gritted his teeth and red at her. It seemed like he could crush the small and slender Seryu if he hit her with more blows, but he couldn¡¯t do it anymore. It was also impossible for him to pull out here and head for Saluzia. Because of the distance. Seryu staggered and threw up blood, and she looked to be in danger of copsing at any moment, but she was still able to wield her sword. Koros himself was within Seryu¡¯s striking distance. ¡®As expected of a great swordmaster.¡¯ One of the Ten Great Swordmasters that the S?len Kingdom was proud of. Koros himself had been weakened by his chest injury. It was clear to him that if he charged here, his speed and power in dealing blows would be less than before. He had suffered that much. His barrage of attacks that blocked Seryu¡¯s attacks was no longer possible. ¡®I don¡¯t have to hurry.¡¯ Seryu was desperately adjusting her breathing, but her recovery was slow. After all, she was a human. Her vomiting blood could only mean that her gut was damaged, so it was natural that she wouldn¡¯t be able to easily recover. On the other hand, the injury on Koros¡¯ chest was healing, albeit slow. Because he was demonic human who united with a demon. Koros had a strong regenerative ability that could not even bepared to a human¡¯s natural healing ability. So he just needed to take his time. Until he had fully recovered. Until Koros himself recovered, he just had to idle away and endure Seryu¡¯s attack for the time being. But Koros didn¡¯t do that. No, he couldn¡¯t do that.¡¯ ¡®Sannie.¡¯ Saluzia. The northwest sky was turning green. The terrifying mana of death had been released. He had to hurry. He shouldn¡¯t drag this fight any longer. ¡°Come.¡± Koros spoke in deration, but Seryu said nothing. Because she was only focused on fighting Koros from the very beginning of their fight. ¡°Haa.¡± Seryu let out her breath. She adjusted her breathing and controlled her body with her strong will. Lowering her body a bit, she strengthened the grip on her sword. And at some point. Bang! Koros kicked the ground. Confronting such a charging giant seemed to be reckless. But Seryu did not back down. She saw Koros pull his fist, so she held her breath and kicked the ground at the same time. A fist and a sword. A demonic human and a great swordmaster shed. *** Saluzia knew the five heroes of the Paragon Kingdom. They were truly like mythical beings. ¡®The ones who defeated the Demon Prince.¡¯ Even among the demons that possessed a title, the great demons were one of the best and ranked just below the overlords of hell. The gap between a demon prince and a human was truly enormous. It was no exaggeration to say that humans were just squirming bugs whenpared to them. But Paragon¡¯s heroes defeated the Demon Prince with their human bodies. They were not disheartened. They fought in the realm of the Demon Prince. They fought not only the Demon Prince but also the Demon Prince¡¯s army, and they eventually defeated the Demon Prince. Iron Man Landius. Ghostde Kamael. Holy Angel Lena. These three defeated the Demon Prince. It was the result of miracle after miracle, but they defeated the Demon Prince who had used up all his power in just fighting the three. And the other two. Necromancer Velkian and Druid Fran. They stopped the Demon Prince¡¯s army. They made time for the three people to defeat the Demon Prince. How did they do it? How did they make it possible? Saluzia got to know. She came to witness firsthand the correct answers to some of the questions she had. ¡°Come forth, my legion.¡± Green mana covered the sky. When Velkian on his Phantom Steed stretched out his hand towards the ground, ghostly wails reverberated and spread out. ¡°Kiaaaaaa-!¡± Ghosts were summoned from the green sky. They cried and began to take shape, instantly covering the walls of the city. And then it rained fire. Meteors covered in green mes showered down from the green sky, attacking Saluzia¡¯s troops. Boom! Boom! Boom! It wasn¡¯t just an attack. The green meteors that struck the ground stood up and took the shape of giants. Over ten giant golems stood up and roared. And one more was added to this. It clearly revealed Velkian¡¯s personality, who did not hesitate to use his full strength. ¡°Come forth.¡± Velkian made a gesture. He recited the spell which twisted the world around it. His strongest familiar descended on the ground. Kuoooooooo-! The space was torn. Green mes greatly rose from the ground, and ¡®that¡¯ showed up during that time. Death Knight. No, something more than that. The greatest masterpiece created by Necromancer Velkian. As soon as it appeared, it shook the world. The heavens and earth trembled. The green mes scattered roughly, making the ck existence stand out even more. Knight Lord. The ruler of knights. Green eyes shed from within its ck armor. It stared at Saluzia as it rode on top of a huge Phantom Steed. And powerful beings appeared beside such a lord. Spartoi. Elite knights made from the teeth of the ck dragon Tarasque. Saluzia breathed heavily as an army was summoned right before her eyes. She reflexively recalled Velkian¡¯s other name. One Man Army. A person who always moved alone, but could summon thousands of troops anytime and anywhere. ¡°Go.¡± Velkian firmly ordered. And the sky copsed at that moment. It could only be described as such as the sight of thousands of ghosts rushed down the capital¡¯s walls. The wail of ghosts filled the sky. The green golems swept the ground. ¡°Kiaaaaaaaaaa-!¡± The ghostly wails erased all sound. Thus, the harrowing screams of the demon followers were not heard. In the silence created by the overwhelming noise, the demon followers could not even leave theirst death throes. And at that moment, the Knight Lord dashed forward. Death knights made up of Spartoi followed such a lord. There was no sound again this time. But their presence alone was enough to shake the world. ¡°Aaaaah!¡± Saluzia frantically shouted. She roared and spread out all her four wings, and the Knight Lord¡¯s green eyes shed underneath its ck armor. It swung its huge ck sword. Bang! Boom! Bang! Thunder burst. The Knight Lord¡¯s sword and Saluzia¡¯s wings collided several times, and the demonic humans and Spartoi shed. And Saluzia thought. She had to run away. She had to get out of here. Necromancer Velkian was truly the worst opponent. In a sense, he was worse than Landius or Kamael. ¡®Konny!¡¯ It was too much for her alone. She could somehow deal with the Knight Lord, but if something else was added to this, Saluzia wouldn¡¯t be able to hold her ground no matter how powerful she was. She had to run away while the mid-ranking demonic humans under hermand were blocking the Spartoi. ¡°Aaaaaah!¡± Saluzia deliberately made her power runaway. She freed the demonic powers that she had held back ever since she became a demonic human. Thus, she became one step closer to being a demon. Naturally, she had to pay a price. The pain of tearing up her soul was not a big deal for her. ¡®Saluzia.¡¯ The devil¡¯s voice. It was an illusion. The devil had long been united with Saluzia herself. But Saluzia knew. The closer she turn into a demon, the closer she would lose her own self. She had already lost some of it when she became a demonic human, so she knew that she would lose more if she continued. But now wasn¡¯t the time to hesitate. She needed a stronger power in order to get out of her current situation. ¡°Aaaaaaah!¡± New wings sprouted behind Saluzia¡¯s back. The two pairs of wings became four pairs now, and Saluzia attacked the Knight Lord by wielding her newly sprouted wings. Right after her opponent withdrew, she pped her wings again to shake off the magic of death that had attacked her. ¡°Keuaaa!¡± Velkian clenched his teeth at the bacsh of his mana. The Knight Lord rushed towards Saluzia again, but it was already after Saluzia had pped her wings again. ¡°Kill the humans!¡± Saluziamanded. And at thatmand, the demon followers lost their minds. Instead of fighting the ghosts in fear, they madly attacked the remaining Royal Guards and Royal Guard Magic Corps. ¡°You b*tch!¡± Velkian angrily shouted. But Saluzia smiled. Because she knew well what kind of people the five heroes of the Paragon Kingdom were. ¡°Hahahahaha!¡± Saluzia¡¯s pping wings became huge des of magic and struck the survivors. The Knight Lord protected them by swinging his ck sword, and Saluzia escaped at that gap. She soared high into the skies of the royal capital. Velkian saw her, but he couldn¡¯t immediately chase after her. Because he had to control the ghosts. ¡°Destroy the demon followers!¡± Velkian suppressed his anger and shouted, and the ghosts protected the survivors by attacking the demon followers abandoned by Saluzia. Velkian closed his eyes and felt the flow of magic. A huge sh of power was taking ce in the royal pce. He could also feel the power of a strong demonic human in the south gate. And all over the royal capital. People were scared. The zombies that were neither dead nor alive were running wild and spreading death. He had to hurry. This wasn¡¯t the time to chase after a demonic human who had run away. Velkian slowly picked his breath. His drew closer his consciousness that had been focused on a far ce. The survivors. There weren¡¯t that many. But he couldn¡¯t abandon them. ¡°.¡± He spoke and let out his power. As he released the Life magic, rain with the power of recovery poured down from the sky. But it wasn¡¯t absolute. It only brought a peaceful death to those who were already on the verge of death, and a faster recovery for those who would survive. It was just a little help. It was not a miracle. So Velkian decided. ¡°Kuoo-¡± His Phantom Steed cried low and headed to the ground. Two people were lying down near where Saluzia stood. They were very strong for their age. The woman¡¯s condition gradually improved because of the , but the man showed no response. Because he was on the verge of death. Velkian thought. It was possible to save the man. But he had to spend a considerable amount of time in order to help the man survive. ¡®I don¡¯t have time for that.¡¯ The time he could spare the man was only ten seconds or so. He couldn¡¯t save the man if it exceeded that time, and he couldn¡¯t help it. Because once his ghost legion killed the nearby demon followers, they had to move to the center of the royal capital and save as many people as possible. ¡®So I¡¯ll leave it to yourself.¡¯ Velkian opened the pocket on his waist and took out a pill the size of his finger. He infused a bit of his mana into the silver pill reminiscent of the subtle moonlight, and opened the mouth of the man ¨C Ga?l. ¡®The Essence of the Silver Moon.¡¯ It was an item he received from Druid Fran. ¡®If you endure it, you¡¯ll survive.¡¯ It would not just help him regain his past strength, but would also let him be reborn as a more powerful being. But it wasn¡¯t easy. ording to Fran, the chances were one in a hundred. The man in front of Velkian seemed like someone who had considerable training, so he thought that the man¡¯s chances to survive were higher. ¡®I wouldn¡¯t normally use it but¡­¡¯ The probability of survival was so low that it was a drug he never thought of using. What he received from Fran was reserved for another purpose and not for first aid. But right now, he couldn¡¯t do anything else except this. ¡®And¡­¡¯ He somehow felt it. Fran would have said that it was fate. The Essence of the Silver Moon was only avable once a month, on the day when Selene and Helene¡¯s powers were at its peak. But today was that day, so perhaps it was really fate at work. ¡®If, if you really survive¡­¡¯ Velkian let go of his thoughts. He pushed the Essence of the Silver Moon into Ga?l¡¯s mouth and stood up right away. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± He had used up the time he spared for Ga?l. Once he rode on the Phantom Steed again, Velkian headed for the center of the royal capital with his ghost legion. And time passed. The that poured down from the sky lessened, and the ghostly wails of the ghost legion faded away. A low groan leaked out of Adelia¡¯s mouth. Although she had yet to regain her consciousness, her breathing gradually stabilized. And next to Adelia, Ga?l still didn¡¯t move. His body was still cold. But at some point. It was the time when the barrier covering the royal capital suddenly weakened. Ripples began deep inside Ga?l¡¯s soul. Chapter 197: Royal Capital (2)

Chapter 197: Royal Capital (2)

¡°Hahahahaha!¡± First Sword burst outughing. Because he couldn¡¯t control his current emotions with just smiling. It¡¯s fun. This is so fun. I¡¯m so happy that it¡¯s driving me crazy. I like the sword. I like swordsmanship. I like it since I was born with a talent for the sword, and I like it when I swing a sword. Swordsmanship. It¡¯s pleasant. It¡¯s interesting. Having beautiful women are nice, and eating delicious food is good, but the sword is still the best. There¡¯s nothing better in this world than the sword. ¡°Hahaha!¡± He fully swung his sword to his heart¡¯s content. It was different from honing his skills against wooden dummies. It was also different from swinging his sword while imagining a fictitious enemy that did not exist. He had an opponent. That person couldn¡¯t let his guard down too. That person was also risking his life! ngngngngng-! Strike followed after strike. The sharp trail of light split the air again and again. It was so fast that the light seemed to be naturally connected. The strikes of his sword of lightbined as if it was all swung at the same time, bing a that covered the front. Shwaaaaa-! A violent wind blew. The strong wind that rose from the sword attacks twisted the air and distorted the of light. The violent sword attacks that unfolded in session broke the light. Shwapak! But it couldn¡¯t get rid of it all. No, at the exact moment one was destroyed, a new light reced it. The Sword of Light. A dazzlingly fast and quick sword. ngngngngng-! It shed in front of him. The sharp sword became faster and faster. He couldn¡¯t stop it. So Count Bayer became the wind. He left himself to the flow of the rushing sword and the wind that it split. Shwapak! Blood sttered. He received a big cut on his side. But it was not a fatal wound. Count Bayer used his aura to stop the bleeding and kicked the ground at the same time. He showed off the core of his gale-like footwork technique with his strong footsteps. He fiercely used his Sword of Wind. Fangs of the Fiercely Thrashing Wind. The fangs of the wind that thrashed and blocked everything! Babababang! It broke and crushed everything. His swirling sword destroyed the floor and ceiling. His raging wind tore the air. The fierce charge. First Sword knew that he couldn¡¯t easily stop it. But he didn¡¯t think of avoiding it either. He dashed towards it. He faced it head-on and vied for supremacy. ¡°Uooo!¡± The Sword School¡¯s First Sword. He unfolded his wings of light. Heavenly Wings of Light! White light burst all over First Sword¡¯s body. As he dashed, the tip of his sword seemed to split and scatter, spreading out like wings of light. Fangs of the Fiercely Thrashing Wind versus Heavenly Wings of Light. The Sword of Wind and the Sword of Light. The green wind and white light collided. It exploded when it entangled with each other and the shockwave alone almost destroyed everything nearby. Boooooom-! The pirs copsed. The walls broke. The ss windows nearby were all shattered, and the ceiling and floor where the collision took ce were deeply dug out. No, it was pretty much gone. And in that intense sh, their swords interlocked with each other again. First Sword saw Count Bayer over his sword. Count Bayer also saw First Sword. First Swordughed. He shouted with a face as if he had tasted the most pleasurable thing in life. ¡°You¡¯re amazing!¡± Sword General. The Sword Saint of Wind. ¡°Why did you return it? You deserve the title of Sword Saint!¡± There were four sword saints in the S?len Kingdom. As seen through First Sword¡¯s eyes, Count Bayer¡¯s skills were considerable. He was by no means unqualified of the title of Sword Saint. ¡°Was it so shocking to be defeated by the Sword God?! How strong was the Sword God¡¯s sword?!¡± The empire¡¯s best swordsman. The continent¡¯s strongest swordsman who was called the Sword God. There were many rumors that it was an informal confrontation or that them confronting each other was a false rumor in itself, but First Sword knew. The fact that when Count Bayer was still called the Sword Saint of Wind, he hadpeted with the Sword God in person. Count Bayer did not answer. He just focused more and more. It was regretful, but he had to admit it. First Sword was a genius. It was not an exaggeration to say that First Sword¡¯s skills reached the sky. ¡®I¡¯m being pushed back.¡¯ First Sword¡¯s sword was faster. Unlike him who was already doing his best, First Sword was stronger, and he was someone who would keep getting stronger from now on. But even if was. Count Bayer¡¯s sword shook once more. It became a violent gale that did not know how to retreat. Far from surrendering or getting discouraged, he swung it more wildly. ¡®Sword God.¡¯ It had already been close to ten years. But he could still remember it clearly. That sword. The Sword of Sky that the other wielded. He couldn¡¯t reach it. The wild gale couldn¡¯t cross the sky. But if it was now. He could do it at least once! ngngngngng-! First Sword got goosebumps as he faced Count Bayer¡¯s continuous sword attacks. ¡®It¡¯sing.¡¯ Something big. An attack different from before. His heart pounded. He felt like his breathing became rough. He wanted to see. He wanted to fight it. And he wanted to break it. The sword attack of Count Bayer. The strongest one that the Sword of Wind would unfold to reach the sky! But it was at that moment. Apart from the excitement he felt that was in front of him, First Sword felt something go up his spine. His senses that had only been focused on the Sword of Wind then expanded, and a bitter smile spread on his face. ¡®How surprising.¡¯ How did this happen? The Lord Protector died. That unpleasant energy, the barrier¡¯s energy that always covered the royal capital, was weakened for a moment, so I thought that he was doing well, but I was wrong. ¡®Is it time to retreat now?¡¯ Because he only focused on Count Bayer, he suddenly felt all the things he couldn¡¯t feel before. It wasing. Another strong person. But not a swordsman. Count Chase. A mighty wizard called the Red Storm. It would be too much for him to fight Count Chase while he was fighting the Sword Saint of Wind. He thought it to be such a shame and really regrettable, to the point that he felt like going crazy from the thought of it, but it was time for him to step back. Booooom! The wall was destroyed. Dirt rose, and at the same time, a powerful wave of mana swept through the ce. Count Chase. And Count Bayer in front of him. Count Bayer was on the verge of pulling his best move. That was why First Sword decided to move one step ahead of him. As the Sword Saint of Light, he unfolded the fastest sword in the S?len Kingdom. A sword attack. The nameless attack barely hit Count Bayer. First Sword shifted his body at that moment and swung his sword again. Rays of Sunlight Strike. Hundreds to thousands rays of light that covered the world. First Sword¡¯s white sword aura split into hundreds of pieces and scattered. It spread out in an instant, covering the entire room and shining an immense light, erasing First Sword and everyone else in the room with its light. A technique for attacking multiple enemies and not a technique for a fatal strike. But it had a different use now. To fool Count Bayer and Count Chase¡¯s eyes. So that First Sword could create an opportunity to retreat! Baaang! A roar burst at that moment. And then it struck. Gale Specter Strike. The green sword of wind devoured all the scattered swords of light. The light that filled the room was eliminated. ¡°Alex!¡± Count Bayer let out his breath when he heard someone call him amidst the roars that burst out in session. The swords of light disappeared. And First Sword was no longer in front of him. ¡°Wasn¡¯t that First Sword?!¡± Count Bayer slowly nodded as he looked at Count Chase who had run in a hurry. ¡°The Lord Protector and First Sword are traitors.¡± ¡°What?!¡± His surprise was brief. Anger then spread over Count Chase¡¯s face. ¡°I¡¯ll rip them to pieces.¡± More than a dozen people died in tonight¡¯s incident at the grand banquet hall alone. If he extended the scope to the entire royal capital, he couldn¡¯t even guess how many people had died or were injured. ¡°Arthur.¡± So Count Bayer pacified Count Chase. He sheathed his sword and spoke as he roughly breathed. ¡°We have to go our children.¡± There was still the Lord Protector. Considering the situation, he was most likely to be attacking the royalty now. Jude and Cordelia. Perhaps the two were stopping the Lord Protector. So they had to hurry. Even though the Lord Protector was weaker now, he was still one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. Their children couldn¡¯t be on par with him even if they were strong. That was why they had to go. ¡°Okay.¡± The two had stood back to back several times on the battlefield. Upon hearing the words of Count Bayer, Count Chase held back his anger and lifted the magic device he had received from Jude. After determining the exact location, he immediately began moving. ¡°Haa.¡± Count Bayer took a breath. As a result of his continuous sword attacks, he felt like his heart would burst, but he had no time to rest. He deeply breathed to stop his swelling discontent and immediately kicked the ground again. Towards the center of the pce. They flew towards the core of the barrier¡¯s room. *** ¡°Haa¡­haa¡­¡± Scarlet harshly breathed as she sat down on the ground. Her shoulders as well as her hand that held the whip sword were trembling. It was the side effect of using too much of her sword aura. ¡°Haa¡­¡± Breathing was so hard that she was in tears. Therefore, Scarlet didn¡¯t force herself anymore. She lied down on the ground and even set aside her whip sword. ¡°Haa¡­¡± She didn¡¯t think of anything. She just closed her eyes and panted. She waspletely defenseless. But Scarlet didn¡¯t mind. Scarlet wasn¡¯t the only person here now. Unlike her who was sweating and panting, there was a monster of the sword who stood without a drop of sweat in him. Maximilian de Avis. A man called ¡®god¡¯s mistake.¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s true.¡¯ She didn¡¯t believe those rumors that she had heard, but she could say that it was true now. ¡®God¡¯s mistake.¡¯ A monster who was born with all kinds of talent and couldn¡¯t even be imagined as a human being too. He approached Scarlet. As her hair dripped with sweat and she roughly breathed, Scarlet forcibly opened her eyes to see Maximilian. She was out of breath, but she tried to talk and let out a word. ¡°Thanks¡­¡± First of all, she was of the same age as Maximilian. And she found it hard to breathe so she couldn¡¯t even speak to him in formal speech. At Scarlet¡¯s gratitude, Maximilian just nodded his head and then looked around. After checking the bodies of the hundreds of zombies and the people who were crouching and trembling in fear in the alley¡¯s dead end, he looked at Scarlet again. ¡°You¡¯re a good person.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°You¡¯re a good person.¡± Maximilian faintly smiled, and Scarlet felt her face blush. As expected of god¡¯s mistake. He was needlessly handsome. In addition, when a guy who was usually expressionless smiled, there was a considerable charm that came from that gap. ¡®Don¡¯t be fooled by his face. That Jude is handsome too, but isn¡¯t he a cunning fox?¡¯ Because there really are a few guys like Lucas whose inside and outside appearances are the same. Come to think of it, how is Lucas? Is Pink Bomb okay? Scarlet¡¯s face became anxious, but Maximilian didn¡¯t see it. Because he had turned his head to see the western sky turning green. ¡®Death magic.¡¯ At present, there was only one person on the continent who could let out such a powerful death magic. Therefore, Maximilian sheathed his sword. Instead of staying longer, he quickened his steps and looked back at Scarlet. ¡°I think you already know, but my name is Maximilian de Avis. May I know your name too?¡± ¡°Scar¡­let.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a pretty name. It suits you.¡± It wasn¡¯t some words he made up. So Scarlet had no choice but to blush when she saw Maximilian¡¯s faint smile. ¡°Scarlet, I have to go now. The zombies around here have been wiped out¡­ And it seems that the situation here is about to end, so there won¡¯t be much danger. Let¡¯s meet again if we have a chance someday.¡± ¡°W-wait¡­¡± Scarlet had nothing more to say, but she thought that he shouldn¡¯t just go like this, so she tried to say something, but Maximilian had already turned around. He headed west, and Scarlet chose to just close her eyes instead of forcing herself to raise her upper body. ¡®Pink Bomb.¡¯ Don¡¯t get hurt and be safe. Scarlet recalled Cordelia¡¯s face before she let go of her consciousness. *** The chaos in the royal capital gradually settled. The mes were still there, but the zombification that spread like wildfire was over. The Royal Guards reorganized theirmand system and began to overwhelm the zombies and demon followers, and the royal capital also regained its order due to the activities of the Royal Guard Knights. ¡°As expected of the royal capital.¡± It was the capital of the S?len Kingdom, one of the greatest powers in the continent. It was greatly shaken, but it seemed to be impossible topletely destroy it. With his hand on his sword, First Sword gazed at the royal capital before turning to the side. He saw Koros sitting on the ground and Saluzia treating him. ¡°You failed.¡± The Lord Protector couldn¡¯t destroy the barrier. Koros and Saluzia¡¯s ns to open the Hell Gate in the royal capital when the barrier had been destroyed had also failed. At First Sword¡¯sment, Saluzia grit her teeth. She wanted to tell him to shut up, but she held it in. It was useless. ¡®It¡¯s over.¡¯ They dealt quite a big blow to the royal capital, but that was it. Rather, the damaged suffered by the Devil¡¯s Hand was greater. Saluzia herself and Koros lost almost all of theirbat troops, and they also lost their powerful card called the Lord Protector. ¡°My identity was also revealed.¡± The Sword School¡¯s First Sword. The Sword Saint of Light, Rhun Froud. He was unable to remain in the Sword School because his identity was revealed. They really failed. It was fortunate that Saluzia herself and Koros had managed to save their lives. ¡°Well, there¡¯s nothing we can do about it.¡± With a bright smile, First Sword approached Saluzia and Koros. Saluzia sharpened her senses as she instantly became alert, but it was only for a moment. Because First Sword just passed by Saluzia and Koros. ¡°Saluzia.¡± With his back facing her, First Sword said in a low voice, and Saluzia raised her head to see him. First Sword shrugged once and continued while he still showed his back. ¡°I¡¯ve already said it, but my identity has been revealed. I can no longer use the name First Sword. So¡­in the future, I think I¡¯ll be using my true name from now on.¡± Saluzia understood what First Sword was talking about. As he had said, he could no longer live as First Sword. He had joined the Devil¡¯s Hand in order to live his life as a demonic human now. And his new name. A name given to him by their head, which had already been decided for a long time. ¡°Duke.¡± At Saluzia¡¯s call, First Sword had a smallugh. He turned around and gazed at the royal capital again. The Sword Saint of Wind was there. The two people he liked so much was there too. ¡®If the Lord Protector died, it means that that two lived.¡¯ He was one of the Ten Great Swordmasters who had grown old and weak. How did they defeat such a Lord Protector? How much stronger would the two who defeated the Lord Protector be in the future? His heart pounded. He remembered his fight with Count Bayer and unknowingly smiled. ¡®Not bad.¡¯ Since he was an enemy now. Because he could kill and kill as much as he wanted. It wasn¡¯t just the Sword Saint of Wind. He had always wanted to fight against Seryu, the Seven-Killings Sword. And the Golden Sword, who was said to be the strongest among the sword saints. Even the great swordmasters of the empire. And those two. Jude and Cordelia. He liked those two so much that he wanted to break them himself. First Sword, or rather, Duke,ughed out loud. He smiled in anticipation of his reunion with everyone. If everyone here can recall, ¡®Duke¡¯ is the demonic human that the rotten waters have suspected of having killed Landius because he had Landius¡¯ sword. Chapter 198: Merit Ceremony (1)

Chapter 198: Merit Ceremony (1)

I was nning to do 2 episodes today, but this episode alone was twice the length of an average episode. So yeah, only one chapter for today. Anyway, the trantor¡¯s note near the middle is a bit long, because the puns and word y in this series is on another level whenpared to others. ¡°Ah.¡± She slowly opened her eyes and let out a nk voice. Because she was actually in a stupor. ¡°¡­lia¡­?¡± She heard a voice in her ear, but she couldn¡¯t understand it properly because her head was in a daze. As her blurred vision gradually turned clear, Cordelia blinked a few more times. ¡°¡­ss?¡± The voice became more audible. At the same time, Cordelia felt thirsty. Her mouth was dry, and it was difficult to swallow her saliva. ¡°Haa.¡± She let out her breath after she groaned. Her vision still felt cloudy, but she could somehow see ahead of her. An unfamiliar ceiling. But it wasn¡¯tpletely unfamiliar. She felt like she had seen something simr to it. The ceiling had a shy and luxurious feeling. Where did I see it? Duke Spencer¡¯s mansion? My room in the royal pce? ¡°Miss! Can you hear me?!¡± The voice. Cordelia shifted her blue eyes and saw. The teary-eyed Dahlia was beside her. ¡°Dahlia¡­?¡± As soon as she spoke while struggling a bit with her pronunciation, a response came back. ¡°Yes, Miss. It¡¯s me. It¡¯s Dahlia. Are you awake? Are you okay?¡± Cordelia nodded a few times at the other¡¯s fervent response. Frankly, she was still in a daze and didn¡¯t know what was happening, but she didn¡¯t want to worry Dahlia. ¡°Wate¡­¡± ¡°Water? Please wait, Miss. I¡¯ll give it to you right away.¡± Dahlia immediately answered at the words she mumbled, and after raising Cordelia¡¯s upper body halfway up, she grabbed a cup with her empty hand. ¡°Here it is, Miss. Slowly. Slowly.¡± Cordelia still had a nk face because she didn¡¯t have much strength in her body, so Dahlia brought the cup to Cordelia¡¯s lips and tilted it slowly, and Cordelia closed her eyes and drank the water like a baby. Slowly but steadily. ¡°Fuuaa.¡± After drinking all the water, Cordelia opened her eyes again. Although she was stillcking in energy, she felt a bit refreshed when she moistened her dry throat. ¡°Ah¡­uh¡­¡± ¡°Are you feeling better now?¡± ¡°Yes¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯lly you down again. Slowly.¡± Dahlia gently whispered andid Cordelia down very carefully, and Cordelia opened her lips after closing her eyes tightly. ¡°Ah.¡± Aaaaah. Huuu. She felt like the water she had just drank was circting in her body. Her blurred vision finally became clear. ¡°Dah¡­lia?¡± ¡°Yes, Miss. It¡¯s Dahlia.¡± Dahlia grabbed Cordelia¡¯s hand and smiled with a tearful face. Since she was a knight, Dahlia¡¯s hands were rough but warm. Cordelia somehow felt better and grinned, and she soon realized. Dahlia¡¯s hand. What about Jude¡¯s hand then? ¡°Jude?!¡± Cordelia became conscious and shouted, sitting up and reflexively raising her right hand. Her hand had always held Jude¡¯s hand, but it was alone now. ¡°Jude.¡± She remembered it. She recalled it. Thest situation before she lost consciousness. After all sorts of hardships, they defeated the Lord Protector and then she talked with Jude with their eyes. They threw up blood and fell into a deep sleep while holding each other¡¯s hands. And now. She didn¡¯t see Jude. That fact made Cordelia very worried. ¡°What about Jude? Where is Jude? Is Jude okay?¡± As she poured out words and tried to get out of the bed, Dahlia hurriedly stretched her hands and pressed on Cordelia¡¯s shoulders. She said as she softly smiled to reassure her. ¡°Lord Jude is okay too. He¡¯s resting in another room now.¡± ¡°Another room?¡± ¡°Yes, another room. Please don¡¯t worry since Maja is taking care of him.¡± ¡°Maja.¡± Jude¡¯s exclusive maid. A person who was not just a servant for Jude, but was like a real sister to him. ¡°Haa.¡± Cordelia let out her breath, and Dahlia asked as she carefullyid her down again. ¡°Have you calmed down?¡± ¡°Eh? Yes. Uh-huh.¡± From her answer, it seemed like she had not yetpletely calmed down, but Dahlia was satisfied for now. She held Cordelia¡¯s hand and continued. ¡°He¡¯s really okay. So please don¡¯t worry.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Because Dahlia never lied. Moreover, Jude had absorbed the Sphere of Life and boasted about it whenever he had a chance. He was a guy with a regenerative ability that was better than Cordelia¡¯s, so he should be fine and not in poor health. ¡°Haa.¡± That¡¯s a relief. I¡¯m really, really d. Cordelia sighed in relief again before she turned her eyes and looked at Dahlia. ¡°Is Dahlia okay?¡± ¡°Me?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Dahlia was also in the grand banquet hall. ¡°I¡¯m okay. Count Chase protected everyone.¡± ¡°Father?¡± ¡°Yes, not only did he support with his magic the pce that was destroyed, but he also defeated the zombies and traitors. Without the count, many people would have died or be injured by the copsing pce.¡± At Dahlia¡¯s exnation, Cordelia slightly smiled. Because she was proud of her father. ¡°But you¡¯re not hurt anywhere, right?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m not. So please don¡¯t worry about me.¡± ¡°Okay, I won¡¯t be worried.¡± When Cordelia faintly smiled, Dahlia also brightly smiled. ¡°By the way, Dahlia.¡± ¡°Yes, Miss.¡± ¡°How long have I been asleep?¡± ¡°Two full days.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± Cordelia was surprised and unconsciously asked again. Two days? Not half a day or a day, but two days? ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve been worried about you not waking up for two days. Everyone around me said that it was fine because you were so tired that you fell into a deep sleep, but¡­ But it¡¯s not normal to sleep for two days straight.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± Cordelia nodded her head and looked back at herself. She was wearing a white and loose dress that seemedfortable and resembled a patient¡¯s clothing. ¡°Let me check for a moment.¡± Cordelia briefly said and closed her eyes, checking out her body¡¯s condition. By lightly circting her mana, she was able to know her condition. ¡®My mana has been exhausted.¡¯ Perhaps when she released thatst divine lightning, all the mana in her body was released too. Add to that was her physical fatigue, so it was understandable for her to sleep for two days. ¡°Are you all right?¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine now.¡± It wouldn¡¯t originally take two days of sleep to recover her depleted mana, but it seemed to have somehow recovered due to the increase in her angel rank. ¡°Dahlia, what about the others?¡± She was not only worried about Jude. There were a lot of people she was worried about too. To the extent that she didn¡¯t know who she should ask about first. At Cordelia¡¯s somewhat awkward question, Dahlia replied with a smile. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you about the royal family first.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± They were the most important people in this fight. ¡°His Majesty The King and the three queens are all safe. Crown Princess Daphne, Prince Dion, and Princess Darianne are also safe.¡± Cordelia breathed in relief at Dahlia¡¯s statement. In fact, she wanted to slightly question if Crown Princess Daphne was really fine since her right hand was cut off, but it wasn¡¯t life-threatening anyway, so it was good news to her. ¡®She¡¯s royalty, so she can have it reattached with healing magic.¡¯ Her severed hand was surely at the scene. ¡°What about father? I mean, my father.¡± Instead of immediately answering Cordelia¡¯s question, Dahliaughed ¡®Ufufu¡¯ before she furtively smiled and teased her. ¡°Miss, yourfather? Or his father?¡± ¡°F-father is father, whyyy?¡± Dahlia giggled as Cordelia responded with a slight blush on her face. T/N: The father part here is a wordy in the formal and informal ways of calling your dad in Korean. ¡®Abeoji¡¯ is the informal/casual way of calling your own dad. ¡®Abeonim¡¯ is the formal way of calling your own dad, but it is also used to refer to a friend or someone else¡¯s dad. So when Cordelia asked, ¡®what about father?¡¯, she used the formal ¡®abeonim¡¯ but corrected itter to the informal ¡®abeoji¡¯, which is ¡®my father¡¯ because she was only referring to her own father. But Dahlia teasingly asked Cordelia if she was referring to Jude¡¯s dad (because ¡®abeonim¡¯ could be used to refer to someone else¡¯s dad or your father-inw) or her own father (Count Chase). Dahlia used both ¡®abeonim¡¯ in her question of ¡®your father or his father¡¯. Dahlia was subtly teasing Cordelia if she was only interested in Jude¡¯s father because of Jude, even though Dahlia knew that Cordelia was only referring to her own father. Cordelia replied that she was only interested in her own father, but that blush on her face hinted that she understood what Dahlia was teasing her about. ¡°Miss.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Can I pinch your cheek? You¡¯re so cute that I want to pinch it.¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Why? Because it belongs to Lord Jude?¡± ¡°Yes- NO! Why are you mentioning Jude!¡± ¡°You asked about his father, right? And you unconsciously answered ¡®yes,¡¯ right?¡± ¡°No, I did not, okay? My cheeks are mine, okay? It doesn¡¯t belong to Jude, okay?¡± ¡°Then, can I pinch it?¡± ¡°No! Why aren¡¯t you listening to me!¡± As Cordelia became annoyed, Dahlia chuckled again. ¡°Miss is so cute.¡± ¡°Dahlia is not cute at all.¡± ¡°Really? Is that really true?¡± ¡°Ueueue¡­ Why are you doing this to me? Why?¡± Cordelia asked if she was crying, Dahlia replied with a smile. ¡°Because I like miss so much. Plus, you¡¯re so cute. It¡¯s not my fault but mydy¡¯s fault for being cute, okay? Who said that you can be so cute?¡± ¡°Dahlia has be weird.¡± What¡¯s wrong with you today? When Cordelia was at a loss on what to do, Dahlia giggled for thest time before she corrected her expression. ¡°Anyway, this is enough¡­ let¡¯s go back to the main point. Does miss like me too?¡± ¡°I hate Dahlia.¡± ¡°I like mydy.¡± She had been really worried for the past two days. So she was really happy to see Cordelia open her eyes. Dahlia continued as she stroked Cordelia¡¯s hands. ¡°Both Count Bayer and Count Chase are safe. They both did very well in this incident.¡± Count Bayer defeated First Sword, one of the traitors, and Count Chase saved everyone in the grand banquet hall. A catastrophe would have urred if neither of the two were there. ¡°Haa¡­ That¡¯s a relief.¡± Because her father-inw was safe. She was honestly worried since First Sword was his opponent. ¡°Because Count Bayer is strong. It seems like he wasn¡¯t overwhelmed at all by First Sword¡­ that traitor, I¡¯ll rip him into shreds.¡± Dahlia¡¯s voice was mixed with various emotions. When she talked about Count Bayer, she was proud of him as if he had already be a family member of theirs, and when she talked about First Sword, she revealed her tant hatred for him. ¡®I guess they all know now.¡¯ Two days had already passed. Everyone must have already exchanged information to figure out the full situation. ¡®But it¡¯s kind of¡­ shocking.¡¯ She had never thought that First Sword was a traitor. ¡®I never even imagined it.¡¯ He had always been kind to Jude and Cordelia. Above all, there was no story of a traitor in the game. ¡®But that did not mean there was no traitor.¡¯ First Sword only existed in the background setting, so there were still a lot of things they didn¡¯t know about. ¡®Hmm¡­ If I think about it, he might have faked his death and was not actually killed by one of the 7 major cmities.¡¯ And after that, he might have changed his name to his demonic human name like the other Ten Great Swordmasters who were traitors too. ¡°Haaaa.¡± Either way, it was something unpleasant. Furthermore, when she heard the story from Dahlia, it seemed like First Sword had escaped. ¡°What about unnie? What about brother-inw Ga?l?¡± Instead of answering Cordelia question right away, Dahlia shrank her lips and spoke in a cautious tone. ¡°First of all¡­ Adelia-nim is safe. She was really exhausted, but she wasn¡¯t that hurt.¡± Cordelia was relieved to hear that Adelia was safe, but she did not breathe in relief for now. Because she felt like there was something wrong with Ga?l with the way Dahlia talked. ¡°As for Lord Ga?l¡­ his life is not in danger.¡± ¡°Life¡­?¡± ¡°Yes, he was a bit¡­ he was hurt a lot. He had a lot of injuries all over his body, and he lost his left arm.¡± Cordelia blinked her eyes. Because she could not understand. ¡°Le-left arm?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s impossible to regenerate it¡­ so I think he¡¯ll have to wear a prosthetic arm.¡± His situation was different from Princess Daphne who was able to secure her severed hand and immediately reattach it. To begin with, the severed arm was discovered toote, and the damaged part itself was sorge that reattaching it was impossible. ¡°W-wait a second. Wait. Unnie and brother-inw were outside the royal pce. How would they get hurt in the first ce¡­¡± That was it. Because she realized it while she was talking. ¡°The capital. The royal capital was also attacked.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s words, Dahlia nodded with a troubled expression and spoke again. She told Cordelia about the royal capital that had suffered more damage than the royal pce. ¡°No way.¡± She thought that they had stopped the terror ns of the ck Moon, but she didn¡¯t expect that there would be a bigger incident. ¡®Were we¡­ wrong?¡¯ Should we have just let the ck Moonmit terror? If that happened, the Devil¡¯s Hand wouldn¡¯t have directly attacked the royal capital, right? She was confused. She couldn¡¯te up with an answer at that moment. ¡°There was a lot of damage, but we were able to ovee it. In particr¡­ Velkian, one of the five heroes of the Paragon Kingdom, yed a huge role in that.¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyes widened at Dahlia¡¯s words. Because an unexpected name came up. ¡°Ve-Velkian? Necromancer Velkian?¡± ¡°Yes, Velkian-nim.¡± ¡°Woah.¡± Just as the Devil¡¯s Hand attacking directly was unexpected, Velkian¡¯s assistance was unexpected too. She didn¡¯t expect that the letter they left in the Temple of Life would help them in this way. ¡®W-wait a minute. Is he trying to find Pink Bomb then?¡¯ There was only one reason for Velkian toe to the royal capital in the first ce. ¡®Ugh¡­my head hurts. Still, it was worth it for us to run wild this time.¡¯ They did a lot of things to prevent the genocide of the royal family. Among those were some that were rather harmful, such as the betrayal of First Sword and the direct attack of the Devil¡¯s Hand, but there were some helpful ones too, such as Velkian and the Rogue Master. ¡®In the end¡­ we just have to do our best.¡¯ They didn¡¯t know if the results of their efforts would be good. They were just trying to do everything to get the best results. ¡®Haa¡­ we have a lot of work to do.¡¯ The fight was over, but there were so many things to do, such as the cleanup and so on. ¡®We have to meet Velkian and check on Scarlet too¡­¡¯ Come to think of it, is Lucas okay? It seems that it wasn¡¯t that bad in the grand banquet hall, so he¡¯s probably fine, right? ¡°Miss.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± Cordelia was in the midst of her thoughts, so she raised her head and responded when Dahlia called her and smiled. ¡°Would you like to see Lord Jude?¡± ¡°Jude?¡± ¡°Yes, he¡¯s still asleep, but I think you¡¯ll be very relieved if you see that he¡¯s all right.¡± At Dahlia¡¯s words, Cordelia nodded without realizing it. ¡°Yes, I want to see him.¡± Her answer also came out unconsciously. And in response, Dahlia grinned and stood up. There was quite a lot she wanted to say to tease Cordelia, but she put Cordelia¡¯s wish first for now. ¡°Let us go, Miss. It¡¯s not that far because it¡¯s right next door.¡± She helped Cordelia stand up before taking out arge shawl and cing it on Cordelia¡¯s shoulders. ¡°Well, will this be all right?¡± ¡°Yes, frankly, it¡¯s not a situation where you need to get dressed properly.¡± Cordelia slightly pulled the shawl around her shoulders, and left the room while being supported by Dahlia. Judging from the decor and structure of the hallway, it seemed like they were in the main pce and not a different pce. ¡°This way please.¡± Count Bayer¡¯s knight who was guarding the door opened it right away, and Cordelia entered the room, pressing on her slightly pounding heart. ¡°Mydy.¡± ¡°Maja.¡± It was Maja whose face had be thin from her excessive worry for the past two days. But she smiled as if she was very relieved to see that Cordelia was fine, and she immediately pointed towards Jude. ¡°The young master is all right. He has yet to wake up, but¡­ they said that his life was not in danger.¡± There was an awkwardness in the way she talked, which was unlike the usual Maja who spoke perfectly, but Cordelia didn¡¯t mind it. Without realizing it, she took a step closer to Jude. ¡®You idiot.¡¯ When she saw his face, a curse came to her mind first. She couldn¡¯t help it. She was angry. At the same time, she was very relieved. ¡°Haa¡­¡± Cordelia let out a long breath and plopped down on the side of the bed to look down at Jude. His pale face didn¡¯t look good, but when she saw that his breathing was even, she thought that his life was not in danger. ¡°The count said that he used too much energy, so he is like that now. The count said that he would get up soon since there are no problems with his life.¡± Cordelia nodded at Maja¡¯s exnation. She was at the scene herself, so she knew better than anyone on what happened to Jude and why he wasn¡¯t waking up. ¡®Sixth door¡­¡¯ He didn¡¯t lie down like this simply because of overdoing it. It was the consequence of forcibly opening the door, so he was unable to wake up. ¡®Stupid idiot.¡¯ You always boasted about your physical strength. You always bragged about your Cheonmujiche. Cordelia felt her vision blur again. Without realizing it, tears flowed down along her cheeks. ¡®It¡¯s because of me.¡¯ Cordelia herself was the one who came up with the idea of opening the sixth door. Cordelia herself was the one who pushed Jude into doing it. ¡°I-it¡¯s all right, Miss. He will wake up soon.¡± ¡°Yes, mydy. Count Bayer said the same.¡± As Cordelia shed tears, Dahlia and Maja were flustered and quickly spoke. Instead of answering, Cordelia bit her lips and sniffled, but she soon nodded her head. Because it naturally urred to her what Jude would say if he was awake now and what she would also say to him. ¡°Mydy, aren¡¯t you hungry?¡± ¡°Yes, Miss. You woke up after two days.¡± Maja and Dahlia spoke again when the still sniffling Cordelia looked a bit calm now. And Cordelia realized it. The fact that she was really hungry. Perhaps because she had realized it, she felt so hungry now that her stomach was growling. ¡°Pleasee this way. Since you woke up after two days, I will prepare something soft to eat.¡± Maja smiled and spoke, leading Cordelia to a table before leaving the room, and she soon returned with a few dishes on the tray. Soup, bread, and water mixed with fruit juice. It was a very simple mealpared to the ones she normally ate, but she was drooling because she had an empty stomach. ¡°Please eat.¡± ¡°Thank you for the meal.¡± Cordelia immediately said and lifted her spoon before she looked back at Jude. Because she was worried about Jude who had not yet eaten. ¡®Wake up quickly, okay?¡¯ Let¡¯s go eat something delicious together. After muttering a slightly childish wish, Cordelia focused on eating again. And a few minutes. Around the time when Cordelia emptied the soup and swallowed the juice with a gulp. ¡°Cordelia, so you were here.¡± A handsome man appeared after the door opened. He had a face that resembled Count Chase and Adelia. And Cordelia realized. That she hadpletely forgotten about the man in front of her. ¡°Ah.¡± ¡°Ah?¡± Edward Chase. The eldest son of Count Chase and the older brother of Cordelia herself. He was also at the grand banquet hall and attended the ball, but she somehow forgot about him. ¡°Why does it look like you¡¯re feeling very sorry about something?¡± ¡°N-no, I¡¯m not. Oppa is also fine. Yes, yes. I¡¯m d. Oppa is also safe.¡± As Cordelia quicklyughed ¡®ehehe¡¯ and said, Edward narrowed his eyes in suspicion but fortunately, it was only for a moment. He sat in front of Cordelia who unconsciously began to sweat coldly, and he nced at Jude once before looking at Cordelia again and saying. ¡°First of all, let me say this an older brother who share Count Chase¡¯s blood like you. I¡¯m really d that you woke up fine. I was very worried.¡± ¡°Yes, thank you, oppa.¡± I¡¯m really, really sorry for forgetting about you. Edward narrowed his eyes again when Cordelia awkwardly smiled, but this time, it wasn¡¯t that long. ¡°Next¡­ as a noble of the S?len Kingdom, I would like to express my gratitude. You and Jude saved this country. You really contributed well in this fight.¡± Having said that, Edward bowed his head. ¡°O-oppa?¡± ¡°I¡¯m very proud that you¡¯re my younger sister.¡± At Edward¡¯s words, Cordelia blushed in shyness and joy instead of embarrassment. Because she felt a great sense of satisfaction deep in her heart. We did well this time, just like we did in the wildnds. We did a good job for everyone again this time. ¡°Ehehe.¡± As Cordelia shylyughed, Edward smiled as he found it to be very cute, and he spoke again. ¡°Then let me get straight to the point. Cordelia, I have good news and good news. Which one would you like to hear first?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Good news and good news. You want me to choose from one of those two? Cordelia blinked her eyes and asked, and Edward said again. ¡°There are good news and good news. I¡¯ll leave it to you on which one you would like to hear first.¡± What kind of nonsense is this? Come to think of it, Edward was originally a person like this. ¡°Uh¡­ Then I want to hear the good news first.¡± ¡°Good, that¡¯s an excellent choice.¡± ¡°Oookay.¡± I don¡¯t know in what exactly I chose, but anyway, good news is good news. When Cordelia faintly smiled, Edward got to the point instead of dragging it on. ¡°Ga?l¡¯s condition is rapidly improving. Perhaps he will open his eyes tonight or tomorrow morning at thetest.¡± ¡°Really?!¡± ¡°Yes, really. So don¡¯t worry about it too much. I¡¯ll make him a very cool prosthetic, of course.¡± If Adelia was abat-type wizard, Edward was a research-type wizard who specialized in crafting magic tools. It was reliable if the prosthetic arm was made by Edward and not anybody else. ¡°Haa¡­ that¡¯s a relief.¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s a relief.¡± Edward happily smiled and waited for a while. So that Cordelia could pay her full attention to the second good news. ¡°Are you ready to listen now?¡± ¡°Eh? Yes. I want to hear it.¡± The second good news. As Cordelia brightly smiled and looked excited, Edward suddenly stood up and courteously greeted her. ¡°Edward Chase from the Chase family greets Viscountess Chase.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Cordelia blinked her eyes with a nk face, and she soon stood up from her seat. ¡°Viscountess Chase?¡± ¡°Yes, Viscountess Chase. Because you made a huge contribution. Wouldn¡¯t it be natural for you to raise in rank?¡± He was right. They made a really, really big contribution, so they deserved to have their titles raised. ¡°Wow, viscountess.¡± Viscountess Chase. Not Baroness Chase but viscountess. ¡°Hehehe.¡± Cordelia chuckled with a happy face, and Edward giggled before he slightly raised Cordelia¡¯s hand and touched his lips on the back of her hand. ¡°Countess Chase, Crown Princess Daphne has already given her word that she will be holding the merit ceremony herself.¡± ¡°Is that true?¡± ¡°Yes, indeed.¡± When Edward spoke in a theatrical manner, Cordelia responded as if they were in a y. And a few seconds. Cordelia¡¯s eyes widened and she asked. ¡°W-wait a second. Countess Chase?¡± ¡°Yes, countess. After being promoted from baroness to viscountess, you¡¯ll be promoted to countess again.¡± Because they had all saved the lives of the king, queens, and their children. It was not an exaggeration to say that they were literally heroes who saved the country, so it was natural for them to be promoted to the count rank. ¡°Wow, countess. What about Jude?¡± ¡°Yes, he is Count Bayer.¡± Countess Chase and Count Bayer. A couple who were both counts. ¡°My goodness.¡± Cordelia sat down again and giggled with a face as if she didn¡¯t know if this was a dream or reality, and Edward lightly pinched Cordelia¡¯s cheek then. He was a bit surprised at its softness that Scarlet also liked, and he said. ¡°By the way, Countess Chase.¡± ¡°Yes, Lord Edward Chase.¡± ¡°I have better news.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± You have news better than this? Cordelia widened her eyes in surprise, and Edward smiled like a mischievous kid and drew his face closer. He whispered in a small voice to Cordelia¡¯s ear just like how Jude did. The third good news. Surprise and joy spread on Cordelia¡¯s face at the same time. If you are wondering if it is possible to have two people with the Count Bayer title, the answer to that will be exined in a future chapter (in the awarding ceremony itself). Chapter 199: Merit Ceremony (2)

Chapter 199: Merit Ceremony (2)

¡°How is it? Is it fine with you?¡± At Princess Daphne¡¯s room. When Prince Dion asked her with a voice mixed with tension, Princess Daphne lightly moved her right hand. After she slowly turned her wrist and folded her fingers one by one, she clenched and opened her fist several times before she held her pen. The pen felt cold and smooth. ¡°It feels a bit different but¡­ I think it¡¯s fine.¡± Prince Dion breathed in relief at the words of Princess Daphne. No, he didn¡¯t just stop at that as he sank to his knees. Because his legs gave out. ¡°Haa¡­ that¡¯s a relief.¡± ¡°Were you that worried?¡± ¡°Should I not worry?¡± Princess Daphne giggled at Prince Dion¡¯s question and put down her pen. She originally wanted to try turning the pen, but she didn¡¯t even try it because she was almost certain what Dion would look like if she failed. ¡®No, perhaps I¡¯ll be able to do it in the future¡­¡¯ Her right hand didn¡¯t have much strength. It seemed like she would have no problems with it in her daily life, but it was questionable if she would be able to hold the sword like before. ¡°Sister?¡± ¡°Uh, yes. I¡¯m okay.¡± Prince Dion¡¯s face became serious again, and his expression stiffened without him realizing it. Therefore, Princess Daphne awkwardly smiled and changed the topic. ¡°How is Darianne?¡± ¡°Darianne?¡± ¡°Yes, was she scared?¡± ¡°Yes, she was very scared. But she wasn¡¯t injured, so there should be no problem.¡± ¡°Mentally?¡± ¡°Well¡­ she actually didn¡¯t see the corpses.¡± Princess Daphne bit her lips at Prince Dion¡¯s words. Because she recalled the time when she saw the bodies of the other royal family members. She had seen the bloody corpses of her father¡¯s siblings and concubines, and also her half-siblings. When she closed her eyes, she could still vividly remember that horrible sight. So instead of closing her eyes, Princess Daphne took a slow and deep breath. Princess Daphne¡¯s dignified appearance and charisma led her to be regarded as the Lion Princess or the Iron Princess because she was the symbol of a bold and strong woman, but in reality, she wasn¡¯t an irondy who did not shed blood or tears. She had an outgoing and bold personality. But at the same time, she was also rich in emotions since she was very affectionate and would cry often. ¡®Rather¡­ the iron one is Dion.¡¯ As his sister, she found Dion a bit problematic. Because except for Daphne herself, he was surprisingly cold-hearted to others. He was that indifferent that even when he talked about Princess Darianne, he didn¡¯t seem to care much about her, so what more of the others. ¡°How is father¡­ I mean, His Majesty?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not good. Mother said that¡­ he needed a lot of time.¡± At Prince Dion¡¯s words, Princess Daphne unknowingly closed her eyes. Their father, Henry II, was already shaken by the betrayal and death of the Lord Protector whom he believed and depended on more than anyone else, so he waspletely crushed when he saw the wretched state of the royal family¡¯s corpses. ¡°Father is¡­¡± ¡°Yes, he is pure. That¡¯s why mother loves father.¡± He was notpetent, but neither was hepletely ipetent. He was aware of his role as a king, and he always made an effort to fulfill his duties as a king. Therefore, when Henry II saw the corpses of the royal family members, he had no choice but to admit it. No matter what reason the Lord Protector had, even if it was a really unavoidable reason, the Lord Protector was a traitor. He was an enemy of the S?len royal family, someone they could never forgive. Henry II erased the Lord Protector from his heart. It left his heart empty, but he still did it. ¡°Has he recovered?¡± ¡°Perhaps. But you know our father¡¯s personality. Once he recovers to a certain extent, he¡¯ll have to worry about two options, right?¡± She understood what Dion was talking about. As Dion had said, she knew Henry II well. ¡®Will he abdicate or not?¡¯ Someone had to take responsibility for this. It was not an issue that would end just because the concerned person died. So he had to take full responsibility and abdicate from the throne. Since the crown princess had be an adult, he could hand the throne over to her and hope that she would be a better monarch. It was an option that Prince Dion wanted, and was also the best option for Henry II. But Henry II was not an irresponsible man. The Lord Protector was dead, but they still had a lot of problems. The activities of Count Chase and the Royal Guard Knights minimized the damage, but that did not mean that no one was killed or injured. The deaths of the royal family members. The deaths of the nobles. Add to that was the disaster in the royal capital. The biggest problem was the fact that the Lord Protector was the leader of the royalists. Naturally, all the people under themand of the Lord Protector who were involved in this ¡®rebellion¡¯ were also royalists, so their elimination meant a weakening of the entire royalist faction. The royal family of the S?len Kingdom had always been strong. And those in the aristocrats faction were obviously not hostile against the royalty just because they were on that side. Even Duke Balloa who belonged to the hawks was more like a dove wearing the mask of a hawk when onepared it to other countries. But even if that was the situation, it will still end upplicated if the royalists suddenly lose their power. The bnce of power would be destroyed, and the royal family would greatly suffer. It was a difficult political situation. The S?len Kingdom would be greatly shaken, and the empire would take advantage of that and reveal their power again, and the other countries were also likely to show a different attitude. Would the king then leave his daughter, who had just be an adult, to this hard and difficult position? Considering Henry II¡¯s personality, it was absolutely impossible. ¡®Of course, mother will help me a lot either way.¡¯ If her father abdicates, she will help Princess Daphne, and if he doesn¡¯t abdicate, she will be more involved in politics now. ¡°My head hurts.¡± Prince Dion smiled bitterly at Princess Daphne¡¯s honest words. ¡°In any case, I¡¯ll help you with the best of my ability.¡± ¡°Yes, I feel a bit energized now.¡± Dion was different from the Lord Protector. Because he was an ally who would never betray her, someone whom she could really trust anytime and anywhere. ¡°Anyway¡­ let¡¯s talk something a bit more positive. After all, we avoided the worst, right? The Lord Protector was killed, and his plot to destroy the barrier was stopped. Even the demon followers who attacked the royal capital were also unable to do anything about it in the end.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± The worst situation had indeed been avoided. And Princess Daphne knew. That it was because of ¡®them¡¯ that they were able to somehow avoid the worst situation. ¡°It was true.¡± The two people of destiny. The heroes who saved Princess Daphne and Prince Dion, and also the fate of the S?len Kingdom in its moment of crisis. ¡°If it weren¡¯t for those two¡­¡± ¡°All of us would definitely have been killed by the Lord Protector. The barrier would have been destroyed¡­ and the demon followers would have done some terrible things.¡± There were so many troops who had attacked the royal capital. If the barrier had been destroyed, they would have probably added more troops. ¡°Would they have opened a Hell Gate?¡± ¡°Probably.¡± Like what they did in the Paragon Kingdom. Just imagining it was terrible. A Hell Gate opening in the royal capital of the S?len Kingdom. ¡°We owe them so much. It¡¯s something we are really grateful for. So we have to make them even more on our side.¡± Princess Daphne had a bitter smile at Prince Dion¡¯s words. Because she felt bitter at the reality that they were treating their benefactors like this. ¡°First of all, both of us have decided to give them the count title, right?¡± ¡°Yes, because even if their contribution is big, they are not even adults yet, and the two have just be barons. It will be difficult to give them a title that is more than that.¡± It was only after the Lord Protector had saved the country for the second time did he get a promotion in his noble title. The two had originallye from the prestigious 12 northern families, so it was obvious that the existing nobles would protest greatly if they were bestowed a marquis or duke title. ¡°Instead, we can give them something else.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m going to do. We can¡¯t get them on our side if we save on our spending.¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t mean it like that¡­ Ha, fine. Just give them a lot. That¡¯s fine with me.¡± Prince Dion smiled a bit at Princess Daphne¡¯s words and took out a piece of paper that had been in his arms. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°The bribes I prepared for the two people of destiny. I want you to review it too.¡± Prince Dion handed the paper to Princess Daphne, and sheughed at the first line. ¡°It really is a bribe.¡± ¡°Because we have to give our best if we¡¯re giving something, right?¡± Princess Daphneughed again at Prince Dion¡¯s words. Because she felt that Dion was sincerely grateful to the two people of destiny, even though he seemed to be making excuses. ¡®Although rather than his own life¡­ it seems he¡¯s more grateful that they saved my life.¡¯ I feel like the person who¡¯ll be his wife in the future will resent me. Princess Daphne smiled and read the list of bribes prepared by Prince Dion. *** ¡°A fief? For me and Jude?¡± ¡°Yes, a fief.¡± Cordelia was literally stunned at Edward¡¯s words. She had awakened the memories of her previous life, but she had also lived as Cordelia Chase for 17 years. Thus, as a noble of the S?len Kingdom, Cordelia knew how much a fief would mean to a noble. ¡°Wooow¡­¡± A fief. Bing a countess is like a dream, and now, we¡¯re even getting a fief. What kind of ce is it? It will not be very big though, right? A few small viges. Maybe even a small city? Maybe even a mountain? Whatever it is, it will definitely be good. I will still like it. ¡®If it¡¯s a vige, we¡¯ll just be building houses and adding structures of this and that¡­¡¯ If it¡¯s a city, we have to developmerce, and if it¡¯s a mountain, we¡¯ll have to dig mines in order to gain a source of ie. ¡®Hehehe, it¡¯s like a game.¡¯ Like the ssic games of Sim City, or the Tycoon series. ¡®I worked hard in Animal Crossing.¡¯ Her imagination grew more and more distant from the actual management of a fief, but Cordelia did not mind it. Because Jude would be the one to worry about the real thing anyway. ¡®The right person for the right job, the right person for the right job.¡¯ Cordeliaughed ¡®hehehe¡¯ again and drew a cute and colorful vige in her head, while Edward, Maja, and Dahlia all had the same expression when they saw Cordelia. ¡®How cute.¡¯ I want to pinch her cheeks, stroke her head, and kiss her. Dahlia flinched when she thought that while Edward was snickering before he loudly coughed to break Cordelia¡¯s delusion. ¡°Anyway, it¡¯s almost a determined fact that a fief will be added to your count title. It¡¯s still a bit of a question on what kind of territory you will get though.¡± ¡°Eh? It hasn¡¯t been decided yet?¡± ¡°Yes, the situation is a bitplicated.¡± There were many reasons why a fief was very important to a noble, and scarcity was one of them. Land was obviously a limited resource. The S?len Kingdom was 300 years old, and most of thend there already had owners. Naturally, there were still quite somend that belonged to the royal family, but it was not possible to give the management to some of them since it was the source of the royalty¡¯s power. ¡°Well, with this incident, thends of the Lord Protector and those close to him will be confiscated¡­ But as you know, thends of those who caused the rebellion are basically managed by the royal family too, right?¡± Moreover, if they confiscate all the territories of the Lord Protector and his subordinates, the scale would be truly enormous. Even if the contribution of the two were big, it was too much to give it all to two new counts. ¡°Uh¡­ So what you¡¯re saying is¡­¡± ¡°They will have to decide on givingnd from those under the royal family¡¯s direct management or from the confiscatednds, so it means that we still don¡¯t know where it will be. Well, in any case, it will most likely be in the central region.¡± Whether it was the territory of the Lord Protector or the territories under the royal family, they were all in the center. ¡°But it may be a fief that is a little far from the royal capital, given that you¡¯ll be given a mansion in the capital. After all, the royal family seems to want you two to live in the royal capital.¡± Edward liked to give long exnations, so he continued to say what he wanted to say, but Cordelia didn¡¯t hear much of it. Because she had already heard the most important content. ¡°Mansion?¡± ¡°Yes, a mansion. It looks like they¡¯ll give you two a house to live in the royal capital. This means that we can narrow down the candidates to some extent, but either way, it will be huge and grand. Adelia¡¯s house will look like a warehouse.¡± Edward began to exin again while Cordelia let her imagination flow again like she always did. Mansion. House. Jude and Cordelia¡¯s own home. The house of us two. I can somehow feel my face turning red. My heart is pounding more than when I heard that we¡¯ll be receiving a fief. ¡®It reminds me of the guild house.¡¯ Even in Legend of Heroes 2, I worked hard to decorate it. We should decorate it beautifully this time too, right? Like bringing in some furniture. Then, should I go look for some furniture with Jude? After all, it¡¯s a house that the two of us will live in together. Live in together¡­ ¡®We¡¯ll live together?!¡¯ With Jude? Jude and I will live in the same house? No, the two of us are somehow living together already, but still. But if we live in the same house. Yes, yes, it¡¯s still just an engagement between us. We haven¡¯t even had a proper engagement ceremony¡­ Cordelia¡¯s face became redder and redder, and her imagination grew worse and worse as if it wanted to keep its pace with her red face. And Edward couldn¡¯t stand it anymore and pinched Cordelia¡¯s cheek. ¡°My goodness, my youngest sibling. I can see what you¡¯re imagining.¡± ¡°W-what are you talking about? Don¡¯t tell me you saw me imagining that I went with Jude to see furniture?¡± ¡°Yes, I did. I saw you imagine going to see furniture with him. Isn¡¯t thatpletely a newlywed¡¯s house?¡± ¡°N-newlywed¡¯s house¡­¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyes widened. Her face was already red and burning, and Edward pulled her cheeks straight, but she didn¡¯t say anything. ¡°Hmm¡­ you¡¯re cute, but I hate that Jude now.¡± I have to give such a cute younger sister to him. Dahlia nodded her head as if agreeing, and Maja narrowed her eyes with a bit of an angry face. And a few secondster. Edward chuckled as he watched Cordelia, but he suddenly stood up from his seat. ¡°Young master?¡± Edward responded to Dahlia¡¯s question with a hand gesture and then went through his chest pocket and pulled out a magic device that looked like a round pocket watch, and soon, he brightly smiled. ¡°My sister, can you move now? We¡¯re just going to the room across this.¡± As Edward pulled her hand and asked, Cordelia came to her senses and questioned him as she stood up. ¡°We¡¯re moving? To where?¡± ¡°Ga?l¡¯s room. It looks like Ga?l woke up.¡± Edward¡¯s words brightened up Maja¡¯s face. Cordelia also quickly nodded and replied. ¡°Let¡¯s go then.¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go.¡± Edward hurriedly opened the door. *** ¡°Adelia! Ga?l is awake¡­¡± ¡°Unnie! Brother-inw Ga?l is¡­¡± That was it. Edward opened the door and was about to rejoice in the recovery of one of his few friends, and Cordelia was about to say congrattions to her sister, but her face that had barely calmed down turned red again. The scene in front of them. Ga?l had woken up. That was right, but the scene in front of them was very different from the sight they had imagined. It waspletely different from the scene they had imagined of Ga?l smiling even though he had apletely sick face while lying in the bed, and of Adelia shedding tears of emotion as she held Ga?l¡¯s hand. Dahlia instantly moved her hand to cover Cordelia¡¯s eyes, and Edward began to act before Cordelia even reacted. He grabbed Cordelia by her waist, carrying her as they left the room like that. ¡°Ahem, ahem, ahem.¡± The flustered Edward just coughed while Cordelia was panting. And Edward spoke again. ¡°First of all¡­ I don¡¯t think we need to worry about his health.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Cordelia agreed with him. Because rather than looking sick, he seemed to be full of energy. ¡°Well¡­ let¡¯s go back first. Dahlia, don¡¯t let anyone go in for a while. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Yes, young master.¡± Dahlia nodded with a red face, and quickly called a person to guard the door. ¡°Cordelia, this older brother of yours will be going to see our father now. Do you want to take a rest now? It¡¯ste, so I¡¯ll share you the details tomorrow.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Cordelia stiffly nodded her head like a wooden doll, and she unknowingly returned to Jude¡¯s room while trying to calm herself down. She also had an option to just go back to her room and rest, but her feet headed to Jude¡¯s room without her realizing it. ¡°Lady Cordelia?¡± Maja, who was in the room, was surprised at Cordelia¡¯s quick return and asked, so Dahlia spoke on behalf of Cordelia. ¡°Young master Ga?l has woken up. He seems to be very¡­ very healthy. Yeah.¡± ¡°What? What are you¡­¡± As Maja tilted her head, Dahlia repeatedly stamped her feet before she approached Maja and began to whisper in her ear. And Maja¡¯s reaction that followed. Even though she was called the ¡®Ice Princess,¡¯ her cheeks began to heat up. The three women were silent for a while, and as the air turned awkward, Cordelia opened her mouth first. ¡°T-that¡¯s right. Maja, why don¡¯t you take a break too? I¡¯ll keep an eye on Jude.¡± Because given Maja¡¯s personality, she definitely stayed besides Jude for the past two days. ¡®I don¡¯t think she has slept at all.¡¯ Even if she did, her fair face was now at the point of looking pale, and Cordelia also felt ufortable to see the cks under Maja¡¯s eyes. ¡°But¡­¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t Jude be very worried if he sees you with such a face when he wakes up?¡± ¡°She¡¯s right, Maja. You know Lord Jude¡¯s personality.¡± When Dahlia added on to Cordelia¡¯s words, Maja finally nodded her head. ¡°Then go and rest. Get some sleep. I¡¯ll be next to Jude. I¡¯m not sleepy at all because I¡¯ve slept for the past two days.¡± Maja ended up smiling at Cordelia¡¯s words mixed with a little yfulness. ¡°I understand. Please take care of him, mydy.¡± ¡°Yes, yes.¡± Maja left the room while still hesitating, and Dahlia went out with her as if to see her off. But instead of re-entering the room, Dahlia took a seat next to the Bayer family knight who was standing in front of the door. Her action was unexpected, but it was because she wanted to make time for the two inside. ¡°Uh, Dame Dahlia. What happened?¡± The Bayer family knight who was guarding the door, Jun, asked Dahlia, and she just awkwardly smiled at him since they had only met a few times enough for a short chat. And inside the room. Cordelia was left alone. She sat down besides Jude¡¯s bed and stared at him. ¡®You¡¯re handsome if you keep your mouth shut.¡¯ In fact, he was also handsome when he opened his mouth, but he always said some cheeky things when he did that. ¡®And yet¡­¡¯ Cordelia drew her face a bit closer to Jude. Like before, he was asleep with a sickly-looking face, but after she saw Ga?l, she was strangely relieved. Because even in that bad condition, Ga?l still woke up. So Jude will wake up in the same way too. He¡¯ll wake up in the same way¡­ ¡®N-no. Because Jude is different from brother-inw Ga?l. Yes, yes, they¡¯re different.¡¯ When the door was opened, she saw Ga?l and Adelia exchanging intense kisses. Unlike the one that shest saw at the engagement ceremony, the kisses were so intense that it unconsciously reminded her of the word ¡®beast.¡¯ ¡®S-still, the brothers resembles each other.¡¯ Maybe when Jude wakes up¡­ Cordelia looked at Jude¡¯s lips without realizing it, and she quickly shook her head. Because their situation was different. Their rtionship was also different, and there were many things that were different too. ¡°Ha, seriously.¡± Even though she was all alone, Cordelia looked around her before she gently held Jude¡¯s hand. She put her left hand on top of his right hand, and slowly inteced her fingers with his hand. He had a big hand and long fingers. His skin was soft like a baby due to his metamorphosis. ¡°Haa.¡± Many thoughts that lingered in her head naturally flew away. As she silently looked at Jude, only one thought came to her mind. ¡®I wish that you¡¯ll quickly wake up.¡¯ If you wake up soon. Then, you¡¯ll be boasting again with that handsome yet sly face. ¡®The smell of Jude.¡¯ Anyway, Cordelia was still tired. Contrary to what she said to Maja, Cordelia began to doze off, closing her eyes with her head lying down by the bedside. She fell into a deep sleep as her hand twitched while sping his hand. And just like that, one minute, two minutes passed¡­ and when the time kept passing and the night got deeper. Cordelia slowly opened her eyes as she heard a voice in her ears. She listened to the voice, blinking her eyes as she was still half-asleep. A gentle tone. A pleasant voice. The voice she weed the most in the world. ¡°Cordelia.¡± She didn¡¯t hear it wrong. It wasn¡¯t a dream. ¡°Jude.¡± She raised her head as she called him. And Cordelia could see it. The sly smile on his face that she expected. ¡°My princess.¡± The ck-hearted man who always boasted about his good looks and would always say embarrassing words casually, that man who was cheeky yet reliable too. Cordelia widely smiled and hugged the man, and he hugged her back. She began to cry, and he patted her back. Three days from the decisive battle in the royal capital. Jude woke up. Chapter 200: Merit Ceremony (3)

Chapter 200: Merit Ceremony (3)

WARNING: This episode may cause a sugar overdose. You have been warned, ufufu~ In fact, she didn¡¯t know why she was crying. Jude didn¡¯t wake up for two days, or three days if you counted the fact that it was dawn now, but Cordelia herself was unconscious for nearly two days. Both of them had been unconscious in that time, so it wasn¡¯t the reason for her tears. Unlike Maja¡¯s sincere wish for Jude to wake up over the past two days, Cordelia herself had been worrying for a few hours at most, though it was less than an hour if you exclude the time she fell asleep. ¡®I¡¯ve heard that you¡¯re going to wake up soon.¡¯ She had confirmed the condition he was in and was just waiting for it to end, so her situation was different from Maja. So what was the reason? She had only seen Jude¡¯s face and cried non-stop when she hugged him. She cried without even realizing it. ¡®Is it because I¡¯m sorry?¡¯ Because I¡¯m the one who made him open the fifth door? So I feel responsible? ¡®But.¡¯ If he hadn¡¯t done that, we wouldn¡¯t have won. Perhaps the Lord Protector would have really killed all of us. ¡®No, that¡¯s not the reason in the first ce.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t a matter that needed logic orplex reasoning. She was just sad because Jude was unconscious, and she was happy that he woke up. It was a simple reason. Something that didn¡¯t need to be thatplex. ¡°Huu-hu, huhu.¡± After crying for a long time, Cordelia gradually stifled her tears and opened her closed eyes. She naturally stared at Jude¡¯s face. She saw his green eyes looking her way and the sly smile drawn on his lips. His left arm firmly held her waist, and his right hand was patting her back. His chest had be broad and something that she could lean on at any time, making her feel safe like those firm castle walls. ¡°My princess, are you done crying?¡± Jude slyly asked, and Cordelia could tell at that moment. His insides were ck, but he was quite pure now. He was covering it with his sly smile, but he was actually at a loss on what to do. His green eyes seemed to be holding back all kinds of emotions, such as his joy and slight embarrassment. Why? Is it because his face is close to mine? So I can see things I usually can¡¯t see? Cordelia¡¯s lips squirmed once before she sniffed with her nose because of her tears, and she unconsciously thought. ¡®The smell of Jude.¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s five senses were all excellent, and among those senses, her sense of smell was particrly good. So Cordelia knew well that the smell of Jude was a mixture of various things. The slightly sweet smell of his skin. Add to that was the scented soap chosen by Maja. There was also the scent of the shampoo and conditioner developed by Jude. And themon perfume that most nobles sprayed on themselves more or less. It was basically a rose fragrance. The added scent had a refreshing feeling, giving one a neat impression. But today was a little different. The slight smell of sweat. It was a slightly heavier scent. As a result, the smell of Jude was more pronounced than usual. Cordelia shifted her blue eyes and looked up at Jude who faced her with his green eyes. Jude¡¯s green eyes seemed to be a little darker than usual, perhaps because of the dim candlelight, so it felt more mysterious. Cordelia raised her head a bit more. Without realizing it, she touched her lips on Jude¡¯s cheek. Chuu. It was a small sound, but it was so quiet that it sounded loud. Embarrassment and surprise lightly spread in Jude¡¯s eyes again, and in response to that, Cordelia was strangely pleased rather than feeling shy. And Jude read the feelings of Cordelia with his eyes. That was why he strengthened the hold of his left arm that held Cordelia¡¯s waist, moving his head as he touched his lips on her forehead. Very softly. To the extent that there was no sound. This time, embarrassment spread on Cordelia¡¯s big and blue eyes, and Jude had an awkward smile instead of his usual shamelessness. And that smile triggered a switch in Cordelia. Cordelia drew more closer to Jude¡¯s body. So that her neck could reach him more. She shifted the weight of her upper body as if she was pressing down on Jude, and her lips pressed on his cheek again. And it seemed like this time, she looked up at Jude with a bit of slyness. ¡®Your cheeks are red.¡¯ Jude sent her an answer with his eyes, and this time, he touched his lips on Cordelia¡¯s cheek and not her forehead. Unlike his previous one, it was a kiss that made a loud sound. ¡®Aren¡¯t your cheeks red too?¡¯ Cordelia suddenly had a strange desire to win, and she raised her head again and kissed Jude¡¯s ear instead of his cheek this time. Even Cordelia herself didn¡¯t know why she put her lips on his ear. Because it just caught her eye. Because she thought that it would be nice to touch her lips on his ear. But it was right after her lips touched. His reaction was different from before. She was able to feel it clearly because she was in close contact with his body. Jude had flinched. His left arm that was holding Cordelia¡¯s waist, that left arm that held her tightly that she couldn¡¯t move, had slightly trembled. Why? Cordelia turned her eyes to see Jude. She saw that his cheeks were redder than usual, and his familiar sly smile that she found unpleasant had slightly copsed. And his eyes. His green eyes were filled with shyness and confusion on what to do. At that moment, she thought it was fun. So Cordelia once again gave Jude a peck on the ear, and he flinched and reacted again. A smile naturally spread over her face. ¡®This is fun.¡¯ It¡¯s like I¡¯m attacking something. It¡¯s like I¡¯m trying to find the boss mob¡¯s weak point and stabbing it. As Cordelia¡¯s gamer brain began to work, she snickered, and that snicker stimted Jude this time. His desire to win. His feeling of not wanting to lose. Jude firmly held Cordelia¡¯s waist again. He straightened his neck and kissed the back of Cordelia¡¯s white and long neck. ¡°Kyaa?¡± Cordelia unconsciously let out a sound, and a triumphant smile appeared on Jude¡¯s face. A smile that was very obnoxious. ¡®Then.¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s blue eyes moved again, and she bit his earlobe very lightly instead of kissing his ear. ¡°Eh?¡± It was Jude who let out a sound this time. She seemed to have struck a critical hit. ¡°Hehehe.¡± Cordelia put her lips in Jude¡¯s ear again, and as if she was striking an additional hit, she gently blew her breath on it. And she felt him tremble. His body trembled and his face burned red like never before. ¡®I won, okay?¡¯ Cordelia snickered and said with a nce, and Jude was pissed off for a moment, so he put his lips on her neck again. He held the flinching Cordelia firmly with his left arm to prevent her from moving, and lowered his face as he dragged it along her long and thin neck, and then pressing his lips to the raised part of her vicle. ¡°Eep.¡± Cordelia trembled this time. Her blue eyes were then filled with a passion. ¡®Alright, let¡¯s do this.¡¯ So it¡¯s my turn now, huh? Cordelia turned her blue eyes. Instead of attacking his ear again, she carefully examined Jude¡¯s face to find a new weakness. His red cheeks and lips that let out a hotter breath than usual. At that moment, Cordelia unknowingly swallowed hard. She stared at Jude¡¯s lips, and roughly breathed a bit. And Jude also stared at Cordelia. Likewise, he swallowed hard and couldn¡¯t move. Jude and Cordelia breathed out. Their breaths touched each other¡¯s lips. And it was at that moment. ¡°Miss!¡± ¡°Young master?!¡± The door burst open as Dahlia and Maja appeared. Even Jun, the knight who was guarding the door, was there. ¡°Kyaa?!¡± Cordelia was embarrassed and flustered, and so did Jude. As if the magic of 12 o¡¯clock had been broken, the two struggled as they quickly pushed each other away, and Cordelia even fell off the bed because of that. ¡°Miss!¡± ¡°Uh, yes. Uh. I-I¡¯m okay!¡± Cordelia jumped to her feet, and Jude saw such Cordelia. How should one describe the current scene? Cordelia¡¯s face was covered with an indescribable shame, and Jude was the same ¨C so to put it into words, the emotions they felt were inexpressible. However, it was not a situation where they should let their hearts beat wild. Dahlia and Maja entered the room, and Maja¡¯s tears instantly pulled Jude back into reality. ¡°Young master!¡± Maja cried and clung to Jude¡¯s chest. Even though she was already an adult, she burst into tears like a child. ¡°Maja.¡± I worried you a lot. I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m really sorry. Jude tightly hugged Maja and said that he was fine, but her crying did not easily stop. Jude had be explosively strong in the past half year, but Maja had rarely seen that strong appearance of Jude. What remained in her memory was not the big and strong Jude, but the weak Jude who had a hard time going outside. Maja Tantalotte. A servant of the Bayer family and Jude¡¯s exclusive maid. But for Jude, she was not just a servant but a person no different to a real sister to him. When Maja¡¯s crying didn¡¯t seem to stop, Cordelia hesitated at first before she sent a nce to Jude. ¡®I¡¯ll¡­ see you tomorrow, okay?¡¯ ¡®Yes, see you tomorrow.¡¯ ¡®Yeah, good night.¡¯ ¡®Yes, dream of me.¡¯ ¡®You too.¡¯ After they finished their eye conversation, Cordelia and Dahlia left the room while Jude patted the back of the still crying Maja. And around thirty minutester. Cordelia defended against Dahlia¡¯s persistent questioning attacks with the excuse that she had to sleep because she was too tired, and she washed herself before lying down on the bed. And after that, she began to kick the nket. ¡®Uwaaaaaah! I must be crazy!¡¯ 30 minutes ago. What in the world did I do? What did I do? Why did I do that? ¡®That¡­ I¡­ aaaaaaah.¡¯ Kiss, kiss. Kiss, kiss, kiss. Kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss. Dahlia and Jun who were outside the door would have heard us kissing. ¡®Euaaa¡­aaaaah¡­aaaaaah!¡¯ Cordelia writhed on the bed. She rolled to the left, rolled to the right, came back to the center, and then kicked the nket. ¡®Dizzy, I feel dizzy.¡¯ I feel like I¡¯ll die from shame. No, maybe I¡¯m already dead and just haven¡¯t realized it. Maybe my soul is squirming alone after dying from shame. Cordelia covered her face with both hands, and was suddenly startled, pulling them back. Because she felt that her cheeks were too hot. ¡®Ah, seriously. Ah, seriously!¡¯ How will I look at his face? What should I say when I see Jude¡¯s face tomorrow? ¡®Eueu¡­ eueueueueueu¡­¡¯ Cordelia shed some tears before she took a deep breath. Inhale¡­ exhale¡­ Inhale¡­ exhale¡­ After repeating it several times, Cordelia managed to calm down her breathing, and lied down to rx her body and pacify her mind. ¡®It¡¯s all right.¡¯ Yes, it¡¯s all right. It¡¯s not just me. Since Jude did it too. Because we yed with each other¡¯s weakness. Yes, yes, that¡¯s right. We just yed and poked each other¡¯s weakness. We yed a game, right? So it¡¯s all right. And isn¡¯t he my fianc¨¦? That¡¯s right, so this much is fine. Yes, yes, it¡¯s not a problem. It¡¯s not a problem. So let¡¯s sleep. Everything will be all right when I wake up. Cordelia closed her eyes. And 1, 2, 3. ¡°Euaaaah!¡± What do you mean by it¡¯s all right! After rolling on the bed again, Cordelia curled up her body like a ball and then trembled. ¡®I must be crazy, yeah, crazy.¡¯ This is all because of Jude. After all, it¡¯s because of Jude. It¡¯s definitely because of Jude! ¡°Haa.¡± I hate it. I really, really hate it. And if Maja and Dahlia had note in. If they hadn¡¯te in then¡­ Cordelia shut her eyes tightly as she clenched her fist tight too, and she panted afterwards. Her breathing that she had barely calmed down was rough again, perhaps because she was rolling too much on the bed or because of some other reason. ¡®Argh.¡¯ Why am I the only one like this? That Jude must be sleeping soundly like a child now, huh? He must be snoring and sleeping without a care in the world, huh? ¡®That¡¯s right, so I should sleep.¡¯ Let¡¯s go to sleep. I¡¯ll leave all this worries for tomorrow and just go to sleep! Cordelia corrected her posture again and closed her eyes. And like always, she spoke with an exmation. ¡°I can¡¯t sleep.¡± I had slept earlier. I¡¯m done with sleeping. And right across her room. In Jude¡¯s bedroom behind the wall in her room. As Cordelia predicted, Jude did not make amotion on the bed. He was lying straight and not moving. But it wasn¡¯t what she expected of him to be sleeping soundly and snoring. As he lied on the bed, he covered his face with his hands and recited the Heart Sutra. He immersed himself in Buddhist scriptures and tried to erase Cordelia¡¯s face that kepting back in his thoughts. ¡°Damn.¡± I can¡¯t sleep. I really can¡¯t sleep. How can I sleep? How? How! ¡°Huaaa.¡± Jude groaned as his hands grabbed his head, and he eventually opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. He turned to the side and gazed in the direction of Cordelia¡¯s room. ¡°Come on, Jude,e on. Just sleep.¡± Jude lied on his back again and forcibly closed his eyes, but he couldn¡¯t fall asleep. The blushing and gentle smile of Cordelia keeping back in his mind. ¡°Haa, darn it.¡± Jude eventually gave up sleeping. He sat on the bed and crossed his legs, taking a deep breath before he began to recite the Heart Sutra again. *** The next morning. Cordelia had stayed up all night with her eyes open, and she was now sitting on the sofa with a tired face as she waited for Jude. Because the two were supposed to meet their fathers together, which were Count Chase and Count Bayer. ¡®Eueueue.¡¯ What should I say when we meet? Should I just not say anything? As if nothing happened? Cordelia¡¯s fingers and even the toes in her shoes were wriggling, and Dahlia giggled upon seeing Cordelia before she said in a small voice. ¡°He has arrived.¡± Jude. Cordelia unconsciously became nervous, straightening her posture before she turned her eyes and burst into a smallugh. Because she saw the dark circles under Jude¡¯s eyes. ¡®Hey, you too?¡¯ ¡®Hey, me too.¡¯ The two had stayed up all night. As Cordelia giggled and smiled, Jude smiled in the same way and then hesitated for a moment before he stretched out his hand like he always did. In order to escort her. But Cordelia did not hold his hand right away. She shifted her gaze and looked up at Jude, smiling at him with a coy expression. Because Jude was behaving like usual, pretending to be fine while stretching out his hand to her, but she could tell. ¡®Aren¡¯t you a bit cute?¡¯ He looks shy. Has my ck-hearted Mr. ck Cloak always been this cute? Cordelia giggled again before she finally put her hand on top of his, and she got up and began walking with Jude. Just how far was the room where Count Bayer and Count Chase were waiting? They didn¡¯t know exactly, but it wouldn¡¯t take that much time. It would be a few minutes at most. Maybe not even that. Was it because of that then? Jude moved his hand a bit. From under Cordelia¡¯s hand, he changed the direction of his wrist. His movement was quite straightforward. Cordelia turned her head to look at him, but Jude looked straight ahead instead of looking at her. His cheeks were blushing in a way that didn¡¯t suit him as he slipped his own fingers in between Cordelia¡¯s fingers. He tried to sp her hand. Cordelia opened her fingers slightly to ept Jude¡¯s fingers. She gazed at their tightly interlocked fingers before she turned to the side of Jude¡¯s face. ¡®Jude, Jude.¡¯ Jude did not answer. He seemed to have failed to see her eyes because he was only looking at the front. But Cordelia did not care and kept looking with her eyes. ¡®This is no longer an escort, right?¡¯ We¡¯re just holding hands. Am I right? Jude did not respond again, and Cordelia¡¯s lips squirmed. She had done it coyly, but in the eyes of others, she was smiling as she loosened her face and lowered her hand. She lightly shook Jude¡¯s hand as she continued walking. Maja and Dahlia behind them failed to suppress theirughs, but Jude and Cordelia did not care. Or rather, they didn¡¯t hear theughter at all. Both of them were busy walking as they looked ahead with blushing cheeks. And a few minutes passed. The two felt that the time that had passed was too short, and they tried to separate from each other, but their hands seemed to be reluctant to do so. After forcibly removing their hands that had tried to lock fingers with each other several times, they took a deep breath. ¡®Let¡¯s go.¡¯ ¡®Okay.¡¯ They would meet Count Bayer and Count Chase, hear the details and then tell their story. They prioritized the things that they needed to take care of now before they proceeded. Count Bayer¡¯s knight who was guarding the door opened it, and Jude and Cordelia entered the room. How far would have it escted if not for Maja and Dahlia? Would they have been like Ga?l and Adelia? Ufufufu~ Chapter 201: Merit Ceremony (4)

Chapter 201: Merit Ceremony (4)

For some reason, this chapter was hard to trante. I tried to convey the meaning of the sentences as much as possible rather than urately tranting it, so please bear with any inuracy. Anyway, here¡¯s the episode~! ¡°Father.¡± ¡°The two of you are finally here. Have a seat over there.¡± Rather than a regr living room, the room they were in seemed to be a ce for casual and informal conversation. Three sofas were arranged in a C-shape around a low table, and Count Bayer, who was sitting by himself at the seat of honor, offered them a seat. ¡®Is it across my father?¡¯ Count Chase was sitting in the middle of a long sofa and pointed with his eyes at the opposite seat. Jude and Cordelia then quietly sat on the sofa opposite him. Cordelia was on the left while Jude was on the right. It was a veryrge sofa, so there were a lot of ces for them to seat themselves, but the two naturally sat close together. As if this waspletely normal. ¡°It¡¯s nice to look at.¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­ yes. Thank you.¡± At the words of Count Bayer, Cordelia tilted her head because she didn¡¯t understand what he was talking about, but she immediately replied with a wide smile. She was a bit curious on what was nice to look at, but since Cordelia and Jude had woken up after a few days, he might have been talking about how the two were awake now were nice to look at. ¡®Anyway, since it¡¯s my father-inw¡¯s words, I have to answer even if I don¡¯t understand what he¡¯s talking about.¡¯ In any case, he had said something nice to them, so it was natural for her to express her thanks. ¡®Is that right, Jude?¡¯ ¡®Uh, probably.¡¯ Even Jude couldn¡¯t immediately figure out what Count Bayer meant by it being nice to look at. Because for Jude, it waspletely natural and reasonable for him to be seated next to Cordelia. Anyway, Count Bayer¡¯s smile even deepened when Cordelia replied beautifully, while Count Chase snorted like usual. ¡°Moving on¡­¡± Count Bayer¡¯s words trailed at the end, and he paused for a moment, taking a deep breath before he looked at Jude and Cordelia with warm eyes and saying. ¡°I¡¯m very d that the two of you woke up. Both of you had been unconscious for the past few days, so everyone was greatly worried.¡± ¡°We apologize for having troubled you.¡± ¡°No, no. I apologize. It¡¯s not your fault. You have nothing to apologize for.¡± When Cordelia lowered her head, Count Bayer promptly dissuaded her from doing so before he nced at Count Chase, asking him to say something. And at that nce, Count Chase responded in his usual manner. ¡°Hmph, you¡¯re still a weak guy.¡± As he looked at Jude, he clicked his tongue and took out a small box from his pocket. And Jude was grateful to him like usual. ¡°Eat this too. They say it works well for feeble guys like you.¡± ¡°Yes, father-inw. Thank you very much.¡± ¡°Thank you, Dad.¡± After Jude and Cordelia expressed their thanks, Count Chase turned to the side and spoke quietly. ¡°Don¡¯t tell Adelia. She¡¯s going to needlesslypare it to what I gave Ga?l.¡± Because Adelia was always dissatisfied even if they were both given something. But there was one thing that Count Chase overlooked. ¡°Dad, what did you give to brother-inw Ga?l? Is it different from Jude? There¡¯s no way that it¡¯s better, right? So what is it?¡± The existence of Cordelia who began to react in the same way that Adelia did. ¡°No, I mean¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± Count Chase eventually gave up on making excuses and frowned, and Count Bayer burst into a smallugh. ¡°Ga?l and Jude are really blessed with their fianc¨¦es.¡± Cordelia who was questioning Count Chase then instantly blushed and lowered her head at Count Bayer¡¯s words. Because the words ¡®blessed with their fianc¨¦es¡¯ strangely resonated in her mind. And it was the same with Jude. Jude spontaneously looked somewhere else before he coughed with a slightly reddish face. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Ahem, ahem, ahem. ¡°Look at this little kid coughing.¡± Count Bayer chuckled and looked back at Count Chase before he immediately brought up their main topic. ¡°Jude, and Cordelia. I¡¯m sure you had already heard of it but¡­ the royal pce was not only one that was attacked this time. The entire royal capital was swept into a huge mess.¡± Count Bayer¡¯s expression and tone became a bit stiff. Having already heard some of the situation from Maja and Dahlia, Jude and Cordelia¡¯s faces stiffened, and Count Chase looked straight at them and said. ¡°Certainly¡­ you two warned me and Count Bayer before this happened. It wasn¡¯t specific, but thanks to that, we were able to resolve this situation.¡± Something may happen right after the ball. We¡¯ll notify you if we¡¯re in danger, so please ept this magic device with tracking magic on it. This was what Jude and Cordelia told Count Bayer and Count Chase just before the ball. Several incidents had already happened in the north and the wildnds, so Count Bayer and Count Chase did not lightly take Jude and Cordelia¡¯s words. They did not drop their guard down even when they attended the ball, so they were able to react immediately. What would have happened if the two hadn¡¯t warned them? ¡°We wouldn¡¯t have been able to stop First Sword.¡± Count Bayer nodded at Count Chase¡¯s words. If they had not been warned, Count Bayer would not have thought of helping Jude and Cordelia. ¡°And if you two had lost your lives to First Sword¡­ the Lord Protector¡­ no, that traitor, Duke Antarius, would have seeded with his n.¡± He had nned to destroy the barrier by massacring the royal family. But he did not seed. Because Jude and Cordelia stopped him. ¡°You two definitely did well. But I want to ask. How the hell, I mean¡­ how much did you know?¡± Count Bayer¡¯s voice was soft, and his tone showed that he was not ming them. But Jude did not immediately answer. As calmly as possible, he spoke smoothly. ¡°The betrayal of the Lord Protector¡­ of Duke Antarius was something that we didn¡¯t expect.¡± His words were reasonable. The betrayal of the Lord Protector was something unimaginable for most people. ¡°As I said before, we¡¯ve already proven that the Fairy Queen¡¯s warnings are true. Her words may be ufortable to hear, but it can¡¯t be taken lightly because we¡¯ve experienced its veracity in the north.¡± As Jude had said, it was a repeat of the story they had already told before. Because there was no one other than the Fairy Queen whom they could cite as a source of information. ¡®And because it¡¯s impossible to use the Guardians of the Holy Cross as an excuse this time.¡¯ It was a big incident where the royal capital was directly attacked. After the immediate chaos had been settled to a certain extent, the royal family would definitely mobilize all the kingdom¡¯s power to start a war against the demon followers. If that happened, it would be impossible for the kingdom to not join hands with the Guardians of the Holy Cross, so if they had carelessly used the Guardians of the Holy Cross as an excuse, the two would be in trouble if their stories didn¡¯t match. ¡®So we pushed for that excuse.¡¯ To begin with, Jude and Cordelia were the only ones able to call out the Fairy Queen in the royal capital. Sylvia, the second prettiest woman in the north right after Cordelia, could do it too, but the possibility of her attempting to summon the fairies was close to zero, so as long as Jude and Cordelia did not make a mistake, they wouldn¡¯t be caught. ¡®We also did some preparations.¡¯ In preparation for the one in a million possibility, they gave the Fairy Queen a box of choctes and asked her to match their story. But she was still a fairy in the end, so it was doubtful if she would really match their words if she got asked. In any case, Jude used that excuse, and Count Bayer quietly looked at Jude and nodded. ¡°I see. I understand. We are all greatly indebted to the Fairy Queen.¡± Thanks to her, they were able to protect the royal family and the royal capital. They were able to save the country from the traitor, Duke Antarius. But Count Bayer thought of Jude and Cordelia before that. He didn¡¯t openly say it, but he was more thankful that he was able to save the two. But it was at that moment. ¡°There is one more thing that I want to ask.¡± It was Count Chase. He looked at Jude and Cordelia, asking in a low voice. ¡°That bas-¡­ how did you two win?¡± He did not say the name of that person. But Jude and Cordelia knew who Count Chase was talking about. The Lord Protector and traitor, Duke Antarius, was one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. Even though he was old and had weakened, he was still one of the best swordsmen in the kingdom. Jude and Cordelia had defeated such a Lord Protector. It wasn¡¯t something they could simply believe because the fight had been two against one. ¡°I¡¯m not doubting you. But I honestly couldn¡¯t understand it well from what I heard from the crown princess.¡± Count Bayer also spoke, and the two nodded at the same time. He would obviously feel like that because it was a fight that was hard to exin in words on how they won. Cordelia¡¯s idea to use the power of the divine sword, and Jude¡¯s ability to finish the enemy with the power that she had passed on to him. It was a miracle that could only happen because the two were together. Jude took a deep breath instead of answering right away again. He quietly held Cordelia¡¯s hand and looked at her. ¡®Cordelia.¡¯ ¡®Yes, Jude.¡¯ ¡®About this¡­ let¡¯s be honest.¡¯ On how they won. On why a miracle happened. At Jude¡¯s gaze, Cordelia nodded and squeezed Jude¡¯s hand. ¡®Let¡¯s do that.¡¯ They couldn¡¯t hide it forever. ¡®And¡­ it¡¯s not that big of a secret.¡¯ Count Bayer and Count Chase already knew of the fact that Jude was a disciple of Landius and that he had been taught the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors by Landius. But they had hid the fact that Cordelia had be an angel through Ancestral Regression. ¡®I¡¯ll tell them then.¡¯ ¡®Okay.¡¯ It was about Cordelia herself, but Jude was the one in charge of exining. After Cordelia rxed herself and squeezed Jude¡¯s hand, Jude began exining to Count Bayer and Count Chase. And around ten minutester. Once they were done listening to all his words, Count Bayer and Count Chase looked at each other with smiles full of surprise. ¡°Hoh¡­ Ancestral Regression.¡± Especially Count Chase who was really surprised. Unlike Count Bayer who had only heard of the concept of Ancestral Regression today because he was a swordsman in the first ce, Count Chase already knew to a certain extent about Ancestral Regression. ¡°I knew that the blood of an angel flowed in my family, but¡­ I can¡¯t believe that it¡¯s Ancestral Regression.¡± Count Bayer asked in curiosity towards Count Chase who appeared to have lost hisposure, which was unlike him. ¡°Arthur, is it possible for you to be an angel with Ancestral Regression?¡± If Cordelia had the blood of an angel, it would also flow on her father, Count Chase. But Count Chase immediately shook his head as if he did not even need to think about it. ¡°Just because our ancestor is an angel does not mean that it¡¯s possible to regress to our ancestor. You have to be born with a strong enough angelic trait in order for Ancestral Regression to be possible. It¡¯s usually impossible unless it¡¯s atavism.¡± ¡°Atavism?¡± ¡°It refers to a phenomenon in which the trait of an ancestor suddenly appear strongly in ater generation.¡± Having said that, Count Chase looked back at Cordelia and nodded. ¡°Cordelia, your transcendent beauty may perhaps be the result of atavism.¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­ yeah.¡± At being called a transcendent beauty, Cordelia turned red and bowed her head, while Jude received Count Chase¡¯s words with a very serious face. ¡°Cordelia is an angel not only in her face but also in her heart.¡± ¡°Hmm, indeed. She was born with it.¡± ¡°Yes, she was born with it. Holy Angel Lena-nim also praised her a lot.¡± ¡°Uh-huh.¡± As Count Chase nodded with a happy face, warm smiles also appeared on Jude and Count Bayer¡¯s faces. And thest person. There was one person who was struggling in her embarrassment rather than taking part in the current atmosphere. ¡®What the heck are you talking about!¡¯ What? My heart is like an angel¡¯s too? Would you like to die and be an angel now? Cordelia felt like she wanted to strangle Jude right now, but it was impossible since they were in front of Count Bayer and Count Chase. So she just bit her lips and fought back her embarrassment. But it was then. ¡°So, if you¡¯re usually a human, do you be an angel by transforming into one or something?¡± ¡°Yes, she can. Lena-nim said that in order to maintain Angel Mode at all times, her angel rank must be at a certain rank or higher.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Count Chase nodded as if he was convinced, and he stared at Cordelia while Count Bayer also stared at her and then coughed. Neither of them said anything, but it was obvious what they were hoping for. ¡®Ah, seriously. Why am I the one who¡¯s always being embarrassed? Why?¡¯ Cordelia was a little annoyed, but she couldn¡¯t do much about it, so she decided to just ept her fate. After she got up from her seat, she revealed her angel wings of light. ¡°Oooh¡­¡± Count Chase eximed in admiration as he saw the wings made of a bright white light. Count Bayer¡¯s eyes also widened and admired the appearance of Cordelia who was emitting a divine aura. And there was one person who was ted at the response of the two. ¡°She¡¯s a real angel.¡± For reference, she¡¯s my fianc¨¦e. I¡¯m the only one in the world who has a real angel as a fianc¨¦e. Count Bayer had a bitter smile at Jude¡¯s proud words that were conveyed without him even speaking, while Count Chase just hmphed. Andstly, Cordelia covered her face with both hands. And a few minutes or soter. When the fuss had subsided, Count Bayer asked again. ¡°Jude, how is your body now? Are there any side effects from opening the sixth door?¡± Count Bayer did not know much about the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. Jude smiled bitterly at the question full of worry and replied. ¡°To be honest¡­ my condition now is quite bad. But I¡¯ll be okay after a few days of rest.¡± Cordelia was the one who was the most surprised by his answer. [What? Are you still in pain?!] [Yeah, it hurts. At least until the day after tomorrow, you can think that the weak Jude of the past is back.] [R-really? Then will you copse from just walking?] [No, it wasn¡¯t¡­ that bad before.] [Jude?] [Don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s not that bad. There¡¯s no problem in my daily activities.] [Really?] [Really. You checked it yesterday, right?] [Huh?] [I mean, what¡­we did. That incident.] That was it. Cordelia lowered her head instead of asking him anymore. Her ears that can be seen in between her hair had now turned red. In any case, Jude¡¯s story was over, so Count Bayer sighed and said as he straightened his posture. ¡°All right. Then I won¡¯t prolong this conversation for long. I¡¯ll just tell you what we were going to say before you go back.¡± Jude and Cordelia weren¡¯t called this morning just to resolve their questions about the incident. It was because they had to tell the two something too. ¡°A merit ceremony will be held in five days.¡± Chapter 202: Merit Ceremony (5)

Chapter 202: Merit Ceremony (5)

Break day tomorrow, so see you all on Monday~! ¡°Merit ceremony?¡± ¡°Yes, His Majesty will personally reward those who have greatly contributed to resolve this incident.¡± There were two reasons for that. Obviously, the first one was to reward them, and the other one was to show that the royal family was well. ¡°Among those who will be rewarded this time, the two of you will specially be given the title of count, a fief¡­ and a new surname personally bestowed by the royal family for your great contribution.¡± ¡°Surname? A new one?¡± Count Bayer replied with a smile to Cordelia¡¯s question. ¡°Because there cannot be two Count Bayer and Count Chase.¡± Generally, it was possible to distinguish the two without bestowing a different surname to the other by referring to one as the Greater Count Bayer and the other as the Lesser Count Bayer, but this time, it was decided that they would be given a new surname. ¡®I expected it, but¡­ it seems like the royal family wants us too.¡¯ There were two reasons why he thought that. One was the fact that a new hero was needed to rece the Lord Protector who had fallen from a hero who saved the country and had be a traitor. ¡®Because they need a hero to spruce up the current situation.¡¯ The betrayal of the Lord Protector was not just a shocking incident. It was the worst scandal that could hound the royal family for a long time. ¡®Because the Lord Protector was a hero who saved the country.¡¯ Why did someone who saved the country twice then betray the royal family? Could it be that the royal family pushed him into a situation where he was forced to betray them? Numerous spections would be made, and rumors using these spections would constantly haunt the royal family. Such a problem could not be solved in the short term. So for now, they created a new topic to divert the public¡¯s attention. They would use the new heroes to draw the public¡¯s attention. ¡®The other one is¡­ Is it because¡­ we¡¯repetent?¡¯ It was something embarrassing to think about, but it was true that Jude and Cordelia werepetent. If one limited it to their peers, the two would belong to the most skilled people in the entire continent. ¡®It¡¯s natural for the royal family to want us.¡¯ So they didn¡¯t hold back with the rewards. They especially showed that with the giving of a surname. ¡®Well, I¡¯m grateful for what they¡¯re doing anyway.¡¯ Moreover, there would also be room for a deal if they were desired this much. They would have more chances to rip off the other if they were this much wanted. [You have a wicked expression.] At Cordelia¡¯s remark, Jude coughed several times, and Count Bayer said with a grin, though it was unknown if he knew what Jude was thinking or not. ¡°You can go back and rest now.¡± ¡°Yes, father. We¡¯ll be leaving now.¡± As he stood up with Cordelia, the two gave a bow to Count Bayer and Count Chase before they left the room. ***[Are we finally free after five days?] [No. We have a lot of things to organize.] It was a big incident that simply did not end in attacking the royal family as it turned the entire royal capital upside down too. Naturally, a lot of people were involved. In particr, Velkian was the most problematic. [There are five things we have to consider now.] [Huh? Five things?] [Yes, five.] Cordelia blinked her eyes at Jude¡¯s words, but she did not think deeply of it. It was just a matter of asking Jude about it. [Tell me one by one.] [Hey¡­ did youpletely give up thinking? Please don¡¯t.] [Stop with your nonsense and just exin it.] [Hmm, all right.] Before he exined it, Jude took a deep breath and paused for a bit. He then sent her a message via magic. [First is Velkian.] [Yes, you said he was in the royal capital now, right? Should we meet him before the ceremony?] [That won¡¯t be necessary. He must havee here to meet Pink Bomb in the first ce¡­ There¡¯s also the chaos that happened in the royal capital, so he will not be leaving immediately.] [Hmm, does that mean we still have some time?] [Probably.] Something had happened in the royal capital, so Velkian naturally remained vignt and closely watched any suspicious movements. [What¡¯s the second?] [Scarlet.] [Eh? Scarlet?] [Yes, Scarlet. Did you forget what you promised Scarlet?] Cordelia blinked her eyes at Jude¡¯s words, and soon, she tapped her thigh and said. ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right. The promise.¡± They were supposed topete for the Rogue Master position. Cordeliaughed ¡®hehehe¡¯ as if she had only remembered now, and Jude narrowed his brows and sent her a magic. [Anyway, she¡¯s looking forward to this, so we need to organize this too. Of course, Scarlet will not agree to having the match in the royal capital when the situation is like this.] [Yes. Because our match will be a stealing contest.] The entire royal capital had been affected by the incident, so where in the world would they rob? There might be a ce where they could search and rob, but even stealing had to observe the proper time and ce rule. Especially if it was a big shot like the Rogue Master. [More than that, is Scarlet okay? She isn¡¯t hurt, right?] [She¡¯ll be fine. She is the future Rogue Master. She¡¯s also one of the future Four Great Swordsmen.] [Indeed, that¡¯s true.] Scarlet was one of the strongest among her age. She would be safe without a single tip of her hair undamaged unless she threw her body directly into the path of danger. [They said that Lucas is okay, right?] [Yes, Maja said that.] [So did Dahlia. She told me that he even visited us when we were unconscious.] [He really is nice. I hope it goes well with Scarlet.] [Yeah. With Scarlet¡­eh? With Scarlet?] [Ah¡­ it¡¯s a long story, so I¡¯ll pass for now.] [Eh? Wait, why are you saying that? Isn¡¯t this something really important?] [Uh, no. Anyway, I¡¯ll tell you the third one.] When Jude quickly changed the topic, Cordelia inted her cheeks with a disgruntled face, but from Jude¡¯s point of view, it was a reward. ¡®Hmm, as expected, she¡¯s cute.¡¯ Jude smiled happily and brought up the third topic. [The third one is about the demon followers.] [The Devil¡¯s Hand?] [Yes, they¡¯ll be aiming at us openly now.] From the northern region, the wildnds, and then to the royal capital. The two had repeatedly destroyed the ns of the demon followers. In particr, they yed a huge role in defeating the Lord Protector this time, so it was inevitable that they would receive a high level of attention. [Umm¡­ does that mean they¡¯ll send mid-ranking demonic humans?] [Maybe. But they won¡¯t be able to send them right away.] [Why?] [The S?len royal family will try to catch the demon followers like rats.] After all, the S?len Kingdom hated the demon followers. Moreover, the demon followers attacked the royal capital. They corrupted the Lord Protector, making him betray the royal family and taking the lives of several royal family members. [Once the disturbance in the royal capital is resolved to some extent, it¡¯s highly likely that they¡¯ll move immediately.] There were also several reasons for this. One was that they needed someone to draw the public¡¯s attention just like their need for a new hero. ¡®To be exact, they needed a target of hatred.¡¯ And the other reason was Henry II¡¯s anger. [The reason that the Lord Protector became a traitor was because of the demon followers. It waspletely their fault that the Lord Protector was corrupted.] At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia nodded with a worried face. She felt sad when she thought of Henry II whose heart must have been torn into pieces because of the betrayal. [He seemed to be a really pure man.] Cordelia herself didn¡¯t care much about him because she found him unpleasant when they argued back then. However, she was deeply saddened when she saw how much he liked the Lord Protector. [As I thought, you¡¯re an angel.] [What?] [I mean, my princess is kind.] The smirking Jude continued his exnation before Cordelia could say anything. [Anyway, the S?len royal family will be eager to beat the demon followers, so the demon followers will not bother us for a while.] [Then, should we be stronger in the meantime?] To the point where they could fight against mid-ranking demonic humans. Jude smiled at Cordelia¡¯s words and nodded his head. [That¡¯s right. I¡¯ve also thought of that, and I¡¯m not talking about the sixth door or the Angel Mode.] Cordelia stared at Jude¡¯s eyes and eventually understood it. [Key Sword.] [Correct.] It was the key to obtaining the Ultimate Seven series. [We¡¯ll have to work hard in leveling up since it¡¯s an exceptional item.] [That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right. Are you skilled in ying games, though?] [Yes, I¡¯m skilled in ying games.] Jude slyly responded to Cordelia¡¯s words before he continued to speak. T/N: The word used for ¡®exceptional item¡¯ here is ?? (tem-ppal), which is an item that makes you really good in ying or doing something, and not because you have the skills for it. In game terms, it means that you¡¯re only good at ying because of your items and not because of your actual skills. So Jude is trying to say that even if they had an exceptional item, they have to work hard in bing stronger and not just rely on the item. He does not want them to be strong just because of their items. Cordelia agrees with him, but yfully asks him if he actually had the skills in the first ce. And Jude slyly replies that he has the skills to do so. [And thest one is¡­ you know about it, right? The event in the south.] [Yes, one of the three big events that led to the fall of the S?len Kingdom.] The great invasion of the barbarians destroyed the northern region. The annihtion of the royal family brought the central region into ruins. And the third one was ¡®ck Dragon Malekith¡¯s Attack¡¯ which dealt a devastating blow to the 7 southern families that were the pirs of the southern region. [If we can stop Malekith, the S?len Kingdom will be safe for a while.] In the game, the S?len Kingdom helplessly copsed because it couldn¡¯t prevent any of those three events, but it was different now. Since the north and the center were still going strong, if the event in the south is prevented, the S?len Kingdom would be a huge barrier that could protect humanity in the uing 7 major cmities. [Eueue¡­ So how should we decide the order of doing those 5 things?] [Uh, we¡¯ll have to think about it when I give you the details.] Having spoken so far, Jude stopped walking. And so did Cordelia. Because they had arrived. They were right in front of Jude and Cordelia¡¯s rooms, which were next to each other. [Uh¡­ Cordelia?] [Yes, Jude.] Jude and Cordelia looked at each other before they turned their heads back again. The two hesitated before they finally spoke. [Uh¡­ would you like to talk in my room?] [Eh? Uh¡­ o-okay?] We have a lot to discuss. We have a lot to think about especially the things we talked about on our way here. That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right. So it¡¯s only natural for us to go in his room and talk. Cordelia spoke to herself and lightly bit her lips. They were only going to do something that they had naturally and usually did, but for some strange reason, her heart was pounding. [S-shall we go then?] [Y-yes, let¡¯s go.] Jude answered awkwardly unlike his usual self, and he opened the door and saw that no one was in the room. Because just like always, Dahlia and Maja had gone away in order to give the two some ¡®alone time¡¯ together. That was why the room was empty. There was no one in the room. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± ¡°Ehem, ehem, ehem.¡± Jude and Cordelia cleared their throats for no reason and then entered the room awkwardly as they avoided each other¡¯s gaze. They then sat on the sofa. However. It was normal for the two to sit opposite each other when they were discussing something, and that had always been the case until now. But it was different this time. Because both of them sat on the same sofa as if they had agreed beforehand. So why? What was the reason? Was it perhaps because they were holding hands? ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± ¡°Ehem, ehem, ehem.¡± Jude and Cordelia looked at each other while coughing for no reason again, and at that moment, they both turned their heads away. Because they remembered what happenedst night. ¡®Ki-ki-kiss¡­¡¯ Cordelia unconsciously squirmed her lips while Jude swallowed hard. 1 minute passed. 2 minutes passed. ¡°Uh¡­Jude?¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± ¡°W-we should talk, right?¡± ¡°Y-yes, we have to. Discuss. We have to discuss.¡± They hade here to do that. They came here to discuss and not for something else. ¡°T-then¡­ will you let go of¡­ my hand?¡± ¡°Hand?¡± ¡°Yes, hand. Uh¡­ it¡¯s not necessary to hold it¡­ right?¡± Cordelia wriggled her fingers, and Jude wriggled his fingers too because their fingers were still interlocked with each other. And as they wriggled their fingers like that, they both felt strange. Their hearts were beating faster, and their breaths were getting rougher. And a few secondster. Cordelia squirmed her lips before she nced at Jude, and at that moment, Jude also turned to Cordelia. Their blue and green eyes met with each other. Little by little, the distance they had between each other narrowed. And a voice suddenly came from behind them. ¡°What are you two doing?¡± A sullen voice. And at the same time, a familiar voice. At the d¨¦j¨¤ vu they somehow felt, Jude and Cordelia hurriedly looked behind them and simultaneously jumped from their seats. Cordelia then burst into a bright smile. ¡°Scarlet!¡± You¡¯re safe! Cordelia jumped over the sofa and hugged Scarlet who was dressed in a maid outfit. Scarlet hugged her back and then nced at Jude. As she faced him who now had a sour expression, she gave a strange smile that was half sorry and half pleased at his misfortune. Chapter 203: Merit Ceremony (6)

Chapter 203: Merit Ceremony (6)

¡°Were you hurt?¡± ¡°I¡¯m okay, see? Should you be saying that when you were in aa though?¡± When Scarlet asked back as soon as she sat besides Cordelia on the sofa, Cordelia shook her head and answered. ¡°No, it isn¡¯t to the point of aa since I only slept for two days.¡± ¡°Hey, sleeping for two days is definitely not normal, okay?¡± Scarlet sharply spoke and squinted her eyes, looking at Cordelia all over. She seemed to be looking for any injuries. And at Scarlet¡¯s appearance, Cordelia began tough. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just¡­ you seemed to be seriously worried of me.¡± Cordelia giggled again and lightly pped Scarlet¡¯s shoulder as she smiled with her eyes, and Scarlet frowned. ¡°No, I¡¯m not. I wasn¡¯t that worried of you, okay? I really didn¡¯t care about you, okay?¡± ¡°Wow, your ssic reaction is so good, so good. You¡¯re so cute.¡± ¡°What ¡®so cute¡¯?¡± Whether Scarlet hated it or not, Cordelia hugged her arm andughed, and Scarlet eventually frowned and looked back at Jude. ¡°Hey, ck Cloak. Why is Pink Bomb acting like this? Did she injure her head or something?¡± [She¡¯s not hurt. She¡¯s just pretty, cute, and adorable like usual.] Scarlet shuddered when he replied via magic instead of his voice, and she eventually gave up. Because the more she spoke, the more she would only be embarrassed. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m fine.¡± ¡°Yes, yes. If Scarlet is okay, then I¡¯m okay too.¡± As Cordelia rubbed her cheeks against Scarlet¡¯s shoulder, Scarlet flinched for a moment but soon smiled. Because she found the expression of Jude looking at them to be very funny. ¡®Should I tease him a bit?¡¯ But before Scarlet could even try something, Jude moved first. He took a seat across Scarlet and immediately brought up a topic she couldn¡¯t ignore. ¡°The match.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°The match for the Rogue Master position. Isn¡¯t it time to discuss it?¡± As Jude grinned and spoke, Scarlet slightly frowned. She weed the fact that they were finally talking about the match for the Rogue Master position, but she didn¡¯t like it a bit on how Jude led the flow of their discussion into that. But she couldn¡¯t help it. She was the one who had lost in their fight, so she eventually gave up. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s talk about it.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll cut to the chase and get straight to the point¡­ don¡¯t you agree that it¡¯s impossible to do it now?¡± ¡°I agree. Because the royal capital is in an absolute mess.¡± Jude smiled again when her response was what he expected. ¡®As expected of Scarlet.¡¯ In the game, Scarlet was the idealpanion who was friendly and rational, even before she was deceived by the magic sword. He thought that if the royal capital had suffered serious damage, she would postpone the match, and now, she responded as he had expected. ¡®Because it concerns the Rogue Master¡¯s pride.¡¯ More than a hundred years had passed since the first Rogue Master had appeared on earth. Numerous thieves had appeared between the past and present, and some had even done bigger thefts than the Rogue Master. But none of them were as legendary as the Rogue Master. What was the reason for that? Why was the Rogue Master the only one who became a legend? ¡®Because it had romance.¡¯ The Rogue Master would send a notice herself in order to increase the difficulty of her theft. The Rogue Master only targeted the wicked rich. The Rogue Master only stole and did not kill people. The money earned from the rich was used to help those who were in need. The so-called Robin Hood figure. A righteous thief. That was all a fantasy though. After all, a thief was still a thief in the end, and most of what the Rogue Master stole from the rich went into the pockets of the Rogue Master and not the poor. But the most important thing was the image. ¡®A romantic thief.¡¯ It was impossible for such a Rogue Master to use the royal capital, where a lot of people had been killed or injured, as the stage for their theft. ¡°But that doesn¡¯t mean we¡¯re not going to hold the match, right? So let¡¯s change the ce.¡± ¡°You mean we¡¯ll be having the match in a ce other than the royal capital?¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s have it in the south and not the center.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia¡¯s eyes widened, and she looked at him in admiration. Because she realized what Jude was nning. ¡®Are you trying to take Scarlet with us to the south?¡¯ ¡®Because the more powerful allies we have, the better.¡¯ ck Dragon Malekith was a powerful enemy in a different sense than the Lord Protector. In order to deal with a literally gigantic monster, they need to have at least one more useable trump card. ¡°Where in the south? The 7 southern families?¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t they be worth stealing from?¡± Scarlet narrowed her eyes as Jude smirked and answered. Because she became wary when she saw Jude¡¯s sly smile. ¡®He¡¯s up to something, right?¡¯ Although the royal capital suffered serious damage, the entire central region was not harmed. But he was saying that they should leave the center and hold the match in the south. His words felt suspicious even if he didn¡¯t have a sly smile. ¡®Rather, should we hold the match in the empire?¡¯ Scarlet¡¯s own home ground. But Scarlet soon stopped her thoughts. Because she was the one who had lost in their fight in the first meeting. ¡®This was a match originally proposed by Pink Bomb out of her consideration of me in the first ce.¡¯ So she wasn¡¯t in a position to say this and that. ¡®Of course, if it¡¯s Cordelia, she wouldn¡¯t think much about it, and¡­¡¯ Maybe she¡¯ll even ept having the match in the empire. But that ck Cloak ¨C that Jude who is a sly person incarnate, will not agree to it. Perhaps whatever I say, he¡¯ll insist to have the match be held in the south. ¡®There¡¯s no point fighting about it.¡¯ It¡¯s not like we won¡¯t be seeing each other anymore after this match. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s have the match in the south then. When will it be?¡± ¡°Please give us a bit of time.¡± ¡°How long?¡± ¡°At least two months, I think? The two of us will not be able to go to the south until the mess in the royal capital has been organized.¡± ¡°Hmmm.¡± Scarlet looked troubled as she crossed her arms, but she soon nodded again. As Jude had said, it would take quite some time before they could leave the royal capital. ¡®Though two months is a bit long.¡¯ But it wasn¡¯t like she couldn¡¯t wait at all. Moreover, Scarlet herself needed some time to investigate the southern region. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s do that. It doesn¡¯t matter if we discuss the details of the matchter.¡± ¡°As expected of Scarlet. You¡¯re nice and generous.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not exactly nice though?¡± ¡°If you insist.¡± ¡°Ufufu.¡± The one whoughedst was Cordelia. She seemed to be really excited that she kept onughing. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s wrong with you? You¡¯re creeping me out.¡± ¡°Nothing. It¡¯s just that I like Scarlet?¡± When Cordelia giggled again, Scarlet couldn¡¯t help but smile in the end. Because Cordelia was just too cute for her to reject. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s have the match in the south two months after, but¡­¡± ¡°But?¡± ¡°Pink Bomb, let¡¯s go out and talk for a minute.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°I was just thinking of talking to you while getting some fresh air. I¡¯d also like to hear about what happened that night in the royal pce. Is that fine with you?¡± ¡°Well¡­ I don¡¯t mind.¡± Having said that, Cordelia turned to Jude, and instead of seeing Cordelia, Jude saw Scarlet grinning at him. ¡®I can see your thoughts very clearly.¡¯ Scarlet¡¯s intention. In fact, it wasn¡¯t that serious. It was just a really simple idea of hers to take Cordelia outside and not let Cordelia spend some time with Jude. ¡®You¡¯re annoyed, right? Right?¡¯ Jude answered Scarlet¡¯s gaze with a bitter smile before he turned to Cordelia. ¡®Jude?¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s fine if you go along with Scarlet. You¡¯re going to chat with a friend in the first ce, so it¡¯s not something for me to decide, right?¡¯ ¡®Well¡­ that¡¯s true. Okay, I¡¯ll be backter.¡¯ Cordelia widely smiled, and just like the saying ¡®strike while the iron is hot,¡¯ she immediately stood up and pulled Scarlet¡¯s hand, while Scarlet sneered at Jude before she went out with Cordelia. And a few secondster. After the door was closed, Jude stretched his arms and let out a long breath. ¡®Anyway, it seems like Scarlet ispletely on our side.¡¯ Whatever the oue of the match would be, it seemed like she would still be working with them in the future. ¡®Though it¡¯s a bit annoying when she always interrupts us¡­¡¯ Well, I don¡¯t exactly hate it though. It¡¯s at a level where I could justugh it off. Plus, Scarlet intruding on us is quite helpful at the moment. ¡®Because it¡¯s hard to concentrate when Cordelia is around.¡¯ At least, for now. ¡®Let¡¯s sort it out while Cordelia is gone.¡¯ He couldn¡¯t do thatst night because his mental state then didn¡¯t let him think properly. Jude closed his eyes and slowly breathed. He slowly immersed himself in the deepest parts of his consciousness in order to examine the state of his body and soul. And he soon realized it. ¡®As I thought, it was too much.¡¯ He had failed to open the sixth door properly. He had created a sixth door, but only the form was created. If he had to describe it, it was like a te that had been widened, but the te¡¯s contents barely filled it. ¡®I need time.¡¯ Time to properly maintain the sixth door. Time to let my own skills grow and match the te that had suddenly be bigger. ¡®But I shouldn¡¯t hurry that much.¡¯ As he had already told Cordelia, the demon followers wouldn¡¯t dare to attack them for the time being. They also didn¡¯t need to immediately be very strong because ck Dragon Malekith¡¯s attack on the south would only happen a few months from now if it went by the game¡¯s timeline. ¡®So let¡¯s take our time.¡¯ I¡¯ll recover my health and build up my strength. I can¡¯t rely too much on Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, so I have to develop my other skills too. ¡®Ultimate Seven.¡¯ Seven ultimate swords that were created by the ancient dwarves, and could only be obtained through the Key Sword. It was not surprising that Jude knew all seven of it since he had used them at least once in Legend of Heroes 2. And that was why he was convinced. ¡®I need the Ultimate One.¡¯ It was the most different from among the seven ultimate swords. But that was also the reason why that sword suited the current Jude the best. Fortunately, what Jude himself wanted ¨C ¡®Ultimate One,¡¯ and what Cordelia wanted ¨C ¡®Ultimate Four, Explosive de ¨C Magic ster,¡¯ were located in the S?len Kingdom. ¡®And if we can secure Ultimate Three, Dragon Sword Ascalon, before our fight against Malekith, it will be like the icing on the cake.¡¯ Jude drew up a n on his head for a while, and then smiled and stretched his arms. Because when he was thinking of how to get the items, he suddenly remembered Legend of Heroes 2. ¡®It¡¯s not a game now but reality.¡¯ After he lightly smiled, Jude closed his eyes again and delved into his consciousness. He began to operate the ck Sun, which was born from the union of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors and the Supreme Sun Divine Art. *** At a small garden near a different pce. Scarlet sat in a sunny spot and enjoyed the wind, and then asked with her eyes wide open. ¡°The Lord Protector? Did you just say that you defeated him?¡± ¡°Yes. But it¡¯s still a secret so don¡¯t say it out loud.¡± Cordelia looked around and spoke quietly, but Scarlet shouted, grabbing Cordelia¡¯s shoulders rather than being quiet. ¡°How?!¡± Scarlet was already aware of the fact that the Lord Protector was a traitor. As Cordelia had said, everyone kept it a secret, but it had already been three days after the battle on the royal capital, so everyone who could know already knew that the Lord Protector was a traitor. But she thought that it was impossible for Jude and Cordelia to have defeated the Lord Protector. ¡°Well¡­ it¡¯s because we did our very best? The crown princess and the prince also helped.¡± When Cordelia hesitated, Scarlet shook her shoulder again, as if she wanted to ask on what the hell did Cordelia mean. Because the Lord Protector wasn¡¯t someone that could just be defeated by a few children. ¡°Anyway, we defeated him. I can¡¯t say how we defeated him because it¡¯s rted to a secret of the kingdom.¡± The existence of the divine sword, ¨ªomh Sis, that maintained the barrier and was located in the basement of the royal pce, was in fact, a national secret. Count Bayer and Count Chase already knew of the existence of the divine sword so they could openly talk about it, but it was impossible to let Scarlet know about it since she was a citizen of the empire. ¡°How mean.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± Scarlet soon sighed when Cordelia¡¯s face became sad as if she was truly sorry. ¡°Well¡­ it can¡¯t be helped. Anyway, you didn¡¯t win with just your skills, right?¡± ¡°Yeah. Something more was added¡­ and more than anything, we were just lucky.¡± ¡°Just lucky¡­¡± Scarlet frowned and then shook her head. Even if the Lord Protector was old and had be weak, he was still one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. He wasn¡¯t someone that could be defeated just by being lucky. But Jude and Cordelia defeated such a Lord Protector. ¡®It¡¯s something unexpected but¡­ these two are also monsters.¡¯ They¡¯re only 17 years old now. But what the hell is up with their strength? ¡®God¡¯s mistake¡­¡¯ A term that refers to Maximilian de Avis. But, perhaps, Jude and Cordelia are also god¡¯s mistakes? ¡°Scarlet?¡± ¡°Eh? Yeah, well¡­ I get it. Anyway, it¡¯s fine since you came out safe.¡± Scarlet evasively spoke before she stood up from her seat. Because of that, Cordelia stood up too and asked. ¡°Are you going now?¡± ¡°Yes, I have to get going now.¡± She had aplished most of her purpose in infiltrating the pce. She would have perfectly aplished it if she would be able to see Lucas¡¯ condition on her way back. ¡°Then, see you at the merit ceremony.¡± ¡°Eh? You¡¯re attending the merit ceremony?¡± ¡°It¡¯s for a special purpose. I have to give you a p, after all.¡± Scarlet shrugged and spoke coyly, grinning wide as she said goodbye to Cordelia and headed back. ¡°See you next time.¡± ¡°Yes, see you next time.¡± After Cordelia waved her hand, Scarlet haughtily turned around and began to walk a few steps, but she soon blended into the surroundingndscape and became invisible. ¡°Wow.¡± As expected of the Rogue Master. Cordelia admired her for a bit and pped her hands, and then she brushed off the dirt from her skirt and looked back at the pce. She had to go back by herself. But before she took a step, Cordelia once again viewed the garden and gazed at the main pce that she could see from here. It wasn¡¯t perfect. There were signs of destruction and ruin here and there. She hadn¡¯t seen it with her eyes, but she knew that a lot of people were also killed or injured. But, even if that happened¡­ ¡®We weren¡¯t wrong.¡¯ What Jude and Cordelia did. They had done their best to protect the royal family and the royal capital. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Cordelia spoke to herself and headed back to the pce. She walked and began to imagine the face of Jude that had naturallye into her mind. And five dayster in the afternoon. The merit ceremony finally began. Chapter 204: Merit Ceremony (7)

Chapter 204: Merit Ceremony (7)

The damage suffered by the royal capital was truly enormous. The Royal Guards in charge of the security of the royal capital incurred more than 500 deaths alone, and the number of civilian deaths was estimated to be at least 2000 to 3000. It was not an exaggeration to say that there were more than 10,000 casualties, as the number of injured or disabled people also numbered in the thousands. There were two main reasons why such a massive damage urred in a short period of time. One was that a lot of demon followers entered the royal capital too easily because of the Lord Protector and his subordinates, and the other was that most of the royal capital¡¯s residents were gathered outdoors because of the founding anniversary celebration. ¡®It would have been different if it was the usual royal capital.¡¯ Most of the demon followers would not have been able to cross the wall in the first ce. There would have been fewer people who became zombies than there were now. ¡®In the end, it¡¯s the Lord Protector¡¯s fault.¡¯ It was the result of the betrayal of their national hero who received the king¡¯s absolute trust. ¡®But they managed to stop it well. As expected of the royal capital.¡¯ First Sword was sitting on top of a horse and smiled as he read a newspaper detailing the incident on the royal capital. He smiled because they really stopped it well. ¡®If the Lord Protector had seeded, the royal capital would have been destroyed.¡¯ Saluzia and Koros were nning to summon a Hell Gate in the royal capital. If it had gone ording to n, the content in the newspaper would have been very different. ¡®I wanted to see it at least once.¡¯ What a wide open Hell Gate looks like and what its consequences will be. I¡¯m also curious on what kind of hell will spread in the world because of that. After First Sword folded the newspaper, he bit on the apple he was holding. In fact, even if the Lord Protector had seeded, there was also a possibility that things would not have worked out as well as they nned. Because there was a true reason why the damage to the royal capital was ¡®only this much.¡¯ ¡®The five heroes of the Paragon Kingdom.¡¯ Among those heroes was Velkian, a necromancer who specialized inrge-scale summoning. Without him, the damage to the royal capital would have been several times more than it was now, regardless of the presence or absence of the barrier. ¡®They say that he was a monster.¡¯ His death magic was so powerful and transcendental that it covered the sky of the royal capital and let him control over a thousand forces of undead. He was a being so powerful that a high-ranking demonic human would call him a ¡®monster.¡¯ ¡®There are two people who are as strong as Velkian.¡¯ Iron Man Landius and Ghostde Kamael. How strong are they? Are they stronger than the empire¡¯s Sword God? I want to fight them. I want to face their sword. I want to defeat them with my own sword. After First Sword took another bite of the apple, he turned his horse towards the direction of the royal capital. ¡°Congrattions from afar.¡± At the center of the royal capital. At therge za that was also connected to a part of the royal pce. First Sword remembered the merit ceremony being held there, and he smiled as he lightly pped his hands. Hevishly praised Jude and Cordelia, who were said to be the main characters of this merit ceremony. The two were now the kingdom¡¯s heroes. These two would now shine brighter than before. How fun would it be to trample those two? How much fun would it be to taint Cordelia, who was as clean and beautiful as the white snow, and Jude who shined like a jewel? ¡°See you next time.¡± Until then, both of you stay healthy. Say hello to the Sword Saint of Wind for me. First Sword turned around while enjoying a more rxed feeling than before, perhaps because he removed his mask called the Sword Saint of Light. He went forward with his back on the royal capital. ***Numerous people gathered in therge za located in the center of the royal capital. Thousands, or perhaps even tens of thousands were gathered. They all looked at one ce. King Henry II stood on a high andrge balcony connected to therge za. Henry II stood in front of the people with a very tired and weary look. Even from a distance, one could tell that his face had be thinner. But he didn¡¯t pass his work to other people. He stood in front of the people and told them what he had to say. The betrayal of the Lord Protector and First Sword. Their n to overthrow the royal capital. The deaths of the royal family members and the attacks of the demon followers along with the damage they caused. ¡°But we didn¡¯t fall. We shall ovee this crisis too.¡± Henry II¡¯s voice spread throughout the za through a voice amplification magic. He talked about the heroes in order to encourage the people who lived in sorrow and fear. ¡°There are those who have made great contributions.¡± Seryu, the Seven-Killings Sword who blocked the high-ranking demonic human at the south gate. Ga?l and Adelia who fought hard until the end at the west gate. Count Chase who saved the lives of countless people by preventing the copse of the royal pce, and Count Bayer who single-handedly stopped First Sword. And it wasn¡¯t just them. The Royal Guards and Royal Guard Knights who fought meritoriously in the royal capital, and even the civilian heroes who did not have any special position but fought to protect the people around them. Henry II promised to reward them properly as he called their names one by one, starting from the small ones, and he also promised considerable support to the inhabitants of the heavily damaged royal capital. [Wow¡­ they¡¯re really being generous.] Cordelia blinked her eyes and sent a magic as she waited behind the balcony. She would say that because if one roughly calcted the amount of support and rewards to be given, it was enormous. The S?len royal family had great financial resources as it ruled one of the continent¡¯s two biggest powers, but if the royal family gave such an amount of money, wouldn¡¯t their position be shaken? At Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude replied with a smile. [Because they¡¯re nning to confiscate the Lord Protector¡¯s properties. Including the nobles under hismand.] [Still, they¡¯re being generous.] [That¡¯s true. After all, they¡¯re giving away the money they earned from their royal properties.] Certainly, if one looked at that aspect, Henry II was a good person. He was inwardly driven to do so. [Wasn¡¯t he seriously heartbroken?] [He¡¯ll ovee it. He has a lot of good people around him.] Jude looked at the backs of Princess Daphne and First Queen Justina who were next to Henry II. He turned his gaze to Cordelia afterwards. He stared at her wearing a snow-white dress and impulsively touched his lips to her head. ¡°Eh?¡± As the startled Cordelia flinched and turned around, Jude smiled and this time, he pressed his lips to her white and smooth forehead. It was really light and fast, as if it was just passing by. [Mr. ck Cloak? What are you doing?] But instead of answering, Jude once again touched his lips on her forehead, and the flinching Cordelia quickly looked around. Quite a few people were present, including those who were waiting to receive their award. Did they see it? What if they saw it? And why is he suddenly like this- It was at that moment. Cordelia met eyes with Seryu, the Seven-Killings Sword, who was standing far away by the wall and had turned her head away as she blushed. Their eyes meeting wasn¡¯t just a coincidence because Seryu had been looking at them for some time. ¡®Did she see it? Did she really see it? Is that why she¡¯s smiling a bit?¡¯ But it was at that time. A kiss again. On her head again this time. Or on her hair to be exact. Cordelia quickly turned her head to look at Jude, and as she faced him, Jude kissed her on the forehead again. ¡®Hey! What are we going to do if others see us!¡¯ Wait, isn¡¯t Seryu already watching us? In fact, it wasn¡¯t just Seryu. Cordelia didn¡¯t notice because she was too preupied with the current situation, but there were a few more people who were looking at them. Nevertheless, Jude did not seem to care as he kissed Cordelia¡¯s forehead again. Kiss, kiss. Kiss, kiss, kiss. Kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss. T/N: The kiss here is supposed to be ¡®chu¡¯, which is the sound of a kiss. But if I write ¡®chu, chu¡¯, it sounds like a train¡¯s choo-choo, so I just wrote kiss instead of chu. Though Jude, you sly bastard, you kissed her nine times, hahaha ¡®Hey! Jude! You¡¯re ruining my makeup, okay?!¡¯ Wait, that¡¯s not the problem! Cordelia got angry and looked up at Jude, but she couldn¡¯t fight back. Since they had a height difference of around 20 cm, she couldn¡¯t even touch her lips on his cheek or chin. And if she did more than that¡­ She would have to hug his neck and lean her body towards him as if she was hanging on his neck, but such a big move was sure to catch the attention of everyone around them. ¡®Argh.¡¯ She was seriously getting annoyed. It was such a one-sided deal. She couldn¡¯t do a free deal on his face. T/N: ¡®Deal¡¯ and ¡®free deal¡¯ are Korean gaming terms. Deal stands for ¡®dealing damage¡¯ while ¡®free deal¡¯ means being able to deal damage without anything obstructing you. And in the meantime, she got kissed again. Eventually, Cordelia couldn¡¯t stand it and red at Jude. [Hey, just you wait and see when we get back, okay? Just you wait and see!] [Oh, yes. I¡¯ll be looking forward to it.] However, he weed it. When Jude said that with a sly smile, Cordelia felt that she had lost and frowned again, but now wasn¡¯t the time to argue with him. Because she heard a voice calling them. [Let¡¯s go, Princess.] [Ah, seriously.] You¡¯re so cheeky. Resisting the urge to punch his chest, Cordelia held Jude¡¯s hand and looked straight ahead as they slowly began to walk. They headed out to the open balcony. And saw countless people who were standing beyond that balcony. Her heart was pounding. As they passed through the door and entered the balcony, it felt like they had entered apletely different world. ¡°Jude Bayer and Cordelia Chase.¡± Henry II¡¯s call brought Cordelia back to reality. She followed the hand of the cheeky but reliable Jude and stood in front of Henry II before they slowly bowed in courtesy. ¡°The two of you made a really big contribution. Without you, me and my family would have lost our lives.¡± Henry II spoke a little casually as if to calm the nervous Cordelia, and he soon turned around and faced the citizens of the royal capital again. He exined Jude and Cordelia¡¯s meritorious deeds to the numerous people looking up at them. ¡®I can¡¯t hear anything.¡¯ She was so nervous that she couldn¡¯t even understand what the king was talking about. Tens of thousands of eyes seemed to turn into tens of thousands of arrows that prated her entire body. Cordelia continued to swallow hard. She couldn¡¯t help but breathe roughly as her feet trembled and her smile became stiff. And she heard Henry II¡¯s voice again. ¡°I will bestow to you two the title of count, and from now on, the two of you will be known as Jude A. Bayer and Cordelia A. Chase.¡± A newly added middle name. To be exact, it was a name bestowed by the royal family themselves. Jude August Bayer and Cordelia August Bayer. They could have given them a new surname, but this was Princess Daphne¡¯s consideration for Cordelia who was attached to the ¡®Chase¡¯ surname. ¡°Count August Bayer and Countess August Chase. Go ahead and face the people of the kingdom.¡± Cordelia did not respond immediately despite Henry II¡¯s order, but fortunately, Jude was next to her. As he gently led the absentminded Cordelia, she finally came to her senses. And a few stepster. Cordelia passed by Henry II and reached the spot just before the balcony railing before she nervously looked down at the za. And Jude whispered into Cordelia¡¯s ear. ¡°These are the people we saved.¡± If we didn¡¯t stop the Lord Protector. The barrier would have been destroyed and the Devil¡¯s Hand would havemitted the same atrocities in the game. ¡°We were able to protect this many people. So you can be proud of it.¡± Don¡¯t me yourself for not having saved more people. At least for this moment, let¡¯s rejoice together with the people we have protected. Jude strengthened his grip on her hand, and Cordelia took a deep breath. She faced everyone in therge za again. People were rejoicing. They were cheering and enthusiastically waving their hands. The people cheered, either because of Henry II¡¯s inspiring speech or because they were grateful to Jude and Cordelia for saving them, as Jude had said. The two didn¡¯t know. It was impossible to tell which of the two was it. In fact, it wasn¡¯t that important. ¡®What should I do? I¡¯m about to cry.¡¯ At the time when I first heard that the royal capital was attacked. I thought that it was my fault. I was afraid that I had done something wrong. If we hadn¡¯t hindered the ck Moon¡¯s ns¡­ If we had just let themmit acts of terror¡­ If that had happened, would the damage have been less? Then, was it because of us that the damage worsened? No, it¡¯s not that. It isn¡¯t like that. Our desperate efforts paid off and we stopped the Lord Protector. Just like what we did in the wildnds, we were able to prevent the fated catastrophe by changing history. Nevertheless, it felt ufortable. Because so many innocent people had died. My chest had felt heavy for the past five days. As if I was carrying a huge rock. But I feel better now. The heaviness in my chest seem to have been lightened and relieved. Everyone¡¯s rejoicing. They¡¯re cheering as they look at us. There¡¯s so many of them, and they number in the thousands, no, perhaps even in the tens of thousands. These are the people we protected. Cordelia smiled with tears in her eyes, and Jude slightly tightened his grip on her hand. He saw Emma Ficus and the people of the Blue Moon among those cheering in the crowd, and he let Cordelia know about it. ¡®Jude, Jude.¡¯ ¡®Yes, Cordelia.¡¯ ¡®Let¡¯s work harder.¡¯ Let¡¯s make a perfect happy ending by stopping all the tragedies in the game¡¯s storyline. Let¡¯s save more people. At the pure eyes of Cordelia that was like that of a child, Jude smiled. He kissed the forehead of Cordelia who was looking up at him, and this time, Cordelia didn¡¯t let herself be beaten. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed Jude on the cheek. ¡°Oooooh!¡± ¡°Oooooooooh!¡± People¡¯s cheers exploded. Andughter spread throughout the za. Among those in the crowd, Maximilian gazed at the balcony with a smile, while Velkian grinned behind his mask. And Jude and Cordelia looked back at the people. As they widely smiled with red faces, they raised their sped hands. *** Time passed. First Sword escaped the royal capital and reached the base of the Devil¡¯s Hand located near the kingdom¡¯s border with the Argon Empire, and he faced the leader of the Devil¡¯s Hand again after almost a decade. A mysterious woman with long blue hair. No matter how many times he met her, she seemed to be in the beginning of her twenties, and First Sword was slightly thrilled when he saw her face. She still looked the samepared to the time when he faced her ten years ago. ¡®Immortality and eternal youth.¡¯ First Sword¡¯s desire was simr but different to the Lord Protector¡¯s desire. The Lord Protector was afraid of death. He did not want to die, so he desired to be united with a demon. But First Sword was different. Rather than dying, he could not stand the fact that he would get older. Because he did not want to be weak. Because he wanted to keep getting stronger. Because he wanted to walk on the path of the sword forever and ever. ¡°Rhun Froud.¡± The leader called First Sword¡¯s name, and at her low voice, First Sword unconsciously knelt on his knees. He respectfully bowed to the being in front of him. ¡°Originally, your fate was different from what it is now.¡± First Sword should have joined them a littleter. He should have stood before her with a broken body and soul, and not in his good condition now. But fate had changed. As a result, the foresight of Overlord Asmodeus was also twisted. ¡°The devil Carthago was originally your destiny.¡± A powerful demon who specialized in deadly poisons. But not now. A new fate was given to Rhun Froud, known as First Sword and the Sword Saint of Light. ¡°Fortissimo.¡± A sword demon. A mighty being who was one of the seven swords of Overlord Asmodeus. No one knew on what the result of this twisted fate would be. The leader did not decide on his demon. She just followed the will of Overlord Asmodeus. She then helped First Sword stand up and led him to the room where the ritual would be held. A new high-ranking demonic human- No, it would be the birth of a true ¡®Sword Demon¡¯ who wouldn¡¯t stop at bing stronger. The leader of the Devil¡¯s Hand moved. She awakened the demon¡¯s soul. WTH does Fortissimo have to do with a sword? Isn¡¯t this more rted to music? I don¡¯t understand the author¡¯s naming sense at times. Chapter 205: Tiara of Life (1)

Chapter 205: Tiara of Life (1)

Cordelia woke up as the morning sunlight passed through the window, and she raised her upper body with her eyes closed, smiling with a half-asleep face. She seemed to have had a good dreamst night. And surprisingly, instead of going back to sleep, she did some stretching exercises. She usually slept a lot in the morning, so until someone woke her up- no, she was someone who didn¡¯t wake up easily even if someone tried to wake her up, but today, she woke up by herself and felt good about it. ¡°Hehe.¡± As she smiled again, Cordelia came down from the bed with her eyes still closed, and she walked as she sniffed with her nose. Just like a beast, it seemed like the warmth and pleasant smell of the sun could rece her sense of sight. ¡°Umnn¡­ it¡¯s a beautiful morning.¡± Cordelia mumbled with her eyes half-closed and stretched her arms as the chirping of birds could be heard from outside. A day after the merit ceremony. In the morning. Cordelia moved her arms up and down before she headed to the table with the washbowl, and instead of calling for anyone, she filled the washbowl with water by herself, and then dipped her hands in the cold water. ¡°Yes, yes, this is niiice.¡± She was still in a good mood just like yesterday. To be given a title, to be praised¡­ of course, she felt good from that. But the uplifting mood she felt from the fact that they protected people was greater than those. I have to do better in the future. I have to work harder. I have to be stronger. ¡°Yes, yes, yes.¡± Cordelia hummed and then moved her hands as she began to wash her face lightly. The cold water woke her up every time it touched her face, and she recalled what happened yesterday. The good things that happened. It wasn¡¯t just one or two things. It wasn¡¯t only Cordelia and Jude who attended the merit ceremony. ¡®My father-inw is a Sword Saint.¡¯ Sword Saint of Wind, Count Bayer. Henry II stripped off all the titles of the traitor, Rhun Froud, and appointed Count Bayer as a new Sword Saint of the kingdom. In fact, the title of Sword Saint was not something that even the king of the S?len Kingdom, one of the continent¡¯s two big powers, could just freely give. Because it was a title that could only be used after receiving the approval of many people. However, no one objected to Henry II¡¯s appointment. Because Count Bayer already proved his ability by stopping First Sword. ¡®The Sword Saint of Wind.¡¯ It sounds so nice. After she rinsed her face, Cordelia wiped the water off with a towel and began to brush her teeth. ¡°Brother-inw.¡± Ga?l Bayer. He woke up after a fierce battle, and although he lost his left arm, his body and soul became much stronger. It was because of the measure Velkian took, but in addition to that, it was also because of his huge spiritual growth when he escaped from the throes of death. ¡®Brother-inw was totally like a wolf.¡¯ As she recalled the scene at the time when Ga?l woke up, Cordelia¡¯s cheeks slightly turned red. She then rinsed her mouth. ¡®Anyway, he and my sister also received a lot of awards.¡¯ His skills greatly improved, and once his prosthetic hand waspleted, he would be one of the new Ten Great Swordmasters. ¡®There¡¯ll be two great swordmasters in one family?¡¯ No, maybe it will even be three. Jude will also grow and be stronger in the future. ¡®Ah, it¡¯s a bit hard if he gets taller though.¡¯ He¡¯s so tall now that my neck hurts whenever I look at his face. ¡®What¡¯s our size difference?¡¯ Around 20 cm? No, maybe it¡¯s a bit more than that. Cordelia tilted her head as she spread out her palm to measure the distance, and she quicklyughed. Because she rememberedst night¡¯s Jude. ¡®Wasn¡¯t he a bit cute?¡¯ When she enacted her ¡®revenge¡¯ after the ceremony, he was struggling as he turned red. Of course, if Dahlia and Maja who had secretly watched them had heard her thoughts, they would look at her coldly and express concern about her memory¡¯s distortion of reality, but fortunately (or unfortunately), the two were not here right now. ¡®Ahem, ahem. Jude. My Jude.¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s lips squirmed once before she looked around for no reason. It was only after she confirmed that no one else was present did she think with a yful expression. ¡®At this point, I can be sure now.¡¯ He likes me. That Outboxer, that Jude is very much in love with me. ¡®Yes, yes, that¡¯s right, that¡¯s right. It¡¯s obvious. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t act like that.¡¯ As she recalled what happened at the merit ceremony and ofst night, Cordelia covered her cheeks with her hands that had turned cold from the water. Her cold palms and hot cheeks touched each other, giving off a pleasant feeling. ¡®Then, what do I do now?¡¯ Jude likes me. I¡¯m sure he likes me. ¡®Hmm¡­ well¡­ if Jude begs me¡­¡¯ If he begs me to go out with him¡­should I agree? After all, he¡¯s my fianc¨¦, right? ¡®He¡¯ll say it sooner orter.¡¯ That he likes me. That he seriously wants to date me. Then, if I reject him a little, will he implore to me? ¡°Hehehe.¡± Just imagining it gave her a good feeling. To the point that her shoulders moved up and down without her even realizing. ¡®I won, I won.¡¯ I beat Jude. I beat Jude, right? I¡¯m number one now, right? ¡°Yes, yes, yes.¡± Jude will ask and beg me to go out with him, and I¡¯ll agree to it since I¡¯m a generous person, and then¡­ It¡¯ll start with kisses on the cheek and forehead, and then, it¡¯ll be more than that, and then¡­ it¡¯ll be a bit more adult-like¡­ like what brother-inw and unnie did¡­ Cordelia covered her face with both hands, so the heat in her face became even hotter, but despite that, she had a deep smile. ¡°Ah.¡± When will Dahliae? How long will it take before she and the maidse in to wake me up? But instead of lying back on the bed, Cordelia sat in a chair and looked out the window. As she basked in the warm sunlight, different thoughts came to her mind. ¡®Where will our fief be?¡¯ During the merit ceremony, only the title was awarded, and there was no mention of a fief. It wasn¡¯t because the S?len royal family suddenly changed their minds, but it was because it took some time to select a territory, and one of the reasons for that was Jude. ¡®Because he conveyed to them what we wanted to some extent.¡¯ The fief they wanted to receive. As Jude had already predicted, the royal family was thinking of giving them a fief in the central region. And the royal family could do that by giving away some of the territory that were under their direct jurisdiction. Thus, Jude used his negotiation skills to convey what they wanted to Princess Daphne, and to summarize, it was as follows. It must be close to the south. ins are also fine, but it must be surrounded by mountains. It must be a ce with good traffic to the north. And a few other details. ¡®It seems like he gave a lot of conditions, but if you put it all together, the territory where all his conditions fit is practically limited, right?¡¯ Since the fief would be an important ce for their future journey. ¡®Ultimate Seven.¡¯ Among those swords was Ultimate One which Jude wanted, and that sword was hidden in a certain ce. ¡®Which means¡­¡¯ They wanted their fief to be the ce where the ruins of the ancient dwarves were. Most nobles would want a ce with arge poption and fertilend, but Jude was different. The important thing for Jude was not the taxes they would receive in 10 or 20 years, but to solve their immediate problems and bring about a perfect happy ending. ¡®But that doesn¡¯t mean it doesn¡¯t matter at all.¡¯ After she stopped getting excited over it, she then thought that they should build amercial city by building factories and such, but in any case, that was something for the far future. ¡®Because we have to immediately head to the south once our business at the royal capital is over.¡¯ ck Dragon Malekith¡¯s attack. The three events in the game¡¯s storyline that had destroyed the S?len Kingdom were different in a certain way. The barbarian¡¯s invasion in the wildnds and northern region was a war that involved a huge number of troops. The Lord Protector and demon followers¡¯ n to annihte the royal family and the royal capital was a sh between a few but powerful beings. And the event in the south, the battle against Malekith, could be summed up in two words. ¡®Boss Raid.¡¯ It was also against a huge monster. ck Dragon Malekith¡¯s body length reached a whopping 150 meters. In other words, it was not an opponent that a few people could just face and fight easily. ¡®We need an army.¡¯ It was not at a level of a hundred or two hundred people, but should be arge military force in the thousands. In the wildnds, Jude and Cordelia fought in the front lines, leaving most of the matters regarding the formation of an alliance to Red Gale, but they could not do that this time. Because for this time, Jude and Cordelia had to be at the center of the alliance. ¡®In the game, the forces couldn¡¯t properly unite.¡¯ Although there were some families that were close to each other such as the Bayer and Chase families, the rtionship between several families in the 12 northern families were not very good. Because they were literallypetitors that kept each other in check. But the conflict between some families in the 12 northern families was just child¡¯s y whenpared to the ¡®strife¡¯ among the 7 southern families. Unlike the 12 northern families who would just meet and growl a bit at best, the 7 southern families actually drew their swords. ¡®Because if you start ying as Kajsa, you¡¯ll be fighting against the 7 southern families first rather than the demon followers.¡¯ Kajsa Ophand. A yable character from Marquis Ophand¡¯s family, one of the 7 southern families. From the very start of the prologue, she would already be fighting with their rival family, the Mist family, so Cordelia didn¡¯t need to borate more at this point. ¡®They can¡¯t get along.¡¯ If even humans who belonged to the same race would fight like that, what more for the other races like dwarves and gnomes? Moreover, Malekith was a ck dragon whose insides were darker than Jude¡¯s. Because the south was divided and actively fighting against each other, the south could not unite even in the face of a great enemy named Malekith. ¡®In the end, what we need to do this time is to be a central point and unite the forces of the south.¡¯ But their personal efforts alone were not enough. They had to act as heroes of the kingdom, and lords who received the royal family¡¯s trust. ¡®Well, Jude will take care of theplicated stuff.¡¯ The right person for the right job. So Cordelia focused on something else. ¡®The final battle against Malekith¡­¡¯ Although the Ten Great Swordmasters were considered as tactical weapons, they were still swordsmen in the end. They couldn¡¯t exert that much power in a fight against a huge number of opponents or a huge monster. Therefore, Jude was also limited in what he could do in this fight. But Cordelia was a wizard. She was also a wizard who specialized inrge-scale battles. ¡°I¡¯ll have to do my best.¡± I¡¯ll develop my skills to the fullest before our fight against Malekith. I¡¯ll level up, reinforce my items, and learn new magic spells. Cordelia clenched her fists as she made a resolve before she nced at the door. She was feeling hungry because she had gotten up early. ¡®When will theye?¡¯ She could have rang the bell to call them, but she thought that if she called them earlier than usual, it would be a nuisance to the maids. ¡®Hmm¡­ let¡¯s just meditate then.¡¯ When the maids arrive, she would wash up, eat breakfast, and go see Jude. There were a lot of ces that they had to go together from this morning onwards. ¡®Because we received a lot of invitations.¡¯ A lot of people wanted to meet the new heroes of the kingdom, and even if meeting all of those heroes was impossible, these people still wanted to meet some of the heroes. ¡®It¡¯s not today, but I also have to go see the mansion and furniture.¡¯ The mansion that the royal family had decided to give to them, and the furniture that they would decorate it with. Their stay in the royal capital wouldn¡¯t be that long since they had to go to the south afterwards, but still, she wanted to decorate the bedroom properly. ¡®Hmmm¡­ no, I have to meditate, meditate. I have to meditate.¡¯ Cordelia shook her head and corrected her posture, but she still failed to meditate. Because she remembered the most important schedule for tonight. ¡®Necromancer Velkian.¡¯ They would meet him who was one of the five heroes in the first episode of Legend of Heroes. Jude and Cordelia had already sent the Rogue Master¡¯s notice to his amodation. I¡¯ll visit you tonight with the Tiara of Life. -Rogue Master ¨C Pink Bomb After all, Velkian came to the royal capital to look for Pink Bomb and not Cordelia Chase. ¡®Hmm¡­ To begin with, he said that Pink Bomb was Velkian¡¯s favorite character.¡¯ I¡¯ve never thought that the stern-looking grandfather-like person would read a novel with a character named ¡®Pink Bomb,¡¯ but it¡¯s probably true since Jude had said so. After all, JudeWiki is amazing. ¡®However, will Velkian think that I¡¯m cosying?¡¯ That¡¯s somehow embarrassing¡­ ¡®Eueueue, I don¡¯t know. It¡¯ll work out somehow.¡¯ The important thing was to meet Velkian. Cordelia cleared away her thoughts and began her meditation this time. ***The sun rose, and now, the sun set. The moon rose above the curtain of the night. Almost a day had passed, and it was deep at night, but Cordelia got up from her bed and changed her clothes. Unfortunately, she hadn¡¯t developed any kind of transformation spell. So she wore the long boots herself, tied her hair up, and put on the butterfly mask. She then equipped the rabbit set consisting of a rabbit tail and rabbit ears. ¡®Uh, this is a bit too much whenever I see it.¡¯ Rabbit ears and tail together with a butterfly mask. ¡®Anyway, his taste is bizarre.¡¯ After she slightly criticized Jude, Cordelia sneaked out of her room. And she reached a small pavilion located a bit far away from the pce. [You¡¯re here?] As soon as she arrived, she heard the magic and turned her head. She then saw Jude dressed in all-ck. ck Cloak¡¯s outfit consisted of a ck suit, a ck hat, a ck mask, and a ck cloak, so he was really dressed in all-ck. Cordelia stared at such a Jude, narrowing her eyes slightly before she sent a magic. [I¡¯ve been thinking about this before.] [Huh?] [Wouldn¡¯t it be better if I just make my outfit all-ck too?] She couldn¡¯t help but say that since her hair was dyed pink and the white rabbit ears and tail were too eye-catching. [Well, what you¡¯re saying is reasonable.] [Eh? Really?] [Yes, the white color is too eye-catching when seen in the middle of the night.] Cordelia blinked her eyes in surprise at Jude¡¯s words. [Shall I remove it then? The rabbit set?] Cordelia lightly shook the rabbit ears as she said that, and Jude readily nodded his head. [Yes, you can do so.] Wow, what the hell is going on? I thought Jude was obsessed with the rabbit set? Cordelia quickly removed the rabbit set even though she was curious. But it was at that moment. [Now, here. The cat set.] Jude smiled and showed her the ck cat ears and tail, and Cordelia¡¯s eyes turned cold. [Hey, Mr. ck Cloak?] [Your identity is important.] Jude shamelessly spoke and pushed the cat set towards her again, and Cordelia was confused for a moment before her eyes widened in surprise. [Wait, isn¡¯t this what we wore in ourst battle in the wildnds? Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯ve been keeping it?] [Yes, isn¡¯t that natural?] No, what do you mean by natural? That isn¡¯t natural, okay? Cordelia was momentarily speechless before she quickly smiled and nodded her head. Well¡­ I¡¯ll wear it if you like it that much. It¡¯s not something I could just wear anywhere, after all. [Okay, are you satisfied now?] [Yes, very satisfied. I love it.] After Cordelia wore the cat set and turned around, Jude brightly smiled and raised his thumb, and in that short time, Cordelia seriously thought about her rtionship with Jude again. [Anyway, shall we go now?] Cordelia nodded her head at Jude¡¯s words, and she jumped up and climbed on Jude¡¯s back. She didn¡¯t forget to shout her merging lines like always. ¡°Nighttime merge! JuDeli- wait, why is your expression like that?¡± ¡°Uh¡­nothing. It¡¯s your taste, so I¡¯ll respect it. Yes, I should respect it.¡± ¡°Hey, what are you talking abou-¡± That was it. Jude already knew what Cordelia was going to say, so he chose to kick the ground instead of listening more to her words, while Cordelia hugged Jude¡¯s neck in her surprise at his sudden movement. ¡°To Velkian.¡± To meet one of the five heroes of the Paragon Kingdom, and one of the main characters of the first episode of Legend of Heroes. Jude and Cordelia became like the wind. They became one with the dark night as they passed over the walls of the royal pce. We get an introduction to the third big arc of this series, but it will take around 30 more chapters before that arc begins. Chapter 206: Tiara of Life (2)

Chapter 206: Tiara of Life (2)

There was nothing unusual about Pink Bomb¡¯s action of sending a notice to Velkian. ¡®Because Velkian was the one who moved first.¡¯ Two days after the founding anniversary celebration. As the confusion in the royal capital subsided to some extent, Velkian went to the Blue Moon and expressed his desire to meet Pink Bomb. Going to a thieves guild in order to meet the Rogue Master ¨C that was the result of a fairlymon sense idea. In any case, the Blue Moon¡¯s guild master, Supp¨¦, waspletely unharmed because they chose to quickly retreat amidst the chaotic situation, so Velkian¡¯s request was delivered through thework of contacts that Jude had told him in advance. ¡®What should we do?¡¯ ¡®Tell him that we¡¯ll contact him.¡¯ Four days after the decisive battle in the royal capital. Jude conveyed their intentions through Supp¨¦, telling Velkian to get well first and wait for the merit ceremony to be over. And the morning after the merit ceremony, a notice from Pink Bomb was sent to Velkian. ¡°Jude, are we not there yet?¡± ¡°We¡¯re almost there.¡± Cordelia¡¯s breath touched Jude¡¯s ear, making him flinch. But he replied to her and ran even faster. The ce where they decided to meet with Velkian was outside the royal capital, or to be exact, it was near the hill where thest treasure of the Rogue Master was hidden. ¡°He¡¯s here.¡± Cordelia said as her natural eyesight was better than Jude¡¯s. In addition, her night vision was extraordinarily sharp that she could even discern the wild animals in the dark. ¡®I¡¯m not sure how she does it, but maybe she¡¯s originally a beast? Like those animals that can shape-shift into a human.¡¯ Jude had some reasonable doubts for a moment, but he soon adjusted Cordelia¡¯s position on his back and slowed down a bit. Because he himself saw the figure of Velkian standing alone on the hill. ¡®Necromancer Velkian.¡¯ One of the five main characters in the first episode of Legend of Heroes. He was already in his 60s at the time of the first episode, and now, he was over 70 and was close to 80 at the time of the second episode, but he looked quite healthy on the outside. ¡®But you can¡¯t see much of his body.¡¯ His long ck clothes covered his thin body, and he wore a beak mask, which was said to be the symbol of gue doctors. ¡®He¡¯s even wearing a wide-brimmed hat.¡¯ Therefore, all that was revealed of him was his gray hair with some white hair here and there. ¡®But he¡¯s not a bad person.¡¯ There were some undeniably ¡®evil¡¯ characters among the yable characters in the second episode of Legend of Heroes, but there were none among the characters in the first episode. All five of them were true heroes with a noble spirit and a pure heart. ¡®After all, he immediately helped at that time.¡¯ As soon as Velkian found out the crisis in the royal capital, he jumped into the battlefield without any hesitation. And Jude could bet. If any of the main characters from the first episode were present at that time, they would have acted the same as Velkian. ¡°I think he saw us too.¡± Jude nodded at Cordelia¡¯s whisper and instead of stopping at the bottom of the hill, he moved his feet a few more times and stopped at around 10 meters away from Velkian. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Cordelia jumped off Jude¡¯s back as soon as he stopped, and she walked forward while clearing her throat. Because the situation itself where she appeared while riding on Jude¡¯s back was embarrassing. ¡®He should have stopped a little farther away.¡¯ Cordelia regretted itte as they walked towards Velkian. She stopped at around 7 meters before Velkian and politely greeted him. ¡°Nice to meet you. I¡¯m the Rogue Master, Pink Bomb¡­ and this is my assistant¡­ck Cloak.¡± What is this? What¡¯s with this overwhelming embarrassment? Cordelia was already used to saying the words ¡®Pink Bomb¡¯ and ¡®ck Cloak,¡¯ so she was usually fine with saying it, but when she spoke those words to Velkian, she turned red. ¡®B-but he likes Pink Bomb, right?¡¯ So it should be fine, right? I shouldn¡¯t be embarrassed about it, right? But she was wrong. They couldn¡¯t tell his expression because he was wearing a mask, but Velkian¡¯s awkward gestures showed that he was quite embarrassed, so he replied with a cough. ¡°Ehem¡­ yes. I¡¯m¡­ Velkian.¡± The way he said it made it seem like he was feeling ufortable but still endured it, as if it was the answer of a troubled adult. Cordelia immediately felt betrayed at Velkian¡¯s unexpected response, but she soon understood it. ¡®It must have been breathtaking.¡¯ A secret fan. A person who hid their interest. It was fully understandable. Because Velkian was over 70 years old. It would have been difficult for him if he was caught reading a novel with a character named Pink Bomb. But it was at that moment. ¡°Ah, I can¡¯t stand this.¡± Velkian suddenly muttered and looked straight at Cordelia, saying in a low tone. ¡°I know this is meddlesome, but¡­ can I call you by another name? Of course, it¡¯s your preference, so I want to respect it, but still, the Rogue Master using the name Pink Bomb is a bit¡­¡± Because he felt strange when he said it. Furthermore, there was also the Rogue Master¡¯s prestige. At Velkian¡¯s sincere words, Cordelia unconsciously tilted her head. She couldn¡¯t help it. ¡°Wait¡­wait, wait, wait.¡± Cordelia quickly said without realizing it, and then continued with wide open eyes. ¡°Didn¡¯t you like Pink Bomb?¡± ¡°Who? Do you mean me?¡± When Cordelia nodded, Velkian spoke in disgust as he stepped back. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about. I¡¯ve only met you for the first time today. In the first ce, I didn¡¯t know the name of Pink Bomb until I found the letter that day.¡± His voice was seriously sincere. But there was a problem with his words. Velkian was not talking about the main character of a novel, but the Pink Bomb in front of him, which was Rogue Master Pink Bomb. As if he waspletely unaware of the existence of a novel with a character named Pink Bomb. What¡¯s going on? What exactly is going on? ¡°Jude?¡± Cordelia stared at Jude coldly, and he had a mncholic smile before he spoke with a sad expression. ¡°This day has finallye. But I don¡¯t regret it.¡± Because I enjoyed it every day. The embarrassed Cordelia whenever she uses the name Pink Bomb was the best. Jude looked away while feeling proud, and Cordelia grabbed him by the cor and shook him. ¡°Hey! You think I¡¯ll let you off if you speak sadly? Huh?!¡± I knew it was weird! What Pink Bomb? What Pink Bomb! Velkian isn¡¯t a pervert who¡¯ll like someone with that name! Do you know how embarrassing it had been for me every time?! ¡°Umm¡­ should I let you two talk in private for a moment? It seems like there¡¯s a misunderstanding between you two.¡± Cordelia came to her senses at Velkian¡¯s words, and she let out a groan with a tearful face before she spoke. ¡°Eueueue¡­ No, it¡¯s okay.¡± Talking to Velkian now was a priority. Cordelia red at Jude again before she threw off her mask and greeted him again. ¡°I¡¯m Cordelia August Chase.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Jude August Bayer.¡± The moment Cordelia and Jude revealed their real names, Velkian nodded and spoke as if it was not a big deal for him. ¡°Yes, I already knew it because I saw you two at the merit ceremony.¡± Velkian did not just look at people¡¯s faces. He could see the overall shape of the body and also the flow of one¡¯s life force, so it was impossible to deceive him by covering one¡¯s face. It was the true reason why Velkian couldn¡¯t stand it and asked about Pink Bomb. Because the new heroes of the kingdom who seemed to be sane during the merit ceremony were now acting as a Rogue Master and her assistant while using embarrassing names. ¡°Eueueue¡­ this is all because of Jude.¡± She wasn¡¯t really trying to convince him, but what she said was true. And at Cordelia¡¯s words, Jude changed the topic like usual instead of denying it. ¡°May the muscles always be with you. I greet you again as the disciple of Iron Man Landius.¡± ¡°Oh, the Cheonmujiche boy.¡± Velkian was surprised by Landius¡¯ unique greeting, and he quickly nodded. It seemed like he also knew about the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. ¡°I think I¡¯m starting to understand. The legitimate sessor of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors that Landius finally found used the Tiara of Life to call me out. Is that it?¡± Velkian would not havee to the royal capital in the first ce if there had been no letter in the box where the Tiara of Life was kept. And he would have not been involved in the fight on the royal capital either. ¡°Was that your goal?¡± ¡°Notpletely. It was only half.¡± ¡°Half?¡± ¡°Yes, half. First of all, we left a letter in the box that contained the Tiara of Life, but we did not leave that letter with Velkian-nim in mind. We didn¡¯t know on who would find that letter.¡± It was true. In the letter Jude left in the box, it only conveyed that Pink Bomb took the Tiara of Life and did not contain any specific words that mentioned Velkian. ¡°That¡¯s a little strange. What would you do if it wasn¡¯t me who found the letter¡­ or if that person was an enemy?¡± ¡°Of course, that¡¯s possible, but I thought that it wouldn¡¯t happen.¡± ¡°Why do you think so?¡± ¡°Because there was a prophecy.¡± With a small smile, Jude continued to speak smoothly. ¡°It was foretold that we would get someone who would help us greatly through the Tiara of Life. That¡¯s why we left a letter.¡± ¡°Whose prophecy is it?¡± ¡°The witch of the western forest.¡± Velkian was momentarily surprised at Jude¡¯s words before he nodded. ¡°I heard from the ghosts that her soul had been freed¡­ were you the ones who released her?¡± ¡°Yes, we met her by chance half a year ago and freed her.¡± ¡°So by chance.¡± Velkian smiled before he straightened his posture and said. ¡°Okay, if the witch of the western forest gave you a prophecy in return for freeing her, I can believe that. Although she has fallen because of her contract with the demons, she¡¯s on the side of us humans.¡± Obviously, the witch of the western forest had never made such a prediction, but what mattered now was convincing Velkian. ¡®And he seems to be quite convinced.¡¯ Jude shouted ¡®Bingo!¡¯ in his mind and sent a nce to Cordelia. She then took out the Tiara of Life and offered it to Velkian. ¡°Thanks to Velkian-nim, the lives of countless people in the royal capital were saved. Please ept this Tiara of Life as our way of saying thank you.¡± When Cordelia said that and carefully held out the Tiara of Life, Velkian frowned behind his mask instead of epting it right away. ¡°I¡­ just did what was natural.¡± How can I just watch when people are dying in front of me? Cordelia warmly smiled at Velkian¡¯s words and said. ¡°It¡¯s not just that. You saved my brother-inw, Ga?l, and because of that, you also saved my sister.¡± If Ga?l had died back then. What would have happened to unnie? What would have happened to unnie¡¯s heart? ¡°That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s because of the strong spirit of that guy named Ga?l. After all, I left him unattended afterwards.¡± ¡°But if it weren¡¯t for the medicine that Velkian-nim gave him, he wouldn¡¯t have recovered at all.¡± Her words weren¡¯t just some idle talk since it was true. And that was why Jude and Cordelia were sincerely grateful to Velkian. ¡°Oh¡­ it can¡¯t be helped then. But I won¡¯t just take it. I¡¯ll borrow it for a while¡­ and return it to you when my work is done.¡± His answer was something that Jude had expected. Due to Velkian¡¯s personality, there was no way that he would freely receive a divine relic called the Tiara of Life. And one more reason. ¡®Did he have a special goal?¡¯ Considering the situation, Velkian did not identally obtain the Tiara of Life. He found it after searching for it. And that meant that Velkian was preparing for something that needed the Tiara of Life. ¡®There¡¯s also the fact that he¡¯ll borrow and return it when his work is done.¡¯ What is it then? What is Velkian trying to use the Tiara of Life for? And does that have something to do with his death? There were two reasons why Jude originally called Velkian in the royal capital. One was the vague expectation that if the timing was right, Velkian would help them in the decisive battle on the royal capital, and the other was to twist history and prevent Velkian¡¯s death. In the game¡¯s storyline, Velkian was not in the royal capital at this time. They didn¡¯t know where he was, but he was definitely not in the royal capital then. But he was now in the royal capital. It was apletely different situation from the original, so it was possible that his death could be prevented. ¡®Of course, I can¡¯t be satisfied with just this.¡¯ In the original, when, where, and how Velkian died was shrouded in mystery. Therefore, Jude couldn¡¯te up with an absolute way to prevent Velkian¡¯s death, but he was still able toe up with some minimal safety measures. ¡®If I consider Velkian¡¯s personality¡­¡¯ If he put together all of Velkian¡¯s actions in the first episode, Velkian wasn¡¯t the kind of person who would just receive the Tiara of Life and leave a promise to return itter. Prior to bing a necromancer, Velkian was a wizard, and most wizards didn¡¯t do things without a definite n. ¡°In exchange for that, take this.¡± Having received the Tiara of Life, Velkian offered Cordelia a trinket with a clear gem embedded on it. ¡°It¡¯s a magic tool that can summon me.¡± ¡°Eh? Uh, wait. A magic tool that can summon Velkian-nim?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, you can summon me only once if you use that magic tool.¡± Velkian replied to Cordelia and pointed to the trinket as he continued. ¡°From tomorrow onwards, I¡¯ll begin working on some kind of work using the Tiara of Life. And when I¡¯m done, this gem will glow gold.¡± ¡°So from then on¡­ we can summon you?¡± ¡°Yes, you understood it quickly like a wizard.¡± Cordelia awkwardly smiled at Velkian¡¯spliment before she nced at Jude. ¡®It worked out as we had expected, right?¡¯ ¡®Yes, if we have this, we can summon Velkian and save his life.¡¯ The life of Velkian and not Jude or Cordelia. Obviously, it was impossible to summon him when he was still doing some kind of work with the Tiara of Life, so if something happened in that time, they wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything, but at least, they would still have a way to offset his death to some extent. ¡°Will you be staying at the royal capital?¡± ¡°I think so for now. So perhaps you won¡¯t need to use that magic tool too.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Jude responded with a soft smile before he nced at Cordelia, and she nodded quietly. It was still a question on what kind of work Velkian was trying to do, but if he was staying in the royal capital and being supported by the royal family, he would be much safer than wandering around somewhere they didn¡¯t know, at least, until his work was finished. ¡°Anyway, take care of that item. Once you call me, I¡¯ll be like a minion and do my best to help with anything.¡± ¡°Yes, thank you very much.¡± Jude smiled at Velkian¡¯s slightly yful answer before he turned to Cordelia with a satisfied face. Since Jude originally didn¡¯t have any intentions of making a deal with Velkian who had saved Ga?l and the royal capital, it was a good deal. ¡®It¡¯s good, right?¡¯ ¡®Yes, yes.¡¯ Cordelia nodded and smiled in agreement. ¡®Then¡­ should we say goodbye to him now?¡¯ Since Velkian had decided on staying in the royal capital, they would still have a few more chances to meet him before they leave for the south. Now that they had achieved their goal, they thought that it was time for them to separate now. ¡®Let¡¯s go.¡¯ Cordelia replied with her eyes before she looked back at Velkian and said. ¡°Then, Velkian-nim, we¡¯ll be going back.¡± When Cordelia politely bade farewell, Velkian touched his chin as if he was thinking of something for a moment before he immediately smiled. ¡°There is one more thing I want to give you before we separate. Please do not hesitate to ept it.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± As Cordelia tilted her head and asked in return, Velkian chuckled and slightly moved his hand. Tworge Phantom Steeds suddenly appeared and stood next to Velkian. ¡°These are Phantom Steeds that I made myself. They can fly in the sky, they are fast, and they don¡¯t get tired.¡± ¡°Wow.¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyes sparkled as she recalled an earlier conversation she had with Jude about the endurance of horses, and Velkian happily said to them. ¡°I¡¯ll give them to you.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes. It¡¯s nice to see you being carried around but¡­ I think this would be more efficient.¡± The smiling Velkian handed Cordelia a ring that could summon the Phantom Steeds. ¡°Both of you can ride one each.¡± It was the heartfelt consideration of Velkian, who was truly like an elderly person. The Phantom Steeds Velkian had given them were much stronger than normal Phantom Steeds, to the point that they were iparable. But Jude somehow felt sad. If they used those Phantom Steeds, he would no longer have to carry Cordelia on his back. ¡®Uh¡­ it can¡¯t be helped.¡¯ Rather, it was strange that he carried her on his back all the time. Moreover, in terms of mobility and tactics, it was much better to ride on the Phantom Steed than to carry her on his back, so it was a change that he epted. ¡®But I¡¯m a little disappointed.¡¯ Unlike Jude, Cordelia was really happy. ¡®Well, she had been happy with the big horse we had a long time ago.¡¯ If Cordelia is happy with it, then so be it. Having cleared away his thoughts, Jude dly epted the ring, and Velkian climbed on his own Phantom Steed as if to demonstrate, before he flew straight into the night sky of the royal capital. ¡°Uh¡­ is he going to leave just like that?¡± Without looking back once? At Cordelia¡¯s words, Jude shrugged and replied. ¡°But in a sense, he¡¯s a better man than Master Landius.¡± ¡°Well¡­ that¡¯s true.¡± Cordelia nodded her head a few times and then turned to the Phantom Steeds instead of gazing at the night sky where Velkian had disappeared. The Phantom Steed had green eyes that glowed, and a ck mane and hair. ¡°It looks like you.¡± ¡°Where?¡± ¡°The ck hair and eye color?¡± Jude narrowed his brows once at Cordelia¡¯s answer, but he soon climbed onto his own Phantom Steed and said. ¡°Let¡¯s go then.¡± ¡°Okay, but Jude.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± Cordelia squirmed her lips a few times at Jude¡¯s question before she unsummoned her Phantom Steed back into the ring. She then twisted her finger into a lock of her hair and said. ¡°Because maintaining a Phantom Steed will require mana¡­ it¡¯s not necessary to use both of them, right?¡± What she had meant with those words. Cordelia didn¡¯t directly say it, but Jude understood and slyly smiled as he said. ¡°This servant will do his best to serve you. Which one do you prefer? The front or the back?¡± ¡°The back?¡± ¡°That¡¯s an excellent choice.¡± Jude stretched out his hand like always to help Cordelia get on the Phantom Steed. After that, he adjusted the reins and said. ¡°Let¡¯s go then.¡± Cordelia tightly hugged Jude¡¯s waist instead of responding, and Jude eventually broke into a small smile. He drove the Phantom Steed to the royal capital. Chapter 207: Wolf of the Wind (1)

Chapter 207: Wolf of the Wind (1)

Sorry for thete update. My area had a power outagest night, and electricity was restored only an hour ago. Anyway, here¡¯s the chapter~! Terms used in this chapter: He that steals an egg will steal an ox ¨C A proverb which means that a person who steals small things is likely to steal big things too. The next morning. Cordelia woke up and began to think about a problem that was trivial in some way, but could never be taken lightly. ¡®Eueueue¡­ what should I do?¡¯ She was worrying about a punishment. The punishment she wanted to give Jude for lying and making her use the name ¡®Pink Bomb.¡¯ ¡®He didn¡¯t do it with any bad intentions, and it was only a nasty joke, but¡­¡¯ It was still bad. If he continued to do those things again, whether once or twice, and regardless if he had any bad intentions or not, he would end up developing the so-called ¡®bad habit.¡¯ There¡¯s a saying that ¡®He that steals an egg will steal an ox.¡¯ ¡®No, isn¡¯t the meaning there a bit different?¡¯ Anyway. The important thing is that I should not let it slide. ¡®That¡¯s right, Romantic Cat-unnie said in the past. That fights are important in rtionships. That it¡¯s over if you ignore it from the very beginning.¡¯ Cordelia remembered the only member of the chat room whom she had yed with and knew both her real age and gender, and as she recalled that unnie¡¯s friendly advice, she began to think hard again. What kind of punishment should I give? Should I just hit him? ¡®That¡¯s a little too violent¡­¡¯ If Jude had heard of Cordelia¡¯s thoughts now, he would have said, ¡®Didn¡¯t you do it in the past?¡¯ and mention one by one the times when Cordelia hit him. But what mattered now was the present. Because unlike in the past, she strangely felt reluctant to beat Jude. ¡®Come to think of it, Jude was like that before, right?¡¯ She remembered what happened at the time when they were wandering in the underground of Endymion. Cordelia giggled when she recalled the Jude who was struggling hard because he couldn¡¯t hit the monster that had transformed into Cordelia. ¡®He had liked me since then, huh? Hehehe.¡¯ So he endured it because he couldn¡¯t do it, huh? Should I say that it¡¯smendable? ¡®Should I just forgive him then?¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s heart softened a bit, and she pouted her lips as she pondered about it. But she soon shook her head. ¡®I can¡¯t do that. Yes, yes. That¡¯s that and this is this.¡¯ I must punish those who must be punished. I must be angry at those who angered me. ¡°Miss?¡± Eueue¡­ what kind of punishment should I give then? If I tell him to kneel and raise his hands, will he really do it? I think it¡¯s a problem if he really does it, but it¡¯s also a problem if he doesn¡¯t do it. ¡°Miss?¡± Should I spank his butt? Make him shamefully pull down his pants and then spank him? ¡®Umm¡­ I don¡¯t think that¡¯s right¡­¡¯ I feel like I¡¯ll be the one more embarrassed when I spank him. That¡¯s obviously problematic. So I need something different, something that would punish him that¡¯s not strange¡­.something that will fix Jude¡¯s habit¡­ ¡°Miss!¡± ¡°Eh?!¡± The startled Cordelia jumped up from her seat and let out a strange sound, and Dahlia drew her face closer to Cordelia as she narrowed her eyes and said. ¡°What happened yesterday?¡± ¡°Huh? N-nothing. Nothing happened.¡± ¡°Something did. Something did happen, right? Did you two cross the line?¡± ¡°W-what line?¡± ¡°I mean, that line.¡± At Dahlia¡¯s words, Cordelia waved both of her hands in denial before she sat down on the sofa. ¡°I-it¡¯s not like that. I¡¯m just worrying about something.¡± ¡°What is it? Can you please tell me?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°I¡¯m older than you, so I have more experience in stuff like friendship and romance¡­ don¡¯t you think so?¡± ¡°Yourst words make you a bit unreliable though?¡± ¡°How do you see me as?¡± ¡°Well, Dahlia is a beautiful woman. You have a good personality too.¡± When Cordelia spoke calmly and without hesitation, Dahlia¡¯s cheeks blushed a bit and she was at a loss on what to do. ¡°Ahem, ahem. Anyway, please tell me what it is.¡± ¡°Umm¡­ so this is my friend¡¯s story¡­¡± ¡°I see, it¡¯s about a friend.¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s about a friend.¡± Dahlia was slightly worried at Cordelia¡¯s words. Isn¡¯t it quite obvious? ¡®Let¡¯s listen to it first.¡¯ In order to make my innocentdy open her mouth, let¡¯s set the pace first. Dahlia smiled and nodded as if asking Cordelia to continue. ¡°What happened to your friend?¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­ She said that she had a problem. For reference, my friend¡¯s name is Scarlet. She¡¯s not like a fictional character, okay?¡± ¡°I see. Scarlet. Okay.¡± Dahlia wondered if it was a youngdy friend of Cordelia that she didn¡¯t know, but she decided to listen first. She stopped herself from saying her thoughts, and sent a nce to Cordelia to tell her to continue. Cordelia then spoke after clearing her throat. ¡°You see¡­¡± To summarize Cordelia¡¯s story, it was as follows. Scarlet¡¯s lover lied to Scarlet. It wasn¡¯t a bad lie, but a mischievous one because he wanted to see Scarlet¡¯s cute appearance, but she thought that a lie was a lie anyway, so she wanted to scold him. But she was troubled on what to do, and on what kind of punishment she should give. ¡°Ahem. I see. I never thought that he was like that, so he lies too, huh?¡± ¡°Huh? This is about my friend though? Dahlia doesn¡¯t know my friend and her lover, right?¡± ¡°Umm, you¡¯re right. Anyway, what¡¯s important is that he lied. And as the miss said, it¡¯s only right to punish him. He might develop some real bad habits if you just neglect it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s it! I- No, Scarlet said that she thought so too!¡± At times like this, it¡¯s less suspicious if you say that, as a friend, you thought the same too. Dahlia advised in her thoughts, but she soon touched her chin and spoke. ¡°Hmm¡­ I¡¯m sure this is natural, but is there something that your friend¡¯s lover likes to do?¡± ¡°What he likes to do?¡± ¡°Yes, if possible, the things that your friend likes to do together with him.¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± Cordelia began to seriously think as she touched her chin like Dahlia, and she soon thought of one thing. What Jude really liked to do. What he had been trying to do these days. In addition, as Dahlia had said, it was something that Jude couldn¡¯t do alone, and was something that he only did with Cordelia. ¡°T-there is!¡± ¡°Then, he can¡¯t do that.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°You have to prevent him from doing what he likes. For a limited time.¡± Having said that, Dahlia crossed her arms and smiled before she continued. ¡°There are two types of punishment. One is to make someone do things they do not like, and the other is to prevent them from doing things they like. People¡¯s opinions may differ on which one is more effective¡­ but if it¡¯s a punishment for a lover, thetter will be more effective. It will also help him make a reflection.¡± ¡°Ooooh¡­¡± Her words were quite reasonable. To make him do things that he dislikes and prevent him from doing things that he likes. Then, it seems like thetter will work. ¡®Because I felt like going crazy when I was banned from ying games.¡¯ After recalling her past life, Cordelia widely smiled as she found a good solution, but she soon frowned again. Because she recalled one important problem. What Jude had liked to do recently. So in short, I have to prevent him from kissing me in my forehead and cheek¡­ ¡®I-It¡¯s something that I do not like too.¡¯ No, it¡¯s not that I like it, but if I think about it, it¡¯s something that he shouldn¡¯t be doing at all¡­umm¡­ Cordelia began to think again with a red face, and Dahlia narrowed her eyes. ¡°Miss?¡± ¡°Eueueue¡­okay. It can¡¯t be helped. It¡¯s more important to change his habit.¡± Let¡¯s just ban all skinship for a while. No holding hands. I won¡¯t let him escort me too. Cordelia made a decision and clenched her fists, so Dahlia spoke as she rubbed her chin. ¡°So, have you made a decision? On what you¡¯ll be banning Lord Jude from doing?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve decided. I¡¯ll push it forward.¡± ¡°Okay, you did well. Please give my greetings to Miss Scarlet too.¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­ yes. That¡¯s right. Uh, because I¡¯m worried for Scarlet.¡± Cordelia spoke hesitantly as her face turned red, and Dahlia eventually smiled at Cordelia¡¯s appearance, sighing as she thought. ¡®It¡¯s quite worrying.¡¯ Mydy is clearly smart and good when ites to magic, but why is she this na?ve? Well¡­ being so na?ve is also part of mydy¡¯s charm. ¡°Dahlia?¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Anyway, Lord Jude is about to arrive, so you need to prepare.¡± ¡°Eh?!¡± Cordelia strongly eximed and stood up from her seat. And around an hourter. ¡°I¡¯m¡­pletely banned?¡± ¡°Yes, you¡¯re banned for the week. Do you know why?¡± ¡°Umm¡­¡± At Cordelia¡¯s words, Jude thought for a moment and soon nodded. ¡°I understand.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll do that.¡± ¡°Uh¡­okay.¡± What¡¯s with that indifferent reaction? Shouldn¡¯t you look a bit sad or something? The confused Cordelia nced at Dahlia who replied with her eyes. ¡®He¡¯s just pretending to be strong.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t as much as Jude, but Dahlia could talk to Cordelia with her eyes to some extent. Cordelia nodded right away and then raised her chin. But it was at that moment. ¡°Ah, but what should I do?¡± ¡°About what?¡± ¡°Did you forget? Today is the farewell party for the northern nobles.¡± ¡°Eh? Ah, that¡¯s right. It was today, huh?¡± Seven days had already passed since the founding anniversary celebration. The chaos that had urred on the royal capital had dyed most of the scheduled events, but for the nobles who had originally gathered to attend the founding anniversary celebration, it was time for them to slowly return home. Here in Pleiades, it was really hard to meet rtives in other regions unless they were geographically close or they were really close friends, which was unlike Jude and Cordelia¡¯s past lives. Therefore, the northern nobles decided to have theirst gathering before returning home, and that gathering was scheduled for today. ¡°If we go there¡­ I¡¯ll have to escort you¡­¡± Jude looked at Cordelia and trailed off the end of his words, and Cordelia pouted her lips before she snorted and said. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll allow you to escort me. But only up to escorting, okay?¡± ¡°I understand. Thank you very much for giving me your permission, Princess.¡± Jude slyly smiled and lightly kissed the back of Cordelia¡¯s hand, and Cordelia once again made a promise to herself. ¡®Only escort is allowed! Only escort!¡¯ Anything beyond that is unconditionally OUT! Cordelia pledged to herself several times as she clenched her fists, while Dahlia sighed as she watched from the side. Because at that moment, Jude¡¯s lips were still on the back of Cordelia¡¯s hand. ¡®Well¡­ she still has a long way to go.¡¯ Dahlia sighed as her shoulders sank, while Maja happily smiled as she watched from the other side. *** The farewell party of the northern nobles was held in a mansion owned by Count Crossbell in the royal capital, and it was for a simple reason. ¡®Because Sylvia¡¯s mansion is thergest.¡¯ After all, the Crossbell family was the richest among the 12 northern families. In any case, Jude and Cordelia entered the splendid mansion of the Crossbell family and came across an unexpected sight. ¡°On that day, Lady Cordelia¡­ I mean, Countess August Chase was really like an angel.¡± ¡°Was she so beautiful?¡± ¡°Indeed! She wasn¡¯t just beautiful, she even had that sacred aura on her!¡± There was a girl making a fuss as she praised Cordelia. But that girl looked really familiar to them. ¡®Emma Ficus?¡¯ When Cordelia looked at Jude in surprise, Jude was calmly smiling rather than being surprised. The reason was simple. ¡®She seemed to have opened her eyes to the truth of this world now.¡¯ Jude said that as if it waspletely natural. ¡®W-what are you saying?¡¯ ¡®I mean, it¡¯s true. You¡¯re an angel. You¡¯re also very beautiful, right?¡¯ Cordelia turned red and was flustered at Jude¡¯s straightforward answer. His words were all true, and he was not ashamed in saying it. But for Cordelia, she would have been embarrassed to say such words out of her mouth. ¡®Anyway, let¡¯s greet her.¡¯ ¡®Eh? Can we just pretend that we don¡¯t know her?¡¯ Isn¡¯t the situation a bit embarrassing now? But despite Cordelia¡¯s reluctance, Jude had already made their presence known. Emma Ficus noticed Jude and turned to him, and she widely opened her eyes. ¡°L-Lady Cordelia?¡± ¡°L-Lady Emma.¡± Cordelia responded with an awkward smile, and Emma Ficus was in a flutter as she blushed, showing a slightly different reaction from what Cordelia had thought. There was a reason why she blushed. ¡®She¡¯s really happy.¡¯ Jude¡¯s analysis was urate like always. Emma Ficus was not blushing now because of shame. She was now like a fan who had met her idol singer whom she had envied so much, so she was really happy and at a loss on what to do. ¡°I-I¡¯m really grateful for back then. Thank you very much.¡± ¡°Eh? Uh, yes. I¡¯m d that you¡¯re okay.¡± ¡°How can you say that¡­ when I was so mean to you¡­¡± Emma Ficus was deeply moved by Cordelia¡¯s words as her eyes reddened with tears, and all the young people around them looked at Emma Ficus and Cordelia with curious eyes. And so, Cordelia ended up being embarrassed. ¡®What¡¯s wrong with her!¡¯ Can a person change like this just because I saved their life once?! It was an oddly disrespectful remark, but fortunately, Jude was the only one who could understand her thoughts. ¡°Lady Cordelia¡­ no, Countess August Chase. The countess of that day was really¡­¡± Emma Ficus held Cordelia¡¯s hand and began to testify, and the level of attention around them became even higher. ¡®No, I¡¯m not that nice of a person, okay? It¡¯s true that I¡¯m an angel, but I¡¯m not that kind of angel. So please¡­ eueueue.¡¯ But it was almost impossible for Cordelia, who was a real angel, to remove her hand from Emma¡¯s tight grip. Therefore, she had to listen to the embarrassing praise as her hand was held, and she was forced to smile at Emma Ficus while being embarrassed at the gazes directed towards her. ¡®Ah, seriously! Why are you looking at me with such sparkling eyes!¡¯ Cordelia became ufortable with Emma Ficus in a different sense than before, and she looked back at Jude as if she was asking for help, but seeing that he was smiling at her with a sly expression, it seemed like he had no intention of saving her. ¡®I hate you! I really hate you!¡¯ But it was at that moment. The hand of salvation was extended to Cordelia from an unexpected ce. ¡°Countess August Chase.¡± ¡®Sylvia-unnie!¡¯ Once Sylvia, who was the host of this farewell party, appeared and spoke, Emma Ficus had no choice but to stop. ¡°I apologize, Lady Ficus, but the countess has a previous engagement with me. We¡¯re going to talk a bit about the rights to the new shampoo and conditioner¡­¡± ¡°Yes, she¡¯s correct. We have an agreement to talk. Lady Emma, I apologize, but can I leave for a moment? It¡¯s really important.¡± Cordelia spoke desperately, and Emma Ficus was saddened by the situation and retreated with a look of regret. ¡°Haa¡­ Thank you very much.¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t be so polite to me. You¡¯re a countess now.¡± ¡°And you¡¯re the next Countess Crossbell.¡± Sylvia smiled at Cordelia¡¯s charming words, and they stepped out of the banquet hall. Because she said that they had something to discuss, they went out even for just a short time. With Cordelia having been stolen from him, Jude had a bitter smile before he turned his gaze to the other side. Since they were one of the main characters in the battle at the royal capital, the interest Jude received was also enormous, and there were many people who came to talk to him. But Jude had a trick unlike Cordelia. He pretended to deal with them moderately as he drove them away slowly, and eventually, only Lucas remained by Jude¡¯s side. ¡°Only the two of us are left now.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. Anyway¡­ I¡¯d like to express my gratitude to you first. Maja said that you came to visit us twice.¡± ¡°It¡¯s only natural. I¡¯m just d that you have recovered safely.¡± As Lucas nicely smiled, Jude also smiled and thought for a moment. He wasn¡¯t as excited as Cordelia in shipping Lucas with Scarlet, but Lucas seemed to be interested in Scarlet in the first ce, so he wondered on how to get the two to meet. But it was at that moment. ¡°Then, Lord Jude, have you heard?¡± Lucas still called him ¡®Lord Jude¡¯ instead of Count August Bayer, and Jude stopped his thoughts and showed interest in his words. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°It seems like there will be a fightingpetition. They said that it will be officially announced this afternoon.¡± Jude gently nodded at Lucas¡¯ words. He hadn¡¯t told this to Cordelia yet, but he had heard of it from his father this morning. ¡°Because the royal family have to show to the public that they are doing well.¡± ¡°Yes, especially when the Argon Empire is watching.¡± There were many reason why they were holding an event in this situation, and one of it was the ¡®vacancy¡¯ in the Ten Great Swordmasters. The Lord Protector who repelled the empire twice, and First Sword, the Sword Saint of Light, were no longer members of the Ten Great Swordmasters. Two of the Ten Great Swordmasters disappeared, so they had to fill the vacancy as soon as possible. ¡®It¡¯s possible to do so for First Sword¡¯s position, but the Lord Protector¡¯s position isn¡¯t something that can be easily reced.¡¯ After all, it was impossible to rece the Lord Protector who was a symbol of the S?len Kingdom¡¯s defensive capabilities, unlike First Sword who was just a strong swordsman. But that didn¡¯t mean they could just leave it empty. ¡®They need a new great swordmaster.¡¯ It was not enough to put Count Bayer as the Sword Saint of Wind to fill the spot vacated by the Sword Saint of Light. Since two people were gone, they needed to at least have one new great swordmaster. ¡®For now, Ga?l is also a candidate.¡¯ His father had told him that this morning. In addition to Ga?l, there were also several young knights in the kingdom who were called as the next Ten Great Swordmasters. The royal family¡¯s n was to bring them together this time to demonstrate their skills, and then give to at least one of them the title of great swordmaster. ¡®It seems like even the talented people who did not participate in this anniversary celebration were also called in.¡¯ There was Richard Galleon, who gained the nickname ¡®The Lion¡¯s Sword¡¯ by distinguishing himself within the Knights of the Golden Lion, the most elite knights of the S?len Kingdom. There was Aios Lain who was known to be the fastest and strongest swordsman among the Jackdaws protecting the north. There was Kajsa¡¯s older brother, Calix Ophand, who was known as the Sea Serpent yer and called as a Disaster of the Southern Seas. ¡®And my brother is included too.¡¯ One out of these four. If possible, they would even appoint two to the Ten Great Swordmaster position. Obviously, if all four showed skills that were less than expected, there wouldpletely be no appointment, but anyway, the royalty¡¯s intentions were quite clear in this event. ¡°It will be held five days from now¡­ and there are some thoughts that it is being held quite urgently, but there¡¯s no problem with the progress because the fightingpetition is an event that was originally supposed to be held. And frankly¡­ I¡¯m really looking forward to it.¡± As Lucas spoke with shining eyes, Jude smiled bitterly. He would act like that because it was an event that had something to do with them. ¡®Those below 20 years of age could participate too.¡¯ The event was divided into the adult division, which was for those who were 20 years of age and older, and the youth division, which was for those younger than 20 years old. ¡°It¡¯s been a while since we¡¯ve fought shoulder to shoulder.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± The fightingpetition regrly held by the king was not just a one-on-one battle. It was a group battle that was more like a war than a sparring match, in which participants were divided into the northern, central, and southern regions. The three groups would battle it out in one ce, and victory would be awarded to thest group standing. ¡®This is thest event in the royal capital before we go to find the Ultimate One.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t that bad. It was also good to work with Lucas after a long time, and above all, since it was apetition, a good prize would be awarded if they won. ¡®It¡¯s also good to test the results of my recovery.¡¯ His sixth door was still iplete, but he had seeded in stabilizing the ck Sun to some extent. ¡®I¡¯m curious on who wille from the south.¡¯ For the central region, they would send participants from the Knights of the Golden Lion and the Sword School, so he wondered on who would be sent from the south. Jude silently recalled the talented people from the south, and soon realized why he was so excited. ¡®This is the first time I¡¯ve experienced this event.¡¯ In the game, the royal capital was destroyed, so the fightingpetition did not take ce. And the following year, the fightingpetition was not held too. Because the S?len Kingdom itself was on the brink of destruction. As a result, Jude had only heard of the fightingpetition unique to the S?len Kingdom as a background setting, but had never really experienced it. But when a fantasy event like a fightingpetition was held, he couldn¡¯t help himself from smiling. ¡®I¡¯m a rotten water after all.¡¯ Someone who gets excited for new content. Jude had a small smile before he turned his gaze and looked at the ce where the other rotten water was, and this time, heughed out loud. Cordelia was suffering from Emma Ficus¡¯ second onught, and was desperately sending a rescue signal to him. ¡®Jude! Jude! Help!¡¯ How could he turn away when she was pleading to him for help? ¡°Please excuse me for a moment.¡± After he asked Lucas to excuse him, Jude quickly headed towards Cordelia. Chapter 208: Wolf of the Wind (2)

Chapter 208: Wolf of the Wind (2)

When the royal family announced the news of the fightingpetition, it caused a stir in the entire royal capital. Not in a bad way but in a good way. The nobles who had packed up their bags for their return changed their ns and decided to stay in the capital for a few more days, and even the people who were dejected by the tragedy of the royal capital regained quite a bit of their strength. ¡°Because this cecks entertainment.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia nodded a few times and looked back at the bed in front of her. Jude and Cordelia were now looking at furniture in a luxury furniture store on the royal capital. Because the mansion they would receive from the royal family had finally been decided. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± As Cordelia took a serious look at the king-size bed, Jude sent a magic. [Just pick a good one. We won¡¯t be able to use it for a while anyway.] This world had ready-made goods, but most of the furniture of the nobility were usually ordered and crafted by hand. The bed was also a sample product, but only when it was actually ordered do the store begin to make apletely new one, so it took as little as 15 days or even a month before they receive what they had ordered. ¡®Moreover¡­¡¯ Because this is a bed that we¡¯ll have to share in one bedroom. Isn¡¯t the day we¡¯ll use it really far? But Cordelia just groaned as she thought and pondered about it. ¡®The bed is too expensive!¡¯ Each piece of furniture was ridiculously expensive, but the bed felt particrly expensive. She thought that she could buy a decent four-horse carriage with the money to buy this one bed. But it was natural for it to be expensive in a way because it was the bed in a bedroom of a count¡¯s mansion. ¡°It seems like you¡¯ll get a fever at this rate.¡± ¡°Ugh.¡± Cordelia groaned again before she plopped down on a nearby sofa, and Jude sat down next to her. ¡°We¡¯re going to rest for a moment. Can we have some tea?¡± ¡°Of course, Count. Please wait a moment.¡± The clerk of the furniture store smiled and bowed before ordering another employee to serve them tea and refreshments. Jude and Cordelia were literally VIPs from the furniture store¡¯s perspective because they had topletely renovate the mansion, but despite being counts, the two spoke respectfully and behaved politely, so the clerk was very pleased with their polite attitude. ¡°Haa.¡± In any case, as Cordelia stretched out on the couch as if she was going to melt anytime soon, Jude smiled and took out a piece of paper. [Take a look at this.] [What¡¯s that?] Instead of answering, Jude pushed the paper a little towards Cordelia, and she blinked her eyes and epted the paper. Her eyes soon widened in surprise. [Wait, what¡¯s this?] [Multiplier table?] [I know what this is, okay? But I clearly said it, right? Gambler-] [No, I¡¯m not the one who brought it, okay? Scarlet was the one who brought it to me, okay?] Cordelia narrowed her eyes in suspicion at Jude¡¯s words, but she soon nodded. Because she found Scarlet¡¯s signature on the corner of the paper. [Anyway, look at it.] As Jude tapped the paper, Cordelia looked at the multiplier table again. It was a very simple multiplier table where you could see how much you would get if you bet on a group in thepetition, but a puzzled and angry expression spread on Cordelia¡¯s face as she stared at it. [Wait. Why is this so high?] The amount you could get if you bet on the north was 2.1 times the amount of the money you bet. It wasn¡¯t such a huge number, but it was inevitable for Cordelia to feel bad. Because the numbers were greater when betting on the south or the center. [What the, do they think that the south or center are more likely to win than the north?] [I guess so?] [Why?] Cordelia looked at Jude with an expression showing that she couldn¡¯t understand why. [My Jude¡­ No, no¡­ Anyway, aren¡¯t you from the north?] Jude¡¯s the one who won the Banquet of Swords and stopped the Lord Protector, but why do they think that the south or center have a higher chance of winning? Cordelia was extremely angry at the numbers written that assumed the north couldn¡¯t win, so she was fuming after reading the multiplier table. [Woah, woah, calm down.] [Aren¡¯t you angry?] [No, I¡¯m not angry. The multiplier table makes sense after all.] [What do you mean?] [No one has seen me fight.] Cordelia blinked her eyes at Jude¡¯s words and soon understood it. Because it was true. [Because no one has seen me fight the Lord Protector. To be frank, if you think about it objectively, would it make sense for two teenagers to beat the Lord Protector even if he had declined from age? You¡¯ll just think that they somehow got lucky in stopping the Lord Protector with the power and help they received from others.] If one took a step back, his words certainly made sense. Moreover, Jude was a weak boy who suffered from an illness and couldn¡¯t go out of his house just half a year ago. [Perhaps they think that you¡¯re stronger than me. Well, that¡¯s what I think so too.] If it weren¡¯t for Cordelia, he wouldn¡¯t be able to force the sixth door open. It was also Cordelia who dealt thest hit. [W-why are you suddenlyplimenting me?] Cordelia hmphed and snorted, but when he looked at her face, he could tell that she was actually happy. But her happiness didn¡¯tst long. Because she was still upset that Jude had been ignored. [But there was the Banquet of Swords.] They definitely saw his fight against First Sword there, right? [Even if they saw it¡­ First Sword had be a traitor now. So my evaluation ended up decreasing a lot.] Obviously, First Sword¡¯s betrayal didn¡¯t mean that Jude¡¯s skills had suddenly decreased. [I still don¡¯t understand.] [There¡¯s one more reason here.] [What is it?] [Because this is a group battle.] The fightingpetition regrly held by the king was not a one-on-one tournament. It wasn¡¯t a tournament that went up step-by-step from 32 to 16 to 8 people and so on. It was close to a battle royal wherein all the participants were gathered in one ce and made to fight for one round only. [The north, south, and center will each have 30 people, so 90 people will all be fighting at the same time. It¡¯s good to have skilled individuals, but at thispetition, the power of the group itself is more important.] And in that sense, the evaluation of the north was worse than that of the south or the center. Except for Lucas and Jude, their group had no other exceptional talents, and the overall age group of their group was also much younger than the other groups. [To add to it, I¡¯m also injured, right? I¡¯ve been unconscious for days, so some of them probably judged that I still haven¡¯t fully recovered.] Jude had been unconscious for three days. By general standards, it would take at least a month for a person with such injuries to fully recover and be in their usual fighting form again. [Are you really okay though?] Cordelia asked with a worried expression, and Jude immediately nodded. [Because I have a regenerative ability.] [Haa¡­ Okay, I get it. Show them what you¡¯ve got, okay?] [Yes, so I went all-in on the north.] [Good job¡­ wait, what?] [I said I went all-in on the north.] When Jude spoke with a big smile, Cordelia forgot her ban on skinship and touched Jude, or rather, she began hitting him. [Gambler OUT! Let¡¯s break off our engagement! Let¡¯s break it off!] [Ouch, it¡¯s not gambling. It¡¯s an investment, okay?] [Grrr, you¡¯re not hurt at all even if I hit you, huh?] [Huhuhu, my princess. Please calm down. You don¡¯t think I¡¯ll lose, right?] [Wow, look at this guy talk. How arrogant.] But what he said was also true. Jude was much stronger than what the public thought. [Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯ll be a big hit. I¡¯m the one who increased the multiplier in the first ce, okay?] Cordelia blinked at Jude¡¯s words. Because she felt like she had heard of something strange. [Wait, what? Who increased the multiplier?] [Me.] [How?] [Through rumors?] Jude calmly said, and Cordelia¡¯s face went nk before she understood it. What the words of Jude had meant. [Hey, don¡¯t tell me¡­] [Yes, I created those rumors.] I heard that Jude is weaker than we thought. I heard that he isn¡¯t skilled enough to beat the Lord Protector. I heard that the wizard, Cordelia, did more than him. I heard that he is still struggling with his injuries. I heard that there are no exceptional talents in the north. [I had a hard time making it look like inside information that was very reliable.] Jude spoke as he puffed up with pride, and Cordelia had no choice but to think of the same word as always. [Wow, you scammer.] [Do you hate it then?] Jude shrugged as he slyly smiled, and Cordelia hmphed before smiling. [But are you sure of it? It¡¯s not even confirmed that you¡¯ll win.] [Hehehe, why are you saying that? Don¡¯t you believe in me?] [Didn¡¯t you say that it¡¯s a group battle?] Cordelia slightly disagreed, and Jude said as he crossed his arms. [Then, let¡¯s make a bet.] [What bet? A bet that you¡¯ll win thepetition? I hate that. I won¡¯t win anyway, so I¡¯ll just end up losing all my money, okay?] [No, not that. It¡¯s a bet on how many kills I can get.] He didn¡¯t really mean that he would kill people. In the first ce, the use of sharpened weapons was prohibited. One was considered as having killed the opponent if they had sent their opponent out of the field, made their opponent dere surrender, or removed the band their opponent wore during thepetition. At Jude¡¯s provocation, Cordelia slightly raised her eyebrows before she asked as if to sound it out first. [Tell me how many first.] [20 kills?] The number of enemies was 60 in total if youbined the center and the south, so 20 kills was a sufficient number. But Cordelia shook her head as if it was not possible. [Don¡¯t you have to do that much in order to win anyway?] [30 kills then?] [40 kills.] 40 kills out of 60 people. Considering that the center and the south would also fight each other, it was almost no different from asking Jude to kill them all. ¡®You¡¯ll say that you can¡¯t do that, right?¡¯ Cordelia thought she would be satisfied if she just hear one word ofint from Jude. But Jude gave an unexpected answer. [Okay.] [Huh?] [That¡¯s good. If I get more than 40 kills, Cordelia, you¡¯ll grant me one wish. If I can¡¯t do it, I¡¯ll grant you your wish.] [W-wait a minute. What wish are you talking about?] [Hoh, are you scared? It¡¯s just 40 kills, right?] Jude provoked her with a sly smile, and Cordelia was unwittingly provoked, but she did not immediately answer back. Because she had past experience. There was no way Jude would have said that if he wasn¡¯t confident. ¡®I-isn¡¯t it too much though?¡¯ 40 kills out of 60 people. That may be possible if Jude fought alone against a south and center alliance rather than a 1:1:1 group battle. [You okay with 40 kills?] [50 kills. Do 50 kills.] If you say that you can¡¯t do it, this time, I¡¯ll be the one to tease and ask you if you¡¯re scared. When Cordeliacently smiled and said, Jude immediately nodded his head. [All right, 50 kills. Instead, you¡¯ll fulfill your promise, right? If I get 50 kills, you¡¯ll grant me any wish, right? Whatever I wish, okay?] [W-wait a minute.] [Why? Are you scared? Scared of 50 kills?] [Argh, that¡¯s not it, okay? I just have to mentally prepare myself, okay? I won¡¯t back down, okay? I¡¯m going to make an unreasonable wish, okay?] [Same with me then. I¡¯ll also make a really unreasonable wish, okay?] Cordelia unconsciously flinched when Jude said that with wide open eyes. Because he was worried about it too. ¡®W-what the hell?¡¯ What¡¯s a really unreasonable wish? What did he mean by that? Cordelia¡¯s imagination began to run wild in her head again, and she blushed at some point. [Y-you f*cking pervert.] [W-wait a second. What? What did you say? Are you thinking of something weird?] [N-no, I¡¯m not? Anyway, fine. I¡¯ll agree to 50 kills, okay?] [Good, let¡¯s make a contract.] [Eh?] [A contract.] Jude said as he took out a contract that he had made earlier, and Cordelia signed with her thumbprint. [Good, I¡¯ll be looking forward to it then.] [Hmph, me too.] Cordelia snorted first before she took a deep breath and tried to calm her anxiousness. She felt like she was somehow tricked, but she thought that it was still very favorable for her. ¡®That¡¯s right, he has to do a whopping 50 kills.¡¯ 50 kills out of 60 people. How will he do that if it¡¯s a group battle? It¡¯s also against two groups, so it¡¯s a 1:1:1. Even if he is strong, it¡¯s still impossible. As long as he doesn¡¯t cheat. ¡®Scammer.¡¯ Jude is a scammer. Cordelia suddenly became very anxious. Chapter 209: Wolf of the Wind (3)

Chapter 209: Wolf of the Wind (3)

Some corrections for the previous episodes: -The multiplier for the north was actually higher than the multiplier for the south and center. Someone in thements pointed it out in the previous episode, so I¡¯ve corrected it now. -In Jude¡¯s first fight against First Sword, he actually used an attack called ¡®Sky Shattering ck Dragon.¡¯ I previously thought it was just some chuuni line, so I had tranted it as ¡®Shatter the skies, O ck Dragon.¡¯ But it was an attack name, so I¡¯ll be using Sky Shattering ck Dragon from now on. The day of thepetition finally arrived. The massive colosseum stadium, which could amodate tens of thousands of people at the same time, was literally packed. If the ball was the highlight of the founding anniversary celebration for the nobles, the fightingpetition was the highlight for the people of the royal capital. ¡°This fightingpetition¡­ everyone¡¯s really excited.¡± Dahlia said in a surprised voice as she sat in the VIP seats and looked around. She had watched thepetition four times in the past, but this was the first time that thepetition had this much enthusiasm. If Jude was next to them, he would have told them that the people the royal family had hired to liven up the atmosphere were active in various ces, but unfortunately, Jude was in the stadium and not in the VIP seats. ¡°Don¡¯t be so worried, Miss. I¡¯m sure Miss knows how strong Lord Jude is, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, mydy. Nothing bad will happen.¡± When Cordelia sat with an anxious and worried face, Dahlia spoke to her with a smile, and Maja who was nearby also smiled and added. In the eyes of the two people, Cordelia worrying about her fiance¡¯s safety was quite charming andmendable. But Cordelia¡¯s innermost feelings were a bit different. ¡®Eueue¡­why am I this anxious?¡¯ It was true that she was worried about him getting hurt, but she also had an ominous feeling. 50 kills. Even if he¡¯s that strong, 50 kills is impossible, right? Lucas is there too, right? The other people from the north are not scarecrows, and in addition, it¡¯s a 1:1:1. Some people will also be ¡®killed¡¯ when the center and south fight each other. And some people will choose to surrender in the fight. ¡®Ah, I don¡¯t know anymore.¡¯ Anyway, please don¡¯t get hurt. Cordelia closed her eyes and tightly held her hands in prayer, and Maja who was next to Cordelia also prayed with her hands together since she was worried about Jude too. And right after that. At the time when Count Chase made a snorting sound. ¡°Let the fight begin!¡± As soon as Princess Daphne, who was sitting on a high ce, dered the start of thepetition, loud trumpet sounds filled the colosseum, and the shouts of the spectators shook the ce afterwards. ¡°Uoooooooh!¡± Cordelia reflexively opened her eyes at the immensely loud cheers, and she looked down at the circr stadium with a nervous look. gs representing the north, center, and south were erected at the three corners of the round stadium which was wider than a ser field, and 30 well-armed knights were lined up under each g. The group who could take away their opponent¡¯s g and bring it to their camp would win. However, the north, center, and south were all pitted against each other, and there were 30 people per group, so tactical movements were quite important in this battle. What will happen? What in the world will Jude do to get 50 kills? A dozen seconds passed. At the time when the spectators¡¯ shouts died down. The knights from the center and south began to move at the same time. But their movements were a little strange. Because both of their attack groups were openly marching towards the north. As if they had made an alliance. ¡°Oooh! The center and south have joined hands!¡± ¡°Are they hitting the north first?¡± Most of the people who filled the spectator seats were naturally from the royal capital. Since the center wasn¡¯t in a disadvantageous situation, no one was booing. Moreover, this kind of thing frequently happened in the fightingpetition. As it was a 1:1:1 battle in the first ce, temporary alliances and betrayalsmonly urred. But why the north? Why are they attacking the north? Cordelia was convinced the moment she saw the north¡¯s response to the center and south attacking them from both sides. ¡®Jude, you evil b*stard!¡¯ You damn scammer! At the moment when Cordelia¡¯s praise (and not praise) burst out, loud cheers erupted again among the audience. ***Jude didn¡¯t actually put much effort into his scam. All he did was create a venue where the central and southern prospects who attended the Banquet of Swords could exchange their thoughts several times. So those who had participated in the Banquet of Swords all thought of the same thing. They must attack the north first. Even if Jude could move fast or slow, he was still one person in the end. Grabbing the g of the north would mean the defeat of the entire northern group, regardless of whether Jude survived or not. Furthermore, Jude had suffered great injuries in his fight against the Lord Protector. It was somehow disgraceful to attack a weakened person, but in the first ce, this was Jude¡¯s fault for pushing ahead with his participation in the fighting tournament even though he had notpletely recovered yet. Several central and southern knights stayed behind in order to protect their gs, and the rest of them charged towards the northern group in both directions at the same time, but the north was fully prepared and responded. ¡°Strengthen the defense! Block the center!¡± Lucas was pretty much the leader of the northern group. When he loudly shouted, all the northern knights turned to the central knights and took a defensive formation. Theirbat tactic was hammer and anvil. All the northern knights led by Lucas became the anvil and blocked the central knights. All the southern knights were left to the hammer. To their one-of-a-kind and invincible hammer on this battlefield! ¡°Sky Shattering ck Dragon!¡± Jude rushed to the southern knights alone and shouted it loudly as he released the energy of the ck dragon. As huge air waves struck the front, the southern knights quickly spread to the left and right to evade the attack, but not everyone was able to avoid it. Some of the knights in the middle where blown away by the energy of the giant ck dragon. And lightning struck. With the Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt, Jude headed to the southern knights who had split into the left side, and he opened the fifth door instead of the iplete sixth door as he prated into their ranks. But it wasn¡¯t his usual fifth door. To begin with, Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors was a kind of buff that nearly amplified its user¡¯s basic capabilities. Therefore, Jude¡¯s fifth door was much stronger than his previous fifth door despite having opened the sixth gate already. He added the ck Sun to his nned attack. Jude¡¯s internal energy was so immense and powerful that it waspletely iparable to the other prospects in the stadium, so it was truly like the sun appearing in the night sky. First move. Jude saw the southern knight in front of him as the knight raised his shield. Though Jude was wearing leather armor and had a sword on his waist, he used the energy of the ck Sun and transmitted it to his entire body, striking the center of the shield as he recalled Landius¡¯ movements. Bang! The southern knight was blown away over a dozen meters with his shield before he rolled over the floor. A fully armed knight usually weighed over a hundred kilograms. So the sight of such a knight flying over a dozen meters and rolling on the floor because of a single blow was so unrealistic. But not for Jude. Because he had already seen Landius do it. Because he knew it was possible to fight like this. He immediately kicked the ground again. He moved his hands and feet without hesitation towards the southern knights who had frozen for a moment because of the unrealistic sight. Bang! Bang! Bang! He threw and pushed them. Every time he moved his hand, a southern knight flew into the air. They werepletely helpless against him because they couldn¡¯t withstand the force pushing them even if they blocked it with a shield. ¡°Strike back! Rather, attack!¡± One of the southern knights yelled and bravely rushed towards Jude. Jude saw the knight. And he realized it again. The world he had lived in had changed now. For Jude who had fought against the swords of the Lord Protector and First Sword, the swords of the prospects were no longer a threat to him. The knight¡¯s sword drew a sharp trajectory. And Jude grabbed the trajectory of such a sword. To be exact, he grabbed the wrist of the knight wielding the sword. The knight was flustered as he never imagined that to happen, and Jude threw the knight with only just his hand. Jude was as strong as several people to begin with, so if he added the energy of the ck Sun, his strength would rise so greatly that even the word ¡®superpower¡¯ didn¡¯t fit it. ¡°Aaaaah!¡± The southern knight struck the other knights and they fell to the floor. Having ¡®killed¡¯ more than ten people in an instant, the audience cheered even more, and Jude used his Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt again. ¡°No! Defend the g!¡± The leader of the southern knights shouted loudly, but it was a misjudgment. Because Jude flew towards the knights of the center and north instead of heading to the g of the south. His reason was simple. ¡®I have to kill more!¡¯ He still had a long way to go before he got to 50 kills. But his actions looked different to the surrounding knights. Not only the southern knights, but even the central and northern knights misunderstood Jude¡¯s actions. ¡®Is he trying to protect his allies?¡¯ ¡®He¡¯s protecting us!¡¯ It didn¡¯t matter to him if he was misunderstood. What mattered to him was to increase his kill count. ¡®Lucas is stronger than I thought!¡¯ Lucas had already defeated three knights from the center. So Jude immediately blew away the three knights in front of him in session and run towards Lucas. He destroyed the enemy formation and took down the knights around Lucas first. And he thought at the same time. The southern knights. They were rearranging their formation. Because they realized that fighting Jude was impossible, so they were nning to take the g of the north while he was fighting the center. As for the central knights. They did not know that they were only sacrifices for Jude, so they did not step back. They were already crossing swords with the north, so they tried to maintain their current situation. But it wasn¡¯t good. If they continued their tussle, the central knights would be defeated by the northern knights. Therefore, Jude turned his eyes. He found a familiar man among the central knights, and put his hand on his sword as he looked at that man. ¡°Avoid him! He¡¯s drawing his sword!¡± Lucian Dior. The guy whom he fought against in the Banquet of Swords, and the one who yed a crucial role in moving the central knights. And he made Jude¡¯s wishe true again. When he shouted loudly, all the central knights groaned and retreated. Because Lucian had made a fuss before the game, saying that he didn¡¯t know on what would happen if Jude drew his sword. That was why a gap was created. Jude flew to those who were mixed with the northern knights. It was the time that one long breath would take, but it was a long and valuable time for Jude to use Hyper-Wind Thunderbolt and Thunder God Invokes Lightning. ¡°Aaaah!¡± Four central knights flew in the air, and Jude shouted at Lucas. ¡°Protect the g! The south ising!¡± His words were heard. Lucasmanded them, and the northern knights quickly retreated to defend their g as they lined up in formation, and because of that, a gap was created again. Jude blew away two more knights from the center before he headed towards the southern knights again. The situation of the southern and northern knights facing each other had to be avoided. Jude turned his eyes. He counted the number of knights from the south, and saw them approaching in apact formation that would not be easily destroyed. So he smiled and made his next move. The sixth door. It was iplete but was stronger than the fifth door! Bang! The energy exploded. The ck dragon¡¯s energy turned into a ck me and rose like an explosion, and Jude kicked the ground. After he flew high in the air, he dug into the middle of the southern knights¡¯ dense formation. ¡°It¡¯s an attack!¡± Someone shouted. They hastily stepped back and lifted their shields or swung their swords. But Jude ignored them. He immediately lowered his posture and ced his two hands on the floor. The energy of the ck Sun was released to the maximum. ¡°ck Dragon Spiral!¡± Six ck dragons were released by Jude and turned the ground upside down at the same time. The ck energy smashed the ground, and soon soared up and blew away all the southern knights. ¡°Uooooooh!¡± The audience broke into loud cheers. It was natural because more than ten knights were defeated at once. Jude raised his head amidst the cheers. He saw the g of the south, and when the southern knights guarding the g flinched, he rushed back towards the central knights. And at that moment, everyone inside the stadium realized. That Jude had no intention of taking the gs. Even if they brought him the g, he would defeat the one who brought it instead of receiving it. ¡®W-what the hell!¡¯ ¡®Does he have a grudge against us?!¡¯ ¡®I-is it because of me?¡¯ Thest one was Lucian, and Jude threw that Lucian away. He used Lightning Punch against the central knights who wereing in from all sides at the same time. Baaaaang! His attack was different than before. His Lightning Punch were now truly seven strikes that were unfolded at the speed of lightning. Four central knights were simultaneously defeated, and Jude let out his breath. The only ones who stood now were the central and southern knights who were guarding their gs. ¡®Seven in the south and five in the center.¡¯ That was enough. If he chose the south, he could pass 50 kills. ¡°Lucas! Center!¡± Jude loudly yelled, and Lucas, who had been looking around as he held his sword, came to his senses. He led a group of people and headed towards the central group¡¯s g. And Jude headed towards the southern group¡¯s g. If he walked slowly, they would have surrendered, so he quickly narrowed the distance with Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt. ¡°I sur-¡± ¡°No!¡± I can¡¯t allow it! Jude struck the abdomen of the southern knight who was trying to surrender in order for the knight to be unable to speak, and he blew away the southern knights one after another. There were those who bravely charged, saying that it was all or nothing, but the difference in power was too big. Originally, knights were not defeated so easily by martial arts because they were fully equipped with armor, but his unimaginable power and overwhelming difference in skill broke their existingmon sense. And he struck again. Jude blew away thest man and grabbed the southern group¡¯s g. ¡°Uooooooooh!¡± The audience broke into cheers. When Lucas raised the central group¡¯s g, louder shouts shook the entire colosseum. Because it was the north, or rather, Jude¡¯s overwhelming victory. ¡°Jude Bayer!¡± ¡°Jude Bayer!¡± ¡°Count Bayer!¡± To be exact, he was Jude August Bayer, but it was too long. So the crowd cheered for Count Bayer, and the real Count Bayer somehow felt awkward and cleared his throat for no reason as he smiled. ¡°Miss, did you see it? Miss!¡± Dahlia was delighted, and so was Maja. In particr, those on the Bayer side who had known Jude since his sick days had faces that looked like they were about to cry soon. ¡°The Swordless Swordsman!¡± ¡°Guardian of the royal family!¡± Several voices were heard from the spectators at that time. The winner of the Banquet of Swords. The northern hero who protected the royal family from the Lord Protector. It was at that moment when the true strength of Jude, which had only been known through rumors, was revealed to the entire world. Smiles of satisfaction spread among the faces of the royal family, and the faces of the empire¡¯s delegates who were watching from the VIP seats had slightly turned tense. It was a natural reaction as a monster beyondmon sense had appeared in apetition for prospects, which was only a taste before the mainpetition. And one more person. The main character of this event, Jude, stared at that person. ¡¯51 kills.¡¯ All except those who were defeated by Lucas and the northern knights. Jude had a dark smile on his face, and Cordelia covered her face with both hands. Chapter 210: Wolf of the Wind (4)

Chapter 210: Wolf of the Wind (4)

Scarlet burst intoughter without realizing it. Someone said that people could only do nothing butugh when faced with such a ridiculous situation, and it seemed like those words were true. ¡®What the hell.¡¯ She knew that he was strong. Scarlet herself wasn¡¯t confident that she could beat Jude. So she thought that he would show an overwhelming performance in thispetition. Even if a dozen underage knights, who still had some room to grow, would fight Jude, they wouldn¡¯t be able to defeat him. However. ¡®Ha, seriously?¡¯ She won as she had expected, but the way he did it was beyond her imagination. What the hell? Is he a human? Why do people fly when he throws them? She could understand if he was a huge giant over 2 meters tall, but Jude wasn¡¯t. He was tall, but was just tall enough to look good, and he had a good build, but didn¡¯t look that threatening. Therefore, it was more shocking. It was really astounding. ¡®Pink Bomb, you¡¯re dating someone like that?¡¯ Wouldn¡¯t your whole body be crushed if he hugged you tightly? Scarlet was mixed among the spectators, and she turned to Cordelia in the VIP seats. She then had a bitter smile as she looked on with a warm gaze. ¡®She really likes him.¡¯ She likes him so much that she covers her face with both hands. Scarlet giggled before she looked back at the stadium. Immense cheers continued to be heard. ¡®It¡¯s history¡­ no, it¡¯s a scene from a legend.¡¯ The birth of a hero who only appeared in myths and legends, a person who could defeat more than 50 knights alone. It was natural for people to be enthusiastic. Even Scarlet herself who knew the true colors of Jude was feeling thrilled. ¡®Well¡­ Lucas also performed well.¡¯ He also defeated many knights just like Jude. Scarlet smiled a little differently than before, and she looked back at the stadium. She gazed at Lucas and saw Jude approaching him. And it was at that time. Jude raised his hands high and responded to the cheers of the audience before he made a hand gesture. It was signal to be quiet for a moment, and the enthusiastic crowd gradually quieted down. Thus, it became silent. Jude took a deep breath as he looked toward Cordelia and spoke calmly in a voice loud enough to reach the entire colosseum. ¡°I will dedicate today¡¯s victory to my beloved fianc¨¦e, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Uooooooh!¡± In that instant, cheers erupted from the audience, and people¡¯s attention shifted from Jude to Cordelia. And Cordelia, who was hiding from the world as she covered her face, became even more restless at everyone¡¯s gazes. ¡°Miss, it¡¯s okay.¡± ¡°Please wave your hand a bit.¡± Maja and Dahlia spoke from the side, and Cordelia stood up with a tearful face and waved her hand to the crowd. ¡®Why am I the one who¡¯s always being embarrassed?¡¯ She was really, really embarrassed and was in tears, but everyone who saw herpletely thought differently. To them, it seemed like she was moved to tears at Jude¡¯s dedication of his victory to her. And amidst such countless misunderstandings, Cordelia made eye contact with Jude and was really about to cry. ¡®I can¡¯t tell what he¡¯s thinking!¡¯ Their distance was too far. All she knew was that he was smiling evilly, but she couldn¡¯t figure out what he was thinking inside. ¡®What? What is it? What the hell are you going to make me do? Why are you smiling so much?¡¯ She obviously couldn¡¯t read his eyes because he was too far away. But unlike Cordelia, Jude knew very well what she was thinking. ¡®She¡¯s thinking about me making a wishter.¡¯ Cordelia fidgeting is the cutest in the world though. Does she know how cute she looks when her imagination is running wild? With a dark smile on his face, Jude once again responded to the spectator¡¯s cheers before he returned to the waiting room together with the knights from the north. And twenty minutester. Jude had changed into casual clothes much faster than the other knights because he was wearing light armor in the first ce. He then sat next to Cordelia and she stared hard at him. Because she was scared on what Jude might say, but her want of looking at his eyes to know his thoughts was much stronger. But people said that it was possible to attack anything if one knew the pattern to it. So after Jude figured out Cordelia¡¯s thoughts, he stared at her instead of avoiding her gaze. ¡®I just don¡¯t have to think about it.¡¯ Because their eye conversation wasn¡¯t really telepathy. There was nothing for her to read unless he thought about something. And if he applied those words, it also became possible to attack her. Just like this. ¡°Eueueu¡­¡± Cordelia made eye contact with Jude and flinched. She then began to hit Jude after seeing his thoughts. Her ps naturally didn¡¯t hurt Jude. What Jude had thought of was simple. Cordelia is cute. As he filled his head with that thought only, it was natural for Cordelia, who had met his gaze, to be that embarrassed. ¡®How sweet, how sweet.¡¯ Those who looked at Jude and Cordelia¡¯s quarrel with the eyes of a third party simply smiled with happy faces because they did not know on what was actually happening. [Anyway, Cordelia.] [Why! Why! Why!] [What about my brother and Adelia?] At Jude¡¯s question, Cordelia took a deep breath and pointed to the stadium. [Waiting room. It¡¯s about to start soon.] [Hmm, I¡¯m looking forward to it.] How strong have my brother be? Surely, he must have be strong enough to be one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. ¡°It¡¯s starting.¡± As the trumpets loudly sounded, the knights from the north, center, and south finally entered the stadium. *** Thirty people for each group. It was the same number of people as the previous game, but the feeling of pressure was different when they stood on the field. After all, they were real grown-up knights unlike the prospective knights earlier who were still physically growing because they were minors. There was also the difference in experience. There was a gap that could not be filled between those who had experienced real battles and those who had not. The central and southern knights. At the forefront of each group were Richard Galleon, the Lion¡¯s Sword, and Calix Ophand, the Sea Serpent yer, who were considered as candidates for the Ten Great Swordmasters position. The Lion¡¯s Sword was covered in golden armor and was so huge that he seemed to be over 2 meters tall at first nce. And Calix, the eldest son of the Ophand family who inherited the blood of beasts, gave off a deadly energy that just standing there silenced everyone around him. Richard and Calix stared at each other. Because both sides had a feeling that the other would determine the victory or defeat of their group, especially now that Aios Lain, who was known to be the fastest swordsman among the Jackdaws, was absent. Obviously, there was one more candidate for the Ten Great Swordmasters position. Ga?l Bayer. Jude Bayer¡¯s older brother who showed an amazing performance. But he was seriously injured in the battle on the royal capital. Moreover, he only managed to hold back a high-ranking demonic human, and did not make any particr noticeable contribution. ¡®And.¡¯ Richard and Calix have both met Ga?l. In Richard¡¯s case, there was a time when they had crossed swords at the Banquet of Swords. That was why both knew. ¡®He¡¯s too restrained.¡¯ One could say that he was ordinary. Ga?l¡¯s sword was a model student¡¯s sword. Faithful to the basics without anything unique to it. It was not that he didn¡¯t have the talent, but he just didn¡¯t make a strong impression. He was a bit strange, but he was just a knight who was inly strong. So Richard and Calix didn¡¯t care much about Ga?l. The two just stared at each other. But at some point. Richard¡¯s experience, which had been refined by numerous practical battles, made him turn his eyes away. Calix¡¯s instincts began to sense an immense danger. Why? The two people reflexively turned their heads and flinched unknowingly. They looked at the northern knights with a perplexed look. *** Adelia defined the Ga?l who rose from the battle on the royal capital into one word. ¡®Beast.¡¯ Beast, monster, wolf. His personality didn¡¯t change. Ga?l was still a good, honest, and sincere man. But something definitely changed. To be exact, something woke up in him. The Essence of the Silver Moon that was created by Druid Fran had explosively strengthened Ga?l¡¯s physical abilities. His internal energy had also more than doubled. But it wasn¡¯t those things that really mattered. ¡®The Sword of Wind.¡¯ Count Bayer¡¯s sword. As Count Bayer had shown in his fight against First Sword, the essence of the Sword of Wind was the gale. A wild, unrestrained, and raging wind. Ga?l took a deep breath. He slowly exhaled and looked straight ahead. His blue hair shined in the daylight. His left arm that was reced with a prosthetic arm could freely move, but he could not feel any sensations on it. But he was smiling. Because he knew now. What his father had meant. What the gale, the essence of the Sword of Wind, was. Ga?l no longer restrained himself. Hepletely liberated the wildness that woke up in the process of his resurrection. And at that moment, everyone in the stadium looked at Ga?l. They couldn¡¯t help it. But it was only the beginning. Ga?l took a step forward. He looked straight ahead without hiding his fierce smile. ¡°Adelia.¡± Ga?l whispered low and drew his sword. He showed the knights of the center and south, as well as the spectators at the colosseum, the true Sword of Wind, his Sword of Gale. *** The fightingpetition ended sessfully. The result was a one-sided victory for the north in both the minor and adult divisions. But despite the defeat of the central group, the entire royal capital was engulfed in a grand and festive atmosphere again. ¡°It¡¯s a huge sess.¡± Prince Dion, the person who nned and pushed for the fightingpetition, smiled brightly for the first time in a long while, and upon seeing her younger brother¡¯s smile, Princess Daphne was also happy as she filled her ss with wine. ¡°The birth of a new great swordmaster.¡± They couldn¡¯t fill all the vacancies in the Ten Great Swordmasters, but it was enough for them. The residents of the royal capital were exhrated by the birth of a new great swordmaster, and they no longer worried about the vacancy left by First Sword. Sword Wolf. The wolf of the sword. The sword of the dominating gale that defeated the beast of the south, Calix Ophand, and the Lion¡¯s Sword, Richard Galleon from the center. ¡°For the Bayer family.¡± Prince Dion raised his ss together with Princess Daphne, and was sincerely grateful. After all, they were able to reverse the atmosphere of the royal capital because of the Bayer family. The Sword of Wind reced the Sword of Light. The Sword Wolf ¨C Ga?l, who now held the Sword of Gale, became one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. And even Jude Bayer, the Swordless Swordsman, showed an overwhelming performance. ¡°Their family are really great swordsmen.¡± It was clear to them that Jude would also be one of the Ten Great Swordmasters in the future. In one family, three great swordmasters were born in the same time period. It was a tremendous feat that couldn¡¯t be found anywhere. At Princess Daphne¡¯s words of admiration, Prince Dion nodded and cheerfully smiled, saying as he touched his chin. ¡°But my dear sister.¡± ¡°Yes, my dear little brother.¡± ¡°Is Jude a real swordsman?¡± They had never seen him use a sword. Even in the fightingpetition, he only pretended to pull it out. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I think he¡¯s a swordsman. After all, we¡¯ve never seen the Iron Man use a sword too, right?¡± ¡°A swordless swordsman.¡± How could a swordsman be a swordsman if they didn¡¯t use a sword? But that didn¡¯t matter to them. What mattered was the fact that new heroes were born from this fightingpetition. ¡°Two people of destiny.¡± Just as Princess Darianne and Prince Dion each had their own unique abilities, Princess Daphne also inherited a special ability from the Founder King. A heavenly voice. Whispers from above that she could hear from time to time. That being had said. The two people of destiny would determine the fate of Princess Daphne and Prince Dion, as well as the entire S?len Kingdom. ¡°Then, when are those two getting married?¡± ¡°They haven¡¯t held an engagement ceremony yet, right?¡± It was an arranged marriage from the time they were still in their mothers¡¯ wombs, and now, they were both 17 years old. ¡°Hmm, should we do it for them then?¡± ¡°What? The engagement ceremony?¡± ¡°Yes, with the blessing of the royal family.¡± The two had already done a lot of favors to the royal family to the extent that they could be called royalists, but the royal family needed to be more certain that the two were on their side. ¡®No, I just want to be nice to them more.¡¯ Because they really owed the two a huge favor. ¡°Hmm¡­ I think that¡¯s a good idea? Shall we go ahead with it?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go ahead with it.¡± The siblingsughed without worries after a long time and bumped their sses again as they continued to discuss their n in more detail. But unfortunately, the siblings¡¯ wishes wouldn¡¯te true. *** ¡°Hey, are we really going like this?¡± ¡°Because our feet will keep getting tied down. I even participated in thepetition, but we really have to go now.¡± The night after thepetition. Jude suggested to Cordelia that they take a honeymoon trip to the south, or to be exact, to escape at night. ¡°If we continue to stay at the royal capital, we will not be able to leave for the south even after a month.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ I agree.¡± There were so many people who wanted to meet Jude and Cordelia. Furthermore, it was not easy to refuse them since they were all high-ranking nobles. ¡®It¡¯s a pity that I couldn¡¯t stop by the Medb¡¯s auction house in the end¡­ but it¡¯s not a big deal.¡¯ The Medb¡¯s auction house was hit hard in the chaos that urred when the royal capital was attacked. Because of that, the auction house wouldn¡¯t be holding an auction for a while, so they couldn¡¯t help it even if they thought that it was a pity. ¡°What about our fief then?¡± ¡°My father and brother will take care of it.¡± The fief that they were supposed to receive had already been confirmed. Although they had yet to receive the official documents, it was not a big problem since they wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything to it yet. ¡®Because we¡¯re not in a situation where we can just sit back and manage our fief.¡¯ ck Dragon Malekith¡¯s attack on the south was drawing near. Due to the butterfly effect, the event could go a bit faster or slower than the original storyline, but in any case, they couldn¡¯t just wait for it to happen. ¡°Ultimate One.¡± It would be perfect for Jude who was called the Swordless Swordsman. It was a weapon that he must obtain before their final battle against Malekith. ¡°I see, then it¡¯s fine. We can¡¯t help it.¡± Cordelia nodded her head, and Jude immediately ced the prepared letter on the bed. The letter wrote that the two were going on a romantic trip to the south, so they shouldn¡¯t look for the two. ¡°But Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± ¡°That¡­¡± ¡°That?¡± ¡°Wi¡­¡± ¡°Wi?¡± Jude grinned and tilted his head as if he didn¡¯t know what she was talking about, and Cordelia bit her lips and pulled on Jude¡¯s arm as she said. ¡°The wish! What¡¯s your wish!¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ What kind of wish should I make? I¡¯m worried because I have so many wishes to make.¡± ¡°M-many?¡± ¡°Yes, there are so many, so I¡¯m really worried on what to wish for. So it will take some time. Hmm, perhaps at least a few days.¡± Jude smiled and said before he packed their luggage. And Cordelia¡¯s imagination began to run wild in the meantime. ¡°Anyway, Madam, I think we should get going.¡± When Jude said that, he showed her his back as if telling her to ride on his back, but Cordelia suddenly pped and said in a quiet voice. ¡°Yes, yes, if Jude¡¯s wish is a piggyback ride¡­ should I allow it then?¡± Because her ban on skinship had yet to be lifted. At Cordelia¡¯s words, Jude grinned and said. ¡°What the¡­ are you saying that¡¯s my wish?¡± ¡°No, well¡­ it is.¡± When Cordelia smirked and said, Jude snorted before nodding his head. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s do that.¡± ¡°Eh? Really?¡± ¡°Yes. If you want me to wish to carry you on my back instead of saying my real wish, I can¡¯t help it then, right?¡± Cordelia flinched at Jude¡¯s words. Her conscience was stabbed because she felt that she was somehow cheating him, but the ¡®real wish¡¯ that Jude had said was also bothering her. What is it? What kind of wish is it? Cordelia began to imagine again, and her face blushed as always before she finally made up her mind. ¡°Okay. Just for this time, I¡¯ll ride on your back.¡± ¡°Should that be my wish?¡± ¡°No. Just tell me your real er.¡± Cordelia averted her eyes for no reason, and Jude began tough in a sly way. ¡°Why are you doing that?¡± ¡°Well, I just thought that my princess is really an angel.¡± That was it. Instead of teasing her more, Jude showed her his back, and Cordelia pouted her lips before she carried the bag on her back and got on Jude¡¯s back. ¡°Are you not saying those words today?¡± Her usual lines of merging with Jude. ¡°Uh, not for now.¡± Cordelia responded with a slightly sulky voice as she hugged Jude¡¯s neck, and Jude quietly smiled as he arranged Cordelia¡¯s position. To stop the attack of ck Dragon Malekith. The two began their trip to the south. Chapter 211: Ultimate One (1)

Chapter 211: Ultimate One (1)

My apologies for not posting yesterday. Anyway, this chapter was a pain to trante, partly because of all those references. And partly because it took me some time to figure out they were talking about ¡®pregnancy¡¯ in one part of this episode, hahaha. Terms used in this episode: Korean instant noodle with rice ¨C Ramyeon is the word for Korean instant noodles. But some Koreans also like cooking rice along with ramyeon. Dragonflight ¨C subrace of dragons from the official lore of the World of Warcraft game. Horse requisition tablet ¨C a round tablet carried by public officials in Korea¡¯s Joseon Dynasty in order to use a horse or horses owned by the state for their missions. It is also used by secret royal inspectors in order to prove and reveal their identities to public officials. Secret royal inspector ¨C an undercover official directly appointed by the king and sent to the local provinces in order to monitor government officials and look after the popce while traveling incognito. For their secret missions, they receive a letter of appointment and a horse requisition tablet. The line ¡®the secret royal inspector is here!¡¯ is a famous line on how secret royal inspectors reveal themselves to government officials as they present their horse requisition tablet as proof of their identity. After they reveal themselves, their subordinates will appear to inspect the government officials¡¯ records. Here¡¯s a video from the Korean series Haechi, about a secret royal inspector shouting that line and showing his tablet. It doesn¡¯t have English subtitles though. Start at 0:30. It was the only until next morning did Jude and Cordelia¡¯s nighttime escape was discovered. When the maid found the letter on the bed, she was surprised and urgently sought for Count Chase, and the news of the two running away at night quickly spread around. ¡°Count Bayer and Count Chase eloped!¡± ¡°What? Count Bayer and Count Chase?¡± ¡°N-no! Not the fathers! It¡¯s the children!¡± Since it was a topic about Jude and Cordelia, it only took about an hour before the entire royal capital heard the news. And the reactions of the people who heard the news werergely divided into two. ¡°Elopement? Aren¡¯t the two already engaged?¡± ¡°Their families didn¡¯t object to them, right?¡± Those who had learned about the two only after the royal capital¡¯s incident had ended could not immediately understand the current situation. Because they couldn¡¯t understand why the two ran away at night when their families were okay with it, and no one was stopping them from loving each other. And the reactions of those who had already known about the two were almost the same. ¡°Again?¡± ¡°Can you still call it an elopement at this rate?¡± That was how they reacted. Because the two hadn¡¯t done it once or twice. The two had already run away a total of five times. Moreover, since it was a recognized rtionship that their families actively pushed together, running away just because they wanted to go on a trip together didn¡¯t make sense. ¡°But they¡¯re still engaged, right?¡± The two were not married yet. Furthermore, they were only 17 years old now. Even if they were engaged, it was inevitable that there would be a scandal if they went on a trip alone. Just as how bad rumors circted in the north when the two first ran away. But the status and public perception of the two had changed since then. The reactions to the two going on a honeymoon trip were as follows. ¡°What? They haven¡¯t had an ident yet?¡± ¡°I thought she had an ident back then?¡± ¡°No, didn¡¯t they run away back then in order to have an ident?¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be because of an ident that they ran away in the first ce?¡± T/N: ¡®Have an ident¡¯ is a subtle way of saying that a woman got pregnant even though she is still unmarried. It was the scandal that spread about the two known as the couple of the century who were already recognized by their families, as well as the entire royal capital, or rather, the entire S?len Kingdom. In fact, the public¡¯s perception of the two was that they were no different from a married couple already, as their rtionship had been synonymous to lovebirds who would die if they were separated from the other. If the two ever broke up, the entire S?len Kingdom would rise and express their opposition to it. ¡°All ording to n.¡± ¡°Uuuh¡­?¡± The half-asleep Cordelia let out a confused voice, and Jude grinned before saying. ¡°My princess, shouldn¡¯t you get up now?¡± ¡°Mmnnn¡­¡± Cordelia usually slept a lot in the morning, so she was still half-asleep. Jude then lightly kissed Cordelia¡¯s forehead and whispered to her again. ¡°You have to get up now.¡± ¡°Mmmnnn¡­¡± Cordelia waved her hands when he put his lips on her forehead again. ¡°Kisses¡­ no kisses¡­¡± Because skinship was still banned. But Jude tilted his head and slyly said. ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything. Perhaps you¡¯re still dreaming?¡± ¡°I-is that so¡­? Then it¡¯s fine.¡± Because kisses are nice. Cordelia giggled and closed her eyes again, and Jude had a bitter smile before he pinched her cheek. He wanted to let her sleep more, but it was already time for her to get up. ¡°You really have to get up now, okay? We¡¯re almost there.¡± ¡°Uuuuuh¡­¡± Cordelia forcibly opened her eyes, touching her cheeks as she looked around. Her eyes were still half-open, so her vision was blurry, but she could roughly see that they were in a forest. ¡°Yaaaawn¡­¡± Cordelia yawned and stretched her arms, raising her upper body as she closed her eyes again. Jude then quickly brought out a basin he had prepared. ¡°Now, wash your face. Drink a ss of cold water too.¡± ¡°Uuuh¡­¡± At this point, she couldn¡¯t help but wake up. Having drank cold water after washing her face, Cordelia blinked her eyes, and by the time she was fully awake, her hair was already washed, or to be exact, he had washed her hair. ¡°Stay still, just stay still.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Jude had also learned various basic magic spells aside from magic, so he mixed magic and magic in order to dry Cordelia¡¯s hair before he began tob it skillfully. ¡®Isn¡¯t this morefortable than when I didn¡¯t run away?¡¯ Shouldn¡¯t I be having a hard time since I ran away from home? Jude finished hisbing while Cordelia was thinking alone, and he looked at her hair with a very proud expression before he immediately began to prepare their meals. Since they were outdoors, he was thinking of serving some pancakes, fried eggs, sausages and a bit of vegetables in moderate amounts. He fried it on a pan over the campfire. And he even boiled water for tea. As Cordelia sat and watched Jude¡¯s actions, she sucked in her lips and said. ¡°Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll definitely boil you some ramyeonter. I¡¯m really good at boiling ramyeon.¡± ¡°Where will you get the ramyeon?¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you make it for me, Jude? Oh, and rice too. It¡¯s nice to mix some rice in ramyeon.¡± When Cordelia giggled, Jude used that opportunity to pinch her cheeks. ¡°Don¡¯t you have a conscience?¡± ¡°Well, my heart feels warm.¡± ¡°Shall we check it then?¡± Whether your heart really has any hair or not. T/N: A return of the ¡®hair in your heart¡¯ idiom, which means a brazen or shameless person. Hair provides warmth to your head, so if your heart had hair too, your heart would also feel warm. After hisme joke, Jude focused on cooking again. And after a few minutes or so. Cordelia took a bite of the sausage and looked around. ¡°By the way, where are we?¡± ¡°A nameless forest between Morrison and Garinto. A little further south from here is Mount Damos, which is a part of the fief we¡¯ll be receiving.¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyes widened when she thought of the map of Legend of Heroes 2 in her head. ¡°Already? It¡¯s only been a day since we left, right?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the power of the Phantom Steed.¡± The Phantom Steed could run continuously without getting tired as long as one supplied it with mana. On top of that, its rider was Jude who was overflowing with stamina that he only needed to sleep for 2 hours, so it wasn¡¯t a problem for it to run for hours. ¡°Umm¡­ I¡¯ll clean your earster.¡± ¡°Why all of a sudden?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just that¡­ you¡¯ve had a hard time.¡± ¡°Are you feeling guilty?¡± Cordelia¡¯s lips twitched at Jude¡¯s question before she nodded a bit. ¡°And¡­ I¡¯ll definitely boil ramyeon for you, so you have to make ramyeon, okay?¡± ¡°It¡¯s like you¡¯re forcing me to do it, but I understand, Madam.¡± In fact, ramyeon was just noodles made from pulling flour, and all he needed to do was fry it in oil afterwards, so he could make it right away as long as he had the ingredients. ¡°Anyway, about Mount Damos.¡± ¡°Ultimate One is found in its underground, right?¡± ¡°Yes, though to be exact, it¡¯s located at the smithy of the ck Horn Guild, one of the seven guilds of Sword Seeker.¡± The Ultimate Seven series. Seven decisive battle weapons created by Sword Seeker, one of the 7 city states of the ancient dwarven kingdom. It might have been awkward at first to attach the term ¡®decisive battle weapon¡¯ to a sword, but for the Ultimate Seven series, it was a different story. As its name implied, the seven were special swords developed for the ultimate sword that they sought, which was what Sword Seeker stood for. ¡°To make it easy to understand, the seven are mythical items.¡± ¡°Mythical items that are above legendary items. In terms of rank, it¡¯s SS-rank.¡± Among the items that Jude and Cordelia had acquired so far, the highest-ranked item they had was the Amplification Earrings, one of Arkeman¡¯s treasures. An S-rank item that amplified the power of spells several times in exchange for an enormous amount of mana. But Ultimate One was an SS-rank item that surpassed S-rank. ¡°It¡¯s actually a graduation item for some rotten water.¡± If a rotten water got one, they wouldn¡¯t need to get any more swords. ¡°Ah¡­ I¡¯m getting excited.¡± The Ultimate Seven series were items that everyone could get in single yer mode, but it was different in multiyer mode. They were really unique fantasy items wherein only one of them existed in the entire server. ¡°You had one too, right?¡± ¡°In multiyer, what I used was¡­ the Sr de.¡± It was the divine sword of Sri that was used by Landius in the first episode of Legend of Heroes when he was still called the Red-Haired Warrior. In the second episode of Legend of Heroes, it was also an item that sparked the question of whether Landius was killed by Duke because it was in the possession of Duke, a high-ranking demonic human of the Devil¡¯s Hand. Anyway, the rank of the Sr de was SSS-rank. In terms of rank, it was one rank higher than the Ultimate Seven series. ¡°But for the current me, Ultimate One is the best.¡± It wasn¡¯t because Landius still had the Sr de. It was because for the current Jude, the first sword of the Ultimate Seven series, Ultimate One, was more useful to him than the Sr de. ¡°Hehehe, anyway, this is good. If we get Ultimate One, we¡¯ll be stronger, right?¡± ¡°Well¡­ I¡¯ll be stronger.¡± ¡°And if we collect all the Ultimate Seven seriester, we¡¯ll be even stronger, right?¡± ¡°Should we add the Great Protection of the Four Seasons and the Fairy King¡¯s Protection?¡± ¡°Landius might hand over the Sr de to you.¡± ¡°Will my princess collect the entire Arkeman series?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s beat up Malekith and take its Dragon Heart.¡± ¡°And wake up Sri¡¯s giant statue with that?¡± ¡°Magic robots are amazing~ I love giant robots.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve thought about it before, but you really like enormous rides and stuff like that, huh?¡± ¡°Hehe. Anyway, I¡¯m looking forward to it. I can¡¯t wait to get it.¡± Cordelia looked ecstatic as she talked about the items, just like how rotten waters did. ¡°Ha, I suddenly can¡¯t wait to fight Malekith.¡± ¡°Hey, Malekith is an Ancient Dragon, remember?¡± It¡¯s a monster that can really destroy a country by itself, okay? It even has Dragonflights under itsmand, okay? ¡°I know. The Dragon Heart of an Ancient Dragon. Ah¡­what do I do? Jude, my heart is pounding. I¡¯m so excited.¡± It was an item that could not be obtained because it was not implemented as an item in the game. But this was reality now, so it would be different. ¡°Yes, yes. It¡¯s an enemy that we have to fight anyway, so perhaps it¡¯s better to continue thinking like that.¡± It would be much better than falling into fear and despair. ¡°Ah, I suddenly regret it. It would have been nice if we had stopped by Medb¡¯s auction house.¡± The items they had talked about now couldn¡¯t be found there, but they could still have gotten a few A-rank or S-rank items. ¡°We¡¯ll have another chance.¡± After all, they had to go back to the royal capital. Moreover, there was a branch of the Medb¡¯s auction house in the south. The southern auction house was close to its main store because Medb was originally a noble from the south. ¡®Though it¡¯s strange that we¡¯re going to the branch store and not the main store.¡¯ In any case, they would have a lot of opportunities to stop by at that ce. ¡°Fwoo, I like it. I¡¯m beginning to tremble in excitement. Anyway, what do you call it when you secretly visit your territory? Traveling in disguise? Traveling incognito? I want to do that.¡± ¡°Should we make a horse requisition tablet?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ The secret royal inspector is here! ?And when you shout it, a bunch of your minions will appear as if they were summoned.¡± ¡°Hey, youngdy. You¡¯re the one who¡¯s a wizard and not me, remember?¡± ¡°Moving on.¡± Cordelia giggled again and stood up from her seat after finishing her meal. ¡°Okay! Then let¡¯s start again!¡± And as she tried to turn around naturally, she was stopped. ¡°Hey, Cordelia, aren¡¯t you washing the dishes?¡± Cordelia didn¡¯t know how to cook, so her task was to wash the dishes. ¡°It¡¯s going to get dirty again anyway. Do we even need to clean it?¡± ¡°Hey, Cordelia, isn¡¯t it time for you to begin waxing the hair in your heart?¡± ¡°I hate doing things like waxing.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t change the topic, okay?¡± ¡°Tsk, fine.¡± In fact, she could wash the dishes quickly if she used her magic. After finishing their morning breakfast, Cordelia got on Jude¡¯s back instead of riding on the Phantom Steed. Because it wasn¡¯t good to use the Phantom Steed in the morning when the sun was shining. ¡°Merge in the outdoors! JuDelia!¡± Perhaps because her excitement was at its peak, Cordelia loudly shouted and hugged Jude¡¯s neck, and Jude had a small smile before he kicked the ground. *** Mount Damos. It was a small mountain situated between the center and the south, and was known as a ¡®mountain that must not be entered¡¯ to the surrounding residents. The reason was simple ¨C because there were so many monsters. ¡°But¡­ isn¡¯t it a little strange?¡± ¡°It is.¡± Outboxer009 and Yellow Storm were famous as rotten waters among the stagnant waters of Legend of Heroes. That was why they could immediately think of the locations and kinds of monsters that would normallye out here without even needing to search JudeWiki. But as of this moment, there was a beast that shouldn¡¯t be here on Mount Damos, or to be exact, the beastkin were hanging around this ce. ¡°Vorg.¡± ¡°The boar beastkin.¡± With an average height of more than 2 meters and their biggest one reaching 3 meters, they were arge, bulky, and strong non-human race, and their entire race worked as mercenaries. ¡®Though the Vorg mercenaries and Vorg bandits are almost synonymous.¡¯ They had an impatient personality and had a strong tendency to be violent, so if they didn¡¯t like the contract a bit, they would also betray their contractors. ¡®Why are they here anyway?¡¯ The Vorgs were more found in the empire than in the S?len Kingdom, though one could also find them in the southern wends in the kingdom that was quite far from Mount Damos. [Jude, look at their chests.] Hiding in the bushes at the end of a slope, Cordelia peeked at the passing Vorg 10 meters below, and as she said, Jude¡¯s eyes widened the moment he saw the copper te they were wearing around their chest. [ck Hand Mercenaries!] They were particrly notorious among the Vorg mercenaries, and were also rted to ck Dragon Malekith. But it wasn¡¯t because of their rtionship with Malekith that Jude was surprised. [Gamorr Khan is here?] [I think so?] Gamorr Khan. He was the strongest and most powerful Vorg even among the ferocious Vorgs. He was a mercenary, so his evaluation was low, but he was a warrior so powerful that there were some who regarded him as the strongest in the same ss as the Ten Great Swordmasters. And such a guy was leading his subordinates to Mount Damos. This ce, which would be Jude and Cordelia¡¯s fief, was still under the direct control of the S?len royal family. [Is he after Ultimate One?] It was a very sudden connection, but it was also a valid guess. Because Gamorr Khan was the owner of Ultimate Five ¨C the Shield Sword, Grand Order, one of the Ultimate Seven series. ¡®The Ultimate Seven series have a resonance effect.¡¯ All the swords in the Ultimate Seven series had a resonance between each other. Gamorr Khan was also known for coveting the other Ultimate Seven series. ¡®But at this point?¡¯ In the game, he was a guy who wandered around in search of the Ultimate Seven series, but at this point in time, he never came to Mount Damos in search of Ultimate One. What happened? Is this one of the changes caused by the butterfly effect that began in the north? ¡®Anyway.¡¯ In any case, it had already happened. So they just had to get Ultimate One before this guy. But it was at that moment. ¡°Hehehe.¡± Cordelia snickered and nced at Jude, and instead of making an expression on asking why all of a sudden, Jude also snickered. Because they both thought of the same thing. ¡°¡°Ultimate Five.¡±¡± Grand Order. Not only Ultimate One, but also the Shield Sword, Grand Order. Since Gamorr Khan was a subordinate of Malekith, defeating him would also serve a double purpose. Jude had a dark smile like usual, and the already infected Cordelia also had a dark smile. Gamorr Khan is definitely a reference to Gamorreans, a pig-like humanoid race from the Star Wars series. Chapter 212: Ultimate One (2)

Chapter 212: Ultimate One (2)

Terms used in this episode: One¡¯s eyes are covered with bean pods ¨C This is the 4th time that this idiom has been mentioned, but I¡¯ll say it again to those who forgot, it means that you only see good things in someone that you¡¯ve fallen in love with. Jude was the first to use this idiom, but this time, it¡¯s Cordelia who used it herself. ck Dragon Malekith had several subordinates besides the Dragonflights, who were its children. Gamorr Khan. He was the boss of the ck Hand Mercenaries and one of the notorious Five Evils of the South. He was big and close to 2 meters, but this was just an average height among the Vorgs. At this moment, there were a dozen of his men that were bigger than him. Being big naturally wasn¡¯t a good thing, but it was quite strange when one considered the culture of the Vorgs, wherein the biggest one generally became the leader. He had stiff brown fur, a ck mane, red eyes, and sharp fangs that protruded from his mouth. On his neck was a gold ne with a purple gem in the middle. The man then frowned and said. ¡°Pink¡­ Bomb?¡± ¡°Yes, here.¡± Jacques, an aide of the mercenary group, held out a piece of paper that was a little smaller than Gamorr¡¯s palm. It was big enough for Jacques, a human being, but it was too small for Vorg standards, so Gamorr Khan gestured with his eyes instead of epting it. He was telling the other to read it. ¡°This afternoon, I will take the Ultimate Five ¨C the Shield Sword, Grand Order. Signed, Rogue Master Pink Bomb.¡± It was the Rogue Master¡¯s notice. Gamorr Khan lived in the south, but that didn¡¯t mean he knew nothing about the events in the royal capital. Moreover, Jacques was originally a former bandit, so he had a lot of interest in the Rogue Master. ¡°It¡¯s true that a Rogue Master named Pink Bomb appeared in the royal capital.¡± ¡°Is this for real?¡± ¡°Yes, she¡¯s a real Rogue Master. She has the Moon Crystal, and it seems like she also have a few more treasures. At this point, we should consider this as genuine. It was said that she had openly robbed a ce where more than a hundred guards were set up. So it¡¯s true. She¡¯s-¡± Jacques was quite enthusiastic when he talked about the Rogue Master. But Gamorr Khan still spoke with a frown. ¡°I mean, is her name really Pink Bomb?¡± What kind of Rogue Master would name themselves as Pink Bomb? Is this some penalty game? At Gamorr Khan¡¯s reasonable question, Jacques replied while being embarrassed even though this wasn¡¯t about him. ¡°Well¡­yes. It really is her name.¡± ¡°That woman must be thick-skinned.¡± Just how shameless and brazen is that woman to use a name like that? ¡°Anyway, do you think this is real?¡± ¡°I think so.¡± Jacques had never been to the royal capital, so he didn¡¯t know what Pink Bomb¡¯s signature looked like, but still, he didn¡¯t think that this notice was fake. ¡°Because there¡¯s no one else she could send this to.¡± He was right. Few people were so bold as to joke around sending such fake letters to Gamorr Khan, the boss of the notorious ck Hand Mercenaries, and most of it were just some rough words that were nonsense. On the other hand, if she was the real Pink Bomb, she had enough reason to send a notice. ¡°Because the boss¡¯ weapon is real.¡± Ultimate Five. Shield Sword ¨C Grand Order. The ancient dwarves¡¯ treasure that raised Gamorr Khan¡¯s name to a level simr to that of the Ten Great Swordmasters. ¡°What should we do?¡± ¡°First of all, I think it would be better to prepare for it since it wouldn¡¯t do us any harm if we tried.¡± They would gather his wandering subordinates around him in order to tighten their defense. If the purpose of Pink Bomb was the Grand Order, she had to show up in front of Gamorr Khan whether if she liked it or not, so it was easier for them to do gather their scattered troops rather than trying to search the surrounding area. ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s not bad.¡± Gamorr Khan quietly touched his chin and nodded before saying. ¡°Gather our men. We¡¯ll go on full defensive.¡± ¡°Yes, boss.¡± Gamorr Khan and Jacques didn¡¯t know, but their countermeasure was almost the same as the countermeasure that the ck Moon¡¯s guild master, Karma Bonn, had put in ce to stop Pink Bomb. And, very sadly, the results were the same too. *** ¡°Good, they fell for it.¡± Jude looked around as he hid himself in a tree overlooking arge rock tomb, and he spoke in a low voice. Because the Vorgs of the ck Hand Mercenaries who were scattered around Mount Damos and were searching had now gathered at the center of the main camp set up by Gamorr Khan. ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°Uuuh¡­ my ears feel itchy.¡± Why does it feel like someone¡¯s speaking ill of me? Strictly speaking, this was actually Jude¡¯s fault and not Cordelia¡¯s, but Jude was unaffected perhaps because his shamelessness was on a different level. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Okay!¡± They used the notice to gather the people scattered around Mount Damos and stop the search. And while the other side waited for Pink Bomb, the two would get Ultimate One. ¡®After all, he is Gamorr Khan.¡¯ Technically, Gamorr Khan was one step below the Ten Great Swordmasters, but even so, he was immensely powerful. It was no exaggeration to say that he was like a moving steel castle if one considered the strong physical abilities unique to the Vorgs, and the tremendous defensive power of the Shield Sword, Grand Order. Moreover, he had a lot of subordinates, so even if Jude and Cordelia teamed up, a head-on match would not guarantee them victory. ¡®At our current level.¡¯ They needed to get Ultimate One and increase their power to be victorious. ¡®Of course, that¡¯s not all.¡¯ Jude grinned with an evil smile, and Cordelia stared at him, feeling troubled as her lips twitched. ¡®Why does he look more handsome than usual when he has an evil expression?¡¯ Is this what they meant by one¡¯s eyes being covered with bean pods? In any case, what mattered was the fact that the Vorgs of the ck Hand Mercenaries had disappeared from their sight. Jude spread his superhuman senses and confirmed that all the Vorgs were gone before he silently jumped down and approached the rock tomb. ¡°Is this the ce?¡± ¡°Yes, it is.¡± Jude responded to Cordelia¡¯s question before he put his hand on therge rock and recited the spell. He then pressed on the corners of the rock in a certain order. A yellow magic circle then appeared across the rock, and a huge door was formed on the rock¡¯s surface that had nothing earlier. ¡°Woah.¡± When Cordelia apuded and admired the seal, Jude shrugged and immediately entered through the door. Unlike the ck Hand Mercenaries who searched Mount Damos without any knowledge, Jude and Cordelia had JudeWiki. ¡°.¡± The small light from Cordelia¡¯s spell lit up the surrounding darkness, and words of awe flowed out from the mouths of the two again. ¡°Endymion.¡± Cordelia spoke without realizing it, and Jude nodded his head. The unfortunate city that could no longer be visited again. An underground city spread before them, though it was much smaller than Endymion. ¡°It¡¯s the ck Horn Guild¡¯s residence.¡± At Jude¡¯s exnation, Cordelia nodded and pointed to arge building in the center of the city. ¡°Is it over there?¡± ¡°Perhaps?¡± What the two were talking about was not Ultimate One. They knew that Ultimate One was definitely in this ce though. ¡°Let¡¯s hurry up.¡± ¡°Okay!¡± The underground city with the dwarves¡¯ delicate touch was very beautiful, but Jude and Cordelia had already gone through Frost Anvil and Endymion. The two ran straight to the central building without looking away, and they were able to find their target without much difficulty. Because the closer they got, the stronger the ¡®signal¡¯ they felt. ¡°As expected, it¡¯s here.¡± There were a lot of magic tools in therge room on the right side of the central building¡¯s entrance. Most of it were broken and destroyed by the passage of time, but one of the tools was still working. ¡°Monster Attractor.¡± Commonly known as the Aggro Generator. It was a machine that attracted monsters by emitting a special magic signal, and it was a product developed by the dwarves of Frost Anvil, basing it from the Sunflower¡¯s effect of attracting monsters. ¡°They used this to defend the city, right?¡± ¡°Yes, if they covered Mount Damos with monsters, it creates a natural shield.¡± Obviously, the signal had weakened after a thousand years, so it was not as strong as before, but monsters were still scattered around Mount Damos. Cordelia gazed at the 3-meter-tall cylindrical machine that was much bigger than a human, and she suddenly smiled. ¡°So this is the first thing we do as lords? For our residents?¡± ¡°Of course. We are their lords.¡± They would wipe out the monsters on Mount Damos. How would they do it? By using the ck Hand Mercenaries who were steadily preparing themselves to defend themselves from ¡®monsters.¡¯ In order to do that, they obviously needed to manipte the Aggro Generator. But it was normally impossible. Even if they were Jude and Cordelia, it was impossible for them topletely control the magic tools the ancient dwarves made with the help of Endymion¡¯s high elves. ¡°There is someone who can do it.¡± Jude and Cordelia looked at each other and had evil smiles, and they cheerfully stood in front of the device. Jude handed to Cordelia the item he took out of his bag. ¡°Here it is.¡± ¡°Shall we do it together then?¡± ¡°All right.¡± The two shared evil smiles again and held the Moonlight together and brought it to the terminal located in a corner of the machine. Both the Moonlight and the machine werepatible to some extent because they were made by the high elves of Magen, the magic kingdom. And there was someone who was sleeping inside Moonlight, and could possibly manipte the machine too. ¡°Melissa.¡± An artificial spirit created by the high elves of Magen, the magic kingdom, for facility management. She then responded to the call of the two. *** ¡°Fight back! Rip them to pieces!¡± At Gamorr Khan¡¯s cry, the Vorgs of the ck Hand Mercenaries roared and charged. They had a dense formation, so it was better to keep their position, but once the battle began, they couldn¡¯t do as nned, though it was natural for it to happen since they were Vorgs. But Gamorr Khan didn¡¯t pay it much attention. Monsters suddenly came in groups and went wild, but the Vorg mercenaries numbered thirty. Even if Gamorr Khan wasn¡¯t present, they could easily trample the dozens of monsters like the Kobolds and Fury Wolves. ¡°Hmph, they¡¯re just weaklings.¡± Gamorr Khan snorted and spat before he looked around again. He wondered what kind of monsters there were in the not-so-big mountain and why there were so many, but he was more worried about Pink Bomb. Because of the monsters¡¯ attack, his subordinates were scattered again. Moreover, this was a perfect time for a surprise attack because they were in the midst of confusion. Therefore, Gamorr Khan kept his position and sharpened his senses instead of participating in the battle. And that was why he was the first to discover it. ¡®Ground tremors?¡¯ This wasn¡¯t normal. Even if there were many monsters, they wouldn¡¯t cause this kind of tremor. ¡°Boss! It¡¯sing again!¡± Jacques turned to the side and shouted loudly, and Gamorr Khan looked at the side too. And as they expected, they saw dozens of monstersing with bloodshot eyes. But that wasn¡¯t all. What Gamorr Khan felt was more than that. Boooom! The shaking ground made Jacques fall on his butt, and Gamorr Khan was finally able to tell why. He unconsciously shouted. ¡°Rock Troll!¡± Giant monsters that had more than half of their skin made up of rocks. As if responding to Gamorr Khan¡¯s shout, the Rock Trolls that appeared on the ridge roared at once. The 6-7 meters high monsters leapt and rushed. The ground shook. It was no exaggeration to say that it was simr to an earthquake now. ¡°F*ck!¡± Gamorr Khan cursed and picked up the Grand Order. *** At the time when blood was being shed above ground. Cordelia was flustered in front of Moonlight that was attached to the Aggro Generator. ¡°So it¡¯s not¡­ I really didn¡¯t forget you¡­¡± [No, it¡¯s all right. I¡¯m just a mere AR.TI.FI.CIAL SPI.RIT. I have no such thing as human rights, so it¡¯s okay for me to be left unattended like trash.] ¡°No, it¡¯s not that¡­¡± Why are you saying such bitter words? Why are you stressing the words ¡®artificial spirit?¡¯ [It¡¯s all right because I¡¯ve never expected you to talk to me. Because even if I want it, I don¡¯t have a heart that goes thump-thump. From now on, I¡¯ll never expect to go on an adventure with you.] Cordelia groaned even more at Melissa¡¯s words. Because unlike the shameless Jude, Cordelia still had a conscience. ¡°Aaah. I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m really sorry. It¡¯s my fault. I¡¯m sorry, okay?¡± She said with a tearful face, and Melissa spoke in a very small voice. [Say that with¡­ a little more spirit.] ¡°I was wrong! I was really wrong!¡± [¡­Will you talk to me often in the future?] ¡°Yes! I will! Definitely!¡± [Ahem, then¡­] It was at that moment when Melissa who was a bit annoyed was about to forgive her. ¡°Cordelia! Hurry up! I¡¯m opening it now!¡± ¡°Eh?! Yeeees!¡± Cordelia heard the voice of Jude from beyond the door, and she lowered her head in front of the Moonlight and quickly said. ¡°Melissa, I¡¯ll be back soon, okay? It¡¯ll be quick!¡± [W-wait a minute!] ¡°I¡¯m sorry!¡± Cordelia loudly shouted and left the room as she ran hard towards the direction where she heard Jude¡¯s voice. A huge anvil located in the middle of the central building. Standing in front of the symbol instead of the real anvil, Jude infused his mana into the Key Sword to bring out its true form. ¡°Wow.¡± Cordelia stopped right next to Jude and gazed at the Key Sword with sparkling eyes. Like its name ¡®Key Sword,¡¯ the sword turning into a real key was quite fascinating. ¡°Is it okay to open it now?¡± ¡°Yes, we have the Key Sword, so the guardians will stay still.¡± Jude smiled and looked around the giant statues around them, and he held out the Key Sword towards Cordelia. ¡°Shall we open it together?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± The two held the Key Sword together and inserted the Key Sword into the keyhole in the center of the huge anvil. If Scarlet had been there, she would havemented that they were like cutting a wedding cake, but unfortunately, there was the only the two of them in this ce. ¡°Let¡¯s turn it. Turn right? Or left?¡± Cordelia stamped on her feet in her excitement, and eventually used her strength to turn the Key Sword to the right, and at that moment, numerous lines appeared on the huge anvil. Lines of white light were drawn on the ck iron anvil. The shape of the anvil began to transform with a mechanical sound as it made Cordelia¡¯s heart pound. ¡°Ultimate One¡­¡± Jude said in a whisper, and Cordelia swallowed hard. With sparkling eyes, the two looked at the treasure hidden inside the anvil, and the fantasy weapon slowly began to appear. Chapter 213: Ultimate One (3)

Chapter 213: Ultimate One (3)

Terms used in this episode: Kite shield ¨C arge, almond-shaped shield rounded at the top and curving down to a point or rounded point at the bottom. The craftsmen of Sword Seeker who created the Ultimate Seven series were the owners of an entric nature typical of the excellent ancient dwarves, as their craftsmanship far surpassed those of the current dwarves. Their nature was reflected in their works of art, and because of that, the seven swords they made for their n to create the ultimate sword all had one or more extreme aspects. ¡°Kuooo!¡± The giant Rock Troll bellowed and threw a rock the size of a house. It was a terrifying attack that seemed like it could destroy even walls, but unfortunately, their opponent¡¯s defense was stronger than that of walls. Baaaaang-! The rock struck the white barrier and crumbled just like what happened to things when they hit something harder than them. Gamorr Khan blocked the rock by setting up a huge white shield and did not miss that opportunity then. He rushed straight ahead and jumped, swinging his giant kite shield, the Grand Order, towards the chest of the Rock Troll. Booom! He smashed the Rock Troll¡¯s chest with a tremendous roar. It was the result of Gamorr Khan¡¯s monstrous strength, which could not even bepared to the average Vorg, and the force of the Shield Sword that was stronger than a wall. Thuuud! Gamorr Khannded next to the crumbling Rock Troll and moved his right arm as he roughly breathed. Once the light from the kite shield, which was huge enough to cover Gamorr Khan¡¯s body, shined, the white force field disappeared. Shield Sword ¨C Grand Order. It usually looked like an ordinary greatsword, but this was only a measure for the convenience of its user and not the true form of Grand Order. A giant kite shield with the de of a greatsword at its end. Its appearance of a sword in the wrist, also called a wrist de,bined with a kite shield in the form of a reverse triangle was said to be the true form of Grand Order. Total offense and defense. Silver Fortress, one of the seven guilds of Sword Seeker, tried to realize the ultimate sword through abination of offense and defense. But like typical ancient dwarves, they began to obsess over defense rather than offense at some point, and the current Shield Sword was eventually born, which seemed to focused more on total defense. ¡°Keuhaa¡­¡± Gamorr Khan heavily breathed as he looked around him. Beyond the remains of the ten Rock Trolls, he saw the dozens, or rather, hundreds of monster corpses which were so many that they covered the entire ground. ¡°Damn it.¡± Among those corpses were Vorgs from the ck Hand Mercenaries, who were Gamorr Khan¡¯s subordinates. It seemed like the men he brought were virtually annihted given that he could only hear a few people fighting. ¡°Ha, f*ck.¡± It was so ridiculous that he could onlyugh. He had hundreds of subordinates left in the south, which was the home of the ck Hand Mercenaries, but even so, a loss was still a loss. Moreover, if only Gamorr Khan himself survived, he would not be able to carry out Dragon Lord Malekith¡¯s order. He would have to return to his main base or send out a message to call his subordinates. ¡®I can¡¯t just go.¡¯ Gamorr Khan looked down the mountain as he stroked his gold ne with a purple gem. A small vige was seen some distance away from the many monsters of Mount Damos. He could invade it, kill its residents, and then cover it up. There were so many monsters on Mount Damos that he could use it to cover up and fool anyone with his actions. It was an extremely crude idea for the leader of a huge mercenary group, one of the notorious evils of the south, but those were truly Gamorr Khan¡¯s thoughts. ¡®Is Jacques also dead?¡¯ That¡¯s a little disappointing. He was very smart and knew a lot. But it was something that he still did not know. Gamorr Khan briefly looked around and opened his mouth to call Jacques¡¯ name. But as he was about to shout, Gamorr Khan unconsciously flinched. To be exact, Gamorr Khan¡¯s right arm that had the Shield Sword, Grand Order, began to tremble. Resonance phenomenon. It only trembled once, but he had experienced this before. That was why he was able to know, and why he was surprised. Behind him. Another Ultimate series was causing the resonance phenomenon. Gamorr Khan quickly turned around. And he frowned without realizing it. The ck-haired young human who stood alone some distance away made him frown in displeasure. It was not because the youth¡¯s appearance was so outstanding that even Vorgs would agree. It was not even because he thought that the cause of this incident might be the young man in front of him. It was a much simpler reason than that. As he felt the resonance phenomenon of the Ultimate Series, a question came to his mind. ¡°Bare hands?¡± There was nothing in the hands of the young man who stretched out his arms. *** Jude knew it even if Cordelia didn¡¯t persistently tell him. They were much better off doing a surprise attack. While their opponent was engrossed in fighting monsters, hitting their backs was the fastest and simplest way to attack them. But he didn¡¯t do that. The possibility that the surprise attack would fail in the first ce because of the resonance phenomenon was just an incidental reason. If it was because of that, he had no reason for dying Cordelia from scolding him now. Ultimate One ¨C Sword Origin. The ultimate sword created by ck Horn, one of the seven guilds of Sword Seeker. Jude slowly breathed. There was a still a little sense of strangeness and ipatibility in the tips of his hands, but these sensations would soon disappear. ¡®Be one with the sword.¡¯ It was an idea of the ancient dwarves of ck Horn. The concept they pursued to create the ultimate sword. The beginning was quite normal like the other Ultimate Seven series. Shouldn¡¯t we talk to the ultimate swordsman in order to find out what the ultimate sword is? So Eitri, the head of the ck Horn Guild, visited Valencia, the Elf Sword and strongest swordsman of that time, and asked her about the ultimate sword. ¡°What is the ultimate sword?¡± ¡°To be one with the sword. The sword and I be one.¡± Eitri asked about the sword as a weapon, but Valencia exined the sword as a swordsman, and this was where the misunderstanding began. ¡°The sword and I be one.¡± I be the sword. I am the sword, and the sword is me. Eitri was an ancient dwarf, and his colleagues and subordinates were also ancient dwarves. Therefore, they interpreted Valencia¡¯s words in a way that was typical of ancient dwarves. ¡°Then let¡¯s make the user into a sword!¡± It didn¡¯t mean that they would use a swordsman as a material for the sword. It meant that they would make the swordsman into an existence like a sword. The human cksmiths ¨C no, even the dwarves of today would shake their heads and ask, ¡®what kind of nonsense is that,¡¯ but unfortunately, yet amazingly, the ancient dwarves had the skills and abilities to realize that nonsensical thing. ¡®Ultimate One ¨C Sword Origin.¡¯ Unlike the other Ultimate Seven series, the user became one with the sword, and once equipped, the ultimate sword cannot be removed until the user died. A smile spread on Jude¡¯s face. His heart was pounding because of the resonance phenomenon. Gamorr Khan was not weak. In terms of skill, he wasn¡¯t as strongpared to the Ten Great Swordmasters, but his physical abilities were at least more than them. But Jude wasn¡¯t afraid. It didn¡¯t ur to him that he couldn¡¯t win like how he felt when he fought against the Lord Protector or First Sword. ¡°Let¡¯s begin.¡± He first began with Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt like always. As he moved his feet as fast as lightning, Jude disappeared. His speed was hard to follow with one¡¯s eyes, but his opponent was Gamorr Khan. ¡°B*stard!¡± Gamorr Khan¡¯s physical abilities amplified by Grand Order responded to Jude¡¯s speed. Furthermore, the resonance phenomenon between the Ultimate series helped him to clearly identify Jude¡¯s location. Gamorr Khan did not set up his shield. Instead of showing off the strongest defense in the Ultimate series by spreading the force field, he tried to crush the body of the rushing Jude with the de part of the Shield Sword. The wrist de¡¯s strength. The immense power and speed that the swing of his arm had. The direction of his attack was correct. Its speed was also enough. The power that it carried was also enough. So Gamorr Khan also heard it. Bang! The sound of something blocking his Shield Sword. The sound of blocking his Shield Sword head-on, and not letting it go, having it pass by, or avoiding it. Jude¡¯s left arm blocked the de of the Shield Sword. The immense strength of Jude endured the power of Gamorr Khan. And it didn¡¯t end there. Jude stood firmly as if he had taken root on the earth, and he moved his arm. It seemed like he would push the de part of the Shield Sword, but he pushed down the Shield Sword itself. At the same time, he greatly swung his right arm. aaash! Gamorr Khan¡¯s chest was cut. He instantly defended against it by concentrating his aura on his chest, but it couldn¡¯t perfectly defend it. His chest was shed, and blood flowed down. Be one with the sword. Turn the user¡¯s body into like that of a sword. Make it as hard and sharp that it can stand against a sword. Jude¡¯s karate chop was like a de. His arms were able to face the sword even without using the ck dragon¡¯s energy. It was a dreamlike scene for fist fighters who fought barehanded. Instead of desperately evading or letting the enemy¡¯s weapon pass, he struck the enemy in the front. And Jude had one more advantage. Ultimate One was still only at its first form, and none of the sealsmon to the Ultimate series had been released, but it could still be used. A body like that of a sword. Therefore, the strength of his body had be so strong that it was iparable to before. So his body could endure it now. He didn¡¯t need to hesitate or worry about his body being destroyed. ¡°The sixth door.¡± Something that was opened ipletely. His body could not endure the full power of the ck Sun, so he couldn¡¯t fully use it then. The ck Sun¡¯s power began to rise in Jude¡¯s chest. The sixth door of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors finally brought out its full power. Bang! Bang! Bang! The energy of the ck dragon ran wild in Jude¡¯s body and soul. ck mes soared from Jude¡¯s entire body as if it exploded. Gamorr Khan stepped back unconsciously. Apart from the resonance phenomenon, he felt a cold sweat flowing down behind his back. Instead of chasing Gamorr Khan, Jude further activated the power of the ck Sun. The energy of the ck dragon wrapped around Jude¡¯s limbs, and the ck Sun promptly gave Jude tremendous power. ¡°Supreme Sun Divine Art.¡± Landius¡¯ martial art. He had learned the basics of it. But he couldn¡¯t use it like Landius. Even if it made him invincible, using the Supreme Sun Divine Art with his body would end up destroying it because its offensive power was too strong. But not anymore. Jude could now fight like Landius. He could fight in the same way that Iron Man Landius did. He smiled. And took a step forward. It was as light as the wind, but it didn¡¯t look that way to Gamorr Khan. It looked like how a giant was taking a step to crush him. That was why Gamorr Khan reflexively nted his Shield Sword. He used the power of Grand Order to form a white barrier. And Jude could tell. His Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt could not defeat Gamorr Khan¡¯s force field. So he drew his clenched fist and focused the power of the ck Sun onto one point. What he thought of was Landius¡¯ fist. He threw out a punch that could break the sky. ¡®May the muscles always be with you.¡¯ The smile didn¡¯t leave his mouth. His fist punched towards the white barrier. Supreme Sun Divine Art ¨C Secret Art: Sky Breaker. Jude¡¯s fist struck the white barrier. The light of the ck Sun covered the world. Chapter 214: Ultimate One (4)

Chapter 214: Ultimate One (4)

It was a reckless attack. A senseless attempt that was actually close to just throwing his fist. But its power was extraordinary. A roar broke out. But because it was a loud roar, they couldn¡¯t properly perceive it. A crack spread over the white force field barrier. The spreading speed was so fast that it seemed like it had happened in an instant, and the sight of the force field shattering as light burst was truly fantastic. ck Sun. A light that covered everything. And when that light disappeared, and everything that had been covered by that intense light was revealed again, and the immense devastation was also revealed. A huge crater appeared as if a meteorite had fallen. The ground was dug, cracks were spread on the ground, and there were no clouds left in the sky because they were driven away by the shockwaves. And Jude and Gamorr Khan rolled over the floor. Jude¡¯s attack through Sword Origin was too strong, and Gamorr Khan¡¯s defense using Grand Order was too solid. The two were unable to withstand the tremendous force caused by the collision between the fist and the shield, so they ended up being thrown into different directions. Gamorr Khan was pushed more than a dozen meters as he partially dug the ground, while Jude was sprawled on the ground 20 meters away from the point of collision. For a while, neither of them showed any reactions. But at some point, both sides began to move. ¡°F*ck.¡± Jude spoke like Cordelia. He had a bitter smile and frowned from the pain. His right arm hurt. Because of his regenerative ability, he looked fine now, but it was aplete mess then right after the sh. He could move it now. He felt the pain. The sensation on his fingertips were back too. ¡°Ha.¡± He forced himself to smile and clenched his fist. Jude grit his teeth and soon put some strength into his right arm. He lifted himself up like a zombie and swallowed his breath. Raising his head, he captured the world with his green eyes. He saw it. Gamorr Khan was forcibly raising his body as his right arm drooped. Just as how his side was in a mess, the other side also looked to be in a mess. But there was a difference. Gamorr Khan was also known as a monster among the Vorgs, but when it came to physical endurance, Jude was much more superior. ¡°Aaaaah!¡± Gamorr Khan bellowed and lifted his right arm with his left hand. Judging from the appearance, he must have dislocated his shoulder. His eyes were bloodshot. His breathing was rough and the muscles all over his body were swollen more than usual. ¡°You shitty b*stard.¡± Gamorr Khan said. Jude couldn¡¯t hear it well, but he could roughly read the other¡¯s lips. Naturally, a wild boar¡¯s head was quite different from humans, such as the shape of their lips, but curses were usually thrown in situations like this, so he could interpret the other¡¯s words by supplementing it with his imagination. Jude let out his breath. And he saw Gamorr Khan move his left hand again. The giant kite shield split into two and was equipped in both his right and left arms. ¡®The second form.¡¯ The seven guilds of Sword Seeker that created the Ultimate Seven series all had the same origin. Perhaps that was the reason why the seven swords had some things inmon. ¡®Three seals.¡¯ The Ultimate Seven series had a power that lived up to its name. Therefore, not everyone could handle its power. And the craftsmen of Sword Seeker did not want a weak and unqualified person to use the Ultimate Seven series. That was why it had seals. So that only those who deserved the Ultimate Seven series, or at least those who could handle its power, could bring out the true power of the ultimate sword. Seal. As it name implied, the swords¡¯ power and functions were all sealed. Almost all of the ultimate swords at this time were in the form of ordinary swords. Just like how the Key Sword was in the form of an ordinary sword. And its first form was revealed when the first seal was removed. Its basic form. The ultimate swords at this time mostly had low hurdles. Obviously, there were ultimate swords that were seriously particr of its user like Ultimate One and Ultimate Seven, but for the other five swords, someone at the level of a prospect who attended the Banquet of Swords could use them. The first form of Grand Order was a kind of wrist de with the de attached to the pointed end of the kite shield. The second form went a little further from there. It took a form that made it easier to defend by dividing the kite shield vertically so that it could be equipped on both arms. ¡®Of course, it has strayed further and further from a sword.¡¯ Anyway, Gamorr Khan was a powerful manparable to the Ten Great Swordmasters. In fact, Jude¡¯s evaluation wasn¡¯t wrong since he had experienced fighting one of the strongest among the Ten Great Swordmasters, First Sword, and one of the weakest, the Lord Protector. So Gamorr Khan who had revealed the second form of Grand Order seemed to be on par with the Lord Protector. Jude took a deep breath. He tried to calm down his heart that was pounding from excitement, but he couldn¡¯t erase the smile drawn on his mouth. He proceeded. Jude kicked the ground. This time, Gamorr Khan also charged at him head-on. It was a very aggressive charge like that of a wild boar. And they collided into each other again. But it was different from before. It was a mixture of offense and defense this time. Bang! Bang! Bang! Gamorr Khan attacked by swinging the Grand Order. Every time he attacked, the power carried in each strike was so strong that it let out terrifying shockwaves. The basic way to fight was to sh and hack using the de attached at the end of the shield. But it wouldn¡¯t be called an ultimate sword with just that. Gamorr Khan created a force field, and used that force field to turn his attack from a pointed one to a non-pointed one by using the surface of the force field. He made the expression ¡®an approaching wall¡¯ into a reality. Bang! Grand Order and Sword Origin collided. Jude was powered by the ck Sun and pushed back the blunt attack as he narrowed his distance from Gamorr Khan. He struck his fist towards his opponent¡¯s chest. Boom! The force field broke. The white and transparent force field that started from the Grand Order attached to his arm and surrounded Gamorr Khan¡¯s entire body was broken, and Gamorr Khan¡¯s body slightly rose into the air. And Jude turned his body. Gamorr Khan¡¯s body that had slightly risen into the air was struck by Jude¡¯s roundhouse kick, and it wasn¡¯t just a simple attack but a crushing blow. Baaaaaang! The force field he hastily created broke again. Gamorr Khan was injured on his chest, but as soon as he fell on the ground, he stood up again and attacked Jude. Babababababang! And a storm of attacks followed. At first nce, it seemed like they were wildly attacking and exchanging heavy blows, but it was actually different. Gamorr Khan had overwhelming physical abilities, but hecked the skills to match it. Jude was no longer afraid of being cut by the de, so he blocked all his opponent¡¯s attacks with his limbs one step ahead. And Jude¡¯s attacks would hit Gamorr Khan¡¯s whole body. But Gamorr Khan didn¡¯t fall either. Because the force field surrounding Gamorr Khan would instantly be restored every time it broke from Jude¡¯s attacks. So Gamorr Khan was prevented from attacking. Jude¡¯s attack destroyed the force field and did not let Gamorr Khan deal a decisive blow at the same time. In fact, this was one of the battle patterns Gamorr Khan used in order to win. Because in the end, this was a battle of attrition, a fight that aimed to wear out the other side first. ¡®But why!¡¯ However, it was different this time. They had exchanged dozens of attacks, but Jude¡¯s movements didn¡¯t slow down at all. His attack power also remained unchanged. As if he had unlimited stamina. ¡®I can move all day!¡¯ Gamorr Khan couldn¡¯t read Jude¡¯s thoughts. Nor his attacks too. Jude didn¡¯t just deal heavy blows. He parried Gamorr Khan¡¯s right hand attack with his left hand, before he instantly moved like a snake, and Gamorr Khan suddenly saw Jude¡¯s back. ¡°Huh?¡± The moment Gamorr Khan eximed, his body flew into the air. He couldn¡¯t do anything as he fell to the ground. Baaang! The force field on his back broke. At the same time, he momentarily lost sight of Jude. Gamorr Khan hurriedly stood up. And right after sending Gamorr Khan to the ground, Jude stepped back and adjusted his breathing. He thought as he watched the other stand up. A way to defeat Gamorr Khan. He clenched his fist. On the other hand, Gamorr Khan turned around as soon as he got up and drew his fist. Jude also pulled his fist. He once again concentrated the energy of the ck Sun onto his right hand. At that moment, Gamorr Khan sped up. He quickly tried to stop Jude from making his special attack. His judgment was correct. Jude failed tounch his special attack. So instead of doing that, he let out the concentrated energy as he punched with his fist. He threw his right fist against Gamorr Khan¡¯s fist which was like andslide falling down on him. Booooom! Their fists shed. The shockwave swept the surrounding area once again, and the fists of Jude and Gamorr Khan were not in good condition. Jude¡¯s right arm was broken. His bones fragmented into hundreds of pieces. Gamorr Khan¡¯s force field broke. Starting from his right arm, the force field surrounding his whole body was destroyed, and his right arm was bent at a bizarre angle. And Jude aimed at that moment. He stretched out his right hand and used ck Wind¡¯s Advent instead of using Hyper-Fast Thunderbolt or Thunder God Invokes Lightning. He became a ck wind and drew closer to Gamorr Khan as if he was a ghost. His right arm was regenerating, but it was impossible to use it right now. It was also difficult to use the energy of the ck Sun again with just a single strike. Both sides were running out of time. Gamorr Khan knew it too. That was why he was patient. He somehow tried to restore the force field in order to withstand Jude¡¯s imperfect and iing attack, and thought of counterattacking afterwards. But Jude was thinking. ¡®Cordelia.¡¯ She¡¯ll probably get angry. She¡¯ll swear and cry out to me for being stupid. But it can¡¯t be helped. It¡¯s something I wanted to do when I got Ultimate One. It¡¯s something I can do because I got Sword Origin now. He clenched his left fist. At the same time, he touched the device on his waist with his right hand that had slightly recovered. The scrolls loaded inside the device were instantly destroyed as the magic spell in them activated. It wasn¡¯t some grand magic. It was a simple magic spell. But it was somehow unusual. Because it was notmonly used this way. It was something that a human body couldn¡¯t bear. An extreme measure that he could use now that he became one with a sword. ¡® magic x10.¡¯ The strength of a giant was applied to his left arm. His left arm also began to tremble as if it would break at any moment. Gamorr Khan instinctively understood the phenomenon before him. But Jude was too close for him to do anything. He had ran out of time. Before Gamorr Khan could let out his voice, Jude¡¯s left fist that had be like a giant¡¯s fist as it was reinforced by 10 magic spells then struck Gamorr Khan¡¯s chest! Boooom! Baaaaaang! The force field he had built in a hurry was crushed. At the unimaginable power, around half of Gamorr Khan¡¯s upper body exploded. And it didn¡¯t stop there. Gamorr Khan¡¯s huge body couldn¡¯t stand the power and was sent flying for some distance. A shockwave swept around, and Gamorr Khan¡¯s right arm, which had Grand Order, soared into the air amidst the explosion of his upper body, and fell to the ground with a thud. ¡°Haa.¡± Jude drooped his bleeding left arm. His arm hurt. His arm crazily hurt. His left arm felt like it would break soon, and all the body parts connected to his left arm, including his back, seemed to be screaming in pain. Thus, Jude copsed onto the ground in the end. But in the meantime, he ended up smiling. He burst into augh while looking like a mess. And Cordelia moved. Gamorr Khan should have immediately died because half of his upper body was gone, but Cordelia jumped and attentively aimed at that gap,pletely crushing Gamorr Khan¡¯s body with a barrage of magic missiles. She approached the fallen man¡¯s body and retrieved Gamorr Khan¡¯s ne which he had worn on his neck, removing the ne with a purple gem that had an evil spirit inhabiting it. ¡°Keuaa-¡± Gamorr Khan¡¯s body let out itsst breath and became an empty shell. Cordelia was surrounded by a ring of white light as she approached Jude who was still lying on the ground. She squatted next to Jude and looked down at him. ¡°Are you satisfied?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯mpletely satis- AAAAAH!¡± Jude screamed instead of continuing his answer because Cordelia had gently poked his regenerating left arm, and she shook her head. ¡°What a fool.¡± It would have been much easier if the two had fought together. He didn¡¯t have to fight like that and destroy his body. But she knew at the same time. He got a really nice item. He also powered-up a lot with that, so he probably wanted to confront his opponent head-on instead of using tricks. ¡°My goodness.¡± They said that all men are like kids. Cordelia smirked as she cast a recovery magic to aid Jude¡¯s regenerative ability. Therefore, Jude felt morefortable and he looked up at Cordelia and said. ¡°What do you think? Wasn¡¯t I a bit cool?¡± ¡°Hey, you¡¯re lying on the floor while covered in blood now, okay? Your face ispletely distorted from pain too, okay?¡± ¡°But wasn¡¯t I cool?¡± Cordeliaughed at Jude¡¯s question. She nodded her head as if she was being generous, and then said as she pinched the immobile Jude¡¯s cheek. ¡°Yes, yes, you were cool. You¡¯ll be in the gates of theherworld if you kept being cool though.¡± His cheeks were soft as if Sword Origin had been deactivated. Cordelia pulled Jude¡¯s cheek a few more times and then pinched her own cheek before she said with a big smile. ¡°My cheeks are still better. It¡¯s my win.¡± ¡°It must feel nice.¡± ¡°Yes, it feels nice. I really love it.¡± Cordelia giggled before she sat down and raised Gamorr Khan¡¯s golden ne, saying as she held the purple gem. ¡°Hey, Ipletely know that you¡¯re fine, okay?¡± Because the true body of Gamorr Khan was an evil spirit inside the golden ne. ¡°So don¡¯t pretend to be dead. Talk to me, okay?¡± Cordelia squeezed the purple gem one more time and a faint light soon began to appear from the ne. [How in the world¡­] ¡°Well, I just know everything.¡± As Cordelia brightly smiled, Gamorr Khan spoke again. [It¡¯s no use if you¡¯re thinking of breaking the ne. I¡¯ll just find a new ce to live and move into. I¡¯ll find a new host and get back at you two. So go ahead and break it. Go on and break it!] ¡°Oh, my. You scared me in order to get me to break your ne, huh? Or are you asking me to not break it?¡± As Cordelia teasingly spoke, the purple gem glowed again. An evil ck energy rose on Cordelia¡¯s fingers. But she made her move. Cordelia brightly smiled and turned into an angel, and Gamorr Khan screamed at the moment when her angelic light came out. [Aaaaah! A-angel?! Why are you an angel!] ¡°Because she¡¯s nice and pretty like an angel.¡± Jude answered, and Cordelia blushed as she said. ¡°A-anyway! I¡¯m an angel, okay? So just sleep well, okay?¡± When her angelic power was injected into the purple gem, Gamorr Khan¡¯s screams died down, and the purple gem also lost its light. ¡°Sealing sess.¡± If they kept him alive, he would be of some use. After all, he was Malekith¡¯s subordinate. Cordelia kept the sealed ne on her waist, and said as she pinched Jude¡¯s cheek again. ¡°Hey, it will take some time before youpletely recover, right?¡± ¡°Uh, probably?¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll continue ying with this.¡± Because it was rare for Jude to be not able to move at all. ¡°H-hey. You¡¯re an angel, right? Cordelia-nim?¡± ¡°Stay still, Mister ck-hearted ck Cloak.¡± Cordelia snickered before she suddenly pped her hands and revealed a wicked smile. She drew her face closer to the ear of Jude who was sweating in nervousness. *** ¡°Wow, the size really adjusted, huh?¡± Cordelia equipped Ultimate Five, Grand Order, on her right arm, and she waved her arms up and down several times in her curiosity. In the game, it was an item for warriors only, so it was a weapon that the wizard Cordelia could never equip. ¡°Hehehe, I¡¯m so happy. We caught Gamorr Khan, got two Ultimate series, cleaned up Mount Damos for our residents, and Jude became cute.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± Cordelia hummed and ignored the red-faced Jude¡¯s protest, twirling around before she said. ¡°Anyway, shall we go back now?¡± Not below Mount Damos but into Mount Damos itself. ¡°Yes, because we still need to farm some items.¡± It was the home of the ck Horn Guild, so there must be other items to take besides Ultimate One. ¡°Yes, yes, let¡¯s go quickly.¡± Cordelia returned Grand Order to its stealth form and ran as she pped her wings of light, while Jude ended up smiling. He lightly touched his ear before he began to move. Chapter 215: Elf Sword (1)

Chapter 215: Elf Sword (1)

Terms used in this episode: KakaoTalk ¨C a mobile messaging app for smartphones that is used by 93% of smartphone owners in South Korea. Jude and Cordelia arrived at ck Town, which was the ck Horn Guild¡¯s residential area situated in the underground of Mount Damos, and they began to search each building starting from those at the far left. ¡°Oh¡­ Cordelia, look at this pot. The grip on the handle is really good and the size is just right. Wow, this frying pan is awesome too.¡± There were several household items left in a room that looked like a kitchen, and each item was a masterpiece. What was more surprising was that all of the items were in good enough condition that you could use it right away after wiping it a bit. ¡°Oh¡­ These are so amazing. These items have been left here for more than 500 years, but they¡¯re still in good condition. What are these made of? Don¡¯t you think our pancakes will be more delicious if we make it here?¡± Jude chattered in his excitement and turned his head at some point. And he saw Cordelia staring at him with cold eyes. ¡°Why? What is it?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, if you¡¯re happy, that¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll just watch you with warm eyes.¡± Cordelia then closed her eyes and opened them again as she began to look at Jude with a really warm expression. ¡°Hey.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Would you rather curse me than look like that?¡± ¡°Can I really do that?¡± ¡°N-no. Please continue to look at me warmly.¡± Jude cleared his throat and only took the pot and frying pan he was holding before he began looking elsewhere. ¡°By the way, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes, Jude.¡± ¡°How is Ultimate Five? Isn¡¯t it heavy?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s much lighter than I thought.¡± Cordelia swung her right arm that had Ultimate Five ¨C Grand Order on it, and asked Jude as if she had just remembered. ¡°The location of the other Ultimate series are still somewhat unknown, right?¡± ¡°Yes, but we have the Key Sword, so we¡¯ll be able to find the others somehow. Well¡­since it¡¯s here now, shall we give it a try?¡± After pulling out the Key Sword from his waist, Jude infused it with mana to release the seal, and then brought the Key Sword to the nearest Ultimate series, which was his own body. ¡°Oh, there¡¯s a reaction.¡± When the gem on the handle of the Key Sword glowed, Cordelia quickly narrowed her distance from Jude. ¡°Each light color in the gem represent an Ultimate series, right?¡± ¡°Yes, it uses the colors of the rainbow, but the colors do not mean much since it¡¯s just for identification.¡± Jude held the Key Sword horizontally, and seven colors emitted light. ¡°These ones are Ultimate One and Ultimate Five, right?¡± ¡°Yes, red and blue.¡± Ultimate One ¨C Sword Origin, and Ultimate Five ¨C The Sword Shield, Grand Order. Cordelia observed the different colors as she touched the gem with her fingers, and she said after looking at the different lights. ¡°If it¡¯s yellow and green¡­ does it mean that Ultimate Three and Ultimate Four are in the south?¡± Ultimate Three ¨C Dragon Sword Ascalon, and Ultimate Four ¨C The Explosive de, Magic ster. Unlike the two colors that glowed rather clearly, the rest of the colors that symbolized Ultimate Two, Ultimate Six, and Ultimate Seven, glowed very faintly and weakly. ¡°I know the three are somewhere in the north but¡­ does this glow mean that it¡¯s too far away to know the exact location?¡± ¡°Yes, because in the game, they¡¯re usually found in the empire. Didn¡¯t the Sword God use Ultimate Six?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, because it¡¯s a family heirloom.¡± The empire¡¯s best swordsman. The continent¡¯s strongest swordsman who was called the Sword God. ¡®Between Kamael and him, it¡¯s unknown on who is stronger.¡¯ If the Sword God was the strongest in the day, Kamael was the strongest in the dark. ¡°I think Kamael is the stronger one.¡± Cordelia spoke, having read Jude¡¯s thoughts from his eyes, and he nced at her with eyes full of excitement. Because the opinion of Cordelia who had animal-like instincts was worth listening to. ¡°Why do you think so?¡± ¡°Because Kamael is on our side.¡± Because Landius was Jude¡¯s master and Kamael was Landius¡¯ best friend. Moreover, Cordelia herself was from the S?len Kingdom, while the Sword God was from the empire. At the reason that was very much like Cordelia, Jude nodded quite awkwardly. ¡°O-okay.¡± That¡¯s just so like you, I guess. ¡°Oh, there¡¯s another reason, right?¡± ¡°What reason?¡± ¡°Because Kamael will eventually be one of the Four Great Swordsmen, right?¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s because the Sword God died while trying to stop one of the 7 major cmities.¡± ¡°But the only one who survived in the end is Kamael, right? It¡¯s not ¡®the strong are the ones who survive,¡¯ but rather, those who survive are the strong ones.¡± When Cordelia crossed her arms and snorted like an idiot, Jude said as his eyes narrowed. ¡°Hey, Lady Cordelia. Aren¡¯t you just rambling nonsense?¡± Cordelia immediately blushed at Jude¡¯s point. Unlike Jude who was the incarnation of shamelessness, she was a woman who still possessed some shame. ¡®But that¡¯s why she¡¯s nice.¡¯ After smiling a bit, Jude changed the topic for Cordelia who was really embarrassed. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s focus on getting Ascalon and Magic ster.¡± ¡°Yes, fighting against Malekith is our first priority.¡± In fact, they had no reason to collect the entire Ultimate series except for Dragon Sword Ascalon, but for Jude and Cordelia whose gamer brains were already in full st, the term ¡®collect them all¡¯ was pretty much a given. ¡®If it exists, then we should collect it.¡¯ What more reasons do we need? ¡°Both of them are in the south, right?¡± ¡°Yes, the Dragon Sword is quite easy to find because it¡¯s kept at a certain location.¡± Jude recalled the high elves living in the Forest of Eternity before he nced at the green color in the gem that symbolized the Magic ster and touched his chin. ¡°Considering the distance between the colors¡­ it seems like Magic ster is in the territory of the 7 southern families.¡± ¡°Two birds with one stone.¡± They could get both the Dragon Sword and the Explosive de in their time on the south. ¡°Hmm¡­ In the meantime, shall we talk about our future schedule?¡± ¡°Eh? Weren¡¯t we going to meet the alliance candidates one by one?¡± ¡°I had thought of that, but the n changed.¡± Having said that, Jude nced at Gamorr Khan¡¯s golden ne hanging from Cordelia¡¯s waist. ¡°Because we have evidence.¡± ¡°Huh? Uh¡­ ah! That¡¯s right.¡± Cordelia pped her hands and widely smiled as she shook her fists. Evidence. In the battle on the royal capital, Jude and Cordelia were unable to ask for Landius¡¯ help. Because Landius had urgent business in the south, and that there was no way to persuade Landius. ¡®Because we didn¡¯t have any evidence.¡¯ The Lord Protector is trying to massacre the royal family. Even a passing dog in the S?len Kingdom would not believe that. Therefore, Jude and Cordelia could not seek for outside help until something really happened, even when they were put into a tight spot against the enemy called the Lord Protector. ¡®That would have been the case for Malekith too.¡¯ ck Dragon Malekith who had been sealed long ago in the southern seas will once again awaken and try to destroy the southern region. It was an unbelievable story. This alone could not stop Landius who wandered around the world in search of Archbishop Manu who had destroyed the Paragon Kingdom. But they had evidence now. Gamorr Khan¡¯s testimony would prove the existence and conspiracy of Malekith. ¡°So let¡¯s meet up with my master right away. I¡¯m sure that Kamael and Lena will also be with Master.¡± ¡°Wow, Lena! So we¡¯re going to fight together with the main characters of the first episode?¡± ¡°Maybe?¡± If he had to be honest, the idea of fighting together was impossible before because their difference in power was too wide, but it was possible for the two to fight together with them now. ¡°Wow. Isn¡¯t thispletely like the Avengers?¡± Cordelia lightly touched her chest that was pounding as she repeatedly stomped her feet. She seemed to be very excited. ¡°Because Malekith is that kind of enemy. Anyway, it¡¯s the reason why we¡¯re going to the headquarters of the Guardians of the Holy Cross.¡± ¡°To call Kamael?¡± ¡°Yes, as I said earlier, it¡¯s highly likely that Kamael will be with Master.¡± Landius didn¡¯t specifically tell Jude what they were doing in the south, but if Kamael and Lena were with him too, Jude could only think that they were chasing after Archbishop Manu. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s good. We¡¯ll stop by the Guardians of the Holy Cross to find out where Kamael is and have Lena and Landius join us afterwards. Yes, that¡¯s good. I like it.¡± ¡°Of course, that alone is not enough, so when we arrive in the south, we¡¯ll also need to get the 7 southern families¡¯ help.¡± The fight against Malekith was different from the usual raid bosses. An army was absolutely necessary to confront Malekith. ¡°What should we do?¡± ¡°I have an idea.¡± He had called Scarlet to the south because he had thought about that idea before. ¡°So, what¡¯s your idea?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s a good one. Come here for a second.¡± ¡°You¡¯re whispering again?¡± Cordelia grumbled as if she didn¡¯t like it, but she silently approached Jude and pricked up her ears. ¡°So¡­¡± Jude whispered quietly to Cordelia, and she snickered like she always did. ¡°Hehehe, I like it.¡± We can get close to Kajsa with that too. Jude was happy that Cordelia was delighted, and lightly gestured as he continued speaking. ¡°Then Countess, shall we continue our exploration?¡± ¡°Yes, Count.¡± Cordelia beautifully answered and took the lead as they resumed their exploration. *** It was deep at night. Jude and Cordelia searched the ck Horn Guild¡¯s residential area untilte at night, and they were able to pack a number of fairly usable items, one of which was Cordelia¡¯s favorite ¨C a long-range wireless transceiver. ¡°It¡¯s like a smartphone.¡± The palm-sized device had arge screen and several buttons, and it was a coboration between the high elves who survived the copse of Endymion, and the ancient dwarves who left Sword Seeker. ¡°Jude, Jude. Hurry up and send me a message.¡± As Cordelia sat down by the bonfire and urged him, Jude stared at the transceiver and was troubled. It was possible to input text messages by touch as if it was really a smartphone, and aside from ancient dwarf and high elfnguage letters, it was also possible to input humannguage letters perhaps because there were already several human countries during the time the ck Horn Guild was destroyed. ¡°Hurry up.¡± Cordelia prodded him again, but Jude furrowed his brows as he remained troubled. KakaoTalk to a woman? He had naturally used KakaoTalk several times for work or chatting with his colleagues, but when he thought that he was sending a message to Cordelia, he was really troubled. ¡®I mean, we¡¯re facing each other right now.¡¯ But what text should I send? In the end, what Jude sent was a very simple sentence after much thought. Jude: [Hi?] Why do I feel the ground shaking? Jude raised his head and looked at Cordelia who oohed and quickly replied. Cordelia: [Yes, hello LOL] Unlike the real KakaoTalk screen, thick white letters were disyed on the ck screen like those used by the military, but her use of ¡®LOL¡¯ alone made it feel cute. In fact, he had seen Cordelia stomping her feet on the ground in her excitement when he looked up. ¡®What should I reply?¡¯ When I said hi, she replied hello. Then what in the world should we talk about now? Jude was somehow flustered as he had to lead the conversation, and he sent a short sentence again in the end. Jude: [Are you sleeping?] Cordelia: [No, I¡¯m not sleeping LOL] Cordelia: [What nonsense are you talking about rabbit emoticon] ¡°Huh?¡± Rabbit emoticon? There were no emoticons here. Rather, what Cordelia wrote was the sentence ¡® What nonsense are you talking about rabbit emoticon¡¯ and not a real emoticon. ¡°Cordelia?¡± Jude asked as he blinked his eyes, and Cordelia replied with her eyes. ¡®Just imagine! Imagine it!¡¯ ¡°Okay.¡± If Cordelia wants it, then I have no choice but to match her. Jude: [Lion saluting emoticon] Cordelia: [LOL You¡¯re getting better, Jude.] Cordelia touched the screen again to send text messages, but more than half of her conversation was filled with ¡®haha¡¯ and ¡®LOL¡¯ words. Cordelia: [It¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve been on KakaoTalk. Do you remember the chatroom?] Jude: [Of course.] Cordelia: [Do you think everyone¡¯s doing well?] Jude: [They¡¯ll be fine.] Cordelia: [You¡¯re right, LOL] Cordelia: [Widely smiling rabbit emoticon] That was it. Cordelia lied down next to the bonfire and nced at Jude before she pressed the screen again to send a message. Cordelia: [Good night, Jude.] Jude: [Good night too.] Cordelia: [Rabbit kissing the cheek emoticon] ¡°Can¡¯t you just do it for me?¡± ¡°Eh, no way.¡± After saying that it was impossible, Cordelia giggled and turned her back, but because of the bonfire, Jude could see that her exposed ears were very red. ¡°Good night.¡± ¡°Good night.¡± Jude lied down and closed his eyes, falling into a deep sleep. *** Jude raised his head. He opened his eyes and found himself in a familiar yet unfamiliar space. What he saw was a forest. Large and straight trees stood on the left and right, and in front of him was the fresh green grass that grew up in the sunlight that peeked from the tree leaves. His unfamiliar feeling was natural. This was the first time in his life that he had seen this ce. But he was familiar with it because he had already experienced being in a simr space several times. ¡®Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors.¡¯ Apletely ck and white space where he could meet the female sage. So, is this ce the same as that one? Jude took a step forward. He was barefoot and only wearing a white tunic. The texture of the grass touching his bare skin was very soft. And Jude was able to see. A woman stood in the middle of the grass area as she basked in the sunlight. She had long and light golden hair that reached the hips, and very long pointed ears. A pair of mysterious-looking green eyes in her white face. For Jude, she was second to Cordelia in terms of beauty. She had an atmosphere simr to a fairy, but she felt much more like a human being. The woman looked at Jude. She seemed to be in her mid tote twenties. Dressed in a greenbat uniform that elven swordsmen liked to wear, she revealed her white smile instead of introducing herself when Jude stood before her. Jude called her name that naturally came to his mind. ¡°Valencia.¡± The Elf Sword. The strongest swordsman of that time whom the ck Horn Guild Master, Eitri, visited to ask about the ultimate sword. And Jude learned one more thing. She was the first owner of Ultimate One ¨C Sword Origin. ¡°Nice to meet you, my sessor.¡± She widely smiled and stretched out her hand to Jude. Rainbow colors and their corresponding Ultimate Seven series:Red = Ultimate One ¨C Sword OriginOrange = Ultimate TwoYellow = Ultimate Three ¨C Dragon Sword AscalonGreen = Ultimate Four ¨C The Explosive Sword, Magic sterBlue = Ultimate Five ¨C The Sword Shield, Grand OrderIndigo = Ultimate SixViolet = Ultimate Seven Chapter 242: Divine Spirits Whistle (1)

Chapter 242: Divine Spirit''s Whistle (1)

Sorry for thete post. I got too absorbed with reading Tomb Raider King yesterday. Terms used in this episode: Erofu ¨C abination of the words ¡®erotic¡¯ and ¡®elf¡¯ which usually means a beautiful elf girl that has a lewd body or likes to do lewd things. The figures of Sirens based on Greek and Roman mythology werergely divided into two types. Their first and original image was that they were half-human and half-bird. The other image they had that was created byter generations was that they were half-human and half-fish. In short, they were like mermaids. In any case, both of these figures depicted them as beautiful women who were called the songstresses of the sea, but in fact, there were differences between the two that most people saw them as different races. The Sirens in Legend of Heroes 2 adopted thetter image ¨C the half-human and half-fish. These sea elves roamed the ocean. Their whole race was made up of only women, so they were more like dryads than elves. And in Pleaides, which was the setting of the Legend of Heroes series, the dryad was also ssified as a type of elf. ¡°Huu¡­ huu¡­¡± Jude tightly hugged Cordelia and swallowed hard. Sirens. He could see seven of them right now. ording to Jude¡¯s knowledge andmon sense, they were all beautiful women who had the elves¡¯ unique long ears that stood out from their colorful hair. ¡®As expected, they¡¯re still alive.¡¯ There were two kinds of Sirens that one could meet in Legend of Heroes 2. One were the sirens living in the sea on the side of the Argon Empire, and the other were the sirens in the sea on the side of the S?len Kingdom, who were enved by Malekith. ¡®Thetter were virtually monsters.¡¯ The sirens, who had their minds eroded by Malekith and turned into monsters, were cannibal monsters that ate humans who were enchanted from their songs, just like the sirens in Greek and Roman mythology. But they were not monsters yet. Currently, Malekith had not yet resurrected and took control of the southern region, so the sirens on the kingdom¡¯s side were beautiful and rational sea elves, just like the sirens on the empire¡¯s side. ¡°In the eastern sky, in the western sky.¡± ¡°Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.¡± ¡°Shining beautifully.¡± The sirens began to sing the song that Jude was singing. As songstresses of the sea, they were able to sing it perfectly and in harmony despite it being their first time in hearing that song. ¡®Stay calm, Jude. Stay calm.¡¯ When Jude thought of Cordelia who was growing cold in his arms, he wanted to threaten the sirens so that they would move them to another ce, but he had to endure it. He used his reason to suppress his emotions. ¡®I need to ask them for help.¡¯ He was not in a situation to threaten them. He should not forget that Cordelia¡¯s safety was his top priority. ¡°Beautiful and strong human.¡± As the sirens sang, the siren in the lead spoke and approached Jude. She was a beautiful woman with ck hair and blue eyes. ¡°I saw you fight off the demon of the sea.¡± Jude observed the woman. Unlike the other sirens, she seemed to be of a high status, given the gold ornaments on her ears and neck. ¡®I don¡¯t remember her.¡¯ The number of Named Sirens that one encountered in the game was seven. None of them had ck hair and blue eyes like the woman in front of him. ¡®Is this simr to Princess Leica¡¯s case?¡¯ In fact, he wanted it to be simr. In order to save Cordelia from this vast sea, the most obvious way was to be invited to the underwater realm of the sirens. The higher the status of the siren in front of him, the easier it would be for his goal to be achieved. ¡°I am Jude August Bayer. We¡¯ve been attacked by the Kraken just now. So I want to ask for your assistance.¡± Jude spoke quickly, but instead of replying immediately, the siren turned to Cordelia who was in Jude¡¯s arms. A pale white face and purple lips. She was obviously in a dangerous state, but the siren was not in a hurry. She narrowed her eyes as if to observe Jude, who was struggling to suppress his impatience and anger, and then spoke again. ¡°I am Chloe Gas, the legitimate sessor of Electra Gas, head of the Gas family, and one of the 72 spears that protect the monarchy.¡± She wasn¡¯t royalty, but seemed to be an heiress of an influential noble family and a knight of the monarchy. ¡°Dame Chloe, please. My fianc¨¦e, Cordelia, is in a very critical condition.¡± Jude pleaded once more and looked into Chloe¡¯s eyes. He was appealing for her sympathy right now, but he was willing to threaten the other sirens by overpowering them depending on her answer. After all, helping Cordelia recover was his top priority. Chloe did not immediately answer this time, regardless of whether she understood Jude¡¯s thoughts or not. She remained silent for a while, and only opened her mouth just before Jude¡¯s patience reached its limit. ¡°Jude August Bayer, a strong and good-looking human. I will ept your request. I, Chloe Gas, invite you as one of the 72 spears.¡± Her words made him breathe in relief. But Chloe¡¯s words were not yet over. She continued to talk as she still kept an eye on Jude. ¡°By the way, strong and good-looking human. Those invited to the monarchy of us sirens have to obey the rules. Do you know that?¡± ¡°I know.¡± The sirens in the empire¡¯s side whom one might encounter in Legend of Heroes 2 also had simr rules. When Jude promptly replied, Chloe faintly smiled and nodded her head. ¡°Then it¡¯s all right. From this moment onwards, you are a guest of the Gas family. Please keep that in mind.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± Jude was in a hurry. Chloe smiled again and approached Jude, while the sirens who were singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star among themselves then also flocked to Jude and Chloe. They brightly smiled and began to sing a new song. *** Cordelia was in a dark ce. She was cold, sleepy, and hungry. She burst out crying amidst the sudden sadness she felt. She stopped crying after doing it for a long time. Because she was hungry from crying. ¡°Sob¡­ sob¡­¡± Cordelia tried to hold back her tears and looked around. She unconsciously searched for Jude, but she couldn¡¯t see him. There was only darkness all around her. ¡°Jude. Where are you, Jude? Jude.¡± Cordelia spoke like a child and got up from her seat. She had suddenly be a real child. She was over ten years old. Cordelia wiped away her tears with the sleeves of her white dress and began trudging. ¡°Jude. Unnie. Dad. Oppa.¡± It was dark all around her, so she called them out in a low voice because she was scared to call them out loudly. As she kept walking while calling for them in a small voice, she saw a wall. The white wall was full of pictures, so it seemed like she was in an art museum. ¡°Pretty.¡± The young Cordelia had suddenly be smaller. She was now around five years old and wearing red shoes. She then stood on the tips of her toes in order to look up at the picture. The picture in the ck frame showed a girl with a familiar face. Hong Yoo Hee. Her past life self. She was around 145-150 cm tall and looked pretty, but had a sharp impression at the same time. A girl with a catlike face who always liked to curse. ¡°She looks like a doll.¡± Cordelia evaluated her past life self through the eyes of a child before she blinked her eyes. Because the picture moved. ¡°Theputer in my room.¡± Hong Yoo Hee was sitting in front of her desk. Her left hand was supporting her chin while her right hand was clicking the mouse. ¡®Cordelia¡¯ was on the screen monitor. A lovely girl who was kind, pretty, and innocent, and seemed to be someone that came out of a painting. The Cordelia in Legend of Heroes 2 was indeed like that. Even when her life was in danger, she was like a saint as she sacrificed herself in order to save the children from the other 12 northern families. Hong Yoo Hee liked Cordelia. Cordelia then turned her gaze. There were several pictures on the wall, and one of them caught Cordelia¡¯s attention again. ¡°Cordelia?¡± It was Cordelia. There was a standing Cordelia in the picture with a big ck frame. She had definitely seen it before, but it felt strange. ck hair and red eyes. Her face was simr to the Cordelia that Hong Yoo Hee was looking at the monitor, but the atmosphere waspletely different. It wasn¡¯t just because she was almost half-naked and had a bewitching smile. In essence, she was a different person from the Cordelia she knew. ¡°The me who became a demonic human¡­¡± Cordelia hated it so much that she only yed it once. The Cordelia who became a demonic human could only be seen when one yed as Lucas. She wasughing hollowly as she raised her bloodstained hands. No, she was crying sadly. Cordelia took a step back. She sank to her knees and tightly shut her eyes. Why? I¡¯ve only yed it once, but why is it so clear? Why do I remember it as clearly as Hong Yoo Hee¡¯s memory? ¡°Jude.¡± She called out Jude¡¯s name again. She wanted to see Jude. So Cordelia opened her eyes. The pictures in front of her suddenly changed. Tworge pictures hang side by side on a white wall. Both depicted Jude. But Cordelia knew. The two were different. The Jude on the left was from Legend of Heroes 2. He was attacking Cordelia as he had a very tired and painful expression like that of Kamael. He was having a desperate struggle against the Cordelia who became a demonic human. It was a painful sight to see. Was there such a scene in the game? There must have been one, right? So that¡¯s why I¡¯m seeing a scene like that now, right? Cordelia was about to cry so she forcibly turned her gaze. She looked at the picture on the right and widely smiled without realizing it. ¡°Jude.¡± The real Jude. The picture on the left was also Jude, but for Cordelia, the Jude on the right was the real one. Unlike the one on the left, he was smiling. He had a really sly smile in the picture, but for Cordelia who was already blinded by love, it seemed to be a very handsome smile. ¡°Hehe.¡± There were many different images of Jude in the pictures. When she closed and opened her eyes, the wall was full of Jude¡¯s pictures. From the time they remembered the memories of their past lives to the memories of their present lives. Jude gradually changed in the pictures that continued like a panorama. ¡®There were times like that.¡¯ Cordeliaughed as she viewed the pictures. And tears came out again. She wanted to see the real Jude, and not the Jude in the pictures. ¡°Jude. Where are you¡­¡± As she muttered, the wall in front of her disappeared. Her memories of Hong Yoo Hee, Cordelia, and Jude disappeared again under the surface of her consciousness. Hong Yoo Hee. The Cordelia who became a demonic human. The Jude who was attacking Cordelia. The present Cordelia. The present Jude. ¡°Cordelia.¡± Cordelia raised her head. She turned to the voice she very much weed, and burst into tears as she ran towards that voice. She loudly called out the name of the voice¡¯s owner. ¡°Jude!¡± She opened her eyes. The half-asleep Cordelia was in a fluster for a while. Her lips were then suddenly wiped with a sleeve without her knowledge. After the drool along her chin was wiped away, her tears were then wiped off. ¡®Was I dreaming?¡¯ She couldn¡¯t remember the contents of her dream when she woke up, just like most dreams. As if someone hid her memories the moment she opened her eyes. Like the memories of demonic human Cordelia, and the Jude who lost everything. ¡°Huh?¡± What was I thinking just now? Cordelia unconsciously tilted her head, and then shook her head to get rid of her distracting thoughts. She couldn¡¯t remember the events in her dream, but only one emotion came to her mind clearly. I want to see Jude. I want to see Jude. As her heart desperately whispered it, Cordelia realized. The fact that his arms was holding her waist tightly. The fact that she was already in Jude¡¯s arms. ¡°Jude, Jude.¡± Cordelia moved her body and called out Jude¡¯s name. She wanted to see Jude¡¯s face, but she couldn¡¯t because he was hugging her from behind. ¡°Jude?¡± It was when she called him again. She suddenly felt Jude¡¯s arms tightening his hug around her waist. ¡°Cordelia?¡± She didn¡¯t have the time to respond to his words. Because Jude had embraced Cordelia to the point that she felt like she was being crushed. ¡°Oww! It hurts! Hey!¡± It felt both nice and painful, so she was flustered again. Jude then slightly loosened his tight embrace on her. Just a little bit. ¡°It¡¯s a relief, it¡¯s a relief. I was worried because you didn¡¯t wake up.¡± Jude kept saying that as he tightly hugged Cordelia in his arms. She was hugged from behind until just now, but they were now suddenly facing each other. ¡®It¡¯s like I¡¯m a doll.¡¯ Cordelia unconsciously thought that and grinned before she raised her head while still in Jude¡¯s arms. She saw Jude¡¯s face that she had wanted to see so much. ¡®Yes, this is my Jude.¡¯ The real Jude. The Jude that Cordelia knew and not the Jude of Legend of Heroes 2 who became a monster who only cared about revenge after losing everyone he cherished and loved¡­ such as his father, brother, and Maja whom he treated like a real sister. ¡°Cordelia.¡± Jude tightly hugged Cordelia again before kissing her forehead and head. ¡°M-me too.¡± I want to do it too. Cordelia raised her head as she tried to kiss Jude¡¯s cheek, but sadly, that didn¡¯t happen. Because she suddenly remembered something. ¡°W-wait! Wait a second!¡± Come to think of it, where in the world are we? What happened to Kajsa and the others? When Cordelia hurriedly asked, Jude tightly hugged her again and answered. ¡°They¡¯re all right. This is the country of the sirens. A monarchy that has not yet been destroyed by Malekith, nor made its appearance in Legend of Heroes 2.¡± ¡°Siren?¡± ¡°Yes, Siren. Kajsa, Bentham, and Sebastian were also saved by the sirens.¡± Jude slowly recounted on what had happened during the time Cordelia was unconscious. His meeting with Chloe, a knight of the siren¡¯s monarchy, and her invitation. The facts that they were currently in a mansion of the Gallos family, that Cordelia had woken up after a full day, and so on. ¡°I see¡­ That¡¯s a relief.¡± They saved not only Kajsa and Bentham, but even Sebastian. ¡°How did youe up with that idea anyway?¡± I can¡¯t believe you sang Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star in order to call the sirens. Should I say as expected of Jude? At Cordelia¡¯s look full of admiration, Jude smiled and said. ¡°I was lucky. There was a high possibility that the sirens were present at that time, but it was only a possibility. I¡¯m d that they responded to my song.¡± ¡°Yes, sirens are sensitive to songs¡­ wait. W-wait.¡± ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°No, wait a minute.¡± Siren? The sea elves ¨C you mean, the ELVES of the sea?! ¡®This crazy-!¡¯ It¡¯s been only a few days since we¡¯ve ran away from the erofu of the Forest of Eternity, and now you¡¯re saying that there are also erofu here! In addition, it¡¯s a more serious problem if they¡¯re sirens. ¡®It¡¯s a women-only race!¡¯ The elves in the Forest of Eternity had male elves, but they still drooled when they saw Jude, so wouldn¡¯t it be more extreme for the sirens who only had women in their race? ¡®Ju-Jude is in danger.¡¯ He¡¯s seriously in danger. I have to leave a love letter quickly and escape from here. Yes, we must do that. Cordelia looked around in a hurry. It was to find something that she could use as a stationery. But there was no furniture in the white and circr room except for the bed. Furthermore, Jude read Cordelia¡¯s innermost thoughts and said something that she did not expect. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes, why? We¡¯re running away quickly?¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s not it¡­¡± ¡°Not it?¡± ¡°Well, I think we should stay here for a while. The reason is¡­ you know about that, right?¡± ¡°Because of the sirens? Thousands of hungry erofu are aiming for you? Are they holding on to you and not letting you go? Is that it?¡± When Cordelia asked with a face full of panic, Jude shook his head. He didn¡¯t know about the thoughts of Cordelia back then in the Forest of Eternity. ¡°No, not that. It¡¯s because the Kraken woke up.¡± Although Jude and Cordelia defeated the Kraken, they had just literally drove it out. It was still alive. But it was at that moment. Before Jude could even continue his exnation, Cordelia realized one strange thing. ¡°Woke up?¡± It woke up and was not from the deep sea? It was in a deep sleep? The one in the seal? At her RPG-like questions, Jude nodded his head. He told her of another thing he learned from Chloe. *** ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°Marking my territory.¡± Chapter 243: Divine Spirits Whistle (2)

Chapter 243: Divine Spirit''s Whistle (2)

¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°Marking my territory.¡± Kajsa nodded and pped her hands in response to Cordelia¡¯s answer. Because she finally understood Cordelia¡¯s strange behavior. ¡°I see.¡± Cordelia was now clinging to Jude, and rubbing her cheeks on his back. Or rather, she was rubbing her head all over Jude¡¯s body to be exact. His neck, his back, and his head too. ¡°But why are you suddenly doing that?¡± ¡°Basically, the five senses of elves are more sensitive than humans. So if they smell me, their conscience will tell them to withdraw.¡± Bentham was slightly impressed by her logical argument that she said with an indifferent expression. ¡®As expected of a wizard.¡¯ Even if they were both beasts, she was a little different from Kajsa. They had only spent a short time together, but he could already tell that Cordelia was of the same kind as Kajsa. But unlike Bentham¡¯s impressed look, the real beast, Kajsa, gave a different opinion. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s going to work.¡± ¡°Eh? Why? Are you saying that sirens don¡¯t have a conscience?¡± ¡°Uh, no. Not in that way. Rather, they¡¯ll like it if it smells like you, I think? Because it means that they took someone else¡¯s. Since sirens only have women in their race, they view men as a kind of resource. They need a lot of children to build up their family¡¯s power, but they need a man to do that. So they share the man within their family, but never with other families. Rather, if they take a man from another family, it will be for the joy and pleasure of conquering someone.¡± At Kajsa¡¯s exnation, Cordelia was frightened by the erofu that were beyond her imagination, while Bentham was somehow impressed that Kajsa could give such a long exnation. ¡°So the sirens go together as a family when hunting for men. Unless they want to go on a reallyrge scale man hunting.¡± Cordelia was once again scared at Kajsa¡¯s words. She couldn¡¯t help it since she heard a strange word. ¡°M-man hunting?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s what sirens call it when they seduce and capture male sailors with their songs. And well, the dryads living in the empire also do something simr.¡± Dryads were also a race made up of only women. They were famous for luring men into the woods and sucking the men¡¯s energy. ¡°T-those erofu. What kind of monsters are they really? Are they subi?¡± ¡°Well¡­ they¡¯re simr, I think?¡± As Kajsa shrugged her shoulders and spoke, Cordelia hugged Jude a little tighter as if she felt a sense of crisis. And at that frightened rabbit-like appearance, Kajsa shared more scary stories. ¡°Jude must be popr because he is handsome, young, and has a good body. Perhaps families will wage wars against each other. They¡¯ll try to capture him. Or perhaps, he¡¯ll be shared by the entire kingdom and not just the families?¡± At this point, it was already close to a horror story, but for Cordelia, it was a really intimidating story. She put more strength in her arms holding Jude. ¡°I-I¡¯m going to protect Jude.¡± In fact, Cordelia had been in a state of panic since earlier. The cause was the strong emotions that she felt in her dream that she couldn¡¯t properly remember. Her fear of demonic human Cordelia. Her sadness for the Jude who lost everything and became obsessed with revenge. Her attachment to Jude who was the only person that remembered her past life as Yellow Storm and shared secrets that she couldn¡¯t even tell her current family. As all of these emotions were mixed into one, her affection for Jude grew stronger, as if she had be the child in her dream who was wandering around in search of Jude. And Jude responded to Cordelia¡¯s actions like always. In other words, he was smiling in delight. ¡°Ha, that¡¯s an annoying expression.¡± Kajsa frowned and criticized him, but Jude didn¡¯t care. He wasn¡¯t even listening to her in the first ce. ¡°B-by the way, Kajsa. Does that mean that Sebastian and Bentham are in danger too?¡± Kajsa smiled at the question of Cordelia who seemed to have be like a child. ¡°It¡¯s all right because I¡¯m guarding Mister Sebastian well. As for Bentham¡­ sirens also have a taste. They do not like all men.¡± ¡°I see¡­ That¡¯s a relief, Mister Bentham.¡± When Cordelia spoke with a convinced expression, Bentham said with a troubled expression like a mature dwarf instead of raising his fist. ¡°No, it¡¯s not? I¡¯m also popr, okay? The sirens like me too, okay? Bald dwarves are especially popr among sirens, okay?¡± ¡°I understand. There are times when one needs to rationalize to mentally cope with reality.¡± Kajsa smiled benevolently as if she understood everything, while Cordelia gazed at Bentham with sadness and then said. ¡°Cheer up, Bentham. Cheer up.¡± There was a strong feeling ofpassion at the appearance of her cheering him up as she lightly pumped her fist. Therefore, Bentham became angry again and lightly pound on his chest in his frustration, while Kajsa held her sides in herughter. ¡°Moving on¡­ the story is as follows.¡± It was Jude¡¯s job to organize the situation like always. Kajsa and Bentham focused on Jude like Cordelia did because they had not yet heard of the post-battle situation. ¡°First of all, the sirens rescued and brought us to their realm. As you can see now, Kajsa and Bentham are fine and without any injuries, while Lord Sebastian has a few additional injuries. He¡¯s unconscious because of the aftermath of the brainwashing, but he¡¯ll wake up sooner orter. The sirens are singing healing songs for him. Hopefully, they can sessfully get rid of his bewitched state.¡± Cordelia nodded, and Kajsa and Bentham turned to each other at the exnation Jude gave. They weren¡¯t as good as Jude and Cordelia at having a conversation with their eyes, but they were able to understand what the other was thinking perhaps because a consensus was formed. ¡®Isn¡¯t he just talking to Cordelia?¡¯ ¡®We¡¯re just extras here.¡¯ Or rather, they didn¡¯t even seem to be extras from the way Jude talked. In any case, Jude¡¯s exnation continued. ¡°The Kraken we encountered this time isn¡¯t the one from the deep sea. It¡¯s the one who was sealed in the sea here and had woken up.¡± Krakens being called the demons of the sea was not a metaphor. Krakens were actually a kind of demon. When one of the overlords of hell, the violent Behemoth, descended on earth, the Krakens came together with him and aplished the feat of virtually destroying Perigeo, one of the ancient elves¡¯ kingdoms. ¡°The Krakens back then numbered seven. Four were killed by the elves of Perigeo, but not the other three.¡± The other three suffered serious blows from the elves of Perigeo, but they were not killed. ¡°Two of the three ran into the deep sea, and the other seemed to have been sealed deep in the sea by the sirens of that time.¡± ¡°They didn¡¯t kill it?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think they could afford it.¡± The enemies of Perigeo were not just the seven Krakens. Because there were many demons and monsters that attacked Perigeo on thend side. ¡°Therefore, Perigeo was eventually destroyed.¡± Anyway, what mattered was the fact that a Kraken was sealed in the southern sea of the S?len Kingdom. ¡°Are you saying that the seal was broken this time?¡± Jude nodded at Kajsa¡¯s question. ¡°Yes, the seal was released. Chloe said that Perigeo¡¯s Crystal Ball that was keeping the seal had disappeared.¡± ¡°Perigeo¡¯s Crystal Ball?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a legacy of the ancient elven kingdom. Think of it as a mana generator.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Kajsa furrowed her brows in her uncertainty, while Bentham¡¯s eyes were sparkling. Because he found a mana generator left by an ancient elven kingdom to be interesting. And aside from these two, Cordelia¡¯s lips twitched as she lightly pulled Jude¡¯s sleeve. [Jude, that Perigeo¡¯s Crystal Ball is¡­] [Yes, perhaps Sicilia took it.] In the second half of Legend of Heroes 2, Kajsa attacked Malekith with several heroes in order to recapture her hometown, and one of the magic tools that Sicilia brought out at that time was Perigeo¡¯s Crystal Ball. [But I think the timing hase a bit earlier. The Kraken never appeared when we went to the south in the game.] [Is it because of us?] [Maybe.] They weren¡¯t exactly sure if that was the case, but it was highly likely that Jude and Cordelia were the biggest reason why Sicilia was more active than in the game. ¡°Moving on, the seal is broken, so the Kraken is moving again. I¡¯m sure you know from our firsthand experience, but the Kraken¡¯s a terrifying opponent.¡± A big opponent that was too big. One leg alone was tens of meters long, and it had dozens of those legs. Kajsa frowned as she scratched her head, and said after her shoulders drooped. ¡°Frankly, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s possible to defeat it while riding a boat in the sea.¡± She was right. If it swung its legs a few times, the fleet and everything would be destroyed. Moreover, it could summon a storm. Fighting on a boat was more like a suicide attempt. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect the ancient elves to be that amazing.¡± They killed four such monsters in the sea. As Bentham stroked his beard and said, Kajsa nodded in agreement and looked at Jude again. ¡°It seems like the sirens have no other better solutions, right?¡± ¡°Until now, that¡¯s the situation. They¡¯re worried that the Kraken would attack their realm.¡± The sirens could freely swim and breathe in the sea, but even for these women, the monster Kraken was a very difficult opponent. ¡®In the first ce, the Kraken is also a sea creature.¡¯ It was much stronger if it fought in the sea. ¡°This is troubling.¡± Kajsa said as she crossed her arms and frowned again. If such a monster wandered around the southern sea, the southern region of the kingdom, which heavily relied on its various marine industries, would have no choice but to suffer huge economic losses. ¡°But Jude. Didn¡¯t you just say until now?¡± Jude nodded at Bentham¡¯s question. Because as Bentham had heard, Jude had indeed said ¡®until now.¡¯ ¡°D-did youe up with a solution?¡± When Kajsa hurriedly asked, Jude nodded once and said as he turned to Cordelia who was holding his sleeve. ¡°Because of Cordelia, things have changed.¡± ¡°Eh? Because of me?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s because of my angel.¡± Kajsa and Bentham¡¯s expressions turned cold when they heard the word ¡®angel¡¯ that Jude naturally spoke. Cordelia who was standing in front of the two then blushed, while Jude remained calm. Being embarrassed was always Cordelia¡¯s job. ¡®No, wait. Why is it always me?¡¯ Cordelia came to her senses and asked with her eyes, but by that time, Jude had already turned his gaze to Kajsa and Bentham. Jude briefly exined on what Cordelia did, and was deeply satisfied when the two looked at Cordelia with a surprised face. As for Cordelia, instead of clearing her throat and bragging about it like always, she was lightly scratching her cheek in her embarrassment. Because she only boasted like a child when in front of Jude. Anyway, the important thing was the fact that the Kraken suffered a serious blow. ¡°Even if it haven¡¯t suffered a serious blow, it¡¯s been sealed for many years and has weakened from the injuries caused by the elves of Perigeo. What do you think will happen if it suffered a serious blow?¡± At Jude¡¯s question, Kajsa smiled as if it wasn¡¯t something to think deeply about. ¡°It must have run back home.¡± When a person or animal suffered from a serious injury, they would hide in their homes. They needed time to heal their wounds. ¡°It thinks of the seal as its own house, perhaps because it¡¯s been sealed there for a long time. In the first ce, there are very few ces where a monster as big as a Kraken can hide its body.¡± ¡°Anyway, it crawled back into the seal on its own.¡± As Bentham said as he chuckled, Kajsa also said with shining eyes. ¡°It pushed itself into a ce where its movements are restricted. No way¡­ Are you saying that the sirens are thinking of using this opportunity to finally kill it instead of sealing it again?¡± Just like Cordelia, Kajsa¡¯s intuition was also good. Moreover, the uracy was bound to be higher this time because it had a fairly reasonable logic. ¡°Yes, the sirens are asking us, or more specifically, Cordelia, since we have done a huge blow to the Kraken. So let¡¯s defeat the Kraken together.¡± Kajsa very much weed the decision as she raised both her hands. So did Bentham since he lived in the south. ¡®And Cordelia¡­¡¯ Jude looked back at Cordelia and tried to suppress hisughter. He couldn¡¯t help it because Cordelia was reacting exactly as he expected. Her blue eyes began to sparkle, her cheeks were glowing, and her lips slightly opened in her excitement. In addition to that, even her heart began to pound loudly. ¡®Kraken! Raid Boss! Raid rewards!¡¯ Cordelia¡¯s gamer brain began to work, and she expressed her excitement through her trembling hands as she sent a magic to Jude. [Jude, Jude. The sirens are also thinking of something, right? They must have prepared something like a trigger to weaken the Kraken, or something that could deal a decisive blow to it, right?] [Yes, it seems like they¡¯re preparing something. And¡­] [And?] [I have one in mind.] [Wow, is this a new special move?] Cordelia asked in excitement, and Jude replied as he lightly pinched her cheek. [It¡¯s still a secret.] [Hmph, that¡¯s unfair.] But contrary to what she said, she had a smile on her face. Even though he was pinching her cheek. ¡®Because I can¡¯t just leave it to Cordelia.¡¯ Summoning the Spirit King¡¯s right arm was certainly a powerful technique, but it was also a reckless technique that used up all of Cordelia¡¯s mana at once. The burden on Cordelia was enormous, so he couldn¡¯t let her abuse it. In that case, it would be better for him to do it himself since he could handle the burden much more. ¡®I want to try it.¡¯ I want to see if it¡¯s possible. I want to know if I can handle that much power. Jude made a firm resolution as he pinched Cordelia¡¯s cheeks with both hands. And Cordelia who had been smiling earlier now looked at him coldly and raised her hands. She wanted to pinch Jude¡¯s cheeks in the same way. But fortunately for Kajsa and Bentham, that didn¡¯t happen. Because someone came to see the group at that right moment. ¡°Jude, this is Chloe. May Ie in?¡± At that very gentle and beautiful voice, Cordelia hurriedly hugged Jude¡¯s arm and raised her vignce like a cat with its fur raised. And Jude tried to hold back hisughter before shouting to the door. ¡°You maye in.¡± Chloe Gas. A knight of the Siren Monarchy who saved their party. She¡¯s certainly our benefactor, but apart from that, I have to be alert since she¡¯s an erofu of the sea! Cordelia swallowed hard and tightened her arms around Jude¡¯s arm. She focused her gaze on the appearance of Chloe, which began to appear through the crack of the door. Chapter 244: Divine Spirits Whistle (3)

Chapter 244: Divine Spirit''s Whistle (3)

Chloe Gas¡¯ appearance was as beautiful as her voice. She had long and ebony ck hair, and white skin to contrast it. She also had blue eyes that were as mysterious as the sea, that it seemed like she could charm sailors without having to sing. As a result, Cordelia became more alert and hugged Jude¡¯s arm a little tighter as she observed Chloe once more. Chloe was wearing tight-fitting white clothes that were like fish scales, and had a thin sword on her waist. ¡®She has legs.¡¯ The sirens were able to freely switch between a mermaid form, wherein their lower bodies were like that of a fish, and an elf form, wherein their entire body had a humanoid form. The room itself had air flowing inside in the first ce, so if she had been in her mermaid form, she wouldn¡¯t have been able toe this far. In any case, the unbelievably beautiful Chloe had a shy expression. Her cheeks were slightly red, and she was smiling brightly. ¡®A-as I thought, she¡¯s aiming for Jude!¡¯ That¡¯s why she¡¯s making that face! In the eyes of Cordelia who had not yet escaped from the aftermath of her dream, she could only see that Chloe had fallen for Jude. ¡®L-look at that smile in her eyes!¡¯ It wasn¡¯t an illusion. Chloe was indeed looking their way with a shy smile. Even someone from the same sex would find her expressions cute. ¡®Huh? Why this way though?¡¯ Cordelia was sticking close to Jude now, but she had always been as sensitive as a wild animal. Chloe was looking at Cordelia and not at Jude, and the smile in her eyes was also directed at Cordelia and not Jude. ¡®Eh? Me? Why?¡¯ Not Jude? When Cordelia was feeling confused, Chloe lightly walked to Jude, or to be exact, to Cordelia, and greeted her very politely. ¡°My humblest greetings to thee. I am called Chloe Gas from the noble family of Gas.¡± Then she gently held Cordelia¡¯s hand, lowered her posture and kissed the back of Cordelia¡¯s hand. ¡®W-wait. Why are her cheeks blushing? Why are you being so shy?¡¯ Aren¡¯t you the erofus of the sea? The embarrassed Cordelia unconsciously turned to Jude, and she realized that Jude was also surprised by Chloe¡¯s attitude. ¡®What¡¯s wrong with her?¡¯ (Cordelia) ¡®Wait, just wait.¡¯ (Jude) Come to think of it, did Chloe speak to me that politely back then? She didn¡¯t. She was evaluating me right after we were rescued and even when we talked about the Kraken. So why is she suddenly being polite? And seeing the current situation, she¡¯s only that polite to Cordelia. ¡®J-Jude?¡¯ (Cordelia) Why is she not letting go of Cordelia¡¯s hand? Why does she keep touching it? And why is she breathing roughly now? S-she¡¯s panting? T/N: The Korean word used here for panting/gasping is the kind of panting a fan makes when the situation they had wished for had finallye. In short, a fangasm. Jude then turned to the door. The two sirens who came together with Chloe also had flushed faces as they looked at Cordelia. Their eyes were filled with ecstasy, joy, envy, and so on. What¡¯s going on? Of course, it¡¯s true that Cordelia is the most beautiful and cutest girl in the world¨C Jude lightly thought of that, though Kajsa would have coldly stared at him if she had heard it. But he soon figured out the reason why. ¡®Ah! Is it that?¡¯ ¡®That? What is the ¡®that¡¯ you¡¯re talking about?¡¯ Chloe had begun to rub her cheek against the back of Cordelia¡¯s hand, so Cordelia flinched and quickly asked Jude with a nce, and he replied with a bitter smile. ¡®The Spirit King.¡¯ ¡®The Spirit King?¡¯ ¡®Yes, the Spirit King.¡¯ Ynix, the Spirit King of Storms and Lightning. ¡®Ah! I understand now!¡¯ I think I somehow understand now. Because Chloe and the sirens by the door have the smell of spirits on them. ¡®Smell? Is it a real smell?¡¯ (Jude) ¡®No, it¡¯s not a real smell but a feeling? Like the feeling of mana?¡¯ (Cordelia) The elves of the Forest of Eternity smelled of spirits, but there were differences in their scents, but the sirens in front of them now had a simr smell to the Spirit King of Storms and Lightning. ¡®Because Ynix is also the Spirit King of the Sea.¡¯ The sea was basically the realm of the Spirit King of Storms and Lightning, though the Spirit King of Water dispute that im. Thus, many sirens established contracts with storm and lightning spirits. And among those spirits, the Gas family all had contracts with storm spirits. ¡®And this is happening because Cordelia is the contractor of Ynix, the Spirit King.¡¯ Making a contract with a Spirit King was more difficult than one would think. Just like the elves in the Forest of Eternity, there was no one among the sirens who managed to establish a contract with the Spirit King in the past. But Cordelia appeared. A contractor who established a contract with the Spirit King of Storms and Lightning, and not just anyone else! ¡®Is that why she¡¯s panting like this?¡¯ ¡®Uh¡­sort of? This analogy might be a bit vague, but the situation¡¯s something like a pope appearing in front of a devout believer, I think? No, perhaps it¡¯s more than that?¡¯ For the sirens who had deep bonds with the spirits more than the elves of the Forest of Eternity, the Spirit King was pretty much no different from a god. A being had managed tomunicate with such a god, so from the perspective of the sirens, Cordelia was considered an agent of god on earth or an existence close to a demigod. ¡®Aren¡¯t you the same too? You also have the smell of that spirit.¡¯ ¡®Eh? You¡¯re right. But you¡¯re the one who summoned that Spirit King¡¯s right arm a while ago, right?¡¯ The sirens probably wouldn¡¯t have responded this much if things were normal, but it was a little different now. Because the scent of Ynix, the Spirit King, was so strong from Cordelia that getting closer to her was enough to drive them into ecstasy. ¡°Your Excellency, Cordelia¡­¡± Chloe gasped as she gazed at Cordelia in tears, and Cordelia groaned as she was at a loss on what to do. She found it hard to coldly shake off her hand because Chloe was too pretty. ¡®Ueueu.¡¯ This isn¡¯t right. It¡¯s nice that Jude isn¡¯t in danger, but I don¡¯t think this is right either. When Cordelia continued to groan, Jude immediately stretched out his hand and interfered. ¡°Chloe, Cordelia is ufortable with that.¡± Jude spoke in a firm tone, and Chloe finally came to her senses and hurriedly lowered her head. ¡°Ah! My deepest apologies. I humbly ask for thy forgiveness.¡± ¡°I-it¡¯s fine. I understand. Please get up.¡± Cordelia quickly helped her up because it seemed like Chloe would put her head on the ground if she left thetter alone, but at the touch of Cordelia, Chloe had an excited expression again. ¡°Aaah¡­ she helped me herself¡­¡± Chloe blushed and made an ecstatic expression, so Cordelia ended up groaning again. Even Jude was feeling ufortable. ¡®For a person to change like this¡­¡¯ Back then, she clearly had a calm expression when she had just saved us ¨C no, even when I was talking to her. ¡®I don¡¯t think she knew about it then¡­ Was she feeling confused when she was talking to me at that time?¡¯ The fact that Cordelia was the contractor of Ynix. And it was as Jude had thought. When Chloe first saved Jude and Cordelia, she did not know that Cordelia was the contractor of Ynix. Because the aftermath of the storm caused by the Kraken was so strong, and Cordelia was on the verge of death after exhausting all her mana, so Chloe wasn¡¯t able to sense the scent of the Spirit King properly. But it was different now. The Spirit King¡¯s scent was so strong that she was already in a daze just from facing Cordelia. And Kajsa who was watching everything from behind was silentlyughing. Because it was very fun to see the embarrassed Cordelia and the jealous Jude who looked ufortable. ¡°Now then¡­ let¡¯s proceed with our conversation.¡± They couldn¡¯t stay like this forever. Jude broke the silence, and Chloe came to her senses again before turning to Cordelia. ¡°Contractor of the Spirit King, O Most Venerable One. The head of the Gas family has instructed me to bring thee.¡± ¡°Head?¡± ¡°Yes, this humble one is to apany thee to the conference room where we¡¯ll discuss about the Kraken.¡± At Chloe¡¯s reply, Cordelia turned to Jude who nodded his head. Considering the situation, they were likely heading to a ce where the queen of the sirens had gathered the heads of each family in order to discuss on how to deal with the incident ¨C to be exact, on how they should kill the Kraken. ¡®Let¡¯s go first. Let¡¯s continue our conversation after the meeting.¡¯ ¡®Okay.¡¯ Cordelia nodded her head and said as she looked back at Chloe. ¡°I understand. Please guide us.¡± ¡°Yes, this humble one is greatly honored to serve you.¡± Chloe had an ecstatic smile again before she stretched out her hand to escort Cordelia, but Cordelia¡¯s hand was already held tight by Jude. ¡°Please guide us.¡± ¡°¡­I understand.¡± Chloe red at Jude for a moment before she turned around and begin to guide them, while Cordelia finally decided to ept the situation. In any case, Jude seemed to be safe from the erofus of the sea. ¡®Well, this is okay. What¡¯s good is good.¡¯ It seems like the opposite has happened though, but anyway. Cordelia made up her mind and smiled in satisfaction as she nced at Jude who was the one now alert of his surroundings, just like how Cordelia did five minutes ago. The two then slowly walked. *** Electra Gas, the head of the Gas family, almost looked like Chloe since she was Chloe¡¯s mother. ¡®They¡¯re more like sisters though, and not like mother and daughter.¡¯ In the eyes of humans, they were really like elves. Electra, who seemed to be in herte twenties, was standing next to Chloe who appeared to be in her early twenties, and the two seemed to be sisters. ¡®They¡¯re also acting the same.¡¯ ¡°Your Excellency, this way please.¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­ yes.¡± As the head of the Gas family, Electra was contracted to high-ranking spirit from the storm and lightning spirits, and she seemed to be more mesmerized with Cordelia than Chloe. ¡°Please wear this ne and get in the carriage behind thee.¡± Chloe gave her a gold ne with a white gem on the pendant, which had a magic spell that allowed anyone to breathe underwater. Cordelia quickly put on the ne and was in awe at the carriage that she saw in front of her. ¡®Wow, Jude, Jude. Look at that.¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s certainly amazing.¡¯ The carriage itself was not much different from the carriages above ground, but the animal pulling the carriage was different. There wererge seahorses instead of horses. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Cordelia climbed into the carriage with Jude, and Kajsa and Bentham saw the two off with sour expressions. Unlike Jude and Cordelia, Kajsa and Bentham were not allowed to participate in the meeting. ¡®I¡¯m from the 7 southern families.¡¯ She was the daughter of a prominent family in the south. But Bentham was the only one who responded to Kajsa¡¯s grumbling. And after 20 minutes or so. After Jude and Cordelia had an awkward and ufortable time facing Chloe and Electra who was both panting with ecstatic expressions, they finally arrived at the conference hall of the sirens. *** The siren¡¯s royal pce was located deep in the sea and had a hemispherical shape. There were colorful corals around the white and pretty dome, and many sea creatures were swimming around the pce, so it felt like they were at an aquarium. ¡®No, it wasn¡¯t this much back then.¡¯ Cordelia recalled the aquarium she had went on a field trip when she was an elementary school student, and after shaking her head, she tightly held Jude¡¯s hand. Because she suddenly remembered her teacher¡¯s words that they should tightly hold their partner¡¯s hand. ¡°This way please.¡± Electra and Chloe led them as they passed through a long corridor lined with armed soldiers, and a veryrge and round door appeared. ¡°Please wait for a moment.¡± As they stood in front of the door and waited, they soon heard a loud voice from beyond the door. ¡°The head of the Gas family, Electra Gas, and the contractor of Ynix are entering!¡± And the door opened. Cordelia unconsciously swallowed hard, and looked beyond the door with slightly stiff shoulders before she was left in awe. ¡°Wow¡­¡± The form of the ce was not much different from the national assembly hall that she saw in the news. The room had a very high ceiling, and the seats were arranged in the shape of a fan, and in the center was a tform. But its splendor was different. The floor was made of white marble, and the seats as well as the colorful jewels everywhere were beautiful, but the real highlight was the ceiling. ¡®Pretty.¡¯ She could view the sea beyond the transparent ceiling. In addition, some kind of magic made it look like light was shining down from the ceiling, as if there was a sun shining directly on it, even though they were deep in the sea. [Cordelia, let¡¯s go.] [Yes!] Cordelia passed through the red carpeted path with Jude, and sat down in a long seat that Electra and Chloe had guided them to. ¡®Are we thest toe?¡¯ ¡®It seems so.¡¯ All the other seats were full. And as expected, everyone was looking at Cordelia. Among them were those who were gasping like the mother and daughter, Electra and Chloe, but there were others who only showed little interest to them like some of the elves in the Forest of Eternity. Perhaps the varying degrees of their reactions depended on the spirit they were contracted to. ¡®Well¡­ that¡¯s good. It¡¯s not bad.¡¯ Cordelia nodded with a satisfied expression. She had been worried about the erofus, but she also liked the way Jude was restless and alert of their surroundings. ¡®He¡¯s cute.¡¯ He¡¯spletely different from my dream. The Jude in my dream. He had lost everything and just fought against the demons in his obsession with revenge. The man who shed tears of blood as he helplessly killed with his own hands his former fianc¨¦e, Cordelia, who was the only survivor among the people he loved. ¡®A pitiful person.¡¯ She had smiled as she looked at Jude, who didn¡¯t feel any sense of aplishment despite defeating a powerful demonic human. She had faced her end with a wicked smile that hid all of her emotions. Cordelia. She was kidnapped by the Devil¡¯s Hands and eventually became a demonic human. In Cordelia¡¯sst moments, she regained her past self, but did not reveal it to Jude. Because she knew how much it would be harder for Jude. ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± When she came to her senses, she turned her head and saw Jude¡¯s face. Not the Jude who had be vengeful like Kamael, but the Jude of the present Cordelia. ¡°Are you all right? Are you feeling sick?¡± ¡°Eh? N-no. I¡¯m all right. Just. Uh, it¡¯s just¡­¡± Her cheeks were damp. It seemed like she had cried without realizing it. ¡®What¡¯s going on?¡¯ What did I just see? What was I thinking? She didn¡¯t remember it well. It was like she had a dream with her eyes open. ¡°Would you like to go back and rest?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. Yes, really.¡± Cordelia nodded again and widely smiled after wiping her face with the handkerchief that Jude gave her. Jude furrowed his brows and appeared to be worried, but was soon convinced. ¡°Okay, let me know right away if you¡¯re feeling sick.¡± ¡°Yes, I will.¡± Cordelia obediently replied and deliberately made a livelier expression, and the surprised Electra and Chloe began to pant at Cordelia again. And a few minutester. ¡°Her Majesty the Queen has arrived!¡± The court attendant loudly cried, and the door at the center of the podium then opened. The queen of the sirens appeared from it. ¡®The queen is the same.¡¯ The same as the queen of the sirens who had appeared as Malekith¡¯s subordinate in thetter half of Legend of Heroes 2. Her atmosphere was different from when she became a ve after death, but her appearance was almost the same. She had white hair that was close to gray, and blue eyes full of wisdom. Unlike Princess Daphne and Princess Leica who had delicate impressions, her impression was strong as she led a country with dignity and elegance. ¡°Greetings to Her Majesty the Queen.¡± Jude and Cordelia followed the sirens in the conference hall who bowed and greeted the queen in respect, and the two swallowed hard. Because the queen seated on the throne was looking their way with a face that seemed to be interested in them. Iliana Ccanis, the queen of the sirens. In Legend of Heroes 2, she appeared as Malekith¡¯s loyal ve and evil witch. ¡°Begin the meeting.¡± The sirens responded to Iliana¡¯s deration. The meeting began after they gave a bow again. ¡®For now, the flow itself is as expected.¡¯ As what Chloe had already told them, the sirens¡¯ n itself was simple. Afterpletely confining the Kraken in the seal, they wouldunch attacks towards the trapped monster in order to kill it. There were two things that mattered then: their method to confine the Kraken in the seal, and their method of attack that would deal the final blow to the monster. ¡®Fortunately, they seemed to have made preparations for those two.¡¯ Iliana¡¯s gaze at them had been unusual since the meeting began though. She seemed to be wishing for something. ¡®As expected, it¡¯s about the Spirit King.¡¯ It was clear on what the sirens wanted from Jude and Cordelia, or to be exact, from Cordelia alone. They wanted her to summon the Spirit King and deal the final blow to it. In fact, it was a reasonable request. The reason why they saved Jude and Cordelia in the first ce was because they wanted the two to help in the fight against the Kraken, rather than just wanting to save their lives. They were also using it as a justification ¨C that the two should return the favor of having their lives saved. ¡®Moreover, it¡¯s highly likely that they¡¯re not the only ones in a bad position.¡¯ The sirens weren¡¯t the only ones who would suffer damage from the Kraken if it wreaked havoc in the southern sea. And as expected, such stories emerged. The family heads who were drawn to Cordelia declined toment, but those who were less affected by Ynix ¨C the family heads who had contracts with other kinds of spirits, were explicitly demanding that she summon the Spirit King. ¡®What should we do?¡¯ Cordelia asked with her eyes. She couldn¡¯t say that she couldn¡¯t summon the Spirit King himself, but something else was on her mind. ¡®Because there¡¯s no way that he¡¯ll just let it go.¡¯ In a situation where the other side desperately wanted something, it was impossible for Jude to not attempt to get anything from the royalty and the nobles who had been making unreasonable demands to them. But what and how can we get anything from this situation? If I summon the Spirit King and ask them to pay a price, our rtionship with the sirens will be ufortable. ¡®We owe them for saving our lives.¡¯ But he was Jude. He must have thought of another way. The ckened Cordelia looked at Jude in anticipation, and Jude made a wicked smile that Cordelia had be fond of these days. He stood up and responded to Cordelia¡¯s expectations. *** ¡°Do you really need all these things to summon the Spirit King?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s absolutely necessary. It¡¯s a must.¡± Chapter 245: Divine Spirits Whistle (4)

Chapter 245: Divine Spirit''s Whistle (4)

¡°Do you really need all these things to summon the Spirit King?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s absolutely necessary. It¡¯s a must.¡± Malthias Barranto from the Barranto family had no choice but to furrow her brows when Jude answered her question with a steady gaze and confident voice. ¡®Some of it makes sense.¡¯ The items Jude had requested. Most of the items were rted to magic, such as items that amplified or restored mana, or items that granted attributes and so on. ¡®But still, isn¡¯t this a little too much?¡¯ Do you really need a trident that releases lightning magic or a magic tool that reads the flow of the atmosphere in order to summon the Spirit King? I mean, Ynix is definitely the Spirit King of Storms and Lightning, so those items are somewhat rted to him, but¡­ And it was at that moment. Jude said with a very serious expression. ¡°This may be a rude question, but has Lady Malthias ever summoned a Spirit King?¡± ¡°No, but it¡¯s just¡­¡± Malthias, whose words trailed off in the end, eventually had no choice but to groan and step back. Jude didn¡¯t say it out loud, but Malthias could understand what Jude wanted to say by just looking at Jude¡¯s eyes. ¡®Oh, are you really saying that? Our side has summoned him. We need these things to summon the Spirit King. Ah, of course you might not know about that since you¡¯ve never summoned him. I understand. Yes, I understand. You¡¯ve never summoned him before, so what can I do?¡¯ It was Jude¡¯s unique way of saying ¡®So how can you verify it?¡¯ He managed to push ahead by using his advantage of havingplete information, but in fact, it was also because of the peculiarity of the situation that this coercion worked. ¡®Because they have to defeat the Kraken.¡¯ Moreover, it was also true that Cordelia was the contractor of the Spirit King. What could she do if the Spirit King¡¯s contractor actually needed those to summon the Spirit King? And their fight against an enemy called the Kraken was just around the corner. For Malthias, there was nothing she could do but believe in them. And at this scene that took ce after the meeting was over, Cordelia pulled Kajsa¡¯s sleeve who was standing next to her as they watched Jude¡¯s discussion with Malthias Barranto at the Gas¡¯ mansion. ¡°Kajsa, Kajsa.¡± ¡°Why?¡± When Cordelia called her in a low voice, Kajsa unconsciously tilted her head and answered in a small voice. Cordelia then said with a smile. ¡°My Jude is amazing, right? Isn¡¯t he?¡± Kajsa nkly stared at Cordelia who was eager to show off, and she pinched Cordelia¡¯s cheek before turning to Jude and Malthias. Cordelia pulled her sleeve again, but Kajsa ignored it as she thought. ¡®I should be careful too when I go home.¡¯ She was sure that Jude and Cordelia would try to rip her off of this and that in return for saving her. Furthermore, her wild instincts were telling her. These two are genuine¡­ ¡®They¡¯re¡­ a genuine scammer couple!¡¯ Kajsa trembled when she thought of those words that perfectly described the two. After his negotiation with Malthias, Jude winked at Cordelia, who gave him a thumbs up and praised him excessively. *** Their busy schedules continued after their meeting with Malthias. Because they wanted topletely defeat the Kraken while it was still staying inside the seal. Iliana Ccanis, the queen of the sirens, was a powerful and mighty ruler who led with absolute power and authority unlike her delicate appearance. When she decided to fight against the Kraken, the entire country prepared for war without any objections. ¡°The basis of this battle is the human wave attack.¡± The operation set up by Sarandis Vassallo from the Vassallo family was simple and effective. ¡°A hundred spirit warriors from each family will block the Kraken¡¯s movement, and the rest of the armed forces will concentrate their firepower topletely kill the monster.¡± In Legend of Heroes 2, Sarandis appeared as one of the seven sirens serving Malekith, just like Siren Queen Iliana, and was like apletely different person then, though her appearance was the same. In the game, she was a witch overflowing with sexiness, but the current Sarandis was a spirit knight who had the solemnity peculiar to warriors. ¡°Please look here.¡± When Sarandis moved her finger, a hemispherical structure appeared in the air. It was an image of the seal that was used by Perigeo¡¯s elves to seal the Kraken. ¡°The width of the seal¡¯s inside is just good enough for a Kraken to lie down. In short, if we keep it inside the seal and attack it through a hole in the upper right corner, the Kraken will not be able to avoid the attacks. It will have no choice but to receive the attacks.¡± The sirens nodded as she pointed to arge hole that the Kraken was believed to have used to exit the seal. Because it seemed to them that it was actually possible to defeat the Kraken as long as it all went ording to n. ¡®It¡¯s quite attractive that the operation itself is simple.¡¯ Because the longer and moreplex an operation would be, the higher the chance of failure. In that sense, the simple n of holding down the Kraken, which was already in the seal, and defeating it with concentrated attacks, seemed to guarantee the sess of the operation. ¡°Lady Cordelia, we would like thee to lend thy strength to increase our firepower.¡± Sarandis¡¯ words drew the attention of the family heads, and Cordelia nodded her head while slightly nervous. ¡°Yes, I understand.¡± She had to be in the attacking group if she wanted to deal thest hit. Though it was questionable if she could deal thest hit in such arge-scale operation. In any case, once the details of the n were decided, Siren Queen Iliana who had been watching quietly then opened her mouth again. ¡°All right, there¡¯s no point in dying it any longer. Let¡¯s begin our final preparations. We¡¯ll head out in two hours.¡± To begin with, doing something like a practice run for this operation was impossible. Moreover, they did not know when the Kraken wille out of the seal, so they had to move as quickly as they could. ¡°We receive thymands.¡± The family heads led by Sarandis then bowed down and received her orders, and Jude and Cordelia also showed their respect to the queen in ordance with the etiquette of the S?len Kingdom. And two hourster. The siren¡¯s operation to defeat the Kraken finally began. *** Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! The sound of the drums caused great ripples as it surprisingly spread well despite being underwater. Together with the sirens from the Gas family, Jude and Cordelia stood on a battle chariot pulled by four seahorses, and they unconsciously let out voices of admiration because of the sight that unfolded in front of their eyes. ¡°Wow¡­¡± There were sirens everywhere. Hundreds of sirens in their mermaid forms were gathered together with their families as they lined up in an orderly manner, and a hundred cavalry rode on top of various huge animals, such as seahorses and domesticated sharks, as they showed off their splendor on the left and right. The infantry in the center. The cavalry on the left and right. And spirit warriors who rode on battle chariots while on the second row. And finally, a very huge sea turtle tank was at the end with Siren Queen Iliana on board. ¡°It¡¯spletely like a tank. No, it¡¯s not a tank, but what should I call that? A mobile fortress?¡± Jude nodded as Cordelia pointed to it. Since the giant sea turtle had a shell of around 30 meters in diameter, it was different from a normal tank. The walls resembled fortress walls, and various siege weapons were also mounted on the shell. And in the center of such a shell. Queen Iliana sat on an ornate seat that was like a throne, and when she tilted her beautiful huge staff forward, whistles sounded from all directions, and the g bearers of each family raised their gs high. ¡°Begin the march.¡± At Iliana¡¯smand, the drums boomed again, and the infantry in the front row began to move forward. It was quite a spectacr sight as mermaids with colorful scales marched under the light spirts they had summoned in order to illuminate the dark sea. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Chloe drove forward the battle chariot. Kajsa joined the cavalry by riding on a seahorse, and she shouted out loud too as she lifted a trident high. Bentham remained since he had to protect Sebastian, and he saw off the group by waving his hand, though no one looked back at him. The total number of troops that Iliana mobilized this time was over 1,200. If onepared them to the 10,000 Jackdaws that were stationed in the northern border, it was not a veryrge number, but it was good to remember that they were all sirens. Just like the elves of the Forest of Eternity, the sirens were also very good at fighting because they were a race that lived long. ¡®Did they actually mobilize the whole army?¡¯ It had only been two days since they arrived in the siren¡¯s country, but Jude already had a rough idea of their country¡¯s size. Except for the minimum number of troops to protect their country, the entire army was mobilized. And around 30 minutester. The movement of the siren troops who had been moving forward then slowed down. Because they had almost reached the seal. ¡°Let¡¯s not dy it any longer. Let¡¯s move ording to n.¡± At themand of Iliana, the g bearers raised their gs again to convey her will. They refrained from blowing a whistle or beating a drum in order to not provoke the Kraken. ¡°March.¡± ¡°March.¡± It was a simple order, but because they had already been informed of the n, the heads of each family moved forward to the sides as if to surround the seal, instead of rushing forward. The middle naturally became empty then, and the gap was filled with the spirit warriors who rode on battle chariots, and the sea turtle carrying Iliana. ¡°Begin.¡± Sirens were basically spirit warriors who had contracts with one or more spirits, though there were differences in skill. When Iliana stood up from her throne and lifted her staff, the water spirits responded, and the hundred spirit warriors also summoned their own spirits and conveyed theirmands. Block it. Tie up it movement using the water currents. Lock up the Kraken in the seal. The spirits responded. A water current was formed to suppress the seal, and a huge magic circle was drawn by the light spirits as they spread around the seal. The current was just a barrier for a what-if scenario, but the magic circle was actually the one that would be used to confine the Kraken. ¡°Unite everyone¡¯s power.¡± As Iliana wrapped her hands around her staff and exuded her power, the 100 spirit warriors also closed their eyes and began to focus. They spread out their power to the magic circle. And it was at that very moment. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¨C! The Kraken¡¯s silent roar shook the surroundings. But at the same time, an intense light came from the magic circle, and a huge sword made of light was formed. Before the Kraken could even go out of the seal¡¯s hole, the huge sword prated the seal and pierced the monster. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¨C! The Kraken screamed again. They couldn¡¯t see it because of the seal, but it was clear that the sword of light had pierced the Kraken and prevented it from moving. ¡°Attack team forward!¡± Sarandismanded the rest of the troops because Iliana was concentration on the magic circle. The melee cavalry waited from behind as their role was to respond to emergency situations. The hundreds of infantry units then gathered in front of therge hole in the seal. The battle chariot carrying Jude and Cordelia were also ced behind such cavalry. And light shined towards the hole. As it drove away the darkness in the seal, they saw the Kraken struggling from the sword of light. Its middle eye was crushed by Cordelia, but it still had its left and right eyes. The Kraken red at them with its yellow eyes, and its eyes alone seemed to destroy the minds of the sirens by just its look. ¡°Attack!¡± Thus, Sarandis hastened the attack. All possible long-range attacks poured down towards the Kraken, starting with weapons like bows and crossbows, to attacks using spirits and magic. ¡ª-! ¡ª! ¡ª¡ª! It worked. The Kraken was trapped in the narrow seal, and was helplessly beaten up by the attacks, unable to avoid or block any of the attacks. A smile spread across Sarandis¡¯ face. She and the other sirens became confident of their victory and raised the momentum of their attacks. ¡°Your Excellency.¡± Chloe turned to Cordelia with eager eyes. She was telling her to summon the Spirit King and deal the final blow. But instead of summoning the Spirit King, Cordelia prepared another magic with the help of the magic tools all over her body. Because in the current situation, there were several more attack magic spells that were effective than summoning the Spirit King¡¯s right arm to throw a punch. Cordelia transformed into a witch. Chloe was surprised when she first saw the witch transformation, but Cordelia continued to chant the spell. By using Arkeman¡¯s treasure to amplify her mana, she prepared a Spear of Cmity. ¡®I have to wait first.¡¯ She had to throw the Spear of Cmity right after the sirensunch their ultimate attack, the Sea God¡¯s Trident. Because she wanted to get thest hit, and that this was more effective too. ¡®The true Spear of Cmity contains a witch¡¯s curse.¡¯ It guaranteed death to those who were already dying. In game terms, the lower the monster¡¯s HP, the higher its damage would be. So the Spear of Cmity was truly an attack that dealt a decisive blow. Therefore, it was a more efficient choice to throw the Spear of Cmity right after the Kraken was hit by the Sea God¡¯s Trident. A huge ck Spear of Cmity formed above Cordelia¡¯s head as it glowed green. Jude turned to Sarandis who was holding the Sea God¡¯s Trident. She was also reciting a spell while in a position to throw the Sea God¡¯s Trident. This was to bring out the true power of the Sea God¡¯s Trident, which was a treasure of the sirens. The attack continued. Sarandis¡¯ spell reached its peak, and Cordelia¡¯s Spear of Cmity began to emit a tremendous magic power. And Kajsa raised her head. Unlike Cordelia who was focusing on her magic and couldn¡¯t focus on anything else, Kajsa was her usual self. She suddenly sensed it. Her instincts sent out a signal that a fierce threat wasing. ¡°Storm.¡± Her word was like a prophecy. It was a small ripple at first, but it soon became huge. The huge ripples from afar came with a momentum to devour the siren forces. Chapter 246: Divine Spirits Whistle (5)

Chapter 246: Divine Spirit''s Whistle (5)

Some changes I made to thest episode: ¡°Block it!¡± The moment Kajsa shouted out loudly, the sirens turned towards the waves. Some summoned spirits, and some used magic in order to block the waves. Swiiiiiiiiiish-! With a dull sound, the waves broke as it got blocked. But its aftermath shook the sirens. Moreover, that was not the end. New waves appeared again. ¡°The Kraken!¡± Jude had figured out on what had happened. The Kraken trapped in the seal was trying to destroy the battle formation by creating underwater waves from afar. It was an application of its abilities to summon a storm. Swoooooosh-! The second group of waves broke. The spirit warriors manipted the sea current surrounding the seal, which they had prepared earlier for a what-if scenario, in order to stop the underwater waves, and Sarandis opened her eyes and tightened her grip on the trident after finishing the spell. And at that moment, the Kraken¡¯s second counterattack began. Psssh-! ck ink gushed out from the seal¡¯s hole. Because the current surrounding the seal was gone, the ck ink flowed out straight. It turned the surrounding area ck, and also engulfed the sirens in the frontlines. ¡°Aaaaaah!¡± The ck water caused the sirens to scream and twist in pain because the ink had a strong poison in it. ¡°Sarandis!¡± Jude cried out. But even before his cry reached her, Sarandis had already realized on what she needed to do. So instead of hesitating from her confusion, she threw the Sea God¡¯s Trident with all her might. ¡°Haaaa!¡± Baaaaang-! A thunderous sound was heard even though they were underwater. The Sea God¡¯s Trident covered in golden lightning prated the space at once, and its shockwaves broke through the ck water, scattering the Kraken¡¯s ink at once. And that was why Jude was able to see it. Sarandis who was in front must have also seen it. Baang! The seal¡¯s ceiling copsed. Because the Kraken broke the ceiling and tried to swim up. Boom! The Sea God¡¯s Trident struck the ground, and the Kraken that was still pierced by the Sealing Sword of Light then struggled as it iled around its dozens of legs simultaneously. As it continued to be pulled back to the ground by the power of the Sealing Sword of Light, the Kraken let out its powerful mana. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! The Kraken¡¯s legs couldn¡¯t reach the sirens. Its legs were tens of meters long, but the distance between the sirens and the Kraken was quite far. But the Kraken¡¯s struggles didn¡¯t simply end at just that. The shockwaves generated by its iling legs struck the sirens. The mana it emitted prated the minds of the sirens who were using magic. ¡°Aaaaah!¡± The sirens who were using magic screamed and copsed. Those who were hit by the shockwaves had their bodies be flipped and smashed. The attacks on the Kraken were naturally reduced, and at that moment, Jude figured out the Kraken¡¯s goal. Because he saw its two yellow eyes looking at the magic circle spread over its head. ¡°Attack!¡± Sarandis ordered just then. The cavalry who were waiting on the left and right charged towards the Kraken, and Kajsa who was with them gripped her trident. Malthias who was standing besides Iliana was still focusing on maintaining the Sealing Sword of Light, but she delivered a newmand to the spirit warriors. ¡°Use the currents to push it down!¡± What she meant was that they had to push down the Kraken so that it couldn¡¯t touch the magic circle. But that wasn¡¯t easy. Because the Kraken was causing a storm even in the midst of this. As new groups of waves came rushing towards them, the sirens who were maintaining the Sealing Sword of Light and those manipting the current were both swept away by the shockwaves. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª-! The cavalry and the Kraken began to sh at that moment. The Kraken writhed and swung its dozens of legs at the same time, and the cavalry dug in between and struck their weapons into its body. But the Kraken was huge. Even though the tridents were huge for the sirens, it was only a small thorn for the Kraken, so they could only stab the surface but not properly wound it. ¡°Your Excellency!¡± Chloe turned to Cordelia. And so did Sarandis. Cordelia was the only one who could deal a fatal blow to the Kraken. And Cordelia acted instinctively. She threw the Spear of Cmity to the Kraken. Shwaaaa-! The Kraken struggled even harder when it saw the Spear of Cmity flying with a terrifying power, but it couldn¡¯t properly evade because of the Sealing Sword of Light. The Spear of Cmity pierced the Kraken¡¯s torso, and it struggled even harder as it loudly screamed. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª! It worked. But Cordelia did not create a second Spear of Cmity. Instead of summoning the Spirit King, she turned to Jude. Cordelia¡¯s senses were telling her something like always. That they couldn¡¯t defeat the Kraken with their current method. In fact, the Sealing Sword of Light was getting weaker. ¡°Jude.¡± Jude also saw Cordelia. And he nodded his head. They thenunched n B which they had nned in advance. When Cordelia threw the Spear of Cmity, she then conveyed what she had observed and thought via magic. Boooom! The underwater waves caused by the Kraken became even stronger. It spewed ink again, and the cavalry in the vicinity hurriedly retreated. But Kajsa didn¡¯t do that. She spitted out a curse and deeply pushed the trident that had already been stabbed into the Kraken¡¯s head. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¨C! Even if it was a small thorn, the situation was bound to change if that thorn stuck deeper inside. The Kraken screamed and iled, spewing ink that almost covered its body. And Jude and Cordelia did not miss that gap. ¡°Your Excellency?!¡± Instead of responding to Chloe¡¯s call, Cordelia spread her wings of light. She flew down straight to the seabed, while Jude released his energy and used Landius¡¯ signature flying technique. He rushed towards the Kraken. ¡°Die! Die!¡± Kajsa pushed down another nearby trident in the Kraken¡¯s head. She ignored the poisonous ink as her body could handle it. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª! The Kraken roared. It smacked itself with its leg in order to attack Kajsa, but she hurriedly swam away to evade the monster¡¯s leg. And suddenly, Jude¡¯s firm arm wrapped around Kajsa¡¯s waist. ¡°Eh?¡± The surprised Kajsa looked back at Jude, but he did not even look at her. He simply released his energy again to soar at a high speed as he evaded the Kraken¡¯s legs and headed to the magic circle above them. The Sealing Sword of Light became weaker. The Kraken red at Jude and Kajsa with its yellow eyes, and let out its immense magic power again. It prevented the sirens from daring to charge towards it. And Jude red at such a Kraken. After roughly throwing Kajsa, he chanted the mnemonic chant of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. At the same time he opened the sixth door, he activated the power of the ck sun. Booooooom! Everyone on the battlefield turned to Jude when he let out such an immense power. Even Kajsa who was cursing after being roughly thrown could only admire Jude at the tremendous force he released. So the Kraken focused its attention on Jude again. It was just as Jude had wished. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª-! The Kraken no longer caused underwater waves. Instead of struggling to remove the Sealing Sword of Light, the demon of the sea scattered around a curse. ¡°Aaaaaaaaaaaah!¡± The sirens screamed as they grabbed their heads. Kajsa also struggled as she groaned in pain. It was the result of the Kraken further strengthening its unique mental attack that caused fear and terror to its targets. But Jude ignored it. One of the abilities he got from opening the sixth door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors was an ability to protect the mind. So instead of feeling fear and terror, he treated the Kraken with anger and hostility. The Kraken stretched out its legs towards Jude. Dozens of tentacles on its mouth quickly extended and tried to capture Jude. Jude calmly used Valencia¡¯s swordsmanship. He let out ck energy to his legs as he cut off the monster¡¯s tentacles to protect himself. He remained in his current position. If the Kraken had rushed and attacked, he wouldn¡¯t be able to perform such acrobatic moves even if he was Jude, but the Kraken was now held down by the Sealing Sword of Light. It couldn¡¯t do anything else to Jude as it could only stretch out its legs to him. The sirens barely came to their senses at Jude¡¯s amazing moves and were impressed, but Sarandis gritted her teeth. Jude¡¯s power was obviously great, but she realized that they couldn¡¯t beat the Kraken in this way. She had to focus her power again. The Sealing Sword of Light wouldn¡¯t be able tost long, so they had to deal a fatal blow to it in that time. ¡®The Sea God¡¯s Trident.¡¯ She had to recover it. The trident didn¡¯t hit the Kraken, so it still had the power she had gathered. Sarandis searched the seabed in a hurry. But she widely opened her eyes then. Because the Sea God¡¯s Trident had disappeared. And it was at that moment. [Juuuuude!] Cordelia shouted. n B. To not kill the Kraken but to seal it again! Cordelia grasped the Sea God¡¯s Trident and inserted it into the sealing ce where Perigeo¡¯s Crystal Ball was originally located inside the seal. But this action alone wouldn¡¯t reactivate the seal. So Cordelia took an additional step. Using the power of the trident as a resource, she poured mana into the sealing ce and brought Moonlight to the ce at the same time. ¡°Melissa!¡± [You only look for me when you need me!] Melissa let out her resentment, but she still responded to Cordelia¡¯s wish as she was a kind and gentle artificial spirit. Perigeo¡¯s elves shared the same roots with Magen¡¯s elves, so Melissa could utilize the ancient system that the sirens gave up on because they couldn¡¯t handle it. ¡°Oooooooo!¡± The Sea God¡¯s Trident reced Perigeo¡¯s Crystal Ball. And Cordelia herself replenished theck of magic power! All of the various magic recovery and amplification tools she received from the sirens were now utilized. Under Melissa¡¯smand, the seal system was restarted, and the powerful force of the seal overwhelmed the Sealing Sword of Light in its power as it began to pull the Kraken. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª! The Kraken struggled and resisted, but the sealing power was different from that of the Sealing Sword of Light. It wasn¡¯t long before it realized the situation ¨C that it was bound to be sealed again. ¡ª-! ¡ª¡ª! ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª! Therefore, the Kraken prepared for a powerful curse. Even if it was impossible for the human in front of it, it prepared a curse that would bring death to the sirens. But Jude didn¡¯t let it continue. The moment it gathered magic for the curse, he ran towards the opposite direction. As the monster tried to cast a curse as its final move, he headed to the Kraken¡¯s head ¨C to be exact, the eyeball that Cordelia had destroyed. Hended on it and at the same time, he struck out his sharp sword-like hand. But for the Kraken, it was still only a small thorn. So instead of screaming, the Kraken continued to prepare its curse without worrying about Jude. But Jude moved a little faster this time. Having seen Cordelia use up all her mana at once to summon the Spirit King¡¯s right arm, he put into practice what he had thought. The ck Sun. Until now, Jude had only used the power of the ck Sun to generate powerful energy or to strengthen the energy of the ck dragon. But it was different this time. He released the energy in his entire body at once, just like what Cordelia did. Instead of using a skill or creating a wave of energy, he concentrated the pure power of the sun. Yang energy in contrast to Yin energy. Although its color was ck, it was definitely the power of the sun. At that moment, he activated the Supreme Sun Divine Art. He maximized the Yang energy of the ck Sun. Light. And heat. The true power of the sun was released through Jude¡¯s fingertips! ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¨C! The Kraken screamed. It cried out. It was on the verge of losing its mind at the tremendous pain it had experienced for the first time. Its head was burning. The immense heat of the sun messed up its head. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª! The Kraken was unable to resist anymore. It could no longer cast the curse as it just screamed. [Jude!] Jude responded to Cordelia¡¯s call. He removed his sword-like hand from the Kraken and kicked its head at the same time. Kajsa grabbed Jude who was unable to move because he had exhausted all of his energy. ¡°Melissa!¡± When Cordelia saw the scene, she urged Melissa to activate the final stage of the sealing system. The Kraken temporarily became unconscious as a subspace door opened and dragged the monster inside it. Booom-! The Kraken¡¯s body touched the bottom of the seal, causing a vibration, but that was it. The subspace door swallowed up the Kraken once again, just like how it did a long time ago. The seal waspleted. ¡°Haa¡­ haa¡­¡± Cordelia panted as she leaned against the Sea God¡¯s Trident that hadpletely be part of the seal now. She slowly raised her head, and smiled when she saw the unconscious Jude being supported by Kajsa. Several rings of white light surrounded Jude¡¯s body, though it was unknown if it was rewarded from repelling an enemy or from sessfully sealing it. And right after that. At the moment when Cordelia began counting the number of rings that surrounded her own body. ¡°Uoooooooooooo!¡± ¡°We won!¡± ¡°We defeated the Kraken!¡± The sirens shouted and cheered. They also shouted the names of Jude and Cordelia as they rejoiced. She couldn¡¯t hear it much because they were underwater, but Cordelia also smiled. She sat on the floor, picking up the fallen Moonlight and saying. ¡°We won.¡± [Congrattions.] Melissa inly said, and Cordelia smiled again. In the midst of their victory, she kissed the Moonlight¡¯s golden jewel as if to soothe Melissa who was sulking a bit. Chapter 247: Divine Spirits Whistle (6)

Chapter 247: Divine Spirit''s Whistle (6)

Terms used in this episode: Buster Call ¨C a reference to the manga, One Piece. It is used by the Marines to summon/call their entire fleet in order to destroy a dangerous criminal or organization. The battle with the Kraken was literally short and massive. The actual fight itself only took around twenty minutes. But during that short period of time, the damage suffered by the sirens was massive. Nearly half of the troops were injured due to the various wide-area attacks of the Kraken. ¡°It¡¯s fortunate that the death toll is small.¡± More than 30 sirens were killed out of the hundreds who were injured, and the group that received the most damage was the cavalry who was in direct contact with the Kraken. Some were directly hit by the Kraken¡¯s legs or tentacles, while others were strongly affected by the Kraken¡¯s mental attacks because of their close distance to it. ¡°We¡¯ve been toocent.¡± Iliana, the queen of the sirens, felt responsible. Stop the Kraken¡¯s movements and then concentrate their attacks to kill it. The operation itself was simple and seemed possible to do, but the reality waspletely different. They did stop it, but could notpletely confine it to the seal, and the firepower the sirens prepared was not enough to kill it. ¡®Is this the reason why they had no choice but to seal it¡­¡¯ The reason why the elves of the ancient kingdom of Perigeo only sealed the Kraken. It was impossible to kill it with just a fair amount of firepower. ¡®Perhaps it¡¯s impossible topletely defeat it even if we used the Sea God¡¯s Trident.¡¯ Because it was so powerful. If it weren¡¯t for Jude and Cordelia, the Kraken might not have been sealed again. Many sirens would have been killed by the Kraken who would have eventually destroyed the Sealing Sword of Light, and begin to move freely. ¡°It¡¯s not Your Majesty¡¯s fault.¡± There was no way for the sirens to fully know the Kraken¡¯s power. They didn¡¯t know how powerful the Kraken was until they fought it themselves. ¡°We were able to seal it again because it was crouching inside the seal. If we had neglected it, our country would have been devastated without us being able to do anything against it.¡± Malthias spoke as if tofort her, but Iliana shook her head. ¡°Indeed, that would have been the result. Still¡­ as the leader of a country, I should have investigated the Kraken a little more, and prepared even a little more firepower.¡± That was the responsibility of a leader. At Iliana¡¯s words, Malthias felt both frustration and joy. Her frustration came from the fact that despite their victory, Iliana was distressed because of her strong sense of responsibility. Her joy was due to the feeling of serving an intelligent and benevolent monarch. ¡°My queen, we still won, right? The injured will also recover in no time. If we guard the seal well, the Kraken will no longer be a problem.¡± Malthias said with a smile, and Iliana also a smiled a little. She did it for Malthias¡¯ sake. ¡°Yes, we¡¯ll have to thoroughly guard the seal this time to prevent something like this from happening again.¡± In fact, the sirens had barely paid attention to the Kraken¡¯s seal until now. For hundreds of years, no one had thought that someone would break the Kraken¡¯s seal. ¡®We also need to find the culprit who broke the seal.¡¯ As Malthias had said, guarding the seal was necessary, but finding the culprit who broke the seal in the first ce had to be prioritized. Iliana made up her mind on what to do in the future, and shifted the topic to a more pleasant one rather than troubling Malthias with depressing stories. ¡°So Malthias, where are our heroes now?¡± It was obvious that she was referring to Jude and Cordelia, who made the biggest contribution in sealing the Kraken, so Malthias replied with a broad smile. ¡°They¡¯re resting in the house of the Gas¡¯ family. Both of them are tired, but they¡¯re not injured, so they¡¯ll be attending the victory celebration tonight.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good then. We¡¯re indebted to the two, so we¡¯ll have to properlypensate them.¡± ¡°But¡­ Your Majesty. I think they¡¯ve already taken a lot.¡± Because the two had already taken a lot of things in the name of summoning the Spirit King. ¡®Wait, now that I think of it, they didn¡¯t even summon the Spirit King in the end.¡¯ Were we deceived? Did they not n on summoning the Spirit King in the first ce? If Cordelia had heard Malthias¡¯ thoughts, her conscience would have been pricked and she would be at a loss on what to do. But if it was Jude, he would have calmly said, ¡®No, you¡¯re wrong. We tried to summon it, okay? But the situation was just different from what we expected, okay?¡¯ But it was at that moment when Malthias recalled his shamelessness. ¡°We can¡¯t do that, Malthias. And most of the items they took were used to activate the seal, right?¡± ¡°They did, but¡­¡± There were many items that they took but didn¡¯t use like the lightning trident. But even Malthias had a conscience so she decided to not question such things like that. She was a bit upset since she was in charge of the country¡¯s financial affairs, but it was true that Jude and Cordelia helped them ovee a huge crisis. ¡°But you have a point. It¡¯s also true that we¡¯ve already given a lot, so we don¡¯t have enough topensate them now.¡± The battle was short, but the expenditure was big. A huge amount of money would also be spent on the recovery and rehabilitation of the injured. ¡°Then¡­¡± ¡°But we can¡¯t just thank them in words. So I think¡­¡± Iliana stopped speaking for a moment, but smiled and spoke of the item that she had thought of as a reward for Jude and Cordelia, and Malthias¡¯ expression turned strange. They would be able to save on their immediate expenses if Iliana handed over what she thought to Jude and Cordelia, but in the long run, something much bigger might happen. ¡°Malthias, I¡¯ve already made a decision. Please follow it.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± Because the queen was quite stubborn in this regard. ¡®And¡­ it¡¯s true that we¡¯re indebted to them.¡¯ Their country would have been devastated if not for the two. Malthias thought of them nicely as she turned her gaze towards the direction of the Gas¡¯ mansion. *** At the same time. In the Gas¡¯ mansion. Jude and Cordelia, the key yers in today¡¯s victory, was sitting down together and busy givingpliments. ¡°We would have been in big trouble if it wasn¡¯t for Melissa.¡± ¡°Melissa is the best.¡± ¡°As expected of a genius! An expert of the ancient elven kingdoms! An amazing being who could understand and use the sealing system that the sirens instantly gave up on!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right! You¡¯re pretty, nice, cool, and reliable!¡± Jude¡¯s praises were specific, and Cordelia¡¯spliments were simple but sincere. And Melissa responded to their barrage ofpliments with a standard response. [Hmph, I¡¯m not a child. I¡¯m not so simple as to fall for those words.] But despite saying that, her voice sounded strangely excited. The gem part of Moonlight seemed to be glowing red, perhaps because of her mood. Therefore, Jude and Cordelia exchanged nces and began to fuss about it. ¡°No, what are you saying? We¡¯re not ttering you. We¡¯re just listing the facts. Right, Cordelia?¡± ¡°He¡¯s right, he¡¯s right. It¡¯s all true. Our Melissa is good, pretty, nice, and reliable ¨C aren¡¯t all those facts?¡± ¡°Without Melissa, we wouldn¡¯t have been able to implement n B.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, too. Melissapletely saved us. We wouldn¡¯t have lived without Melissa.¡± [Ahem, ahem.] It worked. If she was a person, she wouldn¡¯t have been able to stop her chest from puffing up, and her smile from appearing. ¡°Melissa, thank you very much.¡± ¡°Yes, thank you. Not only the two of us, but also the entire country of the sirens are indebted to you.¡± [A-a bit more.] Melissa eventually revealed her true feelings after continuously being baptized with praise. She had always been hungry for interest and affection, perhaps because she had lived alone waiting for her masters that never returned for more than a thousand years, or perhaps it was her natural personality. Jude and Cordelia nodded and continued to praise her again. ¡°Melissa is good.¡± ¡°Melissa is pretty.¡± ¡°Melissa is reliable.¡± ¡°Melissa is smart.¡± [Aheeem, ahem.] At the sound of Melissa trying to suppress her cough, Cordelia giggled and looked at Jude. ¡®Good, good. She heard you too. Melissa is feeling really good now.¡¯ ¡®With this, she¡¯ll be relieved for a while.¡¯ ¡®Huh? What do you mean by for a while?¡¯ ¡®Won¡¯t Lady Cordelia from the Chase family forget her again?¡¯ ¡®No, I won¡¯t? I¡¯m going to talk to her really often, okay? We¡¯re going to chat every day, okay? We¡¯ll be having girls talk, okay?¡± ¡®Okay, if you insist, then so be it.¡¯ ¡®Argh, seriously.¡¯ Anyway, Jude and Cordelia seeded in cating Melissa, and the two smiled again afterwards. The fact that they were able to argue with each other like this was also because of the victory in this battle. ¡°Huaaa¡­ it was tough.¡± Cordelia mumbled and hugged Moonlight as she sneakily leaned on Jude¡¯s arms as if she had copsed, and Jude hugged her shoulders, touching his lips on her head. ¡°I¡¯ll sleep for a bit.¡± ¡°Sleep soundly. I¡¯ll wake you upter.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± She was exhausted from pouring her mana into the seal. Unlike Jude whose stamina was constantly being replenished because of the Sphere of Life, Cordelia needed to rest in order to regain the mana she discharged. [Sleep well.] ¡°Yes, Melissa too.¡± Cordelia closed her eyes, and Jude adjusted his posture so that Cordelia could sleepfortably. He closed his eyes and tried to restore the power of the ck sun that he had used up in the battle. *** The scale of the sirens¡¯ victory banquet in the central square was truly huge. Except for those who were injured to the extent that they couldn¡¯t attend the banquet, almost everyone attended, as even the men of each family who did not appear in meetings or battles also appeared. Most of them had been captured, but surprisingly, everyone had a good expression, whether they liked the life here or perhaps the sirens only brought out those who had adapted well. ¡®Isn¡¯t the cost of this banquet more than the cost of the entire battle?¡¯ But it was also necessary. Because man was not a machine. People expressed their emotions by crying when they were sad, or smiling when they were happy. As Jude walked through the banquet hall thinking that way, Cordelia was thinking of somethingpletely different. ¡®Yes, good. My Jude is the coolest.¡¯ The men of each family were all dressed up, but none of them couldpare to Jude. Cordelia was in a good mood and hugged Jude¡¯s arm a little tighter as she raised her chin, and Kajsa who was watching them from behind then clicked her tongue. Because she could tell what Cordelia was thinking inside. ¡®They¡¯re seriously made for each other.¡¯ I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll love each other like that even when they grow old. They clearly must have been flirting ever since they were born. In the first ce, they were engaged ever since they were in their mothers¡¯ wombs. ¡°They must have been flirting even in their past lives.¡± ¡°That¡¯s possible.¡± Kajsa unexpectedly agreed with Bentham who didn¡¯t see through the true nature of the two, before she turned to the men of each family. She was wondering if there was a face she might know. And half an hour passed like that. After the banquet passed by to some extent, Iliana climbed onto a high tform in the center of the square and called Jude and Cordelia. Her move was aimed at celebrating the achievements of the two in front of everyone, and giving them their reward. ¡®It somehow reminds me of the king.¡¯ ¡®Because the situation now is simr to that time.¡¯ Cordelia smiled as she recalled the time when they were bestowed the count rank and a new fief in front of countless people after stopping the tragedy in the royal capital. Jude looked away a little as he turned to Iliana. Unlike Cordelia who was pleased with the event itself, Jude¡¯s attention was more focused on the reward prepared by Iliana. ¡®What will they give us?¡¯ As Malthias had already grumbled to Iliana, the two had already received almost everything they deserved. ¡®Surely, it¡¯s not more money.¡¯ Although money was good, and that the more money, the merrier, Jude and Cordelia were already financially well off. ¡®Because we don¡¯t even have time to spend our money.¡¯ When he looked back, they were always busy wandering around to prevent the destruction in the future ever since they recalled their past life memories. He couldn¡¯t even remember buying luxurious things except for the time when he bought things for the ball in the royal capital. ¡°This way please.¡± When Jude and Cordelia climbed onto the tform, Iliana informed everyone of their contributions and added words of praise, just like what King Henry II of the S?len Kingdom did in the royal capital. Cordelia truly enjoyed this moment. Because when they received recognition, she felt that they were doing the right thing, even when they were in the wildnds or the royal capital. We did well. We did a good job. We just have to continue doing this from now on. In fact, for Cordelia, everything that had happened since she recalled her past life had been very difficult. Because she had to fight with her life on the line over and over again. She had suffered many injuries in the process, and there were times she suffered extreme pain whether physically or mentally. The destruction that awaited them in the future. Just knowing it made her heart feel heavy. ¡®If Jude wasn¡¯t here.¡¯ If she was alone. Then she would have to endure alone everything she had been through so far. Cordelia was scared from just imagining it, and quickly shook her head. And a question arose in her mind at the same time. What about Jude? Will it be difficult for Jude if he was alone too? Is Jude also mentally dependent on me, just like me to him? I hope he is. Cordelia looked up at Jude, and at that moment, she was brought back to reality upon hearing the enthusiastic apuse that rang out, and looked straight ahead. ¡°We are grateful for your hard work and contribution, and present you this.¡± Iliana presented a flute ¨C no, a whistle, that was made from a horn. ¡®What is this?¡¯ She had never seen something like this in Legend of Heroes 2. And it was true. In the world of Legend of Heroes 2 where the siren monarchy was destroyed by Malekith, the whistle in front of them did not mean much. But it was different now that the siren monarchy was still intact. As Jude epted the flute that was as white as a conch or seashell, Queen Iliana said in a low voice. ¡°It¡¯s the Divine Spirit¡¯s Whistle. No matter where you are, blow it three times and we¡¯ll be able to hear it. Then our entire country will rise and help you.¡± At Iliana¡¯s exnation, Jude¡¯s eyes widened in surprise while Cordelia blinked her eyes. Because something else came to her mind. ¡®Buster Call!¡¯ Obviously, it was quite different from the one in the manga, but it was also simr. Anyway, what the queen meant was that if they blew the whistle three times, the siren army would appear to help them. ¡°Thank you very much.¡± ¡°You are the benefactors of this country, so it is right for the entire country to return the favor. But you two, don¡¯t use it too hastily. You should use our whistle when you really need the power of us sirens. Do you understand?¡± ¡°We understand.¡± Jude answered Iliana, but he was feeling a bit strange. ¡®Because we have to blow it sooner orter.¡¯ The ancient dragon Malekith. By itself, he was already powerful enough to fight a Demon Prince, but he also had Dragonflights under hismand. To fight such a Malekith, the two also needed a powerful force. ¡®Anyway, this is good. This is much better than receiving any other items.¡¯ Jude felt better and took the whistle, once again smiling as if he was having his picture taken, and Iliana ¨C or to be exact, Malthias who was standing behind the queen, shuddered in nervousness for some unknown reason. ¡°Now, let¡¯s cheer for our two heroes again!¡± ¡°Uoooooooo!¡± The sirens reacted to Iliana¡¯s words, and Jude and Cordelia smiled at the apuse that began again. And that night. Jude and Cordelia wrote a love letter to quickly escape like always. Because there was Iliana, and the people of the Gas family such as Electra and Chloe who seemed to be unwilling to let go of Jude and Cordelia yet. ¡°W-with my beloved Lord Jude¡­¡± Cordelia was writing down what Jude was saying, and blushed as she red at Jude. ¡°Hey, isn¡¯t this a little expressive?¡± And now that I think of it, why am I the one writing it? But Jude slyly smiled, shrugging his shoulders as he said. ¡°Would you like me to write it down then? That would be fine with me. I¡¯ll beautify the contents of the letter.¡± ¡°N-no. I¡¯ll just write it down. Yes, it¡¯s better for me to write it myself.¡± She was scared on what nonsense he would write if she passed it to him. As Cordelia turned to the stationery again, Jude had a faint smile as he eagerly thought of sentences that would embarrass Cordelia. And they continued to write the letter in that way. The red-faced Cordelia who was writing the letter in a neat and beautiful handwriting suddenly raised her head. ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°Huh? Uh¡­ well, umm¡­ I suddenly thought of something.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t say what it is, but I think I¡¯m forgetting something.¡± [Me?] Melissa spoke with good timing, but it was not her this time. ¡°No, not you.¡± Something else than Melissa. No, someone else. Who is it? Who am I forgetting? ¡°Well, it must not be that important, right?¡± So you forgot about it. ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Cordelia nodded as always to Jude¡¯s reasonable words, and erased that forgotten person in her mind. She then continued to write the love letter as she struggled in her embarrassment. And at the same time, in apletely different ce. Someone ¨C the person who had beenpletely forgotten by Cordelia, was sitting on the roof of a famous noble family¡¯s mansion as she pouted her cheeks. ¡°Ah, seriously! When are those twoing!¡± You said we¡¯d meet in the south! You said we¡¯dpete in the south! It was Scarlet, a descendant of the Rogue Master, and Pink Bomb¡¯s rival. The red-haired woman looked towards the north with resentful eyes. Chapter 320: As You Please (1)

Chapter 320: As You Please (1)

NSFW Warning: This is not an R-18 novel so don¡¯t get your hopes too high, but I¡¯m putting this here just in case you¡¯re in public. The tomb of Sri¡¯s champion, Gallus, was not far from the Shadow Forest. If one headed northwest along the outskirts of the Shadow Forest, one could find a basin called the ¡®Tomb of the Star¡¯, which as its name implied, was created by the fall of arge meteorite a long time ago. It was between the Zainan Gorge and the Shadow Forest. Jude flew while riding the Phantom Steed, and suddenly looked up the night sky. A night with a white moon. It was a half moon and not a full moon, but there were so many stars in the sky. ¡®A sea of stars.¡¯ Alexei was both a chess master and a book lover. He liked to give exnations of things that no one asked about from time to time, and among those that he spoke often were stories about the stars. ¡®Obviously, the constetions here are different.¡¯ Come to think of it, what about the constetions in Pleiades? Jude himself was not very interested in the stars before he remembered the memories of his previous life. It was not an exaggeration to say that he was a symbol of weakness back then as the cold night air was like a poison to his previous self. Still, there were a few things he knew. Like the stories of constetions that Maja read by his bedside when he was young. The positions of the stars that he learned from looking at the night sky through the window. ¡°What are you thinking about?¡± At the sweet voiceing from behind, Jude suddenly had a mischievous smile and said. ¡°I thought of Maja.¡± She did not see his eyes, but she knew. Cordelia pouted and glowered at him. Jude thought that he would see her cute side if he teased her for being jealous, but he held back from doing that. Instead, he gently moved his hand that was on Cordelia¡¯s waist towards her back, and brought up something else. ¡°Have you ever seen a star?¡± ¡°I¡¯m seeing it right now.¡± ¡°No, not with your eyes. Something like an astronomical telescope.¡± ¡°Are you talking about¡­our past lives?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ so have you seen it?¡± ¡°No. I¡¯ve never actually seen a telescope. What about you, Jude?¡± ¡°I have.¡± When he was with Alexei, he had viewed the stars through a telescope for reconnaissance. After his retirement, he bought an expensive astronomical telescope and put it in his room. ¡°I couldn¡¯t see the stars very well in Seoul.¡± ¡°I lived in Seoul.¡± ¡°You did?¡± ¡°Yes, I lived in Seoul.¡± The two rarely talked about their past lives. As the memories of their present lives grew stronger as time passed, the memories of their past lives lessened, but it was because of the memories that were painful to recall or think about. ¡®Like our parents.¡¯ Jude himself was fine with that. He was actually an orphan and Alexei who was like a father to him in his past life had already passed away. But not for Cordelia. She had parents. Friends. Perhaps a brother or sister. What happened to them all? They had checked the rankings together in the chatroom, chatted a bit, and logged out. It ended there. The memories of their past lives were cut off there. What followed was their present lives after being reborn in Pleiades that continued until now. Why were their memories cut off? Did Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee die then? And if they died, how did they die? There were several possibilities. For example, perhaps the world was destroyed, so it was not only Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee who died. Or that their lives continued after that, but they could only remember up to a certain point of their memories. He had a lot of hypotheses, but did not spoke of it. He did not want to give Cordelia a hard time. ¡°By the way, Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± Cordelia wiggled her fingers and leaned a little more. Today, for some reason, she continued to talk about things they normally did not talk about. ¡°Where were you in Seoul?¡± ¡°Are you talking about the neighborhood?¡± ¡°Yes, I used to live in Sang-am. The Sang-am Neighborhood of the Mapo District. Do you where that is?¡± ¡°I know. It¡¯s impossible to not know. There are a lot of broadcasting stations there, right?¡± ¡°You know? Have you been there?¡± ¡°Yes. I did¡­¡± ¡°You did?¡± ¡°Because I lived there.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I lived there. In Sang-am.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia¡¯s eyes widened and then blinked. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes, really.¡± ¡°Wow, seriously? We lived in the same neighborhood?¡± ¡°Sang-am Neighborhood is big.¡± ¡°It is big. I see, I see.¡± Cordelia¡¯s body shook in her excitement, and she asked again as she hugged Jude. ¡°Hey, where did you live then? Like the name of your apartment.¡± ¡°Why are you asking?¡± ¡°I¡¯m curious. Maybe we¡¯re neighbors?¡± ¡°¡­XYZ Apartments.¡± ¡°Woah.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Well, I lived in XYZ Apartments.¡± Jude stopped the Phantom Steed. He unconsciously twisted his body to see Cordelia clinging to him. ¡°Which apartmentplex?¡± ¡°The third one.¡± ¡°Crazy.¡± Jude let out a curse ¨C no, an exmation. He could not help it. ¡°What? Don¡¯t tell me¡­¡± Jude did not answer Cordelia¡¯s question, but it was obvious at this point. Cordelia hugged Jude a little tighter to calm her heart that had somehow began to pound. Her heart pounded more wildly, but that was still fine. She then said in a slightly shaky voice. ¡°Hey, Jude. Shall we stop at this point?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t want to talk about the floor?¡± ¡°Y-you want to talk about it?¡± Jude felt a strong temptation at her cautious question, but he endured it for now. Because it seemed like they would fully know each other¡¯s past lives if they talked about the floor number. ¡®However¡­¡¯ Was there a reason for them to not talk about it? He was afraid that Cordelia would suffer from thinking too strongly about her past life, but other than that¡­ ¡°I lived in 306. What about you?¡± Cordelia spoke again. At her confession that suddenly came, Judeughed. ¡°I.. I think I know who you are.¡± ¡°M-me too.¡± People who lived in the same building were bound to meet each other several times, whether they liked it or not. Combining the fragments of the stories of their past lives, it was not difficult to find out who among them was each other. ¡°Seriously¡­ Our rtionship seems to be fated.¡± ¡°I agree.¡± It seemed like they were not just rted in the game. They had actually been neighbors in their past lives. It was fate. The two were fated to meet again. ¡°I thought that he was a¡­ cool and handsome oppa.¡± Cordelia murmured a bit, and Jude slightly narrowed his brows. ¡°You did?¡± ¡°I mean¡­ he was indeed cool and handsome¡­ but I didn¡¯t think that he had a childish personality that would tell people that¡­ they were bad at games.¡± ¡°Hey, I thought you were a really nice and pretty girl. That you were quiet?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s not wrong though? I was a nice and pretty girl. Wasn¡¯t I pretty?¡± When Cordelia brazenly asked back, Jude did not know what expression to make. So he tried to counterattack as soon as he could. ¡°I didn¡¯t know you liked to say ¡®f*ck.¡¯¡± ¡°Hey, f*ck is¡­¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s an exmation, right?¡± Jude winked and Cordelia briefly inted her cheeks before hugging him again. ¡°By the way, Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Because our past lives are in the past, I will not call you oppa.¡± They were of the same age now after their reincarnation. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯d feel strange to hear you call me oppa. I prefer the present.¡± ¡°Really? You serious? Hm? Jude-oppa?¡± It was an iparably cute attack. Therefore, Jude tried to turn away from Cordelia, but the excited Cordelia acted cutely several more times. ¡°It¡¯s been a long time.¡± ¡°What long time?¡± ¡°Well, I mean¡­ Just the two of us alone.¡± They had exchanged facts about their past lives, that they were neighbors, but it did not feel like it was something new. They had already been in Pleiades for 18 years, and been together for more than a year since they recalled their past life memories. Perhaps that was why they recalled the more recent events than the distant past of 18 years. The first time they ran away together and traveled to the north. The story of the time they entered the wildnds and wandered all over the ce. ¡°You¡¯re right. We¡¯re always with someone since we came to the empire.¡± It had been a long time since the two had beenpletely alone in a trip. And after this was over, they probably would not have the time to be alone for a while. The war was about to seriously start. ¡°War¡­ in the end, it¡¯s going to happen.¡± A civil war between the emperor and chancellor¡¯s factions. It was not like a small local war. It was a huge war where the lives of tens of thousands were at stake, and perhaps the entire empire would be affected by the scourge of war. ¡°Still, it¡¯s a lot better than the original. We¡¯ll make things better for the future.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Cordelia silently nodded. Instead of thinking about something more depressing, she sniffed Jude¡¯s scent and looked down their feet. ¡°Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Shall we take a rest over there?¡± It waste at night and there was a perfect ce down there. Listening to her excuses that followed, Jude looked down. He could see a small and half-destroyed temple on a moonlit hill. ¡°Ah, that ce.¡± He had actually seen that ce for the first time, but he knew it due to Legend of Heroes 2. ¡®A temple of the Eros denomination?¡¯ A denomination that used to worship as their goddess the now-deceased archangel of love, Eros. ¡°Then shall we rest over there?¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s take a rest there.¡± It was not a big deal as it was something they had always done while traveling, but both of their voices trembled a little. Or rather, there was an awkward tone. ¡®Let¡¯s take a rest.¡¯ Jude recited a strange spell in his mind and directed the Phantom Steed towards the temple. *** ¡°Well, this is good. It¡¯s clean.¡± A lot of dust had gathered since the temple had been neglected for a long time, but Jude and Cordelia had magic. They had cleaned the ce with a spell and dried it using magic, so the old ce became clean. ¡°There¡¯s a bathroom, though it¡¯s small. Let¡¯s wash up after we eat.¡± After finding a bathtub which seemed to have been used by the clergy of the Eros denomination, Jude set up their sleeping ce. ¡®Since we¡¯vee to a ce with a roof¡­¡¯ Instead of opening the Cozy 1-pyeong, Jude took out several leather skins from the space expansion bag andid it down on the floor. He also took out a cushion and nkets. He lighted a bunch of candles here and there to make the ce look good. Darkness and stillness heavily dominated the ce. Only the starlight shining through the windows and the faint light from the candles illuminated the room. Jude unconsciously gulped and lit a fire a little further away from the bed, cing a pot over it. It was to prepare for dinner. ¡°Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Would you like to eat ramyeon today?¡± There¡¯s no Netflix though. Jude tilted his head a bit at thest words Cordelia softly murmured, but he soon expressed his agreement. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s eat that today. I¡¯ll see how good you are.¡± Because Hong Yoo Hee used to eat ramyeon every day. Jude took out the hand-pulled noodles he made himself and various other ingredients,ying it all down on the ground. ¡°Can I leave it to you?¡± ¡°Yes, yes, leave it to me. I will surprise you.¡± Cordeliaughed ¡®hehehe¡¯ and immediately began making ramyeon. She seemed to be working hard in controlling the water. ¡®What¡¯s next¡­ ah, she¡¯s just putting it all in.¡¯ Still, it was a ramyeon Cordelia made. Jude¡¯s heart was somehow pounding as he sat still and watched Cordelia cook. ¡°It¡¯s done.¡± Five minutes had passed. Cordelia ced the ramyeon into the bowls and turned to Jude with a satisfied face. Jude raised the chopsticks and said. ¡°Shall we eat then?¡± Cordelia gulped instead of replying to Jude. Her shoulders were stiff from her slight nervousness. And he began eating. Cordelia swallowed hard again, and Jude admitted it. ¡°Delicious.¡± ¡°It is, right? It¡¯s delicious, right? It¡¯s really delicious, right?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s delicious. Very delicious.¡± ¡°Hehe, I told you, right? I¡¯m really good. I¡¯m really good at cooking ramyeon.¡± ¡°Yes, so you should eat too. The ramyeon will get soggy.¡± ¡°Yes, yes. Let¡¯s eat together.¡± Cordelia puffed up her chest in her delight, and began to eat her share of ramyeon. And a few minutester. After they ate all the ramyeon and cleaned the dishes, Jude and Cordelia looked at each other again. There was an awkwardness in between them. No, there was a strange tension in between them. ¡°Well¡­¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± ¡°You go first.¡± ¡°No, you speak first.¡± ¡°Uh¡­ s-shall we wash up? Uh¡­ no. Not wash. I will wash up first. No. You wash up first. Yes, you wash up first.¡± ¡°I-is that so?¡± It was an everyday conversation. Words they always spoke. But Cordelia was blushing while Jude cleared his throat for no reason. ¡°Ahem, ahem. I¡¯ll go first then.¡± ¡°Uh, yes. You go first.¡± While Cordelia twisted her hair with her fingers, Jude got up in an awkward motion and left the room in a hurry. And 10 minutester. ¡°Your turn.¡± ¡°Eh? EEEH?¡± Jude who had just washed up was only wearing pants. In other words, he had taken off his top and revealed his firm chest, broad shoulders, and sleek waist with his awesome abs. And his hair was slightly wet. Cordelia nkly stared at Jude without realizing it, but soon got up and left the room. And another 30 minutester. Jude was anxiously worried on what was taking her so long, wondering if something had happened to her, but soon swallowed hard. A red-faced Cordelia walked in as she wiped her wet hair with a towel. Her hair was wet despite the fact that she could just use magic to dry it. No, that was not what mattered. What mattered was that Cordelia was fitted in light pinkfy pajamas. ¡°T-the water¡¯s good, right?¡± ¡°Yes, it was good.¡± In fact, there was no need to ask that since their bath water had always been made from magic. But Jude and Cordelia said so, agreeing with each other. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Cordelia coughed for no reason and sat down next to Jude. Perhaps because she had just taken a bath, the scent of her shampoo mixed in with her own body smell, giving off a sweet scent. And there were the heart sounds. Because it was quiet and the two were superhumans, they could clearly hear each other¡¯s heartbeats. Cordelia turned her eyes after several deep breaths. She did not know it when she entered, but now that she was somehow aware of her surroundings, she saw the paintings and sculptures of Eros, the archangel of love, all over the ce. And at some point. Cordelia flinched. Because Jude¡¯s hand ovepped hers. Like always, his hands were big. Before she could do anything about it, Jude¡¯s hand took full control of hers. He tightly sped her fingers to prevent it from moving. And she gulped again. Cordelia swallowed down before exhaling and gently turning her head. She saw Jude. Like Cordelia herself, his face was red and had a slightly awkward expression, but his green eyes were different. Instead of its usual mysterious look, it was filled with strong desire. The two naturally exchanged a kiss. It started with a light kiss, and then a deep one before eventually going deeper. Jude¡¯s big hand hugged her waist this time, and another hand went up a little higher. Cordelia let out a hot breath. Feeling her body heat up, she focused on Jude¡¯s touch. Jude touched Cordelia¡¯s neck and corbone. When he moved his hand to the side while holding her pajama¡¯s cor, her loose pajamas slipped, revealing her white shoulders. The two eventually fell down. Cordelia¡¯s reddish-pink hair spread out on the white nket, and Jude¡¯s shadow covered Cordelia. Cordelia knew. That they would not stop here today. That she did not want it to stop. So she stretched out her hand. She gently caressed Jude¡¯s cheek, waiting for his answer with a little hesitation. Continue. Don¡¯t stop. She did not have to put it into words. Jude¡¯s hands continued. More than half of her pajamas were removed, revealing her white and beautiful body under the dim candlelight. Jude roughly breathed. Cordelia was a little terrified of his appearance that seemed to ditch his usual reason, but she soon smiled. Because he was her Jude. Because he was the one she loved very much. ¡°Jude.¡± She said in a small voice. Caressing the cheek of Jude who flinched, she continued speaking in a slightly lower voice than before, a shy and trembling voice. ¡°I¡¯ve never done it before¡­ so I don¡¯t know.¡± So. Because I don¡¯t know. ¡°I¡¯ll leave it to you. You may¡­ do whatever you want.¡± Do as you please. Cordelia lightly bit her lips. She was so embarrassed of what she had said and wanted to hide somewhere. Her face had seriously heated up. But it was the same for Jude. With apletely red face, he swallowed hard and raised his upper body. Instead of saying something, he rxed his waist. Cordelia quickly closed her eyes. No, she did not need to close it, but she did it unknowingly. She flinched again when she heard the sound of falling clothes. She mustered up her courage and gently opened her eyes. Jude was standing. And below it was something truly big¡­ ¡°Huh?¡± Wait a second. Wait, wait. What is that? It¡¯s different from what I saw in the book. Is that real? Seriously real? But Cordelia¡¯s embarrassment did notst long. An even greater embarrassment filled her head. ¡°I will not hold back.¡± Cordelia swallowed her breath at the resolute whisper in her ears. She tried to say something, but it was no longer possible. Jude¡¯s lips met her lips. He made her say nothing anymore. Unfortunately, that¡¯s it. As I¡¯ve said, this is not an R-18 novel, so the next episode will start with after they had done it. Chapter 321: As You Please (2)

Chapter 321: As You Please (2)

Sorry for thete post. Had some updating problems with Genshin again on myptop. Terms used in this episode: Peach ¨C ng forbia which is part of a woman¡¯s genitals. Jwibulnori ¨C A folk game that used a bundle of dried grass tied to a string and set on fire, on the night of the first full moon of the year. This was used to help burn the fields and to remove mice and harmful insects from the farms before seeding, all in the hopes of having a good harvest. ¨C Source: Korea Image 1 ¨C Children ying jwibulnori And I think this episode is NSFW again? I mean, there¡¯s that peach earlier, right? Cordelia opened her eyes. It was morning. No, it was noon. No, it was not that either. She did not know. She had no idea on how much time had passed. It seemed like she would believe it if someone said that it had been a few days. She did not have any strength in her body. She felt like she was floating in the air. But at the same time, she feltfortable. Warmth. A firmness that she felt through her senses that were slowly beginning toe back. Strong arms that she could always trust and rely on. Cordelia shifted her gaze. She saw Jude¡¯s face as she expected. A really good-looking, nice, and handsome face that had its eyes closed. ¡®I must have gone crazy.¡¯ She honestly acknowledged that she had been looking at him through her love filter. But today, she felt like her love filter had gotten stronger. And Jude¡¯s shoulders. Attached to it were hisrge and firm arms that had a distinctive form. It was hugging Cordelia. Their bare skin touched each other without a single cloth in between them. Her face turned red again. Without realizing it, she swallowed her saliva. Last night. Jude was different from usual. It was not the always calm andposed Jude that Cordelia knew. ¡®Beast.¡¯ Yes, a beast. Is this what being eaten feels like? ¨C She had that thought. ¡®He always said to me that I¡¯m a beast.¡¯ However. The corners of her lips kept rising. A smile slowly leaked out. Last night. He seemed to be considerate at first. She could clearly tell that he was trying to control his impatience and restraining himself. But it did notst long. He was worried about her sorry appearance, but when Cordelia was aroused again and honestly told him to do it one more time and as he pleased¡­ Jude became a real beast then. There was no other word to describe it except for ¡®beast.¡¯ His kisses and touch were all different from usual. It became more intense and passionate. She was eaten. She was really eaten. ¡°Ah.¡± Cordelia recalled her memories ofst night and blushed even more. Because the thoughts she hadst night came to her mind at that moment. I¡¯m scared but it¡¯s okay. I¡¯m scared but I like it. I like it even if it hurts. I want to be eaten. ¡°Aaaaaah¡­¡± I¡¯m seriously crazy. This is all because of Kajsa. Because Kajsa contaminated my mind by giving me a strange book. And then. Right after that. Cordelia herself seemed to have gone wild. Jude was so beastly that Cordelia¡¯s beastliness might have only be seen as a cute act, but she really did be a beast too. ¡®And¡­¡¯ She could not remember it clearly. Because her mind has seriously gone nk. Contrary to what I saw in the book, or perhaps it¡¯s because the other person is Jude or that he has Cheonmujiche, or¡­. Ah, I don¡¯t know. Anyway, it was good. I liked it so much that I couldn¡¯t think of anything. ¡®And¡­¡¯ I think I lost my consciousness a few times in the middle. I woke up at his intensity and fainted, and that repeated several times. ¡®Anyway, he is a real beast.¡¯ From now on, I¡¯ll tease him as a beast. I¡¯ll refer to him as a beast. ¡®Yes, yes, he¡¯s my beast.¡¯ My scammer and my beast. Why is this making meugh though? Cordelia slightly bit her lips and turned her gaze. Because she wanted to see Jude¡¯s face again. But it was then. ¡°My princess, are you awake?¡± It was a whisper she had not heard in a long time. From the perspective of a third party, it was ament that could give them goosebumps, but it sounded different to Cordelia. It felt like she would melt from it. Her face heated up again. She wanted to cover her face with both of her hands. However, she could not do so as Jude¡¯s big hand held down her own. ¡°Ueuu¡­¡± Cordelia let out a strange sound and moved her free right hand. It bothered her that she was naked. She wanted to cover it. They had already seen each other¡¯s bodies, but she still wanted to hide it. But it did not go as nned this time. Jude¡¯s lips touched her neck, and the moment when the tip of his tongue licked her corbone, she flinched at the ticklish feeling. She could not resist the bending of her waist at the thrilling sensation. ¡°You¡­¡± She could not continue her words. Because Jude went a little down towards her peach. And his tongue. The tip of his tongue would not stay still. Cordelia bit her lips. She tried to stifle her moans from leaking out as she nced at Jude, but it was impossible to make eye contact due to his location. ¡°Ueaaa¡­¡± S-so this is how you¡¯re going to y, huh? Cordelia moved her free right hand. As a counterattack, she ced her hand on Jude¡¯s chest and slid it down. It was to attack his weakness that one could never train. However. The moment she hit that weakness. ¡°Heuee?¡± She made a sound like Kirara. It was big, hot, and raised. ¡°S-should we wash up? Yes, wash up. I want to wash up.¡± Jude stopped moving as she stammered and continued to talk. He looked up at Cordelia and nodded. ¡°As you wish.¡± And in an instant. She had no room to resist. She unconsciously let out a ¡®kya¡¯ sound as she suddenly found herself hanging on Jude¡¯s neck. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°No, wait¡­¡± I can wash by myself though? But her thoughts went unheard. As she squealed, Jude carried her to the bathroom downstairs and put her down in the bathtub. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s wash you. I¡¯ll assist you in your bath.¡± Cordelia was bbergasted at his sly remark. Assist in bathing? All of a sudden? H-have you no shame? But her lips did not move. In the meantime, Jude filled the bathtub with magic and took out the bath tools they had used yesterday. ¡°W-wait a minute.¡± Cordelia managed to speak and covered her body as she tried to only see Jude¡¯s face. ¡°W-why are you naked?¡± My maids were all wearing clothes when they assisted me in bathing, okay? It was a logical argument, but it did not work for the current Jude. Because Jude put forward a much more logical reason. ¡°I¡¯ll get wet if the water sshes.¡± He was right. He would get wet if the water sshed. So it would be better for him to be undressed. ¡°And¡­ you don¡¯t have much strength in your waist so you can¡¯t move well, right? That¡¯s why I¡¯ll do everything for you.¡± No, hey. Whose fault is it that my waist hurts in the first ce? A-and why again? Huh? Why is it big again? ¡°I-I¡¯m just taking a bath, okay? I¡¯m just taking a bath, you hear me?¡± Jude did not respond to Cordelia¡¯s words. *** ¡°Hey! I told you that I was only going to take a bath!¡± Half a dayter. When the darkness and the sunset mixed and created a purple sky. Cordelia punched Jude¡¯s back with her dainty fists in protest, and Jude responded logically as usual. ¡°I didn¡¯t agree though?¡± You¡¯re the one who said that you only wanted to take a bath. I never answered, right? ¡°Argh, I hate you so much!¡± Her words sounded harsh, but Jude did not lose his smile. Because there was something he believed in. ¡°So you didn¡¯t like it?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t like it?¡± At his casual question, Cordelia bit her lips and turned her head slightly. She blushed and muttered like an honest angel. ¡°¡­Why are you so good at that?¡± In fact, she knew the answer. His Cheonmujiche. He always imed that he was good at everything he did with his body, and it was true. And theirpatibility was good. Because everything fit so well as if they were meant to be one since they were born. ¡°Haa¡­¡± Cordelia unconsciously let out a sigh and hugged Jude¡¯s neck again. But she now saw something strange. ¡°Jude.¡± ¡°What is it, Cordelia?¡± ¡°What have you been drinking?¡± Because she saw him drinking something from time to time even when he was running. At Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude smiled and took out a small ss bottle. ¡°Sexual enhancer.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°The sexual enhancer your father gave me.¡± Cordelia blinked her eyes. She could not help it. What? You¡¯re drinking what now? ¡°D-don¡¯t drink it! Don¡¯t drink it!¡± It¡¯s seriously tiring me out! I¡¯m going to die from exhaustion! W-why are you drinking it! Why? Are you trying to kill me! ¡°It¡¯s okay, Cordelia. Because you have your share.¡± Jude smiled as he took out another bottle, and Cordelia had a tearful look with a mixture of anticipation, excitement, fear, and all sorts of emotions. ¡°Aueueueue¡­¡± ¡°Well, its effect was better than I thought.¡± What is this crazy b*stard saying? Its effect is better than you thought? ¡°Beast. You¡¯re a beast from now on. Beast.¡± ¡°Yes, beast. I¡¯m a beast. I¡¯m a real beast.¡± He cackled so much that he looked like a real beast. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you? You aren¡¯t this kind of character.¡± ¡°You¡¯re wrong. I¡¯ve always been like this. I am a beast.¡± The two exchanged silly jokes as he ran. Jude stopped at some point and Cordelia looked away after feeling a bit dizzy from blushing so much. ¡°The Tomb of the Star.¡± A ce that was famous for its beautiful scenery in Legend of Heroes 2. And it was indeed true. The sun disappeared beyond the horizon as its light melted in the darkness. A wide basin spread out under the purple sky, and fragments of the meteorite sparkled under the light. But the best was the abundance of flowers that filled the basin. The wind carried the scent of the flowers. Cordelia took a deep breath and ced her chin on Jude¡¯s shoulder as she closed her eyes. She felt like she could hear the song that automatically yed when you visited the Tomb of the Star in Legend of Heroes 2. ¡°No, wait. It¡¯s real?¡± The song she was hearing was real. It was not a rey from her memories but a song that traveled along the wind at this moment. Cordelia quickly opened her eyes and magnified her vision with magic while Jude also used an ability to see far away. Night wasing. In a ck dress, the goddess of the moon appeared with the bright moonlight, followed by countless stars. It was not a night without light. The white flowers that filled the basin shone in the moonlight, and those who danced along with the blowing wind glowed like fireflies. Fairies with wings. The Fire Fairies that symbolized the element of fire. ¡°How pretty. It¡¯s like Jwibulnori.¡± ¡°No, Jwibulnori is a bit¡­ well, I agree that it¡¯s pretty though.¡± Jude had a bitter smile and fixed Cordelia¡¯s position on his back before continuing. ¡°In the game, there weren¡¯t any fire fairies¡­ did they disappear?¡± ¡°Maybe?¡± Finding the fairies was really hard after the 7 major cmities struck in the game. ¡°Anyway, that¡¯s good. We¡¯re killing two birds with one stone.¡± They came to Gallus¡¯ tomb and even met the fire fairies. They had collected six protections of the fairies so far, so if they added the Fire Protection, it would be seven, which meant that they would be only one protection away from the Fairy King¡¯s Protection. ¡°Spring, summer, autumn, and winter, plus the four elements.¡± The Great Protection of the Four Seasons and the Great Protection of the Four Elements. The Fairy King¡¯s Protection was said to be the strongest in Legend of Heroes 2, but no one had ever attained it. ¡°I¡¯m excited.¡± Her shoulders were trembling in excitement. ¡°Then let¡¯s rest and go tomorrow.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I mean, it¡¯s better to be fully prepared, right? We¡¯ll explore the tomb of Gallus in the day and meet the fire fairies at night.¡± ¡°So what about tonight?¡± What are we going to do tonight? Jude silently smiled at Cordelia¡¯s question. He lifted up the sexual enhancer that he had drank earlier. ¡°Beast.¡± A real, real beast. Beast, beast, beast! Jude did not deny it. He turned around without any regrets as the blushing Cordelia grumbled and hugged his neck tightly. He turned his gaze to look for a ce to sleep. *** [My sessor is a beast.] Chapter 322: As You Please (3)

Chapter 322: As You Please (3)

So my Genshin problems were actually caused by me installing it in the HDD¡­ I¡¯ve now installed it in my SSD and ended up getting carried away with ying yesterday, hahaha. Terms used in this episode: Romance of the Three Kingdoms ¨C an old historical novel popr in China. Some of the famous characters are Zhuge Liang, a strategist, and Cao Cao, amander. Anyway, the two characters I mentioned aremonly used as examples of good strategists. The next afternoon. At Kalium, the royal capital of the S?len Kingdom. Count Chase looked at a distance and had a pleased smile. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Did something good happen?¡± At Count Bayer¡¯s question, Count Chase smiled again and shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s nothing special. However¡­¡± Count Chase whose words trailed off in the end smiled again. He was like the embodiment of strictness and sternness, so it was very rare for him to smile like this in session. ¡°Strangely, I can¡¯t stop smiling. It feels like¡­ something that I¡¯ve always wanted has finallye true.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ I see. But you¡¯ve always had good senses. Maybe something good has happened to Jude or Cordelia.¡± ¡°Maybe.¡± Up to this day, a part of his mind was troubled when he thought about the two traveling around the empire, but he was sure that they would do well wherever they go. Count Chaseposed himself with a smile and looked forward again. The garden of the detached pce where they had stayedst year for the founding celebration was also beautiful this year. ¡®It¡¯s war, huh?¡¯ King Henry II of the S?len Kingdom made an astonishing im based on the ¡®heavenly voice¡¯ that Princess Daphne could hear. The empire was about to start a civil war, and the House of Lords had already been taken over by the demon followers. The empress dowager who served as a regent of the empire could also hear a heavenly voice like Crown Princess Daphne, so the kingdom and the empire must work together to annihte the demon followers. It was an unbelievable story. But it was not unbelievable either. There was already an example in the kingdom ¨C the Lord Protector. Even the kingdom¡¯s hero who devoted his life to protecting the S?len Kingdom eventually failed to resist the temptations of the demon followers and became corrupted, so it was possible for the Imperial Chancellor to be a demon follower too. ¡®An alliance through the heavenly voice¡­¡¯ Henry II and Crown Princess Daphne imed that the heavenly voice came from the distant Heaven, the home of several gods including the sun goddess Sri. It was not an unbelievable story. The S?len royal family was a so-called holy family because they strongly inherited the blood of Founder King Lion who was a demigod. Because of that, everyone was born with a special ability, so it was not surprising that Crown Princess Daphne had such an ability to hear a heavenly voice. If it was a demonly voice, the Guardians of the Holy Cross who were all over the royal capital would have already gotten rid of the voice itself. ¡®But only the heavenly voice wants an alliance.¡¯ He did not know how it looked like through the eyes of gods, but it did not change the fact that the kingdom and the empire were enemies. It was possible to temporarily hold hands but impossible to permanently enjoy peace in the future since they were enemies who had fought over the Ctes ins for more than a hundred years. ¡®What matters is after the civil war.¡¯ Coincidentally, thend controlled by the House of Lords, their enemy, shared borders with the S?len Kingdom. In other words, the House of Lords was in between the forces of the emperor in the northern part and the forces of the S?len Kingdom in the southern part. Thus, it was possible for both sides to press the House of Lords. The emperor¡¯s forces only had to move south and the kingdom had to move north. But what would happen after the civil war? Would the S?len king return to the emperor the imperialnd that they upied during the civil war? From here on out was a handover problem. And Count Chase thought that a long or short war with the empire would continue. ¡°It¡¯s obvious what you¡¯re thinking about when you¡¯re thinking so deeply.¡± At the words of Count Bayer, Count Chase snorted and searched his pocket. ¡°Stop talking nonsense and be prepared. Tonight will also be a war.¡± What Count Chase was talking about was the ticket to participate in one of the royal capital¡¯s attractions, the Medb Auction House. Although they were northern nobles whose power in the royal capital was weak, the Medb Auction House required a ticket to participate which even the heads of the 12 northern families who were famous and strong could not easily get. ¡°I¡¯ll give it to you if I get it, but is there anything you would like to get?¡± ¡°This is probably thest auction before the war. I¡¯d like to get a few things.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Are you going to buy sexual enhancers again? Count Bayer also wanted to have grandchildren, so he had no intention of stopping Count Chase. ¡®I just don¡¯t think it¡¯s necessary.¡¯ After theirst battle in the royal capital, Ga?l became a man with physical abilities that wasparable to those of beastkin. One could say that he became simr to the divine creature Fenrir from the southern legends. ¡®They didn¡¯te out for three days after their first night¡­¡¯ Count Bayer was more worried about Adelia rather than Ga?l. As the two counts continued their thoughts, a familiar voice was heard from behind them. ¡°Lord Bayer.¡± ¡°Maja?¡± Maja Tantalotte. She was a Bayer family maid whom one could say was the person who actually raised Jude from childhood. But now, she was the housekeeper of Count August Bayer and one of the most influential figures on Mount Damos. However, from Count Bayer¡¯s perspective, she was somehow like a daughter whom he had not seen for a long time. A smile naturally spread as he was d to see her. ¡°It¡¯s been a long time.¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m d that you look healthy.¡± Actually, it had not been that long. He had seen her at Ga?l¡¯s wedding. But Count Bayer was still d to see her, so his smile remained even as Maja politely greeted Count Chase. ¡®Come to think of it, Maja also needs to find a husband.¡¯ It was not because he cherished Maja, but because she was truly as beautiful as a flower. Although her impression was a bit cold, she was warm-hearted, so whoever she met would be loved and live well. ¡®Hmm¡­¡¯ I wonder if there¡¯s a good guy out there. While Count Bayer was troubled like a father, Count Chase asked a more realistic question. ¡°But why are you here? Even with Dahlia.¡± In fact, it was not strange for the two to move together. Since Dahlia was the knightmander of the August counts, Jude and Cordelia, who ruled together, it was natural for her to move together to protect Maja, the housekeeper and an influential person. ¡°Well, it¡¯s because¡­ the young master had a request, so I came here to see you two.¡± ¡°Jude?¡± ¡°Yes, there¡¯s something he left to me before he headed off.¡± To be exact, what he had left was a letter on his desk. ¡°What is it?¡± At Count Chase¡¯s urging, Maja gracefully pulled out a small pouch from her pocket. ¡°He left a letter asking me to open it in front of the two counts if a certain situation happens.¡± If Cordelia was present, she would have asked ¡°Is he Zhuge Liang or Cao Cao?¡±, but no one here knew about the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. ¡°Jude did?¡± ¡°That kid¡­¡± However, the two counts did not take it lightly as they already knew about how extraordinary Jude was. Count Chase then asked before opening the pouch. ¡°What situation was he talking about?¡± ¡°When the tension between the empire and the kingdom intensified. When rumors of the empire¡¯s civil war broke out, and when contact between the young master and miss who had left for the empire had been cut off for more than a month.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Had Jude predicted that a civil war would break out in the empire? ¡°Okay. We¡¯ll open it. Alex?¡± ¡°You open it.¡± At Count Bayer¡¯s words, Count Chase nodded and took the pouch Maja had ced on her palm. He opened the pouch as everyone focused on him. *** ¡°Ah?¡± As soon as Cordelia opened her eyes, she let out a dazed sound. The sky. A clear sky. It was afternoon. It did not seem to be morning, but it was still daytime. Her head was nk and her whole body felt weak. She was tiredness itself. No, it was more like there was nothing left after squeezing her stamina to the limit ¨C that was her state. The nkly staring Cordelia blinked her eyes and finally recalled what happened. ¡°Ueueue¡­¡± She had lost consciousness again back then. She had lost consciousness several times due to the immense pleasure and endless intensity that urred in session. She could not properly remember it because her mind was all jumbled up, but she was certain that it was extremely good. ¡®I felt like I was dying.¡¯ It was so good but also so tiring. ¡°Ueueueue¡­¡± Cordelia who was lying down trembled as she did not even have the strength to stretch her body, but she forced herself to sit up. But it was at that time. ¡°My princess, are you awake?¡± Cordelia was surprised by the sweet and soft voice, so she turned her head towards the voice and saw Jude approaching her. ¡®He¡¯s not tired?¡¯ He waspletely fine. Or rather, he seemed to be overflowing with strength. His face was also full of vitality. ¡°Are you hungry? Let¡¯s go eat now.¡± Cordelia gently nodded because it was true that she was hungry. Then Jude gave Cordelia a potion first. It was a fairly strong stamina recovery potion that was terribly expensive but had good effects. ¡°Fwaaa¡­ I can live now.¡± Cordelia said before sitting up. She looked around and saw that it was daytime as she expected and not morning. ¡°Let¡¯s go. I¡¯ve prepared some easy to digest food.¡± He had prepared a low table that came out of nowhere, and served many different kinds of food. Porridge, soup, grilled, stewed, fried food and so on. There were lots of food that seemed to be good for the body. ¡°Hey, isn¡¯t this a mandrake?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡± ¡°That one is wild ginseng.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right too.¡± ¡°Is that an eel?¡± ¡°Correct.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t this a mushroom said to be very good for the body?¡± ¡°You have a good eye. These are all food that¡¯s good for one¡¯s nourishment and strength.¡± Cordelia¡¯s eyes narrowed at Jude¡¯s shameless exnation, and Jude said as he stroked her cheek. ¡°My princess seems to be very weak, so I¡¯ve prepared something special. Let¡¯s eat this and be stronger, okay? Oh, look at how emaciated you are with your sunken cheeks.¡± When Jude spoke with a worried expression as if he was saddened, Cordelia spoke coldly instead of shedding tears of emotion. ¡°Hey, I¡¯m not that weak. You¡¯re just incredibly strong, okay?¡± The characters from Kajsa¡¯s book¡­ they may be fictional but they¡¯re not as good as you, okay? And who made me emaciated? Who? Who made me emaciated! Hearing Cordelia¡¯s reasonable protests, Jude took a spoonful of porridge and held it out to Cordelia. ¡°Here, say ¡®ah.¡¯ Ah.¡± ¡°Ah, seriously.¡± Why are you doing this? Still, I want to open my mouth. Cordelia nced around to see if there was anyone around before opening her mouth wide. Melissa wanted to say that she was present, but kept her mouth shut for fear that Cordelia might die of shame if she did. Anyway, the ah¡¯s continued. ¡°Yes, yes, eat well. My baby is eating well.¡± You serious? I let you do it and you¡¯re saying that now? But apart from being annoyed, her heart began to strangely pound again. As if she found the current situation to be very enjoyable. ¡°Come on, one more bite.¡± Jude scooped it out and Cordelia ate. Perhaps because she was hungry, she felt like it went straight into her stomach as soon as she ate it. And when she had finally finished eating. Jude asked as he wiped Cordelia¡¯s mouth with a handkerchief. ¡°How do you feel? Is the medicine working?¡± It seemed like he had put some medicine on the food. ¡°Umm¡­ somehow?¡± She definitely felt like her strength had returned. If this was a game, it was like she had slept in an inn or drank a full recovery potion. ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s good. Let¡¯s exercise and eat more food that¡¯s good for our bodies to build up our stamina.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t we¡­ just use recovery magic?¡± Like using and together. Jude¡¯s eyes lit up at her suggestion that she made without much thought. Embarrassed by this, Cordelia stuttered. ¡°N-no,ter. Yes,ter.¡± Not now butter. What¡¯s good is good, but I feel like I¡¯m somehow being dragged along by him. You can say that it feels like I¡¯m the only one suffering. ¡®I can¡¯t lose.¡¯ I can¡¯t be the only one suffering. I also need to hone my skills and fight back properly. At the time when Cordelia¡¯spetitive spirit was strangely lit up and she made up her mind. ¡°Then should we practice?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Weren¡¯t you just thinking of that?¡± Jude said as he hugged her waist. Cordelia came to her senses and realized that he had been sitting close to her. ¡°No¡­ that¡­ ah! Practice! I should practice. Yes, that¡¯s right. I have to practice for next time.¡± ¡°How are you going to practice?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯re saying that you want to practice. Then how are you going to practice?¡± It was a checkmate move. She could neither do it alone nor do it with someone else. ¡°Uh¡­ well¡­ uh¡­¡± While hesitating with a blushing face, she was made to lie down again. Jude¡¯s huge body covered the sky. And she heard a small whisper. ¡°Do you know¡­ how much I¡¯ve endured?¡± From their time in the wildnds up to the present. Cordelia gulped. She felt a chill run down her spine. But at the same time, her heart pounded with anticipation and excitement. ¡°J-just once. Okay?¡± We have a lot to do today. We have to meet the fire fairies and visit the tomb of Gallus. When Cordelia spoke timidly, Jude lightly bit Cordelia¡¯s ear instead of answering. He stroked Cordelia¡¯s vicle, making her flinch as he became a beast again. *** [My sessor, you really are a beast.] Valencia¡¯s words contained sarcasm. Though it was simr to when sheined about him using two swords at the same time. She was a bit ¨C no, she was greatly embarrassed and flustered. But Jude only pretended to listen as he viewed the Tomb of the Star that spread out below the hill. The sun was slowly setting in the west. As the sun set once again, the fire fairies gradually appeared, emitting their own light. ¡®As I thought¡­ it¡¯s not their usual ying.¡¯ Rather, it seemed like they were guarding the tomb. ¡®Waiting was worthwhile.¡¯ In fact, Jude had gone down alone to the Tomb of the Star in the morning while Cordelia was sleeping. But he could not find the door leading to the tomb of Gallus. As if it was hidden by a powerful force. [Hmm¡­ I see. So that¡¯s why you just waited during the day. Am I correct?] Jude did not respond again to Valencia¡¯s cold words. He did not want to lie. Anyway, the time hade and the fairies had appeared, so it was time for them to proceed. Champion Gallus. A great knight of the Sri denomination. Thest treasure of the Sri denomination was hidden in his grave. ¡°I feel a little strange.¡± It was Cordelia¡¯s voice. Standing next to Jude, she tied her hair up and spread her angel wings before she continued speaking. ¡°It feels¡­ strange.¡± They hade this far and acquired many treasures. They had also found a few hidden ces. But it felt different this time. It felt like they were approaching a hidden secret. Like they were opening Pandora¡¯s box. ¡°Are you okay? Should we rest a little more?¡± ¡°I was very tired because of a certain someone, but I¡¯m okay now since I drank a lot of potions.¡± ¡°Okay, let¡¯s practice every day from now on.¡± At Jude¡¯s mischievous words, Cordelia kicked his butt with her foot before she grasped Moonlight and took a deep breath. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± To extort ¨C no, to get the protection from the fairies and open the way to the tomb of Gallus. And the secret hidden there. Jude and Cordelia did not dy it any longer. Under the shining moonlight, the two stepped forward together. Chapter 323: The Guardian (1)

Chapter 323: The Guardian (1)

Time flowed. It moved forward. No one could resist the strong flow, and even those who were called gods were not free in front of time. The witch of the west forest raised her head. Asmodeus, the overlord of lust, was knocking on the door. She was being ordered toe out. ¡°Not yet.¡± No. If the truth bes known, then¡­ The witch of the west forest hugged her shoulders. She was silent as she felt the heartless flow of time just flowing forward. She anxiously waited for the time that was about toe. *** It was still a half moon, but it was brighter than yesterday. The moonlight that was broken and scattered along the starlight gradually fell on the white flowers, and the Tomb of the Star became and of fallen stars as its name suggested. ¡°Beautiful.¡± Jude turned his head at the voice he heard next to him. Cordelia looked around as she lightly swung her hand that held his. As her angel rank increased, her hair gradually turned pinker, but her skin was still white. And her blue eyes sparkled with curiosity. ¡°You¡¯re right. It¡¯s really beautiful.¡± ¡°It is, right?¡± Happy at Jude¡¯s response, Cordelia turned to him and widely smiled. And Jude caressed Cordelia¡¯s cheek with his hand. He so naturally kissed her forehead and spoke in a whisper. ¡°The most beautiful in the world. Nothing else can be more beautiful.¡± Huh? What? Wait a second. Wait, wait. In fact, she did not even need a second. Because she could tell by just looking at Jude¡¯s eyes. What he meant by beautiful and what he was referring to as the most beautiful in the world. ¡°How childish.¡± It also feels cheesy. But her face somehow turned red. For some strange reason, a smile kept appearing in her face. [Oh¡­please. Not again, please¡­] [My sessor, we are here. We are here.] It was not just the two of them. There were others too. Melissa and Valencia could no longer stand it and raised their voices, so Cordelia became even more embarrassed, but not for Jude. After all, Jude was the one who acted shamelessly in the first ce. He touched her cheeks. He stole her lips and hugged her waist. ¡°J-Jude?¡± She was scared yet excited, hated it yet liked it, and was embarrassed yet delighted. Cordelia¡¯s expression and voice were filled with conflicting emotions, and Jude felt himself heating up. Frankly, even Jude himself sensed that he was in a strange state now. His tension eased as his mind rxed. Or rather, as a result of releasing his limiters, he felt that the emotions and desires he had been suppressing and repressing were exploding now. Just being together with her was not enough. He wanted to keep touching her, kissing her, and bing one. He wanted to enjoy the happiness he finally got after a series of tragedies. ¡°Jude,ter, okay? Later. We have a lot of things to do today.¡± At her kind voice that seemed to be persuading him, Jude was startled. He woke up from his old memories and emotions, and saw reality again. Cordelia pushed Jude¡¯s hand away. No, she did not just push it away as she wrapped it with her own hand and guided him elsewhere. She was a mature woman who tightly hugged andforted her sad and crying fianc¨¦. ¡°Jude?¡± ¡°Uh, no. Uh, yes. Okay. Because today is not the only day. No, there¡¯s still a lot left today. There is tonight, tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow¡­¡± As he continued to talk gibberish, his reason gradually returned. Therefore, he was able to say sly words like usual. ¡°Yes,ter. I promise to do itter. Please look forward to it. Yes, look forward. It will be amazing.¡± In the end, he cunningly spoke and grinned ¨C no, heughed out loud like a wolf so Cordelia flinched and trembled. ¡°S-spare me, okay?¡± Jude kissed her forehead again instead of answering. He wanted to kiss her lips again, but felt like he would not be able to suppress himself if he did. ¡®He seems to have gone really crazy.¡¯ But it could not be helped. Even Jude himself could not control it. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go now, okay?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Cordelia sped Jude¡¯s hand again and moved forward. Jude was much taller than Cordelia, but it seemed to be the opposite when she led the way. [Haa¡­ Is it seriously over now?] At Valencia¡¯s sighing, Jude cleared his throat for no reason. Since he became one with Sword Origin, he had prepared himself to not embarrass Valencia, but he had failed this time. ¡®Let¡¯s just thank her mentally.¡¯ She had kept her mouth shut for the past two days. Though it was embarrassing to say thank you to her for just silently watching. The two walked for some time. Suddenly, Cordelia¡¯s fingers wiggled. Rather than saying that her body heated up like Jude, though something like that did happen, but more than that, there was something that came to her mind. ¡°By the way, Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Do you¡­ remember what you said earlier?¡± ¡°What I said? The one about Cordelia being the prettiest, cutest, most loveable, most bewitching, most innocent, and even the kindest person in the world?¡± Cordelia wanted to give up talking to him at his shameless words, but she persevered. With a blushing face, she spoke of something else. ¡°No, before that one, I mean¡­ Ha, the words you said just before that.¡± The words he whispered before going wild like a beast. ¡°Do you know how much I¡¯ve endured?¡± When he reflexively replied, Cordelia quickly nodded her head. And with a red face, she said with an expression like that of a mischievous child. ¡°How long have you endured?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I mean, since when have you held it in?¡± At Cordelia¡¯s attack, Jude hastily avoided her gaze. But it was already toote. Cordelia had roughly known his answer from her first question. ¡°I see. You¡¯ve been holding it in since the wildnds. You¡¯ve loved me since then. You wanted to do this and that, but you held it in.¡± Even the shameless Jude had no choice but to blush at her words that she said jokingly while snickering. Because it felt like his true feelings had been seen. ¡°Hohoho, hohoho, Jude has liked me ever since. No, was it even earlier than that?¡± As she spoke with a bewitching yet wicked smile like that of a devil, Jude flinched again. However, Cordelia who asked the question was the one who was surprised. ¡°Wait, is it true? You¡¯ve liked me before that?¡± Jude did not reply, but his silence was the answer. From the time when they traveled to the north. From the time when he left a letter full of love and worked hard to make it a known fact. He obviously did not like her as much as he did now. His love for her only grew stronger as time went by. ¡°Ahem, ahem. Ahem.¡± Cordelia had began by asking him in a teasing manner, but Jude was embarrassed so she stopped making fun of him. But instead of hiding her delight, she puffed out her chest. ¡°I won. I won.¡± I don¡¯t know about anything else, but this one is aplete win. [But in the end, Mistress Cordelia also came to like Master Jude, so is this not Master Jude¡¯s victory?] Melissa did not speak out loud as she only spoke to herself in order to allow Cordelia to continue feeling triumphant. ¡°Ahem, that¡¯s good. Hmm, that¡¯s good. Good, good.¡± She appeared to really like it as her shoulders were even shaking up and down. And Jude realized. ¡®There¡¯s really nothing that I can do about it now.¡± He really loved Cordelia. Rather than feeling annoyed at her acting like that, he just found her to be cute. [Haa¡­ please. How long will this pink atmospherest? Shouldn¡¯t we be going to see the fire fairies? Right, my sessor?] Because of the pleading of Valencia who could no longer stand it, they returned to their main objective. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go now.¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go.¡± The two held hands again and stepped forward along the gentle slope, and before long, they reached the center of the Tomb of the Star. ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°Who is it?¡± ¡°She¡¯s pretty, but no. This is not a ce for anyone toe.¡± When Jude and Cordelia approached the ce, fire fairies instantly appeared everywhere. But their reactions were a bit different from the previous fairies. Although they still had a childish side, they were wary of Jude and Cordelia instead of showing curiosity. In addition, they were quite serious judging from their facial expressions. [I don¡¯t think they¡¯re just ying here.] Jude also agreed with the words of Valencia. The movement of the fire fairies which Cordelia called a Jwibulnori had a certain pattern. It was like the patrol of sentries. [Jude, what should we do?] At Cordelia¡¯s message, Jude signaled to her with a wink. Instead of taking out chocte and talking about ying night games, he politely greeted them. ¡°I am Jude August Bayer and this is Cordelia August Chase from the Guardians of the Holy Cross. We followed the guidance of the tes left behind by the Sri denomination and arrived at this ce. We would like to have permission to enter the tomb of Gallus, Sri¡¯s champion.¡± If it was the other fairies, they would have stopped listening in the middle or blinked their eyes because they could not understand what Jude was saying now, but the fire fairies were different. They seemed to be murmuring to each other, and one of them stepped forward and said. ¡°Please wait for a moment. The Fairy Knights will be here soon.¡± It was as she said. After around ten seconds or so, fairy knights wearing full body armor appeared out of nowhere. Fairy Knights. They were the guardians of the Fairy Queen. They were the only fighting force that the fairies had. But it was not one. Usually, there was only one fairy knight in a fairy realm, but it differed this time. Five fully armed fairy knights had appeared out of nowhere. ¡°They are not just lost people.¡± ¡°They are those who had been guided by the tes.¡± ¡°They are the ones we have been waiting for.¡± ¡°Maybe the time hase toplete the mission the esteemed Sri has given us.¡± ¡°We should take them to the queen.¡± Each of the fairy knights spoke something, and Jude and Cordelia silently listened to them. [It looks like they know. As expected, the fire fairies are guarding the tomb of Gallus.] Cordelia nodded at Jude¡¯s message. [Then, will the matter be resolved by just meeting the queen?] [Perhaps it will. It would be nice if we could¡­ receive the Fire Protection from the fire fairies.] They had gathered four tes and arrived here, so it was unlikely that the Fairy Queen would drive them out. ¡°This way please.¡± ¡°Please follow us.¡± After the fairy knights¡¯ meeting, they pointed their weapons into the air and a doorrge enough for Jude to enter immediately opened. The way of moving itself was different for the fire fairies. ¡°Her Majesty the Queen is waiting.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid and follow us.¡± ¡°If you arrived through the proper procedure, there would be no reason to be afraid.¡± Their words carried some weight unlike the other fairies. Jude quickly nodded and gently pulled Cordelia¡¯s hand. Cordelia walked towards the door that appeared. And in an instant. Jude and Cordelia stood in the middle of a beautiful pce. A ce filled with red lotuses that scattered around as if dancing. But it was not hot. It was a warm and friendly light like that of the morning sun. ¡°We greet the Fairy Queen.¡± In front of Jude and Cordelia. A fairy sat cross-legged on a ming throne. To her left and right were fairy knights who had suddenly appeared, and the fairy with white and red hair and wore a crown looked down at Jude and Cordelia who were politely greeting her. The Fire Fairy Queen. She exhaled a long and warm breath and crossed her legs in the opposite direction. ¡°Raise your heads and face me. The two people of destiny that Sri spoke of.¡± Her words were normal in a way. But herst sentence startled Jude and Cordelia. Two people of destiny. An expression they had already heard in the S?len Kingdom. The words of the heavenly voice that referred to them. But the Fire Fairy Queen had once again said those words. Moreover, she mentioned the name of Sri. ¡°Allow me to greet you again. Jude August Bayer and Cordelia August Chase.¡± The Fire Fairy nodded and said when Jude slowly raised his head. She softly spoke as she smiled. ¡°I already knew. It¡¯s a little different though.¡± Jude narrowed his brows at her soft voice. What does she mean that she already knew? What did she mean by saying it¡¯s a little different? Is she merely bluffing? But he did not know the answer. Because from the very beginning, it seemed like the Fairy Queen had no intention of speaking to them any longer. She stood from her throne, stretched out her hand towards Jude and Cordelia, and uttered an incantation. ¡°The two people of destiny who arrived with the guidance of the tes. I will guide you along the way in ordance with my oath.¡± The space distorted. There was no time for them to take out the chocte as a splendid me rose, forming the shape of a huge door. A wide open door. A dark and ck space existed beyond that. But it was not just darkness. The pure white door shone lonely like the moonlight that shone in the deepness of the night. ¡°Go. This is the way after collecting the tes.¡± The Fairy Queen said that and sat back on the throne as if she had nothing to say anymore, and the fairy knights also kept their mouths shut, simply fixing the position of their weapons. [Jude?] [Let¡¯s go.] He could tell by looking at her eyes. The Fairy Queen had no desire to speak to them any longer. They would have to go to the tomb of Gallus beyond that door in order to hear more. [Okay, let¡¯s go.] Cordelia gulped and took Jude¡¯s hand, and Jude took a deep breath. A pure white door that stood alone in the darkness. The tomb of Gallus was beyond that. ¡°We will be going.¡± After speaking to the Fire Fairy Queen, Jude looked back at Cordelia for thest time. Cordelia also turned to Jude. ¡°Shall we go?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± The two exchanged smiles like always. They looked straight ahead at the same time. And together, they moved forward. Chapter 324: The Guardian (2)

Chapter 324: The Guardian (2)

I¡¯m finally back. To those who are not aware, my covid symptoms recurredst week so I had to take a break. I am fine now, so I¡¯m back to my EM trantions. An endless ck and dark space was inside the ming door. The sky and the ground were mixed together and indistinguishable, and one could feel overwhelmed by the silence created by the stillness of the ce. So it was more conspicuous. A door shining alone in the dark. It was not that bright and radiant. The light seemed to be lonely and in danger of being swallowed up by the darkness at any moment. Jude and Cordelia stepped forward and tightened the grip on their hands. Upon closer inspection, the white door was bigger than they thought. ¡°It¡¯s the Sun Door.¡± Cordelia nodded at Jude¡¯s words. It was the Sun Door that they had seen several times in the game and in their present lives. ¡°A precarious white¡­¡± Jude uttered low and opened their space expansion bag. Then, just like when they discovered the fourth te, the tes began to automatically shine. ¡°Let¡¯s fit it in the holes.¡± Jude handed Cordelia two tes, and she nodded as she looked back at the Sun Door. There were four holes under the symbol of Sri in the center, and the holes were triangr in shape like the tes. ¡°As expected, it¡¯s shaped like a star.¡± The five corners of a pentagram. The reason why there were only four holes was because one of them had already been filled. Perhaps it was the fifth te. ¡°I¡¯ll put it in first.¡± When Jude put the te into the hole, he felt a pulling force like that of a ma. The force on the second te seemed stronger, and the light emitted by the door itself became stronger whenever a new te was inserted. From a precarious white to a zing gold. To a light that led to the glory of the morning. Cordelia swallowed hard and put her share of the tes into the holes. Every time the tes were inserted, the light in Cordelia¡¯s halo and wings also responded. And finally, when all the four tes were in ce. The dazzling light from the Sun Gate not only drove away the darkness but swallowed it instead. The surroundings were filled with light. ¡°Sri¡­¡± The archangel of the sun. A kind woman revered as the sun goddess by the humans of Pleiades. The door opened. Beyond the golden Sun Gate, darkness unexpectedly spread again. A time when light and darkness coexisted. A red sunset and purple sky. Small stars that opened their eyes one by one from far away. It felt unreal to havee all the way here. Jude gently released his hold on Cordelia¡¯s hand and walked ahead. As if to protect Cordelia from any danger, he covered her with his body and entered the door. It was an unfamiliar yet familiar space. There were simrities among the temples of the Sri denomination. The light of the sunset shone through the pirs, illuminating the white floor and ceiling. Letters engraved in gold were all over the ce. ¡°Beautiful.¡± Cordelia softly spoke in admiration, and Jude turned his gaze. He stared at the sculpture of Sri in the center of the temple. It was not the usual sculpture of Sri holding her sword high and encouraging everyone to fight. Sri was sitting down with all her six wings hanging down. On herp was a fully armed knight in sacred armor lying down as if being embraced by Sri who let him rest. ¡°Pieta.¡± A pose simr to Michngelo¡¯s masterpiece. Jude muttered low and proceeded towards the statue of Sri. It was clear that the man in her arms was Gallus. ¡°It¡¯s big.¡± Looking closely, it was not a life-sized statue. Despite sitting down, Sri¡¯s statue seemed to be five meters high. ¡°You¡¯ve finally arrived.¡± Jude and Cordelia looked in front with a bewildered expression at the smooth and low voice. A handsome man stood under the statue of Sri. He had ck hair, wide shoulders, and a great physique. He was wearing a robe that priestsmonly wore, but he was clearly a warrior. ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet the champion of the sun, Gallus.¡± As Jude and Cordelia politely bowed and greeted him, the handsome man ¨C Gallus, awkwardly smiled. ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you too. And you don¡¯t have to be so polite. I¡¯m only a phantasm left here to guard the tomb.¡± He had spoken that, but he did not have a proper self. Even his expression of ¡®finally¡¯ was just a conventional greeting as it was difficult to say if he had actually been waiting. However, Jude and Cordelia maintained a respectful attitude instead of being frivolous, and Gallus¡¯ phantasm continued with a bitter smile. ¡°Those who havee to this ce by gathering the tes. As you already know, this is my tomb. At the same time, this is also the final doorway to the denomination¡¯s greatest treasure.¡± Thest treasure of the denomination. It made even the tomb of that great champion Gallus into only being an intermediate stage to that treasure. They could guess something from that. There were two things that the denomination considered precious ¨C the Sr de and the Divine Sword ¨ªomh Sis, and those two were already out of this world, so one could narrow it down further. But Jude listened to Gallus instead of saying it. Because in the tombs of his disciples where the tes had been hidden until now, angels appeared and guarded it just like the tombs of holy warriors, but Gallus¡¯ phantasm had appeared here now, implying that this was different from the previous ones. The tes had already been collected. There were no Tomb Guardians who attacked anyone that approached the tes. Therefore, he could only think of one case. ¡°I will give you a test to see if you can be entrusted with the treasure of the denomination, or if you have the power and qualifications to do so.¡± His words were as expected. It was a clich¨¦ development in games or novels. ¡®The question is, what is the test?¡¯ If it was a test that asked them to interpret the doctrines of the denomination, Jude and Cordelia would have a really hard time. [What are you thinking about? It will probably be a fight, right?] Cordelia sent a message with a lighthearted expression, but Jude narrowed his brows. [But you never know.] [It will be fine, it will be fine. He¡¯s just testing our strength. Then it will definitely be a battle. Maybe we¡¯ll be fighting Gallus.] On the contrary, Cordelia gripped Moonlight and smiled as though it was a win-win situation, and Jude sighed. Because he thought that Cordelia whose eyes were burning with fighting spirit was very beautiful and lovely. [What a serious case. You¡¯re seriously ill.] Jude humbly epted Valencia¡¯s remarks and suppressed his desire to hug Cordelia¡¯s waist as he turned to Gallus¡¯ phantasm again. ¡°Only one person can take the test. If that person passes, the other who came with them will also pass, and if that person fails, that is the end. You will not be given a second chance.¡± Cordelia frowned at his resolute deration as though it was unexpected. This kind of test was originally based on infinite retries. But it was only once and only one person could take it. ¡°Who are we going to fight?¡± In response to the question of Cordelia who already concluded that a test equals a battle, Gallus said with a faint smile. ¡°It will depend on who is taking the test. Who among you two will take it?¡± Depending on the participant, the opponent would change. Perhaps it was a structure wherein an opponent who could stab one¡¯s weakness woulde out. [If it¡¯s really like that, there¡¯s no point in using our brains.] No matter who took the test, their weaknesses would be targeted. Cordelia bit her lips and grumbled a little, and Jude held her hand as he said. ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡± Given the circumstances, it was highly likely a one-on-one battle, and the one who specialized in one-on-onebat among the two was Jude. Cordelia specialized in fighting against arge number of enemies, just like in the game. ¡°Huu¡­ it can¡¯t be helped. Don¡¯t get hurt, okay?¡± ¡°You know how strong I am, right?¡± I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve felt tired and exhausted for the past two days. When Jude winked at her teasingly, the blushing Cordelia kicked him before looking back at Gallus¡¯ phantasm. ¡°He will be taking it.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± The moment Gallus¡¯ phantasm smiled, the entire temple was transformed. The statue of Sri was pushed all the way to the end of the temple as if it was originally an illusion and not reality, and a huge arena soared at the center in recement. Therge square arena appeared to be at least several tens of meters in width and length. It looked to be around a meter high. ¡°Those who will take the test, please go up the arena. The strongest swordsman whom you remember will test you.¡± Gallus¡¯ words were a little surprising. The test would be against a swordsman and not about their weakness. But that did not mean his opponent would be easy to defeat. ¡®The strongest swordsman I remember?¡¯ In other words, one of the strongest swordsman Jude himself knew. ¡®I don¡¯t think it¡¯s Master Landius.¡¯ He¡¯s the strongest swordsman I know, but I never thought of him as a swordsman. Then, is it either Kamael or Valencia? [There¡¯s a high chance that I will appear.] Valencia¡¯s words contained noughter. She genuinely seemed to think so. [Kamael¡­ he possesses the ability to be called a Ghostde, but he had not yet reached the sword horizon.] So was Valencia herself. However, Jude had a slightly different idea. ¡®But I have never fought Valencia-nim properly¡­ so perhaps Elune or First Sword will appear.¡¯ In fact, the possibility of it being Elune was low. But it was quite possible if it was First Sword. The First Sword he faced in the battle at the royal capital was despair itself for Jude at that time. ¡°Do well regardless of who will appear. As I¡¯ve said before, don¡¯t get hurt, okay? If you do, just immediately surrender or jump out of the arena, okay?¡± Because this was reality and not a game. Nodding his head to Cordelia¡¯s worried request, Jude reached out to his beloved. He hugged Cordelia and kissed her lips, whispering softly. ¡°I¡¯ll be back.¡± ¡°Go ande back. And when you return¡­ let¡¯s continue.¡± It was her own way of cheering. Melissa and Valencia simultaneously expressed their frustrations at the blushing Cordelia¡¯s words, but Jude smiled. After kissing again the forehead of his very lovely fianc¨¦e, he headed to the arena. The sky changed. It changed from sunset to dusk, the time just before nightfall. The wind blew. Darkness surrounded the arena, and light gathered across Jude as it formed a human figure. ¡®First of all, it¡¯s a man.¡¯ It was tall. Although he was smaller than Jude himself, the man was still in the mid tote 180 cm in height. He had ck hair and wore a ck mask that partially covered his eyes and nose. He also had a long sword on his waist. He wore light armor. His clothes were all ck without any particr decorations. ¡®Who is he?¡¯ Kamael is not that big. The man¡¯s physique is simr to First Sword, but their atmosphere ispletely different. It¡¯s definitely not Elune and Valencia since they are women. The strongest swordsman I can remember. Who is he? Does that also include my memories from my past life? Then, if I include the characters from Legend of Heroes 3 that I have never met in my present life¡­ [My sessor!] At the same time as Valencia¡¯s cry resounded, a light shed in his eyes. The moment the ck-masked man pulled out his sword, his distance of more than ten meters away became zero. Jude blocked it. He had moved his sword-like hand. He adjusted the position of his arm ording to the angle at which the sword was pushed. But he was pushed hard. He thought that the man¡¯s sword would slide along his sword-like hand, but the sword¡¯s angle suddenly changed and came in from an unexpected ce. ¡°Kuh?!¡± Jude hurriedly retreated but his opponent did not wait for him. He kicked the ground to track Jude down. [My sessor!] Jude knew it too. He immediately unleased the power of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. As if it was the turning of gears, the first door up to the seventh door were opened in session, emitting powerful waves in a row. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! The shockwaves shook the space. It was strong enough to push the ck masked man away. But the man was not fully pushed back. At the moment Jude unleased the power of the seventh door, the man swung his sword. He cut the shockwave itself apart. ¡°Ha!¡± Jude used ck Lightning Covers the Sky in that instant. It was not a choice to defend his rear but to widen his distance from the man. Boom! ck lightning struck. Dozens of it covered the sky. Even Elune could not exactly figure out where Jude who used the ck Lightning Covers the Sky would move. All she could do was capture and confront the moment when Jude swung his sword. However, the man with the ck mask was different. When the ck lightning struck, he had already turned his gaze. He saw precisely the path that Jude had chosen and rushed forward. It was something incredible. As soon as he arrived near Jude, Jude hurriedly swung his sword-like hand to block the man¡¯s approach. Jude¡¯s sword attack split the sky. And the man swung his sword again. Instead of confronting Jude¡¯s sword attack with the attack he previously used, he cut through the air and destroyed it. Jude¡¯s sword attack scattered and disappeared at once as if it did not exist from the beginning. How he did that. Valencia knew. The fact that the man saw through the ck Lightning Covers the Sky at once and that he cut through the air and destroyed the sword attack all suggested one possibility. No, Valencia was sure of it. [He has reached the sword horizon!] It made sense. That he had reached the horizon. The man in front of Jude was not looking at the horizon but had actually reached it. [My sessor!] Boom! The ck Lightning Covers the Sky burst once more. If it had been the usual Jude, he would have rushed in the direction of the ck masked man to catch him off guard, but he could not do it this time. His opponent could see through the ck Lightning Covers the Sky. The moment he rushed in, his opponent would clearly cut his back. ¡®Let¡¯s be calm.¡¯ Let¡¯s calm down. Jude elerated his thinking. He split the short time he had and created some time to think. He had never fought an opponent who had reached the sword horizon. His match against Valencia was literally just a match. Therefore, Jude focused on the information. First of all, it was necessary to urately grasp the opponent. Someone who reached the sword horizon. ck hair. Mid tote 180 cm. That was it. Jude stopped breathing for a moment. It was not because hended on the ground. It was not because the ck masked man who had seen through the ck Lightning Covers the Sky flew straight towards him either. ¡®Demon Bane?!¡¯ A divine sword that had apletely silver de. A treasure item that Jude himself handed over to Lucas. But there was something even more surprising. It was the swordsmanship style, and not the man¡¯s sword attacks, that froze Jude¡¯s mind for a moment. ¡®The Sword of Wind.¡¯ He never saw much of it. But he knew. It was clearly the Sword of Wind that was passed down to the members of the Bayer family. But how? Are you saying that he¡¯s my father? Or my older brother? It was neither of them. Instead of wielding his sword-like hand, Jude recklessly released the energy of the ck dragon. The ck masked man crushed the energy of the ck dragon with an elegant sword strike, but Jude did not care. He roughly breathed and shouted. ¡°Valencia!¡± Bang! A light shed from behind Jude¡¯s back. Dragon Sword Ascalon that had been silent until now shone with a brilliant light. It was Valencia. She had borrowed the power of Jude to control Ascalon. It was a kind of remote sword maniption. Crackle! Ascalon rushed towards the ck masked man with a fierce light. However, Valencia¡¯s skills could not be fully demonstrated. Ascalon that had been charging with momentum had no choice but to switch from offensive to defensive in just a few seconds. But that was fine. Jude did not just watch. He prated the gap created by Valencia and used the Sword of Wind. Wind and Lightning Flurry Strikes. The man in the ck mask saw it. It was right after exchanging attacks with Valencia, so he could not stop the attack of Jude. But he understood. Jude¡¯s sword attack would not reach him who had reached the sword horizon. Bababababababang-! A series of storming strikes split the air. The ck masked man nullified the Wind and Lightning Flurry Strikes with minimal movement. He avoided the first five moves and received thest seven moves with his sword. In the final strike, he released a simr sword attack to exactly offset it. Babababang! For the first time since he became one with Sword Origin, Jude¡¯s arms were stained with blood. Jude was greatly pushed back, and Ascalon that was controlled by Valencia also flew away and rolled over the ground. However, the ck masked man was also not in perfect condition. It was because of Jude¡¯s sudden release of the energy of the ck dragon at the moment they exchanged their final strikes. The man¡¯s clothes were torn everywhere. The ck mask was also partly broken. Jude exhaled and looked at the man. Instead of raising his sword again as he had done before, the man raised his hand and took off his broken mask. His ck hair scattered, revealing his face. It was Jude Bayer. It was Jude¡¯s own face. The real Jude could not understand. Gallus definitely said that his opponent would be the strongest swordsman Jude remembered. So who the hell was that Jude? Was he Kang Jin-ho¡¯s memory of the Jude from Legend of Heroes 2? He was not. The Jude from Legend of Heroes 2 did not reach the sword horizon. He also did not use the Sword of Wind. Then who was he? Did Gallus tell him a lie? Jude took a deep breath. Valencia focused her mind. And right afterwards. The ck masked man ¨C the other Jude, extended his sword. He took a step forward and spoke words that would put Jude and Valencia, as well as Cordelia who was watching outside the arena, into despair. ¡°Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors.¡± The divine martial art of the transcendent being. The other Jude opened the doors. The arena as well as the entire temple were covered with ck energy. Chapter 325: The Guardian (3)

Chapter 325: The Guardian (3)

The sword¡¯s inner essence. The sword horizon. It was both the source and the ultimate. Seeing the horizon was possible. But reaching it was impossible. Since the horizon was the same as the ideal, it made sense that it could not be reached. But there were those who made their way towards the horizon. There were those who struggled to reach the unreachable state of fantasies. Countless efforts and numerous attempts. The genealogy of the sword which began with the first swordsman had been passed on to many people, and numerous roads leading to the horizon were born. All roads lead to Rome. There were different roads, but all eventually lead into one. Numerous swordsmen walked their own paths. There were those who were far from the horizon and hurriedly chased the backs of those who had gone before them, and there were others who cried and resented the horizon they could not reach no matter how much they walked. There were also many people who eventually gave up and stopped. However, miracles were bound to happen. In the long history of the sword, those who reached the horizon appeared. There were only a few of them. Only a few among the countless swordsmen. The inner essence of the sword. The horizon of the sword. Those who created a miracle by reaching something that could not be reached. Those who had been enlightened with the inner essence of the sword and arrived at the horizon. People referred to them by a name. The Sword of the Sky. *** ck energy covered the sky. It pressed the ground and devoured the ce. Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. The arena was engulfed in darkness. The temple disappeared. Only those who stood clearly in the dark filled their vision. Jude could not breathe. Just facing his opponent was suffocating and made him unable to move. It was a pressure he had never experienced before. First Sword whom he faced in the royal capital and Malekith who had terrorized the south did not exert the same pressure as it was now. A swordsman who reached the inner essence of the sword. The Sword of the Sky. ¡°Hyuuk¡­.hyuk¡­¡± He forced himself to breathe. With poor breaths, he let out the power of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors in the same way. The seventh door. A state that neared the level of transcendence that the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors pursued. In terms of the inner essence of the sword, it was like one had just began to see the horizon. So Jude could tell. The Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors of the Jude in front of him was still at a low level. Fifth door. But in the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, levels did not determine everything. In simple terms, the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors was a buff-type technique. It doubled all the abilities of its user. Therefore, the user¡¯s own capabilities were also important. Just like how Jude¡¯s seventh door and Landius¡¯ seventh door were the same seventh door but also different. Because there was a huge gap in their abilities in the pure state, when the doors were not opened. It was like the difference between multiplying 10 by 100 and 20 by 100. The same was true of the Jude in front of him. Although it was only the fifth door, the energy that he let out surpassed that of Jude who had opened the seventh door. [My sessor! Calm down! My sessor!] Valencia¡¯s voice shook the mind of Jude. She could do it because she was a swordsman who had reached the inner essence of the sword. Only her soul was left as she had be a sword spirit, but the strength of her soul did not disappear. [My sessor!] It worked. At Valencia¡¯s repeated cries, Jude came to his senses. He forced himself to calm his breathing. He was dripping with sweat. Chills ran down his spine and he felt thirsty at the same time. And he thought. Who was the Jude in front of him? Gallus said that he was the strongest swordsman in Jude¡¯s memories. Memory. Jude¡¯s own memories. [Here I go!] Valencia moved first. Ascalon rushed at the other Jude with a brilliant golden glow. It was fast and powerful. Like a beam of light. But the other Jude was someone who knew the inner essence. He read Valencia¡¯s sword. Although they had both reached the horizon, the gap between those who had a body and those who did not was clear. The wind blew. It was a rough gale. The Sword of Wind. A sword created by the progenitor of the Bayer family and handed down for hundreds of years. Jude could tell. It was the ultimate of the Sword of Wind. A genuine Sword of Wind that no one could reach was now unfolding in front of his eyes. [AAAAH!] Valencia screamed in pain. It was not a simple exchange of sword strikes. The energy of the other Jude was too strong. The darkness and threatening aura originating from the soul were enough to destroy the surroundings from just a touch, so Valencia felt a burning pain in her soul every time their swords crossed. ¡°AAAAAAH!¡± Jude shouted. He clenched his teeth and concentrated. He had already forgotten that this current fight was a test. He flew from the ground to avoid each destructive wave. ck Lightning Covers the Sky. Lightning struck. Jude entered the striking range of the other Jude while Valencia flew again. She barely blocked the sword with a ck aura that was going to cut Jude into two, and Jude did not miss that gap. He charged and prated in that instant. But it was read. The other Jude swung his sword in the air as if he already knew everything, and Jude was swept away by the attack as if he was being sucked in. One would almost question if Jude himself had thrown his body towards the sword. Thud! Jude who was swept away by the sword attack was thrown to the ground. Valencia cried out in surprise and tried to protect Jude, but it was impossible. The other Jude moved. A ck gale violently surrounded Ascalon and the other Jude¡¯s feet trampled the sword. With his terrifying energy, he pressured Valencia¡¯s soul itself. [UGH!] In the end, Valencia was forced to withdraw from Ascalon. He was strong. She might be strong, but he was too strong. Even if Valencia herself had a body, he was such a powerful swordsman that she doubted if she could win against him. But she could not help but admire him. The other Jude was seriously threatening. It was arrogant to think that there would be no worst-case scenario during a test. ¡°Haa¡­ haa¡­¡± Jude staggered as he stood up. The other Jude who hadpletely killed Ascalon¡¯s momentum turned towards such a Jude. His white face was cast with deep fatigue. His dark green eyes were as dark as the abyss. The wind blew again. A gale rose and swallowed everything around them. [My sessor!] They had to resist that. Even if they had to struggle, they had to face the gale. Jude gritted his teeth. He rushed against the raging wind. He desperately resisted the barrage of sword attacks. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! The sword attacks of the other Jude were simple. There was no tricks or techniques in it. But it was always in front of Jude. Jude could not avoid the sword of the other Jude. He was exposed to the other Jude¡¯s sword as if cause and effect were reversed. Because Sword Origin was not invincible. Jude¡¯s body was broken every time a sword strike came and went. Fortunately, the power of the seventh door made it impossible to be broken all at once. Valencia was nervous. If this continued, it was only a matter of time before they were defeated, or rather, destroyed. She had to protect Jude somehow. She had to overexert herself even though she knew that it would be too much. Sword Origin¡¯s second form. Thest form that existed after its sealed form and its current first form. Valencia exerted her power as a sword spirit. Despite knowing that it was too much not only for Sword Origin but also for Jude, she forcibly activated the second form. Be one with the sword. A state where one truly became one with the sword! Bang! A golden sh of light drove away the ck energy in that short moment. No, it was not just a moment. A golden me rose and devoured the darkness. Sword Spirit Valencia. The Elf Sword who had reached the horizon. Her soul became one with Jude. It made the Sword Origin stronger and sharper while also uniting the two souls to create a stronger soul. Would Jude be able to handle Valencia¡¯s soul? Would the iplete union not harm each other¡¯s souls? There was no time to consider these questions. Valencia only thought of empowering Jude. [My sessor!] It was herst shout. She could not even scream anymore. The ck energy came rushing in like turbulent waves that threatened to swallow up the golden me again. A berserk wind sped up to destroy everything. Jude felt Valencia and raised his head. He faced the storm with the power of the Elf Sword which was beautiful and gentle yet unstoppable. Their swords crossed each other. He was not crushed by the ck energy. As Jude¡¯s soul epted Valencia¡¯s soul, the golden me with the energy of the ck dragon transformed the me into ck as it beautifully rose in front of the storming ck wind. But this alone was not enough. They somehow matched the amount of energy, but there was still the difference in ability. In front of a sword with an inner essence, Jude was being gradually broken. But Jude did not give up. He literally kept his focus even though the crushing of his entire body was painful. He did not forget what he had to do. Thinking. Calction. Gallus had said. He was the strongest swordsman in Jude¡¯s memories. He was not created by Jude¡¯s imagination as he was something that was definitely in Jude¡¯s memories. Memory. Jude knew. Jude himself knew the other Jude in front of him. Under the surface of his consciousness. Memories that were buried deep and could not be peered upon normally. He remembered. Hepared it. He learned it from his recollections. He had stabbed Cordelia in the chest. He had shared hisst kiss with her who apologized to him. Maja had died. Bailon had burned down. His father, older brother, and everyone he had loved and cherished were gone. ¡°As expected¡­ you¡¯re my best rival.¡± Lucas had smiled. He had met his death with a smile. He met his death from Jude¡¯s own sword. An endless despair. A world where there was nothing more to protect. Nevertheless, it was his fate to fight. He was bound to be the wind. All he could do was to be a storming berserk wind. The other Jude looked at Jude. Jude also stared at the other Jude. The ck wind and ck mes intertwined and became one. Jude came back to reality. He thought of himself so as not to be buried in the memories of the other Jude. He remembered the strongest anchor that he could hold himself onto. ¡®Cordelia.¡¯ Her smile. Her warmth. ¡°UOOOOOOO!¡± Jude roared. He synchronized with the other Jude¡¯s memories. By doing so, he analyzed and understood the sword of the other Jude. It was apletely different way from sword geniuses like Valencia. It was not something he felt and understood instinctively like Cordelia. He remembered and calcted. He analyzed and understood the memories of the other Jude that came flooding in like a tsunami. His head felt feverish. At the same time, his heart began to pound as if it was going to burst. He saw the sword. He thought that he would be able to catch up to it, even if it was a stepte. It was only a tiny bit, but he now understood why the other Jude¡¯s sword moved like that. His body heated up. It felt like his whole body would break into pieces. But Jude did not stop. As he let out a hot breath, he struck the other Jude¡¯s sword. He reproduced what he saw in his memories. What the other Jude could see. He could not even imagine it. However, Jude seeded in reproducing parts of it. Valencia pushed Jude¡¯s back, and the memories of the other Jude guided Jude¡¯s hand. Bang! Bang! Bang! It was not a one-sided sword attack. Their swords crossed. Jude¡¯s sword-like hand somehow caught up with the other Jude¡¯s sword. It feltpletely different from when he crossed swords with Elune. But it was simr in its essential aspects. There was joy amidst the pain. Valencia involuntarily exhaled. Because she had reached the inner essence of the sword, she could not help but feel joy in fighting against the other Jude. But Jude was not intoxicated with it. Instead of falling into a trance, he constantly pondered and calcted. Bang! A violent sh. It pushed each other away. And at that moment, Jude understood. Something that could not bepared to others wasing. A real Sword of Wind and not just in sword strikes. Wind and Lightning Flurry Strikes. A sword attack that contained the inner essence of the sword then burst. In front of the storm of swords that was like despair itself, Jude thought. It became possible for him because he kept calcting without falling into a trance. ¡®It cannot be the Sword of Wind.¡¯ Jude now knew. The Sword of Wind, the Wind and Lightning Flurry Strikes that had defeated Elio, came from the other Jude in front of him. Therefore, the same Sword of Wind could not be used against the other Jude. He had to use another swordsmanship style. The first strike of the Wind and Lightning Flurry Strikes that were made up of thirteen sword strikes had begun unfolding. At that moment, Jude also used the strongest sword attack he could do. ck Wings Valiant Sword. Valencia and Jude¡¯s own swordsmanship style. The sword of destruction made by Valencia with Jude who achieved it from obtaining Kamael¡¯s Twelve Snowke Sword Art and Landius¡¯ Supreme Sun Divine Art. It crossed. Whether by chance or inevitability, the ck Wings Valiant Sword also consisted of thirteen sword strikes. The Wind and Lightning Flurry Strikes and the ck Wings Valiant Sword shed head-on, and something happened as expected. [My sessor!] Jude¡¯s sword attack could not be like the sword attack of the other Jude. It could only chase it somehow, but the gap between the two was clear. Jude was broken. Each time the sword strikes crossed, Jude¡¯s soul and body were destroyed. But Jude did not stop. He clenched his teeth and looked straight ahead. He screamed at the other Jude and continued his ck Wings Valiant Sword. He was shredded, broken, and destroyed. But he did not stop. Even though he was getting weaker, he narrowed the gap each time a strike unfolded! Bababang! The twelfth sword strike. Thest strike was next. The light and wind of the Wind and Lightning Flurry Strikes engulfed Jude. At the same time, the ck wings of the ck Wings Valiant Sword tore the wind. Jude failed to knock down the other Jude. But the same was true for the other Jude. Theirst sword strikes offset each other and scattered, and Jude and the other Jude faced each other. Jude had caused a small miracle. The other Jude withdrew his sword. He looked at Jude and slightly smiled. He slowly closed his eyes that were filled with sadness and despair as he melted into the darkness. ¡°Jude!¡± He heard a voice behind his back. The darkness that covered the ce disappeared, and Cordelia appeared. She ran towards him and gave him a tight hug. ¡°Haa¡­ haa¡­ haa¡­¡± Jude heavily breathed and hugged back Cordelia. And he raised his head again. The other Jude disappeared. His memories of the man faded like a midsummer night¡¯s dream. However, the small miracle that Jude had created did not disappear. A road that led to the horizon. Rather than looking beyond the other Jude¡¯s back, the horizon of the sword was fully revealed in front of Jude himself. Jude gazed at it. In his bliss, he felt like his heart would burst so he hugged Cordelia again. Chapter 326: Solari’s Treasure (1)

Chapter 326: Sri¡¯s Treasure (1)

Jude slowly caught his breath. The sight of the horizon located beyond the straight road soon faded like a haze. He just saw it. He had not yet reached the horizon. But just being able to stand up straight and look at the horizon was a great achievement. ¡®Sword Saint.¡¯ Jude was now on equal footing with Elune, a Grand Sword Master. Elf Sword Valencia thought that Jude could nowpete with the other Grand Sword Masters and not just Elune. However, he was not a true Grand Sword Master. His transcendent physical abilities, the characteristics of Sword Origin, and the overwhelming energy of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors resulted in him having thebat power of a Grand Sword Master despite hisck of sword skills. If it had not been for Valencia. If she had not helped him be familiar with the sword. It would have been absolutely impossible for him to be equal with Elune. But it was different now. Jude saw the horizon on his own. After attaining enlightenment, he truly became someone at the same level of the Grand Sword Masters and those monsters of the sword. And what that meant. Even though his sword skills werecking, hisbat power explosively increased because he became a person who had thebat power of a Grand Sword Master and the skills to match a Sword Saint. ¡®Memories.¡¯ He had attained enlightenment. But it was not attained through the normal route. He acquired it through his memories. He once again took possession of what was originally his. ¡°Memories.¡± Jude repeated as he swallowed hard. His green eyes were filled with hope instead of despair, and he could now see other things besides the sword horizon. Memories that had already faded. But he was able to recall it one by one. Those were not false memories or delusions. The war between the north and the barbarians of the wildnds. The death of his father, Count Bayer, and his older brother, Ga?l. Those who died from the continuous fighting. The death of Maja who was worried about him and their burnt hometown until the very end. Scarlet whom he faced as an enemy and Kajsa whom he could not even recover her body. Lucas was his best rival. No, Lucas was his best friend. But he became a demonic human. He was captured by the enemies and forcibly turned into a demonic human, eventually dying at the hands of Jude himself. The words of the man who recovered his humanity at thest moment because of Divine Sword Balisarda lingered in Jude¡¯s ears. And one more person. The reason why Jude was able to fight. The reason why Jude had to fight. ¡°Cordelia.¡± A girl who cared for her weak and sickly fianc¨¦ like an older sister. A woman like the sun who never lost her smile no matter how hard and difficult it was. She became a demonic human. Jude had to kill her with his own hands. ¡°Haa¡­ haa¡­¡± He felt like his head was going to split. No, his heart was burned. He felt a sense of loss as if he had lost his whole world. The fact that he had to live in a world where she no longer existed drove him to despair and madness. ¡°Haa¡­¡± His breathing became heavy. His tears flowed down endlessly. Cordelia. Cordelia. Cordelia. I have to keep fighting. To keep her dying wish, to protect the world, to somehow protect the world that Cordelia loved- He was a person with only a shell left. A person whose heart was burnt ck and turned into ashes. ¡°Cordelia.¡± Jude said as he cried. He could not contain his intense emotions. An intense sadness that came after the bliss. And at this moment, the fact that Cordelia was in his own arms gave him joy, relief, gratitude, and numerous other emotions. ¡°Jude.¡± Cordelia said in a stifled voice. She felt like her entire body was going to be crushed because of his tight hug, but there was something else that bothered her more than the pain. The tears of Jude. Jude who was crying like a child. ¡°It¡¯s okay. It¡¯s okay.¡± Cordelia softly spoke and tightly hug Jude. She consoled him like she used to in the past. The past. Like she used to in the past. Cordelia felt that something was out of ce for a moment, but she ignored it. She wanted to see Jude¡¯s face, so she loosened her hug and faced him. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m okay. I¡¯m not going anywhere. I¡¯m right here. I¡¯ll always be by your side.¡± Words came out without her realizing it. Her voice came out as if it were words she had really wanted to tell him, words that she had kept in her heart for a long time. Cordelia caressed Jude¡¯s cheek. She wiped away his tears and kissed his lips, and her breathing became rough after some time had passed. She mischievously smiled at Jude who was also panting. ¡°Have you calmed down?¡± Jude nodded his head. He tightly hugged Cordelia again and wiped away his tears with his own hands. ¡°Haa¡­¡± As Cordelia had said, it seemed like he had calmed down now. Memories hadpletely dominated Jude¡¯s own emotions in a sh. It belonged to the other Jude. It was clearly the memories of the Jude Bayer who used the Sword of Wind and reached the sword horizon. But why did this happen? He was not the Jude in the game. In Legend of Heroes 2, Jude lost his father, Count Bayer, and his older brother, Ga?l, in the war against the wildnds, but he never became Cordelia¡¯s lover. ¡®The worst route.¡¯ He could not remember the ending of the other Jude. But what he had gone through was already miserable. So his ending would not have been a peaceful one either. ¡°Haa¡­ haa¡­¡± Jude relied on Cordelia¡¯s warmth. He continued his thoughts as he hugged her soft body. ¡®Memories.¡¯ The memories of the other Jude. What¡¯s going on? If he¡¯s not the game Jude, who is that Jude then? A parallel world? A Jude Bayer from another world line? But even if that¡¯s the case¡­ ¡®Why?¡¯ Why did Jude himself have the man¡¯s memories? Several hypotheses came to his mind. The first was the memories came from a parallel world. For some reason, he hade to share the memories of the Jude from a parallel world. The second was regression. Just like in the movies and novels, Jude himself had returned to the past. The memories of the other Jude had actually happened. It was a series of events that Jude himself had experienced in the past. It sounded absurd, but it exined better why Jude had the memories of the other Jude than the parallel world hypothesis. But there were two problems. ¡®Then what about my past life memories?¡¯ Jude himself was Kang Jin-ho. He knew a lot of things that happened in Pleiades because Kang Jin-ho yed Legend of Heroes 2. But if it was a regression, where did Kang Jin-ho¡¯s memoriese from? How would it exin his life as Kang Jin-ho? ¡®The second is whether regression itself is possible.¡¯ It was a world where magic existed. Jude had already experienced a lot of extraordinary things. But regression was a different story. It went against time. Perhaps the time of the entire universe was reversed. Was that allowed? Or rather, was it even possible in the first ce? He was confused. And in the midst of this, the memories of the other Jude became blurred. ¡®Let¡¯s talk to Cordelia.¡¯ Whether it was a regression or a parallel world, Jude thought that it was not only his problem. Cordelia also had Hong Yoo Hee¡¯s memories, so he did not know if she had memories of another self like Jude. ¡°Haa¡­¡± He decided to calm down first. Now that he thought of it, he was currently taking a test to get thest treasure of the Sri denomination. For now, it was important to know if he passed the test or not, and it was possible that Gallus knew something about the memories of the other Jude. ¡®So let¡¯s calm down.¡¯ As he slowly inhaled, he could clearly feel the existence of Cordelia in his arms. She was so small, delicate, and soft¡­ yet very warm. But it was then. ¡°¡­It¡¯s hard.¡± Cordelia spoke very quietly, and Jude soon knew what he meant. He unconsciously pulled himself away and blushed. ¡°No, this is¡­¡± But he could note up with a proper excuse. Cordelia brightly smiled instead of scolding Jude, and gently pushed him away from her arms. ¡°Let¡¯s see first if we passed the test.¡± Let¡¯s do the restter. Let¡¯s do the test first. It was originally Jude¡¯s role to rationally lead the excited side, but their roles had now been reversed. ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s good.¡± Cordelia smiled again and asked Gallus who had been looking at them from outside the arena. ¡°Did he pass the test?¡± ¡°He passed.¡± Satisfied with his calm answer, Cordelia nodded and touched her forehead on Jude¡¯s chest. ¡°As expected of my beast. I¡¯ll give you an awardter, so look forward to it.¡± Award. What kind of award would it be? Jude cleared his throat as he grinned with a red face, and the blushing Cordelia smiled once more. [Well¡­ what¡¯s good is good.] [Anyway, let¡¯s move forward. Not that kind of progress, but the other progress.] Melissa spoke after Valencia, and Jude who came back to his senses soon asked Gallus. ¡°Sir Gallus, the person I fought just now was¡­¡± ¡°He¡¯s the strongest swordsman in your memories.¡± Gallus quickly responded like the default answer of a customer service agent. It seemed that he would get the same answer no matter how many times he would ask. ¡°Then, I have a question too.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± When Gallus generously answered Cordelia¡¯s question, Jude also turned to Cordelia. [Why?] [I mean, I have a question too.] Cordelia quickly replied with magic before asking Gallus. ¡°The one that he fought against¡­ can he be only summoned here?¡± Because the Jude with sad eyes was incredibly strong. She hated seeing those sad eyes again, but if they could summon him, he would be of great help in their uing battles. ¡°Oh.¡± Jude admired Cordelia¡¯s idea and also looked at Gallus with anticipation, but Gallus¡¯ answer disappointed them again. ¡°It¡¯s not possible. He¡¯s someone created from memories. He¡¯s a kind of illusion. In fact, even this space itself is close to an illusion. The fact that the arena has not been damaged in the slightest is proof of that.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± It was just as Gallus had said. Despite the intense battle, the arena did not even have a single scratch. It did not regenerate since it was not broken in the first ce. [How disappointing.] But somehow, it was also a relief. She found it really painful to see the Jude with sad eyes. ¡®What happened?¡¯ After that day. After I left that day. ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°Huh? Uh, yes. No. I just suddenly got a bit dizzy.¡± Cordeliaughed ¡®hehehe¡¯ and leaned on Jude who held her waist with his arm, asking with a worried expression. ¡°Do you want to take a break?¡± ¡°N-now? I think I¡¯ll be too exhausted if we take a break now¡­¡± It was an odd answer, but Jude understood what she meant. So he blushed in response. ¡°Not that. A real break.¡± We¡¯ll really be just taking a break. How did you be a child who only thinks about lewd thoughts? ¡°Hey, isn¡¯t it because of you? Do you recall what happened in the past few days?¡± Jude maintained his shameless expression despite Cordelia¡¯s criticism before he suddenly carried her. ¡°Let¡¯s go down first.¡± Because they could not stand in the middle of the arena forever. [Now that it has be this natural, I can no longer think of anything to say.] [Me too.] At the time when both Melissa and Valencia spoke, Cordelia suddenly asked Jude. ¡°By the way, Jude. You¡¯ve gotten stronger, right?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± He had yet to properly talk to Valencia, but it was clear to him that he had achieved an explosive growth. ¡°Oh my.¡± Cordelia hugged her shoulders and Jude felt the urge to kiss her lips again. But as it had been emphasized several times, there was a time and ce for everything. ¡°Should I go somewhere for a while?¡± Gallus¡¯ words were a tempting offer, but Jude shook his head. He helped Cordelia down the ground and asked as a person who passed the test. ¡°Champion of Sri, please open the way to thest treasure.¡± When Jude politely asked of Gallus using Gallus¡¯ title, Gallus replied with a serious expression. ¡°May the glory of the sun always be with you.¡± Having conveyed his words of blessing, Gallus pulled out a sword and pointed to the air. Arge golden arched door appeared in front of them. The ce beyond the door. It was a ce that they had never seen in Legend of Heroes 2. But Cordelia¡¯s angel halo and wings reacted. Cordelia could instinctively recognize what was located beyond the slowly opening door and what kind of ce it was. Thest treasure of the Sri denomination. A ce that could only be reached from the tomb of the champion Gallus. A sacred realm that the fire fairies had seriously protected for many years. ¡°Sri¡­¡± Cordelia¡¯s wings began to glow. Her angel halo radiated a brighter light than usual, and her divine power as an angel doubled. A ce that was full of the sun lied beyond the golden door. The tomb of the sun goddess Sri lied beyond there. Chapter 327: Solari’s Treasure (2)

Chapter 327: Sri¡¯s Treasure (2)

Sri, the archangel of the sun. She was called the sun goddess in Pleiades. Opinions were divided regarding Sri¡¯s death. There were stories that she died from exhaustion after having used up all her strength in the fight against the overlords of Hell, and there were also stories that she died together with the overlord. There were also those who denied that she had died. They assumed that she had just pretended to die and hid herself. That she had returned to Heaven and was recovering her strength. That she would surelye back one day to save the world. Even Jude and Cordelia did not know the answer. They were aware of Sri¡¯s death because of the suggestive words that the archangels who appeared in Legend of Heroes 3 had said, but they did not exactly know how Sri died or what she left behind in Pleiades. But there was one thing that even those two ¨C no, all humans on earth were convinced of. Sri, the sun goddess. She loved the people of the earth. She did her best for them, dedicating and sacrificing her own life to them. It had already been hundreds of years ago since the Sri¡¯s denomination disappeared. But even up to this day, the people remembered Sri. They prayed to her who sacrificed herself and shared her light and warmth to everyone who were in fear and despair. *** ¡°The Tomb of Sri¡­¡± The gods of the Legend of Heroes series were not abstract beings. The archangels of Heaven. They were beings who clearly existed. Therefore, it was not strange that she had a tomb. Rather, it was something natural. It did not make sense for the Sri denomination, that even built tombs for Gallus and the other holy warriors, to not create a ce in remembrance of their goddess. ¡®It¡¯s just that no one knew where it was.¡¯ Hundreds of years had already passed since the disappearance of the Sri denomination. Although the Guardians of the Holy Cross inherited many things from the Sri denomination, they did not inherit the story of the Tomb of Sri. ¡®In the first ce¡­ we are the first ones to havee this far because of the tes.¡¯ Even Kamael knew little about the tes. In other words, it meant that Jude and Cordelia were the first ones to collect the tes and to havee this far. ¡®The reaction of the Fire Fairy Queen was like that too.¡¯ The two people of destiny. Words that bothered him. Especially now that he had some of the memories of the other Jude, whom he did not know if it was from a parallel world or if it was something he actually experienced in the past. ¡®Wait, now that I think of it¡­¡¯ Something popped up in his mind when he thought of the fire fairies. Even if the queen was strict and stern, she was still a fairy. But they had been distracted by the Fire Fairy Queen¡¯s majesty and actions, andpletely forgot something. ¡°Sir Gallus.¡± ¡°You may speak.¡± ¡°Can we¡­ dy visiting the Tomb of Sri for a bit? ¡°Jude?¡± Cordelia tilted her head at Jude¡¯s suggestion. Because it was unlike Jude to take a break now. But instead of exining what he meant, Jude sent a pleading look to Gallus, and Cordelia immediately responded. She clung to Gallus¡¯ arm and pleaded. ¡°Can we? Please?¡± She did not know why, but she thought that it was because of something necessary. So for now, she did her best to help. ¡®After all, it¡¯s Jude who does the thinking!¡¯ It was Cordelia¡¯s role to do the action. Jude would have wept if he had heard her belief of ¡®the right person for the right job,¡¯ but anyway, the effect of her actions was great. ¡°Ahem¡­ You don¡¯t have to go in now.¡± It was a bit different from the normal process, but it was not a problem. ¡°Wow, really? Thank you very much.¡± Cordelia had a wide smile and Gallus smiled too. But Jude had a grim expression even though things had gone well. Because he was concerned that Cordelia was hugging Gallus¡¯ arm. Therefore, Jude spoke quickly. ¡°How much time do we have?¡± ¡°You only have toe back in a day. Uh¡­ Should I leave this ce for a while?¡± When Gallus said with a smile, Jude had an awkward smile. Because Gallus knew what Jude was thinking. ¡®He¡¯s not wrong though.¡¯ It was not that he did not think about doing ¡®that.¡¯ [Jude?] Jude coughed for no reason upon hearing Cordelia¡¯s call before he spoke again. ¡°Then we¡¯ll be going out for a day¡­ no, we¡¯ll be back in a day.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± Gallus smiled and stepped back. Given his appearance, he seemed to be in his thirties at most, but his expression and behavior were close to that of an old man. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Huh? Uh, yes.¡± Cordelia reflexively held Jude¡¯s hand when he stretched it out towards her, and her face flushed red. She had held his hand every day, but it somehow felt different today. [Do you want your award that much? To the point where you can¡¯t wait for even a second?] Jude flinched at Cordelia¡¯s message. It was not just because of the award that Cordelia had promised, but she was not wrong either. [No, umm¡­ there¡¯s that, but there are other important things too.] [Like what?] [The Fire Fairy.] Cordelia tilted her head, but only for a moment. [The Fire Protection!] [That¡¯s right, we missed it earlier, right? Let¡¯s get that first.] [Yes, yes. It¡¯s a must to be prepared before a boss fight.] There was a brilliant gate and the Tomb of Sri located beyond it. But ording to thews of RPG, a boss fight would begin the moment they entered the other side. ¡®Of course, I don¡¯t think we¡¯re really going to have a boss fight.¡¯ Perhaps something like the soul of Sri woulde out. She was the sun goddess, after all. Rather, it was more usible if they would be fighting a powerful Tomb Guardian. ¡®When I think of that, it feels like that will really happen.¡¯ But he was not scared. On the contrary, he felt like he wanted to fight against a strong enemy. The sword horizon he saw for the first time. He had be stronger because of it. [Anyway, let¡¯s go out and get the Fire Protection.] [Yes, but Jude.] [Why?] [Are we just going to return after getting the protection?] Really? We have a full day, right? Jude did not answer her sly questions. Instead, he slightly pulled his back and took a step with a slouched posture. ¡°It¡¯s hard, huh?¡± Cordelia said teasingly, and Jude did not answer again this time. He just hurriedly walked. *** ¡°Do you want my power? I¡¯ll give it to you if you want it.¡± Getting the Fire Protection was surprisingly simple. ¡°You¡¯ve already passed Gallus¡¯ test, so there¡¯s no need to take another test.¡± ¡°So cool.¡± ¡°The Fairy Queen is the best!¡± The Fire Fairy Queen maintained a poker face amidst the sessive praises of Jude and Cordelia, and added the Fire Protection on the Fairy¡¯s Bonds in the hands of the two. Spring, summer, fall, and winter. Earth, fire, and wind. A total of seven protections. [Only water is left.] They had to get one more to attain the Great Protection of the Four Elements. There was only a step left until they obtain the Fairy King¡¯s Protection that was considered the most powerful protection in the Legend of Heroes series and something on the level of fantasies. ¡°Hehe, hehehe.¡± As Cordelia snickered, Judeughed too. Now that their most urgent task had beenpleted, it was time to do the next one. The award that Cordelia promised. Jude¡¯s hand wrapped around her waist and Cordelia slightly bit her lips as she nced up at Jude. [The corners of your mouth are twitching.] [So are yours.] He seemed to be seriously restraining himself. [Is it seriously hard for you? Is it that bad already?] [Should we take a break now?] [That¡¯s a bit¡­] Cordelia shyly wiggled her fingers, and Jude could not stand it any longer. He grabbed her back and immediately carried her. ¡°Then Fairy Queen, we will leave for a while to do some preparations beforeing back.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine with me.¡± As soon as the Fire Fairy Queen gave her approval, Jude hurriedly left. Cordelia let out a small scream while in Jude¡¯s arms. As for the two who were watching all of this. [They¡¯re like dogs in heat.] [I think so too.] It was Melissa and Valencia. Both of them had bitter smiles. *** On the hill overlooking the Tomb of the Star. ¡°Haa¡­ haa¡­¡± Cordelia who was drenched in sweat rested her head on Jude¡¯s chest as she roughly breathed. Pain and ecstasy. A feeling of pleasure had filled her mind even though she felt like she was going to die from exhaustion. And another emotion. An indescribable deep sense of relief. Jude was here. Cordelia herself was right next to him. They were together like this now. It was a very natural fact, but it felt strangely precious to her. Tears came out of her eyes without her realizing it. ¡°I have strange¡­no, sad memories.¡± Jude hugged Cordelia and opened his mouth. The intense emotions he felt right after the test. The fragments of memories that he found it hard to think of belonging to someone else. Jude began to slowly speak. The memory fragments were not properly connected, but he let out of his mouth one by one the memories of the other Jude who had reached the sword horizon. ¡°The worst route¡­¡± Jude who had lost everything and lived only for revenge. Cordelia who became a demonic human and died at the hands of Jude. As Cordelia listened to his story, she felt a pain in her chest. Tears flowed out more than before. ¡°Actually, I also have something I want to talk about.¡± The stories in her dreams while they were traveling in the south. It was blurry at first. But while listening to Jude¡¯s story, the blurred memories gradually became clearer. The Cordelia who regained her humanity at thest moment and died while pretending to be a demonic human because she did not want to hurt Jude¡¯s heart. The Cordelia who died after whispering sorry to Jude, just like the other Jude¡¯s memories. And the Cordelia who became a demonic human and ridiculed and tormented Jude. All these were terrible stories. That was why she just dismissed it as dreams. But if these were not just simple dreams. If it was from a parallel world, or something that actually happened in the past like in novels and movies. ¡°Are you talking about¡­ regression?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure. Rather, the parallel world theory makes more sense.¡± If for some reason, memories from a parallel world were transmitted to them. But it was at that time. Cordelia suddenly crouched. Her hands slightly trembled. ¡°Cordelia?¡± ¡°I mean, uh¡­ well¡­ it¡¯s a bit scary.¡± ¡°Scary?¡± ¡°Our memories¡­ uh¡­ our memories before we became Jude and Cordelia.¡± Their past lives. The two were rotten waters of Legend of Heroes 2. If their memories of the two were not memories of their previous lives. If it were just other people¡¯s memories that were transmitted to them like the memories from a parallel world. She felt like she would be losing her identity. The two were Jude and Cordelia, but were Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee at the same time. ¡°I don¡¯t know yet. There¡¯s no guarantee that these are memories from parallel worlds.¡± When Jude hugged Cordelia¡¯s waist and said that, she nodded. And she whispered involuntarily ¨C no, as if she was being guided by something. ¡°If we go to the Tomb of Sri¡­ will we know a little more?¡± What these memories were about. What the words two people of destiny meant. ¡°Well, perhaps. And¡­ In any case, the fact that I am me¡­ and that you are Cordelia will not change. So it will be fine. It will not be a problem.¡± Obvious words but also words that made her feel relieved. ¡°I¡¯m d that the two of us are together.¡± That I¡¯m not alone. That we¡¯re together like this now. ¡°By the way, Jude.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Well, it feels like your hand is going down though?¡± Jude continued to move his hand instead of answering, and Cordelia flinched but soon had a yful expression. She stretched out her head and bit Jude¡¯s neck. *** ¡°You really returned in a day. You¡¯re also in the nick of time.¡± Jude and Cordelia shyly smiled at Gallus¡¯ words while Melissa and Valencia¡¯s eyes became cold. [Both of them are beasts.] [I agree.] But Jude and Cordelia had already ignored the voices of the two. Jude spoke to Gallus with a calm face. ¡°Sir Gallus, please.¡± ¡°Hmm, I understand. Get ready.¡± Gallus unhesitatingly answered, and a golden arched door appeared again. ¡°May the glory of the sun always be with you.¡± ¡°May the muscles always be with you.¡± Cordelia replied to Sri¡¯s greeting with Landius¡¯ greeting, and looked through the wide open door as she took a deep breath. She held Jude¡¯s hand again and stepped forward. She crossed the doorsill. And beyond that. It was a space filled with the power of Sri. Cordelia reflexively turned to her side. Jude was not there. The hand that she had just been holding until now had disappeared. ¡®Stay calm.¡¯ Something bad did not suddenly happen to Jude. The gem embedded in Count Chase¡¯s bracelet, which could tell if the other person was alive or dead even if they were far away, was still shining faintly. Jude was still alive. His life was not in danger. ¡®A barrier.¡¯ Or something like that. Cordelia turned to Moonlight. She could not feel Melissa¡¯s energy. Perhaps this space itself right now was like a dream and not reality. ¡°Sri.¡± Cordelia said in a low voice and spread out her angel wings. Her hair that had nowpletely turned pink became light due to the powerful light let out by her angelic halo. She slowly walked forward. She received the warm and gentle power of Sri and looked straight ahead. A red sky and blue earth. A woman stood in between. ¡°Hello.¡± An archangel with red hair. The sun goddess Sri stood there. Chapter 328: Sun Goddess Solari

Chapter 328: Sun Goddess Sri

There were seven archangels in the world called Heaven. They were not seven in the beginning. The first being to be born was Auriel, the archangel of judgment. She was born out of necessity. The Heaven before her was a world where evil from chaos spread, so it was not an exaggeration to call it like hell. The wishes of the angels gave birth to her. The hopes of the angels who were groaning under the pressure of evil brought the archangel of judgment into this world. Auriel judged the world. After forging a hundred swords with her own hands, she along with the angels who followed her soon destroyed the evil that pervaded Heaven. She purified the world. As she stood in front of the chaos, she instinctively realized that her mission was over. Because a second archangel was born among the angels. Auriel¡¯s role was to judge. Now that the judgment of evil was over, it was the role of another archangel to rebuild the world. One by one, new archangels were born. Raguel, the archangel of justice. Eros, the archangel of love. Rapha, the archangel of healing. Sariel, the archangel of death. Gabriel, the archangel of the moon. And thest archangel, Sri, the archangel of the sun who would bring light to the entire celestial world. Auriel loved and cherished all her siblings, the archangels, bus she especially loved Sri. ¡°Sri¡­¡± At the highest ce in Heaven. Auriel stood with her sword hanging from her waist as she watched Pleiades before moving her gaze further away. She stared at Hell that she had gone to a long time ago, just before it swallowed Heaven. Sri no longer existed. She already lost her life hundreds of years ago. Eros, the archangel of love, and Gabriel, the archangel of the moon, who descended with her to Pleiades also no longer existed. The seven archangels became four, and Auriel swore to avenge Sri. ¡°Auriel, are you there?¡± At the cautious call, Auriel turned her head. She could tell who it was without looking. It was Raguel, the archangel of justice. ¡°I want to tell you something.¡± Auriel nodded. She herself had a story to share with Raguel. ¡°Come this way.¡± Raguel had a gloomy smile at Auriel¡¯s gentle call. She felt bad at the changes that urred to Auriel after Sri spread her light and died. But they needed to talk about the movement of Hell. The movement of the overlords who went from seven to five. Hearing Raguel¡¯s story, Auriel closed her eyes for a moment. She remembered the face of Sri who always brightly smiled like the sun. *** ¡°Hello?¡± An archangel with red hair. She had a bright smile and a pleasant voice that made one feel better from just witnessing it. There was a yful face under the halo of light that was like the glory of the morning. Cordelia was momentarily speechless. Records often mentioned Sri¡¯s appearance. Sri was the most beautiful and charming of the seven archangels, and even the demons of Hell could not help but love her. It was not a lie. It was the truth. Virtuousness. A woman who was not just beautiful as any other expression did not suit her except for virtuous. But at the same time, she was very friendly. One could talk to her at any moment like an older sister or a friend. She had eight wings and a golden halo that symbolized the glory of the morning. Cordelia unknowingly put her hands together. Because she wanted to pray. However, Sri slightly narrowed her brows as if she was troubled with Cordelia¡¯s actions, and soon said with a mischievous smile. ¡°I¡¯ll say it again. Hello.¡± And when she waved her hand a bit, Cordelia also came to her senses. Cordelia awkwardly raised her head and greeted the other. ¡°H-hello. I mean, good morning.¡± When Cordelia greeted with a blushing face, Sriughed like Kajsa. ¡°Cute.¡± ¡°Uh, umm¡­ yes.¡± There was no need to answer, but she still answered, so Sri burst into a brighter smile. ¡°Haa~ so lucky. You¡¯re such a cute and lovely child.¡± Sri muttered as if she was talking to herself before silently sitting down. The wind blew under the blue sky, and petals flew over the white flower field. And she gestured with her hand. Her eyes told Cordelia toe and sit here. Cordelia hesitated for a moment but soon gathered up her courage. She faltered a bit before walking over Sri¡¯s side and sitting down next to her. ¡°Come closer. I want to hug you.¡± ¡°Excuse me? Uh¡­ yes.¡± Cordelia was someone from Sri¡¯s lineage. This metaphor might be a bit excessive, but Sri was like an older sister, mother, and distant ancestor to Cordelia. ¡°Yes, you¡¯re cute. You¡¯re warm. You¡¯re nice too.¡± At Sri¡¯s words, Cordelia¡¯s face reddened even more. It was because she felt ecstatic from beingplimented by Sri rather than because she was being hugged like a teddy bear. ¡°Thank goodness. I¡¯m d a child like you came.¡± ¡°A child¡­ like me?¡± Cordelia whose face was buried in Sri¡¯s chest then gently raised her head and asked. Come to think of it, what¡¯s with this current situation? Isn¡¯t this the Tomb of Sri? Then who in the world is this woman in front of me? Is she a phantasm like Gallus outside? ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. I am a phantasm. I am.. the traces? The scars? The residue¡­ made up of the lingering affection left behind in Sri¡¯s tomb, the wishes left behind by the people who missed Sri, the sadness¡­ Well, I can¡¯t feel sadness in the first ce though.¡± Herst smile appeared to be very sad, so Cordelia unconsciously wrapped her arms around Sri who smiled again. ¡°You¡¯re very nice. Yes, you¡¯re good-hearted.¡± After stroking Cordelia¡¯s head a few times, Sri lightly pinched Cordelia¡¯s cheek. ¡°Wow, look at this softness. It¡¯s amazing.¡± And she continued to pull it. Cordelia was often pinched by Jude these days and had gotten used to it, but when Sri spoke like that, she could not help but feel strange. ¡°Oh my, you¡¯re cute. I would like to keep ying with you¡­ but I can¡¯t. He¡¯ll get angry if I continue.¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± Wait? Who is that ¡®he¡¯? ¡°Oh, that guy. That very jealous guy.¡± At that point, Cordelia knew who Sri was talking about. So Cordelia raised her voice again. ¡°Jude! Where is Jude right now?¡± ¡°He¡¯s facing me in another flower garden. But well¡­ he¡¯s amazing.¡± ¡°Excuse me? What? D-don¡¯t tell me¡­¡± ¡°No, wait. I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re thinking- no, I know, but it¡¯s not like that. Yes, really. He¡¯s not interested in me, I think?¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± Aside from the embarrassing things she previously said, what¡¯s with thosest words? He¡¯s not interested? ¡°Well, he hurt my pride a bit, you know? Do you know what he thought of as soon as he saw me?¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°As expected, Cordelia is the most beautiful.¡± Cordelia¡¯s face became a mess. That idiot! Idiot! Idiot! What the hell are you talking about! ¡°He didn¡¯t say that. That was what he was thinking.¡± Sri giggled and could not help but pinch the cheek of the embarrassed and happy Cordelia again. ¡°Anyway, don¡¯t worry about Jude. You¡¯ll see him soon once we¡¯re done with our business.¡± ¡°Our business?¡± ¡°Yes, business. It can¡¯t be Jude, it can only be you¡­ Although your mind is full of naughty thoughts, you¡¯re someone who is undeniably nice, pure, and pretty¡­ After all, it¡¯s something that can only be done by you who is the perfect person to be my sessor.¡± Cordelia blinked her eyes again. ¡°Sessor?¡± ¡°Yes, sessor. Well, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m going to turn you into an archangel right now. I don¡¯t have the ability to do that.¡± Sri shrugged before standing up from her seat and touching her halo. ¡°Sri¡¯s halo.¡± Her crown. The divinity of the sun. ¡°When Sri died, there were already no angels left on earth. The connection to Heaven was cut off ¨C no, it was a situation where it had to be cut off.¡± The sunset spread across the blue sky. Night came with the twilight, and the glory of the morning awakened from afar again to brighten the dawn. Sri stood below it. She spread her eight wings and gently removed her halo that was like a small sun. She ced it on top of Cordelia¡¯s halo. ¡°It has been a long time since Sri died. In the first ce, she died because she was in a state of exhausting so much of her power. That¡¯s why there isn¡¯t much power left in this halo. But the goddess of the sun will always be with you. And surely¡­ it will shine with the light of the sun when needed.¡± Sri¡¯s halo became one with Cordelia¡¯s halo. A soft and warm light enveloped Cordelia¡¯s entire body. ¡°It¡¯s not the first time that you¡¯ve been here. But this is the first time I¡¯m doing this. I¡¯m d that I was able to pass it on to you at least for the first andst time.¡± What is she talking about? I don¡¯t understand. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I can¡¯t tell you in detail. But you¡¯ll find out soon.¡± Cordelia could no longer see. Her eyes slowly closed, and Sri¡¯s voice gradually became weaker. ¡°The past always flies towards the future. No one can be free in the face of the unyielding flow of time.¡± ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Child of destiny.¡± ¡°Please.¡± ¡°Please¡­ save¡­¡± Her voice was no longer heard. Instead, different memories made itself known in Cordelia¡¯s mind. She became a demonic human and killed her own older sister. She beheaded Maja in front of Jude himself. She, together with Lucas who had be a demonic human, fought Jude. She smiled as she saw Lucas and Scarlet having their wedding ceremony amidst a ce in ruins. And thest memory. She held hands with Jude as they whispered theirst words of love and died together. In the midst of the confusing memories, Cordelia cried. She wept as she cried out loud to Jude. Sri watched such a Cordelia. She thought as she watched Cordelia inherit the halo of Sri. The unyielding flow of time. A feeling that something was out of ce. Iplete memories. So the n was iplete. No, even if their memories wereplete, the reality was that failure was inevitable. Would a miracle happen? Would they be able to create a miracle? A crack appeared in the golden sky. The earth was scattered by the wind, and the shattered sky sparkled as it fell down. Sri looked at Cordelia again. To whom should a goddess pray? She did not know. But Sri put her hands together and prayed for Cordelia. ¡°Please¡­ I hope that you will seed.¡± May that guy¡¯s will create a miracle. Sri looked at the sky for thest time. She thought of a possibility under the crumbling sky. That brazen guy. The other child of destiny. He did not expect a miracle to happen, but he shouted that he would surely do it. ¡°After that, I hope that they will be happy forever.¡± Sri smiled quietly. She no longer watched as she hoped and prayed once more. Light covered the world. Sri then disappeared. *** ¡°¡­-delia!¡± A voice was heard. ¡°Cordelia!¡± The memories were gone. The memories that filled her head disappeared like grains of sand flowing between her fingers. ¡°Cordelia!¡± ¡°Jude!¡± She came to her senses. She screamed and opened her eyes, finding him in front of her. Jude Bayer. A person she loved no matter how many times she was reborn. Her eternalpanion. ¡°Are you okay? Do you feel sick?¡± ¡°I¡¯m okay. I¡¯m okay¡­¡± She was really fine. There was no pain anywhere. However, her tears continued to flow down, and Jude tightly hugged such a Cordelia. The warmth of Jude. The scent of Jude. The sad memories were gone. Cordelia barely managed to calm down and sniffed a few times before gently pushing Jude away. ¡°Here, blow on this.¡± ¡°Puuuuuf!¡± After blowing her nose on his handkerchief, she was finally ready to look around. ¡°Where¡­ are we?¡± They were not in the Tomb of the Star. They were in apletely different ce. A meadow? A in? It was night, but the exact time was unknown. A somewhat warm air. Moist wind. ¡®Summer?¡¯ Cordelia blinked her eyes and looked at Jude again. Jude was looking at the sky and not the surroundings. ¡°Jude?¡± He did not immediately reply to her call. Jude was staring at the sky with a serious expression and gritted his teeth. ¡°We have a big problem.¡± ¡°W-what?¡± She quickly followed his gaze and looked up the sky, but there was nothing particrly strange about it. There was no such thing as a meteorite falling from the sky, or the sky turning red like blood. She recalled what had happened. She thought that she had properly inherited the halo of Sri, though she had yet to use it. But it was at that time. Cordelia suddenly blinked again. She realized the reality in apletely different way from Jude. The heat. The humidity. The change of season. ¡°Time has passed.¡± Spoke Jude. He judged it by looking at the changes in the constetions. It was spring when they entered the Tomb of Sri. But it was summer now. At least two months. Perhaps three months had passed. And what that meant now¡­ ¡°WAAAAAAAA!¡± ¡°SHOOOOT!¡± ¡°CAPTURE THE CASTLE!¡± Boom! Boom! Boom! Jude and Cordelia reflexively turned their heads at the shouts and roars they heard from afar. And they finally realized where they were standing now and what had happened in the past three months. The Ctes ins. The border between the kingdom and the empire. ¡°War¡­ has begun.¡± After the civil war, it was the war between the S?len Kingdom and the Argon Empire. Jude and Cordelia jumped to their feet. Instead of saying anything else, the two flew towards the ce where the battle was taking ce. Chapter 329: Variable (1)

Chapter 329: Variable (1)

¡®Around one to two months.¡¯ That was his estimate when he added the information of their location. The time they spent with Sri was definitely only two days at most, but why had this happened? ¡°Dungeon book.¡± Cordelia said and Jude nodded. It had the same logic. The flow of time was different inside and outside the dungeon book. Even if they spent five or six hours inside, it was normal for only an hour to have passed when they returned outside. This time, it was the opposite. And there was one more thing. ¡°You¡¯ve been there for 2 days?¡± They were running towards the frontlines but did not stop exchanging information. Cordelia who was being carried on the back of Jude was surprised and asked him, so Jude replied quickly. ¡°Sri¡¯s phantasm¡­ no, Sri herself said that it takes time to hand over the halo to you. Do you know exactly how much time you needed to adjust to the halo?¡± ¡°Ah.¡± Right after she inherited the halo, the ring of angels. She was unconscious and it seemed like two days had passed at that time. ¡°Did those two days be forty days outside?¡± ¡°Probably.¡± And in fact, it was unavoidable. Even if they had known in advance, they would have no choice but to choose the way to spend 40 days inside. ¡°Did you receive the halo well?¡± ¡°Huh? Uh¡­ maybe?¡± ¡°She said that you will not suddenly be an archangel. But you will definitely be different from before now that you have divinity. Your power would have greatly increased. Because your limits itself have changed.¡± Cordelia was no longer an ordinary angel. Although she did not yet have the full power to match her rank, she was already like a goddess in terms of qualifications. ¡°And I¡¯m a man who fell in love with a goddess.¡± ¡°What the heck are you saying!¡± Jude grinned as Cordelia pped him on his shoulder. He deliberately joked because Cordelia seemed nervous about the fact that she had inherited divinity, and he was d that it worked. ¡®Because it¡¯s true.¡¯ Jude lightly shrugged his shoulders, but Cordelia pped him in his back a few more times. ¡°Anyway, we both got power ups, right?¡± Cordelia herself obtained the halo of Sri and gained the divinity of the sun. She had not yet felt any changes, but it was a matter that time would solve. As Jude had said, there was a stark difference between those who had divinity and those who did not have it. ¡°It somehow feels cheesy to say that¡­ I¡¯ve powered up and became a goddess, but it¡¯s the truth.¡± Jude also got stronger. His battle against the other Jude who reached the sword horizon had given him a lot of things. A true Sword Saint. A person who saw the horizon and the sword¡¯s inner essence. And although he felt that he had gone overboard, the second form of Sword Origin was now unlocked. It was called Sword Spirit Union. But if he had to name it, it would be Jude-ss. [My sessor, what¡¯s with that name? I prefer Sword Spirit Union as my name doesn¡¯t appear in Jude-ss.] She was troubled with that. But Jude immediately replied as if he saw nothing wrong with it. ¡°But it¡¯s a given rule in Legend of Heroes to name a soul or spirit union as XX-ss.¡± ¡°Union? You united? With Valencia-nim?¡± Jude was startled when Cordelia asked in surprise. ¡°Eh? No, it¡¯s not in that way. I mean, it was Sword Origin¡¯s second form.¡± Bing one with the sword spirit. Achieving a moreplete ¡®be one with the sword.¡¯ ¡°You united with Valencia-nim¡­¡± Cordelia muttered to herself, but her voice somehow sounded cold. Jude got the chills at that moment and hurriedly made an excuse. ¡°No! It¡¯s not something improper! That¡¯s right, it¡¯s just a pure union. Like the body, mind, and soul bing one¡­ that kind of union, okay?¡± [My sessor, are you trying to get yourself scolded? That¡¯s the same.] She was right. The body, mind, and soul bing one? And he¡¯s doing that with another woman? ¡°N-NO! What I mean is! V-Valencia! Valencia, please say something too!¡± [Haa¡­ It is as my sessor had said. You can say that it¡¯s like we¡¯re just uniting our strength. Our union is a bit¡­ no, it¡¯spletely different from the union of lovers.] Why do I have to exin this? Valencia deeply sighed and made her voice be heard outside Jude, and Cordelia pouted as she pinched Jude¡¯s ear. ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ll just pinch you.¡± She understood it in her mind, but she was still angry and annoyed. But it was then. Valencia said, frowning as she saw something she could not understand. [My sessor, why are you smiling? Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯ve gone crazy?] ¡®No, it¡¯s just¡­ isn¡¯t Cordelia cute when she¡¯s jealous?¡¯ Isn¡¯t she seriously adorable? At Jude¡¯s response, Valencia¡¯s expression turned cold as she shut her mouth. However, Melissa who was unaware of the circumstances then raised her voice to rectify the situation. [Moving on, are you saying that you¡¯ve be a lot stronger?] ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. I¡¯ve be a lot stronger.¡± He had the physical abilities that could overwhelm Grand Sword Masters and an unrivaled Qi energy like that of the sun. With the addition of sword skills that made him worthy of the title of Sword Saint, he was truly close to perfection. ¡°Then are you stronger than Outboxer009 now?¡± A character that Jude had raised in Legend of Heroes 2. The strongest single yer who dominated the first ce in the server rankings for 23 months. Jude immediately nodded at Cordelia¡¯s question. ¡°I¡¯m stronger.¡± His present self was stronger. And he was going to get stronger in the future. There were still the eighth door and ninth door in the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, and the Twelve Thunderbolt Steps could also advance to Nine Celestial Steps, the ultimate footwork skill of fantasies. ¡®However¡­¡¯ Several thoughts suddenly came to his mind. No, it was something that came to his mind naturally. The memories of the ¡®other selves¡¯ who were not the present Jude and Cordelia. ¡®It must have happened.¡¯ Those were not fictitious memories that were created. All of it actually happened. Then, what in the world happened? Was it parallel worlds? Was it regression? Was it something other than those two? He could not know for sure right now. Even Sri whom he was expecting to give a clear answer to this problem did not give it. Or to be more exact, it seemed like she was reluctant to give an answer. ¡®Sri knew the answer.¡¯ But she hesitated to answer. She thought that it was not the time yet. Why? Why did she not want us to realize the truth of the memories and why we have them? ¡®A matter of time.¡¯ It¡¯s not okay now, but okayter. Or rather, it will be revealedter. But not now. It¡¯s something that cannot be revealed now. Jude stopped his thoughts for a moment. And he concentrated on something else, an important fact that he had overlooked because of the memories that came to his mind in session. ¡®The other Jude was incredibly strong.¡¯ He was a swordsman who reached the sword horizon. Gallus said that he was ¡®the strongest swordsman in his memories,¡¯ so he was clearly the strongest swordsman among the other Judes in his memories. But he failed. Jude did not know exactly why the other Jude failed, but he could tell that the other Jude met a bad ending. And so did the other Judes. It was not worse than the other Jude he faced, but everyone walked on a painful and difficult path yet met a sad ending in the end. What was the reason? What had happened? Who was that enemy that even such a strong Jude could not defeat? Legend of Heroes 3 was about fighting the demons of Hell. He did not experience the final expansion pack, so he could not directly fight the overlord, but the final boss being the overlord, who was rumored to be Asmodeus, the overlord of lust, was the general consensus of the Legend of Heroes yers. ¡®The future that could not prevent the Great Summons.¡¯ Jude swallowed hard. It felt like the countless defeats the other Judes experienced were choking him again. ¡®It will be different this time.¡¯ Because Jude and Cordelia were together from the beginning. Because they had prevented all the tragedies that should have happened to the kingdom. They would prevent the Great Summons. They would protect everyone. This time, they would achieve a happy ending like in fairy tales, where he and Cordelia would live happily ever after. ¡°Jude.¡± Cordelia¡¯s whisper brought Jude back to reality. They were nearing their destination. At the battle that was going on. *** ¡°Urgent news! Fortress Karatum has been captured!¡± ¡°Small-scale battles are taking ce everywhere!¡± ¡°Urgent news! The forces that captured Fortress Karatum are moving towards this direction!¡± Upon hearing the reports of themunication wizards that came in a row, the suprememander of the S?len Kingdom¡¯s army, the Golden Sword Saint, Ian McCline, clenched his teeth. Immediately after the war deration. The empire, or to be exact, the Chancellor and his subordinates chose to go on the offensive rather than holding out and defending. It wasmon sense to think of it as reckless, but the Chancellor was not alone. He had brought a huge force from the east. The Guardians of the Holy Cross were holding out, but it was only a matter of time before they were pushed out of the border. It had been 50 days since the start of the war. The S?len Kingdom Army, headed by the Knights of the Golden Lion, led a huge army and formed a defensive line against the rebels in the empire who began their southward journey. Leading the enemy¡¯s main forces was Marshal Bartolein and Grand Sword Master Lucius Grande. They were familiar opponents to the Golden Sword Saint who had already defended the Ctes ins for nearly a decade. ¡®Were you hiding this much power all the time?¡¯ The Chancellor¡¯s army led by Marshal Bartolein had a very simple strategy. Narrow the battlefront without widening it. Use all their power through break through the borders of the S?len Kingdom. Because of that, the Golden Sword Saint also gathered his forces and waged an all-out war. They chose to have a huge pitched battle against the Chancellor¡¯s forces in the Ctes ins. And now. While they were confronting each other on the front, a series of urgent news came in. Arge army that they had not seen until now did not stop at capturing Fortress Karatum as it had now began advancing towards them. This was by no means a normal military operation. Even if it was an elite army, it was unreasonable to move troops to a long distance right after capturing a fortress. But the opponent was doing it. Because theposition of the army itself from the beginning was different from an ordinary army. ¡®Demon followers.¡¯ Demonic humans and demons. But they had realized it toote. He urgently dispatched some of the troops to the rear, but it was toote. ¡°Commander! The Chancellor¡¯s army is moving!¡± The Golden Sword Saint could also see it. The rebels all began marching in unison as though they had waited for the urgent news. A huge battle could not be avoided. ¡®Block the front.¡¯ The demonic human army closing the distance at every moment with an abnormal speed was bothering him, but it was impossible to withdraw his troops from here. ¡°Blow the trumpet signaling that we¡¯re entering battle!¡± As the Golden Sword Saint drew his sword andmanded, the S?len Kingdom Army moved their gs one after another along with the loud sound of drumming. The knights boosted the soldiers¡¯ morale, and all the kingdom¡¯s forces that filled the Ctes ins shouted loudly to greet the imperial army. A collision of two huge armies. Marshal Bartolein who was leading the Chancellor¡¯s army smiled. It would be nice if the demonic human army hit the nk of the kingdom¡¯s army and lead to victory. Even if that was impossible, n B remained. The demonic human army would prate the kingdom¡¯s army without joining their army. Thus, it would trample the rear of the kingdom¡¯s army. Of course, no matter how high the unit¡¯sbat power was, an army of demonic humans that was less than 10,000 could not do much. If they really prated the rear, the kingdom¡¯s army would do anything to stop them. But doing so would shake the frontlines. Even if today¡¯s battle would lead to a draw, the Golden Sword Saint would no longer be able to protect the Ctes ins. ¡®Either way is fine.¡¯ Marshal Bartolein¡¯s smile deepened. He eagerly waited as he imagined on what would happen soon. But half an hourter. The news that came was quite different from what Marshal Bartolein had expected. *** Leading the army of demonic humans and demons was Karavan, a high-ranking demonic human of the Devil¡¯s Eye. Having captured Fortress Karatum at once, she used her special skill of necromancy to turn the kingdom¡¯s army into zombies and skeletons. Her army was the kind that the more they fought, the more their troops increased. ¡°March forward.¡± Sitting on a skeletal horse, she happily chanted as if she was ying at being a soldier. The high-ranking demonic humans of the Devil¡¯s Eye and Devil¡¯s Hand followed her orders, leading the lower-ranking demonic humans and demons as they headed towards the Ctes ins that was in the midst of a huge battle. Their marching speed was unusual. But it was not a problem. There was not a single pure human being in her army. ¡°Go, go and sweep away our enemies.¡± Karavan who was intoxicated with victory ordered with a happy expression. Her heart pounded at the thought of defeating the kingdom¡¯s army and setting up a Hell Gate on the Ctes ins. ¡°Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s go, let¡¯s go.¡± She said as she hugged her shoulders. She burst into joy at the thought of winning once again. But right after that. The moment when her ecstasy reached its peak. Being a high-ranking demonic human, she straightened her back in surprise. She hurriedly looked back at the creepy sensation she felt. The same was true of the other high-ranking demonic humans. Even the low-ranking demonic humans and demons could not help but stop and look away. At their back. Some was standing in the ce where there was nothing until recently. She looked at them and smiled. ¡°How do you do, everyone?¡± Yellow Storm. In Legend of Heroes 2, she was the strongest warfare yer who was called a human disaster. She was unsurpassed in Legend of Heroes 2 just like Outboxer009. In terms of magic power and strength alone, she was unequaled. However, through her meeting with Sri, the Cordelia from Legend of Heroes 2 could now do things that she was not able to do back then. ¡°So I will show you.¡± To those who wondered why she was called a human disaster. She spread her angel wings. The divinity of the sun lit up her angelic halo, unlocking its power. Thus, a thousand golden magic spheres were created. Karavan stood agape. The other demonic humans could not help but panic. And at that moment. As many as a thousand spheres began to fly downwards. A golden storm engulfed the battlefield. Chapter 330: Variable (2)

Chapter 330: Variable (2)

I found out today that there was an even higher rank than high-ranking demonic human¡­ It¡¯s top-ranking demonic human. Problem is, it seems like I¡¯ve been tranting all past mentions of it as just ¡®high-ranking¡¯. So I¡¯ll be correcting all past incorrect trantions throughout this week. Just know that Karavan is a top-ranking one and not just a high-ranking one. The number of troops led by Karavan was around 7,000. But these 7,000 were not ordinary troops. None of them were pure human beings as all members of the demon follower army was either a demonic human or a demon. Therefore, it could not bepared to normal human armies in terms of unitbat power. They were a powerful armyparable to at least 20,000 or 30,000 troops if all of the troops¡¯bat power werebined. But the two attacked Karavan¡¯s troops alone. Common sense would say that this was no different frommitting suicide. Even if he was someone who had reached swordmaster level, he could not survive against 7,000 opponents. Moreover, their opponents were not just these. There were Karavan, a top-ranking demonic human, and two high-ranking demonic humans too. So they could not just attack. It would be best to avoid it. But as soon as Jude and Cordelia arrived at the destroyed Fortress Karatum, they realized almost instantaneously the moment they saw Karavan¡¯s army marching at a high speed across the Ctes ins. The two could not just let them go. They had to attack the troops right here and now. Jude thought so when he saw such a huge army enter the Ctes ins unobstructed, and Cordelia instinctively realized it like always. Their time to think was short. Cordelia knew Outboxer009 from Legend of Heroes 2. Likewise, Jude also knew Yellow Storm who was called a human disaster. So they knew that they could do it. That it was not like suicide. ¡°Show them.¡± At the moment when Jude spoke, Cordelia spread her angel wings. As she spread her beautiful golden wings, the divinity of the sun fiercely rotated around her angelic halo. The glory of the morning that was imbued in it then intensified. ¡°This is my Cordelia.¡± Human disaster. One-man army. Anti-army wizard. A thousand magic spheres were released from Cordelia and flew in the air. The immense divine power charged along with Cordelia towards the startled Karavan¡¯s army. What happened next was a storm. A golden wind that raged. ¡°Evade!¡± Dolce, a high-ranking demonic human, shouted, but it was not heard. The golden storm created by the thousand magic spheres engulfed everything including sound. Bababababaababang-! The thousand magic spheres rotated. It swept around Cordelia, smashing and destroying everything in its path. ¡°Evade! Evade! Split to the left and right!¡± Another high-ranking demonic human, Argo, desperately cried out. The demons also had survival instincts, so they urgently ran as Karavan¡¯s army was split into two at once. But that did not mean that the damage had stopped. ¡°OOOOOOOO!¡± Cordelia moved. She flew towards one of the divided troops and gripped Moonlight at the same time. She cast a powerful magic by unleashing the spell she had previously charged. [Earthquake!] A powerful earthquake urred following Melissa¡¯s guidance. The ground surface cracked and the earth swallowed the demons. The raging storm swept the demons away. Bang! Bang! Bang! Seven thousand was not a small number. Each opponent was much bigger than regr humans, so Cordelia¡¯s earthquake and storm could not hit the entire army. But the problem was that Cordelia was moving. Like a real storm ¨C no, like a hurricane, she swept the battlefield, and nearly a thousand opponents were incapacitated in an instant. ¡°Argo!¡± Dolce, a high-ranking demonic human, shouted and forcefully entered demonization. The huge horns and hard shell unique to a giant beetle covered Dolce¡¯s body, and Argo also entered demonization and spread out butterfly wings. Their tactic was simple. Prate. They would pierce through into the heart of the storm and directly attack Cordelia. The golden storm was obviously powerful, but it was nothing more than a storm created from magic spheres the size of a fist. The defensive capabilities of a high-ranking demonic human would be able to withstand it. Dolce and Argo did not waste their time. They rushed almost simultaneously towards Cordelia who was randomly sweeping the demon follower army. ¡°UOOOOOOO!¡± The powerful magic that arose from Dolce¡¯s entire body blocked the golden magic spheres. Argo¡¯s roar also shook the air and twisted the trajectory of the magic spheres. Cordelia saw the two. The figure of the demonic humans who endured and pierced through with their bodies reminded her of the rotten waters in Legend of Heroes 2. ¡®As expected.¡¯ That was the only way to respond to her attacks. She already knew about it. So she had also prepared some countermeasures. Cordelia had a wild smile. With a smile reminiscent of a seductive feline beast, she moved her hands to form hand seals. Yellow Storm¡¯s talent. A crazy talent for control that only Yellow Storm could do among the numerous rotten waters of Legend of Heroes 2. The golden storm raged. 500 magic spheres still swept around and formed a storm, but the other 500 had stopped. It moved ording to Cordelia¡¯s will. It rushed towards Dolce and Argo! ¡°Double!¡± It divided at that moment. The 500 magic spheres became 1,000 magic spheres. ¡°UOOOOOO!¡± Dolce shouted again and hardened his skin. Argo also blocked it by protecting himself with his wings. But it a foolish move. Cordelia did not just send 500 magic spheres towards the two. ¡°Stop it.¡± No, endure it if you can. 500 magic spheres swallowed Dolce. If each of these spheres flew at random, Dolce¡¯s n would have worked. But that did not happen. Dolce realized it the moment he blocked the magic spheres with his body. Bababaababababang-! The 500 magic spheres did not randomly fly around. It continuously attacked the same ce as if it was being precisely manipted. A series of pinpoint attacks were made in the same ce, and the umted damage exceeded his expectation. Moreover, the attacks did not only strike in one ce. Five ces. Twisting his body was useless. He was attacked in the same ces again and again. Bababababababang! It cracked the hard shell. His insides suffered from shock and he lost the strength of his arms. A hundred hits. Five hundred hits in five ces! ¡°AAAAAAAAH!¡± Dolce could not bear it. Far from approaching Cordelia, he wasrgely pushed back. His outer skin shattered and his whole body turned like rags. Argo was the same. His defense was originally below Dolce, so his chest was crushed. It was divine power. The divinity of the sun in the magic spheres acted as a poison towards the demonic humans. The more they got hit, the more their defense weakened, and by the time it ended, their bodies were almost to the point of being destroyed by the magic spheres. Multitasking that transcendedmon sense. A miraculous control she created unconsciously through her instinct that could not be calcted. ¡°GAAAAK!¡± ¡°AACK!¡± Dolce and Argo disappeared. A ring of white light formed around Cordelia, and she felt that her mana wascking. So she absorbed mana from Malekith¡¯s Dragon Heart and caused an even rougher storm. A thousand swirling magic spheres. As each magic sphere shined gold, it felt as if another sun had risen on earth. The demon follower army that was swept away by the storm began to literally melt. Karavan clenched her teeth. The moment she felt the deaths of Dolce and Argo, she instantly released the power she had been storing as a top-ranking demonic human. She did not ignorantly pierced through the storm. She would offset the attacks and prate the storm. She would quickly narrow the distance and knock down the caster. It was a correct move. It if was the magic of a top-ranking demonic human, she could easily push away the divinity of the sun and break it into small pieces. Cordelia knew that too. Therefore, she did not gather the magic spheres when Karavan unleashed her power. Rather, she opened a road by spreading it over a wider range. The n that she had thought of in the first ce. The golden storm was powerful, but it seriously exhausted her mana. Moreover, the enemy side also had a top-ranking demonic human, so it was impossible to finish it with just a storm. ¡®But it will be fine.¡¯ Because Cordelia was not the only one here. In addition to Yellow Storm who was a master in army warfare, there was the strongest yer in Legend of Heroes 2 here. An invincible person. The king of the arena. Even thebat genius Yellow Storm had to step back from having a one-on-one match against the god of PVP. Jude looked straight ahead. He saw Karavan running from beyond the demon follower army that split to the sides. ¡®Karavan.¡¯ A top-ranking demonic human of the Devil¡¯s Eye. A spider demon who was both a schemer and a wizard, and possessed a powerful poison. Four feet sprouted from behind Karavan¡¯s back. The feet were sharp and long like that of a spider, and deadly venom leaked from its tips. ¡°KIAAAAAA!¡± Karavan¡¯s red eyes glowed as she unsparingly released her power as a demonic human. Her power was so great that it shook the entire golden storm that Cordelia had created. But why? Why does my heart feel so calm? Rather than it be pounding, it¡¯s beating normally. He actually knew the reason why. He had numerous experiences like this in his previous life, so he was well aware of it. ¡°Valencia, what should I do? I don¡¯t think I¡¯m going to lose.¡± [How arrogant, my sessor. But in fact, I feel the same way too.] Karavan¡¯s power was seriously incredible. It was no exaggeration to say that she was the strongest among the demonic humans he had faced so far. But he did not think that he would lose. Only a victorious future was pictured in his mind. ¡°Sword Spirit Union.¡± Valencia¡¯s sword was added to Jude. He took another step and awakened the power of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors at the same time. Bang! The energy of the seventh door was unleashed like an explosion and shook the world. It did not stop at pushing the golden storm away as it even made the rushing Karavan to momentarily stop. Confusion spread in Karavan¡¯s eyes. She stopped breathing because of the immense energy. And in that gap. ck lightning struck. Karavan had tried to fight in closebat in order to quickly defeat Cordelia despite being a wizard, so she had not paid attention to the exploding lightning. Thus, it resulted into something. ¡°Ah?¡± Karavan¡¯s chest froze. The skeleton horse she was riding as well as the surface on which her feet had touched were now covered with ice. ck Lightning Covers the Sky. The only attack that struck was lightning. Karavan¡¯s chest cracked. At the same time, cracks broke out all over the frozen world. It was only then that Karavan realized that Jude had cut her through. She btedly turned her eyes to follow the flow of energy. Jude stood behind her. Instead ofunching a second attack, he withdrew his sword-like hand. Twelve Snowke Sword Art ¨C Twelfth Snow Flower. Fleeting Falling Flower. Craaaaaack- Karavan¡¯s chest was broken. The surface split and the skeleton horse shattered. The whole ce seemed to shine as thousands of shattered ice fragments were swept into the sky by the rough wind. ¡°Wow.¡± Jude unconscious eximed in admiration as he was surrounded by a ring of white light. Because even he himself found his achievement astonishing. As he became able to see the sword horizon, his swordsmanship itself had advanced. Even if he had caught her off-guard, defeating a top-ranking demonic human with a single sword attack was something that could only be described as amazing. [You still have a long way to go.] He was just lucky this time. Jude admitted it too. Karavan was the weakest among the top-ranking demonic humans, and was inexperienced in closebat. If she had neither panicked nor received Cordelia¡¯s divinity of the sun debuff, she would have responded much better. On the other hand, Jude¡¯s own attack was truly one of his best. It was a perfect attack that happened once out of ten times. But that did not mean that the attack he made would not happen again. Valencia praised Jude while snorting like Count Chase, and Jude smiled before turning to Cordelia. The demon follower army was in confusion. Having lost their top-ranking and high-ranking demonic humans, the mid-ranking and low-ranking demonic humans forced the demons to charge. It was a reasonable order. The golden storm was a magic that consumed an enormous amount of mana, so as expected, Cordelia¡¯s mana had run out. The storm stopped. Cordelia copsed in ce and gasped as if she was going to die at any moment. ¡°Attack!¡± ¡°Now is the chance!¡± Thousands of demons still remained. As all of them blindly charged, the entire ground shook as if an earthquake had urred. Jude stopped in front of Cordelia. He stretched out his hand to Cordelia instead of looking back at the loudly charging demons. ¡°It went as I said, right?¡± ¡°Hey, if you hadn¡¯t defeated her with a single attack, the timing would have beenpletely ruined, okay?¡± ¡°So I defeated her with a single strike.¡± Jude slyly spoke and Cordelia eventuallyughed. In the past, she would have somehow hit him, but she did not feel like doing it now. She hated it but she was fine with it now ¨C no, she waspletely fine with it now as he was her scammer. ¡°Then, shall we go with the rest of our n?¡± Cordelia took Jude¡¯s hand. As she watched the demon follower army rushing towards them like raging waves, she once again cast her magic. ¡°¡± Jude had infinite stamina that made her feel exhausted for the past few days ¨C no, it was to the point that she felt like she would die from exhaustion. So she did not hesitate to use it. To get as much of it for herself. Bang! Boom! Bang! Bang! Boom! The loud sounds were nearing. Their distance from the demon follower army was now less than ten meters. But Cordelia was not afraid. She once again cast her magic with a bright smile. ¡°Sunlight Yellow Overdrive.¡± A brilliant yellow light made from magic appeared. A thousand suns soared again. The demon follower army could no longer see. A gold sh of light covered the world. *** ¡°W-we lost.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Karavan¡¯s army has been defeated!¡± Chapter 331: Variable (3)

Chapter 331: Variable (3)

So I finished correcting the top-ranking demonic humans that got incorrectly tranted as high-ranking. So far, the only top-ranking demonic humans that were mentioned are: A huge battle literally took ce in the Ctes ins. The kingdom¡¯s army had 57,000 men while the Chancellor¡¯s army had 62,000 men. While the main forces of both sides were engaged in a neck-to-neck battle in the center, battles urred in the sides and rear as well. The battlefront changed due to the detour move of the cavalry and the participation of the reserve forces. It was not easy to gauge who was superior or inferior as neither side was significantly behind in terms of tactics, and both sides were equal in power. ¡®It¡¯s rather dangerous at times like this.¡¯ Marshal Bartolein who led the Chancellor¡¯s army stared at the battlefield with narrowed eyes. The time when the most deaths urred in a war was not during closebat. It was the time when one side would show their backs and begin running away. They were in a tight situation now. So it could lean to one side if the other side copsed. And Marshal Bartolein had one variable to make it happen. ¡®The demonic human army.¡¯ The demon army led by Karavan, a top-ranking demonic human of the Devil¡¯s Eye. If those who captured Fortress Karatum joined this battlefield using the unique physical strength and mobility of demonic humans and demons, they could instantly turn this tense battle into a massacre if they destroyed the rear of the kingdom¡¯s army. Half an hour had already passed since the battle started. Finally, the news came. ¡°U-Urgent news!¡± At the call of themunication wizard nearby, Marshal Bartolein reflexively turned his head. The adjutants around him also looked at the wizard with impatience. Where is it? Where is it from? The existence ofmunication magic made it possible to rapidly exchange information that was not even imaginable on the battlefield in the past, bringing about a revolution in tactics. Because units that were located far away from each other couldmunicate and connect in real time. ¡°Go ahead and say it!¡± An impatient adjutant shouted like a scream, but no one thought of stopping him. Because everyone felt the same way. ¡°T-that is!¡± Themunication wizard was in tears as he profusely sweated and squeezed out his voice. ¡°W-we lost.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Karavan¡¯s army has been defeated!¡± Marshal Bartolein blinked his eyes. And it was the same for his adjutants. A news that they could not have imagined. A development that they did not expect at all. ¡°W-what? What did you just say! Huh?!¡± An adjutant grabbed themunication wizard¡¯s cor and threatened him, but no one stopped him again. Because they were all in a daze from such a confusing situation. ¡°T-they lost! They copsed! They say that they are now scattered and retreating!¡± Themunication wizard was innocent. He was just reading the full message that had been passed to him. ¡°How¡­¡± Despite the noisy battlefield, Bartolein¡¯s small mutter to himself reached everyone in the vicinity. ¡°Who on earth?¡± All of the kingdom¡¯s troops were here. They could not have hidden demonic humans and demons like Bartolein did. Or rather, even if that was the case, how could they defeat a 7,000-strong armymanded by a top-ranking demonic human in half an hour? A squad of that size suddenly appeared? The situation there was different. Karavan¡¯s army captured Fortress Karatum, exposing their location. In other words, the moment they stepped on the battlefield, they revealed their strength. Marshal Bartolein blinked again. Instead of thinking about the iprehensible situation, he looked at themunication wizard. ¡°How did it happen?¡± Themunication wizard gasped for breath as he barely let out a sentence. He answered again in a squeezed voice. Because he himself could not believe the contents of the message. ¡°T-two people¡­ they said that they were attacked by two people.¡± There was silence among the adjutants. None of them could even open their mouths to such a ridiculous story. Two people? Two people defeated in half an hour a 7,000-strong army made up of demonic humans and demons and was led by a top-ranking demonic human? That was impossible. It was clear that there was a problem with themunication magic. But shortly after, two words spoken by themunication wizard made the ridiculous story a bit convincing. ¡°Demon¡­ yers.¡± The two who defeated Karavan¡¯s army. A title that was all too familiar for the demon followers. Marshal Bartolein viewed the battlefield again. He let out swear words at the sh of light in the distance. *** ¡°Haa¡­ haa¡­ haa¡­¡± ¡°Huu¡­ huu¡­ huu¡­¡± Near the Ctes ins. To be exact, on a low hill that was barely visible to the kingdom¡¯s army and the Chancellor¡¯s army that were in the midst of battle. Both Jude and Cordelia were exhausted as they profusely sweated. ¡°Huua¡­ haa¡­ t-this¡­ w-would have¡­an effect, right?¡± ¡°A-absolutely.¡± Cordelia who was on Jude¡¯s back was creating a series of magic lights in the sky. It was colored red so that it could be seen from a distance, and it appeared like it was running towards the battlefield at any moment. Jude and Cordelia were victorious. The two of them had aplished a great feat of defeating an army of 7,000. Obviously, the two did not annihte the army of 7,000. They had knocked down a thousand. That was clearly a huge number, but it was a somewhat insufficient number to say that they had defeated the entire army of Karavan. ¡®It would be easy to think if that was the case.¡¯ In the first ce, ¡®annihtion¡¯ in the military did not really mean that all the soldiers died. It just meant that they could not continue fighting. (T/N: The word ¡®annihtion¡¯ here is a bit special. The Chinese characters used for the word literally mean plete destruction¡¯, but in military terms, it means bat-ineffective¡¯ or ¡®unit destruction.¡¯) The moment their suprememander, Karavan, and the two high-ranking demonic humans below her had died, the demon follower army lost their leaders. A golden storm followed afterwards. It was only natural for the demon follower army who lost theirmanders to flee recklessly. ¡°Haa¡­ haa¡­ I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m going to die¡­¡± Cordelia eventually be so exhausted that she let her body droop. She had absorbed a lot of Jude¡¯s stamina through , but she had consumed so much mana that her physical condition was not good. The golden storm required an immense amount of mana equivalent to its strength and range, and even Cordelia with her archwizard-level mana reserves found it hard to maintain it for more than 5 minutes on her own. But she had used such a magic for more than 15 minutes, so it was natural for her to drop down. ¡°Haa¡­ haa¡­¡± In fact, it was the same for Jude as he felt like he was going to die too. Because had devoured his stamina. [You wouldn¡¯t be tired from¡­ something like that, right?] It was natural for Valencia to question it. He had stopped sweating before he knew it, and his breathing which had be as rough as Cordelia¡¯s was also slowly stabilizing. ¡°I can recover fast.¡± The reason for Jude¡¯s infinite stamina was because his so-called life energy vessel wasrge, but his tremendously fast recovery speed also yed a part. He could recover soon if he just took a little rest. He was the kind of character that had low HP but became full HP after a few minutes. ¡°Jude is¡­ Garen.¡± (T/N: This is a reference to Garen of League of Legends. Garen has a passive skill called Perseverance that allows him to regenerate his health at a fast rate.) Jude awkwardlyughed at the remarks of the person who sounded like she was about to die and was extremely bitter of his fast recovery. ¡°Anyway¡­ the effects are showing.¡± Although subtle, small changes were gradually taking ce on the battlefield. The quick-witted Marshal Bartolein made a decision. ¡®Retreat before we get caught.¡¯ It was a situation wherein the demon follower army led by a top-ranking demonic human and had 7,000 troops were defeated and fled. No matter how advanced theirmunication magic was, they would not exactly know the situation of the war, so the existences of Jude and Cordelia who were heading their way was incredibly taxing for Marshal Bartolein. ¡®And these two are sending signals that they are heading there now.¡¯ It was obviously impossible to tell from the red lights if it were Jude and Cordelia or just a light created by a wizard. However, the light narrowing the distance from the direction in which Caravan¡¯s army should have appeared was enough to intensify the anxiety of Marshal Bartolein. ¡°They will try to retreat after getting into a defensive formation.¡± Suddenly retreating out of a battlefield where the battle had already started was impossible. But such a move was possible for the Chancellor¡¯s army because they had originally deployed their troops in the form of waiting for Karavan¡¯s army to join them. ¡®In short, they were in the defensive from the beginning.¡¯ And the same was true for the kingdom¡¯s army who would be on the defensive. The existence of Karavan¡¯s army would have been greatly troubling for the kingdom¡¯s army. ¡°Well, it¡¯s something to be proud of.¡± ¡°Haa¡­ haa¡­ What?¡± ¡°I mean, the fact that such a huge army is moving is because of us.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia blinked her eyes before she began tough. ¡°Is that so?¡± ¡°Yes, I guess we¡¯ve gotten seriously strong.¡± A Sword Saint that could change the battlefield. An Archwizard that could fight alone against a huge army. ¡°Ayee, my scammer Sword Saint.¡± ¡°Yes, my beast Archwizard.¡± Melissa sighed as Cordelia and Jude looked at each other and exchanged warm words. [Haa¡­ seriously, ah, aaah, haa, haa, so good! Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re going to say and do that again?] This was not something that would happen normally, but these two were alone now. Cordelia¡¯s face blushed and pouted her lips at the anxious voice of Melissa who had seen many precedents of that eventually happening. ¡°D-do you think I¡¯m a beast?¡± [Excuse me, aren¡¯t you the person with the nickname of beast¡­] I¡¯ve seen almost everything at this point, okay? At Melissa¡¯s fact bombing, Cordelia pouted again and pinched the cheek of Jude who was the culprit behind everything. [Anyway, my sessor, what¡¯s your n now? Will you be joining the kingdom¡¯s army?] ¡°That¡¯s what we should do for now.¡± Jude briefly answered before taking a deep breath. After fixing the position of Cordelia who was still grumbling on his back, he sprinted on the ground. *** The events of the battle went as Jude had expected. The Chancellor¡¯s army that had maintained a defensive formation used the demons as sacrifices for their retreat as they began to flee, and the kingdom¡¯s army did not force themselves to pursue such a Chancellor¡¯s army. ¡°Defeat the demons! That alone is a great achievement!¡± Once the battle had begun, it was impossible for either side topletely withdraw. In fact, the Chancellor¡¯s army lost more than 10,000 demons in this battle, and also lost a considerable number of troops in the course of their retreat. Nevertheless, Marshal Bartolein chose to retreat. Because of the fear that the entire army might bepletely defeated if the unknown force that defeated 7,000 troops led by a top-ranking demonic human would begin to seriously sweep the battlefield. ¡®They must have calcted that they could somehow supplement the demons they lost.¡¯ In any case, it was fortunate for Jude. Even though he had managed to recover, it was unreasonable for the exhausted Cordelia and Jude, who were not in their top condition, to y such a decisive role that Marshal Bartolein had imagined. ¡®Anyway, a win is a win.¡¯ The kingdom¡¯s army won and the Chancellor¡¯s army lost. And there was one more good news. ¡°Cordelia!¡± ¡°Unnie!¡± Whether it was coincidence or inevitability, Ga?l and Adelia were at the ce where Jude and Cordelia had joined the army. She had not seen them since their wedding, so it was a reunion after a few months. ¡°Aww, my younger sister. My baby.¡± ¡°Hehe, my unnie.¡± Adelia was worried about her younger sister who had left and headed towards enemy territory. Her emotions flooded and she weed Cordelia more intensely than usual, and Cordelia liked it as she buried her face in Adelia¡¯s chest. How long had it been since they shared each other¡¯s body temperature and scent? Adelia suddenly narrowed her eyes and said. ¡°Wait.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°No, something seems to have changed.¡± ¡°C-changed?¡± ¡°Yes, something. It feels like¡­ you¡¯ve be an adult?¡± At Adelia¡¯s words, Cordelia immediately turned red and began to profusely sweat. As expected of unnie. Unnie is also a beast. It doesn¡¯t make sense otherwise. Even so, how could she tell by just looking at my face? Adelia narrowed her brows even further in response to Cordelia¡¯s suspicious reaction. And at some point, she widened her squinted eyes and said. ¡°Hey, Cordelia. Did you¡­for real?¡± Instead of answering, Cordelia closed her lips and avoided her gaze, so Adelia let out a long sigh. She turned her head towards the man who dragged her kind, gentle, and innocent younger sister into the abyss of corruption. As for the culprit. The deceiver and beast focused only on his front while ignoring the reing from behind him. ¡°I¡¯m d that you¡¯re okay.¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m d that you¡¯re okay too. My sister-inw looks healthy too.¡± Jude smiled at Ga?l¡¯s usual rxed answer. He was less yful and more mature than before, perhaps because he was now married. ¡®It could also be because of the battlefield.¡¯ Anyway, it was really nice to meet Ga?l here. ¡°Older brother, father and father-inw are¡­¡± ¡°They are somewhere else. Thanks to the pouch you left behind, they had a lot of things to prepare.¡± ¡°It looks like it was delivered well. How is Maja?¡± ¡°Well, she is fine.¡± ¡°Huu¡­¡± Jude unconsciously sighed in relief after hearing about Maja¡¯s well-being. Because of the memories of the other Jude who had reached the sword horizon. ¡®Maja¡­¡¯ He had heard that she was fine, but he also wanted to meet her. This time, he really wanted to protect her. ¡°Jude?¡± ¡°Eh? Ah, yes. Rather, older brother. I want you to tell me what had happened.¡± They were still in the battlefield, and the battle had just ended. But thinking about what could have happened in the past month or perhaps two months, Jude got impatient. ¡°I understand. But let¡¯s talk together.¡± Having said that, Ga?l called Adelia and Cordelia before he began talking. Chapter 332: Variable (4)

Chapter 332: Variable (4)

I realized today that there was no need to capitalize the first letter of ¡®chancellor¡¯ since it was not a nickname like Lord Protector. ?????¡â? Chancellor is his official position. Frankly, I¡¯m toozy to edit everything just for him, so I¡¯ll leave it as is and just use the correct one from this episode onwards. ¡°Long live the S?len Kingdom!¡± ¡°Hooray!¡± ¡°We won! We won!¡± ¡°UOOOOOOO!¡± The entire Ctes ins seemed to be shaken by the cheers of the soldiers. The excitement from the battle, the relief from surviving, and the fact that they defeated the imperial army, a long-time enemy of theirs, regardless of it being the chancellor¡¯s army, made them all jump with more joy than usual. ¡°After all, righteousness will prevail.¡± When a young knight clenched his fist and spoke, the knights around him nodded in excitement. If it were the usual, he would have been teased for saying something childish, but it was different today. Demon followers. An evil group that mobilized demons to the battlefield. What else would it be called but righteousness when fighting against these enemies? ¡®The situation¡¯s good.¡¯ Having a cause was always important. The mere fact that they fought for a cause could raise the morale of the soldiers. On the other hand, it was clear that the general soldiers of the imperial army ¨C no, the chancellor¡¯s army, would lose their morale. No matter how hard they tried to decorate it with all kinds of rhetoric, the fact that they were marching with demons would shake their hearts. The Golden Sword Saint, Ian McCline, sheathed his sword with a pleased face. The golden armor of the Knights of the Golden Lion was full of red bloodstains. Suprememander. It was a position that did not allow him to directly go to the battlefield. But no one could underestimate the power of a Sword Saint. Moreover, the other side had the Grand Sword Master, Lucius Grande. The only being that could stop a Sword Saint was another Sword Saint, so going to the battlefield was inevitable for him. ¡®I wish Count Bayer would join us sooner.¡¯ The Sword Saint of Wind. Now that Musu, the wandering swordsman called the Sword Saint of Stars, was missing, the Sword Saints the S?len Kingdom could only trust was the Golden Sword Saint and Count Bayer. ¡®But¡­ what in the world happened?¡¯ The reason why the flow of the battlefield changed. The information delivered through themunication wizards was very limited. After taking down Fortress Karatum, the demon follower army who were heading towards the battlefield were annihted and scattered. What had happened? Who had done this? And the red light that was approaching the battlefield. ¡®Anyway, I hope that they are allies.¡¯ Judging from the fact that they attacked the demon follower army, they at least did not seem to be enemies, but he could not let his guard down. ¡°Let¡¯s move.¡± They had to first return to the main camp, reorganize their formation, and treat the injured. At themand of the Golden Sword Saint, the Knights of the Golden Lion began to move busily. *** ¡°What?¡± The stories that came out of Jude¡¯s mouth. Jude first exined what had happened in the empire as concisely as possible. After crossing to the empire, they met the Royal Knights, rescued the emperor with them and passed through the Shadow Forest, defeating Sword Master Elio Lombardi in the process and bing friends with Grand Sword Master Elune. They also crushed the plot of the demon followers outside the empire and finally visited Sri¡¯s Tomb where thest treasure of the Sri denomination was hidden. It was actually a summary of everything except the ¡®memories of the other Judes and Cordelia¡¯ which might be from regression or parallel worlds. ¡°Seriously¡­ how should I say this, you two don¡¯t change even if you go to the empire.¡± It was the same in the kingdom. If felt like things would get really big when Jude and Cordelia were involved. ¡®Or rather, it feels like they¡¯re intervening in something that would grow big.¡¯ In any case, these two had continued to aplish great things even in the empire. The older couple knew that the emperor had escaped from the imperial capital controlled by the chancellor and started a civil war with the help of the loyalists in the north, but they could not imagine that were such secrets hidden behind those events. ¡°No one knows about our story at all?¡± Cordelia¡¯s question was answered by Adelia with a frown. ¡°Because you are foreigners. From the empire¡¯s perspective, they would be a little reluctant to announce that you had helped them.¡± It was bound to be known someday, but there was no reason to talk about it for now. ¡°I don¡¯t like it¡­ but I understand.¡± Adelia clicked her tongue and ced her own hand on Cordelia¡¯s hand again. ¡°Unnie?¡± ¡°You did well. You did really well. I¡¯m proud of you.¡± When Adelia smiled, Cordelia¡¯s eyes widened in surprise for a moment, but only for a short time. She could not help but cry with tears of joy. She was happy. ¡°Unnie¡­¡± She was not particrly thirsty for praise, but she was happy to be recognized. Maybe it was because of the sad memories the other Cordelias had experienced. Adelia did not survive in any of those memories. ¡°Oh my, you¡¯re still a baby, a baby.¡± Adelia hugged the crying Cordelia and patted her on the back a few times. ¡°Unnie.¡± ¡°Yes, yes. Your unnie is here.¡± Because these two had quite a difference in age. When Cordelia was young, Adelia became like her mother. ¡°By the way, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes, unnie.¡± ¡°After hearing that basta-¡­ no, that Jude¡¯s words, I have a question¡­ When in the world did you do it?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I mean, you didn¡¯t have the time. You didn¡¯t.¡± It was true. After they entered the empire, the two were really busy traveling all over the empire. ¡°Uh¡­ that¡¯s¡­¡± Cordelia awkwardly smiled as her words trailed off, and Adelia red at Jude in her displeasure. She had asked the question, but she actually knew the answer to some extent. You horny beast! Bastard! Trickster! You should have had a fancy wedding! A well-decorated bedroom! Even if you set the mood, the surroundings should have been good! Each of her thoughts could stab a person, but Jude was so thick-skinned that he did not refute it. It was questionable if he properly understood her words from her gaze in the first ce, but even if he understood it, he really had nothing to say. ¡°Ahem, ahem, let¡¯s postpone such embarrassing¡­ I mean, such sensitive topic for a while¡­¡± Ga?l spoke with a red face, and Adelia also blushed. Because Cordelia seemed to be embarrassed to talk about it, so it was an embarrassing topic as Ga?l had said. No matter how close they were, there was a line that they should not cross. ¡°Ehem, ehem. Anyway, Jude. You¡¯ve be really strong.¡± ¡°Yes, brother.¡± Ga?l smiled at Jude¡¯s reply. He had not yet seen Jude fight, but he could tell from just looking at Jude now. Jude¡¯s atmosphere changed. He was able to feel the unique sensation he felt when he faced his father, the Sword Saint of Wind, from just facing Jude. ¡®Good.¡¯ Although he was overtaken by his younger brother, he did not feel envious. Rather, he was happy to know that his weak younger brother had be so strong. ¡®I must work even harder.¡¯ He just had a positive thought that he needed to work harder. It was also because of this good and bright side of his that Adelia was attracted to Ga?l. Because someone with this kind of character was rare. ¡°Then I¡¯ll summarize as much as I can on this side.¡± After all, they were still on the battlefield. Ga?l was one of the Ten Great Swordmasters and treated as an independent unit fighting on the frontlines rather than as amander, but he could not stand in this ce forever and talk for a long time in a situation where he had to order his troops to move. ¡°The war began 50 days ago. A civil war started between the imperial family faction led by the emperor and the chancellor¡¯s faction led by the chancellor.¡± There was no huge battle yet in the center of the empire. Instead of being able to move north, the chancellor¡¯s army could only fortify their defense line, while the emperor¡¯s army could not hastily move either. ¡°Because the death of Absolute Knight Ghad was announced.¡± He was the leader of the Royal Knights whom the young emperor and the many people who belonged to the imperial family faction had trusted and relied on. At his death, the Royal Knights cried for revenge, and many of those in the imperial family faction were scared and so in shock that they could not move hastily. ¡°Of course, that¡¯s not the only reason why the battlefront is stuck. Rather, the influence of the east is greater.¡± Demon followers from the eastern continent joined the chancellor¡¯s army and took full control of the eastern part of the empire. The Guardians of the Holy Cross desperately resisted, but they could not withstand their opponent¡¯s overwhelming numbers. ¡°There were rumors that many demons with titles had appeared, as well as top-ranking demonic humans. Fortunately, your masters, Landius-nim and Kamael-nim, were there so they were able to preserve their power, but there were also many opinions that if not for the heroes of Paragon, the Guardians of the Holy Cross in the east would have been wiped out.¡± Jude gritted his teeth at Ga?l¡¯s exnation. He was frustrated, but it was something that could have happened anyway. ¡®Jabberwock, the top-ranking demonic human of the Devil¡¯s Horn.¡¯ Originally, he would have been united with Jabberwock, the monster in the Forest of Eternity, and reborn as one of the 7 major cmities ¨C Demonic monster Jabberwock. Although he did not be one with the monster Jabberwock, it would not be an exaggeration to say that he was the avatar of Behemoth, the overlord of violence. In the game, he was a monster capable of fighting evenly with Landius in terms ofbat power. ¡®Of course, I don¡¯t think that master will lose.¡¯ A mind of steel, an indomitable will, and an invincible body. After thinking of those three phrases that described Landius, Jude nodded his head. Landius was not alone as Kamael and Lena were there, and even Velkian could join them. With the four heroes from Paragon, they could create a miracle once more. ¡°Our kingdom¡¯s army had allied with the imperial family faction and went to war against the chancellor¡¯s army. The basic tactic was to send troops to the eastern part of the empire to help the Guardians of the Holy Cross while pressuring the chancellor in the Ctes ins at the same time.¡± ¡°I see. So this must be the first time a battle like this had happened.¡± ¡°Yes, as you had said, this was the first time a battle of this size had been fought. Thanks to the two of you, we were able to win.¡± He found it hard to believe that the two of them defeated a 7,000-strong army. Frankly, it was an unbelievable story even though they could see the results. ¡°Brother-inw, what about my father and father-inw?¡± Count Chase and Count Bayer. ¡°Those two are¡­ finishing the task Jude had entrusted them. They¡¯ll probably be joining us soon.¡± ¡°Jude¡¯s task?¡± Cordelia immediately sent a magic to Jude. [Hey, what¡¯s that about? What else are you nning?] [Something good.] [What¡¯s that something good?] [It¡¯s a secret for now.] That way, you¡¯ll be more surprisedter. Cordelia was taken aback by Jude¡¯s answer but decided to move on for now. Because when Jude was like that, he would not answer no matter how much in danger he was. ¡°Moving on, let¡¯s finish our conversation and return now. You should also greet the Golden Sword Saint, the suprememander.¡± Jude nodded at Ga?l¡¯s suggestion. Maybe it was because he thought that the best move right now was to help the Golden Sword Saint and advance to the north together. But an hourter. Jude¡¯s thoughts werepletely changed. *** The Golden Sword Saint weed Jude and Cordelia greatly as Ga?l had expected. The knights under hismand were also enthusiastic about the achievement of the young heroes. They won the battle, and a tremendously powerful force joined them. What news during the war could be more weing than this? Obviously, there were people who were slightly doubtful of Jude and Cordelia because of their age and appearance, but there were only a few of them, and their doubts were only very small. Because Jude and Cordelia had made so many contributions to the kingdom so far that it could not be reduced by just their appearance. ¡°Everyone, you did well. Let¡¯s forget everything tonight and enjoy our victory!¡± ¡°OOOOOOOH!¡± ¡°Long live the Golden Sword Saint!¡± ¡°Long live the S?len Kingdom Army!¡± ¡°Long live the Knights of the Golden Lion!¡± As the young knights shouted in excitement, even the usually quiet staff officers raised their voices together. ¡°Come on, drink up! Glory be to the S?len Kingdom!¡± ¡°Glory be to the kingdom!¡± The knights who shouted loudly began to pour and drink alcohol, and Jude and Cordelia also filled each other¡¯s sses with alcohol. But when they were about to bump their sses to each other. ¡°U-urgent news!¡± Everyone in the barracks looked at the entrance at once. Panting with a red face, themunication wizard spread the urgent news with a squeezed voice. ¡°The chancellor¡¯s army is on the move.¡± The faces of the knights grew worse after a series of reports. There were even those who openly expressed their anger. A huge force was advancing towards the west of the empire ¨C to be exact, towards the Shadow Forest, the home of the elves. Considering that the news was slow because it was from the enemy camp, the battle might already be imminent. But the knights of the kingdom were not angry because of the empire that they had fought just now or what had happened far away. What mattered to them was who was leading the chancellor¡¯s army. ¡°First Sword¡­ no, that traitor, Rhun Froud.¡± The one who betrayed the kingdom together with the Lord Protector. Having beenpletely corrupted, he became a demonic human and now led an army of demon followers. [Jude.] At Cordelia¡¯s call, Jude nodded. She did not say much, but he could understand what she was trying to say. The S?len Kingdom Army led by the Golden Sword Saint could not help the Shadow Forest right now. All they could do was pressure the chancellor¡¯s army on the Ctes ins. But Jude and Cordelia were different. It was impossible for the kingdom¡¯s army to infiltrate the inside of the empire, but it was possible enough for a Grand Sword Master and Archwizard to do so. They should go to help the Shadow Forest. They should help Elune in stopping the chancellor¡¯s army. ¡®No, there¡¯s something more important than that.¡¯ The problem was the person who was leading the army. The Sword Saint of Light. First Sword, Rhun Froud. ording to the chancellor¡¯s deration, he had killed Absolute Knight Ghad. Since he was originally from the kingdom, First Sword had the title of Sword Saint that was on the same level as a Grand Sword Master, so it was not strange for him to defeat Ghad now that he was a demonic human. Such a First Sword was headed to the Shadow Forest. ¡®Elune.¡¯ A woman who inherited the sword of Elf Sword Valencia. The most powerful Grand Sword Master among the elves of the empire. Would she be able to stop First Sword? Would she be able to fight him and win? His heart was pounding. Despite the fact that he could not fully grasp the power of both First Sword and Elune, he had an ominous feeling. ¡®First Sword.¡¯ The time they met in the royal capital was not long. But his existence was imprinted so deeply and firmly in Jude¡¯s own mind. ¡®Is it now?¡¯ Was it the time to put an end to his feud with First Sword? ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes, Jude.¡± Cordelia knew it too. Now was the time for them to make a decision. ¡°Okay, but let¡¯s drink first before going.¡± When she said those words to relieve his tension, Jude nodded his head. He bumped sses with his lovely Cordelia. *** The sun was setting. The vermillion sunset mixed the sky and the ground, and purple spread between the two as it brought about a dark blue darkness. The moment when day and night mixed. When the dark blue darkness engulfed the vermillion sunset and greeted the white moonlight and shining starlight. Standing by the Red Gate, Elune looked east. Lucas who was sparring with Scarlet also unintentionally looked east. The wind was blowing. Inhaling the cold night air, the chancellor¡¯s army marched westward. And the person who took the lead. ¡°Somehow, I have a good feeling?¡± A small smile formed on the lips of First Sword, or Duke, the top-ranking demonic human of the Devil¡¯s Hand as he stroked the handle of his sword. He naturally turned his gaze towards the south where Jude and Cordelia were. ¡°I have a¡­ really good feeling about it.¡± A feeling as if he would be able to taste a once-in-a-lifetime or supreme pleasure. First Sword moved his head again. West. Where the horizon was. First Sword took a step. He headed towards the horizon. Chapter 333: Sword Horizon (1)

Chapter 333: Sword Horizon (1)

I don¡¯t want to die. I don¡¯t want to be weak. I want to be stronger. I can¡¯t stand the reality of growing weaker day by day. The Lord Protector said. The hero who saved the kingdom from the empire had abandoned everything in favor of his own desire ¨C no, his desperate longing. He betrayed his country, abandoned the child-like king, and threw away all the fame he had built up in the past. First Sword nodded at the words of the Lord Protector. Instead of ridiculing or criticizing it, he agreed that it could end up that way. Lord Protector was a human being. He was pushing himself to say that he had already made a decision, but there was still a corner of his mind that was shaking. It was not difficult to betray a country. He could also massacre the royal family. However. However. The Lord Protector held his breath. He also knowingly cut off his thoughts. He had already decided. His work had begun. There was no turning back now. That was why he saw First Sword. He thought as he looked at the person who made the same choice as him. ¡®For what?¡¯ First Sword was one of the Ten Great Swordmasters just like him. No, in a sense, First Sword was greater than him. A person who became a Sword Saint at the age of 30. Even if one looked back on the entire history of the kingdom ¨C no, the continent, those who had such brilliant talents could only be counted in one hand. First Sword was still young. He was not old enough to feel the signs of death like the Lord Protector. Nevertheless, First Sword chose the path of bing a demonic human. For what? If it was honor, he already enjoyed enough of it. Money? Status? Authority? It was not those. The Lord Protector knew. He, who did not simply stay in the position of swordsman but even rose to the top of the royalists faction, had seen many people. First Sword was not the kind of person to dwell on such things. Or rather, it was questionable whether he had a sincere desire for such things. He was a yboy on the outside. He always had aidback attitude. He was a man who liked alcohol and women. All of that were true. It was not wrong. But the moment he actually faced First Sword, the Lord Protector knew. For First Sword, alcohol, women, wealth, power, and honor ¨C those things did not mean much to him. If one had topare it, those things only had the same worth to him as that of his favorite side dish or color. He could endure having any amount. It was good for him if he had it, and also good if he did not have it. The only thing that First Sword valued was the Sword School and Duke Spencer. But in order to be a demonic human, First Sword forsook those two. Why? Why did First Sword decide to be a demonic human? He would not have been curious normally. He did not care what First Sword was thinking. But he wanted to know now. Once he knew the desire of First Sword who was a person with simr thoughts as him, he thought that he would be able to condone himself for betraying the S?len Kingdom ¨C no, for betraying Henry. But the Lord Protector could not open his mouth in the end. In the end, he could not ask First Sword aloud why he wanted to be a demonic human or if he was obsessed with eternal life like himself. It was already an awkward situation, but he did not want it to get more awkward. First Sword was the same as the Lord Protector himself. The young genius made the same choice as the Lord Protector did. So it was all right. No one else could make a simr choice. He reasoned. His pathetic self relied on such things. So in the end, he could not say anything. He did not ask why First Sword wanted to be a demonic human, whether he wanted to live an eternal life like himself, or if he struggled because he did not want to die. First Sword saw such a Lord Protector. He understood what the Lord Protector wanted to say, and what he was holding back. But he did not give an answer for the sake of the Lord Protector. He just put down the wine ss he was holding and then left his seat with the Lord Protector. It was a moonlit night. There were only a few days left until the founding celebration. First Sword left the detached pce and crossed the garden before suddenly raising his head and looking up the sky. Then he turned his gaze again and looked towards the far west. Lord Protector¡¯s thoughts were not wrong. First Sword was not so attached to those worldly things. He was not detached to it. Neither was he greedy for it. It was simply because First Sword was different from ordinary people. ¡°I¡¯ve seen it since I was young.¡± That distant horizon. The path to that source that he questioned if he could reach it. Alcohol and women were good. There was nothing bad about having wealth and honor. But everything was insignificant in front of that. The road to the horizon. He liked the sword. He liked the time he swung his sword. He found it quite pleasant to fight in a life-and-death battle with his sword. Because he felt that he was moving towards the horizon. It was actually his process of taking steps towards the horizon. That was why he very much liked Jude and Cordelia. Because he was able to see the horizon more clearly through the two. Because on the day he would fight the two who would have grown stronger, he would be closer to the horizon. ¡°I¡¯m the same as you.¡± The reason why he wanted to be a demonic human. The reason why he longed for an eternal life. ¡°Because I¡­ haven¡¯t reached it yet.¡± It might take him a long time to reach it. The sword horizon. The road to the sword¡¯s inner essence. First Sword looked to the west again. He silently gazed at the distant horizon that seemed reachable, yet he could not reach. *** After sharing a few more drinks, Jude and Cordelia sneaked out of the banquet. Because it was unreasonable to talk to the people here about the two cutting off their ill-fated rtionship with First Sword or helping Elune. ¡®There will be more people trying to stop us.¡¯ It was still unknown when the battle between the elves of the Shadow Forest and the chancellor¡¯s army would begin and how it would unfold. Moreover, there was a considerable distance to the Shadow Forest. Even after crossing the borders of the empire, it was a ce that could only be reached by running for a long time in the area controlled by the chancellor, so it was normal for people to try to stop them. ¡®Rather than forcibly intervening in that way, it would be better to destroy the main forces of the chancellor with us and move northward to pressure the chancellor¡¯s entire forces.¡¯ Ian McCline, the Golden Sword Saint, would probably say that. Therefore, Jude chose to sneak away with Cordelia instead of uselessly revealing their thoughts. ¡°Huaa¡­ that¡¯s a relief. I was worried if I could fool my unnie.¡± Because she could not deceive the eyes of Adelia. She was a woman who could see what Cordelia was thinking by just looking at Cordelia¡¯s back. ¡°Well¡­ our older siblings seems to have ¡®disappeared¡¯ first before us.¡± ¡°Ha, seriously. After she said those things to me.¡± Cordelia grumbled and Jude silently smiled again. After all, one could not just ignore one¡¯s bloodlines. ¡®Aren¡¯t we all just beasts?¡¯ ¡°W-what were you thinking?¡± ¡°Beautiful and sweet thoughts.¡± At Jude¡¯s mischievous smile, Cordelia frowned but did not press further. ¡°Anyway, are we going to leave now?¡± ¡°We should. Why? Are you worried?¡± ¡°Of course. As soon as we opened our eyes, we had to defeat a 7,000-strong army. After that, we drank potions and rested a bit, but we didn¡¯t get enough rest.¡± Although Jude¡¯s stamina recovered fast, that did not mean that Jude¡¯s stamina was endless. But Jude shrugged as though there was no problem, and said as he touched Cordelia¡¯s cheek. ¡°I¡¯m more worried about my princess. Are you all right?¡± ¡°I just need to be on your back. And carefully think about things more than usual.¡± ¡°Since when did you usually think though?¡± Cordelia pouted instead of answering Jude¡¯s question, and Jude had a sly smile as he felt her cheek touching the palm of his hand heating up. ¡°Now then, shall we go together, my princess?¡± ¡°Yes, my prince. Please carry me on your back.¡± As soon as Jude turned around, Cordelia jumped up and tightly hugged his neck. ¡°Once we get out of here, let¡¯s switch to the Phantom Steed.¡± It would seriously stand out if they rode the Phantom Steed from the beginning. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s hurry up and go. Giddyap! Giddyap!¡± ¡°Neeeeigh.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s urging, Jude neighed like a horse and used ck Wind¡¯s Advent. But soon after, Jude asked as he fixed Cordelia¡¯s position on his back instead of kicking the ground right away. ¡°By the way, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes, Jude.¡± ¡°Did you leave a letter?¡± ¡°Yes, I left one.¡± Even if they disappeared secretly, they had to at least tell the others where they were headed. Jude said with a cackle. ¡°I can¡¯t believe the day hase when Cordelia leaves a letter of love on her own. It really touches my heart.¡± ¡°Hmph, I¡¯ve left one once before, okay?¡± Like that time when they left the Forest of Eternity. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s even better then. Will you show me the contents next time?¡± ¡°Well¡­ perhaps in the future?¡± Jude happily smiled again at Cordelia¡¯s coy answer. ¡°Let¡¯s go then.¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go.¡± Towards the west. The ck wind was apanied by a golden gale. *** Time had passed. One day had passed. When the morning sun that rose to end the night was now setting down with the twilight, night returned. Elune sat down on top of the Red Gate and looked at the white round moon. Urgent news was continuously being delivered. The chancellor¡¯s army led by First Sword was approaching the Red Gate without stopping. The size of the army was at least 40,000. Considering that the total number of elves living in the empire was less than tens of thousands, it was a truly huge army. Would they be able to stop it? The leader of the elves, Vincenzo Lombardi, decided to rally all the troops in the Shadow Forest at the Red Gate. Their number was a little over 5,000 when all were gathered, but they would be able to survive somehow if they defended the Red Gate. ¡®The emperor¡¯s army will move.¡¯ In the northern part of the empire, the emperor¡¯s army was continuing to confront the chancellor¡¯s army. If the Shadow Forest falls, the structure of the civil war itself could be overturned, so the emperor would not be just watching the current crisis. So they had to hold on for now. They had to somehow persevere and buy time. The fact that a huge army of close to 40,000 was sent to this side meant that the other side had fewer troops, so the emperor¡¯s side would also have room to send reinforcements. Elune turned her head. She looked at the foreign beings on the wall of the Red Gate who were humans and not elves. Jude¡¯s friends. The kind and honest Lucas, the yful and cheerful Kajsa, and the coy and cute Scarlet. All three had serious expressions on their faces. So Elune also made a firm face. Thinking of the fairies who hid because they were scared, a corner of her heart felt heavy. The wind blew. It blew from the east to the west. It was mixed with a different smell than usual. That was why Elune stood up. Standing tall on the Red Gate, she looked east. ¡°What a sight.¡± Said the one standing in the east. The chancellor¡¯s army was still half a day away. Since it was deep at night, there was a high chance that they would set up camp and attack at dawn rather than attacking right away. But there was a person right in front of her now. He arrived at the Red Gate earlier than the chancellor¡¯s army. ¡°I wanted to try it at least once. To capture a fortress alone.¡± He slowly drew his sword. Now, not only Elune but also all the elves on the wall saw him. There was only one person, but the elves realized it the moment he pulled out his sword. They hurriedly blew a trumpet and prepared for battle. Only one person. But Elune felt her mouth dry up. It was apletely different feeling from when she was fighting against Jude. Instead of heating up with excitement, her hands and feet turned cold. Sword monster. Sword demon. First Swordughed. He caught in his gaze Elune who was standing on the Red Gate and staring at him. The Elf Sword that defended the Shadow Forest. The one who inherited the legendary swordsmanship of Valencia. His fight with her would surely help First Sword move forward. ¡°But it¡¯s still far away. It¡¯s too far away.¡± First Sword muttered as ifining, and looked at Elune again. He ovepped her with the horizon beyond her. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± First Sword spoke to himself. He whispered to Elune on the wall. He lightly swung his sword. A huge aura de engulfed the Red Gate. Chapter 334: Sword Horizon (2)

Chapter 334: Sword Horizon (2)

The dominoes are copsing. It continues to fall down one by one. *** ¡°Evade!¡± Elune instinctively realized. Everyone would die if she could not stop that sword demon. The only one who could stop that sword demon here right now was she herself. She reflexively shouted and drew her sword. She created a golden aura de against the white aura de that came rushing to swallow the Red Gate. I must break it. I must crush that aura de with the leaves of the evening primrose in full bloom. Swooooosh! She jumped off the wall and fired it at the same time. When she swung her sword in the air and spread her aura, her aura de that was like petals spread in all directions. Babababababang! It crashed, broke, and shattered. The aura de struck the Red Gate as it could not bepletely blocked, and the collision of the aura de and the magic barrier protecting the Red Gate caused a huge shockwave. Bang! A second shockwave exploded. As soon as Elunended on the ground, she hurriedly swung her sword to block the attack of First Sword. It was a dazzlingly fast attack, which was expected from someone who was called the Sword Saint of Light in the past. ¡°Ugh!¡± Elune swallowed a groan and desperately twisted the trajectory of the sword. But First Sword did not allow it. When Elune twisted the trajectory of his sword with her long and thin sword, he immediately fixed its position and rained down attacks as quick as light again. ng! ng! ng! His attacks were in extremely straight lines. His attacks were so fast and powerful that it was like shes of light. Elune struggled to block First Sword¡¯s attacks. Or to be exact, she was trying to get away from it. Her swordsmanship were smooth and elegant. Her sword was light and sharp rather than heavy and strong. A smile spread across First Sword¡¯s face. Heunched an even stronger offensive as if testing her sword, overpowering her light swordsmanship with his strength. ng! ng! ng! Whenever the white aura de and golden aura de collided, immense shockwaves spread in all directions. Its power was so strong that the ground and the walls shook. The earth was dug by the aura des, and the people around them could only watch and not dare to intervene. Elune liked the sword. She liked wielding a sword more. So she felt happy when she fought Jude. She enjoyed the supreme pleasure of exchanging attacks with Valencia¡¯s swordsmanship. She felt like she was moving towards the horizon. It seemed like the distant horizon was getting a little closer. But her battle with First Sword was different. ¡®It¡¯s dark.¡¯ She could not see ahead. Every time she crossed swords with First Sword, her sight blurred. Rather, she felt like the road to the horizon was being blocked. Sword demon. Sword monster. Elune¡¯s feelings were not wrong. The current First Sword became a top-ranking demonic human by uniting with a demon of Asmodeus, the overlord of lust, so he was different from the past. He was a true sword demon. A monster that devoured the path to the horizon. ¡°Haaa!¡± She was currently just being eaten. Elune shouted loudly and forced herself. She took a step and intensified her attacks. She did her best to instantly deflect the sword of First Sword. ng! As the speed was fast, the bacsh was also great. The sword of First Sword was sent upwards in an instant, and the aura des that crossed between the two also flew sideways and swept the surrounding area. Elune clenched her teeth amidst the vibration and loud noises. She endured the pain that felt like her arm was going to snap, and poured out a splendid sword attack. Evening Primrose Dance. A ray of light to drive away the darkness that covered the road to the horizon. It was beautiful. It was a gorgeous and elegant sword dance. But it did not work. The sword of First Sword that flew off had suddenly fallen like lightning and broke the rhythm of the sword dance. Elune¡¯s sword shook and the hand holding her sword was wounded as blood gushed out. Her knee was bent and her stance copsed. ¡°Weak.¡± First Sword¡¯s eyes that had been filled with ecstasy had now turned cold. Grand Sword Master Elune. The elves¡¯ strongest swordsman. She was definitely strong. She possessed swordsmanship worthy of a Grand Sword Master. But she was weak. Her swordsmanship was truly like a sword dance. A dance. A sword wielded for her own satisfaction. A bright and pure sword that she swung as she enjoyed moving towards the horizon, different from the sword that swung to sh, harm, and kill others. So it was weak. Her sword did not have the ferocity of the Sword Saint of Wind¡¯s sword. It also did not have a heart of steel like the one Absolute Knight Ghad showed. ¡°I¡¯ll eat you.¡± And I¡¯ll show you. What a real sword is. What a sword should be in the end. ng! The sword of First Sword changed. It was still a swift attack like light, but the essential part changed. ¡±Aaaah!¡± Elune fought back desperately as she gripped her sword with her wounded hand. But every time their swords crossed, Elune felt pain as if her entire body was being destroyed. When they crossed swords for the fourth time, she vomited up ck blood. The white aura emitted by First Sword bit Elune¡¯s aura like a ferocious wolf. It crushed, smashed, and broke her, pushing her back mercilessly. It was no longer a fight. It was a one-sided fight. Elune¡¯s sword flew away. With her bloody palms drooping down, she knelt in her spot. Her pained face was full of blood and tears. ¡°Elune-nim!¡± ¡°Save Elune-nim!¡± The knights on the wall shouted. More than 10 elven knights jumped off the wall and rushed towards First Sword. ¡°NOOOOO!¡± Elune reflexively screamed. First Sword looked down at Elune and swung his sword. A dozen elven knights attacked First Sword from all directions. And light. A white aura de. sh! There were no screams. Not even a cry was heard. A dozen elven knights lost their lives at the same time. They could not even stand for a single moment in front of the fierce sword strike of light. They realized that they had been attacked only after their bodies were split in half, and died afterwards. Red blood covered the area. It poured like rain and fell on Elune and the surroundings. ¡°Aaah¡­ aaah¡­¡± Elune burst into tears as blood and flesh covered her head. She tried to somehow get up and stop the sword demon. But her arm did not move. She could not stand up as her legs were shaking. ¡°They¡¯reing again.¡± First Sword said with a frown as he found it a little bothersome. The knights jumped off the wall as the gate opened at the same time. The wizards also tried tounch a wave of attacks by chanting spells. So First Sword swung his sword. He was one step ahead of them, before the knights¡¯ feet touched the ground, before the elves leaped out of the gate, and before the spells werepleted andunched. The Sword Saint of Light. The owner of a sword that was faster than anyone else. aaash-! His white aura de covered the ce. The elven knights who jumped off the wall were split into two and fell to the ground. The spells the wizards were casting were instantly cut off. Because First Sword¡¯s aura de cut through the flow of magic itself. The knights who had opened the gate and were about to rush out all fell and copsed. Blood gushed out of their bodies that had split into dozens of pieces, turning the area around the gate red. Spuuuurt-! Blood poured out. Flesh scattered. Elune gasped and cried. She wanted to shout and tell them to give up on her and run away. But First Sword did not allow it. Even though he had already lost interest, he had no intention of letting Elune go. ¡°Because there¡¯s still a bit left.¡± There was still a bit left to eat. Moreover, her wailing presence was very effective. The elves unconsciously knew that no matter how many soldiers there were at the Red Gate, they could not stop First Sword. But they were not clearly aware of it. The pitiful Grand Sword Master wailing in front of the fortress gate, and the death of the elves made a mess in their heads. First Sword swung the whip around his waist and wrapped it around Elune¡¯s neck. He was going to drag her around the Red Gate like a dog. He would hunt the elves who could not give up on Elune. He would turn the Red Gate into hell. ¡°Rhun Froud!¡± At that very moment, a sharp cry caught the attention of First Sword. First Sword turned his gaze to the familiar voice, and smiled without realizing it. ¡°Lucas.¡± The child he watched the most in the S?len Kingdom before Jude and Cordelia appeared. A child whom he thought would someday be a food for him on his way to the horizon. He was staring straight at First Sword. Despite witnessing the horrifying sword, he stood in a steady position and looked this way instead of trembling in fear. First Sword became interested. He did not care if Lucas was weaker than Elune. He thought he could be a step closer to the horizon with Lucas¡¯ sword. So First Sword smiled. He noticed the sword cutting his whip, but let it slide. A sharp whip sword cut his whip and freed Elune. At that moment, a swung chain wrapped around Elune¡¯s body. ¡°EUAAAAA!¡± It was Kajsa. She pulled the chain to retrieve Elune, and Scarlet who had cut off the whip then hurried to leave her spot. But it was impossible. First Sword had seen her when she cut off his whip. ¡°You must be delicious.¡± First Sword said as he looked at Scarlet. He could tell as a swordsman. Among those who were here now, the child in front of him was the best if only in terms of talent. So First Sword swung his sword. Weakly at first. But even that was too much for Scarlet. ¡°Gaaak!¡± Scarlet made a gamble. She threw her body in line to the sword strike wielded by First Sword. It was to minimize the impact and leave her spot at the same time. But it was wrong. Such a shallow move did not work for First Sword. Due to the slightly changed sword strike, Scarlet crashed into the ground instead of being thrown away. ¡°Scarlet!¡± Kajsa screamed and rushed forward. A blue light gleamed from her eyes as she awakened the blood of the divine creature. Her power and speed were terrifying. But First Sword was not interested in her. She was a beast and not a swordswoman. She was not helpful at all on his way to the horizon. ¡°AAAAAH!¡± Kajsa¡¯s right arm was ripped apart with her chain. Scarlet screamed but First Sword was quite surprised as he had not expected it. Because he originally intended to cut off her body. ¡°EUAAAA!¡± Kajsa kicked the ground again. She grew out her ws in her remaining left hand and recklessly sprinted towards First Sword. ¡°NOOOO!¡± Scarlet desperately swung her sword. The move was aimed at preventing the sword attack by inserting her whip sword into the path of First Sword¡¯s sword. But it was a stupid idea. The sword of First Sword cut her whip sword. Such a desperately wielded sword attack was worthless in front of the sword of First Sword. Her whip sword was broken. The white aura de engulfed Kajsa. Bang! A roar broke the aura de. A pure white sword split the white aura de. Holy King¡¯s Cross Sword. The sword of Lucas Hr?svelgr. ¡°Oh.¡± First Sword admired it a bit. He swallowed his saliva again at the sight of Lucas who had grown to an extent that was iparable to the time when hest saw Lucas at the Banquet of Swords. ¡°Lucas.¡± Lucas did not turn away at the call of Kajsa. He simply showed his back as he faced First Sword. He only focused on the sword of First Sword without losing hisposure. Elune was disastrously defeated. Kajsa and Scarlet were in shock at being defeated by the sword attack of First Sword. He took a breath. He consciously regted his breathing. He had to protect Scarlet. He had to protect Kajsa. First Sword saw him. Kajsa and Scarlet also unconsciously gulped. And the sword attack of light. One could call it ignorance. Only a handful of people in the entire continent could block the pouring sword attacks without any preparatory actions. But a ng resounded. Lucas¡¯ sword blocked the sword of First Sword. Although his sword shook violently and he just barely blocked it, he still managed to do it. ¡°Ha.¡± First Swordughed. Lucas spoke as he faced such a First Sword. ¡°Scarlet, Kajsa, and Elune.¡± It was clear what he meant. Therefore, Scarlet and Kajsa hesitated for a moment but soon moved. Scarlet retreated after taking Kajsa whose arm was cut off. ¡°We¡¯ll return.¡± Lucas did not respond to Scarlet¡¯s small voice. He only focused on First Sword. ¡°Lucas.¡± First Sword wielded his sword. Lucas blocked it even though it was dangerous this time. His posture shook, but he did not fall. First Sword increased the speed of his sword attacks. Lucas focused even more. The metallic sounds rang out. The sound of the terrifying aura de tearing up the air seemed to give anyone goosebumps. But Scarlet and Kajsa did not look back. Instead of uselessly slowing down, they helped the Elune who had be a mess. Lucas could not be an opponent of First Sword. There was a huge gap between the two. But Scarlet somehow seemed to know. He was a man who never gave up. A person she could deeply feel that fact even when she met him as an enemy or a lover. Kajsa knew it too. She did not know if the past or present was more difficult, but knew one fact at least. Lucas did not back down. Even when he felt a gap in skill or when he bumped into a huge wall, he never stopped. Instead of sitting down in frustration, he continued to move forward with a step, even if it was a very small and insignificant step. So Lucas could do it. He would do it again this time. A vague belief. No, it was not. Their numerous memories proved it. They felt dizzy. Scarlet and Kajsa saw each other. The two of them were sometimes enemies, and sometimes even best friends. A roar broke out at that moment. A pure white radiance filled the ce. *** First Sword¡¯s sword was too fast. That was why he gave up chasing it with his eyes. At some point, he relied on his senses to block it. His hands and feet trembled. His hands were injured as blood flowed out. Every time he blocked it, the aura of his entire body seemed to run wild and burst. Biltwein the Hero. The hero, Biltwein. He was always a cool and strong man. A person like the light who always took the lead and led everyone. He was not like Lucas. Lucas could not be someone like Biltwein. At first, he thought that he could. He always imagined himself leading everyone and bing a hero like Biltwein. People around him praised him as the best talent in the north, and in fact, it was not a lie. Among his peers, there was no one who could match the sword of Lucas. But it was just an illusion. Jude Bayer. One day, the boy appeared in front of him. He was much weaker than Lucas at first. But he grew stronger and stronger. No, he was already a leader even in those days when he was weaker than Lucas. He was a hero who brilliantly shined. Landius epted Jude as his disciple. No matter how much Lucas begged, Landius did not ept his request. But Landius immediately dered that he would make Jude as his disciple as soon as he saw Jude. Kamael also saw Jude. While they were staying in the Hr?svelgr¡¯s residence, Jude traveled north. He went to the wildnds and saved countless people by defeating demon followers. In the end, he was chosen by the Golden Dragon King and yed a big role in closing the Hell Gate. And he grew stronger. He went beyond Lucas that a proper fight between them became impossible. Their stories kepting. Fantasy couple. Winner of the Banquet of Swords. A national hero who protected the royal family from the Lord Protector. He was getting farther and farther away. He won thepetition by showing off his overwhelming skills, and headed to the south afterwards and yed an amazing role again. He saved numerous people and became a dragon yer by defeating an Ancient Dragon. He was an existence that Lucas could not keep up with. A person who was truly like Biltwein. It would be a lie if Lucas was not envious. It was also true that there were times when his heart was filled with envy. But he did not seriously hate Jude. Instead of feeling resentment, he raised his sword. He swung his sword to get even a little closer to Jude who still called Lucas his best rival. Jude became one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. He congratted Jude. He swung his sword harder. Jude became a Sword Saint. He admired and set Jude as his target. Instead of sitting down in frustration, he strengthened his will even more. It was difficult. Several times a day, he was distressed from his sense of inferiority. Every time he saw Jude, he had to feel the fact that he was not Biltwein, and that he could not be someone like Biltwein. But he still swung his sword. He continued on the very dark and gloomy road. First Sword attacked with his sword. This time, Lucas could not even sense it properly. Lucas looked straight ahead. The road was still dark. But he saw a man standing in front of the road he was going. The man turned to Lucas. The man had an awkward smile. ¡°But Lucas, you were the only one.¡± Not Maximilian, Leon, or anyone else. Only you could do it. Only you could catch up to Jude. In the past and now, Jude had strode forward. When I came to his senses, Jude was already moving further away. But I kept moving forward. Slowly but steadily, I kept moving forward instead of stopping or getting frustrated. ¡°I couldn¡¯t keep it.¡± I couldn¡¯t protect Jude and Cordelia. I couldn¡¯t be with the two until the very end. I couldn¡¯t stop Cordelia¡¯s death, and I couldn¡¯t stand on the final battlefield with Jude. But not you. You can do it. So I¡¯ll lend you my strength. Or rather, I¡¯m not lending it. Because this is your power in the first ce. Because you have reached the end when you kept moving forward. Because you never gave up, so this power is now in your hands. The man smiled and stepped aside. Then Lucas saw the light. A horizon lied beyond the dark and gloomy road. The straight road ahead touched that horizon. ¡°Lucas.¡± Lucas Hr?svelgr. ¡°You can do it.¡± You can be Biltwein. You can be the hero of Scarlet, Kajsa, Jude and Cordelia. The other Lucas smiled. A bright smile spread on the face of the other Lucas who was thestrade of the other Jude who reached the sword horizon. ¡°UOOOOOOO!¡± The light was blinding. But Lucas¡¯ sword blocked the sword of First Sword that he could not see. No, he crushed it. He broke the sword. First Sword opened his eyes wide. Lucas fixed the position of his sword and recited. ¡°Holy King¡¯s Cross Sword.¡± The sword of the Holy King that destroyed evil. An indomitable will that never bent down. A radiant white cross shone brightly at Lucas¡¯ fingertips. Chapter 335: Sword Horizon (3)

Chapter 335: Sword Horizon (3)

It was a chain effect. The moment one fell, it was already irreversible. The dominoes were copsing. It continued to fall as it resonated with each other. *** First Sword could not hide his surprise. The Holy King¡¯s Cross Sword that shone in front of him burst into light. It was only one move, but he could tell. ¡°More than Count Hr?svelgr.¡± Count Frederick Hr?svelgr, the Sword of Holiness. The leader of the Jackdaws defending the north. First Sword had seen the Holy King¡¯s Cross Sword of the count before. So he was sure. The Holy King¡¯s Cross Sword in Lucas¡¯ hands was close topletion. The true sword of the Holy King was in Lucas¡¯ hands and not Count Hr?svelgr. But how was that possible? Lucas was definitely a gifted child. His nickname, the Girin of the North, was not a lie, and even First Sword himself highly regarded Lucas until Jude appeared. But not to this extent. Growing to a level close to that of a great swordmaster was amazing, but he was also nearing thepletion of the Holy King¡¯s Cross Sword. ¡°There is something.¡± Something that First Sword himself neither knew nor understood. ¡°Well, it doesn¡¯t matter.¡± Whatever the reason, Lucas had be stronger. It just meant that Lucas became a prey he coveted. First Sword threw away his broken sword. He pulled out a new spare sword and showed apletely different stance than before. ¡°Come, Lucas. Let¡¯s y after a long time.¡± Lucas did not bother replying to the friendly-sounding words. He held his breath and raised the pure white cross. It was a strange feeling. It wasplicated yet clear in his mind. A horizon had appeared beyond the dark road. And that road continued endlessly to the horizon. He saw a man standing on that road. It was really strange, but that man was Lucas himself. The man was much older than he was now, and had a lot of experience¡­ but at the same time, his heart was wounded from numerous wounds. Was the man his future self? Or perhaps it was him who walked a different path following Biltwein the Hero? He did not know the answer. But he could clearly feel it. The path the man walked. The road the man took one step at a time. It was not anyone else¡¯s experience. It was Lucas¡¯ own experience. Not a fantasy like the one he experienced in dungeon books, but his real self. ¡®You can be Biltwein.¡¯ Thest words the man had left. Lucas let out a long breath. He stared straight at First Sword in front of him. It felt like his mind was getting clearer and clearer. ¡°Rhun Froud.¡± The Sword Saint of Light. Duke, the top-ranking demonic human of the Devil¡¯s Hand. Sword Demon. First Sword. This was not the first time he had met this enemy. But Lucas could feel it. Among the First Swords that he had experienced in the past, the First Sword in front of him was the strongest. The strongest First Sword that ever existed. A tough opponent. However, there was no hesitation in Lucas¡¯s steps. He also did not question on what he should do here. ¡°Come.¡± First Swordughed at Lucas¡¯ words. He excitedly smiled and kicked the ground. When he charged at Lucas, he unleased a sword strike of light. It was fast. His sword strike was truly like light. But Lucas did not bother trying to look at it. He somehow saw and sensed it. Although he had not yet reached the sword¡¯s inner essence, he responded as a person who saw the horizon. ng-! Sharp metallic sounds continued like lightning. Pure white sparks covered the surroundings, and surprise and joy spread in the eyes of First Sword. Lucas¡¯ sword was not shy. It was not as fast as First Sword¡¯s own attacks. With minimal movement, Lucas blocked, deflected, or dodged all the sword attacks. Perfect basic skills. The sword of Count Hr?svelgr that was in yet very strong. ng! The sword of First Sword was deflected again. As Lucas had done earlier, he destroyed the path of First Sword¡¯s sword. But First Sword did not drop his sword. He leaned towards the direction of Lucas¡¯ attack and smoothly turned along the course of the force as he fired a fierce aura de at Lucas. Bang! However, Lucas¡¯ sword destroyed the aura de this time. He was as firm as an unshakable fortress. So instead of attacking Lucas like that, First Sword took a step back. Lucas also adjusted his posture by taking a deep breath instead of rushing towards First Sword. His situation was different from Elune. The sword of Elune was beautiful and elegant, but it was more for her self-satisfaction so it was actually like a dance. That was why her swordcked killing intent and aggression. It was not a true sword for fighting. So Elune was very easily defeated by First Sword despite both of them being equally strong Sword Saints. But the sword of Lucas was different from the sword of Elune. His sword belonged to that of a warrior, forged from his long training and abundant practical experience. Scarlet entrusted Elune to the hiding Kirara, and immediately treated Kajsa¡¯s wounds. She wanted to look back at Lucas, but she just gritted her teeth and held it in. A loud noise was heard again. Fights between great swordmasters were always like that. It would shake the earth and make the sky tremble. Their trained swords could naturally devastate the surroundings. Because Scarlet could do the same. When she fought a life-and-death battle against Kajsa, or when she confronted Lucas. She was confused. Memories that were unfamiliar to her yet were clearly her own memories had appeared blurrily like a haze. She had died in Lucas¡¯ arms. She was in love with Lucas. She had herst kiss with Lucas. ¡®Focus, Scarlet. Focus.¡¯ Scarlet forced herself to concentrate. She stopped her thoughts topletely focus on treating Kajsa¡¯s wounds. Kajsa stared at such a Scarlet. A thousand emotions crossed her mind. She felt the urge to instantly kill Scarlet by snapping her slender neck and also the desire to hug Scarlet in her arms. ¡°Haa¡­ haa¡­¡± ¡°Hang in there, I¡¯m almost done.¡± Hearing Scarlet¡¯s words, Kajsa clenched her teeth. She suppressed her opposing urges and focused on the sounds. Lucas was fighting First Sword. She felt like her heart was about to burst. Her love for Lucas soared. Strange emotions and memories. But it belonged to her. The emotions and memories clearly belonged to Kajsa. She along with Lucas had fought Scarlet. Instead of despairing in a world where there was only darkness, she and Lucasforted each other and strengthened their will. She had stabbed Lucas herself. She had unleashed the power of the divine creature to kill Lucas. She was dizzy. Unlike Scarlet who saw the world with her intellect, Kajsa saw the world with her instincts and emotions, so she was even more confused. ¡°Lucas.¡± Bang! The sh between Lucas and First Sword became more intense. First Sword¡¯s attacks intensified more, and the light emitted by Lucas¡¯ cross sword grew stronger with each repeated sword strike. First Sword took a step forward. Lucas did not back down, but felt the pressure. First Sword took another step. His eyes changed to that like those of beasts. His body itself was strengthened and the power of his sword became stronger. As a result, his speed became faster. Lights burst once again. Lucas held his breath. The light of the Holy King who destroyed evil was further amplified. The other Lucas was standing in front of that road. But he could not fully catch up. He did not have enough time for that. Lucas¡¯ own body was not as disciplined as the other Lucas in front of that road. Lucas focused instead of giving up though. First Sword did not use any tricks. He was pushing Lucas with only his pure strength and speed. Demonization. He already knew that First Sword had be a demonic human. He had encountered that First Sword several times. But it was also different from before. The current First Sword was the strongest among all the First Swords he met. He had maintained the appearance of a pure swordsman. Bang! The domino fell. As the first domino fell, the rest of the dominoes also began to fall. Lucas saw his other selves. And it was the same with First Sword. But there was a clear difference between the two. ng! The distant horizon. The road leading to that horizon. First Sword continued to step forward. He proceeded without stopping to reach the sword horizon. He kept swinging his sword. He could not describe it, but he felt nervous at that ominous feeling. ng! ng! ng! ng! ng! First Sword became aplete demonic human. His eyes turned yellow and the skin of his entire body turned pale. Six horns rose above his head. ¡°You will die here.¡± First Sword spoke. He continued to talk as if pouring it all out to Lucas. ¡°Your resistance will be futile.¡± He would kill Lucas, kill Scarlet, kill Kajsa, kill Elune, and kill everyone in the Red Gate. His malice soared. He ignited his hatred amidst the anxiety he could not exin. In front of the raging and destructive bombardment of light, the sword of the Holy King gradually lost its light. But Lucas did not yield to the words of First Sword. He resisted the attacks to the end and fiercely stared at First Sword¡¯s eyes. An unbreakable will. Even when the sessor to the Holy King¡¯s sword became a demonic human, he suppressed himself with his own will until the very end. Bang! The light exploded. Demon Bane was greatly deflected, and Lucas¡¯ arms were stained with blood. The sword of the Holy King lost its light. First Sword clenched his teeth. Instead of going mad, he stared at Lucas. ¡°You will die like a bug.¡± You will die being worthless. Like¡­ like¡­ First Sword swung his sword at Lucas. Lucas looked straight at such a First Sword. He thought as he stared straight into the eyes of the First Sword full of nervousness. ¡®I¡¯m not worthless.¡¯ The other Lucas opened his mouth. The one standing on the road leading to the horizon looked at Lucas and said. ¡°You bought time.¡± You bought time to save everyone. So that Jude and Cordelia would not grieve, so that they could move forward with Scarlet and Kajsa. You bought time to protect Elune, Kirara, and everyone in the Red Gate. ¡°You saved them.¡± Lucas had a bitter smile. He did not look away from First Sword. And light rained down. It descended from the sky! Babababababababababang-! A thousand magic spheres rained down from the sky. The sun¡¯s brightness reduced the ground full of darkness. aaaaash! First Sword quickly swung his sword and cut the magic spheres. The aura de shed the flow of mana of the swirling magic spheres, instantly annihting the spheres. Bang! Bang! Bang! First Sword continued to swing his sword. He looked straight ahead amidst the explosions and brilliant light. Cordelia who was letting out the divine power of the sun with her wings was retrieving Lucas. And right next to her was Jude staring at First Sword. ¡°Jude Bayer!¡± First Sword fiercely shouted and shot his aura de. Instead of destroying the aura de, Jude unleashed the power of the seventh door. After he dispersed the aura de with only his immense energy, he added the power of Valencia to himself. ¡°First Sword.¡± No further words were needed. First Sword adjusted his posture. The moment he faced Jude, his nervousness and irritation intensified. Staring at the horizon, he spread out white wings. Jude also spread out ck wings and rushed towards First Sword. The Sword of Light technique ¨C Heavenly Wings of Light. Valencia¡¯s creation ¨C ck Wings Valiant Sword. White wings and ck wings collided. It entangled and shook the surroundings. Chapter 336: Sword Horizon (4)

Chapter 336: Sword Horizon (4)

The dominoes fell. So they all finally realized it. *** Babababababababang-! The sh of white and ck shook the entire Red Gate. The surrounding area was wrecked by the sh of transcendent forces, and the magic barrier of the Red Gate broke like ss as it could not withstand it. The fight between Jude and First Sword was seriously intense. Even Cordelia found it hard to follow with her eyes. But she could feel it. Lucas who was heavily breathing in Cordelia¡¯s arms could also tell. Among the First Swords he had met in the past, none of them were stronger than the present First Sword. The present First Sword was the strongest. But Jude would not lose. The current Jude would not be defeated. ¡°Lucas.¡± ¡°Yes, Lady Cordelia.¡± The two looked at each other. Amidst the dizzying mixture of their memories, they could understand it now. They still had yet to clearly define what it was. But one thing was clear. It was not regression. Nor was it parallel worlds. The trigger was Jude. What Jude realized during the test to enter the Tomb of Sri. The change that urred when Jude faced his other self who had reached the sword horizon. ¡®I already knew. It¡¯s a little different though.¡¯ What the Fire Fairy Queen had said. The mysterious words that Sri told her. ¡®It¡¯s not the first time that you¡¯ve been here. But this is the first time I¡¯m doing this. I¡¯m d that I was able to pass it on to you at least for the first andst time.¡¯ ¡®The past always flies towards the future. No one can be free in the face of the unyielding flow of time.¡¯ Lucas pulled the trigger after Jude. The dominoes began to fall when Lucas met his other self who was with the other Jude that reached the sword horizon. ¡®These are not dreams.¡¯ Even before Jude pulled the trigger, Cordelia had already dreamt of it several times. And now they knew. These were memories and not dreams. All of these actually happened. It was the reason why they could see it in their dreams. It was the reason why Sri said that this was the first andst time. ¡°Thank you.¡± For always protecting Jude until the very end. Thank you for being with Jude. At Cordelia¡¯s words, Lucas had a bitter smile and said. ¡°Then please help me up. If Jude finds out that I¡¯m in your arms, he might try to kill me.¡± ¡°I see. I understand.¡± The two understood each other. Cordelia helped Lucas up and made him lean against the ruins of the destroyed Red Gate. The fight continued. The sh between Jude and First Sword was so great that one would believe that it was a fight between gods. Every time their swords crossed, the sky and earth shook as if a natural disaster urred. Cordelia¡¯s heart pounded. Just like Lucas, Cordelia knew too. The First Sword in front of them was the strongest First Sword they knew. Nevertheless, she did not think of entering the fight. Or rather, she knew that she should not intervene. ¡°Jude will win.¡± Spoke Lucas. Jude had never been defeated by First Sword in the past. Lucas had always been there when the demonic human Duke was defeated. ¡°Yes, I believe in him.¡± Cordelia gulped as she firmly thought. She watched Jude¡¯s battle. The swords crossed. It intersected, scattered, and crossed with each other at a blindingly fast speed. It was not just a simple explosion of their energy and aura. Their skilled swords went back and forth between each other. Such an exchange was impossible if one did not have a deep understanding of swordsmanship. ¡°Aaa¡­ Aaah¡­¡± Each led the other to a higher ce. Jude and First Sword looked at the horizon. They ran towards the horizon. They moved at the same speed at first. They headed towards the horizon in the same way. But their distance began to widen at some point. First Sword saw the horizon. He felt like he could reach it if he stretched out his hand. But he could not reach it. The horizon was still far away. ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± He already knew. That was why he became a demonic human. He chose to have an eternal life in order to constantly advance towards that horizon. But it was strange. The road became increasingly narrow. Whenever the memories of his past appeared one by one, the light of the horizon faded away. Why? What¡¯s the reason? What¡¯s going on? If I¡¯m First Sword, I must have headed towards that horizon in the past! Bang! The sword of First Sword was greatly deflected by Jude¡¯s attack. It could notpete equally and was pushed back. Bang! Bang! Bang! Jude unleashed attack after attack. First Sword could not withstand it this time too. His sword wildly swung. ¡°Haa¡­ haa¡­¡± First Sword roughly breathed and looked straight ahead. He saw the horizon. But the road to the horizon was no longer visible. The road to the horizon was cut off. Why? Why? Why the hell! His memories came rushing in. The memories of demonic human Duke. Those who closed their own path to the horizon. First Sword frowned. He cried out without realizing it. ¡°You relied on poison?¡± The demonic human Duke. A demonic human who used poison as his specialty and not the sword. It did not happen once. All the Dukes in his memories had done that. It was the true reason why he was feeling nervous. The reason why his body trembled whenever he remembered his memories. It was only now. Even after bing a demonic human, he continued to use the name ¡®First Sword.¡¯ He called himself as ¡®First Sword¡¯ instead of ¡®Duke.¡¯ Unlike Jude and Lucas, the memories of First Sword did not help in his journey to the horizon. Rather, it was only an obstacle. ¡°AAAAAAH!¡± First Sword roared and swung his sword. He cut his memories. Hepletely got rid of it and chose to be himself. He forcibly opened an already closed road. Even if it was narrow, he made a path and kept going forward! Bang! Bang! Bang! The swords of Jude and First Sword crossed. First Sword saw the horizon through Jude¡¯s sword. He felt the ce he could not reach. ¡°Aaa¡­¡± I want to reach it. I want to reach it myself. That horizon! That distant sword horizon! Bang! His sword broke. He was pushed back. But First Sword did not give up. He threw away the broken sword and pulled out hisst spare sword. Only his longing for the horizon filled his mind. Jude continued to fight against such a First Sword. Unlike Cordelia, Jude knew. He was different from Lucas, Scarlet, and Kajsa. Only Jude could realize everything on his own. Because it was Jude himself who always stood until the end. The young goddess Atalia. Because Jude was the only one who knew, at least in part, of what choice Atalia, the goddess of the world of Pleiades, had made and what she did. It was not regression. It was not parallel worlds. Everything had actually happened. Their memories of the past. ¡°Jude.¡± The Cordelia who became a demonic human and lost her life at his own hands. The Cordelia who faced the destruction with him until the very end. There was no contradiction. One theory clearly exined everything, or rather, it was the truth. The dominoes fell. Starting with Jude himself, a small number of people began to remember ¨C Lucas, Cordelia, Scarlet, and Kajsa. And even before the trigger had been pulled, these people had already felt that something was out of ce. ¡°AAAAAAH!¡± First Sword howled like a beast. Jude unfolded the Sword of Wind towards First Sword. Wind and Lightning Flurry Strikes mercilessly shook the sword of First Sword. And Jude finally reached it. He reached the end of the road he had already passed once. The sword horizon. He had reached it, so he knew that he still had a long way to go. He realized that reaching the horizon was not the end. But this was good enough for this moment. The inner essence of the sword. Only those who reached the sword horizon couldprehend it. The sword of First Sword roughly shook. It could not properly receive Jude¡¯s attack. Strength was not the problem. Because there was a fundamental difference in swordsmanship. First Sword was overwhelmed. Hepletely unleashed his powers as a demonic human and immediately rushed to Jude with the determination to die. I want to feel a little more of the horizon that Jude reached. I want to reach that horizon even for a moment. Please. Please. Please. Please! First Sword copsed. He sat down on the narrow thread-like road that he barely opened again, and looked at the dazzlingly beautiful horizon. ¡°Ah, it¡¯s that.¡± That¡¯s the sword horizon. I wanted to reach it so much. I seriously wanted to reach it. But I could never reach it¡­ ¡°Gaaak¡­ haa¡­ haak¡­¡± A ck sword pierced the chest of First Sword. First Sword fell from his spot as dark red blood dripped. He was no longer a demonic human when he struggled to reach the horizon. The light disappeared from First Sword¡¯s eyes that were filled with endless yearning and deep sorrow. His body turned cold instead of turning into ashes and scattering. Jude let out a long breath. He knew the moment he reached the sword horizon and defeated First Sword. His heart was pounding. The eighth door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors had revealed itself. The eighth door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. An unexplored ce that no humans in Pleiades had ever reached. Jude stretched out his hand. The eighth door opened to him. *** The dominoes fell. The trigger was pulled. As a result, a different situation from before urred. ¡°No, this was inevitable.¡± The young goddess Atalia raised her head and said. She had predicted this. She had attempted this too many times. Transcendent beings could not help but feel that something was out of ce. ¡°I see, so that¡¯s what happened.¡± Asmodeus, the overlord of lust,ughed. The witch of the west forest no longer needed to hide it. The moment she saw Asmodeusughing, she realized that Asmodeus had figured out the truth. ¡°It¡¯s not regression.¡± Regression was impossible. It was impossible even for a goddess of the world to turn back the time of the entire universe. ¡°It¡¯s not parallel worlds.¡± Such a thing did not exist. Even if it did exist, parallel worlds could not do that. It was something that only worked in this world. ¡°So this is what you chose?¡± The destruction of Pleiades was brought about by the Great Summons. Serious catastrophes urred. Jude always fought to the best of his abilities. Sometimes he killed his lover Cordelia, and sometimes he fought alongside Cordelia to the very end. But the conclusion they reached in the end was always the destruction of Pleiades. Pleiades that became the battlefield of Heaven and Hell did not have a future. ¡°We have to start over.¡± Atalia said a long time ago. ¡°I cannot turn back time.¡± But it was possible to start over. To connect time to time. Or rather, she would not actually be manipting time. She would just adapt to the flow of time. She would attach the destroyed Pleiades that existed in the past to the present Pleiades that had yet to be destroyed. ¡°No one can manipte the unyielding flow of time.¡± But the past did not disappear. So she copied the past. They began again when she connected the copied past to the present. Simply put, it was as follows: Year 0 was the beginning. Assume that this time was Year 0 of the world calendar. After 30 years, Pleiades was destroyed. It began at Year 0, so it was now Year 30 of the world calendar. In order to start again, she copied the records from Year 0 and then connected it to the end of Year 30 of the world calendar. The world moved again from Year 31 of the world calendar. What if it still failed? The records of Year 31 of the world calendar was attached to the end of Year 60 of the world calendar. Time flowed to the future. She followed the flow of time and did not go against it as she began the struggle to save Pleiades once again. ¡°Amazing, excellent. Despite a regression being impossible, a detour nearly yields the same result. Moreover, since it only affected Pleiades, Heaven, and Hell, and not the entire universe, it is realisticpared to doing it to the entire universe. But it is an imperfect method.¡± Asmodeus¡¯ point was correct. The method Atalia chose certainly gave her a new opportunity, but no one in the world that began again could remember the past. Even Atalia herself, the young goddess of the world. ¡°Of course, you could have left some clues. There could have been some who still had a few memories and felt that something was out of ce. Furthermore, you could get a different number each time you rolled the dice.¡± But it was such a reckless gamble. And in fact, Atalia continuously lost. A different situation happened every time, but the destined ruin always came in the end. Pleiades lost the power of the world every time it started over again and continued the record. There was not much left of the umted power of the world. So Atalia tried to choose a method she had never done before. That choice meant losing a few more attempts to try again, but she did not hesitate as she only had onest chance. And now. ¡°But Atalia. Goddess of the world of Pleiades whom I do not presently know well but have met several times in the past.¡± You made one big mistake. Because of Jude and Cordelia¡¯s actions, the Great Summons could be stopped. However, due to the atrocities she had done so far and the memories awakened at this moment, Atalia made an unexpected enemy. ¡°Isn¡¯t that right?¡± You who only stared at me from a higher ce and acted like that. Asmodeus raised her head and looked into the distance. Towards the one who reigned in the highest ce ¨C Heaven. ¡°Uneptable.¡± The archangel of judgment rose from her throne. ¡°You dragged Heaven in the circumstances of Pleiades.¡± It was not just Pleiades that started over. Heaven and Hell, which were originally rted to the destruction of Pleiades, had to be restarted too as the Great Summons had connected the two worlds to Pleiades. ¡°The act of infringing Heaven cannot be forgiven. The act of manipting thews of nature cannot also be epted.¡± So it must be brought back. I will make history return to its original path. ¡°The Great Summons must happen.¡± I do not care even if Pleiades is destroyed as a result. It is the cursednd that sacrificed Sri in the first ce. A battlefield is needed to judge Hell. ¡°Let us work together until the day of the Great Summons.¡± Asmodeus, the overlord of lust, pleasantly said. Auriel, the archangel of judgment, did not reject it. ¡°Auriel!¡± Having realized the truth, Raguel shouted as she understood what Auriel was trying to do, but it was useless. Auriel ignored Raguel¡¯s call. Due to the sense of difort she repeatedly felt, she ordered her agent to prepare. ¡°Get started.¡± ¡°I heed yourmand, O voice from a higher ce.¡± Maximilian de Avis. He was born with the most brilliant talent among the beings of Pleiades. Maximilian raised his head. He headed towards the kingdom¡¯s army located in the south. Atalia, the copy-paste goddess and the true ending maker. If you¡¯re still confused, don¡¯t worry. The next episodes will borate more on what Atalia did. Chapter 337: Those Who Are Preparing (1)

Chapter 337: Those Who Are Preparing (1)

We now begin the final arc, the Great Summons Arc. That means we only have 23 episodes left before the series ends and the side stories begin. ¡°Do you really think that¡­ such a thing is possible?¡± The man had a bitter smile at the woman¡¯s question. He answered in a low voice. *** The eighth door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. Having opened the eighth door, Jude felt a significant change. His body that was reconstructed when he opened the sixth door was now being broken and formed again. Jude¡¯s body became light as it was reformed by being united with his soul. Beyond simply being functionally superior, it went past the level of a body containing a soul, achieving a true harmony of body and soul. Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. One had to reach their limits in order to transcend. And Jude realized now. Opening the eighth door made him soon reach the limit. Jude slowly opened his eyes. He looked up the sky in a world that was all ck. Countless stars looked back at Jude like the night sky. And one person. A woman stood under the starlight. An ancient progenitor whom he had called a female sage until now. She had opened the ninth door and went beyond the limits, so she reached the realm of transcendence. That woman silently looked at Jude. Suddenly, she spoke with a big smile. ¡°You are-¡± That was it. He could not properly hear the rest. It was the aftermath of opening the eighth door andpletely reorganizing the body and soul. But he knew one thing. The difference between one who had reached the limit and one who went beyond the limits and achieved true transcendence. It was like the horizon. Through his confrontation with First Sword and the memories of the other Jude, he could tell the moment he reached the horizon. Reaching the horizon was only the beginning. It was impossible to realize a perfect swordsmanship unless he crossed the horizon. The ninth door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. A world beyond the horizon. ¡°-exists.¡± The female sage had a gentle smile. Jude also smiled at her. Someday again. On a not so distant day. The starlight shone down. Jude closed his eyes amidst the sea of stars. *** ¡°Jude!¡± ¡°Cordelia.¡± As soon as he opened his eyes and spoke, he immediately felt Cordelia¡¯s warmth. He was lying on Cordelia¡¯s arms, or to be more exact, on her thighs. There was a dark night sky with a bright moon and countless stars. ¡°Are you okay?¡± Jude nodded at Cordelia¡¯s question. He clearly realized what changes had taken ce in his own body. His senses were further developed. Despite not currently opening the eighth door, he could perceive everything around him much more clearly than before. ¡°Were you¡­ able to open the eighth door?¡± Cordelia asked cautiously, and Jude nodded again this time. ¡°That¡¯s right, I have opened the eighth door.¡± ¡°Oh yeah!¡± As soon as Jude replied, Cordelia eximed and raised her hands in joy. Seeing that bright appearance, Jude unconsciously asked. ¡°Do you like it that much?¡± ¡°I like it! Is that bad? I can¡¯t stop my shoulders from shaking in excitement.¡± Jude had a nk expression for a moment at her bright smile, but soon smiled the same way. His numerous memories entangled and mixed, but Cordelia was still Cordelia. ¡°Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± ¡°I remember a lot of things.¡± Their memories were not perfect. The memories they remembered were fragmented and broken. Nevertheless, they knew of some things. ¡°This isn¡¯t the first time, right?¡± ¡°Yes, a few tries had already been done.¡± Even Jude could not tell exactly how many tries had happened. Because like Cordelia, Jude¡¯s memories were not perfect. ¡°But¡­ I probably know the most.¡± Jude was the one who always fought to the end. The other Jude who reached the sword horizon was the first to hear the full details of the reckless nid out by the young goddess Atalia. ¡°Exin.¡± Keep it short, concise, and easy to understand. At Cordelia¡¯s request, Jude narrowed his brows and spoke in a cautious tone. ¡°Uh, well¡­ we once talked about a ssic simtion RPG, right?¡± ¡°SRW?¡± ¡°Yes, that. Super Robot Wars.¡± A turn-based game wherein many robots appeared and fought. A game for older males with the yers¡¯ ages ranging in thete 20s to 40s. He used to think, ¡®Oh, he¡¯s a real man. He¡¯s definitely a male.¡¯ when he read Yellow Storm talking excitedly about it in their previous lives. But she was actually a woman who was in her teens. ¡°Anyway, why are you talking about that?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what you want to ask now, right? The difference between the method chosen by Atalia and the so-called regression.¡± Cordelia immediately nodded at Jude¡¯s point. ¡°As expected of my Jude. You know what I¡¯m thinking.¡± ¡°Thank you for thepliment.¡± The two had some idle talk before Jude continued his exnation. ¡°It¡¯s the difference between Annihtion y and Reset Marathon.¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­ Ah!¡± Annihtion y and Reset Marathon. If you were annihted in the game of Super Robot Wars, you could restart from the beginning with the experience and funds you had obtained before that battle where you got annihted. In Annihtion y, you deliberately got annihted in order to collect experience and funds, but in Reset Marathon, you repeatedly saved and loaded the saved point until you get the desired result. Like how you repeated the same situation over and over until you got an attack with a 10% hit rate. Both were simr in that they repeated the same situation, but there was a significant difference between the two. ¡°First of all¡­ in Annihtion y, the total number of turns increases.¡± If one yed for 10 turns, got annihted, started again, and cleared it in 10 turns, a total of 20 turns would be recorded. On the other hand, since Reset Marathon was to return to the 10th turn after 10 turns, the total number of turns used was still 10 turns no matter how many times you tried. ¡°That¡¯s right. Annihtion y is about conforming to the flow of time while Reset Marathon is about going against time.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia nodded for a moment but frowned again and asked. ¡°But isn¡¯t thetter better?¡± Thetter seemed to be much simpler. ¡°Yes, but it¡¯s a lot harder. Cordelia, in the manhwa and novels you rmended, regression was very easily done¡­ but in fact, regression is a huge thing. Because you have to turn back the time of the entire universe.¡± That was impossible. If Atalia was almighty enough to do such a thing, she would not need to have repeated it in the first ce. ¡°Uh¡­ why is everyone who¡¯s not the protagonist going back to the past too? Usually, it¡¯s only the protagonist who regresses.¡± ¡°They¡¯re still going to the past so¡­ it¡¯s impossible since they¡¯re going against time. Because even a god cannot resist the unyielding flow of time. And if you don¡¯t want to go against time, you can move to the past of a parallel world, but¡­ it really is a parallel world. The world left by the protagonist will be left in a ruined state. Even if the protagonist saves the parallel world, it is the parallel world that was saved. It¡¯s not the world the protagonist left.¡± Of course, this was the situation if parallel worlds existed. ¡°In the end, it¡¯s a matter of ability. If it can be done or not. With Atalia¡¯s powers, turning back time is impossible. But it is barely possible to copy and paste inpliance to the flow of time. The scope is not the entire universe, but limited to three worlds ¨C Pleiades, Heaven, and Hell.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t thetter one very difficult?¡± ¡°It is difficult. It¡¯s possible because¡­ Pleiades is an old world. This world has umted a lot of power. Unlike the gods of Heaven or Hell¡­ that is, the archangels and overlords who shared the power with each other, it¡¯s possible because Atalia exists alone.¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia¡¯s lips squirmed and she organized her thoughts. ¡°Then shouldn¡¯t it be enough for the all-powerful Atalia to kick out all the beings who appeared in the Great Summons?¡± ¡°That¡¯s impossible. Because Atalia is a young goddess now. Atalia¡¯s copy and paste method happens at least 10 years from now¡­ so it¡¯s thest part of Legend of Heroes 3. Every time Atalia uses the copy and paste method, her records are initialized too¡­ so she¡¯s virtually powerless now. Besides, I¡¯m sure you know that that a skilled wizard doesn¡¯t necessarily mean a strong wizard?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ I see. Topare it roughly, Atalia is like a utility wizard. She¡¯s not abat wizard.¡± ¡°It¡¯s simr.¡± Having said all that, Jude took a deep breath and faced Cordelia again. ¡°As I have said¡­ it¡¯s impossible for her to turn back time. But besides that, there is a difference between Atalia¡¯s method and regression. Do you know what it is?¡± ¡°Yes, I know. It¡¯s the difference between Annihtion y and Reset Marathon.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. That¡¯s it.¡± Regression was literally a reversal. Therefore, everything that happened before the reversal became something that ¡®never happened.¡¯ But that was not Atalia¡¯s method. Even if she copied and pasted it, the things in between did not disappear. ¡°She didn¡¯t necessarily aim for it¡­ but thanks to her, we could remember the past like this. We were also able to get stronger faster.¡± She had repeatedly overwritten the record on the same soul. Memories umted in the soul every time she repeated her copy and paste method. They did not fully inherit the experience and funds like in Annihtion y, but they inherited a few of it. ¡®And one more thing.¡¯ A critical difference. Or rather, an advantage they got because of Atalia¡¯s method. ¡®I don¡¯t remember it.¡¯ His memories blurred. But it was clear that there was something. However, it was at that time. ¡°Then Jude. What happened to¡­ us?¡± Cordelia¡¯s face was filled with indescribable anxiety. What Cordelia meant by ¡®us.¡¯ Before they became Jude and Cordelia ¨C the Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee in their past lives. ¡°I don¡¯t remember that part clearly either. But¡­ I think I can guess what happened.¡± It was something that he was not that sure of unless he directly hears it from Atalia, so it was a spection as he himself had said. ¡°The disadvantage of Atalia¡¯s method is that the memories are not fully transmitted, right? Therefore, she ends up throwing the dice repeatedly and¡­ it¡¯s impossible to know and prepare for what¡¯s going to happen or prevent unfortunate events like we did this time.¡± Cordelia nodded at his words. The fact that Atalia had to repeat the copy and paste method several times was proof of that. ¡°I think that¡¯s why she used an expedient. Instead of copying and pasting it right away, she postponed it for a while and sent our souls to another world.¡± ¡°On Earth?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know if she chose it on purpose¡­ but anyway, she sent us to another world, had us learn what would happen to Pleiades, and brought us back. It¡¯s like adding a bit of data to the data that would be copied and pasted.¡± So the memories of Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee were added like that. ¡°Then did Atalia create Legend of Heroes?¡± ¡°She didn¡¯t make it herself but¡­ she probably sent a record. Someone must have unconsciously received it and turned it into a game. If the recipient wasn¡¯t a game developer, it could have appeared as a manhwa, novel¡­ or something like that.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ that doesn¡¯t answer all the questions though.¡± Like the reason why their memories were cut off at the time when they logged out. ¡°We won¡¯t know that until we meet and ask Atalia.¡± Jude said and suddenly let out a long breath. Because as he answered Cordelia, the scattered blurry memories in his mind became quite clear. Everything really happened. The fact that Cordelia became a demonic human, and that he fought against that Cordelia. And in the end, he killed her himself. ¡°Jude.¡± Cordelia¡¯s call made Judee to his senses. She had also regained some of her past memories, though not as much as Jude. That was why she was able to understand what Jude was thinking and what was making his heart ache. So Cordelia tightly held Jude¡¯s hands. It was embarrassing and sudden, but she opened her mouth and spoke. She put out of her mouth the words that the Cordelia who became a demonic human wanted to say in herst moments. ¡°I really, really like you.¡± She smiled without realizing it. Her smile stunned Jude, and he smiled back in the same way before saying. ¡°I like you too. No, I love you.¡± I¡¯m d that we can meet again like this. I¡¯m so d that we can be together again. ¡°Cordelia, what about you?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I mean, I love you, but what about you?¡± It was a sudden question that was childish and mischievous. But she could not help answering it. Cordelia¡¯s lips squirmed, but she soon whispered with a red face. ¡°I-I love you too. I love you very much.¡± Why is this short statement so embarrassing? But I like saying it. Seeing Jude¡¯s happy face, I want to say it again and again. Let¡¯s not hold back, let¡¯s say it one more time- [Okay, okay, let¡¯s stop here.] [Let¡¯s stop here. We still have a lot of things to do, okay?] It was Valencia and Melissa. Both of them sounded like they were enduring something annoying. But as always, Jude ignored the two and sat up. He caressed Cordelia¡¯s cheek and kissed her lips. And it was just up to there. He wanted to go further, but that was too much. Because Cordelia pushed Jude away as she pointed towards a side of the destroyed Red Gate where Lucas was standing awkwardly. ¡°Ahem, ahem. Ahem, ahem.¡± Lucas nkly stared at them and awkwardly coughed. ¡°Come to think of it, Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± ¡°What¡¯s going to happen to Lucas?¡± Although her memories were blurred, she recalled that Kajsa and Scarlet were both his lovers. To be exact, Kajsa was his lover when Scarlet was their enemy, and Scarlet was his lover when Kajsa was their enemy. And when the two women were close, Lucas was a demonic human. ¡°Uh¡­ well¡­¡± Wouldn¡¯t they do well on their own? ¡°Let¡¯s just eat popcorn and watch.¡± At Jude¡¯s casual remark, Cordelia giggled and stood up from her seat. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s deal with the situation first. The army that followed First Sword is a problem too.¡± They could have withdrawn since First Sword died, but they were not an ordinary human army. First Sword was not the only one who led the army. However, neither the speaking Cordelia nor the listening Jude were that worried. The main gate of the Red Gate had copsed, but many elves were still inside and there was one more thing. What they saw while they were running in a hurry. Another army advancing from apletely different direction. Time passed. The chancellor¡¯s army originally led by First Sword now appeared in front of the Red Gate. The advance squad of the huge army prepared to attack the Shadow Forest. In front of such an army full of demon followers, the faces of the elves turned pale, but Jude and Cordelia did not lose their smiles again this time. Because they heard the sound of galloping horsesing from afar. ¡°Lucas.¡± Lucas turned his head at Jude¡¯s words. Cordelia grinned and looked in the pointed direction, and soon let out a bright smile. At the southwest direction. The fierce guardians of the north shook the ground. The gs of the Jackdaws that passed through the wildnds fluttered in the wind. Chapter 338: Those Who Are Preparing (2)

Chapter 338: Those Who Are Preparing (2)

Because of Jude and Cordelia¡¯s actions, the rtionship between the wildnds and the northern part of the S?len Kingdom was much better than before. But even if that was the case, they did not be close enough to trust each other and act together. The battle at Snow Breeze in was only an exception. However, Jude did not think so. The north and the wildnds had clearly been fighting for a long time, but the current situation was different. Both sides had amon enemy they could not ignore. The Great Summons. A demon ritual that would lead the entire Pleiades into ruin. It was natural to join forces to fight the chancellor for their own future. Holding hands right away was definitely impossible. As repeatedly mentioned, their history of fighting each other was not short. A mediator was needed. Someone who would stand between the two groups that wanted to reach out to each other, but could not reach out first, and join the hands of the two groups. ¡°That¡¯s us, right?¡± ¡°Because we¡¯re rted to both sides. We¡¯re famous nobles in the kingdom and the savior of the wildnds. Aren¡¯t we perfect as mediators?¡± Jude¡¯s words were convincing. ¡°And¡­ from the perspective of the northern army, they really need the help of the wildnds.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not easy to go towards the Ctes ins.¡± The Ctes ins that was called the continent¡¯srgest breadbasket was literally a t and widend, but not around it. Between the borders of the kingdom and the empire, rugged mountains surrounded it as if it had been built on purpose. The entire border was obviously notposed of mountains, but the area or tnd in the border was too small and narrowpared to the entire border. Therefore, the S?len Kingdom had been blocking the empire¡¯s advance by stationing troops in that narrownd since the kingdom¡¯s foundation. But this also meant that the kingdom had no choice but to go through that narrownd to enter the empire. ¡°It¡¯s an easynd to defend, but the same goes for the other side.¡± The kingdom¡¯s forces needed another detour, especially for the northern army to attack the empire. ¡°So the wildnds?¡± ¡°Yes, the route we used was the best detour.¡± From the northern part of the kingdom, they infiltrated the western part of the empire via the wildnds. ¡°It¡¯s a strategy that needs the cooperation of the wildnds.¡± If the barbarians in the wildnds turned into enemies, not only the supply route but also the rear itself would be blocked. Cordelia grinned at Jude¡¯s exnation. ¡°But on the other hand, you¡¯ll feel reassured if you get the full support of the wildnds, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. Not only the rear will be stabilized, but the supply will also be smooth.¡± The pouch Jude left for Maja contained several documents and letters that could put his n into practice. Obviously, when he sent Red Wind and Sun Song back to the wildnds, he gave them a heads-up in advance. ¡°I can feel my heart swelling from happiness.¡± ¡°Me too.¡± Jude and Cordelia smiled and watched the charging Jackdaws. Behind the 7,000 Jackdaws were warriors from the wildnds. There were people on horseback, but the number of those who rode on huge battle boars was overwhelminglyrge, so it was quickly distinguished from a distance. ¡°Unniiiiie!¡± They saw Red Wind leading the forces of the wildnds. In fact, she was too small to be seen, but one could recognize her at a nce because of the Phoenix she summoned. ¡°Jackdaws! Crush the enemy!¡± ¡°OOOOOOOH!¡± Count Hr?svelgr at the forefront raised his sword andmanded, making all the Jackdaws shout at once. Without hesitation, they charged towards the chancellor¡¯s army made up of demon followers. They spiritedly charged with theirnces. The sound of galloping horses rocked the heavens and earth! But that was not all. At the forefront of the allied forces of the Jackdaws and the wildnds was someone that surprised Cordelia. The Sword Saint of Wind, Count Bayer. It was not him. She was surprised by his appearance, but not enough to shock her. It was the one who was ahead of the Jackdaws charging with theirnces. The person who soared high in the sky before those charging in the ground. ¡°Father!¡± Count Chase who was flying in the sky then spread his arms in response to Cordelia¡¯s cry. He spread out a pair of light wings and unleashed his immense mana. ¡°W-wings?!¡± She did not see it wrong. It was definitely wings of light. And there was one more. An angelic halo brightly shined above Count Chase¡¯s head! ¡°H-how?!¡± Jude grinned at Cordelia¡¯s bewilderment. Because ancestral regression was not necessarily possible only for Cordelia. If Cordelia had angelic blood, it meant that her father, Count Chase, also had angelic blood. Though Cordelia was a special existence who inherited abnormallyrge amounts of angelic blood due to atavism. Even if Count Chase was Cordelia¡¯s father, it was infinitely low for the angelic blood flowing through his body to be on par with hers. ¡°But there¡¯s nothing wrong with trying, right?¡± It would be amazing if they seeded. So they attempted it. After all, they had enough materials. Thus, without hesitation, they bet on it and seeded! ¡°UOOOOOOO!¡± Count Chase¡¯s red robes fluttered as his huge wings spread widely, and he was like an angel of me itself. When his mana amplified through angel mode was unleashed all at once, the air shook from the flow of mana. ¡°¡± The skies obeyed Count Chase¡¯s order. A rain of mes poured down from the sky towards the front of the chancellor¡¯s army. Boom! Boom! Bang! Bang! Bang! Due to the mes, the formation of the chancellor¡¯s army copsed. The ground burned and the Jackdaws continued their charge through the soaring mes. ¡°UOOOOOO!¡± Babababababababang-! The battle line of the chancellor¡¯s armypletely copsed from the charge that came like turbulent waves. The Jackdaws continued to charge instead of stopping and fighting the demon followers, and the warriors from the wildnds prated into that gap. ¡°ARARARARARAI!¡± ¡°ARARARARARAI!¡± ¡°KURAHA!¡± It was a coalition of several tribes. All of them unleashed their wildness at themand of Red Gale who had fully recovered. ¡°Let¡¯s go too!¡± Jude also nodded at Cordelia¡¯s excited cry. Their allies were fighting well, but if the two helped them, they would not only achieve a bigger victory but also reduce the casualties. ¡°Father!¡± Cordelia spread out her wings and soared high into the sky, creating a golden storm. Jude nced at the elven knight who tookmand instead of Elune, and the elven knight did not hesitate to give orders. ¡°Attack!¡± Although the elven knights were few, they were very powerful. After leaving the Red Gate, they immediately began intercepting the sides of the chancellor¡¯s army by utilizing the amazing mobility of the elven steeds. ¡°It¡¯s aplete victory.¡± They were still in battle, but Jude said so. And it was not long before his words became reality. *** ¡°We won! We won!¡± ¡°UOOOOOOOO!¡± The Jackdaws and the warriors of the wildnds roared and rejoiced together. The elven knights also celebrated their victory with their swords raised high. The battle ended faster than expected. Because the moment the demonic monsters, the enemy¡¯s main force, were crushed, the chancellor¡¯s army quickly retreated and began to run away. Why did they do that? Did they see no chance of winning? Or did they feel burdened by the absence of First Sword who was theirmander? Various reasons could be guessed, but it was evident that the chancellor¡¯s army retreated for now. Count Hr?svelgr and Red Gale hastily stopped the soldiers and made them enjoy their victory instead of pursuing the chancellor¡¯s army. It was good to attack the back of the enemy and win, but they were originally an expeditionary force that hade a long way, so they did not want to overdo it. ¡°Unniiiiiie!¡± ¡°Red Wiiiiind!¡± As Cordelia hugged Red Wind who came running towards her, the people around them unconsciously smiled. Except for one person. ¡°Ueueue¡­¡± Kirara wanted to act like a spoiled kid because it had been some time since she saw Cordelia. A battle broke out as soon as they met, so they had not even properly hugged yet, but a thieving cat suddenly appeared and hugged her master who was also happy. ¡°Ueueueue¡­¡± She grumbled, but unfortunately, it did not reach Cordelia¡¯s ears. Because Cordelia found a very familiar face after Red Wind. ¡°Wow! Oh my gosh!¡± A small and white bear cub fell behind during the battle, but appeared when victory was certain. ¡°Violent Avnche!¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem. It¡¯s been a while.¡± He coughed for no reason and put on airs, but he was still a little bear cub. Cordelia hugged Violent Avnche at once and rubbed her cheeks at him. ¡°Kya! I¡¯m so happy to see you! I miss you so much!¡± ¡°Ugh, I don¡¯t feel the same. I¡¯m not happy to see you.¡± When Violent Avnche hmphed and said, Cordelia smirked like Jude instead of getting sad and asked in a soft voice. ¡°Oh¡­ really? For real? You didn¡¯t miss me?¡± Cordelia was literally an angel. Moreover, unlike when she was in the wildnds, she had acquired the skill of acting cute. ¡°Uhhh¡­ I-I did miss you a bit.¡± As Violent Avnche blushed at her repeated cute acting, Cordelia softlyughed and kissed the forehead of Violent Avnche. ¡°I really missed you. Thank you foring.¡± ¡°Hmph. I-I didn¡¯t reallye here because of you. I came here because Golden Dragon King told me to go.¡± ¡°Ooooh, I see. That¡¯s why you came.¡± When Cordelia brightly smiled and spoke, Violent Avnche¡¯s face turned even redder. Cordelia¡¯s slyness seemed to have increased at the time they have not met. ¡°Ahem, ahem! Anyway, put me down and go greet your father.¡± ¡°Yes, I will. Thank you for your thoughtfulness.¡± Cordelia politely answered and quickly turned her gaze. Count Chase and Count Bayer had already met and were talking to Jude, so she hurriedly walked towards him. And in another ce. Another family reunion was taking ce. ¡°Lucas? Is that really you, Lucas?¡± ¡°Yes, father. I am Lucas.¡± It was natural for Count Hr?svelgr to be surprised. Lucas¡¯ appearance itself did not change much, but his inside hadpletely changed. Thest time Count Hr?svelgr saw Lucas was before the wedding of Ga?l and Adelia. In other words, thest appearance that Count Hr?svelgr remembered of Lucas was before the Leisegang raid. It was only a few months. But in those few months, Lucas had be incredibly strong. ¡°A great swordmaster¡­ you¡¯ve reached the level of a great swordmaster. No, perhaps¡­¡± Count Hr?svelgr could tell because he had already reached the level of a great swordmaster a long time ago. Because Lucas¡¯ aura was so unusual that he could tell even without seeing Lucas wielding a sword. Great Swordmaster. A level below the Sword Saint. ¡°Yes, father. I am moving towards the horizon.¡± It was a good thing. A Great Swordmaster was one who looked at the horizon, and a Sword Saint was one who moved towards the horizon. ¡°I really can¡¯t believe it. But¡­ it makes me so happy.¡± Count Hr?svelgr was very excited unlike his usual self. Lucas understood why his father was like that. He himself was astonished every time Jude showed explosive growth. ¡®No, it¡¯s a little different.¡¯ For Count Hr?svelgr, Lucas was his only child. So Count Hr?svelgr was now full of pure joy. But that was not all. There were still things to be happy about. ¡°Good morning, father. My name is Scarlet Viper.¡± Scarlet sneaked in between the father and son, gracefully showing her courtesy. Count Hr?svelgr blinked at the appearance of a striking beauty. ¡°Father?¡± ¡°Yes, father. Please feel free to call me Scarlet.¡± Seeing the bewitching yet elegant appearance of Scarlet, Count Hr?svelgr hurriedly turned to Lucas and noticed that Lucas¡¯ face had turned red. ¡°Oh, I see. Nice to meet you.¡± She was a daughter-inw candidate who suddenly appeared, but did not seem to becking. Her appearance was outstanding, her actions were dignified, and the power she possessed was also unusual. But it was then. ¡°F-Father! Good morning too! I¡¯m Kajsa Ophand from the Ophand family!¡± Kajsa who had rushed over greeted him a bit clumsily. I was in the back because I was attaching my cut arm, and I didn¡¯t know that Scarlet would act like a fox and use that opportunity! ¡°The Ophands?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m Marquis Ophand¡¯s daughter.¡± When Kajsa spoke with a bit of cuteness, Count Hr?svelgr looked back at Lucas and narrowed his brows. Because Lucas blushed again this time. ¡®Son, what happened? D-don¡¯t tell me you were two-timing?¡¯ Weren¡¯t you more faithful and purer than anyone else? Seeing the eyes of Count Hr?svelgr, Lucas stuttered in embarrassment. Because the situation itself got messy as he recovered some of his past memories. Scarlet and Kajsa. Both were his lovers in his past memories. He obviously did not date them at the same time. It was the first time that all three of them were on the same side now. ¡°W-well¡­ t-that is¡­¡± At the time when Lucas opened his mouth to give an exnation. Behind the Hr?svelgr father and son. Kajsa¡¯s sharp gaze turned to Scarlet. ¡®Hey! Look at you trying to get a head start! Weren¡¯t you the one who stabbed Lucas in the chest!¡¯ ¡®Hmph, so you didn¡¯t hit him in the back?¡¯ ¡®Hey, I went all the way with Lucas, okay?¡¯ ¡®I did too, okay?¡¯ It was questionable whether the two could understand each other, but they exchanged fierce gazes. ¡°Haa¡­ I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s a mess over there too.¡± Violent Avnche¡¯s eyes unconsciously turned cold as he looked up the sky. The morning dawned from beyond the cold sea of stars. *** ¡°Let¡¯s organize things first.¡± Chapter 339: Those Who Are Preparing (3)

Chapter 339: Those Who Are Preparing (3)

¡°Let¡¯s organize things first.¡± After hearing Jude¡¯s exnation, Count Bayer narrowed his brows in his slight confusion and continued speaking. ¡°You went to the imperial capital to save the emperor, stopped Sword Master Elio¡¯s treason, prevented a disaster, and obtained thest treasure of Sri. And in the process, you grew up several times and became a Sword Saint¡­ Lastly, you reached your current level by defeating First Sword. Is that it?¡± ¡°Yes, it is as you have said.¡± It was very astounding to hear that all these happened in just a few months. Or rather, even if that was not taken into ount, his growth rate was immense. Count Bayer appeared to be stunned for a moment and soon had a bit of dazed smile as he said. ¡°You¡­ A genius is a genius, huh¡­¡± Cheonmujiche. The incarnation of martial arts from the heavens. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± In fact, it was all because of the memories of his past life, or to be exact, the memories of the ¡®other Jude¡¯ who reached the sword horizon, but Jude did not talk about that. Because it was clear from their conversations so far that neither Count Bayer nor Count Chase particrly remembered the events of their past lives. ¡®As expected, it¡¯s only a very small number of people.¡¯ After all, there was no need to bring up the story of a past life if they did not remember it. It would do nothing good to say that this world, Pleiades, had suffered repeated destruction. ¡®It will only add to the confusion.¡¯ Therefore, Jude kept silent about his past lives, and although Count Bayer and Count Chase were a bit suspicious, they soon epted Jude¡¯s words. In any case, it was true that Jude became a strong Sword Saint, and that there were no contradictions in his story. ¡°Frankly, I want to talk about the sword right now, but¡­ now is not a good time.¡± Count Bayer was also someone who moved towards the horizon. His heart was pounding with curiosity about the level Jude had reached, but they were right before a big battle. Moreover, there were still some stories to share. ¡°We¡¯ve done almost everything that you told us.¡± ¡°Thank you. I thought that you could definitely do it if you two were together.¡± When Jude replied with a big smile, Count Chase snorted and said. ¡°Well, isn¡¯t that something you have prepared? We just put it into action.¡± Count Chase¡¯s tone was blunt, but as typical of the way he talked, the corners of his lips were slightly raised. So Jude had an even deeper smile and was genuinely happy. ¡°First of all, congrattions. You have seeded in Ancestral Regression.¡± ¡°Yes, the ingredients you left behind were very helpful. When Edwardpletes the ritual artifact, Adelia will perform the ritual too.¡± A lot of special ingredients were needed for ancestral regression, just like in Cordelia¡¯s case. Although they added the leftovers and things Cordelia got from her travels, there was ack of ritual artifacts just as Count Chase had said, so they solved it by creating their own. ¡®As expected of the Chase wizard family.¡¯ Edward, the eldest son of Count Chase and older brother of Cordelia, had no fighting abilities, but his understanding of magic was the best among the three siblings. Cordelia¡¯s family was truly supportive. ¡°The wildnd¡¯s assistance is what you see now. Thanks to Golden Dragon King directly ordering them to help, it was solved quickly.¡± Golden Dragon King. The mighty guardian god protecting the wildnds did not forget the help of Jude and Cordelia. And it was the same for the tribes living in the wildnds. Red Gale led the warriors from the wildnds. Their number was only around 5,000 as shown in this battle, but each person was an elite with strong fighting power. They would clearly be of great help in the future fight against the chancellor¡¯s army. ¡°The elves of the Forest of Eternity will join in the Ctes ins. They must have reached the Ctes ins by now.¡± The elves of the Forest of Eternity also remembered their debts to Jude and Cordelia. The elite knights led by Princess Leica left the Forest of Eternity to help the S?len Kingdom. ¡°The Sirens also replied that they would help. Their elite troops would use the Juno River to head north and join the kingdom¡¯s army.¡± The Juno River was a huge river that crossed the Ctes ins and connected the S?len Kingdom to the eastern sea. The fierce warriors of the wildnds, the elves of the Forest of Eternity, and even the sirens of the sea. ¡°My heart is pounding.¡± ¡°Yeah, me too.¡± Those who were hostile or indifferent to each other had now joined forces for one purpose. Their hearts were pounding because a situation that only appeared in hero stories had be a reality. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s stop here. There are a lot of things that we need to do.¡± Count Bayer nodded at Count Chase¡¯s words. Count Hr?svelgr was themander of the forces, but the two counts could not just sit around and do nothing. ¡°He seems to have somehow bewitched them.¡± ¡°Well¡­ yeah. That¡¯s true.¡± Jude saw the counts nkly staring at Lucas and the two beautiful women, but they could not hear the conversation of the three because they were far away. Why? How did a noble kid bewitch those women like that? ¡°Anyway, Jude, I¡¯ll see youter.¡± ¡°Yes, father.¡± After Jude bowed, Count Bayer immediately turned in the direction of Red Gale. And Count Chase followed Count Bayer, but turned around and said. ¡°Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, father-inw.¡± ¡°You¡¯re quite strong now.¡± Jude¡¯s eyes widened at the unusualpliment, and Count Chase cleared his throat and quickly left. As if he was embarrassed. ¡®Aaah, father-inw. Aaah, father-inw.¡¯ He did not receive a gift like usual, but onepliment from the count was enough. Hisughter kepting out. ¡°Jude?¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Why are youughing so much?¡± ¡°I just like it.¡± And when Judeughed again, Cordelia disgustingly looked at him, but only for a moment. ¡°Did you and my father have a good conversation?¡± ¡°Yes, we had a good conversation.¡± Cordelia frowned when Jude answered with a snicker again. She did not know what happened, but it seemed like Jude had gone a bit crazy. ¡°You don¡¯t have a fever?¡± Cordelia tilted her head as she stood on tiptoe and touched Jude¡¯s forehead, and Jude hugged Cordelia¡¯s waist. ¡°Jude?¡± ¡°Hehe, hehehe.¡± What¡¯s wrong with him? He¡¯s gone crazy! Fortunately, Cordelia¡¯s worries did notst long. Because Jude soon regained his sanity as if his physical contact with Cordelia was a stabilizing agent. ¡°I heard that everything that I prepared went well.¡± ¡°What have you prepared?¡± Because he did not tell her anything, saying that she would find outter. Cordelia puffed up her cheeks and Jude quickly continued speaking. ¡°The support of the wildnds, the Forest of Eternity, and the sirens. Ancestral Regression too.¡± He gathered everyone¡¯s power and also strengthened Count Chase and Adelia. Cordelia¡¯s eyes sparkled at the full story that she finally heard. ¡°Then unnie will be an angel too?¡± ¡°Maybe? We¡¯ll know once she tries it.¡± In order to seed in Ancestral Regression, it was necessary to inherit a lot of blood from the ancestors. The sess of Count Chase and Cordelia did not guarantee that Adelia would also seed. ¡°I¡¯m still excited. If it¡¯s my unnie, it will definitely be possible.¡± ¡°Yeah, I hope so. Jude smiled as he imagined Adelia bing an angel. Because he thought that she would be next in beauty to Cordelia. ¡°Did you talk about our past lives?¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t think they remember it. Talking about it now will only increase their confusion.¡± ¡°Ugh¡­ Then who remembered it?¡± For now, it was certainly Jude and Cordelia themselves, and considering the circumstances, Lucas, Kajsa, and Scarlet seemed to have regained the memories of their previous lives, though iplete. ¡°Well¡­ Kirara and Red Wind are candidates.¡± ¡°yable characters?¡± ¡°Yes, except for Scarlet, everyone who remembered their memories is a yable character. But¡­ I actually think it¡¯s unlikely for Red Wind. Kirara has a higher chance though.¡± ¡°Are you saying that the closer they are to us, the more likely they are to regain their memories?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. Because we are unique.¡± Because Jude and Cordelia had seen the memories of their previous lives little by little in the form of dreams even before it happened to the others. The two of them were the first to regain the memories of their previous lives. ¡°We¡¯ll just have to sound them out a bit.¡± ¡°Yes, because the rtionship between Red Wind and Kirara is a bit awkward.¡± As far as they recalled from their previous lives, those two had always been enemies to each other. There had been several times when they killed each other. ¡°But Jude.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°I¡¯m really happy.¡± To be able to meet again like this. Because we can be together again. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m really happy too.¡± Jude hugged Cordelia¡¯s waist a bit tighter and lightly kissed her lips. Cordelia gently epted such a Jude and said as she exhaled. ¡°Jude, can we do it this time?¡± The memories of their previous lives were iplete. But they were certain of at least one thing. The situation had never been better than now. They had prevented all the crises of the kingdom and made into allies all those who should have their enemies. Jude and Cordelia themselves had also be very strong. ¡°We can do it. We will do it.¡± This time, we will prevent the Great Summons. Definitely, definitely this time. Jude kissed Cordelia again, and she hugged him hard. She struggled to see the future and forget the sad memories that she remembered. *** Night passed and morning came. In the high heavens. At a world called Heaven. ¡°Auriel!¡± Raguel screamed as her entire body was bound with huge chains, but Auriel did not change her expression. She just looked down at the ground with an icy expression. ¡°Auriel! Think again! This is wrong!¡± Holding hands with the demons of Hell to create a Great Summons? You¡¯re going to use the ground ¨C the other world, Pleiades, as a battlefield for the final battle against Hell? That¡¯s not right. That¡¯s wrong. That¡¯s not just! At Raguel¡¯s cries, Auriel slowly raised her head. But there was still no expression on her face. Cold words flowed out of her mouth. ¡°It was Pleiades who did wrong in the first ce.¡± They infringed Heaven and Hell for their own reasons. The goddess of Pleiades fooled the souls of Heaven and Hell. Such an act was uneptable. ¡°But¡­¡± ¡°You want them to avoid destruction? Okay, but even so, why does Heaven have to be sacrificed for them? Are you saying that Sri, Eros, and Gabriel are not enough?¡± Three archangels descended on Pleiades and eventually died. ¡°We have to settle our fight with Hell. To do that, we need a battlefield connected to each other. Yes, this is our chance to realize our revenge for our departed sisters.¡± Heaven and Hell were not connected to each other. The two were connected in the past, but now that the connection had been cut, they could not fight even if they wanted to fight each other. So they would use Pleiades as their battlefield since it could be connected to both sides. They would start the war by bringing about the Great Summons. Auriel¡¯s words were based on rationality. None of her words were wrong. First of all, it was Pleiades that manipted Heaven for their own reasons, and this was absolutely uneptable from the viewpoint of Heaven. It was also true that a battlefield was necessary for their final battle against Hell. But, but even if that¡¯s the case¡­ ¡°Auriel¡­ You¡­ No way¡­¡± Raguel realized it. She noticed the fiery hatred and hostility hidden behind Auriel¡¯s cold expression. Auriel did not just hate the demons of Hell. She also hated and loathed Pleiades who took and sacrificed the lives of Sri, Eros, and Gabriel. Why did they have to sacrifice for another world, Pleiades? Auriel remembered. The bugs that clung to Sri whom she could not abandon until the very end. All the trash on the ground that sacrificed Sri. They had to be judged. They had to be burned with the mes of purification. Butws required a justification for judgment. So she had to suppress herself. And now. Finally, a justification had appeared. Even the means to crush Pleiades had been prepared. ¡°Sariel and Rapha expressed neutrality. Of course, they said they would participate in the war against Hell when it begins.¡± The two remaining archangels. When they learned that the young goddess Atalia had yed a trick on the fate of Heaven, they concluded that they could not tolerate Pleiades just like Auriel. Therefore, they did not stop Auriel, but did note forward like Auriel either. Raguel could not open her mouth. She knew that she had to somehow stop Auriel, but did not know what to say. A lot of people lived in Pleiades. For Raguel, all of them were living beings. They were people. Raguel could not love them all as Sri did, but she at least recognized them as people. But not for Auriel and the rest of the archangels. To them, Pleiades was another world. The humans of Pleiades were not equal to the angels of Heaven. ¡°Auriel¡­¡± ¡°Cool your head for a while, Raguel. Foolish sister. The fact that you did not resist me means that in your heart¡­ you are hoping to avenge Sri and our sisters.¡± No, it¡¯s not like that. It¡¯s just that no matter what happened, I couldn¡¯t point a sword at you, Auriel, my eldest sister. But Raguel¡¯s thoughts did not reach Auriel. Auriel spread her eight wings, turned around and left. Instead of shouting out Auriel¡¯s name, Raguel desperately squeezed out her power. Before the heavenly seal sealed all her powers, she delivered her voice with herst strength. The heavenly voice. Thest warning she delivered to the ground. Her voice reached the ground. Chapter 340: Those Who Are Preparing (4)

Chapter 340: Those Who Are Preparing (4)

At the center of the empire. In the imperial capital currently upied by the demon followers. Inside the deepest part of the imperial pce, Archbishop Manu listened to the voice of a great being. ¡°It¡¯s a simple task. Help Auriel. Help her bring about the Great Summons.¡± The leader of the Devil¡¯s Hand. Manu could not help but feel puzzled by themand delivered through her mouth. Auriel, the archangel of judgment, was the enemy of Asmodeus, the overlord of lust. So he had never imagined that they would be working with Auriel. ¡°You don¡¯t seem to understand.¡± The leader of the Devil¡¯s Hand who became Asmodeus¡¯ eyes and mouth was much more human than usual. Sitting on the throne, she crossed her legs and smiled, and Manu who was kneeling beneath her did not dare say anything as he only bowed his head. ¡°It¡¯s simple. The continuous copying and pasting that Pleiades did¡­ Yes, that act is absolutely uneptable.¡± The same point was repeated several times to avoid the destruction of Pleiades. Whether or not there was damage in the process did not matter. What mattered was that Pleiades yed around with the fate of Heaven. ¡°That¡¯s the biggest reason. Perhaps¡­ the remaining archangels, except Raguel who had been restricted, think that the Great Summons must take ce just like the original.¡± It was the right thing to do even if it resulted in enormous sacrifices. Moreover, the sacrifices would be from Pleiades and not Heaven. From the perspective of Heaven, Pleiades was another world. The humans of Pleiades were beings of another world. It did not matter to them on how many humans would die or be sacrificed. ¡°The angels who care about such things have already disappeared, except for Raguel.¡± Sri, Eros, and Gabriel. Manu swallowed hard at Asmodeus¡¯ exnation. Even Manu had no objection to the words so far. From a rational point of view, the wrath of Heaven was justified. But the next topic repulsed Manu. Heaven and Hell working together to bring about the Great Summons. They would hold hands to cause the Great Summons. For the Armageddon after the Great Summons. For the battle between Heaven and Hell. Was that really possible? For Heaven and Hell that had been fighting for so long? And technically, Sri¡¯s enemy was Hell and not Pleiades. Joining hands with Hell to crush Pleiades was such a strange situation. ¡°It¡¯s not strange.¡± Asmodeus said with a white smile. She gave a more detailed exnation to Manu who flinched because his mind was read. ¡°Auriel hates Hell. She hates us more than Pleiades. But in order to stab her sword to us, we must first stand in the same ce. Up to this part¡­ do you understand?¡± ¡°Are we holding hands to¡­ get revenge?¡± Asmodeus nodded at Manu¡¯s cautious answer. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s it. Heaven and Hell are currently not connected. We need a connectednd to get revenge. And Pleiades is thend suitable for that. Moreover, we¡¯re just following the natural order since Pleiades was the battlefield in the original history.¡± Auriel did not truly hold hands with the demons. In order to bring the demons to the battlefield, she simply epted a temporary alliance that would remain until then. ¡°Of course, she herself is greatly repulsed by it. Perhaps the other archangels in Heaven¡­ Sariel and Rapha will not help with the Great Summons itself. If the Great Summons happen, they will fight against Hell as archangels of Heaven¡­ but only when that happens. It is highly likely that Auriel has sealed Raguel who is trying to prevent the Great Summons itself.¡± It was the words of Asmodeus as if she had looked directly into Heaven. ¡°Right after the Great Summons¡­ Auriel must be thinking of stabbing the backs of the overlords of Hell. We are thinking the same too. It¡¯s like shaking hands with each other while hiding knives behind our backs.¡± Asmodeus¡¯s shoulders shook as sheughed. She was a master of the sword, but did not dislike this kind of plotting either. ¡°Those are two reasons. And thest one. Auriel¡¯s hostility towards Pleiades. Or rather¡­ Auriel herself has gone mad.¡± The present Auriel was different from the past Auriel. After losing the sun called Sri, she was crushed. ¡°Anger requires a target.¡± She was angry at everything rted to the disappearance of Sri. Auriel was very angry with herself. What made her endure so far was the existence of reason and the absence of a justification. But a strong justification had now been created. The sin of Pleiades. Aw that must be obeyed. A chance to burn together the Pleiades and Hell that she hated. It was not based on reason. It was based on emotion and was too subjective. But she did not care about that. After all, the world did not always run ording to reason in the first ce. Asmodeusughed again. She continue to talk, feeling a little sad yet willing to see her old nemesis be so broken. ¡°Help Auriel. Prepare a ritual so that she can descend to Pleiades.¡± The descent from Heaven was a little easier than from Hell. So if Heaven and Hell worked together, the archangel¡¯s descent would seed. It was definitely not something normal. A huge amount of power would be consumed, and Auriel would have to sacrifice a lot too. But that was why it was something that Asmodeus could not refuse. ¡°The scales are too tilted. We ourselves can¡¯t cause the Great Summons now. So we need Auriel. If she, an archangel, personally descends to the ground and causes chaos, we can bring about the Great Summons.¡± They would bring the goddess down. The goddess of judgment who hated Pleiades. ¡°I¡­ obey yourmand.¡± Archbishop Manu politely bowed, and Asmodeus looked up high through the eyes of the leader of the Devil¡¯s Hand. She had aplicated smile as she recalled Auriel¡¯s face. *** At the same time. The heavenly voice reached the ground. Princess Daphne and the empress dowager were shocked at Raguel¡¯s desperate warning. An archangel from Heaven was about to descend. She would try to cause the Great Summons with her own hands. Malekith who had the same power as the Demon Prince dominated everyone with his god-like existence. But if a true god who surpassed a Demon Prince would descend on earth, it would be all over. Princess Daphne and the empress dowager were greatly astonished and hurriedly gathered the people they could trust. It was such a shocking news that could not be widely spread. At the same time in the eastern part of the empire. There was one more person who heard Raguel¡¯s warning. Because he had heard Raguel¡¯s voice since he came out of seclusion in the first ce. ¡°Good heavens.¡± Druid Fran. The youngest of Paragon¡¯s five heroes, he had been reborn as a beautiful young man after 10 years. He did not have the beauty that would mistake him for a woman like Kamael, but his body covered in grass and animal skin was like that of Orion, a mythical god of forests. ¡°Crazy, this is seriously crazy.¡± He got up from his seat and hurriedly left the room. The five heroes of Paragon were concentrating their power on the fortress of the Guardians of the Holy Cross in the eastern part of the empire. ¡®Landius, I have to tell Landius first.¡¯ The one who led the five heroes. A being like the sun whom they could trust and rely on amidst any despair. ¡°We greet the Druid.¡± ¡°Ah, yes. Hello.¡± Fran sniffed with his nose after responding appropriately to the members of the Guardians of the Holy Cross who respectfully greeted him. It was to track the scent of Landius. ¡°He¡¯s over there.¡± Fortunately, he did not need to transform into a wolf. Fran started running towards the outskirts of the fortress. ¡°Fran.¡± ¡°Lena?¡± At the end of the wall. On top of the fortress overlooking the forest, Lena, Velkian, and Kamael were standing there. Everyone looked worried. ¡°What happened? Don¡¯t tell me you all heard the heavenly voice?¡± ¡°Heavenly voice? Did the Archangel Raguel say something?¡± When Lena asked with a surprised face, Fran bit his lips. It was a matter that had to be conveyed as soon as possible, but his worries prevailed. He wondered why they were making such expressions if it was not the urgent issue that Raguel conveyed. Was it because the situation in the battlefield was not good? It was definitely possible. But it did not seem like that was a reason to get together like this and frown together. Moreover, Landius was not present here. That fact made Fran very anxious. ¡°Where¡¯s Landius?¡± No one answered his question, but Lena gently pointed to the bottom of the wall and said. ¡°He¡¯s down there.¡± At Lena¡¯s reply, Fran inhaled and swallowed his breath. By this point, he had guessed why Landius was not here and what Landius was doing. ¡°He will be fine.¡± Velkian¡¯s expression hidden behind the gue doctor¡¯s mask was unknown. But he could not hide his tone. One could read Velkian¡¯s tension from his trembling voice. ¡°Kamael?¡± Kamael did not answer Fran¡¯s call. Unlike Lena, Velkian, and Fran, he had recalled some of the memories of his past lives. So he knew. Landius had never crossed the wall of the seventh door so far. ¡°Landius¡­¡± Kamael clenched his fists and looked down the wall. If he could, he wanted to stop Landius right now. But he could not. Landius would reject it. It was impossible for Kamael to break Landius¡¯ will. ¡°Fran, I¡¯ll ask you again. Did you hear Archangel Raguel¡¯s words?¡± Lena asked again. She was also worried about Landius, but could not ignore the news that Fran had brought. ¡°Well¡­¡± Fran told everyone what he had heard from Raguel in order. The wrath of Heaven. Auriel working together with the demons of Hell to cause the Great Summons. Lena and Velkian could not help but be confused by the sudden events. Even Kamael, who had been aware of the whole story to some extent because of the memories of his past lives, was shocked to hear that Auriel was nning to descend directly. Pleiades had experienced destruction several times so far. The Great Summons repeatedly urred as if it were inevitable. But it was the first time an archangel would descend for the Great Summons. An archangel. A goddess from Heaven. An absolute existence that a Demon Prince could not evenpare to. The angel Lena was so shocked that she could not speak. Velkian staggered and leaned against the wall, while Kamael tightly shut his eyes and roughly breathed. Because they knew the power of a Demon Prince more than anyone else, so they were in great despair over the existence of an archangel. What should they do? What should they do now? It felt like their vision was turning dark. The darkness of despair seemed to cover the world. The dark night. The darkness. The sense of helplessness they felt when they first faced the Demon Prince. But it was at that moment. Kamael unconsciously opened his eyes. Lena turned her head. Velkian and Fran looked in the same direction. It was a dark night. It was a time full of darkness. However, they saw a ray of light. The deeper the night and the darkness, the brighter it rose into the sky. The golden sun. A brilliant light of hope that dispelled the despair and the darkness. Lena nkly stared and realized what happened. She stood up from her seat and flew with her wings. Velkian and Fran also cheered. Kamael smiled too. Ironically, the sense of helplessness he had felt until now made him brightly smile. ¡°Landius.¡± Our sun. No matter how deep and dark our despairs may be, we can always find our way forward with you. You will always lead us. A golden sh of light illuminated the entire fortress as well as the forest. It was truly the golden sun itself that drove away the darkness and led to the glory of the morning. Iron Man Landius. In the center of that golden sh, he let out a cheerfulugh. Having recalled the memories of his past lives, he realized how many times he failed and died every time he tried to open the eighth door. But it was different now. He had the experiences of his past lives. There were also the things he learned through Jude. ¡°May the muscles always be with you.¡± The eighth door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. The boundary of true transcendence. Landius clenched his fist. He raised his fist towards the high sky. Chapter 341: D-Day

Chapter 341: D-Day

The man smiled at the woman¡¯s words. Instead of copsing in despair at a world that had be ashes, he stood up with his remaining strength and said. ¡°I know. Even if my memories remain, my existence will eventually disappear. But even so¡­¡± The man¡¯s words continued and the woman had a bitter smile. With tears in her eyes, she whispered very quietly. ¡°You will always be the same. That¡¯s who you are.¡± *** It was a bright morning. As soon as their campsite was set up, the Jackdaws and the warriors of the wildnds who marched and foughtst night went to sleep to recover their strength. Jude and Cordelia were no different. They had taken a break in the middle, but in retrospect, they had fought a series of battles since entering the Tomb of Sri. The two had defeated huge armies twice in a day, and killed two top-ranking demonic humans, so it was reasonable for them to rest now. ¡°Sleep well.¡± ¡°Good night.¡± The two lied beside each other on the bed provided by the elves and deeply fell asleep at the same time. Several hours passed. It was a really peaceful time. Kirara grumbled as she faced Red Wind, Lucas was sweating profusely at theplex gaze of Count Hr?svelgr, and Kajsa and Scarlet were exchanging fierce nces at each other several times, but overall, it was not that bad. Elune was very exhausted, but her life was not in danger. The Red Gate suffered damage, butpared to the battle they had fought, it was not that significant. But it was a few hours at most. The brief serenity was shattered by the sudden news. *** Princess Daphne and the empress dowager delivered the urgent news almost simultaneously. The contents were short as long-distancemunication could not contain a lot of content in the first ce. The chancellor¡¯s army is trying to have the archangel Auriel descend. The archangel Auriel is about to initiate the Great Summons herself. The news was unbelievable. Demon followers would try to have an angel descend? But it was the clear truth, and there were people who understood the full story as soon as they heard the urgent news. ¡°Auriel.¡± Having the most memories of his past lives among all the beings in Pleiades, Jude filled the missing information with his reasoning. He quickly figured out what had happened. ¡°The archangels of Heaven¡­¡± In the urgent news, there was no word about the ¡®copy and paste¡¯ method that Atalia had done. But Jude was sure of it. It was clear to him that the copy and paste method was at least the external cause. ¡°This is driving me nuts. Does this make sense? Are they telling us to just die?!¡± Cordelia shouted. It was natural for her to do so. The ones that originally caused the destruction of Pleiades were Hell and Heaven. Hell and Heaven took a different route than before inpletely connecting the three worlds via the Great Summons. When two overlords of Hell descended on Pleiades a long time ago, Heaven was not involved with it. Likewise, the reason why the archangels like Sri descended on Pleiades was not to prevent the offensive of Hell. It was simply because they could not stand to see the beings of Pleiades suffering. But everything changed after the Great Summons. A blitzkrieg attack. Hell tried to make Pleiades their forward operating base to conquer Heaven, and Heaven tried to stop the forces of Hell in Pleiades. An all-out war between two worlds was set with Pleiades as the stage. Pleiades was destroyed by Armageddon. So Atalia tried to start over. ¡°It was only Raguel from the beginning.¡± Having been given clues, memories gradually came to his mind. In the great war that was repeated several times, the only one who truly cared and looked after the beings of Pleiades was the archangel of justice, Raguel. The rest of the archangels only saw the beings of Pleiades as useful resources. Just as how the demons of Hell did. Sometimes Hell won. Sometimes Heaven won. However, the fate of Pleiades was the same no matter which side won. Destruction. It became a world of ashes. Upon hearing Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia let out curses. ¡°F*ck no! Isn¡¯t this our final chance now? Do they know how annoying it is to repeat a game several times?¡± Cordelia definitely knew. The situation was different from simply repeating a game. It was a situation where beings from Heaven forced them to continue the original without asking for any permission. ¡°That b*tch! Auriel never cared about us! It¡¯s only Raguel as you have said!¡± On whether the beings of Pleiades died or not, or whether the world called Pleiades was destroyed or not! Jude closed his eyes. The situation wasplicated. In fact, even if Heaven did not intervene, Pleiades had no choice but to walk the path of destruction. It was powerless to stop the forces of Hell. In the end, their choice was to block Armageddon itself. To prevent the Great Summons so that neither side could intervene. It had been going well. It seemed like they could stop the Great Summons this time. But the tables were turned. The archangel was trying to directly descend and cause the Great Summons herself. ¡°It¡¯s not over yet.¡± Jude spoke slowly. Cordelia roughly exhaled in her frustration and looked at Jude. ¡°The Great Summons has yet to happen.¡± They still had a chance. The descent of an archangel-ss was not normal. It would clearly consume more resources and time than installing a Hell Gate. So they still had time. It was too early to be in despair already. ¡°Let¡¯s gather some more information first. We should also contact Master Landius.¡± They had to pull themselves together ande up with countermeasures. Cordelia nodded at Jude¡¯s words. Frankly, she was very angry and wanted to make something explode, but struggled to suppress it. ¡°Let¡¯s share information.¡± They had to hide the story about the copy and paste method. But if the situation had gone this far, it was necessary to tell the truth to the key figures at least. Cordelia nodded again this time. After breathing in and out a few times, she spoke in a much calmer voice. ¡°I¡¯ll bring my father.¡± ¡°Please.¡± Jude lightly kissed Cordelia¡¯s forehead and asked an elven knight to prepare seats. From the perspective of the Red Gate, Jude was an outside figure ¨C a foreigner, but none of the elves who witnessed his fierce battle against First Sword disobeyed his orders. They diligently fulfilled Jude¡¯s orders with respect and trust. People gathered. Count Bayer, Count Chase, and Count Hr?svelgr were present on behalf of the kingdom, and Red Gale and Violent Avnche were present on behalf of the wildnds. On the side of the elves, Elune and her aide took their ce. And a few people were specifically called by Jude. Red Wind, Sun Song, Kirara, Lucas, Scarlet, and Kajsa. ¡°It¡¯s a little¡­ no, frankly, it¡¯s a very unbelievable story.¡± In a calm voice, Jude exined what he knew one by one. Not everything, but not too little either. History had been repeated several times so far. Pleiades had never escaped destruction. The Great Summons should be prevented. Destruction was unavoidable once the Great Summons happened. ¡°If we stop Auriel from descending, we will be able to stop the Great Summons.¡± Jude remembered the archangels. Sariel and Rapha were indifferent to the beings of Pleiades, but that did not mean that they would hold hands with the demons for their own purpose. If they could stop Auriel and then eradicate the demon followers, they would be able to move forward to a future without a Great Summons this time. ¡°That is all.¡± Jude¡¯s exnation was over, but no one could easily open their mouths. His words were so shocking and confusing. But everyone could tell. Jude was not lying. All his words were true. Heavy silence passed for some time. Count Bayer broke the silence with a calm voice. ¡°Then in the end, now is the best time.¡± There was no tribtion in the continent that could cause the Great Summons. The archangel was trying to descend and cause tribtion because the Great Summons could not take ce at this rate. Count Bayer¡¯s words were correct. They were clearly in a very big crisis, but this crisis itself was the proof. Proof that they were in a better situation than the previous ones. ¡°Yes, father. It is as you have said.¡± But right after Jude spoke. There was a suddenmotion outside the conference room. An elven knight burst open the door and shouted. ¡°L-look outside!¡± At the urgent cry, Lucas who was standing by the window pulled the curtains. He gasped without realizing it. At the distantnd where the imperial capital was. Light fell from the sky. It was a bright and red light, so despite being daytime and it being really far, it could be clearly seen. They could undeniably agree that Archbishop Manu and the demon followers had begun the ritual for the descent of Auriel in the imperial capital. How much time did they have left? They did not exactly know. No one was sure. One month? Two months? Maybe ten days? ¡°We have twenty-one days left.¡± Jude and Cordelia quickly looked back at the voice they heard from behind. They saw an expected face. ¡°Witch-nim.¡± The witch of the west forest. After being released by Asmodeus, she did not head to Atalia. The young goddess had only just woken up. She had no power to do anything about the current situation. So the witch came to Jude and Cordelia. To hold onto even a glimmer of hope, to help the two people of destiny. ¡°Auriel wille after 21 days.¡± It was the result of the joint efforts of Heaven and Hell. Perhaps a huge number of people were presently being sacrificed in the imperial capital. Jude swallowed hard. He was desperately thinking about what to do with their current situation. The imperial capital. The enemy forces surrounding the imperial capital. The four major cmities that had not yet appeared. But only 21 days were left. His head ached. His chest felt heavy. And it was at that time. ¡°What we need to do is simple.¡± Count Chase spoke. With his usual snort, he said with a stern and serious expression. ¡°Gather our strength and crush the enemy.¡± His words were really simple and straightforward. But it was correct. There was no other answer in the first ce. Count Bayer smiled. He patted his friend on the shoulder several times and got up as he approached Jude. ¡°Jude, what we need to do is the same as before.¡± In the past two years, Jude had grown a lot. He used to be a guy who was only at the level of the count¡¯s chest, but was now tall enough for the count to look up. But Jude was still Jude. He was the son of Count Bayer himself. Jude looked at Count Bayer with a somewhat nk expression, and Count Bayer ced his hand on Jude¡¯s shoulder. Jude remembered again the facts that he had forgotten due to the urgent situation. ¡°Now is the best time. Thanks to you and Cordelia, we were able to keep a lot of people alive.¡± It was different from before. The S?len Kingdom did not fall. Count Hr?svelgr who led the Jackdaws was now here. Count Bayer himself was in good health along with Count Chase. They were not killed by the great demon. Rather, he recovered his skills as a Sword Saint. ¡°The south did not fall. The Forest of Eternity did not be and of death. The Sirens are with us instead of bing Malekith¡¯s subordinates.¡± The wildnds was not destroyed. Instead of dying from disease, Red Gale led the warriors and stood on thisnd now. The wild gods including Violent Avnche were also alive and well. ¡°The major cmities did not ravage Pleiades.¡± Light Dragon Yvaska could not even be born. Jude and Cordelia repelled the crazy artificial ruler of spirits. The same was true of Myriad Shapeshifter Jabberwock. The fire giant Karte that would have otherwise devastated the northern part of the empire was no different. ¡°The northern imperial army is alive and well. The kingdom¡¯s army in the south is also alive and well.¡± Except for the traitors, the Ten Great Swordmasters also survived. After First Sword¡¯s betrayal, the traitors were mercilessly executed. ¡°And they are still alive.¡± The five heroes of Paragon. True heroes who proved that miracles could exist on thisnd. ¡°The fate of many has changed.¡± Neither Lucas nor Cordelia became demonic humans. Scarlet and Kajsa also stayed with Lucas without being corrupted or bing demonic humans. Red Wind and Kirara did not kill each other. The knights of the kingdom, the warriors of the wildnds, the elves including Princess Leica, the Sirens, and many more people who should have died or be corrupted. Jude was speechless. Cordelia¡¯s eyes turned red. Count Bayer smiled. He looked at the red pir of light outside the window and confidently dered. ¡°It¡¯s not us who are cornered. It¡¯s the demon followers.¡± To the point that they would give up all the methods they had used so far and go ahead with the descent of an archangel. To that point because they had no other way. He was correct. Count Bayer was not wrong. ¡°You¡¯ve done everything.¡± They had changed the fate of so many people. They had also cornered the demon followers. Count Bayer¡¯s eyes reddened. He could not properly remember the events of his past lives, but there was something that touched his heart. There were things he knew because he was a father. ¡°These are the fruits of your efforts and hard work, of having never given up despite experiencing destruction many times.¡± Count Bayer smiled. He said as he touched the cheek of his child who lost his lover, his family, and his friend yet fought and fought until he was full of wounds and scars. ¡°You really did well. You did a great job.¡± Jude eventually burst into tears. Cordelia cried without realizing it. They were not wrong. Their actions were not useless. Rather, it was now time to be rewarded for their efforts. Count Bayer was not wrong. Count Chase snorted in agreement. ¡°Urgent news! Another urgent news. But what was contained this time was not despair. It was another hope. [Disciple, I¡¯ll show you the way to the eighth door.] A message from Landius. Jude and Cordelia looked at each other and smiled at the same time. They smiled in relief. Chapter 342: The Lull Before the Storm (1)

Chapter 342: The Lull Before the Storm (1)

Moving between different worlds was not easy. This was especially true if they were higher beings who supported the world by their existence themselves, like the archangels and overlords. There were two reasons for that. One was that the greater the existence one had in the world, the more power was needed to move to another world, and the other reason was the resistance of the world one would be moving into. Most worlds did not have an ego. But that did not mean that it did not have a protective instinct just because itcked an ego. Worlds did not care much about small beings. However, the situation was different when it came to higher beings. It would be easy to understand if one thought of it as a, though this might be a poor analogy. A withrge holes. A small fish could pass through the without any difficulty, but a big fish could not. In order to pass through the hole in a much smaller than their size, they must forcibly make their own bodies smaller or tear the to widen the hole. Either way, it was clear that it was not easy. Even bringing a Demon Prince to Pleiades needed a lot of preparation to create a Hell Gate, so what more for an overlord who was a higher being than it. Raguel¡¯s body drooped as her arms were bound by thick andrge chains. Tears flowed down her cheeks. She was not sad because she was tied and most of her power was sealed. The things that would happen in Pleiades. The sadness brought about by the fact that Auriel had changed to the way she was now. She remembered Sri, Eros, and Gabriel. I should have paid more attention. Because Raguel herself knew. The fact that Auriel had changed since Sri¡¯s death. When Sri descended on Pleiades, Auriel and Raguel were in a deep sleep. When they woke up, Sri¡¯s life was already in danger. Auriel tried to descend on Pleiades. But Pleiades that had already been entered by too many higher beings then fiercely resisted. Moreover, the distance between Pleiades and Heaven was particrly far apart. The enraged Auriel tried to descend on Pleiades at any cost, but that was also unsessful. Because Sri used herst power to cut off all the connections that had been formed. Sri¡¯s intention was clear. She pitied, loved, and cherished the beings of Pleiades, so she did not want Heaven and Hell to be involved in Pleiades anymore. Sri died. Auriel suppressed her will to descend on Pleiades and remained silent. That silence. It seemed peaceful on the outside, but it was not. Unquenchable mes of rage had been burning inside Auriel since then. Raguel herself knew about it. Despite knowing about it, she did not do anything to contain the mes of rage. Or rather, perhaps she pretended to not know. She did not know what to do with the mes of rage, so she had just hoped that time would resolve it. The current situation might be the price. The price for being an idle onlooker. The punishment given to herself for failing to more actively heal Auriel¡¯s wounds. Sariel and Rapha had a sense of guilt in rtion to Sri¡¯s situation. The two had agreed with Auriel not only because of the fact that Pleiades had fooled around with the fate of Heaven. Their deep-seated guilt must have influenced their decisions. ¡®They got a card.¡¯ They created a justification against those who yed with the fate of Heaven. They made a reason for the Great Summons. The higher beings from other worlds weakened the resistance of Pleiades, and Hell took care of the ritual necessary for the descent. Descending itself was clearly not an easy task, but the difficulty level was drastically reduced because of their joint efforts. Raguel¡¯s tears did not stop. She used herst strength to warn Pleiades. But would her warning really work? Would Raguel¡¯s best efforts, or what she did for her trivial self-satisfaction, have any value? ¡°Sri, Eros, Gabriel¡­¡± Her three deceased sisters. The powers of the archangels were not all the same. Compared to Sri, the powers of Eros and Gabriel were negligible as the two were particrly weak among the archangels. But that power was not important. Raguel loved her sisters. She missed her deceased sisters. ¡°Sri¡­¡± Why did you do that? Why did you intervene in Pleiades? Why did you sacrifice your life for them? Ego, personality, and emotion. The archangels capable of emotions were imperfect beings. So was Raguel herself. Her longing and love for Sri, her bitter feelings, her worry for Auriel, herpassion for Pleiades, her despair for her helpless self¡­ All these emotions mixed into her tears. It endlessly flowed along the cheeks of the archangel. *** Landius was a person like the sun. His letter was enough to ignite the mes of hope. ¡°Master had opened the eighth door.¡± Jude himself knew the difference between the seventh door and the eighth door better than anyone else. Therefore, the fact that Landius opened the eighth door made him happy. The present Landius was definitely not on the level of an overlord or an archangel. He was still weakpared to such higher beings. But Jude felt reassured. He felt a sense of stability as if he was standing on solid ground. ¡°He¡¯s freaking awesome. Your father is right.¡± What Jude and Cordelia themselves had changed. The powerful five heroes of Paragon had been reunited. ¡°His letter is interesting.¡± In Landius¡¯ letter, he bragged about the fact that he opened the eighth door, that he was proud as a master to lead the way this time, and such small stuff like ¡®You haven¡¯t opened the eighth door yet, right? Are you still in the sixth or seventh doors?¡¯ But there was also something important written in his letter. [My disciple, if you are reading this letter now, you can probably see it too. The demon followers are trying to have an archangel descend in the imperial capital. Lena says that it will take around 20 days or so. Around 20 days. Yeah, it¡¯s not that short of a time. But it¡¯s not a lot of time either.] There was still the chancellor¡¯s army. The demon followers from the east also boasted a powerful force. [How long will it take for the imperial capital to copse if we proceed with the usual tactics of war? Even if we gather the most elite troops and advance towards the imperial capital to break through at one point, I think it will take more than a month. If our side breaks through at one point, the other side will also defend at that one point, so we may not even reach the imperial capital at all.] His reasoning was valid. It was often forgotten, but Landius was originally a knight of the Paragon Kingdom. He would be the most knowledgeable among the five heroes when it came to warfare. [So this is the conclusion we came up with. We will raid the imperial capital with a small number of elite troops. We will somehow stop the descending ritual of the archangel and remove those behind the ritual so that they will not try it again.] The Archbishop Manu. The leader of the demon followers who caused the destruction of Pleiades. [It¡¯s a reckless n. It¡¯s crazy too. But it¡¯s also worth a try.] Jude had a bitter smile. Because they already had a history of doing that in the past. These five heroes alone had charged into the Paragon royal pce upied by a Demon Prince and his forces. ¡®But in the end, they defeated the Demon Prince.¡¯ The miracle caused by the five heroes of Paragon. ¡®Furthermore¡­¡¯ Until now, Archbishop Manu often ran away after pretending to fight Landius. But the situation was different this time. Manu could not escape even if he wanted to because of the descending ritual of the archangel, so this was the perfect opportunity for Landius to punish Manu. [Thus we tried to find a way. It would be impossible for even a small number of troops to infiltrate the empire and then attack the capital. We gathered opinions on how to safely infiltrate and attack the imperial capital¡­ and we eventually came to one conclusion.] ¡°The legacy of Eros.¡± Jude said and Cordelia who was reading the letter with him also nodded as her eyes sparkled. [One of the legacies left on Pleiades by Eros, the goddess of love. It¡¯s the so-called airship. A ship that flies in the sky. Fran knows where it is. Continuous operation is impossible, but it¡¯s possible to use it for a one-way trip to the imperial capital.] He was correct. The legacy of Eros, the archangel of love. The aerial cruise ship, Erotika. It was a ship that was originally not forbat, but it was still a ship of an archangel. Its defense was excellent, so it could be used for attacking the capital. ¡®As master have said, it can only be used once.¡¯ The primary reason why Jude and Cordelia did not find and ride Erotika was because there was a limit to the number of trips. Now that Eros was gone, the ship could only be moved once, or two to three times at most. [Then Jude. Will we meet Adide too?] Jude nodded at Cordelia¡¯s message. [Maybe. We¡¯ll probably meet her.] Adide was said to be the most beautiful person in Legend of Heroes 2. A unique character who only appeared with a veiled face instead of a bare face, as it was said that it was impossible to express her very beautiful face with an illustration. She was a descendant of the Eros denomination that protected Erotika. Given the timing, it was highly likely that she would appear as the pilot of Erotika. ¡®In the end, Keynes and Maximilian are the only ones we¡¯ve never met.¡¯ yable characters from the side of the empire. They did not feel bad for Keynes who was basically a viin, but not for Maximilian who yed an indispensable role among the yable characters. ¡®Where and what is he doing now?¡¯ Maximilian originally worked for the Royal Knights so they should have met him when they met Leon, but something went wrong as he did not even take the Royal Knights entrance exam at all. Unlike the setting of Legend of Heroes 2 where Leon was his close friend since childhood, they were only friends. Jude wondered where Maximilian was now. Scarlet had said that she had met him in the royal capital, but it was questionable on why he appeared in the S?len Kingdom and not the empire. ¡®No, that¡¯s not what¡¯s important right now.¡¯ After all, they did not have enough time to find Maximilian and wee him as an ally. Even if Maximilian, the official cheat character of Legend of Heroes 2, had grown up normally, he would not be as strong as Lucas who explosively grew. ¡®That is, if he went through the normal growth route¡­¡¯ That part somehow bothered Jude, but he stopped thinking about it. He focused on the letter again. [My disciple, as you are reading this letter, I am probably traveling with mypanions in search of Erotika. I wille to you as soon as we discover Erotika. Until then, work hard in training the sixth door ¨C no, maybe it¡¯s the seventh door¡­ Anyway, do your best in your training.] ¡°Master, I¡¯m sorry.¡± I¡¯m already in the eighth door. After reading the letter with a faint smile, Jude impulsively kissed Cordelia who had a mischievous smile and looked back at everyone. Some people looked at them awkwardly. His father-inw appeared to be both happy and embarrassed. Jude cleared his throat and told everyone. His mind became clear because of Landius¡¯ letter, and he was able to decide on their next step right away. ¡°First of all, Master talked about Erotika.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Ero¡­tica?¡± Jude slightly blushed at Kajsa¡¯s question, and exined one after another what Erotika was and how it would be used. ¡°What Master said is right. Now that we have only 21 days to spare, a surprise attack on the imperial capital is the only solution. So until Master finds Erotika, let¡¯s boost our power.¡± Jude had a lively voice. Therefore, even those who were shocked at the reckless n of raiding the imperial capital were able to focus on Jude¡¯s words instead of being discouraged or confused. ¡°If we want to boost our power in a short period of time, items are the best. Lucas, please go to the royal capital. We need the divine sword ¨ªomh Sis.¡± This legacy of Sri wasparable to the Sr de used by Landius. It was originally intended to protect the royal capital, but the royal capital would cease to exist if they could not prevent the descent of an archangel. The enemies also confined themselves in the imperial capital, so they could not attack the royal capital. Thus, it was fine to take the sword in order to stop the descending ritual. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me I¡¯m using it?¡± ¡°Yes, you¡¯ll be using it.¡± The Holy King¡¯s Cross Sword utilized divine power. Sri¡¯s sword was good enough for a graduation item for the present Lucas. ¡°And we¡¯ll keep in touch with you, so get your equipment in the royal capital. Perhaps by now, the dragon equipment isplete.¡± ¡°Dragon equipment? Don¡¯t we already have it?¡± ¡°Yes. But the new ones are equipment that have been upgraded to a higher level¡­ and made with more time.¡± They did not leave Cassius behind in their estate for no reason. There were a few equipment that took a long time to make from the time they first brought it to her, but those should bepleted by now. ¡°So please do me a favor. Please deliver the news to Cassius. Please tell her to hurry up ande quickly to the royal capital.¡± When Jude naturally turned to the witch of the west forest, she had a bitter smile and nodded. She was originally going to help by giving them various information, but since Jude and Cordelia already knew about it, she could only help in this way now. ¡°ck Cloa-¡­ I mean, Jude. Where are you going then? Do you have anything else to take care of?¡± Sending Lucas to the royal capital meant that Jude and Cordelia were going to a different ce. At Scarlet¡¯s sharp question, Jude turned to Cordelia who shrugged and smiled. ¡°That¡¯s right, we¡¯re going to a different ce.¡± The two were already armed with the strongest equipment, but stillcked one thing. Four seasons and four elements. They had all the four seasons, but not thest one of the four elements. Thest Fairy Queen. ¡°We¡¯re going to find the Water Fairy Queen.¡± And steal ¨C no, take the Water Protection toplete that. The greatest protection in Legend of Heroes 2 that was a protection of fantasies since no one obtained it. ¡°The Fairy King¡¯s Protection.¡± And the new power that they could have through it. [Why do you both have dark smiles when you¡¯re just going to do something good?] [Because both of them are already ck inside.] At Melissa¡¯smentation and Valencia¡¯s enlightening words, Jude and Cordelia looked at each other and exchanged dark smile again. Chapter 343: The Lull Before the Storm (2)

Chapter 343: The Lull Before the Storm (2)

Once the n was set, everyone began to move. Elune¡¯s aide did not attempt to summarize the surprising facts. She conveyed exactly what she heard from Jude to the leader of the elves, Vincenzo Lombardi, who doubted if Elune¡¯s aide had gone crazy, but soon epted the story. ¡°Anyway, the countdown has begun.¡± They only had around 21 days left. After that time, the demon followers¡¯ attempt to descend an archangel, which sounded more absurd than the repeated destruction or copy and paste method, would be a reality. Vincenzo nced at the message sent by the empress dowager and the report sent by Elune¡¯s aide before covering his wrinkled face with his hands. He unconsciously spoke in a feeble voice. ¡°I¡¯ve lived too long.¡± Elves with wrinkles on their faces were rare. The treason of Elio Lombardi. The absurd reason why he tried tomit treason. And even the events that followed. ¡®Is this it?¡¯ Vincenzo inadvertently felt that way. A great battle for the fate of the world would begin, but Vincenzo himself could do very little about it. And that fact made the old him, who had been leading the elves for a long time, feel the passage of time again. ¡®But I have to do what I have to do.¡¯ The usual Vincenzo would have chosen to take a step back from here. Because he had to prepare in case Jude Bayer¡¯s ns failed. It was Vincenzo¡¯s task to stock up on supplies and power as much as possible in preparation for that time. But Vincenzo did not do that. Instead of stepping back and conserving his power, he generously brought out the various treasures of the Shadow Forest¡¯s elves. He did not know if it was the vague memories of his past lives that he could not properly remember or if it was his unique investment sense that allowed the elves to have their massive wealth. He was also unsure if both were the reason. ¡°Is this the end of the world?¡± With a dejected smile, Vincenzo called his subordinates. Instead of preparing for the aftermath, he delivered several orders to prevent the destruction itself. *** Kirara asked with wide open eyes. ¡°Are you two going alone?¡± The big eyes that looked up were cute and pitiful enough, but Cordelia nodded with an apologetic face. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. We have to hurry since we don¡¯t have time. Instead, I¡¯lle back as soon as possible.¡± When Cordelia gently replied, Kirara nodded with a gloomy expression. The way her tail drooped seriously looked pitiful, but it could not be helped. ¡®I¡¯m sorry! I¡¯m really sorry!¡¯ In fact, there was no such thing as ack of time, but this was herst chance to travel with Jude. But as it had been said initially, they definitely did not have time. They had no time to do anything else while traveling. But she just wanted to be alone with Jude this time. If they could not stop Auriel¡¯s descent or the Great Summons, all that was left was their destined destruction. ¡°Master, take care ande back safely.¡± Kirara sadly spoke and suddenly hugged Cordelia¡¯s waist, and Cordelia patted Kirara¡¯s back and head that had buried itself in her chest. ¡°Yes, yes, I¡¯ll be back. Take care too, Kirara.¡± Their trip would only take a few days at most, but Cordelia spoke as kindly as possible. It was her original personality, but the fact that Kirara had also remembered the memories of her previous live also bothered Cordelia. ¡®You¡¯re going to be abandoned again this time. So betray them.¡¯ Kirara frowned at the voice in her mind, but she did not reply back. Because she now knew the identity of the voice in her mind. It was her memories from her past lives. Kirara¡¯s own memories of betraying over and over again. The one talking to her was not someone with an ego. It was Kirara¡¯s own thoughts. Because Kirara herself had always been a traitor who had been abandoned, suspected, and hated in her repeated past lives. ¡®But it¡¯s different this time.¡¯ Because I met my masters. Because my master gave me faith before I lost it. Kirara knew herself well. She recalled quite a few memories of her past lives, but it would not be of much help in raiding the imperial capital. It was highly likely that she would not be able to join the final expedition. ¡®But still¡­¡¯ There must be something that I can do. What I can do for Jude and Cordelia, my beloved masters. ¡°Master, I really, really like you.¡± ¡°I really like you too.¡± Cordelia¡¯s answer was sweet, soft, and warm. It was not much, but her sincerity made the Kirara who recalled the memories of her previous lives burst into tears without realizing it. But instead of continuously crying, she let Cordelia go. ¡°This Kirara will do her best.¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s do our best together.¡± At Cordelia¡¯s bright smile, Kirara did not cry anymore. She showed a bright smile. *** Red Wind frowned as she watched Kirara who kept sticking to Cordelia. Why does that thieving cat b*tch keep sticking to unnie? It had only been a few hours since she had met Kirara, but the situation was different when she included her past lives. She and Kirara had killed each other several times. Most of the memories of her past lives that appeared one after another were blurry as if it were beyond the fog, but there were also some clear ones among those memories. The Kirara who approached her, saying that she was from the wildnds too, but ended up betraying her. The Kirara who stabbed her in the back. Those definitely happened in their past lives. It did not happen in the present. But as Jude had said, what happened to Pleiades was not a regression. Everything in the past was something that really happened. ¡°This time, it¡¯s really¡­¡± Red Wind softly whispered. Instead of looking at that ursed Kirara, she turned to Cordelia and Jude, feeling deeply grateful. The wildnds always copsed in the past that had been repeated many times. Not only did they copse but were also deprived of freedom and will when they became ves to the demons. This was the first time that the wildnds had been saved. And it was Jude and Cordelia who brought that salvation. ¡°I can¡¯t help but admit it. They are both the saviors and guardians of the wildnds.¡± At the words of Violent Avnche, Red Wind unconsciously smiled. ¡°Didn¡¯t you admit it before then?¡± Violent Avnche grumbled in response to the words of Red Wind, replying with a snort. ¡°A-anyway!¡± ¡°Anyway, you admitted it before, right?¡± ¡°Argh, okay! I admitted it! And I admit it again!¡± Red Wind smiled again at the words of the bear cub as it stood up, and Violent Avnche grumbled and continued. ¡°Moving on, it¡¯s a surprising story, and our wildnds cannot just stand still. I will tell the story to Golden Dragon King and think about if there is any other way we can help.¡± Around a thousand years ago. The wild gods could not join the fight when Pleiades suffered from the overlords of Hell. Because there was no proper wild god at that time. But it was different this time. The wild gods wanted to join the effort in protecting the world as inhabitants of Pleiades. ¡°There must be something we can do.¡± Violent Avnche with his baby bear face spoke with a bitter smile and looked west where the wildnds was. *** Lucas felt troubled while everyone was trying to stop the impending doom. Scarlet and Kajsa. His past lovers. He recalled his memories quite clearly now. Except for Jude and Cordelia, Lucas was probably the one who recovered the most memories. ¡®Next are Scarlet and Kajsa.¡¯ So there was a problem. The memories of his past lives were so vivid. Scarlet was his lover, and Kajsa was also his lover. The memories and feelings of loving both of the two came to his mind at the same time and coexisted. And it was the same with Scarlet and Kajsa. The only difference was the fact that Lucas was their only lover in their previous lives. Scarlet and Kajsa stared at each other. Sometimes they were enemies, sometimes they were friends, so the two exchanged seriouslyplex gazes. They ultimately looked at Lucas. ¡°So who is it in the end?¡± The first person to eventually speak was Kajsa who had the rashest personality. The meaning of her question was clear. Me or Scarlet. Who is your lover? Kajsa stared at Lucas with a mixture of longing, anger, and eagerness. And at that gaze, Lucas recalled the memories of his past lives when he passionately loved Kajsa. She was outspoken and cheerful, but actually had a very soft heart. ¡°Lucas?¡± Scarlet also gazed at Lucas. There was a bit of fierceness and sadness in her eyes. Lucas remembered his memories with Scarlet again. An elegant rose. She covered herself with sharp thorns, but was not harsh. She was a woman with a heart that was kinder and warmer than anyone else. The nights he spent with them. The times they spent together. ¡®Eueueueugh¡­¡¯ I can¡¯t exactly say who it is. I love them both equally. No, is it even possible to measure the degree of love in the first ce? It sounds like a trashy idea, but I want to be lovers with both of them again. ¡®Eueugh¡­ I¡¯m trash.¡¯ So he could not put those words into his mouth. It was obviously impossible for him to choose one of the two. He could not choose none, but also could not choose one above the other. When Lucas only groaned and could not give a proper answer, Kajsa and Scarlet¡¯s expressions both turned worse. However, the two understood Lucas¡¯ situation to some extent. Because they also had memories of being an enemy when they met Lucas. Scarlet knew how much Lucas and Kajsa loved each other. Kajsa also knew that Lucas was willing to sacrifice his life for Scarlet. Therefore, an extremelyplicated whirlpool of emotions was created. ¡®Ueueue¡­¡¯ Lucas was genuinely distressed. He tried hard to remember Biltwein¡¯s quotes, but nothing helped him. Because Biltwein was an exemry hero who only loved for his whole life one woman he was destined with. ¡®Still¡­ is it a relief?¡¯ Oneforting fact was that both Scarlet and Kajsa prioritized their memories of being his lovers over their memories of being enemies. It was quite natural if one thought about it a bit. Bing an enemy in their previous lives was neither his own will nor the wills of Scarlet and Kajsa. They only became an enemy when they were captured and forcibly turned into demonic humans, or was controlled by a magic sword and lost their self, so it was natural for them now to prioritize their memories as lovers. ¡°That¡­ Uh¡­ Ah!¡± Lucas who had been thinking hard suddenly raised his head and pped his hands. ¡°First of all! Why don¡¯t we focus on securing ¨ªomh Sis first?¡± It was important to stop Auriel¡¯s descent before all else. To put it bluntly, it was an indecisive opinion to postpone making a final decision, but Scarlet nodded her head. ¡°Yeah, we have to prevent the destruction first.¡± She knew now that she had recovered the memories of her past lives. Except for Jude and Cordelia, the strongest among their current group was Lucas. It was clear that he would also participate in the imperial capital raid that would take ce soon, so they had to strengthen Lucas¡¯ power with ¨ªomh Sis. Lucas breathed in relief when Scarlet agreed, and Kajsa also nodded upon seeing that, although she had a disagreeing expression. ¡°Okay, because it cannot be helped.¡± Because they had to stop the destruction first. Lucas sighed in relief again. He had a small but happy smile. But that was only for a moment. ¡°Still, you can¡¯t dy it too much. So let¡¯s think about it while we go to the royal capital. And make a decision after that.¡± ¡°Kajsa?¡± Kajsa bit her lips at Lucas¡¯ call, but she said again as her face turned red. ¡°Because we might fail.¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t know if we will die this time too!¡± Their situation was the best this time, as Count Bayer had said. It was obvious that Jude and Cordelia, as well as everyone on Pleiades, would do their best to prevent the destruction. But they still did not know. If they could not stop it this time, if the destruction came. ¡°Two days¡­ no, even just a day¡­¡± I want to make love. I don¡¯t want to leave any regrets. Because it¡¯s fate for us to meet again. Because it¡¯s hard to know if there is a next time. ¡°I agree.¡± Scarlet said. She understood Kajsa¡¯s feelings. In fact, Scarlet felt the same way. ¡°I feel like I¡¯m being controlled by the memories of my past lives¡­ but it¡¯s still mine. Because this heart is definitely mine.¡± Scarlet spoke to herself and had a faint smile. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the royal capital first. Let¡¯s talk as we go¡­ let the three of us think well of it. If it¡¯s the Lucas I know, even if you do not give a proper answer¡­ but at least you¡¯ll give an honest answer.¡± At Scarlet¡¯s words full of faith, Lucas nodded with a resolute expression instead of an awkward one. It was funny to have a resolute determination for something like this, but it was also really Lucas-like. Lucas always did his best. He was a pure and sincere man. Scarlet and Kajsa both knew it. If he were someone else, he would clearly be broken by Jude. He would be rotten because he could not ovee his feelings of inferiority and envy. But Lucas never did that. Instead of being crushed by his feelings of inferiority and envy, he always moved forward one step at a time. Something that not anyone could do. It was only possible because he was Lucas. ¡°Okay, then let¡¯s go. It¡¯s meaningless to stay here longer, so let¡¯s head straight to the royal capital.¡± As Kajsa cheerfully spoke, Scarlet also nodded. She sneakily held Lucas¡¯ hand and said. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Lucas.¡± ¡°Yes, Scarlet.¡± Lucas seriously answered and had a firm smile on his face instead of blushing. Scarlet and Kajsa nced at each other. They shared the sameplex gaze and smile at each other, though it had a slightly different meaning than before. *** The five heroes led by Landius began their journey towards Erotika. The Guardians of the Holy Cross that had been gathered by the five heroes also began to head south to join the kingdom¡¯s army. Jude and Cordelia spread the map. They decided on a destination based on the information they had collected so far, and prepared to depart. The chancellor¡¯s army also began to move. Archbishop Manu met the agent of the archangel who came from the north. The demonic humans moved too. The leader of the Devil¡¯s Hand spread themand of Asmodeus to the demonic humans and established a certain n. It was necessary to protect the imperial capital where the ritual was being held. When everyone was busy moving like that. There was someone who stood up in the north. He barely recovered his memories of his previous lives. But he realized that something was wrong, that his beloved disciple had lost his will and was being controlled by someone. His injuries were severe. His life was saved, whether it was by luck or the remaining will of his disciple despite being controlled, but he was not in a condition where he could properly move. Nheless, he stood up. He instinctively moved towards the south. His disciple had definitely gotten stronger. But it was not because he went a little further towards the horizon. It was because of the various divine and new items all over his body that strengthened his body and mind. ¡°Maximilian¡­¡± The man called the Sword God took a step. And another day passed. Twenty days were left before the descent of the archangel. Chapter 344: The Last Fairies (1)

Chapter 344: The Last Fairies (1)

¡°Will we ever meet again?¡± ¡°We will meet again.¡± ¡°Again, just like now¡­¡± ¡°We will. Definitely.¡± *** The night after the meeting. Lying with their stomachs on the ground while beside each other, Jude and Cordelia looked down at the big map. ¡°These are the locations of the fairies we have met so far¡­ The Water Fairies, thest ones, are highly likely to be here.¡± Jude marked the locations of the fairies one by one on the map. The Fall Fairies and Winter Fairies they met in the north. The Wild Fairies they met in the wildnds. The Summer Fairies they met in the royal capital, and the Spring Fairies in the Forest of Eternity by the south. ¡°The Breeze Fairies and the Fire Fairies.¡± They met Elune¡¯s friends, the Breeze Fairies, in the Shadow Forest. They encountered the Fire Fairies near Gallus¡¯ Tomb. Seven out of eight. All that was left now were thest fairies, the Water Fairies. As if retracing their journey so far, Jude marked the ces where they met the fairies one by one on the map before moving his hand for thest time. Towards a ce he calcted bybining the knowledge of Legend of Heroes 2 and the information he had heard from the fairies they had met. ¡°The eastern part of the empire.¡± ¡°Because it¡¯s a ce we haven¡¯t been to before.¡± The eastern part of the empire was now upied by the chancellor¡¯s army and the demon followers from the eastern countries. Fortunately, the valley where the Water Fairies were supposed to be was located within the area secured by the Guardians of the Holy Cross and the kingdom¡¯s army. ¡°It¡¯s deep in the forest in the first ce, so no one will care.¡± ¡°Thest fairies¡­¡± With her hands propping up her chin, Cordelia muttered and looked back at the northern part of the kingdom where they first met the fairies. It had been less than two years ago, which felt like a short time. But she had a really strange feeling. She felt like it was something that had happened a long time ago yet also felt like it was something that happened yesterday. She did not know if it was because she remembered a lot of memories from her past lives or if memories were originally like that. ¡°I never imagined that you would sing Little Star there.¡± When Jude said and grinned, Cordelia lightly blushed and pouted. ¡°Tsk, do you remember what Cordelia sang in Legend of Heroes 2 then? People who remember it are weird.¡± Legend of Heroes 2 portrayed the story of Pleiades almostpletely, but it was not perfect. There were small differences in details. Like Cordelia¡¯s song that Cordelia herself did not know. ¡°Do you remember that time? The time we acted in a y?¡± ¡°Yes, I remember that.¡± The story of the Archmage and the Fairy Queen which they performed enthusiastically in front of the Winter Fairies. They could do it now naturally because they had done ¡®it¡¯ a lot, but it was awkward back then. ¡°Why areughing so much?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just¡­¡± He remembered the fairies who were telling them to kiss. Jude snickered and then pointed to the ce where they met the Wild Fairies. ¡°It reminds me of this ce too.¡± ¡°Where we got some interesting items?¡± ¡°That too, but don¡¯t you remember what you said after defeating the monster?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± When Cordelia tilted her head, Jude clicked his tongue and lightly flicked Cordelia¡¯s forehead. ¡°You told them that since there was no bridge anymore, there wouldn¡¯t be any monsters that would block the bridge. My goodness. I really thought you were a demon. I still remember the Fairy Queen¡¯s expression.¡± Her face that waspletely pale. As Jude continued to snicker, Cordelia puffed up her cheeks and spanked Jude¡¯s butt. ¡°I hate you, I hate you!¡± ¡°You¡¯re so cute.¡± Jude snickered again with his chin propped up by his hands and pointed to the royal capital. ¡°It was fun there too.¡± ¡°Are you talking about the night pool?¡± ¡°Yes, the night pool.¡± ¡°But Jude.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°So who did you go with there?¡± In your past life. Not in Pleiades but on Earth. Who¡¯s that b*tch ¨C no, who did you go with? Cordelia asked with a smile, and Jude unconsciously flinched before replying. ¡°N-No. It was just work. I just went with my colleagues for work. It was a security mission, okay?¡± ¡°Just work?¡± ¡°Yes, just work.¡± As Judeughed ¡®hahaha,¡¯ Cordelia said with a smile on her lips. ¡°That¡¯s strange? At that time, you said you only heard about it, that you had never been there?¡± She was clearly smiling, but her eyes were not smiling. Jude could feel the sweat going down his back. ¡°I-Is that so? Ah, that¡¯s right. I see. I guess my memory was a little wrong back then. That¡¯s right. My memories only became clearer when I remembered the memories of my past lives.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ I see. This world¡¯s Jude must have remembered it wrong. He remembered stuff about the soil but could not remember whether he went to the night pool or not. I see. That¡¯s possible.¡± Jude swallowed hard and quickly moved his fingers. Although he kept trembling, he somehow managed to point to the Forest of Eternity. ¡°Wow! Didn¡¯t my princess do a great job here?¡± In the midst of battle, she summoned at once the Spring Fairies that no other elves could do, getting the things she wanted in a fast way. ¡°You threatened them through chocte. Moreover, that creative intimidation method. This amateur could not help but admire you.¡± ¡°You¡¯re like a middle-aged man who¡¯s trembling yet ying innocent.¡± ¡°Ugh.¡± Jude did not expect to be struck in his sore spot, but he responded with a calm expression. ¡°No, I was still in my 20s then¡­¡± It was in the veryst of thetter half of his 20s though. But at Jude¡¯s excuse, Cordelia snorted and said coldly. ¡°When my cousin went to the military, everyone called him a middle-aged man.¡± Jude had nothing to say at her perfect reasoning. T/N: Middle-aged man here is called ¡®ahjussi¡¯ in Korean. It¡¯s what younger Koreans call (1) older males who are of the same generation as their parents, (2) males in theirte 20s, or (3) their own uncles. Jude is offended because he prefers being an ¡®oppa¡¯, a term used by females to call older males within their generation. He was defeated, and Cordelia giggled before pinching Jude¡¯s cheek. ¡°Well, aren¡¯t we the same age now?¡± They had experienced the past many times. While Cordelia giggled, Jude stared at her with a firm look and said. ¡°I¡¯ll punish youter.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll properly punish youter.¡± At Jude¡¯s deration of war (?), Cordelia awkwardly smiled and pointed to the empire as if trying to change the topic. ¡°The Breeze Fairies were nice too. They were very pure.¡± ¡°Because we¡¯ve already gotten used to the fairies¡¯ behavior.¡± They did not know how to deal with them at first, so they were exhausted every time they met the fairies, but not now. ¡°Aren¡¯t the Fire Fairies a little strange?¡± ¡°They weren¡¯t like fairies at all.¡± In addition, there was the Fire Fairy Queen¡¯s words. Perhaps she remembered some of her past lives¡¯ memories even before she met Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Haa¡­ there¡¯s really only one left now. Somehow, I can¡¯t believe it.¡± Cordelia said as her cheek touched the map, and Jude also nodded. Their memories of destruction had been repeated many times. Even Jude who remembered the most could not fully remember it all. He only had some fragmented memories. Anyway, they would meet thest Fairy Queen andplete the Fairy King¡¯s Protection. Together with everyone, they would head towards the final battlefield. This time, they would achieve a perfect happy ending. Jude turned to Cordelia. He thought as he unknowingly caressed her cheek. After they leave the Red Gate tomorrow morning, they could not stop anymore. No one could predict how their n would proceed. So today was thest time. ¡°It¡¯s not thest time.¡± Cordelia said. She gently held Jude¡¯s hand on her cheek and said it again. ¡°It will continue in the future. It will not be thest. We will make sure of that.¡± Jude nodded. He kissed Cordelia¡¯s forehead and cheek before naturally pushing her at her side to make her lie down on her back. ¡°I love you, Cordelia.¡± ¡°I love you too.¡± She was shy and embarrassed no matter how many times she said it. Her heart was always pounding. So Judeughed. He lightly held Cordelia¡¯s waist and mischievously whispered. ¡°Now is time for your punishment.¡± ¡°You¡¯re really like a middle-aged¨C Kyaa?!¡± Jude lightly bit Cordelia¡¯s ear and did not stop. As he had promised, Cordelia was punished. *** The next morning. Cordelia who hardly slept nced at Jude with a cold expression, and Jude said with a smirk. ¡°Wasn¡¯t it good though?¡± Cordelia kicked Jude¡¯s butt instead of answering, and Jude snickered again before looking at the desk. A love letter that was even sealed inside a pretty envelope. It now felt wrong to not leave it whenever they went somewhere. ¡°Can I see what¡¯s written inside?¡± ¡°N-No way. I don¡¯t want to show you.¡± Cordelia firmly spoke and snorted before wearing her cloak and grabbing Moonlight. ¡°Stop fussing around and let¡¯s go. I¡¯ll punish you if you use your ability to see through things, okay?¡± At Cordelia¡¯s sharp remark, Jude who was about to open the fifth door had a sly smile and said. ¡°Well, will you show it to me someday?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll think about it.¡± The Cordelia snorting in the end was really like her. Therefore, Jude happily hugged her waist and immediately carried her in his arms. ¡°Shall we go now?¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go.¡± Jude inly replied at her in words. He kissed Cordelia¡¯s forehead before stepping out the window. A ck gale crossed the empire. Melissa silently watched them and spoke in an exasperated voice. [By the way. I¡¯m always thinking about it, but why aren¡¯t you riding the Phantom Steed? It¡¯s not like you can¡¯t ride it in daytime.] [You already know the answer, don¡¯t you?] Valencia said so and clicked her tongue, but her face was smiling. *** Jude and Cordelia¡¯s journey went smoothly. They did not rush too much because they had nned to meet with Landius and Lucas anyway. They ran during the day and rested at night. The third night since their departure. Upon arriving at the valley, Jude and Cordelia hurriedly took off their clothes. They had nothing to be embarrassed of because they were already wearing inside the swimwear from the royal capital. The season was early autumn. Therefore, the night air was quite chilly, but it did not bother Jude and Cordelia at all since they were covered with various protections. In fact, it would not be an exaggeration to say that they were immune to it. ¡°Why are you staring at me like that?¡± ¡°Nothing, I just like your abs.¡± When Cordelia said as she licked her lips, Judeughed and ced his hand on Cordelia¡¯s stomach. ¡°I like it too.¡± ¡°Hmph.¡± Cordelia hmphed like usual but did not shake off Jude¡¯s hand. Rather, she grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the valley. There were two moons in the sky and the silent water. There was also the sound of grasshoppers the wind carried. Jude and Cordelia slowly dipped their toes into the water. They hugged each other and sang the usual song. ¡°Twinkle, twinkle little star.¡± ¡°Shining beautifully.¡± They sang one verse each. And right after that, Jude and Cordelia both stretched out their hands and caught those who were flying. Swoosh! ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± The Water Fairies caught by the hands of Jude and Cordelia then blinked their big eyes, and the two proceeded to the next step. They shoved a piece of chocte into the mouths of the captured fairies. ¡°Aah, aaaah?¡± ¡°Amazing!¡± As expected, the Fire Fairies were strange. Jude and Cordelia conversed with their eyes and looked back at the fairies who became obsessed with the chocte and the fairies who gathered one by one in their curiosity. They said with dark smiles to thembs who had already been ensnared by the devil. ¡°Let¡¯s go y this night.¡± With your queen. The smiles of Jude and Cordelia were so attractive that the fairies who were immersed in the magic of chocte did not refuse it. At the valley in early autumn, around a dozen or so days left before the archangel¡¯s descent. Jude and Cordelia met thest Fairy Queen. Chapter 345: The Last Fairies (2)

Chapter 345: The Last Fairies (2)

The Water Fairy Queen was an exemry fairy queen. In other words, she was kind, cute, good-natured, and innocent like a child. ¡°May the protection of water be with you.¡± In human age, she would be around 13 to 14 years old. When the Water Fairy Queen, who was simr in age to Kirara, smiled broadly with a chocte-filled face, the blue Water Protection covered Jude and Cordelia. The eighth and thest. The blue water droplets that wrapped around the two spun around and were sucked into the Fairy¡¯s Bonds on their arms. And it was at that moment. ¡°Ooooh?!¡± ¡°The bracelets are glowing!¡± ¡°How pretty!¡± The Fairy¡¯s Bonds began to shine with colorful light. Hearing the cheers and urgings of the fairies, Jude and Cordelia raised their arms, and at that moment, eight spheres of light were emitted from the Fairy¡¯s Bonds. ¡°It¡¯s uniting!¡± ¡°Light!¡± ¡°A crest is being made!¡± Thementaries of the fairies were true. There were four lights and another four lights. As it spun together, beautiful crests made of light appeared in the air. Spring, summer, fall, and winter. The Great Protection of the Four Seasons that was created bybining the protections of the four different seasons into one. Earth, fire, wind, and water. The Great Protection of the Four Elements that was created bybining the protections of the four elements into one. The two also became one. As soon as the two different crests ovepped, apletely new crest appeared. It was the beautiful and radiant glory of the fairies. The symbol of the Fairy King was surrounded by eight lights. Eight lights covered the night sky. Light gently shined down like an aurora and broke the boundary between heaven and earth. ¡°Wow.¡± The fairies brightly smiled and purely admired it while the Water Fairy Queen covered her blushing cheeks in her pure joy. The wind blew. It was a gentle breeze. There was the heat of the desert, the coolness of the valley, the coldness of the pr region, and the salty smell of the sea. It swept beautifully and opened a road to the night sky. At the end of the road, a magnificent door opened and a being came out. The one and only male born from the fairy race made up of only females. The Fairy King had golden hair and wings, and skin like white porcin. When he appeared covered with a halo, the fairies let out exmations at once. Their cheering shouts sounded like screams. ¡°Kya!¡± ¡°It¡¯s the king!¡± ¡°I like you!¡± In fact, it was the first time everyone had seen him. But they could not calm the fluttering of their hearts. And it was the same for the Water Fairy Queen. The Water Fairy Queen tightly sped her hands and stared at the Fairy King who wiped the chocte off the Fairy Queen¡¯s lips with his hand. He lightly sucked the chocte on his thumb and greeted her with a wink. ¡°Aaah¡­¡± The Water Fairy Queen then fainted. The Fairy King gently caught the Fairy Queen¡¯s waist andid her down, and the Fairy Knight, the queen¡¯s guard and the onlybat force of the Water Fairies, looked after the queen before ncing at the Fairy King. There were pink hearts in her eyes. ¡°Ah¡­ They really are like fairies.¡± When Cordelia said with a smile, Jude quietly smiled and agreed. In the past, Jude would have been mesmerized by these spectacle, but now that he had experienced all kinds of situations, he could quite tolerate it. ¡®Did I develop a resistance?¡¯ While Jude grinned, the Fairy King pped his wings and flew into the sky. The fairies that came following out of the door sprinkled rose petals from behind the Fairy King. ¡°The rose petals are too big.¡± Because each petal was the size of a fairy¡¯s head. [Let¡¯s move on.] Cordelia nodded at Jude¡¯s message, and the Fairy King finally stood before Jude and Cordelia. ¡°To those who have gathered all the protections of the four seasons and the four elements. My name is Oberon. As you can see, I am the one and only Fairy King.¡± Jude and Cordelia also respectfully gave their greetings at his fairly polite greeting. ¡°I am Count Jude August Bayer of the S?len Kingdom.¡± ¡°Likewise, I am Countess Cordelia August Chase of the S?len Kingdom.¡± Oberon¡¯s face brightened as the two gracefully greeted him. He seemed to be a bit impressed. ¡°You know how to be polite. It¡¯s really nice to meet you. It¡¯s been almost a thousand years since the Fairy King¡¯s Protection appeared in this world, and I am d that you are the recipients of this protection.¡± Oberon softly spoke again and caused a wind to the fallen rose petals that his attendant fairies had sprinkled. The petals that had fallen to the ground then rose up again and decorated the surroundings beautifully. ¡°I¡¯ve been watching your entire journey. I am the Fairy King. I am the older brother and younger brother, the lover and friend of all the Fairy Queens. I was able to watch you through the eyes and ears of the Fairy Queens.¡± Having said that, Oberon smiled again and said while looking at Cordelia. ¡°What you said to the Wild Fairy Queen was very impressive.¡± She had said that there would be no threat to the bridge now if there was no bridge anymore. Cordelia flinched and blushed while Jude held her hand and nced at Oberon. Jude was fine if it was him who teased Cordelia, but could not ept others teasing her. But he was mistaken. Oberon was sincere. ¡°I think it¡¯s a really amazing idea. Sometimes we need to think the other way around. It decreases unhappiness and increases happiness.¡± What kind of nonsense is this? Anyway, Jude rxed his expression since he seemed to be praising Cordelia, and Cordelia awkwardly smiled. ¡°Moving on, I¡¯ve been watching you, so I¡¯m well aware of your situation. Although us fairies live by shutting ourselves away from this world¡­ we are still beings of Pleiades. We cannot dy too much the journey of you two at the critical moment of this world.¡± Oberon straightforwardly spoke and turned to Jude. ¡°This is not the first time we have met. It¡¯s the first time I¡¯m giving you the Fairy King¡¯s Protection, but not the first time we have met.¡± Past lives. Jude also remembered it. One of the few past lives he had where he was together with Cordelia. ¡°We meet again. That¡¯s a relief. But I hope this will be ourst meeting.¡± Oberon spoke with a sad expression before changing it again. With a big smile, he spread his arms and immediately used his power toplete the Fairy King¡¯s Protection. ¡°May the power of the four seasons and four elements be always with you two.¡± The radiantly shining crest of the Fairy King went into the chests of Jude and Cordelia, and was swiftly sucked into their hearts. They felt nothing at first. But Jude and Cordelia soon felt a marked change. The Fairy King¡¯s Protection was not just a protection. It became one with the possessor. It attached to the soul and reconstructed the body. The power of the four seasons and four elements resided in Jude¡¯s body itself. Cordelia¡¯s body, which had already experienced a kind of transformation by turning into an angel, once again faced a change. Something more beautiful, stronger, and more divine. The sun goddess¡¯ halo reacted. The Dragon Heart of the Ancient Dragon also underwent a change. ¡°AAAAH!¡± Cordelia hugged herself as she let out a dazzling golden light. The Dragon Heart reced the heart of Cordelia, and the number of light wings increased due to the sun goddess¡¯ halo. It did not happen easily. The Dragon Heart that Cordelia had was iplete. However, there was the crest of the Golden Dragon King. The mighty dragon¡¯s power made up for the iplete parts of the Dragon Heart. ¡°AAAAH¡­¡± Her angel rank also moved towards a higher rank. The divine light covered the surrounding area at once before vanishing. And there stood Cordelia. She was standing in the ce where the light vanished. Cordelia¡¯s white and beautiful body was covered by her pink hair and six wings of light. The halo which contained the divine power of the sun goddess also radiated an intense light. A Seraph. One rank below an archangel. A heavenly being equal to the Demon Prince of Hell. It was not perfect though. Sri who was at the top of the angel family tree was already dead, so her power was inferior to that of a true Seraph or a Demon Prince. But even so, she was a Seraph. In Sri¡¯s family tree, there was no one with a higher divinity than Cordelia, and the Dragon Heart and Fairy King¡¯s Protection gave Cordelia transcendental power. ¡°Wow¡­¡± The fairies looked at Cordelia with red faces. They even lost the strength to shout and cheer at her very beautiful appearance. They just gazed at her in admiration. Cordelia slowly opened her eyes and looked at Jude. Jude also changed. Jude¡¯s body, which had already opened the eighth door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors and entered the border of being a transcendental, had straight up became that of a superhuman who obtained the Fairy King¡¯s Protection. Sword Originpletely became one with Jude. The Fairy King¡¯s crest shone on the back of Jude¡¯s right hand, and the Golden Dragon King¡¯s crest shone on the back of his left hand. A body with a perfect built. He was not as big and bulky as Landius. But Jude could sense it. When it came to physical abilities, he was not behind Landius. The other Judes in his previous lives never obtained a body like the one he had now. He was literally a superhuman. The possessor of a soul and body that wasparable to a Seraph or a Demon Prince. Jude and Cordelia looked at each other and smiled at the same time. They gazed at each other with lightly blushing cheeks. [My sessor, you know that now is not the time for this, right?] Jude had a bitter smile at Valencia¡¯s whisper. Fortunately, as the sword spirit of Sword Origin, she was able to keep her ce in Jude¡¯s soul. Jude grinned and looked at Oberon whoughed and moved his fingers. ¡°I think this will suit you two.¡± A ck formal attire wrapped around Jude¡¯s body. A white dress covered Cordelia¡¯s body and increased her beauty. The Fairy King¡¯s Suit and the Fairy Queen¡¯s Dress. The so-called final king-rank items among all the treasures of the fairies. But Oberon did not stop there. He moved his fingers several more times for the guardians who would protect Pleiades. A new ring was added to Cordelia¡¯s finger. A new gem was added to the chest part of her dress, and a thin and sparkly silver chain wrapped around Cordelia¡¯s waist. The Fairy King¡¯s Ring, the Blessing of the Green Goddess made by processing the tears that a goddess of another world shed, and the Night Sky¡¯s Chains made by melting the moonlight. Each one was a great treasure that was equivalent to or higher than that of Awakening Myth-rank dragon equipment. Cordelia had a wide smile at the given additional items, and Jude also had a pleasant smile. However, the two soon could not help but make strange expressions. ¡°That, King Oberon.¡± ¡°Yes, Jude.¡± ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t have anything?¡± Because all the new items were only given to Cordelia. Oberon answered Jude with a face that seemed to say ¡®Isn¡¯t that natural?¡¯ ¡°Isn¡¯t it a natural that a beautiful woman is much better than a handsome man?¡± I recall the Fall Fairy Queen saying something simr. Oberon yed innocent, and Jude shut his mouth, unable to say anything. But fortunately, Cordelia was there. ¡°King Oberon, please don¡¯t do that. Please give some to Jude. Please? We have to protect the world. Please?¡± Oberon flinched at her consecutive ¡®please?¡¯ attacks. Because he was seriously charmed by the determined Cordelia¡¯s cutesy act. Pressing his chest first to calm down his heart that started pounding, Oberon spoke with a bitter smile. ¡°Huu¡­ That¡¯s really bad for my body. Jude, you have a really good fianc¨¦e.¡± ¡°Yes, I am proud of her. She¡¯s my luck, my life, my-¡± ¡°Okay, let¡¯s stop there.¡± Oberon cut his words that seemed to have no end, andughed in amusement as Cordelia giggled. ¡°Jude, I was going to give you the Fairy King¡¯s Sword¡­ but I don¡¯t think you need that sword anymore. So I¡¯ll give you this.¡± As Oberon snapped his fingers, a green ne was hung around Jude¡¯s neck. ¡°It will surely block any attack at least once. But it is only once, so please think carefully before using it. Ah, wait. Are you going to take it off now and give it to Lady Cordelia?¡± When Oberon asked in surprise, Jude nodded and replied. ¡°Yes, because Cordelia is precious to me.¡± It¡¯s an item that can unconditionally block an enemy¡¯s attack once. If I don¡¯t give this to Cordelia, who will I give it to? Cordelia reddened at Jude¡¯s bold assertion, but the corners of her lips twitched while Oberon sighed. ¡°Seriously¡­ haa¡­ seriously.¡± And when he flicked his fingers again, a green ne appeared on Cordelia¡¯s neck. ¡°This is my ne. You two will need it more than me who isn¡¯t on the battlefield.¡± It was Oberon¡¯s own ne and not a spare. So Cordelia spoke with a very moved face. ¡°King Oberon, thank you very much.¡± ¡°Because a beauty is a treasure of the world.¡± Oberon mischievously smiled before pping his wings once and changed to a serious expression. ¡°I think it¡¯s time to say goodbye. Jude, Cordelia. Guardians of Pleiades. I wish you two good luck and good health. May the blessings and protections of all the fairies be with the two of you.¡± Oberon gracefully bowed in greeting, and the fairies behind him sprinkled rose petals everywhere again. And light. Eight colors filled the night sky once again. Standing under the shining aurora, Fairy King Oberon greeted Jude and Cordelia with a wink for thest time. He then became one with the night sky and beautiful lights. *** Lucas drew out the divine sword of Sri, ¨ªomh Sis. An ordinary person could never draw that sword, but the divine sword of the sun goddess recognized the descendant of the Holy King. It unlocked its power for a genuine human hero. ¡°¨ªomh Sis.¡± As Lucas raised the white divine sword high, the glory of the morning broke through the night sky and brilliantly lit up the royal capital of the S?len Kingdom. ¡°Biltwein.¡± He was the ideal hero for Lucas. Am I a bit like him now? Lucas shyly smiled and nced at the women in front of him. Scarlet and Kajsa could not help but smile. They beamed and gave Lucas a round of apuse. At the same time but in a different ce. A white space with some pink color added. Landius stared at the control stick with a tense expression on his face. The eyes of all the five heroes of Paragon were focused on the fingertips of Adide, a woman who wore a veil to hide her very beautiful appearance. They were in the Erotika airship, the gship and abode of the archangel of love, Eros, which was also the temple of Eros. A pink light rose from Adide¡¯s trembling fingertips. It covered the steering wheel before pink lines soon spread throughout the cockpit. ¡°It¡¯s moving! It¡¯s moving!¡± ¡°It¡¯s running!¡± At Fran¡¯s cry, Lena also shouted excitedly, and Landius breathed a sigh of relief. He smiled at Adide whose face he could not see because of her veil, but was sure that she was looking at them and smiling. They still had a long way to go. In order to properly move Erotika, Landius, Lena, and the rest of Paragon¡¯s heroes had to seriously work hard for a few days. But this was weed if it meant protecting this world. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Jude and Cordelia left the eastern part of the empire and headed for the northern part of the empire where Landius and Erotika were. Lucas and his party also went to Erotika with ¨ªomh Sis and the dragon equipment in their arms. Adelia transformed into an angel. The Sword Saint of Stars, Musu, reappeared. The empire¡¯s Sword God was guided by the witch and arrived at Erotika. A few dayster. When there was only a week left until the descent of the archangel. ¡°March.¡± The chancellor¡¯s army finally began to move. Chapter 346: Meteor Strike (1)

Chapter 346: Meteor Strike (1)

¡°I know. But even so, I¡­¡± *** The Erotika airship belonging to Eros, the archangel of love, was fortunately located in the northern part of the empire, within the realm of the emperor¡¯s army. Landius stayed in ce despite the sessful discovery and operation of Erotika because the assault operation using Erotika had to be kept secret. ¡°Gather here.¡± Traveling around the continent using Erotika was not allowed. Therefore, Jude and Lucas directly headed towards the northern part of the empire after finishing their respective tasks. ¡°This is thest temple of Eros. You know that, right?¡± ¡°Of course. This is the starting point of Adide.¡± Instead of going straight north across the eastern part of the empire, Jude and Cordelia went through the northern part of the kingdom and the western part of the empire. In short, they turned around and headed to the northern part of the empire. Because of that, their journey was almost twice as long, but it could not be avoided. Crossing the east that was upied by demon followers was dangerous, even for Jude and Cordelia. Unnecessary risks had to be avoided in order to carry out the grand operation with full force as the fate of the world was at risk. ¡°By the way, Jude. There¡¯s something I really want to do when I meet Adide.¡± Jude had a bitter smile at the words of Cordelia who was on his back. Because he knew what Cordelia wanted to do without him having to ask her. ¡®I mean, I actually want to try it too.¡¯ Adide Hastings, a woman with a transcendental beauty. The strongest person in the world in the realm of beauty, surpassing Cordelia who was called an iparably beautiful girl. Yet there was not a single illustration of her bare face. ¡®It was said that an illustration could not express her beauty.¡¯ It was a very good excuse, but what was interesting was the fact that the Adide here in Pleiades always wore a veil for simr reasons. ¡®They said that anyone who saw Adide¡¯s face would suffer from lovesickness.¡¯ So she covered her face with a veil. For Adide herself and everyone in the world. It was an absurd story, but it was true to some extent. They remembered several incidents of that happening in their previous lives. ¡°So, you want to lift her veil?¡± Cordelia immediately nodded when Jude got it right. ¡°Yes, yes! Aren¡¯t you curious?¡± ¡°I¡¯m curious too.¡± Because he had never seen Adide¡¯s face in all his past lives. ¡°That¡¯s why when we meet this time, I¡¯ll ask if I can take a look. Even just a peek.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ I¡¯m interested too. Should I ask if I can look too?¡± At Jude¡¯s words, Cordelia tightened her arm around his neck instead of nodding like usual. ¡°No! Never! I¡¯m the only one who should see it!¡± ¡°KAAAAK! I mean, why only you? Are you afraid that I¡¯ll fall for Adide?¡± Cordelia groaned at Jude¡¯s question before hugging his neck and whispering softly. ¡°Uhh¡­ J-Just in case¡­¡± Jude flinched at her cute-sounding voice mixed with anxiety and nervousness. He simrly whispered softly, suppressing his urge to immediately hug Cordelia and passionately kiss her. ¡°It¡¯s okay, I only see you, Cordelia. Because my princess will always be the best.¡± [AAAH! STOP! PLEASE! There¡¯s a person here!] Melissa screamed in a desperate voice, but Jude and Cordelia did not listen to her. If it was someone else, Cordelia would have shouted that it was creepy and to stay away from her, but the one who spoke those very childish yet pleasant words was Jude. So Cordelia was blushing and at a loss on what to do, while Jude had a deeper smile. [Hang in there, Melissa. This is our destiny.] Melissa did not hear Valencia¡¯s voice, but she actually knew it too. The two of them who were stuck with this lovey-dovey couple would have to suffer from shame and goosebumps for the rest of their lives. [But¡­ Come to think of it, both of them would have eternal youth. Hmm¡­ it seems like it¡¯s going to be a very long time.] Cordelia was a Seraph, so her lifespan and youth were guaranteed to be like that of High Elves, and because Jude also became a superhuman, he possessed a body that would live for a long time than normal humans. In short, they would remain young for at least a thousand years in the future, and Melissa did not think that the couple¡¯s love would grow cold within those thousand years. Rather, it was possible that they would still remain lovey-dovey with each other. [Eueueueue¡­] I should research and create a male artificial spirit or explore historical sites to find a lover. While Melissa was suffering, Jude and Cordelia who suddenly met eyes then kissed each other on the lips despite Cordelia being on Jude¡¯s back, and Valencia shook her head as she coldly looked at the two. And a day passed. Jude and Cordelia finally arrived at the discovery site of Erotika and were greeted by familiar faces. *** ¡°My disciple!¡± ¡°Master!¡± ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Lena-nim!¡± Landius and Lena ran towards Jude and Cordelia who were running at them too. ¡°May the muscles always be with you!¡± Cordelia was the first to shout and greet them, and Landius loudly chuckled. He made the muscles of his entire body bulge and responded by raising his fist. ¡°May the muscles always be with you.¡± [He¡¯s clearly not normal either.] Melissa¡¯s remark was ignored again this time. Lena softly giggled and Cordelia brightly smiled at that sight. ¡°By the way, my disciple, did you receive my letter?¡± ¡°Yes, Master.¡± If he had not received the letter in the first ce, he would not havee to this ce. [He seems to have some hidden intention.] Valencia¡¯s words were correct. And Jude knew what that hidden intention was. ¡°Ahem, ahem, ahem.¡± His cheeks turned slightly red and he awkwardly cleared his throat. His wide shoulders lightly shrugged. ¡°Congrattions on opening the eighth door.¡± ¡°Ehem, ehem, thank you. As I wrote in the letter, I¡¯ll lead you to the path of the eighth door¡­ Wait a minute.¡± Landius unknowingly looked up and down Jude¡¯s entire body before he blinked his eyes. He took a step back and viewed Jude¡¯s body again, but with wide open eyes this time. ¡°W-Wait. Wait a second.¡± What is that? Why is your body like that? You¡¯ve be a superhuman now. You¡¯vepletely transformed and crossed the border. Huh? How? Why? How in the world? ¡°F*ck.¡± There was only one answer. Jude had also opened the eighth door. He was definitely at the sixth door when they separated, but now, he had crossed the seventh door and opened the eighth door. ¡°Ahem, ahem, well¡­ I somehow did it¡­¡± Jude awkwardly grinned and Cordelia quickly covered her mouth with both hands, though her eyes were smiling very happily. Cheonmujiche. The incarnation of martial arts from the heavens! ¡°Huu¡­¡± How many times did I die while trying to open the eighth door? I literally crossed the line of death several times and died. But Landius¡¯ frustrations (?) did notst long. Soon after, he forced himself to smile and patted Jude on the shoulder. ¡°My disciple, I¡¯m proud of you.¡± They were in a situation where a stronger person was much weed. Moreover, Jude was a person who remembered his past lives more than anyone else. Jude was different from Landius himself who failed to open the eighth door and lost his life before the Great Summons. Jude always experienced the Great Summons and had to live through those hellish times. So Landius could admit it. It was not just because of Cheonmujiche. Jude was qualified to open the eighth door. ¡°M-Master.¡± ¡°Yes, my disciple. I admit it. I have no choice but to admit it.¡± ¡°I-It¡¯s not that¡­¡± Pak! Pak! Pak! Loud patting sounds were heard from Landius¡¯ hand tapping Jude¡¯s back. His show of affection by tapping Jude¡¯s back felt like he was smacking Jude to the ground. ¡°Landy.¡± Lena shook her head as if it could not be helped. She grabbed Landius¡¯ arm while Cordelia quickly grabbed Jude¡¯s arm. ¡°Huu¡­ Anyway, my disciple. Congrattions once again.¡± ¡°Yes, Master. Thank you. Again, congrattions.¡± After their heart-warming finish, the four headed to Erotika besides each other. ¡°As expected, it¡¯s pretty.¡± Erotika was a cruise ship and not a battleship, and a very beautiful vehicle befitting the archangel of love. The white ship was adorned with gold everywhere. It was the so-called airship, but it was more like an airne or a spaceship than a general sailing ship. ¡°I¡¯m Adide Hastings. It¡¯s an honor to meet you.¡± Upon entering Erotika, Adide and three priestesses serving Eros greeted the party. ¡®Wow, it¡¯s true.¡¯ A white veil covering the face. It was not as translucent as the one often used bydies, but the white cloth had gold embroidery, so no one could even figure out the approximate shape of Adide¡¯s face. But Cordelia gulped without realizing it. She thought that Adide was a great beauty just by the splendid lines and atmosphere of her body dressed in white clothes. ¡°Cordelia?¡± Instead of replying, Cordelia tightly hugged the arm of Jude whoughed a bit. ¡°I¡¯m Count Jude August Bayer. This is my fianc¨¦e, Countess Cordelia August Chase.¡± The two slightly bowed before being guided by Adide to the inside of Erotika and the rooms that were assigned to them. Jude had visited Erotika once in his past life, so he spent his time reminiscing the memories that came to mind while enjoying the cuteness of Cordelia who had been nervous since earlier. And the next morning. ¡°Lord Jude, we¡¯re back.¡± Lucas arrived at Erotika with ¨ªomh Sis on his waist. But for some reason, his atmosphere changed. If the previous Lucas was a simple bright boy, it now felt like he became a more mature adult. ¡®Is it because of the memories of his past lives?¡¯ The past lives Lucas remembered were not that manypared to Jude. He barely remembered his past lives when he became a demonic human, and the other past lives he recalled to some extent were those of his memories with Scarlet and Kajsa. But there was one. He became different when he met on the road leading to the horizon his own self who was with the Jude that reached the sword horizon. He recalled many memories of that time, and was able to mature both mentally and physically. ¡°Oh my, did our Lucas be cool?¡± ¡°Thank you. Lady Cordelia has also be more beautiful.¡± In the past, Lucas would have turned red from shyness, but he could now ept it lightly and smile. ¡°Oh dear, you really have be so cool. I think my heart pounded a bit.¡± Regardless of whether Jude was taken aback or not by Cordelia¡¯s words, Lucas had a rxed smile again. As for the two people behind Lucas. Scarlet and Kajsa. ¡®Hmm¡­ did he make a decision already?¡¯ Cordelia pursed her lips and eagerly observed the three, eventually reaching an answer. ¡®He has not decided yet.¡¯ Well, there¡¯s a very important battle in front of us, so it feels like everyone has taken a step back for now. All three of them are very close, but they don¡¯t seem to have crossed the decisive line. ¡®Well¡­ that¡¯s very much like Lucas.¡¯ I wonder if he would just eventually run awayter because he couldn¡¯t choose one of the two? ¡®But Scarlet and Kajsa would still chase him, asking him on who it is.¡¯ It was a mess, but Cordelia had a smile as she imagined the likely future. It might be someone else¡¯s matters, but she briefly prayed to Sri, hoping that the three of them would be happy in the end. ¡°Looks like everyone has gathered.¡± Thest to arrive that evening were Count Bayer and Count Chase. ¡°Adelia¡¯s ancestral regression was sessful.¡± ¡°Wow!¡± Cordelia jumped up from her seat in her delight at Count Chase¡¯s good news, and Jude smiled too. ¡®Everyone in the family are angels except for Edward.¡¯ Jude could imagine the appearance of Edward whining that he would try ancestral regression too. ¡°Sir Landius, are the battle preparationsplete?¡± Landius immediately nodded at the question of Count Bayer. ¡°That¡¯s right. Rather¡­ It¡¯s only now that I have met you. I am Landius, Jude¡¯s master.¡± ¡°I am Alex Bayer, Jude¡¯s father. Thank you very much for being Jude¡¯s master.¡± As the two politely greeted each other, Cordelia unconsciously blinked her eyes. She did not find it strange that the two were respectful to each other, but found it very awkward to see Landius speaking formally and showing respect like that. [I keep forgetting it, but Master is only in his 30s now.] Landius was now in histe thirties. So it was natural for him to treat Count Bayer with respect, as the count was now in histe forties. ¡°Then let¡¯s do ast check.¡± The eldest, Velkian, was unreserved. Gathering the party together, he began to exin with a clear voice. ¡°There are about five to six days left until the descent of the archangel.¡± A considerable amount of time had been wasted in powering up and getting Erotika running. However, the remaining time was not that important as they would stake everything in the one shot they had in this battle. ¡°Those who have gathered here will participate in the assault operation.¡± There were Jude and Cordelia. Lucas, Scarlet, and Kajsa. The five heroes of Paragon. Red Wind and Sun Song. Count Bayer and Count Chase. And the Sword God, who had shut himself in the deepest part of Erotika since his arrival, remained silent. There was a simple reason why they restricted other great swordmasters and archwizards from participating. ¡°We must not be caught moving around.¡± Archbishop Manu was a clever man. He would have known a long time ago the fact that this group would aim for the imperial capital in the end. It would have been a too obvious sign that the strong people who were active at the frontlines had suddenly disappeared. If all the strong people from the other side were gone and had gathered in Erotika, the demon followers would also rally their strong people in the imperial capital. ¡°The chancellor¡¯s army has not made any significant movements over the past 15 days.¡± Everyone was just staying still. Neither the Grand Sword Masters nor the top-ranking demonic humans left for the frontlines. ¡°But¡­ it will be soon.¡± Archbishop Manu would not only keep defending like this. He would clearly do something to defend against his enemy¡¯s attacks. And Velkian¡¯s prediction was not wrong. The day Count Bayer and Count Chase arrived at Erotika, the chancellor¡¯s army finally began moving. Instead of staying in one ce, they began marching with a fierce speed. Towards the east, west, south, and north. They marched towards all directions. Moreover, it was not just a march. There were those who stood in front of the advancing army of the chancellor. ¡°The 7 major catastrophes.¡± There were only four left because Jude and Cordelia had already stopped three. But it also meant that there were still four left. Each of the four catastrophes took the lead as they advanced in all directions. The one who destroyed the Sword School. Georg the yer raised his long sword towards the kingdom¡¯s army. The one who killed the empire. The incarnation of gues, the Snow-White Knight, scattered death as they headed south through the east. The flood that engulfed the continent. The raging waves on the ground that swept the west. The one who killed the sky. A woman whose whole body was gray stepped towards the north. The earth touched by her feet lost its life and turned ashen gray, and ck clouds covered the sky, hiding the sun. Archbishop Manu chose to defend by attacking. He lured the emperor¡¯s army and the kingdom¡¯s army by dispatching all at once the catastrophes he had been saving so far. It was impossible to ignore these catastrophes. Countless people would lose their lives if they were left alone. ¡°They will stop the catastrophes.¡± They would utilize all their forces to stop them. So they would be unable to do anything else. And they would be unable to think of anything else. It was a fairly effective tactic. The archbishop¡¯s thoughts were not wrong. In fact, even in the history that had been repeated so far, mankind had no choice but to be dragged around by the catastrophes dispatched by the archbishop. But that was different now. ¡°There is no reason for us to be afraid.¡± Spoke Count Bayer. Before Count Chase would head north to stop the one who killed the sky, the Gray Lady, he put his hand on Jude¡¯s shoulder and said. ¡°Thanks to you, we have a lot of strong people now.¡± The Sword Saint of Stars, Musu, would stop Georg the yer. Ga?l and Adelia would confront Georg¡¯s army. Seven-Killings Sword Seryu and Sword of Swiftness Sebastian Leguin would stop the Snow-White Knight along with the elves of the Forest of Eternity. Elune was not alone. The Sword Masters of the empire was by her side. The elves from the Shadow Forest would summon the spirits to face the raging waves, and shamans from the wildnds who were under themand of Violent Avnche would scatter the waves with the force of nature. In the north, the Sword Masters of the empire would also being forward. Count Bayer himself and Count Chase would join in to stop the Gray Lady. ¡°So Jude, leave it to us.¡± Count Bayer stepped back. Count Chase snorted and ced a small bag in Jude¡¯s hand. ¡°It¡¯s an elixir.¡± The only one Count Chase possessed. ¡°It¡¯s nothing much to me, so use it.¡± ¡°Yes, father-inw. Thank you very much.¡± At Jude¡¯s smile, Count Chase snorted again before getting off Erotika. Rain fell from the sky. They did not know that it was because of the clouds of the Gray Lady that had began to cover the northern part of the empire. But Count Bayer and Count Chase firmly stood and looked forward. They watched the white ship soaring upward as it spit out fire with a loud noise. ¡°Please, Cordelia.¡± Count Chase softly spoke and Count Bayer took a deep breath. They remembered thest time they saw Jude and Cordelia. The two people of destiny. The couple of the century who would determine the fate of the world. ¡°Go ande back.¡± Count Bayer once again said as he looked up the sky. He watched the Erotika soaring towards the sun. Chapter 347: Meteor Strike (2)

Chapter 347: Meteor Strike (2)

Magic existed in Pleiades, so the concept of anti-air warfare was established despite there being no airnes here. Because flying wizards and flying mounts such as griffons, pegasi, and wyverns existed. Therefore, Jude did not think that even if they used an airship, they could safelynd in the imperial capital simply by the fact that it could ¡®fly.¡¯ Flying towards the imperial capital was like shouting at the enemies to shoot them down. What should they do then? ¡°Our only option is to fly unusually.¡± Jude¡¯s idea was as follows. ¡°Rise to a height unobservable to the enemy and then move forward. Afterwards, descend to a near-vertical flight trajectory at a high speed above the imperial capital.¡± An idea simr to a dive bombing. A meteor would fall towards the heart of the imperial capital. So they called it Operation Meteor Strike. It was obviously both difficult and reckless. Even if Erotika was the ship of an archangel, it would end up destroyed in one flight from doing such an absurd idea. But it did not matter to them. ¡°Since it can only be used once now.¡± If it only had one flight left, they should make sure that it would brilliantly burn in that single flight. Upon hearing Jude¡¯s n, Landius burst out into a roar ofughter while Lucas did not know how to respond but eventually epted it, giving an awkward smile. And Adide, who was in charge of controlling Erotika, said with a big smile. ¡°I like it! I really want to do it!¡± Her response was befitting of her being the entric character in Legend of Heroes 2. Jude and Cordelia never thought that she would refuse in the first ce, so they looked and happily smiled at each other. And now. As the Erotika soared towards the sun, everyone was clearly feeling what it was like to defy gravity. ¡°OOOOOOOOOOOH!¡± Adide shouted in a beautiful voice while Scarlet and Kajsa were screaming. Red Wind was almost ¨C no, she was already crying. They went up higher, faster, and stronger! A trail of white was drawn in the sky. It soared instantly and powerfully, reaching a realm that could never be reached by ordinary flights. ¡°KYAA!¡± When Adide eximed, Erotika began to draw a gentle curve. They were in a cloudless ce above the clouds. All of them were able to regain their senses due to the brief silence in the flight afterwards, and they looked forward and let out deep exmations. Not even Scarlet who could run on roofs as if it were t ground, or Landius who could fly through the sky, or even Lena who had wings and could freely fly, could ever reach the altitude they were in now. They were in the boundary of the stars. The line that separated the sky and the universe. They obviously did not touch that line. There was still a long way to go to reach that line. However, it was true that no one who lived in Pleiades had ever reached and entered that unexplored area. Jude turned to Cordelia. As if by coincidence, Cordelia also turned to Jude. Battles were taking ce on the ground. The cmities were strong. Each one was like a natural disaster. But oddly enough, they were not that worried. The words of Count Bayer and Count Chase naturally came to their minds. They realized the difference between their past lives and their present life. [The world today is not weak. They will not give in to those cmities.] Jude nodded at Valencia¡¯s whisper. Musu, the Sword Saint of Stars. Ga?l and Adelia. The great swordmaster, Seryu, the Seven-Killings Sword. Princess Leica. Elune. Siren Queen Iliana. Count Bayer and Count Chase. They were not the only ones. There were many more. Warriors of the wildnds under themand of the toddling Violent Avnche and Red Gale. Generals of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. Sarah and Leon whom they met but were not that close to, and the cute Kirara who was cheering for them on the ground. They would be fighting from everywhere. In order to not surrender to the cmities and prevent the Great Summons this time. Jude and Cordelia held each other¡¯s hands. After lightly interlocking their fingers, they both smiled. ¡°This is thest fight.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s get married when we return.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you not to nt death gs?¡± Jude kissed her instead of replying, and Cordelia smiled as she epted his lips. They had done it several times in the past few days andst night in order to avoid leaving any regrets, but there was still that special atmosphere between them. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go.¡± For a perfect happy ending. Jude and Cordelia quietly whispered and looked in front. As Adide cheered, the trajectory of Erotika changed again. A descent close to a vertical direction. Their reckless journey was assisted by the gravity that they had resisted so far. ¡°Hold on tight!¡± Adide cheerfully smiled and pulled the steering wheel. Scarlet and Kajsa screamed at the hull that suddenly began to tilt, and Lucas also gasped for breath. The five heroes of Paragon were also not calm. Red Wind seemed to have fainted halfway. ¡°LET¡¯S GOOOOOO!¡± Operation Meteor Strike. A white meteor shot towards the imperial capital. *** Ga?l and Adelia raised their heads. Count Bayer and Count Chase both had bitter smiles. Princess Leica saw it. Elune looked up the sky and shouted. There were red pirs of light in the imperial capital. A white trail of light was added to it. Archbishop Manu also noticed it. He was the one in charge of the ritual at the deepest part of the imperial pce in the capital. Manu raised his head and was surprised. The presence of Erotika falling down from the sky made him swear. ¡°Shoot it down!¡± Hismand was received. The demon followers guarding the imperial capital stared at the sky. The demons and demonic humans fired magic cannonballs to destroy the falling meteor. Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Explosions continued. The sky appeared like it was going to be destroyed from the series of explosions. But the Erotika did not stop. Its descent speed was too fast to be shot down by the magic cannonballs from the ground. ¡°S-Stop it!¡± ¡°It must be stopped!¡± Now, it was not about simply stopping it. Fear of the white meteor itself began to spread in the imperial capital. Archbishop Manu did not forget an important fact in the midst of this. Having recognized at a nce that the white meteor was Erotika, he was able to draw a conclusion. ¡°That strong one is not an attack.¡± The five heroes of Paragon and those ursed Demon yers must be in there. So there¡¯s no need to be worried. That white meteor will slow down on its own. I will aim for that time. I will shoot it down when it¡¯s slow enough! The archbishop magically shared his thoughts throughout the imperial capital. The demons and demonic humans understood his thoughts. It was correct when viewed rationally. But right after that. The demons and demonic humans soon realized. They screamed at the reality that ignored rational reasoning. ¡°I-It¡¯s falling!¡± ¡°It¡¯s not stopping!¡± It did not decelerate. On the contrary, it gradually elerated. Gravity elerated it. There was also the driving force of Erotika itself. Archbishop Manu was stunned. The demonic humans who remained in the imperial capital no longer thought of shooting down Erotika. They were busy turning their backs and running away. ¡°Avoid it!¡± ¡°Run!¡± An explosive sound broke through the air. It was an ear-splitting sound. The white meteor that shot through the sky struck the imperial pce of the imperial capital! KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! Heaven and earth trembled. The ground was shaken by the tremendous impact, and the surrounding area was devastated as if a real meteor had fallen. Operation Meteor Strike. And a huge explosion to adorn thest! Boom! Boom! Boom! Erotika exploded. At the end of itsst flight, it boldly self-destructed and burned the imperial capital. It was something crazy. No matter how strong Erotika crashed into the imperial capital and caused a big explosion, it could not blow up the entire imperial capital. Although it was possible to destroy parts of the imperial pce protected by powerful magic, it waspletely impossible to destroy everything or kill the archbishop deep inside the pce. But why? Why did it self-destruct? Boooooom! There was another explosion at that very moment. And a huge magic circle covered the sky. Bestin¡¯s magic circle. A one-use item. Its duration was not long. But it was enough to buy time for theirnding. It was only then that the demonic humans saw it. Archbishop Manu understood what those outrageous group had done. Just before Erotika began its sharp descent. Adide sadly pressed a button. After the cockpit was separated from Erotika, it followed the tail of Erotika that had be a white meteor. There was Cordelia and Lena¡¯s magic. The Phoenix assisted too. Everyone only focused on Erotika. All eyes were at Erotika. And the result. Erotika had destroyed the defense of the imperial capital, and the cockpitnded safely in that gap. ¡°Operation Meteor Strike.¡± They would not have given it that name if it was not that strong. ¡°F*CK BAAAAANG!¡± Cordelia cheerfully shouted as she ran out the moment the front part of the cockpit of Erotika opened. From here on out, the group had to carry out their respective roles. ¡°Good luck.¡± Lucas said as he raised ¨ªomh Sis. Jude also wished him well while Cordelia responded by putting her hands together. Not everyone headed to the archbishop. Jude, Cordelia, Landius, Lena, and Kamael. Only this five would go to the center of the imperial pce. The rest of the group would stay here to stop the demons and demonic humans from interfering with the final battle. This was possible because of the special structure of the imperial pce and the descending ritual of the archangel. By crashing Erotika, they opened the road leading to the only one while also blocking it. ¡°Unnie, I believe in you. I believe in all of you.¡± Red Wind clenched her fists and said. Velkian and Fran smiled as they looked at Landius, Lena, and Kamael. ¡°It¡¯s the same as back then.¡± ¡°Show us a miracle again this time.¡± The battle in Paragon¡¯s royal pce. Landius, Lena, and Kamael fought the Demon Prince while Velkian and Fran blocked the Demon Prince¡¯s army. It was the sameposition as the battle at that time. ¡°May the muscles always be with you.¡± May this current greeting not be thest. Landius greeted and smiled before leaving without looking back. He took the lead and ran forward with Kamael and Lena following him without hesitation. Jude and Cordeliastly turned to Lucas, Scarlet, Kajsa, Red Wind, and Sun Song. Instead of saying something, they greeted with their eyes and then turned around as they began running. ¡°Now, let¡¯s have fun.¡± Velkian took off his gue doctor¡¯s mask. He smiled with a wrinkled face and loudly pped his hands. ¡°Today is thest time.¡± Their biggest and final battle. So he would not hold back even a bit. He would pour everything he had into this moment. Following Velkian¡¯s movements, numerous green magic circles appeared in the air. Numerous undead roared and came out of it. Death Knights cried and raised their swords. The wizards of death ¨C Liches, summoned clouds and covered the sky. Vampires bound by an oath to Velkian then appeared leading their own ns. And one more. The lifetime masterpiece of Velkian as a necromancer. The heavenly cmity that would turn even the hundreds and thousands of undead as mere extras. ¡°ROOOOOOOOOOAR!¡± A loud roar shook the imperial capital. A formidable giant that made everyone who looked at it shudder. Ancient Bone Dragon. The greatest and strongest undead in the history of Pleiades that was created by using Malekith¡¯s bones as a material. ¡°What a crazy old man.¡± Fran burst outughing at the absurd sight. Instead of looking up at the 200-meter-long giant over his head, he stared forward and moved his hands. Nature responded to Fran. The ground was filled with demon followers, but Bestin¡¯s magic circle was still in effect. The spirits of the earth stood up. The spirits of the wind lent their strength. The spirits of water rose from deep underground and stood by Fran. Hundreds of thousands of undead, and hundreds of thousands of spirits. Red Wind was slightly stunned at the tremendous sight, but soon came to her senses. She clenched her fists and sent Phoenix flying. Scarlet and Kajsa smiled too. They both felt joy and shock at the unbelievable sight that only a few people infiltrated the center of the enemy camp. As expected of the five heroes of Paragon. The scale of what they do was different. But that was it. Scarlet and Kajsa did not think that they were unneeded in this battle. The remaining demon followers in the imperial capital would flock at once at them. Numerous monsters would rush in, and strong demons and demonic humans would show off their power. And one person. What caused the Sword God to stay. The reason why he was here with the group. A being who made Lucas guard the road instead of participating in the fight against Archbishop Manu. ¡°Maximilian de Avis.¡± The agent of Archangel Auriel. One born with the most brilliant talent in Pleiades. With his entire body equipped with heavenly gear, he raised Divine Sword Balisarda. Lucas lifted ¨ªomh Sis in response, while Sword God also gripped Ultimate Six ¨C Final Sword Valcazard. ¡°My disciple.¡± Sword God called in a low voice. But Maximilian did not answer. He rushed forward with the light wings of a Virtue-rank Angel. Lucas blocked such a Maximilian. The upright light of the Holy King stopped the erroneous light. The final battle that would decide the fate of the world. The battle in the imperial capital began. We¡¯re finally nearing the ending, though it¡¯s a bit rushed. Even the author himself admitted in an author¡¯s note that he originally wanted the empire arc to be like the wildnds arc. I¡¯m not sure what prompted him to change his ns though. Publisher¡¯s advice? Low readership count? We do not know. But now that we¡¯ve reached this far, let¡¯s stick to the very end. Chapter 348: The One Who Moved Towards the Horizon (1)

Chapter 348: The One Who Moved Towards the Horizon (1)

¡°Cordelia, I¡­¡± *** There was a boy. He had been special since birth. *** The mes of war broke out across the empire. The chancellor¡¯s army led by Marshal Bartolein marched once more towards the Ctes ins. Grand Sword Master Lucius Grande took the lead and let out a red and reddish-ck aura as a rain of arrows passed over his head and covered the Ctes ins. mes spread. Shouts were everywhere. The frontlines of both sides collided. The sh between thousands and thousands caused tremendous damage in itself. Shields pushed each other back, and spears and swords squeezed in between, stabbing and cutting the other side. Someone cried. Someone overcame their fear with the speed of light. In other words, they ran away from fear. Boom! Boom! Boom! The earth was ringing. It added another sound to the battlefield full of loud roars. ¡°Pierce through!¡± The cavalry ran. They charged through the battlefield in order to hit the enemy¡¯s sides and rear. It was not just the kingdom¡¯s army. The same was true of the chancellor¡¯s army. They crossed or collided with each other, andnces cut through the soldiers¡¯ bodies. The impact of the charge broke their bodies. ¡°Do not back down! For the defense of the kingdom ¨C no, the world!¡± The Golden Sword Saint shouted. He looked at Grand Sword Master Lucius who was ughtering the kingdom¡¯s army. Lucius was dressed in ck. His face could not be seen because of his helmet, but the Golden Sword Saint could tell. ¡®He¡¯sughing.¡¯ That f*cking b*stard sold his soul to the devil and isughing while ughtering the human soldiers. The Golden Sword Saint kicked the ground. It might be foolish of him as the suprememander to be on the frontlines, but he had to. The only person that could stop a Grand Sword Master was a great swordmaster. Only a great swordmaster could push that dog-like b*stard. ¡°Lucius Grande!¡± The Golden Sword Saint bellowed and emitted a brilliant golden sword aura. Lucius looked back at that Golden Sword Saint andughed underneath his helmet. He felt an unstoppable sense of excitement after he became a demonic human, and let out his immense power that seemed to burst in his own body as he rushed to face the Golden Sword Saint. Swords crossed each other. Crimson and gold smashed each other. ¡°EUAAAAAAAAH!¡± The soldiers screamed. They threw themselves into the mes of the battlefield. Ruuuuuumble! The soldiers saw it. A ce far from the Ctes ins. Thend of the kingdom connected to the eastern part of the empire. The demonic monsters were rushing in. Goblins let out hideous shrieks. Orcs rushed as they wielded huge weapons. The sight of not just one, but dozens or hundreds of terrifying ogres appearing and rushing together was a nightmare in itself. The wyverns pierced the skies. Big ck dogs engulfed in mes that seemed to havee from Hell then scorched the earth. The soldiers felt fear. The poison of fear spread among the soldiers. I¡¯m scared. I¡¯m going to die. I can¡¯t win. I want to run away. The hands holding their weapons trembled. Their legs were shaking and they could not properly stand. It was a natural feeling as a human being. But then, there were people who stepped forward. There were those who stood between the soldiers and demons, showing their backs. Seven-Killings Sword, Seryu. She was silent. Instead of giving a speech, she just drew her sword. Without looking back , she showed her back to the soldiers as she faced the demons. Sebastian Leguin did not open his mouth too. He stood like a rock next to Seryu as one became two. The soldiers saw them. Instead of pushing the soldiers¡¯ backs, the officers stepped forward. Cold sweat flowed down. Their legs trembled with fear. However, the officers stood next to Seryu and Sebastian. Again, the two were increased to dozens. The demons ran. The sound of their shrieks and footsteps seemed to devour everything in the ce. At that moment, someone shouted. One became dozens. Numerous people rose and moved forward. ¡°For the kingdom! Protect the kingdom!¡± The officers shouted. The soldiers responded with shouts. The sound of battle trumpets suppressed the screams of the demons. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Seryu silently spoke. She stepped forward as a member of the Ten Great Swordmasters who protected the kingdom, and as a human living in the kingdom. *** The boy¡¯s eyes saw things differently from the others. For the boy, everything in this world was very easy and simple. When children of the same age barely realized one thing, the boy had already realized ten things. Or rather, his situation was not just at that level. The boy knew from birth. So he moved forward faster than anyone else. *** Battles urred. The ravages of war spread. In the north, Count Bayer and Count Chase shed with the Gray Lady. In the west, Elune rushed towards the cmity. And in the imperial capital. At thend where the fate of the world was at stake. ¡°ROOOOOOOOOOOAR!¡± The Ancient Bone Dragon roared. Its fear was enough to suppress the ce, but the demons and demonic humans burst intoughter instead of trembling with fear. They magically erased their fear and rushed towards the Ancient Bone Dragon like a pack of angry wolves ¨C no, like a swarm of locusts that swept through everything. It was a great sight. The breath of the Ancient Bone Dragon was spewed with a power that could destroy the capital, and hundreds of demons were annihted in one shot. However, many times more demonic monsters stuck to the Ancient Bone Dragon¡¯s body. ¡°KEUAAAAAA!¡± The Ancient Bone Dragon loudly roared and released its powerful magic. It swept away the demons that attached to its body, and it swung its huge tail at the same time, clearing the ground. The ground was dug and buildings copsed as numerous monsters were crushed and killed. [RUSH FORWARD!] The voices of Death Knights resounded with each other. They led the undead legion against the raging waves of demon followers. The magic of the liches boosted them. A rain of fire poured from the east of the capital. Heavy rain fell from the west side of the capital. The spirits of wind and fire created a huge fiery hurricane that sucked the demons, and the spirits of earth caved the ground and swallowed the demons. But it was not a one-sided fight. A poisonous demon contaminated the spirits. An icy demon froze the feet of the spirits as well as the undead legion. Velkian did his best to maintain the undead legion. Fran cursed as he summoned new spirits. Red Wind became one with the Phoenix as it spread its me wings. Sun Song sang the song of de Song, raising everyone¡¯s fighting spirit. Scarlet and Kajsa also fought frantically. The considerate Scarlet did not forget Adide¡¯s existence. In order to protect Adide who was hiding in the cockpit surrounded by numerous magic barriers, she swung her whip sword over and over again. ¡°Lucas!¡± Kajsa awakened the blood of the divine creature, Fenrir, and turned her head. She looked at the ce that was considered the center of all the fights taking ce in the imperial capital. She screamed at the spurting blood. *** [You are special.] One day, a voice was heard in the boy¡¯s mind. That angelic, imposing, yet divine voice captivated the young boy¡¯s heart in an instant. [You are the brightest.] He was born with the most brilliant talent in Pleiades. What she said was not wrong. The archangel of judgment was telling the truth. [I will guide you.] The boy had a noble heart. Therefore, he epted the voice from a higher ce. He was sure that she would lead him to the right path. And the boy¡¯s life changed. It was not just a change from before. Before his birth. The past that had been repeated several times. [Be stronger.] The voice from a higher ce made the boy¡¯s potential bloom more quickly. Instead of facing his childhood friend that he had always been with, the boy went on a journey and traveled around the empire to get what he needed. [Learn from him.] The voice from a higher ce guided the boy to a man. The Sword God. He was the strongest in the empire ¨C no, the world. *** ¡°My disciple.¡± Numerous emotions filled the wrinkled face of the Sword God. He was seriously injured in theirst fight. He could neither properly handle the sword nor move the sword the way he wanted. But he still stood on the battlefield. Once again, he tried to face his disciple. Maximilian de Avis. Armed with divine heavenly weapons, he spread the Virtue angel¡¯s golden wings and wielded the des of Judgment. Five swords moved on their own as if they were alive, mercilessly cutting down Maximilian¡¯s enemies. He wore a pure white helmet. So Maximilian¡¯s face could not be seen. The Sword God roughly breathed. He recalled his first meeting with his disciple. He thought of the past when he saw his disciple¡¯s sword and trembled with joy. This child could definitely reach it. This child would surely unfold it. The Sword of the Sky. A supreme swordsmanship that only those who had reached the horizon could use. Babababababababang-! The des of Judgment fell down like rain as it destroyed the Death Knights. The swords let out aura des by itself and crushed the undead. So the Sword God took a step forward. He prated through the broken and scattered undead, breaking through the des of Judgment. ng-! Swords shed. The five des of Judgment were all directed at the Sword God. The Sword God rotated his body like a top and pushed, deflected, and struck all the swords. He stared at his disciple who did not look at him but was ring at Velkian while holding a divine sword covered in a pure white aura. ¡°Maximilian!¡± He shouted once more. However, the disciple who had already defeated his master once did not listen to him. He walked towards Velkian. *** The boy became a young man. The boy who blossomed much faster than before had been reborn as an unrivaled being. [Go south.] You must first take there the things that might fall into the hands of the wicked. The feeling that something was out of ce was what led the voice from a higher ce, but she continued to guide the young man. The young man saw the world. He was convinced that he was doing the right thing. He believed that someday, when the day came when they would really need his strength, he would help protect the people and the world. And finally, that day hade. But the scene that day was very different from what the young man had imagined. *** Maximilian swung his sword. Death Knights flocked to stop him, but they were no different from a swarm of moths chasing the me. Each time the light of Divine Sword Balisarda swirled, the Death Knights wailed and copsed. Even the leader of the Death Knights which Velkian had put all his effort into could only receive Maximilian¡¯s sword three to four times. The road was opened. The number of those who stood in the road between Velkian and Maximilian were just decreasing. But at some point. Maximilian stopped his steps and looked behind him. He had gone forward without hesitation and crushed the Death Knights, but he was forced to look back. He did not respond to the calls of his desperate master as he viewed his opponent through his helmet. ¡°Biltwein.¡± His opponent only spoke and did not look at him. The man looked up the sky and spoke alone as he brightly smiled. The man had already been defeated once. The man¡¯s arm was soaked in blood, and arge wound was on his chest. But Maximilian knew. His opponent was strong. He was able to easily defeat his opponent due to the surprise attack of the des of Judgment, but his opponent was not a person who could fall so quickly. But why? He felt that there was something more to his opponent. Maximilian raised Divine Sword Balisarda. Lucas gripped ¨ªomh Sis. The two swords aimed at each other again. *** The young man wore a divine helmet. The young man, who had been reborn as a fifth-rank Virtue angel through ancestral regression, followed the voice from a higher ce like always. Rather than questioning her words, he simply epted it. He faced his master. He pulled out his sword instead of showing his respect and talking about what he saw and felt while traveling around the world. The voice from a higher ce told him to fight his master, so he swung his sword. [You will protect it.] You will correct history. Correct the flow of time. Correct the order of the world. The young man trusted her words. Or rather, the young man no longer possessed a free will. The young man wore holy armor. He came to the imperial capital to help in the destruction of the world. *** The Sword God knew. Lucas Hr?svelgr was strong. He was so talented that it was unbelievable that he was only in histe teens. But that was not enough. Maximilian surpassed Lucas. The former was much closer to the horizon. Furthermore, Maximilian was no longer an ordinary human being. Reborn as a fifth-rank Virtue angel, he acquired tremendous physical abilities that even Grand Sword Masters could only look up to. ng! The moment the swords met, shockwaves swept the ce. The surrounding seemed to scream at the colossal sh of forces. Nheless, Maximilian¡¯s sword did not shake. However, Lucas¡¯ sword was pitifully shaking. Unlike Maximilian¡¯s strong legs, Lucas¡¯ legs were even trembling. ng! ng! ng! Maximilian tried to suppress Lucas by force. It was the right choice. Divine Sword Balisarda aimed at Lucas¡¯ sword instead of the body, and both of Lucas¡¯ arms shook each time the swords crossed. Blood gushed out of his wounds again. Lucas copsed. He could not block the next blow. His sword missed, revealing a gap and pretty much giving away his neck. Kajsa screamed. Scarlet cried out Lucas¡¯ name. And the Sword God saw. He doubted his own eyes. A sword pushed the other sword away. Lucas did not fall. The sword of the Holy King might be shaken, but it would never copse. The sword attacks continued. Lucas¡¯ sword, which seemed to be defeated at any moment, received all of Maximilian¡¯s attacks. He pushed it away. He sometimes deflected it. Through his sword techniques, he overcame the power of Maximilian. ¡°UOOOOOOOH!¡± Maximilian raised his voice. The des of Judgment that had been attacking the Sword God began to attack Lucas one by one. Lucas was shaken this time too. He had a very hard time. But he managed to block it. Instead of falling and copsing, he once again let out the light of the Holy King. Maximilian was definitely pushing him. But he did not feel that way. Rather, he could feel the impatience in Maximilian¡¯s sword that was on the offensive. What¡¯s the reason? Why? Why in the world! *** The young man who was moving forward then stopped. The moment the voice from a higher ce took over his mind, his light became tainted. His footsteps came to a halt. *** Lucas knew. Maximilian was the brightest. He had a talent that surpassed even Jude and Cordelia. He was always ahead even in their past lives. He was shining in an unreachable ce like the stars in the sky. ¡®He¡¯s strong.¡¯ He was incredibly strong like Jude and Cordelia that Lucas wondered if Maximilian even walked a different road in his previous lives. He was the result of the talents that bloomed much earlier, the teachings of the best master, the body of a Virtue angel, and the numerous divine items he had. An overwhelming person. A stronger being than First Sword who had transformed into a top-ranking demonic human. But Lucas did not back down. He relied on the dragon equipment that Jude and Cordelia had prepared for him. He depended on the power of ¨ªomh Sis that radiated divine light. He endured with everything that he had. He struggled and used the sword of the Holy King. It was not beautiful. It was an ugly struggle, as if he had rolled around in mud. But little by little, Lucas¡¯ posture stabilized. Maximilian¡¯s sword attacks were gradually deviating. The Sword God clenched his fist. He thought while watching the sh between Lucas and Maximilian. The road to the horizon. It was not difficult at first. All that a person had to do was walk on the road that someone had paved. But the road became dark at some point. There woulde a moment when one could not see the step ahead. That was when they would look around. They would realize for the first time the road of others they did not see because they had only moved on their own road. They would see the straight and beautiful roads. They would see other people moving way ahead of them. Then they would think. That the other people¡¯s roads were right. That their own road was wrong. That their own path was wrong from the start. Their footsteps would stop. They would be unable to go further. ¡°I¡¯m not wrong.¡± Lucas shook his head. He was on the road. In his eyes, he could see the straight and beautiful roads of Jude and Maximilian shining faraway. Compared to the two, Lucas¡¯ own road was not beautiful at all. But Lucas knew. He had already realized it through his repeated lives. ¡°It¡¯s not wrong.¡± It was just different. Even if it was not a straight and beautiful road, this winding and ugly road would also reach that horizon. He walked. And walked. And walked again. He did not lose to delusions. He was a person who did not copse even if he saw the road of others. A person who could keep going on his own road, even if he had doubts and would sometimes take a step backwards. The Sword God gasped for breath. He watched the fight between Lucas and Maximilian, and saw the roads of the two. Maximilian¡¯s footsteps stopped. His road was very beautiful and bright, but it was cut off. He could not move forward anymore. First Sword was the same. The moment he remembered his past lives when he used poison, he lost his way. He bitterly wept at the fact that his road had been cut off. The Sword God himself was no different. He had stopped at some point. And now he knew. Sword God himself had thought. That his own road was cut off. That his own road would never reach the horizon. But it was all a delusion. A wrong idea. Lucas was showing it. He was letting the Sword God know. ¡°The road was not cut off.¡± The roads of Maximilian, First Sword, and the Sword God. Lucas took a step. He overcame all delusions and moved on. Without denying himself, he went his own way towards the darkness beyond. Like always, in his lives that had been repeated several times. ¡°UOOOOOOOOO!¡± Maximilian attacked with all his might. The five des of Judgment stabbed Lucas at the same time. Lucas saw it. The Sword God saw the back of Lucas as he moved towards the darkness. The Sword God now realized what had been so obvious. Swords crossed. The swords pushed each other away. The Sword God sat down in his spot and burst into tears. Lucas¡¯ road was no longer dark. As he faced the ordeal called Maximilian. As a result of moving forward without giving in to the ordeal. He was finally able to reach it. ¡°Lucas.¡± ¡°Jude.¡± It led to one. Although they were on different roads, they were finally able to face each other on the dazzling horizon. Lucas swung his sword. All the five des of Judgment were thrown out, and the divine aura that Balisarda emitted was broken. Maximilian¡¯s sword tumbled towards the ground. Lucas moved his sword once more. It was the sword of the Holy King that brilliantly shone. The Sword God did not close his eyes. He witnessed the true Sword of the Sky. Chapter 349: The One Who Moved Towards the Horizon (2)

Chapter 349: The One Who Moved Towards the Horizon (2)

Terms used in this episode: Superheronding ¨C a clich¨¦ pose on how superheroesnd. What was the horizon? What was the inner essence of the sword? What exactly was the Sword of the Sky? Many swordsmen walked their own roads. To the average swordsman, the horizon was like a fantasy. They did not recognize its existence. For them, walking on the road was not easy. But as they fumbled on their way, they could sense the existence of the horizon, though vaguely. It was like the shining stars in the sky. So it was unreachable for them. But there were a few. There were those who found their way to the stars. Those who went beyond vaguely feeling the existence of that distant horizon, and saw with their own eyes that a horizon existed. Again, only a few of these people, who were like a handful of sand among the countless sand that covered a sandy beach, would move towards the horizon. Those who were more than geniuses and deserved to be called as monsters. Most of them realized that there were already stars in the night sky when they held their swords. They saw the horizon and made their way towards it. The Sword God was the same. So was First Sword. Maximilian did too. And the Sword God realized then. That they could not reach the horizon because they were advancing without any obstructions. They thought that their road had been cut off just because the road in front of them was blurred. So they stopped walking. Because they were monsters. Because they were gifted with amazing talents. Because they had never faced even a small wall. The Sword Godughed for no reason. Reaching the horizon was simply impossible with talent alone. A mind of steel that does not lose to one¡¯s own weakness. An indomitable will that will never be broken. These were not his favorite quotes. But it was necessary. Those who did not know suffering and ordeals would never reach the horizon. ¡°Maximilian¡­¡± The Sword God saw him. A person born with the greatest talent in Pleiades, yet staggered and fumbled in front of the Sword of the Sky. He was someone who dazzlingly shined. ¡°EUAAAAAAAAAH!¡± Maximilian roared. He cried out. His halo, the ring of an angel that symbolized his power as a Virtue angel, spun violently and radiated an immense glow. His six wings of light spread out widely, letting out a tremendous power. His body was strengthened further. The light of Divine Sword Balisarda grew stronger. ¡°Defend it.¡± Defend this ce. Carry out the order given by the voice from a higher ce. Maintain order and return history to its proper ce. Maximilian¡¯s eyes glowed. The five des of Judgment soared up again and headed towards Lucas. Pure white swords that had defeated Death Knights in one strike then fell down like rain. Lucas swung his sword in the meantime. He always walked on the same road in his life that had been repeated several times. He was able to finally reach the horizon by moving forward and walking. Lucas knew. What he should do. Where he should sh. The rain of swords was dazzling yet merciless. The heavy rain that hit the ground was enough to change the terrain of the surrounding area. But the Sword God knew. Scarlet could feel it too. ¡°Lucas.¡± A single streak of an aura de shed the heavy rain. He did not need to destroy everything. Lucas could tell. What would touch him. What would not reach him. How to destroy the heavy rain. He swung his sword several more times in a row. He destroyed the heavy rain of swords. The des of Judgment blended in the heavy rain and tried to target Lucas, but it was useless. His sword pushed them away. It was not just a sh. The moment the swords touched Lucas¡¯ sword, the des of Judgment were instantly defeated. The swords fell to the ground as if it was natural. ¡°EUAAAAH!¡± Maximilian kicked the ground. The ground trembled with that single action of his. Having a particrly strong body even among the Virtue angels that transcended humans, Maximilian increased his speed with his superhuman strength,bining the two again to create an unstoppable destructive power. His sword was equipped with a dizzying speed and a powerful strength that could even break mountains. It rained down from the heavens to the earth. But it could not cut Lucas. Maximilian¡¯s sword shook. He could not exactly tell if it slipped or was pushed. What was clear was that Maximilian¡¯s sword was being pushed aside by Lucas¡¯ sword which could not evenpare to the strength of Maximilian¡¯s sword. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Roars broke out. But it was different from before. It was not the sound of shing swords. Every time Maximilian¡¯s sword shook, or whenever it struck the air or ground, roars were heard. Maximilian could not understand. Lucas¡¯ swordsmanship was average. It was neither equipped with great power nor was it as fast as light. It also did not have an aura de that could cut through anything. But Maximilian¡¯s sword shook. The moment he faced that sword, his own swordsmanship was twisted uncontrobly. And Scarlet shuddered at the entire scene. The Sword God eximed. ¡°The sword¡¯s inner essence.¡± Lucas¡¯ sword had the inner essence. That one fact was what caused the present situation. ¡°No.¡± It can¡¯t be. No way. Maximilian said. Anxiety gripped his mind. I have to maintain order. I have to defend the proper fate that the voice from a higher ce had said. But the inner essence is in front of me. The inner essence of the sword, the Sword of the Sky¡­ ¡°Voice from a higher ce!¡± Maximilian became nervous. He unleashed an attack with all his strength. It did not have a name, but it was the strongest attack that Maximilian could do. A dazzling light covered the ce. The massive shockwave forced the ce into silence. But Scarlet smiled. Because when Maximilian¡¯s oppressive light covered the area, she saw it. ¡°The Holy King¡¯s Cross Sword.¡± The Holy King¡¯s sword that moved forward. It did not crush the oppressive light. It did not suppress it. It simply unfolded naturally and dispelled the false light. As it crushed Maximilian¡¯s power, it cut off the unique power that had captivated his mind. Craaaack-! Maximilian¡¯s wings of light shattered. His angelic halo turned into fragments and was scattered by the wind. Lucas¡¯ sword did not sh Maximilian¡¯s body. The sword of the Holy King only destroyed the false light. ¡°Maximilian!¡± The Sword God caught the body of the falling Maximilian. Although Maximilian had lost consciousness, there was no more madness and blindness in his face as he slept. Lucas heavily breathed. Just like what Jude always did, he felt like he wanted to go to Scarlet and Kajsa now, but he could not do that. Lucas raised his head as he held his sword. The Ancient Bone Dragon was copsing. Hundreds of various monsters and demons covered the Ancient Bone Dragon like a swarm of locusts and finally knocked down the giant. The undead legion still remained. The spirits were also in the hundreds. But it was true that their numbers had drastically decreasedpared to when it started. Lucas himself was also very tired. He took a deep breath. The monsters who defeated the Ancient Bone Dragon were looking at his direction. At some point, they began to charge like violent waves. As their number exceeded ten thousand, it seemed like they were about to devour both the skies and the ground. ¡°Jude.¡± And Cordelia. Lucas raised his sword. He unfolded the Sword of the Sky to the shadows covering his head. *** ¡°UOOOOOOOO!¡± Inside the imperial pce. Cordelia spread her six wings and swiftly rotated her angelic halo. At the same time she spread out her hands wide and radiated an immense light, huge explosions urred. Boom! Boom! Boom! There were many enemies inside the imperial pce. It was natural since it was the most important ce where the ritual was being held. Cordelia eagerly threw bombs at the swarming monsters that covered the floor, walls, and the ceilings. ¡°You¡¯re a fool if you don¡¯t use everything!¡± After all, it was the final boss fight. There would be no tomorrow if they could not ovee today, so there was no need to hold back on anything. ¡°This is a C-4 made by Jude! This is a dynamite made by Jude! This is a napalm made by Jude!¡± All kinds of bombs devastated the imperial pce. Most of the monsters could not even approach Jude and the others at all. Bang! Boom! Kaboom! Cordelia did not use the stairs. She destroyed the floor to make a way to the basement, and wrapped the pirs with detonating cords as if she was not afraid of being buried alive. As she cheerfully shouted, a chain of explosions urred. Boom! Boom! The imperial pce copsed. The monsters were now in a situation where they had to be worried about being crushed to death by the falling debris. It was not just low level monsters. Fairly strong demons and demonic humans broke through the explosions of Cordelia and rushed towards the group. But what awaited them was more violence than an explosion. Bang! Bang! Bang! It was not the sound of explosions. It was the punching sounds from a fist. Each time Landius¡¯ fist moved, the bodies of the demonic humans exploded. Both Landius and Jude had opened the eighth door, but their basics were different. Jude was tall and reached 193 cm, but Landius was 40 cm taller than Jude. He was double the size ¨C no, he was three times bigger. Landius¡¯ biceps that were thicker than the waist of any woman exined it all. ¡°Sometimes¡­ he¡¯s scary.¡± When Lena muttered with an awkward smile, Jude agreed. In fact, in Jude¡¯s mind, it was not just ¡®sometimes.¡¯ ¡°You have my respect.¡± I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re dating my master when he¡¯s like that. Lena giggled at Jude¡¯s words. Archbishop Manu nned to exhaust the group by sending lots of monsters and demonic humans, but it was a failure. There was a series of huge explosions, but most of it was caused by bombs, so Cordelia barely used her mana. As for Landius, all that formidable violence was just his normal punches. [My sessor, I like that you¡¯re still human. Please continue to stay like this.] At Valencia¡¯s sudden confession, Jude nodded his head once and recalled the map of the imperial pce in his mind. It was now time for them to reach the bottom. ¡°It¡¯s the cavity!¡± Jude shouted, and everyone who had memorized the map in advance then nodded and prepared for the fall. The cavity located on the lowest floor of the imperial pce reached tens of meters in height, and there was a connecting bridge in the middle of that huge space. And the room at the end of that bridge. It was the room where Archbishop Manu must be holding the ritual! ¡°Cordelia! Down!¡± Lena shouted and pped her wings, while Kamael transformed into a flock of crows to prevent them from falling before he looked below them. ¡°Hisssssss!¡± A huge snake hissed and soared up. It was like the White Snake the two encountered in Frost Anvil, and the monster rushed with its mouth wide open at a seriously terrifying speed. But Cordelia did not panic. She looked straight into the eyes of the flying snake. She instantly paralyzed it by activating the , and as it fell down to the ground in ordance with gravity, she swung the detonating cord. Swoooosh-! The detonating cord and her telekinesis squeezed the body of the giant snake at once. It exploded as if it was something natural. Bang! Bang! Bang! The broken and mutted snake fell without even a single scream. Fwooooosh-! Kamael blew away the raining blood and flesh with his cold aura de as hended on the ground. Landius and Jude alsonded on the bridge at the same time. ¡°Superheronding.¡± Cordelia was thest tond as shended like Iron Man. She hid her wings of light and angelic halo before taking a deep breath. She had kept her mana consumption to a minimum, but was still out of breath because the number of enemies she defeated was enormous. ¡®It feels good though.¡¯ Because she could blow up bombs as much as she wanted. She felt satisfied and refreshed at that. Cordelia widely smiled and drank a mana potion before looking straight ahead. There was a huge door at the end of the bridge. They could feel a powerful and terrifying energy from beyond that. It was not only that. There were beings who guarded Archbishop Manu. The leaders of the demon follower groups. Mighty demons with titles. Her heart was pounding again. She felt tense, excited, scared, anxious, expectant, and so on. Today was a critical moment. After today¡­ If we can ovee today¡­ Cordelia raised her head. She nced at Jude¡¯s face as she held his hand tightly and smiled afterwards. Her heart began pounding again, but the reason was different from before. ¡°Now¡¯s a good time, right?¡± At Lena¡¯s words, Landius chuckled and hugged her waist while Kamael sighed and gripped his sword. [We¡¯ve been together up to this point. If today¡¯s event bes a legendter, my name will be included, right? Like in the biographies of heroes?] ¡°You will. I¡¯ll definitely talk about you. Thanks to you, Melissa, we have made it this far.¡± [Tsk, you¡¯re just all talk.] Melissa snorted, but her voice was full of joy. Because she had been gettingpliments as well as replies for the first time in a long time. So Cordelia smiled. She held Moonlight and looked ahead. [My sessor, you¡¯ll talk about me too, right?] ¡°Of course.¡± [I¡¯ll believe in you, my sessor. Just like what we have done so far, let¡¯s continue working together in the future.] Not only yesterday and today, but also tomorrow. Valencia brightly smiled and became one with Jude. Through Sword Spirit Union, she shared her strength and experience to Jude. ¡°It looks like a Hell Gate.¡± They had seen it twice in the wildnds. ¡°You¡¯re not going to blow up the imperial capital, right?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll see?¡± Cordeliaughed at Jude teasing her and skillfully tied up her hair with one hand. The fights against the cmities continued throughout the continent. A huge fight was also taking ce outside the imperial pce. And here. In the deepest part of the imperial pce. At the center of the continent. Landius let out a long breath. He looked forward and gripped the Sr de instead of clenching his fists. Lena spread her wings and made her angelic halo rotate while Kamael boosted his fighting spirit. And at some point. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± To the final battlefield. Landius stepped forward with the heroes of Paragon. Jude and Cordelia followed and moved forward. They opened the Hell Gate-like door. Chapter 350: Archbishop Manuela (1)

Chapter 350: Archbishop Manu (1)

¡°It¡¯s the same no matter how many times I¡¯m born again. I¡¯ll make sure that you-¡­¡± *** Rain poured down. The rain was heavy and cold at the same time, and it blurred his vision. Ga?l let out a warm breath. His rain-soaked clothes were heavy. The muddy ground dirtied his feet. ¡°Haa¡­ haa¡­¡± Rain and blood flowed down along his sword. It mixed and fell to the floor. The sound of rain weighed down all the screams, cries, and shouts. Or rather, it suppressed it all. The chancellor¡¯s army was not made up of ordinary humans. The majority were low-level monsters and soldiers who had fused with monsters, and their fighting power overwhelmed the soldiers of the kingdom¡¯s army, bringing fear and terror. ¡°¡± A huge vortex apanied by a raging sound then swept through the ranks of the chancellor¡¯s army. As the water spread to the ground, the water des became more powerful than usual. ¡°Ga?l!¡± Ga?l was able to look back for a moment when the vortex swept the enemies in front of him. He saw Adelia looking his way with her white wings spread open. The angelic halo above her head looked beautiful every time he saw it. But due to the wet hair, rain-soaked clothes, and panting breath, he felt regret first. How long had it been since the battle started? Ga?l was quite familiar with the battlefield since he went on a monster subjugation with Count Bayer every year, but it was his first time on a battlefield like this one. ¡°¡± Adelia suddenly raised her hands and cast her magic again. Two walls then rose from the ground, causing a change of terrain across the battlefield. A good wizard on the battlefield was not simply a wizard with strong attack power. People who could change the battlefield itself with the miracle called magic. People who could sometimes attack, defend, and change the flow of battle by changing the terrain like what she had done just now. In that sense, Adelia was a really good wizard. ¡°Adelia.¡± It was forbidden to think about anything else during a battle, but there was someone he remembered. A good person. A dear lover. A beloved wife. He roughly heard from Count Chase on what had happened to the world called Pleiades. The story was unbelievable. And at the same time, it was a cruel story. ¡®Iris.¡¯ Ga?l¡¯s first fianc¨¦e. His first wife. She died the day after their wedding. Although she had been weak since childhood, she had a lively personality and alwaysughed, but she contracted an incurable disease and her lifespan became limited. So she had onest wish. After the wedding, when their first night had passed, she died with a smile on her emaciated face. Count Chase said that it was not a regression. But he said that the same history had been repeated several times. The history from Jude¡¯s birth until the age of seventeen was always the same. So what about Iris? What about her, whose lifelong wish was to simply be his bride, who at such a young age could not think of any other wishes, and who had to die in grief without knowing the world? ¡°Ga?l!¡± Ga?l raised his head at Adelia¡¯s shout. He woke up from the past and saw the present again. Adelia knew Iris too. Jude, who was too young and could not get out of bed due to his Gueumjulmaek, could not remember Iris well, but Adelia was in her early teens at that time, so she vividly remembered the lively and cheerfuldy who lived in a nearby estate. Ga?l stared at Adelia. He also recalled the other stories he had heard from Count Chase. ¡°I heard that this was the first time.¡± His meeting with Adelia. His connection with her. ¡®We have to end this.¡¯ This crazy situation that had been repeated several times. ¡®I have to protect it.¡¯ The present time. His present time with Adelia. Ga?l breathed in. He focused and cleared his thoughts. Protect. Adelia and the present. Against the enemy in front of me now. ¡°Jude.¡± Ga?l reassured the worried Adelia with a smile and turned around again. Despite the pouring rain, he looked far away and saw the huge red pir of light. *** Violent Avnche danced in a lively way. The cute bear cub¡¯s dance was not for boosting the morale of the soldiers. It definitely gave visual satisfaction to the nearby elves and shamans, but its main purpose was something else. ¡°Yosha! Yosha! Yosha! Yosha!¡± The shamans of the wildnds danced in a circle centered on Violent Avnche. The power of the wild gods in the distant wildnds was brought to this ce. ¡°Grow! Grow!¡± The Golden Dragon King¡¯s crest appeared on Violent Avnche¡¯s forehead as he gestured, and the ground violently shook. As bushes and trees rose at once, the empty in quickly became a huge forest. It was an outrageous act that broke the bnce of nature. But it was something necessary now. Kwagagagagagaga-! The raging waves that covered the ground then collided and was destroyed by the natural breakwater everyone had suddenly created. Violent Avnche danced again, and the shamans and spirits of the elves tried to disperse the remnants of the destroyed waves. One of the 7 major cmities that Jude and Cordelia had spoken of. It was not a cmity for no reason. Despite gathering all the powers of the wild gods, they could do nothing else but impede it as they did now. But Violent Avnche did not give up. Although it was gradual, the momentum of the waves was weakening. It was proof that their operation to break and disperse it was working. ¡°They¡¯reing.¡± Red Gale spoke as he looked afar with narrowed eyes. Because monsters appeared in between the raging waves. It was questionable if it was their own decision or another person ordered them, but it was the right decision. To directly attack Violent Avnche and prevent him from interfering with the raging waves¡¯ advance. Their goal was so clear and obvious, so Red Gale was naturally prepared. ¡°Let¡¯s go. Let¡¯s show them the power of the wildnds.¡± He had heard of what had happened. The disastrous future the wildnds would have faced if Jude and Cordelia had not appeared. Their pitiful fate of bing puppets of demons and being mobilized in the war against the north. ¡°It must not happen anymore.¡± Red Gale held his giant axe and fiercely smiled. He blew the trumpet that signaled everyone to advance, and shouted out loud again. ¡°Kuraha!¡± ¡°Kuraha!¡± ¡°Kuraha!¡± The warriors of the wildnds responded as their hearts all united. They grabbed their own weapons to ughter the monsters rushing in front of them. ¡°de Song, sing us a war song.¡± Great Storm thus said from a distant ce. The shamans began to sing, and the warriors remembered the battle in Snow Breeze in. No one knew who sang first, but everyone sang the war song of the great de Song. They raised their fighting spirit by calling out the names of those who sacrificed themselves for the wildnds. ¡°Go, go, go and tear them apart!¡± ¡°UOOOOOOOOO!¡± The warriors of the wildnds furiously rushed. Watching the scene, Count Hr?svelgr raised his sword. He ordered the Jackdaws to charge. Elune also lifted her sword. She had been seriously injured both physically and mentally in her fight against First Sword, but she picked up her sword again instead of crying in her room. Because she never wanted to go through something like that again. Because she wanted to protect the elves. ¡°Jude, Cordelia.¡± Elune called out their names as if reciting a spell. She raised her sword as someone who moved towards the horizon. *** The fights intensified everywhere. Sarah, Leon, and the emperor¡¯s army in the north blocked the advance of the Gray Lady while the elite members of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, who were led by their generals, stopped the movement of the top-ranking demonic human, Jabberwock. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the entire continent was swept by the ravages of war. The Great Tribtion. But it had happened so suddenly. It was not possible to cause the Great Summons with this much. So they had a chance. This time, they had a chance to stop the Great Summons. The young goddess Atalia put her hands together. She prayed and wished as one of those who lived in Pleiades, and not as a god. Herst hope. At a time when even Atalia herself, the goddess of Pleiades, had a broken heart from the destruction that had been repeated many times, she thought of a person. The one who never gave up. ¡°Jude.¡± Atalia prayed. She made a wish again. *** ¡°F*ck bang! Bang! Bang!¡± As soon as the door opened, Cordelia shouted out loud and threw all the remaining bombs with her telekinesis. And a star-shaped explosion followed. Gold Star Explosion. A star-shaped sh of light filled their sight. The light was so intense that it instantly filled the entire space beyond the door. But it was only for a moment. There was light and sound, but no destruction from the explosion. It was the power of Kaira, the leader of the Devil¡¯s Hand who was now guarding the ritual chamber. The explosion shrank the moment she grabbed it with her outstretched hand. It concentrated on one point and disappeared afterwards. An overwhelming telekic power. It was as they had expected. So right after the explosion disappeared, when the blinding light was gone and their vision cleared, at a time when Kaira and the demon followers were distracted. ¡°We¡¯ll be fighting these people.¡± A day before Operation Meteor Strike began. Jude and Cordelia gathered those who would invade the imperial pce, and began a lecture. ¡°Considering the circumstances, these people will probably be the ones guarding the ritual chamber.¡± Kaira, the leader of the Devil¡¯s Hand. Tanesia, the leader of the Devil¡¯s Eye. Yekaterina, the leader of the Devil¡¯s Mouth. Great Demon Forte, one of the seven swords of Asmodeus. Even Kamael, who had been fighting the demon followers for a long time, was ignorant of their identities and abilities. But Jude and Cordelia were different. [You do know, right? That I¡¯m the record holder for defeating Yekaterina in the shortest time?] When Cordelia sent a magic with a snort, Jude replied with a smile. [I know. Am I not the record holder for defeating Kaira and Forte in the shortest time?] Cordelia pouted at Jude¡¯s message, and Jude smiled again at her lovely appearance. [My sessor, please be serious.] Jude was not embarrassed by Valencia¡¯s sharp remark. Because it was the truth. Therefore, Jude began the lecture again with a calm expression. Who would fight who. How to attack each of their enemy. ¡°Perfect! I¡¯m going now!¡± Bang! The sh was just for blinding the sight of their opponents. The moment she opened the door, Cordelia pinpointed the location of the enemies with her unparalleled spatial perception. When the sh blinded the enemies, she delivered an image to everyone in the party with magic, so everyone who identified the location of their enemies knew where they should go. Bang! The light disappeared. The sound scattered. Kaira, the leader of the Devil¡¯s Hand, extinguished the explosion. And by that time, everyone in the party was already standing where they were supposed to stand. ¡°ck Lightning Covers the Sky!¡± Jude became like ck lightning. Yekaterina was the leader of the Devil¡¯s Mouth who worshipped Lilith, the overlord of love and hatred. As an apostle of the powerful Subus Queen, Yekaterina possessed a strong seduction power, so anyone who made eye contact with her were bound to voluntarily be her ve regardless of age or sex. There were two ways to deal with Yekaterina. One was to close their eyes and fight, and the other was to knock her down with long-range attacks at a considerable distance. But Jude came up with one more trick. ¡°As expected, Cordelia is the prettiest.¡± Jude said as soon as he saw Ekaterina¡¯s fair and beautiful face. If seduction was a problem, it would not be a problem if he was already seduced. [My sessor¡¯s love filter really is amazing.] To the point where seduction magic did not work on him. At Valencia¡¯s grumble that sounded pleasant to Jude, he brightly smiled in response. ¡°The second prettiest woman after Cordelia is Valencia. So even if I got hit hard by the magic, she¡¯ll only be the third.¡± [Yes, yes, after all, Cordelia is the best, right?] Jude smiled again when Valencia snorted. He then mercilessly released the energy of the ck dragon to Yekaterina whose face had turned red because she was enraged from his sessive insults. Bang! Sword Demon Forte blocked Kamael¡¯s sword with his huge sword. But he had to pull away and step back. Because the chill from Kamael¡¯s sword was about to swallow Forte¡¯s me. Forte was an excellent swordsman. And so was Kamael. Forte used fire. Kamael utilized ice. So Forte¡¯s opponent naturally had to be Kamael. ¡°Light.¡± Lena rushed towards the Tanesia, the leader of the Devil¡¯s Eye. Tanesia¡¯s specialty was light magic, but Lena who inherited the genealogy of the sun goddess naturally had a light attribute. Tanesia¡¯s attack was halved, and Lena was not affected by her halved attack. And one more person. The leader of the Devil¡¯s Hand, Kaira, was in a panic. She was a woman of little emotion, but could not help it at this moment. Without realizing it, her face turned pale as she stepped backwards. ¡°A mind of steel, an indomitable will, and an invincible body.¡± Her formidable telekinesis could crush even a huge explosion at once. But it did not work for the man in front of her. She tried to crush and break him, but he repelled it with his steel-like muscles. ¡°UOOOOOOO!¡± The man who was 2 meters and 30 centimeters ¨C no, he had now grown to 2 meters and 40 centimeters, came charging with the Sr de in his hand. Realizing that it was useless to directly attack him with her telekinesis, Kaira hurriedly destroyed the surrounding terrain to use it for attacking, but it was futile. Bang! Bang! Bang! His fists broke the sky and his feet pulverized the ground. Landius did not even swing the Sr de. With just his punches and kicks, which was his normal attacks, he neutralized all of Kajsa¡¯s attacks. As soon as they entered, they created a one-to-one situation to block the enemy from helping each other. They pitted those who had the advantage over their enemy to push them. Cordelia looked straight ahead. Jude, Landius, Lena, and Kamael pushed the leaders and the great demon towards the corners of the room, so Cordelia stared at the presider of the ritual, Archbishop Manu who was sitting on a heavenly throne, and the demonic humans in between her and the end of the ritual chamber. [Shall we go too?] Cordelia responded to Melissa¡¯ question with a smile. A golden storm engulfed the ritual chamber. Chapter 351: Archbishop Manuela (2)

Chapter 351: Archbishop Manu (2)

¡°To sum it up, we¡¯ll defeat the enemy one by one.¡± The day before the raid on the imperial capital. Cordelia pursed her lips instead of nodding right away at the words spoken by Jude lying next to her. She understood what he was talking about. She also remembered the specs of the enemies in the Legend of Heroes series. Thus, she knew that the words of Jude were not impossible to do, and not just being optimistic. But she still felt anxious. They would pit those who have an advantage over the enemy. They would utilize strategies. It was the norm in games and something she had done countless times, but she kept thinking about scary things. If they could not defeat the enemies one by one. If their n went wrong. If the strength of the leaders and the archbishop was greater than their counterparts in the Legend of Heroes series. Cordelia was always bright and cheerful. She was always the confident one, saying that she could do it. But she could not help but show her weakness this time. Because she was in front of Jude, so she could express her honest thoughts instead of pretending to be strong. ¡°I¡¯m scared.¡± I¡¯m afraid. I¡¯m scared that we¡¯ll lose. I¡¯m scared that tomorrow will be thest day. It was a life-threatening fight. Moreover, the fate of the world was at stake. Like Jude, Cordelia remembered her past life. But hers was not aplete memory. She did not feel that something was out of ce regarding the time she lived as Hong Yoo Hee. Her past and present lives were connected as if it were one life. Cordelia herself was Hong Yoo Hee, and Hong Yoo Hee was Cordelia. Because the two were the same person in the first ce, she was not confused about her identity. But her previous life was different. She was aware of it, but it was like reading someone else¡¯s story through a book. Although they shared feelings, there was an inevitable gap. Therefore, Cordelia Chase who was only 18 years old was here now. Hong Yoo Hee was neen and had just graduated from high school. She was about to enter college and still could not drink as much as she wanted. It would be nice if tomorrow didn¡¯te. I don¡¯t want to fight for the fate of the world. I just want to live a peaceful life. ¡°I¡¯m scared.¡± Cordelia¡¯s voice trembled. Jude caressed the cheek of Cordelia. As she shook in fear, he hugged her and awkwardly smiled. After thinking for a long time on what to say, he finally opened his mouth. ¡°To be honest, I¡¯m scared too.¡± Because I have faced destruction several times. Because I have never won. I would be lying if I say that I am not afraid. I do not want to lose Cordelia. I want to continue this precious days. I want to live the unknown tomorrow that existed beyond the milestones of history. ¡°So I have to fight. As Alexei had said¡­. You¡¯ll just die if you stay still. Even if you¡¯re scared or frightened, you have to move first. Nothing will happen if you do nothing. You have to move. Miracles do not happen, they are achieved.¡± Jude unusually stuttered as he continued to talk, and had a bitter smile at the end. He faced Cordelia whom he had been tightly hugging in his arms and she looked up at him. ¡°Let¡¯s fight together. It¡¯s scary and frightening, but let¡¯s fight and win like always. Let¡¯s finish it nicely and get married nicely. Let¡¯s live happily doing all the things we have not done before.¡± Cordelia blinked her eyes at Jude¡¯s words. And soon burst intoughter. ¡°Co-Cordelia?¡± As Jude was flustered in confusion, Cordeliaughed even louder. She said as he buried her face in Jude¡¯s chest. ¡°It doesn¡¯t suit you.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I mean, those words. Aren¡¯t you more of a realist?¡± Rather than talking about dreams, wishes, and the future, he was someone who would enumerate the enemy¡¯s specs and tell her what to do so that they could win. So that she would not be afraid. Because that was very much like Jude. ¡°No, I like this one too¡­¡± Because she also liked this present Jude. Because Cordelia very much liked this side of Jude too. As Cordelia giggled, Jude blushed and made up excuses. ¡°Uh¡­ Cordelia. You do know that I¡­ have a glib tongue, right?¡± ¡°Pfft!¡± Cordelia burst outughing again. Aren¡¯t you using your glib tongue now? Aren¡¯t you a one-of-a-kind scammer in this world? Cordelia continued tough and Jude had aplicated and indescribable expression, but soonughed like her. After all, he liked it when Cordeliaughed. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes, Jude.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s win.¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s win. Let¡¯s win and live happily like in fairy tale books. We¡¯ll live happily ever after, right?¡± At Cordelia¡¯s words, Jude nodded again and looked around. He whispered into Cordelia¡¯s ear. ¡°If wee back alive¡­¡± I¡¯ll say my wish that has been dyed for some time. We must definitelye back alive so that I can have my wish. ¡°What will you wish for?¡± Jude smiled at her words and whispered again, making Cordelia blush. She said as she tapped Jude¡¯s chest. ¡°Pervert.¡± ¡°No, why are you saying something that can be misunderstood? When did I make such a strange wish?¡± ¡°Anyway, you¡¯re a pervert. Pervert. Jude is a pervert.¡± Cordelia snorted and pinched Jude¡¯s cheek. After a while, she opened her mouth again. ¡°Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s win.¡± The fight tomorrow. Jude nodded. He hugged Cordelia again. ¡°UOOOOOOOO!¡± Cordelia looked forward. She remembered their resolution yesterday and took out her trump card that she had been hiding for a long time. ¡°Power of Darkness!¡± Cordelia¡¯s white wings turned jet ck. It was the powers she inherited from the witch. The so-called Power of Darkness used the emotions of darkness and division prevalent in the world. ¡®Frankly, I thought I wouldn¡¯t be able to use it at all.¡¯ She had been preparing it for a long time, but had yet toplete it. When she finallypleted it, the final battle was just around the corner. ¡®But it¡¯s a relief.¡¯ I can use it in the final battle. I will die full of regrets if I never used it! ¡°Hit them! Hit them! Just hit them!¡± Like a storm! ck Sun Blizzard! ck was added to the golden storm. The power of darkness naturally broke the defenses of the demonic humans, and the divinity of the sun directly affected the bodies and souls of those exposed in its way. ¡°KEUAAAAAAAH!¡± The demons began to melt like snow. It was impossible to properly resist it. ¡°I¡¯m not a fallen angel!¡± She was not an angel who fell into darkness, but an angel who used the power of darkness. It seemed to be simr, but there was a huge difference between the two. Shebined the power of darkness and the power of the sun. Enabling her to wipe out demons more effectively! ¡°Manu!¡± Cordelia shouted and stared at the heavenly throne. She walked forward and looked at Archbishop Manu who was sitting with his head bowed. She advanced with the storm. ¡°Sky Shattering ck Dragon!¡± ck dragons broke through space and attacked Yekaterina. Bewildered that her seduction did not work, Yekaterina hurriedly opened a magic barrier to stop the Sky Shattering ck Dragon, but that was her limit. By opening the eighth door, Jude had already surpassed the leaders of the demon follower groups with his abilities alone. Thus, Yekaterina¡¯s strongest weapon, her seduction, did not work, so she never had a chance of winning from the very beginning. ¡°Heart of the Sun!¡± Jude¡¯s fist struck the side of Yekaterina who managed to block the Sky Shattering ck Dragon. Just his strength alone was enough to break the bones and muscles of Yekaterina who had already used demonization, but there was something more added to it. Heart of the Sun prated the opponent¡¯s defense. The power of the ck Sun caused a huge explosion inside Yekaterina¡¯s body. ¡°KAAAK!¡± Yekaterina coughed blood after being hit by Jude¡¯s fist and sent flying. She rolled around the floor without even having the time to spread her giant bat wings behind her back. And Jude kicked the ground again. He endured the seduction of Yekaterina by being under a powerful seduction magic (Cordelia), but honestly could not hold on for long. Yekaterina was not the leader of the Devil¡¯s Mouth for no reason. As the incarnation of Lilith, the overlord of love and hatred, her temptation was absolute, so there was no way to get out of it once caught. So he had to defeat her before that. Before she seduced the others who were not resistant to her temptation, and before the wall that Jude himself built copsed. Jude switched from his fist to his sword-like hand. He mercilessly pushed back Yekaterina who had barely managed to get up. ¡¯30 seconds to go.¡¯ Yekaterina gave up on her seduction magic and used her mana to strengthen her body, beginning to fight against Jude¡¯s offensive with difficulty. So Jude began to use the sword with the inner essence. It was rare for Yekaterina to fight in closebat because of her absolute power of seduction. She transformed into a subus queen and her physical abilities were greatly increased, but it was impossible for her who was inexperienced in closebat to block the attack of those who had reached the horizon. The attacks continued. He easily prated Yekaterina¡¯s defense andnded effective hits on her vital points. ¡®20 seconds to go.¡¯ He had to defeat Yekaterina and help the others. ording to Jude¡¯s own calctions, the fight between Kamael and great demon Forte was evenly-matched. Lena would somehow be pushed back by Tanesia, the leader of the Devil¡¯s Eye. She could only buy time by fighting in the defensive. ¡®It¡¯s highly likely that the archbishop can¡¯t move because of the ritual.¡¯ And in fact, that was what was happening. Cordelia was fighting against numerous demons but not Archbishop Manu. So he had to hurry up. He had to defeat Yekaterina as quickly as possible and help Cordelia. As for another person. A man who always delivered results that transcended calctions, and was the trump card of Jude¡¯s n. ¡°You are weak.¡± At Landius¡¯ deration, the leader of the Devil¡¯s Hand, Kaira, clenched her teeth. Although she was less emotionally agitated, she could not help but shake in front of the monster. How the hell can someone like him exist? She knew that the red-haired warrior, Iron Man Landius, was a powerful being. But he exceeded her expectations. She could not even imagine that he would be so strong. Bang! Bang! Bang! It was useless to throw a rock the size of a house. Everything was destroyed by his fist that he lightly swung. ¡°EUAAAAAAAAAH!¡± It was meaningless to apply external force with telekinesis. It was alsopletely impossible to harm that steel-like body. So she tried to do it from the inside. But that was also unachievable. The inexhaustible power of the sun fully neutralized the telekinesis of Kaira. She tried to use the power of curses as well, but that was out of the question too. Landius was the sun. In front of his powerful soul, the power of the dark curse melted away at once. He was literally a monster. So it was only natural that Archbishop Manu was so wary of him. ¡°AAAAAH!¡± But she could not back off. Kaira opened her eyes that had always been closed. She did her best by opening the eyes she received from Asmodeus, the overlord of lust. Six horns sprouted from her head and generated tremendous magical power. If she could not destroy his body. If it was impossible to destroy from the inside, and even impossible to attack him using objects. She would push him. She would lift him up with telekinesis and throw him away! She was correct. But Landius had anticipated such an option too. He watched Kaira¡¯s telekinesis rush in like a storm and tightened the grip on his hand. As if dispersing the storm, he swung the Sr de which he had tightly gripped. Swoooooosh-! The sword of the sun cut through everything in the ce. Or rather, everything was crushed with its force like that of a raging wave. Her telekinesis disappeared. It was not cut. It simply faded in front of the immense power created by the Sr de. He used his full power. Landius spared no strength. He did his best the moment he needed it, and Kaira could not receive Landius¡¯ power. ¡°Cough!¡± Kaira flew almost a dozen meters or more, crashing into a wall and coughing blood. And in front of her was Landius. Right after he swung the Sr de, he kicked the ground to follow the thrown Kaira and instantly arrived in front of her. It was a fist this time. His best punch. A skill of the Supreme Sun Divine Art. With his extreme Yang energy. His fist touched her. The sun broke Kaira¡¯s body. It toppled the entire wall her back was touching, and the ground also caved in. Bang! Bang! Bang! There was a chain of destruction. There were shock waves that reached dozens of meters. The lower part of Kaira¡¯s chest where Landius¡¯ fist touched waspletely destroyed. Kaira fell and no longer moved, and Landius caught his breath. Landius could tell. Jude was pushing Yekaterina. She was on the verge of being defeated. The battle between Kamael and Forte was intensifying. Asmodeus was the number one swordswoman in Hell, and Forte, one of her seven swords, was on the verge of reaching the horizon. So it was too much for Kamael to overpower him at once. Lena was struggling. But she was originally good at defending, so she did not lose her stability. Rather, the disappearance of Kaira made Tanesia nervous. So Landius turned his head. Cordelia was creating a storm of light and blowing up things in all directions. She was the core of Jude¡¯s n. The battlefield was divided because of the explosions she was causing. The enemies could not fight together, so their operation to fight one-to-one had be possible. Cordelia was pushing the demons. But she was getting tired after using too much mana in a short time. Landius calmed his breath. He did not wait any longer. The moment Jude beheaded Yekaterina, he kicked the ground. ¡°Manu.¡± The puppet of evil that caused the destruction of the Paragon Kingdom. Landius ran towards him sitting on the heavenly throne. Chapter 352: Archbishop Manuela (3)

Chapter 352: Archbishop Manu (3)

¡°Fran! Come here!¡± ¡°Okay! Old man! Gah?! Old man! The right!¡± ¡°I know!¡± When Velkian shouted, the skeletons on the right side exploded at once. Hundreds to thousands of bone fragments flew towards the front instead of going in all directions, tearing apart the monsters as if a ymore mine had exploded. ¡°Haa¡­ haa¡­¡± Velkian roughly breathed as he quickly moved his hand and swallowed a mana potion. The situation was not very good. Only a few people were blocking thousands ¨C no, tens of thousands of troops, so it meant that they were really doing well, but in this battle where the fate of the world was at stake, what mattered was the result and not the process. ¡°I¡¯ll take them out first! Everyone, gather!¡± Summoning spirits was not enough, so Fran transformed himself into the incarnation of Orion, a god of the forests. Deer antlers protruded from his head, and his lower body became like that of a giant horse. He then struck the ground with a staff made from the branches of the world tree. ¡°SHAKE!¡± The earth responded to Fran. The ground shook and swayed, so the rushing monsters fell and trampled each other. ¡°Hahaha! You dumbasses!¡± Fran let out swear words that did not suit his pretty face, and moved his hand again. He sent the spirits forward to buy time and create some space, and urged the rest of the group again. ¡°Gather! Everyone, gather here!¡± ¡°Lucas!¡± Kajsa shouted and swung her chain, while Scarlet grabbed Adide¡¯s waist and ran towards Fran. Red Wind had already retreated with Sun Song, establishing a line of defense of some sort. ¡°Hurry up!¡± At the prompting of Red Wind, the Sword God who was carrying Maximilian on his back ran past Kajsa. And thest person. The one who blocked the monster waves with his sword. Lucas responded with action to everyone¡¯s call. As the sword of the Holy King shone again and a huge aura de was released, the monsters in front of him disappeared as though they had instantly evaporated. ¡°Lucas!¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine, Kajsa!¡± His breathing was bit rough, but his facialplexion was not that bad. After reassuring Kajsa, he hurriedly retreated, and Fran thought while looking at Lucas. ¡®He¡¯s like Landius.¡¯ It was not just because Lucas was a swordsman. ¡®Though when I met Landius again, he didn¡¯t look like a swordsman at all.¡¯ Why in the world did he suddenly start punching like that? Still, that doesn¡¯t matter since he¡¯s strong. ¡®Anyway, that¡¯s not what¡¯s important right now.¡¯ Fran stopped his thoughts and watched Lucas again. As thest druid in the lineage of the world tree, Irmut, he was able to see many things that could not be simply seen with one¡¯s eyes. Lucas was gifted with the same talent as Kamael. He was born with the same talent as Kamael, the best swordsman Fran knew, so he was truly a blessed genius. But Fran could tell. Kamae¡¯s talent did not make him the best. There were more talented people in this world than him. Even that old man named the Sword God was gifted with a talent that surpassed that of Kamael and Lucas. The guy on Sword God¡¯s back, who had been their enemy earlier, was born with a talent superior to that old man. But Kamael was stronger than thetter two, and so was Lucas. ¡®Is it because of his past lives?¡¯ Having learned the truth of the ¡®copy and paste method,¡¯ Fran could now see glimpses of Lucas¡¯ past lives. That child, who was only in hister teens, was able to be so strong because he inherited the power of his previous lives. But that did not mean Lucas¡¯ present efforts should be disregarded. His repeated past lives was not the main reason why he was able to reach the horizon. ¡®He has a strong will.¡¯ A mind of steel that did not lose to oneself. An indomitable will that did not yield to external pressure. In that sense, he resembled Landius. Therefore, that child was able to reach the state he was in now. ¡°Hold your ground! Defend!¡± The undead legion responded to Velkian¡¯smand. Death Knights raised their swords high and boosted their fighting spirits, while skeletons and zombies howled. Fran came to his senses. He stabbed his staff into the ground, setting it up as a totem before he sang loudly to bestow blessings and protections to the party. ¡®Landius.¡¯ Just as how Lucas believed in Jude and Cordelia, Fran also believed in Landius. A person who did not give in to any despair. Everyone¡¯s sun who drove away the darkness. Fran sang with all his might. Hope blossomed in the despair that filled his eyes. *** ¡°Die! Die! Just die!¡± Tanesiaunched an onught, but Lena was not easily defeated. The magic bullets of lighting from all directions were blocked by her rotating barriers of light. Tanesia felt nervous. Her opponent was on the defensive, though it was not easily broken. However, her opponent was getting weaker with each attack of hers. So if Tanesia prolonged this battle, she would be able to win. But that was why Tanesia got caught by Lena. What mattered to Tanesia now was to defend Archbishop Manu. ¡°Just die!¡± A pir of light that was around 5 meters in diameter shot down from the huge magic circle that Tanesia had created in the air. The powerful attack was to keep Lena busy so that she could take advantage of the gap and move towards Manu. But it failed. Strong attacks usually had many gaps. Lena had already predicted what kind of attack woulde the moment she saw a magic circle form in the air, so she easily dodged the pir with magic. She even seeded in counterattacking Tanesia, even if it was weak. ¡°You can¡¯t go anywhere.¡± Lena softly spoke and smiled, and Tanesia turned both of her hands into that of a demon¡¯s hands as she ran to Lena. Since long-range attacks did not work at all, she thought of fighting in closebat. But that was exactly what Lena had wanted. ¡°I learned a lot from Landius.¡± Closebat. The mace wielded by Lena struck Tanesia in the face. Boom! Bang! Bang! Boom! Explosion sounds resounded in session. Explosions urred every time fire and ice collided. ¡°I like it! This is fun! How satisfying!¡± Asmodeus, the overlord of lust, was also an expert swordswoman. The seven swords she treasured were all great demons with titles, and most of them were crazily good with the sword. Forte liked the sword. He liked swordsmanship. The moments when he moved towards the horizon were so thrilling for him. Despite the fact that his allies were being defeated individually, Great Demon Forte was excited, but his opponent, Kamael, did not show any emotion. Kamael only focused on fighting Forte. How to stop Forte. How to defeat Forte. All that he needed to do was focus. He did not need anything else. ¡®Landius.¡¯ Because Landius is here. Because our sun is with us here. Twelve Snowke Sword Art. The Seventh Snow Flower. Snowke Orchid. Forte was surrounded by hundreds to thousands of aura des that were reminiscent of petals. ¡°AAAAAAAAH!¡± Cordelia stretched her hands forward, causing a final explosion. She literally wiped out everything in front of her by sending all her storms of light forward and making it explode at once. It was too much for her. That one attack consumed more than half of the mana she had. But it was necessary. Cordelia staggered and shouted. ¡°Landius-nim!¡± ¡°UOOOOOOOO!¡± Landius responded. He flew towards the path opened by Cordelia, and ran towards the heavenly throne where Manu was sitting. [There¡¯s magic power everywhere!] Melissa¡¯s scream was correct. Cordelia had wiped out hundreds of demons, but an immense amount of magic power was released the moment she crossed a certain space. And Cordelia finally understood why so many demons appeared. ¡°Hell Gate!¡± In front of the heavenly throne where Manu sat. The Hell Gate that had been hidden in a crack of space was finally revealed. It was a huge gate like the one she saw in Snow Breeze in, and the gate was wide open as demons and monsters from Hell came out. But the low-level demons were not the problem. It was the move prepared by Manu. It roared and released its power. ¡°Demon Prince!¡± As if responding to Cordelia¡¯s words, a huge and terrifying fist came out of the Hell Gate. It rushed forward with a force that could instantly crush Landius! Landius saw it too. The fist was huge. It appeared to be three meters in diameter. But Landius did not stop. He strengthened his grip on the Sr de, and once again unleashed the power of the sun! He used his Supreme Sun Divine Art. He unleased his extreme Yang energy! Two fists collided. At the moment of collision, the entire ritual chamber shook, and a huge shockwave swept through the ce. ¡°KYA!¡± Cordelia screamed as she was sent flying. As soon as he killed Yekaterina, Jude ran and caught Cordelia by the waist as if snatching it, and he looked straight ahead. He witnessed a human fist defeating a Demon Prince¡¯s fist. ¡°UOOOOOOOOOOOO!¡± It was pushed back. The attack of the Demon Prince failed. The Hell Gate shook, but Landius did not stop. He stared straight and held the Sr de near his chest. ¡°LAN-DI-USSSS-!¡± The Demon Prince¡¯s head and shoulders emerged from the Hell Gate. Its hatred for Landius radiated from its red bull¡¯s head, its yellow eyes, its sulfur-like breath, and its seven ck and big horns. But Landius was not afraid. He was amidst burning hot fire, but he thought coldly. He calcted the power of the Demon Prince who had not yet fully exited the Hell Gate. He directed the power of the sun into the Sr de. I will cut it. I will break it. I will break the darkness and reveal the light of the glory of the morning! ¡°Trailzer Sword!¡± Landius roared and swung his sword. The sword of the sun that shed Malekith along with his Dragon Breath once again unfolded from Landius¡¯ fingertips. A gigantic golden de swept through the Hell Gate. Boooooooooooom-! Light filled their vision. The light of the sun swallowed up all the darkness. It crushed the Hell Gate and stopped the Demon Prince froming out. It was an all-powerful strike. Even the unequaled Landius lost his strength to stand because of his attack. But Landius did not fall. Although he could not move forward, he did not copse. He stood still and looked ahead of him. He looked at the heavenly throne and shouted. ¡°Jude!¡± The one who would deliver the final blow did not have to be him. It was enough for him to open the way. So he had done his best. He did not spare his strength because Jude was here. Go. Go. Defeat Manu! The eighth door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. ck Lightning Covers the Sky. Jude became ck lightning. He fiercely shouted as he left Cordelia¡¯s side. He rushed past Landius and advanced towards Manu. Boom! Boom! Boom! Wall barriers rose in front of the heavenly throne with a booming sound. But Jude clenched his fist and did not stop. He destroyed the first barrier with a single blow of the Supreme Sun Divine Art. The second barrier was broken with Valencia¡¯s sword. He released the energy of the ck dragon towards the third barrier. Boooooooooooom! All three barriers copsed. He ran amidst the falling debris and used ck Lightning Covers the Sky again as he rushed towards Manu. Bababababang! It was thest resistance. des of Judgment rained down from the heavenly throne. Jude saw it and drew his arm. He created a huge ck sword from his energy and gripped it. And he used Wind and Lightning Flurry Strikes. The sword of wind and lightning pushed away all the des of Judgment. There was nothing left to protect Archbishop Manu anymore. ¡°Atst.¡± Landius said. Lena gazed at the heavenly throne. Kamael felt his emotions explode deep inside his heart. The Paragon Kingdom. A ce that was small but beautiful. ¡°Go.¡± Go, Jude. Deliver the final blow. End the demon that destroyed the Paragon Kingdom. ¡°Jude.¡± Cordelia touched her chest. She was in tears without realizing it. We will stop the Great Summons. This time, we shall have a perfect happy ending. ¡°UOOOOOOOOOOO!¡± Jude roared. Thest strike of Wind and Lightning Flurry Strikes pierced into Manu¡¯s heart. This would be thest. This would the end of a long, long journey. Manu¡¯s body crumbled as it could not withstand the power of the Wind and Lightning Flurry Strikes. Landius, who had been chasing Manu for nearly ten years, remembered the Paragon Kingdom. Lena burst into tears, and even Kamael cried. But it was at that moment. Tanesia smiled. Forte madlyughed. Cordelia unconsciously raised her head and opened her eyes. She felt that something was wrong. And it was Jude who recognized that fact most clearly. ¡®He was already dead.¡¯ Jude felt it the moment he stabbed the sword. It was a corpse that sat on the heavenly throne. Manu was already dead. What had happened? What was going on? [As expected, you all are amazing.] A voice was heard from Manu¡¯s corpse that was crumbling into pieces. The voice clearly belonged to Manu. [This is just my residual thoughts. I already died yesterday. For the final n.] T/N: Residual thought is a unique Japanese concept. As its name suggests, it is the thoughts that remain in a person after they die. However, it is different from the concept of ghosts or spirits. And despite being a ¡®thought¡¯, they can still talk to people. The ritual continued. As if Manu¡¯s death was a signal, the blood-red pir of light that came from the sky began to radiate a stronger power. [You¡¯re all strong. Persistent. You always create miracles.] He was not only talking about the five heroes of Paragon. There was the man who never gave up and fought to the very end in a life that had been repeated many times. Jude Bayer, the sword of the young goddess, Atalia. [So I assumed that I would be killed in the end. I thought that you would attack the capital through any means or methods, and then invade this ce and kill me¡­ I came up with a n under that premise.] And it actually happened. Even if Manu himself had been here, nothing much would have changed. [I gave up the thought of fighting you all. I decided to use my life for something more important. Of course, it wasn¡¯t something I really liked though.] Lena and Kamael were confused. But Jude could roughly guess it. Manu¡¯s n. The things he had prepared. [Why do you think it was today?] The day when the cmities were released into the world. Why was it today? Was it not the norm to release it on the day of the descent? [Your calctions are not wrong. If you only look at the pir of light, it is correct that it will take around 20 days to summon the archangel. But if you add one more catalyst, the situation changes.] One who had received the power of all the overlords of Hell. One who was like the incarnation of all of them. Archbishop Manu sacrificed his own life. He offered his body and soul in order to summon the archangel. [I would never have guessed that I would offer my life to summon an angel. I guess this is why life is fun.] On the day the cmities were released into the world, Archbishop Manu offered his life as a sacrifice for the ritual. Although he left a residual thought to direct the situation, it was literally just a residual thought. [The time shortened by my life was around 5 days. It was close, but it seemed to have somehow worked out. Don¡¯t me yourself too much. Even if you did something while listening to my words, it would already be impossible. I¡¯m not a fool who would kindly talk about what I would do next. The Heaven Gate was already open at the time you entered this room. It just took her a long time to pass through the gate.] Manu¡¯s residual thoughtughed. It vanished after saying hisst words. [Farewell, heroes of Paragon.] This time¡­ No, as what had happened several times, you will once again fall before fate. Jude raised his head. He looked up the sky. He could not see it because of the ceiling, but he could feel it. ¡°Auriel.¡± The pir of red light cracked as though it responded to Cordelia¡¯s quiet call. Fran could see it. Velkian heavily breathed and Scarlet clenched her teeth. Kajsa trembled in fear. Red Wind could not stop her hands from shaking. Lucas looked up the sky with his sword pointed down. The archangel of judgment in pure white armor spread her twelve wings. She slowly opened her eyes. She looked down at the ground with a cold gaze. Chapter 353: Those Who Continue the Trail (1)

Chapter 353: Those Who Continue the Trail (1)

¡°Till doomsday.¡± *** The sky was split. The pir of red light shattered into pieces, and its fragments covered the sky. The blue sky turned red. The forced twilight enveloped the ce. Night wasing. The sunset was spreading. The purple light rising from the end of the twilight diffused and muddied the skies, weighing down the world. Those who had eyes had no choice but to see. Those who had ears had no choice but to listen. Wings covered the sky. An absolutemand was heard. It was not just Lucas, Velkian, and Fran. The demons also saw the sky. So did the monsters and demon followers. Those detained in the imperial capital to be sacrificed also nkly stared at the sky. Beneath the bloodstained sky was a divine beauty. She had a triangr helmet engraved with a red inverted cross, long pauldrons that covered her shoulders, and protective armor in the shape of golden wings wrapping around her waist and back. Her twelve wings turned into light. Each wing gave off a different color of light that blinded the viewer¡¯s eyes in the end. Auriel, the Archangel of Judgment. Many people could not help but admire her majestic and beautiful figure that would only appear in holy paintings. Eventually, a person knelt down and prayed, thinking that it was the hand of salvation that came down from heaven. There were also people who cried and thanked her. Save me. Please help me. The thousands of people detained in the capital wept and prayed. And their prayers were delivered without fail to the archangel who appeared above the imperial capital. Their begging, pleading, and crying. Aurielughed. Sheughed because she found it ridiculous. ¡°You haven¡¯t changed a little.¡± You all are always the same. You don¡¯t even think about standing up on your own. You just always beg for help. Leeches who continue their lives by sucking the blood of those who sympathize with you. Trash that should not exist. Auriel held her Judgment Sword. At that moment, Velkian shouted. Scarlet hurriedly turned to the ground. She looked at those who were detained in the imperial capital. ¡°No way.¡± At that time when she spoke without realizing it, Auriel swung the Judgment Sword. Lucas knew at that point. What Auriel was trying to attack was not just part of the imperial capital. ¡°Get down!¡± Fran quickly shouted. Velkian moved his hand, causing the undead to jump into the sky. He did not do it to attack. It was to block her attack, though his method was poor. ¡°It¡¯sing.¡± At the time Kajsa spoke. Light rained down from the sky. The blood-red sky twinkled, and hundreds to thousands ¨C no, tens of thousands of light des began to fall down like torrential rain towards the ground. Babababababababang-! It suppressed all sounds. It swallowed up all sounds. The screams of the people could not be heard amidst the forced silence. Their cries were only crushed by the heavy silence. The whole ce seemed to be stained with blood. The crimson des struck and pierced through everything that lied in the ground. ¡°Aaa¡­ Aaa¡­¡± Even the usually bright and cheerful Adide could not help but copse in fear. She wept under her veil. Tears endlessly flowed down her white cheeks. People were dying. The monsters were dying. Before the fair and cruel judgment of light, everyone in the capital was swept away. The demons were no different. Those who roamed around the capital could not even dare to stop the judgment swords that the archangel had summoned. The situation was that the archangel and the overlord would cooperate until the Great Summons happened. Neither Auriel nor Asmodeus cared about the survival of lesser beings. ¡°Calm down!¡± Kajsa loudly shouted and pulled Adide by the cor. Velkian made a shield with the undead. To put it more simply, it was a meat shield, but it was hardly enough to block the judgment swords. The swords of judgment rained down on the undead barriers, so this ce was not safe for them. ¡°Come at me!¡± Lucas¡¯ desperate cry was heard amidst the noise. He drew the long white sword of ¨ªomh Sis as he urgently blocked the judgment swords raining from above. Bababababababang-! The heavy rain could not be easily stopped. Therefore, it was impossible topletely block it. ¡°NOOO!¡± A judgment sword stabbed the shoulder of Sun Song. A judgment sword exploded on the back of Kajsa who had ran to protect Scarlet, and the right arm of the Sword God disappeared when he protected his unconscious disciple. Lucas also did note out unscathed. His body was covered in blood from the fragments of the broken judgment swords. Fran could no longer maintain his Orion-like form. He returned to his human form while Velkian lost almost all the undead he had summoned. And at some point. The rain eventually stopped. Velkian tried to move the undead that only had their outer appearance left, revealing the sky. But the undead could no longer maintain their bodies as it had almost been destroyed. Everyone caught sight of the imperial capital. The nauseous Adide lifted her veil and vomited. It was not a lie that she was the most beautiful in Pleiades, but even her dazzling appearance did not catch anyone¡¯s attention. No way. She could not even speak those short words out of her mouth. In just a few dozen seconds, the appearance of the imperial capitalpletely changed. Tens of thousands of monsters died and became corpses, and the more than 100,000 people detained in the imperial capital were also massacred. Buildings copsed and crumbled, failing to maintain their proper shape. One could only see now the building foundations of thergest city on the continent. Kajsa let out a breathless sound. It was not just because of the pain. There was fear. Terror. Fran was the same. He heavily breathed and remembered the Demon Prince who drove the Paragon Kingdom to destruction. Velkian recalled Malekith, the Ancient ck Dragon that covered the southern skies. Both were powerful beings. After all, they were strong existences who were described as god-like. But the two could not reach her. These two beings could not even darepare themselves to that being firmly flying in the sky on a high ce. Scarlet looked up the sky. With ¨ªomh Sis pointed down, Lucas also saw Auriel looking down at the ground. They instinctively realized. She, Auriel, was the judge of Heaven. She was not god-like. She was a true god. *** Sarah and Leon, who had been fiercely fighting, unconsciously raised their heads and looked in the direction of the imperial capital. The red pir of light disappeared. But they did not think that Jude and Cordelia had seeded. No one could think of that given the blood-red sky. The two looked at each other. They sensed that something had gone wrong. *** Having encouraged the Jackdaws, Count Hr?svelgr realized that something had changed. It was only a small change, but the power of the monsters had grown stronger. And even at this moment, the monsters were getting stronger. The change was still insignificant. But it was clear that if the monsters¡¯ current growth continued, they would be unable to do anything in the future. ¡®Why?¡¯ Count Hr?svelgr reflexively turned to view the imperial capital. He understood and realized it. The blood-colored sky of the imperial capital. There was a reason why the sky was like that. *** ¡°It¡¯s swaying.¡± The witch of the west forest knew. She understood what was happening now. The moment the archangel Auriel forcibly descended on Pleiades, the scales began to sway. Asmodeus took advantage of the ripple caused by the descent of the great being called the archangel. Beyond the blood-red sky, a Hell Gate was opening. The huge gate earlier could not evenpare to it. Therger the wounds the archangel inflicted on the world, the bigger the ripples it caused. And the power of those ripples would be the driving force that would make the Hell Gate open wider. The changes that would result from that. Their armies would be more powerful. As Hell drew closer, the powers of the monsters would increase, and the demons could unleash their original powers. Naturally, the cmities that came from Hell would also grow stronger. They had to stop Auriel. Their situation could only be resolved by stopping her, clearing the blood-red sky, and closing the Hell Gate. Otherwise, an irreversible situation would ur just by the passage of time. All armies would be annihted. The monsters and demons would spread throughout Pleiades,mitting horrific massacres. And what would follow was the Great Tribtion. What awaited at the end was the Great Summons that would bring about the destruction of Pleiades. The witch of the west forest sped her hands together. She looked at the imperial capital and just prayed. *** Auriel swung her sword with an indifferent face. She widely spread her twelve wings, and the colorful feathers at the tips scattered in the air. It was a beautiful sight. Light scattered under the blood-red sky. The angel¡¯s feathers fluttered in the wind. But everyone who managed to survive knew it. That this majestic and beautiful sight was another precursor to despair. Light rose from the hundreds of feathers that were dancing and falling from the sky. Each one took the form of an angel. Pure white angels with a beautiful woman¡¯s face, a pair of wings, and a sword in their hands. They looked down the ground. They brightly smiled and raised their swords. They looked into the eyes of the survivors who were fascinated by their beauty and still begging for salvation, and they happily swung their swords. They were low-ranking angels. But they were beings that ordinary humans could not withstand. Up to a thousand angels flew around the imperial capital, eradicating the survivors. The appearance of angels brightly smiling and continuing the massacre, regardless of age or gender, was horror in itself. ¡°Stop, stop¡­ please.¡± Fran could barely speak. Velkian was the same. But it was difficult to even deal with the angels flying towards them now. Velkian¡¯s undead legion was wiped out. Although the already dead undead could be raised, it would only increase their numbers but not their power. Fran was also exhausted. Thend of the imperial capital lost its power in the series of disasters that happened. He could no longer summon the spirits. ¡°AAAAAAAAAH!¡± Scarlet screamed and swung her whip sword. She created a space by cutting down the rushing angels. Scarlet¡¯s gaze was on her front, but she could not erase from her mind Kajsa who was lying on the ground, groaning and suffering as a result of being directly hit by the judgment sword instead of Scarlet herself. Red Wind became one with the Phoenix and flew. She set fire to the angels with spear mes, and crazily flew around, but gradually lost her power. Lucas swung his sword. And he saw. The archangel was descending. Looking down at the ground with a cold face, she began tond down and stared at them with a look as though she was observing ants. Auriel¡¯s feet touched the ground. At that moment, there was a ripple. Golden ripples with a beautiful melody that sounded like songs then spread in session. They could endure the first one. But it was difficult to even stand after the second, third, and fourth ripples. Scarlet copsed and coughed blood, while Fran fell down and clutched his chest. Velkian could no longer stand. Red Wind fell. Kajsa¡¯s face turned pale, and her wounds that had barely recovered were ripped open again. Lucas did not fall. With a steel mind and indomitable will, he lifted ¨ªomh Sis. He raised the light of the Holy King once again. Auriel saw him. She nced at the human being who pierced through the angels and was rushing towards her. And she expressed her displeasure. ¡°You disgrace Sri.¡± How dare you defile that child¡¯s sword. She sent her will. And that was enough. ¨ªomh Sis that was in Lucas¡¯ hand shook and freed itself from Lucas as it flew away. It naturally returned to Auriel in an instant. ¡°Get down and die.¡± Auriel¡¯s words became amand. A mighty force crushed Lucas who had lost his sword. He fell after being forced to kneel. ¡°Cough!¡± Lucas threw up blood. The continuous pressure made him unable to move anymore. ¡°Luca-!¡± Scarlet¡¯s cry was unfinished. The swords of the angels stabbed her body. With four swords stabbing her back, chest, thigh, and waist, she fell and bled from every wound. Angels trampled on Fran. They thrust a sword on Velkian¡¯s chest and cut off his arm. Auriel took a step amidst the ruthless violence. She looked at her agent that the fallen Sword God covered in blood had tried to protect until the end. ¡°Maximilian.¡± Auriel hated everything that existed in Pleiades. But if there was one thing she had an attachment to, it would be the agent in front of her. ¡°Sun Song!¡± The angel¡¯s sword pierced Sun Song¡¯s chest. The angels trampled on the back of the screaming Red Wind. As if she was an insect in a collection, she was immobilized by a sword stabbing her stomach. Die. Everyone would die. The beatings of their hearts would gradually lessen and eventually stop. ¡°AU-RIEL!¡± At that very instant, an angry voice broke through the ground and soared. The divinity of the sun dazzlingly shined and brightened the sky. Cordelia Chase. Sri¡¯s sessor. An immense amount of light was radiated from her wings and halo. Auriel looked at her with an astonished face, and Landius dug into that gap created by her surprise. Chapter 354: Those Who Continue the Trail (2)

Chapter 354: Those Who Continue the Trail (2)

¡°UOOOOOOOO!¡± He kicked the ground and soared up. He would punish the mad goddess with the dazzling sword of the sun! The Trailzer Sword. It was the strongest force on this world that punished the god-like Malekith and expelled the Demon Prince along with the Hell Gate. But it could not move forward this time. The sword of the sun goddess blocked the other sword of the sun goddess. Sr de let out a mournful cry as it was blocked by ¨ªomh Sis, and Auriel looked at the Sr de. Seeing the sword that Auriel herself had made for Sri, she became angry again. You filthy trash. Even after Sri¡¯s death, you¡¯re still parasites sucking that child¡¯s blood! The Sr de shook. It resisted for a while, but eventually fell into Auriel¡¯s hands like what happened to ¨ªomh Sis. Landius did not give up. He clenched his fist with the hand that held the sword earlier. He wanted to punch Auriel¡¯s chest with the power of the sun. But he could not reach it again this time. ¨ªomh Sis and Sr de hacked at Landius. The golden ripple urred once again and sent Landius flying away. ¡°UOOOOOO!¡± Jude and Kamael charged at the same time. Lena neutralized Auriel¡¯s ripples while Cordelia cast blessings to the fiercely advancing two. She created a barrier against the heavenly power that Auriel released. Kamael used his Twelve Snowke Sword Art. Jude revealed the sword of Valencia that was based on the Supreme Sun Divine Art. It was a team up of those who had almost reached the horizon and those who had already reached the horizon. There were no better swordsmen than them in Pleiades. But their opponent was not easy. Auriel wielded the Judgment Sword. ¨ªomh Sis and the Judgment Sword moved to help Auriel. The swords crossed. Jude could tell the moment the swords first crossed. Kamael realized why the Great Demon Forte had a fishy smile when he escaped. Auriel, the Archangel of Judgment. She was a goddess. She was different from those who were born in a distant ce and had to move towards the far-off horizon. She was born on the horizon. Someone who stood up on that distant horizon from the very beginning. Their swords opposed each other. Jude was pushed back, and ¨ªomh Sis and Sr de deflected Kamael¡¯s sword. At the created gap, it cut his exposed chest. Kamael fell. Jude hit the ground and turned his body to attack again. After using Fairy Steps to dodge Auriel¡¯s swords, he attacked again from behind with the sword created from his energy and filled with the sword¡¯s inner essence. But it was blocked. If their swordsmanship was on the same level, it was their bodies¡¯ capabilities that decided the next. Unlike Jude who reached the limit by opening the eighth door, Auriel was born beyond the limit from the start. In between the two was a gap in physical abilities that could not be filled. ¡°JUUUUUUDE!¡± Cordelia screamed as she created a storm of light. Auriel felt it. Instead of looking back, she shed Jude with her three swords. She kicked the about to copse Jude with her telekinesis and then spread out her twelve wings at once. Once again, she created a huge ripple to push back all attacks. ¡°AAAACK!¡± Lena who had been neutralizing the ripples could not ovee its power and fell. Blood came out of her eyes, mouth, nose, and ears. The storm of light caused by Cordelia was no different. It was destroyed and scattered. The Power of Darkness that had swept hundreds of demons was also useless. Cordelia was undoubtedly the most powerful angel in Sri¡¯s line. But she was a Seraph. An existence that had not yet reached the highest angel rank, the Archangel. So there was a difference. A wall that could never be crossed. Auriel stared at the struggling Cordelia blocking all her golden ripples. She seriously looked at her who continued to create a storm of light despite her struggle. Sri¡¯s sessor. The one who inherited her halo ¨C the ring of the angels. A being who inherited Sri¡¯s blood to some extent. But Auriel did not feel affection. Rather, her anger swelled up even more. That fact that there was someone who inherited Sri¡¯s blood meant that Sri mixed her body with the trash of Pleiades. She was sure that it was the fault of those pestering trash. They must have pressed that child to leave her holy blood on this world. So Cordelia could not be the target of Auriel¡¯s affection. Her very existence was a disgrace to Sri. She had to be erased. Sri¡¯s halo must be retrieved from her. Auriel raised her hand. The sword tips of ¨ªomh Sis and Sr de simultaneously turned towards Cordelia. ¡°NOOO!¡± Jude got up. He once again unleashed a barrage of sword strikes to Auriel. At the same time, Landius also stood up. He released the power of the sun he had gathered in his fist and rushed towards Auriel. Auriel received Jude¡¯s sword. Her sword contained divine power. At the time their swords shed, the divine power inflicted a tremendous blow to Jude¡¯s soul and body. [My sessor!] Valencia screamed. Because the moment the divine power harmed Jude¡¯s soul and body, her spirit was forcibly separated from him. Sword Spirit Union was released. Auriel¡¯s sword shed Jude once more. The Judgment Sword stabbed Jude¡¯s chest. ¡°JUUUUUDE!¡± Cordelia cried out. Gathering all the power she had, she created a Spear of Cmity and threw it towards Auriel. A golden ripple urred. The trajectory of the Spear of Cmity was deviated. Auriel sent ¨ªomh Sis and Sr de towards the charging Landius. It cut his flesh. It shed his bones. But Landius continued to charge. He eventually reached Auriel and inserted the power of the sun into her chest. There was light. But Landius, who stretched his fist, knew. It did not reach her. He seeded in breaking all the light barriers protecting Auriel, but he could not harm her body in the end. ¡°Amazing.¡± Auriel said. As she admired him, she moved her hand. She thrust the Judgment Sword into Landius¡¯ abdomen and swung it right away, cutting his waist. Having half of his waist cut, Landius copsed as blood gushed out. ¡°Suppress them.¡± As soon as Aurielmanded, the angels rushed at Lena and Cordelia. After trampling on the staggering Lena, they grabbed Cordelia¡¯s limbs and stabbed a Judgment Sword into her chest. Dozens of angels disappeared due to the magic that Cordelia cast in session, but the number of angels exceeded hundreds. Auriel¡¯s power suppressed Cordelia. The angel¡¯s hands held Cordelia¡¯s limbs. Cordelia was determined to resist to the end. She did not see Auriel approaching her as she only saw the copsed Jude. She thought desperately as she watched the slightly wriggling Jude. What should I do? What should I do so that Jude can escape? ¡°You will not do that.¡± Auriel spoke. Reading Cordelia¡¯s thoughts, she stretched her hand and grabbed the angelic halo. It was strongly spinning and radiating light, but instantly stopped the moment the archangel grabbed it. ¡°I shall take this away.¡± Resistance was futile. Auriel took away the divinity of the sun. The moment her angelic halo was stolen, Cordelia¡¯s soul received a tremendous shock. Cordelia¡¯s eyes dimmed. Her struggling limbs also lost its strength and fell. ¡°Ju¡­de¡­¡± The angels threw Cordelia without care. Cordelia rolled on the ground and fell near Jude. In her dying moments, Cordelia tried to look at Jude, so she tried to somehow reach out and grab Jude¡¯s hand, but it was impossible. Her eyes closed. Her trembling hand that was moving forward also stopped. It was all over. There was no one who could stop Auriel. The Hell Gate was opening beyond the blood-red sky, and the demon forces were getting stronger. The raging waves flooded the Shadow Forest. In front of the sword of Georg the yer, the Sword Saint of Stars, Musu, knelt down. Count Chase coughed blood at the Gray Lady¡¯s onught. Count Bayer raised his sword again, but all that was before his eyes was despair. Seven-Killings Sword Seryu lost her sword. She stumbled as her back was cut. The demon armies everywhere were pushing them. With every passing second and minute, more and more people died. Was this the natural course in the end? No matter how many times they repeated their lives, they could not avoid their destined destruction. The angelic halo that symbolized the divinity of Sri was taken away by Auriel. ¨ªomh Sis and Sr de were also seized. All five of Paragon¡¯s heroes had fallen. Not only Jude and Cordelia, but also all those who were in the imperial capital had copsed. They could not fight anymore. They could not win even if they got up again. Only despair, hopelessness, and darkness faced them. [No, it¡¯s not.] There was a faint voice. It seemed to be from far away. [It¡¯s not over yet.] It might be very small and significant, but there are remaining embers. The embers that you, and not anyone else, had left behind. [And¡­ You know it¡¯s different this time, right?] Because you¡¯re not alone. Unlike before, you are not alone. Those who do not give in to despair. Those who resist the destined destruction to the very end. Those who do not stop struggling until thest minute. What ¡®she¡¯ said was not wrong. There were still some embers that Jude had left behind. There were those who could blow the wind so that the embers would burnrgely again. *** There was a country called Paragon. It was a small but beautiful ce. *** Auriel looked back in surprise without realizing it. There was a man who was standing up. Even though he knew that he could not win, or understood that death was the only thing that awaited him if he stood up again, he got up. He clenched his fist and had a fierce smile. *** There were people who were born and lived in this world. Even in the midst of numerous trials and despair, they never gave in. Sometimes they stumbled, stepped back, or copsed, but they still kept moving forward. *** ¡°A mind of steel, an indomitable will, and an invincible body.¡± He did not lose to himself. He did not give in to the external pressure. He supported his will with his trained body. Landius was not alone. Far away, Lucas stood up. Kamael staggered and raised himself. Fran cursed and pulled out the Judgment Sword in his chest, and Velkian used hisst secret technique to transform himself into an undead. Lena threw up blood and raised her head. ¡°UOOOOOOO!¡± They rushed towards Auriel. Auriel sent a golden ripple. It tried to blow away all those who ran. But it could not do it. *** ¡°Our sun.¡± Someone who always led the way forward. Even in the midst of any despair, they were able to move forward with him. Instead of trembling in fear, they had the courage to stand and look up the sky. *** ¡°Sr de.¡± The sword of the sun goddess disobeyed Auriel¡¯smand. It was unknown if it was the will of Sri or Landius. The dazzling sword of the sun left Auriel¡¯s side and returned to Landius. The power of the sun radiated from his hand again. ¡°UOOOOOOO!¡± Landius unfolded the Trailzer Sword. It destroyed the ripples. Kamael and Lucas ran towards Auriel, while Velkian who was reborn as the No Life King ¨C Vampire Lord, let out a powerful aura of death. Fran and Lena healed the wounds of everyone around them. Auriel shed at Kamael. But the coldness of the Twelve Snowke Sword Art froze Auriel¡¯s sword. ¨ªomh Sis struggled and left Auriel¡¯s side, just like the Sr de. It returned to the hands of Lucas who invoked the power of the Holy King. ¡°You worthless bugs!¡± Auriel roared in anger. She shed Lucas once more. She rushed towards Landius who was running with the Sr de. The Sr de and Judgment Sword collided. The warrior of the sun and the archangel of judgment caused destruction on the ground. It was truly a miracle. But it could notst for long. Landius would eventually be defeated by Auriel¡¯s sword again. He knew it too. But he was not afraid at all. He heard ¡®her¡¯ too. Because he heard the voice of the female sage ¨C ?the goddess who created and oversaw the power of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. The embers prepared by Jude. The ones that had been hidden in the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. Jude stretched out his hand. He took Cordelia¡¯s hand that was turning cold. He looked at her face and whispered softly. He ignited the embers. *** The first Jude who reached the sword horizon weakly copsed and looked up the sky. The Great Summons happened, and Pleiades was destroyed. On the ruined ground, the demons and angels continued to engage in a never-ending war. He had heard the words of the young goddess, Atalia. Jude did not dissuade her from taking a gamble. But he did not just sit by idly. He made another move. A move that only Jude himself could do. ¡°If it¡¯s not regression¡­ If it¡¯s a copy and paste method¡­ You can observe Pleiades from outside the flow of time that continued forward.¡± Atalia copied and pasted only the records of Pleiades, Hell, and Heaven. It did not have any effect on the worlds outside those three, and on the beings that reside in those worlds. The goddess of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors agreed with Jude¡¯s words. The beings of the three worlds were destined to have their memories overwritten the moment history was pasted, but she was able to keep her memories because she lived outside those three worlds in the first ce. ¡°Then I will leave it to you.¡± All my memories. My current feelings. Everything that I have aplished. [But Jude. You do know, right? Your soul will bepletely reset in the process of copying and pasting the records of the worlds. The new Jude will be you, but not you. Even if you leave behind your memories and emotions¡­ the current Jude will end here. Your existence wille to an end.] Her words sounded cold, but it waspletely true. And Jude already knew that fact. ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± Even if my end is here. I wish that the next Jude can save Cordelia. I wish that he would love her more than I do. I wish that he would bring her the tomorrow. The first Jude had a faint smile. Recalling Cordelia¡¯s face, he reached out towards the gray sky. He imagined it as he left everything about himself in the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. A world that did not face extinction. Jude together with Cordelia, his father and father-inw being alive, his older brother and Cordelia¡¯s older siblings being alive too, Lucas and Scarletughing together¡­ ¨C that happy and dreamlike world. ¡°For a perfect¡­ happy ending.¡± For that dreamlike world. The first Jude closed his eyes. With a sad smile, he left himself in the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. *** The world was once again on the verge of destruction. Jude and Cordelia held each other¡¯s hands and looked at the bleak sky. Although they had not heard of the first Jude, they both felt the same way as him. Even if we perish. Even if this world is destroyed. I wish that the next ones will continue it. I wish that the next Jude and Cordelia can be happy together. Jude and Cordelia looked at each other and smiled. After sharing theirst kiss, they stretched out their hands. They recorded everything about each other in the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. They imagined a dreamlike world just like what the first Jude did. *** It went on and on. Sometimes Jude was alone. Sometimes Jude and Cordelia were together. What the goddess of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors said was not wrong. Even if they had the same soul, each of them were like another person in the end. But they all thought the same thing. For the next Jude and Cordelia, they wished them a happy future. For them, they recorded everything in the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. And now. Finally, everything that had been continued. Through the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, the will, memories, and emotions of all the Judes and Cordelias were delivered as a single trail. Jude and Cordelia inherited it. Continuing the trail of everyone, they made a new trail. Jude nced at Cordelia. Cordelia also stared at Jude. The wish of the first Jude. The world dreamt by the Jude and Cordelia who faced destruction together. The one miracle they all desperately wished for. ¡°For a perfect happy ending.¡± Jude and Cordelia looked at each other. They shed tears, smiled their best, andpletely exerted the power of the trail they continued. *** Landius openly smiled. He was pushed away by Auriel¡¯s sword and fell down again, making him see the sky above. But he burst intoughter at the top of his lungs from the extreme delight he felt. It was the twilight sky. Darkness came and night prevailed. But Landius was sure of it. So he dered it aloud. ¡°No matter how deep and dark the night may be.¡± Even if the pitch ck despair covers the sky. ¡°The sun will eventually rise again.¡± Auriel turned her head. She saw Sri¡¯s halo, the symbol of the sun¡¯s divinity, leaving her hand and going back to Cordelia. She was shocked that something impossible was happening. A world that had been copied and pasted many times. The will of those who never gave up despite the repeated destruction. All of it led to one. It caused a miracle. Beyond the horizon. Beyond the limits. The ninth door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. The transcension into gods. The ones who defended Pleiades against Heaven and Hell. Letting out a brilliant light, the guardian gods of Pleiades were finally born. So the female sage is that transcendent being who created the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, and is called a goddess now. The continuation of her conversation with Jude in this episode was already revealed in episode 341 ¨C D-Day, but I¡¯ll post it here again: The man smiled at the woman¡¯s words. Instead of copsing in despair at a world that had be ashes, he stood up with his remaining strength and said. ¡°I know. Even if my memories remain, my existence will eventually disappear. But even so¡­¡± The man¡¯s words continued and the woman had a bitter smile. With tears in her eyes, she whispered very quietly. ¡°You will always be the same. That¡¯s who you are.¡± Chapter 355: Tomorrow

Chapter 355: Tomorrow

So I made a mistakest episode. Only Jude became the guardian god of Pleiades, not Cordelia. The halo of Sri rotated beautifully. Her pink hair fluttered under the brilliant golden light radiated by the divinity of the sun, and her blue eyes resembling the sky stared at the world. The Fairy Queen¡¯s Dress was already in tatters. It was torn everywhere and drenched in blood and sweat. But no one noticed that. The eight wide-open wings caught their attention. The sessor of Sri. Another archangel was born in Pleiades. She was not born perfectly. Even if she inherited all the experiences of her past lives, it was impossible for a Seraph to be promoted to an Archangel at once. But it was the reality. And that only meant one thing. ¡°Sri.¡± Cordelia fully inherited the power and will of Sri. She inherited her divinity. As a result, she was reborn as the new Archangel of the Sun. Auriel realized this instinctively. And because she did, she got angry again. She perceived Cordelia¡¯s session as robbery. ¡°How far are you going to disgrace Sri?¡± How much more are you going to steal from that child before you¡¯re satisfied! Her anger had be twisted. But Auriel could not recognize that. The enraged archangel widely spread out her twelve light wings that let out an immense power. It was really powerful. A tremendous power that the newly born archangel, Cordelia, could not evenpare to. But Cordelia was not pushed back. Although there was a significant difference just from the number of their wings, she was able to hold her ground even in front of Auriel¡¯s wrath. The one standing next to Cordelia. The guardian god of Pleiades. Jude released a ck aura that received the wrath of Auriel at their front. He did not allow her arrogant self-righteousness to harm Cordelia. Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. The nine worlds that represented all the worlds. The purpose of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors was for those born as mortals to reach the limits of their species by opening the doors one by one, and to eventually ovee that limit and be reborn as a true transcendent. As Landius pointed out in the past, it was a means for enlightenment rather than a martial art. And that was why simply bing stronger was not the key to opening the ninth door. Even if he was born with Cheonmujiche, it was almost impossible for him to open the ninth door. But Jude did it. Just like Lucas who took one step at a time, he reached the horizon. Just like the first Jude who never gave up despite the hardships. ¡°Will we ever meet again?¡± ¡°We will meet again.¡± Said the second Jude and Cordelia. The love between the two was not erased. ¡°I know. But even so, I¡­¡± The third Jude epted his end. But he thought of the next Jude and Cordelia. He dreamed of living with Cordelia someday and making her happy. ¡°It¡¯s the same no matter how many times I¡¯m born again. I¡¯ll make sure that you-¡­¡± The fourth Jude said. The fifth Jude and Cordelia made a vow. They did not give up and left only one wish, a wish for a single miracle. ¡°Till doomsday.¡± Until doomsday. They all pushed Jude¡¯s back. All of them led Jude to the front. Beyond the horizon. Beyond the limits. To fulfill their one and only wish. [My sessor is a very persistent man.] Valencia said. Jude smiled and epted her. He once again became one with the beautiful Elf Sword. A sword was made from Jude¡¯s fingertips. The core of Sword Origin. If he had to give it a name, it would be the Elven Sword Valencia. The most beautiful swordsmanship in the world. ¡°I will not allow it anymore.¡± You all disturb Pleiades as you like. You all ravage Pleiades for your convenience. The Golden Dragon King¡¯s crest shined on the back of Jude¡¯s hand. He who protected the wildnds from afar was sending his strength. ¡°Archangel Auriel.¡± The one who repeatedly destroyed Pleiades. A being who was aware of that fact yet wanted to bring about the destruction of Pleiades again. It was not a regression. Her sins did not go away. It was deeply engraved on the world called Pleiades. ¡°Worthless bugs!¡± Auriel roared in anger. She could only see the beings of Pleiades as such. It was impossible for her to have the same view as Sri. ¡°I will judge you!¡± Auriel raised the Judgment Sword. She caused a huge golden ripple and charged towards Jude. Jude ran to face Auriel. He cut the ripple with Elven Sword Valencia and summoned ck dragons in the air. Nine ck dragons flew towards Auriel. Bang! Bang! Bang! Auriel cut down the ck dragons. Her twelve wings of light shook the ce, and the Judgment Sword that was swung seemed to tear apart the world itself. Jude saw it. The moment the nine ck dragons were destroyed, he lightly kicked the ground. Thirty-Six World Steps. He understood the direction. Twenty-Four Gale Steps. He understood the distance. Twelve Thunderbolt Steps. After erasing the direction and the distance, he realized in the end that the only things left were the starting point and the ending point. And onest step. Nine Celestial Steps. He understood the world. Jude disappeared. He appeared behind Auriel. It was a space leap that even transcended the spell. It was as if the Fairy Steps was used without any restrictions. Auriel quickly turned and swung the Judgment Sword. Like the sword of a being who was born and lived in the horizon, her swordsmanship was excellent. But Jude could tell. Because he looked beyond the horizon, he was able to fully understand even the sword of a being standing on the horizon. If he would dare name it, it would be the Absolute Truth of the Sword. Elven Sword Valencia drew a beautiful trajectory. That alone turned Auriel¡¯s attack into nothing. It was only one move, but Auriel could understand at that moment. Defeating Jude was impossible with swordsmanship. She had to use a different method. Unlike Auriel herself, Jude was an amateur god who had just been born, so he was inexperienced in all fields except for swordsmanship. So she had to fight with something other than swordsmanship. She had to defeat the guardian god of Pleiades with that significant difference! Babababababababang-! Auriel¡¯s wings of light shined again. It released an immense amount of divine power and pushed Jude away as the twelve wings of light emitted different powers at the same time. Jude saw it. He summoned ck dragons from all sides of Auriel and made them attack while he concentrated. Every time Auriel¡¯s divine powers attacked him, he used the Nine Celestial Steps. It broke, crushed, and destroyed. It copsed matter. It annihted space. It brought the divine punishment of lightning and insted space. Every time a divine power of hers manifested, the world shook. Pleiades itself seemed to scream. Cordelia saw all of that. But instead of charging with a storm of light towards Auriel¡¯s back, she used the divinity of the sun. It was the first time she truly used that divine power, but Cordelia was Cordelia. She manipted her power with her instinct and senses to achieve what she wanted. The elixir given to Jude by Count Chase. It could heal any wounds and injuries at least once. She used it as a catalyst. The light of the sun radiated by the eight wings of light that she widely spread contained the power of the elixir. She brought to life again those who were on the verge of death. ¡°Cough!¡± Scarlet threw up blood. And she continued to breathe. She spit out curses as she pulled out the Judgment Sword in her sword, but she did not die. Having also received Cordelia¡¯s light, Kajsa held back her groan and stood up. Adide raised her head. Red Wind sobbed as she watched Sun Song begin to breathe again. The sun¡¯s light reached far. Those who still had the energy of life, even those with a little, were raised up again. ¡°You trash!¡± Auriel felt the energy of life that began to fill the capital again, and covered the ce with her feathers of light. She summoned the angels and tried to take their lives again. The angels who had already been summoned gathered around Auriel. Cordelia saw it too. And she did not allow it this time. ¡°Is that love!¡± Isn¡¯t this just revenge? It¡¯s the world that Sri loved. These are the people whom Sri wanted to protect. You are trying to destroy all of them now. You¡¯re trampling on what Sri had aplished when she sacrificed her own life! That¡¯s not love. That¡¯s obsession. You¡¯re judging Sri with your self-righteousness and dogmatism, denying all the things she had done. You¡¯re forcing your own justice by disparaging it, saying it is worthless. Sri does not want this. She¡­ She loved everyone¡­ ¡°What do you know!¡± Auriel angrily shouted. Out of all the archangels that had been born since Heaven began, the outburst of anger of the one who had lived the longest was truly immense. A part of the ce was twisted and destroyed by her anger alone. The world itself, and not the sky and earth, seemed to scream. ¡°Why¡­ Why did that child!¡± I wish that she hadn¡¯t paid attention to such a world. I wish that she wasn¡¯t sympathetic to whether these trash were dying or not. Why? Why? That child! ¡°Because that was Sri¡¯s choice!¡± Cordelia spread her wings. She rotated Sri¡¯s halo and red at Auriel. Instead of having a meaningless argument, she likewise released her anger. ¡°What do you think of people?¡± The thousands of beings living in Pleiades. Each of them had countless stories that were as many as the stars in the sky. You trampled all of them many times. You denied everyone from living many times. I cannot allow it anymore. I cannot tolerate anymore all that you have done. ¡°Hit! Hit! Hit it!¡± There was a storm of light. 144,000 magic spheres covered the sky, swirling and swallowing up the angels and Auriel. And Cordelia did not stop there. She ordered as an archangel. As a contractor, she demanded the implementation of the contract. ¡°Spirit King Punch!¡± The sky split. The blood-red sky was split, and the Spirit King of Storms and Lightning appeared. Apanied by lightning and thunder, the golden giant burst intoughter. He sent his huge, gigantic fist towards the middle of the storm of light. Boooooooooooom! Light covered the world. The noise filled the ce. Massive explosions and collisions shook the entire imperial capital. ¡°EUAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!¡± Auriel screamed. The angels who numbered in the hundreds and almost reached a thousand were all annihted by the storm of light and explosions. The archangel who stood with the Judgment Sword fell to her knees for the first time. But she did not surrender. Even though Auriel exhausted a lot of power in her movement between worlds, she was the strongest of the archangels in Heaven. She was a goddess from Heaven who had lived for the longest time. She raised her Judgment Sword, ring at the Spirit King of Storms and Lightning. She summoned a huge Judgment Sword from beyond the blood-red sky. Boooom! A huge sword of light shot downwards to the Spirit King. The Spirit King fiercely smiled and received the sword of light. He exploded himself, destroying the Judgment Sword that Auriel had summoned from the sky. Boobooboobooboom! There were several huge explosions in the sky of the imperial capital. The Judgment Sword shattered into hundreds of pieces and fell like a meteor shower. Seeing that, Auriel madlyughed. The crazy goddess from Heaven took a deep breath and stood up. Her cause had long disappeared from her mind. To bring history back to its normal course. To punish the young goddess Atalia who yed around with the fate of Heaven. To create a battlefield for fighting the demons of Hell. She had stopped thinking. She was already broken. The being here now was not the Archangel of Judgment. She was a goddess of destruction that only revealed her blind hatred. Jude once again used the Nine Celestial Steps. For a moment, he thought while pushing Auriel with the Absolute Truth of the Sword. He needed time. Auriel had been cultivating her divinity far longer than Jude and Cordelia. In a simple war of attrition, his side would lose first. So he needed time. Time to prepare a single move to defeat Auriel. But who in the world could stop a mad goddess? Could anyone intervene in this battle that had already be a fierce fight between gods? ¡°A steel mind, an indomitable will, and an invincible body.¡± He heard a gant voice. There was a man with a mortal body who dared to enter the fight between gods. He wildly smiled. He raised the sword of the sun goddess as he watched the enemies of the world. The Sr de. A proof that Sri loved this world. A symbol of her wanting to protect everyone in Pleiades to the very end. ¡°UOOOOOOO!¡± Landius released the power of the Supreme Sun Divine Art. He attacked Auriel with the Trailzer Sword. ¡°You trash!¡± Auriel could not ignore the existence of Landius. The power of the sun contained in the Trailzer Sword could not be taken lightly. Baaang! The Trailzer Sword and Judgment Sword collided. In the aftermath of the sh alone, the ce was turned upside down and the body of Landius as he held the Sr de was hurt. But Landius did not back down. Rather, he even pushed Auriel for some time. And there were those who stood up together. ¨ªomh Sis shone from Lucas¡¯ hand. Kamael unfolded the Fifth Snow Flower of the Twelve Snowke Sword Art. Fran sang with his voice to boost everyone¡¯s strength while Velkian interrupted Auriel with his Death magic. And Lena stretched out her hand. She supported Landius¡¯ back. She strengthened his broken body. Auriel could not understand the current situation. She was bewildered by the appearance of an invincible mortal. She looked at Landius over the Judgment Sword, and unconsciously widened her eyes. The sun was rising. Behind Landius, the rising sun was driving away the blood-red sky and lighting up the world. It was Cordelia. She exuded the divinity of the sun. All despair and darkness were finally removed when the sun was summoned to this world. Jude held Cordelia¡¯s hand. And he understood. The reason why his own sun was pitch ck. The reason why he was able to fully master Kamael¡¯s Twelve Snowke Sword Art despite being able to use the power of the sun. Extreme Yin energy. That was the power that Jude himself was born with. Therefore, Jude prepared everything as the guardian god of Pleiades. Instead of forcibly using the power of the ck Sun, he awakened his true power. The ck Moon. Jude¡¯s own power was paired with Cordelia who held a Golden Sun with extreme Yang power. The power of the sun and moon became one through their interlocked fingers. The extreme Yang energy and extreme Yin energy became one, creating an endless power. Auriel felt that power. With all her might, she pushed Landius away. After spreading out her wings of light and blowing away all mortals around her, she saw Jude and Cordelia. The sun and moon. Just before it waspleted at the fingertips of the two, the Judgment Sword was swung towards it! Rattle! But she could not do it. In that instant, a chain wrapped around Auriel¡¯s arm. Someone dared to hinder a goddess from moving. Kajsa and Scarlet were holding the chain together. Red Wind wrapped the chain with the power of the Phoenix, allowing the archangel to be held back for a while. ¡°Shoot!¡± Lucas shouted and unfolded the Holy King¡¯s Cross Sword. He cut off the power of Auriel flowing along the chain and exploded it at the same time. And right after that. Right after that moment. Auriel looked ahead of her. She saw Jude and Cordelia. From the tightly sped fingers of the two, she witnessed the two extreme energies bing one and being reborn as the Power of Annihtion. Auriel btedly sent her ripples. The Power of Annihtion was too great. Even Jude and Cordelia who were powering it were also struggling hard. So she could twist it. She could cause them to mess up and self-destruct. The ripples hit Jude and Cordelia. But Jude and Cordelia did not fall. They relied on each other and endured the Power of Annihtion. No, it was not just the two of them. The first Jude smiled. The second Jude and Cordelia happilyughed. Everyone in their past lives supported Jude and Cordelia¡¯s backs. Crack! The Fairy King¡¯s nes hanging around their necks broke at the same time. Having received the ripples and the Power of Annihtion in their stead, it broke and scattered. But there were ripples heading towards them again. Jude and Cordelia did not stop. The Power of Annihtion created from the fingertips of the two became a giant sphere of light and rushed forward! ¡°UOOOOOOOO!¡± All the moments that led to the two being together now. The miracle they could create because they never gave up! ¡°Go!¡± Landius eximed. Everyone including Landius prayed together. Babababababang-! The light of the Power of Annihtion destroyed the ripples. It went wild and devoured Auriel¡¯s bright wings that spread out as she desperately struggled. To prevent destruction. To obtain a tomorrow that is different from yesterday. The light of the Power of Annihtion engulfed Auriel. It led to a new future. Episode 354 Table of Contents Final Episode – Ending Maker

Final Episode ¨C Ending Maker

The title says that it¡¯s the final episode, but it¡¯s not. There are still 4 episodes of epilogue and 32 episodes of side stories. I¡¯ll be tranting those too. The light disintegrated. It broke and scattered. Auriel saw the front with empty eyes. With her divinity gone, her eyes could no longer see anything. But she felt the divine power of the sun. She could not help but miss the traces of the child she had loved so much. ¡°Sri.¡± Auriel closed her eyes. The crack that started in the center spread throughout her entire body, and body of the archangel returned to the light of the beginning. She disappeared along with the fated destruction. *** Raguel who was imprisoned in Heaven wept. She was saddened by the death of her elder sister. But she did not think of revenge. She did not disy hatred and anger. Auriel¡¯s sin was too great. Her devastation at Sri¡¯s death was not an excuse for descending on the imperial capital and taking the lives of countless people. She hadmitted an irreparable sin. Therefore, Raguel was only sad. She only med herself for not being Sri¡¯s recement for Auriel. ¡°Auriel.¡± Raguel cried like a child. She could not stop crying. *** The blood-red sky was clearing. The purple light, that heavily weighed on the world as though it was calling for the night, scattered and the sky regained its original color. ¡°Haa¡­ haa¡­ ha¡­¡± Lucas roughly breathed as ¨ªomh Sis pointed downwards. Scarlet and Kajsa sat on the ground in the same posture as they held a chain, and Red Wind blinked with a bewildered expression before smiling like a fool. ¡°We won.¡± Fran said. He was so tired and exhausted that hey down on the ground before speaking again. ¡°We won.¡± Velkian nodded his head. His youth was restored due to turning into a vampire, but he copsed on the ground and could not get up. Because his legs had gave out. Kamael smiled. He was always known to be cold, but he was still a human. He sighed at first and then let down his sword as he happily smiled. Lenaughed. She immediately sat down and looked at the back of the man who stood tall like a mountain. ¡°Landius.¡± Our sun. He took a deep breath. The hand holding the Sr de no longer had any strength. It was just drooping. But his condition was not that bad. Landius softly smiled and turned to the miracle makers. Jude and Cordelia. The two tightly held each other¡¯s hands even when they copsed. They then sat up at the same time and leaned on each other, gazing at the other¡¯s eyes before kissing as if it was a natural thing to do. Landius burst intoughter upon seeing that. Tomorrow had changed. The fated destruction was prevented. A new future was about to begin. But Jude and Cordelia who kissed once looked at each other and nodded. Because they still had some work to do. ¡°Can you do it?¡± ¡°Can you help me a little?¡± Cordelia mischievously said and then activated the divine power of the sun. Having run out of mana, she gathered strength by using to absorb Jude¡¯s power. The sun rose over their heads. As the glory of the morning, it illuminated the entire imperial capital and imparted the light of life to everyone again. In order to save even one more person, she gave strength to those who were on the verge of death. The light was beautiful. It was not the light that faded with the setting sun, but the bright light of dawn that was as lively as Cordelia. Everyone gazed at the light. Smiles spread again on the faces of everyone including Lucas. However, Jude and Cordelia were a little different. The two showed off their best smiles, but they caught their breaths and looked at each other. Because they both knew that it was not over yet. ¡°Asmodeus.¡± Jude and Cordelia¡¯s eyes turned to the sky. *** The young goddess Atalia saw the sky of the distant imperial capital. She was not weak. Neither the overlords of Hell nor the archangels of Heaven could even dare to copy and paste the records of the three worlds like she did. But that made her powerless. She was still a young goddess, but after repeatedly connecting records, the power of the world called Pleiades had almost reached its bottom. Atalia herself was so exhausted that she could not even cause a small miracle. That was why she shed tears. She had been watching Jude for a long time, so she knew. The choice that Jude and Cordelia would make. The actions the two would take to ovee their current situation. ¡°Jude Bayer.¡± Cordelia Chase. The two people who brought back the tomorrow of Pleiades. Atalia could no longer hold it back. She sadly cried. *** [A connection to Hell has been made.] The witch of the west forest could tell. Due to the descent of Auriel, not only Pleiades but also Heaven and Hell were shaken. And Asmodeus used that opportunity. A connection between Hell and Pleiades, a kind of tunnel was created. The Hell Gate that had began to open beyond the blue sky was still small. But even at this moment, it was gradually growing in size. The aura of Hell continued to radiate through the Hell Gate. [The demon forces are getting stronger.] Auriel fell. The archangel who hated Pleiades no longer existed. But in the first ce, the demon forces were unrted to Auriel. Having received the aura of Hell through the Hell Gate, they continued to grow stronger and began pushing everyone in Pleiades. The raging waves struck the Shadow Forest. Ga?l and Adelia desperately fought Georg the yer after recing Musu, the Sword Saint of Stars. Sebastian fell in front of Seryu¡¯s eyes while Princess Leica screamed at the demons growing stronger. Count Chase coughed blood. Count Bayer who had been directly fighting the Gray Lady was gradually getting weaker. Asmodeus was a cunning woman. She did not dare to step forward like Auriel. She would strengthen the demon forces through the Hell Gate. She would generously praise the heroes of Pleiades for defeating an archangel, and wait for the demon forces everywhere to achieve their goals. The Shadow Forest would be swept away, the kingdom¡¯s northern area would be in ruins, and the demons that would march to the royal capital would turn the southern part of the kingdom into a sea of fire. She would cause the Great Tribtion. She would fill Pleiades with wailing and grief, bringing about the Great Summons again. So the Hell Gate had to be closed. It was necessary to cut off the power that strengthened the demon forces everywhere and return them to their original states. [But it¡¯s different from before.] Breaking or closing the gate would not end it. Standing on the other side of that gate was Asmodeus. If they tried to close it from the outside, it would be opened again from the inside. There was only one way to close that gate right away. The witch of the west forest turned her body. She flew towards the master craftsman Cassius who was waiting in the S?len Kingdom. *** ¡°There¡¯s only one way.¡± Jude said and Cordelia nodded. They had to close the gate. From both the inside and outside at the same time. And they had to make it impossible for the gate to be opened from the inside again. ¡°That means¡­ No way¡­¡± Jude nodded at Lucas¡¯ words. He spoke in a calm voice. ¡°Cordelia and I will enter the Hell Gate. We will close the gate from the inside and prevent Asmodeus from opening the gate again.¡± Lucas was speechless at what Jude had said. But Cordelia just shrugged and snorted. ¡°We¡¯ll kick her in the ass so that she¡¯ll never aim for Pleiades again. We¡¯ll scold her a lot.¡± Cordelia¡¯s smile was bright and pretty as always. But not everyone could smile along with her. As Cordelia had said, Asmodeus was beyond the Hell Gate. That overlord of Hell was the long-time nemesis of Auriel, the archangel of judgment who was on the same level as her. Lucas gritted his teeth. He took a deep breath and spoke firmly with a determined expression. ¡°I¡¯ll go too.¡± ¡°No, you¡¯ll be in the way.¡± Jude shook his head, and so did Cordelia. The two of them swiftly rejected Lucas and continued their conversation. ¡°This is Hell. It¡¯s not like Pleiades. You¡­ and everyone has lost all your energy from fighting Auriel, so you will not even be able to breathe properly in there.¡± It was an obvious fact. Everyone including Lucas was very exhausted. In their battle against Auriel, everyone in the group suffered serious physical and spiritual injuries, and those injuries were not the kind that could be easily healed by drinking potions or using healing magic. ¡°The same goes for you, Master.¡± Landius held back his words when Jude spoke as he could not refute it. Among those who were here now, Landius was actually the most injured and hurt. Despite having a mortal body, he jumped into the middle of a fierce fight between gods, so it was the price he paid for fighting against a mad goddess. He appeared fine on the outside, but Jude and Cordelia who had gained divine status could tell. The current Landius was like a candle just before it went out. Sufficient rest and time were needed to rekindle that fire. ¡°But Pink Bomb. But it¡¯s only the two of you¡­ It¡¯s only the two of you this time¡­¡± Scarlet could not speak properly. Because the memories of her past lives came to her mind. Because the Cordelia in front of her was smiling. You two are always like this. Always, many times, in the worst crisis, every time, you two are¡­ ¡°It¡¯s okay, Scarlet. Because I¡¯m not going to die. Because I have no intention of dying.¡± Cordelia stroked Scarlet¡¯s cheek. She wiped away the tears that had begun to flow, and patted the back of Red Wind who hugged her and cried. She awkwardlyughed when Kajsa hugged her and Red Wind at the same time. ¡°I¡¯m serious. I don¡¯t want to die. We will return after closing the gate, saving Pleiades, and punishing Asmodeus.¡± Her words were like a dream. Beyond that ce was Hell. It was the ce where Asmodeus could exert her power the most. Moreover, Asmodeus was not in a state where she used up a lot of her power from moving between worlds like Auriel. ¡°It¡¯s okay, it¡¯s okay. It¡¯s just a connection. It¡¯s not really at Hell. The only overlord is Asmodeus. Since the overlords are busy fighting each other in the first ce, there may be some who will want to cooperate with us. No, I¡¯m sure of it. Even if there are none, Jude will make it that way. Right, Jude?¡± ¡°Of course. Something like that is basic.¡± When Cordelia saw Jude grinning, she burst outughing. ¡°So it¡¯s okay. We will return. Yes, there are so many things that we have to do when wee back. We¡¯re going to have a wedding, run away as newlyweds¡­ I-I mean, have our honeymoon¡­ and have children too. We¡¯ll live happily ever after.¡± So we have to go. If we don¡¯t go now, my older sister and brother-inw will be in danger. Not only my father and father-inw, but everyone in Pleiades will be in danger. I want to protect Dahlia. I want to protect Maja. I want to protect Princess Daphne, Princess Leica, Kirara¡­ and everyone we know. Because I don¡¯t want to be sad anymore. Because I want to live happily with everyone. Scarlet burst into tears at Cordelia¡¯s words. Lucas was also in tears. ¡°My disciple.¡± ¡°Yes, Master.¡± Landius did not think about what to say. He tapped Jude¡¯s shoulder with his big hand and said with a wide smile. ¡°Go ande back.¡± He originally had more things he wanted to say. That Jude was the best, that he was proud to be Jude¡¯s master. But in the end, that was only what came out of his mouth. Go ande back. Be sure toe back. Jude smiled. He nodded and promised that he would. The two moved forward. Everyone looked at the back of the two. When Cordelia moved her hand, the Hell Gate appeared. It was an extension of the Hell Gate that opened from beyond the sky. Purple aura was swirling in the huge crack that seemed like it had been created by tearing space apart. ¡°You can¡¯t run away after winning! You have to return after winning, okay?!¡± Scarlet cried out. Cordelia nodded her head. After she promised by making a pinky promise gesture in the air, she took another step forward. Dahlia was bravely fighting from afar. Maja brought her hands together and prayed. Kirara remained on their side and did not betray them. Ga?l and Adelia shed with the cmity. And many more people. Everyone in Pleiades. ¡°Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Actually, I¡¯m a little scared.¡± Jude nodded at Cordelia¡¯s timid confession. He agreed as they walked towards the Hell Gate. ¡°Actually, I feel the same way.¡± ¡°It will be very hard and painful.¡± ¡°The difficulty level is literally Hell.¡± Because it was truly Hell. What awaited them beyond that gate were many demons and the overlord of lust, Asmodeus. But Jude and Cordelia smiled. Theyughed at the small joke and kissed on the lips. ¡°But we can still do it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. Since the first ce and second ce are together, right?¡± Cordelia gave a reproachful nce at Jude¡¯s words, and Jude slyly smiled and quickly changed his words. ¡°For me, you will always be the number one, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Look at this smooth talker.¡± Cordelia softly giggled and tightly held Jude¡¯s hand. Because she was really scared and terrified. But for some strange reason, she felt that she could do anything if she was with Jude. As it had been so far, and forever would be in the future. [It¡¯s not just the two of you. We¡¯re here too. Valencia-nim is also here.] [You said it right, Melissa. My sessor and Cordelia, don¡¯t forget that we are here, okay?] At Melissa and Valencia¡¯s words, Jude and Cordelia nodded. They were grateful to the two for being with them. The Hell Gate was near. But instead of being afraid, Jude and Cordelia looked at each other. Holding each other¡¯s hands so as not to tremble, they stopped and spoke at the same time. ¡°For a perfect happy ending.¡± To be happy forever after, just like the protagonists in fairy tales. Jude grinned. Cordelia beamed. ¡°I love you.¡± ¡°I love you too.¡± The two took a step forward. As always, the two moved forward together. Episode 355 Table of Contents >> Epilogue 1 Epilogue 1

Epilogue 1

The Hell Gate was closed. The aura that powered the demon forces everywhere was cut off, and victory leaned again towards the defenders of Pleiades, the armies of the kingdom and the emperor. ¡°UOOOOOOO!¡± Thest strike of the Wind and Lightning Flurry Strikes unfolded at the fingertips of Count Bayer, the Sword Saint of Wind, cutting off the neck of the Gray Lady. The mes of Count Chase, who had been waiting for the perfect moment, ignited the Gray Lady, and the emperor¡¯s army burst into shouts of victory at the sight of the cmity finally copsing. ¡°We won! We won!¡± ¡°Sword Saint of Wind!¡± ¡°Red Storm!¡± A rather strange situation urred when the soldiers of the empire shouted out the nicknames of generals from the kingdom¡¯s army, but none of their officers criticized them for it. Even the imperial Sword Masters were shouting out the names of Count Bayer and Count Chase. ¡°You did well.¡± Count Chase said as hended on the ground. As a giant nearly two meters tall, he looked imposing and strong, but his old friend, Count Bayer, could tell. Count Chase only appeared fine on the outside, but he was actually on the verge of copsing. ¡°You must have felt it¡­ She suddenly became weak.¡± At Count Bayer¡¯s words, Count Chase slightly frowned and drank a potion. He spoke as he burned once more the Gray Lady who had already be ashes. ¡°The power of Hell that strengthened the cmity has been cut off. The sky of the imperial capital has also changed.¡± ¡°Yes, I guess the kids have done a good job.¡± Their children. Count Bayer silently smiled as Count Chase¡¯s sight dimmed a bit. He no longer had the energy to stand, so he fell and plopped down the ground before looking to the south where the imperial capital was. Jude and Cordelia. Count Bayer¡¯s second son and his daughter-inw. The two people who had always loved each other unchangingly despite the world being repeated many times. To be honest, Count Bayer had very few memories of his past lives. As Jude had said, Count Bayer was always killed in the early stages of the war. Even if he wanted to remember, there was not much to remember. ¡®But even so¡­¡¯ There were things that vaguely came to mind. There were things that he could guess without remembering. ¡°I hope you two will be happy together this time.¡± Without hurting each other. Without only one surviving and spending their entire life in tears. I hope that this time, the two of you can live together, loving each other. ¡°Hmph.¡± Count Chase snorted, and Count Bayerughed. Count Chase was easily misunderstood because of his personality, appearance, and usual behavior, but Count Bayer also knew again this time. That Count Chase agreed with him too. He sincerely hoped for it. So just like his son, Jude, Count Bayer asked a mischievous question. ¡°Arthur, will you acknowledge Jude now?¡± ¡°Hmph, not yet.¡± ¡°I see, you¡¯re saying that you acknowledge him. Since his build problem, the only problem that you used to question, has been solved. Now, he looks quite good, or rather, he looks imposing, right?¡± ¡°Not yet.¡± ¡°I see, you¡¯re saying that you¡¯re satisfied.¡± Count Chase narrowed his eyes at the strange answer that followed, but did notin. In fact, everything was true. The weak and sickly-looking Jude was no longer here. Jude grew up to be strong and having a very imposing build. He was the youngest in the continent ¨C no, since the beginning of human history, to reach the level of a Sword Saint, and ording to the words of Count Bayer, he was also an existence who reached the sword horizon. The savior of the kingdom. Or rather, he was now the savior of the entire world called Pleiades. His connections were also great. The kingdom and empire on both sides of the continent were greatly indebted to him, and he had also established friendships with fairies that other people had never seen in their lifetime. Not only the elves of the Forest of Eternity, but also the elves of the Shadow Forest had good rtionships with Jude. Even that unsociable Grand Sword Master Elune liked Jude. The ally of the elves. The savior of the Sirens. The financier of the dwarves. The guardian of the wildnds. Now that he thought of it, Jude also had a lot of money. Perhaps Jude was the richest teenager in the kingdom ¨C no, the entire continent. ¡®He¡¯s the protagonist of a true hero story.¡¯ No, even in hero stories, they were often criticized for being all brawn and no brain. A happy smile spread across Count Chase¡¯s face, and Count Bayerughed again. In fact, it was amazing that Cordelia was the same. An iparably beautiful girl. Could anyone find a more beautiful woman than Cordelia on the continent? That would be hard. No, it was clear that it would be close to impossible. Moreover, Cordelia was an angel. She was also an angel that inherited the divinity of Sri, the sun goddess. To put it bluntly, she was pretty much considered a goddess now. And since it was Cordelia who had always been with Jude, Cordelia had the same connections as Jude. Cordelia was also amazing like Jude. ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to their wedding.¡± Count Bayer¡¯s eyes widened at the serious words that unconsciously came out of Count Chase¡¯s mouth, but he soon nodded. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m really looking forward to it.¡± Perhaps it would be thergest wedding in the history of the continent. It was the wedding of the two people who saved the world, so the guests would be tremendous. After imagining the wedding for a moment, Count Bayer brightly smiled as though he had returned to his childhood. Eventually, Count Chase began to smile with him as the two thought of the faces of their children. *** ¡°We won.¡± Kirara blinked her eyes as she spoke with a still mesmerized voice and surprised expression. She nced at the Serpent King wrapped around her arm, then looked at Violent Avnche sitting next to her before her eyes widened. She jumped up from her seat and shouted. ¡°We won!¡± The raging waves finally dispersed and disappeared. When the Red Gate copsed and the Yellow Gate was flooded, she thought that it was all over, but the power of the raging waves weakened at some point. The raging waves, that was advancing and trampling on the power of the wild gods including Violent Avnche, was blocked in front of the walls of the Yellow Gate. It was broken up and dispersed by the counterattack of Violent Avnche who did not miss the gap when it weakened. It became like a wave hitting the breakwater. ¡°Yeah! Yeah! We won! We really won!¡± Kirara jumped around holding the hands of Violent Avnche, and the exhausted Violent Avnche could not even jump properly, so he gasped and became annoyed. ¡°Let go of me first!¡± Let me rest. Let me catch my breath first. Violent Avnche slumped to the ground andpletely fell t on the ground. He looked at the back of Kirara who had suddenly ran to Elune over there and began jumping around again as she burst outughing. ¡®She has changed a lot too.¡¯ Even if he was old, Violent Avnche was still a ¡®god.¡¯ After hearing about the story of their past lives, many things came to his mind. Most of it ¨C no, all of it were just terrible memories, but among them were some memories about Kirara. A child who was always wearing a mask. A child who treated people with a smile, but was always thinking of betraying and running away. But not now. She smiled widely like a child, revealing her honest feelings. ¡°Yeah! We won! We won!¡± ¡°Yes, yes, we won! We won!¡± Kirara and Elune held hands and jumped around together, and the soldiers and warriors who were about to die also smiled at that cute sight. ¡®I¡¯m sure they¡¯ve done something this time too.¡¯ Violent Avnchey down and looked at the sky. The blue sky was beautiful and clear. The two people had saved the wildnds, the kingdom, the empire, and even the world now. ¡®You can say they also saved the heart of Kirara.¡¯ Of course, they also saved the fate of Violent Avnche himself. ¡®Those very friendly duo.¡¯ They were people he was so grateful of that he did not know how to thank them. Violent Avnche smiled like a baby bear and thought of Jude and Cordelia. He remembered the smiles of the two. *** Georg the yer fled. Unlike the other cmities, he was a human with a cunning ego. The moment their strength weakened, he abandoned the soldiers and escaped, so Ga?l and Adelia who were already seriously injured had no choice but to let him go. ¡°Ga?l, are you okay? ¡°Yes, I can bear it.¡± Although they were married, the two were still respectful to each other. Adelia sometimes felt a sense of distance in their rtionship, but she did not hate it because this was very much like Ga?l. Rather, she liked it. ¡°How is Musu?¡± ¡°They lost their right arm. Still, it won¡¯t affect their life, so don¡¯t worry too much about it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a relief.¡± For a swordsman, losing their dominant arm was like a death sentence, but one could still say that they were fortunate. After all, it was something that could happen as long as one lived. Like Ga?l who was nowpletely ustomed to using his prosthetic arm. ¡°Ga?l.¡± ¡°Yes, Adelia.¡± ¡°We¡­ We won, right?¡± ¡°Yes, we won.¡± The two warmly exchanged words and lightly kissed. Because of their battle, the two were soaked in blood and sweat, they smelled bad, and their faces were not as clean as usual, but that did not matter to them. Ga?l tightly hugged Adelia. He recovered very few memories of his past lives, but he could tell. This was the first time. That he and Adelia were in a rtionship. ¡°O-Others are watching. H-Here is a little¡­.¡± ¡°Eh? Ah, yes.¡± As Adelia blushed and said, the embarrassed Ga?l hurriedly stepped back. ¡°Ahem, ahem. Ahem, ahem, ahem.¡± Why was she like that if it was just a hug? There was actually a reason why. Ga?l experienced some changes after his life was saved from the royal capital, that is, after receiving the power of the Essence of the Silver Moon, and he began to be called the Wolf of the Wind. ¡®He¡¯s¡­ like a beast.¡± In more ways than one. Ga?l coughed again and lightly hugged Adelia from behind. They looked northwards together before speaking. ¡°Now, it¡¯s the turn of those two.¡± ¡°Yes, I guess I have no choice but to acknowledge them now.¡± Ga?lughed out loud at the response of Adelia which closely resembled the temperament of Count Chase. He hugged again his wife who was both acting shy and giving him a reproachful look. *** The Snow-White Knight, the incarnation of gues, ran away. The Guardians of the Holy Cross, that had already lost more than half of their forces when he suddenly became stronger at some point, gave up on pursuing him. They focused on rescuing the survivors and escorting the wounded. Seven-Killings Sword, Seryu, and Sword of Swiftness, Sebastian, sat ory down in different ces to recover. Both of them were seriously injured. Seryu seemed like she could be cured if she rested, but not for Sebastian. He would probably never be able to hold a sword again. But neither of them thought about that right now. They closed their eyes, feeling grateful for the fact that they won. They did not think of anything else anymore and deeply fell asleep. Victories continued everywhere. Even though this was the first war in her life, Princess Leica maintained her dignity as a princess and did not lose her focus, but she returned to her usual self when the battle was over. Once the tension was gone, she sat down and could not stand up, and the loyal Midas and Vanessa were both embarrassed when they sat down together with the princess instead of helping her stand. No, in fact, neither of them could afford to stand. Crown Princess Daphne hurriedly spread the news of their victory, and King Henry II of the S?len Kingdom appeared before his citizens. He dered the kingdom¡¯s victory in front of everyone. Actually, their victory deration was quite early. Because there was still the Ctes ins. However, the Golden Sword Saint seeded in preventing the king from bing a liar. After defeating Grand Sword Master Lucius of the empire who had be a demonic human, he continued to advance north and seeded in marching beyond the northern Ctes ins for the first time since the kingdom was founded. And time passed. The day became night and the morning came again. Having stayed up all night awake, Maja breathed in relief at the consecutive news of victory. When the news of the survival of her now best friend, Dahlia, arrived, she even cried without realizing it. ¡®We won.¡¯ She did not know much about war or fighting. But she knew what it meant when they say that ¡®they won this fight.¡¯ It was now all over. There would be no more fighting. Dahlia woulde back alive, and so would her young master and his fianc¨¦e. They would return, go back to their territory together, and spend their days peacefully and happily. Maja brought her hands together and prayed. She thanked and thanked again. But another day and two days passed. Despite the fact that two months had passed. Jude and Cordelia did not return. *** Autumn passed and winter arrived. Half a year after the decisive battle in the imperial capital. Maja returned to the fief with Dahlia. Located between the central and southern parts of the S?len Kingdom, the August counties were lively even in the middle of winter. Because it was a trading city where industry andmerce were primarily developed rather than agriculture. Cassius, the master craftsman whom Jude and Cordelia had brought, suddenly disappeared, but apart from her absence, the dwarves still hammered the iron every day, so countless people still visited the August counties. ¡°This is the financial report for this month.¡± ¡°Thank you. You may leave it there.¡± Maja¡¯s official title was housekeeper, but she was no different from the August counties¡¯ majordomo now, and in addition, she was the highest person in charge of general affairs for the two August counties. It was definitely difficult for her, who had lived as a maid all her life, to be fully responsible for the trading city that was considered as one of the best in the kingdom. Even though her intelligence was above average, there were bound to be things that were possible and impossible for her to do. But Maja carried out her tasks brilliantly. It was due to the excellent bureaucrats sent by Count Bayer and Count Chase, but if one was to mention the top contributor, it was Dahlia. As the Knight Commander of the August counties, she diligently helped and supported Maja at the same time. Maja took off her sses and let out a long sigh. There were piles of documents that had to be reviewed within today, but she could not help it since her tired eyes could no longer read the text. Too much time had passed. In a little while, the year woulde to an end. And it meant that more than half a year had passed since Jude and Cordelia, her young master and miss, left for the Hell Gate. Half a year in Hell. She could not even imagine it. She was afraid in even trying to imagine it. On what happened to the two. If the two were still alive. If the two would return. Her heart weakened. She kept thinking about scary things. ¡°Maja.¡± She suddenly came to her senses and raised her head to see Dahlia. Dahlia bit her lip and then hugged Maja. ¡°It¡¯s okay. They¡¯ll be fine. They will definitely return.¡± If Jude was no different from Maja¡¯s younger brother, Cordelia was like Dahlia¡¯s younger sister. Maja who had turned pale without realizing it, slowly nodded. She hugged back and depended on Dahlia¡¯s warmth. ¡°Have you calmed down now?¡± Maja lightly nodded at the question of Dahlia. Over the past half a year, they relied on each other, sympathizing together amidst their hardships, so they ended up bing close. ¡°Then let¡¯s go. A guest has arrived.¡± ¡°A guest?¡± ¡°Lord Lucas is here.¡± Lucas Hr?svelgr. A great hero that the kingdom was proud of. The Sky Sword Saint who was revered as the strongest among the Ten Great Swordmasters. But for Maja, Lucas was known for something different. He was her young master¡¯s best friend. Why did he visit without a notice? Perhaps there was some good news? Her heart began pounding. She was scared at the same time. If there was no news this time around. If only dreadful news arrived. ¡°It will be fine. Miss Scarlet and Lady Kajsa are together with him, and they have bright expressions on their faces. Kirara is with them too.¡± Dahlia spoke as though she was soothing Maja, and Maja slowly nodded. After adjusting her clothes, she straightened her back and arranged her posture. ¡°Oh, now you¡¯re the Ice Queen.¡± Maja frowned at the silly nickname given to her by the county¡¯s maids and butlers, and Dahliaughed again. As if escorting ady, she left the office holding Maja¡¯s hand. ¡°I apologize for making you wait for a long time.¡± Maja entered the drawing room and gave her greetings. Although Maja ruled the counties on behalf of Jude and Cordelia, her actual status was just amoner. On the other hand, the one standing before her was a leading noble of the kingdom and a great hero who saved the world himself. But the hero paid Maja the same respectful courtesy. ¡°It¡¯s been a while since Ist saw you, Maja.¡± Maja¡¯s face had be thinner before she knew it, so Lucas was worried. But she reassured him with a small smile. After greeting Scarlet, Kajsa, and Kirara, they sat down. ¡°Maja, we have something to tell you today.¡± As soon as the chatter to ease the mood was over, Lucas straightened his posture and said. Maja had already expected this development, but her fingertips lightly trembled. Dahlia also gulped. ¡°As you know¡­ It has been half a year since Jude and Cordelia left beyond the Hell Gate. And they have yet to return.¡± Maja gritted her teeth at the calmly stated facts. Dahlia gently held Maja¡¯s hand and looked at Lucas. Lucas would not havee all the way here just to talk about this. ¡°Jude and Cordelia are alive. It¡¯s not a vague belief. It¡¯s not even a wish. It¡¯s a clear fact.¡± Lucas asserted. It was something they wanted to hear so much, but Maja and Dahlia were both happy and confused. Lucas was not this determined in his previous visit here. What in the world had happened? ¡°We have gotten confirmation from the fairies. The Fairy King¡¯s Protection is still with the two of them.¡± His words were simple, but the meaning it held was great. Dahlia who did not understand it for a while soon opened her eyes wide, and Maja swallowed hard again. Lucas continued his words. ¡°Jude and Cordelia are alive. The two are still fighting somewhere in Hell. So we have decided to form a rescue team.¡± ¡°Rescue¡­ team?¡± When Dahlia asked again, Lucas nodded his head. Kajsa who was quietly listening next to him then said with a smile. ¡°There¡¯s no rule telling us that we¡¯re the only ones who have to suffer, right?¡± Only Heaven and Hell invaded Pleiades. Why only them? Why should Pleiades be the only one to suffer? ¡°Heaven is no longer our enemy. Archangel Raguel made a promise. So we only need to focus on Hell.¡± At the words of Scarlet, Dahlia turned to Maja. The intelligent Maja immediately understood what Lucas and the others were saying. She also realized what having a rescue team meant. ¡°We¡¯ll be going.¡± Kirara said. Instead of being scared and terrified, she clenched her fist as her big eyes were filled with courage. Lucas looked at Maja. He spoke with a face of a hero as reliable as Biltwein. ¡°We will go to Hell and save the two.¡± Episode 356 Table of Contents >> Epilogue 2 Epilogue 2

Epilogue 2

Terms used in this episode: Asymmetrical forces ¨C Asymmetrical warfare is when the military capabilities of hostile powers are not simply unequal but so significantly different that they cannot make the same sort of attacks on each other. In short, a very powerful force versus a weak force. Asymmetrical forces are the troops that make that huge difference in power. The imperial civil war. It was also called the Cmity War. Half a year after that war, the rtionship between the Argon Empire and the S?len Kingdom was not good. With the fate of the world at stake, the two powers of the continent had dramatically joined hands in that great war. In fact, the two countries maintained a close cooperative rtionship during the Cmity War. They faced the demon followers together and spared no expense in providing each other with supplies. Because it was an extreme situation in which the entire world would be in danger if either side copsed. As history had always proven, internal forces would end up uniting with each other when an outside enemy appeared. The attacks of the beings from outside Pleiades, the archangel of Heaven and the overlord of Hell, brought even the Argon Empire and the S?len Kingdom which had been at war and a truce for 300 years to hold hands with each other. And like always, as history had proven this time, the moment the outside enemy disappeared, the unity of the internal forces was also broken. ¡°The demon followers are still active. There are still two cmities who escaped from the Cmity War, and attacks from the east are still continuing. It means that the Cmity War is not yet over.¡± Countess Mino. As the ambassador of the Argon Empire, she spoke in an earnest tone, even throwing away her diplomatic rhetoric. But the expression of King Henry II of S?len when he heard her was that of indifference. And he actually replied indifferently. ¡°I know.¡± ¡°Your Majesty!¡± Countess Mino reflexively raised her voice, but flinched and backed down. Because the hands of the knights who were guarding the audience room had immediately moved to the handles of their swords. Although they had not pulled it out yet, Countess Mino, who was also quite skilled in swordsmanship, could tell. Their swords were not actually pulled out, but the eyes of the kingdom¡¯s knights were full of hostility. Countess Mino closed her eyes. Even though she knew that persuasion was impossible in the first ce, she felt heartbroken when faced with the frustrating reality. Henry II spoke. ¡°Countess Mino. We just acted in order. We defeated the imperial forces that had attacked the Ctes ins and driven by that momentum, we advanced and captured Fortress Byron. And ording to the rights of the victor, we will continue to own Fortress Byron. What problem do you find in this situation?¡± ¡°It was the chancellor¡¯s army, those traitors, and the demon follower groups who attacked the kingdom.¡± ¡°Yes, my S?len Kingdom shed a lot of blood to fight them. Because of the war caused by the imperial chancellor.¡± ¡°He¡¯s a traitor.¡± ¡°He¡¯s a traitor of the empire. He was originally the chancellor of the empire.¡± Countess Mino gritted her teeth. Fortress Byron. One of several fortresses that existed between the empire and the kingdom. But this was only its dictionary meaning as Fortress Byron had a great value that both countries could not easily give up. ¡®It¡¯s a strategic point.¡¯ On the outskirts of the Ctes ins,rge mountain ranges were spread out like walls. Therefore, from the perspective of the empire, they had no choice but to cross the rugged mountain range or advance through a rtively narrow one-way path in order to attack the Ctes ins. So both countries had one fortress each there. Fortress Saradium, the garrison of the Knights of the Golden Lion and called the shield of the kingdom. Fortress Byron, the gateway to the Ctes ins and at the same time, a gateway to prevent the kingdom from advancing to the empire. After defeating the chancellor¡¯s army led by Marshal Bartolein in the Cmity War, the kingdom¡¯s army continued to advance north and upied Fortress Byron. And this brought about a serious security crisis for the empire. The mountains surrounding the Ctes ins were the shield of the kingdom against the attacks of the empire, but it was also the shield of the empire against the attacks of the kingdom. However, the S?len Kingdom could now freely advance into the empire with the acquisition of Fortress Byron. It was a huge security threat to the empire. War would obviously not easily happen. The kingdom¡¯s army was more likely to use Fortress Byron as a barrier in order to defend the Ctes ins morepletely than to use it as a stepping stone for attacking. ¡®It¡¯s just a possibility.¡¯ Both countries suffered huge losses from the Cmity War, but the empire actually suffered more in losses. A civil war broke out, and not only did the imperial forces were split into two, but the battle itself was almost entirely within the territory of the empire. Thus, the damage caused by the ravages of war was inevitably on their side. The imperial capital waspletely in ruins, and other major cities and highways of the empire suffered great damage. And their problems did not end there. ¡®We lost too many skilled people.¡¯ In Pleiades where superhumans existed, the value of asymmetrical forces like the great swordmasters and archwizards was truly enormous. But due to the Cmity War, the empire lost too many human resources. Absolute Knight Ghad was killed by the demon followers, and Grand Sword Master Lucius became a demonic human and was killed by the Golden Sword Saint. Even before the Cmity War, the Sword God who was called the strongest on the continent had been seriously injured and forced to retire, so they actually had one Grand Sword Master left, Elune. ¡®But Elune does not want to go out of the Shadow Forest.¡¯ In other words, in the event of a war with the kingdom, there would be no Grand Sword Master from the empire who could stop the great swordmasters of the kingdom. ¡®The problem is not just the Grand Sword Masters.¡¯ The number of Sword Masters who became demonic humans was not small. Many people died and killed each other during the war. The loss of wizards was added to this. The absence of frontlinemanders and so on. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the power of the imperial army was cut to less then halfpared to before the Cmity War. On the other hand, the kingdom¡¯s army did not. Rather, their power was stronger than before the war. The Sword Saint of Stars, Musu, had retired due to an injury. But as their recement, a new strong man was born in S?len Kingdom. The Sky Sword Saint, Lucas Hr?svelgr. At the age of seventeen, he was a monster among monsters who rose to the position of the strongest Sword Saint in both countries. His existence was no different from a disaster for the empire. It was not just that. In the Cmity War, the kingdom¡¯s army hardly lost their great swordmasters. Rather, the growth of neers such as Ga?l Bayer, also called the Wolf of the Wind, and Seven-Killings Sword, Seryu, was remarkable and their power was further strengthened. In particr, the actions and dignity of Count Alex Bayer, the Sword Saint of Wind, struck terror into the hearts of the imperial army. On top of that, there was the Red Angel, Count Arthur Chase. Comparing each other¡¯s hands, it was a situation wherein defeat could be seen even before the fight. ¡°We just got what we deserved. No, we were rather seriously considerate of the situation. In fact, the warpensation we demanded from the empire was only a small amount.¡± Countess Mino felt like her heart was crushed by the casual remarks of Henry II, but he maintained his expression even if it was hard. Henry II had changed. The indecisive and weak king no longer existed. For the kingdom, he became like a cunning and sly person who was brazen and firm. So he reced that huge amount with the words ¡®only a small amount.¡¯ ¡°I have nothing more to say. So let¡¯s finish this. You must have been tired froming a long way, so take a good rest and go back. Make sure to try the Partion wine that can only be drunk in winter.¡± Henry II had a friendly smile as he stood up from his throne as though he was not giving her room. Countess Mino who visited the kingdom without even a single card had no way to defeat such a Henry II. She could only bow down in bitterness. ¡°Whew, that was hard.¡± As soon as she left the audience room, Henry II drooped his shoulders. He pretended to be confident in front of Countess Mino, but he felt like this did not suit him. ¡°Oh my, what are you talking about? You¡¯ve shown me such a great performance that my heart is pounding.¡± At the words and bright smile of First Queen Justina who was watching everything inside the audience room from the outside, Henry II awkwardly smiled. ¡°Justina.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°There will be no war with the empire, right?¡± ¡°Yes. The empire cannot afford it. In fact, thinking of trying to advance further north while we¡¯re at it¡­ is a bit too much for us. It will not be a wise decision to do so.¡± There was an actual practical reason for that than a rational one. The Argon Empire was now serving as a breakwater in blocking the demon followersing from the east. The empire was protecting the kingdom by shedding their own blood, so there was no reason for the kingdom to advance. It was better to aim for the empire after the battle with the east ended. ¡°And¡­ we also have to turn our forces to something other than invading the empire.¡± At the words of Queen Justina, Henry II slowly nodded. As she had said, there was something far more important than marching into the empire. ¡°Daphne asked for an audience. I think she heard something from the heavenly voice.¡± ¡°Is it Heaven again?¡± The beings from the distant Heaven. Henry II definitely knew. That Raguel and Auriel were different. Raguel, the archangel of justice, was a kind, gentle, and true angel like Sri, Eros, and Gabriel who sacrificed themselves for Pleiades in the past. But he was still ufortable with the fact that they were beings from Heaven. Because Raguel was not the only archangel in Heaven. There were two more archangels, and they were all sisters. He did not know if they would seek revenge for Auriel and attempt to invade Pleiades. ¡°They will not.¡± ¡°Common sense tells us that they will not. But¡­ isn¡¯t there already an example that goes beyondmon sense?¡± The archangel Auriel. She loved Sri so much that she went mad. She tried to destroy with her own hands the people whom Sri had sacrificed her life for. ¡°In any case, this is Raguel we¡¯re talking about¡­ and the remaining two are different from Auriel. They have not gone mad. Haven¡¯t they also refused to hold hands with the demons, even if it was temporary?¡± First Queen Justina smiled and spoke as if to reassure him, but Henry II could not immediately nod. Was it not impossible to even know the thoughts of someone who had been with you for a long time? He was too hurt from the past to trust the words of other people he had heard through others. ¡°Of course, there are practical reasons. Due to this war, the archangel Auriel is dead, and as a result, there are only three archangels in Heaven left. On the other hand, there are still five overlords left in Hell. In short-¡± ¡°You want Count August Bayer and Countess August Chase to defeat the overlords?¡± ¡°Yes, as I have said several times before.¡± From the perspective of Heaven, it would not be strange if their side cheered for the two to be strong. ¡°Ha¡­. I don¡¯t like her.¡± ¡°Me too. But¡­ why don¡¯t you trust Raguel a little? After all, she still lost her beloved sister. But she admitted the fault of her sister and asked for forgiveness. She¡­ I think she is someone we can trust. You could say that ¡®gods¡¯ have a human side too.¡± ¡°Gods have a human side¡­¡± Henry II sighed again and slowly nodded. If Countess Mino had seen him, she wouldment ¡®He was that kind of guy?¡¯ The kind who knew well to follow Justina¡¯s advice every time he was unsure, worried, or could not make a choice. ¡°What did Daphne want to talk about?¡± ¡°I think she decided to get help from Raguel for this ¡®expedition.¡¯ Since they¡¯re going to Hell in the first ce¡­ it¡¯s natural to get help from the angels.¡± ¡°This world has gotten weird.¡± It was a world where surreal beings like angels or demons have bemon sense. ¡°But Your Majesty, is this really okay?¡± ¡°What¡¯s okay?¡± ¡°This expedition.¡± First Queen Justina looked at Henry II with calm eyes and asked. What she was asking about. This expedition was very dangerous. It was a world that was not a neighboring country, it was Hell. Most of the asymmetrical forces that the kingdom had an upper hand over the empire were expected to participate in this expedition. And it was highly possible that all of them would nevere back. It was such a dangerous choice. As a king of a country, opposing this expedition might be the right decision. But Henry II shook his head. Despite Justina¡¯s question, he spoke firmly without any hesitation. ¡°We have to do it.¡± They had to save Jude and Cordelia. It was impossible to abandon those two. ¡°Why do you think so?¡± Why do we have to do that? There was no smile on the face of Justina. She asked as she coldly stared at Henry II. Henry II did not avert her gaze. He was indecisive and weak, but he nevertheless showed why Justinia agreed to marry Henry II. ¡°Because that¡¯s the right thing to do.¡± Even if he was the king, he could not just abandon them. There were things he wanted to protect as a person. Jude and Cordelia had saved Henry II himself. They saved the royal family, the kingdom, and the whole world. It was impossible to abandon those two. He could never allow abandoning them. ¡°Because that¡¯s the right thing to do¡­¡± First Queen Justina tried to repeat the words of Henry II in a murmur before she gently smiled. She giggled and looked up at the king. She whispered with the expression of a maiden. ¡°That¡¯s why I like you.¡± Because that¡¯s the right thing to do. Because you can say such things. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Henry II blushed and cleared his throat, so Justinaughed again. She gently held his hand and said. ¡°Well, shall we go? Daphne will be waiting for us.¡± ¡°Yes, Justina.¡± Henry II shyly smiled again and held Justina¡¯s hand, and Justina turned red this time. The knights and maids around them averted their gazes as they hid their happy smiles. *** Fran raised his head. ¡°Old man.¡± ¡°Yes, Fran.¡± ¡°Ugh¡­ you¡¯re no longer an old man. I can only see you as my age.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ If I look at it objectively, don¡¯t I look younger now than you?¡± Fran frowned at the remark of Velkian who was reborn as the No Life King, a vampire lord. Because it was true. ¡°I¡¯m going to find the fountain of youth.¡± ¡°Contact me when you find it. I want to use it as research material.¡± ¡°Why, old man? Your personality changed when you became younger.¡± ¡°That¡¯s natural. Just as how the mind affects the body, so does the body affects the mind.¡± If Fran was a good-looking man simr to a beautiful woman, Velkian was a handsome man with a manly and cold impression as if he was carved from ice. ¡°This is a scam. Why did you grow taller just because you got younger?¡± ¡°You get shorter as you get older. You¡¯ll be there soon.¡± ¡°No, I won¡¯t? I¡¯m still far from that, okay?¡± Fran childishly grumbled and deeply sighed before looking around. The two were currently on the battlefield. They were in the eastern part of the empire. Thend where war with the demon followersing from the east was continuing. It was not a fierce battle. Rather, it seemed like the continuation of a standoff situation. It had actually been more than a month since Fran and Velkianst stepped on the battlefield. ¡°Fran, where is Kamael now?¡± As a vampire, Velkian slept during the day and was active at night. Therefore, he always asked what happened during the day every time he wakes up. ¡®But I think he was like that even when he was a human.¡¯ A nocturnal person who slept during the day and was active at night. In any case, Fran replied as he scratched his chin. ¡°He¡¯s looking around the frontlines onest time.¡± ¡°Onest time?¡± ¡°Yes, the letter has finally arrived.¡± An expedition to Hell. Starting the invasion was not an easy task. They also needed to solve the various restrictions that would be there after their invasion. Therefore, even though Lena and the young goddess Atalia had been working hard, their expedition had already been dyed for several months. ¡°Is it finally over?¡± ¡°Perhaps.¡± Fran replied with a smile, leaning against the wall and looking up the sky. It was night, but he remembered the sun. *** Letters were sent all over the continent. Many responded to the order to gather for the expedition. Princess Leica once again led her troops and left the Forest of Eternity. Elune, who left a letter of apology to Vincenzo Lombardi, attempted to run away for the first time in her life. Seven-Killings Sword, Seryu, stopped wandering and headed for the royal capital. Red Wind who was equally blessed by all the wild gods, proudly left the wildnds. And one more person. The man who would be the protagonist of this expedition put down the letter. He grabbed the Sr de that was still shining even after that day. ¡°May the muscles always be with you.¡± The sun that would remove the darkness of Hell. The one who would lead everyone with a consistent view of his back. He also met the goddess of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. He was able to make a lot of progress from his meeting with her. ¡°It¡¯s Hell, huh?¡± There was no fear in the face of Landius. Rather, a sun-like energy radiated out of his entire body. ¡°I¡¯m going, my disciple.¡± I will surprise you this time. Landius openlyughed and took a step forward. He headed to the royal capital for their invasion into Hell. Epilogue 1 Table of Contents >> Epilogue 3 I found some fanart of Jude and Cordelia entering the Hell Gate at the final chapter. Art is by Korean artist, ??? (Gaegrim). Epilogue 3

Epilogue 3

¡°You see, the ce where those two are is not really Hell. It¡¯s an extension of Hell, but not really Hell. Frankly, you can say that it¡¯s like a temporary bridge created by Asmodeus for the invasion of Pleiades.¡± Dozens of people from all over the continent were standing in front of Lena who stood on a huge ceremonial magic circle installed in the central garden of the S?len Royal Pce. ¡®What do you mean?¡¯ It¡¯s Hell, but also not Hell? It¡¯s like a temporary bridge? Kajsa thought of a temporary bridge for a moment but soon narrowed her brows and turned around. As she had expected, Scarlet was nodding with a face as though she understood everything. Therefore, Kajsa nodded and pretended to know it as well, while Kirara who was standing next to the two then raised her hand and said. ¡°Then, Lena-nim. Are you saying that¡­ it¡¯s easier for us to move there because it¡¯s such a ce? That it¡¯s fine to move there?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s it.¡± Moving between worlds was not that easy. It could not be easy because it was about crossing the walls of a world and entering another world. ¡°But interestingly, the difficulty of movement between worlds varies from person to person. Beings who are not that important in both worlds, such as low-ranking demons and angels can go to other worlds without difficulty, provided that they have the means to move between worlds.¡± Like how demon followers used to summon low-ranking demons by sacrificing lives. ¡°However, the more important an individual is to the world¡­ That is, the stronger their ¡®presence,¡¯ the higher is their difficulty in moving between worlds. This is because the greater the presence one has, the more power is required to move between worlds, so it is difficult to have a means of crossing. And even if there is a means, they also have to break through the rejection of their destination world.¡± In the exnation that was hard to understand, Count Bayer looked very serious because he did not understand it, so Count Chase spoke in a slightly louder voice to everyone. ¡°The more powerful you are, the more difficult the immigration process will be. Like howmoners only need to go through a simple inspection when crossing borders, but royalty or high-ranking nobility have to go through moreplicated procedures to cross borders.¡± Small exmations were heard everywhere after Count Chase¡¯s exnation. Because they finally understood when it was exined like that. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. So it¡¯s hard to summon demons with titles. An example is the Demon Prince. You can¡¯t immediately summon him even if you open a Hell Gate.¡± That was true for the two Hell Gates that opened in the wildnds. Not even his shadow was seen at the Hell Gate that opened in Endymion, the capital of Magen, and only the right arm came out of the Hell Gate that opened in Snow Breeze in. ¡°As I have exined before, the ce where the two are now is a bridge between Hell and Pleiades¡­ Or you can call it a magic realm that Asmodeus personally created. So it¡¯s easier to enter there than to enter the real Hell.¡± It was that reason why Jude and Cordelia, who had be gods, were able to enter Hell quite easily despite the gate being opened from the other side. If one crossed a temporary border and not the real border, the immigration process would be simplified to an extent. ¡°In fact, you don¡¯t have to worry much about the immigration process itself. I¡¯m not bragging but¡­ there aren¡¯t many people here who have a strong presence except for me, a high-ranking angel.¡± After all, most of them were humans. Even Landius could control his presence by opening and closing the doors, so there was no one here except Lena who might have restrictions on movement. ¡°Rather, it¡¯s harder to open and maintain the gate itself. We¡¯re one-sidedly opening the gate from our side instead ofmunicating on both sides to open the gate.¡± Most of the Hell Gates in Pleiades were opened by demon followers. In other words, it was a two-way structure that sent signals from Pleiades to Hell, and Hell receiving and sending back the signals in order to open the gate. The descent of Auriel was also through a gate in Heaven receiving a signal sent by the magic circle that Archbishop Manu had prepared for the archangel¡¯s descent. But this time, there was no one to send a signal from the other side. So they had to unterally create a Hell Gate from their side. ¡°It was really hard. Because we had to build a gate on where Jude and Cordelia were rather than just opening the gate to Hell.¡± Fortunately, there was a clue. The Fairy King¡¯s Protection. The protection of the fairies that transcended worlds was still with Jude and Cordelia. When Lena let down her shoulders and said, Princess Daphne said with a smile. ¡°Lena-nim, are you saying that you have seeded in the end?¡± In short, was she saying ¡®It was seriously hard, but we were sessful.¡¯? ¡°Yes, you are right. The goddess Atalia and I have finally seeded in opening a gate in Pleiades that leads to Hell.¡± They had not actually been sessful yet. They had onlypleted the ritual and magic required, but had not really opened the gate. But what mattered was whether they could do it or not, so Lena could confidently say now that they could do it. ¡°Two dayster at noon.¡± Lena paused for a moment and looked at everyone. Gathered here now were people not only from the kingdom but also from the empire ¨C people from all over the continent. There were here for only one purpose. ¡°We will open a gate to Hell. And we will go on an expedition to save those two. Please be fully prepared. Think about it onest time before we leave. We may never return.¡± It was a trip to Hell. In addition to the countless demons, the environment of Hell itself would attack the group. Moreover, they have no knowledge of the situation in Hell. Perhaps they would be attacked and annihted by the overlords the moment they entered. It was an expedition with no guarantee of returning. A journey to and that no one knew if they woulde back alive. But no one became restless at the words of Lena. There were people who clenched their fists or swallowed their saliva because of the fear that came, but no one turned back in fear. Just like Jude and Cordelia. The two knew that they might not be able to return, but still went into Hell without hesitation to save Pleiades and everyone else. Lena smiled at the emotions revealed on the faces of everyone. After taking a deep breath again, she looked at everyone and said. ¡°Two dayster¡­ Let¡¯s meet here again at noon when the sun is at its highest.¡± For those who had not arrived yet. For those who still needed to prepare. And for those who needed time to say goodbye because they did not know if it would be theirst. Everyone left as they went their way. Kajsa and Scarlet had been on good and bad terms as they had been for the past half year, while Lucas who was sandwiched in between them happily smiled. Red Wind arrived from the wildnds. As soon as she arrived, she started a staring contest with Kirara, but that did notst long. The two had rarely interacted with each other for the past 6 months, but they eventually shook hands and greeted each other. Both of them had memories of their past lives, so it was difficult to call them friends. Still, they felt both irony and joy in this situation where they were not enemies. People from the empire also arrived. Elune was very excited because it was her first attempt at running away from home and traveling, and everyone who knew her was surprised that she had arrived at the royal capital alone without any problems. But they soon nodded when they realized what was going on. Because the Shadow Knights dispatched by Vincenzo Lombardi did their best to secretly help her. The Sword God also showed up along with Maximilian. The Sword God had retired after the decisive battle in the imperial capital, but he grabbed his sword for thest time for Jude and Cordelia. Having been freed from Auriel¡¯s brainwashing, Maximilian visited the royal capital to repay his debt. Fran and Velkian arrived bickering, followed by Kamael with Adide. Leon and Sarah also wanted to join the expedition, but the imperial family did not allow it. Therefore, the two sent various potions to the royal capital, saying that it was not enough for a substitute, but they still wanted to express their support. Ga?l and Adelia came to the royal capital with Count Bayer, but they would not be going to the expedition to Hell. The reason was that at least one person had to remain and inherit the family head position now that Count Bayer was leaving, but there was also a bigger reason. ¡°Please have a safe trip. Our children will want to have grandfathers.¡± Adelia said as she stroked her small bulging belly, and Count Chase nodded instead of snorting. He smiled happily when he imagined the babies of Ga?l and Adelia who would be born half a year from now. One by one, people gathered, talked, and strengthened their resolution. Time passed. The time came. At noon two dayster. The young goddess Atalia stood on the podium prepared for the departure ceremony. She looked at everyone with a calm expression, and nced at Lena and Landius instead of saying anything. She did not speak, but they understood her. ¡°Go, Lucas.¡± Landius smiled and pped the back of Lucas who was standing next to him, and Lucas who was pushed forward was confused and blinked his eyes, looking back at Landius. ¡°Landius-nim?¡± ¡°Go, because it¡¯s necessary to have someone suitable speak for the departure ceremony.¡± Someone who would give thest speech. Someone who would gather the will of everyone and boost morale. Lucas understood what Landius was saying. But he could not help but look at Landius with a confused expression on his face. ¡°Me?¡± Not Landius-nim or Kamael-nim? Crown Princess Daphne and His Majesty the King are also here, right? Lucas¡¯ doubt was natural. But it was not natural too. ¡°If not you, who else will stand?¡± He was the strongest among the Ten Great Swordmasters of the kingdom. The hero of the decisive battle in the imperial capital. A person who was personally acquainted with everyone who had gathered from all over the continent. The only rival Jude had recognized. The only man allowed to approach Cordelia. The one who met them first and was their closest friend. ¡°Go, Lucas. Be Biltwein.¡± Lucas wanted to say that he was not Biltwein, but fortunately, he did not say anything. He looked at Landius and Lena before turning to Scarlet and Kajsa. Both smiled at Lucas. They were friendly to each other for some reason as they patted the back of Lucas. Lucas moved forward. He was a little nervous at first, but his breathing stabilized with every step he took. When he arrived right below the podium where Atalia stood, his expression already became that of a hero. Lucas observed everyone. Everyone stared at Lucas. Everyone had gathered here to rescue Jude and Cordelia. They would be going on a journey to Hell to save those two despite knowing that they might never return. His heart was pounding. A huge me seemed to burn from deep inside him. Memories of his past lives came to his mind one by one, and his eyes became teary. For the two people who stood up and saved the world without giving up despite the despair that repeated. Now it was their turn. They had to save those two now. ¡°We may not be able toe back.¡± It was true. The possibility was high. ¡°But even so, we will leave.¡± Because that was the right thing to do, as Henry II had said. Because it was something they had to do. They could not turn a blind eye to what was right. So they moved forward with pride. Lucas could feel the unity of everyone¡¯s hearts in their gazes. ¡°We are proud of you all.¡± No more words were said. Everyone was satisfied with thest words that was very much like Lucas. They then nced at Atalia with smiles on their faces instead of trembling in fear. ¡°I will open the gate.¡± At the soft voice of Atalia, Lucas turned his head and looked in the direction of the magic circle. Scarlet and Kajsa walked towards the sides of Lucas, and everyone on the expedition strengthened their resolve again. Those who had gathered to see them off brought their hands to their chests and bowed. The gate opened. A crack appeared in the air and gradually opened, turning into a huge gate. Lucas felt his beating loudly. Scarlet and Kajsa also focused on the crack with nervous faces. And it was at that moment. Lena suddenly widened her eyes. Velkian noticed it too. Count Chase turned to Adelia with an urgent expression. Atalia was always cold and calm, but it was a bit different now. Confusion spread across her face. Something was wrong. That crack was not what Atalia intended. What was it then? What happened? No way. Lena blinked her eyes. She unconsciously smiled and nced at Atalia. So did Velkian. Count Chase also thought of a possibility and looked at Atalia with hope. A small smile appeared on the face of Atalia. A bright smile bloomed on the face of the young goddess. Their side was not the one who opened the gate. But the gate was opened. It only meant one thing. It was such a miraculous connection, but she understood. That it was possible. If it was those two. If those two were the fantasy couple! ¡°F*ck bang!¡± A lively and cheerful voice erupted from beyond the crack. A half-naked beauty was brightly smiling and a half-naked man was carrying her in his arms. Everyone was in a daze as they stared at the two. And soon after, a series of explosions deafened them. Boom! Boom! Kaboom! Loud booming sounds were heard from beyond the crack. Atalia hurriedly moved her hands to close the crack, and Lena cast a barrier to stop the aftermath of the explosions from harming everyone. Explosions and roars. A good-looking couple who were half naked and wearing ripped clothes. And a cheerful exmation. ¡°Huh?¡± The half-naked beauty with lovely pink hair blinked her eyes. The handsome man holding her in a princess carry also looked surprised. And everyone who faced those two, including Lucas who represented everyone, looked at the two with nk faces. Scarlet and Kajsa were also blinking their eyes in disbelief. There was a strange silence. Confusion and bewilderment. A roar ofughter soon burst out. Landiusughed out loud, and everyone understood the situation. No one knew who smiled first. Kirara and Red Wind were so happy that they cried. ¡°Jude, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Lucas?¡± Lucas cried and called out the names of the two. Jude and Cordelia answered in confusion at the same time. And Landius sorted out the situation again. ¡°Disciple!¡± ¡°Yes! Master!¡± Surprised by the loud call, Jude replied reflexively. Cordelia was also startled and looked at Landius. Landius chuckled and smiled. With a manly smile, he asked the most important thing. ¡°Did you get rid of them!¡± Loud explosions were heard from beyond the crack. A falling overlord could be vaguely seen through that intense light. Jude and Cordelia looked at each other. The two simultaneously smiled and nodded. They responded with their best smiles to everyone who ran and cried. Epilogue 2 Table of Contents >> Epilogue 4 One more epilogue to go. Anyway, CHYAN, the artist who did the novel cover of Ending Maker, had actually made two covers. One is the draft you see below, and the other is the novel cover that was chosen for this series. Image 1. Draft novel cover Image 2. Official novel cove Epilogue 4

Epilogue 4

Jude and Cordelia had returned. The crazy ¨C no, the fantasy couple. Demon yers. The guardians of Pleiades. It was not a lie to say that the entire continent was shaken by the return of the two. It was an undeniable fact. Few people knew that Jude was now the guardian god of Pleiades when he opened the ninth door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, and that Cordelia was now an archangel afterpletely inheriting the power of Sri. But even for those who did not know that the two became gods, the return of the two was a huge shock. Especially for the empire and the demon followers. ¡°That¡¯s crazy! Are you saying that we¡¯repletely overpowered?!¡± The empire had lost a lot of asymmetrical forces due to the Cmity War. However, new asymmetrical forces were added to the S?len Kingdom. The strongest asymmetrical forces in the continent. Everyone knew that Jude and Cordelia yed a decisive role in the fight at the imperial capital. Some argued that most of the work was done by the five heroes of Paragon especially Landius because no matter how great those two were, they were still teenagers. But few took this hypothesis seriously. Because the group who were involved in the fight, that is, all the five heroes of Paragon, proimed the contributions of Jude and Cordelia first. ¡°He has transcended the Sword of the Sky.¡± He had not only reached the horizon, but had gone beyond it. It was as the Sword God had said. Jude had reached a point that no one ever had since the birth of Pleiades. Even if he did not use the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, Jude had the Absolute Truth of the Sword. Defeating him in swordsmanship was impossible. He was the strongest swordsman in the world recognized by the Sword God, Iron Man Landius, and Ghostde Kamael. The one who killed the mad goddess and saved Pleiades. But what was crazier here was the fact that it was not only Jude. ¡°The Explosion Witch¡­¡± In the S?len Kingdom, she was called the Explosion Angel. Either way, the return of Cordelia August Chase, who had the word ¡®explosion¡¯ in her nicknames, was like a disaster for everyone who was hostile to the S?len Kingdom. If Jude was the strongest swordsman in the world, Cordelia was the strongest wizard in the world. Unlike Jude who had potential rivals such as Iron Man Landius, Ghostde Kamael, or Sky Sword Saint Lucas Hr?svelgr, Cordelia had no rivals at all. She possessed an immense magical power that even a few archwizards could not surpass. An ability to control magic that was beyondmon sense, a transcendent spatial perception ability, and so on. The existence of her signature move, Golden Storm, was a mystery itself among wizards. ¡°144,000 magic missiles? And she can control all of that?¡± It was meaningless to discuss it further. Rather, it was a bit more productive to discuss on who between the two was stronger, Jude or Cordelia. ¡°There is no way.¡± When there were two such powerful people, it was normal to try to somehow make those two alienated, but that was impossible against those two. Because the reason the two became initially famous was truly extraordinary. Even though they were already engaged, the two ran away at night. The two had gone on a honeymoon trip after running away from home several times despite their families and everyone around them recognizing the rtionship of the two. The fantasy couple. The couple of the century who loved each other to death. It was impossible. It was absolutely impossible for outsiders to force the two to separate, unless those two break up after fighting each other. ¡°There¡¯s no such thing as absolute! If you try to seduce one of them by putting a handsome man or a beautiful woman in between them¡­¡± Count Matoa, a loyal follower of the emperor, shouted in an exasperated voice, but the end of his words trailed and he sat down. Because he recalled the other nicknames of Jude and Cordelia. The most beautiful woman in the world. The most handsome man in the world. The most beautiful and handsome people in the world became a couple, so was there anyone else who could seduce them? Obviously, being physically beautiful was not everything that dictated what was beautiful, but there was still something called degree. ¡°Aren¡¯t their love filters amazing in the first ce?¡± Crown Princess Daphne was right. Jude would only see Cordelia regardless of anyone whoes in between them. And so was Cordelia. ¡°We can only hope that they won¡¯t be active.¡± ¡°Haa¡­ That¡¯s the only way.¡± Defeating them in the field of beauty was impossible, but it was also unfeasible to bribe them with money. Because both of them were incredibly rich. Human greed definitely had no limits, but there was no one in the empire who had enough wealth that could tempt the two who were already very rich. They could not even do that, so it was better to just leave those two alone. If the people of the empire knew of one more truth, that is, if they had known that the two had already became gods who were forever immortals, they would have seriously considered exile to the S?len Kingdom, but fortunately, no one knew of that fact. ¡°At least the empire is fortunate.¡± Fran giggled and continued. ¡°Because the empire has nothing to do with the two unless they touch the kingdom. But there are groups who are hostile to the very existence of the two, right?¡± The demon followers. Those two who had invaded Hell and returned after beheading an overlord could not be left alone. From the perspective of the demon followers, it was like the two suddenly became ¡®gods who kill demon followers.¡¯ ¡°It¡¯s somehow amazing. What¡¯s good is good, but it¡¯s a bit disappointing¡­¡± The reason for Velkian¡¯s sentiments was simple. Because the Devil¡¯s Mouth that had been constantly harassing the eastern part of the empire had began withdrawing to the eastern nations the moment they found out that Jude and Cordelia had returned. ¡°Even the five heroes of Paragon fade in the presence of the guardian gods of Pleiades.¡± Fran spoke with a bit of self-scorn, and Velkian had a bitter smile as he nodded his head. ¡°So, what are we going to do now?¡± Lena nodded her head at the question of Kamael. Because the archangel and overlord problems had both been solved. Peace had nowe to Pleiades. ¡°We have to continue.¡± We have to do our job. We have to show this peace to everyone in the world. ¡°Don¡¯t you think so?¡± At the question of Lena, Landius responded with a chuckle like usual. *** ¡°I¡¯ll cut it short. Get married.¡± ¡°Yes, father-inw.¡± ¡°Yes, father.¡± Jude and Cordelia politely replied to the order of Count Chase, and everyone who were watching them smiled happily. Everyone in the world knew that they were the couple of the century, but they still had to do that. When the marriage between the two was decided, the location became a problem. Because it was not something that could be resolved quietly(?) in the family like what happened to Ga?l and Adelia. ¡°The wedding must be held in the royal capital. I will lend you the royal pce.¡± Henry II¡¯s bombshell deration was something that would shock many people. Because it was a situation where the royal pce was rented for the wedding of ¡®mere vassals.¡¯ ¡°Is that really okay?¡± When First Queen Justina asked a test-like question, Henry II firmly nodded his head and replied. ¡°It¡¯s okay. Because¡­ that¡¯s the right thing to do.¡± Because he had to do this much for them. At the words of her husband and king, First Queen Justina eventually burst outughing. ¡°Your words are cool, but it has be awkward.¡± Because that¡¯s the right thing to do. Because doing that was the right thing to do. It sounded really cool thest time she heard it, but she could not help butugh out loud now. ¡°Because that¡¯s also the right thing to do.¡± Henry IIughed cheerfully, and First Queen Justina kissed his cheek. In any case, the will of the king was strong, and surprisingly, no one expressed opposition to the decision of the king. It was definitely a bombshell announcement, but it did not feel like a bomb. ¡°They¡¯ll stay in our kingdom if we do that much.¡± Jude and Cordelia had be too prominent. Even if the 12 northern families and the 6 southern families were strong, they were vassals of the kingdom in the end. They had an obligation to be loyal to the kingdom. But when it came to loyalty, one must also pay a kind of price when receiving something. In other words, it meant that the giving and receiving part had to be bnced to some extent. Jude and Cordelia had already done too much for the kingdom. And the power of the two had already surpassed the power of the kingdom. So they had to be given special treatment. They had to be given more. So that they would continue to feel a sense of belonging to the kingdom, cherishing and loving it as their own country. ¡°The wedding will be held in the royal capital. Dere this fact throughout the continent and gather the guests!¡± The whole kingdom moved at the spiritedmand of Henry II. It was like the kingdom were the ones watching from the side of the to-be-married couple and not the families of the couple, but no one was offended by this. Everyone justughed and enjoyed this national ¨C no, this world-level celebration. Time passed and people gathered. The imperial side also officially sent envoys while finding all those who had any rtion with Jude and Cordelia in their country and sending them to the royal capital where the wedding was to be held. Because of that, Kan did not have to worry on how to cross the border, and Leon and Sarah were able to head to the royal capital without garnering much attention. Many people headed to the royal capital even within the kingdom. Both the 12 northern families and 6 southern families sent people to the royal capital, so naturally, Sylvia and Vi who were close friends with Cordelia were also among those people. ¡°Can people like us go?¡± ¡°Why not? The king and everyone is going. And we¡¯re pretty close, right?¡± Fabian, an unauthorized transport dealer in the Hr?svelgr county,ughed out loud, but what she said was true. After all, she had kept in touch with Jude and reported on the movements of the Devil¡¯s Eye. ¡°Finally, the love between the two have borne fruit!¡± When Princess Darianne spoke with a face of a girl who admired romance, Duke Spencer warmly smiled and Sir Cornwell, who was the escort leader this time again, brightly smiled. ¡°Of course, we have to go.¡± Princess Leica who had already left the Forest of Eternity to participate in the expedition decided to continue staying in the royal capital, and so did Elune. And there were more people. ¡°We can¡¯t help but congratte you.¡± Siren Queen Iliana led her vassals ashore. Fairy queens from all over the continent gathered in one ce after a hundred years ¨C no, a thousand years. ¡°Chocte is delicious.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve never tried this, haven¡¯t you? It¡¯s Fairy Chocte.¡± ¡°What? What¡¯s that? There¡¯s something like that? Give it to me. Give it to me too!¡± Fairy queens were still fairies after all. Moreover, they were with the other fairy queens rather than their subjects, so they acted like fairies. ¡°We must not bete. Hurry up!¡± Violent Avnche said as he walked in toddling steps, and Great Storm sighed once before moving his finger to turn the wind around Violent Avnche into a strong wind. Gentle Snow Breeze watched from the side and softlyughed as she made the wind of Great Storm stronger. Everyone gathered. At the royal capital. To bless the marriage of the two. ¡°Finally, I¡¯m not looking after the house and cane this time!¡± At the words of Edward Chase, the good-natured Ga?l apuded in moderation while the bride and groom were facing their precious people in their respective waiting rooms. ¡°Dahlia.¡± ¡°Maja.¡± They were in different ces, but they spoke almost at the same time. Dahlia cried andughed, and so did Maja. ¡°It feels like yesterday when you asked permission to go on a carriage date near the cliff¡­¡± The cheeks of Cordelia turned red at the words of Dahlia. Because she remembered the time when she jumped off the cliff after the carriage date. ¡®I¡¯m the only who had to say those embarrassing things!¡¯ It was also Cordelia¡¯s task to carry Jude at that time. But it was fine now. Because Jude had said much more embarrassing words. Because he carried her a lot like he promised back then. Cordelia spread her arms, and Dahlia hugged her. Jude also hugged Maja who could not hide her tears. ¡°The time hase.¡± The voice of a pce attendant was heard from outside. As he had said. The time had nowe. *** The wedding was held in the Grand za. The Grand za was already full of people from all over the continent as well as from the royal capital. If even the people who filled the buildings were added up, perhaps hundred of thousands, or even a million people were present. Jude and Cordelia were scheduled to hold the ceremony on a high andrge balcony connected between the Grand za and the royal pce. Henry II and First Queen Justina stood together and waited for the two. Royalty such as Crown Princess Daphne, Prince Dion, and Princess Darianne were present, but there were also people who were allowed to stand on the balcony. Count Bayer and Count Chase. Ga?l Bayer and Adelia Chase, and Edward Chase who somehow seeded in sitting between the two. And even Dahlia and Maja. ¡°Why? Are you nervous?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m nervous.¡± At the whisper of Jude, Cordelia honestly answered with a stiff expression. Because she was originally a shy person. [It¡¯s okay. You¡¯re the prettiest. Everyone is happy. Even if you make a small mistake, no one will say anything.] At Melissa¡¯s encouragement, Cordelia swallowed hard and Jude tightly held her hand. [We defeated the archangel and overlord together, right? This wedding is nothing to that, so don¡¯t be nervous. You can do it.] Jude smiled at the cheerful remarks of Valencia. He wanted to mischievously ask if Valencia had ever been married, but held himself back. ¡®And I roughly know what answer wille back.¡¯ She was a woman who loved the sword so much that she became one with the sword itself. Just then, the music changed. Henry II shouted again, and the sound of trumpets and other musical instruments spread throughout the Grand za. It was now time. Now was really the time to go out. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go.¡± It would not be a lie to say that she was more nervous now than when she walked into the Hell Gate. Cordelia let out a long breath. She then raised her head and peeked at Jude¡¯s face. ¡®I can do it.¡¯ Because Jude is with me. The two of us will be together as always, now and forever. Jude kissed the forehead of Cordelia. The two looked in front again and stepped forward. The wedding was held with cheers that shook the entire za. ***Night fell. It was a cold and dark night. But it was different from the nights in Hell. The starlight was abundant, and there were two white and beautiful moons. Jude and Cordeliay side by side on the bed and looked out the window. Jude hugged the shoulder of Cordelia. Cordelia leaned her head against the chest of Jude. ¡°It¡¯s somehow¡­ amazing.¡± At the whisper of Cordelia, Jude lowered his head. Cordelia looked up at Jude and continued. ¡°Everything. Yes, everything.¡± They met Cassius and the witch of the west forest in Hell. Jude seriously tried to drive a wedge between the overlords, and eventually seeded. They defeated an overlord and archangel. They saved Pleiades. A world where the fated destruction had disappeared. But these were not the only amazing things. ¡°We always meet again¡­ and love each other¡­¡± Cordelia¡¯s cheeks lightly blushed, and Jude pressed his lips to hers. He gently tickled her back, making his embarrassed wifeugh again. Jude had always loved Cordelia. Despite the fact his memories did not continue, despite that fact that they ended up in a slightly different way. ¡°What about our past life? On Earth.¡± Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee, and not Jude and Cordelia. Both of them knew now. The reason why they had no memories after logging out of Legend of Heroes 2 was not because they had no memories after that. Their souls were split. After all the necessary information was collected and it was time to put them back in Pleiades ording to the n, the souls of Jude and Cordelia were separated from Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee. In short, their souls were split into two. Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee remained on Earth. Jude and Cordelia were reincarnated in Pleiades with their memories from Earth. ¡°What happened to those two?¡± Are they still growling online and ying games? Or have they met each other by chance and fell in love like what always happened to us? ¡°Maybe they only found out about each other after they fell in love.¡± You¡¯re Yellow Storm? Oppa is Outboxer009?! Cordelia burst outughing when she imagined that scene for a moment. ¡°Well, we¡¯re neighbors. Still, there¡¯s a huge age gap, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. Around nine years.¡± ¡°Wow¡­ you¡¯re a real thief. The king of thieves.¡± T/N: There¡¯s a joke in South Korea that if a person dates or marries a younger person with a huge age gap, they are called a ¡®thief.¡¯ There were several more possible scenarios. They quarreled and agreed to meet each other offline for HyunPi, and then ¡®Eh, you?¡¯ and ¡®What? Why is oppa here?¡¯ T/N: HyunPi is a Korean ng which came from the words Hyunsil (reality) + PK (yer Killing). In HyunPi, two yers who get into a quarrel sometimes agree to meet each other offline to settle it. Or they met each other in an offline gathering and began dating after their hearts pounded. As the two made assumptions and talked about this and that, Cordelia suddenlyughed again. Jude asked what was wrong, and she replied with a broad smile. ¡°Well, no matter what wee up with, the only conclusion we arrive at is that the two end up dating each other, right?¡± At the words of Cordelia, Jude said with a very nauseating expression instead of smiling along. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s always the two of us. In the end, we are destined to meet and love each other.¡± ¡°You look nauseating.¡± ¡°But you like it, right?¡± Jude spoke more brazenly, and Cordelia frowned before nodding her head. ¡°I must be crazy too. Why did I like this kind of guy?¡± Cordelia¡¯sints did not continue. Because Jude covered the mouth of Cordelia with his lips and tongue. The two once again passionately made love. There were things they wanted to do in the future. They had to drive out the demon followers, further develop their territory, and visit Earth once. Night passed and dawn came. Having stayed up all night, the two leaned against each other and watched the rising dawn from afar. ¡°I love you.¡± ¡°I love you too.¡± They matched lips again and thought of the same words. The two spoke it aloud as if it were a magic spell. ¡°For a perfect happy ending.¡± A happily ever after like in fairy tales. Cordelia looked at Jude. And smiled brightly. Hello, I am Chwiryong. This is the story of two people, Jude and Cordelia. The story of Ending Maker is nowplete. I¡¯ve felt this every time I finish a story¡­ My heart is full in many ways. All of my previous works are meaningful and special to me, but this time seems to be especially overwhelming. Of course, you could say that it¡¯s because it¡¯s mytest work. This time, I¡¯m going to write a long postscript just like the long epilogue. You may be wondering what kind of small talk there is at the end of the main story, but there are a lot of things I want to talk about. An author speaks through their writing, so there should at least be one postscript full of these small talks. I had actually nned Wedding Maker ¨C no, Ending Maker, a long time ago. It was a work that I came up with two or three years ago, but at that time, I did not write it but just kept it in my head. I thought that it was something fun and interesting to write, but¡­ It was very much like a light novel. A story of how the first and second ce get together in a world. But those two are a man and woman? So is this a full-fledged romance? The boy meets girl story of the main character and heroine flirting from beginning to end? On top of that, it¡¯s a double protagonist? Will this even be allowed on web novels? I thought of that. So it was just a story that I buried in my mind¡­ Last year, I was thinking about a new work, and suddenly wanted to write its prologue when I got stuck, so I wrote a prologue. And when I posted it on my blog, the responses were good. Oh? While I was doing it, I began to write more¡­ and finally ended up serializing it. In fact, there were many ups and downs even before it became a paid series. As I had expected (?), the growth of the number of views was somewhat ambiguous, perhaps because it was quite different from existing works in Munpia. So I set a goal for each week at that time, and if I achieved that number, I would keep going or think about it! And that was why I wrote. But interestingly, I achieved my goal every week. In fact, I was already very attached to EM when I set such a goal at that time, so I was like ¡®As long as someone pays for it, I¡¯ll definitely continue it!¡¯ And it became a paid series. The transition rate turned out to be more amazing than I thought or what anyone could imagine. T/N: Since EM started as a free-to-read series that transitioned into a paid series, transition rate here means the number of people who were willing to pay for the series in order to continue reading. Umm¡­ I got heated up just like when I write something on my blog, so I apologize. From that point onwards, EM was a series that inevitably filled me with emotions. I won¡¯t reveal the details here, but there were many external difficulties while writing EM. I was going crazy because of the stress¡­ But serializing was very important. Every day, I somehow shook it off and sat in front of theputer¡­ Well, it¡¯s strange that it ended without a single pause, and alsomendable (?). Of course, the people around me were very helpful. Not only were there writers I was close with, but there were also the person-in-charge and a close older brother who read the work from start to finish, discussed it with me, and listened to various consultations. Obviously, the power of the readers who read the story was the greatest. A storyes to life when it has someone to read it. Then¡­ If I had to add one more thing, EM itself was a very fun and encouraging story for me. Thanks to EM, a lot of interesting things happened. Ending Maker is the longest work I have written, and the longest-running series. Like World Maker, my first full-time work as a writer, it was also the series that was most rmended. Maybe that¡¯s why¡­ Even in thetter part of the postscript, I have regrets and my writing here seems to be getting longer. I would like to ask for your understanding a little more. At first, I thought that Ending Maker would end with around 200 episodes. But it continued to grow as I continued to write. There were two reasons. One was that I changed my mind. It was not that I suddenly changed my mind to ¡®I¡¯m going to write for a long time!¡¯ Should I say that it¡¯s the way of a web novel? Due to the nature of daily serialization, the current web novels all develop very quickly. And since there was a time period of one day between episodes, it was often hard to match that speed from the standpoint of following the daily serialization every day. Therefore, if the breaks increased a little or if the story was told between multiple breaks, there were often bad reviews and the number of views fluctuated quickly. I did that too, but I had undergone a lot of changes over the past few years. I did not put a lot of breaks between episodes, and¡­ it became my style that I only took breaks when so many things happened to me at once. So I changed my mindst year. I would put a break period even if there are some bad reviews or the number of views fluctuate. I thought of keeping my pace like that. Thus, I actually did that. Of all the works that I had written, EM was probably the one with the most break periods. The second reason was something I did not really expect. Apart from the progress of the story, a considerable amount of time was needed for the development of their romance. As you may know, Jude and Cordelia did not fall in love dramatically through a decisive moment. It was a case of sticking together for a long time, forming a bond, and then falling in love with each other. In fact, that was why I had quite a few bad reviews. Since I had to subtract the progress of the romance in line with the development of the story, the romance did note out much in the early to middle part of the series. I¡¯m telling you now, but I actually wanted them to have progress. To kiss a little earlier and do other things¡­ that I shall omit here. Now that the ending is over, the only thing I regret is the empire side. Originally, I was going to write a story about traveling through the empire like the wildnds, royal capital, or the southern area, but when the progress of the story and the strength of Jude and Cordelia¡­ or when Jude¡¯s strength exceeded a certain level, the story unfolded as you see now. Of course¡­ there must have been a better way. In fact, I only thought of it now that it was finished, but there were a few episodes that could be explored in more depth while maintaining the current development. But at that time, it was the result of doing my best, so I try to not regret it too much. In fact, the imperial capital showdown between Maximilian and Lucas was a bit disappointing, so I n to improve this through revisions in the future. This is actually rted to my style of writing. Usually, when the Four Heavenly Kings appear in my work, the Four Heavenly Kings were defeated one by one, but in my case, after defeating one of the Four Heavenly Kings, I tended to lead the story to defeating the Demon King who was ranked higher than the Four Heavenly Kings. I think this is the biggest reason why I hear the phrase ¡®development is fast¡¯ in the second half. Hmm¡­ I think I¡¯m writing an excuse and not a postscript. I¡¯ll stop making excuses. There¡¯s still a little more of EM¡¯s story. First of all, I n to write side stories, but as I have announced several times, I n to write a lot this time. To mention a few of the side stories I prepared¡­ And so on. If you have any additional side stories you want to see, please leave ament. I¡¯ll keep it in mind. ???? Afterpleting the EM side stories, as I had said before, I n to write an integrated side story for World Maker, yers, Dungeon Maker, and Dungeon Breaker, and I¡¯m thinking of publishing it as a side story for Dungeon Maker. T/N: Since most of the author¡¯s works share the same universe, an integrated side story means that he¡¯ll be having characters from one of his works to join the characters of his other work. In this case, characters from World Maker, yers, etc. will be appearing in the Dungeon Maker side story. It seems to be a fairly long story for a side story, and as the title suggests, the Dungeon Maker side story ?will be centered on Chun Yong-Ho, the main character of Dungeon Maker. Yong-Ho who finished his work in Heaven would lead the Greed Legion and descend to Earth to end the 72nd Monster War¡­ it¡¯s that kind of story. Of course, like the Avengers, all the characters from other works will heavily appear in the integrated side story. There are still some side stories left. Perhaps the author¡¯s words can be written there too, so I think I should wrap up the postscript like this. For that reason, I would like to leave a story that is important enough to be written separately from the epilogue. A storyes to life when it has someone to read it. Thank you to all the readers who gave life to the story of Ending Maker. Thank you very much. Jude and Cordelia, Lucas, Scarlet, and Kajsa, Kirara, Maja, Dahlia, Count Chase and Count Bayer, Ga?l and Adelia, Landius and Lena, Kamael and Fran, Velkian, the Fairy Queens, Violent Avnche and the wild gods, Red Wind and Sun Song¡­ and everyone in Ending Maker is happy for everyone here. To my father, mother, and older sister. To Hyun Sup-hyung and Gun Woo-hyung, the staff and close writers who helped me a lot throughout my writing. To S-nim, CHYAN-nim, Gaegrim-nim, and Jalsuhaengja-nim who drew all the beautiful illustrations. Thank you everyone. I hope to see you all in the side story and in my next work. Have a nice day. ???? Epilogue 3 Table of Contents >> SS 1 Ending Maker has now ended. But there are still side stories left! Please continue to read it as there are a lot of interesting stories there, such as where the mommies of our main characters were (aka how the two counts met their wives), why Jude was born with an illness, what happened to Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee a yearter, who Lucas would choose in the end, etc. Unfortunately, of the side stories that the author mentioned in the postscript, only numbers 1, 2, 5, and 6 have been adapted into side stories. That¡¯s all I remember unless my memory fails me again. The author has mentioned in a separate author¡¯s note that they would write more side stories, but a year has passed since the series ended and they have yet to write more. As for fanart¡­ here¡¯s a f*ck bang sticker by artist S-nim. That ¡®x¡¯ there is the censor symbol. Side Story – Cordelia’s Diary (1)

Side Story ¨C Cordelia¡¯s Diary (1)

Be prepared for a long side story. The word count is average, but the page length is twice a regr chapter. And there¡¯s part 2 and 3 of this side story, which are as long as this one, so please expect the release to be every 2 days. Also, since these are diary entries, the tenses can suddenly switch from past tense to present tense or vice-versa. 1. It¡¯s tomorrow. Finally, it will be tomorrow. The monthly ranking announcement. The day that the monthly rankings of Legend of Heroes 2 will be announced. I¡¯ll be first ce this time. Yes, yes, I have to be first ce. I¡¯ve worked so hard this time. I think I¡¯ve spent twice as much time as usual this month? That¡¯s why my mom scolded me for ying games all day long. Anyway, I¡¯ll be first ce this month. Yes, yes, definitely. I¡¯ll definitely be first ce. I¡¯ll tease Outbo a lot. I¡¯ll make sure to pay you back for everything that I¡¯ve suffered, okay? Hmph! I¡¯m sure he¡¯s a bad grade schooler. I don¡¯t know his age, but his personality is definitely like bad grade schoolers. Haa, he¡¯s really different from the oppa next door. The next door oppa. He has a handsome impression¡­ and a somewhat mncholic appearance? Something like that? Anyway, he¡¯s a cool oppa. He¡¯s tall and seems to have a nice body, but what does he do? I often see him during the day, so is he like a frencer? Does he work from home? Yes, yes. There¡¯s no way that such a cool person would be unemployed like Outbo. That¡¯s right. I was so embarrassed when I ran into him in the elevator some time ago. I¡¯m d I wore a hat because I just came out from ying games. We only meet each other at night, so I never thought I¡¯d meet him in the morning. I think it¡¯s the next door oppa¡¯s fault. But what does he really do? I¡¯m curious. Anyway, it¡¯s tomorrow. Tomorrow. Hehe. Outbo, be prepared, okay? Tomorrow will be the day when first ce and second ce will change, the day when the correct ranking will be established. Still, I¡¯m a bit nervous, so I¡¯m going to sleep tonight. Even now, my eyes are about to close because I didn¡¯t have enough sleep, but everything will be fine if I win tomorrow. Yes, yes, you won¡¯t be able to maintain your rank! I¡¯ll be glorious tomorrow! 2. F*ckf*ckf*ckf*ckf*ckf*ckf*ck! Legend of Heroes 2 is a scam! A scam! afjewkrjejfdjidjkj I don¡¯t know! I¡¯m going to sleep! Waaaah! 3. I became Cordelia. It¡¯s reality and not a dream. Yes, it¡¯s real. Cordelia. Cordelia Chase. I¡¯ve be Cordelia. 4. I was confused for a few days. Like really, really a lot. First of all. First of all, I was reincarnated. I entered the game and possessed Cordelia¡¯s body! ¨C it was not that as I was really born as Cordelia. Like I suddenly awakened? I realized it? Maybe that¡¯s why I have the memories and ego of ¡®Hong Yoo Hee¡¯ right now, I think? Anyway, my memories of that are stronger, but I can still tell. That I am Cordelia. I have the memories of Cordelia. My childhood. My 17 years of living as Cordelia. I am¡­ Cordelia. 5. Dahlia had been looking suspiciously at me for the past few days, but had somehow returned to normal. I understand why. Suddenly, a kind, pretty, cute, sweet¡­ Anyway, a girl who was like an angel that descended on earth and could only speak nice words had suddenly spit out f*ck exmations and spoke unfamiliar words. She was sure of it. Yes, she was certain. Even I would have suspected that I had gone crazy. Anyway. A few days had passed since I awakened my memories. I was very confused at first, but now, it¡¯s somewhat¡­ natural. That¡¯s right, it¡¯s natural. That I was born as Cordelia and Cordelia is me. After I regained myposure, I was worried about the next thing. Because this was the world of Legend of Heroes 2. In the timeline of the game, it¡¯s very early¡­ Cordelia¡¯s route had yet to start. And the end of this game was the destruction of the entire world. The world was destroyed by Armageddon when the angels and demons descended through the Great Summons. That destroyed world became the stage for Legend of Heroes 3. I was honestly scared. Just imagining it made my hands tremble. In manhwa and novels, the protagonist uses their knowledge of the future to do something to prevent destruction, but that¡¯s only possible because it¡¯s a manhwa or novel. Can I really do it? Can I really stop the Great Summons by myself? If I can¡¯t stop it¡­ I was scared. My head ached. Normally, I would have told Dahlia about it. I would have asked her to think about it with me. But I couldn¡¯t. Even if she was Dahlia, she would not believe that story. She wouldn¡¯t believe me¡­ Strangely, I cried. I¡¯m scared. What should I do? How? 6. Dahlia asked me to visit him. To visit Jude Bayer. When I first heard his name, I felt strange. No, actually, it was still strange. Because Jude Bayer was the fianc¨¦ of Cordelia. Although they soon became strangers and their engagement was not properly continued in the game, it couldn¡¯t be denied that we were engaged now. Looking back at the memories of living as the pure Cordelia before I recalled my past life¡­ my rtionship with Jude was not close. We were engaged, but we did not talk much with each other. Jude was often stuck in bed for days due to his weak body. I, Cordelia, was very kind and nice, so I tried to somehow be nice to Jude¡­ but it was rare to meet him in the first ce. Anyway¡­ you can say that we¡¯re close friends. So I guess I¡¯ll have to go greet him. Because I¡¯ve always done that. Jude Bayer. To be honest, perhaps because my past life¡¯s ego is stronger now, my impression of the demon Jude controlled by Outbo is stronger than the sickly Jude Bayer who Cordelia remembers. Jude may be a weak boy now, but once his Gueumjulmaek is healed, he can energetically fly around from ce to ce. In particr, the Jude controlled by Outbo is no different from the fruit of wickedness. Jude is not that strong, but when put into the hands of that human, he is reborn as the strongest PVP yer in the server. It¡¯s annoying to talk about him. Argh. Anyway, about Jude Bayer. My¡­ fianc¨¦. It feels really weird. My heart is pounding a bit. I wonder what Outbo is doing. Is he still ying games like a madman? Haa. 7. Hey, you too? Hey, me too. Crazy. Seriously crazy. This is really driving me nuts. Outbo appeared. Outbo had appeared. Outbo had really appeared? It was so shocking that I almost fainted. No, why was he here though? Yes, why was Outbo here? Wow, seriously? We acted rashly as soon as we met, but it really was Outboxer009. I confirmed it for sure, but anyway¡­ AAAAAAAAAAAAAH! Wow, seriously? I don¡¯t know what to say. Anyway, we decided to meetter tonight. It seemed like it was hard for Outbo toe and see me, so I¡¯m going to see him. Outbo. Did you follow me all the way here? Seriously, he¡¯s my worst enemy. An enemy¡­ But I¡¯m d. 8. I met Outbo at night. I¡¯d be calling him Jude from now on. Anyway, about Jude. The sickly boy Cordelia remembered was no longer there. All that was left was a wicked sly man. Wow, seriously? Should I say Outbo is Outbo? As soon as we met, the first thing he says is that he want to defeat Leisegang. He¡¯s a seriously crazy guy. Of course, we really aren¡¯t going to defeat him, but we¡¯re going to take advantage of reality and only steal the Sun¡¯s Ne¡­ He really is crazy. I mean, who would have thought of that? It¡¯s reality and not a game, so we can steal items regardless of item drops? Does that make sense? Right? Most people don¡¯t usually think of that, right? In addition, he said that he would use Bestin¡¯s magic circle to attack Leisegang. And that Outbo had memorized all those crazilyplex magic circles. Is he a human? How in the world do you remember that? T-there¡¯s also that. Eh? That! H-he says to go on a date. Go on a date. Go on a date. No, uh. Well, of course it¡¯s an excuse. It¡¯s our excuse to get to the mountain where Leisegang is. This is seriously driving me nuts. A date with Outbo? With Outbo? I¡¯m going on a date with Outbo? We¡¯ll be riding a carriage together? This is so confusing. My head hurts. But strangely, I can¡¯t help but smile. Uh¡­ yes. Because it¡¯s a diary. I have to be honest. I¡¯m d. I¡¯m really happy. Because I¡¯m not alone. There is someone who knows the story of the fated destruction and¡­ remembers me who lived as Hong Yoo Hee. I¡¯m a little bothered that it¡¯s Outbo, but¡­ Frankly, I feel a bit reassured. As Outbo had said, the first and second ce are together. Wouldn¡¯t it work out somehow? Yes, it will. That¡¯s right. It will be all right. 9. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I¡¯ve won. I won. I really won, okay? My level is higher than him. Hehe, hehehe. I got mad at Jude because that fool made me say something incredibly shameful, but yeah, it¡¯s all right. I¡¯ll forgive him. Since I won today. Since it¡¯s my victory. Leisegang was really scary. I was very, very, very scared. Because as I had expected, reality was different from games. Even so, I mustered up the courage. Because I had to level up. Because I had to get the Sun¡¯s Ne and treat Jude. Thank goodness. I was banned from going out, but it was worth it. No, that¡¯s not what I meant. Jude, that evil b*stard, made Dahlia look at me weirdly. Haa, seriously. Why did I have to say that? Yes, those r-ro-ro¡­ Ah, I can¡¯t even write it. I-I can¡¯t. Anyway, Jude is clearly a pervert after making me say something strange and embarrassing. Besides, isn¡¯t it strange that I carried him in my arms? I even had to carry him on my back on our way. That Gueumjulmaek. I hope he gets better. I¡¯m really going to make him do everything he promised. Haa. But it was good. It was great. I won, and we also got the Sun¡¯s Ne¡­ I feel like I can really do something. We can do it. 10. Jude, that evil b*stard. How can he not send me a letter for a month? Right? Does this make sense? Because this is the very pretty, kind, and cute¡­ I mean, this is Cordelia we¡¯re talking about. Yes, because I¡¯m Cordelia. Anyway! A letter has finally arrived from Jude! We¡¯re going to a temple this time? Dahlia is excited to support us on our secret date, but¡­ Haa¡­ What kind of date is this? Seeing the things that I have to prepare makes me feel nervous. Anyway, these are all going to be necessary. However¡­ What should I wear on that day? I mean, uh¡­ Even if it¡¯s an excuse, a date is still a date, right? Should I wear something pretty? Cordelia looks pretty no matter what she wears. Hehe. Anyway. The day to meet Jude again has been set. 11. Crazy b*stard. He¡¯s a seriously crazy b*stard. I¡¯ve known it the moment he made me stand on the front line. I mean, how can you entrust the vanguard position to such a pretty and pitiful girl who¡¯s iparably beautiful? You even made me wear armor? And why aren¡¯t you telling me on who the final boss is! Anyway, he¡¯s mean. You say this is reality, but you don¡¯t have a sense of reality, huh? No matter how confident you are in defeating it, you should have told me what it is in advance. It¡¯s a dungeon book, so you will not really die if you die inside, but still! I should have nagged at him, but at that time, I forgot because that exhrating feeling of getting an item was so great. I¡¯ll have to nag him a lotter. Anyway, today was a sess. And my battle with Jude. He really is an experienced rotten water. And¡­ I was surprised that we had such good chemistry. Seriously. We alwayspeted in Legend of Heroes 2, so I didn¡¯t know because I rarely yed with parties, but I got along strangely well with Jude. Ourpatibility was good¡­ Wait, cancel that. What in the world am I talking about! No way, no, absolutely no. Yes, yes, I¡¯m only saying this because of the physical stress. Imagine if it was the oppa next door. He would never have told me to stand in the front line. Ha, my Outbo. You still have a long way to go. After all, it¡¯s impossible for Outbo to be a cool man like the oppa next door. Yes, it¡¯s impossible, impossible. Absolutely impossible. 12. My father said that he wants to meet Jude. Ugh¡­ My stomach hurts. My stomach hurts. Arthur Chase. Count Chase. My father is an outstanding wizard and has great insight like an archwizard. What should we do? As soon as he sees Jude, he¡¯ll notice that Jude¡¯s a no-good fianc¨¦ and a sly person. Eueue¡­ will our engagement be broken? That¡¯s not good. That can¡¯t happen¡­ Eh? I mean, it¡¯s convenient in many ways for Jude to be my fianc¨¦. Yes, yes, there¡¯s no other reason. It¡¯s only that. Yes, yes. Anyway, I¡¯m worried. 13. Strange. Why did he like Jude? Isn¡¯t that strange? Anyway. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s good or bad, but it seems like our engagement will be maintained. And Count Bayer. My future father-inw¡­ Ugh, it¡¯s strange. Anyway, Count Bayer is back. In order for Jude to go with me to the social gathering of the 12 northern families, he had to pass the test of Count Bayer. He easily passed the test by memorizing like a madman all the attack patterns in Legend of Heroes 2. When Count Bayer said that he himself would fight, I was nervous about what to do if he failed, but I¡¯m d that it went well. Haa. Jude, that evil b*stard. I should stop worrying about him. I really don¡¯t think I can live long because of him. 14. Jude is a real crazy b*stard. He¡¯s obviously a crazy b*stard. I have to take a bath by theke at night to recreate the event in the game. He clearly had an impure purpose, so wepromised by just going into theke and pretending to take a bath unlike in the game, but it¡¯s still embarrassing. I told him to turn around so that he wouldn¡¯t be able to see me at all. 15. I was unable to write in my diary because I was so busy for a while. In conclusion, it was a great sess. The raid event targeting the children of the 12 northern families was sessfully stopped. In the game, it was a scenario wherepletely stopping it was impossible, a scenario where defeat was already decided, but Jude and I changed it. Sylvia-unnie and Vi were also safe. And Lucas too. An unbelievably happy ending that was impossible in the game. To be honest, Jude was amazing. That scammer. It was like lying was something passive for him. That sly guy deceived the knightmander and even forged documents while pretending to be a virtuous person. He clearly was a scammer in his past life. He said that he was aw-abiding good citizen, but who would believe that? Yes, yes. Even so, how should I say this? I don¡¯t this he¡¯s a real criminal. Yes. I don¡¯t think so. Oh, and this is a bit strange, but¡­ I think he¡¯s an oppa. No, I mean, I think he was older than me¡­ Something like that? Because he told me a lot of strange things like taxes and stuff. Hmm¡­ How old was he? I didn¡¯t ask Jude properly as I wanted to avoid calling him oppa. I couldn¡¯t imagine it well. The side of Jude when he was Outbo. First of all, he can¡¯t be as cool as the oppa next door, right? But when I think of it¡­ he doesn¡¯t seem like a gambler. I don¡¯t know. Strangely, my mind keeps beautifying him. After all, Jude is an absolutely handsome boy. And¡­ ¡°He¡¯s reliable.¡± While writing in the diary, Cordelia said in a very low voice. The apperance Jude showed in the series of battles. His figure during the battle. ¡°Regarding Jude.¡± Just a little, really just a little bit. He was very, very, seriously cool. Only a tiny bit though. ¡°Ahem.¡± With a small smile, Cordelia closed her diary. 16. Although we prevented the abduction of the children from the 12 northern families, we still needed the power of the witch, so we coaxed Lucas and headed to the witch¡¯s forest. Lucas Hr?svelgr. In Legend of Heroes 2, either Cordelia or Lucas would be a demonic human, so I only yed his character once. Yes, in short, I didn¡¯t know much about Lucas. I knew in great detail the version of him when he became a demonic human. Anyway, about Lucas. He¡¯s big and cute. How should I say it¡­ He¡¯s not just nice as he¡¯s also cute? There¡¯s something cute in seeing him wanting to be a hero like Biltwein. Like a big puppy. Then a golden retriever? Anyway, that¡¯s how I see him. 17. I didn¡¯t have time to write in my diary for a while. To briefly summarize it, I obtained the power of a witch. I was very surprised and scared because Jude almost died in the middle¡­ but fortunately, it ended well. I got the power of the witch. Happy ending, happy ending. But a problem then arose. An incident urred at the viscount¡¯s mansion where we stopped by to join Landius, one of the main characters in the first episode. I didn¡¯t know that the viscount was a demon follower. The situation was different from the game, so it was a hidden setting. Anyway, that was what happened, and we were attacked by the demon followers. I¡¯m suspicious of Jude¡¯s job in his past life, but thanks to the traps he set, we were not attacked right away, but anyway, it was a desperate fight and we were pushed to a really dangerous moment. But at that moment, that person appeared out of nowhere. Wow¡­ Landius. What the hell happened to him in thest 10 years! Landius became huge. Landius, who became extremely strong, took care of everything. He was definitely a swordsman in the first episode of Legend of Heroes, but for some reason, he only used his fists. But those punches were too strong. Yes, it was too strong¡­ Then he dered that he would make Jude his disciple. He said that he would pass on that Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors something? It¡¯s a very different situation from the game, but anyway, it¡¯s a good thing. Besides, if Landius is this strong, he¡¯ll be of great help in the future. But why did Landius die in the game? I don¡¯t think he¡¯ll die even if you kill him¡­ Oh, and one more good thing. Even if Jude learns from Landius, he will not be as big as Landius. I mean, well¡­ he¡¯s my fianc¨¦ now, right? If he¡¯s too big, that¡¯s a bit¡­ a bit¡­ I think he¡¯ll grow up to be as big as the oppa next door? I think it¡¯s cool and nice if he¡¯s that tall, but if he grows taller than that¡­ especially if he grows too big like Landius¡­ Jude, just be moderately tall. Okay? Moderately. Moderately! 18. Jude, that evil b*stard. Why is it me again? Why me again! When we ran awayst time, he made me say something embarrassing, and this time, he made me leave a shameful letter. On top of that¡­ What¡¯s with that reasoning? Since it¡¯s already dyed ck, it won¡¯t make a difference if we do it a couple more times? Seriously! Ah, just seriously die. Just die! I¡¯m going on a h-ho-honeymoon trip with my b-be-beloved Jude Bayer¡­ Uwaah¡­ What will people see me as? Especially Dahlia. Dahlia! That evil b*stard. I have to hit him hard. Since I remembered, I should hit him now. 19. I rode a horse with Jude. I sat behind him. I was forced to hug Jude¡¯s waist. It was as firm as a pir. It felt a bit strange. 20. Honestly, I can¡¯t help but admit it. Jude is a man with great living skills. His living skills are really great. Besides, that JudeWiki in his mind is seriously amazing, okay? Again, to be honest, the trip to the north was quite fun. By doing all sorts of quests, we increased our living expenses one by one¡­ And should I say it? I hate to admit it, but¡­ well, should I call him oppa? Jude during the trip was a bit¡­ really a bit¡­ ah, f*ck. He looked reliable. Is it more appropriate to say that I feel secure when I¡¯m with him? If I just stay with this guy, at least I won¡¯t go hungry ¨C that kind of thought. We were obviously bare-handed when we left, but suddenly, we got horses and all sorts of things like camping gear, sleeping bags, and tents. In addition, Jude was good at cooking. Ahem, ahem, he¡¯s okay. He¡¯s qualified. As a reward, I¡¯ll call him that here once. Jude-oppa is amazing. What am I saying? Hahaha. 21. Jude, that evil b*stard. That¡¯s why I said I didn¡¯t want to cook. But uh, do you really have to give that kind of critique to a dish that a person put so much effort into? He¡¯s bad. As expected, he¡¯s mean. But even so¡­ ¡°Since he ate it all.¡± Even though he keptining that it didn¡¯t taste good, he ate it all at once. He said that there was a time he found it hard to find food, so now that he was fortunate, he could never throw away food. ¡°Hmph.¡± Anyway, Jude is definitely an evil b*stard. Really. 22. We safely arrived in Frost Anvil. We also obtained the Winter Protection, and everything went well. Everything went well¡­ Eueueue¡­ Even now when I think about it, my face feels hot. The things that happened while we were ying with the Winter Fairies. I mean, why couldn¡¯t he just calmly read the lines and not drag me in it? Huh? Well¡­ I was fine with reading the lines the fairies gave me until that time. The lines were really cheesy, but the fairies liked it. But uh¡­ but then. When reading the romantic lines of the Archmage and the Fairy Queen. I mean, was it really necessary? It made my heart pound. It¡­ afkjeiklfjdfje Cordelia¡¯s writings became messed up as she pouted her lips and looked around for a moment. Fortunately, Jude was sleeping with his back facing her. ¡°Haa, seriously.¡± Her heart was pounding when she thought about it again. Given that her face felt warm, it was clear to her that it was very red now. ¡®Argh, how annoying.¡¯ Why is my heart pounding? Out of all the people in the world, it¡¯s Jude. No, I think this is normal. After all, the current Jude is very handsome boy. That¡¯s right, if a handsome boy hugs your waist, gets closer to your face and says ¡®I love you,¡¯ you¡¯re not human if it doesn¡¯t make you excited, right? ¡°Eueueueueu¡­¡± She thought about it again. Her heart was pounding loudly as though it was about to burst. ¡®Calm down, Cordelia. Calm down.¡¯ He¡¯s Jude. Also known as Outbo. That bad grade schooler Outbo. He¡¯s obviously an oppa. He has great life skills though. So he¡¯s reliable in many ways. ¡°Eueueue¡­¡± She suddenly remembered the first time they met Landius. Jude did not leave Cordelia¡¯s front. Even when struck by Landius¡¯ immense pressure, he stood still to protect Cordelia. ¡®Ah, seriously.¡¯ Why am I suddenly remembering this? Anyway, he¡¯s Outbo. Yes, he¡¯s Jude. He¡¯s Jude, he¡¯s Jude. ¡°Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale.¡± Cordelia took deep breaths while letting out strange sounds, and this allowed her to regain herposure. ¡°Fwoo.. It¡¯s because of the situation. It¡¯s because of the situation.¡± Anyway, it was acting, so let¡¯s just forget it. Yeah, let¡¯s forget it. When the fairies shouted for a kiss in the end, it felt really strange, but anyway, we did not do it. ¡°A kiss¡­¡± I¡¯ve never done it before. I wonder how it feels. Cordelia lightly touched her lips and soon shook her head. She tightly shut her eyes as if trying to erase all the thoughts that came to her mind, but she had no choice but to open her eyes again with a groan. Because when she closed her eyes, she imagined Cordelia kissing Jude. ¡°No way.¡± Yes, that¡¯s right. No way. Out of all the people in the world, why would I want to kiss Jude? That Jude? Jude? ¡®B-but he¡¯s my fianc¨¦?¡¯ Cordelia quickly shook her head. After erasing her ridiculous thoughts, she closed the diary and tried to sleep. They did not need someone to watch at night since they had rm magic. ¡°Let¡¯s sleep.¡± Cordelia deliberately spoke a bit loudly before lying down and closing her eyes. But at the end of that night. Cordelia was unable to sleep. Epilogue 4 >> SS 2 Side Story – Cordelia’s Diary (2)

Side Story ¨C Cordelia¡¯s Diary (2)

23. Po~wer weapon doo doo doo doo doo~ It¡¯s so sweet~ doo doo doo doo doo~ In the Anvil~ doo doo doo doo doo~ Power Weapon! It was exciting. As expected, there were many useful items in the armory of the ancient dwarves. It was so good. Jude told me off for taking even the useless things, calling me a hamster, but it was fun. Doo doo doo doo doo~ Hehe. Come to think of it, Jude didn¡¯t seem to know the Baby Shark song. How could he not know doo doo doo doo doo? He tried it but sang ¡®tat tt¡¯ instead of ¡®doo doo doo doo doo¡¯! What the-? What in the world was that? It was a strangely cheerful melody. Was that an Indian song? T/N: The ¡®tat¡¯ was the McGyver song that Jude sang at that time. But Cordelia thought it was an Indian song. Anyway, we packed a lot of power weapons and ate White Snake meat every day. It feels good to win a difficult battle, but in reality, eating it raw is the best. Yes, yes, eating it raw is the best. I want to eat it raw every day. Anyway, we ate it raw. Ohmigosh. Seriously, ohmigosh. Ahem, ahem, ohmigosh. Just kidding. Hahaha. T/N: Recap. ¡®Eat it raw¡¯ is an idiom which means to do something without making any effort. But in her diary, Cordelia is hinting and joking that she knows the ¡®lewd¡¯ connotation too. 24. Jude absorbed the Sunflower and opened the second door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. Congrattions. And¡­ Yes, and it was actually hard and frightening today. I fought Farragut to buy time for Jude who was absorbing the Sunflower. He was strongest among the low-ranking demons of the Devil¡¯s Hand¡­ He was really strong. It was the first time I had fought an enemy one-on-one since I recalled my past life memories. Scary. I had already experienced actual battle several times, but today was really scary. I might die. I might really die. There was a line like this in aic that I read before. It was a line that the bad guy said while attacking the main character. ¡°What? Do you still think you¡¯re not going to die?¡± Was it like that? Anyway. He did not die because he was the main character. It was impossible for him to die. But there was no such thing in reality. The ces I got hit while fighting still hurt. If Jude had been a littlete, I might have really died in that few seconds. Will I¡­ be able to do well in the future? Or will these things repeat again? I¡¯m d I have Jude. I¡¯m d. Because I¡¯m not alone. Phew. That¡¯s all for mypliments! Anyway, Jude opened the second door and became really strong. Oh, and I got thest hit. Last hit. Hehe. It means I defeated a powerful boss, okay? And¡­ That¡­ Jude was kind of cool today. A little bit. Just a bit. But the unavoidable thing was that the timing of his appearance was a scam. Yes, yes, it was a scam. His timing made me suspect that he was waiting on purpose. He made a cool appearance and carried me¡­ Frankly, my heart was pounding. I couldn¡¯t help it. And I felt it again today¡­ It seemed like Jude has grown a lot. He was a bit shorter than me until recently, so when did he be this big? I couldn¡¯t feel it because I only saw him every day, but when I was carried in Jude¡¯s arms today, I could feel the big difference. I was carried¡­ In his arms¡­ Ah, I don¡¯t know. Anyway, Jude got stronger. Yes, and I got stronger. Of course. I got thest hit after all, hehe. 25. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Ah, ohmigosh. Ah, seriously ohmigosh. Ohmigosh. Ohmigosh. Ahem, ahem, ohmigosh. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Jude wrote a letter today. Yes, Jude left a letter today. I usually wrote a letter whenever we ran away¡­ but this time, Jude wrote a letter when we slipped out of the Guardians of the Holy Cross. Hehehe. ¡°I will further continue my honeymoon trip with Lady Cordelia, whom I dearly love more than my life. Please do not worry too much because I¡¯ve gotten healthier from eating the Sunflower. P.S. I am really happy now.¡± HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Ah, why I am so happy? That¡¯s right, he should be embarrassed too! It¡¯s almost like we¡¯re married now! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA However. Uh, how do I say this? I also felt a bit odd. Was it because Jude wasn¡¯t as flustered as I thought he should? Uuuuugh¡­ Well, anyway, what¡¯s good is good, right? Hehe. 26. Gambler is out! I¡¯m talking about Jude. Yes, him. He brought up the casino, saying that it was a way of making money. No, how can gambling be a means of making money! He¡¯s seriously nuts. Break it off, break it off! I don¡¯t want to marry a gambler! 27. I didn¡¯t know in the past that gambling could also be a means of making money. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA It¡¯s amazing, really amazing! Wow, I had this kind of talent? The goddess of gambling. The goddess of fortune. What made it even better was that I defeated Jude by andslide. HAHAHA Are we banned from entering the casino? HAHAHA I mean, we won a lot, right? Anyway, I¡¯m relieved. By earning a lot of money, we were able to safely rescue Red Wind, and also brought lots of good items at the auction house. In particr, aren¡¯t we incredibly lucky to find Heavenly Judgment? We were so ted that we forgot to take Red Wind. It felt so good. I felt the same when we stopped the kidnapping of the children from the 12 northern families.. and I felt it too with Red Wind this time. It felt really good to change the bad events of the game one by one. So good. Hehehe. 28. After entering the wildnds, I had little time to write on my diary. We were busy walking all day, and even when we were camping, we were also busy. Anyway, we came to the wildnds, and after various adventures such as meeting the wild gods, we went to the Endymion, the old capital of Magen, to save Lena. In the midst of that¡­ we destroyed Violent Avnche¡¯s mountain and burned Gentle Snow Breeze¡¯s fields, but anyway, it was fine since we defeated the demonic humans. Yes, yes, I did it. I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m really sorry. But there was no other way. Anyway, back to the topic. We seeded in saving Lena. We also destroyed the Hell Gate. Jude was mean. He said that he would trust me no matter what I do, but he pinched my cheek hard. Anyway, it was fine since we broke the Hell Gate and defeated the demons. Hmph. I think my cheek still hurts. Idiot Jude. 29. We have a big problem. Unnie hase all the way to the wildnds to catch me and Jude. N-No. No way. Unnie is going to kill Jude. If she doesn¡¯t kill him, she¡¯ll at least beat him up until he¡¯s half-dead. She might cast curses on him. Eueueue. No, I have to protect Jude. Yes, that¡¯s right. I have to protect Jude. So even if I hate it, even if it¡¯s difficult, I have to practice hard. M-my beloved Jude. I love Jude. I can¡¯t live without Jude. Jude, my love. Eueu. Eueueueu. L-let¡¯s be strong, Cordelia. You have to protect Jude! 30. We met my unnie. However. Hoh? Hehehe. I see. I understand. You came here to experience romance and not to look for younger sister. What do you mean by there¡¯s nothing between you two? I would like to know what happened. This Cordelia cares about you very much. Hahaha. Ah, it was so funny. Unnie¡¯s face was so cute. Jude¡¯s brother. Hahaha. My shy unnie. Hahaha. Anyway, thanks to that, the incident with Jude went by smoothly. I¡¯m relieved. Phew. Thank goodness. 31. We were busy for a while again. I met my unnie and talked aboutplicated things. On top of that, Red Wind caught the Phoenix to power up, and the eastern tribes of the wildnds sessfully formed an alliance¡­ Anyway, we had almost done everything that we could, so Jude and I decided to begin a new task. The n was to go to the west and terrorize the rear of the enemy, but the road to get there was very difficult. Because the mountain range was a crazy ce. The blizzard was very severe and cold. Anyway, it was seriously bad. Without the Winter Protection, we would never have thought of passing through there. Anyway, given the circumstances, Jude and I often snuggled and slept together these days. I mean, well¡­ Both of us were wearing thick clothes, and to begin with, the Cozy 1-Pyeong was really just 1 pyeong in floorspace, so it couldn¡¯t be helped. Yes, yes, it couldn¡¯t be helped. It¡¯s fine since it can¡¯t be helped. Yes, yes. But uh¡­ It seems like Jude has grown a lot these days. Yes, he has grown. He shouldn¡¯t be too big like Landius. I¡¯m a little worried. 32. We met an artificial spirit named Melissa. She had been pitifully guarding the facility alone for a thousand years and waiting for her masters to return. She was pitiful. So we decided to take her. That way, she could talk to me so that she wouldn¡¯t feel lonely. Oh, and¡­ there was one more important thing. We defeated one of the 7 major cmities. To be exact, it was right before the Snow Queen, the failed product of the Artificial Spirit Ruler Project, became the cmity known as Light Dragon Yvaska. That was long, but anyway. We had a hard time defeating it this time too. Why do I feel like I¡¯m the one who¡¯s always buying time in front of such a powerful boss? But thanks to that, Jude opened the third door and became stronger, eventually defeating the cmity. What¡¯s good is good. Yes, yes. And this time, I realized that Jude was indeed mean, but he still had a nice side. He was really nice to me when I was suffering. He always called me ¡®princess¡¯ recently. Umm¡­ It was a bit awkward at first, but it felt good now? Yeah, something like that? There were times when he treated me like a real princess. Umm¡­ What is he seriously saying? Hmph. 33. A lot of things happened. We fought a decisive battle on Snow Breeze in, and won in terms of results alone. We seeded in waking up the Golden Dragon King with the big explosion n Jude and I hade up with. Thus, we became the incarnations of the Golden Dragon King and destroyed the Hell Gate and the demon followers. Jude transformed into a huge giant of light, and I felt like my heart swelled with pride. There was a very dangerous moment though. After breaking the Hell Gate, the enemies suddenly went wild! It was really terrifying when they rushed at us. My father and Count Hr?svelgr came to help us, so we lived. We won. It was not just a victory, but a huge victory. The wildnds was not corrupted. The wild gods did not be demons. We saved countless people who were supposed to be demonic humans. There was no war between the wildnds and the north¡­ As a result, many things had really changed. A lot of people became happy. It felt nice. It was really good that the parts that were always frustrating and sad in Legend of Heroes 2 had been resolved. We will continue to change it in the future. For a perfect happy ending. For a future where everyone is happy. We shall do our best. 34. Huu. Huu. Huu. Deep breaths first. Deep breaths. Haa. Today. So today. I realized a seriously important fact. It was a really, really important fact. In Legend of Heroes 2, Jude and Cordelia were engaged. However, Cordelia became a missing person due to the abduction of the children from the 12 northern families, and the war between the north and the wildnds broke out, so the rtionship between the two people was broken. But. Jude and I saved the north. We also saved the wildnds. So the situation was very different from the original. As a result. The engagement of Jude Bayer and Cordelia Chase was still intact. In addition, due to the numerous letters we wrote while running away, we even got a strange nickname¡­ Fantasy Couple. And my unnie gave me the final blow today. The fact that I realized. If this continued, I would really have to marry Jude. Me. With Outbo. With that Jude. Get married to him. We¡¯ll kiss too. W-We-We¡¯ll do that too. And I¡¯ll have childrenter? I-I can¡¯t imagine it. I can¡¯t imagine it! But why? I can¡¯t imagine it, but¡­ But I don¡¯t hate it. What¡¯s going on? S-strange. It¡¯s strange! 35. I was invited to Emma Ficus¡¯ birthday party. Emma Ficus. She was the daughter of Count Ficus, who belonged to the 12 northern families, and someone who had a strange rivalry with me for a long time. And Jude who knew that better than me was nning a very bad thing. Umm¡­ Why do I feel so excited though? 36. To be honest, I felt very sorry for Emma. No, I was extremely delighted. Yes, it was her birthday. She should be the main character on her birthday, but it was ruined because of Jude and me. Of course, I hated what she usually did, but still, it was her birthday. Yes, yes. I told that to Jude, and he said he would send her a lot of shampoo and conditionerter. But I also have to write a letter. Happy birthday, and I¡¯m sorry. By the way, I didn¡¯t know that Jude liked to dress me up. He always said that I was the most beautiful in the world. I mean, of course, Cordelia is the most beautiful girl in the world. Even so¡­ Ah, my face has turned red again. It seems like my face is often red these days because of Jude. What if I end up with high blood pressure? Then Jude should take responsibility for me. He has to take responsibility. 37. I made a bet with Jude. And I lost. Huhuhu. I¡¯m stupid. Why did I make a bet with a scammer? Sob, sob, sob. In addition, the terms of the bet are¡­ Uwah. It¡¯s a wish. A wish. Ah, seriously. What wish will he ask for? Jude is a sly pervert, so will he make a naughty wish? Eueueueue¡­ B-But a promise is a promise, right? If it¡¯s a k-kiss. Uuh¡­ I-If he asked that for a wish¡­ can I really do it? Because a promise is a promise. Yes, yes. That¡¯s it. Uh¡­ You evil b*stard. Mean b*stard.. Hurry up and make a wish, okay! Don¡¯t make me feel anxious! 38. Jude still hasn¡¯t made a wish. How great is his wish that he¡¯s taking his time? Eueueue¡­ I-I should mentally prepare myself. 39. Many things happened in the process of preparing to lure Velkian in the Temple of Life, and obtaining the Sphere of Life. To summarize it, we met Landius-nim again. Jude was in a seriously dangerous situation, but thanks to Landius-nim¡¯s advice, we were able to resolve it. But his advice was a bit odd. The power of lo-love. There isn¡¯t anything like that between Jude and me! Even so¡­ Surprisingly, it really seeded. Jude woke up after hearing my voice. I was relieved. Thank goodness. Because I was really worried about what would happen to Jude. Idiot. You always make me worry. Jude, you idiot. 40. We met Princess Darianne. She was a much cuter, more adorable, and lovelier girl than when we saw her in Legend of Heroes 2. Hehe. I pretended to be injured because of Jude, but I somehow felt ufortable? It felt like Jude always dragged me into situations. He must have wanted to escort me, so he held my hand and guided or carried me under the excuse that I couldn¡¯t see¡­ Was that really acting though? Hmm¡­ Something, there¡¯s definitely something. I can smell it. Does he really like me? Of course, if I ask and he says no, I¡¯ll be in big trouble, so I¡¯m just skeptical for now. It¡¯s possible. There¡¯s¡­ a possibility! 41. Jude, you evil b*stard! Mean b*stard! What the heck is P-Pink Bomb! What is it! Huh?! Also, when did you bring the rabbit headband and tail again! He¡¯s definitely a pervert. He¡¯s a pervert. He really likes the rabbit headband and tail. A bunny girl enthusiast. A pervert. A pervert! Huu. Uh, well¡­ since you like this headband so much, well¡­ I¡¯ll give you some fanservice? Because Jude always experiences a lot of hardships. Yes, yes, I can provide this much fanservice. I mean. What I mean is¡­ It¡¯s only simr to a bunny girl, so yeah, I can do it. I¡¯ve done it a lot in the wildnds. But I can¡¯t still ept Pink Bomb. Eueue¡­ Velkian is an idiot, an idiot. I mean, it¡¯s a novel wherein Pink Bomb is the protagonist¡¯s name. What kind of novel is that? Huh? 42. We met Scarlet. Unlike in Legend of Heroes 2, it seems like we can be friends. Hehe. She¡¯s older than me, but she¡¯s cute. She looks a bit like Lucas. Come to think of it, I think she¡¯ll be a good match for Lucas. Hahaha. I have to introduce them to each other. 43. We attended the Banquet of Swords. And¡­ and.. Ahem, ahem. I lightly kissed Jude¡¯s cheek as a way of cheering for him. On the cheek and not anywhere else. Yes, on the cheek. Since it¡¯s just a greeting in foreign countries. Yes, yes, so it¡¯s nothing special, right? But just because of that, idiot Jude liked it very much. It felt like he was overflowing with energy. As I thought, he really likes me, huh? Right? It¡¯s not a delusion. Seriously! Oh, and Jude won thepetition. We became close to First Sword. First Sword looked like a good-for-nothing person and had a somehow unpleasant gaze, but he was not a bad person once you got close, so we should maintain a good rtionship with him. Yes, yes. Anyway, we are one step closer to the happy ending today! 44. Scarlet camest night. Anyway, the timing of her visit was¡­ If only we had a bit more time, we would have¡­ Ah, I don¡¯t know. Anyway, so I chatted with Scarlet. Even from Scarlet¡¯s perspective, Jude and I look like a real couple. Hmm¡­ does it look like that from the outside? It¡¯s a perfect disguise sess. A disguise sess! Eueueue¡­ Does Jude really like me? He calls me a princess every day, cooks well for me, wakes me up in the morning, and carries me on his back daily¡­ I don¡¯t know. Scarlet said those alone are not enough. Argh. By the way, what should I call him? I don¡¯t think ¡®Daddy¡¯ is good. I¡¯ll look like a strange person if I started dating Jude. So I can¡¯t call him that. I¡¯ll have to¡­ think of something good. 45. A lot of things happened. I went inside a dungeon book and fought against a Cordelia who took a different path, and even got Scarlet involved with the activities of Pink Bomb. And I went to the night pool. The night pool of Crown Princess Daphne. But the important thing was that Jude had been to the night pool before. Night pool. A ce where adults go. He had been there? And with a woman? When I asked who he went with, he kept avoiding in giving an answer. Suspicious. Very suspicious. Hmph. ¡°But¡­ his abs were great.¡± While writing the diary, Cordelia suddenly thought of Jude¡¯s swimsuit again. She knew that he had a good figure, but it was her fist time seeing such a naked body. ¡°Eueueu. My face has turned red again.¡± Anyway, my blood pressure is always high because of Jude. Those abs. I want to touch it once. Is it firm? But it¡¯s the body of a human, so it should be soft, right? Or warm? ¡°Ah, I don¡¯t know.¡± I¡¯m not a pervert. Because Jude also nced at my body. Cordelia has a great body. Hmph. 46. It¡¯s finally tomorrow. The decisive battle. The 300th founding anniversary of the country will be held tomorrow. And tomorrow, the Lord Protector will cause an incident. We¡¯ve prepared everything that we can. Now all that we have to do is go tomorrow. The major event that will determine the fate of the kingdom. But well¡­ I know I shouldn¡¯t be thinking of this, but I¡¯m a little concerned about something else. The ball. The evening ball with Jude. Idiot Jude was very excited to let the world know that Cordelia is the most beautiful girl in the world, so he was busy preparing this and that. Does he really like to dress me up? Of course, I also had fun dressing up Jude. I¡¯ll be dancing with Jude tomorrow¡­ Frankly, I¡¯m looking forward to it. Yes, I¡¯m looking forward to it. Despite being scared and frightened of tomorrow, I¡¯m looking forward to it¡­ Isn¡¯t that a contradiction? Such are my feelings. The night is deep. Tomorrow is approaching. 47. We won. But Jude was unconscious and had yet to wake up. I¡¯m scared. 48. Jude woke up. He woke up. Idiot. You made me worry. Idiot, idiot. And¡­ Okay, I¡¯m sure of it now. This idiot Jude likes me. He likes me. And¡­ yes. I like him too. I like this idiot Jude too. We cried,ughed, and kissed each other. No, not a kiss. Not on the lips. Just on the cheeks, forehead, neck, ears, corbone¡­ It was fun doing it. I mean, we just attacked each other¡¯s weak points? Well, we got carried away by the mood. Yes, yes. First of all, Jude¡¯s weak point was in the ear. If you slightly bite his earlobe or stick your tongue in his ear, he looked so embarrassed as if he wanted to die. Umm, did I just say something lewd? Hehe. My weak points are¡­ the neck and corbone. The quick-witted Jude noticed it, and only attacked that ce¡­ Ah. It felt really strange. It was so strange. But it was so good. Yes. Hehe. This is embarrassing. I¡¯m so, so embarrassed. But I liked it. I liked it. I like him very much. Jude, you idiot, I like you! Haa. Jude likes me too. Hehe. Hehehe. I¡¯m going to kiss him tomorrow too. Kiss, kiss. Kiss, kiss, kiss. SS 1 >> SS 3 SIDE STORY 3 - SIDE STORY – CORDELIA’S DIARY (3) 49.

SIDE STORY 3 - SIDE STORY ¨C CORDELIA¡¯S DIARY (3) 49.

49. A merit ceremony was held. With everyone in the royal capital watching¡­ His Royal Majesty, Henry II, acknowledged me and Jude for our meritorious deeds and granted us titles. Both of us became counts. Jude became a count, and I became a countess. The titles could only be passed down to one child, but because Jude and I each have our own titles, I¡¯m relieved that it could be passed down to two. No, uh¡­ I-I¡¯m not saying I want to have two children. Really. Ah, I don¡¯t know. Anyway, I¡¯m relieved now. Hehe. Moving on. It was good. I also felt it back then when we destroyed the Hell Gate in the wildnds, and I felt it again this time. The world has changed in a better way. In a way that even one more person is happy. Like this, more and more things will change little by little. For a perfect happy ending. Hehe. It was a very hard, scary, and painful fight, but thanks to the merit ceremony, I felt energized. I have to work hard again starting tomorrow. We can do it. 50. Jude is indeed an idiot. Since thatst incident, he has been kissing me all the time. Ah, seriously. I-It¡¯s not that I hate it. Uh, to be honest, it feels a bit good¡­ I also want to do it often¡­ But argh. There¡¯s a time and ce for everything. He¡¯s always kissing me whenever we¡¯re alone. It¡¯s embarrassing. I think my face is always red these days. I guess I¡¯ll have to take some special measures. 51. I¡¯m an idiot. I¡¯m definitely an idiot. EUAAAAAAAAA! Why did I make a bet with Jude again? With that scammer! AAAAAH I lost again. I lost again. He got a wish again. Eueueue¡­ He still has his previous wish. Uh, of course, Jude has asked me to clean his earsst time, but as I¡¯ve said before, it¡¯s kind of strange for that to be a wish, right? I have a conscience too, yes, yes. Eueu, seriously. When are you going to make a wish? P-Perhaps this time? Ahem, ahem. Ahem. Umm¡­ O-Okay. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s something good, but anyway, I¡¯m fine with it. 52. We ran away again. I wonder how many times we had done this. Frankly, the entire S?len Kingdom now knows, the royal family acknowledges it, and J-Jude and I also acknowledge it, so¡­ we¡¯re a real couple now. But we still left a love letter and ran away again. Like something¡¯scking if we don¡¯t leave a letter? Something like that? Anyway, we had no choice but to run away. The king and Crown Princess Daphne didn¡¯t want to let us go. But we needed to quickly go south and prepare to stop Malekith. Haa. Malekith. A giant monster that¡¯s 200 meters long. Defeating it will be hard, but I think we can somehow do it. Yes, yes. That¡¯s how I feel. 53. We arrived at our fief. Our fief. Not someone else¡¯s territory, but mine and Jude¡¯s territory. Of course, we weren¡¯t greeted or weed because we didn¡¯t contact the people or visit the ce officially, but those did not matter since we arrived at our fief, right? It seemed like this ce was a good location as Jude had aimed for. I hadn¡¯t been able to look around the entire ce, but the territory seemed to be quite wide. The ce also looked pretty good, though I wasn¡¯t sure if it was caused by originally being under the direct control of the royal family or was it the good health of the people? Or perhaps their financial state? Jude said that the tax rate in territories under the direct jurisdiction of the royal family was less that that of other lords, so that might be the reason why. As expected, budget rules the world. T/N: ¡®Budget rules the world¡¯ is a quote from the Korean novel ¡®The Rogue¡¯, which is also the author¡¯s inspiration for the Rogue Master in this series. Anyway, we were originally looking for Sword Origin, one of the Ultimate Seven series, but luckily (?), we were able to get another from the series thanks to meeting Gamorr Khan, Malekith¡¯s subordinate. Gamorr Khan carried Ultimate Five ¨C Grand Order. Thanks to Sword Origin, Jude became very strong. Hehe. I really like him. My Jude is the best, right? I¡¯m only saying this here, but my Jude is seriously cool. He¡¯s tall, has a handsome face, and is good at cooking and fighting too. Hehe. Sometimes, he does mean things, but he¡¯s very nice to me too. He keeps his promise ever since I banned him from any skinship. Hmph. But it¡¯s actually fine for me if he breaks it a little though? Anyway¡­ Jude obtained Sword Origin, defeated Gamorr Khan, and got the base of the ck Horn Guild, the group of dwarves who created Ultimate One. Ah, and in the process, I talked to Melissa after a long time. I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m really sorry. I forgot. But I¡¯ll try to talk to you a lot from now on. It¡¯s a promise. Yes, I promise. 54. A lot of things happened. We passed through the Forest of Eternity, and whether through fate or inevitability, we somehow met the elven princess. So we also defeated Jabberwock who wouldter be one of the 7 major cmities. Yes, yes. In the meantime, it was a fact that my performance was remarkable. Because of my negotiation abilities that dominated the fairies at once, Jude was in awe several times. Heh. Hehe. That Jude. Hihi. But something happened then. We were invited and weed to the pce of the elves, and in that time, Jude figured out that their sword dance was wrong. My Jude is really amazing. My Jude. Anyway, that was why Jude danced the real sword dance, and then, wow, the Spirit King appeared. And that Spirit King. The Spirit King of Storms and Lightning chose me as his contractor. As expected of Cordelia. Cordelia is amazing. No, I¡¯m not talking in third person. I¡¯m talking about the Cordelia who¡¯s my favorite character. What the heck am I saying? Anyway, that was how we got into trouble again. Yes, but what could they do? I¡¯m the contractor of the Spirit King. Jude said that it would be fine. 55. It¡¯s not fine. It¡¯s not okay at all! These erofus! I realized it since they mentioned that they did not have a marriage culture. These impudent erofus began to target Jude. Even though I, his FIANCEE, was right next to them with my eyes wide open. I understand it. Because my Jude is very handsome. He¡¯s handsome, tall, has a good body (especially the abs. I touched it a bitst time), and he¡¯s talented. Yes, it¡¯s natural to want him. Very natural. So no way. We need to get out of this forest quickly! I wrote a letter full of words of love just to properly dissuade the erofus. It was really thick, but it should be fine! I¡¯m not embarrassed! B-Because all of it is true now! Yes! It¡¯s true! Uh¡­ no. It¡¯s a lie. In fact, I thought I would die from embarrassment while writing it. I can¡¯t even write it here. Absolutely impossible. Impossible. Completely impossible. Anyway, we left that behind and left the forest. Jude kept slyly asking me to do things and wanted to read the letter, so I seriously hated Jude for a while, but I endured it all. Because getting out of the forest was our first priority. An escape. We escaped. 56. A lot of things happened. We went to find Kajsa, stopped by at the pirate¡¯s ind where we rescued Kajsa and defeated the brainwashed Sebastian, one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. No, seriously, should I be suspicious of this guy because he¡¯s one of the Ten Great Swordmasters? So far, most of the Ten Great Swordmasters I had met were enemies except for Seryu, the Seven-Killings Sword. Hmm¡­ From now on, I shall begin to suspect any Ten Great Swordmasters. Anyway, we ran into another problem. The ship was wrecked by the Kraken, and we woke up in the realm of the Sirens. Siren. The erofus of the sea. Seriously, another obstacle, huh? 57. After defeating the Kraken and saying goodbye to the erofus of the sea, we arrived at Argon Port, thergest port in the south and home to the 7 southern families. It had the same name as the Argon Empire, but it was a different ce. Hmm, wouldn¡¯t it be better to change the name? Anyway. When we arrived at Argon Port, Scarlet was waiting. I¡¯m sorry. I forgot. Yes, it was good to see you after a long time. Hehe. Although she often quarreled with Kajsa, I was relieved because they seemed to get along very well. In Legend of Heroes 2, these two always fought each other. 58. I didn¡¯t have the time to write in my diary for some time. To summarize, we collected all the tokens Carlos left to the 7 southern families, and obtained Ultimate Three ¨C Dragon Sword Ascalon. With this, we united the forces of the 7 southern families and joined the party of Landius-nim. Landius, Kamael, and Lena. These three. It was seriously reassuring. There was even Velkian whom we met in the royal capital, so four out of the five heroes of Paragon who died in the original, except for Kamael, had now survived. Where and what was Fran doing now? Anyway, I felt reassured because the heroes of Paragon were together. Isn¡¯t it reassuring when the main characters of the previous episode join in the second one? Hehe. While fighting in Argon Port, we also defeated the dwarf Madhur, one of Malekith¡¯s three knights, so we decided to not dy it any longer. Our side would attack them before we get attacked. The decisive battle against Malekith approached. 59. We defeated Malekith. We also obtained a Dragon Heart and was able to save the south from its fated destruction. And. And. Hehehe. Jude and I ki-ki¡­ hehe. Uh¡­ hehe, hehehe. Ahem, ahem. Umm. Uh. W-We did it. No, not that¡­ the kiss. Yes, kiss on the lips. Lips to lips. Kya. I¡¯ll stop here for today. 60. After we defeated Malekith, we decided to organize things first. We settled this and that when Jude and I went to our fief, and also called Dahlia and Maja to our fief. Dahlia became the knightmander and Maja the housekeeper. Both of them were too young to manage a fief, but who cares? Jude and I were the lords. It was all up to us. Both of them were capable enough despite their young age. Yes, that¡¯s right. My Dahlia is amazing. So was Maja. We brought in a lot of dwarves and also invited Cassius, a master craftsman, to work and use the legacy of the ck Horn Guild. It was nice to meet the witch of the west forest too, but she left so quickly that we couldn¡¯t talk long. Well. It was good. Anyway, I needed to rest while absorbing the Dragon Heart for some time. I¡¯m also going on a date with Jude. Hehe. 61. Jude is a kiss addict. 62. We attended the wedding of my older sister and Ga?l. It was the union of two people who were not in a rtionship in Legend of Heroes 2, and faced tragic deaths no matter what route the yer took. The event was very happy and joyful, but strangely, I cried. We have to work a little harder. For a really perfect happy ending. 63. The movements of the empire were unusual. As expected, we had changed the fate of the kingdom so much that problems rose on the empire side. There were many yable characters on the empire side too. I wonder what kind of situation all of them were in. I think we should quickly go to the empire. 64. We entered the empire and met Kirara. She was cute. Just like in the game, she was ying tricks here and there, but Jude was here, remember? In the end, Kirara was trapped in the palm of Jude and quietly came to our side. But she was a bit different from the one in Legend of Heroes 2. Or rather, she was originally a child who suffered a lot in Legend of Heroes 2. I want to be nice to her. 65. A lot of things happened again. After rescuing the emperor and the empress dowager from the imperial chancellor who revealed his true colors much earlier than the original, we tried to ask for help from the elves in the Shadow Forest, but there was a battle again. Elio Lombardi. He was not an enemy in Legend of Heroes 2, but I began suspecting him when I heard that he was a great swordmaster, and my prediction was right. As expected, it was good to be suspicious of Sword Masters first. Anyway, Jude defeated Elio in a cool way. And I feel like he¡¯s gotten stronger while fighting? As expected, my Jude is cool. Amazing. I like it. We also met Scarlet again. I was worried because I knew that she was somewhere in the empire, but meeting her here relieved me. Anyway, a lot happened after that. Jude fought and ended up in a draw with Grand Sword Master Elune¡­ or great swordmaster if you went with how the kingdom called them. Isn¡¯t my Jude seriously so amazing? His skills were improving. He also grew up. His height had grown so much that me standing on tiptoes was not enough. Jude also needed to bow his head to me and support my back¡­ what am I saying here? Anyway, since it was only Elio Lombardi whomitted an offense, we reconciled well with the elves, and received support from all sorts of things before we headed north. It¡¯s heartbreaking to think that a full-scale civil war is about to begin. 66. I had not been able to write in my diary for a while. After stopping by the northern part of the empire and defeating theva giant, a being who would be one of the 7 major cmities, a lot of things happened here and there. Oh, and¡­ haha. The rtionships of Kajsa, Scarlet, and Lucas were strange. Yes, strange. Very strange. No matter who gets chosen, I¡¯ll be on Lucas¡¯ side. I¡¯ll cheer for you. Hehe. 67. It had been a really, really long time since I had gone on a trip with Jude alone. A trip to the tomb of Gallus. It had been so long since we had traveled alone, so my heart was pounding. 68. Crazy. No way. Jude was the oppa next door. No, seriously. Does this make sense? Wah. It¡¯s a lie. That bad grade schooler Outbo and the oppa next door were the same person. Give me back my fantasy! Eueueu. Well. Yeah. Umm. It¡¯s somewhat understandable. As expected of my Jude. He was a cool guy. He¡¯s still cool now. Where else could you find a man like my Jude? Yes, that¡¯s right. My Jude is the best. The best. The coolest. Hahaha. And¡­ And¡­ Umm¡­ I climbed the stairs to adulthood. Yes. I¡¯ll stop here. I don¡¯t want to write it here in detail. But if I have to write just one thing¡­ Jude is amazing. He¡¯s much more amazing than the one in Kajsa¡¯s book. Really, really. 69. Jude is a beast. No, really. Wow. Spare me ¨C did I suddenly say that? He said that we¡¯re just taking a bath, but he sneakily¡­ Liar. B-But. It was so good. Why is he so good? Huh? Why are you so good? 70. Jude is a cheat. He has infinite stamina. He doesn¡¯t get tired. 71. So many things happened. The events were confusing. I inherited the divinity of Sri, and after several battles¡­ the fight in the Forest of Eternity made mepletely realize something. The truth of this world. The reason why me and Jude remembered our past lives. The struggles of Jude and the young goddess Atalia in trying to escape the fated destruction. The memories I asionally saw while traveling were not dreams. It all really happened. The past lives of me, Cordelia Chase. The tragic events that I personally experienced in my past lives. I did not remember everything. But I now knew what happened. For a perfect happy ending. It was not an easy statement. It was the only wish that all of the Cordelias in my past lives had wished for. 72. Auriel, who learned about the truth of this world ¨C the copy and paste method, then became our enemy. She said that we dragged both Heaven and Hell into the problems of Pleiades. That the fate of Heaven and Hell was willfully yed around by Pleiades. So history had to be returned to its proper order. A battlefield was necessary for settling their battle with Hell. She put forward several reasons, but frankly, I didn¡¯t understand it. In fact, how many times had Auriel trampled on Pleiades for her own convenience? We had to stop the Great Summons. We had to protect Pleiades. For a perfect happy ending. The day of the decisive battle was approaching. 73. Tomorrow. The decisive battle in the imperial capital would begin. The final fight to stop the Great Summons and lead to a perfect happy ending. It was scary and terrifying. When I closed my eyes, I remembered the terrible moments of my past lives. But Jude is here. Jude is with me. The memories of my past lives were definitely difficult, painful, and distressing¡­ There were many such memories. But there were also pleasant and happy memories of being with Jude. It was the same this time. And it would continue to do so this time. For a perfect happy ending. This time, we will protect the future of Pleiades. Cordelia who was writing in her diary paused for a moment. She covered her diary and turned to her side. Jude was sleeping. Usually, Jude rarely fell asleep, but he was still sleeping at this moment. ¡°Tomorrow¡­¡± The final day. Cordelia closed her diary. Instead of trembling in fear, shey down next to Jude and curled up in his arms. And whether Jude was sleeping or awake, he also hugged the waist of Cordelia. Tomorrow. Cordelia shut her eyes. She struggled to sleep in Jude¡¯s embrace. 74. It had been very long since I wrote in my diary. The passage of time flowed somewhat differently in Hell¡­ or to be more exact, the connecting path created by Asmodeus. Around 8 months? Or 9 months? So many things happened in Hell that I cannot write it all down here. Jude alienated the overlords of Hell, and the overlords of Hell were locked in power struggles rather than supporting us in defeating Asmodeus¡­ In addition, Cassius and the witch helped us. We formed contractual rtionships with the territory we acquired in Hell, and even held hands with demons. We also did not forget Archbishop Manu who continued to fight alone after he fell to Hell. Anyway, the conclusion was that we killed Asmodeus. Heaven lost Auriel and Hell lost Asmodeus. The archangel and overlord who were most interested in Pleiades were gone, and due to the shock the worlds received from their deaths, Pleiades became a ce independent from Heaven and Hell again. That¡¯s right. Pleaides was safe now. It had beenpletely freed from the threat of the Great Summons. So¡­ Now, we should put ourst efforts in achieving a really perfect happy ending. The wedding. I will marry Jude tomorrow. We¡¯ll be one. 75. It¡¯s been a while again. I married Jude and many things happened. It was peaceful, but a lot of fun things also happened in that time. Especially¡­ HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Ah, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Not too long ago. Recently. Jude and I switched bodies¡­ Well, I¡¯ll stop here. I¡¯ll write about it next time. Today¡¯s not the only day, right? Cordelia finished writing with yful words, and grinned when she saw Jude watching from her side and tilting his head before asking her. ¡°Why are you smiling so much?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing. Why? Are you anxious that someone is watching?¡± What are you talking about? (Jude) Jude could not understand what she meant, but knew that it was not right to peek at the diary, so he decided to just keep being curious about it. ¡°Anyway, are you ready now?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m ready.¡± Their preparations. Things they needed for their new trip that would begin now. ¡°But isn¡¯t this more like¡­ a homing than a trip?¡± Because in a way, they were going back to their hometown. At the words of Cordelia, Jude nodded his head. ¡°It is.¡± The hometown of Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee. The other selves of the two who remained there and lived their own lives. ¡°Ah, I¡¯m curious. Have the two met already? Do they know each other¡¯s identities now?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure. To be honest, wouldn¡¯t that be a little difficult?¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I mean, I can¡¯t even imagine it.¡± I would have never thought that Yellow Storm was that nice, pretty, cute, and lovely girl next door. ¡°Hey, I wouldn¡¯t have ever thought of it too, okay?¡± I would have never thought that the bad grade schooler Outbo was that cool and stylish oppa next door. ¡°Give me back my fantasy.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it the same for me?¡± The two of them giggled and chatted before kissing again. Cordelia stood on tiptoes and Jude bowed his head as he hugged her waist. ¡°Then¡­ Shall we depart?¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go.¡± To Earth. To see Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee, and their families and friends. Jude and Cordelia looked straight ahead. They sat besides each other on a chair, and transferred their consciousness to the avatars they had prepared for traveling across worlds. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go.¡± As always. As in the beginning, now, and forever always. Jude and Cordelia held the hands of each other and stepped forward. Their journey to Earth began. SS 2 >> SS 4 Now that those long side stories are over, the release schedule will resume to one episode every day, except for Sundays. The next side stories will be the Fairy Challenge the author mentioned, and about the heroes of Paragon. As for the body switching part and their journey to Earth, those will have their own side storiester, so please look forward to it. Especially the To Earth side stories. Those are pureedy. SIDE STORY 4 - SIDE STORY – FAIRY CHALLENGE

SIDE STORY 4 - SIDE STORY ¨C FAIRY CHALLENGE

Around five months after the decisive battle in the imperial capital. The war that was called the Cmity War was over. The rebels ¨C the demon followers, who plotted the rebellion centering on the chancellor, were wiped out within the empire, and the cmities who had fled the battlefield were never seen again. Therefore, the only visible threat now was the influx of demon followers from the east, which strangely enough, was not much of a concern. Because the demon followers also suffered heavy losses in the decisive battle at the imperial capital. The Devil¡¯s Hand, Devil¡¯s Eye, and Devil¡¯s Mouth. Two of the most powerful demon follower groups were annihted in the Cmity War. The leaders of the Devil¡¯s Hand and the Devil¡¯s Eye were both killed in the capital, and most of their subordinates and high-ranking demonic humans also lost their lives in the indiscriminate attacks of Archangel Auriel. There were only a few demonic humans who barely managed to escape, and most of them made their way to the east to join the Devil¡¯s Mouth, the group of demon followers who remained strong. In short, it meant that the empire and the kingdom had be clean inside. The battle against the demon followers from the east. There was no fight between powerful superhumans like in the Cmity War where the sky and earth shook. The war with the east was carried out in the traditional way ¨C the huge number of troops were blocked with strong walls and trained soldiers. ¡°After all, both sides suffered huge losses.¡± At the words of Scarlet, Kajsa lightly nodded and spoke. ¡°Anyway, does that mean we don¡¯t have to worry much about the east now? They say that we¡¯re in a deadlock now but have no intention of breaking it.¡± ¡°Well¡­ It may be a hasty judgment, but this shoulde first, right?¡± Having said that, Scarlet advanced the white queen on the chessboard, and Kajsa who was looking still suddenly widened her eyes in surprise. ¡°Eh? EEEEH?¡± ¡°Checkmate.¡± Scarlet softly said and turned her head to the side, leaving the shocked Kajsa to alternately look at the chessboard and her. Lucas was swinging his sword. Although he had already reached the horizon, Lucas did not stop his training. He just moved forward consistently, silently, and little by little. Scarlet liked to watch Lucas swinging his sword very slowly, adjusting his posture, and optimizing his swordsmanship. Because despite his tall height andrge build, or his kind and bright face that gave a child-like feeling, he turned into a very serious adult when he swung his sword. ¡®His body is nice.¡¯ His perfectly trained body was also aesthetically beautiful. Scarlet unknowingly bit her lower lip and took her eyes off the abs of Lucas as she focused on his sword. Simply speaking, Scarlet surpassed Lucas in terms of talent. So she had a lot to learn from the swordsmanship of Lucas. Because the sword of Lucas contained a simple, clear, and pure strength, and not techniques or ingenuity. Gulp. Just then, she heard the sound of someone swallowing hard. It was obvious on who it was, but Scarlet turned her head and saw Kajsa swallowing her saliva as she stared at the firm muscles of Lucas. Or rather, she was now licking her lips. ¡°Delicious.¡± ¡°Hey, Lucas is not food, okay?¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you thinking the same? You¡¯re going to burn a hole from staring at Lucas¡¯ abs.¡± When Kajsa snorted and said, Scarlet frowned and was annoyed, but in order to show that she was the older one, she calmed herself down and spoke in a soft voice. ¡°I was just watching Lucas working hard and his swordsmanship.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, if you insist.¡± ¡°I¡¯m serious!¡± And they bickered. It was a daily sight, so no one paid them much attention. Or rather, to be exact, one was too focused to see the situation around him, and the other smartly ignored them. ¡°Lord Lucas, it¡¯s time now. Here¡¯s a towel and water.¡± Ignoring the bickering between Scarlet and Kajsa, the cat beastkin, Kirara, held out a towel and said. Lucas stopped his sword when he saw the towel pushed right in front of him, and regted his breathing and halted his concentration. ¡°Ah, thank you.¡± Lucas wiped his sweat with the towel Kirara handed him and drank the water before letting out another long breath. He had swung his sword very slowly, but perhaps because he was very focused, sweat had dripped down the firm chest of Lucas. In the past, Lucas would have never thought of taking off his top because of embarrassment, but he had been used to it for the past few months, so it was fine for him now. The time that Kirara was talking about. After the decisive battle in the imperial capital, Lucas could not go to the battlefield for some time. Because he was extremely exhausted both physically and mentally as a result of directly confronting a goddess. It took him a month to be able to move to some extent. Another month until he could swing his sword again. And around three months to recover his skills just like now. After spending almost half a year to recover, Lucas immediately took action. Because he could no longer just wait. ¡®Jude and Cordelia.¡¯ The two had gone to Hell alone to save Pleiades. Nearly half a year had passed, but the two had yet to return. Some had said that the two were already dead, but Lucas did not believe that. ¡®That¡¯s not true.¡¯ That those two were dead. That was unbelievable. That was impossible. It was not just a blind belief. He also had his own basis. If the two were dead, then the overlord of Hell, Asmodeus, would have resumed her invasion of Pleiades. But the movements of the demon followers were increasingly bing more defensive. He obviously had no clear evidence. It could also be the deception of the demon followers to let their guards down. However. But. ¡°My masters are alive. Kirara believes it.¡± Lucas nodded at the small but determined voice he heard in front of him. He lightly smiled and agreed with Kirara. ¡°Yes, I believe too. So let¡¯s check it out now.¡± Unfortunately for them, the witch of the west forest and master craftsman Cassius, who were updated with the situation in Hell, had suddenly disappeared after the decisive battle in the imperial capital. They did not know why or where the two had suddenly disappeared, but they could not depend on the two who disappeared anyway. So Lucas came up with a way, and as a result, they arrived at one solution. ¡°I¡¯m the one who remembered it.¡± ¡°Scarlet is always admirable.¡± As Lucas spoke with a bright smile, Scarlet slightly turned red while Kajsa pouted. Around an hour after they left the room. The four were heading to the swimming pool of Princess Daphne which was now located in the main pce of the royal pceplex. They had one reason. To call the fairies. ¡®Would we know if we ask the fairies?¡¯ Those who could freely leap over space might know the situation of Jude and Cordelia in Hell. Obviously, this too was not certain. But just like how a drowning man would even grab straw, now was the time to try and challenge anything. ¡°Jude and Cordelia had said. When a person with a certain level of beauty takes a bath on a moonlit night, the fairies wille and talk to that person to y with them.¡± The two had not exactly said the locations of the so-called ¡®Fairy Point,¡¯ ces where one could meet fairies, but Lucas knew of two points. One was theke of the spring fairies in the Forest of Eternity, and the other was the pool of the summer fairies right here in the royal pce. ¡°And it¡¯s a moonlit night now.¡± It was also a night with white and beautiful full moons. A rare time when Selene and Helene shone together. ¡°So we can do it, right?¡± Kajsa asked with a grin, and Lucas slightly blushed and nodded. Because the outfit of Kajsa who spoke confidently was too revealing for the standards of Lucas. A ck bikini swimsuit. The cloth was so minimal that he did not know where to look. When Lucas turned his gaze away from embarrassment, Kajsa also blushed. Not because she was embarrassed, but because of excitement. ¡°Hehehe.¡± How can he be so cute? I want to eat him up. ¡°You¡¯re like an old man.¡± ¡°You¡¯re like an uncle.¡± Kajsa flinched at the words of Scarlet and Kirara, but it had already been more than half a year since they all traveled together. She did not even budge at this sort of thing anymore. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s do it. I¡¯m first!¡± Kajsa did not hesitate as she had a straightforward personality. As a woman from the south who was passionate about hunting pirates, Kajsa jumped into the pool water and freely swam like a beautiful mermaid. ¡°Wow¡­¡± Lucas genuinely admired her, and Scarlet admitted it internally. Kajsa looked very beautiful today because of the lighting from the moonlight. However. ¡°They¡¯re noting.¡± It had been around 10 minutes since Kajsa swam hard. There was no response. So Kajsa tried changing to a backstroke, but there was no response again. ¡°HEYYY!¡± As I thought, it should be a bath, right? Do I have to take a bath?! In her anger, Kajsa took off her swimsuit, and Lucas quickly turned his head while Kirara narrowed her brows. And Scarlet said. ¡°Yes, you¡¯re out.¡± As expected, it was impossible with Kajsa. It was too much for her. After all, she was a wild tomboyish girl. Scarlet smirked and removed the huge bath towel that was wrapped around her. She wore a bikini like Kajsa, but the color was the exact opposite, and unlike Kajsa who had healthy-looking copper-colored skin, the skin of Scarlet was ivory white enough to make her seem pale. In the darkness of the night and the white moonlight, the appearance of Scarlet was unusually whiter. Seeing the pouting of Kajsa, Scarlet haughtily walked towards the pool. And gracefully went in. ¡°As expected, they¡¯re noting.¡± At the words of Kirara, Scarlet turned red and Kajsa giggled ¨C no, she burst outughing. ¡°That¡¯s what you get for pretending to be pretty!¡± ¡°Hey! You couldn¡¯t even call them!¡± ¡°Oh, I didn¡¯t call them. But you didn¡¯t call them either, right? Can you call them?¡± ¡°Hey!¡± And they bickered again. Lucas, who was peeking at the two, also sneaked into the swimming pool, but soon let out a small sigh. Again, there was no reaction from the fairies. ¡°This is impossible.¡± Kirara wearing a cute white one-piece swimsuit was also eliminated. How long had it been since there was such a gloomy silence for all four of them? Kirara raised her head again and said. ¡°What about Crown Princess Daphne? She¡¯s known for being a beauty.¡± ¡°It¡¯s impossible. They did not appear here for the crown princess in the first ce.¡± He stopped talking because it might be end up as l¨¨se-majest¨¦, but everyone as well as Kajsa, who brought it up, knew. Crown Princess Daphne had never seeded in calling the fairies. ¡°This is ridiculous.¡± Scarlet murmured a bit, and Kajsa tried to tease the former for thinking that she was as pretty as a princess, but kept her mouth shut. Because, in fact, Scarlet was an outstanding beauty from an objective perspective. ¡®Their standards are so high.¡¯ Why is it so high? Cordelia did not do much as she just sshed water on her head, and they popped out. ¡®Isn¡¯t my body much better?¡¯ At the time Kajsa thought that and looked at herself. ¡°Twinkle, twinkle little star, shining beautifully.¡± Scarlet sang in a low voice, and Kirara knew why Scarlet sang that way. ¡°Well, it¡¯s no use either.¡± The face of Scarlet blushed again. She had sung while doing her best to suppress her embarrassment, but those fairies were really-! ¡°Well¡­¡± Lucas held his chin and was lost in thought as Scarlet and Kajsa felt gloomy again. Cordelia, but not Scarlet and Kajsa. So who should they call? Adelia, the sister of Cordelia? Or Maja? ¡°If it¡¯s Lady Sylvia, it may be possible.¡± Lucas silently spoke and soon nodded. Sylvia Crossbell. A youngdy known for being beautiful among the children of the 12 northern families. In fact, until Cordelia became famous, Sylvia was considered as the most beautiful woman in the north. ¡°Yes, Lady Sylvia can do it.¡± So if they call her to the royal capital in a hurry- It was then. At the hair-raising energy he felt at that moment, Lucas raised his head in surprise and then froze. ¡°La.dy Syl.via?¡± ¡°I see. In the eyes of Lucas, the face of Lady Sylvia is prettier than ours. I see.¡± Kajsa growled low and Scarlet spoke with a cold stare. ¡°W-What I mean is! Uh, that! H-Her figure? Yes, her figure¡­¡± Snap. It was andmine. Kajsa looked at him with her mouth shut, and Scarlet had a sharp look too. The third party, Kirara, then said. ¡°Lord Lucas, do you think that Lady Sylvia is prettier than Lady Scarlet or Lady Kajsa?¡± ¡°T-That¡­¡± It was a swamp. No matter what he said, his feet was bound to sink. It felt like the road to the horizon that did not disappear even when he fought First Sword was now disappearing. ¡®No, it¡¯s only natural since I¡¯ve already reached the horizon.¡¯ In the midst of the chaos, the temperature around Scarlet was getting colder while it was getting hotter around Kajsa. They were like ice and fire. But both were in an extremely dangerous state. Lucas was sweating a lot as he tried to figure out a way to somehow rectify the situation. But it was impossible for the innocent Lucas toe up with a sly scheme like Jude. Or actually, even Jude had no answer when he found himself in a simr situation. But it was at that time. ¡°Lucas! Scarlet! Kajsa! Kirara!¡± Lucas quickly turned his head at the lively voice and sighed in relief. Because Princess Darianne came running with a wide smile. She was like a ray of hope to him. He was wandering in Hell, and felt like a rope hade down from the sky. ¡°We greet Your Royal Highness, Princess Darianne.¡± ¡°We greet Your Highness.¡± ¡°We greet Your Highness.¡± After Lucas and everyone in the group politely greeted her, Princess Darianne brightly smiled again. ¡°Are you going to call the fairies?¡± ¡°Yes, we were going to do that¡­¡± ¡°Allow me to help you then.¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± Lucas unknowingly asked her. Because while Princess Darianne was definitely a cute girl in the eyes of everyone, it did not seem like she would seed in a field where Scarlet, Kajsa, and even Kirara had already failed. ¡®Uh, what should I do?¡¯ She would be disappointed if the fairies did not show up. Scarlet and Kajsa quickly exchanged nces, and the two looked at Lucas again. It was to somehow gloss over the situation and escape. But it was at that time again. ¡°There¡¯s lots of people?¡± ¡°Wanna y together?¡± The sound of cheerful voices chattering was heard. The fairies appeared under the fantasy moonlight and gathered around Princess Darianne, scattering powders of light. ¡°Eh?¡± Scarlet unconsciously opened her mouth while Kajsa also blinked her eyes in surprise. ¡°Do they like little children?¡± In an instant, Kajsa gazed at Kirara whose expression turned into a seriouslyplicated one. But Lucas figured out the answer. ¡°Ah!¡± The things that Princess Darianne had in her arms when she ran. The things that she was giving out to the fairies now. ¡°This is the best way to call a fairy.¡± The royal capital¡¯s specialty ¨C high-quality chocte. ¡°I like this!¡± ¡°Delicious! Thrilling! Delicious stuff are the best!¡± They liked good-looking people, but preferred sweets better. The fairies giggled in their delight, and Lucas, Scarlet, Kajsa, and Kirara looked at each other. They all sighed together. *** ¡°The two are alive.¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± Lucas unconsciously asked, and the Summer Fairy Queen, who was immersed in the melted chocte and enjoying it that they did not know if she was swimming or bathing, smiled again. ¡°Both of them are alive. We can feel it. They both have the Fairy King¡¯s Protection.¡± The four seasons and the four elements. The strongest protection in Pleiades, which was created by gathering all the protections of the eight fairy queens, was still with the two. It was not because the Fairy King¡¯s Protection was so strong that the two had not died. The Fairy King¡¯s Protection also contained the Summer Protection, so the Summer Fairy Queen who gave that protection was able to assert of that one fact. ¡°The protection is still active. That means the two are alive and well.¡± The two were alive. Even after half a year, their battle in Hell was still going on. Lucas felt out of breath. Scarlet and Kajsa held Lucas¡¯ hands. Jude and Cordelia were alive. They were still alive in Hell. Then there was only one thing Lucas¡¯ group could do here. They had to save the two. They must save the two even if their side had to invade Hell. The eyes of Lucas began toe alive. It was the face and eyes of a person who moved forward without surrendering to any ordeal. And Scarlet and Kajsa were satisfied with that appearance. Because this was the Lucas whom the two liked, and had not choice but to like. ¡°We must save them.¡± ¡°Yes, I knew this would happen. There¡¯s no way the two of them could have died, right? Rather, I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll be bullying the demons in Hell.¡± Scarlet and Kajsa spoke in turn, and Lucas nodded. He was so happy that he sighed and patted Kirara who had burst into tears. He eventually made a decision. ¡°Let¡¯s go to Hell.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. There¡¯s no rule that we¡¯re the only ones who have to suffer, right?¡± ¡°Let¡¯spletely shake them.¡± Kajsa and Scarlet agreed this time too. An expedition to Hell. For the two people who saved the world, everyone in the world would step up this time. ¡°Jude, Cordelia.¡± Please wait for us. We¡¯ll definitely rescue you two. No matter what happens, even if we have to fight against the entire Hell. Lucas looked up the night sky with a firm expression on his face. He remembered the faces of Jude and Cordelia, and smiled. *** ¡°By the way, Lucas.¡± ¡°Yes, Kajsa.¡± ¡°So who is Sylvia after all?¡± Kajsa subtly asked, and Scarlet let out a strange hmph as her eyes narrowed. And under the pressure of those two, Lucas was sweating profusely. He could not open his mouth right away. SIDE STORY 5

SIDE STORY ¨C THE EVE BEFORE THE DECISIVE BATTLE

The sun had already set a few hours ago. The sky was nowpletely ck. Stars were bound to twinkle on nights when Selene and Helene could not be seen, but even the twinkling little stars did not appear today. It was a dark and deep night. But there was still someone who looked up the sky. And he eventually found a little star. A star so small and blurry, but was definitely a twinkling star. ¡°Landius.¡± The man, who was the only survivor of the Knights of the Sun that was the pride of Paragon, turned his gaze at the low voice that called him. A beautiful girl with traces of youth appeared in his sight. ¡°What did you see in the sky?¡± Lena Ainsburg. The favorite disciple of Bardo Ainsburg who was the royal wizard of the Paragon Kingdom. Being too kind and na?ve for a royal wizard, he treated his favorite disciple like a daughter, and Lena, who was abandoned in a monastery as soon as she was born, also treated Bardo like a father. One could say that the time she began practicing magic was toote. She was already around ten years old when Bardo saw her talent for magic. It was good to start early in anything, but for magic, it took that very seriously. ¡®Is it the Astral Line?¡¯ The origin of all souls. A ring of light that surrounded the world. All beings with souls originated from the Astral Line. Souls from the Astral Line would get born and enjoy life on the ground, and when their life ends, they would head back to the Astral Line. After being mixed and purified in the immense flow of souls, they would start a new life again. Putting aside theplicated stories that wizards like, all souls began on the Astral Line, so it was always better to be a little younger in age in beginning the practice of magic. ¡®The older we get, the farther we are from the Astral Line, so the more we forget.¡¯ Magic was the artificial maniption of the systems of the world, so it was important to awaken even a little more of the senses andtent memories present at the time when one was on the Astral Line that was a part of the systems of the world, that is, not long after one was born. ¡®It¡¯s the time when the so-called magic affinity, mana control ability, and so on are determined.¡¯ He looked at Lena again after recalling the introduction to magic that he was forced to listen to by the royal wizard Bardo, who said that knights should also know some magic since they used a simr magic called ¡®chivalry.¡¯ This small and slender woman looking at him and smiling beautifully was less than 20 years old and had started practicing magic toote. But she was a genius, and her talent and Bardo¡¯s dedication created an amazing miracle. Having qualified as an official wizard at the young age of fifteen, she entered the Grey Tower where Bardo also studied at, and achieved the feat ofpleting the whole schstic course in just 3 years. ¡®I did it because I wanted to see my master quickly.¡¯ It was the answer she shyly came up with when asked one day why she finished the entire course in the Grey Tower in 3 years, which normally took 8 years, or even 5 years for the most talented wizards. ¡®I wanted to live in Paragon again with my master. And¡­¡¯ Her words trailed off as if there was more to it, but in the end, she did not continue answering. She was that kind of girl. Afterpleting all the courses in the Grey Tower, she returned home with lots of gifts as she joyfully thought of meeting her father-like master again. ¡°Not much. Even though it¡¯s so dark, there¡¯s only one star.¡± Landius said and pointed to the sky, and Lena looked up the sky with big blue eyes. ¡°Wow, that¡¯s true.¡± The admiration did note out of the mouth of Lena. It came from the boy who was sitting across the campfire. ¡°Old man, look at that. It¡¯s so dark, but there¡¯s a real star. Of course, it¡¯s very small and blurry.¡± The boy was very handsome ¨C no, he was a pretty boy. If no one pointed out that he was a boy, everyone would think that he was a girl since he was a strange boy who looked like a girl. Druid Fran. The Sri denomination was known to have lost its genealogy, and it was true in fact, but one could not say that for the Paragon Kingdom. Because the kingdom was a ce where the Sri denomination was revived, albeit crudely, to somehow connect the severed genealogy. There was also a story that the Paragon royal family inherited the blood of the sun goddess Sri, but no one knew if this was true or just a made-up story, though Landius believed that story. Not because of his loyalty to the royal family as their knight. Landius had his own reasons. Anyway, back to Fran again. A pretty but impudent boy. ¡°Old man, you can¡¯t see it? It¡¯s because you wear such a dark mask every day. Do you even wipe the lenses on your mask?¡± Fran was only fifteen years old. In other words, this blue-eyed boy was less than a fifth in age to the person he was now teasing and throwing words as he pleased. However, he was the most powerful druid in the Paragon Kingdom. Not because all the druids in the Paragon Kingdom were massacred except for Fran. That was also true, but he was the strongest druid in the Paragon Kingdom even before that happened. ¡®The chosen child.¡¯ There were also rumors that he was a child of Orion, a god of the forest, but its authenticity was uncertain. One certain thing was that he was thest survivor of the druids living in a forest located at the western end of the Paragon Kingdom, and that he was a boy with tremendous capabilities that even the name of Orion got brought up. His hometown was burned down. The demon followers burned the western forest, killed all the druids, and impaled them on spikes, disying their corpses among the trees. Fran had lied to the Archdruid and went to the festival of a neighboring country, thus, he became fortunate enough to avoid that tragedy. But Fran did not consider it fortunate. He did not have a sentimental reason like he should have died together with them. ¡®If I had been there, I would have killed all the ones who invaded us.¡¯ No one knew if this was possible or not, but this statement clearly revealed the personality of Fran. Fran thought of revenge. Vengeance was a strange thing for a druid who obeyed thews of nature, but Fran had a valid reason. ¡®They are not part of thews of nature.¡¯ It was not lighting that fell from the sky, or wild beasts on the road, or even thieves who coveted the treasures the druids might have. It was demon followers and demons. Beings from another world. Monsters that defied thews of nature. So Fran chose to fight. Instead of fleeing to the neighboring country again, he headed towards the center of the Paragon Kingdom where he encountered the party. ¡°Ah, old man. That way. Over there. Is your eyesight actually bad?¡± When Fran raised his voice and pointed his finger at the sky, Landius looked to the side with a slightly worried face. Fran was a boy who grew up among the elder druids in the western forest, so he liked the elderly. But not all elderly people were the same. The person Fran kept talking nonsense to. Velkian. Hisst name was unknown. He was an old man whose first name was his only known name. A necromancer and old friend of Bardo, the royal wizard of Paragon. Although he did not always stay in the Paragon Kingdom, he tended to spend about half a year in Paragon, so in fact, he was a familiar figure to the royal knights in many ways. ¡®Landius, you¡¯re always too reckless. You may be strong, but it¡¯s impossible to receive magic spells or curses with your body in that way.¡¯ Velkian was both a necromancer and an excellent pharmacist. He made a lot of medicine whenever he stayed in the Paragon Kingdom, and since injuries weremon to the knights, all of them were somehow indebted to Velkian. In addition, he sometimes taught knights on how to deal with wizards, that is,bat training, so for the royal knights of the Paragon Kingdom, he upied a position close to a ¡®master.¡¯ ¡®He¡¯s amazing.¡¯ Velkian was certainly a good person. But like powerful wizards, he was not a very normal person. Moreover, he was a necromancer who manipted the souls of the dead. He had the smell of death around him since he used the power of death, and every little gesture he made felt like a threat to the living. Even the royal knights of the Paragon Kingdom, who were rtively familiar with him, could not easily rx in front of him. But Fran treated Velkian like an ordinary old man. It was absolutely not because all the people in the Paragon Kingdom treated their elderly like that. It was just how the impudent Fran treated Velkian like how he treated other elderly people. If it was Landius, he would rather fight demons with bare hands than do that to the elderly. But strangely, Velkian was not particrly angry with Fran. Considering his personality, Velkian would have already turned Fran into a frog a long time ago, or cursed Fran and made him beg. [Oh, you didn¡¯t know? He already cast a curse. Fran negated it just now though.] At the magic Lena had sent, Landius widened his eyes in surprise. ¡®A curse?¡¯ [Yes, but not a very strong curse. If Velkian is very determined in casting a curse, even Fran will not be able to negate it with just a smile.] Lena sent an additional message and giggled as if she could tell what Landius was thinking by just looking at his face. Because was Lena looking at him and not at the star in the sky, Fran, or Velkian. Now that he thought of it, Lena often did that. When he unconsciously felt a gaze and turned around, he would always see Lena looking at him. Anyway, that was not what mattered now. ¡®He cast a curse on Fran.¡¯ But Fran just negated it again. In a way, it was a very serious situation, but Landius smiled without realizing it. He strangely felt pleased. ¡°That star is¡­ Althea.¡± Everyone in the party turned their attention to the small but beautiful and clear voice. At the corner of the copsed church. A young man was sitting in a ce where the warmth of the campfire could barely reach, and he looked up the sky before lowering his gaze and facing the party. Kamael. Although he did not receive the surname of Paragon, he was clearly of royal blood. He was a very beautiful young man. He was different from Fran who was always seen as a girl. Kamael was beautiful enough to be mistaken for a woman, but his face was clearly full of manliness. A neutral beauty. A doll-like impression created by his added coldness. ¡°Althea?¡± At the question of Fran, Kamael slightly frowned as if what he said was useless, but did not ignore the question. ¡°Yes, that is Althea. It¡¯s small and blurry, but that mysterious star can be found no matter how dark and deep the night is, like now.¡± Contrary to his neutral appearance, the voice of Kamael was very manly because of its low tone and firmness. Fran had said that the voice of Kamael did not match his face, but also said that he liked it because it was a nice voice to listen to, though he ended up receiving a re from Kamael. And Lena had alsoplimented it lightly, saying that it was pleasant voice to hear. But Landius knew that the voice of Kamael was something he deliberately made up. Kamael was often told this and that because of his neutral appearance, so he tried to do something with his voice. In fact, the voice of Kamael was higher and much more beautiful than that. And the reason Landius knew this was simple. ¡®I¡¯m the only one.¡¯ Whom he asked of that request. Remembering the Kamael from several years ago who was talking and blushing from either shyness or embarrassment, Landius smiled to himself. Because it was Landius who helped Kamael in his voice modtion training. ¡®Well, I just listened and evaluated it though.¡¯ Landius actually thought that the real voice of Kamael was more natural and better, but did not say that to Kamael, the owner of the voice, as Kamael liked the modted one better. After all, what one liked was the best. ¡°That¡¯s amazing. Why didn¡¯t I know that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s probably because you werezy.¡± When Velkian spoke at the right time while wearing the mask of a gue doctor, Lena unconsciously burst outughing. ¡°The druids know of the stars in the sky, so you must have been reallyzy.¡± At the additional hit of Velkian, Lena could not hold it in any longer and rolled on the ground as she held her stomach andughed, while Fran puffed up his cheeks with a displeased look. ¡®He didn¡¯t refute it.¡¯ If it had been the usual, he would have refuted it, but it was not the case this time. However, it was actually a little unfair for Fran. Because Althea was a star that did not usually appear. Moreover, it was only in the pce of the Paragon Kingdom that Althea could be seen. Therefore, only those who inherited the blood of the Paragon royal family knew of the existence of Althea clearly, but Kamael did not bother in revealing that fact. The first reason was that he did not care if Fran was humiliated or not, and the second reason was that everyone except Fran was enjoying it. ¡°Ugh¡­ Anyway, it¡¯s tomorrow.¡± The atmosphere in front of the campfire subsided as Fran said that in passing. Tomorrow. The day they would invade the pce of the Paragon Kingdom that the Demon Prince Baikazel had already made as his territory. Frankly, it was a crazy n. Confronting the god-like Demon Prince and his army with just them five was like hitting a rock with an egg. But they still had to do it. The words Bardo had said right before he died. A Hell Gate was opened in the basement of the royal pce. If that gate was not closed, a greater cmity would befall the world. ¡®One weekter.¡¯ The time left until the worst could happen ¨C was what Bardo said. Therefore, the party could not choose the option of leaving the Paragon Kingdom and asking for help from the S?len Kingdom or the Argon Empire. It would be toote then. The five had to defeat the Demon Prince and close the Hell Gate. The tragedy and destruction brought about by the demons should be limited to the Paragon Kingdom. ¡°After tomorrow¡­ So if we win¡­ What will you do after that?¡± Lena asked as she stared at the campfire. A faint smile was on her white face that had received the red and yellow light of the campfire as though it was paper. It was filled with anxiety and fear, but she forced herself to smile to ovee it. ¡°I intend to continue my research.¡± Velkian said in a low voice. When everyone turned to him, he continued his words with a small smile, though it could not be seen because of his mask. ¡°I have a research I want to finish. There are also things I want to research due to this incident. So I n to continue my research.¡± Landius and Lena smiled at the words of Velkian, but Fran frowned. ¡°It¡¯s really the words of an old man. You¡¯ve lived in ab all your life, but you n to spend the rest of your life in theb? How about going on a trip with me? You have to look around the world a bit.¡± Landius nced at Velkian at the end of those words, but it was impossible to see thetter¡¯s expression because of the gue doctor¡¯s mask. [Oh, he has now cast a strong curse. I think it worked this time.] Ahem, I see. At thementary of Lena, Landius coughed and pretended to not have seen or heard anything, and Fran suddenly grumbled, perhaps because of the curse. ¡°Ehem. Well. As I have said, I¡¯m going on a trip. Because I have lived my entire life in the Paragon Kingdom. I want to travel around the world.¡± ¡°That entire life is only your fifteen years of age.¡± Landiusughed out loud at the retort of Velkian, and Lena held her stomach again and began tough. ¡°Hey¡­ Anyway. The old man¡¯s personality is twisted, twisted.¡± Fran grunted and frowned, and turned to Lena, asking. ¡°What will you do, Lena?¡± ¡°I¡­¡± Lena said and nced at Landius before looking back at the campfire and speaking. ¡°I want to live a normal life.¡± ¡°Normal?¡± ¡°Yes. Wizards usually stay in theb and live alone for the rest of their lives, right? So not that ordinary¡­ I want to be like the ordinary people. I want to meet a person I will love, get married, have children, grow old together¡­ and live among the people I love.¡± It was a difficult dream to achieve. She had already be an angel through Ancestral Regression, so she was too far from an ordinary human. She did not know what fate she would face in their fight tomorrow. However, she expressed her dream with a small smile. It might be natural for others, but it was a wish she had dreamt of all her life. Landius looked at Lena and softly said. ¡°Lena is pretty and kind. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll meet a good person.¡± His words were warm and nice. But for some reason, the gaze of Lena turned cold and she bit her lips, while Fran who was watching them from the side had an annoyed look as he said. ¡°Wow, how could you say that?¡± ¡°Eh? D-Did I say something wrong?¡± Landius turned to Lena in confusion, but Lena just stared at the campfire with her mouth shut instead of answering, and Fran also did not answer and just clicked his tongue. ¡°Master Velkian?¡± ¡°Just continue to live like that.¡± What do you mean? But in the midst of it, there was someone who smiled a bit ¨C Kamael, who then spoke. ¡°Yes, Lena is kind and pretty, so she will surely find a good person.¡± Landius quickly nodded at the words of Kamael. In any case, there was someone who sided with him. ¡°Haa, seriously. Anyway, what will you do, Kamael? Are you going to rebuild the country?¡± The Paragon Kingdom was destroyed. Even if the five gathered here now won, that fact would not change. However, the royal blood was notpletely gone. Even though Kamael was an illegitimate child, he was a child of the king and the blood of the Paragon royal family flowed in his veins. ¡°I do not intend to do that.¡± The expression of Kamael turned cold again. Like most illegitimate children, he had a harsh childhood, and things did not improve much when he became an adult. Fortunately, he was able to take sses as a knight rather than being regarded as a seed of conflict that would threaten the throne because the royal family had a lot of enemies, but it was just that. Kamael had little affection for the Paragon royal family, and no sense of mission to rebuild the royal family. ¡°Then what are you going to do?¡± When Fran asked again, Kamael slightly frowned but continued to speak. ¡°I n to join the Guardians of the Holy Cross.¡± Those who defended the continent against the demon followers. His words were unexpected to others, but not to Landius. Because he knew that the master of Kamael, Sir Might, was from the Guardians of the Holy Cross. ¡°Then what about Landius?¡± The eyes of everyone, especially Lena, turned to Landius. Landius smiled at the gazes of everyone and looked up the sky once more. ¡°Can I be honest?¡± ¡°Sure. I¡¯ll even grant you a wish to be a harem king.¡± At the words of Fran, Lena flinched and her gaze turned sharp, but Kamael was the only one who noticed this. Landius said with a chuckle. ¡°What harem king? Even if I do my best for just one person, I can¡¯t fully convey my love for them¡­ Why do you all look like that?¡± ¡°No, well¡­ Let¡¯s just move on.¡± Landius looked a bit displeased at the annoyed expression of Fran, and was puzzled on why Lena covered her face with both hands, but he quickly adjusted his expression and spoke in a serious tone. ¡°I¡¯m going to track down Archbishop Manu.¡± The culprit behind the tragedy of Paragon. Having corrupted the queen and summoned a number of demons within the royal pce, he had already left the Paragon Kingdom. Landius wanted to chase him down and kill him. Not to avenge the Paragon Kingdom, but to prevent Manu from harming the world again. To protect everyone in the world. He shyly expressed his hero mentality. But no one hereughed at him. Because it was very much like Landius. ¡°That¡¯s why the Sr de chose you.¡± What Velkian said was not wrong. The Sr de. The sword of the sun goddess Sri. The treasured sword of the Paragon Kingdom that no one could use. That sword chose Landius. The sun shone again in front of Landius. ¡°Well, Landius is indeed a hero.¡± As Fran giggled and said, Lena gently nodded and even Kamael smiled in agreement. ¡°No, what¡¯s with those reactions? I feel embarrassed.¡± And Landius really blushed and scratched the back of his head. The other four, who wouldter be called the heroes of Paragon, smiled at that sight. Tomorrow. The fight tomorrow would definitely be tough. Perhaps not everyone could return to this ce even if they miraculously won. It was scary. It was terrifying. But they would still fight. Because the sun was by their side. A person whom they could always trust and rely on anywhere and anytime like a ray of hope that always showed the way forward. ¡°Shall we sleep now?¡± For tomorrow. And for the tomorrow to be continued. Everyone smiled again at the words of Landius. They nodded and agreed with him. *** Landius looked in front of him. He faced the ruins that had changed a little in the past ten years or so. The royal pce of the Paragon Kingdom. A ce where the demonic energy remained strong, bing and where no one could live. But not anymore. The demonic energy was disappearing bit by bit. The energy of life once again resided in the ruins that were once filled with only blood and death. ¡°Landius.¡± At the low voice calling him, Landius turned around. As he expected, a woman stood there. ¡°Lena.¡± Ten years had passed but she was still there. Her youthful appearance still remained despite her mature face. ¡°It went well, right?¡± Her words came out of nowhere, but Landius nodded. It was just as she said. Archbishop Manu ceased to exist. The archangel and overlord who threatened Pleiades were also killed, and Pleiades regained its stability. ¡°It must be a bit disappointing.¡± ¡°What is?¡± ¡°Like it¡¯s the 8.5 door? After all, you couldn¡¯t be strong enough to open the ninth door.¡± Although he met the goddess of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors and attained enlightenment, it was still impossible for him to open the ninth door. But Landius had achieved a lot. He defeated not only Demon Prince Baikazel who caused the fall of Paragon in the past, but also the Ancient ck Dragon Malekith who appeared in the south. If it was the current Landius, he could do it now all alone. But Landius did not regret it at all. Rather, he was d that he had been deprived of the opportunity to use his power. ¡°Because not having to fight is the best.¡± Someone would die or get hurt¡­ and as a result, those who were left behind would suffer. Because those things were enough now. ¡°Then what are you going to do now?¡± Landius paused for a moment. And realized that the current question was an extension of the question 10 years ago. Now that Archbishop Manu was gone. What was Landius¡¯ own wish? What did he want to do in the future? Landius thought for some time and then smiled. Because Landius had grown a bit over the past ten years. Now, he was not that ignorant. Or rather, it would be strange if he did not notice it even now. Because a lot had already changed in many ways from ten years ago. Landius lowered his head. Lena looked up at him. She was trembling a bit from embarrassment, but did not cover her face with both hands like she did on that day ten years ago. Those blue eyes. ¡°Let¡¯s get married.¡± He gently spoke. He initially wanted to say something cooler, but what came out of his mouth in the end was too simple. But this was enough. Arge hand caressed the cheek of Lena who bit her lips. Without realizing it, she burst into tears and then replied with a wide smile. ¡°Yes, let¡¯s do it. Let¡¯s get married.¡± Let¡¯s live so sweetly that even Jude and Cordelia will hate it. Let¡¯s have lots of children and live happily ever after. Both of them now remembered their past lives. They knew that in their past lives, the dreams of Lena were always unfulfilled and shattered in the end. But it had changed now. Lena did not sacrifice herself to close the Hell Gate. Landius did not forcibly open the eighth door and destroyed himself. ¡°If it¡¯s not me, who else would live with a giant like Landy? I need to save Landy.¡± Lena said that while crying, and Landius chuckled and agreed. He lifted up the very lovely woman and kissed her lips. *** There was a country called Paragon. It was a small but beautiful ce. There were those who were born and lived in thend that was now destroyed. They knew no fear. Not because they were not afraid of death. But they did not run away. Sometimes they stumbled, stepped back, and copsed, but they kept moving forward. And finally, they created a miracle. They once again lifted away the darkness of the night and brought forth a new morning. People called them the Five Heroes of Paragon. SIDE STORY 6

SIDE STORY ¨C YOUR NAME (1)

Around half a month after they saved the wildnds and returned home. Something strange happened. *** Jude slowly opened his eyes. But he did not see properly. Because he had closed his eyes again. His head felt heavy, he was sleepy, and well, he was really sleepy. It was a feeling that he had not felt in a long time. He had never slept so deeply since he learned the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. And in fact, he had no time to think about these sensations. Because he had already fallen half asleep again. ¡°Miss! You must wake up! Miss!¡± He was awakened by the rather sharp voice and barely opened his eyes as he let out a strange groan. But miss? Amidst his heavy and confused thoughts, he continued to hear the voice. ¡°Miss, please wake up. Now is the time to really get up.¡± It was a familiar voice. He did not hear it very often, but anyway, it was a voice that he remembered. ¡®Dahlia?¡¯ The escort knight of Cordelia. A person close enough to Cordelia as if they were sisters. And¡­ His brain did not work well. He also felt like Cordelia¡¯s favorite JudeWiki had stopped working. Why? Why is my mind so blurry? Anyway, when he opened his eyes, he saw the face of Dahlia. ¡°Are you awake now?¡± Dahlia sighed and said. Although she looked a bit annoyed, it was not that bad since her gaze expressed her deep affection for Cordelia. ¡°Ah.¡± After he let out a dazed voice, Dahlia spoke again. ¡°I think it will better to take a bath. I¡¯ll tell them to get ready, so go and wash your hands. Don¡¯t fall asleep again, okay?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± Before he could speak, Dahlia turned around and went outside. She was an escort knight, butpletely like a nanny judging from the way she acted. Is this the reason why she became very close to Cordelia? ¡°Huh?¡± Wait. Why is Dahlia in my house? And why is Dahlia calling me Miss? The sleepiness that had been weighing down his head gradually disappeared, and his mind began to clear. And logical contradictions began to catch his eyes one by one. ¡°This is¡­ Cordelia¡¯s room?¡± A room he had seen several times in Legend of Heroes 2. But it was a room he had not yet seen in person in Pleaides. ¡°This is Cordelia¡¯s room.¡± Arge princess bed with a canopy, and a big teddy bear in the corner. It was definitely the room of Cordelia. And it was Dahlia who had juste in. Jude himself was lying down in the room of Cordelia, but it was impossible for Dahlia to react like that. Moreover, Dahlia urged him to quickly get up instead of shouting. ¡®She called me¡­ Miss?!¡¯ He lowered his head reflexively. It was not t. Or rather, uh¡­ Rather than that, his vision was blocked by a certain nearby body part. ¡°W-What is this?¡± He knew what it was. So he raised his head and reflexively touched his thick and heavy hair. Red hair that was close to pink. Hair that was so long that it almost touched the waist. Jude took a deep breath. Instead of screaming in surprise, he deeply inhaled and looked at himself after regaining hisposure. ¡°I¡¯m Cordelia.¡± He was Cordelia. He was definitely Cordelia. Still, a final check was needed. Rather than relying on JudeWiki which was not properly working, Jude found what he wanted by turning his head left and right. A full body mirror. Cordelia was a daughter of the Chase family, one of the 12 northern families, so naturally, there was arge mirror in that huge room that could reflect her entire body. ¡°Eh?¡± Jude stumbled and nearly fell after he stood from the bed and tried to run to the mirror. The reason was simple. ¡®My body¡¯s too light.¡¯ Furthermore, even his stride length had changed due to all the changes in body size. If it was the body of Jude who had Cheonmujiche, he would have immediately adapted to this change, but he could not with this current body. ¡®T-This is Cordelia¡¯s body?¡¯ Back when Jude was always sick, he was short and weighed less, but the feeling he had now was different from that time. Because there were fundamental differences in body structure between men and women, regardless of height or weight. ¡®Is she¡­ really strong?¡¯ Her wrists were too thin. Her ankles were so thin that he was worried that it would break if he applied a little force on it. And there was a weight on his shoulders. To be honest, it was because his chest felt heavy. ¡°F-First of all, the mirror.¡± Jude carefully walked again and stood in front of the mirror. And he unconsciously let out a voice in admiration. ¡°Beautiful.¡± He had known for a long time that Cordelia was beautiful, but realized it once again. Beautiful. She was seriously so beautiful. Her white face, smooth jawline, clear facial features, and dazzling blue eyes. Jude nkly stared in the mirror at her, that is, the face of Cordelia, and quickly shook his head. She was so cute that he was almost in a daze, but he took a deep breath again. Perhaps because he was in the body of Cordelia, he found it strangely difficult to think like usual. ¡°I¡¯m really Cordelia.¡± After saying it one more time as if to confirm it, he looked in the mirror. Then he lowered his gaze again and unconsciously touched it. ¡°Wow.¡± Wow, wow, wow. Woah. Wow. How many minutes did he spend rubbing and admiring it like a fool? Jude eventually came to his senses and turned red. Because he was so embarrassed to see himself reflected in the full body mirror, rubbing and touching a specific body part. ¡®C-Calm down, Jude.¡¯ And he looked at other ces again. Her skin was ridiculously soft. Her skin was so soft that he was afraid to touch it with force again. Her waist was slender too. She had small shoulders. As he touched and checked here and there, he suddenly felt guilty. It also bothered him that he was touching the body of Cordelia without consent, but he also recalled his past actions. ¡®Did I ask this kid to carry me?¡¯ To put on the armor and stand as the vanguard? He felt like his past self was trash. Or rather, Jude¡¯s own body at that time was definitely weaker than Cordelia because of his illness, but he felt like he had done something that a human being should not do. Moreover, the present Cordelia was physically superior as she leveled up a lot. So what about the past Cordelia? What was she like when she first started carrying out various operations with Jude himself? ¡®I¡¯m seriously trash.¡¯ I¡¯ll have to cook something delicious for Cordelia in the future. After a moment of guilt, Jude looked up again and stared in the mirror. ¡®Anyway, what happened?¡¯ This was the body of Cordelia. In short, Jude himself had be Cordelia. The situation was very unusual, but was unexpectedly not that confusing. ¡®Because magic exists in this world.¡¯ In addition, Jude himself had already experienced the most absurd thing ¨C reincarnation. He could somehow imagine that their souls switched bodies. ¡®Then, is Cordelia in my body now?¡¯ Because it was like that in this kind of situation. The situation would clearly be different if a third person was involved though. They would have changed bodies by pushing each other away. ¡®I need to meet Cordelia first.¡¯ The presence of a third party would make thingsplicated. He needed to find out whether a third party existed or not, and if not, why this happened. Both problems could only be understood once he met Cordelia. ¡°But she¡¯s really beautiful.¡± Jude unknowingly spoke and slightly raised the skirt of the loose-fitting nightwear as he turned around. As expected, she¡¯s pretty. Cordelia is seriously beautiful. She¡¯s really pretty. She looks like a real angel. ¡®That¡¯s right, she¡¯s really an angel.¡¯ Although the body had changed, his love filter remained the same. Anyway, Jude who admired the beauty of Cordelia again then shook his head to regain his senses. Perhaps because this was the body of Cordelia, he was strangely a bit careless, so other thoughts had immediatelye to his mind. ¡®Let¡¯s focus.¡¯ Let¡¯s wash up, write a letter, make an appointment, and meet Cordelia. ¡®If it¡¯s between us now, it won¡¯t be a problem to just go out and meet in the same day.¡¯ Because they had already run away at night because of ¡®love¡¯ several times. Yes, yes, that¡¯s good. Everything is as nned. Because it¡¯s already an irreversible fact. Anyway, that¡¯s not what matters now. Something else. The situation right in front of me. ¡®I can do it.¡¯ The situation was definitely embarrassing, but he had to stay calm in times like this. Looking back, weren¡¯t there one or two sudden and embarrassing problems? Let¡¯s be calm. All I have to do is solve one by one the problems in front of me. But it was at that time. ¡°Miss?¡± ¡°Eh? Yes.¡± He smiled a little awkwardly as he turned around and saw Dahlia. And Jude faced another ordeal. ¡°Come here now that the bath has been prepared.¡± A private bathroom next to the bedroom of Cordelia. It was not the time to admire the luxurious room arrangement of the Chase family though. ¡®W-Wait. A bath?¡¯ It¡¯s not just washing my face or hair, but taking a bath? I have to t-ta-take it off? C-Can I do that? Eh? Is that okay? But the embarrassment of Jude did not end there. Because a bigger problem was waiting. ¡°I¡¯ll take a bath too. I just wash up a bit in thete morning anyway.¡± Dahlia is telling me that we¡¯ll go in together. Ady and her escort taking a bath together. As I thought, they¡¯re close like real sisters, hahaha¡­ ¡®¡­Now¡¯s not the time to beughing!¡¯ I mean, it¡¯s a problem that I¡¯m taking a bath with Cordelia¡¯s body, and now there¡¯s even Dahlia? If his old colleague, Bertrand, was here, he would have said something like ¡®Woohoo~! Lucky~!¡¯, but that was unlike Jude. He could not do such shameless behavior. ¡°Uh¡­ Dahlia?¡± ¡°Miss?¡± ¡°Uh, can I¡­ use a blindfold?¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°I mean, take a bath with a blindfold¡­¡± He knew best what he was talking about. That it was an incredibly awkward and weird thing to say. And as expected, the expression of Dahlia said it all. ¡°Miss?¡± ¡°N-No. Nothing. It¡¯s nothing.¡± I just have to close my eyes. Jude, you can do it. You can do it. Didn¡¯t you cross the desert while fully armed? So you can do it! ¡°Anyway,e quickly.¡± Dahlia headed into the bathroom first, and Jude deeply inhaled. He started the seriously hard challenge of keeping his eyes closed while taking a bath. *** ¡®Sob, sob, I¡¯m trash.¡¯ Jude failed the challenge, and was disappointed with himself. But at the same time, he enjoyed the supreme joy. ¡®I¡¯m seriously trash.¡¯ Jude was disappointed again at himself for thinking ¡®Wasn¡¯t it good?¡¯ as his shoulders sank. His shoulders hurt. To be exact, it was from the weight. ¡®Cordelia is seriously amazing.¡¯ One thing that surprised him was the shoes. The heels were so high that it was difficult to walk. ¡®But Cordelia ran with these on, right?¡¯ Is she a real superhuman? Maybe Cordelia has Cheonmujiche? ¡®Ah¡­ this is strange. The soul is mine, but the body is¡­ including the brain, it all belongs to Cordelia.¡¯ Even though he thought that it was strange, he felt like he would suddenly exim something. ¡®But she has a better brain than I thought?¡¯ In terms of simple performance, it seemed to be notcking whenpared to Jude. Or rather, he thought that it was even better. ¡®Well, Cordelia was quite smart in the first ce.¡¯ She thought simple, but was still smart. In gaming terms, her INT was high but her WIS was low. ¡®Anyway, she¡¯s amazing.¡¯ Even the clothes he was wearing now was very ufortable. The waist part was very tight, the chest part was stuffy, and the skirt was too wide and heavy. ¡®You mean she moved around so freely while hiding a lot of things in this skirt? She even carried me.¡¯ She¡¯s seriously amazing. Is Cordelia a superhuman? ¡®Anyway, let¡¯s go meet her.¡¯ Regardless of how close the two were, they could not visit each other¡¯s ce without a notice. ¡®It¡¯s still morning, so I¡¯ll send her a letter now and go in the afternoon.¡¯ Having made up his mind, Jude began writing a letter with the hand of Cordelia. Perhaps because of the habit left in the body of Cordelia, his handwriting on the paper was rounder and prettier than usual. ¡®Okay, let¡¯s send this and meet her.¡¯ To the Cordelia who entered the body of Jude. But he suddenly became worried about one thing. ¡®Surely¡­ she didn¡¯t cause any trouble, right?¡¯ Cordelia had entered his body. As ¡®his¡¯ shoulders sank at the sudden anxiety, Jude quickly sealed the letter. And a few hourster. At the Bayer mansion. Unfortunately, the wish of Jude did note true. SIDE STORY 7

SIDE STORY ¨C YOUR NAME (2)

¡°Young master, please wake up.¡± Cordelia slowly opened her eyes at the gentle voice calling her. Her eyes would usually be blurry and sleepy when she just woke up, but it did not happen for some strange reason. The moment she opened her eyes, she immediately woke up. ¡°Maja?¡± ¡°Yes, I am young master¡¯s Maja. Please get up now. It¡¯s been a while since you overslept.¡± When Maja gently smiled as if she was reminiscing a bit, Cordelia blinked and looked surprised. ¡®Young master¡¯s Maja?¡¯ Or rather, was Maja the kind of person who could have such a gentle smile? She often met Maja when she visited Jude at the Bayer mansion, but the expression of Maja was always calm and cold like ice. ¡®I¡¯ve heard that she often smiles when she¡¯s with Dahlia.¡¯ But what is this? It feels a little different from what I¡¯ve heard. Maja¡¯s smile right now is really warm, gentle, and friendly. It¡¯s also nice to see. ¡®Anyway, what I meant is that it¡¯s pretty.¡¯ She smiles like that in front of Jude. ¡®Huh?¡¯ In front of Jude? The intuition of Cordelia to derive results without a process remained the same. And with the amazingputational ability of Jude added to this, the process was immediately inferred after getting the result. ¡®Maja is right in front of me. She called me young master and told me to get up without acting weirdly. She also said that it¡¯s been a while since I overslept.¡¯ That¡¯s what happened. In short, I have be Jude in Maja¡¯s eyes. Then why? There are two possibilities. One is that Maja is under a psychic magic, or to be exact, an illusion, so she mistook me for Jude. The other is that I have be Jude. ¡®Either my appearance changed with polymorph magic or our souls switched.¡¯ The former is highly, but thetter possibility can¡¯t be ignored too. If it¡¯s the former, someone had to swap my sleeping self with Jude, which is physically hard. ¡®Because there¡¯s no way that I will not notice it.¡¯ Aside from me, even Jude can sense such a movement. Moreover, this is the Bayer mansion. It¡¯s possible if Count Bayer and Ga?l had left the mansion for reasons such as going to an expedition, but that¡¯s difficult to do now that they are both present at home. ¡®In short, it¡¯s most likely that the souls of Jude and I have switched.¡¯ Cordelia quickly deduced all of these and was a bit surprised, but immediately epted it too. Because if she really switched bodies with Jude, the brain she had now also belonged to Jude. The essence of one¡¯s existence was in the soul, so Cordelia was able to maintain her own self and memory, but the existence of the body could not be ignored either. Cordelia immediately understood her situation. When it came to the performance of the brain itself, the body of Cordelia was more superior. But the brain of Jude was well-trained. To the extent that the thoughts of Cordelia were naturally guided in a way simr to that of Jude. Inparison, the brain of Cordelia was a monstrous car that only specialized in running. On the other hand, the brain of Jude was more of an all-around supercar that could handle everything. One could say that Cordelia was faster in speed, but Jude was superior in his versatility in coping with various situations. And there was one more thing. Cordelia usually did not think much, saying that it was fine to leave the thinking to Jude, but her foundations were excellent. Her reasoning and thinking skills were excellent once she began to think. So instead of screaming or being startled, Cordelia smoothly responded. ¡°Yes, thank you.¡± Because Jude often spoke casually to Maja. Rather than talking down to her, he spoke to her in a friendly manner like talking to an older sister. In any case, the response of Cordelia reassured Maja instead of surprising her, so Maja paused for a moment before quickly nodding her head and leaving the room. ¡°Hmm, I¡¯m really Jude.¡± Cordelia got up from bed and looked at herself. In the days when he suffered from Gueumjulmaek, Jude was smaller than Cordelia, so he was in the early 160¡¯s, but it was different now. He was in a state of bted growth because he was treating his Gueumjulmaek with the Sun¡¯s Ne and the Sunflower, and had exploded the potential of his body by learning the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. He was probably in histe 170¡¯s now. ¡°Oh, his body is good.¡± She felt a strange sensation every time she touched it. A hard yet soft feel. It waspletely different from the body of Cordelia. Perhaps it was the difference between the bodies of a man and a woman. Jude had good skin, but it was still different from the skin of Cordelia. But what was also different was the body structure. Cordelia was able to control her entire body like a trained warrior. What this meant was that Cordelia could move her body as she thought. She thought that this was normal, but it was not. Because only experts could move their bodies as they thought. Most people could not move their bodies ording to their thoughts. Or rather, it was difficult to properly control one¡¯s body in the first ce. Therefore, those who learned martial arts tended to learn how to control their own bodies. That applied to Jude and Count Bayer. But Cordelia had never practiced anything like that. However, she could do it. That was one of her innate talents. ¡°It¡¯s really different.¡± The muscle mass was different, the body structure itself was different, and what it could and could not do were also different. ¡°Wow, that¡¯s why he was showing off.¡± He often boasted that he was good at everything he did with his body. With this body, I feel like I can really do all sorts of ster things. ¡°Ooooh.¡± Cordelia lightly punched the air and was in admiration. Because it was possible to do a seriously quick jab. ¡°His body is also flexible.¡± He also had ripped legs. Though it was obviously harder and tougher than the body of Cordelia, it showed amazing sticity and flexibility. The range of motion of the joints was also great. ¡°And the abs.¡± Cordelia smiled and touched her stomach, or rather, Jude¡¯s stomach. It was a seriously strange feeling. She wondered how a human body could be like this. And one more thing. A ce that had been giving Cordelia a great sense of incongruity. But Cordelia stood in front of the mirror and did not immediately satisfy her curiosity. There was no full body mirror like the one in her own room, but there was a fairlyrge mirror where she could see ¡®her¡¯ face. ¡°That man, he looks like this?¡± She normally could not observe the face of Jude this closely and for a long time. ¡®It was embarrassing.¡¯ Because Jude who was uselessly smart would always notice her gaze. ¡°Hihi, you¡¯re handsome.¡± He¡¯s truly an absolutely handsome boy. Is this why Jude and Cordelia are called the iparable couple in Legend of Heroes? Cordelia observed the body of Jude with a smile before coughing and looking around. After she made sure that no one else was present, she sneakily put her hand on the middle of the waist. And moved it down. ¡°Oh. It¡¯s the same.¡± It¡¯s the same color as his hair. And. And. ¡°Ahem, ahem, ahem.¡± The blushing Cordelia coughed a few times and began observing again, but that did notst long. ¡°Uh¡­ umm¡­ umm¡­¡± She blushed because of the body of Jude, but her reason was still intact. So Cordelia felt even more ashamed, and shook her head instead of doing it again. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯ve be Jude.¡± Considering the circumstances, Jude is probably Cordelia now. ¡®Then he¡¯ll probably send me a letter soon.¡¯ Because he had to meet Cordelia and check this and that. ¡®Then should I wait for now?¡¯ Until Judees. And as for the rest of the time¡­ A rather evil expression appeared on ¡®her¡¯ face. *** Around the afternoon. Jude visited the Bayer mansion and had a grumpy expression while Cordelia greeted him with a bright smile. ¡°Lady Cordelia, thank you very much for visiting.¡± ¡°Yes, thank you for weing me.¡± When they exchanged greetings, Dahlia and Maja nced at each other before sneakily leaving the room. Thus, Jude and Cordelia were the only ones left in the room. Jude then shouted. ¡°Hey! What did you do!¡± ¡°Huh? What do you mean?¡± Cordelia nonchntly asked with the face of Jude, and Jude with the face of Cordelia cried out with a red face. ¡°The maids are acting strangely! So is Maja!¡± It was true. It was different from usual. The maids were blushing or embarrassed when they saw Jude, and Maja also had a slightly different expression than usual. She seemed to be embarrassed yet also found it interesting. Even when Jude entered the body of Cordelia, his observation ability did not disappear, and on the contrary, he was able to detect even more subtle differences than before due to the unique senses of Cordelia. ¡°I mean, well¡­ I was just nicer to them than usual?¡± She just approached with the body of Jude and talked to them kindly, helped with this and that, gave small gifts, and put on a gentle smile with the face of Jude. ¡°You look really handsome. I think everyone liked it?¡± ¡°HEY!¡± In short, she had mercilessly seduced the maids in the Bayer mansion. ¡°What do you mean by seduce? I just hit on them a bit. I wanted to try it once.¡± In fact, Cordelia would have never been able to do this. She was quite shy and had a lot ofmon sense. But she was now in the body of someone, the body of Jude to be exact. So a slight deviation was possible for her. ¡°Hey, have you forgotten that I¡¯m your fianc¨¦?¡± ¡°Yes, I know.¡± Cordelia slyly smiled and Jude was overwhelmed with the urge to p ¡®her¡¯ face. ¡®Wow, this is making me angry.¡¯ He did not realize that such a smile while feigning ignorance would make him so angry. He was even more angry because of the handsome face. And at this moment, Cordelia had a simr but different thought. ¡®So this is why he teased me so much.¡¯ The red-faced Cordelia when she was angry was so cute. You could say that it was adorable. ¡°Haa. Anyway, we have to deal with this situation.¡± When Jude sighed and said, Cordelia tilted her head. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I mean, why do we need to?¡± At the words of Cordelia, Jude blinked his eyes before he immediately stood up and shouted. ¡°Hey! You want to live like this?!¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t this fine?¡± As Cordelia yed innocent again, Jude trembled and Cordelia giggled ¨C no, she burst outughing. ¡°Cute.¡± The appearance of Cordelia shaking in anger. Jude and Cordelia, who had little feelings for the ¡®Jude of Legend of Heroes 2,¡¯ were different. For Cordelia, the ¡®Cordelia of Legend of Heroes 2¡¯ was her favorite character. ¡®A life-size Cordelia is right in front of me.¡¯ On top of that, she was moving, feeling embarrassed, and tired from grumbling andining. It was a situation where she felt like she could suddenlyugh out like a viin. ¡°W-What? What¡¯s with that dangerous look?¡± Jude unknowingly moved away and covered ¡®his¡¯ chest with both hands, and Cordelia snickered. ¡°Hey, you look like a pervert.¡± ¡°Yes, Jude is a pervert.¡± Cordelia spoke as she med someone else, and the face of Jude began to heat up, though he endured it for the time being. Because the more he talked, the more he felt like he was shooting his own foot. ¡°Anyway, we have to ovee this situation. Do you understand? We have to resolve this.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s tell our fathers.¡± ¡°Huh? Hey! What do you-¡± It was at that time. The eyes of Jude widened, and Cordelia grinned and continued to speak. ¡°This is Pleiades. It¡¯s a world where magic exists. If we say that we swapped bodies in Earth, we¡¯ll be called crazy, but not here. In addition, it¡¯s also possible for us two to be tested and verified here. So there¡¯s no reason to keep it a secret from the people in our family that we had swapped bodies.¡± She was correct. They had no reason to hide it. ¡°N-No way. I¡¯m bing like Cordelia.¡± Jude unknowingly said that. And he got goosebumps because he did not think of that simple yet natural fact. ¡°Hey, what do you mean? My body is also amazing, right? I know because I took your body. I think I¡¯m faster at calcting than you now?¡± ¡°On the contrary, you¡¯re terribly simple.¡± ¡°Hey!¡± Their usual conversation only went on for a short while. Jude took a deep breath and said. ¡°So if I tell my fa- I mean, Count Chase, will this situation be resolved?¡± ¡°Perhaps? Because my father is an archwizard. We also need to find out why this happened¡­ It may take some time, but it will be resolved somehow, I think?¡± Count Chase was no ordinary wizard. He led a magic tower and was one of the top wizards in the S?len Kingdom. His natural connections were also amazing, so he could find a solution somehow. ¡°Haa, that¡¯s a relief then.¡± Jude sighed as ¡®his¡¯ shoulders drooped, and Cordelia was startled at the sight and swallowed hard. ¡°By the way, Jude.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Anyway, that means it will take some time before we go back to normal, right?¡± ¡°I guess so?¡± ¡°Well then¡­¡± The words of Cordelia trailed off as she smiled and stood up, walking towards Jude. She then stared at Jude, or to be exact, at the face of Cordelia and said with a happy expression. ¡°It¡¯s really Cordelia.¡± Because it was like there was a living 1:1 life-size figure in front of her. ¡°Can I touch you a bit? No, I don¡¯t even need permission. Isn¡¯t that my body?¡± ¡°E-Excuse me?¡± By the time he spoke, the hands of Cordelia had already touched the cheeks of Jude. ¡°Wow, it¡¯s really soft. So squishy.¡± ¡°Hey, ishtop?¡± His pronunciation became weird because ¡®his¡¯ cheeks were pulled, but the meaning was clearly conveyed. But Cordelia did not stop and began to touch every inch of the body of Jude ¨C no, of Cordelia. ¡°Hey! Hey!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t y hard to get¡­¡± The one who snickered looked like a perverted old man. And the fact that this face originally belonged to Jude made him feel terrible. ¡°Jude, can I kiss your cheek? You¡¯re my fianc¨¦, anyway.¡± ¡°W-What did you say?¡± He even spoke respectfully in his embarrassment, but Cordelia was not listening to him from the very beginning. She grabbed the arms of ¡®Cordelia¡¯ and brought ¡®her¡¯ face closer. Frankly, the thought of kissing Cordelia on the cheek was something he had thought of for some time, but not in this kind of situation. Because¡­ ¡®It¡¯s my face that¡¯s approaching!¡¯ It¡¯s like being kissed by myself in the mirror! ¡°I-I will scream, okay?¡± ¡°Fufufu¡­ Have you forgotten that this body is yours?¡± ¡°Eueueue¡­¡± She was right. It was Cordelia who was moving, but from the eyes of a third party, it would look like Jude was the one doing something strange. ¡°You¡¯re cute even when you¡¯re angry.¡± ¡°Euah, please.¡± Jude was against it, but Cordelia did not listen again. The face literally came closer. ¡°Gasp!¡± Jude opened his eyes. He roughly breathed and finally realized it. ¡°A dream?¡± That was what it was. It was a dream. In the first ce, more than a year had passed since they had gone to the wildnds. They had defeated Auriel in the imperial capital, invaded Hell, killed Asmodeus, finally returned to Pleiades, and he even married Cordelia. ¡°Haa¡­¡± After another sigh of relief, Jude covered his face with both hands. It felt so incredibly real for a dream. He vividly remembered it too. ¡®It¡¯s been a while since I had a dream.¡¯ After seriously learning the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors, his sleep time had drastically decreased. He dreamed from time to time, but not to the point that it lingered in his memory. ¡®Anyway, I¡¯m d.¡¯ Thank goodness. After exhaling a breath of relief, Jude turned to the side. And he was surprised and unconsciously moved away. ¡°Cordelia?¡± On a bed wide enough for them to wrestle. The Cordelia who had been soundly sleeping was awake. She opened her eyes and said as she stared at Jude. ¡°I had a dream.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°A dream. I dreamt of you and I switching bodies. I think it was right after we returned from the wildnds?¡± Jude was surprised at the words of Cordelia. And because this was Jude¡¯s own body, he was able to quickly draw a conclusion. ¡°Did we two have the same dream? Were we in an illusion?¡± ¡°Maybe? Perhaps it¡¯s the influence of the dream demon we met in Hell. Do you remember?¡± ¡°Yeah, I can¡¯t forget them.¡± One of the few demons they had a friendly rtionship with in Hell. ¡°Anyway¡­ Does that mean that we had the same dream?¡± ¡°Yes, as if we were connected to an online game together?¡± Jude tilted his head for a moment at the metaphor of Cordelia, but soon admired it a bit. Because it was a perfect metaphor. ¡°By the way, Jude.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°I really want to try it.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± What do you mean? You really want to try it? Try what? ¡°Don¡¯t you think it will be fun?¡± A mischievous smile spread across the face of Cordelia, and Jude felt a chill going down his spine in an instant. What Cordelia was thinking right now. ¡°Why don¡¯t we really swap our bodies once?¡± Cordelia said and sat up, and Jude broke into a cold sweat. Because the current Cordelia had the ability to do just about anything. ¡®Because she¡¯s a goddess!¡¯ The archangel Cordelia Chase. Compared to a real archangel, she was stillcking in power and ability in using her divine powers all day long, but she could use her divine powers for a few hours a day. Just as how Jude himself could temporarily be the guardian god of Pleiades by opening the ninth door of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Nine Doors. ¡°Jude, let¡¯s do it, okay?¡± ¡°Hey, you¡¯re already casting it.¡± ¡°Hehehe.¡± She was indeed casting it. Cordelia had already activated her magic spell. Jude quickly opened the ninth door to resist, but the movements of Cordelia were a bit faster. And bam. When Jude opened his eyes again, he realized that his body had changed. Because Jude was in front of him. ¡°Woah, you¡¯re much bigger than what I dreamed of. You¡¯ve grown, my Jude.¡± ¡®Jude¡¯ spoke as he pulled the waistline of his pants forward and peeked inside. Or rather, it was Cordelia who did. ¡°Hey!¡± He blushed and shouted, but it had the opposite effect. The triggered Cordelia immediately drew closer to Jude and stretched out ¡®her¡¯ hand. ¡°Cute.¡± ¡°E-Excuse me?¡± And Jude was astounded. ¡®I-I have grown this much?¡¯ The hand was big. Their difference in physique was more than he imagined. It was a little ¨C no, it was just in frightening. Wide shoulders. A slim waistline thatpleted a perfect inverted triangle. Firm muscles all over the body. It was hard and huge. Hands that were so big that it could cover the entire face. ¡°You¡¯re cute. Cordelia is cute.¡± It was bad. Cordelia had already begun to go wild. Without giving Jude a chance to do anything, Cordelia knocked down Jude at once with ¡®her¡¯ big hand. ¡°You said you¡¯d punish me every day, right? Now it¡¯s time for Jude to be punished.¡± Cordelia said as she licked her lips, and Jude gulped. He felt his heart beating as though it was about to burst, and had an odd thought. ¡®I-I¡¯m handsome.¡¯ Is this a kind of narcissism? Or is this whates to my mind because I¡¯m in Cordelia¡¯s body? Either way, Jude could no longer continue his questions. SIDE STORY 8

SIDE STORY ¨C TO EARTH (1)

It had been half a year since Jude and Cordelia returned from Hell. *** The Cmity War. This war, which had a deep impact on the empire as well as the entire continent, finally ended when the capital of the empire was retaken, but the actual aftermath of the war still continued. ¡°But it¡¯s almost over.¡± Kan, an archeology professor at the Imperial Capital Academy, paused for a moment and stared at the map on the wall. The new map he got a few days ago was a map of the Holy Nation of Judelia, and not the Argon Empire or the S?len Kingdom. As a map of a holy nation that stayed neutral, there was no political element in it. Simple facts were just inly drawn on it. ¡°The Holy Nation of Judelia¡­¡± A smile spread across the face of Kan as he rose from his seat and stood in front of the map. A small country located between the central and southern areas of the S?len Kingdom. It was a very small country consisting of one city and a dozen viges. It was smaller than a duchy, so as far as Kan knew, it was clearly the smallest country on the continent. ¡°But no one can ignore it.¡± Far from ignoring it, the greatest powers of the continent, the Argon Empire and the S?len Kingdom, paid close attention to this small country. Not for its symbolic significance or for political propaganda, but because it was a country where gods literally lived and ruled. ¡®It¡¯s not a bad choice.¡¯ As its name implied, the Holy Nation of Judelia was founded by Duke Jude August Bayer and Duchess Cordelia August Chase who were heroes in the Cmity War. However, it was not because of the whims or determination of the two that the holy nation was established. ¡®Because the S?len Kingdom had no other choice.¡¯ The first to advocate for the founding of the holy nation was none other than King Henry II of the S?len Kingdom. His public reasons were as follows: One, Duchess Cordelia August Chase was a divine being after bing an angel following the genealogy of the sun goddess Sri. Two, the Cmity War proved that the protection of the sun goddess Sri still illuminated the continent. Therefore, for the revival of the Sri denomination, it was necessary to establish a holy nation that would be its center. There were more reasons to it, but in the eyes of Kan who knew the situation, all of these were just poor and desperate justifications. ¡®Yes, because you can¡¯t treat gods as your subjects.¡¯ Cordelia was publicly known as a Seraph, but Kan knew the truth. She was not only a sessor to the genealogy of Sri, but also a new archangel who possessed divinity ¨C in short, she was truly a goddess of Heaven. Jude was also a being who could awaken as the guardian god of Pleiades, although it was limited to when he opened the ninth door, so one could say that he was the same as Cordelia. A fool would have liked to have gods under hismand, but unfortunately for the empire, Henry II was not that foolish. He not only had the wise First Queen and the clever crown princess, but also had the courage to listen to other people. ¡®The rtionship we have now is just burdensome and ufortable. Rather than maintaining a military rtionship in appearance, it¡¯s better for them to be independent.¡¯ The First Queen agreed with the opinion of Crown Princess Daphne, and Henry II also agreed. So what resulted was the holy nation. That was not enough justification to make the duchy independent though, as there was still some doubtful parts. ¡®And it¡¯s also something that contain the wishes of the S?len Kingdom.¡¯ A holy nation. A country of the gods. So the nation should not interfere with the petty affairs of humans. It was true that the existence of the two was a great help to the S?len Kingdom, but it was also a burden at the same time. From the standpoint of the royal family who ruled the kingdom, the existence of the two was a concern. They were beings who could overthrow a country at any time. Beings who were far more noble than the royal family themselves. How could they rule the kingdom with such beings behind them? ¡®It¡¯s something the empire wees.¡¯ The leaders of the empire also knew that Jude and Cordelia were gods. Therefore, they were under a lot of pressure to establish a good rtionship with the S?len Kingdom, so the founding of the holy nation seemed to have eased their burden. ¡®The families of Jude and Cordelia are nobles of the S?len Kingdom anyway¡­ so this rtionship is definitely better than before.¡¯ Moreover, since the holy nation was independent from the S?len Kingdom, it was possible to strengthen exchanges with the Argon Empire. Of course, as mentioned above, Jude and Cordelia were closer to the S?len Kingdom since their families lived there, but at least, wishes like that of the S?len Kingdom, ¡®Please stay away from human affairs¡¯ would be possible. ¡°But the Holy Nation of Judelia. Who in the world came up with that name?¡± Jude and Cordelia. Combined, it was Judelia. A name that sounded like a pun of a child for the name of a country, and even that for a holy nation. ¡®As expected, it¡¯s¡­ Lady Cordelia?¡± Or was it Lord Jude who tried to fulfill everything that Cordelia wished for? Kan smiled again as he recalled their faces. And he was ovee with a strange feeling. He had seen the two just a few days ago. There were obvious changes. It was natural for them to change since they became gods. But there were some things that remained the same. When the two saved him in the wildnds. When the two saved not only his life but also his heart. The two were the same as then. ¡®They¡¯re still the same flirting couple.¡¯ Kan chuckled and looked at the entire map. In addition to the Holy Nation of Judelia, there were many changes to the map. *** ¡°Is this the end of the war?¡± Standing on the wall and looking east, Fran let out a sigh with various meanings. ¡°Haa.¡± ¡°Look at this youngster sighing.¡± Fran turned his head to the side where the remark came and soon frowned. Because the young and handsome Velkian, who only had his sarcastic tone left from his past self, was standing next to him. ¡°What is it? Are you unhappy?¡± ¡°Of course, I¡¯m unhappy.¡± Because there were strange rumors circting about Velkian, whose handsomeness would even make ordinary handsome men cry, and a beautiful man who looked like a beautiful woman. Or rather, it was not only just a rumor. Several books were even published, including painted books with strange illustrations. T/N: Velkian and Fran pairing, hahaha. There¡¯s even doujinshi, hahaha. ¡°Anyway, it seems like the war is finally over.¡± Since the return of Jude and Cordelia, the demon followers hadpletely lost their fighting spirit. The gods of Pleaides who even defeated an overlord and became their enemies was also a problem, but the bigger problem was with the overlords of Hell. ¡°They were cleanly cut off, right?¡± ¡°From the standpoint of the overlords, Pleaides is no longer something they could easily touch¡­ It¡¯s no longer a loot overflowing with milk and honey.¡± It was just as Velkian said. The overlords gave up intervening in Pleiades. In other words, the demon followers were abandoned by the overlords whom they worshiped as gods. ¡°Of course, they¡¯re demons, so they will still try to do stuff behind our backs¡­ But it will take at least a few years ¨C no, perhaps tens or hundreds of years.¡± So the demon followers gave up the war. Running to the east and hiding was probably the best that they could do. ¡°Is it impossible for us to invade the east?¡± ¡°Impossible.¡± It might be possible to go on an expedition with only the Guardians of the Holy Cross and proim a crusade, but it was impossible to do anything about the entire east. ¡°Because the empire also has to recover for at least ten years. The Cmity Warsted only three months, but the empire lost too much in those three months.¡± Not only was the imperial capital devastated, but the imperial army was halved. Dozens of cities were destroyed by the cmities, so perhaps even ten years was too short. ¡°Well, since the chancellor is gone, it shouldn¡¯t be a problem. Even if the cmities suddenly appear, Judelia will hunt them down.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± So the only problem now was the demon followers who were still hiding like rats in the empire and the kingdom. ¡°About Maximilian. He¡¯s said to be working hard, right?¡± ¡°Yes, I heard that he¡¯s traveling around the empire with the Imperial Knights.¡± The disciple of the Sword God. He was an agent of Archangel Auriel, but joined the Imperial Knights and dedicated himself to eradicating the demon followers. In hindsight, he was a war criminal, but he avoided punishment with the facts that he had been brainwashed and that his talents would be wasted. He himself was well aware of those facts, and seemed to have be a zealous demon exterminator because of his regret and suffering from what he had done. ¡°Haa¡­¡± ¡°Why are you sighing again?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just because¡­ I¡¯m envious?¡± His words came out of nowhere, but Velkian quickly understood it and had a bitter smile because of that. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m envious too.¡± Landius and Lena. The two had a wedding a few days ago. The ce was the former location of the Paragon Kingdom. They had originally nned to gather only their close friends and proceed in a modest manner, but that was impossible. The wedding was almost as grand as the wedding of Jude and Cordelia, with guests from all over the kingdom and the empire attending. ¡°They looked happy.¡± ¡°They should be happy.¡± Both Landius and Lena had lost a lot. So they should be happy now. They had to be happy. ¡°But honestly, I¡¯m a little worried about Lena. Don¡¯t you think so, old man?¡± At the words of Fran, Velkian coughed for no reason. In fact, everyone in the wedding hall had the same thought. Perhaps Landius grew in the midst of the Cmity War, as he was now 240 cm. Lena was still around 170 cm, so they had a huge difference of 70 cm in height. Considering the size difference, they were more like an adult and child. ¡°Landius¡¯ arms are as thick as Lena¡¯s waist.¡± Or rather, it might be even thicker. ¡°Lena is an angel, so she¡¯ll be fine.¡± ¡°Old man, old man, aren¡¯t you too harsh?¡± Velkian coughed at the sharp remark that stabbed him, but it was only for a moment. He soon regained hisposure and changed the topic. ¡°Anyway¡­ What are you going to do?¡± It was not a typical question of an old man like ¡®Are you not dating anyone?¡¯ Fran also understood right away what he meant, so he gave a proper answer. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I¡­ don¡¯t want to go back yet. I¡¯ve only been training for the past ten years, so I have not been able to travel like I¡¯ve said before. Right after I came out, I¡¯ve only been dragged into battles with you, old man.¡± ¡°I see, that would be nice too.¡± ¡°Old man, what about you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to help.¡± The reconstruction of the Paragon Kingdom. Both the kingdom and the empire were reluctant to enter the contaminatednd that the Demon Prince had polluted, so even after 10 years of its destruction, the old site of the Paragon Kingdom remained unupied. ¡°Kamael said that he did not want to be a king¡­ so the genealogy of the Paragon Kingdom would not be properly continued. But if Landius is there, and Lena is there¡­ that would be our Paragon.¡± Fran nodded at the words of Velkian. Refugees from the Paragon Kingdom had already heard the news and were gathering from all over the continent, and Jude and Cordelia hastily made and published a map of the newly created Paragon Kingdom. This was originally based on the im of Jude that the perception of people was important, but it was not bad thing anyway. Or rather, it was something that they liked. ¡°By the way, where are those two going?¡± ¡°They¡¯ll be leaving but not for a long time, so they asked us to take care of Pleiades in that time.¡± A letter from the two had arrivedst night. It was not their runaway letter of love that had be a trend throughout the continent, but the content was the same. ¡°No, isn¡¯t this still a runaway letter of love?¡± After all, they were leaving their house. At the sharp point of Fran again, Velkian did not respond. He just smiled and looked southwest where the Holy Nation of Judelia was located. *** ¡°Agugu ehehe! Auntie isn¡¯t here!¡± Cordelia said as she covered her face with both hands, and the babies lying on the small bed widened their eyes. ¡°Again!¡± When she put her palms away and showed a big smile, the babies burst into giggles as well. In the case of babies whose cognitive abilities had yet to develop, they tend to perceive the other as having ¡®disappeared¡¯ when they were not visible, so it was like a game of existence and non-existence. ¡®That¡¯s the weird exnation Jude gave.¡¯ After thinking about the face of Jude for a moment, Cordelia smiled and held the small hands of the babies. ¡°Aww, what should I do? They¡¯re so small. So cute.¡± The babies on the bed. Twins born to Adelia and Ga?l. ¡°You¡¯re really cute and adorable just like angels. No,e to think of it, are you really angels?¡± Because their mother, Adelia, was an angel. ¡°Ah, seriously. This is so nice.¡± Those small wriggling hands. Those adorable smiles. Although they were twins, one had dark blue hair like Ga?l and the other had blonde hair like Adelia. ¡®The older sister has dark blue hair and the younger brother has blonde hair.¡¯ What will they look like when they grow up? Will she be a female version of Jude? Cordelia momentarily imagined Jude as a woman and burst outughing. Because she remembered the past Jude who was like a woman when he was still suffering from an illness. ¡®A weak and beautiful girl is cute.¡¯ But it was bad when she thought about it. Because such an angelic child should not be weak. Being healthy and strong was always the best. ¡°Come here now. It¡¯s time to put the kids to sleep.¡± At the words of Adelia, Cordelia said goodbye to the babies with a face full of regret. ¡°Auntie will be back, okay? I will be back soon, okay? Yes, I will. Huhuhu.¡± Adelia watch Cordelia be teary eyed andughed out loud at the absurdity. ¡°Whoever sees you will think that you gave birth to them.¡± ¡°Hmph, it¡¯s my unnie¡¯s kids, so they¡¯re no different from mine.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not. These are the children I gave birth to, okay?¡± The babies were born two months ago. Adelia had been sick right after giving birth to twins, but now recovered much of her health. ¡°You¡¯re really amazing. Angels have a harder time having children than elves.¡± She could not believe that they had children after half a year of marriage. It was indeed an amazing achievement. ¡°You just have to work hard. Yes, work hard.¡± Cordelia giggled at the reply of Adelia, and said as she turned to the bed again. ¡°You¡¯re still thinking of names?¡± ¡°We¡¯ve decided on nicknames, but father is still thinking of their real names. Ha, seriously. He already has a thousand name candidates, you know?¡± Cordeliaughed at theints of Adelia. It was possible if it was their father. ¡°More than that¡­ Is this letter real?¡± A letter from Jude and Cordelia that had arrivedst night. Cordelia nodded at the question of Adelia. ¡°Yes, but not for a long time¡­ We¡¯ll just go for a while.¡± Adelia was unable to properly remember the memories of her past lives. And she did not even know everything that had happened to Jude and Cordelia. Therefore, she could not fully understand what was written in the letter, but she nodded her head. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s something that you two have decided. I¡¯m sure it¡¯s important.¡± At the words of Adelia, Cordelia felt a bit guilty, but she did not say anything else. In fact, it was not that important. ¡®No, it¡¯s important, right?¡¯ It might not be important to Pleiades, but it was very important for Cordelia herself. ¡°Go. Don¡¯t take too long. We have to watch my babies grow up, okay? Children grow up pretty fast. Don¡¯t miss all the good scenes ande back on time, okay?¡± ¡°Yes, unnie. We¡¯ll be back. Yes, for sure.¡± ¡°Okay, let¡¯s hug.¡± Adelia said and spread her arms out, and Cordelia tightly hugged her. Since bing a mother of two children, the personality of Adelia had softened a lot and she had be more rxed, but there was still one thing that had not changed. That she was the one and only older sister of Cordelia. A dear family. ¡°I¡¯m going then.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Cordelia bade farewell to the babies of Adelia onest time before leaving the Bayer mansion. And a few hourster, she faced Jude at the mansion of the Holy Nation of Judelia. ¡°You¡¯re done cleaning up, right?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m done.¡± Jude nodded at the question of Cordelia. While Cordelia was saying her goodbyes to Adelia, Jude was finishing a must-do before leaving Pleiades. Keynes. He was the only viin among the yable characters in Legend of Heroes 2. Having already been a heinous criminal even before the beginning of Legend of Heroes 2, he had alsomitted many evil deeds before and after the Cmity War. It was impossible to ignore his existence when they knew that he was definitelymitting evil, even if they did not know what it was. ¡°Leon and Sarah took him. The empire will decide what punishment he will face.¡± At the words of Jude, Cordelia nodded and began counting with her hands. Because she wondered if she had missed anything. ¡°Maximilian joined the Imperial Knights, Landius-nim and Lena-nim got married, and Leon and Sarah also said that they were getting married soon¡­ Red Wind would have a child in half a year¡­ Kirara became one of the Guardians of the Holy Nation¡­¡± Everything seemed to have been settled, except for her personal wish for Maja and Dahlia to find a mate soon. ¡°But just in case, wait a minute.¡± Cordelia said as she took out her diary and began to read thest pages seriously. Instead of using his see-through ability to peek at the diary, Jude waited for her and got his desired answer a few minutester. ¡°Okay, we can really go now.¡± As Cordelia closed her diary and widely smiled, Jude asked onest question. ¡°By the way, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes, Jude.¡± ¡°Why are we wearing Imperial Capital Academy uniforms?¡± It was true. The avatars they would be using for moving between worlds were wearing the uniforms of the Imperial Capital Academy. What Cordelia was wearing was the female uniform of the Imperial Capital Academy, a light gray jacket lined with ck fabric around the cor and cuffs and had blue designs, a white blouse, a blue ribbon, and a short ck skirt that started just below her chest. And what Jude was wearing was a male uniform with the same color scheme, but with trousers instead of a skirt. These were things they got when they went to see Kan, but for some reason, their avatars were the ones wearing it. ¡°It¡¯s pretty. I¡¯ve liked it so much sincest night.¡± ¡°Ahem, ahem. That¡¯s true.¡± Jude coughed at the words of Cordelia before looking at their avatars again. Avatars they had specially created for traveling between worlds. Since Jude and Cordelia were already divine beings, moving between worlds was not easy. Therefore, they decided to mobilize a little expedient. ¡®We can put our consciousness into the avatars and send it.¡¯ Their main bodies would be in Pleiades, and only a part of their consciousness would be sent with their avatars to Earth. ¡°In a way, this feels like we¡¯re ying a game.¡± Just like making an avatar and logging in to an online game. Jude nodded at the analogy of Cordelia. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go now.¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go. I can¡¯t wait to go.¡± To their family and friends who remained on Earth. And to Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee who were also themselves. What had happened to the two? Had they really be lovers after a fateful meeting? Or were they still arguing with each other online now? ¡°We¡¯ll find out when we go.¡± ¡°Yes, so let¡¯s go.¡± Jude and Cordelia sat besides each other on a chair and held hands. A part of their consciousness were slowly sent to the avatars. And the gate for moving between worlds was opened from the ritual they had prepared in advance. The avatars of Jude and Cordelia stood in front of the blue gate portal and looked at each other. As always, they took a step inside the gate while holding the hands of the other. ¡°To Earth.¡± Their movement between worlds began. SIDE STORY 9 SIDE STORY 9 The To Earth side story actually has 15 parts, which is almost half of the side stories for this series. Terms used in this series: Namsan Tower ¨C amunication and observation tower located on Namsan Mountain in central Seoul, South Korea. It¡¯s a popr tourist destination in Seoul. SIDE STORY ¨C TO EARTH (2) This was the second time that they had crossed another world. Or not. If one considered the movement of souls, they had done it four times. From Pleiades to Earth, and then from Earth to Pleaides. And the time when they went to Hell and back. But Cordelia felt a bit of motion sickness because she was still not used to it. ¡°Are you okay?¡± ¡°Uh, yes. Just a bit dizzy.¡± One could hardly feel the process of moving between worlds. The feeling was likeing out to the opposite side immediately after entering the gate. Like one was going through a door and not a tunnel. Anyway, Cordelia staggered and leaned against Jude who supported her with his arm holding her waist. She took a deep breath for a moment. ¡®The air is bad.¡¯ It was iparable to the clean air of Pleiades. After coughing several times and taking a few deep breaths, Cordelia eventually regained herposure. She was still being supported by Jude. ¡°Are you all right now?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m all right now.¡± She could actually resolve it right away with magic, but getting used to it was better since she could not cast magic for the entire period of their stay. ¡®No, on second thought, I think I can do it.¡¯ Still, she did not use it. Cordelia shook and raised her head, looking around her while still being held in the arms of Jude. An unfamiliar yet familiar sight. The two were now standing on the roof of an unknown building. It was different from Pleiades where the tallest building in the city was less than 10 floors. The building they were now on had at least 50 floors. Moreover, most of the surrounding buildings were like that. So they saw the scenery. ¡°Wow, it¡¯s Namsan Tower.¡± Jude also felt surprised when he heard the words Cordelia suddenly said. Since he had been too focused on the staggering Cordelia, the scenery felt new to him despite seeing it earlier. ¡°We¡¯re really here.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Jude abruptly carried Cordelia in his arms and walked towards the rooftop railing. Then Cordelia hugged the neck of Jude and said. ¡°You can¡¯t throw me, okay?¡± ¡°Even if I throw you, you can just fly.¡± The two spoke nonsense like usual before eximing in admiration. Because from the 50th floor, they saw the scenery on the ground. ¡°Jude, can I say something strange?¡± ¡°You always do that.¡± ¡°Argh. You¡¯re so mean.¡± ¡°Anyway, what do you want to say?¡± ¡°It¡¯s warm.¡± ¡°You mean the cityndscape?¡± ¡°Yes, it feels warm to see¡­ carsing and going on an eightne road and people walking while looking at their cellphones¡­¡± A scenery where the word ¡®bleak¡¯ was more appropriate to describe it rather than ¡®warm,¡¯ but Jude agreed with her. Because Jude also saw it like that. ¡®Since it¡¯s been a while.¡¯ It was their first time in 19 years, and almost 3 years since they remembered their memories. ¡°What year is it now?¡± ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be that long. I counted it when we were in Pleiades. Perhaps a year or two?¡± ¡°Only that?¡± Because 19 years had passed since they reincarnated in Pleiades. Cordelia asked with wide eyes, and Jude nodded again. ¡°To make it easier to understand, let¡¯spare it tos¡­ Mars and Earth sometimes get closer and farther away from each other, right?¡± ¡°Yes, they do.¡± ¡°In the same manner, the difference in the flow of time between worlds can also vary depending on whether the distance between two worlds gets closer and farther.¡± When the souls of Jude and Cordelia went to Earth, it was at the time when Pleiades and the world the Earth belonged to were close. ¡°When we were born and grew up here, time passed simrly to Pleiades, but¡­ after we got back, the distance between the two worlds widened again.¡± ¡°So that¡¯s the reason why it¡¯s like this now?¡± ¡°Yes. Actually, it¡¯s not just a matter of distance as there are many other reasons and variables, but you get the rough idea.¡± ¡°Yes, I roughly get it.¡± Cordelia left theplexities to Jude as always, and thought of something else instead. ¡°Then Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Is it the same in Heaven and Hell?¡± ¡°No. But it¡¯s not as extreme as Pleiades and Earth.¡± The failure of Auriel and Raguel to stop the death of Sri, and the failure of Auriel to heal her wounds caused by the death of Sri were rted to the time difference between worlds. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s check the date now.¡± He had estimated that it was 1 to 2 years, but did not know if more time had passed than that. But it was at that moment. ¡°Hey, hey. If we¡¯re going to check the date, I¡¯ve got a good way!¡± ¡°A good way?¡± Having been just thinking of going downstairs and grabbing anyone passing by to borrow their cellphone for a while, Jude tilted his head and Cordelia smiled again before nodding. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s a really good idea. You¡¯ll definitely like it too.¡± What do you mean? And 20 minutester. Jude agreed with the words of Cordelia. It was a really good idea. *** ¡°I like inte cafes!¡± An inte caf¨¦. A ce lined with lots ofputers where one could eat, drink, and y while ying games. To get in here, Jude and Cordelia had to use a few more spells. The Imperial Capital Academy uniforms which Cordelia imed to have worn because it was pretty was too noticeable. They were able to enter the inte caf¨¦ only after using illusion magic to cast the illusion of ordinary clothes, and cognitive impairment magic to blur the impression of the two. Five minutes before entering, the excited Cordelia was trying to suppress her pounding heart, but she was now openly liking it. ¡°Ah, this smell peculiar to an inte caf¨¦. I miss it so much.¡± ¡°The smell of cup noodles, disinfectant, and air purifier?¡± ¡°Yes, and those sounds too.¡± The clicking sound of a mouse and the tapping sound of a keyboard. And the curses that you hear from time to time. ¡°You¡¯re so f*cking bad at this!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t just block the road!¡± ¡°It won¡¯t die? F*ck?¡± That was not the only thing. ncing at the monitors in the back, there were people chatting while eagerly ¡®talking¡¯ about each other¡¯s parents. ¡°After all, f*ck is an exmation, right?¡± Cordelia giggled and Jude eventually smiled with her. In the end, it was nice if Cordelia smiled. Cordelia smiled at the trivial things, but there was nothing wrong with that. ¡°Yes, f*ck is an exmation and family insults are cutesy.¡± ¡°Hey, I don¡¯t like family insults.¡± T/N: Family insults are words that purposely insult someone else¡¯s parents. In Korean society, cursing someone else¡¯s parents is perceived at the worst insult one can give to another person. Think of it as simr to ¡®Yo mama¡¯ jokes. So the people eagerly ¡®talking¡¯ about each other¡¯s parents earlier were actually insulting each other. Cordelia giggled and looked at the monitors and keyboards again before her face turned a bit red. ¡°Hehe¡­ It¡¯s a loveseat.¡± A loveseat. A ce where she sat down with Romantic Cat-unnie in the past. But today was different. Because she and Jude were a true couple today. ¡°Hehehe.¡± ¡°You like it that much?¡± ¡°Yes, I like it. I love it.¡± I like inte cafes, I like loveseats, and I like Jude. Cordelia giggled again and kissed the cheek of Jude who was sitting next to her, and Jude had a delighted smile. Of course, some of the people who were ying games around them had frowns or let out swear words, but Jude simply ignored such things. ¡°Anyway, my princess, shall we check the date?¡± ¡°Yes, Daddy.¡± The expressions on those sitting next to them grew even worse, but the two only saw each other. ¡®Still, it¡¯s better to block it a bit.¡¯ Jude thought and drew a magic circle with his finger on theputer desk. Magic spells to block gazes and sound. In addition, there was also a spell for cognitive impairment. Now, whatever the two would do in this loveseat would not attract the attention of others. ¡°Hehe~ Let¡¯s check the date~ Wow, it¡¯s only been a year? Seriously?¡± It was 2019 when they left, and it was 2021 now. Although it was two years in terms of years, only 13 months had passed in terms of months. ¡°Hmm¡­ maybe nothing much has changed?¡± ¡°Yes, yes. But there must be one thing that changed.¡± Cordelia said as she quickly opened a browser window and tapped on the keyboard. She soon had a bright smile on her face. ¡°I knew it! I knew it will be here!¡± The final expansion pack for Legend of Heroes 3. ¡°Oh¡­ You can even use characters from the second episode?¡± ¡°Yes, yes! Look here. They added a happy ending route.¡± Did the events in Pleiades have an effect here? It was unlikely, but anyway, it was good to see. ¡°Jude, Jude.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± When Jude turned around, Cordelia suddenly pursed her lips outwards and began to act cute as she hugged the arm of Jude. ¡°It¡¯s been a really long time since we¡¯ve been here, right? So¡­ why don¡¯t we y for a bit? Please? Just a bit. Okay?¡± We can¡¯t pass up an opportunity like this, right? The determined Cordelia continued to act cute, and Judepletely fell for it like usual. ¡°Shall we then? Just a bit?¡± ¡°Yes, yes! Just a bit!¡± After naturally opening Legend of Heroes 2, the two put their hands on the keyboard while looking at the login window. And it was right after that. ¡°Wait!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Cordelia who had already finished typing her username like lightning was surprised and raised her head. Then Jude spoke quickly again. ¡°I mean, we can¡¯t use our usernames. It¡¯s only been a year. We¡¯re still here.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± He was right. It was highly likely that Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee were connected to Legend of Heroes 2 somewhere. Even if they were not, the two would be suspected of hacking at the sudden signs of login. ¡°Then what? Should we create new ones?¡± ¡°I guess so.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Well, okay. I¡¯m also concerned about the newly added happy ending route.¡± So why don¡¯t we create new ounts? Actually, I think that would be more fun. ¡°Then Jude. Shall we make a bet?¡± ¡°What bet?¡± ¡°Who¡¯ll get the max level first? It¡¯s also good to bet on who¡¯ll clear a scenario first.¡± ¡°Hoh? Is that fine with you?¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine with me. Because I will win.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Why do I feel that I hear that every night?¡± Jude mischievously smiled and Cordelia immediately pinched the back of the hand of Jude, saying. ¡°So are we going to do it or not?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s do it. My princess wants to make a bet, so I shall oblige.¡± ¡°Hmph, I¡¯m going to seriously beat you.¡± ¡°Okay, okay. Anyway, what¡¯s the prize for the bet?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll grant me a wish?¡± ¡°You¡¯re going to regret it again. Wait. Is your wish asking me to beg at you? As expected of my naughty princess.¡± ¡°What is this crazy b*stard saying? Where did that naughty thinge from? You¡¯re seriously a pervert- Wait¡­ What are you doing?¡± ¡°What am I doing? Creating an ount? Haven¡¯t the bet already started?¡± ¡°Argh. You always use tricks! Sign me up too!¡± ¡°Yes, yes, please wait.¡± Because they could not sign up with the personal information of Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee. Jude created new ounts for himself and Cordelia with personal information he came up with. ¡°Ah, it¡¯s starting. My heart is pounding.¡± Why is this making my heart pound so much? Jude looked at Cordelia and honestly admitted it too. ¡°Frankly, I feel the same.¡± ¡°Right?¡± After all, the two were gamers. ¡°Then, shall we seriously begin?¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s start. Let¡¯s start right away.¡± Jude and Cordelia very obviously chose Jude and Cordelia respectively as their characters, and began the game. *** 3 dayster. ¡°Ah, eating cup noodles while ying games. This is why youe to inte cafes.¡± Cordelia ate shrimp soup noodles as she watched the staff credits, while Jude spoke as he opened a can of c for Cordelia. ¡°We¡¯ve cleared episode 2 now.¡± ¡°Oh, we can now finish episode 3.¡± The fact that they could link episode 3 with their episode 2 characters meant that they could y the scenarios in episode 3 too. ¡°Then Cordelia, why don¡¯t we move to another ce?¡± ¡°Huh? Why? Is there a problem with theputer?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just that we¡¯ve been sitting and ying games for three days. So let¡¯s change the air?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ okay. Let¡¯s move. Is there another inte caf¨¦ nearby?¡± ¡°No, not an inte caf¨¦¡­ but a better ce.¡± ¡°A better ce?¡± ¡°Yes, a very nice ce.¡± A smile spread across the face of Jude, and Cordelia tilted her head. And 30 minutester. ¡°Hey, you pervert.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a pervert, okay?¡± ¡°What do you mean? Where in the world is there a guy who goes to a m-mo-motel just to y games?¡± A motel. A ce she had never been to when she was Hong Yoo Hee. Because she had nothing to do with it anyway. ¡°T-This is a dirty ce!¡± ¡°Hehe, why are you only thinking of that? Haven¡¯t you seen it on the inte? Motels are ces to y games these days. Look. Aren¡¯t those in front of you thetestputers?¡± In fact, that was not the only thing. There were plenty of things one could do besides that. Seeing the microphone, it seemed that even karaoke was possible. ¡°Uuuugh.¡± But still, a motel was a motel. When Cordelia nced at the transparent shower stall as though she was very worried, Jude immediately set up theputers and said. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s y episode 3 now. No one will see us here, so we don¡¯t have to use magic.¡± ¡°Yes, yes. I like it. I like it.¡± Unlike their main bodies that could use magic as natural as breathing, it was rather difficult to use magic 24 hours a day with the avatars they prepared for traveling between worlds. So when they released the magic spells, she felt morefortable. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s start now. The bet is who¡¯llpletely clear episode 3.¡± ¡°Hmph, I¡¯m definitely going to win.¡± ¡°Okay, okay. If you insist.¡± ¡°Evil b*stard.¡± Cordelia smiled and cursed before quickly beginning Legend of Heroes 3, and three days passed like that again. *** ¡°Ah¡­¡± ¡°Ah¡­¡± Jude and Cordelia stared at the monitors with mixed emotions. The ending of Legend of Heroes 3. And the epilogue and ending credits. The story did not progress as Jude and Cordelia had experienced in Pleiades. Much more people died, and there were some they could not save, perhaps because it was their first round of ying. But in the end, Pleiades regained its peace. ¡°It was a good story.¡± ¡°Yeah, it was fun.¡± The teary-eyed Cordelia finally cried. Because for Cordelia ¨C no, for Hong Yoo Hee, the Legend of Heroes series was more than just a game. A life partner she had invested more than a quarter of her life, or five years. It was natural for her to cry after seeing the end of a long journey. ¡°But not yet. There¡¯s also an Online Mode.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Not yet. Only Overlord Asmodeus was defeated, and Archangel Auriel remained. But still. They felt satisfied. Jude wiped the tears of Cordelia, and she leaned her head in his arms. They stayed like that for a while, and kissed each other like always afterwards. And the next morning. ¡°It was fun.¡± ¡°Yeah, it was a fun journey.¡± ¡°But Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes, Jude.¡± ¡°What¡¯s your wish?¡± They were only a few seconds apart, but Cordelia was the one who won the bet. ¡°Hehe, I don¡¯t know. Should I make Jude a woman? I¡¯ll be a man.¡± It was just a matter of making female and male avatars. Her sudden words startled Jude, and Cordelia smiled again before saying. ¡°Don¡¯t you think that Jude as a weak and beautiful girl is seriously cute?¡± ¡°E-Excuse me?¡± ¡°Hehehe.¡± Cordelia mischievouslyughed again and kissed Jude. She said as she stroked the cheek of Jude. ¡°If you don¡¯t like it, shall we make another bet?¡± ¡°What bet?¡± ¡°Let me see¡­ Who¡¯ll be the first to unlock all the main quests in Online Mode?¡± ¡°Hoh? Did you know that I let you win this time?¡± ¡°Bullsh*t. You didn¡¯t even sleep and just yed the game.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you the same?¡± ¡°Hmph, whose fault do you think this is?¡± That was it. The two red and smiled fiercely at each other before sitting down in front of theputers again and beginning to y the game with a fiery momentum. And a monthter. ¡°Ah, this f*cked up game. There¡¯s not much to do. There¡¯s not enough content.¡± ¡°It¡¯s like that for all f*cking games.¡± The two had stayed in the motel for a month and only yed the game, and at one point, Cordelia scratched her stomach and said. ¡°Shall we go back?¡± ¡°Shall we?¡± They had yed the entire Legend of Heroes 3. The two habitually kissed each other and stood up. And did some stretching. ¡°Haa, it was fun though.¡± ¡°Yes, it was rewarding.¡± ¡°When we get back, I should make the female Jude first. Hihi.¡± Cordelia won the second bet too. Although she used a bit of a cowardly move. Cordelia giggled and prepared to open a gate, and Jude assisted Cordelia. And another hour or soter. ¡°By the way, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes, Jude.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t we forgetting something?¡± ¡°Huh? What?¡± We already cleared Legend of Heroes 2 and 3? There are ns for an episode 4, but that will take a long time- ¡°AH!¡± The true reason why they came to Earth from Pleiades. ¡°Hey, hey! Why did you forget it too?¡± ¡°No, I just pretended to have forgotten it. I was just waiting for you to realize it.¡± ¡°F*cking bullsh*t. It¡¯s obvious that you just realized it now, okay?¡± ¡°¡­It¡¯s all because I went into your body. I¡¯ve be like you.¡± ¡°What f*cking excuse is that!¡± After kicking the shin of Jude, Cordelia held her shin too as she was in pain like always. Her avatar might be strong, but that applied to Jude too. ¡°Anyway, Cordelia. Let¡¯s find them quickly.¡± ¡°Argh. I¡¯m going to make it soft next time.¡± ¡°No way. Isn¡¯t it better if it¡¯s hard than soft?¡± Jude spoke nonsense like usual before he pulled the hand of Cordelia and they sat in front of theputers. He was not like a goldfish who forgot what he just said and got immersed into the game again. ¡°It¡¯s there, it¡¯s there!¡± The names of two people were in the Hall of Fame of Legend of Heroes. 1st ce: Outboxer009 ¨C 36 months in a row! 2nd ce: Yellow Storm ¨C 35 months in a row! ¡°This makes me feel bad.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just like us.¡± Cordelia pouted and Jude pressed his lips to the cheek of Cordelia. He said as he hugged her waist. ¡°Now, shall we follow them?¡± Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee. What happened to the two in this world and how they had lived. The hands of Jude and Cordelia on the keyboards began to speed up again SIDE STORY 10 SIDE STORY 10 Terms used in this side story: Boosting ¨C a game term wherein a yer ys another yer¡¯s ount to help them rank up. In South Korea, boosting is a criminal offense. Law of inertia ¨C This is sometimes used as an idiomatic expression in Korea. It means that you continue to do something that you had done in the past even though it may not be the best to do at the present time. SIDE STORY ¨C TO EARTH (3) Legend of Heroes 2 first and second ce in the Korea Server. With the final expansion pack of Legend of Heroes 3 being linked to episode 2, the two were still the first and second in rank despite the user data of episodes 2 and 3 being merged. ¡°Seriously, do they only eat and y games?¡± ¡°I know.¡± The two, who had only been eating and ying games for over a month, murmured as they talked about their other selves before turning to each other. Jude spoke first. ¡°But Cordelia, you said that you were the girl next door, right? Does that mean you were a high school student until recently?¡± ¡°Yes, yes. Why? Are you excited to hear that you¡¯re going out with someone who wore a school uniform untilst year? Or do you feel guilty?¡± ¡°Hey, it¡¯s been 19 years since we were reincarnated, right?¡± ¡°So you¡¯re saying that you¡¯re not nervous now?¡± ¡°My heart is going bathump bathump.¡± ¡°Pfft.¡± Cordelia snorted in satisfaction, and Jude unconsciously smiled before continuing. ¡°Anyway, that means the first time you became second ce was when you were in 2nd year of high school.¡± ¡°You¡¯re emphasizing the number 2 on purpose, huh?¡± ¡°No way. Anyway, what I meant was that you continued to be in second ce while you were in your 2nd year and 3rd year of high school? And second ce on the Korea server?¡± ¡°Why? It¡¯s doable.¡± When Cordelia grunted and replied, Jude narrowed his brows. ¡°Umm¡­ I¡¯ve never experienced high school in Korea since I lived abroad, but¡­ aren¡¯t students usually busy studying in their 2nd and 3rd years of high school?¡± ¡°I was busy. I thought I was going to die since I had to study, y Legend of Heroes 2, and so on.¡± Cordelia replied, her face distorting as though she found it painful to just think about it. She had strangely enough managed it. ¡®What? You seriously studied?¡¯ Come to think of it, she once said that she had quite a few certifications. ¡®Was she unemployed or in a vocational high school? No. The school uniform she wore back then was from a nearby academic high school.¡¯ Jude pondered for a moment before his eyes narrowed. He said as he stared at Cordelia. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s be honest. Okay?¡± ¡°W-What?¡± It was suspicious that she was already flustered. ¡°Did you use boosting?¡± Though there was no way that she would entrust important battles or PVP to someone else. Jude himself knew better than anyone how skilled Cordelia was at that time. Perhaps she only used a booster to have them y those repetitive parts in the game. The conscience of Cordelia was pricked as she struggled and was visibly embarrassed. Jude then pinched the cheek of Cordelia painfully. ¡°Au-au-ouch. It hurts.¡± ¡°It will hurt since I¡¯m pinching you, right?¡± The soft feel of her cheek made him feel good though, obviously. In any case, the teary-eyed Cordelia began making excuses while holding her cheek. ¡°I mean, it was only when I was busy in my 2nd and 3rd years in high school¡­¡± As Jude had guessed, there was a time when she asked a cousin or Romantic Cat to boost her in the repetitive parts of the game. Legend of Heroes 2 had a daily y limit. In other words, it had adopted a so-called fatigue system. So it would be hard for high school sophomores and seniors who always suffered from fatigue in high school to fully y the game. ¡°Hoh¡­ I was right.¡± ¡°Argh¡­ Hey! If you think about it, isn¡¯t this your fault?!¡± I did that to beat you. Who told you to make fun of me like that? Huh? Do you know how, how, how much I wanted to beat you! Tears welled up in the eyes of Cordelia as her sadness burst, and Jude quickly let go of his hand in surprise. ¡°Uh, well¡­ it¡¯s fine if you only boosted the repetitive parts. There are even kids whopletely write macros. Come to think of it, why did you use a booster instead of a macro?¡± ¡°Macros are recorded.¡± If one got caught using macros for ranking, their ount would be suspended. When Cordelia replied with her shoulders drooping, Jude unknowingly felt apologetic. ¡°Did you want to be first ce so much?¡± ¡°Rather than that¡­¡± I just wanted to beat you once. How should I say this? I only need to win against one person, but that person is the best in the world? In fact, Jude was not much different. He just needed to do better than Yellow Storm, so that he could tease them. But to do that, he had to win first ce on the server. Because Yellow Storm had to be second ce. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m sorry for always being first ce.¡± Jude tightly hugged Cordelia and said, but Cordelia pinched his side in her anger. ¡°Are you seriously making fun of me!¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m just teasing you.¡± ¡°F*ck!¡± Ah, as expected. Cordelia is fun to tease. She responds quickly. As Jude smiled again, the furious Cordelia punched the chest of Jude with her fist, but it did not do any damage. ¡°Argh. I¡¯ll make your next avatar as a weak and beautiful girl.¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s a bit¡­¡± ¡°Why? Is thebination of a lively, cheerful, and sexy muscr male Cordelia and a weak and beautiful female Jude not good?¡± After thinking for a moment at her words, Jude unconsciously nodded but soon shook his head. Because the weak and beautiful girl was going to be him. ¡°A-Anyway!¡± ¡°Anyway? Are you changing the topic?¡± ¡°Uh, yes. Let¡¯s change it. Anyway, you nned to go to college, right?¡± ¡°Yes, I got epted for early admissions, so I was able to y games till the end.¡± ¡°Where did you get in?¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I mean, even after you became a college student, you only yed games.¡± Jude said as he pointed to the monitor, and Cordelia tilted her head with a puzzled look. ¡°Don¡¯t college freshmen only y games?¡± ¡°No, they don¡¯t. I¡¯ve never been to college, but that¡¯s not true, okay?¡± In fact, he was not that confident. As he had said, he had never been to college. ¡°No, I must have made new friends after going to college and yed around¡­ umm¡­¡± Come to think of it, I didn¡¯t have many friends in high school. If you think about it, it¡¯s strange for a gamer who spent her 2nd and 3rd years of high school ying games to suddenly stop ying games in college and be a popr person. ¡°It¡¯s thew of inertia.¡± As Cordelia nodded her head in response, Jude automatically pinched her cheek again. ¡°Hey, that¡¯s now how you use those words, okay? And I don¡¯t think it¡¯s something to be proud of, okay?¡± ¡°Why! Aren¡¯t you embarrassed of your shamelessness?¡± When asked if he was embarrassed of what he did in Legend of Heroes, Jude furrowed his brows again. ¡°Anyway.¡± ¡°You¡¯re changing it again.¡± ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s change the topic. Anyway, you¡¯re still ying games even after going to college.¡± ¡°And you?¡± Cordelia pushed away the hand of Jude as she pressed her red cheek and pouted. Jude took issue with the fact that Hong Yoo Hee was still in second ce after entering college, but there was also Kang Jin-ho who remained first ce. ¡°I thought the oppa next door was a really cool frencer, but he was unemployed. He was unemployed and only yed games at home.¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m not. I¡¯m retired, okay?¡± ¡°Then I am right. It means you only yed games after retiring.¡± Jude got angry at the point of Cordelia, but that was it. Because he had no excuses for it. ¡®Because she is right.¡¯ Still, I find it a bit unfair. From my childhood up to my retirement. I¡¯ve never been to a proper school, and have only lived in battlefields and conflict zones, so isn¡¯t it fine to retire early and y? ¡°By the way, where did you get the money to be able to y like that? Did you earn a lot before you retired?¡± ¡°There¡¯s that, but¡­ I also got an inheritance.¡± The inheritance he got from Alexei. In the first ce, the death of his teacher Alexei was what caused him to retire. As the expression of Jude darkened, Cordelia was surprised this time. Looking into the eyes of Jude, she bit her lip several times before finally opening her mouth. ¡°Are you¡­ okay?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s been over five years already.¡± Considering the time of their reincarnation, it was well over 20 years, so just thinking about it did not make his heart feel broken, but still, thinking about the death of Alexei made him feel sad. ¡®Should I say that he was like a¡­ father?¡¯ He was definitely different from a typical father figure. Alexei loved Kang Jin-ho enough for him to leave an inheritance, but it was more of affection for a subordinate than affection for a child. If he really thought of Kang Jin-ho as a child in the first ce, he would have emigrated to a safe country instead of teaching Jin-ho on how to live on the battlefield. ¡°It¡¯s okay now. I got my revenge.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Re-revenge? It¡¯s not at the level of PVP that appears in games. True revenge. It¡¯s also obvious that it¡¯s the bloody kind of revenge. ¡®But¡­ I¡¯m not surprised?¡¯ Come to think of it, perhaps it¡¯s because Jude and I have already ovee so much chaotic stuff in Pleiades. ¡°Umm, okay. Anyway, it¡¯s good if you¡¯ve recovered from it now.¡± And since Jude is a good person, Alexei must be a good person too. His revenge targets must have been bad people then. Reality obviously did not work that way, but Cordelia decided to think so for the sake of her mental health. ¡°Anyway, both of them are still ying games hard.¡± ¡°Yes, I think so too.¡± Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee. The Jude and Cordelia who were reincarnated on Earth. Now that their souls were separated, they were like strangers, but the two still felt some attachment to them. ¡°A fateful encounter¡­ I don¡¯t think those two had that yet, right?¡± ¡°Perhaps?¡± ¡°She didn¡¯t even notice that the oppa next door is Outbo?¡± ¡°He didn¡¯t even know that the girl next door is Norfolk.¡± Perhaps it was still a repetition of bickering, making fun, and getting angry at each other when they meet in the game. ¡°Eueueu¡­ the oppa next door is an idiot.¡± ¡°Well, the same goes for the girl next door who doesn¡¯t notice it, right?¡± ¡°Hey, is that important now? Huh? In a situation where a Golden Sun might take me away?¡± She was probably talking about Hong Yoo Hee here. But there was one word he did not understand. ¡°Golden Sun?¡± ¡°Blonde tanned thug. You don¡¯t know that? Other than that, college seniors or college ssmates¡­¡± T/N: This exnation is going to be long. Bear with me. ¡®Golden Sun¡¯ is Geum-tae-yang in Korean. ¡®Geum¡¯ means gold, and ¡®tae-yang¡¯ means sun, but the word is actually an abbreviation of the Korean words geumbal (blonde) + tae-ning (tanned) + yang-achi (thug). Next, ever heard oforare (NTR)? It¡¯s a genre of hentai where a person steals the romantic partner of someone in a rtionship. In Korea, there¡¯s a clich¨¦ that a thug who¡¯s blonde and tanned is the one who usually steals the romantic partner. So Cordelia is thinking that she did not want Hong Yoo Hee to be stolen from Kang Jin-ho by those blonde tanned thugs or the college seniors and ssmates. ¡°No, wait. Lady Cordelia. Calm down and see this.¡± ¡°What? What about our rankings?¡± Cordelia frowned and Jude exined in a gentle tone. ¡°You¡¯re still in second ce. Because you¡¯re just ying games.¡± So there¡¯s no way that you¡¯ll be able to do things like dating, right? But Cordelia shook her head and said. ¡°Hey, it¡¯s because you don¡¯t know anything. You don¡¯t know about me, I mean, Hong Yoo Hee. I¡¯m the ideal woman for gamers, okay? Isn¡¯t that right? I¡¯m a pretty girl gamer who¡¯s good at games and have a foul mouth. Don¡¯t they go horny for those?¡± What is she talking about? Jude was speechless for a moment, but soon nodded. Because the words of Cordelia were actually true to some extent. ¡°But what can we do? We can¡¯t force them.¡± Jude was definitely Kang Jin-ho and Cordelia was Hong Yoo Hee. But now that their souls were separated, the four werepletely strangers from each other. ¡°Eueue¡­ let¡¯s stop. Let¡¯s discuss thatter and see how they are doing first. Maybe she¡¯s already flirting with someone.¡± ¡°No way.¡± There¡¯s no way that a flirtatious female college student will be second ce on the server. Jude straightforwardly spoke, but Cordelia did not give up. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go see them. Okay?¡± In fact, it was not only Hong Yoo Hee. She wanted to see her parents too, and her dog, Tori, who was now five years old. However, Cordelia did not speak that out loud. ¡®Because Jude did not have that.¡¯ Hong Yoo Hee had a family. But Kang Jin-ho was alone. Although he never spoke of it properly, it was easy to guess that Kang Jin-ho was an orphan judging by the stories she asionally heard. So Cordelia did not say that she wanted to see her family. But this was none other than Jude. He knew the thinking of Cordelia better than Cordelia herself sometimes, so he quickly understood her thoughts. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go see them.¡± How Hong Yoo Hee was doing. How her family was living now. ¡°I wonder how the chat room gang are doing.¡± At the words of Cordelia, Jude also remembered the chat room members whoughed and chatted with them, but then shook his head. ¡°But if we log in with our main ounts, Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee will notice it. It¡¯s also impossible to have a proper conversation with our new ounts.¡± ¡°Ugh¡­¡± Unfortunately, it was true. Therefore, Cordelia stood up instead of trembling with regret. ¡°Okay, then let¡¯s go and see them.¡± Actually, she was a bit embarrassed. She and Jude would be able to observe Hong Yoo Hee together. But on the contrary, she was fine because it was Jude. Because she felt like she could show anything to Jude alone. ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go.¡± To see Hong Yoo Hee. And two dayster. Cordelia shouted in anger. ¡°What is this! What is this!¡± She knew that Hong Yoo Hee did not actually notice that the oppa next door was Outboxer009. She could also guess that Hong Yoo Hee was not interested in dating. But Hong Yoo Hee also graduated from high school and went to college! ¡°Nothing has changed!¡± Home, school, home, school. All she does in between are just gaming, gaming, and gaming! The clothes she always wear are hoodies and jeans. But when I was in high school, I wore a pretty school uniform! ¡°Umm, as expected of Norfolk.¡± ¡°You¡¯re a problem too! Hong Yoo Hee goes to school at least. You only stay home and y games!¡± The only times you go out are when you smoke or go to the supermarket to buy food, right? ¡°Hey, I work out too, okay?¡± ¡°You only do it at home!¡± Kang Jin-ho was also fit, though notparable to the current Jude. So what should they do now? The two were always at home every day. ¡®No, isn¡¯t this good in a way?¡¯ Because she could not lose Kang Jin-ho to someone else. While Cordelia was contemting for a while, Jude looked back at the apartment where Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee lived before saying. ¡°In any case, everyone seems to be doing well. Can¡¯t we just leave them like that?¡± He was not exactly wrong. The two were living happily ever after. But Cordelia was not satisfied. ¡°No, it can¡¯t go on like this. Of course, they may end up dating each other through a real fateful encounter. But I can¡¯t wait for that. It should be now.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll be 30 soon!¡± To be exact, it was Kang Jin-ho and not Jude. ¡°Hong Yoo Hee is 21 years old now! But Kang Jin-ho is soon turning 30! No, even if he¡¯s a year younger, they should date sooner rather thanter.¡± She was concerned about that? ¡°No, uh¡­ how should I say it? Why must the two be dating now¡­¡± It was then. Cordelia looked up at Jude with a scary expression, and Jude awkwardly smiled and immediately changed his words. ¡°Yes, the two should date. They must. It has to be.¡± After all, they were the two people of destiny. In fact, Jude himself could not stand the thought of Hong Yoo Hee, who was Cordelia now, dating someone else other than himself. ¡°But what are we going to do?¡± Those two who always made fun of each other every day while ying the same game for 6 years were actually the cool oppa and pretty girl who were neighbors. How do they get these two to get along? Should they make a love potion and feed it to the two? Cordelia crossed her arms and pondered at the question of Jude, and soon spoke with a firm expression. ¡°They need to see each other first.¡± ¡°In real life and not in the game?¡± ¡°Yes, let them meet each other. Know who the other is. We should do that. Then we¡¯ll do it.¡± ¡°Uh, will that be enough?¡± ¡°Yes, it will be.¡± ¡°How sure are you?¡± ¡°Eh? W-Well¡­¡± The words of Cordelia trailed off, and she suddenly closed her mouth. She then said with a red face. ¡°I-I liked you.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°I-I liked you!¡± Hong Yoo Hee liked the oppa next door. Of course, it¡¯s not to the point where I had a passionate unrequited love, but how do I say this? Like a high school senior I admire? That kind of feeling? At the confession of Cordelia, Jude blinked his eyes before he had a wicked and big smile. Or rather, he tried to smile, but could not. ¡°I¡¯ll kill you if youugh.¡± The trembling and red-faced Cordelia was more adorable than threatening, but either way, it was enough to move the heart of Jude. ¡°That¡¯s right. You shouldn¡¯tugh.¡± Jude struggled to hold it in, which forced the corners of his mouth into twitching. Cordelia looked at such a Jude in dissatisfaction and said. ¡°What about you?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°What about you?¡± Hong Yoo Hee admired and liked the oppa next door. So what about Kang Jin-ho? What did he think of the girl next door? ¡°Well..¡± ¡°Well?¡± ¡°The girl next door is¡­ pretty, cute, and lovely?¡± She liked the adjectives he used. But that did not satisfy her. ¡°What? Is that all?¡± ¡°Excuse me. First of all, the girl next door was in high school, right?¡± When he first saw her, she was in middle school. It would be stranger if he liked her. ¡°Tsk, tsk, tsk. She¡¯s all grown up now. She¡¯s a college girl now.¡± ¡°No, well¡­ that¡¯s true.¡± Because she was in high school when Kang Jin-ho first met her. But frankly, Jude did not thought that Kang Jin-ho would change his mind even now. ¡°Still¡­ Umm¡­. It¡¯s you and me. We don¡¯t know what will happen once we meet.¡± As Cordelia had said, the two were adults now. ¡°Is that so? It will happen, right?¡± Cordelia shook in excitement, and Jude agreed before saying. ¡°So how are we going to get them to meet?¡± Would they expose the fact that the oppa next door was Outboxer009 under the guise of coincidence? But they would not have a fateful encounter then. Cordelia crossed her arms and said. ¡°Let¡¯s have a meet-up. We¡¯ve been ying games together for 6 years, so shouldn¡¯t we meet offline once?¡± ¡°With everyone in the chat room?¡± ¡°No, not that. We just need the two to meet.¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°Hey, it¡¯s your job to think about these things. Come up with a sneaky scheme like you did to me!¡± Cordelia now knew everything about the long-running ¡®Operation Irreversible Fact¡¯ that Jude had carried out. She no longer wondered why he made her always say strange things back then. Or write those letters. Anyway, as Cordelia grumbled, Jude scratched his chin and came up with a solution. ¡°Let¡¯s use dreams.¡± ¡°Dreams?¡± ¡°Yes, dreams. Let¡¯s persuade them in their dreams.¡± So that the two would have the courage to meet each other once. At what Jude had said, Cordelia blinked her eyes and soon pped her hands andughed out loudly. ¡°Oh, as expected of my scammer. That¡¯s a good way. If I speak to her as Cordelia, I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll be convinced.¡± Because Hong Yoo Hee was a fan of Cordelia. Frankly, Kang Jin-ho would not care much about what Jude would say, but if it was Hong Yoo Hee, they could make her ept it by aggressively persuading her. ¡°Okay, then let¡¯s do it now.¡± ¡°Excuse me, it¡¯s daytime.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s y until night. Bet again?¡± ¡°Okay, let¡¯s bet.¡± Jude and Cordelia sat down in front of theputers again after returning and had a fun time until nighttime. And in the middle of the night. Jude and Cordelia were lying next to each other on the bed, and exchanged nces onest time before closing their eyes. ¡°Let¡¯s do well.¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s do well.¡± The two said before they habitually held hands and closed their eyes. And a few minutester. Cordelia opened her eyes in the dream of Hong Yoo Hee. SIDE STORY 11 SIDE STORY 11 Terms used in this side story: Korea¡¯s age counting system ¨C South Korea has this culture that your age increases by one on New Year¡¯s Day, regardless of what date in the year you were born. There¡¯s also the fact that you¡¯ll be 1 years old already on the day you were born. So if you were born on December 31, you¡¯ll be one years old, but a dayter, January 1, you¡¯ll suddenly be two years old. Hongdae ¨C a neighbourhood area in Seoul, South Korea near Hongik University. It is known for its urban arts and indie music culture, local shops, clubs, and entertainment. SIDE STORY ¨C TO EARTH (4) Hong Yoo Hee. 20 years old, but just before 21 years old in Korea¡¯s age counting system. upation: College student. Hobby: ying games. Skills: ying games. Likes: ying games. She was like Ajin, short for loner nerd, who had the routine of going to school, home, school, and home. T/N: Ajin is a meme character in Korea. Ajines from the words Assa (loner) + Jinta (nerd), and is a female character depicted as always wearing hoodies and jeans. She also has a routine of school, home, school, and home. She was definitely not like that from the beginning. Like many high school students across the country, there was a time when she had a longing for college life. Moreover, although she was not beautifully dressed, there were many ssmates and seniors who showed interest in her because of her beauty. But almost a year after Hong Yoo Hee entered college, she had be Ajin. The reason was simple. ¡®Because I only y Legend of Heroes all day!¡¯ The only thing she did outside of sses was to y Legend of Heroes. ¡®But it¡¯s the college¡¯s fault too!¡¯ College life was different from what she had imagined. The college professors are not much different from school teachers? Interactions with professors? A different level of learning from high school? Adult entertainment that are different from children¡¯s entertainment? Bullsh*t. Certainly, there were some students who had personal exchanges with the professors. But only a few. Very few. Where could you find a professor who initiated rtionships by actively engaging with students who sit in a corner and quietly attend sses? And frankly, most of the sses were at the freshmen level where there was only introductions or reviews, so there was not much depth into it. The school felt like it could not even teach ounting to its students. Of course, schools and universities had different teaching objectives and directions, but from the perspective of taking sses, that was how she felt. And her ssmates. She thought that there would be something special when she became a college student, but it was all alcohol. Alcohol. Alcohol. Alcohol. She went out of curiosity at first, and waster forced to go out to drink a few times, but that was it. There were a lot of terrible people, starting with the drunk ones and the ones who picked fights. Drinking parties were not particrly fun. Obviously, not all of them were like that, and there were times she had fun drinking with people, but that was only a few people, and her interactions with them gradually lessened as she did not go out torge drinking gatherings. So in the end, all that was left was a freshman, a person like Ajin who traveled alone. Even her outfit was the same as Ajin ¨C hoodies and jeans. College life seemed depressing considering all that, but not at all for her. After all, the chatroom members of Legend of Heroes were still there. Rather, in her early days of college, the final expansion pack of Legend of Heroes 3 made her every day exciting. ¡®Was it because of that?¡¯ Because she became immersed in Legend of Heroes. Perhaps that was why she voluntarily became Ajin and missed out on a lot of big gatherings. ¡®Well¡­ Even in high school, if you never joined groups at the beginning of the semester, you¡¯ll be left out for the entire year.¡¯ The same seemed to be true for universities as people also go there. Anyway. If Hong Yoo Hee was asked to write down the names of her three close friends, only the chatroom members came to her mind, so she was living like Ajin, but was still happy. ¡°I¡¯m going to win this time!¡± Second ce for 35 consecutive months. But it will be different this time. It will be this time. It will be this month! ¡°Hehehe, I even made a bet this time too.¡± The winner would be granted one wish. There was no doubt that the cheater Outbo b*stard was just fooling around, but in fact, Hong Yoo Hee herself had also staked everything in it. If she lost here, she did not know what that evil Outbo b*stard would make her do. ¡®Even so, I don¡¯t think he¡¯ll make me delete my character.¡¯ I won¡¯t make him delete his character too. But it¡¯s clear that he¡¯ll try to humiliate me or something. Humiliation. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m going to humiliate you properly.¡± Because I¡¯ll win this time, okay? I¡¯ll humiliate you when I win! Hong Yoo Hee smiled as she thought of all sorts of humiliating pranks that would be good to have Outbo do. It was to the point where her shoulders were shaking in excitement. ¡°Ohmigosh, ohmigosh, ahem, ahem, ohmigosh.¡± Hong Yoo Hee puffed up her chest and looked at the monitor again. Cordelia had a pretty dress as she stood in a picturesque ce. ¡°She¡¯s so beautiful.¡± Hong Yoo Hee herself was in a situation where she only wore clothes that were highly convenient, such as hoodies and jeans outside, and sleeveless shirts and shorts at home, but not for Cordelia. She was so devoted to dressing up Cordelia to the point that she dressed up Cordelia in clothes she herself had designed. ¡°If you hunted during the time you dressed her up, you would have won first ce¡­. No, isn¡¯t that too much?¡± The anger of Hong Yoo Hee soared as she recalled the remark of Outbo, but it was only for a moment. Because the smiling face of the angelic-looking Cordelia made her smile. ¡°Good night, see you tomorrow.¡± Hong Yoo Hee greeted Cordelia quietly and turned off theputer. She headed to the bathroom to wash up before going to bed and lying down. She quickly fell asleep as she had stayed upte. *** ¡°Oh yeah! +9! I made it to +9!¡± Hong Yoo Hee jumped high as she held a huge golden wand studded with red gems. Magician ughtering Wand +9. Even though it was a weapon exclusively for wizards, the weapon was specialized against wizards. Its drop rate and enhancement rate were also low, so only 7 existed on the entire server. But +9. She enhanced it to +9 in one sitting. ¡°Ah! Awesome! So good!¡± Hong Yoo Hee hugged the Magician ughtering Wand and even began rolling on the ground, and Cordelia, who watched her from afar, covered her red face with both hands. ¡®Is this the kind of dreams you have?¡¯ A dream of enhancing a super rare item up to +9. Though, it was definitely something she would dream of. It was also a pleasant dream. But. But. ¡®Eueueu¡­ Why am I the one who¡¯s embarrassed¡­¡¯ As Jude had analyzed, Hong Yoo Hee and Cordelia had differences. Not just a difference in appearance, but a difference in personality too. But that was natural. The two had grown inpletely different environments. ¡®Anyway, it seems like I¡¯ve seeded in getting in.¡¯ Inside the dream of Hong Yoo Hee. Now all that she had to do was convince Hong Yoo Hee to have a rtionship with Outboxer009. ¡®It won¡¯t be easy.¡¯ She had discussed it with Jude, and they concluded that they could not say that Outboxer009 was the oppa next door. Because the gap between the perception of Hong Yoo Hee regarding Outboxer009 and the oppa next door was too wide. ¡®So I shall first convince her that Outbo is not that bad¡­¡¯ Jude analyzed that it would work if she narrowed the gap a bit and then go ¡®Vo!¡¯ and surprise them. After all, it was the words of Jude who seeded in getting Cordelia, and even Cordelia herself thought that it would work better on Hong Yoo Hee, so she adapted his n. ¡°Fwoo¡­ Okay. Let¡¯s do it.¡± Cordelia steeled her mind, lightly pped her cheeks, and gulped. And after a minute or so. ¡°Yoo Hee.¡± Hong Yoo Hee was still jumping with the +9 wand, but reflexively turned at the gentle and friendly voice calling her. And she froze. ¡°Co-Cordelia?¡± Her favorite character stood there with a pretty smile. She was wearing a gorgeous and beautiful dress, like that of a wedding dress. ¡°Yes, I am Cordelia.¡± Cordelia beautifully smiled once again after revealing her angel wings of light and halo, and Hong Yoo Hee was deeply filled with admiration. ¡°Wow, it¡¯s a dream. It¡¯s a dream.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, it¡¯s a dream. But it¡¯s not a serious dream.¡± As Cordelia yfullyughed, the dazed Hong Yoo Hee alsoughed along her without realizing it. ¡°Yes, yes, it¡¯s fine if this is just a dream. Or rather, I like it because it¡¯s a dream? Though, is this a lucid dream since I realized that I¡¯m dreaming in a dream? So I can do whatever I want?¡± Hong Yoo Hee said all those and looked at Cordelia with a bit of a dangerous smile, and Cordelia flinched before saying. ¡°Y-Yoo Hee?¡± ¡°Hehehe¡­ Cordelia¡­¡± And a few minutester. ¡°Ah, I¡¯m so happy.¡± Hong Yoo Hee was lying on thep of Cordelia as she happily smiled, and Cordelia smiled as she stroked the hair of Hong Yoo Hee. ¡°Do you like it?¡± ¡°Yes, I like it. I love it.¡± Cordelia somehow felt that she was being more like Jude than being herself, but she happily smiled again. Because it seemed like it would be easier to persuade Hong Yoo Hee with this atmosphere. ¡°Yoo Hee.¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± ¡°What do you think of¡­ Outbo?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Outbo.¡± ¡°Outboxer009?¡± ¡°Yes, Outbo.¡± When Cordelia said with a smile, the face of Hong Yoo Hee immediately distorted. Hong Yoo Hee hesitated as she pursed her lips before quickly letting outints. ¡°A cheeky bald cheater and evil b*stard, a wicked man. Anyway, he¡¯s seriously childish, evil, disrespectful¡­ argh. Just thinking about him annoys me.¡± Her reaction was more intense than expected, perhaps because they were in a dream where her emotions were fully revealed. The flustered Cordelia spoke again in a soft tone, as if to appease Hong Yoo Hee. ¡°But you don¡¯t hate him so much, right?¡± ¡°Huh? What do you mean?¡± ¡°I mean, uh¡­ A-Affection from hatred? I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve heard of that too?¡± T/N: Affection from hatred is when you know someone for a long time, but also hate them a lot, like a childhood rival. So if you one day see them in trouble, you don¡¯t want to help because of your hate, but also feel guilty because you still had a bond (or affection) with them in the past, even though it was based on hatred. After all, it had already been six years since the two had known each other. At the words of Cordelia, Hong Yoo Hee pursed her lips again before speaking in a low voice. ¡°Well¡­ He¡¯s the one I¡¯ve known for the longest time.¡± Because she knew him longer than Romantic Cat-unnie. He was also the person she talked to the most. Even if she included all of her real life friends, he was probably the person who had the longest friendship (?) with her. In response to the answer of Hong Yoo Hee, Cordelia exhaled in relief and continued. ¡°Right? Outbo isn¡¯t really that bad of a guy.¡± And she tried to tell her some good things, but could not. Because the eyes of Hong Yoo Hee had widened in surprise. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°How does Cordelia know that?¡± Cordelia and Outbo were not rted to each other. The question sounded sharp since it came from Hong Yoo Hee, the past self of Cordelia, so the embarrassed Cordelia barely opened her mouth to speak as she stuttered. ¡°Eh? Uh¡­ Be-Because it¡¯s a dream?¡± I know because it¡¯s a dream. It was ame excuse, but Hong Yoo Hee nodded perhaps because they were definitely in a dream or because it was the words of Cordelia, so she did not argue about it. ¡°Anyway, he¡¯s not a bad guy?¡± ¡°Yes, he isn¡¯t. Of course, as you have said, he¡¯s a scammer, a sly person, always acts innocent, provokes you, teases you, makes you worry too much, does a lot of unreasonable stuff¡­¡± ¡°Wait, Wait a minute. Weren¡¯t you just saying that he¡¯s not a bad guy?¡± When Hong Yoo Hee sat up and asked that question, Cordelia blinked her eyes and awkwardly smiled. ¡°O-Of course! Yes! From now on, I¡¯ll tell you about his good parts. Yes, from now on.¡± Hong Yoo Hee suspiciously stared at Cordelia clumsily giving an excuse, but soon nodded. ¡°Okay. Actually, I think your credibility has increased a bit now that I¡¯ve heard those words. So what are his good parts?¡± The good points of Outbo. The good things about Jude. Cordelia cleared her throat and began enumerating it. ¡°First of all, he is smart.¡± ¡°Yes, Outbo, that guy is smart.¡± Hong Yoo Hee spoke in an uninterested tone, but agreed. ¡°And he¡¯s good at cooking. He¡¯s sincere, very considerate, and pays attention to the small stuff. Should I say he¡¯s attentive? To me, he¡¯s¡­ I-I mean, he puts the people who are important to him first.¡± Every time Cordelia spoke, her expression changed little by little. A little gentler, a little kinder, and a little happier. Hong Yoo Hee felt two emotions at the sight of Cordelia talking like a girl in love and had blushing cheeks. One was ¡®Cordelia is so pretty, cute, and lovely!¡¯ The other was ¡®What? Why does it feels like Cordelia is in love with Outbo? Does she know Outbo?¡¯ ¡°And¡­ he¡¯s cool. He¡¯s handsome, has a good body, has firm muscles¡­ and he¡¯s really good at it.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Good at what? What is ¡®it¡¯? ying games? ¡°T-That¡¯s it. Something like that. Anyway, there are a lot of good things about him.¡± Hong Yoo Hee tilted her head when Cordelia hastily spoke as though she was trying to fix her words, but did not question it for long. Instead, she said something else. ¡°Is Outbo handsome?¡± ¡°Yes. He¡¯s handsome. He¡¯s cool and amazing.¡± ¡°Is he spitefully handsome? The annoying kind?¡± ¡°No, he¡¯s not. He¡¯s very manly. Seriously cool.¡± ¡°Hmph, is that really Outbo? Is he evenparable to the oppa next door?¡± It finally came out. The oppa next door. Since this was a dream, Hong Yoo Hee thought ording to the flow of her consciousness, and perhaps because the word ¡®oppa next door¡¯ came out, a very beautified memory was yed in the mind of Hong Yoo Hee. The oppa next door whom she saw while taking a walk along the Han River after being forcibly dragged by Romantic Cat-unnie. He was standing on the river bank and smoking a cigarette as he watched the setting sun. It was truly like a painting. She could feel the unique atmosphere of a cool man who had a gloomy look as if he was suppressing a lot of sadness, and a whirlpool of emotions, though it was restrained. What is he thinking? If it¡¯s the cool oppa next door, it must be something extraordinary. Maybe it¡¯s the death anniversary of his lover? Or the death anniversary of a friend he had known for a long time? Hong Yoo Hee continued her imagination as she pressed her red cheeks with her hands. On the other hand, Cordelia who saw it then repeatedly stomped her feet and covered her face with both hands. She did not know back then, but knew now. Outbo. Why Kang Jin-ho was standing in the Han River with such an expression on his face. ¡®Hey! He was doing that because his +9 weapon enhancement failed! Not for those other cool reasons!¡¯ And now that she saw him, his clothes were that of an unemployed man. No could tell that he had a fit body because he was wearing a tracksuit and slippers! But it did not look like that to Hong Yoo Hee whose love filter was strong. And in fact, even if one removed her love filter, it was true that Kang Jin-ho was a pretty cool guy from the outside. He had a tall body that seemed to be in the mid-180¡¯s, and had a well-trained body reminiscent of a sleek leopard. In addition to that, there was a uniqueness to his slightly empty gaze filled with sadness. ¡°The oppa next door must have a good personality too. He¡¯s not as rude as that grade schooler Outbo. Yes, yes. I¡¯m sure he¡¯s mature. He¡¯s an adult. A real grown up. He¡¯spletely different from Outbo. He¡¯s iparable to Outbo who always teases me for being second.¡± The oppa next door would never even tease me. Rather, he wouldfort me. Perhaps he would find a way to help me get first ce. He won¡¯t bother me, and would always be nice to me. As the delusions of Hong Yoo Hee continued to pour out, Cordelia pounded her chest as though she was going to die from frustration. ¡®You ishtupid girl! That¡¯s him! That¡¯s him! He¡¯s that guy! That guy!¡¯ Her beautification of the oppa next door was more serious than Cordelia had thought. Cordelia became worried that their n would not go well and only fail if Hong Yoo Hee knew that the oppa next door was Outbo. ¡®Eueueueu¡­¡¯ That bad grade schooler Outbo. That ugly Outbo who always made fun of her every day. But it was also true. Because Cordelia herself had to go through various things with Jude, and her impression of him gradually changed. ¡®T-That¡¯s right!¡¯ I can¡¯t back down from here. Cordelia then spoke as she held the hand of Hong Yoo Hee who was still in her delusions. ¡°But think about it. There are a lot of good things about Outbo. You know those too.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Outbo never uses family insults. You know that, right?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ you¡¯re right.¡± ¡°Yes, yes. He teases you, but draws the line, right? And think carefully. Isn¡¯t he quite a good person? He may tease you in the process, but if you ask for help in the end, he will help you. If you ask him to investigate something, he¡¯ll find it out for you.¡± It was true. Outboxer would be snorting and saying that he did not do it for her or that he did it because it was something interesting and that she did not know about it ¨C those kind of grade schooler reactions, but it was true that Outboxer was kind to her. ¡°Umm¡­ You think so?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right. He¡¯s really like that. Anyway, there are a lot of good things about Outbo.¡± Cordelia went on to talk about the strengths of Outboxer, and Hong Yoo Hee mostly agreed, though she tilted her head at times. ¡°Yes, that is why¡­ Let¡¯s meet him.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s meet him once. We¡¯ve been ying games together for 6 years. Aren¡¯t you curious about Outbo? What he would look like, and who he is?¡± When Cordelia hugged the waist of Hong Yoo Hee and spoke in a subdued tone, Hong Yoo Hee slowly nodded even though she was hesitant. She was actually curious. Like what the hell did that guy do. Or what that guy looked like. ¡°B-But¡­¡± She was a bit scared to see him alone. What if she met a creepy old man? Or a seriously bad grade schooler. Having yed with him for 6 years, she clearly knew what kind of person he was and that he was not that kind of dangerous person, but meeting him in real life was still different. ¡®I think it would be awkward¡­¡¯ Outbo was definitely a man. And she would be meeting a man alone. A guy whose age was unknown. ¡°N-No. I can¡¯t. Impossible.¡± Her fear outweighed her curiosity. Hong Yoo Hee stepped back as if she was running away, Cordelia hugged her waist more tightly and said. ¡°No, you can do it. How about you meet in a group instead of just you two?¡± ¡°Eh? A group?¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s have all the chat room members gather and have an offline meeting. You¡¯ve met Romantic Cat-unnie before, right?¡± If you¡¯re afraid to meet him alone, how about if you meet him in a group? Aren¡¯t you curious about the others? You feel safe if Romantic Cat-unnie is with you, right? Unlike Hong Yoo Hee, Cordelia had already beenpletely ckened by Jude. Her skill in sweet talking was great, so the innocent Hong Yoo Hee soon nodded her head without realizing it. ¡°Okay, then let¡¯s have an offline meeting. Let¡¯s all meet and have fun together, okay?¡± ¡°Yes, I got it. I¡¯ll do that.¡± ¡°Yes, yes. My Yoo Hee is so nice. So cute.¡± Cordelia tightly hugged Hong Yoo Hee who was shorter than her, and Hong Yoo Hee enjoyed the ultimate pleasure by burying her face on the chest of her favorite character. And then it turned dark. Cordelia opened her eyes to reality again and sighed first. ¡°Haa¡­ It was hard.¡± After wiping off the sweat on her forehead, a ss of water suddenly appeared in front of her. ¡°Here, cold water.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± As expected of Jude. Cordelia drank the cold water and sighed again. ¡°Haa¡­ It was hard.¡± ¡°But you seeded, right?¡± ¡°Of course. What about you?¡± ¡°Me too. Well¡­ To some extent.¡± As Jude shrugged, Cordelia said with slightly narrowed brows. ¡°But Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, Cordelia.¡± ¡°Uh¡­ Because it¡¯s scary to meet alone, I told her to meet in an offline group meeting.¡± ¡°Yes, I did that too.¡± ¡°Eh? You too?¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s right to ask the two to suddenly meet each other. We only alluded to it in a dream, but it¡¯s hard to do such a thing in real life even though there¡¯s no coercion. So I opted for an offline meeting, which is easier to ept and do.¡± ¡°Then are we going to organize an offline meeting? Meeting everyone in the chat room?¡± ¡°No, we won¡¯t.¡± Cordelia widened her eyes at the response of Jude. Because she did not understand it. ¡°You said they¡¯ll be meeting offline.¡± ¡°I did. And I¡¯m thinking of actually having an offline meeting. But if we do our best to have only Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee meet, our purpose will be achieved, right?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± Only the two wille? ¡°Yes, it¡¯s just a matter of preventing the rest of the chat room members froming. Well, there are many ways, such as giving hints in dreams or causing minor idents to prevent them from going to the offline meeting on that day.¡± Jude had an evil smile, and Cordelia thought of two things at the same time. One was ¡®What a wicked b*stard.¡¯ and the other was ¡®As expected of my Jude, he¡¯s cool and reliable!¡¯ Cordelia and Hong Yoo Hee were the same in their use of love filters. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s disguise their fateful encounter as a coincidence.¡± Jude had an evil smile again, and Cordelia nodded. She replied with a bright smile. ¡°Yes!¡± *** And three dayster, on the streets of Hongdae. Jude and Cordelia hid in a corner with cognitive impairment magic on, and stuck their heads out of the wall to see the meeting ce. ¡°They¡¯re here.¡± Jude said and Cordelia quickly moved her eye with an excited expression. Indeed, she could see Hong Yoo Hee walking fast. ¡°Oh, she¡¯s pretty, pretty.¡± She was not wearing her usual hoodie and jeans today, but a white blouse and ck skirt she had never worn since she entered college. She also wore ck stockings and even heeled shoes. ¡°Kang Jin-ho ising too.¡± A tall man was walking from the opposite direction. One would question why two people living in the same neighborhood, and even next door neighbors, would being from different directions, but anyway, the two were heading towards the meeting ce. ¡°Ah, what should I do? I feel like my heart is about to burst.¡± Cordelia repeatedly stomped her feet as her face turned red, and Jude stared at such a cute Cordelia. And it was at that moment. ¡°Eh?¡± Hong Yoo Hee saw Kang Jin-ho, the oppa next door. SIDE STORY 12 SIDE STORY 12 SIDE STORY ¨C TO EARTH (5) Kang Jin-ho. A 29-year-old man who retired in his twenties and chose to live the life of a recluse right before he turned 20. The best word to describe him would be ¡®retired¡¯, and the worst one would be ¡®unemployed.¡¯ His hobby was making fun of Yellow Storm, and his skill was making fun of Yellow Storm. He definitely was not like this before. Before retirement, the hobbies and skills of Kang Jin-ho were more on the bloody side. Six years had passed, but he still possessed excellent skills though it was a bit less than back then. But six years was by no means a short time. His own skills might have been maintained by habitual training, but the mental ¡®cure¡¯ of continuous peace and Yellow Storm caused many changes in his mind. ¡®That¡¯s me.¡¯ Jude knew Kang Jin-ho well. Although 18 years had passed since he was reincarnated, it was only three years ago since he recalled the memories of Kang Jin-ho. The memories of humans were definitely not perfect as three years was enough for memories to fade, but Jude was Jude. He clearly remembered what he was like at that time. ¡®He¡¯s a little different from the current me.¡¯ Several things had changed during his reincarnation. The numerous things that happened as he grew up as Jude had caused some changes to his personality. And most importantly was Cordelia. Jude had Cordelia, but Kang Jin-ho did not have Cordelia. Yellow Storm ¨C that is, Hong Yoo Hee, definitely existed, but the value of Cordelia to him, and the value of Hong Yoo Hee to Kang Jin-ho were different in many ways. ¡®He didn¡¯t even know that she was a woman.¡¯ He did not know her sex or even her age. He would certainly know if he wanted to. Since Kang Jin-ho and Norfolk had been fighting for 6 years, the indirect information he had heard during those six years was enough to profile Norfolk and their character. But Kang Jin-ho did not purposely do that. He was someone who profiled even the NPCs he met in the game, but did not do that for Norfolk. When he was ying with Norfolk, he even deliberately emptied his mind. ¡®Anyway, what is clear is that Kang Jin-ho will have a lot of doubts.¡¯ Jude could roughly guess on what would happen if Cordelia and Hong Yoo Hee would meet. After all, Hong Yoo Hee who had a sharp intuition would surely ask this: ¡°But how does Cordelia know that?¡± Then Cordelia would respond like this: ¡°I know because it¡¯s a dream!¡± There was no logic to be found ¨C no, there was logic, but it was very poor. So it was an answer that would solve all other questions, and Hong Yoo Hee would probably be like this: ¡°Wow! I see!¡± She would say ¡®It must be because it¡¯s a dream!¡¯ In a dream, rational thinking was difficult to achieve. What would normally be thought of as nonsense would bemon sense, and one tended to ept that. An example would be what Jude had read in a book before. ¡°In my dream, I saw ducks lying on their belly with their heads down the ground. I then thought. Ducks indeed sleep like that. This is not a dream but reality!¡± (T/N: Ducks mostly sleep floating on water or lying down onnd with their heads resting on their back.) And Hong Yoo Hee would most likely not care about other ¡®trivial things¡¯ as she would probably be excited of the fact that her favorite character, Cordelia, appeared in front of her. ¡®She¡¯ll probably be busy fangirling over Cordelia.¡¯ She would hug Cordelia, hold hands and jump together, or lie on thep of Cordelia and ask Cordelia to clean her ears. ¡®Well¡­¡¯ He smiled as he thought of Yellow Storm and Hong Yoo Hee jumping around while holding hands. He thought it would be a cute and lovely sight. But his thought was short-lived. Jude focused on the main topic again. ¡®But that won¡¯t work on Kang Jin-ho.¡¯ Perhaps if Jude appeared and told him about Norfolk, Kang Jin-ho would respond like this: ¡°This dream is mine, and the materials in my dreams alle from my mind. In other words, everything you say is just a delusion I have that is created by the materials on my mind.¡± Kang Jin-ho obviously could not think rationally in his dreams, so it was possible that he would listen to the words of Jude just like how he listened to Alexei, but Jude did not think that would happen. Because he also had beastly senses, though not as good as Cordelia. So saying that he knew Norfolk well because it was a dream was something that would not work. A different kind of persuasion was needed then. ¡®Think about the victory conditions.¡¯ Their ultimate goal was to make Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee fall in love with each other, but that was the final goal. The current goal was different. ¡®The current goal is to make Kang Jin-ho go to the offline meeting.¡¯ In other words, there was no need to increase the favorability of Norfolk by enumerating her good points. ¡®I just have to make him want to go to the offline meeting.¡¯ Jude did not lie to Cordelia. Kang Jin-ho thought of the girl next door, Hong Yoo Hee, as a cute and pretty girl, but did not look at her as someone from the opposite sex. Because he had never been so depraved to think of a girl, whom he had first seen in middle school, as someone from the opposite sex. He had seen Hong Yoo Hee grow up for six years since then, so even now that she had be an adult, he could only perceive her as just the cute girl next door. But what if he found out that the grown-up girl next door was actually Norfolk? What if he found out that Norfolk was actually a cute and lovely girl? Moreover, the girl was Cordelia who was bound by fate with Jude. He would clearly fall in love with Cordelia ¨C that is, Hong Yoo Hee, like what happened to Jude. ¡®They just need to meet.¡¯ As long as an opportunity was created, they would do well on their own after that. Jude had an evil smile that would look confident and cool in the eyes of Cordelia, and thought about the next thing. ¡®Then how should I deliver the message?¡¯ The messenger was as important as the message. Unlike Cordelia, he could not appear in the form of Jude, a character from Legend of Heroes. A more effective messenger was needed. Jude pondered for a moment, and as always, he came up with an answer. *** Kang Jin-ho opened his eyes. He was familiar to this room, but it was not in the bedroom he had been sleeping and waking up in for the past six years. Another room. A spacious, colorful, and messy room filled with various souvenirs collected from all over the world. As mentioned earlier, Kang Jin-ho was familiar to this room. The room belonged to Alexei. ¡°Alexei?¡± Kang Jin-ho called out the name of the person sitting with back turned. A chessboard was on the desk the person was facing. ¡°It¡¯s been a while.¡± As the person spun around, the expected face appeared. Alexei. He had a lot of surnames and most of it were fake, so no knew his real surname. But if what Alexei had said was true, he never truly had a surname because Alexei himself did not know his real surname in the first ce, so he was just called ¡®Alexei.¡¯ Kang Jin-ho recognized that this was a dream due to his random thoughts. He was not the kind of person to have such thoughts. Moreover, Alexei was dead. When the Alexei in front of him said ¡®It¡¯s been a while,¡¯ it became clear to Kang Jin-ho that this was a dream. If he was simply recalling the past, Alexei would not have used the expression ¡®It¡¯s been a while.¡¯ The person in the form of Alexei spoke. ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking. Yes, this is your dream. I am Alexei, but not really Alexei. I am the Alexei created by your memories.¡± It was clearly a lie. Jude just took the form of Alexei through magic. But Kang Jin-ho did not think of that possibility. In his dream had appeared an Alexei who said that he was a fake Alexei created from the memories of Kang Jin-ho. Kang Jin-ho was not also likely to think of fantasy elements like magic. Perhaps Kang Jin-how would think like this now: ¡®It makes sense.¡¯ The Kang Jin-ho trained by Alexei had a habit of analyzing everything with reason. Alexei appeared in his dream. He was clearly not the real Alexei. He was just an Alexei based on the memories of Kang Jin-ho. That exnation was reasonable. But he was still Kang Jin-ho. He knew that he was in a dream, but instead of immediately rxing, he looked straight at Jude in the form of Alexei and asked. ¡°Why are you a fake Alexei?¡± ¡°Kang Jin-ho, this is a dream. It¡¯s hard to discuss logic in dreams. You also had a lot of irrational dreams when you were young, right? You were so excited to see Natasha¡¯s naked body that you identally saw in the night pool and then had a dirty drea-¡± ¡°Stop. You¡¯re really a person in my dream.¡± Because he had never told anyone about that. Kang Jin-ho blushed a little and struggled with shame, but Jude continued to speak while feeling embarrassed too. ¡°Yeah, so this is a dream. Don¡¯t be too logical.¡± ¡°But even then¡­ it¡¯s strange. You¡¯re speaking too logically.¡± You¡¯re talking logically about not thinking logically in a dream. Kang Jin-ho could not avoid thinking rationally. ¡°That¡¯s why this is your dream, Kang Jin-ho, and not anyone else. Isn¡¯t this dream just like you?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± Kang Jin-ho remained silent for a moment. He remembered the time when he dreamt of Natasha, an older woman who was kind to him in the past, and that it was not logical back then. Because what happened in that dream was truly irrational. However, Kang Jin-ho decided to move on for now because he was too embarrassed to mention the incident at that time. ¡°Anyway, what¡¯s going on? Why did I unconsciously want to see Alexei?¡± ¡°You missed me. You always thought of Alexei¡¯s teachings whenever you have a problem.¡± He did not deny the words of Alexei. So Kang Jin-ho stared at the face of Alexei in silence again. Jude spoke. ¡°Anyway, the situation has been messed up, so like Alexei, I won¡¯t tell you what you want to hear from Alexei. I¡¯ll talk to you about something different.¡± ¡°Something different?¡± ¡°Yes, another topic. It¡¯s about your life these days.¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong with my life?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t 6 years too long for being unemployed?¡± Kang Jin-ho felt his conscience being pricked, and even the speaking Jude had his conscience pricked. They were strangers now, but the two were originally one if you looked back. ¡°It has been six years since you¡¯ve retired. And all you¡¯ve done in those six years is ying a game in the corner of your room, making fun of someone on the other side of the monitor whose identity you do not know ¨C maybe they¡¯re even younger than you. I don¡¯t know what the real Alexei will say when he sees you like this. And¡­ Kang Jin-ho, you also subconsciously think of that. The fact that I have appeared in this dream is proof of that.¡± It was definitely made up. But Kang Jin-ho sighed and held back his groan, and Jude in the form of Alexei continued to speak. ¡°I¡¯m not saying you should do what you used to do. Frankly, you don¡¯t have to work since you have enough money to spend for your entire life. But I don¡¯t want you to be confined to a corner of the room like you are now. Youth is not eternal. Now that you¡¯ve retired, it¡¯s good for you to live like an ordinary person. Meet people, talk to them, and if given a chance, try dating. It would be nice if you could make new friends.¡± ¡°If it¡¯s friends-¡± ¡°Not inte friends. I am essentially you, so I also know your misery.¡± The two were silent for a while, and Kang Jin-ho opened his mouth again. ¡°Did I¡­ want to be in a rtionship?¡± To the point where I created a person in my dream to give me a sermon like this? ¡°You¡¯re a man too. How many times have you had naughty dreams¡­¡± ¡°Stop.¡± ¡°Yes, so be thankful that I didn¡¯t show up as Natasha.¡± Kang Jin-ho swallowed a groan again at the words of Alexei, but was not actually offended. It was only once that he had a naughty dream with Natasha. In fact, the naughty dreams of Kang Jin-ho, or the so-called nightmares, were a bit strange. There was always a woman with red hair close to pink. His memory was always blurry when he woke up, so he could not remember her face, but he clearly recalled the color of her hair. ¡®Come to think of it, it slightly resembles the hair color of Norfolk¡¯s Cordelia.¡¯ Kang Jin-ho was immersed in his thoughts for a moment and soon raised his head. ¡°So do I have to go out and date someone? Or participate in club activities?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not bad. But I don¡¯t mean you should do it right now. If you ever had an offline meeting, not online, don¡¯t refuse it.¡± And Jude paused for a few seconds. He bit his lips a few times before continuing. ¡°Go and talk to people. Don¡¯t be afraid to make new friends. The surrounding environment has changed. There is no one shooting at you anymore, and no one is shooting at someone close to you. You no longer have to shoot. If you find it difficult to make friends withpletely new people, try interacting with those you¡¯ve already been close to online.¡± That was enough. Any more was counterproductive. ¡°Kang Jin-ho. Do not run away.¡± After finishing hisst request, Jude escaped from the dream of Kang Jin-ho. And a few secondster. ¡°Fwoo.¡± After getting out of the lingering things he felt in the dream, Jude took a long breath and looked around. He saw Cordelia smiling as though she had a very pleasant dream ¨C no, she was definitely having fun in the dream of Hong Yoo Hee. Kang Jin-ho did not know yet, but Jude knew. The woman with red hair close to pink who often appeared in his dreams since childhood. She now had pink hair due to bing an angel. Jude smiled again and pressed his lips to the forehead of Cordelia who was asleep. He caressed the cheek of Cordelia, hoping that Kang Jin-ho would also meet his own Cordelia. *** The next afternoon. Kang Jin-ho was looking at the monitor and felt troubled. Romantic Cat: Do you all want to meet offline? Those words suddenly appeared in the chat room. Kang Jin-ho would have usually left right away with various excuses, but it was different this time. ¡®Kang Jin-ho. Do not run away.¡¯ Alexei. He had said that in the dream. Moreover, there was one more reason why he could not easily run. Yellow Storm: Yes, yes. I like that. I¡¯ll go. Yellow Storm was there. The unknown existence that had given Kang Jin-ho the strength to live for the past six years would have their identity revealed in reality. ¡®My dream was very helpful.¡¯ He had healed his PTSD by making fun of someone whose name, age, or sex was unknown to him for 6 years. It seemed like something amazing, but it was seriously pathetic. ¡®Besides, I¡¯m almost certain that they¡¯re younger than me.¡¯ He did not profile them consciously, but there were still things he noticed naturally. ¡®Yes, let¡¯s meet them.¡¯ He did not know what to do after they meet, but for now, he would meet them. Kang Jin-ho resolved himself and ced his hands over the keyboard. *** And three dayster. At the present. Jude and Cordelia held each other¡¯s hands and excitedly watched the streets of Hongdae, the ce where the members of the chat room had decided to gather, and there, Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee saw each other. ¡°Eh?¡± The oppa next door. Hong Yoo Hee blinked her eyes and quickly blushed in embarrassment. She came out prettily dressed, and was seen by the oppa next door. ¡®N-No. Rather than being seen¡­¡¯ She had actually hoped to run into the oppa next door when she came out. Since she had dressed up prettily, she wanted to show off. But she never thought that she would run into him on the street like this. ¡®But what happened?¡¯ Now that she saw him, he was different from usual. His beard was neatly shaved, and he was sleekly dressed, though not that fancy. One would call it as semi-formal attire. A white round cor shirt without a tie, and a light suit with a casual feel. ¡®H-He¡¯s so cool!¡¯ He¡¯s seriously cool! As expected of the oppa next door! Outbo can¡¯t evenpare to him. Yes, yes. You can¡¯tpare him to a bad grade schooler! Cordelia said that Outbo is handsome too, but oppa is handsomer. ¡®S-Should I greet him? Can I greet him?¡¯ Hong Yoo Hee turned red and was at a loss on what to do, and Kang Jin-ho who saw Hong Yoo Hee was also flustered, but only for a moment. ¡®She must havee out to have fun.¡¯ Does she have a boyfriend since she¡¯s a college student now? It was a natural thought, but he momentarily felt as if something had stabbed one side of his chest. What¡¯s going on? She¡¯s just a cute girl next door. ¡°H-Hello!¡± While Kang Jin-ho was hesitating for a while, the girl next door, Hong Yoo Hee, hurriedly approached him and greeted, so he greeted her back with a smile. ¡°Yes, hello. I guess you have an appointment?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ yes. I¡¯ll be meeting my friends.¡± ¡°I see. Have fun.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± They should be going their way now. When they saw each other near their houses, they would usually exchange brief greetings. But it was strange. The oppa next door was standing still. The girl next door also stood motionless. ¡°Oh¡­ are you going to meet them here?¡± ¡°Yes, what about oppa?¡± ¡°Yes, here too.¡± ¡°W-What a coincidence.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± It was not a very unlikely coincidence. Because this ce was popr, so people often chose it as a meeting ce. ¡®What kind of person is he meeting? I-Is he meeting a girl?¡¯ Hong Yoo Hee was surprised at her own thoughts and stole a peek at the oppa next door. The always cool and handsome oppa next door. Perhaps he would be meeting an older woman who was very pretty and had a nice body. ¡®I-I don¡¯t like that¡­¡¯ I don¡¯t want to see that when I¡¯vee out to have fun for the first time. And at that moment, Kang Jin-ho also had a thought. ¡®But who is she meeting? Is it really her boyfriend?¡¯ I don¡¯t know why, but my stomach hurts a bit this time. What¡¯s going on? And a few minutester. It was when Hong Yoo Hee and Kang Jin-ho were hesitating and secretly ncing at each other without taking out their cellphones. Ting! The surprised Hong Yoo Hee flinched at the sudden notification sound and quickly pulled out her cellphone, and Kang Jin-ho also felt a vibration and took out his cellphone. And the two did not know, but they had looked at the same open chat room at the same time. Romantic Cat: Something suddenly came up at work, so I don¡¯t think I can go. I¡¯m so sorry. I¡¯m really sorry since I¡¯m the host. AAA: I¡¯m really sorry. Uh, I was seriously going to go there. But a lot of group orders suddenly came into the store¡­ Cowabunga: Uh, well¡­ I¡¯m sorry too, but something urgent happened to me too. I¡¯m very sorry. Hong Yoo Hee blinked her eyes, dumbfounded at the news of their absence, and Kang Jin-ho was no different. Yellow Storm: What? Then no one ising? Romantic Cat: I¡¯m really sorry. But isn¡¯t Outbo going too? Outboxer009: I¡¯m at the meeting ce now. Yellow Storm: Me too. And that was the moment. Hong Yoo Hee and Kang Jin-ho, who were looking at their cellphone screens, unconsciously looked at each other. They had taken out their cellphones at the same time. And the two had just been typing. There were even the messages in the chat room that they had already arrived at the meeting ce. ¡°Eh¡­¡± ¡°Ah¡­¡± N-No way?! The pupils of Hong Yoo Hee and Kang Jin-ho grew at the same time. SIDE STORY 13 SIDE STORY 13 SIDE STORY ¨C TO EARTH (6) ¡®W-Why are you here!¡¯ Their voices did note out. It was close to a mental scream. Hong Yoo Hee and Kang Jin-ho stared at each other, and after mentally screaming, they immediately thought of the same thing ¨C no, they had the same yet different thoughts. ¡®Outboxer009?¡¯ ¡®Yellow Storm?¡¯ H-He¡¯s oppa?! She is?! They were literally in shock and horror. Not a single groan came out, but the bewildered expressions of the two exined it all. [Howe they look more surprised than we were?] [Because there are different types of shock.] At the message of Cordelia who was hiding behind a wall and sticking her head out, Jude also responded with a message. When they first met in Pleiades after remembering the memories of their past life. At that time, the two immediately eximed out loud, but were able to think rationally after that. However, that did not happen to Hong Yoo Hee and Kang Jin-ho. Because their kind of shock was different, as Jude had said. [We just met an unexpected person in an unfamiliar ce, but for these two there, they had never thought and connected that the two people they knew were actually the same person. On top of that, both of them had their own fantasies.] [Are you saying that their fantasies are falling apart? So their shock is more intense?] [Something like that.] The situation was different from when Cordelia found out in Pleiades that Jude was actually the oppa next door. By that time, Cordelia had already fallen in love with Jude. The shock of finding out that the person she already liked was the same person she had admired before would be what one would call as a ¡®pleasant surprise.¡¯ But for Hong Yoo Hee, Outboxer009 or Outbo was just a bad grade schooler. She definitely had a bond with him after ying together for six years, but it was close to a bad friend. But that Outbo. That bad grade schooler Outbo. He¡¯s the same person as the oppa next door who I imagined to be a really, really, really cool oppa in my fantasies? [Did you fantasize about me too?] [Well¡­ I just had the impression that you were a good and pretty child.] [Heh, I am pretty.] As Cordelia snorted, Jude also smiled. ¡®Anyway¡­ Kang Jin-ho will be shocked too.¡¯ He must have felt immense shame the moment he found out that Yellow Storm was the girl next door who was a lot younger than him. He had done all sorts of childish things to a girl much younger than him. In any case, amidst their excitement, Jude and Cordelia watched Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee again. ¡°Uh¡­ Ah¡­ No way¡­ You¡¯re Yellow¡­ Storm?¡± Kang Jin-ho managed to recover first. He had forced his brain that was not moving well to work and draw a conclusion, and took a deep breath as he stared at Hong Yoo Hee who was surprised at his words and stuttered in her reply. ¡°I-I¡¯m not¡­¡± She unknowingly denied it. Like how a child whomitted a mistake would lie and say no. ¡°Y-You¡¯re not?¡± Kang Jin-ho was quite bewildered at the ¡®no¡¯ answer and unconsciously asked again. Hong Yoo Hee began to stutter again with a red face and tears in her eyes, and covered her face with both hands. ¡°T-That¡¯s right. That¡¯s right.¡± Why am I saying an obvious lie! Hong Yoo Hee mentally strangled herself. And she thought. ¡®Wait a minute. He¡¯s really Outboxer009?¡¯ The oppa next door? The oppa next door is that bad grade schooler? Seriously? For real? Really? ¡®N-No way.¡¯ I can remember all the mean things Outbo did even now when I close my eyes. That Outbo who crazily snickered as he made fun of me. That Outbo who teased me as I clenched my teeth. That Outbo who barked at me like a dog, saying I¡¯m bad at games in our first meeting. He¡¯s that oppa next door. That cool oppa. That oppa who stood looking at the sunset over the Han River. Cigarettes are harmful to the body, but the oppa next door, who puffed out cigarette smoke and stared at the Han River with a gloomy look, was so cool. The oppa next door then looks at me. And says with a snicker. ¡°I¡¯m first ce again!¡± ¡°F*ck!¡± Without realizing it, she let out a curse ¨C no, an exmation. N-No. No. My dream is shattered. It¡¯s gone. But the thoughts in her head continued. The oppa next door who dances while shaking his butt. The oppa next door who is proud that his score is higher. The oppa next door who cries because he failed his weapon enhancement. The oppa next door who steals her drop items and runs away. The oppa next door who is embarrassed and blushes when she says ¡®Power Sex.¡¯ ¡®Oh, that¡¯s good¡­ not! No. That¡¯s not good at all!¡¯ Outbo is the oppa next door! Outbo is! Hong Yoo Hee was staggering as though she was about to copse from her extreme confusion, and peeked between her fingers as she faced reality again. The oppa next door was standing with a troubled expression in his face. ¡®F-F*ck.¡¯ He¡¯s still handsome. Even though I know that he¡¯s Outbo, I still find him cool and handsome. The oppa next door spoke. ¡°Uh¡­ Ah¡­¡± In reality, Hong Yoo Hee was not the only one who was shocked. He did not know that the girl next door whom he thought of as nice, cute, and polite was that Norfolk who always cursed. He did not know that Norfolk, who always obsessed about Cordelia and collected normal and sexy pictures of her, would be the girl next door. He felt shame. A bottomless shame. ¡®Aaaaaah!¡¯ Kang Jin-ho had been mentally screaming since earlier. He was embarrassed. All the words and actions he did as Outboxer009 to Yellow Storm were flying towards him like sharp bullets. ¡®Alexei! Alexei!¡¯ W-What should I do? What am I supposed to do? Even when he was alone in the enemy camp, it was not as daunting as it was now. On the morning after Natasha appeared in his dirty dream, he was not that embarrassed when he faced her. Aack. Ugh. Ugh. But he was still Kang Jin-ho. He used his superhuman patience to prevent all of his inner sufferings from appearing in his face. At least on the outside, he clearly appeared rxed and calm. So. That¡¯s why. Let¡¯s rx. Don¡¯t show your embarrassment. You¡¯ll be giving the enemy an advantage if they find out that you¡¯re agitated. Let¡¯s calm down. Kang Jin-ho, calm down. [He¡¯s taking a deep breath. He seems to be recovering from his panic to some extent.] [Oh.] While Jude and Cordelia watched as theyughed, Kang Jin-ho deeply breathed several times. And looked at the girl next door again. ¡®Let¡¯s be calm.¡¯ As the person a year older ¨C no, perhaps almost ten years older, he had to be calm. Kang Jin-ho had been through all sorts of hardships since he was born, and was now feeling embarrassed, so what about the girl next door who was just 20 years old? ¡®Yeah, Norfolk is mentally weak.¡¯ So Kang Jin-ho had to calm down here. He had to deal with this situation as the older one. ¡°Are you¡­ Norfolk?¡± ¡°Y-Yoo Hee. I¡¯m Hong Yoo Hee.¡± As soon as Jude said her nickname, Hong Yoo Hee reflexively replied with her real name. If they called each other with their nicknames here, aside from being ashamed, they would also be more confused. [Oh, how amazing. That ability to instinctively find an answer is still there.] [Hehe.] While Cordelia was feeling proud, Kang Jin-ho opened his mouth again. ¡°Ye¡­Yes. Miss Yoo Hee. Yes, Miss Yoo Hee. I¡¯m Kang Jin-ho.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ Uh¡­ Yes, oppa.¡± Hong Yoo Hee muttered in a very low voice. Her face was so red that it seemed like it would burst if someone touched it. [Ohmigosh. She said oppa, oppa. Isn¡¯t she cute?] [She¡¯s cute, but are you a fan of Hong Yoo Hee now?] Hong Yoo Hee was a fan of Cordelia. Cordelia snorted at the rebuke of Jude, and focused on the two again. ¡°Anyway, uh¡­ First of all. Uh, first of all. Would you like to eat?¡± They were supposed to eat lunch together after their group meet. At the offer of Kang Jin-ho, Hong Yoo Hee bit her lip in hesitation and swallowed hard. She answered as she raised her head. ¡°Okay! I-I mean, yes¡­¡± A small and timid answer. Endless buzzing and vibrating sounds could be heard between the two, but neither of them looked at their cellphones. Or rather, they could not feel it. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Kang Jin-ho moved first. Hong Yoo Hee was not sure what to do again, but began following Kang Jin-ho from a distance. And when he walked ten steps, he stopped. He turned around and looked at her who stopped too, and appeared troubled. ¡°Umm¡­¡± Beckoning her with a hand gesture felt weird for him. But they could not just walk apart like just now. So in the end, Kang Jin-ho approached Hong Yoo Hee again. He said again only after he stood beside her. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± They stood together. Because they were a group. Kang Jin-ho looked ahead and walked forward, and Hong Yoo Hee nodded instead of answering, peeking at the side profile of Kang Jin-ho. As for the two spying on them. [Ohmigosh, ohmigosh. I¡¯m going to die from their cuteness.] Cordelia repeatedly jumped from her spot and eximed, and Jude thought with a smile. ¡®That¡¯s right. Cordelia is very cute.¡¯ Kang Jin-ho, Hong Yoo Hee, and Cordelia are the cutest. As Jude thought so, Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee entered a nearby pizzeria. *** Hong Yoo Hee liked pizza. It was her who insisted that the lunch for the offline meeting today should be pizza. It was also her who chose the restaurant. But at this moment, she could not feel the taste of the pizza. Or rather, she could not tell whether the pizza was going inside her mouth or her nose in the first ce. And it was the same with Kang Jin-ho. Munch, munch, munch. Crunch, crunch, crunch. Chew, chew, chew. Put the pizza on a te, drizzle the sauce, slice it into small pieces, and bring it to your mouth. Both of them did that instead of eating with their hands, and only the sounds of eating could be heard instead of a conversation. A suffocating silence. A heavy silence. A painful silence. In fact, the two had gone out with some kind of resolution. They had imagined that they would meet all kinds of people, of different ages and sexes. But the present situation was not among those they had imagined. ¡®I never imagined this!¡¯ The troubled Hong Yoo Hee was fidgeting while Kang Jin-ho was seriously reying the teachings of Alexei in his mind. And Cordelia said with a happy face. ¡°Delicious. I miss this taste.¡± ¡°If it¡¯s pizza, I¡¯ve made it a few times in Pleiades.¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s delicious too, but this is a pizzeria, right? It¡¯s their specialty, right?¡± ¡°Ahem.¡± ¡°Hey, don¡¯t be upset. Okay?¡± When Cordelia acted cute, Jude eventually smiled and wiped the sauce off the lips of Cordelia. ¡°Eat slowly.¡± ¡°Yes, yes.¡± Unlike the two in the seat behind them, Jude and Cordelia were flirting to the point that the other people who saw them were frowning. And around 30 minutester. Having somehow finished the pizza, Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee left the restaurant. They were originally nning to y at a VR arcade next. That was the n. ¡°Uh¡­ Miss Yoo Hee?¡± ¡°Eh? Ah, yes.¡± Kang Jin-ho looked at Hong Yoo Hee, and she looked at him. And Cordelia watched the two with a nervous expression. Jude just stared at Cordelia. And a few secondster. Kang Jin-ho opened his mouth again. ¡°Since we had nned it¡­ do you want to go there?¡± The VR arcade. At the suggestion of Kang Jin-ho, Hong Yoo Hee nodded without realizing it. As if she had been possessed. ¡°Yes, oppa.¡± Her answer sounded a bit timid but was strangely mixed with joy. At her response, Cordelia touched her chest as she struggled to endure it, while Kang Jin-ho also felt a throbbing pain in his chest. They both did it because of the same reason. ¡®C-Cute!¡¯ Cordelia immediately thought of it while Kang Jin-ho tried to erase the thought that came to his mind. ¡°Anyway¡­ let¡¯s go.¡± Kang Jin-ho turned around first again this time, but it was a little different from before. He did not wait or go back because Hong Yoo Hee quickly followed him. ¡°Hehehe.¡± Seeing that, Cordelia had a sly smile while Jude had a slightly wry smile. It went quite smoothly after that. They yed games together, watched a movie, and had dinner afterwards. Hong Yoo Hee was very timid at first, but by the time she left the arcade, her face was full of smiles. ¡®It¡¯s fun.¡¯ It¡¯s fun. It was fun ying games and watching a movie. Dinner was delicious too. The reason that this joy could continue was because both of them had an implicit agreement. Don¡¯t talk about Legend of Heroes. Don¡¯t mention the names of Norfolk and Outbo. Strangely enough, they were able to concentrate on ying quite a bit after agreeing to that. And eventually, Hong Yoo Hee had a thought. ¡®Isn¡¯t this a¡­ date?¡¯ A man and woman meet alone to eat, y games, watch movies¡­ ¡®W-Wake up!¡¯ Hong Yoo Hee quickly shook her head. Isn¡¯t the person in front of me Outbo? ¡®B-But¡­¡¯ Isn¡¯t he also the oppa next door? As Cordelia had said in my dream, Outbo is very handsome and cool. And he¡¯s kind and attentive. ¡®Come to think of it, Outbo is also¡­¡¯ He never crossed the line, as Cordelia had said. Because he got embarrassed every time he read sex jokes. ¡®Oooh¡­¡¯ Hong Yoo Hee imagined the oppa next door being embarrassed because of a sex joke, and strangely felt excited. A lot of time passed. By the time their dinner was over, it was already dark outside. It was now time to go back. ¡°W-Well then¡­¡± They had to say goodbye. Hong Yoo Hee lowered her head to say goodbye, but Kang Jin-ho had no intention of doing that. Leave her here and go home? That was impossible for him. So¡­ ¡°I¡¯ll take you home.¡± ¡°Eh?!¡± ¡°I mean, we¡¯re in the same direction.¡± Same direction? Ah, we¡¯re next door neighbors. ¡°Ah¡­ uh¡­ that¡­ uh¡­¡± Hong Yoo Hee stuttered again, and Kang Jin-ho unconsciously smiled. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Eh? Ah, yes.¡± And they moved again. But Hong Yoo Hee soon had her doubts. ¡®Where¡­ are we going?¡¯ The subway station isn¡¯t this way. It¡¯s not even the bus stop¡­ While Hong Yoo Hee was puzzled, Kang Jin-ho arrived at a basement parking lot in Hongdae. The basement parking lot. The reason why Hong Yoo Hee and Kang Jin-ho came from different directions despite living next door to each other. ¡°Here.¡± Kang Jin-ho said and opened the passenger seat door, and the eyes of Hong Yoo Hee widened again. She could not help it. ¡®There¡¯s only two seats?¡¯ Because the car of Kang Jin-ho was a two-seater sports car. Hong Yoo Hee did not know much about cars, but liked its white and beautiful color. ¡®This is the car of oppa next door.¡¯ Having recalled seeing the car several times near their house, Hong Yoo Hee hesitated a bit before sitting on the passenger seat, and Kang Jin-ho closed the door and sat in the driver¡¯s seat. ¡°Wear your seatbelt.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± And click. He started the engine, waited for a while, and then left. Hong Yoo Hee was momentarily surprised by the view much lower than a normal car, and swallowed hard before ncing at the seat next to her. She watched Kang Jin-ho driving while looking straight ahead. He looked serious. He was driving. ¡®He¡¯s really an adult.¡¯ A true adult. Not a kid pretending to be an adult. The cheeks of Hong Yoo Hee turned red, and she quickly turned her head. She looked ahead and pressed her hand against her chest as if to calm down her wildly pounding heart. And another 20 minutes passed. It did not take a long time for them to arrive home as their homes were not far away from Hongdae in the first ce. At the basement parking of their apartment. Kang Jin-ho got off first this time and naturally opened the passenger door. Hong Yoo Hee hesitated before carefully getting out of the car. ¡°Umm¡­ Shall we go?¡± Because they had to ride the elevator together. Hong Yoo Hee nodded and the two slowly walked towards the elevator. But it was at that moment. Pop! With a sudden bursting sound, water began to pour down like crazy from the sprinkler attached to the ceiling. ¡°Kya!¡± When Hong Yoo Hee screamed, Kang Jin-ho reflexively moved. As a result, the two got away from the sprinkler in no time, but they were already drenched in water. ¡°Uwaa?¡± ¡°A-Are you okay?¡± Hong Yoo Hee could not even answer the question of Kang Jin-ho. Because not only her hair got wet by the pouring water but also her underwear. ¡®F*ck!¡¯ I was so happy today! Hong Yoo Hee mentally eximed and let out a long sigh instead of getting angry. ¡°L-Let¡¯s go in for now.¡± Fortunately, the way home was just a short ride to the elevator and walking a bit. They were drenched so it was annoying, but they could immediately go in, shower, and change clothes once they get home. ¡°Okay.¡± Kang Jin-ho nodded after looking at the sprinkler that had suddenly burst. And a few minutester. The two got off the elevator and awkwardly looked at each other. ¡°That¡­ Uh¡­ Well then.¡± ¡°Uh¡­ Ah¡­ Yes¡­¡± ¡°B-bye?¡± ¡°G-Goodbye too?¡± They had to say their goodbyes. But if they went in and yed Legend of Heroes 2, they would clearly meet each other again. So what should they do now? Should they say ¡®see you in Legend of Heroes 2?¡¯ But in the end, the two clumsily said their goodbyes and turned around before they stood in front of their respective doors. However, a problem urred again. ¡°Huh?¡± The door to the house of Hong Yoo Hee would not open. No matter how many times she entered the correct passcode, the electronic door did not open and seemed to be broken. ¡°Uuuuuh¡­¡± The confused Hong Yoo Hee hurriedly rang the doorbell, but no answer came from inside. And in fact, that was natural. Because her parents went on a trip with the hot springs ticket they had suddenly wonst night. There was no one in the house and the door would not open. She thought it would be fine if she called person in charge of the keys, but wondered if that person woulde if she called him thiste at night. Or if he woulde soon. Moreover, Hong Yoo Hee was drenched right now. What should I do? What am I supposed to do? ¡°Excuse me?¡± Hong Yoo Hee reflexively turned around at the voice she heard at that moment. Kang Jin-ho was standing in front of his door and looking her way. He was a good observer. He immediately inferred the situation of Hong Yoo Hee. So¡­ That was why¡­ Kang Jin-ho was troubled. Because he did not know if he was being too nosy. Because it was something that might cause too much misunderstanding. ¡®Don¡¯t do it.¡¯ His reason stopped him. But at the same time, another Kang Jin-ho spoke in his mind. ¡®Are you going to leave her like that? Isn¡¯t she your neighbor? And she¡¯s not just a neighbor, but Norfolk.¡¯ It sounded foreign to him, as if someone else was talking. But it was reasonable. Kang Jin-ho agreed with his inner thoughts. ¡°Umm¡­¡± The words of Kang Jin-ho trailed at the end, and Hong Yoo Hee blinked and looked at him. And Kang Jin-ho finally said. ¡°Would you like to rest?¡± But shortly after he said it, he regretted it. I mean, what did I even mean by resting! There are many words I could have used! And at the time when Kang Jin-ho continued to me himself in his anxiety and nervousness. Hong Yoo Hee swallowed hard. She looked at Kang Jin-ho and the door of his house behind him, and nodded. She gave an answer. SIDE STORY 14 SIDE STORY 14 Terms used in this side story: Hanbok ¨C term used for traditional Korean clothes. Confucianist ¨C a person who adheres to Confucianism, a belief system that focuses on the importance of personal ethics and morality. Doujin writer ¨C A fan who writes or draws fan-made works (or doujinshi) for a certain series Bathhouse ¨C Also called as ¡®jjimjilbang¡¯ in Korea, these are sex-segregated public bathhouses equipped with hot tubs, showers, saunas, and massage tables. It also has other facilities where you can eat, sleep, y games, etc. SIDE STORY ¨C TO EARTH (7) Kang Jin-ho opened the door. The unlocking sound of the electronic door seemed to be louder today. Badump, badump. His heart was beating. It was not just beating as it was pounding. His mouth was dry. When he unconsciously swallowed his saliva, he made a loud gulping sound. ¡®What am I doing now?¡¯ I brought home the girl next door, Norfolk. She was drenched, so I invited her to my home to use the bathroom and take a shower. I would also have to prepare a change of clothes for her, and wash her used clothes including underwear¡­ I b-bro-brought into my home, and in my room, and at such ate hour, not a man, but a woman, and even the girl next door, that Norfolk, that Hong Yoo Hee¡­ ¡®Alexei, Alexei. Tell me, Alexei.¡¯ What should I do? I¡¯ve never felt this way even when I was alone in the enemy camp. What should I say now? It feels like I¡¯m going to fight alone a fully-armed battalion. No, it¡¯s more like I¡¯m infiltrating a base full of booby traps while bare naked. ¡®C-Calm down, Kang Jin-ho.¡¯ Think of the victory conditions. What are the conditions for winning this battle? He could not think of it. So the Kang Jin-hos in his head gathered and held a military meeting, but they could not even clearly define their operational goal. ¡°Captured! We¡¯ve captured Hong Yoo Hee!¡± One of the Kang Jin-hos shouted in his head, and the Kang Jin-ho who was in charge of this meeting shouted back. ¡°Get him out!¡± ¡°Mmph! Mmpf!¡± The Kang Jin-ho who spoke nonsense was dragged out with his mouth blocked by another Kang Jin-ho. Now that I see it, the Kang Jin-ho who imagined the naked Natasha was that guy. ¡°General, can I speak?¡± Just then, the sses-wearing Kang Jin-ho raised his head and asked. As the eyes of the other Kang Jin-hos focused on him, General Kang Jin-ho gave him the right to speak. ¡°Speak.¡± ¡°I think objectively. Why did we invite the target to our house in the first ce? Because it¡¯s quite inhumane to leave a drenched target alone outside.¡± Most of the Kang Jin-hos nodded their heads. The sses-wearing Kang Jin-ho was emboldened and spoke again. ¡°After we bring her home, wash and change her clothes, what should be our future measures? I think this should be our operational goal!¡± ¡°Oooh.¡± The Kang Jin-hos agreed again. But one of the Kang Jin-hos who was listening to the story, specifically, the housewife Kang Jin-ho who was in charge of housekeeping, raised his hand and said. ¡°What do you mean by future measures?¡± Future measures. What would they do once Hong Yoo Hee was brought home? ¡°Naughty stu- mmph! Mmph!¡± ¡°Get him out too!¡± The Kang Jin-ho who was saying strange stuff was caught by another Kang Jin-ho and dragged out of the tent. General Kang Jin-ho said after clearing his throat. ¡°First of all, the cause of this situation is that the door of Hong Yoo Hee¡¯s house is locked. So we invite her into the house, and help her wash. Next is we dismantle the door ourselves or call a contractor to eliminate the cause.¡± ¡°Then it would be better to call a contractor. Because if we had to break the electronic door, we have no way to rece it.¡± ¡°Okay, we¡¯ll consider that.¡± After answering the sses-wearing Kang Jin-ho, General Kang Jin-ho looked back at everyone and said. ¡°Don¡¯t be too afraid. Don¡¯t get nervous. This is not a big deal. A neighbor is in trouble, so we should help as a neighbor. That is all, so no need to be nervous about it. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Yes, Sir!¡± All the Kang Jin-hos answered loudly, and General Kang Jin-ho was satisfied. However. ¡°Miss, would you like to wash up?¡± ¡°¡­Excuse me?!¡± At the entrance. Hong Yoo Hee turned red and panicked at the question of Kang Jin-ho. Kang Jin-ho was flustered too because of that, and hurriedly spoke. ¡°I-I mean! B-Because! Y-You¡¯re drenched, right?¡± It was an objective statement of a fact. But Kang Jin-ho was even more embarrassed, and Hong Yoo Hee was the same. They both turned red. It felt hot. Very hot. However, Kang Jin-ho took a deep breath. He somehow continued speaking as he recalled a battlefield with raining bullets. ¡°It¡¯s because you¡¯re drenched. Uh, so I have a washer and dryer at home. Your clothes are few, so it will dry up quickly. I think it will take two hours from washing to drying? So, uh¡­ that¡­ Since you¡¯re drenched. You have to take a shower¡­¡± ¡°T-Take a shower?¡± Hong Yoo Hee was newly surprised, and so did Kang Jin-ho. A shower. Shower. Shower. ¡®No, why a shower!¡¯ But isn¡¯t this normal? If she¡¯s drenched, she should take a shower. Yes, a shower. She¡¯ll be naked while showering. ¡®Get him out!¡¯ At the moment when General Kang Jin-ho kicked out the Kang Jin-ho who was possessed by a lewd demon, Kang Jin-ho opened his mouth again. ¡°No, that¡­ Uh¡­ Yes¡­ You need to wash up first. You¡¯ll catch a cold.¡± A cold. It was a good reason. His reason finally came back. While Kang Jin-ho was sweating and feeling satisfied with his own logic, urgent voices wereing and going in the head of Hong Yoo Hee. ¡°W-What should we do?¡± ¡°Can we take a shower?¡± ¡°But we¡¯re really drenched.¡± ¡°We might catch a cold like this.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right. It already feels cold as we talk.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t feel good.¡± While the Hong Yoo Hees were talking, a Hong Yoo Hee wearing a hanbok widened her eyes and said. ¡°What are you all saying now! Aren¡¯t we in someone else¡¯s house now? All men are wolves! They¡¯re wolves! Wo- mmph! Mmph!¡± ¡°Get that b*tch out!¡± The Hong Yoo Hees agreed at the order of Raid Leader Hong Yoo Hee, and the ¡®Confucianist Hong Yoo Hee¡¯ dressed in a hanbok was kicked out of the guild house. But it was then. ¡°Leader! We have a serious problem!¡± ¡®Soldier Hong Yoo Hee,¡¯ who was very active in raids, raised her hand and shouted, and everyone focused their attention on her. ¡°What¡¯s the problem? Huh?¡± What¡¯s a more serious problem than going to the house of oppa next door while drenched, and wondering if we should take a shower or not? What in the world is it! The Hong Yoo Hees nervously looked at Soldier Hong Yoo Hee who said with a grim expression. ¡°Raid leader, our underwear¡¯s different today. It¡¯s not a matching pair!¡± ¡°EH?!¡± Unmatched pair? The top and bottom are different? ¡°T-That¡¯s not a problem!¡± When Raid Leader Hong Yoo Hee turned red and shouted, Soldier Hong Yoo Hee spoke again with a grim expression. ¡°It¡¯s a problem! It¡¯s theundry! The dryer would spin our clothes! So! Our underwear will be exposed to him!¡± ¡°KYAAA!¡± The Hong Yoo Hees screamed in unison. But that was not the only problem. ¡°On top of that, Raid Leader, our underwear is a bit sexy today.¡± The bottom was just in, but the top was ck with a lot ofce. It slightly gave off the impression of a. At the omitted exnation, Raid Leader Hong Yoo Hee cried out in panic. ¡°No! Why do I have sexy underwear!¡± ¡°Because I was curious¡­ hehehe.¡± When the High School Girl Hong Yoo Hee, who was the curious one, scratched the back of her head and said, Raid Leader Hong Yoo Hee angrily shouted. ¡°Get that b*tch out!¡± ¡°That¡¯s unfair! Unfair!¡± But High School Girl Hong Yoo Hee was kicked out of the guild house like Confucianist Hong Yoo Hee. ¡°Haa¡­ Haa¡­¡± Raid Leader Hong Yoo Hee roughly breathed and wiped the sweat off her forehead. And Soldier Hong Yoo Hee who had been watching the entire process raised her hand again. ¡°Raid Leader, we have one more serious problem.¡± ¡°More?!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. A really, really, serious problem.¡± As Soldier Hong Yoo Hee emphasized it again and again, Raid Leader Hong Yoo Hee looked like she was about to cry at any moment, and the same was true of the other Hong Yoo Hees. Soldier Hong Yoo Hee felt a heavy burden and exined in a low voice. ¡°ording to Outbo¡­ or oppa next door, the time needed for washing and drying is around two hours. Two hours. That is by no means a short time.¡± She was right. Two hours was not short. So what did she mean by that? Raid Leader Hong Yoo Hee could no longer think because of too much embarrassment, and the other Hong Yoo Hees were the same, so Soldier Hong Yoo Hee sighed. After shaking her head once, she narrowed her brows and said. ¡°Two hours. What in the world are we supposed to wear in those two hours?¡± ¡°KYAAAA!¡± Screams broke out again. And one Hong Yoo Hee blinked and unknowingly said. ¡°W-We¡¯ll stay naked?¡± ¡°Get that b*tch out!¡± ¡°T-That¡¯s unfair!¡± Her excuse did not work. When the slightly lewd Hong Yoo Hee was dragged out, the sses-wearing Hong Yoo Hee raised her hand and spoke. ¡°It¡¯s impossible for us to stay naked. If we usemon sense, we¡¯ll be wearing something else. Perhaps¡­ the clothes of oppa next door?¡± ¡°T-The clothes of oppa next door?¡± ¡°A big white shirt¡­ without a bottom¡­ That kind of fashion.¡± The moment the sses-wearing Hong Yoo Hee, also known as the Doujin Writer Hong Yoo Hee, smiled and said again, screams broke out among the Hong Yoo Hees. ¡°KYAAAA!¡± ¡°N-No way! You¡¯ve read way too many pervertedics!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right! That¡¯s right!¡± In response to the strong bacsh of the Hong Yoo Hees, Doujin Writer Hong Yoo Hee snorted, while Soldier Hong Yoo Hee narrowed her brows even more and spoke. ¡°Anyway, Raid Leader, the change of clothes is a serious problem.¡± That was why Raid Leader Hong Yoo Hee nodded her head, and the Hong Yoo Hee in reality cautiously spoke. ¡°U-Umm¡­ Oppa.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°I-If my clothes are being washed¡­ what should I wear then¡­¡± ¡°Eh? Uh¡­ Uh¡­ Well¡­¡± Kang Jin-ho was perplexed. He could keep thinking rationally even on a battlefield where bullets rained, but he could not this time. He stuttered and forced his brain to work. ¡°T-shirt¡­ Yes, that. T-shirt. I have some new ones. Underwear too. Yeah¡­ maybe that?¡± ¡°I-Is it new?¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s new. Everything is new. It¡¯s still in its package. The shorts aren¡¯t new, but¡­¡± ¡°T-That will be fine with me¡­¡± Because it was new. Because it was not worn yet. And T-shirts aremon for both sexes. The underwear was also brand new, so she could wear it for now even if it was for men. Shorts were what one wore over the underwear, so it was fine. ¡®Yes, it¡¯s fine. It will be fine!¡¯ That was what Hong Yoo Hee thought at that time. ¡®What do you mean by it¡¯s fine!¡¯ At the bathroom. To be exact, at the bathroom next to the living room. The structure itself was familiar. Because it was the same as the bathroom in her home. But that alone did not calm her mind. The structure was the same, but the appearance was different. First of all, the color of the light was different. ¡®That¡¯s not what¡¯s important!¡¯ There was something else that was really, really important. The T-shirt was really new and the shorts had an stic waist band, so there was no problem in wearing those. The real problem was the underwear. ¡®I-Is this the so-called drawers?¡¯ A tight-fitting underwear for men. There was a recent trend of unisex drawers, so women could also wear it. Anyway, about that. ¡°Eueueue¡­¡± She had never observed male underwear so closely. Hong Yoo Hee inspected the drawers here and there with a blushing face, and could not help in imagining one thing even if she did not like it. She imagined the oppa next door wearing nothing but drawers. ¡®Aueueue¡­¡¯ S-Should I say that it¡¯s cool? No, rather than cool, what should I call it? Something that makes me drool? ¡®Am I crazy? Why am I drooling!¡¯ It was the moment Hong Yoo Hee yelled at herself. ¡°Uh, I¡¯ll be somewhere else for a while, so please leave the clothes to be washed outside the door.¡± Hong Yoo Hee raised her head and shouted in response to the voice from outside the bathroom door. ¡°Y-Yes!¡± She had to put her clothes outside. Which meant, she had to take off her clothes first in order to do that. She had to do that in the house of someone else. And in the bathroom of the oppa next door. ¡®Euaaaaaaaa.¡¯ Hong Yoo Hee grabbed her head and took a deep breath. She felt and thought that it was strange. She tried to take a step back, calm down, and think about it. ¡®But it¡¯s still weird!¡¯ Uwaah. I hate you, mom. I hate you, dad. Why did you go on a trip? Why is the door broken? Hong Yoo Hee was in tears as she took off her clothes and sniffled. She restlessly moved in her agony before cing her clothes outside the door. ¡®I can no longer marry! I can no longer marry!¡¯ Hong Yoo Hee sobbed as she slowly began to wash herself. And 20 minutester. It actually took her less than 10 minutes to wash herself, but it took her another 10 minutes to wear the clothes prepared by Kang Jin-ho. A big and oversized white shirt, and shorts she reluctantly shortened. Inside was a male drawers. Hong Yoo Hee stepped out and faced Kang Jin-ho who turned his gaze away and dryly coughed again. ¡°Ehem, ehem. Uh¡­ well¡­ Miss Yoo Hee? Have you¡­ contacted your parents?¡± In fact, she had no time to do it. As soon as he brought her home, he gave an exnation and sent her to the bathroom. But it was an important matter, so Hong Yoo Hee came to her senses at his words and quickly grabbed her cellphone. ¡°I-I¡¯ll do it now!¡± Hong Yoo Hee wanted to call right away, but saw Kang Jin-ho and changed her mind. She then used KakaoTalk. She went into the family chat room and told about the current situation, that is, that the door was broken and she could not get in, and not the situation of her going to the house of the oppa next door while drenched wet, taking a shower, and putting on his clothes. So the reply of her mother was simple. [It¡¯s alreadyte, so call the key man tomorrow morning. Go to the bathhouse instead of the inte caf¨¦. Okay?] Perhaps because Hong Yoo Hee had stayed in the inte caf¨¦ several times before, her mother was rxed even though her daughter would be staying overnight outside. ¡®Because it¡¯s our neighborhood.¡¯ It was not just any other town as it was the town they had lived in for more than 10 years. The reaction of her mother would definitely bepletely different if she had known where her daughter was now or the current situation. ¡®L-Let¡¯s not talk about useless things.¡¯ And she deeply inhaled. Hong Yoo Hee took a long breath before raising her head and saying. ¡°M-Mom says to call the key man tomorrow morning.¡± ¡°I-Is that so? Then today¡­¡± Silence fell again between Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee. But that silence was not a still silence. Because a heated discussion was going on in the minds of Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee, and a red rm began ringing in their minds. Ten seconds passed like that. A few minutes passed. ¡°Uh¡­ Miss Yoo Hee?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± Hong Yoo Hee looked at Kang Jin-ho with a red face and some anticipation she was unaware of. And at that gaze, Kang Jin-ho swallowed hard and utteredpletely different words from what he had originally intended. ¡°Do you¡­ want to y games?¡± ¡°G-Games?¡± ¡°Uh, yes. A game. Yes, games.¡± Games. To have fun ying. Hong Yoo Hee blinked at the suggestion of Kang Jin-ho, but soon nodded as if she had been possessed. SIDE STORY 15 SIDE STORY 15 SIDE STORY ¨C TO EARTH (8) Romantic Cat. Kim Hye Eun. Female. Web designer. Single. She returned home after barely rectifying what had suddenly happened, and was in the middle of an extreme conflict. Should she just take a bath first and not think about anything, or y a game while opening a can of beer? After hesitating for a moment, she chose to y the game first, and roughly threw her clothes as she wore a T-shirt and shorts instead of her sleepwear. She then sat in front of theputer and opened a can of beer. ¡°Haa.¡± I¡¯m tired. Why is it like this even though it¡¯s a holiday? If everything had gone as nned, I would have gone to the offline meeting and had fun with the chat room members. ¡°Huaaa¡­¡± Perhaps because she did not have a tough personality, she did not let out swear words. Or rather, she could not even properly let out exmations from tiredness. Her shoulders drooped as she looked at the monitor. Legend of Heroes 2. A game she had been ying for several years. She had purchased its physical edition back then, but the game was now almost like an MMORPG. The game developers seemed to have developed it that way. ¡®Come to think of it, I haven¡¯t heard any news from them.¡¯ Kim Hye Eun habitually entered her username and password after opening the login screen, and moved her hand to check her cellphone after clicking the Login button. There were only a few new messages in the group chat room. Even so, it was all the messages of AAA and Cowabunga. AAA: What now? What happened then? Did the two meet? Cowabunga: Have they met? Have they met? AAA: Why are they not answering? Cowabunga: Don¡¯t tell me something like HyunPi happened? T/N: Recap. HyunPi is ng for reality + yer Killing. In HyunPi, two arguing yers agree to meet each other offline to settle it. There were a few simr messages. In the end, AAA and Cowabunga gave up talking, perhaps because they got tired of it. ¡®Did something really happen?¡¯ It was a little strange that the two had not said anything at all. They would have at least said if they had met or not. ¡®Did they really do HyunPi?¡¯ Kim Hye Eun imagined it for a moment but soon shook her head. That would not happen. Even though Norfolk and Outbo seemed to have a bad rtionship with each other, they were actually very good friends. They were like those friends who often quarreled in manhwa and novels. Moreover, Kim Hye Eun knew the real appearance of Norfolk, Hong Yoo Hee. Even if Outbo had feelings of resentment towards Norfolk, their negatives feelings would be gone when they meet Hong Yoo Hee. ¡®Because that girl¡¯s pretty.¡¯ She¡¯s cute too. She¡¯ll look good if she dressed up a bit. Anyway, the chances of HyunPi happening are low. ¡®Even if Outbo has feelings of resentment, it¡¯s just a game.¡¯ Though why would Outbo be resentful if he¡¯s the one who¡¯s always first ce? ¡®And considering Yoo-Hee¡¯s nature, she won¡¯t fight him offline.¡¯ Because she was a girl with an openly timid personality. ¡®Hmm, but thinking about it again makes me worried.¡¯ For Kim Hye Eun, Hong Yoo Hee was a child as gentle as amb. But what about Outbo? ¡®First of all, Outbo¡¯s not a normal person.¡¯ Outbo seemed to be like a good person when they talked. She had never seen Outbo use family insults or sex jokes like AAA or Cowabunga. It was only when Norfolk made fun of Outbo that they be like a mean grade schooler, but when talking to other people, Outbo was very normal. Rather, Outbo felt like an adult withmon sense. ¡®No, rather than havingmon sense, they just seem to be indifferent.¡¯ It feels like they only be alive when they¡¯re ying with Norfolk. In fact, conversations with Outbo neversted long if Norfolk was absent. I rarely chatted with Outbo. ¡®Anyway, Outbo is¡­ a strange person?¡¯ As for Outbo¡¯s true identity. I can¡¯t tell if they¡¯re a man or woman. It¡¯s quite foolish to judge sex based on the way people talk in a game. Perhaps AAA, who enjoys sex jokes, or Cowabunga, who tantly acts like a kid, are women too. So who is Outbo? Are they a man or woman? Are they older or younger? ¡®Sigh, I¡¯m curious.¡¯ That¡¯s why I really wanted to go the offline meeting today. But if I think about it again, my worries seem to be useless too. Even if Outbo is a scary man with a lot of tattoos on his body, I don¡¯t think he¡¯ll do something to Hong Yoo Hee. ¡®If that is true, Yoo Hee would then pretend to not know him and run away first.¡¯ I¡¯m not sure about anything else, but I know that Hong Yoo Hee¡¯s intuition is great.¡¯ ¡®But why aren¡¯t they saying anything? She¡¯s not answering my private messages either.¡¯ Did she meet Outbo? What did Outbo look like? In fact, Kim Hye Eun had already sent a private message in her free time earlier. But there was no answer. It was not even read. ¡®Did she have an ident?¡¯ Were they in a car ident together? ¡®T-That can¡¯t be. That can¡¯t happen.¡¯ Kim Hye Eun struggled to shake off the ominous thoughts by shaking her head, and immediately logged in to the game. She would only have ominous thoughts if she continued to think now. ¡°Fwoo, okay.¡± She used Cordelia, one of the 11 yable characters. But it waspletely different from the Cordelia avatar of Norfolk. Her hair was orange and had a different hairstyle, and she wore sses. ¡®Hong Yoo Hee prefers the original.¡¯ She had said that she liked the original Cordelia, so she never changed the hair and skin colors, though she sometimes add highlights. ¡®Anyway, let¡¯s connect.¡¯ After selecting her character, she moved to the Pleiades Guild house in a few seconds. And as if waiting for her, group messages from the guild came in. AAA: You¡¯re here now? Do you have any news about Norfolk and Outbo? Cowabunga: Both of them haven¡¯t contacted us ever since the offline meeting. Did they hold hands and go to another world? Or got hit by a truck? AAA: Oh, and one of them became a woman, so they became a couple? Cowabunga: Kya, that¡¯s awesome. That¡¯s awesome. As expected, the two who usually fooled around were talking nonsense again. ¡®Norfolk had always been a woman.¡¯ Kim Hye Eun thought once and hurriedly typed on the keyboard. Romantic Cat: Have they not logged in at all? AAA: Yes. Just in case, I checked the login list, but couldn¡¯t find them. Cowabunga: Did something really happen? Romantic Cat: Well, that¡¯s possible. AAA: I tried searching for any idents in the Hongdae area. Even traffic ident records. Cowabunga: What? You were looking for that? AAA: Anyway, I searched but didn¡¯t find anything. Cowabunga: Then is it HyunPi? Did they both get seriously injured from HyunPi and end up in the hospital? AAA: That¡¯s¡­ possible! Romantic Cat: Don¡¯t joke around. Do you really think those two will do HyunPi if they meet? AAA: Yes, Norfolk is just a tough talker, but he¡¯s very soft inside. Cowabunga: Like a soft heart under a stern exterior. Romantic Cat: Anyway, I¡¯m worried. If it¡¯s not an ident or HyunPi, what is it? Cowabunga: Did they fall in love? AAA: Fall in love? Cowabunga: I mean, maybe they met and one of them is a woman, and the other is a man, so it¡¯s love at first sight! Like the enemy I fought every day in the game was actually my ideal type? AAA: You¡¯ve read way too many light novels. Cowabunga: I admit that I am an otaku, but it¡¯s possible too. AAA: Hmm¡­ If one of them is a woman, it¡¯s probably Norfolk. From how they usually speak. Norfolk talks a bit cute, right? Cowabunga: Like a cute girl. Is she in high school? A pretty girl gamer who¡¯s a tough talker and likes to curse. Wow. I might get horny. AAA: What is this crazy b*stard saying? But do I agree? Yes, I agree. Cowabunga: Oh, f*ck those dad jokes. Hey, don¡¯t do it. Stop. T/N: ¡®Do I agree? Yes, I agree¡¯ is a recent ng among Korean teenagers. I won¡¯t exin what it means as it would be long, but Cowabunga called it dad joke even if it¡¯s not because he didn¡¯t like it. AAA: But wouldn¡¯t it be better for us to use Discord? That way, we¡¯ll hear our voices. Cowabunga: Look at this guy change the topic. Anyway, what do the others think? Romantic Cat: My thoughts? Cowabunga: Yes, did those two really fall in love? Instead of answering right away, Kim Hye Eun pondered for a while. Surprisingly, as Cowabunga had said, Hong Yoo Hee was a pretty girl gamer who was a tough talker and liked to curse. ¡®This¡­¡¯ My woman¡¯s intuition tells me. I think that Outbo is a seriously cool guy. So is it possible that the two really fell in love? AAA: Romantic? Cowabunga: Did they go too? Romantic Cat: I¡¯m still here. And¡­ are those two dating now after falling in love at first sight? That Norfolk and Outbo. AAA: If those two start dating, it¡¯s really like a light novel. Cowabunga: Maybe they¡¯ve already gone to another world by now, holding hands. They then wake up in another world and find that they¡¯ve been engaged to each other. Romantic Cat read the nonsensical words of Cowabunga, and unconsciously smiled. Yeah, that¡¯s ridiculous. Norfolk and Outbo dating? That¡¯s something that only appears in light novels or manhwa. ¡®It¡¯s probably not an ident¡­ but I¡¯m worried, so hurry up and log in, girl.¡¯ Kim Hye Eun momentarily looked at the profile picture of Hong Yoo Hee in KakaoTalk before she began to type on the keyboard again. And at the same time. In the house of Outboxer009, Kang Jin-ho. An ¡®ident¡¯ urred. *** ¡°Oh yeah! A big ident! You got hit in the middle!¡± ¡°Aaaargh!¡± Kang Jin-ho was wearing a tank top and sweatpants while Hong Yoo Hee wore a big T-shirt and shorts. The two were holding Nintendo Switch joysticks and showing concentration levels beyond that of an ordinary person. ¡°I won! I won! I won, okay?¡± As soon as she crossed the finish line in first ce, Hong Yoo Hee jumped from her seat and repeatedly jumped in her joy, and Kang Jin-ho fell on the floor with a seriously frustrated face. ¡°I¡¯m first ce! First ce!¡± It¡¯s seriously good. It feels so good. I can¡¯t believe I took first ce from Outboxer009. Is there anything else in the world that can make me happier than this? Yes, this is what Oh Yeah! is. This is what we call Oh Yeah! ¡°Kya!¡± Outbo was struggling with the pain of defeat. ¡°Ohmigosh, ohmigosh, ahem, ahem, ohmigosh.¡± When the shoulders of Hong Yoo Hee shook up and down in her joy, Kang Jin-ho continued to suffer as he covered his face with both hands. Three hours after she took a shower. Hong Yoo Hee was still wearing the clothes of Kang Jin-ho even though the clothes in the dryer had already been dried. Because they had been ying for three hours. All kinds of two-yer games that Kang Jin-ho bought but never yed before. ¡®Hehehe, I think I won a bit cheaply, but who cares? I won.¡¯ For Kang Jin-ho, it was his first time ying most of the games. On the other hand, Hong Yoo Hee had yed most of the games at least once. Kang Jin-ho had no close friends in Korea, but Hong Yoo Hee had a close friend named Romantic Cat, Kim Hye Eun. ¡°Did you see? This is the gap between you and me.¡± ¡°Ughhh¡­¡± Kang Jin-ho groaned again, and Hong Yoo Hee was ted for some time before she soon blushed. ¡®I like it.¡¯ After taking a shower and ying games, both of them began to reveal more of their Outbo and Norfolk selves. So by the end, they were now enjoying the games with their Outbo and Norfolk selves fully revealed. So do I like it or hate it? The more I yed the game and saw Outbo, the more the oppa next door whom I admired disappeared. ¡®Now I feel like saying Hello, oppa next door!¡¯ It was a bit shocking at first to see Outbo doing something in the form of oppa next door, but¡­ ¡®I think¡­ I like it a bit?¡¯ What do you call this? A hidden charm? Gap moe? My heart has been pounding a bit ever since. ¡®He¡¯s still cool¡­¡¯ His coolness did not disappear. I like the way he nicely smiles like that. Hong Yoo Hee pursed her lips inward and came up with various thoughts, and unknowingly began to increase theyers of her love filter. ¡°One more, just one more round.¡± ¡°Hmph, since you¡¯re begging me that much, okay.¡± Hong Yoo Hee snorted and sat down again. Ding-dong. She was startled by the doorbell, but only for a moment. Because a figure she weed was seen on the screen of the inte. ¡°I guess the chicken is here.¡± Chicken that they ordered as ate night snack. Kang Jin-ho went out to the front door and received the chicken, and a smile spread across the face of Hong Yoo Hee again. ¡°Kya!¡± This is what Oh Yeah! is. It¡¯s definitely an Oh Yeah! moment. The chicken and beer are delicious. The games are fun. My clothes feelfy. The oppa next door is sitting in front of me. ¡®N-No. Not thest one.¡¯ Hong Yoo Hee turned red again and covered her face with therge beer mug as she nced at Kang Jin-ho who was eating chicken wings. He then slightly tilted his head. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing¡­ hehe.¡± The oppa next door. The bad grade schooler Outbo. The oppa next door. The bad grade schooler Outbo. For some reason, I keep smiling. Why? Why do I keep smiling like this? Instead of thinking about it any longer, Hong Yoo Hee drank the tasty beer. And a few hourster. [What¡¯s this? They¡¯re both just sleeping? While in the middle of ying games?] It was true. Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee were lying on their backs in the living room with the joysticks in their hands. They naturally fell asleep while drinking and ying games. [What? That¡¯s it? That¡¯s it?] Cordelia was very disappointed and repeatedly stomped her feet, and Jude who stood next to her clicked his tongue and said. [Then what more do you want? This is enough.] [No, it¡¯s not enough. They should kiss too!] [Cordelia, are they me and you? Do you remember how long it took us to kiss for the first time?] At the question of Jude, Cordelia suddenly blushed and stuttered. Because she remembered the night after the founding celebration event where they almost kissed in the lips for the first time. [B-But! That is that! This is this!] [Yes, we are us. And they are them. Anyway, this is already a major development. You can say that we¡¯ve kickstarted their romance.] The numerous things they prepared for today had all worked effectively. Cordelia still groaned in regret, but soon had a mischievous smile. [Still, let¡¯s do this.] She used her telekinesis. Seeing Cordelia move Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee, Jude wryly smiled. [Won¡¯t they be surprised when they wake up?] [That¡¯s what I¡¯m doing.] Cordelia softlyughed and looked down at Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee. Until earlier, the two had been lying far away from each other, but they were now sticking together. To be exact, Hong Yoo Hee was in the arms of Kang Jin-ho. [Doesn¡¯t this look good?] The appearance of two sleeping people hugging each other. [Yeah.] These two were fated to be one way or another. Jude nodded in agreement, holding the waist of Cordelia who leaned against his arms. They naturally kissed each other on the lips. [Shall we go now?] [Yes, let¡¯s go.] [Let¡¯s go back and y games.] [Yes! Games!] [Okay, game.] The two were talking about the same thing but thinking differently, and then left the house of Kang Jin-ho after kissing again. And a few hourster. In the morning when the sun had risen and some time had passed. ¡°Uhn¡­¡± Hong Yoo Hee woke up with a sleepy sound and almost screamed in surprise. Because as soon as she woke up, she saw the firm chest of the oppa next door. ¡®W-What¡¯s going on? What happened?¡¯ When she turned her eyes, she could view the face of the oppa next door, who had closed eyes and was lying on his side, and his strong arms hugging her shoulder and waist. Hong Yoo Hee was in the arms of the oppa next door as though she was a teddy bear now. ¡®Hueeee?¡¯ What happened? What the hell happened? Hong Yoo Hee thought desperately but could not remember. She only remembered closing her eyes while ying a game. ¡®T-The smell of oppa.¡¯ Hong Yoo Hee unknowingly sniffed once and soon shook her head, lightly pping herself in the cheek. She had toe to her senses. This was not the time to be sniffing the oppa next door. ¡®N-Nothing happened, right?¡¯ We¡¯re both wearing clothes, right? But I don¡¯t remember. ¡®O-Oppa next door is a gentleman, right?¡¯ Her brain was not properly working. The Hong Yoo Hees in her mind were also panicking and unable to give proper opinions. And at that moment. ¡®S-She¡¯s awake?¡¯ Kang Jin-ho. He actually woke up around 10 minutes earlier than Hong Yoo Hee, and was struggling while keeping his eyes closed. He was scared out of his wits when he first woke up. Kang Jin-ho was very worried that something happened while they were drinking, and kept recalling his memories again and again. But he remembered nothing. They just fell asleep while ying games. ¡®But why!¡¯ Why am I hugging Hong Yoo Hee in this position? ¡®Sweet.¡¯ The skin of Hong Yoo Hee smelled sweet. The scent of the shampoo in her hair felt different even though it was the one he often used. And above all else, she was so small, soft, and cuddly. The small body of Hong Yoo Hee. Her soft body. ¡®Calm down, Kang Jin-ho!¡¯ The first thing he had to do was to escape this crisis. Kang Jin-ho pretended to be still asleep as he lightly groaned and moved his body. Because he wanted to make it look like he naturally released Hong Yoo Hee from his arms. ¡®After I release Hong Yoo Hee, I¡¯ll pretend I overslept and wake up.¡¯ Yes, that¡¯s good. That¡¯s the best action. But the n of Kang Jin-ho ran into some difficulties from the very start. ¡®Miss Yoo Hee? Is she still sleeping?¡¯ Hong Yoo Hee was not moving. Or rather, she moved and did not get out, and even snuggled more into his arms. ¡®What? She¡¯s still not awake? Really?¡¯ He had a great desire to open his eyes and check, but could not do it. ¡®Why? What am I doing?¡¯ In fact, even Hong Yoo Hee did not know the reason. The arm of Kang Jin-ho had definitely moved and she could now escape, but her body did not move for some strange reason. She wanted to stay like this. She wanted to be in the arms of Kang Jin-ho for a little longer. And it was actually the same for Kang Jin-ho. Hong Yoo Hee slowly closed her eyes while Kang Jin-ho did not open his. It was something like an implicit agreement. Or a situation created from their desires. Either way, it felt good. The two tightly hugged each other and shared their breaths and warmth. They enjoyed the situation. *** Time passed again. After a couple of hours. It was not until lunchtime did the two stood up with awkward acting, and from then on did not talk much to each other. Because they were very embarrassed. ¡°Uh¡­ eat, do you want to eat?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ Ah¡­ Yes, oppa.¡± Kang Jin-ho prepared ate lunch while Hong Yoo Hee went into the bathroom and put on her dried clothes. And they quietly had lunch. They had wanted this to continue forever, but it had to eventually end. ¡°Shall we¡­ go now?¡± ¡°Yes, oppa.¡± Hong Yoo Hee awkwardly replied and headed to the entrance to put on her shoes, and Kang Jin-ho watched her as he wore his shoes too. ¡°Oppa?¡± ¡°No, nothing. Yes, that¡¯s right. We need to call the key man. Uh, yes. The key man. It will take some time for him toe. The door has to be opened.¡± As Kang Jin-ho spoke gibberish and opened the door, Hong Yoo Hee burst intoughter. ¡°Cute.¡± She spoke very quietly and looked up again to see the embarrassed Kang Jin-ho. ¡°Oppa.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Next time, let¡¯s y together again.¡± Kang Jin-ho blinked and soon nodded at the short words she uttered with all her courage. He replied with an awkward smile. ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s do it again. Games.¡± ¡°Hehehe.¡± Hong Yoo Hee giggled with a red face at the answer of Kang Jin-ho who was flustered and turned around as he coughed. ¡°Let¡¯s go then.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± The two walked out of the front door together. And because of that, they saw two people who had been watching them since earlier. ¡°Yoo Hee?¡± A middle-aged couple was standing in front of the house of Hong Yoo Hee, and another man whom they had seen for the first time was there but they could tell what he was doing at a nce. In short, that man was the key man. ¡°Why are youing out of there?¡± Kim Eun Jung. Hong Yoo Hee froze and could not answer the question of her mother while Kang Jin-ho opened and closed his mouth. Hong Yoo Hee gulped when she saw the eyes of her father, Hong Yoo Won, turn sharp. T/N: Korean women do not change their surnames when they get married, so her mother is still ¡®Kim¡¯ instead of ¡®Hong¡¯. SIDE STORY 16 SIDE STORY 16 SIDE STORY ¨C TO EARTH (9) Alexei. His nickname was Major. Not much was known about him except that he was from the Soviet Union and had served in the military for many years. He was a high-level chess master, a travel writer, a president of a private militarypany, and an arms dealer. The rtionship of Kang Jin-ho with him was seriouslyplicated and mysterious, but if one had to objectively define it, it would be a ¡®master and disciple¡¯ rtionship. A teacher. He was a man who taught Kang Jin-ho many things ¨C no, pretty much everything necessary to live. Kang Jin-ho was always grateful for his teachings, and often used those teachings to solve problems. And it was still the same even now, six years after his death. ¡®Alexei! Alexei!¡¯ What should I do? Please? How! What should I do! Alexei taught him everything he needed to live. He taught Kang Jin-ho a lot of things such as shooting, assembling and maintaining a gun, using and maintaining a knife, fighting barehanded, survival skills, and so on. There was even a teaching on how to dance with a woman. So he had danced with Natasha a few times. Anyway, Alexei had taught him a lot, so until this day, Kang Jin-ho had never felt that the teachings of Alexei werecking. But at this moment. Kang Jin-ho realized. None of the teachings of Alexei were useful in a situation like this one. ¡®Alexei!¡¯ The afternoon after spending a night under the same roof with the girl next door, I met her parents while seeing her off the house- If it was Cowabunga, he would have liked it and said that it was the perfect light novel title, but this was reality for Kang Jin-ho. ¡®Ca-Calm down, Kang Jin-ho.¡¯ First of all, it¡¯s necessary to correct the vocabry itself. I spent the night under the same roof. But that sentence had to be interpreted literally. It shouldn¡¯t be interpreted metaphorically. We really just slept under the same roof! I didn¡¯t do anything shameful that would get me caught by others, I didn¡¯t- ¡®No!¡¯ I don¡¯t know what happenedst night, but I woke up hugging Hong Yoo Hee. And even though I woke up, I kept hugging her because I was embarrassed. Because I enjoyed her scent and body temperature! The agony of Kang Jin-ho deepened, and it was the same for the Kang Jin-hos in his mind. ¡°General! General! Things are not going well! Our defense line is being breached in an instant!¡± ¡°The enemy ising from all sides! They¡¯re too strong!¡± At the reports of the Kang Jin-hos, General Kang Jin-ho groaned and clenched his fists. No matter how much he stared at the battlefield map, he could not think of a suitable solution. ¡°General! I have an idea!¡± It was at that time. Child Soldier Kang Jin-ho raised his hand and spoke, and General Kang Jin-ho and the other Kang Jin-hos looked back at him with hope. ¡°What¡¯s your idea?¡± ¡°If we¡¯re scared, just blow up everythi-¡± ¡°Get him out!¡± ¡°Mmph! Mmmph!¡± At themand of General Kang Jin-ho, another Kang Jin-ho expelled Child Soldier Kang Jin-ho from the tent. That crazy kid. What do you mean by blow up? As I thought, the Kang Jin-ho in those days has too many problems. ¡°Calm down! Calm down! Our opponent is a civilian! He¡¯s not an enemy! We can resolve it through dialogue!¡± ¡°But general! Look at those eyes! Those are the eyes of a beast!¡± It was true. The gaze of Hong Yoo Won towards Kang Jin-ho was undeniably vicious. It was like the eyes of someone looking at an enemy. But General Kang Jin-ho tried to calmly speak after adjusting his breathing. ¡°I-It¡¯s okay! It¡¯s okay! Didn¡¯t we already research when we moved in? He¡¯s an ordinary man! He has nothing to do with blood, guns, and war!¡± But while he was talking, he had a thought. Could it be that he did not research enough? In fact, it was possible that the man was a professional assassin disguised as a civilian. Otherwise, they could not exin that vicious look. ¡°General! There is no time! Just say anything!¡± Soldier Kang Jin-ho was right. Time was passing even at this moment. It would even be stranger if he did not say anything. He had to give an excuse, no, an exnation. ¡°I-I was at oppa¡¯s house. Uh, yes. I couldn¡¯t enter my house, yes, yes. The oppa next door saw me, and uh¡­ yes¡­ that is¡­ he said, would you like to rest¡­¡± Hong Yoo Hee spoke with an awkward smile, and Kang Jin-ho unconsciously gulped. It was because of thest sentence. ¡°Would you like to¡­ rest?¡± Kim Eun Jung, the mother of Hong Yoo Hee, narrowed her brows and looked at Kang Jin-ho who gasped and swallowed his breath, forcing his mouth to open. ¡°T-That is¡­ Because¡­¡± He stuttered without realizing it. In addition, he was also sweating profusely, so anyone could only see him as very suspicious. ¡°Uh¡­ well, the locked door. She was troubled, so¡­ uh¡­ yeah. I helped her.¡± Kang Jin-ho was good at acting. Because he also received spy training from Rachel who was believed to be the lover of Alexei. But at this moment, that acting ability was not showing at all. Rachel would havemented if she had seen him now, but it could not be helped. He was stiff, speaking inplete monotone. The eyes of Kim Eun Jung narrowed, and the gaze of Hong Yoo Won became even more vicious. And Hong Yoo Hee spoke again as if shouting. ¡°T-The house of oppa next door is better than spending the night at an inte caf¨¦ or a bathhouse! Yes, yes! I ate well too!¡± It was better to stay at the house of oppa next door than to spend the night in an inte caf¨¦ or a bathhouse. Right after Hong Yoo Hee said those words, chaos erupted in her mind. ¡°Get that b*tch out! Get her out!¡± ¡°Aaaah! I¡¯m sorry! I¡¯m sorry!¡± Midde School Girl Hong Yoo Hee pleaded, but Raid Leader Hong Yoo Hee was firm. After expelling Middle School Girl Hong Yoo Hee, she looked back and asked the remaining Hong Yoo Hees. ¡°Those words are strange no matter how you look at it, right?¡± The house of oppa next door is better than an inte caf¨¦ or bathhouse! Raid Leader Hong Yoo Hee recited that line again and struggled with shame, and it was the same for the other Hong Yoo Hees. But one of them, sses-wearing Hong Yoo Hee, raised her hand and said. ¡°But raid leader! If you look at it objectively, it¡¯s better! It doesn¡¯t cost money! It¡¯s not dangerous at all!¡± ¡°It¡¯s not dangerous?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right! An inte caf¨¦ and bathhouse are ces where unknown peoplee and go! Rather, it is easier to be a target of crime! But oppa next door is okay! Because he¡¯s neither a random person nor aplete stranger¡­ Ah! That¡¯s it! That should be emphasized!¡± The sses-wearing Hong Yoo Hee pped loudly, and turned to everyone, saying enthusiastically. ¡°He¡¯s not a stranger! He¡¯s not a dangerous person! He¡¯s not a b*stard who¡¯s targeting the girl next door with a sinister motive!¡± ¡°H-How do we say that?!¡± Raid Leader Hong Yoo Hee asked and sses-wearing Hong Yoo Hee answered with a smile. She came up with a solution. ¡°W-We yed games together. Uh, Legend of Heroes 2. He¡¯s not a stranger. I¡¯ve known him for almost 6 years. Yes. That¡¯s right. He¡¯s in the same guild as me.¡± When Hong Yoo Hee enumerated those while stuttering, Hong Yoo Won was confused on what she was talking about, but not for Kim Eun Jung. Because she knew the name of the game that changed the life of her only daughter. ¡°Legend of Heroes 2? You yed that together? The bachelor next door? For how many years?¡± ¡°Yes. We¡¯re friends. R-Right, oppa?¡± Hong Yoo Hee looked back at him in desperation, and Kang Jin-ho reflexively nodded his head. ¡°Uh¡­ well¡­ yes. We¡¯re¡­ friends. Yes, we¡¯re very close.¡± So he¡¯s not someone else. I mean, he¡¯s not aplete stranger. We know each other well. ¡°Hehehe.¡± Hong Yoo Hee nervouslyughed and Kang Jin-ho had an awkward smile. But despite her desperate excuse, the expression of Hong Yoo Won did not go away. Because sex crimes were more likely to ur between acquaintances rather than others! ¡®However¡­¡¯ The situation seemed to be a bit far from a sex crime. Rather, it seemed like the two were in love. Either way, from the perspective of a father with a daughter¡­ ¡®Hmm¡­¡¯ Hong Yoo Won furrowed his brows and pondered. In the former case, he definitely had to beat up to death the person in front of him, but in thetter case, if his now adult daughter and the man next door was in a romantic rtionship, it would be hard for him to say anything. ¡®What about the age difference?¡¯ The young man next door. He did not know the age of the man. The man appeared to be in his mid-twenties from the outside. So they seemed to have a difference of around 4 or 5 years. ¡®I¡¯m a bit anxious that I don¡¯t know what he does.¡¯ In any case, he thought that it would be too much to question the man right now. But it was true that his daughter was in a rather awkward situationst night. ¡®That¡¯s why we gave up the trip and came here.¡¯ His daughter might be an adult, but she had just be an adult. His wife had casually said that she could go to an inte caf¨¦ or a bathhouse, but those were far. Moreover, his daughter was pretty, cute, and adorable! It was very, very dangerous for her to stay outside. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± In the end, Hong Yoo Won decided to take a step back, and Kim Eun Jong looked back at her husband. She then turned to the front and said as she looked at Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee. ¡°We¡¯re indebted to you for taking care of our daughter. We need to fix the door first, so can we talk to you again after the situation has been resolved?¡± Kang Jin-ho immediately nodded while Hong Yoo Hee breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°T-Then, oppa. I¡¯ll be going.¡± ¡°Uh, yes. Yes, be careful.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± After their strange conversation, Kang Jin-ho bowed to Hong Yoo Won and Kim Eun Jong before he entered his house. And a few secondster. Kang Jin-ho caught his breath and hurried back to his room instead of putting his ear to the door and eavesdropping on the conversation outside. He watched the situation outside his door through the CCTV that was always in operation. The key man was opening the door, and Kim Eun Jung was pulling the cheek of Hong Yoo Hee. ¡°Ugh.¡± I want to pull it too. N-No. That¡¯s not what I meant. Kang Jin-ho shook his head toe to his senses, and tried to focus on their conversation, but fortunately, there did not seem to be any more problems. ¡°Haa.¡± Around 20 minutester. When the family of Hong Yoo Hee entered the house after thanking the key man, Kang Jin-ho sighed and copsed in ce. The feeling he felt was simr to when he was alone in the enemy camp and barely escaped. Now that his tension waspletely gone, he felt so tired and unable to do anything. ¡°Haa, f*ck.¡± Kang Jin-ho let out the exmation Hong Yoo Hee always used, and closed his eyes. And he unknowinglyughed. He keptughing perhaps because he overcame an embarrassing, difficult, and challenging situation, or because of some other reason. He justughed. *** Time passed. It was evening again. Unlike yesterday, he had dinner alone as always. He did not log in to Legend of Heroes 2. The group and private chat rooms were full of messages sent by the chat room members, but he did not read or look at those at all. And it was probably the same for Hong Yoo Hee. ¡°Haa¡­ seriously.¡± What in the world is this? The identity of Yellow Storm. The girl next door. I can¡¯t believe that Yellow Storm was actually a cute, pretty, and lovely woman. ¡°Ah, seriously.¡± It feels weird. It¡¯s strange and odd. And the scent. When I close my eyes, I recall the warmth and scent of Hong Yoo Hee¡¯s skin. Now that I think of it, it¡¯s been years since I¡¯ve hugged someone. Isn¡¯t this the first time since I hugged my colleagues when I retired? ¡®What should I do next?¡¯ When I meet Yellow Storm in the game. No, if I meet Hong Yoo Hee on the street. I¡¯ve actually resolved myself. I¡¯ve figured that something will change after I go to the offline meeting and see the actual appearance of Yellow Storm. But this has gone beyond what I have imagined. I have never considered this situation. ¡°Ah¡­ Should I just quit the game?¡± At the time he was thinking. His cellphone vibrated and Kang Jin-ho nced at the cellphone. He had turned off the notifications for most of the group and private chat rooms, so if a new notification rang, it was either a new person he added or someone whom he did not purposely turn off the notification. [Oppa, are you sleeping?] It was the message of Hong Yoo Hee. A private chat and not a group chat, so Kang Jin-ho unconsciously swallowed hard. He grabbed his cellphone and reflexively answered. [Not yet. You?] [LOL, how can I chat if I¡¯m sleeping? What are you doing?] Her statement was reasonable. He did not expect Norfolk to say such a reasonable thing. But what should he reply now? [I see.] Why did I answer ¡®I see¡¯ to ¡®What are you doing?¡¯ Even Kang Jin-ho himself thought that it was a pathetic answer, but could not help it. ¡®Uh, what is this? Why is my heart pounding like this?¡¯ Not bathump-bathump, but tugudug-tugudug. A heartbeat that was out of control. [Oppa.] [Yes.] [Oppa.] [Yes.] [Oppa.] [Yes.] [LOL Why is that all you can say?] Then why do you keep calling me oppa! He almost cried out, but did not. Rather, he found it more urgent to think about how to ovee the situation. ¡®W-What should I say?¡¯ And why is she doing this to me now? If it was the usual. If it was the usual message Norfolk gives me¡­ [Have you forgotten to take your medicine?] I would have answered that, but I can¡¯t do that now. How could I send such a message to Hong Yoo Hee, the girl next door. [Oppa.] [Yeah.] [LOL It changed. He said Yeah.] Are you making fun of me now? Kang Jin-ho was furious, but strangely kept smiling. Is Hong Yoo Hee smiling like me on the other side? [Oppa. Yesterday was fun. Let¡¯s y together next time.] [Okay.] They had said that despite the fact that they had been ying Legend of Heroes 2 together every day. [So¡­ What are we going to say to the chat room members about our meeting?] That was an important issue. A really, really important issue. [Hmm¡­ Well, if you¡¯re ufortable with it, how about keeping it a secret for now?] [Is that so? Oppa thinks that¡¯s a good idea too?] Because AAA and Cowabunga would be busy teasing the two if they found out the truth. [I¡¯m sure that they¡¯ll spread it to the entiremunity. Don¡¯t you think so?] When Hong Yoo Hee began to send messages quickly, Kang Jin-ho got up from his seat and turned on theputer. He wanted to talk to Hong Yoo Hee via the KakaoTalk for PC. [My dad had beenpletely grilling me, you know? But we just yed games, right? LOL] Hong Yoo Hee continued to send messages quickly. She was literally chattering. It was just a chat message, but he strangely felt like he could hear her voice. He could vividly imagine it. [I¡¯m d that I didn¡¯t get scolded though.] [Hey, you did nothing to be scolded, right? O-Or just a bit¡­] Why am I feeling embarrassed in writing this? Kang Jin-ho recalled what happened in the morning and slightly blushed. He coughed for no reason and continued his conversation with Hong Yoo Hee. 10 minutes, 20 minutes, an hour¡­ The two did not sleep untilte at night. *** The next morning. When Hong Yoo Hee who was busy on KakaoTalk until dawn and sleptte as she knew that she did not have sses at this time. When Kang Jin-ho habitually woke up and began exercising in the morning. A huge crisis arrived in South Korea. A person who could pose a great threat not only to Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee, but also to Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Is this¡­ the country of Gino?¡± A beauty who stood out so clearly that everyone passing by could not help but stop and look at her. The blue-eyed woman with long tinum blonde hair took off her sunsses and looked out the windows of the airport. Gino. Kang Jin-ho. The name of the disciple of Alexei who inherited everything. ¡°Gino.¡± Saying the name again, the woman smiled. Natasha Molotov. The owner of a fatal beauty remembered the face of Kang Jin-ho and walked forward. SIDE STORY 17 SIDE STORY 17 Did you know that Ending Maker had a promotional webtoon? A promotional webtoon is a one-chapter webtoon created to promote a novel series, and does not mean it will ever be adapted as a multiple chapter webtoon. Someone scated that webtoon in the past, so just go search for it on google. Anyway, the reason I brought that up was because it showed the faces of the other characters. Here it is: SIDE STORY ¨C TO EARTH (10) Nickname: Cowabunga 26 years old. Frencer. To be more specific, he was an illustrator who specialized in concept art for games. Instead of holding his tablet pen, he was eagerly typing on the keyboard, exining his point. Cowabunga: Don¡¯t you smell something? AAA: What smell? Did you fart? Cowabunga: Hey. Your dad jokes are really annoying. Stop with that bullsh*t. I¡¯m talking about Outbo and Norfolk. This was the beginning of the incident. Two days ago. The chat room members, who had known each other for several years but had never even chatted using Discord Voice Chat, decided to hold an offline meeting. Cowabunga did not show it much, but he was actually looking forward to the offline meeting. It was clear to him that AAA was a middle-aged man, but he could not properly guess about the rest of the members. ¡®It¡¯s a surprise!¡¯ Judging the sex of a person online by their way of speaking was too hasty. Male or female, older or younger. All of these things were unknown until they actually met in person. ¡®It¡¯s not that I have a strong desire to know.¡¯ Anyway, wouldn¡¯t it be fun? Of course, there are things to be worried about too. Because online rtionships can change once you get to know the reality. For example, really, really just an example since it¡¯s impossible¡­ Let¡¯s say that AAA is a woman. She¡¯s also of the same age as me. Then can we exchange dirty jokes together like before? Of course, we can still do it, but it will no longer be the same as before. I¡¯ve known the chat room members for several years already. They¡¯re quite precious to me even though I¡¯ve never seen their faces, so my expectations are greater than my worries. And on the day of the offline meeting. Whether it was fate ying a trick on me or not, the sudden rush of work and deadline adjustments led me to a situation where I couldn¡¯t go to the offline meeting. At that moment, three thoughts came into the mind of Cowabunga at the same time. ¡®Ah, I really wanted to go.¡¯ ¡®Maybe it would be better if we didn¡¯t meet.¡¯ ¡®What if everyone met and became close? I¡¯ll be left out.¡¯ But before he could choose one of those thoughts and deeply think about it, several messages came in session. Romantic Cat: Something suddenly came up at work, so I don¡¯t think I can go. I¡¯m so sorry. I¡¯m really sorry since I¡¯m the host. AAA: I¡¯m really sorry. Uh, I was seriously going to go there. But a lot of group orders suddenly came into the store¡­ ¡®AAA, you work in delivery?¡¯ Anyway, AAA and Romantic Cat reported that they could not go to the offline meeting. Three out of five could not attend. AAA: But Norfolk and Outbo went, right? Cowabunga: Yeah. And when we said that we couldn¡¯t go, both of them said that they were in the meeting ce. Did those two seriously look forward to it? It was clearly 30 minutes before their meeting time. Romantic Cat: Anyway, does that mean the two eventually met that day? Unless they lied to us and did not meet. Cowabunga: Huh? Why would that happen? Besides, it would be seriously strange if two people who had already arrived at the meeting ce to just turn around and go home simply because we were noting. AAA: Naruhodo. T/N: ¡®Naruhodo¡¯ is Japanese for ¡®I agree¡¯ or ¡®I understand.¡¯ AAA is a weeb so they use Japanese words despite being Korean Cowabunga: Everyone saw it too. For the entire day on that day, the two didn¡¯t log in to Legend of Heroes 2, didn¡¯t say anything in the group chat room, and ignored all our messages. Well, let¡¯s say those two postponed it because they were busy. But was there ever a day when those two didn¡¯t log in to Legend of Heroes 2? How could those two not go online for 24 hours? Those very two? AAA: I can¡¯t help but feel that it¡¯s suspicious. Romantic Cat: I mean, well¡­ If those two really met, there¡¯s no reason to lie to us, right? Cowabunga: Why not! Those two met! Bam! They met eyes! Bathump! And they fell in love! AAA: Oh. Romantic Cat: T-They fell in love? Cowabunga: Norfolk is cute when they usually chat. Maybe they¡¯re a cute handsome boy. Or a pretty girl. AAA: Oh¡­ Is it a BL then if Outbo¡¯s a tough guy and Norfolk¡¯s a cute boy? Cowabunga: Or maybe Outbo¡¯s a tough guy and Norfolk is a cute pretty girl. No. Maybe Outbo is a woman. AAA: If Outbo is a woman¡­ a cool beauty with a cold impression seems to suit her. Cowabunga: And she¡¯s usually indifferent to others but only shows her feelings to Norfolk? Like gap moe? AAA: Kek, my son is getting strange. Romantic Cat: You perverts. T/N: ¡®My son is getting strange¡¯ is a Korean ng that means ¡®I¡¯m getting an erection.¡¯ The ng was created as an attempt to get around the filters in a forum. But its origins are¡­ dark? It came from a doujinshi where a young male boy without any knowledge of sex gets stimted for the first time by older women. The original line in the doujinshi was ¡®my lower part is getting strange.¡¯ Cowabunga: Anyway, it¡¯s a definite possibility! And look at this chat log! What Cowabunga showed on the screen was a conversation screenshot from the two people who went missing since the offline meeting but returned yesterday in the game. Romantic Cat: The heck is that? Cowabunga: I mean, they met but does it make sense for it to end like that? AAA: It doesn¡¯t make sense. And yesterday was the day of the ranking announcement. Usually, Norfolk will provoke and Outbo will talk back. Cowabunga: That¡¯s right! But they just greeted like that. What¡¯s more suspicious is the next one! Cowabunga disyed various chat logs on the screen. That was it. That was really everything! Cowabunga: Does it make sense? Does that make sense! Outbo makes fun of Norfolk like that and ends it? No, that was not even teasing. In addition, Norfolk did not have a mental breakdown either. Cowabunga: Something smells¡­ Something smells really, really fishy¡­ Cowabunga: The two met each other in the offline meeting. Cowabunga: Norfolk was a younger female college student and Outbo was a little older, so he was a member of society with financial capabilities. Cowabunga: Outbo asked her if they could eat together, so they ate. And then decided to have fun since they had already met, using as a date route the things we originally nned. AAA: And after dinner, he drove her home? Cowabunga: That¡¯s right! Then a problem arises and¡­ Outbo says ¡®Would you like to rest for a while?¡¯ AAA: Kyaa! No lewd stuff! Romantic Cat: You crazy b*stards, what are you doing to your friends? Cowabunga: But it¡¯s definitely a possibility! It¡¯s a possible situation! The excited Cowabunga continued on with his guesses. Cowabunga: And the two spent the night together, and it wasn¡¯t until lunchtime the next day that they returned to their respective homes. Thinking like this solves all our questions. Romantic Cat: No, what questions are being solved anyway? AAA: We suddenly lost contact with the two after lunch. They did not log in to the game at night. They only logged in the afternoon next day. The point here is that the time when the two disappeared and the time when they reappeared almost ovepped. Cowabunga: That¡¯s right! AAA! Good job! Romantic Cat: I need to get out of here. AAA: But isn¡¯t it more arousing if Outbo is a cool older beauty and Norfolk is a lively beast-like guy? Cowabunga: That is a problem we can consider. Cowabunga and AAA began to joke around as always while Romantic Cat, or Kim Hye Eun, took her hands off the keyboard and picked up her cellphone instead. ¡®There¡¯s no way that¡¯s true, right?¡¯ Kim Hye Eun did not know about Outbo, but knew the real appearance of Norfolk. Norfolk was like a jewel who looked pretty, cute, and lovely even though she did not dress up. ¡®It¡¯s certainly a bit suspicious¡­¡¯ She did not win first ce again this time, but did not show any signs of a mental breakdown. As if she had already resolved all the resentment she had for the other party. ¡®Did she beat Outbo in something else?¡¯ And if she really did beat Outbo, that meant that the two had met. Not in Legends of Heroes 2, but in reality. ¡®Suspicious.¡¯ Really, really suspicious. When she was asked on what happened two days ago, she kept evading it. But it was at that moment. Ting! Kim Hye Eun was startled by the sudden notification sound and almost dropped her cellphone. She then hurriedly looked at the screen. A familiar name appeared. Yoo Hee: Unnie, unnie. Are you free this weekend? Hong Yoo Hee. The real name of Norfolk. At the sudden question, Kim Hye Eun narrowed her eyes but immediately answered by typing on her cellphone. Hye Eun: Did something suddenly happen? Yoo Hee: No, I was just thinking of doing some shopping. Hye Eun: Shopping? If you¡¯re just going to buy hoodies and sneakers, just buy them online. It¡¯s much cheaper there. Yoo Hee: N-No. Not a hoodie¡­ Hye Eun: Not a hoodie? Yoo Hee: A skirt¡­ Anyway, I want to buy some pretty clothes. And some makeup too, hehe. Kim Hye Eun stared at the cellphone for a while. She once again read the messages Hong Yoo Hee had sent. What the heck is she saying now? You want to buy a skirt? You want to buy makeup? In short, you want to dress up prettily? ¡°Who are you?¡± Fortunately, only her voice came out. So Kim Hye Eun had some time to think before typing. And the conclusion of her thinking was very clear. ¡®Is it really because of Outbo?¡¯ It¡¯s because of Outbo? But you liked him that much? I mean, what the hell happened that day that Hong Yoo Hee, a shut-in gamer, thought about going out first? ¡®There¡¯s something.¡¯ Dressing up meant that Hong Yoo Hee was thinking of meeting Outbo for a second time. ¡®What in the world did Outbo look like?¡¯ No, aside from what Outbo looks like, who in the world are they? How old are they? What¡¯s their sex? First of all, is Outbo a man? Yoo Hee: Unnie? Hye Eun: Uh, yes. Okay. Uh¡­ How about Saturday? Shall we meet at 4 o¡¯clock on Saturday in Hongdae? Yoo Hee: Yes, yes. 4 o¡¯clock in Hongdae. Thank you, unnie. Hye Eun: No need to thank me. And Kim Hye Eun paused for a moment and thought. Should I ask here? Should I ask about Outbo? ¡®No, now is not the time.¡¯ If I ask her hastily now, it¡¯s highly like that she¡¯ll stutter and run away. So I¡¯ll ask her when we meet face to face on Saturday afternoon. ¡®Norfolk and Outbo¡­¡¯ Two people who had been fighting for 6 years. But as soon as they met in the offline meeting, did they suddenly like each other? ¡®Is this like some kind of romance manhwa?¡¯ Though it¡¯s clearly an attractive pairing. ¡®Saturday¡­¡¯ A rather mischievous smile spread across the face of Kim Hye Eun. And at the same time. ¡°Hehe, Saturday. Saturday.¡± I¡¯ll buy pretty clothes with the money I saved from selling items and gold. Hong Yoo Hee rolled around her bed andughed, and soon let her imagination run wild. Oppa next door will be surprised to see me prettily dressed up. Outbo will always nce at me when we¡¯re ying games. ¡°Hehehe.¡± It¡¯s a bit of a silly thought, but it¡¯s my thoughts, so who cares? ¡°Outbo.¡± Let¡¯s chat with oppa at KakaoTalk again today. Hong Yoo Hee smiled and blushed as she stared at the profile picture of Outbo, or Kang Jin-ho. And at the same time. The house next door of Hong Yoo Hee. Which was the house of Kang Jin-ho. Unlike usual, he was dressed very neatly as he stared at his closet. Since he had only been choosingfortable clothes in the recent years, his closet was full of sweatpants, short-sleeved T-shirts, and hoodies, except for two suits and abat uniform. ¡®Uh¡­ Should I buy new clothes?¡¯ It would be strange if he wore the same clothes every time he drove Yoo Hee to college or met her while passing by. But unlike Hong Yoo Hee, Kang Jin-ho had no one to ask to go with him to buy clothes, so he turned on theputer to go inte shopping. But it was then. ¡°Huh?¡± The expression of Kang Jin-ho changed at the sound of a small rm. Because the sound came not from the cellphone he normally used, but from the militarymunication device he prepared for emergency contact. Themunication device had not made even a small sound for the past six years. Kang Jin-ho hurriedly activated the screen of themunication device and soon widened his eyes in surprise. [I¡¯ll see you soon. Your Natasha.] A short sentence. Kang Jin-ho stopped moving for some time at the sentence written in Cyrillic instead of the Korean alphabet. Without realizing it, he touched the part where the name Natasha was disyed and recalled thest time he saw her. Natasha Molotov. A woman who was always beautiful and strong. And like Kang Jin-ho, Jude thought the same as he was lying on a motel bed. The souls of the two had already split a long time ago, but their origin was the same. ¡®Why is Natasha suddenly¡­¡¯ No, more than that, is it really Natasha? Fortunately, she¡¯s unharmed. It seems like she¡¯s still doing well. And¡­ ¡®I¡¯m d that it¡¯s in Cyrillic.¡¯ Because Cordelia did not know Cyrillic. But he judged it too quickly. At the time when Kang Jin-ho got sentimental and Jude also briefly thought of the face of Natasha, Cordelia turned to Jude with wrinkled eyebrows and asked Jude who finished being sentimental. ¡°Who is ¡®Your Natasha¡¯?¡± Cordelia asked with a wide smile as if her eyebrows had not wrinkled earlier, and Jude remembered that before she was a goddess, she was an archwizard who could easily usenguage interpretation magic. ¡°Uh, she is¡­¡± ¡°Yes, she is who? Don¡¯t tell me¡­ She¡¯s the woman in the night pool?¡± Cordelia inquired again with bright smile, and cold sweat began to flow down the face of Jude. SIDE STORY 18 SIDE STORY 18 Terms used in this side story: Draw the knife ¨C Korean idiom which means to take an extensive measure against a certain problem. SIDE STORY ¨C TO EARTH (11) ¡°I see. She was your Natasha. Kang Jin-ho¡¯s Natasha. The woman you went with to the night pool was Natasha. I didn¡¯t even know that, so I was asking tactlessly who you went with.¡± As Cordelia spoke in an undting voice with a cold gaze, Jude was in his most flustered moment. Jude was so flustered that he stuttered. ¡°N-No. That is¡­ Uh, first of all. D-Don¡¯t misunderstand.¡± ¡°Misunderstand?¡± ¡°Yes, misunderstand. You¡¯re misunderstanding me now, okay? Natasha is¡­ not my ex-girlfriend.¡± Jude was embarrassed at the words ¡®ex-girlfriend¡¯ and stuttered again. Cordelia snorted and said with a face full of dissatisfaction. ¡°No, I don¡¯t care if she¡¯s your ex-girlfriend. I only have you in my past and present lives. Yes, only you. The only man I have is Jude.¡± Her gaze and voice were overflowing with dissatisfaction. Therefore, Jude made eye contact with the sulking Cordelia and said. ¡°No, I¡¯m really, really serious. Natasha is like Maja to me¡­. Yes, she¡¯s like Maja.¡± ¡°Maja?¡± ¡°Yes, Maja.¡± You understand now? Was what Jude thought, but it was not over. Cordelia was quite surprised as her eyes widened and she shouted. ¡°You and Maja were like that?!¡± ¡°No! That¡¯s not what I meant!¡± The rtionship I have with Maja! You know the best the rtionship I have with Maja! Jude pounded his chest in frustration, and said while looking at the blue eyes of Cordelia who was still doubting him. ¡°Cordelia, you know, Maja is mine¡­¡± It was then. The words of Jude trailed off as he thought about Maja. Maja Tantalotte. She was his most precious woman in the world, second to Cordelia, and was five years older than him, being there since he was born. Even now when he closed his eyes, he could vividly remember his countless memories with her. ¡°If I think about it¡­. Maja is¡­ my mother, my older sister, and my best friend. I was sick and always stayed at home, but my kind, pretty, and generous older sister took care of everything. She soothes me when I¡¯m hurt and reads me fairy tales at bedtime. Of course, I also thought ¡®Ah, I want to marry Maja when I grow up¡¯ when I was young.¡± The pouting Cordelia nodded as Jude spoke slowly. Because she knew what Maja was like to Jude. But when she heard thest part, that he wanted to marry Maja, her eyes widened again and she shouted. ¡°What? You also thought of marrying Natasha?!¡± Natasha was like Maja. The young Jude had thought about marrying Maja when he became an adult. In other words, Kang Jin-ho thought about marrying Natasha. At the extremely logical (?) reasoning of Cordelia, Jude almost pulled his hair out in frustration. ¡°No! Ah, seriously. Didn¡¯t I tell you earlier? Natasha is like Maja to me? Okay? Maja!¡± Jude¡¯s mother. Jude¡¯s older sister. Jude¡¯s best friend. But Cordelia was still not convinced. She crossed her arms, squinted, and began to let out strange sounds. ¡°Hnnnn¡­. Hnnnnn¡­¡± Signs that she was still doubtful of it. So Jude exined again. ¡°Natasha really helped me a lot since I was young. It¡¯s no exaggeration to say that it was Alexei and Natasha who raised me.¡± ¡°Hnnnn¡­. Hnnnnn¡­¡± ¡°Hey, are you going to keep doing that? You know that I only have you, right? I find you more important to me than my own self, okay?¡± ¡°Hmph, you¡¯re just all talk.¡± Cordelia snorted again, but the corners of her lips were strangely raised. Jude regained his confidence at that appearance and said as he pounded his chest again. ¡°If you don¡¯t believe me, you can peek inside my memories.¡± ¡°Hnnnn¡­¡± ¡°You can see it through magic, right? I won¡¯t resist. It would be easier for me to exin in that way.¡± Jude said as he spread out his arms, and Cordelia pursed her lips inward and nodded. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s see it then.¡± ¡°Eh? Wait. You¡¯re seriously going to see it?¡± ¡°I want to see if it¡¯s real or fake. Sit there. Why? Are you scared?¡± As the eyes of Cordelia narrowed, Jude immediately shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not scared. Ahem. It¡¯s fine. It¡¯s because I¡¯m confident. Rather, don¡¯t feel embarrassed after seeing it.¡± ¡°Embarrassed? Me?¡± ¡°Yes, you.¡± ¡°Why me?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll know when you see it.¡± ¡°Hey, why do you think I would be embarrassed?¡± ¡°Well, my lewd thoughts?¡± Cordelia turned red for a moment when Jude shamelessly answered, but it was only for a short while. She then said with a snort. ¡°Hmph, that won¡¯t work on me. It won¡¯t work. Are you afraid that I¡¯ll see it? Sit down quickly.¡± ¡°Okay, okay. I¡¯ll sit down.¡± Jude unhesitatingly sat down and Cordelia momentarily paused, but she had already drawn the knife. Now that she had drawn it, she had to use it to cut. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s begin then. Think about Natasha.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± After giving a brief reply, Jude closed his eyes and began to think of Natasha. Cordelia shut her eyes as her hands held the head of Jude. *** ¡°You are Gino. My name is Natasha.¡± A beautiful girl. She was probably in her mid-teens. Contrary to her young face, her mysterious blue eyes had an adult-like maturity. ¡°Gino! Don¡¯t give up!¡± The memory changed. He was now crawling on the ground on a rainy day. Natasha wore a poncho and shouted words of encouragement from behind him, and Alexei stood next to her, staring at him with a cold gaze. ¡°It¡¯s Christmas. Would this be okay?¡± An artificial tree made up of small wood pieces. But Natasha had a bright smile in front of the candles, and Kang Jin-ho who saw that smile also smiled. ¡°Gino, I¡¯m impressed.¡± ¡°You¡¯re really doing well now. Aren¡¯t you better than me now?¡± ¡°Gino, I¡¯m proud of you.¡± It was as Jude had said. Natasha was like Maja to Kang Jin-ho. Alexei had taught Kang Jin-ho on how to fight and survive. But it was Natasha who cared for and protected Kang Jin-ho. ¡®Hnnnn¡­ Hnnnn¡­¡¯ Cordelia could feel the feelings of Jude, or Kang Jin-ho, towards Natasha to some extent. She was really like Maja. She was close to a mother or older sister rather than a member of the opposite sex. ¡®Eh, wait.¡¯ But at some point. Cordelia paused the memories of Jude that were flowing quickly. The night pool in question. At the time when he finished his work and was allowed to rest all day at the vi of a millionaire who was their security target. ¡°Gino, you pervert.¡± The swimsuit of Natasha had slipped off, whether by chance or inevitability, and Kang Jin-ho had seen her. She had said those words and smiled at Kang Jin-ho who was speechless with a red face. And his memories continued. It was not something that actually happened in reality, but there was still the memory of the dream that Kang Jin-ho had when he saw a naked woman for the first time that night. ¡®Hnnnnnnnnnn.¡¯ The dream was not that lewd. The naked Natasha came out and approached him with a strange atmosphere, caressing his cheek. ¡®Hnnnn.¡¯ When Cordelia made a strange noise with a displeased expression, the scene before her eyes changed again. Instead of a continuation of his memories with Natasha, the lewd dreams of Kang Jin-ho yed like a panorama. Unlike his dream with Natasha, the seeding ones were seriously lewd dreams. Cordelia blushed and tried to skip the memories, but could not. But she unconsciously stopped as her eyes widened and blinked. ¡°Me?¡± There was a woman with reddish pink hair who appeared in the lewd dreams of Kang Jin-ho. Kang Jin-ho would have never guessed who it was, but Cordelia knew. That woman was clearly Cordelia herself. Moreover, unlike Natasha, the content of the dreams were not just soft and light. It was like a dream that came out of nowhere. Cordelia covered her face with both hands, and as she opened her fingers to peek at the dream, she heard the voice of Jude. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Cordelia was peeking into the memories of Jude through a virtual space created from magic, and Jude appeared next to her. Jude was also good at magic, though not as good as Cordelia, so he could do something like this too. Therefore, instead of asking him on what happened, Cordelia asked the question befitting this situation. ¡°Hey.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t even know me back then.¡± It was after Kang Jin-ho came to South Korea that he learned about Legend of Heroes 2. In other words, the 14-year-old Kang Jin-ho did not know anything about Legend of Heroes 2. But Kang Jin-ho had dreams of Cordelia. After he dreamt of Natasha, which was the first trigger, he only dreamed of Cordelia. At the question of Cordelia, Jude smiled and spoke with the sly face that Cordelia both liked and disliked. ¡°Well¡­ we¡¯re the two people of destiny.¡± Because for me, Cordelia is the only one. Kang Jin-ho was the reincarnation of Jude. So no matter how many times Jude repeated his life, he always loved Cordelia. ¡°Hmph.¡± Cordelia pouted and turned her head away, and Jude grinned. He bit the ear of Cordelia that had turned red up to her earlobe, and gently hugged her from behind. ¡°Again. You¡¯re doing it again¡­¡± Jude no longer listened to Cordelia, and Cordelia was no longer able to speak. Because the lips and tongue of Jude blocked the mouth of Cordelia. ¡®I love you.¡¯ Jude spoke with his eyes and Cordelia hugged him back. They deeply shared their affection in his mind. *** At the same time. When Jude and Cordelia werepletely unaware of their surroundings. Kang Jin-ho was still looking at themunication device. [I¡¯ll see you soon. Your Natasha.] One short sentence. However, many thoughts passed through the mind of Kang Jin-ho. Kang Jin-ho was not Jude. He did not have Cordelia yet. Or rather, apart from that, Natasha was a very precious person to Kang Jin-ho. ¡°Natasha.¡± It had been almost 6 years since hest met her. After avenging Alexei and retiring from his work, he never met or contacted her once. Unlike Kang Jin-ho, she did not retire. He did not know if she was active. No, she was clearly active. ¡°Natasha.¡± Why are you suddenly appearing? Are you doing well? How have you been living for the past 6 years? Many questions came and disappeared in his mind one by one. In the end, all that remained was one emotion. ¡®I miss you.¡¯ Natasha. You. My precious person who is my older sister and best friend. Ting! At that moment. Kang Jin-ho came to his senses at the notification sound and looked at his cellphone, but soon had a strange expression. Hong Yoo Hee: Oppa, oppa. What are you doing now? Hong Yoo Hee: Can I go and y games with you now? Even though it was just text, he felt like he could hear her lively voice. Kang Jin-ho looked at the clock on the lower right corner of theputer, and unknowingly smiled as he typed on the cellphone screen. Kang Jin-ho: You cane. But won¡¯t your parents say anything? Hong Yoo Hee: It¡¯s okay. It will be fine. Is that really okay? Are you going to lie and say that you¡¯re going to an inte caf¨¦? Should I stop this behavior as the oppa next door? Several thoughts came to his mind, but he soon shook his head. It was only 3 pm now, and Hong Yoo Hee was an adult. Besides, they would only really y games when they meet. Kang Jin-ho: Okay, I¡¯ll avenge myself for what happenedst time. Hong Yoo Hee: Hehe, isn¡¯t that too early for you? Anyway, I¡¯m going now! And his doorbell rang. It seemed like she had been in front of his door from the very beginning when she sent the messages. Kang Jin-ho checked the inte and hurriedly opened the front door. ¡°Hehe.¡± As he expected, Hong Yoo Hee was standing there. She appeared almost the same as their offline meeting, but with a slightly different outfit. A light pink blouse and a slightly short ck skirt. Her hair was tied together by arge ck ribbon. What should he say at a time like this? He actually knew. It was a lightpliment. Natasha had taught him that. But the embarrassed Kang Jin-ho missed the timing topliment her and coughed several times. ¡°Come in.¡± ¡°Yes, oppa.¡± Hong Yoo Hee answered with a smile, but Kang Jin-ho noticed at that moment. A slight disappointment. A state of being a bit sad. He wondered if he shouldpliment her now for being pretty. Because it was true that she was pretty, cute, and lovely. But at the moment when Kang Jin-ho was about to open his mouth. A small sound. Kang Jin-ho caught that sound. To be exact, a sense that one would call as sixth sense and not hearing was what sensed it, and led to him hearing it. Inside his bedroom. He wondered what it was. It did not seem dangerous to him. It did not feel threatening, so he did not thought that it was dangerous. ¡®Am I imagining things?¡¯ Because his senses had dulled over the past 6 years. But he could not just let it go. The teachings of Alexei ordered Kang Jin-ho to act. ¡°Please wait. I¡¯ll get something from my room.¡± Kang Jin-ho said to Hong Yoo Hee who was standing at the front door and looking at the living room. He entered his bedroom, and Hong Yoo Hee blinked her eyes and tilted a bit towards him. Because she was curious about the ¡®I¡¯ll get something¡¯ excuse that Kang Jin-ho unknowingly uttered. What is it? What is he bringing? In addition, the bedroom was the room of Kang Jin-ho. She could not help but be curious. So Hong Yoo Hee leaned a little more, but it was impossible to look inside the bedroom due to theyout of the apartment. Therefore, Kang Jin-ho raised his senses instead of distracting Hong Yoo Hee. He slowly opened the bedroom door as he thought of the situation. And right after that. What caught the gaze of Kang Jin-ho. Or rather, what he had heard earlier. ¡°It¡¯s been a while, Gino. Don¡¯t you miss me?¡± The beautiful voice that spoke Korean was a bit awkward but not difficult to understand. And the source of that sound. A half-naked woman was lying on the bed in a red scanty dress. ¡°N-Natasha?!¡± ¡°Hey, Gino. Your senses have dulled a lot. You didn¡¯t realize that someone was hiding in your room?¡± Kang Jin-ho was surprised at the Russiannguage he had not heard in a long time, or rather, at the situation in front of him. But he remembered one fact, so before Natasha could continue speaking, he quickly entered the bedroom and mmed the door shut. ¡°Gino?¡± The voice of his precious person whom he met for the first time in 6 years. A mischievous and strange person who deliberatelyy on his bed in a half-naked outfit just to see him flustered. Yet she was precious to him. But there was something more important now. ¡°Oppa?¡± Hearing the voice of Hong Yoo Hee beyond the door, Kang Jin-ho felt a nervousness and fear that was difficult to exin with logic, while the eyes of Natasha widened. She soon smiled and looked towards the door. SIDE STORY 19 SIDE STORY 19 Terms used in this side story: Town Musicians of Bremen ¨C a popr German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. It¡¯s a story about a cat, a dog, a rooster, and a donkey who decided to be musicians. SIDE STORY ¨C TO EARTH (12) ¡®Alexei! Help me, Alexei!¡¯ He had not called for Alexei in the past 6 years, but had increasingly called out to him for the past few days. Why was that? What was the reason for that? ¡®Alexei!¡¯ Anyway, what mattered now was that he desperately needed the teachings of Alexei in this extreme situation. ¡®Extreme situation?¡¯ What in the world? The powerful reasoning ability supporting the mind of Kang Jin-ho questioned it, but only for a moment. His intense emotions disturbed and crushed his reason. ¡°General! General! It¡¯s an emergency! The enemy is rushing in from behind!¡± Inside the tent. Or in the mind of Kang Jin-ho. At the urgent shout of Signal Officer Kang Jin-ho, General Kang Jin-ho swallowed hard and studied the battlefield map. ¡°As expected of Natasha¡­¡± Her attacking skills were not to be taken lightly. With just one move, Kang Jin-ho found himself in a dilemma. ¡°General! Offensive from the front!¡± At the moment when Signal Officer Kang Jin-ho yelled. ¡°Oppa? What happened?¡± He heard the voice of Hong Yoo Hee from beyond the door. She was obviously standing in front of the door. In other words, it was a situation where the door could be opened if she stretched out her hand. ¡°N-NO!¡± General Kang Jin-ho cried out urgently. They had to stop Hong Yoo Hee from opening the door and witnessing the current situation. Most of the Kang Jin-hos had the same thought as General Kang Jin-ho. But Chess yer Kang Jin-ho, whose reason was levelheaded, came up with a question in this situation. ¡®Why should we?¡¯ If the door opened, Hong Yoo Hee would see Kang Jin-ho and Natasha. She would see the half-naked Natasha lying on the bed. Why should they avoid it? Why was Kang Jin-ho afraid of the various consequences this fact would bring? ¡°We have to buy time! We have to do something!¡± When Gambler Kang Jin-ho shouted, General Kang Jin-ho gritted his teeth and looked at the battlefield map. At that moment, the voice of Hong Yoo Hee was heard again, and Natasha had a beautiful and devilish smile. ¡°Act!¡± They no longer had the time to drag it out. The moment General Kang Jin-ho yelled, the Kang Jin-ho in reality began to move. ¡°This way!¡± Kang Jin-ho whispered in a very low voice and lifted Natasha from the bed, pushing her into the closet. ¡°Stay inside. Stay hidden. Please?¡± He had said it for now, but would she really listen? Kang Jin-ho looked at Natasha with a desperate expression, and Natasha had a sly smile before nodding her head. Anyone could tell that she would not stay calm. Her mischievous smile was full of yfulness. But he had no other way. Kang Jin-ho once again conveyed his earnestness with a desperate expression and then closed the door of the closet. After trying to catch his breath, he opened the bedroom door. ¡°Oppa?¡± Hong Yoo Hee looked at him with a little anxiety and confusion. ¡°Uh¡­ What happened?¡± He had suddenly shut the bedroom door. Perhaps something happened in the bedroom. Furthermore¡­ ¡®Why¡­ is his face red?¡¯ Now that she saw it, he was breathing hard and sweat was running down his forehead. What in the world had happened? When Hong Yoo Hee asked again, Kang Jin-ho gulped. And in that instant, he fully used his brain to create an excuse. ¡°Cockroach.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°T-There was a cockroach.¡± Hong Yoo Hee turned pale at his words, and Kang Jin-ho was convinced. ¡®It worked!¡¯ He could get through this situation! Once a way out was revealed, the tongue of Kang Jin-ho began to work its magic. ¡°I mean, I closed the door because I was afraid that the cockroach would suddenlye out of my room and go outside.¡± It made sense. It was realistic. It was convincing enough! Moreover, his choice of words was effective. As soon as Hong Yoo Hee heard that a cockroach appeared, she was flustered and could not continue to think logically. ¡°D-Did you kill it?¡± ¡°No, not yet.¡± Kang Jin-ho reflexively replied and secretly clenched his fist. Because this answer was also a huge sess. ¡°It¡¯s still in my bedroom. So let¡¯s close the door.¡± ¡°Uh¡­ ah¡­ yes.¡± Hong Yoo Hee got out of the room and Kang Jin-ho quickly followed her before closing the door. ¡°Miss Yoo Hee. I¡¯m sorry, but could you go back for today? Probably¡­ Until I kill it¡­¡± ¡°I-I understand.¡± Because cockroaches were a big problem. Moreover, it was in the house next door. So it had to be eradicated. ¡°Yes, thank you for your understanding.¡± Kang Jin-ho said and sighed in relief, and the General Kang Jin-ho in his mind apuded him in admiration. ¡°Give him a medal! A medal!¡± The one who came up with that idea was Recluse Kang Jin-ho who was born in the past 6 years. As all the Kang Jin-hos apuded in delight, Recluse Kang Jin-ho shyly smiled and the Kang Jin-ho in reality also smiled without realizing it. ¡°I-I will go then. O-Oppa, fighting!¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll do my best.¡± But at that moment. ¡°Meow.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± The sound of a cat came from the bedroom. ¡°Meow.¡± They did not hear it wrong. They heard it again. Its cry was so filled with sadness as though the cat was trapped somewhere inside and sending a rescue signal for help. What was that? Did oppa own a cat? When Hong Yoo Hee appeared to be questioning him, Kang Jin-ho stopped breathing for a moment. And he desperately thought. In order to ovee the current crisis, he elerated his thinking and once again seeded in creating an answer. ¡°Y-YouTube.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°I mean, uh¡­ I was watching cute cat videos on YouTube before you came.¡± At the excuse of Kang Jin-ho, Hong Yoo Hee blinked before smiling a bit. Because she had imagined Kang Jin-ho deliberately watching cute cat videos on YouTube. ¡®Cute.¡¯ So cute. An unexpected side of Outbo, the oppa next door. Kang Jin-ho was relieved again when he saw the smile that appeared on her face. It seemed like he somehow seeded in resolving the situation again this time. ¡°Anyway, Miss Yoo Hee.¡± ¡°Yes, oppa. I¡¯ll be go-¡± ¡°Woof-woof! Woof-woof!¡± ¡°Oh, a dog came out? Did auto-y yed the next video?¡± Kang Jin-ho immediately made up an excuse at the barking dog sounds, and Hong Yoo Hee nodded again. But it was then. ¡°Cock-a-doodle-doo~ Cock-a-doodle-doo~ ¡± ¡°Neigh~ Neigh~ ¡± He could exin the cat and dog. But a rooster? And a donkey in the end? Kang Jin-ho felt a cold sweat flowing down behind his back, but tried to stay as calm as possible. The embarrassing situations continued, but his problem could be solved with his first excuse. He did not forget that point. ¡°I-Is it an animal farm? Or perhaps it¡¯s the Town Musicians of Bremen?¡± His excuse sounded ridiculous, but it somehow worked. Hong Yoo Hee nodded again despite being confused. ¡°Then, Miss Yoo Hee.¡± ¡°Yes, oppa.¡± It was very unfortunate, but a cockroach was an important problem. Hong Yoo Hee went out of the front door, hiding her disappointment. Likewise, Kang Jin-ho saw her off with a disappointed face and then locked the front door. And he sighed in relief again. After wiping the sweat from his forehead, he went to the kitchen and drank a sip of water. ¡°Natasha!¡± At the sound of him shouting, Natasha burst outughing. ¡°Who was that just now? A kitty? No, a baby rabbit?¡± The door was closed, but he could tell from her voice. Kang Jin-ho did not know, but when he led Hong Yoo Hee to the front door, Natasha had opened the bedroom door and peeked. ¡°Isn¡¯t she the kid next door?¡± She was right. But Kang Jin-ho decided to talk about something else first. ¡°W-What in the world was that? Those animal sounds.¡± ¡°What? You really like this, huh? Rabbit ears. No, bunny girls?¡± Natasha was sitting on the bed with a bunny ears headband on her head, and that appearance shook the mind of Kang Jin-ho. ¡°Cute. You still have the same taste.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not really my taste.¡± She was actually right. But he did not want to reveal that fact. Even if Natasha already knew! ¡°You haven¡¯t changed.¡± Natasha giggled and stood up as she spread out her arms. She smiled and said to Kang Jin-ho who was standing awkwardly. ¡°Come here. I haven¡¯t seen you in a long time, so shouldn¡¯t we hug first?¡± A half-naked beauty with a bunny ears headband. But what mattered the most was that the woman in front of him was Natasha. Kang Jin-ho straightened his posture and unknowingly smiled. He said as he tightly hugged Natasha. ¡°I missed you.¡± ¡°Me too.¡± Finally, after six years. The hug between the twosted for a long time. *** Natasha Molotov. Age unknown. But she was presumed to be one to two years older than Kang Jin-ho. Their age difference was almost negligible by adult standards, but not for young boys and girls. The body growth of women was primarily a bit faster than men. ¡®No, that¡¯s not the only thing.¡¯ Natasha was mature at an early age. An adult. Yes, a grown-up. For the child Kang Jin-ho, Natasha was an adult he could trust and depend on. ¡°However.¡± ¡°Huh? What did you say?¡± Natasha changed from her clothes that was close to half-naked to a rtively eptable outfit ¨C a short-sleeved T-shirt and shorts. But she was still wearing the bunny ears headband on her head, and that fact deeply shook the mind of Kang Jin-ho. ¡°Don¡¯t you like bunny girls?¡± ¡°Ahem.¡± Kang Jin-ho gave a reply that was neither affirmative nor negative, and spoke again. ¡°Anyway, Natasha. How have you been?¡± Because six years had passed. Moreover, Natasha was clearly still active, unlike Kang Jin-ho who had retired. The two had exchanged yful words, but he could tell when he met her. ¡°I¡¯m doing well, so I¡¯m here now. You seem to be doing well too, right?¡± The words of Natasha had a slightly different meaning. Kang Jin-ho wryly smiled at her words. The past six years. He had spent hours just ying a game in the corner of the room, but he smiled for some strange reason. Those six years were the time he spent with Hong Yoo Hee. ¡®Wait¡­ What did I just think?¡¯ When Kang Jin-ho was startled by his own thoughts, Natasha looked at him and had a ratherplicated expression. Relief and regret. She felt both joy and disappointment. But it was only for a short while. Natasha quickly hid her expression and became the mischievous and lewd older sister as she asked in a whisper. ¡°Who is she? Is she the kid next door? Are you two dating? Huh?¡± ¡°Yes, she¡¯s the kid next door. But we¡¯re not dating yet.¡± At the answer of Kang Jin-ho, the eyes of Natasha widened. She could not help it. ¡°Yet?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°You just said it. Yet.¡± Yet. In short, things might change in the future. He had a will to change the situation. Kang Jin-ho was taken aback at her point. Not because he was lying. Rather, he was surprised by his inner thoughts. ¡®I want to date her? Me?¡¯ With Norfolk, with the girl next door, with Hong Yoo Hee? Come to think of it, it was really strange. Why did I hide Natasha so desperately? Why did I try to squeeze out excuses? I had only known Hong Yoo Hee for a few days. No, I had known her for more than 6 years, but my heart was this shaken because I found out that she was a woman? ¡°It¡¯s possible. ¡®Tis fated love.¡± The Poet Kang Jin-ho spoke in his mind with a mncholic expression, and General Kang Jin-ho was stupefied before saying. ¡°G-Get him out.¡± Because he did not want to understand. Because it was so embarrassing. ¡°Fufufu, ept and refuse it not. A world of love and peace.¡± General Kang Jin-ho was once again stupefied by the appearance of Poet Kang Jin-ho who was smiling while being dragged out, but it was only for a moment. He came to his senses and stared at Natasha. ¡°Natasha, did something happen?¡± It was very nice to meet Natasha. After all, it had been six years. But it was also strange. Natasha had appeared after six years. He wondered if something happened for her to appear now. ¡°Nothing.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Nothing. I just wanted to see you. Don¡¯t you want to see me?¡± As Natasha lightly tilted her head, her soft tinum blonde hair naturally fell over her shoulders and chest. Kang Jin-ho was flustered again when her eyes moistened. ¡°Your face is red?¡± When Natasha lightly licked her lips and spoke, Kang Jin-ho quickly turned away and took a deep breath. ¡®She¡¯s Natasha. Natasha.¡¯ She¡¯s just joking around. Don¡¯t be seduced. It¡¯s just a joke. She¡¯s obviously doing that to tease me again. ¡°I wanted to see you. But six years is¡­¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s too long. But that made me want to see you more.¡± Natasha gently smiled and stretched out her hand to stroke the cheek of Kang Jin-ho. She continued to speak with a yful smile. ¡°So¡­ Gino. You¡¯ll make me sleep tonight, right?¡± ¡°¡­Eh?¡± ¡°Bed, you¡¯ll lend me your bed, right?¡± Kang Jin-ho nervously swallowed at her question. But he replied with a grin. ¡°I¡¯m used to it now.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I was a bit flustered since it had been six years, but not anymore.¡± You teasing me like that. Kang Jin-ho smiled quite confidently and stood up as he said. ¡°Use the bedroom. I¡¯ll use the guestroom. Do you want some coffee?¡± At his shameless evasion maneuver, Natasha pouted before nodding her head. ¡°Make it thick.¡± ¡°I know. The ck one, right?¡± Kang Jin-ho shrugged and headed to the kitchen, and Natasha had aplicated smile as she watched his back. *** The next afternoon. Hong Yoo Hee had overslept like usual. She hummed as she showered, and then dressed up prettily. She was not nning to meet the oppa next door today, but still, she was going out to have fun after a long time. ¡®I¡¯ll buy clothes for that too.¡¯ Is this the life of a popr person? Hong Yoo Hee giggled alone and with her few pretty clothes plus her already dead fashion sense, she left the house wearing the same clothes she wore in the offline meeting. ¡®I also need to increase the variation of my clothing.¡¯ She had more than a hundred dresses for Cordelia, but the own clothes of Hong Yoo Hee, which included the T-shirts and dolphin shorts she wore at home, was not even half of that. Hong Yoo Hee clenched her fist and renewed her determination. She then headed to Hongdae by bus. And half an hourter. ¡°I¡¯m here.¡± ¡°Long time no see, unnie.¡± Romantic Cat. Hong Yoo Hee joined Kim Hye Eun with a wide smile, and Kim Hye Eun had a strange smile at her appearance. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just amazing.¡± She could not believe that Norfolk asked her first to go buy clothes with her. In addition, she could tell by looking at Hong Yoo Hee now. Something dramatic had happened to Hong Yoo Hee. ¡°Yoo Hee.¡± ¡°Yes, unnie.¡± ¡°You have a crush on someone?¡± ¡°Urgh!¡± Hong Yoo Hee was caught off guard at that instant and groaned, so Kim Hye Eun was convinced again from her actions. ¡°It¡¯s true.¡± I guess you really like someone. I guess that Norfolk, that gamer girl Hong Yoo Hee has someone she likes. A smile full of mischief spread across the face of Romantic Cat. ¡°Who is it? Is it the oppa next door you used to talk every day?¡± Because he was the only human Hong Yoo Hee had been interested in. When Kim Hye Eun pointed it out, Hong Yoo Hee twisted and turned for a while before nodding her head. ¡°Uh, yes.¡± ¡°Oh, what happened? Did you talk to him? No, my Norfolk could not have done that. Was he the one who spoke first?¡± ¡°Well¡­ Uh¡­ S-Something like that.¡± ¡°Something like that? He talked to you?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ Yes.¡± Hong Yoo Hee nodded with a red face, and Kim Hye Eun looked pleased as she smiled. She found it good that Yoo Hee talked with the person she admired, but also felt strangely relieved that it was not Outbo, like what Cowabunga and AAA had said. ¡°What happened? Huh? Tell me.¡± ¡°T-That is¡­¡± ¡°That is?¡± ¡°Outbo¡­¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Why are you talking about Outbo? Kim Hye Eun did not understand why she suddenly brought him up. But Hong Yoo Hee continued to talk about Outbo. ¡°O-Outbo is¡­¡± ¡°Outbo is?¡± ¡°T-The oppa next door.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± What? ¡°Outbo is¡­ the oppa next door.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°He¡¯s the oppa next door¡­¡± ¡°Who?¡± ¡°Outbo.¡± ¡°Who is Outbo?¡± ¡°Ah! Argh! Outbo is the oppa next door!¡± The angry Hong Yoo Hee shouted with a red face, so the passersby looked at her, but Kim Hye Eun did not care about that. Because it was such a shocking fact. ¡°W-Wait. Wait a minute. So Outbo is actually the oppa next door? The person Hong Yoo Hee admired was actually the boy you had been fighting and arguing with for six years?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°You found out about it during the offline meeting, and the offline meeting turned to a date, so you are now looking forward to date him?¡± ¡°W-We¡¯re just getting to know each other¡­¡± Hong Yoo Hee denied it with a barely audible voice, but one could tell by looking at her face. Bullsh*t. You¡¯repletely thinking of dating him. ¡°Wow, this is driving me nuts. With that Outbo that you always fought?¡± ¡°I mean, well¡­ Outbo and I did not really fight, right?¡± ¡°Excuse me, didn¡¯t you used to swear at each other every day?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a curse¡­ It¡¯s an exmation¡­¡± As Hong Yoo Hee wiggled her fingers and muttered again, Kim Hye Eun burst outughing. She found it absurd, but seeing the reaction of Hong Yoo Hee, she could no longer deny it. ¡°Woah, seriously? For real? What will Cowabunga and AAA say if they find out?¡± ¡°Y-You can¡¯t tell them! Got it? Huh?!¡± ¡°I know. I know what will happen if I tell them.¡± But seriously. ¡°Woah.¡± But that is that and this is this. I can¡¯t believe that such a thing that happens in manhwas can happen in real life. ¡°But it does fit.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You and Outbo. Well, the two of you get along well and never get tired of fighting each other for the past 6 years.¡± ¡°We didn¡¯t fight.¡± ¡°Sigh, look at you talking. You¡¯vepletely fallen.¡± No wonder it was so awkward during the ranking announcement. It was so different from the usual. ¡°But Yoo Hee. How old is the oppa next door?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I mean, I¡¯m curious because Outbo is the oppa next door.¡± ¡°W-Well¡­¡± How old was he? She knew that he was older and an adult, but could not guess his exact age. ¡°I-I think he¡¯s five years older?¡± ¡°You said that he was living alone six years ago. Isn¡¯t that a bit too much? If he¡¯s five years older than you, does that mean that you were 19 when he first began ying games with you¡­ Wait, isn¡¯t he a cradle robber?¡± When Kim Hye Eun thought hard about it, she assumed that their age difference was six ¨C no, seven years or more. But Hong Yoo Hee took that same factpletely differently. ¡°7 years¡­ As I thought, he¡¯s a real adult.¡± She seemed to have liked it given her sparkling eyes. Or perhaps it was not that. One could clearly see that she would like anything as long as it was about the oppa next door. ¡®This is mind-boggling.¡¯ If he was seven years older than Hong Yoo Hee, then he was older than Romantic Cat herself. But to think that a real adult did something like that every time the ranking was announced¡­ ¡®Should I stop her?¡¯ No, of course, Outbo is not a bad person, or is he? At the time when Kim Hye Eun began to think about the future of Hong Yoo Hee whom she cherished like a younger sister. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s the oppa next door.¡± Kim Hye Eun came to her senses at the words of Hong Yoo Hee, and quickly raised her head. Looking at the direction Hong Yoo Hee had turned, she saw a tall and handsome man standing out among the crowd. He was definitely handsome. Kim Hye Eun finally saw the oppa next door in question, so she could not help but admit that. But the problem was the next person she saw. The existence of a beautiful blonde girl who stuck to the side of the oppa next door, or Outbo. A gorgeous beauty who seemed like she came out of a movie. The two appeared to be closer than normal to anyone. The surprised Kim Hye Eun looked back at Hong Yoo Hee and flinched. ¡°Y-Yoo Hee?¡± The expression on the face of Hong Yoo Hee had disappeared. Kim Hye Eun gulped without realizing it. SIDE STORY 20 SIDE STORY 20 SIDE STORY ¨C TO EARTH (13) The night before. At the time when Hong Yoo Hee was thinking of buying clothes tomorrow, or to be exact, when she was excited to meet the oppa next door with the new and pretty clothes she would buy tomorrow, Kang Jin-ho was facing a scantily dressed beauty. ¡°Drink, drink. Have you be a weak drinker?¡± ¡°Because I have no reason to drink.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking about it for a long time, but your life is so bleak. My poor Gino.¡± The face of Natasha was flushed red as she pretended to cry, and Kang Jin-ho turned his head to avert his gaze as far as possible from her loose tank top that was revealing her chest, and naturally saw the empty bottles lying on the table. ¡®I¡¯d rather have a beer can.¡¯ There was nothing but vodka bottles there. ¡°Anyway, Gino. My Gino. I¡¯m d.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve been healthy. For¡­ haha. Haha. The past six years or so.¡± Kang Jin-ho knew why Natasha wasughing like that. He had told her everything honestly. ¡°Wow, for real. This is unbelievable. The fact that Gino has beenpeting with the girl next door for the first ce position. And the fact that he has lived like that for the past six years because he wanted to tease her.¡± ¡°¡­As I¡¯ve said earlier¡­¡± ¡°What did you say?¡± ¡°I only recently knew that she was¡­ the girl next door.¡± When Kang Jin-ho spoke quietly, Natashaughed even louder. ¡°Wow, oh my god. Look at Gino getting embarrassed. Haha. Yes, it is embarrassing. You do know it¡¯s embarrassing, right? Right? My Gino.¡± She could no longer just hold her stomach andugh, so she began rolling on the floor. ¡°Hahaha, it¡¯s really funny. Funny. I¡¯m really d that I came here and saw Gino¡¯s sulking face after a long time.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sulking.¡± ¡°Okay, I understand. If you insist, then so be it.¡± As Natashaughed again, Kang Jin-ho silently filled her ss. It seemed like the best way was to make her drink more so that she would fall asleep. ¡°How long will you be staying?¡± ¡°Tomorrow.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be going back tomorrow.¡± Natasha briefly responded and crawled back to the chair and sat with her knees in her arms. ¡°Tomorrow?¡± ¡°Yes, tomorrow. I¡¯m quite busy too.¡± Natashaughed again and began to gulp down the vodka from the ss. Kang Jin-ho nkly stared at her, blinking his eyes before saying. ¡°Is it really tomorrow?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s tomorrow. Tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow. I have to go back tomorrow. I¡¯ve seen you safe and well, so it¡¯s okay now. Alexei will surely be d. I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll pat you on the head for doing a good job.¡± Natasha spoke with tears in her eyes, perhaps because of drunkenness or longing. ¡°Natasha¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s not tomorrow morning though. I¡¯m leaving at night, so let¡¯s go on a date after a long time during the day, okay?¡± When Natasha tilted her head as if trying to act cute, Kang Jin-ho narrowed his eyes and spoke instead of nodding his head. ¡°Excuse me, I¡¯ve never gone on a date with anyone before.¡± ¡°Oh my, did you forget about that day? The day Gino peeped at my naked body in the night pool¡­¡± ¡°Wait! I didn¡¯t peep! That was an ident!¡± ¡°Yes, if you insist, then so be it. I¡¯ll think of it that way.¡± ¡°No! What do you mean by you¡¯ll think of it that way! I¡¯m telling the truth!¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. Everything that Gino says is true.¡± The smile of Natasha was like that of a benevolent saint, but Kang Jin-ho was so frustrated that he felt like he was about to burst. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t be upset.¡± Natasha smiled and acted cute again before standing up and continuing her words. ¡°Anyway, it¡¯s tomorrow. Let¡¯s have fun for thest time tomorrow. Okay, Gino?¡± ¡°Natasha?¡± Kang Jin-ho unwittingly asked her. Her words sounded very in, but he somehow felt ufortable. Tomorrow. Last time. But his thoughts did notst long. Because Natasha immediately shrugged and spoke again. ¡°Hehe, anyway, that¡¯s what I think, so I¡¯ll go to bed now. I¡¯ll leave the door open¡­ so if you want it, you know? I¡¯mpletely fine with it if it¡¯s Gino.¡± ¡°Ah, yes, Have a good night¡¯s sleep, Natasha.¡± ¡°Hmph, you¡¯ll regret itter.¡± Natasha grinned again and waved her hand seductively before heading into the bedroom. And the next afternoon. In the streets of Hongdae. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s the girl next door. Hong Yoo Hee.¡± Kang Jin-ho was startled by the remark of Natasha and quickly turned his gaze, thus making eye contact with them. Looking at him were Hong Yoo Hee and an unfamiliar woman besides her. Was it possible to meet like this on the streets of Hongdae without any prior agreement? But there was no time to think about this probability. Because Natasha began to act even before Kang Jin-ho could open his mouth. ¡°Hi! You¡¯re the girl next door, right? I¡¯m Natasha.¡± As she walked forward and spoke in a friendly manner, the unfamiliar woman flinched and became nervous, while Hong Yoo Hee was bewildered. But she unconsciously faced Natasha with an expressionless face. ¡°The girl¡­ next door?¡± ¡°Yes, the girl next door. Hong Yoo Hee. I heard a lot about you from Ginost night.¡± Having said that, Natasha hugged Hong Yoo Hee, not caring on whether Kang Jin-ho who ran was troubled or not, and Hong Yoo Hee thought at that moment. ¡®The girl next door?¡¯ Did oppa introduce me that way? Girl. The girl next door. She feltplicated emotions at that time, but that did notst long. In any case, she was in a situation where a person she had met for the first time was hugging her on the street. In addition. ¡®W-What is this?¡¯ Something was big, soft, and amazing. ¡®I-Is she a foreigner?¡¯ The other person was tall, probably around 170 cm. ¡°Natasha!¡± ¡°Yes, Gino. I said hello first. Like you¡¯ve said, she¡¯s really cute and lovely.¡± When Natasha said as she hugged Hong Yoo Hee tighter, everyone present was surprised. Because the foreigner Natasha spoke Korean fluently, despite her pronunciation being a bit awkward. There was also the content. What Natasha just mentioned. ¡®C-Cute and lovely?¡¯ Buried in the chest of Natasha, Hong Yoo Hee pursed her lips inwards and blushed, while Kim Hye Eun unknowingly covered her smiling mouth and looked at Kang Jin-ho. And the red-faced Kang Jin-ho shouted in embarrassment. ¡°W-When did I say that!¡± It was in Russian and not Korean. And in response, Natasha smiled like a devil and answered in Russian. ¡°After talking like that yesterday, you¡¯re ying innocent now? And why? Why are you denying it in Russian rather than in Korean? Tell me. What¡¯s the reason?¡± She actually knew. Because the reason was so obvious. But Kang Jin-ho could not admit it. ¡°Ugh¡­¡± ¡°Look at my Gino¡¯s face turning red. You¡¯re really a civilian now.¡± Natasha giggled again and looked down at the blushing and smiling Hong Yoo Hee who was buried in her chest and unable to move. She could tell what the other was thinking by just the look of her face. ¡®O-Oppa said that I was cute and lovely.¡¯ Kya. What should I do? Natasha could imagine what Hong Yoo Hee was thinking. She then pulled the cheek of Hong Yoo Hee and said. ¡°I really wanted to meet you since Ginoplimented you a lot. My name is Natasha Molotov. Gino¡¯s older sister.¡± ¡°Older¡­ sister?¡± The eyes of Hong Yoo Hee widened in surprise as she asked, and Natasha nodded her head. ¡°Yes. Of course, I¡¯m not his real sister, but like an older sister to him. That¡¯s why¡­ thank you very much for being with my Gino for the past six years.¡± Her words that began lightly became very serious towards the end. Hong Yoo Hee unknowingly blushed at the expression of Natasha full of affection, and slowly nodded. She did not know how to properly express the strange feeling she felt, but it felt like she was recognized for something. Natasha patted the head of Hong Yoo Hee and asked the person next to them, Kim Hye Eun, who was intrigued as she looked at them. ¡°But who are you?¡± ¡°Uh, I¡­ and Yoo Hee are like close sisters. And I know Gino¡­ I mean, Kang Jin-ho, too¡­¡± At the answer of Kim Hye Eun, Natasha turned to Kang Jin-ho who narrowed his brows for a moment. And right afterwards, his eyes widened and he asked. ¡°No way, are you Romantic Cat?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. I mean, you are correct.¡± She could tell the moment they met. He was clearly older than Kim Hye Eun. T/N: What happened here is that Kim Hye Eun changed her speech from casual to a more respectful tone since she realized that Kang Jin-ho was older than her. ¡°What the heck¡­ Uh, I¡¯m-¡± ¡°Outboxer009? I mean, you are him, right?¡± Kim Hye Eun spoke quite confidently to Kang Jin-ho. He then turned to Hong Yoo Hee who smiled awkwardly. Because it was Hong Yoo Hee herself who asked him to keep it a secret from the chat room members. ¡°Hehe, given your words, I guess you¡¯re his inte game friend too? Legend of Heroes 2?¡± ¡°Yes, that is correct.¡± Kim Hye Eun barely recovered her expression and replied leisurely. In fact, it was Hong Yoo Hee and Kang Jin who found themselves in an embarrassing and awkward position, and not the third parties themselves. Or rather, it was quite fun observing the two. And it was the same for Natasha. ¡°Since we¡¯ve met like this, shall we go together?¡± ¡°Natasha?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee spoke at the same time, and Kim Hye Eun pped her hands. Natasha had a big smile again, perhaps because she weed the response of Kim Hye Eun. ¡°Why? Can¡¯t we have fun? Before I leave, I want to know a little more about thedy who captured Gino¡¯s heart.¡± ¡°C-Captured¡­¡± Hong Yoo Hee muttered with a red face again, and Kang Jin-ho struggled from being continuously exposed. ¡°Then it¡¯s decided. Let¡¯s go together. I¡¯ll buy you clothes and shoes.¡± Natasha cheerfully said and hugged the shoulder of Hong Yoo Hee as she began to take the lead. As for the two left. ¡°She¡¯s¡­ like a storm.¡± Instead of replying to Kim Hye Eun, Kang Jin-ho just shrugged and walked forward as he struggled in his embarrassment. *** Natasha¡¯s ability to act was truly amazing. Only an hour had passed, but Kang Jin-ho was already exhausted as he stretched his shoulders and stood in front of the changing room of a clothing store with numerous paper bags in his hands. A heated discussion was continuing in his mind. ¡°Can¡¯t we just shove our nose into a te full of water and die?¡± ¡°General, you can¡¯t die from just shoving your nose into a te full of water. It¡¯s likemitting suicide by hanging yourself with a tie.¡± But how can I see Hong Yoo Hee¡¯s face from tomorrow? General Kang Jin-ho suffered with a red face, and so did the other Kang Jin-hos. ¡°But General. In a way, isn¡¯t this a good opportunity? This crisis is a chance! We might be able to make a lot of progress!¡± ¡°P-Progress?!¡± ¡°Progress?!¡± The Sexually Frustrated Kang Jin-ho shouted, and the other Kang Jin-hos began to shake. It was certainly embarrassing, but thanks to Natasha, a lot of his hidden feelings were revealed. Moreover, the reaction of Hong Yoo Hee did not seem to be negative. ¡°So, General! I¡¯m sure of it today! Yes! I¡¯m! Sure! We¡¯ll be a man!¡± When Sexually Frustrated Kang Jin-ho insisted again with a smile, some of the Kang Jin-hos gulped hard, but not General Kang Jin-ho. His already red face turned even redder, and hemanded with a sigh. ¡°Hey, get him out.¡± At the same time as hismand, Soldier Kang Jin-ho quickly rushed and captured Sexually Frustrated Kang Jin-ho. But Sexually Frustrated Kang Jin-ho did not just let himself be dragged out. ¡°You hypocrites! I know what you¡¯re thinking inside- Mmph! Mmph!¡± But it was impossible for Soldier Kang Jin-ho to handle it all as Sexually Frustrated Kang Jin-ho managed to shout ¡®How long have we endured! Yesterday too!¡¯ while being dragged out of the tent. And a moment of silence. When General Kang Jin-ho tried to issue amand, a change took ce in reality. ¡°Gino, how is it? Isn¡¯t she pretty? Lovely? What do you think?¡± The changing room door opened, and out appeared Natasha and Hong Yoo Hee who had be the dress-up doll of the former. ¡°Give us some feedback. After all, the most important thing is your feelings. Right, Yoo Hee?¡± ¡°N-No¡­ ueueue¡­¡± Natasha snickered and grinned, but Hong Yoo Hee bowed her head while trying to deny it. And Kang Jin-ho grasped his chest without realizing it. Because his heart began to pound as though it was going to burst. ¡®Haa, you two are really having fun. Should I just go?¡¯ And there was Kim Hye Eun watching them. It was fun at first, but as time passed, she somehow began to suffer ssh damage from all the ¡®flirting.¡¯ ¡°Yoo Hee, ask him quickly. Okay? Hurry.¡± As Natasha urged her, Hong Yoo Hee bit her lip once and slowly raised her head. ¡°O-Oppa.¡± ¡°Y-Yes?¡± ¡°H-How do I look?¡± Cute. Beautiful. Lovely. Jude would have said that if it was him, but unfortunately, Kang Jin-ho was not as shameless as Jude yet. That was why he could not help but only squeeze out a few words. ¡°I-It suits you.¡± It was a bit vague to be called apliment, but that seemed to be enough as Hong Yoo Hee wiggled her fingers and smiled, while Natasha desperately held back herughter. And time went by again. One hour, two hours, three hours¡­ The sky was really dark after they ate dinner. ¡°Sigh, unfortunately, it¡¯s time for me to go back.¡± At the words of Natasha who had continuously led the group with excitement, everyone turned to her. ¡°I have an appointment at 10 o¡¯clock. I have to stop by the meeting ce and then leave the country. Because it¡¯s an early morning flight.¡± Hong Yoo Hee and Kim Hye Eun nodded in disappointment at her calmly listing facts, but not for Kang Jin-ho. ¡°Are you really going?¡± ¡°Then do you want me to fake it?¡± ¡°Then I will¡­¡± ¡°No, you don¡¯t have to see me off at the airport. As I¡¯ve said before, there are people I have to meet. They¡¯re someone you don¡¯t know, Gino.¡± Natasha quickly spoke in Russian and lightly pushed away Kang Jin-ho who seemed to still have some regrets. She turned to Hong Yoo Hee and said. ¡°Yoo Hee. I had a lot of fun today. And as Gino¡¯s older sister, I would like to thank you. Thank you very much for the past 6 years. Please continue to take care of Gino.¡± ¡°I-I had a lot of fun too.¡± Hong Yoo Hee shyly smiled and only answered the first sentences as she did not know how to reply to the next ones, and Natashaughed again. As if it was really thest time, Natasha hugged Hong Yoo Hee and whispered softly into the ear of thetter. ¡®W-What? What is she saying?¡¯ Kang Jin-ho grew anxious because the expression of Natasha was just like the smile of a devil, but it was impossible for him to find a way to figure it out. Natasha continued speaking, and Hong Yoo Hee swallowed hard with a red face and nodded as she looked at Kang Jin-ho. ¡®What is it?¡¯ What in the world is it? What in the world are they talking about? But Hong Yoo Hee did not say anything, and neither did Natasha. She eventually kissed Hong Yoo Hee on the cheek and said goodbye to Kang Jin-ho with a hug. ¡°Goodbye, Gino. Take care of yourself. Got it?¡± ¡°Really¡­ You¡¯re just leaving?¡± ¡°Because today¡¯s not the only day. We can see each otherter, right?¡± What she said was not wrong. It was true. But why? Was it because he met her after six years? He felt like he could not let her go like this. But he could not stop Natasha just because of his feelings. In the first ce, Natasha would not stop leaving just for that reason. ¡°Then, goodbye. See you next time. Don¡¯t forget what I said, okay?¡± ¡°¡­Yes.¡± When Hong Yoo Hee timidly replied, Natasha was satisfied and turned around. And she really began to go her way without looking back. She arrived like a storm and left like a storm. On the other hand, the exit of Kim Hye Eun was very quiet and natural. ¡°See youter in the game then.¡± After Kim Hye Eun said that, she went her own way, so only the two were left this time. ¡°Uh¡­ Shall we go too?¡± ¡°Yes, oppa.¡± Because the two were neighbors and had the same way home. Just like with the offline meetingst time, they got into the car together and headed home. Several minutes passed. Kang Jin-ho stopped at a signal light and gulped once before opening his mouth as he tried to speak as naturally as possible. ¡°Umm¡­ Miss Yoo Hee.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ Well¡­ earlier.¡± ¡°Earlier?¡± ¡°Yes, earlier. Uh, Natasha¡­¡± ¡°Natasha-unnie?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ What did she¡­ say earlier?¡± The words that Natasha whispered just before they parted. In fact, Kang Jin-ho highly valued privacy, but he made an exception for this time only. Because he was so anxious at the expression of Hong Yoo Hee who stared at him while she was listening to Natasha. What is it? What in the world is it? What in the world did she say? Kang Jin-ho tried to suppress his nervousness and looked at the front, and Hong Yoo Hee pursed her lips and smiled a little. ¡°Miss Yoo Hee?¡± ¡°Uh, well. Natasha-unnie said this. She was sure that you¡¯ll ask meter when we¡¯re alone.¡± Kang Jin-ho felt really miserable at those words. As expected of Natasha. She¡¯s indeed Natasha. If Kang Jin-ho was a master in teasing Hong Yoo Hee, then Natasha was a master in teasing Kang Jin-ho. ¡°W-What did she say then?¡± He had already turned stiff. Kang Jin-ho asked again despite his embarrassment, and Hong Yoo Hee pursed her lips and slightly turned away. She looked out the window and spoke in a small voice. ¡°¡­Your girl.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Oppa likes¡­ bunny girls¡­ a lot¡­¡± Kang Jin-ho could not say anything at her intermittent words. Or rather, he was screaming in his mind. ¡®Alexei! Alexei!¡¯ Help me! Please! PLEEEASE! But there was no answer as always, so Kang Jin-ho continued to be embarrassed while Hong Yoo Hee silently smiled. And half an hourter. Kang Jin-ho had endured the hellish time and arrived at the parking lot. He got out of the car while feeling exhausted. He took the dozens of paper bags Natasha had bought for Hong Yoo Hee, and nced at the sprinkler before saying. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Yes, oppak.¡± Perhaps it was because of the mood that a ¡®k¡¯ was mixed at the end of her words. Kang Jin-ho tried to calm himself down and rode the elevator with Hong Yoo Hee. And after a while. He got off the elevator and put down the paper bags in front of the house of Hong Yoo Hee. He spoke briefly instead of making any excuses. ¡°I¡¯ll be going then.¡± ¡°Yes, oppa. See you in the gameth.¡± It¡¯s probably just because of the mood again. Kang Jin-ho convinced himself and operated the electronic door of his apartment. Beep-beep-beep. Now it would open with a clicking sound. ¡°Huh?¡± But it did not open. Perhaps there was a malfunction, so he tried again, but there was not even a beep afterwards. How did this happen? Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s Natasha? ¡®I-It can¡¯t be.¡¯ I doubt it. Yes, no way. And even if that¡¯s the case, the situation is different fromst time. At Yoo Hee¡¯s house, her parents are- ¡°The door¡­ is not opening?¡± Kang Jin-ho was startled at that moment from the voice he heard from behind, and replied as calm as he could. ¡°Uh, yes. It looks like it¡¯s¡­ broken.¡± But it was fine. It was only an electronic door, so he could just break in. He could also get in through the window by climbing the wall. But right afterwards. He discarded all his ns at the voice from behind him. ¡°There is¡­ no one at my home today.¡± She muttered as if talking to herself, but somehow seemed like she was wanting someone else to hear it. ¡°They suddenly won another travel ticket in the lottery, so they left this morning.¡± The ears of Kang Jin-ho perked up. He could not resist it. And herst words that followed. ¡°Oppa, would you like to¡­ watch Netflix at my house?¡± Kang Jin-ho turned around. And at that moment, a coup was taking ce in the tent inside the mind of Kang Jin-ho. ¡°Let me go! Let me go! Release me! This is a rebellion! A rebellion! A coup!¡± ¡°But General, this is the will of all the Kang Jin-hos.¡± At the remark of Sexually Frustrated Kang Jin-ho who suddenly re-entered the tent, General Kang Jin-ho tried to shout, but soon gave up speaking. Because the Kang Jin-hos in the tent neither actively responded to Sexually Frustrated Kang Jin-ho, nor opposed it. ¡°Just a moment, just pretend you don¡¯t know what she means for a moment.¡± In response to Sexually Frustrated Kang Jin-ho, General Kang Jin-ho eventually sighed and lowered his shoulders, giving up his seat to Sexually Frustrated Kang Jin-ho. ¡°What should we do?¡± ¡°What will we do? Of course, go ahead!¡± At the cool words of Sexually Frustrated Kang Jin-ho, the Kang Jin-hos in the tent confidently raised their heads at the same time. And the Kang Jin-ho in reality replied. ¡°Should we¡­ eat ramyeon too?¡± ¡°Yes, ramyeon. I¡¯m really good at cooking ramyeon. You may even fall in love from eating it¡­¡± What Netflix and what ramyeon? Where in the world did that ramyeone from? If it was Kang Jin-ho, the incarnation of rational reason, he would have naturally been skeptical of it, but he could not be like that this time. Sexually Frustrated Kang Jin-ho took control of the tent and swung his baton with a happy smile, and the Kang Jin-ho in reality followed Hong Yoo Hee into her house. SIDE STORY 21 SIDE STORY 21 Terms used in this side story: Sex Parrot ¨C Korean derogatory ng for a person who frequently talks about sex in Intemunities, regardless of the context. They are called parrots because they keep repeating certain words like a parrot. SIDE STORY ¨C TO EARTH (14) The door opened. Hong Yoo Hee entered first and was slowly followed by Kang Jin-ho. In the entryway between the front door and the living room door. After slowly opening the door, they took off their shoes and headed inside. In the midst of these procedures, Hong Yoo Hee was screaming continuously. Of course, that was all in her mind. ¡®KYAAAAAAAAAA!¡¯ What is this, what is this? What¡¯s with this situation now? What the hell did I do? No one is home today? My parents aren¡¯t here? Let¡¯s watch Netflix? I cook ramyeon well? ¡®Ah¡­eu, ah¡­ Eueue¡­ aaaaah!¡¯ What were you thinking, Hong Yoo Hee? What the hell were you thinking? I¡¯m excited that oppa is here. Yes, I¡¯m too excited. ¡®KYAAA!¡¯ She did not do anything, but her face had rapidly turned red. Her heart was beating like crazy and her breathing was getting rough. And something came to her mind in the midst of this. Something that reyed in her mind over and over again. ¡®Eueueue.¡¯ The dream she hadst night. She could not remember the dream that much, but the feeling she felt in that lewd, naughty, and dirty dream remained strong. And in fact, Kang Jin-ho was also fighting against his embarrassment, excitement, impulse, and all kinds of emotions at this moment. ¡®Calm down, Kang Jin-ho. Calm down.¡¯ Calm down. Always keep your calm. Always think of the victory conditions, Gino. Those were the teachings of Alexei. His teachings had always been a great help to Kang Jin-ho. ¡®But Alexei. What is the victory condition in this situation?¡¯ Something immediately came into his mind. So Kang Jin-ho blushed and unconsciously crossed his legs at that moment. ¡®G-Good thoughts! Good thoughts!¡¯ Kang Jin-ho tightly shut his eyes. He tried to erase the back of Hong Yoo Hee that he faintly recalled, and attempted to think of other things. But it was not easy. Or rather, something else came to his mind, and that one was more serious than before. ¡®No, why!¡¯ The dream he hadst night. A dirty dream that he rarely had in his life, but was perhaps caused by him drinking alcohol after a long time. But it was different from the usual dirty dreams. In his dirty dreams, a woman with reddish-pink hair always appeared, but yesterday was different. Yesterday was not like the usual. ¡®Ughhhh¡­¡¯ A bunny ears headband. A bunny tail. Hong Yoo Hee appeared wearing a bunny girl outfit. ¡®Kang Jin-ho, chant the Buddhist scriptures. The Buddhist scriptures.¡¯ The Buddhist scriptures that Bertrand taught him and said to be effective in calming the mind. ¡®Saek jeuk si gong, gong jeuk si saek.¡¯ Saek jeuk¡­ Sae-saek¡­ Se-sex¡­ ¡®What is this crazy b*stard saying!¡¯ T/N: The ¡®saek¡¯ in the Heart Sutra can also be read as ¡®sex¡¯ in Korean. ¡®Saek jeuk si gong, gong jeuk si saek¡¯ means ¡®Form is void, and void is form.¡¯ Kang Jin-ho swore at himself and once again tried to calm himself, but that was impossible. He had suddenly remembered the bunny girl Yoo Hee he saw in his dreamst night, perhaps because he closed his eyes. ¡®Alexei, why? Why did I have that dream?¡¯ After all, the contents of my dream must have been a product of my thoughts. Does that mean that my subconscious wants it? [He¡¯s not wrong.] Jude spoke with magic, having already been seated in the living room of Hong Yoo Hee with invisibility magic, and Cordelia, who was likewise invisible, nodded her head. [Yes, but the real culprit is different.] Last night. When Hong Yoo Hee was thinking of buying clothes, or to be exact, when she was thinking of showing off her new clothes to Kang Jin-ho and had fallen asleep. And when Kang Jin-ho had also fallen asleep at that time from drunkenness. Jude and Cordelia sat together and continued their heated discussion. [I mean, don¡¯t we need to try it at least once? Just once?] [What more exactly do you want to do?] Are you seriously going to use hypnosis? Or mind control? Cordelia shook her head at the questions of Jude. [It¡¯s a bit like that. Yet different. Okay? Just enough to steer them into it? To lightly push their backs?] [Is it like¡­ suggestions or reinforcement?] [Suggestion? Reinforcement?] [Yes, in order to increase his thoughts and longing for Hong Yoo Hee, we nt a story about her in his dreams or subconscious.] [And you¡¯ll nt Kang Jin-ho in me?] [Not you, but Hong Yoo Hee.] [We¡¯re the same.] [No, you¡¯re different.] As Jude spoke with a straight face, Cordelia wryly smiled as though she was dumbfounded before she spoke. [Okay. We¡¯re different. Moving on, are you saying that we nt suggestions in their dreams?] [That is correct.] [Hmm, then, should I go inside his dream? In his dream¡­ hehehe?] Cordelia mischievouslyughed and Jude cleared his throat. [You and I are not even subus or incubus. In addition, our bodies are avatars, so there are some restrictions on magic, making it impossible to create a perfect dream, but¡­ It¡¯s true that Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee desire each other. If we stimte their subconscious a bit, we may seed.] [Can¡¯t we just go into their dreams like before?] [Huh?] [I mean, I¡¯ll go into Kang Jin-ho¡¯s dream, and you go into Hong Yoo Hee¡¯s dream¡­ hehehe?] As Cordelia mischievouslyughed again, the eyes of Jude widened. [Hey, wait. Are you telling me to seduce Hong Yoo Hee? And you¡¯re going to seduce Kang Jin-ho?] [Yes, yes. Because I¡¯m Hong Yoo Hee and you¡¯re Kang Jin-ho?] [No way.] [What?] [Absolutely no way. No way. No way. NO. WAY.] Jude himself was reluctant to even persuade Hong Yoo Hee by taking the form of Kang Jin-ho, and even more so when he thought of Cordelia turning into Hong Yoo Hee and seducing Kang Jin-ho. He could never ept that. But Cordelia frowned and asked him. [What¡¯s wrong with that? It¡¯s us anyway, right?] [No, we¡¯re different. We split already. They are us, but not us. So no way.] [You¡¯re incredibly jealous.] [Yes, I am very jealous. Incredibly jealous. So no way.] When Jude spoke strongly again, Cordelia was dumbfounded, but found herself strangely delighted, so she smiled and nodded. [Okay, I understand. Then let¡¯s just encourage them. They¡¯ll probably dream well on their own, right?] [Yes.] Jude quickly responded and began drawing a magic circle in a hurry, and Cordelia smiled again at his appearance. And now. Kang Jin-ho had dreamt of doing something with Hong Yoo Hee in a bunny girl outfit, and Hong Yoo Hee had dreamt of doing something with Kang Jin-ho in a suit, so the two were restless from recalling their vague dreams. ¡°O-Oppa?¡± ¡°Y-Yes. Miss Yoo Hee.¡± ¡°P-Please sit on the sofa.¡± ¡°O-Okay.¡± In the living room. Kang Jin-ho sat facing therge TV mounted on the wall, while Hong Yoo Hee began to take edible stuff from the kitchen. She had talked about ramyeon, but was not in the mood to cook ramyeon now, so she just brought snacks and drinks. ¡®S-Should we drink alcohol?¡¯ At the sudden impulse, Hong Yoo Hee took the beer cans her father had stocked up instead of the drinks they had. She filled the tray with food and awkwardly walked out. And she was back in the living room. Hong Yoo Hee put down the tray and briefly thought. On how close should she sit to Kang Jin-ho. ¡®Ueueue.¡¯ In the end, Hong Yoo Hee chose a distance of 15 cm, which was not really much distant, and sat down. And the remote control. She turned on the TV, switched to Netflix, and began a movie. But the content of the movie did not really enter her mind. The movie was ying, but in the head of Hong Yoo Hee, a meeting was being held on a topic other than the movie. ¡°W-What should we do? What should we do from now on?¡± When Raid Leader Hong Yoo Hee pulled her hair out and asked around, one Hong Yoo Hee raised her hand. ¡°Oh, do you have any suggestions?¡± The Hong Yoo Hee who raised her hand stood up and said to Raid Leader Hong Yoo Hee with a firm look. ¡°Sex.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Power sex. Super intense sex!¡± ¡°G-Get her out!¡± It was a mistake. She was Sex Parrot Hong Yoo Hee. Why was the girl who only appeared when they exchanged sex jokes in the game making an appearance now? Raid Leader Hong Yoo Hee fanned her hot face and looked around again. And panicked again. ¡°W-Who are you?¡± ¡°Bunny girl. Oppa¡¯s fetish.¡± The newly born Bunny Girl Hong Yoo Hee said and told her to look that way, and Raid Leader Hong Yoo Hee looked around the sofa with the Hong Yoo Hee in reality. ¡®W-Why is this here?¡¯ The bunny ears headband. One of the symbols of a bunny girl. Natasha-unnie bought it today, saying that I¡¯ll use itter, but why is it in my bag? Why is it here? Why is it within my reach? ¡°Wear it.¡± ¡°Merge!¡± ¡°Transform!¡± When the crew of Raid Leader Hong Yoo Hee shouted one after another, Raid Leader Hong Yoo Hee reached out in panic, so the Hong Yoo Hee in reality stretched out her hand with a face that could no longer turn even redder. She then put the bunny ears headband on her head. As for Kang Jin-ho. He was simrly having a heated discussion in his mind, but turned his head to the rustling sound next to him, and then froze without realizing it. Or rather, he was almost paralyzed the moment he felt his heart throbbing. Bunny Girl Hong Yoo Hee was in front of him. The Bunny Girl Hong Yoo Hee whom he saw in his dream! His face turned red in embarrassment, not knowing if it was from shyness or shame. He could hear his breath leaking out from between his slightly open mouth. The beating of his heart could be clearly heard, though he did not hear it. Hong Yoo Hee also looked at Kang Jin-ho, perhaps because she felt his gaze. Her breathing became rough as her face flushed red. Her heart pounded as she stared at his handsome face that was even more beautified because of her love filter. She could even imagine his firm chest and abs that she could not see. Her face heated up. The breathing of Kang Jin-ho grew rougher. And it was at that moment. ¡°Haa?~¡­ Ah?~¡­¡± Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee were startled by the sudden erotic moans, so they looked at the front and froze again. Because a naked man and woman began kissing passionately on the screen. ¡®W-What the? Was it this kind of movie?¡¯ The kissing scene was unusual. It was not just a brief kissing scene. It was clearly the intro before the bed scene. And Kang Jin-ho was able to think of something else. ¡®Did the movie change?¡¯ He did not properly watch the movie, but he was sure that it was apletely different movie from the first one they watched. How did it happen? When did the movie change? ¡°Haa?~¡­ Haah?~¡­¡± That did not matter. They heard the moans again and the seeding sound effects, that is, the chup-chup, mmhh, and so on. And one more. Their throats felt dry. Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee simultaneously grabbed a beer can and began to pour its contents into their mouths. It was refreshing. But their thirst was still there. Perhaps it was the taste of beer. Or its efficacy. So they felt their thirst being strengthened. The unique sensation of alcohol quickly dominated their entire bodies. And now the screen was covered in the flesh color. The sound effects continued. They recalled the dreams they hadst night. The power of alcohol paralyzed their reason. Gulp. Just then, they heard the sound of someone gulping. No one knew if it came from Kang Jin-ho or Hong Yoo Hee. But at that sound, the two turned to each other. Kang Jin-ho saw Hong Yoo Hee. Hong Yoo Hee stared at Kang Jin-ho. Jude and Cordelia, who had deliberate made the gulping sound, looked at the two with satisfied smiles. [I¡¯m sure it will happen.] And history was made. Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee kissed each other. The hand of Kang Jin-ho naturally settled on the waist of Hong Yoo Hee, and moved upwards little by little. The hands of Hong Yoo Hee instinctively hugged Kang Jin-ho. [Kyaaa!] The delighted Cordelia covered her face with her hands while peeking through her fingers, and Jude coughed several times. Even if they were the same as the two in front of them, it was too much for them to continue watching. Furthermore. ¡®I can no longer hold back.¡¯ The series of steps to push Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee also had a slight effect on Jude. And one more person. Cordelia bit her lip and pulled the sleeve of Jude who understood what she meant. He impulsively held the waist of Cordelia and carried her in his arms. Then Cordelia hugged the neck of Jude and had a faint smile. [Night merge?] Instead of answering, Jude smiled and left the house of Hong Yoo Hee. *** And at dawn. Jude and Cordelia stood on the roof railing instead of peeking at Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee. Cordelia spoke as she looked in the direction of the airport. ¡°As I thought, there¡¯s something.¡± Jude nodded at her words. Kang Jin-ho had lost his sense of the battlefield over the past 6 years. But Jude and Cordelia were different. At the time when Natasha said goodbye and left. Or rather, from the very beginning when she suddenly appeared after six years. Cordelia realized with her beastly intuition that something was wrong. Jude read the bodynguage of Natasha and the situation hidden among the words she had used. Why did Natashae? And why did she leave without saying anything else? ¡°Shall we go take care of this?¡± At the words of Cordelia, Jude smiled and kissed her forehead. ¡°Thanks.¡± ¡°Well, she¡¯s like Maja, right?¡± For me, it¡¯s like Dahlia. Cordelia had a beautiful grin before she jumped on the back of Jude. And Jude tightly secured Cordelia in his back, creating ck and golden gales afterwards. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± To solve the problem of Natasha. For a perfect happy ending in this world too. Jude and Cordelia viewed the same ce. With clear smiles, they ran through the darkness. SIDE STORY 22 SIDE STORY 22 Terms used in this side story: Katyusha ¨C a Soviet folk-based song and military march that became popr during WWII as a patriotic song in Russia. SIDE STORY ¨C TO EARTH (15) Natasha Molotov was standing on a snowfield. Between morning and noon. At that time, which was usually called morning, she stood still and gazed at the pure white ce. She actually did not have much time. She had already spent a lot of time doing stuff, so she only had a few hours left. But she was not in a hurry. Standing straight, she viewed the snowy field as the wind blew. ¡°Alexei.¡± No answer came back to her low call. She knew very well that he would never return. But she called him again. As she did when she was young and feeling uncertain, she whispered. ¡°Help me, Alexei.¡± Her futile words scattered. The cold air prated deep into her lungs and chilled her chest. Alexei was no longer here. There was still his heir to whom he had left everything, so he definitely existed. Her ringtone sounded. Natasha let out a long breath as she heard the melody of Katyusha without any lyrics. The screen disyed a name she had expected. Natasha wryly smiled at the fact that her innermost wish was shattered in a short time. Having such a wish in the first ce was just a coping mechanism she had. [Natasha. What happened?] As soon as she pressed the Answer button, she heard an urgent voice. The voice was filled with anxiety and impatience, despite the person suppressing it as much as possible. So Natasha took another breath. She spoke in her calmest tone. ¡°Gino is noting.¡± [Damn it. Natasha. That guy, no way¡­ That¡¯s impossible.] She could easily guess what Bertrand had held back from saying. Was Kang Jin-ho scared? Did he refuse to risk his life for his colleagues whom he left six years ago? That was impossible. Not only Natasha, but also Bertrand knew very well of that fact. [Why?] So Bertrand questioned Natasha this time. Natasha replied reflexively. ¡°Why indeed?¡± [Natasha?] Natasha did not answer right away. She turned her gaze back to the snowfield and began to unravel her memories on that white field. ¡°The Gino we know is no longer around.¡± [What do you mean? Did he get hurt or something?] ¡°His senses have died. It haspletely rusted. To the point that he didn¡¯t even knew that someone entered his house.¡± She did not go in when Kang Jin-ho was not home. She had attempted to sneak in while he was at home. ¡°It¡¯s been six years. Six years. That¡¯s enough time to rust.¡± [¡­Do you really think so?] That Gino? That man who inherited everything from Alexei? Natasha swallowed her breath. In fact, she knew it too. Gino was clearly not the same as before. His skills were unimaginable in his prime. But as Bertrand had said, he was a man who inherited everything from Alexei. With the slightest stimtion, he could return to his former self. So Natasha nodded. She agreed with Bertrand. She acknowledged that he was right. But what came out of her mouth werepletely different words. ¡°But that¡¯s the reality.¡± His quick senses were gone. Gino could no longer fight with them. The child born and raised on the battlefield had finally found peace and was living a normal life, so she did not want to destroy it. She did not want to bring Gino back here again. ¡°Gino is a weak civilian now.¡± He fell in love with the girl next door. Perhaps it was not just love. Perhaps it was the fated love that only appeared in novels. Yes, that much made him feel less miserable from the 10 years of hard life that he had spent with them. No, calling it miserable was too much. Because that was ignoring his courage to change. ¡°Or perhaps the time we spent together was too long.¡± [Natasha?] ¡°Six years is too long.¡± Natasha skillfully came up with an excuse at her slip of the tongue, and shrugged once as she straightened her posture. ¡°So Bertrand. Give up on Gino now. It¡¯s just us now. Because we started this in the first ce.¡± [But Natasha. The one who originally caused this is¡­] ¡°Yes, the bad one is Torres. That f*cking b*stard. But we¡¯re the ones who worked with him in the first ce.¡± Natasha felt tired. She did not want to talk about Torres anymore. ¡°I¡¯ll get ready. I¡¯ll join you in three hours.¡± [I understand. See youter.] The call was disconnected. Natasha shoved her cellphone into her pocket and looked back at the snowfield. Their situation was simple. They worked with Organization A. Organization A stole a very important item from Organization B. But Organization A pretended to have lost the important item and manipted the situation to make it look like Natasha and her colleagues had stolen it. Organization B was definitely not stupid either. They did not let themselves get fooled by the tricks of Organization A. But it was clear that they would target Natasha and her colleagues before Organization A. It was meaningless toin of injustice. Organization B never believed in Natasha and her colleagues. In the end, Natasha and her colleagues had only one option left. Attacking Organization A. To return the item Organization A stole from Organization B. They did not have much time. Moreover, Organization A was clever enough to know what Natasha and her colleagues would choose as theirst resort. To begin with, the reason why they hired Natasha and her colleagues over the past year was to use and throw them away. That kind of stuff. For that one item, they discarded the several years of time and the lives of so many people. It was truly a ¡®f*ck you¡¯ situation. But it was also a possible enough situation. One could even say that such a situation wasmonce in their field. And that was why Natasha did not want Gino to return to this field again. Natasha smiled. She had ran out of time. She did not have much time in the first ce. But she stubbornly went to Korea. She took the trouble of meeting Gino. ¡°Sorry, Bertrand.¡± It was a lie when she said that she was going to convince Gino. She had a bit of hope, but knew that it would end like this. Perhaps it was just herst desire. To see the face of Gino once before she died. She had endured it for the past six years, so she thought that it was fine to satisfy her desire onest time. ¡°But I¡¯m d.¡± Because Gino was living well. That he was living a truly normal life. That Gino was in love. And with an opponent he met in a game. ¡°Is this truly fated love?¡± The person he met in his first game. A person he had been fighting against for six years. But that person actually lived next door and had secretly admired him in all those years. Such a thing as coincidence could not exist. It made her wonder if fate really existed. ¡°Gino.¡± Natasha muttered again and took a deep breath. After forcibly shaking off her feelings of depression, she stuck her chest out. The wind blew a letter in front of Natasha. ¡°Huh?¡± Natasha reflexively snatched the letter and let out a surprised voice. Because her own name was written on the envelope of the letter that suddenly flew in. [To Natasha Molotov] Natasha blinked once at the round and pretty letters, and looked around in a hurry. But Natasha was the only one standing in the middle of the snowfield. She knew of letters attached to arrows, but never heard of a method to send a letter in an envelope all the way here with just the wind. Natasha looked up the sky just in case, but there were no drones in the cloudless sky. How did it happen? Natasha gulped and made a decision. She took out the knife she always carried around her body, and carefully cut open the envelope of the letter. Powder did not fly. There was really only a letter in the envelope. Natasha unfolded the letter with her hands wearing leather gloves. [Hello, Natasha.] [First of all, let me thank you. Thank you for raising Jude well.] ¡°Jude?¡± Natasha narrowed her brows. Because it was an unfamiliar name. The words saying that she raised him well was also strange. The sentence was short, but somehow felt like it was drawing a line. Like ¡®You¡¯re the one who raised Jude. A family like an older sister or a mother.¡¯ [We¡¯ve handled the difficult stuff. So don¡¯t worry now. And though this may be too meddlesome, please consider retiring this time. Jude says that it¡¯s not something that you can say that you want to retire, but you can if you try. Because we¡¯ve roughly prepared on what you need for retirement. We¡¯ve left it to your colleague, Bertrand.] Natasha raised her head and looked around again. However, she still could not feel a single presence around her. [How about living in South Korea? Frankly, the fact that Natasha will live next door is making me uneasy¡­ but I think it will be fine since they¡¯ve already done it. I¡¯m not sure about anything else, but my Jude is certain of that. Yes, that¡¯s right. So I¡¯m sure.] The more she read, the stranger she felt. Because she felt like she knew what it was talking about despite not understanding it. ¡°Yoo Hee?¡± She unknowingly thought of the cute girl next door whom Gino had fallen in love with, but soon shook her head. That girl was really ordinary. She could not have done an approach like this. [Jude wants me to tell you that he loves you. I¡¯m saying this for caution¡¯s sake, but it¡¯s love for family and not love between a man and a woman. Yes. I may seem jealous, but what I¡¯ve said is true. Yes, yes. It is like that.] [Anyway, Natasha. Thank you again. If you have a hard time in the future, please call Jude and Cordelia instead of shouting Alexei. Judelia is fine too.] [Hmm, okay. I¡¯ll stop here. Goodbye, Natasha. Let¡¯s meet again in the future when we have the chance.] ¡°Cordelia¡­ August Chase?¡± Natasha read aloud the name written on thest line, and began to reread the letter from the beginning as if she was possessed. And as if it were in time, Katyusha rang on her phone again when she finished rereading it. [Na-Natasha?!] ¡°Bertrand?¡± She reflexively replied in a higher tone in response to his bewildered voice. But instead of calming down, Bertrand shouted with more urgency. [Do you know who P-Pi-Pink Bomb is?] ¡°What?¡± What bomb? [Pink Bomb!] ¡°Hey, Bertrand. Are you¡­¡± [I¡¯m not on drugs! My mind is clear!] ¡°Then what the hell are you saying? Please exin so that I can understand.¡± [So¡­] Bertrand swallowed his saliva and narrated everything, while Natasha blinked her eyes with a dumbfounded expression. Organization A was destroyed in a single day. Or rather, it was within a few hours and not a single day, as their headquarters waspletely robbed. The leader of Organization A was swept away by the explosion, and the items stolen from Organization B had disappeared. And a huge amount of gold bars and a letter arrived at the hiding ce of Bertrand. [It said P-Pink Bomb and ck Cloak.] Natasha furrowed her brows at the seriously terrible aliases, and turned her gaze to the letter she was holding. Jude and Cordelia. Cordelia August Chase. [Natasha?] ¡°¡­Maybe?¡± [Maybe?] ¡°I think they¡¯re on our side.¡± [Natasha? Do you know anything?] ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯ll call you againter.¡± [Nata-] Natasha ignored Bertrand calling her and hung up. She once again focused on the letter. ¡°Cordelia August Chase.¡± And Jude Bayer. Natasha folded the letter. She hardly understood what happened, but strangely felt relieved. She did not feel anxious that it might be another trap. ¡°Cordelia.¡± Natasha said it aloud again, and smiled without realizing it. Her face had a bright smile. *** ¡°Do you think everything went well?¡± ¡°I think everything went well.¡± Except that Natasha really came to Korea. And in the same apartment building as Kang Jin-ho. ¡°You said that it was fine since they¡¯ve already done it.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± But there¡¯s still a possibility. Jude smiled at the timid murmur of Cordelia. He was happy at her showing a bit of jealousy, perhaps because his love filter was too strong. ¡°Anyway, shall we go back now?¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go back.¡± She was disappointed that she could not appear in front of her parents. She was saddened that she could only watch them before leaving. But Cordelia deeply inhaled and simply smiled. Earth was where Hong Yoo Hee lived, and Pleiades was where Cordelia lived. ¡°But I¡¯m satisfied. Yes, I¡¯m satisfied. Because we ended up with each other here as well.¡± Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yoo Hee had fallen in love. She hoped that they would be a married couple that grew old together. As Cordelia snorted in delight, Jude grinned and held her waist. He recalled the past as they stood in front of the gate leading to Pleiades. Right after they defeated Auriel. When they set out on an risky journey to close the Hell Gate that Asmodeus had opened. ¡°But there was two of us back then. It wasn¡¯t that scary.¡± Cordelia spoke as though she had read the thoughts of Jude, and he nodded. In the past, in the present, and in all the future that would follow, Jude and Cordelia would always be together. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go.¡± The two smiled at each other and closely walked together. Like always, the two moved forward in unison. *** Kim Hye Eun stared at the monitor with narrowed brows before typing on the keyboard. Romantic Cat: What¡¯s that avatar? Yellow Storm: A bunny girl set. Isn¡¯t it cute? Cordelia Chase was wearing a ck dress with a white bunny ears headband and a cute bunny tail. As Hong Yoo Hee had said, it was cute. But Kim Hye Eun furrowed her brows again. Because it seemed like Jude Bayer, the character of Outboxer009, was restless. ¡°Hmm, let¡¯s not dig into it.¡± She thought that she would only feel salty if she dug into it. Kim Hye Eun clicked her tongue and grabbed the beer can she had previously opened. For some really strange reason, the beer tasted salty today. SIDE STORY 23 SIDE STORY 23 Terms used in this side story: Spirit tablet ¨C a tablet inscribed with the name of a deceased ancestor or rtive, and could be found in houses where living rtives ce food offerings for the deceased. SIDE STORY ¨C AFTER THE WEDDING The marriage of Duke Jude August Bayer and Duchess Cordelia August Chase, the guardian gods of Pleiades and the guardians of the S?len Kingdom, became a national event. It was not an exaggeration to say that guests from all over the world gathered, and not only residents of the capital of the S?len Kingdom, but also numerous people from the northern and southern regions of the kingdom headed to the royal capital to attend the wedding. The wedding of King Henry II and First Queen Justina was not like this. Tens of thousands of people filled the za, or perhaps it was hundreds of thousands of people. Thousands to tens of thousands of tents were spread out outside the royal capital because of the sea of people. Naturally, the wedding ceremony also proceeded differently from the usual procedure. There was no touching officiant speeches, and the position of the bride and groom was different too. Jude and Cordelia held hands together and went out in front of people to receive the cheers and blessings of everyone. But there was one thing that did not change. No matter howrge the event was, or how different its format was, it was still the wedding of Jude and Cordelia in the end. It was still a ce that blessed the union of the two. Count Chase stood still and watched Jude and Cordelia. At the balcony of the pce overlooking the za. Two people kissed in front of the crowd. Jude was smiling. Cordelia grinned. The two kissed and brightly smiled as they exchanged rings. Count Chase silently watched everything. The congrattory speech and deration of Henry II were over. White doves flew to the sky throughout the royal capital, and loud cheers that seemed to shake the entire royal capital erupted. Cordelia cheerfully smiled again with a red face, perhaps because of embarrassment or joy. And the wedding was over. It was a very happy day. *** Count Chase, the father of Cordelia, was one of the more than ten people who were assigned the best guest rooms in the royal pce. But Count Chase did not immediately return to his room after the wedding. There were many people who wanted to talk to him, but instead of meeting them, he quietly left the pce and headed for a certain ce. Count Bayer knew where Count Chase was headed. So instead of scolding Count Chase for escaping alone, he helped his friend escape. He drew the attention of people to him, and dealt with those who wanted to meet Count Chase. The footsteps of Count Chase continued. Having escaped the crowded royal capital, he stopped on a small hill. It was a ce where one could fully view the royal capital. But that was not the reason he came here. This ce had a different meaning for Count Chase. ¡°Aerith.¡± The mother of Cordelia. The only woman Count Chase loved. Countess Chase who no longer lived in this world. Her tomb and spirit tablet was in the mansion of Count Chase. This was the ce where he first met Aerith Eloa, the daughter of Viscount Eloa. *** For the nobility, marriage was a kind of business. A mutual transaction to get what they wanted. Therefore, marriages of love like those ofmoners rarely urred to them. In the first ce, Jude and Cordelia had been engaged since birth. There were only a handful of mutual love marriages like that of Adelia and Ga?l. It was a union between two families. So in the central region where there were fewer lower-ranked nobles than in the northern or southern regions, there were many extreme cases where they only saw the face of the other person for the first time on their wedding day. Since the purpose of the marriage was a union between families, it was not umon for the age difference between the bride and groom to berge. Young grooms and brides were sold likemodities. The atmosphere had somewhat eased since Henry II, the current king, had inherited the throne, but when Count Chase was young ¨C that is, before the reign of Henry II, marriages of love between nobles were nothing more than a luxury and only found in romance stories. That kind of era. Having just obtained the qualifications as a wizard, Count Chase encountered the carriage of Viscount Eloa, whose carriage wheels were stuck in a pit on a hill leading to the royal capital. And he fell in love with Aerith Eloa whom he first met there. *** A fated love. Mutual love at first sight. It was not like that. Count Chase fell in love the moment he saw Aerith, but not for Aerith. She was two years older than Count Chase, and above all, she was already scheduled to be married. Her partner was Viscount Xanadu who was twenty years older than her, and for him, Aerith was his third marriage partner. ¡°I want to visit the royal capital just once.¡± That was why she, who lived in the Eloa Viscounty located at the edge of the northern part of the central region, came to the royal capital. She wanted to visit the royal capital just once. Viscount Eloa could not bear to refuse the request of his daughter who would soon be sold for her family and younger siblings to a man the age of her father. Moreover, Viscount Xanadu was a noble from the southern region. Considering the case wherein the two wives of the viscount had died early, Aerith was highly likely not going to be Viscountess Xanadu for the rest of her life. Or rather, she did not know if she could even step out of the mansion alive. ¡°Have a safe trip.¡± ¡°Thank you, father.¡± Her trip required a lot of money. However, this was the first wish Aerith had made since she grew up. Viscount Eloa sold one of the belongings of his wife which he cherished to make money for the trip. The duration of the trip was one month. Considering the location of the Eloa Viscounty, she could only stay in the royal capital for two to three days, and this was the limit. To begin with, her wedding with Viscount Xanadu was only two months away. *** Aerith had a strong sense of responsibility. That was the reason she decided to marry Viscount Xanadu who was 20 years older than her and whom she did not know the face. Because she had a lot of younger siblings. She at least hoped that her young siblings would marry whom they wanted and get married in a good ce with a lot of dowry. Viscount Eloa was not ipetent. But he owed too much money because of his terminally ill wife, and when his wife, the mother of Aerith, eventually passed away, the financial situation of Viscount Eloa had already reached an irreversible situation. So Aerith thought that she should marry a rich man. Although Viscount Xanadu was old and had an unsociable personality, he was rich enough to support the survival of Viscount Eloa. That was why she epted the proposal of Viscount Xanadu at a party. *** As mentioned earlier, Aerith had a strong sense of responsibility. So she tried to not pay as much attention as possible to the handsome, good-looking, and very tall young man looking at her with a mesmerized expression. But she could not do that when the knight-like young man used magic to lift the carriage instead of his strength or the horse he was riding on. It was a surprise that the young man who looked like a knight was a wizard, so she had to express her gratitude. Aerith raised her head to face the young man. Arthur Chase. His young self before he inherited the Count Chase position. ¡°Thank you. Because of your help, I was able to get out of this difficult situation.¡± As Aerith spoke her words of thanks, she thought. What would he ask in return? He helped her, so it was natural to return the favor, but her travel expenses were tight. It was a trivial thought, but a realistic concern, and the fact once again made the heart of Aerith feel stuffy. And at that very moment, Arthur spoke. ¡°You¡¯re magical.¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± When Aerith unknowingly asked, Arthur Chase waspletely flustered instead of continuing his words. He was surprised by what he had just said. ¡°I mean, t-that is¡­¡± The appearance of a handsome young man struggling with a red face was enough to spread a smile on the face of the young maiden. Aerith knew that it was rude, but could not resist smiling, and Arthur Chase fell in love again at her bright expression. *** ¡°In the end, you¡¯re saying that she has a good-looking face.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not just her face that looks good.¡± Alex Bayer. Arthur replied very seriously to the point of Alex. As a result, Alex became curious again and asked. ¡°Then which part of her do you like better?¡± ¡°I like all of her.¡± ¡°Okay, if that¡¯s what you insist, so be it.¡± Normally, the other would have retorted, but there was nothing this time. Alex had a wry smile at the face of his friend who was still mesmerized, and soon changed his expression. ¡°Arthur.¡± ¡°Yes, Alex.¡± ¡°You said that she was married.¡± ¡°Not yet. She¡¯s only engaged.¡± ¡°Are you going to y with fire?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like that. I am serious.¡± ¡°Arthur, it¡¯s only been a day since you met her. In fact, you only met her for around an hour, from fixing her carriage to apanying her to the royal capital.¡± ¡°I know.¡± ¡°You know and are still saying it?¡± ¡°Because she¡¯s magical.¡± There was no other answer. Therefore, Alex decided to help his friend first. It was funny for a young man to say such a thing, but a story that was like a midsummer night¡¯s dream was one of the luxuries that only young people could enjoy. But Alex Bayer found out before the day passed. Arthur Chase was as serious as he said. Very much serious too. *** ¡®Maybe fated love really exists.¡¯ Arthur and Aerith fell in love. In fact, he did not even know if it was natural. The Chase family was one of the 12 northern families, and as wizards, their wealth was not small. Moreover, Arthur Chase was a handsome young man. No one could deny that he was better than her fianc¨¦, Viscount Xanadu. But Alex Bayer thought of fated love. Because the Aerith his friend had met was not rude enough to ignore the marriage agreement that had already been made ording to a profit and loss calction. ¡®But it won¡¯t be easy.¡¯ He was not necessarily higher or more powerful than a viscount just because he came from a count family. It was definitely a different story if one considered that they were one of the 12 northern families, but that did not mean they could do what they want and pressure Viscount Xanadu. In addition, Arthur Chase was from a northern family while Viscount Xanadu was from a southern family. Even if he offered Viscount Xanadu a justification, it would not be easy to annul the uing marriage. Or rather, perhaps it could not be nullified at all. Arthur Chase was well aware of that. So he decided to do something reckless. He eloped at night with Aerith. ¡®He¡¯s crazy, crazy.¡¯ They eloped because of love? They run away together? Does this make sense? I can¡¯t believe that my friend, Arthur Chase, did such a reckless thing that only happens in romance stories. There was obviously an uproar. The social circles were taken aback, and Viscount Xanadu took this opportunity to pressure the Chase family with the support of the southern region who wanted to criticize the northern region to their heart¡¯s content. He even requested for a duel, using the other of defaming his reputation. Viscount Xanadu clearly did note forward in person. Enrico Luculia, the Sword of Heavy Pressure and one of the Ten Great Swordmasters, sent his nephew and disciple, Matteo Luculia, as the representative of Viscount Xanadu. Matteo was strong. He stood out at the Banquet of Swords and was even called a future member of the Ten Great Swordmasters. He applied for a duel with Arthur Chase. If Arthur refused the duel, his honor that was already in jeopardy would have been thrown to the ground, and if epted, Arthur Chase was a wizard and not a swordsman, so it would be difficult for him to remain unharmed. There was definitely a way to ept a duel against the representative of the viscount. But who in the world was prepared to fight against great swordmaster, and a person said to be one of the Ten Great Swordmasters in the future? In a duel wherein Arthur Chase was the one in the wrong in the first ce, it would not be honorable to even stand up for Arthur. ¡°It¡¯s always my task to settle things.¡± Alex Bayer had a bitter smile as he drew his sword. He did not listen to the words of his family. He drew his sword for Arthur Chase and was called shameless for covering for his friend, but he did not care. ¡°Because the way of the wind is free.¡± The young Alex Bayer did not know that his future self would kick his nket several times in his sleep at those words he had uttered. *** The wedding did not take ce in a grand manner. The marriage of Arthur Chase and Aerith Eloa was quietly announced by Count Chase, with only his family and acquaintances attending. Count Chase raised his head. He said to the person behind him. ¡°Your mother was a very lively and cheerful person.¡± ¡°Yes, father. I remember.¡± Edward Chase took a few more steps and stood next to his father. His mother died sometime after giving birth to his youngest sister, Cordelia. The age difference between Edward and Cordelia was close to ten, which enabled Edward to remember their mother much more than his younger sisters. ¡°In a way, she was a bit extreme.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± Aerith often gave gifts to those around her. It did not mean that she wasted her money just because she suddenly got married to a rich man. Most of the gifts Aerith gave around were simple and cheap. ¡°She always carried candy or sweets in her small pocket.¡± It was not just the young Edward and Adelia. Aerith would hand out small gifts to the many people around her, including those who worked for Count Chase. Count Chase also remembered that time. So he whispered with a face full of longing. ¡°One day, I asked her. Why do you like to give gifts like that? Then Aerith replied: The precious time we can spend together is not forever. Maybe this moment is thest one.¡± So when she could, she wanted to express her feelings even a little more. Count Chase could not immediately reply to her unexpectedly heavy words. And a few yearster, Aerith died of the same illness as her mother. He cried and cried until his tears dried up. Count Chase became aware that his time without Aerith wouldst forever. ¡°Your mother, Aerith, was always right. Always.¡± Count Chase walked forward. He hid his face from Edward as he slowly breathed to calm his emotions. Perhaps Aerith had known at that time. That her time was not very long. ¡°Edward.¡± ¡°Yes, father.¡± ¡°Do not hold back in expressing your affection to your loved ones. A single sentence of I love you and a small smile are worth more than a million flowers offered after the person is gone forever.¡± ¡°I understand, father.¡± When did Count Chase began to give too many gifts to those around him? Even though he spoke harsh words in his obvious shyness as he gave gifts. Edward did not bother to attack his father. But Count Chase attacked his son without hesitation. ¡°Of course, you have to find a person you love first.¡± Edward flinched for a moment at the words that pierced him, but then said with a wry smile. ¡°It would have been great if Count Bayer had a girl.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t speak nonsense and look around carefully this time. Almost all the nobles of the kingdom have gathered in one ce now.¡± ¡°I will try my best.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t just try. Come up with results.¡± What exactly was he supposed to answer here? Edward viewed the royal capital instead of giving an answer in the end, and Count Chase stared at the ring in his finger that he had not removed even after nearly twenty years had passed since she died. He remembered the smile of Aerith and clumsily smiled. SIDE STORY 24 SIDE STORY 24 SIDE STORY ¨C ICE AND WIND (1) Half a year after the wedding of Jude and Cordelia. A white steed was running through the north with a man dressed in ck on its back. The man was good-looking. But what stood out more than that was the face of the man. Depending on your view, the face of the man seemed to be in his thirties or forties and appeared to havee out of a painting. In other words, he was handsome. A handsome man that anyone would remember once they saw him. But the man was also skilled. He was one of the Ten Great Swordmasters in the S?len Kingdom, and among them, he was particrly outstanding and had the title of Sword Saint. The Sword Saint of the Wind. Alex Bayer. Count Bayer. He was traversing the territory of the Argon Empire and not the S?len Kingdom. But there was no hesitation in his actions. As if he had traveled across this ce several times. ¡°Nothing has changed.¡± Count Bayer slowed his running speed and said as he viewed the surroundingndscape. It had been almost thirty years since he had visited this area again, but the scenery in front of him and the scenery in his memory matched as though it was free from time. There was a snow-covered mountain that connected the sky and earth, and a majestic winter forest spread out below it. ¡°It hasn¡¯t changed.¡± Count Bayer whispered as if he was talking to someone unknown or talking to himself, and raised his head to look at the snowy mountain again. *** Count Bayer and Count Chase had one thing inmon. The fact that both counts did not have a countess, the so-calleddy of the house. Coincidentally, there was no significant difference in the time the position of the two countesses became vacant. A difference of one year at most. But there was also a difference between the two families. There was a small but beautiful household shrine built in honor of Countess Chase. Countess Chase also had a spirit tablet, and Count Chase must always visit the shrine at least twice a day to honor the soul of his wife whenever he stayed in the mansion. But Count Bayer did not do that. Or rather, Count Bayer did not have a household shrine or spirit tablet to honor the countess. Moreover, Count Bayer did not even hold a funeral for Countess Bayer. Not because Count Bayer was cold-blooded. Nor was it because Count Bayer did not love the countess. The reason was simple and obvious. Countess Bayer was not dead. Count Bayer believed so. *** It had already been more than 15 years since Countess Bayer disappeared. It would have been around 18 years if one counted the years right after Jude was born. Most of the long-time servants of Count Bayer remembered the countess. She was always bright and kind. Countess Bayer was not as graceful as Countess Chase, but had a lively vitality instead. Like a flower blooming in a field. No, it would be more appropriate to say that she was like a white evening primrose blooming on a snowfield. But in the memories of the servants, she was not always bright and cheerful. Because she suffered from a lingering illness a few years before Jude was born. Most of the servants thought that Countess Bayer was dead. That she died after giving birth to Jude. Even if she did not, perhaps the weakened she could not endure the second childbirth. They did not doubt it. A few days after Jude was born. Count Bayer suddenly took the ill countess and left the Bayer county. The people of Count Bayer did not know what happened because only his close friend, Count Chase, was allowed to follow them. And a monthter. Count Bayer and Count Chase returned, but Countess Bayer was no longer with them. What happened to her? Count Bayer did not open his mouth, nor did Count Chase. ¡°Perhaps¡­ she went home?¡± When the old butler of Count Bayer recalled the memories of the past with a voice mixed with regret, the servants around him also nodded. Was not there a ce that Countess Bayer, who was about to die, wanted to visit for thest time? Perhaps that was the reason Count Bayer went on hisst trip with her. It made a lot of sense to think that the funeral was also held at the travel destination. ¡°He probably will not want to get married again.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± Because Count Bayer loved Countess Bayer very deeply. He was one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. Moreover, Count Bayer was one of the family heads in the 12 northern families. Numerous remarriage proposals were sent to the young count in his thirties, but to no avail. No matter how beautiful the woman Count Bayer was introduced to, he did not budge at all, nor was he shaken by the story that a mother was needed for the young and sick Jude. ¡°Maja is enough.¡± A girl who was seven years older than Jude. She was a very smart and sincere girl, but only a child of ten years or so. However, when Count Bayer said that she was enough, everyone had no choice but to give up one by one. Because they quickly epted that his words ¡®Maja is enough¡¯ had meant that he had no intention of remarrying, even if he had to entrust Jude to a ten year old. The vassals and servants of Count Bayer felt both joy and sadness at his decision. Although it was not much as Count Bayer, they also loved and cherished Countess Bayer, so they were happy at the affection Count Bayer showed for his wife. But at the same time, the thought that the count, who was now only in his early thirties, would be single for the rest of his life made them feel sad. ¡°It can¡¯t be helped.¡± Because no one could me the heart of a human. The people of Count Bayer respected his will, and Count Bayer quietly epted the passage of time. *** Count Bayer left the horse at the vige below the mountain and began climbing the mountain alone. It was a white and beautiful snowy mountain, but at the same time, it was a very dangerous ce. Not only did dangerous mountain animals wandered around, but it was also a perfect ce for first-timers to get lost. ¡°Everything¡¯s the same here.¡± Getting lost was easy because there was only snow everywhere. Furthermore, mana flowed in the snowy mountain. Those who climbed the mountain for the first time were almost certainly bound to get lost. Therefore, the vigers at the bottom of the mountain earned pocket money by guiding visitors to the snowy mountain, but they did not make such an offer to Count Bayer. Or to be exact, the vige chief dissuaded the young people who wanted to make such an offer. ¡°Long time no see.¡± ¡°It¡¯s been a while.¡± Around thirty years ago. If he counted more urately, it would be around 29 years ago. The vige chief remembered the young swordsman from the kingdom who traveled all the way to the empire, saying that he was practicing his swordsmanship. *** Thirty years ago, the Sword God of the empire was still alive and well. Or rather, one could say that it was his prime. Alex Bayer wanted to meet him. He wanted to learn from him and make the Sword of the Wind freer. So after taking only a bit of travel expenses, he wore his sword around his waist and headed to the empire. In short, he ran away from home. ¡°Because the way of the wind is free.¡± Count Bayer never spoke of those words when he grew old, but had liked it very much in his youth. To the point that he always said it. In any case, his runaway trip close to bravado was not very easy. He experienced many things as he traveled abroad for the first time in his life. If he went to ces where the security was a little unstable, thieves and backstabbing mercenaries appeared as if it were natural. While traveling through the kingdom, he hid his noble identity because he could not leave a track record of having run away from home, and after going to the empire, he pretended to be amoner because he could not reveal that he was a noble from the kingdom. Therefore, Alex Bayer was regarded as a na?vemoner swordsman who longed for the Sword God and sought him, and in fact, there was no difference if that na?vemoner was changed to a na?ve noble. The young Alex Bayer seriously admired the Sword God and was na?ve at the same time. *** The journey of Alex Bayer was longer than expected. The young him had a youthful figure, and the various experiences he umted during his journey gave him, in a shallow way, a dignified figure. When three years had passed since he ran away from home. Alex Bayer was finally able to face the Sword God of the empire. ¡°Did you say that it¡¯s the Sword of Wind?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡± At the courageous answer of Alex Bayer, the Sword God had an inexplicable smile. He liked young talented people ever since he pursued the Sword of the Sky in his youth. Because he hoped that someone else could attain the Sword of the Sky if he could not do it. But the Sword God 30 years ago was not an old man, but at his prime, so he was not as tolerant as he was 30 yearster. Therefore, he could not close his eyes to Alex Bayer. ¡°Your swordsmanship is good. But it reveals too much of your heart.¡± ¡°My¡­ heart?¡± ¡°You want to be recognized.¡± At the words of the Sword God, Alex Bayer turned red. Because he immediately understood what the other meant. I want to make the Sword of Wind freer. I want to better use the Sword of Wind by adding the teachings of the Sword God. It was true. But that was not all. I want to show the greatness of the Sword of Wind to the Sword God. I want to make him aware that there is a swordsman named Alex Bayer. I want to let the world know that the sword of the Bayers are still sharp even though we have stepped down from the margrave position. ¡°It¡¯s not bad. It would be a good thing if it motivates you to work hard at anything. But an impure motive ¨C no, your desire to show it to others is not a very good motive.¡± At the words of the Sword God, Alex Bayer blushed and did not respond. The Sword God had liked such an Alex Bayer. So he gave Alex a few lessons, and even promised to meet again someday andpete with the sword. The day after the Sword God departed. When Count Bayer opened his eyes while lying in the inn bed, he realized that it was time to go back home. He traveled as much as he wanted and met the Sword God, receiving his teachings, so he had achieved all of his goals. ¡®No, not everything.¡¯ Alex Bayer covered his face with both hands. Because he felt ashamed again. What if the Sword God paid attention to his talent and offered to make him a disciple? If he was the Sword God, he would recognize that Alex was a genius, right? Won¡¯t he want to learn the Sword of Wind instead after realizing how wonderful it was? His delusions were truly childish and ridiculous. ¡°Haa.¡± He thought that he was going to die from embarrassment. He even wanted to hit his past self for grinning and thinking of such delusions. But in the end, Alex Bayer had an awkward smile. ¡°But there are results.¡± He faced the Sword God. He saw the sword of the Sword God. Like in hero stories, he came to a realization that there was a sky above the sky. So it was not that bad. Instead of being frustrated that he was like a frog in a well, Alex Bayer was delighted to realize that there was a higher sky and that there was a way to it. ¡®But let¡¯s go home.¡¯ He wanted to see his parents, and also because he was still the only heir to the Count Bayer position. It was time to graduate from running around and ying like a foal on a spring day. ¡°Still¡­¡± How should I say this? Should I say that it¡¯s a pity to just go? Alex Bayer got up from his bed with a dazed expression and opened the window of his inn room, and saw the things he had not seen yesterday because of his excitement in meeting the Sword God. A white snowy mountain that connected the sky and the earth, and the majestic forest below it. Alex admired the view as he inhaled the cold air, and made a decision. ¡®Let¡¯s just go up there.¡¯ Let¡¯s go back after standing at the top and looking down on the empire. If I don¡¯t go now, I won¡¯t be able to go for the rest of my life. I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll regret itter when ites out in my dreams. ¡°Yes, the way of the wind is always free.¡± Alex Bayer had a nice smile as he hurried out of the inn. And heter confessed to himself. The decision he made that day was the best decision he had ever made in his life. *** ¡°Where the hell is this? Huh? Where am I?¡± Was this the price for ignoring the son of the innkeeper who said that a guide was essential? Alex wandered all over the white snowy mountain. It did not seem that high from a distance, but when he looked at it closely, it was huge and even had rough paths. In addition, it was hard to even properly look around because the forest in the mountain was covered in snow and looked white, so he could not see it from afar. ¡®Calm down, Alex. Calm down.¡¯ Who was he? Wasn¡¯t he Alex Bayer, the heir to the Sword of Wind? There was no way that a future member of the Ten Great Swordmasters would die in a ce like this. Moreover, because he had wandered from the road from the very beginning, he had not gone up to a very high ce. He was at least halfway up or halfway below the mountain. It was not even snowing, so if he could not find his way back, he could just sleep around here overnight and watch the rising sun in the morning. ¡°Okay, then let¡¯s find a ce to sleep here.¡± Alex Bayer spoke to himself and made a decision as he sat next to arge rock where he could escape from the wind. The fire did not lit well because the branches were wet from the snow, but he somehow made a campfire and sat down above his cloak on the ground. And time passed. Alex was staring at the campfire and holding his hungry stomach, but silently moved his hand and grabbed his sword. Right after he prepared himself, he stood up and pointed his sword towards the bushes on the right. ¡°Who is it!¡± The gaze he sensed earlier. He had first thought that it was an illusion, but it was not. It was such a tant gaze that he could not help but notice it. Who in the world? Who is looking at me? ¡°Come out!¡± When he shouted using Chivalry, the magic of the knights, not only the surrounding bushes but also the ground began to rumble. Alex Bayer was startled at his own cry, thinking ¡®What if andslide happens because of this?¡¯, but the bushes rustled. ¡°Uh¡­ ah¡­ well¡­¡± A beautiful woman stood up from the bushes with a hesitant voice. A woman with blue hair and green eyes. Alex Bayer unconsciously swallowed his breath. Because he was instantly captivated by the beauty of the woman. Her green eyes were so mysterious that it felt magical. As he nkly stared at her, he suddenly shook his head and came to his senses. ¡®M-Magical?¡¯ It was not. It was not like that. Therefore, Alex Bayer looked straight ahead and calmed his rough breathing, but was mesmerized again. The woman was indeed beautiful, but her eyes that looked at him with curiosity while hesitating had once again captivated his heart. But Alex Bayer pped himself in the face and calmed his mind again. He hastily spoke to the woman who was startled at his sudden violent action. ¡°Who are you? I-I mean, may I know your name? Why are you looking at me?¡± Alex Bayer was holding a sword but was quite polite, so the woman hesitated and soon blushed. Covering her face with both hands, she said very softly. ¡°¡­-some.¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°Y-You¡¯re handsome.¡± Alex blinked with a dumbfounded expression, and the woman covered her face and groaned, shouting as her ears and neck even turned red. ¡°B-Because you¡¯re handsome! Very handsome!¡± In other words, was it a story of how she was supposed to pass by, thinking that he was just a human, but he was so handsome that she unknowingly hid in the bushes to look at him? What kind of strange story was that? Moreover, he was so enchanted by the beauty of the woman that he did not recognize that the woman had a lot of strange things about her. Despite being in such a cold ce, she was wearing a short skirt that exposed her bare legs, and was even barefoot. Her sleeves were long andrge, and her clothes were thin, so it did not seem that effective in protecting her from the cold weather. And her ears were pointed. It was not as long as an elf, but her ears were clearly different from those of humans because of its pointed tips. And one more thing. Alex Bayer was unaware of it, but whenever she panicked, something that looked like horns appeared and disappeared repeatedly through her blue hair. Alex took a deep breath. And he thought. I got lost in an unfamiliar mountain. But suddenly, a passing beauty appeared in the bushes and unconsciously stared at me, saying that it was because I was very handsome. Haha, hahaha. What kind of nonsense is this? Anyone can tell that it¡¯s suspicious. Unfortunately, the person in this ce was not the Sword Saint of Wind who had experienced everything since his birth. He was just a child who had yet to fully use the Sword of Wind. Moreover, he was a child who was very fond ofpliments that called him handsome. ¡®It¡¯s thrilling, it¡¯s always fresh, and being handsome is the best.¡¯ Moreover, shouldn¡¯t the Sword of Wind be always free? After reciting his motto in his mind, Alex Bayer withdrew his sword. The reason in his head was yelling ¡®What is this crazy guy doing?¡¯ but sadly, the Alex Bayer of that time was a young man affected by his emotions. So he decided to stick to his immediate feelings. ¡°My name is Alex Bayer. Beautifuldy, would you give me the honor of kissing the back of your hand?¡± His words would make the future Count Bayer writhe in embarrassment, but not for the young Alex Bayer. He even finished his lines well with a cool smile. And at the words of this handsome young man, the woman covered her face again with both hands and then nodded her head. She stretched out her hand to Alex Bayer. SIDE STORY 25 SIDE STORY 25 SIDE STORY ¨C ICE AND WIND (2) Alex Bayer was confused for a moment. Because while it was good that the woman responded to his words, she had held out both of her hands at the same time. ¡®W-What?¡¯ Don¡¯t tell me she¡¯s rejecting it? But isn¡¯t this strange for a rejection? He briefly thought. The woman was sweating profusely as she held out her hands, and Count Bayer who tried to hide his confusion as much as possible then realized it at that moment. ¡®She doesn¡¯t know.¡¯ The greeting gesture of kissing the back of the hand. She did not understand it. And at the same time, Alex realized a few more facts. The strange things he did not see because he was mesmerized with her. The odd attire of the woman who did not seem to be a nearby viger. Her pointed ears. Is she an elf? I¡¯ve heard that among the elves, those with excellent affinity with the spirits are not easily affected by the weather. Because they themselves are in harmony with the weather. If the woman in front of me is an elf, her strange outfit can also be exined. ¡®I-I shouldn¡¯t look. I shouldn¡¯t.¡¯ His gaze unconsciously caught her beautiful and smooth legs, but he knew that it was rude to stare at it. Alex looked at the woman again as he struggled not to look down. And his intuition told him. ¡®She¡¯s not an elf.¡¯ When he met the Sword God, he had seen a few elves by his side. Their ears were pointed and long. But the ears of the woman in front of him were pointed but not long. And she felt different. He had not met all the elves in the world as he only met three, but he still thought that she was different. ¡®She feels different.¡¯ Unlike the elves of the kingdom, the elves of the empire were active in their interaction with humans. Perhaps that was the reason why when he met the elves, his first thought was ¡®They¡¯re just like us.¡¯ They were like humans. Beings who existed in reality and not just in fairy tales. However, the woman in front of him felt a bit different. She felt a little strange, but not unnatural, as if he was looking at a flower that blossomed in a snowfield. What is she? Who is this woman in front of me- ¡°Uhh¡­¡± ¡°Ah!¡± He had made her wait for too long because of the confusion in his mind. When the woman, who was still holding out her hands, had a very troubled expression, Alex came to his senses and knelt on one knee before her. He then gently held one of her outstretched hands and pulled it towards him. Regardless of the identity of the woman, Alex wanted to be courteous first. Thus, it was proper to greet her first. Alex lightly pulled her left hand and pressed his lips against the back of her hand, and the woman flinched and became embarrassed. But she did not pull her hand back, and a smile spread across the face of Alex. Because the woman was very lovely. ¡®That¡¯s right, the wind is free.¡¯ After all, the true wind can transcend not only identity but also race. Alex thought that Arthur Chase would have called it nonsense if he had heard it, but smiled once more and stood up. He said while looking at the eyes of the woman who was now closer to him. ¡°My name is Alex Bayer.¡± The woman blinked at his repeated self-introduction, and soon shrunk back. Because she roughly understood the situation. ¡°My name is Blue¡­ N-No, it¡¯s Yuna. Yuna.¡± She did not give ast name. Or rather, considering that the first word she spoke was ¡®Blue,¡¯ perhaps Yuna was an alias. But Alex did not me the woman of being rude for giving an alias, or inquire about her real name. He thought that each person had their own story. He did not meet her as an enemy, so he did not ask her about it. ¡®It¡¯s probably because she¡¯s pretty.¡¯ The cold remark of Arthur shed in his mind, but Alex ignored it and spoke to the woman ¨C Yuna, again. ¡°I see. Then Yuna. What brings you here? Are you lost like me?¡± ¡°Lost? N-No¡­¡± ¡°You seem to be living in this mountain.¡± ¡°Uh¡­ ah, yes.¡± Yuna stuttered in her answer. As though she was not used to talking to people. ¡®Perhaps she¡¯s a fairy?¡¯ Not an elf but a mysterious fairy who lived in the mountains. Perhaps she was like the fairies in legends whom he did not know if they existed. ¡°Uhh¡­ Are you¡­ lost?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m ashamed but¡­ it¡¯s because this is my first time here.¡± At the time when Alex scratched his head and thought that he should have said that he lost his way. ¡°T-Then, should I guide you? The path down to the vige.¡± He very much weed her proposal. But Alex was not in a hurry. ¡°Thank you. But it¡¯s already nighttime¡­ How about leaving tomorrow morning?¡± ¡°Tomorrow morning?¡± ¡°Yes, in the meantime¡­ how about we talk for a while?¡± Nonsense. There are more than 10 hours left until tomorrow morning. And you want to be together with her until then? In front of the campfire? ¡®As I thought, you¡¯re inexperienced.¡¯ The retorts of Arthur Chase seemed to echo in his head again. But Alex Bayer who left home in his mid-teens had little experience in this field. It was a situation where his desire came first. In any case, the woman blinked at his suggestion that was close to irrational, and Alex gulped as he tried to calm his nervous heart. And a second, 2 seconds, and 3 secondster. ¡°Hmm, okay.¡± The woman answered with a wide smile, and Alex secretly clenched his fist. *** ¡°Are you going to the mountain today?¡± ¡°Yes, I can go alone now.¡± At the question asked by the son of the innkeeper, or the future vige chief, Alex replied with a grin. The son of the innkeeper, who worked as a guide for five days and made a lot of pocket money, was disappointed for not being able to do it anymore, but soon changed his mind. ¡®Earning for five days is already enough.¡¯ Furthermore, the customer in front of him had already paid a lot of inn fees, so perhaps he would be staying for another month or so. Although this was a ce where many touristse to see the beautiful snowy mountain, most of them only stay for a day or two and then leave. But the young man in front of him had already been staying in this vige for over 10 days. He wondered what had happened. ¡®Is he training in the snowy mountain?¡¯ The son of the innkeeper gulped and swallowed the question that almost came up to his throat just before it went out of his mouth. He did not know if those with swords, especially mercenaries, were actually robbers or rapists. The youth in front of him seemed to be different from those scoundrels, but he couldnd himself in trouble if he carelessly asked. ¡°Have a safe trip.¡± ¡°I think I¡¯lle backte again today.¡± Alex replied and left the inn, and the son of the innkeeper thought with his chin on the counter. ¡®Is he seeing a girl?¡¯ His bright expression seemed like he was about to go meet a woman. But the son of the innkeeper soon shook his head. How could there be a woman in the snowy mountain? ¡®I¡¯ll go see Jenniferter.¡¯ Jennifer was the second daughter of the man who ran a watermill. If the future vige chief had seen himself in his youth, he would have shouted ¡®No! Don¡¯t be fooled! She¡¯s a b*tch!¡¯, but his young self was unaware of the real self of Jennifer, so he just smiled happily. *** Half a month had passed since Alex Bayer stayed in the vige. During those 15 days, Alex went up the mountain every day to continue doing dating-like activities, such as meeting and talking to Yuna, viewing the scenery, and eating packed lunch together. ¡®W-We¡¯re not dating yet.¡¯ But that was what some people say when they were already dating. Alex coughed alone and went to bed early. Tomorrow, he was going to meet Yuna early in the morning and visit the secret ce of Yuna deep in the mountain. But the next morning. His ns were ruined from the start. ¡°Why are you here?¡± ¡°It¡¯s been more than 3 years since you ran away.¡± To the rather stupid question of Alex, a tall young man with a dignified appearance replied with a disagreeing expression. Arthur Chase. The future Count Chase. ¡°Did my father send you?¡± ¡°To be exact, my father sent me a letter, and ording to that letter, I should visit you if I happen to pass by.¡± ¡°You were in the empire?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been taking sses at the Imperial Magic Tower sincest year. I¡¯m thinking of going back to the kingdom now. It¡¯s like a short-term study abroad.¡± Alex silently nodded at the reply of Arthur. Arthur was a wizard in the first ce. Moreover, he had heard that his friend was gifted in magic since his childhood, so it made sense for him toe to the empire to study abroad. After all, the level of the magic tower in the empire was higher. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go back now. For a prodigal child who left home, three years should be enough.¡± Arthur quietly spoke and turned around. It was an unspoken gesture to quickly pack up and leave. But Alex stopped in ce and spoke instead of packing his stuff. ¡°I¡¯m not going back.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± When Arthur frowned and asked, Alex thought for a while and replied as he scratched his chin. ¡°You see¡­¡± Alex fumbled and briefly exined the story from when he first met Yuna up to the present. And Arthur gave a shortment after hearing the entire exnation. ¡°Crazy b*stard.¡± ¡°Hey, hey.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve seen a lot of your foolish actions since we were young, but this time is too much.¡± The good-natured Alex frowned at the outspoken remark of Arthur, but Arthur seemed to have no intention of stopping. ¡°I¡¯m sure you already know. That she¡¯s not a human being.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. But aren¡¯t elves and dwarves like humans too? Fairies are like us too.¡± ¡°That¡¯s probably true in the sense if she¡¯s a being capable of intelligent thinking. But Alex.¡± ¡°It¡¯s all right. She¡¯s not dangerous. She¡¯s a good person.¡± Alex insisted, and Arthur narrowed his brows again but eventually sighed instead of getting angry. ¡°Fine. If you say so, I won¡¯t argue about it. Instead, I have two conditions.¡± ¡°Conditions? Two?¡± ¡°Yes. First is to make sure that you¡¯re sane. You may have been bewitched by a non-human.¡± Arthur was also considering the possibility that ¡®Yuna¡¯ was a demon, but did not speak that out since Alex would definitely protest greatly. A vampire or subus-type monster. Evil beings who bewitch and manipte the opposite sex as they wished. At the words of Arthur, Alex turned stiff for a moment but soon nodded. ¡°Okay, then what¡¯s the second one?¡± ¡°I want to meet her.¡± Alex was already obsessed with that ¡®Yuna¡¯, making it impossible for him to make a proper judgment. So Arthur, a third party, had to check it himself. But at this remark of Arthur, Alex immediately shook his head. ¡°No way.¡± ¡°Alex.¡± ¡°The first condition is fine, but not the second one.¡± ¡°Why?¡± When Arthur asked with a sharp gaze, Alex averted his eyes but soon faced the other again with a serious expression. ¡°Because you may fall in love too.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Because you may fall in love with Yuna too. I do not want to fight my friend.¡± In response to the serious answer of Alex, Arthur furrowed his brows and raised his middle finger instead of speaking harsh words. *** In the end, the stubbornness of Alex won. Arthur was very dissatisfied with the behavior of Alex that prevented him from meeting Yuna in the end, but decided to move on. Because Alex was sane. Or rather, his condition was even better than before. ¡®Maybe she¡¯s a mountain spirit¡­ no, a divine being.¡¯ Not demons, but divine beings like angels who came down to this world together with the goddesses in ancient times. ¡®Or maybe she¡¯s just someone who lives in the mountain.¡¯ Arthur stared at the back of his friend who climbed the mountain excitedly, and thought as he took a light stroll around the vige. ¡®But how long should I stay?¡¯ His original n was to grab the neck of Alex and drag him back to the kingdom, but that seemed difficult. ¡®I¡¯ll have to wait and see for now.¡¯ He thought that Alex would not allow it today, but would say okay if it was tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. ¡®I should at least check before leaving.¡¯ If Alex would insist on remaining in the vige, Arthur would have to return to the kingdom alone. But he had to make sure that Yuna was not a really dangerous being at least. And- ¡®I¡¯m curious.¡¯ Who was the person that Alex was so obsessed with? The future archwizard took strictness and seriousness like a motto, but in the end, he was still a young man who had yet to reach twenty years of age. Who in the world is that woman who made my friend so obsessed? What kind of person is she? Will I ever have someone like that myself? Arthur had a small smile as he continued to have innocent thoughts. *** Three dayster in the afternoon. An opportunity came to Arthur who had been thinking of secretly following Alex if thetter still did not allow it by tomorrow. ¡°There¡¯s going to be a vige festival.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve heard. It¡¯s a festival that¡¯s held once a year.¡± Many tourists visited the vige because of the beautiful snowy mountain and nearby hot springs. Such a vige had a Fox Festival. ording to the legend, the father of the vige chief discovered a ce where hot spring water gushed out after being guided by a white and beautiful fox in the snowy mountain. The father of the vige chief built the first hot spring of the vige on that site, and since then, the vigers held a festival every year in honor of the fox who brought the vige the gift of hot springs. ¡°If it¡¯s the vige chief¡¯s father, it¡¯s too close a time to call it a legend.¡± ¡°Anyway, that¡¯s why we¡¯re having the Fox Festival, and I¡¯m going to invite Yuna to this festival.¡± At the words of Alex who had a smile on his face, Arthur was surprised for a moment and asked Alex again. ¡°Did you say that she¡¯sing down the mountain?¡± ¡°Yes. Of course, I¡¯m the one who suggested it first. Is there something wrong with that?¡± ¡°No, there¡¯s nothing wrong with it.¡± The reason Arthur was surprised for a moment was simple. She would being down the mountain. She was someone capable ofing down the mountain. ¡®Is she really just like a human?¡¯ If she was a monster, she would have been reluctant to visit the vige festival, and if she was a mountain spirit, it was highly likely that she was bound to the mountain. ¡°Arthur?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing. Anyway, I guess I can finally meet Miss Yuna.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t fall for her.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Really, really.¡± What the hell am I saying? Arthur was a bit embarrassed but replied sincerely, and Alex was pleased as he grinned. ¡°Okay, then let¡¯s go together. I¡¯ve also wanted to introduce you to her. After all, you¡¯re my best friend. Right?¡± ¡°Hmph, not really.¡± Arthur turned his head away as he snorted, but Alex did not stop grinning. Because he could see the burning red earlobes of his shy friend. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m looking forward to it.¡± The festival. The festival with Yuna. And when the day of the festival came. Arthur seriously stared at Yuna who came down holding hands with Alex. No, it was not only Arthur as everyone in the vige looked at her with mesmerized expressions. She was indeed a very beautiful and lovely woman. He could also understand why Alex fell in love. But it was not just because she was beautiful that Arthur piercingly gazed at her. ¡®She¡¯s not human.¡¯ The woman Alex Bayer had met in the snowy mountain. Yuna. She was not a human being. SIDE STORY 26 SIDE STORY 26 SIDE STORY ¨C ICE AND WIND (3) ¡°Alex.¡± ¡°Oh, Arthur. Yuna, this is Arthur Chase, my best friend.¡± As Arthur stepped closer, Alex reflexively turned to Yuna and said. Then Yuna shrunk back and hid her face, perhaps from being frightened of Arthur who was approaching with a scary face, and said in a low voice. ¡°H-Hello. I¡¯m Yuna.¡± Her appearance with her head bowed down was like that of a small herbivore. Therefore, Arthur unconsciously rxed his expression, but did not forget the important thing. After politely introducing himself in an unfriendly tone, he roughly grabbed the wrist of Alex. ¡°Arthur?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll borrow Alex for a moment.¡± With a stern expression, Arthur spoke as if dering to Yuna and dragged Alex as they moved more than ten steps away. On the other hand, Yuna who was suddenly alone shrank back again with a frightened face. ¡°Alex.¡± ¡°Arthur, what are you doing?¡± Alex angrily spoke, but Arthur was also furious, though he was not a wizard for no reason. He suppressed his emotions with the power of his reason and spoke in a low and calm voice. ¡°Alex, she¡¯s not a human- no, she¡¯s not of a humanoid race.¡± Alex flinched at the resolute tone. But it was only for a moment. ¡°So what?¡± ¡°Again, I¡¯m saying that she¡¯s not a human. She¡¯s neither an elf nor a dwarf.¡± ¡°I know.¡± ¡°You know? Do you really understand what I¡¯m saying? Do you understand what I mean when I say that she¡¯s not human?¡± The face of Arthur turned hideous. Alex was tall, but Arthur was taller than him. Moreover, Arthur was not only tall as he had a muscr body that wasparable to a knight. So when he raised his mana and spoke in an angry voice, he was seriously intimidating. But Alex was also a formidable and skilled person. He told Arthur as he stared straight at the blue eyes of the other. ¡°I know.¡± That she was neither a human nor an elf. That she was a being that did not belong to the racesmonly called as humanoids. Alex was not bewitched. He was not confused either. He was as firm as a sword. Arthur regained hisposure at the firmness of Alex. Instead of raising his mana again, he spoke in a slightly softened voice. ¡°Alex. She might be a monster.¡± ¡°She¡¯s not a monster. I¡¯m sure you know best that I¡¯m good at checking.¡± ¡°Perhaps she didn¡¯t harm you on purpose to deceive you.¡± ¡°For what reason? She wouldn¡¯t havee this far to ¡®eat¡¯ me like those in old stories. She had so many opportunities to do so.¡± ¡°But Alex¡­¡± ¡°Arthur, I¡¯m sure you know too. That she¡¯s very unlikely to be a monster.¡± Alex cut off Arthur as he spoke. And at those words, Arthur could not refute it. It was just as Alex had said. It would be an absurd conspiracy for a non-human to infiltrate the snowy mountain to deceive Alex Bayer who was wandering around the empire, meet Alex under the guise of coincidence, and continue to meet him for nearly a month. Even if such a thing was possible, it was honestly not worth doing it because of Alex Bayer or the Bayer family. The Bayer family was no longer the margrave of the north. They were just one of the many families in the north. If it was not the empire, then it could be the northern region of the kingdom. ¡°Are youing up with some theory now?¡± Alex smiled and yfully asked, and Arthur turned stiff. In order to suppress his face that was about to involuntarily turn red, he snorted and said anything he could. ¡°Anyway, it¡¯s clear that she¡¯s a non-human.¡± ¡°Yes, she might even be an angel.¡± Arthur frowned at the casual reply of Alex. But Alex continued to speak with a shameless face. ¡°But Arthur. Look at her. Isn¡¯t she really like an angel?¡± Even if he was in love with her, he was too in love. Sighing inside, Arthur looked back at Yuna and frowned again as he saw Yuna cautiously looking at them with a gaze full of fear and curiosity. ¡°Oh, did your heart just race? Don¡¯t fall for her, okay?¡± ¡°Crazy b*stard.¡± Arthur reflexively cursed, perhaps because he let his guard down, but he did admit. It was just as Alex had said. She was clearly a non-human, but not dangerous. ¡°I don¡¯t know anymore.¡± In the end, Arthur Chase was still only a teenager. When Arthur spoke in annoyance as though he gave up, Alex had a pleased smile. ¡°I see, you admit it. That¡¯s good.¡± ¡°Look here, you crazy b*stard.¡± ¡°Okay, okay. Ah, Arthur. There¡¯s one thing I want to ask you.¡± Alex suddenly became serious, and Arthur frowned and sighed before straightening his posture. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°That is¡­ fufu, my Yuna is beautiful, right?¡± Those were the words he spoke with a serious face. ¡°Crazy b*stard.¡± Arthur cursed again but had a faint smile. Alex was satisfied with that, and this time, it was him who grabbed the wrist of Arthur. ¡°Let¡¯s go. Miss Yuna is waiting. She really wanted to meet you.¡± ¡°Why though?¡± ¡°Because I talked about you a lot? You¡¯re my best friend, after all.¡± ¡°Hmph.¡± Alex cheerfully smiled at the snort that meant ¡®You¡¯re still saying embarrassing things with a shameless face.¡¯ On the other hand, the face of Arthur turned red. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Alex moved forward and waved his hand towards Yuna who was looking at them, while Arthur resigned and let himself be dragged by the hand of Alex as they approached Yuna. *** The festival was fun. People gathered and watched an amateur y about the discovery of the hot springs, and all that they did afterwards was to sing and dance, so it was boring festival that was typical of rural festivals, but was still fun. In the first ce, enjoying the festival was more important than its content. ¡°Arthur, my friend. Please y it.¡± Alex urged him with a face red from drunkenness, and Yuna next to him asked with sparkling eyes. ¡°Can you y?¡± Her face was flushed red because she was drunk too. And Arthur turned red and swept up his bangs as he replied with a smile. ¡°A little guitar.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not just a little as he¡¯s very good at it. He practiced a lot to woo women, you see.¡± ¡°Hmph, I didn¡¯t.¡± But it was always true when Arthur reacted like this. Arthur was pure as a child. Even until now at the age of less then twenty, he was still pure. ¡°Well, I borrowed this from a bard. Choose a song.¡± ¡°Hmph, I won¡¯t refuse then.¡± Arthur received the guitar without hesitation and touched the strings a few times to tune it before he began to seriously y. It was a lively and upbeat song that waspletely different from the usual image of Arthur. It naturally caught the attention of everyone, and when Alex encouraged him further, Arthur even started to sing. The lively love song suited its joyful tune. ¡°Puahaha.¡± Arthur Chase was singing an upbeat love song. Alex burst outughing alongside Yuna as they held hands and began to dance. It was a dance without any technique as they only went round and round, but that was enough in this ce where peopleughed and chatted. A night when Arthur yed the guitar and sang, and Arthur smiled and danced like a fool. And when the festival was over and it was midnight. Yuna did not return to the snowy mountain, and Arthur who was a quick-witted wizard went out for ate-night walk instead of staying in the inn. From midnight until morning. Alex was with Yuna. *** Time passed by. Five days after the festival, Arthur thought that he should return home alone. His schedule had already exceeded by a few days. ¡°Are you going back?¡± ¡°I have to go back. And you will have to go back someday.¡± In response to the calm reply of Arthur, Alex narrowed his brows but nodded. Because it was just as Arthur had said. Alex was the only heir to the Count Bayer position, so he had to return to the kingdom and fulfill his responsibility. ¡°I will no longer dismiss it as ying with fire. If you want to stay with her, formally propose to her. Ask her if she can leave the snowy mountain here and go to the Bayer county.¡± Yuna was not human. Her identity was still not clearly known, but they did not know if she was bound to the snowy mountain. ¡°I understand.¡± ¡°Good.¡± ¡°Arthur.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°If you¡¯re leaving today¡­ why don¡¯t we go to the snowy mountain together? You have to say goodbye to Yuna.¡± ¡°¡­Okay.¡± The ce where he always met Yuna was at the beginning of the snowy mountain. So it would not take that long. Alex and Arthur rode their horses and slowly made their way to the beginning of the snowy mountain. But when they almost arrived, they had to stop their horses. Because Yuna who often stood quietly at the waiting ce was now running towards them today. ¡°Yuna?¡± Alex hurriedly jumped off his horse and caught Yuna in his arms. Because she looked so anxious. ¡°Yuna, are you okay? Yuna?¡± When Alex asked again, Yuna nodded and seemed like she was about to cry, but she bit her lip. Arthur stared at them with a frown before looking back at the huge snowy mountain and taking a deep breath. After several deep breaths, Yuna finally faced Alex and said. ¡°Alex.¡± ¡°Yes, Yuna.¡± ¡°Please kidnap me. I-I mean¡­ Please leave with me.¡± Her words all sounded very embarrassing and confusing, but Alex just nodded instead of asking her. ¡°I understand.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± His reply was so quick and decisive, so Yuna who brought it up was quite surprised. But Alex remained the same. He carried Yuna in his arms and got on his horse in an instant. ¡°Yuna, can we leave right away?¡± ¡°Eh? Ah, yes!¡± Yuna answered with a face mixed with bewilderment, fear, and joy that could not be expressed in words, and Alex immediately turned to Arthur. ¡°Arthur, please.¡± ¡°Go.¡± Arthur gave a brief answer and turned around instead of inquiring about the situation. Rather than watching Alex and Yuna in the arms of Alex as they hurriedly rode away on the horse, Arthur stared at the snowy mountain and spoke very quietly. ¡°It¡¯s always my job to clean up.¡± The white snowy mountain was like always. But something definitely changed. Arthur raised his mana and looked straight ahead. *** In the arms of Alex, Yuna talked about various stories without hesitation. That she was not originally from this snowy mountain. That she was born much further west. That her older brother from afar had noticed that she had spent the night in a ce other than the snowy mountain five days ago at the festival. That he wanted to take her back to the far west. Listening to the story of Yuna, Alex thought. It was as Arthur had guessed. Yuna was clearly not a human. He found it hard to identify what she was, but she was neither a demon nor an angel. She was a different kind of being. But that did not matter to him. The important thing was that Yuna wanted to be with Alex himself. And Alex felt the same way. ¡®Arthur.¡¯ Alex looked in front, but thought of Arthur whom they left behind in the snowy mountain. The gaze that looked at Yuna from afar when she was in his arms. He vaguely felt that gaze whenever he met Yuna in the snowy mountain. It was there this time too. Moreover, the gaze even harbored outright hostility this time. ¡®Arthur.¡¯ Alex whispered the name of his friend in his mind. He prodded his horse faster as he recalled the face of his friend. *** It was the next evening that Alex and Arthur met again. Arthur quietly spoke as he looked at Yuna who had fallen asleep early, perhaps because she had left the snowy mountain or because she had rxed now. ¡°It was a white and huge fox.¡± The existence that appeared after Yuna and Alex left. A huge fox that seemed to be five meters high from its shoulder height alone. He could not understand how such a gigantic being could move without making a sound. Perhaps it would remain a mystery. ¡°Did you fight?¡± ¡°No, after staring at me for a while, it left the words ¡®Please take care of mdy¡¯ and then disappeared.¡± A huge and mysterious fox who was believed to be the guardian deity of the snowy mountain. Yuna who was called mdy by such a fox. Her story that she was born further west. The existence of an older brother who told her toe back. Although nothing was clear, Arthur did not delve further. Because the moment he saw the face of Alex who was silent as he held Yuna in his arms, he realized that anything he said would be meaningless. And a monthter. Alex and Arthur were in the northern region of the S?len Kingdom. They returned to their hometown of Bailon. *** Alex Bayer married Yuna. The Count Bayer of that time, who was the father of Alex, initially denied the rtionship between the two and opposed their marriage, but as the old saying goes, parents always end up giving in to their children, so he gave up in the end. A child was born to Alex and Yuna. His name was Ga?l. The child was born at a time when Alex was no longer free like the wind, and had blue hair and a gentle personality resembling Yuna. Time passed again. Ten years. It was not a short time. But as if Yuna was not affected by the passage of time, she was still cheerful and lovely like a girl in herte teens. However, at the time when their second child was born. The moment when Jude, who inherited the ck hair of Alex and the mysterious green eyes of Yuna, cried for the first time. The tranquility of the Bayer family, which seemed tost forever, was shattered. *** Jude was born with Gueumjulmaek. Despite being a boy, he was born with extreme Yin energy. (T/N: Usually, only women have Yin energy, so characters like Jude and Kamael are exceptions.) But that was not the only problem. The condition of Yuna, who had been healthy after giving birth to Ga?l, began to rapidly deteriorate. It was not the aftermath of childbirth. The body of Yuna had already been damaged little by little before that. Since the wife of Arthur was due to give birth soon, Arthur was staying at his hometown, so he hurriedly examined Yuna and came to a conclusion. ¡°Alex, she has to go back.¡± The extreme Yin energy of Jude came from Yuna. As they had known for a long time, she was a non-human, and she needed a coldnessparable to the snowy mountain. At the words of Arthur, Alex shut his eyes. And he made a decision. He ignored the servants who dissuaded him, and after carrying Yuna and the newborn Jude in his arms, he rode off towards the north. Arthur followed behind Alex. He hesitated for a while because his wife was about to give birth, but Countess Chase pushed his back. ¡°Go.¡± Because if you don¡¯t go, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll regret it for the rest of your life. ¡°But don¡¯t bete.¡± Arthur smiled and was grateful to the mischievous threat of his wife. He rode his horse towards the north. They crossed the border and headed to the snowy mountain. To save Yuna. [I will ept mdy. But not the child. That child is one of the two people of destiny.] The huge fox appeared at the beginning of the snowy mountain as if it knew that they wereing, and then disappeared with only Yuna after saying that. Unfortunately for Alex, Yuna was already in aa, so he could not even properly say goodbye. ¡°Let¡¯s go back.¡± It was a time when war between the kingdom and the empire was imminent. Alex stared at the snowy mountain, but soon nodded and climbed onto his horse with Jude in his arms. And a yearter. The war between the kingdom and the empire prevented Alex from returning to the snowy mountain. Summer three yearster. Alex returned to the snowy mountain, but it was already toote then. Or rather, perhaps everything was decided when he left the snowy mountain three years ago. There were no more non-humans in the snowy mountain. Yuna and even the fox were gone. 19 years had passed. Nearly 20 years. As Alex reached the beginning of the snowy mountain after a long time, he took a deep breath and walked. The identity of Yuna. He roughly knew now. When he met the barbarians ¨C no, the people from the wildnds during the Cmity War. When he greeted the wild god called Violent Avnche. Alex knew then. That Yuna was a wild god. The ce she referred to as the west was the wildnds that existed beyond the western border of the empire. Alex asked Violent Avnche about Yuna, but he did not know Yuna. To begin with, Yuna was just an alias and not her real name. What happened to her? Perhaps she was a victim of the wild god hunting of the demon followers. Alex struggled to suppress his emotions. When the Cmity War was over, Jude and Cordelia embarked on a journey to Hell. He traveled through the wildnds. He tried to find traces of Yuna. But during his half-year journey, he did not find anything. ¡°Yuna.¡± Alex uttered while looking at the snowy mountain. He called her name. He was desperate for a reply that would definitely note back, but still said her name again. ¡°Yuna.¡± ¡°Alex.¡± Alex widened his eyes at the reply that was carried by the wind. He turned around, unable to control his heart that had began to pound like crazy. And he saw her. Although 20 years had passed, she did not change. As always, a woman with a shy smile looked at him. It was not a dream. It was not an illusion either. Alex ran. He instinctively hugged Yuna tightly, and Yuna hugged him back. Naturally, they coveted the lips of each other. And after some time passed. Alex came to his senses when the hand of Yuna struck his chest, and separated his lips with her. Yuna coughed as she caught her breath, and then hit the firm chest of Alex again. Her slight hits always hurt very much. So it hurt very much again this time. But that was why Alex smiled like a fool. ¡°Beard.¡± As Yuna touched the area near his mouth and said, Alex awkwardly smiled and blushed. Because he began to grow a beard after Yuna disappeared. ¡°I¡¯m going to shave it now.¡± Yuna smiled again at the hasty answer that was unlike Alex, but was very much like Alex at the same time. As if he did not have to, she kissed Alex once more. What happened? How did she escape the attack of the Devil¡¯s Eye? Why did she only show up now? There were so many thing he wanted to ask, and he did not know what to say first. Yuna knew such an Alex well. That was why she stroked the handsome beard of Alex and began talking one by one. The story of her deep sleep for the past 20 years. The story of how her sanctuary where she slept waspletely in a mess when she woke up. ¡°Was it caused by the demon followers?¡± ¡°No, I heardter that the Guardians of the Wild Lands caused explosions while they were trying to defend the wildnds. But I¡¯m d that I woke up a little earlier thanks to that.¡± At the bright answer of Yuna, Alex awkwardly smiled. He wondered if he should thank or me Jude and Cordelia for destroying the home of his wife. ¡°I was about to go home after getting healthy, but the Golden Dragon King told me. Go to the snowy mountain.¡± Was it a prediction? Or did he read the flow of fate? Either way was good. Alex tightly hugged Yuna again, and felt both joy and embarrassment at the same time since she had not changed in the slightest from 20 years ago, or rather, she was the same as when he first met her 30 years ago. Alex was the only one who grew old. Yuna appeared to be in herte teens, but he was old and was nearing fifty. From the outside, Alex only seemed to be in his mid-thirties, but there was still a huge difference. And Yunaughed. Because she knew. Because knowing the thoughts of others by just looking at their eyes was not only the talent of Jude. ¡°You¡¯re still handsome.¡± Alex blushed at her words. No matter how shameless he was, he could not help it. He felt both joy and embarrassment, and an unbearable love for Yuna. Eventually, Alex summoned his youthful self that he had sealed a long time ago. He became the young man of that day who discussed the freedom of the wind, and whispered to his beloved. ¡°Lady Yuna, would you give me the honor of kissing you?¡± Yunaughed out loud. Bursting intoughter, she purposely held out both hands and said that she was fine with it, and Alex had a mischievous smile as he did not take her hand. Instead, he kissed her on the lips. In fact, he wanted to kiss her lips and not the back of her hand when they first met each other. The wind blew in the snowy mountain. The wind was so free that it did not blow roughly, and it was the same as always. It always headed towards the snowy mountain. A constant wind that would not change even after a thousand or ten thousand years. Even today, when the sun began to set beyond the west. The unchanging wind blew freely. SIDE STORY 27 SIDE STORY 27 SIDE STORY ¨C REUNION (1) As soon as Jude and Cordelia returned from Earth, they checked the date. ¡°How long has it been?¡± The time in Earth and Pleiades flowed differently. To the extent that 20 years here were only 13 months on Earth. Therefore, in simple calction, nearly three years could have passed in Pleiades at the time Jude and Cordelia spent two months on Earth. If that had been the case, Jude and Cordelia would have definitely given up on going to Earth from the very beginning. Even if they had gone with that time difference, they would not have spent close to two months on Earth. ¡°Three months have passed.¡± ¡°Oh, is your calction correct?¡± Each world moved in a certain cycle like how celestial bodies moved. In other words, there was a time when each world would be closer or distant to each other. ¡®It¡¯s¡­ the reason why Heaven and Hell lost its connection with each other, and why Hell and Pleiades were suddenly connected.¡¯ It was also one of the reasons why the archangels in Heaven could only watch the death of Sri. At that time, the distance between Heaven and Pleiades was so great that immediate intervention was impossible. ¡®Moving on.¡¯ Combining his experience in Hell and the knowledge of the goddess Atalia, Jude calcted the period in which the distance between Earth and Pleiades grew closer and farther, and realized that the distance between the two worlds, as well as the flow of time, had changed once again. ¡®I think there¡¯s a difference of 1.5x.¡¯ A day on Earth was equivalent to a day and a half in Pleiades. The difference was nearly 14 timespared to the previous one, so it was a drastic change, though there was a good reason for this. One was the fact that the flow of time and the distance between the worlds were greatly distorted in the process of copying and pasting the world of Pleiades several times by the goddess Atalia. As the distortion was resolved and returned to normal, the gap in the flow of time returned to its normal state. ¡®No matter how the far the worlds are, it¡¯s rather abnormal for the flow of time to differ more than 20 times.¡¯ The second reason was their fight against Auriel and Asmodeus. Because during the forced connection and disconnection of the connecting road, the movement cycle of Pleiades was greatly affected, making it return to its normal cycle. ¡°Oh, I see. Anyway, it¡¯s been three months.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s right. If you think about it excluding all thoseplicated stuff.¡± In response to the answer of Jude, Cordelia suddenly furrowed her brows and groaned with a pained expression. Jude was surprised at her actions and hurriedly asked her. ¡°What happened? Do you feel sick anywhere?¡± ¡°No, I just feel very sad because I haven¡¯t seen those angelic little ones for three months. Kids grow up fast.¡± The children of Ga?l and Adelia. In short, it was about the twins who were the niece and nephew of Cordelia. At the words of Cordelia, Jude sighed in relief and shrugged as he said. ¡°How much have they changed in three months? At best, they will have begun to babble, sit alone, or stand while holding the wall¡­ that kind of change.¡± ¡°Hey! Those are very important changes!¡± How can you say all of that as if it were nothing? When Cordelia put her hands on her waist and red, Jude replied as he held up his hands to calm her down. ¡°Woah, woah, calm down.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t I say that I¡¯d bite you if you did that?¡± ¡°You¡¯d bite me even if I didn¡¯t do it. Even in bed yesterday, you bit me here and there¡­¡± ¡°Woof!¡± Cordelia snapped and bit the hand of Jude who snickered and said. ¡°It doesn¡¯t hurt at all though?¡± ¡°F*ck!¡± Because the body of Jude was strong enough that it could bounce off spears and swords. Cordelia spoke in a muffled voice as she continued to bite the hand of Jude, and Jude said as he pinched her cheek with his other hand. ¡°They have the blood of an angel, right? It¡¯s a bit regretful, but I think their growth will be a little slower than their peers.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes, really.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± ¡°Why again?¡± ¡°No, just¡­ it¡¯s good that I can see them young for a long time, but if their growth is slow in the end¡­ will they not get along with people their age?¡± ¡°The gap isn¡¯t much that it will make them feel left out.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± Cordelia muttered with a face that still looked worried and concerned. Jude smiled again and looked around. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go outside and see our people first. Because I¡¯m curious about what happened in the past three months.¡± ¡°Okay! I want to see Dahlia too!¡± With a big smile, Cordelia hugged the arm of Jude and they left the secret room. *** ¡°Young master!¡± Jude and Cordelia were the gods and rulers of the Holy Nation of Judelia, but had no children yet. In other words, there was no one else in the holy pce whom they could address as ¡®young master.¡¯ Nevertheless, there was one person who still addressed him as ¡®young master.¡¯ ¡°Maja!¡± Jude happily shouted and shortened his distance with Maja at once. She used to be the housekeeper and an influential figure of the August Bayer county, but was now called Countess Tantalotte. Her official position in the holy nation was Lady Chambein. Wearing an elegant Rococo dress instead of a maid uniform, she was walking with the maids who helped in the management of the holy pce, but stopped in surprise the moment she saw Jude and Cordelia. ¡°Maja!¡± And Jude embraced Maja. ¡°I missed you, Maja.¡± As if hugging was not enough, Jude held the waist of Maja with both hands and even lifted her up. And spun around. After spinning around, Jude hugged Maja again who had screamed a bit, but eventually burst outughing. ¡°I really missed you.¡± Was it because he saw Natasha? It was probably right. Because when he recalled his childhood as Kang Jin-ho, he remembered the times he grew up as Jude. Jude was always at the center of the copy and paste method of the goddess Atalia, so he was the one who most urately remembered all his past lives. He had repeated his childhood many times. And every time, he loved Maja as his mother instead of his own mother who died when he was a baby. ¡°Maja.¡± Jude spoke again and hugged Maja tightly, and Maja also tightened her embrace on Jude. Although the attitude of Jude was a little more intense than usual, Jude was a precious family member to Maja in the end. Maja was also very happy to see him after three months. ¡°My little young master.¡± Maja whispered small and closed her eyes as she softly smiled, and so did Jude. And after a while when they finished hugging. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± When Maja felt the gaze of the people around them whom she had forgotten when she hugged Jude, she quickly coughed and adjusted her posture and expression. There were maids who worked in this ce for a long time, but there were also new maids present. The young and handsome ruler god and the beautiful Lady Chambein shared a very deep hug. And even in front of the wife of the ruler god who was another ruler goddess! One of the maids was at a loss, another looked at Cordelia with a frightened expression, and another silently screamed as she covered her mouth with both hands. Because of that, the face of Maja turned red and she gave Jude a slightly resentful look. ¡°Oh my, other people are watching us. You idiot.¡± And as for the one person who did not care. Cordelia immediately kicked the butt of Jude and was surprised at the senior maid who said ¡®It¡¯s a normal urrence¡¯ instead of the maid who said ¡®I-Is this the start of a couple fight?!¡¯ She looked back at Maja and spread out her arms. ¡°I missed you, Maja.¡± ¡°I missed you two a lot, too.¡± Maja and Cordelia shared a rather deep hug, so the new maids were strangely relieved. Cordelia smiled at the sight of the maids and asked Maja. ¡°Where¡¯s Dahlia?¡± ¡°Countess Ale is patrolling the border of the holy nation. She¡¯ll return today, so you¡¯ll see her soon.¡± Just as how Maja became a countess, so did Dahlia. She was the knightmander of the Holy Knights that protected the holy pce of the Holy Nation of Judelia. In terms of size, the Holy Nation of Judelia was only a littlerger than the average counties, so it would not take that long to patrol the entire border of the holy nation. ¡®It takes a day or two.¡¯ Given that she was returning today, it seemed like she had left yesterday. ¡°I see. Then please prepare the table for dinner tonight. Maja, Dahlia, and the two of us will be eating together.¡± ¡°I will prepare as you instructed.¡± Maja gracefully bowed and Cordelia smiled at her, so the maids blushed and eximed a bit. [They must be admiring the seriously beautiful ¨C no, the glowing beauty of Cordelia.] [What the heck are you talking about?] The face of Cordelia heated up at the narration of Jude in her head and she kicked his butt again, but he snickered and hugged her waist. *** In general, there were many people who attended the dinner of rulers. Servants who checked for traces of poison in the food. Attendants who served the meal. Soldiers who escorted them in case of emergencies. If the meal of a ruler was apanied by someone, the scale was bound to increase. The dining table was also veryrge, so the distance between the diners was naturally wide, making it hard to tell if they were eating together or just eating in the same ce. But it was difficult to find such a sight in the Holy Nation of Judelia. ¡°There¡¯s a danger of poisoning!¡± ¡°Well, there¡¯s no need to check it.¡± They actually checked it, but only needed to cast a spell to check for poison before eating it. And in reality, it was impossible to secretly put into their food a poison that could do enough harm to Jude and Cordelia. ¡®Unless it¡¯s poisonous enough to melt the food as soon as you put it in, we will not even be harmed.¡¯ Anyway, for this reason, there was no poison checkers, and the ones escorting them had no choice but to leave too. ¡°Who is protecting whom?¡± When Cordelia asked with a tilt of her head, they could not help but step back. Them being attacked was least likely in front of Jude, one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. The poison checkers were gone, and so were the escorts. ¡°We have hands too.¡± A lot of the attendants were also gone. ¡°We prefer private dinners.¡± Who could disobey them? Therefore, the dining scene of the couple in the Holy Nation of Judelia was very different from that of usual countries. ¡°Wow, this is really delicious.¡± ¡°I¡¯m d you like it.¡± Maja naturally replied as if she was familiar with eating together with the couple, and Cordelia smiled as she sliced the chicken in therge te and ced it on the tes of Maja and Dahlia. ¡°Eat a lot.¡± ¡°¡°Yes, miss.¡±¡± Maja and Dahlia answered together, and Cordelia looked pleased again. As for one person. There was a man who frowned despite having the luxury of eating with beautiful women. ¡°What about me?¡± ¡°You have hands and feet. Go get it yourself.¡± Cordelia deliberately said with a snort, and Jude had a sulky expression while Maja and Dahlia grinned at that sight. ¡°By the way, Maja. Nothing big happened while we were gone, right?¡± Maja slowly nodded at the question of Jude and then talked about what had happened one by one. Merchants came and went from the S?len Kingdom. Several small incidents that took ce in the holy pce. It was more of a chatter at a dinner table rather than a formal report. ¡°Nothing really happened. Peace is the best.¡± At the time when Cordelia spoke with a satisfied expression. ¡°There¡¯s something for you two.¡± Dahlia voiced and took out a letter from her pocket. ¡°This is a letter I received from the messenger of Count Bayer whom I encountered while on patrol.¡± It seemed like she had received it while on the way here. ¡°My father?¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s your brother who sent it.¡± Ga?l had known that Jude and Cordelia left for Earth. But looking at the letter sent to the holy pce, perhaps something urgent had happened. Jude and Cordelia exchanged nces and hurriedly opened the letter. *** ¡°Ah goo goo~ you little cuties! Auntie is here!¡± As Cordelia spoke cutely, the twins lying on the crib burst into giggles. ¡°Oh my, you¡¯re always cute whenever I see you. I don¡¯t know why you¡¯re so cute.¡± The expression of Cordelia loosened as she gently held the soft and cute hands of the babies and giggled again. ¡°Why don¡¯t you have a child if you like it so much?¡± Cordelia pouted at the words of Adelia. ¡°Hmph, is that easy to do?¡± ¡°If you work hard, you can do it, right? So work hard. Very hard. With all your heart and soul.¡± Adelia said with a bit of pride, and Cordelia pouted again and looked at the babies. ¡°You haven¡¯t decided on their names yet?¡± ¡°Father is still thinking about it. But¡­ if he can¡¯t decide by this week, I¡¯ve already told him that I¡¯ll name them myself.¡± It had already been over half a year since the babies were born, so it did not make sense for them to not have names yet. Adelia grumbled a bit, and Cordelia giggled before asking again. ¡°What about father-inw?¡± ¡°He said that he¡¯ll leave it up to us to name them¡­ Actually, I haven¡¯t seen him in a while.¡± ¡°Huh? He isn¡¯t back yet?¡± Before they left for Earth, or to be exact, four months ago, Count Bayer had left on a trip. But he still had not returned. Did he go to the east? ¡°I think he went to the empire.¡± ¡°The empire? Why?¡± When Cordelia questioned again, Adelia closed her lips and beckoned instead of answering right away. ¡°Unnie?¡± ¡°Sit here.¡± The attitude and tone of Adelia were unusual, so Cordelia unknowingly shut her mouth and took a seat next to Adelia. And at the same time. The office of Count Bayer was located a little further from the first floor where Adelia and Cordelia were located. Ga?l and Jude sat facing each other with a low table between them. ¡°Jude.¡± ¡°Yes, brother.¡± The letter from Count Bayer that arrived yesterday did not contain many words. Excluding the customary greetings in the front and end parts, it could be summarized as follows. [Come home.] What had suddenly happened? And why did he not reveal the reason? On the way here, there did not seem to be any problem with the Bayer county. There was nothing unusual about the behavior of the servants, and Ga?l and Adelia were not acting strangely either. Then, what was it? What had happened? Ga?l took a breath again and then straightened his posture as he opened his mouth. ¡°Don¡¯t be too surprised when you hear it.¡± An introduction that only came out when one told something that was definitely surprising to hear. So Jude unconsciously gulped and focused on Ga?l. What happened? What in the world happened to make him act like this now? Ga?l closed his eyes. Perhaps it was because he was trying to calm himself and also Jude. After taking another breath, he opened his eyes and spoke. ¡°Jude, our mother is back.¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°Our mother is back.¡± Ga?l repeated and Jude could not understand it. After all, their mother had already passed away. Are you saying that she was resurrected as an undead? Perhaps a remnant of the demon followers- The furious Jude jumped up from his seat, but Ga?l quickly got up too. Having figured out what Jude was thinking, Ga?l promptly stretched out his hand and said. ¡°No, it¡¯s not like that. It¡¯s literally.¡± ¡°Brother?¡± ¡°Our mother is alive. And she¡¯s nowing home.¡± Jude stared at Ga?l with a nk expression. He was speechless, or rather, his mind had gone nk. SIDE STORY 28 SIDE STORY 28 SIDE STORY ¨C REUNION (2) Mother. Mom. It was not an unknown word for him. Or rather, it was a word he could not know. It was also a very unfamiliar word to him. Jude was unable to think like usual. He bit his lips several times, and Ga?l did not press such a Jude to hurry. He simply sipped his tea quietly and waited for Jude to calm down. ¡°¡­How?¡± A lot of time had passed before a voice that seemed to have been barely squeezed out came out of his mouth. Ga?l looked at the Jude who struggled to open his mouth as he let out a word again. ¡°How?¡± Their mother died. Not long after Jude was born. She was dead. It was not a lie. It was the truth. In both Legend of Heroes 2 and 3, there was not even a single word about the mother of Jude. ¡°Jude.¡± At Ga?l calling him, Jude turned to Ga?l and heavily breathed without realizing it, and Ga?l continued in a calm and low voice. ¡°As you said, it was not long after you were born. Our father took mother, Count Chase ¨C our father-inw, and the newborn you on a journey to the north.¡± Jude had heard about this for the first time. So he did not say anything and just waited for the next words. Fortunately, Ga?l did not waste any time and immediately continued. ¡°I was young at that time. But not a very young kid. I remember crying and pestering them to take me too. Because I didn¡¯t want to part with my sick mother.¡± ¡°An illness¡­ it was definitely an illness¡­¡± ¡°Yes, our mother was suffering from an illness. Even before she gave birth to you, she was already sick.¡± It was a well-known fact. It was one of the reasons why Jude did not bother to think about or investigate about his mother. A child born after killing his mother. No one ever said that to Jude. Count Bayer and Maja did not tolerate such a thing. But Jude had thought so. A sick mother. A mother who died after exhausting all her physical strength to give birth to Jude. He had said that a few times when he was young. There was a time when he cried, saying that he killed his mother and that a weak child like him who was always sick should not have been born. It was the day Maja first got angry. The day when she pped Jude in the face for the first andst time. Don¡¯t say such things. Don¡¯t have such bad thoughts. Maja was clearly older than Jude. But even then, they only had a difference of six to seven years. At the time when Jude was young, Maja was also young. She was a child and not an adult. That was the first time he saw Maja cry like that. He was clearly the one who got pped, and felt hurt and sad, but did not think of that at all. He was just so scared and afraid of the crying Maja. ¡®I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m sorry.¡¯ He tightly hugged Maja and cried as he apologized. Maja cried the same way and hugged Jude several times. So he never talked about his mother since that day. He did not think about his mother. Because he had Maja. Because Maja would be sad if he talked about his mother. His throat was dry. Just thinking about the Maja of that day brought tears to his eyes. Or rather, perhaps it was because of another reason. His mind was confused. He could not continue to properly think. ¡°Jude.¡± Hearing the call, he looked up nkly. He did not even know what expression he was making. Seeing that messed up face, Ga?l continued to speak. ¡°Two months passed since you left¡­ Father, father-inw, and¡­ you returned. I cried and begged them to tell me what happened to mother, but they did not tell me.¡± As Ga?l himself had said, he was a child at that time. His mother had suddenly disappeared. His father would not tell him where she went or what happened. He knew now. No, he had guessed it to some extent. Why his father did not say anything that day. But what mattered now was Jude. Ga?l took a deep breath before resuming his words. ¡°Father did not hold a funeral for mother. But mother did note back after many years, so people thought. That Countess Bayer was dead. That the count was so heartbroken that he did not hold a funeral for her, but she was definitely dead.¡± Jude was familiar with that story. Ga?l shrugged his shoulders. ¡°I was like that too. I thought that too.¡± But he knew now that it was wrong. ¡°Jude.¡± Jude looked at him with a dazed expression. Despite being a legendary being who saved the world, invaded Hell, and killed even an overlord, Jude was like that. Because it was about his family. Because it was about his mother. ¡°Mother was not born in the S?len Kingdom. She was born far away. Her body had weakened because the climate here did not suit her.¡± ¡°Then¡­¡± ¡°Yes, father went on a trip to bring mother back to her hometown. The reason he left with you was because he thought that it was only proper for the newborn you to be with mother.¡± ¡°Then why¡­¡± Why is sheing back? Why didn¡¯t you tell me about this story? Why did mother not return even though 20 years had nearly passed since she left? Ga?l knew what Jude was thinking. Because Gael had the same thoughts when he received a letter from their father. So Ga?l immediately gave the answer. ¡°Jude, mother was not a human.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°She was not a human. Father said that he clearly knew what she was now. Mother was a wild god.¡± ¡°W-Wild¡­god?¡± ¡°Yes, the divine beings who lived in the northern wildnds¡­ Mother was a wild god.¡± Ga?l repeated his words in a slightly dazed voice as though he still did not fullyprehend it. Jude blinked his eyes. He spoke words by forcibly making his non-working brain to work. ¡°Wild god. Wild god. Non-human beings. Was she away from her sanctuary for too long? So she went back. My mother¡¯s hometown rejected me since I was a human. Only mother was epted. Yes, my father couldn¡¯t have seen mother since then. That was why he never said anything. Because he thinks that it¡¯s enough to expect that she will return someday for sure. And now she¡¯s really back.¡± As he continued muttering, his reason began to recover. Jude deliberately maintained his current state. He kept mumbling words. ¡°But what happened? Ga?l and I were definitely humans. No, maybe I just didn¡¯t know. There was no event in which Jude awakened his unique bloodline in Legend of Heroes 2, or even 3¡­ But on second thought, Jude was already a special existence. He had extreme Yin energy. The result was Gueumjulmaek. Originally, Gueumjulmaek was rarely found in men. In fact, it was a peculiar constitution that only women were born with. But I was born with Gueumjulmaek. Even though I was a man, I had extreme Yin energy. Kamael¡¯s case was different. My case was different from Kamael who went through a special event as a child and ended up having extreme Yin energy. I had extreme Yin energy since I was born. I see, I inherited it from my mother. My mother was a wild god with extreme Yin energy powers. As for brother Ga?l-¡± ¡°Yes, perhaps mother was a wild god associated with the power of wolves.¡± It was the reason why Ga?l was able to ovee the pill Velkian gave him. The reason why the power of a wolf manifested after epting the energy of the drug. ¡°Jude, you probably know much better about wild gods.¡± Jude slowly nodded at the words of Ga?l. In fact, Jude knew one of the secrets that not only Ga?l, but even the wild gods themselves did not know. The origin of the wild gods. The reason why they only existed in the northern wildnds. ¡®Artificial Spirit Ruler Project.¡¯ A project prepared by the high elves of the ancient Magen Kingdom in order to stop the demons. That project failed. But it was not aplete failure. The artificial spirits created by the high elves became one with the natural spirits of the wildnd, evolving into wild gods. The Golden Dragon King, said to be the strongest, was indeed capable of exerting the same amount of power that a Spirit King had. Jude took a slow breath. Things like the origin of the wild gods was not what mattered now. ¡°Jude.¡± ¡°Brother.¡± ¡°Mother will be back. ording to father¡¯s letter¡­ they¡¯ll be back in three days at thetest.¡± My mother ising back. My mother ising here. Mother. He could no longer keep thinking. His heart was pounding. His vision suddenly blurred. ¡°Would you like to wee her together?¡± At the words of Ga?l, Jude nodded his head. He could no longer talk. *** Cordelia hurriedly returned to the holy pce and brought Maja. Jude did not ask her to do that. Cordelia had simply thought that she should do that. ¡®I¡¯m not sure either.¡¯ But if Jude was meeting his mother, it urred to her that Maja should be there too. Why? Why did she thought that Maja should be here? As they headed to the Bayer territory, she ryed the general situation to Maja. Maja was not that shaken. At least it appeared like that on the outside. And when Maja reached the Bayer county, Cordelia understood why she had brought Maja. ¡°Maja.¡± Jude greeted Maja with a messy expression. He did not cry or scream. But Cordelia could tell. Jude was very anxious. Calling it as fear seemed to be correct to some extent. What was he so afraid of? Why was he so anxious? Cordelia knew. Jude was the one who remembered the most of his past lives more than anyone in Pleiades. In the life of Jude that had repeated numerous times, a mother did not exist. It was the same with Kang Jin-ho. His memories were few until he met Alexei. A mother did not exist in the life of Jude that went on for hundreds of years if one added up all the memories of his past lives. ¡°Young master.¡± Maja held the hand of Jude. She hugged Jude who was much bigger than her. And she said with a smile. ¡°She is the mother of young master. She is a person who loves the young master very much. So please don¡¯t worry.¡± Her words were simple. But the moment Jude heard those words, he was relieved. He could finally wait for the return of his mother. ¡°Maja.¡± ¡°Straighten your back. I¡¯ve never raised a young master like this, have I?¡± She yfully said and smiled, and Jude also smiled a bit. He embraced Maja again before straightening his back. And a day passed. When two days had passed again. A carriage carrying the count and the countess arrived at the Bayer mansion. *** Hearing that the carriage was near, Jude waited in front of the main door. Then, he could not stand it and went out to the gate entrance of the mansion to wait there. Ga?l went out with Jude instead of scolding him. Because Ga?l himself was very excited to see their mother, and not only because he was showing his consideration for Jude. Cordelia and Adelia were with them. Maja followed them, and as a result, almost all of the servants of the count were waiting at the gate entrance of the mansion. Jude swallowed his saliva several times. The always calm and rational him could hardly be seen. So Cordelia firmly held the hand of Jude. Instead of teasing him who was more nervous than when they walked towards the Hell Gate, she shared her warmth with him. ¡°Here ites!¡± Someone shouted. And from the distance, they finally saw a carriage. It was very slow. The time when the horse-drawn carriage was driven towards the mansion felt too long. Jude gulped several times again. Valencia opened her mouth to calm Jude down, but did not say anything in the end. She just embraced the soul of Jude deep inside. And the carriage eventually arrived. Jude stared at the carriage door with a tense expression. Thousands of thoughts ran through his mind. And all of it disappeared. His mind went nk like a nk sheet of paper. He just stared at the carriage door like a fool. The door opened. Count Bayer was a little surprised when he got out of the carriage, yet had an apologetic and joyful smile. He escorted the woman who was still inside. Blue hair that resembled that of Ga?l. A small body that seemed to be smaller than that of Cordelia. Mysterious green eyes. ¡°Mother.¡± Said Ga?l. He unknowingly spoke at the appearance of his mother who did not change at all from what he recalled in his memories. Tears streamed down the cheeks of Ga?l. ¡°Mother!¡± Ga?l ran towards Yuna, his mother. Yuna saw such a Ga?l. Her eyes widened in surprise and she had a big smile. She opened her arms and hugged her grown-up child tightly. ¡°Mother, mother, mother!¡± ¡°Yes, Ga?l. My Ga?l. My baby.¡± Patting Ga?l on the back, Yuna also showed tears. Adelia tried to hold back her tears, but eventually bit her lips and cried. The old servants of the count could not suppress their tears either. ¡°Mother, mother. Jude. Jude is here¡­¡± Ga?l forced back his tears and spoke. He was thirty years old and had two children, and although he was one of the Ten Great Swordmasters that the kingdom was proud of, he was just a child in front of Yuna. But he was also an older brother. He did not forget to take care of his younger brother. He released Yuna from his arms and pointed to Jude. He stood still and beckoned his younger brother who was at a loss on what to do. ¡°Jude, it¡¯s our mother. Come here. Come here!¡± At his urging, Jude hesitated and could not speak properly. He flinched as if he had been struck by lightning at the gaze of Yuna, and awkwardly stepped forward. Mother. She definitely looked like Ga?l. She resembled Jude himself. But he did not remember. Moreover, Yuna remained young like the wild gods. She appeared to be in herte teens. A woman who could only be seen as the same age as Cordelia. It was awkward. Unfamiliar. He did not even know what to call it. He could not open his mouth like Ga?l and cry out ¡®mother.¡¯ Jude stood in front of Yuna. Yuna looked up at Jude. She reached out and gently touched the cheek of Jude, smiling. She said with a shaking voice. ¡°My baby.¡± Jude. My second child. Jude looked at Yuna. He still could not properly remember her. But something vaguely came to his mind. A mother who cried and released him from her arms. A vision of his mother as he was moved away. Even though her face was covered in tears, she forced herself to smile in the end as they parted. T/N: Well, this was confusing. Since Yuna was already unconscious when they parted in the mountain, this was probably a memory before she lost consciousness. Or she was conscious at that time but lost consciousness before she could say goodbye to Alex. Jude opened his mouth. He clumsily spoke one word. ¡°M-Mom.¡± It was not ¡®mother.¡¯ It was ¡®mom.¡¯ A word that he never spoken even once in his life as Kang Jin-ho, nor in his life as Jude that had been repeated numerous times. But a word that he really wanted to say. ¡°Mom.¡± Uttered Jude. His vision blurred. Yuna stood on her tiptoes and wiped the tears of Jude. She cried and smiled like she did on that day 20 years ago. But it was now different from then. It was not a moment of parting. Rather, it was a moment of a reunion. ¡°Come here.¡± Yuna spread out her arms, and Jude embraced her. He eventually burst out crying like a child. ¡°Mom, mom, mom.¡± ¡°Yes, my baby.¡± Yuna patted Jude on the back. They cried and smiled together. SIDE STORY 29 SIDE STORY 29 3 more chapters before the end~! SIDE STORY ¨C REUNION (3) At over 190 cm tall, the crying appearance of Jude as he clung to the arms of Yuna who seemed to be less than 160 cm was a very strange sight, but no one in the crowd found fault with it. Rather, everyone had tears in their eyes or were crying already. The same was true of Cordelia. ¡®I miss my mom.¡¯ The mother of Hong Yoo Hee came to her mind. A mother who was still alive and healthy on Earth. A mother whom she could only watch from a distance and not say that she was her daughter because Hong Yoo Hee was still alive. And another person. It would have been nice if she could watch that person from a distance like the mother of Hong Yoo Hee, but that was impossible. The eyes of Cordelia blurred. She suddenly could not properly see in front of her because of her overflowing tears. Countess Chase. The mother of Cordelia Chase. She barely remembered her mother. She could only remember the moments when she was hugging her mother lying in bed, as if she was clinging to her mother. The warmth of that time. The coziness. She could not properly remember. She only recalled a warmth that felt vague, but something she liked, though she did not know if this was a faint memory of just her imagination. She was happy that Jude was reunited with his mother. Because Cordelia knew well the situation of Jude. Because she knew very well that Jude and Kang Jin-ho did not have a mother. So she was happy. Her delight at her beloved Jude meeting his mother was so great that she felt her heart about to burst. But she envied him at the same time. She was quite envious of Jude who was reunited with his mother that she also felt sad. ¡®Mom.¡¯ I want to see you too. I want to meet you too. I want to see mom too. Her joy and sadness were entangled into one and became a mess. Cordelia burst out crying like a child. And Jude reacted to that crying. He was also seriously crying, but did not miss noticing the tears of Cordelia. ¡°Mom, mom. Over there. Over there.¡± Jude was unable to calm his emotions and could only repeat the same words. He barely spoke as he panted and turned his head to look at Cordelia. Beckoning at the crying woman, he said. ¡°This is Cordelia. My wife. The person I love the most in the world.¡± Those were words that came out naturally. He could not organize his thoughts, so he spoke like a child. ¡°Cordelia, this way. Come here.¡± The sobbing Cordelia responded to his continuous hand gestures toe. It was the voice of Jude after all. Just like Jude, Cordelia did not miss noticing the voice of Jude despite being a crying mess. ¡°Sob. Sob.¡± Cordelia approached and wiped her tears with the back of her hand. Jude wiped her face with a handkerchief and let her blow her nose once. Those who were watchingughed a bit. And because of that, Cordelia became red-faced and barely opened her eyes to look at Yuna. She saw Yuna with a faint smile while looking at her. Blue hair and green eyes. It was a slightly distinct colorbination, but she just thought that it was beautiful and mysterious. ¡®She¡¯s Jude¡¯s mother.¡¯ It was true. She could see the face of Jude all over the face of Yuna. Above all, those green eyes. Mysterious eyes that seemed to draw you in the moment you look at it. ¡°I-I¡¯m Cordelia. Jude¡¯s wife. N-Nice to meet you, mother-inw.¡± Perhaps because of her sobbing, her head did not work properly. Her greeting posture was proper because of her etiquette training, but her greeting was a mess. But Yuna did not care about that. She had a wide smile as she stretched out her small hand and lightly caressed the cheek of Cordelia. Cordelia unconsciously leaned her head against the warmth transmitted through the hand, and Yuna said with a smile again. ¡°You¡¯re Cordelia. I¡¯ve heard a lot about you.¡± ¡°Me?¡± Cordelia blinked and unknowingly asked back. From where did she hear about me? My father-inw? Count Bayer? And what did he say? What does Count Bayer think of me? Her mind suddenly became confused again. ¡®H-He didn¡¯t say anything bad, right?¡¯ Since he¡¯s my father-inw. And I haven¡¯t done anything wrong to my father-inw. ¡®I-I ran away from home a lot.¡¯ We must have seriously worried him every time we ran away. But it was all due to circumstances that father-inw knew now. So it will be fine. Yes, yes, it will be fine. But what is this ominous feeling? She vaguely felt that something was wrong. Something that she was reluctant to just ignore and dismiss. After all, she was Cordelia. Her ¡®sixth sense¡¯ could be considered as the best in Pleiades. ¡®What is it? What is it?¡¯ Mother-inw is smiling really brightly. Why? Why do I feel ominous? The worries of Cordelia did notst long. The answer immediately came, or rather, it showed up. ¡°Why? Are you scared?¡± A mischievous voice full of yfulness. At the familiar voice, Cordelia lifted her head to look at the carriage, and her eyes quickly widened as she raised her voice. ¡°Ah! V-Violent Avnche?!¡± Why was he here? Jude was also perplexed. He already knew that his mother was a wild god, but that and Violent Avnche, who was another wild god, visiting here was a different matter altogether. Why was he here? And if Violent Avnche told them about Cordelia¡­ ¡°Fufufu.¡± Anxiety spread across the faces of Jude and Cordelia as Violent Avnche snickered quite wickedly. And it was at that moment. ¡°Mother, this is my wife, Adelia.¡± Ga?l broke the delicate atmosphere and introduced Adelia to Yuna. ¡°I¡¯m Adelia. It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you, mother-inw.¡± When Adelia calmly greeted her, the eyes of Yuna began to sparkle. ¡°Adelia? You¡¯re Adelia? Aerith¡¯s child!¡± Yuna jumped in ce and Adelia was surprised, but widely smiled and nodded her head. ¡°Yes, mother-inw. I¡¯m Adelia.¡± Adelia was only five years old when Yuna had to leave the Bayer county. She vaguely remembered Yuna, and Yuna remembered the small and pretty child Adelia. ¡°You¡¯ve grown up so beautifully. You¡¯ve grown up really pretty. You resemble Aerith a lot.¡± Yuna poured out various words of praise, and turned her head towards the happily smiling Count Bayer as she pulled his sleeve. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me? Huh? That Adelia became Ga?l¡¯s wife.¡± The expression on the face of Count Bayer seemed to melt as soon as Yuna said ¡®Huh?¡¯, and he cleared his throat and replied with a grin instead of fixing his expression. ¡°That¡¯s because I wanted to see your surprised face.¡± ¡°Oh my, you mean guy!¡± As Yuna pulled his sleeve again, Count Bayer chuckled and the spectating servants around them all thought. ¡®As expected, their tendency to y pranks was inherited.¡¯ Should we add that it¡¯s like they¡¯re in their own world now? At the mood that felt like time and space had shrank, as well as the distance of their hands and feet, the servants tried to remain silent, but Ga?lughed again and spoke. ¡°Anyway, mother. We can¡¯t stand here the whole time, so let¡¯s head inside. My children are also inside.¡± ¡°Ga?l¡¯s children? Adelia and Ga?l¡¯s?¡± ¡°Yes, mother. Our children. They¡¯re twins.¡± Adelia shyly answered, and Yuna jumped up from her spot again. ¡°Aerith¡¯s child has a child? And it¡¯s Ga?l¡¯s too?¡± Yuna excitedly stamped her feet like a child and began to pull the sleeve of Count Bayer. ¡°You didn¡¯t tell me this either! You mean guy!¡± ¡°Hohoho.¡± Count Bayer chuckled again and the servants thought. ¡°Cute.¡± They were cute. Very cute. ¡°Ahem, ahem. Anyway, let¡¯s go inside.¡± Still possessing his reason, Ga?l urged again. Yuna nodded and held the arm of Count Bayer who escorted her into the mansion. And around an hourter. After Yuna and Count Bayer greeted the twins, rubbed their cheeks, held their fingers, and had a fun time, everyone gathered in the drawing room and talked. ¡°That¡¯s what happened.¡± Violent Avnche told them a surprising story. Cordelia blinked at his brief but shocking story. ¡°de Song¡­¡± The older brother of Yuna. It was none other than de Song. They were not really blood-rted siblings, but it was true that de Song was the guardian of Yuna. ¡°It¡¯s simr to the rtionship between Great Storm and Gentle Snow Breeze.¡± Even though Great Storm was a bird and Gentle Snow Breeze was a deer, they were like brother and sister. ¡°Then mother-inw is¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m a wolf with deer horns. My father was wolf wild god and my mother was a deer wild god.¡± Cordelia was amazed at the exnation of Yuna, and Jude turned to Violent Avnche. Violent Avnche nodded and continued. ¡°Yuna is a very unusual case among the wild gods. Because it¡¯s rare for a child to be born among the wild gods.¡± Most wild gods were not children of someone. The wild gods evolved from the energy of nature thatbined with the artificial spirits who were products of the Artificial Spirit Ruler Project. ¡°So¡­ Yuna, or Blue Blizzard, is a child who needed to stay in her sanctuary for a longer time.¡± ¡°Blue¡­ Blizzard?¡± Jude asked again and Yuna nodded. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s my wild god name. But I am Yuna. Yuna Bayer. Because that¡¯s my name as a person.¡± Yuna spoke with a warm expression as she turned to Count Bayer who took her hand and nodded his head. ¡°Well, that¡¯s why I didn¡¯t know at first. It¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve heard of the name ¡®Yuna¡¯¡­ Because I only remember the little wolf pup named Blue Blizzard who is the younger sister of de Song. This is the first time I¡¯ve seen her transform into a human.¡± Jude and Cordelia lightly nodded their heads at the words of Violent Avnche, before they turned to Yuna again. Perhaps because of hearing the story, they seemed to feel in Yuna the unique power they felt when they met de Song. ¡°Moving on, this is the summary. Having been depleted of her power because she had been away for so long, Yuna returned to the wildnds. And she fell into a long sleep in order to recover her power in her dragon vein sanctuary. But that ¡®incident¡¯ happened.¡± That incident. Cordelia pursed her lips inwards and Jude coughed. What Jude and Cordelia had done to awaken the Golden Dragon King. Because of the series of explosions that urred in all the dragon veins in the wildnds, the Golden Dragon King woke up as nned, but the price was not cheap. Almost all of the wild gods lost their sanctuaries. ¡°It¡¯s all right.¡± ¡°Mother?¡± ¡°It¡¯s really all right. Although the sanctuaries were destroyed, our homes were gone, and the people who relied on the sanctuaries had to relocate¡­ thanks to you, I was able to wake up like this. And I was able to meet Lex again.¡± Each time Yuna spoke with a bright expression, Cordelia flinched as though she was being stabbed by a knife. ¡°So don¡¯t worry too much. I really appreciate what you did.¡± And she cheerfully smiled again. Cordelia awkwardlyughed and quickly sent a magic to Jude. [I-Is she talking in a roundabout manner to make us feel bad?] [Uh. I don¡¯t think she¡¯s that kind of person.] There¡¯s a hidden meaning in her words, but she probably doesn¡¯t have any specific intention. Yes, that¡¯s right. She just enumerated the facts with a bright manner. As Jude and Cordeliaforted each other with awkward smiles, Violent Avnche grinned and spoke. ¡°Why? Are you going to say that because I no longer have a home, there¡¯s no danger to my home?¡± A stab again. He still had that in his mind. It seemed like he still held a grudge at his rocky mountain that got blown away. So the lips of Cordelia only squirmed as she had nothing to say at the truth, and the shoulders of Violent Avnche shook up and down as he enjoyed the triumphant feeling. But it was then. ¡°That¡¯s a nice way of thinking. As expected, Elder Violent Avnche is wise.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°It is, right? If you don¡¯t have a home, your home is not in danger. It¡¯s a way of thinking outside the box.¡± ¡°No, w-what I mean is¡­¡± Yuna spoke with sparkling eyes, and Violent Avnche was flustered and stuttered while Cordelia blinked her eyes. And Cordelia realized. Yuna nced at her and lightly winked. ¡®Ah.¡¯ Should I say, as expected of Jude¡¯s mother? She¡¯s basically cheerful, but also quick-witted. Cordelia covered her smile with both hands, and Yuna gently smiled in front of the aggrieved Violent Avnche. SIDE STORY 30 SIDE STORY 30 I failed math yesterday. It was actually 3 more chapters and not 4¡­ ? Now, it¡¯s 2 more chapters. SIDE STORY ¨C REUNION (4) ¡°But why did youe here, Violent Avnche?¡± Violent Avnche was stunned at the question of Cordelia and raised his head. ¡°Why? I can¡¯te here?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not like that¡­¡± Cordelia actually inquired for two reasons. One was to save Violent Avnche from an awkward situation, and the other was because she was really curious. Why did Violent Avnche follow them this far? As she had already said, it was not like Violent Avnche should note here. It was nice to meet him because they had a rtionship in the past, so she very much weed his visit. But there a fairly huge difference between ¡®He¡¯s just a visiting friend¡¯ and ¡®Why did hee?¡¯ Violent Avnche was living well in the wildnds, so why did he suddenly go the Bayer county along with Yuna? At the question of Cordelia, Jude looked with a curious expression at Violent Avnche. ¡®I can guess to some extent¡­¡¯ But in the end, it was just a guess. Moreover, the reason he guessed was not something Jude liked, so he waited for the answer from Violent Avnche instead of hastily uttering what he had guessed. And several seconds passed. Violent Avnche nced back at Yuna, and opened his mouth after seeing her nod. ¡°Yuna is not yet in a perfect condition. Originally, she should have been asleep for at least 10 years¡­ no, 20 years, but she was forced to wake up.¡± Cordelia was surprised by his answer. ¡°N-No way¡­ Did her condition worsen because of us?¡± Because it was Jude and Cordelia who caused the explosions. Seeing the pale face of Cordelia, Yuna hurriedly shook her head. ¡°No, it¡¯s not because of you two.¡± ¡°Yeah, I just told you. Originally, she should have slept much longer, but the problem was she woke up too early. The condition of Blue Blizzard¡­ or Yuna, did not worsen due to the explosions. She just woke up before she had fully recovered.¡± ¡°E-Even so¡­¡± Either way, it was still because of Jude and Cordelia that Yuna had not choice but to wake up earlier. But Yuna shook her head once more. ¡°That¡¯s not true. If you hadn¡¯t woken me up then, I wouldn¡¯t have met Lex again like this. And you too. Moreover, you made that decision to save the wildnds, right? I heard a lot of stories from Elder Violent Avnche on my way here.¡± Yuna firmly grasped the hand of Cordelia over the table, and continued to quietly speak. ¡°So it¡¯s not your fault. Don¡¯t worry about it. Okay?¡± ¡°¡­Yes, mother-inw.¡± Cordelia slightly nodded her head and Yuna smiled as if she was really fine with it before ncing at Violent Avnche. ¡°Elder Violent Avnche.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll continue.¡± Violent Avnche coughed a few times and spoke after dangling his short legs a few times on the sofa. ¡°Yuna is not in a perfect condition right now. If she stays in a ce far from the sanctuary and is not that cold¡­ If she stays in a ce like this, she¡¯ll soon be weak again. It means she has to live in the wildnds until she fully recovers.¡± ¡°In the newly created¡­ sanctuary in the wildnds?¡± ¡°Yes, her recovery will be quicker there. Thanks to the wild gods gathering there, it has be a more powerful sanctuary than any other sanctuary that has ever existed. The Golden Dragon King is also there.¡± After Violent Avnche answered the question of Jude, he deeply breathed and turned to Yuna and everyone else before speaking. ¡°Yuna woke up and came to us not long after you two left for a ce called Earth. Actually, I didn¡¯t know until then that Yuna was your mother, or Jude¡¯s mother to be exact. She just said that she wanted to go to the snowy mountain in the territory of the empire¡­ She wanted to go to a ce where she used to recuperate, so I apanied her to the snowy mountain. Yuna had just woken up, so not only her physical strength, but also her mind¡­ To be honest, her thinking skills wereckingpared to now.¡± He was not speaking ill of her but just listing a fact. ¡°And we met Count Bayer in the snowy mountain. Only then did Yuna fully recover her thinking skills.¡± It was only then did Violent Avnche knew that the ¡®Yuna¡¯ who Count Bayer had asked about earlier was actually Blue Blizzard. ¡°I was originally going to create a new sanctuary for her in the snowy mountain, or have her head back to the wildnds. But Yuna said that she wanted to go back with her beloved Count Bayer at least once, so we began on a journey again.¡± In short, Violent Avnche was supporting Yuna who was unstable in many ways. In human terms, one could say that he was attending to her like a doctor. Jude bowed his head at his continuous exnation, and Cordelia also politely bowed. ¡°Violent Avnche, thank you very much.¡± ¡°Hmph, you owe me one. And¡­ to de Song too¡­¡± It was certainly because of the actions of Jude and Cordelia that allowed them to win the final battle in the wildnds. But before that, it was because of the noble sacrifice of de Song and his tribe that the eastern forces were not annihted when the western and eastern forces shed for the first time on Snow Breeze in. de Song could be called the stepbrother of Yuna, or Blue Blizzard, so Violent Avnche wanted to add this to the honor of de Song, even in this way. ¡®de Song¡­¡¯ Cordelia pursed her lips inwards and also thought of him. They had only met him once and even then, they had only treated him as a target to rip off various items, but he was definitely a good wild god. He was a great hero who saved the wildnds. Since most of those present here were involved in the battle on the wildnds, the mood naturally turned somber. Then Yuna smiled again and spoke to Adelia as though she was trying to change the mood. ¡°Adel, can I see your children?¡± ¡°Yes, mother-inw. They¡¯re upstairs. Would you like to see them again?¡± ¡°Yes, I want to see them.¡± When Yuna smiled again, everyone stood up from their seats. Violent Avnche also jumped off the sofa and began to take the lead despite not knowing the way in the mansion. And on the second floor. The short Violent Avnche hang from the railing of the small crib as he checked out the babies who looked at such a Violent Avnche as if they were looking at a zoo bear. The ecstatic Yuna had sparkling eyes and asked as she held the hand of Adelia. ¡°Adel, Adel. What are their names? Do they have names already?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± ¡°Well? Is that the name of the baby?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not like that¡­ My father said that he would give them their names but¡­ he¡¯s already been thinking about it for months.¡± Adelia replied with an awkward smile, and Yuna was surprised before she burst outughing. ¡°Arthur is still the same.¡± Nearly 20 years had passed, but not for Yuna who had woken up from a long sleep. For her, only two months had passed. Yuna thought of Count Chase for a moment, and suddenly smiled as she turned to Jude and Cordelia and asked. ¡°What about you?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have children yet?¡± Cordelia turned red and could not say anything at the bright question, and Jude cleared his throat and replied. ¡°Not yet¡­¡± ¡°Not yet? You don¡¯t want to have one yet?¡± ¡°Well, um¡­¡± Jude was sweating profusely without realizing it. He was the slyest and smartest in the world in front of Cordelia, but his opponent now was formidable. ¡°W-We will have one.¡± In the end, Cordelia awkwardly answered and Yuna asked again with a wide smile. ¡°When?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°When?¡± ¡°S-Soon?¡± Right after she unconsciously answered. ¡°Yuna?¡± Everyone turned their heads at the loud voiceing from beyond the door. A big smile appeared on the face of Yuna who recognized that voice. ¡°Arthur.¡± ¡°Yuna!¡± Count Chase mmed the door open and appeared. He saw Yuna standing next to Count Bayer and was surprised, so he instantly kicked the ground and narrowed the distance. ¡°Yuna!¡± ¡°Arthur!¡± Yuna shouted and jumped right into the big arms of Count Chase who hugged her. ¡°Oh, is this real? Yuna. You¡¯re back.¡± ¡°I missed you, Arthur.¡± ¡°I missed you too.¡± Count Chase once again held Yuna tightly as if he could not believe it, and unconsciously sighed in relief. Because the small body he felt in his arms and her warmth proved that Yuna existed in front of him. ¡°No way. You¡¯re still the same as then.¡± ¡°Yes, and Arthur, you¡¯ve be more handsome, huh? Just like my Lex.¡± ¡°I¡¯m already old.¡± ¡°No. You¡¯re still handsome. And even if you¡¯re old, you¡¯ve aged well.¡± ¡°Then, thank you.¡± Count Chase smiled broadly again, but soon fixed his expression. Because Jude, Cordelia, Ga?l, and Adelia were looking at him with surprised faces. It was the first time his daughters had ever seen Count Chase smile so widely. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Count Chase coughed again and said to the grinning Yuna who was still looking at him. ¡°Yuna, this is Edward. Do you remember?¡± The eldest son of Count Chase, Edward Chase, was standing by the doorway and approached at his beckoning gesture. Edward walked to Yuna and bowed. ¡°It¡¯s been a while since I met you. I¡¯m Edward Chase.¡± His greeting could be seen as polite among nobles, but Yuna did not see it like that. For Yuna, Edward was the treasured troublemaker of Aerith. ¡°Ed.¡± When Yuna spread her arms and called him by his nickname, Edward was embarrassed but soon smiled and embraced her. He used to be the one who got hugged when he was young, so it felt very strange because he was the one hugging her now. ¡®She reminds me of my mother¡­¡¯ Edward unknowingly got teary-eyed, but did not let his tears fall easily as he was the next count. After releasing Yuna from his arms, he skillfully adjusted his expression. But it was only for a short time. Yuna blinked as she looked around and behind him. So he could not help but furrow his brows and ask her. ¡°Lady Yuna? What¡¯s the matter?¡± ¡°Ed.¡± ¡°Yes, Lady Yuna.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have a wife? Or children?¡± Ga?l is married, Adelia is married, Jude is married, and Cordelia is married, so what about you? Yes, what about you? A pure question with no hint of malice. That was why Edward was struck even more, and he replied while maintaining his expression. ¡°Uh¡­ I¡¯m still single.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± At the answer of Edward, Yuna contemted for a while and soon turned to Count Bayer as she pulled his sleeve. ¡°Lex, Lex.¡± ¡°Yes, Yuna.¡± ¡°Ga?l and Adelia are in a rtionship, and Jude and Cordelia are in a rtionship, right?¡± ¡°It is a happy urrence.¡± ¡°Yes, yes. So, our kids and Arthur¡¯s kids are married to each other, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°Then will it be all right if Ed is engaged to our third?¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± Thest one who spoke was Edward. Or rather, it was the thought of almost everyone in this ce. ¡°Third? A third one?¡± Count Bayer could not answer the question of Count Chase. Because Count Bayer was also confused. ¡°Y-Yuna?¡± ¡°A third one. Soon.¡± Yuna said and put her hands on her belly, and only then did Count Bayer understood the situation. And it was the same for everyone else in the room. ¡°Ahem, ahem.¡± Count Chase coughed. ¡°Father?¡± Jude and Ga?l looked at Count Bayer in amazement. ¡°Eeeeh?¡± Cordelia and Adelia turned to Yuna. And one more person. ¡°I mean, how long has it been since you met Yuna again¡­?¡± Violent Avnche tried to count the days with his small hands. Isn¡¯t it two months ago at most? And in that time, you¡¯re already having a third child? Count Bayer was embarrassed at theplicated gazes directed at him, but reflexively pointed out one important fact. ¡°By the way, Yuna. Did you say an engagement?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a daughter. A daughter will be born.¡± Everyone was surprised at the calm answer of Yuna. And Edward said. ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°What kind of guy says ¡®Oh¡¯!¡± Adelia quickly pped the back of his head, and Edward groaned as he bent down, frowned, and shouted. ¡°Hey! Do you want me to say ¡®No way¡¯ then?¡± ¡°Anyway!¡± Adelia shouted back and hurriedly turned to Yuna. Cordelia hesitated before saying with a big smile. ¡°Congrattions. Mother-inw.¡± ¡°C-Congrattions.¡± The still shocked Jude also congratted Yuna who puffed up her chest while Count Bayer finally came to his senses. He smiled like a fool and hugged Yuna again. ¡°Yuna, Yuna, my treasure.¡± ¡°The kids are watching.¡± So not now, okay? Count Chase chuckled, and everyone elseughed out loud. And thest one again. ¡°It runs in the family.¡± He¡¯s simr to his sons. Violent Avnche clicked his tongue, but soon smiled and pped to congratte them. *** Deep at night in the Bayer county. With the return of the countess and the news that a new baby would be born soon, the mansion was in a festive mood, so the family and the servants all had a good time untilte at night. And now. Close to midnight. While standing in the greenhouse and gazing at the flowers, Maja slowly turned around. She smiled at the sound of footsteps that let itself be heard on purpose. ¡°Young master.¡± ¡°Maja.¡± Jude approached with a shawl which he put on the shoulders of Maja, and Maja silently looked at him. ¡°Young master.¡± ¡°Maja.¡± After calling each other again, they simultaneously smiled. Yuna was back. It was definitely a happy thing. It was also a very good thing for Jude. But Maja felt a bit lonely. She knew very well that she should not have this kind of feeling, but it was inevitable that she felt lonely. Cordelia and Yuna. Jude now had a wife and a mother. Maja was no longer needed. ¡°Maja.¡± ¡°Yes, young master.¡± ¡°Do you remember that?¡± ¡°Remember what?¡± ¡°I¡­¡± ¡°You saying that you¡¯ll marry me when you be an adult?¡± Maja said with a smirk, and Jude turned red and was speechless. It seemed like he was going to say something else, but the yful Maja stabbed him with her words. ¡°Liar.¡± ¡°M-Maja?¡± ¡°You promised me with your pinky finger¡­ Did you forget everything? I remembered that¡­¡± When Maja said that, Jude turned redder in embarrassment. And Maja burst outughing at that sight. The servants usually called her Ice Princess because she rarely smiled, but she was different in front of Jude. Or not, as it seemed to be the first time sheughed like this in front of Jude. ¡°I¡¯m kidding.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°I¡¯m really kidding.¡± After saying that again, Maja stretched out her hand and caressed the cheek of Jude. ¡°You grew up really well.¡± When did you get this big? The small child who barely reached my waist has now grown up sorge that I can¡¯t even see your face if I don¡¯t look up. ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to Maja.¡± Maja just smiled. ¡®Yes, I raised the young master¡¯ ¨C those words did note out of her mouth. ¡°Maja.¡± ¡°Yes, young master.¡± Maja looked up at Jude again, and Jude directly stared into her eyes. And he soon blushed again, but spoke in a clear voice as if he had made up his mind. ¡°Maja is family to me. You¡¯re really like an older sister to me.¡± Even if he married Cordelia, and even if his mother returned. That fact did not change. It would not change. Jude reddened again and clumsily smiled. He was the kind of person who told Cordelia all sorts of stories without his expression changing, to the extent that she suspected him of being a former scammer, but he could not do that in front of Maja. His swirling emotions, embarrassment, and gratitude could only make him say a few words. But that was enough. Maja softly giggled and hugged Jude. Jude also embraced Maja and smiled. ¡°Maja.¡± ¡°Yes, young master.¡± ¡°I¡¯m asking just in case.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Is Maja¡­ seeing anyone?¡± ¡°Not yet.¡± But what if I see someone? How will Jude react? Maja imagined it for a moment and soon giggled while Jude frowned as he imagined it too. He thought that it was very childish and selfish of him when he felt seriouslyplicated at the thought of someone else standing next to Maja. ¡®Is this what you call a siscon?¡¯ But it was unavoidable. Because it was Maja. Because she was a really precious person to him. ¡°It¡¯ste at night. You have to go in and sleep now.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Now I don¡¯t have to read you a fairy tale, do I?¡± ¡°Perhaps sometimes?¡± Jude slyly answered and Maja giggled again before bowing to him. ¡°I¡¯ll be heading back first.¡± ¡°Good night, Maja.¡± ¡°Good night, young master.¡± Maja slowly walked out of the greenhouse, and Jude stood still as he watched her back. And a voice was heard. ¡°Hnnnn¡­ Hnnnn¡­¡± Cordelia let out strange sounds as her eyes narrowed, and Jude crossed his arms, saying. ¡°Hey, she¡¯s Maja, okay?¡± ¡°Still, hnnnn¡­ Hnnnn¡­¡± Cordelia still teased him. If it was not a joke, she would have fired a magic missile at him. ¡°Stop joking around and let¡¯s go and sleep.¡± ¡°Hnnnn?¡± ¡°If possible, let¡¯s make a baby.¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± Jude hugged the waist of Cordelia and slyly smiled instead of answering. Cordelia grumbled and snorted before leaning her head against the arm of Jude. ¡°Cordelia.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Nothing. I just like you.¡± ¡°What did you say?¡± But contrary to her words, Cordelia was smiling too. Jude lifted his head and looked up at the sky. He gazed at Selene and Helene outside the ss ceiling of the greenhouse, and unconsciously whispered. ¡°For a perfect happy ending.¡± ¡°And then everyone will live happily ever after.¡± Cordelia softly spoke in response and stood on her tiptoes. Jude soon matched his lips with Cordelia. ¡°I love you.¡± ¡°I love you too.¡± Jude looked up at the night sky as he hugged Cordelia who snuggled in his arms. They had happy smiles on their faces. SIDE STORY 31 SS 31 - Lucas Hr?svelgr (1) When I was young, I had a thought when I first held a real sword instead of a practice sword. ¡®I want to be like Biltwein.¡¯ The protagonist of Biltwein the Hero. A shining, cool, and strong invincible hero. A person who stood in the front and led everyone, bing their beacon of hope. It was a childish thought. It was a childish dream. That young me became an adult. I headed out to the world and met the harsh reality. The growing pains. At some point, I realized. I was just a frog in a well. There were people with even greater talent than me. There were people in the world whom I could never catch up to and were called the true geniuses. Those who shined like the stars in the sky. I woke up to the reality. Even if I did not want to realize it, I could not help but do so. The praises I had taken for granted since I was born and raised had all disappeared. People no longer focused on me. All their attention and praise went to the true geniuses who appeared likeets, to the heroes who saved the wildnds and the royal capital. They yed the lead roles on the stage. They were the main characters of the story. If they were the stars and moons, perhaps I was just a firefly. I realized the reality. I witnessed the reality. The childish dream of the young me was just a dream in the end. But. But still, I¡­ Still, I¡­ I want to be like Biltwein. *** Lucas opened his eyes. His mind was in a daze as he had woken up from a deep sleep and not just from the blink of his eyes. A blurry vision was added. ¡°Uuuuuek?¡± Lucas let out a voice as dazed as his mind, and wiped off the drool that had flowed down from the corners of his mouth up to his chin. He blinked his eyes and then looked around. A bed that was familiar to his eyes and body. A book that was spread out next to the pillow. Opening his eyes wide again, Lucas sat up and did some stretching. Groans came along with the cracking sounds. ¡°Guuuuuuh.¡± He seemed to have been reading a book all night and fallen asleep without realizing it. ¡°Ugh, it¡¯s crumpled.¡± The open book next to the pillow was half-folded. Although the weight of the book was heavy, it had been left in that state for several hours, so the folds in the pages were clearly visible now. Moreover, it was a problem that there were not only one or two folded pages. At least ten or more pages were arbitrarily folded. You''ll also like Zombie Shark Highway by MeaghanMcIsaac Paid Stories BadgePaid Story Zombie Shark Highway 122K 5.1K When zombie sharks start attacking the shoreline it''s up to Ka, the sheriff''s daughter and local bad boy, Justin, to save the town. ... ? | Reincarnation Of A Prosopagnosia Viiness by aquaseries ? | Reincarnation Of A Prosopagnosia Viin... 20.5K 1K Yu Yan Ran lived in the 22nd century, in a humble home and aplete set of family. She''s always had prosopagnosia, face blindness in other words. However, this never h... MTITFBL by yourhaven MTITFBL 19.5K 527 *Please avoid voting on the chapters to avoid deletion of this story. I was possessed by a character in a game. Having been possessed anyway, I dedicated my entire body... The Strong, The Few, True Cultivators on Campus by savingtheGrace The Strong, The Few, True Cultivators on Cam... 24.6K 1.4K Summary : In order to live he must get close to girls, what kind of rule is this? Tang Zheng possess the Nine Yang Saint Body, a rare body constitution that is hard to c... Don''t Trust The Heroine by fozxyy Don''t Trust The Heroine 3.5K 120 [SLOW UPDATES] She was reincarnated into a novel as the viiness'' supporter and died a tragic death after harassing the heroine. To avoid her death, she gave everythin... Shadow In Your Mind by ChocoLily Shadow In Your Mind 12.4K 937 Suzie Yap regretted being an indifferent mother that neglected her daughter. Her inattention was at fault for not knowing where her daughter was when the apocalypse spre... TMP by your TMP 30.1K 2.1K *Please avoid voting on the chapters to avoid deletion of this story. ''I''m the greatest.'' ''I''m outstanding.'' ''I''m the best!'' Excellent bloodline, excellent ability, goo... ¡®Uh¡­ it can¡¯t be helped. But I¡¯m d that it¡¯s for reading.¡¯ Each volume of Biltwein the Hero that Lucas owned had five copies each. One for collection, one for appreciation (or viewing it while in a bookshelf), one for propagation, one for reading, and thest one was a spare for reading. T/N: Propagation here means to spread or rmend the book to someone with the purpose of converting that person into a fan of that book. The crumpled one this time was for reading, so he still had the spare one for reading. ¡®I¡¯ll have to buy new ones tomorrow.¡¯ He needed to have a set for reading and a spare for reading. Because the reading one was really for reading, so it was prone to damage. ¡°Tomorrow.¡± Lucas said aloud and burst outughing. He was one of the Ten Great Swordmasters that the S?len Kingdom was proud of, and called the strongest swordsman of the kingdom after the founding of the Holy Nation of Judelia, but still had a lot of his boyish side remaining. Tomorrow. Tomorrow was a really important day. It was the neenth birthday of Lucas Hr?svelgr. As listed above, Lucas was no longer just the sessor to the Count Hr?svelgr position. Being an heir to a margrave family that was high ranking among the 12 northern families was definitely a huge thing, but the current Lucas had a much higher statuspared to a few years ago. He was one of the only two teenage great swordmasters in the world and in history. The strongest swordsman in the S?len Kingdom. Naturally, there were many people who wanted to attend the birthday party of Lucas, and Count Hr?svelgr had been busy preparing for the party since two months ago. But Lucas had a different thought. The reason why tomorrow was important. His own birthday was indeed important, but there was one thing more important than that. ¡°A new one, a new one.¡± A new book of Biltwein the Hero. A new volume would be published after three years! He was so surprised when he first heard the news that it was no exaggeration to say that he almost passed out from extreme joy. The fact that a new volume of Biltwein the Hero would be released made the world look beautiful to him. ¡®3 years.¡¯ The author of Biltwein the Hero was a person named Sanudil. Their age and sex were unknown. The name Sanudil was obviously not a real name but a pseudonym. Therefore, when a new volume of Biltwein the Hero had not been released for three years, hardcore fans including Lucas were afraid and terrified that Sanudil might have been in an ident or if they had ended their writing career. They did not know the age or even the sex of Sanudil, so all kind of rumors circted. There was a rumor that Sanudil was actually a knight who lost their life during the Cmity War, or the rumor that they stopped writing because they had to focus on raising their children. ¡®Ah, Sanudil. Anyway, thank you. Thank you foring back.¡¯ He could not figure out whether Sanudil was a man or a woman, or why a new book had not been published for the past three years, so Lucas decided to think simply. After all, the fact that a new volume would be released meant that Sanudil was healthy enough to publish a book, and it was like a blessing to all the readers of Biltwein the Hero. ¡®Tomorrow, tomorrow.¡¯ He would go to the bookstore tomorrow and buy the new volume. In fact, there was no need for Lucas to directly go to buy it since he was the heir of the count, but he still wanted to personally buy the book whenever a new volume came out. Because he wanted to get the new book as soon as possible. Since Lucas was the heir of Count Hr?svelgr who was influential enough to im himself as the leader of the 12 northern families, there were many ways he could get the book at the distribution stage if he wanted to, but he did not take such a quick method. ¡°Fwoooo.¡± Lucas had been binge-reading the books all night for the past two days, and smiled again as he got out of his bed. The sun shining through the window looked beautiful and brilliant today. *** ¡°So in the end, which one of the two is it?¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± At the office of Count Hr?svelgr. The count usually stayed at Thunderdoom Fortress in the north, but had returned to the Hr?svelgr mansion in the past few days. Because the birthday of Lucas was tomorrow. ¡°I asked which of the two is it.¡± When Count Hr?svelgr repeated his words, Lucas was flustered and could not answer. The question of his father. Which one of the two. Although the subject was omitted, it was clear on who he was talking about. Kajsa Ophand and Scarlet Viper. One was the young daughter of Marquis Ophand who was the de facto leader of the 6 southern families, and the other was a beautiful female swordswoman prodigy from the empire. The two not only stayed with Lucas throughout the Cmity War, but also traveled with him across the continent after the war. And because of that, those who saw a man and two women in their prime stay together had all thought. ¡°Which one of the two is it?¡± Who would be the next Countess Hr?svelgr? In terms of status, Kajsa Ophand was the correct choice. Because she was the daughter from the Ophand family who was one of the 6 southern families. Considering that the Hr?svelgr family was one of the 12 northern families, Kajsa Ophand matched their family level. But people did not hastily make decisions. ¡°Because the northern and southern regions are too far away.¡± The Hr?svelgr family in the northern region and the Ophand family in the southern region received no benefits in joining hands. They were not attractive prospects for arranged marriages. ¡°Besides, that woman named Scarlet seems to be a child of a noble.¡± A noble was still a noble despite their prestige not being on the same level as the 6 southern families. And there was one more reason why Scarlet had apetitive edge. ¡°She¡¯spletely a swordsmanship genius.¡± The Hr?svelgr family were swordsmen who inherited the Holy King¡¯s Cross Sword from generation to generation. Therefore, there were many people in the family who liked Scarlet who was a swordsmanship genius. ¡°The youngdy of the Ophand family is strong, but she¡¯s more of a wild fighter.¡± A brawler and not a swordswoman. In addition, the various notorieties that Kajsa had built up in the south became deduction factors. The fact that she was the captain of a ship that robbed pirate ships did not make her look good for the people of the north who did not know the sea. Obviously, Scarlet also had her faults. First of all, it was a problem that she was an imperial noble, and that the level of her family was lower than that of Kajsa. And even though it was not yet known, Scarlet was in more danger than Kajsa if one added the fact that she was the Rogue Master. Anyway, about the two. The two were the ones who were most likely to be the wife of Lucas Hr?svelgr. ¡°Lucas.¡± ¡°Yes, father.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll give me the shameless answer of both.¡± At the stern gaze of Count Hr?svelgr, Lucas was covered in cold sweat as his lips twitched. *** A few hourster. Scarlet and Kajsa were sitting opposite each other at a table, with one drinking coffee and the other drinking fruit wine. ¡°Tomorrow.¡± ¡°Tomorrow.¡± They were not talking about the release date of the new volume of Biltwein the Hero. It was the date of the birthday party of Lucas Hr?svelgr. The day of an official and significant event would be held in the Hr?svelgr territory. ¡°I¡¯ll be his first dance tomorrow.¡± ¡°How funny. You¡¯ll be the one he¡¯ll dance with?¡± ¡°Hey, I was the first one Lucas danced with.¡± ¡°That was back then, but he danced with me first when we were dating, okay?¡± They were talking about their past lives. Unlike Lucas who was always on the side of Jude, Scarlet and Kajsa were sometimes on the side of Jude, and sometimes on the side of the demon followers. And when one was on the side of Jude, they always became the lover of Lucas, but on the contrary, when one was on the side of the enemy, they always became the rival of Lucas. ¡®Of course, there were times both of us were not enemies.¡¯ At that time, Scarlet and Kajsa were best friends. ¡°Moving on, let¡¯s leave it to Lucas tomorrow. Don¡¯t try to y tricks, okay?¡± ¡°You¡¯re the one who shouldn¡¯t y tricks.¡± In fact, the two were quite close in this present life. Even if they excluded the memories of their past lives, the time they traveled together in this current timeline reached nearly three years. One could say that they were pretty much best friends because of the affection from hatred they had for each other. But their problem was Lucas. Neither Scarlet nor Kajsa could give up on Lucas. But they also could not pressure Lucas to quickly make a choice. ¡°I-I can¡¯t choose. If I have to make a choice, I¡¯d rather not choose any of them.¡± Words that were really like Lucas, and something he might actually say. Because he really could not choose one over the other, and not because he wanted to openly date them both. If he chose one, the other would be hurt. So the rtionship of the three was reallyplicated. Because in their past and present lives, they shared a love so deep that they were willing to die for the other. ¡®That idiot will say that it¡¯s better if he doesn¡¯t choose and even say that he¡¯ll just remain single for his entire life.¡¯ Scarlet was not wrong. Because Lucas Hr?svelgr was such a person. And Kajsa also thought the same, so the three had maintained a strange rtionship until now. ¡°But more than that, you know, right?¡± ¡°I know.¡± All the important sentences were omitted, but the two could tell what the other was thinking by just looking at the eyes of the other. ¡°Sylvia Crossbell.¡± The female name that Lucas put in his mouth when they were trying to call the fairies in the royal capital. As the daughter of Count Crossbell from one of the 12 northern families, she was also going to attend the party tomorrow. ¡°I can¡¯t lose to her at least.¡± ¡°Me too.¡± Because this was their battlefield. A fairpetition if they had to describe it beautifully. They found it hard to express their feelings because of the memories of their past lives in addition to their present rtionship, but the two were indisputably close to each other, so they lightly clenched their fists and looked out the window. The sun was setting. *** ¡°It¡¯s really incredible.¡± When Dame Thilion, a knight who was a former mercenary, said as she watched from the window the line of carriages surrounding the mansion, Sir Seornn chuckled. ¡°Because this birthday party is special.¡± It was a party to celebrate the birthday of the heir of Count Hr?svelgr, so it was natural for a lot of guests to gather. But this year, almost twice as many people came than usual. There were many reasons, but there was one reason that Sir Seornn liked the most. ¡°Have you heard the rumor that the young master will make his choice today in this party?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve heard of that rumor too, but¡­ is it true?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not true. But it¡¯s something that gets people interested. Personally, I want it to be a bit true.¡± ¡°I agree.¡± Sir Seornn and Dame Thilion liked Lucas, just like most of the knights of Count Hr?svelgr. The children of Count Bayer and Count Chase had already been married two years ago and were called the couple of the century, so they thought that their young master should also find a wife. So that a sessor who would look like the young master would be born. ¡°So Captain, who do you think will be the next countess?¡± When his title and nickname from his mercenary days came out, Sir Seornn smiled and tried to say something. But at that moment, a loud shout interrupted their conversation. ¡°Lady Sylvia Crossbell from the Crossbell family is entering!¡± In an instant, the eyes of the everyone in the banquet hall were focused on the entrance. And Sylvia Crossbell, a woman with sky blue hair who maintained her elegance despite the sudden attention, entered the banquet hall with a soft smile. She wore a white Empire dress with an exposed back that made her fair and clear skin stand out even more. ¡°Ooooh.¡± ¡°As expected, she¡¯s beautiful.¡± Sylvia was considered the most beautiful in the north until Cordelia appeared. Her beautiful appearance was truly magical as if she had popped out of a story book. But there were two people who gazed at Sylvia differently. ¡°It¡¯s her.¡± ¡°She¡¯s here.¡± Scarlet was in a provocative red dress while Kajsa was in a tightly fitting ck dress that made her body stand out. ¡°S-She¡¯s really pretty.¡± Kajsa growled and Scarlet lightly frowned and soon shrugged as she said. ¡°She¡¯s indeed pretty.¡± ¡°Yes, Scarlet is pretty too. We¡¯re both pretty.¡± If Cordelia had heard it, she would have apologized to the people around them and mentally shouted ¡®Why am I the only one who¡¯s embarrassed!¡¯, but Scarlet and Kajsa were serious. After checking the clothes and hair of each other again, the two approached the battlefield ¨C Sylvia. ¡®What are they doing?¡¯ Sylvia was bewildered by Scarlet and Kajsa approaching her. It was not just because the two were heading to her. It was because she felt a strange hostility ¨C no, apetitive spirit from the two. ¡®Ah, don¡¯t tell me?¡¯ As a smartdy, Sylvia quickly realized why the two were heading her way like this. After a while, or five minutester, the music would change and the dance time would begin from that point. As the lead character today, Lucas was naturally going to dance. ¡®Who shall his first dance be with?¡¯ Lucas, Scarlet, and Kajsa. Because Sylvia knew well about these three. ¡®Lucas must have talked about me, huh?¡¯ Or perhaps the two people heard about her being the most beautiful in the north and were just trying to keep her in check. A smile instantly spread across the face of Sylvia. She was actually a mischievous woman, though she had suppressed it recently. Moreover, she was now over 20 years old, so she was very likely to find a suitable spouse by next year at thetest. In fact, many families were sending proposals to her. ¡®Shall I tease them a bit?¡¯ Sylvia mentally grinned while looking graceful on the outside. She quickly nced at Lucas with her eyes. And when the ignorant Lucas came her way, she spoke in a friendly manner. ¡°Lucas, it¡¯s been a while.¡± ¡°Yes, Lady Sylvia. It¡¯s been a while.¡± ¡°Happy birthday.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°Are you really thankful?¡± Sylvia asked back, and Lucas tilted his head for a moment but soon smiled and nodded. ¡°Yes, thank you very much.¡± ¡°Then you should repay me, right?¡± ¡°Is there¡­ anything you want to receive?¡± ¡°How about the first dance?¡± At that moment, the mes exploded. It was not a real me but more of an aura, or one could call it a fighting spirit being set aze. Scarlet and Kajsa. Scarlet quietly stared at Lucas, and Kajsa gazed at Lucas with clenched fists. At this point, no matter how tactless Lucas was, he could not help but understand the situation. Scarlet and Kajsa. There was also Sylvia. ¡®I can¡¯t choose the wrong one.¡¯ If he made a wrong choice, he would not be able to handle the aftermath. If he chose Sylvia, Scarlet and Kajsa would explode. If he chose Scarlet, it would be Kajsa. And if he chose Kajsa, it would be Scarlet. ¡°Lucas?¡± Sylvia called Lucas with a mischievousness hidden in her elegant voice, and the silent stare of Scarlet and the anxious gaze of Kajsa reached the cheeks of Lucas. ¡®Which one of the two is it?¡¯ Added to this was the voice of Count Hr?svelgr that he heard yesterday. Lucas broke out in cold sweat. And the music in the banquet hall changed at that perfect moment. It was the beginning of dance time ¨C that is, the moment when he had to choose one person regardless of the result. Lucas was in agony. In that time which felt like an eternity, he was in extreme distress. But it was then. ¡°Lucas?¡± A hand of salvation came down from heaven. *** ¡°I think Jude is upset. He¡¯s been staring at you for a while.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll ept it withoutints.¡± At the answer of Lucas, Cordelia giggled softly. ¡°Are you in that much trouble?¡± Enough to even endure the jealousy of that jealous Jude? Lucas responded with a bitter smile at her question. ¡°Anyway, I am very d. That Lady Cordelia appeared. You were really like an angel of salvation to me.¡± ¡°What salvation?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s true. Thanks to Lady Cordelia, I was able to get through today¡­ I¡¯m really d. Thank you very much.¡± If Sylvia was chosen, Scarlet and Kajsa would explode together, but Cordelia was a different story. And it was the same with Sylvia. When Lucas thanked Cordelia again, she narrowed her brows for a moment and soon said with a smile that felt sorry. ¡°Hey, Lucas, are you an idiot?¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°Who are you going to dance with for the second dance?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°What do you mean ¡®eh¡¯? Were you thinking of only dancing once on your birthday and ending it?¡± Scarlet and Kajsa are all dressed up like that, right? Are you just going to send them back? In that case, I¡¯ll get angry too, okay? At her interrogating gaze, Lucas gulped and averted his gaze. Scarlet and Kajsa were standing together and looking at him after firmly rejecting countless requests for a dance. And Sylvia, who was hiding her mischievousness in her elegance, was having fun as she stood next to them. ¡°Oh, the music is over.¡± The first dance was over, so the next one was the second dance. ¡°I¡¯ll take her.¡± ¡°Kya.¡± As soon as the music was over, Jude leapt over the space with Twelve Thunderbolt Steps and snatched Cordelia away. Lucas who was left alone swallowed his saliva. He faced Scarlet and Kajsa looking at him. + *1 more~!! SIDE STORY 32 SS 32 - Lucas Hr?svelgr (2) Lucas did the second dance with Kajsa. It was a natural flow as though it had been decided from the beginning. When Lucas danced with Kajsa, Scarlet danced with Count Hr?svelgr. And when the third dance song began, Lucas faced Scarlet who said. ¡°Still, I¡¯m the older one.¡± They were only a year apart, but anyway. Scarlet shrugged and said in passing before she held the hand of Lucas. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have refused then.¡± Lucas paused for a moment because he could not immediately understand what she meant, but it was only for a moment. He realized that she was talking about the founding anniversary ball back then. ¡°Because I didn¡¯t know that this young master would grow up to be this handsome.¡± Scarlet spoke to herself and slowly began the third dance with Lucas whose cheeks were blushing. *** The party continued untilte into the night. And as with this kind of party, the middle part became an exchange meeting for nobles who had gathered under the pretext of a birthday celebration, rather than continuing to be an actual birthday celebration. Therefore, Lucas did not feel too guilty when he sneaked out of the banquet hall. ¡°Is here okay?¡± ¡°Why? Isn¡¯t this ce good? I don¡¯t think anyone wille here.¡± Scarlet smiled and looked around. Lucas, Kajsa, and Scarlet. The three were inside an indoor drill hall only used by the direct descendants of the Hr?svelgr family. ¡°Hmm. So this is what a northern drill hall looks like.¡± Kajsa had already been invited to the mansions of quite a few northern families such as the Bayer and Hr?svelgr families, but it was the first time she had entered an indoor drill hall. ¡°Is it very different from the south?¡± ¡°Yes, first of all. The drill hall is seldom indoors in the south.¡± Kajsa responded to the question of Scarlet and began to put down in a suitable ce the things she had brought. ¡°Lucas, spread it over there.¡± ¡°Yes, that ce is nice.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Upon receiving the orders of the two women, Lucas spread out a mat he had brought onto the floor of the drill hall that was illuminated by the moonlight, while Kajsa and Scarlet arranged on the mat the food and drinks they took from the basket they had brought. ¡°And this cannot be left out.¡± Most of the food were taken from the banquet hall, but not this. Scarlet smiled andid out a round and small chocte cake, while Kajsa put on the cake a candle that no one knew where she took out from. The three had been traveling together for the past three years, so the two moved in perfect harmony. ¡°Happy birthday.¡± ¡°Congrattions, Lucas.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± You''ll also like Zombie Shark Highway by MeaghanMcIsaac Paid Stories BadgePaid Story Zombie Shark Highway 122K 5.1K When zombie sharks start attacking the shoreline it''s up to Ka, the sheriff''s daughter and local bad boy, Justin, to save the town. ... ? | Reincarnation Of A Prosopagnosia Viiness by aquaseries ? | Reincarnation Of A Prosopagnosia Viin... 20.5K 1K Yu Yan Ran lived in the 22nd century, in a humble home and aplete set of family. She''s always had prosopagnosia, face blindness in other words. However, this never h... MTITFBL by yourhaven MTITFBL 19.5K 527 *Please avoid voting on the chapters to avoid deletion of this story. I was possessed by a character in a game. Having been possessed anyway, I dedicated my entire body... 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After the candle on the small cake was blown, Kajsa and Scarlet pped their hands to congratte him on his birthday again. Lucas thought that it was like they were ying house ¨C no, they were indeed ying house, but a bright smile was still on his face. ¡®I¡¯m sorry.¡¯ I¡¯m grateful to everyone who attended today¡¯s party. But I prefer this kind of simple celebration. Still, thank you all for attending. In his mind, Lucas briefly apologized and thanked the people who attended the party, and looked at Scarlet and Kajsa again. The two were filling the sses of each other. They obviously did not forget to fill the ss of Lucas too. ¡°Drink, drink. We¡¯re going to drink to the very end today.¡± ¡°Yet you¡¯re the first one to pass out.¡± Scarletughed and Kajsa blushed in protest. ¡°Isn¡¯t it weird that you two beat me in drinking?¡± Because Kajsa had the blood of a divine creature flowing in her veins. Her detoxification ability was excellent, so she had never lost a drinking bet in her hometown. ¡°Lucas has reached the horizon, but Scarlet is strange.¡± ¡°What strange? I¡¯m just a strong drinker. And what does being on the horizon have to do with being strong in drinking?¡± Kajsa was speechless at the reasonable remark of Scarlet, and pouted before she raised her ss first like always. ¡°Anyway, cheers!¡± ¡°Cheers.¡± Lucas and Scarlet quickly raised their sses so that Kajsa would not be embarrassed for being the only one to raise her ss. ¡°Kya, this is good. This is delicious.¡± ¡°Yes, yes. But before we get drunk, let¡¯s take out our presents first.¡± Scarlet patted Kajsa on the back as if to appease a child, and pulled out from the basket two items they had prepared in advance. One belonged to Scarlet and the other belonged to Kajsa. ¡°Here¡¯s my birthday present for you.¡± ¡°Mine too.¡± The color of the wrapping paper differed, with one in red and one in blue, but the gifts had the same size and weight. ¡°Thank you.¡± Lucas thanked them and Kajsa said with a mischievous smile. ¡°Hurry up and open it.¡± ¡°May I?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Kajsa was the first to speak, but Scarlet was thest. With the permission of the two women, Lucas opened the wrappers with the excitement of a child, showing to Scarlet and Kajsa what they had expected. His bright smile. ¡°The new book of Biltwein the Hero!¡± The new book of Biltwein the Hero that was released after three years. He was originally going to go to the bookstore and buy it today, but had to postpone it to tomorrow because his father caught him. The presents of Kajsa and Scarlet were both the new book of Biltwein the Hero. The two had both given the same gift, but the gift givers and the recipient only had smiles on their faces. ¡°Mine is for appreciation.¡± ¡°Mine is for reading.¡± Because the two knew that Lucas would buy five copies of the same book. ¡°Thank you. Thank you very much.¡± Lucas was delighted as he hugged the books, and the other two smiled again. ¡°Now, now, let¡¯s drink since we¡¯ve given our presents. Today will be the day I¡¯ll defeat you both.¡± ¡°As if that¡¯s going to happen.¡± Scarlet giggled and refilled the sses of Kajsa and Lucas with alcohol, and the three began their drinking party. Several hours passed. Dawn. A time where the sun and the moons hid. So the world was only dyed with one color. Kajsa hugged the empty bottle and fell asleep on the thigh of Scarlet. Scarlet stroked the hair of Kajsa. ¡°Lucas.¡± ¡°Yes, Scarlet.¡± ¡°Do you like that story that much?¡± ¡°Yes, I like it a lot.¡± Although they were not fully wasted like Kajsa, Lucas and Scarlet were also drunk. And because of that, there was a more honest smile on the face of Lucas. He spoke words he would not usually say. ¡°I like it a lot, but¡­ this volume is quite special.¡± ¡°Is it because it¡¯s a new volume after three years?¡± ¡°There¡¯s that, but¡­¡± The words of Lucas trailed off as he gently stroked the cover of the book instead of giving the answer right away. And the silently watching Scarlet realized it at some point. What Lucas meant by quite special. ¡°As expected, Scarlet is smart.¡± They were not at a level where they couldmunicate with the eyes like Jude and Cordelia, but they could figure out if they got the correct answer or not from their gazes. Lucas opened the book and said, touching the words on the first page. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s a new volume in a true sense since¡­ it has never been published in our past lives.¡± Three years ago. Countless lives in the past were helplessly lost in the face of the disasters that began with the kidnapping of the children from the 12 northern families. ¡°The author must have also been affected by the chaos. No, even if they were safe¡­ the world was not peaceful enough for such a hero story to be published into a book and be distributed again.¡± But not anymore. The S?len Kingdom did not perish, and the empire also survived. Pleiades had a future again. That was why a new book came out. One of the evidence that Jude and Cordelia had saved the world. Lucas raised his head and looked at Scarlet. Perhaps because of drunkenness, he brought out a few more words that he would normally not say out loud. ¡°I¡­ wanted to be¡­ like Biltwein.¡± It was his childhood dream. No, he actually still dreamed of it. A strong, wonderful, and invincible hero. A being who brought hope and one whom you could trust and rely on anytime and anywhere. A ray of light that led people even in the darkness. Lucas knew such people. Jude and Cordelia. The true heroes who saved the entire Pleiades after the wildnds and the S?len Kingdom. Not Lucas. Lucas was different from the two. He was upset when Landius made Jude his disciple. He had fought against Jude who had be incredibly strong after traveling in the wildnds. When he lost by an overwhelming gap, he pretended to ept his defeat in front of Jude. He was determined to work even harder when he saw the match of his father. But that was not all. That night, he hid under his nket and burst into tears. He was surprised and confused by the absurd gap, and suddenly felt so humbled that he did not know what to do, so he was upset and cried like a child. A sense of inferiority. That he could not help but feel. He attended the Banquet of Swords in the royal capital. As expected, Jude and Cordelia appeared there. And Jude became the center of the Banquet of Swords. Lucas could not receive the sword strikes of First Sword and lost, but Jude blocked it. First Sword became serious in that short time. He congratted Jude. But he cried deep inside. Lucas was not the main character. He was not even a hero. He was the second fiddle. A supporting role who only existed to illuminate the main character. But he did not show his feelings. He tried to ept it. He watched Jude and Cordelia stop the plot in the founding anniversary ball and thought. People went on different paths in the first ce. So there was no need to feel inferior. It was not an acknowledgment. It was just an excuse at the bitterness he felt in his defeat. He was amazed to see the fights of Jude that only appeared in hero stories. So he apuded and praised Jude. Because that was the job of the supporting role. Everything felt pointless. What if he just hated Jude and Cordelia? Then perhaps he would feel a bit morefortable. But he could not do that in the end. Because Jude and Cordelia were genuinely good people. Jude continued to call Lucas his rival. It was not mockery. He trusted the swordsman named Lucas more than Lucas himself. On the night of the Banquet of Swords, he called Lucas, saying that they would enter a dungeon book. It was not just that time. If there was something they could do together, and if there was a chance for Lucas to grow, the two would reach out to him without asking for anything in return. So how could he hate them? ¡°So¡­ that¡¯s why I just swung my sword.¡± He quietly moved forward. Towards that invisible horizon. As Scarlet silently listened to the confession of Lucas, she smiled. ¡°What do you mean? Your dream has alreadye true.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve be Biltwein.¡± Lucas tilted his head at her words. After moving to the side of Lucas, Scarlet took out a book from the basket and turned the page. ¡°I read it too. Biltwein the Hero.¡± Because it was something he seriously liked. So she wondered what kind of story it was. It was his favorite book, so she wanted to like it together. Scarlet omitted that backstory, and slowly continued her words. ¡°A person who always moves forward without giving up. A person who doesn¡¯t hate other people. A person who is really good and pure like the sun.¡± Each time Scarlet spoke, the expression of Lucas darkened. No matter how much he thought about it, he believed that he was not that person. Thus, Scarlet smiled. ¡°Remember the fight at the Red Gate?¡± ¡°I remember.¡± The fight where Jude defeated First Sword. But Scarlet remembered differently. ¡°You saved Elune that day.¡± She was not the only one. There was also Scarlet and Kajsa. And everyone at the Red Gate that day. ¡°But Jude-¡± ¡°Yes, Jude defeated First Sword. But if it wasn¡¯t for you, if you hadn¡¯t been able to stop First Sword¡­ we would have all been dead by the time Jude came.¡± Scarlet smiled again. She flipped through the pages and then pointed to an illustration. It was a scene where Biltwein was holding a sword and fighting against a huge dragon. ¡°It was a fight that could not be won. One could not evenpare their power objectively. But Biltwein stepped forward. Because he had to protect the people. Just like you who faced First Sword.¡± The face of Lucas heated up. Scarlet grinned and spoke again. ¡°It¡¯s not just that day.¡± The day of the founding anniversary ball. Lucas saved those who were at the ball. He confronted the monsters without a proper weapon. He did not hesitate to travel to the wildnds. To protect the people there, he willingly headed to a ce infested with demonic monsters from Hell. If Lucas was not there. If Lucas had not been there at that time. ¡°But there¡¯s something else that I think is really amazing.¡± Lucas did not hate Jude. He was engulfed by his sense of inferiority, but did not suffer from ugly jealousy. Instead of being broken or causing violence around him, he honed himself. He epted the good intentions of Jude and Cordelia without misunderstanding it. He returned their pure goodwill. ¡°And you moved forward.¡± Even in the darkness without a single light, he silently and inly moved his way. ¡°I always thought about it in my past lives.¡± What is this guy? Why isn¡¯t he frustrated? Why doesn¡¯t he give up? Why doesn¡¯t he get corrupted? Lucas was never corrupted unless when a demon was forced into his soul. No, even if he was forced to be a demonic human, he always regained his human mind in the end. ¡®Maybe that¡¯s why I was drawn to him.¡¯ To that pure soul. That single ray of light shining white in the darkness. The face of Lucas was flushed red. Tears suddenly welled up in his eyes. ¡°And you know what? This is the most important reason¡­¡± The words of Scarlet was cut off as she blushed and smiled. She whispered into the ear of Lucas. ¡°There¡¯s no way that the person I like isn¡¯t the main character, right?¡± The protagonist in the story of Scarlet Viper was Scarlet. And the cool and handsome male protagonist whom Scarlet loved had always been Lucas. ¡®I must be drunk.¡¯ Embarrassed at her own words, she coughed and hugged the neck of Lucas. She hesitated for a moment, but soon kissed the cheeks of Lucas shyly. ¡°Once again, happy birthday.¡± My Biltwein. My hero. And it was then. The sun rose from afar. The glory of the morning came through the window and illuminated the body of Lucas. ¡°Wow.¡± Scarlet eximed and giggled like a fool while Lucas brightly smiled. *** And the next morning. At a time when Kajsa was still asleep and Scarlet sleptte. Lucas stared at the new volume of Biltwein the Hero. He thought while touching the illustration of Biltwein that was drawn on one side of the page. Biltwein. Apletely invincible hero. A light of hope who led everyone without ever giving up. Scarlet called Lucas as Biltwein, but he did not share her thoughts. Lucas could not be a hero like Biltwein. But even so. A smile spread across the face of Lucas. Turning the page, Lucas thought as he read the book that was resumed after three years. ¡®I want to be Biltwein.¡¯ Even if it was impossible now, he would reach it one day, just like when he reached the horizon. Lucas flipped the page. As always, he silently moved forward. *** ¡°Did you see the new sales! Amazing! Absolutely awesome! Good heavens!¡± Despite the praise from the publishing house staff, the man did not show any significant response. No, he actually showed a reaction, but there was no way for the staff to find out. Because the man was wearing a ck mask that covered his entire face. He was a writer who always wore a mask in every meeting despite not being in a masquerade. He was thought of as crazy, but there were a lot of crazy people in this field in the first ce. So instead of paying attention to such trivial stuff, the publishing house staff put the really important thing in their mouth. ¡°Mister Author, that¡¯s why¡­ when will the next volume be released¡­¡± It was the first new volume in three years. It would be too much if the next one got released after three years again. The poprity of Biltwein the Hero would soar again only if the next volume was released after a short time. When the publishing house staff gazed at him desperately, the man in a ck mask answered in a low voice. ¡°Soon.¡± ¡°Ooooh¡­¡± Soon. Hopefully, that soon would not be three yearster. If it was soon, perhaps it would be in a few months. No, about a year was enough. ¡°Then let¡¯s stop here today.¡± As the man in the ck mask stood up from his seat, the publishing house staff hurriedly followed him and bowed. ¡°Have a good day.¡± The man in the ck mask raised his hand instead of answering, and took off his mask as soon as he left the publishing house. Since he used simple cognitive impairment magic, no one witnessed the man removing his mask. And he walked for another ten minutes. ¡°Hey, Kamael.¡± Kamael had a faint smile as he saw the huge man and the beautiful woman sitting next to him at the meeting ce, and those who looked at the two with curiosity. ¡°Biltwein.¡± ¡°Huh? What wine?¡± Oops. I muttered without realizing it, but he heard it? But instead of panicking, Kamael spoke with a calm expression. ¡°I said Landius.¡± ¡°Anyway, sit down. Because the cakes here are really good.¡± Kamael pretended as if he could not resist the urging of Lena and hurried his steps, while Landius, who was the Biltwein of not only Kamael but also of all the heroes of Paragon, burst intoughter again. -THE END- The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!